South Africa: President Ramaphosa to host Presidential Summit on GBVF

President Cyril Ramaphosa will convene the second Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) next month.

The summit, to be held at Gallagher Estate, Midrand, from 1 - 2 November 2022, will reflect on the work undertaken since the first Presidential Summit on GBVF in November 2018. It will also report on key successes and challenges, and outline clear strategies to overcome them.

The first Presidential Summit on GBVF in 2018 was in response to the 24 demands submitted by the #TheTotalShutdown Intersectional Womxns Movement to President Cyril Ramaphosa, following 27 nationwide marches on 1 August 2018.

The movement protested against the country's pervasive scourge of gender-based violence and femicide and offered the 24 demands (https://gbvf.org.za/tag-24-demands-01-august-2018/) as a solution. Chief amongst the demands was the call to the President to convene the first ever summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide on the African continent.

This resulted in a Summit Declaration, which officially declared GBVF as a national crisis in March 2019, and was the first step in developing the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP on GBVF).

The NSP on GBVF (https://www.justice.gov.za/vg/gbv/NSP-GBVF-FINAL-DOC-04-05.pdf) provides a strategic roadmap and sets out specific plans for a multisectoral approach to end GBVF and build a society where womxn, children, and the LGBTQIA+ community are safe from violence directed at them because of patriarchal stereotyping.

The NSP is outlined in six pillars, which include accountability, coordination and leadership; prevention and rebuilding social cohesion; justice, safety and protection; response, care, support and healing; economic power; and research and information management.

The Presidency said it has been four years since the Presidential Summit and the adoption of the Presidential Summit Declaration, and two years since the NSP on GBVF was signed into effect by the President on 31 April 2020.

Levels of GBV undermine democracy and womens rights

While progress has been made in the implementation of the 2019 Presidential Summit Declaration and its national GBVF plan, government warned that the levels of gender-based violence and the brutal ways in which violence is meted out against women across age groups and geographies, fundamentally undermines tdemocracy and womens human rights.

Co-chairperson of the Presidential Summit Planning Committee, Dr Olive Shisana, said this years summit will provide an opportunity for feedback and accountability for issues raised in the last summit. Shisana said it will provide an assessment of the impact of programmes and how to amplify programmes that are making a difference.

For example, measuring impact against expenditure allows us to prioritise and duplicate programmes that are yielding tangible results. The return on investment also talks to amplification in how we scale up successful projects to roll these out across the country.

As a country, we must double our efforts to prevent and respond to GBVF and hold each other accountable to implement the NSP. As a planning committee for the summit, we are hard at work to prepare for all to account for commitments made, and accelerate and amplify implementation, said Shisana.

Sibongile Ndashe, co-chairperson of the PSPC, said civil society is not immune to the prevailing "summit fatigue".

However, we welcome the invitation to co-create a space where accountability is a possibility. We are approaching the summit with information on most of the failures that have frustrated the implementation of the NSP on GBVF. We know what has not been done, Ndashe said.

Provincial summits

The Presidential Summit will be held under the theme, 'Accountability. Acceleration and Amplification, NOW!'

In the build-up to the summit, provinces will host provincial summits to report on the implementation of the NSP on GBVF, as well as the drivers, challenges and opportunities for implementation.

The provincial summits will generate insights that will be captured into reports, which will be consolidated towards the Presidential Summit. Additionally, National Pillar Dialogues will take place in October, with the aim of assessing the implementation of the NSP on GBVF.

The committee said efforts are also underway to finance the summit, and appealed to partners to come on board to join the journey towards eradicating GBVF in South Africa.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-10-21. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Vietnam to import additional 1.50 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines for children

Vietnam is going to import some 1.50 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines for children to address the vaccine shortages in many localities, especially HCM City.















Vietnam to import additional 1.50 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines for children. Illustrative photo



According to the National Immunisation Programme, some 300,000 million doses of Moderna vaccines will be brought to the country this week and 1.20 million doses of Pfizer vaccines will arrive next week. These doses will be distributed to different localities that have run out of vaccines for children.



Speaking at a Thursday meeting in HCM City, deputy head of the office at the municipal Department of Health, Le Thien Huynh Nhu, said that the city had conducted nearly 23.43 million Covid-19 vaccine doses for local people and they have had to suspend vaccinating children due to shortages.



Earlier in September, Vietnam also received three million Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses.



The Ministry of Health is expected to allocate the vaccines shortly to localities to ensure the inoculation of booster doses is on the right track. It is also coordinating with donors and agencies to receive more vaccines for various age groups.



According to the Ministry of Health, nearly 270 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered nationwide. However, the inoculation of children aged 5 to 17 remains slow going.



So far, nearly 11.50 million coronavirus cases have been documented in Vietnam, including 10.50 million recoveries and more than 43,000 deaths.
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CHICAGO  The Chicago Police officer who shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo during a foot chase in 2021 is facing firing after an investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability concluded the shooting violated department policy.

COPAs findings against Officer Eric Stillman were discussed Thursday night by the Chicago Police Board, as was the fact that police Chicago police Superintendent David Brown contested the findings, saying that the shooting did not violate department use-of-force rules.

Brown only agreed with COPA that Stillman violated department protocol for failing to operate his body camera in a timely manner, though the superintendent only recommended the officer be punished with a suspension of no more than five days.

Also at the meeting, Police Board President Ghian Foreman, who had been selected at random to review the case, announced that the controversial shooting has been referred for a public hearing before the entire police board.

It is my opinion that  the parties and the public will benefit from a full evidentiary hearing on this matter, Foreman wrote in his decision. "  ,This hearing will allow the Board (to) hear from use-of-force experts  and will allow the Board to thoroughly review relevant evidence, including video recordings of the incident.

Foreman stated in his ruling that he was neither siding with COPA nor Brown. But he also said that Brown did not meet his burden to overrule COPA.

The Superintendent made a number of convincing points in his response to (COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kerstens) recommendation for discipline, Foreman wrote. However, in this case, the material I reviewed does not provide a sufficient basis for me to rule that the Superintendent met the burden to overcome the recommendation. "

Foreman noted that the hearing will also grant Stillman the opportunity to testify. Foreman also made clear that he was not siding with COPA.

The March 29 shooting of Toledo in a Little Village alley at about 2:30 a.m. touched off waves of protests after disturbing images from officers body worn cameras were released.

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In the footage, Toledos hands appear to be empty at the moment Stillman shoots him. Police confiscated a gun near Toledo, whom authorities said was with Ruben Roman, now 22, who had fired at a vehicle in the minutes before the shooting.

The shooting happened two days before another Chicago police officer shot and killed 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez in Portage Park, also in a foot chase.

In addition to questions over whether deadly force was warranted in the shootings, the incidents cast a glaring spotlight on the foot pursuits and the fact that Chicago police lacked a written policy on the dangerous, often deadly encounters.

The department has since written a policy around the chases. In both the Alvarez and Toledo shootings, COPA still found that the officers in both shootings acted inconsistently with their training in a foot pursuit training bulletin distributed by the police department.

The Police Board released findings on the Alvarez investigation in July. As they did in the Toledo case, COPA investigators concluded that the shooting of Alvarez violated the departments use of force policy. They recommended that Officer Evan Solano, who shot Alvarez, be fired.

Brown also contested that decision. The police board member selected to review that case, however, concurred with Browns recommendation for a 20-day suspension and spared Solanos job  without referring the case for a full hearing.

In March, Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx announced her office would not bring criminal charges against the officers involved in the Alvarez and Toledo shootings. Foxx said at a news conference that prosecutors determined both officers reasonably believed they were in danger when they opened fire. Both Toledo and Alvarez were carrying guns on the nights they were shot.

Kersten, whose office was critical of the Alvarez case being decided by one police board member, issued a statement late Thursday in support of Foremans decision in Toledos shooting.

As Ive said before, this is not about winning or losing, but about facts, evidence and testimony being presented before the full Police Board before a final decision is determined, the statement read. Impacted parties and the residents of the city of Chicago deserve to have all the facts and evidence presented in a full, public hearing and we believe this case is deserving of a full evidentiary hearing before the entire Police Board and a review of the rules governing this process is warranted.

The decision was criticized by Stillmans attorney, who issued a statement.

There is no reason or justification for the City of Chicago to have sought termination in this case, attorney Tim Grace said in a written statement. I am extremely disappointed with the Chicago Police Board tonight. They missed an opportunity to stand with the members of our police department who do the heavy lifting. Officer Stillman is an honorably discharged Untied States Marine who has served his country and city with honor and courage and will face this next challenge in the same manner.

Also in a prepared statement, the Toledo familys lawyers praised COPA for uncovering the truth of what transpired in the shooting, and thanked Foreman for not rejecting COPAs findings.

We are relieved COPA has come to the conclusion that the shooting was unjustified, which is consistent with our understanding of the facts, the lawyers, Adeena Weiss Ortiz and Joe Hirschhorn, said in a statement. We will now be moving forward with the next step in this process for Adam Toledo and his family.

____
The discipline of a Chicago police officer who was investigated for alleged ties to a white nationalist group became a flashpoint during Fridays wide-ranging Police Department budget hearing, which saw Superintendent David Brown on the defensive over discontent with his public safety plan, ballooning overtime costs and more.

Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, questioned Brown on why Officer Robert Bakker received only a 120-day suspension over allegations including that he didnt reveal he was interviewed by federal authorities about his alleged past involvement with the Proud Boys.

Brown defended the choice not to fire Bakker and said the investigation did not turn up sufficient evidence that the officer was affiliated with the organization.

The Chicago Police Department has zero tolerance for any of its sworn members being members of hate groups or associated with hate groups, Brown said in his first public remarks on the case. The allegations put forth on this officer did not support by a preponderance of evidence, which is the legal standard, that this member associated with or was a member of a hate group  Proud Boys or any other hate group.

Brown continued, I will just say from a personal note, Ive been Black a long time. I would not tolerate an officer being a member of or being associated with a hate group.

A preponderance of evidence means the allegations being investigated must be more than 50% likely to be true. Brown said that was not the case with Bakkers ties to the Proud Boys, but there were minor violations related to inconsistent statements from the officer to investigators about the extent of his interactions with members of the group.

What we did prove is that this officer failed to notify us that he had talked with federal authorities and some other minor violations, Brown said. And because of those minor violations, we mediated a very high level of discipline. One hundred and twenty days is a high level discipline for what we were able to prove.

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Bakker was initially investigated for allegedly associating with members of the white nationalist organization and posting messages in a group chat, including about meeting at a pub, and for being involved in apparent exchanges about a patriot barbecue.

In April of this year, the departments bureau of internal affairs resolved the case with a mediation agreement that said Bakker would not contest any of the allegations against him in exchange for the 120-day suspension. City Inspector General Deborah Witzburg recommended that Brown reconsider that punishment but did not get a response.

On Friday, internal affairs Chief Yolanda Talley gave the surprising assertion that Bakker in fact was the one who requested the 120-day suspension in lieu of the departments much-shorter expected offer.

Im just going to put it to you frankly, Talley said, getting a nod from Brown to continue. His suspension would not be more than five days for what we were able to prove. We brought him in for a second interview, and he just felt so bad that he was accused of this, he mediated 120 days. We didnt offer him 120 days.

Talley continued by pushing back on the idea of the Proud Boys being a hate group.

The Proud Boys is not identified as an FBI hate group, Talley said. If the Proud Boys were identified as a hate group, this investigation would look totally different.

In fact, the FBI does not keep a list of domestic groups that have been identified as a hate or extreme group, according to a statement the agency gave the Tribune Friday.

The FBI does not designate hate groups, the statement read. The FBI does conduct investigations of domestic hate groups within guidelines established by the attorney general.

The organization has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The statement said those guidelines include whether there has been a threat of force, whether the threat can be carried out and whether it violates federal law.

According to published new reports, as well FBI documents available on the agencys website, members of the Proud Boys have, however, been the subject of investigations into violent acts, including in 2018, before the allegations surfaced against Bakker.

The citys investigation into Bakkers conduct was not criminal, however. Investigators were seeking to determine if he had engaged in behavior that violated department rules and regulations, including whether it was conduct unbecoming to the department.

Bakkers disciplinary case was first brought up when Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, was the sole member of City Council to raise his hand in response to a colleague asking the chambers, Can I get a show of hands of any aldermen in this room who would like to see less police?

Fellow aldermen piped up, Ill take his, in response. Sigcho-Lopez then left the City Council floor temporarily after shouting, Take the white supremacists too.  Its a shame to have white supremacists in the force.

Also during Fridays budget hearing, several aldermen pressed Brown on earlier comments hed made blaming higher-than-budgeted overtime costs on special events such as next summers planned NASCAR takeover of Grant Park. Chicago police has $100 million budgeted for overtime this year but already spent $112 million so far on such costs, with more two months left in the year, Brown said.

Primarily thats a function of an increase  really an explosion of  special events across this city since Memorial Day weekend, much more than previous years, much more than pre-pandemic years, Brown said, citing the Pride Parade in June and the 2023 NASCAR street race. As we add more and more special events that require security, we need to understand thats additional overtime.

Special events require organizers to find private security before they get the citys approval, but that usually is not enough, and Chicago police staffing power is also required. But such events also require police signoff before taking place.

You guys sign off on this stuff and youre complaining, outgoing Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th, noted.

Brown responded: Were not party poopers. Were not going to say you cant have the extra special events that weve had this past year, but it does require security. And so were responsible for making sure these events are safe.

Another City Council member set to retire in 2023, Ald. Harry Osterman, 48th, expressed frustration with Brown repeating crime is down while fears of violence remain pervasive.

I dont feel that you have a comprehensive plan to address violence that has bought people in, Osterman said. Because of the lack of a cohesive plan, were an island.  But the violence spreads everywhere and without a cohesive plan with buy in from folks, were nowhere.

Through this month, Chicago has seen double-digit percentage reductions in shootings and homicides  20% and 18%, respectively  over last year. But since 2019, homicides and shootings in the city were each up by at least 30%, according to official Chicago police statistics.

ayin@chicagotribune.com

asweeney@chicagotribune.com
Chicagos Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), an office that investigates allegations of misconduct against the citys police force, recommended on Thursday that the officer who fatally shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo be fired.

The chief administrator of COPA determined that Officer Eric Stillman acted inconsistently with his training when he shot Toledo in the chest on March 29, 2021.

The recommendation for discipline also penalized Stillman for discharging his firearm in the situation with Toledo and failing to properly use his body camera.

Stillman shot Toledo last year in what the police department described as an armed confrontation where the 13-year-old attempted to run away from officers while allegedly holding a gun.

COPA released bodycam footage of the incident in April 2021. Toledo can be seen in the video turning around to face Stillman with his hands raised in a surrender pose.

Stillman yells drop it twice in the video, apparently referring to a gun, and then shoots Toledo in the chest, killing him.

The superintendent of police disputed COPAs recommendation that Stillman be discharged from his position, suggesting instead that the officer be suspended for five days.

He disagreed that Stillman violated police protocol and acted inconsistently with his training, though he agreed with accusations of failure to activate a body camera.

Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman found, based on both recommendations, that the board should host a full evidentiary hearing on the incident before the public.

This hearing will allow the Board [to] hear from use-of-force experts the parties call to testify, and will allow the Board to thoroughly review relevant evidence, including video recordings of the incident, Foreman wrote.

Officer Stillman will also be afforded the opportunity to testify before the Board, providing context and explanation surrounding the incident depicted on the video recording.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Flu has hit Central Texas but so have a number of other respiratory viruses, medical experts say. Pediatric hospitals are full of cases throughout Central Texas and the state.

Austin Public Health last week sent an email warning about capacity at pediatric emergency rooms at Dell Children's Medical Center and St. David's Children's Hospital.

"We are just full of kids with respiratory illnesses," said Dr. Renee Higgerson, medical director of inpatient pediatrics and pediatric critical care at St. David's Children's Hospital and the Pediatrix group medical director.

She is seeing kids hospitalized because of viruses who are as young as days old on up to school-age kids. They have respiratory syncytial virus (commonly known as RSV) or rhinovirus or adenoviruses, sometimes even the flu. These viruses all have similar symptoms with coughing, congestion, runny nose and fever.

While many of these illnesses are just felt as a cold in older children and adults, the illnesses can become critical in the very youngest children, especially kids that were born prematurely or kids with heart conditions or asthma. Those kids are coming to the emergency room with difficulty breathing and needing to get support, sometimes in the intensive care unit.

Dr. Toral Shah examines Sammi Jiminez, 4, in 2018, which was a bad year for the flu. This year, respiratory viruses and flu have hit early and hit hard.

Staff members are sometimes struggling to find enough beds for the children who need to be admitted, Higgerson said.

"When we're looking for ICU beds, we're calling all the hospitals in the region," she said. "They're all full."

Last week, she said, her team called 12 different hospitals from Dallas to Houston to San Antonio looking for ICU beds. Two patients had to stay in the emergency room for 18 hours until they found a bed within the St. David's Children's Hospital. The ICU doctors and nurses came down to the emergency room to treat the patients until they could be moved to an ICU bed.

Preparing for the worst: Flu season in Austin area could be a bad one, doctors say

At Dell Children's Medical Center, chief medical officer Dr. Meena Iyer said there are plans in place to create beds for kids who come up through the emergency room. They can be placed in areas of the hospital that are typically not used for those kinds of cases.

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The waiting time in the emergency rooms at both Dell Children's and St. David's Children's is much longer than normal. Iyer clocked it at five or six hours or more. Higgerson said up to 12 hours. "It's longer than we want it to be," Iyer said.

The longer wait times because of the number of children with respiratory illnesses affects other kids needing care, Higgerson said. They might have to wait longer based on triage protocols and sometimes they give up waiting, when they really need to be seen, potentially making their conditions worsen.

Higgerson said at her hospital some planned surgeries have been put off because of the current number of children already in the hospital. Kids waiting for procedures such as seizure monitoring or changing out a battery on a medical device are having their cases delayed.

"We're doing it on a case-by-case basis," Higgerson said. "We know how hard this is on families, even for an elective admission."

Both Iyer and Higgerson said all kids will be seen, but the time it might take requires patience.

St. David's has staffed up on physicians, but, Higgerson said, the shortage is in the nursing staff. "There is no ability to staff up. Our nurses are working overtime shifts. Our nurses are exhausted. There are no nurses out there applying for jobs. We have so many openings. We're doing everything we can," she said.

The season is here: Flu season has arrived in Austin. Here's what you need to know

When to go to the emergency room

Most of these viruses can be treated at home. Doctors recommend Tylenol or Motrin to control fever and pain, and they say to encourage kids to keep eating and drinking to stay hydrated and energetic.

Dr. Mitchell Walton, a pediatrician at Austin Regional Clinic's Wilson Parke location, recommends against multisymptom cold and flu medications because often they have medication in them that you don't need or doesn't work well or are already taking with Tylenol or Motrin, which puts you at risk for an overdose.

Hot baths or running the shower to create steam and sitting in the bathroom can also help with a cough.

For kids who have asthma, Walton will often recommend they start using their rescue inhaler as well as their regular medication.

Premature babies and babies with heart conditions often will be given a monthly injection to help them fight RSV. It doesn't prevent them from getting it, but it can help them avoid the dangerous side effects.

You should only head to the emergency room if children are having trouble breathing. That can be seen by the nostrils flaring out, the muscles around the ribs and sternum sucking in, a faster pace of breathing, wheezing or lips turning blue.

The emergency room is also the place to go if children are very lethargic or can't seem to stay awake, or if you notice that they are not eating or drinking, can't stop vomiting to get fluids in or have stopped urinating.

For anything else, treat at home unless they worsen. Then you can call your primary care doctor and set up an appointment or talk to a triage nurse, or go to an urgent care setting if you can't get in to see your doctor.

Inspiring care:'A fighter': Baby born at 23 weeks one of most premature Austin hospital has seen

Winter is coming

While these are not new viruses, "the number of patients coming in with these symptoms is much more than in recent years," Iyer said.

It's unusual for October, she said: "It's a little worrisome that we've got all these viruses. What's coming in December?"

December, January and February are typically cold and flu season in Austin. The 2021-22 cold and flu season was unusual because most people were wearing masks earlier in the year and the years before, which put off cold and flu season, health care experts say.

Then last spring, flu season arrived months late once people began taking off masks. Austin even had a summer season of RSV, which is usually confined to fall and winter.

This fall, in addition to respiratory viruses being seen earlier and in high numbers, Texas' flu numbers have been high, compared with most other states. In Travis County, two schools have reported flu outbreaks to Austin Public Health.

While emergency rooms test for which respiratory virus someone has, including for RSV, COVID-19 and flu, often primary care doctors will only test for COVID-19 and flu. With flu, Tamiflu can be given to anyone 6 months or older to shorten the symptoms if it's within a 48-hour time period of symptoms starting.

Walton has seen a lot of influenza A come through his doors already this fall. He still sees some COVID-19, but not as much as before. Influenza B has not been detected yet.

That's also what Austin Public Health is reporting: dropping COVID-19 numbers, but rising influenza A numbers.

COVID-19 isn't over yet. Austin Public Health notes that the World Health Organization is tracking 300 omicron variant strains of COVID-19, including what's spreading again in Europe and beginning to hit the United States. This summer we had mainly BA.4 and BA.5. Now it's mainly BA.5, with some of its closely related cousins BQ.1 and BQ.1.1.

What you can do to prevent illness this winter

Everybody six months and older should get a flu shot. Kids 8 and younger need two doses the first time they get a flu shot.

Get a COVID-19 vaccine starting at age 6 months, and get an omicron-specific booster, which is available now for ages 5 and older.

Wash everyone's hands often, before eating, after using the bathroom and after coming home from work or school.

Consider putting a mask back on during cold and flu season.

Day care facilities and schools should be vigilant about cleaning shared surfaces and toys.

Limit visiting and socializing with large groups of people.

Stay home if you are sick or if someone in your house is sick. You should be fever free for at least 24 hours without any medication before returning to work or school.

Don't go to the emergency room unless it is an emergency. Instead use your primary care doctor or an urgent care office.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Children's hospitals in Austin grapple with surge in respiratory viruses
(Bloomberg) -- A senior Chinese diplomat in the UK defended his actions during a protest, saying he pulled a mans hair because he offended the Asian nation and its leader Xi Jinping.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Zheng Xiyuan, the consul-general of at the consulate in Manchester, said in an interview Thursday with Sky News that he acted because a demonstrator abused my country, my leader.

Its my duty, Zheng said, adding any diplomat would do the same if faced with such kind of behavior.

Police in Manchester have said a man was dragged inside the gates of the Chinese consulate Sunday after some 30 to 40 people had gathered outside to stage a peaceful protest. The victim was assaulted within the consulate grounds until he was removed by an officer, police added.

Video of the incident appears to show Zheng tear down one of several signs on a sidewalk in front of the consulate criticizing both Chinas ruling Communist Party and Xi, who is expected to secure a norm-defying third term in office this weekend.

Chinas Big Leadership Reveal Will Show Extent of Xis Power

That move set off a scuffle between protesters and staff, and Zheng later appears to grab a protester by the hair and watch as he is beaten by several men.

Zheng said in the interview that his staff tried to control the situation and denied he attacked anyone, saying he acted peacefully.

Foreign Office minister Jesse Norman told the House of Commons on Tuesday that Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had summoned the Chinese envoy to express his deep concern and demand an explanation.

The Hong Kong Indigenous Defence Force, a political group that had promoted the demonstration on social media, later decried the attack in an online post. It also quoted the Hong Konger who was beaten as saying: This attack in broad daylight is beyond reason.

Story continues

UKs Cleverly Summons China Diplomat After Attack on Hong Konger

The episode is the latest example of Chinese diplomats getting involved in physical confrontations. Two envoys were accused of injuring a Taiwanese counterpart at an event in Fiji celebrating Taiwans national day in 2020 -- a claim Beijing denied.

Lithuania lodged a protest with the Chinese embassy in Vilnius after diplomats allegedly acted in violation of public order during a pro-Hong Kong rally in 2019.

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By Maya Gebeily

QUB ELIAS, Lebanon (Reuters) - Syrian refugees in displacement camps are falling victim to a cholera outbreak in Lebanon, already suffering from an economic meltdown that has slashed access to clean water and strained hospitals.

Lebanon recorded its first cholera case in early October -- signalling the return of the bacteria for the first time in 30 years. It now counts at least 220 cases and five deaths.

According to the World Health Organization, Lebanon is the latest phase of a rampaging outbreak that began in Afghanistan in June - then spread to Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria.

In Syria itself more than 13,000 suspected cases have been reported, including 60 deaths, according to the Syria office of Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

Cholera is typically spread through contaminated water, food or sewage. It can cause severe diarrhoea and dehydration  which can kill if left untreated.

Most cholera cases in Lebanon have been in the camps, among the roughly 1 million Syrians who have taken refuge over the past decade from the conflict in their homeland, according to caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad.

He said the three-year economic crisis was partly to blame. The water in Lebanon's public mains, not just in the camps, was already unsafe to drink without treatment - but with state coffers drained by the recession, there is not enough fuel to run government-run water stations.

Their stagnant waters are becoming easily contaminated while households face shortages, Abiad said.

DIRTY WATER

Syrian refugees in Lebanon rely on U.N. agencies and international NGOs to regularly truck in water to fill up cisterns outside their tents and clear out sewage containers.

But residents of the Idris camp in Qub Elias say those services have become more scarce, prompting fears of an overflow.

"When the sewage containers would overflow in the past, there would be dirty water flooding the camp," said Amal, a slender and freckled Syrian woman living in the camp.

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"If there isn't already cholera in this camp, I'm sure we'll get it in no time."

Seven cases have been detected in the Qub Elias area, but the health ministry has not specified how many Syrians are among them and which camps were affected.

The WHO says refugee camps are a "typical at-risk area", given the lack of access to clean water and sanitation.

UNICEF said on Oct. 14 it would begin delivering more water to camps, install handwashing stations with chlorinated water, and conduct awareness sessions.

The U.N. children's agency in Lebanon has also secured emergency fuel to run water pumping stations in the north and stop wastewater from flowing to the coast. But it said it needed $29 million to fund three months of anti-cholera activities.

Besides Amal, none of the refugees who Reuters spoke to had heard of the outbreak. Fatima Hussein, a Syrian mother of nine, said she did not know what cholera was.

"The sewage system?" Hussein said when asked about clean water, recounting how the toilet in her tent had overflowed countless times.

She said she had caught her youngest daughter drinking from a local well, where she feared wastewater was being dumped.

"If something happened to my daughter, I wouldn't know what to do," she said.

Most of the refugees Reuters spoke to said they paid for their own bottled drinking water. But with prices rocketing due to hyperinflation, that may soon become too expensive.

WHO country director Abdinasir Abubakar told Reuters cholera posed a "very high risk" for Lebanon  and that transmission to other countries was likely.

"Now it's affecting more Syrian refugees, but sooner or later we will see more cases for Lebanese, Abubakar said. "No one is safe unless everyone is safe."

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Alison Williams)
A cocaine lab near Madrid. (Policia Nacional)

BARCELONA, Spain  Three weeks ago, in the farmlands of central Spain, police spotted something peculiar: a surveillance drone hovering over a forest. Pushing in, they discovered something never before seen in Spain: an outdoor drug laboratory set up under a tarp where Colombian chemists were extracting cocaine that had been infused into concrete powder, a process that police estimate was funneling 264 pounds of cocaine into the country each week.

Last month, Spanish police also seized 1,843 pounds of cocaine and shut down several laboratories and processing centers just outside of Barcelona, and in July they seized six remote-controlled, unmanned submarines fitted with hidden compartments built to transport cocaine to Spain from Africa. On Wednesday, Spains national police announced theyd seized another 145 pounds of pure cocaine hidden in industrial rolling machines shipped from Peru. Last year, around 300 tons of cocaine were seized across Europe, but according to Europol deputy spokesperson Claire Georges, the amount being seized is only a very small part of what is coming in.

These recent busts, largely made possible by advances in tapping criminals encrypted phones, underscore a reality that European drug authorities have been warning about: More cocaine than ever is pouring into the continent, where South American chemists, traffickers and local mafias are helping to bring it to market.

With increasingly clever ways of smuggling the drug and its coca base  including infusing cocaine into plastic chips, charcoal or clothes  authorities and analysts believe they may be finding only 10% to 15%, or even as little as 1%, of whats coming into Europe, a booming market for cocaine that now rivals the one in the United States.

Police officers approaching a container ship in Rotterdam harbor, the Netherlands, which has become a hub of drug smuggling. (John Thys/AFP via Getty Images)

The number of shipments coming in has increased, the interdiction rate has increased, forensics expert Andrew Cunningham, who heads the markets, crime and supply reduction unit at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon, Portugal, told Yahoo News. Cocaine use has increased, and the quality of whats on the streets has increased. The only thing that isnt up, said Cunningham, is the price. On the street, cocaine still sells for around $65 a gram, even though the potency of the drug has gone up. In Europe it is being cut less  boosting its strength  apparently because traffickers have so much product that they want to get rid of it quickly, said Cunningham.

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Authorities say there is now a surplus of the drug, with chemists turning some of it into highly addictive crack cocaine or mixing it with deadly fentanyl. Worldwide cocaine production is breaking all records, with some 1,800 tons in 2019, and numbers have grown each year since.

In recent years, traffickers have increasingly looked to expand their customer base in Europe, where cocaine can fetch double the wholesale price of that in the U.S. And while Colombian cartels have historically dealt only with Italian mafias, who controlled its entry into Europe, new criminal actors are now involved in producing, smuggling and distributing cocaine across the continent.

Seized packages of cocaine at a police base in Cartagena, Colombia, previously bound for Rotterdam. (Felipe Caicedo/AP)

Since the breakup of Colombias Medellin and Cali cartels in the 1990s, the trend in drug trafficking has been away from monolithic, centrally controlled operations and towards ever more multinational, decentralized networks, involving numerous different trafficking cells, which often have specialist roles, said James Bargent, a journalist at InSight Crime who co-authored The Cocaine Pipeline to Europe, a report released by Global Initiative. He added that these fluid networks are more flexible and agile, and less vulnerable to law enforcement, as each node knows little about the others and can often be easily replaced if one is taken down.

Over the past 15 years, Albanian crime groups have muscled into the scene and Colombian and Dominican traffickers have moved to Europe to oversee operations from Spain, long a major hub for cocaine entry. Now, however, most smuggled cocaine is believed to be coming via maritime containers into the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands  Europes biggest  and the nearby port of Antwerp, Belgium.

The Netherlands has always been a country thats connected with some drug trafficking, but thats because its a country thats a transportation hub, criminologist Lieselot Bisschop, a professor at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, told Yahoo News. There's a lot of infrastructure that facilitates trade overall. Illegal trade can piggyback off of the legal trade.

Belgian customs officers search for drugs in a container at the port of Antwerp. (Francois Walschaerts/AFP via Getty Images)

With nearly 9 million containers coming through the Dutch port every year, added Georges of Europol, its impossible to check everything, given the volume, and [smugglers] take advantage of the situation.

In 2021, authorities seized over 70 tons of cocaine with a street value of over $3.5 billion in that port alone  a new record. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, a report posted on the Port of Rotterdam website stated. It seems that these drug seizures are not really hampering criminal activities.

As the amount of cocaine coming into the region has skyrocketed, so has the number of traffickers and distributors, narco-crimes, murders and public shootings, all of which has shaken traditionally tolerant Dutch society. Jan Struijs, chairman of the Netherlands PolitieBond police union, said recently that his country has transformed into a narco-state.

But European intelligence agencies recently got a huge boost. In 2021, French, Belgian and Dutch authorities cracked into criminals encrypted networks, including the one used most by drug traffickers, Sky ECC, giving them access to over 4 million messages. We could see the conversations happening live between drug traffickers and other criminal groups, said Georges. This has completely changed what law enforcement knew about the criminal underworld, really a groundbreaking moment.

Many of the ongoing busts across Europe were facilitated by taking down the phone networks, as we realized who's working with who, and the location of the labs, Georges said. Hundreds of alleged cocaine traffickers and distributors have been arrested as a result, drug seizures have soared and dozens of laboratories have been shut down across Europe.

Bales of cocaine weighing more than 5 tons at a Portuguese navy base in Almada, south of Lisbon. (Armando Franca/AP)

Europol is also going after another group that has sometimes proved to be an integral part of the smuggling network: port workers. According to Europol, port workers may be offered up to 10% of a shipment to look the other way.

Despite the progress that's being made, authorities acknowledge it will be difficult to keep on the pressure. Criminal networks are quickly adapting, changing up delivery ports, with smaller European ports now being favored.

Drug traffickers and law enforcement have long been engaged in a type of arms race when it comes to trafficking methods, said InSight Crimes Bargent. Every time law enforcement develops new methods or improves its capacity for detection or interdiction, then traffickers have two options: They look for new routes or they develop new techniques, which is driving the increasing sophistication of smuggling methods.

Some traffickers chemically transform cocaine so it looks like pet food or is infused in industrial materials like plastic, Bargent said. Other smugglers have dressed up as nuns or stitched their cocaine haul into fake buttocks.

Bisschop is concerned that cocaine users dont make the connection between their partying materials and the effects of organized crime groups, whose presence is linked to increased violence, firearms and human trafficking. I was just talking with a student who said she was surprised that her peers who use cocaine dont seem to know or care. I dont know whether everybody is connecting the dots.

Georges thinks that if current trends continue, cocaine users may change their activities and attitudes.

Violence is on the rise in Europe, she said. And thats mainly because of increased competition, especially in drug trafficking. She added that while she hopes that narco-crimes are contained, if the violence starts reaching the streets, as it has in parts of the Netherlands, there might be a switch in the public perception of this drug.
Michael Pitpitan, 13, kisses his grandmother, Rep. Karen Bass, after a family dinner. Bass is running against businessman Rick Caruso for mayor of Los Angeles. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Last month, after the first L.A. mayoral debate between Karen Bass and Rick Caruso, I approached their campaigns with the same request.

I wanted to sit down with each candidate to discuss subjects that would offer insight into how they would serve as mayor.

I asked Bass to talk about her Mexican American stepchildren. As a family, they have lived what so many people say L.A. has always lacked and needs now more than ever: good relations between the Black and Latino communities.

With Caruso, I wanted to discuss our shared Catholicism. Thats the anchor for his community work and volunteerism, which is too often overshadowed by his gleaming developments and ability to spend nearly $80 million of his own money (so far) to run for office.

Bass is running against businessman Rick Caruso for mayor of Los Angeles. She has a Korean barbecue dinner with her grandson Michael Pitpitan, 13, and daughters Scythia and Yvette Lechuga on a recent evening in Mid-City. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Bass, 69, has rarely opened up about her blended family. Caruso proudly proclaims his faith, flashing an image of the Virgen de Guadalupe in the background of one television ad and a photo of a young Rick with his late uncle, Father Lawrence Caruso, in another.

But Caruso rejected my suggestion that I attend Mass with him, saying through his people that it was a private affair. When I offered instead to meet at the USC Caruso Catholic Center, built with a $6-million gift from Caruso and his wife, Tina, I never heard back.

Bass agreed to my invitation almost immediately.

Thats how I found myself sharing Korean barbecue in Mid-City with Bass, her three adult kids and a grandchild the night before a leaked tape of Latino city councilmembers saying all sorts of bigoted things, including about a Black child, upended L.A. politics.

Scythia, Omar and Yvette Lechuga are the biological children of Jesus Lechuga, Bass former husband, born after Bass and Lechuga divorced in the 1980s. Bass, a physician's assistant, remained friends with Lechuga until his death last decade and was an active part of the children's lives since I was in the womb, said Scythia, a manager at a Ralphs in Santa Clarita. Karen actually gave my mom her first prenatal.... She was in the delivery room!"

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Bass has a Korean barbecue dinner with her daughter Yvette Lechuga, center, grandson Michael Pitpitan and daughter Scythia Lechuga on Oct. 8, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

I mentioned how unusual it was to maintain such close ties  Bass and the Lechuga siblings' biological mother remain friends  especially since so many divorces end in acrimony. Bass pushed back almost immediately.

It has always been about the kids, she replied while passing around banchan. I always knew that the children are central, and it doesn't matter what's going on with the adults.

We're just full integration, Scythia added.

Now, if the children hadn't been born, I mean, maybe we would have just gone our separate ways, Bass said of Jesus. But I just don't do that. I mean, when a relationship is over, it doesn't mean that you have to hate each other."

She dug into a plate of white rice topped with extra bean sprouts and kalbi. But its always about the children. The children have to be something.

The dinner was mostly like any family mealtime  in fact, Bass and the Lechugas have patronized the spot for over 20 years and ate there two weeks earlier.

Scythia is the oldest sister at 34, funny but more reserved than 30-year-old Yvette. Omar, 32, was the shy guy who spoke up only to offer great insights or perfectly timed jokes. Bass and I split a Sapporo as the kids told laughter-filled stories about how she taught them to use chopsticks. How she drove them and their friends all over Los Angeles each summer in a beat-up green Dodge minivan. Holidays spent together every year since they were small. How she was the "gatekeeper" for Scythia and Yvette whenever a guy wanted to date them.

Bass mostly basked in their love.

Yvette, a nonprofit worker, passed around childhood photos of her and her siblings reading on couches while Hot Wheels littered the living room floor. There were stories about their "big sister" Emilia  Bass and Lechuga's only biological child  who died at age 23 alongside her husband, Michael Wright, in a 2006 car accident.

Scythia, Omar and Yvette all swore that their stepmom hadnt changed one bit as she went from working in emergency rooms to co-creating an influential nonprofit in South L.A. to California Assembly speaker to Congress member to the cusp of becoming head of the second-largest city in the United States.

The only thing thats changed, Omar deadpanned, is less newspapers, because she now reads mostly online.

Bass says goodbye to Scythia Lechuga, left, and Yvette Lechuga after dinner. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Out of the family chatter emerged a Bass who privately acted on the principles she has long advocated for publicly and promises to pursue as L.A. mayor.

One of the first big tests for her blended family came when Yvette was diagnosed with childhood leukemia at age 5. Because of her medical background, Bass took charge of hospital stays and doctor's appointments.

When I didn't have hair, they didn't really question our connection, Yvette said. But every time I grew my hair back, they would question her, And who are you?

You remember that! Bass said, surprised. You remember that?

Yeah, Yvette replied.

That would make me very angry, Bass said, her voice dropping. They would want to know who I am, asking for proof, which I would refuse to give them. It's like, Who do you think I am? Im her mother. So there. What are you going to do about that?'

And then the other thing, she continued. I don't know if you guys will remember this, but when I would take you to San Diego, I would always worry with Checkpoint Charlie.

The San Clemente Border Patrol checkpoint, I asked?

Yeah! she replied. I'm in the van with them. Am I going to get stopped? We didn't. But I worried about it.

There was silence. Then Bass saw her grandson Michael, 13, whisper something to his mom, Scythia. He wanted some Sapporo.

Bass grinned. "You know that's not happening."

It was a motherly side seldom acknowledged in Bass' public profile as an activist and politician, which her opponents have long pointed to as proof that she's a member of the liberal elite.

I have read so many articles that claim that she's worth $1 million, $4 million, $22 million, Yvette scoffed. Im like, Where? Show me! Please! Why havent we gone to Hawaii?

Or to help pay for our school? Omar cracked.

Yvette nodded over at Scythia. She wouldnt be working at Ralphs!

Scythia laughed, and added, We dont get paid to be her daughter.

My refrigerator's broken, Bass suddenly remarked.

It's missing the handle, Yvette said with a scold.

What was her birthday present? Scythia asked, before answering: We helped clean out her refrigerator.

Everyone giggled.

They all text one another daily, and Bass loves taking care of her grandchildren, whom she called "my boys" multiple times during our dinner. I asked Bass how being a mother figure to Latino children has influenced her life.

I don't know that it did, she responded.

The other way around, Yvette quickly replied.

She explained that she and her siblings didnt get much Mexican culture from their biological parents. In fact, her father would tell them how schoolteachers washed out his mouth with soap for speaking Spanish in class.

Because thats how we grew up, [Bass] actively, always tried to get us closer to our roots, Yvette said. We would go through a phase  I dont want to listen to music in Spanish! I don't want to eat the Mexican food! Wed rather eat Korean food!' 

I didnt want them to be disconnected from their culture, she said. That's very important. Extremely important. And now I'm getting on them because 

We don't speak Spanish, Scythia sheepishly admitted.

Well, I want Henry to speak Spanish! Bass shot back with a smile, referring to Yvettes son.

It's a big regret of mine that I'm not fluent, and there's no reason I shouldnt have been, Bass continued, explaining how she learned enough at the county hospital to talk with immigrants but that now she sounds like Im 6.

Well, youre more fluent than us! Yvette replied.

Bass campaigns team  which had spent the entire time at a nearby table looking at their smartphones  told us to wrap up. We had hung out for an hour and a half.

I ended by asking Bass why she had kept this side of herself from the public for so long, and why she was now allowing me and others in. Yvette has spoken at Bass rallies, and her son drew laughs during the primaries when he mimicked his grandmother during a speech.

"It's just been how I've lived my life," she said. "I didn't want people to think this is tokenism. Like, 'Oh, she just went and found these kids.'"

"We were just a family," Scythia added. "Not that, Oh, were Mexican and shes Black.'"

Your values are 24/7," Bass said as she put leftovers in a to-go box. "Its how you live. It's not just what you do when you're in front of a camera.

Our family," Scythia concluded, "is not a hashtag."

We said our goodbyes. The following day, Los Angeles underwent a political earthquake. The Latino politicians on the tape portrayed an us-versus-them attitude toward Black people, white people, other Latinos and just about everyone else.

Bass and her stepchildren demonstrate just how wrong they were.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A protest sign on the garage door of Councilman Kevin de Leon's home. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Kevin de Leon knows the trauma many Angelenos carry. He has seen Black and brown mens lives destroyed by powerful institutions that show them no mercy.

He knows the scars the city bears from double standards that enable and empower white antiheroes while demonizing and disposing of flawed men of color.

This knowledge gave him audacity to try a fast-tracked comeback through media appearances last Wednesday, his first time speaking publicly since audio of a racist conversation he participated in leaked earlier this month. I failed, its that simple, he told Univisions Leon Krauze in a Spanish-language interview.

De Leon focused his pleas for forgiveness on his silence when Nury Martinez, the council president who has since resigned, made the conversations most revolting remarks. While he and his colleague Gil Cedillo face deafening calls to resign for contributing to the anti-Black and anti-Indigenous comments, De Leon says he wont step down because theres still a lot of work ahead.

Yes, there is. But how can he hope to be part of that work when he hasnt reckoned with the magnitude of his failure? If he had, he wouldnt be trying to dictate the terms of his absolution. In a letter to the new council president, Paul Krekorian, De Leon promised to take professional sensitivity training, as if his problem could be fixed by corporate workshops on wokeness.

He acts like he knows better than anyone how to heal the wounds he opened.

As I watched De Leon looking dejected on Univision, though, it struck me that his scheme for sympathy might succeed. He was manipulating a part of me that couldnt help rooting for him as a Latino refusing to surrender in the face of outrage amplified by a culture all too eager to see Black and brown men fall.

De Leon was betting that many others who watch Spanish-language news  especially mothers, grandmothers and other Latinas whove loved men who look like him  would have the same reflexive pity and relieve him of the burden of earning the communitys forgiveness. Wed clean up his mess for him.

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Hes flashing the same toxic machismo in this interview as in the leaked conversation  the kind that sees any substantial inconvenience as an assault.

But De Leon is not a victim. Hes not the same as the Black and brown men who are disproportionately incarcerated and murdered by law enforcement. Hes one of the most powerful men in the city. And he betrayed his constituents trust by laughing at or chiming in on ridicule of those most in need of his defense.

The recording exposed his Latino grievance politics, a mutation of white grievance politics that threatens decades of multiracial coalition building. In a county where Latinos are nearly half of the population, we cant have leaders who are poised for majority rule at the expense of darker-skinned and poorer residents.

But there is one thing in this scandal more disturbing than the zero-sum calculus it exposed: the casual ease with which President Biden and other powerful figures piled onto the pressure for De Leon and Cedillo to resign over a racist conversation while the administration continues the far more destructive offense of deportations that materially, economically and psychologically devastate Black and brown families  the families that De Leon and Cedillo have a record of protecting.

The two disgraced leaders had previously been among the boldest fighters for the countrys most vulnerable people: undocumented ones persecuted by both parties. From Cedillos transformative struggle for drivers licenses for undocumented Californians to De Leons key role in making California a sanctuary state, they showed guts. Their hubris once served a noble purpose.

Perhaps power corrupted them. They should be held accountable. But they should not be caricatured as monsters. That sort of indulgence would abuse a privilege that certain people have  the privilege to speak and be heard. Many of the Angelenos who most need representation from individuals like Cedillo and De Leon, the most oppressed, are too busy struggling to be following the scandals sordid details and opining on them. One Indigenous woman from Guatemala who lives in De Leons district told me she wasnt sure, from my description of events, whether resignations were the only recourse. We all make mistakes, she said. If he asked for forgiveness, Im a person who forgives. But its not about me.

What if it were? De Leon once served people like her, scoring a historic statewide increase to the minimum wage, among other things. But he, Martinez and Cedillo have since revealed that they see people like her as the butt of jokes sometimes.

L.A. has seen this script before. The one in which people of color in positions of power increasingly become co-opted into a project of class-based oppression. Roberto Lovato, a former immigrant rights activist in L.A. and the author of Unforgetting, calls it the rise of intersectional empire.

How can we in the media, academic circles and other places of privilege avoid becoming what we condemn? It will require more than calling for resignations.

Lovato told me he fears that in the "deserved rush to condemn the racist garbage," classist garbage will be left intact.

Perhaps a more constructive project than shaming these politicians would be to challenge the ways were all complicit so we can build the city wed like to see: one where we resist the magnetism of riches, reject the high of in-group supremacy and remain committed to the diverse community. Whether De Leon keeps deluding himself doesnt matter nearly as much as how we fight for that together.

@jeanguerre

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks during a news conference May 12, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)

The fact that the Republican Party has a vacuum for its policy platform isn't necessarily a problem for the U.S., even if the GOP does manage to take control of one or both chambers of Congress.

The real problem is that instead of a platform, what the party has offered America is a torrent of unalloyed racism and antisemitism.

Experienced political observers are struck by the degree to which overt racism and antisemitism has moved into the mainstream Republican and conservative discourse.

Politicians know that this works. People watch Tucker Carlson. Marjorie Taylor Greene wins primaries.

Peter Loge, George Washington University

"It would be wrong to think that what's happening today is completely unprecedented or a complete aberration," says UCLA political scientist Dov Waxman. "What has shifted is the way in which this has become increasingly legitimized."

The outbreaks are everywhere.

At an Arizona rally for Donald Trump earlier this month, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) stated, "Joe Biden's 5 million illegal aliens are on the verge of replacing you  replacing your jobs and replacing your kids in school and coming from all over the world. They're also replacing your culture, and that's not great for America.

Greene's words referenced the notorious "great replacement theory," a white supremacist conspiracy meme that combines racism and antisemitism in holding that "inferior" non-white populations are poised to displace the white majority in America.

At another rally in Nevada, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) linked Black populations to crime:

"They are not soft on crime, Tuberville said, referring to Democrats. They're pro-crime. They want crime. They want crime because they want to take over what you got. They want to control what you have. They want reparations because they think the people that do the crime are owed that.

Trump himself, in a post on his Truth Social media platform that upbraided Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for cooperating with Democrats on spending bills, included a racist slur against McConnell's wife, Taiwan native Elaine Chao, calling her McConnell's "China loving wife, Coco Chow."

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Chao served in Trumps Cabinet as Transportation secretary for almost the entirety of his presidential term.

In another Truth Social post, Trump asserted that American Jews should support him because of his putative support for Israel  echoing the antisemitic notion that American Jews owe their loyalties to Israel and its regime. That post closed with the menacing words, "U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel - Before it is too late!"

Fox News star properties Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham have been pushing the great replacement theory for years.

In 2019, Carlson groused on the air about waves of immigration of people with high-school educations or less." He added, "Our leaders demand that you shut up and accept this. We have a moral obligation to admit the worlds poor, they tell us, even if it makes our country poorer and dirtier and more divided.

In a broadcast last year, Carlson was more explicit. "The Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate... with new people, more obedient, from the Third World... That's what's happening actually."

Ingraham's version, voiced in a podcast, was that Democrats were "for replacing the current American population, or swamping the current American population, with a new population of people who are perhaps more hospitable to socialist ideals."

The agent of change who moved this sort of rhetoric from the fringes to the mainstream of the Republican Party was plainly Trump. From the moment he announced his presidential candidacy in 2015 with a rant about Mexican immigrants  "Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists"  overt bigotry had the imprimatur of a leading Republican.

Once in office, Trump implemented policies based on invidious ethnic, religious and racist distinctions  for example, his Muslim ban barring travel into the U.S. of people from seven largely Muslim countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) and the suspension of Syrian refugee resettlements, as well as the family separation policy wielded against immigrants at the southern border.

Trump in effect licensed his followers to express bigoted views more forthrightly. Voicing views that had not been heard for years in social settings became acceptable, if not exactly respectable.

Trump tapped a vein of inchoate social anger by allowing his followers to train it on the "other" in ways that brought it out of the shadows.

"A lot of who we are as Americans is antisemitic, anti-Catholic, racist, xenophobic," says Peter Loge, director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication at George Washington University, "and Trump articulated it in a way that resonated with a lot of people who were feeling threatened. You've got 9/11, the war in Ukraine, school shootings, climate change, and in the face of this, people want an answer to: What the hell is going on, whose fault is it?

"Unfortunately, the easy answer for a lot of people is that its 'their' fault  the Mexicans' fault, the Jews' fault, the Blacks' fault. 'Those people' are trying to take our stuff."

As Waxman observed, bigotry in American political discourse has historical roots.

In the 1930s, the pioneering radio priest Charles Coughlin drew record audiences for his broadcasts from the Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Mich., even as he began to lard his sermons with explicitly antisemitic content.

Coughlin railed against "Jewish bankers" and accused Franklin Roosevelt of being "dominated by crafty Jews," and quoted from "The "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," a notorious tsarist forgery setting forth a supposed Jewish plot to achieve world domination. Coughlin's Catholic superiors finally forced him off the air in 1942.

The shadow of war seemed to encourage antisemites in the U.S., such as Charles Lindbergh. "The three most important groups who have been pressing this country toward war are the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt administration," the world-famous aviator and spokesman for the isolationist America First Committee said in a speech in September 1941.

Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entry into World War II forced Lindbergh into silence. The antisemitic views of Lindbergh as a fictional president later became the backbone of Philip Roth's 2005 novel "The Plot Against America."

Then came the 1950s, when the Republican Party was defined by the activities of Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisc.). Among the few voices raised against McCarthy within his own party was that of Sen. Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, who said in a memorable 1950 speech, "I dont want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the four horsemen of calumny  fear, ignorance, bigotry and smear."

That era is gone. "In the past, some of those bigots would have been considered beyond the pale," Waxman told me. "They would have been strongly criticized or condemned for making even veiled antisemitic remarks. Nowadays, when we hear politicians engaging in coded antisemitism or even blatant antisemitism there is very little condemnation. Even if there's a moment of hand-wringing and condemnation, there are no real political consequences."

Still, what works for the Republican Party remains anathema for Democrats. That's evident in the responses of the parties to outbreaks of racism or antisemitism in their ranks.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) unburdened herself of overtly antisemitic tropes in 2019, including suggesting that GOP support for Israel was all about Jewish financial contributions and accusing American Jews of "allegiance to a foreign country."

The response from party leaders was swift and explicit: "Congresswoman Omars use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israels supporters is deeply offensive," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and members of her leadership team said. We condemn these remarks and we call upon Congresswoman Omar to immediately apologize for these hurtful comments. Omar apologized.

By contrast, no mainstream GOP voices have been raised about Greene's remarks, or ties between Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and white nationalists. After Trump issued his racist slur against Elaine Chao, not even did McConnell, her husband, respond in public.

"Politicians know that this works," says Loge, a former staff member for congressional Democrats. "People watch Tucker Carlson. Marjorie Taylor Greene wins primaries. If this were to stop working  if Rep. Cheney handily won her primary, a lot of this would go away," he says, referring to Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who lost her primary for reelection in August after emerging as the leading Trump critic in the GOP. "A lot of clever and enterprising politicians would say, 'Aha  if I want to win office I have to stop speaking to the worst of who the American people are and speak to the best of what they can be."

Nor can one overlook the role of the changing informational media ecosystem. The problem is not limited to the tendency of social media to magnify controversy; it's also the tendency of all media to magnify controversy.

In decades past, the extreme and ignorant remarks of a back-bench congresswoman like Greene, from the exurban Atlanta area with no responsibilities in the House, would be largely ignored in her own party and the opposition.

Today, her remarks are repeated and amplified by sources across the spectrum, everyone for their own purposes. Republicans embrace Greene as an effective foil for Democrats, while Democrats see her as an emblem of the far-right's capture of the GOP; both parties have an interest in giving her statements play.

A reader of progressive-leaning websites will be inundated by Greene tweets, as well as those of such other right-wing Republicans as Gosar and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

The complacency underlying the mainstreaming of bigotry may underestimate its dangers. Waxman warns against being too alarmist about whether it presages the decline of American democracy, a la Germany in the 1930s, as America still has strong democratic institutions.

The "normalization of hateful rhetoric does lead to real-life consequences," however, manifested in a rise in hate crimes and their increasing violence, Waxman says. Conspiracy theories such as the great replacement, election fraud and QAnon become echoed by perpetrators of acts of violence.

The great replacement theory alone has been linked to four massacres: The killing of 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018; a gunman's killing of 23 shoppers at a Walmart in El Paso in August 2019; the killing of 51 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019; and the Tops Market massacre in Buffalo, N.Y., in May this year, which took 10 lives. The targets were, in order, Jews, Latinos, Muslims and Blacks; the suspects all left writings or internet postings bristling with great replacement rhetoric.

In other words, the politicians and media figures who voice this poisonous rhetoric, and those who sit by silently as it spreads, are complicit in a very dangerous trend. Complicit, and responsible for the consequences.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Smead Capital Management, an investment management company, released its Smead Value Fund third quarter 2022 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. For the recent quarter, the Smead Value Fund (SMVLX) lost 1.82% versus a loss of 4.88% for the formerly formidable S&P 500 Index and 5.62% in the Russell 1000 Value Index. The same is true for the year-to-date loss of 14.51% for the fund against losses in the S&P 500 of 23.87% and the Russell 1000 Value of 17.75%. Try to spare some time to check the fund's top 5 holdings for you to have an idea about their best stock picks this 2022.

In its Q3 2022 investor letter, Smead Value Fund mentioned ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 2002, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is a Houston, Texas-based petroleum refineries company with a $154.1 billion market capitalization. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) delivered a 67.79% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 59.31%. The stock closed at $121.11 per share on October 19, 2022.

Here is what Smead Value Fund has to say about ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:

"Our top-performing stocks in the quarter includes Conoco (NYSE:COP). Oil and gas have been the best game in the stock market town this year and it was a pleasant surprise to see home builders pick up even with dour news on interest rates and the economy. For the first three quarters of the year, we should change the name of our fund to the Jed Clampett Fund. Conoco (NYSE:COP) was one of the standouts. Up through the bear market came a bubblin crude!"

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Copyright: 1971yes / 123RF Stock Photo

Our calculations show that ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) fell short and didnt make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) was in 71 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the second quarter of 2022, compared to 67 funds in the previous quarter. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) delivered a 33.51% return in the past 3 months.

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In July 2022, we also shared another hedge funds views on ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q3 page.

Suggested Articles:

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Fearing for her safety, Elaine Jackson went to court last week and requested a restraining order against a co-worker she said was stalking and harassing her.

She worried about seeing Leon Douglas Hill at the Maryland Transit Administration Bush Division facility near Carroll Park in Southwest Baltimore, where they both reported to work, court records show.

Four days after a Baltimore County District Court judge granted her request for a temporary peace order, Jackson was gunned down in the Bush Division parking lot Tuesday evening.

On Friday, Baltimore Police said an arrest warrant had been issued charging Hill, 53, with first-degree murder in the killing, which detectives believe resulted from domestic violence.

Law enforcement were actively searching for him, officials said late Friday afternoon.

An MTA employee, Hill reported to the Washington Boulevard bus facility and worked the evening shift, Jackson wrote in court documents.

An agency spokesperson declined to answer questions Friday afternoon about Hills employment, including whether he was placed on leave or otherwise disciplined.

The shooting unfolded around 5 p.m. Tuesday in the facilitys parking lot and Jackson, 40, died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to Baltimore Police.

In her written statement requesting the restraining order, Jackson said she rekindled a friendship with Hill in March or April. She said they had some differences in the past and he basically was asking for my forgiveness.

But in July, she started distancing herself again.

I noticed that he wanted more and he knew I was in a relationship, she wrote.

Hill started harassing her several weeks ago, relentlessly calling and texting, demanding money and threatening her, according to her statement. She checked a box on the application indicating she was being stalked.

He also stated that if he cant have me, no one will, she said.

In response to a question about whether he had weapons, Jackson wrote: None that I know of.

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Jackson was granted a temporary peace order and directed to appear in court Friday morning to argue for its extension, court records show. The order was dismissed when she failed to appear at the hearing  three days after her death.

A Baltimore County Police officer tried to serve Hill with the peace order last week, but court records show the attempt was unsuccessful. It was unclear whether additional attempts were made. According to the order, he was prohibited from contacting Jackson and ordered to stay away from her home.

In a statement following her death, MTA officials said Jackson had served as a bus driver in Baltimore for four years. They said counseling was available to her colleagues.

She was a warm, caring individual and a valued member of the team, the statement said.

Recent attempts to reach her family were unsuccessful.

At the Bush Division facility Friday afternoon, the gated parking lot was quiet. A bunch of white and gold balloons  including one shaped like a giant E  broke free from their tether and floated slowly toward the sky.
Finlands Kimi Raikkonen celebrates his victory following the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos (Martin Rickett/PA (PA Archive)

Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen won the Brazilian Grand Prix to seal the Formula One drivers championship on this day in 2007.

In one of the closest finishes ever seen, Raikkonens victory enabled him to finish one point ahead of both McLarens Lewis Hamilton and the Englishmans team-mate Fernando Alonso in the final standings.

There was always likely to be one last extraordinary twist to the most astonishing of seasons in the 58 years of the sport, and so it proved at Interlagos.

Raikkonen started third on the grid, behind team-mate Felipe Massa on pole and Hamilton, but passed Hamilton on the approach to the first corner before the McLaren driver ran wide later in the lap and fell to eighth.

And on lap eight it appeared as if Hamiltons dream of becoming the first rookie, and the youngest driver, to take the title was over as he dramatically slowed, almost to a standstill.

The 22-year-old could be seen rocking in his McLaren, virtually willing it to get going, while all the time the field streamed by. His car finally regained power, but the malfunction had relegated him to 18th place.

Hamilton eventually finished seventh and although Massa led comfortably for 50 laps, the championship situation dictated a pit-stop strategy from Ferrari which ensured Raikkonen emerged ahead of his team-mate and he took the chequered flag by 1.4 seconds.

Raikkonen hailed his achievement as the work of everyone at Ferrari, including Massa.

The Finn said: We were not in the strongest position at some points of the season but we always believed we could recover and do a better job than the others.

Even in the hard times we stuck together and we didnt give up. Even from a long way behind we didnt give up. We worked very hard and Felipe helped too. The team has been very close together.
Associated Press

The extended Senate campaign in Georgia between the Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, and his Republican challenger, football legend Herschel Walker, has grown increasingly bitter as their Dec. 6 runoff nears. With Democrats already assured a Senate majority, its a striking contrast from two years ago, when the state's twin runoffs were mostly about which party would control the chamber in Washington. Herschel Walker aint serious, Warnock told supporters recently in central Georgia, saying that Walker majors in lying and fumbles the basics of public policy.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday said the White House can confirm that Russia was sending Iranian drones to attack Ukraine from the Crimean peninsula, with military personnel from Tehran on the ground providing technical support and training.

The confirmation from Washington raises the stakes for the international community and United Nations to impose costs on both Russia and Iran. Kirby said the U.S. is exploring new sanctions.

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, Im foreign policy reporter Laura Kelly. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

Kirby says extensive proof Russia using Iran drones

The White House on Thursday said that Russia was launching devastating drone attacks against Ukraine from its military bases on the occupied Crimean peninsula, aided by Iranian military personnel providing technical assistance and training.

Kirby said that the U.S. cannot offer exact numbers on how many Iranians are in Crimea, adding that its a relatively small number but called Russian and Iranian denials of collusion a lie.

Theres extensive proof of their use by Russia against both military and civilian targets [in Ukraine], yet both Iran and Russia continue to lie about it, he said. Russia has received dozens of UAVs so far, and will likely continue to receive additional shipments in the future.



Kirby also raised concern that Russia may also seek to acquire advanced conventional weapons from Iran such as surface to surface missiles that will almost certainly be used to support the war against Ukraine.

Read more here.

Whats next? Kirby said that the administration is exploring new sanctions and that the Department of Defense is looking actively at potential air defense solutions for the Ukrainians.

The U.S., along with the United Kingdom, France and Ukraine, are also pushing for accountability at the United Nations, raising the issue with the Security Council that Irans transfer of weapons to Russia violates resolution 2231, the text that enshrined the 2015 nuclear deal.

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Ukraine has called for the U.N. to send experts to examine the drones.

While resolution 2231 allows for the transfer of restricted items to or from Iran  such as weaponized drones  its only allowed when approved on a case-by-case basis. Drone sales to Russia were not brought before the security council.

We are focused on making sure were holding Iran and Russia accountable for these arms sales, and there are existing [UNSC resolutions], like 2231 that give us the authority to continue to sanction Iranian defense industry and that kind of thing, Kirby said.

But how does this affect the administrations efforts to revive the nuclear deal with Iran?

Our focus right now, quite frankly is not on the JCPOA, Kirby said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

Biden worried about Ukraine aid if GOP wins House

President Biden on Thursday said hes concerned about the fate of aid for Ukraine if Republicans win control of Congress after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) signaled the party would not provide a blank check for Ukrainians.

I am worried about it because they said they would cut it, Biden told reporters during a stop in Pittsburgh.

Read more here.

McCarthy told Punchbowl News earlier this week that House Republicans will not write a blank check to Ukraine if they take control of the lower chamber next year.

MCCARTHY IS ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH SENATE GOP LEADER MCCONNELL

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has led Republican support for sending generous military and financial aid to Kyiv, warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin could threaten Poland and other European allies if not stopped in Ukraine.

McCarthy, who would likely become Speaker if Republicans win control of the House, is putting the brakes on more Ukraine aid, warning this week there wont be a blank check from a GOP majority.

McConnell took an unannounced trip to Ukraine in May to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He said he hoped not many members of my party will choose to politicize this issue, also highlighting that House Republicans voted for a $40 billion Ukraine package that month.

But House Republican support for the war in Ukraine is eroding as the conflict drags on, and experts predict the United States could be headed into a recession next year, which could diminish support for sending tens of billions of dollars in additional aid to Ukraine.

Its the first significant policy difference between McCarthy and McConnell that will come into the spotlight after Election Day. Congress will reconvene next month to wrap up the unfinished business of the 117th Congress.

Read more here.



RELATED: Ukrainian defense minister brushes off McCarthys blank check comments as campaign tactics

Trusss downfall sparks talk of UK democracy decline

Questions of democratic legitimacy are swirling in the United Kingdom after the resignation on Thursday of Prime Minister Liz Truss, whose government collapsed just 44 days after she took office.

Trusss downfall will trigger a second leadership election within the Conservative Partys 170,000 members to pick a third prime minister for the country of 67 million this year.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, another conservative, resigned in July following revelations that hed disobeyed the U.K.s COVID-19 regulations while the country was on lockdown.

Trusss departure does not require a public vote to select a new government, though opposition party politicians seized on the moment to call for a general election.

Constitutionally, theres no case for a general election. There wasnt one when Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair in 2007 nor in 1990 when John Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher, British political scientist Vernon Bogdanor told the BBC Thursday. But the political case is obviously very strong.

Trusss swift departure, which marks the shortest tenure of a prime minister in British history, raises questions about the institutional soundness of liberal democracies at a time when divisions between the global East and West are rising.

Those divisions are both military and economic, with NATO supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia and the U.S. rejigging major production pipelines away from China in key industries such as semiconductors.

China and Russia often relish political instability and chaos in the West, exploiting it as an opportunity to bash liberal democracies as inferior to their political systems.

Dmitri Medvedev, deputy head of Russias security council and a close Putin ally, tweeted Bye, bye [Liz Truss], congrats to lettuce, referring to a British-newspaper gimmick that was grading whether the freshness of a head of lettuce would outlast the prime minister.

The headline in Chinas Global Times, considered a mouthpiece for the ruling communist party in Beijing, read Shortest-serving Truss resigns after failed tax-cut plan, showing old Western democracy cannot solve new problems.

Jonathan Katz, director of Democracy Initiatives and a senior fellow with The German Marshall Fund of the United States, said that Political turmoil has an impact on governments ability to function and to react to things that are needed, whether its domestic or international in the case of Ukraine.



He added, Any time you have any of these key partners of Ukraine, and of the transatlantic community, going through a difficult political crisis, it can certainly have an impact on that countrys ability to continue high level support.

Read the full story here.

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, 10 a.m. is discussing Transatlantic Relations with French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna

The Middle East Policy Council, 10 a.m. will host its 110th Capitol Hill Conference on Iran, featuring discussion on historical context and latest developments from Washingtons leading Iran policy experts.

Georgetown Universitys Africa-China Initiative, 12:30 p.m., is hosting Chinese Activities and their Impacts on African Countries Peace and Security

WHAT WERE READING

Economist: A big day for lettuces  Who will be Britains next leader?

Daily chart  Liz Truss is Britains shortest-serving prime minster. A chaotic six weeks ends in humiliating defeat:

Worlds female foreign ministers meet to show support for Iranian women

DoD: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says Mental health is health  period, following annual report on suicide in the military

Defense One: Why the Pentagons Crush on Elon Musk Is Dangerous to Democracy

WaPo: Former U.S. Navy leaders profited from overlapping interests on sub deal

WSJ: Chinas Military Is Catching Up to the U.S. Is It Ready for Battle?

NYT: U.S. Sees Opportunity for Ukraine to Capitalize on Russian Weakness

Thats it for this week! Check out The Hills Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you next Monday!

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Christopher Deluzio's campaign; Rebecca Droke/AP Photo; Insider

Democrat Christopher Deluzio is running against Republican Jeremy Shaffer in Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District.

The 17th District is located in the Pittsburgh suburbs.

Both candidates are being heavily backed by their national parties' campaign arms.

Democrat Christopher Deluzio faces off against Republican Jeremy Shaffer in Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District.

Rep. Conor Lamb, who currently represents the district, gave up his seat to pursue the Democratic nomination for the US Senate seat soon to be vacated by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. But Lamb lost the Democratic primary to Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.

Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District candidates

Deluzio, Lamb's Democratic replacement, is an Iraq War veteran and voting rights attorney. After returning from his deployments, including a tour in Iraq, Deluzio received his law degree from Georgetown Law and clerked for a federal judge. He then went on to work at the Brennan Center for Justice on the voting rights and election security teams and later served as the policy director at Pitt Cyber.

Deluzio handily defeated his opponent Sean Meloy in the Democratic primary, bringing in nearly two-thirds of the vote. He was added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Red to Blue" program, designed to bolster campaigns in attempts to flip the district from Republican to Democratic control.

Shaffer, Deluzio's challenger, is a former Ross Township commissioner and board president. He was endorsed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and named to the "On the Radar" list as part of the National Republican Congressional Committee's Young Guns program.

Voting history for Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District

Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District encompasses the Pittsburgh suburbs of Mt. Lebanon, Penn Hills, and all of Republican-leaning Beaver County.

President Joe Biden had a near 3 percentage point margin of victory under the district's previous boundaries in 2020  before it was redrawn to take in a chunk of suburban Allegheny County in redistricting following the 2020 Census, making it slightly more Democratic.

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The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Deluzio has raised $2.8 million, spent $2.7 million, and has $103,802 of cash on hand, as of October 19. His opponent, Shaffer, has raised $2.5 million, spent $1.8 million, and has $663,164 of cash still left to spend, as of October 19.

Through early November, super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate groups have combined to spend about $18 million to advocate for or against the candidates.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, National Republican Campaign Committee, GOP-backing super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund, and Democrat-backing hybrid PAC House Majority PAC are the top spenders in the race.

What experts say

The race between Deluzio and Shaffer is rated as a "toss-up" by Inside Elections, a "toss-up" by The Cook Political Report, and a "toss-up" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider
MIAMI (AP)  Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crists campaign manager has left his position after being charged in a domestic violence case.

Austin Durrer was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor assault in Dorchester County, Maryland, according to online court records.

The Crist campaign announced in a Wednesday statement that Durrer had resigned, citing a family matter. But another statement released Friday said that Durrer was dismissed as soon as the campaign learned of his arrest.

Durrer and the woman he lives with released a joint statement.

Very sadly, an incident took place this week at our home that we both regret," the statement said. "We are both working to drop legal charges and move forward. Our primary focus at this time is our daughter, our greatest joy, and we appreciate privacy and respect as we navigate this as a family.

Crist, who is a Democrat, canceled a campaign appearance on Friday in Gadsden County. Durrer's exit comes less than three weeks before Election Day. Crist is challenging Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has held a consistent lead in polls.

The campaign's deputy manager, Sydney Throop, has taken over for Durrer.
Sarah Burnett/AP Photo; Will Weissert/AP Photo; Insider

Democrat Hillary Scholten is facing off against Republican John Gibbs in Michigan's 3rd District.

Gibbs ousted incumbent Rep. Peter Meijer in a primary that hinged on Meijer's vote to impeach Trump.

Gibbs' win and redistricting have Democrats optimistic they can flip the seat.

Democrat Hillary Scholten takes on Republican John Gibbs in a race overshadowed by former President Donald Trump and the remnants of a contentious GOP primary in Michigan's 3rd Congressional District.

Michigan's 3rd Congressional District candidates

Scholten thought she was gunning for a rematch with incumbent Rep. Peter Meijer, a Republican whose last name is literally a brand in Michigan. But Meijer's decision to cast one of his first-ever votes to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting the January 6 Capitol riot has hung over the district ever since.

Trump pushed John Gibbs, a Trump administration Housing and Urban Development official, to a primary win over Meijer  one of the latest stops in a revenge tour of the nine other House Republicans who backed Trump's impeachment. Now, this seat anchored in Grand Rapids that Trump barely carried in 2020 has Republicans nervous.

Scholten, a former Department of Justice attorney, has portrayed herself as a consensus-seeking Democrat who would rein in her party's spending plans. Gibbs' standing has been further imperiled by CNN unearthing blog posts from his time as a Stanford student where he argued that women having a right to vote led to suffering.

The seat also became much more Democratic-leaning following redistricting. A state commission grappled with the loss of a seat by forcing the 3rd District to absorb much of an old seat, per FiveThirtyEight.

Voting history for Michigan's 3rd Congressional District

Trump saw his margin of victory crash under the old lines, carrying the seat by about 3 percentage points after winning handily by almost double-digits in 2016.

Meijer replaced long-time Rep. Justin Amash, a libertarian Republican, who often cruised to reelection. In his 2020 race against Scholten, Meijer won by 6 points. However, the new district lines make the seat Democratic-leaning.

Story continues

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Scholten has raised $2.9 million, spent $2 million, and has $959,333 on hand, as of September 30. Her opponent, Gibbs, has raised $1 million, spent $929,899, and has $119,627 remaining, as of September 30.

As of mid-October, super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate groups have combined to spend about $9 million to advocate for or against this race's candidates, including during the primaries.

What experts say

The race between Scholten and Gibbs is rated as "tilt Democratic" by Inside Elections, "lean Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Steve Dipaola/AP Photo; Insider

Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner is running against Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in Oregon's 5th Congressional District.

The 5th District covers many of the state's conservative and liberal strongholds.

If elected, McLeod-Skinner would be the first lesbian congresswoman from Oregon. Chavez-DeRemer would be one of the first Latinas elected from the state.

Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner faces off against Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in Oregon's 5th Congressional District.

Oregon's 5th Congressional District candidates

McLeod-Skinner is a small business owner and emergency response coordinator. Prior to running for Congress, she worked in the public service sector managing the repairs of hospitals and schools in Bosnia and Kosovo. The 55-year-old candidate also served on the city council of Santa Clara, California, for eight years.

If elected, McLeod-Skinner would be the first openly lesbian person from Oregon to be a member of Congress. Currently, there are 11 LGBTQ people openly serving in Congress, and three are lesbian.

McLeod-Skinner defeated seven-term incumbent Rep. Kurt Schrader in the Democratic primary for Oregon's 5th Congressional District, securing 56.9% of the vote to his 42.7%.

Both received prominent endorsements  McLeod-Skinner from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Schrader from President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Chavez-DeRemer, McLeod-Skinner's challenger, is one of several Hispanic conservative women running for office in 2022. She served as mayor of Happy Valley from 2010 to 2018. If elected, Chavez-DeRemer would be the first Republican to flip the seat that's been held by Democratic Rep. Schrader since 2009.

Chavez-DeRemer defeated her GOP challengers in a five-way primary, bringing in more than 40% of the total vote.

Voting history for Oregon's 5th Congressional District

Oregon's 5th Congressional District is situated to the west of the state and encompasses Bend and the Portland suburbs.

The freshly redrawn district, which backed Biden over former President Donald Trump by about 10 percentage points under its previous boundaries in 2020, was reconfigured to cover many conservative and liberal strongholds in Oregon in redistricting following the 2020 Census, making it competitive.

Story continues

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, McLeod-Skinner has raised $3.2 million, spent $2.8 million, and has $404,404 of cash on hand, as of October 19. Her opponent, Chavez-DeRemer, has raised $2.2 million, spent $1.9 million, and has $317,652 of cash still left to spend, as of October 19.

As of early November, super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate groups have combined to spend about $12.9 million advocating for or against candidates in this race, including during the primaries.

What experts say

The race between McLeod-Skinner and Chavez-DeRemer is rated as "tilt Republican" by Inside Elections, "lean Republican" by The Cook Political Report, and a "leans Republican" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Democratic candidate Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Republican candidate Mehmet Oz, a celebrity doctor. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz are facing off for US Senate in Pennsylvania.

Fetterman is the state's lieutenant governor and Oz is a celebrity doctor and first-time candidate.

Pennsylvania is a closely-contested battleground state that Biden won by 1.2 points in 2020.

Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz are facing off for an open US Senate seat in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Senate candidates

Fetterman and Oz are vying to succeed GOP Sen. Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, a battleground Senate race critical to both parties' fortunes in the US Senate  and a seat Democrats are aiming to flip back from Republican control.

Fetterman has served as Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor since 2018 and was previously the mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, in the western part of the state. Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, rose to prominence as a celebrity doctor thanks to exposure from Oprah Winfrey, and is best known for his work on television hosting the "Dr. Oz Show."

Fetterman, a progressive, is centering his campaign around being a reliable 51st vote for Democratic priorities in the Senate. He supports changing the current filibuster rules to ease the passage of legislation and strongly supports marijuana legalization, even pushing President Joe Biden to decriminalize marijuana.

Fetterman's campaign has also slammed Oz with a series of posts on social media for living in New Jersey for much of his adult life and career.

Oz, meanwhile, has hammered Fetterman for his policy positions and sought to tie him to Biden's low approval ratings and the economy.

Fetterman's health has also been a major focal point during the race as the candidate recovers from a stroke in May. Oz's campaign has pressured Fetterman, who has had difficulty understanding spoken words, to release more medical information about his condition. Fetterman's doctor says the candidate "is recovering well from his stroke and his health has continued to improve."

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Voting history in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is a competitive swing state that backed former President Donald Trump by 1.2 points in the 2016 presidential election before flipping to support Biden by 1.2 points in the 2020 election.

In the Senate, incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey defeated his GOP opponent Lou Barletta by 13 points in 2018, a Democratic wave year. Toomey, meanwhile, defeated his final Democratic opponent, Katie McGinty, by just 1.5 points in 2016.

The money race

This race will certainly stand as one of the most expensive  if not the most expensive  2022 midterm races in the nation.

According to OpenSecrets, Fetterman has raised $56.7 million, spent about $52.1 million, and has $4.5 million in cash on hand, as of October 19. Oz has raised $40.4 million, spent $37.7 million, and has $2.6 million in cash on hand, as of October 19. Oz is also one of the top self-funding candidates in the nation, personally accounting for the majority of money contributed to his campaign.

Meanwhile, super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups have combined to spend more than $231.4 million in the race through November 7, including the primaries  an astonishing amount of outside money that ranks it among the most spending for a US Senate race in American history.

What experts say

The race between Fetterman and Oz is rated as a "toss-up" by Inside Elections and The Cook Political Report and "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Charles Krupa/AP Photo; Cheryl Senter/AP Photo

Rep. Chris Pappas is running against Republican Karoline Leavitt in New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District.

The 1st District is located in the eastern region of the state.

If Leavitt beats Pappas in November, she will be the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.

Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas faces off against Republican Karoline Leavitt in New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District.

New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District candidates

Pappas, running for his second term in the US House, serves on the House Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and Veterans' Affairs. The first openly gay man to represent New Hampshire in Congress, Pappas co-chairs the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.

Prior to his time in Congress, Pappas served on the New Hampshire Executive Council, representing District 4 from 2013 to 2019. He also served as treasurer of Hillsborough County from 2006 to 2010 and in the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 2002 to 2006.

In Congress, Pappas has focused on healthcare and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

Pappas entered Congress after he defeated Trump-backed Republican candidate Eddie Edward to replace outgoing Rep. Carol Shea-Porter.

Leavitt, Pappas' challenger, is a 25-year-old former White House staffer for President Donald Trump. Her campaign website states that she worked as a presidential writer. She also served as his assistant press secretary.

Leavitt became the second Gen Z candidate to win a congressional primary this year when she defeated her GOP opponents in the 10-way primary, including Matt Mowers, a former Trump staffer who in 2020 lost to Pappas by about 5 percentage points.

If she beats Pappas in November, Leavitt will be the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.

Voting history for New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District

New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District is located in the eastern region of the state and includes Manchester, the state's largest city, as well as Portsmouth and Laconia.

Story continues

President Joe Biden had a 6 percentage point margin of victory over Trump under the district's previous boundaries in 2020 before it underwent a redrawing process that kept district lines nearly the same in redistricting following the 2020 Census. The partisan lean  Democratic  remained unchanged.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Pappas has raised $4.6 million, spent $3.7 million, and has $1.2 million on hand, as of October 19. His opponent, Leavitt, has raised $3.1 million, spent $2.7 million, and has $391,980 cash on hand, as of October 19.

Through early November, the race has attracted nearly $21.5 million worth of spending by non-candidate groups such as super PACs and national party committees, including during the race's primary election.

What experts say

The race between Pappas and Leavitt is rated as "tilt Democratic" by Inside Elections, a "toss-up" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Colin Schmitt's campaign; Mary Altaffer/AP Photo; Insider

Democrat Pat Ryan is running against Republican state Rep. Colin Schmitt in New York's 18th Congressional District.

The 18th District is located in the Hudson Valley.

Incumbent Rep. Sean Maloney is running for reelection in New York's 17th Congressional District.

Democrat Rep. Pat Ryan faces off against Republican state Rep. Colin Schmitt in New York's 18th Congressional District.

Thanks to New York's topsy-turvy redistricting process, incumbent Democrat Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is running for re-election in the 17th Congressional District.

New York's 18th Congressional District candidates

Ryan is the former county executive of Ulster County in New York. He was first elected in a special election in May 2019, and then reelected to a full term the following November.

In August, Ryan defeated Republican Marc Molinaro in the special election for New York's 19th Congressional District, where he's serving the rest of former Rep. Antonio Delgado's term, which ends in January 2023. Delgado resigned in May after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul named him New York's lieutenant governor.

In August, Ryan told Insider that a series of Supreme Court decisions overturning Roe v. Wade and invalidating a New York gun restriction law "cleared the fog and woke people up."

In addition to winning the special election in the 19th, Ryan handily defeated his Democratic primary opponents in New York's 18th Congressional District, bringing in over 80% of the vote. If he defeats Schmitt come November, Ryan will transition immediately from serving the old 19th District to a full term in Congress representing the 18th District.

Schmitt, Ryan's challenger, is a member of the New York State Assembly serving the 99th District. Prior to running for Congress, Schmitt worked as an aide for then-Assemblywoman Ann Rabbitt, becoming the youngest aide ever hired by the New York State Assembly. After college, he joined the staff of former state Sen. Greg Ball, and then went on to serve as chief of staff for the town of New Windsor.

Story continues

The 32-year-old politician advanced from the Republican primary after the election was canceled.

Voting history for New York's 18th Congressional District

New York's 18th Congressional District is located in the Hudson Valley and encompasses the cities of Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, and Kingston.

President Joe Biden had a 5 percentage point margin of victory under the district's previous boundaries in 2020 before it was redrawn to shift north and take in Poughkeepsie in redistricting following the 2020 Census, making it slightly more Democratic.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Ryan has raised $4 million, spent $3.3 million, and has $729,971 on hand, as of October 19. His opponent, Schmitt, has raised $1.9 million, spent $1.5 million, and has $387,171 cash on hand, as of October 19.

Through early November, super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate groups have spent more than $11 million to advocate for or against the candidates.

What experts say

The race between Ryan and Schmitt is rated as "tilt Democratic" by Inside Elections, "lean Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call; Insider

Rep. Steve Horsford is running against Republican Sam Peters in Nevada's 4th Congressional District.

The 4th District covers most of northern Clark County and southern Lyon County.

More than 80% of its population resides in Clark County, which is heavily Democratic.

Democratic Rep. Steve Horsford faces Republican Sam Peters in Nevada's 4th Congressional District.

Nevada's 4th Congressional District candidates

Horsford has been an elected official in Nevada for more than 15 years. In 2004, he was elected to the Nevada State Senate and, five years later, became Nevada's youngest and first Black majority leader of the state's Senate. In 2012, the now-49-year-old congressman ran for Congress and defeated Republican businessman Danny Tarkanian, making him the first Black person to represent Nevada in Congress.

A member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Horsford has spoken out against former President Donald Trump's immigration policies, has shown support for universal healthcare, and is for an increase in the federal minimum wage.

Peters, Horsford's challenger, is a retired US Air Force major and Bronze Star recipient.

He won a three-way GOP primary, narrowly defeating second-place finisher Annie Black, by securing 48% of the vote to her 41.1.%.

Voting history for Nevada's 4th Congressional District

Nevada's 4th Congressional District covers most of northern Clark County and southern Lyon County, but over 80% of its population resides in Clark County, which is heavily Democratic.

President Joe Biden had a near 4 percentage point margin of victory under the district's previous boundaries in 2020 before it was redrawn to concede largely rural White Pine County to the 2nd Congressional District in redistricting following the 2020 Census, making it more Democratic.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Horsford has raised $4.6 million, spent $4.5 million, and has $621,206 of cash on hand, as of October 19. His opponent, Peters, has raised $1.8 million, spent $1.7 million, and has $113,987 of cash still left to spend, as of October 19.

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Through early November, super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate groups have together spent about $8 million to advocate for or against the candidates. More than 40% of that spending has come from one source: Democrat-backing hybrid PAC House Majority PAC.

What experts say

The race between Horsford and Peters is rated as "lean Democratic" by Inside Elections, "lean Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider
John Locher/AP Photo; Ronda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images; Insider

Rep. Susie Lee is running against Republican April Becker in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District.

The 3rd District is located in the southernmost tip of Nevada.

Abortion has become a focal point of the race.

Democratic Rep. Susie Lee faces Republican newcomer April Becker in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District.

Nevada's 3rd Congressional District candidates

Lee is a member of the Committee on Education and Labor. In the 1990s, she became the founding director of the Inner-City Games, now know as the After-School All-Stars, which provides thousands of children after-school programs. In 2010, Lee became the president of the board of Communities in School with Nevada, a program designed to lower high school dropout rates. The 55-year-old congresswoman is also a staunch defender of abortion access and has made it a focal point of her campaign.

Lee defeated her challenger by an 80-point margin in the Democratic primary for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District.

But during the current congressional session, Lee has twice violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 by failing to properly disclose hundreds of stock trades together worth millions of dollars.

Becker, a political newcomer, was added in February to the slate of "On the Radar" candidates as part of the Young Guns program funded by the National Republican Congressional Committee, the GOP's House campaign arm. The program, spearheaded by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, "helps equip Republican candidates across the country with the tools they need to run winning campaigns."

The Las Vegas-based real estate attorney won the Republican nomination for Nevada's 3rd District after winning 67.5% of the vote.

On her campaign website, Becker states she is "pro-life, with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother," a stance for which Lee has attacked her. The Nevada Independent reported that Lee, on multiple occasions, tweeted that Becker "will vote for a nationwide abortion ban." Meanwhile, Becker, in an interview with US News & World Report, said she has no plans to try to overturn abortion rights enshrined in Nevada under a 1990 referendum, and that she does not support a nationwide abortion ban.

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Voting history for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District

Nevada's 3rd Congressional District occupies the southernmost tip of Nevada, including Henderson County and portions of Clark County.

President Joe Biden had a narrow 0.2 percentage point margin of victory under the district's previous boundaries in 2020 before it was redrawn to concede the eastern part of the tip to the 1st Congressional District in redistricting following the 2020 Census, making it more favorable for Democrats.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Lee has raised $5.8 million, spent $5.6 million, and has $188,598 of cash on hand, as of October 19. Her opponent, Becker, has raised $2.2 million, spent $1.9 million, and has $314,473 of cash still left to spend, as of October 19.

Through early November, super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate groups have together spent more than $24.8 million to advocate for or against the candidates. Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican-backing super PAC, accounted for close to half that spending overall.

What experts say

The race between Lee and Becker is rated as "tilt Democratic" by Inside Elections, a "toss-up" by The Cook Political Report, and a "toss-up" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider
An on-duty deputy pulled over a woman before kidnapping and sexually assaulting her in Alabama, federal prosecutors say.

Then, he lied about it while speaking with investigators, according to the Justice Department.

This took place in broad daylight, during a traffic stop in Selma in January 2020, WSFA and other outlets reported.

Now the former Dallas County deputy sheriff, Joshua Davidson, 32, is facing federal charges, including deprivation of the womans rights under color of law, kidnapping and witness tampering according to court documents. The Justice Departments Civil Rights Division announced the charges on Oct. 21 in a news release.

Gordon Armstrong, Davidsons attorney, told McClatchy News in a statement that he was fired from his position as deputy in early 2020 and has been complying with court orders since.

On Jan. 30, 2020, Davidson is accused of using a dangerous weapon when he kidnapped and sexually abused the woman during the traffic stop, according to an indictment.

Afterward, he misled Alabama Law Enforcement Agency special agents about the assault, the indictment states.

Dallas County Sheriff Mike Granthum spoke with WSFA about the allegations against Davidson in July 2020 as Davidson was being investigated in the state.

You know, it angers you. It really does, because you give them an opportunity for a job, Granthum told the outlet.

And the mic was not used in this stop and thats a red flag. He didnt notify dispatch of his location, Granthum added to WSFA.

On Oct. 20, prosecutors filed a motion asking the court to detain Davidson at his detention hearing after he appeared in court for an arraignment on Oct. 19, according to court records and his attorney.

Prosecutors argued he is a flight risk and danger to the community, Armstrong told McClatchy News.

Davidson previously fled Alabama to New Hampshire after telling law enforcement he would surrender to charges filed against him in the state in 2020, according to The Portsmouth Herald.

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However, the court denied the prosecutions motion to detain Davidson after Armstrong detailed his clients background, including how Davidson maintains a job while caring for his children and disabled mother, he said.

In addition to his record of compliance with court orders, hes also demonstrated stability and loyalty to his family, Armstrong said.

After Davidson was fired by the Dallas County Sheriffs Office, he has worked in the private sector, according to Armstrong, who declined to provide more details about his current employment.

Naval officer cyberstalked ex-wife and lied to get her jailed for four days, feds say

Police chief charged after girlfriends brother dies of overdose, Missouri officials say

Botched execution lasted 90 minutes as Alabama inmate survived torture, lawsuit says

Officer ordered handcuffed inmates beating, laughed as it happened in Georgia, feds say
The top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee chided the Pentagon on Friday after it announced that it will help pay for troops' travel to obtain abortions.

Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama slammed a memo establishing the new policy, signed Thursday by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, as a political move ahead of the Nov. 8 elections and demanded answers on the memo's origin.

I am deeply disappointed that the Department of Defense has allowed President Biden to blatantly misuse the United States Military for political purposes," Rogers said in a statement. "Yesterdays memo from DoD, released nearly two weeks before the election, is a desperate campaign tactic that undermines the core mission of our military."

Austin's memo establishes travel and transportation allowances for military personnel and dependents who seek abortions but are forced to travel because they are stationed in states where the procedure is banned.

The new policy will not cover the cost of abortions, and federal law prohibits the Defense Department from paying for the procedure or performing it at its medical facilities in most cases.

Austin's memo also directs a number of other changes regarding reproductive care, including implementing additional privacy protections for troops. He also directed the department to allow administrative absences for reproductive care so service members don't need to take leave.

In the memo, Austin said frequent moves for troops and their families "should not limit their access to reproductive care." He said the "practical effects of recent changes" in law will hamper military readiness.

Rogers, who will likely chair the Armed Services panel next year if Republicans win the House, countered that the move is a misuse of military dollars and demanded answers "on how this memo came to be."

"Taxpayer dollars meant for deterring China and other adversaries should not be squandered on campaign politics," he said. "DoD must be blocked from wasting any portion of their budget on this horrendous policy."

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Congressional Democrats, who have pushed to shore up service members' access to abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe v. Wade this summer, cheered the new policy.

"The practical effect of the Supreme Courts decision is that troops have been forced to travel greater distances, take more time off work, and pay more out-of-pocket expenses to access reproductive health care," said Senate Armed Service Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.). Secretary Austins orders will help address some of these burdens."

Some House Democrats pushed unsuccessfully to repeal limits on military medical facilities performing abortions in the wake of the ruling. A group of Senate Democrats is pushing to codify the right of military personnel to use convalescent leave to obtain abortions.
Dexter Lawrence has mutated this season into an interior defensive line terror, the kind of player Giants opponents dread facing. So he rarely comes off the field.

If you had a Rolls-Royce, wouldnt you want to drive it everywhere? defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said with a wink on Thursday.

Lawrences impact starts with his attitude.

I feel dominant every time I step on the field, he said Wednesday.

He didnt blink when told that coaches from multiple opponents have cited jersey No. 97 postgame as one of the primary thorns in their side this fall.

I feel like every team feels that way, Lawrence told the Daily News. If you watch the tape, I dont think a center can block me, honestly. I felt like that throughout my other years in the NFL. This year were winning more so its more noticeable. I think thats the only difference.

Lawrence, 24, plays a more forgotten position than Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley, two other former Giants first-round picks who are playing in contract years.

But it is Lawrence  having a career year on his fifth-year option  who seems to be on the fastest track to a big payday if his trajectory continues. He is beginning to fulfill the potential that ex-GM Dave Gettleman saw in the No. 17 overall pick from 2019.

Hes playing at an All-Pro level, said ESPN analyst Chris Canty, the Super Bowl champion and former Giants defensive end.

Lawrence ranks as the NFLs fifth-best defensive tackle in ESPNs pass rush win-rate metric (17%). His team-leading four sacks tied a season career high through six games.

Hes being the force that we thought he would be, Martindale said.

Leonard Williams, the Giants incumbent big-money interior pass rusher, has the best perspective on whats different about Lawrence this season.

Hes always been a force and a player that offenses have to account for, but I think now he really understands his strengths and he knows who he is as a player, Williams said Wednesday. This is something we talk about: in order to be great, you have to know who you are as a player. And that means you cant try to do what other people do. You do what makes you good, you know?

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Defensive line coach Andre Patterson helped Lawrence figure out who he was. Patterson moved Lawrence to nose tackle full time the day he got here, which means the 6-4, 342-pounder plays every down over the center.

Lawrence reminded Patterson of former Giants second-round pick Linval Joseph, whom he coached with the Minnesota Vikings. He said Lawrences long arms and range make him a nightmare for centers to block.

The longer your arms are, the faster you can get your hands on that center, it makes it easier to do with him what you need to do within the defense, Patterson said. He can get his hands on people before they have a chance to react. That was the biggest thing I had to work with him on: these [hands] are gifts. And you never go into the game without using your gifts.

Patterson also showed Lawrence some hand techniques that are helping him.

Im playing stronger with my hands, Lawrence admitted.

Schematically, Martindales penchant for using five or more pass rushers on QB dropbacks helps isolate Lawrence 1-on-1 on centers often, Canty said. The Giants lead the NFL with a 43.7% blitz rate, per NFL NextGen Stats. Five down linemen or rushers can force an offense into a big-on-big protection, which lets Lawrence go to work.

Every defensive lineman will tell you this: the worst pass protetor on any offensive line is the center, Canty said on the Talkin Ball with Pat Leonard podcast. So when you put your best interior rusher on the nose, on the center, good things are gonna happen for your defense.

Williams added: Most centers need help or theyre usually the helpers in pass protection. Usually the guards and the tackles are in 1-on-1s and the center will float and help guys. Where when we put him at nose its making that center block him, and its a mismatch.

All NFL pass rushers need to find their own way to their bread and butter, Williams said. He went through it, too: Its not about rushing like Aaron Donald, for example. Its about maximizing ones own gifts.

Over the course of my career, sometimes you watch other guys on film and simulate what they do, when really every player is different, Williams said. You have to realize your own strengths and then enhance what makes you good, instead of sometimes seeing what other guys do on film and trying to copycat.

Lawrence has always played with an edge, too, which makes him that much more menacing and edgy when hes producing, at his size. Hes a frequent trash talker.

He even grabbed the Packers Aaron Rodgers by the collar after an incomplete pass in London as if to gently remind Rodgers that Lawrence didnt have to pull up.

What did he tell the four-time MVP?

I dont remember, Lawrence said with a smile.

Martindale admitted this week, since Lawrence has played 85% of the defenses snaps through six games, that the Giants are going to try to find [times] to spot him some reps and keep him fresh.

But when hes playing as well as he is, Martindale said. Its so hard.

Things are just going my way this year, Lawrence said. Guys in the back end are covering well. This year definitely, number-wise, has been my best year so far. But every year I feel like Im in control.

Bad news for Giants opponents: the Rolls-Royce has a full tank.
A Dallas-Fort Worth radio DJ was sentenced on Friday to 24 years in a federal prison for producing images of himself sexually abusing a prepubescent child, a federal official said.

Clois Glenn Raborn, 49, was ordered on Friday to prison by U.S. District Judge Reed OConnor.

Raborn was known for occasional appearances on 97.1s The Russ Martin Show. He had been charged via criminal complaint in January and he waived his right to an indictment, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham said in a Friday news release.

He had pleaded guilty in March to sexual exploitation of a child.

The investigation began in March 2021 when Raborns roommate discovered lewd images of children on Raborns laptop. Law enforcement conducted a forensic analysis of the laptop and found images of an man, believed to be Raborn, engaging in sexual conduct with a young child, according to federal court documents.

The childs mother confirmed her daughters identity based on images of her face and other items. She also told law enforcement she recognized Raborns hand in some of the images. She estimated that the child was between 4 to 6 years old when the photos were taken.

In plea papers, Raborn admitted to engaging in sexual conduct with the child for the purpose of producing explicit visual depictions.

The U.S. Secret Services Dallas Field Office, the Euless Police Department and the Tarrant County District Attorneys Office of Digital Forensics and Technical Services conducted the investigation.
Oct. 20DICKINSON  The Dickinson Police Department issued a public notice via social media on Thursday concerning an alarming seizure of a synthetic opioid. In a Facebook post Dickinson police noted that Mexican drug cartels have moved a colorful new variety of the lethal drug, fentanyl, into the Western Edge.

"'Rainbow fentanyl' has made its way to Dickinson. A recent seizure of the extremely dangerous drug was made by the Southwest Narcotics Task Force. The pills are stamped 'M30' and come in a variety of bright colors," the post stated.

Dickinson Police Department also made a point to emphasize the drug's high potency, which has prompted tragic overdoses across the country.

"Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine. It remains the deadliest drug threat facing the country. In 2021 alone, 66% of the 107,622 overdose deaths were caused by fentanyl," the post stated.

Further comments on the seizure were sought by The Press, but were not available by publication.

Most of the illicit pills are being manufactured in China and trafficked across the loosely monitored U.S.  Mexico Border. India is also a major source of the drug, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid pain medication that was first developed in 1960 and approved for use in America by the FDA in 1968.

According to an August press release, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram believes the new color scheme is a ploy to entice minors.

"Rainbow fentanyl  fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes  is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults," Milgram stated.

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has a list of recommendations on how to mitigate the proliferation of the addiction crisis in America, noting the expanding distribution of naloxone, more commonly referred to by the brand name Narcan. The now synonymous drug has proven to be a life saving medication that can reverse the effects of an overdose, if administered in time. The CDC also recommends early intervention with drug users at the highest risk of overdose, boosting awareness about treatment programs and improving detection of overdose outbreaks to enable a more effective response.

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Those seeking help for their addictions can find support groups, free of charge, by attending Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous. These meetings can be found all throughout North Dakota, and at a wide variety of times each week. To learn more, visit

aanorthdakota.org

or call 701-264-7552.
Cornell Techs campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City

Cornells Johnson Graduate School of Management has had quite a 2022. In August, the B-schools dean, Mark Nelson, announced that he would step down at the end of the school year. The next month the school released its MBA class profile showing a 20% year-over-year growth in applications  a feat that became more astonishing as, one by one, each peer school posted app volume losses. Among the top 25 U.S. B-schools, only two others this fall  UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and USC Marshall School of Business  have reported app growth in the 2021-2022 cycle.

Some credit is certainly due to the Johnson Schools move to designate the MBA as a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) degree in early 2021. Overall applications rose by more than 21%, by 450 to 2,555, mostly because of a major infusion of international applications. The foundation of that infusion is two-fold. Internationals students were drawn to a STEM school and the promise of two additional years of work in the U.S. after leaving school. Additionally, even as the strong U.S. economy dampened domestic enthusiasm for graduation school, global economies have had a harder time recovering from pandemic-related struggles.

It added up to a great 2021-2022 for the Johnson School, which was able to keep its class size (303) and most of its other metrics stable even as peer schools struggled to overcome the headwinds. In a wide-ranging interview edited for length and clarity, Andrew Karolyi, the Charles Field Knight dean of Cornells SC Johnson College of Business, addresses the app growth phenomenon, the current graduate business education landscape, and more.

POETS&QUANTS INTERVIEW WITH CORNELLS ANDREW KAROLYI

P&Q: Can you assess the state of the full-time MBA today? Do you think the domestic app decline in the U.S. will continue, and will it continue to be offset by international apps?

Andrew Karolyi: The state of the full-time MBA continues to be strong, and we continue to attract high-quality students to Johnson. We anticipate the domestic application decline to halt and perhaps reverse, with international demand continuing to be strong.

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We have seen some domestic applicants postponing their MBA given the hot job market and retention incentives being offered by employers and anticipate less of that occurring if the job market cools.

Is it going to take a recession to turn around MBA applications?

I think we all have the data. Weve all been students of that data, and we know that there is this counter-cyclicality that is built into the MBA marketplace. So theres no reason to expect that it will be any different for this cycle thats coming around.

I think the bigger question is, just how deep and how long a duration are we expecting for this recession? Because thats what really factors into peoples calculations, to judge whether or not to take on the debt burden associated with funding.

But I would say that if the experts are correct that it will not be a deep recession, and if the experts are correct that it will be not a long-duration recession, with all the uncertainty around those two consensus forecasts, I would imagine that that would transform to be less of a counter-cyclical push back into the MBA game.

So I dont know how much of a dramatic pivot there will be in the declining numbers in terms of, certainly, the domestic applicant pool. Whats really interesting for us at Cornell, of course, is that we were one of the few schools that actually saw a nice positive blip while others saw a drop.

Cornells Andrew Karolyi

Why do you think in-person attendance at MBA events is down at so many schools this summer? Has it been down at Cornell?

Applicants and students became accustomed to the convenience of remote attendance during the pandemic and are slowly returning to a culture of in-person attendance. We see that reflected in somewhat different cultures of event attendance between returning and incoming students. The second-year students still seek out hybrid events, whereas incoming students seem more eager to have entirely in-person experiences, including classes as well as events.

As we put the pandemic behind us, we anticipate sustained demand for in-person events but also some demand for a remote option, particularly when attendees can avoid travel by attending remotely.

How did Cornell manage to increase its apps by more than 20% in a cycle (2021-2022) when most other schools reported drop-offs? Whats the domestic/international breakdown for MBA apps for your school this year?

We believe the increase in applications is in response to the advantages and opportunities provided by a Johnson MBA, including our immersion programming; strong placements in consulting, tech, and investment banking; and opportunities in entrepreneurship and at Cornell Tech, as well as the high salaries our graduates are offered after receiving their MBAs.

We received roughly two international applications for every domestic application, and we did admit somewhat more international students, moving from 35% to 43% international representation. One benefit of that increase is an increase in the diversity of our international student population, as we moved from 30 to 43 countries represented.

Its a remarkable feat.

I is something that we are proud of, but we are also cautious about because we want to understand and interpret exactly what it is that happened there. I dont think we have any answers. I mean, thats the truth: We dont have conclusive answers. We want to obviously give ourselves a lot of credit for the innovativeness of our programs, our marketing, and our incredibly top-flight admissions team under Eddie Asbie.

Ill just say that were quite guarded about it. Like all of our competitors, were seeing the continuous escalation of pressures on what appears to be, from a macro standpoint, a declining pool of applicants stateside. The question is, how much do we lean into the opportunities to attract international students? Our numbers are going up.

Also, we clearly are very conscious about building out the importance of a diverse class that showcases all the riches of what can be a diverse class toward a learning experience. We all want that. So were prepared to put the resources behind that to be successful. Its just too important for that program.

Let me cite a number for you that I just learned about last week. Im on the board now on something called the United Nations Global Compact. This is from the Principles for Responsible Management Education, PRME for short. PRME is an organization that is talking about how the landscape for higher education and business is changing, and how it needs to change going forward.

One of the facts that they uncovered for us from UNESCO, in a typical year over the last six years, out of 300 million graduates around the world with, I think primarily undergraduate degrees, 66 million are associated with business. Those numbers are growing.

So its a really interesting thing to square up, isnt it, with the decline of the MBA market and the fact that there is still an active interest in U.S. MBA programs in the international space. How much should each of our programs be leaning into that as an opportunity, and recognizing the global landscape for higher education and business in general, where there is a growing appetite for this kind of training? Just thinking through all of those dimensions of it, its really interesting to wrap our minds around it.

DONT MISS CORNELL JOHNSON DEAN TO STEP DOWN IN 2023

The post Digging Deeper: Behind Cornells Incredible 20% Jump In MBA Apps appeared first on Poets&Quants.
Firefighters arrive at the scene of a drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday. (Roman Hrytsyna / Associated Press)

It streaks across the sky and then  when its almost too late to take cover  lets off a guttural sound like a moped blitzing by. Moments later comes the punch-boom of a deadly explosion.

Small, propeller-driven drones were first used last month by Russia in its ongoing war on Ukraine. But this week they have taken to the forefront, with dozens deployed daily to dive-bomb Kyiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv, targeting Ukraines power infrastructure and causing blackouts across the country. At least eight people have been killed in the strikes, Ukrainian authorities say.

Though their markings are in Russian and Moscow refers to them as the Geran-2, Pentagon officials, Ukrainians and observers say the weapons are Iranian-made Shahed-136s, nimble, so-called kamikaze drones (because they destroy themselves in the attack) that can travel thousands of miles before slamming into a target.

They came as part of a package comprising thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, that Moscow imported from Tehran earlier this year to replenish its own rapidly vanishing stock of long-range precision missiles. And Thursday, the White House said the U.S. had evidence that a small number of Iranian troops were directly engaged on the ground in Russian-occupied Crimea to help launch the drones against Ukraine.

The Iranian drones are killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, said White House National Security Council coordinator John F. Kirby in a news briefing.

Russia and Iran repeatedly deny such accusations. Tehran says it supports a peaceful resolution to the eight-month conflict and has called on Ukraine to provide evidence of the drones deployment.

We have defense cooperation with Russia, but sending weapons and drones against Ukraine is not our policy, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in a phone conversation Thursday.

Yet at the same time, Western condemnation has drawn boasts from Irans military leaders such as Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, who said in a speech Tuesday that Irans drones have become so effective that today we have reached a point that 22 world countries are demanding to purchase unmanned aircraft from Iran.

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A drone approaches its target in Kyiv on Monday. (Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP/Getty Images)

A day later, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also appeared to reference the drones, saying they were feats that bring honor to our country.

When images of Iranian drones were published a few years ago, they would say theyre photoshopped. Now they say Iranian drones are dangerous, why do you sell them or give them to so-and-so? Khamenei said, according to a report from the state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iranian drones have been used for years in deadly attacks in Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  often with little response. But their appearance in Ukraines skies and the growing diplomatic storm that has caused highlight how the Russian invasion continues to force governments to contend with a Cold War-style calculus that accepts increasingly less overlap between the West and Russia.

Saudi Arabia ran afoul of that equation earlier this month when it pushed oil production cuts at an OPEC+ meeting, infuriating the U.S., which said that the move signaled Riyadh had sided with Moscow and that it would now have to review its longstanding relationship with its Middle East ally.

Drone sales have also prompted geopolitical recalculations.

Firefighters respond after a Russian attack in Kyiv on Tuesday. Local authorities reported a wave of drone and missile strikes on the country's capital. (Ukrainian State Emergency Service / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

For Iran, which had a relatively amiable relationship with Ukraine, fractures first appeared in September, when Ukrainian forces began shooting down hundreds of drones, including what they said were Shahed-136s. In response, officials in Kyiv downgraded relations with Tehran, stripping the Iranian ambassador of his accreditation and reducing diplomatic personnel at the embassy.

This weeks attacks pushed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to propose a full severing of diplomatic ties with Iran.

Leaders in Tehran would bear the most severe responsibility if they continue arms sales, Kyiv said, while inviting United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to dispatch inspectors and examine the wreckage of the more than 220 drones it claims to have destroyed thus far. The arms transfers, the U.S and Ukraine say, violate U.N. sanctions against Iran and Security Council Resolution 2231, which is related to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, with Tehran to limit its nuclear program.

The proposal, publicly supported by several U.N. Security Council members after the bodys closed-door meeting Wednesday, infuriated Moscow, whose Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said afterward that the Guterres team should not go beyond their technical mandate.

Iran is of the firm belief that none of its arms exports, including UAVs, to any country violate resolution 2231, Irans U.N. envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, told reporters Wednesday.

A woman arranges flowers Wednesday outside a Kyiv house where a couple were killed in a Russian drone strike two days earlier. (Ed Ram / Getty Images)

The threat of additional sanctions  on what is already one of the worlds most heavily sanctioned nations  comes at a difficult time for Iran, rocked by weeks of protests after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the so-called morality police.

Those demonstrations have become an expression of wider grievances, including what many view as the governments intransigence in negotiations that could provide sanctions relief. Meanwhile, polls show the Iranian public doesnt view Russia favorably and believes the invasion of Ukraine is illegitimate.

Its unlikely Iran would accept punishment in the name of supporting Moscow. And before the drone sales, trade between the two countries was $4 billion, hardly worth the financial hit from more sanctions.

Yet its a calculation Tehran appears willing to make, said Ali Vaez, who directs the Iran project at the International Crisis Group, even at the expense of completely killing off the nuclear deal.

The view there is: Why should they abandon Russia at the time of its need, when even if the JCPOA is restored, theyre completely disillusioned about its effectiveness and the durability of sanctions relief that it offers? Vaez said. The strategic priority, for Iran, of preventing Russias failure in the Ukraine conflict is bigger than the restoration of the JCPOA.

Another Middle East power facing a balancing act with sales of UAVs in the conflict is Turkey. Its Bayraktar TB2 drones  a medium-sized aircraft that can launch missiles  have in years past faced off against Russian armor and Russia-aligned fighters in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. Now in Ukraine they hunt Russian troops, with Kyiv deploying the dozens of TB2s it purchased to such powerful effect that Ukrainians dedicated a song to the drones battlefield prowess.

At the same time, Russia is a vital economic trading partner: It provides almost half of Turkeys natural gas and almost three-quarters of its wheat. Some 4.7 million Russian travelers visit Turkey every year.

Diplomatically, Turkey has hedged: It condemned the invasion but nevertheless refused to levy sanctions and continues to welcome Russian oligarchs and other visitors. It also worked on a deal that allowed grain shipments to leave Ukrainian ports despite a Russian sea blockade.

Though Russia complained to Turkey over the Bayraktar TB2 sales, Ankara said Kyiv had purchased the drones in a private capacity and did not constitute an agreement between the two governments. For now, Moscow appears to have been mollified: Baykar, the company that produces the TB2s, continues to sell them to Ukraine even as Ankara says it can play the role of intermediary between Moscow and the West.

The ripple effects of the presumptive Iranian drone attacks have also hit Israel, a top U.S. ally with strong links to Russia.

Roughly 15% of Israels population (some 1.3 million people) are Russian-speaking immigrants  with more Russian emigres arriving by the month because of the Ukraine war, according to Israeli government statistics.

Israel also works with Moscow to coordinate military maneuvers in Syria, where Russia has bolstered forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad since 2019 while turning a blind eye to Israeli strikes over Syrian territory on what it says are targets affiliated with Iran, Israels regional nemesis.

And the Israelis have previously exported UAV tech and components to Moscow, including two surveillance drones deployed by the Russian army, the Zastava and Forpost, licensed copies of Israeli-built platforms, according to a report from Conflict Armament Research.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Israel didnt join in the U.S. and European Union economic sanctions, but it did dispatch humanitarian aid  including helmets and bulletproof vests for rescue teams  to Ukraine.

Fearing Russian umbrage, Israel has thus far refrained from providing Kyiv with military assistance, despite repeated entreaties. But with its arch-nemesis now embroiled in the conflict, its position appears increasingly untenable.

This week, an Israeli lawmaker demanded the government change its stance. That appeared to elicit a response from former Russian president and top Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev, who warned Monday that arming Ukraine would be a very reckless step that would destroy government relations between our countries.

A day later, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba reiterated a long-standing request for Israel to urgently provide  antiaircraft systems and to start high-quality cooperation on obtaining appropriate technologies for Ukraine.

Iran is a red line for Israel, and after Iran has directly, in fact, become complicit in the crime of aggression against Ukraine, I think anyone in Israel who still has any hesitation about whether or not to help Ukraine, he must dispel these hesitations, Kuleba said.

But Israel refused again.

Israel will not deliver weapon systems to Ukraine due to a variety of operational considerations, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said during a meeting with EU ambassadors in Tel Aviv, adding that Israel would continue to support Ukraine within our limitations.

That, however, is not enough, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk said.

You cant win the war with air defense alert systems. We asked for defensive weapons, and they have all our requests and no reply, he said in a CNN interview Wednesday.

Its like when youre going to the market and youre asking someone for the bread, and instead of the bread they give you the spoon.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Narkis Olan and her young son, in a photo shared on Facebook earlier this month.

In June, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Golan v. Saada that Narkis Golan, a domestic abuse survivor who fled Italy to the U.S. with her child, couldnt be forced to return her young son to his allegedly abusive father, Isacco Jacky Saada. Four months later, on Wednesday evening, the 32-year-old mother was found dead in her home.



In a statement to Jezebel, the office of the New York Police Departments deputy commissioner of public information said, There is no criminality is suspected [sic] at this time. But the office of the chief medical examiner is still determining the cause of death, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Read more

Supporters of Golan have since expressed heartbreak, outrage, and suspicion about the circumstances of her death on social mediaespecially as her young son now faces the risk of being forced to return to his father in Italy. In the weeks before her death, despite the Supreme Courts ruling in Golans favor, the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York still upheld its previous decision that Golan should return her child to Saada in Italy. (In 2019, the district court concluded that returning to Italy would expose [Golans son] to severe and continuing domestic violence, but it ruled in Saadas favor nonetheless, due to a technical precedent set by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.) Golan, her supporters insist, was a protective mother who would not leave her child.

Golans sister, Morin Golan, told Jezebel via Zoom that those seeking to respect Golans family, her young son, and her legacy as an advocate should refrain from speculating about her death at this time. We want to make sure the right information is shared, and that were all respectful about it, because the battle is not over. Theres still a lot of work to be done, and we dont want anyones narrative to affect our ability to continue to protect her son, Morin said.

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Nicole Fidler, the director of pro bono services at the Sanctuary for Families, who worked closely with Golan on her case for years, told Jezebel that Golan should be remembered for her perseverance and her refusal to give up her fight to protect her young sonliterally until her dying day. On the night of Golans death, Fidler said she was on the phone with her attorneys, strategizing about the Second Circuit appeal, so she really was fighting until the very end. Thats the important thing to remember here.

Her name was NARKIS GOLAN and she was a PROTECTIVE MOTHER . Say her name #NarkisGolan pic.twitter.com/PDnpVCJwHq  Hold Up Your Hands (@huyh_uk) October 21, 2022

On Sept. 1, Golan responded to the district courts most recent ruling in a Facebook post. After winning at the Supreme Court, I had to yet again face the same unsympathetic judge who wants to force my son back to a country where I was tortured, raped and abused in every way, Golan wrote. There was never justice for me. All I can do is try to be the best mommy I can while fighting this battle that makes no sense. I just keep asking myself WHY??

Why does the system ENABLE such a person to continue to cause my son and I harm through the courts after surviving such abuse, she continued, before making the chilling observation that many women end up dead in cases like hers. People call me a survivor. What have I survived when Im still fighting for my human rights that has been stripped away from me for so many years while the real criminal gets to live his best life knowing he still holds that power over my head?

Why must I be threatened and silenced by the system thats meant to protect us? Why? Im just trying to give my son the life he deserves, Golan wrote. She concluded, I probably wont ever have those answers but one thing I know for sure is that I wont stop fighting and from now on, I wont be silenced either. I want the world to know the truth.

Golas was found dead this week, a little over a month after her impassioned Facebook post. In an audio clip of a conversation between Saada and Golan shared with the public on Thursday, Saada can be heard telling Golan that hes well connected to judges and courts in Italy amid their ongoing legal fight.

In Golans legal filings, shed accused Saada of pushing, slapping, and grabbing her, often in front of their son, and even making threats against her life. When Golan took their son to the U.S. for her brothers wedding in 2018, instead of returning to Italy, she took refuge in a local domestic violence shelter. Golan sought a get, or a Jewish religious marriage divorce, from Saada, her husband since 2014, but he refused unless she returned to Italy with their child. Legal representatives for Saada did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Golans death by phone and email.

Golan never gave in to Saadas demands.

The most admirable thing is that, no matter how exhausted she was, no matter how many times she called me, day or night, to cry about it, or just say, Its so heavy, its so heavyno matter how many times, shed just continue, Morin said. She was trying to protect her son from a great evil. Giving up was never an option, for her family, for her child, and not only her child, but for all the women who were reaching out to her telling their stories. There is nothing she would not do for her son and the women and kids she was fighting for.

Fidler told Jezebel that from the beginning, Golan insisted that she wanted to change the law for children and mothers like her, called Hague Moms, who flee their countries of origin with their children to escape abuse only to face legal retaliation from abusers, who weaponize the Hague Conventions child abduction clauses. She always would say, Were going up to the Supreme Court, and the lawyers on her case were always a little skeptical, because we knew the odds, Fidler said. The Supreme Court accepts about 1% of cases. But she knew this was a fight worth fighting, even if everythingfinancially, the whole court systemwas stacked against her.

She was the survivor of such extreme abuse and control, and shes a survivor of the court system too, which is a very difficult and challenging place for survivors of domestic violence, Fidler told me. Her legacy is the Supreme Court case.

The Supreme Court ruling in Golans favor marked a crucial victory for domestic abuse victims like Golan and their children, who seek refuge in the U.S., moving forward. Previously, a precedent set by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit required that children should be returned to the country of their habitual residence, despite risk of facing abuse, if there are any ameliorative measures that can reduce the risk of abuse. Before Golans case went to the Supreme Court, a U.S. district court and the Second Circuit ruled that her son had to be returned to his father in Italy because measures could, theoretically, be taken to reduce the risk of harm to the childnamely, the district court ruled, Saada could be required to go to therapy, drop criminal charges against Golan, and pay her $20,000 for the return of their son. What they did to her for the last five years of her life was just horrible, forcing her to experience such heaviness, such mental, emotional exhaustion, even after acknowledging the abuse, Morin said.

In the Supreme Courts decision to reverse these prior rulings, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that a court is not bound to order a childs return if it finds that return would put the child at a grave risk of physical or psychological harm, and that courts arent required to examine all possible ameliorative measures in order to deny a Hague Convention petition for a childs return.

Robert Abbott, a Connecticut resident who knew Golan personally, wrote in a Thursday Facebook post that the two had become good friends over the course of her case. He acknowledged that as of now there were no signs of foul play in Golans death, but said hes spoken to homicide detectives and asked them to look into it further.



She would FaceTime me at all hours of the day and night and I would just listen to her struggle and fight to keep Bradley, Abbott wrote. [Golan] wanted to be in my film on Hague Moms but was scared of what may happen if she spoke out. She helped me in so many other ways by connecting me with other moms.

Indeed, Golans Facebook page features post after post lifting up the stories of mothers and survivors trying to protect their kids and how her friends and followers could help them. That, Morin says, was just who Golan was. She was a warrior. She paved the way for all the people that are in that situation, for them and their kids to be safer. It pains Morin that her sister only had a moment to experience that freedom from the Supreme Courts ruling. And now, she never will.

She didnt get to stick around for the feeling of being free, of not being in misery, not feeling like her every move was watched, Morin said. She couldnt take her son to Disney. She couldnt do these things with her kid that she wanted to do.

More from Jezebel

Sign up for Jezebel's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
By Michelle Nichols, Humeyra Pamuk and Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Britain, France and Germany on Friday called for a United Nations probe of accusations Russia has used Iranian-origin drones to attack Ukraine, allegedly violating a U.N. Security Council Resolution.

In a letter signed by their U.N. envoys and seen by Reuters, the three backed Ukraine's call on Monday for such a probe, arguing the drone use breached U.N. Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2231 endorsing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington still believes diplomacy was the best way to rein in Tehran's nuclear program but saw no chance "in this moment" to revive the 2015 deal because of Iran raising "extraneous" issues.

"With or without a deal we will continue to take every step necessary to deal with Iran's activities, Iran's aggression, whether it's in the Middle East or beyond," he said at a news conference with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. "We are seeing that now with the provision of (drones) to Russia."

Ukraine says Russia has used Iranian-made Shahed-136 attack drones that cruise toward their target and explode on impact.

Tehran denies supplying the drones to Moscow - an assertion Washington says is untrue - and Russia has denied its forces used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine.

"We would welcome an investigation by the UN Secretariat team responsible for monitoring the implementation of UNSCR 2231," the Britain, France and Germany, a group known as the E3, said in the letter.

It was not clear what practical impact such a probe might have on Iran or Russia, which as a permanent Security Council member could veto any effort to impose consequences.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reports twice a year to the Council - traditionally in June and December - on the implementation of the 2015 resolution. Any assessment of the drones in Ukraine would likely be included in that report.

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Another possibility is that participants in the 2015 nuclear deal - which Iran struck with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - could use a U.N. mechanism to "snap back" sanctions on Tehran.

To trigger "snapback," a party to the deal, under which Iran curbed its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions, would submit a complaint about Iran breaching it to the Council.

The Council would then have to vote within 30 days on continuing Iran's sanctions relief. If such a resolution is not adopted by the deadline, all U.N. sanctions in place before the nuclear deal would be automatically reimposed.

This would require Iran to suspend all nuclear enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, and ban imports of anything that could contribute to those activities or developing nuclear arms delivery systems.

It would also reimpose a conventional arms embargo, ban Iran from developing ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and revive targeted sanctions on dozens of individuals and entities. Countries also would be urged to inspect shipments to and from Iran and authorized to seize any banned cargo.

"Snapback" would also likely kill off efforts to revive the 2015 deal, which then-U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned and which his successor Joe Biden has sought to resurrect.

(Reporting By Michelle Nichols in New York, Humeyra Pamuk in Washington and Arshad Mohammed in Saint Paul, Minn. Additional Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Simon Lewis in Washington and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Bill Berkrot, David Gregorio and Josie Kao)
Georgia continues to see record early voting numbers all across the state as the Peach State remains the focus of the political world with a high-profile governors race and potential control of the U.S. Senate on the line.

More than 533,000 Georgians had already cast their ballots as of Thursday, as voters on both sides are energized for their candidates.

Theres a reason why Georgia is at the center of the political universe in this country, DNC chair Jamie Harrison told a group of Democratic supports in East Point Friday.

RNC chair Ronna McDaniel rallied Republican supporters in Macon.

You need to work as hard as you possibly can. You do not want to wake up and say, Woulda, shoulda, coulda, McDaniel said.

Both parties are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into Georgia because so much is at stake  and Georgians appear to be paying attention.

RELATED NEWS:

I think voters in Georgia feel that urgency; they feel that spotlight, the national spotlight, and people are really eager to go vote, Kennesaw State University political science professor Kerwin Swint said.

Swint said historically, high voter turnout favors Democratic candidates, but this year, it could favor Republicans.

Either way, he said to expect to see the high turnout continue.

I think were seeing that, and were going to continue to see that. I really expect this to set a record for midterm elections in Georgia, Swint said.

We are fewer than 20 days away from the general election. Early voting continues until Nov. 4. Election Day is Nov. 8.

RELATED NEWS:
Arrival, a British electric vehicle maker, delayed its Charlotte-area production timeline earlier this year as part of a business reorganization. The company now says it is refocusing its operations on the U.S. market, where Charlotte is the center of its business.

Arrival said in its announcement on Thursday that significant further investment would be needed to scale its microfactory in the U.K., which had been expected to begin electric van production in the third quarter. The facility missed that target but produced its first production verification vehicle last quarter. Arrival said today the further investment would be best directed to the U.S. and that it plans to further right-size the organization and cut cash intensive activities while continuing to advance its core technologies.

ALSO READ:US awards $2.8B in grants for EV batteries in 12 states

Details on a potential production timeline for electric vans in Charlotte were not announced. Arrival has said previously it hopes to begin production at its Charlotte microfactory in 2023, but has not clarified when. A company spokesperson told CBJ earlier this month that Arrival needed to raise capital for the Charlotte facility.

Keep reading here.

(WATCH BELOW: New program would turn electric cars into virtual power grid in California)
Emily Ratajkowski attends the premiere of

Emily Ratajkowski attends the premiere of "In Darkness" on May 23, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin via Getty Images)

Emily Ratajkowski is doing things differently this time.

The model and author, who is back on the dating scene after separating from husband Sebastian Bear-McClard, said this week that shes approaching relationships in a new way this go round  and considering her feelings more than ever.

To use the TikTok phrase, I was a bit of a pick-me girl in the sense that I wasnt very good at deciding what I liked, Ratajkowski told Harpers Bazaar in a new interview Thursday.

I really wanted to be chosen, she added. It was hard for me to go on a date with someone and think about how much I did or didnt like them. I would have been thinking about how they were perceiving me, what it meant, what they wanted from me, what it meant about my self-worth.

Ratajkowski and husband Sebastian Bear-McClard attend the 25th Critics' Choice Awards on Jan. 12, 2020, in Santa Monica, California. (Photo: Kevin Mazur via Getty Images)

Ratajkowski and husband Sebastian Bear-McClard attend the 25th Critics' Choice Awards on Jan. 12, 2020, in Santa Monica, California. (Photo: Kevin Mazur via Getty Images)

Though the Gone Girl actor told the magazine that she doesnt want to speak about her marriage to Bear-McClard  the father of her 1-year-old son  she did reveal that shes feeling all the emotions in this new chapter of her life.

I feel anger, sadness. I feel excitement. I feel joy. I feel levity, she said. Every day is different. The only good thing I know is that Im feeling all those things, which is nice because it makes me believe that Ill be okay.

Ratajkowski and the Uncut Gems producer married in 2018 in a surprise courthouse ceremony, after just weeks of dating.

The My Body author and Bear-McClard later welcomed their first and only child together, Sylvester Sly Apollo Bear, in 2021.

After rumors that the couples marriage was on the rocks, Page Six reported in July that the two were splitting due to Bear-McClard cheating.

Though neither party has publicly commented on the allegations, later that month Ratajkowski liked tweets about the two divorcing and about her ex being unfaithful.

Story continues

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Isobel Steele in 'Emmerdale'. (ITV)

Emmerdale stars including Danny Miller got together for Isobel Steele's leaving party.

Steele recently departed the long-running soap during its 50th anniversary celebrations that saw a huge storm arrive in the village.

Her character Liv Flaherty died after being crushed by a caravan picked up by the wind.

Read more: 'Emmerdale' fans call Liv storyline 'most heartbreaking soap death'

Steele spent seven years on Emmerdale and had a party to mark her departure with numerous co-stars including Lisa Riley, Katie Hill and Ryan Hawley.

The actor posted pictures of the bash on social media accompanied by the caption: "My leaving meal. It was such a perfect night xxx."

My Leaving meal. It was such a perfect night xxx pic.twitter.com/i9lEOU3B7F  Isobel (@Isobel_steele) October 20, 2022

The images showed Steele enjoying a large group meal with her former colleagues.

Steele recently revealed that it was her decision to leave the soap, making the decision over a year ago: "I first told the producers I wanted to leave in September 2021."

She added: "I joined when I was 15. I knew I didnt want to stay forever and at some point you must make that call. Last September it felt the right time to move on and I wanted to give the producers a year to come up with a great exit for Liv.

"As an actress, you take a risk deciding to go."

Isobel Steele in 'Emmerdale'. (ITV)

Steele discussed her reaction to finding out how she would depart the soap: "And so, when they phoned me in April to tell me Liv was going to be killed in a storm, I had mixed feelings. I was excited because it meant I got to be in the 50th celebrations with a huge storyline, but equally I knew it meant I would never be coming back."

The 21-year-old won Best Young Actor at the British Soap Awards in 2017 for her portrayal of Flaherty.

Story continues

Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, and streams on the ITV Hub.

Watch below: King Charles celebrates Emmerdale's 50th birthday in a video tribute at the NTA's
The EPA is conducting a civil rights probe into the Jackson, Miss., water crisis. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is holding firm despite pushback from the U.S. over the OPEC+ decision to cut oil production, and the Biden administration prevailed in a court challenge to the social costs of greenhouse gases.

This is Overnight Energy & Environment, your source for the latest news focused on energy, the environment and beyond. For The Hill, were Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk.

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EPA confirms investigation into Jackson water crisis

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a civil rights investigation into the water crisis that left residents of Jackson, Miss., without water earlier this year, the agency confirmed in a letter to the NAACP.

The civil rights organization filed a complaint alleging a pattern of discrimination by the state in its predominantly-Black capital, prompting the EPAs Office of External Civil Rights Compliance (OECR) to confirm the probe Thursday.

The EPAs internal watchdog launched a separate probe into the crisis last month.



The watchdog is looking at compliance with regulations, policies, and procedures, while the new investigation is expected to hone in on civil rights.

What are they saying? In the letter, acting OECR head Anhthu Hoang said the office will investigate whether the states Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Health discriminated along racial lines in funding for water infrastructure, by intent or effect, as well as whether the two departments have adequate guardrails in place against such discrimination.

Proceeding with the investigation does not equate to confirming the allegations, and the EPA office will have 180 days to conduct the probe.

The NAACP responds: In a statement, NAACP President Derrick Johnson praised the EPAs move but added This action is only the first step.

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NAACP and its partners will continue to press the Biden Administration and Congress to hold state officials accountable and ensure that Jackson officials and residents are active participants in the decision-making that will be required to fix the unacceptable problems with Jacksons water, he added.

Jacksons water infrastructure has fallen into disrepair over the past several decades, as large numbers of its wealthier and white populace left the city following integration, shrinking its tax base.

The latest water crisis came after flooding knocked the city water treatment plant offline, but it marked Jacksons second water crisis in as many years.

The state government was allocated about $75 million in funds to update water infrastructure from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law last year, but put none of it toward the Jackson system.



Earlier this week, House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), whose district includes most of Jackson, wrote to Gov. Tate Reeves (R) to seek further answers on the states use of federal water funds.

Read more about the investigation here.





Saudi Arabia unfazed by US backlash on oil

Saudi Arabia shows no sign of backing down in the face of U.S. pushback to its decision to cut oil production, part of Riyadhs strategy to flex its foreign policy influence more forcefully.

Saudi officials insist that the highly criticized decision to cut oil production to keep prices high is purely economical, pushing back on attacks they are siding with Russia over its war in Ukraine.

How we got here: Democrats have furiously called to freeze military sales and cooperation with the kingdom as Republicans largely remain quiet, saying U.S. ties to the powerful Gulf nation are too strategic to risk.

Experts say Riyadh is trying to find a balance between the U.S. and Russia, concerned that Washington is retreating from the Middle East but cautious to avoid severing the relationship completely.

The Saudis have tried to thread the needle between the Americans and the Russians, in part because they are distrustful of the United States, said Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.



I dont think its going to be a long-term rift, its just going to be one of those major ups and downs in the American-Saudi relationship, and, today, heres another down.

President Bidens highly publicized fist bump with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah in July did little, in Riyadhs eyes, to make up for his campaign comments pledging to treat the kingdom as a pariah in the wake of it killing Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi, experts say.

And the administrations pursuit of reviving the nuclear deal with Iran  as well as lingering upset from the Trump administration over what the kingdom viewed as an insignificant response to Iranian drone attacks on the Aramco oil facilities in Abqaiq  have hardened their position.

Read more from The Hills Alex Gangitano and Laura Kelly.





Biden fends off climate accounting metric challenge

The Biden administration has fended off another challenge to its effort to assign significant weight to climate impacts in the federal decision-making process.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an attempt from red states to block the Biden administration use of an assessment of how much climate change costs society.

The Biden administration is giving significantly more weight to the potential damage caused by climate change than the Trump administration did.



Republican-led states, led by Missouri, have challenged the Biden administrations use of certain uniform values across agencies to estimate the cost of climate damage.

A three-judge panel upheld a lower court ruling against these states. The appellate judges wrote that the states lack standing because they cant pinpoint a specific way in which the Biden administration climate cost estimates have harmed them.

The Plaintiff States failed to plausibly allege the irreducible constitutional minimum of Article III standing  concrete and particularized actual injury in fact that is fairly traceable to defendants challenged conduct, their opinion states.

If the States believe that specific agency actions justified by the interim SC-GHG estimates inflict concrete and particularized injury, they may challenge the actions, and the interim [climate cost] estimates themselves, they wrote.

When the federal government takes actions  ranging from regulating greenhouse gas emissions to issuing permits for energy projects like pipelines  it has to weigh the cost and benefits of that action.

One such cost or benefit may be how much the action will worsen or mitigate climate change. In order to find a uniform way to quantify potential climate damages, the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations have assigned monetary values to greenhouse gas emissions, known as their social costs. 

Read more about the ruling here.





FONDA THE CLIMATE

Jane Fonda says shes heading back to Washington, kicking off her first in-person climate protest in nearly three years.

The Grace and Frankie star announced Thursday that shes relaunching her high-profile Fire Drill Friday demonstrations beginning Dec. 2.

Were coming together to sound the alarm on the climate emergency, the 84-year-old actress told her nearly 2 million Instagram followers in a video.

We need our leaders to step up, she said. Its going to be a big moment  so mark your calendars and pack your bags.

Fonda and Greenpeace USA originally launched Fire Drill Fridays in 2019 to raise awareness and urge action on climate change. The outspoken performer  often joined at the rallies by other Hollywood figures  was arrested multiple times during the events, which ran for 14 weeks around the nations capital.

As the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, Fonda took the protests virtual.

Earlier this year, Fonda announced she was creating a climate-focused PAC in order to defeat the political allies of the fossil fuel industry, no matter which side of the aisle theyre on.

Last month, Fonda shared that she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and had begun chemotherapy treatment. She vowed at the time that her cancer diagnosis wouldnt interfere with her climate and political activism.

Read more here from The Hills Judy Kurtz.





WHAT WERE READING

Ahead of the Midterms, Energy Lobbyists Plan for a Republican House (The New York Times)

Secret files suggest chemical giant feared weedkillers link to Parkinsons disease (The Guardian)

Its life or death: Why one Hawaii islands severe drought problem should scare everyone (SFGate)

Brazil presidential vote sparks rush to clear more Amazon rainforest (The Financial Times)

Italy aims for miracle with LNG project in energy crunch (Reuters)





 Lighter click: Capturing naturesbeauty?





Thats it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hills Energy & Environment page for the latest news, and explore more newsletters here. Well see you Monday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Ronaldo refused to come on from the bench (Getty Images)

Cristiano Ronaldo refused to come on as a substitute before storming down the tunnel in the final moments of Manchester Uniteds win over Tottenham, manager Erik ten Hag has confirmed, leading to his punishment of being dropped from the first-team squad.

Ronaldo will play no part in Uniteds trip to Chelsea in the Premier League tomorrow and has been made to train alone after Ten Hag made the decision to banish the forward from his group, a stance which has been fully supported by the clubs hierarchy.

The Portugal international made a swift exit from Old Trafford after he walked down the tunnel before full-time, which Ten Hag said clashed with the standards and values the Dutchman has set for his players at United.

But the incident was not the first time Ronaldo had left a match early under Ten Hags tenure, with the 37-year-old among a group of players who left Uniteds pre-season friendly with Rayo Vallecano at half-time after being substituted.

Speaking on Friday, Ten Hag said he had warned his players that there would be consequences if the behaviour was repeated and Ronaldos latest act of ill-discpline had crossed a line for the United manager.

When asked if Ronaldo had refused to come on, Ten Hag replied, Yes.

More follows
Sangita Patel spoke to Yahoo Canada about fitness, beauty and finding self-confidence. (Photo via Instagram/sangita.patel)

Sangita Patel is one of the most engaging and exciting personalities on Canadian television.

Known for being notoriously real on social media, many look to Patel for advice on how to juggle motherhood, fitness and relationships  all while finding time to look after oneself.

In an interview with Yahoo Canada, the 43-year-old "ET Canada" host got up close and personal about her career, diversity and mental health. Despite discussing these serious yet important topics, Patel made sure to have a few laughs and joke about the "unpredictable" fall weather.

"I knew that if I wanted to live my passion I had to just go for it."Sangita Patel

But if one thing's for certain, it's that no matter the climate, the Toronto, Ont.-native lets nothing stop her from achieving her dreams.

Read on to learn more about Patel's passions, accomplishments and advice for women everywhere.

Yahoo Canada: What sparked your interest in broadcast journalism and how did you land your current gig at ET Canada?

Sangita Patel: It's been a journey. I studied as an electrical engineer but I also applied to university for journalism because I have a passion for it. But, I needed to figure out how to make a living and I loved math and science. I ended up with engineering as I was guaranteed a job after school.

While I was an engineer I worked in journalism in the evenings. I was a reporter for a local television show. It wasn't until I had my first child that I realized I wanted to move into television.

I then worked at "The Weather Network," which was an amazing place to start, and from there opportunities opened up. I got a maternity leave at "ET Canada" to cover for Cheryl Hickey for six months and here I am 10 years later. I knew that if I wanted to live my passion I had to just go for it.

YC: You were recently promoted to co-host of "ET Canada" alongside Cheryl Hickey. What does this promotion mean to you, and do you have any favourite memories from the show?

SP: It was a wonderful moment. I'm a woman of colour, and we don't get to see a lot of South Asian women like myself on television. Growing up there was no one like me on TV, really. And the idea that two females are co-hosting a national television show is incredible and has never been done in Canada. I see it as a platform for representation and I am so honoured to be part of it.

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"I always try to find positivity in the chaos, and that's where my happiness comes from."Sangita Patel

The one person I really connect with is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Partly because he is my fitness inspiration. Eight to nine years ago on the red carpet there he was, and I spoke to him, so that is a great memory for me. He's made so much out of nothing and he inspires me daily.

YC: You have gained a following for your #FitnessTuesday videos. Can you tell us a bit more about that series?

SP: I started on social media eight to nine years ago, and I was thinking about how important fitness is to me. So I started the hashtag #FitnessTuesday and posted a workout video every Tuesday. The response was great and especially from women my age, who sent me hundreds of messages about how my videos pushed them to workout.

"You can be your best at any age, even with a family and a career."Sangita Patel

I post it because a lot of people aren't taught that they're the priority. A lot of women aren't taught to take care of themselves and their health. They're taught that their health and happiness comes after everyone else's happiness, and I want to change that conversation. You can be your best at any age, even with a family and a career.

Seeing how the videos were speaking to women gave me the motivation to continue. I just want women to be their best. It's not branded and just me putting myself out there.

YC: What are your top tips for women looking to get into fitness?

SP: Firstly, I want women to know that they are allowed to take time for themselves. It's OK to do something for yourself. But I'd say that the most important thing is consistency. Plan it out, time it out, but you have to let yourself be happy and do something for you. Then either your fitness or personal goals will come. However you choose to move, put it in your schedule and make it part of your routine.

"I have learned to accept that I am going to age and it will be graceful."Sangita Patel

YC: As a public figure, do you feel pressured to look a certain way for the media? If so, how do you combat this?

SP: I came into this industry at an older age, so all I knew was to be me. I was told by an old colleague that in this industry it's important to not be anyone else.

People have given me suggestions about how to look or things to try, but it's not me. I've never done Botox, I've never used a needle. And there's nothing wrong with that stuff, but I have learned to accept that I am going to age and it will be graceful. These wrinkles that I have are from smiling. These wrinkles are from experiencing life and that's important to me.

But I do take care of myself and my skin by drinking lots of water and moisturizing. I do hydro facials too. I just want people to know that they can age gracefully and it's fine.

YC: Why is mental health important to you and how do you look after it?

SP: I have taught myself positivity. I have control over that narrative. There's so many chaotic things I've experienced, but I always try to find positivity in the chaos, and that's where my happiness comes from. And you can control that narrative too, other people can't do that for you.

But also, I let it out or cry it out. Do what I have to do and move on  and that's how I live my life. That's what's so important, is that life is short and you need to live it the best you can.

There are mean people out there. There are people who will bring you down, but don't let that noise into your head. You have to let that go, and realize that you're in control and can take that narrative away.

"Live your best. Live your happiness. Live your joy."Sangita Patel

YC: Do you have any advice for women looking to be the most happy, confident and healthy versions of themselves?

SP: Live your best. Live your happiness. Live your joy. This is the time to do it, and the earlier you do it, the better life you have.

You're in control of that  nobody else  and don't give that part to anyone else.

Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
Photo: Contributed

The amazing images produced so far by the James Webb Space Telescope have captured the attention of the media. They are easy to find on-line, just search for James Webb Space Telescope images.

A very interesting new one has just been released. It shows what looks rather like a fingerprint in space (above). To read more about it, click on this link.

It shows a closely spaced pair of stars, surrounded by a set of at least 17 uniform, concentric, expanding ripples of dusty material. These dust ripples are due to one of the stars being a Wolf Rayet star, with a mass of about 30 times the mass of the Sun.

Wolf-Rayet stars, discovered in 1867 by Charles Wolf and Georges Rayet, astronomers at the Paris Observatory, are bright, massive stars that are nearing the ends of their lives. These stars have masses 25 or more times the mass of the Sun, but they shine 100,000 times to a million times brighter, so they use their fuel at a prodigious rate. The Sun is 4.5 billion years old and is good for billions of years yet. The stars that become Wolf-Rayet stars last for 10-30 million years before they run out of fuel, collapse and explode.

As they start to run out of hydrogen, they start using heavier elements to obtain energy, which results in waste products of even heavier elements, such as iron. Normally these accumulate in the cores of stars and stay there until the star finally explodes, sending them out across the universe.

However, the circulation of material in Wolf-Rayet stars is so vigorous the heavy elements find their way to the surface, where they are ejected as a particularly dense, fast version of the wind our sun produces - the solar wind. These heavy elements accumulate as a dust cloud surrounding the star.

In this case the Wolf-Rayet story is a bit more interesting. The star in the JSWT image has a partner and the two stars are orbiting around one another. Their paths around each other are quite elliptical, and every time the stars pass close to each other, their winds collide, creating another ring around the stars. This moves outwards and at next close approach another ring is added. The result is a neat system of equally spaced, neat, sharply defined rings.

How good Wolf-Rayet stars are at making dust is well conveyed in the image.

The bright stars that spend their retirement as Wolf-Rayet stars are not good places to look for life-bearing planets. A star living maybe 30 million years is not going to give its planets time to produce living things. In addition, such a vigorous wind from the star is likely to strip away the atmospheres of any nearby planets. If anything survives that, they will be exterminated by the final explosion at the end of the star's life.

That does not mean these stars are not important to the development of life in our galaxy and ostensibly in other galaxies across the universe. Many of the other JWST images are beautiful combinations of stars and either glowing or dark clouds of dust. That dust was produced by earlier generations of massive, bright stars.

At the beginning of the universe there was nothing but hydrogen, helium and maybe some lithium. It's in the clouds of gas and dust that new stars and planets are born, and that is where the ingredients for making living things are to be found.

Those bright stars may never support life, but what they do makes life possible, and this JWST image of a pair of stars making dust ripples show their part of the process really well, and beautifully.



 Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, lies very low in the east before dawn.

 In the early evening Jupiter lies in the east and Saturn in the southeast.

 The Moon will reach first quarter on Oct. 3. There will be some moonlight this Hallowe'en.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Ethan Crumbley (Getty Images)

A teenager accused of killing four students at a Michigan high school shooting last year is expected to plead guilty.

Prosecutors announced the developments in the case against Ethan Crumbley, 16, and said he is expected to enter his plea on Monday, the Associated Press reported. Crumbley, then 15, opened fire at Oxford High School, where he attended, on 30 November 2021, killing four students and injuring seven others.

We can confirm that the shooter is expected to plead guilty to all 24 charges, including terrorism and the prosecutor has notified the victims, Oakland county chief assistant prosecutor David Williams said in a statement.

Killed in the shooting were Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St Juliana, 14; Justin Shilling, 17; and Tate Myre, 16.

Following the shooting, Crumbleys parents were charged with manslaughter for buying their son the gun he used in the massacre. They were also accused of ignoring multiple warning signs about his disturbing behaviour and poor mental health in the lead-up to the shooting.

On the day of the violence, James and Jennifer Crumbley, had been asked to go to the high school to talk about their sons behaviour after a teacher found his drawing of a gun pointing at the words, The thoughts wont stop. Help me.

Prosecutors have said that the day before, when Ms Crumbley was notified that her son was searching for ammunition online, she answered: Lol. Im not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught.

They argue that Crumbleys parents created an environment in which their sons violent tendencies flourished.

This is a developing story ... check again for updates.
The 16-year-old accused of gunning down four schoolmates last year outside of Detroit is expected to plead guilty to all counts, prosecutors said Friday.

Ethan Crumbley has been charged with those killings in addition to the wounding of six other students and a teacher at Oxford High School on Nov. 30 last year in southeastern Michigan, about 40 miles north of downtown Detroit.

We can confirm that the shooter is expected to plead guilty to all 24 charges, including terrorism and the prosecutor has notified the victims, David Williams, the chief assistant prosecutor in Oakland County, told The Associated Press.

Another representative of the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office confirmed to NBC News that Williams' statement was accurate.

Crumbley's attorney could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.

The Oxford HS shooting drew national attention, not just for the killings  but for the prosecution of the alleged shooters parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley.

Related video: Parents of Michigan school shooter seen blowing kisses in court

They've been ordered to stand trial in January after they were charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. His parents are accused of ignoring warning signs which led to the deadly rampage.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
By Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Union leaders jointly expressed concern on Friday about economic reliance on China, leaving German Chancellor Olaf Scholz facing questions over an imminent trip there with business chiefs.

Mindful of the gas dependency built up with Russia that Moscow has exploited, many EU leaders said they needed a united and tougher stance towards China.

Since 2019, the EU has officially regarded China as a partner, an economic competitor and systemic rival.

The EU's foreign policy service said in a paper prepared for this week's leaders' summit that Beijing should now be thought of primarily as a competitor that is promoting "an alternative vision of the world order".

The push for fine-tuning comes as Germany's ruling coalition considers whether to let Chinese state-owned shipping group Cosco take a stake in a Hamburg port terminal.

The response of the government, currently divided on the issue, is seen as a gauge of how far it is willing to toughen its stance towards its top trading partner.

Scholz has already faced pressure from other EU countries over his resistance to a gas price cap and a 200 billion euro ($196 billion) package to shield German consumers and businesses from energy price spikes.

Scholz stressed on Friday that the potential sale only concerned a stake in a terminal and not a majority share of an entire port, as Cosco has in Piraeus.

He also said he shared the EU's three-part categorisation of China. Scholz will travel to China in early November, his spokesperson said. Asked why business chiefs were also travelling, Scholz said they had always gone on such trips.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said leaders did not discuss Hamburg port, but did touch on critical infrastructure, adding this should not be sold to authoritarian regimes.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU had made "strategic errors" in the past with the sale of infrastructure to China.

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LESSONS AND WARNINGS

The shift comes amid concern by EU diplomats that Chinese President Xi Jinping, who delivered a key policy speech on Sunday, is setting China on an increasingly authoritarian path.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc had learned its lesson from dependency on Russia and needed to be vigilant towards China.

"In the case of China, it is the risk of dependency on technologies and raw materials," she said, adding the EU needed to boost its production capacity and shift more towards trustworthy suppliers.

Finland's Marin said the EU needed to avoid building future dependencies in new technology and instead promote stronger cooperation between democratic countries.

There is also concern on China's stance over the war in Ukraine. Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "no limits" friendship between their two countries on the eve of Russia's invasion.

Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said it was important for the EU to speak with China to ensure it was "on the right side of history" over Russia's war against Ukraine.

"China is best dealt with when we are 27, not when we are one on one vis-a-vis China," he said.

($1 = 1.0199 euros)

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; additional reporting by Sabine Siebold and Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Raissa Kasolowsky)
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union must remain united in its support for Ukraine and should start working on holding Russia legally accountable for its activities in the war, Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said on his way to the second day of an EU summit.

"Russia's war is becoming ever more brutal, now blatantly aimed not only at the Ukrainian military but at Ukrainian citizens and their civilian infrastructure," Karins said on his way to a meeting of EU leaders.

"To figure out how to properly hold Russia also legally accountable for the atrocities that they are committing in Ukraine today," he said, adding that sanctions against Belarus should also be increased.

(Reporting by Marine Strauss @StraussMarine, Benoit Van Overstraten; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)
Councilmember Mike Bonin addresses a City Council meeting last week. Councilmember-elect Eunisses Hernandez, who defeated Gil Cedillo in June, stands behind Bonin. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Two days after a leaked audio recording jolted Los Angeles, angry and pained citizens packed the City Council chamber.

They chanted, jeered, cursed and vowed to prevent the Tuesday morning meeting from taking place as long as the three council members heard on the racist recording remained in office.

As council leaders struggled to regain control of the room, a figure in a brightly embroidered blouse stood out among the sea of dark suits.

Eunisses Hernandez, a 32-year-old activist who ousted two-term Councilmember Gil Cedillo in the June primary, is not scheduled to take over his seat until December. This was her first time on the council floor  a space separated from the general public by a partition and a smattering of police officers.

She turned toward the gallery and urged the crowd to give Councilmember Mike Bonin, whose young son had been the subject of racist vitriol in the recording, a chance to speak.

The crowd did not fully quiet. But it was clear that Hernandez had real credibility with the organizers leading the chants.

She then crossed the council floor and approached Cedillo, one of the three council members heard on the incendiary recording.

 'This is extremely disrespectful,' " Hernandez recalled telling the veteran politician of his presence, saying the " 'community would like you to leave and I think that's the right move.' 

He made eye contact with her but did not respond, she said.

As a Latina woman, daughter of Mexican immigrants, I thought it was my responsibility to stand in solidarity with my colleagues who have been impacted by this," she told a reporter from her perch on the council floor that day. "It's my responsibility to push off this anti-Blackness and racism.

While it is unusual for a council member-elect to appear on the council floor, Hernandez wasn't the only one bending protocol that day. She was joined by two political allies inside the burgundy rope, neither one a member: City Council candidate Hugo Soto-Martinez and Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, who is viewed as a possible council candidate in the future.

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Hernandez's appearance amid her future colleagues, some of whom she had never met in person, presented a stark visual symbol of the changes sweeping over the council and the city's political landscape, and a reminder that Hernandez herself remains between two worlds.

She is still weeks away from holding any formal power as a council member  a five-month limbo resulting from Hernandez's unexpected triumph in the primary and a realignment of the election calendar to coincide with the midterm election. In the meantime, her days are spent meeting with community groups, city department heads and other stakeholders.

Hernandez's June victory came just two years after her political ally and soon-to-be-colleague Councilmember Nithya Raman defeated an incumbent to take her seat in 2020. The outcome of both races has been widely viewed as a testament to the solidifying power of the city's progressive movement.

Two other potential progressive council allies are on the November ballot, and should both or either win, Hernandez could be part of a significant political bloc come December. But the size of that bloc  and its corresponding political heft on the council  remains to be seen.

The seeds of the partnership among Soto-Martinez, Bryan and Hernandez were sown in 2020 on the campaign for Measure J, which required that 10% of locally generated, unrestricted county money be spent on a variety of social services, and prohibited the money from being used on prisons, jails or law enforcement agencies. Coming in the wake of George Floyd's murder, it was perhaps the most concrete way that the anger in the streets that summer transferred to the ballot box.

Implementing the change has been delayed and potentially scuttled by litigation, but Hernandez and Bryan were key in getting it passed.

They served as co-chairs of the campaign, arguing on the campaign trail that communities like the one Hernandez will soon represent have been deprived of investment as the jail system has grown. Soto-Martinez was also involved with Measure J through his role as an organizer at a union that represents hotel workers.

Tommy Newman, a senior director at United Way of Greater Los Angeles, served as the treasurer of the campaign and is a close watcher of local politics. He said Hernandez's ascension, along with the potential for two more special elections and the pushing out of these long-standing players in City Hall, could "supercharge a shift that's slowly been taking place" to a more progressive City Council.

"They're fearless. They're fearless in a way that you don't often see with electeds because all of the incentives are to be cautious and careful and sometimes fearful," Newman, who supported Hernandez's council campaign, said of his former compatriots on Measure J.

"We saw that fearlessness show up in the Measure J campaign, we saw it in Eunisses' own campaign and you see it show up in their willingness to support candidates who are challenging incumbents. Then you see them showing up on one of the darkest days of the City Council and physically being present and in the middle of that all."

Donning a huipil she purchased in her mother's hometown of Guadalajara to show solidarity with the Oaxacan community and migrants generally, Hernandez said she and the others felt their presence was needed in the city's moment of crisis. Not just to show support, but also to signal that they were ready to fight for their communities.

Amid a hypercharged political atmosphere in which protests have become a mainstay in council chambers, Hernandez has deep ties to many of the grass-roots organizers that some of her colleagues appear to openly disdain.

Soto-Martinez described Hernandez's role at the meeting as a "conduit between the current leaders and the folks there to either be in solidarity or protesting."

She recognized nearly all the faces in the front section of spectators, she said, and knew several well.

There are a handful of city representatives who have relationships with some of the organizers who've led protests in chambers. But in Hernandez's view, many of the other members "see these folks as interrupters" and don't understand "why they're pushing so hard."

"When you come from community and your job has been to move bureaucracy to do the right thing, it's a different type of connection and understanding," she said.

But Hernandez herself will soon be part of that bureaucracy. Maintaining community credibility while contending with the messy reality and attendant compromises of local office will be a delicate balancing act in the months and years to come.

Hernandezs district stretches from Lincoln Heights to the edge of South L.A. and includes many communities in flux. It remains nearly two-thirds Latino, but some of its neighborhoods  including her lifelong home of Highland Park  have grown whiter and wealthier in recent years, with gentrification displacing longtime residents.

Hernandez is a co-founder of La Defensa, an advocacy group that focuses on electing progressive judges and creating alternatives to criminalization and incarceration, and she has vowed to fight gentrification in the district.

Almost exactly a year ago, the same establishment figures who are now under siege struggled to remember Hernandez's name  and to make sense of her place in the local power structure.

"With Gils opponent, she appears out of nowhere, a 31-year-old lawyer. Who is she?" labor leader Ron Herrera asked during the October 2021 conversation, incorrectly characterizing Hernandez as an attorney. Once Isaac Bryan endorsed her, it surfaced the opposition.  It is deeper than what you think. This isn't any 31-year-old rookie running."

Kevin de Leon, a third council member who took part in the conversation, then interjects that Hernandez is "running on her own."

"She's not running on her own," Herrera shoots back, describing Hernandez as part of a broader political coalition that the elected leaders shouldn't underestimate.

Then-Council President Nury Martinez, who made some of the most incendiary racist comments in the recording, refers to Hernandez as "this kid" and then makes a few attempts at pronouncing "Eunisses" before writing her off as "whatever her name is."

Herrera, who was president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, and Martinez have both resigned their posts. Cedillo has apologized but appears unwilling to step down before the end of his term in December. In a televised interview Wednesday, De Leon apologized but vowed not to resign before the end of his term in 2024.

For his part, Bryan says he's contemplating but unsure whether he will run for suspended City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas's seat if it opens up. Joining Hernandez and Soto-Martinez on the council floor was spontaneous, he said. He didn't know they'd be there.

"I hadn't made the decision till I woke up that morning," Bryan said. "I actually had a meeting I was supposed [to attend] and I just thought, 'I can't be on a Zoom meeting when this is happening.' "

Heather Hutt, an appointed council member, is currently representing Ridley-Thomas' South L.A. seat, but it's possible that a special election could be called to fill the seat next year  one of several potentially on the horizon. A special election to fill Martinez's northeast Valley council seat will be held next year.

Hernandez says she is ready to step into the role sooner than December if Cedillo does resign before the end of his term. She put up job listings Saturday for a number of positions in her council office and already has some of her senior staff members in place.

In the days since the leak, preparing to join the council has dominated not just her waking hours but also her sleep.

"I just kept dreaming about corruption and dreaming like, 'Oh, we need to start  we need to start immediately,' " she recalled.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A former minister in the Bolivian government pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes through a Miami bank in exchange for steering an inflated tear-gas contract to a South Florida company.

Arturo Carlos Murillo Prijic, 58, admitted in Miami federal court that he received at least $532,000 in bribe payments from a Broward-based company so it could secure a $5.6 million contract to provide tear gas and other non-lethal equipment to the Bolivian Ministry of Defense. Murillo received at least $130,000 in cash bribes through his Miami bank accounts, according to prosecutors.

Murillo, represented by defense attorney Ana Davide, faces up to 10 years in prison on his money-laundering conviction before U.S. District Judge Paul Huck.

Four other men implicated in the corruption scheme to sell tear gas to the Bolivian government were sentenced in June to prison terms of roughly two to four years.

Bolivian police used the tear gas  sold at inflated prices along with kickbacks to government officials  to quell supporters of socialist leader Evo Morales during street protests after he resigned as president following a disputed election in 2019.

At the center of the foreign corruption scheme was Murillo, the former Bolivian minister of government. He was a cabinet member in the conservative administration that briefly replaced Morales socialist administration. Murillo was arrested in 2021 at a home in Doral on conspiracy and money-laundering charges accusing him of accepting more than $500,000 in kickbacks from the South Florida tear-gas supplier, Bravo Tactical Solutions, between November 2019 and April 2020.

The other four defendants named as co-conspirators pleaded guilty last year and have cooperated with federal prosecutors in the case against Murillo.

They are: Sergio Rodrigo Mendez Mendizabal, the ministers former chief of staff, convicted of money laundering and sentenced to 42 months; Bryan Berkman, CEO of Bravo Tactical Solutions in Tamarac, convicted of foreign corruption and sentenced to 28 months in prison and 36 months of home confinement; his father, Luis Berkman, of Georgia, convicted of money laundering and sentenced to 38 months in prison and 16 months of home confinement; and Philip Lichtenfeld, a U.S. citizen, who was convicted of foreign corruption and sentenced to 26 months of prison and ordered to pay a $75,000 fine.

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Bryan Berkman, Luis Berkman, and Litchtenfeld were accused of paying more than $1 million in kickbacks to Murillo, Mendez and two other Bolivian officials to obtain the tear-gas defense contract with the conservative government of former interim Bolivian President Jeanine Anez.

They laundered the bribe proceeds and illicit gains through bank accounts in the United States, Bolivia, and Singapore, and arranged the delivery of cash bribes in Miami, Florida, and Cochabamba, Bolivia,  federal prosecutor Eli Rubin wrote in a sentencing memo. And in the process, they enriched themselves handsomely by committing serious, calculated crimes.

Rubin sought the maximum prison sentences for each of the four defendants  10 years for Luis Berkman and Mendez, and five years for Bryan Berkman and Lichtenfeld  but Judge Huck was not persuaded.

In Miami federal court, the four defendants signed factual statements as part of their plea agreements, admitting to the following scheme:

Between March and April of last year, Bryan Berkman, Luis Berkman, Lichtenfeld, Murillo and Mendez arranged for the Central Bank of Bolivia to transfer about $5.6 million to Bravo Tactical Solutions. In turn, the South Florida company wired about $3.3 million of those proceeds to a bank account in Brazil to pay the actual manufacturer of the tear gas under Bravos defense contract with the Bolivian government.

The huge difference  about $2.4 million  accounted for Bravos inflated defense contract covering a split of both profits and bribes, according to Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Attorneys Office.
A former teachers aide in the Dallas school district remained in custody on Friday after she was arrested and accused of slamming a 7-year-old special-education student to the ground.

Authorities arrested 54-year-old Deborah Thompson on Thursday on a charge of injury to a child with intent to cause bodily injury.

Thompson was in the Dallas County Jail on Friday with bond set at $35,000, according to jail records.

She worked as an aide at Larry G. Smith Elementary School in Dallas ISD at the time of the incident last month.

The childs foster parents told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV that classroom security footage from Sept. 23 shows Thompson pick up and slam the 7-year-old boy, who has autism and a learning delay.

After an internal investigation, school district officials told WFAA, Thompson resigned three days after the incident. Dallas ISD officials didnt make any additional statement.

The childs foster parents told WFAA that they were shown security footage of the incident on Monday and decided to press charges.

She literally just picked up my son and slammed him onto the floor, said foster mother Brianna, who didnt want to use her last name. You can hear him crying in the footage.

The foster parents said the video shows their son swinging his backpack around non-threateningly before Thompson grabs him.

She stands up and tells him to stop, foster father Albert told WFAA. He goes to swing it again, but before he gets the chance, she picks him up and slams him to the ground. His face goes right into the ground because shes holding his hands behind his back.

The parents told WFAA that theyre frustrated because they received little guidance from the district on how to proceed. Their son has a bruise on his face but is expected to be OK.

He came home and kept saying that his head hurt, Brianna told the TV station. Kids like my son, most are nonverbal and cant come home and tell us something happened to them.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  A former gynecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles was found guilty Thursday of five counts of sexually abusing female patients, in a criminal case that came after the university system made nearly $700 million in lawsuit payouts.

The Los Angeles jury found Dr. James Heaps, a longtime UCLA campus gynecologist, not guilty of seven of the 21 counts and were deadlocked on the remaining charges.

In the wake of the scandal that erupted in 2019 following the doctor's arrest, UCLA agreed to pay nearly $700 million in lawsuit settlements to hundreds of Heaps patients  a record amount by a public university amid a wave of sexual misconduct scandals by campus doctors in recent years.

Heaps, 65, had pleaded not guilty to 21 felony counts in the sexual assaults of seven women between 2009 and 2018. He has denied wrongdoing.

Heaps was indicted last year on multiple counts each of sexual battery by fraud, sexual exploitation of a patient and sexual penetration of an unconscious person by fraudulent representation.

The jury delivered a guilty verdict on three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person. He was found not guilty of seven other counts of sexual battery and penetration, as well as one count of sexual exploitation. The jury was hung on the nine remaining counts, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial for those charges.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 17.

The district attorney's office said it has not decided whether prosecutors will retry the hung counts.

The trauma Dr. Heaps inflicted on the very people he had sworn to care for is immeasurable. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement. While we respect the jurors decisions on the acquitted counts, we are obviously disappointed.

Heaps attorney did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.

The horrible abuse he perpetrated on cancer patients and others who trusted him as their doctor has been exposed and justice was done, attorney John Manly, who represented more than 200 women in civil cases against Heaps and UCLA, said in a statement after the verdict.

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Sex abuse by doctors on college campuses has led to massive settlements at Ohio State University, Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University.

UCLA's payouts exceed a $500 million settlement by Michigan State University in 2018 that was considered the largest by a public university. The University of Southern California, a private institution, has agreed to pay more than $1 billion to settle thousands of cases against the schools longtime gynecologist, who still faces a criminal trial in Los Angeles.

UCLA patients said Heaps groped them, made suggestive comments or conducted unnecessarily invasive exams during his 35-year career. Women who brought the lawsuits said the university ignored their complaints and deliberately concealed abuse that happened for decades during examinations at the UCLA student health center, the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center or in Heaps campus office.

UCLA acknowledged it received a sex abuse complaint against Heaps from a patient in December 2017 and it launched an investigation the following month that concluded she was sexually assaulted and harassed, attorneys said.

Heaps, however, continued to practice until his retirement in June 2018. The university did not release its finding in the investigation until November 2019  months after Heaps was arrested.

UCLA Health is grateful for the patients who came forward," the university said in a statement after the verdict. "Sexual misconduct of any kind is reprehensible and intolerable. Our overriding priority is providing the highest quality care while ensuring that patients feel safe, protected and respected.
Courts surrounding PrivatBank have shown that there is no justice in Ukraine

Read also: PrivatBank files cassation appeal against ruling to pay $17.5 million to former owners ex-wife

Ihor Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Bogolyubov continue to attack PrivatBank, which was nationalized by the state almost six years ago. After the beginning of the Russian aggression, these attacks slowed down a bit, but over the past two months, the oligarchs have renewed their efforts.

It should be mentioned that a record UAH 150 billion ($4.1 billion) had to be poured into the countrys largest financial institution in order to eliminate the threat of bankruptcy. An independent audit by the Kroll international agency revealed in 2018 that the bank, under its former owners, had become the object of large-scale fraudulent activities, which led to losses of at least $5.5 billion.

Years of lawsuits initiated by the former owners have created a whole case study about the gaps in the countrys judicial system. Former NBU Governor Valeria Hontareva has even gone as far as to say the court proceedings against PrivatBank have shown that there is no justice in Ukraine.

But what does this case reveal in detail? NV collected the opinions of legal experts and analysts regarding the biggest flaws of the judicial system that have been laid bare during the court proceedings against PrivatBank.

Olena Shcherban, head of the legal department of the Anti-Corruption Action Center

From the very beginning, the lawyers of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC) analyzed the abuse of Ukrainian judges in the cases of PrivatBank. We conducted our own monitoring and analysis, based on publicly available information and by analyzing the Unified Register of Court Decisions. Everything related to similar violations in PrivatBank cases was collected by our lawyers in a separate publication.

Read also: Ukrainian oligarch Kolomoiskys company loses rights to Dnipro Airport, says mayor

It turned out that, in addition to the odious Kyivs Pechersk District Court, there are others similar to it in the regions, which make contradictory decisions in favor of Kolomoisky. In cases where such decisions reached the Supreme Court, they were usually overturned there.

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Judges systematically allowed gross procedural violations in PrivatBank cases.

For example, on Jan. 22, 2021, the judge of Kyivs Commercial Court, Dmytro Baranov, examined the evidence in the case of the claim of JSC Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant against PrivatBank in 37 minutes. It was about 4,000 pages of case files. The owners of the enterprise, Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov, urgently needed the full text of the decision for Jan. 22, because it was the last working day before the meeting in Delaware in the case of PrivatBank against them, as well as their companies.

There are a lot of similar abuses behind the cases we observed.

And the problem leads to the fact that our country has had a corrupt High Council of Justice (HCJ) for a long time, which did not punish judges for such violations. There are many facts that such judges could close disciplinary cases brought against them in the HCJ thanks to bribes of $50,000. Such information was published in the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU). It turns out that the judges took bribes for illegal decisions, violating the legal course of the case, and later bought off the HCJ for some part of this bribe.

That is why, when the question arose of competitive selection during the judicial reform, former HCJ members refused to participate as they understood that they would not be able to explain the origin of the owners fortune. I hope with the continuation of the judicial reform, this key judicial body should be reloaded on the basis of integrity and the judges will lose the corrupt loophole.

Mykhailo Zhernakov, co-founder and chairman of the board of the DEJURE Foundation, former judge

As for the last two most high-profile cases involving PrivatBank, the Cypriot company Triantal Investments Ltd, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state-owned PrivatBank. This is one of the key cases that Kolomoisky lost. And at the same time, the Supreme Court canceled the decisions of two previous instances. So, this decision in favor of the state was held by a thread. I think it was largely due to publicity.

In another case regarding the ownership of the Myr Hotel in Kyiv, the Supreme Court made a wrong a right. In my opinion, it was an illegal decision, and gave a huge property to the oligarchs. This shows the double standards of justice and the fact that the integrity of many judges of the HCJ is in great question.

The judicial reform, which is currently underway, is No. 1 among the means of de-oligarchization and the establishment of Ukraine as an independent and capable state. Because no matter how much we pass laws on de-oligarchization, on entering such people into a separate list, they will not cease to be oligarchs. The main thing is to take away from them the tools to be oligarchs. And this can be done only by establishing an independent judiciary on legal grounds, as well as a powerful Antimonopoly Committee.

There are two categories of typical litigation influence schemes used by unscrupulous litigants  bypassing the automated case distribution system to get them to the right judges. Interested persons even resort to such services, when using the parallel servers of such an automated case distribution system they test which of the judges will receive their case.

In addition, another obvious scheme is used: 20 lawsuits are submitted to the court at once and the court fee is not paid for any of them. As a result, the case is returned without consideration on all submissions. After that, such a person pays the court fee only for the lawsuit where the right judge is selected.

There are several other ways to intervene in the automated system. A court clerk may, for example, manually remove some judges from the case allocation system by order of the court head. This is open data. However, it is difficult to detect since hundreds of such distributions occur every day.

There is another large category of manipulation, e.g. delaying the trial.

Oleg Lazovsky, head of the legal department of PrivatBank, lawyer

The first basic violation in the cases of the former owners against the bank is the bypassing of the automated case distribution system and the massive use of carousels. This is realized through the plaintiffs abuse of their rights when they file similar five-10 lawsuits without paying a court fee to the same court.

The system automatically distributes them to different judges, after which the plaintiff chooses a so-called right judge, who is given proof of payment of the court fee. As a result, such a judge continues the case, and all other judges close the proceedings. Similar things are happening in many high-profile cases, of which there are more than 500 in total, based on lawsuits by former owners and top management of the bank, as well as companies related to them. Of course, this is not news, and procedural codes ban such abuses  if the court finds that carousels took place, it is obliged to leave without consideration or return such a lawsuit.

The second significant procedural abuse is the groundless application of enforcement measures. This is a procedural measure where, upon the plaintiffs application, the court can, for example, seize property to ensure the execution of a future decision. And this is one of the main tools of abuse, when courts groundlessly and arbitrarily impose seizures on property or prohibit the bank from taking any actions even before the court case is considered on its merits.

Serhii Fursa, Dragon Capital analyst

When the state had political will, no oligarch could overcome it, since the topic of PrivatBank is critically important in communication with Western partners. This issue is prioritized, so the state has the will to prevent Kolomoisky from winning. Especially since the Anti-Kolomoisky law was passed under the pressure of our partners. And this law made it difficult for the oligarch to defend his position in the courts. As for the two most recent judgments of the Supreme Court regarding the property of the Cypriot company Triantal Investments Ltd and regarding the Myr Hotel, we can say that we definitely do not know everything, how these issues are resolved.

Globally, the state probably monitors those processes that pose a threat but does not really help to fight corruption at a level lower than the threat of returning the bank to the previous owners, allowing the oligarch to make money there.

From the point of view of our international partners, any decision in favor of Kolomoisky affects the image of Ukraine: the more significant the case, the more it affects it.

Using the pretext of war, Kolomoisky was able to delay the process in London. He postponed the consideration of the case on the merits for one year. For 2023. The whole case is very unambiguous, and Kolomoisky will definitely lose it. The consequences for him will be such that all his assets outside the country will be seized and transferred to the state of Ukraine. As for Ukrainian assets, this is a matter for judges in Ukraine. Because the decision of the London court will have to be implemented in Ukraine. So, we need the political will to implement these judgments after the London court hearing, or to have a reformed judiciary by that time that will do it on its own.

Mykhailo Demkiv, financial analyst of the ICU company Do the PrivatBank cases demonstrate that the state has learned to resist the oligarchs arbitrariness?

Protecting the states interests is a thankless pursuit. It is difficult, and it is necessary to face not only good lawyers, but also media pressure. In the case of PrivatBank lawsuits, the interests of the state bank and the state as a shareholder are sufficiently protected both in Ukrainian and international courts, which is definitely a positive. For more than 30 years, Ukraine has had many cases that affected its investment image. Therefore, in this context, PrivatBank has a leading individual place due to its significant size. However, even such important issues in 2022 gave way to another  the issue of security.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  The U.N. Security Council has approved a resolution that imposes sanctions on Jimmy Cherizier, leader of a powerful gang federation in Haiti, who is accused of threatening the country's peace, security or stability. It also places a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo on Cherizier and would establish a committee to designate others to be put on a sanctions list.

The resolution comes nearly two weeks after Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and his Cabinet requested deployment of foreign troops to help end Haiti's deepening crisis, a request that the U.N. is still mulling.

Cherizier and the federation he leads, known as "G9 Family and Allies," have blocked the entrance of a main fuel terminal in the capital of Port-au-Prince for more than a month as fuel, water and other basic supplies grow scarce amid a cholera outbreak. The gang has said it would not budge until Henry resigns, but in a video recently posted on social media, Cherizier, who is nicknamed Barbecue, called on the government to grant him and G9 members amnesty and to void all arrest warrants against them. The government has not responded as police struggle to contain gangs that have grown more powerful since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Here's a look at Cherizier's life and rise to power:

WHO IS JIMMY CHERIZIER, AND WHY IS HE NICKNAMED BARBECUE?

Cherizier is a former officer with Haitis National Police who worked with the Departmental Crowd Control Unit, which is deployed when there are riots or protests and has been accused of excessive force. He has since become what many consider Haiti's most powerful gang leader.

Cherizier told The Associated Press in a 2019 interview that he was born in the Port-au-Prince community of Delmas, next to La Saline slum, one of eight children whose father died when he was 5. He said his mother was a street vendor who sold fried chicken, and that's how he was nicknamed Barbecue, denying he earned the moniker due to accusations that he set people on fire.

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Cherizier told the AP that he is inspired by the late dictator Francois Papa Doc Duvalier, who ruled Haiti with a bloody brutality from 1957 to 1971 and had himself declared president for life.

HOW DID CHERIZIER BECOME SO POWERFUL?

Haiti's National Police fired Cherizier in December 2018 and he still faces an outstanding arrest warrant for his alleged role in a 2017 massacre.

Authorities accuse Cherizier of becoming a gang leader of Base Delmas 6, an impoverished Lower Delmas neighborhood, and of organizing large-scale massacres that occurred in the nearby slums of Grand Ravine in 2017, in La Saline in 2018 and in Bel-Air in 2019, accusations Cherizier denies.

At least nine civilians were killed in Grand Ravine, another 71 people were killed, 11 women raped and 150 homes destroyed in La Saline and at least 24 people killed in Bel-Air, according to a report published by Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic.

In June 2020, Cherizier established a new alliance known as G9 Family and Allies." It originally was composed of nine gangs from Cite Soleil, La Saline and lower Delmas but has since grown to include more than a dozen gangs, according to a U.N. Security Council report.

The G9 ... is notorious because of the diversity of its membership, the report stated.

In mid-2020, the gang alliance was accused of killing at least 145 people in Cite Soleil and raping multiple women in efforts to claim areas held by rivals with ties to Moises political opponents, according to the Harvard report.

Residents believe they were targeted for their political affiliations, in an effort to secure electoral support for (Moise) and his party, the report stated, adding that G9 reportedly enjoys ties to both the Moise administration and (Haiti's National Police).

Haiti's National Human Rights Defense Network has echoed those allegations, stating that local police have helped protect Cherizier even while he supposedly committed crimes.

In December 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department issued civil sanctions against Cherizier and others believed to be involved in the massacres, accusing gangs of removing victims, including children, from their homes to be executed and then dragged them into the streets where their bodies were burned, dismembered and fed to animals.

Cherizier has repeatedly denied any involvement in the massacres, saying he is a community leader who helps residents and is leading an armed revolution, adding that he would put guns in the hands of every child if we have to.

I would never massacre people in the same social class as me, he told the AP. I live in the ghetto. I know what ghetto life is.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR CHERIZIER?

Since mid-September, Cherizier and his allies have surrounded a key fuel terminal in Port-au-Prince, refusing to move until the prime minister steps down. But after Haiti's government requested the immediate deployment of foreign troops, Cherizier announced that he was seeking amnesty and the removal of all arrest warrants against him and his allies.

The gang also is demanding Cabinet positions, the director of Haitis National Disarmament, Dismantling and Reintegration Commission told radio station Magik 9.

The government has not responded publicly to those requests.
Photo: Photo: Bob Mackin. The UBC-bought copy of WIlliam Shakespeare's First Folio, on display last April at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It'll be on display again in 2023, when it turns 400

The University of British Columbia paid almost $7.4 million for a rare copy of William Shakespeares First Folio last year, according to the contract obtained under freedom of information.



UBC Library announced the acquisition early this year and put the 1623-printed volume on display at the Vancouver Art Gallery from January to April.



Why such a high cost? It is one of 235 known copies remaining, published seven years after the Bards death, and contains 36 of his comedies, histories and tragedies. UBC said it is the only one north of California and the second in Canada.



Documents show UBC wired $5.9 million from its U.S. currency account to Christies in New York via the J.P. Morgan Chase Bank on Aug. 5, 2021. According to the Bank of Canada currency exchange converter, US$5.9 million was worth $7.37 million in Canadian funds at the time.



The sum is equal to the full course load tuition for 1,286 domestic students in arts, computer science, nursing and urban forestry.



The documents provide no information about the previous owner or the donors that UBC said funded the acquisition. UBC has said that the Department of Canadian Heritage provided $500,000 under the Movable Cultural Grant Program, which subsidizes acquisition of cultural property of outstanding significance and national importance to Canada.



UBC decided to pay a great deal to be an owner, rather than a borrower nor a lender be, after Christies sold a copy for nearly US$10 million in October 2020. In July of this year, Sothebys sold one for US$6.16 million.



The Christies Private Sale Offer to Purchase officially called the UBC-bought First Folio the Apsley Cherry-Garrard copy, so named for the previous owner, a South Pole adventurer who authored The Worst Journey in the World in 1922.



Christies described the one sold to UBC as a fine, clean copy.



Authentic, First Folio title-page with the portrait in the extremely rare second state Handsomely bound in full red morocco gilt by Staggemeier & Welcher, circa 1800 Median folio (302 x 194 mm) 453 leaves, reads the description. Complete except leaf A1 [To the Reader] from a Second Folio. Title-page mounted at an early date on old leaf within manuscript rule-frame. Final leaf mounted on a stub.



UBC also spent $4,680.31 on round-trip airfare and $437.83 for a night in the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel so that Christina Geiger, Christies New York head of books and manuscripts, could deliver the First Folio on Sept. 27, 2021.



UBC is digitizing its copy of the First Folio for an augmented reality application and planning another public exhibition in 2023, the 400th anniversary of the books publication.



UBC originally claimed the contract prohibited it from releasing the cost. The confidentiality clause, however, states: Both of us agree to keep the terms of this agreement (which for us includes your identity) confidential unless we are required by law to reveal them. We will not have to reveal the identity of the seller to you.



B.Cs Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has repeatedly required public bodies to disclose their contracts for goods and services.



UBC finally disclosed the documents on Sept. 28 in response to a Jan. 14 freedom of information application.



As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, which is printed in the First Folio, the time is out of joint.
KALAMATA, Greece (AP)  Greece on Friday launched operations at a new international pilot training center created in partnership with Israel, as it tries to build on its relative air power advantage over regional rival Turkey.

Israeli defense contractor Elbit, which finalized a $1.65 billion deal with Greece's government, assisted by Israel, last year, will help run the facility located on an air force base outside the southern Greek city of Kalamata.

Greece is undertaking an armed forces modernization program largely focused on its air force, as it hopes to outpace Turkey. Athens is acquiring advanced French-built Rafale jets, upgrading its aging fleet of F-16 fighter jets and wants to join the United States' F-35 jet program.

Turkey was dropped from the F-35 program after its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system.

NATO members Greece and Turkey remain at odds over sea boundaries and the military presence on eastern Greek islands that Ankara maintains violates international treaties.

The new training center started operating Friday with 14 of an expected 25 T-6 single-engine turboprop aircraft. The fleet is set to expand next year with the delivery of 19 Italian-built M-346 training jets equipped with embedded virtual avionics that simulate combat and and flight scenarios.

While the flight school officially opened Friday it will not be fully operational until early 2024, Elbit officials said.

Major Gen. Georgios Vagenas, commander of the Greek Air Force Training Command, said the T-6 aircraft would provide 7,000 flight training hours annually, while the M-346 jets would provide 3,500 hours.

These facilities will prepare fighter squadrons for the generation of fighter aircraft that the air force recently acquired, Vagenas said. It will be the main mechanism to counter threats ... coming from our neighbor to the east.
Hours before Hurricane Ian decimated a small Fort Myers Beach marina, James Denny Hursts daughter sent him a panicked text.

Its shifted South, Shannon Vaughan wrote after seeing the forecast on the news. Please if you can get off that boat.

I am not and cannot leave my boat now, Hurst, who uses a walker and has a portable oxygen tank, texted back.

James

The 72-year-old stayed put. Vaughans calls and texts to her dad since then have gone unanswered.

Im getting panic attacks. Im crying a lot. Im angry. Im everything, Vaughan said. The not knowing is killing me.

More than three weeks after Ian crashed ashore, Hurst is one of at least five people who remain missing in Florida, according to tallies from law enforcement agencies.

More than 135 people have been confirmed dead by an NBC News count, and their families have begun holding funerals. But the relatives and friends of those still missing are caught in limbo: unable to begin grieving a loss that hasnt been confirmed, yet increasingly doubtful they will see their loved ones again.

We have accepted the fact that he is, for all intents and purposes, deceased, said Vaughan, of Rancho Mirage, California. But just find the body. Find the boat, youll find the body.

Ilonka Knes, 82, is one of three missing Lee County residents. Her husband was found dead near their Fort Myers Beach home after drowning in the storm, officials said.

Ivonka Knes (Lee County Sheriff's Office)

She wouldnt have left him. He wouldnt have left her. If they were going to go out, they were going to go out together, said Amy Keenum, a family friend who lives in Fort Myers. Theres so many questions. Did she wash away? Is she somewhere on the island? Its devastating.

Desperate for information, many have been spreading the word about their missing loved ones on social media. In a Facebook group called Key West Lost, Found and Stolen, sandwiched between posts about lost keys and a stolen bike, a woman asked for help finding her mother and her stepfather, Betsy Morales Soto and Omar Millet Torres.

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Looking for a vessel named SALTY MERMAID, the post read. Please any info or updates contact me ASAP.

The Monroe County couple was last heard from Sept. 27, the night before the hurricane, when Millet Torres texted his mother: Please pray for us.

She was already asleep, his older sister, Lorraine Millet, said. When she woke up, she tried to contact them. But no communication.

That night, the couple had reported their vessels anchor line had broken and the boat was adrift, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The two were aboard with their dog near Wisteria Island in the Lower Keys.

Betsy Morales Soto and Omar Millet Torres. (Courtesy Lorraine Millet)

While Morales, 47, and Torres, 44, are still considered missing by the sheriffs office, the Coast Guard suspended its search Oct. 4.

The decision to suspend a search is never easy and is only made after careful consideration of all the available facts, Lt. Cmdr. Elizabeth Tatum, search and rescue mission coordinator, Sector Key West, said in a statement.

The sheriffs office said it is not actively searching for the couple. But the case remains open, it said, and if provided any evidence of their whereabouts, it would investigate further.

The family has since hired its own private investigator.

We have to do whatever is in our hands, Millet said. I wont have peace of mind until I see them. Every minute counts, every second.

There have been some reunions, though, for families of some missing people. But the wait felt endless for them.

For 23 days after the storm hit, Jessica Byrd of Picayune, Mississippi, did not hear from her brother, David Weaver, 37, who is homeless.

Byrd said her last communication with him was when he was in the Lee County jail, where he spent several weeks for failing to appear for an earlier court date before being released in July. He had told family he would not have a place to live when he was let out.

She was frantically trying to find out if he had survived the storm, but she didnt know how to reach him.

On Friday morning, she received the call she had been waiting for. Weaver had survived the hurricane by hiding behind buildings. Without a phone, he was not able to call family until a cousin who lives in the area found him and connected him with his sister.

While advocacy groups encouraged homeless people to stay at shelters in advance of the storm, many did not take the offer, said Therese Everly, executive director of the Lee County Homeless Coalition.

Since Ian, a variety of organizations have tried to track down those who remained on the streets, she added. But some homeless people refuse help, and some do not want to be connected with family.

Even before Ian, it was like that. Now, its magnified, Everly said.

'Its like its not even real

The search for Hurst continues and has involved divers and other teams, said the Lee County Sheriffs Office, which is overseeing the investigation.

Hurst had made his boat, named Good Girl, his home for about a decade. He had retired from a telecommunications job and spent his time on the sailboat day trading and enjoying the sunshine  usually shirtless, according to his nephew, Christian Hurst, who described his uncle as the pirate of the family.

Denny Hurst had suffered numerous health problems. In 2019, he fell off his bike and broke his leg, his daughter Vaughan said. During surgery, he had a massive heart attack while under anesthesia and almost died, the family said.

He was on a ventilator in a medically induced coma for a couple of weeks and later spent several months in a rehabilitation center.

Then, he pretty much walked out and said, Whos meeting me at the bar? Christian Hurst said.

His family was not sure how much food and water Hurst had onboard.

I cant say for sure, Vaughan said. I can say for sure that he had beer.

The familys wait for news was complicated by false information. Six days after the storm, a group that said it was helping with reunification efforts told them Hurst had been found safe.

The family was ecstatic. But when two days went by with no word from him, Vaughan called the sheriffs office and was devastated to find out it couldnt corroborate the report.

As she awaits updates, Vaughan has kept herself busy by focusing on her job as an accounting bookkeeper and speaking with family members.

Were all just kind of numb and in shock, she said. Its like its not even real."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Denarieya Smith. Courtesy of Linda and Alfagus Smith

The family of a 30-year-old man who was incarcerated in an Alabama prison learned of his death through a text.

Denarieya Smith died October 1 after getting stabbed by an inmate. There were no guards around, according to the lawyer.

An inmate texted Smith's father and told him "somebody killed" his son and there had been "no security" around.

The family of Denarieya Smith, a 30-year-old man who had been serving a life sentence at a prison in Alabama, learned he died after another inmate used Smith's phone to text the family, telling them there were no guards around when he was attacked.

Smith was killed on October 1 during a prison fight after another inmate stabbed him at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Jefferson County, Alabama, according to his parents and the agency that oversees the prison.

During the fight, Smith  affectionately called DL by his parents  had cried out for help but there were no guards around, according to Smith's father, Alfagus.

Alfagus told Insider he learned his son had died in prison through a text message.

In the early morning hours on October 1, the inmate texted Alfagus and told him "somebody killed" DL and there had been "no security in the dorm" where it had happened, according to screenshots of the text message exchange shared with Insider.

"He sat in here and lost to [sic] much blood before they got him out of here," the unidentified inmate wrote. The inmate added that he had been asleep during the prison fight but woke up when he heard a commotion. Then he saw DL "covered in blood" and heard the other inmates "hollering for the police to get him to the infirmary but the officers was nowhere to be found," the inmate said in a text.

The inmate also urged them to get copies of security footage and file a lawsuit against the prison.

Joel Caldwell, the Smith family lawyer, told Insider that there should have been security guards around to prevent DL's death.

Two screenshots of a text exchange between Alfagus Smith and an unidentified inmate at Donaldson. Courtesy of Alfagus Smith

A string of deaths at Donaldson

DL is the 14th inmate to have been killed at Donaldson this year, according to a report from the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a nonprofit focusing on mass incarceration.

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Complaints about widespread violence at Alabama prisons, including at Donaldson, prompted the Justice Department to launch an investigation in 2016. Nearly 80 people are known to have been killed while serving a sentence within the Alabama prison system since the launch of the investigation, according to the EJI.

After investigating, the Justice Department filed a civil rights lawsuit, which alleged that "the conditions at Alabama's prisons for men violate the Constitution because Alabama fails to provide adequate protection from prisoner-on-prisoner violence and prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse, fails to provide safe and sanitary conditions, and subjects prisoners to excessive force at the hands of prison staff."

Watching the news at home, the Smiths said they wondered whether it was DL who died each time they learned another inmate had been killed at Donaldson.

"All these murders, all these murders. And we know that we got a son up there," Alfagus said.

The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC), which oversees Donaldson, "routinely fails to inform families or other parties about deaths in its custody," the EJI reported.

Caldwell told Insider that his parents didn't receive notice from any of the correctional officers or facility wardens that their son had been killed.

"Why haven't nobody reached out to us? The chaplain called us, not even the warden," Alfagus said. "The warden didn't even call, didn't let us know nothing. Still haven't."

In a statement to Insider, ADOC said it's customary for either a prison warden or chaplain to notify "anyone on the inmate's Emergency Contact List" in the event of an inmate death.

Family attorneys say DL's life was cut short

DL had been serving a life sentence on an attempted murder charge, Caldwell told Insider. When he was 22, DL saw the car of a man who beat him up and decided to confront him. DL and his friends believed the man was in the car and drove up to it, and his friend shot at the car from the passenger seat while DL drove. The man did not turn out to be in the car.

"The person who actually did the shooting was only 17," Caldwell said. "DL was charged as an adult, but his friend was charged as a minor."

DL, despite the life sentence at Donaldson, could have gotten out early one day, his family lawyer told Insider. He had a chance of early release and getting out on parole, Caldwell told Insider.

According to the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, many factors such as the "ability to earn good time" can affect an inmate's eligibility for parole.

"That possibility has been taken away from them," Caldwell said.

"He was in prison serving his sentence, but his sentence wasn't death," he added.

Even though DL wasn't the one who fired the gun, his parents say he had tried to repent. Alfagus and mom Linda Smith said he told them he's since apologized to everyone involved in the incident.

"He had remorse for his mistake," Alfagus said.

Now the family is struggling to come to terms with DL's death. At his funeral on October 7, Alfagus delivered the eulogy.

"Me and my wife, we sit here now. We say DL is gone and he's gone," Alfagus said.

Read the original article on Insider
Family members of a man shot to death earlier this year are frustrated after the two people suspected of killing him backed out of a plea deal on Friday.

Melvin Wilcox was reported missing in March, and days later was found dead in the trunk of his own car parked outside a Walgreens near the intersection of Pine Hills Road and North Lane.

His family members flew in from across the country to attend a hearing on Friday in which the two men accused of killing Wilcox were scheduled to accept a plea deal. Moments before the hearing was supposed to begin for Lashawn Triplett and Johnny Wesley, Wesleys attorney filed a motion asking to continue the hearing.

Read: 2 arrested after missing Orange County man found dead in trunk of his car, deputies say

Investigators said Triplett and Wesley murdered Wilcox inside a home on Elon Drive. When his body was found in the trunk of his blue Honda Civic, investigators said hed be been shot in the head, neck and shoulder.

Investigators said shortly before his death, Wilcox found out his ex-girlfriend, Triplett, had been dating his friend, Wesley.

Read: Investigators say love triangle may have led to Orange County mans death

Wilcoxs mother, Dr. Tawanna Burke, let the judge know she wasnt happy about a delay. Shed already seen first-degree murder charges in the case reduced to lesser charges.

So forgive me. I dont have much confidence in the justice system right now. Especially when that man told me he killed my son, Wilcoxs mother, Burke, said.

Outside court, the suspects didnt want to say anything, but Wilcoxs mother did.

Read: Couple arrested after death of Orange County man denied bond in court

What hurt me the worst, I could not touch my son. I could not hold my son. I could not kiss my son goodbye, she said.

The hearing on the motions filed Friday is now set for the middle of next month.

Family that flew in from out of state on Friday is hoping next time a plea hearing or trial is set, it will actually happen.

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.
Kanye West sports a Balenciaga mouthguard during Paris Fashion Week. (Edward Berthelot / GC Images)

If there's one business that Kanye West would be most upset to leave his orbit, it's likely Balenciaga.

The high-fashion firm and its creative director Demna have long collaborated with and inspired West in his apparel-industry ventures, including a cosign on West's now-scuttled deal with retail apparel giant the Gap and a slot for West to walk the runway in Balenciaga's Paris Fashion Week show this month. Demna and West reportedly had a close friendship as well.

But, following a two-week period during which West made, and then repeated, numerous antisemitic and conspiracy-soaked remarks, Balenciaga has finally cut ties with the rap star.

"Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist, the brand's parent firm Kering said in a brief statement Friday.

The relationship between West and Balenciaga goes back years  in 2016, West said he planned to "steal Demna from Balenciaga," and Demna returned the affection. "He makes me come out of my comfort zone and be a better designer. Theres no ego when we collaborate, just a mutual drive to evolve and do something great and new, he told Vogue. Balenciaga often collaborated with West's now ex-wife Kim Kardashian, and Demna worked on his "Donda 2" live dates last year.

But a decade after designer John Galliano's fall from grace following an antisemitic rant, fashion industry insiders wondered why West's most high-profile design collaborator had not spoken out. While West's diagnosis of bipolar disorder earned him some sympathy, his appearances with far-right figures like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson, and provocations like wearing a "White Lives Matter" shirt proved too volatile for some firms to bear.

In unaired footage from West's two-part interview with Carlson, he told the Fox News host that Planned Parenthood was founded to control the Jew population.  When I say Jew, I mean the 12 lost tribes of Judah, the blood of Christ, who the people known as the race Black really are. This is who our people are. The blood of Christ." On the popular rap podcast "Drink Champs," West said "Jewish people have owned the Black voice. ... Paparazzi taking a photo of you, you aint getting no money off of it. Youre used to getting screwed by the Jewish media. On the same podcast West also claimed, falsely, that George Floyd died from a fentanyl overdose (a police officer suffocated Floyd).

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Floyd's family announced that they plan to file a $250-million lawsuit against West for his comments. Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League and other groups condemned West's various remarks and urged his business collaborators to end their relationships with him.

Many of West's creative and business collaborators have broken off or reevaluated deals in recent weeks, including Adidas, J.P. Morgan and the Gap. His record deal with longtime label Def Jam has reportedly come to a close as well.

Not every company is fleeing West's side. The right-wing social-media platform Parler, owned by Owens' husband, George Farmer, announced this week that West had agreed to purchase the site.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A federal judge has refused to block school districts from carrying out a new controversial state law that restricts instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms, rejecting arguments by parents, students and a non-profit organization.

The ruling Thursday by U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger was the second time in less than a month that a federal judge has turned down a challenge to the law. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor on Sept. 29 dismissed a separate case, though he said plaintiffs could file a revised version.

Berger, who is based in Orlando, issued a 28-page decision that denied a request for a preliminary injunction against the law. Berger also dismissed the case but, like Winsor, said the plaintiffs could file a revised version.

The law, which has drawn nationwide attention, prevents instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade and requires that such instruction be age-appropriate  in accordance with state academic standards in higher grades.

Republican lawmakers this year titled the measure the Parental Rights in Education bill. Opponents labeled it the Dont Say Gay bill.

Lawyers for the parents, students, and the non-profit group filed the lawsuit in July against the school boards in Orange, Indian River, Duval and Palm Beach counties. In a motion for a preliminary injunction, they argued the law was enacted with the purpose to discriminate and has the effect of discriminating against LGBTQ+ students and those with LGBTQ+ family members.

They alleged violations of speech, equal protection, and due process rights and pointed to steps that the school districts have taken to try to comply with the law (HB 1557).

But Attorney General Ashley Moodys office and the school boards argued that Berger should reject the motion for a preliminary injunction, in part because the plaintiffs did not have legal standing.

Bergers decision Thursday denied the injunction on a series of grounds, including describing the lawsuit as a shotgun pleading and saying the plaintiffs fail to specify what policy or custom of each defendant supports liability under the U.S. Constitution.

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Instead, plaintiffs dedicate their time exclusively to arguing that the underlying law is unconstitutional, without specifying any causal link between the actions of these defendants and the alleged deprivation of a constitutional right, Berger wrote. On this basis alone, the court finds that plaintiffs have failed to show a likelihood of success on the merits on any of the claims they attempted to allege in the first amended complaint (the lawsuit).

Berger also said the plaintiffs had not shown they had standing. As an example, a married same-sex Indian River County couple, David Dinan and Vikranth Reddy Gongidi are plaintiffs on their behalf and on behalf of their children, identified by the initials K.R.D. and R.R.D.

They alleged harm, in part, because the law would force them to self-censor during school activities, according to Bergers ruling. But the judge rejected the argument, saying they had not alleged an injury in fact.

Although they make vague allegations regarding their self-censorship at school events before the law went into effect, they fail to state any detail as to how they wished to exercise their rights since the law actually went into effect or might wish to exercise their rights in the future, wrote Berger, who served as a state appellate judge before being appointed to the federal bench by former President Donald Trump.

Other plaintiffs include Orange County residents Jennifer and Matthew Cousins and their four children, including a seventh-grade student, S.C. who is gender non-binary. They argued that the law would chill speech at school and could result in increased bullying of S.C.

But Berger found they had not shown standing.

Plaintiffs have not pointed this court to any policy or procedure from Orange County that they allege has resulted in any increase in bullying that S.C. might experience at school, Berger wrote. While the court is sympathetic to the Cousins fear that their child may be bullied, it is simply a fact of life that many middle school students will face the criticism and harsh judgment of their peers. S.C. is not alone in this regard. Indeed, middle school children bully and belittle their classmates for a whole host of reasons, all of which are unacceptable, and many of which have nothing to do with a classmates gender identity.

The plaintiffs are represented in the case by attorneys from Lambda Legal, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Southern Legal Counsel and the law firm of Baker McKenzie LLP. They issued statements Friday criticizing Bergers ruling and vowing to continue fighting the law.

The courts decision is wrong on the law and disrespectful to LGBTQ+ families and students. HB 1557 suppresses wholesale the speech and identities of LGBTQ+ students and their families, Kell Olson, a staff attorney at Lambda Legal, said in a statement. It sends a message of shame and stigma that has no place in schools and puts LGBTQ+ students and families at risk. The students and families at the heart of this case have experienced more bullying in the months since the law went into effect than ever before in their lives, but the court dismissed their experiences of bullying as a fact of life. The courts decision defies decades of precedent establishing schools constitutional obligations to protect student speech and to protect students from targeted bullying and harassment based on who they are.

Angela Vigil, a partner and executive director of pro bono practice at Baker McKenzie, said the plaintiffs look forward to continuing the fight against this unjust and dangerous law. We plan to show the court and the state the harm caused to children and families by this law is destructive in so many ways for education, community, families and, most importantly, children.

Other plaintiffs in the case are Will Larkins, a senior at Orange Countys Winter Park High School, and the non-profit CenterLink, Inc., which has members including LGTBQ community centers in Orange, Duval and Palm Beach counties. Berger gave the plaintiffs until Nov. 3 to file a revised lawsuit.

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A federal judge has dismissed a legal challenge from six Republican-led states to President Bidens student loan forgiveness plan, ruling that they do not have standing to sue.

U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autry ruled that the attorneys general for Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina present important and significant challenges to Bidens debt relief plan, but they did not prove they are directly harmed by the relief and therefore do not have standing.

The states will likely appeal to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The states filed the lawsuit, one of a few against the Biden administrations proposal, in late September, arguing that the administration overstepped its authority because Congress has not directly authorized loan cancelation.

Some argued that they have standing due to a previous version of Bidens proposal, including a plan to allow for borrowers to consolidate loans given under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) to direct loans.

FFELP loans are issued by state and private entities and insured by the federal government, while direct loans are given directly by the federal government.

Missouri argued that the state and the Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri (MOHELA), a nonprofit entity that services federal loans, are harmed by the relief plan in losing money through the consolidation of FFELP loans to direct loans. It argued this will hurt MOHELAs ability to provide students loans and financial assistance.

But Autry ruled that Missouri failed to connect the alleged harm to MOHELA to the state itself, and MOHELA is legally liable for judgments against it, not Missouri.

Arkansas and Nebraska made similar arguments with their own state entities, but Autry ruled that their arguments are overcome by the Biden administrations Sept. 29 decision to no longer allow borrowers with federal student loans not held by the Education Department to receive relief through consolidating FFELP loans into direct loans.

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The two states argued that the decision does not undermine their argument because the administration could change its mind, but Autry rejected the argument.

Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina separately argued that they face an imminent risk of losing tax revenue.

Discharges of federal student loans are not taxable under federal law through Jan. 1, 2026, according to Autrys ruling. The states also plan to tax discharges occurring after that date and argue that they will lose revenue as a result of the forgiven loan amounts.

Autry ruled that this is speculative and not imminent. He also said states can set their own tax policies, and Bidens plan does not limit that power.

The ruling comes soon after Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected a request from a group of Wisconsin taxpayers to block the loan forgiveness plan while appeals play out in court.

Bidens plan will permit those earning less than $125,000 annually to receive up to $10,000 in federal loan forgiveness. Those who received Pell Grants can receive up to $20,000 in forgiveness under the plan.

The administration rolled out its application late last week.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A federal judge has sentenced a Lady Lake man, Devonne L. Walker, to 25 years in prison, and three other men also have been sentenced for their roles in a multi-state drug sale conspiracy.

One of the men sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. was Chauncy Stackhouse, 30, of Leesburg, who was hit with an eight-year term. Another was Tymane D. Hamilton, 30, of Phoenix, sentenced to 16 years and eight months behind bars for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

Another Phoenix defendant, Kanisha D. Savage, 29, was sentenced to five years, 10 months in prison.

Undercover work: Two arrested as Lake County Sheriff's Office wraps up undercover drug operation

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Aided by technology: Lake County deputies make arrest in Umatilla arcade robbery/shooting

The federal courthouse in Ocala.

According to court documents and evidence presented in court, the group imported more than 100 kilograms of methamphetamine, 50 kilograms of cocaine, 1 kilogram of heroin, and over 50 kilograms of marijuana that were distributed in central Florida.

Between 2018 and 2019, Hamilton agreed with others to ship 49 parcels containing illegal narcotics to Florida from source states, including Arizona and California, the Department of Justice said. Hamilton was responsible for acquiring the drugs and packaging them in parcels.

On at least two occasions, he also personally shipped packages from California containing several kilograms of methamphetamine and marijuana.

This case was investigated by Drug Enforcement Administration, with support from the Lake County Sheriffs Office, the U.S. Postal Service Inspection Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael P. Felicetta.

In another federal court news:

Three-year prison term for possessing destructive devices

Sumter County man sentenced to 3 yrs in federal prison for illegally possessing destructive devices, firearms & silencers. #PSNMDFL @ATF_Tampa @SCSOFL @LakeCountySO https://t.co/qwsGim9hDe  USAO Middle Florida (@USAO_MDFL) October 17, 2022

Senior U.S. District Judge Gregory A. Presnell sentenced a Sumter County man to three years in prison for possessing destructive devices and firearm silencers in violation of a domestic violence injunction.

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James Clay Bexley, 35, of Center Hill, pleaded guilty on July 28.

According to court records, Bexley was arrested at his home after contacting his wife in violation of an injunction.

Sumter County Sheriffs deputies discovered six firearms, two silencers, and two small explosive devices in Bexleys vehicle, according to the Department of Justice.

The Lake County Sheriffs Office bomb squad responded and discovered two pipe bombs on Bexleys front porch. After obtaining a search warrant, federal agents recovered approximately 35 pounds of explosive materials and bomb-making equipment from within the residence, along with an additional 12 firearms and two silencers, the Department of Justice said.

The silencers and explosive devices violated federal law, and it is a federal crime to possess firearms while subject to a domestic violence injunction.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Sumter County Sheriffs Office, and the Lake County Sheriffs Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tyrie K. Boyer.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Federal courts: Men sentenced in drugs/weapons cases in Ocala, Florida
Facebook page for Fish Crazy & Exotics in Middletown.

A man who used an exotic fish business in Middletown as a front to distribute as much as 4.5 kilos of methamphetamine and 13 kilos of marijuana blamed his drug dealing on post-traumatic stress disorder he said was triggered by a 2017 robbery, according to court documents.

Because of that robbery at his Middletown home, Timothy Ray Adkins said he owed "a drug debt to his Chicago source of supply," the documents say. Adkins, 36, claimed the debt forced him to sell more drugs, according to prosecutors.

But prosecutors said they don't believe any money was taken during the December 2017 incident.

"It is only now, with Adkins facing a significant sentence in this case, that he claims he was distributing narcotics because he was under duress for a drug debt," prosecutors said in documents filed in advance of Adkins sentencing this week.

Prosecutors noted that after the robbery, Adkins moved "only a few blocks" from that home to another home, where he continued to sell drugs and even set up a marijuana grow operation.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Cole on Wednesday sentenced Adkins to 12 years in prison. Adkins also will be supervised by authorities for five years after his release from prison.

Adkins' business, which has since closed, was called Fish Crazy & Exotics. Adkins, who pleaded guilty last year to multiple drug and gun charges, directed the delivery of narcotics from his supply source in Chicago to the business, which was located on Central Avenue in Middletown. It also had a website as well as Facebook and Instagram pages.

In addition to the kilos of methamphetamine and marijuana, court documents say Adkins possessed 28 grams of a heroin-fentanyl mixture.

Prosecutors said Adkins stored guns and ammunition in his home, including a Remington 9mm pistol with a laser light mounted to it. He was charged in March 2020. Two months later, while living with his grandparents and being monitored electronically by federal officials, he continued to distribute methamphetamine, prosecutors said. Officials said Adkins, who previously has been convicted of trafficking in cocaine, possessed a gun and ammunition at his grandparents' home.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Feds: Owner of exotic fish shop blamed drug-dealing operation on PTSD
Photo: The Canadian Press

The Federal Court has certified a class-action suit against the Government of Canada, brought on behalf of 10,000 Canadian military veterans who suffered injuries during their service.

Representative plaintiff, Sean Bruyea, alleged that Canada provided poor advice to these veterans in its administration of the earnings loss benefit and the supplementary retirement benefit (SRB), causing loss to the veterans and their dependants.

Justice Catherine Kane heard the case in Ottawa June 6 to 8; her decision was released Oct. 17.

Bruyea is a Royal Military College 1986 graduate and served as an intelligence officer in the Canadian Air Force for 14 years. He was deployed to Qatar during the first Gulf War in 1990-91 but retired due to medical consequences of that war.

He said the action is about addressing the overwhelming and discouraging bureaucratic complexity in benefits for Canada's disabled veterans.

We sacrificed so much, and in return, we ask that Canada recognize that sacrifice, at the very least, by having a duty to meaningfully inform our veterans and their families of the benefits they are entitled to because of those sacrifices, he said. I am so deeply relieved that Justice Kane did not side with the government's position that Canada owes no duty of care to our most disabled veterans."

The program in question was established by the federal government to compensate for lower pension earnings and retirement benefits payable to veterans unable to engage in suitable gainful employment because of service-related injuries and disabilities that rendered them totally and permanently incapacitated.

The class action asserts the scheme is unduly complex and difficult to navigate.

The government argued pursuing the action as a class proceeding would provide a means for class members to overcome the obstacles they face to seek access to justice, including their psychological, cognitive and physical disabilities, and the prohibitive cost of individual litigation, Kane said.

This is especially true for veterans suffering from cognitive and psychological injuries and illnesses  who find it almost impossible to determine which benefits they are entitled to, said a statement from claimants law firm, Vancouver-based Murphy Battista.

The suit alleges employees of Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) lacked sufficient training, expertise and awareness of the various benefit programs, including the SRB, to explain and communicate such programs to veterans.

On May 13, 2020, the Veterans Ombudsman issued a report about the benefit payout, concluding there were possible systemic issues relating to the way that veterans were counselled or not counselled regarding benefit eligibility.

This issue is not about ensuring veterans are financially secure, but rather a case of equity, where a veteran should not be disadvantaged in terms of an SRB payout due to a lack of knowledge or understanding about VAC programs, that report said.

The government had argued that a class action was not the preferable procedure for a claim of negligent misrepresentation, that there are too many differences between class members individual circumstances.

The judge said reviews of individual circumstances were not feasible.

The time for such a review is limited and has passed, Kane said.

Kane certified several questions to be decided in the lawsuit:



did the government owe a duty of care to class members to properly advise them of the eligibility requirements for benefits and the steps they needed to take in order to maximize the benefits payable to them?;



if the government owed class members a duty of care, did it breach the standard of care? and;



if the government breached the standard of care, did the class members suffer damages as a result?



Class lawyer Angela Bespflug said the legal action seeks justice for veterans who selflessly risked their lives in service to their country and who sustained severe physical and psychological injuries as a result.

The action alleges that these veterans received less in income-replacement benefits than they were entitled to receive because Canada failed to reasonably inform them of the benefits available to them and, in fact, provided erroneous advice to them with respect to these benefits, she said.
Filipino Americans are less likely to seek mental health help than average Americans. LPETTET/E+ via Getty Images

Immigrant families in the U.S. are extremely resilient. Yet some immigrant parents struggle to raise children who can thrive in their new countrys culture. Whether they are dealing with a language barrier or economic challenges, immigrants who bring their kids to the U.S.  or who become parents after arriving  face unique challenges American-born parents dont.

I see this often in my work as a general pediatrician at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and an associate professor of clinical pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. As the daughter of immigrants from the Philippines, I partner with parents, grandparents and key leaders and organizations in my community to evaluate and implement programs that optimize parent-child relationships in families of Filipino descent.

Filipinos are the third-largest Asian American subgroup in the United States.

Filipino American young people face challenges similar to those faced by all kids in the U.S. today, including increasing suicidal behavior, depression and anxiety.

But people of Filipino heritage are less likely than the general population of the U.S. to seek mental health help. Over the past decade, the Filipino community in Southern California has mobilized to improve its young peoples mental health  in the process creating the Filipino Family Health Initiative to meet those needs. As part of its efforts, the initiative offers parenting workshops, in which our team of health and mental health providers teach adults to build stronger parent-child relationships during the kids school-age years.

When working with Filipino parents, we encourage them to use positive parenting strategies while also focusing on the strengths of our Filipino upbringing.

After participating in these workshops, parents report less parenting stress and fewer child behavior problems and increased use of praise with their children, compared with parents who have not completed the workshops. In addition, the children of these parents report fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression.

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Encourage kids to talk about feelings

Research is clear: When kids are able to talk with their family about their feelings, they are more likely to feel that family members stand by them during difficult times. This is an example of a positive childhood experience that leads to healthier adult relationships and fewer mental health problems in the future.

But as in many cultures, Filipino families dont often talk about their feelings. This is likely related to shame and stigma. Parents who can do this can promote their kids emotional well-being as children, and into their adult lives.

This could start with validating their feelings and acknowledging that their emotions are real. For example, children can benefit from hearing adults say to them, I can see that you are very upset. That must have been hard for you, and I can see you are making an effort to try again.

Teach kids about their unique culture

Many immigrant communities are pressured to assimilate into U.S. culture. At times, this can give kids an impression that they should be ashamed, or would be left out, if they embraced their heritage.

For Filipinos, this feeling can be made worse by the Philippines history of being colonized, first by the Spanish and then by the U.S. itself. Many Filipino youths in the U.S. are not raised to celebrate their own history and culture, for reasons that include racism, discrimination and colonial mentality. They therefore do not learn about what makes Filipino culture unique and beautiful. Those with less cultural pride can be at risk of having lower self-esteem and poorer mental health.

Parents can foster cultural pride and help young people participate in community traditions and activities that highlight their heritage. For instance, in August 2022, I watched the movie Easter Sunday with my children and other family members on the big screen.

It is the first Filipino film from a major Hollywood studio. Produced by Steven Spielbergs company Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures, Easter Sunday stars several Filipino American actors  including comedian Jo Koy and Rodney To, an actor and professor in the USC School of Dramatic Arts  playing their own ethnicity.

Watching this movie felt like home for me and my family, because it reflected our experiences growing up in an immigrant family. In addition, given that October is Filipino American History Month, attending events that celebrate Filipino American contributions to the U.S. and Filipino culture are ways to promote ethnic pride.

Celebrate the strengths of your culture

The Filipino community in the U.S. has a lot to be proud of. One in four of us are essential health care workers, for instance. During the pandemic, workers both in health care and in other fields have mobilized and volunteered countless hours to raise awareness about the disproportionate share of Filipino health care workers who died from COVID-19, and about the need for culturally specific support for the Filipino community during the pandemic and beyond.

Thats just one way many Filipino Americans express the Filipino cultural value of bayanihan, meaning helping others without expecting anything in return. Parents can teach this value by pointing out examples when it is done and by modeling it in their own behavior.

Parenting is the hardest job I know. While parents cant control everything that happens to our children, we can influence and be responsible for our relationships with them and commit to continuous improvement.

We can start by learning positive parenting strategies, such as encouraging our kids to talk about their feelings and helping our kids to learn about and value our culture. By focusing on creating safe havens and positive environments within our homes, we have the power to foster open communication within our families and promote a sense of identity and self-worth within our young people.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Joyce Javier, University of Southern California. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Read more:



Joyce Javier has received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), USC Keck School of Medicine Bridge Funds & COVID-19 Research Fund. This research was also funded by grant K23HD071942 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, grants UL1TR001855 and UL1TR000130 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science of the US National Institutes of Health, and a Community Access to Child Health grant from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, RWJF, or AAP.
From Hunter Biden to alleged politicization in the Department of Justice and beyond, House Republicans have been preparing for months to unleash a flood of investigatory actions and findings if they win a majority in the Nov. 8 midterm election.

Investigations would be a major tool for the House GOP, as many top policy priorities would be unlikely to make it past a filibuster in the Senate or be signed by President Biden.

With the majority also comes the ability to dictate the focus of hearings and compel testimony and documents, including some that they may have already requested but not received, through subpoenas. That could put pressure on the Biden administration.

The House GOPs Commitment to America midterm policy and messaging plan boasts that House Republicans have already sent more than 500 requests for information and documents.

Hunter Biden and Biden family business activities

President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden leave Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Johns Island, S.C., after attending a Mass, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Rep. James Comer (Ky.), the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee in line to be chair of the panel, has promised hearings and probes into the Biden familys overseas business activities.

Republicans on the committee have a copy of Hunter Bidens laptop hard drive first revealed shortly before the 2020 election, but say that salacious video and photos in the files are not the focus.

The reason were investigating Hunter Biden is because we believe hes compromised Joe Biden, Comer told reporters in September.

A top priority for Republicans on the Oversight panel is gaining access to the Treasury Departments suspicious activity reports from U.S. banks relating to foreign business deals from Hunter Biden and other Biden associates. Republicans have said that the Treasury Department has refused to provide the reports, and alleged that Biden family members have prompted at least 150 suspicious activity reports.

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I think thatll go a long way towards helping us be able to uncover some questions that the American people have about the ethics, and whether or not the Biden administration is truly compromised by Hunters shady business dealings, Comer said.

Alleged politicization in the Department of Justice

Mar-a-Lago

An aerial view of President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate Aug. 10, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Republican trust in federal law enforcement agencies plummeted alongside the rise of former President Trump and special counsel Robert Meullers investigation into him, and the sense among the GOP that the DOJ and FBI are biased against conservatives has only grown since that time.

One top topic for a GOP House will be the DOJs decision to search Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in August and seize classified materials.

Republicans have requested documents from the National Archives and the FBI related to the decision to refer the matter of missing documents to the FBI and to execute the search warrant. After the raid, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) warned Attorney General Merrick Garland to preserve your documents and clear your calendar.

GOP interest in the DOJ extends beyond Trump, though.

The No. 1 thing is this weaponization of the DOJ against the American people, House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who is likely to chair the committee in a GOP majority, said at the House GOPs platform rollout event in September.

Jordan has said that his office has received information from more than a dozen whistleblowers who came forward with allegations of FBI bias against conservatives, including the agency retaliating against employees with conservative views.

In a major win for the House GOP, former FBI official Jill Sanborn will sit for a transcribed interview with the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 2. Jordan and Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) sought testimony from Sanborn in relation to whistleblower claims that the FBI pressured agents to improperly reclassify cases as domestic violent extremism.

COVID-19 origins and policies

A health care worker in Wuhan, China during the initial COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. (Getty)

The Democratic-controlled House created a select Oversight subcommittee on the coronavirus in 2020, and Republicans have complained that the committee did not hold hearings on the origin of the virus.

A report from Republicans on the select subcommittee released Wednesday pledged to keep investigating U.S. dollars that flowed to research on coronaviruses at a Wuhan, China, lab, officials who sought to squash the lab leak hypothesis, and state policies that pushed COVID-positive patients into nursing homes.

Republicans from the subcommittee hosted an expert forum, during which panelists said they thought evidence pointed to the virus originating in the Wuhan lab.

Studies released this year point to natural origins of the virus. The U.S. intelligence community has said the virus was not created as a bioweapon.

Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Biden who has spent decades as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, plans to step down from his government positions in December. But Republicans say that will not stop them from calling Fauci to appear before Congress to talk about the origins of the virus.

Afghanistan withdrawal

In this Aug. 21, 2021, file photo provided by the U.S. Marines, U.S. Marines with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force provide assistance at an evacuation checkpoint during at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla/U.S. Marine Corps via AP)

GOP leaders have pledged to hold more hearings on the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021 that led to the deaths of 13 service members in a bombing and the Taliban taking control of the country, saying that unanswered questions remain.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans released an interim report on the withdrawal in August, finding that the State Department took very few substantive steps to prepare for the consequences in the months ahead of the August withdrawal.

The report said that the State Department failed to provide numerous materials relating to the withdrawal and forecasted the intention to use subpoena power to retrieve those documents as well as have officials sit for transcribed interviews.

Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) on Tuesday also sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requesting information on how the Department of Defense has secured, archived, and standardized operational data and intelligence from Afghanistan. In an interview with The Hill, Waltz said that data is necessary in case the U.S. has to go back into Afghanistan to counter terror threats.

Handling of U.S.-Mexico border

Multiple Republican members of Congress have already introduced articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as as result of the Biden administrations border policies. (Getty)

The surge of migrants at the southern border and the Biden administrations policies that allow the migrants into the country are top campaign issues for Republicans in the midterms and would be a sharp focus in a GOP House.

We will give [Homeland Security] Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas a reserved parking spot, he will be testifying so much about this, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said at Republicans Commitment to America rollout event in September.

Deaths of migrants at the border, the flow of illegal drugs like fentanyl into the U.S., and the Department of Homeland Securitys ending of the Remain in Mexico policy for asylum-seekers are other likely topics of inquiry. A letter from Republicans in April accused Mayorkas of having disregard for the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

Multiple Republicans members have introduced articles of impeachment against Mayorkas in the current Congress. McCarthy has declined to commit to impeachment of any Biden Cabinet member, saying he will not support a political impeachment, but opened the door to impeaching Mayorkas in an April stop near the U.S.-Mexico border.

This is his moment in time to do his job. But at any time if someone is derelict in their job, there is always the option of impeaching somebody, McCarthy said at the time.

Updated 12:47 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Florida Commission on Ethics is asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to remove Escambia County Commissioner Doug Underhill from office and impose a fine of $35,000.

The ethics commission met in Tallahassee on Friday and voted 6-1 to recommend that Underhill be removed from office for disclosing a county "shade meeting" transcript before the litigation was officially concluded and be fined the maximum of $10,000.

The commission also recommended that Underhill be fined $6,250 for each of four additional ethics violations of gift disclosure laws and solicitation donations from a county vendor or lobbyist, bringing the total recommended fine to $35,000.

Recommended order: Commissioner Doug Underhill faces censure, reprimand and $5K fine, but not removal

Previous recommendation: Florida ethics commission attorneys recommend that Doug Underhill be removed from office

The recommendation will be sent to DeSantis, who will decide whether to enforce the order.

Underhill's term in office is set to end Nov. 22.

Three complaints filed against Underhill in 2020

Underhill has been defending the ethics complaints against him for more than a year. Three complaints were filed in against him in 2020 by three Escambia County residents, including Pensacola businessman David Bear.

Underhill has often criticized Bear and his family's contributions to local political candidates.

An administrative law judge ruled in August that Underhill should be fined $5,000 and face a public reprimand. Additional legal filings with the ethics commission since the ruling have increased the recommended fine to $12,500.

Escambia County Commissioner Doug Underhill speaks April 28, 2020, during a meeting in downtown Pensacola.

During the hearing Friday, members of the ethics commission opted to increase the penalties to impose a maximum penalty.

Former Florida Senate President and Ethics Commission member Don Gaetz made the motion to recommend Underhill's removal from office.

Gaetz expressed frustration with delays in bringing the case to a conclusion.

"This individual needs to be removed from office," Gaetz said. "Now the fact is there have been delays which, in my view, were designed to drag this matter out so that he be very near the end of his term. Notwithstanding that fact, I believe this commission should not take cognizance of how much time he has left in his term and should agree with the advocate that he be removed from office."

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Underhill calls decision by ethics commission 'political'

Underhill told the News Journal Friday that the decision by the ethics commission was "political" and pointed to Gaetz's comments.

"By trying to ensure that I will never run for office again, they eliminate the one person who's had the courage to speak up against the Bear family and the Gaetz family and the power that they wield inappropriately," Underhill said.

Underhill said he plans to appeal the commission's ruling but also said he believes DeSantis will be receptive to his arguments.

"I think the governor is far more sophisticated than the Gaetz-Bear money and influence," Underhill said. "I think he will be very receptive to the rest of the story. Our governor is a very sophisticated politician who recognizes a political hit piece when he sees it."

Bear told the News Journal on Friday he believes the ethics commission made the right decision.

"Commissioner Underhill continues to blame his actions on everything and everybody else, which shows his lack of contrition," Bear said. "This is why the commission has recommended his removal. To say all of these actions are politically motivated is to say these judges  including those with life tenure  the Florida Attorney General's Office and distinguished commission members are corrupt. How can everyone reviewing his actions be wrong except him?"

Release of transcripts from 'shade meeting' at heart of case

In August, the administrative law judge said the release of the transcript was the "most serious" violation by Underhill.

Underhill released a transcript of the County Commission executive session meeting, known as a "shade meeting," that concerned a legal battle involving the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority and the Innerarity Island sewer system.

Underhill released the transcripts when a settlement had been reached in the case, but it had not been approved or implemented.

"Mr. Underhill knew not to do it, and yet he did it anyway," Elizabeth Miller, an attorney acting as a prosecutor in the case, said at the hearing Friday.

The other violations involved Underhill's failure to disclose gifts related to his legal defense fund and an unpaid 2017 legal bill with the Clark Partington law firm that represented a conflict of interest until it was paid in 2020.

The only ethics commission member to oppose the action Friday was former Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek.

Waldman said he thought the original judge's ruling was "very reasoned" and thought the commission was making its own findings of fact beyond the ruling.

"I think we've gone off on a tangent here where we're making this much larger than what it is," Waldman said.

Jim Little can be reached at jwlittle@pnj.com and 850-208-9827.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Doug Underhill: Ethics commission asks DeSantis to remove commissioner
An appeals court Friday rejected arguments that a 2019 state law providing benefits for firefighters diagnosed with cancer should apply to a former Volusia County firefighter.

A three-judge panel of the 5th District Court of Appeal upheld a circuit judges ruling denying benefits to Kathleen Weaver, who was diagnosed in 2017 with ovarian cancer that she attributed to her work as a firefighter.

Weaver retired in 2012 after working 13 years as a firefighter for the county, according to Fridays ruling. State lawmakers in 2019 passed a measure that provided benefits to firefighters who are diagnosed with various types of cancer, including ovarian cancer.

Those benefits include one-time payments of $25,000 and full coverage of cancer treatment, Fridays ruling said. Previously, firefighters needed to file workers compensation insurance claims if they thought cancer diagnoses were linked to their jobs.

Weaver requested that Volusia County provide the benefits included in the 2019 law. But a key issue in the case involved whether the law should apply retroactively to people diagnosed before the measure took effect.

A circuit judge ruled that the law was not retroactive, and the appeals court agreed.

The text of (the section of state law) does not provide for retroactive application, nor does the section contain any textual clues to support such an application, said Fridays nine-page decision, written by Judge Mary Alice Nardella and joined by Judges Jay Cohen and F. Rand Wallis.

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(Getty Images)

A court dropped on Florida mans election fraud charges, making him the first to escape the grasp of Governor Ron DeSantiss recent ballot integrity raid.

In August, Mr DeSantis announced election fraud charges against 20 Floridians.

A Miami judge dismissed the charges, setting a precedent that may pave the way for others targeted by Mr DeSantis to beat their charges.

The remaining 19 election fraud cases were part of Mr DeSantis "opening salvo" of enforcement by the states new Office of Election Crimes and Security.

Many of the voters rounded up by the Republican governors election police were unaware that they were ineligible to vote. Under Florida law, individuals who exit prison have their voting rights restored, but only after they have fully left the carceral system  including probation and parole.
By Joseph Ax

NEW YORK (Reuters) - One of the 20 people arrested for voting illegally as part of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' effort to crack down on voter fraud had his charges dismissed on Friday.

A Miami state judge threw out the case against Robert Lee Wood, ruling that the statewide prosecutor, who is overseeing all 20 cases, had no jurisdiction because the alleged crime did not occur in at least two judicial circuits.

The decision could pave the way for similar findings in some or all of the other cases, though local prosecutors could still choose to refile the charges. The governor's office said the state would appeal the ruling.

DeSantis, a Republican who is running for re-election as governor on Nov. 8 and is widely thought to be weighing a 2024 presidential campaign, touted the arrests in August as the "first salvo" from his newly created Office of Election Crimes and Security.

The agency, which includes state law enforcement officers, was established amid a nationwide push by Republicans to tighten voting laws in the wake of former President Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Related video: Florida voter fraud arrests spark confusion

Civil rights groups have said the office could intimidate voters while undermining public faith in elections. Voter fraud in the United States is exceedingly rare, studies have shown. Florida's 2020 election saw 11 million ballots cast.

The ruling on Friday came two days after the Tampa Bay Times published police body camera footage taken during the arrests that showed several defendants appearing baffled by the charges.

All 20 are former inmates convicted of murder or felony sex crimes. A 2018 constitutional amendment restored voting rights for many ex-convicts but specifically excluded people who committed those offenses.

In the videos, several defendants said they had been allowed to vote by election officials and did not understand why they were being arrested. Under state law, voter fraud requires intent.

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In Wood's case, prosecutors argued that his ballot, cast in Miami, was eventually sent to Tallahassee to be tallied, thus fulfilling the requirement for the crime to occur in two separate locations.

But Judge Milton Hirsch agreed with Wood's defense attorney that Wood had nothing to do with the transfer of ballots from one place to another.

"Here, all the criminal misconduct, if there was any, was performed by one man in one county," the judge wrote in his order.

Wood's attorney, Larry Davis, said prosecutors should abandon the case. Wood registered to vote after being told he was allowed, received a voter card and cast a ballot, all without any objection, Davis said.

"There's no way he would have done so without being told it was OK," Davis said in a phone interview. "My client had absolutely no intent to break the law."

In a statement, a DeSantis spokesperson, Bryan Griffin, said, "The state will continue to enforce the law and ensure that murderers and rapists who are not permitted to vote do not unlawfully do so."

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Daniel Wallis)
Disturbing surveillance footage that captured a well-dressed man knocking on doors with a machete has left a Florida neighbourhood on edge.

A resident in the Broward County suburb of Lauderhill provided footage to WSVN showing the bald, clean shaven man dressed in a collared shirt, tie and dress pants approach his front door at 5.30am on Monday morning.

The unidentified man raps on the door with the handle of the machete, before walking off  one of several times he was captured approaching homes in the neighbourhood, around 10 miles (16km) west of Fort Lauderdale.

The resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, told WSVN he initially thought it might have been a solicitor.

I see some random dude knocking on the door with the back of a machete. Then he just disappears as quick as he came.

A woman who lives at the same address said they had no idea what the man was doing.

He didnt seem like someone lost or confused. He seemed very intentional, very business like, like he was dressed for business, just with a machete, said the woman.

A man wearing a shirt and tie and carrying a machete has been alarming Florida residents (WSVN)

Police in Lauderhill, Florida, have stepped up patrols after a besuited man approached homes armed with a machete (WSVN)

Neighbours reported seeing the man knocking on another door with the machete around the same time early on Monday.

Yeah, were kind of freaked out, the male resident told WSVN.

The couple reported the incident to Lauderhill Police, who are treating it as suspicious, but havent identified that any crimes were committed.

They have stepped up patrols in the area, according to WSVN.

The Independent has approached Lauderhill Police for more information.
Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition on March 9, 2020, in Washington. Musk plans to lay off most of Twitter's workforce if and when he becomes owner of the social media company, according to a report Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022, by The Washington Post. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Elon Musk plans to lay off most of Twitters workforce if and when he becomes owner of the social media company, according to a report Thursday by The Washington Post.

Musk has told prospective investors in his Twitter purchase that he plans to cut nearly 75% of Twitters employee base of 7,500 workers, leaving the company with a skeleton crew, according to the report. The newspaper cited documents and unnamed sources familiar with the deliberations.

San Francisco-based Twitter and a representative for Musk attorney Alex Spiro did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

While job cuts have been expected regardless of the sale, the magnitude of Musk's planned cuts are far more extreme than anything Twitter had planned. Musk himself has alluded to the need to cull some of the company's staff in the past, but he hadn't given a specific number  at least not publicly.

"A 75% headcount cut would indicate, at least out of the gates, stronger free cash flow and profitability, which would be attractive to investors looking to get in on the deal," said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. That said, you cant cut your way to growth."

Ives added that such a drastic reduction in Twitter's workforce would likely set the company back years.

Already, experts, nonprofits and even Twitter's own staff had warned that pulling back investments on content moderation and data security could hurt Twitter and its users. With as drastic a reduction as Musk may be planning, the platform could quickly become overrun with harmful content and spam  the latter of which Musk himself has said he'll address if and when he becomes owner of the company.

After his initial $44 billion bid in April to buy Twitter, Musk backed out of the deal, contending Twitter misrepresented the number of fake spam bot accounts on its platform. Twitter sued, and a Delaware judge has given both sides until Oct. 28 to work out details. Otherwise, there will be a trial in November.
A man accused of murdering his wife is expected back in court Friday morning.

Prosecutors said David Tronnes killed Shanti Cooper-Tronnes in 2018.

Watch: Man accused of killing wife in Delaney Park home headed back to courtroom

The state is looking to assess if he is competent to stand trial.

His attorneys have completed their competency evaluation.

Watch: Son of murder victim faces moms accused killer in court

Now the state will complete its own.

Channel 9 will be in the courtroom and provide updates on Eyewitness News.

Watch: Man accused of murdering wife in Delaney Park attended gay spa more than 70 times, records show

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.
Joseph Ladapo has a long history of campaigning against mask mandates and COVID-19 vaccine laws. AP Photo/Chris O'Meara

Florida's Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, went on two far-right podcasts.

The podcasts are known for spreading baseless conspiracy theories, including QAnon.

Ladapo has an extensive history of campaigning against COVID-19 vaccines and mask mandates.

Florida's Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo this week went on multiple far-right podcasts known for spreading conspiracy theories, including anti-vaccine misinformation and false claims of election fraud.

Ladapo appeared on the X22 Report and The Stew Peters Show, two podcasts with a history of sharing baseless conspiracies and referencing QAnon myths. His appearances were first spotted by researcher Alex Kaplan and journalist Nick Martin, respectively, as reported by The Washington Post. Stew Peters is one of the most visible figures in the far-right influencer circuit  he has almost 300,000 Telegram followers and has peddled a long list of conspiracy theories from Pizzagate to QAnon.

Ladapo was appointed to the role by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a little over a year ago. He has an extensive record of loud and public opposition to lockdowns and mask mandates, as well as going against the overwhelming advice of medical experts by falsely claiming that young men should not take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Why Florida's 'study' of COVID vaccines was so flawed, according to experts

Ladapo recently drew widespread criticism after the Florida Department of Health published its own report on mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

The analysis  widely panned as "flawed" by experts in statistics, public health, epidemiology, and emergency medicine  determined the COVID-19 vaccine is risky for men under the age of 40.

Twitter briefly took down a post about the analysis and labeled it misinformation.

The analysis was flawed in many ways. It was not peer-reviewed, was not published, and does not have any listed authors  essentials for a study to be regarded as legitimate.

But there were bigger problems. First, the analysis employs a technique called a "self-controlled case series" (SCCS). Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, an epidemiologist in Sydney, Australia, told Insider SCCS is a "limited" method that "isn't in and of itself worthless, but it can't tell you everything." That's because it only includes people who experience a side effect, so it doesn't perfectly capture overall risk.

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Florida's analysis only included people who had died, some of whom had received a vaccine. But it did not state which vaccines they got, how many doses were received, when the deaths occurred, and whether any of them had COVID-19. Paddy Farrington, a professor at the UK's Open University who has used SCCS and was cited three times in Florida's unpublished analysis, told FactCheck.org that Florida's analysis did not take into account the timing of when the shots were administered, and therefore is biased.

Now, two years after the vaccines were first rolled out, with millions of data points to draw from, experts widely agree that myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart, is extremely rare. It has affected 0.004% of men aged 12-29 after their second dose of a COVID vaccine, according to research collated and shared by the CDC.

Also, Meyerowitz-Katz added, the Florida analysis is "extremely misleading" because the most striking finding was that vaccines appeared to lower the risk of dying. "It is rather surprising that the anonymous authors of the document chose to highlight the small increase in cardiac death rather than the much larger decrease in other forms of death," he told Insider.

Podcast host called for incinerating vaccines and prosecuting anyone who supported them

The discussions on both The Stew Peters show and X22 Report centered around Ladapo's Department of Health study and other kinds of anti-vaccine falsehoods. On the X22 Report, Ladapo appeared to claim that people would have been "better off" without any of the COVID-19 mask mandates and social distancing policies implemented by the CDC early in the pandemic. Ladapo also claimed without evidence that policies around school closure and children would likely harm people for generations.

Peters' podcast episode  titled "Stew Peters DROPS NUKES Exposing C19 Bioweapon Jab"  featured a similar discussion around anti-vaccine misinformation.

Peters stated during the show that he prays Ladapo is the first Surgeon General to recommend putting a moratorium on all COVID-19 vaccines and then incinerating them, as well as to "prosecute everyone responsible for pushing them." Ladapo didn't push back against any of the outrageous claims.

"For young men, it's a no-brainer," Ladapo told Peters about whether they should take the COVID-19 vaccine. "At this point in the pandemic, I'm actually shocked that there are people who are defending the use of these mRNA COVID vaccines in young men."

Promoting the episode on Telegram, Peters wrote that he hoped Ladapo would soon recommend people of all ages and genders not take the "bioweapon parasitic clot shot."

Both podcast episodes were part of a press tour for Ladapo's recently published memoir, Transcend Fear, according to WaPo, yet almost all of the time in both shows was devoted to spreading vaccine denialism.

Read the original article on Insider
The former president of AT&T Illinois pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges alleging he orchestrated and approved a scheme to funnel payments to an associate of then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in exchange for the speakers help passing legislation important to the company.

Paul La Schiazza, 65, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury last week with conspiracy, federal program bribery, and using a facility in interstate commerce to promote unlawful activity. The most serious counts carry up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

La Schiazza, who has homes in Rhode Island and Florida, pleaded not guilty through his attorney during a telephone hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cummings. He will remain free on a recognizance bond while his case is pending.

Asked by the judge if hes currently employed, La Schiazza replied, No your honor, I am not.

Hours later, lawyers for AT&T Illinois appeared at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse to confirm before a judge the company has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorneys office, admitting its role in the scheme and agreeing to pay a $23 million and cooperate in the investigation. In exchange, prosecutors will drop criminal charges filed against the company in two years.

During the brief hearing before U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said the agreement was reached voluntarily and in good faith and that AT&T Illinois cooperation will assist in the prosecution of other individuals, including Madigan and La Schiazza.

Meanwhile, AT&T released a statement last week saying the company holds itself and its contractors to the highest ethical standards and is committed to ensuring that this never happens again.

The investigation of AT&T Illinois, which was reported by the Tribune earlier this year, expanded upon the far-reaching allegations brought against the ex-speaker in a similar bribes-for-favors scandal involving Commonwealth Edison.

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Last week, federal prosecutors unsealed a superseding indictment against Madigan and his longtime confidant, Michael McClain, adding allegations they participated in the AT&T scheme. The new conspiracy allegations allege for the first time that a direct vote the speaker made on legislation was tainted by a scheme to influence him.

An arraignment for Madigan and McClain is scheduled for Nov. 1. Their attorneys have declined to comment.

In February, AT&T disclosed in a regulatory filing that federal prosecutors had notified them they were considering filing criminal charges against its Illinois subsidiary, formally known as Illinois Bell Telephone Co. LLC, involving a single, nine-month consulting contract in 2017 worth $22,500.

State records show the company that year had hired a stable of Madigan-connected lobbyists working for the Illinois subsidiary as AT&T was fighting for a controversial bill to end landline service for its 1.2 million customers.

The Tribune reported that investigators were specifically looking at thousands of dollars in payments allegedly passed to former state Rep. Edward Acevedo, a onetime member of Madigans leadership team whod recently left the General Assembly.

The payments to Acevedo were made via a lobbying contract between AT&T and Thomas Cullen, a former Madigan staffer and longtime political strategist aligned with the speaker, two sources told the newspaper. Acevedo was a registered lobbyist at the time, state records show, but not for AT&T.

Neither Acevedo nor Cullen has been charged with any wrongdoing in the alleged scheme.

Thomas Anthony Durkin, Cullens attorney, had no comment on the matter Friday. Acevedos lawyer, Gabrielle Sansonetti, also had no comment.

According to a statement of facts agreed to by AT&T, in 2015, Madigans office had blocked the controversial landline legislation.

After that defeat, an executive circulated a lessons learned memo that contained one section headed, Speaker Madigan. The memo stated that AT&T had not been as helpful as ComEd when requests were made from the speakers camp, according to the statement.

The scheme to reward Acevedo, referred to in the court papers as FR-1, began in February 2017, after the company learned through McClain that the speaker was looking to kick Acevedo some money, according to the statement.

In an email exchange that March, AT&T Illinois director of legislative affairs asked two of the companys executives if they were 100% certain they would get credit from the powers that be if the payments were made to Madigans associate.

I would hope that as long as we explain the approach to McClain and (the associate) gets the money then the ultimate objective is reached, one of the executives wrote back, according to the statement.

The legislative affairs director responded, I dont think (La Schiazza) wants this based on hope. We need to confirm prior to executing this strategy, the statement said.

In April 2017, La Schiazza approved a deal to secretly funnel $2,500 a month to Acevedo through a lobbying company already doing business with AT&T Illinois, according to the statement. The lobbying company was not named in the court filings.

At McClains direction, AT&T employees then met with Acevedo to discuss a pretextual reason for the payments: to prepare a report on the political dynamics of the General Assemblys and Chicago City Councils Latino Caucuses, according to the statement of facts.

Acevedo never did any real work for AT&T Illinois, however. In fact, according to AT&Ts admissions in court, he balked at first at the payments, saying they were too low. But Acevedo agreed to the deal after McClain stepped in and said the amount was sufficient.

From June 2017 to January 2018, Acevedo was paid a total of $22,500 in monthly installments. According to AT&Ts admission, the former representative did not complete the purported assignment on Latino politics, and no efforts were undertaken by AT&T to ensure work was being done in exchange for the money.

Meanwhile, after a protracted fight, the landline bill passed during the final hours of the spring 2017 legislative session  with Madigans direct assistance, according to legislative records and the statement of facts agreed to by AT&T.

On June 29, 2017, Madigan permitted the bill to be brought to a vote and cast his ballot in favor of the legislation, records show. Two days later, after Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed the legislation, Madigan and the Democrat-led General Assembly overrode him, with Madigan again voting for the override.

The new allegations involving AT&T further punctuate a stunning downfall for Madigan, the longest serving leader of any legislative chamber in the nation who held an ironclad grip on the state legislature as well as the Democratic Party and its political spoils. He was dethroned as speaker in early 2021 as the investigation swirled around him, and soon after resigned the House seat hed held since 1971.

Madigan, 80, and McClain, 75, were charged in March in the original 22-count indictment alleging they conspired to participate in an array of bribery and extortion schemes from 2011 to 2019 that allegedly leveraged Madigans elected office and political power for personal gain

The indictment also accused Madigan of illegally soliciting business for his private property tax law firm during discussions to turn a state-owned parcel of land in Chinatown into a commercial development.

Both Madigan and McClain have pleaded not guilty. Their attorneys have accused prosecutors of trying to criminalize legal political actions such as job recommendations in a quest to bring down the once-powerful speaker.

McClain, a former state legislator and lobbyist, is also facing separate charges stemming from the alleged ComEd scheme. Also indicted in that case, which is set for trial in March, are former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and consultant Jay Doherty, the former head of the City Club of Chicago.

Acevedo, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to tax charges stemming from the ComEd investigation and was sentenced in March to six months in federal prison.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

rlong@chicagotribune.com
A former northeast Iowa bank executive who claimed to be a victim of his own soft-heartedness was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in prison for falsifying loan documents that cost his employer more than $6 million.

Bradley Schlotfeldt, 59, of Cedar Falls, was a vice president for U.S. Bank in Waterloo until he was fired in 2017. Federal prosecutors charged him in February with providing false statements to a financial institution, and he pleaded guilty in March.

According to court filings, bank officials first investigated a "Young Farmer" loan that Schlotfeldt approved to the son of a longtime client, despite knowing the recipient was not a farmer. The funds were not repaid, and the bank lost more than $575,000 on the loan.

The U.S. Bank building in downtown Des Moines.

The bank fired Schlotfeldt and identified an additional 13 loans in which he had falsified signatures, altered numbers or otherwise misled the bank. Some of those loans also resulted in losses, totaling nearly $6.4 million.

From May:Clive man sentenced to 14 months in prison, ordered to pay $4.5 million for bank fraud

Former VP was just trying to help, attorney says

In court filings, Schlotfeldt's attorney attributed the misdeeds to misplaced loyalty to his customers.

"As the farm economy turned bad, he was confronted with farm customers that he had worked closely with at the bank for his working career that were now out of money," the attorney, William Smith, wrote. "Lulling himself into believing that the farm economy decline was temporary in nature, too often he would modify numbers on several of the financial statements to try to keep the customer within the loan covenants."

Schlotfeldt did not personally benefit from the loans in question, according to Smith.

"Simply, he could not bring himself to force bank customers into bankruptcy or what he perceived would be their financial ruin," he wrote.

Prosecutors ask judge to make an example of errant banker

Schlotfeldt asked the court for a sentence of probation, far below the 51 to 63 months recommended by sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors, in response, argued that Schlotfeldt was ineligible for probation and, in any event, merited a substantial prison term.

Story continues

"(Schlotfeldt), for whatever motivation he may now claim or may have actually had at the time, chose his own priorities over that of the 15-year employer to whom he owed a duty of loyalty and competence," prosecutor Anthony Morfitt wrote in court filings.

For subscribers:Warning of excessive risk, FDIC orders Iowa's Luana Savings Bank to drop practices that have fueled rapid growth

A stiff sentence was justified to send a message to other bank executives that there are consequences for misconduct, prosecutors said.

"There are thousands of bank vice presidents and lending officers across the country and probably hundreds in Iowa alone," Morfitt wrote. "A probationary sentence or a token amount of incarceration in this case would send the message that a bank employee can substitute his judgment, lie to his bank, and cause millions of dollars in loss and suffer relatively minor consequences as a result."

In addition to the 18-month prison sentence, U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams also ordered Schlotfeldt to complete five years of supervised release and pay $3 million in restitution.

Smith, the defense attorney, told the Des Moines Register via email that he and his client were "disappointed" in the sentence, given that Schlotfeldt had not personally benefited from the bad loans, but otherwise declined to comment.

Correction: an earlier version of this article misstated the location of the U.S. Bank branch Schlotfeldt worked at. It was in Waterloo.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa U.S. Bank VP sentenced for falsifying farm loan documents
(Reuters) -Taiwan electronics manufacturer Foxconn said on Friday production at its largest iPhone factory remains normal, despite tightening COVID-19 restrictions at the plant in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou this week.

The Zhengzhou campus, which assembles Apple Inc's iPhone and has about 300,000 workers, banned all dining in and required workers to take their meals back to their dormitories beginning on Wednesday, a notice posted on the factory's official WeChat account showed.

"Zhengzhou (plant) still maintains normal production and has little impact (from the situation)," Foxconn told Reuters.

The new measures follow Zhengzhou's latest outbreak recording a total of 196 cases since Oct. 8, and come as Foxconn's factory is ramping up production of the latest iPhone 14 models.

Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom and Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Kim Coghill)
french montana, nav

Last week, NYCs very own French Montana dropped off Whippn It Slowly, a brand new offering that samples the iconic Killing Me Softly With His Song record by the Fugees. Today (Oct. 21), he makes his swift return to drop off Fenty, his latest single that boasts an assist from NAV. On the track, the Toronto emcee handles the opening verse:

Six-hundred-fifty horses in my engine, I used to ride round on the ten speed/ Addicted to buyin jewelry, I got VVS diamonds, that hit like some Fenty (Bling)/ Get Turks and Caicos, ran it out an island, we hoppin off, boostin some jetskis (Lets go)/ My enemies talkin bout me, made me laugh, cause it sound like a joke when they dead me/ I like my women in flavors, like I like my weed, need a strand, Im designin the sea

Back in June, French Montana teamed up with Harry Fraud for his latest album Montega, a 12-song body of work with contributions from Babyface Ray, Rick Ross, Jadakiss, Benny The Butcher, Quavo, and more. Since then, they have released visuals for cuts like Rushmore Pack and Bricks & Bags. Montega followed last Novembers They Got Amnesia, which contained 21 songs and collaborations alongside the likes of Kodak Black, John Legend, Pop Smoke, Lil Durk, Doja Cat, Fivio Foreign, Coi Leray, 42 Dugg, and Ty Dolla $ign.

In addition to Montega, French is also said to be working on the fifth installment of Mac & Cheese, a fan-favorite series that he started back in 2009. Outside of his releases,the Unforgettable rapper can be heard dishing out guest verses on recent tracks like PUTO by Lazza and Maquina de Dinero by El Alfa.

Be sure to press play on French Montanas brand new Fenty single featuring NAV down below.
George Clooney and his wife Amal Clooney are parents of 5-year-old twins, Alexander and Ella. (Photo: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic)

George Clooney is looking back on one of the most memorable moments of his life.

The actor, 61, was known for years as one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelors until he married Amal, now 44, in 2014. In a joyful interview with Drew Barrymore, the Ticket to Paradise star opened up about the night the couple first met  as well as the day, years later, when they found out they were having twins.

"That wasnt part of the plan," Clooney told Barrymore when recounting the moment their doctor told them they weren't having just one baby, but two.

"You do [an ultrasound] at 12 weeks where they go, 'Theres the kid, look at the picture of the kid,' and I was like, 'Yeah there it is,'" he remembered. "He goes, 'Its a boy.' Its a boy! And then he goes, 'And a girl,' and I was like, what? It was such a disaster. I was like, are you kidding me? Now its the greatest thing in the world, [but] I was terrified then."

"I was 56 years old and that just sounded terrifying to me," he explained.

The Clooney twins, Alexander and Ella, 5, are happy and healthy now, but even still, the actor says he thinks about his future as an older dad.

"When I was very young, 20, I would hear someone died at 60 and Id think, 'Well, they lived a good life," he joked.

The actor couldn't help but gush when remembering the first night he met Amal.

"We stayed up all night talking and then I started writing her a bunch of letters," he recalled of the night she came with a friend to a dinner party he was throwing at his home in Lake Como, Italy.

"We still write letters," he added. "We leave them on the pillow." When asked about how he popped the question, Clooney said it was a hilarious "disaster."

"I planned the whole thing out," he recounts of the night. "Ive got like a playlist with my aunt [Rosemary Clooney] singing and I'm gonna give her the ring right at the song 'Why Shouldn't I?'"

"We'd only been dating for like six months," he says. "I got the ring in the box. We'd been having dinner and the song starts and I go, 'You know, I think there's a lighter [to relight the candle] in that little box, and she pulls the little thing out from the drawer, and there's a little diamond ring in it. She goes, 'There's a ring in there!' like somebody left a ring years ago. And I'm on my knee."

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Clooney recalled it took Amal a little extra time to realize it was a proposal.

"She doesn't say yes until this horrible song called 'Goody Goody' [starts playing], which was supposed to be later, like, when we were dancing," he said. "She's just sitting there going, 'Oh my god, oh my god.'"

"I literally said, 'Listen, I really would like to marry you but I also am not young and I've been on my knee now  and I could, like, lose a hip!'" he jokes. "Then she goes, 'Oh, yes.' And she said yes, thank god."

The dad loves discussing his romance with Amal and their future together as parents, specifically as an older parent. In a recent interview with Today's Hoda Kotb, the actor had some quick one-liners about the topic.

"I kind of like the idea of being sort of out of it when my daughter starts to date," he quipped with Kotb, 58, who is also the mother of two young daughters: Haley, 5, and Hope, 3.

In the same interview, he mimicked a confused, older version of himself responding to his daughter bringing home a date: "Papa I want you to meet ... he's a drummer in a band. 'Huh? I like toast,'" he joked. "I'm OK."

Wellness, parenting, body image and more: Get to know the who behind the hoo with Yahoo Life's newsletter. Sign up here.
Photo: The Canadian Press European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. European Union leaders were heading into a two-day summit Thursday with opposing views on whether, and how, the bloc could impose a gas price cap to contain the energy crisis fueled by Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and his strategy to choke off gas supplies to the bloc at will

European Union leaders struggled to find immediate practical solutions on how to deal with the energy crisis but avoided an open rift between Germany and France on Friday that would have exposed a divided bloc as it confronts Russian President Vladimir Putin over his war in Ukraine.

After daylong talks in Brussels dragged well into the night, the 27 EU leaders papered over divisions between some of the biggest member states and at least agreed to continue working on ways to impose a gas price cap in case of big price increases.

French President Emmanuel Macron highlighted his work with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to create a veneer of unity after talks that started early Thursday. He said that together with close technical advisers, I will see Chancellor Scholz in Paris next week so that we can move forward, with our teams, on all the issues.

Scholz said the main issue was curbing spikes in gas trading that may last only a few hours but still send prices excessively upward. He said measures to counter that should be further examined.

How can we avoid these spikes? There is still a lot of concrete work to be done. But we must look at ways to contain it, which certainly makes sense, Scholz said.

When the axis between Paris and Berlin is aligned, usually the rest of the EU follows.

There is a strong and unanimously shared determination to act together, as Europeans, to achieve three goals: lowering prices, ensuring security of supply and continuing to work to reduce demand," said summit host Charles Michel, the EU Council president.

Diplomats said the execution of the proposals, including the possibility of a price cap, should be first properly assessed by energy ministers next Tuesday and might even need a new summit of leaders in the coming weeks.

There is a lot of work ahead," said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. We are pushing ourselves into unchartered territory, where we dont have experience yet."

To make sure the runaway cost of gas doesnt further tank struggling EU economies, the Commission has proposed a system to pool buying of gas and offered a compromise that would allow for a correction mechanism to kick in in exceptional circumstances.

Countries like the Netherlands and Germany were loathe to start such market intervention, but agreed to study a system that would be failproof and not allow suppliers to stop delivering and go to more lucrative markets.

It is incredibly complex but you see that everyone wants to get the gas prize further down, but in a way that we continue to get gas deliveries and that it doesn't move to Asia or Latin America. We need it here, too, said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

In addition, the leaders are also pushing for the creation of a new LNG gas index better reflecting the market following the drastic reduction of imports of pipeline gas from Russia.

Divisions were so big at the start of the summit that agreeing on further exploration of the plan proposed by the Commission was seen as almost an achievement in itself.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said a price cap would send suppliers away. The gas price cap is like going to a bar and telling the bartender you want to pay half price for your beer. Not going to happen, he said on Twitter.

The traditional driving duo of the EU  Germany and France  were in opposing camps, with Germany expressing doubts and holding off plans for the price cap, while most others want to push on.

Scholz said any dispute was on the method, not the goal. Prices for gas, for oil, for coal, must sink; electricity prices must sink, and this is something that calls for a joint effort by all of us in Europe, he said.

Natural gas prices spiraled out of control over the summer as EU nations sought to outbid one another to fill up their reserves for winter. The member states have already agreed to cut demand for gas by 15% over the winter. They have also committed to filling gas-storage facilities to at least 80% of capacity by November and  as a way of reducing gas-fired power generation  to reducing peak demand for electricity by at least 5%.

The question of possible EU gas-price caps has moved steadily up the political agenda for months as the energy squeeze tightened, with 15 countries such as France and Italy pushing for such blunt intervention.

At the opening of the summit, the need for rock-solid EU unity in confronting Russia was highlighted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who addressed the 27 national leaders by video conference from Kyiv, asking for continued help to get his nation through the winter.

Russia is increasingly relying on drone strikes against Ukraines energy grid and civilian infrastructure and sowing panic with hits on Ukrainian cities, tactics that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called war crimes and pure terror on Wednesday.

Diplomats are already assessing more sanctions to come. But Orbans perceived friendliness toward the Kremlin makes life tougher. Even though the previous EU sanctions targeting Russia have been approved unanimously, it has increasingly become difficult to keep Orban on board by agreeing to exemptions.
Georgia's gopher tortoises  big, lumbering reptiles known for the burrows they dig in sandy soil  recently were passed up for listing as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which decides which critters make the endangered list, this month decided that gopher tortoises east of Alabama's Tombigbee and Mobile rivers have "robust" populations and are no longer candidates for the federally protected status.

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The hefty reptiles, which can grow well over 10 pounds, are found in coastal plains stretching from eastern Louisiana to western South Carolina and southern Florida, and USFWS said that the western population in Louisiana, Mississippi and western Alabama is still being considered for endangered status.

The gopher tortoises' status in Georgia won't change, but the decision will be discussed in a virtual public meeting with USFWS at 7 p.m. Dec. 13 to gather more public input.

DNR staff use a camera on a cable to "scope"  or spot any tortoises  a tortoise burrow on Alligator Creek WMA. The work is part of gopher tortoise surveys the agency conducts.

More tortoises than expected

"There were more tortoises out there than they were sort of giving us credit for," said Matt Elliott, assistant chief of wildlife conservation with the Georgia DNR's Wildlife Resource Division. "We do have a lot of populations that weren't mentioned in initial review."

Elliott said the process for a species to be listed as federally endangered is rigorous, and during the investigation they found populations in Georgia were stronger than previously thought. While the gopher tortoises in Georgia won't receive increased federal protections, Elliot said the USFWS is still emphasizing the need for continued protection and conservation.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in October 2022 decided that gopher tortoises east of Alabama's Tombigbee and Mobile rivers have "robust" populations and are no longer candidates for the federally protected status.

Keystone species

Beyond maintaining the species population for its own sake, Elliott said that gopher tortoise conservation is important because they fill an important ecological niche as a keystone species because the burrows they dig help house around 300 other species, like frogs and toads, skunks, occasional litters of fox or coyote pups and the endangered eastern indigo snake. One time, Elliott said, the DNR even found an otter inside a gopher tortoise burrow.

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Elliott said DNR was part of a larger group called Georgias Gopher Tortoise Conservation Initiative, which brought together wide-ranging organizations, from the Georgia Conservancy to the Georgia Department of Transportation, to strategically conserve lands, work with private landowners, conduct populations surveys and more.

A gopher tortoise hangs out in a soft-release pen, enclosures in new environments that help the tortoises acclimate after relocation.

Previous decline, long-term conservation

"A lot of the (population) decline is historic. There's been a lot of habitat loss going back a while," Elliott said. Uplands converted to agriculture and encroaching human development shrunk the gopher tortoises' territory, but Elliott said that conservation and monitoring on state lands has seen Georgia's population of gopher tortoise remain steady in recent years.

The University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Lab, located across the border from Augusta in Aiken, SC, has been conducting one of the efforts to conserve gopher tortoises on the coastal plain. Tracey Tuberville, a senior research scientist at SREL, said the lab has been working to relocate tortoises to successful habitats to promote conservation since 1995.

A gopher tortoises climbs through brush. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which decides which critters make the endangered list, this month decided that gopher tortoises east of Alabama's Tombigbee and Mobile rivers have "robust" populations and are no longer candidates for the federally protected status.

"There was actually a lot of resistance to the idea of doing what I call 'translocation,'" Tuberville said.

Many were critical of taking turtles from a location slated for development and moving them elsewhere because it seemed like developers were getting a get-out-of-jail free card to do whatever they wanted with the gopher tortoises' habitat. But Tuberville said that moving threatened tortoises to places that historically had thriving tortoise populations in the Savannah River region, but don't anymore, has proven successful.

She has worked mostly with reproduction, trying to grow existing populations of tortoises. Like Elliott, she agreed that development is the biggest threat to gopher tortoises, but she said people also need to consider habitat degradation: The land might still be there for tortoises to live on, but if a road is built close by or if the leafy understory isn't available anymore, it can dampen population growth.

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One method Tuberville said SREL has found success with is soft-release pens, where transplanted tortoises can be kept in the wild, but in an enclosed fence, to get used to their surroundings. The tortoises set up their "home ranges" and are less likely to leave the release area, an established and protected area designated for conservation.

Gopher tortoises are social animals, Tuberville said. They like to live in little colonies, and visit each other's burrows. Releasing them into conservation lands not only gives tortoises the best chance at survival, but helps rebuild the social connections that will make gopher tortoise populations stronger in the future.

Marisa Mecke is an environmental journalist. She can be reached at mmecke@gannett.com or by phone at (912) 328-4411.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia gopher tortoises skirt endangered status citing conservation
TOKYO (AP)  Japanese medical equipment maker Olympus said Friday it has named as its next chief executive Stefan Kaufmann, a German who has worked for two decades at the manufacturer once known for old-style photographic cameras.

Kaufmann's appointment will take effect in April, pending board approval, said Tokyo-based Olympus Corp. It said Kaufmann will lead Olympus expansion in the med-tech field, ensuring the company adapts to clinical needs and requirements.

Founded in 1919, last year Olympus handed over its traditional camera-making business to Japan Industrial Partners, an investment firm. It now focuses on medical technology such as endoscopes, tubes with tiny cameras that doctors use to see inside the human body.

The company said Yasuo Takeuchi, its current chief executive, will become its chairman.

Olympus made headlines a decade ago when another foreign chief executive, Briton Michael Woodford, was fired after he raised questions about millions of dollars in dubious payments. The company later admitted the money was a cover-up for huge investment losses.

At that time, Woodford's case was seen as an example of how Japanese companies had a hard time dealing with foreign managers, and vice versa. Critics said his treatment also highlighted how insular Japan Inc. was failing to live up to professional ethics standards.

Kaufmann is a director, executive officer and chief administrative officer at Olympus with experience in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

It is still relatively rare for a non-Japanese to take the helm at a Japanese company. About 7.3% Japanese companies are headed by foreigners, compared with 33.7% in the United States, according to Tokyo-based consultant Cissoko and Co.

Kaufmann said he was aware of potential risk as a foreigner dealing with Japan and so Takeuchi and he were a team to make sure he gets support in what he called any cultural roles.

In an online group interview, Takeuchi and Kaufmann said Olympus had turned a new chapter since the accounting scandals of a decade ago, and now its governance was solid.

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We are a new Olympus, Kaufmann said.

In a handful of cases, foreign leadership has been judged a success. That includes Belgian-born Jean-Marc Gilson's role at Mitsubishi Chemical Group, and Frenchman Christophe Weber at Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., although the numbers are gradually growing, said SOURCE.

In a case where things ended badly, Carlos Ghosn, a French-Brazilian of Lebanese ancestry, was sent by French automaker Renault SA to help revive its ailing partner Nissan Motor Co. Ghosn led a spectacular turnaround but was arrested on various financial misconduct charges in late 2018. He fled to Lebanon in late 2019. He says he is innocent.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's parliament on Friday approved the government's 200 billion euro ($195 billion) rescue package that aims to protect companies and households from the impact of soaring energy prices.

It earlier also voted to suspend Germany's constitutional debt brake.

(Reporting by Christian Kraemer and Holger Hansen; writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
Just weeks away from the 2022 midterm elections, a senior Google official said Wednesday that the company hasn't seen the same style of hacking from groups backed by the governments of China and Iran as during the 2020 election.

Speaking with reporters, Shane Huntley, the senior director Google's Threat Analysis Group, compared the current level of activity to past reports from the company that Chinese and Iranian actors targeted email accounts related to the campaigns for then-candidate Joe Biden and then-President Donald Trump in 2020.

"We haven't seen that this year," Huntley said. "We're watching very closely.

MORE: Civil rights, democracy groups call on social media companies to combat election disinformation

"It's so far relatively quiet on the hacking front, he said.

But, he added, outside groups remained focused on disinformation: "There's a lot happening behind the scenes, but we haven't seen that sort of cyberattack nature that we've sort of have seen in previous years.

During the 2020 campaign, Google went public with what it said were documented attempts by Chinese and Iranian hackers to to compromise email accounts for Biden and Trump campaign staff.

The efforts appeared to be unsuccessful -- but were a part of what federal government officials described then as ongoing attempts by foreign countries to interfere in domestic elections. (Both China and Iran have in the past denied accusations of cyberattacks on U.S. entities.)

Of election security, Google's Huntley said Wednesday that major efforts were being made regarding that and disinformation.

PHOTO: Residents fill out general election ballots during the first day of general election voting, Oct. 11, 2022, in a hallway outside the Santa Fe County clerk's office in Santa Fe, N.M. (Morgan Lee/AP)

Google officials on Wednesday also offered a broader look at personal cyber security.

Heather Adkins, Google's vice president of security engineering, told reporters that in the next five to 10 years, We will see the death of the password.

She added that Google would continue to iterate on things like security keys, passkeys that the authentication experience. In May, Apple, Google and Microsoft announced a joint effort to expand support for passwordless sign-in across devices and platforms.

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The reality is that everyone's gonna get hacked at some point," Adkins said. "And the differentiator will become how quickly we recover from that. And you actually see that in Ukraine.

MORE: With 10 weeks until midterms, election deniers are hampering some election preparations

Noting the cyberattack on the American satellite company Viasat in the early days of Russia's attack on Ukraine, earlier this year, Adkins said the firm was actually able to recover very quickly, quickly enough to put their feet back on the ground and then resist the invasion.

Huntley, the security official, said that Google has been able to to help Ukraine and Ukrainian government officials protect themselves amid the conflict, thus allowing the Eastern European nation to take direct actions because we were actually able to help out.

Google sees less Chinese and Iranian hacking this election cycle, they say originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Democrats are increasingly worried that Republicans will make gains in deep-blue strongholds such as New York and Oregon as the winds appear to shift in the GOPs favor ahead of next months midterm elections.

The GOP is making competitive bids to take back governorships in both states, which reliably go for Democrats in presidential elections. The Republican gains could also extend to the House, where the GOP is making inroads in the aforementioned states, along with Rhode Island and others.

I would say Oregon Democrats are worried. We have a history of competitive gubernatorial elections, but usually were up by at least 2 points at this point in October, not down by 2 like the current public polls show, said Oregon-based Democratic strategist Jake Foster.

And you know, frankly, were not used to hearing our state mentioned in the same breath as Arizona or Nevada, Foster added, noting two other closely watched gubernatorial races.

Oregon has not elected a Republican governor since 1982, nor has it gone for the GOP presidential nominee since 1984. In 2020 alone, President Biden won the state by 16 points.

But Republican Christine Drazan could be poised this year to win the Oregon gubernatorial race over Democrat Tina Kotek given a confluence of factors. Current Gov. Kate Brown (D) is the most unpopular governor in the country, per data from Morning Consult. Adding to that are issues like crime and homelessness, which are seen as top of mind for voters. Finally, but just as significantly, third-party candidate Betsy Johnson, a Democrat-turned-independent, could complicate things further by siphoning off votes from her former party.

An Emerson College Polling survey released earlier this month showed Drazan leading Kotek 36 percent to 34 percent, within the margin of error and effectively tying the two. Koteks campaign blamed Johnson for being a disruptor in the race and taking away crucial votes.

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One of the main reasons Tina decided to run for Governor is because Kate Brown was absent on two of Oregons biggest problems: homelessness and addiction. Tina has an urgent plan of action to make real change in all of these areas: reducing homelessness, making housing more affordable, and fixing our broken mental health and addiction treatment systems, Kotek spokesperson Katie Wertheimer said in a statement.

She will lead where Kate Brown couldnt or wouldnt. Christine Drazan has a failing record on these issues, and we dont need to take our state to the far right-wing to fix these problems.

Over in New York, recent polling has also shown Gov. Kathy Hochuls (D) lead shrinking as she tries to fend off a challenge from Republican Lee Zeldin. A Siena College survey released on Tuesday showed 52 percent of respondents saying they would vote for Hochul compared to 41 percent for Zeldin, a narrower margin than the 17-point margin the governor held in a poll three weeks ago. The latest Siena College survey also showed Zeldin leading Hochul among independents, 49 percent to 40 percent.

Meanwhile, a separate Quinnipiac University poll also released on Tuesday showed Hochul only leading Zeldin 50 percent to 46 percent. Among independents, Zeldin led Hochul 57 percent to 37 percent. Still, Hochuls approval rating shows her above water for now.

Hochul campaign spokesman Jerrel Harvey, who took issue with the Quinnipiac poll, said the governor was not taking the race for granted.

Despite $8 million in outside spending from right-wing groups pushing baseless lies, Governor Hochul maintains a double-digit lead against her opponent, he said. Even in todays Quinnipiac poll, which substantially undercounted Democrats, Governor Hochul continues to receive support from fifty percent of New Yorkers and we are confident in our ability to turn out voters in every community.

Still, some Democrats see the numbers as unsettling.

Its concerning, said Basil Smikle, former executive director for the New York State Democratic Party. It means that  Hochul needs to make a strong closing argument to the voter in these last couple of weeks.

Smikle noted that the issue of crime was a salient one in the state, including in New York City. He said that Zeldin had tapped into this nerve on an issue that both parties care about. He also believed that the party is suffering from the historic national headwinds a presidents party typically faces in midterms, adding that they could have implications for more than just Hochul.

I will say that these national winds are not just about the  gubernatorial race. There are two congressional races that should concern Democrats  the 17th and the 19th, Smikle said, referring to Rep. Sean Patrick Maloneys (D-N.Y.) race and a newly drawn open seat, later adding that those two races should not be as close as they are forecast to be.

Still, Democrats are brushing off those concerns, saying they understood the political environment they were walking into this cycle.

From day one, the DCCC has been clear eyed about the electoral challenges we face this cycle. Across the map, we are more competitive because House Democrats, like Chairman Maloney, took action to end the pandemic, get people back to work, and invest in America. Voters are going to reject extremist Republicans like MAGA Mike Lawler in November  Every special election in New York this summer makes that clear, said Chris Taylor, spokesperson for the House Democrats campaign arm.

Coby Eiss, campaign manager for Democrat Josh Riley, whos running in the 19th District, echoed that sentiment, saying Were not focused on what the forecasters and pundits in D.C. say or the chattering class in Albany and D.C., were focused on running our campaign and delivering a winning message.

Yet elsewhere too there are House districts of various shades of blue where this trend is emerging. Take, for example, Rhode Islands 2nd Congressional District: The seat has long been considered a safely Democratic one, having been represented by outgoing Rep. Jim Langevin (D) for two decades.

But recent polling has shown Republican Allan Fung leading Democrat Seth Magaziner, including a Suffolk University-Boston Globe poll released last week that had Fung at 45 percent compared to Magaziner at 37 percent. And the race has been rated a toss up by the nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report.

In Oregons 6th Congressional District, which has similarly been seen as favoring Democrats and which went for Biden by double digits in 2020, the race has also been rated a toss up by Cook. Though the district is not quite as blue as other House seats, the competitive environment has required Democrats to move around their resources.

AdImpact, which tracks ad spending among campaigns, noted that a super PAC aligned with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had moved their broadcast flight from Oregons 5th Congressional District to the 6th District.

Miles Coleman, associate editor for Sabatos Crystal Ball, said its possible the Democrats in Oregon running for Congress could ride on the coattails of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who is up for reelection this year and whom Coleman described as an electoral overperformer.

Still, Republicans believe the environment and type of candidates this cycle has fielded have given them a shot at making serious inroads.

Gains in the northeast are poised to be the story of the night, predicted Matt Gorman, a former spokesperson for the House GOP campaign arm. Whether Allan Fung in Rhode Island, George Logan in Connecticut. Even governorships, possibly, Paul LePage [in Maine]. How well we could do in New York in the House seats and maybe even getting close to the governors race.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts office initially claimed it didnt have a hand in helping Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when he sent migrant-packed planes from Texas to Massachusetts last month  but a new report detailing text messages between top Florida officials appears to show otherwise.

The report from San Antonio news station KSAT-TV comes over a month after DeSantis sent roughly 50 immigrants, mostly from Venezuela, on planes from the Lone Star State to Marthas Vineyard on Sept. 14.

Democrats slammed the Republican governors move, calling it a political stunt and labeling it shameful, reckless and wrong.

The move has since left the likely 2024 presidential hopeful facinglawsuits, an investigation into the trips funding, and an investigation by a Texas sheriff.

A spokeswoman for Abbott initially told the San Antonio Express-News that his office had spoken with DeSantis office in the spring about the Texas governors own efforts at busing immigrants out of state, but was not involved in these initial planes to Marthas Vineyard.

But the DeSantis officials text exchanges, as described in the KSAT report, show communication referring to Abbotts chief of staff Luis Saenz.

The messages were part of records received by open government nonprofit Florida Center for Government Accountability following a Freedom of Information Act request, the news station reported.

The exchange between DeSantis chief of staff James Uthmeier and Florida public safety czar Larry Keefe appears to show Keefe informing Uthmeier that TX is aware of Dash, FYI. No worries here.

The Dash message from Keefe, who was reportedly in San Antonio about two weeks prior to the flights, refers to the code name of the operation to fly migrants out of Texas, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

The texts  which were allegedly sent between Sept. 1 and 13  also appear to show Uthmeier sending Keefes contact card to Luis Saenz, Abbotts chief of staff.

One message shows Uthmeier referring to Keefe as a POC, or a point of contact, on his team.

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Following up, pls let Larry [Keefe] or me know a good POC. Happy to touch base again if needed, Uthmeier reportedly messaged Saenz.

HuffPost has reached out to both governors offices for comment.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Friday asked the Supreme Court to shield him from testifying in an investigation into former President Trumps alleged interference in the 2020 election in Georgia.

Grahams request comes a day after a lower appeals court refused to halt his testimony before a Fulton County, Ga., special grand jury.

In court papers filed Friday to Justice Clarence Thomas, who handles emergency matters arising from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, Graham urged the court to find that constitutional protections for lawmakers should prevent him from being forced to comply with a subpoena issued by District Attorney Fani Willis (D).

Without a stay, Senator Lindsey Graham will soon be questioned by a local Georgia prosecutor and her ad hoc investigative body about his protected Speech or Debate related to the 2020 election, Grahams lawyers wrote. This will occur despite the Constitutions command that Senators shall not be questioned about any Speech or Debate.

Graham has asked the court block his subpoena to allow an appeal to play out.

Grahams appeal concerns a federal judges ruling that the senator could avoid testifying only to the extent that it concerned calls he made to state election officials related to fact-finding for his own vote on certifying of the 2020 election  but that questioning could otherwise proceed.

Graham has said the arrangement will permit investigators backdoor ways to ask him about the calls.

On Thursday, a unanimous three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit rebuffed the South Carolina Republican, finding that, Senator Graham has failed to demonstrate that he is likely to succeed on the merits of his appeal.

Graham is among several high-profile figures whom Willis has pursued as part of her probe. She has also subpoenaed a group of Republicans who served as a phony slate of pro-Trump electors in 2020.

Trumps effort to bypass the will of voters in Georgia and a handful of other swing states he lost to President Biden in the 2020 election sparked congressional investigations and figure into multiple criminal probes, including by the Department of Justice and the Fulton County district attorney.

Updated at 6:14 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A former employee of a bank in Montgomery County abused her position as head teller to steal $32,800, a federal grand jury has charged.

Jamie Leanne Hightower was indicted Thursday on charges of bank fraud and identity theft.

The indictment says that when the alleged thefts occurred in 2019, Hightower was head teller and vault teller at the Community Trust Bank in Mt. Sterling.

The indictment alleges that Hightower used various methods to take money, including altering documentation on customer deposits.

Examples cited included taking cash from another teller and falsely representing what she did with it; taking money from a Federal Reserve shipment, an armored-car shipment and the vault and lying about it; and taking money from customers accounts by fabricating transactions.

She illegally used a customers name and bank number, the indictment says.

In one case, she cashed a check in her husbands name but kept the check and deposited it into her account in order to recover twice the amount of funds authorized, the indictment says.

Hightower violated bank policy, created false entries in records and used multiple teller drawers to disguise the scheme, the indictment charges.

The bank fraud charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and the identity theft charge carries a mandatory two-year sentence.
Tensions between Greece and Turkey remain sky-high, after a series of military moves that some analysts fear could spill over into open conflict between the two longtime foes.

On Tuesday, in an apparent reprisal for Greece's decision to position military equipment on the island of Samos, which lies less than a mile from the Turkish mainland, Turkey launched a test of its Tayfun short-range ballistic missile over the Black Sea, and Turkish media boasted that its military had the capability to strike anywhere inside Greece.

Last Friday, 92 migrants, mostly from Afghanistan and Syria, were encountered by Greek police close to the land border with Turkey, naked and without supplies. Notis Mitarachi, Greeces minister for migration and asylum, tweeted that Turkeys behaviour towards 92 migrants whom we rescued at the borders today is a shame for civilisation.

A spokesperson for Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the accusations groundless and unfounded.

These events are just the most recent in a long list of rising disputes between the two NATO allies in recent months. A particular point of tension has been Greeces placement of military equipment, including U.S.-donated tactical vehicles, on several of its islands in the Aegean Sea close to the Turkish mainland.

On Sept. 1, Erdogan raised the temperature of the long-simmering territorial dispute by accusing Greece of occupying the islands, which were ceded to Greece in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

When the time comes, we will do whats necessary, he warned.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Oct. 13. (Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via Reuters)

We can come suddenly one night, he added, a phrase that alludes to Turkeys invasion of Cyprus in 1974, during which Turkey captured roughly one-third of the island, establishing the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Erdogan has also used the phrase in the recent past, for example before Turkeys 2016 military campaign in Syria, as well as his warnings in 2017 to Iraqi Kurds against holding a referendum for an independent state.

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In response to the recent threat, the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, insisted on Sept. 11 that war would never happen, but added that if Erdogan were to launch an attack, Turkey would receive an absolutely devastating response.

There is no place for imperial visions in the 21st century, and would-be local bullies have no place, Mitsotakis added.

Greeces defense minister, Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, called Greeces actions on the islands defensive and warned against revisionist and destabilizing behavior from Turkey.

Air force standoffs between the two countries have also been frequent. In one encounter on Aug. 23, Greece allegedly maintained a radar lock on a Turkish aircraft with an S-300 missile system, an act of hostility under NATO rules of engagement  which Greece denies. Meanwhile, Greece has reported more than 7,000 violations of its airspace this year, according to Al Jazeera.

However, worries over more serious confrontation may be misplaced, according to Kemal Kirisci, a non-resident fellow of the Brookings Institution.

Posturing is the word that most accurately captures whats going on, he told Yahoo News in a telephone interview. I dont see these crises escalating to a military confrontation.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23. (Reuters/Caitlin Ochs)

Both Erdogan and Mitsotakis face elections in the summer of 2023, and the clashes between the two countries may serve to stoke domestic support for the two leaders, Kirisci said.

Erdogans popularity has waned in recent years amid continued economic hardship in Turkey. In September, inflation in the country hit a 24-year high of 80%. Mitsotakis, meanwhile, is mired in a domestic scandal after revelations that Greek national intelligence conducted surveillance of an opposition figure.

Mounting tensions or even crises  real, imaginary or manufactured  especially vis-a-vis Greece, Turkeys old foe, can be an easy way of deflecting attention from the very real economic and political problems Mr. Erdogan and his AKP party are facing as they are fighting for their political survival ahead of next years election, Vassilis Ntousas, head of European operations with the public policy think tank German Marshall Fund of the United States, told Yahoo News.

Kirisci similarly identified domestic political concerns as a key motivation for the spike in animosity between the two nations.

There is a long tradition between the two countries to abuse each other to mobilize especially nationalist voting bases in both countries, because more and more elections are settled on the basis of very small margins, he said.

He added that while playing up tensions may motivate a small segment of the population, particularly on the far right, the majority of the population is unlikely to take much interest in it.

Greece and Turkey have become much more integrated in the economic and social sense of the word. There is much more trade that flows in both directions, and there are many more people that flow in both directions, Kirisci noted.

In particular, he highlighted the opening of a brand-new ferry line between the Greek city of Thessaloniki and the Turkish city of Izmir on Oct. 10 as evidence that such tensions remain in the realm of political rhetoric, not the lives of everyday Greeks or Turks.

Turkish Armed Forces hold a military exercise called "Fire at Will  2022" in Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday. (Dogukan Keskinkilic/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

For the U.S., the troubled relationship between the two countries is an unwelcome distraction at a time when President Biden has sought to maintain unity among NATO allies over the war in Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the American ambassador to Turkey, Jeff Flake, released a statement on Twitter stressing the United States' commitment to impartiality in the disputes between the two states. The top priority for the U.S., he wrote, remains peace, security, and stability throughout the region.

Kirisci remains optimistic that the current tensions will subside.

There is a whole history of such confrontations that have never escalated into a physical confrontation. It remains at the level of exchange of words or threats, he said. The media tends to cover the confrontation part and ignore the calls for dialogue.

At a meeting of NATO defense ministers last week, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar invited his Greek counterpart, Panagiotopoulos, and his wife to visit Turkey to encourage continued positive relations. Akar told Hurriyet Daily News, When we say dialogue, peace and brotherhood, some see this as weakness. There is no such thing.

But Ntousas and other analysts worry that the current climate between the two countries remains hostile and uncertain.

While few predict actual conflict or perhaps war, the risks linked to an accident are also on the rise, he said, noting that the risk of a potential mishap or miscalculation makes continued dialogue all the more important.

Looking ahead, Ntousas also sees a long-term risk from escalating rhetoric, regardless of whether Erdogan wins in 2023. Increasingly nationalist undertones and increasingly revisionist underpinnings regarding Greece may move the long-term operating window of how Ankara positions itself towards Athens in the future, he said.

For the time being, the U.S. will be hoping that areas of cooperation and agreement will continue to outweigh areas of dispute.
Hanoi approves pilot of e-bike sharing model serving BRT passengers

The Hanoi Department of Transport has given the green light to the pilot of an electric two-wheeler sharing model to facilitate the transit of bus rapid transit (BRT) passengers.









Illustrative image (Source: baogiaothong.vn)

The pilot project is one of the measures to strengthen the management of road vehicles in a bid to reduce traffic congestion and environmental pollution in the capital city. Its cost is sourced from funding of the European Committee (EC) and support of participating agencies.



Developed by the University of Transport Technology, the model will be operated starting the end of November, offering free electric bikes and bicycles for shared use during the pilot period.



The vehicles help passengers of the Kim Ma-Yen Nghia BRT route to travel between the Van Khe bus stop and Aeon Mall Ha Dong.



People wishing to use the system will be supported by BRT staff to install the required application on their mobile phones and register their information at the bus stop and the mall. After being verified, the passengers can hire electric vehicles for their transit routes between the two destinations, which both offer parking spaces for their private means of transport if any.



The process of moving between the two points is tracked and stored in a system via the previously installed application. The system also provides the necessary functions for the sharing model, including monitoring the vehicles battery status and raising an alarm when problems arise.



The Hanoi BRT project started in 2013 at a cost of 53.6 million USD, financed through World Bank loans, and was officially put into operation on the Kim Ma  Yen Nghia route starting December 31, 2016. The route covers 14.7km from Kim Ma station in Ba Dinh District to Yen Nghia station in Ha Dong District. With prioritised traffic lights and lanes, the buses run through Giang Vo, Lang Ha, Le Van Luong, Le Trong Tan, Tran Phu and Ba La streets.



Buses in Hanoi served 212.7 million passengers in the first nine months of 2022, rising by over 25% from a year earlier, statistics show. The passenger number has bounced back since the second quarter and gradually increased month on month.



This result is partly attributed to the opening of 11 new bus routes, including five connected with the Cat Linh - Ha Dong urban railway and six using electric vehicles, raising the number of e-bus routes to nine.



Hanoi is aiming for broader coverage by its bus network, so that 80-90% of residents in downtown areas can catch a bus by 2030.



This is part of Plan No 201/KH-UBND, issued by the municipal Peoples Committee, on developing local public transport between 2021 and 2030.



Infrastructure for public transport will be developed under the plan, so as to ensure that by 2030, 80-90% of residents in downtown areas have a bus service within 500 metres of their home.



Hanoi will work to expand its public transport network to populous places such as residential areas and industrial parks, outlying districts, and socio-economic development centres, while ensuring the networks connectivity with transport hubs and other transport modes.



Traffic will be managed in a way that prioritises public transport, while science and technology application will be increased in transport activities and communications will be enhanced to encourage people to use public transport.



Bus services currently meet 16.08% of travel demand in Hanoi, which falls short of expectations. The capital does, however, boast the largest bus network in the country, with 122 routes reaching all 30 district-level localities.



Hanoi now aims to develop a public transport system that can meet 30-35% of local residents travel demand by 2025.



Under an action plan recently issued by the municipal Peoples Committee on strengthening traffic safety and preventing congestion for the 2022-2025 period, the number of traffic accidents in the locality will be reduced by 5-10% so that by 2030, the number of injuries and fatalities caused by road accidents will be dropped by a half. It also sets a target of handling seven to ten traffic points that often get congested every year.



To realise those goals, the city administration will mobilise all resources and concertedly carry out measures along with the application of scientific and technological advances in ensuring traffic safety and order and preventing gridlock towards building a comfortable, effective and environmental-friendly traffic system.



It will focus investment on key traffic routes and urban railways in line with approved planning.



The capital city will rearrange parking lots in both inner-city and outlying districts, build a transport system that facilitates access for people with disabilities and the elderly, as well as study a pilot programme on a bicycle-only lane./.
Photo: Contributed South Okanagan-West Kootenay MP Richard Cannings.

Its not often the government is presented with a private members bill that creates jobs, tackles climate change, adds value to natural resources and helps get around illegal foreign trade tariffs.

But thats exactly what my latest private members bill does. Bill S-222 directs the Minister of Public Works to assess building materials for environmental benefits, including their carbon footprint, before approving design contracts for federal infrastructure projects.

This bill began its life as my Private Members Bill C-354 in 2016. I was inspired then by the example of Structurlam in Penticton, a company that was leading the mass timber sector in North America. Structurlam produces glulam beams and cross-laminated timber panels that can replace the steel beams and cement walls commonly used in large buildings around the world. Since then, Kalesnikoff Lumber has opened up a similar mass timber plant in South Slocan.

These mass timber products use conventional lumber produced in most sawmills around British Columbia to create strong, safe, and beautiful building materials that can be used to construct everything from skyscrapers and large civic buildings to highway bridges.

More and more, the world is turning to mass timber to construct large buildings. France has pledged to have 30 percent of its new large buildings made in this manner. Shifting the construction industry here to do the same involves educating architects and engineers of the characteristics and benefits of mass timber. But we also need to encourage local manufacturers to expand their production, and one of the best ways to do that is through government procurement. Thats exactly what this bill is designed to do.

Expanded production would mean that British Columbia sawmills could sell more of their lumber to mass timber plants, thus opening up a new market and lowering the reliance on exports to the United States that have been plagued repeatedly by illegal softwood lumber tariffs over the past 30 years. On top of that, mass timber can be exported to the United States without facing those tariffs, as it is a manufactured product, not raw lumber.

As the supply of logs has been reduced over the past decades through harvest, wildfire and beetle outbreaks, the forest industry has been searching for ways to get more value out of each tree cut. Mass timber wont increase the forest harvest, but it will create more jobs and more value that stay in Canada.

Earlier versions of the bill that singled out the use of wood were criticized by the cement industry, as they were developing new types of concrete that sequestered carbon dioxide as well. My bill avoids this by simply asking the Minister to use products that deliver environmental benefits such as carbon sequestration. And mass timber, made entirely of sequestered carbon that could easily remain intact for centuries, is a good candidate for that quality.

Ive also heard concerns that large wood buildings might be a fire hazard, but studies by the Natural Resource Council have clearly demonstrated that buildings made with heavy glulam beams and cross-laminated timber panels are as safe or safer than concrete and steel structures. The thick wood beams and panels simply char slowly when in contact with flames, keeping firefighters safe and giving occupants more than adequate time to exit the building.

Bill C-354 passed in the House of Commons in 2018 but unfortunately died in the Senate when that parliament ended in 2019.

Sen. Diane Griffin then offered to table it in the Senate as Bill S-222 in this parliament, giving the bill more time and thus more of a chance for successful passage. Earlier this month, it passed third reading in the Senate and came to the House of Commons, where I introduced it at first reading.

It will proceed to debate before Christmas, and I hope that it will pass and finally become law sometime next spring.

Richard Cannings is the NDP MP for South Okanagan West Kootenay.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
CONAKRY (Reuters) -Guinea's military government has proposed a shorter timeline for a transition to elections of 24 months, government spokesman Ousmane Gaoual Diallo said, down from a 36-month timeline earlier rejected by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The junta that took power in a coup last September has been under pressure to restore civilian rule sooner than the 39 and then 36 months proposed by interim President Colonel Mamady Doumbouya.

A team of ECOWAS representatives was in Guinea to discuss a more "reasonable" transition to elections this week.

Diallo told reporters on Friday that the start of the 24-month period would be determined during a conference in December.

The junta has proposed to start the 24-month transition in January 2023, he added.

ECOWAS said in a joint statement with the Guinean government that it had co-developed the 24-month timetable with Guinean authorities and that the bloc would provide technical and financial support to carry out the transition. It did not mention a potential start date.

The bloc imposed economic sanctions on the country after the junta took power.

(Reporting by Saliou SambWriting by Sofia ChristensenEditing by Alexander Winning)
Russell Tovey as Patrick Read. FX

"American Horror Story: NYC" sees a killer hunt the LGBTQ+ community.

Dubbed "Big Daddy," the killer uses the handkerchief code as part of his reign of terror.

The handkerchief code is a color-coded system from the 1970s used by gay and bisexual men.

Ryan Murphy is back for more terrifying delights with "American Horror Story: NYC," which sees a leather-clad serial killer called "Big Daddy" target the LGBTQ+ community.

This occurs against the backdrop of a mysterious virus ravaging Fire Island, as many men report symptoms of a rash that won't go away. After the first two episodes, it's clear this is all mirroring the HIV/AIDS crisis  and the LGBTQ+ community is at an extremely vulnerable time in New York.

The first two episodes have been a much less gory affair than previous seasons, but it's no less creepy thanks to Big Daddy, who stalks men in dark parks as well as dimly lit bars.

Part of his bizarre modus operandi involves leaving handkerchiefs in the bodies of his victims  even stuffing one into Captain Ross' (Lee Aaron Rosen) severed head.

Murphy touches on the handkerchief code when the medical examiner removes the bandana from the pilot's mouth/throat, as she briefly explains it's a way of signaling sexual preference. Gino Barelli (Joe Mantello) also tells his boyfriend, Patrick Read (Russell Tovey), about it later on in the episode.

What is the handkerchief code?

The code is more commonly referred to as the hanky code or bandana code, but the show is right: it started in the 1970s as a way for gay and bisexual men to communicate what they're seeking, their interests, and fetishes.

As per the Saint Foundation, it supposedly started in San Francisco shortly after the gold rush.

Because there weren't as many women around, men used blue bandanas when line-dancing to signify who was dancing the man's part and red for who was dancing the woman's part.

This idea would later be adopted by Alan Selby, who claimed he started the handkerchief code when his business, Leather 'n' Things, accidentally received a bulk order of bandanas, and they created the code to get rid of the excess stock.

Story continues

For the moment, it's not clear why the killer has adopted the handkerchief code as part of his hunt, though it'll probably be explained later down the line once the show reveals more clues about Big Daddy's identity.

In "NYC" episode two, "Thank You For Your Service," the hulking figure is also seen outside of Sam's (Zachary Quinto) apartment, though Sam doesn't even acknowledge him.

Whether this is a hint that Sam is secretly the killer remains to be seen, though that would be predictable since Quinto previously played the serial killer Bloody Face in "American Horror Story: Asylum."

But Barbara Read gives her soon-to-be ex-husband, Patrick, a box of his belongings in episode two, which includes a number of colored bandanas, even though he previously asked Gino about their significance in episode one, "Something is Coming."

It's possible the detective was just naive and owned different bandanas, but it's definitely suspicious. However, Patrick isn't as tall and stocky as Big Daddy, so that probably rules him out of being the killer.

New episodes of "American Horror Story: NYC" air Wednesdays on FX and the next day on Hulu.

Read the original article on Insider
Image: Hawaiian Airlines

Amazons beefing up its already massive international shipping behemoth with around a dozen new Airbus planes operated by Hawaiian Airlines.

The two firms announced the deal Friday which will see the airliner fly at least 10 Airbus A330-300 planes for the retailer starting next fall. In a blog post, Amazon Air Vice President Sarah Rhoads said the A330s are larger than other Amazon operated aircraft which means they should be capable of delivering more cargo with each flight.

Read more

Were thrilled to have these new partners joining us for this next chapter of Amazon Airs journey, and I cant wait to watch these birds take flight next year, Rhoads said.

Amazons operated its own budding air fleet since 2016 and, like so many Amazon entities, it has expanded at a mind boggling pace. During the onset of the pandemic, they reportedly leased 12 Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft for a total of more than 80 aircraft in its fleet. Now, Amazon Airs global network of planes totals more than 110. Rather than add to that number, Amazon said the new Airbus editions are meant to phase out older models still operating in its fleet.

In less than a decade, when no one was really looking, Amazons managed to quietly become one of the worlds leading shipping and delivery firms.

In 2018, the company started building out its own 53-foot shipping containers. Amazon reportedly shipped around 5,300 of those containers from China to the United States in its first year. Now, Amazon reportedly ships around 10,000 containers per month, and ranks amongst the largest of Trans Pacific cargo transportation companies, according to Business Insider. As of last year, Amazons cargo transportation network accounted for 72% of its shipments.

On the ground, Amazon has rapidly expanded its delivery apparatus sending blue tinted trucks and stressed out FLEX drivers speeding through city streets from sunup to sunset. Amazons delivery system passed an important milestone in 2019 when it began delivering more than half of its own packages. Last year, Amazon made up 21% of the total U.S. shipping market, surpassing FedEx (16%) and trailing just behind UPS. Those figures are astounding, especially when you consider Amazon accounted for exactly zero percent of that market in 2014.

Story continues

Say what you will about Amazon and the brutalist labor practices, but they sure now to build out infrastructure

More from Gizmodo

Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
Eligible healthcare workers may walk in to any of the nine Joint Testing and Vaccination Centres (JTVCs) offering the Moderna/Spikevax vaccines (PHOTOS: Getty Images, Reuters)

SINGAPORE  The bivalent Moderna/Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine will be made available to healthcare workers in the public and private sector from 25 Oct 2022, the Ministry of Health has announced.

In a statement on Friday (21 Oct), the MOH said that eligible healthcare workers aged 18 and above were recommended to receive an additional dose of the bivalent vaccine.

These are healthcare workers who received their last vaccine dose over five months ago and have achieved minimum protection of at least three doses of mRNA vaccine/Nuvaxovid or four doses of Sinovac-CoronaVac.

"This is to protect and support our healthcare workers who are at higher risk of exposure to COVID-19," the MOH said in its statement.

Eligible healthcare workers may walk in to any of the nine Joint Testing and Vaccination Centres (JTVCs) offering the Moderna/Spikevax vaccines. They will need to produce a valid staff pass carrying their name and the cluster or institution logo for identification.

Healthcare workers without passes could also produce a memo bearing the company or organisation's letterhead or official stamp as proof, the MOH said, adding that separate arrangements may be made by the respective healthcare institutions to provide in-house vaccination for those who are not able to visit the vaccination centres due to work demands.

The new Moderna COVID-19 vaccine that targets the original novel coronavirus strain and the Omicron variant was recommended for primary series and booster vaccinations in those aged 18 years and above in Singapore earlier in the month.

The bivalent vaccine is not available for persons under 18 years as it has not undergone trials in this age group.

Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube.
To view past editions of The Hills 12:30 Report, click here: https://bit.ly/30ARS1U

To receive The Hills 12:30 Report in your inbox, please sign up here: https://bit.ly/3qmIoS9

> 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.

NEWS OF THE MORNING

The least surprising part of the morning. Steve Bannon showed up in a Barbour-style jacket:

Former Trump adviser Stephen Bannon was sentenced to four months in federal prison and fined $6,500 for defying a congressional subpoena related to the investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

For context: The Justice Department wanted Bannon to serve six months in prison, and the maximum fine Bannon faced for the charges was $200,000.

Bannons defense: Bannon claimed that he was unable to comply with the committees subpoena due to executive privilege. However, the panel sought to speak to Bannon about events that occurred well after his short stint in the White House. More from The Hills Rebecca Beitsch

Did Bannon speak?: No. My lawyers have spoken for me, your honor, Bannon told the judge.

^ Yes, but: Bannon spoke with reporters outside the courthouse after his sentencing. Watch

Photo outside the courthouse: From C-SPANs Howard Mortman

Wow, check out the hoopla from Bannons arrival: Video from NBC Newss Ryan J. Reilly

This is disturbing: Check out this giant rat statue mocking former President Trump. Photo

^ Photo from the back

Politicos Kyle Cheney has been tweeting live updates from the court: His thread of tweets

ITS A BUSY DAY IN FEDERAL COURT:

NBC Newss Ryan Reilly tweeted a list of whats happening today in DC federal court.

 Steve Bannon sentencing

 Jan. 6 rioter sentencing

 Oath Keepers trial

 Trial of Capitol Police officer who told Jan. 6 rioter to remove Facebook content about storming Capitol

Story continues

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

 Talk of the morning

Why your family and friends may be a little groggy this morning:

Taylor Swift released her 10th studio album, Midnights, at midnight last night (!). Its difficult to scroll on any social media platform without seeing lots of references to it.

Listen to the album on Spotify

Listen to the album on YouTube Music

A line from Swifts new song Anti-Hero that I keep seeing on social media: Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism, Like some kind of congressman? (A tale as old as time.)

But wait, THERES MORE:

Taylor Swift released an additional seven songs at 3 a.m. Details from Elle

A FEW HEADLINES ON THE ALBUM:

From The Atlantic: The Beautiful Banality of Taylor Swifts Midnights

From NPR: In the haze of Midnights, Taylor Swift softens into an expanded sound

From The Washington Post: Why Taylor Swifts self-loathing Anti-Hero already hit a nerve with fans

From CNN: Taylor Swifts Midnights album is out. So, whats the verdict?

 In the U.K.

My retirement plan? Become the UK prime minister for a few weeks:

Outgoing British Prime Minister Liz Truss will be able to collect up to $129,000 a year for the rest of her life despite only serving roughly six weeks on the job.

How that works: Despite the shortness of her tenure, she is entitled to receive payments under the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA), a government-regulated program introduced in 1990 to assist former Prime Ministers still active in public life. The allowance reimburses former prime ministers for office and secretarial costs arising from their public duties.

More from CNNs Sana Noor Haq

OMG  SO ITS GONNA BE FOREVER, OR ITS GONNA GO DOWN IN FLAMES:

A Channel 4 segment on Trusss resignation ends with a mention of her favorite song: Blank Space by Taylor Swift, followed by quite the montage. Watch

OK, THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE JOKE ABOUT THE NEWS:

I news Jane Merrick tweeted, When a lettuce outlasts a Prime Minister, we have truly reached the endive days.

LIZ TRUSSS DOWNFALL SPARKS TALK OF DEMOCRACYS DECLINE IN UK:

From The Hills Tobias Burns and Laura Kelly

 In the GOP

GOP WAVE THREATENS BLUE-STATE STRONGHOLDS:

From The Hills Caroline Vakil

FIVE INVESTIGATIONS HOUSE REPUBLICANS ARE PLOTTING IF THEY WIN THE MAJORITY:

1. Hunter Biden and Biden family business activities.

2. Alleged politicization in the Department of Justice.

3. COVID-19 origins and policies.

4. Afghanistan withdrawal.

5. Handling of U.S.-Mexico border.

What we know about each, from The Hills Emily Brooks

 In other news

This is likely not good news for anyone working at Twitter:

The Washington Posts Elizabeth Dwoskin, Faiz Siddiqui, Gerrit De Vynck and Jeremy B. Merrill report that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is planning to cut roughly 75 percent of Twitters staff after buying the company.

Keep in mind  cuts will likely happen regardless of Musk: Even if Musks Twitter deal falls through  and theres little indication now that it will  big cuts are expected: Twitters current management planned to pare the companys payroll by about $800 million by the end of next year, a number that would mean the departure of nearly a quarter of the workforce.

What we know about the pending deal and Musks plan

 Latest with COVID

Pfizers looking at a pretty big price increase for the vaccine:

AP/Charles Krupa



Pfizer expects to roughly quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine to between $110 to $130 per dose once the U.S. governments purchasing program ends early next year, a company official said.

What we know: [Pfizers] Angela Lukin said during an investor call Thursday the company is still in discussion with insurers but that they are confident the price will ensure equitable access and reimbursement. The federal government currently pays about $30 a dose, and then distributes the vaccine to the public for free.

The full story, via The Hills Nathaniel Weixel

 THE COVID-19 NUMBERS

Cases to date: 97 million

Death toll: 1,065,152

Current hospitalizations: 21,062

Shots administered: 632 million

Fully vaccinated: 68.2 percent of Americans

CDC data here.

 Notable tweets

Wow, this must have taken forever to film:

@AmberCadabra tweeted a TikTok posted by @kjp of what your Home Depot giant skeleton does when you leave the house. Watch  it has more than 2 million views so far

Probably not the ~best~ optics:

Politicos Jonathan Lemire retweeted a Twitter exchange involving Elon Musk. Lemire added: Oh, just Elon Musk joking around on Twitter with a powerful Kremlin official. The back and forth

 On tap

The House and Senate are out. President Biden is in Delaware. Vice President Harris is in Washington, D.C., with no public events scheduled.

9:30 a.m. : Biden received his daily briefing.

1:10 p.m. : Biden leaves for Dover, Del.

5:45 p.m.: Biden arrives in Rehoboth Beach, Del.

All times Eastern.

 What to watch

11 a.m. : Biden delivered remarks on the deficit reduction his economic plan is achieving. Watch

1:45 p.m. : White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One. Livestream

3:15 p.m.: Biden delivers remarks on student debt relief. Livestream

 In lighter news

Today is National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day! Festive, I like it.

And to leave you on an entertaining note, heres a dog with a remarkable talent.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
ZAGREB (Reuters) - A month has passed since Vjekoslav Prebeg was freed from Russian captivity in a prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia, and the 40-year-old Croatian still looks shaken as he recounts his experiences.

A soldier by profession, Prebeg said he went to Kyiv in December 2019 because he wanted to help Ukraine in its eastern war against pro-Russian separatists, and later signed up to join the Ukrainian army in May 2020.

His battalion was in the first line of attack when the Russian invasion - which Moscow describes as a special military operation - began on Feb. 24.

Outnumbered and outgunned, they were forced to withdraw. One month later, during fighting near the southern city of Mariupol, he said he was captured by Russian soldiers, who took Prebeg to their unit headquarters in a deserted army barracks.

"When I arrived there they took me out of the car; my head was covered with some kind of bag. I was immediately hit in the head, my nose was broken and brutal questioning began," he told Reuters at his home city of Zagreb.

He said the violent treatment there ended when a unit commander intervened. Pregeb said he was allowed to shower and given food and something hot to drink.

He said he then spent the night in a garage with other prisoners of war, bound and blindfolded, before being transferred to the eastern Russian-controlled region of Donetsk.

"They (the guards) were constantly cocking their weapons and were putting a knife on various parts of my body, legs, neck, stomach, especially to me because I was a foreigner and they were saying all the time 'you are a mercenary'," he said.

"They were saying 'let's throw him away and kill him and we will say he tried to escape, what do we need him for'. At one point they beat me up so hard that I lost consciousness."

The United Nations said in September that Russia was not allowing access to prisoners of war and that it had evidence that some had been subject to torture and ill-treatment which could amount to war crimes.

Story continues

Russia denies torture or other forms of maltreatment of POWs. The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Prebeg's allegations of mistreatment by Russian soldiers.

Having been told he would have to spend more than three years in prison, Prebeg was released after five months in a prisoner swap along with nearly 300 others, including several other foreigners.

Prebeg said he would not be returning to Ukraine.

"I am 40 years old and for me it was a very difficult physical experience and I do not have the strength any more to repeat something like this."

(Reporting by Antonio Bronic; Writing by Raissa Kasolowsky; Editing by Alison Williams)
A woman made a gruesome discovery along the dried-up banks of the Mississippi River last weekend, as the water level on the nation's largest river continues to fall to historically low levels.

Crystal Foster was looking for rocks along the shores of the river near Clarksdale, Mississippi, located about 80 miles downstream from Memphis, Tennessee, when she found bones that turned out to be human remains, CNN reported.

Foster contacted the Coahoma County Sheriff's Office after making the shocking discovery on Saturday, Oct. 15. Scotty Meredith, the county's chief medical examiner, told CNN that the bones were indeed human remains and included a lower jawbone, rib bones and other unidentified bones. The remains have been sent to a crime lab for further analysis, where investigators hope to collect a DNA sample.

The retreating water levels on the Mississippi River are akin to the reservoirs across the western United States, where a dwindling water supply has revealed objects that have been underwater for decades. At least five sets of human remains have been identified at Lake Mead alone.

"These water levels are so low that we knew it was only a short matter of time before human remains were found," Foster told Action News 5, a news station based out of Memphis, Tennessee.

The section of the Mississippi River where the human remains were found is nearing its lowest level in recorded history. A river gauge near Greenville, Mississippi, about 130 miles southwest of Memphis, recently reported a water level of 5.7 feet, the lowest water level ever recorded at the site since record-keeping began in 1890. Other gauges in the area are not far from reaching record levels.

In this photo taken by a drone, James Isaacks walks where the normally wide Mississippi River would flow Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022, near Portageville, Mo. The lack of rainfall in recent weeks has left the river approaching record low levels in areas from Missouri south through Louisiana, disrupting barge and other travel along the river. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

The historically low water levels brought the rare chance to walk to Tower Rock, a rock formation about 80 miles southeast of St Louis that is typically an island in the middle of the Mississippi River. Farther south down the river near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the remnants of a shipwreck were discovered, a ship that is believed to have sunk near the shoreline during a fierce storm in 1915.

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The historically low water levels on the Mississippi River were months in the making, and it will take more than one big rainmaker to refill the water table.

AccuWeather expert meteorologists do not expect any significant change in historically low water levels in the Mississippi River through the end of the year - with prospects for improvement early in 2023.

"The overall pattern setting up through the end of the year doesn't look good at all," AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said.

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The total damage and economic loss caused by the Mississippi River's historically low water levels and related supply chain impact are estimated to be around $20 billion, according to AccuWeather.

The losses will represent a significant negative impact on the economy at a time when the country and global markets are already facing high inflation and grave financial hardship driven by a possible recession, ongoing supply chain issues and the pandemic's lingering domino effect.

The Mississippi River is a key transit corridor for a wide variety of commodities, such as soybeans, corn, wheat, fuel oil, corn, crude petroleum, sand, gravel, limestone, and salt. Manufactured products, such as tires, may also be impacted with increased costs and reduced supply. Commerce on the Mississippi River accounts for 92% of the country's agricultural exports, 60% of all grain exports and 78% of feed grains, soybeans and livestock exports.

Pastelok added that crews have been dredging up parts of the Mississippi to help counteract the low water levels, but it can be a timely and expensive undertaking.

AccuWeather's preliminary forecast considers a variety of direct and indirect impacts, including increased costs to consumers as prices increase for various crops and commodities, increased transportation costs, job losses, shipping delays and other negative impacts on the economy.

The crisis started earlier this year when record heat baked the Mississippi River Valley in June, followed up by an unusually dry period from late summer into autumn. Additionally, no tropical systems made landfall along the central Gulf Coast like recent hurricane seasons, depriving the watershed of much-needed rain. So far, the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season has been the first season since 2016 that no tropical storms or hurricanes made landfall in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama.

Little to no rain is in the forecast for most of the Mississippi River Valley through the weekend, but signs are pointing to some rain spreading over areas from St. Louis to New Orleans around the middle of next week. However, this does not look like a significant rainstorm for the lower Mississippi River watershed.

In the long term, AccuWeather meteorologists say that a few storm systems could track over the region in November and December, but these systems will bring only temporary help to the ongoing situation.

"This can result in some increase in water levels for a brief time, but the expectation is that the water levels can fall back again during drier time periods," Accuweather AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said.

"As we move into January 2023, AccuWeather experts see signs of a changing weather pattern across the Mississippi basin with better chances for more frequent precipitation and perhaps episodes of heavier precipitation," Porter said.

It will take time, but AccuWeather believes that the new weather patterns during the opening weeks of 2023 will bring lasting improvements to the water levels on the Mississippi River.

The pattern change expected to unfold in January will likely continue through the rest of the upcoming winter with frequent episodes of rain from the Gulf Coast to the Ohio Valley. Snowfall across the northern Plains -- in the far reaches of the Mississippi River watershed -- will also help to increase the flow of the river in the long run.

Additionally, the increase in precipitation throughout the winter will provide some relief for the widespread drought that has developed across the nation's heartland. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, most of the region is experiencing a moderate drought with a few pockets in the Plains experiencing exceptional drought, the most severe classification of drought.

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.
As the winds died and floods receded, a new, invisible threat was emerging in Hurricane Ians wake: carbon monoxide.

The odorless, tasteless gas  often a dangerous consequence of misusing a generator  poisoned 41 people in the first two weeks after Ians landfall, according to data provided by the Florida Department of Health. Officials are linking the confirmed cases directly to the storm, meaning most poisonings likely stemmed from unsafe generator use during a power outage.

In Fort Myers, the first carbon monoxide call rang out to responders at 11 a.m. the day after landfall. A resident had their generator running outside, but it still was too close to their home, said Todd Poland, the division chief of training and special operations at the Fort Myers Fire Department. Dangerous amounts of gas began to accumulate.

Over the next 48 hours, the citys fire department would field two more calls, Poland said. Both were because of generator misuse, and both were flagged by functioning carbon monoxide detectors.

The worst-case scenario would have happened if they didnt have those monitors, Poland said in an interview. Somebody could have gotten sick  or worse.

There are currently no confirmed deaths linked to the gas, said Jae Williams, assistant press secretary for the state health department. But he noted that detecting carbon monoxide poisoning as a cause of death requires a full autopsy and can take time. Local health officials in Lee and Polk counties, which make up nearly half of the states cases after the storm, both say there are no verified poisoning deaths.

The Ian-related cases make up nearly a quarter of Floridas poisonings this year, data shows. There were 36 calls about carbon monoxide made to Floridas Poison Control Centers in the first two weeks after Ians landfall, said Jemima Douge, a healthcare education specialist at the Florida Poison Information Center in Tampa.

The tragic carbon monoxide poisoning incidents following Hurricane Ian underscore the importance of knowing how to safely use portable generators as well as the need for working carbon monoxide alarms in every home, Nicolette Nye, a spokesperson for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said in a statement. Poisoning from portable generators is preventable.

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In Lee County, where most customers were without power for days after the storm, at least 12 people were confirmed to have experienced carbon monoxide poisoning, according to data from the state health departments office there. Every confirmed case there was associated with incorrect use of generators during power outages caused by Hurricane Ian, spokesperson Tammy Soliz said.

Palm Beach County had the second-most cases with nine; Polk County had seven; and Hillsborough had six, state data shows. At least six cases were in children younger than 5, and six more cases involved people 70 or older.

One portable, gasoline-powered generator can emit as much carbon monoxide as hundreds of cars, Nye said. Thats why its recommended that all gas-powered or charcoal-burning equipment be used only outdoors during a power outage and are placed at least 20 feet away from buildings doors, vents windows or air intakes.

The highly poisonous gas can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, confusion, lack of coordination, impaired vision, loss of consciousness and death. At least 85 people die in the U.S. each year from exposure, Nye said.

After a power loss storm, carbon monoxide exposures usually unfold after about two days, according to Kelly Johnson-Arbor, the interim executive director of the National Capital Poison Center. The reasons for the delay may relate to people acting out of desperation when the power is not restored after several days.

In the current era, when many of our daily activities involve use of cell phones and computerized devices, we need power. When the power is no longer available, we sometimes resort to desperate measures, Johnson-Arbor wrote in an email. Public health departments need to remind the public of the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning well before storms occur; once the power goes out, its much harder to get the word out on TV or radio.

Floridas health department claims it did just that: Targeted social media advertisements on how to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning were broadcast across 14 counties and garnered 500,000 impressions during the first week of October, said Weesam Khoury, the departments deputy chief of staff. Advisories also were aired on public radio stations in Tampa, Fort Myers and Orlando.

The State Fire Marshals Office began handing out carbon monoxide alarms nine days after the storm passed, according to spokesperson Ryan Walker. In all, 20,000 were distributed, including at disaster recovery areas in Port Charlotte and Fort Myers and among local fire departments.

Carbon monoxide alarms are the first line of defense against carbon monoxide poisoning, Nye said. They can save your life.

How does Ians trail of carbon monoxide compare to past storms?

Every hurricane is different when it comes to carbon monoxide exposure, Williams said. Hurricane Michael, for instance, was a menacing Category 5 storm that forever changed the landscape of Floridas Panhandle. But for all its destruction, there were only two confirmed cases of carbon monoxide poisoning. Theres no need to use a generator when theres no more house to power.

Compare that to Hurricane Irma in 2017, which buzz-sawed the state and knocked out power for more than 6 million electricity customers. All told, Irma left 539 carbon monoxide cases in its wake, Florida Department of Health data show. No two storms produce the same results.

Its like comparing an apple to an orange to a banana, Williams said.

What you can do to stay safe

About 7,000 electricity customers remained without power in Lee County as of Friday morning, a map of the most recent outages shows.

Health officials recommend never using a generator indoors, including in homes or garages, according to a notice from the Florida Department of Health office in Hillsborough County. Equipment that uses gas or charcoal should only be used outside  at least 20 feet away from doors and windows. Opening doors or windows wont help to prevent gas buildup indoors.

If you plan to buy a generator in the future, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends models that shut off automatically when high levels of carbon monoxide are detected, Nye said. The commission suggests having a working battery-operated carbon monoxide alarm, especially outside sleeping areas. Alarms should be tested frequently.

If you feel sick, weak or dizzy, seek fresh air immediately. If you think you have carbon monoxide poisoning, call 911 or the Florida Poison Information Center at 800-222-1222, according to the health department.

Carbon monoxide poisoning, especially occurring after storms, is almost entirely preventable, Johnson-Arbor said. Prevention should start well before the storm.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission says Liberal legislation to remove some mandatory minimum penalties from the Criminal Code doesn't go far enough.

Murray Sinclair said during a Senate committee hearing Thursday that Bill C-5 does not go nearly far enough to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous and Black people in the criminal justice system.

He said the government has not provided data to justify a "piecemeal approach" that leaves two-thirds of mandatory minimum penalties in place.

"The remaining mandatory minimum sentences would continue to restrict the freedom of trial judges to impose the sentence they think appropriate and warranted in the specific circumstances of the case and the individual before them," Sinclair said.

"As a strategy to reduce the overincarceration of Indigenous and Black peoples, Bill C-5 does not go nearly far enough."

Sinclair made the comments at a hearing of the Senate's justice committee, which is studying the bill after the House of Commons passed it in June, just before Parliament took a summer break.

The changes written into the legislation would reverse some of the "tough on crime" measures passed under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.

If the Senate passes the bill as it is written, mandatory minimums will be removed from all drug offences, as well as from 20 firearms offences and one tobacco-related offence.

The bill would also allow greater use of conditional sentence orders, meaning that certain offenders could serve their time in the community rather than in an institution, per judges' discretion.

A spokesperson for Justice Minister David Lametti said Sinclair raised important issues Thursday.

"We would like to thank former senator Sinclair for his critical work in leading us on the path towards reconciliation," said Chantalle Aubertin. "We agree with his view that systemic discrimination and racism are a reality for too many in Canada's criminal justice system."

The penalties the bill proposes removing make up more than 75 per cent of all admissions to federal custody for offences with a mandatory minimum penalty, Aubertin said, and these have "a disproportionate impact on racialized and Indigenous populations."

Sinclair noted in his testimony that one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action was to eliminate mandatory minimums altogether, and urged the government to "fully implement" that call.

Short of removing mandatory minimums altogether, Sinclair said that senators could amend the bill to give sentencing judges the jurisdiction and authority to ignore the minimums if they provide written reasons for the decision.

He said that approach would be preferable to rejecting the bill altogether.

And he suggested that judges won't dramatically change the way they approach sentencing. "They will still likely utilize the appropriate principles of sentencing," he said. "What you'll likely see is a change in sentencing back to the way it was before the mandatory minimums were created."

The former senator said that the trust Canadians have in their judges will be determined by the behaviour of judges  "just as the trust people have in the Senate will be based upon how senators behave."
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund said on Friday that it had reached a staff-level agreement with Malawi for up to $88.3 million in emergency financing, as the southern African country struggles with acute forex shortages.

Reuters reported earlier this week that Malawi, which has been experiencing chaotic queues at fuel stations that are running dry due to a lack of foreign currency to make payments, was set to be the first African country to receive special IMF financing to deal with the global inflation crisis.

The IMF said the money would help Malawi address urgent balance of payments needs, and support economic adjustment and structural reforms.

Ukraine received $1.3 billion under the same new programme, known as the "Food Shock Window", earlier this month.

"Malawi's request will be discussed by the IMF's Executive Board as soon as possible," the Fund said, adding that Malawi needed to have started a credible debt restructuring process prior to the board's consideration.

(Writing by Anait Miridzhanian;Editing by Alexander Winning and Aurora Ellis)
A school board candidate in Indiana is under fire for a Facebook comment saying, "All Nazis werent bad.

In September, a community member asked candidate Dr Matt Keefer about whether teaching certain subjects like the Tulsa race massacre, or declaring all Nazis were bad, would strike him as indoctrination.

"All Nazis werent bad as you specify. They did horrible things. They were in a group frenzy in both cases you site, he responded. "Who is to say if we were both there in the same place and time, that we wouldnt have done the same thing?"

Dr Keefer, a local anesthesiologist according to LinkedIn, continued and argued that we cant judge the past by present-day standards, suggesting we might someday see mainstream thinking on Covid the way we understand Nazism now.

In 10 years, we may look at Covid the same way, he continued in the Facebook comment. The people that hated the unvaxxed and hoped they died, the people that lost their jobs because they wouldnt get vaccinated, the people who thought everyone should stay 6 feet apart, wear masks, and save some unknown 95-year-old from dying by staying locked in their home.

Community members were outraged by the comments.

"For somebody to say that Nazis were not all bad and historically was represented as one of the worst atrocities of all time, I just couldnt fathom," Hilary Heffernan, whose children attend Zionsville schools, told WTHR .

"Its very difficult for us every time we hear that word. Its very difficult for us to deal with because it brings a lot of painful memories for our family and generations," Marina Nazarov, whose children attended schools in the area and has family members killed in the Holocaust, added in an interview with the station.

When you hear statements like this, it diminishes The Holocaust, it diminishes the memory, Jacob Markey, executive director of the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council, told Fox59 .

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The school board candidate doubled down on his stance in another Facebook post on Thursday.

He clarified that, I never was, am not now, and never will be a Nazi sympathizer, but did not apologise.

It is incumbent on us to seek to understand people that think differently, he wrote. Understanding WHY someone thinks differently than I do about a topic is the first step in truly finding common ground to move our community forward. Therefore, my campaign slogan is Lets talk. I want to understand what people in this community want for the schools and why. I also want the constituents to know what I envision for the schools and why.

In interviews about his thinking with local media, Dr Keefer has referred to mass formation psychosis, a discredited social theory that millions of people can be hyponitised into believing false ideas.

The theory got additional prominence last year when a guest talked about it on the Joe Rogan podcast in regards to the US public believing in widely accepted public health ideas about Covid.

School boards have emerged as a key battleground in modern culture wars, where conservative parents and candidates have been fighting to ban books and resist Covid measures.
Indias insurance watchdog has set Oct. 31 as the deadline for all health insurance products to make provisions for mental illness.

They must comply with the provisions of the Mental Healthcare Act of 2017, without any deviation. The Act came into effect on May 5, 2018.

Read more

...all the insurance products that are in force on or after the date of MHC Act, 2017 coming into force shall be deemed to provide cover for Mental Illness diseases, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of Indias Oct. 18 circular has said.

Mental health status in India

In 2019, the World Health Organization estimated that 7.5% of Indians were affected by mental health disorders and that this was likely to increase significantly because of the pandemic.



Yet, more than 80% of Indians lack access to mental healthcare services, according to data by the Bengaluru-based National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (Nimhans), due to a lack of knowledge, social stigma, and high cost of care.

To bridge the gap, the Indian government announced National Tele-Mental Health Programme for round-the-clock counselling services for free in its union budget for 2022-2023. The allocation was about 932.13 crore rupees ($112.5 million) for the fiscal. But that may not be enough.

The number of mental healthcare professionals in the country remains abysmal.

There are still practical limitations, as only hospitalisation is covered under these policies, and not just doctor consultation or medicines, Avinash Ramachandran, chief operating officer of an insurance distribution company Assurekit told The Economic Times newspaper.

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This exhibition will be on view through Oct. 27, 2022, at the Parks Exhibition Center on the Idyllwild Arts campus.

Idyllwild Arts presented its Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration Oct. 10 at its Idyllwild campus. This free event included public programming, which creatively and thoughtfully celebrated the many contributions Indigenous People make to humanity.

The mornings events included AlterNATIVE, an edu-tainment overview of American History from an Indigenous perspective by renowned musician and educator Ed Kabotie (Tewa/Hopi) and an outdoor Indigenous Foods Luncheon with a concert by Kaboties band Tha 'Yoties and a collection of booths offering various cultural and advocacy activities.

In the afternoon and evening portion of the event, Idyllwild Arts debuted Erika Harrschs thought-provoking solo exhibition, "Moving in the Borderlands," with an opening reception and artist talk.

Idyllwild Arts is the only residential arts high school in the country to offer a Native American Arts program led by a Native American director.

Harrsch is a celebrated contemporary Mexican visual artist based in New York with Indigenous roots in tribal communities in Mexico. Through a variety of mediums including installation, photography, projection, mixed-media and performance, the exhibition examines the concept of hospitality in the context of transnational movement, knowledge systems, cultural identity, community and separation through the intersection of civilizations.

The exhibition will be on view through Oct. 27 at the Parks Exhibition Center on the Idyllwild Arts campus.

Also on view for event attendees was a public art installation of four site-specific murals by Cheyenne Randall (Cheyenne River Sioux) entitled "Paste, Present, Future." Randalls interdisciplinary practice blends iconographic and historic photographs of Indigenous people by non-native individuals (including Edward Curtis and Roland Reed), celebrities and landscape with tattoo elements, text and collage. The exhibition will be up through the life of the murals until natural elements deteriorate them, allowing the honesty of the material and medium of wheat paste to be fully articulated and explored by the viewer.

Both exhibitions were organized by independent curator and contemporary art scholar Erin Joyce, who says: These are not just exhibitions but are interventions in that continuum of colonization that still sees itself played out in the ways Indigenous art is seen, exhibited, interpreted and experienced. Cheyenne Randall and Erika Harrsch make work that forces the viewer to consider their role in misrepresentation, appropriation and visibility.

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Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration Oct. 10, 2022, at Idyllwild Arts included musical performances.

Idyllwild Arts is an institution rooted in respect, reverence and support for Native American people, culture and art, and is the only residential arts high school in the country to offer a Native American Arts program led by a Native American director, Shaliyah Ben (Dine). Idyllwild Arts respectfully acknowledges the Qawishpa Cahuillangnah (also known as Cahuilla Band of Indians) on whose land the Idyllwild Arts community dwell

The Idyllwild Arts Academy is located at 52-500 Temecula Road in Idyllwild-Pine Cove. For more information, visit idyllwildarts.org.

Emma Haber is the founder of EH PR Group and oversees publicity for Idyllwild Arts along with other notable arts and hospitality clients in Los Angeles and Palm Springs.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Indigenous Peoples Day supports Native American people, culture, art
There are boss moves and then there are big boss moves. At $160,000 per seat, a new three-week private charter experience hosted by Abercrombie & Kent falls in the latter category.

Cultural Treasures: Around the World by Private Jet 2023 is an around-the-world adventure exploring some of the worlds top destinations. Limited to 48 guests, the luxury charter is an immersive experience with an impressive itinerary. From the Land of the Rising Sun in Japan to Uzbekistans Silk Road Enclave, Cultural Treasures is kicking off the once-in-a-lifetime curated group trip in Seattle.

For the price tag of some peoples homes, the first-class travel offer includes luxury resort stays, meals, and private cultural activities in addition to living the private jet life for three weeks.

Photo Credit: Abercrombie & Kent

Whats Included For $160k?

Accompanied by an A&K tour director, everything from visas to guided tours is handled by the luxury tour operator. The experience even includes a doctor available for guests in the event of an emergency.

Luxury travelers willing and able to foot the hefty bill will travel to a total of eight countries.

Departing from Seattle on May 6, the 48 lucky (and privileged) guests fly directly to Osaka, Japan with a transfer to Kyoto. A guided Zen meditation, a Japanese tea ceremony, and a private dinner and geisha performance are just a few of the activities scheduled.

After four days in Japan, guests are whisked off to the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu. The two-day visit includes a presentation by a Mount Everest summiteer and an awe-inspiring helicopter flightseeing excursion to Everest.

Photo Credit: Abercrombie & Kent

Bhutan is the next stop on the tour, with visits to the National Museum of Bhutan and Buddha Point, home to the countrys largest statue. A private tshechu festival and an early morning hike to Taktsang Monastery (Tigers Nest) are the tips of the luxury iceberg during this leg of the trip.

From Bhutan, guests then travel to Agra, India where they will stay at The Oberoi Amarvilas, named by Travel + Leisure as the Worlds Best hotel with views of the nearby Taj Mahal. Visits to the Taj Mahal and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Agra Fort and Itmad-Ud-Daulah (Baby Taj) are planned for this two-day stay.

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Photo Credit: Abercrombie & Kent

Uzbekistan is the fifth county guests will visit, with accommodations at DiliMah Hotel. Exploring Samarkands Silk Road heritage, the grand mausoleums of Gur-Amir and Shakhi-Zinda, Bibi Khanym, and Siab Market are just a few of the activities to keep guests busy in this destination.

In Abu Dhabi, the sixth destination of the journey, sites like the Yas Marina Circuit, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and Qasr Al Watan are included on the itinerary. The A&K experience also entails Design Your Day options available for a more personalized day of adventures on a few of the itinerary stops; the UAE visit being one of them. Abu Dhabis crown jewel, the magnificent Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, is another site guests will enjoy.

Photo Credit: Abercrombie & Kent

From Abu Dhabi guests fly to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, home of the popular ancient city of Petra. Exploration of Wadi Rum, known as the Valley of the Moon, and sand dune adventures are to be expected in Jordan.

Photo Credit: Abercrombie & Kent

The final destination on this whirlwind journey is Sicily, Italy. Driving a vintage Alfa Romeo or Fiat 500 through artisan villages, guests will experience a traditional opera dei pupi (marionette performance) and learn the history and realities of the Mafia in Sicily from a local historian. A private walking tour of Palermo and a gala farewell dinner reminiscent of a 19th-century Sicilian wedding cap off this ultra-luxe adventure.

After three weeks of jaunting around the world, literally, guests arrive back in the states landing in Boston.

What say you, TN readers? Are you spending $160k for the adventure of a lifetime?

Related: Private Travel Movement? From Private Planes to Exclusive Hotels, 7 Things To Know | Inside FlyAnu: The Black-Owned Affordable Private Charter Booking Company
While Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) shareholders have had a good week with the stock up 9.5%, they shouldn't let their guards down. The fact that insiders chose to dispose of US$13m worth of stock in the past 12 months even though prices were relatively low could be indicative of some anticipated weakness.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

See our latest analysis for Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chief Operating Officer, Frank St. John, sold US$3.5m worth of shares at a price of US$438 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even slightly below the current price of US$444. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. This single sale was 100% of Frank St. John's stake.

All up, insiders sold more shares in Lockheed Martin than they bought, over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insiders At Lockheed Martin Have Sold Stock Recently

The last three months saw significant insider selling at Lockheed Martin. In total, insider Gregory Ulmer dumped US$2.9m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

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Does Lockheed Martin Boast High Insider Ownership?

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. Insiders own 0.06% of Lockheed Martin shares, worth about US$73m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The Lockheed Martin Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. On the plus side, Lockheed Martin makes money, and is growing profits. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Lockheed Martin. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Lockheed Martin you should be aware of.

But note: Lockheed Martin may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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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Photograph: AP

Canadas foreign minister has said democracies have a moral obligation to help the incredibly brave women taking to the streets of Iran in protest, as she met other female foreign ministers to condemn the ongoing violence that has rocked the country for weeks.

As women foreign ministers we have a responsibility to help amplify the voices of women in Iran, Melanie Joly told a gathering of 14 of her female counterparts, according to a readout of the event provided to the Guardian. As women leaders from around the world, we can make a powerful statement of support for womens rights in Iran, and by extension, womens rights everywhere.

Young women, in particular, are challenging Irans repression and structural gender inequality. Theyre doing so at great risk. The women of Iran are speaking clearly, said Joly. No longer will they tolerate the regimes vision of the role of women in society or how women should dress and behave.

Related: Schoolboy protester dies in Iran after reportedly being shot at close range

Canada hosted the meeting to show its solidarity with Iranian women fighting inside the country to rid it of the compulsory hijab and demanding a change to the Iranian regime. Protests were ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was detained by morality police for improper use of the hijab.

Canada, which has a large Iranian diaspora, has sanctioned former foreign minister Javad Zarif and every major Iranian government body, as well as Saeed Mortazavi, the prosecutor who ordered the torture of Zahra Kazemi an Iranian Canadian journalist who died in custody in 2003.

In her remarks, Joly said her government would continue to impose new sanctions against individuals and entities that have participated in, or enabled, human rights abuses.

We will not stand idly by, she said.

The meeting also heard from Shirnin Ebadi, a lawyer and Nobel laureate, Homa Hoodfar, a Conscordia professor emerita once imprisoned in Irans Evin prison, and Asa Regner, the UN assistant secretary general.

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Ebadi said this week: For 43 years, people have bottled up all this anger. For 43 years, the regime has turned a deaf ear to the demands of the people, and anyone who said anything against the regime has either ended up in prison or killed or has fled the country.

Amini, who hailed from Irans Kurdistan region, died on 16 September after being detained three days earlier by morality police in Tehran for her inappropriate attire.

Represented at the virtual meeting were the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, as well as 14 foreign ministers from as far apart as Iceland, Libya, Chile and Norway. Catherine Colonna, the French foreign minister, is on a visit to the US and was due to send an official.

One of the calls is for Iran to be thrown off the UN womens committee.

Joly and Baerbock have been two of the foreign ministers trying to craft a feminists foreign policy. The movement suffered a blow this week when the new Swedish coalition government said it was dropping support for the policy that had been closely associated with the now-deposed Ann Linde, the social democrat foreign minister.

Joly was speaking on the day that both the EU and the UK slapped further sanctions on a group of Iranian military said to be instrumental in providing drones for use by Russia in Ukraine.
Drone training at an unknown location in Iran

Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to the President's Office, said on Oct. 20 that the Armed Forces of Ukraine delivered two strikes against Iranian military advisers in Ukrainian territory.

Read also: Ukrainian FM, Israeli PM discuss Russia-Iran cooperation in war against Ukraine

On Oct. 21, Iranian Foreign Ministry urged its citizens in Ukraine to leave the country immediately.

The ministry continues to claim that they have nothing to do with the supply of Shahed-136 kamikaze drones to Russia, adding that Tehran is ready for negotiations with Ukraine in order to refute the accusations.

Earlier, White House spokesman John Kirby said that the United States has evidence that the Iranian instructors are present in Russia-occupied Crimea. According to Washington, they supervise Russian drone strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure and civilian population.

Read also: EU has evidence of Iran providing Russia with suicide drones to attack Ukraine

The New York Times previously reported that instructors from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps arrived in occupied Crimea to assist Russian drone operators.

Russia has stepped up its air and drone strikes against Ukraines energy infrastructure since Oct. 10, making heavy use of Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drones.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv is considering severing diplomatic ties with Iran.

Read also: Kuleba proposes that Ukrainian president cut diplomatic ties with Russia-ally Iran

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia has procured 2,400 Shahed kamikaze drones from Iran.

U.S. media reports later suggested that Iran had also agreed to transfer short-range ground-to-ground ballistic missiles to Russia.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
ROME (Reuters) - Giorgia Meloni said on Friday her rightist coalition had asked President Sergio Mattarella to name her as Italian prime minister following its Sept. 25 election victory.

"There was a unanimous proposal of my name as the head of the new government," she told reporters after the bloc held consultations with the president, speaking alongside her allies Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini.

"We are ready to form a government as quickly as possible," Meloni said.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante, editing by Gavin Jones)
Photo: The Canadian Press

Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was sentenced Friday to serve four months behind bars after defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols allowed Bannon to stay free pending appeal and also imposed a fine of $6,500 as part of the sentence. Bannon was convicted in July of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents.

Nichols handed down the sentence after saying the law was clear that contempt of Congress is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of at least one month behind bars. Bannons lawyers had argued the judge couldve sentenced him to probation instead. Prosecutors had asked for Bannon to be sent to jail for six months.

In my view, Mr. Bannon has not taken responsibility for his actions, Nichols said before he imposed the sentence.

The House panel had sought Bannons testimony over his involvement in Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Bannon has yet to testify or provide any documents to the committee, prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors argued Bannon, 68, deserved the longer sentence because he had pursued a bad faith strategy and his public statements disparaging the committee itself made it clear he wanted to undermine their effort to get to the bottom of the violent attack and keep anything like it from happening again.

He chose to hide behind fabricated claims of executive privilege and advice of counsel to thumb his nose at Congress, said prosecutor J.P. Cooney.

Your honor, the defendant is not above the law and that is exactly what makes this case important, Cooney said. It must be made clear to the public, to the citizens, that no one is above the law.

The defense, meanwhile, said he wasnt acting in bad faith, but trying to avoid running afoul of executive privilege objections Trump had raised when Bannon was first served with a committee subpoena last year. The onetime presidential adviser said he wanted to a Trump lawyer in the room, but the committee wouldnt allow it.

In imposing the sentence, the judge noted that Bannon did have a lawyer, and while his advice might have been overly aggressive he did appear to be following it.

Mr. Bannon did not completely ignore the fact he had received the subpoena nor did he fail to engage with the committee at all, Nichols said.

Many other former White House aides have testified with only their own counsel. Bannon had been fired from the White House in 2017 and was a private citizen when he was consulting with the then-president before the riot.

Before the judge handed down the sentence, Bannons lawyer, David Schoen, gave an impassioned argument railing against the committee and saying Bannon had simply done was his lawyer told him to do under Trumps executive privilege objections.

Quite frankly, Mr. Bannon should make no apology. No American should make any apology for the manner in which Mr. Bannon proceeded in this case, he said.

Schoen also defended Bannons public remarks about the committee: Telling the truth about this committee or speaking ones mind about this committee, its not only acceptable in this country, it's an obligation if one believes it to be true, Schoen said.

As he walked into court on Friday, Bannon told reporters, This illegitimate regime, their judgment day is on 8 November when the Biden administration ends. Bannon did not speak during the hearing, saying only, My lawyers have spoken for me, your honor.

Leaving the courthouse after the sentencing, Bannon said he believed Attorney General Merrick Garland would be impeached.

Prosecutors had pushed for the maximum fine, saying Bannon refused to answer routine questions about his income and insisted he could pay whatever the judge imposed.

Bannon has also argued that he had offered to testify after Trump waived executive privilege. But that was after the contempt charges were filed, and prosecutors say he would only agree to give the deposition if the case was dropped.

Bannon is also facing separate money laundering, fraud and conspiracy charges in New York related to the We Build the Wall campaign. Bannon has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say Bannon falsely promised donors that all money would go to constructing a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, but instead was involved with transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars to third-party entities and using them to funnel payments to two other people involved in the scheme.
By Angelo Amante and Keith Weir

ROME (Reuters) - Giorgia Meloni was on Friday named as Italy's first woman prime minister and chose her cabinet team, setting her seal on the country's most right-wing government since World War Two.

Meloni, head of the nationalist Brothers of Italy, swept to victory in an election last month in alliance with Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini's League.

Her government - Italy's 68th since 1946 - will replace a national unity administration led by former European Central Bank head Mario Draghi, who attended a European Union summit in Brussels on Friday in one of his last acts as prime minister.

She faces daunting challenges, notably a looming recession, rising energy bills and how to present a united front over the Ukraine war.

Meloni, 45, named Giancarlo Giorgetti of the League party as her economy minister and said the foreign ministry will go to Antonio Tajani from Forza Italia.

"Giorgia Meloni has accepted the mandate and has presented her list of ministers," presidential official Ugo Zampetti told reporters after she held talks with President Sergio Mattarella in his Quirinale palace in Rome.

The list of ministers read out by Meloni, who has transformed the fortunes of the Brothers of Italy but has only limited ministerial experience, included just six other women.

In all, nine ministries were handed out to Brothers of Italy politicians and five each to the League and Forza Italia, with technocrats given a further five cabinet posts.

The new government will be formally sworn in on Saturday morning, after which it will face confidence votes in both houses of parliament next week.

TENSIONS SURFACE

Although the process of putting together a new administration has been rapid by Italian standards, it has exposed tensions in the coalition, with Berlusconi repeatedly appearing to try to undermine Meloni's authority.

Berlusconi, who is 86, and sits in the Senate, as expected did not take a cabinet role.

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League leader Salvini, whose authority was dented by his party's relatively poor showing in the election, will be infrastructure minister.

Among other top cabinet posts, the interior ministry went to Matteo Piantedosi, a career civil servant with no party affiliation, and the defence ministry to Guido Crosetto, one of the founders of Brothers of Italy.

Meloni stressed this week that her administration would be firmly pro-NATO and pro-European. "Anyone who does not agree with this cornerstone cannot be part of the government," she said.

She asserted her authority after Berlusconi told Forza Italia lawmakers that he blamed Ukraine for the war there and said he had exchanged gifts and "sweet letters" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(Additional reporting by Gavin Jones, Crispian Balmer and Giuseppe Fonte; Writing by Keith Weir; editing by John Stonestreet)
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's President Sergio Mattarella has summoned rightist leader Giorgia Meloni for talks later on Friday - a move widely expected to lead to her being given a mandate to form a new government.

Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party won a Sept. 25 general election as part of a coalition including Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini's League, is expected at the Quirinale palace at 1430 GMT, Mattarella's office said in a statement.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Gianluca Semeraro)
Jacob Rees-Mogg's social media post saying it is "Boris or bust" for the Conservative Party. (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg/Twitter)

The latest Tory leadership saga is only a day old, but Jacob Rees-Mogg has already sparked a backlash.

The controversial minister has thrown his support behind Liz Trusss predecessor Boris Johnson with a slogan suggesting the partys future prospects are intrinsically linked to Johnson becoming prime minister again.

Rees-Mogg posted a graphic on social media reading Im backing Boris with a hashtag #BORISorBUST.

In doing so, he became the first cabinet minister to publicly support Johnson - who has not declared if he will stand in the contest - and the post prompted a backlash from former minister Tim Loughton, who asked how on earth that slogan could be helpful to the party.

Watch: How will the new UK prime minister be chosen?

The East Worthing and Shoreham MP said: I would not use the tag line #BorisandBust [sic] and you really should think this through properly if you have any interest in party unity.

Nadine Dorries, who like Rees-Mogg is a diehard Johnson loyalist, claimed she had spoken to the former PM following Trusss resignation and hinted strongly that he was preparing to run.

She also suggested it was Johnson or "bust", telling Sky News: "He is a known winner and that is certainly who Im putting my name against because I want us to win the general election. Having a winner in place is what the party needs to survive.

It comes amid bitter divisions in the parliamentary Tory party about its future direction, with other former colleagues speaking out against Johnson's potential candidacy.

Boris Johnson, who returned to the backbenches last month, is reportedly considering whether to enter the Tory leadership contest just seven weeks after he was replaced as prime minister. (PA)

Speaking to the News Agents podcast, Robert Jenrick, a former minister for Johnson, raised the "serious questions about competence, credibility, and ethics".

He added: "Does the Conservative Party want to go back to that?

Foreign Office minister Jesse Norman went as far as saying his return would be catastrophic.

He said: Choosing Boris now would be - and I say this advisedly - an absolutely catastrophic decision.

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Read more: Majority of Britons want the new prime minister to call a general election, new poll shows

Former Johnson-era environment secretary George Eustice also said on Friday: The reason Boris Johnson resigned in the end is that half of his own government ministers had resigned from his government, saying they had no confidence in him.

I dont see how its possible for him to find a route back just two months later.

Penny Mordaunt, a member of Truss's government, became the first MP to announce her candidacy on Friday.

The new Tory leader - and PM - will be announced on Friday next week following a fast-tracked leadership contest.
James Corden Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for The New Yorker

Thought that James Corden restaurant drama had been put to rest? Think again.

In an interview with The New York Times, the comedian and late-night host responded to restaurateur Keith McNally's recent allegations that he was abusive to servers at his New York restaurant Balthazar.

"I haven't done anything wrong, on any level," Corden told the Times, adding, "I feel so Zen about the whole thing. Because I think it's so silly. I just think it's beneath all of us. It's beneath you. It's certainly beneath your publication."

Earlier this week, McNally said on Instagram he had banned Corden from Balthazar for being the "most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago," citing incidents in which Corden was allegedly "nasty" to a manager and yelled "like crazy" at a server. Just hours later, McNally said Corden called him and "apologized profusely," leading him to lift the ban.

Despite this, Corden was not apologetic while speaking to the Times, calling the topic "such a silly thing to talk about" and something that only a small portion of the population is aware of.

"Should we not all be a little grown-up about this?" Corden said. "I promise you, ask around this restaurant. They don't know about this. Maybe 15 percent of people. I've been here, been walking around New York, not one person's come up to me. We're dealing in two worlds here."

These comments to the Times led McNally to slam Corden on Instagram yet again after previously saying all was forgiven. "I wish James Corden would live up to his Almighty initials and come clean," McNally wrote, adding, "If he goes one step further and apologizes to the 2 servers he insulted, I'll let him eat for free at Balthazar for the next 10 years."

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No, it's not over
James Corden hosts his show on Oct. 3. (Photo: Terence Patrick/CBS via Getty Images)

James Corden hasn't monitored the social media reaction to the scandal he faced this week.

"I haven't really read anything. It's strange. It's strange when you were there," Corden said. "I think I'm probably going to have to talk about it on Monday's show. My feeling, often, is, never explain, never complain. But I'll probably have to talk about it."

It being that, on Monday, famed restaurateur Keith McNally publicly accused Corden of being "the most abusive customer" to servers at his New York City restaurant, Balthazar, since the venue opened 25 years ago.

McNally tweeted that he had banned Corden, whom he called "a tiny cretin of a man," and gave two examples of the comedian's alleged bad behavior. Six hours later, he said he removed the ban after Corden called him and "apologized profusely."

On Thursday, the host of The Late Late Show With James Corden weighed in on the whole saga, which became a popular topic on and off social media, in an interview with the New York Times.

"It feels like such a silly thing to talk about," Corden told journalist Dave Itzkoff.

Their interview had been planned before the news broke, to talk about Corden's new Prime Video dramedy Mammals, and Corden didn't sound like he'd considered backing out.

"I haven't done anything wrong, on any level," Corden told Itzkoff. "So why would I ever cancel this? I was there. I get it. I feel so Zen about the whole thing. Because I think it's so silly. I just think it's beneath all of us. It's beneath you. It's certainly beneath your publication."

Itzkoff reported that he met with Corden over a restaurant breakfast, and they overheard a woman complaining about her eggs. One of the examples that McNally had given of Corden being a bad customer was that he had allegedly berated a server, after the employee presented his wife with an egg yolk omelette with "a little bit of egg white."

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Corden saw the similarities in his own situation.

"Can you imagine now, if we just blasted her on Twitter?" he said. "Would that be fair? This is my point. It's insane."

He noted that social media is not everyone, and that no one in New York had come up to him about the story.

He was obviously unhappy that the news media had picked up the story, comparing that to, as Itzkoff put it, "a school principal offering aid to classroom bullies."
James Corden has broken his silence on the Balthazar restaurant row, saying he feels zen about the whole incident as he hasnt done anything wrong.

The Late Late Show host was called the most abusive customer and a tiny cretin of a man by Keith McNally, the owner of French eatery Balthazar, who banned him from the New York eatery on Monday. But the restaurateur later lifted the ban, saying the actor and TV host apologised profusely.

On Thursday, Corden told the New York Times in an interview: I havent done anything wrong, on any level. So why would I ever cancel this [interview]?

I was there. I get it. I feel so Zen about the whole thing. Because I think its so silly. I just think its beneath all of us. Its beneath you. Its certainly beneath your publication, he added.

The British entertainer said he might address the incident on Mondays The Late Late Show broadcast, but added that he has not really read anything that McNally has written yet.

I think Im probably going to have to talk about it on Mondays show. My feeling, often, is, never explain, never complain. But Ill probably have to talk about it, he said.

The comedian was called out for being extremely nasty to staff on two occasions. McNally said Corden is a hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man.

The interview was conducted at another New York restaurant where the reporter and Corden noticed another customer expressing discontent about her order of eggs.

Observing the happenings at the other table, the comedian told the journalist: Can you imagine now, if we just blasted her on Twitter? Would that be fair?

This is my point. Its insane, Corden said.

Giving details of Cordens inappropriate behaviour, McNally said the comedian found a hair in his food in an incident dating back to June.

Although this is diabolical, it happens Very occasionally in all restaurants, McNally wrote.

He said the TV personality showed the hair to Balthazar manager G. who was very apologetic. Corden was extremely nasty to G, and said: Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I write any nasty reviews in yelp or anything like that.

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Thats when James Corden began yelling like crazy to the server: You cant do your job! You cant do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!

Narrating another incident which happened earlier this month, Mr McNally said Corden raised an issue over his wifes omelette and began yelling like crazy to the server.

The restaurant owner said the server was very apologetic and brought G. over to the table. He returned the dish, and after that, everything was fine.

He gave them promo Champagne glasses to smooth things out. G. said that Corden was pleasant to him but nasty to the server. MK [the server] was very shaken, but professional that she is, continued to finish her shift.

In another Instagram post, McNally said all is forgiven. I strongly believe in second chances, he said, adding that anyone magnanimous enough to apologise to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesnt deserve to be banned from anywhere.

The US talk show host announced in April that he will be departing from The Late Late Show next year and later announced his new stint with the upcoming Amazon Prime Video miniseries Mammals.
A rare and exquisite Japanese dining experience is coming to Los Angeles for a limited time thanks to Michelin-star chef Hiroo Nagahara.

From Nov. 4 to Dec. 17, JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, an exclusive cultural destination located inside Ovation Hollywood, is hosting a dinner series called Defining Modern Kaiseki, showcasing a modern take on a traditional Japanese multi-course meal that is rarely available outside Japan.

Chef Nagahara will prepare an impressive lineup of eight courses featuring high-quality fish, vegetables, meat and more, along with small bites, candies and confections - all intended to compliment the fall season. You can view the menu below (menus are subject to change based upon seasonality and availability):

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Opening Bites  amuse bouche Course 1 Fall Harvest  market vegetables & fruits, iwashichovy louie dressing, crispy grains Vegetable Ash Brioche a Tete  toasted koji carrot butter, black truffle, maple BBQ King Crab & Astrea Caviar  charred banana creme mushi, champagne beurre blanc, two peas in a pod beans (additional $70.00)



Course 2 Kagoshima Sujiara  hairy crab & corn ankake, John Givens tomatoes, matcha kombu salt



Course 3 Dry Aged Sashimi  Spanish blue fin tuna, miyagi sawara & Tokyo kinmedai, assorted garnishes, 3-year aged ponzu



Course 4 New Zealand Langoustine & Hokkaido Uni  confit pichuberries, caramelized sour cream, uni garum



Course 5 Char Siu A5 Miyazaki-Gyu & Matsutake Mushroom  black truffle, g&d potato, shinko pear



Course 6 30-day Dry Aged Tyee & Wagyu Onion Marmalade Donabe Rice  hearts of palm, hijiki seaweed relish, dashi ikura Fish Fumet Miso Soup  fall squash, preserved Oregon spruce tips, orange olive oil



Course 7 Coconut Parfait  tapioca pudding, coconut granita, kaffir lime peanut brittle



Course 8 Terry Rance Yellow Peach  preserved Japanese chestnuts, lemon verbena, hoji-cha ice cream



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Candies & Confections  assortment of seasonal bite-sized candies and confections



*Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish or eggs may increase your risk for foodborne illness; especially if you have a medical condition.

The kaiseki dinner costs $260 per person with the optional supplement (exclusive of tax and

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gratuity).

Dinner will be served at JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles restaurant space located at Ovation Hollywood (5th floor) featuring sweeping views of the city. Dinner will be served during two seatings each evening at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. for only 12 diners per session, each lasting 2-2.5 hours. Optional beverage pairings and a la carte selections will also be available for purchase onsite.

More from NextShark: Forget pineapple pizza  it's all about durian mango pizza with fried chicken

Chef Hiroo Nagahara was born and raised in Tokyo but studied to be a chef in the United States, earning a Michelin 1 Star award at age 24 as the Chef de Cuisine at the late Charlie Trotters Bar Charlie in Las Vegas. He has since worked with the worlds most talented Michelin-starred chefs like Guy Savoy, Hideki Ishikawa and Yoshihiro Narisawa.

JAPAN HOUSE was founded by Japans Ministry of Foreign Affairs to nurture a deeper understanding of Japan in the international community by sharing the best and most unique experiences, some that are still relatively unknown. This is one of those experiences.

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Reserve your Defining Modern Kaiseki experience now.

For any questions or inquiries about JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, visit this page.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan and the United States will conduct a joint military exercise from Nov. 10, the Japanese Defence Ministry said on Friday, as countries in the region and beyond are increasingly wary of China's growing military might and assertiveness.

The drill, dubbed Keen Sword, takes place biennially around Japan. Some 36,000 personnel, 30 vessels and 370 aircraft from Japan's Self-defence Forces and the U.S. military will participate in this year's exercise, which will run till Nov. 19.

"By demonstrating Japan's and the United States' strong will and coordination, we aim to contribute to defending Japan and securing peace and safety of the region," Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters.

Besides the two Pacific allies, Canada will be dispatching two vessels, while Australia and Britain will each send one warship to the drill, the ministry said.

Locations of the field training include Japan's southwestern islands including Tokunoshima, which is closer to Taipei than to Tokyo.

At a Communist Party meeting that started on Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for accelerating China's plans to build a world-class military and said his country would never renounce the right to use force to resolve the Taiwan issue.

China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, while Taiwan's government strongly objects to China's sovereignty claims and says only the island's 23 million people can decide its future.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
TOKYO (Reuters) - Olympus Corp said on Friday that Stefan Kaufmann would become the endoscope maker's chief executive next year, becoming one of the few foreigners to run a major Japanese company.

Kaufmann, a German who has worked at Olympus for more than two decades, will take over from Yasuo Takeuchi, who helped guide the company's transition to medical technology from its roots in cameras and other consumer electronics.

Olympus, which started off as a microscope producer over a century ago, said in August it agreed to sell its microscope unit to private equity firm Bain Capital for 427.6 billion yen ($3.1 billion), in what would be the Japanese company's biggest divestment.

The leadership transition comes 11 years after the company was embroiled in an accounting scandal exposed by its first foreign chief executive Michael Woodford.

"We are the new Olympus now," Kaufmann, who has worked primarily in human resources roles at the company, told reporters. "The company today has nothing in common with the company we have been 10, 15 years ago."

The leadership change is due to take place in April 2023 following approval by the company's board of directors.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  A high-tech indoor farming company in Appalachia promoted by JD Vance and financed in part by his venture capital firm is facing five lawsuits alleging it misled regulators and duped investors.

The shareholder suits against Morehead, Kentucky-based AppHarvest were filed between November 2021 and August 2022 by individual investors and a county retirement association. They allege the agricultural startup, where Vance  who is Ohios Republican U.S. Senate nominee  also briefly sat on the board, repeatedly overstated its hiring and retention figures, including in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings that investors use to evaluate companies. The suits also argue that investors were misled by press releases, analyst presentations and other public statements, including an interview the company's chief executive gave to The Associated Press touting a hiring spree.

Lawsuits of this kind were not unexpected as the newly public AppHarvests stock price plummeted. Since last year, equity incentive and stock purchase plans that Vance and other AppHarvest directors set up for the companys mostly Appalachian workforce have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in value. Ohio teachers also lost more than $100,000 in retirement savings in AppHarvests decline before the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio sold its 16,000 shares in June.

The suits could raise additional questions, though, about one of the central narratives of Vances campaign: that the Hillbilly Elegy author left behind a lucrative business career in San Francisco's tech world to focus on revitalizing his native Appalachia. Some of those efforts have already come under scrutiny. In a region that has been devastated by opioid addiction, for instance, he has faced criticism for launching an anti-drug charity that enlisted a doctor with ties to a major pharmaceutical company. Vance's campaign said he was unaware of those ties.

AppHarvest said the lawsuits are baseless. Vance, the Republican nominee for a critical U.S. Senate seat in Ohio, is not named in any of the suits. He left AppHarvest in April 2021 ahead of announcing his Senate campaign.

Vances campaign said his Cincinnati-based firm, Narya Capital, is itself an investor in AppHarvest and would suffer if the lawsuits' allegations were true. Spokesperson Taylor Van Kirk also emphasized that the actions were all filed after Vance left the board.

Colin Greenspon, a co-founder and managing partner of Narya, which lists Vance as on "a partial leave of absence, said the firm continues to stand behind AppHarvest.

We believe that AppHarvest is transforming Americas food supply in ways that will be impactful for generations to come, he said in a statement.

Vance is running against Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan in one of the countrys most competitive Senate races. He has been touting AppHarvest since at least 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic.

The company grows tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables by sustainable agriculture methods on some of the worlds largest high-tech indoor farms, its website says. It has described its mission in SEC filings as empowering Appalachians, driving positive environmental change in the agriculture industry and improving the lives of its employees and the community.

The last few months have taught us that our food system is a little more precarious than we realized, Vance said in an August 2020 article in Greenhouse Grower. AppHarvest will change that, and it will do so by building a sustainable, durable business in Appalachia, and investing in the people who call it home.

The lawsuits, which allege misstatements going back to January 2021, contend the training AppHarvest provided to workers was a joke, that its workforce suffered massive attrition, churn and COVID-19-related absences that negatively affected productivity and that its first harvest last year was ravaged by operational issues and 50% was wasted. The litigation variously seeks undetermined monetary damages, governance reform and greater transparency at AppHarvest and, in two cases, jury trials.

AppHarvest attorneys have pushed back.

This case is a textbook example of a plaintiff trying to spin a companys reduction of its annual revenue guidance into a violation of the federal securities laws, they told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in a filing last month. Those laws and relevant pleading standards, however, prohibit pleading fraud-by-hindsight. And for good reason: markets are complex, and financial predictions made months or even a year into the future  particularly for a young, public company like AppHarvest  are always uncertain.

Vance's level of involvement in the company while he was a director is unclear. He was among a roster of celebrities, including media mogul Martha Stewart, who got behind AppHarvest early on, and he spoke positively about the company on Fox Business News on Feb. 1, 2021, plugging its stock the day it went public in a business combination with Novus Capital, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.

What we saw as an opportunity here is if you could use technology, bring the point of production a little bit closer to the end consumer, you could actually pay people a decent wage, you could build a company that investors and consumers would be proud of, but you just have better produce, he said.

Narya was an investor in that merger, reporting ownership of 2.9 million shares of AppHarvest stock at the time  a stake valued beforehand at $24.95 a share, or $73 million, and nine days later, when it had to be listed publicly, at $36 a share, or almost $106 million. AppHarvest stock closed at $1.57 a share on Thursday, with Narya saying it still holds all its shares.

Matt Sheridan, a senior finance lecturer at the Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business, said mergers involving SPACs  also known as shell or blank-check companies  are a bad deal for investors whose stock prices as a group have declined around 70%. They are an alternative to a traditional initial public offering, or IPO, for taking a company public, with fewer guardrails and less transparency.

A month after AppHarvest went public, the SEC issued a warning for investors not to invest in a SPAC just because someone famous sponsors or invests in it or says it is a good investment. The investment vehicles are now the subject of new regulatory scrutiny.

Any time you have a collapse like that, thats going to cause alarms, Sheridan said. And if there were misleading statements, fraudulent statements, then that can lead to legitimate lawsuits.

AppHarvest spokesperson Darla Turner said the lawsuits have no merit and the company is thriving. It is poised to quadruple its farm network by years end, she said, as it adds locations specializing in salad greens and berries. Turner said AppHarvest is living-wage certified and provides a robust benefits program to employees.

Vance resigned from the AppHarvest board two months after it went public, on April 9, 2021, to make his Senate run. He had served since August 2020. The company told regulators his departure was not the result of any disagreement between the Company and Mr. Vance on any matter relating to the Companys operations, policies, or practices.

Although Vances name is nowhere in the suits, a watchdog group focused on private equity and venture capital firms called his actions surrounding the company into question.

As a venture capitalist, J.D. Vance promised to invest in Appalachia and touted AppHarvests stock, but then bailed before the companys troubles came to light, said Jim Baker, executive director of Private Equity Stakeholder Action. Venture capital firms generally try to grow the value of companies they invest in, but AppHarvest plummeted in value shortly after going public.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the 2022 midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections. And check out https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the midterms.
Photo: Twitter

Members of a second Quebec opposition party are refusing to swear allegiance to King Charles III, as required by the Canadian Constitution.

The three Parti Quebecois members elected to the province's legislature earlier this month are taking an oath of loyalty to the people of Quebec, but not to the monarch, as they are being sworn in this morning.

Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says it doesn't make sense to swear allegiance to both the people of Quebec and what he considers a foreign monarch, adding that swearing the oath would be a form of perjury.

Members of all provincial legislatures and the federal Parliament are required to swear an oath to the Crown before taking office, while the second oath to the people of Quebec is required under provincial law.

Earlier this week, the 11 members of Quebec solidaire  which like the PQ supports Quebec sovereignty  also refused to swear allegiance to the King.

Constitutional scholars differ on whether the Quebec legislature has the power to allow members to participate in legislative debates and votes without taking the oath.
Jeff Bezos was in the Vatican this week to accept an award praising him as a Prophet of Philanthropy  even as his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott has given away more wealth, more quickly, than the Amazon billionaire.

We must do work at both timescales, the short term and the long term. We must address immediate needs and also work on laying the foundation for a better future, Mr Bezos said in a speech while receiving the honour. When people are in immediate danger, when crisis is looming, that is the time to jump in, get to work, and do whatever you can.

With the same resolve we must also work on the long term, fixing problems at the root, creating preconditions for permanent change, he added. Change that uplifts. Change that creates empowerment and independence.

The award, from the Galileo Foundation, which supports the work of the Catholic Church and Pope Francis, was also given to celebrity chef and humanitarian Jose Andres.

In 2020, Mr Bezos founded the Bezos Earth Fund, with the goal of investing $10bn in climate crisis initiatives by the end of 2030. So far, according to the groups website, it has granted $1.54bn dollars, though press estimates put the figure closer to $3bn.

Ms Scott, who became one of the richest people in the world after divorcing from Mr Bezos in 2019, has been far more philanthropic this year, according to observers.

Forbes magazine gave Ms Scott a 5, the highest rank on its philanthropy score metric , because shes given away an estimated 20 per cent of her wealth, while Mr Bezos only got a 2, the second worst score, for giving in the range of 1 to 4.99 per cent of his money.

In March, Ms Scott announced shes given more than $3.8bn to 465 non-profits since June of 2021, part of $12bn total in disclosed donations since 2019, when the philanthropist pledged to give away the majority of her wealth. That amounts to nearly a third of her estimated $49bn net worth.

Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott divorced in 2019 (dpa/AFP via Getty Images)

In a blog post explaining her donations, which have gone to well-known organisations like Planned Parenthood and Habitat for Humanity, Ms Scott said she will keep at it until the safe is empty.

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In fact, Ms Scott has given away more money, more quickly than any other billionaire Forbes has ever tracked, according to the magazine, and shes approaching giving totals of long-term mega-donors like Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg.

In November of 2020, the Bezos Earth Fund announced its first round of donations, a $791m tranche of money that went to well-known environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Nature Conservancy.

Some critics faulted the fund for focusing on so-called big green groups, rather than directing money towards groups focused on environmental justice and climate resilience in marginalised communities, where the effects of global heating and other climate crisis impacts will be felt most grievously.

The Climate Justice Alliance accused Mr Bezos of doubling down on philanthropys inequitable modus operandi by funneling hundreds of millions into outdated, ineffective, top-down strategies that attempt to erase the frontlines.

This thoughtless, status-quo, self-serving strategy undermines the real systemic change we have been cultivating for decades in this most monumental fight against climate change, and for the protection of Mother Earth as we know her, they added in a statement .

By late 2021, the Earth Fund had ramped up its giving even more, pledging an estimated $3bn, with a notable focus on groups  doing critical climate justice work .

Despite Mr Bezoss significant funding for climate efforts, which have reportedly made him the single largest funder of such work, his philanthropic and environmental record is more complicated than the Earth Fund alone.

For instance, unlike Ms Scott, Mr Bezos hasnt signed onto the Giving Pledge , a group of high-income individuals who have promised to give away the majority of their wealth to charity in their lifetime or their wills.

Instead, he says hes poured an estimated $1bn a year into Blue Origin , his aerospace company seeking to build reusable rockets, with the ultimate goal of supporting floating space colonies.

He has argued that this mission has an environmental focus, because he believes the Earth does not contain suitable resources on its own to support the wants and needs of growing world populations and their demands for energy.

"What happens when unlimited demand meets finite resources? The answer is incredibly simple: rationing," Mr Bezos said in a 2019 speech. "It would lead to the first time where your grandchildren and their grandchildren would have worse lives than you did  thats a bad path."

The billionaire consumes far more than his share of resources, according to researchers, who found that is carbon footprint is about 1,500 times greater than the global average .

Amazons climate work is fraught with contradictions as well. The company is a major investor in renewable energy, and has committed $2bn to funding climate initiatives, but also has major business lines with fossil fuel companies, and has funded climate-denying Republican politicians and business groups.
New Chancellor Jeremy Hunt

Jeremy Hunt will urge the next Prime Minister to stick to his plan for a Halloween budget to avoid spooking the markets, The Telegraph understands.

The Chancellor feels the new leader of the country must go ahead with the fiscal statement, even though they may have been in No 10 for just three days.

If the announcement was delayed it would then come too late to influence the Bank of Englands next decision on how far to put up interest rates.

But the tight timeline would mean whoever wins the keys to Downing Street will have had almost no time to put their own stamp on the flagship economic plan.

Tory MPs have said they believe both Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson, the two frontrunners in the leadership race, would keep Mr Hunt on as Chancellor.

They argue that replacing him after just a fortnight in the job would add to the overall picture of instability and spark further concern in the markets.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the former chancellor, brought forward the publication of the medium-term fiscal plan to October 31 after the mini-budget sparked chaos.

The Halloween date was chosen so the announcement can be taken into account at the next meeting of the BoEs Monetary Policy Committee on November 3.

Mr Hunt has taken an axe to Liz Trusss economic agenda, ripping up almost all her tax cuts and warning of eye-wateringly difficult decisions on spending.

His appointment calmed the markets, though there were signs on Friday that investors are nervously watching the unfolding Tory leadership race.

UK yields jumped after Mr Johnson entered the race and began to attract the backing of MPs, though weak retail sales figures were also a factor.

Simon French, the chief economist at Panmure Gordon bank, said a leadership team of Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt would deliver a dullness dividend.

He calculated the extra market confidence would lower borrowing costs, resulting in a 7 billion reduction of the fiscal gap by 2026-27.

In contrast, he added that a Johnson administration unshackled of Sunak fiscal discipline would likely see them go in the opposite direction.

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Downing Street said it would be up to the next prime minister to decide whether to stick to the October 31 plan or draw up their own new timetable.

Work is ongoing in preparation for the medium-term fiscal plan. That is obviously led by the Chancellor working with the PM in the usual way, No 10 said.

We are working in preparation for the 31st but obviously the decision on proceeding with that and with that timetable would be for the new prime minister.

It came as Lord ODonnell, a former head of the civil service, urged Tory MPs to find a unity candidate and conclude the leadership contest on Monday.

He said they need to get this done quickly and the Halloween budget will only calm market nerves if investors believe the party has stabilised internally.

You can have the fiscal statement, the budget, but if it involves getting things through the House and actually the Conservative party are not united, he told the BBC.

And therefore theres uncertainty about whether it will go through the House or not, then you dont get that certainty even if there is a budget statement.

If a unity candidate emerged they would be crowned unopposed on Monday, meaning there would be no vote amongst the party members.

But if the contest goes down to a final two the grassroots will get their say in an online poll next week, with the result being announced on Friday.
A federal judge in Missouri on Thursday rejected a lawsuit by six Republican-led states who were seeking to block President Joe Bidens student debt relief plan.

U.S. District Judge Henry Edward Autrey, an appointee of George W. Bush, ruled that the states did not articulate the type of harm thats needed to have their legal challenge heard in federal court.

While Plaintiffs present important and significant challenges to the debt relief plan, the current Plaintiffs are unable to proceed to the resolution of these challenges, Autrey wrote in a 19-page decision. He emphasized that his decision was focused on the states' lack of standing and was not a comment on the legality of the debt relief plan.

The decision came hours after Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett denied an emergency request to halt the debt relief plan in a separate lawsuit brought by a conservative group in Wisconsin.

The early court victories for Bidens debt relief policy come as millions of Americans flood the Education Department with applications to participate in the policy. Department officials have said in court filings that they will not discharge any debt before this coming Sunday.

Several other lawsuits remain pending in various courts across the country.

The legal challenge brought by six Republican states  Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina  is likely to be appealed. It is widely seen by proponents and critics of the debt relief plan as among the most serious and credible challenges.

The GOP state attorneys general had argued that Bidens student loan policy was illegal, unconstitutional and should be stopped.

They argued that the Biden administrations actions would cause them economic injury because of lost tax revenue as well as other losses stemming from federal student loans that state-related entities manage, own or invest in. But Judge Autrey ruled on Thursday that many of those harms were merely speculative or at least not imminent.

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In addition, he rejected Missouris argument that it could claim any losses suffered by a quasi-state entity  the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, known as MOHELA  as its own.

MOHELA, which owns and services federal student loans, was not a named plaintiff in the lawsuit. And Autrey wrote that the organizations finances were too removed from the state of Missouri for officials to be able to pursue the lawsuit on behalf of MOHELA.

The decision was, in part, a vindication of the Biden administrations legal strategy to suddenly curtail its debt relief program without warning in September, which drew the ire of many borrowers and some progressives.

In a reversal, the Education Department announced Sept. 29 that it would no longer allow borrowers with federal loans held by private entities to convert their loans in a way that qualifies them for the relief program.

Several of the GOP-led states had argued that forgiving those privately-held federal student loans would harm state-related organizations that own or invest in them.

But Autrey ruled on Thursday that the policy change had eliminated an ongoing injury to two of the states, Arkansas and Nebraska, meaning they no longer have standing to challenge the entire policy.
A federal judge in Missouri dismissed a case brought by six conservative states that broadly charged that President Joe Biden had acted beyond its authority in its plan to cancel student loan debt for millions of borrowers.

The six states  Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina  failed to establish they had standing, with the judge saying Thursday that the Court lacks jurisdiction to hear this case.

The states also had argued they would lose money from future tax revenues and via quasi-state agencies that service student loans.

However, the legal bickering between the president and these six states will continue. Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said the states "continue to believe that they do in fact have standing to raise their important legal challenges. As a result, the States will be appealing and seeking immediate relief from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals."

The federal government had responded to the suit by saying it could cancel debt under a 2003 law that allows it to pause or reduce borrowers' payments on their loans during national emergencies. And, it said, the states failed to prove they would suffer damage because of its debt cancellation.

It's here: The application for Biden's student loan forgiveness plan is live

About 43 million people hold $1.6 trillion in federal student loans, and about 40 million are expected to qualify for Bidens offer of one-time debt cancellation. About 20 million may see their balances erased entirely, but its still unclear how many people will apply for debt relief. Borrowers will have to file out a simple form  though some may need to further prove their income  and others may opt-out.

During a hearing earlier this month, Autrey questioned whether Biden should be included as a defendant in the lawsuit. James Campbell, a lawyer with the attorney generals office in Nebraska representing the states, said all they had were, press releases and announcements, and all of that came and originated from the president.

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So filing a lawsuit including the president we believed was a legitimate argument, because if we could get an injunction then that would stop all of the harm from happening, Campbell said.

The hearing also centered around the federal governments decision to trim the number of borrowers eligible for the program. Specifically, they cut borrowers with FFEL loans. Theyre commercially held, but backed by the federal government, and borrowers holding these loans dont qualify for debt relief. Prior to Sept. 29th, they had been able to consolidate these loans into balances owned by the Education Department, but the federal government has since barred that practice. The cut is expected to affect about 800,000 borrowers.

More: Debt relief will change the lives of some with student loans, but fall short for others.

The states have argued the president had acted beyond his authority and canceling student debt would hurt quasi-state agencies that service student loans. The Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri, better known as MOHELA, also services the now-defunct FFEL loans, and the suit argued borrowers would be encouraged to consolidate these loans into accounts owned directly by the federal government to qualify for debt relief. The states called the federal governments decision to cut FFEL borrowers from the program arbitrary and an attempt to avoid judicial oversight.

The administration said that point is moot given that those borrowers no longer can qualify for the one-time debt relief, and that it had decided to remove the FFEL borrowers before the states lawsuit was filed.

This is in part the peril of filing a lawsuit based on a press statements before the policy details have all come out, said Brian Netter, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney representing the federal government.

In responding to the federal governments arguments, Autrey said no one had defined what qualified as a national emergency in the context of canceling student loan debt and asked Netter to clarify. When Netter didnt, Autrey said Netter should be more familiar with what qualifies.

Is that student loan phone call a scam?: How to avoid scammers and get debt relief safely

The states also argued the federal government had options besides widespread debt cancellation. They said the department could have continued a freeze on student loan payments that began early on in the pandemic, extended the repayment window while lowering monthly payments or improved marketing around the federal government income-based repayment plans. They also suggested the federal government reduce a set percentage of borrowers debts rather than canceling a set amount.

It is the height of unreasonableness to rush to the most drastic option  the mass elimination of debt  when numerous other alternatives could have alleviated Defendants professed concerns about borrower delinquency and default,'' according to a legal filing from the states.

The federal government said in a response filed with the court that no loan servicer is guaranteed a fixed amount of money from the loans they service. The government added that loan servicers portfolios are usually in flux as borrowers pay off their balances, request forbearance, or apply for different debt relief programs like the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The federal government also challenged the idea that its actions were causing harm to the states.

Many of Plaintiffs claims turn on the theory that the states will be better off economically if more students remain in debt, because they make profits from administering debt obligations, they wrote. Those theories fail to describe any concrete injury traceable to the Departments loan relief policy.

Also Thursday, the Supreme Court denied an emergency appeal from a Wisconsin taxpayer group also challenging Biden's loan forgiveness program.

More: Supreme Court denies challenge to Biden's student loan forgiveness program

Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett denied the request to temporarily block the program's implementation a day after it was filed without explanation, as is often the case on the court's emergency "shadow" docket. Barrett declined the request without referring the appeal to the full court.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has also sued the Biden administration to stop what he described as an "illegal student loan cancellation program." Brnovich filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona and also challenged the administration's use of the HEROES act to cancel student loan debt.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Student loan debt forgiveness survives another court challenge.
One of three men charged in the October 2020 shooting death of 26-year-old Damon Brown of Bloomington was found guilty of murder and burglary this week in Monroe Circuit Court.

Jamal Montrez McFadden, 26, of Indianapolis, was arrested a few days after the shooting and has been jailed since without bond.

Police responding to a 911 call on Oct. 26, 2020, found Brown lying on the front porch of a family member's North Willis Drive mobile home. He had been shot once in the chest by men who then fled into the night.

Officers tried to resuscitate Brown when they arrived, but he was declared dead after arriving at IU Health Bloomington Hospital.

Previous coverage:Man arrested in Monday homicide on city's north side

According to police accounts, McFadden dropped the key to his white Chevrolet Malibu while running from the crime scene, leaving the car behind as police officers pulled up.

Police impounded the car, which McFadden later reported had been stolen before the murder in an attempt to deflect suspicion. Investigators doubted the story, and tracked cell phone records that placed McFadden in Bloomington at the time Brown was killed.

Police said McFadden and the two other suspects had been invited over to the residence the night of the shooting.

Recent gunfire:No one hurt when men shoot at Bloomington apartment building

All three suspects were charged with felony murder, which alleges they are equally responsible for Brown's death no matter who pulled the trigger, since he was shot in the commission of a felony.

McFadden chose a bench trial instead of a jury trial. So Monroe Circuit Judge Valeri Haughton heard the evidence and arguments from both sides for two days. She took the case under advisement overnight, court records show, and announced the guilty verdicts Thursday.

The judge set a Jan. 20 sentencing date.

A second man charged with murder and robbery in the case, 25-year-old Keshawn Bess of Indianapolis, was arrested a month after the shooting and faces charges of murder and robbery resulting in serious injury. His trial is set for Feb. 6 in Haughton's court.

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Flag-waving:'Freedom rally' in Brown County draws dozens worried about guns, government

The third suspect in the the case, 26-year-old Malik Brian Bennett, has been at large since a warrant for his arrest on the same charges as Bess was issued in January 2021. At the time, he had a Greenwood address.

Anyone with information about Bennett's whereabouts can contact the Monroe County Sheriff's Office anonymous tip line at 812-349-2815.

Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Judge finds Indy man guilty of murder in 2020 Arlington Park shooting
Now that attorneys have argued the final motions, sexual assault survivors will wait at least two more weeks before Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Gina Higgins decides whether Janet Doe v City of Memphis will move forward as a class action suit.

Higgins heard four motions in the lawsuit on Thursday and Friday alleging the Memphis Police Department's mishandling of thousands of rape kits over the years. Headlining those motions is a request for summary judgement, the request for the case to proceed to trial as a class action suit, and a motion from the city to exclude the testimony of retired sex crimes detective Cody Wilkerson.

Higgins said time was needed after attorneys for the city and plaintiffs to deliver some of their arguments in favor of their motions and against the others'.

It's yet one more period of waiting for victims of sexual assault; some have been waiting for decades for justice in their cases. And when they found out critical evidence was discarded, waited years more for the lawsuit to move through the court system. The suit was filed in 2014.

More:Memphis Police Department updates on rape kits, says it can't enforce teenager curfew

More:Memphis Mayor Strickland defends MPD amid questions about handling of rape cases

After arguments for the final motions were heard, victims spilled into the hallways of the Shelby County Circuit Court, unable to hold back tears and their collective anger.

"My attack happened in 1985," said Debby Dalhoff. "When I submitted my rape kit, when I had to go through the process of getting my rape kit ready... there should have been a purpose for that. Want to know where my rape kit is? Mine was put in a landfill. A landfill."

Dahloff on Friday invoked the death of Eliza Fletcher as an example of how MPD has enabled more crimes to occur by devaluing rape investigations.

The suspect in Fletcher's slaying, Cleotha Abston, was also suspected of assaulting and raping a young mother, Alicia Franklin in September, 2021. The rape kit from Franklin's case was not tested until around the time of Fletcher's disappearance.

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Franklin is also suing the City of Memphis for their handling of her rape investigation.

Dalhoff said she has been calm and collected for the years this lawsuit has been pending. But on Friday, she said, the anger had arrived.

"If this doesn't make it to class action," Dalhoff said, "boy the city better get ready."

In some instances, the suit contends, evidence of neglected rape kits stem as far back as the 1980s. Memphis police did ultimately erase a deficit of more than 12,000 rape kits after disclosing the number in 2013.

Celia Reynolds is one of the women who was raped in 1983, but she said she never saw an effort by police to find the perpetrator.

During the initial questioning following the assault, Reynolds said police implied she must have been a sex worker  she was attacked on Brooks Road. In 1983, the area was known as a stretch of road where sex workers often gather.

"I was on my way to my job at Smith & Nephew. I was dropped off on Brooks Road, and I was attacked in what used to be an open field. The police wanted to know why I was on Brooks Road more than anything else," Reynolds said.

Cody Wilkerson's testimony critical to plaintiff's case

Among the motions Higgins has fielded is one from the City of Memphis to exclude the testimony of Wilkerson, a retired sex crimes detective. In 2017, Wilkerson described rampant neglect and indifference in the sex crimes within the unit.

Attorneys for the city argued that Wilkerson had no direct knowledge of Janet Doe's case, which rendered his testimony irrelevant.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs countered that point by saying Wilkerson worked within the unit in charge of sex crimes and was appointed to oversee the backlog of rape kits. His expertise and proximity to sex crimes unit more than qualifies his testimony as relevant, the plaintiff said.

Wilkerson's testimony could be pivotal if the lawsuit moves forward. In 2017, Wilkerson testified that the sex crimes unit's negligence continued well after DNA testing became a standard practice.

The defense is likely to argue there was no standard process for turning over rape kits to labs for further testing before Memphis police had the capability of running results through CODIS, a computer software program that operates local, state, and national databases of DNA profiles from convicted offenders and other evidence connected to unsolved crimes.

With no standard protocols, the defense said, the city qualifies for immunity under discretionary function  a law that allows for government entities, in this case the Memphis police, to decide how the task at hand should be conducted.

Micaela Watts is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal covering access and equity. She can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Judge to weigh if rape kit lawsuit against Memphis can be class action
A Kansas City, Missouri, community activist says an abducted woman who escaped a home where she was held captive this month is one of several victims that have been ignored and abused in the Midwest city.

Bishop Tony Caldwell made a video last month calling on authorities to look into tips he received about young missing Black women in a neighborhood 30 miles outside of Kansas City. However, the Kansas City Police disputed the claims, calling them completely unfounded.

Yet, weeks later, a 22-year-old knocked on a neighbors door in the same area where Caldwell said he was told the women went missing.

Timothy M. Haslett was arrested on October 7, 2022, and charged with first-degree aggravated rape, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault. (Photo: TikTok video screen grab)

Justice Gaston, founder of Reale Justice Network, told Atlanta Black Star Black women in Kansas City have minimal places of refuge when they become a victim of a crime because of a dismissive and abusive relationship with police.

Caldwell warned about a serial killer on the loose near Prospect Avenue in Kansas City. The bishop at Eternal Life Church & Family Living Center in Kansas City said he was upset and called on police and the community to knock on doors. However, the police department said there was no evidence to support the claims.

Yet, Excelsior Springs resident Lisa Johnson told KSHB 41 that she saw a young woman hunched over almost crawling to her front door on Oct. 7. The bruised, malnourished woman was wearing a dog collar and had ligature marks around her wrists and ankles, reports show.

Neighbors wrapped the woman in a blanket, gave her food and water and contacted authorities.

According to court documents, the Excelsior Springs Police Department responded to a call about a female who showed up at the front door wearing a trash bag, metal collar with a padlock, and duct tape around her neck.

The victim identified in court documents as T.J. showed authorities the house where she had been held against her will. Neighbors said she also mentioned friends who didnt make it and were allegedly killed by the suspect.

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Upon the [police] officers arrival at the residence, they found T.J. She was wearing latex lingerie and had a metal collar around her neck with a padlock and duct tape around her neck. T.J. advised that a man by the name of Timothy picked her up on Prospect in Kansas City at the beginning of September 2022, court documents show.

T.J. told authorities the man kept her in a small room in the basement that he had built. She broke free after he left that morning to take his child to school. It was about 30 miles outside of Kansas City off Prospect Avenue, which stretches across several miles from the city through suburbia near U.S. Route 71.

Thats exactly what we were telling people. Im just sorry that it took so long, but Im grateful that she found a way out, Caldwell said. Im sorry people didnt act on it sooner, and its absolutely tragic that the other young ladies didnt make it. Its horrible.

Timothy M. Haslett was arrested the same day and charged with first-degree aggravated rape, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault. T.J. told authorities that there are two more victims.

The Clay County Sheriffs office said on Oct. 11 that it was still investigating the case along with Excelsior Springs and Kansas City Missouri Police departments. The law enforcement agencies have not confirmed whether they were able to identify other victims but said they will do every investigative thing you can think of.

That thorough approach means it will take time. It will take time to analyze evidence recovered during the execution of the search warrant. It will take time to interview people involved, Clay County Sherrifs office said. It will take time to use that information to see if the suspect, in this case, is connected to any more crimes.

Haslett entered a not-guilty plea and is being held on a $500,000 bond.

The Kansas City Police Department told the Kansas City Defender that it is standing by its earlier statement that dismissed Caldwell and other community members concerns over the perpetrator. The local paper had posted Caldwells video on TikTok and removed it after the police departments statement but scheduled a meeting with community leaders to assess the threat.

We base our investigations on police incident reports of criminal activity. We do still maintain that there is no indication that what you guys reported was accurate and there was no indication that there was anything that supported that claim, KCPD said.

We share what information we can publicly, many times from the scene, of incidents of violent crimes when there is a report or an investigation underway, there had and has not been anything that corresponded to your reports on social media and the web which is why we refuted that report and said that the claims were unfounded, the statement continued.

Justice Gaston is the founder of Reale Justice Network , a nonprofit organization in Kansas City, Missouri, that provides a wide variety of sources to Black women. (Photo: Courtesy of Justice Gaston)

Gaston, a doula whose organization helps victims of intimate partner violence and sexual assault, among other things, has been an activist in the Black community for the past three decades.

Data shows Kansas City is 22 percent Black. It is home to about 72,000 Black women, Gaston said. When one goes missing, the familys first instinct isnt to go to the police. She has been hearing about women being snatched on the major street as long as she has been doing the work. Her organization has helped some of them.

A lot of people come to us because they dont want to go to the cops, so weve helped people get their children back, all kinds of things, she told Atlanta Black Star.

Often when Black girls go missing, the cases are not publicized by authorities because they are quickly labeled as runaways. Runaways dont fit the criteria for an Amber Alert, an emergency broadcast about missing or endangered children, because authorities assume theyve left on their own accord, she stressed.

Those agencies dont care enough to do whats necessary, to do the little bit that they can to issue that alert, so that community and faults can be on the lookout for this particular child, Gaston said.

The Kansas City Police Department shared photos of two teenagers listed as runaways around the same time of the womans disappearance.

Jayonna Brown, 17, was last seen on Sept. 9, and Jada White, who is 15, went missing on Sept. 19. Jada was found on Sept. 26. News report show Jayonna hasnt been found. The police department posted her picture and physical description 11 days after she had already went missing. It has not been reposted since.

MISSING/RUNAWAY JUVENILE Jayonna Brown 17, black hair, brown eyes, 505, 190lbs. Last seen on 09/09 at 6pm near 113th and Lewis. Unknown clothing description. Her family is concerned for her well-being. If located contact KCPD Juvenile Section 816-234-5150. pic.twitter.com/XSpPMKU81A  kcpolice (@kcpolice) September 20, 2022

Gaston said some in instances, police officers are the ones exploiting Black women in the area. The activist describes the relationship between police and women in community as sexual abusive.

I dont even know another word to describe how they talk to us and look at us, and its like were just there for their pleasure in a sense  for the twisted pleasure, she said.

The activist recalls seeing a video with handcuffed woman with her breasts exposed being verbal assaulted and sexually harassed by officers until a bystander intervened. She was never able to track down the woman, however.

Sex workers and other women are also blackmailed into sex by officers who threaten them with bogus charges, Gaston said.

Some girls have been terrorized it seems like their whole teenage and adult life as some of these officers who sort of what I would call lay claim on them, she said.

Reale Justice Network will hold an event Sunday in support of the woman who escaped in Excelsior Springs. They plan to write letters and hold a healing ceremony. Gaston hopes the national attention will bring about change in Kansas City and support for organizations that are stewards for the Black community.

What would help us is that is if some of the resources that are spent on policing actually go to fund the work that were doing for our communities, she said. Its been a long past time that BIPOC folks have a place that they can land if something happens.
Kanye West's antisemitic comments lead to first business repercussion. (Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Fallout over Kanye West's controversial and antisemitic comments continues. Balenciaga, the French fashion house that's had a long-standing relationship with West and his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, announced it's severed ties with the rapper.

"Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist," its parent company Kering told WWD in a statement. It did not elaborate further. Earlier this month, West walked the runway for Balenciaga's 2023 Paris Fashion Week show  just one day before the Grammy winner's "White Lives Matter" stunt at his own Yeezy presentation.

West immediately faced backlash after the show. In subsequent interviews, including one with Fox News Channel's Tucker Carlson, he remained defiant while also spewing antisemitic rhetoric as part of his defense. Balenciaga is the first major company to end its relationship with West. In an op-ed for Financial Times, Ari Emanuel specifically called out Apple and Spotify not to do business with West.

"West is not just any person  he is a pop culture icon with millions of fans around the world," the powerful Hollywood agent wrote. "And among them are young people whose views are still being formed. This is why it is necessary for all of us to speak out. Hatred and antisemitism should have no place in our society, no matter how much money is at stake."

Emanuel praised his clients, LeBron James and Maverick Carter, for not airing West's interview on the The Shop, which purportedly contained dangerous rhetoric.

"Those who continue to do business with West are giving his misguided hate an audience," the Endeavor CEO added. "There should be no tolerance anywhere for West's antisemitism. This is a moment in history where the stakes are high and being open about our values, and living them, is essential. Silence and inaction are not an option."

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Practically no public figures have come to West's defense, but Trevor Noah offered a different take on the situation. The "Runaway" rapper has frequently bashed The Daily Show host, even calling Noah a racial slur earlier this year, but Noah made clear there is no "beef" with West as that has to be two-sided.

"I was never beefing with Kanye West, I was concerned about Kanye West," Noah recently said while filming his show. The comedian called out publications for giving West an outlet while he may be dealing with mental health issues.

"If somebody says to me, or to anyone, that they have a mental health issue, and they say to everyone that when they don't take their medication, they're unable to control themselves and then everyone ignores when that person is having an episode and they haven't taken their medication, and then they platform the person and then they put them out. I sometimes think it's a little shitty to be honest with you," Noah said.

"My grandfather was bipolar, and one thing we knew in the family was  and I'm not saying Kanye is, by the way  I'm just saying my grandfather was," Noah added. "When he was having one of his episodes, he could act in a certain way... but our job was to support him."

After a string of controversial outbursts in 2018, West revealed he was bipolar. He hasn't spoken much about the diagnosis since. The rapper has slammed anyone who tries to relate his public statements to his mental health.

"I don't have beef with that human being. What I have beef with is us as a society not coming together around a person and going like, hey, hey, hey, maybe this is not the moment to put a microphone in your face, so you just go off saying everything," Noah added. "If this is what you want to say when you're on your medication, then that's a different story, but because you've told us that, I'm not gonna sit by."

"I was never beefing with Kanye West, I was concerned about Kanye West." Trevor on his "beef" with Ye. #BetweenTheScenes pic.twitter.com/rr0miymWXv  The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) October 21, 2022

West is in hot water legally for what he's been saying, too. George Floyd's daughter will be suing the rapper for comments he made questioning Floyd's cause of death.

MORE: Kanye West facing $250M lawsuit by George Floyd's daughter for fentanyl comment
Protect your skin from the elements this winter with these 10 moisturizers.

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Winter is coming may only seem like a phrase chanted by Game of Thrones fans these days, but the statement is very much rooted in fact. Cold, crisp fall days have landed, but soon enough, fall nights will give way to frigid temperatures and snow in many places. That said, the change in seasons means a possible reboot in your skincare routinenamely, the transition from light-as-air formulas to thicker, creamy ones.

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One notable switch for winter is in your choice of moisturizer, a product weve previously reported protects the skin by creating a barrier between it and pollutants and irritants that cause damage and can lead to micro-tears in the skin that are more susceptible to infection. Given this products particular importance to ones overall skin health, we rounded up the best moisturizers for winter that youll want to keep on your vanity all season long.

1. For a cream-based formula: First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream

Placate dry and eczema-prone skin with the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream.

The Reviewed-approved First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream stood out to our tester, Brigitt Earley, due to its cream-based formula. Designed with all skin types in mind, it claims to provide long-term relief to dry skin, in addition to soothing eczema. The cream felt cool on my skin as it began to absorb, and my skin went from dry and rough to ultra-smooth, Earley wrote after trying more than a dozen face moisturizers. Once the cream soaked inwithin a few secondsmy skin felt even softer to the touch and not at all greasy or sticky. This hydrating sensation lasted the majority of the daymore than six hours. She insists that a dime-sized amount is all your face needs, and the brand advises using it both morning and night for maximum hydration. Its available in a six-ounce jar and an eight-ounce tube.

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$38 at Ulta

2. For a budget-friendly option: The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA

Get soft, smooth skin in seconds with the The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA.

According to our tester, The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA could be mixed up with the First Aid Beauty Intense Repair Cream, but it's much more affordable. Earley even says the formula feels just as luxe in just about every way and absorbs at about the same speed as the First Aid Beautyin just a few secondsand leaves skin silky, too. The only catch is that it leans more on the greasy side, making it more ideal for those with normal-to-dry skin than oily. This wallet-friendly formula is available in both a 1-ounce and 3-ounce bottle.

Starting at $6 at Ulta

3. For a gel-based formula: Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel

Prepare your face for makeup with the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel.

If you love gel-based skincare, as opposed to cream formulas, youll enjoy the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel. The moisturizer maintains that it hydrates dry skin, giving it a smooth and supple finish. This formula leans on hyaluronic acid to retain the skins moisture and add a plump feel. Its also oil-free, which means that it wont clog pores and can double as a makeup primer, according to the brand. It comes in both a 1.7-ounce jar and a 0.5-ounce travel size jar.

Absolutely love this water gel, one Ulta customer writes. I use it after I cleanse and before I use my regular moisturizer. Great addition to my everyday skincare routine. I have sensitive, normal-dry skin, and it works great for me!

$29 at Ulta

4. For sensitive skin types: La Roche-Posay Toleraine Double Repair Face Moisturizer

Moisturize sensitive skin with the La Roche-Posay Toleraine Double Repair Face Moisturizer.

Finding non-irritating, efficacious skincare products feels like a major win, especially for those with sensitive skin. La Roche-Posay sought to create a moisturizer specifically designed for those with a more finicky skin type. The Toleraine Double Repair Face Moisturizer purports to hydrate skin for up to 48 hours, and it uses glycerin to hydrate along with niacinamide to calm the skin. It comes in a 2.5-ounce tube.

I use this morning and night and it is nourishing and non-greasy, an Ulta reviewer writes. I have very sensitive skin and it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, the niacinamide in it has helped calm my rosacea.

$20 at Ulta

5. For minimizing the look of fine lines: Biossance Squalane + Omega Repair Cream

Reduce the appearance of fine lines and dullness with the Biossance Squalane + Omega Repair Cream.

As soon as cold temperatures hit, contributing Reviewed writer Liv Birdsall swears by Biossance, particularly the Squalane + Omega Repair Cream. In fact, shes been reaching for this moisturizer for years and has noticed a decrease in the appearance of fine lines after use. She also loves the fact that it balances out her skins moisture levels while combating dullness. Its standout ingredients include hyaluronic acid and squalane to hydrate. Its available in a 0.5-ounce, 1.7-ounce and 3-ounce jar.

Starting at $20 at Sephora

6. For evening out skin tone: Tula 24-7 Moisture Hydrating Day and Night Cream

Revitalize dull, dry-looking skin with the Tula 24-7 Moisture Hydrating Day and Night Cream.

The Tula 24-7 Moisture Hydrating Day and Night Cream aims to go above and beyond hydrating your face both night and day. According to the brand, the moisturizer intends to transform skin from looking tired and dry to plump and glowy. Peptides are responsible for evening skin tone and apple and watermelon extracts aim to diminish the look of fine lines and wrinkles. The lightweight moisturizer comes in both 1.5-ounce and 3.4-ounce bottles.

The day and night cream is wonderful, one Tula customer gushes. Keeps face skin beautifully moist and soft without making it oily or greasy.

Starting at $54 at Tula

7. For a luxury formula: Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream

Hydrate your skin while tending to a host of other skin concerns with The Rich Cream from Augustinus Bader.

Got the urge to splurge? The Rich Cream from Augustinus Bader may have a hefty price tag, but the expensive, cream-based moisturizer also boasts impressive claims, such as hydrating the skin while diminishing the look of wrinkles, fine lines and hyperpigmentation. Its roster of ingredients is also lengthy and consists of hyaluronic acid to plump and hydrate, in addition to hydrolyzed rice protein, which serves to soothe the skin. A 1.7-ounce version of the cream retails for $280, but you can also try your hand at 1-ounce or 0.5-ounce bottles that are $175 and $89, respectively.

This is the best cream Ive ever used, and I tried a lot of them, one Sephora reviewer boasts. I have dry, sensitive skin, and Im in my 40s. My skin looks better than ever. I am on my second bottle already. [...] All I can say is do it, if you can afford this cream, you wont regret it. Just stick with it, and the results will come.

Starting at $89 at Sephora

8. For the driest of skin: Cerave Moisturizing Cream

Introduce moisture to a dry complexion with the Cerave Moisturizing Cream.

Those with dry skin are probably most familiar with the struggle to keep it properly hydrated all winter long. The Cerave Moisturizing Cream intends to be the solution for very dry skin, purporting to repair the skin barrier and provide moisture for up to 24 hours. Its formula uses hyaluronic acid to hold onto the skins moisture as well as ceramides to protect the skin barrier. The formula comes in a 16-ounce jar.

I always have to have a tub of this in my house, one Target reviewer writes. I have dry, scaly skin, and this is a great moisturizer for the body and face. I sometimes mix it with baby oil or other oils for extra moisture at night. Smooths well over skin and neck.

$17 at Target

9. For a skin-brightening formula: Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Peptide Face Cream

Attain brighter and firmer skin with the Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Peptide Face Cream.

Continuous exposure to dry air, whether from staying inside by the heater or being outside in frigid, cold air, is the perfect recipe for ending up with dry, dull skin. Skinfixs Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Peptide Face Cream is committed to turning this around, as it claims to brighten, firm and plump the skin using peptides and hyaluronic acid. Its available in 0.5-ounce, 1.7-ounce and 3.4-ounce jars.

After about one week of use, I remember seeing my skin actually glow after cleansing and before adding moisturizer, a Sephora reviewer writes. I have now been using this cream for well over a year. I had incredibly dry, red and sensitive skin.

Starting at $20 at Sephora

10. For glossy-looking skin: Tatcha The Dewy Skin Cream Plumping & Hydrating Moisturizer

Set the foundation for radiant skin with the The Dewy Skin Cream Plumping & Hydrating Moisturizer from Tatcha.

Are you after a glossy complexion that could compete with Hailey Biebers glazed donut nails? The Dewy Skin Cream Plumping & Hydrating Moisturizer by Tatcha may be able to help you out with that. This thick cream calls on hyaluronic acid to plump the skin along with Japanese purple rice to safeguard the skin from external stressors like environmental pollutants. You can snag it in a 0.34-ounce, 1,7-ounce or 2.5-ounce container.

This is by far my favorite moisturizer, a Sephora reviewer exclaims. This adds so much moisture to my skin and makes my skin glow. A little bit of product goes a long way, so the tub will last a while! Definitely worth the price if youre willing to splurge on a moisturizer!

Starting at $22 at Sephora

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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

This article originally appeared on Reviewed: 10 best winter moisturizers: Keep skin hydrated with Tula, Cerave
A 61-year-old man who authorities say verbally and physically abused women he had relationships with in Texas for more than 30 years was found guilty on Friday for the 2019 choking death of his wife in their North Richland Hills home.

A Tarrant County jury reached their verdict on a charge of murder against Victor Baxter, who according to court documents in 2019 told his wife, I am super pissed at youtheres no love in me for you keep your wedding band off.

Hours after he was convicted on Friday, jurors sentenced Baxter to life in prison.

The body of Mary Baxter, 40, was found at 1:36 a.m. on March 11, 2019, in the familys home in the 7700 block of Amy Lane in North Richland Hills.

Initially, North Richland Hills police said there were no signs of foul play and they were unsure how she had died. Then officials with the Tarrant County Medical Examiners Office ruled that Mary Baxter died from asphyxia by strangulation and her death was a homicide.

Just months after his wifes death and while he was in custody for the homicide, Baxter sent a letter to his ex-wife, Patricia Patty McParland, scolding her for talking to law enforcement, telling her to lie and recant to his attorney and law enforcement, and threatening to release nude and sexual pictures of her if she did not do as he demanded. He was charged with obstruction/retaliation.

History of abuse

In September just before the murder trial, prosecutors filed documents against Baxter involving extraneous offenses that included crimes, wrongs and acts against other women.

The documents obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Tuesday gave these accounts against Baxter:

Victor Baxter had previous romantic relationships with at least five other women before he married Mary Baxter.

He was mentally and physically abusive to each of the women and controlled their finances, they told authorities. At least three of the those women said they witnessed him to be abusive and controlling to his mother.

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Baxter married one woman from 1984 until 2002. During the relationship, he was physically and mentally abusive, she said. One specific assault arose from that wife refusing to give him money. He responded by pushing her so hard that she fell, hit her head, and injured her jaw such that she couldnt shut her mouth. Baxter was arrested for the assault.

Baxter had a hard time keeping a job throughout the relationship, and he had multiple affairs during the marriage, including an affair with another woman in which he got her pregnant and they had a child.

That daughter was physically and sexually assaulted by Baxter while she was in middle school, prosecutors said.

A third woman had been in an on-and-off relationship with Baxter since 2002. He was constantly controlling and physically assaulted her on many occasions, such that she lived in fear of him, she said. Baxter was also verbally abusive and he copied down her credit card number and Social Security number and would use them to make purchases.

That third woman did not report abuse to the police in fear that the abuse would escalate. She has also witnessed Baxter be abusive toward his mother, who lives in fear of him, she said. She also knows Baxter to use cocaine. He reached out to her after he was arrested for Marys murder. When she didnt want to talk to him, she received multiple hang-up calls that she took as a threat from Baxter.

A fourth woman describes Baxter as an abusive son of a (expletive). He would drag her from the bed while she was sleeping and beat her, she said. He also stole $10,000 from her 401k. Baxter moved another woman into their home during their marriage and forced the fourth woman to have a sexual relationship with that woman while Baxter would watch, she said.

Patricia McParland was in a relationship with Baxter for many years and the two were married from approximately 2011-2017.

Baxter was physically, verbally and financially abusive throughout the relationship, controlling much of McParlands life, she said, according to the documents. He controlled all the finances and took $5,000 to $10,000 from McParlands 401k. When McParland was sick, he refused to pick her up from the hospital and while she was there, Baxter moved Mary Baxter into his bedroom.

Victor Baxter also had a history of violence toward Mary Baxter, prosecutors said. He threatened to kill her, he made repeated threats to kill himself, and he had a history of mental illness and emotional problems.

On or about March 13, 2018, Mary Baxter reported to North Richland Hills police that her husband was abusive to her and was forcing her to begin a massage business in their home and perform sexual acts on clients for money. This was after she went to the doctor on March 12, 2018, and a nurse questioned Mary about numerous bruises, cuts, and a swollen thumb.

It was revealed that Victor Baxter had been abusive to his wife regularly since Feb. 14, 2018. On March 15, 2018, Mary Baxter reached out to a friend, Annette Daigle, about staying with her to get away from her husband.

On May 13, 2018, Mary Baxter contacted Esmeralda Gonzalez to run her legacy page on Facebook once she was deceased. Later that day, she was committed to the hospital for self-harm.

Mary Baxter had a separate bank account that she was using to save money and leave her husband. Victor Baxter found the bank information and transferred all the money in the account to himself, according to court records.

On June 17, 2018, Baxter and his wife had a fight because Mary was not completing wifely duties and he took her wedding ring and put it in his safe, the court documents state.

He assaulted his wife and left bruises on her arm. Mary Baxter told Esmeralda Gonzalez about the assault at a St. Patricks Day party in March 2018 and said that Victor had gone overboard.

On or about Feb. 10, 2019, Victor Baxter again assaulted Mary Baxter, resulting in bruising on her left eyelid and on her right cheek.

Baxter made numerous phone searches for pictures of young nude boys and girls during February and March of 2019, prosecutors said.

On or about March 8, 2019, Victor Baxter once again assaulted Mary Baxter. After the assault, he told her to put ice on her injuries, cover them with makeup, and come up with a lie to tell people.

On March 10, 2019, the day before she died, Mary Baxter went to a pet store with a hat and sunglasses on to cover her two black eyes.

That same day, Victor Baxter and his wife adopted a cat, but hours later, he forced her to return the cat, causing her to be upset and emotional. When the store would not allow Mary to return the cat, Victor Baxter called the store yelling and threatening to call the police.

On the evening of March 10, 2019, Baxter was verbally and physically abusive to Mary Baxter and told her that he didnt need her in his life. anymore, prosecutors said.

Mary Baxter was found dead the next morning.

Victor Baxter had a a history of taking life insurance policies out on people. His mother called Globe Life Insurance and represented herself to be Mary Baxter on March 28, 2019, to make a payment on the account and keep Marys policy active, according to court documents. Victor Baxter also called Globe Life and tried to alter the policy for his benefit.

Throughout 2020, while he was in the custody of the Tarrant County Jail, Baxter attempted to buy his daughters testimony by promising her money, a home and a better life for her and her son if she testified on his behalf, prosecutors said. He in fact did not have any money and filed for bankruptcy when released from jail on Feb. 28, 2021.

He remarried and his problems continued, according to court documents.

Baxter made his new wife pawn jewelry that belonged to her mother and was important to her so that he could have the money. He moved into his new wifes home in Cresson, Texas, moving her son out and brought in his mother into the home in Parker County. He has cut his new wife off from her family, sold her car, and controlled her phone. Baxter also had numerous cameras installed on the home to keep watch.

Court records stated that Baxter, on or about May 17, 2022, went to a AT&T store and then a pawn shop in Tarrant County in an attempt to tamper with evidence prior to the hearing.

On or about July 25, Baxter sent his new wife to meet and assist a former inmate, Jessie Williams, in Fort Worth. The new wife later interacted with Fort Worth Police Department after a welfare check was called in by her children with concerns about her whereabouts. Police learned that Baxters new wife had been held against her will by Jessie Williams, who had been told by Baxter that he could have sex with her, according to the documents. The new wife was unaware of any agreement regarding sex and was under the impression she was going to take him a phone and discuss the Bible.

In late June to early July, Baxter sent David Allen Rooster Seymour to stay with new wife in Cresson, the documents say. Seymour is a documented member of the Aryan Brotherhood and convicted felon. Baxter gave Seymour permission to have sex with his new wife, but she declined, according to the documents.

According to court records, his ex-wife Patricia McParland was not surprised that Victor Baxter killed Mary Baxter and believed he would have killed her too if she had remained in the marriage.

Domestic Violence Hotline

If youre experiencing abuse or partner violence and need help, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or you can chat with an advocate on the website. SafeHaven of Tarrant Countys hotline number is 1-877-701-7233.
Photo: Jon Manchester

John Brink has built three value-added forestry companies without having any direct access to the trees that have made his businesses thrive.

The wood products he and hundreds of employees produce at Brink Forest Products in Prince George, Vanderhoof Specialty Wood Products and Houston-based Pleasant Valley Remanufacturing are dependent on sawmills in the region which supply the Brink Group with the wood they use to make fingerjointed lumber and wood pellets for export to international destinations.

What once seemed like an endless supply of some of the finest lumber on earth has been devastated over the past two decades by pine beetle kill and forest fires which have severely reduced the available forest for harvesting, and that has forced forestry players and the provincial government to rethink forest management strategies.

In June 2021, the NDP government released its intentions paper, Modernizing Forest Policy in British Columbia, which outlined a plan to redistribute forest tenures to Indigenous Nations, forest communities and small operators. The government aims to double the amount of available forest tenure on public land for Indigenous people to 20 per cent over the next few years.

In addition to old-growth forest protection, the plan reinforces the governments commitment to promote higher-value wood products like mass timber laminated products used for load-bearing columns, beams and panels. It wants new and innovative value-added products to reach new markets. That commitment to support value-added secondary wood manufacturers is music to Brinks ears, but unless it guarantees companies like his access to fibre, the plan rings hollow.

In order to attract capital to invest in business like this you have to have reasonable expectation of access to fibre, Im not asking for tenure, but at least access to fibre, said Brink.

Timber access for secondary manufacturers was protected until the business forest enterprise program was eliminated in 2003 when Gordon Campbells Liberal government unveiled its Forestry Revitalization Plan. It also ended appurtenancy, a requirement for trees harvested in a region to be processed in that same region.

I call it a social contract and how it all starts, in my opinion, is the timber in the province of British Columbia belongs to you and me, the people, said Brink. Its a privilege to have access to timber and with that goes social obligations to give back to the community wherever possible, including manufacturing.

Now, all those issues are in question. Industry, mainly the larger ones, have decided that they can be much more profitable elsewhere, so theyre not really investing in B.C. because they are not globally competitive here, but they still control all the timber.

Unless that changes and secondary manufacturers are granted timber access, Brink says growth of those companies will be stifled until a fair deal can be negotiated with the government to secure their share of the wood pile.

No matter what happens, at the end of the day the public will demand it, he said. They will not stand by and allow people to control all the forests and have no consideration for other potential investors that will create all the jobs.

Brink Forest Products opened in 1975. The company produces fingerjointed lumber using short pieces of kiln-dried wood bought from sawmills. At that time and up until about 2000, Brink estimates there were 50 secondary wood product manufacturers in northern B.C. There are now just three or four left.

Part of that is the consolidation of primary forest companies which left the province with five or six companies which now control 75 per cent timber available to B.C.s forest industry. The industry was especially hard hit by the pine beetle infestation from 1999-2015, which practically wiped out the regions supply of lodgepole pine, and that was followed by two severe wildfire seasons in 2017 and 2018, which burned seven per cent of the provinces entire forest supply.

The province responded by bumping up the annual allowable cut (AAC) from about 60 million cubic metres to 85 million in 2007 and that allowed forest companies to harvest dead or dying stands of pine that were turned into chips or wood pellets. As that supply was reduced, the AAC was dropped back to 63 million in 2021 and is forecast to be 56 million in 2026 and 51 million by 2030.

Whats going to happen to the forest industry in British Columbia, in my opinion, is we will have a lot less annual allowable cut, probably closer to 40 million cubic metres, said Brink. The other thing that will happen is First Nations will be getting close to 20 per cent of the annual allowable cut, by law, and caribou (habitat) will be set aside and there will be old growth deferrals. The combination of all that together will bring it to about 30 or 35 million cubic metres annually, so there will not be enough volume.

While many of the smaller companies that used to serve the forest industry suffered the consequences of corporate consolidation, beetle kills and fires, Brink remains optimistic the region will recover and will continue producing high-quality products to serve world markets and help ensure the wellbeing of British Columbians. He points to the Bowron region east of Quesnel as an example of how forests can recover from disasters.

In the early 80s we had the spruce beetle in the Bowron and if you go there now you wont believe it happened, he said. We had a sawmill set up there and nobody wanted what was left. That gives us a picture of what can be done. There is no better quality fibre than what we are growing here in B.C.

Pulp mills feeling the pinch of sawmill closures

B.C. pulp mills, including the three in Prince George  Intercontinental Pulp, P.G. Pulp and Northwood  rely on sawmill waste (wood chips) and pulp (usually beetle-killed) logs to make their products, as do wood pellet mills. Record high global prices for pulp, low pulp inventories, and shortages of wood fiber supply have pushed up prices the mills have to pay for pulp logs and wood chips. As the intentions paper highlights, some of those shortages could be alleviated if regulations were changed to require harvesters to make wood waste available to mills rather than burning it at harvest sites, which is done as a cost-cutting measure.

The BC Pulp and Paper Coalition predicts that if all the forest management strategies being considered by the provincial government are implemented there could be 10 fewer sawmills and three fewer pulp/paper mills operating in B.C.

Too much sawmill capacity and not enough timber and up to 35 sawmills have shut down and there are probably five to go, said Brink. There have been closures all around. I dont want to be a fear-monger but it is obvious that there is too much pulp capacity and not enough fibre. So one follows the other. There are 16 pulp mills in the province and there will be more closures, either indefinite or temporary, thats a given.

Of those 16 pulp and paper mills four have announced temporary closures (curtailments) and more could soon be forced to close. Canfors Intercontinental Pulp in Prince George is one of the mills facing labour reductions due to lack of fibre and on Monday the company announced a two-week curtailment will shut down the plant until Oct. 24, which follows a two-week shutdown due to maintenance that took effect Aug. 24.

In Quesnel, a 16-day curtailment at West Frasers Cariboo Pulp and Paper due to fibre supply challenges started on Sept. 29. Conifex announced on Oct. 11 a two-week curtailment of its sawmill in Mackenzie, following on the heels of an operational reduction to only one shift per day, which took effect Aug. 29.

Mackenzie is still reeling from the permanent closure of the Paper Excellence pulp mill in April 2021, which put 250 people out of work in town of 3,700 people. That mill had been in curtailment since June 2020. On Oct. 7, Paper Excellence said it will close its Crofton Catalyst paper mill within the next two months. In December 2021, Paper Excellence announced an indefinite curtailment of its paper mill in Powell River.
The jury in Kevin Spaceys sexual abuse trial found that the Oscar-winning actor is not liable for battery against Star Trek: Discovery star Anthony Rapp.

The jury of five men and six women deliberated for just under 90 minutes on Thursday afternoon. Rapp appeared stoic as the verdict was read and his lawyers seemed dejected as they left the courthouse in downtown Manhattan.

Spacey could be seen hugging one of his lawyers after the verdict was announced.

Im very grateful to the jury for seeing through these false allegations, Spaceys attorney Jennifer Keller said. Spacey, flanked by bodyguards, did not say anything while leaving the courthouse before hopping into a black SUV and driving off.

Richard Steigman, an attorney for Rapp, said in a statement: Anthony told his truth in court. While we respect the jurys verdict, nothing changes that.

Rapp alleged that Spacey climbed on top of him at a party in New York City in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Rapp, best known for his role in the musical Rent, testified that the alleged encounter was the most traumatic single event of his life.

Spacey flatly denied Rapps allegations, saying under oath that they are not true. His lawyers argued that Rapp created a story in large part because he was jealous of their clients success in the entertainment industry.

In closing arguments earlier on Thursday, lawyers for the actors presented dramatically divergent versions of events. Richard Steigman, an attorney for Rapp, suggested that Spacey put on a performance for the jury on the witness stand and insisted that his client remains traumatized because of the alleged encounter decades later.

Keller dismissed Rapps claims as falsehoods and argued that the younger actor was simply jealous of her clients professional success.

The two men delivered emotional testimonies on the witness stand during the civil trial in federal court in downtown Manhattan.

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Rapp fought back tears and spoke with a pained expression as he recalled the details of the alleged encounter he described as incredibly frightening and very alarming. He testified that he felt inspired to go public with his claims in the early days of the #MeToo movement in 2017.

I didnt ask for him to do that, he told jurors, referring to Spaceys alleged sexual advance. I didnt want him to do that.

Spacey, for his part, repeatedly broke down crying during his testimony. In a quavering voice, he told jurors about his humiliating and terrifying upbringing as the son of a man he described as a white supremacist and neo-Nazi.

I have never talked about these things publicly, ever, he said.

Rapp filed a lawsuit against Spacey in 2020 based on three claims: assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Image: US-CRIME-ASSAULT (ANGELA WEISS / AFP - Getty Images)

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan dismissed the assault claim before the trial started, saying it was not covered by the New Yorks Child Victims Act of 2019, which temporarily allowed people to make claims that would have normally been blocked by the statute of limitations.

Kaplan tossed out Rapps claim of emotional distress on the sixth day of the trial, saying in part that is repeats and re-alleges the allegation of battery.

Rapp, who claimed he shared his experience with friends over the years, first publicly detailed his allegations in an article published by BuzzFeed News on Oct. 29, 2017.

In a statement on Twitter the next day, Spacey said he did not recall the alleged incident but apologized to Rapp for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior. He then came out, writing in part: I choose now to live as a gay man.

In his testimony, Spacey said he regretted that statement. He said he now believes he should not have apologized for something he insists he did not do, and he lamented that he used the statement as an opportunity to come out to the general public.

I would have never done anything to hurt the gay community, he said, as tears welled up in his eyes. He explained that he was criticized for appearing to conflate his sexual orientation with the allegations: It was wrong, it was really bad, and Im deeply sorry.

Rapp and Spacey agreed they met each other sometime in April 1986, when they were acting in Broadway shows  Rapp with Ed Harris in Precious Sons, Spacey with Jack Lemmon in a production of Long Days Journey into Night.

The two saw each other again during a casual gathering in Lemmons dressing room sometime that May. That night, Spacey took Rapp and Rapps friend John Barrowman to a restaurant and a nightclub. Spacey testified that he felt attracted to Barrowman, who was 19 at the time.

I was captivated by John Barrowman, Spacey said.

Spacey testified that he invited Rapp and Barrowman back to his apartment in Manhattans Upper East Side after the club to introduce them to his dog and show them the views from his place. He said that he and Barrowman had a brief flirtatious and playful moment on a bed that was cut short because Rapp was nearby.

Rapp alleged that sometime after that evening, Spacey invited him to a party at his apartment. Rapp testified that he did not recognize anyone at the party, so he went into a bedroom to watch television.

He testified that at some point, an apparently drunken Spacey entered the bedroom, lifted him up, placed him on a bed and rested his full weight on top of him.

Spacey forcefully pushed back on that account of events, saying in his testimony that he never invited Rapp to a party or even spoke to him again after their evening with Barrowman, who is now best known in the United Kingdom for his role on the show Doctor Who.

Spaceys lawyers introduced evidence they said supported their clients denial, including documents showing that at the time of the alleged incident, he lived in a studio apartment that did not have a bedroom.

Jennifer Keller, one of Spaceys lawyers, sought to convince the jury that Rapp was bitter not only about Spaceys success in Hollywood, but also about being the third wheel during the evening with Barrowman. Rapp rejected that suggestion.

Rapp, 50, is a series regular on the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Discovery and has appeared in films such as Dazed and Confused and A Beautiful Mind. Spacey, 63, won Oscars for his performances in The Usual Suspects and American Beauty, and earned a Tony for the play Lost in Yonkers.

Spacey played a fictional president on the Netflix drama House of Cards before a wave of sexual misconduct allegations in 2017 led to his firing from the show and brought an abrupt halt to his celebrated Hollywood career.

Spaceys legal woes do not end in New York.

In the United Kingdom, he faces charges of sexually assaulting three men a decade or more ago. He pleaded not guilty in July at a hearing at Londons Central Criminal Court. He is expected to go on trial in the U.K. starting June 6, according to The Associated Press.

Kaplan, the judge in Spaceys civil trial, did not allow Rapps lawyers to talk about the U.K. case. However, Rapps lawyers got a chance to question Andy Holtzman, a former employee of Manhattans Public Theater, who alleges that Spacey assaulted him there in 1981.

Spacey has denied that allegation.

Separately, a Los Angeles judge ruled in August that Spacey and his companies must pay the producers behind House of Cards nearly $31 million because of losses incurred after he was fired for alleged sexual harassment of crew members, according to court documents.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Anthony Rapp, left, accused Kevin Spacey of sexual assault in 2017. (Associated Press)

Hours after a New York jury found that Kevin Spacey did not molest him in the '80s, "Star Trek: Discovery" actor Anthony Rapp said his sexual assault lawsuit and its accompanying civil trial against the former "House of Cards" star represent something bigger.

"I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have my case heard before a jury, and I thank the members of the jury for their service," he said in a statement posted on Twitter. "Bringing this lawsuit was always about shining a light, as part of the larger movement to stand up against all forms of sexual violence."

In September 2020, the former "Rent" actor and another man (identified only by the initials C.D.) filed a $40-million lawsuit against Spacey accusing the two-time Oscar winner of sexual assaults in the '80s, when they were teenagers.

In a 2017 BuzzFeed News story, Rapp alleged that he was molested when he was 14 in Spacey's Manhattan apartment in 1986.

C.D., who alleged that Spacey engaged in sex with him and tried to sodomize him when he was around 14, would not reveal his identity to the court and was dropped from the case in June 2021.

After a three-week civil trial, a federal court concluded Thursday that Spacey, 63, did not sexually abuse Rapp, 50. Deliberations lasted a little more than an hour. When the jury cleared Spacey of the allegations, he hugged lawyers and others before leaving the courtroom.

In an email statement to The Times on Thursday, Rapp's attorney Richard Steigman maintained that "Anthony told his truth in court," but added that "we respect the jury's verdict."

Representatives for Spacey did not immediately respond to The Times' request for comment on Thursday.

pic.twitter.com/JrvFBbSMjq  Anthony Rapp SAG-AFTRA National & NY Board Member (@albinokid) October 20, 2022

According to CNN, one of Spacey's attorneys commented on the verdict while leaving court Thursday.

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We are very grateful to the jury for seeing through these false allegations, said Jennifer Keller.

While the verdict didn't lean the way Rapp and his team had hoped, the actor said he will continue to speak out against sexual abuse.

"I pledge to keep on advocating for efforts to ensure that we can live and work in a world that is free from sexual violence of any kind," he added. "I sincerely hope that survivors continue to tell their stories and fight for accountability."

Before the verdict, Rapp received support from fellow actor Alex Winter. The "Bill & Ted Face the Music" star celebrated Rapp for his "Herculean courage to speak out about one's childhood sexual abuse."

"Every survivor of CSA is strengthened when even one of us takes a public stand," Winter wrote on Twitter.

It takes Herculean courage to speak out about ones childhood sexual abuse. In the Kevin Spacey assault hearing, Anthony Rapp faces a powerful public adversary. All the love and support to Rapp. Every survivor of CSA is strengthened when even one of us takes a public stand   Alex Winter (@Winter) October 20, 2022

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
ROME (Reuters) - Giorgia Meloni's Italian government will be sworn in on Saturday at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT). Her cabinet will be made up of 24 ministers. Here the profiles of some of the key figures:

ECONOMY MINISTER

Giancarlo Giorgetti, 55, is a veteran political wheeler-dealer viewed as a moderate and relatively pro-European member of his right-wing League party.

As industry minister in Mario Draghi's outgoing government Giorgetti helped block a number of Chinese takeover bids in strategic sectors of Italy's economy.

Prior to that he spent most of his 26 years in parliament behind the scenes, negotiating on others' behalf and making influential friends in finance and business.

As lower house budget committee head for 10 years between 2001-2013, Giorgetti learned Rome's legislative processes inside out, and his renowned networking skills extend from politics through business to Italy's powerful Roman Catholic church.

He was not Prime Minister Meloni's first choice for the job. She had wanted a technocrat and sources say she approached European Central Bank board member Fabio Panetta, who declined the post. She then turned to Giorgetti.

FOREIGN MINISTER AND DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Antonio Tajani, 69, is one of the closest aides to former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a safe pair of hands with solid EU credentials who has been deputy leader of Berlusconi's conservative Forza Italia party since 2018.

A former journalist, Tajani entered politics with Berlusconi in 1994 and spent most of his political career in Brussels, either in the European Parliament or in the European Commission.

He led the EU parliament in 2017-2019. At the Commission, he held the transport (2008-2010) and industry (2010-2014) portfolios.

In his youth, Tajani supported a right-wing pro-monarchy party. He speaks French, Spanish, English and Italian.

INTERIOR MINISTER

Matteo Piantedosi, 59, is a career civil servant who was chief of staff to League leader Matteo Salvini during his term at the interior ministry in 2018-19, helping him to shape his hard-line policies against illegal immigration.

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Although he is close to Salvini, Piantedosi is a technocrat without party affiliation and has no previous experience as a minister. He has spent the last two years as Rome's prefect - a position which upholds security and public order in the capital.

INFRASTRUCTURE MINISTER AND DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Matteo Salvini, 49, is the head of the hard-right League party and a former interior minister who has promoted a populist agenda, including mass deportations of boat migrants, sweeping tax cuts and lowering the retirement age.

Bearded and stocky, the plain-speaking Salvini took charge of the League in 2013 when it was a small, scandal-plagued regional party. He turned it into a national force and looked set to dominate Italian politics before a series of missteps saw his popularity dive over the past three years.

A one-time fervent supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Salvini has denied allegations his party was funded by Moscow and has criticised the invasion of Ukraine. He rejected suggestions he should stand down as League leader after its weak showing in the Sept. 25 election.

INDUSTRY MINISTER

Adolfo Urso, 65, from Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, began his political career in the youth organisation of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), the post-fascist party created in 1946 by supporters of dictator Benito Mussolini.

A former journalist, Urso was first elected to parliament in 1994. He held posts in centre-right governments led by Silvio Berlusconi and recently served as president of an influential parliamentary committee on security.

In this role, he urged Mario Draghi's government and parliament to strengthen so-called golden powers aimed at shielding industries deemed of strategic importance from foreign takeovers.

DEFENCE MINISTER

Guido Crosetto, 59, is a defence industry lobbyist, a close aide to Meloni and co-founder of her party. He began his political career with the Christian Democratic Party in the 1980s and was a long-time member of parliament until 2019 when he resigned to become president of AIAD, a federation of companies working in the aerospace and defence sector.

Almost two metres (6.6 feet) tall and bald, he is nicknamed 'the gentle giant' or Shrek, a reference to the cartoon character. He served as junior defence minister in a government led by Berlusconi between 2008 and 2011.

JUSTICE MINISTER

Carlo Nordio, 75, a Brothers of Italy lawmaker, is well-known in Italy as the former prosecutor of Venice, a post from which he retired in 2017.

He was a fierce opponent of pool of magistrates that led the so-called "Clean Hands" corruption investigation which brought down Italy's political class in the early 1990s. Meloni insisted on him for the job, overcoming resistance from Berlusconi who wanted a Forza Italia member in the justice ministry.

(This story has been corrected to remove profile of environment minister after Meloni said she read out the wrong name and the job had gone to someone else)

(Reporting by Rome bureau and Emilio Parodi in Milan; Editing by Keith Weir)
A Florida Keys man with a history of pulling off elaborate cyber crimes, forgeries and counterfeit schemes 10 years ago was sentenced this week to three years in federal prison, after pleading guilty to faking documents used to create a bogus pilots license to steal a private jet.

Cole Peacock, 30, has a storied criminal career of clever crimes straight out of a Hollywood script.

These include defrauding a Tennessee tech company out of $3 million in computer equipment in 2016, impersonating a Monroe County Fire Rescue lieutenant in 2019, and sending a bomb threat to the sheriffs office after hacking into the agencys computer system, making it appear as if the threat came from within the department back in 2013.

This time, federal prosecutors say Peacock, a student pilot, created fraudulent and counterfeit endorsements that made it look like a flight instructor qualified him to fly solo in airspace surrounding the nations busiest airports in 2020.

That year, he also flew a single-engine Cessna airplane with a passenger onboard from Homestead General Aviation Airport to Orlando International Airport, according to a plea agreement he signed in U.S. Southern District Court in June. Prosecutors say he falsified his flight logbook stating he was a qualified solo pilot, when in reality he was a student pilot.

Then, in February 2021, Fort Lauderdale police received a call from a man at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport reporting that his Venezuelan-registered 1981 Learjet, valued at $150,000, was stolen.

Police found the plane at the nearby Florida Jet Center. Peacock was able to steal the jet by forging a bill of sale and creating a counterfeit Florida Notary stamp. He also created an alias, Cole Watson, and a registered company called Watson Aircraft Salvage Corporation, according to court documents.

Moreover, an identical signature purportedly from the victim, appeared on multiple sales and transfer documents, indicating it was computer generated and had been copied and pasted from one document to the next, U.S. Attorneys Office prosecutors said in the plea agreement.

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Past crimes

The 2013 bomb threat was aimed at a Monroe County detective investigating a fraudulent check scheme Peacock pulled off to pay $22,000 in credit card debt he racked up on a recently obtained account.

In total, Peacock sent 78 emails from the hacked sheriffs office computer system, four of which read: DEATH DEATH DOOM DOOM YOU HAVE A BOMB AT ONE OF YOU SUBSTATIONS BETTER FIND IT SOON. Another 10 messages said, death death you will die soon.

When deputies went to Peacocks then address at Azalea Street to arrest him on the fraudulent checks charges in June 2013, he reportedly threatened them with a syringe. When the deputies told him to drop the needle, he instead jabbed himself in the neck.

The deputies and detectives knocked away the syringe, but Peacock struggled with them as they tried to cuff him. During the scuffle, police say he grabbed a detectives sidearm holster.

A check of Monroe County Clerk of the Court records shows Peacock never served more than a year in county jail for any of these offenses following a series of negotiated pleas.

He also has a pending felony case against him in the Keys from March, when detectives say he tampered with the sewage transfer station at a resort in the Village of Islamorada. Investigators say he damaged a valve, causing a sewage backup in the municipal wastewater system.

His motive, detectives say, was so his family-owned company that repairs wastewater-transfer systems would get the job to fix the problem.
The co-founder of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, is rumored to have left Singapore for Dubai  rumors that may have some validity, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

On Thursday there were reports Kwon had left Singapore last month and landed in Dubai. According to Bloomberg, South Korean prosecutors have said that the report was "not false."

The Terra ecosystem imploded in May, evaporating $60 billion in value, after which Kwon faced charges of violating capital markets laws in South Korea.

Having departed his native country for Singapore, Kwon denied reports that he was on the run, despite Interpol issuing a "red notice" for his arrest. He claimed he had moved to Singapore before the collapse of the Terra ecosystem.

Terraform Labs and the Seoul Prosecutors Office did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.

Terra's collapse led to far-reaching damage across the crypto industry with reports of some investors losing their life savings.

Read more: Terra Developers Unveil 4-Year Plan to Revive LUNA Ecosystem












Against the backdrop of a nationwide attack on voting rights, Delawares 2022 legislative session told a different story. Voting rights advocates celebrated historic wins as the Delaware General Assembly successfully passed vote-by-mail and same-day registration, both of which were signed by Gov. John. Carney  but almost as quickly as those bills were passed and signed, they were overturned by our courts, leaving voters in Delaware confused, and with less options to vote than they had just two months ago in the Primary Election.

Signs outside A. I. DuPont High School directed voters for the May 10, 2022 school board elections.

Given these last-minute changes, its important that all voters, especially new voters like college students, know how, where, and when they can vote as the Nov. 8 General Election approaches.

What do all of these changes mean?

Is mail-in voting banned?

Can voters still cast their ballots early?

Are there changes in polling locations?

We believe that its important to get the answers to some of the most pressing questions out there in these last few weeks before the General Election, so were teaming up to provide some answers.

The biggest updates are that permanent vote-by-mail for all Delaware voters and same day registration are no longer available.

What you need to know:How to vote early in Delaware's U.S. House, General Assembly and attorney general race

The vote-by-mail update means that the only way to cast a mail ballot in Delaware is through absentee voting, which applies to voters who meet several qualifying circumstances. This option for mail-in voting is still applicable to many college students who are registered to vote in Delaware, but traveling out of state, for example. More information about voting absentee is available in the Delaware Voting Rights Coalitions voter guide, available online at VoteDelaware.org/dvrc-voter-guide.

The Delaware Supreme Courts overturning of same day registration, means that voters in Delaware no longer have the option to register at their polling place during early voting or on Election Day. The registration deadline, which was Saturday, Oct. 15, passed just over one week after the ruling was announced  a devastating blow to any voters who were not able to register in time given such little notice.

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Early in-person voting, which went into effect in January of this year after passing the General Assembly in 2019, is still in place for Delaware voters. Early voting allows Delawareans who may find it difficult to make it to the polls on Election Day an additional 10 days to cast their ballots during the early voting period. This year, early voting for the General Election begins on Friday, Oct. 28, and ends on Sunday Nov. 6. Early voting locations and poll hours differ from those on Election Day. Voters can find their early voting polling place by visiting ivote.de.gov and find more information about early voting on the Department of Elections website.

No voice should go unheard because someone who wants to vote missed an arbitrary deadline or struggled to make it to the polls on Election Day, but we can not let these challenges stand in the way of a successful General Election in 2022. Delawares collegiate community strongly encourage all voters  especially college students  to cast their ballot via absentee, early voting or in-person on Election Day, and if youd like to see expanded access to the ballot return to Delaware for future elections, then we encourage you to learn where your candidates stand on vote by mail and same day registration, too.

David Redlawsk is the James R. Soles Professor and chair of the department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware.

Kimeu W. Boynton is an associate professor in the department of Sociology and Criminal Justice and Interim Assistant Dean of the College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences at Delaware State University.

Thomas M. Powers is the founding director of the Center for Science, Ethics and Public Policy and associate professor in Philosophy and in the Biden School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware voting by mail same day registration changes
Shes served on all occasions.

Cardi B is a notorious figure for red carpet looks, but what about what shes wearing off of the red carpet?

Over the years weve seen the fashion mogul serve looks for all of her court dates. Whether shes decked out in all black or wearing a sophisticated white pantsuit, Cardi sure knows how to give effortlessly stylish fits during any season.

And though Cardi always knows how to make a statement, her most recent court date looks from 2022 are classy, simple, and edgy. What I love about this look is that its really simple, and since youre in court you dont want to really go over the top, said @sheissherian on Tiktok. I think its really the hair like the hair really took it from oh your honor, Im innocent to your honor I didnt do it but like, dont I look cute?

TikTok Commentary

Below, weve found all of the best Cardi B court looks we stan from the rapper to date.

Whos Fresher Than Her?

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

As much as we hate to see her in court, we have to admit BIG Bardi knows how to dress the part. For her most recent trip to court Oct 21, Cardi rocked this camel three-piece suit with her CHANEL Metallic Lambskin Quilted Small Trendy CC Flap Dual Handle Bag.

Houndstooth Galore

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cardi B/Beyonce/KK *FAN PAGE* (@bey_bardi_smoke)

On October 20, Cardi rocked an all Houndstooth ensemble again with her CHANEL Metallic Lambskin Quilted Small Trendy CC Flap Dual Handle Bag.

All Black Everything

Cardi B departing the Ronald Reagan Federal Building on October 20, 2022 in Santa Ana pic.twitter.com/LfGJxOxBe2  CardiBArchive (@cardibarchive_) October 20, 2022

Cardi paired a short sleeve midi pencil dress and her CHANEL Metallic Lambskin Quilted Small Trendy CC Flap Dual Handle Bag.

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Bright in White

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cardi B (@iamcardib)

Cardi B arrives at Queens County Criminal Court in New York wearing a white long sleeve tube dress and a pair of white pumps.

Feather Weather

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cardi B (@iamcardib)

Cardi B arrives at the Queens Criminal Court in New York City wearing a pantsuit, feathered coat, and a fluffy black hat.

Cloud Nine

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cardi B (@iamcardib)

Cardi B is seen on April 19, 2019 in New York City wearing an all-white ensemble.

Birkins For Days

Cardi B is seen wearing a blue and pink pantsuit with a Birken bag to match.

Pretty in Pink

View this post on Instagram A post shared by ABC World News Tonight (@abcworldnewstonight)

Cardi B departs from court on the first day of her trial in 2019 wearing an all-pink pantsuit and pink stilettos.

Rainbow Wiggin It

Cardi B Just Wore a Rainbow Wig to Her Court Appearance, Cementing Her Status as the GOAT https://t.co/ZCFWGEySaj pic.twitter.com/Pt85dZBojN  Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) December 7, 2018

Cardi B is seen wearing all-black, a brown floppy hat and her infamous rainbow wig. ICONIC.
Colorado police allegedly pepper sprayed a handcuffed 17-year-old girl while she was sitting in the backseat of a police car, according to a recent lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed last week, accused three Colorado Springs police officers of using excessive force against the girl during a police encounter in October 2020.

The police were called on the high school student and her boyfriend early in the morning on Oct. 17, 2020, as the two argued outside.

Officers Ryan Yoshimiya and Brianna Ragsdale responded to the call. However, the 17-year-old girl was hesitant to talk to the police officers, and they allowed her brother to take her back inside.

Police received a second call less than hour later. Yoshimiya and Ragsdale responded again and found the girl sitting on the street in a distraught state, crying and yelling, according to the lawsuit. She again refused to talk to the officers and told Ragsdale to arrest her.

Ragsdale eventually handcuffed her in exasperation and walked the girl, who was physically compliant at the time, to the police car. However, Yoshimiya forcefully pushed the girl into the car, the lawsuit alleged.

Yoshimiyas man-handling of the girl  who was a recent rape victim  reportedly triggered a trauma response and caused extreme emotional distress.

Ragsdale and Yoshimiya then allegedly pushed the girl down onto the asphalt and put their weight on her, according to the lawsuit. The officers then put the girl in the backseat of the police car, where she reportedly yelled, asked to call her mother and kicked the closed door.

When Sergeant Gregory Wilhelmi arrived, he allegedly pepper sprayed the girl, who was now handcuffed in the backseat of the police car, twice in the face. Yoshimiya then closed the car door, leaving the girl in the fog of pepper spray with the doors and windows closed.

Ragsdale eventually opened the car door, but none of the officers offered the girl any treatment for the effects of the pepper spray, the lawsuit claimed.

The lawsuit noted that the officers had no reason to believe the 17-year-old high school student posed a threat to them, as she was an obviously unarmed minor, who was much smaller than the officers, and who was already handcuffed in the back of the police car.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis is seen in New York Supreme Court. Julia Nikhinson/AP

Haleigh Breest is suing Paul Haggis, alleging he raped her at his apartment in 2013.

In court Thursday, Haggis' attorney said Breest is lying and that Scientologists may be behind her claim.

Breest's attorney said Haggis' attorneys suggested his firm is being paid by the Scientologists.

A lawyer representing Paul Haggis' rape accuser complained in court on Thursday about the "outrageous" suggestion that his firm is being paid by the Church of Scientology.

Haggis, the Oscar-winning writer and director behind the films "Crash" and "Million Dollar Baby," left the church in 2009 and told the New Yorker two years later that the church would likely frame him in a scandal for retribution.

He's currently standing trial in New York Supreme Court in a civil case brought by Haleigh Breest, a publicist who alleges Haggis raped her at his Manhattan apartment in 2013. She's asking the jury to award her unspecified damages. Haggis claims the sex was consensual.

In court on Thursday, Ilann Maazel, whose firm is representing Breest, complained that Haggis' lawyers suggested while questioning Breest's therapist the day before that his firm is being paid by the Scientologists.

"It was outrageous for them to suggest that," Maazel said in court on Thursday. "We've received no money whatsoever from the Church of Scientology."

"They are smearing my law firm  a preeminent civil rights firm in the city," Maazel added.

Haleigh Breest, center, is pictured with her lawyers Zoe Salzman, left, and Ilann Maazel, right, in New York court on October 17, 2022. Yuki Iwamura/AP

Maazel asked Judge Sabrina Kraus to stop any line of questioning suggesting that his firm is being paid by the Scientologists. But in a pre-trial ruling, Kraus allowed Haggis' lawyers to argue that Scientologists are behind the allegation. She reiterated Thursday that Haggis' lawyers would be allowed to continue exploring that theory during the trial.

"I'm not going to preclude them from asking about it," she said.

Priya Chaudhry, one of Haggis' lawyesrs, told Insider in a statement on Friday: "Scientology is known to stop at no boundaries to get its public enemies such as Paul Haggis. Notoriously they do this without leaving fingerprints. Here, Scientology ceased its years-long harassment of Paul Haggis when this lawsuit was filed. Coincidence?"

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In opening statements, Zoe Salzman, one of Breest's lawyers, said Haggis has already admitted he doesn't have any proof the Church of Scientology was involved.

But Chaudhry pointed out that Haggis doesn't have the burden of proof because he didn't file the lawsuit.

Nevertheless, Chaudhry said the circumstantial evidence that the Scientologists are involved will be "strong."

Salzman also asked if Breest had ever been a member of the Church of Scientology, had a family member who was, ever attended a Scientology event, or even been into on of the church's buildings.

Breest answered "No" every time and also said Scientologists had never encouraged her to come forward or offered her any support whatsoever.

In court on Friday, Salzman sought to finally put the Scientology question to rest.

She had Breest point out on the stand that the firm representing her, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, hasn't even been paid for their work yet. They were hired for a "contingency fee," meaning they only get paid if they win the case, at which point they get a cut of the damages.

Karin Pouw, a spokesperson for the Church of Scientology, told Insider on Friday that "the church has nothing to do with the claims against Haggis nor does it have any relation to his accusers."

"I repeat: the church has nothing to do with Haggis' accusers nor their attorneys. The church has never been involved in any way, financially or other," Pouw added.

"Haggis, a con man, continues to shop his scripted story to any who will buy it."

Read the original article on Insider
Photo: Abbotsford School District. William Fraser Middle School in Abbotsford, B.C.

An Abbotsford school vice-principal has been banned from teaching for life after being convicted of possession of child pornography in June.

Commissioner for teacher regulation Howard Kushner released an Oct. 3 consent agreement Oct. 18 that said the Teacher Regulation Branch learned from media reports in September 2018 that Robert Larence Haire had been charged with child pornography offences.

The agreement said he was suspended shortly thereafter.

B.C. Supreme Court records show Haire worked at Abbotsfords William Fraser Middle School.

The document said that on Sept. 13, 2018, police executed a search warrant at Haires home and seized several electronic devices.

Fifteen days later, Haire was charged with one count each of making available child pornography and possession of child pornography.

On Feb. 11, Haire was convicted on the charges. On June 9, Haire was sentenced to 20 months jail on the first count and 10 months on the second with time to be served concurrently.

The agreement said Haire resigned Sept. 21, 2018 and signed an undertaking not to teach.

As part of the agreement, Haire agreed not to apply for any teaching certification.

In considering the appropriate sanction, the agreement said the conduct was at the serious end of the spectrum.

Haire acted unethically and failed to maintain the integrity of the teaching profession by violating laws that protection minors from sexual exploitation, Kushner said.
A teenage student at Leechburg High School is charged as a juvenile with simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct after a disturbing cellphone video showed him picking up and slamming another students head into the ground.

Police tell Channel 11 this happened Tuesday morning in a hallway in the school. The video shows two kids scuffling with each other, but things escalate quickly. The suspect then pins the victim against the wall and grips around his neck until his face turns red. Then in a single, swift movement, the student lifts up the victim and slams his head into the ground. You see the victim lying on his back in the hallway. His eyes are wide open and he appears dazed. The victim is seen grabbing his head in pain. Several kids are laughing, and nobody helps him. You then see the teen try to sit up, but hes wobbly. He eventually climbs up, bracing himself against the wall. You then hear a teacher yelling for the kids to get to class. Ava Carrington is a student at the school.

To be cracking someones skull open in a fight, its just crazy, Carrington tells Channel 11. It was really shocking because I was walking down the hallway and I didnt really know what they were talking about. He did have a lot of injuries, thats what I heard.

Police tell Channel 11 the student wasnt taken to the hospital until after school and while there are several resource officers, some parents are asking, where were they?

Ive never not felt safe, but after I heard that story, I was just shocked. I was just wow, Carrington adds.

Parents say they werent notified this happened and they feel left in the dark. The superintendent of the district sent Channel 11 a statement reading:

The district has responded accordingly and handled the situation as it is dictated in our student handbook and by the law.

The police department says more students could be charged if they can identify who took the video. Police say theyre working with the school district to do that.

Story continues

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ATLANTA  Libertarian Chase Oliver might determine which party takes control of the Senate. But not by winning his election.

The long-shot candidate for Georgias high-stakes Senate race could force a Dec. 6 runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker, reshaping the dynamics of an already close contest and possibly leading to yet another scenario where all eyes focus on Georgia with the Senate majority on the line.

"I want the voters to know that they do have a third choice in this election," Oliver said in a debate here on Sunday, which Warnock attended and Walker skipped. "I dont have any interest in partisan bickering. I owe no allegiance to either party. I only owe allegiance to you, the voter."

If Olivers plea for voters to "send a message" to the two-party system gathers even a percentage point or two, it may deny Walker or Warnock the 50% required by state law to win on the first ballot.

He's not the only third party candidate positioned to make a small splash with potentially huge consequences in the 2022 midterm elections. Other outside candidates in states like Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania are emerging as wildcards  with polls indicating they have nowhere near enough support to win, but more than enough to influence results in tight races that can make or break President Joe Biden's agenda for the next two years.

I think its going to be significant, Chuck Coughlin, an Arizona Republican pollster, said of the third-party impact on key Senate races. After all the ballots are counted, [candidates] are going to say, That guy had 5% of the vote or 4% of the vote, and if I add that 4%, I win, because thats how close these races are going to be.

When all the shouting and hollering is done, and all the ballots get counted, people are going to look around and go: God, weve got to keep that guy out of the race in the future, he added. Weve got to do something to stop that from happening.

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County workers check mails in ballots. Nevada conducting its primary election. (Ty O'Neil / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via AP file)

As was the case in Georgia, the Libertarian candidate on the ballot in Arizona, Marc Victor, was allowed to participate in a Senate debate  something pollsters and forecasters told NBC News was critical for a third-party candidate to garner more support.

"Its a significant difference, in that its not going to propel the third-party candidate to victory, but it definitely impacts the conversation," said Spencer Kimball, director of polling at Emerson College in Massachusetts. "Because now instead of it being a one-on-one debate, it becomes a two-on-one debate in certain situations."

Standing onstage next to Republican nominee Blake Masters earlier this month, Victor excoriated both parties during Arizona's lone general election Senate debate this cycle. He said of Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Masters: "One of them kisses Bidens ring, one of them kisses Trumps ring. I dont kiss anybodys ring."

"Live your life however you choose. Just let other people do the same thing," said Victor, a combat veteran. "My name is Marc J. Victor. And if youre tired of the same old politics, Im your guy."

But while Victor was seeking to siphon voters from both candidates, some of his sharpest criticisms were reserved for Masters. After an answer in which Masters danced around whether Biden won the 2020 presidential election, Victor responded: "Boy, for a guy who's never been elected before, he sure sounds like a politician to me."

Pollsters said as far as Libertarians go, they traditionally tend to win over more Republican-leaning voters than those who would back Democrats, though other third-party candidates, such as Green Party nominees, have the inverse effect.

Angela McArdle, the chair of the Libertarian National Committee, said its not her party's job to protect Republican candidates who are alienating voters.

"If Republicans fear that Libertarians are going to be spoilers, Republicans need to run more liberty-minded candidates," McArdle told NBC News. "Chase Oliver and Marc Victor both performed well in their respective debates. Theyve earned any votes they receive, and Republicans are not entitled to anyones vote."

With the rare exception of independent Evan McMullin in Utah, who has an outside chance of victory in November after Democrats didnt field a candidate, the influence of most third-party Senate hopefuls this cycle is limited to picking off a few points.

But surveys suggest even a few points could be pivotal. On Thursday, an Insider Advantage/Fox 29 Philadelphia poll of Pennsylvania voters found Democrat John Fetterman locked in a dead heat with Republican Mehmet Oz. That survey, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 points, also showed Libertarian Erik Gerhardt at about 2% and "someone else" garnering about 1.5% support. Five candidates will appear on the Senate ballot.

Dave Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said the third-party candidates in Pennsylvania may prove more useful for Fetterman than Oz, as some conservative voters who may otherwise "hold their nose and vote for Oz," who has a low favorable rating, may opt to pick a third-party nominee.

"Because there are five candidates on the ballot, you could have people who may not, for whatever reason, feel Fetterman is their choice but who dont like Oz, who has a favorability problem, [and look at the] three other options for Pennsylvania voters," he said. "And I think thats going to impact the outcome and potentially the margin in Pennsylvania."

In Georgia, a Landmark Communications survey released this week found Warnock and Walker in a dead heat while Oliver drew the backing of 3.4% of respondents. And an Insider Advantage/Fox 5 Atlanta poll published this week showed Warnock with a 2 point edge while Oliver received 4% of the vote. Both survey results fell within the margin of error, and no candidate cleared 50%.

Sen. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker. (Getty Images file)

"In Georgia it obviously matters because you have to get to 50%," said Jessica Taylor, the Senate and Governors editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "And if another candidate is pulling a significant amount from either side, or any number really, it just makes that 50%+1 math harder."

"The most probable outcome is this will go to a runoff," she added. "So the big question is: Is it deja vu again and the entire Senate majority comes down to Georgia?"

Polling in the aforementioned states echoed Arizona, where an Arizona Family/HighGround survey  a poll conducted by Coughlin's firm  found Kelly up about 3 points, within the margin of error, while Victor drew support from more than 5% of voters.

And in Nevada, where the ballot lists Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Republican Adam Laxalt, three third-party hopefuls and a line for "none of these candidates," recent surveys have shown the combined share backing "someone else" and none of the above to be greater than the margin separating the two major contenders.

The "none of these candidates" option "actually has decided races before," Taylor said, observing that even though it's unclear which of the two candidates would benefit more from the extra options, "that race is just very close."

Much attention has been paid to the level of support third-party candidates can wrestle from the major party contenders in recent election cycles, particularly on the presidential level. But, as Kimball noted, these candidates can often appear stronger in polling than what their final performance shows as voters often decide to go with either the Democratic or Republican nominee.

"We have to wait to see the melt on these third-party candidates," he said. "We'll see if anybody can hold 3 or 4 points or if they're going to get down to under a decimal."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The author with her fiance and their son. (Photo: Courtesy of Alyssa Gonzales)

The author with her fiance and their son. (Photo: Courtesy of Alyssa Gonzales)

On June 21, 2022  just three days before the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization came out  I got the news: I was pregnant.

The timing was less than ideal: I had just given birth to a baby boy only three months earlier. My body had barely recovered from the last pregnancy, and my fiance and I simply were not ready to have another child. We were both working hard to keep food on the table for our newborn son, and physically, emotionally, and certainly financially, we were barely staying afloat. We just werent sure we could make another baby work right now.

But after talking to each other, to our family, and to God, we eventually came to a decision together: We would keep the baby. We would make it work. Despite my initial nervousness about how we would afford it as two low-wage workers, I couldnt help but smile, thinking about welcoming another little one into our growing family. With the same excited energy we felt with our firstborn son, we again started thinking about names and dreaming about who they might become.

Then, just a few months later, I got news that no mother ever wants to hear: My sweet little baby tested positive for Trisomy 18  a severe genetic condition affecting how the babys body develops and grows in utero. The follow-up appointments wrenched my heart in two. The ultrasound techs and high-risk pregnancy doctors pored over photos of the fetus I carried inside me  I was now 16 weeks pregnant  and ultimately found that its brain was not developing, it had two holes in its heart, and there was no bone in its nose at all.

The bottom line: There was no way this fetus would ever survive. Almost cruelly, they went ahead and told me what might have otherwise been welcome news: Its a little baby boy.

Still, my doctor told me there was a 9% chance the tests were wrong and that I could have amniocentesis just to confirm. I said yes without hesitation. A chance is a chance, and I so desperately wanted to hold my baby boy in my arms. But it wasnt meant to be, and further testing merely confirmed what in my heart I knew all along: I would never meet my sweet boy or see the person he would grow up to be.

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It turns out, however, the worst was yet to come.

Less than a year ago, the next step would have been obvious: We needed to terminate the pregnancy so that the clearly unviable fetus would not cause further complications for my own health. And, frankly, I just needed to close this severely traumatic chapter in my life.

But as I would soon learn, this basic and obvious health care decision was no longer mine to make. After the Dobbs decision, Alabamas trigger law went into effect and banned abortion almost completely  with only extremely narrow exceptions. Despite language in that trigger law that could possibly be interpreted as allowing an abortion in my specific case, the hospital I was at made it clear to me that it did not view it as an exception. If I wanted an abortion, I would need to travel somewhere else.

This growing fetus inside me that had once given me so much hope and joy was now a painful, heavy, and cruel reminder of what could have been.

Instead, they suggested I should simply carry the fetus to term and watch it die a slow, painful death before burying it in a child-sized coffin.

I was mortified. I just wanted this to be over. This growing fetus inside me that had once given me so much hope and joy was now a painful, heavy, and cruel reminder of what could have been.

And while Im sure other women with money could have easily packed up their lives and flown across the country to get the care they needed, that simply wasnt an option for me. We had no money. I had just stopped working to raise our first child, and my fiance and I certainly couldnt take time off, drive across the country, stay in some expensive hotel, and book an appointment with an abortion provider that wouldnt accept my insurance.

I had no idea what to do. I was scared. I was traumatized. And I was beginning to get angry that anyone in the greatest country in the world could possibly find themselves in this situation. I wanted it to be over.

Until this point, I wasnt really a political person. I barely kept up with the news. But as I grappled with this chaos, I began to realize no politician seemed to understand what I was going through. Certainly, I thought, this was not about being pro-life  my baby wasnt going to survive! Whose life were they supporting here? But neither did this feel like a choice, either. I wanted to give birth to this baby. I wanted to hear his laugh and his cries. I wanted to watch the man he would one day become. But I couldnt. I did not have a choice. I just needed health care, and doctors in Alabama refused to give it to me.

After tear-filled conversations about my situation with family members, someone finally pointed me to a partial solution. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, many abortion funds have popped up to help people like me travel out-of-state to get the care we need.

Southern women can no longer bear the brunt of Congresss reluctance to pass nationwide protections for reproductive rights.

So after working through some logistics with a fund that focused on helping low-income Southern women get the health care they needed out-of-state, I loaded up my infant son in the car with my fiance and his parents, and we drove eleven hours from rural Alabama to an abortion provider in Washington, D.C.

Finally, on the morning of Oct. 6, 2022  at 18 weeks, 3 days pregnant and many weeks later than I would have wanted  I was able to get the care I needed.

While I was extremely grateful for an end to this traumatic experience, the clinic there was harrowing in its own way. The waiting room, filled to the brim with dozens of young women  almost all Black and Latina  brought me face-to-face with other women enduring horrific conditions and wearing the same tired, scared and pained looks on their face. A look I knew all too well. One Black mother told me through tears that she had traveled hundreds of miles with her daughter to be here, but given how packed this clinic was with out-of-state patients, they couldnt even guarantee they would be able to honor her appointment that day.

At the end of it all, I knew I couldnt stay silent. Despite an initial shame about what I had been through, I ultimately decided I had to tell my story. Because when I got to that clinic, I knew that I wasnt alone. Every single day, low-income women  disproportionately women of color in the South  wake up to the dreaded realization that they are trapped. In Alabama. In Georgia. In Mississippi. In Tennessee. In conservative states across this country.

Something has to change. Southern women can no longer bear the brunt of Congresss reluctance to pass nationwide protections for reproductive rights. Leaving this issue to the states has already failed to protect us from prying politicians who would force their dystopian morality into our medical decisions. And if Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has his way, the problem could get exponentially worse, as every 15-weeks-pregnant woman in every part of the country would have to leave the country to get the medical care they needed.

Looking back, I wouldnt wish my experience on my worst enemy. And I will do whatever it takes to make sure no young woman ever has to experience what I did ever again.

Its time, once and for all, for Congress to codify Roe v. Wade and protect women like me from the life-long trauma that these abortion laws have inflicted upon us.

Alyssa Gonzales is a 23-year-old mother living in Alabama with her fiance, Clay, and her baby boy. She strives to do the best for her family so they can succeed in life and is a kind-hearted person who does what she can to help when she is able.

Do you have a compelling personal story youd like to see published on HuffPost? Find out what were looking for here and send us a pitch.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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Photo: John Moore (Getty Images)

Despite claiming the title of the worlds bastion of freedom, the U.S. doesnt always feel so free. Its no secret that government and corporate surveillance in this country has gotten a little out of hand in recent yearsand, according to some studies, Americans consistently rank as some of the worlds most surveilled people. One study published last year showed that America actually ranks #2 in surveillance globallyand another from several years back found that several U.S. cities ranked as some of the most spied upon in the world. Thankfully, China is still beating us overallfor the time being. But thats not really saying much, since China is an authoritarian technocracy with little regard for the civil liberties that American are ostensibly owed.

We decided to compile a list of cities where youre probably being watched by security cameras most of, if not all of, the time. Most of the data comes from a study done last year by tech outlet Comparitech, which compiled data on the number of CCTV cameras per city in the U.S. You can check out their full report for more granular details. Anyway, read on and despair!

Read more

San Francisco

Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)

Its the city where you left your heart, supposedly. San Francisco is a wonderful place to visit for many reasons (nice views, cool breeze, and a trendy bar or twenty), but its also a pretty terrible place for privacy. Comparitech lists SF as one of its major surveillance hubs, alleging it has a network of some 14,266 municipally operated camerasor about 16.18 cameras per 1,000 people. Though the city did ban facial recognition in 2019, it may be headed in the opposite direction now, policy-wise. Rising crime rates have pushed officials to invest in a wealth of stupid new programs designed to stop the local tech executives Maserati from getting keyed: this includes a recent pilot program that will give cops live access to an extensive network of private security cameras belonging to businesses and residents.

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The Bay is also home to Silicon Valleythat great and terrible Gorgon from whence surveillance capitalism and its gruesome spawn (Google, Amazon, Facebook, et al) hath sprung. Hiss!

New York City

Photo: mariakray (Shutterstock)

It doesnt make Comparitechs list, but the Big Apple is clearly another one of the most surveilled American cities, because duh. Before a few weeks ago, New York was already a dystopian mess held together by an army of cops, a broad network of municipal security cameras (at least 15,000, according to reports), and a weirdly unaccountable private surveillance fund. Now, in an effort to curb spiking crime rates, the city has decided to turn its subway system into a giant spying apparatus: in September, Gov. Kathy Hochuls administration announced it would be installing security cameras in every single train car in the city. She said of the cameras, You think Big Brother is watching you on the subway? Youre absolutely right. That is our intent. Nice!

At the same time, the rollout of OMNY, the citys new all-digital contactless fare system, means that passengers will be ditching their metro cards for a shiny new privacy hazard. The company running that systema defense contractor called Cubic Transportation Systemsis known for selling surveillance tech and military hardware to foreign governments...so thats cool.

Atlanta

Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Charles Hampton Jr. speaks at a press conference.

Atlanta is a big city with a lot of crime, so you can see why officials would want to keep an eye on folks. That said, there is a limit to which doing that actually stops people from doing dumb, illegal things. ATL is said to lead America in surveillance and allegedly has as many as 25,000 CCTV cameras stationed throughout the city. Matched against a population of roughly 500,000, thats about 49 cameras per 1,000 people. Of the cameras in the CCTV network, Comparitech claims that some 12,800 are available to the Atlanta Police Department for monitoring, which seems like a lot. All the stats together make Atlanta the most surveilled city in America, according to Comparitechs 2021 study.

Chicago

Photo: Untitled Title (Shutterstock)

We all know Chicago has a major crime problem. For years, the citys solution to bloodshed has been to stick cameras everywhere. Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union warned that Chi-towns surveillance network had ballooned to a frightening degree over the course of a decade. Today, the number of cameras in the [citys surveillance] system exceeds, by some estimates, more than 30,000, the ACLU wrote. Although the number of cameras has expanded, the system continues to operate without any regulation or privacy or regular public reporting about the camera system. Whether that camera arsenal is actually stopping crime is a matter of conjecture but, suffice it to say, a lot of people are still getting shot in the Windy City every weekend.

Denver

Photo: Doug Pensinger (Getty Images)

Denver, city of hiking, beautiful people, and high altitudes. Also security cameras! Comparitech found that the Colorado metropolis is one of the most surveilled in the countrywith some 12,273 cameras for about 727,211 people, meaning approximately 16.88 cameras per 1,000 people.

Washington, D.C.

Chris Wray, director of the FBI, thinks about something during a House Intelligence Committee hearing.

D.C.home of our hallowed government, the place where our legislators spend their days doing...uh, Im not sure what. Its also the natural habitat of the FBI and the rest of our surveillance state, which rule over us via a combo of limitless resources, creepy tech, and a vague constitutional basis.

Comparitech lists our nations capital as yet another of the most surveilled places on the planet. No surprise there. If you stroll around D.C., youll probably be on camera (the city has about 11,441 cameras, which means about 16 cameras per 1,000 people, given the overall population of 705,749). The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department also keep a pretty vigilant watch on everybody from political protesters to homeless people and, additionally, there might be spy planes watching you. All sorts of wonderful possibilities.

Los Angeles

A police helicopter flies over the Hollywood sign after somebody improved it.

Los Angeles: its a place where dreams go to dieor, at the very least, be whittled down via incessant failure until they dissolve into cynicism and despair. Anyway, LA is also a place where, even if you never make it to the silver screen, youll still always be on camera! Thats because L.A. is one of the most surveilled places on the planet, according to Comparitechs study. That includes some 22,327 cameras for about 3,979,576 people, which equals some 5.61 cameras per 1,000 people.

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The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Friday morning in the case of Reddick v. Louisiana denying some 1,500 people who are still in prison the right to a constitutional hearing.

"This decision will be remembered as a grave misstep in Louisiana history," the Promise of Justice Initiative said in a statement.

On May 10, 2022, the Louisiana Supreme Court heard arguments from the Promise of Justice Initiative and the Louisiana State Attorney General's Office in the case of Reddick v. Louisiana.

Reginald Reddick from Plaquemines Parish was convicted by a nonunanimous jury in 1997 after a 10-2 vote found him guilty of second-degree murder. He was then sentenced to life in prison.

"What we're looking at is, why were Louisianans deprived of their constitutional rights, black or white," said Jamila Johnson, Deputy Director of PJI and counsel for Reddick during the May hearing.

The Reddick case argued that more than 1,500 people who remain incarcerated due to nonunanimous jury verdicts should have access to a legal remedy.

These verdicts were nicknamed Jim Crow Jury convictions because of the role that they played in implicitly working to maintain white supremacy in Louisiana.

On October 21, 2022, the state Supreme Court released its ruling stating, "we are mindful of the strong reliance interests at stake and the high administrative burden that many retrials of final convictions would impose on our justice system. We further note that in voting to amend the state Constitution to require unanimity in jury verdicts, the citizens of this state chose to do so with prospective effect only."

The vote was 6-1 with the court's only Black justice, Piper Griffin of New Orleans, dissenting.

The ruling, written by Justice Scott Crichton, also noted that the court refused to act as a "super-legislature by issuing a broader retroactivity approach than that approved by the voters of Louisiana, who amended the Constitution with prospective effect only,"

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"We expressly note that the Legislature may determine that a broader subset of individuals are eligible for post-conviction relief. Likewise, the Governor has the power in individual cases to grant clemency under our state Constitution," Crichton wrote.

The ruling comes four years after the Louisiana voters chose to outlaw these juries, which disproportionally affected people of color. However, the law itself only applied to cases from 2019 forward.

In 2020 the US Supreme Court, in what has become known as the Ramos Ruling, specifically reversed the practice of split juries, but did not offer post-conviction relief for those already in jail who had exhausted their appeal process.

In their response to the ruling, PJI said, "The Courts failure to remedy this injustice is a deep stain on our great state."

Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: 15K inmates convicted by racist jury practice will not get new trials
The third season of the hit reality dating series Love Is Blind landed on Netflix this week. While the first four episodes have already brought loads of drama, theres one particular moment that has fans cringing.

Love Is Blind season three cast member Andrew Liu is a 30-year-old wildlife photographer and director of operations from Austin, Texas. Hes also self-proclaimed sexual kung fu expert.

Yes, thats right. In the pods, Liu hit it off with Nancy Rodriguez, a 32-year-old speech pathologist and real estate agent. When Liu asked Rodriguez what forms of physical affection she enjoys, he saw that as an opportunity to share some NSFW details on the most transcendental sex hes ever had.

That was my first experience doing orgasmic pleasure, he revealed, as he spoke about his sexual escapades with a 41-year-old woman he dated in Bali. That was also his first experience with something known as sexual kung fu.

According to Liu, the ultimate goal of sexual kung fu is to achieve an orgasm without ejaculating. This is also known as edging, but lets not burst his bubble.

At this point Im able to have sort of mini orgasms without ejaculating during sex, he told Rodriguez, who couldnt stop hiding her face in her hands on the other side of the wall.

So, is sexual kung fu a real thing? Well, it supposedly comes from Taoist tradition. Sex blogger Johnathan White writes that sexual kung fu is the art of mastering your sexual energy, transmuting this energy into all aspects of life, becoming a multi-orgasmic man, and having complete sexual control.

The practice is quite similar to edging, which involves sexual stimulation until stopping yourself from reaching orgasm. According to the International Society for Sexual Medicine, edging can actually increase the intensity of orgasm in some people.

While there might be some scientific backing to Lius favourite sex practice, that didnt stop viewers from sharing their cringeworthy reactions to the scene on social media.

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oh my god andrew in love is blind ep 1 made me giggle with that whole speech if i were nancy i would have got up and left while he was still going on and on about sexual kung fu, one person wrote on Twitter.

Andrew is sending me with this sexual kung fu speech, said someone else.

Im crying at Andrew talking about sexual kung fu WHAT, another user wrote.

oh my god andrew in love is blind ep 1 made me giggle with that whole speech if i were nancy i would have got up and left while he was still going on and on about sexual kung fu  zara (@bIackstvirs) October 19, 2022

#LoveIsBlind Andrew is sending me with this sexual kung fu speech   brain dead  (@mzcoppertone) October 20, 2022

Im crying at Andrew talking about sexual kung fu WHAT  *Bit-Bit* (@BrukitdwnBread) October 20, 2022

This wasnt Andrew Lius only awkard moment that had Love Is Blind fans talking this week. After Rodriguez rejected Lius proposal, producers asked the wildlife photographer how he was feeling during his confessional. When he asked the producers if the cameras were rolling, he was seen reaching for his pocket and pulling out eye drops. Liu proceeded to fill his eyes with drops and spoke about how it didnt feel good to be dumped by Rodriguez.

I never thought I could care for someone that would bring me to tears, he said, after reaching for the eye drops once more.

However, its still unclear whether Liu was faking the tears, or if his eyes were actually dry during the scene.

The next three episodes of Love Is Blind season three will premiere on Netflix on Wednesday 26 October.
Lowes, the American big box home improvement chain, is facing an effort to form the companys first US union in New Orleans, Louisiana, where 172 workers, under the banner of Lowes Workers United, recently filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Lowes operates or services about 2,000 stores in the US and Canada with more than 300,000 full and part-time employees, and has aggressively opposed unionization efforts. The company has staffed union avoidance investigators, developed anti-union training videos for employees, and lost a case in 2021 at the NLRB over a company policy that prohibited employees from discussing wages.

Theyre just treating us like commodities or robots. Were just numbers to them. Felix Allen, Lowes employee in New Orleans

Felix Allen, an employee who is organizing at the New Orleans store and has worked at Lowes for about two years, explained the union talk started earlier this year with co-workers. Theyve been galvanized by similar campaigns at Starbucks and Amazon, which have come to symbolize a rejuvenated US labor movement.

Allen said grievances include heat stress, not being able to take adequate water breaks, scheduling issues, lagging wages, as well as understaffing and aggressive customers as a result.

We just felt like we needed to stand up for ourselves, said Allen. Folks who have been there many years are still getting paid less than $15 an hour. Personally, I can operate three different types of forklifts and I get paid less than $13 an hour and Ive trained incoming employees.

Related: More workers say Starbucks retaliated for union efforts: I lost everything when they fired me

He compared this pay with Lowes profits in the past two years and the CEOs salary. Lowes CEO Marvin Ellison received $17.8m in total compensation in fiscal year 2022, 787 times the median employee pay for the same time period. The company spent over $13 bn in stock buybacks and $2bn in dividends to shareholders in 2021. He also claimed new employees have gotten higher pay than employees with seniority in many cases.

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Theyre just treating us like commodities or robots. Were just numbers to them, said Allen. Weve had folks whove been injured on the job and have not been dealt with fairly, theyve been through the wringer, and same thing for folks who have needed to take a leave of absence or a paternity leave or need accommodations for health reasons.

Since filing for the union election, Allen said several managers from different stores have come in, asking workers questions, and two union avoidance consultants walked around mischaracterizing union dues.

A spokesperson for Lowes said in an email, Lowes is committed to having a positive working environment and empowers associates to communicate directly with leadership. We value this relationship, and we do not believe that unionizing is in the best interests of our associates.

Lowes largest competitor, Home Depot, is also facing a union election. If successful, it would create the home improvement retailers first unionized US store. The union election is scheduled for 2 November, with the vote count to be held a few days later.

Home Depot has also historically opposed unions, with anti-union training videos and executives speaking out against legislation to facilitate union organizing. In 2019, a group of delivery drivers at Home Depot in San Diego, California, successfully unionized with the Teamsters.

The union election petition, filed in Philadelphia, seeks to represent 274 Home Depot employees with Home Depot Workers United, in what would be an independent union akin to the Amazon Labor Union.

Related: Blow to Amazon union drive as New York workers reject latest bid

There are a lot of things we have been put through in that store, but I would say the biggest thing that pushed us to this point is we kind of just felt forgotten, said Vincent Quiles, an employee at the Home Depot and union organizer. They rode high on calling us essential workers and stuff like that, but when it came time to treat us essentially, it didnt feel like they did.

He explained some of the pressing problems behind the organizing campaign: short staffing, lagging wages, and a lack of investment and resources for workers compared with the stores sales and profits since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Quiles claimed Home Depot has responded to the campaign with an influx of managers from different areas to try to discourage the unionization effort.

Ultimately, what we want to keep this focused on is empowering the people in that building, and just encouraging people that might be looking at what were doing here, added Quiles.

A spokesperson for Home Depot responded to the campaign in an email. We look forward to talking with our associates about their concerns. Our open-door policy is designed to assure all associates that they can bring concerns directly to leadership, and we have a track record of working successfully with our associates to resolve them. While we will of course work through the NLRB process, we do not believe unionization is the best solution for our associates.
OLENA ROSHCHINA  FRIDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2022, 14:00

The self-proclaimed President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, denies that his country is carrying out covert mobilisation and preparing for war.

Source: Belarusian state-owned news outlet Belta

Quote from Lukashenko: "Pay no attention to this howling. We are not going anywhere today. We want no war today. We do not need it. We need to calm down. Everyone must do their job if we want there to be no war."

Details: At the same time, Lukashenko claimed that Belarus had adjusted its approach to equipping the troops so as to upgrade it based on the experience of the Russian war against Ukraine.

He noted that earlier he had had large-scale plans to equip the troops by 2030 for billions of dollars, but the experience of the war in Ukraine showed that the military prefers simpler but upgraded and more reliable military equipment.

"We have started upgrading tanks. We will accelerate and strengthen them", Lukashenko stated.

He also inspected Belarusian unmanned aerial vehicles and noted "promising developments". Lukashenko stressed that "it is not desirable that these devices [UAVs - ed.] be used in Ukraine".

Background:

On 24 February, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including using tanks and other heavy equipment from the territory of Belarus. Since retreating from Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Chernihiv oblasts, the Russian Federation has been using the territory of Belarus to launch missiles on the territory of Ukraine.

On 21 September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "partial mobilisation" in Russia.

On 19 October, the Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine reported that Alexander Lukashenko was worried about societys reaction to the announcement of partial mobilisation.

On 20 October, Belarusian media reported that there was an increase in Russian military personnel and equipment at the Zyabrovka military airfield near the border between Belarus and Ukraine, and that the Russians were bringing soldiers and ammunition from Russias far east to Belarus.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the threat of a new attack from the territory of Belarus is growing, but that the site of the attack may change to the western part of the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.

However, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and UK defence intelligence still consider the risk of a new offensive from Belarus to be low.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Photo: The Canadian Press A trucker is led away after leaving his truck as police aim to end an ongoing protest against COVID-19 measures that has grown into a broader anti-government protest, on its 22nd day, in Ottawa, on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. A former senior Ontario Provincial Police officer says early meetings between Ottawa police officials and experts sent by other agencies to help were "unprofessional and disrespectful" during the "Freedom Convoy" protest. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

A former senior officer for the Ontario Provincial Police says Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa could have been ended without the federal Emergencies Act.

Former Chief Supt. Carson Pardy told the public inquiry into the use of the act today that plans were consistently delayed because of confusion and disorganization within Ottawa polices command structure.

Pardy says emergency powers granted by the Ontario government were critical, but the protests could have been ended using a plan created by the OPP before the federal government declared an emergency.

He says after Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly resigned on Feb. 15, plans to end the protest were quickly approved.

Pardy is the most recent police officer to tell the commission this week about disorganization and confusion within the ranks of Ottawa police.

He says early meetings with Sloly during the protests were unprofessional and disrespectful.
Artistic conception of the ExoMars rover on Mars.

The ExoMars rover may get a second chance to go to Mars. The European Space Agency (ESA) wants to swap out a Russian-built entry and descent platform for a version made in Europe, but the space agency will need to secure a hefty budget to move forward.



Following a council meeting on Thursday, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher reassured reporters that the science goals of the ExoMars mission will still be relevant in six years when the space agency plans on launching the rover. The science with the Rosalind Franklin rover is still the most advanced and interesting science in the search for life on Mars, he said during the press briefing. Theres no other similar mission planned...it would still be top science.

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The rover, named for scientist Rosalind Franklin, was slated for launch in September of this year to begin its journey to the Red Planet. The ExoMars rover was to launch aboard a Russian Proton rocket and land on Marss dusty surface using a Russian-made landing platform called Kazachok. But earlier in March, ESA suspended its joint mission with Russian space agency Roscosmos following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The rover is equipped with two cameras that allow it to see in 3D.

The space agency has been scrambling to give new life to its Mars mission and now wants to launch the rover in 2028. But in order to do that, ESA needs to provide the rover with a brand new landing platform that will be made in Europe, David Parker, ESAs director of human and robotic exploration, said at the press briefing.

The fate of the rover will be decided at ESAs Ministerial Council Meeting, which will be held from November 22 to 23 in Paris. Each of the space agencys member states is represented by one person in the council, and they each get one vote to determine the guidelines for ESAs space program. The decision will be made at the ministerial itself, but we have finalized the legal documents in order to get there, Aschbacher said.

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At the meeting, ESA will put forward an initial budget request for a 360 million mission ($355 million), the majority of which will be used to redesign the ExoMars mission, BBC reported. The space agency may even need additional funding later on, Parker told BBC.

ExoMars is a two-part mission, with an orbiter that launched in 2016 to study the chemistry of Mars atmosphere. The Rosalind Franklin rover is designed to search for evidence of ancient life on Mars using a handy drill that goes 2 meters (6.5 feet) below the surface to dig up the planets past. The idea is to go to Mars, but also go back in time, Parker said during the press briefing.

The mission suffered numerous delays even before things went south with Russias space agency. Funding for ExoMars was granted more than 10 years ago, but technical delays and the covid-19 pandemic pushed the launch date to fall 2022.

ESA has been working feverishly to source new rides to space after no longer being able to rely on Russias Soyuz rocket. The space agency recently announced that it would use SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch its Euclid infrared space telescope sometime in 2023. ESA is also waiting on the anticipated liftoff of Europes Ariane 6 rocket, a heavy lift launch vehicle that is currently scheduled to debut in late 2023.

Its looking a little rough for Europes space agency at the moment, but hopefully its Mars rover can eventually make its way to the Red Planeteven if its six years later than planned.

More: NASA and ESA Change Plans for Ambitious Mars Sample Return Mission

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Russian dictator Vladimir Putin marks eighth anniversary of illegal annexation of Crimea

The fact that Ukraine has now raised the issue of recognizing the independence of the Kuril Islands and them belonging to Japan; the fact that Ukraine voted to recognize the independence of (the Chehen Republic) Ichkeria; the fact that today there are protests in Dagestan suggests that we have started a parade of sovereignties in Russia, Davydyuk said on Radio NV.

Read also: Ukraine recognizes the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

According to Davydyuk, "it would take a major catastrophic event to trigger."

Parade of sovereignties was a series of declarations of sovereignty by the Soviet republics in the Soviet Union from 1988 to 1991, causing its collapse.

 a catalyst will be a turning point, launching this parade of independent states in Russia, Davydyuk added.

And most importantly, we now need to stir up tensions in the Siberian People's Republic. Why should Siberia feed Moscow and St. Petersburg with its gas and oil? In the same way, they can be friends with Beijing by directly selling their gas and oil to them. Or be friends with India. I think that one of the main issues is Siberia and the Caucasus. If we ignite the Caucasus and knock Siberia out of the picture  thats it, the Russian Federation is no more

Read also: Russian fighter jet crashes into apartment building in Yeysk, Russia

Former Ukrainian FM Volodymyr Ohryzko earlier said that Russia could disintegrate in the next two years.

On Aug. 24, Ukraines Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said he was certain that after the war, Russia would break apart into a collection of separate states, while Ukraine would retain its sovereignty and independence.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A man is charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting someone in the chest.

On Oct. 20, officers with the Memphis Police Department (MPD) responded to an aggravated assault at Methodist North Hospital.

A man told police he had been shot by Ralph in the 1800 block of Hartland Street, according to an affidavit.

Police detained a man who matched the description when they arrived at the location.

According to the affidavit, a witness saw he was in the house and saw the shooting.

He said the victim and Ralph were arguing in his bedroom about money when things got heated. Thats when Ralph pulled out a weapon from his mattress, according to the affidavit.

The witness tried to stop the altercation, but the shooter fired his weapon and shot the victim in the chest, police said.

During a photo lineup, the victim identified Danny Thompson as the person who shot him.

Police found a Heritage Arms revolver at the scene.

Thompson admitted to pulling out the gun and shooting the victim in the chest because he kept walking towards him, the affidavit said.

He said the witness grabbed his hand before he shot the victim.

Thompson, 60, is charged with attempted second-degree murder and employment of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.

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Authorities confirm that Frank Mosley, who was detained after shooting his friend in the head, has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. According to reports from Kens5, the San Antonio, Texas man has now been placed behind bars.

Frank Kalvin Mosley II was arrested for a shooting at an East Side apartment complex back in March.

As stated by the police, the warrant shows that Mosley and the victim were long-time friends, classmates, and neighbors.

However, officers told Kens5 that things got ugly when Mosley became infuriated with his 21-year-old friend upon noticing he liked his girlfriends photos on Instagram.

On the night of March 8th, just after 10 p.m., police were called about a shooting at the 4600 block of East Houston street.

Once they arrived on the scene, they discovered a wounded man who had been shot in the head. The victim was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

After interviewing witnesses and speaking to Mosleys girlfriend, it was determined that an altercation between Mosley and the victim transpired after Mosley became aware of his friend scrolling through his girlfriends Instagram photos.

Witnesses who watched the incident occur shared details with officials revealing that the victim went to Mosleys apartment to start a physical altercation, and that intensified the quarrel. At one point, while both men were outside, a witness saw Mosley with a gun, and several minutes later heard a gunshot, as stated on the arrest warrant.

The witness ran outside and found the victim lying on the ground.

Mosley fled the scene. But finally, authorities apprehended him on Monday.

According to documents provided by the police, investigators used photos posted on his social media accounts and compared them with a booking picture that was on file with Bexar County records. Authorities, therefore, were able to identify Mosley.

Mosleys girlfriend claims she has never seen him with a gun, but that was deemed false upon investigators uncovering several photos of him with various guns.

The arrest warrant noted that the victim made a recovery good enough to communicate effectively with his family through speech therapy. And during a session, confirmed to his parents that Mosley was the person who shot him.

Mosley is now incarcerated on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He has a bond of $75,000. And he also faces charges of evading arrest.
BALTIMORE  Outgoing Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn Mosby is asking the judge presiding over her federal perjury and mortgage fraud case to move her upcoming trial out of the city.

Mosbys attorneys filed a document under seal Thursday, and U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby issued a scheduling order Friday asking both parties to file responses about whether the trial should be moved. It is scheduled to begin March 27.

Previously, Mosbys attorneys had argued that many of the potential jurors in her case were prejudiced against her because of prosecutors actions and local media coverage. Prosecutors have denied any wrongdoing, and in turn accused her of trying to sway jurors in her favor by misrepresenting facts of the case and developments in court.

Its not clear where Mosby or her attorneys want the trial to take place  the U.S. District Court in Maryland is divided into the northern and southern divisions and jurors for trials in either division are selected from the counties that comprise them.

For example, a federal trial held at the Greenbelt courthouse would select jurors from Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince Georges and St. Marys counties, according to the courts publicly available jury plan. It is also possible the trial could move to another state. If the trial is moved, the judge gets to decide where.

Normally, attorneys request to change venue for an upcoming trial because their client has received so much negative publicity that they genuinely believe they can no longer get a fair and impartial jury, defense attorney and former prosecutor Andrew I. Alperstein told The Baltimore Sun. However, attorneys will also make the request when they think a jury from a different region may be more sympathetic to their client because of the areas political leanings.

Normally its because you might have a more conservative or liberal pool, Alperstein said. If it were to go to Greenbelt, I dont know that its more likely youd get one type of juror versus another (compared to Baltimore).

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Alperstein said judges do not regularly grant these motions, and often wait to do so until after failing to seat enough jurors who say they can review the facts and evidence in a case with impartiality.

Mosby is charged with two counts each of perjury and mortgage fraud. The perjury charges are based on Mosbys withdrawal of more than $80,000 from her city-managed retirement account in 2020 under the CARES Act, the first coronavirus pandemic-relief bill Congress passed.

Prosecutors say she lied about experiencing adverse financial consequences during the pandemic in order to make the withdrawals. She used that money to purchase two Florida vacation properties: an eight-bedroom house near Disney World and a condo on the Gulf Coast. Prosecutors say she misled lenders by misrepresenting the state of her finances on both mortgages  she failed to disclose a tax lien, according to the indictment against her  and misled the bank about her plans for the Disney-area home.

The two-term Democrat has vigorously maintained her innocence while repeatedly claiming the prosecution is racially and politically motivated. In an April hearing, Griggsby found there was no objective evidence of vindictive or racist prosecution, but Mosby and her defense have continued to maintain the opposite.

Mosby was scheduled to stand trial last month but the case was continued on the eve of jury selection after the prosecution said the defense had not properly disclosed expert testimony it was planning to use.

A jury pool was formed, and about 65% of people who responded to the preliminary questionnaire said they had at least heard about the case, according to a filing from A. Scott Bolden, Mosbys lead defense attorney.

Also in September, prosecutors asked Griggsby to issue a gag order in the case to stop attorneys from holding news conferences on the courthouse steps. The request came after Bolden made remarks to news reporters outside the courthouse following the most recent postponement where he cursed and expressed frustration with Griggsbys decision to continue the case again. Bolden apologized to the judge the next day.

In response to the request for a gag order, Bolden wrote that about 30% of prospective jurors in the case had their minds made up, according to a review of juror questionnaires, and cited examples of racially charged language used by some prospective jurors. Bolden did not say in his filing how many of the 30% thought his client was guilty.

Juror questionnaires are supposed to be confidential, and Griggsby on Sept. 30 ordered Bolden and the rest of Mosbys defense team to explain why she shouldnt sanction them for disclosing protected information.

Mosbys defense was required to file its formal argument as to why the trial should be moved by end of day Friday. Prosecutors have until Nov. 4 to respond.


Maxwell Frost is not your typical candidate.

The 25-year-old Democrat running in Floridas 10th Congressional District is likely to be the first Gen Z member of Congress  a term used to refer to those born between 1997 and 2012.

But Frost rejects his age is the only thing setting him apart.

I didnt decide to run to be the first Gen Z member of Congress, he told HuffPost.

Driven By Activism

A survivor of gun violence, Frost worked as National Organizing Director at March for Our Lives  a youth-led movement aimed at ending the gun epidemic in the U.S. created after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida  for two years before he decided to run for office.

But his activism started while he was still in school 10 years ago, following the deadly 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Gun violence, which has been a major focus of his campaign, is an issue that is solvable that weve seen the least amount of progress on, Frost explained.

Frost has pledged to be an advocate for gun reform and work to get money into communities across the country to prevent shootings before they even start, if elected. His district is solidly Democratic.

Frost said gun regulation is the first step. He explained that the majority of gun crimes in America are born out of the perpetrators living conditions, noting that people experiencing difficult circumstances often feel that using a gun could help them get ahead. The Florida Democrat believes improving peoples standard of living, including access to health care, is key in fighting gun violence.

The goal here should be to build a world where people dont feel the need to use a gun to solve their problems in the first place, Frost, who supports Medicare for All, said.

What Prompted His Run

Frost won his primary contest in August among a crowded field of 10 candidates running to succeed incumbent Val Demings, the Democrat challenging Republican Sen. Marco Rubio this election season.

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Local organizers approached Frost in January 2021 to encourage him to run, but he initially rejected their request, attributing his hesitation, in part, to internalized ageism.

Frost, who is Afro-Cuban and was adopted at birth by a musician and a special education teacher, shared the moment that changed his mind.

What changed everything for me was connecting with my biological mother, learning about her story, learning about the things she had been through, he said.

As Frost writes on his campaign website, she was caught in a cycle of drugs, crime, and violence while pregnant. She didnt have healthcare and wasnt able to see a doctor even once.

During a phone call with his biological mother, Frost learned he had multiple siblings and that she was forced to give him up because she wasnt able to raise another child.

She, along with his adoptive mother who migrated to the U.S. from Cuba in the 1960s, influenced his decision to run. Another contributing factor was his community, which was excited about having a young, progressive candidate to support.

The Role Of Money

But Frost says he cant create change alone.

Its never about one person. Its always about a movement, Frost told HuffPost.

He has donated money to 20 candidates across the country and supported a number of down-ballot candidates in Central Florida.

We need to build a Congress that looks like the country, so I want to make sure Im doing everything I can to get good candidates in, he said.

The young Democrat, who has worked on political campaigns since he graduated from high school and was an organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union before joining March for Our Lives, opened up about the financial struggles hes faced as a candidate. He ran out of money in the first three months of his campaign and had to work as an Uber driver to pay his bills.

As a young person who just doesnt have a lot of money, Ive been living literally paycheck to paycheck this entire year and at times didnt have money to feed myself, Frost said.

Frost says to have a better democracy, there should be more poor and working-class candidates in the political system.

Running As A Gen Z Candidate

Frost is keen to dispel the myth that young people are disenfranchised with politics, pointing to the fact that Gen Zers are running for office earlier than older generations did. He also expects young voter turnout to continue rising as more Gen Z members reach voting age.

The 2020 presidential election saw 53% turnout in young voters age 18 to 29 years old, according to The Washington Post, but a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll found only 49% of those 19 to 29 years old are absolutely certain to vote in this years midterm elections.

Frost said his organizing at March for Our Lives taught him young people want something to vote for, not against, adding that many campaigns dont even bother to reach out to voters of his generation.

He hopes his campaign, which is built on a message of love, will help inspire voters to turn out to the polls. Love, he said, is what connects his legislative priorities for office: ending gun violence, protecting U.S. democracy by enacting bold election reform and addressing the climate crisis.

When you love somebody, you want them to have health care, housing, you want them to be safe, free of gun violence, he said.

Frosts state was recently tested by Hurricane Ian, which killed at least 127 people, ABC News reported citing local officials. He says Ian exposed climate inequality, meaning that poor communities, people of color and students were the ones to bear the disproportionate impact of the hurricane.

Just because youre poor, just because youre Black, just because youre Latino does not mean you should live in a place where you have a higher percent chance of dying in a hurricane or losing everything that you own, he told HuffPost.

He emphasized the importance of building climate-friendly infrastructure in Florida, warning, there will be another hurricane, and it will be bad.

I dont like to be an alarmist. But, I mean, this is an existential problem, he said.

Plans For The Future

If elected, Frost will join the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Frost said he hasnt yet committed to joining any other groups, including the Squad, a group of young progressive lawmakers in the House.

Still, he is very excited to work with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who made history by defeating 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in 2018, becoming the youngest woman elected to Congress.

AOC is part of the reason why I decided to run. I think her election really gave permission to young people to do it, he said.

He also said he admires Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who slept on the steps of the Capitol to protest the end of the federal eviction moratorium.

Whats more noble than that? he asked.

Finding Meaning In Music

Apart from a political candidate and organizer, Frost also identifies as a musician. He went to an arts middle and high school, and was part of a salsa band named Seguro Que Si that performed at former President Barack Obamas inauguration.

Playing music, listening to music, going to concerts is just a huge part of my life, he said.

Music, though, is not a self-care ritual for Frost. It is also a big part of his campaign.

Last week, his campaign rented a flatbed truck for Orlando Pride and staged a mobile concert. He played the drums.

Maxwell Frost, a Democratic candidate for Florida's 10th Congressional district, plays the drums during the Pride Parade in Orlando, Florida, on October 15, 2022. (Photo: Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

Maxwell Frost, a Democratic candidate for Florida's 10th Congressional district, plays the drums during the Pride Parade in Orlando, Florida, on October 15, 2022. (Photo: Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

VIDEO: In the bustle of Orlando's Pride March, Maxwell Frost is finalizing preparations for a concert on a truck bed -- the latest impromptu campaign gig by the 25-year-old as he seeks to become Generation Z's first member of Congress. pic.twitter.com/5sccWs1Q1I  AFP News Agency (@AFP) October 21, 2022

Music was also a way of bonding with his father. His dad, who is also a musician, was the one to first introduce him to the art and buy him a drum set.

Frost recalls his dad reassuring him when he cried to music for the first time.

It really gave me permission to be vulnerable, because of art, he said. And I feel like thats made me into the person I am.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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Photo: pixabay

Light showers fell across much of southern and coastal British Columbia Friday  what for many was the first taste of rain since early July.

It has been around three months of really dry conditions, said Environment Canada meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau.

While welcomed by many, Charbonneau warned the Friday showers would offer a short-lived reprieve from the hot, dry temperatures that have been made worse by smoky skies.

The five to 10 millimetres of rain is expected to give way to a mix of sun and cloud over the weekend, before another system arrives at the coast, according to Environment Canada.

Thats when B.C.s south coast should expect around 20 millimetres of rain, climbing to 30 centimetres in the mountainous regions of Metro Vancouvers Tri-Cities or North Shore.

Charbonneau said weather models are indicating a return to normal fall weather, meaning rain, clouds and windy conditions.

That means that over time we should hopefully start to see some improvement in the drought conditions, she said.

Mixed signals on winter outlook

If theres one thing long-term climate models can agree on, its a return to a La Nina-dominated winter. What that means for B.C. is less certain.

Last week, NOAAs Climate Prediction Center said there is a 75 per cent chance of La Nina between December and February.

And on Thursday, U.S. National Weather Service released its updated winter outlook, reaffirming North America will be dominated by a third straight La Nina winter.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said winter temperatures will dip up to 50 per cent below normal along a border region stretching from B.C. to the western reaches of the Great Lakes.

Precipitation, meanwhile, is expected to be 40 to 50 per cent above average across the border regions of B.C. and Alberta.

[Canadian] communities near the border will probably see something similar, said Charbonneau.

But the Environment Canada meteorologist also warned that its just one forecast and there are other ways the winter could play out.

The U.S. outlook partly lines up with a winter outlook released by AccuWeather earlier this week. The weather forecasting service agreed with NOAA that the Prairies and eastern B.C. would have below-average temperatures.

In B.C.s central and southern regions, however, AccuWeather meteorologist Brett Anderson said near-normal temperatures, snowfall and rain would prevail.

Environment Canadas long-term winter weather models, meanwhile, found nearly equal probabilities B.C. could face a winter dominated by above, below or average temperatures and precipitation.

At this point, said Charbonneau, theres no reliable signal.

And even if Environment Canada climatologists come back with something more definitive at the end of October, when their next modelling update comes out, Charbonneau warned that week-to-week weather is incredibly hard to forecast that far out.

We know that climate models are inherently unreliable for predicting weather over the long-range, she said.

They can give you some information, but we cant really hang your hat on that.
By Ana Mano

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -A Brazilian labor prosecutor on Friday told the mayor of a major agribusiness town to stop directing companies "to suggest, influence or induce" workers to vote for specific candidates, after he called on business leaders to drum up votes for right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.

Prosecutor Mariana Casagranda issued the order, seen by Reuters, as part of a preliminary probe of Mayor Joao Rodrigues of Chapeco, a hotbed for Brazil's meatpacking industry.

The document cites a video of Rodrigues telling business leaders to direct their employees to vote for Bolsonaro, who is facing leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in an Oct. 30 runoff vote.

Brazil has seen a wave of complaints about Brazilian companies putting illegal political pressure on employees, amid the final stretch of a highly polarized presidential campaign.

There have been more than 900 such claims against companies this year, up from 212 in 2018, according to nationwide data compiled by labor prosecutors in Brasilia.

Electoral law prohibits Brazilians from promising benefits or making threats to steer votes toward or away from a particular candidate.

Reuters first reported on the Chapeco probe based on three people familiar with the investigation.

"Gather your employees and direct them. Brazil cannot become a Venezuela. It will not if Bolsonaro remains president," Rodrigues said in a 55-second video seen by Reuters, addressing the local business community before stating his name and title.

Rodrigues told Reuters he recorded the video this week in Chapeco at a hotel where he met about 70 entrepreneurs, but he denied breaking any laws. He said to violate electoral law would require threatening or compensating someone to take action.

"What I see is a mistaken action by the labor prosecutors," Rodrigues said, adding the investigators are "framing the entire productive sector."

Labor prosecutors in Brasilia declined to respond to his comments.

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Rodrigues said some business leaders may have committed "abuses," but he questioned why they cannot direct their employees regarding the upcoming vote. "Of course the business owner should talk to the employee. He must. The company is his. It's his loss if his company fails."

One of the sources familiar with the Rodrigues case said the investigation was triggered by the video in which he refers to the Oct. 30 runoff vote between Bolsonaro and leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Depending on how the investigation proceeds, it could become a civil lawsuit.

"With Lula as president, we are going to face a very serious crisis," Rodrigues said in the footage, warning entrepreneurs of Lula's plans to raise taxes and boost social programs.

In the final moments of the video, he urged the local business elite "to get to work."

(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Brad Haynes, Rosalba O'Brien and Daniel Wallis)
In an attempt to reduce the number of repeat criminal offenders walking freely, South Carolinas governor announced hell push for stronger regulation of the states bail bonds industry.

On Friday, Gov. Henry McMaster ordered the state Department of Insurance (DOI) to crack down on bail bondsmen who fail to report when defendants violate conditions of their bond.

The order will require all licensed bondsmen to report violations of bond and empowers DOI to punish bondsmen who fail to take action when a defendant is not complying with court-imposed requirements of bond.

DOI has not historically regulated bad acts within the commercial bail bonds industry or regulated electronic monitoring companies. But, according to the governors office, recent complaints of bondsmen failing to report defendants who violate conditions of their bond, including house arrest or maintaining an ankle monitor, has prompted a reexamination of the insurance agencys role in the judicial system.

In a statement Friday, the governors office went so far as to classify some of these bail bondsmen practices as shady.

Any comprehensive effort to close the revolving door of repeat offenders and violent criminals must hold bad actors in the bail-bond industry accountable for refusing to do their job, McMaster said in a news release. Were opening lines of communication between prosecutors and the Department of Insurance so bad actors are appropriately dealt with and were making it more difficult for them to go undetected. From now on, if a bondsmen is caught coddling a criminal, they will lose their license to operate in South Carolina.

The governors announcement comes barely a week after Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott held a press conference with state Sens. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, and Brian Adams, R-Berkeley, where they expressed growing concern with the holes in South Carolinas bond system.

Bondspeople have now been put on notice, Lott said. Everyone in the system has to be held accountable.

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The governors order will also establish a standardized, statewide process that allows solicitors to refer complaints about licensed bondsmen to DOI. The order also notifies licensed bondsmen that that DOI will have the power to strip bondsmen of their license or subject them to civil penalties if they fail to report infractions. Any suggestion of criminal conduct by bondsmen uncovered by DOI will be turned over of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, according to the statement.

Unfortunately, grifters and other opportunists have infiltrated the bail bond business and their profiteering continues to threaten our safety, 9th Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said in a statement. The Governors Order will help weed-out unsavory bondsmen who aid and abet violent criminals who continually wreak havoc in neighborhoods across our great state.

In a preview of his upcoming public safety proposals, McMasters statement also called on the General Assembly to pass legislation to enhance the states oversight of bail bondsmen, establish minimum standards for court-ordered GPS monitoring and impose penalties on bondsmen who fail to maintain electronic monitoring or report violations of bond to court.

Bond reform has been an ongoing discussion for Lott. Since August, two Richland County deputies have been injured while pursuing suspects who were out on bond.

Not everybody needs to stay in jail, Lott said, but those that demonstrate that theyre not going to follow the rules, theyre not going to get a third, fourth, fifth chance.
Megan Hilty attends the 25th Annual Critics' Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on January 12, 2020 in Santa Monica, California.

Kevin Mazur/Getty

Megan Hilty is reacting to the "overwhelming support" that's been shown for a GoFundMe campaign that raised funds to recover the remains of her family members who died in a plane crash in Washington last month.

On Sept. 4, a float plane carrying 10 people crashed in Puget Sound, killing everyone on board. Days later, Megan confirmed that her sister Lauren Hilty, brother-in-law Ross Mickel, and their son Remy, were among those dead. Lauren was eight months pregnant with her son, Luca, at the time of the crash.

Megan and her sister, Kristen Hilty Eaton, created a GoFundMe page on Wednesday to help finance the location efforts of the remains of Lauren, Remy and Luca after they said Ross and other victims were recovered in the days following the crash.

Noting in an Instagram post on Friday morning how it is "difficult to describe the depth of our gratitude for the overwhelming support we have received in such a short time" tied to the fundraiser, Megan said, "Because of this generosity, we will be able to start the recovery effort for Lauren, Remy & Luca immediately and hopefully bring some kind of closure to this unbearable tragedy very soon."

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RELATED: Fundraiser Hopes to Raise Money to Recover Bodies of Megan Hilty's Family Members Who Died in Crash

"This tragic loss put us in an impossible situation and, to be very honest, it was incredibly difficult to ask for help," Megan wrote.

"But," she continued, "the immediate outpouring of support has shown us we are not alone in wanting to recover our beloved family members, and that has brought us an immense amount of comfort."

"Because of the generous support we've received, we will be able to cover the search and rescue team's costs and make a donation to their foundation to help other families look for their loved ones," Megan added, without naming the specific foundation.

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Megan then thanked supporters for showing her and her family love during a difficult time.

"Whether you have contributed financially, brought us meals, sent flowers or cards or healing thoughts and prayers, we will never truly be able to thank you enough for supporting our family when we needed you the most," she wrote.

The Smash actress concluded her post by noting that she and her loved ones "will keep trying and we will be paying these acts of kindness forward for the rest of our lives," before signing her message "in profound gratitude."

RELATED VIDEO: Megan Hilty Breaks Silence on the Death of Her Sister, Brother-in-Law and Nephew: 'No Words'

Earlier this month, the Island County Department of Emergency Management said it had recovered and identified seven bodies from the crash.

Also killed in the crash were Seattle attorney Gabrielle Hanna, 29; pilot Jason Winters; passenger Joanne Mera; civil rights activist Sandra Williams and her partner, retired teacher Patricia Hicks; and married couple Luke and Rebecca Ludwig.

In a previous statement to PEOPLE, Megan and her sister Kristen said, "We are absolutely blown away by the outpouring of love and generosity we've received. Our family is infinitely grateful to feel so supported in our efforts to bring Lauren, Remy & Luca home."

As of Friday morning, the GoFundMe page has raised over $70,000.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP)  The victims of a racist mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket will be honored with a permanent memorial in the neighborhood, elected and community leaders announced Friday.

The shooting is part of the Buffalo story forever going forward, Gov. Kathy Hochul said. We want to do something that people remember. A place to come and reflect. A place to honor. And a place to say never again.

Former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, whose 86-year-old mother Ruth Whitfield was among the 10 Black people killed May 14, is among those appointed to a planning commission tasked with acquiring land, seeking input on the design, securing funds and maintaining the monument. Buffalo NAACP President Mark Blue will lead the effort.

It's not going to take the place of my mother or the lives of the other loved ones that were lost here," Whitfield said. "So we will forever miss them and honor their legacy by what we do going forward.

The officials did not specify a budget or timeline for the project's completion. Brown said numerous businesses and people have offered to contribute.

Related video: Report details role of online platforms in Buffalo supermarket shooting

Payton Gendron, 19, has been charged with killing 10 and wounding three others at the Tops Friendly Market. Investigators said he drove 200 miles from his Conklin home intending to kill as many Black people as possible at the store, which he targeted because of its location in the predominantly Black East Buffalo neighborhood. He has pleaded not guilty.

In the wake of the shooting, New York banned anyone under age 21 from buying or possessing a semi-automatic rifle like the one used by Gendron, who was 18 at the time.

Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats, also have called on lawmakers to outlaw the creation of videos of homicides, citing the viral spread across the internet of recordings livestreamed by killers. In a report this week, they also recommended ensuring online platforms take reasonable steps to stop such recordings from being circulated.

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The shooter wrote in an online diary that he was inspired in part by violent videos and writings accessible across various platforms, especially by a video clip of the mass shooting at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.

We talk to these social media platforms and the legitimate ones are with us, Hochul said Friday, but what we have to continue to deal with are those on the dark web and find ways to change federal laws, because right now they have a lot of protections under federal law. Thats the barrier we face.

Also appointed to the memorial commission were representatives of Tops Friendly Markets, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Buffalo Arts Commission and a coffee shop near the shooting site.
A Michigan man who stalked and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old Lubbock, Texas girl and later told authorities that it wasnt wrong was sentenced on Thursday to life in federal prison, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham.

Thomas John Boukamp, 22, received the sentence from U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix.

A federal jury in June convicted Boukamp on 16 counts: one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual conduct, one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, one count of enticement of a minor, two counts of receipt of child pornography, 10 counts of production and attempted production of child pornography, and one count of cyber stalking.

Boukamp met the child, identified in court with the alias Jane Doe, on the instant messaging platform Discord when she was just 13 years old, according to federal authorities.

The pair exchanged a series of messages, in which he threatened to hurt her family if she disclosed their budding relationship, and he later brought her to Michigan.

This man stalked and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old, then had the gall to claim in federal court that their so-called relationship was consensual, Meacham said in a Thursday news release. The child, who bravely faced her abuser in court, asserted in no uncertain terms that his advances were unwelcome. By law, 14-year-olds simply cannot consent to sexual contact with adults. We are immensely proud of this child and hope this sentence brings some solace to her and her family,

The teens father testified at trial that when she ran away to Michigan, his terrified daughter brought her baby blanket with her.

Once she was in Michigan, Boukamp kept Jane Doe in his home, where he sexually assaulted her, forcibly removed her braces with pliers, strangled, and hit her.

At Thursdays sentencing hearing, prosecutors introduced into evidence a recorded jailhouse phone call in which Boukamp insisted he would not apologize for quote unquote raping a 14-year-old.

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I like teenage girls! They dont like that I like that, he said of federal agents and prosecutors. I frankly dont care what the morality of this current time and place says. Its not wrong. Theres nothing wrong about it. And theyre not going to ever convince me of its wrongness. So up theirs. I hate this nation.

When he was reminded that authorities were monitoring his jailhouse calls, he threatened, if youre listening to this, yeah, your family is going to die.

At the hearing, assistant U.S. attorneys also introduced into evidence a letter Boukamp wrote to a family member noting his victims supposed betrayal and asking for help to escape prison.

This defendant displayed reprehensible behavior, which was countered by the bravery of the victim that so courageously testified against him, said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno in the Thursday news release. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to do everything in our power to seek justice for victims and their families, hold perpetrators accountable and protect others from harm.

The girls father submitted a statement to the court describing the trauma his daughter continues to endure:

Her childhood was ended too soon. He took that from her, he said in the letter. She struggles with her self-esteem. I dont know if shell ever be able to truly love herself again We hope that she can be okay. We hope that she can make it through this. We know that she will never be the same. We know that she will never get her innocence back.
The Grant Middle School mural that's driving some Michigan parents 'round the bend. (Photo: Screen Shot/Channel 13 WZZM-TV)

The Grant Middle School mural that's driving some Michigan parents 'round the bend. (Photo: Screen Shot/Channel 13 WZZM-TV)

Several parents expressed their outrage at a school board meeting earlier this month over a student mural at a Michigan middle school that included colors representing the LGBTQ community and what they claimed were secret symbols of witchcraft.

High school sophomore Evelyn Gonzales won a contest to brighten up the health center at Grant Middle School in the town of Grant by painting the mural on an interior wall. Gonzales said she was dumbfounded and hurt by the parents remarks.

I put my art up there to make people feel welcome, Gonzales said in footage from the meeting that was shown on Grand Rapids news station WZZM-Channel 13 TV.

As for Satanism or witchcraft, thats not what Im a part of, Gonzales said. Thats not what Im trying to put out there.

One critic called the brightly colored mural hate material.

The mural, shown above, features a smiling, diverse group of kids as well as hearts, a rabbit and bear wearing first aid hats, a peace sign, hands, a rainbow decoration on one students overalls and a message that said: Stay healthy.

Parents complained about the rainbow and blasted the colors of two students clothing which they claimed represented the transgender and bisexual Pride flags.

Parents were also incensed that the painting included a face inspired by the popular video game Genshin Impact, and a Hamsa hand, also known as the Hand of Fatima or Hand of Mary. The design, which a number of parents said was a sign of witchcraft, has been a symbol for good luck or protection for centuries in many cultures.

Not all of the adults at the meeting took issue with the artwork.

I am a conservative, right-wing, gun-loving American, and Ive never seen more bigoted people in my life, Tracy Hargreaves, who has two children in the Grant public school system, said at the meeting.

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Hargreaves later told Today.com that the meeting turned into a vicious hate fest.

Usually 10 people appear at the board meetings, but 50 showed up that night, she noted.

It wasnt even about the mural, Hargreaves added. People were talking about how we need to pray the gay away.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Photo: pixabay

A transnational drug criminal from Vancouver, who was linked by police to a notorious underground Richmond bank, was sentenced to 14-and-a-half years in a U.S. prison Thursday.

Central District of California Judge John Kronstadt handed down the sentence in Los Angeles, following a jurys March conviction of Vincent Yen Tek Chiu, 44 for conspiracy to distribute and export controlled substances, and distribution of cocaine, heroin and MDMA.

Chiu, who also went by nicknames El Chino and Tiger of Mexico, arranged to bring bulk cocaine to Canada in exchange for bulk exports of MDMA to the U.S. He employed a sophisticated cross-border distribution network that relied on encrypted mobile phones and 18-wheel trucks. Investigators believe the shipments were worth more than $3 million on the wholesale market.

More than a dozen defendants were involved in the scheme and police seized nearly 1,000 pounds of cocaine, nine kilograms of heroin, 46 kg of methamphetamine and 46 kg of ecstasy, as well as more than $800,000 in Canadian cash.

Five others have received jail terms, four of whom are Californians and the fifth a Vancouverite, Anthony Louis Lam. The 37-year-old is serving a four-year prison sentence.

Investigators say the operation involved members of Canadian, Mexican, Serbian, Chinese, and Sudanese gangs, some of whom used coded language and military-grade, end-to-end encrypted devices to hide their communications.

In April, two Metro Vancouver men charged in the same U.S. investigation met different fates.

Tenny Guon Lim and Dario Antonio Baruca were indicted in May 2019 by a grand jury for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jeanne Watchuk said there was enough evidence to send Lim south, but not for Baruca.

Chius brother, Richard Yen Fat Chiu, was found dead in Colombia in June 2019. Both were investigated, but not charged, in a probe of Richmonds Silver International. The Canadian case against Silver International and operators Caixuan Qin and Jian Jun Zhu collapsed in November 2018, when an informants identity was errantly revealed to defence lawyers. Richard Charles Reed and Yuexi Lei are charged with first degree murder after Zhu was gunned down in a Richmond Japanese restaurant in September 2020. Paul King Jin, who was banned from B.C. casinos for alleged loan sharking, survived the attack.
'Scream' mask from May 27, 2022, incident in Martin County

HAMILTON (AP)  Four people linked to viral video footage of Mississippi day care employees using a scary mask to frighten young children are facing charges of felony child abuse, and a fifth person faces two misdemeanor counts, authorities say.

The daycares owner, Sheila Sanders, is not facing charges. She has said that at least four of the employees were fired after the video came to light.

The videos  one filmed in September and another this month  were posted on social media. They show a day care worker at Lil Blessings Child Care & Learning Center in Hamilton, an unincorporated community in northeast Mississippi, wearing a Halloween mask similar to the one in the Scream movies and yelling at children who didnt clean up or act good.

Children can be seen bawling, cowering in fear and at times running from the masked employee. Another employee gives directions, singling out which children have acted good or bad. The employee in the mask is shown screaming inches away from childrens faces, the video showed.

Monroe County Sheriff Kevin Crook said in a news release that four of the women each face three counts of felony child abuse. A fifth woman, he says, faces charges of failure to report abuse by a mandatory reporter and simple assault against a minor  both misdemeanors.

They cant use corporal punishment, so we think they were using the mask to try to scare the kids into doing what they were supposed to be doing, Crook said.

Crook said his office, the county prosecuting attorney and the district attorney met earlier this week with the children's parents about the case. On Wednesday, at least one set of parents signed felony child abuse complaints, he said, adding a judge issued warrants Thursday for the women.

Crook said all five live in the area. Sierra McCandless, 21; Oci-Anna Kilburn, 28; Jennifer Newman, 25, and Shyenne Shelton, 28, are accused of three counts of felony child abuse, the sheriff's statement said.

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Another woman, Traci Hutson, 44, faces charges of failure to report abuse by a mandatory reporter and simple assault against a minor  both misdemeanors, he added.

At a hearing, bond was set at $20,000 each for McCandless and Kilburn and $15,000 each for Newman and Shelton. Because she faces misdemeanor charges, Hutson was not required to post bond.

It was not immediately known if any of those facing charges have attorneys who could speak on their behalf.

Katelyn Johnson, a parent, told ABC News that she was shocked after seeing the videos.

She said her 2-year-old son is still showing signs of trauma and has difficulty sleeping through the night, adding of the footage, its not a joke. And its nothing to laugh at.

Whether they had a mask on or a mask off, their behavior was unacceptable. My blood pressure was raised. It broke my heart for my child. I was angry," she said.

Crook told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that the felony charges will ultimately be presented to the grand jury to determine if theres enough evidence for formal indictments, which could lead to court trials.

Its just a shame it happened and this is where were at. Hopefully, people will learn from it, Crook said. It can tear a community apart. Everybody who was a part of it knew each other in some shape or form. Its a lot of emotions to deal with, and our job is to cut through those emotions, find the facts and present those facts.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Day care workers face felony child abuse charges for scream masks
A Mississippi man was sentenced to prison time for threatening to carry out a race war, according to the United States Attorneys Office Northern District of Mississippi.

Aubrey Suzuki of Nesbit, Mississippi was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for transmitting a communication in interstate commerce containing a threat to injure the person of another.

Authorities said the 21-year-old was messaging members of a white nationalist organization, made threats to wage a race war in the United States and made several statements about Nazi and white supremacist ideology.

Suzuki said Honestly, I dont want to be a normal person. I want to breathe revolution. I want to be in the middle of the boondocks with my mates killing (expletives) and blowing up the system, the attorneys office said.

The Nesbit man then went out and bought an AR-15 rifle from an online dealer while investigators were looking into those threats, authorities said.

The defendant in this case made credible threats to shoot members of various minority groups, and then purchased a semi-automatic rifle. While all Americans enjoy a constitutional right to free speech, that right does not include a right to threaten or terrorize other individuals. The U.S. Attorneys Office will vigorously prosecute such conduct, and the agents and prosecutors who worked to stop this potential mass shooting are to be commended, U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner said.

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Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitts office said Thursday night that Missouri and five other Republican-leaning states will appeal a federal judges ruling dismissing a lawsuit that challenged President Joe Bidens student loan forgiveness plan.

Schmitt and Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, both Republicans seeking higher office, joined GOP officials from four other states to file a lawsuit last month in U.S. District Court attempting to block Bidens plan. They alleged the states student loan servicer faces financial harm because of the plan.

Judge Henry Edward Autrey, from the Eastern District of Missouri, said the states werent able to adequately prove that their states were harmed by the program and lacked standing to bring the case.

Schmitt, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Missouri, promised to appeal the ruling, which comes just weeks before the Nov. 8 election.

The Biden Administrations push to cancel student loan debt will unfairly burden working class families with even more economic woes, Schmitts spokesman Chris Nuelle wrote in an email Thursday evening. We plan to appeal this decision.

The White House on Thursday night celebrated the ruling. Biden is scheduled to make a speech about his proposal at Delaware State University on Friday afternoon.

Today, a district judge in Missouri rejected an attempt to prevent implementation of the Administrations student debt relief plan, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Republican Members of Congress and Republican Governors are doing everything they can to deny student debt relief, even to their own constituents. The President wont stop fighting these suits and working to help families as they recover from the pandemic.

Americans who make less than $125,000 or households that make less than $250,000 are eligible to have up to $10,000 in their loans forgiven and people who received Pell Grants are eligible to have up to $20,000 forgiven. Roughly 777,300 Missourians and 360,900 Kansans will qualify to have a portion of their debt eliminated, according to White House estimates.

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John Milburn, a spokesman for Schmidt in Kansas, noted in a statement Friday morning that despite finding the states lacked standing the court acknowledged in its opinion that the states present important and significant challenges to the Biden administrations student loan debt cancellation program. Schmidt is seeking to unseat Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly in the Nov. 8 election.

While the court said that the states do not have standing to bring this lawsuit, we continue to believe that they do in fact have standing to raise these important legal challenges, Milburn said. As a result, the plaintiff states will be appealing and seeking immediate relief from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The suit is led by Nebraska Attorney General Douglas Peterson. Arkansas, Iowa and South Carolina are also plaintiff states.

Republican opposition has largely centered around the cost of Bidens debt forgiveness plan. The plan is projected to cost the federal government $400 billion over the next 30 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Republicans have objected to the cost.

The Biden administration has already launched an application for people who are seeking to take advantage of the program. Jean-Pierre said Thursday that the administration expects that the majority of the money will go to people who make less than $75,000 and that 23 million Americans will have all of their debt forgiven.

The Stars Katie Bernard contributed reporting.
Oct. 21If Missouri Amendment 3 is approved on Nov. 8, not only would it legalize recreational marijuana across the state, but it would also clear the criminal history records for anyone with certain marijuana charges.

The Missouri Supreme Court requested more than $7 million to fund the additional costs the department would incur to expunge the records the amendment calls for. It submitted a supplemental request of $2.4 million for fiscal year 2023, which is the current financial year, and $4.5 million for fiscal year 2024.

The Missouri Supreme Court's request said the additional funds would cover the costs for two informational technology contractors and personal services for 500 clerks at courts throughout the state to work overtime to meet the timelines listed in the amendment.

The requested funds would help county courts, but St. Joseph Municipal Judge Ted Elo said municipal courts are on their own to fund the expungement process.

The 38-page amendment would require courts to clear the criminal history records of all misdemeanor and felony marijuana convictions by set days between Dec. 8, 2022, and Dec. 8, 2023. The expungements would only apply to convictions that would be legal after the amendment passes. Charges for selling to a minor, driving under the influence of marijuana or offenses involving violence would stay on criminal records.

The St. Joseph Municipal Court has between 2,000-2,500 misdemeanors that would possibly qualify, according to Elo. Court clerks would have to look at each case individually to determine if it meets the standards to be expunged.

"That's a significant number to do in the six-month period of time," Elo said. "With the court staff that we have, and still running typical court on a daily basis, it would be impossible to do with existing staff."

In addition to going through each case, the court has to send multiple notices out with each case that is expunged. The amendment specifies the court must notify the person whose record is being cleared, the agency that made the arrest, prosecuting attorneys, the central state depository of criminal records and any other organization related to the conviction.

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"The notices to the various agencies are what will be also very cumbersome," said Elo, who will eventually have to sign off on each of the expungements. "There's a lot of records that have to be generated and sent on each individual case."

Those notices have to be either sent by mail or through an encrypted email to protect privacy, something that further complicates the process and makes it more expensive.

Those expenses would come out of the city's budget, St. Joseph City Manager Bryan Carter said.

"At the end of the day, only certain people can have access to municipal court records. So, we're looking at things such as overtime expenses more than likely anything," Carter said.

The amendment sets the state tax rate for recreational marijuana to be at 6% of the retail price, in addition to other sales tax. The amendment caps any additional local tax to 3%. This would be a way for the city of St. Joseph to recoup some of the costs.

"We'll have until from now until the end of the year to allocate money, fortunately," Elo said. "When we set the budget, we do plan for some anticipate unanticipated events to arise through the year."
A team of scientists in Portugal say they discovered the heaviest bony fish in the world in the Azores archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean.

The giant sunfish, weighing a little more than 3 tons, was discovered dead in the water on the Azores' Faial Island by a fisherman last December, researchers said. A team with the Atlantic Naturalist Association, a Portuguese ocean conservation organization, helped bring the massive creature to land.

Of course, we realized it was a massive sunfish ... we got the perception right on that day that it should be a world record, said Jose Nuno Gomes-Pereira, a researcher with the Atlantic Naturalist Association.

Gomes-Pereira and his team enlisted the help of a forklift to weigh and measure the fish.

Researchers say the fish was likely struck by a ship.

It was 10.6 feet long and weighed about 6,050 pounds, according to the research paper, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Fish Biology. It became the heaviest bony fish ever documented, breaking the record set in 1996 by a sunfish of the same species, Mola alexandrini. That one was discovered in Japanese waters, according to the research paper, and weighed about 2.5 tons.

There are two types of fish, cartilaginous and bony. Bony fish account for the majority of fish, according to Gomes-Pereira  think carp, salmon and bass. Cartilaginous fish have skeletons made of cartilage and encompass species like sharks and stingrays.

While the sunfish found in Portugal is the heaviest bony fish ever discovered it is far from the heaviest ocean creature.

Whale sharks, which are cartilaginous, weigh about 11 tons, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

The largest animal in the ocean (and the world) is the blue whale, a mammal, which can weigh up to 200 tons and stretch to nearly 100 feet, according to WWF. Its also the biggest animal in the world, period.

Gomes-Pereira told USA TODAY on Friday that the discovery of the sunfish was in part encouraging because it showed that the ocean can still sustain life for some of the planets largest fish. Ocean sunfish are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

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Accurate population estimates for the Mola alexandrini species are scarce, Gomes-Pereira said. He believes the number may be somewhere in the few thousands based on the frequency of sightings by fishermen.

But the historic discovery also highlighted a considerable threat to large ocean wildlife.

It's also a warning  because we found the animal dead  that more management should be made regarding boat traffic, Gomes-Pereira said. A large depression on the sunfish indicated that it was likely killed by a ship collision.

SPEED LIMITS IN THE OCEAN?: Massive ships are killing endangered whales each year.

What is the biggest whale?: Meet the blue whale.

Gomes-Pereira said large cargo ships that cruise near oceanic islands, like the Azores, pose a threat to rich marine biodiversity.

Researchers said they needed the help of a forklift to weigh the creature.

Its where turtles, sharks and whales reproduce.  Its an international problem, Gomes-Pereira said.

The phenomenon has been particularly grave in the Pacific Ocean, where at least 80 whales are killed in cargo ship collisions every year, with the worst years on record coming in 2018, 2019 and 2021, USA TODAY reported.

We can all do a bit better in that aspect, Gomes-Pereira said. Its international legislation in some cases, its not easy. So hopefully this finding can contribute a bit to the discussion.

Scientists also took samples of the fish's skin and analyzed its stomach contents to learn more about this particular sunfish species.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 3 ton Sunfish discovered in Atlantic is heaviest bony fish ever
MUNCIE, Ind.  A Muncie man who tortured and killed his ex-girlfriend  who was also the mother of his 2-year-old daughter  was sentenced Friday to 62 years in prison.

Christopher Eugene Allison, 37, had pleaded guilty to murder and neglect of a dependent in the November 2020 slaying of 27-year-old Mary A. Grubb.

The slaying took place in Allison's home in the 2000 block of East 25th Street, where Grubb had taken their daughter for a visit with her father. The victim's body was later found in the bed of a pickup truck near the Water Bowl, 6811 N. Old Indiana 3, where deputy prosecutors Louis Denney and Doug Mawhorr said Allison had intended to burn and bury the remains.

The prosecutors and Delaware Circuit Court 5 Judge Thomas Cannon Jr. all noted the suffering Grubb endured before her death, with Allison choking her with a belt. He twice allowed her to regain consciousness during the attack, they said, so she could hear him read aloud text messages she had exchanged with a new boyfriend.

Previously:Muncie man charged in mother's slaying found incompetent to stand trial

The slaying took place "within hearing" distance of the couple's young daughter, Cannon said.

The judge  who imposed a 60-year sentence for the murder conviction, with two years added for the neglect charge  called Allison's actions those of a "callous, sadistic killer."

Cannon said he did not believe the Muncie man had exhibited true remorse. When asked by a probation officer to describe his crime, the judge noted, Allison responded, "S--t happens."

The deputy prosecutors both recommended a maximum sentence of 67 years and six months.

Denney called it "one of the ultimate domestic violence cases," with Allison committing "an act of ultimate control."

Boyd: Domestic violence in Indiana. Let's talk about it.

Mawhorr said Allison believed "if he could not have Mary, no one could have her."

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"It's all about him," Mawhorr said, adding that the defendant had "effectively made (his daughter) an orphan."

Defense attorney Zaki Ali asked the judge to consider that his client had taken responsibility by entering guilty pleas. Under the terms of a plea bargain, for other charges  strangulation, attempted murder, obstruction of justice and intimidation  were dismissed.

Allison said he wanted to "apologize for all the harm I've caused everybody."

When he began to discuss how much he loved the slaying victim, one member of a group of friends and family members of Grubb had heard enough.

That man profanely and loudly told Allison to "shut up," then left the courtroom before security officers reached his side.

The victim's older sister also testified, and called Allison an "evil, narcissistic sociopath."

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Allison waived the right to appeal his sentence.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie man gets 62 years for ex-girlfriend's slaying
Muhammed Selim Korkutata / Anadolu Agency

Elon Musk isnt even the boss yet, but Twitter employees already have reason to shudder. On Thursday, news broke that the mega-troll billionaire may slash the companys headcount by nearly 75 percentassuming his takeover actually goes through.

Twitter staffers, already weary from six months of nonstop upheaval, are preparing for the worst.

We heard terrible stories about Tesla, so were worried about, under Elons leadership, whats going to happen, one Twitter employee told The Daily Beast, speaking under the condition of anonymity.

She added: Its something I, as a Twitter employee, think about every day.

Elon Musk Tries to Halt Twitter Trial With a Sneaky New Play

Another current staffer said that he and his peers are trying not to react rashly, given the ever-changing status of the Elon deal. Everybody is just playing the waiting game, seeing what's going to happen, he said.

In his corner of the business, the employee continued, people are mostly focused on meeting their quarterly goals and arent openly panicking. He plans to continue working at Twitterat least if the choice is his. I love working here, he said.

Musk agreed to buy the business back in April, at the marijuana-themed price of $54.20 per share, or roughly $44 billion. But just three months later, he backed out, alleging that the company had misled him and other investors about the volume of spam and fake accounts on the platform.

Twitter didnt appreciate that reversal and opted to sue Musk in the Delaware Court of Chancery. (The billionaire filed a countersuit of his own). A trial was slated to start this month, but Musk unexpectedly announced that he wanted to complete the deal at the original price. A judge gave the parties until Oct. 28 to complete the transaction. If they fail, the matter will likely head to trial in November.

In Thursdays Washington Post report on the possible mass layoffs, a former Twitter higher-up called the proposal unimaginable and said it would weaken defenses against hacking and offensive material such as child pornography. The report also noted that job cuts are likely whether or not the buyout happens, and a company lawyer told the staff he did not have confirmation of Musks plans.

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Twitter and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Diplomat Tells Elon Musk to Fuck Off After Absurd Ukraine Tweet

The company has reportedly hemorrhaged staff since Musk announced the potential takeover. A former employee who left in August over the specter of a merger said internal communications about the issue had been terrible, with very little reassurance that the fundamental core of Twitter will remain the same.

I have never spoken to a person at Twitter who was happy about it, she said of the potential purchase. It was a mix of I want to leave in protest, and just, Let me find another job.

Many of those who remain at the company are anxious at the thought of even more jobs getting chopped. One anonymous employee expressed shock at Musks reported plan to ax 75 percent of the existing 7,500 staff. Its kind of insane to buy something just to burn it down, she said. Thats not sustainable, it cant run on 25 percent capacity.

She added that members of her department were nervously eying the severance packages at Musks other companies like Tesla, which is currently facing a lawsuit for allegedly offering some ex-employees just two weeks pay. Twitters current severance policy offers two months or more, but nobody knows if he is going to honor that, she said.

Other employees reacted to the news onwhere else?Twitter, firing off memes about the companys San Francisco headquarters being replaced by a Spirit Halloween store or future all-hands meetings being attended by just four people. (Crying and laughing at the same time, one employee responded to the latter.)

Tonight we open a good bottle of wine, a tech lead based in Boulder declared. In May, that staffer had tweeted that he was experiencing the most wtf period of time in his eight-year tenure at Twitter. Then things got even crazier. On Thursday, he recirculated his original tweet, with the addition of a giant FUCK somewhere in there.

Dan Ives, an equity analyst at Wedbush Securities, said in a research note on Friday that Musk is poised to massively overpay for the business. The $44 billion Twitter price tag is simply a train wreck for an asset that we peg [at a] fair value in the $30 billion range, he wrote, citing the companys Everest-like uphill growth challenges.

Ives endorsed some job cuts, given Twitters lack of growth, though he deemed layoffs in the 75 percent range as way too aggressive and a move that could set the platform back years.

The anonymous former employee, however, said she could see a silver lining.

Its probably good to take a couple months off just mentally, to recover from all of this chaos, she said. I think its been a rollercoaster ride for everybody.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Elon Musks plans for Twitter appear to include slashing the companys headcount by roughly 75% assuming the billionaire closes the deal to buy Twitter. The Washington Post reported on Oct. 20 that Musk plans to cut Twitters staff from 7,500 workers to 2,000, far more than previous expectations. Musk is expected to close his acquisition of the social media company for $44 billion by October 28.

Many of Twitter workers already knew they were likely to get fired. A series of text messages between Musk and investors revealed during September court proceedings floated reducing Twitters staff. On April 15, Musk wrote that he saw insane potential for improvement by slashing headcount. What he did not mention was the toll this might take on Twitters performance or morale. My biggest concern is headcount and expense growth, Musk wrote. Twitter has ~3x the headcount per unit of revenue of other social media companies, which is very unhealthy in my view.

Read more

He also noted Twitters CEO Parag Agrawal will likely be among the first to go.Parag is just moving far too slowly and trying to please people who will not be happy no matter what he does, Musk wrote. The messages arose as part of Twitters lawsuit to prevent Musk from backing out of the deal and outlined a number of potential plans for the social media giant.

Twitter has already seen an exodus of executives and staff, but the most recent news will likely accelerate departures. In the text exchanges, Musk hinted his primary focus will be on hiring software engineers, without detailing the fate of Twitters existing engineering staff. If so, that will mirror Musks focus on product and software engineers at his other companies, SpaceX and Tesla, where Musk serves as chief executive, alongside a de facto role as chief marketing officer.

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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that he will cut 75 percent of the staff at Twitter after acquiring the platform, The Washington Post reported, citing interviews and documents it obtained.

Musk told prospective investors in his deal to buy the social media platform that he plans to shrink the number of workers at the company from 7,500 to about 2,000, according to the Post.

Twitters current management had also planned substantial reductions to its staff. Prior to Musk starting his takeover bid, Twitter was planning an $800 million payroll cut that would involve letting nearly 25 percent of the companys workers go by the end of 2023, as well as major cuts to its infrastructure, the paper reported.

Musk agreed to proceed with his $44 billion agreement to purchase Twitter earlier this month after the company sued in an effort to force him follow through with the deal, which the parties agreed to in April, amid his earlier attempts to back out.

A Delaware judge granted Musks request to stay the trial between him and Twitter after he announced his intention to go through with his agreement to buy the company, giving the parties until Oct. 28 to close the deal. If it is not closed by that date, she said she will issue a trial date in November.

Musk has previously said that he plans to loosen content moderation on Twitter and signaled he would allow some who have been removed from the platform, including former President Trump, to return.

A court filing unsealed last week included claims by Twitter that Musk is under federal investigation over his conduct in his bid to take over the company.

Twitters attorneys said that lawyers for Musk refused to turn over documents related to the companys lawsuit against the billionaire, citing investigative privilege.

However, an attorney for Musk disputed the companys claims, saying instead that Twitters executives are under federal investigation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
New York State Police arrested a Myrtle Beach man wanted on a felony warrant Thursday in the town of Rutland.

Shamoray R. Holmes, 22, was wanted on a fugitive from justice warrant for an armed robbery, issued by South Carolinas Fifteenth Judicial District, according to a news release.

New York State police responded to 31090 State Route 3 in Jefferson County, after information developed that Holmes was at the address.

Troops arrested Holmes without incident, according to a news release.

Holmes is one of three men accused of using the dating app Grindr to meet victims in a string of robberies back in 2018.

The other two men have since been convicted.

Jefferson remains in custody at the Jefferson County jail, awaiting extradition by South Carolina law enforcement individuals, according to the news release.

State Police were assisted by the village of Black River Police Department and the Jefferson County Probation Department.
The Vehicle Assembly Building at Nasas Kennedy Space Center in Florida (Nasa)

Nasa will launch a nine month UFO study program on Monday, and the space agency just announced the 16-person team that will research the mysterious unidentified aerial phenomena.

In June, Nasa first announced the UFO program and noted that the research would focus on unclassified UFO reports and data. They also shared that the independent study group would be chaired by astrophysicist and president of the nonprofit science organization the Simons Foundation, David Spergel.

Joining Spergel will be 15 other team members announced by Nasa on Friday, including former Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly, University of California astrophysicist Shelley Wright, science journalist Nadia Drake, planetary scientist David Grinspoon, and the chief technology officer of Colorado-based space company Maxar, Walter Scott. Other members of the team include scientists, Federal Aviation Administration regulators and space industry experts.

NASA has brought together some of the worlds leading scientists, data and artificial intelligence practitioners, aerospace safety experts, all with a specific charge, which is to tell us how to apply the full focus of science and data to UAP, Daniel Evans, the assistant deputy associate administrator for research at NASAs Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement.

Evans is responsible for organizing the study, and when announcing the program in June, stressed the important of collecting all available, unclassified data on UFOs in order to assess how future research could try to ascertain the realities behind UFO reports.

The first step in any investigation is to figure out what data is at hand; thats all this study is doing, Dr Evans told reporters in June. This is just step one. What data are out there that can be brought to bear?

He added, during the June media conference, that the Nasa UFO study will have a budget between a few tens of thousands of dollars and $100,000.

The Nasa UFO program was announced on the heels of the first US congressional hearings on UFOs, or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, UAPs, as the Department of Defense calls them, in decades. In May, US intelligence officials briefed congressional leaders on the more than 140 unexplained UAP sightings by members of the military since 2004 and an ongoing Pentagon investigation into the phenomena.

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We know that our service members have encountered unidentified aerial phenomena, US Undersecretary of Defence for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie told lawmakers at the time, and because UAPs pose potential flight safety and general security risks, we are committed to a focus effort to determine their origins.

Mr Moultrie and other intelligence officials then briefed lawmakers in a close session involving classified information. The results of the Pentagons UAP investigation may also be classified.

Dr Evans has stated that Nasas UFO research, by contrast, will utilize unclassified information, and will be released to the public at its conclusion.

The findings will be released to the public in conjunction with NASAs principles of transparency, openness, and scientific integrity, he said in a statement.
Elizabeth Debicki will portray Diana, Princess of Wales in the fifth season of The Crown (Netflix/PA) (PA Media)

Netflix has added a disclaimer to its latest trailer for The Crown season five amid backlash.

In its trailer, posted on YouTube, Netflix writes: Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatisation tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign.

The change comes after the series was accused by Dame Judi Dench for sensationalism in its depiction of royal family members, including King Charles III and Princess Diana.

On Wednesday (19 October), Dench called on Netflix to include a disclaimer at the start of episodes, stating it is a fictionalised drama as a mark of respect to the late Queen.

The closer the drama comes to our present times, the more freely it seems willing to blur the lines between historical accuracy and crude sensationalism, she wrote for The Times.

The Oscar winner added that the fictionalised accounts of historical events expected to play out in the upcoming season are cruelly unjust to the individuals and damaging to the institution they represent.

Former Prime Minister Sir John Major also told The Telegraph that a scene, which apparently depicts a plot to oust the late Queen, was nothing other than damaging and malicious fiction and a barrel-load of malicious nonsense.

Jonny Lee Miller as Sir John Major, from series five of The Crown (Netflix/PA) (PA Media)

The new disclaimer appears on The Crowns social media channels and the Netflix web page, but not on TV or on the smartphone app.

A spokesperson for the series said: The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events.

Series five is a fictional dramatisation, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors during a significant decade for the royal family  one that has already been scrutinised and well documented by journalists, biographers and historians.

Season five of the show will be released on 9 November, and is expected to portray the struggles in then Prince Charles marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Crown is steaming on Netflix now.
Black women experience epic love stories. It may not seem that way based on what the media says and how often Hollywood ignores the romantic lives of Black women, but like everyone else, we have moments that sweep us off of our feet and take our breath away. Writer/producer Attica Locke has always known the importance of seeing all facets of Black womens lives on-screen, especially as leading ladies. Therefore, the Little Fires Everywhere writer learned that her sister, Tembi Locke, was penning her memoir, From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home, about her epic love story; Attica knew that it also needed to come to life on screen.

Before Tembi even finished penning the novel, Attica pitched the film to Hello Sunshine  Reese Witherspoons production company. I literally pitched my sisters entire book in one sitting and said, You have to read it,' the From Scratch showrunner told Shadow and Act. [Hello Sunshine President Lauren Neustadter] went, Okay. She was a little dubious like, Your sister wrote a book? But they read it, and within a week, we were in their office just talking about How are we going to do this?'

At the time, the From Scratch manuscript was still a word document full of typos, but Attica knew the richness of the story, even if Tembi didnt see it just yet. She drove us off the cliff, the From Scratch author recalled. Thats Atticas stewardship  with the depth and breadth of years of writing television and novels. She really could see where we needed to arc, where we needed to bend.

Leon Bennett/Getty Images for Netflix

Those initial meetings and phone calls evolved into Netflixs newest limited series, From Scratch. The sweeping love story opens in 2000 in Italy. It follows Amahle Amy Wheeler (played by Zoe Saldana), a young woman who takes a break from law school to pursue her passion; art. She doesnt expect to fall for a Sicilian chef named Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea), who will transform her life forever.

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Together, Amy and Lino embark on a romance for the ages that spans time and continents. However, Linos unexpected health crisis threatens to shatter their planned future.

Since From Scratch is based on Tembis life, the audience needed to experience things unfold as she and Amy did. We knew we needed to tell it in a linear fashion, not mosaic, she explained. That was one of the first decisions we made because we felt that if we were going to ask the audience to go into deep grief, to go into hard places, we didnt want them to get lost in time and space by switching up.

Once the story was set in stone, Attica and Tembi knew that the right actress was a vital piece to telling this story.

Like Atticas off-the-cuff pitch, casting Zoe Saldana as Amy was also a sweet happenstance. It was Lauren calling me to say, Attica, Reese had dinner with Zoe, and Zoe was there with her husband, whos Italian, Attica remembered. I didnt know that. She speaks Italian. Zoe, on screen, there is this sweet spot of tenderness and strength that felt like the character, Amy. I discovered things about her in the process.

The sisters were off to the races with Saldana on board as the star and as an executive producer. Tembi felt assured in the team she and Attica had built around them, especially when retelling some of the most vulnerable moments of her life.

Zoe and I had lots of talks about things, so I felt very confident, she explained. By the time we would get on set, I was like, Okay, this scene is in good hands. There were times when it was too much. It was a lot to relive. Some scenes are literally frame-by-frame recreations of things that happened. Theres a delicate balance, but I also had Attica there to say, You dont need to be here today. Go home.'

Still reliving some of the most intimate moments of her life also solidified for Tembi how important From Scratch is. The rain scene, thats where it actually happened, the same block. Its the same corner, she said. When we got to Italy, that was happening over and over and over again both in Florence and later when we went to Sicily, these coincidences, non-coincidences, were sort of miraculous.

Making From Scratch evolved into more than a reflection on Tembis lived experiences, the characters on the screen, or even the bond the sisters share. It was the hardest thing Ive ever done in my life, Attica said. I dont know, even in the courts of this lifetime, if I will be able to express how powerful of an experience it was to be driven by something that was just pure love. Pure love got me through all the tension and stress. It was a true labor of love. It was love for my sister. It was love for my brother-in-law. It was love for my niece. Tembi wrote what she wanted to read. We were making what we wanted to see. We wanted to see our version of Black Texas, our humor. We were doing something vanguard and new.

Netflixs eight-episode limited series From Scratch will premiere Oct. 21.
Joseph Padilla of Wilson County schools

MOUNT JULIET, Tennessee (WSMV) -- A Wilson County school board member says LGBTQ flags and stickers along with other symbols that represent a group or belief should be taken out of classrooms.

And newly elected school board member, Joseph Padilla, said he is looking to create school policy around that matter.

Padilla said the genesis of the move was concerns brought to him by parents who say those LGBTQ flags or stickers shouldnt be in the classrooms.

This isnt Joes opinion, this is Wilson Countys opinion, Padilla said. They elected me. And when I spoke with them, a lot of them had problems using taxpayers money, their money for a building were displaying things that they feel shouldnt be there.

A lot of parents feel that society is over-sexualizing anything as it is and they feel the school should be the sanctuary that doesnt have any of that stuff in it. It should be about geometry or English or history, he added.

Padilla said he also feels those symbols dont belong in a classroom where there should be uniformity.

I feel that each class should be an equalizer for all students and we shouldnt promote one group in front of another, Padilla said

And thats the point the school board member said he is trying to make.

It should be somewhere they go to learn and dont have to look at something they might not agree with that lifestyle, Padilla said.

I think that there shouldnt be extra hurdles placed in front of a child seeking a public health resource, said Erin Moore, a parent with children in the school district and has a child in the LGBTQ Community.

Moore said the stickers are a health resource to help LGBTQ students who could be dealing with things like depression or other issues.

The safe space stickers are a public health issue and they are something that is there to help certain kids with that public health issue, Moore said. My kids do go to school at a place where the safe space Stickers are present and it is a positive thing and they have spoken positively about it, she added.

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Padilla is open to having the wall art on campus; just not in the classroom.

Moving them to a lobby where anybody can go to them if they would like and maybe put a list of safe space teachers, Padilla said. So if they could get a special card for the room numbers of safe space thats fine, he added

Padilla also suggested a different type of neutral safe space sticker that could maybe go in classrooms.

Not everyone is a safe space and not everyone can be a safe space. Its not that theyre not good teachers. Its not that theyre not good people but they are not that resource and to put up that kind of a sticker when theyre not going to be a safe space for a child in need is dangerous, Moore said.

Padilla said currently the school district has no policy that allows schools teachers and principals to know whats allowable and whats not

I will be proposing a policy that will lay out, these are allowed in the classroom, these arent and the other board members will get that. They can amend it, they can take away they can add and then we vote, Padilla said

Families feel unsafe. They dont feel safe speaking out. They dont feel safe living here and this is adding to that problem, Moore said.

Other school board members are keeping quiet on the matter, instead choosing to discuss any issue that may come to a vote in the board room with public notice given.

The school board meets early in November.

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Related: Right-Wingers Harass Vanderbilt U. Hospital Over Gender-Affirming Care
Where next for Cristiano Ronaldo? (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)

Cristiano Ronaldo will not be involved in Manchester Uniteds trip to Chelsea following behaviour that has raised fresh questions about his future.

Having been warned about leaving early in the wake of Julys friendly against Rayo Vallecano, manager Erik ten Hag punished the 37-year-old Portuguese for his exit from Wednesdays 2-0 win against Tottenham.

Not only did Ronaldo head down the tunnel before the clock had hit 90 minutes but the United manager confirmed that the frontman refused to come on as a substitute.

Ten Hag insists the former Real Madrid and Juventus star remains an important part of the squad despite being banished for the Chelsea game for an incident that has renewed speculation about his Old Trafford future.

Here are some options as the January transfer window approaches.

Ronaldo stays put

Ronaldos move to United in August 2021 sent shockwaves around the footballing world as he returned to a club where he won medals aplenty during his first stint. But within a year the veteran was looking to leave Old Trafford, where his deal runs until next summer and includes a clause to stay for a further season. United have repeatedly said they want the 37-year-old to stay and he may decide this is not the way he wants to leave a club at which he is revered.

Return to Sporting?

A mensagem do nosso @Cristiano  pic.twitter.com/oMuVFkow27  Sporting Clube de Portugal (@Sporting_CP) June 21, 2022

Ronaldo became a global star during his first period with United but it was Sporting that helped cultivate his early talent. The forward has regularly been linked with a return to the club he left aged 18 and retains a strong connection with Sporting, who have a section dedicated to him in their museum and renamed their academy training facilities after him. The players mother, Dolores Aveiro, has previously said she wants to eventually see him back playing for the Lisbon club.

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Up sticks to Saudi Arabia?

While Ronaldo wished to leave Old Trafford in the summer, none of Europes elite swooped for the aging star. A swathe of names were mentioned as potential destinations but the only offer came from Saudi Arabia. It is reported that Al Hilal were the club who approached Ronaldo about a potential two-year deal worth 275million euros (233.4million). That was not attractive enough then but perhaps things are different now.

Will Chelsea rekindle their interest?

While it never got beyond initial conversations, Chelsea sounded Ronaldo out about a potential switch that the Portugal ace was reportedly open to. Chelseas new ownership group, led by Todd Boehly, eventually ended their interest in the United frontman but perhaps recent events may spark a conversation when the sides meet at Stamford Bridge on Saturday without Ronaldo in tow.
Supporting industries have ample room for improvement

Most Vietnamese firms operating in supporting industries are technologically and managerially underdeveloped, according to insiders.













A Hyundai assembly plant in Ninh Binh province. (Photo: VNA)

Pham Thanh Tung, a representative from the Industry Agency, Ministry of Industry and Trade, remarked that supporting industries were composed of roughly 5,000 firms in 2021, which operate predominantly in textile, footwear and mechanical engineering sub-industries.



About 88% of the firms are small- and medium-sized. The proportion of those engaging in high value-added segments was relatively low, with 19% for textiles and 33% for electronics.



Around 20% have been certified as ISO 9000 compliant and 9% as ISO 14000 compliant. One-fifth claimed to follow 5S Principle, whereas the figures for other principles, including Lean and 6-Sigma, stood at roughly 2%.



Over 30% said they employ manually-operated equipment, 50% use semi-automatic, 10% operate automatically and the rest engage robots to run their production lines.



"Those figures indicate that firms in supporting industries are of relatively low ability in terms of management and technology," he said.



The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry was concerned that domestically-manufactured components cater for a small proportion of industrial production. In the home electronics industry, the figures are just roughly 30%.



The same goes for the automobile industry, which has 84 domestic tier-1 and 145 tier-2, 3 component suppliers against 20 auto manufacturers. Those figures pale in comparison with those in Thailand, which has 690 domestic tier-1 and 1,700 tier-2, 3 suppliers against 16 auto manufacturers.



The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association remarked that every automobile assembled in Vietnam is composed of around 30,000 components, but 80% of which come from abroad.



Remarkably, the country has to import between 35 billion USD to 50 billion USD of auto components annually.



According to a survey by the General Statistics Office, firms in supporting industries admitted having no advantages in terms of adaptability, R&D, managerial systems and operational strategy.



However, when asked about which policies they were expecting from the Government, they pointed to tax cuts and administrative supports, instead of favourable policies that would help them improve the above-mentioned factors.



Such a disparity between what they need and what they want has posed a serious challenge to policy formulation and implementation. Meanwhile, the Government's support programmes were accessible to just around 17% of the firms, a relatively limited range.



Choi Kyung-soo, Deputy Director of the Procurement Centre, Samsung Vietnam, asserted that his corporation is sparing no effort to build an ecosystem for supporting industries in Vietnam.



To that end, Samsung has cooperated closely with Vietnamese authorities in various programmes to boost the industries' growth. The corporation has dispatched its specialists to domestic firms to help the firms with training and give them advice on competitiveness enhancement.



"With a business philosophy of co-prosperity, Samsung's support for domestic firms will continue unabated in the future," he said.



He also said Samsung will continue to expand the cooperative programmes and send out more specialists to improve the technological landscape of the country. Samsung hopes that domestic firms would avail of the support to improve their operation.



Do Thi Thuy Huong, Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Association for Supporting Industries, asserted that it does not matter how large the proportion of domestically-manufactured components are used in industrial production, but how much technological values they add to value chains.



"Adding high technological values to their products is what firms should aim for," she said./.
Two members of the Brookville Police Department will not face criminal charges after allegedly arresting a political candidate on drummed-up charges because they thought he was anti-police.

Indiana State Police appointed a special prosecutor to the case on Aug. 5. The special prosecutor, Andrew Bryson, reviewed the ISP investigation and decided Thursday not to charge either Brookville Police Chief Terry Mitchum or Lt. Ryan Geiser.

Geiser arrested Brookville Town Board candidate Trevin Thalheimer earlier this summer on charges of rape and drug possession.

Geiser claimed in court Mitchum ordered the arrest.

Thalheimers attorney, Judson McMillin claimed the pair obtained a search warrant after claiming they smelled marijuana on Thalheimer and his friend.

The drug charge was later dropped. The rape charge, according to McMillin, was void in the first place because it was based on an old allegation that did not result in prosecution.

Franklin County Prosecutor Chris Huerkamp said he was disturbed by the conduct of the investigation and arrest. A court transcript shows Huerkamp was not consulted on alleged DNA evidence.

More:Brookville police chief, lieutenant suspended after allegations they arrested candidate for political reasons

Court documents show Brookville resident Aleese Whitamore came forward saying the officers had also encouraged her to run against Thalheimer. She told Fox19 she never wanted to run. Her testimony helped clear Thalheimer.

The incident nevertheless forced Thalheimer to drop out of the race.

I was shocked and in disbelief. Furious, he said in August.

Thalheimer added he doesnt understand why Mitchum and Geiser thought he held anti-police views. I never had stated that. I was under the impression that, you know, when it comes to the Brookville Police Department, theyre all fair guys.

Reacting to special prosecutors announcement Thursday, McMillan said their case is not over by any stretch of the imagination.

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He said of Thalheimer, Hes disappointed in the decision. Hes disappointed for himself. But he also, I believe, is disappointed for the fact that this might not send the right message that these types of things arent going to be happening.

McMillan says Thalheimer is fully on board with continuing civil litigation.

Mitchum offered the following statement Thursday evening:

As I previously stated I was confident no wrongdoing would be found on the part of my department or I. At all times the Brookville Police Department followed the evidence at hand. I stand by my departments determination of probable cause resulting in the arrest of the parties involved. Im thankful for the results of the Indiana State Police investigation, yet deeply saddened by the effect these events have had on my department and my family.

Ive watched as my community has lost trust in a police department that I know has always held the publics best interest as their highest priority. I understand the communitys response due to the salacious nature of some the articles published regarding this investigation. I have a tremendous respect for my community and hope this is the first step in regaining their confidence and trust. I believe several factors played part in the distortion of this situation. Due to the national coverage this story has received, I will refrain from further explanation until consulting my Attorneys.

Enquirer media partner Fox19 provided this report

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Brookville Indiana police chief, officer face no charges after scandal
Millions of owners have found themselves stuck with unsafe, unrepairable cars. If youre one of them, heres how to get back on the road safely.

By Keith Barry

David Diller of Los Angeles was excited when he bought his Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid in late 2021. The plug-in hybrid minivan could travel up to 32 miles on electric power alone, and he expected that would save him money on gas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

But his joy turned to frustration in February when he received a letter from the automaker telling him that his minivan was part of a recall of nearly 20,000 Pacifica Hybrids that could catch fire when parked. Chrysler told Diller to store his car outside and away from structures. Most vexing was the fact that the company also warned him not to charge his minivan and instructed him to drive it using only its gas engine.

Being asked not to charge a plug-in hybrid minivan in Southern California during the recent surge in gas prices is one thing, but to have to park it outside and away from any structures because it might spontaneously combust is just unrealistic for so many folks, he says.

We can relate: Consumer Reports has just such a van in our test fleet, and we had to park it outside for much of this year.

Diller is one of more than 2 million people in the U.S. whose car has been recalled this year without the option of an immediate repair, according to CRs analysis of recall data. Although Chrysler recently announced a fix for Dillers minivaneight months after announcing the recallothers are still waiting, including owners of Nissan Pathfinders with hoods that might not stay shut and Kia and Hyundai SUVs that can catch fire due to faulty trailer hitch wiring.

If you own one of these vehicles, we outline below what you should knowand what you need to do in order to get your car fixed. You may be able to get money back for out-of-pocket expenses, and in some cases an automaker may even help you get a replacement vehicle.

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Chrysler warned owners of 2017 and 2018 (shown) Pacifica plug-in hybrid minivans not to charge their vehicles until a recall fix was performed.

Photo: Chrysler

Why Are Recalls Announced Without a Fix?

Theyre issued by automakers under supervision from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). By law, automakers are required to issue a recall notice soon after a safety defect is discovered and confirmed, even when theres no fix available. That strict protocol means some recall actions are initiated while the automaker is still engineering a solution. (Learn more about the automotive recall process in our Guide to Car Recalls.)

The intent is to warn consumers of a problem as soon as possible, but the gap between that and a solution can sometimes make things confusing, says Rosemary Shahan, president and founder of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS), an advocacy group.

If youre telling consumers, Your car has a really bad problem, good luck, what does that do to peoples perception of the seriousness of safety recalls, and whether they really need to pay attention to them and get them fixed? she says.

Some recall repairs are delayed due to a lack of parts. A few years ago when millions of cars with faulty Takata airbags were recalled, automakers had to prioritize fixing the most dangerous models because there simply werent enough replacement parts available to fix them all at once.

Lately, supply chain issues have delayed the availability of repair parts, says Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Automotive Safety. Theres a lot of convenient excuses for manufacturers who arent doing their due diligence, but there are legitimate issues with supply, he says.

When it comes to recalls of plug-in hybrids and EVs, such as the Pacifica and Chevrolet Bolt (which was recalled in 2020, also due to fire concerns), Brooks says that delays may be related to the small number of battery suppliers and the newness of the technology. For example, both the Bolt and Pacifica use similar batteries from the same supplier, LG Chem. A Chevrolet spokesperson told CR that it took several months for GM and LG engineers to find out why Bolts were catching fire, which ended up being a manufacturing flaw. It took more time to ensure that the manufacturing issues were resolved.

When you have one battery supplier who is putting out batteries that are potentially catching fire, youll see an increase in the park outside warnings, Brooks says.

This awkward delay from when a recall is announced until the fix is developed, validated, and communicated to dealerships is evident in the case of the Pathfinder hoods.

As the safety and security of our customers and their passengers is paramount, and as required by law, Nissan notifies owners of affected vehicles when a safety concern has been identified, a Nissan spokesman said. Owners of affected vehicles were mailed an interim letter in July with instructions for checking the condition of the secondary hood latch. Before the formal fix was available, the Nissan representative said customers could take their vehicle to an authorized dealer for inspection and maintenance, free of charge.

In some cases, this notification precedes the identification of a remedy so that consumers can be made aware of a potential issue and take the appropriate precautions.

Photo: Adobe Stock

How to Advocate for Yourself

So your car has been recalled and theres no fix yet. Now what?

It depends on the severity of the recall. Some are for minor compliance issues, such as a missing warning label or misaligned headlight, while others are quite serious, related to potential engine stalling, brake failures, or fire risks. If there isnt an immediate fix and the automaker doesnt say the car shouldnt be used, continue driving, but be attentive to the potential issue. Recall notices often cite potential symptoms that a driver might experience, such as warning lights, that would precede a true failure.

Ultimately, the best guidance is to get the car fixed as soon as possible.

But many recent recalls have required owners to make major adjustments, such as leaving cars parked outside and away from structures, or not charging EV batteries to their full capacity. In this case, Shahan says its worth complaining to dealerships and manufacturers.

 First, contact your local dealership, especially if a recall notice says a car is unsafe to drive or it recommends that you limit how you use it. In such a situation, Brooks says you should at least ask your dealer for a loaner car to drive in the meantime, even if the recall notice doesnt mention alternate transportation. Automakers can approve payment to the dealership for loaners for these customers, Brooks says. For example, Chevrolet offered free loaners to some Bolt owners during the recall.

 If that doesnt work, contact the manufacturer directly. Theres usually a contact number and website list in the back of your owners manual or on the recall notice itself. The manufacturer may also be able to tell you when parts are arriving and how long the repair might take. A spokesperson for Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, told CR that less than one-fifth of customers affected by the Pacifica Hybrid recall have contacted it since the campaign was launched, and that accommodations were made on a case-by-case basis.

 If a recall thats related to a serious safety issue or is causing a major inconvenience has gone unfixed for many months, Brooks says it might be time to ask the dealership to repurchase the vehicle. It depends on the dealership; it depends on a lot of factors, he says. But its important to start the conversation. If you dont ask, youre never going to get a chance for that to happen. He says that owners of unfixable recalled vehicles should also complain to NHTSAheres howbecause it may put pressure on the automaker to act.

 If you arent having any luck with the dealership or the automaker, it may be time to contact an attorney. The National Association of Consumer Advocates (consumeradvocates.org) has a find a lawyer page. Many attorneys dont charge upfront for taking on a case involving a product defect, but be aware that you may end up with expenses at the end of a lawsuit.

Sometimes you have to be the squeaky wheel, Shahan says. Theyre perfectly willing to string you along and tell you you need to be patient, but youre not getting what you paid for. You paid for a safe, functioning car. Especially if you bought it brand new and you have the factory warranty, theyre not living up to their warranty.

Chevrolet recalled 2017-2022 Bolts to address battery problems. A 2019 model is shown.

Photo: Chevrolet

What About the Lemon Law?

Sometimes owners of cars without a recall fix can get the manufacturer to buy the car back or replace it with a new one under whats called a Lemon Law, legislation thats meant to protect consumers who own a product that fails repeatedly.

These laws are different in every state, so check with your states consumer protection office for details. For a car to be defined as a lemon, it must meet certain qualifications, says Ron Burdge, an attorney in Ohio who specializes in lemon law cases. Typically, they involve how many days a car has been out of service, how serious the defect is, and how many attempts to repair the problem have failed. Usually, its three or four repair attempts within a certain amount of time, he says.

But lemon laws have statutes of limitation. Most claims must be submitted within a year or two of the vehicles purchase, and most states have mileage limitations.

Even when cars qualify for a lemon law buyback, Burdge says hes seen automakers drag their feet and fight the claim. You might have the right to make them take it back, he says, but if they dont want to voluntarily do it, you might have to get an attorney to do it for you.

Shahan says that even the threat of a lemon law buyback was enough to help some owners of Chevy Bolt EVs who had to wait more than a year for a recall fix.

They got refunds without even having to have an attorney, she says. GM just didnt want those cases going forward in court, and under [Californias] lemon law, they face potential double damages penalty if they willfully violate the law, so that gives them a modest incentive to actually do the right thing.

Some states also have arbitration programs as part of their lemon laws. These are usually run by the state department for consumer affairs or the attorney generals office, and they can speed up an outcome, according to Shahan. You can submit a claim and get a decision pretty quickly, and get the law applied, she says. For example, New Yorks program allows you to file by email.

No matter what, Burdge recommends keeping detailed notes of any and all communications you have with an automaker and its representatives, and holding on to any receipts for rental cars, parking, gas, or other expenses you incurred as a result of a recall. Keep notes of who you call, when you call, who you talk to, and what they say, he says.

Can You Get Money Back?

In some extreme cases, automakers will offer compensation to owners of vehicles with unfixable recalls. Thats what happened with the Chevy Bolt; Chevrolet paid some owners up to $6,000, but in exchange, they had to waive their right to sue the automaker.

If a large number of vehicle owners face similar economic losses due to a recallfor example, paying for gas because they cant charge a plug-in hybridtheres a good chance theyand youmight be able to join a class action against the vehicle manufacturer. If the class action is successful, you may be able to get money back for your losses, such as expenses you paid out of pocket while waiting for a recall remedy.

Search the phrase class action and the make and model of your vehicle to find out if a current class-action lawsuit exists. Remember that there are deadlines to meet if you want to participate in such a lawsuit. If you participate in one, you give up your right to sue a company on your own.

You might get so fed up with an unfixable vehicle that you may just want to get rid of it. Burdge says that you should contact an attorney before doing so, because trading in a vehicle with an open recall may end up costing you in the long run. Some dealers may not want it, and it wont be worth as much as a vehicle without an open recall. Thats also what CR was told when we asked dealerships about trading in specific vehicles with open recalls from our own test fleet.

The practical solution is almost always to just simply sell it, trade it off, get rid of it, move on, Burdge says. While it is the practical solution, it can sometimes be the economically harsh solution, too.

Diller is glad theres a fix for his Pacifica, but the months of waiting for a repair left him soured on Chrysler. Its too bad, because we like the car but feel let down by the company with their response to this recall, he says.





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples



Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2022, Consumer Reports, Inc.
A truck went into a home in southwest Charlotte after 9 p.m. on Oct. 20 and said two weeks later that getting the damage repaired has been slow.

We have not been able to successfully retrieve a police report, homeowner Darrius Sellars said.

Channel 9s Jonathan Lowe saw the truck and a large hole in the front of the home that night on Monroe Road near Mason Wallace Park. No one was hurt in the crash.

I would have been smashed between the grill of an F-350, Sellars said.

UPDATE | @charlottefire says a car and a truck hauling a trailer with a bobcat on it, collided, and the truck hit the house. Someone was home at the time, but escaped uninjured. @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/VdVrYzr4P8  Jonathan Lowe (@JonathanUpdates) October 21, 2022

Lowe saw tracks going from Monroe Road, over the sidewalk, across the yard and into the brick home.

A truck hauling a trailer loaded with a Bobcat mini tractor hit a car before running off the road.

Bricks could be seen scattered across the yard of the home.

Homeowners said repairs are taking a long time after a truck crashed into their house on Monroe Road near Mason Wallace Park on Oct. 20.

Sellars said he was in the kitchen when he heard tires screech and the truck came barreling in.

Im standing maybe a foot away, Sellars told Channel 9. Once the crash was over, I opened the window and I asked the driver if he was ok. He is in a pickup truck in my kitchen and Im like inside my house having a conversation with the man.

Sellars estimated damage could be north of $100,000.

The damage has gotten worse since the crash.

Since the accident, the water heater has been leaking into the crawl space, he said. These cracks are starting to spread and on the inside of the house. The house is starting to sink.

The driver is not the only one who should be held accountable, his wife Brittany Sellars said.

Story continues

And I think that the city should look at doing some things in this area to make it more walkable and more safe, she said.

The truck was towed from the home around 11 p.m.

Traffic did not appear to be interrupted on Monroe Road.

This is a developing story. Check wsoctv.com for updates.

(WATCH BELOW: Truck plows into Taylorsville Walmart, damaging deli)




CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP)  A northwestern Indiana man who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his 9-year-old daughter as he was talking to her two brothers about gun safety won't serve any prison time for her 2017 death.

A Lake County judge sentenced Eric S. Hummel, 38, on Thursday to one year to be served in the countys community corrections program while living at home, followed by 3 1/2 years of probation.

Judge Natalie Bokota accepted the Hobart man's guilty plea to reckless homicide and neglect of a dependent charges in Olivia Hummel's death, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.

Prosecutors had sought an 8 1/2-year prison sentence for Hummel, but Bokota she said she agreed with Hummels attorneys that incarcerating him would result in further trauma to his boys.

According to court records, Hummel said he was showing a handgun to his sons and telling them to never play with it because it can kill someone when he accidentally shot and killed his daughter.

Hummel told a 911 dispatcher he didnt realize the gun was loaded when he pulled the trigger.

He admitted in his plea agreement that he was talking to his sons about gun safety in a bedroom of his Hobart home in June 2017, when he pointed a handgun at the boys and pulled the trigger.

The handgun did not expel a projectile at that point, but pulling the trigger caused the firing pin to become engaged, according to court records.

When Olivia joined her siblings and father in the bedroom, Hummel pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. She suffered a gunshot wound to her head and died at a hospital.
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

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Trump did not sign an order to deploy 20,000 troops on Jan. 6

CLAIM: Former President Donald Trump signed an order to deploy 20,000 National Guard troops before his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but was stopped by the House sergeant at arms, at the behest of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

THE FACTS: While Trump was involved in discussions in the days prior to Jan. 6 about the National Guard response, he issued no such order before or during the rioting. New footage released last week of House lawmakers on Jan. 6 has sparked a resurgence of false claims and conspiracy theories about the insurrection. The videos, recorded by Pelosis daughter, showed the congresswoman negotiating with governors and defense officials in an effort to get Guard troops to the Capitol. Some on social media used the occasion to revive baseless claims that Pelosi had stopped a Trump order for tens of thousands of National Guard troops before the event. Trump signed an order to deploy 20,000 Guardsmen on J6. It was refused by the House sergeant at arms, who reports to Nancy Pelosi, said one post that spread on Gettr, Instagram and Twitter. As the AP has previously reported, Trump was not involved in decision-making related to the National Guard on Jan. 6, and Pelosi did not stand in their way. Trump did say during a 30-second call on Jan. 5 with then Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller that they were going to need 10,000 troops on Jan. 6, according to a statement Miller provided to a House committee in May 2021. But Miller added that there was no elaboration, and he took the comment to mean a large force would be required to maintain order the following day. There is no evidence that Trump actually signed any order requesting 10,000 Guard troops, let alone 20,000, for Jan. 6. Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense provided a timeline of the agencys involvement in preparing for and responding to the attack on the Capitol. The timeline shows no such order, and notes only that on Jan. 3, the president concurred with activating the D.C. National Guard to support law enforcement at the behest of Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser. When the rioting started, Bowser requested more Guard help, on behalf of the Capitol Police. That request was made to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, who then went to Miller, who approved it. Neither Pelosi nor the House sergeant at arms could have stopped an ordered deployment of National Guard troops because Congress doesnt control the National Guard, legal experts say. Guard troops are generally controlled by governors, though they can be federalized, said William C. Banks, a law professor at Syracuse University. The online claims make no sense at all, Banks said, adding, The House sergeant at arms, he or she is not in the chain of command. Nor is Nancy Pelosi. As the newly released footage showed, she and Mitch McConnell, then Senate majority leader, called for military assistance, including the National Guard. The House sergeant at arms does sit on the Capitol Police Board, which also includes the Senate sergeant at arms and the architect of the Capitol. That board opted not to request the Guard ahead of the insurrection, but did eventually request assistance after the rioting had already begun. There is no evidence that either Pelosi or McConnell directed the security officials not to call the guard beforehand, and Drew Hammill, Pelosis deputy chief of staff, said after the insurrection that Pelosi was never informed of such a request.

 Associated Press writer Josh Kelety in Phoenix contributed this report.

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Immigrants not auto enrolled to vote under new drivers license law

CLAIM: A new Massachusetts law providing drivers licenses for immigrants in the country illegally will also automatically register them to vote in elections.

THE FACTS: The law passed by Massachusetts state lawmakers this summer prohibits immigrants without legal permission to reside in the U.S. from being automatically registered to vote. Social media users have been reviving fears that the new Massachusetts law would give those living in the country illegally the right to vote since the state has automatic voter registration. The concerns come as residents weigh a ballot referendum on the law in next months election. The law, which takes effect July 1, 2023, would allow Massachusetts residents who cannot provide proof of lawful presence in the U.S. to obtain a drivers license or permit if they meet all other requirements, such as passing a road test and providing proof of identity. Giving Drivers licenses to illegals gives them the right to vote, the Massachusetts Republican Party said in a Facebook post. Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl repeated the claim during a televised debate against Democratic rival Maura Healey. He noted that Republican Governor Charlie Baker vetoed the legislation in part over election concerns. Massachusetts Democratic-led legislature ultimately overrode the veto. But state Sen. Brendan Crighton, a Democrat who was a lead sponsor of the bill, told the AP that the voting concerns have long been debunked. He argued that green card holders, student visa holders and other types of noncitizens can already seek Massachusetts drivers licenses, and theres a system in place to ensure theyre not automatically registered to vote. The state in 2020 enacted an automatic voter registration law in which every eligible citizen who interacts with state agencies like the RMV is automatically registered to vote, unless they specifically opt out. The states current drivers license form asks if the applicant is a U.S. citizen and a Massachusetts resident under a section for voter registration. If the applicant cant answer yes to all the questions, they are then instructed to check a box that says, Do not use my information for voter registration. The term automatic voter registration is a misnomer in the sense that the individual is not registered to vote unless they are a citizen and over 18 years old, Crighton said. It is not actually automatic. Amanda Orlando, Diehls campaign manager, didnt dispute that Massachusetts new law specifically prohibits automatic voter registration for those seeking drivers licenses. But she maintained the law, as constructed, places the burden of reviewing voting eligibility on the already overburdened and understaffed RMV. What is written in the law, and what will happen in reality are different, Orlando wrote in an email. As noted by Governor Baker, they are not able to handle the volume they currently have, let alone increase it substantially with giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. The RMV declined to comment, but Secretary of State William Galvins office, which oversees Massachusetts elections, said the two agencies have been in communication ahead of the law taking effect next year. Under the current process, the RMV provides the secretary of states office with all the relevant information for voter registration  such as an applicants name, date of birth and address  and can provide additional information to further verify voting eligibility, said Debra OMalley, Galvins spokesperson. The RMV has a record of what evidence of lawful presence has been provided and removes from those batches anyone who hasnt provided them with a U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport, or U.S. naturalization papers," she said by email.

 Associated Press writer Phillip Marcelo in New York contributed this report.

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CNBC report on climate research didnt confirm chemtrails theory

CLAIM: A CNBC story on research into technology to combat climate change admitted that chemtrails are real.

THE FACTS: The story reported on a federal plan to research technology that could place materials in the atmosphere to reflect sunlight away from Earth, but experts say the idea is being investigated and is not currently in use. A TikTok video also shared on Instagram is distorting the facts around a recent CNBC story to advance a long-running conspiracy theory that the condensation trails, or contrails, left in the air by planes are actually dangerous chemtrails. Chemtrails are real, text shown in the video reads. The theory posits that aircrafts are spewing toxic chemicals as part of a nefarious and secret plot. The video, viewed more than 9,000 times on TikTok, shows screenshots of an Oct. 13 CNBC story headlined, White House is pushing ahead research to cool Earth by reflecting back sunlight. The person in the video then proceeds to show footage of vapor trails in the sky. But the CNBC story wasnt admitting that chemtrails are real, and experts say the aerosol injection technology it discussed is not currently in use. The CNBC report looked at a White House plan to study ways to reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches Earth, in an effort to combat global warming. In passing a federal appropriations bill earlier this year, Congress directed federal agencies to coordinate with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a five-year plan assessing the use of such solar and climate interventions. One possibility is the use of stratospheric aerosol injection, an idea taken from the climate effects of large volcanic eruptions. These eruptions emit sulfur into the atmosphere, where it turns into highly reflective microscopic droplets, said Ben Kravitz, an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Indiana University. Those sulfur droplets reflect some sunlight back to space, and it cools the planet a little bit, he said in an email. Stratospheric aerosol injection is built on that idea  if nature can cool the planet, maybe we can do it on purpose. The idea is not without risks, Kravitz added, and the point of research is so that decision makers can weigh whether to use such technology. Currently nobody is doing this, he said. David Keith, a Harvard University professor who researches this field, likewise told the AP that this is a discussion about a technology that is possible but is not now used. Keith said in an email that aerosol injection would not leave contrails like those left by planes. "If someone were doing climate-altering stratospheric aerosol injections - the sky would probably look a little whiter and hazier, much like it looks in a big city, Kravitz said.

 Associated Press writer Angelo Fichera in Philadelphia contributed this report.

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No suspected serial killer in Seattle, despite online rumor

CLAIM: King County detectives have been notifying locals about a serial killer in Seattle after several women in a southern section of the city and the nearby city of Burien were found dead with their bodies posed in the same way.

THE FACTS: The King County Sheriffs Office and Seattle Police Department both said they are not investigating a suspected serial killer. The claims erupted on social media last weekend as Seattle residents warned each other about the alleged criminal. King County Detectives have been notifying locals about a serial killer in Seattle right now, read a tweet that was shared to Instagram, where it amassed nearly 40,000 likes. Multiple womens bodies have been discovered recently in the Burien and SODO area, apparently posed in the same way, the post continued, referring to a district of downtown Seattle. Serial killer warning in Seattle! read another tweet, which included a screenshot of an email attributed to a local bar manager. The email claimed a killer had been targeting women in their 30s between 12 a.m. and 7 a.m. in the south Seattle area. The Seattle Police Department refuted the claims on Twitter and in an emailed statement, saying it did not have any serial homicide cases. The King County Sheriffs Office, which is the main law enforcement agency for unincorporated areas of the county and 12 cities including Burien, also denied the claims on Twitter and by email. The King County Sheriffs Office is aware of unsubstantiated on-line social media reports that select death investigations, in the vicinity of South Park / SR509, may share similar characteristics, the statement read. At this time, the Sheriffs Office has identified no evidence affirming this for any cases under our jurisdiction. Its unclear where the baseless rumors originated, though unsupported claims related to serial killers occasionally spread in cities across the country. The bar manager cited as the author of an email spreading the claims did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

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

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Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck

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Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck
John Fettermans Senate campaign on Friday released a new ad featuring former President Barack Obama, one day after President Joe Biden visited Pennsylvania to stump for the Democratic candidate.

In the 30-second spot, Obama addresses Pennsylvania voters directly about the important choices theyll be making this year, including the fate of our democracy and a womans right to choose.

I know John will fight for Pennsylvanians, the 44th president concludes, endorsing the lieutenant governor for the Senate seat. You can count on John Fetterman; make sure he can count on you.

When the fate of our democracy and a womans right to choose are on the line, I know John will fight for Pennsylvanians.



Honored to have President Obama on this team  pic.twitter.com/npSw6hXcxG  John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) October 21, 2022

The ad comes a day after Biden stumped for Fetterman at the Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh. The 52-year-old structure collapsed in January but is on track to be rebuilt by the end of the year with the help of funding allocated in Bidens bipartisan infrastructure bill, passed into law in 2021.

By Christmas, God willing, well be walking  Im coming back to walk over this sucker, Biden said. When you see these projects in your neighborhoods, cranes going up, shovels in the ground, I want you to feel the way I feel: pride.

At a fundraising event later Thursday, Biden praised Fettermans integrity and follow-through.

You never have to wonder that he means what he says, Biden told the crowd.

Fetterman and Republican rival Mehmet Oz are scheduled to face off in a debate Tuesday, Oct. 25, ahead of Novembers midterm elections.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Smead Capital Management, an investment management company, released its Smead Value Fund third quarter 2022 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. For the recent quarter, the Smead Value Fund (SMVLX) lost 1.82% versus a loss of 4.88% for the formerly formidable S&P 500 Index and 5.62% in the Russell 1000 Value Index. The same is true for the year-to-date loss of 14.51% for the fund against losses in the S&P 500 of 23.87% and the Russell 1000 Value of 17.75%. Try to spare some time to check the fund's top 5 holdings for you to have an idea about their best stock picks this 2022.

In its Q3 2022 investor letter, Smead Value Fund mentioned Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1920, Occidental Petroleum Corporation is a Houston, Texas-based chemical industry company with a $63.7 billion market capitalization. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) delivered a 136.15% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 105.22%. The stock closed at $68.46 per share on October 19, 2022.

Here is what Smead Value Fund has to say about Occidental Petroleum Corporation in its Q3 2022 investor letter:

"Our top-performing stocks in the quarter includes Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY). Oil and gas have been the best game in the stock market town this year and it was a pleasant surprise to see home builders pick up even with dour news on interest rates and the economy. For the first three quarters of the year, we should change the name of our fund to the Jed Clampett Fund. Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY), was one of the standouts. Up through the bear market came a bubblin crude!

biotech research company, bio-technology companies

Copyright: mikkolem / 123RF Stock Photo

Our calculations show that Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) fell short and didnt make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) was in 66 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the second quarter of 2022, compared to 67 funds in the previous quarter. Occidental Petroleum Corporation delivered a 7.73% return in the past 3 months.

Story continues

In August 2022, we also shared another hedge funds views on Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q3 page.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
STANISLAV POHORILOV  FRIDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2022, 15:05

According to intelligence reports, the occupiers planned in advance to blow up the Kakhovka reservoir dam. It is a hydrotechnical system of the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant, which they mined back in April.

Source: press service of the Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

Quote: "Plans to blow up the dam were made in advance; the main mining works were carried out back in April. In the course of this week, the sluices and pillars of the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant were also mined".

Details: Ukrainian Intelligence also reported that two military tented Kamaz trucks without drivers were placed on the dam. Both vehicles were fully loaded with crates of explosives.

Background: On 20 October, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, reported that Russian had mined the dam and units of the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant, and they were planning to commit a terrorist attack under the Ukrainian flag.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Oct. 20An Odessa man was arrested Wednesday after two girls, ages 10 and 12, prompted an investigation to be launched in August by alleging he'd inappropriately touched them on multiple occasions.

Demetrio Lujan, 18, was booked into the Ector County jail on one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony punishable by five years to life in prison.

According to an Odessa Police Department report, Child Protective Service investigators informed detectives a 12-year-old girl said she'd been molested.

During the girl's forensic interview at Harmony Home in late August, the child said Lujan had repeatedly grabbed her buttocks and breasts while playing and she knew the same thing had happened to a 10-year-old girl, the report stated.

When the 10-year-old was interviewed in late September, she said Lujan often touched her buttocks and breasts while throwing her up in the air. She also said about a year prior, Lujan digitally penetrated her vagina after grabbing her in his hallway, causing her to be traumatized, scared and in pain, the report stated.

When interviewed Tuesday, Lujan admitted to all of the allegations made by the girls, but said every incident was an accident.

Lujan remained in the Ector County jail Thursday afternoon; no bond had yet been set.
The state of Ohio will not require the COVID-19 vaccine for school students despite a recommendation from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel.

A panel with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the federal government's list of routinely recommended vaccinations. The panel's decision, likely to be adopted by the CDC director, formally adds the shot to a list often used by schools and health officials in making vaccination requirements.

Ohio leaders made it clear Friday that the vaccine would not be required for Ohio students.

Coronavirus: Ohio urges COVID-19 booster shots as new variants emerge

The State of Ohio does not mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for school attendance. The ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) vote does not change Ohio law. The states list of required vaccines can only be changed through legislation," said Ohio Department of Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff in a statement.

Indeed, not every vaccine on the list has been adopted by Ohio as a requirement for schoolchildren, such as flu shots. A list of required vaccines for schools and child care in Ohio can be viewed on the Ohio Department of Health website.

Eriya Daniel, traveling nurse from Dayton, prepares Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to be given to 500 staff members from the Middletown School District. Liz Dufour/The Enquirer

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted: '... we have no COVID vaccine requirement in our state. Period.'

Ohio elected leaders are not likely to change the state law to require COVID-19 shots for school children.

"The CDC can make a recommendation if they want, but they cant tell Ohio schools to require a COVID vaccine," Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said in a tweet Friday. "The General Assembly makes Ohio law, and we have no COVID vaccine requirement in our state. Period."

The COVID-19 vaccine has been a subject of intense debate and controversy during the pandemic. Some Ohio lawmakers have tried to push laws banning the vaccine, but such attempts have met dead ends in a divided majority-GOP legislature who disagree on how far a vaccine mandate should go.

Story continues

The CDC can make a recommendation if they want, but they cant tell Ohio schools to require a COVID vaccine.



The General Assembly makes Ohio law, and we have no COVID vaccine requirement in our state. Period. https://t.co/b3fN19MUWd  Jon Husted (@JonHusted) October 21, 2022

News: How the COVID pandemic boosted Ohioans opposed to vaccine requirements

One COVID-19 vaccine-related bill that has made the most progress passed the Ohio House but has stalled in the Ohio Senate. Advocates against vaccine mandates - who oppose that bill for not banning vaccine mandates far enough - have said they don't expect it to go anywhere, especially as the end-of-the-year deadline to pass bills approaches.

Instead, the group Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom is trying to put a state constitutional amendment granting a "medical right to refuse" on the ballot.

Will Ohio lawmakers pursue COVID-19 legislation?

With public attention mostly away from COVID-19 right now, lawmakers seem to prefer to tackle other issues instead of revisiting a contentious subject that saw little progress.

COVID-19 attention is down. What does that mean for Ohio's anti-vaccine mandate movement?

"I just don't know if there's the appetite by some to pursue another COVID bill," said Rep. Kris Jordan, R-Ostrander, earlier this year.

Titus Wu is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: CDC recommends COVID vaccine for students. It won't happen in Ohio
(Bloomberg) -- Democrat Tim Ryan has dodged President Joe Biden in his bid for Republican-leaning Ohios US Senate seat, but on Thursday he welcomed Senator Joe Manchin, oft-maligned by their party, to his side as he tries to woo moderate voters.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Ryans appearance with the West Virginia senator in southern Ohio wasnt a campaign stop, but rather an official event to discuss contamination and issues related to a former uranium-enrichment plant. Manchin is chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and pledged to help the community.

But Manchin, who is known for frustrating Democrats with his opposition to Biden at key times, argued that Ohioans who want results should pick current Democratic US Representative Ryan over Republican venture capitalist JD Vance. The midterm election contest is unexpectedly competitive with control of the upper chamber at stake.

If you want to basically make the Senate work, we dont need anybody from the extremes, Manchin, whose state is a GOP bastion, told reporters after a forum with community officials in Piketon. Thats what Im asking the people in Ohio: Give us somebody thatll work in the middle, thats not afraid to say, Hey, the Republicans are right on that issue.

Ryan is trying to charm independents, moderate Republicans and disaffected Democrats with a campaign in a state Donald Trump easily won twice by emphasizing his willingness to oppose his party and support the former president on issues such as trade and being tough on China.

Republicans had expected the seat of retiring GOP Senator Rob Portman to be safe, but polls show the race is competitive after Ryan outraised and outspent Vance, the Hillbilly Elegy author and first-time candidate. Vance struggled after winning a bruising primary in May with Trumps endorsement.

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Im not asking anybody to sign up to be a Democrat, Ryan told a group of college students during a stop at Ohio State University on Wednesday. Im asking people in this election to sign up to be an American. Democrats, Republicans and independents, the exhausted majority of us, against the extremists.

His appearance alongside Manchin is in contrast to the campaign fellow Democrat US Senate hopeful John Fetterman, who campaigned with Biden Thursday, has run in Pennsylvania. In the primary, Fetterman routinely criticized Manchin for his opposition to parts of Bidens agenda popular with progressives.

Do we have any Joe Manchin Democrats? One? OK, one. Two? Weve got two. OK. So I want to tell you that I might let you down if I get to Washington, DC, Fetterman said at an April campaign stop in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

Vance and his allies argue that the image Ryan is trying to project on the campaign trail, in his television ads and during two debates belies his record, which they say is in near lock-step with Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

As much as Tim Ryan pretends that hes somehow independent, as much as he pretends that hes somehow bipartisan, if you look at every single issue these guys have governed on in the last couple of years, they have gone completely off the rails, Vance said during an appearance in Columbus on Wednesday with GOP senators Tom Cotton and Tim Scott, both potential 2024 presidential candidates.

Cotton said Vance must win because there is no path to Republican majority without the Ohio seat, and Ohio has been trending Republican for a few years now, thats why the Democrats are so desperate to get their grips back on it again.

Manchin said he thinks control of the Senate will be a toss-up, and he hopes Democrats get a one- or two-seat majority.

Im just praying to God its not 50-50, Manchin said.

--With assistance from Gregory Korte.

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Amid their former nannys allegations, Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Wilde came together to issue a rare joint statement (Getty)

A Hollywood film overshadowed by alleged feuds. Custody papers served live on stage. A video in which one famous person may or may not have spat on another. And now the most dramatic salad dressing in showbiz.

On Monday (17 October), a nanny previously employed by Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis made a series of allegations against the former couple  and about Wildes subsequent relationship with Harry Styles  to The Daily Mail. Repeated references were made to Wildes mysterious special salad dressing, and the nanny included screenshots of alleged texts between her and the celebrity pair. So far, so internet catnip. What happened next, though, marked a turning point in what would otherwise have been your average soap opera-worthy celebrity scandal. Amid the nannys allegations, Wilde and Sudeikis came together to issue a joint statement against her.

As parents, it is incredibly upsetting to learn that a former nanny of our two young children would choose to make such false and scurrilous accusations about us publicly, the former couple wrote. Her now 18-month-long campaign of harassing us, as well as loved ones, close friends and colleagues, has reached its unfortunate apex. We will continue to focus on raising and protecting our children with the sincere hope that she will now choose to leave our family alone.

Lets backtrack a little. Wilde and Sudeikis, who have two children, announced their breakup after nine years together in November 2020. At the time, Wilde was in the middle of shooting Dont Worry Darling, starring Styles and Florence Pugh. Two months later, Wilde and Styles were an item, leading to conflicting reports over timelines. One Hollywood golden couple fell apart as another was created. Throw in the public serving of custody papers while Wilde discussed her movie at an industry event in April, and later rumours of rifts between Wilde and Pugh over her relationship with Styles, and its no wonder Dont Worry Darling became overshadowed.

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Despite everything, though, the fact that Wilde and Sudeikis appear to have been brought together by their nanny stands for something. After months of apparent acrimony, the exes have united in order to protect their children.

This is an unusual situation. Usually, when a third party intervenes in a breakup  such as a paramour, perhaps, or a jilted ex-lover or disgruntled mother-in-law  it creates conflict. Whoever it is, traditionally this third party would pull former partners apart rather than together. In this case, though, it seems that the nanny has provided Wilde and Sudeikis with an opportunity to find common ground and a common enemy: someone its easier to go up against than each other. At least thats what it looks like.

Involving a third party can contribute to getting a couple back together, says relationship psychologist Madeleine Mason Roantree. Id say its definitely a possibility. Because usually people, in this case a couple, will unite against a perceived bigger threat.

Matters become more complex, though, when you consider the gender dynamics at play here. The split between Wilde and Sudeikis is the latest addition to a long line of heterosexual celebrity breakups in which the woman gets blamed for the separation. With Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, for example, the media turned on Angelina Jolie despite the fact that Pitt was the one accused of cheating.

Wilde has denied cheating on Sudekis with Styles, just as Pitt and Jolie denied having an affair while Pitt was still married. In this situation, though, Styles has not been positioned as the Jolie-esque villain of the story. Thats been Wilde herself. And even now, via her former nanny, blame has drifted to an entirely different woman all together. Its no coincidence that hours after the nannys interview broke, Wilde delivered a speech in which she referenced the burning hellfire of misogyny that defines this business.

Olivia Wilde, Chris Pine and Harry Styles at the Venice premiere of Dont Worry Darling in August (Getty)

The lasting effect of all this becomes complex in a legal sense; involving a third party is not always beneficial to either parent when it comes to custody of children. James Maguire, partner and founder of Maguire Family Law, explains that in England, a scenario where a third party is making allegations against a couple may lead the judge to direct what is called a finding of fact hearing.

The purpose of this is for the judge at an interim hearing to decide (based on the evidence) what has happened and to make findings to that effect, he adds. In this situation, as I understand, the nanny has made allegations against both parties and that makes the case more complex. Nonetheless, in England, Maguire says the same principles would remain. What findings need to be made to determine, as best the court can, what the truth is, and do those allegations/findings actually go to the welfare issues concerning the child and, if so, to what extent?

Where there is malicious intent coming from a third party, I can imagine this would likely lead the couple to want to batten down the hatches and protect their own

Maguire adds: The problem a judge can be presented with is that with warring parents who make allegations and cross allegations, the children can be lost in all of this. On occasions, a judge may feel that a child has to receive his/her own separate representation by way of a guardian.

Where matters become more complex still, though, is when parents are in the public eye. This category of relationships are very different from non-celebrity relationships, explains clinical psychologist Marc Hekster. The issue with celebrity relationships is that there is already a third party involved from the start, and that is the external world; fans, media, social media.

With this in mind, Hekster explains that a celebrity relationship already faces additional challenges. But where there is malicious intent coming from a third party such as a nanny, I can imagine this would likely lead the couple to want to batten down the hatches and protect their own, he adds. In the world of celebrity, though, it would be the most secure couples only who might manage to survive the external attacks emanating from others around them.
Ukrainians attend a rally in central Kyiv on Saturday. (Efrem Lukatsky / Associated Press)

Wars are easier to start than finish, and their finale rarely follows any prescribed script. But if you are the aggressor, a clear victory is rarely an option.

Nonetheless, with no end in sight for the Russian-Ukrainian war, calls by some in the West to give Russian President Vladimir Putin a face-saving off-ramp out of the conflict are growing louder. Most of these arguments start with the flawed presumption that Putin had a valid reason for his war, something that would justify a peace that compromises Ukraines sovereignty yet again.

The 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest, Romania, supposedly incited Putins ire by granting Georgia and Ukraine a promise of eventual membership in the alliance. Never mind that there was no membership action plan for either country put forward, owing to lack of support from Germany and France.

While NATOs non-decision signaled to Putin that he should do whatever he could to make such promises impossible, France and Germanys reluctance gave him an opportunity to fracture relationships among the alliances members. He seized it by launching a war in Georgia in 2008, occupying territory that remains under Russian control to this day. Sadly for the world, that gambit worked: Most NATO members took a decisive step back from political support of the accession process for Georgia and Ukraine.

The world likely would be in a very different place today if the Bucharest Summit had actually put Georgia and Ukraine on a path to NATO membership. The West would have responded to the invasion of Georgia with more than declarations, and Ukraine most likely would have been spared todays bloodshed.

That didnt happen. When Georgian officials warned in 2008-09 that impunity for Russia for its invasion and land grab would lead to more acts of aggression against Ukraine and others, they were dismissed as being paranoid or solely concerned with their own political survival following a disastrous war. As Georgias ambassador to the European Union between 2005 and 2013, I was often told by senior European policymakers that Russia would never dare to annex Crimea or invade Ukraine.

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Not only did the EU ignore our pleas for sanctions and a revision of its Russia-dependent energy strategy, some European officials even started making excuses for Russia. When the EU launched an Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia, Russia successfully manipulated the final report to suit its own interests. Then, Barack Obamas administration took office in the United States and pursued its ill-fated reset with Russia, sending an unambiguous signal that Putin would face no meaningful accountability for launching a war to carve up Georgia.

In 2012, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, whom Putin often described as a personal foe, was voted out of office. Some in the West took his defeat as a sign that relations with Russia should be normalized further.

No one seemed to have noticed at the time that Saakashvilis pro-Western government was replaced by a Russia-friendly oligarchy that has since stalled Georgias progress toward democracy and integration with the West. Over the last decade, the Georgian government has undermined projects of great strategic importance to NATO in the Black Sea region  such as the Anaklia Deep Sea Port  while showing only lukewarm support for Ukraine in its fight for survival.

Similarly, Germanys decision to press ahead with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline  first following Putins invasion of Georgia, and then again following his illegal annexation of Crimea  now stands out as a completely feckless strategic blunder (though it certainly isnt the only one). All these missteps helped bring us to where we are today. As U.S. President Biden recently warned, the prospect of nuclear Armageddon now looms larger than it has since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 60 years ago this week.

The West must not repeat the mistakes it made back in 2008, when it did practically nothing about Putins war of aggression against Georgia. In claiming to have annexed large swaths of Ukrainian territory through sham referendums and arguing that Ukraine is a fake country, Putin has made no secret of his ultimate intentions. Yet according to those calling for peace negotiations, Putin might be reconciled to the continued existence of some Ukrainian state if it means that he can keep the illegally annexed territories, and if NATO commits never to admit Ukraine.

Such arguments are music to Putins ears. He is gambling that a cold winter, high energy prices and war fatigue will undermine the Wests unity and make the sirens of appeasement irresistible. The less chance there appears to be for a timely military victory (by either side), the greater the impetus for Western diplomats to intervene and start pushing Ukraine to negotiate and settle.

But the 2008 Georgia war and the 2014 annexation of Crimea should have proven by now that appeasement only begets more aggression. The sole way for the West to secure peace is to maintain unity and support Ukraine (militarily, economically and diplomatically) until it regains all of its territory.

That means not giving in to Putins nuclear threats, and not countenancing any short-term deals that help him create the illusion of victory, which would allow Russia to simply regroup and strike back even more aggressively.

Ukraine has already paid a staggering price for its freedom. The least the West must do is give it a chance to secure a viable, long-term peace. That starts by not selling Ukraine out to those who deny its very right to exist.

Salome Samadashvili, a former head of Georgias Mission to the European Union, is a member of Georgias parliament.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
People wait in line as humanitarian aid is distributed at the village of Mykhailo Lukasheve, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022.

Here we go again. Another European madman murdering his way toward another world war for the sake of lebensraum (living space). Countries around the world arming up in response. Violent rhetoric  including nuclear threats and President Bidens warning about the prospect of Armageddon  elbowing out diplomacy. The people of the world grimly awaiting the casus belli triggering NATOs an attack on one is an attack on all doctrine and hurling us all into a hellish World War III.

The inevitable end result: Millions of us dead. Millions of us refugees. Millions of families broken. Millions of lives destroyed.

Are we as a species really willing to do this again? Are we willing to wage world war, particularly when we know that this time there are hypersonic nuclear missiles? Missiles that can travel at about one mile per second and change direction enroute, rendering them invincible to antimissile systems. All of which means that if a country detected an incoming hypersonic missile, it would have no time to do anything other than consider it a first strike and immediately unload its nuclear arsenal on the attacker: A real-life Doomsday Machine. Somewhere, Dr. Strangelove is sneering.

More:OPINION: New baby, new perspective of the world

Is humankind really willing to play species-wide Russian roulette again, only this time knowing theres a bullet in every chamber?

I dont think we are. Ordinary people throughout the world learned the loathsome lessons of the twentieth century and know perfectly well whats coming. We see that governments are responding as they always do in these circumstances, and that this will lead where it always does: wholesale slaughter and destruction on a global scale.

But maybe this time theres an alternative. Maybe ordinary people can short-circuit the insane game of thrones their leaders have always found so irresistible. What if millions of Russians united against the war and refused to go to work until Russia withdraws from Ukraine? Such a national work stoppage would be an act of civil disobedience beyond any governments ability to control.

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Polls show that most Russians favor the war. But the governments brutal treatment of Russians who oppose the war should make us skeptical that theyre an accurate reflection of Russians sentiments.

This is particularly true in light of the fact that the situation on the ground has changed. The Russian Army has suffered serious setbacks which, Mr. Putin has acknowledged, will prolong the war. In response, 300,000 underequipped reservists have been conscripted to fight in Ukraine. Are Russians willing to continue their blood sacrifice indefinitely for Mr. Putins misbegotten war of aggression against the freedom fighters of Ukraine?

Are the Russian people willing to stand by as Mr. Putins merciless attacks on civilian targets and the discoveries of more mass graves turn Russia into a pariah state?

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Are Russians willing to risk further isolation from the international community by denying Europeans the fuel needed to heat their homes through the coming winter?

Russian citizens will be putting themselves at risk by declaring a general work stoppage. But they need to understand that at this pivotal moment, theyre in a unique historical position. They can potentially end the barbaric war in Ukraine and announce to the governments of the world that an attack on a peaceful neighbor will no longer be tolerated by the aggressor nations citizens.

Lets pray the Russian people do whats necessary to save untold millions of us from ever again being crushed under historys horrific wheel.

Peter Merkl is a longtime resident of Corpus Christi.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Opinion: Another way to end the Ukraine War
By Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistan has been removed from an international grey list that warrants increased surveillance for terrorism financing, the head of the international money laundering watchdog which makes the list said on Friday.

The decision, which provides a boost to the reputation of the crisis-ridden South Asian nation, was taken at the end of a two-day meeting in Paris, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) president T Raja Kumar told a news conference.

"After a lot of work by the Pakistani authorities, they have worked through two separate action plans and completed a combined 34 action items to address deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems," FATF president T Raja Kumar told a news conference in Paris.

In a meeting in June, the FATF had said it was keeping Pakistan on the so-called "grey list", but said it might be removed after an on-site visit to verify progress.

Kumar said a FATF team had visited Pakistan and was satisfied with the implementation of the programme.

"Pakistan exiting the FATF grey list is a vindication of our determined and sustained efforts over the years," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Twitter.

Pakistan was listed in 2018 because of "strategic counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies".

Even though the country had been removed from list, "there is work to be done," Raja said, adding that the FATF encouraged Pakistan to strengthen its monitoring mechanisms.

With its removal from the list, Pakistan would essentially receive a reputational boost and get a clean bill of health from the international community on terrorist financing.

It would also improve sentiment, important from a foreign direct investment perspective.

Recent widespread floods in Pakistan have further weakened the country's economy, already in turmoil with a rising current account deficit, inflation above 20% and a sharp depreciation of the rupee currency.

(Reporting by Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar, editing by Andrew Cawthorne and David Gregorio)
ISLAMABAD (AP)  An international watchdog said Friday it is removing Pakistan from its so-called gray list of countries that do not take full measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, a move that was quickly welcomed by the countrys prime minister and other government officials.

The announcement was made by Raja Kumar, the president of the Financial Action Task Force, at a news conference in Paris. The FATF welcomed Pakistans significant progress in improving" its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing policies.

Pakistan had been on FATFs gray list since 2018. Being on the Paris-based watchdogs gray list can scare away investors and creditors, hurting exports, output and consumption. It also can make global banks wary of doing business with a country.

Friday's announcement means Pakistan will no longer be subject to increased monitoring by the FATF.

It comes after a FATF mission to Pakistan last month, and months after the global watchdog said it believed Pakistan mostly complied with the organizations demands by acting against those linked to money laundering and terror financing.

In Islamabad, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif took to Twitter to welcome the decision, saying that his countrys removal from the list was vindication of our determined and sustained efforts over the years. I would like to congratulate our civil & military leadership as well as all institutions whose hard work led to todays success."

In New Delhi, foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said Islamabad, pressured by the global watchdog, has taken some steps against well-known terrorists  including those accused of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed more than 160 people.

Pakistan's Hafiz Saeed, whose charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa is believed to be a front for Lashker-e-Taiba militant group accused of the Mumbai attacks, was designated a terrorist by the U.S. Justice Department and has a $10 million bounty on his head. He is now serving multiple prison terms in Pakistan after being convicted in several cases last year.

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Relations between Pakistan and India were strained after the attack on Indias financial hub. The rival South Asian powers have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

Pakistan must continue to take credible, verifiable, irreversible and sustained action and terrorist financing emanating from territories under its control, Bagchi said.

The gray list is composed of countries with a high risk of money laundering and terrorism financing but which have formally committed to working with the task force to make changes.

The FATF is made up of 37 member countries, including the United States, and two regional groups, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Commission. Currently, only Iran and North Korea are fully blacklisted and refuse to cooperate with the FATF.

We want to be seen as a responsible and active member of the international community that is well aware of its international obligations," said Pakistani Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, speaking from Paris.

She expressed hope that Friday's decision would give a much-needed boost to our economy and increase our economic and financial engagement with the outside world.

She described four years of broad legal and administrative reforms, streamlining systems and increased international cooperation to improve compliance with FATF rules, efforts that required complete national consensus across the political spectrum.

Pakistan has also struggled with militant attacks over the years. On Friday, a roadside bomb targeting a security forces' vehicle killed two officers and wounded three in the town of Qalat in restive southwestern Baluchistan province, according to the provinces top security official, Mir Zia Langu.

No one claimed responsibility for the bombing but Baluch separatists have been behind such attacks in the region in the past, seeking independence from Islamabad. Islamic militants also operate in the province.

Also Friday, troops killed four suspected militants in a raid on their hideout in the district of South Waziristan, in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan, a military statement said.

___

Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris and Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed to this report.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) -Israeli forces killed a Palestinian during an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad said the man, whom it named as 19-year-old Salah Braiki, was a member of the militant group.

Witnesses said clashes broke out during the raid, which the Israeli military said it carried out in order to arrest a suspected militant.

Several people "hurled explosive devices and fired shots at the security forces, who responded with live fire. Hits were identified," the military said. It did not elaborate.

Islamic Jihad said in a statement that Braiki was killed while confronting Israeli forces in Jenin. His father, speaking to Reuters at the hospital, denied Braiki had been involved in the overnight fighting.

He said: "This boy was neither armed nor wanted (by the Israelis). Why did you kill him?"

More than 100 Palestinians from the West Bank have been killed this year, most since late March when Israeli forces began a crackdown in response to attacks by Palestinians that killed 19 people in Israel.

Israel says the operations are a security measure needed to arrest militants and thwart attacks. Palestinians say the raids are a form of collective punishment and that they are fighting to resist decades of Israeli occupation.

Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza - areas that Palestinians seek for an independent state - in a 1967 Middle East war.

On Thursday, a UN-appointed commission of inquiry concluded that Israel's "permanent occupation and de-facto annexation" violated international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a tweet on Friday that the report was "biased (and) false" and accused its authors of being anti-Semitic.

(Reporting by Adel Abu Neama, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ari Rabinovitch; Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar; Editing by Richard Pullin, Robert Birsel and John Stonestreet$)
A passenger on an American Airlines flight to Charlotte is not going to prison after he was accused of jumping on a beverage cart, shoving a flight attendant and trying to take his clothes off, federal officials said.

Adam Alexander Williams, 33, of Auburn, Washington, was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay $14,500 in restitution to American Airlines on Thursday, Oct. 20, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Montana said in a news release.

Williams pleaded guilty to a charge of interference with flight members and attendants in June, and he initially faced a maximum of 20 years in prison.

An attorney for Williams did not immediately respond to McClatchy News request for comment on Thursday.

In January, Williams got on a flight from Seattle to Charlotte, and his behavior turned erratic and escalated once the aircraft was in the air, the release says.

He randomly yelled out Where is Jasmine Sanders? before jumping over passengers in his row and landing on an in-service beverage cart, the release states.

When he got off the cart, he pushed a flight attendant into a seat and ran through the plane, according to the release.

Ten minutes after being taken back to his seat by an attendant, he began yelling profanities, the release says, so he was placed by a group of Marines who were on the plane.

But he continued to scream and tried to take his clothes off, the release states.

The plane was then diverted to Billings, Montana, for the safety of the passengers, and he was removed, the release says.

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By Nathan Layne

(Reuters) -The Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed a special master on Friday to review allegations that officials in a rural county violated a court order by allowing a forensics company to examine their voting equipment in July, marking the county's second security breach of the machines.

Earlier this week, Pennsylvania's top election official filed a legal brief accusing officials in Fulton County of violating a Jan. 27 court injunction by giving access to voting machines to an unauthorized company, Speckin Forensics LLC.

The alleged security breach came to light last month when Fulton County sued election equipment maker Dominion Voting Systems, citing purported security flaws discovered in Speckin's analysis of six hard drives from the machines.

In a legal filing on Friday, the state Supreme Court said it appointed Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer to weigh the allegations of wrongdoing, including whether "the requested finding of contempt is civil or criminal in nature."

Cohn Jubelirer, who is the appellate court's president judge, is also tasked with developing an evidentiary record and producing a report with proposed findings of fact and recommendations for the high court by Nov. 18.

In a Pennsylvania Supreme Court filing on Tuesday, lawyers for the Secretary of the Commonwealth had asked the court to hold Fulton County officials, including Republican Commissioners Stuart Ulsh and Randy Bunch, in civil contempt for the breach.

The lawyers said county officials "openly thumbed their noses at a clear and direct order of this Court" by allowing Speckin, a Michigan-based company, access to the machines.

Neither Ulsh nor Bunch responded to a request for comment.

Stefanie Lambert, a Detroit-based attorney representing the county, did not immediately respond to a query about the special master appointment. Earlier on Friday, she pointed to alleged security flaws highlighted in Speckin's report and noted that the county has sued Dominion and no longer uses its machines.

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The latest incident in Fulton, a solidly Republican county in south-central Pennsylvania, illustrates what some election-security experts describe as a growing insider threat from officials tasked with safeguarding the voting process.

Reuters has documented 24 incidents nationally since the 2020 election in which public officials and others are accused of breaching or attempting to breach election systems in an effort to uncover evidence to support former U.S. President Donald Trump's baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the presidential election.

Such violations can expose confidential voter information and enable election-tampering by revealing security protocols.

The equipment examined by Speckin Forensics was decertified by the state last year after a December 2020 inspection of the machines by another technology company, Wake Technology Services Inc. That inspection violated state election codes barring unauthorized access to voting equipment, the state said.

"Put simply, enough is enough. Petitioners have now twice breached the security of this voting system by turning its components over to unauthorized third parties," lawyers for the state wrote in their court filing on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne; editing by Diane Craft and Bill Berkrot)
Savana Robins and her family cherish the Winnie the Pooh lawn decoration they display every year on Halloween.

Standing 7 feet tall, the inflatable Tigger, depicted as a cheerful vampire, was a 2004 splurge by their father, whose name is Christopher Robins and who wanted to cheer up his family when finances were tight. Over the past two decades, the tiger was a Halloween season staple in their neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska.

On Oct. 12, however, someone stole it off the family's property.

I was angry, Robins told TODAY Parents. "No one had ever messed with it before and we had no idea who did it."

After reviewing her home security camera footage and filing a police report, Robins neighbor found Tiggers extension cord, which had been dropped in their yard, evidence Robins hopes will lead police to the thief.

This beloved Halloween Tigger decoration was stolen from a yard in Omaha, Nebraska. (Courtesy Savana Robins)

Over the past few years, stealing Halloween decorations  a modern adaptation of egging cars and toilet papering homes  has been reported across Texas, Washington, New Mexico, Colorado, Virginia and other states.

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The incidents support the findings in a new report by Travelers Insurance that suggests Halloween is a magnet for property-related crime. The data, which came from property claims on and around Halloween from 2011 to 2021, showed theft on premises increased by 11% and vandalism jumped by 68%.

That's sobering information to the 48% of parents who worry about home break-ins and vandalism while out trick-or-treating with their kids, according to the results of an October survey by SimpliSafe, a home security company.

Living near a high school, Shaina Menehan of Monroe, Wisconsin, suspects that teens were responsible for stealing her Halloween decorations for two years in a row.

This month, Menehan purchased three large pumpkins weighing upward of 40 pounds; she figured they were too heavy to steal with convenience. Yet someone has already pulled the stem off one and smashed another.

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"We brought the third pumpkin inside because we knew it was next," she told TODAY Parents. "It's disgusting and disrespectful behavior." Menehan is buying home security cameras and has even reconsidered putting up her outdoor Christmas decorations.

It's another time of year that I usually love. It's also another time of year that I'm reminded that I can not decorate... Posted by Shaina Menehan on Sunday, October 16, 2022

Halloween-related mischief dates back to the medieval-era Catholic tradition souling, said Katherine Walker, an assistant professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

According to Walker, the three-day event celebrated All Hallows Eve (Oct. 31), All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2), during which revelers dressed as deceased loved ones and saints while feasting, praying and dressing in costumes to visit homes and ask for cookies called soul cakes.

If a home had nothing to offer, visitors would say, God bless you which may have implied a threat, although there's little evidence to prove that, Walker told TODAY Parents.

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A call for tracking devices, police reports

As Halloween approaches, parents are being advised to warn children that stealing Halloween decorations can lead to criminal charges, with penalties varying by state.

In 2018, five teenagers between the ages of 18 and 19 were arrested for stealing Halloween decor from homes in Iowa and charged as adults with theft in the third degree, a spokesperson from the Council Bluffs Police Department told TODAY Parents. The charge, an aggravated misdemeanor, is just below a felony.

Some thefts are being committed in broad daylight. On Oct. 15, security cameras at Oak Shadows Condominium in Austin, Texas captured a person dismantling a resident's 14-foot skeleton and loading it in a car on a private street.

Texas condominium HOA president Grazia Ruskin is offering a reward for the return of a 14-foot skeleton that was stolen from a resident. (Courtesy Grazia Ruskin)

Grazia Ruskin, president of the condominium's homeowners association, told TODAY Parents the act was "brazen" in the "tight-knit community."

Ruskin is offering a $50 reward for the $200 skeleton and is searching for leads within her community. "We haven't involved our police department out of respect for their highly constrained resources," she explained. "I'm hoping we can do most of the legwork ourselves to pinpoint the suspect."

According to threat management expert Spencer Coursen, author of "The Safety Trap," leveraging your community ties can increase the chances of catching a thief.

The number one factor of target selection is the likelihood of success," he told TODAY Parents. "In other words, someone is less likely to steal decorations from a yard with a 'Beware of Dog' sign, or a home security camera, or flood lights."

Coursen suggests communicating with neighbors whose cameras might record a crime  and always file a police report.

"Some of the biggest crimes are often solved in minor incidents," he explained.

Coursen also advises people to place Apple AirTag or Samsung Galaxy SmartTag tracking devices in their decorations.

A community effort

Some victims, like Karen Fuller of Theodore, Alabama, take the law into their own hands.

Last year, Fuller donated her personal decor  an 8-foot spider and Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein dolls  to the apartment complex where she works as a painter.

When her decorations went missing, Fuller checked the building's security cameras, which she said recorded a man taking the items and loading them into his car. Fuller then asked her community for help identifying the man.

One day, a man showed up at Fuller's apartment complex. "He asked to be anonymous and said he knew the thief and where I could find him," Fuller told TODAY Parents.

Fuller and her two office managers drove to a property where the suspect was running a yard sale. It didn't take long for Fuller to spot her Frankensteins.

"The guy remarked how excited I was to find the decorations," she recalled. "I said, 'I am  because they're mine!'"

Items in hand, Fuller and her friends fled, leaving the seller "dumbfounded."

"I dont make a lot of money and it made my blood boil that someone would take my decorations," Fuller recalled. "I should have been a detective."

Related video:

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Joseph Kennedy II, of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, a person of interest in a quadruple homicide in that state, appears before a judge Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, at the Volusia County Branch Jail.

An Oklahoma man who is a person of interest in the killing and dismemberment of four men in that state told Daytona Beach Shores police that he was suicidal and planned to leap from a hotel balcony, according to a charging affidavit.

Joseph Kennedy II, 67, of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, was being held without bond Friday at the Volusia County Branch Jail, where he has been since his arrest Tuesday when he was stopped driving a stolen truck he said belonged to a friend, the affidavit stated.

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Daytona Beach Shores Police Officer Laura Diedesch received an alert about 8:29 a.m. Tuesday from a license plate reader that a black Toyota Tundra with Oklahoma plates had been reported stolen, according to the charging affidavit.

Diedesch and other officers stopped the truck on A1A at the Botefuhr Avenue approach and arrested Kennedy, who was the only occupant, the affidavit stated.

Kennedy told police that he was suicidal, with plans to jump off of a hotel balcony, the affidavit stated.

Kennedy said he had permission to drive the truck

Kennedy said the Toyota Tundra belonged to a friend, according to the affidavit. Kennedy said that about two months ago, the friend said he could use the truck whenever he wanted, the affidavit stated.

Kennedy told police he went to the Tundra owner's house on Oct. 14 and, without telling his friend, drove off in the vehicle, the affidavit stated. He said the keys were in the truck.

Kennedy told police that he intended to drive to Florida for the weekend. He did not go home like planned, and said he was suicidal, the affidavit stated.

Kennedy had been reported as a missing person in Oklahoma.

He advised he was not a missing person and was not in any danger, the affidavit from Daytona Beach Shores police stated.

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Daytona Beach Shores police charged Kennedy with grand theft of a motor vehicle.

His arraignment is set for Dec. 20 before Circuit Judge Elizabeth Blackburn at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach.

4 dismembered bodies in Deep Fork River

Kennedy is a person of interest in the deaths of four men Okmulgee whose dismembered bodies were found in the Deep Fork River in Oklahoma, according to the Okmulgee Police Department. The victims' bodies had gunshot wounds, investigators said.

Mark Chastain, 32, Billy Chastain, 30, and Mike Sparks, 32, all of Okmulgee were reported missing by Mark Chastain's wife on Oct. 10. A few hours later, Alex Stevens, 29, of Okmulgee, was reported missing by his mother, police said.

All four friends were believed to have left Billy Chastain's home on bicycles around 8 p.m. Oct. 9, according to a news release from Okmulgee police.

Okmulgee police said they spoke to Kennedy II once, but after finding blood on a property adjacent to his salvage yard, police tried to reach him again, but he had disappeared.

The warrant issued for Kennedy's arrest in Okmulgee County District Court is in connection with a 2012 case where the bond was set at $500,000, Okmulgee police said.

Kennedy is represented in the Volusia County case by the 7th Circuit Public Defender's Office of Matt Metz, who said on Friday that they are weighing the situation.

We are actively considering all options in regard to his extradition and we are not yet sure of what the final result will be, Metz said.

Bryan Shorstein, a spokesman for 7th Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza's office, declined to comment on the case.

In May 2013, Kennedy received a 10-year deferred sentence in Oklahoma after pleading guilty to assault and battery with a deadly weapon and a charge of obstructing an officer, according to a story in The Oklahoman.

Prosecutors accused Kennedy of shooting a man with a .380 caliber pistol at Kennedys salvage yard, The Oklahoman story stated.

Okmulgee County District Attorney Carol Iski on Tuesday asked an Oklahoma judge to order Kennedy to appear so that the court could consider imposing an immediate sentence since he violated his agreement by leaving Oklahoma without permission, the story stated.

Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice said in a phone interview on Friday that he was not aware of the status of any extradition request.

Prentice described in general the extradition process, which he said would be handled by the court system. He said that at some point there will be a hearing during which Kennedy will be asked whether he wants to waive extradition.

If Kennedy agrees to be extradited, he will be transferred to Oklahoma. But if he decides to challenge extradition, then there must be legal filings and the matter goes to the Oklahoma governors office. The governor's office will then request that the Florida governors office extradite Kennedy, Prentice said.

If a defendant fights extradition, a hearing will be scheduled to determine a number of factors, including whether the person in question is the same individual wanted in another state, according to the 7th Circuit State Attorney's Office.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, help is available at 800-539-4228 or by calling a suicide and crisis lifeline at 988.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Oklahoma killings: Person-of-interest planned to jump from Daytona hotel
Pfizer expects to roughly quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine to between $110 to $130 per dose once the U.S. governments purchasing program ends early next year, a company official said.

Angela Lukin said during an investor call Thursday the company is still in discussion with insurers but that they are confident the price will ensure equitable access and reimbursement. The federal government currently pays about $30 a dose and then distributes the vaccine to the public for free.

Pfizer in June signed a $3.2 billion deal with the Biden administration for 105 million doses.

We are confident that the U.S. price point of the COVID-19 vaccine reflects its overall cost effectiveness and ensures the price will not be a barrier for access for patients, Lukin said.

Lukin said Pfizer is working on manufacturing a single-dose shot, and the increased cost reflects that, as well as the cost of distribution.

She said the manufacturer was working in unknown territory during the pandemics emergency phase, but we will now be moving into our sweet spot of the traditional commercial marketplace.

Once the public health emergency ends and the federal supply of vaccines runs out, Lukin said she still anticipates that every American with private insurance or government insurance who is eligible for vaccination will not have any out-of-pocket costs.

Still, its not clear how the millions of uninsured people in the country will have access to the vaccine. Once the federal supply runs out, private insurers will be required to pay for the doses themselves, which could increase premiums.

Pfizers contract with the U.S. government runs through the end of the year. Federal health officials have said they anticipate shifting COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments to the commercial marketplace sometime next year.

Lukin said she does not expect purchasing of the vaccines to transfer to the private sector until the first quarter of 2023 at the earliest.

Pfizer said it expects the COVID-19 vaccine market to be about the size of the flu shot market on an annual basis for adults.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Pfizer plans to sell the Covid vaccine it developed with BioNTech at $110 to $130 per dose for teens and adults once the U.S. government stops paying for them, the drugmaker said Friday.

The estimated price for Pfizers shot is in line with other adult vaccinations, such as for hepatitis and shingles, which can range from as little as $13 to more than $200, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The $110 to $130 price tag is the list price, meaning people with Medicare or private health insurance would most likely pay only a fraction of that cost or nothing at all, said Cynthia Cox, vice president and director for the program on the Affordable Care Act for KFF, also known as the Kaiser Family Foundation. Insurers, Cox noted, had been expecting the price to be around $100.

Pfizer said the price takes into account the value of the vaccine as well as the cost it takes to make it.

The shots will be packaged in a single-dose vial, the company said, rather than the multi-dose vials that have been used throughout the pandemic.

Cox said that once the federal government stops paying for the shots, people will most likely need to get the shots administered at an in-network pharmacy or clinic; otherwise, they might be on the hook for the full list price.

Since the start of the pandemic, the government has provided Americans with free Covid tests, vaccines and treatment, through a combination of funding from Congress and other government programs.

But officials have said that as the nation transitions out of the emergency phase of the pandemic and Covid supplies continue to diminish due to a lapse in funding, Covid prevention and care will need to move to the commercial market, most likely starting in the new year. The government has already stopped providing free Covid tests.

The private market and federal agencies have been preparing for the change.

A CDC advisory committee voted Wednesday to add Covid vaccines to the Vaccines for Children program, a federal plan that provides free vaccines to children eligible for or covered by Medicaid. The move would allow uninsured or underinsured children to receive the vaccines at no cost.

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Cox said the cost of the vaccine could have a slight upward effect on insurance premiums.

Much of the effect on premiums "will depend on the price per dose as well as the number of people who get vaccines and boosters," she added.

Arthur Caplan, the head of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said that the price for Pfizers vaccine is still relatively low.

The price the company chose makes sense, he said, considering uptake of the new boosters is low.

Around 20 million people ages 5 and up have received an updated Covid booster since the start of September, according to data released Thursday by the CDC.

Pfizer said it also plans to provide free vaccines to people without insurance through its patient assistance program.

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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
One of the Pixel 7 family's signature software features is available to try if you're willing to live on the bleeding edge. Android Police reports Google has shared a third beta for Android 13's first Quarterly Platform Release (QPR1) that adds Clear Calling for the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. Enable it in the sound settings and AI will eliminate background noise on the other end of cellular calls while boosting voices. You might not have to ask someone to repeat themselves when traffic sounds drown them out.

Google notes that Clear Calling availability depends on your cellular and WiFi connections, and that the company doesn't collect any call content. The beta also adds a toggle for voice calls over 5G and a few cosmetic interface tweaks.

You'll have to wait considerably longer if you'd rather not beta-test a patch. The completed QPR1 release isn't expected until December. You'll have something to look forward to then whether or not you're a tester, though. 9to5Google noticed that the Pixel 7's free lifetime Google One VPN will be available that same month, so you'll have an easy way to secure your mobile internet access.

There's no mention of if or when Clear Calling will come to non-Google devices. Google sometimes makes Pixel-first features available elsewhere after a delay, but others tend to remain exclusive. You may have to sit on the sidelines if you use a third-party Android device.
A Seattle police officer shot and wounded a dog that bit a man in the South Delridge neighborhood on Thursday evening.

Two officers were responding to another call near the 9200 block of Delridge Way Southwest at 5:50 p.m. when they heard a man screaming.

Officers ran toward the sound and found an injured man and a dog.

An officer opened fire, striking the dog, according to a post on the Seattle Police Blotter.

Police said the man who was bitten left the area before he was interviewed by officers or examined by medics.

The dog also fled after it was shot. It was later found and taken to an emergency veterinarian hospital.

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The Seattle Police Department Force Investigations Team is investigating the shooting.

SPD released body cam video associated with the shooting on Saturday afternoon.

Officer Robert Terrell, who was involved in the shooting, remains on paid administrative leave as this investigation continues.

Anyone who witnessed the shooting or the events leading up to it is asked to call Seattle police detectives at 206-684-9292.

Click below to see raw video of officer body camera footage of the shooting in South Delridge. WARNING: The video contains graphic or alarming material.
Atlanta police are releasing surveillance video of three suspects who tried breaking into a home.

Video shows three suspects who are all wearing hoods and backpacks walk up to a home on Old Wesley Place on September 30.

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One of the suspects can be seen carrying what appears to be a hammer. It is unclear if the other two are armed.

Investigators say the trio damaged three windows while trying to break into the house, but were unsuccessful.

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Anyone who recognizes them should call Crime Stoppers of Greater Atlanta at 404-577-8477. There is a reward of up to $2,000 available.

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North Carolinas U.S. Senate race is one of the closest midterm contests in the country.

Cheri Beasley, a former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, is one of the Democratic Partys best opportunities to maintain control of the Senate.

The Political Beats Joe Bruno sat down with Beasley after a campaign event in Monroe last month to discuss the changes shed make if elected and how she plans to make them.

RELATED: The Political Beat: Ted Budds exclusive interview with Ch. 9

I know that Washington has fallen woefully short in how we serve families here in North Carolina, Beasley told Channel 9. And I know its time for that to change.

On this Sunday's Political Beat we're talking to Democratic US Senate candidate Cheri Beasley.



Also joining us on Sunday is BPC Chair @Ctheodros



On October 30, we're talking to Republican US Senate candidate Ted Budd.



Airs on @wsoctv at 5:30 and 11:30 pm

On TV64 at 10:30 pm pic.twitter.com/GpCzCZWcW4  Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) October 20, 2022

The open seat comes after Sen. Richard Burr announced hed retire at the end of his term. Beasley is challenged by U.S. House Rep. Ted Budd of Davie County.

With the election weeks away, Beasley said shes the candidate who can break the Republican control of the states Senate seats.

Im really excited about where we are in this race. We have talked with a lot of people all over this state, and the timing is right for us to be able to do it a little bit differently, she said. Were really building on a lot of momentum and energy in the state for my candidacy.

>> Next week on the Political Beat, Ch. 9 sits down with Republican candidate for Senate, Ted Budd.

If elected, Beasley said she has two priorities: lowering costs and standing up to protect constitutional rights.

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The cost of everything is more. I mean, weve heard from our farmers over the last couple of days, and weve been talking to them for several weeks now about the cost of fertilizer has more than tripled for a lot of folks, and running their machinery costs more and the supply chain issues, she said. Its all cumulative for so many small business owners and farmers who really need some relief, and I think thats a fair expectation from the next senator.

ALSO READ: Beasley widens money advantage over Budd in NC Senate Race

When asked to expand on her emphasis on rights, Beasley referenced access to abortion.

I think its imperative, Beasley said about protecting a persons right to choose. North Carolinians were and are distraught, and they are fearful about what happened in the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs, and what that means not just for reproductive freedom, but the forecast that the court made on some other critical issues for North Carolinians.

The majority of North Carolinians and Americans support reproductive freedom. And its the first time in our nations history that a constitutional right has been taken away. Thats frightening, Beasley said.

In her conversation with Channel 9, Beasley said the Biden administration has worked to be of service, but the people of North Carolina still have valid concerns.

PREVIOUS: Former Chief Justice Cheri Beasley joins North Carolina Senate race

What I truly believe is that weve got a ways to go, and I understand that, while that administration is working really hard, and these have been very difficult times, she said. I appreciate the fact that there are folks who are still disenchanted and understand that weve got a ways to go.

For voters still undecided on who theyll back this November, Beasley said shell use her 30 years of public service to help her do what is good for North Carolina.

I know theres an opportunity for us to really make sure that the next senator is working hard for North Carolina. And frankly, these issues are not partisan, Beasley said.

I mean, if its a climate crisis, which is impacting farmers, thats not a partisan issue; we need a resolution and the solution from the Senate. I mean, if it is making sure were bringing good-paying jobs to North Carolina, the Senate really does have to help with economic policies to make it so were sure were building a strong economy. I mean, if its people having clean air or clean water or not being able to afford health care for themselves or their families, it doesnt matter whether youre Democrat, Republican or Independent, she continued. These are important issues to North Carolina. I hear about them every day. Its important to stand up for them, and thats what Im committed to doing.

(WATCH BELOW: Senate nominees Beasley, Budd parry over abortion, inflation in debate)
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A lawyer for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said an "urgent political fix" is needed in his case because legal appeals against his extradition to the United States could continue for another decade and his health is declining.

Barrister Jennifer Robinson has been on Assange's legal team for 12 years, and during a visit to Australia said she hoped the new Australian government could provide a breakthrough, after its public statements that Australian-born Assange's case has "gone on long enough".

She also called for the new British prime minister - "whoever that ends up being" - to take a position on free speech and raise the case with the United States.

Assange, 50, is wanted by U.S. authorities on 18 counts, including a spying charge, relating to WikiLeaks' release of vast troves of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables, which Washington said had put lives in danger.

In June, Britain's Home Secretary approved Assange's extradition to the United States. His legal team has filed for an appeal in Britain's High Court, which will rule on the appeal after receiving the U.S. government's response.

"It could take a number of years before we end up appealing and we will take it all the way. If we have to go to the European Court of Human Rights we will," Robinson said in an interview in Sydney.

"This case is political and needs an urgent political fix," she added.

The saga began at the end of 2010 when Sweden sought Assange's extradition from Britain over allegations of sex crimes. When he lost that case in 2012, he fled to the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he spent seven years.

When he was removed from the embassy in April 2019, he was jailed for breaching British bail conditions, although the Swedish case against him had been dropped. He has been fighting extradition since June 2019 and remains in jail.

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, elected in May, has said he stands by comments made while he was opposition leader, that "enough is enough", although his government will use private, diplomatic channels to raise the issue with the United States.

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"We certainly hope that this will be the end of the case and the Australian government will be able to bring him home," Robinson said.

Concerns about Assange's health include a mini stroke last year and medical evidence put to the extradition hearing that prison conditions increased the risk of suicide, she said.

Australia's attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said last week he would not comment publicly on the government's diplomacy on the matter.

Britain's Home Affairs office has said the courts had concluded Assange's extradition would not be incompatible with his human rights, and that he would be treated appropriately.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
Liz Truss resigned as prime minister this week, throwing the government into further mayhem (PA Images)

With the resignation of yet another prime minister, the Conservative Party at war over who should lead next, and a vast black hole in the public finances to plug, there is one word in particular that voters are using to describe the Tory government.

A poll by People Polling for GB News found that when people were asked what word or phrase first came to mind when they think about the Conservative government, 'shambles' was the most common choice.

Others that emerged included 'useless' and 'incompetent', followed by 'rubbish' and 'chaos'.

Those were just a few, with other words including: 'corrupt', 'liars', 'idiot' 'rich' and even swear words like 'cr*p' and 'sh*t', along with 'inept', 'pathetic' and 'trustworthy'.

The poll surveyed 1,237 British adults over the age of 18.

A poll from People Polling for GB News showed the words that spring to mind for people when it comes to the current state of the Conservative government. (People Polling)

The research was carried out on Thursday - the same day Liz Truss bowed out as PM after the shortest tenure in UK history.

Her resignation has sparked another Tory leadership race, with many predicting a return of Boris Johnson, with speculation he plans to stand against other key candidates including Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt.

Following a tempestuous summer for British politics, many are calling for an early general election, with a YouGov poll suggesting that the majority of Brits think the next prime minister should call one as soon as possible.

The Conservatives will be reluctant for such a move, fearing a wipe-out with Labour surging ahead in the polls.

Latest polls show Labour surging ahead of the Tories. (Twitter/People Polling)

A poll on Friday put Labour at 53% compared to the Tories' 14% - five points down on 12 October. That's even worse than last week's polls, which put the Tories at 23%.

Today's one-word summary of the Conservative government isn't the first time research has thrown up less than favourable descriptions of the party.

Earlier this month, research by JL Partners showed that the most common word to describe Truss was 'incompetent', with other words including 'useless', 'untrustworthy', 'clueless', 'unreliable' and 'dangerous'.

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Earlier this month a poll suggested the most common word to describe Liz Truss was 'incompetent'. (JL Partners)

In April, Boris Johnson fell victim to the same criticism, with a similar poll revealing a raft of negative descriptions, with the word 'liar' standing out as the most common one-word description of the then-prime minister.

Other words including 'incompetent', 'untrustworthy' and 'buffoon'.

A similar word cloud in April revealed that most Brits described Boris Johnson as a 'liar'. (Twitter/JL Partners)

Keir Starmer's party may be miles ahead in the polls, but the Labour leader also not yielded some less-than-positive descriptions.

A poll in June revealed that the word that most sprang to mind when it came to Starmer was 'boring', with others including 'bland', 'useless' and 'weak'.

A similar poll on Keir Starmer wasn't particularly positive earlier this year. (Twitter/JL Partners)

However, other words included: 'competent' and 'honest' - which some commentators are saying is exactly what the British public wants after weeks of chaos in Westminster.

Starmer himself has called for an end to what he describes as a "revolving door of chaos", as he called again for a general election following the dramatic resignation of Truss.

The Labour leader told broadcasters: "The risk is not a general election. The risk is continuing with this chaos."

Asked if he most fears ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak as a potential successor to Truss, he said: "Weve got to get away from this idea the sort of revolving door of chaos, and that we just get the next experiment at the top of the Tory party.

"What matters is what happens to this country. And theres the contrast: more of this chaos or stability under a Labour government."
With less than three weeks to go until voters have their say in the midterms, a pollster is warning of a potential civil war if Maga candidates dont accept the results.

Republican pollster Frank Luntz made his ominous warnings while appearing on Friday mornings Morning Joe, where he predicted that the fallout from the midterms could have serious repercussions if politicians lose in states where candidates have been known to traffic in election-denying conspiracies.

The GOP analyst also speculated that voters seem to be disenfranchised by candidates who they put their faith in at the ballot box, but who seem to become part of the system once elected.

They are angry, the partisanship, the rancour and anger at the conditions, he said, explaining how democracies around the world, such as Israel, Germany and France, are experiencing similar trends in their electorate.

Governments are not performing in the way that public wants, and Im genuinely afraid in this country that were about two and half weeks away from a group of candidates simply not accepting the results, Mr Luntz predicted. And this is my warning to you all and to the viewers watching at home. We could have a situation of 2020 all over again and all over the country if governors, senators, secretaries of state choose not to accept their loss and continue to fight back.

Mr Luntz also noted that he didnt believe that this rancour was being experienced not just on the right side of the political spectrum, but on the Democratic side as well.

Its not the just Republicans, were in trouble here, he said, adding, I dont want to get to a civil war, I want a democracy that survives and thrives.

The spectre of this years midterms is something that the electorate also believe has been raised, with a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center of Public Affairs Research finding this week that 71 per cent of registered voters think the future of the US is at stake when they vote this November.

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Across parties, about two-thirds of voters say they are pessimistic about politics, but they also say that casting their ballot this year is extremely or very important.

On the Friday morning MSNBC segment, host Joe Scarborough pushed back on Mr Luntzs characterisation that both Republicans and Democrats are equally to blame for the amped up atmosphere that could come post-midterms. He noted that Donald Trump, the former president who stoked a crowd of supporters outside the Capitol ahead of the violent insurrection on 6 January 2021, was more likely to instigate an angry rebellion over any Democratic leader.

Frank, we just played a clip from one of the focus groups, said the MSNBC host. Every Trump voter she talked to believes that [Joe] Biden is not the rightful president, believes the lies that theyve been told repeatedly, [who] think Janueary 6 is much ado about nothing. You have candidates that are running for governor, they are election deniers, they are going to be leaders in the House. They say they wont accept the results.

I mean, yes, I understand there have been Democrats here and there, a small handful, that have challenged election results, Scarborough conceded, but here in 2022, this is coming from the Republican Party, and it seems to be a clear and present danger to American democracy.

With less than a month to go, national polls for US President Joe Bidens approval rating have begun to flatline in the 40 per cent range, with voters continuing to signal that theyre chief concern is the economy and consumer prices over any other issue. Democrats are expected to lose the House, while the battle for control of the Senate remains a tighter race.
Oct. 21Portland Public Schools has rescinded its policy that limited students to attending sporting events only at the high school they attend, according to a letter sent to students and parents on Thursday.

That policy, announced on Sept. 30, stated "Portland High students can only attend Portland High games, and Deering High students can only attend Deering High games" in the wake of "verbal and physical altercations at and after sporting events involving spectators."

The change in policy takes effect immediately and will continue through fall playoff games and into the winter sports season. High school students can now attend any athletic event in the school district, but the letter warned that future misbehavior may result in disciplinary action.

Aaron Townsend, the district's assistant superintendent of school management, said in the letter that the policy has been changed "after engaging with students, families and staff over the past two weeks, and using their input to inform next steps."

His letter also detailed the reasons the restrictive measures were imposed three weeks ago.

"We made the rule change in response to a second consecutive weekend in which large groups of students (40+) were involved in a conflict following a PPS sporting event," Townsend wrote.

"Multiple students had to receive medical treatment for issues such as a possible concussion or because they had been sprayed with an eye irritant. Each of these incidents occurred with students who do not attend the high school that was hosting the event. That is why we limited attendance to students from the host school."

As part of the change in policy, all students attending games are expected to be in the stands and to positively support all student athletes, and are expected to leave promptly after the conclusion of athletic events.

Any violation of school rules and expectations may result in disciplinary measures, including being prohibited from attending future athletic events. School staff also will "sweep the venue and parking lots" following games to make sure people are leaving promptly.
FORT PIERCE  One of two brothers charged as teenagers in connection with the 2019 shooting death of an 18-year-old Fort Pierce man will serve life in prison while his younger sibling remains on probation for 15 years, court records show.

On Wednesday, prosecutors dropped a first-degree murder charge against Joel Martinez, who was 15 when he was arrested, after he entered no contest pleas to one count of robbery with a firearm and attempted robbery with a firearm.

He and his brother, Daniel Martinez, then 17, were arrested Feb. 22, 2019 shortly after St. Lucie County Sheriffs deputies found Erik Jimenez-Munoz laying in the road on East Joy Lane with a gunshot wound in his upper back. Emergency responders worked to save him, but he later died at a hospital.

St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office: Two teen brothers charged in shooting death

State prosecutors: Teen brothers to be tried as adults in fatal St. Lucie shooting

Weapon on school property: Student with loaded gun at high school in St. Lucie County arrested

After the murder, St. Lucie Sheriff Ken Mascara said the brothers had been sitting in Jimenez-Munoz's Nissan Altima when Daniel Martinez, armed with a shotgun, shot Jimenez-Munoz in the back.

Erik Jimenez-Munoz, 18,

Deputies later found the boys in the area where the incident occurred and arrested them after questioning. Both live on the street where the shooting occurred, Mascara said.

Both Martinez brothers were prosecuted as adults, records show.

Florida law gives prosecutors broad discretion to charge minors between 16 and 17 years old in juvenile or adult court if they deem it in the public interest. For those 14 or 15, the option is limited to forcible felonies.

During a hearing Wednesday before St. Lucie County Circuit Judge Steven Levin, Joel Martinez, now 18, also was sentenced to about 3  years in prison, which he had already served awaiting trial at the St. Lucie County Jail.

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Levin ordered Daniel Martinez, 20, to serve a life prison term during a Sept. 27 hearing after he entered no contest pleas in 2021 to first-degree murder with a firearm, robbery with a firearm and attempted robbery with a firearm and aggravated assault with a firearm.

Minors may be given a life prison term, but state law requires the sentence be automatically reviewed after 25 years.

Older Martinez brother admits murder

Assistant State Attorney Jonathan Libby said early on Daniel Martinez took responsibility for the shooting and tried to convince investigators to free Joel Martinez.

From the get go, Daniel had always claimed that his younger brother had no knowledge of what was occurring, that he had no involvement, Libby said. We initially had evidence to support that, however, that kind of changed as the case progressed.

Arrest records show after deputies spoke to witnesses at the murder scene, the two brothers were located inside a house they shared with their mother near where the shooting happened.

Both Daniel and Joel had blood on them, but did not appear to be injured, arrest reports stated.

Once in custody, Daniel Martinez claimed the murder was all on me.

Post by stluciesheriff.

He told investigators before the shooting, hed texted Jimenez-Munoz to order up some marijuana and planned to rob him when he arrived.

He said he had seen the victim on social media with a handgun, so he was going to bring his and rip him off before he could shoot him, investigators reported.

When Jimenez-Munzo arrived, the Martinez brothers approached his car. Daniel Martinez said he had a shotgun behind his leg when he got into the rear passenger seat; Joel Martinez sat in the front passenger seat.

Daniel Martinez raised the gun and said, Give me the bag, but Jimenez-Munoz refused.

Daniel said he put his finger on the trigger and the gun went off hitting the driver in the back, arrest records stated.

He said he believed the guns safety was on and then claimed, I was only going to shoot the windshield.

Daniel Martinez then grabbed the marijuana and he and his brother ran off. He said he threw the shotgun into a nearby canal then ran home.

Daniel Martinez told investigators he has seen robberies on TV and the victim always gave up what they were told to.

Prosecutors later charged a third Fort Pierce man, Cristian Puzos, 21, after an investigation revealed he had sold Daniel Martinez a short double-barreled shotgun for $100 which was used three days later to kill Jimenez-Munoz.

Homicide database: Treasure Coast

The two knew each other from attending Fort Pierce Central High School and records show they used their Instagram accounts to arrange the gun purchase.

In December 2019, Puzos pleaded no contest to one count of furnishing a firearm to a minor. His sentencing is pending.

Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers, and is writer and co-host of Uncertain Terms, a true crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Two brothers charged as teenagers in 2019 Fort Pierce murder convicted
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP)  Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to dismiss wire fraud and bribery charges against a former Arkansas state senator who was set to face trial next month for a second time after a jury deadlocked last year.

Gilbert Baker, who also served as a former chairman of the state Republican party, was accused of conspiring with a former state judge who admitted to lowering a jurys award in a negligence lawsuit in exchange for campaign contributions.

The judge, Mike Maggio, pleaded guilty to bribery in 2015 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In August 2021, a federal jury acquitted Baker of bribery conspiracy and deadlocked on another bribery charge and seven wire fraud charges. He was set to go on trial again Nov. 8, but prosecutors filed a motion Thursday seeking to dismiss the indictment against Baker.

The motion did not give a reason for the dismissal and a judge must still approve it.

Baker's attorney, Blake Hendrix, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he was preparing to go to trial up until he received the motion. He declined to comment until the indictment is dismissed.

Baker's case was among several corruption cases filed against lawmakers and lobbyists in recent years.
Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has been barred from holding public office for five years by the countrys Election Commission after he was found guilty of corrupt practices, in a move that has led to massive protests in the country.

According to a unanimous decision by the five-member bench, criminal proceedings will be initiated against Mr Khan for unlawfully selling state gifts he received during his time as prime minister and for misdeclaration of assets.

Mr Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) political party rejected Fridays ruling, and its members said they were prepared to challenge the ruling in the Islamabad High Court.

The lawyer acting for the former international cricketer said the Election Commission has no jurisdiction in the matter.

Mr Khan is expected to lose his seat in the National Assembly following the verdict, and will remain disqualified till the end of the current term.

The decision was another political blow to Mr Khans ambitions, as he was expected to announce a massive rally in Islamabad to force prime minister Shahbaz Sharifs government to hold snap general elections after he was ousted following a rebellion in his cabinet.

Mr Sharifs coalition government, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, filed a case against Mr Khan with the Election Commission in August, alleging that Mr Khan had sold gifts from the gift depository, known as Toshakhana, and had failed to share the proceeds from their alleged sale.

Police officers engage with supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf political party after Pakistans Election Commission disqualified former prime minister Imran Khan (Reuters)

Toshakhana is a government department, under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division, that stores valuable gifts received by the countrys leaders, parliamentarians and bureaucrats.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry, the countrys former information minister, denounced the decision, calling it embarrassing and a slap in the face for the people of the country.

This verdict is not an attack on Imran Khan only. It is an attack on Pakistans constitution and its people, he said.

Fawad Chaudhry (centre), a senior member of former prime minister Imran Khans party, addresses the media outside the Election Commission (AP)

Hundreds of Mr Khans supporters protested against the ruling government and the Election Commission following the verdict.

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Protests broke out in parts of Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi, with some supporters blocking roads, burning tyres and chanting slogans against the ruling government.

A number of PTI workers were seen attempting to climb the gate to enter the commissions head office.

Protests started in all regions of the country against the Election Commission's decision to disqualify Imran Khan, Minus One Na Manzoor! #____



pic.twitter.com/KL3OcWbHf0  PTI Islamabad (@PTIOfficialISB) October 21, 2022

       

        

      

      #Pakistanis protest in major cities of #Pakistan after #ElectionCommission disqualified #ImranKhan in #ToshaKhanaCase pic.twitter.com/AfdQpphTNt  Arshad Sharif (@arsched) October 21, 2022

Another PTI member, Shahbaz Gill, said the party will appeal at every forum against the verdict. Imran has been disqualified from just one seat, not politics, he added.

Pakistans foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari wrote on Twitter: He [Mr Khan] who would spread lies about the alleged corruption of his political opponents has been caught red-handed.

Pakistan has been dealing with lingering political turmoil in the months since Mr Khan was ousted as prime minister. He is the first prime minister in the history of the country to have been deposed through a no-confidence motion in parliament.

Police attempt to stop supporters of the PTI party from entering the Election Commission head office in Islamabad (AP)

Since then, Mr Khan has been aggressively campaigning against the government, demanding fresh elections, and blaming a US-backed conspiracy behind his ousting, an accusation denied by both Washington and Mr Sharif.

Last month, Mr Khan admitted to selling at least four gifts that he had received during his tenure as prime minister, and said this was done through proper legal channels.

These gifts included Rolex watches, a ring and a pair of cufflinks.

Mr Khan had previously said he had not made public some gifts, for reasons to do with national security, but admitted buying items worth Rs22m (238,000) in a written submission, and to selling them at double the price.
STANISLAV POHORILOV  FRIDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2022, 14:32

Russian President Vladimir Putin once again drew attention to the problem of alcoholism among Russians, and gave them advice on how to solve it.

Source: Kremlin-aligned news outlet RIA Novosti

Quote from Putin: "People need to be engaged in something. I'm sure it should not be a ban [on alcohol  ed.], but rather an opportunity to engage in self-development, [or have] an interesting business, [or] take up some hobbies  that's extremely important, it will absolutely help."

Details: At the same time, at a meeting with the governor of the Magadan Oblast (Russia), Putin noted that the country achieved "good results" in the fight against alcoholism in recent years.

Previously: On 9 August, Putin ordered the acting governor of Kirov Oblast to solve the problem of alcoholism among the population in single-industry towns.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO  THURSDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2022, 19:05

Vladimir Putin, president of the aggressor country, has inspected the training of the Russian conscripts who are getting ready for war at a training ground of the Western Military District in Ryazan Oblast.

Source: Kremlin-aligned news agency RIA Novosti

Details: Putin inspected combat training of units and the readiness of military personnel to perform tasks in the areas of the so-called "special operation", that is, the war in Ukraine.

At the training ground, the president observed practical classes in tactical, fire, engineering and medical training. Putin saw how conscripts got across an airborne assault strip within a platoon, and inspected an exercise where infantry fought in a simulated combat against armoured vehicles.

Putin also heard a report by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who said that conscripts had successfully completed the combat training course.

In addition, the president visited a multifunctional shooting range where conscripts practise various methods of shooting while serving in combat units. Classes are held under the supervision of commanders and instructors, who have combat experience.

The news agency also released a video showing Putin himself shooting a rifle at the training ground.

"The training course of conscripted military personnel is held with increased intensity; during the training, everyone will spend at least 600 rounds of live ammunition and [throw] five grenades during a single training [day]," the Russian Defence Ministry said.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Usually, when one insider buys stock, it might not be a monumental event. But when multiple insiders are buying like they did in the case of Crown Capital Partners Inc. (TSE:CRWN), that sends out a positive message to the company's shareholders.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Crown Capital Partners

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Crown Capital Partners

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Director John Brussa bought CA$320k worth of shares at a price of CA$8.00 per share. That implies that an insider found the current price of CA$8.75 per share to be enticing. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. Happily, the Crown Capital Partners insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

While Crown Capital Partners insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Crown Capital Partners is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insiders At Crown Capital Partners Have Bought Stock Recently

We saw some Crown Capital Partners insider buying shares in the last three months. Independent Director John Brussa shelled out CA$60k for shares in that time. It's good to see the insider buying, as well as the lack of recent sellers. But in this case the amount purchased means the recent transaction may not be very meaningful on its own.

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Insider Ownership Of Crown Capital Partners

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 20% of Crown Capital Partners shares, worth about CA$9.7m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Crown Capital Partners Insiders?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. Insiders likely see value in Crown Capital Partners shares, given these transactions (along with notable insider ownership of the company). While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Crown Capital Partners you should be aware of, and 1 of them shouldn't be ignored.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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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Rachel Levine

The National Academy of Medicine announced on Monday that the United States assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services, Admiral Rachel Levine, a medical doctor specializing in pediatrics, is among 100 newly elected people to receive the prestigious honor.

Levine is additionally a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

The National Academy of Medicine is an independent organization of leading professionals focused on health, medicine, and related policy issues in its domestic and global initiatives.

Election to NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service, according to the Academys announcement.

For her expertise in pediatrics and adolescent medicine, and being the first openly transgender official ever to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the announcement reads. She is a voice for federal-state cooperation, issues of health equity, and has been an outstanding leader in emergency response to addiction and overdose.

Members recognize and elect individuals who have made significant contributions to medical science, health care, and public health.

A spokesperson for Levine told The Advocate that she was unavailable because of travel at the time of the inquiry but drew attention to Levines recent Twitter activity.

In response to the news of her election to the Academy, Levine tweeted that she was incredibly honored to have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine this year. Looking forward to joining the talented group of members and contributing to @theNAMedicines mission!

This extraordinary class of new members is comprised of exceptional scholars and leaders who have been at the forefront of responding to serious public health challenges, combatting social inequities, and achieving innovative discoveries, said National Academy of Medicine President Victor J. Dzau. Their expertise will be vital to informing the future of health and medicine for the benefit of us all. I am truly honored to welcome these esteemed individuals to the National Academy of Medicine.

Founded in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Medicine promotes health, science, medicine, and related policy issues and encourages positive action across all sectors. As part of its mission to improve public policy, NAM collaborates with the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering to conduct independent and objective research and analysis, according to the Academys statement.
Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma

Rebel Wilson has opened up about being forced to come out not on her time but on the time of a journalist who, according to the actress, threatened to out her.

The Pitch Perfect and Senior Year actor opened up about the circumstances surrounding her public announcement this summer that she was in a relationship with fashion designer Ramona Agruma.

Speaking to The Australian, Wilson explained that she preemptively posted a snapshot on Instagram disclosing her relationship because journalist Andrew Hornery with the Sydney Morning Herald intended to publish Wilsons intimate relationship details.

In early June, she wrote, I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince  but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess.

She said she and Agruma didnt hide their relationship, but the couple wanted to share the news at their own pace due to varying levels of family support.

Across our two families, not everybody is as accepting as what youd hoped for, and we were trying to be respectful to those people and tell them in our own way, Wilson told The Australian. Basically, with the situation where a journalist is threatening to out you, youve got to hurry, and some people we didnt get a chance to tell before it came out publicly. And thats not ideal.

Wilson told the outlet that she wasnt worried about her reaction to the exposure. Instead, she said she was concerned about Agrumas well-being with all the unexpected attention.

It was just a hard few days, especially for my partner, whos not used to being in the public eye and not used to having to deal with stuff like that. It was probably more harmful for her in many respects.

In June, the Sydney Morning Herald responded to Wilson's comment about having to come out writing, It was with an abundance of caution and respect that this media outlet emailed Rebel Wilsons representatives on Thursday morning, giving her two days to comment on her new relationship with LA leisure wear designer Ramona Agruma, before publishing a single word.

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But Wilson opted to gazump the story, posting about her new Disney Princess on Instagram early Friday morning, the paper continued, adding, Considering how bitterly Wilson had complained about poor journalism standards when she successfully sued Womans Day for defamation, her choice to ignore our discreet, genuine and honest queries was, in our view, underwhelming.

The Herald received backlash over its response.

In the recent interview, Wilson said that forcing a couple to announce their same-sex relationship in the current day and age is regressive.

To me, in 2022, love is love, she said. I didnt think it was that big of a deal and that we should kind of be forced to make an announcement about it. But that happened."

The interview with The Australian coincided with a recent showing of her latest film, The Almond and the Seahorse, Wilson's first dramatic role. She stars opposite Charlotte Gainsbourg, who plays her lover in the film.
Eric Gay/AP Photo; LM Otero/AP Photo; Insider

Rep. Henry Cuellar is running against Republican Cassy Garcia in Texas' 28th Congressional District.

The 28th District is located along Texas' border with Mexico.

A win for Garcia would be a major pickup for the Republican Party, which has been vying to appeal to more Hispanic voters in the region.

Longtime Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar faces off against Republican Cassy Garcia in Texas' 28th Congressional District.

Texas' 28th Congressional District candidates

Cuellar is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and is one of the most conservative members of the House Democratic caucus. He's represented the majority-Hispanic district since 2005 and has advocated for strict border policies, is a staunch defender of 2nd Amendment gun rights, and is the last member of the House Democratic caucus to be openly against abortion rights.

Cuellar narrowly defeated progressive Jessica Cisneros in the district's Democratic primary  doing so by less than 300 votes after House Democratic leadership rallied around him in a runoff.

Garcia is one of several Hispanic conservative women running for office in 2022 and is a former state director for US Sen. Ted Cruz's office.

Garcia won the Republican nomination among a crowded slate of GOP candidates, ultimately defeating challenger Sandra Whitten in a runoff election.

A victory for Garcia in November would be a major pickup for the Republican Party, which has been increasing its attention on appealing to Hispanic voters in Democratic districts.

Voting history for Texas' 28th Congressional District

Texas' 28th Congressional District encompasses a section of the U.S.-Mexico border and stretches to the easternmost outer regions of San Antonio, the state's second-most populous city behind Houston.

The district, which backed President Joe Biden by about 5 percentage points under its previous boundaries in 2020, was redrawn to take in more of the San Antonio area in redistricting following the 2020 Census, making it slightly more Democratic.

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The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Cuellar has raised $4.3 million, spent $5 million, and has $836,143 of cash on hand, as of September 30. His opponent, Garcia, has raised $2.4 million, spent $2 million, and has $386,963 of cash still left to spend, as of September 30.

Through mid-October, the race  including primaries  has attracted about $17 million in additional spending by super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate groups aiming to affect the outcome. Such a level of outside spending falls on the high end of US House races in 2022.

What experts say

The race between Cuellar and Garcia is rated as "lean Democratic" by Inside Elections, "lean Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, and a "toss-up" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo; Insider

Rep. Jared Golden is running against Republican Bruce Poliquin in Maine's 2nd Congressional District for the second time.

The 2nd District encompasses nearly 80% of the state, including Augusta, the state capital.

Abortion is expected to be a hot-button topic in the race.

Rep. Jared Golden, a Democratic incumbent, once again faces off against Republican Bruce Poliquin in Maine's 2nd Congressional District. Golden unseated Poliquin in 2018.

Maine's 2nd Congressional District candidates

Golden is the first member of Congress elected by ranked-choice voting. In 2016, Maine became the first state to enact ranked-choice voting for statewide elections for governor, state legislature, and Congress, and Golden's election was the first in the state, as well as the country, where ranked-choice voting was enacted in a congressional election.

Born and raised in Maine's 2nd Congressional District, the now-40-year-old congressman in 2018 also became the first candidate to unseat an incumbent from the district in more than a century.

Golden, a combat veteran who joined the US Marines in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, is a member of the House Committee on Armed Services and the Congressional Veterans Caucus. After serving combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, he returned to the US and worked for Republican Sen. Susan Collins on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The millennial politician has built a reputation of being the House Democrat who strays from party lines on key votes. In 2021, he was the only Democrat to vote against the Biden administration's $1.9 trillion COVID relief package and the only Democrat to vote against the Build Back Better Act. He bucked his party again this July when he voted against the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022.

Poliquin, 68, represented Maine's 2nd Congressional District before Golden unseated him in 2018. He became the first incumbent to lose a race to reelection in the district since 1916.

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The former congressman, who previously served as state treasurer, opposes access to abortions and billed himself as "pro-life." In January 2015, he voted for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which prohibits taxpayer-funded abortions. In the wake of the Supreme Court's 2022 decision that struck down Roe v. Wade, however, Democrats have accused Poliquin of sidestepping questions about his plans for abortion policy, because of strong voter support for protecting abortion access.

Voting history for Maine's 2nd Congressional District

Maine's sprawling, rural 2nd Congressional District encompasses nearly 80% of the state's physical area, including Augusta, the state capital.

Donald Trump had a 7.5 percentage point margin of victory under the district's previous boundaries in 2020 before it was redrawn to move the capital to the 2nd Congressional District from the 1st in redistricting following the 2020 Census, making it slightly less conservative-leaning in the process.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Golden has raised $5.5 million, spent $4.8 million, and has $858,322 of cash on hand, as of October 19. His opponent, Poliquin, has raised $3.5 million, spent $2.4 million, and has $1.1 million of cash still left to spend, as of October 19.

Super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate groups have together spent more than $21.3 million through early November to advocate for or against the two candidates.

What experts say

The race between Golden and Poliquin is rated as "tilt Democratic" by Inside Elections, a "toss-up" by The Cook Political Report, and a "toss-up" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider
ALONA MAZURENKO  FRIDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2022, 12:11

Three people have been injured as a result of a repeated missile strike on the Kyivskyi District of Kharkiv.

Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv blast Military dministration, on Telegram

Quote from Syniehubov: "Three people were injured as a result of a repeated missile strike on the Kyivskyi District of Kharkiv.

The condition of the injured is moderate to slight; there is no threat to their lives."

Details: Syniehubov called on residents not to ignore the air-raid sirens.

Background:

On the morning of 21 October, Russian troops hit Kharkiv. Explosions were heard after an air-raid siren had been sounded.

Six people were injured as a result of the morning attacks by the invaders on Kharkiv.

Strikes were recorded at one of the businesses in Kharkiv. Preliminary information indicates that its administrative and production building was hit. Some damage has been reported.

Kharkiv was shelled with S-300 missiles.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Actor Kevin Spacey arrives at federal court for a civil trial in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Oct. 20, 2022. (Ted Shaffrey/AP)

NEW YORK  A jury sided with Kevin Spacey on Thursday in one of the lawsuits that derailed the film stars career, finding he did not sexually abuse Anthony Rapp, then 14, while both were relatively unknown actors in Broadway plays in 1980s.

The verdict in the civil trial came with lightning speed. Jurors at a federal court in New York deliberated for a little more than an hour before deciding that Rapp hadnt proven his allegations.

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When the verdict was read, Spacey dropped his head, then hugged his lawyers. He didnt speak to reporters as he left the courthouse.

During the trial, Rapp testified that Spacey had invited him to his apartment for a party, then approached him in a bedroom after the other guests left. He said the actor, then 26, picked him up and briefly laid on top of him on a bed.

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Rapp testified that he wriggled away and fled as an inebriated Spacey asked if he was sure he wanted to leave.

In his sometimes-tearful testimony, Spacey told the jury it never happened, and he would never have been attracted to someone who was 14.

The lawsuit sought $40 million in damages.

In his closing statements to the jury Thursday, Rapps lawyer, Richard Steigman, accused Spacey of lying on the witness stand.

He lacks credibility, Steigman said. Sometimes the simple truth is the best. The simple truth is that this happened.

Spaceys lawyer, Jennifer Keller, said after the trial that the defense was very grateful to the jury for seeing through these false allegations.

During closing arguments, she told jurors that Rapp made up the encounter and suggested reasons Rapp imagined the encounter with Spacey or made it up.

It was possible, she said, that Rapp invented it based on his experience performing in Precious Sons, a play in which actor Ed Harris picks up Rapps character and lays on top of him, mistaking him briefly for his wife before discovering it is his son.

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She also suggested that Rapp later became jealous that Spacey became a megastar while Rapp had smaller roles in small shows after his breakthrough performance in Broadways Rent.

So here we are today and Mr. Rapp is getting more attention from this trial than he has in his entire acting life, Keller said.

Rapp, 50, and Spacey, 63, each testified over several days at the three-week trial.

Rapps claims, and those of others, abruptly interrupted what had been a soaring career for the two-time Academy Award winning actor, who lost his job on the Netflix series House of Cards and saw other opportunities dry up. Rapp is a regular on TVs Star Trek: Discovery and was part of the original Broadway cast of Rent.

Spacey faced charges in Massachusetts that he groped a man at a bar  allegations that were later dropped by prosecutors.

Three months ago, he pleaded not guilty in London to charges that he sexually assaulted three men between 2004 and 2015 when he was the artistic director at the Old Vic theater in London.

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A judge in Los Angeles this summer approved an arbitrators decision to order Spacey to pay $30.9 million to the makers of House of Cards for violating his contract by sexually harassing crew members.

The Associated Press does not usually name people alleging sexual assault unless they come forward publicly, as Rapp has done.

At the trial, Spacey testified that he was sure the encounter with Rapp never happened, in part because he was living in a studio apartment rather than the one bedroom that Rapp cited, and he never had a gathering beyond a housewarming party.

I knew I wouldnt have any sexual interest in Anthony Rapp or any child. That I knew, he told jurors.

During two days of testimony, Spacey also expressed regret for a statement he issued when Rapp first went public in which he said he didnt recall the encounter, but if it happened I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.

Dabbed his eyes with a tissue, Spacey said hed been pressured by publicists and lawyers into issuing an empathetic statement at a time when the #MeToo movement made everyone in the industry nervous.

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Ive learned a lesson, which is never apologize for something you didnt do, he said.

He also cried as he said he regretted revealing publicly that he was gay the same day Rapps accusations surfaced because some interpreted his announcement as an effort to change the subject or deflect from Rapps revelations.

Spacey had testified that he spoke at the trial about deeply personal matters, telling the jury his father was a white supremacist and neo-Nazi who berated him as gay because he liked the theater.

Spacey also gave courtroom spectators a brief taste of his acting chops when he briefly imitated his Broadway costar at the time, Jack Lemon. He had testified earlier that his ability at impressions aided him in his acting career.
Photo: Ascannio (Shutterstock)

A team at TikToks Chinese parent company ByteDance planned to harness data from the app to monitor the personal location of some specific American citizens, according to an explosive report published in Forbes Thursday.

TikTok has been embroiled in controversy in the last few years over questions about whether the app could expose its data to the Chinese government. The company is involved in an ongoing negotiation with regulators to address national security concerns, but the Forbes report seems to confirm some of the worst fears about the social media app.

Read more

In a series of tweets, the company attacked Forbes, arguing that arguing the story left out critical information that disproved the story:

2/ Specifically, Forbes chose not to include the portion of our statement that disproved the feasibility of its core allegation: TikTok does not collect precise GPS location information from US users, meaning TikTok could not monitor US users in the way the article suggested.  TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) October 20, 2022

TikTok said that the app has never been used to target any members of the U.S. government, activists, public figures or journalists, nor do we serve them a different content experience than other users.

However, part of TikToks statement may be a red herring. The Forbes story never mentions GPS data, and there is plenty of information the app collects that could be used to track users locations, such as IP addresses, the names of WiFi networks, and more.

Emily Baker-White, who wrote the story in Forbes, also pointed out that TikToks response doesnt address the issue raised in the report.

2/ Im glad they say TikTok hasn't been used to "target" some specific groups. I am nonetheless concerned that they planned to use it to monitor specific Americans, which is what we reported. Also, FWIW, they didnt answer this question when we asked it to them on Wed.  Emily Baker-White (@ebakerwhite) October 21, 2022

TikTok didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on the exchange

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The news comes at a delicate moment for TikTok. After BuzzFeed News reported that data from American users was repeatedly accessed by ByteDance employees in China, the company unveiled a plan called Project Texas that would store data on servers in the United States. The plan is supposed to ensure that so-called protected data will be limited only to authorized personnel, pursuant to protocols being developed with the U.S. Government, TikTok said in a letter to Congress.

The federal government has been taking a hard look at TikTok since former President Donald Trump threatened to ban the app from the US entirely. Just last month, the New York Times reported that TikTok was nearing a deal with the Biden administration over the apps data practices to assuage national security concerns.

Its hard to imagine a setup that would guarantee employees based in China cant access data about American TikTok users. Even if the data itself is unavailable, information gleaned from analyzing that data could be just as useful.

Data aside, many experts say there are far bigger concerns. TikToks recommendation algorithm, which powers the apps main For You Page, could be manipulated to hide certain topics or promote propaganda that benefits Chinas geopolitical goals. Such systems are generally a black box, and its difficult to understand an apps content recommendation systems from the outside. That means there isnt much that TikTok can say to prove that kind of manipulation isnt happening, aside from take our word for it.

But in conversations about data privacy and security, its important to remember that the Chinese government doesnt need TikTok in order to get its hands on American user data. There are hundreds of companies based in the US that make their money selling information about you to anyone who wants it. Even without buying the data, a Gizmodo investigation from 2020 demonstrated that data from American tech and social media companies makes its way onto servers owned by Chinese companies all the time.

More from Gizmodo

Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images;Insider

Rep. Yvette Herrell is running against Democrat Gabriel Vasquez in New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District.

The 2nd District encompasses western portions of of Albuquerque, the largest city in New Mexico.

Herrell is one of four Native Americans serving in Congress.

Republican New Mexico Rep. Yvette Herrell faces off against Democrat Gabriel Vasquez in New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District.

New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District candidates

Herrell, a Cherokee, joined the ranks of the very few Native Americans in Congress following her victory in 2020. She is the first Native American Republican woman elected to the US House.

The 58-year-old New Mexico native ran for the seat in 2018, but was narrowly defeated by her opponent, Democratic attorney and former Rep. Xochitl Torres Small. Herrell defeated Small two years later.

Prior to her time in Congress, Herrell represented New Mexico's 51st District for four terms in the New Mexico House of Representatives.

Vasquez, Herrell's challenger, is an outgoing Las Cruces city councilor. He defeated his opponent by a wide margin in the Democratic primary, bringing in more than two-thirds of the vote. Prior to running for Congress, Vasquez worked for US Sen. Martin Heinrich in southern New Mexico.

He is endorsed by President Joe Biden.

Voting history for New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District

New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District encompasses the city of Las Cruces, the second largest city in the state, and western portions of Albuquerque, the largest.

Former President Donald Trump had a 12 percentage point margin of victory over Biden under the district's previous boundaries in 2020 before it was redrawn to concede portions of the northeast in redistricting following the 2020 Census, changing its political leaning from Republican to Democratic.

Previously, the district spanned the entire southern portion of New Mexico, from one state line to the next.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Herrell has raised $3.9 million, spent $3.3 million, and has $683,057 of cash on hand, as of October 19. Her opponent, Vasquez, has raised $3.2 million, spent $2.9 million, and has $348,172 of cash still left to spend, as of October 19.

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As of early November, super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate committees had combined to spend about $13.4 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the primaries.

What experts say

The race between Herrell and Vasquez is rated as a "toss-up" by Inside Elections, a "toss-up" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Republican" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider
MIAMI  The manager of Charlie Crists Florida gubernatorial campaign was arrested in a domestic violence case a day before he resigned from the campaign, NBC News has learned.

Austin John Durrer, 43, was arrested early Tuesday on a second-degree misdemeanor assault charge following a dispute at a Cambridge, Maryland, home, according to online court records and the prosecutor in the case, Amanda Leonard, who read a probable cause affidavit to an NBC News reporter over the phone.

In a brief telephone interview with NBC News, Durrer acknowledged the arrest occurred in the dispute with the mother of his child, Jackie Whisman, with whom he lives. He said he pressed charges the following day, which NBC News confirmed via online court records. She confirmed the account and issued a joint statement with him.

Very sadly, an incident took place this week at our home that we both regret. We are both working to drop legal charges and move forward," the statement said. "Our primary focus at this time is our daughter, our greatest joy, and we appreciate privacy and respect as we navigate this as a family.

According to the probable cause affidavit read by Leonard to NBC News, the woman had marks on her face from the dispute.

She [the alleged victim] indicated that there had been an argument that had turned physical with the father of her child who is identified as Austin Durrer. There were signs of physical injury to her face, consistent with what she reported, Leonard, the interim states attorney for Dorchester County, told NBC News.

Durrer was arrested at the residence on the spot because police are empowered to do so if officers are responding to a domestic violence-related call, there are signs of physical injury and the allegations are between either domestic partners or cohabitants within a 14-hour period," Leonard said.

The Crist campaign did not immediately return a request for comment. One Democrat familiar with the campaign and the controversy confirmed the arrest, which is why Durrer left the campaign.

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The day after Durrer's arrest, Crists campaign announced that he had resigned, telling reporters that Durrer was departing the campaign three weeks before the election to focus on a family matter. Prior to the campaign, Durrer served as Crist's chief of staff in his Florida congressional office in Washington.

Durrers arrest the day before in a state outside Florida has not been previously reported.

Prior to Durrers arrest, Crists campaign was trailing Gov. Ron DeSantiss campaign in poll numbers, fundraising and television advertising.

The state's attorney did not immediately provide NBC News a written copy of the probable cause affidavit, nor did the local police department in Cambridge.

Immediately after his arrest, Durrer was taken to a county district court commissioner who held a first-appearance hearing, found probable cause to support the misdemeanor assault charge and allowed Durrer to be released that day after posting a $10,000 bond, according to Leonard and online Dorchester County court records.

Among other notations, the court records indicate that Durrer was ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim and shall have to vacate the home and must surrender firearms if he possesses any.

His court date is set for Dec. 7. The second-degree misdemeanor charge carries with it a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $500 fine, Leonard said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A veritable treasure trove of email messages and documents from within the Securities and Exchange Commission has been turned over to Ripple, whose founders created the XRP cryptocurrency and now find themselves as defendants in a high-profile legal battle with the regulatory agency over its assertion that XRP was illegally sold as an unregistered security.

Stuart Alderoty, Ripple general counsel, broke the news on Twitter on Thursday, declaring victory in an 18-month battle (within the larger war) over the collection of discovery materials dubbed "the Hinman documents."

Over 18 months and 6 court orders later, we finally have the Hinman docs (internal SEC emails and drafts of his infamous 2018 speech). While they remain confidential for now (at the SECs insistence), I can say that it was well worth the fight to get them.  Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) October 20, 2022

The documents revolve around former SEC director William Hinman and a much-publicized speech he delivered in 2018 declaring that Ethereumlike Bitcoinwas "sufficiently decentralized" and thus not subject to federal securities regulation.

Hinman's remarks that day represent the thickest cloud currently looming over ongoing debates over crypto regulations, and play a key role in the SEC's December 2020 lawsuit against Ripple, asserting that Ripple sold XRP as an unregistered security. With a market cap of $22.3 billion, according to CoinGecko, XRP is currently the sixth-largest cryptocurrency.

Last month, a federal district judge overruled the SECs repeated attempts to prevent Ripple from accessing the documents, which the company believes will reveal internal deliberations and discussions that led to the controversial declaration that seems to favor two winners in the crypto space, Bitcoin and Ethereum, at the expense of alternatives like XRP.

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Ripple initially won the right to request the documents in January. Some industry watchers felt that the documents wouldn't substantially strengthen Ripple's case, but according to Alderoty, those assumptions are wrong.

"While they remain confidential for now (at the SEC's insistence), I can say that it was well worth the fight to get them," he tweeted. "Ive always felt good about our legal arguments, and I feel even better now. I always felt bad about the SECs tactics, and I feel even worse about them now."

SEC vs Ripple: Inside the Case That Could Make or Break the Crypto Industry

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse went even further. Even as his company celebrated its 10th anniversary hours before the documents were released, he was fuming on Twitter.

"The SECs pursuit of a policy objective isnt about 'a faithful allegiance to the law'its about power," he wrote. "There is no regard for those companies and people that this approach has harmed. We all should be outraged. The SEC has clearly forgotten that the government works for the people."

In response to the announcement from his general counsel, Garlinghouse again slammed the SEC, saying "don't believe them" when they claim to care about "disclosure, transparency and clarity."

"When the truth eventually comes out, the shamefulness of their behavior here will shock you," he added.

The SEC wants you to think that it cares about disclosure, transparency and clarity. Dont believe them. When the truth eventually comes out, the shamefulness of their behavior here will shock you. https://t.co/rqEzDXEx1A  Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) October 20, 2022

Although gaining access to documents surrounding Hinman's 2018 speech might provide significant insight into his thought process and that of his colleagues at the SEC, Ripple's attorneys also expect to be able to hear from Hinman directly, having won the opportunity to depose the former SEC director last year. That decision came shortly after another court blocked the SEC's attempt to access records surrounding Ripple's executive compensation.

The development will surely rekindle the long-running dispute, in which both Ripple and the SEC recently called for a summary judgement in lieu of a trial. The push for an expedited end to the case preceded a 44% increase in the value of XRP.

Ripple had opposed the SEC's motion, declaring that the agency "still has no viable legal theory to support its central claim" that Ripple was required to register XRP as a security.

Just last week, a judge granted a request from individual XRP holders to join the proceedings.

Notably, current SEC chair Gary Gensler has not commented publicly and specifically on Hinman's assessment, and has limited his remarks to Bitcoinavoiding the Ethereum waters that swamped director Hinman.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Following a meeting with Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is working to get the UN to support a resolution on a compensation mechanism for Ukraine.

Read also: Ukraines daring counteroffensive, war reparations, and negotiations  an interview with Mykhailo Podolyak

When asked about which countries could be expected to start transferring frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, Zelenskyy replied that it depends on the implementation of an international mechanism.

Many countries are ready to do it, Zelenskyy said.

I think that by the end of this year we will have real solutions and we will see a real mechanism.

During his evening address, the president stressed that Moscow would pay for its terror not only with isolation and degradation, but also with assets owned by the Russian state and state-affiliated entities.

Read also: How Ukraines Justice Ministry plans to get compensation from Russia, explained

Russia is trying to destroy the energy system of Ukraine, to make our people suffer even more, but this only galvanizes the international community to help us more, and put even more pressure on the (Russian) terrorist state, Zelenskyy added.

Read also: Russian missile attack in Kyiv Oblast causes significant damage to energy infrastructure

All our expenses for protecting energy facilities and restoring infrastructure after Russian terrorist strikes will be compensated at the expense of Russian assets."

Back in May, Zelenskyy said Kyiv is urging its partners to sign an agreement on using the seized and frozen Russian funds to pay reparations to Ukraine.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

The Kremlin is threatening retaliatory action after authorities arrested Artyom Uss, the son of a top Russian official, at the United States request, for allegedly participating in a sanctions evasion and money laundering scheme.

Uss, who was detained in Milan, was charged in relation to a scheme to unlawfully obtain U.S. military technology and sanctioned Venezuelan oil in order to support Russias war effort in Ukraine, according to charges unsealed by the U.S. Department of Justice this week.

We are categorically against this and we condemn the practice of these kinds of arrests of Russian citizens, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Uss father, the governor of Russias Krasnoyarsk Krai region, Alexander Uss, has suggested the arrest is politically motivated, according to TASS.

Another Russian government spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said Moscow would not leave the United States search for Russians unanswered and accused the U.S. of taking hostages for political purposes, TASS reported.

These Top Putin Cronies Vowed to Fight in Ukraine Themselves. So Where Are They?

Uss wasnt the only one charged in the money laundering and smuggling scheme. Uss co-owned a trading company called Nord-Deutsche Industrieanlagenbau GmbH (NDA GmbH) which he and co-conspirators allegedly used as a front to ship U.S. defense technology to Russia.

Uss and co-conspirators are accused of using NDA GmbH to ship advanced semiconductors and microprocessors for fighter aircraft, missile systems, smart munitions, radar, and satellites to Russiasome have been found in weapons used in the war in Ukraine.

Some of the same electronic components obtained through the criminal scheme have been found in Russian weapons platforms seized on the battlefield in Ukraine, the Department of Justice said in an announcement, adding that the accused developed a sophisticated network of schemes that undermined security, economic stability and rule of law around the world.

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The group of co-conspirators also allegedly shipped hundreds of millions of barrels of oil from Venezuela to Russian and Chinese entities, including at least one sanctioned oligarch.

The 12-count indictment charged five Russian nationals in total, including Yury Orekhov, Svetlana Kuzurgasheva, Timofey Telegin, and Sergey Tulyakov. Juan Fernando Serrano Ponce and Juan Carlos Soto were also charged with setting up illegal oil deals for Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.

One of the co-conspirators openly acknowledged that NDA GmbH was working for a sanctioned oligarch, according to court documents.

He [the oligarch] is under sanctions as well, Orekhov said. Thats why we [are] acting from this company [NDA GmbH]. As fronting.

Russia has long helped Venezuela evade sanctions around the globe. But the latest charges expose the multiple layers of sanctions the United States has imposed on both Russia and Venezuela.

The United States has been sanctioning Venezuela for more than 15 years, and in recent years has imposed restrictions on Venezuelas state oil company and other entities in order to try to pressure Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro to leave power.

Sanctions on Russian banks in recent months, which the United States and other nations have levied in an attempt to try to isolate Moscow on the world stage while it assaults Ukraine, have likely hurt Venezuelas ability to access its assets, according to the Congressional Research Service. But higher oil prices from Russias invasion of Ukraine appear to be driving a semblance of economic recovery for Venezuela, according to the CRS.

Task Force KleptoCapture, the Department of Justice group established earlier this year with the aim of punishing Russia for the war in Ukraine and enforcing sanctions on Russian oligarchs, announced the charges alongside other DOJ entities.

Stamping out evasion of export controls on military technology is among the Task Forces highest priorities, Andrew Adams, the director of Task Force KleptoCapture, said in a statement. Webs of shell companies, cryptocurrency and an international network of fraudsters failed to shield Orekhov and his cronies from apprehension by U.S. law enforcement.

Its not clear what Russia will be doing in response to Uss arrest.

When asked Thursday if Uss arrest is related at all to the negotiations to release Brittney Griner from Russia, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to speculate.

The President is willing to take extraordinary lengths to bring Americans home, Jean-Pierre said in a briefing with reporters.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken

Blinken underscored the United States will work to explore diplomatic avenues to resolve the conflict, as soon as they present themselves.

Read also: Blinken discusses support for Ukraine, energy security with European Commission chief

Everything points towards (Russian dictator Vladimir) Putin still being far from ready for serious diplomacy; he continues to move in the opposite direction, said Blinken.

We consider and will keep considering any diplomatic means; as soon as we see an opportunity for something like that  we will of course consider it, the secretary added.

Blinken noted that in recent months, Russia has repeatedly opted for further escalation and aggression.

Read also: Blinken makes unscheduled visit to Kyiv, announces new aid to Ukraine

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
UKRAINSKA PRAVDA  FRIDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2022, 07:08

Up to 2,000 Russian conscripts have arrived in the temporarily occupied territory of Kherson Oblast to replenish losses and reinforce units.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Details: Occupation authorities have issued an order to prepare evacuation for the so-called "banking institutions". There are evacuation lists of the Russian medical workers and teachers who were brought in. Humanitarian facilities in Kherson are being shut down.

Over the past day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have repelled the Russian occupiers attacks in the areas of Bilohorivka (Luhansk Oblast), Opytne, Bakhmut, Pobieda, and Marinka (Donetsk Oblast).

The Russians carried out 3 missile and 24 air strikes, and they fired using MLRS more than 30 times. More than 15 settlements came under fire, including Mykolaiv (Mykolaiv Oblast), Nova Kamianka and Mala Seidemynukha (Kherson Oblast), and Hatyshche (Kharkiv Oblast).

Russian troops used cruise and anti-aircraft guided missiles, as well as 20 Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drones.

On the Volyn, Polissia, and Sivershchyna fronts, the situation remains unchanged. The Russian army opened fire on other fronts:

On the Slobozhanshchyna front: from tanks, mortars, and tubed artillery; on areas near the Starytsia, Krasne, and Khatnie settlements;

On the Kupiansk and Lyman fronts: from tubed and rocket artillery; on Berestove, Zarichne, Nove, Pershotravneve, Stelmakhivka, Terny, and Yampolivka;

On the Bakhmut front: from tanks and artillery, hitting Andriivka, Bakhmut, Bakhmutske, Bilohorivka, Zelenopillia, Spirne, Ivanhrad, and Yakovlivka;

On the Avdiivka front: from tanks, mortars, tubed and rocket artillery, striking Vodiane, Marinka, Novomykhailivka, Pervomaiske, and Semenivka;

On the Novopavlivka and Zaporizhzhia fronts: on areas in and around the settlements of Vremivka, Vuhledar, Dorozhnianka, Neskuchne, Novodanylivka, and Stepova;

On the Pivdennyi Buh front: up to 20 settlements among the entire line of contact came under fire. The occupiers launched UAVs of various types more than 20 times in order to conduct air reconnaissance missions.

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The invaders keep trying to advance on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka fronts.

Ukrainian aircraft carried out five airstrikes over the past day. Three strong points and areas where their weaponry and military equipment were concentrated, as well as two anti-aircraft missile system positions, were struck. Ukrainian air defence units shot down 15 UAVs. Rocket and Artillery Forces hit four command posts, seven areas of concentration of manpower, weaponry, and military equipment, an ammunition storage point, an air defence system, a bridge and a pontoon bridge crossing belonging to the Russians.

More than 30 wounded after the Ukrainian armys strikes arrived at the hospital of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast at the same time.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






Firefighters work after a drone attack on buildings in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 17, 2022. AP Photo/Roman Hrytsyna, File

Russian officials previously traveled to Iran to learn how to use suicide drones, the US said this week.

This was before Iranian military personnel came to Crimea to train Russian troops, an official said.

Russian forces have used Iranian-made suicide drones to terrorize Ukrainian cities in recent weeks.

Russian officials previously traveled to Iran so they could be trained on how to use the explosive suicide drones that would later be deployed in attacks on Ukrainian cities, the US State Department said this week.

"We do have credible information that Russian officials, prior to the presence of Iranian trainers in Crimea, received training in Iran," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a Thursday briefing. It was not immediately clear how many individuals were part of the training, nor was it apparent when it took place.

His remarks came after he said Iranian military personnel recently visited the occupied Crimean peninsula, where they helped Russian forces operate suicide drones that have been used in recent weeks to terrorize Ukrainian cities far from the front lines.

"We can confirm that Russian military personnel based in Crimea have been ... piloting Iranian UAVs and using them to conduct kinetic strikes across Ukraine, including in strikes against Kyiv in recent days," Price said during the briefing. "We assess that Iranian personnel, Iranian military personnel, were on the ground in Crimea and assisted Russia in these operations."

Price said his remarks about Iranian military personnel in Crimea echoed similar assessments from the White House, which confirmed media reports from earlier in the week saying the Iranians were present at a Russian military base in Crimea.

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Thursday that it was unclear how many members of the Iranian military were physically there to help Russian forces operate the suicide drones.

"In terms of what that means, obviously, again, we continue to see Iran be complicit in terms of exporting terror, not only in the Middle East region, but now also to Ukraine," Ryder said.

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A drone flies over Kyiv during an attack on October 17, 2022. Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images

Russia and Iran have previously collaborated in various conflict zones across the Middle East, including working closely together in Syria, providing support for the Assad regime.

Both Moscow and Tehran have denied the use of Iranian-made suicide drones in Ukraine, despite mounting evidence and accusations from Western governments and intelligence agencies. In fact, a Russian defense ministry advisor was even recently caught on a hot mic revealing that Russia uses the drones, something the Kremlin doesn't want to admit.

Suicide drones have emerged as a weapon of choice for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has deployed them in deadly swarms to attack Ukrainian cities  like Kyiv  and spread chaos hundreds of miles from the war's front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Ukraine says it has been able to shoot down a majority of the incoming drones, but some of these systems are making it through, damaging civilian infrastructure and other targets.

Ukraine has identified these drones as the Shahed-136, which is a long-range loitering munition packed with explosives. These systems can fly around like normal drones and even linger around an area, but unlike other drones that return, these eventually slam into targets and detonate  leading people to refer to them as suicide or kamikaze drones.

"Russia must pay for this terror," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a Thursday address to the European Council, asking for additional EU sanctions. He added that "Iran must be deprived of any possibility or even desire to supply such drones to anyone."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The 150-ship backlog is due to Moscows deliberate obstruction, according to the president.

The situation around the grain export initiative is becoming ever more tense in recent weeks, said Zelenskyy.

Read also: UN hopes to prolong grain deal, but Russia seeking to limit Ukrainian exports

The enemy is doing everything it can to halt our agricultural exports. I think Russia is deliberately creating a global food crisis, hoping it becomes as acute as it was earlier this year.

Zelenskyy said Russias obstruction is causing delays in shipments of Ukrainian grain to Egypt, Tunisia, Algiers, Morocco, Lebanon, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and other countries. The logistical backlog has already brought down food exports from Ukraine by around 3 million tons.

Ukraine, Turkey, and the UN signed the Black Sea grain deal on July 22, which allowed for cargo ships to export grain from Odesa and several other Black Sea ports. As intermediaries, the UN and Turkey also signed a corresponding agreement with Russia, providing for Moscow to inspect ships sailing to and from Ukrainian ports.

Read also: Ukraine provides details of "grain agreement" struck in Istanbul

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Elizabeth Toledo, left, attends a prayer vigil on March 29, 2022, at the site where her son Adam Toledo, 13, was killed in a shooting by Chicago police one year earlier, after a chase in the Little Village neighborhood. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

The Chicago police officer who shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo during a foot chase in 2021 is facing firing after an investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability concluded the shooting violated department policy.

COPAs findings against Officer Eric Stillman were discussed Thursday night by the Chicago Police Board, as was the fact that police police Superintendent David Brown contested the findings, saying that the shooting did not violate department use-of-force rules.

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Brown only agreed with COPA that Stillman violated department protocol for failing to operate his body camera in a timely manner, though the superintendent only recommended the officer be punished with a suspension of no more than five days.

Also at the meeting, Police Board President Ghian Foreman, who had been selected at random to review the case, announced that the controversial shooting has been referred for a public hearing before the entire board.

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It is my opinion that  the parties and the public will benefit from a full evidentiary hearing on this matter, Foreman wrote in his decision. This hearing will allow the board (to) hear from use-of-force experts  and will allow the board to thoroughly review relevant evidence, including video recordings of the incident.

Foreman stated in his ruling that he was neither siding with COPA nor Brown. But he also said that Brown did not meet his burden to overrule COPA.

The superintendent made a number of convincing points in his response to (COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kerstens) recommendation for discipline, Foreman wrote. However, in this case, the material I reviewed does not provide a sufficient basis for me to rule that the superintendent met the burden to overcome the recommendation. "

Foreman noted that the hearing will also grant Stillman the opportunity to testify. Foreman also made clear that he was not siding with COPA.

The hearing is not expected to take place for several months.

The March 29 shooting of Toledo in a Little Village alley at about 2:30 a.m. touched off waves of protests after disturbing images from officers body-worn cameras were released.

In the footage, Toledos hands appear to be empty at the moment Stillman shoots him. Police confiscated a gun near Toledo, whom authorities said was with Ruben Roman, now 22, who had fired at a vehicle in the minutes before the shooting.

The shooting happened two days before another Chicago police officer shot and killed 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez in Portage Park, also in a foot chase.

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In addition to questions over whether deadly force was warranted in the shootings, the incidents cast a glaring spotlight on the foot pursuits and the fact that Chicago police lacked a written policy on the dangerous, often deadly encounters.

The department has since written a policy around the chases. In both the Alvarez and Toledo shootings, COPA still found that the officers in both shootings acted inconsistently with their training in a foot pursuit training bulletin distributed by the Police Department.

The Police Board released findings on the Alvarez investigation in July. As they did in the Toledo case, COPA investigators concluded that the shooting of Alvarez violated the departments use of force policy. They recommended that Officer Evan Solano, who shot Alvarez, be fired.

Brown also contested that decision. The Police Board member selected to review that case, however, concurred with Browns recommendation for a 20-day suspension and spared Solanos job  without referring the case for a full hearing.

In March, Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx announced her office would not bring criminal charges against the officers involved in the Alvarez and Toledo shootings. Foxx said at a news conference that prosecutors determined both officers reasonably believed they were in danger when they opened fire. Both Toledo and Alvarez were carrying guns on the night they were shot.

Kersten, whose office was critical of the Alvarez case being decided by one police board member, issued a statement late Thursday in support of Foremans decision in Toledos shooting.

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As Ive said before, this is not about winning or losing, but about facts, evidence and testimony being presented before the full Police Board before a final decision is determined, the statement read. Impacted parties and the residents of the city of Chicago deserve to have all the facts and evidence presented in a full, public hearing and we believe this case is deserving of a full evidentiary hearing before the entire Police Board and a review of the rules governing this process is warranted.

The decision was criticized by Stillmans attorney, who issued a statement.

There is no reason or justification for the city of Chicago to have sought termination in this case, attorney Tim Grace said in a written statement. I am extremely disappointed with the Chicago Police Board tonight. They missed an opportunity to stand with the members of our Police Department who do the heavy lifting. Officer Stillman is an honorably discharged (United) States Marine who has served his country and city with honor and courage and will face this next challenge in the same manner.

Also in a statement, the Toledo familys lawyers praised COPA for uncovering the truth of what transpired in the shooting, and thanked Foreman for not rejecting COPAs findings.

We are relieved COPA has come to the conclusion that the shooting was unjustified, which is consistent with our understanding of the facts, the lawyers, Adeena Weiss Ortiz and Joel Hirschhorn, said in a statement. We will now be moving forward with the next step in this process for Adam Toledo and his family.

asweeney@chicagotribune.com

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jgorner@chicagotribune.com
UKRAYINSKA PRAVDA  FRIDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2022 19:28

The occupation authorities of Beryslav (Kherson Oblast) have stopped working, as Russian collaborators continue to flee the city.

Source: report by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of 18:00

Details: According to the General Staff, since 19 October, all bodies of the occupation authorities in Beryslav stopped working. Local collaborators who sided with the Russian invaders continue to leave the city along with their families and property.

According to the General Staff, in the Pinsk and Stolinsk districts of Belarus, secret services are boosting security and administrative measures. In particular,people are banned from filming anything; it also includes the use of car video recorders. Military enlistment offices continue to work on clarifying the personal data of men of military age, insisting that these people be ready for a call.

As of late October 21, situation on the battlefields in Ukraine is as follows:

On the Volyn front, the situation remains unchanged.

On the Sivershchyna and Polissia fronts, Russians used mortars and barrel artillery to fire near the settlements of Ukrainske and Hai in Chernihiv Oblast, as well as Pokrovka in Sumy Oblast.

On the Slobozhanshchyna front, the invaders opened fire from barrel and rocket artillery, in the vicinities of Berestove, Strilecha, Dvorichna and Chuhunivka;

On the Bakhmut front, Russians fired from tanks and artillery in the areas of Soledar, Bakhmut, Bilohorivka, Klishchiivka and Opytne;

On the Avdiivka front, they used tanks, mortars, barrel and rocket artillery in the areas near Vodiane, Prechystivka, Pervomaiske and Velyka Novosilka.

On Novopavlivka and Zaporizhzhia fronts, Russians did not conduct any active offensive operations. They hit the areas of the settlements of Vremivka, Zelenyi Hai and Mala Tokmachka.

On the Pivdennyi Buh front, the Russians carried out attacks on military and civilian infrastructure. Areas of settlements near the contact line were hit. Among them are Novovoskresenske, Myrne, Davydiv Brid and Novohredneve.

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The invaders focused their efforts on deterring the actions of defence forces of Ukraine in certain areas; at the same time, they did not abandon their attempts to conduct offensive operations on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka fronts.

On 21 October, defence forces of Ukraine repelled attacks by invaders near the settlements of Ternova (Kharkiv Oblast); Bilohorivka and Zolotarivka (Luhansk Oblast); Lyman, Soledar, Ozarianivka, Odradivka and Pervomaiske in Donetsk Oblast. In the temporarily occupied territory of Luhansk Oblast, the Russians are taking measures to improve their propaganda TV and radio broadcasting.

During the day, the invaders conducted 4 missile attacks and 10 air strikes, also carrying out more than 30 attacks from multiple launch rocket systems.

Russian air-launched and anti-aircraft guided missiles hit the areas of eight localities, including Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Novovoskresenske (Kherson Oblast).

On 19 October, the defence forces of Ukraine hit a pontoon crossing under the Antonovka Bridge in Kherson Oblast.

Combat aircraft of the defence forces carried out 16 strikes during the day, dealing damage to three strongholds and ten clusters of weapons and military equipment, as well as three positions of enemy anti-aircraft missile systems. Rocket Forces and Artillery of Ukrainian troops hit a command post and an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system.

Background: On 6 October, Natalia Humeniuk, press secretary of the Operational Command Pivden (South) press centre, reported that the invaders are trapped between the Ukrainian units and the Right Bank of the Dnieper river in Ukraines south: "If their ability to move to the other bank is critically disrupted, this will mean an encirclement."

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Ukraine has vowed it will not succumb to peace by coercion while threatening to hit back even harder if Putin blows up a hydroelectric dam in the Russian-occupied Kherson region.

Russia is reportedly planning to destroy the Kakhovka plant, an act that would result in a catastrophe on a grand scale, President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidents office, tweeted that Moscow has resorted to the plot because nuclear blackmail did not work.

President Zelensky claims the Kremlin has planted mines at the frontline dam, which risks wiping out a 400km-long (250 miles) canal network.

Russia is preparing [to attack] at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. According to our information, the aggregates and dam of the Kakhovka HPP were mined by Russian terrorists.

If the dam is destroyed the North Crimean canal will simply disappear.

Key Points

Zelensky warns of catastrophic attack on dam

Ukraine updates tally of Russian losses

Iranian troops directly engaged on the ground in Ukraine, White House says

Wallace: Malfunction led Russian fighter jet to release missile near UK plane

Russian, Ukrainian troops gird for major battle in Kherson

RFK grandson Conor Kennedy reveals he secretly fought on frontline in Ukraine

Ukrainian minister sees no progress on deal for occupied nuclear plant

15:20 , Matt Mathers

Ukraine's energy minister said on Friday he saw no signs of progress towards a deal involving Russia, Ukraine and the UN nuclear watchdog on resolving the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Russian forces have occupied the plant in southern Ukraine since shortly after Moscow's invasion of its neighbour eight months ago but it is still operated by its Ukrainian staff.

The situation at the plant is a source of international concern because of fears that repeated shelling of the plant's territory - for which Kyiv and Moscow blame each other - could lead to a nuclear accident.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has held talks in Moscow and Kyiv in an effort to secure agreement on a safety and security protection zone around the plant.

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Asked if he saw progress towards a deal, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko told Reuters in an interview: "Not at this stage."

"I see that there were some messages from Rafael this week, that he again wants to discuss the framework of an agreement. I don't know, maybe something changed in the Russian position, but I do not believe (in) any possibility to agree with Russia," he said.

Asked at what point it would be too dangerous for Ukrainian staff to continue working at the plant, he said: "This point is a nuclear accident."

Such an evacuation could only happen "several hours before (a) real catastrophe," as Russia cannot substitute the thousands of Ukrainian staff at the plant, Halushchenko said.

IMF concludes mission on Ukraine, urges authorities to avoid eroding tax revenues

15:01 , Matt Mathers

An International Monetary Fund team held productive discussions with Ukrainian authorities in Vienna this week and will continue work in coming weeks on Ukraine's request for enhanced program monitoring, IMF mission chief Gavin Gray said on Friday.

Gray said IMF staff met with Ukrainian authorities, and discussed its findings with Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Andriy Pyshnyi.

He said Russia's invasion had caused tremendous human suffering and had a severe economic impact, with the fiscal deficit rising to unprecedented levels. But IMF officials were encouraging Ukraine to refrain from measures that erode tax revenues.

France's Macron to hold Moldova solidarity conference in Paris

14:40 , Matt Mathers

France will invite the leader of Moldova to Paris in November to express France's solidarity for the country in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said at an EU meeting on Friday.

"In November, we will organise a conference of support for Moldova in Paris," Macron told reporters.

Russia poised to largely skirt new G7 oil price cap

14:20 , Matt Mathers

Russia can access enough tankers to ship most of its oil beyond the reach of a new G7 price cap, industry players and a U.S. official told Reuters, underscoring the limits of the most ambitious plan yet to curb Moscow's wartime revenue.

The Group of Seven countries agreed last month to cap Russian oil sales at an enforced low price by 5 December but faced consternation from main players in the global oil industry who feared the move could paralyse the trade worldwide.

Months of discussions between the United States and those insurance, trading and shipping firms have mollified concerns on their exposure to sanctions but all parties now realize Russia can largely skirt the plan with their own ships and services.

Ukraine troop pile on pressure in Kherson

13:45 , Matt Mathers

Ukrainian forces continue to pile pressure on Russian positions in occupied Kherson, targeting resupply routes across the Dnieper river as Kyiv inches closer to a full-scale assault to retake the strategic southern port city.

As many as 2,000 Russian draftees have poured into the Kherson region "to replenish losses and strengthen units on the front line", according to Ukrainian army officials.

The Antonivskyi Bridge, which is on a main route from Crimea to Russian-held territories in southern Ukraine, was struck late on Thursday, said Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine's southern operational command - but only after the 10pm local curfew, to avoid civilian casualties.

No political wisdom: Kremlin not confident about next British PM, whoever it might be

13:18 , Matt Mathers

It is not just Britain that expects little from its third new Conservative prime minister this year, writes David Harding, our international editor.

Russia, which was far from complimentary about outgoing leader Liz Truss, said on Friday that it did not believe anyone who has a part in choosing the new leader will exercise political wisdom, and took a swipe at the fact that the British people are not allowed to have their say in deciding who ends up in Number 10.

Read Davids full piece here:

No political wisdom: Kremlin not confident about next British PM, whoever it is

West must warn Russia not to blow up dam, Zelensky says

12:40 , Matt Mathers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the West to warn Russia not to blow up a huge dam that would flood a swath of southern Ukraine, as his forces prepare to push Moscow's troops from Kherson in one of the war's most important battles.

In a television address, Zelenskiy said Russian forces had planted explosives inside the huge Nova Kakhovka dam, which holds back an enormous reservoir that dominates much of southern Ukraine, and were planning to blow it up to cover their retreat.

"Now everyone in the world must act powerfully and quickly to prevent a new Russian terrorist attack. Destroying the dam would mean a large-scale disaster," he said.

Explainer: What is a kamikaze drone?

12:20 , Matt Mathers

So-called kamikaze drones are believed to lie in the arsenals of both sides in Russias war on Ukraine, a conflict in which Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are playing a large role.

These drones are said by Kyiv to have been used in Russian attacks which killed 19 people last week, before a widespread and fatal assault on the Ukrainian capital and other cities on Monday sparked international condemnation

But what are they? My colleague Andy Gregory reports:

Russia-Ukraine war: What is a kamikaze drone?

ICYMI: Putins vodka gift to Berlusconi breaks EU sanctions and causes row in Rome

11:59 , Matt Mathers

A birthday present of 20 bottles of vodka from Vladimir Putin to Silvio Berlusconi breached European Union sanctions imposed after the Russian leaders invasion of Ukraine  and has prompted fears about the make-up of Italys next government.

Our deputy politics editor David Harding reports:

Putins vodka gift to Berlusconi breaks EU sanctions and causes row in Rome

Zelensky warns Russia is planning catastrophic attack on hydroelectric dam

11:40 , Matt Mathers

Russia is planning to destroy a hydroelectric dam in Ukraines Kherson region, an act that would result in a catastrophe on a grand scale, President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned.

He claims Moscow has planted mines at the dam in the Russian-occupied region, which risks wiping out a 400km-long (250 miles) canal network.

Our international editor David Harding reports:

Zelensky warns Russia is planning catastrophic attack on hydroelectric dam

Ukraine deletes better call Boris tweet

11:09 , Matt Mathers

Ukraine has deleted a tweet seemingly calling for Boris Johnson to return as UK prime minister.

An official Ukraine Twitter account posted "better call Boris" following the resignation of Liz Truss on Thursday.

It has since been removed.

Labour leader Keir Stamer said he was "rather surprised" by the tweet, which included a meme based on the Netflix show Better Call Saul, with a photo of Mr Johnson's face, amid speculation the former prime minister might attempt a political comeback.

My colleague Joe Middleton reports:

Ukraine backs Johnson for return as PM with Better Call Boris meme

History-maker Meloni inches closer to becoming Italys first female PM

10:45 , Matt Mathers

Giorgia Meloni could be hours away from becoming Italys first female prime minister after holding talks with President Sergio Mattarella to discuss the formation of a new government.

Far-right Meloni, who heads the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, entered the presidents palace on Friday morning alongside her main polticial allies, Matteo Salvini, who leads the far-right League, and Silvio Berlusconi, founder of the conservative Forza Italia party - and Kremlin sympathiser.

Our international editor David Harding reports:

History-maker Meloni inches closer to becoming Italys first female PM

Putin fires sniper rifle during Russian training base visit

10:27 , Matt Mathers

Vladimir Putin was filmed firing a sniper rifle while on a visit to a training base for military reservists near Moscow.

The Russian president visited the base in Ryazan, southeast of capital Moscow on Thursday, in an appearance aimed at countering images posted by Russians posted on social media showing poorly equipped troops.

A video broadcast on state TV showed Mr Putin lying under a net in a field, wearing goggles and ear protection, shooting the weapon.

Putin fires sniper rifle during Russian training base visit

10:26 , Matt Mathers

Vladimir Putin was filmed firing a sniper rifle while on a visit to a training base for military reservists near Moscow.

The Russian president visited the base in Ryazan, southeast of capital Moscow on Thursday, in an appearance aimed at countering images posted by Russians posted on social media showing poorly equipped troops.

A video broadcast on state TV showed Mr Putin lying under a net in a field, wearing goggles and ear protection, shooting the weapon.

(Russian Defence Ministry)

Four killed in Kherson missile strike - Russian officials

10:06 , Matt Mathers

Russian-installed officials accused Ukrainian forces on Friday of using US-supplied HIMARS missiles to attack people evacuating from the Russian-controlled city of Kherson, saying they had killed at least four civilians and wounded 13 others.

A Ukrainian official acknowledged an attack but said it occurred after a civilian curfew. He did not say what weapons were used.

Russian-installed authorities in the southern Ukrainian region which Moscow proclaimed as annexed last month are evacuating around 50,000-60,000 people across the Dnipro River ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Vladimir Rogov, an official in the Russian-installed administration of the neighbouring Zaporizhzhia region, said Ukraine had struck the civilians with American-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) missiles.

Ukrainian forces "launched a missile attack on a civilian crossing," said Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy governor of Kherson.

Ukrainian refugees in theUK who fled Putins war are turning to food banks amid soaring inflation.

09:50 , Matt Mathers

Ukrainian refugees in the UK are turning to food banks amid rising inflation and the struggle to find employment.

More than 148,300 Ukrainians have been granted sanctuary in the UK since the start of Vladimir Putins invasion, the latest government data up to June 2022 shows.

My colleague Holly Bancroft reports:

Ukrainian refugees in UK who fled war turning to food banks amid soaring inflation

RFK grandson Conor Kennedy reveals he secretly fought on frontline in Ukraine

09:35 , Matt Mathers

Conor Kennedy, grandson of Robert F Kennedy, has revealed on Instagram that he secretly fought in Ukraine earlier this year against the Russian invasion.

The 28-year-old said he was moved to enlist, despite having no military experience, and joined the Ukrainian International Legion.

My colleague Oliver OConnell reports:

RFK grandson Conor Kennedy reveals he secretly fought on frontline in Ukraine

US - Iranian troops directly engaged on the ground in Criema

09:12 , Matt Mathers

The White House has said Iranian troops are "directly engaged on the ground" in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraine's power stations and other key infrastructure.

The US administration claimed it has troubling evidence of Tehran's deepening role assisting Russia as it exacts suffering on Ukrainian civilians just as the cold weather sets in.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Iran has sent a "relatively small number" of personnel to Crimea, a part of Ukraine unilaterally annexed by Russia in contravention of international law in 2014, to assist Russian troops in launching Iranian-made drones against Ukraine.

Full report:

Iranian troops directly engaged on the ground in Ukraine, White House says

How does Ukraines estimate of Russian losses compare?

08:54 , Zoe Tidman

Ukraine is claiming Russia has lost 66,750 soldiers so far in the war - more than 10,000 higher than its estimate a month ago.

Its also thousands higher than US casualties in the Vietnam war, which spanned for two decades.

My colleage Arpan Rai took a look at what Ukraines Russian death toll claims meant earlier this week:

Putin has lost more troops in Ukraine than US did in whole of Vietnam war  report

Ukraine updates tally of Russian losses

08:30 , Zoe Tidman

The Ukrainian army has updated its assessment of Russian losses in the war.

It claimed the Russian army has lost 66,750 troops so far - up by 100.

Four killed in shelling in Russia-controlled Kherson, says official

06:55 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Four people were killed when Ukrainian rocket artillery struck a ferry crossing in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Kherson late on Thursday, a Moscow-appointed deputy regional governor Kirill Stremousov said on Friday.

Reuters reported that authorities in the region which Russia proclaimed as annexed last month said this week they planned to evacuate around 50,000-60,000 people over the next six days amid escalating pressure from a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

RFK grandson Conor Kennedy reveals he secretly fought on frontline in Ukraine

06:39 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Conor Kennedy, grandson of Robert F Kennedy, has revealed on Instagram that he secretly fought in Ukraine earlier this year against the Russian invasion.

The 28-year-old said he was moved to enlist, despite having no military experience, and joined the Ukrainian International Legion.

Kennedy, who once briefly dated Taylor Swift, did not disclose when he fought nor how long he was in Ukraine.

Read the full story here:

RFK grandson Conor Kennedy reveals he secretly fought on frontline in Ukraine

Russian, Ukrainian troops gird for major battle in Kherson

06:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Russian and Ukrainian troops appeared yesterday to be girding for a major battle over the strategic southern industrial port city of Kherson, in a region which Russian President Vladimir Putin has illegally annexed and subjected to martial law, the Associated Press reported.

It said that fighting and evacuations were reported in the Kherson region as Moscow tried to pound the invaded country into submission with more missile and drone attacks on critical infrastructure.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyys office said that Ukrainian forces mounted 15 attacks on Russian military strongholds in the Kherson region. For its part, Russias Defense Ministry spokesman said the Kremlins forces repelled Ukrainian attempts to advance with tanks on the Kherson villages of Sukhanove, Nova Kamianka and Chervonyi Yar.

Wallace: Malfunction led Russian fighter jet to release missile near UK plane

05:34 , Maroosha Muzaffar

The Defence Secretary has revealed that a Russian fighter jet recently released a missile in the vicinity of an RAF aircraft over the Black Sea.

Ben Wallace told the Commons the incident occurred in international airspace over the Black Sea on September 29.

He added that an unarmed RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint  a spy plane  was interacted with by two Russian SU-27s, one of which released a missile in the vicinity of the RAF Rivet Joint beyond visual range.

Read the full story here:

Wallace: Malfunction led Russian fighter jet to release missile near UK plane

Iranian troops directly engaged on the ground in Ukraine, White House says

04:50 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Iranian troops are directly engaged on the ground in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraines infrastructure and civilian population, the White House has said.

Read the full story by Andrew Fienberg here:

Iranian troops directly engaged on the ground in Ukraine, White House says
Mikhail Fridman, one of the Russian oligarchs who has a fortune in Ukraine

Fridman, a sanctioned Russian billionaire, sent a letter to the regulatory authorities of the Principality of Monaco with the request to authorize a partial unfreezing of funds on his accounts in Monaco.

Read also: Ukrainian court seizes $16 million in assets of Russian oligarch Fridman

I believe that the bank will be able to implement the project of additional capitalization," Shpek said, saying that this was a tricky task, but that it is underway.

Shpek himself is now in Brussels, where the development of a mechanism for unfreezing, additional capitalization and a system of control over the targeted use of funds is said to be being devised.

Earlier, Fridman wrote a letter to the new governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andriy Pyshnyy and confirmed his readiness to recapitalize the bank by $1 billion. In the same letter, the bank's shareholders noted their willingness to donate the bank's shares to the state or another shareholder.

Read also: Central bank deputy head details financial aid Ukraine expects in 2022

As previously reported, Alfa-Bank may be recapitalized in the form of a "perpetual obligation  a loan with no maturity date that pays a perpetual stream of interest.

Earlier, Alfa-Bank assured that the plan for the additional capitalization of $1 billion was not for the personal benefit of one of the bank's main shareholders, Fridman.

In early September, The Wall Street Journal wrote that Fridman wants to "inject" $1 billion into Ukrainian Alfa-Bank, hoping for the lifting of sanctions.

In an interview with Forbes Ukraine, the head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, also mentioned the plans to recapitalize the bank for this amount.

Read also: EU proposes to slap same sanctions on Belarus as on Russia for war of aggression on Ukraine

Ukraines parliament, the Verkhovna Rada on Oct. 6 adopted a law on the peculiarities of withdrawing a systemically important bank from the market under martial law, which provides for nationalization without additional capitalization by the state.

Story continues

According to the central bank definition, there are currently 14 systemically important banks in the country, but experts suggest that it is Alfa-Bank Ukraine that is most relevant in the case of the new law.

According to the NBU, as of Sept. 1, 2022, Alfa-Bank Ukraine ranked 7th ($3 billion) among the 67 banks operating in the country in terms of total assets.

According to the financial institution, its largest shareholders are currently indirectly Andriy Kosohov (40.96%  after the war, he took over the packages of German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev, who fell under sanctions), Mikhail Fridman (32.86%) and Petr Aven (12.4%), as well as UniCredit SpA (Italy, 9.9%) and the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research (3.87%).

Read also: Fridman maintains that Russian oligarchs have no influence over Putin

Bulgarian ex-minister of finance, executive director of the Financial Markets Group of the London School of Economics and technical adviser to the European Commission Simeon Djankov, by agreement with the NBU, is a trustee of the central bank for the Kosogov, Fridman and Aven stakes, which also fell under sanctions.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
STORY: "I have no husband; I live with my mum and son, so if anything happens, I want to be ready to defend my family," Rostov region resident Anna, who did not give her surname, told Reuters.

One of the instructors at the training session said the knowledge they were imparting was "relevant" today, and the people felt "better protected" after completing the course.

The head of Rostov region had earlier advertized the two-day combat training courses on social media. Any adult citizens who want to gain skills and knowledge in combat and first aid were welcome to sign up.

The Russian region shares approximately 250 miles of border with Ukraine.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Two stories beneath a modern steel production plant on Warsaw's northern edge lies an untouched Cold War relic: a shelter containing gas masks, stretchers, first aid kits and other items meant to help civil defense leaders survive and guide rescue operations in case of nuclear attack or other disasters.

A map of Europe on a wall still shows the Soviet Union  and no independent Ukraine. Old boots and jackets give off a musty odor. A military field switchboard warns: Attention, your enemy is listening.

Until now, nobody had seriously considered that the rooms built in the 1950s  and now maintained as a historical curiosity by the ArcelorMittal Warszawa plant, according to spokeswoman Ewa Karpinska  might one day be used as a shelter again. But as Russia pounds Ukraine, with shelling around a nuclear power plant and repeated Russian threats to use a nuclear weapon, the Polish government ordered an inventory this month of the 62,000 air raid shelters in the country.

The war has triggered fears across Europe, and these are especially felt in countries like Poland and Romania that border Ukraine and would be highly vulnerable in case of a radiological disaster.

After the Polish government order, firefighters visited the steel plant's shelter last week and listed it in their registry. Warsaws leaders said the city's subway and other underground shelters could hold all its 1.8 million residents and more in the case of an attack with conventional weapons.

The ArcelorMittal Warszawa plant's Karpinska is suddenly receiving inquiries about the shelter. Following Russian President Vladimir Putins threats to carry out a tactical nuclear attack, everyone is worried, she said. I believe that he will not (stage a nuclear attack), that it would be completely crazy, but nobody really believed he would start this war.

Amid fighting around Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Poland also drew up a plan to give potassium iodide tablets to local fire stations, which would distribute them to the population if needed. There has been a rush elsewhere in Europe on potassium iodide  which protects the thyroid gland in the neck in case of radiation exposure  including in Finland where the government urged the population to buy them.

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During the Cold War there were hundreds of thousands of shelters in Europe. Some dated from the buildup to World War II, while communist-era authorities also ordered that new residential and production facilities include underground shelters.

Finland, which borders Russia, along with Sweden and Denmark, have maintained their shelters in order. Finland, for instance, maintains shelters in cities and other densely populated areas capable of accommodating around two-thirds of the population. A few of them are designed to withstand detonation of a 100-kiloton nuclear bomb.

While some countries still maintain their Cold War underground shelters, after the collapse of the Soviet Union some were transformed into museums  relics of an earlier age of nuclear fears that would offer no real protection today.

Bomb shelters were a key element in the former Yugoslavias preparedness doctrine against a nuclear attack.

The most famous of all, in a mountainous area 60 kilometers (35 miles) from Sarajevo in Bosnia, is a vast underground fortress built to protect military and political leaders. Known then only to the Yugoslav president, four generals and a handful of soldiers who guarded it, the Konjic site was turned in 2010 into a modern art gallery.

From the military-political and geopolitical standpoint, the global environment right now is unfortunately very similar to what it was like (during the Cold War), burdened by a very heavy sense of a looming war, said Selma Hadzihuseinovic, the representative of a government agency that manages the site.

She said the bunker could be returned to service in a new war, but with nuclear weapons having become far more powerful it would not be as useful as it was meant to be when it was built.

In Romania, an enormous former salt mine, Salina Turda, now a tourist attraction, is on a government list of potential shelters.

Many urban dwellers also go past shelters every day without realizing it while riding subways in cities like Warsaw, Prague and Budapest.

We measured how many people could fit in trains along the entire length of the metro, in metro stations and other underground spaces, said Michal Domaradzki, director of the security and crisis management for the city of Warsaw. There is enough space for the entire population.

Attila Gulyas, president of the Hungarian capitals Urban Transport Workers Union, has been involved in regular drills of the citys metro lines. He was trained to shelter thousands of people as chief of the Astoria station at Budapests metro line 2.

The system is still in place today, it works perfectly, it can be deployed in any emergency Gulyas said. Up to 220,000 people can be protected by the shelter system in the tunnels of metro lines 2 and 3.

But with Russia waging an energy war against Europe and power costs soaring, for many the chief worry is how to get through the winter.

Sorin Ionita, a commentator with the Expert Forum in Bucharest, Romania, said many consider a Russian nuclear strike improbable as it would not bring a big military advantage to the Russians."

Still, Putins threats add to a general sense of anxiety in a world in tumult.

Just days after the Russian invasion began, Czechs bought potassium iodide pills as a precaution of sorts against a nuclear attack. Experts say these might help in a nuclear plant disaster but not against a nuclear weapon.

Dana Drabova, the head of the State Office for Nuclear Safety said that in such a case, the anti-radiation pills would be useless.

___

Eldar Emric in Konjic, Bosnia; Karel Janicek in Prague; Bela Szandelszky in Budapest, Hungary; Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark; Jari Tanner in Helsinki, Finland; and Nicolae Dumitrache in Bucharest, Romania, contributed.
Humeniuk noted that Russian propaganda wants to blame the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the crimes of Russians

In an attempt to arrange an alternative crossing over the Dnipro (River), they even don stolen clothes, sometimes without removing price tags from civilian clothes they stole from stores, Humeniuk said.

Read also: What awaits Kherson and how Putin is changing tactics

She added that Russians are hoping to create an impression of Ukrainian forces attacking civilians.

We arent firing at critical infrastructure that could threaten civilian population, Humeniuk said.

We don't fire on crossings when we know there are civilians there. And we are monitoring this situation very carefully.

She noted that Moscows propaganda looks to blame the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the crimes committed by invading Russian forces.

Recent satellite imagery shows Russian troops near Kherson urgently transferring their vehicles and personnel to the eastern bank of the Dnipro River.

Read also: Russia prepares to withdraw from Kherson Oblast, but it wont be easy, says British intel

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO  THURSDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2022, 20:25

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that the Russians have mined the dam and units of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (KHPP) and are planning to commit a terrorist attack under another flag [Ukraines  ed.].

Source: Zelenskyy in his appeal to the European Council

Quote: "Russia is consciously laying the groundwork for a large-scale disaster in Ukraines south. We have information that Russian terrorists have mined the dam and units of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant.

This is one of the largest energy facilities. Its dam contains approximately 18,000,000 cubic metres of water. If Russian terrorists blow up this dam, more than 80 settlements, including Kherson, will be in the zone of rapid flooding. Hundreds of thousands of people could suffer.

It could destroy the water supply for a large part of Ukraines south. This Russian terrorist attack could leave the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) without water for cooling; the ZNPP takes water from the Kakhovka reservoir. Even the functioning of the channel, constructed for providing Crimea with water, which Moscow sometimes "expresses concern" about, will be completely destroyed. This is Russias real attitude towards our Ukrainian Crimea.

In general, the devastating ecological, humanitarian and technogenic consequences of this Russian terrorist attack alone could be described as a historic catastrophe."

Details: Zelenskyy has stated that Russia has already got everything prepared to commit this terrorist attack.

"The Ukrainian employees have been kicked out of the Kakhovka plant; only Russian citizens are there now. They have full control over the plant. We need to act immediately in order to prevent Russia from implementing this disaster," he said.

He asked the international community to send an international monitoring mission to the KHPP, get the Ukrainian personnel back there, and provide immediate and professional mine clearance for all units and the dam.

Story continues

"Russia is doing this to conduct another false-flag operation, to commit a terrorist attack and accuse Ukraine of doing it," Zelenskyy said.

Previously: On 20 October, the American Institute for the Study of War reported that the Russians were setting information conditions to carry out a false-flag attack on the KHPP in order to justify or cover its retreat from Kherson Oblast.

Background:

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
For more than a month, women across Iran have taken off their hijabs in public to protest the countrys repressive regime. The protests were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after morality police detained her for not properly wearing her hijab. Iranians in Sacramento have joined in protests over the last several weeks in an effort to bring attention to the Middle East. Naeirika Neev spent her childhood in Iran but fled 10 years ago and now lives in Sacramento, fighting for the rights of women that go beyond the hijab.
Leah Wyckoff, a stay-at-home mom of four from West Chester, Ohio, knew there was something seriously wrong with her 8-year-old son Sam when her daughtersages 7, 10, and 11alerted her that his face looked scary.

He had been sick for about a day and vomiting frequently; the pediatrician had told her there was a stomach bug going around. Wyckoff thought he was probably just dehydrated. But when she went to look at him, she was shocked. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his mouth was so dry his lips kept sticking to his gums. He looked like he had lost 10 pounds in like hours. I thought he was disappearing in front of my eyes, she says.

Read more

A trip to the emergency room explained what was happening. Sam had severe diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a life-threatening condition where the body isnt able to use sugar for energy, and starts breaking down fat at too fast a pace, causing the blood to become acidic. He had lost 15% of his body weight, and was quickly deteriorating.

We think your son has Type 1 diabetes, the doctors told Wyckoff and her husband. This was surprising, as he didnt have any of the classic onset symptoms such as excessive urination or thirst, but the diagnosis was clear. Sam was admitted to the intensive care unit to be stabilizedand put in isolation.

At the hospital, he had also tested positive for covid.

The two things might be coincidental, the doctors told Wyckoff. Or they might not be. They explained in the hospital that most likely something in his genetic makeup means he was more predisposed to developing Type 1 [diabetes] and covid was what brought the onset, she says. They said there are a couple of different viruses that can bring the onset and covid happens to be one of them.

Sam Wyckoff isnt the only child to be diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the same time as, or shortly after, covid. In fact, Type 1 diabetes is could be up to 77% more likely in children who have had covid, according to some preliminary studies.



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Covid as a possible trigger of Type 1 diabetes

Upticks of diabetes diagnoses in coincidence with covid-19 have been registered by several studies. A study done by the University of California, San Diego, found that from March 2020 and March 2021, 57% more children were admitted into the hospital with a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes than were expected based on data from the previous years. Data analysis from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found an increased riskranging from 31% to 166% higher, depending on the body of data analyzedof Type 1 diabetes diagnosis in patients under 18, 30 days after a covid infection. In Germany, the new diagnoses of Type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents increased significantly in 2020 and 2021, and studies from Norway and Finland have arrived at similar findings.

Most of this research is done through data analysis of hospitalization numbers and diagnoses, and is far from establishing any causation link between covid and diabetes. Many things could explain the numbers, says Sharon Saydah, a senior scientist at the CDC who worked on the diabetes study. It could be that covid triggers an autoimmune response that leads to diabetes; perhaps children who were predisposed to diabetes had more severe cases of covid, and were diagnosed with diabetes only after; or parents might be more vigilant with children who had covid, and quicker to recognize the signs of diabetes.

Wyckoffs other children were tested for the four autoantibodies associated with Type 1 diabetes. Her eldest daughter, Audrey, was positive for all of them, and while she doesnt have full-fledged diabetes yet, she is all but sure to develop it, making theirs one of the rare families in which more than one member has Type 1 diabetes. This points to the complicated nature of autoimmune diseases, and the roles that unrelated viruses may play in triggering their onset. The Epstein-Barr virus is believed to be the possible trigger of autoimmune conditions such as lupus and multiple sclerosis, and even the flu has been associated with the onset of Type 1 diabetes.

Whatever the cause, says Saydah, the association between covid and diabetes is important enough to demand further research to understand what is happening, and why.

How does diabetes work?

Diabetes is a disease in which the body doesnt produce the hormone insulin, or does not respond to it appropriately. This results in a failure to absorb and use carbohydrates as energy, and in elevated levels of glucose in the blood. There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 is a condition in which the pancreas doesnt have the ability to produce sufficient insulin for the metabolization of sugars. It is rare and chronic, managed through administration of synthetic insulin. It is overwhelmingly diagnosed in childhood, and accounts for almost all of the of diabetes diagnoses in children under age 10. Type1 diabetes is an organ-specific autoimmune disease, in which autoantibodies attack pancreatic beta cells, hindering their ability to produce insulin.



Type 2 diabetes happens when the body does not respond properly to insulin. It is a metabolic condition typically linked to lifestyle and diet, and it is usually diagnosed during or after adolescence. Its very commonan estimated 10% of Americans have Type 2 diabetes, and one-in-three have pre-diabetes. The onset of Type 2 diabetes is usually slower than in Type 1, and insulin isnt always needed as some cases can be managed with diet and lifestyle changes. In the vast majority of cases, Type 1 diabetes is diagnosed by age 10, while adult-onset diabetes is almost exclusively Type 2. In adolescence, diagnosing whether diabetes is Type 1 or 2 can be more challenging.

Studies have shown an increase in Type 2 diabetes in connection with covid, too. A study by the Colorado Childrens Hospital found a dramatic increase in youth-onset (under 21), Type 2 diabetes in 2020, about double the number they would ordinarily see. A broader review of data from 24 facilities confirmed it: there was a 77% increase in cases of Type 2 diabetes among youth (8- to 21-years-old) during the first year of pandemic.

Diabetes could be a long covid outcome

While increases in Type 2 diabetes diagnoses might be driven by lifestyle factorsthe result of a more sedentary lifestyle during lockdowns, or a poorer dietthe increase in Type 1 diabetes suggests covid might be triggering an autoimmune response. It could be due to the effects of the [covid] infection directly on organ systems involved in diabetes risk. It might be that covid is leading to diabetes through, say, direct attack on pancreatic cells, says Saydah.

Type 1 diabetes is thought to be an autoimmune disease and prior infections could trigger it, so we were not necessarily shocked that it would be increased following covid, says, a professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University and co-author of an electronic health data study that found an increase in the disease of nearly 80% among children under 10 who had covid. However, it was increased even above other respiratory infectionsso clearly, covid had had some kind of an association.

The link between covid and Type 1 diabetes might be found in the autoimmune response. (In the absence of data on the type of diabetes, Daviss research team picked the childs age as an imperfect, but functional proxy for the type of diabetes, as most diagnoses before 10 years old are of Type 1.) There are a lot of reports of increased autoimmune antibodies in patients who have covid, and since Type1 diabetes is thought to be an autoimmune disease, we thought that this might well provide a risk factor, says Davis.

In a way, diabetes might fall into the still growing list of long-term consequences of covid. Autoimmune antibodies have been found in long covid patients, for instance, although the attack on pancreatic beta cells (and consequent diabetes) is particularly concerning because they dont regenerate themselves like many other body cells.

What can parents do?

This could be a big issue and it could be a driving health problem as the pandemic wears on, says Davis, adding that there are many new aspects of the long tail of covid we are still struggling to understand.

In this case, follow-up studies are needed to tease out whether there is, in fact, a causal link between covid and Type 1 diabetes, and how it worksthough it might take time before those questions are answered. Those are very difficult studies and require a long-term commitment both on the part of the investigating physicians and on the part of the family, says Davis. Another challenge, says Saydah, is finding a good control group, because Type 1 diabetes is a rare condition, and its difficult to predict what children will develop it, and then compare their situation with that of children who have had covid.

While scientists continue to investigate the link, parents and caregivers can take action, starting with vaccinating children to protect them from the most severe consequences of covid including, potentially, diabetes. It is better to prevent the disease and everything that comes afterwards [...] Vaccination does very well at that, says Davis.I can tell you that my grandchildren are all vaccinated. Sam Wyckoff was in between his two doses of vaccine when he got covid, and its likely he wouldnt have been infected had he completed the course. Yet so far, the uptake of covid vaccination in children has been abysmal: Just above 30% of children between ages 5 and 11 are vaccinated, and less than 10% of children under 5 have received at least one dose of vaccine.

Further, parents should monitor their children, and be especially vigilant in the weeks and months after they have had covid, even if vaccinated. Increased thirst and frequent urination, weight loss, and extreme fatigue can be signs of diabetes, and an early diagnosis helps avoid the risk of DKA, which can be deadly. Parents of children who had covid should be aware of the different signs and symptoms of diabetes, so they can make sure that they get the care that they need, says Saydah.



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Thick smoke from the Nakia Creek Fire clogs the air, as seen from the Camas Creek Watershed near Camas, Wash., on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022.

Residents of the U.S. Pacific Northwest this week are breathing heavily polluted air, as wildfires blankets the region.



Both Seattle and Portland were among the U.S. cities with the worst air quality this week, Reuters reported. The sky across Seattle was especially brown and murky, and the sun barely peaked through the smog. A tweet from Seattles National Weather Service showed a skyline draped in an ominous gray veil.

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One hour change in visibility from the Space Needle camera from 4 to 5 PM. Suddenly Alki pops into view. #wawx pic.twitter.com/CZ9lfVQ5dP  NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) October 21, 2022

Residents were urged to wear their masks outdoors and to avoid spending too much time outside to protect themselves from the worst of the smoke, Axios reported. A spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality told Reuters that people were using N95 respirators for protection. Air quality advisories were in effect for Seattle until Friday morning, per the National Weather Service.

For the second day in a row, Seattle has the worst air quality of any big city on the planet. pic.twitter.com/3zc7ZPUVlb  Seattle Weather Blog (@KSeattleWeather) October 20, 2022

This isnt the first time fires have caused abysmal air quality in cities out West. This past September, Seattle had the worst air quality out of any city in the world, and Portland wasnt far behind, ranking third globally after Lahore, Pakistan at the time. And just like this week, the smog in the Pacific Northwest last month came from the wildfires burning across the region.

Climate change has been fueling especially dry and hot conditions, which in turn lead to more wildfires. The smoke doesnt just stay in one area. Excessive wildfire smoke for one coast this week could lead to bad air quality for the opposite coast in a matter of days. For example, New York Citys air quality was among the worst in the world last July after wildfire smoke from the West Coast traveled thousands of miles. Some of the smoke traveled as far as Greenland.

Rain is expected across some of the Pacific Northwest today and into the weekend, which could alleviate the smoky and dry conditions.

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Former Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan departs from his lawyers' office, March 9, 2022, after making his first virtual court appearance for his indictment. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

The former president of AT&T Illinois pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges alleging he orchestrated and approved a scheme to funnel payments to an associate of then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in exchange for the speakers help passing legislation important to the company.

Paul La Schiazza, 65, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury last week with conspiracy, federal program bribery, and using a facility in interstate commerce to promote unlawful activity. The most serious counts carry up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

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La Schiazza, who has homes in Rhode Island and Florida, pleaded not guilty through his attorney during a telephone hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cummings. He will remain free on a recognizance bond while his case is pending.

Asked by the judge if hes currently employed, La Schiazza replied, No your honor, I am not.

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Hours later, lawyers for AT&T Illinois appeared at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse to confirm before a judge the company has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorneys office, admitting its role in the scheme and agreeing to pay a $23 million and cooperate in the investigation. In exchange, prosecutors will drop criminal charges filed against the company in two years.

Then-president of AT&T Illinois Paul La Schiazza in Chicago in 2014. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

During the brief hearing before U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said the agreement was reached voluntarily and in good faith and that AT&T Illinois cooperation will assist in the prosecution of other individuals, including Madigan and La Schiazza.

Meanwhile, AT&T released a statement last week saying the company holds itself and its contractors to the highest ethical standards and is committed to ensuring that this never happens again.

The investigation of AT&T Illinois, which was reported by the Tribune earlier this year, expanded upon the far-reaching allegations brought against the ex-speaker in a similar bribes-for-favors scandal involving Commonwealth Edison.

Last week, federal prosecutors unsealed a superseding indictment against Madigan and his longtime confidant, Michael McClain, adding allegations they participated in the AT&T scheme. The new conspiracy allegations allege for the first time that a direct vote the speaker made on legislation was tainted by a scheme to influence him.

An arraignment for Madigan and McClain is scheduled for Nov. 1. Their attorneys have declined to comment.

In February, AT&T disclosed in a regulatory filing that federal prosecutors had notified them they were considering filing criminal charges against its Illinois subsidiary, formally known as Illinois Bell Telephone Co. LLC, involving a single, nine-month consulting contract in 2017 worth $22,500.

State records show the company that year had hired a stable of Madigan-connected lobbyists working for the Illinois subsidiary as AT&T was fighting for a controversial bill to end landline service for its 1.2 million customers.

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The Tribune reported that investigators were specifically looking at thousands of dollars in payments allegedly passed to former state Rep. Edward Acevedo, a onetime member of Madigans leadership team whod recently left the General Assembly.

The payments to Acevedo were made via a lobbying contract between AT&T and Thomas Cullen, a former Madigan staffer and longtime political strategist aligned with the speaker, two sources told the newspaper. Acevedo was a registered lobbyist at the time, state records show, but not for AT&T.

Neither Acevedo nor Cullen has been charged with any wrongdoing in the alleged scheme.

Thomas Anthony Durkin, Cullens attorney, had no comment on the matter Friday. Acevedos lawyer, Gabrielle Sansonetti, also had no comment.

According to a statement of facts agreed to by AT&T, in 2015, Madigans office had blocked the controversial landline legislation.

After that defeat, an executive circulated a lessons learned memo that contained one section headed, Speaker Madigan. The memo stated that AT&T had not been as helpful as ComEd when requests were made from the speakers camp, according to the statement.

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The scheme to reward Acevedo, referred to in the court papers as FR-1, began in February 2017, after the company learned through McClain that the speaker was looking to kick Acevedo some money, according to the statement.

In an email exchange that March, AT&T Illinois director of legislative affairs asked two of the companys executives if they were 100% certain they would get credit from the powers that be if the payments were made to Madigans associate.

I would hope that as long as we explain the approach to McClain and (the associate) gets the money then the ultimate objective is reached, one of the executives wrote back, according to the statement.

The legislative affairs director responded, I dont think (La Schiazza) wants this based on hope. We need to confirm prior to executing this strategy, the statement said.

In April 2017, La Schiazza approved a deal to secretly funnel $2,500 a month to Acevedo through a lobbying company already doing business with AT&T Illinois, according to the statement. The lobbying company was not named in the court filings.

At McClains direction, AT&T employees then met with Acevedo to discuss a pretextual reason for the payments: to prepare a report on the political dynamics of the General Assemblys and Chicago City Councils Latino Caucuses, according to the statement of facts.

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Acevedo never did any real work for AT&T Illinois, however. In fact, according to AT&Ts admissions in court, he balked at first at the payments, saying they were too low. But Acevedo agreed to the deal after McClain stepped in and said the amount was sufficient.

From June 2017 to January 2018, Acevedo was paid a total of $22,500 in monthly installments. According to AT&Ts admission, the former representative did not complete the purported assignment on Latino politics, and no efforts were undertaken by AT&T to ensure work was being done in exchange for the money.

Meanwhile, after a protracted fight, the landline bill passed during the final hours of the spring 2017 legislative session  with Madigans direct assistance, according to legislative records and the statement of facts agreed to by AT&T.

On June 29, 2017, Madigan permitted the bill to be brought to a vote and cast his ballot in favor of the legislation, records show. Two days later, after Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed the legislation, Madigan and the Democrat-led General Assembly overrode him, with Madigan again voting for the override.

The new allegations involving AT&T further punctuate a stunning downfall for Madigan, the longest serving leader of any legislative chamber in the nation who held an ironclad grip on the state legislature as well as the Democratic Party and its political spoils. He was dethroned as speaker in early 2021 as the investigation swirled around him, and soon after resigned the House seat hed held since 1971.

Madigan, 80, and McClain, 75, were charged in March in the original 22-count indictment alleging they conspired to participate in an array of bribery and extortion schemes from 2011 to 2019 that allegedly leveraged Madigans elected office and political power for personal gain

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The indictment also accused Madigan of illegally soliciting business for his private property tax law firm during discussions to turn a state-owned parcel of land in Chinatown into a commercial development.

Both Madigan and McClain have pleaded not guilty. Their attorneys have accused prosecutors of trying to criminalize legal political actions such as job recommendations in a quest to bring down the once-powerful speaker.

McClain, a former state legislator and lobbyist, is also facing separate charges stemming from the alleged ComEd scheme. Also indicted in that case, which is set for trial in March, are former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and consultant Jay Doherty, the former head of the City Club of Chicago.

Acevedo, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to tax charges stemming from the ComEd investigation and was sentenced in March to six months in federal prison.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

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rlong@chicagotribune.com
Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on September 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. Patrick Semansky-Pool/Getty Images

Sen. Mark Kelly is running against Republican Blake Masters in Arizona's high-profile Senate race.

Arizona, which Joe Biden narrowly won in 2020, is once again a battleground state.

A Masters win could help Republicans win control of the currently 50-50 Senate.

Freshman Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona faces off against newly-minted Republican candidate Blake Masters in a highly charged battleground.

Arizona Senate candidates

Kelly, a former NASA astronaut who is also married to retired Democratic congresswoman-turned-gun-control advocate Gabrielle Giffords, has jumped into a variety of issues during this first term in Congress.

Kelly co-authored a congressional stock trading ban with fellow freshman Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, proposing that lawmakers and their immediate family members curb potential conflicts of interests by placing their financial assets in blind trusts.

The bill is one of many that have cropped up since Insider's Conflicted Congress project revealed that dozens of lawmakers and hundreds of senior congressional aides have violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012 in recent years.

A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kelly has also consulted with Pentagon officials about making the nascent Space Force program a success after dubbing it a "dumb idea" in 2019.

Masters is a first-time candidate vying to reinsert some red into the battleground state after voters handed control of the Senate delegation to Democrats Kelly (2020) and Kyrsten Sinema (2018). Masters has migrated from the venture capital world into politics with the help of tech billionaire Peter Thiel. Embattled former President Donald Trump endorsed Masters in early June based on Masters' denial of Joe Biden's lawful victory.

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who is chairing the Senate GOP's reelection campaign this cycle, recently warned Masters that he needed to raise more money ASAP. A Masters win would tip the balance of power to Republicans, ending the 50-50 split that's been in effect since January 2021.

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Voting history in Arizona

Republican Sen. John McCain held Kelly's seat for more than 30 years before dying in office in 2018. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey appointed retired Sen. Jon Kyl and later former Rep. Martha McSally to serve out the rest of McCain's final term. Kelly beat McSally by just over 2 points in the 2020 special election.

President Joe Biden narrowly beat Trump in Arizona, an explosive win that sparked calls for countless audits and election reruns by MAGA supporters enthralled by Trump's baseless claims of election fraud. Fox News famously called Arizona for Biden on election night 2020, a prediction that sent the embattled former president into a rage.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Kelly has raised $73.1 million, spent $61.3 million, and has $13,2 million of cash on hand, as of September 30. His opponent, Masters, has raised $9.7 million, spent $6.8 million, and has $2.8 million of cash still left to spend.

Super PACs and party committees have combined to pour tens of millions of dollars more into the race, per OpenSecrets. Masters has notably benefitted from this outside money. Thiel's pro-Masters Saving Arizona PAC, for one, has poured more than $17 million into the race through September.

What experts say

The race between Kelly and Masters is rated as a "toss-up" by Inside Elections, a "toss-up" by The Cook Political Report, and a "toss-up" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

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On a whim, Jess Wade typed out her first Wikipedia page five years ago. It was a biography of Kim Cobb, an American climatologist who - despite earning several scientific accolades - had never been written about on the popular online encyclopedia.

"I met her at a science event, and I was massively impressed," said Wade, 33, a British physicist, who, after a quick search online, was stunned to see that Cobb had no profile on the public platform.

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Wade had stumbled into something she found troubling: Cobb was one of countless deserving women whose names - and lengthy list of achievements - had yet to be chronicled on Wikipedia, the go-to site for an estimated 2 billion people a month who are seeking information about individuals, ideas and topics large and small.

Wikipedia is "used by pretty much everyone," Wade said. She realized that "despite it being this incredibly important resource, it was suffering from a lack of content, particularly about women, but also about people of color."

She decided to take matters into her own hands.

Since 2017, Wade has written more than 1,750 Wikipedia pages for female and minority scientists and engineers whose accomplishments were not documented on the site.

Wade said there's still much work to be done.

Currently, just 19 percent of English Wikipedia biographies are of women, according to WikiProject Women in Red, a group dedicated to addressing Wikipedia's gender gap.

"Having people know who you are means you get more opportunities," Wade said, adding that she wants to "make sure people's stories were on there and in the public domain."

Wade, a research fellow at Imperial College London, centers her work on Raman spectroscopy, a technique often employed in chemistry to identify molecules, among other uses. She has received several awards for her scientific contributions, and her own Wikipedia page is robust with her many achievements.

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Wade has made it her mission to correct gender and racial biases in the science community, and advocate for women in STEM, who make up only 28 percent of the workforce. Her activity on Wikipedia has been chronicled in the press, and she has written about her work in various publications, including The Washington Post.

"Wikipedia is a really powerful way to give credit to people who, for a long time, have been written out of history," she said. "Not only do we not have enough women in science, but we aren't doing enough to celebrate the ones we have."

"We do an awful lot of talking about underrepresentation," Wade added, "but not enough acting on it."

Most evenings, Wade sits at her desk for several hours, looking online for inspiring lesser-known scientists. There is no shortage of potential subjects, she said.

"I've never sat down and not had someone to write about," said Wade, who scours archived documents, scientific papers, journals and social media in search of notable people without a Wikipedia page.

She'll often have 20 internet tabs open at one time, sifting through library archives and institutional sites to scrape together as much information as possible. Each profile takes a few hours to produce.

Since Wikipedia is intended to be an unbiased resource, Wade refrains from writing about anyone she knows personally, and she does not contact her subjects to collect further information.

While it can be a tedious task, it's also uniquely fulfilling - and educational.

"In the process, I actually learn so much science," she said. "It's a fun journey."

About 15 biographies Wade has written have been deleted, including one on Clarice Phelps, a nuclear chemist who is recognized as the first Black woman to be involved with the discovery of a chemical element.

Wade took to social media to vent her frustrations, writing on Twitter:

"thanks to the @Wikipedia editor who spent their wednesday night tagging the recent biographies i've started for #WomenInSTEM as not notable enough to be included in the encyclopaedia. it's really constructive and helpful work."

Wade fought to get Phelps's page restored, and ultimately succeeded.

"It's really hard to get a public profile unless you have a big shiny award," Wade said.

On Wikipedia, which is written collaboratively by self-appointed volunteers around the world, edits are approved or denied by volunteer administrators, who use a set of notability criteria to determine which articles deserve to be published.

"You're stuck in a spiral where you have to be double exceptional as a woman or person of color to fulfill these requirements," Wade said.

Wade is not alone in her work to make Wikipedia more equitable. Emily Temple-Wood, 28, has also become known for writing Wikipedia pages about female scientists.

Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, has taken note of their activism.

"Jess and Emily are among a fantastic group of women having a big impact on the quality of content of Wikipedia," Wales told The Washington Post. "We are very eager to have a more diverse community and the people who are making that happen are heroes to me."

Anusha Alikhan, vice president of communications at the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation - which hosts Wikipedia - wrote in an email to The Washington Post that the number of biographies about women is growing, a trend the company favors.

"Through the efforts of Dr. Jess Wade and other volunteer contributors, real progress is being made," Alikhan said. "In the past three years the percentage of biographies on English Wikipedia that are about women has increased from 15 to 19 percent. That may seem like a small change, yet it represents more than 75,000 new biographies about women."

This is in part because of Wade writing them, and also in part to her teaching other people how to write and edit them.

She holds Wikipedia training workshops and "editathons" at conferences, schools and colleges, and has published papers on inequality in academia, including a recent article on Black physicists and engineers, which she co-authored with a group of scientists. She has also partnered with 500 Women Scientists, a grass-roots organization that promotes inclusivity and accessibility in science.

Farah Qaiser is a member of 500 Women Scientists and a participant in what the organization calls the "Wiki Wolfpack." She got involved after reading an op-ed by Wade and fellow scientist Maryam Zaringhalam.

"It just blew my mind that Wikipedia is something that I use often, and I never noticed this glaring gender bias," said Qaiser, who is a Toronto-based scientist.

Wade has found other ways to advocate for more STEM accessibility, including publishing a children's book last year, titled "Nano," in the hope of getting young people excited about science.

"We need to do more to make the process more transparent and equitable for people," she said.

What gives her the most joy, she said, is seeing a person's name whose profile she created go on to earn a fellowship or award. She called it her "happiest thing."

"I truly love seeing people being recognized and honored," which, Wade said, is "made more possible by having a public profile on something like Wikipedia."

With every biography she writes, she hopes to tighten the gap a little more.

"I'm a tiny fish in a massive sea," she said. "But I'll keep doing everything I can to make science a more accessible and inclusive place to be."

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A Singapore-based entrepreneur has released a public apology regarding viral videos that show him swinging, tossing and twirling his ex-girlfriends cat.

Jimmy Wong, founder of the JF Lennon Institute of Financial Science, identified himself as the man in the videos, which were published by an Instagram account handled by his ex-girlfriend for the cat, Pidan.

The first of the videos, which was posted on Sept. 28, shows Wong swinging the cat by one of its hind paws.

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I'm so sorry that Pidan is going through this pain. In short, narcissists do not love their pets, the account, which goes by the handle @pidanlee, wrote. Narcissists do not love anything or anyone, therefore they don't have the capacity to feel love for their pets. It makes me sick that those poor innocent creatures, who have never done anything wrong, are abused.

I left this toxic abusive relationship, the post added.

Succeeding videos posted by @pidanlee showed Wong twirling the animal on the floor and tossing it in the air. At one point, Pidan is seen running away as Wong approaches.



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@narcissticjimmy used to be a charismatic man who kept me in the dark about who he really is, @pidanlee wrote in an Oct. 7 post, citing an Instagram account that allegedly exposes Wongs negative behaviors. I cant stop him. Look at his size. That night he almost killed us.

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Another post on the same day showed photos of both Pidan and purportedly @pidanlee injured with bloodied eyes. The account owner said she asked Wong to take Pidan to the vet, but the latter allegedly refused.

I am really tired. I could not stay in a relationship with someone who is abusive, @pidanlee wrote.

The account owner also noted that Wongs swinging and tossing of Pidan took place before the cats paw got ripped off and its fangs [were] broken. She also accused Wong of threatening to melt me alive because I refused to patch up or meet up with him.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pidan Humdan (@pidanlee)

On Oct. 8, Wong confirmed himself as the man in the videos and apologized for his actions toward Pidan. He said he had completely no intention to hurt the cat and he did not know that playing with the cat in such a manner would risk hurting the cat.

While Wong expressed his sincere apologies, he identified his ex-girlfriend as Summer Lee Ying Hui and accused her of publishing defamatory posts. The entrepreneur said the whole incident was triggered by a very straightforward love-hate relationship breakup.

Wong also denied responsibility for Pidans paw injury, saying that it resulted from the animal climbing the wire mesh in the house. As for the swollen eye, Wong claimed it was due to an infection which Lee allegedly described as a small issue that did not require a vet visit.

Wong stressed that Lee had never expressed displeasure in the way he handled Pidan in any of the incidents. He also stressed that Lee was present during the incidents and recorded them with her CCTV and mobile phone.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by JIMMY WONG (@datojimmywong)

Wongs apology post has received 104 likes as of this writing. Comments have been disabled.

In response to her ex-boyfriends claims, Lee published a rebuttal on Oct. 17 that laid out the facts she stands by. She said Wong intentionally caused harm to Pidan, she rejected his claims about the cats paw injury and eye infection and denied that she was recording on purpose.

I am open to an investigation on this matterto disprove his claims of innocence. I have been a victim of gaslighting and manipulation, which I acknowledge I am to be blamed for being foolish, Lee wrote.

However, an act of cruelty to animals cannot be condoned. If a man like this has no heart for innocent creatures, it also speaks on his personality on how he would treat meager and weaker humans.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pidan Humdan (@pidanlee)

Lee said she has filed a police report against Wong. However, she noted in another post that Wong has threatened her and that he has claimed before that he is part of the police force, hence I am afraid of his inside connections.

I APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC TO HELP, as it seems to me that @singaporepoliceforce is taking this as a civil matter, Lee wrote. He says that there is a CID officer named RHINO  that feeds him information. Please help anyone. Please.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pidan Humdan (@pidanlee)

Featured Image via @pidanlee
Crew Dragon Endurance atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on October 1, 2022.

Engineers quip that FOD is a four-letter word, but theres nothing funny about foreign object debris and its potential to trigger disaster.

The incident happened on October 5 at around 10:25 a.m. ET, as a SpaceX pad crew was preparing Crew Dragon Endurance for launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket. With the four Crew-5 astronauts already inside the capsule and the hatch closed, an attentive eye spotted a single human hair in the latch seal. The hair was designated FODan engineering term for foreign object debrisrequiring the pad crew to take action.

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The countdown clock had just ticked past T-90 minutes, so time was of the essence. The pad crew calmly reopened Endurances hatch and removed the offending strand. They performed another inspection, thoroughly re-cleaned the seal area, and closed the hatch for the second and final time. A subsequent pressure check confirmed a tight seal.



The SpaceX pad crew re-inspecting the seal shortly after having to reopen the hatch upon discovering FOD in the form of a human hair.

The entire affair took only a few minutes, and the launch wasnt affected. Blast off of the Falcon 9 happened at noon as scheduled, with the Crew-5 astronautsNicole Aunapu Mann, Josh Cassada, Koichi Wakata, and Anna Kikinasuccessfully reaching the International Space Station on the following day.

That the SpaceX pad crew would take the time to remove a single hair in advance of a rocket launch is revealing and totally understandable. In the aerospace industry, FOD is defined as any object that doesnt belong at a specific location, whether that location is a hatch seal, an engine, a cockpit, or the runway. Debris in the wrong place can damage equipment, facilitate the suboptimal performance of systems, and trigger outright malfunctions.



Its an issue across many industries, but for the aerospace industry, its a problem that comes with a $4 billion price tag each year, according to Boeing. NASA runs a FOD program at Kennedy Space Center, the purpose of which is to minimize the possibility of damage or loss of flight hardware or injury to personnel due to lost items within the flight hardware elements, resulting in preservation of national resources.

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Speaking to me on a video call, Tom Simon, deputy spacecraft manager at NASA Johnson Space Center, said, weve all been trained since day one, when dealing with flight systems, to watch out for FOD. Extraneous items, such as pencils, paperclips, screwdrivers, hair, and dust, might seem minor, but they could, among other things, result in a seal that is slowly leaking overboard, he said. When were building systems, we take it seriously, he added.

As an engineer, FOD is ingrained in your system, John Posey, NASA lead engineer for Crew Dragon, told me during the same call. Its considered a top risk in training programs, as FOD carries the potential to bring down rockets and aircraft, he explained.

Simon and Posey werent able to speak to SpaceXs specific policies and protocols, but they werent surprised by the pad crews actions in removing the human hair. FOD related to the sealing of surfaces is a serious concern. When dealing with a sealing surface, and when having to ensure a tight seal, you dont want something pressing up against it, Posey said. Something like hairdepending on its size and orientationcan result in a leak path.

Posey said that, for time-sensitive situations like the final closing of a capsule hatch, the sudden appearance of FOD should be built into the timeline and process, in addition to having a contingency plan should this scenario arise. Pad crews should back out, remove the item, re-inspect, and even clean the seal, and then move forward with the job youre trying to do, said Posey.



Its not just hatches that are prone to FOD risk. Launch operators implement processes to mitigate FOD risk, such as using covers or shields when work like cutting or sawing needs to be done near spacecraft. And of course, the operators themselves need to be clean. Propulsion systems, in which fuels and oxidizers are pumped through high-pressure systems, can be affected by FOD, said Posey, who worked on the Space Shuttle during its final days and spent thousands of hours on propulsion systems, working on the floor with technicians, to make sure its all good.

As Simon explained, the required degree of cleanliness often depends on the nature of the project or mission itself. Posey said every system needs its own control plan, with engineers defining acceptable limits and deciding what needs to be screened.

Always make sure youre opening a system in a clean room, perform only what you need to do, and do an inspection prior to closing it up.

Clean room protocols for uncrewed satellite launches tend to be minimal, to the point of washing hands and putting on gloves, he said. Missions involving a crew are a different story, however. With crews, not only does the avionics system have to work, you also dont want to have things flying all over the place, in addition to keeping the seals clean, said Simon. Once in orbit, microgravity can suddenly cause unnoticed FOD to float around, including hair and dust. Posey said filtration systems are designed to deal with this sort of stuff, but you still want to prevent hassles, such as requiring covers over hatch seals, among other measures. And even covers have to be cleaned and checked for leaks, he added.

Posey offered some sage advice: Always make sure youre opening a system in a clean room, perform only what you need to do, and do an inspection prior to closing it up. And if you see something that doesnt look right, go in and investigate, as its a necessary burden, he said. A second set of eyes wont hurt, he added. FOD will find a way to get into your system, said Posey, hence the term Smart FOD. He recounted an incident in which a bootie, or a shoe cover, was suddenly discovered in the Shuttle compartment. It just slipped off someones foot, and these types of things can be funny in retrospect, said Posey, but booties or tape or anything else that doesnt belong can be a flammability concern.

The Webb Space Telescope inside a Northrop Grumman clean room in Redondo Beach, CA, in March 2018.

Measures to prevent FOD from getting into components or complex systems start in the clean room, and every clean room has its own cleanliness requirements, depending on the project. Clean rooms are specially certified and monitored to a certain cleanliness rating depending on whats in there, and items typically need to be approved before theyre allowed into a clean room, said Posey.



Lockers are available to hold loose items; tape and sticky floor pads can secure items that must be in the room; and tethers can catch anything thats accidentally dropped. Overalls, known to engineers as bunny suits, cover arms and legs and usually feature a hood with a hair net. Beards get covered by beard nets, while shoes get booties.



Once youre ready and all geared up, you step through a double door, said Posey, the first of which closes behind you and then you go into the clean room. In the medium chambers of some double doors, air blows all over you, sucking up any dust or debris, he explained. Staff will collect any found FOD and investigate where it came from and whether any additional controls are needed. Clean rooms are never clean enough, Posey added.

These measures are an added but necessary headache. The good news is that FOD detection is improving over time. Cameras are now routinely used to observe virtually every corner of a launch pad, while X-ray and CT scans can peer inside objects and create 3D images of a parts interior. With these tools, engineers can see assembly issues and detect FOD that wouldnt have been found otherwise, Posey said. An enhanced ability to sniff-out FOD is of increasing importance to the private sector, particularly in the era of component reusability.

The human hair found inside the hatch seal may or may not have caused a problem during the Crew-5 flight, but that doesnt matter. What matters is safety and the elimination of anything that could put human lives at risk. Engineers will continue to seek out FOD, regardless of the inconvenience it may cause.



More: Remembering Enterprise: The Test Shuttle That Never Flew to Space.

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Curtis Davis spent nearly 26 years in Louisiana State Penitentiary, the site of a former plantation fueled by slave labour that is now among the largest maximum security prisons in the country.

He was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole after he was wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder, a conviction that was later overturned. He was released from the prison, known as Angola, in 2015.

While imprisoned, he worked at a quail barn for 20 years all at the point of a gun, Mr Davis said in a briefing over Zoom with reporters earlier this month.

More than 150 years after slaverys formal end in the US, voters in five states will decide whether to close a devastating loophole that has effectively kept slavery in action: It allows prisons to send people convicted of certain crimes into forced labour.

The Louisiana criminal justice system has used [its] legal apparatus as a weapon against mostly marginalized communities, Mr Davis said. We have returned back into a condition of slavery or involuntary servitude.

Incarcerated workers in Louisiana prisons earn as little as 2 cents an hour, according to a report from the American Civil Liberties Union and the University of Chicago Law School Global Human Rights Clinic.

But every incarcerated person at Angola, a vast majority of whom are Black, begins their work in the fields, where enslaved people worked hundreds of acres of crops before the property began functioning as a prison in 1880.

Field labourers, supervised by correction officers on horseback, have few chances of promotion to other work, with virtually no access to water, rest or restrooms.

Its a lucrative business. A poultry processing plant relied on incarcerated workers to avoid shutting down during the Covid-19 pandemic. A commodities trader bought nearly $2.5m worth of corn and soybeans from the states prison industry between 2017 and 2020. Livestock auction companies purchased at least $5m in livestock raised by prison labourers within that same time period.

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The exploitation of incarcerated workers is legally allowed through the exception clause of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, which formally abolished slavery in the US in the aftermath of the Civil War.

While the 13th Amendment prohibits the enslavement of Americans, it exempts slavery as punishment for those convicted of a crime. An era of Black codes in economically devastated southern states in the wars aftermath subjected harsh penalties against newly freed Americans for crimes like loitering or breaking curfew, ensuring they would remain in chains for decades to follow.

That exception remains in 20 states, allowing incarcerated workers to be exploited, underpaid, and excluded from workplace safety protection laws, according to the ACLU and Global Human Rights Clinic.

Today, roughly 800,000 of the more than 1.2 million people incarcerated in state and federal prisons are forced to work, generating roughly $11bn annually.

The entrance to Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola, is pictured in 2008. (AP)

In 2018, Colorado voters were the first to remove such language from their states constitution through a ballot measure. Voters in Nebraska and Utah did the same two years later.

This year, voters in Louisiana, as well as Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont will decide if their state constitutions will finally remove similar language.

The #EndtheException coalition, spanning dozens of state and local organisations, is leading a campaign to support their passage.

Mr Davis told reporters that the passage of the amendments would be the crown jewel of criminal justice reform, a key moment in an abolitionist movement that seeks to reshape the nations vast network of prison labour.

Take it from a man who served 25 years, nine months, and 11 days as an involuntary servant, Mr Davis said. If you guys dont believe that this changes anything, its only because youve never went through the condition of slavery.

Vermont has prided itself as the first state in the nation to outlaw slavery, beginning in 1777, predating the Emancipation Proclamation, ratification of the 13th Amendment and the US Constitution itself.

But the state constitution has retained an involuntary servitude clause in certain cases, including as restitution for debt, damages and fines.

We believe that at the end of the day when it comes on 8 November in Vermont that we will have accomplished something that has not been accomplished in 245 years in his state, said Rev Mark Hughes, executive director of Justice For All and Abolish Slavery Vermont, in the aforementioned briefing.

The language on the Tennessee measure explicitly states that slavery and involuntary servitude are forever prohibited and that nothing in this section shall prohibit an inmate from working when the inmate has been duly convicted of a crime.

Tennessee like the rest of the South made a seamless transition from plantations to prisons, Theeda Murphy, lead organiser of Tennessees No Exceptions Prisons Collective said in the briefing.

A fence is pictured outside Elmore Correctional Facility in Alabama. Incarcerated people in the state alleged forced starvation and labour during a recent three-week strike. (AP)

We have never been free. Slavery was never abolished, it was simply redefined, she continued. Its way past time for universal abolition. As long as we make excuses for why its OK for human beings to be owned and treated like property, none of our dreams of a just and equitable society can be realised.

Over the course of a three-week strike at correctional facilities across Alabama, likely the largest collective action and strike among incarcerated people in the states history, people imprisoned in the state alleged retaliation from officers in the form of starvation, solitary confinement and forced labour.

The states Department of Corrections announced on 17 October that the protests and work stoppages have ended, but a statement from organisers said the end of the latest campaign is by no means a white flag, and that incarcerated people may escalate our strike, peacefully, until demands are heard.

We are still demanding our concerns be heard before our Legislators and other elected officials, the group said in a statement. We also demand that our outside representatives be given a platform to be our voice and the public hear our arguments.

Voters in Alabama will determine whether to strike out all racist language from the states constitution, including a section on prison labour similar to the Tennessee measure.

We know what it looks like, said Savannah Eldridge, a lead organiser with the Abolish Slavery National Network, in the briefing. It looks like working in the heat of the day and triple digit temperatures and Texas prisons with no air conditioning, or the rationing of food or other basic necessities in response to peaceful demonstrations, as in Alabama. Whats not arguable is that forced labor continues today.

Similar referendums have passed with wide margins elsewhere in previous years. The measure in Nebraska passed with 68 per cent of the vote. Utahs passed with 80 per cent in support. Yet, after the referendum in Colorado where 66 per cent of voters supported an amendment to remove the loophole, a judge dismissed a lawsuit that pressed for higher wages for prison workers.

Another lawsuit seeking to end the practise of compulsory prison labour is playing out in states courts, where attorneys for the state have asked that the case be dismissed.

Inmates Richard Lilgerose and Harold Mortis sued Colorados Democratic Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Corrections, arguing that the state continues to force people into work in conditions that amount to involuntary servitude.

The ballot measure in Louisiana is so far the only one that has drawn any recognisable opposition.

One of the original sponsors of the bill that drafted the referendum, Democratic state Rep Edmond Jordan, told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate that he wants voters to reject it. Critics have warned that the measure could have unintended consequences and end up doing the opposite of what sets out to do. Theyve called on state lawmakers to rewrite the proposals language and reintroduce the measure at another time.

The states constitution currently states that slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, except in the latter case as punishment for a crime. The amendment would change that language to slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, (but this) does not apply to the otherwise lawful administration of criminal justice.

This amendment is an example of why it is so important to get the language right when presenting constitutional amendments to voters, according to public policy nonprofit group Council for a Better Louisiana, which is urging voters to vote against it.

Mr Davis has called such arguments disingenuous at best and intellectually dishonest at worse.

The clear legislative intent of this initiative is to remove slavery and involuntary servitude from the constitution, he said. Our opponents of our initiative have orchestrated a confusion campaign to mislead voters about the meaning of the bill.

Mr Davis said opposition to the amendment has suggested that an activist judge could sentence people to slavery and say that thats actual lawful activity of the criminal justice system, but that disregards wording in the bill that probits slavery.

If slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, period, than the otherwise lawful activity of the criminal justice system would be something other than the two outlawed parts of our amendment, he said.
The San Luis Obispo Police Department is asking for help identifying several suspects involved in a robbery and assault at the Downtown SLO Farmers Market on Thursday night.

San Luis Obispo police received a 911 robbery call around 9:14 p.m. Thursday, the agency said in a news release.

The caller told police that a man was walking in the 700 block of Higuera St when an unknown suspect approached and forcibly grabbed the victims hat and sunglasses, police said in the release.

When the man tried to retrieve his possessions, a brief physical altercation occurred, and several punches were thrown, police said.

Then two more suspects approached, police said, and one of them pulled out a knife.

The San Luis Obispo Police Department is asking the communitys help identifying several suspects involved in a robbery and assault, seen in these surveillance photos taken just after Thursday nights Farmers Market ended.

According to the release, that suspect lunged at the man and placed the knife at the mans throat.

The victim was able to fend off the attack, suffering only a minor cut to his hand, police said, and the suspects fled. Officers werent able to locate them when they arrived at the scene.

Police said the suspects had yet to be identified as of Friday.

The agency is sharing surveillance video screenshots that captured images of two of the suspects.

If you have information about the incident or witnessed the robbery, call the San Luis Obispo Police Department at 805-781-7312 and reference case No. 221020103.
Farmers Fear Possible Drought As Rain Remains Scarce

Young wheat grows in parched soil on a field during very dry weather on April 27, 2020 near Luckau, Germany. Credit - Sean GallupGetty Images

One of the most significant carbon sinks on the planet is right below your feet. Soil, that layer of organic material and crushed-up rock that covers much of the terrestrial earth like a chocolate coating, contains about 2,500 billion metric tons of carbon. Its the second-biggest carbon sink on the planet after the ocean, currently holding about three times as much carbon as the atmosphere. Some scientists and activists think it could do even more.

And increasingly, companies and governments agree. From Ben & Jerrys to Unilever, companies are calling for more environmentally friendly farming practices as a way to meet net-zero goals. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture last year announced it would be investing $10 million to better monitor and measure soils carbon sequestration under its Conservation Reserve Program.

Soil is the foundation of human civilization, says Jeff Creque, director of rangeland and agroecosystem management at the Carbon Cycle Institute, an environmental organization based in California working to boost the carbon-sequestering power of soil and other natural carbon sinks. We dont have agriculture without fertile soils, and we dont have fertile soils without carbon rich-soils.

The Role of Soil

Carbon in soil takes two forms: organic (derived from living things) and inorganic. Inorganic carbon comes from carbon-containing rocks like limestone, marble, and chalk, which are most common in desert soils, as well as reactions between atmospheric carbon dioxide and minerals in the soil. But the majority of the carbon contained in soil is organic, and its this organic material that sets it apart from lifeless dirt.

Plants are the main source of organic carbon in soil and the main bridge carbon takes between the atmosphere and the earth. They absorb carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert carbon dioxide into the carbohydrates they use for energy and to build their bodies. When plants die or shed leaves, petals, or other debris, the decomposers that live in the soil below consume them; they also eat the carbon-containing mucilage (a thick, gluey secretion) that roots exude while theyre alive.

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The decomposers will re-release some of the carbon back into the atmosphere as they respirate; this carbon spends only a short amount of time in the soil. But several mechanisms can draw the carbon deeper into the soil, where it can be sequestered for years, decades, or longer. Rain, for example, can dissolve some carbon compounds and carry them deep into the groundwater. Mycorrhizal fungi, which form a symbiotic relationship with plants, carry carbon along their deep, rootlike hyphae and secrete compounds that help glue it in place.

And some carbon compounds can bind with the minerals in clay, a form of carbon sequestration that can last hundreds or even thousands of years. This chemically bonded carbon is part of soils stable carbon pool, together with carbon that has traveled deep enough in the soil (about 1 meter) to avoid being consumed and respirated into the atmosphere. (Carbon can also be sequestered long-term in frozen soil, as in the permafrost.)

How Farming Impacts Soil Health

All of these mechanisms are most effective in healthy, minimally disturbed soil with plenty of organic material from a thriving community of living things. Unfortunately, theres less and less of this kind of soil left on the planet. Some of the most significant remaining swaths of soil are controlled by agriculture, which covers about 38% of the global land surface. But standard agricultural practices like tilling disrupt the downward path of carbon, exposing once-sequestered organic compounds to the air and allowing carbon to escape into the atmosphere.

Thats where regenerative agriculture, sometimes called carbon farming, comes in. This approach to agriculture focuses on restoring and maintaining soil health through a holistic set of practices, including reducing tilling, composting farm waste, and planting plots with cover crops such as clover so they continue receiving carbon when they arent being used for other things. In addition to absorbing more carbon, proponents say this approach can help recharge groundwater, prevent pests, and increase crop yields.

Regenerative agriculture is based on practices far older than modern industrial farming, championed in recent years by activists like Robert Rodale of the Rodale Institute and Allan Savory of The Savory Institute. Their initial acolytes tended to be small, experimental farmers and organic producers. But in the past decade, several multinational corporations have announced goals to adopt regenerative agriculture practices, including Unilever, PepsiCo, and General Mills. These commitments help corporations toward their net-zero goals, in addition to protecting their supply chains against the effects of global warming, drought, and desertification.

Using Soil as the Solution

Some corporate advocates of regenerative farming, including Ben & Jerrys and Timberland, have formed a coalition with farmers to lobby Congress to include funds to support regenerative agriculture in the 2023 Farm Bill. This coalition, Regenerate America, argues in its policy recommendations that regenerating the soil can impact not only the climate but also rural economies, communities, and health outcomes.

Some farmers and scientists are experimenting with soil additives, called amendments, to further boost soils carbon-sequestering potential in conjunction with regenerative agriculture. One of the most promising amendments is rock dust. While most of the more familiar soil amendments, like compost and manure, boost the organic pathways for carbon to enter the soil, rock dust also jumpstarts the inorganic pathways.

The soil amendment currently garnering the most buzz may be rock dust, though its far from a new technology. Rock dust has been applied to lands at a large scale for many years because farmers knew that ground-up rock holds important mineral nutrients for plants, says Whendee Silver, a professor of ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry at University of California, Berkeley. Its been used in Europe since at least the late 19th century, when the German doctor Julius Hensel published the book Bread From Stones advocating for what he called stonemeal manure made from igneous rocks, which form through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.

Today, researchers are experimenting primarily with crushed basalt, an igneous rock rich in minerals including iron, magnesium, and calciumsimilar in composition to the rock found in the famously fertile soils that surround volcanoes. Basalt is one of the most common rocks in the upper layers of the earths crust, and mining operations bring up huge amounts of it as they search for more profitable things underneath. Putting that material out onto soils is a win-win as long as the material is safe, Silver saysthat is, not contaminated with heavy metals or other toxic substances.

In the presence of water, the magnesium and calcium in the basalt react with the carbon in the atmosphere and soil to form bicarbonates, which can remain dissolved in the groundwater or eventually precipitate out as a solid. This makes the carbon unavailable for decomposers, so it wont be respirated back into the atmosphere. Basalt also contains minerals like potassium and phosphorus that are essential for plants, which can help increase crop yieldsand healthy plants absorb more carbon.

Another soil amending technology is biochar, a black substance made by applying heat to plant matter in a low-oxygen environment. Creating biochar releases less carbon dioxide than burning plants or allowing them to decay, two of the usual routes to get rid of the inedible parts of crops, grass, or trees that farmers clear to plant new fields.

About 50% of the carbon in the plants remains trapped in the biochar, which can then be added to soil to boost water retention and fertility. This method has been promoted as a more technologically feasible and localized alternative to carbon capture and sequestration technology; consumers can already buy cookstoves to make their own biochar at home.

At this point in our history, were looking at every possible strategy, says Creque. The beauty of terrestrial sequestration  is that we see this enormous raft of co-benefits that emerges with those strategies.

With reporting by Jennifer Junghans

This article is part of a series on key topics in the climate crisis for time.com and CO2.com, a division of TIME that helps companies reduce their impact on the planet. For more information, go to co2.com
WASHINGTON  The U.S. Space Force expects to release a solicitation early next year for two Mobile User Objective System satellites, a multibillion effort meant to ensure military users have access to secure communications.

The service operates four active MUOS spacecraft and one on-orbit spare, all built by Lockheed Martin through a program that originated with the Navy, but transferred to the Space Force in March. The narrowband communication satellites operate in the 300MHz to 3GHz frequency range, making them less vulnerable to severe weather conditions and ideal for secure information transfer.

Barbara Baker, deputy program executive officer for Space Systems Commands Military Satellite Communications and Positioning, Navigation and Timing Directorate, confirmed this week to C4ISRNET the service plans to request bids from companies for early risk-reduction and design work in early 2023.

The Space Force revealed in its fiscal 2023 budget request it plans to spend $3.7 billion to develop two more satellites that will launch by the end of the decade. That includes $165 million in fiscal 2023 and $1.4 billion over the next five years.

The acquisition is meant to extend the life of the constellation and is an outgrowth of a series of studies initiated by the Navy and carried forward by the Space Force. Lockheed, Northrop Grumman and Boeing three of the top four military contractors globally, according to a 2022 Defense News analysis  all participated in those studies. The Space Force may choose more than one company for the first phase, which would be followed by a competition between those firms.

Baker said in an Oct. 14 email the service hasnt set a timeline for a contract award. She said the satellites will have common user interfaces with the other systems on orbit and may carry new capabilities, but did not provide details.

The satellites . . . will meet or exceed the current system performance requirements and have compatible interfaces to ensure seamless integration with the MUOS ground systems and continuity of operations, she said.

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Todays MUOS satellites, which replaced the Ultra High Frequency Follow-on system, carry two payloads  one to maintain the legacy UHF network and a second that provides a new Wideband Code Division Multiple Access capability. The system is designed to provide 10 times the capacity of its predecessor.

Justin Keller, director of advanced programs and military space at Lockheed, told C4ISRNET Oct. 9 the company attended an industry day in September with the Space Force and other prospective vendors. The message from the service, he said, is that they want a low-risk solution that prioritizes schedule.

Their No. 1 focus is schedule and low risk, and were 100% behind that, he said. I think the government, the Space Force, has laid out a really good plan to get us there.

Prioritizing resilience

Along with schedule and risk management, the Space Force is prioritizing resilience as it makes near-term upgrades to systems like MUOS and as it sets plans for future versions of these constellations. The service is slated to begin analysis next year to consider its long-term narrowband communication needs.

Keller noted that for satellites like these that werent designed to be resistant to cyber threats and enemy jamming, balancing these demands can be a challenge. The Space Force hasnt revealed what limited resilience measures it may want for the sixth and seventh MUOS spacecraft because those capabilities are often classified.

Theyre hoping to address those [threats] that will not interfere with their schedule, he said. Weve done a lot of work on that.

As the Space Force moves forward with plans to buy more MUOS satellites, lawmakers have raised concerns about the performance of the current capability. The program experienced significant fielding delays, particularly with the terminals and equipment that allow users to connect to the system. A 2021 Government Accountability Office report found personnel on the ground were not able to take full advantage of the satellites more advanced features.

In the Senates version of the fiscal 2023 defense policy bill, lawmakers referenced GAOs work and called for a demonstration of a narrowband gapfiller capability by January 2025. The Senate Armed Services Committee also wants a report on the status of the MUOS follow-on work.

Keller noted that while the program has experienced setbacks, feedback from users has improved as more terminals are fielded.

Now that they have the terminals, everything weve heard is universal praise on the particular quality of the service compared to what they had before, he said.
It seems amazing when I look back on it all, but for my first 44 years in Chicago, I never set foot in any of Cook Countys forest preserves. I settled in Chicago in 1966. I visited my first forest preserve in 2010.

Its not as if I were some nature-shy tenderfoot. As a college student I camped in the Smoky Mountains. In my 30s, I made four grueling canoe trips through the Ontario wilderness. After the my girls were born, I bought a canoe and started taking them on little trips. But for some reason I remained oblivious to the Cook County Forest Preserves.

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Then in 2010, a nervous dog changed it all. Micah was a pit bull mix we adopted after my wife saw his photo on the internet. The shelter people couldnt tell us much about him. They didnt know his age and had no record of where, when or why he had been picked up. He seemed to have been neglected. He did not know the standard commands come, sit and stay, and he didnt respond well when we tried to teach him. Our cute new dog was a behavioral handful.

Micahs problem was common. Although pit bulls are among the smartest, easiest to train and most affectionate of all breeds, many of those in shelters have been recovered from people who mistreat their dogs or train them to be aggressive. Micah was not aggressive, but something in his past life had left him nervous and unable to focus.

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Fortunately, we found a pit bull reform school that dealt in tough cases. I signed Micah up for the eight-session rehabilitation course. He took to instruction immediately and learned to do all the tricks and follow all the commands.

There was just one problem: Halfway through each one-hour session, Micah would have a nervous breakdown and start barking uncontrollably. The instructor kept him away from the other dogs by putting him in a timeout cage. By the end of the eight weeks, I asked the instructor whether Micah should take the class a second time. He said no.

Ill tell you what to do: Take him out to a forest preserve  any forest preserve, just so long as its deserted, he said. Let him off the leash and explore the trail with him. Itll help him bond with you. Itll settle him down. Just make sure theres nobody else around. Dogs are supposed to be on the leash in the forest preserves.

I dont remember which forest preserve we tried first. It was winter, and the place was deserted. I unhooked his leash and said, Lets take a walk.

Micah seemed to get it. He stayed a few paces ahead of me as we began to explore the trail. He sniffed everything and seemed to find each new smell exciting, as if his liberation from the shelter were now complete. We repeated the routine at different forest preserves, and the bonding seemed to grow tighter. Micah was heeding my commands now, on the trail as well as at home, and he was becoming calmer and less nervous.

Then came the unannounced pop quiz. On a February morning in 2011, we drove to the Thaddeus S. Lechowicz Forest Preserve on North Central Avenue. With no other cars in the parking lot and no footprints in the snow, we seemed to have the place to ourselves. I let Micah off the leash, and we proceeded down the slope from the parking lot to the deserted picnic grove on the river flood plain.

And then suddenly, we werent alone. Micah and I stiffened as we saw a couple perhaps 100 yards ahead with two dogs starting the 20-foot climb up from the riverbank into a meadow. I knew what was coming: Micah would dash toward the other party, and three desperate humans would struggle to separate three snarling, powerful dogs.

But thats not what happened. I whispered, Micah, sit! and he sat. Good boy! I whispered as I attached his leash, and the two of us waited while the couple and their dogs struggled up the slope and into the meadow.

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The instructor had been right. Long walks off the leash in the forest preserves had settled Micah down. He was bonded to his caretaker.

But Micah wasnt the only beneficiary of the forest preserves. As winter progressed and our walks grew longer, I noticed I was settling down, too. My nervous system had its own history and needed as much therapy as my dogs. Daily contact with nature and a mile of vigorous walking were beginning to change my psyche. By mid-2011, I had become a forest preserve junkie. The trees and trails had become my dope.

Micah had to be euthanized last year on the day after Christmas, but his place was quickly taken by a blue pit bull pup named Zuby. Our new dog came to us only 2 months old, with no nervous disorders. Yet, Zuby turned out to need the forest preserves as much as Micah did. His body craved exercise, and his curiosity craved novelty and excitement.

Since 2010, walking my dog through a forest preserve has become essential to my well-being. Its a joy that meets the literal definition of re-creation. And there are thousands of others who re-create themselves in their own way in these same sylvan environments.

On the Nov. 8 ballot, Cook County voters will be asked to approve a $1.50-per-month increase in their property taxes to enable the Forest Preserve District to catch up with deferred maintenance and acquire more properties for preservation of those natural habitats.

I just talked to Zuby, and he said its a good deal. Please vote.

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F.K. Plous is director of communications at Corridor Rail Development LLC in Chicago.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
Update: In 2014, Ussery pleaded guilty to one of the lesser felony charges, unlawful use of a weapon. He was sentenced to five years probation, but completed the program in less than three years.

Original story: Police say a Springfield man broke into his ex-girlfriends home, assaulted her new partner and threatened him with a butcher knife.

According to a probable cause statement, the woman awoke to noise on her balcony in the early morning hours of Dec. 28. When she went to check it out, she found Houston L. Ussery, 29, trying to get in through the locked sliding glass door.

She opened the door and yelled that Ussery couldnt come in but he pushed his way in, according to the statement.

Ussery went right to the master bedroom as the woman shouted Hes here. When Ussery got to the room, he started punching the womans new paramour in the face, police say.

The men began to scuffle on the floor before Ussery broke free and went to the kitchen where he pulled a large butcher knife off the counter, according to the statement.

The man told police Ussery pointed the knife at him and starting threatening him while the man tried to talk Ussery into a more calm state, according to police.

The statement says the men struggled with each other again before Ussery had the knife knocked out of his hand.

The man attempted to hold Ussery down until police arrived but Ussery got free. He left by way of the balcony but had dropped his car keys at some point during the struggle.

When police got to the home, they found the man with a swollen lip split in several places  the worst being about an inch wide and deep.

Police say there were items scattered around, a knife under the Christmas tree and blood on the bedsheets.

The woman was not injured, according to the statement.

Police found Usserys car in the parking lot and had it towed. Ussery later contacted an officer, wanting to have his car released from the towing company.

He advised me that he would not be providing a statement in regards to the matter, the statement says.

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Ussery was arrested on Jan. 3, according to the statement.

He was charged the next day with three felonies  burglary, assault, and unlawful use of a weapon. He also was charged with two misdemeanor assaults.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield police: Man attacks new partner of ex-girlfriend
A man from St. Helena Island is facing a slew of felony charges for sexual exploitation of a minor, according to the Beaufort County Sheriffs Office.

James R. Bishop, 72, was charged with 12 counts of the crime, six counts in the first degree and six in the third degree, jail records show.

In South Carolinas Code of Laws, sexual exploitation of a minor in the first degree is defined as coercing a minor into performing sexual activity or sexually explicit behavior, whether through a live performance or a digital recording. A third-degree charge entails owning materials that contain child sexual abuse material.

No specific details behind Bishops charges will be released immediately, according to Maj. Angela Viens, a spokesperson for the Beaufort County Sheriffs Office.

Deputies began looking into Bishop after receiving a tip with allegations from a community member, according to the alert. As the investigation progressed, police used probable cause to conduct search warrants on two locations associated with Bishop.

Those searches led to the issue of multiple warrants for Bishops arrest. He was detained Friday morning at his St. Helena Island home.

Bishop was being held at the Beaufort County Detention Center as of 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. A bond hearing had not been scheduled.

When we publish mugshots

The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette publishes police booking photos, or mugshots, in the following instances:

In situations where a public figure or someone in a position of public trust is arrested

In cases where there is an immediate and widespread threat to public safety

In cases where the arrested person is accused of a crime reporters have evidence to believe involved numerous, unknown victims

Reporters will avoid using mugshots as lead images for online articles in order to limit their circulation on social media, except in cases where the public is served by the immediate identification of the accused. Reporters and editors may use discretion in situations that dont meet the criteria outlined in this policy but still present a compelling reason to publish a mugshot.
The FDIC is taking a closer look at crypto, specifically stablecoins, according to its acting chairman.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), alongside other Federal banking agencies, is expected to issue industry-wide guidelines for financial institutions dealing in crypto, said the FDICs Martin Gruenberg.

The FDIC is a consumer protection agency that insures users deposits and oversees financial institutions for safety to protect investors in the event of bank failures.

At a Brookings Institution event on Thursday, Gruenberg said that the FDIC has been investigating the risks of cryptocurrencies since April 2022.

But that doesnt mean he is wholly critical of the sector.

In fact, Gruenberg specifically lauded stablecoins and their "ability to offer cost-effective, real-time, around-the-clock service."

According to him, stablecoins could fundamentally alter the banking industry and should thus be subjected to a legal framework and regulation.

All payment stablecoin issuers should  just like banks, whether Federal or state-chartered, be subject to prudential regulation and oversight, he said.

As the agency gains better knowledge of the industry, it, alongside other Federal banking agencies, will begin offering supervisory feedback to financial institutions.

As the FDIC and the other Federal banking agencies develop a better collective understanding of the risks associated with these activities, we expect to provide broader industry guidance on an interagency basis, Martin Gruenberg said at the event.

FDIC and crypto

One of the likely reasons behind FDICs increased interest in developing guidelines for financial institutions can be closely attributed to several past misrepresentations of its policies made by crypto firms.

The now-bankrupt crypto company Voyager allegedly deceived its users by marketing that all depositors in the firm were covered by FDIC insurance through its partnership with Metropolitan Commerical Bank, Voyagers banking partner.

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In July 2022, the FDIC denied Voyagers claims and explained that only Metropolitan Commercial Bank is insured, not Voyager.

Later that month, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve ordered Voyager to avoid making false statements.

In addition, false and misleading statements, either direct or implied, by cryptoasset entities concerning the availability of federal deposit insurance for a given cryptoasset product violate the law, said Gruenberg.
The search for an aircraft that reportedly went down in a pond at a quarry just off Central Avenue resumed Friday morning, Carlisle Fire Chief Jeremy Lane told News Center 7.

A reported witness described the aircraft as a glider.

Search teams did not locate anything after Thursday nights hours-long search, he said in a statement near the pond on private property off the 400 block of Central Avenue in Carlisle. The pond is believed to be in a gravel pit.

>> Large police presence reported outside of house in Shelby County

An Ohio State Highway Patrol helicopter assisted in the first search efforts Friday morning, but found nothing, Lane confirmed.

Additional search efforts involving sonar are set to happen this afternoon.

There was no reason to believe the report of a possible downed aircraft was a false alarm, the chief said. There have been no missing persons reports or reports from area airfields or airports of a missing aircraft, he said.

A witness contacted the Lebanon Post just after 6:30 p.m. to report seeing a glider crash into a quarry on the south side of Central Avenue, between Union and Dayton-Oxford roads, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said in a news release late Thursday night.

>> Friend of late Russia basketball coach remembers him as pillar of the community

The search, which lasted more than four hours, was conducted on the ground and in the water by troopers with the Lebanon Post and public safety partners from numerous jurisdictions, the state patrols statement said. The patrols aviation unit was also a part of tonights search.

Agencies involved in the investigation and search include the Carlisle police and fire departments, ODNR, Joint Emergency Medical Services, Franklin police, Franklin Fire & EMS Division, Franklin Twp. fire, the Warren County Technical Rescue Team, Miami Valley Fire Department, Clinton Warren Joint Fire District, the Red Cross, and the Federal Aviation Administration.
How do states ensure dead peoples ballots arent counted?

Election officials regularly check death records. In many states, vital statistics agencies send them monthly lists of people who have died, which officials use to update voter registration files.

Election clerks may also check for voter deaths through other means, such as coordinating with motor vehicle departments to track canceled drivers licenses, searching for published obituaries or processing letters from the deceased persons estate.

Even if a dead voter's ballot mistakenly gets mailed, signature verification and voter fraud laws create additional safeguards against anyone else filling it out and submitting it. Voters who forge dead relatives signatures on ballots can face fines, probation or prison. And in some states, absentee voting requirements such as witness signatures or notarization add an extra barrier to prevent this rare form of voter fraud.

After the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump and his supporters claimed thousands of votes had been cast fraudulently on behalf of dead voters, even naming specific deceased people whose ballots were supposedly counted.

But these claims, which spread in many states including Arizona, Virginia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, were found to be false.

When Arizonas attorney general investigated claims that 282 dead peoples ballots were cast in 2020, he found just one case was substantiated.

When Republican lawmakers in Michigan investigated a list of over 200 supposedly dead voters in Wayne County, they found just two. The first was due to a clerical error in which a son had been confused with his dead father and the second involved a 92-year-old woman who had submitted her ballot early, then died four days before the election.

Whether or not a vote like hers counts depends on state law.

At least 11 states  nine by statute and two based on attorney general opinions  prohibit counting votes from absentee voters who cast a ballot, then die before Election Day, while nine states specifically allow it, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Other states are silent on the matter.

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Election integrity groups scouring voter files often mistake a living voter for a deceased voter if they have similar names, birthdays or hometowns, resulting in false fraud claims, said Jason Roberts, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

You might think its weird that someone with the same name and the same date of birth died, but its actually not that strange when you think about a 350 million person country, Roberts said. It happens a lot.

There are occasional instances of voter fraud by impersonating a dead person. For example, a Las Vegas man admitted voting his dead wifes ballot in 2020 and received a fine and probation for the crime. A Pennsylvania man who pleaded guilty to voting his dead mothers ballot in 2020 was sentenced to five years of probation.

However, Roberts said, only a handful of people try this type of fraud each election, making it very, very rare.

___

The AP is answering your questions about elections in this series. Submit them at FactCheck@AP.org. Read more here:

How are mail-in and absentee ballots verified?

Am I allowed to drop off a ballot for someone else?

Can noncitizens vote in U.S. elections?
Steve Bannon, a former campaign manager and White House staffer for former President Donald Trump, was sentenced Friday to serve four months behind bars after defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols allowed Bannon to stay free pending appeal and also imposed a fine of $6,500 as part of the sentence. Bannon was convicted in July of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents.

As he walked into federal court in Washington, D.C., Bannon told reporters, This illegitimate regime, their judgment day is on 8 November when the Biden administration ends.

Before the judge handed down the sentence, Bannons lawyer, David Schoen, gave an impassioned argument railing against the committee and saying Bannon had simply done was his lawyer told him to do under Trumps executive privilege objections.

Quite frankly, Mr. Bannon should make no apology. No American should make any apology for the manner in which Mr. Bannon proceeded in this case, he said.

Nichols handed down the sentence after saying the law was clear that contempt of Congress is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of at least one month behind bars. Bannons lawyers had argued the judge couldve sentenced him to probation instead. Prosecutors had asked for Bannon to be sent to jail for six months.

In my view, Mr. Bannon has not taken responsibility for his actions, Nichols said before he imposed the sentence. Others must be deterred from committing similar crimes.

The House panel had sought Bannons testimony over his involvement in Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Bannon has yet to testify or provide any documents to the committee.

Prosecutors argued Bannon, 68, deserved the longer sentence because he had pursued a bad faith strategy, and his public statements disparaging the committee itself made it clear he wanted to undermine their effort to get to the bottom of the violent attack and keep anything like it from happening again.

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Your honor, the defendant is not above the law and that is exactly what makes this case important, said prosecutor J.P. Cooney. It must be made clear to the public, to the citizens, that no one is above the law.

Leaving the courthouse after the sentencing, Bannon said he believed Attorney General Merrick Garland would be impeached and vowed a vigorous appeal. This thing about Im above the law is a total lie.

Bannon is also facing separate money laundering, fraud and conspiracy charges related to the We Build the Wall campaign in New York. Bannon has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say Bannon falsely promised donors that all money would go to constructing a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, but instead was involved with transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars to third-party entities and using them to funnel payments to two other people involved in the scheme.

When President Joe Biden, for his part, was asked about the sentence as he left the White House, he said: I never have a reaction to Steve Bannon.

With News Wire Services
Former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months and fined $6,500 on Friday after previously being found guilty of acting in contempt of Congress in a legal saga that began more than a year ago.

Prosecutors had asked the federal court in Washington, D.C., to send Bannon to prison for six months and fine him $200,000.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, noted Bannons lack of remorse before handing down his ruling, according toreports from the scene. Nichols reportedly told the court that others must be deterred from similarly flouting congressional authority.

The sentence, however, will be stayed to give Bannons team time to file an appeal, allowing Bannon to walk free for now. If he does not file an appeal, he will need to surrender by Nov. 15.

Outside the courthouse before the proceedings began, Bannon decried the illegitimate regime of President Joe Biden.

Their judgment day is on 8 November, when the Biden administration ends, he told reporters gathered outside the building, which does not allow cameras inside.

Bannon declined to make a statement in court on his own behalf. He walked out of the building to a crowd of protesters and shouts of Traitor!

Bannon had been called to turn over communications and other documentation to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, and to appear before the panel for a deposition. He refused, and the House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress late last year.

In July, a federal jury found him guilty on two contempt charges, one for the documents and one for the testimony.

While Bannons tenure as an official adviser to Trump was short-lived  he lasted less than a year in the White House in 2017  he was speaking with Trump as the president clung to power in the wake of losing the 2020 election.

Bannons was among the earlier subpoenas issued by the Jan. 6 committee, on Sept. 23, 2021. He argued that he could not cooperate because Trump was attempting to use executive authority to shield the documents, even though he is no longer in office and the current administration has declined to invoke executive authority on Trumps behalf.

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Judge Nichols noted that Bannon refused to cooperate with the congressional committee even after Trump offered to drop his claim of executive privilege in July. At the time, Bannons attorneys claimed that their client preferred to cooperate with the panel.

The committee has now spoken to more than 1,000 witnesses.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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The politics of abortion arent especially ambiguous at this point: Most Americans dont want a government ban. And while theres a range of opinion on exactly when its OK to restrict access, or under what conditions, most Americans disapprove of the Supreme Courts decision overturning Roe v. Wade in June.

The evidence is in the polls, in the rejection of that anti-abortion ballot initiative in Kansas, and in the victories for Democrats who support abortion rights in a series of special elections. But for political professionals, the most telling sign may be the way that opponents of abortion rights are acting.

They are desperate to shift political conversation away from reproductive rights. When they cant do that, they try to obfuscate either their own position or that of abortion-rights supporters.

Its been going on for a while. Here, for example, is an article from August about Republican candidates scrubbing their websites of references to abortion.

But this week opponents of abortion have rolled out a new campaign, one that seeks to exploit anxiety over LGBTQ rights and what conservatives have been calling grooming. It alleges that a key ballot proposal, in a key state, would let children get gender-affirming care without parental consent.

And alleges is the right word, because its based on a far-fetched argument that one prominent legal scholar told me was absurd.

A Battle Over Abortion Rights In Michigan

I know about this because its happening in my home state, Michigan, where reproductive rights are especially central to Novembers midterm elections. A big reason for that is Proposal 3, which organizers have called the Reproductive Freedom for All initiative.

The ballot proposal would amend the state constitution by adding language to protect reproductive rights, effectively preventing future lawmakers from passing major abortion restrictions and  more urgently  nullifying a 1931 law that makes abortion illegal in nearly all cases.

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The 1931 law is not currently in force (i.e., abortion remains legal in Michigan) because lower courts have already blocked prosecutors from bringing cases, pending a ruling from the state Supreme Court on whether the Michigan Constitution already protects abortion.

Incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel, both Democrats and both fierce supporters of abortion rights, have said they would use whatever authority they have to prevent its enforcement.

But theres no way to know how the state Supreme Court will rule, just as theres no way to know whether Whitmer or Nessel will win reelection next month. Polls were picking up comfortable leads in August and September. Now they are finding closer races for both.

Proposal 3 has generally fared well in polls, but a recent one found support down to just 50% amid a burst of advertising by the initiatives opponents. As of last week, those opponents had spent nearly $23 million, while Proposal 3 supporters had spent a little less than $16 million, according to figures collected by the tracking company AdImpact.

The advertising isnt so surprising, and if the margins are shrinking that wouldnt be a surprise either. Change frequently makes voters nervous, and the ads try to exploit that by suggesting the amendment would, for example, invalidate existing safety regulations for abortion.

The proposals supporters have disputed that claim  acknowledging that the amendment, like any other, leaves some rule for judicial interpretation but noting that it explicitly allows for regulations when the state can show a compelling interest. Safety regulations would seem to clearly qualify, at least as long as theyre really about safety.

A Bold, Tendentious Claim

But thats nothing compared with the new ad, which intersperses images of young children with injectable drugs and argues that Proposal 3 would allow kids to get gender-affirming care without consulting their parents.

Heres the full script:

This drug blocks a child from going through puberty. Its the first step in gender change therapy. Clinics prescribe this drug in Michigan. If Proposal 3 passes, minors as young as 10 or 11 will be able to receive this prescription without the consent of their parents  or their parents even knowing it. They call it reproductive freedom. We call it extreme. Proposal 3 opens up Pandoras box. Only you can close it. Vote no on Proposal 3.

The anti-Proposal 3 ad focused only on puberty blockers. But other critics have taken it even further. In an article for The Federalist, a conservative publication, senior legal correspondent Margot Cleveland wrote earlier this month that passing Proposal 3 would give boys a constitutional right to be castrated and girls the right under Michigans constitution to be sterilized by way of a hysterectomy or the removal of their ovaries  all without their parents consent.

The argument in the article and the ad rests on two central contentions. One is that the amendments references to sterilization and infertility care would extend rights to gender-affirming care, because gender-affirming care can affect fertility. The other is that language applying the amendments protections to all individuals would render age distinctions meaningless, giving minors the right to gender-affirming care without parental involvement.

This is not merely a political point, and it is not a worst-case-scenario argument based on how some liberal activist judge or justice might interpret Prop 3, wrote Cleveland, who is also an adjunct law professor at the University of Notre Dame. This reality flows from the plain language of Prop 3 and rests on general legal principles of constitutional construction.

Some Very Important Context

These are bold claims. And while I dont have the credentials to judge their merits, Leah Litman does.

Litman co-hosts the progressive Strict Scrutiny podcast and is a law professor at the University of Michigan. That last part is important because shes been paying close attention to this proposition and published a short analysis of it earlier this month.

The argument about age, Litman told HuffPost, ignores the fact that courts have long understood that minors dont have the full rights of adults. She cited several examples, including the Second Amendment, which says nothing about age. Even so, she said, judges have ruled repeatedly that the government has more leeway to restrict gun ownership and use by children.

Even though the text of those amendments [like the Second Amendment] dont distinguish  in their language  between adults and minors, they are still understood to allow states to enact more restrictions over minors rights than adults, Litman wrote in an e-mail. That just reflects a basic principle of constitutional law that isnt stated in the words of the amendments: States have greater latitude to restrict the rights of minors than the rights of adults.

Litman went on to say that courts have traditionally applied this same logic to reproductive rights, even before the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. States couldnt enact spousal consent requirements, but they could enact parental consent requirements, she wrote. Thats the regime  or the protections of rights  that Proposal 3 reinstates.

Some Words That Matter

As for the idea that Proposal 3 protections would somehow extend to gender-affirming care, Litman said, opponents are taking words like sterilization out of context, which is not the way judges would interpret them.

Litman pointed out that the amendment specifically defines reproductive freedom as having the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy.

Put another way: the measure is about decisions/actions/procedures whose nature or purpose is to affect someones reproductive capacity or state, she said. That doesnt describe gender affirming care; you dont receive gender affirming care in order to alter or bring about a pregnancy; you dont receive gender affirming care for reproductive capacity  you receive it in order to align your physical sex characteristics with your gender identity. Its not about pregnancies.

As an example, Litman noted that the presence of toxins in water could affect pregnancy or lead to sterilization. No one thinks this amendment says anything about a right to clean drinking water, even though that will have effects on peoples fertility, she said.

Litman isnt the only one making these arguments. Eli Savit, the prosecutor for Washtenaw County in southeastern Michigan, has called the new ad simply, flatly, unequivocally false.

There is absolutely nothing in the text of the Reproductive Freedom for All initiative that mentions or supersedes parental consent, Savit said during a press conference that the amendments supporters held Friday.

Savit is a Democrat. Hes also a former Supreme Court clerk, as is Litman, and he thinks the claims about gender-affirming care are just as egregiously dishonest.

This word sterilization ... is obviously, in the context of matters relating to pregnancy, meant to protect things like tubal ligations or vasectomies, which are personal choices that people should be able to make without interference by the state, Savit said. So again, this idea that it has anything to do with gender identity, gender-affirming care is just nowhere to be found in the text the amendment.

These are complex arguments, at least in the context of a 30-second advertisement. Its an open question as to how many persuadable, undecided voters who see the TV and video spots will even take the time to think through the issue, or to hear these counterarguments.

But thats precisely why these ads and the many millions of dollars behind them can be so effective. They create uncertainty and confusion, which could be enough to defeat a proposal that substantial majorities would otherwise support on the merits.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
The discipline of a Chicago police officer who was investigated for alleged ties to a white nationalist group became a flashpoint during Fridays wide-ranging Police Department budget hearing, which saw Superintendent David Brown on the defensive over discontent with his public safety plan, ballooning overtime costs and more.

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Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, questioned Brown on why Officer Robert Bakker received only a 120-day suspension over allegations including that he didnt reveal he was interviewed by federal authorities about his alleged past involvement with the Proud Boys.

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Brown defended the choice not to fire Bakker and said the investigation did not turn up sufficient evidence that the officer was affiliated with the organization.

Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, speaks at a police budget hearing at City Hall Friday. Ervin questioned Superintendent David Brown on why Officer Robert Bakker received only a 120-day suspension. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

The Chicago Police Department has zero tolerance for any of its sworn members being members of hate groups or associated with hate groups, Brown said in his first public remarks on the case. The allegations put forth on this officer did not support by a preponderance of evidence, which is the legal standard, that this member associated with or was a member of a hate group  Proud Boys or any other hate group.

Brown continued, I will just say from a personal note, Ive been Black a long time. I would not tolerate an officer being a member of or being associated with a hate group.

A preponderance of evidence means the allegations being investigated must be more than 50% likely to be true. Brown said that was not the case with Bakkers ties to the Proud Boys, but there were minor violations related to inconsistent statements from the officer to investigators about the extent of his interactions with members of the group.

What we did prove is that this officer failed to notify us that he had talked with federal authorities and some other minor violations, Brown said. And because of those minor violations, we mediated a very high level of discipline. One hundred and twenty days is a high level discipline for what we were able to prove.

Bakker was initially investigated for allegedly associating with members of the white nationalist organization and posting messages in a group chat, including about meeting at a pub, and for being involved in apparent exchanges about a patriot barbecue.

In April of this year, the departments bureau of internal affairs resolved the case with a mediation agreement that said Bakker would not contest any of the allegations against him in exchange for the 120-day suspension. City Inspector General Deborah Witzburg recommended that Brown reconsider that punishment but did not get a response.

On Friday, internal affairs Chief Yolanda Talley gave the surprising assertion that Bakker in fact was the one who requested the 120-day suspension in lieu of the departments much-shorter expected offer.

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Im just going to put it to you frankly, Talley said, getting a nod from Brown to continue. His suspension would not be more than five days for what we were able to prove. We brought him in for a second interview, and he just felt so bad that he was accused of this, he mediated 120 days. We didnt offer him 120 days.

Talley continued by pushing back on the idea of the Proud Boys being a hate group.

The Proud Boys is not identified as an FBI hate group, Talley said. If the Proud Boys were identified as a hate group, this investigation would look totally different.

In fact, the FBI does not keep a list of domestic groups that have been identified as a hate or extreme group, according to a statement the agency gave the Tribune Friday.

The FBI does not designate hate groups, the statement read. The FBI does conduct investigations of domestic hate groups within guidelines established by the attorney general.

The organization has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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The statement said those guidelines include whether there has been a threat of force, whether the threat can be carried out and whether it violates federal law.

According to published new reports, as well FBI documents available on the agencys website, members of the Proud Boys have, however, been the subject of investigations into violent acts, including in 2018, before the allegations surfaced against Bakker.

The citys investigation into Bakkers conduct was not criminal, however. Investigators were seeking to determine if he had engaged in behavior that violated department rules and regulations, including whether it was conduct unbecoming to the department.

Bakkers disciplinary case was first brought up when Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, was the sole member of City Council to raise his hand in response to a colleague asking the chambers, Can I get a show of hands of any aldermen in this room who would like to see less police?

Fellow aldermen piped up, Ill take his, in response. Sigcho-Lopez then left the City Council floor temporarily after shouting, Take the white supremacists too.  Its a shame to have white supremacists in the force.

Also during Fridays budget hearing, several aldermen pressed Brown on earlier comments hed made blaming higher-than-budgeted overtime costs on special events such as next summers planned NASCAR takeover of Grant Park. Chicago police has $100 million budgeted for overtime this year but already spent $112 million so far on such costs, with more two months left in the year, Brown said.

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Primarily thats a function of an increase  really an explosion of  special events across this city since Memorial Day weekend, much more than previous years, much more than pre-pandemic years, Brown said, citing the Pride Parade in June and the 2023 NASCAR street race. As we add more and more special events that require security, we need to understand thats additional overtime.

Special events require organizers to find private security before they get the citys approval, but that usually is not enough, and Chicago police staffing power is also required. But such events also require police signoff before taking place.

You guys sign off on this stuff and youre complaining, outgoing Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th, noted.

Brown responded: Were not party poopers. Were not going to say you cant have the extra special events that weve had this past year, but it does require security. And so were responsible for making sure these events are safe.

Another City Council member set to retire in 2023, Ald. Harry Osterman, 48th, expressed frustration with Brown repeating crime is down while fears of violence remain pervasive.

I dont feel that you have a comprehensive plan to address violence that has bought people in, Osterman said. Because of the lack of a cohesive plan, were an island.  But the violence spreads everywhere and without a cohesive plan with buy in from folks, were nowhere.

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Through this month, Chicago has seen double-digit percentage reductions in shootings and homicides  20% and 18%, respectively  over last year. But since 2019, homicides and shootings in the city were each up by at least 30%, according to official Chicago police statistics.

ayin@chicagotribune.com

asweeney@chicagotribune.com
Twin brothers from Johnson County face criminal charges, including first-degree murder, in connection with a shooting that left an 18-year-old dead and another man paralyzed in Kansas Citys Northland on Sunday afternoon.

Isaiah Z. Hernandez and Isaac G. Hernandez, both 20 years old from Shawnee, were charged with the crimes in Clay County Circuit Court following an investigation led by Kansas City police. Both were arrested and booked Monday in the Johnson County jail.

The Hernandez brothers are accused of being responsible for the killing of 18-year-old Dakota Rogers and the severe injury of his friend after they were shot with an assault rifle in broad daylight in the Crestview neighborhood. Their bullet-riddled car continued on for a few blocks before crashing into other vehicles on North Oak Trafficway near a busy commercial district.

Charging documents filed in Clay County on Thursday outline a chance encounter between the two gunshot victims and the alleged killers, which ended after the victims car was fired upon in traffic.

As of Thursday night, booking logs showed the Hernandez brothers were still in Johnson County jail. Prosecutors in Clay County requested each be transferred to Missouri and held on $1 million bonds.

These are our streets

Police officers were dispatched Sunday around 3:30 p.m.. to a reported shooting near the intersection of Vivion Avenue and North Oak Trafficway. They found that two gunshot victims were inside a 2003 Toyota Corolla that had crashed.

In the front passenger seat was Rogers, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, identified in court documents as M.N., was transported by ambulance to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.

M.N. was treated for severe injuries, including a severed spinal cord in the area of his mid-back. He also had gunshot wounds to his right shoulder and chest.

During a police interview, the surviving gunshot victim said he and Rogers were shot while driving on North Oak Trafficway by two men they had first seen at a red light.

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M.N. told detectives he picked up Rogers from his house and the pair drove to downtown Kansas City for the fall festival. They were then invited to meet a friend at a park in the Northland.

As they were en route, waiting for a red light to change, two men pulled up alongside them in a silver Volkswagen. Everyone had the windows down.

The men in the silver car engaged M.N. and Rogers in conversation, asking why they were driving in that part of town, according to charging documents.

The men told them these are our streets and that M.N. and Rogers should stop trying to be hard, the surviving victim told detectives. M.N. recalled saying in response that they were both from Parkville and were not trying to be hard.

Thats when one of the men allegedly pointed an AR-style weapon at them from the open drivers side window. Rogers asked: Is that a real gun? before they drove away, the gunshot victim recalled.

M.N. and Rogers were followed on the highway as they drove past Charles E. Wheeler Airport, exited onto Briarcliff Parkway, and then headed north on North Oak Trafficway.

The paralyzed gunshot victim told police he thought they were going to leave them alone at one point. But then he saw their car enter the left lane behind him, and the shooting started.

Rogers lost consciousness. M.N. said he lost feeling in his legs, and could not press the brake pedal as they approached the red light at Vivion Avenue and North Oak Trafficway.

MN said he steered as best he could, but he ultimately collided with other vehicles, a detective wrote in court documents.

Tracked to Shawnee

Kansas City crime scene investigators were called out to two locations: One at the site of the crash and a second in the 4400 block of North Oak Trafficway, where the shooting apparently unfolded.

The Toyota Camry, in which Rogers and M.N. were traveling, had several bullet holes. Near the shooting site, three spent casings from a rifle were discovered.

Investigators also found pieces of black plastic, including one that had a Volkswagen emblem on the front. A drivers side mirror was also found in the roadway that contained a specific part number for Volkswagen.

Surveillance cameras also captured video footage and license plate readings of both vehicles, and detectives estimated based on audio recordings that about 10 gunshots were fired in quick succession. The license plate on a silver sedan, matching the description provided by the surviving victim, was found to have recently been sold from a car dealership in Shawnee.

Detectives brought that information to the car dealership. Sales records showed Isaiah Hernandez as a co-signer for a Volkswagen Passat with that license plate, according to court records. At the time the car was purchased, days before the shooting, the dealership owner told police the vehicle was undamaged.

Police officers were sent to the address of the first registered owner, the Hernandez brothers grandfather in Shawnee. In the driveway they found a vehicle that had damage on the drivers side that fit with the debris, including the missing mirror, that was discovered at the crime scene.

The grandfather told police that his grandsons lived with him at his residence. He also told them he returned home from Wichita on Sunday afternoon  the day of the shooting  and that his grandsons and the car he recently helped purchase were not present at the time, according to court documents.

Detectives obtained a search warrant through the Johnson County District Court for the Volkswagen. During that search, authorities allege a bullet fragment was discovered on the floorboard of the rear drivers side. It was unclear from available court records whether that fragment had been analyzed or if any other conclusions had been drawn based on that finding.

Hernandez brothers charged

Isaac and Isaiah Hernandez were booked in the Johnson County jail on suspicion of murder and other crimes stemming from the shooting. Neither agreed to speak with detectives outside the presence of a defense lawyer, according to court records.

In Clay County Circuit Court, Isaac Hernandez is faced with charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder or first-degree assault, aiding and abetting a firearm violation involving a motor vehicle, and three counts of armed criminal action.

Meanwhile, Isaiah Hernandez is charged as an accessory to first-degree murder, accessory to attempted murder or assault, aiding and abetting a firearm violation involving a motor vehicle, and three counts of armed criminal action.

Isaiah Hernandez was also convicted of first-degree assault in September 2020 in Jackson County, following a guilty plea, and received a seven-year suspended sentence for that crime.

Under Missouri law, the most serious penalties stem from the first-degree murder charge. Defendants convicted of first-degree murder are eligible for the death penalty, and receive a minimum sentence of a life prison term.

Court documents did not list a defense attorney for either brother as of Thursday night.
The Supreme Court on Thursday declined an emergency appeal by a group of Wisconsin taxpayers who had challenged President Joe Biden's student-loan forgiveness plan.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett denied without comment the emergency court filing, which had asked the court to block Mr. Biden's plan. The matter had gone to Barrett because she oversees requests arising from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, where the request was filed.

She did not refer the matter to the full court. The decision was not a reflection on the merits of the case, but rather indicates the court will not get involved before the matter has played out in the lower courts.

The Brown County Taxpayers Association, represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, on Wednesday filed an emergency request with Barrett asking the high court to intervene while proceedings continue in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to members of the press prior to his Marine One departure from the White House on October 20, 2022 in Washington, DC. / Credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images

In the filing, the group argued that Biden administration officials "exceeded their constitutional powers and their plan violates constitutional rights."

Mr. Biden announced in August that he would be taking action to forgive up to $20,000 of federal student-loan debt for Americans earning under $125,000 a year or $250,000 a year for couples. Up to 43 million borrowers will be provided relief under the plan, of which nearly 20 million people will have their remaining debt fully canceled, according to the White House.

The application for relief went live earlier this week, and the White House said Monday that 8 million Americans had already applied. Mr. Biden is set to give remarks on Friday at Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware, focusing on student debt relief.

In a separate case, a federal judge in Indiana on Thursday rejected a lawsuit from a group of six Republican-led states that also sought to block the Biden administration from moving forward with the relief plan.

U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey of the Eastern District of Missouri's order allows the student loan forgiveness plan to move forward, although the ruling is likely to be appealed.

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Autey said the "Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate standing," which is required to show they have suffered harm.

The Attorneys General from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina and Iowa's Republican governor filed the lawsuit in Sept., arguing the Biden administration's plan is "not remotely tailored to address the effects of the pandemic on federal student loan borrowers." The lawsuit also cited Mr. Biden's Sept. interview with "60 Minutes," in which he declared the COVID-19 pandemic over, noting that the White House is still using the ongoing health emergency to justify the plan.

Jan Crawford and Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.

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Taylor Swift describes lawmakers as narcissists who hide their true intentions behind good deeds, in the first single from her new album, Midnights.

The 32-year-old singing star released her highly-anticipated new music on Friday.

In Anti-Hero, the first single off the album, Swift included a political dig in a pair of lines.

Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguised as altruism, Swift sings in the tune. Like some kind of congressman, Swift says in the next line of the song.

In a music video for Anti-Hero released Friday, written and directed by Swift, the Grammy Award winner is seen solemnly sticking a political pin on her chest with a message reading, Vote for me for everything on it.

After mostly remaining mum on politics, Swift broke her silence in 2018 to endorse former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) over Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R) in the states Senate race. Shes since been outspoken in her criticism of former President Trump and has advocated for LGBTQ+ rights.

Earlier this week, Swift urged her fans to vote early in the 2022 midterm elections.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
OK, Swifties. You liked the fairytale fictions and indie-cred boast of Taylor Swifts pandemic alt-folk records. But youve been yearning for the intimacy you felt when she knocked out those confessional bangers, havent you? Well, the wait is over. Playing Midnights will make you feel as though youre sleeping over at her house while she spills secrets and settles scores into the night. Over a series of murky electronic grooves (mostly co-written with Jack Antonoff), the pop star unpacks her darkest dreams, deepest doubts and cruellest thoughts. All the while she keeps things just cryptic enough to keep the tension crackling and the speculation buzzing.

That said, shes already stopped speculation about the opening track, Lavender Haze. Gaylor fans whove stuck (rather doggedly) to a queer reading of Swift had hoped that the song might be a coming-out track because of the colours long association with gay culture. But in an Instagram post, Swift explained that she had happened upon the phrase while watching Mad Men and found it was vintage slang for a dreamy love glow. Against the throb of a synth bass, she appears to be addressing the misogynistic media obsession with whether or not shes marrying actor boyfriend Joe Alwyn, with whom shes been settled since 2016. All they keep asking me / Is if Im gonna be your bride / The only kinda girl they see / Is a one night or a bride she notes (you can hear the eye-roll). But as the vocal layers build, she shakes off the judgement effortlessly: Talk your talk and go viral / I just need this love to spiral.

The slower, grimier texture of Maroon is a dive back into a past relationship (place your bets). Describing the affair, Swift sings of it decaying from the initial pink of cheap rose to the rust that grew between telephones.

Shes on her best, self-scrutinising storytelling form on the excellent Anti-Hero, which lyrically sends zinger after zinger bubbling up through the fuzz of distortion. She unpicks the unwieldiness of her stardom with terrific, surreal imagery. Sometimes I feel like everyone is a sexy baby / And Im the monster on the hill / Too big to hang out / Slowly lurching towards your city / Pierced through the heart but never killed. She skewers her acts of public kindness, too: Did you hear my covert narcissism / I disguise as altruism / Like some kind of congressman?

Things get funnier as the singer, whose fortune is estimated at about $500m, slur-growls: I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money / She thinks I left them in the will / The family gathers round and reads it / And then someone screams out Shes laughing up at us from hell! Swift lays into her niceness again on the poppier swell of Bejeweled, on which she warns a guy that she has the capacity to light up rooms (and all the boys in the band) if he doesnt pay more attention.

Youre on Your Own, Kid digs into a catchy-cute guitar melody  flecked with pretty pings that echo her early pop  as Swift looks back on the days when she sang her songs in the parking lot. Lines about starving her body, hoping for the perfect kiss, are a nod to her Romeo and Juliet teen dreams. This sweetness is balanced by the vocal distortions and rhythmic lurches of Midnight Rain, on which Swift revels in her role as a heartbreaker. By the time she gets to noirish rap Vigilante S**t, shes relishing her shadow-self, ripping into a cheating lover. I dont dress for women / I dont dress for men, goes her predatory purr. Lately, Ive been dressing for revenge. As ever, Swift drops just enough filmic detail to conjure a scene: an envelope handed to a wife whos now driving her exs Benz. And theres some classy-sharp wordplay about the guy who was doing lines/ and crossing all of mine. Through it all, the low vibration of the synth is stalked by the treble rattle of a snare drum. The effect is of a woman in stilettos hunting a shadow.

Swift unpicks the unwieldiness of her stardom with terrific, surreal imagery (Beth Garrabrant)

Theres been some excitement online about the teased track Karma. Many thought it would address her spat with Kanye West, and that it might have been taken from an album lost during that time. But the swipes at a spiderboy, king of thieves waving a web of opacity would suggest its about her ex, Spider-Man star Jake Gyllenhaal (who famously dumped her by text, breaking her heart and inspiring the album Red, which she recently re-recorded). The album ends with Mastermind, which seems to be about Alwyn again  and includes a confession that, like all wise women, she engineered some aspects of their romance. Im only cryptic and Machiavellian because I care Ha.

The subtle melodies of Midnights take time to sink their claws in. But Swifts feline vocal stealth and assured lyrical control ensure she keeps your attention. Turn the lights off and let these songs prowl around you. Just dont expect their meanings to settle too biddably into your lap. Swifts always as elusive as she is allusive.
By Tyler Clifford

(Reuters) - A Michigan teenager accused of killing four students and injuring seven other people in the deadliest school shooting of 2021 will plead guilty to murder charges in a court appearance on Monday, a local prosecutor said on Friday.

Ethan Crumbley, 16, is accused of opening fire in Oxford High School outside Detroit with a gun that his father purchased as a Christmas gift just days before the Nov. 30 shooting.

In January, Crumbley's lawyers wrote in a court notice that he would mount an insanity defense, but those plans appear to have changed, according to Oakland County Chief Assistant Prosecutor David Williams.

Three attorneys defending Crumbley did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

"We can confirm that the shooter is expected to plead guilty to all 24 charges, including terrorism and the prosecutor has notified the victims," Williams said in a statement. "There have been no plea deals, no reductions and no sentencing agreements."

Crumbley is expected to enter the plea in court at 8:30 a.m. local time on Monday.

Among the dozens of charges is a count of terrorism causing death and four counts of premeditated murder by a juvenile, according to the prosecutor.

Four students were killed in the rampage and six other students and a teacher were wounded in the attack.

Oxford High School is located in Oxford, Michigan, about 30 miles north of Detroit.

(Reporting by Tyler Clifford; Editing by David Gregorio)
Warning: This post contains spoilers for "From Scratch."

Tembi Locke turned her "rare and beautiful" love story into a 2019 memoir, "From Scratch." After being chosen for a Reese's Book Club pick, the memoir was adapted into a Netflix show premiering on Oct. 21.

Given the personal nature of the story, Locke had a prominent role in the show's creation. In addition to executive producing, Locke co-wrote the series alongside her sister, the novelist Attica Locke.

"I can't imagine having it been done any other way," Tembi told TODAY. "The best thing I could offer was to be the guardian of the essence of the story. I knew we could change things. But if the storyline had to go left, then it still had to follow the emotional heartbeat of reality."

While the show filmed in California and Sicily, Locke said she didn't feel alone. Both she and her sister, speaking to TODAY, said they felt the presence of Locke's late husband, Saro Gullo.

Gullo died of cancer in 2012, with his wife and daughter Zoela surviving him. "From Scratch" tracks Gullo and Locke's early romance in Florence; their challenges navigating a long-distance, cross-cultural relationship; parenthood; and Saro's cancer diagnosis.

Characters' names are changed in the show for "psychic distance," but Zoe Saldana plays Amy Wheeler, a stand-in for Locke, and Eugenio Mastrandrea plays Lino Ortolano, Gullo's counterpart.

Gullo's presence, the Locke sisters said, came in the form of strange synchronicities.

Take Amy's apartment in Florence, where she first meets Lino. The apartment the Italian location scouts chose is located next to Locke's real apartment, much to Locke's surprise.

"It's literally the exact piazza I lived in. The place where Lino stands in the rain is the exact place where Saro stood. I didn't tell them, 'Go to this piazza and look," she said.

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To make matters stranger, Sloane's bar in the show  where Lino and Amy meet through a mutual friend  is the bar that Gullo had owned with his friend, Locke said.

Cast members also had connections to Gullo.

Lucia Sardo, the Sicilian actor who plays Lino's mom Filomena, emerged from her set in L.A. to tell Locke she had just gotten off the phone with Gullo's childhood friend.

"We hadn't put it together," she said.

While auditioning on Zoom, Marcello Mazzarella, who plays the doctor in Sicily in Episode Eight, realized he had met Gullo in 1990 after seeing a hat like the ones Gullo used to wear.

"They had met by chance in Sicily. He was like, 'Wait a minute. I passed through his town and I met him. He said he had a Black wife from L.A. who was an actress in Hollywood," Tembi Locke said. "I was like, 'What is happening right now?"

Locke interpreted these coincidences as proof of Gullo's presence.

"These are the kind of ways that made me think, 'Saro's hand is very much at the spiritual level of orchestrating this. I don't know how any of this is happening.'"

Attica Locke had her own uncanny moment while shooting in Sicily for the last episode. After Gullo's death, Locke and her family traveled to Sicily, as the Wheelers do in the show.

Attica Locke said shooting a procession through the town was an "out of body experience" and "intensely emotional." Then, the woman who plays the mayor's mother called her "Attachina."

"That is a nickname Saro called me. I had no heard that in 10 years. I said, 'Why did you just say that?' And she said, 'I don't know. It just came to me," Attica Locke said. "It felt like he was right here."

The Locke sisters said that, throughout filming, there was a feeling of remembrance, with cast and crew thinking about mortality.

Attica Locke said one of the actors who played a doctor was struck that the show filmed in the same hospital where his mother had surgery.

"That's what we're talking about: An armada of angels. Everybody was having to contemplate loss in their life. For some people on set it was triggering. For others, it was healing," Attica Locke said.

To commemorate the mood, writers named side characters were named after people that people involved with the show had lost.

"David is named after Paul David Crump, a theater teacher in our high school that had a huge influence on our lives. Preston came from a loved one of one of our writers. Down to the guy selling a corn dog has the name tag Ryan, the uncle of our script coordinator," Attica Locke said.

"Every place we thought we could have a piece of people's angels, onscreen in some way, we tried to find a way to do it," Attica Locke said.

For Tembi Locke, the presence of these signs is fitting: For her, the show is about how love "transforms and transmutes, but doesn't leave us."

I felt like we were creating a mosaic tapestry of the souls who had touched the lives of the people who had a hand in making the series, Tembi Locke said  Gullo included.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Shava Nerad told Insider that her son, Joseph, would look after her dog, Wilson, after she took her own life. Courtesy of Shava Nerad

Shava Nerad has a terminal illness and intends to end her life by refusing food and water.

Her health-insurance company has denied the services she needs to carry out her plans.

This is Nerad's story, as told to Jane Ridley.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Shava Nerad. It has been edited for length and clarity

I once talked a good friend out of suicide.

We were both in our 20s and I asked, "If you could do anything in your life, what would you do?" He said he'd be a roadie and learn to do the lighting for bands. So I told him, "Quit your job, get rid of everything, and go try that." Then I said, "You can always kill yourself later."

He took my advice. He became a lighting director for some of the biggest musicians of the 1980s and '90s.

Now, four decades after that conversation, and at 63, I'm the one who wants to end my life. I'm not pro-suicide, but I am against the idea of a meaningless life  something that I see in my future. If I was handed millions of dollars, it wouldn't give me back my health. If you can't do what you love and you are suffering pain all day and every day, maybe it's time to go.

I need clearance from my health-insurance company before I can properly end my life

But it's not as simple as that. I am not going to hang myself  it sounds awful. All I want is to go out on my own terms while I can still say goodbye. The best way for me to die is by voluntarily stopping eating and drinking, or VSED.

I believe it's the most compassionate method of suicide  both for yourself and your family. It's not painful  you're hardly even aware toward the end  and your loved ones can be at your bedside if they wish. But before I go ahead with VSED, I have to rip up the red tape and change my advance directive. My health insurance won't pay for the geriatric psych evaluation that I need to prove that I'm of "sound mind." If I don't get the clearance, I can forget about receiving any form of hospice care.

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Nerad at the age of 45. She is a retired journalist. Steve Garfield

My chronic health condition goes back to 2007. I hit my head in a car accident but didn't get proper medical attention. My symptoms included headaches, confusion, focal seizures, and aphasia. I had a raft of endocrine issues, including loss of my libido.

I saw a lot of doctors over the years  ranging from an orthopedist to a memory expert  who treated my symptoms. But nobody could get to the underlying cause. Then, in 2013, I met a doctor who went full "House" on me. He looked at my medical history and the shape I was in before sending me for imaging and other tests.

I've been in excruciating pain for more than 15 years

They found that I was missing half my hypothalamus. It's an area of the brain that releases hormones to control functions like your sleep, appetite, and sex drive. The neurologist said that it looked like I'd experienced a clot in my collarbone that traveled to my brain and calcified. He thought that my stroke was the result of the car accident.

Three months later, I was diagnosed with Behcet's syndrome. It's an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and narrowing of the blood vessels. My rheumatologist  who told me that it was a progressive illness that could cause organ damage  said that it was potentially fatal. She said that Behcet's made a stroke worse.

I had raging headaches and excruciating pain in my joints. It felt like the inside of my body was covered with hives. I was forced to leave my job as the director of a nonprofit software project. I used a walker because of my mobility impairments.

I think that my pain threshold is impacted by barometric pressure. I felt the best I had for years on a trip to South Africa in 2019. My symptoms seemed to ease in warm, dry weather. I moved from Boston to Fremont, California, the same year. The change of location helped  for a while. But if a doctor asked how I was feeling today, I'd say, "really, really, really terrible."

Behcet's tends to exacerbate any old or new injury. Right now, the inflammation is in my left hip. I'll feel it in my shoulder, back, internal organs, and even my feet. I'm taking medication for diabetes and thyroid issues. I've tried vitamin D and herbal supplements. Nothing's done a really great job. CBD eases the pain  or allows me to better ignore the pain.

I got COVID in January this year. I had even more pain and fatigue. A lasting effect was double vision, so I can no longer drive. The eye strain has restricted my reading and writing. I'm a retired journalist, so that's particularly distressing. I sleep 18 hours a day. I only leave my house for medical appointments.

I don't want to die a long, torturous death like my mother did

I decided to end my life last month. My 29-year-old son, Joseph, supports me. He knows I've been ill for 15 years, and I'm in decline. I knew that I was not eligible for any of the Death with Dignity laws. It was highly unlikely that a doctor would say I've got six months to live. Behcet's is a slow, progressive disease. It could kill me by January next year  or when I'm in my 90s.

My mother died a prolonged and torturous death from Lewy body dementia  the same thing Robin Williams had  at the age of 94. She got squeamish thinking about death.

The only legal option I have available is VSED. The Supreme Court ruled that any person has the right to refuse treatment, including refusing hydration and nutrition. At the point that I stop eating and drinking, I can't get medication to help me die, only medication to make me less distressed.

Nerad said her symptoms eased a little during her 2019 vacation in the dry climate of South Africa. Courtesy of Shava Nerad

I've contacted a number of advocacy groups for VSED. They've told me to change my advance directive once I've been certified as being "in sound mind"  with no depression or dementia  by an experienced geriatric psychiatrist.

I don't need the certification to move forward with VSED, but it's an important measure. The advocates said that my decision would be much less likely to be contested if I got the legal documentation. The wishes of some VSED patients, they said, had not been honored.

But Kaiser Permanente, my HMO, has refused to pay for the psych evaluation. I said that I needed the referral to pursue VSED and receive hospice care. They have not been transparent about their denial.

If I have to pay out of pocket, it will cost tens of thousands of dollars that I don't have. I'm a senior on a fixed income.

I feel that it's time for me to go

It takes a great deal of strength to talk about options like VSED. We're running into a lot of social taboos. It's a product of how incredibly good modern medicine is  it's hard for people to die. We're so focused on prolonging life, we don't talk about the quality of life.

I'd rather die at home with hospice care rather than in an institution. People I haven't seen in years have come to visit. They're happy to have the opportunity to say goodbye, which is how it should be. I have a dark sense of humor and say that we should light a few candles on my "unbirthday cake."

I've led a good life and packed in a lot. I look back at Joseph's birth and the first few hours that I held him. When I was to marry his dad, I made my own wedding gown. I loved dancing and climbing the mountains where I grew up in Vermont.

I want my death to be as gentle as possible, for everyone involved. I want to be as brave and determined and loving in death as I have been in life.

Insider asked Kaiser Permanente for comment on Nerad's case. A spokesperson said that they couldn't comment on individual cases in line with HIPAA guidelines.

Do you have a powerful story to share with Insider? Please send details to jridley@insider.com.

Read the original article on Insider
By Chris Gallagher

(Reuters) - Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand's appearance at a democracy forum on Friday was disrupted by a protester who stood before the stage holding a "STOP THE WAR" sign, prompting Anand to take a break in the middle of the programme when the protester refused to leave.

Anand was speaking about Canada's support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion at Toronto Metropolitan University when the protester, a woman wearing a winter cap and glasses, displayed the sign addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Anand and other Canadian ministers.

"STOP LYING. STOP SENDING WEAPONS. STOP NATO," read the sign. "PEACE IN UKRAINE."

"Can I see your sign please?" Anand asked the protester.

"Thank you for sharing that with me and I want to say that the aid that we have sent to Ukraine is aid that is in support of democracy, and sovereignty and rules-based international order - that same order that has kept you, everyone in this room, and our country, safe since the end of the Second World War," Anand said.

The protester, however, refused to leave and event host Martin Regg Cohn, a Toronto Star columnist, warned that she was getting to close to the minister's personal space.

"I'm going to take a break, Martin. Thank you so much," said a clearly uncomfortably Anand before she walked off the stage.

The defence minister, who announced a new military aid package for Ukraine earlier this month, retook the stage about 10 minutes later.

Canada has donated or committed about C$600 million in military equipment since Russia began its invasion on Feb. 24.

"Thank you for coming back," Cohn said.

"No problem. That's democracy," Anand replied.

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Shanghai's Lingang new area expands opening-up

13:17, October 20, 2022 By Xie Weiqun ( People's Daily

The Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone celebrated its third anniversary recently.

Photo shows a bird's-eye view of the Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. (People's Daily Online/Wang Chu)

The Lingang new area, spurring technological innovation through institutional innovation, is building itself into a modern area and a special economic function zone with enormous influence and competitiveness in the international market.

So far, 90 percent of the 78 missions assigned by the State Council in a framework development plan for the Lingang new area three years ago have been completed. The central government of China, Shanghai's municipal government, and the Lingang new area have launched over 260 policies, which helped generate 87 cases of institutional innovation, of which 36 were attempted for the first time in China.

SPS is a new material company based in the Lingang new area. It is one of the few Chinese producers of a type of alumina fiber that is able to extend as long as 4,000 meters and work in an environment with a temperature of over 1,500 degrees Celsius. The metal fiber is widely used in aerospace, semiconductor, automobile and other high-end manufacturing industries.

A number of major projects have been implemented by the Dishui Lake in the Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. (People's Daily Online/Ji Haixin)

"We became able to produce the fiber less than two years after we moved to the Lingang new area. This October, we put into use an 80,000-square-meter new plant in the area, which is expected to further expand our capacity," said Guan Ketian, senior vice president and chief technical officer of the company.

The Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone of the Lingang new area is currently the sole special comprehensive bonded zone in China. To advance high-standard trade liberalization and facilitation, the bonded zone has systematically upgraded the procedures of customs supervision.

"Cargoes had to be declared at the Yangshan Port before entering the Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone. Thanks to new supervision models, cargoes are permitted to enter the bonded zone without any declaration. This has benefited relevant enterprises, especially those that seek raw materials and customers outside China," said Wan Jun, an official with Shanghai Customs.

According to Wan, the number of batches of cargo permitted to enter the Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone increased six-fold in the first half of this year, compared with a year ago.

Photo shows a night view of the Dishui Lake in the Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. (People's Daily Online/Ji Haixin)

The Lingang new area strives to build four core industries: integrated circuits, biomedicine, artificial intelligence, and civil aviation. Besides, it is also working to build competitive high-end equipment manufacturing and new energy vehicle industries and promote hydrogen energy and green development sectors for future development. The new area has established frontier industrial clusters that own core technologies.

Over the past three years, more than 300 projects of frontier technologies were inked in the special area, with a total investment of over 420 billion yuan ($58.14 billion). Such progress couldn't have been made without the institutional innovation made by the Lingang new area.

Tax preference is a common feature of major free trade zones and ports around the world. Taking as a benchmark the world's most advanced taxation policies implemented at other free trade ports, relevant departments of Shanghai have comprehensively studied the tax systems of Hong Kong, Singapore, Rotterdam, Dubai and other special economic function zones. They also visited over 200 enterprises in the Lingang new area to solicit opinions. Finally, a framework of tax reform measures was made, and a series of relevant policies were later announced by the State Taxation Administration.

A number of major projects have been implemented by the Dishui Lake in the Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. (People's Daily Online/Ji Haixin)

Tax policies are one of the major reasons for SenseTime, a Hong Kong-headquartered artificial intelligence company, to place its supercomputing center and intelligent vehicle business in the Lingang new area.

"The reduced corporate income tax rate of 15 percent in the area will have a positive impact on the future development of our company. The reduced individual income tax rate of 15 percent is also an attraction for talents," said Qian Qianying, executive director of finance of SenseTime.

Tax policies are an important engine driving the rapid and high-quality development of the Lingang new area. Over the past three years, 63,000 enterprises have been registered in the special area, or 90 per day on average.

Besides, financial supervision departments have also made institutional innovation to facilitate enterprises, including piloting the foreign exchange management reform for cross-border trade and investment and the facilitation of cross-border settlement, investment and financing.

Containers are being handled at a container terminal of the Yangshan Port, Shanghai. (People's Daily Online/Shen Chunchen)

(Web editor: Hongyu, Wu Chengliang)
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, pictured Sept. 28 at in Chicago, has pledged to continue the cash handouts after the initial two-year run. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

More than 200,000 people put their names in for Cook Countys guaranteed income pilot program.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle didnt sound surprised by that figure, telling reporters Thursday that more than one-third of the county was eligible for the program and lots are in need in this difficult moment.

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Applications were accepted through Friday, with 206,000 people submitting them by Thursday, a county official said. Among those eligible, the county will choose 3,250 recipients by lottery who will be notified in mid-November, with the first payments going out by the end of January.

The program is limited to those 18 or older with a household income at or below 250% of the federal poverty level  about $45,000 for a family of two and $81,000 for a family of five. The two-year program is funded with $42 million in federal COVID-19 relief dollars.

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Preckwinkle has pledged to continue the program after its two-year run, and has suggested revenues from cannabis taxes might help fund it going forward. The county estimates cannabis taxes will generate $13.2 million by the end of the year, a number expected to grow on average 13% annually through 2027, as more dispensaries launch. Preckwinkle says she will look for other revenue streams to meet the need.

Preckwinkle is up for reelection in November for a fourth term leading the 17-member board. Her Republican challenger is former Chicago Ald. Bob Fioretti.

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Chicagos guaranteed income pilot garnered more than 176,000 applications. Payments to 5,000 recipients ultimately chosen by lottery started this month. Both programs are being studied by the University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab for outcomes.

Cook County is separately studying the cost of providing 12 weeks of paid parental leave for its full-time employees. That follows Mayor Lori Lightfoots pledge to increase Chicagos paid leave policy up to 12 weeks for birthing, non-birthing, surrogate, foster or adoptive parents. The current policy offers four to six weeks for the birthing parent and two weeks for the non-birthing parent.

The county now provides four weeks of paid leave for a birthing parent who has a nonsurgical delivery, and six weeks for a surgical delivery. Non-birthing parents are entitled to two weeks. Adoptive parents are entitled to two weeks of paid leave.

The resolution asking for a study of the fiscal impact on the county was introduced today by Commissioner Bridget Degnen, a Chicago Democrat, and co-sponsored by nine other members of the board, a majority. Increasing paid leave already has Preckwinkles support.

Im a mother myself, not to mention a grandmother, so I believe in parental leave, Preckwinkle told reporters Thursday. Id like to be able to offer this benefit to both our exempt and union employees at the same time, and were trying to figure out how to manage that.
TOLEDO, Ohio  Tim Ryan is arguably running the countrys most valuable Senate campaign. Even if he doesnt win.

The self-described Democratic underdog is neck-and-neck with J.D. Vance in the race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio). And Ryans doing it without the help of the national party while forcing Republican groups to spend more than $30 million countering him rather than on Democratic-held seats in places like Arizona and Colorado.

While Ryan absorbs Republican attacks, Democrats are mostly focused elsewhere  a boost to their broader effort to hold the 50-50 Senate against midterm headwinds that leaves the 10-term congressman essentially on his own. Democrats love Ryan for keeping it close, yet as Vance keeps a slim lead in public polls, Ryan isnt favored by  pretty much anyone except himself.

The blunt, staccato-voiced 49-year-old insists hell surprise everyone and join Sen. Sherrod Brown as the only Democrats to win Senate races here since former Sen. John Glenn won his last race in 1992. Democrats think he has an outside chance at winning, according to interviews with congressional lawmakers and party strategists.





If he can pull it off, Ryan says hell operate outside of his party leadership when necessary  contrary to the Pelosi-loving image Republicans are pushing, citing his recently reliable Democratic voting record.

I dont know if Im going to vote for Chuck Schumer as leader, Ryan said in an interview on his campaign bus. I will get to the Senate and be beholden to absolutely nobody, right? And I will be, probably, a royal pain in the ass when I get there. And that may be a reason why we're not getting help.

Should he lose but help keep the Senate in Democratic control by diverting national GOP resources, he allowed that hell be glad that the inmates arent taking over the asylum. But you know, I won't be happy. That's just not in my DNA.

Republicans now project confidence about Vance, but the Mitch McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund super PAC is spending about $3 million per week to boost Ryan's foe and has kept its ad reservations. It's a sign that the race remains close enough to not take chances and a far cry from where things stood in Ohio at this time six years ago.



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Last time this seat was in play, Portman had dispatched Gov. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio) already. It's escaped no one's notice that Ryan is overperforming, despite a midterm cycle that's working against him.

Tim Ryan has forced national Republicans to spend roughly $40 million in a general election in a state that they had no plans to spend in, said Justin Barasky, who managed Browns winning 2018 reelection bid. He is going to be responsible, one way or the other, for helping Democrats hold the Senate. Win or lose.

Ryan's doing it by peppering his candid rhetoric with mild expletives and not emphasizing that hes a Democrat. In a state Donald Trump won by 8 points, Ryan must claim a significant slice of Republican voters to prevail. It doesnt seem like a coincidence that his campaign bus is bright red.

The Buckeye State's progressive senior senator agreed that Ryan is lifting Senate Democrats nationwide but pointedly added that my interest is that he wins and has done that service. Not that he loses and has done that service.

I would make one prediction. Maybe I shouldn't, Brown said in an interview. But a year from now, J.D. Vance will be living back in California.



The close race is getting more intense as Election Day nears. Vance dubs Ryan a total scumbag and a fake moderate. Ryan calls Vance lazy as can be and barely tolerates him: I dont hate him. I dont respect him.

Vance is professorial on the stump but shows a hard edge as he rails against the media, and he too adds a swear here and there. He does press gaggles, but his campaign did not make him available for an interview. Ryan clearly enjoys back-and-forth with reporters more; a planned 10-minute interview ends up at 25 minutes as he pushes more middle-class tax cuts and vows to steer his party in a new direction.

Ryan's biggest strength may prove his exploitation of internal GOP divisions after Vances primary win. Those splits dried up fundraising and curbed enthusiasm for Vance among Republican voters who supported other candidates as Ryan railed against China on TV.

He spent his money running as a conservative Democrat while the Republicans were beating each other up, Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio) said of how Ryan kept the race close. His ads, I mean, theyre very populist. I wouldnt even say middle of the road. Theyre right-leaning.

Democrats disagree that Ryan is running as a quasi-Republican. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said his campaign is close to the winning message of Sherrod Brown.

The GOP's betting that Ryan will shed cross-aisle support as Vance and the GOP super PAC focus tightly on his recent voting record in support of Democrats agenda. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said Vance spent the summer running as a Trump Republican but the ground shifted this fall and Vance is beginning to pull away.



Democrats wonder whether the Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC could change that with an ad barrage. At this moment, Ryans lonely battle is a point of pride as he posts big fundraising numbers, advises big-name surrogates like former President Barack Obama to stay away and revels in being the face of this campaign.

We don't necessarily need them to come in here," Ryan said. "We're raising enough money to do this on our own."

Still, some Ohio Democrats feel snubbed. Cindy Dempsey, who chairs the Ohio Democratic Womens Caucus, said shes frustrated theres not more help" and called the GOP deluge painful.

Senate Majority PAC hasnt ruled out helping Ryan, and its chief J.B. Poersch praised his remarkably strong campaign. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee also coordinated an ad buy with him.

Largely solo in his message, Ryan argues that GOP hits on his votes with Pelosi numbers are misleading because the speaker rarely brings legislation to the House floor without all Democrats in favor. I'm not saying I wouldn't use" the attack line, Ryan acknowledges, "if I was him.

Notably, Ryan declined to pull a Manchin this Congress by threatening to stop Democratic priorities in order to win leverage for his own. The Ohioan said it wouldnt have made much difference, that he instead fought to get his priorities added to must-pass bills.





The one-time presidential candidate highlights past votes against fast-tracking new Obama trade deals and supporting some of Trumps trade agenda as examples of willingness to buck his own party. He's with most Democrats in other ways: He supports axing the Senates legislative filibuster and expanding abortion access after Roe v. Wade was struck down.

Tim Ryan has, in many respects, tried to run like a Republican, which is an appeal to those more conservative independent voters in Ohio, Portman said in an interview. It's not ultimately going to be successful, I don't think. Because it's not consistent with his record.

Perhaps the biggest clapback Ryan offers to Vance's accusations of rote party-line behavior is his 2016 leadership race against Pelosi. He likened that long-odds challenge to the one hes attempting now.

My whole thing there was, like, this is our fault. The Trump creation is our fault, Ryan said of Democrats fraying dominance with working-class voters. We lost our connection, and that's how Trump was able to like swoop in. And I think this is a chance for us to, right here in the heart of the country, reclaim it.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  It was a crisp fall day when biologist Bernie Kuhajda drove to a nondescript trickle of water running through a Middle Tennessee cow pasture to try to keep a small, brightly colored fish from becoming extinct.

The trickle  little more than a few big mud puddles  was one of the last bodies of water left with a population of Barrens topminnows, and it was drying up.

So Kuhajda and his team donned waders and dragged a large sieve through the muddy pools, collecting 64 of the small, iridescent killifish to take back to the Tennessee Aquarium, where they maintain an ark population as a hedge against their possible disappearance in the wild.

If we hadn't rescued these 64, this entire genetic population of Barrens topminnows would have disappeared, Kuhajda said. This species would have been one step closer to extinction, and it's not many steps away now."

That was in 2016, and though those fish were saved, the fate of the species is far from certain.

The Barrens topminnow spent more than 40 years in endangered species limbo  under an on-and-off review in which the fishs chances of being saved suffered from the acrimony created during a highly-publicized fight to save another tiny Southeastern fish, the snail darter. The topminnow was finally given federal protection in 2019, but its future is still in doubt partially because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has not defined its critical habitat  the areas that must be protected in order for it to recover.

Over the decades, its distribution has diminished to a handful of springs and streams around Manchester, where the annual Bonnaroo music festival is held. In that time it has been both the victim of political backlash against the Endangered Species Act as well as the beneficiary of herculean efforts to prevent its extinction.

One of its champions is biologist Pat Rakes, who researched the Barrens topminnow for his master's degree thesis at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and now co-directs the nonprofit Conservation Fisheries. That is one of several institutions that has maintained ark populations. Rakes said there are many good reasons to protect a small fish that many people might deem unimportant, and perhaps the best is because all aquatic animals and plants work together to keep the ecosystem healthy.

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As Rakes puts it, You dont throw away any parts if you are tinkering with the machine, or you might not be able to put it back together.

Barrens topminnows grow to about 4 inches (10 centimeters) and live about three years. They eat bugs and small aquatic animals. The breeding males are brightly colored with red-orange spots on an iridescent blue-green body and bluish fins with yellow and black edges.

Theyre absolutely gorgeous, said Margaret Townsend. They look like jewelry, like they are covered in gemstones.

Townsend is an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, which recently threatened to sue the wildlife service over its failure to designate critical habitat. The service has asked for patience, writing on Sept. 7 that it is working diligently and expects to submit a proposed critical habitat by the end of the year.

Barrens topminnows are named for where they live  Tennessee's Barrens Plateau, so called for the relative lack of trees. Small waterfalls and cascades isolate the waters of the plateau, keeping downstream fish from invading the topminnows territory. But sometime in the 1960s or 1970s, the Western mosquitofish was introduced in a misguided effort to control mosquitos  they eat mosquito larvae, but so do Barrens topminnows. Everywhere the mosquitofish has been introduced, the topminnow has disappeared.

They eat all the topminnows eggs, all their larvae, and they harass the Barrens topminnow  even though the Barrens topminnow is bigger  and nip their fins off, Rakes said.

Recognizing the threats of habitat loss from farming and development as well as predation by mosquitofish, the Fish and Wildlife Service first proposed listing the Barrens topminnow as endangered in 1977. That was shortly after the Endangered Species Act was passed. It was also smack in the middle of the acrimonious snail darter battle that held up construction of a Tennessee Valley Authority dam for over two years.

The snail darter fight weakened public and political appetite for listing another small Tennessee fish as endangered. The listing stalled, with the Barrens topminnow popping up occasionally in the National Register over the ensuing decades as being under review.

In the 1990s and 2000s, the Fish and Wildlife Service inked conservation agreements with farmers like Raymond Cooper that sought to protect topminnow habitat by fencing cattle out of the few springs where they still lived. Cooper said in a telephone interview that he still has his cattle fenced out, even though the agreement has expired, because it was the right thing to do for the stream's sake.

As far as I know, it's still hatching topminnows, he said. As long as I own the farm, it will be protected. But at 79, I'm not going to own it forever.

Barrens topminnows might have gone extinct already if it weren't for the efforts of biologists like Kuhajda to collect them, breed them in captivity, and return them to the wild in an attempt to reestablish viable populations.

The struggle to save the Barrens topminnow is bigger than just one little fish, Kuhajda said. The American Southeast has the greatest aquatic biodiversity of anywhere in the temperate world, with an amazing array of fish, mussels, aquatic snails, crawdads and aquatic insects, like mayflies and dragonflies.

Its part of our natural heritage here in the Southeast and most folks dont know about it, he said. Most of these animals you find nowhere else except right here. Its something to be proud of.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is endorsing multiple school board candidates in suburban school districts that are mostly stressing parental rights and a concern that liberal ideologies are taking over schools.

He is endorsing three Carmel candidates  Jenny Brake, Greg Brown and Adam Sharp  who are running a joint campaign that is emphasizing, among other things, parental rights and a desire to improve the districts testing scores.

In a press release provided by the school board candidates' campaign on Thursday, Oct. 20, it says that Rokita is endorsing the school board members because of their emphasis on supporting parental rights in education.

An involved parent is the single greatest gift in any childs life, Rokita said in an endorsement letter on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Understanding that parents are the very first educators in our childrens lives, and that they are the source of the unique values and morals of the family, I stand beside the candidates that will uphold these truths and support the rights outlined under Indiana laws.

Rokitas office also confirmed that he endorsed two Avon Community School Corporation candidates, Jennifer Smith and Shawna Lake.

Lake has said on her campaign website that she believes children are not being educated in Avon schools and instead are being indoctrinated to be a group of socialist, Marxist, America-hating, gender confused, zealots that will one day govern this nation.

More on Lake: This school board candidate was at the U.S. Capitol day of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection

Rokita has been a vocal supporter of parental rights and released an updated version of his Parents Bill of Rights in July, which he initially released in 2021.

The bill of rights outlines, among other things, that parents have the right to question and review the curriculum taught to their child, that public comments will be allowed at school board meetings and that parents have the right to make medical care decisions on behalf of the child, including vaccinations and immunizations.

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On their website under why they are running for school board, it says the Carmel candidates believe schools have now shifted their focus from prioritizing academics to assume the role of social activists intent on imposing their belief systems onto our children.

The Carmel candidates have arisen, along with a slate of other candidates in suburban school districts, on platforms that are mostly against certain kinds of social emotional learning being taught in schools and the use of diversity, equity and inclusion work.

2022 Election: Meet the candidates for the Carmel Clay School Board

The Carmel Clay school district has faced a tumultuous past year of school board meetings being interrupted by angry crowd members, causing the school board to suspend public comment at meetings for multiple months.

Early in-person voting has already begun in Indiana and will end on Nov. 7 at noon. Contact your County Clerks office to find locations and hours for early voting and for in-person voting on Nov. 8.

Voters can also vote absentee but need to request a ballot no later than Oct. 27, or 12 days before the general election on Nov. 8.

To request an absentee ballot, you must meet the requirements, which can be found online at in.gov/sos/elections/voter-information/ways-to-vote. You can request online or by mailing or hand-delivering the application to your county election board or the Indiana Election Division. You also can email the application to elections@iec.in.gov.

Once received, you should mail the ballot back to your local county election office. Ballots must be received by election officials by 6 p.m. on Election Day, or it will not be processed.

Contact IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or CBeck@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolineB_Indy.

Caroline is also a Report for America corps member with the GroundTruth Project, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of journalists in the U.S. and around the world.

Report for America, funded by both private and public donors, covers up to 50% of a reporter's salary. Its up to IndyStar to find the other half, through local community donors, benefactors, grants or other fundraising activities.

If you would like to make a personal, tax-deductible contribution to her position, you can make a one-time donation online or a recurring monthly donation via IndyStar.com/RFA.

You can also donate by check, payable to The GroundTruth Project. Send it to Report for America, IndyStar, c/o The GroundTruth Project, 10 Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135. Please put IndyStar/Report for America in the check memo line.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Todd Rokita endorses school board candidates pushing parental rights
A transgender teen, parents and doctors testified this week while challenging an Arkansas law that restricts gender-affirming medical care for minors.

The Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act, which passed the Arkansas General Assembly in March 2021, bars people under 18 from receiving puberty blockers, hormone therapy and certain other forms of health care in the state.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in May of last year on behalf of four transgender minors, their parents and two physicians who provide gender-affirming care, alleging that the law violates the U.S. Constitution.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) had criticized the legislation as vast government overreach when he vetoed it in April last year. The General Assembly overrode the veto the following day, but a federal judge temporarily blocked the law in July 2021, pending the result of the ACLU lawsuit. That injunction was upheld in August 2022.

From Monday to Wednesday, doctors and families testified against the SAFE Act. The full trial, the nations first over a ban on gender-affirming care, is expected to last two weeks.

Dylan Brandt, 17, was the only transgender person to testify. Since starting hormone therapy in August 2020, he said, he has become much happier and more confident.

My outside finally matches the way I feel on the inside, he stated, according to The Associated Press. I have my days, but for the most part this has changed my life for the better. I can look in the mirror and be OK with the way I look and it feels pretty great.

Aaron Jennen provided emotional comments about his 17-year-old daughter, saying its not an option for her to stop the hormone therapy she began in January 2021, reported local radio station KUAR.

I worry about her withdrawing back into the person she was before she started it, a person who was unhappy, Jennen said, according to the NPR affiliate. Prior to treatment, the girl would question the point of life, he added.

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Dr. Michele Hutchison, who treated three teen plaintiffs in the suit, stated that she usually sees patients for at least 10 months before recommending a treatment, according to NBC News and network affiliate KARK-TV.

Hutchison said that after the the SAFE Act passed the Arkansas House, four of her patients attempted suicide.

Last week, an official at the ACLU of Arkansas argued that Arkansas families depend on this life-saving health care, calling the states attempted ban baseless and deadly.

The risks of denying this care to young people who need it are grave and well-founded, while the law attempting to ban care has made Arkansas less safe and less welcoming for transgender youth, their families, and all who love them, wrote Executive Director Holly Dickson in a press release.

Arkansas was the first state to enact a ban on gender-affirming care. Measures restricting such care for minors have been passed in three others: Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee. A judge partially blocked Alabamas law earlier this year, while Arizonas isnt set to take effect until May.

If you or someone you know needs help, dial 988 or call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You can also get support via text by visiting suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention for a database of resources.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Tom Barrack, a onetime fundraiser for former U.S. President Donald Trump, is expected to take the witness stand in his own defense next week in his trial on charges of being an illegal foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates.

Barrack's lawyer Randall Jackson said in open court on Friday that Barrack would the stand Friday afternoon. Later, prosecutor Sam Nitze said he expected to take substantial time to cross-examine the current witness, former Barrack lawyer Brady Cassis, meaning Barrack would not take the stand Friday.

For defendants, testifying is potentially risky because it opens them up to probing cross-examination by prosecutors.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said Barrack, 75, used his influence with Trump's election campaign and administration to push the UAE's interests without notifying the U.S. attorney general, as required by law.

They rested their case earlier this week after showing jurors hundreds of emails and text messages between Barrack, his former assistant Matthew Grimes, and an Emirati businessman named Rashid Al Malik, who prosecutors described as an intermediary between them and Emirati officials.

Those messages showed Emirati officials provided feedback to Barrack on what he should say in television interviews and an op-ed about U.S. policy toward the Middle East in 2016 and 2017, and gave input about what Trump should say about energy policy in a 2016 campaign speech.

Barrack, 75, has pleaded not guilty, as has his co-defendant Grimes. Al Malik is at large.

Barrack's lawyers argued his interactions with Emirati officials were part of his job running Colony Capital, a private equity firm now known as DigitalBridge Group Inc. Even in instances where his interests and goals aligned with the UAE's, he was acting on his own volition, they said.

The trial has featured testimony from former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson - who testified for the prosecution that he was unaware of Barrack's role in foreign policy - and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who testified on Thursday for the defense that Barrack pushed him to convince Trump to support Qatar in a blockade brought by regional rivals including the UAE.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Chris Reese and Grant McCool)
Donald Trump on Thursday tore into a California judge he called a partisan hack after the judge stated in a ruling that the former president filed a lawsuit making election fraud claims that he knew were false.

Trump was named Wednesday in a decision by U.S. District Judge David Carter, who ruled that attorney John Eastmans emails with the former president were not protected attorney-client communication because they may be evidence of a crime.

The emails are sufficiently related to and in furtherance of a conspiracy to defraud the United States, Carter wrote in his 18-page ruling.

The judge ordered that dozens of documents, including the emails, be released to the House Jan. 6 committee investigating last years attack on the Capitol.

The emails, he wrote, demonstrate an effort by President Trump and his attorneys to press false claims in federal court for the purpose of delaying the January 6 vote.

Trump filed certain lawsuits not to obtain legal relief, but to disrupt or delay the January 6 congressional proceedings through the courts, he noted.

Eastman was an architect of the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election, who concocted a scheme outlined in his so-called coup memo to have former Vice President Mike Pence refuse to certify electoral votes last Jan. 6.

Carters decision could hold serious consequences for Trump if its proven that he engaged in a conspiracy to overturn an election he knew was legitimate.

Trump criticized Carter in a Truth Social post Thursday for saying and sending to all, very nasty, wrong and ill informed statements about me on ruling or a case (whatever!), currently going on in California.

Please explain to this partisan hack that the President Election of 2020 was Rigged and Stolen, he added.

Theres no evidence the 2020 election was rigged, despite careful examination by numerous state legislatures and election boards, and dozens of court cases across the nation.

Carter noted in his ruling that Trump had filed a lawsuit falsely stating that thousands of votes in Georgia were illegal  even though he had been informed by Eastman that some of the claims were inaccurate and without evidence to support them.

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After Trump signed a verification for an original state court filing in December 2020, he was made aware that some of the allegations (and evidence proffered by the experts) has been inaccurate, Eastman warned in one of his emails cited in the ruling. For him to sign a new verification with that knowledge (and incorporation by reference) would not be accurate.

Trump and his legal team nevertheless went on to file a later complaint with the same inaccurate numbers without rectifying, clarifying, or otherwise changing them, Carter wrote. The emails show that President Trump knew that the specific numbers of voter fraud were wrong but continued to tout those numbers, both in court and to the public.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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Tucker Carlson on Thursday questioned the three-and-a-half-year prison sentence handed to UCLA student Christian Secor after he stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with a mob of Donald Trump followers and sat in Mike Pences chair. The Fox News host later wanted to know what the former vice president thought about that. (Watch the video at the bottom.)

Carlson noted that Secor, who was suspended from UCLA, will spend far more time behind bars than two attorneys who fire-bombed a police car in Brooklyn during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020. Carlson played fast and loose with the facts in his argument. More on that later.

But first, heres how Carlson characterized Secors involvement:

So, what exactly did Christian Secor do to spend more time behind bars a lot more than those guys? Well, on Jan. 6 of 2021, Christian Secor walked into the Senate chamber and sat down briefly in Mike Pences seat. Thats it. Didnt hurt anyone, sat in Mike Pences seat. For that, Christian Secor will spend more time in prison than people who tried to set police officers on fire  to murder police officers.

First off, the convicted attorneys didnt attempt to attack police officers at all  they threw a Molotov cocktail into an empty police vehicle. (Their potential sentence was later reduced from 10 years to a recommended 18 months to two years. The actual sentencing for at least one of them is expected in November.)

Carlsons description of Secors actions was a tad generous. Secor, who carried the flag of a far-right movement, joined other rioters in pushing against doors and overpowering three police officers, according to a court filing that accompanied his guilty plea, The Associated Press wrote. (He pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding.)

Christian Secor seen by security video in a hallway in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Photo: via Associated Press)

Christian Secor seen by security video in a hallway in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Photo: via Associated Press)

The Trump-nominated judge who sentenced him, Trevor McFadden, said Secors actions were about as blatant and obstructive as any [hed] seen from that day that didnt include actual violence, NPR reported.

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Secors attorneys presented letters to suggest he was remorseful, but McFadden said, Im not sure Ive really seen that from you, sir, according to NPR.

Prosecutors also argued that Secor, who was not found to be armed that day, had raised red flags about his intentions through purchases of firearms and tactical gear. (He showed off his AR-15 in a video, NPR noted.)

Secor previously expressed support for political violence according to assistant U.S. attorney Kimberly Paschall.

Secors history of adhering to extremist ideology and easy access to weapons, including firearms, warrants serious consideration when fashioning an appropriate sentence, Paschall wrote, per AP.

Yeah, just a dude who sat in a chair, Tucker.

The far-right host then called out Pence, who was targeted in hang Mike Pence cheers from the rioters, for not responding to his request for comment.

So, what does Mike Pence think of this? Carlson said. A man going to prison for three and a half years for sitting in his seat? He didnt issue a statement about it, so we called his office. What do you think? He didnt respond. Maybe he will. Itd be interesting to know, what does Mike Pence think? Is he for this?

H/T Media Matters

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Weve all been on a plane when turbulence hits, and for the most part, it isnt too bad. But for one flight attendant, turbulence caused by a severe storm knocked him off his feet and caused him to break his ankle. His colleague was also injured, though less severely.

The event happened in July 2021, but its making its rounds again following a report by Bureau dEnquetes et dAnalyses (BEA). The French air agency which investigated the incident, released the report last Monday.

What Happened?

A male flight attendant was on board a Norwegian Air Flight when a storm hit.

According to Business Insider, turbulence began when the plane was forced to fly through a storm previously missed by air traffic radar.

The flight attendant was thrown from his feet, breaking an ankle in two places.

Where Was The Plane Coming From?

The flight departed Copenhagen, Denmark and was poised to land in Nice, France.

Business Insider reported, the injured attendant  referred to only as cabin crew member two  told investigators that he was securing equipment at the rear of the plane when it was jolted by turbulence. While he was moving to sit down, the turbulence lifted him from his feet. 

Who Investigated The Incident And Were Others Harmed?

The Bureau dEnquetes et dAnalyses (BEA) is the French agency responsible for investigating air incidents.

The agency reported that injuries caused by turbulence are very rare, with just 65 reported cases from 2012 to 2021.

Cabin crew member two found his foot trapped near the planes emergency exit before another jolt threw him upwards.

No one else was hurt except his female colleague (cabin crew member three), who injured her ankle.

All passengers were unharmed.

Were The Pilots Held Accountable?

The investigation found that the pilots took the best possible course of action.

Business Insider noted, the pilots had been working with local air traffic controllers to avoid storm clouds over the Swiss-Italian Alps and had been given permission to begin their descent to the airport.

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While the pilots were starting to land the plane, storm clouds that the radar didnt detect, appeared.

It was too late to move the aircraft around the clouds, so the pilots told passengers to fasten their seatbelts and proceeded through the clouds.

What Happened When The Plane Landed?

On arrival in Nice, Cabin Crew member two, and Cabin Crew member three, were taken by stretcher to the hospital.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said he will meet Sweden's new prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, to discuss Stockholm's bid to join NATO as well as the extradition of people Ankara considers terrorists.

Sweden and fellow Nordic country Finland launched their bids to join NATO in May in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but they ran into objections from Turkey.

Ankara accuses them of harbouring people it deems terrorists, namely Kurdish militants and those accused of involvement in a 2016 coup attempt.

Erdogan said Kristersson, who took office on Monday, sided with the fight againt terrorism, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported.

"He has statements such as 'we should not be harbouring terrorism and terrorists'," Erdogan said. "Of course we will have tested their sincerity on this issue in the meeting that we will hold."

Erdogan made his comments to Turkish media on a return flight from a trip to Azerbaijan on Thursday.

Speaking in Helsinki on Friday after a meeting with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom welcomed the discussions.

"In the fullness of time, we believe that everything will lead to...the ratification of and by the Turkish parliament of the application of Finland and Sweden to join NATO," Billstrom told reporters.

He said the new Swedish government would continue to implement the trilateral agreement struck in Madrid to smooth the path into NATO for Sweden and Finland.

"Among other things, countering terrorism will be a priority for Sweden before and after our accession to NATO," he said.

Erdogan has said Turkey's parliament would not approve the Nordic countries' NATO bids if they do not extradite the people Ankara has requested.

Sweden has taken "concrete action" to address Turkey's concerns over its NATO membership bid, Stockholm told Ankara in a letter dated Oct. 6 and seen by Reuters.

(Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Simon Johnson, Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen and Angus MacSwan)
Two adults and one child were rescued from a raging house fire that broke out overnight in Bostons Dorchester neighborhood.

Firefighters responding to a report of a blaze on Brookview Road around 3:00 a.m. found residents trapped on the second floor of a wood-frame home, according to the Boston Fire Department.

Crews had to use a ladder to rescue the adults and a six-year-old child, as well as a cat. Boston Deputy Fire Chief Scott Malone told Boston 25 News that if it wasnt for firefighters climbing up to help the people escape, they wouldnt have made it.

They were trapped, they were hanging out the window because the fire was so involved in front of the building, they were hanging out the window basically for air, Malone said.

The two adults and child were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

There were two other adults who lived in the home, but they werent inside at the time. Four adults and one child in total were displaced by the fire.

The Red Cross will be helping them find housing.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

.@BostonFire is investigating a 2-alarm fire on Brookview St in Dorchester. They used a ladder to rescue two adults and one child trapped on the second floor. They were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/KGPqegwIhZ  Kelly Sullivan (@ksullivannews) October 21, 2022

At approximately 3:00 heavy fire from the front porches extending up the occupied building at 31 Brookview st. Dor pic.twitter.com/09RJTiQIbl  Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) October 21, 2022

All companies working at 2nd alarm on Brookview Rd in Dorchester. Its a 2& 1/2 story wood frame home pic.twitter.com/bs2nMwj87F  Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) October 21, 2022

Heavy fire knocked down, companies are overhauling. pic.twitter.com/HXpOKBNXBD  Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) October 21, 2022

Companies rescued 2 adults and 1 child over a ground ladder from the second floor in the rear of the building. They were transported by @ems to the hospital, with minor injuries. pic.twitter.com/880bSoKOTc  Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) October 21, 2022

Companies are making up from 2nd alarm on 31 Brookview St in Dorchester pic.twitter.com/lzZfUzvcFP  Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) October 21, 2022





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In a small southern Illinois town earlier this year, a 58-year-old employee at the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center was accused of sexually assaulting a person with a severe or profound intellectual disability.

The victim, who was unable to give consent, was only identified in court records with the initials E.K. and the alleged assailant was later identified as a mental health technician at the 270-bed, state-run home who also was accused of a separate sexual assault of a girl under 13.

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The shocking charges against Charles Mills this March were the latest in a string of scandals at Choate, a home in downstate Anna for people with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, though few significant reforms at the home had been taken.

But on the same day Mills was charged, Gov. J.B. Pritzkers chief counsel sent an email to the governor with the subject line: choate  privileged and confidential, emails obtained by the Chicago Tribune through a public records request show. A few months later, Pritzker administration officials finally announced increased training and staffing at Choate, in addition to outside monitoring and the installation of new cameras to monitor conditions there.

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Administration officials have refused to detail the contents of the email sent to Pritzker or the single-line reply he also sent to other top aides. But critics say the reaction from the governor and his administration was too little too late.

While problems at the Illinois Department of Human Services facility had existed for years, employees at Choate have been charged 14 times since Pritzker became governor. The accusations have included employees abusing residents, obstructing investigations or participating in other misconduct. The states watchdog cited dozens of other incidents of abuse and neglect in the same timespan.

The ongoing problems at Choate also raise questions about the Pritzker administrations oversight of social service agencies in general during his first term in office as he runs for reelection against GOP nominee Darren Bailey.

The state auditor general has blamed Pritzkers Public Health Department for failing to adequately respond to a COVID-19 outbreak at a state home for veterans that led to the deaths of 36 residents. And child-welfare advocates have repeatedly hammered the administrations oversight of the Department of Children and Family Services that resulted in a judge ordering Pritzkers hand-picked DCFS director to be held in contempt of court a dozen times for failing to find appropriate placements for children.

I have to lay it at the feet of the governor because the buck stops with him, state Sen. Terri Bryant of Murphysboro said of the incidents at Choate, which is just west of her district. The Republican minority spokesperson for the Senates Committee on Behavioral and Mental Health added: The things that are a priority, you put all hands on deck.

[ Audit blasts Pritzker administration for failed response to LaSalle Veterans Home COVID-19 outbreak that killed 36 ]

The criminal charges at Choate have ranged from residents being beaten to a resident being forced to drink a cup of hot sauce to employees not reporting abuse, as well as obstruction of investigations or lying to state police. A recent joint investigation by ProPublica, Capitol News Illinois and Lee Enterprises found state police have launched at least 40 criminal investigations over the past decade into alleged employee misconduct at Choate.

Illinois state Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, on the floor of the Illinois Senate at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on Sept. 13, 2021. Bryant's district is just west of the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center. (Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register)

Since Pritzker took office in 2019, the inspector general for the Human Services Department has issued 41 reports substantiating other troubling incidents of abuse and neglect, including one employee punching a resident so hard it broke the residents ribs, another employee grabbing a resident by the throat and slamming that person to the ground, and yet another employee threatening to smother a resident with a pillow if the resident failed to stop talking.

Officials with Pritzkers administration say the problems at Choate are long-standing and are taking time to address while also laying blame on the previous Republican administration for budget cuts to social services.

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Any allegation of abuse or neglect is taken seriously and thoroughly investigated working in close partnership with the IDHS office of inspector general, the Illinois State Police and the Illinois Department of Public Health, Pritzker spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh said in an emailed statement. As we work to ensure the safety of those who reside at Choate, continuing to address these deeply entrenched challenges and make positive steps forward is a top priority for this administration.

But some advocates for people with developmental disabilities question whether Pritzkers reforms are enough and why Choate continues to operate. Experts whove studied and monitored residential services in Illinois and nationally say harmful conditions can flourish in large, state-run homes for people with developmental disabilities  of which Choate is one of seven in Illinois. Federally funded research shows 16 other states and the District of Columbia had closed, downsized, privatized or converted all of their similar facilities as of 2018.

Look at your neighbors in Michigan and in Indiana. Theyre serving the same people with the same characteristics in smaller settings, said Steven Eidelman, a professor of human services policy at the University of Delaware and past president of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. We know how to do this.

Indeed, one group of experts called for Choates closure years ago.

Following a damning 2005 report from the independent advocacy group Equip for Equality that called for the centers closure, the U.S. Department of Justice found Choate had failed to provide its residents with adequate protection from harm, had a critical lack of oversight and supervision and substantial underreporting of incidents. The DOJ later declined to intervene because, by 2013, Illinois had significantly expanded its commitment to community-based services.

By then, Gov. Pat Quinn had set out to scale back the states network of such facilities  closing one in 2012 and planning to close others before organized family groups pushed back. His successor, Gov. Bruce Rauner, kept open the next state home slated to be shuttered, then engaged in a yearslong budget battle that left the states social service agencies tattered.

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While serious issues at group homes can be found systemwide, some of the problems at Choate are acute  and since Pritzker has taken office his administration has been made aware of them.

Among those who rang alarm bells was Barry Smoot, a former security chief at Choate who emailed the head of IDHS with an urgent message in late May 2021.

What I am presently seeing occur at Choate and hearing occur at other facilities concerns me more than it has my entire career in relation to the safety of the vulnerable populations that we serve, he wrote to IDHS Secretary Grace Hou.

Smoot had worked for IDHS for decades, including as the statewide training coordinator for the offices inspector general and as head of security at the Chester Mental Health Center. In the email, he requested an in-person meeting with Hou to discuss possible solutions that will greatly reduce instances of abuse and neglect.

A Pritzker appointee to the role, Hou was formerly IDHS assistant secretary between 2003 and 2012, when both the Equip for Equality and DOJ reports landed. Hou replied to Smoot within hours, offering a meeting with her chief of staff and the director of the division that oversees state-operated developmental centers, known as SODCs.

IDHS Secretary Grace Hou speaks alongside Gov. J.B. Pritzker during a news conference in Chicago on Sept. 14, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

But seven months later, on his last day of work with the state in December 2021, Smoot wrote again to tell Hou no one in her office had ever reached out or met with him about the issues he raised in his earlier email.

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Earlier this month, IDHS spokesperson Marisa Kollias said in a statement that the agency had determined, based on information gathered after the Secretarys message was sent to Mr. Smoot, that it was inadvisable for IDHS management staff to communicate with him any further.

Kollias added that Smoot was in regular contact with other leaders at IDHS and had several other avenues to raise any concerns, including with state police and the watchdog that oversees executive offices across the state. Smoot told the Tribune he wrote to Hou directly because going up IDHS chain of command had been unsuccessful.

Kollias declined to elaborate on the departments decision to not meet with Smoot. IDHS personnel records do not indicate any reprimands. He is named among multiple defendants in a pending civil suit brought by a former Chester resident alleging that Smoot turned a blind eye to a culture of intimidation, harassment and retaliation.

Smoot has denied any wrongdoing and said during his years of service he had a history of showing that I didnt cover anything up  I did everything by the book and what was required.

[ Gov. J.B. Pritzker vowed to overhaul states child welfare system. Despite additional funding, some say its in worse shape than ever. ]

This March, Smoot self-published a book titled Failure to Protect, which detailed a code of silence at Choate and scant reporting of abuse and intimidation. In an email to officials in the governors office, an official from the state Guardianship and Advocacy Commission said Smoots accounts jive with many of the reports released by the Illinois Human Rights Authority. The GAC provides legal representation and guardianship to those with disabilities and investigates complaints of rights violations.

Bryant, the state senator from Murphysboro, also reached out to IDHS leadership after hearing a resident had been beaten by an employee with a belt and that the incident had been seen through a window from outside. The employee, Kevin Jackson, was one of five Choate employees arrested in October 2020.

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When I first brought this to (IDHS) attention, I believed that they were doing something about it, Bryant, a former Department of Corrections employee who knows two families with adult children at Choate, told the Tribune.

She later learned that paper was placed over the upstairs windows. After driving to Choate to confirm it, Bryant called an IDHS legislative liaison and said, I think you guys need to check this out. He called back and said, Thats not the case. I said, Im sitting outside the facility, the papers on the windows. 

Bryant said she was taken aback by the denial, and the presence of the paper at all. Their response to someone saying Im standing outside and seeing someone getting whipped with a belt is to put butcher paper over the windows, she said.

IDHS said the paper was put up for residents privacy after curtains were damaged and removed. When the use of paper was brought to the attention of Choate administration, it was investigated, removed and new window fixtures were purchased and put in place, Kollias said.

Three top administrators at the facility were later charged with official misconduct and interfering in a state police investigation of the alleged belt beating. Bryant and others in Springfield pushed publicly to have the accused administrators fired or placed on leave until the allegations were fully investigated. State officials later opted to reassign them. Charges against all three were later dropped, though the Union County states attorney has left the door open to recharging them.

Dozens of heavily redacted communications obtained through an open records request show several people in the governors immediate orbit were aware of those arrests and other issues dating back to January 2020.

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Sol Flores, Pritzkers deputy governor for Human Services, approved hiring a replacement interim director at Choate after the accused administrators were reassigned, emails show.

Flores also was sent at least 20 e-newsletters from a disability industry insider with blaring headlines about the facility last year. The author of those newsletters, Ed McManus, has a daughter with a disability and works as a consultant for disability agencies, law firms and families. A former Chicago Tribune editor and reporter who later worked at DCFS and IDHS, McManus began sharing details of the criminal cases with clients and others in March 2021.

Though he applauds the reforms, McManus was disappointed they took so long.

I found out about this in March of last year, he told the Tribune in July. They never lifted a finger  to my knowledge, at least they certainly didnt make it public  to do anything about it.

Pritzkers office said the June memo announcing interventions at Choate documented several years of reviews and work, and that robust internal policy improvements are ongoing, including training and administrative oversight.

The governors general counsel, Ann Spillane, was in frequent contact with IDHS attorneys about Choate dating back to at least October 2020. Emails indicate she was kept apprised of legal developments surrounding the administrators arrests, policies around facility leadership access to investigatory files and a separate whistleblower suit.

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Spillanes monitoring was not unusual, a Pritzker spokesperson said. She oversees the attorneys at all executive agencies and is regularly updated on all legal matters throughout agencies and works closely with other attorneys to respond to critical issues.

Media questions about Charles Mills employment at Choate made their way to Flores and Pritzkers communications staff and soon thereafter Spillane, her deputy and IDHS counsel John Schomberg drafted the email to the governor to give him some background, titled choate  privileged and confidential.

Pritzkers spokesperson declined to say whether that email was the first time the governor was made aware of issues at Choate.

She similarly did not disclose the nature of the other redacted discussions, saying they contain attorney-client privileged discussions, and that it is important to ensure staff can freely express opinions and make recommendations.

Mills, who was charged two years after he allegedly orally penetrated E.K. in 2020, is scheduled to go on trial later this year. Hes pleaded not guilty.

The changes at Choate that Hou and IDHS announced in June included independent monitoring from Equip for Equality, increasing security staff by four positions, boosting afterhours staffing and monitoring from regional developmental center personnel, and temporarily assigning a psychologist to provide staff support.

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They also announced they would install 10 cameras at the facility, which advocates and the GAC had sought. In addition, the IDHS inspector general repeatedly recommended cameras be installed at Choate between 2015 and 2021, according to the ProPublica investigation.

Aside from helping to quickly rule out false allegations, cameras can serve as eyes and ears for residents who could not advocate for themselves, some advocates argue. Of Choates roughly 230 current residents, 10% are nonverbal.

Four months after the June announcements, however, cameras have yet to be installed at Choate. A contract to buy them is being finalized, IDHS Kollias said, and they will be put in public locations where there is a low, or no reasonable expectation for privacy.

Specifically, the cameras will be placed outside, which critics like Smoot say defeats their purpose. While cameras cant catch everything, the critics say surveillance of hallways and common areas in other state-run residential facilities has improved the quality and speed of some investigations.

But some parents and guardians have pushed back on installing them at all. Liz Gersbacher, a guardian of two Choate residents, said it is debatable whether cameras deter abuse and could make the facility feel less like a home to residents.

Beyond cameras and extra security, experts and advocates say, the Pritzker administration has not addressed the larger problem of whether the state continues investing in Choate and places like it. Pritzker has faced criticism for not fully funding disability services in past budgets, and the state remains under a federal consent decree that seeks to make community services more accessible to those with disabilities.

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Its disappointing many of the problematic conditions Equip for Equality and the Justice Department identified more than a decade ago still exist, Equips Program Vice President Stacey Aschemann told the Tribune. That includes a lack of adequate programming and resident engagement as well as psychiatric and psychological treatment. Creating long-term improvement is going to require a lot of attention by the state to get things where they need to be, she said.

As part of the Choate reforms, the Illinois Crisis Prevention Network has been brought in to train staff on topics such as de-escalation, and to counsel residents who want to successfully transition into a smaller community home.

But there often isnt enough capacity, according to Caitlin Crabb, a researcher with the University of Illinois Chicagos Institute on Disability and Human Development, which helps evaluate certain IDHS services and has been contracted by IDHS to study barriers to access.

People in SODCs are living in SODCs because theres not really a lot of other places to go, she said. A lot of the problems at Choate stem from the lack of community-based options, Crabb said.

Best practices equate to supporting people with disabilities to live like people who dont  from having locks on doors to the ability to host guests and hold jobs, according to Crabb.

Community-based settings also arent perfect. Illinois has its own troubled track record of transitioning residents to group homes, and supply remains low.

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Dozens of Choate residents would transition out of the facility if they could, according to state data. As of the beginning of October, 32 people or guardians were pursuing a move to a community provider, while another 156 cant pursue a transition because community providers cant currently meet certain medical or behavioral needs, an IDHS report shows.

A sign outside the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in downstate Anna. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Eidelman said the small percentage of people whose needs are extraordinary should not stop Illinois from keeping up with the quality of care provided elsewhere. He and other experts acknowledged some family members oppose a transition to smaller-scale, community settings. After the most recent Illinois closure, of the Jacksonville Developmental Center in 2012, a follow-up study with residents relatives showed most saw in community settings an improved quality of life and health outcomes for their loved ones.

Officials in the governors office and IDHS say Pritzkers last two budgets made major investments in the Division of Developmental Disabilities that helped pay for wage hikes for front-line workers and direct support professionals, and added staff to help individuals transition out of SODCs like Choate. The pandemic also delayed community transitions.

According to Amie Lulinski, executive director of The Arc of Illinois, a statewide advocacy organization serving people with disabilities and their parents, the budget increases were still only about half what a study for IDHS deemed necessary. She hopes to see Pritzkers administration plan a thoughtful closure of Choate and for Illinois to follow suit with other states in providing more alternatives to SODCs.

Are we so broken that we cant do it? Or is it just the fact that we havent put enough resources into the (community) system? Lulinski asked.

Choates closure is not something that were looking at right now, the governor said on Sept. 6. The question is, can we prevent that (abuse) in the future and if not, then obviously thats not a facility that should remain open.

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Yet even when an election isnt looming, political tension surrounds the issue of jobs at scandal-tainted centers like Choate, according to Eidelman and other experts.

Bryant, the state senator, doesnt want to see the facility close. She and others acknowledged the good employees doing tough work at Choate. Even legislators who work around this a lot, were sensitive to the fact that if we raise too much of a stink, that a closure could threaten some of the areas best-paying jobs.

But in the face of mounting claims of abuse, Eidelman said the Pritzker administration and legislators need to step up.

This isnt supposed to be a jobs program or a funding program, he said. Its supposed to be services for people who are vulnerable. Its about quality of care and peoples lives.

aquig@chicagotribune.com

smacaraeg@chicagotribune.com
A pair of students at the illustrious Virginia State University (VSU) have earned the title of Mister and Miss HBCU, and they hope to use their positions to call further attention to historically Black colleges and universities throughout the country.

While Isaiah Matthews and Joy Watson who were previously crowned Mister and Miss VSU  competed in completely separate national pageants, these proud Trojans both wound up earning the titles of Mister HBCU and Miss National Black College Alumni (NBCA) Hall of Fame, respectively.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Virginia State University (@officialvsutrojans)

This coincidence is great news for VSU, as it marks the first time the Ettrick, Virginia, institution wins a national pageant title, WTVR reports.

HBCUs are extremely important. For Black and brown kids, we go into this scary world. Were dealing with so much adversity, whether its police killings or systematic oppression, but when you go to an HBCU you gain a family, Matthews, aka Mister HBCU, said, according to the outlet.

The orange and blue is in my blood, he proclaimed, proudly referencing VSUs bold school colors.

Watson, the colleges 94th Miss Virginia State University, shared similar sentiments, noting, We call ourselves the Trojans and its just a school spirit that nowhere else has, WTVR reports.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Virginia State University (@officialvsutrojans)

The pair also spoke on how the pageant experience allowed them to network with other students and, ultimately, advocate for VSU and general HBCUs.

When a lot of Black men come together and we are able to be in a space where we can not only be vulnerable but just have a lot of joy, it was so amazing, Matthews explained, according to WTVR.

When people see us, theyll want to go here. When people see us, theyll want to send their students, their kids, and maybe even become a professor at our university, Watson elaborated.

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In addition to speaking fondly of the overall experience, Watson also made it clear that  with VSU now having won two national pageant titles  she hopes future students will show out and make it a tradition for the institution.

The goal is to continue to have people from our school, more Virginia State University kings and queens to hold these titles, she shared.

Shoutout to VSUs Mister and Miss HBCU!
Oct. 21PRINCETON  Child Protect of Mercer County hosted new U.S. Attorney for Southern West Virginia Will Thompson Thursday.

Thompson toured the facility and talked to staff members..

One of his responsibilities is to to prosecute federal crimes related to child exploitation and narcotics.

Child Protect recently received federal grants "to do the wonderful work they have been doing," he said, "and I wanted to come down and see it first-hand."

"I have been very impressed with what I have seen and they are able to continue to do the great work they have done in the past," he said of Child Protect's focus on helping children in crisis situations.

"We are trying to do everything we can to help the kids of Southern West Virginia," he said, especially since Southern West Virginia has been "ravaged" by the addiction epidemic.

There is no magic solution to the problems, he added.

"The only thing we can do is to continue to work hard to support the programs that are doing a good job," he said. "The people who are bringing these poisons in, that is part of my job now to make sure they get off the streets."

Thompson said the addiction crisis is widespread.

"I tell people, if you don't think your family has been affected by the addiction crisis, you don't know your family very well," he said.

With the stigma of addiction reduced by the fact more people from all socio-economic groups are hit, more people are now seeking help, he added.

Thompson said what he loves about programs Child Protect offers is the fact the focus is all on the children.

"Children are the really true victims of this crisis," he said. "The fact that we are able to help them just warms my heart."

Thompson, a Boone County native who said his family has been in Southern West Virginia since about 1820, said he very familiar with the people, culture and the problems.

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The addiction crisis is "the single biggest problem we are dealing with," he said. "It has affected every element of our society."

It has impacted his family, he said, pointing to the tragedy of one his 18-year-old son's friends recently dying of an overdose.

"I have seen the horrors the crisis has brought on," he said. "The fact that our children are continuing to live with not only their parents overdosing and dying but now their classmates overdosing and dying, that is scary."

Thompson said the problem has no easy fix and must be addressed on multiple levels, and part of his job now is to make sure the people profiting from the crisis are prosecuted and removed from society.

But the families impacted need help to reunify, he added, and putting the family back together is the goal of all involved.

It is also gratifying to put some of these children in a "loving adoptive home," he said, but that is more difficult for older children because foster parents prefer younger kids.

Thompson also said some children, as young as 9 or 10, become users and "that is a lot to deal with" and they need specialized foster care and treatment of their own.

Treatment of children and parents is crucial, he said, and his focus as U.S. Attorney is to "go up the chain."

"I want to get the people bringing this poison in from out of state who are profiting from it..." he said. "People who are dealing street drugs, people who are dealing pharmaceuticals ... I will do everything I can to remove them from society."

Thompson said fentanyl is "very scary."

"I have seen the evolution," he said. "We started out ... it (addiction) became really prevalent with prescription pills and then it transitioned to heroin and methamphetamine, cocaine was involved, alcohol is always involved, but now we are getting into fentanyl."

The drug is very prevalent and cheap, he said, and it is easy to get into the state because it is so potent that a large amount of it is not needed.

"We are definitely focusing on that quite a bit," he said. "We are seeing that in a lot of our cases."

Fentanyl can be made to look like a pharmaceutical pill but it's a lot more potent, and dangerous.

"That is what is driving a lot of the overdoses," he said. "Every day I deal with some issues with fentanyl..."

Thompson said many factors are involved in addiction, but the "breakdown in the family unit" is the main issue, but adding that addiction can be found in solid families as well.

The problem has also become "multi-generational," he said, affecting parents and grandparents.

Thompson said the goal remains to reunify families and that is why he started the first "drug court" in the state, which concentrates on helping people addicted get treatment rather than punishing them.

"If you can keep the family together, keep the family functioning, where the kids are safe and thriving, that's a win for society," he said.

That is why programs Child Protect offers are crucial, he said, and Mercer County has been "on the leading edge for this."

"Mercer County has been a leader and I would like to continue to recognize what they are doing," he said, adding that the county has set an example of how to help children in these situations and he hopes what is happening here may serve as a model for other counties.

Child Protect recently received two large federal grants, one for $750,000 to help children impacted by the addiction crisis.

Shiloh Woodard, executive director of Child Protect, said the money will be used specifically for communities impacted by the opioid crisis and for programs within those communities that provide needed services.

"We work with so many child victims," she said when the grant was announced. "It (the funding) fills gaps that we currently have in Mercer County in helping the kids who have been impacted."

This funding will be used to provide an increased amount of available trauma-focused therapy services as well as establishing a supervised visitation center.

Woodard said some of the money will also go to the prosecuting attorney's office to help with the prosecution of cases where children have been abused or neglected and include a level of associated drug abuse.

"Over 70 percent of those cases involve a drug component that could impact children," she said, adding that currently the prosecutor's office is handling more than 800 open child abuse and neglect cases, with more almost 600 of those involving a drug related issue.

Besides that, she added, more than 50 percent of the 700 monthly managed supervised visitations between parents and children in the county have drug endangerment issues.

That amounts to more than 350 visitations each month in the county that have to be supervised.

Another federal grant of $950,000 is also being received to support several programs over the course of three years, including the SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) program, an in-house medical room for non-acute exams and to fund a position in the Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney's Office as well as the SART (Sexual Assault Response Team).

Woodard wrote the grants to obtain the funding, and said Thursday Mercer County has "all the right players that make the applications easier."

"Everybody is willing to do what needs to be done," she said.

Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Cochran, a former West Virginia State Trooper, was also on hand Thursday and expressed high praise for Thompson, saying he had been in court before him on a case when he was a trooper and he was impressed.

Thompson served as circuit court judge before this appointment.

Pres. Joe Biden announced Thompson's nomination for the U.S. Attorney position in August 2021, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him on Oct. 5, 2021.

Thompson is the top-ranking law enforcement official in the Southern District of West Virginia. Thompson will oversee a staff of 34 attorneys and 41 non-attorney personnel located in offices in Charleston, Huntington, and Beckley. The office is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the district, including crimes related to terrorism, public corruption, child exploitation, firearms, and narcotics.

 Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com

Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com
By Katharine Jackson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. government on Friday granted Temporary Protected Status for 18 months for Ethiopians currently residing in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security said.

"The United States recognizes the ongoing armed conflict and the extraordinary and temporary conditions engulfing Ethiopia, and DHS is committed to providing temporary protection to those in need," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement announcing the designation.

The Ethiopian military and allies including troops from neighboring Eritrea have been battling forces from the northern region of Tigray on and off for two years.

The conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions and left hundreds of thousands on the brink of famine.

An estimated 27,000 Ethiopians in the United States will be eligible for TPS under the new designation, a Homeland Security department spokesperson said.

To qualify for the program, Ethiopians in the United States will have to show they have been continuously resided in the United States since October 20, 2022, and those who attempt to travel to the United States after that date would not be eligible, the department said.

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher; writing by Katharine Jackson; editing by Paul Grant and Diane Craft)
(Reuters) -U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke for the first time since May on Friday and a top Russian diplomat said the call was needed to eliminate misunderstandings, TASS news agency reported.

The Pentagon declined to offer specifics beyond saying that Austin, who initiated the conversation, emphasized a need for lines of communication amid the war in Ukraine.

"Misunderstandings must be cleared up so that there are no accidents ... these are always important contacts, and it's important the Americans were the first to go for it," TASS quoted Vienna-based Russian diplomat Konstantin Gavrilov as telling Russian television.

Gavrilov, a senior security negotiator, also said that in the wake of the call Moscow expected clarification about nuclear deterrence exercises that NATO is carrying out, TASS added.

A Pentagon spokeswoman said Friday offered the best opportunity for the two sides to speak, without explaining why that was the case. She did not say whether any additional talks were scheduled between the two.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday urged the West to warn Russia not to blow up a dam in southern Ukraine that would cause severe flooding. Russia has accused Ukraine of rocketing the dam and planning to destroy it in what Kyiv officials called a sign Russia might blow it up and blame Ukraine. Neither side produced evidence to back up their allegations.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Grant McCool)
TIJUANA, Mexico - As the Biden administration revamped security technology at the U.S.-Mexico border this year, officials learned of an unexpected national security threat developing on the other side of the Rio Grande. The Mexican government was preparing to purchase hundreds of millions of dollars of Chinese scanning equipment for its own checkpoints.

U.S. officials worried that the scanners, which Mexico had begun to purchase from Beijing-based Nuctech, would give China access to troves of information about goods entering the United States. The company, which manufactures equipment to screen luggage and cargo, has strong ties to China's communist government.

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In May, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico wrote a letter to Mexico's foreign minister urging the country not to pursue the technology.

"No Chinese scanning equipment meets the United States' standards for quality control," Ambassador Ken Salazar wrote to Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

Salazar said the equipment "is not considered reliable in regard to data integrity and transmission." He warned it "could inhibit our shared commitment to facilitate commerce" and "our efforts to interrupt traffic of chemical precursors, synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, methamphetamines and cash, as well as firearms and ordnance."

Mexican officials say they are aware of the U.S. unease and see value in using equipment that is compatible with technology used in the United States, but they are following their own country's procurement procedures.

"Obviously [the United States has its] own concerns and reasoning, but from a Mexican perspective these are processes that have to be done according to our own laws," said a senior Mexican official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. "It's not as simple as saying we don't want a certain company to participate in the tender process. We can't simply disqualify a company based on country of origin."

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The United States has warned for years that China could use the security and telecommunications equipment produced by its companies to gather information from the United States. Washington has urged allies not to purchase products from tech giant Huawei for their 5G systems. The Federal Communications Commission this month announced plans to ban sales of Huawei and ZTE products in the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security highlighted its concerns about Nuctech in a 2020 report.

"We assess that Nuctech very likely has a close and enduring relationship with the Chinese Government to advance Nuctech's business interests and develop screening and detection systems on behalf of the Chinese Government," the department wrote. Its equipment, the department said, is likely to have "deficiencies in detection capabilities, which may create opportunities for exploitation by the Chinese Government."

Nuctech did not respond to requests for comment. In an undated statement on its website "in response to recent media stories . . . to clarify misinformation being published as fact," Nuctech described itself as "a joint stock company with an open and versatile shareholding mix; it is not state controlled."

"Our customers are the sole owners of all data generated by Nuctech's systems," the company said. "Nuctech is 100 percent committed to the safety and security of our customers and their data and any suggestions to the contrary is categorically false and designed to stifle emerging market competition."

In the May 2 letter to Ebrard, which has not previously been reported, Salazar wrote that bilateral cooperation between the United States and Mexico "could be put at risk by the use of unreliable equipment."

Cross-border trade between the United States and Mexico exceeds $1 billion a day. The U.S. economy relies on Mexico for products that range from tomatoes and avocados to aircraft landing gear and state-of-the-art medical equipment.

Salazar's letter on U.S. Embassy letterhead is one of millions of documents leaked by hackers who targeted Mexico's secretariat of defense this month. Internal Mexican government documents show that the country had already begun purchasing Nuctech scanners before Salazar sent his letter.

Documents in this report were shared with The Washington Post by the civil society organization Mexicans Against Corruption and verified independently by The Post.

An internal memo from April shows that Mexico's customs agency transported nine Nuctech scanners to airports, seaports and border checkpoints, including three to the U.S.-Mexico border cities of Mexicali, Sonoyta and Ciudad Juarez. In the letter, Salazar referred to additional scanners being considered for the Felipe Angeles airport in Mexico City, the Dos Bocas refinery in Paraiso and 11 seaports. Mexico is purchasing more scanners for checkpoints along its side of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The scanners are towering rectangular frames used to search vehicles and shipping containers for drugs, explosives and illicit merchandise.

U.S. officials acknowledge that Mexico has purchased some Nuctech equipment but say the pending contract is much bigger and more concerning.

Washington has complained for decades about the lack of security infrastructure on the Mexican side of the border, which has meant that the seizure of drugs and other illicit goods takes place almost entirely on the U.S. side, after the contraband has entered the country.

Recently, when the Mexican government expressed interest in installing modern scanning equipment on its border, U.S. officials immediately encouraged it to purchase technology from one of three American companies: Astrophysics, Leidos or Rapiscan. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City organized visits for high-level Mexican security officials to U.S. border checkpoints to show them the effectiveness of American-made equipment. A Mexican army contingent visited this month; a navy visit is planned for next month.

But Mexican officials have appeared to lean toward China, saying that country's scanners were more affordable. Salazar addressed cost in his letter.

"When evaluating security equipment for its acquisition, it is fundamental to see beyond the lowest price," he wrote.

Nuctech has moved aggressively into global markets by offering prices that are sharply lower than those of its competitors, to appeal to governments with tight budgets.

China has tried to nurture relationships with defense officials around the world, including in Mexico, to advance diplomatic and commercial ties.

"Before covid, they used to have military exchanges in which they would invite three or four military officials to Beijing," said Jorge Guajardo, a former Mexican ambassador to China. "They indoctrinate on the one-China policy and introduce them to vendors on the side."

Of the Mexican interest in the Nuctech scanners, he said, "My first bet is that it's costs and it's relationships."

Nuctech reportedly was once led by Hu Haifeng, the son of former Chinese president Hu Jintao. The governments of Taiwan and Namibia have found in separate cases that Nuctech officials engaged in corruption in efforts to sell equipment.

News of Mexico's plan to offer contracts worth several hundred million dollars has circulated within the U.S. security industry for months.

"The Mexicans plan to buy a large number of systems," said one American executive who has been briefed on the negotiations and spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the diplomatic sensitivity. "And they told U.S. officials, 'We're talking to everyone.'"

Several U.S. security and detection companies have urged the U.S. government to push back against the Chinese contracts, in part to preserve their own market shares but citing concerns about reliability and privacy. The scanning systems typically require service and maintenance contracts that commit users to long-term relationships with the companies. If Mexico opts to work with the Chinese company, "it would be very bad for U.S. commerce and security," said another executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment without company approval.

The U.S. and Mexican security and customs agencies have tried to speed commerce and avoid duplicating efforts by sharing information and scanning images from border checkpoints. Those joint inspection procedures have been implemented at only a few locations along the border, but businesses in both countries want the timesaving measures expanded.

Those plans will hit a wall if Mexico picks Chinese companies and the scanning and inspection information gathered from the Mexican government is directed to cloud servers in China, the industry executives said, because U.S. law does not allow government agencies to connect to Nuctech systems. American companies with manufacturing plants in Mexico will have immediate concerns about the imagery and information going to China, one executive said.

"Does that give them visibility into anything they should have?" that executive asked. "You can't adopt a holistic approach to trade and inspections at the border if one of the companies involved is Chinese."

---

Miroff reported from Washington. The Washington Post's Alejandra Ibarra Chaoul in Mexico City and Lily Kuo and Vic Chiang in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.

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By David Shepardson

(Reuters) -The United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Friday called on the Biden administration not to award any subsidies, loans or other taxpayer support until Hyundai Motor agrees to address workplace issues.

On Wednesday, Hyundai's global chief operating officer Jose Munoz told Reuters Korea's top automaker is investigating child labor violations in its U.S. supply chain and plans to "sever ties" with Hyundai suppliers in Alabama found to have relied on underage workers.

A Reuters investigative report in July documented children, including a 12-year-old, working at a Hyundai-controlled metal stamping plant in rural Luverne, Alabama, called SMART Alabama, LLC.

The UAW said Friday Hyundai's decisions to sever ties with some suppliers "will likely result in job losses for hundreds of workers, without doing anything to address what appears to be a systemic problem." The union called on Hyundai to instead "improve working conditions for the U.S. workers who make Hyundai vehicles."

Hyundai said it "does not tolerate illegal employment practices in any Hyundai entity. Our investigation remains ongoing, and we are working with authorities in their inquiry of this matter."

The White House did not immediately comment.

Hyundai Motor Group on Tuesday plans to break ground on its $5.5 billion electric vehicle (EV) and battery manufacturing facilities in Georgia -- and Biden administration officials are expected to attend.

The automaker is expected to begin commercial production in the first half of 2025 with an annual capacity of 300,000 EV units.

Hyundai is lobbying the Biden administration to revise a law approved in August that immediately barred electric vehicles outside North America from receiving $7,500 consumer tax credits. That made all Hyundai EVs currently for sale in the United States ineligible.

The law includes tens of billions of dollars in new loan, tax credit and grant programs for automakers to build cleaner vehicles.

The UAW has previously sparred with Hyundai and unsuccessfully sought to organize workers at its Alabama plant and at other foreign-owned auto plants.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
LONDON (Reuters) - British defence minister Ben Wallace on Friday said he would not stand in the contest to replace Liz Truss as prime minister and was leaning towards backing former leader Boris Johnson.

After Truss quit on Thursday, ending her six weeks in power, those who want to replace her are trying to find the 100 votes from Conservative lawmakers needed to run in a contest which the party hopes will reset its ailing fortunes.

"I feel that I can add the best value in keeping people safe at defence, by being the Defence Secretary," Wallace told reporters. "It's the job I intend to stay doing so I'm not going to be standing for prime minister this time."

Wallace is one of the few ministers to have emerged from recent political turmoil with his credibility enhanced, he is popular with party members and was one of the bookmakers' favourites.

A former soldier, he has led Britain's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Truss's predecessor Boris Johnson and his former finance minister Rishi Sunak are the leading the potential contenders, although neither have formally declared their candidacy yet.

Asked who he would back, he said: "At the moment, I would lean towards Boris Johnson."

Johnson was ousted by lawmakers just over three months ago after a three-year tenure blighted by scandals and allegations of misconduct.

Wallace said key issues in deciding his support would be a commitment to national and economic security, a recognition of the mandate the party won at a national election in 2019 under Johnson's leadership, and an ability to unite the party.

"This will be our potentially our third prime minister since the general election ... that means we have to think about that legitimacy question that the public will be asking themselves, and also about who could win the next election," he said.

Asked about Sunak, he said he would be keen to hear what he had to say about commitments to defence and security investment.

Story continues

Wallace also appeared to acknowledge an ongoing parliamentary investigation into whether Johnson mislead lawmakers over COVID-19 lockdown breaches in Downing Street.

"I think he will still have some questions to answer around ... that investigation."

(Reporting by William James, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)
Ukraine is calling upon the UN, the EU and other organisations to send an international monitoring mission to the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant in the occupied part of Kherson Oblast.

Source: Denys Shmyhal, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, at a government meeting on 21 October, cited by Interfax-Ukraine

Quote: "Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, has reported that we are currently watching Russian troops prepare for another terrorist attack in the territory of Kherson Oblast. Russians have mined the dam and aggregates of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant.

This terrorist attack may result in thousands of victims and the flooding of tens of settlements.

We are turning to the UN, the EU and other organisations in order to organise an international monitoring mission to the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. International experts must immediately arrive at the plant along with Ukrainian staff."

Details: Ukrainian authorities are also calling upon residents of the occupied territory of Kherson Oblast and other oblasts to immediately evacuate to non-occupied territories of Ukraine.

Background: On 20 October Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, reported in an address to the European Council that Russians mined the dam and aggregates of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant and are planning to commit a terrorist attack under the Ukrainian flag.

He called upon various institutions to send an international monitoring mission to the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, bringing Ukrainian staff and facilitating the immediate demining of the dam and its aggregates.

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LONDON (Reuters) - People in Russia's Belgorod region were being asked to work and study from home again on Friday - this time not because of the coronavirus pandemic but because of the eight-month-old war in neighbouring Ukraine.

When President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday imposed martial law on four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine in response to battlefield reverses, he also placed several Russian border regions including Belgorod on a "medium alert", bringing the war closer to home for millions of ordinary Russians.

Putin's decree directed those regional administrations to carry out tasks including stepping up support for the military, and also gave them extra powers, including the ability to restrict freedom of movement.

In a statement on Telegram after a new regional task force meeting, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said it was recommending that firms in the city of Belgorod and close to the border find ways to allow staff to work from home.

There have been a number of attacks in recent weeks on power facilities and other infrastructure in the regional capital and near to the province's 400-km (250-mile) frontier with Ukraine, as well as on fuel and ammunition depots.

Belgorod's schools and colleges had already been told to close for two weeks. Gladkov said that, when they returned, those in the city and nine border regions should operate by distance learning until Dec. 1.

The regional administration would also support any residents of the city or border regions who wanted to leave the area temporarily.

"The Moscow region is already ready to accept 500 Belgorod residents at one of its sanatoriums," he said, adding that transport, food and accommodation would all be provided for free.

(Reporting by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Josie Kao)
In her bid for a second full term as Illinois comptroller, Chicago Democrat Susana Mendoza faced the prospect of fending off a well-financed Republican challenger in McHenry County Auditor Shannon Teresi, who was part of a slate backed by billionaire Ken Griffin in the primary.

But Teresi and treasurer candidate Tom Demmer, who ran unopposed, were the only members of the slate to survive the primary, and Griffin left Illinois for Florida.

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Teresi, 38, has since run a low-profile campaign in her bid to unseat Mendoza, attempting to tie her opponent to Democratic corruption while arguing that her financial credentials make her better suited for the relatively obscure state office, which oversees the states checkbook.

Mendoza, 50, who made a failed bid for Chicago mayor in 2019 and is often seen to still have higher political ambitions, isnt shy about taking credit for a modest rebound in the states finances during her six years in office  she was elected to a full term two years after winning a special election in 2016.

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Its incredibly impressive what Ive done with the horrific, rotten batch of lemons that were thrown my way. And the result of that is six credit upgrades, Mendoza said. When I took office, we had almost a $17 billion backlog of unpaid bills, and it got cut down by $9 billion over the course of two to three months.

Illinois went two years without a budget and experienced a backlog in unpaid bills under former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who through most of his single term was locked in a staredown with former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Today, the state is mostly paying its bill within a normal 30-day cycle, and all three Wall Street ratings agencies have upgraded the states credit, largely on the strength of budgets approved by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly and signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza and House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch on Oct. 6, 2022, at the Palmer House Hilton during the Illinois Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Republican Illinois comptroller candidate Shannon Teresi talks to supporters during a campaign stop at Manny's Ale House in Elmhurst on May 21, 2022. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Teresi, of Crystal Lake, was appointed McHenry Countys internal auditor in 2018. A certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner, she repeatedly ties Mendoza, a onetime state representative, to Madigan, who has pleaded not guilty to federal bribery and racketeering charges.

If you were flying a plane, youd have a pilot, Teresi said. In Mendoza, you have Madigans protege without any financial experience or education.

Mendoza has a business degree from Truman State University in Missouri and said few have questioned her financial qualifications during her six years as comptroller. They all know Im qualified to lead the state because I have already, she told the Tribune.

Teresi entered October with a little more than $26,000 in her campaign fund after raising more than $38,000 from July through September, including $21,000 from the campaign fund of Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, who headed Griffins slate of Republican candidates but finished third in the GOP primary for governor.

Mendoza had more than $1.4 million on hand at the start of the month, having raised more than $623,000 and spent a little more than $184,000 in the previous quarter.

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Teresi has reported raising just $4,500 in large-dollar contributions this month, compared with nearly $178,000 raised by Mendoza

Mendozas pitch to voters has centered on her accomplishments in office. She takes credit for prioritizing payments to nursing homes and schools and helping to right the states financial ship so that the previously nearly nonexistent rainy day fund could be replenished to a record high $1 billion.

In her relatively few campaign events, Teresi has hammered on political corruption in Springfield and the states historically mismanaged finances and high taxes. She also has pointed to a number of audits conducted by her office that resulted in criminal investigations, employee terminations and improvements in process.

My background lends perfectly to the modernization thats needed in the comptrollers office. Illinois needs someone with proven financial leadership experience in the private and public sector, not just a career politician, Teresi said in an interview with the Tribune.

She criticized Mendoza and Democratic leadership for creating an environment that she said has led businesses, including Caterpillar and Boeing, to move out of state.

From 2005 to 2010, Teresi worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the Big Four accounting firms, first as an intern internal auditor, followed by a two-year stretch as an associate doing audit and tax work. She said she worked with Fortune 500 clients, including McDonalds, Boeing, and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

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Teresi said one of her priorities if elected would be creating a task force that makes Illinois more attractive for businesses.

(Mendoza) doesnt know the difference between a balance sheet and a bus schedule, (and) if youre not trained in any financial background, its very difficult to lead an army of accountants, Teresi said.

Teresis argument that shed be better for business in Illinois was somewhat undercut this month when the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, a key ally of Mendozas onetime political nemesis, Rauner, endorsed the incumbent for reelection.

In its endorsement, the chamber cited Mendozas commitment to fiscal integrity and spirit of bipartisanship.

Theyre the ultimate establishment, they want big general stuff that the Republican Party wants  lower taxes, fewer regulations. What the (endorsement) suggests to me is that shes settled in, she hasnt screwed up, said Chris Mooney, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Before becoming comptroller, Mendoza served two terms as Chicagos city clerk before winning six terms as a state representative, a political rise that, as Teresi is quick to point out, was helped along the way by Madigans political operation. Teresis argument is a valid one, but may not have lasting resonance, according to Mooney.

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She was a Madigan person as pretty much anybody who had any kind of success in the House was in those days, Mooney said. But the sell-by date on that is going to be pretty soon.

One major question surrounding Mendoza  seen as a rising star in the state Democratic Party before her disappointing fifth-place finish in the 2019 mayoral primary  is how long shell be content to remain in a low-profile office.

Mendoza entered the 2016 special election for comptroller after winning a second term as city clerk. Four days before she was reelected comptroller in 2018, a video leaked out of her declaring her candidacy for mayor.

Asked about speculation shes still looking at other political opportunities, Mendoza said, I love being a leader for our state, and for now, am focused on continuing to right Illinois financial ship as comptroller.

While the comptrollers office may not be flashy, it plays an important role in guiding the state through difficult financial times and keeping the public informed, Mendoza said, pointing to an online portal her office created showing coronavirus-related state spending.

We said, We will do what no one is going to expect us to do, and thats to show where this money is going,  Mendoza said. It was crucial to have the portal up and running during the darkest days of the pandemic, she said, instead of waiting to do it when things were less chaotic.

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The portal will continue to be updated on a daily basis as long as theres COVID-19 spending  I dont want anybody out there to think, Oh, theyre stealing all this money, or theyre doing this or that with the money,  Mendoza added.

Just recently, an Illinois Supreme Court decision denied two former Democratic state senators back pay in a lawsuit that named Mendoza as a defendant. The former lawmakers had sued the state, claiming legislation that they supported forgoing pay raises violated a provision in the state constitution that prohibits lawmakers from voting to change their own pay.

I felt like I was fighting uphill because we had lost twice, Mendoza said. They said, were going to be so honorable and not take a raise year after year after year. And then they retire and they want their money back, and its really why everybody hates us.

Mendoza said she wants voters to understand the work of her office, which can often be lumped into statewide races no one cares about.

Going down a list of accomplishments, Mendoza pointed to putting a stop to her offices role in collecting unpaid red-light camera fines on behalf of local municipalities. The move came after red-light cameras became a nexus of an ongoing federal corruption probe.

I became very wary, honestly, about all the money that our office had to take out of mostly poor and minority drivers, and then when we really started diving deep into this, we realized that more than 90% of these tickets were not even for blowing through a red light, she said. We could argue the state lost some money, but I dont think you could put a price on doing the right thing here.

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Chicago Tribunes Dan Petrella contributed.

zsyed@chicagotribune.com
The Armed Forces are looking for methods to combat Iranian ballistic missiles

Read also: Iran to send ballistic missiles to Russia for war against Ukraine

Unfortunately, we have information that Russia will strengthen its capabilities with the help of Iranian ballistic missiles, Ihnat said.

Our experts say the best defense against them is to destroy them in warehouses, as currently Ukraine does not have the kind of anti-missile defense systems able to effectively counter them.

According to Ihnat, a sure defense would be if the world finds mechanisms to prevent these missiles from ever being delivered to Russia.

Read also: EU has evidence of Iran providing Russia with suicide drones to attack Ukraine

Earlier U.S. newspaper the New York Times reported that Iran had sent trainers to occupied Crimea to help the Russians operated the fleet of drones that they purchased from Tehran and now use to attack Ukrainian cities.

According to the Reuters news agency, Iran is preparing to provide Russia with surface-to-surface missiles in addition to another large batch of suicide drones.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
By Stefaniia Bern

KYIV (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a new call for foreign help strengthening Ukraine's air defences against Russian air strikes during talks on Friday with three members of the U.S. Congress.

An air force spokesperson echoed Zelenskiy's appeal, saying the world must prevent Tehran providing Moscow with ballistic missiles in addition to the "kamikaze" drones which Kyiv says Russia is using in its attacks on Ukraine.

Zelenskiy said his talks with U.S. Congressmen Mike Turner, James Himes and Eric Swalwell had covered the armed forces' priority needs, repairs to damaged energy facilities and Ukrainian demands for tougher sanctions on Russia.

"It is important for Ukraine to receive air defence systems in the necessary quantity to create an 'air shield'," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app following the talks.

He said the visit to Kyiv was "a bold step that demonstrates strong bicameral and bipartisan support for Ukraine", adding: "It confirms that the United States is our strategic partner."

Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities and cities since Oct. 10, using missiles and what Kyiv says are Iranian-made Shahed-136 attack drones.

Air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said Ukraine's air defences were proving increasingly effective against the drones but indicated they were less effective against missiles.

"If we take the last two weeks and the results in taking down drones, our air defence is 85% effective," Ihnat told a briefing. "Now weve learned to recognise them and shoot them down more effectively."

UKRAINIAN CONCERNS ABOUT IRAN

Tehran denies supplying Shahed-136 drones to Moscow and the Kremlin denies its forces have used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine. But two senior Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told Reuters that Iran has promised to provide Russia with surface to surface missiles, in addition to more drones.

Story continues

"Ukraine currently doesnt have effective air defence systems against ballistic missiles. Iran will likely supply those (to Russia), unless the world finds a way to stop it," Ihnat said.

The United States has dismissed Iran's denial that it has sold the drones to Moscow and said Iranian military trainers are in annexed Crimea helping Russian forces operate the drones.

Ihnat said this was a matter for Ukrainian and Western intelligence but added: "Its obvious they are there, for me personally. They are teaching and maybe even participating in military action."

Ukraine has been aided by the delivery of sophisticated air defence systems from allies including the first of four IRIS-T air defence systems from Germany.

"One of those systems is already working in Ukraine. The only thing is we obviously cant say where it is and how it works," Ihnat said. "Iris had shown itself to be very useful, and its capability has been proven under military conditions."

(Reporting by Stefaniia Bern, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
By Jonathan Landay

FRONTLINE NORTH OF KHERSON, Ukraine (Reuters) - To the Ukrainian soldiers entrenched north of the Russian-held city of Kherson, a recent drop-off in Russian shellfire and armour movements signals that their foes dug into a nearby tree line are suffering serious manpower, supply and hardware woes.

That may mean the Russians are preparing to abandon their defence of the provincial capital and retreat across the Dnipro River, the soldiers said when Reuters visited their positions on Friday.

"We understand that they are low on ammunition. We understand they are short of cannon fodder, and we understand their equipment is defective," said Fugas, 38, the nom de guerre of the commander of the 600-man unit deployed in the southern province of Mykolaiv, bordering Kherson.

The Russians "are constantly suffering losses in this sector, and we're trying to do everything we can so they leave this place as fast as possible," continued Fugas, a stocky man who in civilian life co-owned an agricultural business in the western Lviv region.

Ukrainian forces began moving in August to reclaim Kherson, a strategically important ship-building centre on the sprawling Dnipro River. In recent weeks, they have driven the Russians back 20-30 kms (13-20 miles) on parts of the battlefront.

Kherson province is one of four partially occupied regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 30 proclaimed part of Russia, the largest annexation of territory in Europe since World War Two.

Three weeks later, there are signs that the Ukrainian drive may be forcing Putin to concede ground in Kherson and pull his forces back to the Dnipro's southern bank.

Russian-appointed occupation authorities this week began evacuating thousands of civilians from Kherson to the southern bank, denounced by Kyiv as forced deportations.

Sergei Surovikin, an air force general tapped this month to command Russia's invasion forces, conceded this week that the Kherson situation was "very difficult" and Moscow was "not ruling out difficult decisions."

Story continues

The sector of the front visited by Reuters on Friday was largely quiet.

The occasional crump of an exploding artillery shell sounded across flat fields. Flocks of partridges shot from bushes and long-legged herons stood in ponds near tiny villages that have been devastated by shellfire.

The Ukrainian unit was deployed in trenches dug into one of the countless tree lines that divide the fields, difficult terrain for the Russians to defend against well-armed determined troops backed by long-range artillery and heavy armour.

The Russians "have been shooting less since about three weeks ago," said Myhailo, 42, who like the other soldiers withheld his last name. "And their drones are less active."

"It's probably been about a month that there's been less shelling," agreed Sasha, 19. "This has to finish at some point. Their ammunition can't last forever."

It was unclear how widespread that trend was across the southern front. Ukrainian military rules prohibited the identification of the unit and its location.

The men were relaxed, chatting and smoking as they sat on car seats and tree stumps outside bunkers and dugouts gouged into the hard earth. Their mascot, a German shepherd named Odin, lounged by an assault rifle, yawning deeply.

The troops said that they would not allow the Russians to retreat without a fight.

"We're not going to help them," vowed Myhailo, who worked in civilian life as a welder in the Lviv region, where the unit is based. "Do they think they can just come here and leave? You can't just break into someone's house and go."

(Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
UKRAINSKA PRAVDA  FRIDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2022, 14:55

Armed Forces of Ukraine appeal to Belarusians not to fight against Ukraine

Source: video appeal by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Russian, on Facebook

Details: The Ukrainian Armed Forces emphasise that Ukraine has never threatened Belarus and since 24 February has never responded to attacks or invasion of its land from the territory of Belarus.

The Ukrainian military urged the citizens of Belarus not to follow the leadership's orders to enter the war against Ukraine and not to share responsibility for war crimes with Russia.

Ukraine also asks those who may cross the Ukrainian border with weapons in their hands to surrender. In that case, nothing will threaten them.

Quote: "If the Belarusian army supports Russian aggression, we will respond. We will respond as fiercely as we respond to all occupiers on the territory of Ukraine...

We urge you not to bury your sons, husbands, fathers or brothers, who may die because of Putin's and Lukashenko's ambitions and fear of losing their power. Dictators fade into oblivion; war criminals end up on the dock one way or another. The walls are falling, and the Kremlins walls are not eternal, either. Empires fall, but people stay, ordinary people who may be friends as well as enemies."

Background: The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine believes that the threat of a new attack from the territory of Belarus is growing, but the area of the offensive may move to the west of the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
YEVHEN KIZILOV  FRIDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2022, 13:29

Over the past two weeks, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have demonstrated much better skills in hitting Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones, shooting down 85% of these drones.

Source: Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at a briefing on Friday

Quote from Ihnat: "If we take two weeks of extreme use of our combat forces against drones (Shahed 136) and the effectiveness of their downing, then today we have a figure of 85%."

Details: Ihnat said that earlier, this indicator was much lower.

He also said that since the first use of the Shaheds in Kupiansk on 13 September, the Ukrainian military "has acquired a certain understanding" of how to organise interaction and cover in certain areas, and by what means it is better to identify and destroy them.

The spokesman noted that attempts had been made to shoot down these drones with machine guns, but this is an ineffective weapon against them, and is dangerous to use in densely populated areas. He said that aircraft, anti-aircraft missile forces, ground forces air defence, anti-aircraft self-propelled guns, large-calibre machine guns and electronic warfare systems were being used effectively to combat the Shaheds.

Background: Just recently, Ukrainian Air Force Command reported that the Ukrainian military has so far shot down 223 Shahed drones since the start of the Russian's use of Iranian-made kamikaze drones.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid

Following the talks, Lapid said in a tweet that he had told Kuleba Israel had deep concern about the military ties between Iran and Russia.

Read also: Ukraines air defenses grow stronger, General Staff says

Israel stands with the Ukrainian people, the tweet read in part.

At the same time, according to The Times of Israel online newspaper, Lapid made no mention of Ukraines formal request that Israel supply Ukraine with air defense systems in the wake of the barrage of Russian strikes in recent days, which was carried out with Iranian-supplied drones.

Read also: Israel providing Ukraine with intelligence about Iranian drones  media

Earlier, the Ynet online media outlet reported that Kuleba and Lapid would have a phone talk Oct. 20. It was expected that Kuleba would submit an official request for help to Israel after Russias missile strikes at Ukraine with the use of Iranian-made suicide drones.

Kuleba said on Oct. 18 that Ukraine would send an official note to the government of Israel with a request to provide Ukraine with air defense systems.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Oct. 17 said that Israel had not supplied any weapons to Ukraine since the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion.

Read also: Israel calls for military aid for Ukraine amid Iranian involvement in war

U.S. newspaper the Washington Post reported on Oct. 16, citing U.S. officials, that Iran had secretly agreed to transfer not only suicide drones to Russia, but also surface-to-surface ballistic missiles for Moscows war against Ukraine.

Israels Minister of Diaspora Affairs Nachman Shai called on his country to provide Ukraine with military aid against the background of Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Ukrainian forces bombarded Russian positions in the occupied and illegally annexed southern Kherson region, targeting resupply routes across a major river while inching closer Friday to a full assault on one of the first urban areas Russia captured after invading the country.

Russian-installed officials were reported desperately trying to turn the city of Kherson, a prime objective for both sides because of its key industries and major river and sea port, into a fortress while attempting to evacuate tens of thousands of residents.

The Kremlin poured as many as 2,000 draftees into the Kherson region  one of four Moscow illegally annexed and put under Russian martial law  to replenish losses and strengthen front-line units, according to the Ukrainian army's general staff.

The Dnieper River figures prominently in the regional battle because it serves critical functions  crossings for supplies, troops and civilians; drinking water for southern Ukraine and the annexed Crimean Peninsula; and power generation from a hydroelectric station. Much of the area, including the power station and a canal feeding water to Crimea, is under Russian control.

Kremlin-installed Kherson officials said Ukrainian shelling of a Dnieper River ferry crossing killed two journalists working for a local TV station they set up under occupation. At least two other people were reported killed and 10 members of the broadcast crew and their relatives were wounded, Russia's Tass news agency reported

Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraines southern operational command, confirmed the Ukrainian military struck the Antonivskyi Bridge near the crossing but only during an overnight curfew Russian-installed officials put in place to avoid civilian casualties.

We do not attack civilians and settlements," Humeniuk told Ukrainian television.

Earlier Ukrainian strikes had made the Antonivskyi Bridge inoperable, prompting Russian authorities to set up ferry crossings and pontoon bridges to relocate civilians and transport supplies to Russian troops in Kherson, which sits on the Dnieper's western bank.

Story continues

Russian-installed officials are trying to evacuate up to 60,000 people from Kherson for their safety and to allow the military to build fortifications. Ukraine's military reported Friday that bank employees, medical workers and teachers were relocating as the city's infrastructure wound down.

The situation is really difficult, the deputy head of Khersons Kremlin-installed regional administration, Kirill Stremousov, said in a video he posted on Telegram. Today we are preparing the city of Kherson as a fortress for defense and are ready to defend to the last. Our task is to save people, build defenses and protect the city.

Kherson city, with a prewar population of about 284,000, was one of the first urban areas Russia captured when it invaded Ukraine, and it remains the largest city it holds.

Another flashpoint on the Dnieper River is the Kakhovka dam, which creates a large reservoir, and associated hydroelectric power station, about 70 kms (44 miles) from Kherson city. Each side accuses the other of targeting the facilities. Russian-installed officials claim Ukrainian forces have been attacking the facilities in part to cut the water supply to Crimea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy contends the Russians plan to blow up the dam and power station to unleash 18 million cubic meters (4.8 billion gallons) of water and flood Kherson and dozens of other areas where hundreds of thousands of people live. He told the European Council on Thursday that Russia would then blame Ukraine.

None of the claims could be independently verified.

Defying international law, Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Ukraine's Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions last month even though his forces don't control all the territory. Putin declared martial law in the regions as of Thursday to assert Russian authority in the face of military setbacks and strong international criticism.

In the Donetsk region, two people were killed in Russian shelling of the city of Bakhmut, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the province's Ukrainian governor. Russian troops have been unable to advance toward the city for more than a month.

In the capital of the eastern Ukraines recently reclaimed Kharkiv region, nine people were wounded in two Russian attacks, according to Gov. Oleh Syniehubov. In the city of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian S-300 missile strike Friday wounded three people and damaged a residential building, a school and infrastructure, Ukrainian authorities said.

Each strike wont scare anyone. It will make us stronger, said Dniprovskyi District acting administrative chief Volodymyr Hrianysty.

In an apparent effort to keep hostilities from spinning out of control, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin reached out to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday for their first phone call since May 13. Defense officials have said the Russians had not responded to U.S. efforts to set up calls.

Russia's deployment of aircraft and troops to air bases in Belarus raised the specter of another front on Ukraine's northern border, although Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday: Were not going anywhere today ... If you do not want to fight with us, then we will not, there will be no war.

The Ukrainian army's general staff has warned that Belarus could attack to cut supply routes of Western weapons and equipment. Belarus' intervention could also divert Ukraine's resources and weaken its southern counteroffensive.

While prospects for peace appear slim, the Kremlin insisted Friday that Putin has been open to negotiations from the very beginning and nothing has changed." Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin tried to initiate talks with both NATO and the United States even before the special military operation  the Russian term for its war in Ukraine.

Peskov was responding to Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said earlier Friday that the Russian leader appeared to be much softer and more open to negotiations."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Putin's war has backfired.

President Putin thinks that these attacks will somehow break the will of Ukrainian people. Instead, he is only deepening their resolve to defend their country, Blinken told reporters on Friday.

"Moscow can knock out the lights across Ukraine, but it cannot, it will not, extinguish the Ukrainian spirit. President Putin thought he could divide the trans-Atlantic alliance; instead, hes brought us even closer together.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's energy minister said on Friday he saw no signs of progress towards a deal involving Russia, Ukraine and the U.N. nuclear watchdog on resolving the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Russian forces have occupied the plant in southern Ukraine since shortly after Moscow's invasion of its neighbour eight months ago but it is still operated by its Ukrainian staff.

The situation at the plant is a source of international concern because of fears that repeated shelling of the plant's territory - for which Kyiv and Moscow blame each other - could lead to a nuclear accident.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has held talks in Moscow and Kyiv in an effort to secure agreement on a safety and security protection zone around the plant.

Asked if he saw progress towards a deal, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko told Reuters in an interview: "Not at this stage."

"I see that there were some messages from Rafael this week, that he again wants to discuss the framework of an agreement. I don't know, maybe something changed in the Russian position, but I do not believe (in) any possibility to agree with Russia," he said.

Asked at what point it would be too dangerous for Ukrainian staff to continue working at the plant, he said: "This point is a nuclear accident."

Such an evacuation could only happen "several hours before (a) real catastrophe," as Russia cannot substitute the thousands of Ukrainian staff at the plant, Halushchenko said.

(Reporting by Max Hunder, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker walks on stage after declaring victory on election night at a rally at the Marriott Marquis Chicago hotel on Nov. 8, 2022. He was challenged by Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

A new TV spot from Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker touts an endorsement from former President Barack Obama just as the governors opponents are seeking to weaken his support among Black voters.

Illinois will always hold a special place in my heart, Obama says in the 30-second ad, which began airing Friday on TV stations statewide. You believed in me before anyone else did. And you believed in J.B. Pritzker too.

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Hes made Illinois a national leader on so many issues we care about: raising the minimum wage, protecting voting rights, cracking down on the sale of illegal guns.

Obama, who along with former first lady Michelle Obama cast his ballot Monday at the early voting site in the Loop, also says in the ad that he was proud to vote for Pritzkers reelection because he signed a landmark law protecting a womans right to choose, a reference to a 2019 state law that enshrined access to abortion as a fundamental right in Illinois.

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Obama doesnt mention Pritzkers Republican challenger, conservative state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, who was endorsed in the primary by former President Donald Trump.

The commercials release comes after Bailey and his allies have sought to tamp down enthusiasm among Black voters for the first-term governor.

Former President Barack Obama appears with then-governor candidate J.B. Pritzker during a get-out-the-vote rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Black people should not vote for J.B. Pritzker, former WLS-Ch. 7 reporter Charles Thomas, who is Black, says in an ad from a Bailey-aligned political action committee called People Who Play By The Rules.

The PAC, run by right-wing radio show host Dan Proft of Naples, Florida, is paying Thomas $50,000 as a consultant, State Board of Elections records show.

In their final debate of the campaign on Tuesday, Bailey at least twice pointed to purported antipathy toward Pritzker in Chicagos Black neighborhoods.

They are fed up, Bailey said, claiming the governor doesnt visit neighborhoods like Washington Park on the South Side when shootings occur.

During a news conference after a mass shooting in Washington Park last month, Bailey said, J.B., how many more Black families have to mourn before you recognize that Black lives really do matter?

Asked at the debate what the phrase Black Lives Matter means to him, Bailey responded, It means that every life matters.

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And unfortunately, J.B. Pritzker during his four years in office has created so much division and hate in this state with racial ideas and ideology, he said.

Obama has been actively campaign for Democrats in other states, including neighboring Wisconsin and nearby Michigan, ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. His endorsement of Pritzker in an ad rather than during an in-person appearance is an indication the former president and other Democrats arent deeply concerned about the governors reelection chances.

The endorsement comes as little surprise, despite some interesting history between the two.

When Obama entered the 2008 presidential campaign, Pritzkers sister, Penny Pritzker was an early supporter and his campaigns national finance chair. She would go on to become his first Commerce secretary.

J.B. Pritzker, however, backed Obamas rival for the Democratic nomination, then-U. S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.

Obama also played an important role in jump-starting the political career of Pritzkers running mate, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. While still in the White House in 2016, he took the rare step of cutting a TV and radio ad supporting Stratton in her successful Democratic primary bid to unseat incumbent South Side state Rep. Ken Dunkin.

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The billionaire governors campaign fund on Friday transferred $2 million to the Democratic Party of Illinois, state campaign finance records show. Thats on top of $2 million transferred to the party last week and brings Pritzkers total contributions to the state party during the current election cycle to $8.5 million, more than double the nearly $3.2 million he gave in 2018.

While much of that money is being deployed to support Democratic candidates in down ballot races, the party reported spending more than $1 million on mailings and flyers for Pritzkers campaign

Chicago Tribunes Rick Pearson contributed.

dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Friday demanding an immediate end to violence and criminal activity in Haiti and imposing sanctions on individuals and groups threatening peace and stability in the Western Hemispheres poorest nation  starting with a powerful gang leader.

The sanctions were the first authorized by the U.N.s most powerful body since 2017 and the resolutions approval by all 15 council nations, whose divisions have been exacerbated by Russias invasion of Ukraine, demonstrated a rare sign that council members can work together -- at least on some global crises.

We are sending a clear message to the bad actors that are holding Haiti hostage, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the resolutions approval. The international community will not stand idly by while you wreak havoc on the Haitian people.

Mexicos U.N. Ambassador Juan Ramon De La Fuente Ramirez praised the councils unity on a complex issue. In this crisis, the Security Council has given a clear signal that violence has to stop and it cannot go unpunished.

The United States and Mexico, which drafted the 10-page resolution, had delayed the vote from Wednesday so they could revise the text to gain more support.

The U.S. ambassador said the resolution was an important first step by the Security Council to help Haitians who want action against criminals, including gangs and their financiers. She said a second resolution, which the U.S. and Mexico are working on, will help restore security and allow the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid by authorizing a non-U.N. International Security Assistance Mission.

The form of that help might take has been controversial among some council members and Haitians who are wary of foreign military involvement in the country, especially by the United States.

Friday's text eliminated an earlier reference to an Oct. 7 appeal by Haitis Council of Ministers for the urgent dispatch of an international military force to tackle the countrys violence and alleviate its humanitarian crisis. It also dropped mention of an Oct. 8 letter from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres outlining options to help Haitis National Police combat high levels of gang violence.

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Thomas-Greenfield said Friday the next resolution will be a response to those requests. She didnt say when it would be circulated or put to a vote though diplomats said it could happen next week.

The sanctions resolution named only a single Haitian  Jimmy Barbecue Cherizier, whose gang has blocked a key fuel terminal, aggravating severe shortages. Cherizier, a former police officer who leads an alliance of gangs known as the G9 Family and Allies, will now face a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo.

Political instability has simmered in Haiti since last years still-unsolved assassination of President Jovenel Moise, who had faced protests calling for his resignation over corruption charges and claims that his five-year term had expired. Moise dissolved Parliament in January 2020 after legislators failed to hold elections in 2019 amid political gridlock.

Daily life in Haiti began to spin out of control last month just hours after Prime Minister Ariel Henry said fuel subsidies would be eliminated, causing prices to double. Cheriziers gang blocked the Varreux fuel terminal to demand Henrys resignation and to protest a spike in petroleum prices.

Haiti already was gripped by price inflation that put food and fuel out of reach for many and by protests have brought society to the breaking point. Violence is raging, making parents afraid to send children to school. Hospitals, banks and grocery stores struggle to stay open. Clean water is scarce and the country faces a cholera outbreak.

Cherizier and his G9 gang confederation are actively blocking the free movement of fuel from the Varreux fuel terminal  the largest in Haiti, the resolution said. His actions have directly contributed to the economic paralysis and humanitarian crisis in Haiti.

It also said he "has planned, directed, or committed acts that constitute serious human rights abuses.

While serving in the police, it said, Cherizier planned and participated in a November 2018 attack by an armed gang on the capitals La Saline neighborhood that killed at least 71 people, destroyed over 400 houses and led to the rapes of at least seven women.

He also led armed groups in coordinated, brutal attacks in Port-au-Prince neighborhoods throughout 2018 and 2019 and in a five-day attack in multiple neighborhoods in the capital in 2020 in which civilians were killed and houses set on fire, the resolution said.

In a video posted on Facebook last week, Cherizier called on the government to grant him and G9 members amnesty. He said in Creole that Haitis economic and social situation was worsening by the day, so there is no better time than today to dismantle the system.

He outlined a plan for restoring order in Haiti. It would include creation of a Council of Sages, with one representative from each of Haitis 10 departments, to govern with an interim president until a presidential election could be held in February 2024. It also calls for restructuring Haitis National Police and strengthening the army.

The Security Council resolution establishes a committee that can impose sanctions on other Haitians and groups who threaten peace, security or stability by crimes, violence, arms trafficking, human rights abuses and obstructing aid deliveries.

Haitis U.N. Ambassador Antonio Rodrique welcomed the resolution, saying, There is no doubt whatsoever that these measures will contribute to bringing an end to the violent and deadly activities of these armed groups marauding in the country and causing numerous victims and mass population displacement.

But Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia, said sanctions wont solve anything and it makes no sense to impose them on Cherizier because he very likely has his cash in Haiti.

Sanctions have been imposed before, but they dont have the real threat of military intervention, he said. I dont think it will have any impact.

Russias Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said that despite Moscows support for the resolution, We are not convinced that international restrictive measures will be an appropriate response to the whole raft of complex problems in Haiti.

He called for a long-term solution through "eradicating poverty and inequality to ensure a strengthening of state institutions in the country, without external dictates.

Some council members were more hopeful.

Chinas deputy U.N. ambassador, Geng Shuang, said Haiti is at the brink of collapse and Beijing hopes the resolution will send a clear signal to criminal gangs to stop their evildoing and harming of their people and to political parties to immediately stop their collusion with criminal actors and reach consensus on solving the crisis.

The resolution expresses grave concern about the extremely high levels of gang violence and other criminal activities, including kidnappings, trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants, and homicides, and sexual and gender-based violence including rape and sexual slavery, as well as ongoing impunity for perpetrators, corruption and recruitment of children by gangs and the implications of Haitis situation for the region.

It demands an immediate cessation of violence, criminal activities, and human rights abuses, which undermine the peace, stability and security of Haiti and the region. And it urges all political actors to reach agreement on allowing legislative and presidential elections to be held as soon as the local security situation permits.

___

AP writer Danica Coto contributed from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration is exploring the possibility of new export controls that would limit Chinas access to some of the most powerful emerging computing technologies, according to people familiar with the situation.

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The potential plans, which are in an early stage, are focused on the still-experimental field of quantum computing, as well as artificial intelligence software, according to the people, who asked not to be named discussing private deliberations. Industry experts are weighing in on how to set the parameters of the restrictions on this nascent technology, they said.

The efforts, if implemented, would follow separate restrictions announced earlier this month aimed at stunting Beijings ability to deploy cutting-edge semiconductors in weapons and surveillance systems.

Technology stocks in China fell on Friday, with equipment-makers Naura Technology Group Co. and ACM Research Shanghai Inc. tumbling as much as 6.1% and 8.7% respectively. Piotech Inc. dropped as much as 13%.

The US has ramped up actions to stifle Chinas ability to develop certain technologies that it sees as key in the competition with its top strategic rival. The sweeping regulations released earlier this month also limited how US citizens and residents participate in Chinese tech firms.

The Commerce Departments Bureau of Industry and Security, which plays a key role in designing and enforcing export controls and announced the semiconductor restrictions on Oct. 7, declined to comment. The White House National Security Council isnt aware of discussions on such additional controls, according to a spokesperson.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, in a speech last month on technology, competitiveness and national security, referred to computing-related technologies, including microelectronics, quantum information systems and artificial intelligence as among developments set to play an outsized importance over the coming decade. He also noted the importance of export controls to maintain as large of a lead as possible over adversaries.

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Expanding the wall around advanced technologies risks further antagonizing China and forcing other countries to pick sides between the worlds two top economies. The new ideas have been shared with US allies, according to the people.

Powerful Potential

Quantum computing is an experimental field with the potential to dramatically increase the power and speed of computing, enabling machines to solve problems beyond the capacity of the current generation of computers.

Its expected to someday upend computer-security technology, as quantum machines could be powerful enough to decode passwords and circumvent encryption security features.

Officials are still determining how to frame the controls on quantum computing, which will probably focus on the level of output and the so-called error correction rate, the people said.

Companies including Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.s Google, Intel Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. are devoting millions of research dollars to various quantum projects.

While conventional computers interpret data in ones and zeros, a quantum machine can store information in multiple states -- as one, zero, both or something in between -- a principle known as superposition. That allows a quantum system to multitask in ways todays binary equipment cant.

A normal computer looking for a name in a phone book cataloged by numbers, for instance, would search one number at a time. A quantum computer could scan all of them simultaneously.

The biggest challenge, however, is that existing quantum systems typically require exotic cooling mechanisms to generate the super-cold temperatures required to manipulate and detect quantum states of sub-atomic particles.

The Biden administration is also working on an executive order for an outbound investment review mechanism that would scrutinize money heading to certain Chinese technologies, and the quantum computing and artificial intelligence controls could be included, one of the people said. That could incorporate some aspects similar to a measure pushed by senators Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, and John Cornyn, a Texas Republican.

--With assistance from Hugo Miller, Alberto Nardelli and Dina Bass.

(Updates with shares from fourth paragraph)

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The US Department of Justice is reportedly already investigating claims of voter intimidation ahead of the midterm elections.

Voters in Arizona reported to local officials that there were groups of people monitoring voting stations and harassing them when they dropped off their ballots. Some have reportedly accused voters of trying to steal the election.

On Friday, two armed individual wearing masks and tactical gear were spotted at a mail-in ballot box in Mesa. They left when sheriffs department officials responded to the scene. The next night four individuals, including two who were reportedly armed, were seen watching a the same box when they were involved in a confrontation with a woman who was recording their faces and their cars license plate, which had been covered with an American flag banner.

He chased over at me and pushed me and grabbed me as I was pulling the cloth of his license plate to video his license plate, the woman, who was dressed as a nun, told KTVK News. I just felt fair is fair  theyre videotaping voters license plates, so I didnt think it was really a big deal to photograph theirs.

The DOJ began investigating after the Arizona secretary of state was alerted to a voter who claimed they were intimidated by a group of people while depositing a ballot at a Maricopa County drop box.

Theres a group of people hanging out near the ballot dropbox filming and photographing my wife and I as we approached the dropbox and accusing us of being a mule, the voter said in a complaint obtained by local broadcaster ABC15. They took photographs of our license plate and of us and then followed us out the parking lot in one of their cars continuing to film.

The "mule" allegation may be a reference to conservative filmmaker Dinesh DSouzas debunked film2000 Mules, which alleges that shadowy individuals called "mules" manipulated the election by illegally collecting ballots and dropping them off at voter drop boxes in swing states. The conservative political organisation True the Vote  which is featured in the film  has popularised similar claims in conservative media circles.

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DEVELOPING: @abc15 has obtained the security footage of alleged voter intimidation at Mesa drop box. Full video is 20 minutes long, we have edited it and blurred the voter. There's no audio on original video, but voter claims he was photographed and accused of being a mule. pic.twitter.com/sJL2gMlC9W  The AZ - abc15 - Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) October 21, 2022

The films claims were further boosted by former President Donald Trump, and inspired new groups to form with the sole purpose of monitoring ballot boxes ahead of the midterm elections.

Fox News is no longer Fox News, Mr Trump said on Gab.com. They wont even show or discuss the greatest & most impactful documentary of our time, 2000 Mules. The Radical Left Democrats are thrilled - They dont want the TRUTH to get out.

One group, Clean Elections USA, has posted photos of voters dropping off ballots at Arizonas drop box locations since the start of early voting in the state.

The groups founder, Melody Jennings, said in a Truth Social post that none of her members interact with voters and that any who violate election rules will be removed immediately,VICE News reports.

The Secretary of State has referred to the DOJ and AG a report from a voter that the voter was approached and followed by a group of individuals when the voter was trying to drop off their ballot at an early voting drop box on Monday, Sophia Solis, a spokesperson for Secretary Katie Hobbs office told VICE News.

A spokesperson for the Maricopa County Recorders Office claimed it had received multiple reports of voter intimidation from the secretary of states office.

We have received four reports forwarded by the Arizona Secretary of States Office," Justin Heywood, special assistant to the recorder, told VICE News. "We encourage any voter who feels threatened, harassed, or intimidated to report it. It is unacceptable and unlawful to impede any voter from participating in the election.

He said that the county had taken active steps to ensure the safety and security of staff and voters, but many of these self-styled drop box watchers have the right to be on public sidewalks and parking lots.

The ballot box watchers may have been emboldened by calls from Republican lawmakers, who have directly encouraged their followers to engage in the behavior.

Lake Havasu Republican Sonny Borrelli and Oro Valley Republican Representative Mark Finchem reportedly told their constituents to watch the drop boxes in an effort to increase election integrity, despite there being no evidence of widespread election fraud in the 2020 election.

We need to be force multipliers, Mr Borrelli told a crowd in Tempe on Saturday, according to the Arizona Mirror. We need to have people camped on unmanned drop boxes and camp on those and keep an eye on them and take down that data, license plates, pictures and so on and so forth.

Mr Finchem, who is running for Secretary of State, went so far as to admit he wanted constituents to scare the hell out of voters.

Stand 75 feet away from the entrance of the polls, Mr Finchem said. The mere fact that you are there watching scares the hell out of them.

The Maricopa County Elections Department said it was aware of the complaints and believes the vigilante poll watchers are adding nothing of value to the midterm elections integrity.

We are deeply concerned about the safety of individuals who are exercising their constitutional right to vote and who are lawfully taking their early ballot to a drop box, the Maricopa County Elections Department said in a statement. Uninformed vigilantes outside Maricopa Countys drop boxes are not increasing election integrity. Instead they are leading to voter intimidation complaints.

Voters in North Carolina, Colorado, and Nevada have also reported instances of harassment when they dropped off ballots during early voting.
LONDON (AP)  An American woman who fled the U.K. claiming diplomatic immunity after she was involved in a fatal traffic accident pleaded guilty Thursday to causing death by careless driving.

Anne Sacoolas, 45, was charged after an August 2019 accident in which 19-year-old Harry Dunn was killed when his motorcycle collided with a car outside RAF Croughton, an air base in eastern England that is used by U.S. forces. Prosecutors said Sacoolas was driving on the wrong side of the road at the time.

Sacoolas and her husband, who had been a U.S. intelligence officer at the air base, returned to America days after the accident. The U.S. government invoked diplomatic immunity on her behalf, prompting an outcry in Britain.

The case has caused tensions between the U.K. and U.S. governments. British politicians have demanded Sacoolas face justice in a British court, but American authorities rejected Britains extradition request.

On Thursday, Sacoolas participated in a hearing held at London's Central Criminal Court by video link from Washington, and admitted responsibility in Dunn's death.

Sacoolas was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, but U.K. prosecutors accepted her plea to the lesser charge of causing death by careless driving.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said the fact that she was an overseas national without experience of driving on the roads of this country was a factor in considering her culpability.

Death by careless driving carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment.

Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told Sacoolas that although she could not compel her to face justice in person, it would provide weighty evidence of genuine remorse.

I direct Ms Sacoolas attend court to be sentenced," the judge said. If the sentence  is one that does not involve immediate custody there is to be no barrier to her returning home after the hearing.

Sentencing is not expected until next month.

Around 20 members of Dunn's family attended the hearing.

I would urge (Sacoolas) on behalf of my entire family to do the right thing and come back for the sentencing hearing, Harry's father, Tim Dunn, said.
The setting was different and the faces were younger, but the message was the same.

We want you to stay safe, alive and out of prison, a dozen 16- and 17-year-old boys and girls were repeatedly told by the small group of prosecutors, law enforcement officers, educators and community members seated at one end of Erie High School's massive auditorium on Tuesday afternoon.

Help was available through the Erie School District and other avenues if they turned away from committing crime, or from associating with those involved in crime, the speakers told the teens.

Ignore the help and continue on the wrong path, and punishment will be swift and certain, the speakers stressed.

It's a message those involved in the Unified Erie violence prevention initiative have preached repeatedly to groups of young men and women in more than a half-dozen "call-in" sessions held since 2017.

Those identified by law enforcement as being involved in or associated with violent crime in the city  particularly gun crime  are invited to the periodic gatherings. They are warned of the consequences of their current activities, and they are offered help in turning their lives around.

Call-ins held over the first two years proved successful, as officials saw a dramatic decrease in the number of reported shootings, people shot, and homicides in Erie, said Amy Eisert of the Mercyhurst Civic Institute, which provides data analysis and other support for Unified Erie.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Unified Erie had to regroup, Eisert said. Call-ins were put on hold for a time because of the pandemic. At the same time, Erie was dealing with a rise in violent crime among juveniles.

As Erie has seen a rise in shootings, killings and other violent crime involving juveniles, Unified Erie is now focusing its efforts exclusively on teenagers and some younger children.

Hence the call-in at Erie High.

First call-in to take place at Erie High School

Two juveniles have been killed and at least eight others have been wounded by gunfire in shootings in Erie so far this year, according to Erie Times-News data.

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A number of juveniles have been charged in the dozens of shootings that have been reported since Jan. 1, including two 17-year-olds charged with criminal homicide in the shooting of one of the homicide victims, 7-year-old Antonio Yarger Jr., on April 14.

Police and prosecutors have said gangs are behind much of the violence. They said students joined the gangs as the usual structures  such as in-person schooling  fell away during the pandemic.

Tuesday's call-in was Unified Erie's third teen-centered program, Eisert said. But it was the first to take place inside Erie High School, as all of the previous events were held at a local church.

Eisert said the school district was not involved in identifying the teens invited to participate in this week's call-in, but hosted the event and provided some of the speakers. While the focus of the program was the same as previous events, it was more school- and family-based, and with an emphasis on the programs the district can provide to students who need help, she said.

Another new component is a peace dinner for parents of children considered at high risk either as a violent crime offender or victim, Eisert said.

"We're trying to engage parents in a proactive, preventable way," she said of the dinners, which will be held periodically.

The first dinner was held in June in advance of a call-in held in August. Resources presented at the dinner included the school district, mental-health trauma professionals, and the Crime Victim Center of Erie, Eisert said.

Unified Erie list has 59 students, including 2 in elementary school

A total of 14 students attended Tuesday's call-in at Erie High School, Erie schools Superintendent Brian Polito said. That figure represented about half the number of participants organizers were hoping to attract.

Polito, who attended Tuesday's hourlong call-in, said after the event that a total of 59 district students are on Unified Erie's call-in list: 45 high school students, 12 students in middle school and two students in elementary school. Of the high school students, Polito said 19 are at Erie High; 25 are at the district's school for alternative education, the Patrick J. DiPaolo Student Success Center at Emerson-Gridley; and one student is at Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy.

Polito said the district plans to work with Unified Erie to hold call-ins at other locations to attract more students. He said the district has matched each of the participating students with "champions"  teachers, coaches, counselors or other school staff members who have developed a relationship with the student and are considered a mentor. Those adults, he said, will work with the students to get them resources to help them stay out of trouble.

The district detailed the resources at Tuesday's call-in. It has expanded its programs for students using funding meant to help schools address "learning loss" and mental health issues among students due to the lack of in-school instruction during the pandemic.

The resources, Polito said, include:

Mental health specialists

Social workers, or case managers, to connect students and families with other resources

Tutoring services

Guidance counselors and job coaches

"We want to tell them we do care about them, and we want to give them the services they need," Polito said of the message to students at the call-ins. "But we also want them to know that if they continue down this path, there will be consequences to their actions, and we want to make sure they know what the consequences might be."

Messages flashed on video show ID'd students

At Tuesday's call-in, audience members stood while the students walked into the auditorium with their counselors before Daryl Craig  founder of the anti-violence organization the Blue Coats  opened the "peace meeting" with a prayer.

Craig, who stood near a photo display of people killed by gunfire in Erie since 2019, prayed for those young men and women who sleep in the bathtub over fears that their house will be shot up. He prayed for the children dazed and confused by the violence around them. He prayed for Antonio Yarger Jr.'s mother. And he prayed that the message offered during the afternoon's program would lead to change.

The students were told through messages flashed on a video screen that law enforcement had identified them. They were shown photos of street signs superimposed with gang names, and of young men and women gathered on porches, riding bicycles, and walking down streets.

A message then asked the students if they wanted to be a statistic or successful. The choice was theirs, the message read.

Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny told the students that one of the hardest jobs for him and other police officers is having to go to a shooting victim's house and tell family members that their loved one had been killed. He said he doesn't want to do that ever again, and also doesn't want to "keep seeing your names in the reports I see."

"I want you guys to help yourselves. Use the support of all your family and friends and the group here," Spizarny said.

Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz opened her remarks with a series of numbers.

15: The number of juvenile offenders she has transferred to the Erie County Prison.

35 and 42: The minimum state prison sentences given to two juveniles charged as adults in fatal shootings in Erie.

62: The age one person convicted of second-degree murder in a 2019 killing in the city will be when that person  who was 17 years old at the time of the killing  will be eligible for parole.

"These numbers, these facts are real. And they will represent your future if you continue on the course you're on," Hirz said. "I've witnessed first-hand and consoled the family members of victims whose lives were taken or harmed by gun violence. I want it to stop, and I want it to stop now."

Hirz told the students that she wanted to make two things clear. First, if they are ready to make the choice to turn their lives around, she and others were there to help.

If they do not take the offer seriously and choose not to accept the help, they can expect her office to come after them with every lawful tool they have if they or any members of their group act out in violence, she said.

"Unlike these groups that you think are your friends and are there for you, they will turn on you on a heartbeat. I have seen it, and they don't care about you and they just want to use you for their gain," Hirz said. "Everyone here, though, truly and sincerely cares for you and wants to help you, and I need you to believe that today. Because that will help you take that step."

Students offered choices to stay out of trouble

Speakers stressed the importance of making the right choices throughout Tuesday's call-in, which was followed by a fellowship gathering and pizza.

Maurice Troop, assistant principal at Erie High, spoke of the trouble that some members of his family had gotten into in the past. He said he could have followed a similar path.

"It's about the choices you want to make," Troop said. "Do you want to be a memory  or do you want to be out there creating positive memories? It's all about the choice that you make."

Michael Outlaw, the city of Erie's community liaison, talked about being on juvenile probation, spending time in the Erie County Prison, growing up in an abusive home and losing a brother to gun violence.

Michael Outlaw, the city of Erie's community liaison, spoke at the "call-in" for at-risk students at Erie High School on Tuesday.

Outlaw said he turned his life around, and Tuesday was the day for the students he addressed to do the same, he said.

You don't get credibility by going to the penitentiary or by playing with a gun, Outlaw told the students.

"Today's your choice," he said. "Don't leave here and think we're just talking. Don't think we're up here for the sake of being up here to talk. We care about you."

The most compelling comments  which drew applause from the attendees  came from Yvette Jennings, who has spoken at a number of the call-ins about losing one son to suicide and a second to homicide.

Jennings said the pain of those deaths remains fresh, as if they happened today. But it's worth it to share those experiences, if it can help someone live a little longer, she said.

"You are in charge of your fate, you are in charge of your future, understand what I'm saying? You are in charge of your success or your failures, you get me?" Jennings said. "Nobody can take your choices from you until you make the wrong choice. As soon as you do, it's a wrap. It's done. It's over."

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie High used for 'call-in'; anti-violence efforts focus on juveniles
U.S. Rep. Val Demings said Thursday she does not support military intervention in Haiti amid one of the countrys worst health and security crises in decades, as Haitian officials and U.N. leaders call for the deployment of a multinational force to combat gangs in the Caribbean nation.

When asked during a meeting with members of the Miami Herald Editorial Board if she believed U.S. involvement in Haiti should include troops in some form, Demings, who is running for U.S. Senate, replied that was not the answer.

Even multilaterally? Miami Herald Editorial Board editor Nancy Ancrum asked.

I do not support sending troops into Haiti at this time, Demings, a former police chief, said Thursday. As a crisis negotiator, we always tried diplomacy first. And thats what we need to do, working through the State Department.

Demings, who co-chairs the Haiti Caucus in the U.S. House, said she supported replacing the U.S. special envoy to Haiti after the last person assigned to the post  Ambassador Daniel Foote  resigned in protest amid the Biden administrations policy towards Haiti and deportations of Haitian migrants. Senior State Department leaders told McClatchy that he resigned in September of 2021 after unsuccessfully advocating to send U.S. troops to the country.

We sent a letter to the President, and to the State Department, asking that they immediately assign an envoy who can bring order, because the gangs are pretty much running the place. And so weve got to have someone to take leadership there, Demings said. She added that during her conversations with Haitian Americans in Florida, many voters have stressed they dont want the U.S. to take hold of the Haitian government, but rather help create conditions for a functioning system.

As the situation in Haiti has worsened, the Biden administration drafted a United Nations Security Council resolution that encouraged the immediate deployment of a multinational rapid action force to Haiti to address the crises, according to a copy of the resolution obtained by McClatchy and the Miami Herald. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations told the council that Washington would support another foreign partner leading the effort.

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Both the Haitian government and the U.N. secretary general have called for a multinational rapid reaction force to deploy to Haiti to push back against gangs that have blockaded the countrys main fuel terminal and cut off its seaports and critical roadways. The lack of fuel and potable water is fueling a cholera outbreak in the country, alarming the international community.

On Cuba and socialism attacks

During the hour-long endorsement interview, Demings  days after facing off against opponent Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in their first and only televised debate  discussed both domestic and foreign policy issues impacting voters, including inflation, abortion, climate change and immigration.

Asked about U.S. policy towards Cuba, she said that she supported the economic embargo on the island and said she does not think the U.S. should encourage or downplay or try to make deals with a person that terrorizes his own people.

We should find ways to support Cubans through access to the internet, to make sure that they are able to receive support from family members. But do nothing to invest into a regime of a person who terrorizes his own people, Demings said.

Demings, who said she has done most of her campaigning in South Florida, said that Rubios accusations that she is a socialist  a label that Florida Democrats have struggled to beat in past election cycles  are ridiculous, leaning on her law enforcement record as proof.

When I talk to people in South Florida, they say that theyve never seen a socialist police chief. And they say, weve never seen a socialist who spent 27 years in law enforcement, Demings said. I go back to my question [to Rubio]: how gullible do you think the voters are?

McClatchyDC Senior National Security and White House Correspondent Michael Wilner contributed to this report.
A person holds a cup under tap water and lets the water spill out.



Conspiracies of fluoride in tap water range from claims of ill-health effects to fears of foreign powers working to weaken U.S. citizens bodies.

A small-town water manager had some pretty out-there ideas about fluoride in the water, so much so that he lowered levels of the chemical in the towns water supply for years without telling anybody for over a decade of nearly 30 years of his position.

Kendall Chamberlin, the now-resigned water and wastewater supervisor in the small Vermont town of Richmond, had been secretly reducing the fluoride levels in the local water supply for years and years. According to an AP report from earlier this month, Chamberlain finally admitted to the towns Water and Sewer Commission that he had been making those unilateral changes to the towns water content. He told the town this was to err on the side of caution, because his duty is to to take responsible care and judgment for the protection of public health.

Read more

In previous town meeting videos Chamberlin looks like a gussied-up Tolkien-esque wizard, like a combination of wizards Saruman the White and Radagast the Brown. During those meetings he also made excuses that seemed to touch on decade-long fluoride conspiracies in his five-page resignation letter (thanks VTDigger). Chamberlain wrote that he always accurately reported measured fluoride levels in the towns water system, which were signed off by the town administrator, but he also said he had been keeping levels below state-recommended ranges for more than a decade.

In his letter, he called fluoride a toxic chemical with significant known health risks, and said I cannot in good conscience be a party to this.

Kendall Chamberlin during a town meeting giving his best impression of a wizened old wizard whos misplaced his hat.

Fluoride is a constant punching bag for conspiracists, and it has been for decades. Back in the cold war era, it was considered a kind of plot by the soviets to weaken the U.S. In modern day, blowhard conspiracist and routine liar Alex Jones took up the trumpet against fluoride. Though his turn the frogs gay-type rhetoric have been some of his less-harmful demagoguery campaigns compared to what hes said about the Sandy Hook school massacre.

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In a Sept. 19 water and sewer meeting, Chamberlin claimed that fluoride comes from China, and it cant be trusted. This is a common conspiracy theory that has circulated online for years. Some Fluoride is sourced from China, but the Centers for Disease Control told AP those chemicals need to meet strict safety standards. Chamberlin submitted his resignation Monday, and town officials declined to comment on his departure citing that it was a personnel issue.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and all state health departments advise low levels of fluoride added to water supplies at around .7 milligrams per liter. During the September meeting, Town Manager Josh Arneson said he was informed by the Vermont Department of Health that Richmonds fluoride levels were around .3 milligrams per liter. Richmond had agreed to put fluoride in the groundwater since 1983, according to Arneson, but town officials noted that levels were consistently under .7 milligrams month after month for nearly the last four years.

During the meeting, Chamberlin told officials There is a lot of information that is out there, and we should have a referendum on it. He further compared fluoride to PFAS, a series of manmade chemical compounds which has caused multiple health issues in humans and animals. Conspiracists often conflate the crafted and harmful poly-fluorinated alkyl substances to fluoride, a naturally-occurring chemical that has been regularly noted as fine for humans as long as its taken in certain prescribed amounts (just like practically any chemical the body imbibes).

In the U.S., fluoride is added to 70% of municipal water supplies for the purpose of protecting residents teeth, according to the CDC. The whole deal started after an initial test in 1945 showed children in Grand Rapids, Michigan had fewer cavities in their teeth.



As of Richmonds last water meeting, fluoride levels were back up to .6 milligrams per liter as of Oct. 5. Arneson said going forward, we will target levels of .7 milligrams per liter. The towns now looking for another water guru to supervise testing, likely hoping this next person wont also be secretly into age-old conspiracies.



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A woman from the US has divided TikTok users after she revealed she bought her university-age daughter a flat in Glasgow because the market was affordable.

Janelle Copeland, from California, shared a video detailing her experience of trying to find a place for her daughter to live while studying at university in Scotland.

Copeland said she and her husband, Eddie, spent three months trying to find a property their daughter could rent with friends, but the search was unsuccessful.

They also found some options outside of Glasgow but didnt feel comfortable with any of these as they would require their daughter to walk up to an hour to university every day.

Explaining her rationale, Copeland said that out of desperation, she began researching if American citizens could purchase property in Scotland.

Turns out theres no restrictions. So basically, I spent seven days figuring out everything there is to know about Scotlands real estate, Copeland said.

We found two that we really liked so we put in offers. Luckily the real estate market is pretty affordable in Scotland, so we saved a ton of time not having to take out a mortgage.

According to the latest figures from the UK House Prince Index, published in August, the average price of a property in Glasgow is 177,812.

A report by industry body Homes for Scotland, published in March, found that Scotland is suffering from a chronic housing shortage of about 100,000 homes. Housing charity Shelter estimates that a household becomes homeless in Scotland every 18 minutes, and that 11,804 children were made homeless in Scotland last year.

Copelands comments have received a mixed response on TikTok.

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Some people were shocked that the family found property prices affordable.

Others accused the creator of ignoring the plight of Scottish people who are struggling amid the crisis.

Its always delightful when those with affluence and money cash in on the housing collapse in another country, one person wrote.

Another said: Very bad taste with the housing crisis for Scots.

This makes me so sad, theres plenty of properties to rent and we have good public transport routes, this just adds to the housing crisis, a third person said.

The Independent has contacted Copeland for comment.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  An Israeli rights group released video on Friday that appears to show an Israeli security guard and a Jewish settler joining forces during a clash with Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank, with the settler throwing a gas grenade after the guard apparently shows him where to aim.

The video, provided by the rights group Yesh Din, was filmed during a confrontation between masked Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the northern West Bank, an area which has seen unrest in recent months over Israeli military raids and Palestinian shooting attacks.

Critics have long accused the Israeli military and the defense establishment of having uncomfortably tight ties with settlers. The Defense Ministry pays the salaries of settlement guards and many top commanders live in the settlements. Soldiers are often seen standing by as settlers attack Palestinians or their property. This week, settlers rampaging in the northern West Bank pepper sprayed several soldiers trying to disperse them.

We are used to seeing soldiers doing nothing to stop settlers but in recent years were seeing active cooperation between them, said Ziv Stahl, Yesh Dins executive director.

In the video, a settler is seen walking down a hilltop and handing what Yesh Din says are two gas grenades to the security guard. The guard is then seen handing back one of the grenades before pointing in the direction of what appears to be the Palestinians, who are offscreen, and the settler lobs one grenade that way. The guard again points and the settler throws the second grenade.

Security guards man settlements throughout the West Bank and are meant to act as a standby until soldiers or police arrive.

Other videos provided by Yesh Din from the clash also show soldiers standing by as masked settlers throw stones. The videos do not show the Palestinians.

The Israeli military said the incident and the guards behavior were under review.

The military said both Palestinians and settlers were throwing stones. It said the person in uniform seen in the video is not a soldier but rather a security guard whose salary is paid by the Israeli Defense Ministry and who is nominated by a regional military officer.

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The military said settlement guards are typically not in uniform but the guard in the video was wearing what appears to be Israeli military attire. He has a helmet and is armed, and also wears a black face cover that obscures half his face.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. More than 500,000 people now live in some 130 settlements across the West Bank.

___

Associated Press writer Fares Akram contributed to this report from Hamilton, Ontario.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the Israeli group says the grenades in the video are gas grenades, not stun grenades.
Montgomery police are investigating a fatal shooting on the villages east side, officials said.

Officers were called to the 1200 block of Lebanon Street early Friday morning for reports of an unresponsive person, police said in a news release.

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Officers found a person lying in a driveway suffering from an apparent fatal gunshot wound, police said. The persons identity has not been released yet.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Montgomery Police Department at 331-212-9091.

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mejones@chicagotribune.com
A Virginia mother has been charged with murder and felony child neglect after her 4-year-old son died from eating THC gummies, police said.

Dorothy Annette Clements, 30, of Spotsylvania was arrested Wednesday, two days after a grand jury indicted her on the charges related to the May death of her son.

Authorities said Clements failed to get her son help quickly enough after he was found unresponsive on May 6 at a Fredericksburg home they were visiting, about 11 miles away from Spotsylvania.

The boy died two days later, according to police, who said detectives believe the boy ingested a "large amount" of the gummies.

NBC Washington reported that an autopsy found THC  the ingredient in marijuana that gets people high  was the cause of death.

A doctor told detectives that the boy could have been saved if he received medical attention sooner, according to authorities.

Clements told police she called poison control after the boy ate half of a CBD gummy and that officials told her he would be fine, NBC Washington reported.

But police say Clements' claims did not match evidence found at the home, where a detective reported finding an empty THC gummy jar in the house where he was found, according to NBC Washington.

Clements faces up to 40 years in prison for the murder charge.

Her arraignment is set for Nov. 1, online records show.

Poison Control says that "serious and sometimes life-threatening side effects can occur in children who consume cannabis edibles," and recommends parents keep cannabis products away from kids.

Side effects for kids who consume THC edibles can include "vomiting, dizziness, difficulty walking, a rapid heart rate, drowsiness, confusion, and breathing difficulties," along with hallucinations, low blood pressure and an abnormally slow heart rate in severe cases, according to Poison Control.

"Parents and caregivers should call poison control regardless of whether symptoms are present because signs and symptoms may not occur immediately after consumption," the organization says.

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Experts say the appearance of THC gummies is part of what makes them extra risky to leave around children.

The packaging of the gummies typically isn't childproof, and given their resemblance to candy, "when children come across them, most children are going to put that in their mouth and ingest it," pediatric emergency room physician Dr. Jill McCabe, who works at Inova Loudoun Hospital in Leesburg, told NBC Washington.

If children do consume them, parents should immediately call 911 and seek emergency medical care if the child is "having difficulty breathing, not breathing well, having a seizure, difficulty walking, very lethargic, [or having] persistent vomiting," McCabe told NBC Washington.

The warnings follow a string of recent incidents in which children were hospitalized for consuming foods laced with THC.

In 2020, at least two children  an 11-year-old and a 5-year-old  were hospitalized after eating "Medicated Nerds Rope," a THC-laced candy, from a food bank in Utah.

A year earlier, the mother of a 5-year-old boy was arrested for child endangerment after her son brought gummies laced with THC to his Cleveland elementary school, causing nine children to be hospitalized.

In 2018, at least 5 Florida middle school students were taken to the hospital after eating marijuana-laced gummy bears, which a 12-year-old boy allegedly handed out during gym class.

Medical experts said the 2015 death of an 11-month-old baby boy in Colorado marked "the first reported pediatric death associated with cannabis," though the baby was officially listed as having died from myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and other experts questioned whether cannabis caused the death.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
SNAX FOR VAX: The Vitamin Shoppe is again taking a pro-vax position.

The health and wellness retailer on Saturday and Sunday will offer a free protein bar or healthy snack to those with a documented flu vaccine shot, in a Snax for Vax campaign to combat the flu. Anyone with proof of a recent flu vaccine from their doctor, pharmacist or other healthcare provider can choose a free protein bar or healthy snack  protein brownies, vitamin bars and protein sweet rolls among the freebees  at The Vitamin Shoppe and Super Supplements stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. No purchase is necessary.

More from WWD

The Vitamin Shoppe conducted a similar Snax for Vax giveaway to encourage COVID-19 vaccines, in a 2021 partnership with the White House.

For The Vitamin Shoppe, taking a stand on vaccinations poses some risk in alienating those who are anti-vaxers. But it could also build loyalty with those who do get vaccinated and draw more traffic to The Vitamin Shoppe stores and website.

Medical authorities and the Biden Administration have been warning of a particularly harsh flu season ahead, and that seniors, young children, pregnant women, and people with chronic health conditions are most vulnerable to serious health consequences. Public health experts have advised that the current flu season may be severe, so we want to encourage Americans to engage in healthy habits, such as getting an annual flu vaccine and supporting their immune systems with a healthy diet, regular exercise, and proper sleep routines, Sharon Leite, chief executive officer of The Vitamin Shoppe, said in a statement.
A Washington state woman who was allegedly buried alive in the woods this week by her estranged husband managed to escape to safety from the shallow grave, authorities said.

A Thurston County Sheriffs deputy located a frantic woman hiding behind the shed in a homes front yard shortly before 1 a.m. on Monday, according to a declaration of probable cause filed Wednesday in the countys superior court.

My husband is trying to kill me, the woman screamed, according to the court document.

She had duct tape still wrapped around her neck, lower face and ankles," the filing said. "There was extensive bruising to her legs, arms and head and her clothing and hair were covered in dirt.

The womans husband, Chae Kyong An, is now facing a slew of recommended charges such as first-degree attempted murder, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree assault, according to the probable cause declaration.

He was booked into the county jail on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, during a preliminary hearing, a judge granted the prosecutors request to hold him without bail, according to the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorneys Office.

Kyong An, 53, has not been formally charged yet, prosecutors said. His attorney was not reached for comment Thursday.

Police in Lacey, about 60 miles southwest of Seattle, responded Sunday afternoon to the womans home after receiving a 911 call of a woman screaming who sounded gagged, according to the probable cause document.

The woman later told police she was attacked in her home after talking to her husband about their ongoing divorce and money.

Kyong An tied his wife's hands behind her back with duct tape, and duct-taped her eyes, thighs and ankles, the court document said. She told investigators she managed to call 911 with her Apple watch and sent an emergency notification when he left the bedroom.

He dragged her into the garage and broke her Apple watch with a hammer, the report said.

Police obtained surveillance video from neighbors of Kyong Ans van parked at the home. They also have video of him pulling into the garage with the van and then speeding out of the neighborhood, the probable cause report said.

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The woman told police she was driven in the van somewhere and then put on the ground outside. She told police she could hear him digging in the dirt, according to the probable cause declaration.

He then stabbed her in her chest, she told police.

She was drug and put into the ground.  A heavy tree was put on top of her, the probable cause document said. After being put into the ground she could hear her husband walking around the hole and dirt being put on top of her."

The woman told police she struggled to breathe inside the hole, and managed to keep dirt off her face by squirming around. She guessed she was inside the shallow grave for hours, according to the court document.

When it got dark, the woman told police, she managed to wiggle free from the duct tape. Once she got the tape off her eyes, she could see the vans windows steaming and a light inside. Thats when she ran for about 30 minutes, until she found a home. Someone at the home called 911, the court document said.

The woman told investigators her husband had threatened to kill her before. She said he had told her he would rather kill her than give her his retirement money, the probable cause report said.

Investigators were able to find the shallow grave the woman described, on the edge of a clearing by an access road with limbs and downed trees, the report said.

The hole appeared to be freshly dug. Outside the hole was a piece of duct tape, the report said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A man was arrested for allegedly kidnapping his wife and attempting to bury her alive in the woods in Lacey, Washington.

Police responded to a home in Lacey at about 1 a.m. on Monday, where they located Young An, 42, pleading for help, according to a declaration of probable cause filed on Wednesday in Thurston Countys superior court.

My husband is trying to kill me, the woman reportedly screamed.

She had duct tape still wrapped around her neck, lower face and ankles, the filing read. There was extensive bruising to her legs, arms and head and her clothing and hair were covered in dirt.

More from NextShark: Alexander Wang Responds to Sexual Assault Accusations

Young told police that her husband, Chae Kyong An, 53, attacked her in her home on Oct. 16 after they spoke about their ongoing divorce and finances. She said that Chae had threatened her before, saying that he would rather kill her than give her his retirement money, according to the probable cause statement.

Chae allegedly punched Young multiple times before binding her eyes, hands and body with duct tape. She managed to contact 911 and send an emergency notification to her emergency contacts using her Apple watch when he left her bedroom.

According to reports, Chae dragged Young into the garage and broke her watch with a hammer before loading her into a van and driving into the woods to bury her.

More from NextShark: Panda Express Worker Suspended for Mocking Chinese Accent While Speaking to Customer

Young told police that she heard her husband digging in the dirt before he allegedly stabbed her in the chest and placed her into the ground.

She was drug and put into the ground.  A heavy tree was put on top of her, the probable cause document reportedly read. After being put into the ground she could hear her husband walking around the hole and dirt being put on top of her.

Young said she managed to keep dirt off her face by wiggling around as she laid in the grave for hours. When she managed to tear off the duct tape, she ran for about 30 minutes until she found a house.

Story continues

More from NextShark: Ad in China 'Victim-Blames' Woman in Makeup Being Followed By Masked Man

The victim was taken to a hospital and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Chae was arrested the same day after a hiker spotted his 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan on a local trail. He was later booked into Thurston County Jail, where he is currently held without bail.

On Oct. 18, investigators found the shallow grave in the woods west of Rainier Road and south of Stedman Road near Lacey. Duct tape and the womans hair were also recovered at the scene.

More from NextShark: Teen Calls Out Instagram for Policy Negligence, Starts Campaign to Make Instagram Safer

The hole appeared to be freshly dug. Outside the hole was a piece of duct tape, the report said.

Chae faces potential charges of first-degree attempted murder, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree assault and felony harassment, according to prosecutors.

If you or anyone you know may be experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, visit thehotline.org or text START to 88788 for additional guidance and resources.

Featured Image via NBC News
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has filed a lawsuit pushing back against federal agencies seeking to force removal of 130 shipping containers used as a makeshift wall at Arizona's border with Mexico.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Friday, asks a judge to allow the state to continue placing shipping containers at the border and to stop the federal government from intervening. It presents a more broad question, too, about state authority when it comes to border issues.

In the past two weeks, Ducey's administration and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have sparred over whether Arizona had the legal authority to put the containers in gaps where the federal government, though having plans to build a barrier, had not yet done so.

"We're not going to remove anything," Ducey told The Arizona Republic in a Thursday interview.

Ducey's administration has no plans to remove the containers until a permanent solution is in place. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have said construction is to begin in January on the gaps near Yuma, using "temporary mesh fencing" and vehicle gates.

"Why replace temporary barriers with more temporary barriers?" Ducey said in a statement Friday, calling it "just another example of the federal government bureaucracy and out-of-control spending. The border barrier works and were not going to delay the safety of our citizens any longer.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation sent a letter to state officials last week, claiming Ducey's containers violated federal law. This week, Allen Clark, director of the Arizona Division of Emergency Management with the state Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, rejected that claim in a letter of his own.

This is the Bureau of Reclamation, some bureaucrat, who writes a letter," Ducey said. "That's not going to slow down what we're doing to protect the people of Arizona. We're gonna plug ahead every day as long as I am governor.

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The lawsuit escalates that back-and-forth, citing the influx of migrants and drugs at the border as evidence the federal government has not done enough, forcing Arizona to step in.

"The citizens of Arizona are experiencing an unprecedented crisis at the states southern border, caused in large part by the federal governments complete abdication of responsibility with respect to immigration and national security policy," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit names the U.S. Forest Service and its chief, Randy Moore; the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and its commissioner, Camille Calimlim Touton; and Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack as defendants. The Forest Service and Bureau of Reclamation have joint jurisdiction over the land on which containers were placed. The agencies did not comment on Ducey's lawsuit.

While the focus of the lawsuit is the shipping containers, one of its six claims serves to test whether states can declare an invasion at the border, a legal theory GOP candidate for governor Kari Lake has made central to her bid for office.

Ducey, who has made border security a hallmark of his almost eight years in office, has not signaled any interest in making such a declaration, which would upend decades of court rulings that have maintained the federal government has the enforcement authority for immigration laws.

Asked why he hadn't pursued a declaration of invasion, Ducey said, "We've done everything possible to address the border situation."

What to know: 'Border invasion' becomes talk of GOP candidates

Nor does he intend to bus asylum seekers to cities on the East Coast other than Washington, D.C., a practice condemned by immigrants' rights groups as a political ploy, but that Ducey has said takes the border crisis to President Joe Biden's doorstep.

Arizona has sent 2,260 migrants to the nation's capital on a total of 63 bus trips since the governor quietly unveiled the transportation program in May. The trips cost about $82,000 each, according to the state's contract, resulting in the bill to the state of over $5 million so far. The taxpayer-funded trips supplement similar work already being done by nonprofits that aid migrants.

Decisions by Republican governors in Texas and Florida to move migrants to other places, like New York and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, were condemned by Democratic leaders there.

Such programs have emerged as a new front in the political battle over immigration policy and border security.

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669. Follow her on Twitter @sbarchenger.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona sues federal government over shipping container wall at border
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The Kremlin should know that just as the United States declared another multibillion-dollar financial assistance to Ukraine for next year, the EU will also help, and these funds will be enough for the functioning of the Ukrainian state, Morawiecki said.

Read also: Central bank deputy head details financial aid Ukraine expects in 2022

The PM stressed that he sees Poland playing a significant role in the process of disbursing EU funds to Ukraine. The European Commission is working to provide funds to Kyiv, but there must be consensus among all EU members on the mechanism for their allocation. Morawiecki noted that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also listened to Poland's arguments regarding financial assistance to Ukraine.

On Oct. 20, NBC News reported that the United States plans to allocate a new $50 billion military aid package to Ukraine by January 2023. The U.S. Congress has given Ukraine a total of $65 billion in aid since Russias full-scale invasion began in February.

Read also: US Congress looks to approve $50 billion in Ukraine aid, NBC reports

Earlier U.S. media reports suggested that there was disagreement in the Republican Party over the scope of Washingtons security and financial assistance to Kyiv. This comes as the GOP is poised to take control of the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections.



Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
BERLIN (Reuters) - Western Balkan ministers are set to agree on Friday on visa-free travel between the six countries and on mutual recognition of university diplomas and professional qualifications, taking a step towards EU membership.

"These three agreements clear the way for the creation of a common regional market of the Western Balkans," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

"By setting up this market, you are taking an important step forward in the EU accession process," Baerbock said ahead of a meeting of Western Balkans and EU officials in Berlin.

She added that the agreements would be formally signed at a Western Balkans Summit in Berlin in November.

The European Commission last week recommended that Bosnia and Herzegovina be granted the status of candidate to join the EU, on the understanding that it reinforces democracy and takes other steps.

Some Western Balkans countries' patience with the EU's waiting room is wearing thin, and critics of the slow pace of further enlargement of the bloc say it leaves space for Russia and China to extend their influence in the region.

The Commission said Turkey as well as the five other Western Balkan states - Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia - which all have candidate status, needed to make more progress in key reforms including rule of law, the fight against corruption and media freedom.

Baerbock said it was a priority for the German government to bring the Western Balkan countries into the EU to ensure stability and economic progress in the region.

"I call on all of you to speed up your reforms in the interest of your citizens," she told the Western Balkans foreign ministers gathered in Berlin.

(This story has been corrected to show the agreement refers to travel without visas, not without identity cards, in the lead)

(Writing by Maria Sheahan; editing by Matthias Williams and Nick Macfie)
(Reuters) - The White House is in talks with billionaire Elon Musk about setting up SpaceX's satellite internet service Starlink in Iran, CNN reported on Friday, citing officials familiar with the matter.

The satellite-based broadband service could help Iranians circumvent the regime's restrictions on accessing the internet and certain social media platforms.

The Islamic Republic has been engulfed by protests that erupted after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody last month.

The U.S. Treasury Department last month said that some satellite internet equipment can be exported to Iran, suggesting that the company may not need a license to provide satellite broadband service in the country.

Musk had then said he would activate Starlink in response to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's tweet that the United States took action "to advance internet freedom and the free flow of information" to Iranians.

SpaceX and the White House did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Musk said on Tuesday Starlink has not received any funding from the U.S. Department of Defense for its services in Ukraine, adding the company was losing about $20 million a month due to unpaid service and costs on security measures for cyberwar defense.

SpaceX is aiming to grow Starlink, as it races against rival satellite communications companies such as OneWeb and Amazon.com Inc's yet to launch Project Kuiper.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
The Wichita Fraternal Order of Police has called on Mayor Brandon Whipple to replace himself on a police oversight task force with a representative from the police union after he criticized an officer who blocked him from entering a city-sponsored neighborhood cleanup.

Whipple said the officer acted inappropriately and failed to activate his body camera until after he finished yelling.

As a stakeholder, the Union requests a seat at the table on the Mayors committee and demands the Mayor be removed due to his obvious bias, the FOP said in a written statement on Friday.

The request comes days after state and national police unions called on Whipple to apologize or resign.

If the Mayors past claims of transparency are true the Unions involvement shouldnt be an issue, the FOP statement said.

Whipple  who has dismissed criticism by police unions as a political hit aimed at blocking oversight of the Wichita Police Department  said he has no intention of stepping down from the task force he created and that he will not appoint someone from the FOP, which has been accused by two current and one former deputy chiefs of interfering in internal investigations and having undue influence on officer discipline.

The people expect leadership from the mayor and City Council, Whipple said. And I intend to provide that.

Whipple announced the oversight task force last month during a news conference about police missing evidence in homicides, rapes and other criminal cases. It has not held a meeting and its unclear who will be on the task force.

Council member Jeff Blubaugh withdrew from the task force on Tuesday, citing anti-police bias by Whipple and social media posts by some of his supporters. Blubaugh said he was offended by some of the posts that pointed to a $300,000 settlement the city paid out in 2013 after a Wichita police patrol car, driven by the same officer who stopped Whipple, killed a 12-year-old girl.

On Friday, the FOP asked Whipple to make Blubaugh chair of the oversight task force.

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Last week, Whipple shared body cam footage from the Sept. 24 neighborhood cleanup with The Eagle. Officer Atlee Vogt, Whipple said, didnt turn on the camera until after yelling at him for accidentally turning into the wrong entrance. Whipple said Vogt told him he couldnt go to the back of the line and was no longer welcome at the event.

In the video, Whipple calls City Manager Robert Layton, telling him the officer doesnt know who he is and that hed like to file a complaint. He later dropped the complaint after speaking to former interim Chief Lem Moore.

Whipple has apologized for his role in the incident. But he said it should not distract from the need for additional oversight of the police department, which has come under intense scrutiny in recent months.

In March, The Eagle first reported that officers sent racist, homophobic and extremist text messages to each other. They received little or no discipline until after the public outcry following The Eagles story.

The city managers office put together a group to review the internal investigation and discipline. In its findings, the group called for a crackdown on racist police officers and criticized the inaction of former Chief Gordon Ramsay and his command staff. The city has since hired a top consulting firm to undertake a sweeping investigation into problems within the department.

The group also called for changes to the relationship between police leadership and the FOP, citing an inappropriate framework that allowed police to investigate themselves within the bubble of their own perspective.

This framework also permitted the FOP to influence discipline recommendations at an inappropriate point in the process, the groups report said.

Three deputy chiefs who were criticized in the report  Jose Salcido, Chester Pinkston and former deputy chief Wanda Givens  claimed in a letter threatening to sue the city that they have been cast as scapegoats by officials.

They said in the letter that on numerous occasions Human Resources Director Chris Bezruki and the FOP thwarted police leaderships attempts to root out small pockets of corruption, sexism, homophobia, racism and violence operating within the Wichita Police Department and City of Wichita.

The city has rebuffed those claims on Bezrukis behalf.

The Fraternal Order of Police has denied any wrongdoing or undue influence on disciplinary decisions.
The owners of Raven's Place and The Vault, both in the 13000 Block of Western Avenue in Blue Island, filed an appeal Thursday seeking to reinstate their liquor licenses. (Alexandra Kukulka / Daily Southtown)

The owners of two Blue Island bars will remain open as owners appeal the citys revocation of their liquor licenses to the Illinois State Liquor Commission.

Mayor Fred Bilotto, as liquor commissioner, stripped Ravens Place and The Vault, both in the 1300 block of Western Avenue, of their licenses following a City Liquor Commission hearing regarding a Sept. 17 shooting outside of Ravens place.

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Two people were injured in the shooting, said city administrator Thomas Wogan. The licenses were revoked Oct. 17, he said.

Raymond Thomas, the general manager of both bars, did not return requests for comment.

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Under state law, Bilotto said, a liquor establishment is allowed to operate while under appeal. The owners have indicated they intend to reopen both bars this weekend, he said.

I have instructed our police department to increase patrols around the area. We will continue to keep the community updated as this situation develops, Bilotto said.
Officials on Friday released new details on a former Woburn police officers involvement with an alleged white supremacist group during the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Officer John Donnelly, who was resigned from the Woburn Police Department earlier this week after being placed on leave earlier this month, violated multiple department policies through involvement in extremist groups, Woburn Mayor Scott Galvin and Woburn Police Chief Robert F. Rufo Jr. said in a joint news release.

Galvin and Rufo called for an internal affairs investigation after learning of Donnelly alleged role in planning and attending the rally, which included white nationalists, neo-Nazi groups, and members of the Ku Klux Klan.

The investigation found the following, according to Galvin and Rufo:

Donnelly went under the alias Johnny OMalley in person and online.

Donnelly did indeed attend, help plan and provide security for leadership of the Charlottesville event.

Donnelly was found to associate himself with Identity Evropa, described by the Anti-Defamation League as a white supremacist group focused on the preservation of white American culture and promoting white European identity that recruited largely on college campuses. The group changed its name to the American Identity Movement after the Charlottesville rally and later disbanded.

Donnelly used racist and antisemitic language.

Donnelly was seen in photographs as part of the security detail for Richard Spencer, described by the ADL as a white nationalist alt-right leader who was a promoter and scheduled speaker at the Charlottesville event.

The findings have been submitted to the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission with the recommendation that Donnelly be de-certified and be no longer eligible to work as a police officer in Massachusetts.

Participants in the rally carried weapons and chanted racist and anti-Semitic slogans. A woman died and many others were hurt when a car drove into a group of counter-protesters.

Story continues

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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A new advertisement produced on behalf of Mehmet Ozs US Senate campaign in Pennsylvania features just one narrator: a woman identified as Janice H of Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania.

The ad, produced by the Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund, attempts to appeal to Black voters in the state by recalling an incident Democratic candidate John Fettermans past, when Mr Fetterman, then mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, chased down a Black jogger with a shotgun and held him until police arrived at the scene.

Mr Fetterman said that he was responding to what thought were gunshots. The jogger, Chris Miyares, had not committed a crime.

Now this guy wants to be in the Senate? Are you serious? Janice H, the narrator, says.

But according to reporting from HuffPost, Janice H is not just any concerned Black voter in Pennsylvania. She is Janice Hollis, an evangelical pastor and longtime conservative activist who once wrote an op-ed endorsing Mitt Romney and casting doubt on the legitimacy of Barack Obamas US citizenship.

Per HuffPost, Ms Hollis was a member of a coalition of conservative Black ministers who repeatedly attacked Democratic officials from Mr Obama to the Congressional Black Caucus during the last decade.

In an op-ed that appeared in Christian Newswire in 2012, Ms Hollis warned that the future of America may be in Ohios hands, and asked readers there to consider supporting Mr Romney over Mr Obama for president.

We have a sitting president whose religion is questioned, whose nationality is questioned, whose passport is questioned, whose economic theory is questioned, whose so-called apology tour is questioned, and whose policies governing the fate of the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi is questioned, the op-ed read at one point. There is a lot we do not know about him.

But Janice Hollis claims that the editorial was published without her knowledge or permission. https://t.co/nNwNTsF794  HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) October 20, 2022

Ms Hollis told HuffPost that she did not write the op-ed and never agreed to have her name associated with it. She also told the outlet that the idea that Mr Obama was not a US citizen was racial and a very cheap shot.

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Ms Hollis is not the only longtime conservative activist, former candidate, or media professional who Mr Oz and his allies have employed to give the appearance that he is succeeding in winning support from the states Black voters. At an event last month, Mr Oz spoke with Philadelphia resident Sheila Armstrong about the toll of gun violence on her family  without disclosing that Ms Armstrong was not just a local resident, but also an Oz campaign employee.

Another advertisement from the Republican Jewish Coalition aimed at Black voters features a narrator identified as Melvin J, who HuffPost identified as former conservative write-in congressional candidate Melvin Prince Johnakin.

The pivotal race between Mr Oz and Mr Fetterman has tightened in recent days as Republicans have surged in races across the country, though Mr Fetterman has led nearly every poll of the race taken this fall. If the race stays close, Black voters in cities like Philadelphia could be decisive.

My message to Black voters: do your homework about John Fetterman, Ms Hollis says in the ad. He didnt even apologise, and now he wants our vote? Not a chance.
For one Florida man, setting out to rob a bank required a very particular style, according to local deputies.

The 48-year-old was caught on bank surveillance footage wearing a bright red lucky robbing jacket over the a black mock turtleneck, with his head and face covered with a black hood, the Escambia County Sheriffs Office wrote in a Facebook post.

Looking like the invisible man with sunglasses on over the black hood, he walked into his own bank in Pensacola at around 3 p.m. on Oct. 19 holding a white trash bag, according to the sheriffs office.

He walked toward the bank teller like a lion to an antelope (if the lion had been eating all too well and the antelope somehow got a job at a bank), the sheriffs office wrote. He then pulled out a gun and demanded cash, authorities said.

The teller placed the cash into the mans white trash bag and gave it back to him before he drove off in a red Town and Country minivan, the sheriffs office wrote.

Deputies soon caught up with the man, who they called a hooded, giant, cardinal-looking bandit. They pulled him over in the van and found his distinctive clothes in a nearby dumpster, according to the sheriffs office.

Deputies found the gun he used under a seat of the car and the cash in a stretched-out fanny pack, the sheriffs office said.

The man was arrested and charged with robbery with a firearm and displaying a firearm during a felony, according to court records. His bond was set at $75,000, according to the sheriffs office.

I knew as soon as I saw the Town and Country van that this fella wouldnt be on the run long, a Facebook user commented on the sheriffs office post.

Though the man may have tried to be a successful bandit, Billy the kid he was not, the sheriffs office wrote

Pensacola is about 200 miles west of Tallahassee.

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Toyota sold 10.5 million vehicles, which include Prius, in 2021. MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images / Contributor / Getty

Toyota said it will make fewer cars than the 9.7 million it had expected to make this year.

Semiconductor shortages mean its suspended some production lines at eight of its Japanese plants.

The company did not say how far short it will be of its original forecast.

The world's largest automaker by sales says it will produce fewer cars this financial year than it originally expected as parts shortages continue to hamper its manufacturing efforts.

Toyota Motor Corporation, said Friday that it is suspending production on 11 manufacturing lines at eight of its Japanese plants this November due to the impact of semiconductor shortages.

Toyota previously said it expected to make 9.7 million cars during the 2023 financial year, however as a result of the plan it now expected output to be lower. The company did not say how far short it expects production to be.

"Toyota would like to again apologize for the repeated adjustments to our production plan due to the parts shortage resulting from the spread of COVID-19, and for causing considerable inconvenience to our customers, who have been waiting for the delivery of vehicles, suppliers, and other parties concerned," the company said in a statement.

October's statement is the second in as many months in which Toyota has revised its production outlook. In late September, the company said that similar parts shortages would shave 50,000 vehicles from its schedule in October.

The company said then that it expected to produce an average of 900,000 a month between September and November.

Toyota said Friday that it now expects to make approximately 800,000 units in November  250,000 will be made in Japan, with the remaining 550,000 made overseas.

Toyota  which produces globally recognizable models like the Prius  sold 10.5 million vehicles in 2021, 1.6 million ahead of next-placed Volkswagen, per Reuters.

Last year, Toyota dethroned GM as the best-selling automaker in the US. It was the first time since the 1930s that GM was not top of the tree, a result that left Toyota's President Akio Toyoda quite literally dancing for joy.

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Last month, a spokesperson for Toyota told Insider that while demand for its vehicles remained high, the company expects its US sales to be flat or slightly down this year, as a result of supply chain problems that could persist into 2023.

Toyota did not immediately respond to Insider's request for further comment on Friday's statement.

Read the original article on Business Insider
HOUSTON  Aaron Judge ran up the first base line with his bat in his right hand in the eighth inning Thursday night, hoping hed broken the spell. The Yankees slugger watched in almost disbelief as the fly ball he hit hard died just over the right-field warning track and Houston right fielder Kyle Tucker ran back and easily grabbed it.

Minute Maid Park is seemingly where the Yankees bats have come to die. Framber Valdez was dominant, just like Justin Verlander the night before, as the Astros beat the Yankees 3-2 in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.

The Astros take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, which heads back to the Bronx for Game 3 on Saturday. The Yankees have their ace Gerrit Cole set to start the critical tilt at Yankees Stadium. MLB teams taking a 2-0 series lead in a best-of-seven have gone on to win in 74 of 88 (84.1%) series all-time. The Astros have now won eight of nine home playoff games all-time against the Yankees. The Astros pitching has limited the Bombers to just 13 runs across those eight losses.

In the first two games of this series, the home-run reliant Yankees offense has one homer, scored a total of four runs and struck out 30 times. They were 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position Thursday night and are 1-for-9 in the series.

Valdez was dealing Thursday. He held the Yankees to two runs, both unearned because of his own fielding and throwing errors, scattering four hits. The lefty did not walk a batter and struck out nine.

The Yankees scored their two runs with a little help from Valdez. Judge singled to lead off and Valdezs fielding error allowed Giancarlo Stanton to reach and then when he threw wide of first base, it allowed Judge to take third. Judge scored on Anthony Rizzos ground out and Stanton on a Gleyber Torres single.

With Torres on, Josh Donaldson, hit doubled for his first extra-base hit since Oct. 1 earlier, struck out. It was Donaldsons 11th strikeout in 24 postseason plate appearances.

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The Bombers had the tying run on first in the ninth with two outs, when Donaldson worked a walk off Ryan Pressly.

It was a disappointing night for Luis Severino, who was very good. He held the Astros to three runs on five hits over 5.1 innings. He struck out six and walked one.

Severino, making his 11th postseason appearance, lost each of his two regular-season starts against Houston, allowing five earned runs in 12 combined innings for a 3.75 ERA. He lost those games by scores of 3-1 and 2-1.

He was 0-2, 4.15 ERA in three career playoff starts against them coming into Thursday nights game. The Astros held the Yankees to just one run in all three of those games.

Minute Maid Park, where he has made six appearances in the playoffs, has always brought back some bad memories for him and the Yankees. They lost in the ALCS to the Astros in 2017 and 2019.

Severino had much better stuff than he did Saturday night in Cleveland. He ramped up his fastball to 99 miles an hour  to strike out Yordan Alvarez to end the fifth. He got 13 swings and misses, including 10 on that fastball.

He made one real mistake. Severino started out the bottom of the third by hitting Houston catcher Martin Maldanoado with a pitch. He struck out the struggling Jose Altuve, got another out on Yordan Alvarezs fielders choice and then got ahead of Alex Bregman 1-2, before the Astros third baseman crushed a three-run homer on Severinos 97-mile-an-hour fastball. He retired the next eight batters he faced, but when he gave up a one-out single to Kyle Tucker in the sixth, Aaron Boone quickly went out to get him.

Jonathan Loaisiga gave up a single to Yuli Gurriel and then coaxed a double-play grounder out of Aledmys Diaz.

I think about our losses here, Thats the only thing that came to my mind, Severino said. I think all the guys that have been here since then have to remember that. They have to remember that feeling and try to not feel the same way this year, try to be better, try to go out there with that mentality and win games.
By Mohammed Alghobari

ADEN (Reuters) - Yemen's Saudi-backed government said on Friday its forces had intercepted armed drones launched against a southern oil terminal by Houthi fighters as an oil tanker was preparing to dock.

A Yemeni government official said Houthi drones attacked al-Dhabba oil terminal, located in the town of al-Shihr in Hadhramaut province, as the oil tanker Nissos was preparing to enter the terminal.

Nissos was scheduled to load 2 million barrels of crude from the terminal, the official said, adding that there was no damage to the port and the tanker. The office of Hadhramout's governor Mabkhout bin Madi confirmed the attack to Reuters.

The Houthi movement said it carried out a warning attack to prevent the vessel from "smuggling" crude oil from the port.

"We renew our warning to all companies to fully comply with the decisions of the authorities in Sanaa and shun away from any contribution to the looting of Yemeni resources," a statement from the Houthi armed forces said.

The incident is the first major escalation since the Iran-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-backed government failed to renew a U.N.-brokered truce earlier this month, amid differences over payment of salaries for civil servants in Houthi-controlled areas.

Yemens oil output has collapsed since 2015 when a Saudi-backed military coalition intervened in Yemens war to try to restore the internationally recognised government to power. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates Yemen has proven oil reserves of around 3 billion barrels.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it was aware of reports of an incident in the vicinity of al-Shihr and that vessel and crew are safe.

Marshall Islands-flagged Nissos KEA oil tanker was moving "within zone" on Friday outside al-Dhabba in the Gulf of Aden, Refinitiv data showed.

United Nations special envoy Hans Grundberg said he would continue to push for an extended and expanded deal between the warring parties, both under intense international pressure to come to an agreement.

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The truce has largely succeeded in stopping the violence across Yemen as well as allowing some fuel ships into Hodeidah port and some commercial flights from Sanaa, both held by the Houthis.

A coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervened in Yemen after the Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa. The group says it is fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.

(Additional reporting by Reyam Mukhashaf, writing by Aziz El Yaakoubi, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
STORY: Zelenskiy urged the West to warn Russia not to destroy the huge dam that would flood a swath of southern Ukraine, as his forces prepare to push Moscow's troops from Kherson in one of the war's most important battles.

Russia accused Kyiv earlier this week of planning to rocket the dam.

Sergei Surovikin, the commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, said Ukrainian forces had already used U.S.-supplied HIMARS missiles against it in what Ukrainian officials called a sign Moscow could be planning to blow it up and blame Kyiv.

Neither side produced evidence to back up their allegations.
A Lynchburg man has died of injuries sustained in an Oct. 15 motorcycle crash, police said Friday.

Police identified him as Gavin Alexander Miller, 18.

Police officers and Lynchburg fire and EMS personnel responded to Old Graves Mill Road in the area of Robins Drive at about 11 a.m. Oct. 15 for a report of a single-vehicle crash involving a motorcycle, according to a news release.

Miller was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital and later airlifted to the University of Virginia Medical Center.
A North Carolina man is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the homicide of a Bedford County woman, authorities said Friday.

Trenton Frye, 28, of Greensboro, is accused in the death of Katlyn Montgomery, 28, of Forest, according to a news release from the Bedford County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office responded Oct. 7 to Madison View Drive in Forest because Montgomery was unresponsive. She was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital, where she died Oct. 8.

Frye was identified as a suspect through a joint investigation between the sheriff's office and the FBI. He was taken into custody without incident in Greensboro on Thursday, and he awaits extradition to Bedford County, the sheriff's office said.

In a statement that accompanied the news release, Montgomery's family said, "Katlyn was an amazing devoted and loving mother to her 4-year-old daughter. She brightened every room she ever entered and was the light of our life. She never met a stranger and would go out of her way to help anyone.

"She believed in love and unity. She believed that everyone deserves the chance to be happy and live life to the fullest. Her family is devastated by this tragedy, especially her mother who is grieving the ultimate loss. She was a loving daughter, the funny sister, the sweet granddaughter, the lovable niece, the feisty cousin, and the friend who loved with no limits.

"She will be dearly missed by everyone, and our family will always honor her memory. The last thing Katlyn wrote in her journal was I am loved. Our pain will become our purpose to carry on her legacy and remind everyone they are loved."

In the news release, the Bedford County Sheriffs Office thanked the Campbell County Sheriffs Office, Pittsylvania County Sheriffs Office, the Bedford Commonwealth Attorneys Office, the United States Attorneys Office and the Greensboro Police Department for their assistance in this investigation.

Authorities ask anyone with information about this case to call Bedford County dispatch at (540) 586-7827 or Central Virginia Crime Stoppers at 1-888-798-5900 or enter your tip online at http://p3tips.com or use the P3TIPS app on your mobile device. Crime Stoppers callers remain anonymous and could receive a cash reward of up to $1,000.
Larry Sapp, a former Sauk Village trustee recently ousted due to ineligibiitiy because of past felony convictions, sits in his living room Friday. (Ted Slowik / Daily Southtown)

Larry Sapp is sharing his story of a painful past involving sexual and physical abuse in hopes that his Sauk Village neighbors will know the truth about what led to his recent ouster as a member of the Village Board.

A Cook County judge Sept. 30 ordered Sapp be removed from office due to past felony convictions. Felons are ineligible to hold municipal office in Illinois. Sapp was twice convicted of manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance, in 1988 and 1998, court records showed.

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I tried to buy three dime bags of crack cocaine, he said of the crime that resulted in his second felony conviction. In 1988, he received probation, but in 1998, he was sentenced to three years in prison.

Sapp said after the 1998 arrest he was detained for about 13 months at Cook County Jail, pleaded guilty and was released shortly after his arrival at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet.

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Sapp accepts responsibility for his actions and believes hes paid his debt to society. Hes been a model citizen for more than 20 years, he said, and has helped many others in the community.

He wants Gov. J.B. Pritzker to grant him a pardon or to restore his full rights as a citizen so he would be eligible to hold public office.

I met Sapp, 68, Friday at his home in Sauk Village where he lives with his wife, Dorothy. I sat in his living room and listened as he talked about how he abused drugs and alcohol years ago after a traumatic experience when he served in the U.S. Army.

In 1975 when I joined the military I was sexually assaulted, Sapp said. I was beaten darn nearly to death and I was sent home in a full body cast.

Back then, he said, the U.S. government refused to admit that sexual assaults occurred in the military. He was told he was the first person that anything like this had ever happened to, he said.

I felt so ashamed that this had happened to me, I didnt want anyone else to know about it, Sapp said.

The government offered no counseling or other services to help survivors of sexual abuse back then, he said.

There were no resources for people who had been traumatized by this type of violent action, Sapp said.

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He self-medicated with drugs and alcohol, like many survivors of sexual abuse have done.

Im not justifying my behavior but I wanted to escape the nightmare because I could not get out of my head what had happened to me, he said.

Sapp said he suffered for years because no treatment services were available to address the sexual and physical abuse that were the root causes of his addiction.

I was made to feel like it was my fault, he said. It was horrible. It almost destroyed me.

In 1988, he was caught trying to buy crack cocaine, he said.

I wish I had gone to jail then, he said. He might have received treatment for his addiction. Instead, he received probation and served no time in jail or prison.

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Sapp continued to struggle with his demons for another decade, he said.

I was afraid to go to sleep, he said. Thats how bad the nightmares were. I would do anything just to stay awake until my body just shut down.

He was caught trying to buy drugs again in 1998, leading to his second felony conviction.

I wasnt trying to be a criminal, I was trying to get some relief from these demons, he said.

Sapp said he couldnt afford bail to get out of jail while awaiting trial, but the jail offered an addiction treatment program that helped him.

The bond was so high, it was like you were being held hostage, Sapp said. I felt like I was already a prisoner because there was still no escape from the event that had happened in June of 1975.

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Sapp wanted to fight the criminal drug charges, but the system of delays and continuances kept him locked up for more than a year awaiting trial, he said. By that time, prosecutors said he could go free if he pleaded guilty.

When they came to me with the proposal, I took the guilty plea, he said. They didnt tell me that this was an albatross I was placing around my neck.

The Sauk Village Municipal Center (Ted Slowik / Daily Southtown)

Felony convictions haunt many for the rest of their lives and affect ability to gain employment, qualify for loans, obtain housing, pursue educational opportunities and myriad other consequences. A felony conviction meant he was ineligible to hold municipal office, but he didnt know that or think about that at the time.

I was just relieved to come home, Sapp said.

After his release, Sapp said a doctor with the Department of Veterans Affairs helped him learn how to cope with the trauma of the sexual and physical abuse he experienced. He learned the abuse was not his fault, and that he was not the only one to experience abuse in the military.

By 1999, he was on the path to recovery. He was living in Chicago and working in community service with an organization he founded, Hope For Change. Sapp and his wife moved in 2015 to Sauk Village, where some of their seven children and many grandchildren lived and attended school, he said.

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Sapp became known around Sauk Village for his service and activism. In 2021, he ran for trustee on a slate with Mayor Derrick Burgess and two other candidates. Nine candidates ran for three open seats. Sapp finished third. Turnout was 11.8% among the towns 8,327 registered voters.

Sapp said he told Burgess before the 2021 election about his felony convictions.

I sought a pardon from the governor before the election, Sapp told me. I didnt keep it a secret.

Sapp said Pritzker denied his request for a pardon. Burgess did not respond to requests for comment.

Sapp said as a trustee he clashed with other village officials over issues of integrity. He believes political rivals tipped off the office of Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx about his felony convictions. The office filed a lawsuit in March to initiate the process of removing him from office because of ineligibility.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Cook County Judge Celia Gamrath ruled Sept. 30 that Sapp be removed from the Village Board.

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Mr. Sapp cannot prove, and has not attempted to prove, that he is entitled to hold the office of village trustee, Gamrath ruled. Nor is the court moved by his claim he is being punished for crimes he committed more than twenty years ago.

The law is clear, she concluded. Felons cannot hold municipal office in Illinois unless they have been pardoned or have received a restoration of rights. Lawmakers recently added the restoration of rights language to accommodate Markham Mayor Roger Agpawa, who was twice elected mayor despite a federal felony conviction for his role in an insurance scheme.

It was not immediately clear how Sauk Village intends to fill the vacancy created by Sapps removal. Burgess may nominate someone to the seat, subject to approval by the Village Board. The appointee would likely have to run in the spring 2023 election to keep the seat.

Sapp said he intends to appeal. A subsequent order by Gamrath issued Oct. 6 denied his request for a stay pending appeal. Sapp said he will continue to pursue a pardon or restoration of rights and said he wants to continue serving Sauk Village as an elected official.

Ted Slowik is a columnist at the Daily Southtown.

tslowik@tribpub.com
Cases of monkeypox have declined significantly in Virginia since August, a sign that the outbreak might be under control in the state.

There were four new cases in Virginia last week, down from a peak of 61 in early August. Dr. Elaine Perry, director of the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts, said she isn't ready to declare the virus defeated, but she feels good about the progress made combating it.

"We're not saying it's over or we're done or we're declaring success," Perry said. "But we do feel like we're on a good trajectory at this point."

Altogether, there have been more than 500 monkeypox cases in Virginia since the outbreak arrived in June, resulting in 22 hospitalizations and no deaths.

Almost all the cases in the state have occurred in men, and they've occurred disproportionately in Black men - 42% of the cases in Virginia.

Interest in the Jynneos vaccine has declined, Perry said. In August, there weren't enough shots for everyone who wanted one. Now, supply exceeds demand.

Perry said the district will continue offering shots in an effort to reach people still interested. Health authorities have delivered more than 11,000 first shots and almost 7,000 second shots of the two-dose series.

In the Richmond and Henrico districts, more than 2,300 people have been vaccinated.
Since the start of the pandemic, college enrollment has cratered throughout the country. But in Virginia, the number of students is on the rebound.

National college enrollment dropped an additional 1% this year and is down 6% since before the pandemic, according to newly released data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Fewer people have chosen college because of high tuition costs and a favorable labor market.

But in Virginia, the number of students grew less than 1% this year to about 519,000, according to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Reasons for the state's relative success include the wealth of its residents, its still-growing high school-age population and the continued emergence of online-giant Liberty University in Lynchburg. Virginia is one of 16 states to experience growth this year.

Tom Allison of SCHEV called Virginia's 0.3% enrollment growth a "stabilization."

"We've got excellent institutions that people are clearly seeing a value in that are worth investing your time and money in," Allison said.

No Virginia college has grown in the past three years more than Liberty, which has increased its student population 16% to more than 99,000 students. The vast majority of Liberty's students attend online.

The state's wealthiest and most prestigious schools have done well, too. The College of William & Mary has grown by 9%, Virginia Tech by 5% and the University of Virginia by 2%.

Most historically Black universities are prospering, too. Virginia State University is up 8%, and Virginia Union University is up 17%. Even community colleges in Virginia, which had declined for 10 straight years, are up nearly 1% this year.

One reason Virginia colleges are doing better than most states is that they never dropped that far to begin with. Colleges in the state experienced a 1% drop in 2020, averting disaster.

Virginia residents are relatively wealthy and were economically impacted by the pandemic less than other states, Allison said.

While other states have seen contractions in their population of high school-age residents, Virginia is still growing. There were 87,000 high school grads in Virginia in 2020, the highest number ever.

The fact that Virginia's colleges operate independently likely also helped, Allison said. Each Virginia college is run by a president who answers to a board of visitors.

Each school was able to make its own pandemic-response plan. Virginia State University kept its campus closed while most other colleges reopened. Other states, such as North Carolina and California, operate their universities as a single system.

Most states haven't stabilized the way Virginia has.

"After two straight years of historically large losses, it is particularly troubling that numbers are still falling, especially among freshmen," said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the Clearinghouse.

While freshmen enrollment dropped again nationwide, the number of freshmen at Virginia colleges is up.

The ripple effects of having fewer college graduates are numerous: College graduates earn higher wages and are more likely to have health insurance. They're more likely to vote and volunteer, and they're less likely to rely on public assistance.

Some of Virginia's trends can be seen at the national level, too. The most selective schools continue to grow, while many serving low-income students have shrunk.

While Virginia as a whole is keeping its head above water, some of its schools are struggling. Radford University has lost 35% of its students since 2019. The University of Mary Washington is down 16%, and Virginia Commonwealth University has shrunk 6%.

Of the 29 private schools in the state, 19 have contracted in the past three years. Hampton University lost 33% of its students, Ferrum College lost 23%, and Bridgewater College is down19%.

Historically Black colleges and universities across the state did well this year, growing by almost 3%. Virginia State, Virginia Union and Norfolk State are up, but Hampton University is down.

At VSU, the school welcomed 1,700 freshmen and new transfers this year, the largest batch of new students in more than 30 years. Its student enrollment has grown 8% since before the pandemic to 4,700.

Donald Palm, VSU's provost, said the murder of George Floyd caused students to become more interested in social justice and more likely to consider an HBCU.

Alumni are a big part of the university's growth, he added. Alumni provide testimonials that are more valuable than any recruiting pitch from a school employee. Alumni often connect prospective students to the admissions office, they welcome VSU to attend company events, and lately they've shared a flyer on Facebook where one former student wrote: "Virginia State University is the best decision I ever made."

"They're built to do this," Palm said of the school's alumni. "They take pride in recruiting students and partnering with the university to recruit students."

Another mechanism bringing students to Virginia State is the Virginia College Affordability Network, a state-sponsored program that allows Pell-eligible students who grow up in the Chesterfield and Petersburg areas to attend at no cost.

Since the program launched in 2021, it has brought about 500 students to VSU. For those who do pay, VSU is one of the most affordable public universities in Virginia. In-state tuition, fees and room and board cost roughly $21,000 a year.

VSU hasn't set a target for future enrollment, Palm said, but 6,000 to 7,000 students are possibilities.

The question for the state is: Will its growth last?

The number of high school graduates is expected to drop starting in 2026. It's been dubbed the "enrollment cliff," but what Virginia will see is actually a steady decline.

Between 2026 and 2036, the number of high school grads is expected to drop 10%, the result of fewer births during the recession of 2007.

Universities are already readying themselves. William & Mary president Katherine Rowe told faculty this month that the university has four years to position itself for 2026.

"The actions we take now will determine our future competitiveness  our ability to attract terrific students," she said.

The question of how the enrollment cliff will affect schools is a significant one. Fewer students often means budget shortfalls, fewer employees and strained resources.

The potential drop-off is "a threat to this stabilization," Allison said.
New York City mayor Eric Adams and New York governor Kathy Hochul have unveiled plans to construct Manhattans first Science Park and Research Campus (SPARC) in Kips Bay. Located on Hunter Colleges Brookdale Campus at East 25th Street and First Avenue, SPARC is described as a career and education innovation hub for life sciences.

The project will transform an entire city block and create more than 1.5 million square feet of academic, public health, and life sciences space. The campus will be anchored by new educational facilities for over 4,500 students from the Hunter College School of Nursing and School of Health Professions, the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, and the Borough of Manhattan Community Colleges multiple healthcare programs.

Additional components include a blood testing and ambulatory center, a training center for simulated patient blood testing, a new healthcare and science-focused high school, a new Office of Chief Medical Examiner Forensic Pathology Center, office space, and wet labs. The project will also create a new publicly accessible pedestrian bridge that connects East 25th Street to the East River and Manhattan Waterfront Greenway.

This new Science Park and Research Campus in Kips Bay will be not only a hub for the life sciences industry and an anchor for the neighborhood, but also a bridge to the future for our citys young people, said mayor Adams. SPARC Kips Bay will transform an entire city block into a state-of-the-art destination for the life sciences industry and be a place where workforce development, economic opportunity, and public health come together seamlesslyattracting businesses and uplifting New Yorkers to bring our city back stronger than ever with $25 billion in new economic activity for our city over the next three decades.

Over the next year, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), CUNY, and Skidmore Owings & Merrill will work in partnership to complete a master planning for the development to identify the sites infrastructure needs, opportunities to create public open space, urban design, and potential zoning amendments needed to facilitate construction.

According to NYEDC, the project team intends to engage the community leader for feedback as the development takes shape.

The vertical campus will support an educational pipeline for teens and adults pursuing careers in life sciences, healthcare, and public health. CUNY will offer collegiate degrees and continuing education programs in public health and medical research. Career programs will include courses for doctors, nurses, biochemists, and engineers, as well as a variety of supporting roles in the life sciences and healthcare fields.

SPARC Kips Bay represents a path-breaking approach to economic development in New York City where we create clusters in which commerce and schools work side by side to provide career pathways for CUNY and DOE students in the innovative sectors of today and tomorrow, said NYCEDC president and CEO Andrew Kimball. Together, we are creating an unprecedented pipeline of diverse talent that will prepare our city for future health emergencies while advancing new medicines, medical devices, innovative therapies, and other products to help treat sick people and improve their lives and care.

SPARC is expected to generate approximately $25 billion in economic impact to the city over the next 30 years and spur the creation of 10,000 jobs. This includes an estimated 8,000 construction jobs.

The $1.6 billion project cost will be funded jointly by the city and state with additional private sector investments. Construction is expected to break ground in 2023 and be completed by the end of 2026.

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Mt. Hope United Methodist Church

Mt. Hope United Methodist Church, 290th and Highway 6, McClelland, would like to invite all to join us on Sunday mornings for our worship service at 9:30 a.m. Children are welcome for the regular worship service and childrens sermon during the worship service. You do not have to be a member to participate in our church activities. Everyone is welcome.

Gethsemane Presbyterian Church

Gethsemane Presbyterian Church, 224 Wallace Ave., invites you to worship with us. Our service runs from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. The Rev. David Hannah will deliver the message. Children are invited to participate in Sunday school. Please join us for refreshments following the service.

Beginning Sunday, Nov. 4, our services will start at 9 a.m. We welcome the Rev. Nancy Ross-Hullinger as our new pastor.

Adult Bible study meets on Mondays and Thursdays from 9 to 10 a.m. Our Food Pantry is open on Mondays and Thursdays until 10:30 a.m.

The final Sloppy Joe Bingo of the year will be held on Thursday, Nov. 3. Dinner will begin at 6 p.m., and bingo will start at 6:30. For $10, participants will receive a sloppy joe sandwich, chips, drink and 20 games of bingo. Additional sandwiches and bingo cards can be purchased.

Our church is collecting Iowa 5 cent-refund cans/bottles for one of our mission projects, the Kanesville Honor Guard Society. Your donations help! Bags can be dropped off anytime at our front door. For more information, contact the church office at 712-366-2513 or visit us on Facebook at gethsemanepresbyterianchurch.org.

Timothy Lutheran Church

Timothy Lutheran Church, 3112 W. Broadway, offers services at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Sundays. The church alternates between traditional services and praise services each week. Bible study and Sunday school at 9:15 a.m. If a month has a fifth Sunday, the church hosts a combined service at 9 a.m. Food and fellowship after service on fifth Sundays and there is no Bible study or Sunday school on those days. The church is handicap accessible.

St. Pauls Evangelical Country Church

St. Pauls Evangelical Country Church rings the church bell each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. to welcome people to worship at 11055 Dumfries Ave. There are directional signs from Wabash Avenue and Pioneer Trail leading to the church. We are a growing, friendly, Bible-teaching church led by Pastor Jason Kinney. This Sunday, the message will be, The Righteousness God Desires, with James 1:19-21 as the Bible reference.

Sunday School for all ages, including adults, begins at 9:15 a.m. Following worship, we enjoy donuts and coffee in the Fellowship Hall. Greeters are Marsha Parker and Jan Peters.

The Ladies Bible Study and Youth Groups meet on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Visit our website at www.stpaulsecc.org for more information. We are handicapped accessible.

Underwood Lutheran Church

Underwood Lutheran Church, 10 Third Ave., will hold Sunday activities. Education begins at 9 a.m., followed by in-person worship at 10:15. Pastor Scott Dalen and Western Iowa Synod Bishop Lorna Halaas will deliver a dialogue sermon based on Luke 18:9-14. The online video will be available later in the day.

Compass Christian Church

Compass Christian Church welcomes you to worship with us Sundays at 10:30 a.m. We are located at 2007 S. Seventh St., just west of the South Expressway. The church is handicap accessible. During worship, a cry room is available, along with childcare for children ages 1-4. Compass Kids grades K-5 meet downstairs for special Bible lessons during the sermon. You may also worship with us at compasscb.online.church or on YouTube.

The mens and womens Bible study groups meet Mondays from 7 to 8 p.m.

The Bridge young adults (ages 18-30) meet at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday each month, with childcare provided. Bring a friend and join us for supper, fellowship and Bible study.

On Wednesdays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., adult prayer group, students in grades 6-12 and kids in kindergarten through fifth grade meet.

On Sunday, Oct. 30, Light Night, a Trunk or Treat event, will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. for children through fifth grade. Kids and families are invited to come in costume or as they are for carnival games, candy, food and bounce house fun.

For questions or more information, visit our Facebook page, Compass Christian Church CB, our website compasscb.org or call the church office at 712-366-9112.

Broadway United Methodist Church

Broadway United Methodist, First Street and Broadway, is seeking, growing and serving with unconditional love and acceptance. Broadway holds traditional worship Sundays at 8:30, followed by coffee and donuts in the DeLong Lounge. Contemporary worship is held at 10:30 a.m. Services are held in person and livestreamed to our Facebook page or broadwayunitedmethodist.com/live. Masks are optional.

On Sunday, Oct. 23, the administrative board, staff and ministry leader will meet at 6:30 p.m. at Barleys tap room for a meal and meeting.

On Monday, Oct. 24, Broadway will hold a Trunk or Treat from 4 to 7 p.m. in the parking lot.

Regular activities include Student Life Breakthrough Sundays at 6 p.m. in Room 203. On Mondays, Philips Cupboard is open noon-2 p.m.; Boy Scout Pack 40 meets at 6 p.m.; and Bibles @ Barleys is at 8:30 p.m. Womens Bible Study will be held Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the DeLong Lounge. Praise Band Rehearsal will be at 5:30. A Community Meal will be served at 6 p.m. in the fellowship hall, followed by Foundations Groups and Bell Choir rehearsal at 6:30. Choir will practice at 7:30.

Mens Brown Bag: The Bible Year, meets Thursdays at noon. Philips Cupboard, a nonfood pantry, is open noon to 2 p.m. on Fridays. Girl Scout meeting is from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 in the fellowship hall.

On Oct. 30, Consecration Sunday, Broadway will hold one worship service at 9:30 a.m., followed by a celebration brunch (please RSVP; cost $12).

In October, the church is collecting new underwear and new or gently used pants, boys/girls sizes 4-5 to 18-20, for our partner school, Longfellow Elementary. Please place in donation bin in the Welcome Center.

The annual Charge Conference will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 1 at Epworth United Methodist Church, 2447 Ave. B.

For more information, visit our website at broadwayunitedmethodist.com or call the office at 712-322-7741 (closed Fridays).

Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church

Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church, 1800 Fifth Ave., invites the public to participate in our live worship service at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings. The Sunday worship service will be recorded live and can be viewed on our Facebook page: Fifth Avenue UMC, Council Bluffs. Face masks are optional. Upcoming Events: Meal & Message, 6 p.m., Oct. 26; Trunk or Treat, 6 to 8 p.m., Oct. 29; and Craft Fair, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Nov. 12. The church office can be reached at 712-323-7374 or through our email at fifthaveumchurch@gmail.com.

Bethany Presbyterian Church

Bethany Presbyterian Church, 1900 S. Seventh St., will have worship at 10:30 a.m. The guest speaker will be the Rev. Cindy Harvey. Liturgist is Earl Hallberg and greeters are Cindy Lippold and Linda Cody. There will be a childrens chat. Choir practice is at 9:30 a.m.

Bible study will be at 11 a.m. on Monday. Deacons will meet Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. Church cleaning on Friday, Oct. 28 at 9 a.m. This is Pastor Appreciation Month.

We are collecting socks and underwear for Undy Sunday on Oct. 30. We are a handicap accessible facility.

Community of Christ Church

Community of Christ Church, 140 W. Kanesville Blvd., invites people to attend Sunday worship at 10:15 a.m. Our theme this week is, Rain Down. Scripture readings for this week are Joel 2:23-52; Psalm 65; Luke 18:9-14; and 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18. Sunday school starts at 9:15 a.m. We also have prayer service Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Please call our office at 712-323-4498 for any questions. There are virtual ministries out on our World Church Website under Ongoing Ministries at www.cofchrist.org.

Epworth United Methodist Church

Epworth United Methodist Church, 2447 Ave. B, worships on Sundays at 9:25 a.m. The people are friendly, the worship is meaningful and the building is handicap accessible. Masks and hand sanitizer are available. We also invite you to our Bible study on Thursdays at 9 a.m.

We keep in prayer for the healing of our community and nation for God. If you want us to pray for you personally, let us know your prayer requests by phone or online at Friends of Epworth UMC Facebook. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Phone: 712-323-3124.

Faith Lutheran Church

Faith Lutheran Church (LCMS), 2100 S. 11th St., invites you to join us for creative worship at the 9 a.m. Sunday service. The Faith LWML Mite box will be out to accept donations to support LWML missions around the world.

On Tuesday, there is a 9:30 a.m. adult Bible study in the downstairs fellowship hall that is open to everyone. Please enter by the rear door. Confirmation classes are Wednesday at 5:45 p.m.

The Sewing Sisters meet Thursday at 1 p.m. for quilting and fellowship, and all ladies of the congregation are invited to participate.

Sunday worship services are available on Faiths Facebook page and on YouTube by searching for Ron Rosenkaimer. For more information, contact the church office at 323-6445.

New Horizon Presbyterian Church

New Horizon Presbyterian Church has three services on Sunday, with traditional services at 8 and 11 a.m. and the praise service at 9 a.m. On Sunday, Oct. 30, New Horizon will observe All Saints Day with one service at 9:30 a.m.

On three-service Sundays, we have Sunday school for kindergarten through eighth grade and adults at 10 a.m. On Wednesday, the Praise Team will meet at 5:45 p.m., bell choir at 6:30 and Chancel Choir at 7:30. The Grief Group will meet on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m.

Sunday services are available on our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/NewHorizonPC.

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Westminster Presbyterian Church, 517 S. 32nd St., welcomes everyone to join us for worship on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. The guest pastor is the Rev. Stephen Niles. His sermon is entitled, Pride and Humility. The scripture reading is 1 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; and the Gospel reading is Luke 18:9-14. During the month of October, we will be receiving Peace and Global Witness offering. We are handicapped accessible through the northeast door of the church.

Corpus Christi Catholic Parish

The month of October is dedicated to The Holy Rosary. Join us as we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass every day of the week at Corpus Christi  Queen of Apostles, 3304 Fourth Ave., Council Bluffs; and Corpus Christi Our Lady of Carter Lake, 3501 N. Ninth St., Carter Lake. Everyone is welcome.

Our Weekend Mass in English is celebrated on Saturday at 4 p.m., on Sunday at 8 and 10 a.m. (Council Bluffs) and at 9:30 a.m. (Carter Lake). Our Sunday Spanish Mass is at noon (Council Bluffs). Readings for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time are Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18; Psalms 34:2-3, 17-18; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; and Luke 18:9-14.

Daily Mass is celebrated as follows: In English Tuesday through Friday at 8 a.m. (Council Bluffs) and in Spanish on Monday and Thursday at 6 p.m. (Council Bluffs).

Eucharistic Adoration is held every Monday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. at Corpus Christi Queen of Apostles.

The Corpus Christi Parish Annual Chicken Dinner will be held Nov. 6 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with dine-in and take-out at St. Albert Catholic School, 400 Gleason Ave. The meal will include Staleys Broasted Chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, corn, coleslaw, dinner roll and dessert. There will be a variety of crafts and theme baskets for sale, as well as raffles. Tickets are on sale at the parish office at 3304 Fourth Ave. or at St. Albert on the day of the event.

For more information, call the parish office at 712-323-2916 or 712-323-4716 (Spanish) or visit our parish website at www.corpuschristiparishiowa.org.

Emanuel Lutheran Church

Emanuel Lutheran Church, 2444 N. Broadway, welcomes everyone to come as you are and be who you are! Our weekly worship service is at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday. Students will be dismissed to Sunday school after the Gospel lesson. Coffee and donuts will be offered in the community room after church.

Other events this week include Tai Chi Monday and Thursday at 10 a.m. in the youth center, Bible study Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in the conference room. On Saturday, Oct. 22, there will be a Craft Fair from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Proceeds will benefit Our Saviors Lutheran Food & Pet Food Pantry.

Our worship service and weekly Sunday school show can be found on our YouTube channel or Facebook page. Visit us online at emanuelcb.org.

Saint John Lutheran Church

Saint John Lutheran Church, 633 Willow Ave., holds worship at 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays and 8:30 and 11 a.m. on Sundays. Worship is also available to watch on YouTube. Our website is www.SaintJohnELCA.org, and our Facebook page is Saint John Lutheran Church Council Bluffs IA. There will be a baptism class Sunday at 9:45 a.m.

Seekers ChristCare meets Monday at 6:45 p.m., and Council meets Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Wednesday morning Bible study meets at 9 a.m., and Wednesday evening Bible study meets at 6:30 p.m. Confirmation and high school youth also meet at 6:30. Bell choir practices Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m., followed by Chancel Choir at 7:30.

The building is handicap accessible. Please call the church office with any questions, 712-323-7173.

Broadway Christian Church

(Disciples of Christ) The Rev. Carol Hall and members of our congregation invite you to join us for Sunday worship at 9 a.m. at Broadway Christian Church, 2658 Ave. A. We celebrate communion weekly; communion is open to all. A hearing loop is installed for those who need it. Guests are invited to join us in fellowship after worship for coffee and donuts.

Overeaters Anonymous meets Mondays at noon. Alcoholics Anonymous meets Tuesdays at 6 p.m. and Fridays at 7:30 p.m. The church is ADA-accessible. Masks are optional. To submit prayer requests or for more information, call the church office at 712-323-7741 or email us at office@bcccb.org. Visit us online at www.bcccb.org or on Facebook.

First Congregational UCC Church

Come and join us for worship at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at First Congregational Church (United Church of Christ), located at 611 First Ave. Coffee is available. Our service is also provided via Zoom. Please email the church for information on how to join the Zoom meeting: cbfirstcong@gmail.com.

First Congregational offers a free Community Dinner the last Friday of each month. Everyone is welcome. Come and enjoy a meal and fellowship!

Our Saviors Lutheran Church

Our Saviors Lutheran Church, 600 Bluff St., can be reached at 712-322-6655. Everyone is welcome. Worship services are Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Adult Sunday School begins at 9:15 a.m., and Youth Sunday School (skit, music, Bible story and games) at 9:30.

Youth/Family fall activity Sunday, Oct. 23 at noon. Food, fun and games. All youth and families are welcome. For more information, see our Facebook page under Our Saviors Lutheran Church of Council Bluffs or the website at oursaviorscb.org.

Bell choir practice is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, followed by choir practice at 7:30 p.m.

Other activities this week include Al-Anon meetings Monday and Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Education Building. The Food and Pet Food Pantry is open Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday 5 to 7 p.m. To schedule an appointment, please call the pantry directly at 712-522-3522 on Thursday only between 9:30 and 11 a.m.

St. Pauls Episcopal Church

St. Pauls Episcopal Church is located at 22 Dillman Drive in Council Buffs. Our services are held each Sunday morning beginning at 11 a.m., and we invite visitors to attend and share with us these very enjoyable and enlightening services. For additional information, please contact the church at 712-323-7188.
At a campaign rally Wednesday night, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mike Franken said that Iowans deserve a senator who puts country over party and people over politics.

The rally, held at Rivers Edge Pavilion, drew more than 50 Franken supporters as the retired admiral presented his case in Council Bluffs one last time before the general election on Nov. 8.

Franken is looking to unseat Republican incumbent Chuck Grassley, who is seeking his eighth term in the Senate.

We do deserve something better than a senator voted for life, running for life and doing what serves his campaign coffers, Franken said. Iowans are hardworking. We dont want to be hobbled by somebody whose vote is assured before the bills even been written.

Franken decried politicians, including Grassley, who he said seem to only look out for themselves or their special interest groups instead of working to make things better for the voters who elected them.

At the core of every campaign, theres a leader who has to believe in sacrificing of themselves, of their needs, of a favor, to do whats best for the people and for the country, Franken said. I do not see that in todays politics, and I believe most of us can agree on that.

Franken pointed to Grassleys recent vote against legislation that would have capped the cost of insulin for people with health insurance at $35 per month as evidence that Grassley is beholden more to his political party than his constituents.

More than 240,000 Iowans are living with diabetes, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. The average cost for one vial of insulin in the United States is more than $98. Across the northern border, in Canada, one vial of insulin costs an average of $12.

Iowans deserve leadership that always puts the people first, Franken said.

Franken also said that Iowans deserve a government that (protects) women and their right to choose.

In our most private medical moments, everyone needs advice from a partner, from a medical provider, maybe just a moment of solace, to make those big decisions in life, Franken said. We dont need Chuck Grassley, a constitutional lawyer, or someone representing the U.S. government in that delivery room.

Franken was introduced by Sarah Young Bear-Brown, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party Native Americans Caucus.

Bear-Brown is a member of the Meskwaki Nation, and a member of the deaf community. She spoke to the crowd about her support for Franken through an interpreter.

He is truly a good man, Bear-Brown said. He can work with anyone  Republicans, Democrats, and independents  because he cares about Iowa, he cares about the people in Iowa. He knows that this is our home that we all share.

In August, Franken attended the tribes annual powwow, during which they honor their veterans.

We honor them through tribal dance and displaying of flags, and he joined us in our dance with our people, Bear-Brown said. And its just so cool to see him do that, and to join in with our people. It really gave me goosebumps to see him participate, and show how much he cared, and how he would come to us and listen to us, and show that he really will listen to anybody. He listens to the people of Iowa, regardless of their background.

Frankens stop in Council Bluffs was part of a swing through western and northern Iowa before heading back east.

On Saturday, hes holding rallies in Fort Dodge, Algona and Mason City.
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Retired members of the British Royal Air Force who were recruited via a South African company to train pilots in Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) must be fully aware of the risk of prosecution under the Official Secrets Act, the British Defense Ministry has warned in its rare threat alert.

China has been recruiting former British military pilots to train their own personnel, Britains defense ministry said in a statement this week, warning that it erodes the UKs defense advantage and that steps are being taken to stop it. When former UK military pilots provide training to the PLA, it clearly erodes the UKs defense advantage.Therefore, the Ministrys Defense Intelligence Service warned on Tuesday (18 October) that it is taking immediate steps to deter and penalize this activity because British pilots who transfer expertise to the Chinese military could be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act.

Many of the pilots were being recruited through the Test Flying Academy of South Africa, according to reports by multiple media outlets. This private company in a remote, semi desert area in the Western Cape, has allegedly been acting as a headhunter for the Chinese. The company has a long history of involvement with China, saying on its website that it provides training to cadets from various Chinese airlines, as part of a deal with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), a state-owned aerospace and defense conglomerate. The website also says the company has experience with several aircraft used by the PLA. Many of the 30 pilots believed to be involved were reportedly lured to work in China with the promise of lucrative salaries. Pilots from other allied nations have also been targeted.
Illinois Tollway announced that a long-term closure and detour of the ramp carrying traffic from westbound Ogden Avenue to the northbound Tri-State Tollway (I-294) will start Oct. 24. (Illinois Tollway / HANDOUT)

A long-term closure and detour of the ramp carrying traffic from westbound Ogden Avenue to the northbound Tri-State Tollway (I-294) is scheduled to begin the week of Oct. 24 to accommodate the removal and reconstruction of the ramp as part of the Ogden Avenue Interchange Project.

According to a news release, the ramp closure is scheduled through the end of the year. Electronic message signs and construction signage will be put in place in advance to alert drivers to the ramp closure and detour. Up-to-date closure and detour information will be posted on the Tollway website and in the Daily Construction Alert. All work is weather dependent.

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At 8 a.m. Monday, Oct. 24, the ramp connecting westbound Ogden Avenue to northbound I-294 is scheduled to close, the release said. A detour will be posted routing traffic through the remaining interchange ramps and on to northbound I-294.

In addition, on Ogden Avenue, traffic is scheduled to shift back to its regular configuration, however one lane in each direction between County Line Road and Grove Avenue will remain closed to accommodate a safe work zone, according to the release. Currently all traffic is shifted onto the westbound side of the road.

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Additional overnight ramp closures at the interchange will be needed to complete the project.

According to the release, construction in the area is being coordinated with the Illinois Department of Transportation, Village of Hinsdale, Village of Oak Brook, Village of Western Springs, Cook County Department of Transportation, DuPage County Division of Transportation, Forest Preserves of Cook County, Oak Brook Park District, as well as local fire and police departments.

Information about the Ogden Avenue Interchange Project including maps and construction updates is available on the Tollways website at www.illinoistollway.com in the Projects section.

The Illinois Tollway is spending $8.9 million to reconfigure the Ogden Avenue Interchange to improve mobility and traffic flow for local drivers and Tollway customers, the release said. Up to 40,000 vehicles use the interchange daily with up to 33,600 vehicles traveling on Ogden Avenue in the area.

To accommodate the reconstruction and widening of the Central TriState Tollway, the Ogden Avenue Interchange will be reconfigured from a cloverleaf design to a partial cloverleaf design, the release said. The Illinois Tollway is combining ramps on the east side of I294 to create one signalized access ramp from Ogden Avenue to northbound I294 and the ramp connecting northbound I294 to eastbound Ogden Avenue will be relocated with access control at the new traffic signal.

According to the release, improvements on Ogden Avenue will include repairs and median reconstruction on the existing bridge over I294. In addition, on eastbound Ogden Avenue a new left turn lane will be constructed to provide access to northbound I294 and the merge lane will be extended to provide vehicles exiting the Tollway with additional distance to merge. The project also includes noisewall construction, drainage and lighting improvements and landscaping.

The $4 billion Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) Project is reconstructing and widening the roadway between Balmoral Avenue and 95th Street to provide congestion relief, update old infrastructure to meet current and future transportation demand and address regional needs, the release said. This work is part of the Tollways 15-year, $14 billion capital program, Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future. More than 220,000 vehicles use the Central Tri-State Tollway daily.
Chad Thursday suspended for three months seven political parties accused of disturbance of public order and security that may undermine the security of the State and the proper functioning of republican institutions, following bloody clash between security forces and demonstrators protesting the extension of the transition.

The suspension targets Les Transformateurs, Front Populaire pour la Federation (FPF), Parti Socialiste sans Frontiere (PSF), Les Patriotes (LP), lAl Takhadoum, Rassemblement pour la Justice et lEgalite des Tchadiens (RAJET) and Parti des Democrates pour le Renouveau (PDR), the Ministry of Territorial Administration said in a decree.

According to the decree, the headquarters of the suspended parties will be closed during the entire period of the ban.

The decree indicated that the movement called Wakit Tamma which gathers opposition political parties and associations, is also outlawed across the entire country.

The banned parties had called for a nationwide protest against the extension for 24 additional months of the transition led by the son of late president Idriss Deby.

The protest banned by authorities, was held in several cities including capital Ndjamena. Over 50 people were killed while more than 300 were wounded according to former opposition leader and Prime Minister of the transition Saleh Kebzabo.

Authorities also imposed a curfew from 6pm to 6am in Ndjamena, Doba and Koumra in a bid to restore order. The demonstrators attacked public buildings, the governorate, the headquarters of the Prime Ministers party, that of the President of the National Assembly, Aziz Mahamat Saleh, spokesman for the government told media.

Mahamat Deby came to power in April last year upon the death of his father and pledged an 18-month transition. A national inclusive dialogue-backed by Qatar extends the transition and kept Debys son as the country leader.
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohamed bin Salman announced Thursday that the second edition of the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) Summit and the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) Forum will be held in Egypts Sharm El Sheikh, in tandem with the UN climate change summit, COP27.

The MGI Summit will be held on November 7, while the SGI Forum will be held on November 11-12.

The SGI Forum second edition will gather an elite line-up of climate experts and thought leaders to discuss the progress that has been made towards achieving the climate targets.

The theme of this years forum, From ambition to action, reflects Saudi Arabias determination to turn these targets into reality by catalyzing collective action to confront climate challenges that impact the entire world, according to a press release.

We are holding them in tandem with COP27, an event bringing nations from around the world together under one roof, to advance global climate ambitions by inspiring joint activity at the local, regional, and international levels, the crown prince was quoted as saying in the press release.

MGI and SGI were launched by the Crown Prince in 2021 to enhance Saudi Arabias environmental action, in line with the kingdoms Saudi Vision 2030. The Middle East aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2060 through the Carbon Circular Economy approach.

Saudi Arabia, under the SGI, will plant 10 billion trees across the country and designate 30% of countrys land and sea territories as protected areas during the coming decades.

The UN climate change summit will be held in the Red Sea city of Sharm El Sheikh November 6 through November 18.
South Africas gesticulations and agitations around the Moroccan Sahara reflect its inability to act on the case, said Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.

Rolling out a rag or a red carpet does not alter the case, but rather expresses inability to influence, said Bourita at a press briefing in Rabat Thursday after his meeting with Belgian peer Hadja Lahbib.

In answer to a question on the South African presidents reception of the polisario militia leader, Bourita noted that with all the developments that have marked this issue, South Africa is on the wrong side of history, especially at a time when the trend is to achieve a solution within the UN.

A solution based on international legitimacy, and which distinguishes a state from a militia, a flag from a rag, is what people expect from a credible country, he said, noting that Morocco will continue to defend its interests, and use all available means.

Bourita also pointed out that Pretorias behavior in relation to the Moroccan Sahara issue harms bilateral relations and everything that has been built, especially in economic circles.

A South African company cannot make money in Morocco by standing idly by in the face of its governments actions, he said, recalling King Mohammed VIs clear speech of August 20, in which the Sovereign said that the Sahara issue is the lens through which Morocco views its international environment.

Morocco is not surprised by what is happening, it is something we have become accustomed to, and which has no effect, said the minister, adding that everything that South Africa has sown in the past, it will reap in the future, namely that there will be no impact on the issue, its evolution and the direction it takes.

The minister recalled that South Africa recognized the puppet entity in 2005 thinking that the course of the file would change and that Africa and the world would follow suit.

However, what really happened is that since 2005, 20 countries have withdrawn their recognition, 10 in Africa, including 7 in the neighborhood of Pretoria and that nothing has changed although South Africa has joined the Security Council three times since 2005 (in 2007, 2011 and 2019).

South Africa notes that half of the African continent, 23 countries, have opened consulates in the southern provinces, including several countries from its direct neighborhood and region, Bourita continued.

He also noted that 90 countries, including Belgium and nearly 10 other European countries, are now expressing a positive position in relation to the autonomy plan that Morocco presented in 2007.

Of these 90 countries, 30 are African countries that adopt the same positive attitude, added the minister, who welcomed the constructive approach adopted by the African Union on the Sahara.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Washington-based rights group the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) have condemned the Algerian authorities continuing repression, harassment, persecution and arbitrary detention of journalists.

In a joint report they submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council for its upcoming periodic review in Geneva, the two independent NGOs say journalists in Algeria have increasingly faced pretrial detention and judicial harassment, and many local and foreign news websites have been blocked in the country.

They deplored the deterioration of press freedom in Algeria, particularly in the years following the Hirak mass demonstrations and the years following President Abdelmajid Tebbounes contested election in December 2019.

Algerian authorities have increased their crackdown on activists, journalists, and media outlets, obstructing the free flow and access to information.

Journalists and Hirak activists who organize and report on demonstrations via social media platforms have been routinely subject to various forms of harassment and targeting, including arbitrary interrogation and arrest, detention, and criminal prosecution.

CPJ and TIMEP condemned the use of overly-vague legal provisions under the Law on Information (Law No. 12-05), Penal Code, and a series of executive decrees and ordinances to crackdown and criminalize freedom of expression.

They slammed the targeting of foreign and local news outlets and websites reporting on the countrys political landscape, under the pretense of failing to comply with national broadcast licensing regulations and/or spreading false news.

The Algerian authorities have also revoked the press accreditations of many local and foreign journalists and news outlets in a bid to muzzle critical voices, said CPJ and TIMEP.

The two US-based NGOs called on the Algerian government to immediately release all imprisoned journalists and amend the penal code to prohibit the prosecution of journalists under laws not related to journalism.

CPJ and TIMEP also urged the Algerian regime to unblock all blocked news sites, end registration restrictions on media outlets, and stop revoking the press accreditations of foreign news outlets.

While the joint report was submitted to the UN body, an Algerian court handed a death penalty sentence this week to journalist Abderrahmane Semmar known as Abdou Semmar.

The Algerian court said the verdict came in response to Semmars involvement in leaking confidential information about Algerias oil authority Sonatrach. The Algerian court argued that publishing information about the oil company is an act of high treason.

Semmar, who is the editor-in-chief of Paris-based Algeria Part news outlet, known for its opposition to the Algerian regime, was sentenced for having published news about corruption within Sonatrach.

According to media sources, former Sonatrach Executive Lamine Ouis, received 10 years in prison for having shared misleading and confidential information with Semmar.
Moroccos OCP has donated Senegal 25,000 tons of phosphate products for the benefit of Senegalese small farmers.

The products were handed over, Thursday in Diamniadio, 30 km from Dakar, at a ceremony attended by the Senegalese Minister of Agriculture, Rural Equipment and Food Sovereignty, Aly Ngouille Ndiaye, Director of OCPs subsidiary in West Africa, Mohamed Benzekri, and other officials.

The donation, which is part of Moroccos solidarity with African countries and which comes at the instructions of King Mohammed VI, aims to support Senegals food sovereignty policy and to help it in its fight against food insecurity.

The batch is composed of 10,000 tons of DAP (Diammonium Phosphate) and 5,000 tons of TSP (Triple Super Phosphate) and 10,000 tons of fertilizers that will be sold to small Senegalese producers at reduced prices.

Speaking on this occasion, the Senegalese Minister of Agriculture paid tribute to the King for his actions and solidarity initiatives, especially in this difficult global context due to the high cost of fertilizers, indicating that this donation reflects the fraternal relationship that exists between Morocco and Senegal.

He also highlighted the close cooperation existing between his department and the OCP group, a world leader in fertilizers, through agreements and technical activities related to soil fertility and fertilizers.

He stressed that this gesture bears great significance as it will contribute to facilitating small producers access to fertilizers, reduce production costs given the high cost of fertilizers, increase national production and fight the high cost of living by improving the availability of agricultural products.

Speaking during the ceremony, Moroccos Ambassador to Dakar stressed that this fraternal donation of phosphate products reflects the close ties biding the two countries and is part of the historic and constant mobilization of the Kingdom towards Senegal and other African brotherly countries.
Morocco, in the person of its Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, has been appointed by President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Korosi, to co-facilitate, with Israeli peer Gilad Erdan, the first-ever UN process of negotiation of the political declaration that will crown the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention, preparedness and response to pandemics.

This meeting, scheduled to take place during the high-level week of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2023, will be marked by consultations with all UN member states, and on which Morocco and Israel will take the lead in adopting a Political Declaration at the level of Heads of State and Government.

This major declaration, the first of its kind, is aimed primarily at mobilizing political will at the national, regional, and international levels for the prevention, preparedness, and response to pandemics and will contribute to the global process, currently being led by the World Health Organization (WHO), to develop a convention or international legal instrument in this area, under the WHO Constitution.

Likewise, this declaration will provide the necessary tools and evidence-based knowledge for the international community to be better prepared for future pandemics, including health systems, economies, supply chains, labor markets, public confidence, social and political stability, etc.

The UN designation of Morocco is a strong endorsement of the forward-looking and preventive strategy put in place under the far-sighted leadership of King Mohammed VI, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moroccos management, surveillance and response to COVID-19 have been praised and cited as an example on numerous occasions by the international community.

Actually, Morocco adopted an anticipatory and proactive approach to control the pandemic and cope with its impacts. This multidimensional approach has been marked, in particular, by the creation of a Special Fund for the management of the pandemic, and the voluntary contribution of all public and private institutions to this Fund, which is the equivalent of 3% of the national GDP.

In accordance with its principles of solidarity, South-South and international cooperation and promotion of multilateralism, Morocco has conducted, at the Kings instructions, a medical aid operation, for the benefit of more than 20 African countries and the African Union Commission in order to support their efforts in the different phases of COVID-19 management. Similarly, the royal initiative to build a vaccine manufacturing plant (including COVID-19 vaccines) and the creation of an African bio-pharmaceutical and vaccine innovation cluster in Morocco, will not only ensure Moroccan health sovereignty, but also allow it to export vaccines to other African countries, thus strengthening its vocation as a provider of health security on the continent.

In addition, this designation of Morocco demonstrates the credibility, trust, and respect that the Kingdom enjoys at the UN level as an active and committed player in shaping global action to prepare for, prevent, detect, and respond to potential health emergencies collectively and rapidly.
Nebraska state governments run of extraordinarily large revenue windfalls likely will run out in two to three years, two leaders of Lincolns OpenSky Policy Institute warned Wednesday.

When that happens, the states newly enacted income tax cuts  Nebraskas largest in history  will make both state services and property tax relief tough to sustain, said Executive Director Rebecca Firestone and Deputy Director Chuck Brown.

If we make long-term decisions based on an uncertain-at-best revenue situation, theres risks for our future, Brown said during a stop at The Telegraphs offices.

Firestone cited research by the Legislative Fiscal Office indicating Nebraska will no longer be collecting more than projected from state taxes by 2024 or 2025.

Meanwhile, she and Brown said, the income tax cuts passed in April by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Pete Ricketts will subtract $980 million a year from revenues when they take full effect in 2028.

Based on Nebraskas past tight budget periods, when the next one hits, youre looking at cuts in state (school) aid, youre looking at cuts in trying to make health care more affordable and youre looking at cuts in public safety, Firestone said.

She said the last category includes Nebraskas overcrowded prison system, which Ricketts has called for expanding.

Budget adjustments made by senators this spring left the 2022-23 budget for all funds at just under $14.7 billion, based on state publications after the close of the 2022 Unicameral session.

Human resources programs account for 36.7% of the current budget, with education programs claiming 31.8%, economic development and regulatory programs 7.3% and public safety 5.6%.

The states three main property tax credit programs  one a direct discount on property owners tax bills, the others income tax credits based on K-12 and community college tax bills  account for $913 million in the 2022-23 budget.

Theyre expected to grow to a combined $970.7 million in 2023-24 and more after that due to indexing in the income tax credits.

State aid to K-12 schools, a major factor in determining the ultimate size of districts property tax requests, totals $1.07 billion for 2022-23.

The Nebraska Department of Revenue reported receiving $110 million more than projected in state revenue for September. The states Economic Forecasting Board will meet Wednesday to consider its next long-term projections for state government income.

Firestone and Brown said the long streak of rosy state revenues has been greatly aided by $21 billion in federal COVID-19 relief aid pumped into Nebraskas economy through state and local governments.

They said the last and largest of those infusions  the American Relief Plan Act funds  must be spent by 2026, two years before the income tax cuts take full effect.

Given that Nebraska tends to have agricultural downturns every few years, senators should look askance at tapping the states $1.69 billion Cash Reserve Fund, they added.

Some lawmakers already were talking in the 2022 session that the reserve fund is not supposed to be this large and we should be tapping into it, Firestone said.

It would not be fiscally prudent in this next session to make large transfers out of the cash reserve for ongoing spending.

OpenSky analysis indicates that 80% of the benefit from the newly enacted income tax cuts will go to the 20% of Nebraskans making $125,000 a year or more, Firestone said.
A candlelight vigil will be held Sunday at Auburn University to honor the life of Aniah Blanchard. Police investigators say the 19-year-old Southern Union State Community College student was abducted from a Chevron gas station on South College Street in Auburn and murdered on that day three years ago.

Since then, Blanchards stepparents, UFC fighter, Walt Hill and his wife, Angela, have sought to keep her memory alive.

They will hold the candlelight vigil on Samford Lawn at Auburn University at 6:22 p.m. Sunday. Though the family lives in Homewood, this is the second year the Hills have held a vigil for Blanchard in Auburn. Last year, the couple held both a vigil and self-defense classes.

Sunday, Oct. 23, will be three years since Aniahs kidnapping and murder, Angela Hill said in a recent Facebook live stream announcing Sundays event. So, every year since this happened, weve had, on that day, we try to have something to honor her, remember her.

In addition to the Auburn vigil on Sunday, the family will also host a Forever Aniah Day at 2 p.m. Saturday in Homewood, which is also Blanchards hometown. Self-defense classes will be held at the Homewood rec center and followed by a celebration at Central Park with food, a concert, and a silent auction.

This is really all about celebrating Aniah and her life and remembering her, and never forgetting her, Hill said.

After Blanchards death, the Hills created a nonprofit called Aniahs Heart. Through Aniahs Heart they provide safety education and self-defense training. They also provide support for families during search and recovery for missing persons.

Police investigators arrested Ibraheem Yazeed later in 2019 and charged him with two counts of capital murder in connection with the kidnapping and death of Blanchard.

For more on Aniahs Heart, visit aniahsheart22.com.
A Kentucky man has been charged in the 1994 rape and murder of a northwestern Indiana woman found strangled to death inside her home with an electrical cord.

Gerald L. Smith, 60, of Madisonville, Kentucky, is charged with rape, murder and murder while committing or attempting to commit rape in the killing of 69-year-old Gloria Hansell.

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Hansell, a widow who lived alone and relied on an in-home oxygen machine, was found dead in her Gary, Indiana, home in June 1994. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled with an electrical cord attached to a box fan, according to court records.

Smith was charged after investigators with the FBIs Gang Response Investigative Team submitted evidence to a laboratory and learned Smith was a likely contributor to DNA found in Hansells sexual assault kit, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.

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A DNA profile from that kit was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, and Smith, who was 32 years old at the time of Hansells death, was found to be a match, court records state.

A witness told police that Smith knew Hansells family, had been to her home at least twice, and that Hansell had told a relative Smith had made an unwanted advance, the FBI said.

A Lake County judge appointed Smith an attorney during his Wednesday initial hearing. A message seeking comment was left for that attorney Thursday.
Colombias leftwing President Gustavo Petros plans to end contracting for hydrocarbon exploration have unnerved participants in the Andean countrys economically vital energy patch. That, coupled with meager hydrocarbon reserves and production failing to return to pre-pandemic volumes, points to the growing potential for an energy crisis to emerge. Such an event will sharply impact the strife-torn Latin American nations petroleum-dependent economy, place Colombias energy security at risk and even jeopardize the planned energy transition. It is a shortage of natural gas, due to declining production from rapidly aging mature offshore fields coupled with steadily rising demand, which poses the greatest threat. Natural gas supply constraints were so severe in 2017 that Colombia was forced to start importing liquified natural gas. As such, there is growing apprehension Petros plans will endanger Colombias energy security triggering a crisis that could roil the economy derailing one of Latin Americas strongest post-pandemic recoveries.

Natural gas is regarded as a clean hydrocarbon with it emitting, when burnt, around half the carbon dioxide of thermal coal and 30% less than crude oil while fulfilling nearly all the roles played by coal and oil. For those reasons, it has been adopted as the transitional fossil fuel of choice in a world seeking to reduce carbon emissions, contain global warming and meet the emission targets established by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The substitution of natural gas for coal in the U.S. as fuel for power plants, where it accounted for 38% of the electricity generated in 2021, has been a key factor in the reduction of emissions in the worlds second-largest consumer of fossil fuels. Since 2014 there has been a push by Colombias national government in Bogota to replace coal-fired powerplants with natural gas-fired facilities.

From 2014 to 2018, the El Nino climate phenomenon triggered severe droughts in Colombia, forcing water rationing, even in major cities, and a sharp decline in electricity generation from hydroelectric facilities because of a marked decline in water flows. Any decline in the power generated by Colombias hydro-plants will significantly impact the electric grid because they are responsible for around 80% of the electricity consumed, with the remainder generated by fossil fuel-fired facilities. As a result, climate phenomena such as El Nino as well as extreme droughts sharply impact electricity generation in Colombia and the stability of its grid. Weather forecasters have predicted El Ninos return during 2022, with the climate pattern expected to remain until 2024. This will cause further droughts in Colombia, potentially leading to a marked decline in water levels which will once again impact hydroelectricity generation and will challenge the reliability of the Andean countrys electric grid.

Bogotas concerns regarding the stability of Colombias electricity supply saw the government approve the construction of an LNG regasification plant, at Baru near the city of Cartagena, the capital of the Bolivar department, which came online in 2016. That established the crucial infrastructure required to begin LNG imports so as to boost natural gas supplies, with the first major cargoes received during late 2017. A second regasification facility is planned for the (Spanish) Pacific coast port of Buenaventura, with another in La Guajira and a fourth in the Gulf of Morrosquillo. On commencing operations, those facilities will bolster the capacity to receive LNG imports shoring up Colombias energy security. The only downside is that will expose Colombias resurgent economy to soaring international natural gas prices. Europes energy crisis, in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine, caused natural gas prices to skyrocket, with the fossil fuel rising by a whopping 50% for the year to date. Becoming reliant on international LNG imports represents a serious challenge for Colombias economy, which is experiencing a robust post-pandemic recovery, with 2021 GDP expanding by a notable 10.7%.

The risks posed by Petros goal of ending contracting for oil exploration are exacerbated by the Andean countrys meager proven natural gas reserves and weak production volumes. At the end of 2021, it was determined that Colombia had 3.16 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves which will last 8 years at the current production of 1,087 million cubic feet per day reported for August 2022. The latest production number, while 2.4% greater than August 2021, is still 1.6% lower than the 1,105 million cubic feet per day pumped during August 2019, highlighting that Colombias natural gas output has yet to return to pre-pandemic volumes. Weak production and growing demand for natural gas see domestic consumption of the fuel exceeding supply, which has been the case since 2016.

Source: U.S. EIA.

This is placing ever greater pressure on Colombias economy because Natural gas is an important part of Colombias overall energy mix, providing 28% of all energy consumed in the Andean country. Rising domestic demand for natural gas is being driven by it is an important fuel for Colombian households. Natural gas provides affordable heating and cooking in a country where 39% of the population lives in poverty, with another 12% mired in extreme poverty. Any sharp increase in domestic prices, because of increasing reliance on international imports as well as the constrained domestic supply, will impact already challenging economic and social conditions for Colombias households.

Petros plans to end contracting for oil exploration pose a very real risk to Colombias economic recovery, the stability of the Andean countrys electricity supply and the welfare of the countrys people. A shortage of domestic natural gas reserves and production coupled with the fallout from droughts challenges the stability of Colombias hydro-dependent electricity grid. While a growing dependence on LNG imports, at a time when international natural gas prices are at 14-year highs, will cause energy prices to spike sharply, impacting households in a country where poverty is a genuine problem. Boosting Colombias natural gas reserves while promoting the fuels role in the domestic energy mix will assist Petro with achieving a sustainable energy transition and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the levels set out in the UNs national climate plan for the Andean nation.

By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com

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The number of total active drilling rigs in the United States rose by 2 this week, according to new data from Baker Hughes published on Friday.

The total rig count rose to 771 this week229 rigs higher than the rig count this time in 2021.

Oil rigs in the United States rose by 2 this week, to 612. Gas rigs stayed the same at 157. Miscellaneous rigs also stayed the same at 2.

The rig count in the Permian Basin held steady at 346 this week. Rigs in the Eagle Ford stayed the same at 71. DJ-Niobrara saw an increase of 3 rigs this week, to 20.

Primary Visions Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing unfinished wellsa more frugal use of finances than drilling new wellsrose by 4 to 295 for the week ending October 14, compared to 287 a month ago and 268 a year ago.

Crude oil production in the United States rose slightly in the week to October 14, to 12 million bpd, according to the latest weekly EIA estimates. U.S. production levels are up just 300,000 bpd so far this year and up 700,000 bpd versus a year ago.

At 9:13 a.m. ET, the WTI benchmark was trading up $0.25 per barrel (+0.30%) on the day at $84.76 per barrelbut down nearly $1.60 per barrel since this time last week.

The Brent benchmark was trading up at $92.72 per barrel, up $0.34 (+0.97%) on the day, and less than $1 per barrel compared to last Friday.

WTI was trading at $85.14 minutes after the data release.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
Asian fuel sellers are said to be increasing their shipments of diesel to energy-starved Europe.

The latest batch of Chinese crude import quotas is helping the ramp-up of crude buying amid signs of a recovery in demand.

The day rate for chartering a very large crude carrier (VLCC) topped $100,000 this week, with average time charter rates now at their highest in more than two years, Lloyds List reported on Friday, citing data from the Baltic Exchange.

The day rates for hiring supertankers have seen an uptick this week as signs have emerged that Chinese refiners are starting to increase purchases of crude oil, according to Lloyds List.

The latest batch of Chinese crude import quotas is likely helping the ramp-up of crude buying amid tentative signs of a recovery in demand and very tight fuel markets outside Asia.

At the end of September, China issued its biggest fuel export quotas to its refiners for this year. Chinese authorities have allocated 15 million tons of new fuel export quotas to its major refiners, and the quota could be rolled over into early next year. The fresh batch of fuel export quotas was widely expected in a move seen as an attempt from China to revive its economic activity, which has suffered from snap COVID lockdowns and a real estate crisis since the spring.

At the same time, Asian fuel sellers are said to be increasing their shipments of diesel to energy-starved Europe, benefiting from the premium European buyers are willing to pay for the fuel amid a deepening global and regional deficit.

Global diesel inventories have declined precipitously since demand rebounded over the last two years, largely due to a decline in refinery capacity during the pandemic.

More exports of fuels from China could alleviate the product market globally ahead of the EU embargo on imports by sea of Russian crude and refined products expected to kick in on December 5.

Tanker operators expect the oil tanker market and the day rates to remain strong over the next year or two, as the displacement of Russian oil exports away from Europe means many tankers would be tied up on longer routes to Asia instead of previously much shorter routes from the Russian Baltic ports to refining hubs in north Europe.

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

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The reason for the complete collapse is actually quite similar in the cases of BBY and AMRS, tooliquidity. Not market liquidity in the stock you understand, but the kind of liquidity a company needs to stay afloatcash flow. Amyris has a problem in that regard but, if you can look past that, it is a company that fits the changing times in which we live and that has enormous long-term potential.

Unfortunately, I was out of my long position well before that, but it was fun to see an old friend in the spotlightuntil the crash that inevitably follows meme stock mania came. Unlike some that have gone through that though, including more famous examples like GameStop (GME) and AMC Cinemas (AMC), AMRS is not now trading significantly above where it was before all the madness began. Rather, like another that got the treatment, Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY), it dropped back to the starting point and even beyond.

Long-time readers with very long memories may remember that several years ago, I wrote here about stock in a company called Amyris (AMRS). I was bullish on the stock at the time based on the core business and prospects of the company. That worked out pretty well, as it was under $2.50 when I wrote about it, then rose to over $7 just a few months later. A long period of volatility then ensued, with the stock jumping around between $2 and $6, but the real fun began late in 2020 when it got the meme stock treatment and soared to over $23.

Long-time readers with very long memories may remember that several years ago, I wrote here about stock in a company called Amyris (AMRS). I was bullish on the stock at the time based on the core business and prospects of the company. That worked out pretty well, as it was under $2.50 when I wrote about it, then rose to over $7 just a few months later. A long period of volatility then ensued, with the stock jumping around between $2 and $6, but the real fun began late in 2020 when it got the meme stock treatment and soared to over $23.

Unfortunately, I was out of my long position well before that, but it was fun to see an old friend in the spotlightuntil the crash that inevitably follows meme stock mania came. Unlike some that have gone through that though, including more famous examples like GameStop (GME) and AMC Cinemas (AMC), AMRS is not now trading significantly above where it was before all the madness began. Rather, like another that got the treatment, Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY), it dropped back to the starting point and even beyond.

The reason for the complete collapse is actually quite similar in the cases of BBY and AMRS, tooliquidity. Not market liquidity in the stock you understand, but the kind of liquidity a company needs to stay afloatcash flow. Amyris has a problem in that regard but, if you can look past that, it is a company that fits the changing times in which we live and that has enormous long-term potential.

They are a biotech company, but not in the medical or pharmaceutical sense. They got my attention here originally because they were involved in producing bio-diesel products used in jet and other fuels. That business hasnt taken off as anticipated yet (if you will forgive the pun!), but there is still enormous potential in the business.

In the meantime, Amyris is dependent on what started out as its core business, cosmetic products and fragrances derived from biomass materials, where they had a bit of a breakthrough this year when Ulta added some products to their online offerings in the UK and Europe. Two or three products on a website offering thousands probably wont make discernible difference to the bottom lone at Amyris anytime soon, but it will increase the companys profile and exposure, and that cannot be a bad thing.

I said earlier that you had to overlook liquidity problems at AMRS and, normally, that is not something I would ever suggest that anyone do. The two main goals of any corporation are survival and profitability and, obviously, you need to achieve the first before you can think about the second. There have been a few times in the recent past when that wasnt a given at Amyris, as supply chain issues put a massive squeeze on their cash flow. However, last week the company announced a new credit facility that gives them more time to recover. That was met with cynicism by the market, as indebted companies borrowing more money usually is. That is why, even though buying AMRS at around its current levels has been a good trade many times in the past, it is not for the faint of heart this time around.

As a play on a company surviving bankruptcy, this is basically an all or nothing play, which is something that I usually avoid. However, with a company like Amyris that has an ahead of its time product to which the world is slowly catching up, time is very valuable. Expansion in Europe and the new credit facility have bought them a little more of that valuable commodity, and if the overall risk appetite in the market becomes a bit more positive, you may see another significant pop in this once trendy, now forgotten stock.
Europes industry associations cautiously welcome the various EU proposals, but urge Brussels to take further action.

Surging natural gas and electricity costs have resulted in a jump in operational costs for all industries, from steelmaking and car manufacturing to textiles and clothing.

European industries are slammed by soaring energy costs so much that they are curtailing or shutting down production, losing global market shares, and risking permanent damage to Europes competitiveness.

Surging natural gas and electricity costs have resulted in a jump in operational costs for all industries, from steelmaking and car manufacturing to textiles and clothing. As manufacturers are curtailing, shutting down, or relocating production, they risk never reopening in Europe again, eroding the EUs competitiveness, including in the industries crucial for the energy transition, such as the metals sector.

Europes industry associations cautiously welcome the various EU proposals to alleviate the burden of high energy prices on businesses, but they say much more is needed to preserve the EUs competitiveness and spare the industries from closures and massive job losses.

Existential Threat

Soaring energy prices have prompted a wave of aluminum capacity cuts across Europe as smelters reel from sky-high gas and power prices while demand remains soft due to concerns about global economic growth.

Due to the high energy costs, the European metals industry in September called on the EU for emergency action to prevent a collapse of the sector which faces an existential threat from surging power and gas prices.

The fertilizer industry is also suffering from natural gas prices 15 times the pre-crisis level, 10 times more than U.S. prices, and well above the prices in Asia, the Fertilizers Europe group says.

Soaring natural gas prices are pushing electricity prices higher, and they are also hurting producers of ammonia, a key ingredient in fertilizers because natural gas is the primary feedstock for ammonia production. Globally, 98% of ammonia plants around the world use fossil fuels as a feedstock, primarily natural gas, 72%, and coal, 22%, according to the EIA. Related: What To Expect For Q3 Energy Earnings



Due to soaring natural gas prices, Norway-based Yara, for example, has been curtailing ammonia production this year, with curtailments taking its total European ammonia capacity utilization down to around 35% as of August.

Europes Industry Calls For EU-Wide Relief

With 70% of ammonia production in Europe halted since August, industry seeks immediate relief measures necessary to restore production, Fertilizers Europe said in September.

The gas market solutions will take time, which our industry doesnt have. The solidarity fund is a positive development, but its effectiveness depends on quick implementation at EU Member States level to ensure streamlining of available funds to most affected sectors, such as the fertilizer industry, said Jacob Hansen, Director General at Fertilizers Europe.

Associations of energy-intensive industries, including the fertilizer industry, steel-making, chemicals, ceramics, mining, glass, and paper, underline the need for more immediate and efficient measures to be put in place, as we observe the crisis circumstances worsening day by day in our industries.

We reiterate our call on the European leaders to urgently introduce EU-wide measures aimed at addressing the impact of natural gas prices on industrial competitiveness and measures designed to disconnect electricity prices from gas prices, the industry associations said at end-September.

Since then, the European Commission has proposed new emergency rules to tackle this energy crisis, including joint gas purchasing, price limiting mechanisms, and solidarity between EU countries in case of shortages.

The aluminum industrial association said in response, We support the energy crisis proposals, they complement the adopted Council regulations, but we need stronger measures to immediately alleviate the impact of gas prices on energy-intensive industries to maintain a thriving & sustainable EU industrial base.

Losing Competitiveness

European Aluminium, together with the ceramics, fertilizer, and steel associations, said that The current manufacturing crisis and closures in Europe are quickly resulting in another crisis: the surge of lower cost imports into Europe capturing market share and prolonging temporary closures.

In Germany, Europes biggest economy, the automotive industry thinks that the massive increase in energy costs is currently the greatest challenge, a survey by the German Association of the Automotive Industry showed last month.

As a result of the extremely high energy costs, there are already production restrictions in 10% of the companies, the survey showed, while another third of companies discuss production restrictions.

It is therefore not surprising that 85% of companies consider Germany as an internationally uncompetitive location in terms of energy prices and security of energy supply, the association said.

Europes energy crisis and soaring energy costs for the industry could result in Europe-based auto manufacturers losing up to 1 million units of production per quarter between this quarter and the end of 2023, S&P Global Mobility said in a report last week.

In Italy, surging energy costs are pushing local textiles and clothing firms to the brink and risk pushing the industry to move production to Asia again, Sergio Tamborini, president of industry association Sistema Moda Italia, told local outlet Nordest Economia in an interview.

The European Round Table for Industry (ERT) warned in a report this month that The high energy prices and strained supply chains of raw materials are rapidly removing the basis for Europes industrys global competitiveness and its ability to achieve bold decarbonisation targets.

Energy-intensive industry in the EU is facing an existential crisis. If European political leaders and policy-makers do not take drastic actions in the coming weeks and months to reduce the cost of energy for energy-intensive companies, the damage will be irreparable and will result in a significant loss of jobs in Europe, ERT added.

According to an analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit from last week,

Demand reduction is forcing industry across Europe to idle, and will raise input costs to levels that make European industry uncompetitive. This may persist for several years, causing global supply chains to move away from Europe.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Starting in September, at about the same time as the successful Ukrainian counteroffensive that saw Ukraine win back territory in the east occupied by Russia, Moscow and Tehran held talks about arms supplies. Putin has been gunning for more weapons from Iran, and it now appears that his requests

This strategy has already begun in the form of kamikaze drone attacks on Kyiv, using drones supplied by Iran.

What we expect going forward now that Russia has been wrong-footed by Ukraines counteroffensive is an increased momentum of missile attacks as Putins ground troops falter and untrained recruits prove not up to the task.

But while Moscow is talking of a small gain in the Kharkiv region, pro-Kremlin officials were fleeing Kherson by Wednesday amid a Ukrainian advance. This is a key development considering that Kherson was one of the first territories Russian forces had occupied in the invasion. While the Ukrainian counteroffensive continues to push out Russian forces from occupied territory, the blowback for this is a missile barrage on utility infrastructure that is designed to make for an extremely difficult winter for Ukraine.

By Tuesday, the Russian military was claiming to have recaptured some territory in eastern Kharkiv after a Ukrainian counteroffensive had pushed Russian forces back. As far as we can tell, the Russian victory in retaking Kharkiv only includes one small villageGorobiivka.

What Ukraine can expect this winter

By Tuesday, the Russian military was claiming to have recaptured some territory in eastern Kharkiv after a Ukrainian counteroffensive had pushed Russian forces back. As far as we can tell, the Russian victory in retaking Kharkiv only includes one small villageGorobiivka.

But while Moscow is talking of a small gain in the Kharkiv region, pro-Kremlin officials were fleeing Kherson by Wednesday amid a Ukrainian advance. This is a key development considering that Kherson was one of the first territories Russian forces had occupied in the invasion. While the Ukrainian counteroffensive continues to push out Russian forces from occupied territory, the blowback for this is a missile barrage on utility infrastructure that is designed to make for an extremely difficult winter for Ukraine.

What we expect going forward now that Russia has been wrong-footed by Ukraines counteroffensive is an increased momentum of missile attacks as Putins ground troops falter and untrained recruits prove not up to the task.

This strategy has already begun in the form of kamikaze drone attacks on Kyiv, using drones supplied by Iran.

Starting in September, at about the same time as the successful Ukrainian counteroffensive that saw Ukraine win back territory in the east occupied by Russia, Moscow and Tehran held talks about arms supplies. Putin has been gunning for more weapons from Iran, and it now appears that his requests are being fulfilled with drones and short-range and medium-range surface-to-surface missiles.

These Iranian weapons are likely to target key Ukrainian infrastructure this winter, with energy (particularly electricity) infrastructure being the prime target. Kyiv is already preparing for blackouts and restricting energy use in advance.

We expect the further emergence of a hybrid war now, targeting not only Ukrainian infrastructure intended to make the winter unbearable, but also raising tensions in the North Sea around oil and gas installationsphase one of which we have already seen, with two undersea explosions and weeks of continuing illegal drone activity, one such incident which has seen the son of a close Putin ally arrested this week.

Winter is the key, with the EU ban on Russian seaborne crude set to go into effect on December 5th.

A deceitful calm in Iraq

In Iraq, while there is a false sense of calm in the wake of the election of a new president that ends the government paralysis in place since 2020, we are not convinced that the power struggle is over.

Al-Sadr wont agree to a new Iraqi government, so what does that mean for securityand oilwhen the influential Shiite cleric has militia backing and the ability to summon tens of thousands of protesters with a whisper?

Last week, Iraq elected a new president who immediately nominated a PM-designate. Just days later, al-Sadr representatives said the cleric and his supporters would not join the new government to be formed by PM-designate Mohammad Shia al-Sudani. Al-Sudani only has 30 days to form a new government. It will be a highly critical 30 days for Iraq, and possibly for oil markets.

Al-Sudani is closely tied to former Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki, al-Sadrs key rival. It is this rivalry that has seen mass protests and violence in Baghdad, which spread earlier this month to oil-rich Basra, where various militias and their backers have access to oil revenues.

Al-Sudani was nominated for PM back in July, too. It didnt work then, either. Al-Sadrs protesters stormed parliament that time, leading to months of on-and-off violence.

Al-Sudani is attempting to sell himself as independent from al-Maliki, but the Sadrists are unlikely to buy this, which would lead to a repeat of this summers deadly violence.

This is all about resource control, or rather, the money each faction receives from various industry rents. This summer, Al-Sadr feared that Al-Sudani as PM would mean putting a Maliki man on the throne, which in turn would threaten the Sadrists access to rent. As far as we can see, nothing has changed to suggest that Al-Sudani no longer poses a threat to al-Sadr.

While al-Sadrs political moves are really all about maintaining access to funding, he does serve as a buffer against pro-Iranian forces, and has also a cross-sectarian element, with Sunni groups and Kurdish groups under his umbrella.

The successful appointment of al-Sudani as PM-designate, however, is a blow for the Sadrists and suggests they have lost their footing somewhat. But that increasingly desperate situation is likely to result in more desperate actions, such as the unleashing of mass protesters once again, and possibly a move to destabilize oil-rich Basra.
After Putin suggested that Turkey could become a gas hub last week, Erdogan made the agreement official this week, with both determining that Turkey would be the most reliable route for gas deliveries to Europe. Again, this is meant to bypass Ukraine and comes as Europe is attempting to reduce its Russian gas usage. At the same time, Erdogan continues to successfully insert himself into the

Chinas 20th party congress saw Xi, who has been granted an unprecedented third term as Chinas leader, note how Chinas international power and influence have risen exponentially. He warned the congress of worst-case scenarios going forward and dangerous storms. The most immediate takeaway for oil markets was Xis clear adherence to a continuation of Beijings zero-COVID policy, which means more potential demand destruction ahead.

Some 700,000 men have fled Russia since the announcement of a partial mobilization on Sept 21st. Demonstrations have been taking place across the country, and mobilization centers have been attacked, including a shooting this week in which gunmen killed 11 at a military training ground in the Belgorod region. All of this continues to highlight the questions arising about Putins rule at home, and particularly as untrained recruits start to come home in body bags only days after being sent to Ukraine.

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict

Some 700,000 men have fled Russia since the announcement of a partial mobilization on Sept 21st. Demonstrations have been taking place across the country, and mobilization centers have been attacked, including a shooting this week in which gunmen killed 11 at a military training ground in the Belgorod region. All of this continues to highlight the questions arising about Putins rule at home, and particularly as untrained recruits start to come home in body bags only days after being sent to Ukraine.

Chinas 20th party congress saw Xi, who has been granted an unprecedented third term as Chinas leader, note how Chinas international power and influence have risen exponentially. He warned the congress of worst-case scenarios going forward and dangerous storms. The most immediate takeaway for oil markets was Xis clear adherence to a continuation of Beijings zero-COVID policy, which means more potential demand destruction ahead.

After Putin suggested that Turkey could become a gas hub last week, Erdogan made the agreement official this week, with both determining that Turkey would be the most reliable route for gas deliveries to Europe. Again, this is meant to bypass Ukraine and comes as Europe is attempting to reduce its Russian gas usage. At the same time, Erdogan continues to successfully insert himself into the Libyan energy equation. A recent MoU between Turkey and Libya gives Turkey the right to explore for oil and gas offshore Libya. That area in question, according to Libyan officials, contains some $30 trillion in natural gas.

Sometimes sanctions on foreign countries have negative effects on US companies, such as is the case with Chevron, which has long been trying to skirt US sanctions on Venezuelas oil industry. Now, The United States has indicated that it could allow Chevron to expand its operations in Venezuela by becoming operator over some JVs with PDVSA (which was agreed upon with PDVSA a while ago). But it is contingent on one importantand rather unlikely thing: That disputed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader (and officially recognized President of Venezuela according to the United States) sit down for talks on holding free elections. Chevron also has requested permission to trade Venezuela crude.

Discovery & Development

Equinor has obtained a permit to drill two wildcat wells in the Norwegian North Sea in production license 554. Equinor holds 40% interest, with Var Energi and Aker BP holding 30% each. Drilling operations are expected to take 76 days.

The United States announced its first offshore wind power rights sale off Californias coast, which will take place in December. To date, all offshore development rights for wind power have been on the Atlantic side. The sale will include five lease areas totaling 373,268 acres. The projects will be the first to use floating turbines in U.S. waters. The DOI has a goal to have 30 GW of offshore wind permits by 2030, and 15 GW of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035.

CNOOCs proved gas in place at Baodao 21-1 in the Western South China Sea has passed Chinas review, which found 50 billion cubic meters of nat gas and 3 million cubic meters of condensate. The well tested at an average of 587,000 cm of nat gas per day.

Romanias state-run gas company Romgaz is set to develop an LNG project in the Black Sea with Azerbaijans state-run SOCAR. The project will include an LNG plant, a regasification plant, and other facilities that will allow for transporting the gas from the Caspian Sea.

Deals, Mergers & Acquisitions

Equinor is considering snapping up oilfields in the British section of the North Sea from CNOOC, including Buzzard. The proposed deal is valued somewhere between $1.9 billion and $2.8 billion. The deal could close as early as this year.

BP has moved to acquire biogas producer Archaea Energy for $4.1 billion, including debt, as BP moves closer to renewables and away from fossil fuels. The deal is the largest of its kind within the United States. Not only is the deal BPs largest acquisition in years, but it is also the largest renewable nat gas acquisition ever.

Although not terribly surprising, Harold Hamm has successfully reached a deal to take Continental Resources private. A private status will uncomplicate Continentals decision-making process and break it free from the shackles of public judgment, and we could see significant investments into expansion from them.

Italian Saipem sealed a massive $4.5B deal with Qatargas for the North Field Production Sustainability Offshore Compression Complexes Project-EPC2 offshore Qatar. It is the largest single offshore contract in Saipems history.

Q3 Earnings Beat

Baker Hughes posted a Q3 loss after taking $230 million in restructuring and impairment charges from a recent organization that saw BH shrink its business units from four to two. Net loss was $17 million or 2 cents per share, compared with a profit of $8 million a year ago.

Australias Santos posted Q3 revenue of $2.2 billion, beating estimates and easily beating the $1.14 billion in revenue Santos reported in Q3 last year. The Q3 revenue is a record high for Santos, which married its production forecasts to between 103 million boe and 106 million bpd (from 102-107 million boe). Santos has benefited from the tight LNG market.
Barclays lowered on Friday its Brent Crude price forecast for this year and next due to expected slowing growth in oil demand.

The UK bankwhich slashed in August its Brent oil price forecast to $103 per barrel for 2022 and 2023, down from $111 a barrelis now cutting its Brent forecast by $3 per barrel for 2022 and by $5 a barrel for 2023, CN Wire reports, citing Barclays.

However, the bank remains constructive with respect to the curve and consensus of oil prices.

Yet, if 2023 global oil demand is 1-2 million barrels per day (bpd) lower than expected, there is a downside of between $15 and $25 per barrel in Barclays price forecast for next year, the bank said.

If the zero-Covid policy and the situation with the sudden lockdowns in China dont improve, this will imply a $5-$10 per barrel downside to the Barclays forecast for 2023.

Moreover, oil demand could undershoot our estimates despite a potential easing of mobility restrictions due to a broader slowdown, the bank was quoted as saying.

On Thursday, oil prices rose at intraday trade after China signaled an easing of its strict Covid policy, which has battered market sentiment in recent months.

Just this past Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled that the countrys zero-Covid policy would remain in place for the time being.

But the Chinese city of Xian, home to more than 13 million residents, has said it would implement Covid control measures only in risk areas instead of city-wide static management, CN Wire reported on Thursday, citing the citys health authorities.

In addition, officials in China are discussing the idea of reducing the mandatory quarantine for travelers into China to seven from 10 days, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, quoting sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Oil prices settled almost flat on Thursday as market participants focused again on fears of recessions that could slow oil demand, and were headed to a second consecutive weekly loss on Friday.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Irans military is conducting large-scale military drills on its border with Azerbaijan, including practicing crossings of the Aras River, which defines a large part of the border between the two states.

The exercises, called Mighty Iran, began on October 17. The exact location has not been specified, but Iranian media placed them in between Irans provinces of Ardabil and East Azerbaijan, the part of Iran across the Aras from Azerbaijans Fuzuli region. One expert on open-source intelligence, however, analyzed photos of the pontoon crossing and placed it across from Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan.

The drills come as Iran has been stepping up its diplomatic warnings to Baku about Azerbaijans intentions for a new transport link connecting Azerbaijans exclave of Nakhchivan with the Azerbaijani mainland, a route that Baku calls the Zangezur corridor. The route would pass along Armenias border with Iran, with uncertain consequences for Armenia-Iran commerce.

"Iran will not permit the blockage of its connection route with Armenia, and in order to secure that objective the Islamic Republic of Iran also launched a wargame in that region," Irans Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in an October 19 interview with the IRNA news agency. Amir-Abdollahian was planning to visit Armenia on October 20 to officially open Irans new consulate in Kapan, in the flashpoint province of Syunik, which borders Azerbaijan and Iran, Armenia's foreign ministry reported.

Iranian media have described the exercises as massive. Photos have depicted lengthy rows of tanks and multiple-launch rocket systems. Military officials say the forces in the drills have practiced simulations of airborne landings, as well as the use of suicide drones of the type that Russia recently debuted in Ukraine.

The most noteworthy element of the exercise so far has been the practice of crossing the Aras River using pontoon bridges, which Iranian media said was the first time the forces have drilled on that technique. The Aras River forms a large part of the Iran-Azerbaijan border, though presumably they chose a rare section in which the northern bank is Iranian, not Azerbaijani, territory. October 19 video from the exercise showed tanks and supply trucks driving over a pontoon bridge.

The exercise indicates that the armed forces determination to confront any regime that wants to cut Irans land connection with Armenia is serious, tweeted Iranian military analyst Hossein Daliran.

It comes as tensions in the region are growing on several fronts. In August, apparently in response to Irans regular warnings about the Zangezur corridor, Azerbaijani pro-government media began attacking Iran on a deeply sensitive issue, encouraging the large ethnic Azerbaijani minority in the country to secede.

In September, Azerbaijan launched an attack against a broad section of the Armenian border, raising fears of a larger invasion. Tension has continued to fester, with a recent increase in ceasefire violations. Iran, meanwhile, has been beset by countrywide anti-government protests while strengthening its alliance with Russia through the drone supplies.

After its infowar threats stoking separatism two months earlier, Baku has been noticeably quieter in the days since this exercise began. There has been no official comment, and pro-government media have been downplaying the story. Some outlets presented the exercises as taking place on the Armenian border, others speculated that the real target was likely Armenia because of the disastrous consequences an attack on Azerbaijan would entail. (One piece, in the pro-government Musavat, was an exception and did not minimize the issue, calling it a very serious provocation and threat. With this, the Iranian side is demonstrating that it is ready to encroach on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.)

But Azerbaijan could be merely biding its time: the last time Iran held massive military drills on its border with Azerbaijan, last year, Baku responded in a similarly low-key manner for several days before President Ilham Aliyev fired back, if only rhetorically.

Irans embassy in Baku has been giving mixed messages about the exercises. It issued a statement insisting that the drills were pre-planned and that Azerbaijan was notified in advance, taking into consideration the friendly and brotherly relations between the two countries.

The ambassador himself, though, gave a more pointed statement, tweeting a video of the exercises set to martial music and writing that they were a demonstration of Irans readiness to defend the security of the country's borders and a decisive response to any threats and interventions by countries and regimes in the region.

While Tehran has for some time been warning Azerbaijan about its threats to Armenia, in recent days its talking points have incorporated a new perceived threat in the Caucasus: the European military presence.

Iran President Ibrahim Raisi met with Aliyev in Astana on October 13 and a senior Raisi adviser wrote after the meeting that the Iranian leader rejected any change in the historical borders, the geopolitics of the region, and the Iran-Armenia transit route and that that would elicit a decisive response from Iran. But he added that Raisi also rejected European military presence in the region under any cover. He said internal issues wont distract us from the Iranian nations strategic interests.

Related: Global Oil Demand Rebounded By 2 Million Bpd In August

The European military presence would seem to be a reference to a new European Union monitoring mission that began deploying to Armenia this week. That mission will be modest  40 members, with a two-month mandate  but it seems to have spooked Iran. More Europeans could be coming: the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe announced that it would be sending an assessment mission to Armenia between October 21 and 27.

The goal of the European mission(s) appears to be the same as that of the Iranian military exercises: reduce fears of an Azerbaijani attack on Armenia. (One Azerbaijani analyst, improbably, suggested the two sides may be in cahoots.)

How the European presence in Armenia may change Irans strategic calculations remains to be seen. But Armenia continues to count on support from Tehran. A delegation of members of Armenias parliament visited Tehran on October 13 and met with several senior Iranian government officials, including Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian.

Iran's principled position regarding the inevitable need to protect Armenia's internationally recognized borders and territorial integrity and to condemn the recent military aggression undertaken by Azerbaijan was emphasized, wrote the leader of the group, MP Gevorg Papoyan.

By Eurasianet.org

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U.S. trade and energy policies have created a double standard, with Europe left paying higher prices for its natural gas, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.

France, the latestand largest--country to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty, has switched from being a net exporter of energy last year, to being a net importer of energy this year, after problems with its nuclear fleet surfaced.

To compensate for its declining nuclear fleet and Russias complete halt of natural gas shipments into the country, France has turned to the United States for LNGonly Macron is unhappy with the price its paying.

U.S. natural gas exports to France increased 421% during the first eight months of 2022but the value of that LNG increased by 1094% in August alone due to the higher prices of LNG.

The North American economy is making choices for the sake of attractiveness, which I respect, but they create a double standard, Macron explained at a Brussels news conference on Friday, with the United States enjoying low energy prices at home, while exporting at record prices.

In addition, they allow state aid going to up to 80% on some sectors while its banned here -- you get a double standard. It comes down to the sincerity of transatlantic trade, Macron added, after earlier in the week referring to both the United States and Norway as those who are reaping the real superprofits, in what Macron calls benefiting from geopolitcal war unearned income.

With ties already strained over the previously botched nuclear deal between France and the United States, Macron is scheduled to visit the United States in early December, and the subject of energy is likely to be a prime focus.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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Sharon Stone poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Crimes of the Future' at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 23, 2022. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP) (Vianney Le Caer/Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Hollywood actress Sharon Stone is again boosting the work of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie on social media.

Stone, famous for playing glamorous, strong female leads in movies such as Basic Instinct, Total Recall, Catwoman and Casino, posted on her Twitter and Instagram accounts a photo of herself on the museums grounds taken in 2018 with the caption Be a kind neighbor; Stand up. The tweet contains a link to the museums website page that accepts donations; that page also contains a photo of Stone.

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The museums Vice President of Marketing & Business Development Noah Cruickshank said the support is meaningful to the museum in a moment when anti-Semitic rhetoric is widespread.

Its always nice to know that there are folks who are supporters of ours across the country and across the world, he said. Were always very grateful for support from people who have large bullhorns that can speak to the work that we do in our mission to remember the past and transform the future.

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Cruickshank added that Stone has a personal relationship to one of the museums board members, Holocaust survivor Sam Harris, and stays connected to the museum through him. Harris, who is also the museums president emeritus, was four years old and living in Poland when the Nazis occupied that country in 1939; the Nazis murdered all of his family members during the Holocaust except for two older sisters and Harris, according to his profile on the museums website.

Stone has also donated to the museum and hosted a fundraiser on its behalf, Cruickshank said. In the photo the actress tweeted, taken during a 2018 visit to the museum, she is standing beside a brick with her name on the museums Evan G. Maling Tribute pathway.

Cruickshank also noted that much of the response to Stones social media came from people outside Illinois and invited those people to get to know the museum online.

We are always welcoming folks to interact with us whether that is online or in person, he said.

Stone stars in the movie, What About Love, set to be released next year.

Stones tweet comes at a time of recent antisemitic remarks by Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, and former President Donald Trump, who supported Wests remarks. Republican gubernatorial candidate State Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia has also been criticized for his remarks about Jews.
Russia could largely evade the planned price cap on its oil because it will likely have access to enough own tankers and transport and insurance services to ship its oil, a U.S. Treasury official and industry representatives have told Reuters.

There have been estimates that Russia could continue to ship 80-90% of its oil outside the price cap regime, and those estimates are not unreasonable, the unnamed U.S. official told Reuters.

Therefore, only up to 2 million bpd of Russian crude and refined petroleum exports may have to be shut in from early December, when the price cap mechanism is planned to kick in, according to the official.

Russia exported 7.5 million bpd of crude and refined products in September, per the International Energy Agency (IEA).

In theory there is a big enough shadow fleet to continue Russian crude flows after Dec. 5, Andrea Olivi, Global Head Wet Freight/Oil Chartering at trading giant Trafigura told Reuters on Friday.

Last month, the G7 group of the most industrialized nations agreed to finalize and implement a price cap on Russian oil, aiming to reduce Vladimir Putins oil revenues for his war chest. The G7 will ban maritime transportation services for Russian oil unless the products are purchased at or below a certain price cap.

European Union ambassadors also endorsed the price cap after reaching an agreement earlier this month to impose a new package of sanctions on Russia, including banning maritime transportation for Russian oil to third-party countries unless the oil is sold below or at a certain price cap.

Many analysts and experts doubt that the price cap would serve its dual purpose of cutting revenues for Putin while keeping Russian oil flowing because top importers China and India havent signed onto the price cap, and because Putin could simply make good on his promise to halt all energy supplyincluding crude, fuels, natural gas, and coalto the countries that sign up to cap the price of Russian oil.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The leaders of the European Union once again failed to reach an agreement on a cap on gas prices, ending the latest round of discussions in the small hours of Friday with a decision to keep exploring options, Reuters has reported.

The idea of a price cap on gas imports was floated earlier this year and supported by 15 EU members, including Italy, Spain, and Eastern European countries. Others, however, are strongly opposing it, notably Germany and the Netherlands.

The concerns of those opposing the bill center on the possibility that a price cap will interfere with market signals and lead to higher consumption, which is the last thing the EU wants right now.

Last night, however, Germanys Chancellor withdrew his governments opposition to a cap, potentially opening the way to an agreement, the FT reported.

Hungary, meanwhile, has once again played the spoke in the wheels, saying Thursday it would not agree to a price cap on gas and will demand an exemption.

"It will simply not work. The outcome will be that we will have less gas in Europe, at a higher price, contradicting the original purpose," a senior Hungarian government official told Reuters.

"For Hungary this is not acceptable because the Russians already said very clearly that if it happens they will not send any more gas to Hungary, which from an energy security perspective would be unacceptable to us," Balazs Orban political director for Hungarys PM also said.

EU officials have signaled they were happy with how the discussion ended but they have also admitted the real work was ahead: hammering out the details of any measures to tackle excessive gas prices will take time and a lot more effort, their statements suggest.

The challenge would be to respond to different demands made by different EU members, including Germany, whose support of the caps is far from unconditional. As Chancellor Scholz put it, There is still a lot of concrete work to do there.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Iranian personnel are "directly engaged on the ground" in Russian-occupied Crimea helping Moscow's forces conduct attacks on Ukraine with Iranian-made drones, the White House said on October 20.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Iran has sent a relatively small number of Iranians to Crimea to work as trainers and in tech support, while Russians are piloting the drones.

"Tehran is now directly engaged on the ground, and through the provision of weapons that are impacting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine," he said.

"The United States is going to pursue all means to expose, deter, and confront Iran's provision of these munitions against the Ukrainian people."

He said the United States would also continue to vigorously enforce all U.S. sanctions on both the Russian and Iranian arms trade."

There was no immediate reaction to the U.S. allegations from Tehran, which previously denied selling munitions to Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Tehran in July, and the United States said at the time that Russia was looking to purchase Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles to use in its war against Ukraine.

Kirby indicated the United States currently sees no need to continue trying to negotiate a revival of the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers.

Related: OPEC+ Insists Its Production Cut Was Not Political

"We are way far apart with the Iranians in terms of a return to the deal, so we are simply not focused on that right now," Kirby said.

U.S. President Joe Biden had sought a return to the deal to provide international monitoring of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for a lifting of sanctions against Tehran. Talks on reviving the deal, abandoned in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump, have been stalled for months.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have been further heightened by Tehran's crackdown on protests following the death in September of a 22-year-old woman who was arrested for violating Iran's strict dress code requiring women to wear hijabs. Biden has condemned the crackdown.

By RFE/RL

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told EU leaders on October 20 that Russian attacks that have destroyed a large portion of Ukraine's energy infrastructure are aimed in part at provoking a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to EU countries.



"Russian terror against our energy facilities is aimed at creating as many problems as possible with electricity and heat for Ukraine this fall and winter, and for as many Ukrainians as possible to go to your countries, he told an EU summit in Brussels.

This should be "answered immediately," primarily by more air-defense systems sent to Ukraine, the president said.

"We must do everything possible to make it completely impossible for Russia to destroy our energy system with missiles and drones," Zelensky said in a virtual speech to EU lawmakers, calling on Ukraine's partners to provide systems "to create a truly reliable air shield."

Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian civilian and infrastructure facilities since October 10, mainly using kamikaze drones that Ukraine and its Western allies say are made by Iran. Moscow and Tehran have denied the accusations.

Zelensky also warned that Ukraine suspects Russia has mined the dam and units of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine, and if it were blown up, more than 80 settlements, including Kherson, would be in danger of flooding.

Zelensky said Ukrainian workers have been thrown out of the facility, leaving Russians in control. He asserted that Russia "has already prepared everything to carry out this terrorist attack."

He called for an international observation mission and the return of Ukrainian personnel to ensure the mines are removed from the dam and its units.

Zelensky's comment came two days after Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed head of the Kherson region of Ukraine, announced an "organized, gradual displacement" of civilians from four towns on the right bank of the Dnieper River to the left side.

Saldo accused Ukrainian forces of planning to destroy the dam and also warned of "an immediate danger of flooding."

The Moscow-installed authorities of Kherson said on October 20 that about 15,000 people had left the region.

The Moscow-appointed deputy head of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, encouraged people to cross over to the left bank of the Dnieper River and posted a video of a column of buses on Telegram.

Kyiv has denounced Moscow's move, calling it a "deportation" of Ukrainian civilians to Russia.

But Stremousov said people should follow the evacuation instructions and leave Kherson, one of four Ukrainian regions illegally annexed by Russia.

"Give the military a chance to do what they have to do," he said, claiming that the Russian Army will not surrender Kherson.

Zelenskys office said Ukrainian forces on October 20 had mounted 15 attacks on Russian military strongholds in the Kherson region. Russias Defense Ministry spokesman said the Kremlins forces repelled Ukrainian attempts to advance with tanks on three Kherson villages.

Another Russian-installed official in the region, Vladimir Leontyev, said Ukrainian forces had launched five missile strikes against the Kakhovka dam.

Ukraine earlier on October 20 began restricting electricity consumption for the first time since the start of Russia's invasion as the country sustained serious damage to its infrastructure following waves of Russian air strikes targeting its electricity grid ahead of the onset of winter.

Oleksandr Kharchenko, an adviser to the energy minister, said on October 19 that there would be outages, including some that are scheduled.

"Unfortunately, according to new data, about 40 percent of the total infrastructure is seriously damaged. Repair and connection work is ongoing, but outages are expected," Kharchenko said on Ukrainian television.

In the latest Russian attack, an energy facility was struck and damaged in the Kryvorizka district of the Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the regional administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, reported on October 20.

Related: Chinese Steel Manufacturers On The Brink Of Bankruptcy

Earlier, a missile strike hit a major coal-fired power station in the city of Burshtyn in western Ukraine, the region's governor said.

"Our region experienced missile fire today. The Burshtyn thermal power station was hit, which caused a fire," Svitlana Onyshchuk, governor of Ivano-Frankivsk region, said in an online video statement.

The Burshtyn power station supplies electricity to three western regions and 5 million consumers.

Ahead of the summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addressed lawmakers in Berlin on October 20, condemning Russia's latest drone attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine and saying that "such scorched-earth tactics will not help Russia win the war."

Scholz said such tactics by Russian President Vladimir Putin would "only strengthen the resolve and the will of Ukraine and its partners to persevere."

"In the end, Russia's bombing and missile terror is an act of desperation -- just like the mobilization of Russian men for war," Scholz said. "He wants to sow fear, divide, and intimidate. He is speculating on our weakness, but he is wrong -- we are not weak."

Scholz said the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war would be a "generational task in which the entire civilized community of states must join forces."

In London, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace will also make a statement to parliament on Ukraine later on October 20, the House of Commons said on Twitter.

By RFE/RL

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A Nebraska-born mountain lion was caught on a camera in western Illinois a week ago.

But wildlife authorities there werent surprised. That same day, they had received a call from a state biologist in Nebraska, letting them know the mountain lions radio collar had sent a signal from McDonough County, about 85 miles south of the Quad Cities.

About 10 days before that, the biologist, Sam Wilson of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, had sent the Illinois Department of Natural Resources a first alert: The lion was headed their way  in eastern Iowa at the time but approaching the Mississippi River.

Wilson and others had collared the male in November 2021 in the Niobrara River Valley. They estimated it to be about a year old at the time, about the age when most young males disperse  setting off in search of mates and their own territories.

And this one dispersed  more than 600 miles so far.

Its GPS-enabled collar sends Wilson periodic signals. They showed the lion moving to the south and east. In late July, it passed through Lincoln, where it was caught on a homeowners backyard security camera near Northwest 56th and West Adams Streets.

But it kept moving.

It can be between 3 and 20 miles a day, but it might kill a deer and feed on that for a day or two, Wilson said. But mostly, its walking day after day after day after day after day.

It keeps walking because its not finding what its looking for  a mate. Female lions dont disperse like males, Wilson said. So in general, there are very few females to be found. And so they just keep moving.

The lion would have had better luck had it traveled west, toward Nebraskas other established mountain lion populations in the Pine Ridge and Wildcat Hills areas, or beyond to the Rocky Mountain states.

The mountain lion would have to find its way to Florida to meet a compatible mate in the population of panthers  a mountain lion subspecies  that live in the swamps and forests of that states southwest tip.

Wilson and his staff are monitoring 19 mountain lions with radio collars. The visitor to Illinois, caught on a landowners camera Oct. 14, is the only one of those to have left the state. But its not the first Nebraska cat to make it more than one state away.

In February, a 3-year-old with a Nebraska ear tag was killed during Montanas hunting season.
A 24-year-old man died following a crash in west Omaha on Thursday afternoon.

Police officers responded to 132nd and Shirley Streets around 3:15 p.m. after a crash involving a motorcycle and a Honda CRV, according to the Omaha Police Department.

Witnesses said that the rider of the motorcycle, Thomas Flesher of Omaha, was speeding south on 132nd Street when he entered the intersection at Shirley Street, according to police. The CRV, which was headed north on 132nd Street, collided with the motorcycle when the CRV's driver, 69-year-old Linda Holman of Omaha, attempted to turn left onto Shirley Street.

Omaha Fire Department medics took Flesher to Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy with serious injuries. He died at the hospital a short time later, police said.

Flesher was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, the release said.
A New York man has been sentenced in federal court in Omaha for transporting a minor with the intent of engaging in criminal sexual activity.

Armando Daniels, 33, was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

Between January and April 2021, Daniels, who was 32 at the time, communicated with a 15-year-old girl from Sarpy County via cellphone and internet apps, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

On April 6, 2021, Daniels drove from his home in New York, picked up the girl and headed east. The girl had left her cellphone at home. That evening, when her relatives became aware she was missing, they called authorities and Sarpy County sheriffs deputies began trying to find her.

Using call records, deputies obtained cellphone location data of phones that recently had called her phone. They found a phone going east across Iowa and Illinois and, on April 7, stopped in Princeton, Illinois. An investigation later found that Daniels had sexually assaulted the girl at a hotel in that city. Surveillance footage from the hotel showed the two together there.

Early the next morning, the U.S. Attorneys Office said, Indiana state troopers found Daniels and the girl in Elkhart, Indiana, in Daniels parked car. The troopers arrested Daniels.

After completing his prison term, Daniels will begin a five-year term of supervised release.
Chinese, Mexican cultures to take nourishment through exchanges, mutual learning: Mexican archeologist

14:08, October 20, 2022 By Liu Xuxia, Qu Song ( People's Daily

"It was an honor for me to be a guide for President Xi at the most important heritage site of Mexico," said Jose Huchim, director of a museum in Uxmal, an ancient Maya city of the classical period located in present-day Mexico, during a recent interview with People's Daily.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza at the invitation of then Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, aiming to promote the cultural exchanges between the two ancient civilizations of China and Mexico, June 6, 2013. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

What Huchim referred to was a visit paid by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan to the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, Mexico, upon invitation from then Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on June 6, 2013.

"During the visit, President Xi noted that it was necessary to uphold an attitude of equality and humility to understand the essence of civilizations. His broad mind was respectable and admirable," Huchim recalled.

Chichen Itza, located some 1,400 km east of Mexico City, dates back to the 5th century AD. It had once been the most prosperous city of ancient Maya as well as an important site of the Mayan city culture at its peak. It was listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988.

On the day of the visit, Xi was greeted by Mexican children waving Chinese and Mexican national flags and singing Mexican folk songs. Local people also greeted the Chinese guests with a ceremony in a unique way of Mayan tradition.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd L), his wife Peng Liyuan (1st L) and Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto (2nd R) and his wife Angelica Rivera jointly cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the exhibition of "Mayas: The Language of Beauty" at the National Museum of China in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 13, 2014. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

Xi toured around the Quetzalcoatl Pyramid, ball court and the temple in the archaeological site. He learned about the ruins of Chichen Itza, the influence of Maya civilization on the Mexican culture as well as the protection and recovery work of the ruins. He also discussed the history and culture of China and Mexico with Pena Nieto.

There is a spectacle in Chichen Itza. Around the Spring Equinox and the Autumn Equinox, the sun strikes off the northwest corner of the Quetzalcoatl Pyramid, which served as a temple to a feathered serpent god in Mayan mythology, and casts a series of shadows, creating the illusion of the god descending the pyramid.

On the Spring Equinox, the serpent-shaped shadow descends to the bottom of the pyramid, which symbolizes the return of the god to the earth. On the Autumn Equinox, the shadow goes up to the temple on top, which heralds the guardian of the Mayan civilization will give a harvest to the people. What's more interesting is that the two shadow movements last for exactly the same time.

"When I explained this phenomenon to President Xi, he was listening very carefully, admiring the astronomical and architectural achievements of the Mayan civilization. It encouraged me very much," Huchim said.

Huchim, as a researcher of history and culture, is impressed by the importance attached by the Chinese leader to the protection of human civilization.

"I should thank him for his important contributions to promoting mutual learning and exchanges between civilizations," Huchim told People's Daily.

Jose Huchim (3rd L) (Photo provided by Jose Huchim)

China and Mexico are both ancient civilizations and great cultural powers. The two cultures have far-reaching influence on the world as a result of their distinctive features and manage to maintain vitality through innovations. They have learned from each other, leaving a brilliant page in the history of world civilization.

"President Xi not only has a deep understanding of the Chinese culture, but also embraces other civilizations with an open mind. He believes that there is no such thing as a superior or inferior civilization, and civilizations are different only in identity and geography. He has stressed that the diversity of human civilizations drives the progress of mankind. It exactly showcases his caring for the world," Huchim said.

Xi's visit has promoted the Chinese people's understanding of Mexican culture and made more and more Mexicans eager for Chinese culture, Huchim added.

The Exhibition of Mayas: The Language of Beauty was jointly held by the cultural departments of China and Mexico at the National Museum of China in Beijing on Nov. 13, 2014. It was the first major exhibition hosted by the museum on Central American civilizations after it reopened.

Xi and Pena Nieto, who was visiting China then, jointly attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

Xi noted the exhibition was a grand event of China-Mexico cultural exchanges. Exhibitions and other cultural activities would make cultural relics, historical sites and ancient books lively and revitalize the friendship between the Chinese and Mexicans.

In December 2018, Huchim was invited to an academic exchange in China with Chinese archaeologists, and visited the Sanxingdui Museum in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province.

An exhibition of cultural relics unearthed at the Sanxingdui site, southwest China's Sichuan province is held at the Fengxian Museum, Shanghai, June 8, 2021. (People's Daily Online/Zhou Dongchao)

He said China, employing high technologies in the protection of cultural relics, has made remarkable achievements, which has set a good example for other countries. He believes China and Mexico enjoy broad prospects in cultural and people-to-people exchanges, as both of them boast rich cultural and historical resources.

After the 2018 visit, Huchim participated in multiple academic exchange programs held by the Sanxingdui Museum, where he discussed the protection of the ancient Shu civilization of Sichuan province and the Mayan civilization.

"Different cultures and civilizations, while retaining their uniqueness, should tolerate and coexist with each other with an open-minded attitude so as to achieve common development and prosperity," Xi said during his visit to Chichen Itza.

Huchim agrees with Xi's remarks. "China follows a vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind when it comes to civilization. Though Mexico and China are far away from each other, they enjoy a profound friendship."

"This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. We hope that the Chinese and Mexican cultures, as President Xi said, can take nourishment through exchanges and mutual learning, and grow vigorously as time goes by," he noted.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Wu Chengliang)
A 67-year-old woman charged with a hate crime in 2020 for striking a Black man in Winnetka after telling him you need to go back where youre from pleaded guilty to a lesser charge this week and was sentenced to probation and ordered to completed an anti-racism course, officials said Thursday.

Irene Donoshaytis, 67, pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor battery at the Skokie courthouse on Oct. 19, and was sentenced to one year of probation, $519 in court costs and was ordered to completed an anti-racism course, prosecutors said. In exchange for Donoshaytis guilty plea, prosecutors dropped the more serious hate crime change.

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The plea deal comes a little more than two years after Donoshaytis confronted a Black cyclist attempting to use a public Winnetka pier in August 2020 and told him he did not belong there, then hit him twice on the arm, prosecutors said.

They said Donoshaytis confronted the Skokie resident, his friend and his cousin, stating that they were not allowed to be near the Winnetka pier at 720 Tower Road. All three members of the group are Black, prosecutors said. They said white cyclists who were in the area were not confronted.

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The group was relaxing at the pier after a 15-mile bicycle ride when they were approached by Donoshaytis who said, This is America. This is America, you cant do this. Im from Winnetka. You need to go back where youre from, said prosecutors.

Donoshaytis then approached a Winnetka Park District employee to complain about the groups presence, and the Skokie man began recording her with his phone, said prosecutors.

They said the employee told Donoshaytis that the cyclists were sitting on public property and that a beach pass was not required. Donoshaytis disagreed, then turned to the cyclist and asked, Are you crazy? What, you want to kill me? No? It feels like it, shes recorded as saying.

Why would I want to kill you? Is it because Im Black? the man replied.

Yes, Donoshaytis said.

At that point, the employee offered to get a supervisor and Donoshaytis is seen moving quickly toward the mans phone, and the video shakes and cuts off, prosecutors said. They said the man said Donoshaytis hit his arm twice, leaving a bruise. Winnetka police responded and Donoshaytis was later arrested.

Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
A jury sided with Kevin Spacey, finding he didnt sexually abuse fellow actor Anthony Rapp in the 1980s. This brings to a conclusion a trial that was an outgrowth of the #MeToo movement.

The White House says the U.S. has evidence that Iranian troops are directly engaged on the ground in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraines infrastructure and civilian population.

The Pentagon will provide travel funds and support for troops and their dependents who seek abortions but are based in states where they are now illegal.

President Joe Biden has checked out the repair work underway at a Pennsylvania bridge that became a symbol of the nations troubled infrastructure when it collapsed nine months ago. Biden visited Pittsburgh's Fern Hollow Bridge on Thursday to showcase his administration's efforts to revitalize the nations roadways.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss quit Thursday after a tumultuous and historically brief term in which her economic policies roiled financial markets and a rebellion in her political party obliterated her authority.

Oklahoma has executed an inmate convicted of killing his infant daughter in 2002. Benjamin Cole was put to death Thursday morning at Oklahomas state penitentiary in McAlester.

An Afghan couple who arrived in the U.S. as refugees are suing a U.S. Marine and his wife for allegedly abducting their baby. The baby was injured in a U.S. military raid that killed her parents and 5 siblings, and was being raised as a daughter by her newlywed adult cousin and his wife.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in September for the eighth month in a row, matching the pre-pandemic sales pace from 10 years ago, as house hunters grappled with sharply higher mortgage rates, rising home prices and a still tight supply of properties on the market.

American Airlines is reporting a $483 million profit for the third quarter, as planes were mostly full and fares were higher over the hectic summer months. American says demand for travel remains strong, and it forecast better fourth-quarter results than Wall Street was expecting.

Joni Mitchell had so much fun at her surprise performance at the Newport Folk Festival this summer that she's coming back to the stage. She'll appear next June at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington state, again alongside Brandi Carlile, who announced the plans on The Daily Show late Wednesday.
Last Art Circle show on display at Carle Cancer Center

NORMAL  Art Circle of Bloomington-Normal held an art show at the end of August at Carle Cancer Center in Normal.

Art Circle artists and poets participated in the event. The show runs through mid-January of 2023.

The show can be seen during regular business hours Monday through Friday at the center, 407 E. Vernon Ave., Normal.

Art pieces are available for sale.

IAA Credit Union announces their artist of the quarter

BLOOMINGTON  The IAA Credit Union has announced their artist of the quarter, The Around the Corner Art Group.

The group dedicates the show in the memory of Dean and Kay Seefeld. Dean was the former CEO of IAA Credit Union and the Founder of the About our Art program.

Angel Ambrose and her husband Tony Buchberger, Kay and Dean Seefeld, and Herb and Pam Eaton all started the group together. The group today consists of Herb, Joann Goetzinger, Janean Baird and Angel Ambrose.

The name comes from their studios' proximity to each other in downtown Bloomington. The group began in 2000 to increase the visibility of their studio spaces, feature their artwork in their working environment, increase interest in fine art, educate attendees about the value of fine art and offer fine art for sale.

The Around the Corner Art Groups work will be on display in the lobby at the credit union, located at 808 IAA Drive in Bloomington through December.

Contact Angel Ambrose at 309-825-4655 or angel@angelambrose.com for more information.

Tickets available for Women's Christmas Celebration

BLOOMINGTON  The Immanuel Bible Foundation's 29th Annual Women's Christmas Celebration will be held from 8-11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3.

The event will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel at 10 Brickyard Drive in Bloomington.

Tickets are $30 each and include a hot breakfast, inspirational message from featured speaker, Michele Cushatt, and shopping with local artists in the lobby before and after the event. There are 10 seats per table.

Visit ibfoundation.org to buy tickets online or contact Annette Klinzing at 309-452-6710 for more information.

Main Gallery 404 announces holiday card show

BLOOMINGTON  Main Gallery 404 at 404 N. Main St. in downtown Bloomington announced an artist-designed Greeting Card Show and Sale to run from November through December.

Hundreds of cards will be available across many types of media, including watercolor, color pencils, ink, photography, collage and more. Prices start at $3 to $15. The card selection will also be added to throughout the sale.

The opening is set for Nov. 4 from 5-8 p.m. to coincide with First Friday. Main Gallery 404 will continue to have a regular selection of greeting cards throughout the year.

Artists participating so far include Jenni Bateman, Beverly Bronson, Bec Hawkins-Valadez, Dale Evans, Brian K. Simpson, Eileen Backman, Rose Tuttle, Mary Jo Adams, Cindy Lawson-Kester, Natalie Wetzel, Fariba Murray and Su Ge.

Contact maingalleryart@gmail.com for questions.

Lincoln museum announces sensory-friendly series

SPRINGFIELD  The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum announced their next sensory-friendly series to begin Oct. 30.

The event is part of their "Abe for All" initiative. The first event will run from 1-5 p.m. on the last Sunday of National Sensory Processing Awareness Month. Audio will be lowered throughout the museum, and lighting will be adjusted to reduce extremes and create a more fluid atmosphere. The museum will be open to everyone. Regular prices will apply.

Similar events are scheduled for Jan. 29, July 30 and Oct. 29 of 2023. A free sensory-friendly event will also be offered on April 18 from 4-6 p.m. with touch tables and new activities that give guests more engagement opportunities.

Advanced registration is not required. A pre-visit preparation packed is available in the "Plan Your Visit" section of the website or by email at ALPLM.GuestEntry@Illinois.gov.

The museum also offers "busy bags" with a variety of fidgets, noise-cancelling headphones, sensory maps and other tools.

Visit PresidentLincoln.Illinois.gov for more information.

Central Illinois Ballet to present 'Women of History' show

PEORIA  Central Illinois Ballet will present "Women of History: Illuminations Performance," in the new Black Box Theater Oct. 21-23.

The organization recently moved to their new location at The Shoppes at Grand Prairie.

The two part performance is composed of works inspired by historical women choreographed by Artistic Director, Rebekah von Rathonyi and Assoicate Artistic Director, Jessie Williams as a well as a collection of original works by CIB's professional company dancers.

Act features Frida Kahlo, Susan B. Anthony, Florence Nightingale, Audrey Hepburn and more. Act 2 will be a compilation of original pieces choreographed by CIB's company members.

Tickets for the show are available at ciballet.com.

Children's author to hold book reading at Utica Fall Festival

UTICA  The Utica Fall Festival will be held on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 12:30-3 p.m. on the grounds of New Village Hall, 248 Canal St., Utica.

Jill Duchnowski, author of the children's book, "The Traveling Mermaids of Starved Rock," will be reading from her book at the Starved Rock Welcome Center as part of the festival.

Duchnowksi's book tells the story of Cassidy as she discovers the mermaids in Ottawa Canyon while she is worrying about starting at a new school. The mermaids help change her outlook about meeting new people, maintaining her old friends and doing her part to make newcomers feel welcome. The book is intended for ages 4 to 10.

This is the second book in Duchnowki's series, "Cassidy's Illinois Adventures Children's Books." The book series focuses on Cassidy as she learns life lessons through meeting mythical creatures at some of Illinois' most historical landmarks.

Duchnowski is a Bloomington, IL resident and will be reading from her book at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. in the Community Room at the New Village Hall in Utica. After each reading, children will be receive mermaid-themed coloring pages and the author will be available to answer questions and sign books. 'The Traveling Mermaids of Starved Rock" will be available for purchase at the Starved Rock Country Welcome Center.

The family-friendly festival will also include games, crafts, face paintings, s'more making, bouncing houses and more.
Some people, no matter where they go, have the uncanny ability to run into people they know.

Out for dinner? They see a classmate they havent talked with since graduation. At a ballgame? They spot a neighbor who moved away 20 years ago.

My stepfather is like this. It seems he is always running into an acquaintance or friend in the most unlikely places.

Standing in front of Cinderella's Castle at Disney World, while waiting for me, he saw a classmate from Bloomington High School (class of 1963).

Browsing at Portobello Market in London, he bumped into a Pontiac grade school principal.

Pulling into a parking lot in Door County, Wisconsin, he parked alongside a car belonging to our next-door neighbors back home.

Waiting in an airport in Dublin, Ireland, he sat by a member of the Livingston County Board and his wife.

One entertaining coincidence occurred years ago in a boarding area at OHare Airport in Chicago. He noticed a woman wearing an unusual red plaid dress.

I know Ive seen her before, he said. In fact, we saw her here  at this airport  and she was wearing that same dress!

No one believed him. Come on, what is the likelihood of that?

But he was certain. Finally, my parents approached the stranger and said, Excuse us, but were you here, two years ago in July, waiting to board a plane to Germany?

Surprised at the question, the woman paused and thought about it.

Why, yes, I was! (Turns out she was a writer for a travel a magazine.)

But one of the most remarkable coincidences happened just this week.

As regular readers know, my mother is now a resident at a skilled care facility. My stepfather and I enjoy volunteering for activities there, and last Thursday, he was scheduled to give a short presentation to the residents on his 2011 trip to Australia.

Before the event, he and I went for lunch at a nearby cafe, and did a quick review of the Australia talk.

My parents most enduring memory of the 2011 trip, a story they often retold, was an unexpected meeting at Ayers Rock. As the Central Illinois tour group arrived at their hotel, standing in the lobby was a familiar face from home, a Pontiac resident named Tom Kerr.

What are the chances of running into someone you know when you are more than 10,000 miles from home?

Even stranger, in the decade since that cosmic encounter, my parents saw Kerr only a handful of times at the grocery store.

Too bad I didnt get his photo that day in Australia, said my stepdad. That would have been great for the presentation.

I nodded and started to eat my soup.

I guess I could ask him for a photo now  said my stepdad, grinning.

Huh? Confused, I glanced up. Walking into the restaurant at that very moment was none other than 67-year-old Kerr.

Hi, Tom, Remember me? asked my stepdad.

Sure do! he said. We ran into each other in Australia.

I could not believe my eyes. I almost dropped my spoon. It was if we had said the mans name and he instantly appeared.

We told Kerr about the unbelievable coincidence of that days upcoming talk on Australia.

It was amazing, he recalled. There I was at a hotel halfway around the world and in walks a group from home 

Almost as amazing as sitting in a local restaurant a decade later and in walks the same man! (Of all the gin joints )

Among the show and tell items for the Aussie travelogue was a boomerang.

I learned to throw a boomerang while I was there, Kerr said.
NORMAL  More than 1,000 high school students filled Braden Auditorium on Friday to hear an important pitch to become educators.

These children have taught me more than I could ever teach them, said Lily Plummer about the students she teaches at Metcalf School.

The high schoolers and their teachers were attending Illinois State Universitys fourth Future Teacher Conference.

Plummer, a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing, learned she was losing her own hearing at age 16. She became interested in teaching during high school, when she met a teacher of the deaf. That showed her she could do the same thing.

She asked the conference attendees to raise their hands to indicate why they want to become teachers.

When times get tough, I hope you remind yourself about why you started in the first place, she told them.

Arabella Adams, a junior at Rock Falls High School, told The Pantagraph she wants to become a teacher because it is a chance to help kids.

I really enjoy helping people, and teaching makes a difference in kids' lives, she said.

She was looking forward to sessions on STEM education and ways to encourage kids to be creative.

Adams' teacher, Heidi Ripley, said the high school has a future educators pathway that gives students classroom experience in elementary schools. Attending the conference not only gives them a chance to learn more about the profession, but it also gives them experience in another part of teaching life.

I wanted to give them the experience to be able to attend a conference, Ripley said.

Students and teachers came from 90 different schools across the state, said Kelli Appel, director of enrollment and transition services at ISUs College of Education. That included students from local districts as well as schools as far away as Chicago Public Schools and Carbondale.

The state, and country, have been facing a widespread teacher shortage.

The first (goal) is to celebrate the profession of teaching and help students affirm that interest, Appel said.

Organizers also hoped the event would showcase ISUs teaching program. Speaking to the students, ISU President Terri Goss Kinzy noted that one in six educators in Illinois are a product of ISUs College of Education, including many of the teachers in the room that day.

We want to welcome you to be a part of that tradition of excellence, Kinzy said.

After hearing from Kinzy and Plummer, attendees had a chance to see something else that makes ISU unique: the Gamma Phi Circus.

After the opening session in Braden, students and educators could attend sessions on various teaching topics, including a panel of ISU students, advice from administrators on starting college and a career, and a hands-on chance to learn about some of the latest technology in teaching.

There were also informational tables, including for ISU organizations like Educators Rising. Danielle Webster, president of the club, was there to help answer questions the attendees might have. The group helps get education students at ISU involved in classroom experience and provides chances for social and service engagement.

The group also invites alumni and other educators to give talks and meet with its members.

The Future Teacher Conference started in 2019, so Webster never had a chance to attend while she was in high school.

"It's something I totally wish I could have attended," she said.

The level of attendance this year seems to suggest that there are students ready to help address the teacher shortage, Appel said.

I also think it shows that there are many students interested in teaching, she said.

Around 75 students from McHenry Community High School went to a meeting earlier this year for those interested in attending the conference, said Assistant Superintendent Carl Vallianatos. They ended up bringing 26 students, prioritizing seniors.

The district is looking to expand partnerships with ISU and is always thankful to have student teachers from the university, Vallianatos said. This was their first time at the conference, but he said he looks forward to bringing more students in future years.

Were going to bring a bus full every year; at this point its (about) how many seats they have in Braden Auditorium, he said.
How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region.

100 years ago

Oct. 21, 1922: The Bloomington Association of Commerce is preparing to move into its new quarters on the first and second floors of the B.S. Green Building at the corner of Monroe and East streets. The organization will have more space than in its former home, the Durley building. The association is the municipal clearing house where all questions of public policy and welfare are discussed; great drives on behalf of charitable and philanthropic subjects are born there. Read the story.

75 years ago

Oct. 21, 1947: Normal Town Council members are asking the Illinois Central railroad to add flasher light protection at several crossings, while the railroad wants to close two crossings as part of the plans. As Trustee C.E. Stahly summarized the lengthy town council discussion: "We're sitting here wanting two more lights. They (Illinois Central) are sitting here wanting to close two streets. Nobody's getting any place. I want to go home." Read the story.

50 years ago

Oct. 21, 1972: The Oak Knoll Tuberculosis Sanatorium Board filed suit in Tazewell County Circuit Court in an effort to keep the Illinois Department of Public Health from closing the sanatorium at Mackinaw. The board's attorney predicted a fight to the Illinois Supreme Court on the constitutional issue of a state agency closing down an entity voted in the by the constituents of Tazewell County in 1918. State health officials said they intended to seek revocation of the sanatorium's license because of deficiencies. Read the story.

25 years ago

Oct. 21, 1997: Ground has been broken at the area immediately south of Carle Clinic, 1701 E. College Ave., Bloomington, where work will soon be underway on a 53,000-square-foot addition to the facility. Construction of the addition  south of the existing 49,000-square-foot building  is slated for completion in late 1998. Employment is expected to increase from 36 health care providers and 150 employees to 69 providers and 210 employees. Read the story.
As a lifetime Bloomington resident, I feel as if this 2022 election provides us, for the first time in a long while, an actual choice of who will represent our community in Springfield. In the 91st Illinois House district race, research of the candidates priorities and service in local government over the past several years dictates a clear decision for me. I strongly support Sharon Chung in this critically important election.

I would respectfully suggest that you review the videos of recent McLean County Board meetings, in which Sharon clearly demonstrates a commitment and desire to represent her entire constituency with an open mind and willingness to listen. A review of Normal Town Council meetings rather clearly demonstrates that her opponent serves narrower and exclusive interests.

I am convinced that at this time our community, our state and our nation stand at a crossroads. One path will lead us to a future that represents the value of coming together and working to make a life where even the least privileged of us can thrive  a community based on values we wish to instill in our children and grandchildren. The other path takes us to elitism, nationalism, and the basest self-interest of which we, as human beings, are capable.

I choose the former path. I support Sharon Chung and I encourage you to join me.

Dan Irvin, Bloomington
Esther Joy King has stood for honesty and the working class people of Illinois and America her entire life. She has served our country with courage and honor with our great U.S. military families for years. She will make a great U.S. Representative in Congress by serving our families in Illinois and all of the people of this country.

Her opponent is a Chicago left-wing extremist who supports the decrepit SAFE-T act. He ran disgusting television ads, but yet he supports CRT and perverted teachings in our kids and grandkids schools. I urge you to vote for Esther King as our U.S. Representative. Restore sanity to our country by voting for her.

Darren Bailey is a working man who will stop this tax-and-spend madness that the Democrat party in Illinois stands for. He is a working farmer who will lower the killing taxes in his state. I urge all conservatives, independents, Republicans and Libertarians to vote for sanity to be restored to Illinois government. Vote Republican.

Vote for Scott Preston for state representative in the 91st Illinois House district. He is a hard-working local family man who will keep Central Illinois thriving. His opponent ran repulsive lies on television and supports radical left-wing ideology in schools. Dont vote for a Chicago-like lefty. Scott Preston is the best candidate for Central Illinois.

Tom Devore is best for Attorney General of Illinois by far. Dan Brady always represents the best of our Bloomington-Normal communities. He is the only candidate to run the Secretary of State the right way.

Finally, keep our McLean County Board represented by our local and caring candidates John McIntyre and Hannah Blumenshine. These two wonderful working-class family people of McLean County will keep our kids and grandkids learning the right academics in our schools.

James Bourke, Normal

Editor's note: An earlier version of this letter included a reference to support from the Illinois Farm Bureau. The organization said it does not make endorsements in gubernatorial elections.
The Ghana Union of Traders Association has suspended its strike action.



This is contained in a press release signed by the General Secretary of the Association, Alpha A. Shaban.



The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has ended its strike after two days and urged its members to reopen their shops today, Friday.



According to the release, the decision comes on the back of a meeting with the King of the Ga State, Mantse Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II who has promised to take the matter up to the appropriate authorities for urgent solution.



The release also stated that the leadership of the Association was given the opportunity to meet the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, and lay their grievances and recommendations before him.



GUTA had been protesting because of Ghanas forex challenges and the rising cost of doing business.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Renowned Ghanaian broadcaster, Mr. Gilbert Abeiku Aggrey, popularly known as Abeiku Santana, has received an alumni award from the University of Cape Coast (UCC).



Abeiku Santana, who has a Masters Degree in Tourism Management from the UCC, was honoured for projecting the name of the institution in various endeavours.



The media mogul who currently works with Despite Media has had a distinguished career in radio broadcasting spanning over two decades, and he is one of Ghana's most popular radio presenters.



Abeiku Santana, after receiving the award, said: "I deem it a great honour to receive this great recognition from my alma mater, and it further encourages me to do more for the betterment of humanity.



"This honour means a lot to me and I want to dedicate it to my family, especially my wife, who has been very supportive of the numerous successes I have achieved over the years,"



Abeiku Santana, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Kaya Tours, has contributed to the growth of Ghana's tourism industry as he was adjudged the Tourism Oriented Media Personality at the 2020 National Tourism Awards.



In 2020, he gained a special recognition award as the Exclusive Man of the Year for his exploits in tourism marketing and promotion, using his platform to promote Ghanas tourism.



The 2021 Radio and Television Personality of the Year is one of the topmost personalities in Ghana's music space, having contributed to the unearthing of numerous musical talents over his over 20 years in the music industry.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Huawei Technologies Ghana has opened applications for its global flagship Corporate Social Responsibility Program Seeds for the Future 2022, set to commence from October 28, 2022 to November 9, 2022 in partnership with the Ministry of Communication and Digitalization, Ministry of Education, and the Huawei ICT Academy talent Partners.



The Seed for the Future 2022 Program seeks to promote the participation of more women and girls in ICT and empower them to take up careers in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics). As a result, Huawei is offering 50 slots to outstanding female tertiary students who wish to take part in the program.



This years program which will be held online for 8-days will focus on advanced courses like 5G, AI, Cloud Computing, Digital Power, Cybersecurity, Digital Trade and Smart City. The program will also introduce participants to leadership courses in the areas of Cross-Cultural Management, Strategic Management and Leadership Skills.



As part of the program, beneficiaries will embark on a Tech4Good project, after being equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge in the study of new technologies to develop solutions for societal and environmental problems.

Beneficiaries will also get the opportunity to take part in an ICT mentorship session where female industry experts in the STEM field will be invited to share their experiences with them.



After the program, awards will be given to the Best Tech4Good Project group, Top-10 excellent Students, Best Group members and outstanding students among others.



Participants will have the opportunity to take part in a series of virtual tech talks with professionals in the tech space and a virtual tour of the Huawei Head Quarters in China to learn more about latest technologies.



Some awards to be given to best participants of the 2022 Seeds for the Future Program include Huawei smarts tablets, Huawei mobile phones, Huawei smart watches, Cash prizes and some branded souvenirs among others.



To participate in this years program, interested persons must:



1. Be a University Student, 2nd Year (Level 200) upwards and must be offering STEM related courses



2. Provide their Resume/CV, A cover letter



3. Submit a motivation letter between 400-600 words that detailing why she want to participate in the program, relevant experience, interests, and expected contribution to the program.



4. Interested participants will send application materials to: [email protected]



Deadline for submission of all applications and all required document is Friday, 26th October, 2022 05:00pm Ghana time (1500HRS GMT)



For more information visit: https://www.huawei.com/minisite/seeds-for-the-future/index.html

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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A huge flower basket duly appeared at Tiananmen Square, Beijing, on September 25, six days before China celebrated its National Day. The flower basket has been part of the country's National Day celebrations since 1986.

The basket of bright-colored silk flowers at the heart of the capital city is a highlight of the holiday's adornments, brightening up the urban scenery and attracting visitors to snap pictures with it.

This year, the flower basket, themed Blessings to China, stands at 18 meters tall.

Wang Suizhi is one of its designers. She is a master and one of the first nine inheritors of traditional Chinese floral arranging, a national intangible cultural heritage item. This artful skill has given her the opportunity to participate in the preparations of many important events across China.

Life is a flower

Wang, a retired senior engineer with Beijing Flower and Plants Co. Ltd., has engaged in floriculture since 1973. She now works with the company as an advisor.

She first participated in the making of the huge flower basket for National Day celebrations in 1997. The giant "bouquet" was 12 meters tall and 11 meters wide. "It was China's first flower basket of that size," Wang told Beijing Review.

In the late 1990s, the Chinese market didn't have a sufficient supply of supersize silk flowers. Wang and her coworkers had to make most of the silk flowers by hand, with no references to go by. "Professionally speaking, this was the most difficult task I'd ever faced," the 74-year-old recalled.

Besides being one of the lead designers of the giant flower baskets for many years, Wang was also the lead designer of the bouquet for medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Presenting Chinese culture through floral arranging has long been her career goal.

When designing the Olympic bouquet, Wang, instead of using peonies, a flower long treasured by the Chinese people as symbolizing prosperity, opted for the red Chinese rose, another native plant. "Peonies blossom in spring whereas Beijing 2008 took place in summer. It would have cost a lot if we'd gone with off-season cultivated flowers," she explained.

Every bouquet contained six types of flowers, including nine roses. According to Wang, the number six symbolizes the smooth flow of things and the number nine, the highest single digit and considered a lucky number in traditional Chinese culture, represents the utmost respect for athletes from all over the world. "Connotation is the essence of the traditional Chinese flower arrangement," Wang said.

The giant flower baskets at Tiananmen, too, present an annual window into China's age-old cultural practices. "The design and materials of the giant flower baskets adopt traditional elements to express Chinese culture," Wang said. The round baskets, brimming with traditionally auspicious decorations, overflow with flowers and fruits like peonies, magnolias and persimmons, which all symbolize prosperity, she added.

According to Wang, the annual floral extravaganza features a different theme every year. For example, the one in 2018 celebrated the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. But how to highlight reform and opening up with flowers?

"After reform and opening up started in 1978, many non-native flowers were introduced into the Chinese mainland. Anthurium [a genus of about 1,000 species of flowering plants] became available to us years later. I think it's one of the signs symbolizing reform and opening up," she said. So she used anthurium as the main gem in the basket. In Wang's eyes, the red heart-shaped flowers also signified how the Chinese have united as one to work hard and forge ahead.

The past decade has witnessed some changes in the baskets' production process. The application of 3D positioning technology since 2014 is one of them. "It makes the flower arrangement more accurate and efficient," Wang said.

Wang Suizhi is a master and inheritor of the traditional Chinese floral arrangement, a national intangible cultural heritage item (ZHANG WEI)

An ancient art

The traditional Chinese flower arrangement dates back 3,000 years and thrived during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) when monographs, such as A History of Chinese Flower Arrangement, were published. However, the ancient art declined in the second half of the 19th century as China fell into disarray in the wake of domestic turmoil and foreign aggression.

From then on, and up to the 1980s, Chinese people knew little about the traditional Chinese flower arrangement and they weren't interested in it, Wang said. "Fortunately, as the times change and people's incomes rise, the art has been revived."

Floral arranging has become popular in China in recent years. "Not only practitioners of the industry like florists but people in general learn the art to lift their sense of cultural and creative fulfillment, as well as their quality of life," Wang said.

The art was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage item in 2008 and Wang was among the first few inheritors. Seven years later, China's first museum documenting the genrethe Museum of Traditional Chinese Flower Arrangementopened in Beijing.

Wang retired in 2003 and opened a flower arranging studio in Beijing in 2016. Sometimes, she hosts workshops on the traditional Chinese flower arrangement inside the studio. "We are more confident in our culture now. Traditional floral arranging is reaching more people, who show an increasing enthusiasm for it," Wang said.

An international scent

The integration of Chinese flower arranging with Western styles also features high on Wang's agenda. "As inheritors, we need to upgrade our skills in line with the changing times," Wang said.

Wang went to Germany in 1984 to pursue further studies. The stay broadened her vision. Before traveling to the West European country, she used to arrange flowers by following her teacher's instructions. "But when I asked why we arranged them that way, my teacher didn't have the answer," Wang said. It was in Germany that she first learned about bouquet composition.

Following her return to China, Wang started reading monographs and tried to merge the traditional Chinese flower arrangement with modern Western concepts. In the following three decades, she kept visiting her German peers once every two years to communicate with them and hone her skills.

"The Western style highlights the flowers' shapes and colors whereas the Chinese style emphasizes their connotation and follows the beauty of their natural lines," Wang explained. "The combination of both styles lends my works a sense of contemporaneity."

Before COVID-19, Wang had taken part in international floriculture events on behalf of China, winning much applause.

The most impressive one took place in 1998 when they first visited Eastern Europe. "Before our arrival, our peers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia generally assumed Chinese floral arranging had originated in Japan. They had no idea about the Chinese flower arrangement," Wang said. Wang and Li Haibo, another engineer with Beijing Flower and Plants Co. Ltd., presented China's traditional floral arrangement in Prague, with an interpreter introducing Chinese floriculture to visitors. The presentation was a hit.

When they gave the second demonstration, many more people showed up, some of whom had to sit on the windowsills. "Gathering such a large audience abroad wasn't easy. And we're proud to present China's culture through floral arranging," Wang said.

Expos are another platform for Wang to introduce the ancient genre to more interested parties. For instance, Wang reproduced China's earliest flower arrangement exhibition, originally set inside the imperial palace of the Southern Tang Dynasty (937-975), at the 2016 World Rose Intercontinental Exhibition in Beijing. "Showcasing traditional Chinese flower arranging at international expos is a good way to make the genre known to more people," Li told Beijing Review.
Captain Smart the host of Onua FM's morning show has alleged that he once saved the life of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who would otherwise have died a miserable death.



Speaking about his recent arrest on the Thursday, October 20 edition of his show, the journalist whose full name is Blessed Godsbrain Smart indicated that he realised on the night of his arrest that he is very important than the President.



He said that even though there was traffic during the rush hour, he had a dispatch rider escort them to the NIB office at Kanda for interrogation.



How can one Captain Smart be given a presidential escort? he asked while recounting his ordeal on TV.



The presidency is involved in galamsey, Captain Smart reiterated the point that eventually led to his arrest.



the so-called security apparatus wants to scare journalists; me [they cant]. They should go and ask Kan-Dapaah, Addo Kufuor, J.A. Kufuor or even Nana Addo, who I saved his life in 2006; like he would have died like a chicken, ask him. Ask him that when he was taken to his hometown, Kibi, and we were returning to Accra, ask him what happened on our way. I saved Nana Addos life, you are all sick, ask Akufo-Addo, he will tell you, he said.



After he told him that he would have given me one of his daughters, ask Akufo-Addo. That time, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko was in London sweeping the streets, Captain Smart added.



He warned that nobody should worry him because he knows where he came from and where he is going.



Ask Akufo-Addo who saved his life in 2006, when you meet him ask him. When we came to Accra he was asking what I wanted and I told him that I dont need anything. My responsibility is to make sure that you live, because I believed in him from 2005, Captain Smart noted.



The Onua FM/TV morning show host was arrested by officials of the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) on Wednesday evening, October 19, while on his way home from work.



BNI (now NIB) arrested Captain Smart earlier on his way home from the office(Onua 95.1 FM / @Onua TV premises) a post by his media house, Onua TV on their Facebook page sighted by GhanaWeb stated.



In the early hours of Thursday morning, October 20, 3news.com, a portal belonging to the Media General group reported that he had been released after he was granted bail.



According to the report, after his initial arrest, Captain Smart "was later found at the Interrogation Unit of the Bureau.



"He was there and then interrogated in the presence of some senior officials of Media General. He was later released on bail."



Captain Smart responds to a series of political intimidations and attacks on him: "I saved your life, President Nana Addo."#OnuaMaakyepic.twitter.com/2MJMxTaHdO

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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Global Food and Beverage giant, Nestle is giving all its permanent local employees in Ghana one-off lump sum payment of Ghc 7,500 (Seven Thousand, Five Hundred Ghana Cedis) together with their upcoming October, 2022 salaries to cushion them due to the current economic hardship in the country.



In a statement sighted by Peacefmonline and signed by the company's Managing Director, Georgios Badaro, the unstable and unpredictable economic turbulence in the country since the beginning of 2022 has necessitated the action.



"The unstable and unpredictable economic turbulences we continue to see in Ghana since the beginning of 2022 have brought major challenges to our business.



"I am proud of how, as one team, we have been united to overcome these unprecedented challenges in a very difficult environment.



"Despite these difficulties and as a strong sign of appreciation to the efforts of each and every one of us, Management has decided to support employees and their families during this period," the statement said.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The Ga Mantse (King), Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, and the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Michael Okyere Baafi, have pledged the support of the Ga Traditional Council and the Government of Ghana for the India Africa Trade Council (IATC).



They expressed their profound gratitude to the IATC for selecting Ghana as its headquarters for the West and Central Africa region.



Speaking at the maiden IATC Trade submit held in Accra on October 18, 2022, the Ga Mantse said he was excited about Ghana hosting the West and Central Africa headquarters of the Council.



He therefore pledged his fullest support for the IATC.



Michael Okyere Baafi who doubles as a member of parliament for the people of Juaben South and Deputy Minister for Trade, urged members of the IATC to embrace Ghana's flagship industrialization programme, the One District One Factory (1D1F).



Hon. Baafi promised the doors of the Government of Ghana will always be open to investors, saying the Government will always support investors.



IATC Delegation Visits Ghana



The Global President of IATC, Dr. Asif Iqbal, was in Ghana to attend the submit and to also present to Dr. James Gnanaraj Rajamani, his letter of credence, confirming his appointment as the Chairman of IATC West and Central Africa.



Mr. Iqbal was accompanied to Ghana by his vice, Mr. Wali Kashvi and Trade Commissioner of Telanga state ,India Mr. Krishna Vamsi.



In his address at the submit, Dr. Iqbal admonished businessmen and women to take advantage of international trade liberalization policies to ensure effective growth of the business communities.



On his part, Dr. James Rajamani assured his readiness to live up to his responsibilities in coordinating the activities of the Central and West Africa sub regions.



Recognition



Three directors of IATC were presented with certificate of recognition from IATC Global Head Office based in India.



They are: Dr. Immanuel Rajamani, Executive Director, International Protocol; Neelesh Bhatia, Executive Director, Finance and Administration; and Mr.Peter Mensah, Executive Director, Operations and Corporate Affairs.



Attendees



The submit attracted several key personalities from business industry, the diplomatic community, government,religious leaders, traditional authorities and the security agencies.



In attendance at the submit were: the Board Chairman of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Kwame Acheampong Boateng,Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs of Sierra Leone, Dr. Memunatu Pratt; the Chief of Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Major General Nicholas Andoh,the Ahafo Regional Minister, Hon. George Boakye; Bono East Regional Minister, Hon. Akwasi Adu- Gyan; member of the Board of IATC and Chief Executive Officer of the EIB Network, Mr. Nat Adusei ( Borla Ray)as well as some selected Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).



About IATC



The idea is India Africa Trade Council came about in 2020 during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.



IATC is a non-governmental organization established in consultation with the various heads of Trade bodies in Africa and the presidents/representatives and professionals of repute from the entire Indo-African region.



It was formed with a view to giving the business communities of both India and Africa a voice and a tool to foster development.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Africas leadingTelecommunications company, Telecel Group, is set to roll out its flagship social accelerator and investment program, the Africa Start-up Initiative Program (ASIP) powered by Startupbootcamp AfriTech in Ghana beginning next week.



Founded by Telecel Group CEO, Moh Damush, the Telecel Group ASIP is designed to develop new businesses across the continent by working with start-ups and early-stage companies to define their business strategy and secure funding. With the support of leading pan-African tech accelerator, Startuobootcam AfriTech, the program has since 2021 empowered 21 businesses with a combined valuation of over USD 80 million.



The ASIP/SBC/AfriTech scouting team will be in Accra on 27th October 2022 to scout for prospective start-ups for enrolment in the program after holding similar events inAbidjan, Lagos, Kampala, Addis Ababa, and Nairobi.



Applications for Cohort 3 of the ASIP Accelerator program which will be launched in February 2023, opened in August this year.



We usually encourage start-ups to attend the country FastTrack events to enable them to get real time feedback from our panel of experts. From our experience, about 20 percent of start-ups that attend the events usually make it to the final round. It is a fantastic opportunity to network with our investment team and get more information about the program, said Henry Ojuor, the Director of the Accelerator Program.



The Ghana FastTrack to be held at the Accra Digital Centre,coincides with Ghana Digital Innovation Week.



The Ghana Digital Centre (GDCL) is excited to host the Fasttrack event. It comes at a time when GDCL is intensifying collaborations with key stakeholders to identify and create opportunities that accelerate the growth of digital start-ups in line with its objective of fostering innovation and entrepreneurship through the provision of platforms for business incubation, business acceleration, digital research,and development programs, said Kwadwo Baah Agyemang, the Managing Director of the Ghana Digital Centre.



The Executive Deputy for Telecel Group and Director of ASIP, Eleanor Azar, said: The potential we see in Ghana is exponential and we look forward to welcoming more Ghanian Start-ups to ASIP. The support of the Accra Digital Center to pursue our goals in Ghana and launch the ASIP Initiative has been instrumental, and we look forward to more events like this.



The upcoming cohort will include businesses disrupting key industry verticals that include FinTech, InsureTech, AgriTech, Climate-tech, eCommerce, Digital Health, CleanTech, Mobility, Micro-leasing, and digitizing the informal economy.



ASIP is supported by partners such as DER/FJ (a Department of the Republic of Senegal), the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), ENRICH in Africa (a European Union-funded project), AWS, Microsoft, and Google.



If you are a founder looking for support, register to attend: https://bit.ly/FT-Startup



If you are an investor or ecosystem player looking to share insights and give feedback to founders, attend as a mentor: https://bit.ly/FT-Mentor



Applicants can apply here: bit.ly/SBC-Apply3











Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/Peacefmonline.com









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Mr Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, a Justice of the High Court, and a nominee to the Supreme Court has informed the Appointment Commitment of Parliament that he is no more a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).



He said prior to his appointment as a High Court Judge, he tendered in his resignation letter on 16th September, 2020, to the Party's Elders, which was received and subsequently approved.



Mr Justice Gaewu made this revelation on Wednesday in Accra at the sitting of the Appointment Commitment of Parliament to consider his nomination by the President as a Justice of the Supreme Court.



The President in July this year nominated for appointment as Supreme Court Judges: Mr Justice Gaewu together with Mrs Justice Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu, Justice of the Court of Appeal; Mr Justice George Kingsley Koomson, Justice of the Court of Appeal; and Mr Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu, A Justice of the Court of Appeal.



Mr Samson Ahi, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bodi asked Mr Justice Gaewu if he was given the approval to become a Supreme Court Judge and it happens that the Chief Justice empanelled him in a case involving the NPP and the Nation Democratic Congress (NDC) he would recuse himself from that case?



Mr Chairman, luckily, I am not a member of the NPP for now. I am no longer a member of the NPP. I have sworn a judicial oath to do right to all manner of persons. If I am empaneled and to the extent that it will conflict with my ideas, I may ask to be recused, he said.



It would be recalled that prior to his appointment to the bench, Mr Justice Gaewu contested as NPP's Parliamentary Candidate for Ho Central in 2016 general election.

Source: GNA









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Actress Haillie Sumney is celebrating her 1 million followers on Instagram at the Alchemy Lounge in Dzorwulu.



She is fairly new in the movie industry but has proven herself tremendously by scoring movies on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, IROKOtv and many more.



She has also been featured in Nollywood movies and her current featured series Cohabits is showing on Akwaaba Magic on DSTV every Tuesday night.



Haillie Sumney will be hosted tonight at Alchemy Lounge in Dzorwulu to Celebrate with fans and fellow actors on her one million followers on Instagram.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The man who allegedly brokered the contract killing of Philippine broadcaster Percy Lapid died inside the national penitentiary this week, the countrys justice secretary announced Thursday.

Details of how the unnamed inmate died were not disclosed, but it took place Tuesday, the same day the alleged gunman in the broadcasters killing surrendered and confessed to the crime, implicating at least three others.

Suspect Joel Estorial said someone from inside the countrys national penitentiary arranged for the killing for which he and others were paid about 550,000 pesos (U.S. $9,300).

Estorials surrender was considered a breakthrough two weeks after the killing of Percival Mabasa (better known as Percy Lapid), a political commentator at DWBL radio. The commentator was known for stinging criticisms of former president Rodrigo Dutertes government as well as some officials in the government of his successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla announced the inmates death to reporters, alleging he acted as the middleman who brokered the killing, but did not provide other details.

It is the NBI and the autopsy that is very important, he said, referring to the National Bureau of Investigation, the investigating arm of the justice department.

Asked to clarify, Remulla said: I am at a loss here. That is the report I got. I want to be very candid about (it) here. I am just telling you, as I know.

Mabasas family issued a brief statement but declined additional comments, citing an ongoing investigation.

We are deeply saddened by the report about the mysterious death of the alleged middleman on the Percy Lapid killing inside the NBP facility, it said, referring to the National Bilibid Prison in metro Manila.

Before the announcement on Thursday, Remulla told a Manila radio station that authorities were carrying out an independent investigation into Estorials claims.

Estorial, 39, surrendered on Tuesday, citing a fear for his safety after his photo was released to the public and a bounty raised for his capture. He named two brothers in the plot, as well as a third person. In addition, he hinted that the order came from inside the penitentiary, although no motive was given.

Story continues

The Philippines ranks among the most dangerous countries for journalists worldwide. Dozens have been killed with impunity since the dictatorship of Marcos late father, Ferdinand E. Marcos, more than 36 years ago.

Mabasas commentaries were often bold and sharp as he sought to counter the spread of fake news in broadcasts and on social media. He also hit out against a perceived attempt by Marcos family supporters to distort history and blasted Dutertes war on drugs that left thousands dead.

Luis Liwanag in Manila and Jeoffrey Maitem in Davao City, Philippines, contributed to this report.

Copyright  1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. Read the original article here.
Boyer shows the two life-sized 3D printed vertebrae he brought to his daughters kindergarten class. On the left is a replica of a green anacondas vertebra. On the right, a replica of the vertebra of the extinct Titanoboa. Credit: John West/Trinity Communications

Doug Boyer was a hit at his daughter's kindergarten show and tell.

The associate professor of Evolutionary Anthropology came armed with a life-sized, 3D-printed vertebra belonging to the world's largest living snake, the green anaconda (Eunectes murinus). Once the students were done oohing and aahing over the plum-sized bone replica, he pulled a second vertebra, ten times larger than the anaconda's, out of his bag. It was a life-sized replica of a vertebra belonging to Titanoboa, a snake that went extinct around 60 million years ago.

"If the anaconda is the length of a truck, can you imagine how big this one was?" he asked. The room erupted.

Thanks to MorphoSource, an NSF-funded and Duke-hosted digital repository of museum specimens' 3D scans, he isn't the only one able to pull this trick. And that is precisely why Boyer created MorphoSource: to democratize access to specimens previously hidden away in museum drawers.

From a basement at Duke to the world

Museum specimens are often rare, if not one of a kind. That's why museum exhibits are such a hit. But what we see in these exhibits is a small fraction of what a museum holds, the tip of a massive collection iceberg hidden away and kept safe in drawers, vials and fire-proof cabinets.

To ensure the protection of these collections, museums restrict access to all except accredited researchers willing and able to jump through multiple bureaucratic hoopsand often buy a plane ticketto visit them in person.

Though necessary, these safeguards prevent the public from seeing or learning from the vast majority of specimens in museum collections. Even among researchers with the correct credentials, geographic distance and cost of travel can be unsurmountable obstacles blocking access to these resources.

Enter MorphoSource.

It houses what one would see in a typical natural history museum exhibit, such as skulls or shells you can even find Sue the T-rex within its ranksbut also specimens like grains of pollen, battle wounds from the civil war, live animals in their natural environment, and much, much more.

The repository currently houses scans of over 53,000 biological, paleontological and archeological specimens from over 1,000 museum collections located in all six inhabited continents. Researchers can upload and download CT scans, 3D models, photos, X-rays and a variety of other file types. Data has been contributed or downloaded by over 17,000 researchers, students, teachers and artists all over the world. By the end of 2021, MorphoSource had been cited as a source of material in over 1,300 scientific publications. And it is still growing.

Originally envisioned as a way to store 3D scans produced by the lab Boyer worked in as a postdoctoral researcher, MorphoSource is now one of the world's most important scientific data repositories. In a recent survey asking natural sciences researchers which repositories were most important for their work, it tied up in first place with GenBank, the National Institutes of Health genetic sequence database holding all publicly available DNA sequences. And it reached this status in less than 10 years.

MorphoSource was kickstarted in 2013, soon after Boyer started his faculty position at Duke. With funding included in his job offer from Duke, Boyer hired a web development firm, and MorphoSource slowly went from an idea to a concrete product hosted by servers in the Biology department. While it solved the fundamental need to have a place to archive and access 3D research data, it was still relatively limited in capacity and usability.

Three years later, Boyer recruited a graduate school lab mate turned software developer, Julie Winchester, to join him in the project. Having worked extensively with museum specimens as a Ph.D. student, Winchester had become a passionate advocate for data sharing.

"The only reason I was able to work with 3D data as a grad student is because I got a grant to travel to museums in the United States and around the world to go gain access to the physical specimens and 3D scan them," she said. "Not everyone has even the possibility of getting these grants."

Having the means to travel to museums to scan specimens was only half of the problem. Winchester says that without a public repository, researchers who were fortunate enough to be able to collect their own 3D data had no way of sharing it.

"We knew so many people working in this field who had a stack of hard drives full of 3D data just sitting in someone's lab," she said. "Scientific data should be shared, especially since a lot of it is taxpayer funded."

In 2017, Boyer and Winchester obtained a grant from the National Science Foundation, and MorphoSource took a big leap forward. The grant allowed them to hire a team of two additional developers and a digital curator, all with skills complementary to their own.

Simon Choy, a computer scientist, and Jocelyn Triplett, a library scientist with a masters in classics, helped refactor the software underpinning MorphoSource from the initial proof-of-concept version to a more complete repository solution, in partnership with Duke Libraries, and developed more efficient methods to upload and store large amounts of data in a searchable way, using widely-adopted concepts and tools used by other academic and industry data repositories.

Mackenzie Shepard, then an undergraduate student working in Boyer's laboratory, joined the team to sort through troves of data and ensure that researchers and institutions upload their scans correctly.

"We basically started from ground zero," said Winchester, who leads the development team. "It took us almost three years to rebuild, expand and improve."

There was no shortage of motivation. "I liked working on commercial web applications," said Choy, who used to work for TiVo, "but working on a product that is actually helping a community, helping researchers and educating kids gives me a much greater sense of accomplishment."

From scientific resource to educational tool

Boyer and Winchester weren't satisfied with giving users the ability to download data from MorphoSource's website.

"If you download the data," said Boyer, "then you just have a large file on your computer, which means you need to have software. You need to have a computer that has a powerful enough graphics card, processor, or what have you."

"Internet connections aren't always phenomenal, and teachers in schools often don't have full ability, or sometimes any ability, to install software on educational computers," said Winchester.

The new MorphoSource platform solved this problem with an online, interactive visualizer. Thanks to work by Winchester and an open-source software developer, MorphoSource can "optimize literally gigantic files for web viewing," Boyer said. "We've provided a resource and functionality that isn't replicated by anyone. Not even commercially, or outside of scienceit's unique." Almost anyone can open the website, enter a keyword in the search bar or browse by object type, choose a sample and visualize it with no need to download the data.

"The interface is still not the greatest for a non-technical user," added Boyer, "and we want to continue working on it to take MorphoSource from a scientific database to an educational tool in a much broader sense."

Still, thanks to the online visualizer, any teacher with a computer and internet access can design lessons without the need for expensive software. Artists can get inspiration without leaving their ateliers. And researchers from anywhere in the world, with any type of budget or constraint, can study these specimens in detail.

If the possibilities already sounded interesting in 2017, imagine what such a tool can do in times when travel becomes severely restricted, museums around the world close their doors and classes move online.

In 2020, MorphoSource extended a free and accessible helping hand to researchers whose plans were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including graduate students on a timeline, as well as teachers scrambling to find educational yet novel content that could keep students engaged. The number of downloads per quarter almost tripled between early 2020 and early 2021, and that data doesn't include the number of users who worked directly with the online viewer.

"We were getting a lot of emails asking how to download data, or just, "Hey I need access to these data because I'm not able to travel to this or that museum, can you help me?'" said Shepard. "There was a lot of connecting users to uploaders in order to get their requests approved or their questions answered."

And users aren't the only ones who benefited from MorphoSource. Museums and research institutions can specify conditions of use for the specimens they upload, such as prohibiting commercial or non-attributed use, to maximize reach and impact without compromising the legitimacy of their collection.

"Museums are only as valuable as the collections they hold," said Boyer. "A digital presence through which you can trace, track and record how many people are using your collection offers a phenomenal opportunity to promote it and increase its value, even when its doors are closed."

Reaching beyond the natural sciences

Now that the MorphoSource team has a solid system for managing biological specimens, they are expanding their reach towards another type of museum specimen: cultural heritage objects.

Truly unique, and therefore priceless, cultural heritage objects are subject to even more protection than many biological specimens. By expanding its repository into these specimens, MorphoSource is becoming a vital resource for researchers beyond the natural sciences, and Duke institutes are eager to collaborate.

The Nasher Museum has now begun contributing museum object scans, and professors in the Department of Classical Studies, such as Maurizio Forte, have been uploading archeological findings from the Vulci excavation site in Italy.

Adding a completely different type of museum specimen may seem easy (they're all objects, right?), but requires overcoming big technical hurdles in the way the data associated with them gets entered in the database.

"The biggest challenge we're facing right now is integrating the cultural heritage collection with the biological collections," said Triplett, who has taken on the role of cultural heritage objects liaison.

Winchester exemplifies this by pointing out differences in the way biological and archeological objects are dated. Where an archaeologist working on historical timescales may be able to date an object with relative precision, a paleontologist uploading a dinosaur fossil may have a margin of error of a few million years.

"Making the system work really well for both types of objects isn't going to be easy," said Triplett. "But we have a very strong foundation and we can use it to move into new types of objects and expand on this strength."

And the team already has its eyes set on the next set of challenges: objects that, well aren't objects.

Museum specimens can typically be picked upalbeit sometimes with a craneand stored. But what about priceless architectural landmarks?

Using a technique called photogrammetry, researchers can produce the equivalent of a 3D scan of virtually any object, as well as entire monuments, architectural elements, cave walls or landscapes.

"We are trying to build a resource that uses the same general language to describe a fossil 150 million years old and a statue created 400 years ago," said Winchester. "So we are always trying to work out how do you make these things speak the same language, how do you describe them with the same terms, where possible, and where do the terms need to be distinct."

Ready to take flight

This July, the National Science Foundation awarded Boyer and Winchester over $1.6 million to continue serving researchers, museums and the public with their platform, and to ensure its continuous growth from a Duke-funded repository to a platform with long-term sustainability. What's more, NSF recognized MorphoSource as its sole partner for 3D data and workflows in national, NSF-funded efforts to digitize non-federal museum collections.

"MorphoSource would not exist without Duke," said Boyer. "Many people are surprised to hear that neither Duke nor NSF can support MorphoSource for the long term. But this grant will give us essentially a five-year runway to begin to shift the cost burden away from NSF and Duke."

Boyer clarifies that users will never be charged to access or download data from Morphosource. "It would obviously be diametrically opposed to our mission of increasing access to this data," he said. Rather, their aim is to aggregate a voluntary consortium of paying organizations that benefit and rely on MorphoSource, such as museums, journals and possibly scanning facilities.

"We'd like it to be voluntary, so larger institutions can carry a bigger burden and we can waive management fees for smaller museums that may not have the resources to pay," said Boyer.

Boyer says his long-lasting love for museums and their capacity to awe compel him to further MorphoSource's democratizing mission. No one visited his kindergarten classroom with giant vertebrae, but his parents never missed a chance to take him to natural history museums. While still in high school, Boyer had the opportunity to intern at the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan. This internship led to a job, which he kept for six years, until graduate school took him out of his home state.

"Museums are basically in my blood," he said. "And the sense that their doors have to be open, and their specimens have to be available is something that I have felt ever since."
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Political spending by corporations is big business.

As one corporate executive with experience in business-government relations says, "A company that is dependent on government that does not donate to politicians is engaging in corporate malpractice."

Our research group heard that statement during a series of interviews with industry insiders that we conducted for a study on corporate political strategy and involvement in U.S. state politics.

In the 2020 election cycle, private interests spent US$486 million on campaign contributions to U.S. federal election candidates and over $7 billion to lobby Congress and federal agencies.

The 2022 cycle could be a record period if recent trends are any indication. At the federal level, nine of the 10 most expensive Senate races to date happened during the 2020 election cycle. Notably, Georgia was home to the two most expensive Senate contests of all time in 2020, with candidates and outside groups spending over $800 million on the two races combined.

Data from campaign finance monitor the Center for Responsive Politics shows that those companies most affected by government regulation spend more. The operations of Facebook owner Meta, for example, could be heavily affected by government legislation, whether from laws concerning net neutrality, data privacy or censorship. Meta spent nearly $7.8 million in contributions and $36.4 million in lobbying during the 2020 cycle.

This kind of political spending is also common across state governments. From Alaska to Alabama, corporations spend huge sums of money to influence policymaking because they depend on their local business environments, resources and regulations.

Contributions to gubernatorial and state legislative candidates set records during the 2020 cycle, nearing $1.9 billion. That was up from $1.57 billion during the 2016 cycle and $1.4 billion during the 2012 cycle. Contributions in the 2020 cycle represented a nearly 21% increase from 2016. Both major political parties tend to receive roughly the same level of contributions, though the numbers can vary from year to year.

As the next election approaches, corporate involvement in state politics is vital to understand.

Companies' attempts to manage state regulations have important effects on their operations directly as well as on state revenues and on the lives of state residents. Corporations can affect the air that you breathe, the water you drink and the taxes you pay.

External forces spark donations

A study we conducted with colleagues Trey Sutton and Bruce Lamont provides insight into the details of when and why corporations contribute to state gubernatorial and legislative candidates.

We examined political contributions by publicly traded companies in elections for governor and the legislature across the 50 U.S. states. The companies we studied (e.g., ExxonMobil and 3M) all operate in environmentally intensive industriesoil and gas, chemical, energy and manufacturing industries. Specifically, the companies in these industries have industrial manufacturing processes that create toxic releases.

We also interviewed industry insiders, political affairs consultants and lobbyists to complement our empirical findings.

At the core, companies spend when they are dependent on states, meaning that they have vested interests and operations in a state that are subject to regulation. Regulation creates uncertainty for managerswhich they don't like. Spending helps alleviate the uncertainty by influencing what regulation may be imposed.

Our study went beyond this observation, and had four major insights:

1. Corporations spend when they are worried about negative media coverage prompting what they perceive to be potentially harmful regulations.

As one executive told us, "We spend a lot of time tracking media and local advocacy groups. We track [them] on a daily basis, and I get a report each week."

Media coverage can drive public perceptions of corporations and influence politicians' views. In particular, media coverage can amplify misdeeds of companies across states, which worries managers who do not want to see new regulations. In line with this, we found that the companies spent 70% more in states they operated in when national media coverage was more negative rather than less negative.

We found that this effect was exclusive to national media coverage as opposed to local media coverage. Specifically, when local media coverage was more negative, it did not appear to affect political spending.

2. Corporations spend when there are powerful social movement organizationsfor example, environmental protection groupswithin a state.

"Public relations firms are routinely engaged to monitor activists and the media, because if you don't watch them, they can create regulatory change. You have to get ahead of it," an executive said.

Social movement organizations (e.g., Sierra Club and the Rainforest Action Network) help shape public opinion on important issues, pursue institutional change and can prompt legal reform as well, which is a concern to corporations. Our research indicated that in states where they had operations, companies spent 102% more when facing greater opposition from social movement organizations than they would have on average.

3. Corporations spend to gain a seat at the legislative table to communicate their interests.

A political affairs consultant and lobbyist said, "Regulations are a negotiation, there is not a logic, no rule of law, lobbyists come in here" In essence, legislators rely on policy experts and analysts, among others, when crafting new legislation, but often, solutions can be unclear with competing demands and interests.

Our interviewees shared with us that companies spread their contributions around to those politicians who they believe will listen to their causes and concernsregardless of party.

They described themselves as wanting their voices heard on particular issues and as important players in the states in which they operate due to the employment and tax base they bring to states.

Boeing, for example, was the largest private employer in Washington state for decades and has been able to secure tax breaks as a result. This is despite documented environmental problems that Boeing's operations have had in the state.

4. Corporations spend because they see it as consistent with their responsibility to stakeholders.

"Companies mostly want certainty, they want to know the bottom line, and engagement can create opportunities," said one political affairs consultant.

Corporations have a legal and ethical responsibility to their stakeholders. Company leaders often believe they are upholding their responsibilities to shareholders, employees, communities, customers and suppliers by participating in the political process.

What are the stakes?

There can be huge repercussions for companies in state regulation. As one political affairs consultant told us, "[Regulation] is the pot at the end of the rainbow that could create endless possibilities of profit. It's the only thing that stands between them and unending profits "

Ride hailing service Uber, for example, mounted protracted political campaigns aimed at state legislatures and local governments to protect the company's interests. One result: The ride hailing service has been able to get independent contractor status for their drivers in many states, which means the company does not have to provide unemployment insurance, workers' compensation and other benefits.

Passage of regulations in large states like California, for example, can have nearly as much impact as a national regulation, making their passage far more significant for companies working nationally.

Since California sets more stringent emissions standards for vehicles than most other states, manufacturers designing cars for the U.S. market must make sure their vehicles can pass these standards. In this way, California and other states following its lead pose a larger regulatory hurdle for auto manufacturers.

Where does this leave us?

Corporate involvement in state politics is an important phenomenon. Corporations provide needed products and services, and also bring jobs and increased investment to states, which can strengthen communities and state economies. Their operations also can bring health and environmental problems for state residents.

As the 2020 Georgia U.S. Senate races suggest, campaign donations for candidates for federal office increasingly come from outside the state. While this pattern does not pervade state elections yet, it raises questions about politicians' responsiveness to the issues most relevant to their local constituencies.

Given the changed business landscapeand increased operating costscaused by the coronavirus pandemic, we expect that businesses across the country will continue to be interested in influencing policies ranging from workplace safety to local and state tax breaks. This interest will likely translate into significant spending in the upcoming election, to both major parties and their candidates.

And that political spending will affect everything from your wallet to your health.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Credit: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

For most of Australia's human past sea levels were lower than they are today. Australia's mainland was connected to Papua New Guinea and Tasmania as part of a larger landmass called "Sahul".

During the Ice Ages Sahul was home to a unique range of megafauna, which included giant marsupials, birds and reptiles. The extinction of megafauna in Sahul remains one of the most contested debates in Australian science.

Now, our new paper published in Archaeology in Oceania provides compelling evidence megafauna may have coexisted with people in the region longer than previously thoughtand as recently as about 25,000 years ago.

Our research extends the likely period of overlap between megafauna and people to about 40,000 years. It brings new evidence against the theory that people in Sahul drove the megafauna extinction.

An enduring scientific debate

Like other regions during the ice ages (a period known as the Pleistocene) Sahul contained the enigmatic megafauna. The term "megafauna" as it's used in Australia is generally applied to ancient animals that weighed more than about 45kg.

There is disagreement on how Sahul's megafauna went extinct. Since 1831when eminent anatomist Sir Richard Owen received megafauna fossils from Wellington Cave in New South Wales, and a decade later from the Darling Downs in Queenslandthere has been speculation about how Sahul's megafauna went extinct.

Owen argued humans were responsible. Others, such as Prussian scientist Ludwig Leichhardt, favored environmental change as the cause, proposing megafauna extinction in the Darling Downs occurred as a result of the draining of swamps due to tectonic uplift.

Today the debate continues along similar lines. Some researchers argue Aboriginal people were responsible for driving all megafauna extinct by 42,000 years ago.

Decades of work in Sahul

The most direct approach to understanding what happened to the megafauna involves excavating sites containing their remains, and applying a range of techniques to understand how these sites (and their surroundings) have changed through time. Revisiting old sites with new techniques helps us gather as much data as possible.

The most significant research into understanding megafauna extinction in northernmost Sahul was conducted in the 1970s by archaeologist Mary-Jane Mountain at the Nombe rockshelter in the Papuan Highlands.

Mountain's careful excavation of a site known to have been inhabited by people in the late Pleistocene also uncovered megafauna fossils.

While the fossils themselves couldn't be dated, the dating of charcoal samples, non-megafauna animal bones and snail shells from adjacent deposits revealed megafauna existed in the area as recently as 19,000 years ago.

However, a paper published in 2001 argued archaeological sites weren't ideal for testing megafauna extinctions as they lacked near-complete animal fossils that had been moved by people.

Nombe was removed from the list, along with the original dates for megafauna surviving as recently as 19,000 to 25,000 years ago.

The Nombe rockshelter excavation in the 1970s provided some of the most significant estimates for when Sahuls megafauna went extinct. Credit: Barry Shaw, Author provided

In 2016, another important paper was published reassessing these dates. This research used a more modern carbon-dating approach called accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) dating.

This method can date much smaller charcoal particles, and once more led researchers to dates that supported the original estimates revealed through Mountain's work.

Redating Nombe

For our new paper, we decided to further test these estimates using uranium-series (U-series) dating of megafauna fossils. The U-series dating technique has been refined over several decades. It allowed us to directly date megafauna fossils from the Papuan Highlands for the first time.

Our research suggests the fossils date to between 22,000 and 27,000 years agowhich is very close to Mountain's original estimates and the more recent accelerated mass spectrometry dates.

The U-series dating provides minimum age estimates, which means the fossils could be older. But since our estimates are supported by previous accelerated mass spectrometry dating, collectively the data provide a compelling case for the existence of megafauna in Sahul as recently as 25,000 years ago.

This contradicts the persisting theory these animals were extinct by 42,000 years ago.

Our research also extends the period of overlap between megafauna and people. If the earliest dates for people in Sahul go back 65,000 years, this implies some 40,000 years of overlap.

Adding to this, recent work at the Willandra Lakes in NSW and the Seton Rockshelter at Kangaroo Island also estimates Sahul's megafauna were alive some 30,000 years ago.

Was there another ancient human?

Some argued the arrival of people to Sahul drove significant environmental change, to the point that megafauna could no longer survive.

But our analysis of pollen at Nombe reveals high-altitude forests (called montane forests) persisted from at least 26,000 years ago to the end of the Pleistocene 10,000 years ago. The archaeological evidence shows people weren't that active in the area during this timewhich suggests it's unlikely they drove the megafauna extinction.

Rather, we raise the possibility megafauna may have coexisted with hominins (a group including us, Homo sapiens, and our close ancestors) for much longer than previously thought.

Geneticists have found the mysterious ancient humans called Denisovans were likely present in the Papuan Highlands before Homo sapiens arrived. So they may have been familiar with megafauna further back than 65,000 years ago.

But this idea needs to be further investigated. We don't have Denisovan fossils from Papua New Guinea. We only have genetic data in modern Highland populations to study.

More field work will help us understand not only how megafauna went extinct across Sahul, but how they interacted with their surroundings, and how their collapse may have shaped today's environments.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.


Speakers:

Mr. Xiao Pei, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and vice chairman of the National Supervisory Commission

Mr. Xu Qifang, deputy director of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee



Mr. Tian Peiyan, deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee



Chairperson:



Mr. Chen Wenjun, head of the International Press Bureau of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee

Date:



Oct. 17, 2022

Chen Wenjun:



Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good afternoon. Welcome to the press conference held by the Press Center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Today, we have invited three delegates to the 20th CPC National Congress to brief you on exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance and advancing the great new project of Party building in the new era. They are Mr. Xiao Pei, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC and vice chairman of the National Supervisory Commission; Mr. Xu Qifang, deputy director of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee; and Mr. Tian Peiyan, deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee.



Now, let's give the floor to Mr. Xiao Pei for his introduction.



Xiao Pei:



Ladies and gentlemen, friends, good afternoon. The 20th CPC National Congress opened yesterday, drawing widespread attention both at home and abroad. General Secretary Xi Jinping's report laying out the strategic arrangements for advancing Party building is a reminder of the remarkable journey the Party has been on in exercising full and rigorous self-governance in the new era. Hearing General Secretary Xi's report, we deeply felt the inspiring convictions and a powerful source of strength.

Ten years ago, when General Secretary Xi Jinping met domestic and international journalists upon the conclusion of the 18th CPC National Congress, he stressed that the Party's goal corresponded to the people's aspirations for a better life, and that under the new circumstances, there were many pressing problems within the Party that needed to be resolved, such as corruption, disengagement from the people, pointless formalities and bureaucratism. He urged all Party members to stay on full alert and keep firmly in mind the old adage that it takes a good blacksmith to forge good steel.



Over the past decade, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core exercised full and rigorous Party self-governance as part of its overall strategy, and conducted an unprecedentedly tough fight against corruption with the resolve to "offend a few thousand rather than fail 1.4 billion." With a decade of unswerving efforts, great progress has been made in the full and rigorous self-governance of the Party in the new era. We have transformed lax and weak governance over the Party; prevented the Party from betraying its essence or changing its color due to sprawling corruption, the Four Malfeasances (pointless formalities, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance) and pursuit of privilege; and kept the infiltration and interference from interest groups and establishment groups at bay. We have seized the historical initiative by maintaining close ties with the people and winning their heartfelt support, as well as ensuring the Party's great solidarity and unity, its position at the forefront of the times, and its role in leading the people toward great national rejuvenation.



Exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance is a distinct theme of Party building in the new era. Giving top priority to its political work and upholding the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee as its foremost political principle, the Party has made great efforts to regulate political activities and conduct within the Party and enhance political oversight to ensure that the Party's theories, guidelines, principles and policies as well as the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee achieve the desired results. The Party has started from formulating and implementing the central Party leadership's eight-point decisions on improving conduct, and continued efforts to tackle the Four Malfeasances, thus reversing unhealthy tendencies that had long gone unchecked, remedying deep-seated problems that had plagued the Party for years, and further consolidating the political foundation for the Party's long-term governance.



The CPC has strengthened discipline in the whole Party. Remaining committed to the principle of rigorous self-governance, the Party has enforced rigorous political discipline and rules through genuine, brave and constant efforts. The Party has maintained zero tolerance of corruption and taken coordinated action to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to become corrupt. We have resolutely investigated corruption cases in which political and economic issues are intertwined and punished corruption that affects people's lives. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the discipline inspection and supervisory organs nationwide have placed 4.648 million cases on file for investigation and prosecution, among which 553 officials registered at and supervised by the CPC Central Committee were investigated and over 25,000 officials at the department or bureau level and over 182,000 officials at the county and director level were punished. An overwhelming victory has been won in the anti-corruption campaign and the success has been consolidated.



A hundred years on from its founding, the CPC, which has undergone revolutionary tempering through full and rigorous Party self-governance in the new era, is still in its prime. It has found self-reform as the second answer to the question of how to escape the historical cycle of rise and fall.



The 20th CPC National Congress has made strategic arrangements on exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance and advancing the great new project of Party building in the new era. We will acquire a deeper understanding of the decisive significance of the Two Affirmations (the affirmation of both Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era), and strengthen the Four Consciousnesses (consciousness of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership). We will adhere to the Four-sphere Confidence (confident in the path, the theory, the system, and the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics), and firmly adhere to the Two Upholds (uphold Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the CPC Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and uphold the Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership). We will consciously arm ourselves with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We will uphold and strengthen the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, improve the institutions for carrying out self-reform of the Party, improve Party conduct and enforce rigorous Party discipline, and resolutely make decisive efforts to win the protracted war against corruption. The Party will better steer social transformation by engaging in self-transformation. These are firm guarantees for China's endeavor in building a modern socialist country in all respects. Thank you.



Chen Wenjun:



Thank you, Mr. Xiao Pei. Now, let's give the floor to Mr. Xu Qifang for his introduction.

Xu Qifang:



Friends from the media, ladies and gentlemen, I'm very glad to meet you. Yesterday, the 20th CPC National Congress opened and we heard the report delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping. The report with a distinct theme is profound in thoughts and rich in connotations. It is a political declaration and a guide inspiring the whole Party and all the Chinese people to write a new chapter in building a modern socialist country in all respects. I will brief you on implementing the guiding principles for the Party's organizational work in the new era.

At the national conference on organizational work in July 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping for the first time elaborated on the full content and connotations of the guiding principles for the Party's organizational work, pointing out a clear direction and offering sound guidance for strengthening the Party's organizational building in the new era. The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee as well as local authorities and various departments across the country have studied and implemented the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speeches as a major political task to ensure the implementation of the guiding principles for the Party's organizational work in the new era.



First, we have upheld and strengthened the Party's overall leadership. With reinforcing the Party's political foundations as the priority, we have strengthened the Four Consciousnesses, bolstered the Four-sphere Confidence, and ensured the Two Upholds with greater initiative, thus remarkably consolidating the Party's core leadership role.



Second, we have armed ourselves with the Party's new theories. We have studied and implemented Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the primary political task, and carried out the campaign to raise the awareness of staying true to the original aspiration and upholding the founding mission of the Party and activities to study the history of the CPC, thus achieving more solid progress in arming ourselves with the Party's new theories.



Third, we have improved the organizational system featuring unimpeded communication and effective policy implementation at all levels. We have focused on building strong primary-level Party organizations, which have performed a decisive role in poverty alleviation, rural revitalization and the COVID-19 response. Party members also played an exemplary and vanguard role in these endeavors.



Fourth, we have cultivated a workforce of high-quality professional officials. We fully implemented the standards of competent officials in the new era, who are expected to be loyal, honest and responsible. We built and improved five systems related to officials, namely, training professional skills, putting people in suitable posts, selection and appointment of officials, rigorous management and positive incentives. We also pushed forward the reform of the categorized management of civil servants. We have thus cultivated officials who are politically committed, meet the requirements of the new era, and are qualified to lead the country's modernization drive.



Fifth, we have implemented the strategy of building a high-quality workforce in the new era. A central conference on talent-related work was held, and more efforts were made to build talent centers and innovation hubs of global importance. We deepened institutional reforms for talent development, carried out key talent projects, and worked to break new ground in talent work in the new era.



Sixth, we have remained committed to institutional, rules-based governance over the Party. We have continuously deepened the institutional reform of Party building, which has contributed to creating sounder, more systematic and standardized Party building.



The report to the 20th CPC National Congress has laid out clear requirements for Party building and organizational work. We must make great efforts to understand and implement them, and focus on the following aspects.



First, we will continuously arm ourselves with the Party's new theories, and motivate Party organizations at all levels and Party members and officials to step up their efforts to study Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We will work to ensure that they acquire a deep understanding of the decisive significance of the Two Affirmations, and are resolutely committed to the Two Upholds.



Second, we will coordinate learning and collective training on the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress to ensure that Party members and officials follow the guidance of the 20th CPC National Congress through unified thought and action.



Third, we must bear in mind China's fundamental interests, make unremitting efforts to select officials, pool talent and improve work at the primary level, as well as push forward high-quality development of the Party's organizational work in the new era, in order to provide strong organizational support for building a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. That is all from me. Thank you.



Chen Wenjun:



Thank you, Mr. Xu Qifang. Now, let's give the floor to Mr. Tian Peiyan for his introduction.

Tian Peiyan:



Friends from the press, good afternoon. Here, I'd like to brief you on the achievements in theoretical innovations in Party building.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has, in light of the new requirements for Party leadership and building based on the development of conditions and tasks, and concentrating on answering the fundamental questions of what kind of long-term governing Marxist party the Party should build itself into and how to build such a party, thoroughly explored the laws on governance by a communist party and its self-building, put forward a series of new concepts, ideas and strategies for governance over the Party, and made significant theoretical achievements and ground-breaking contributions to enriching and developing Marxist party building theory.



The theoretical achievements are rich in content, and can be summarized as follows. The overall requirements for Party building in the new era have been proposed, clarifying the policies, main tasks, focus, as well as overall plans and goals. The strategy for exercising full and rigorous governance over the Party has been put forward, emphasizing full governance as the foundation, rigorous governance as the pivot and governance itself as the crux to ensure such governance is conducted in a genuine, brave and constant manner. It has been pointed out that self-reform is the second answer to the question of how can the Party escape the historical cycle of rise and fall, and that the Party must boost its ability to purify, improve, renew, and excel itself.



It has been put forth that the Party's leadership is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and constitutes the greatest strength of this system, and that the Party is the highest force for political leadership. It has been proposed that the Party's political building is of fundamental importance to the Party as it determines the direction and efficacy of Party building. It has been set out that the great founding spirit of the Party is the Party's source of strength, and that ideals and convictions are the source of strength, political soul and "spiritual calcium" of Chinese Communists.



Moreover, the guiding principles for Party's organizational work in the new era has been put forward and criteria for judging competent officials have been specified, stressing that the organizational system featuring unimpeded communication and effective policy implementation at all levels should be improved and primary-level Party organizations should be strengthened both politically and organizationally. It has also been set out that the Party's conduct amounts to its image, and, like a barometer, indicates the relationship between the Party, officials and the public, and tells us how the support of the public will shift. As such, unremitting efforts must be made to improve conduct, while the practices of pointless formalities, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance must be resolutely fought against. The fight against corruption is a major political struggle that the Party cannot afford to lose and must never lose. Punishments, deterrents, institutional restraint and efforts to raise political awareness should all be put in place to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to become corrupt.



Public power, entrusted by the people, is and will always be exercised for public good; Party and state oversight systems should be improved, and checks and scrutiny over the exercise of power should be strengthened. Institutional building and rule-based governance over the Party should be employed as essential tools in its full and rigorous self-governance. A set of institutions that are well conceived, fully built, procedure-based, and functioning efficiently must also be developed. Sound Party building is the highest career accomplishment, and the assumption of responsibilities for exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance must be ensured.



These theoretical achievements have provided the fundamental guidance for exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance, demonstrated strong power of truth and great practical significance when guiding the great new project of Party building, strengthened the overall leadership by the Party, significantly enhanced the Party's ability to provide political leadership, give theoretical guidance, organize the people, and inspire society, addressed the problem of lax and weak self-governance in Party organizations at the root, and made the Party stronger through revolutionary tempering, offering a strong political underpinning to the historic achievements and changes in the cause of the Party and the country. Thank you.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Researchers at The University of Queensland have found children in disadvantaged communities often go hungry when they attend early education and childcare centers.

UQ Laureate Fellow Professor Karen Thorpe from the Queensland Brain Institute led a study of more than 900 childcare centers across Queensland that showed those in disadvantaged communities, where food insecurity was highest, were less likely to provide meals to children than those in more affluent areas.

"We discovered only 65 percent of childcare centers in rural and remote areas provide food," Professor Thorpe said.

"Often it's about keeping costs down, with services providing lunch for children charging up to $140 a day compared to as low as $60 a day for those without meals."

Professor Thorpe said some centers in low-income areas with high market competition did provide food without increasing fees.

"But a subsequent study has found the amount and quality of the food served to the children was inadequate," she said.

"A report released by the United Workers Union earlier this year showed some childcare providers had a daily food budget as low as 65 cents per child."

Professor Thorpe said some children were going hungry at the most important time of their early learning journey.

"We know without adequate nutrition it's harder for children to learn and regulate their behavior," she said.

"For children living in disadvantage, to then get poor quality food at childcare is a further blow."

Professor Thorpe said the study found some families living below the poverty line simply couldn't afford enough food for their children, or if they did, it was poor quality.

"We found in some childcare centers, staff were giving their own food to the children when they themselves were struggling financially," she said.

Professor Thorpe said the provision of high-quality food in Queensland's most disadvantaged communities should be a public health priority.

"It would mean children can learn and have a positive trajectory in health and education," she said.

"There's currently a lot of investment in early childcare, but you need to spend the money wisely.

"You can't deliver a high-quality education program if the children and staff are going hungry."

The study has been published in Social Science and Medicine.

More information: Karen Thorpe et al, Meal provision in early childhood education and care programs: Association with geographic disadvantage, social disadvantage, cost, and market competition in an Australian population, Social Science & Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115317
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When leaders at a middle school in New Orleans asked me to help students who were struggling after the city had been struck by Hurricane Katrina, we didn't see eye to eye.

They wanted me to focus on helping the children overcome test anxiety. Their concern was enabling the children to pass a high-stakes standardized test.

As a developmental psychologist who specializes in how children respond to adverse events that cause stress and anxiety, Iand my colleagueshad something else in mind. We wanted to learn more about the severity of the children's trauma. We wanted to know how they were coping with any lingering effects of having their lives uprooted by the hurricane. Our objective was to develop an intervention to reduce their overall anxiety, not just help kids do well on a test.

Based on the destruction I saw surrounding the schoolwhich was located in one of the hardest-hit areas of the citywe felt strongly that our cause was the more noble of the two. I reflected on my time in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina after I saw how hard Florida had been hit by Hurricane Ian.

For instance, I recalled when I looked out the classroom window in New Orleans seeing the watermarks 8 feet (2 meters) high on the houses surrounding the school, most of them still boarded up and uninhabited. Only a house here and there had been renovated.

The children were traumatized in many ways: By the high-crime neighborhood they lived in but loved. By the fact that their neighborhood was now partially gone because of damage from the storm. By having to see the hurricane's devastation every dayeven a year after Katrina made landfall in Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2005.

So we asked about screening the kids for post-traumatic stress disorder. School leaders, however, kept stressing the need for the students do well on the standardized tests.

The conflict eventually led me to an important realization: We didn't have to choose between overcoming text anxiety and PTSD. We could do both. I figured that helping children regulate their emotions while taking a test could also potentially help them regulate their emotions in everyday life.

So began our decade of research into what it takes to rebuild children's emotional wellness in the years that follow a hurricane.

As Florida officials struggle to get the state's schools back on track in the wake of Hurricane Ian, we believe our post-Katrina research in New Orleans offers important insights on how to make sure those efforts address the emotional toll the hurricane may have taken on the state's K-12 students.

A matter of years

One of the most important lessons is that just as it will likely take years to rebuild the infrastructure and homes hit by Hurricane Ian, it could take a similar amount of time to help some children regain a sense of normalcy. My own researchand that of many othersshows that while children are often resilient in the face of disasters, the effects of trauma can be insidious and linger for years to come.

And not all children will be affected the same. Many may have intense and lasting symptoms of anxiety that are stable over time. Others may initially show a few symptoms that get worse or grow as time passes. Some children may show symptoms that evolve over time into other symptoms. Common symptoms include hyperarousal, which is when a kid's body kicks into high alert, and emotional numbing, which often evolves later and involves difficulty experiencing emotions, usually positive ones.

Our research shows that witnessing disasters and home damage is associated with PTSD symptoms, which may show up as test anxiety and ultimately lead to lower academic achievement.

Because of the variability in how symptoms show up, screening children for distress is warranted. School-based screenings and interventions that help children regulate their emotions may be beneficial for all youths in hard-hit areas. School-based screenings may also be warranted both in the immediate aftermath and over the long term. The screenings can help to further identify youths in need of referral to more intensive services.

In 2010, my colleagues and I suggested children affected by disasters be screened for anxiety related distress. For my colleagues and me, it's heartening to know that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent volunteer panel of experts in disease prevention and evidence-based medicine, has recommended an even broader approach: anxiety screenings for all children and adolescents ages 818, not just those affected by disasters. It will be particularly critical to follow this policy recommendation in areas affected by Ian and other disasters.

Targeting test anxiety

In our post-Katrina research, we also found that targeting test anxiety through an intervention was associated with reduced PTSD symptoms.

When students experience PTSD, they are more likely to experience test anxiety. And when they experience test anxiety, they are less likely to score well on tests, our research shows. Indeed, scientists and now many policymakers accept that childhood exposure to adverse or traumatic events may have negative effects on the developing brain.

Therefore, if schools want to help students do better, my research suggests they should focus on helping kids learn to regulate their anxiety. One way to do this is to use cognitive behavioral therapy, which is a treatment that helps people identify and change negative thought patterns that affect their behavior and emotions. This involves a number of techniques, such as helping kids directly face their fears and difficulties in this case, testsinstead of avoiding problems. Prior research has found a link between students with PTSD and "school refusal" behaviorthat is, refusing to go to school.

Another technique is called progressive muscle relaxation. This technique involves tensing and then releasing all of the muscles in your body, progressively from your toes to your face. Another technique was deep breathing.

Test-anxious kids who were taught these techniques after Katrina saw their grades improve an average of one letter grade, in this case from mostly C's to mostly B's. Our research also suggest these techniques may help prevent long-term difficulties. The same techniques could be useful in Florida as well.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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The United Nations said Friday that international food assistance to Somalia was the only reason why famine was being kept at bay in the troubled country.

The UN's World Food Programme said the situation was dire and the nation was now in a desperate race against time to avert famine, having suffered four consecutive failed rainy seasons since the end of 2020 and with a fifth now happening.

But WFP warned that if the world waited for famine to be formally declared before taking action, it would already be too late.

"Somalia is absolutely not out of danger yet. We remain extremely concerned about the dire situation across the country and we're in a desperate race against time," WFP's Somalia deputy country director Laura Turner told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Mogadishu.

"If the situation continues to worsen... then famine is projected before the end of this year."

Turner said that conditions were indeed expected to deteriorate as the rains have failed to materialise in the current season.

Meanwhile the situation could also worsen if the progressive scale-up of assistance is not maintained.

Famine is likely to strike in the Baidoa and Burhakaba districts of the Bay region, in inland southern Somalia.

Turner said famine had not yet been declared because three indicators had not been reached.

"One is extreme lack of food, the second is acute malnutrition and the third is mortality," she explained.

"The malnutrition rates are truly horrifying... the mortality rates are only increasing. It's actually only the provision of food assistance that is keeping famine at bay."

Food costs are rising because Somalia is heavily dependent on Ukraine and Russia for its wheat imports.

"Food assistance alone will not prevent large-scale loss of life," Turner said, as disease, poor hygiene and dehydration would prove fatal.

Somalia is WFP's biggest operation, with the agency having distributed food and cash to nearly 4.2 million peopledouble the numbers it reached earlier this year.

Turner said WFP required $300 million to sustain its operations for the next six months, when the next potential rains might come.

Cost of inaction

Somalia has been wracked by decades of civil war, political violence and an Islamist insurgency.

Millions of people are at risk of starvation across the wider Horn of Africa, which is in the grip of the worst drought in four decades after the four failed rainy seasons wiped out livestock and crops.

Mamunur Rahman Malik, the World Health Organization's representative in Somalia, also speaking from Mogadishu, said people in Somalia were facing hunger on a scale not seen since the 2011 famine.

"The risk of starving to death is being compounded by unprecedented drought, continued fighting, and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and a fragile health system," he said.

Malik said that 1.8 million childrenhalf the country's totalwere facing acute severe malnutrition, while one in 10 were visiting health centres with largely preventable diseases such as measles and cholera.

One in seven children were missing out on vaccines as their families move in search of food, he added.

"We should not have to wait for a famine declaration to prevent people from dying," said Malik.

"The cost of our inaction will mean that children, women and other vulnerable people will pay with their lives while we hopelessly, helplessly witness the tragedy unfolding."

 2022 AFP
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Spectrometers are widely used throughout industry and research to detect and analyze light. Spectrometers measure the spectrum of lightits strength at different wavelengths, like the colors in a rainbowand are an essential tool for identifying and analyzing specimens and materials. Integrated on-chip spectrometers would be of great benefit to a variety of technologies, including quality inspection platforms, security sensors, biomedical analyzers, health care systems, environmental monitoring tools, and space telescopes.

An international research team led by researchers at Aalto University has developed high-sensitivity spectrometers with high wavelength accuracy, high spectral resolution, and broad operation bandwidth, using only a single microchip-sized detector. The research behind this new ultra-miniaturized spectrometer was published today in the journal Science.

"Our single-detector spectrometer is an all-in-one device. We designed this optoelectronic-lab-on-a-chip with artificial intelligence replacing conventional hardware, such as optical and mechanical components. Therefore, our computational spectrometer does not require separate bulky components or array designs to disperse and filter light. It can achieve a high resolution comparable to benchtop systems but in a much smaller package," says Postdoctoral Researcher Hoon Hahn Yoon.

"With our spectrometer, we can measure light intensity at each wavelength beyond the visible spectrum using a device at our fingertips. The device is entirely electrically controllable, so it has enormous potential for scalability and integration. Integrating it directly into portable devices such as smartphones and drones could advance our daily lives. Imagine that the next generation of our smartphone cameras could be fitted with hyperspectral cameras that outperform color cameras," he adds.

Shrinking computational spectrometers is essential for their use in chips and implantable applications. Professor Zhipei Sun, the head of the research team, says, "Conventional spectrometers are bulky because they need optical and mechanical components, so their on-chip applications are limited. There is an emerging demand in this field to improve the performance and usability of spectrometers. From this point of view, miniaturized spectrometers are very important to offer high performance and new functions in all fields of science and industry."

Professor Pertti Hakonen adds that "Finland and Aalto have invested in photonics research in recent years. For example, there has been great support from the Academy of Finland's Center of Excellence on quantum technology, Flagship on Photonics Research and Innovation, InstituteQ, and the Otanano Infrastructure. Our new spectrometer is a clear demonstration of the success of these collaborative efforts. I believe that with further improvements in resolution and efficiency, these spectrometers could provide new tools for quantum information processing."

More information: Hoon Hahn Yoon et al, Miniaturized spectrometers with a tunable van der Waals junction, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.add8544. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.add8544 Journal information: Science
Lead researcher Eleanor Tate '21 examining turtles in Missouri. Credit: Amber Pitt of Trinity College.

Two activitiesharvesting turtles for food and riverside developmentin Southern Missouri sharply reduced the number of northern map turtles in one river. When that happened, a longtime competitor moved in, according to 50 years of data.

A new study by researchers at Trinity College in Connecticut, documents how a native competitor, the red-eared slider, thrived following a 50 percent decline of northern map turtles that occurred because of poaching and rapid changes in their habitat in the Ozarks.

The paper offers a new look at the existence of two different species of river turtles and the manmade factors that tipped the scales in favor of one.

The findings were published in the October 2022 edition of Amphibia-Reptilia, but the river is unnamed because turtles are considered a delicacy in some areas of the world.

Between 1969 and 1980, poaching cut the population of northern map turtles in half, researchers found. Map turtles had long thrived in the river community before being harvested for food, according to Pitt. The illegal activity is a significant issue in both the U.S. and Canada.

Compounding that loss, after 1980, the habitat also became less suitable for the northern map turtles with deforestation, algae blooms, silt and sediment accumulation and pollution.

Yet the environmental changes did not negatively impact the red-eared slider turtles, who had moved into the study area and occupied the river alongside the northern map turtles, maintaining the same population level for decades.

The red-eared sliders, a generalist species, were more adaptable and fared better in the degraded environment, allowing them to thrive.

Although native to the central United States, red-eared sliders have become established in other places because of pet releases and are considered invasive in many areas where it outcompetes native species.

"This is one of few studies to demonstrate the pathway by which ecological communities become overtaken by generalist species as we degrade the environment," said Amber Pitt, associate professor of environmental science and biology at Trinity, and study author.

"The turtles can serve as sentinels for environmental health," said Pitt. "If we're seeing a decline in the more sensitive species and an increase in the generalist species it's bad news for people, too. The water quality is diminishing."

Eleanor Tate of Carlisle, Penn., the lead author on the paper and a former student of Pitt's noted that long-term studies such as this one may improve our ability to predict when future turtle population changes may occur.

More information: Amber L. Pitt et al, Factors contributing to the range expansion and population increase of a native generalist species, Amphibia-Reptilia (2022). DOI: 10.1163/15685381-00002883

Provided by Trinity College
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Do you ever feel as if mosquitoes are always biting you and seem to target you? It may be because of your smell, a new study says.

Mosquitoes are one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet, contributing to the spread of deadly diseases like malaria, which kills hundreds of thousands of humans every year. There are even mosquitoes that "prefer to bite people."

But for some people, mosquitoes seem to attack more frequently than others. There are numerous theories about why that might happen, such as blood type, what type of clothing someone is wearing, or bacteria on skin, but none have ever been scientifically proven to be the cause.

A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell Oct. 18, however, details how the production of a chemical tied to smell makes some people mosquito magnets, and it may be something they will have to deal with for the rest of their lives.

Researchers came to their conclusion in the three-year study by having eight participants wear nylon stocking over their arms for six hours a day on multiple days to pick up their skin scent. After the stockings were worn, they were placed at the ends of separate long tubes, and Aedes Aegypti mosquitoesone of the most common carriers of lethal diseaseswere released to see which tubes they would pick in a round-robin tournament-like experiment.

By the end, researchers made an alarming discovery: One of the participants, Subject 33, was four times more attractive to mosquitoes than the second-place participant and 100 times more than the least appealing participant. Any time the participant's nylon stocking was pitted against another, the mosquitoes were always drawn to Subject 33.

To see if that response was just an outlier, researchers got another 56 people to join in the study, but mosquitos still stayed loyal to Subject 33.

After the so-called tournament was over, researchers examined the chemical compounds of each participant and noticed the ones who were mosquito magnets produced carboxylic acids, used by bacteria on human skin to produce unique body odors, at much higher levels than others.

"There's a very, very strong association between having large quantities of these fatty acids on your skin and being a mosquito magnet," Leslie Vosshall, study author and neurobiologist at Rockefeller University in New York, said in a statement.

Vosshall added that this wasn't the goal of the study: The hope was that a mosquito would lose attraction to humans or not be able to tell the difference of subjects.

"Yet that was not what we saw. It was frustrating," she said.

By testing the same people over multiple years, the study showed that these big differences stick around, Matt DeGennaro, a neurogeneticist at Florida International University who was not involved with the research, told The Associated Press.

"Mosquito magnets seem to remain mosquito magnets," DeGennaro said.

Though the researchers were not successful in their goal, their findings could pave the way for how to make mosquito repellents. The only way to change someone's odor, the researchers say, is to manipulate skin microbiomes; and, if possible, slathering the skin of someone like Subject 33 with the compounds of someone not as attractive to mosquitoes could help the person avoid being bitten.

(c)2022 USA Today

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A key challenge in urban environments is to limit noise pollution from cars and transport. Credit: Pexels via Pixabay

Sound-diffracting walls and rubberised asphalt ingredients tackle the major environmental concern of noise pollution from traffic.

In cities across the European Union, noise is a significant health hazard along with air pollution. Efforts are under way to reduce a major source of both: traffic.

Noise is the number-two environmental source of health troubles, after air pollution, according to the United Nations World Health Organization.

In the European Union, 22 million people suffer chronically high annoyance from environmental noise. And 12 000 premature deaths occur every year in the EU as a result of long-term exposure to environmental noise, of which traffic is among the main sources.

But, as with climate change, the EU fight against noise pollution involves not just mitigation but also adaptation. While traffic can be scaled back through improved urban design, motor-powered transport will continue to emit noise and a key challenge is finding ways to limit the impact on people.

That's where Bart Willems has a role to play. He is enthusiastic about a type of wall that he says can unite people more than divide them.

Willems was involved in a research project to reduce irksome noise from roads and railways by using barriers that bend sound waves and direct them away from homes. The phenomenon is known as diffraction.

Nerve-racking

The goal was to tackle a serious yet under-appreciated environmental problem by thinking about it differently. The two conventional methods are, building concrete walls to block noise and using materials for roads and railways that absorb it better.

'Diffraction offers a third solution,' said Willems, whose Dutch company 4Silence BV coordinated the Horizon-funded WHISSPER project.

Netherlands-based 4Silence has developed walls that have grooves of varying depths, which reduce horizontal noise by bending it upwards in the vertical direction. This means smaller barriers can be used to deflect more noise away from surrounding people.

'If one of our walls is one metre high, it will reduce noise by seven to nine decibels,' Willems said. 'A regular screen would need to measure three metres to accomplish the same effect.'

The WHISSPER project tested the technology with the idea of fighting traffic noise through diffraction beginning in 2019 and ending earlier this year. With its sound-redirecting walls having undergone trials in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Denmark, the company says the barriers are easy to install and maintain. It is now seeking to go to market.

'We have since started our first commercial projects in the Netherlands,' Willems said. 'And we're looking to further commercialise our walls in different countries.'

For these initiatives, 4Silence generally works with local governments such as the municipality of Eindhoven or the province of Utrecht. In Germany and the UK, commercial projects have also been started for the Augsburg State Building Authority and Transport for London.

In the coming months, new buyers across Europe are set to be announced, with 4Silence also eyeing customers in countries including Belgium and Denmark.

Budget relief

Noise diffracting barriers also benefit government budgets because they are half as expensive as traditional noise-reduction measures.

Public purses for infrastructure are already stretched. Spending in Europe to counter road and rail noise amounts to about 5.4 billion per year, or 6% of total annual expenditure on both forms of transport.

Yet people's exposure to traffic noise in the EU is increasing. More than one in four Europeans faces levels dangerous to health in homes, schools and workplaces.

Meanwhile, on the mitigation front, improvements are being sought in the traditional methods for tackling traffic noise.

A separate Horizon-funded project called SILENT RUBBER PAVE is making asphalt spongier and hopefully quieter in an ecologically friendly way. The project involved a Spain-based company called Cirtec.

Good vibrations

Cirtec is poised to sell a new asphalt additive called RARx, which is made with rubber from end-of-life tyres. RARx is added to asphalt as a way of absorbing some road-traffic noise.

While putting rubber powder in asphalt has been tried before, practical challenges arose.

'Before contractors added the rubber mix directly into the asphalt, which caused a lot of problems,' said Guillermo Rodriguez Marfil of Cirtec. 'It caused problems with the mixand cleaning up the equipment afterwards was hard.'

With RARx, the rubber powder is blended with mineral additives like bitumen in the factory, making it easier for asphalt producers to use. Car noise is reduced by 4-5 decibels, according to Rodriguez Marfil.

'The mix reduces the stiffness of the asphalt, which causes a lower vibration in the tyre, and in turn less noise,' he said.

It can also extend the life cycle of current roads, leading to lower maintenance costs. Furthermore, the entire concept is circular given that the rubber mix is made from used tyres.

RARx is being rolled out in countries including Spain. Tests and construction projects were also conducted in Germany, Italy, Portugal and Ireland, partly under the SILENT RUBBER PAVE umbrella.

Produced in Spain, RARx will also be manufactured in a second factory under construction in MexicoCirtec's biggest market, according to Rodriguez Marfil.

'The future looks bright,' he said. 'We are working on several continents and our impact is growing. We're saving public administrations money and reducing noise for citizens.'

Regulatory roadblocks

Beyond finding markets for their new noise-reduction tools, both Cirtec and 4Silence are counting on regulatory changes to facilitate business growth.

Because roads are often constructed by governments and their subcontractors, the activity is highly regulated.

'In the paving industry, they have been doing the same thing for ages, which can be difficult to overcome,' Rodriguez Marfil said.

Willems of 4Silence echoed the point.

'Infrastructure doesn't move quickly, especially when laws have to change before we can introduce our technology,' he said. 'Nevertheless, we're optimistic that, in the coming three years, people in Europe should start regularly seeing our barriers.'
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Members of the protest group Just Stop Oil recently threw soup at Van Gogh's Sunflowers in the National Gallery in London. The action once again triggered debate about what kinds of protest are most effective.

After a quick clean of the glass, the painting was back on display. But critics argued that the real damage had been done, by alienating the public from the cause itself (the demand that the UK government reverse its support for opening new oil and gas fields in the North Sea).

Supporters of more militant forms of protest often point to historical examples such as the suffragettes. In contrast with Just Stop Oil's action, when the suffragette Mary Richardson went to the National Gallery to attack a painting called The Rokeby Venus, she slashed the canvas, causing major damage.

However, many historians argue that the contribution of the suffragettes to women getting the vote was negligible or even counterproductive. Such discussions often seem to rely on people's gut feelings about the impact of protest. But as a professor of cognitive psychology, I know that we don't have to rely on intuitionthese are hypotheses that can be tested.

The activist's dilemma

In one set of experiments researchers showed people descriptions of protests and then measured their support for the protesters and the cause. Some participants read articles describing moderate protests such as peaceful marches. Others read articles describing more extreme and sometimes violent protests, for example a fictitious action in which animal rights activists drugged a security guard in order to break into a lab and remove animals.

Protesters who undertook extreme actions were perceived to be more immoral, and participants reported lower levels of emotional connection and social identification with these "extreme" protesters. The effects of this kind of action on support for the cause were somewhat mixed (and negative effects may be specific to actions that incorporate the threat of violence).

Overall, these results paint a picture of the so-called activist's dilemma: activists must choose between moderate actions that are largely ignored and more extreme actions that succeed in gaining attention, but may be counterproductive to their aims as they tend to make people think less of the protesters.

Activists themselves tend to offer a different perspective: they say that accepting personal unpopularity is simply the price to be paid for the media attention they rely on to "get the conversation going" and win public support for the issue. But is this the right approach? Could activists be hurting their own cause?

Hating protesters doesn't affect support

I've conducted several experiments to answer such questions, often in collaboration with students at the University of Bristol. To influence participants' views of protesters we made use of a well-known framing effect whereby (even subtle) differences in how protests are reported have a pronounced impact, often serving to delegitimise the protest.

For example, the Daily Mail article reporting the Van Gogh protest referred to it as a "stunt" which is part of a "campaign of chaos" by "rebellious eco-zealots". The article does not mention the protesters' demand.

Our experiments took advantage of this framing effect to test the relationship between attitudes to the protesters themselves and to their cause. If the public's support for a cause depends on how they feel about the protesters, then a negative framingwhich leads to less positive attitudes toward protestersshould result in lower levels of support for the demands.

But that's not what we found. In fact, experimental manipulations that reduced support for the protesters had no impact on support for the demands of those protesters.

We've replicated this finding across a range of different types of nonviolent protest, including protests about racial justice, abortion rights and climate change, and across British, American and Polish participants (this work is being prepared for publication). When members of the public say, "I agree with your cause, I just don't like your methods," we should take them at their word.

Decreasing the extent to which the public identifies with you may not be helpful for building a mass movement. But high publicity actions may actually be a very effective way to increase recruitment, given relatively few people ever become activists. The existence of a radical flank also seems to increase support for more moderate factions of a social movement, by making these factions appear less radical.

Spot when the Insulate Britain protests began. (Authors own research, using Factiva database to search UK broadsheet and tabloid newspapers) Colin Davis, Author provided

Protest can set the agenda

Another concern may be that most of the attention obtained by radical actions is not about the issue, focusing instead on what the protesters did. However, even where this is true, the public conversation opens up the space for some discussion of the issue itself.

Protest plays a role in agenda seeding. It doesn't necessarily tell people what to think, but influences what they think about. Last year's Insulate Britain protests are a good example. In the months after the protests began on September 13 2021, the number of mentions of the word "insulation" (not "Insulate") in UK print media doubled.

Some people don't investigate the details of an issue, yet media attention may nevertheless promote the issue in their mind. A YouGov poll released in early June 2019 showed "the environment" ranked in the public's top three most important issues for the first time.

Pollsters concluded that the "sudden surge in concern is undoubtedly boosted by the publicity raised for the environmental cause by Extinction Rebellion" (which had recently occupied prominent sites in central London for two weeks). There's also evidence that home insulation has risen up the policy agenda since Insulate Britain's protests.

Dramatic protest isn't going away. Protagonists will continue to be the subject of (mostly) negative media attention, which will lead to widespread public disapproval. But when we look at public support for the protesters' demands, there isn't any compelling evidence for nonviolent protest being counterproductive. People may "shoot the messenger", but they doat least, sometimeshear the message.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Research in the International Journal of Services, Economics and Management has looked at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of migrant workers in the Jalpaiguri region of India at the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains. The study by Nirmal Chandra Roy of the Department of Business Administration (Human Resource) at The University of Burdwan in West Bengal, India, used a structured questionnaire to collect data and the analysis reveals that local migrant workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic were the worst hit by the nationwide lockdown.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected everyone globally in terms of health and mortality but also with regard to livelihood and the wider economy. Where lockdowns, quarantines, social distancing, and other restrictions were implemented in order to stifle the spread of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 the impact on the workforce was enormous understanding the effect on migrant workers was the focus of the present study.

There was a supposition that this particular demographic may well have been affected even more detrimentally than other workers in some ways. India has hundreds of millions of migrant workers with several million migrating each year. It was reported that prior to the pandemic, most migrants traveling to cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai in 2019 came mainly from the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. More than 30 million Indians migrated overseas with about 9 million of those settling in Arab states.

Roy writes that the study provides an invaluable benchmark for labor studies and for policymakers in this region where more than half a million people leave their homes to find work elsewhere. The work reveals the plight of migrants from this particular region returning home to no income opportunities during the lockdown.

Some small tea plantations offered limited part-time work for a few of the returners, but the long-term prospects were dire for many. Earnings for the majority were negligible. Roy points out that the pandemic itself limited the research to this particular region, but suggests that wider studies might show a similar detrimental effect in other regions and so could help in the decision-making processes among policymakers looking at how the poverty-stricken migrant populations might be helped out of their predicament.

More information: Nirmal Chandra Roy, Impact of COVID-19 on the migrant worker livelihood: study in the Jalpaiguri Region, India, International Journal of Services, Economics and Management (2021). DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2021.10043084

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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Hurricane Ian barreled ashore with winds of up to 150 mph (240 kph) on Florida's southwest coast on Sept. 28, 2022.

The storm's powerful winds and torrential rains reduced entire communities to rubble, killing more than 120 people, including many who drowned in floodwaters resulting from the nearly 18-foot (5.5-meter) storm surge. Bridges connecting Sanibel, Captiva and other barrier islands with the mainland flooded and crumbled, isolating those areas.

Estimates of the economic toll are still preliminary. But as a historian who studies South Florida's cities and environment, I'm certain that the havoc Ian wreaked will make it among the worst storms on record, along with Harvey and Maria in 2017 and Katrina in 2005.

And based on how Florida has responded to similar devastation in the past, I highly doubt that Ian will do much to slow the pace of the state's rapid population growth in the near future.

Snowbirds are changing their routes

Over 22 million people currently live in Florida.

That's about 37% more than the 16 million who resided in the state in 2000. And demographers project that the population will continue increasing, to about 25 million within the next decade.

Florida consistently ranks as the top destination for Americans who relocate to another state.

But many Florida residents spend only the winter months there, returning when the climate warms up back home. In the weeks that followed the storm, analysts were predicting that most of these annual short-term residentscalled snowbirdswill not forgo their annual voyage. Instead, many say they'll simply shift their migratory course and land somewhere else in Florida.

South Florida real estate agents are bracing for stronger-than-usual demand for seasonal rentals in Dade and Broward counties on Florida's southeast coast, which escaped Ian's wrath. The extra interest is leading to further spikes in the already overheated real estate markets in places like Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Today's new and part-time Floridians are drawn by the same factors that have lured settlers and snowbirds for a century: warm weather and waterfront views, along with lower taxes and fewer regulations than in other parts of the country.

Draining the swampland

Early developers didn't let inhospitable environments deter them. In the decades after the Civil War, they transformed the peninsular state's mosquito-ridden, alligator-occupied swampland into hotels, homesteads and farmland.

Florida promoters lured tourists and settlers alike with promises of wealth, land and leisure, whether their sales pitches had to do with citrus and sugar, or sun and sand. Engineers used modern technology to accomplish the large-scale transformation and make way for unprecedented land speculation and development.

Everglades drainage began in earnest in the 1880s when a wealthy Philadelphian named Hamilton Disston created the Okeechobee Land Co. to develop a system of canals that would facilitate "land reclamation."

Disston purchased over 4 million acres the state had designated as uninhabitable swampland in exchange for US$1 million and his promise to transform it. In 1881, The New York Times called this "the largest purchase of land ever made by a single person in the world."

His gambit sparked Florida's first real estate boom.

Disston sent brochures around the country, and to people as far away as Scotland, Denmark, Germany and Italy, that touted Florida's "inexhaustibly rich lands" and an "equitable and lovely climate where merely to live is a pleasure, a luxury heretofore accessible only to millionaires," according to Frank B. Sessa's 1950 history of greater Miami.

Disston and others began selling reclaimed land to railroads, farming interests and land developers. By the early 20th century, inland drainage was giving rise to the sugar, citrus and winter vegetable industries.

The drainage made it possible for the railroad magnates Henry Flagler and Henry Plant to extend their railroads to southeast and southwest Florida, respectively. Train travel greatly expanded opportunities for tourists and new residents by the late 19th century.

Stormy weather from the start

Attempts to control water on the ground, however, couldn't curtail weather-related hazards. In 1926, a hurricane slammed into Miami, leaving more than 390 people dead and causing property damage of more than $76 million.

A Western Union telegram from Jessie Wirth Munroe, a survivor, read like a text from someone who had endured Hurricane Ian: "We are safe. Water front completely destroyed."

Subsequent storms wrought greater devastation.

A 1928 hurricane killed over 2,500 people just south of Lake Okeechobee, most of them Black farmworkers laboring in the new agricultural town of Belle Glade, which was washed away.

In 1935, a Labor Day storm hit the Civilian Conservation Corps camps in the Florida Keys, where workers, many of them World War I veterans, were building a highway that would link mainland Florida to Key West.

"Clinging to beds, using mattresses as overhead cover, the people of the Keys had watched large rocks roll about like pebbles, buildings crumble like houses of cards, water lift up houses and carry them off," wrote Helen Muir, a journalist who moved to Miami in 1934 and chronicled the city's growth. "The hurricane moved in like a giant mowing machine and leveled everything."

No stopping the newcomers

Yet people kept coming, especially after World War II and the advent of widespread air conditioning.

Many of the close to 3 million people who arrived between 1940 and 1960 were veterans who had trained in South Florida during World War II.

In addition, millions more immigrated from the Caribbean and Latin America as transportation become easier and cheaper.

In particular, people fleeing political persecution and economic instability in places such as Cuba, Haiti and, more recently, Venezuela and Central America have settled in Florida.

Rebuilding and rebuilding

Though each storm seemed to threaten the population boom, the new arrivals tended to stick around. Civic boosters, business leaders and policymakers have invariably promised to rebuild.

After Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm, slammed into South Florida in 1992, the state imposed a stronger and more uniform building code. The authorities invested in additional storm preparedness efforts after the spate of hurricanes hit the state in 2004.

Could these patterns change after Hurricane Ian?

Windstorm insurance premiums were climbing beyond the reach of many homeowners before it hit. Analysts predict that premiums will continue to rise, making it harder for residents to afford to remain in Florida and even more challenging for new homebuyers to secure policies.

It remains to be seen if the pro-growth mentality and belief in technological innovation that have shaped Florida's history can forestall the challenges of climate change and the increasingly severe storms it brings about in the decades ahead.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
You are here: China

The presidium of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held its third meeting on Friday morning. Xi Jinping presided over the meeting.

Participants at the meeting approved the draft lists of candidates for members and alternate members of the 20th CPC Central Committee, as well as for members of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

The presidium meeting decided to submit the lists to delegations for deliberation.

The lists were generated through competitive preliminary elections conducted by delegations to the congress.

The preliminary elections were conducted under the supervision of ballot scrutineers in accordance with the election methods of the congress. Over 8 percent of the nominees were voted off in the preliminary elections.

The results of the preliminary elections are valid, according to the presidium.

The formal elections for the Party's new central committee and CCDI will be held on Saturday morning.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

By broadening access to higher education in their local geographic area, regional public universities increase the economic and social mobility of the residents in their counties, says new research co-written by a team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign economists.

As the backbone of the U.S. higher education system, regional public universities enroll roughly 40% of all undergraduate degree-seeking students, many from disproportionately lower-income families compared with other four-year public universities. Regional public universities not only increase college attainment among people growing up in the county, they also increase high school graduation rates and other metrics of economic and social well-being such as employment, household income, marriage and geographic mobility, said Russell Weinstein, a professor of labor and employment relations and of economics at Illinois.

"Regional public universities have positive effects on local economic and social mobility," Weinstein said. "For people who grow up around a regional public university, we found a host of positive knock-on effects, especially for children from lower-income families."

Weinstein's co-author is Greg Howard, a professor of economics at Illinois.

A central part of the mission of regional public universities has been to increase access to higher education by locating near potential students, being less selective and charging lower tuitionand they're more reliant on state funding and tuition than large land-grant universities and pricier private schools, Weinstein said.

"When legislators are thinking about allocating funding for regional public universities, it's important for them to know just how many benefits they provide to students in the surrounding community," he said.

To investigate whether regional public universities increase nearby children's educational attainment and economic mobility, the researchers compared the historical assignment of what were once called "normal schools"that is, schools that were established by the state government to educate elementary school teachers in the late 19th and early 20th centuriesto the placement of state-funded mental asylums as well as other data in order to pinpoint the effects of regional universities on the social mobility of nearby children.

Most normal schools eventually evolved into regional universities, the researchers said, while most state-funded mental asylums were converted into psychiatric hospitals or other rehabilitative facilities.

The researchers found that children from normal-school counties received more education and had better economic and social outcomes than children from counties that originally received state-funded mental asylumsand the effects were largest for children from lower-income families, according to the paper.

"For example, children whose parental income was at the 25th percentileregional public universities raised the fraction of those children with a four-year college degree by more than 8%," Howard said. "In addition, regional public universities improved the fraction of children in the county who are employed in their mid-30s as well as their income percentiles, with effects concentrated among children from lower-income families."

The effects can be attributed to regional public universities' impact on individuals, rather than reflecting an influx of high-mobility individuals to the region, the researchers said.

"I think it's particularly interesting and relevant, given that these regional public universities were established in the mid-20th century for the purpose of improving the educational outcomes of people in their local areas," Weinstein said. "All these years later they're having this effect, which is important for evaluating the impacts of these types of universities as well as thinking about the downstream effects that they have on their communities."

The study also helps quantify the benefit of public funding for regional universities and higher education in general, and points to the continued role of "geographic frictions" in college attendance and economic mobility, Weinstein said.

"We're identifying an effect on people who grew up in these counties relative to people who grew up in the same state but weren't near a regional public university," he said. "One of the policy questions raised by this research is whether students outside of the immediate geographic boundaries of the regional public universities would benefit from more outreach."

A working paper of this research was released by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics.

More information: Greg Howard et al, "Workhorses of Opportunity": Regional Universities Increase Local Social Mobility, SSRN Electronic Journal (2022). DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.4244417
This artists impression shows the Square Kilometer Array, a telescope array currently being built in both Australia and Africa that will be sensitive enough to detect the equivalent of radio broadcasts from distant planets. Credit: SPDO/TDP/DRAO/Swinburne Astronomy Productions/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

If an alien were to look at Earth, many human technologiesfrom cell towers to fluorescent light bulbscould be a beacon signifying the presence of life.

We are two astronomers who work on the search for extraterrestrial intelligenceor SETI. In our research, we try to characterize and detect signs of technology originating from beyond Earth. These are called technosignatures. While scanning the sky for a TV broadcast of some extraterrestrial Olympics may sound straightforward, searching for signs of distant, advanced civilizations is a much more nuanced and difficult task than it might seem.

Saying 'hello' with radios and lasers

The modern scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence began in 1959 when astronomers Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison showed that radio transmissions from Earth could be detected by radio telescopes at interstellar distances. The same year, Frank Drake, launched the first SETI search, Project Ozma, by pointing a large radio telescope a two nearby Sun-like stars to see if he could detect any radio signals coming from them. Following the invention of the laser in 1960, astronomers showed that visible light could also be detected from distant planets.

These first, foundational attempts to detect radio or laser signals from another civilization were all looking for focused, powerful signals that would have been intentionally sent to the solar system and meant to be found.

Given the technological limitations of the 1960s, astronomers did not give serious thought to searching for broadcast signalslike television and radio broadcasts on Earththat would leak into space. But a beam of a radio signal, with all of its power focused towards Earth, could be detectable from much farther awayjust picture the difference between a laser and a weak light bulb.

The search for intentional radio and laser signals is still one of the most popular SETI strategies today. However, this approach assumes that extraterrestrial civilizations want to communicate with other technologically advanced life. Humans very rarely send targeted signals into space, and some scholars argue that intelligent species may purposefully avoid broadcasting out their locations. This search for signals that no one may be sending is called the SETI Paradox.

A Dyson Sphere is a theoretical megastructure that would surround a star and collect its light to use as energy. Credit: Kevin Gill/Flickr, CC BY

Leaking radio waves

Though humans don't transmit many intentional signals out to the cosmos, many technologies people use today produce a lot of radio transmissions that leak into space. Some of these signals would be detectable if they came from a nearby star.

The worldwide network of television towers constantly emits signals in many directions that leak into space and can accumulate into a detectable, though relatively faint, radio signal. Research is ongoing as to whether current emissions from cell towers in the radio frequency on Earth would be detectable using today's telescopes, but the upcoming Square Kilometer Array radio telescope will be able to detect even fainter radio signals with 50 times the sensitivity of current radio telescope arrays.

Not all human-made signals are so unfocused, though. Astronomers and space agencies use beams of radio waves to communicate with satellites and space craft in the solar system. Some researchers also use radio waves for radar to study asteroids. In both of these cases, the radio signals are more focused and pointed out into space. Any extraterrestrial civilization that happened to be in the line of sight of these beams could likely detect these unambiguously artificial signals.

Finding megastructures

Aside from finding an actual alien spacecraft, radio waves are the most common technosignatures featured in sci-fi movies and books. But they are not the only signals that could be out there.

In 1960, astronomer Freeman Dyson theorized that, since stars are by far the most powerful energy source in any planetary system, a technologically advanced civilization might collect a significant portion of the star's light as energy with what would essentially be a massive solar panel. Many astronomers call these megastructures, and there are a few ways to detect them.

After using the energy in the captured light, the technology of an advanced society would re-emit some of the energy as heat. Astronomers have shown that this heat could be detectable as extra infrared radiation coming from a star system.

Another possible way to find a megastructure would be to measure its dimming effect on a star. Specifically, large artificial satellites orbiting a star would periodically block some of its light. This would appear as dips in the star's apparent brightness over time. Astronomers could detect this effect similarly to how distant planets are discovered today.

Advanced civilizations may produce a lot of pollution in the form of chemicals, light and heat that can be detected across the vast distances of space. Credit: NASA/Jay Freidlander

Another technosignature that astronomers have thought about is pollution.

Chemical pollutantslike nitrogen dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons on Earth are almost exclusively produced by human industry. It is possible to detect these molecules in the atmospheres of exoplanets with the same method the James Webb Space Telescope is using to search distant planets for signs of biology. If astronomers find a planet with an atmosphere filled with chemicals that can only be produced by technology, it may be a sign of life.

Finally, artificial light or heat from cities and industry could also be detectable with large optical and infrared telescopes, as would a large number of satellites orbiting a planet. But a civilization would need to produce far more heat, light and satellites than Earth does to be detectable across the vastness of space using technology humans currently possess.

Which signal is best?

No astronomer has ever found a confirmed technosignature, so it's hard to say what will be the first sign of alien civilizations. While many astronomers have thought a lot about what might make for a good signal, ultimately, nobody knows what extraterrestrial technology might look like and what signals are out there in the Universe.

Some astronomers support a generalized SETI approach which searches for anything in space that current scientific knowledge cannot naturally explain. Some, like us, continue to search for both intentional and unintentional technosignatures. The bottom line is that there are many avenues for detecting distant life. Since no one knows what approach is likely to succeed first, there is still a lot of exciting work left to do.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

New research has discovered that social media engagement is associated with lower appearance satisfaction, and engaging with posts by friends and family is more damaging than engaging with content posted by celebrities.

Published in the journal Body Image, the study is the first to use an experience sampling method (ESM) to examine how people compare themselves to others, both known and unknown, when using social media.

Led by academics from Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences in Austria and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in the UK, the study involved 50 adults, with an average age of 23, who provided feedback throughout the day over a two-week period.

Social media use is increasingly associated with negative body image but most academic research to date has involved laboratory tests or surveys, rather than measuring people's social media experiences as they occur.

To record the real-time impact of social media activity, the new study asked participants to use a wrist-worn wearable device to report their appearance satisfaction each time they engaged with social media content over the two-week period.

The study found that any social media engagement was significantly associated with lower appearance satisfaction. Additionally, it discovered that engaging with content posted by people the participants knew was more than twice as damaging as looking at content posted by strangers, such as influencers or celebrities.

On average, the participants used social media actively (for example creating Facebook posts, writing Tweets, sending WhatsApp messages) for 73 minutes per day, and passively (watching YouTube videos, reading Facebook posts, viewing Snapchat pictures) for 90 minutes per day.

Viren Swami, Professor of Social Psychology at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and the senior author of the study, said: "Image-focused social media platforms provide limitless opportunities for users to make negative comparisons and internalise appearance ideals, which in turn leads to more negative body image outcomes.

"Our study found that engaging with social media reduces appearance satisfaction regardless of who is posting the content and, most interestingly, looking at content posted by friends and family had a significantly stronger negative impact on appearance satisfaction compared to content posted by the likes of celebrities and influencers.

"One possible explanation is that people may perceive a post depicting appearance as being much more attainable if it comes from someone they know, adding a layer of expectation or pressure on the person engaging in the post. At the same time, people may be more critically engaged with posts by the likes of models and celebrities, and therefore perceive the images they share to be more unrealistic."

Stefan Stieger, Professor of Psychology at Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences and the lead author of the study, said: "Social media has become an integral part of everyone's lives and our results have shown that day-to-day social media use leads to more negative body image outcomes.

"Given these findings, practitioners should consider the extent of social media use when working to improve body satisfaction in individuals and wider populations. This could involve suggesting changes to the profiles and pages that someone follows, and reducing the time spent online. Additionally, there may be value in promoting social media content that encourages positive body image."

More information: Stefan Stieger et al, Engagement with social media content results in lower appearance satisfaction: An experience sampling study using a wrist-worn wearable and a physical analogue scale, Body Image (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.09.009
Archival records dont tell the whole story, but they can provide valuable information. Credit: Shutterstock

During the autumn of 1660, colonists in and around Quebec started to report some very strange occurrences.

In the sky they saw a man enveloped in flame and a canoe of fire. In the air they heard lamentable cries and a thunderous, horrible voice. A teenaged domestic servant said that she was being terrified by demons.

People who tried to chase the malevolent spirits away described phantasmal music as well as stones that detached themselves from walls and flew by themselves. The servant accused a miller of witchcraft. After showing signs of demonic possession, this servant was brought to the hospital where she was treated by nuns. The miller was imprisoned and later executed.

When people learn that my research examines these stories of demonic infestation, they often ask: But what was really happening?

My first answer is simple: I don't really know. My next answer is better: Whether we believe the stories on a surface level or not, we can learn about the people who told them by asking historical questions.

Reason and historical sources

As a historian, I remain "professionally agnostic" about questions that cannot be answered using reason and the historical record: I accept that some things simply cannot be fully explained with the evidence I can access.

But a wise respect for the limits to our knowledge does not mean we cannot know anything at all.

Historical investigation is an exercise in trying to understand the past as best we can from the evidence that remains. As historians have shown with studies of witchcraft, demons and demonic possession, reports of supposedly supernatural phenomena provide valuable insight into past societies and our own time.

Everyday lives of ordinary people

The poor and humble are just as worthy of our attention as the rich and famous. "Ordinary histories" can be challenging to research, though, without sources by or about regular folk.

Barbe Hallay, the servant suffering from demonic torments in New France, could not read or write. The only thing we have in her own hand is the "marque" (a sign that she left in place of her signature) on her marriage contract.

People's concern with demonic possession generated documents that allow us to know more about her life, with glimpses into her experiences as a servant in a manor house and a patient in a hospital.

Through the approach of microhistory, which looks up close at a small object of study in order to answer big questions, we can explore the deeper meanings and wider significance of her actions, and the actions of those around her.

How did colonists in New France make decisions? Their thoughts and deeds were shaped by the environment, as well as by ideologies of colonialism, class, gender and religion.

In studying how these forces influenced people in the past, we develop a clearer sense of how we too are subject to forces we might not control, or even perceive.

Seeing beyond the surface

Details of ordinary life appear almost accidentally in records of extraordinary occurrences. We can also consider these occurrences themselves to investigate a society's underlying beliefs and assumptions.

Marie Regnouard was the seigneuresse (a female head of a seigneurie) at the estate where Hallay worked. She left a remarkable account of her efforts to end the demonic torments using a rib bone from a recently deceased Jesuit priest. This account labels her actions as a "deliverance," a "relief," and a "healing."

Such words evoke health care, but the procedure itself resembles a ritual that Regnouard, as a lay woman, would not be expected to perform: an exorcism.

Exorcism, while controversial, has also become more mainstream in some Christian churches. Exorcism can cause real harm. In some cases, it may amount to a criminal offence.

Exorcisms were controversial in the past too. People struggled to discern the true causes of disruptive behaviour, and they disagreed about who was qualified to decide.

For early modern people, an exorcism served functions beyond freeing someone from an evil presence. It demonstrated the power of the exorcist, and of whatever spiritual system that exorcist represented.

Why did Regnouard perform a ritual that was an exorcism in all but name? She demonstrated the fulfilment of her duty to care for members of her household (a responsibility widely acknowledged by those around her) and the authority to draw upon both medical and religious knowledge (domains that were contested, especially for women).

In looking beyond the labels of Regnouard's account to the actions she performed, we remember to pay attention not only to what things are called, but also to what they mean.

Our demons, ourselves

We can study what frightens us to learn about ourselves. Just as the popularity of horror films today is probably a symptom of our cultural unrest, historical fears are signs of past anxieties.

French leaders had planned for New France to become a perfect society. With the establishment of the Compagnie de Nouvelle-France in 1627, the king and Cardinal Richelieu wrote that New France, with divine help and the example of good behaviour by colonists, would bring people to knowledge of the true God. A few years later, in the words of Jesuit priest Paul Le Jeune, it was to be "a new Jerusalem blessed by God, composed of citizens destined for heaven."

Then the settlers came to realize that Indigenous people would not simply assimilate to French norms as some back in France had arrogantly presumed, and trans-Atlantic migrants needed to compromise traditional beliefs and practices for new surroundings. They were isolated during much of the year and vulnerable to attack from other imperial powers and from Indigenous nations who were not allies of the French.

New France was precarious, and the colonists knew it. They did not know exactly if or when a final blow would fall. Such uncertainty can lead to deep anxiety.

What were the colonists expressing through their fears of a demonic infestation? Probably many things, with a core of insecurity in the colonial project and anxiety about the unknowable future of New France. In studying their fears of the supernatural realm, we can also learn about the more tangible world around them.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
In this undated photo provided by Tennessee Aquarium, an endangered barrens topminnow is seen at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tenn. The tiny, iridescent Barrens topminnow spent more than 40 years in endangered species limbo  under on-and-off review but never officially listed as endangered. It was finally given federal protection in 2019, but its future is still in doubt. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says they hope to propose designated critical habitat by the end of 2022. Credit: Casey Phillips/Tennessee Aquarium via AP

It was a crisp fall day when biologist Bernie Kuhajda drove to a nondescript trickle of water running through a Middle Tennessee cow pasture to try to keep a small, brightly colored fish from becoming extinct.

The tricklelittle more than a few big mud puddleswas one of the last bodies of water left with a population of Barrens topminnows, and it was drying up.

So Kuhajda and his team donned waders and dragged a large sieve through the muddy pools, collecting 64 of the small, iridescent killifish to take back to the Tennessee Aquarium, where they maintain an "ark population" as a hedge against their possible disappearance in the wild.

"If we hadn't rescued these 64, this entire genetic population of Barrens topminnows would have disappeared," Kuhajda said. "This species would have been one step closer to extinction, and it's not many steps away now."

That was in 2016, and though those fish were saved, the fate of the species is far from certain.

The Barrens topminnow spent more than 40 years in endangered species limbounder an on-and-off review in which the fish's chances of being saved suffered from the acrimony created during a highly-publicized fight to save another tiny Southeastern fish, the snail darter. The topminnow was finally given federal protection in 2019, but its future is still in doubt partially because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has not defined its critical habitatthe areas that must be protected in order for it to recover.

Over the decades, its distribution has diminished to a handful of springs and streams around Manchester, where the annual Bonnaroo music festival is held. In that time it has been both the victim of political backlash against the Endangered Species Act as well as the beneficiary of herculean efforts to prevent its extinction.

A juvenile endangered Barrens Topminnow is handled in a nest in this undated photo provided by Tennessee Aquarium. The tiny, iridescent Barrens topminnow spent more than 40 years in endangered species limbo  under on-and-off review but never officially listed as endangered. It was finally given federal protection in 2019, but its future is still in doubt. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says they hope to propose designated critical habitat by the end of 2022. Credit: Tennessee Aquarium via AP

One of its champions is biologist Pat Rakes, who researched the Barrens topminnow for his master's degree thesis at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and now co-directs the nonprofit Conservation Fisheries. That is one of several institutions that has maintained ark populations. Rakes said there are many good reasons to protect a small fish that many people might deem unimportant, and perhaps the best is because all aquatic animals and plants work together to keep the ecosystem healthy.

As Rakes puts it, "You don't throw away any parts if you are tinkering with the machine, or you might not be able to put it back together."

Barrens topminnows grow to about 4 inches (10 centimeters) and live about three years. They eat bugs and small aquatic animals. The breeding males are brightly colored with red-orange spots on an iridescent blue-green body and bluish fins with yellow and black edges.

"They're absolutely gorgeous," said Margaret Townsend. "They look like jewelry, like they are covered in gemstones."

Townsend is an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, which recently threatened to sue the wildlife service over its failure to designate critical habitat. The service has asked for patience, writing on Sept. 7 that it is "working diligently" and expects to submit a proposed critical habitat by the end of the year.

Barrens topminnows are named for where they liveTennessee's Barrens Plateau, so called for the relative lack of trees. Small waterfalls and cascades isolate the waters of the plateau, keeping downstream fish from invading the topminnow's territory. But sometime in the 1960s or 1970s, the Western mosquitofish was introduced in a misguided effort to control mosquitosthey eat mosquito larvae, but so do Barrens topminnows. Everywhere the mosquitofish has been introduced, the topminnow has disappeared.

"They eat all the topminnows' eggs, all their larvae, and they harass the Barrens topminnoweven though the Barrens topminnow is biggerand nip their fins off," Rakes said.

In this undated photo provided by Tennessee Aquarium, curator of fishes Matt Hamilton, left, and aquarist Adam Johnson carry oxygenated bags filled with endangered barrens topminnows to a Middle Tennessee release site. The tiny, iridescent Barrens topminnow spent more than 40 years in endangered species limbo  under on-and-off review but never officially listed as endangered. It was finally given federal protection in 2019, but its future is still in doubt. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says they hope to propose designated critical habitat by the end of 2022. Credit: Tennessee Aquarium via AP

Recognizing the threats of habitat loss from farming and development as well as predation by mosquitofish, the Fish and Wildlife Service first proposed listing the Barrens topminnow as endangered in 1977. That was shortly after the Endangered Species Act was passed. It was also smack in the middle of the acrimonious snail darter battle that held up construction of a Tennessee Valley Authority dam for over two years.

The snail darter fight weakened public and political appetite for listing another small Tennessee fish as endangered. The listing stalled, with the Barrens topminnow popping up occasionally in the National Register over the ensuing decades as being under review.

In the 1990s and 2000s, the Fish and Wildlife Service inked conservation agreements with farmers like Raymond Cooper that sought to protect topminnow habitat by fencing cattle out of the few springs where they still lived. Cooper said in a telephone interview that he still has his cattle fenced out, even though the agreement has expired, because it was the right thing to do "for the stream's sake."

"As far as I know, it's still hatching topminnows," he said. "As long as I own the farm, it will be protected. But at 79, I'm not going to own it forever."

Barrens topminnows might have gone extinct already if it weren't for the efforts of biologists like Kuhajda to collect them, breed them in captivity, and return them to the wild in an attempt to reestablish viable populations.

The struggle to save the Barrens topminnow is bigger than just one little fish, Kuhajda said. The American Southeast has the greatest aquatic biodiversity of anywhere in the temperate world, with an amazing array of fish, mussels, aquatic snails, crawdads and aquatic insects, like mayflies and dragonflies.

"It's part of our natural heritage here in the Southeast and most folks don't know about it," he said. "Most of these animals you find nowhere else except right here. It's something to be proud of."

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is on a visit to Vietnam.

A "new wave of repression" in Vietnam is jeopardising progress in tackling climate change, human rights groups told UN chief Antonio Guterres Friday as he began a visit to Hanoi.

Vietnam, which has an economy heavily reliant on coal, has committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

But its authoritarian government has also handed down prison terms to four environmental human rights defenders this year, sentencing them on "trumped-up" charges of tax evasion, the rights organisations said in an open letter to Guterres.

"These political prisoners are emblematic victims of a new wave of repression in Vietnam which, through a combination of threats and judicial harassment, is threatening progress in combatting climate change," read the letter, signed by 15 rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Guterres, who is in the capital to mark the 45th anniversary of Vietnam joining the UN, warned in July that humanity was facing "collective suicide" over the climate crisis.

The letter urged Guterres to "publicly call on the Vietnamese government to release" Nguy Thi Khanh, Mai Phan Loi, Bach Hung Duong, and Dang Dinh Bach during his visit.

Khanh, a globally recognised climate and energy campaigner who won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018, was sentenced to two years in jail in June.

Founder of Green ID, one of Vietnam's most prominent environmental organisations, Khanh had been among the few in the communist nation challenging the government's plans to increase coal power.

Dang Dinh Bach, a community lawyer and NGO worker, worked to inform local people whose health and livelihoods were threatened by coal projects and other dirty industries. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

The rights groups urged Vietnam to clarify the tax obligations of NGOs, warning the current regulations were "open to politically motivated attacks on civil society organisations".

At a ceremony commemorating the 45th anniversary of the country's accession to the UN on Friday, Guterres reminded Vietnam of its obligations "to ensure respect for fundamental freedoms including of expressions of association, to protect civil society".

It should work "to bring these rights to life and to ensure the full engagement from journalists, human rights defenders to environmental advocates."

Earlier, the UN chief met with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and visited Ho Chi Minh's memorial.

 2022 AFP
PLATTSBURGH  Candidates in the 45th Senate District traded barbs over interest group ratings in a debate to be televised this weekend on Mountain Lake PBS.

My opponent got the lowest rating by the New York League of Conservation Voters of all the senators in New York state, said Democratic challenger Jean Lapper of Queensbury. The representative of the Adirondacks got the lowest rate of all the senators. Thats unconscionable.

Incumbent Sen Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, touted his A+ rating from the National Rifle Association.

My opponent didnt bother to fill out the NRA questionnaire, so she got a question mark (no grade), Stec said in the hour-long debate that will be broadcast on Mountain Lake PBS and at mountainlake.org at 8 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday.

The debate, taped on Wednesday, also will be posted on YouTube.

How to watch Mountain Lake PBS will broadcast and hour-long 45th Senate District debate between state Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, and Democratic challenger Jean Lapper at 8 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday. The debate also will be broadcast at mountainlake.org and will be posted on YouTube.

Candidates disagreed on almost every issue.

One exception was the states plan to reduce the threshold for farmworker overtime from 60 to 40 hours, which both candidates oppose.

Stec opposes the states $4.2 billion bond act, which is on the general election ballot, while Lapper supports it.

If I believed that the $4.2 billion were setting aside would go to good infrastructure like water and sewer  that is money well spent, and we should be doing more to fund that, Stec said. My concern is that this $4.2 billion is going to be spent inefficiently.

Lapper said it is the duty of legislators to make sure the money is spent wisely.

I believe it (the bond act) will be a good chance for the North Country, creating immediate jobs as well as long-standing jobs, she said.

Lapper said the states 2019 bail reform law should be retained, with possibly some changes.

Im the only candidate in this race who thinks that no one should be kept in jail because of an inability to pay, she said.

No one said that someone who stole a loaf of bread should go to jail, Stec retorted.

The 2019 bail reform law ended the practice of requiring cash bail for the release of those arrested for misdemeanor and non-violent felony offenses, in most cases.

Some changes to the 2019 law, providing more discretion for judges, were enacted as part of this years state budget.

Stec said that he co-sponsored legislation to repeal the 2019 bail reform law.

I think our bail reform statewide has been a disaster, he said.

Lapper said legislators should attempt to find solutions rather than criticize.

Clearly, public safety needs to guide us, she said.

Gun control law

Stec said the states recent gun control law that addresses carrying weapons in sensitive places is unconstitutional, and he is confident lawsuits to overturn it will be successful.

A lot of what that law did is unconstitutional, he said.

Lapper said some clarifications to the law should be made to stipulate that hunting can be continued in the Adirondack Park and that weapons can be fired at historical reenactments.

She said that state government, unlike its usual practice, reacted quickly to the U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year that overturned a previous state gun law.

This time they reacted very quickly, she said. And, as a result, there are some flaws in the law and some clarifications that need to be made.

Candidates responded to questions from Pat Bradley of WAMC Northeast Radio and Cara Chapman of North Country Public Radio, and questions that viewers submitted in advance.

Abortion rights

There was a series of questions about abortion.

I am fully in support of access to reproductive health care for women, Lapper said.

Im right-to-life with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother, Stec said.

Lapper said the U.S. Supreme Courts recent overturning of Roe v. Wade was wrong.

Its unconscionable that we are saying it should be decided state-by-state, she said.

Stec said that a recent state law in reaction to the Supreme Court ruling prevents domestic abusers from being criminally charged for the death of an unborn child that is killed in the process of assaulting the mother.

Formerly, that person could be charged with the homicide of that unborn child. Now, under the new state law, that is no longer an offense they can be charged with, only the offense of assault of the mother.

Lapper said she supports a proposed constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights and contraception rights.

Legislation on the amendment passed once, and must be passed in a second consecutive legislative session to be put to a statewide vote for approval.

Stec, who voted against it, said he is concerned about the wording of the proposed amendment, known as the Equal Rights Amendment.

I can see that it is, again, opening the door for more late-term abortions.  If it was worded more definitely, than perhaps Id give it another look, he said.

Yes, constitutional amendments will be more broad and subject to interpretation. That is the nature of them, Lapper said.

Stec said state funding should not be used to assist women coming from other states to have abortions in New York and for security for physicians who perform the abortions.

I am opposed to that, and I believe that most of my constituents are too, he said.

Lapper, without specifically saying whether state funding should be used, said it is important that women from other states are able to come to New York for abortions, and that physicians who perform the abortions have security.

In New York, we need to be a leader when we protect women and we provide access, she said.

Stec is running for reelection to a second two-year term in the Senate.

He previously served four two-year terms in the state Assembly, and before that was a Queensbury town supervisor and town councilman.

Lapper is a certified public accountant and small business financial adviser from Queensbury.

The 45th District includes all of Warren, Essex, Clinton and Franklin counties, from Hudson Falls north in Washington County, a portion of St. Lawrence County, and a sliver of Hamilton County.

Election Day is Nov. 8. Early voting is Oct.29-Nov. 6.
ATLANTIC CITY  Boardwalk merchants came to a Friday morning Clean and Safe Atlantic City meeting to ask for more police patrols and lighting on the Boardwalk and around parking lots behind their stores.

The Boardwalk is the backbone for tourists, said Atlantic City Merchants Association President Amer Kashmiri. It is such a shame in the afternoon at 1 p.m. tourists ask, Is it safe to walk on the Boardwalk?

Acting Police Chief James Sarkos  who said he was recently notified by state Civil Service Commission he will be the next chief  said changes are coming to the citys Police Department that will help improve safety on the Boardwalk, Atlantic Avenue and in the neighborhoods.

The city has just found out it will receive a $1.875 million federal Department of Justice multi-year grant to fund an additional 15 full-time police officers, Sarkos said.

That grant will be rolling out in the near future. It will take a few months, Sarkos said. We hope by summer to have a 4 p.m. to 12 midnight NCO (Neighborhood Coordination Officer) shift to complement the daytime shift now working, he said.

Homeless and mentally ill people remain on the Boardwalk, Kashmiri said, and groups of juveniles harass store owners.

Our big thing is lack of lights, said Muhammed Usman, owner of Moon Traders, a souvenir shop that was burgled recently in the 1600 block on the Boardwalk.

Usman said lighting needs to be installed behind Boardwalk stores to prevent thieves from having time and access to break into their stores through back doors.

In one month, four to five (Boardwalk) stores got robbed, Usman said.

It was the 13th Clean and Safe meeting, said committee organizer City Council Vice President Kaleem Shabazz. The group remains focused on getting help for people with mental health issues and those who are homeless, fixing ongoing lighting problems, and getting repeat quality-of-life offenders such as shoplifters off the streets.

The federal grant for more officers is in addition to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority this week setting aside $1.5 million to continue funding for police in the tourism district.

It will now fund 30 Class II police officers and five full-time officers, Sarkos said.

Class II special officers exercise full police powers, carry a firearm while on duty and work up to 20 hours per week.

The department is still working to choose the best new cameras to buy with $5 million in additional state aid, he said. And new license plate readers are installed at all entrances and exits to the city, and will soon be hooked up and working, Sarkos said.

Resorts Casino Hotel President and CEO Mark Giannantonio, who is also president of the New Jersey Casino Association, said there is no time to waste in making the city cleaner and safer.

There are significant challenges in the market, and the economy is already moving into a recession that is going to be deep, Giannantonio said.

We are already feeling it in October. Everybody needs to be healthy here, including small businesses, he said.

Atlantic City has to be more competitive with other gaming and tourist destinations, and that means the ongoing lighting, cleanliness and safety issues must be addressed once and for all, Giannantonio said.

Las Vegas is the busiest place on the planet currently, Giannantonio said. Clearly we will and can aspire to be more like Las Vegas in a smaller footprint, and must.

Later Friday afternoon, 13 formerly Special Police Officers were sworn in as full-time officers to help fill current openings.

That brings the total number of full-time officers to 270 from 257, Sarkos said.

We are now four shy of our total authorized number of 274, Sarkos said, adding the department loses officers to other jurisdictions that pay more.

Special officers have to work for a year before they can be hired full-time, Sarkos said.
ATLANTIC CITY  The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority supported two planned cannabis businesses in the city on Tuesday, part of a growing number in the works for the resort.

Members also approved new apartments at a former rooming house, one officials described as a notorious problem property.

The board approved use variances for a dispensary and consumption lounge at 3112 Atlantic Ave., and to a proposed cannabis growing facility that will take up most of a block at 1705 Atlantic Ave.

The CRDA serves as the planning authority within the tourism district of Atlantic City. It has already supported plans for other cannabis businesses, starting with a vote in April for a dispensary on Pacific Avenue, just days before the first legal cannabis sales took place in New Jersey.

Modia Butler, the chairman of the CRDA Board of Directors, said he expects more cannabis applications to come. CRDA staff said there have been four applications put forward this summer for cannabis businesses, including the two approved on Tuesday.

The process of applying has become easier, with the adoption of an Atlantic City Green Zone to allow cannabis businesses, in hopes of drawing new tourism revenue and creating jobs. Last month, the CRDA supported that proposal, which was adopted by City Council.

The zone runs from Boston to Maryland avenues, including both sides of Atlantic and Pacific avenues. It also includes the Orange Loop district running from Pacific Avenue to just shy of the Boardwalk, between New York and Tennessee avenues.

The zone makes cannabis sales, cultivation and other businesses a permitted use. City officials said the zone was drawn to avoid residential neighborhoods and the Boardwalk.

Lance Landgraf, the director of planning and development for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, told the board on Tuesday that the two applications approved fall within the Green Zone and so would not need a use variance under the current zoning, but they must be decided based on the zoning in place when the applications were submitted.

The first application was from Legal Distribution LLC for a micro dispensary at 3112-3114 Atlantic Ave., a building that once served as a masonic hall. According to Landgraf, one of the principals in the LLC, restauranteur Lou Freedman, already had approval for a restaurant on the first floor.

Freedman, of Margate, owns a quarter of the business, as do Rashon White of Egg Harbor Township, Holly Pugh of Absecon and Jason Lentz of Atlantic City.

The business would include a consumption area on site, as proposed.

Board member William Mullen asked how that was allowed under New Jerseys rules against smoking inside. Landgraf said licensed cannabis businesses are exempt from those rules, but that the business would need to install filters, and would not be allowed to vent the cannabis-smelling air directly outside.

The building would be renovated, but the size and shape will not change much under the plans. It does not have on-site parking.

The second application would not have on-site sales or consumption, but will be a much larger project.

The CRDA board approved a use variance for Starboard Enterprises NJ LLC of Exton, Pennsylvania, for a cannabis growing and manufacturing site on a vacant parcel adjacent to Martin Luther King Boulevard.

The principal owners of the company are both of Atlantic City, according to details filed as part of the application process. Jon Cohn has close to 45% of the LLC, while Craig McHugh has a little over 22%.

The proposed building would be 125,000 square feet.

According to Landgraf, the cannabis grown there would be sold at other dispensaries, not at this site. There is no application for a retail license for the property. But there are plans for some public access on the ground floor, where tourists, neighbors and residents will be able to learn more about how cannabis is grown and prepared.

That proposal will still need site plan approval, he said, which will include details on security, lighting, ventilation and other issues. Landgraf said the applicant will be expected to ensure passers-by will not get a whiff of that distinctive cannabis aroma. He said the applicant testified that other similar facilities have improved neighborhood safety because of the cameras and increased security.

Both proposals received the support of Mayor Marty Small Sr. and the city, Landgraf said. The Starboard Enterprises proposal did receive some criticism at a review and public hearing on the application, Landgraf said, with an attorney representing a neighboring property owner testifying that the proposal was a poor fit for the neighborhood.

For now, there are two licensed cannabis dispensaries in the city, each selling only to those with medical marijuana cards.

At the same meeting, the CRDA also gave final site plan approval to a plan to convert a former three-story motel at 2707 Pacific Ave. to apartments, to include adding a fourth floor.

Its nice to get off cannabis for a little bit, and move on to some real land use development, said Landgraf.

The plan calls for a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and studio apartments.

He said the building had been the Fox Manor Hotel.

The board may recall this site as one of the worst rooming house sites in the city, he said. It was shut down by the city. This is, in my opinion, a really good adaptive use of the structure.

The city shuttered the hotel in July of 2018, citing multiple code violations. Neighbors told The Press of Atlantic City at the time that the property was plagued with prostitution, gang activity and drug sales, but residents of the hotel said they looked after each other.

The building is close to The Tropicana, and remains boarded up.

Most of the variances requested as part of the application are for setbacks that already exist at the building, Landgraf said.

According to the application filed with the CRDA, Bradley Simon and Shraga Pier, both of Passaic in Passaic County, each own 50% of Atlantic Beach Properties LLC, which in the applicant for the project.

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the applicant on when construction might begin on the new apartments.
One of four people involved in the Aug. 22, 2020, shooting death of 45-year-old Sylvester Eddings was sentenced Wednesday for his part in the conspiracy.

Cordell Lashell McDowell, 34, received a 20-year prison sentence in the Iowa Department of Corrections during a hearing in Scott County District Court. District Court Judge Patrick McElyea presided over the sentencing.

McDowell had initially been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony.

On Oct. 29, 2021, during a hearing in district court, McDowell pleaded guilty to one count of the lesser included charge of willful injury resulting in serious injury, a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of ten years.

Mcdowell also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a forcible felony, a Class C felony, for which he also was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

McDowell's sentence on each count will run consecutive, or back-to-back.

According to Davenport Police affidavits and district court electronic records, three others were involved in the conspiracy: Taneshia Nashay Coleman, 39; Damarcus Laron Liddell, 35; and Derrick Dewayne Hargrett, 36.

The four planned to lure Eddings to a Davenport apartment where they would rob him.

Coleman had been texting with Liddell, both discussing the details of the robbery via text. Coleman let Liddell know when Eddings arrived.

When Eddings arrived at the apartment  6537 N. Harrison St., Apt. 5  Coleman let Liddell, McDowell and Hargrett know and let the three men into the apartment.

Surveillance video shows the three men entering the apartment.

Hargrett was armed with a handgun. Eddings was pistol-whipped and shot during the incident.

Eddings, whose last known address was in Moline, was taken to Genesis Medical Center East, Davenport, where he died.

The incident took place at 6:45 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, 2020.

Coleman had been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. However, on Dec. 8, 2021, she pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge. The murder and robbery charges will be dismissed during her sentencing hearing, scheduled for Oct. 26.

Conspiracy to commit a forcible felony is a Class C felony that carries a prison sentence of 10 years.

Coleman was being held Thursday night in the Scott County Jail on a cash-only bond of $100,000.

Liddell is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. His jury trial is scheduled for Jan. 23 in district court. He was being held Thursday night in the Scott County Jail on cash-only bond of $1 million.

Hargrett also is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and felon in possession of a firearm. His trial also is scheduled for Jan. 23 in district court. He was being held without bond Thursday night in the Scott County Jail.

First-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison under Iowa law.

(This story has updated to correct the charges to which McDowell pleaded guilty and length of the sentence.)
Law enforcement is asking people to avoid the area of the 500 Block of North Cherry Street in Morrison, IL, due to an ongoing investigation.

There is no active threat to the community, police assure.

The Whiteside County Sheriff's Office and Morrison Police Department are assisting the Illinois State Police with an incident that took place in the early hours of the morning.

An an area near Northside Elementary School is currently closed while officers continue to process the scene. Details of what occurred are expected in coming hours.
An Illinois State Police trooper shot a person early Friday in Morrison during the execution of a search warrant.

A state police Special Weapons Team executed the warrant around 5:30 a.m. at a residence in the 600 block of North Cherry Street, according to the state police. The warrant was for possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and possession of contraband in a penal institution.

As they were serving the warrant, troopers heard shots inside the house. They found the person named in the warrant, who was armed with a gun, according to the state police. One of the troopers fired upon and wounded that individual.

As police continued to search the residence, they found another person, a female, who was suffering from a gunshot wound, the state police said. She was in a different part of the house from where the officerinvolved shooting occurred, police said.

Both of the wounded were transported to a hospital. Neither their identities nor their conditions were being released Friday afternoon.

The members of the state police team were wearing body cameras, police said.

The officer who shot the individual is a four-year veteran of the Special Weapons Team, the state police said, but did not release further details on the troopers identity.

The incident is being investigated by the Illinois State Police Division of Internal Investigation. When the inquiry is complete, the evidence gathered will be submitted to the Whiteside County States Attorneys Office for review.
Pleasant Valley junior high school students are getting some ninja training.

Students, staff and administration this week unveiled a new obstacle course park at Pleasant Valley Junior High, which has been in the works for several years.

"I think this park is really nice because it provides us with a fun way to exercise, and we always feel like we can come here whenever we want," eighth-grader Elise Hiatt said Wednesday at the course's ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The course, inspired by the popular reality show, "American Ninja Warrior," contains 15 pieces of equipment. It aims to challenge users' strength, agility, endurance and overall fitness while promoting an active lifestyle.

"It's a challenge that teaches our kids and community about what it takes to be a healthy being," Superintendent Brian Strusz said. "I think about what our wellness teachers have done at the junior high when it comes to P.E. (physical education)  it's not a typical P.E. class.

"They want to teach our kids about being healthy and in tune with your body, and I think this course truly does that."

Jason Vice, a junior high wellness teacher, said the project began in 2019 after brainstorming about how to get kids more active, both in and outside of school.

"We came up with a fundraiser, and kids and the community jumped onboard  then COVID hit, and it all kind of stopped," he said. "It took a bit to go back in. We had the money and support, but it took some time. The kids came out and they did a great job. They love it and have fun with it."

Vice gave a shout-out to the P.E. staff and architect Patti Hoffman for their help in bringing their ideas to life.

"We seized the moment," he said. "It really was a great opportunity for kids and the community to be physically active. It's been a blast."

Like Vice, junior high Principal Mike Peakin commended P.E. staff during the ceremony. He also took time to thank senior Daniel Zietlow, who built the Gaga ball pit addition to the course as part of his Eagle Scout project.

"I want to add that our P.E. staff has done a really great job of modeling what a healthy student should be in terms of your physical and mental well-being," Peakin said. "It's events like this, where our community comes together for our kids; it just makes Pleasant Valley such an awesome place to live and raise our families. So thank you to everyone involved for making this possible."

Freshman Alayna Arndt volunteered to help set up and mulch the course and enjoyed seeing it finally put to use.

"Gym has kind of always been something that's 'forced fun', but this is actually fun," she said. "Its cool to see kids actually getting up and wanting to do these things and be active."

Students self-fundraised to help pay for the course, alongside contributions from community donors. Additionally, the Wellmark Foundation gifted a $15,000 grant.

"There are a number of people who have helped us make this possible," Strusz said. "Wellmark's mission is to help students in Iowa become well-being people, and they saw us as an example of that. But more importantly, two groups that really helped with this was our class of 2024 and 2025 and our wellness teachers, to have the idea to make this all possible."

Sara and Hovey Tinsman sent their three children through the district. They decided to donate to the project to extend this new opportunity for current district students.

"Our kids all would have benefited more from having opportunities, especially in junior high, to exert some energy outside the school building," Hovey Tinsman said.

As a mother of children with sensory issues, Sara Tinsley said she thought of it as a great way to give back to the Pleasant Valley community.

"I really believe that if kids have a place where they can get out some of their extra energy, they can focus better in school," she said. "That, and we wish our kids had that opportunity."

The course is open to the public when school isn't in session. Hawkeye Paving Corporation, Liqui-Grow and Hoffman were all involved in constructing the course.
The city of Eldridge is asking the state auditor to do an unscheduled review of city records.

"It's a personnel matter, and its confidential," Eldridge Mayor Frank King said when asked the reason for the audit.

The City Council this week approved a resolution 4-0 to request auditing services from the Iowa Auditor's Office. One council member was absent.

King and the city's attorney declined to elaborate on the request and whether it was related to any missing funds and/or city employees. Asked specifically whether an Eldridge employee has been placed on administrative leave, they declined to answer.

"Hopefully, the Auditor's Office will be able to shed more light on this when they come to do their job," King said.

At the start of the Monday meeting, council members approved removing two closed sessions from the agenda, according to meeting minutes.

One of those sessions was to "evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered." The second was to "discuss the purchase or sale of particular real estate only where premature disclosure could be reasonably expected to increase the price."

Those are two exceptions to the law requiring governments hold open meetings in Iowa.

The City Council has met for four closed sessions since Sept. 6, including for personnel and for real estate transactions.

But it's unclear if those prior closed sessions are related to the audit request.

For example, on Oct. 11, the council returned from closed session to approve City Administrator Tony Rupe negotiating a job offer for an assistant city administrator candidate.
A Scott County correctional officer is on administrative leave and facing criminal charges, including at least one felony.

Kevin Michael Delveau, 32, of Davenport, faces charges of first-degree burglary and domestic abuse assault, first offense, according to Scott County court records. He additionally is accused of two counts of violating an order of protection.

The allegations underlying the charges relate to Delveaus actions at about 12:44 a.m. on Tuesday at a residence in the 1100 block of East Columbia Avenue, Davenport, court records show.

Delveau, who has been a correctional officer since October of 2018, was on administrative leave as of Thursday, Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane said.

None of the criminal acts for which Delveau is accused occurred while he was working in his county job, Lane said.

Authorities allege that Delveau was intoxicated when he arrived at the residence and demanded to be let inside. However, he should not have been on the property, records show, due to an order of protection.

Delveau then allegedly forced his way into the home by breaking the glass on a back door and unlocking it. He then confronted the person who holds the protective order, according to court documents.

He allegedly yelled obscenities at the person and is accused of threatening the person, court records state.

The Scott County Attorneys Office has recused itself from the case, which is instead being handled by the Iowa Attorney Generals Office, according to court records.

Delveau was being held in the Dubuque County Jail, rather than the Scott County Jail, the sheriff said.

His bail has been set at $55,000 cash only, and his next court date was scheduled for Oct. 28, records show.
The opening of the first two licensed cannabis infusers in Illinois shows that having startup money and making business connections are crucial to overcome some of the obstacles facing the industry.

Infusers buy cannabis oil from growers, and infuse it into edibles, lotions and other products. Both Contract Canna and Krown LLC self-financed their startups, and formed partnerships with established companies, while many of their competitors are still on the sidelines, trying to get investments or loans.

Contract Canna, licensed as MME Illinois LLC in Hazel Crest and already operating for three weeks, is selling its Dibz gummies in some 30 licensed cannabis stores, and Krown is making its Enliven brand of tarts, mints and cookies in downstate Pekin.

But both companies have also contracted to make products for other companies. Krown will make fruit-flavored gummies for Oregon-based Wyld. Contract Canna will make cannabis-infused beverages for another yet-to-be-named brand, and is certified in good manufacturing practices to offer manufacturing, packing and distribution.

The contract work not only gives them quicker income, but access to experience and expertise in the field. Being self-financed by family and friends, the two companies can also make decisions quickly.

We have knowledge of how to produce the product. They can focus on sales and marketing, Contract Canna CEO and co-founder Ben Dreyfuss said.

State regulators classified both infusers as preferred social equity applicants. Dreyfuss said Contract Canna qualified because he and his father come from qualifying areas in the south suburbs near Hazel Crest.

While beverages make up a tiny percentage of the cannabis market, its a niche that has potential for growth. Lagunitas, for instance, has started selling HiFi Hops, a nonalcoholic cannabis infused sparkling water, in California.

Dreyfuss said its unfortunate that the other 52 infusers have been unable to open, mostly because of delays in licensing and a lack of capital.

Money is the biggest thing, because the delay in the Illinois market and economic factors caused money to go to other states, he said. COVID hit, money dried up. Now its drying up again because people see whats happening with share prices of cannabis companies (going down).

Krown held a ribbon-cutting Tuesday to mark the opening of its 13,000-square-foot industrial kitchen. Krown majority owner is Allison Dries, who previously worked in chemical and manufacturing engineering for Caterpillar Inc.

Using their own savings and investments from family and friends, Dries and co-founder Eric Labraaten bought an old warehouse and converted it into their dream cannabis kitchen.

To meet the states preferences for social equity businesses, the majority of Krowns 17 employees had a prior minor cannabis arrest or conviction, or came from a neighborhood that was poor or had a high rate of marijuana arrests.

Were offering high-paying jobs to people who may not have had those opportunities, Dries said. Thats a long-term thing.

While the state recently reversed its policy and allowed infusers to make vape cartridges, Dries said she has no plan to do so for now, considering much larger companies make some 200 cartridges on the market.

We want to be much more niche than that, she said.

Krown aims to make low-dose edibles that, as required by law, are laboratory-tested for potency and contaminants.

Were offering a safe, reputable amount of THC, so you can very closely control your experience, Dries said. Start with a low dose and go slow.

However, the Department of Agriculture decreed that infusers may not extract cannabis concentrate from flower  they have to buy concentrates from growers. Cultivators can make their own infused products, so when they sell to an infuser, theyre selling to their competitor.

Infusers may also buy and process products made from hemp, such as CBD, but may not make intoxicating compounds from it, such as delta-9 THC, the main component that gets users high, or similar knockoffs such as delta-8 THC or THC-O.

Since 2021, the state Department of Agriculture has issued 88 craft grow licenses, 54 infuser licenses and 189 transporter licenses, and approved 10 community colleges to offer cannabis job training.

Only one craft grower, Star Buds in Rockford, has announced its opening so far, though another dozen are expected soon.

Most new state licensees are far behind, in size, time and name recognition. The 21 cultivation centers originally approved to operate under the medical cannabis program generally began operating around 2015.

Agriculture Director Jerry Costello II welcomed the openings.

We have seen this industry adapt and overcome a number of challenges these past two years, he said, and with roughly two dozen others close to opening their doors, its a time of great momentum and growth in the Illinois cannabis field.
Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, a 2024 presidential prospect, is headed back to Iowa next week to campaign on behalf of elected Republican women in the state.

Haley, a former governor of South Carolina who served as former President Donald Trumps ambassador to the U.N., will appear at rallies in Davenport and Cedar Rapids on Tuesday with Republican women seeking re-election in the Nov. 8 general election, including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

The rallies are being hosted by Winning For Women Action Fund as part of its Women on a Mission tour. The Super PAC is dedicated to electing Republican women. It and related groups raised more than $16 million through the third quarter, according to a news release.

Iowa grows strong women, and Gov. Reynolds, (Iowa U.S.) Sen. (Joni) Ernst, and Reps. Miller-Meeks and Hinson prove just that, Haley said in a statement. Whether it be in Des Moines or Washington, these ladies arent afraid to put up a fight against (President) Joe Bidens reckless agenda.

Haley has been a regular presence in the state over the last two years, campaigning for Republicans up and down the ballot.

Reynolds faces Democrat Deidre DeJear, a businesswoman from Des Moines.

Hinson is running in Iowas new 2nd Congressional District against Democratic state Sen. Liz Mathis of Hiawatha. Miller-Meeks is running in Iowas new 1st Congressional District, and faces an election challenge from Democrat Christina Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor and state representative from Iowa City.

DEJEAR RELEASES NEW AD: Democratic gubernatorial nominee Deidre DeJear released her second TV ad on Thursday.

A campaign spokeswoman said the ad will air in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids TV markets. It was posted on social media Thursday.

In the ad, DeJear states I couldnt be more different from Kim Reynolds.

Are you sick of politics? Enough to surprise the so-called experts? DeJear says. Show them Iowa doesnt want a governor who lets states outlaw abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, or take millions from public schools and give it to private schools.

Reynolds has petitioned to lift an injunction on the states fetal heartbeat law, which would ban abortions after about six weeks, with limited exceptions for medical emergencies, including threats to the mother's life, rape, incest, and fetal abnormality.

Reynolds has also pushed a proposal to provide taxpayer-funded scholarships to families to seek education at a private school.

DeJear goes on to say shell work across the aisle with people from both major political parties to create jobs, invest in public schools, and stop the radical nonsense, alluding to Reynolds push to restrict abortion access in the state.

Reynolds campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday on the ad.

REPUBLICAN RUNNING TO UNSEAT LONGTIME STATE TREASURER RELEASES ADS: A Republican state lawmaker running to unseat the longest-tenure state treasurer in U.S. history released two new TV ads.

Roby Smith, from Davenport, has served as a state legislator since 2010 and owns an advertising and publication business. He is running to unseat Democrat Michael Fitzgerald, from Waukee, who has been Iowas treasurer since 1983.

In one ad, titled Never Misses, Smiths wife and children say the Republican state senator "will never miss a chance to save taxpayer dollars, improve financial literacy and help Iowa families afford college.

Smith has touted tax cuts enacted by state GOP lawmakers and Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2018 and 2022.

In another ad, titled Losing Interest, the ad says Fitzgerald failed to advocate for tax policies that eliminated taxes on retirement income for Iowa seniors. The ad also criticizes Fitzgerald for a recent rating downgrade of the states college savings plan. In its annual ratings, Chicago-based financial services firm Morningstar lowered its rating of College Savings Iowa to neutral, which is the fourth of five ratings and which the company describes as average.

Fitzgeralds campaign said the ads misrepresent the responsibilities and programs of the state treasurers office.

Fitzgerald, during a taping of Iowa Press on Iowa PBS earlier this month, said the treasurer is responsible for managing the states finances  not weighing in on tax policy. He also said he believes part of the downgrade was the result of miscommunication, and that he believes Morningstar will soon move the programs rating back up.

It demonstrates that Mr. Smith does not understand the office he is running for, according to a statement from Fitzgeralds campaign. Additionally, it shows his willingness to politicize a program that helps Iowans save for college. As a fiduciary, that is reckless.

The ads will air on broadcast in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids TV markets and expand to the Quad Cities and Sioux City markets on Monday, according to a spokesman for the Republican Party of Iowa.

Fitzgeralds office on Thursday announced the launch of an app that Iowans can download to open a College Savings Iowa account, make contributions, review investments and check transaction history from their mobile device.

The READYSAVE 529 app can by downloaded on the Apple and Google Play app stores. For details, go to CollegeSavingsIowa.com.

GRASSLEY ANNOUNCES COALITION OF WOMEN SUPPORTING HIS CAMPAIGN: Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley announced a coalition of women from Iowas 99 counties supporting his re-election, adding to coalitions of farmers and veterans he has announced in recent months.

In a news release, the campaign said Grassley has worked on legislation that benefits women, including maternal health care and legislation aimed at protecting victims of sexual assault. The campaign also recently released a video titled Grassley Works for Women.

Grassley is challenged for reelection by Democrat Mike Franken, a former U.S. Navy admiral. Franken has accused Grassley of harming women with his votes over his career, including support for federal abortion limitations.

Grassleys campaign, in turn, has accused Franken of disrespecting women and highlighted an allegation from a former staffer that he kissed her without her consent. Franken denies the incident.
One Human Family QCA is putting several election-time issues in front of motorists and other passersby in the Iowa Quad-Cities.

Four billboards have been placed throughout Davenport and Bettendorf, each touching on one of four topics  voters' rights, women's reproductive rights, human lives taking precedence over gun rights and LGBTQ+ rights.

The billboards are located on West 2nd Street, East Kimberly Road and East 53rd Street in Davenport, and on State Street in Bettendorf. They will be up until Nov. 6, but One Human Family co-founder Henry Karp said the group hopes to put up more in the future.

"These four pose an immediate threat that could manifest itself tomorrow," Karp said.

Each of the issues were discussed during a state-wide Zoom event held by One Human Family in February 2021, which Karp said was a lament for what the organization sees as discriminatory legislation in Iowa.

Possible additional billboards would focus on topics, such as banning books in school, housing discrimination, the right to peaceful protest and immigration reform.

Karp hopes the billboards will give people the drive to research candidates' views ahead of election day.

The topics being broadcast to the Quad-Cities already are being decided in the legislature, he said, so voters should learn for themselves where candidates stand on the matters.

"They (billboards) raise the the warning signal ... that there are many issues that are threatening our state and threatening our nation, threatening the democracy of our nation," Karp said.
CHICAGO  The Chicago Police officer who shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo during a foot chase in 2021 is facing firing after an investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability concluded the shooting violated department policy.

COPAs findings against Officer Eric Stillman were discussed Thursday night by the Chicago Police Board, as was the fact that police Chicago police Superintendent David Brown contested the findings, saying that the shooting did not violate department use-of-force rules.

Brown only agreed with COPA that Stillman violated department protocol for failing to operate his body camera in a timely manner, though the superintendent only recommended the officer be punished with a suspension of no more than five days.

Also at the meeting, Police Board President Ghian Foreman, who had been selected at random to review the case, announced that the controversial shooting has been referred for a public hearing before the entire police board.

It is my opinion that  the parties and the public will benefit from a full evidentiary hearing on this matter, Foreman wrote in his decision. "  ,This hearing will allow the Board (to) hear from use-of-force experts  and will allow the Board to thoroughly review relevant evidence, including video recordings of the incident.

Foreman stated in his ruling that he was neither siding with COPA nor Brown. But he also said that Brown did not meet his burden to overrule COPA.

The Superintendent made a number of convincing points in his response to (COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kerstens) recommendation for discipline, Foreman wrote. However, in this case, the material I reviewed does not provide a sufficient basis for me to rule that the Superintendent met the burden to overcome the recommendation. "

Foreman noted that the hearing will also grant Stillman the opportunity to testify. Foreman also made clear that he was not siding with COPA.

The hearing is not expected to take place for several months.

The March 29 shooting of Toledo in a Little Village alley at about 2:30 a.m. touched off waves of protests after disturbing images from officers body worn cameras were released.

In the footage, Toledos hands appear to be empty at the moment Stillman shoots him. Police confiscated a gun near Toledo, whom authorities said was with Ruben Roman, now 22, who had fired at a vehicle in the minutes before the shooting.

The shooting happened two days before another Chicago police officer shot and killed 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez in Portage Park, also in a foot chase.

In addition to questions over whether deadly force was warranted in the shootings, the incidents cast a glaring spotlight on the foot pursuits and the fact that Chicago police lacked a written policy on the dangerous, often deadly encounters.

The department has since written a policy around the chases. In both the Alvarez and Toledo shootings, COPA still found that the officers in both shootings acted inconsistently with their training in a foot pursuit training bulletin distributed by the police department.

The Police Board released findings on the Alvarez investigation in July. As they did in the Toledo case, COPA investigators concluded that the shooting of Alvarez violated the departments use of force policy. They recommended that Officer Evan Solano, who shot Alvarez, be fired.

Brown also contested that decision. The police board member selected to review that case, however, concurred with Browns recommendation for a 20-day suspension and spared Solanos job  without referring the case for a full hearing.

In March, Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx announced her office would not bring criminal charges against the officers involved in the Alvarez and Toledo shootings. Foxx said at a news conference that prosecutors determined both officers reasonably believed they were in danger when they opened fire. Both Toledo and Alvarez were carrying guns on the nights they were shot.

Kersten, whose office was critical of the Alvarez case being decided by one police board member, issued a statement late Thursday in support of Foremans decision in Toledos shooting.

As Ive said before, this is not about winning or losing, but about facts, evidence and testimony being presented before the full Police Board before a final decision is determined, the statement read. Impacted parties and the residents of the city of Chicago deserve to have all the facts and evidence presented in a full, public hearing and we believe this case is deserving of a full evidentiary hearing before the entire Police Board and a review of the rules governing this process is warranted.

The decision was criticized by Stillmans attorney, who issued a statement.

There is no reason or justification for the City of Chicago to have sought termination in this case, attorney Tim Grace said in a written statement. I am extremely disappointed with the Chicago Police Board tonight. They missed an opportunity to stand with the members of our police department who do the heavy lifting. Officer Stillman is an honorably discharged (United) States Marine who has served his country and city with honor and courage and will face this next challenge in the same manner.

Also in a prepared statement, the Toledo familys lawyers praised COPA for uncovering the truth of what transpired in the shooting, and thanked Foreman for not rejecting COPAs findings.

We are relieved COPA has come to the conclusion that the shooting was unjustified, which is consistent with our understanding of the facts, the lawyers, Adeena Weiss Ortiz and Joe Hirschhorn, said in a statement. We will now be moving forward with the next step in this process for Adam Toledo and his family.
DES MOINES  After nearly 40 years as the chief legal official in Iowa, Tom Miller is in what may be the most competitive election of his career as he faces a challenge from Republican Brenna Bird.

Aside from a four-year break when he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1990, Miller, a Democrat, has held the position of attorney general since 1979, achieving the distinction as the longest serving attorney general in U.S. history.

But after all that time, Millers opponent says he is no longer working for Iowans. Bird has characterized Miller as a lazy liberal who does not represent Iowans best interests.

Hes not working for us, Bird said at the Iowa State Fair. Hes not doing the job that we need to get done.

Miller disputes that characterization, pointing to his work in the office on things like opioid settlements and consumer protection.

He says he is running for an 11th term in office because he has more he needs to get done. Miller said he wants to continue working on opioid prevention and treatment, big tech antitrust issues and other consumer protection measures.

I continue to really enjoy the office and be challenged by the office, he said in an interview. I think were doing good things, and thats rewarding  I have that drive and energy, and set of convictions that I want to follow.

Miller, 78, has spent much of his career as Iowas attorney general, assuming the office in 1979 at 35 years old.

After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1969, Miller volunteered with AmeriCorps VISTA in Baltimore, and then worked for former Democratic Rep. from Iowa John Culver in the U.S. House of Representatives, who Miller described as his mentor. After returning to Iowa, Miller set up a general law practice in McGregor, Iowa, and went back to private practice for four years after running unsuccessfully for governor in 1990.

He is currently the president of the National Association of Attorneys General, the bipartisan group representing attorneys general across the U.S.

Bird, 46, graduated from law school at the University of Chicago and began work at a law firm in Silicon Valley.

She worked as former Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Kings counsel and chief of staff until 2010. After that, she worked as Gov. Terry Branstads legal counsel until 2015. She has served as the county attorney for Fremont, Guthrie, and Audubon Counties.

Brenna Bird: Sue Biden and back the blue

Brenna Birds pitch to voters has focused on two major planks: supporting law enforcement and suing the Biden administration.

She is endorsed by 72 of Iowas 99 county sheriffs, including six Democrats.

Speaking to crowds and in press conferences, Bird says that she meets county sheriffs, some who have been on the job for years, who have never met the attorney general.

The attorney general is the top law enforcement official in Iowa, and so I would back the blue, support our law enforcement, she said in an interview.

Beyond meeting with law enforcement officials and asking their needs, Bird said she would audit the victim services programs and open a cold case unit, as well as a special victims unit to assist with crimes such as child sex abuse.

Miller has discounted Birds accusation that he does not support law enforcement. He said his office aids with prosecutions across the state, helping smaller counties try high-profile cases. He pointed to the fact his office has helped secure hundreds of life imprisonment sentences for violent criminals.

That is a much more important role than sort of being their political advocate, to take a political stance, that you support law enforcement, he said.

Federal lawsuits

Another major plank of Birds campaign is her promise to enter lawsuits against the Biden administration for what she sees as federal overreach.

She has pointed to Environmental Protection Agency rules she says are bad for farmers, rules around immigration and the southern border, and COVID-19 measures as areas where she would have challenged the Biden administration.

When it comes to holding the Biden administration accountable, it looks like our attorney general is Bidens attorney general, Bird said at the Iowa State Fair. When Im attorney general, Im going to be Iowas attorney general.

Miller said he has disagreed with the administration on some issues, including calling on Biden to waive fertilizer tariffs, something farm groups say would lower costs for farmers.

I certainly would be involved in a suit against the Biden administration if I thought there was good strong legal grounds and it was in the interest of Iowans to do that, he said.

Miller joined a number of lawsuits against former President Donald Trumps administration, spurring the Republican-controlled Legislature to move to legally require the governors approval for those lawsuits.

In 2019, he voluntarily agreed not to join multistate lawsuits without agreement from Gov. Kim Reynolds in exchange for Reynolds vetoing the legislation. He said he made the decision to prevent future attorneys general from being bound by the same requirement.

Millers priorities

Miller said hed spend the upcoming term focusing on anti-trust action against large technology companies like Google, and continue his focus on consumer protection measures.

Miller frequently touts consumer protection, and it is the focus of the National Association of Attorneys General during his current term as president. His Consumer Protection Division focuses on things like fraud and unfair market practices.

His office was involved in the 1998 multi-state lawsuit that saw major tobacco companies pay billions to U.S. states, and he has joined other states in pursuing litigation against the likes of Microsoft and Google on antitrust grounds.

Employees of Millers office recently went on a fraud watch tour with AARP to warn seniors of the dangers of consumer scams.

Miller said hes focused on consumer protection because it affects the life of everyday Iowans.

A, Were all consumers, and B, were consumers many times over each day, so Iowans have a lot of interest in consumer protection, he said.

Opioids

Another one of Millers goals for the upcoming term is to see the money won in lawsuits against opioid manufacturers go to treatment and prevention for substance abuse.

Miller has been a major advocate for suing opioid manufacturers and marketers for allegedly covering up the potential harms caused by the addictive medications.

The state has received millions from opioid companies in settlements, and Miller said he expects to receive $225 million by the time other lawsuits are settled.

Millers office last year partnered with the University of Iowas substance abuse treatment to direct $3.8 million to programs treating substance abuse with medications like methadone. Miller said hes also working with doctors to decrease the rate that opioids are prescribed to patients and make sure patients who do receive opioids are fully educated on the risk of addiction.

Weve been working for five or six years on suing the opioid companies, negotiating with them, he said. ...I want to see that through and use that money on prevention and drug treatment and sort of end that goal.

On opioid issues, Bird said she would put a focus on fentanyl, which has driven an increasing number of overdose-related deaths in recent years, both in the state and nationally, and is primarily brought into the U.S. through the southern border.

When Im talking about the fentanyl crisis, Im talking about the illegal fentanyl, where just one pill can kill someone, and thats coming across the southern border, Bird said. Its not manufactured and sold through pharmacies.

Abortion

While the attorney general does not make laws, the office defends Iowas laws in court, and one issue that may spur more lawsuits in the coming years is abortion.

Gov. Kim Reynolds is seeking to reinstate a 2018 law that would restrict abortion once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks. The law was blocked by a state court in 2019, but recent decisions from both the U.S. and state Supreme Courts have given legislators more freedom to restrict abortion access.

Miller declined to defend the state when that law was challenged, citing an ethical opposition to the bill, which he said would undermine womens rights. He declined to represent the state again this year when Gov. Kim Reynolds sought to overturn the law.

In the final analysis, I didnt think I would be able to zealously represent that issue in the case, he said.

Bird criticized the decision as Miller vacating his duty as attorney general. She said on Iowa Press in September she would defend the states abortion laws as attorney general.

Fundraising

With a Republican party energized around the idea of replacing Miller, Bird has been able to command a major fundraising advantage over the incumbent.

Bird has raised over $3 million since the beginning of the year, with $2.3 million coming from the period between July 15 and Oct. 14.

The bulk of that fundraising comes from two donations from the Republican Attorneys General Association totaling $1.8 million.

Our message of being pro-freedom, pro-law enforcement, pro rule of law is resonating across Iowa and we continue to see great momentum for our campaign, Bird said in a press release announcing her fundraising totals. Iowans are ready to retire Tom Miller and elect an Attorney General who will defend Iowa, defend liberty, and take the Biden Administration to court.

Since Jan. 1, Miller has raised $1.6 million in his reelection bid, including a little over $1 million in the last month.

That comes largely from donations from his partys attorney general group, the Democratic Attorneys General Association. The group gave $800,000 to Miller in October.

Millers campaign described the Republican groups money given to Bird as an attempt to buy a seat.

AG Miller and our campaign are confident that his relationship with this state, his record of delivering for Iowans, and our strong fundraising numbers will prevent this outside influence from moving the needle, his campaign spokesperson Jacob Hamblin said in a statement.
It was a major topic among Iowa lawmakers earlier this year during the legislative session. It was a significant factor in the June primary elections in Republican legislative campaigns. Its one of the top issues in Iowas gubernatorial campaign.

And it is sure to be one of the top issues again during next years legislative session.

Leaders representing Iowa organizations that are among the most invested in the debate over school choice  and more specifically, Gov. Kim Reynolds proposal to shift taxpayer funding for public schools to private school tuition assistance  discussed the issue last week for The Gazettes Iowa Ideas 2022 virtual conference.

Drew Klein, state director for the Iowa chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative issue advocacy organization, said expanded school choice options in Iowa are necessary to meet the unique needs of all Iowa students.

Ive talked to a number of educators, and I think one thing that we can all agree on is that not every child is the same, and they dont learn the same, and they need the options to meet their own needs, Klein said.

Melissa Peterson, a government affairs specialist with the Iowa State Education Association, the union that represents teachers and other educators statewide, said state funding should be reserved for schools that serve the most students in Iowa  in other words, the public school system.

The Iowa State Education Association believes firmly that the finite resources of the state ought to be spent to benefit the greatest number of students possible, and to make sure that we can afford a quality educational opportunity for the nearly half-million students that we do serve here in the state of Iowa, Peterson said.

Public school funding comprises by far the largest share of the states general fund budget. In the state budget year that ended in June 2021, the $3.4 billion dedicated to school aid made up 43 percent of the budget, according to the states nonpartisan fiscal services agency.

Over the first 38 years under Iowas current funding formula, general state funding to K-12 public schools increased by an annual average of 5 percent, according to data from the state agency. Since 2011, when Republicans regained at least a portion of control over the lawmaking process, that average annual K-12 funding increase has been 1.9 percent.

Peterson said the state already has robust school choice options, pointing to the School Tuition Organization tax credit, the availability of charter schools, and broad statewide open enrollment policies recently enacted by statehouse Republicans.

Klein and Trish Wilger, executive director of the Iowa Alliance for Choice in Education, said there still is a greater need for Iowa students and families to have more choices for their education.

There are some options available to some parents right now. But depending on where they live, some of them dont have options. And we feel that the governors proposal this last session made good strides in giving options to additional parents that would allow them to seek the best option for their child, Wilger said. With the current School Tuition Organization or STO tax credit program, it still is unable to serve the need thats out there. There are still families that theres just not enough funding to go around.  The need is huge.

Peterson noted that the tax credit is not yet being fully utilized. According to the state agency, in the 2020 state budget year, $9.5 million was utilized out of a program that at that point was capped at $15 million. The program has an annually increasing cap that will level at $25 million in 2025.

Margaret Buckton, with the Rural School Advocates of Iowa and Urban Education Network of Iowa, noted the conservative Heritage Foundation ranked Iowa ninth in the nation for school choice.

The Heritage Foundation, which advocates for school choice programs, in its Education Freedom Report Card said, Iowa does well in empowering families to choose among private and district schools but could do more to expand education choice, and goes on to recommend Iowa establish education savings accounts, which are what is proposed in Reynolds proposed legislation.

Buckton also discussed the potential challenges that could be faced by rural Iowa schools if they lost students under Reynolds proposed program. The legislation failed to pass into law this year only after failing to gain support from roughly a dozen Republicans in the Iowa House, many of whom represent rural districts.

Theres an economy of scale that exists in our larger urban centers that doesnt exist in our rural centers, Buckton said. So if our rural schools were to lose two or three students, that takes with it the resource that would maybe pay for a teacher. But if they dont all come out of the same grade, and even the loss of three students, you still have to have that second grade teacher. So it makes balancing the budget difficult if you do lose students.
DES MOINES  Attorneys for the groups that successfully challenged a state law that would have banned abortions in the first two months of pregnancy filed new legal arguments late last week.

The new filings were in response to arguments presented this past month by attorneys for Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is asking the state courts to lift a 3-year-old injunction on the so-called fetal heartbeat bill and allow the ban to go into effect.

In the new filings, attorneys for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the Emma Goldman Clinic and Dr. Jill Meadows argue the state failed in its attempt to argue the Iowa Supreme Court has the authority to lift the 2019 injunction, and that previous cases cited by the state are not relevant to the fetal heartbeat law.

Not only has the State failed to establish a jurisdictional or procedural basis for its motion, but even if it had, it cannot overcome the threshold inquiry of showing a change of the law that would alter the outcome of the case because the undue burden test remains the law under PPH IV, attorneys for the groups that sued to block the law argue in the new filing.

A state judge in 2019 halted implementation of a law, passed by Iowa Republicans, that would have banned abortions once a fetus heartbeat can be detected.

Supporters of such laws say the ban goes into effect at roughly six weeks of pregnancy, which often is before the pregnant person is aware of the pregnancy. However, medical experts  including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists  say the sound detected by an ultrasound at that point is not a heartbeat, because the fetus heart is not yet fully formed.

Earlier this year, the Iowa Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court overturned previous rulings and effectively erased a pregnant persons right to abortion access at both the federal and state levels, essentially remanding the topic to be regulated on a state-by-state basis.

Reynolds then filed a request that, in light of those recent court decisions, the state courts lift the injunction of the states fetal heartbeat law.

Late last month, the state filed new arguments in the case. Attorneys for the state argued the Iowa Supreme Court should lift the injunction and, has the authority to do so despite legal arguments presented by others.

The states attorneys argued the courts have the authority to modify an injunction after a substantial change in the law, and that the recent state and federal rulings qualify as substantial changes.

The latest filings by the attorneys for Planned Parenthood and other plaintiffs were in response to those arguments from the state.

In the new filing, Planned Parenthoods attorneys said state lawmakers could pass another six-week ban now, and that the Iowa Supreme Court should not permit the State to circumvent this step.

The new filing also pushed back on the argument made by attorneys for the state that legal precedence allows for the Iowa Supreme Court to lift an injunction that was instituted more than a year earlier.

Recognizing that courts have inherent equitable powers, Iowa courts have applied a narrow equitable exception to (a rule that states a) one-year limit on vacating judgments, Planned Parenthoods attorneys argue. But contrary to the States position that the Court should ignore the Rules and assert wide-ranging authority to modify or vacate injunctions, Iowa courts have applied this exception narrowly to prevent it from swallowing the Rules.

While the matter is once again considered in the courts, abortion in Iowa remains legal up to roughly 20 weeks of pregnancy. Should the courts lift the injunction, however, the more restrictive ban would go into effect.
CHICAGO  The entourage walked slowly through Northwestern Memorial Hospitals blood bank, winding past lab technicians, centrifuges and refrigerators holding blood samples.

Every few steps, the three people at the heart of the visit  blood bank and blood system leaders from Ukraine  paused to ask questions through a translator.

They had traveled more than 5,000 miles, during a war, to see how Northwestern and other Illinois hospitals and blood centers operate, in hopes of improving blood services in Ukraine. The country had already begun work to reform its blood system before the start of the war, a crisis that made the job more important than ever.

Its a blood system that serves civilians and military personnel.

The war began unexpectedly for everyone in Ukraine, said Oleksandr Serhiienko, deputy director general for the Ukrainian Transplant Coordination Center, through a translator. We had to modernize all our efforts to ensure that the donor blood will be present in all the places where its needed.

In Ukraine, the war with Russia has meant the closure of some blood centers and the destruction of others, he said.

We deliver blood to places where blood centers are ruined as well as to the front lines, he said.

The Ukrainian officials spent the day at Northwestern Tuesday learning about how the American health care and blood donation systems work, and sharing their experiences. Northwestern blood bank leaders explained how they plan for disasters, mass casualty events and how they manage blood shortages.

The Northwestern blood bank gets most of its blood from Versiti Blood Center of Illinois, said Dr. Glenn Ramsey, medical director of the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Blood Bank. Versiti holds blood drives and has centers where people can donate blood, plasma or platelets.

Red blood cells are given to patients who need more blood, and plasma and platelets are for patients who need help clotting, said Ramsey who is also director of transfusion medicine in pathology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

When a patient needs blood, Northwesterns blood bank performs tests to make sure donor blood is compatible with a patients. It then dispenses the blood, platelets and plasma to operating rooms, inpatient wards and outpatient clinics, Ramsey said.

Its not unusual for hospitals to face blood shortages during the summer and winter holidays, when people are too busy to donate or not going into offices, which often host blood drives. During the last few years, those shortages have been compounded by the challenges of COVID-19, he said. Northwestern tries to limit the use of blood to those who really need it most during those times, sometimes changing the criteria for who can get a transfusion, Ramsey said.

Its part of what Northwestern discussed with the visiting Ukrainians Tuesday.

Were hoping this will be useful for them, Ramsey said. Were hoping they can take back the information.

Its a whirlwind visit for the Ukrainians, who are visiting several additional Chicago-area hospitals and blood centers this week, including University of Chicago Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Vitalant and Elmhurst Hospital. Their trip is sponsored by the Congressional Office for International Leadership, which is an agency that has an exchange program for Eurasian leaders and future leaders to visit the U.S. Their visit is being coordinated by the Council of International Programs in Chicago.

The trio in Chicago is one of a number of groups of Ukrainian medical professionals visiting the U.S. now.

We almost dont sleep because we have to respond to (our places of work), and the needs in Ukraine and, at the same time, learn here, said Nataliia Mizynets, head of the blood bank at Rivne Regional Clinical Hospital, through a translator.

But the Chicago area visit is important, she said, because we receive both civil and servicemen during the war, and the number of wounded will only grow.
The Black Hills is getting in the spirit of Halloween, with haunted houses, terrifying tales, a spooky symphony, paranormal investigations and family-friendly festivities galore offering frightful fun.

Theatrical thrills

Oct. 21-23

Black Hills Community Theatres Well Done Players present a darkly comic horror story, The Moors at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 and 22 and 2 p.m. Oct. 23 in the Studio Theater at the Performing Arts Center of Rapid City. Tickets are $10. Sisters Agatha and Huldey are at the center of this chilling tale. Living with their dog on the bleak English moors, the sisters dream of love and power. The arrival of a hapless governess and a moor-hen set the women on a strange, dangerous path. Where do love, desire, control and destruction intersect? The Moors will keep audiences guessing to the very end. This play contains adult content. Tickets and information: bhct.org/well-done-players.html

Oct. 29

Belle Fourche Area Community Theater revisits terrifying Alfred Hitchcock classics in "Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play," at 7 p.m. at Venue 519 in Belle Fourche. Tickets are $10; only 100 tickets will be sold for this one-night-only event. Theres spies, love, murder and more in the style of a 1940s radio broadcast with a triple feature of Hitchcock classics: "The Lodger," "Sabotage," and "The 39 Steps." BFACT brings classic radio to life complete with vintage commercials and live sound effects. The chilling tales recreate a daring train chase, a serial killers ominous presence, a devastating explosion and more. Tickets and information: bellefourcheact.com

Monster-inspired music

Oct. 22

Black Hills Symphony Orchestra presents FrankenSymphony at 7:30 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center of Rapid City. Music lovers are encouraged to dress up for a costume contest during the evening. This night of dark, somber and scary music stitches together chilling classics including Night on Bald Mountain, Danse Macabre, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and more. Season tickets and information: bhsymphony.org

Haunted houses

Oct. 21-22, 28-30

Enter the Funhouse of Horror if you dare from 7 p.m.-midnight at the South Dakota Air & Space Museum at Ellsworth Air Force Base. Open to the public, this creepy funhouse comes with a haunted hay ride, haunted house and laser tag. Admission to the haunted house is $10 per person; laser tag is $5 per person. Presented by the 28th Civil Engineer Squadron Booster Club.

Oct. 21-22, Oct. 27-31

Step into the realm of terror at the Haunting House from 6-10 p.m. at Aby's in downtown Rapid City. Haunting House will chill you to the bone with its twisted story of macabre horror. Open to all ages; parental discretion is advised. $13 per person.

Oct. 28-31

Three haunted locations are part of the Sturgis Area Chamber of Commerces Crypt Haunted Tour from 6-8 p.m. at the Sturgis Armory in Sturgis. For ages 10 and older; admission is a $10 haunted house wristband or $5 per individual stop. If a spooky ride down the freight elevator doesnt scare you, the chilling ghouls, zombies, apparitions and deadly villains will. A teens-only Halloween costume party will take place from 8-10 p.m. Oct. 28 and 29 at the Sturgis Armory after the haunted house. Live music, costume contest and prizes. Admission to the party is $5 at the door; cash only.

Paranormal investigations

Oct. 21-22

The Historic Adams House in Deadwood may be the Black Hills ultimate haunted house. Deadwood History, Inc. and Black Hills Paranormal Investigations are hosting paranormal investigations of the Historic Adams House at 6, 7:30, 9 and 10:30 p.m. Participants must be at least 12; ages 12 to 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets are $35. Advance reservations required. Tickets and information: DeadwoodHistory.com or 605-722-4800.

Long regarded as one of Deadwoods most haunted sites, participants will search for paranormal activity in the Adams House using parascopes, para-lanterns, Flux 2, Ovilus, digital audio recorders, laser grids, divining rods, K2s, Pharaoh Box and EMF meters. Learn the history behind the darker stories associated with the Adams House during an exclusive 90-minute paranormal investigation.

The BHPI team will discuss documenting and analyzing the results of possible paranormal phenomena during the investigation and explain the findings from recent investigations of the Adams House. BHPI uses scientific methods, systematic processes, skepticism, and logical thinking for data collection and analysis.

After each paranormal investigation, group readings for adults are available with Dani Jo Butler of Sacred Soul LLC. The cost is $20 per person. Butler is a psychic medium in the Black Hills who strives to bring healing and a connection to the Divine for all who encounter her.

Deadweird

Oct. 28

The Deadweird Monster Ball kicks off Halloween weekend from 6-10 p.m. at Saloon 10 in Deadwood. Live music by Cowardly Lions and a people's choice costume contest. Must be 21 or older. Information: deadwood.com/event/deadweird/

Oct. 29

Theres fun for kids and adults, starting with a Deadweird Trunk or Treat from 3 to 5 p.m. outdoors at Days of '76 event complex in Deadwood. Family-friendly.

For adults 21 and older, Deadweird festivities continue with a costume contest and party from 6 to 10 p.m. Registration is required. Register for the contest at Outlaw Square. Judging will be in the Silverado/Franklin from 6 to 9 p.m. $10,000 in cash and prizes. Music and dancing, 6 to 10 p.m., Franklin Hotel. Information: deadwood.com/event/deadweird/

Kid-friendly fun

Oct. 21

Family fall festival, 5:30-7:30 p.m., First Assembly Church, Rapid City. "Treasured Trunks" of games, prizes and candy in church parking lot; concessions for sale indoors.

Oct. 22

Learn about geology and paleontology during Night at the Museum from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Museum of Geology and the Paleontology Research Lab at South Dakota Mines in Rapid City. Free; all ages welcome. Games, candy, cast painting and costumes will all be part of the science-themed Halloween fun.

The fifth annual Great Haunted Gingerbread House Make takes place from 3 to 5 p.m. upstairs in Youth Services at Rapid City Public Library. Unleash your creativity and make a spooky, delicious haunted gingerbread house! Supplies provided for designing your own enchanted Halloween dwelling.

Oct. 26-30

Explore the Mysteries in the Museum at The Journey Museum in Rapid City. Hours are 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 26-28, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 29 and 1-5 p.m. Oct. 30. Admission is $8 adults, $4 students, ages 5 and under admitted free. Halloween activities for all ages await, including mad science, Monster Mash Walk, glow zone and Boo's Clues. Mysteries in the Museum is a fundraiser for The Journey Museum.

Oct. 26

Trunk or Treat, 6-7 p.m., South Canyon Baptist Church, Rapid City

Oct. 28

Trunk or Treat, 5:30-7 p.m., Pure Bean Ellsworth parking lot, Box Elder. Free; a costume and bucket or bag for candy required to attend. RSVP through Facebook event.

Trunk or Treat, 4-6 p.m., 725 N. Lacrosse St., Rapid City. Sponsored by Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board.

Trunk or Treat, 5:30-7 p.m., Monument Health Neuroscience Center, 677 Cathedral Drive, Rapid City. Admission is free; a donation of a can of food for a local food bank is encouraged.

Fall Family Festival, 5:30-7 p.m., Grace United Methodist Church, Piedmont. Trick-or-Treating at decorated cars, games and a picnic meal.

Halloween special storytime for ages 3-7, 11 a.m., Sturgis Public Library, Sturgis. Wear your costume for a not-so-scary storytime with songs and an activity.

Oct. 29

Safe N Sweet Trick N Treat, 2-5 p.m. and 6-9 p.m., Storybook Island, Rapid City. All ages welcome. $4 per person. Storybook Island needs donations of thousands of pieces of candy for this event. Information: storybookisland.org

Downtown Trick or Treat, noon-2 p.m., Main Street Square, Rapid City. Tiny ghouls and goblins are invited downtown for an afternoon of ghostly family fun. Free admission. Children and parents are encouraged to wear costumes, bring their own trick-or-treat bags and meet at Main Street Square, where they may pick up a map of participating downtown businesses. Downtown motorists are asked to be aware of trick-or-treaters throughout the day.

Trunk and Treat, 3-6 p.m., Atonement Lutheran Church, Rapid City. Costumes encouraged; treats and fun for all ages.

Boo Bash and Pumpkin Festival takes place from 10 a.m.-noon, Hill City Visitor Center, Hill City. Pumpkin patch, games, mini-pumpkin bowling and trunk or treating at decorated classic cars. Costume contests for kids and pets at 11 a.m. Information: 605-574-2368

Trunk or Treat, 4-6 p.m., Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center, Lead. SURF will provide popcorn and hot chocolate. Donations of nonperishable food items are requested for local food banks.

Oct. 30

Trunks and Treats, 4-6 p.m., Destiny Foursquare Church, Rapid City. Games, candy, food and fun.

Oct. 31

Trunk-N-Treat, 4-6 p.m., Rapid Valley Volunteer Fire Department, Rapid City. Kids can trick or treat from fire truck to fire truck. Costumes encouraged. Games and all-ages spook house. Free trick or treat bags while supplies last.

Trunk or Treat, 4-6 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, Sturgis

Trunk or Treat, 5-7 p.m., Monument Health Sturgis Care Clinic, Spearfish. Admission is free.

Trunk or Treat, 5:30-7 p.m., Monument Health Spearfish Clinic, Spearfish. Admission is free; a donation of one can of food for a local food bank is encouraged.

Trunk-or-Treat, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Newell City Hall, Newell. Games, free hot dogs, candy and more. Donations of bags of candy are requested by Oct. 28; candy donations can be taken to The Filling Station church in Sturgis.
As Election Day approaches, the Journal is interviewing candidates for office in the Rapid City region. The Journal selected races where there are competitive candidates.

In instances where the Journal was unable to contact or interview a candidate, information was obtained via campaign websites or previously published stories during the June 2022 primary election.

Election Day is Nov. 8. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Additionally, in-person absentee voting is available at county auditor offices.

District 34 House  Two seats

Mike Derby

Mike Derby, a Rapid City Republican, is a candidate for state House District 34, which encompasses west Rapid City.

Derby currently represents District 34 in the state House of Representatives. Derby first served in the House of Representatives from 1997 to 2002. He ran for office again in 2020 and was re-elected.

I am asking the voters to send me back to Pierre to advance the issues important to us, Derby said when announcing his candidacy earlier this year. In my last term, we made great strides building on our platform of economic growth and dynamic opportunity for our West River region.

Derby grew up in Rapid City. He owns Canyon Lake Resort in west Rapid City and is a past chair of the Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce. Derby said his business experience leads to a reliable presence in Pierre. Elevate Rapid Citys Pro-Business scorecard gave Derby a 100% rating.

This last legislative term saw lots of challenges. We dealt with the pandemics economic effects, business uncertainty, unprecedented one-time federal funding, and other big issues," Derby said. "Times like these reinforced the importance of working together with all levels of government  from municipalities, counties, all the way to the federal government. I have the experience, commitment and drive to propel us forward.

Derby said he is supportive of legislation that helps small business owners succeed and grow. Serving as a board member of Visit Rapid City, Derby said he wants to keep tourisms top of mind awareness high in Pierre. As a past chair of the Ellsworth Task Force and Military Affairs Committee, he wants to introduce and support legislation that protects and allows Ellsworth Air Force Base to grow. His priorities in the Legislature also include education and technical training, according to his website, mikederbyforsdhouse.com.

Derby and his wife, Carmen, have two daughters and two granddaughters.

Darla Drew

Darla Drew, a Rapid City Democrat, is a candidate for state House District 34, which encompasses west Rapid City.

The lifelong Rapid City resident recently left her Ward 5 seat on the City Council after serving three terms since 2014.

I have eight years of experience on Rapid City Council, re-elected three times, Drew said. I would enter the Legislature with extensive experience in local government. I am a moderate Democrat  who believes in constructive dialog with anyone and everyone to find practical solutions for improving our local economy, schools, health and family needs.

Drew said she would enter the Legislature with detailed knowledge of how government works, and strive for a government in South Dakota thats led by thought, not political parties.

We have some incredible problems in South Dakota and we need tangible solutions to these problems. It takes compromise, civility and cooperation to lead us to our common though complicated goals, Drew said on her website, darlaforhouse34.com.

She said supporting legislation that makes western South Dakota a great place to live and raise a family is a priority. She and her husband, Don Lerdal, have two children, two grandsons and a third grandson due in January.

I am a mother and a grandmother who actively works to create and fund more ways to keep our kids here, said Drew in an interview with the Rapid City Journal, noting her children and grandchildren live in Minneapolis.

Drews priorities in the Legislature will include early education, Medicaid expansion, reproductive freedom and improved care for senior citizens.

"My goal is always to leave a place better than I found it," Drew said. That would be an improvement over the way things have been going lately.  I'm focused on building a stronger economy, protecting our quality of life, improving our schools, and trying to make the government more responsive and efficient by working on the real problems of South Dakota.

Jess Olson

Jess Olson, a Rapid City Republican, is a candidate for state House District 34, which encompasses west Rapid City.

Olson is a fourth-generation South Dakotan who grew up in Rapid City. She currently represents District 34 in the state House of Representatives. She owns Stay Graceful, a home health care company, and previously worked for the Rapid City nonprofit, Wellfully.

It has been an honor to serve as your Representative for four years, and I am proud of the work that I have accomplished. But when it comes to solutions, the work is never done, Olson said on her website, olsonforsd.com/.

"When I came to Pierre, every day I worked to deliver solutions through years of leadership experience and taking the personal out of politics. ... We've initiated steps to lower the cost of housing, led the nation in sweeping investments for our troops, and fought for families through once-in-a-generation innovations to our adoption systems, Olson said on her website.

Her priorities in the Legislature will include keeping taxes low, working toward lower crime and a safer community, and supporting and investing in the military and families.

"My biggest priority for South Dakota in the upcoming session is to keep focusing on finding efficiencies and offering fiscally responsible solutions. Ive been named a pro-business advocate by Elevate Rapid City for my votes to keep regulations limited, taxes low, and jobs strong. I want to keep building on my pro-business efforts, such as investing in workforce housing in addition to continuing to invest in our adoption and foster care system to make sure that our state continues to be the best place to live, work, and raise a family," Olson said.

As a business owner, I understand the importance of ensuring that high quality employment opportunities are something that South Dakota remains ready for. This means that its on the legislature to ensure that we have the infrastructure and space for new employers that want to benefit our people and economy, she said.

Olson lives in Rapid City with her husband and children.

Jay Shultz

Jay Shultz, a Rapid City Democrat, is a candidate for state House District 34, which encompasses west Rapid City.

Shultz is a native of Rapid City who has been in private practice as an attorney for 38 years. For the past eight years hes run his own practice, The Shultz Law Firm. He describes himself as a moderate Democrat who said one-party control has been used in South Dakota to thwart the will of the people.

"On real issues like providing health care coverage to the 45,000 South Dakotans who lack it, legalizing marijuana use for adults, and reducing corruption and the influence of special interests, our current legislators  follow the dictates of the Republican machine," Shultz said on his website, shultzforhouse.com.

Weve been dominated by one-party rule in Pierre for so long, I think folks just accept that, but I dont think its healthy, Shultz said in an interview with the Rapid City Journal. I think there needs to be other voices heard from across the aisle.

Shultzs priorities in the Legislature will include responsible gun ownership, business, Medicaid expansion and reproductive rights.

"My only agenda is to restore balance, accountability and transparency in state government, and to respect the will of the people of South Dakota," Shultz said. "One-party government has allowed extremists to take control, and our legislators spend their time and our valuable resources on divisive social issues, debating for example whether individuals can determine their own gender and identity as human beings, and the availability of abortion medication.

One of my primary issues and focus has been on womens reproductive rights and freedoms, Shultz said, noting state legislatures currently have the power to devise an appropriate legal structure for how to afford women safe and secure therapeutic abortions.

When it comes to reproductive freedom and rights taken away from women, I think thats a critical issue, he said.

Shultz has represented clients in civil and criminal cases, in both state and federal court. He is a graduate of Central High School and the University of South Dakota. Shultz earned his law degree at George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C.

Shultz has two children and three grandchildren.
In-situ mining is where injection wells are used to pump groundwater fortified with oxygen and carbon dioxide into the ore deposits to dissolve uranium. The production wells are then used to pump the uranium-laden fluids to the surface for recovery. For the Dewey-Burdock Project, fluids from the production wells would be processed at two separate facilities at the mine site to extract and concentrate the uranium, according to a project description on the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources website.

The Dewey-Burdock Project is comprised of 12,613 surface acres and 16,962 net mineral acres. In December 2020, Powertech filed an amended and restated technical report and preliminary economic assessment. It shows that capital expenditures are estimated at $31.7 million, and the project could produce 14.3 million pounds of triuranium octoxide, a compound of uranium, over its 16 years of production.

Powertech has been in the permitting process to have water and mining rights for the project going through the Environmental Protection Agency, South Dakota Water Management Board and Nuclear Regulatory Commission for about 13 years; it first submitted a groundwater discharge plan application March 9, 2012 for land applications of treated wastewater.

Board chair Rexford Haag said Thursday he believes the board may be the last stop for final approval for the project. He said he thinks it best to wait until all other cases are sorted out before they make a decision.

Charles McGuigan with the Attorney General's office and who works as the board's legal counsel, said the board asked him for an update on the different pieces of litigation concerning Powertech.

He said he was not directly involved with the cases, but would provide a legal review based on dockets and filings. He said this year, the Oglala Sioux Tribe has petitioned for a rehearing for a source material license through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It is currently in the D.C. Circuit with a response deadline of Nov. 18.

McGuigan said that case is somewhat driving all of the other cases.

"This is the one that once this gets decided, some of the other issues will start moving," he said.
One of nature's most anticipated light shows is set to climax this week as space debris and dust trails from the famous Halley's Comet scatter across the night sky.

The Orionids meteor shower is expected to peak at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 21, but will be best observed earlier in that time zone, between the hours of midnight and dawn. If viewing properly, away from any bright lights and light-polluted areas, viewers can expect to see around 10 to 20 meteors per hour during this time, according to EarthSky.

As the meteor shower peaks, the moon will be approaching a slim waning crescent and will no longer be bright enough to obscure the view of the meteors. However, NASA Meteoroid Environment Office lead Bill Cooke suggests looking anywhere in the night sky that is away from the moon to best observe the fireballs.

"It takes about 45 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the dark, so they can be more sensitive and see finer. If you look at your bright phone, a streetlight or the moon, you're going to ruin that night vision," Cooke said.

NASA recommends going outside at least 30 minutes prior to watching meteors, to adjust to the night sky.

"Meteor shower observing is something that takes time. You should plan on spending two hours or so outside  it's not a 15-minute adventure," Cooke added.

The meteor shower officially began on Sept. 26 and will last until around Nov. 22, so skywatchers will still have a chance to see the Orionids after the peak.

The Orionids radiate outward from the constellation Orion the Hunter  specifically a point near Orion's sword, close to the large red star, Betelgeuse  but you don't need to know that point's location to see the meteors. They will appear in all parts of the sky.

No special equipment is needed to observe meteor showers, and the Orionids are visible from every region in the world, weather permitting.
Just off the corner of Highway 93 and Old Darby Road, not far from the banks of the Bitterroot River, sits the 120-year-old Lake Como Schoolhouse surrounded by a stand of towering Ponderosa pines.

Built in 1902 on land donated by Mary and Frank Cook for the purpose of a public school, the Lake Como Schoolhouse was recently nominated by the Montana Historical Society to the National Register of Historic Places. The building is owned by the nonprofit Como Schoolhouse Corporation and is currently used as a community center.

The one-room schoolhouses are becoming fewer and fewer, as every passing year goes by, said John Boughton, National Register coordinator for the Montana Historical Society. It's a great building.

One-room schoolhouses were important to the early development of educational facilities in Montana, especially when there wasnt a lot of money coming in from municipalities or the state. Historian Janene Caywood, who prepared the nomination report, said she thinks its important for these small local schools to be understood within the context of a local community.

The reason that the Como school exists today is because it's dear to the hearts of the families who first went to school there and then their descendants, Caywood said. There are still people living whose parents went to school there.

I think the remarkable thing about it is the degree to which the local community has always come together to save it, she said. When it was particularly deteriorated or needed a new roof or needed restoration, people in the community have always risen to the challenge. Its a lovely old building, with the bell tower and the inside. It really does evoke that connection with a simpler time, I guess. Simple not equating to easier.

Between 1911 and 1912 the cloak room/foyer and bell tower were added to the original 40x26-foot, one-room structure. The tower still contains the original bell which was shipped by rail to Como by way of the Bitterroot Branch of the Union Pacific Railway in 1911.

Bill Kyle, of Como, remembers his father, Ned Kyle, talking about the raising of the bell in the tower. Bills grandfather, Sam Kyle, was the clerk at the Como depot when the bell arrived. Since many of the ranchers were busy at the time, Sam Kyle asked his son, Ned, if he would hoist the bell into place. After dragging the bell from the depot to the school with a team of horses, Ned constructed a slide up to the top of the bell tower to lift the bell into place.

I imagine that bell was 200 or 300 pounds, Ned Kyle said. He dragged it over there with a team of horses and got all ready to hoist it up in there. He was going to throw his rope over the schoolhouse, probably had a pulley up there and was going to pull it up with horses. Acting alone, that was kind of a chore. While he was working, he got thinking, there's 40 kids that go to school here. And so he went and talked to the teacher. He said, you know, I wonder if those kids would just pull that bell up for me. And so teacher took a long recess, and they asked the kids to pull it up. He thought they'd pull it up slow but he said those 40 kids got a hold of that rope, and man, it went zipping up the slide.

Attendance varied at the school over the course of a school year, as was normal in many rural schools. According to a 1902 article in the Stevensville newspaper The Western News, The Como Schools teacher, Miss Eugenia Berubes, monthly report for November 1902 listed 45 pupils enrolled at the school, with an average daily attendance of 32, or 89 percent.

Not unlike today, teachers were hard to find some years. An article from the Sept. 30, 1903 edition of The Western News reports The Como School will open October 12 with Miss Spencer of Butte as teacher. Most of the valley schools are now in session. Miss Ostermeyer, county superintendent, reports a scarcity of teachers in this county this year, many of the teachers having been supplied from outside.

In 1921 the Como School District No. 20 consolidated with Darby District No. 9, ending the buildings use as a schoolhouse. Ownership was subsequently transferred over to the Como community and so began the buildings time as a community center, hosting dances, parties and community events.

One of the provisions of the law at the time, or the guidelines at the time, is that all of the books, even playground equipment, had to be turned over to the larger consolidated district. So it's a little bit like, once they were vacated, if they weren't used as a community center, or for some other purpose as the Como School was, then they probably were just left to mold or completely removed, Caywood said.

The Montana Historical Society submitted the application to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 17. The determination process can take six months to a year.
Joel Clements exit from his career in the U.S. Department of the Interior was not quiet.

Clement made headlines with an op-ed in the Washington Post declaring himself a whistleblower and raising concerns about issues at the federal agency, which was overseen at the time by then-secretary and now congressional candidate Ryan Zinke.

Clement spoke about the complaint he lodged with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and what he thinks Zinkes possible victory in November could mean for Montana with former congressional candidate Cora Neumann in Bozeman on Tuesday.

Clement worked at the federal agency for seven years. His complaint focused on the legality of a spate of reassignments, including his own, that happened in the agency under Zinkes direction.

Clement said that as soon as legally possible after Zinkes confirmation by the Senate, the former secretary of the Interior implemented what Clement called a Soviet-style purge.

Every administration comes in and moves a few executives around, its normal and not unusual to do, Clement said. It had never been done to dozens of executives in one fell swoop.

He was reassigned from his position as the director of the Office of Policy Analysis to a senior advisor in the agencys Office of Natural Resources.

Clement wrote in his op-ed that he believed the Department of the Interior used the reassignments as part of its effort to eliminate employees.

He pointed to a statement from Zinke to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee from early 2017 where Zinke said the agency would follow an executive order from Trump with the goal being to create a leaner, more efficient government.

Heather Swift, Zinkes campaign manager, discredited Clements whistleblower status on Twitter before the event. She doubled down in a response to the Chronicle, saying that Clement was never given whistleblower status because there was nothing to blow the whistle on.

Swift said that Clement and many others were given new assignments that better aligned with work that needed to be done. She added that he chose to quit.

He never met Zinke, doesnt know Zinke, and is just making things up, Swift said.

Clement said that one of the things that the department did well in its reassignment purge was to not write anything down.

He said that because of that, the DOI Office of Inspector General and the Office of Special Counsel could not point to documents that demonstrated the bad behavior, but that the Inspector Generals report included sketchy practices that violated reassignment rules.

They didnt have a document that they could point to to conclusively prove it, but they have a lot of other great documentation in that report, Clement said.

Clement said that morale began to worsen in the department as Zinkes ethics were questioned during his tenure.

He said that everyone in the department goes through ethics training, but that political appointees like Zinke go through even more.

Because the idea is not just to avoid a conflict of interest, but to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest, Clement said.

He gave the example of Zinkes connection to a real estate deal involving a senior executive of Halliburton, and how, as secretary, Zinke oversaw contracts with the company.

It makes you question How on Earth could, how could someone at that level be so crassly unethical? Clement said.

Zinke has been under fire throughout his campaign for a slew of federal investigations during his time as secretary. He has maintained that he committed no wrongdoing.

Neumann said that Zinkes actions are a trail of behavior, and that he has a track record of voting down renewable energy projects.

Zinke has campaigned on an all of the above energy platform, meaning renewables and fossil fuels production, and for the U.S. to become energy independent.

Swift said that Zinkes track record on energy, including renewables and fossil fuels, is clear, pointing to the record-breaking offshore wind auctions held by the DOI in 2018.

Zinkes opponents in the congressional race are Democrat Monica Tranel and Libertarian John Lamb. Election day is Nov. 8.
Montanans this year can register to vote until the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day and will be able to vote with school IDs and other forms of identification that worked in years past, according to Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen.

Jacobsens office this week issued a correction to the informational voter pamphlets that get mailed out before each federal general election, sent this year three weeks after a state district court judge struck down several new laws related to voting. The state published 509,324 copies of the document, which county governments pay to distribute.

The voter information pamphlet sent to the mailboxes of voters from mid-September through mid-October was in production prior to the judicial order enjoining Montanas identification and registration laws, stated a press release from her office.

Voters still must arrive at their polling place with some form of ID, if theyre voting in person. That can include a drivers license, state ID, tribal photo ID or college ID. If they dont have those, voters can provide an official document with their name and address, including a voter registration card, utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or official government document.

Yellowstone County District Court Judge Michael G. Moses last month found that several laws enacted by Republicans in 2021 violated the state Constitution. They include laws moving to an earlier date the deadline for voters to register, creating stricter requirements for voter ID at the polls and outlawing paid ballot collection by third parties.

Jacobsen, the sole defendant in the case, has not said publicly whether she will appeal the order to the Montana Supreme Court. But she has done so twice before on prior rulings in the case. And after Mosess most recent ruling, her office issued a statement that we are not going to let down the fight to make Montana elections the most secure and accessible elections in the nation.

Jacobsens office didnt respond to a request Thursday to clarify whether she would appeal the ruling, or whether she had ruled out asking for an emergency stay of the ruling from the states high court before Election Day. She did so with a preliminary injunction earlier this year, causing the rules around voter ID and registration to change just weeks before the primary election.

Craig Cowie, an associate professor of law at the University of Montana, said that Jacobsen could technically still ask for an emergency stay any time before Election Day. But the fact that three weeks have passed since Mosess order could affect that request.

Courts look at that as an indication of whether its really an emergency: If its an emergency, why did you wait 30 days? Cowie said.

He added that he would be surprised if Jacobsen doesnt eventually file an appeal to the Supreme Court. State law gives her 60 days to do so following the district court order.
 Flash

The project of upgrading and rebuilding the Al-Salt/Al-Ardah Road in Jordan, which is funded by the Chinese government, broke ground on Thursday.

During the foundation-laying ceremony held at one end of the road, Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Chen Chuandong said the project would improve the road condition, boost logistics efficiency, and promote the development of tourism, industry and agriculture in Jordan.

The project, which is expected to create hundreds of jobs, will help raise the standard of living for Jordanians, he said.

The Chinese envoy said that the road would become a "road of convenience" that facilitates people's movement, a "road of prosperity" that promotes socio-economic development, and a "road of bonds" that deepens the friendship between China and Jordan.

Noting that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Chen said China regards Jordan as an important partner in promoting regional peace and development.

He called on the two countries to build stronger synergy between their development strategies and advance high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative to ensure people from both countries benefit from the win-win collaboration.

For his part, Jordanian Minister of Public Works and Housing Yahya Kasbi said the project, which is of great importance for Jordan, is a testimony of the solid relations between the two countries.

The Jordanian government is keen on enhancing ties with China in all areas, he said, stressing that the project will benefit many Jordanians, especially farmers in the Jordan Valley.

Located in northwestern Jordan, the upgrading and rebuilding of the 12.5-kilometers-long four-lane road is expected to be finished in 18 months.
The Montana State Prison will suspend visitation indefinitely at the end of the month, another workaround necessitated by the hollowed-out workforce at the facility outside Deer Lodge.

Visitation is set to end Oct. 31. The Montana Department of Corrections said Thursday that "after much deliberation," it deemed the suspension necessary due to the prison's staffing levels. According to a department report in August, an estimated one-third of the 257 correctional officer positions were open.

"We recognize the importance of in-person visitation to inmates and their friends and families, but we must place safety and security of the public, staff, and inmates above all else," Department of Corrections spokesperson Carolynn Bright said in an email on Thursday, adding the department intends to resume normal visitation "as soon as it is safely possible."

According to the National Institute of Corrections, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, visitation plays a significant role in reducing recidivism. The institute's 2011 study found "any visit reduced the risk of recidivism by 13% for felony reconvictions and 25%" for technical violations.

Bright said part of the department's calculation is prioritizing activities that benefit the most inmates; recreation involves 150 inmates at once while visitation involves 15 at a time. Recreation is taking place at the prison, Bright said Thursday, although the schedule is sometimes interrupted due to staffing levels.

The department has made efforts to rectify the staffing shortfalls, creating a recruitment and retention committee, touching down at job fairs and mulling employee transportation as a new benefit, as well as housing opportunities in and around Deer Lodge. The prison also recently added 12-hour shifts in an effort to address the problem.

In order to help ease the impact of suspending visitation on the inmates, as well as their families and friends, Bright said each inmate will be allowed two free 20-minute video visitations each week. Those calls will be in addition to two free weekly phone calls each inmate is allowed.
After more than 60 years, Big Medicine is going home.

The Montana Historical Society board of trustees voted unanimously Thursday to return ownership to the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribe of the large mounted white buffalo that has been part of the museum in Helena since 1961.

The tribe asked for the buffalo to be returned, saying it was taken from their land at the National Bison Range on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Several tribal members attended Thursdays meeting of the board.

Tom McDonald, CSKT tribal chair, told the board after the vote the tribe was deeply appreciative and paused during his comments.

You can see this is emotional, he said. We will treat this animal with the respect it deserves.

Others spoke to the board prior to the vote.

Make us happy today, make us happy, said Steven Small Salmon, a Pend dOreille tribal elder who said as a child he saw Big Medicine on the reservation. We want it back.

CSKT tribal council member Martin Charlo said he wanted to make sure the board knew how spiritual these things are, adding he remembers elders talking about going to bison range, praying and spending time with Big Medicine.

Every time I have seen him it was very powerful, he said.

Its nice where it is at right now, but we will showcase that and tell our story as best as we can, Charlo said.

Shane Morigeau, a Democratic state senator and deputy executive officer with CSKT, said the tribe will be mindful of the care that goes into preserving Big Medicine.

He said if the board was gracious enough to return Big Medicine, the tribe would make sure he is in a safe place. He noted that the tribe is going to build a new cultural center.

Rick Eneas, CSKT executive officer, said it was not just about the history.

"As a people, the Salish and Kootenai are reclaiming our language and culture. One aspect of what Big Medicine symbolizes is what it looks like to hold on to the past and look to the future," he said.

Vernon Finley, director of the Kootenai culture committee, said people called Big Medicine the head chief. He said Big Medicine, who had a black hat and was not a true albino, was a symbolic part of adjusting to the world as it is.

The motion to turn over ownership was made by Tim Fox, former state attorney general, and it was followed with little discussion.

Board member Ken Robison asked if a holographic (3-dimensional) image of Big Medicine could be prominently displayed at the new Montana Heritage Center now under construction.

Molly Kruckenberg, the historical society director, said they were pleased to see Big Medicines ownership transferred to the CSKT.

She said as part of the agreement, the historical society will retain possession of Big Medicine until the tribes have a safe environment in which he can be displayed.

This is not a repatriation request under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act; instead, this decision comes from discussions made on a government-to-government basis, Kruckenberg said in an email.

The Montana Historical Society regularly seeks advice and information from Montanas Tribes, and this transfer of ownership reflects that positive relationship, she said.

Big Medicine was born in 1933, according to the Montana Historical Societys website.

The birth was a crowning achievement of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' efforts to recover a population of bison for their reservation, the website notes.

In the early 1950s the Montana Historical Society made arrangements to ensure that, upon his death, Big Medicine would be moved to the state's museum and permanently preserved. Because he had some pigmentation - blue eyes, tan hooves, and a brown topknot - Big Medicine was a white buffalo rather than a pure albino, the website states. At his prime, he weighed 1,900 pounds, stood 6 feet high at the hump, and measured 12 feet from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail.

He spent his life on the National Bison Range and died in 1959. The taxidermy was completed in 1961 and Big Medicine was moved to the Montana Historical Society.

Morigeau said it would likely be about two years until Big Medicine is moved, once the new visitor center is built on the bison range.

We only want to move him once, Morigeau said, adding that Big Medicine is in surprisingly good shape, considering his age.

He said there will be a celebration once the move is made.

He just holds tremendous cultural significance to us, Morigeau said, thanking the Montana Historical Society for realizing that.

Its a big responsibility to take care of him, he said, adding although Big Medicines physical body remains in Helena for now, his spirit is going home with us today.
Raymond & Ray, the Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor movie that filmed in Richmond last year, will start streaming Friday on Apple TV+. Its also headed for the big screen at Movieland on Boulevard Square this weekend for a limited run.

In the Apple original movie, Hawke and McGregor star as half brothers who reunite after many years apart to attend their fathers funeral  in Richmond!  only to discover that their fathers dying wish was for them to dig his grave.

Ive always wanted to film in Virginia, said Julie Lynn, a producer of the movie and a graduate of the University of Virginia. After more than 25 years of making movies, it finally happened with Raymond & Ray.

If youre looking for Richmond scenes in the movie, you dont have to look far. Most of the action takes place at Oakwood Cemetery, a 200-year-old cemetery located in Richmonds East End between Nine Mile Road and Stony Run Parkway.

We looked at cemeteries all over Richmond. Hollywood was too nice, said David Crank, the Oscar-nominated production designer who lives in Richmond.

Oakwood was extraordinary. Its so authentic, Lynn said. It felt exactly right. The minute we went there, we knew, Lynn said.

Owned by the city and established in 1820, Oakwood Cemetery holds over 48,000 graves, including many soldiers from the Civil War. Its rich history and 200-year-old markers immediately grabbed the filmmakers, Lynn said, as soon as they saw it.

Raymond & Ray is something of a passion project of the director Rodrigo Garcia, who wrote the script and also happens to be the son of the famous writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Lynn, known for her work on Terminator: Dark Fate and Passengers, has been collaborating with Garcia for many years on several projects, including Passengers. Shes also served on the board of the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville for years. Lynn said she originally reached out to McGregor first for the movie. Then Hawke read the script and immediately signed on.

This is an old-school movie. [Its] why I wanted to be an actor, Hawke said in an interview with Fab TV. I like movies that celebrate real life. Real life is actually pretty exciting. Real-life drama. A lot of us have broken relationships from the past. A lot of us are struggling with how to deal with death, how to deal with living and make sense out of it all.

This is the second time Hawke has filmed a project in Virginia. In 2019, his Showtime limited series The Good Lord Bird filmed in the area.

In Raymond & Ray, Hawke portrays Ray, a recovering addict and sometime musician who has been bouncing around from partner to partner. McGregor plays Raymond, the more strait-laced brother who is still coming to terms with his wife leaving him. Both have huge issues with their father  a larger-than-life but terrible dad  that need to be worked out through women, music and digging a grave.

Lynn said the movie originally didnt have a set location. They looked to film in the Rust Belt in places like Pittsburgh and Cleveland as well as New Orleans and Atlanta. But Virginia won out for several reasons, most importantly perhaps, for the tax credit.

There was no world where we could have brought it here without the tax credit, Lynn said.

Lynn said the movie also came to Virginia specifically to work with Crank and costume designer Amy Andrews Harrell, who splits her time between New York and Virginia. And the Virginia film crew was top-notch, she said.

All of those reasons created a perfect storm to make Virginia possible for the movie, Lynn said. And its beautiful. It has that texture that Rodrigo was after. It gave us a beautiful palette upon which to rely upon for the movie.

The crew also filmed in Jackson Ward, downtown Richmond, Libby Hill Park, Fulton Hill, Hopewell and Petersburg. The Blanton and Pleasants country general store in Cartersville also made an appearance early in the film.

We had a very good location scout, Colleen Gibbons, from Charlottesville, Crank said. We found this great house in Fulton Hill, he said, which served as the fathers house in the movie. It was empty and we were able to wallpaper, paint it and decorate it. Crank is known for creating intricate, vivid sets, like the knife-display-that-looked-like-a-throne in Knives Out, as well as the authentic Western towns in the Tom Hanks film News of the World.

Richmond makes subtle appearances in Raymond & Ray. When the fathers girlfriend is introduced in the Fulton Hill house, shes wearing a 43rd St. Festival of the Arts T-shirt. The long night scene of Hawke running down the street in Jackson Ward. But most of the action takes place as Oakwood Cemetery.

Rodrigo was completely surprised by it. It was exactly what you hope for, Crank said. Its an old, weathered cemetery from the Civil War. Common soldiers were buried there.

After looking at maps of the cemetery, Crank found a giant oval in the center of the cemetery where no one had ever been buried. It was overgrown and you couldnt really see it when you were driving around, Crank said. But it turned out to be the perfect location because first, they could dig a real grave for the movie. Second, it had an incredibly good look. You could look 360 degrees and see tombstones everywhere.

We were able to come up for a look for Richmond that wasnt a traditional look. It comes off in a good way. Theres not a cliched shot of Richmond. We found really interesting places that were very visually rich. It worked out beautifully, Crank said.

When the crew was here last year, Hawke and McGregor hit the Richmond restaurant scene. McGregor and his wife took a photo with the staff of The Lilly Pad in eastern Henrico County, while Hawke and his daughter Maya enjoyed a meal at Culs Courthouse Grille in Charles City County.

Lynn stayed in the Fan District while filming and rented a perfectly appointed grandmothers apartment located behind a Fan home.

Its my favorite apartment that I ever stayed in on location, said Lynn, who now calls California home. It was the fall in the Fan. Every morning when I went out and saw the colors, I almost wept for the beauty of it all.

The final expenditure figures are pending for Raymond & Ray, but the estimated direct spend in Virginia is over $17 million.

Our film office team works hard to bring this work to the Commonwealth in a very competitive global landscape, said Andy Edmunds, director of the Virginia Film Office. Our goal always is to create repeat customers.
Hopewell police have started an investigation after human remains were discovered in a city neighborhood.

Police said they responded about 10:10 p.m. Wednesday to the 2100 block of City Point Road for a report of skeletal remains. Officers arrived on scene and held the area overnight so the investigation could continue Thursday morning.

Hopewell investigators contacted Virginia State Police and the local office of the FBI, who are actively assisting in the investigation.

Police said an expert they consulted described the remains as an osteological specimen. Consequently, police anticipate the investigation will take some time and additional details will be limited.

Police urged anyone with information to contact the departments Criminal Investigations Unit at (804) 541-2284 or Hopewell/Prince George Crime Solvers at (804) 541-2202. Information can also be provided using the P3tips mobile app.
Micah Thomas, a former English teacher at Henrico High School, quit in the middle of the 2021-22 academic year. Thomas, who now works at Capital One, didnt leave because of her students or her school but, rather, because of the systemic issues of working in education.

Thomas said her leaving had to do with the way teachers are treated and the level of work expected from educators, coupled with the low pay.

I felt that a way of protest  was to leave, Thomas said.

In June, 90 teachers across the Henrico school district resigned, the largest number of resignations the district has seen in the month of June  the end of the school year  in the past five years.

The pandemics ramifications for education, along with low teacher pay and the battle for parental control in the classroom, has resulted in teachers all over the country leaving the profession in flocks.

To measure the level of teachers leaving the profession in Virginia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch sent public records requests to each of the states 132 public school systems regarding teacher resignations submitted in the month of June from 2018 to 2022 and analyzed personnel items from school board meeting documents.

Those records paint a picture of public school systems across the state struggling with teacher retention. In Fairfax County, the states largest school district, 3,374 teachers resigned collectively in the last five Junes, the most of any district that responded to The Times-Dispatchs requests. Loudoun County, the states third-largest school district, was next with 1,713 June resignations, followed by Newport News with 749.

Chesterfield County had the most resignations in the Richmond area, with 538 teachers leaving their positions in the past five Junes, followed by 363 in Henrico County, 333 in Richmond and 131 in Hanover County.

While working as an educator, Thomas, the former Henrico teacher, said she built a coffin in her mind and put nails in her coffin when she received emails past midnight, when she was asked to complete a task outside of her area of expertise, and every time she received an email saying a raise she was set to receive wasnt coming.

Thomas has since designed a free course to help other teachers transition out of education into a new career.

After Thomas changed her title from teacher to instructional designer on LinkedIn, she received an influx of messages asking for help to make a similar career move. She created a slide deck on how to create a portfolio and resume.

For those seeking more hands-on resources, Thomas offers help including restructuring resumes for the corporate world and role-playing job interviews.

The course didnt come to fruition purely out of a spirit of generosity, she said. Rather, it was born of utter rage she felt for what teachers go through.

***

Richmond Public Schools, which saw 139 teachers resign this June, recently spoke to its retention woes at a School Board meeting.

Last fall, the first school year during the pandemic when RPS fully reopened, 76.1% of teachers returned to the division.

Last years teacher return rate was the lowest RPS has recorded since the fall of 2018, when 76.7% of teachers returned, according to division data.

In the fall of 2019, 79% of teachers returned to work, followed by 83.7% in the fall of 2020, six months into the pandemic.

Overall, fewer Black, Hispanic, Asian and white teachers returned last fall from September 2020, despite each seeing increases in teacher retention from the 2019 to 2020 fall starts.

Between the 2020 and 2021 fall starts, RPS saw its sharpest decline in Hispanic teachers, losing nearly 19% of them in a single year. RPS lost roughly 8% of its Black teachers, followed by 7% of white teachers and almost 6% of Asian teachers.

The district saw only a slight change among the same teacher groups in the 2018 and 2019 start years, except for Asian teachers, which doubled from a 35.3% retention rate in 2018 to 70% in 2019. Hispanic and Asian teachers collectively amount to roughly 5% of the districts teaching staff, making room for some fluctuations in data.

Data collected by the school division supports the idea that teachers are leaving largely because they are unsatisfied with their jobs. In June, more than 2,100 RPS teachers and school-based staff participated in an annual satisfaction survey. It consisted of eight questions asking whether teachers feel respected by students, colleagues and administrators; whether they have the resources they need to do good work and grow in their jobs; and whether they feel safe in their school environment.

Only 43% of the teachers who answered the survey in June were satisfied with the current learning environment and working conditions, down 2 percentage points from the previous year. (RPS did not conduct its own survey in 2020-21, drawing responses from a statewide survey that asks seven of the eight questions Richmond asks.)

RPS scored worse on every question in the survey in 2021-22 than in the previous academic year. Just over 60% of teachers said they felt respected by administrators at their school, down from 70%. Fewer than half of teachers felt they had sufficient resources for professional development.

And 56% of teachers said they felt safe in their school, down from 68% a year ago.

A schools spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. But RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras recently said that as he sits down with each district principal over the next several weeks for goal-setting meetings, the satisfaction survey results will be examined very closely.

Kamras said the meetings will try to understand what is going on, both in terms of a strength and in terms of an area for growth in each building, and what is the kind of support that leaders may need to address and move some of these numbers in the right direction.

In efforts to improve its retention numbers, RPS recently established a Teacher Retention Task Force. The group is scheduled to meet on the third Tuesday of each month, with the initial meeting set for Nov. 15.
A new lawsuit is challenging a policy adopted by Hanover schools regarding the treatment of transgender students.

The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU of Virginia on behalf of parent Ashley Hession, said that the Hanover County School Boards policy violates state law and discriminates against transgender students. Hessions child is transgender.

On Aug. 30, the board passed a policy that requires transgender students to send a written request to school administration asking for access to the schools facilities that align with the students gender identities. The policy directs students and their parents to submit documents which may include the students disciplinary or criminal records along with signed statements from the students doctors or therapists verifying a diagnoses of gender dysphoria or a consistent expression of a binary gender identity.

The lawsuit, filed in Hanover Circuit Court last month, said that the boards policy discriminates against transgender students by requiring them to submit an invasive and burdensome investigation in order to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.

School district spokesman Chris Whitley said that the board does not comment on pending litigation.

One count of the lawsuit rests on the claim that the Hanover School Board is in violation of state law because its transgender policy does not align with the Virginia Department of Educations model policies. But those policies are set to change soon.

On Sept. 16, the VDOE published new proposed model policies that roll back some of the protections afforded to transgender students under policies published last year under then-Gov. Ralph Northams administration. The 30-day public comment period ends Wednesday, and from there the VDOE will decide if the effective date needs to be delayed.

According to state law, if a written comment is received during a public comment period asserting that the guidance document is contrary to state law, the effective date of the guidance document by the agency must be delayed for an additional 30-day period.

As of Friday afternoon, more than 61,500 comments had been submitted for consideration by the VDOE. Several assert that the proposed policies are unlawful. The new policies will go into effect upon final approval by the State Superintendent Jillian Balow.

VDOEs proposed model policies contradict their legal mandate, and Virginians have submitted comments opposing these dangerous proposals by a ratio of 7:1, said ACLU-VA Staff Attorney Geri Greenspan in an email to The Times-Dispatch. Well be watching VDOE closely to see if the department rescinds their proposals and re-instates the 2021 model policies that put protections in place for trans students, teachers, and parents.

The lawsuits second count is under the claim that the Hanover School Board abused its discretion and acted outside the scope of its powers when it adopted the transgender policy on Aug. 30.

Since last year, Hanover has been at the forefront of the controversy in Virginia over how the school board should accommodate transgender students.

The Hanover School Board (along with about 90% of school boards across Virginia) did not adopt the VDOEs model policies last year by the first day of school, which was required by law. The failure to take action set off a groundswell among Hanover residents. The board later shot down a proposed policy that would have allowed transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

The lawsuit filed last month is the second lawsuit filed by the Virginia ACLU against the Hanover School Board regarding transgender policies. The first was filed in December and claimed that the School Boards decision in November to decline adopting a transgender policy was a violation of state law.

The policy adopted in August, which prompted the most recent lawsuit, was drafted largely by the Christian conservative legal advocacy organization Alliance Defending Freedom.

The Arizona-based organization has played a part in several anti-transgender bathroom policies across the U.S.
One man was killed and another critically wounded in Richmond on Thursday night.

Richmond police said officers responded at around 8:54 p.m. to a report of shots being fired in the 1900 block of Q Street in the citys East End.

Upon arrival, police located two men with apparent gunshot wounds.

One man had life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital. The second was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police urged anyone with information about this shooting to call Detective J. Crewell at (804) 646-5324 or contact Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.
Since the start of the pandemic, college enrollment has cratered throughout the country. But in Virginia, the number of students is on the rebound.

National college enrollment dropped an additional 1% this year and is down 6% since before the pandemic, according to newly released data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Fewer people have chosen college because of high tuition costs and a favorable labor market.

But in Virginia, the number of students grew less than 1% this year to about 519,000, according to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Reasons for the states relative success include the wealth of its residents, its still-growing high school-age population and the continued emergence of online giant Liberty University in Lynchburg. Virginia is one of 16 states to experience growth this year.

Tom Allison of SCHEV called Virginias 0.3% enrollment growth a stabilization.

Weve got excellent institutions that people are clearly seeing a value in, that are worth investing your time and money in, Allison said.

No Virginia college has grown in the past three years more than Liberty, which has increased its student population 16% to more than 99,000 students. The vast majority of Libertys students attend online.

The states wealthiest and most prestigious schools have done well, too. The College of William & Mary has grown by 9%, Virginia Tech by 5% and the University of Virginia by 2%.

Most historically Black universities are prospering as well. Virginia State University is up 8%, and Virginia Union University is up 17%. Even community colleges in Virginia, which had declined for 10 straight years, are up nearly 1% this year.

One reason Virginia colleges are doing better than most states is they never dropped that far to begin with. Colleges in the state experienced a 1% drop in 2020, averting disaster.

Virginia residents are relatively wealthy and were economically impacted by the pandemic less than those in other states, Allison said.

While other states have seen contractions in their population of high school-age residents, Virginia is still growing. There were 87,000 high school graduates in Virginia in 2020, the highest number ever.

The fact that Virginias colleges operate independently likely also helped, Allison said. Each Virginia college is run by a president who answers to a board of visitors.

Each school was able to make its own pandemic response plan. Virginia State University kept its campus closed, while most other colleges reopened. Other states, such as North Carolina and California, operate their universities as a single system.

Most states havent stabilized the way Virginia has.

After two straight years of historically large losses, it is particularly troubling that numbers are still falling, especially among freshmen, said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the Clearinghouse.

There are numerous ripple effects of having fewer college graduates: College graduates earn higher wages and are more likely to have health insurance. Theyre more likely to vote and volunteer, and theyre less likely to rely on public assistance.

While freshmen enrollment dropped again nationwide, the number of freshmen at Virginia colleges is up.

Some of Virginias trends can be seen at the national level, too. The most selective schools continue to grow, while many serving low-income students have shrunk.

While Virginia as a whole is keeping its head above water, some of its schools are struggling. Radford University has lost 35% of its students since 2019. The University of Mary Washington is down 16%, and Virginia Commonwealth University has shrunk 6%.

Of the 29 private schools in the state, 19 have contracted in the past three years. Hampton University lost 33% of its students, Ferrum College lost 23% and Bridgewater College is down 19%.

Historically Black colleges and universities across the state did well this year, growing by almost 3%. Virginia State, Virginia Union and Norfolk State are up, but Hampton University is down.

At VSU, the school welcomed 1,700 freshmen and transfers this year, the largest batch of new students in more than 30 years. Its student enrollment has grown 8% since before the pandemic to 4,700.

Donald Palm, VSUs provost, said the murder of George Floyd caused students to become more interested in social justice and more likely to consider an HBCU.

Alumni are a big part of the universitys growth, he added. Alumni provide testimonials that are more valuable than any recruiting pitch from a school employee. Alumni often connect prospective students to the admissions office and welcome VSU to attend company events. Lately, theyve also shared a flyer on Facebook, where one former student wrote: Virginia State University is the best decision I ever made.

Theyre built to do this, Palm said of the schools alumni. They take pride in recruiting students and partnering with the university to recruit students.

Another mechanism bringing students to VSU is the Virginia College Affordability Network, a state-sponsored program that allows Pell Grant-eligible students who grow up in the Chesterfield and Petersburg areas to attend at no cost.

Since the program launched in 2021, it has brought about 500 students to VSU. For those who do pay, VSU is one of the most affordable public universities in Virginia. In-state tuition, fees, and room and board cost roughly $21,000 a year.

VSU hasnt set a target for future enrollment, Palm said, but 6,000 to 7,000 students are possibilities.

The question for the state is: Will its growth last?

The number of high school graduates is expected to drop starting in 2026. Its been dubbed the enrollment cliff, but what Virginia will see is actually a steady decline.

Between 2026 and 2036, the number of high school grads is expected to drop 10%, the result of fewer births during the recession of 2007.

Universities are already readying themselves. William & Mary President Katherine Rowe told faculty this month that the university has four years to position itself for 2026.

The actions we take now will determine our future competitiveness  our ability to attract terrific students, she said.

The question of how the enrollment cliff will affect schools is a significant one. Fewer students often means budget shortfalls, fewer employees and strained resources.

The potential drop-off is a threat to this stabilization, Allison said.
Investigators say the remains of a Patrick County, Virginia woman who has been missing since the summer of 2018 were found Monday in Stokes County, North Carolina.

The Surry County Sheriff's Office worked with the Stokes County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies to execute a search warrant at Asbury Road in Westfield on Monday.

The Surry County Sheriff's Office said investigators were looking for any evidence or information that could help determine the whereabouts of Sarah Ashley Hill. Hill was reported missing to the Patrick County Sheriff's Office in Virginia in August 2018, according to a news release from the Surry County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators brought in specialized crews and used heavy equipment to move dirt and terrain and stabilize an existing structure. They located human remains beneath the floor of a structure on the property, and those remains were sent to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. On Thursday, an autopsy confirmed that the search uncovered Hill's remains.

The Surry County Sheriff's Office did not release a cause of death and did not say whether Hill's death was being investigated as a homicide. After Hill was reported missing, the Patrick County Sheriff's Office reached out to Surry County Sheriff's Office for help. A report from the Patrick County Sheriff's Office said Hill had not been seen or heard from since June 2018.

Surry County Sheriff's investigators checked several locations in the county, including three different properties on King Park Circle in Mount Airy. The investigation eventually led to the property on Ashbury Road in Stokes. Hill was last seen there around the time of her disappearance, the sheriff's office said.

Detectives with the Surry County Sheriff's Office, the Stokes County Sheriff's Office, the Patrick County Sheriff's Office and the State Bureau of Investigation contacted Hill's family.
From the west side of Ninth Street  in a former hotel that long ago was the preferred hangout of legislators, lobbyists and those dedicated to the care and comfort of both  Jason Miyares office as Virginia attorney general has a great view of the Jefferson-designed state Capitol, where the youthful Republican served as a lawmaker for six years and might return in another four as governor.

Nine months into his term as the states chief lawyer  Miyares is the first Latino elected statewide here and the first Republican to win the post since 2009  thats not a topic he cares to discuss.

Neither will he address the possibility of challenging Democratic incumbent Tim Kaine in 2024 for the U.S. Senate, perhaps averting  were Miyares victorious  a divisive contest for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2025 with another history-maker: Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. She is the first Black woman in Virginia statewide office.

You have to prove to the public you can be trusted to govern, Miyares, nursing a morning mug of coffee, said in his sun-washed office. Recalling advice from predecessors before his swearing-in this past January with Earle-Sears and Gov. Glenn Youngkin  theirs was the first Republican sweep in 12 years  Miyares said he wants to master his new position: If you dont have a good year one, you wont have any options whatsoever.

The Republicans embarrassment of riches is not without potential headaches. Indeed, both parties  when controlling the three statewide offices  have suffered through fractious, expensive battles for the gubernatorial nomination, the result of which was the other side won. This befell Republicans in 2013; Democrats, in 2021.

Over the past century, going back to the 1926-1930 governorship of Harry Byrd Sr., whose conservative Democratic machine ruled the state until 1970  and who put in place in 1929 the short ballot under which Virginians picked only their governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general  roughly equal numbers of LGs and AGs have achieved the governorship. Eight were lieutenant governors; six, attorneys general.

Miyares, who defeated two-term Democrat Mark Herring, is doing as many of his Republican predecessors did, repositioning the office  for public consumption and political benefit  as Virginias top crime buster. With crime rising concurrent with the coronavirus, its far sexier than the attorney generals nuts-and-bolts mission: providing legal advice to a vast bureaucracy.

Miyares is investigating how the school board in Democrat-trending Loudoun County, Herrings home base, responded to sexual assaults of two girls by a teenage boy ahead of the 2021 election. The cases, fodder for right-leaning media, were framed by Republicans as evidence Democrats subordinate the worries of school parents to the pursuit of wokeness.

Democrats see Miyares as doing a lot of picking and choosing, some of it unsubtle.

In a case handled by Miyares office that originated on Herrings watch, a Loudoun sheriffs deputy  his boss was a Miyares transition adviser  pleaded guilty to felony solicitation in an online sex investigation and was sentenced to three years probation. A week ago, Miyares confirmed he was returning to the New Kent County prosecutor  over the local officials wishes  responsibility for an investigation into alleged sex abuse of brain-injured children at a private hospital.

Miyares said that was because turnover in the New Kent commonwealths attorneys office eliminated a conflict of interest  the previous prosecutor knew personally the accused doctor  that had pushed the case to the attorney general under Herring. Still, Miyares said he is ready, willing and able to assist the New Kent prosecutor and his two deputies.

Miyares angered commonwealths attorneys in both parties with his campaign pledge to take over some local criminal investigations. He retreated on legislation authorizing the office to do so in child sex cases but vows a do-over in 2023.

Other measures of the conservative shift under Miyares: He said public colleges had no authority to require students be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition for enrollment. Despite broad support in Virginia for abortion rights, Miyares joined the Mississippi case in which the U.S. Supreme Court reversed its nearly half-century-old decision allowing a woman to terminate a pregnancy.

Miyares shuffled his staff to free 20 lawyers for a so-called election-integrity unit, raising fears among Democrats that the attorney general  who does say Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump  is creating a voter police force for a state with few election irregularities, in order to affirm his Trump bona fides to Republicans in thrall of 45.

This past week, if only to energize Republicans for the fast-approaching midterm congressional elections, Miyares joined Youngkin, the presidential flirt, in heavily Democratic Norfolk, where there have been 53 homicides this year, to announce a brace of anti-crime programs. One aims to fill holes in the police ranks attributed to backlash over the death of George Floyd in the custody of cops. Another would team Miyares office with federal prosecutors to tackle violent crime in a dozen Virginia cities.

Public safety, Miyares said, is an issue that naturally fits my vision. A former assistant prosecutor in Virginia Beach, the coastal resort city he represented in the House of Delegates, Miyares said he and colleagues each typically handled 50 cases at a time  from traffic matters to capital murder.

Miyares remains a strong supporter of the death penalty, banned by Virginia  the first Southern state to do so  in the final months of Democratic hegemony last year. Asked if would favor resuming executions, he said, Theres no guarantee  a signal the GOP, were it to regain full control of the legislature next year  may not be unified on the idea.

Still, Miyares maneuvering  while he would say its about safe streets  inspires suspicion among Democrats facing a center-left split over law enforcement.

Its all cynicism, its all ignorance, said Ramin Fatehi, Norfolks progressive Democratic prosecutor. Its intended to the fuel the San Francisco-, Philadelphia-DA false talking point.
 Flash

A Chinese envoy on Thursday urged the international community to take concrete actions to achieve justice and development for women in conflict to strengthen their resilience.

Strengthening the resilience of women in conflict is inherent in the agenda for women, peace and security, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council open debate on the theme of "Strengthening Women's Resilience and Leadership as a Path to Peace in Regions Plagued by Armed Groups."

Behind strength and resilience is the expectation and hope for the future, he said, noting that only by achieving fairness and justice can women in conflict believe that they can look forward to the future.

Citing the Palestinian question, which has been dragging on for more than 70 years without a solution, Geng said that generations of Palestinian women "have seen their hair going from black to white."

"The international community must come up with concrete actions to uphold justice and deliver on its commitments to promote a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question at an early date, so as to return Palestinian women a belated justice," he said.

The envoy pointed out that the lack of resilience for women in conflict is rooted in the lack of development.

At present, the global food crisis is becoming more severe. The international community should speed up its response to the crisis and provide emergency assistance to vulnerable groups such as women in developing countries, he said.

China hopes that all parties concerned to the Ukrainian issue will promote dialogue and consultation, fully implement the Black Sea Grain Initiative and ensure that more grain is shipped to developing countries, Geng said.

"We should also take a long-term view in supporting women's economic empowerment and help more women earn their own living," he added.

Geng also urged the immediate lift of unilateral sanctions against countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela, saying that those unilateral measures are "the heavy shackles impeding the survival and development of local women."
The past six years have been Earths warmest since the start of the industrial age. One of the tools needed to slow down the warming climate is the phasing out of fossil fuel use  especially to generate electricity at the utility scale  which is one-quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Last week, as required by the Virginia Clean Economy Act, Dominion Energy filed its third annual clean energy proposal with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the state agency that oversees the utility. In addition to the annual filings, the VCEA requires the utility to generate all of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045.

This year, Dominion proposed 10 new solar and industrial-scale battery projects. The two largest projects are in Charlotte and Pittsylvania counties, each having a capacity greater than 100 megawatts, or enough to power about 25,000 homes.

The proposal also includes 13 solar and battery projects in cooperation with third-party solar providers, known as power purchase agreements, or PPAs. These are another integral part of the VCEA, as it requires 35% of Dominions solar capacity to come from PPAs.

Proposals in 2020 and 2021 were approved by the SCC after about six months of review. If this years proposal is approved, the combination of the new projects would add about 800 megawatts of renewable power to the electrical grid, coming online in phases between next year and 2025. That would be enough to power about 200,000 homes, which is a little less than 10% of Dominions 2.8 million Virginia customers.

Carbon-free energy sources are not exclusively renewable. Dominions nuclear plants in North Anna and Surry are a large part of their current generation mix and are expected to be for a long time. Between the two of them, they make up about 35% of the utilitys capacity, and both are licensed to operate through the 2030s. The Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a renewal for Surry last year, extending its life into the early 2050s. The North Anna license is still pending with the NRC but, if approved, it could continue to operate through the late 2050s.

Unsurprisingly, Dominion still has a long way to go to meet its requirements, as only 5% of its generation is currently from renewables, but the utility believes it can meet the VCEA goal. According to Aaron Ruby with Dominion, this years filing is typical of what we should expect every year through 2035, with approximately 1,000 megawatts of solar and battery storage added to the electrical grid each year.

If Dominions Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is completed as designed by the end of 2026, that would add 2,600 more megawatts of renewables to the grid. Combined with anticipated growth in solar, Ruby estimated 51% of Dominions generation would be from renewables by the 2035 benchmark set by the VCEA.

Dominion expects this years proposal will support 4,800 Virginia jobs in construction, engineering, operations and maintenance. The number is comparable to the long-term solar industry jobs outlook from the independent Net-Zero America study that was published by Princeton University last year.

One of the NZA analyses suggests an additional 32 jobs per 10,000 people in the state through 2050. With approximately 6 million adults in Virginia (2020 census), that would translate to 19,000 jobs.

Additionally, as the cost of solar continues to drop, the transition away from fossil fuels is expected to guard against the volatile fluctuations in fuel costs. Earlier in July, when the cost of natural gas spiked, Dominion added a charge of $14.93 per month to an average household bill.

For this years solar proposal, Dominion plans to add 38 cents to the average bill, roughly 40 times less than the cost passed along to customers from the surge in natural gas costs.

Dominion expects to hear back from the SCC in the spring.
A Roanoke County employee has announced his intention to run for clerk of the circuit court in 2023.

Michael Galliher is currently a deputy clerk in the criminal division of the Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerks Office. He announced his candidacy for clerk, one of the countys five constitutional officer positions late Wednesday afternoon.

Longtime county Clerk Steve McGraw, 72, said Thursday hell be retiring from the post hes held for 31 years at the beginning of February.

The Democratic constitutional officer said he and his wife have a home in Florida, and he figured one of the coldest months of the year was a good time to head south and into retirement.

Current Chief Deputy Clerk Rhonda Perdue will take over for McGraw for the 11 months remaining on his current eight-year term. In Virginia the clerks position is the only one among the five constitutional offices to have an eight-year term. The others  sheriff, commonwealths attorney, treasurer and commissioner of the revenue  each carry four-year terms.

Perdue said she has worked in the office for almost 26 years, and the last seven as second in command to McGraw.

She declined to say Thursday whether or not she would be running against Galliher in 2023.

Once Im appointed and settled in, Ill make that determination, she said Thursday.

She also said she would decide whether to run with a party affiliation or as an independent during that same time period.

McGraw said he would endorse Perdue if she chooses to run, regardless of party affiliation.

While Galliher did not specify what party he is running under in his announcement, his personal Facebook page shows him campaigning for U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, a Republican, just last week.

He is a longtime Roanoke County resident, a Northside High School and Radford University graduate, according to his campaign announcement.

His campaign website states his priorities if elected are to explore new and additional technology to make information and documents more accessible and make information and services readily  while keeping costs low.

Additionally, it states he would update the community about the office, accomplishments, upgrades, and services offered through regular newsletters, the website, and social media.

Galliher could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

The clerks office is responsible for recording deeds, surveys and other real estate-related documents; issuing marriage licenses and concealed weapon permits; processing divorces, adoptions and name changes; handling criminal, chancery, law and estate matters and maintaining court records and other records as provided by law, according to the countys website.

McGraw said his current salary is $147,195.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin indicates he will not follow a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee recommendation that COVID vaccines be added to regular immunization schedules for children.

The CDC recommends children and adults receive vaccines for Hepatitis B, Rotavirus and other diseases at certain age milestones. It has no ability to mandate shots for entry to school, a decision left to each state.

On Wednesday, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to add COVID shots to the CDC's list of routinely recommended vaccines.

But Youngkin announced on Twitter late Thursday that parents should make the decision on whether their children receive COVID shots.

"The decision to vaccinate a child against COVID-19 is for Virginia parents to make about what's best for them and their family," Youngkin tweeted.

He called the CDC's announcement a mandate, even though it isn't.

"We will not adhere to these @CDCgov mandates," he added. "In Virginia, parents matter."

The CDC makes suggestions for when children and adults should receive a number of vaccines. Its first recommendation is for infants to receive a shot for Hepatitis B at birth. By two months of age, it recommends several others, including DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis), Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b) and polio.

For adults, it recommends annual flu shots, Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) every 10 years and other vaccinations.

The CDC's recommendation adds COVID shots to the a federal program, the Vaccines for Children Program, which allow low-income kids to receive immunizations at no cost, said Logan Anderson, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Health. The addition of COVID shots to the program likely won't occur until next year.

But the recommendation has no bearing on what shots are necessary to enroll in school. For a change to occur, the General Assembly would have to pass legislation or the Board of Health would have to pursue a regulatory update, which requires public notice and a 60-day comment period, Anderson said.

"There is no direct, immediate impact on COVID-19 vaccine being added to the immunization schedule on school-required vaccines in Virginia," Anderson added.

While Youngkin has recommended adults receive COVID shots, he has been less bullish on shots for children. In Virginia, young children and babies have been less likely to get the shots than teenagers and young adults, as young children are less likely to develop serious COVID illnesses.

In the summer, Youngkin said he wants "people to make their own decision" about COVID vaccines for babies.

Youngkin has diverged from CDC guidance in the past. In the summer, he announced the state health department would no longer recommend masks in schools, daycares and summer camps, even though the CDC still recommended masks when community levels of COVID are high.

A spokesperson for the governor did not immediately respond to a request to explain why Youngkin called the CDC's recommendation a mandate.
Warmer afternoons are ahead for Friday and the weekend, and the general weather pattern looks dry through most of next week for Southwest Virginia. The burst of chill earlier this week continues to retreat northward, and there are no signs of unseasonably cold weather returning until after Halloween.

There are a couple of chances for rain in the next week, but neither one is particularly strong. A storm will form along the North Carolina coast on Saturday and push northward near Virginia Beach on Sunday. There is a small chance the system tosses a few showers as far west as the Blue Ridge, but most of the rain from it will hold farther eastward, toward Richmond and the Chesapeake Bay.

Second, a dying system will approach from the west on Wednesday, but most of the energy from it will swing from southwest to northeast along the western side of the Appalachian Mountains, keeping most of Southwest Virginia dry.

More likely than not, both the Roanoke and New River valleys will get no rain for at least a week, perhaps longer.

And despite the flurries in Virginias mountains and the coating of snow last week in the nearby peaks of West Virginia, temperatures will be too warm to support any frozen precipitation, even through Virginias western highlands, for another week. Up at the jet stream level, winds will mostly be from the west or southwest over the next couple of weeks, making it especially difficult for truly cold air to drop into Virginia from the Canadian Arctic.

This is also the time of year that winter outlooks come fast and furious from a number of forecasting outlets. These are great exercises in trying to decode trends and get a general idea of what to expect for the coldest season of the year, but they will usually be thin on details and actionable information.

Among these was the winter outlook released on Thursday from the meteorologists at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center. Like many other outlooks, this one heavily weighs the current conditions over the Pacific Ocean near the equator, fully known as the El Nino and Southern Oscillation.

This is the third consecutive year that the phenomenon is in its negative phase, which has been become known as La Nina, indicating that the water in the eastern half of the tropical Pacific is cooler than average (El Nino refers to the phase when the water is warmer than average).

The ocean and atmosphere are connected, especially so in this part of the world. As a result, the heat and water exchanged between the ocean and atmosphere have cascading impacts on the average flow of the jet stream winds during the winter.

Typically in a La Nina winter, a broad area of high pressure sits in the north Pacific, near the Gulf of Alaska. Downstream from that, steering winds move from northwest to southeast across western Canada and into the northern United States, bringing cold air southward more often than in an average year.

But the jet stream travels in waves, and it often turns back northward just west of the Appalachians in this configuration, meaning the nearby primary storm track also holds several hundred miles to the west. The result for Virginia is a winter that ends up warmer and drier than average.

That is not to say there will be no snow in Virginia and it will stay warm the entire winter, but when we look back at the winter as a whole, we probably will not remember it being especially cold or snowy.

But fear not snow lovers, there are motions and phases going on in the atmosphere on shorter times scales than La Nina. Fluctuations in the jet stream in the north Atlantic can allow shots of cold air into the eastern North America. Known as the North Atlantic Oscillation, it is related to the circular movement of air around the North Pole  the polar vortex. In its negative phase, the vortex circulation is weak, becomes more wavy, and allows cold air to move farther south into eastern North America. This increases the chance for large snow storms from the Middle Atlantic to the Northeast.

Just like we remind you during the early summer, even if the overall hurricane season is less active than normal, it only takes one to make it a memorable season. Much the same applies to winter. One big snow storm or cold outbreak, even in an otherwise drier and milder winter, will etch itself into your consciousness for a lifetime.
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FLORENCE, S.C.  Florence County Probate Judge Jesse Cartrette Jr. faces Chandra Graham in the Nov. 8 general election.

Cartrette, a Republican, has served as Florence County probate judge since his election in November 2018. Graham, a Democrat, worked in the office of the probate judge for eight years under Probate Judge Mumford Scott. She is an executive assistant/research analyst in the Florence County adminstrators office.

Graham is a Florence native. She graduated from Wilson High School. She holds a bachelors of science degree in business administration from Limestone University. She has a masters degree in business administration from Webster University. She was a graduate of the Leadership Florence Class of 2022. She also has completed the Project Management Professional course at Florence-Darlington Technical College.

Cartrette is a Florence native. He graduated from South Florence High School. He received a bachelors of science degree in political science from Francis Marion University. He received his law degree from the Charleston School of Law in 2007. He was admitted to practice in the United States District Court for South Carolina in May 2010. He is a member of the Florence County Bar Association. He previously has served on the board of directors for the Florence County Senior Citizens Association. He is a member of the Florence Rotary Club. She also is a licensed and ordained minister for almost 29 years.

South Carolina does not require probate judges to hold a law degree. Each county has a probate judge, elected to a four-year term. Probate judges have jurisdiction over marriage licenses, estates of deceased persons, guardianship of incompetents, minor settlements under $25,000, involuntary commitments to institutions for mentally ill and/or chemically dependent persons. They also have exclusive jurisidiction over trusts and concurrent jurisdiction with Circuit Courts over powers of attorney.

Cartrette and Graham answered five questions about the plans and goals for the office of probate judge in Florence County.

Why do you think you are the best person to be probate judge?

Cartrette: I am the best person to serve as probate judge because I am currently serving so Ive got the experience on the job and I know what the job entails. I also have 15 years in the courtroom as a trial lawyer and judge now. I just have more experience with the position and with everything the probate court does  not just estates, but also mental health, guardianship and conservatorships, minor settlements and wrongful death settlements, all of the standards of law that apply, the rules of court and procedures. I am very well versed in how to negotiate with County Council and the state legislature to get what we need to make probate court work, and, of course, dealing with the public and trying to do that well to satisfy the public and to where all the various hats that the probate judge has to wear to make the office run like it should.

Graham: Probate court is a hands-on court. For eight years, I worked in the office of the probate judge, and I was directly involved in the day-to-day, hour-to-hour functions of that court from face-to-face appointments and meetings with family members, from case management to marriage licenses. Very early on in probate court, I had the opportunity to research  as a newbie coming into the court  16,000-plus mental health files. In that research, mental health along with SLED and the probate courts collaborated in order to search all their records to be able to ascertain or find individuals who may have had firearms, but also had some previous condition of a mental health. In that research, what was discovered was in all of the state of South Carolina over 100 firearm licenses were revoked. Not only were they revoked, but several individuals that had some type of mental health background that licenses were turned around. They could not get firearm licenses. There are things in place where some individuals were able to get their licenses back or their firearms back. But going through process with SLED and with mental health to make sure those persons are in the right mindset, capabilities and capacities to be able to carry firearms was one of the main things I did first when I came into the probate court. Also, part of my job there, I trained to manage with the staff, implement training material for the staff, put together probate instructional materials for the citizens of Florence County.  I also was the person that worked with the former judge Mumford Scott in order to make sure our IT department had a website for Florence County probate court because there wasnt a website prior to that. I had a hands-on, direct work with that. There have been some changes to the website but the main thing is people can key in on their computers and find some information about probate court. I served as the gatekeeper of the online management system. I provided manuals for caseworkers and training on those manuals as well. In those eight years of working there, I had a hands-on view of working with the staff, working with the people, working with the citizens. File management, I know what it takes get a file through the door, out the door and working with the judge to make things happen as well as the caseworkers there. Having trial experience is good, but having someone that has a hands-on experience and knows the intricacies of the court. The functions of the probate court are very vital and very important to the citizens of Florence County. When the citizens come into probate court, they need to have a staff that is capable to get the work done and to provide them exceptional service. I also want to add that at the height of COVID when many courts had shut their doors until they got an understanding of how they wanted to operate and move forward, we were one of those courts I wouldnt say we really shut our doors, we were still available to the public. The reason why is people were dying. People were hurting  mental health issues were still taking place. The hospitals couldnt close their doors, but they found an alternate way to serve the public. So thats what we did in probate court and I worked hand-in-hand with the judge to make sure that happened. Even when the judge and associate judge were out, half of our staff was out, we still worked to make sure the citizens were cared for, helped and also working in collaboration with the attorneys by making sure the work they were sending in was constantly getting pushed out. Were we swamped, we were absolutely swamped because of the work we had at the time and the work they still have. The work pretty much tripled. So making sure we continued to work during COVID thats what we did. I am the best person for the probate judges job because I have the knowledge, experience, leadership skill which are necessary in continuing to assist the families in the probate process. I am the candidate who has the ability to align that office for the needs of the people of Florence County.

What do you think is the most difficult part of being a probate judge?

Graham: As you know, Ive never served in judgeship. Im sure that many of the probate judges that serve in the 46 counties will probably have the same question, but some will have a different answer. I am a lifetime servant. Florence is my home. I was born and raised here. Ive worked in the community. Ive worked in public service and Ive worked in the ministry. You get to have your hands involved in the lives of people and you learn to help people. Thats what you do when you are a servant. One of the difficult things is getting the people to understand that once you move into the role of a judgeship you are not as accessible and available to them. When I saw that, people would like to come to you and ask your opinion on something. What do you think on this or what do you think about that? I believe that getting the people to understand that while you may have an opinion that your opinion is not the law.  I remember the former judge Mumford Scott, people would always say that Mumford told me to call you. What that told me is people approached him in the public and instead of going into dialogue and conversation with him he directed them to his court because he understood as a judge and in his capacity the question than was posed to him could come before him in court. As a judge to have prior knowledge of that situation could cause him to have to recuse himself. Being a servant working in the community, having people to understand and know this capacity doesnt allow me to communicate with you as I have before. Its because a judge as well as many other positions are bound by the law  South Carolina law and not only that but the laws of judicial ethics. So I believe, when you are a servant you dont want to turn people around, but you have to because of the seat and the position you now hold.

Cartrette: Personally, I think the most difficult part of being a probate judge is realizing that you cant always please everyone that comes before you in court. Someone is always going to leave the court less satisfied than the other party and thats from a partys in court standpoint. Also, its securing the funding to do the job that we have to do every day to serve the public. There is a huge portion of serving as probate judge that requires we negotiate and work with Florence County Council and with the state legislature to secure funding to make sure we have an abundant level of staff that is highly trained and knows how to help the public and that we have got the funding we need to provide supplies to accommodate every request and need that a probate court should be able to accommodate for a county our size. We like to offer additional services and things that would make and improve our county. When we come up with something that will help and that will improve us and move us forward, we also have to go and ask for those types of thing, which is something a probate judge has to take into consideration. A probate judge has to go and ask for things that oftentimes one wouldnt consider if they are not in the thick of it and not a part of that process already. I would also say there are times when we see folks that are very much broken when they come to probate court. They have lost a loved one. They have someone that is dealing with all sorts of mental health conditions or our in physical or mental decline. So, they need someone who is going to be compassionate and empathetic. You see them when they are in a very broken state. Its really hard to assess their needs and if you dont do that carefully mistakes can be made. We dont want to make those kinds of mistakes. You have to be very level-headed. You have to be calm and collected. You have to be very compassionate and understanding of what those needs are and knowledgeable about how to address them properly. In stressing how important that job is and the wisdom that needs to be imparted from that position, a probate judge has to know a lot of things. Theres a lot of hats we have to wear, and a lot of moving parts. The job is not a figurehead position. Its not one where you can pop in and do it because someone got elected. You really do have to know what youre doing.

How will you make the probate court work better for the people of Florence County?

Cartrette: As current probate judge, I set out to do that from the day I got elected in 2018. I brought to the office accountability and stability. I saw a need to make changes and Ive done that gradually and continually. I had to make some hard choice of letting go of staff that wasnt doing their job and didnt want to change and grow with the court and become better at serving the public. Now, we have brought in staff that cares about the public and is empathetic and compassionate. Its probably the most highly trained staff the court has had since the days of Judge (Kenneth) Eaton when he was in charge of the court. Now, thats not in any way to minimize the contributions of my predecessor because he was a fine judge in his own right. We have managed to be able to secure the type of training that we need for the new staff that has come on board. We just have a great staff that is working well. When people come into our court now, they dont have to wait to get things done. If they bring the required paperwork in, we can go ahead and see them and help them fill out what they need. You bring your documents in, you dont have to wait for months. When I first got to the court, they were having to wait two months or more just to get an appointment with someone. Youd bring in your paperwork and they would set you up an appointment for two months or later to come back and really get things going. No one should have to wait that long to get an estate started. The statutes require that you must be able to file your will within 30 days of a person passing away. That wasnt happening. I wanted to streamline the process and find where there were issues and problems and make sure we could clear that up. We wanted to make sure we could make the processes more smooth, and make sure the people could access the probate court and the probate court was more user friendly. Thats what Ive accomplished since arriving, and intend to continue doing. Anytime we see there is something we can improve  there is a process or a procedure we can do that the law doesnt require to be slow or in same way keep us from being able to speed it up or make it more convenient, I want to make it more convenient for the public. People should not have to wait for things we can do better or more efficiently for them. Another thing I would like to do for the public is we are currently preparing to do seminars at local church groups, senior groups, community groups, anywhere that folks want to meet with us and to learn more about the probate process, I want to demystify that process for them whether it is about estates, guardianships, conservatorships, the mental health process Id like to be able to answer their questions say they know what services probate court offers to them and understand what the processes are. A lot of people dont seek the help they need because they are fearful of the process. They have never been told how it works. If we can demystify that in some way or take some of the fear factor out of it for them, I think they will avail themselves to the court more and be able to use it in such a way that it is beneficial to them. That is what I want.

Graham: I believe we have some wonderful people here and life happens to all. But I believe in order to make probate court better for the people of Florence County by making sure the staff is adequately trained and can handle matters that come before them in probate court. I also believe it is important for the staff and the leadership as a whole to provide accountability, visibility, accessibility, stability, integrity, honesty and commitment to the service of the people of Florence County. Because we are in various positions they may be higher but we are still called to a place where we have to make sure we are accountable for our actions, accountable to the people we serve and the people who have voted us in.

What challenges are facing the probate court in Florence County? How would you meet those challenges?

Graham: I believe in probate court there needs to be some consistency. There needs to still be stability. Once a citizen of Florence County comes into the office they know they have a staff that is stable and can assist them. Also professionalism and making sure probate court is a well-oiled machine. We all have vehicles and we know we have to periodically have the oil changed. If not, we will, for sure, run into problems with the engine as well as other things down the road. I believe making sure that probate court is a well-oiled machine and to operate the court in the spirit of integrity and honesty. When of the other things I believe probate court faces is staffing issues. While, I understand the staff is fully staffed, and thats a good thing, but when we understand the amount of work that comes into probate court and the amount of rework that comes into probate court and Florence is growing. When I look back on my time at probate court, I was able to look back at records from years ago and records till now and from an estate administration standpoint I remember seeing at the end of the year when we count the total records  how many deaths came in, so to speak  there would be 700-800 files. During my time in probate court the total death numbers exceeded those numbers, even tripled. I am sure they have tripled from the early 2000s and early 2010 so what does that tell me? Florence is growing. Deaths, people are dying, but has the dynamic of the staff changed because with more work there needs to be more capable staff. And I say that because one of my jobs I did early on in probate court I was a case manager. A case manager or case worker you actually had a file or caseload of more than 300 active files. That can be very cumbersome when you have reportings, day-to-day meetings with you clients and the citizens that are coming in and the collaboration and communication with attorneys as well as the people that come in and research the files. There are various duties in probate court so I believe a case worker needs a manageable case load. Its what many other probate courts have done. What I would like to basically add into that is having a staff that is capable of getting the work out. Because when I left in May of 2018, at that time, there was a shortage of caseworkers  some had left and some had retired. When you have an abundance of files and you only have one caseworker, two caseworkers and the caseworker load is probably 75% of the work of probate court. Thats excluding from the mental health capacity, the guardianship and conservatorship capacity, the marriage license capacity. So having the staff that can push those files and work those files so that the citizens can be assisted, but not only that it helps the attorney also by pushing their work through the cycle and being able to get to the people that have come to those courts.

Cartrette: I would say the biggest challenge that Florence County Probate Court faces is funding, absolutely funding to be able to help the public in the way we most want to do. You can ask anyone in public service and they are always going to tell you their department needs more funding, but it has never been more true than in probate court. There are certainly things that we would like to do that we absolutely need more funding to accomplish. Weve begun some major project at probate court that we certainly need the funding to see those through to completion. I believe we will secure that funding. Im pretty confident in my talks to County Council and with the legislature that that will happen and it is certainly on the agenda to take place. We are on track to secure more for several projects. One of the biggest ones is a scanning project. I promised the public I would bring to fruition and weve actually begun the project. We are about a third of the way through. Hopefully, by the end of my second term, if the public sees fit to give me one, we will have that project completely finished. We have got records to scan all the way back to 1888. Id like to see those records completely online so that we can preserve them for posterity. We want to make sure the public will always be able to access those records no matter what kind of calamity or natural disaster may occur that might damage the actual physical record those records will always be accessible online. I dont want to see that process hindered or in some way interrupted. With me at the helm, I am going to see that that process comes to a full completion. In addition to that, I will say probate court obviously has more challenges. One of the biggest challenges our court like any other court faces is trying to help people who dont have a lawyer. We dont have the resources or the funding to appoint them an attorney either. The state would pay for that or the county. Our county is not set up to pay for people who come to the court indigent and cant afford an attorney. The state with the other courts  circuit court, family court and the like  appoints an attorney for those who are indigent and cannot afford one. Id like to see probate court reach a point where we have the same type of resources available. While we do have in the mental health arena the ability to appoint an attorney, there is not a lot of funding there for paying those attorneys. In many instances, they are serving essentially pro bono. They do get a nominal fee paid to them through the state, but its not much. Id like to see us be able to appoint to those who come to probate court for any reason an attorney if they qualify and do not have the ability to hire an attorney to help them out. We do see a lot of litigation and the process is not as fair when you are on your own but the opposing side has a lawyer. That lawyer knows the standards the rules that apply and all of the statutes, the rules of probate court and civil procedure. You really cant fight on your own unless you went to law school or you do an awful lot of reading and are extremely brilliant. You cant fight against a lawyer that is highly trained and well- seasoned in probate or any type of law in the courtroom as an individual and have your case heard in the same way. Of course, it requires a judge that is going to be fair like I am, but a judge has to treat a pro se litigant who comes before them as if they are their own attorney and hold them to the same standards as an attorney. The judge has to give a cautionary remark at the outset of trial if that person enters the court and dont have an attorney and if they choose not to have one that they are going to be treated the same as if they are an attorney themselves. This happens in every court in the state whether its probate court, circuit court, family court, court of appeals, state Supreme Court. Id like to see us reach a point where we could be able to appoint attorneys for every type of action when someone is indigent and cannot afford one to help them. That would be a great thing.

Where do you see the probate court four years from now?

Cartrette: Id like to see the scanning project that Ive begun with the public records fully complete. Id like for people to be able to access all the documents they need that are public records online and to not have to come to the courthouse for those if they dont want to or they cant if there is something that limits them from being able to come. I also hope probate court will fully implement an electronic filing system like the circuit courts and the family courts are using. I understand its on the way, but I dont know at the end of the next four years if the state will have fully implemented that in Florence County. Id like to see it. I do believe we are one of the larger counties that would qualify for it. I am pushing for us to be able to have that in the near future. I do believe it is possible and I do believe we will have it. That is something on my wish list of things. Id like to see us have more training for personal representatives on estates and be able to conduct training seminars for them as well as guardianship and conservatorship cases. As I state before, Id like to see us go out and do more seminars to demystify the process of probate. Id like to see a court that is fully staffed and has all the resources it needs. I will say that since Ive got to the probate court Ive been blessed with a host of compliments from a lot of good people and I have been told many times that Ive brought compassion back to the probate court and it has really come back to life under my leadership. I would love to continue in the vein and see it continue to grow and thrive with me there. Id be honored to continue serving.

Graham: This is what I hope and would love to see for probate court four years from now.  I am a person about visibility and productivity. I often hear our mayor say Moving Florence Forward. I also hear that from many other leaders. I would love to see probate court expand to other offices. What offices currently do that  the magistrates office as well as the treasurers office. They have satellites. I believe it is our responsibility to meet the people. When we think about Florence County, Florence County is over 800 miles long and the only probate court location is here in Florence. So, we have individuals that are driving from Johnsonville, Lake City, Pamplico and various other locations to get to our office. So I believe in order to meet the needs of the people is Florence County providing another satellite office somewhere closer down in the lower parts of Florence County to assist the people, especially since we have grandmothers, aunts and uncles who have lost loved ones and theres something that must be done in a probate matter. They shouldnt have to drive so far to get to the help they need.
FLORENCE Florence County Council zoned nearly 6 acres between West Palmetto Street and South Cashua Drive for single-family homes during its Thursday meeting at the County Complex, 180 N. Irby St.

The three parcels are behind the Harris Teeter grocery store in Florence and previously were unzoned. Property owner William Tallevast and developer David Douglas previously had approached the County Council to build an apartment complex, called the Jessamine on the property.

The County Council halted development on unzoned properties surrounded by the corporate limits of a municipality in March to conduct a study to determine recommended zonings for those properties.

The Jessamine would have been approximately 60 units, comprised of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.

Prior to Thursdays vote, Tallevast and Drew Schaumber of Schaumber Development in South Carolina addressed the County Council asking council members not to zone the acreage R-1, single-family residential.

Four neighborhood residents, C. Pierce Campbell, Pete Gioldasis, Jean Leatherman and Walker Willcox, addressed the council urging members to vote in favor of the R-1 zoning.

Zoning is most important in areas were residential and business areas are adjacent to each other, Campbell said.

Every shifting lines in those areas takes away neighborhoods and turns them into business zones, Campbell said. Every step in one direction takes further and further erosion into neighborhoods.

Gioldasis is the Country Club Forest Home Owners Association president. Country Club Forest is the subdivision behind the Tallevast property. It consists of approximately 95 single family homes.

We are asking you to move forward with R-1 simply because we are concerned with about the detrimental effects of allowing high density, mixed use non-residential development in our backyard, Gioldasis said.

South Cashua Drive doesnt have sidewalks and has approximately 12,000 vehicles traveling on it daily, he said. An apartment complex would add to the congestion already on Cashua Drive, Palmetto Avenue and in the Five Points area, he said.

Leatherman and Willcox echoed the sentiments of Campbell and Gioldasis.

Schaumber and Tallevast urged the County Council to reject the R-1 zoning. The countys comprehensive land-use plan under Residential Preservation lists R-1, R-2, R-3 and planned development as appropriate zoning options.

Planned development, Shaumber said, allows for development in an area that will preserve the public health, safety, morals and general welfare.

The Jessamine would bring affordable housing for employees of businesses in the area. Many businesses along South Cashua Drive and West Palmetto Street are seeking workers, Schaumber said.

The countys Planning Commission recently has voted 4-1 to allow a planned development for the site, Schaumber said.

Tallevast said the R-1 zoning would impact his family and the Florence County community. His family has owned the property for more than 100 years.

When I was approached about this affordable housing development, I knew that it was in everyones best interest, he said.

Affordable housing is a struggle across the nation and in Florence County, he said.

Affordable housing is about making communities available for regular people, Tallevast said.

Florence County needs this project, he said.

The Florence County Council approved the R-1 zoning on second reading. A vote on final approval will occur at the December County Council meeting.
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The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday voiced support for the expansion of BRICS membership after reports about Saudi Arabia showing its intention to join the group that presently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Citing South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa's local media reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "did express Saudi Arabia's desire to be part of BRICS," and Saudi Arabia is "not the only country" seeking BRICS membership.

As the BRICS chair for this year, China actively supports BRICS in starting the membership expansion process and expanding the "BRICS Plus" cooperation, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a regular press briefing.

Created in 2017, the "BRICS Plus" cooperation has invited leaders of developing countries outside the BRICS countries to join the dialogue.

At the 14th BRICS Summit in June, China said BRICS is not a closed club or an exclusive circle, but a big family of mutual support and a partnership for win-win cooperation.
 Lots of coverage of ugly BOP mistreatment of cancer victim called out in court opinion | Main | "Violent Crime and Public Prosecution: A Review of Recent Data on Homicide, Robbery, and Progressive Prosecution in the United States" 

October 20, 2022

Might the recent marijuana pardons by Prez Biden "make things worse for criminal legal reform"?

The question in the title of this post is prompted by this new Slate commentary by John Pfaff headlined "Bidens Focus on Marijuana Is Part of the Problem." One should read the full lengthy piece to understand the full "hot take," but here are some excerpts (with my complaints to follow):

A bigger concern, though, is not just that the policy might accomplish very little, but that it might make things worse for criminal legal reform in the long run because it reinforces a false narrative about the causes of mass punishment in general and mass incarceration in particular. Its a narrative that shapes  or, better put, misshapes  policy. Most Americans are deeply misinformed about why people are in prison. A survey in 2017 found that solid majorities across the ideological spectrum agreed with the claim that a majority of people in U.S. prisons are there for drug crimes. Thats a far cry from reality: 14 percent of people in state prisons were locked up for drug offenses at the time, a number that has fallen since then. (Those held in state prisons make up 90 percent of the nations incarcerated population.) This misbelief likely contributed to the next two results from that survey: while majorities of liberals, moderates, and conservatives favored lesser sanctions for those convicted of non-violent crimes who posed little risk of reoffending, majorities of all three groups also opposed lesser sanctions for those convicted of violence who likewise pose little risk of reoffending. We think we can decarcerate with easy choices. We cannot. Nationally, in 2019 almost 60 percent of all people in state prisons were convicted of violence; those convicted of just homicide or rape make up nearly 30 percent of the overall prison population.... If we released everyone held in state prisons convicted not just of marijuana crimes, nor just of drug offenses, but of all non-violent offenses combined, we would still have one of the worlds highest incarceration rates. Unsurprisingly, this means that violent crimes are also at the heart of racial disparities in U.S. prison populations, as a recent study by the Council on Criminal Justice made clear. Yet reforms continue to refuse to grapple with this reality. A 2020 report by the Prison Policy Initiative found nearly 100 state reforms in recent years that had explicitly refused to extend the changes to those convicted of violence. In some cases, the tradeoff between non-violent and violent crimes is explicit. In 2016, Marylands Democratic legislature scaled back sanctions for non-violent crimes, but also increased punishment for violent offenses. And just recently, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill to limit the use of solitary confinement, long viewed by behavioral scientists as torture, an indication of the lack of stomach for deeper reforms even among so-called progressive state leaders. The inability to discuss crimes of violence remains clear in our current politics. Ozs attacks on Fetterman on crime are now echoed in Wisconsin, where Republican Sen. Ron Johnson says Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes demonstrated far greater sympathy for the criminal or criminals versus law enforcement or the victims. Anecdotal attacks about violent crime have already caused two different New York governors to roll back the states 2020 bail reform law, before it was even possible to assess its impact. Even with new evidence suggesting reform did not contribute much if anything to rising crime in 2020, further rollbacks loom for 2023. And Virginia recently amended a law that expanded the ability of people in prison to earn good time credits to expressly exclude those who were serving time for any crime of violence. Meanwhile, as state prison populations fell nationwide by 15 percent from 2010 to 2019, Bureau of Justice Statistics data suggests that the number of people locked up for violence fell by just 1 percent; a separate analysis of the BJS data conducted by the Council on Criminal Justice estimated that the numbers confined for violence actually rose over that time, undermining the declines in drug and property cases. Talking exclusively about drugs does little in the short-run and reinforces a narrative that appears to affirmatively undermine the sorts of difficult discussions we need to have about the ways we respond to violence. There are things that Biden could have done, or at least done at the same time, that could have taken advantage of his bully pulpit. He could have encouraged state and local governments to think about alternative ways to address not just crime, but serious violence. Bidens August 2022 Safer America Plan did include some funding for just this but that part of the plan was always secondary to the push to hire more police; it was even framed merely as a way to free up the police to focus more on violence.... He could have announced a push for a repeal of the PLRA or AEDPA, two Clinton era laws that continue to impose real costs on people held in prison or challenging potentially wrongful convictions. Or, he could have pushed harder to amend the federal code to eliminate qualified immunity for police, or pushed state legislatures to pass such bills, about 35 of which have been proposed in the aftermath of George Floyds murder only to almost all be thwarted by police union lobbying. Such an approach could help improve police-community relations, which in turn could help address the single biggest challenge we face in reducing violence: the general unwillingness of victims of violence to contact the police. Its true that these are long-shot proposals. But short of pardoning every single person in federal prison  an impossibility  nothing any president does will have a significant impact on the size and reach of a criminal legal system that is almost entirely driven by local politics, policies, and funding. The presidents biggest power is his ability to shape the debate around criminal legal policy, not the policy itself. Bidens proposal here did nothing to shape that debate. There are lots of ways he could have taken steps to push the discussion in the direction it needs to go, but he disappointingly chose to highlight, once again, marijuana. That choice will make it harder to move the reform discussion beyond where it has mostly been mired for the past decade.

I am a big fan of so much of Pfaff's work, especially his emphasis on "the numbers," but there is much about this commentary that just does not add up. For starters, these World Population data of incarceration rates suggests that the US would easily fall out of the top 10 in incarceration rates if we cut our prison population 40% by releasing everyone held for non-violent offenses. Pfaff has long been eager to say we must not ignore violent offenders when thinking about the problem of mass incarceration. That is basically right, but dramatic decreases in our use of prison for non-violent offense would still make a very big impact AND his own commentary highlights why this is far more politically achievable than massive cuts to sentences for violent offenders. (Indeed, there is good reason to hope and expect that much shorter and many fewer prison sentences for non-violent offenses would serve as an essential first step to laying the foundation for reducing the overall severity scale of all our punishments.)

More generally, Pfaff claims there is an "inability to discuss crimes of violence," but I am seeing plenty of discussion (and political ads) about crimes of violence and especially murder having increased considerably over the last few years. When violent crime has spiked  which it clearly has and which Pfaff does not discuss  and when many polls indicate many voters are troubled greatly by this spike  which they clearly have and which Pfaff does not discuss  one should not be surprised that politicians are responsive to voter concerns about violent crime in their actions and rhetoric. Indeed, I think it notable (and encouraging) that some criminal justice reform efforts continue moving forward (at least for non-violent crimes) even when "tough on crime" political conditions seems to be prevalent.

And while I support various reforms to PLRA and AEDPA and qualified immunity, I am not aware of any significant research or evidence that such reform will reduce violence in our communities. If there was such evidence, these reforms could and likely would become a central element of reform supported by politicians on both sides of the aisle. There are all sort of good arguments for all sorts of criminal justice reforms, but wishing away the facts of increased violent crime (and increased voter concerns about violent crime) will surely "make things worse for criminal legal reform in the long run," much more than will Prez Biden granting blanket pardons to thousands of marijuana possession offenders.

October 20, 2022 at 06:31 PM | Permalink

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It's very frustrating to be told it's wrong to support sentencing relief for marijuana inmates or for that matter drug offenders. President Biden only has authority for federal inmates and 45% of them are serving sentences for drugs. Sentencing only changes when the public hears the stories.

Sentencing advocacy groups that won't tell these stories and reject all efforts of others to tell them, leave out an entire category of people who are living in an 8x10 cage frequently with another person. The category of marijuana inmates is just as valid as juveniles, women, disadvantaged, minorities, crack-cocaine disparity and those with violent crimes, yet we are shamed for mentioning these people.

By all means, it is valid to talk about over sentencing of those convicted of violent crimes but please let marijuana offenders tell their story.

Posted by: beth curtis | Oct 21, 2022 5:48:58 PM

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 Might the recent marijuana pardons by Prez Biden "make things worse for criminal legal reform"? | Main | Oklahoma completes execution for man who killed his infant daughter 20 years ago 

October 20, 2022

"Violent Crime and Public Prosecution: A Review of Recent Data on Homicide, Robbery, and Progressive Prosecution in the United States"

The title of this post is the title of this notable new study looking at relationships between prosecutorial policies and crime. The full study is apparently not yet available, but this executive summary provides lots of details and also has this extended abstract:

What caused the sharp increase in homicide in dozens of major cities in the United States in 2020 is the source of acrid debate. Most academic researchers have attributed the sudden increase in homicide to changes in the availability of guns, shifts in policing, and the pandemics aggravation of chronic strains in civil society such as homelessness, ill mental health, and drug abuse. Others have hypothesized that the increase in homicide is the result of the election of prosecutors whose pledges to reform the system of criminal justice have discouraged the police from stopping and arresting emboldened lawbreakers. We examined the most timely, reliable, and comprehensive set of data on homicide and robbery that was publicly available in the summer of 2022. We took three different approaches to the analysis of these data: we pooled data from 65 major cities, conducted a statistical regression analysis of trends in violent crime as well as larceny in two dozen cities, and compared the incidence of homicide before and after the election of progressive prosecutors in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles, cities where we are conducting on-going research on changes in criminal justice. We have also compared trends in recorded crime across all counties in Florida and California since 2015. We find no evidence to support the claim that progressive prosecutors were responsible for the increase in homicide during the pandemic or before it. We also find weak evidence to support the claim that prosecutors of any broad approach to crime and justice are causally associated with changes in homicide during the pandemic. We conclude that progressive prosecutors did not cause the rise in homicide in the United States, neither as a cohort nor in individual cities. This conclusion echoes the findings of most of the research to date in this field.

This new piece in The Atlantic, headlined "Whats Really Going On With the Crime Rate?: Cities with progressive prosecutors may not exactly resemble the dystopian landscapes youve heard so much about," discusses this new study at some lengthy.

October 20, 2022 at 09:24 PM | Permalink

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SIOUX CITY -- The Cathedral of the Epiphany and Bishop R. Walker Nickless on Tuesday held the first-ever "White Mass," celebrating healthcare workers, to be held in Sioux City.

The date of the Mass coincided with the feast of St. Luke the Divine Physician, according to a press release from the Diocese of Sioux City. All active and retired healthcare professionals were invited to attend for the bishop and the faithful to pray for them.

A group of retired nurses from the former St. Joseph and St. Vincent schools of nursing processed into the church together during the Mass, many wearing their traditional white starched caps, white uniforms and black and red capes.

During the service, Bishop Nickless noted that St. Luke wrote the third Gospel and Acts of the apostles. St. Luke, who was a physician, was well-acquainted with the human condition, which he often expressed in his writings.

The bishop also thanked all the health care workers present for their dedication to the health of the public. He also thanked the professionals for using your God-given talents and abilities for the sake of all.

You sacrificed of your time and well-being for the sake of others with healing and compassion, Nickless said. St. Luke knew the importance of the ministry of presence. You in the medical profession know how important it is to be present during suffering, especially at the moment of death.

The White Mass was the third Mass intended for professionals held in Sioux City this year. The Cathedral and the bishop held a "Red Mass" on the feast of St. Thomas More, June 22, for those in the legal profession, and a "Blue Mass" on the feast of the Archangels, Sept. 29, for law enforcement and first responders.
Pancake Breakfast

St. John Lutheran Church, 2801 Jackson St., will host a pancake breakfast from 8 a.m. to noon, Oct. 22. Pancakes, sausage, eggs, coffee, juice, milk, butter, and syrup will be among the selection. Free will offering. Proceeds will go to the Food Pantry Mission.

Grill Pork Chop Dinner

St. Paul United Methodist Church, 2003 A Street, South Sioux City, will host its annual Grilled Pork Chop Dinner from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22. Menu will include grilled pork chops, baked potatoes, applesauce, green beans, and homemade pies/deserts. Tickets are $15; children 5 and under are $5. Carryouts are available.

75th Anniversary

Hope Lutheran Church at 218 W. 18th St., South Sioux City, will be celebrating its 75th Anniversary on Oct. 23. Worship Service with Communion will be at 9:30 a.m. Lunch will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. At 11:30 a.m. The History of European Organ Music in 90 minutes. At 1 p.m. Miroslawa Cieslak Concert. 2:30 p.m. Worship Service. 3:30 p.m. Refreshments.

End of Life Issues from a Catholic Perspective

Siouxland Catholic Radio and Catholic United Financial will host an educational End of Life Workshop Series told through a uniquely Catholic perspective on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 12:45 p.m. or 6 p.m. at the historic St. Boniface Rectory. Fr. Roger Linnan will address the Catholic Churchs position on medical choices facing the elderly and terminally ill (dignity of the human being, extension of life through medical treatments, use of medications, etc.). Butch Byers, Regional Director of Catholic United Financial, will also speak about the financial decisions which surround end-of-life decisions (probate, incapacity documents, wills, power of attorney, etc.) This is a popular End-of-Life Series recently presented at Holy Cross ParishSioux City; St. Marys  Remsen, Iowa; All Saints Parish  Le Mars, Iowa; and St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish Cluster  Elk Point, Jefferson, and Dakota Dunes, S.D. Dont miss out. Contact Siouxland Radio at 712-224-5342 or fhcradio@fhcradio.com to reserve your spot. Refreshments served.
SIOUX CITY -- Join the Sioux City Public Library for Sioux City Reads, a new community-based reading initiative where Sioux Cityans are involved every step of the way -- from book selection to attending programming and book discussions together.

Now through Nov. 21, cast your vote for one of the three nominees for 2023's Sioux City Reads at siouxcitylibrary.org/siouxcityreads. Copies of each title are available for check out at any Sioux City Public Library location or through the Libby app.

The choices for 2023's Sioux City Reads are:

"On a Night of a Thousand Stars" by Andrea Yaryura Clark -- in an emotional narrative of love and resilience, a young couple confronts the start of Argentina's Dirty War in the 1970s, and their daughter searches for truth twenty years later.

"The Lioness" by Chris Bohjalian -- a luxurious African safari turns deadly for a Hollywood starlet and her entourage in this riveting historical thriller. This is a blistering story of fame, race, love and death set in a world on the cusp of great change.

"Calling for a Blanket Dance" by Oscar Hokeah -- honest, heartbreaking and, ultimately, uplifting, this deeply engaging debut novel is the story of a young Native American man discovering strength in his familial identity and finding his way home.

The winner will be announced in December and be a part of events, discussions and programs during the upcoming Sioux City Reads initiative.

Visit siouxcitylibrary.org.siouxcityreads, the library's Facebook page or sign up for the library's e-newsletter at siouxcitylibrary.org/news to get the latest updates.
SIOUX CITY  A Kansas man charged with driving to Sioux City to meet a 14-year-old girl has been sentenced to 60 days in jail for providing marijuana to her.

Sharan Monger, 21, of Kansas City, Kansas, pleaded guilty Thursday in Woodbury County District Court to a misdemeanor charge of accommodation offense, which was reduced from a felony charge of drug distribution to a person under age 18 as part of a plea agreement.

Following the terms of the plea agreement, District Judge Robert Tiefenthaler sentenced Monger to 60 days jail and fined him $430. Monger was given credit for 60 days already served.

A second count of drug distribution to a person under age 18 and one count of possession of a controlled substance were dismissed.

Monger began speaking with the 14-year-old on a social media site on July 28 and agreed to bring her marijuana, along with alcohol and condoms. He arrived in Sioux City the next morning and met with the teen and another 14-year-old girl, who both got into Monger's vehicle, where he rolled each of them a joint and offered it to them.

Monger was arrested in possession of two prepackaged bags of marijuana weighing 11 grams.
SIOUX CITY  A Milford, Iowa, man claims in a federal lawsuit that his arrest by a Dickinson County deputy sheriff lacked probable cause and violated his U.S. and Iowa constitutional rights.

Ryan Wolterman says Deputy Shawn Syverson violated his freedom from unlawful arrest in November 2020, when he was detained and cited for public intoxication, a charge that was later dismissed. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, also names Dickinson County Sheriff Greg Baloun and Dickinson County as defendants.

Syverson stopped and questioned Wolterman after responding to a call about a fight in an Arnolds Park street in the early morning hours of Nov. 8, 2020. Wolterman said in the lawsuit he attempted to walk home after speaking with Syverson, but was handcuffed and told to sit on the curb until speaking with an Arnolds Park police officer, who said he smelled alcohol on Wolterman.

Syverson and the officer arrested Wolterman for public intoxication, and he was transported to the Dickinson County Jail, where he took a breath test that showed his blood-alcohol content at 0.016%. He was charged with public intoxication, and a complaint filed in the case said he had appeared intoxicated and was hindering the officers' investigation. Wolterman pleaded not guilty, and eight months later, the charge was dismissed in a plea agreement in which he agreed to pay $60 in court costs in exchange for the dismissal.

Wolterman said the arrest violated his Fourth and 14th Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution to be free from unlawful arrest. He claims in the lawsuit that given the situation to which Syverson responded, "... no reasonable officer could believe probable cause existed to arrest (Wolterman)."

The arrest also violated the Iowa Constitution's guaranteed protection against unlawful arrest, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit charges Baloun and the county with negligent supervision, saying they failed to adequately supervise and train Syverson to recognize when probable cause exists to make an arrest for public intoxication.

As a result of his arrest, Wolterman said he suffered humiliation, public ridicule and emotional distress. He is seeking a judgment awarding him punitive damages and damages for pain and suffering and deprivation of his constitutional rights.
DAKOTA CITY  A Sioux City man has pleaded not guilty of sexually assaulting two juvenile females in South Sioux City more than a year ago.

Harry Beckner, 75, a transient who was living in Sioux City at the time of his September arrest, entered his plea Tuesday in Dakota County District Court to one count of first-degree sexual assault of a child and two counts of third-degree sexual assault of a child.

The girls' mother on Jan. 22, 2021, reported to Dakota County Sheriff's deputies that Beckner had been staying at their home and had sexually assaulted her developmentally disabled daughter. According to court documents, Buckner told deputies he was drunk, had passed out and didn't remember anyone in his room.

Questioned the next day when sober, Beckner told investigators he couldn't remember much from the day before. He denied sexually assaulting the girl, but said if he did, he didn't remember doing so, court documents said. Deputies collected a DNA sample from Beckner and released him.

This spring, authorities discovered the DNA sample had not been sent to the crime lab. In May, test results showed Beckner's DNA was present on evidence collected from the girl.

Investigators also discovered entries in the girl's journal indicating Beckner had assaulted her and her sister prior to the initial complaint. The sister confirmed to authorities that Beckner had grabbed her and she had kicked him.
SIOUX FALLS  A Yankton, South Dakota, man has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison for selling fentanyl.

Ronald Minniefield, also known as "Zareef Al-amin", "Chicago", "Black", "King" and "KO", 52, pleaded guilty in April in U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. He was sentenced Monday to 151 months in prison. There is no parole in the federal system.
I just dont like you no more. This blunt and mysteriously motiveless declaration, made by Colm (Brendan Gleeson) to his longtime best friend Padraic (Colin Farrell), as the latter comes to fetch the former for their daily trip to the village pub, begins a cycle of apologies, rejections, recriminations, and outlandish gestures of revenge that will change both mens lives and those of the other residents of Inisherin, the fictional island off the coast of Ireland where they live.

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The year is 1923, although given how remote and rustic Inisherin isthe settlement appears to consist of little more than a seaside market, a pub, a church, and a few scattered houses surrounded by sheepthere are few markers to place us in any historical time. Across the water on the Irish mainland, a civil war is raging, but it reaches the inhabitants of the island mainly in the form of the occasional puff of smoke from a distant explosion. The hostilities between Colm and Padraic are of a more personal but no less deadly nature. As imagined by writer-director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Inisherin is a lonely and primordially violent place, where the local cop (Gary Lydon) brutally beats his developmentally delayed son (Barry Keoghan), and Padraics bookish sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon) has no one to talk to about anything more elevated than the contents of her brothers pet ponys manure.

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Before becoming a filmmaker, McDonagh, the London-born son of two Irish parents, was an acclaimed playwright, and the first thing the viewer notices about The Banshees of Inisherin is the economical but precise dialogue. Repetition and rhythm are used to richly comic effect: Have ye been rowin? Siobhan asks her brother when she hears of the old friends split, and in the scenes that follow the question gets repeated in identical form by the local bartender, his barfly friend, and the puzzled Padraic himself (Have we been rowin?), in the style of a choral motet. McDonaghs attention to the patterns of regional speech, and the casts evident pleasure in delivering his finely tooled language, had the audience at my screening laughing out loud multiple times per sceneat least for the first half hour or so. But as the conflict between the two men spirals into a more destructive place, the tone shifts from folksy humor to existential black comedy. Colm, an accomplished fiddler who lives alone with his dog, is a darker and more complicated sort than the placid, sweet-natured but hopelessly dull Padraic. Colms decision to withdraw from the friendship appears to have more to do with wrestling with his own mortality than with anything his friend has done. As he explains patiently but unbendingly to anyone who asks, he simply wants to be left in peace to play his fiddle for however many years he has left.

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In an authorial gesture similar to Colms refusal to give Padraic a reason for his rejection, McDonagh refuses to come down on one side or another of the friends quarrel. At first, like Padraic, we are confused and hurt by the older mans intransigence, but as the heartbroken Padraic continues to pursue him, trying every tactic from reasoned persuasion to scabrous insult, we start to admire Colms respect for his own boundaries. When his rage at his friends incessant pestering takes a violently self-destructive turnfor every time Padraic addresses him in the future, he vows, he will take a pair of shears and chop off one of his own fingersthe film veers toward horror without losing either its philosophical gravitas or its earthy sense of humor.

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As it moves toward an ambiguous and haunting finale, The Banshees of Inisherin has the fanciful yet gruesome quality of a folk tale or fairytale, a mood enhanced by Carter Burwells harp-and-flute-heavy score and Ben Davis painterly widescreen cinematography. Often, the camera pulls far back to emphasize the tininess and isolation of the towns inhabitants in their dramatic cliffside setting. The character of Mrs. McCormick (Sheila Flitton), an old woman who stalks the island in a black cape, muttering cryptic pronouncements about various characters fates, adds to the quasi-magical mood. But the story that unfolds between these two stubborn, lonely men is not supernatural but quintessentially, tragically human.

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Colin Farrell, a reliably marvelous actor, has never had a role better suited to his gifts than the soulful simpleton that is Padraic.

I was a fan of McDonaghs 2008 cult hit In Bruges, which also starred Gleeson and Farrell as an odd-couple pair of hitmen hiding out in the medieval Belgian city of the title, but The Banshees of Inisherin is the trios greatest work together to date. Colin Farrell, a reliably marvelous actor, has never had a role better suited to his gifts than the soulful simpleton that is Padraic. As he peers through his recalcitrant friends window, his eyebrows forming a thatched roof of quizzical melancholy, his expression alone is enough to make us laugh, even as we fear for his safety and, in the films final third, his sanity. Gleesons fearsome, glowering Colm is an equally impressive creation, almost like a Samuel Beckett character in his saturnine self-containment. And every member of the extended cast, many of whom have worked with McDonagh before in theater productions, gives the kind of beautifully detailed performance that turns the specific into the universal. Especially unforgettable are Keoghan as the islands holy fool, Condon as a bright young woman longing for a less provincial life, and Aaron Monaghan in a one-scene appearance as a musician friend of Colms on whom Padraic plays an uncharacteristically cruel trick.

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The Banshees of Inisherins greatest gift to its audience is its refusal to turn its eccentric, intimate story into an allegory for anything other than what it is: the sad tale of an abruptly interrupted friendship in a beautiful, isolated place. Though the film takes on big questions about morality, loyalty, and the ultimate purpose and meaning of human life, McDonagh leaves us with no tidy moral lessons or injunctions about how to get on with our own friendships or otherwise conduct our lives. As the end credits roll, the audience is like the denizens of the movies eponymous island, left with only our own thoughts for company as we stare out at the implacable sea.
CPC maps out further steps on path to common prosperity

Xinhua) 08:20, October 21, 2022

BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- For many, moss is nothing but a humble tiny plant growing in some inconspicuous wet corners, but for villagers in the mountainous town of Maoyang, it is a cash cow that has carried them out of poverty and on a path to further affluence.

The remote town is located in one of the least developed counties of east China's Zhejiang Province, a major economic powerhouse and a pilot zone for achieving common prosperity.

Building on its distinctive natural resources, the town has nurtured a burgeoning niche industry of breeding moss and selling related products such as potted plants, which are in rising demand in China as people's lives improve. Last year, the moss business generated over 17 million yuan (about 2.4 million U.S. dollars) for the villagers.

A villager packages moss products ordered online for delivery in Maoyang Town of Lishui City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

"To make locals rich, you have to foster an industry. To grow bigger, the industry has to leverage local advantages," said Lei Xiaohua, the town's Party chief and a delegate to the ongoing 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Lei now has even stronger confidence in her town's future, as new arrangements have been made in a report to the congress to attain solid progress in promoting common prosperity for the country's entire population.

FRESH GUIDELINES

Chinese modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all, according to the landmark report delivered to the congress by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

The report charted a roadmap for building a modern socialist China in all respects over the next five years and beyond, outlining measures to boost and properly share the country's development.

In pursuing high-quality development to boost the country's material and technological foundations, China will move faster to build a modernized economy, according to the report.

It noted that efforts will be made to promote integrated urban-rural development and coordinated regional development in a bid to "effectively upgrade and appropriately expand economic output."

To advance rural revitalization across the board, the country will steadily promote the revitalization of businesses, talent, culture, ecosystems and organizations in the countryside, according to the report.

Tourists dance in Sanping Village of Zhongyuan Town in Jing'an County, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 27, 2022. Sanping, once a poverty-stricken village, has now become a popular summer resort. (Xinhua/Wan Xiang)

Pledging to improve the people's well-being and raise their quality of life, the CPC will improve the basic public service system to raise public service standards and make public services more balanced and accessible, the report said.

China will also improve its system of income distribution. The report said the country will ensure "more pay for more work" and encourage people to "achieve prosperity through hard work."

Efforts will be made to promote equality of opportunity, increase the incomes of low-income earners, and expand the size of the middle-income group, the report added.

EXPAND AND SHARE THE PIE

An essential requirement of socialism and a key feature of Chinese modernization, common prosperity refers to affluence shared by everyone. But what China desires is not egalitarianism.

"To use an analogy, we will first make the pie bigger, and then divide it properly through reasonable institutional arrangements," Xi said in a special address at the 2022 World Economic Forum virtual session in January.

"As a rising tide lifts all boats, everyone will get a fair share from development, and development gains will benefit all our people in a more substantial and equitable way," Xi said.

"China's idea of common prosperity for all is a unique one, and it's not building castles in the air," said Liu Shangxi, head of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences.

The measures outlined in the report show that the country not only pays attention to income distribution, or "dividing the pie," but also makes a point of "making the pie bigger," which is the prerequisite and foundation for achieving common prosperity, Liu said.

Promoting common prosperity has been a persistent objective of the CPC. Constant efforts have been made since the founding of the People's Republic of China, with landmark feats achieved in the past decade, including vanquishing absolute poverty and finishing building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects.

The vision gained particular domestic and global attention in 2020, with its goals defined in the 14th five-year plan for national economic and social development and long-range objectives through 2035. The document called for more tangible and solid progress to be made by 2035.

In the world's largest developing nation, imbalanced and insufficient development is still prominent, and the development and income gaps between urban and rural areas as well as between different regions remain wide, Liu said.

With neat new houses and enhanced access to medical care, education and employment, residents in the ethnic minority border town of Kyipa in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region have seen sea changes in the past decade.

Local residents pose for a photo in front of their new house in Gurum Town of Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, April 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhan Yan)

"However, the living standards are still low compared with those in the more developed regions of China," said Sonam Dekyi, head of the town and a delegate to the congress, who spent her college days in a bustling city in central China's Hunan Province.

"These gaps will drag China's high-quality development, and that's why China has put promoting common prosperity on the agenda despite the goal's long-term nature," said Liu. "There is no time to lose."

EFFORTS IN FULL SWING

Concerted efforts across the nation are progressively bringing the objective of common prosperity to fruition by utilizing past knowledge and blazing new trails.

As with many of China's other endeavors, the push for common prosperity has its pioneers. In 2021, China issued a guideline to build Zhejiang into a demonstration zone to basically achieve common prosperity by 2035.

To narrow the gap between its rich coastal areas and less affluent mountainous regions, Zhejiang has enhanced cooperation between them via a string of pairing-up plans.

The province has also rolled out tailored policies covering various communities to expand the middle-income group while raising the pay for low-income residents.

This aerial photo shows workers conducting routine cleaning along a river in Dongheng Village of Deqing County in Huzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, April 12, 2022. (Photo by Wang Zheng/Xinhua)

In northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a charity project has been introduced to pool social resources to improve public services like employment and elderly care.

In an innovative attempt to narrow regional environmental gaps, Zhejiang and its neighboring Anhui Province have piloted a water sharing and compensation program, allowing the latter's river to transfer clean water to the former's water bodies in a bid to improve water quality.

A similar scheme has been practiced in the trading of carbon sink across the country. In southwest China's mountainous Guizhou Province, many villagers can boost their income by planting trees, as the carbon that the trees absorb and store can be sold to individuals, institutions and enterprises looking to cut their carbon footprints.

Lei has a big vision for further boosting the income of local villagers. Her town is building a large highly automated moss seedling base that can develop a variety of products to expand the dividends for Maoyang and other towns.

"The moss is low-key but tenacious. Similarly, we'll stay down-to-earth and enterprising in working toward the goal of common prosperity," Lei said.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Du Mingming)
Last week, millions of people went gaga over a seemingly innocuous clip of Emma DArcy and Olivia Cooke, stars of HBOs Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon: The two were discussing cocktails, and the nexus of the hysteria seemed to lie in the way DArcy alluringly purr-expressed a preference for the negroni  sbagliato  with prosecco in it. Not long after the clip circulated, bartenders and mixologists all over the country began stocking up on proseccoand girding their loins. But I wondered how it all played out for the people at the famous Italian bar where the negroni sbagliato was invented. Was this all a dream? Nightmare? Is there anything about this very simple drink that its legion of new fans ought to know? To find out, I called Maurizio Stocchetto, the proprietor of Bar Basso in Milan, before one of his shifts this week. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Heather Schwedel: When did you know it was the negroni sbagliato apocalypse?

Maurizio Stocchetto: I got dozens of emails and WhatsApps that told me about the thing just the very first day. It was very interesting. Now with TikTok, you have an amazing visibility. I dont know if its going to be just a fad. But were happy about it of course. The states are pretty far away from here, so I was very, very pleased when I found your email. I said, Oh, thank God somebody cares about it, to figure out where it started and how.

Have you had any people coming into the bar and mentioning the clip?

Quite a few, yeah, mentioned about the HBO stuff. But we were amused. We were veryhow can you say?flattered by that. But lets see what happens. Lots of Americans are coming to Milano because the economys changed and the Euro is much cheaper than it used to be.

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How long have you worked at Bar Basso?

Its a family business. I grew up in Bar Basso. I started to work in the bar in the late 70s because I needed money to buy gasoline for my little motorcycle. I started to work when I had a summer break in high school. I decided to go to California for a while and I moved to Berkeley. And I stayed in Berkeley for about a year. Then I came back to Italy. I spent a year in the army. Then I kept working up until today. So Ive been working at Bar Basso for about 40 years.

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And your father is the one who invented the drink?

Bar Basso was founded in 1930 by a gentleman named Giuseppe Basso. So he called the bar after his name. My father, Mirko Stocchetto, was born in 1931 and he was a Venetian. During the war, very young, he started to work in Venice and he befriended a bartender. Lots of Italian people started to get interested in cocktails, and my father was one of them. So he worked in a hotel for 20 years, becoming a bartender. Then, in 1967, he decided to move to Milano. Through the bar grapevine, he heard about Bar Basso. Mr. Basso at the time was pushing 80. So my father moved to Milano, bringing the experience he had achieved in the international hotel business. And his aim was to have a cocktail bar, just like the lounge of a big hotel, but on a street corner.

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It was a very special time because in Italy, it was like the 50s. It was very formal and people were dressed in a very formal way. But after 1968, when we had counterculture, things started to change. And especially Milano, it already was the city of fashion because there were lots of fashion companies. Lots of ladies started to work and that was very unusual in Italy. And they started to become financially independent. At that point, they were starting to go to bars in groups and order drinks. And in those days, at the bar we were selling mainly manhattans, martinis, bloody marys, negronis. But we needed something lighter. So my father, as a Venetian, he realized that, for instance, sparkling wine was very widely used for cocktails. He would never make spritz, but he started to make a twist of several cocktails using sparkling wine instead of the strong liquors, instead of vodka, instead of tequila, instead of gin. Instead, he developed a set of cocktails and sbagliato was one of them. So its interesting that sbagliato was born in the time of social changes, too.

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My understanding was that sbagliato means mistake, though?

Its not a mistake. My father was pretty full of himself, so it was really impossible for a professional bartender to make such mistakes. But he actually said a story where the counters, sometimes the positions of bottles are in certain orders so you can always know where each bottle is. And if you respect the order, you can work without looking at the bottle, just like on the keyboard of the computer or the piano, because you know exactly in what position the bottle is and so on. So some bartender put the wrong bottle in the wrong place. One day, a gentleman walked into the bar and asked for a negroni at the counter. So my father took a glass, filled the glass with ice, he garnished it with a slice of orange, then he grabbed the bottle of Campari, then he grabbed the bottle of vermouth. Then without looking, he grabbed the bottle of gin. But instead, he found himself with a bottle of sparkling wine, a prosecco. So he didnt feel like changing the bottle. It occurred to him that the combination made some sense. And so he poured the sparkling wine saying, Oh, today, its a sunny day, so lets get something smoother. And so he poured the sparkling wine and it was just a simple twist of fate at the end.

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Sbagliato in Italian means mistaken. It doesnt mean clumsy. If my father wouldve called the cocktail maurizio, it wouldve not sold anything, I think. But the name sbagliato, especially in Italian, opens up a world of possibilities: Why mistaken? Whats wrong with that? Or can we have something good from something wrong? So the name was catchy and the drink is very cheeky because if you live in Italy and you like vermouth and Campari, the addition of sparkling wine that you have really keeps the flavor of the base, the basic flavor of Campari and vermouth are still there. And so you can also get a wide group of people that likes it. That happened around the beginning of the 70s.

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My father, he still loved the real negroni so he felt it was sacrilege. From the beginning he was very shy about it. And as a matter of fact, then also that was long before the internet revolution. And so there were very few cocktails bars in Milano. So the cocktails started to become popular as the word of mouth spread. But it took a long time to achieve a wide popularity.

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How did the drink stay popular through the years?

Milano had changed a little bit. In certain time of the year, like in spring and in fall time, sometimes you would start seeing stunning girls walking down the street and they were all models because the fashion industry was really becoming very important. So there were lots of young models walking around with the book or composite under their arm. Or then there were young guys who wanted to be professional photographers. And then also they were working for Prada, for Gucci, for many other companies that are not around anymore. We had a scene of industrial designers, that they came from all over the world to work for important architects or industrial designers that we have in Italy. Some of them came to the bar. So we befriended a bunch of industrial designers, especially from the U.K. And we started very strong friendships.

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So I started to be surrounded by all this crowd. And meanwhile, Milano was changing from the 80s and 90s up until today. Milano found some way, really, I dont how, to become hip again through fashion, through design, through art and other industries. And Milano is really an important place financially for the south of Europe.

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So the sbagliato also slowly started to become more and more popular also among the foreigners that we have here. For instance, we also have, at the bar, we have lots of parties for fashion companies like for Gucci for instance, or for many other companies. There are lots of guests that are pretty famous, pretty influential. Also through such things, then we have lots of daughters of celebrities like Kaia Gerber, the daughter of Cindy Crawford, or Lourdes Leon, which is the daughter of Madonna. So somehow we have lots of them. We have Nick Cave. He came to the bar with other celebrities for a Gucci party we had a couple of years ago. Somehow word of mouth keeps on working.

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Is the sbagliato your most popular drink?

Nowadays it is, absolutely, because through the media it became more popular. But we have quite a few cocktails where we have invented and were proud of, like the rossini. That is champagne and fresh strawberries. Its sort of Bellini with strawberries. But we have quite a few cocktails and we still make, other cocktails that we make, theyre all from the 50s and 60s. We dont follow the internet. We dont try to be hip. We just do what weve been doing for years. And yeah, it works.

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How many do you sell on the average day?

Well, its very hard to figure out. But there are many.

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Obviously other bars do their own version of the sbagliato. Have you had them?

Weve been making it for so long and we have the cocktail, but also the place where the cocktail was made has its own atmosphere. Also we use special glasses to make sbagliatos. The cocktail glasses from the 60s, they were handmade and we still keep on doing this. So maybe having a sbagliato at Bar Basso is something that you experience only at Bar Basso. A few years ago we decided to make a trademark of the name to protect it because we did not want big companies to make it in a bottle or something like that. So we dont mind if bars and restaurant serve a sbagliato. We are very flattered. But we just dont want big companies to take advantage of an idea and try to profit.

I hope I make my way to Milan one day so I can have one.

Oh, absolutely. You will have a free drink, of course.
Every Thursday on Twitter @jdesmondharris, Dear Prudence asks readers for their thoughts on a question that has her stumped. Shell post her final thoughts on the matter on Fridays. Heres this weeks dilemma and answer:

Dear Prudence,



Im a live-in caregiver for an old woman who has (relatively mild) dementia. Heres my problem: Shes racist, and I dont know what I should do to address it. We are both white, and I feel like I should be calling her out, but I also dont know if Im actually doing any good when I do so. My responses so far have been uncomfortable silence, a quick explanation of why something shes said is factually incorrect, or just stating that I disagree, but I dont know. Is there a more effective way to address this?



Dementia Doesnt Excuse Racism

Dear Dementia,

This is tough because, as many readers pointed out, youre very unlikely to change this woman. Or even get her to improve for an entire afternoon. Thats just how this illness works. And you have to live with her. I found that extremely depressing!

But some of the responses helped me realize, doing the right thing here doesnt need to achieve changing her into a person who doesnt have racist thoughts or say racist things. Instead, you can focus on being the kind of person you want to be in this situation. One important part of that can be minimizing the way her remarks affect others. When there are other household employees around, or when you take her to doctors appointments or are at the grocery store with her, you can express disagreement and correct hernot so much for her benefit, but for the benefit of those who might be listening. You can even briefly, but sincerely, apologize to them for what they had to hear.

LW should absolutely have a plan in place for every time that the patient is going to be encountering others where her words/actions could affect more than just the LW (e.g. doctors appointments or other outings). @Edianter1

Sometimes saying something in that situation is less about the person you are saying it to and more about the people who may be listening in. My take? Say, I dont agree and times have changed! Or offer a gentle and thoughtful counter to whatever this old lady is saying. I would not presume that she cant change, but I would not expect to change anybody who is olderespecially someone who has dementia. But the effort is good for society at large. So many people listening who can learn so many lessons. @iproposethis

I have a (non-white) elderly family member with dementia who says racist things. Approach has been to focus on minimizing harm to others. If she says something racist to a nurse, apologize to the nurse. If theres a child around, explain to them that its wrong. @PorterValdez

Remember its not just other people whose feeling and experiences matter. Yours do too. Even though youre white, its hard to hear hateful things. Its difficult to be a person who hears hateful things and doesnt challenge them. That could really take a toll on you and how you feel about yourself. So, when its just the two of you, still briefly challenge or correct her.

Its not about changing an old womans mind in order to create a more just (and verdant) world. Its about setting clear boundaries in an intimate situation. Thats a routine part of caregiving. Otherwise, DDERs frustration will deepen and lead to burnout. @IdUnchained

You cant change the persons thoughts at this end stage, but you can control your reaction and how that time is spent with the person. @Desarrayed

On a day-to-day basis LW should keep doing what theyre doing: respond in the moment by ignoring, quickly debunking, or disagreeing. The goal should be to get through the day with as little unpleasantness as possible for LW while also providing for the patients needs. @Edianter1

You cant say that. Its not okay. Dont say things like that in front of me. And change the subject. At this point, you arent going to change her mind or personality, no matter how much education you try to give. But you can shut it down so you dont have to hear it. @NYCJessa

I agree with those who suggested a short simple script that doesnt drain you and doesnt require you to spend a lot of energy engaging with her. Some additional ideas:

That sounds like a mean thing to say about people you dont know. @eileenlynnedorn

We dont talk about others like that, its not kind or Im not going to listen to you talk about people like that. Then either walk away (if able) or redirect her Oh, looktheres a blue bird at the tree! @KariJayZee

Pick one or two lines that feel right, and deploy them as often as needed.

Finally, Ill add: I hope youre on the lookout for new jobs. I dont know how much money you make, but I know you dont get paid enough to deal with this.

Classic Prudie

I love my wife, but she plays the same two to three Taylor Swift songs at a high volume every morning (and sometimes at night). I go out of my way to avoid playing music that I know she dislikes around her. But Swift is immune from complaints. The same songs have played on loop for months now.
On Friday, one year to the day after Congress voted to hold Steve Bannon in contempt for defying the Jan. 6 committees subpoena, Bannon was sentenced to four months in jail. He was allowed to stay out of custody pending his appeal.

The sentence by Carl J. Nichols, a Trump appointee, was not the six-month term that the Justice Department wanted, which is the top of the sentencing guidelines for the crime of contempt. But dont be fooled into thinking that the conviction and sentence dont matter. Holding Bannon accountable in this way is a significant win for the rule of law, even if there is a wait before he actually faces that accountability.

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First, the rule of law dies if individuals can thumb their nose at legal processes. A subpoena means you must appear before a court or legislative committee and be sworn to tell the truth. Last October, Bannon decided just not to show up. He was saying in effect, You can take this subpoena and shove it.

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Law means that legislatively enacted rules are what reign in a country, not kings, their courtiers or their power. Without those rules, there is no order. If one person can violate them without consequence, no one will feel compelled to pay them heed. The result, to borrow the words of 17th century British political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, would be a state-of-nature life that is nasty, brutish and short.

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Credit Attorney General Merrick Garland for understanding these things and acting. Prior attorneys general have regularly ignored congressional referrals to the Justice Department to prosecute contempt.

Observe the difference that enforcement of the law makes. On Thursday, Politico reported that Donald Trump had hired a law firm to deal with the January 6 committees subpoena. That subpoena was officially released on Friday with a demand for him to appear for a deposition on November 4 to testify about his central role in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election. In case you havent noticed, he hasnt always been respectful of such commands, but he appears to be paying attention to the subpoena and wanting the committee to know it.

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Second, respect for the law requires that the consequences for disobedience be significant. As Judge Nichols told Bannon, Others must be deterred from committing similar crimes. The federal contempt statute only required that Bannon serve one month. Four times that mandatory minimum is not nothing.

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If Steve Bannon didnt care about spending months behind bars, why did he lobby for and accept a 2021 pardon on his federal indictment for scamming his followers on a phony grift raising money to build the wall?

And for those among us who may doubt that a four-month sentence promotes respect for the law, compare the sobered Steve Bannon of October 2022, after his sentence, with the one before his arraignment in November 2021. In front of the microphones after his sentencing, Bannon expressed his respect for the court and for the legal process. A year ago, he predicted for the media that his trial would be the misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi, and Joe Biden. That prediction faded into the woodwork after his conviction, like so much Steve Bannons bluster.

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Third, Judge Nichols, at a moment where cynicism about our constitutional structure threatens to sweep the country, just reaffirmed that our court system continues to function well. Appointed by Donald Trump in 2018, Nichols brooked no foolery in Bannons trial or in imposing sentence.

In this, Judge Nichols followed other Trump appointees on the 11th Circuit, who recently ruled against Trump in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. Their rulings have demonstrated that Aileen Cannon, another Trump appointee who has ignored precedent to rule in his favor, will hopefully be an outlier, not representative of those appointed to the bench, whichever president named them. Rather, institutional principle and precedent predominate in the criminal courts over those who would transgress them.

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There is something else worth noting. For multiple reasons, the January 6 insurrection and Bannons defiance of the House subpoena are birds of a feather. Both involve defiance of law and order. The subpoena that Bannon spurned was part of investigating what happened on Jan. 6. Without a full and complete investigation of an insurrection, more are guaranteed.

Thats why it matters that Bannon was prosecuted and faces months behind bars, just like those individuals who participated directly in the violence. As for his release pending appeal, in my experience as a former federal prosecutor, that was the norm in white collar cases. Nichols was a careful judge during the trial, so you can count on that appeal failing and Bannon doing his time.

Four months in jail may not seem severe unless, like Bannon, youve never heard an iron-barred door clink closed behind you as you enter a 10-foot-by-10-foot cell with a toilet, a bed, and little else. Judge Nichols sent a message to Bannon like the one that Nichols D.C. colleague, District Court Judge Reggie Walton, issued on Thursday, when he sentenced Jan. 6 insurrectionist Aiden Bilyard: You make your bed, you gotta lie in it.
We may soon look back at this week as the decisive moment for Elon Musks takeover of Twitter. Yes, for real this time, folks. And this is just Round 2 of the Elon Musk Shenanigans Watch!

On Thursday night, Bloomberg reported that theres been a vibe shift, if you will, in the talks between the Tesla CEO and the hard-hit social network. Internal sources told Bloomberg that talks between the two sides have turned cordial and are focused on closing the transaction rather than litigation. In other words, Musk is (once again) resolving not to battle the deal, and Twitter is trying to meet his demands in hopes of wrapping this whole thing up by Oct. 28the deadline imposed by a judge at the Delaware Court of Chancery. Per those terms, if the deal falters again (which could still happena week is an eternity in Elon time!), Twitter and Musk will be forced to duke it out in court next month.

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But neither side really wants that, especially Musk, who doesnt want to be deposed. So it makes sense theyre working hastily to put a stamp on things. Negotiations stalled earlier this month after Musk demanded $13 billion in debt financing, in order to meet financial commitments for the initial $54.20-per-share Twitter price (adding up to $44 billion). Since a number of banksincluding Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Barclays, and morecommitted to provide said financing back in April, theyre basically still on the hook, even if they potentially lose, uh, up to $500 million on this.* The Oct. 28 deadline came about in part because thats the date, Musk told the Delaware court, when the banks could raise the needed cash and swoop in. They might just be on track; per Bloomberg, one of the banks has told its staff to expect a borrowing notice from Musk on Tuesday.

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While we still dont know what fueled this vibe shift, there were other hints this week that this could really, finally get done. On Monday, Twitter froze all equity trades granted to its employees, in anticipation of the closing of the pending acquisition of Twitter by an entity controlled by Elon Musk. On a Wednesday earnings call for Tesla (which didnt paint the best monetary picture for that company) Musk said hes excited about the Twitter situation, despite all his prior attempts to sabotage it. He also stated that, while he and other investors are obviously overpaying for Twitter, the social network has incredible potential thats an order of magnitude greater than its current value. (Those investors could include Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and a troubled crypto firm, among othersmore on that in a bit.) Ironically, the call led to a rise in the price of Twitters stock, above the per-share level in Musks agreement, and subsequent fall in Tesla valuenot great, since its likely Musk will have to sell off more Tesla shares to see this Twitter thing through.

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And on Thursday, the Washington Post publicized internal company documents spelling trouble for Twitter employees: Musk once told probable investors that he planned on axing 75 percent of the platforms workforce, whittling a 7,500-person staff to just around 2,000. (After the report went public, a top Twitter lawyer told staffers that the company did not have any confirmation from Musk about his plans.) Apparently, Musk would like to trim the bloat of the platform by dismissing lowly rated workers, and take on more effective workers and profitable innovations like a subscription model. Its also likely hed weaken content moderation practices so as to pursue his dream of free speech maximalism and allow controversial figures like Donald Trump and Kanye West to post how theyd like. (On Tuesday, he posted and then deleted a meme depicting those two plus himself as the Three Musketeers.)

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But! Just one more wrinkle has popped up: that whole pesky issue of international diplomacy. In a separate story Thursday, Bloomberg also reported that Biden administration officials are considering subjecting the Twitter deal to a national security probe, due in large part to Muskian weirdness around the Russia-Ukraine conflict. For the past few weeks, for whatever reason, the tech titan has weighed in time and again on the war, by proffering an ill-advised peace plan and threatening to yank funding for his Starlink ventures internet service for Ukraine. Hes also making plans with a few Twitter-deal investors from countries not exactly in the United States good graces: a prince of Saudi Arabia, the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, and the embattled cryptocurrency exchange Binance. That crypto juggernaut was originally based in China, shared user data with the Kremlin, and was investigated last year by the Internal Revenue Service. (Speaking of China, earlier this month Musk proposed that Taiwan cede all sovereignty to the Xi Jinping government. Hmm!) Considering Musks sloppy foreign policy punditry has earned praise from both Chinese and Russian government officials, and Twitter has previously been infiltrated by a Saudi agent, it makes sense the U.S. government doesnt wish for someone they contract with to engage in business that may be opposed to its interests.

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Shenanigans Ruling: So, it really does seem like Twitter and Elon Musk are nearing the end of this saga. Twitters leadership is happy to offload the struggling company (and the burden of dealing with Musk), and Musk may finally be cleared to put up the money, despite his own plummeting fortunes. Again, though, we still have a week before anything needs to be signed. And the federal government is likely right to be concerned about Musks foreign entanglements, although considering whom were dealing with here, its probably less the case that Musk is a nefarious sleeper agent than a clumsy attention seeker wholl take the cash wherever he can get it. There are still messy times ahead.

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Russian oligarchs linked to large energy companies keep dying in weird ways: dubiousdefenestrations, questionable suicides, and even more outlandish ways, like in May, when Russian state-owned media outlet TASS reported that 43-year-old oil executive Alexander Subbotin died from a drug-induced heart attack at the Moscow home of a Jamaican shaman. Whyd the oligarch visit the shaman? To get toad venom as a hangover cure, allegedly.

On July 9, an anonymous Wikipedia editor with the username cgbuff started Wikipedias 2022 Russian mystery deaths article, which chronicles unusual deaths of Russian-connected businessmen [that] occurred under what some sources suggest were suspicious circumstances. When the article was first published, it listed just nine Russian oligarchs.Today, it chronicles 17 deaths, and its been viewed more than 400,000 times.

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In its very first week, the article was nominated for deletion, with some editors arguing there was no connected conspiracy. Its also not easy to find reliable sources for recent Russia-related information (Wikipedia demands reputable citations, and Russia doesnt have a free press). The article raises a host of questions, chiefly: How do you ensure that a Wikipedia page is significant and notable, not just unfettered rumor?

When it comes to the realm of rumor, Wikipedia is only as accurate as the news outlets it cites. Hours after the Feb. 24 attacks, Wikipedia had an article stating that the Ghost of Kyiv, a heroic pilot who shot down six Russian planes, was fact; after further reporting, current revisions clearly mark it as an apocryphal morale booster. The Wikipedia article about mysterious oligarchs has had a very different trajectory.

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One thing is clear: These people have all died. First there were Leonid Shulman and Alexander Tyulakov, a directors at Russian state-owned energy giant Gazaprom, who were found dead by apparent suicide in January and February respectively. The deaths continue: Former government official Igor Nosov had a stroke, and Ukrainian-born billionaire Mikhail Watford mysteriously died in the U.K.

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In March and April came the murder-suicides. Medical firm CEO Vasily Melnikov was found dead next to the bodies of his wife and two sons, who were stabbed to death. Bank executive Vladislav Avayev, his wife, and 13-year-old daughter were discovered dead in April; according to Russias state-run Tass news agency, a pistol was in Avayevs hand. In Northern Spain, natural gas executive Sergey Protosenyas wife and daughter were discovered dead in their beds with stab wounds and blunt ax hits, and Protosenya was found hanged from a handrail without bloodstains.

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In May, the businessmen kept dying and their causes of death became increasingly bizarre: Andrei Krukovsky, director of a ski resort owned by public energy company Gazprom, fell off a cliff while hiking, and the Jamaican shaman toad venom debacle went down.

Over the summer, the suspicious deaths slowed down. There was just Yuri Voronov, a businessman who was found with a gunshot wound to the head and a pistol next to his body. But when September rolled around, as Ukraines Kharkiv counteroffensive recaptured territory in Eastern Ukraine, there was a new wave of mysterious defenestrations and odd deaths.

Lukoil chairman Ravil Maganov plunged six stories out of a hospital in Moscow on Sept. 1. (Energy giant Lukoil, where Maganov was chairman, said he passed away following severe illness and didnt mention the fall.) On Sept. 12, businessman Ivan Pechorin was found dead in Vladivostok, after allegedly falling off a luxury yacht and drowning in the Sea of Japan. Two days later, Vladimir Sungorkin, editor-in-chief of a Russian state newspaper, reportedly suffered a stroke and suffocated while on the way to lunch. And the next week, former head of Moscow Aviation Institute Anatoly Gerashchenko fell down a flight of stairs to his death. The week after that, railway executive Pavlo Pchelnikov allegedly shot himself on his apartments balcony.

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But Wikipedia, the internets de facto arbiter of importance, wont publish a list of just anything. Content must take a long-term world-historical view and satisfy notability standards, and must have citations from reliable publications. You cant make a list of things the cat dragged in, a list of notable people stung by jellyfish, nor a list of jellyfish stung by notable people (though people have tried to make all of these). If you observe that Russian leaders have alternated between bald and hairy for the past two centuries, you cant fill Wikipedia with your independent research. Instead, youd have to find and cite the various sources that discuss the well-established pattern (which, by the way, is discussed in the Wikipedia article Bald-hairy).

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Since the article was first published, the mystery deaths have received more press. Commentators have called the string of deaths an epidemic of murder; and University of South Carolina associate professor Stanislav Markus, author of Property, Predation, and Protection: Piranha Capitalism in Russia and Ukraine, told said, in a statement to Vox that we can almost certainly rule out the official explanation of the deaths as suicides or poor health. Now, the Wikipedia articles n existence isnt so controversial. It cites 25 sources, and more than sixty editors have contributed to its contents. Its important to maintain public, organized, and objective information about the war, said the 32-year-old Dutch Wikipedian with username Nederlandes Leeuw who has made the most edits to the page. When hes not working as a journalist, he devotes his energy to English Wikipedias extensive record of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

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The list is long  longer than the list of fallen Russian generals, as cybersecurity and disinformation researcher John Scott-Railton pointed out. But its just one of the many Wikipedia articles documenting the ongoing war.

In the face of disinformation campaigns and fines from Russia over information that doesnt align with Kremlin narrative, Wikipedia editors have also documented the 2022 Russian mystery fires and the brazen Ukrainian border guard whose last communication was Russian warship, go fuck yourself. The Russian-language 2022 Invasion of Ukraine article is viewed more than 40,000 times daily on average, and Ukrainians have edited Wikipedia from bomb shelters. English-language Wikipedia is documenting the crisis, too: Fifty-eight editors have joined the English-language WikiProject Ukraine group, and thousands of others are contributing to their projects. Theyve tallied the journalists killed in Russia, built a thorough daily timeline, and debated whether the mass graves in the Ukrainian city of Izium should be called a massacre. (After a few days and 8,000 words, they reached no consensus.) Volunteers from around the world are organizing the firehose of news into a central, accessible repository thats ad-free, tracking-free, and free.

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But that comes with problems. A study from CASM Technology published Monday uncovered an apparent web of pro-Russia editors on Wikipedia. The researchers identified 86 Wikipedia editors who were blocked after making disruptive edits on the English language Russo-Ukrainian War article and analyzed the other articles those accounts had edited. The considerable overlap between those 86 editors suggests systematic attempts to shift the article toward pro-Russia sentiment.

Wikipedia matters. Wikipedias stunning pageview spikes in response to current events show that its a vital source of up-to-the-minute, organized information, and as other social media sites have been plagued by misinformation, theyve started using Wikipedia for fact checking. After the invasion of Ukraine in February, Russians started downloading it in droves, and Stephen Harrison wrote for Slate in March that the number of people reading about Ukraine on Wikipedia is at an unprecedented highspiking to more than 22 million English page views in the past month versus roughly 290,000 in February 2021. Ukraines Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recognizing the sites importance, launched an Ambitious Campaign to Enrich Wikipedia with Unbiased Information on Ukraine and the World in April. But even though Wikipedia may seem to have everything, it has its limits. In a situation shrouded in speculation and plagued by a dearth of credible information, the encyclopedia cant get into the mind of Putin. It can just keep a tally.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
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It's hosting a public exhibition of valuable numismatic artifacts related to the coronation history of Bratislava.

The atrium of the NBS is hosting the exhibition of coronation objects. (Source: Courtesy of NBS)

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In Bratislava now and over the weekend, residents and visitors to the city alike have a unique opportunity to view not only some valuable coronation objects  but also to visit the normally inaccessible premises of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), the countrys central bank. Its atrium, under which the bank's safes are located, is hosting an exhibition on the theme of coronations until Sunday, October 23.

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The first part of the exhibition, which the NBS has organised in cooperation with the Bratislava Tourist Board (BTB) and other partners, captures the monarchs and their consorts who were crowned in Pressburg  i.e. present-day Bratislava  in the form of precious coronation medals and tokens.

The exhibition presents numismatic artifacts and highlights, including more than 60 rare coronation medals, tokens, objects and coins from the collections of the NBS Museum of Coins and Medals in Kremnica.

Their collectors' value is incalculable; some of the estimates speak of tens of millions of euros, the bank wrote in its press releases, adding that coins from the reign of every monarch crowned in Bratislava are exhibited in the atrium.

Due to the high value of the coins, the museum only presents them in exceptional cases.

Our collection aptly illustrates the importance that our capital had in the past for the whole of Kingdom of Hungary, said Diana Kmetova Miskovicova, director of the NBS Museum of Coins and Medals in Kremnica.

Pressburg became the coronation city of the Kingdom of Hungary after the traditional coronation town, Szekesfehervar, fell under the rule of the Ottoman Empire following the Battle of Mohacs in 1526. The first coronation in Pressburg took place in 1563, when Maximilian Habsburg was crowned.

The second part features photographs by Jan William Drnek depicting the coronation cathedral of St Martin in Bratislava. The art photographer captured its form and atmosphere in the publication Metropolitan Cathedrals. The book and enlarged photographs from it are displayed in the NBS atrium.

The creation of the publication took five years, as it contains texts in addition to precisely produced photographs. Its authors are Bishop Jozef Halko and chairman of the BTB board Vladimir Grezo.

The exhibition in the NBS atrium is open to the public from October 20 to 23, from 10:00 to 17:00.
The Washington Commanders will be celebrating the franchises 90th anniversary with at least one less honoree than theyd hoped.

On Sunday, the team is having a ceremony including 10 former players that will be added to its greatest 90 players list. Former Commanders tight end Chris Cooley declined the invitation.

At this point, I dont have a lot of desire to be involved with Washington Commanders, he said on The Kevin Sheehan Show, "I dont have any interest in doing this."

He was selected to two Pro Bowls and played his entire nine-year NFL career from 2004-12 for Washington before its rebrand.

Im very appreciative of being voted in, and Im very appreciative of my time while I was there, Cooley said.

While he chose not to further elaborate, he did joke about Commanders fans wearing paper bags that read "sell the team" during a game against the Chicago Bears. "That was me" he said on the podcast.

Former Washington Commanders tight end Chris Cooley is keeping his distance from the team amid controversy (Photo by REUTERS/Eric Miller).

The Commanders controversial context

Cooley made a point to add that its not the team name that does it, alluding to the mixed reactions surrounding the Commanders 2022 name change.

His comments were part of a longer discussion about Colts team owner Jim Irsays recent comments regarding Commanders team owner Dan Snyder.

Irsay said on Tuesday at an NFL owners meeting that 'there's merit to remove' Snyder from Commanders ownership, and he believes that the leagues owners potentially have enough votes to make that happen.

Irsay is the first owner to publicly mention Snyders possible removal, a cause that has seemed to gain momentum after a striking ESPN report in which Snyder recently told an associate he has enough information to blow up several NFL owners, the league office and commissioner Roger Goodell.

Snyder currently faces investigations by the NFL as well as a congressional committee for issues surrounding workplace misconduct and sexual harassment.

Financial issues are also abound for Washington. Aside from allegations of the Commanders withholding ticket revenue, a Commanders season ticket holder recently received their $14,000 raffle prize from the team two weeks late, only to have the check bounce. The Commanders blamed it on a bank error and announced that they wired the fan his money on Wednesday. Cooley concluded his comments with empathy for fans.

I feel for all of the fans for where theyre at and I still appreciate the people that are still fans, that are still diehards he said.

Clearly, even they are not exempt from the dysfunction that seems to ooze from every aspect of the franchise.
https://sputniknews.com/20221020/covid-cases-spike-in-nyc-as-new-omicron-subvariant-bq11-spreads-in-us-1102479933.html

Covid Cases Spike in NYC as New Omicron Subvariant BQ.1.1 Spreads in US

Covid Cases Spike in NYC as New Omicron Subvariant BQ.1.1 Spreads in US

A new COVID-19 subvariant is beginning to make its presence felt in the United States after driving a new outbreak in densely populated Singapore. The news... 20.10.2022, Sputnik International

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The positivity rate of COVID-19 tests in parts of New York City is rising rapidly, reaching more than one case in five, according to local media.In the Hells Kitchen neighborhood on Manhattan island, city data showed a positivity rate of 22.5% on Wednesday, and the island overall showed a 7% increase in cases over the previous two weeks. Staten Island, another NYC borough, recorded an overall average positivity rate of 6.89% over the previous week. Case numbers in the entire city of 8 million have hovered around 2,000 per day.While densely populated New York is especially prone to rapid outbreaks, a new subvariant of Omicron, dubbed BQ.1.1, has recently been detected in the US. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this new subvariant is estimated to be responsible for 11% of cases in the US over the last week and 36.6% of cases in New York in that time.The Omicron FamilyThe variant, along with its parent, BQ.1, both descend from Omicron, the immune-evading COVID-19 variant thats fueled Covid cases worldwide since November 2021. However, doctors arent sure if its new differences will give it an advantage over Omicron BA.5, the most recent dominant subvariant.Omicrons evasion of immune protections, thanks to the many modifications to its chief infection tool, the spike protein, has frustrated efforts to end the pandemic via mass vaccination. Where vaccination previously aimed at minimizing or preventing illness, now Western health experts hope it will minimize hospitalization and death.In the United States, more than 1,060,000 have died from COVID-19, although deaths have stayed below 700 per day for the last six months, according to CDC data. On Tuesday, the 7-day moving average was 323 deaths per day.Winter Is ComingHowever, winter is fast approaching in the US, which will drive people indoors, where the virus can spread much more easily. Without most of the pandemic safety mandates, such as mask-wearing, social distancing, and sick leave for workers, experts worry the US could be in for a major new outbreak.That said, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted unanimously on Thursday to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the CDCs recommended immunization schedules for both children and adults. The schedule is not a requirement, and the ultimate decision remains up to local school districts, Dr. Nirav Shah, an ACIP member and Director of Maine's CDC, told Reuters.Cities such as Washington, DC, have delayed requiring COVID-19 vaccination for students several times, although staff are still required to be vaccinated. Earlier this month, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the Golden State would become the first in the nation to require student vaccination statewide.

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/beijing-slams-british-media-reports-aimed-to-divide-china-africa-relations--1102500053.html

Beijing Slams British Media Reports Aimed to 'Divide China-Africa Relations'

Beijing Slams British Media Reports Aimed to 'Divide China-Africa Relations'

On Tuesday, the Nigerian outlet Vanguard falsely claimed that China had established police stations in Nigeria. The article was based on information taken... 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

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Reports that China intends to open police stations in some African countries have been heavily slammed by the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania as false.You are fabricating stories, not covering news, the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania argued, referring to the October 19 report shared by BBC Swahili. This is a vivid case to show how BBC spreads disinformation about China, to divide China-Africa relations. Actually, China and Tanzania enjoy long-lasting friendship in all areas, which cannot be shaken by rumors and slanders.The statement came as BBC News Swahili reported that China was allegedly establishing police stations in African countries such as Nigeria, Lesotho and Tanzania in order to curb the criminal activities committed by the Chinese living there.Pointing out that the western media noted in their story that they were looking for a comment on the behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, the embassy added Don't you say you are making efforts to get a statement from the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania? We are now waiting for you.In the report published on the BBC News Swahili website, it was claimed that the supposed China's arrangement could be seen as an attack on [Tanzanian] territorial sovereignty.The British outlet also referred to local media claims that between April 2021 and July 2022, [Chinese authorities] persuaded 230,000 Chinese citizens to return to China to face criminal charges over telecommunications and general fraud.The information the western media transmitted was obtained from the Nigerian outlet "Vanguard", but the latter has since updated its story, clarifying that an unnamed "top Chinese official" refuted the report.There is no such station in Nigeria or everywhere. This is because no sovereign country may allow other countries to establish their own (police) stations on their territory. Isnt this common sense?, the unnamed official said, cited by The Vanguard.Tanzania's Ambassador to China, Mberwa Kairuki, also confirmed that Tanzania and China currently have no bilateral ties in the field of police forces.

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/hungary-to-oppose-any-attempts-to-severe-economic-ties-between-europe-and-china-fm-says-1102489835.html

Hungary to Oppose Any Attempts to Severe Economic Ties Between Europe and China, FM Says

Hungary to Oppose Any Attempts to Severe Economic Ties Between Europe and China, FM Says

Budapest have been urging the EU leadership to stick to pragmatic policies, as the bloc is suffering from economic hardships, including record-high inflation... 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

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Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto warned on Thursday that his country would be turning down any attempts to sever economic relations between the EU and Beijing.The minister previously held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, noting that only third parties are interested in the deterioration of EU-China ties.His statement comes after reports suggested that the foreign ministers of the bloc were advised to toughen their stance against Beijing by the European External Action Service, which called China an "all-out competitor."This is not the first time the issue of cooperation with China has been the focus of the European agenda. For example, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz found himself in the spotlight after reports suggested he was backing the purchase of a foothold in Hamburg port by the Chinese state-owned shipping company Cosco. The move brought harsh criticism from other parties in the German governing coalition - the Free Democratic Party and Greens, saying the deal is a huge risk. At the same time, the head of Germanys foreign security service BND warned that the country should not be "painfully dependent" on China.

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/imran-khan-reportedly-issues-72-hour-container-ultimatum-to-party-workers-ahead-of-freedom-march-1102493847.html

Imran Khan Reportedly Issues 72-Hour 'Container' Ultimatum to Party Workers Ahead of Freedom March

Imran Khan Reportedly Issues 72-Hour 'Container' Ultimatum to Party Workers Ahead of Freedom March

Last month, Imran Khan called for a massive anti-government demonstration, termed the "Real Freedom March", in Islamabad. Despite warnings from the government... 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

2022-10-21T12:16+0000

2022-10-21T12:16+0000

2022-10-21T14:09+0000

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Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan issued a 72-hour ultimatum to his party workers to get his container ready for his proposed "Freedom March" to Islamabad, The News International, a Pakistani media outlet, reported on Friday.The publication further added that once the renovation of the container was over, the top leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), will decide where it will be shifted, hinting at Lahore and Peshawar being the top two proposed destinations.Meanwhile, the authorities have seized more than 700 containers to prevent Khan's "Freedom March" from taking shape. The Islamabad Police stated that over 1,100 containers will be collected from the capital region to secure Islamabad during the supposed rally. Coincidentally, hours after Khan gave an ultimatum to his party members, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday barred him from contesting elections in the country for five years. The ECP's announcement came in response to a plea filed by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf who sought a lifelong ban in the wake of the alleged "Toshakhana scam."At least seven ruling coalition parliamentarians have accused Khan of "swindling" 52 gift items from Toshakhana (the state gift repository), purchasing them at low prices before selling them at extremely high rates in the market.Minutes after the ECP's verdict, Khan's party announced that it will challenge the ban on him in the Islamabad High Court.Meanwhile, no date has been announced yet for the large gathering of Khan's supporters against the ruling alliance in Islamabad, though the PTI has reiterated that it will be held soon.

https://sputniknews.com/20221021/imran-khan-barred-from-contesting-pakistan-elections-for-five-years-1102490925.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/indian-patrol-ship-opens-fire-at-suspicious-boat-near-maritime-boundary-with-sri-lanka-1102497628.html

Indian Patrol Ship Opens Fire at 'Suspicious' Boat Near Maritime Boundary With Sri Lanka

Indian Patrol Ship Opens Fire at 'Suspicious' Boat Near Maritime Boundary With Sri Lanka

There is a narrow strip of water separating the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu from the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka. The two... 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

2022-10-21T12:06+0000

2022-10-21T12:06+0000

2022-10-21T12:06+0000

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The Indian Defense Ministry on Friday said that an Indian Navy ship on patrol in Palk Bay near the India-Sri Lanka International Maritime Boundary Line opened fire at a suspicious boat, which resulted in a person being injured. The waters between the southeast tip of India and Sri Lanka's Palk Bay have been used by two countries for fishing purposes for centuries.The injured person was later administered first aid aboard the ship and evacuated by an Indian Navy Chetak helicopter. As per the hospital authority, he is in stable condition.The naval authorities of the two countries have repeatedly arrested fishermen from the other respective country for years.Indian fishermen, who are unable to go to offshore areas in India's exclusive economic zone, often stray into Sri Lankan waters. They are either chased away or arrested. The countries have set up a bilateral mechanism to help find a permanent solution to the issue.

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/is-chaos-the-deliberate-strategy-how-pentagon-failures-enabling-putschists--terrorists-in-africa-1102507523.html

Is Chaos the Deliberate Strategy? How Pentagon 'Failures' Enabling Putschists & Terrorists in Africa

Is Chaos the Deliberate Strategy? How Pentagon 'Failures' Enabling Putschists & Terrorists in Africa

The Flintlock training program of the US Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA) seems to have become a cradle for rebels, while US military forces... 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

2022-10-21T14:12+0000

2022-10-21T14:12+0000

2022-11-23T11:36+0000

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Earlier this week, Rolling Stone shed light on a Pentagon report which was "quietly released late last month" that unveiled systemic US military failures across Africa. The report revealed that US military efforts have proven ineffective in degrading and disrupting violent extremist organizations who continue to gain ground across the continent.However, theres more. African officers trained and advised by US special operators keep overthrowing governments in their respective nations, according to the magazine.In the early 2000s, the Pentagon ramped up military engagement in Africa by building a network of outposts from Senegal to Kenya, Tunisia to Gabon, and dispatching US military specialists and Special Op forces to at least 22 African nations. At the time, the Department of Defense did not acknowledge the full extent of its "training" and "cooperation" activities often used as euphemisms for combat missions, Rolling Stone noted, citing Stephanie Savell, co-director of Brown Universitys Costs of War Project.Many have been left wondering what the goal of this ramping up was, however.However, African academic Mustafa Mheta holds a different opinion on the dynamic of the US involvement in the continent's affairs. According to him, Washington is using security issues and interstate rivalries to gain influence in the region to maintain control over the continent in its post-colonial period.US Flintlock Program: Cradle for PutschistsFor the last twenty years, US Special Forces have provided training to the African military within the framework of SOCAFRICAs annual Flintlock exercise in order to "strengthen the ability of key partner nations in the region to counter violent extremist organizations." However, Pentagon trainees have repeatedly been spotted fomenting regime changes, with the US doing nothing to stop or overturn the coup.Rolling Stone noted that Flintlock graduates carried out a whopping four coups in just two past years in West Africa.In 2014, Lt. Col. Isaac Zida, a US military trainee, seized power in Burkina Faso, while in 2015 former head of the nation's Flintlock Committee Gen. Gilbert Diendere overthrew the government once again. In 2020, Col. Assimi Goita, who worked with US Special Ops and participated in Flintlock training took power in Mali, while in 2021, Col. Mamady Doumbouya, a US Green Berets trainee, deposed Guineas President Alpha Conde."The United States is certainly not just an innocent bystander, but the role of the US military from the standpoint of AFRICOM is, I think, misunderstood," argued Johnson. "[T]hey will establish contacts and develop friends at the operational level, particularly on the military side. But that does not necessarily put them in a position to dictate or control events. They have the potential to influence, but not necessarily control."According to Mheta, the US Special Forces are responsible for the disturbing trend: "These special forces never help Africa in any way, but are instead used to destabilize the continent or even to foment coups in certain African states," he said. "Missions like SOCAFRICA's annual Flintlock military exercises are meant to just help them identify African surrogates to be used to serve their geopolitical interests as in staging coups. It's not a coincidence that five [sic] military coups that have happened in Africa of late, bear the hallmark of Flintlock attendees."Despite the troubling record of Flintlock trainees, the US is continuing the exercises without taking any measures to curb the regime change spree, according to Mheta. "The US is eager to continue with these types of exercises simply because they see Africa as their backyard," he said.Regime changes have long been used by the US as a tool of establishing and maintaining control over foreign nations, including the January 1893 deposing of the Hawaiian monarch Queen Liliuokalani, the CIA-backed 1953 coup in Iran, the 2011 ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi or the February 2014 "Euromaidan" coup in Kiev, to name but a few.When it comes to Africa, the continent has been regularly rocked by military coups in the post-colonial period. The Conversation listed roughly 200 coups or attempted coups in Africa from the nations' various times of independence until 2012. "There was a coup attempt every 55 days in the 1960s and 1970s, and over 90% of African states had a coup experience," the media outlet pointed out. Since 2010, there have been over 40 coups or attempted coups in Africa; half of them occurring in West Africa and the Sahel, The Conversation noted, suggesting that in general, West Africa accounted for the largest number of regime changes and coup attempts in the continent's history.The Cold War has been sometimes cited as a driver for African coups during the US-Soviet rivalry. However, the collapse of the USSR and the Wests subsequent implementation of a neoliberal program in Africa hasn't brought the phenomenon to a halt. Regime changes are continuing to occur, keeping African nations in a chaotic and vicious cycle of violence.Can Western 'Security Providers' be Trusted?Likewise, western counter-terrorism operations, including the Pentagon's 20 year-long efforts across the continent or France's 8-year long Operation Burkhane in the Sahel, have not reduced swirling violence which is undermining the development of African countries.Militant Islamist violence in the Sahel has quadrupled since 2019, with the region seeing a staggering 2,612 attacks by terrorist groups, according to the Africa Center, as quoted by Rolling Stone. The 7,052 resulting fatalities account for almost 50% of all such deaths reported on the continent, with around 25% of those fatalities resulting from attacks on civilians - a 67% jump from 2021.The situation has been steadily worsening in East Africa as well, with radical Islamist al-Shabaab* militants establishing control over 70% of south and central Somalia, despite US strikes and the Biden administration's recent military buildup.An apparent lack of comprehensive strategy by AFRICOM, corruption among African elites and ongoing internal power struggles mentioned by CIA analyst Larry Johnson, could indeed contribute to the Pentagon's failure to restore law and order in the region. However, what is striking is that neither the US nor France have made any efforts to revise their surprisingly similar, and seemingly failing, strategies.Meanwhile, the examples of the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali have indicated that nations are capable of curbing the terror threat once they replace western military instructors with Russian private contractors, such as in 2017 and 2021, respectively. The Malian government went even so far as to accuse the French military of actively assisting terrorists and deliberately fracturing the country, which eventually led to bilateral rows and the withdrawal of France's forces in 2022. Simultaneously, Niger and Burkina Faso kicked off anti-French protests accusing Paris of maintaining havoc in the Sahel. Moreover, the surge in violence in the Sahel was directly triggered by the US and French-led NATO invasion of Libya and the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, which led to the subsequent collapse of the state and spillover of terrorist activities in neighboring nations.There are apparently two reasons for the western military intervening in Africa under the guise of counter-terror activities. First, they want to keep Russia and China or any other competitors out of the continent, according to Professor Mustafa Mheta. Second, they strive to maintain access to Africa's vast untapped resources, markets and other assets.Africa boasts roughly 12% and 9% of the worlds oil and natural gas reserves, respectively, let alone large, high-grade deposits of rare earths. The continent's population is the fastest growing in the world with a share of working-age individuals steadily increasing, presenting potential to boost economic growth, according to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).In addition, "there are 16 countries in Africa with free-market economies" with close to a billion people, which "represents an impressive market worth tapping in a variety of ways," argued the US Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) last year, referring to Cape Verde, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Benin, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Mauritius, Kenya and Tanzania. "Consumer and business spending in Africa is expected to top $6.6 trillion by 2030, up from $4 trillion in 2015," FPRI remarked.However, questions remain as to who will actually benefit from the continent's natural wealth and growing human resources if the US and its NATO allies continue to maintain a military presence in the region, a military presence which so far has failed to stem the terror threat and created nothing short of a factory for would-be putschists.*Al-Shabaab is a terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries.

https://sputniknews.com/20220930/burkina-faso-military-leader-deposed-constitution--transitional-charter-suspended---army-captain-1101395939.html

https://sputniknews.com/20221019/report-us-trained-african-troops-carried-out-at-least-eight-coups-in-west-africa-since-2008-1102065127.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220826/why-us-re-entry-wont-solve-somalias-security-problem--how-russia-can-save-the-day-1100025298.html

https://sputniknews.com/20221007/why-the-sahel-is-turning-its-back-on-france--could-russia-solve-africas-security-dilemma-1101599125.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/lara-logan-banned-from-newsmax-for-bizarre-conspiracy-theory-rant--1102517731.html

Lara Logan Banned From Newsmax for Bizarre Conspiracy Theory Rant About 'Satan's Way'

Lara Logan Banned From Newsmax for Bizarre Conspiracy Theory Rant About 'Satan's Way'

The former CBS and Fox News journalist went on a bizarre QAnon-style rant on Newsmax while speaking with conservative political commentator Eric Bolling... 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

2022-10-21T22:05+0000

2022-10-21T22:05+0000

2022-10-21T22:18+0000

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Newsmax, the American rightwing cable news company, has decided to end its relationship with conservative pundit Lara Logan after her conversation about immigrants with Bolling, the host of Newsmaxs Eric Bolling The Balance, turned into a bizarre rant riddled with conspiracy theories. Logan remarked that there was a hidden agenda to infiltrate 100 million illegal immigrants in order to dilute the pool of patriots and dismantle American patriotism. Logan said she knew of such a plan because she had spoken to a man at the United Nations level.The South African journalists rant about immigrants being used to destroy American patriotism then tailspun into a religious rant in which she claimed that the US-Mexico border was controlled by Satan and that world leaders were conspiring to eat insects and drink the blood of children.God believes in sovereignty and national identity and the sanctity of family, and all the things that weve lived with from the beginning of time, said Logan. And he knows that the open [southern US] border is Satans way of taking control of the world through all of these people who are his stooges and his servants.In a bid to quell any backlash, Newsmax issued a statement clarifying that it has no intentions on booking Logan for its programs, adding that her remarks were "reprehensible."Logan, 51, first rose to prominence as a war correspondent during the American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. She then began working as a correspondent for CBS News in 2002 and worked there for 16 years before leaving in 2018. In 2020, she had her own show on Fox News where she first began voicing strange statements such as accusing communists of attacking white police officers and suggesting that the Biden administration was hiding evidence of side effects caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.Logan was eventually booted by Fox after she compared Dr. Anthony Faucithe chief medical adviser to the US president, and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984to Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor who conducted inhumane medical experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz.

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/liz-truss-on-her-last-leg-us-polls-show-fear-of-nuclear-war-home-made-covid-strain-1102480645.html

Liz Truss on Her Last Leg; US Polls Show Fear of Nuclear War; Home Made Covid Strain

Liz Truss on Her Last Leg; US Polls Show Fear of Nuclear War; Home Made Covid Strain

Protests in 40 US cities demand de-escalation as polls show that Americans are concerned about nuclear war and the hashtag #DefuseNuclearWar gains traction. 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

2022-10-21T08:16+0000

2022-10-21T08:16+0000

2022-10-24T10:06+0000

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Liz Truss on Her Last Leg; US Polls Show Fear of Nuclear War; Home Made Covid Strain Protests in 40 US cities demand de-escalation as polls show that Americans are concerned about nuclear war and the hashtag #DefuseNuclearWar gains traction.

Jamarl Thomas, co-host of Fault Lines, joins us to discuss the EU and the US midterms. Liz Truss is on her last political leg as more and more conservative MPs revolt against her government. Also, Joe Biden's low approval ratings make him toxic on the midterm campaign trail.Regis Tremblay, an American citizen living in Crimea, joins us to discuss the Ukraine crisis. Iran rejects claims that it is providing drones to Russia. Also, Air alerts go off all over Ukraine as the Russian air offensive takes its toll on the nation's power grid.Steve Poikonen, national organizer for Action4Assange, joins us to discuss the COVID-19. Boston University has allegedly created a deadly COVID-19 strain that has caught the attention of the US government. Also, we discuss why the US government is preventing a real investigation of the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.Linwood Tauheed, associate professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, joins us to discuss the neocon threat to the world. John Bolton's regime change plan for Russia is based on an absurd foundation. Also, Scott Ritter has written several pieces about the threat of nuclear war.Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Germany's embassy seems to have played a significant role in fomenting unrest in Iran. Also, Iran backs the Saudi reduction of oil output in the face of US pressure.Dan Kovalik, writer, author, and lawyer, joins us to discuss imperial lawfare. The US empire is using lawfare to go after anti-imperialist activists, opinions, and journalists such as Julian Assange, Steven Donziger, and Alex Saab.Gary Flowers, radio talk show host, and public policy analyst, joins us to discuss domestic politics. Right-wing activists are going to the Supreme Court to try and stop student debt relief. Also, Protests in 40 US cities demand de-escalation as polls show that Americans are concerned about nuclear war, and the hashtag #DefuseNuclearWar gains traction.Ricardo Vaz, political analyst, and editor at Venezuelanalysis joins us to discuss the Global South. The Organization of American States is losing power as Latin America turns away from US imperialism.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comThe views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/liz-truss-quits-after-45-days-on-the-job-1102480340.html

Liz Truss Quits After 45 Days on the Job

Liz Truss Quits After 45 Days on the Job

On todays episode of The Backstory, host Lee Stranahan discussed current events including President Zelensky denying he ordered the attack on the Crimea... 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

2022-10-21T08:14+0000

2022-10-21T08:14+0000

2022-10-24T10:06+0000

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Liz Truss Quits After 45 Days on the Job On todays episode of The Backstory, host Lee Stranahan discussed current events including President Zelensky denying he ordered the attack on the Crimea bridge, and Kevin Spacey found not liable in sexual misconduct trial.

Jamarl Thomas - Co-Host of Fault Lines | Liz Truss Resigns, The British Pound, and Winter Coming for EnglandTyler Nixon - Attorney, Media Relations Specialist | Fox Can't Afford to Fire Tucker Carlson, Open Racism, and MarxismIn the first hour, Lee spoke with Jamarl Thomas about Keir Starmer, Democrats have lost the public, and advanced technology. Jamarl spoke about the recent resignation of Liz Truss and why people keep quitting the Prime Minister position in the United Kingdom. Jamarl commented on the ACT scores of American children and how education is broken in America.In the second hour, Lee spoke with Tyler Nixon about the different points of view allowed on Fox, billions for Ukraine, and establishment Republicans supporting NATO. Tyler spoke about open racism on MSNBC and Marxism in our education system. Tyler talked about the three best books to read about the JFK assassination and the programming in the American education system.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comThe views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/report-classified-mar-a-lago-papers-held-us-secrets-about-china-and-irans-missile-program-1102517870.html

Report: Classified Mar-a-Lago Papers Held US Secrets About China and Iran's Missile Program

Report: Classified Mar-a-Lago Papers Held US Secrets About China and Iran's Missile Program

The FBI searched former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in August as part of an investigation into potential mishandling of classified information... 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

2022-10-21T22:02+0000

2022-10-21T22:02+0000

2022-10-21T22:00+0000

americas

mar-a-lago

iran

china

classified documents

secrets

us

donald trump

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Newly surfaced findings have indicated that some of the documents seized during the FBIs August raid on Mar-a-Lago were so sensitive that many top officials were not aware of the contents; in fact, confidential information about Iran and China have since been considered some of the most top secret recovered so far.According to the Washington Post, the newly uncovered papers were the third batch of classified documents obtained from Trumps Florida residence and subsequently sent to the US National Archives and Records Administration.Though people close to the matter have reported that many of the sensitive documents held at Mar-a-lago had identifying information scrubbed from them, reports suggest that at least one document recovered by the FBI contains classified material regarding the nature of Iran's missile program, while others focused on China.As many intelligence officials have warned, the new information about the nature of the documents seized in the search underscores the risk inherent in moving highly classified material from protected government facilities.The sensitivity of the classified information, which could endanger US intelligence liaisons, will count as an aggravating factor when prosecutors decide whether or not to file charges in relation to the case.David Laufman, who served as a senior member in the Justice Department, said that the exceptional sensitivity of these documents, and the reckless exposure of invaluable sources and methods of US intelligence capabilities concerning these foreign adversaries, will certainly influence the Justice Departments determination of whether to charge Mr. Trump or others with willful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act.Trump has been careful to deny any allegations, saying in a recently televised interview that presidents have the ability to declassify information even by thinking about it. Lawyers who specialize in matters of national security have dismissed those claims.Who could ever trust corrupt, weaponized agencies, and that includes NARA, who disrespects our Constitution and Bill of Rights, to keep and safeguard any records, especially since theyve lost millions and millions of pages of information from previous Presidents, he said. Also, who knows what NARA and the FBI plant into documents, or subtract from documents  we will never know, will we? asked Trump on his media platform, Truth Social, on Friday afternoon.Among the almost 13,000 documents seized, 103 of them were classified and 18 were top secret.

https://sputniknews.com/20221008/trump-reportedly-sought-to-swap-mar-a-lago-docs-for-fbi-files-proving-russiagate-was-hoax-1101643455.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/russia-congo-republic-discuss-military-cooperation-1102484580.html

Russia, Congo Republic Discuss Military Cooperation

Russia, Congo Republic Discuss Military Cooperation

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fokin and the Republic of the Congos defense chief Charles Richard Mondjo met in Moscow on... 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

2022-10-21T05:43+0000

2022-10-21T05:43+0000

2022-11-24T11:28+0000

africa

military

cooperation

collaboration

central africa

democratic republic of the congo

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"During the meeting, they underscored the importance of Russian-Congolese cooperation and a positive trend in bilateral ties between their militaries and defense industries," the Russian ministry said in a statement.The ministers held a working meeting at the ministry, which was attended by Russian officials and Congolese delegates. They identified areas of potential cooperation and ways to deepen collaboration.During his summer Africa tour, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicated that both Russia and Congo were interested in expanding military cooperation between the two countries. Lavrov visited Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, and the Republic of the Congo from July 24-28 to discuss pressing issues on the international and regional agendas, as well as prospects for bilateral cooperation.

https://sputniknews.com/20220725/russian-fm-lavrov-met-with-long-live-friendship-with-russia-slogans-during-first-visit-to-congo-1097791324.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/russian-defense-minister-shoigu-us-secretary-of-defense-austin-discuss-situation-in-ukraine-1102513919.html

Russian Defense Minister Shoigu, US Secretary of Defense Austin Discuss Situation in Ukraine

Russian Defense Minister Shoigu, US Secretary of Defense Austin Discuss Situation in Ukraine

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed the situation in Ukraine by phone with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, the Russian Defense... 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

2022-10-21T15:16+0000

2022-10-21T15:16+0000

2022-11-03T19:04+0000

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"On October 21, 2022, a phone conversation was held between Russian Defense Minister Gen. of the Army Sergei Shoigu, and the Secretary of Defense of the United States of America, Lloyd Austin. Topical issues of international security, including the situation in Ukraine, were discussed," the ministry said.According to the Pentagon, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in a call with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu emphasized the importance of keeping lines of communication between the two countries open amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.On October 21, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone with Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu. Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine, the department said in a press release.A call with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was initiated by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and provided a good chance for the two top military officials to connect amid tensions arising from the conflict in Ukraine, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said."Today provided a good opportunity to connect," Singh said during a press briefing when asked about the talks. "Secretary Austin initiated the call."Austin also spoke with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on Friday, the Pentagon also said.

https://sputniknews.com/20221014/russia-and-us-exchanged-data-on-number-of-strategic-offensive-weapons-1101855216.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/sht-former-bbc-journo-cant-help-herself-reacting-to-possible-bojo-comeback-1102499772.html

'Sh*t!': Former BBC Journo Can't Contain Her Reaction to Possible BoJo Comeback

'Sh*t!': Former BBC Journo Can't Contain Her Reaction to Possible BoJo Comeback

Despite not yet saying if he even wants his old job as prime minister back, Boris Johnson has already won the support of scores of fellow Tory MPs as well as... 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

2022-10-21T13:44+0000

2022-10-21T13:44+0000

2022-10-21T15:06+0000

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Boris Johnson's possible return to 10 Downing Street has prompted a potty-mouthed outburst from a senior political broadcaster.Former top BBC political journalist Emily Maitlis uttered the indiscretion while recording the latest edition of The News Agents podcast for her new employer LBC radio on Thursday night.Maitlis has never hidden her dislike of Boris. She left the BBC's flagship Newsnight programme for LBC in February this year after twice being reprimanded for breaching the state broadcaster's code of political impartiality for attacks on Johnson's government in 2020 and 2021.Johnson has not yet confirmed whether he will make a comeback bid for the job he left just six weeks ago following a series of scandals. He is not even in the UK, but was set to fly home from a holiday in Caribbean on Friday.But he already has the support of a reported 59 Tory MPs after less than 24 hours  more than half the 100-nomination threshold needed to get on the ballot in the fourth Tory leadership contest since 2016. And polls show him more popular than his rivals  including his nemesis Rishi Sunak. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News he was "leaning towards" backing his old boss out of concern that the public would not accept a second new PM who had not yet won an electoral mandate, as Johnson did overwhelmingly in December 2019.BoJo-mania was sweeping Britain by Friday morning, with fishmongers in Birmingham begging Boris to come back.Twitter was buzzing with the #BringBackBoris hashtag on Friday, along with reactions to Maitlis' four-letter reaction.Others were not so keen on the prospect of a second Johnson government after his handling of the Partygate and Chris Pincher groping scandals.

https://sputniknews.com/20221021/bojo-takes-early-lead-in-tory-leadership-race-but-sunak-closing-gap-1102490794.html

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https://sputniknews.com/20221021/turkey-negotiating-alternative-to-us-f-16s-us-not-only-way-out-for-ankara-erdogan-says-1102492213.html

Turkey Negotiating Alternative to US F-16s, US Not Only Way Out for Ankara, Erdogan Says

Turkey Negotiating Alternative to US F-16s, US Not Only Way Out for Ankara, Erdogan Says

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkey is negotiating alternatives to US F-16 fighter jets, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, noting that Washington is... 21.10.2022, Sputnik International

2022-10-21T09:39+0000

2022-10-21T09:39+0000

2022-11-03T19:09+0000

military

turkey

us

fighter jets

f-16 fighter jet

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The situation regaring Ankara's purchase of US-made fighters was complicated in July as the US House of Representatives passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act constraining the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. The legislation required assurances on behalf of the US president that the aircraft will not be used for unauthorized territorial overflights in Greece.While both countries are NATO members, Ankara and Athens are engaged in a standoff over their interests in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.Previously, reports also suggested that if the deal falls through, Turkey may resort to buying Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft or Russia's Su-35 instead.

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The former Sarpy County CASA director charged with two counts of theft in state court now has been indicted on five charges of mail fraud in federal court.

The charges against Paula Creps, 51, pertain to her alleged scheme to defraud the county CASA chapter and its nonprofit arm, Lift Up Sarpy County. Documents filed this week in the U.S. District Court of Nebraska allege that Creps fraudulently obtained at least $44,884.95 from Lift Up Sarpy over a period of at least three years from around March 2019 to July 2022.

The indictment states that Creps used a credit card provided by Lift Up Sarpy for CASA expenses to pay for personal expenses such as utility bills and taxes and to register or repair vehicles and obtain concert tickets. The indictment also states that Creps also used the credit card to purchase gift cards. She then allegedly used the gift cards to pay for personal expenses such as a luau and shuttle service in Hawaii.

The indictments state that Creps completed payment record forms that falsely stated she had used the credit card and gift cards for the benefit of children and/or their families. (CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates; the group helps abused and neglected children.) Furthermore, Creps claimed she had used her own money to pay for goods and services as well as advertising and other expenses covered by grant funds. She then requested reimbursement.

But the indictment states that those transactions did not occur and that Creps knew that, yet created fraudulent receipts and attached them to check request forms.

At the state level, Creps is facing felony charges of theft by deception of at least $1,500 but less than $5,000 and unauthorized use of financial transaction device of at least $1,500 but less than $5,000. Tom Strigenz, the Sarpy County public defender who is representing Creps in her state case, said Creps has pleaded not guilty in that case.

The county fired Creps in July.

No attorney representing Creps at the federal level is listed. Creps could not be reached for comment. She is due in court next month.
Does your boss like you?

Do they smile when they see you strolling in the front door, even though youre arriving two hours late? Do they chuckle when you sneak out the back door, even though youre leaving two hours early?

In other words, do they put up with all your nonsense, even though your performance is spotty and your attitude is not much better?

Put it together and Id say  yes, your employer likes you. In fact, they like-like you. But thats not because they see you as an asset. Its because they see you as inventory.

Its a strange situation, and it may not last forever, but according to Companies Hoarding Workers Could Be Good News for the Economy, a recent article by Jeanna Smialek and Sydney Ember in The New York Times, employers are committed to hanging on to their employees, even those employees who  as they say in HR  stink.

The authors provide an example by describing the situation at Fat Daddys Pizzeria in Provo, Utah, where managers avoid firing employees at all costs.

Its easy to imagine how a pizza maker could commit a fireable offense: Using ground squirrel on a sausage pizza. Delivering a pepperoni pizza to a Buddhist Temple. Substituting tomato sauce with motor oil. If you think this behavior would result in a pink slip, think again. At Fat Daddys, even workers who show up drunk are not fired; they are sent home to sober up. After which, one assumes, they are welcomed back with a promotion, a raise and a Best Day Ever Cookie Bundle.

The reason for the forgiving nature of companies today is not that the mighty lions of management have suddenly discovered their inner pussycats. Its because theyre afraid that in a faltering economy, with employees quietly quitting, and noisily quitting too, even replacing a terrible worker will be difficult, if not impossible.

As Julia Pollak, chief economist at the career site ZipRecruiter says, companies are still confronting this enormous churn and losing people. Theyre definitely hanging on to workers for dear life just because theyre so scarce.

The level of commitment to keeping workers, no matter how much work they actually do, is quite stunning. In the case of Fat Daddys Pizzeria, even when facing in an economic downturn, management is looking for other ways to trim costs.

Their first resort would be to cut hours, Smialek and Ember report, while the second would be to take pay cuts themselves.

If management puts cutting their own salaries before cutting you, its clearly time to stop trying to make yourself into someone an employer would promote and focus on making yourself someone an employer would hoard.

Sound difficult? I can help.

No. 1: Work less. Sit more.

Forget living your vision as a dynamic, energetic go-getter. Instead, vision yourself as a lowly, recycled printer cartridge sitting on the top shelf in a cavernous Amazon warehouse. With this mindset, youre not jumping up and down with new ideas or racing to your manager with requests for more responsibility. Instead, youre sitting quietly in place, gathering dust.

Someday a robot arm will come along and pluck you, box you and ship you, but until that happens, you dont budge. You wont be perceived as a great employee, but you will be known all up and down the org chart as one hell of a printer cartridge.

No. 2: Make yourself easy to store

Storage space is expensive. By shrinking the size of your corporate footprint, youll be more likely to be chosen for a place in the employment deep freeze. Reduce your workspace to a minimum. By giving up your desk and chair, you should be able to move your office to the cabinet under the break-room sink. You might also ask IT to exchange your fancy, portable computer for an Etch-A-Sketch.

Remember  you dont want to use a portable. You want to be a portable.

No. 3: Change your name to an inventory number

Nothing says Im storable like a QR code on your forehead.

If all else fails and your manager still treats you like an employee, dont despair. You can always find work at another booming business in Provo, Utah. The Utah State Hospital is struggling mightily to hire workers by raising pay and loosening recruitment requirements.

Best of all, when it comes to getting hired, you have a definite advantage. After working in your current job, if theres one place youll feel right at home, its a psychiatric hospital.
Members of the Royal Jordanian Air Force arrived in Mooresville on Friday to accept a pair of aircraft from IOMAX USA that the country will use to patrol the countrys borders to help combat smugglers and other dangers to the kingdom.

IOMAXs facility at the Mooresville Airpark was ready with the two planes inside as the company hosted Jordans Brig. Gen. Mohammad Fathi Hiyasat, commander of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, and several of its airmen during an official aircraft delivery ceremony to accept IOMAXs first Block 4 AT-802I upgraded Border Patrol Aircraft (BPA), which includes IOMAXs most advanced Strike Package.

Hiyasat praised the company for its work in taking the Air Tractor Inc., aircraft and preparing it for the militarys use. He said these aircraft and their border patrol program are part of the country rising to the challenges they face.

They are aimed to provide our soldiers and security officers the needed tools they need to maintain our national security, and to support our partners and allies in the region, Hiyasat said.

IOMAX took pride in the aircraft as they handed them off and said they look forward to a continued partnership with the Kingdom of Jordan.

The Block 4 upgrade represents IOMAXs newest generation of hardware and software solution incorporating an advanced armament control system with a Genesys avionics suite designed for low-cost intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance precision strike aircraft. IOMAX is honored to work with the Royal Jordanian Armed Forces in support of their vital mission to provide border security to ensure stability in the region, CEO KC Howard said in a press release. Our entire IOMAX team is delighted to continue the partnership and friendship we enjoy with Jordan, one of the United States closest allies in the Middle East.

Open for business

Iredell County Board of Commissioners Chairman James Mallory might have been used to dealing with other militaries when he served in the Army Reserve, but as a county commissioner, it is a bit more unique.

Only once, Mallory said when asked how often he has, as a commissioner, attended this type of occasion, and pivoted to pointing out how he felt this showed some of the unique ways Iredell County can serve as a hub for business and manufacturing and draws attention from companies.

Its another example of the diversification of business that Iredell County can have. Theres so much crossover between advanced manufacturing needs, that IOMAX needs, Mallory said. When you create industry clusters, it attracts more industry.
Wytheville artist Kay Sutherland has always wanted to live paint during a museum event, and on Oct. 9 she got her wish when Roanokes Taubman Museum of Art asked her to paint during the opening of its newest exhibit, Titian to Monet: European Paintings from Joslyn Art Museum.

Its a dream come true, painting at a museum, Sutherland said. Because Im a self-taught artist, I learned so much from going to museums and studying art and paintings in museums and even copying famous works. By doing that, it really has helped me. I really appreciate what museums do for people, for art appreciation, and its a learning experience.

Sutherlands painting uses bright reds and pinks and shows attendees at the exhibit.

Spanning nearly 500 years of art, the 52 works in the special ticketed exhibition tell a broad history of European painting from the Italian Renaissance to nineteenth-century French Impressionism.

Sutherlands work embraces impressionism with a touch of expressionism, too. She uses bold colors, thick paint to create light and movement. Her painting also references the museums glass peaked roof in the atrium, designed to recall a point of the Roanoke Star. If you look closely, you can also see a coffee cup that hints at the nearby H&C Coffee sign in downtown Roanoke.

Live painting is a form of plein air (outdoors) painting that is used to capture a special moment, at weddings, special events, etc. The artist uses his or her own paints and canvas to capture the scene in real-time.

Painting live is challenging, said Sutherland, who also live paints weddings. People move around. Thats a challenge. But I like that people move around. I like the abstraction of what is happening, and how it is viewed by different people without a lot of detail. You can tell what is going on, but you become part of the painting because you were there  People like being in the painting and asking questions and getting involved. Its a one-of-a-kind painting that will never be repeated again because it was done at that moment in time.

Sutherlands painting was auctioned off on the museum website; the sale price is private. Locally, Sutherlands work can be found at Formato Fine Arts on Main Street. It is also for sale at LinDor Gallery in Roanoke.
Investigators say the remains of a Patrick County, Virginia woman who has been missing since the summer of 2018 were found Monday in Stokes County, North Carolina.

The Surry County Sheriff's Office worked with the Stokes County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies to execute a search warrant at Asbury Road in Westfield on Monday.

The Surry County Sheriff's Office said investigators were looking for any evidence or information that could help determine the whereabouts of Sarah Ashley Hill. Hill was reported missing to the Patrick County Sheriff's Office in Virginia in August 2018, according to a news release from the Surry County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators brought in specialized crews and used heavy equipment to move dirt and terrain and stabilize an existing structure. They located human remains beneath the floor of a structure on the property, and those remains were sent to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. On Thursday, an autopsy confirmed that the search uncovered Hill's remains.

The Surry County Sheriff's Office did not release a cause of death and did not say whether Hill's death was being investigated as a homicide. After Hill was reported missing, the Patrick County Sheriff's Office reached out to Surry County Sheriff's Office for help. A report from the Patrick County Sheriff's Office said Hill had not been seen or heard from since June 2018.

Surry County Sheriff's investigators checked several locations in the county, including three different properties on King Park Circle in Mount Airy. The investigation eventually led to the property on Ashbury Road in Stokes. Hill was last seen there around the time of her disappearance, the sheriff's office said.

Detectives with the Surry County Sheriff's Office, the Stokes County Sheriff's Office, the Patrick County Sheriff's Office and the State Bureau of Investigation contacted Hill's family.

Surry County Sheriff's Office said no additional information would be released to "protect the integrity of the investigation."
Continued wildfire smoke and poor mixing conditions prompted officials to extend a Stage 2 burn ban for Cowlitz, Clark and Lewis counties through Friday morning.

The ban, which prohibits all outdoor burning and the use of fireplaces, woodstoves and inserts, was set to expire at noon Thursday. Its now in place until 10 a.m. Friday, according to the Southwest Washington Clean Air Agency.

Residents with wood burning as their only source of heat are exempt from the ban and asked to burn as clean as possible, according to the agency.

Air quality is expected to remain at unhealthy for sensitive groups or unhealthy levels through at least Friday morning, according to the agency. Pollution levels will likely spike in the evening and early morning before improving later on Friday, as rain arrives.

Cowlitz Countys seasonal burn ban remains in place until further notice. All land clearing, residential and silvicultural burning is prohibited until the ban is lifted.
WOODLAND  The city is investigating whether two unnamed former Woodland employees stole the personal information of over 2,000 utility account holders after Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office deputies found two city laptops in their homes.

Cowlitz County Chief Criminal Deputy Troy Brightbill said the department wont pursue criminal charges at this time, while city officials are analyzing the recently returned city laptops to see if any other confidential information was compromised.

City officials became aware of a potential theft of electronic information on Aug. 23, according to a Thursday press release from Woodland Mayor Will Finn. The content of the compromised information contained the names, addresses, account numbers and utility meter IDs of customers.

After finding the breach, city officials contacted the sheriffs office and deputies recovered two city-owned laptops on Oct. 19 from the properties of two longtime former employees, the release states. City officials say the initial document that sparked the investigation has been returned as well.

The former employees have not been named, arrested or charged. The release says one employee worked for the city for at least 32 years and the other for at least 12 years. Finn said one former employee left over a year ago, and the second left in August. Brightbill said he could not provide more details on an active investigation.

The report follows former Woodland city clerk Mari Ripps public records request for 2,000 city utility customers bills in the name of government transparency because she suspects the citys new billing system could increase rates. Ripp told The Daily News Thursday morning she did not know about the recent investigation into the former employees and didnt know who they were.
NASA astronaut Nicole Mann said from the International Space Station is overwhelmed by the beauty and delicacy of Mother Earth.

The first Native American woman in space said Wednesday she is overwhelmed by the beauty and delicacy of Mother Earth, and is channeling positive energy as her five-month mission gets underway.

NASA astronaut Nicole Mann said from the International Space Station that she's received lots of prayers and blessings from her family and tribal community. She is a member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes in Northern California.

Mann showed off the dream catcher she took up with her, a childhood gift from her mother that she's always held dear. The small traditional webbed hoop with feathers is used to offer protection, and she said it's given her strength during challenging times. Years before joining NASA in 2013, she flew combat in Iraq for the Marines.

"It's the strength to know that I have the support of my family and community back home and that when things are difficult or things are getting hard or I'm getting burned-out or frustrated, that strength is something that I will draw on to continue toward a successful mission, Mann told The Associated Press, which gathered questions from members and tribal news outlets across the country.

Mann said she's always heeded her mother's advice on the importance of positive energy, especially on launch day.

It's difficult for some people maybe to understand because it's not really tangible, she said. But that positive energy is so important, and you can control that energy, and it helps to control your attitude."

Mann, 45, a Marine colonel and test pilot who was born in Petaluma, California, said it's important to recognize there are all types of people aboard the space station. It's currently home to three Americans, three Russians and one Japanese astronaut.

What that does is it just highlights our diversity and how incredible it is when we come together as a human species, the wonderful things that we can do and that we can accomplish, she said.

While fascinated with stars and space as a child, Mann said she did not understand who became astronauts or even what they did. Unfortunately, in my mind at that time, it was not in the realm of possibilities, she said.

That changed later in her career. Now, she's taking in the sweeping vistas of Earth from 260 miles (420 kilometers) up and hoping to see the constellations, as she encourages youngsters to follow their dreams.

As for describing Earth from space, the emotions are absolutely overwhelming, she said. "It is an incredible scene of color, of clouds and land, and it's difficult not to stay in the cupola (lookout) all day and just see our planet Earth and how beautiful she is, and how delicate and fragile she is against the blackest of black that I've ever seen  space  in the background.

Mann rocketed into orbit with SpaceX on Oct. 5. She'll be up there until March. She and her husband, a retired Navy fighter pilot, have a 10-year-old son back home in Houston.

The first Native American in space, in 2002, was now-retired astronaut John Herrington of the Chickasaw Nation.
A growing number of startups are emerging to tackle one of the industrys hardest problems.

Cyberattacks on the digital supply chain have become increasingly common, as hackers seek out weak links among makers of computer code and equipment to breach organizations that depend on the technologies.

In 2020, for example, hackers suspected of working for Russia's intelligence services used tampered updates from software maker SolarWinds Corp. to infiltrate nine US government agencies. Last year, hundreds of businesses were compromised with ransomware after the breach of another software provider, Kaseya Ltd. And several months later, the discovery of a flaw in open-source software called Log4j was followed by attacks by hackers in China, Iran and North Korea.

Now, in response, a growing number of startups are emerging to tackle one of the industry's hardest problems.

Global sales of technologies to secure the software development cycle were $3.7 billion last year and expected to more than double, to $9.2 billion, in 2026, said Katie Norton, a senior research analyst with IDC Corp. Palo Alto Networks Inc. and Tenable Holdings Inc. were among cybersecurity companies that made acquisitions in the space last year, and Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google have released tools to help prevent attacks against software development pipelines, she said.

There are a lot of solutions and tools emerging, Norton said. The combination of nascency with urgency is just really overwhelming.

Feross Aboukhadijeh, a prolific open-source developer, said he realized early in his career how fragile the foundations of modern software were. It was mind-blowing to me that all these organizations were using my code-the code of a random 20-something, he said.

Those concerns were reinforced in 2018 after open-source code maintained by a friend was hacked. Later, Aboukhadijeh created an encrypted file-sharing program that contained more than 90% open-source code, and he realized he had no reliable way to search for vulnerabilities.

How could we know for sure that our app was secure if we weren't even reading any of the code? he said. No one had a scalable solution to the problem.

In 2020, he started San Francisco-based Socket Inc., which examines open-source software packages and flags potential dangers.

Kirkland, Washington-based Chainguard Inc., whose founders come from VMware Inc. and Google, is another company trying to bring more accountability to open-source software. Its technology creates a chain of custody, assessing the origin and trustworthiness of the code.

People just don't even know what they're running and what they're depending on in their systems, said Kim Lewandowski, one of the founders.

An executive order that US President Joe Biden issued last year on cybersecurity was a major catalyst for the industry, including a mandate that companies selling to federal agencies provide a software bill of materials  the ingredients in their code, computer security experts said.

Supply-chain attacks are growing in part because operating systems and web browsers -- hackers' usual targets -- are now harder to hack, said Window Snyder, who's held senior roles at Microsoft, Apple Inc. and Intel Corp. At the same time, a range of connected devices, including baby monitors and smart doorbells, are proliferating with code that often suffers from basic vulnerabilities, which creates openings into personal and corporate networks, she said.

We see a real dearth of security protections, said Snyder, who in 2020 founded San Francisco-based Thistle Technologies Ltd., whose tools help device makers write and update their code securely.

Technology has become so complex that many organizations don't know all the software they're using, let alone whether it's secure, said Renaud Feil, founder of Paris-based Synacktiv, a company that's hired to hack into products to help fix vulnerabilities.

In some code we've reviewed, the company is just writing 1% of the code base, he said. The rest is third-party software, framework, libraries.

Firmware -- code that controls a computer's hardware -- is another area where more attacks are being found. Earlier this year, an Iranian firm called Amnpardaz Soft Corp. and Moscow-based Kaspersky separately published details of new firmware implants they discovered.

Two companies developing tools to detect firmware vulnerabilities include Portland-based Eclypsium Inc. and Pasadena, California-based Binarly Inc. Cycuity, in San Jose, California, has created methods to inspect chip designs to spot security problems.

But technology alone can only go so far in preventing attacks, said Justin Cappos, associate professor of computer science and engineering at New York University. Organizations need to holistically examine how their technologies are built, starting with software, he said.

If you can ensure the right processes are being followed, he said, you can nip a lot of these problems in the bud.
The sequencing of the first Neanderthal genome in 2010, offered a new way to discover more about our long extinct forerunners.

The original Flintstones? The largest genetic study of Neanderthals ever conducted has offered an unprecedented snapshot of a family, including a father and his teenage daughter, who lived in a Siberian cave around 54,000 years ago.

The new research, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, used DNA sequencing to look at the social life of a Neanderthal community, finding that women were more likely to stray from the cave than men.

Previous archaeological excavations have shown that Neanderthals were more sophisticated than once thought, burying their dead and making elaborate tools and ornaments.

However little is known about their family structure or how their society was organised.

The sequencing of the first Neanderthal genome in 2010, which won Swedish paleogeneticist Svante Paabo the medicine Nobel prize earlier this month, offered a new way to discover more about our long extinct forerunners.

An international team of researchers focused on multiple Neanderthal remains found in the Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov caves in southern Siberia.

The scattered fragments of bones were mostly in a single layer in the earth, suggesting the Neanderthals lived around the same time.

"First we had to identify how many individuals we had," Stephane Peyregne, an evolutionary geneticist at Germany's Max Planck Institute and one of the study's co-authors, told AFP.

- 'Seem much more human' -

The team used new techniques to extract and isolate the ancient DNA from the remains.

By sequencing the DNA, they established there were 13 Neanderthals, seven males and six females. Five of the group were children or early adolescents.

Eleven were from the Chagyrskaya cave, many of them from the same family including the father and his teenage daughter, as well as a young boy and a woman who were second-degree relatives, such as a cousin, aunt or grandmother.

The researchers also worked out that one man was a maternal relative of the father because he had a genetic phenomenon called heteroplasmy, which only passes down a couple of generations.

"Our study provides a concrete picture of what a Neandertal community may have looked like," Max Planck's Benjamin Peter, who supervised the research along with Paabo, said in a statement.

"It makes Neandertals seem much more human to me," he added.

Genetic analysis showed that the group did not interbreed with its nearby relatives such as humans and Denisovans, hominins discovered by Paabo in caves just a few hundred kilometres away.

However we know that Neanderthals did breed with homo sapiens at some point -- Paabo's research also revealed that almost all modern humans have a little Neanderthal DNA.

- Rampant inbreeding -

The community of around 10 to 20 Neanderthals seems to have instead bred largely among themselves, displaying very little genetic diversity, the study found.

Neanderthals existed between 430,000 to 40,000 years ago, so this group was living in the twilight of its species.

The study compared the community's level of inbreeding to endangered mountain gorillas. Another explanation for the inbreeding could be that the Neanderthals lived in an isolated region.

"We are probably dealing with a very subdivided population," Peyregne said.

The researchers found that the group's Y-chromosomes, which are inherited from father to son, were far less diverse than its mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited from mothers.

This suggests that the women travelled more frequently to interact and breed with different groups of Neanderthals, while the men largely stayed home.

Antoine Balzeau, a palaeoanthropologist at France's National Museum of Natural History, said that fossils found in the Sidron Cave in Spain prompted suggestions of a similar Neanderthal community there, but far less complete genetic material is available.

Balzeau, who was not involved in the latest study, said it was "a very interesting technical feat".

But "it will have to be compared with other groups" of Neanderthals, he added.
Today, Samsung Malaysia announced the arrival of the Galaxy A04s phone. It was first released in India and the phone is now available for RM699. You can now get it in Copper, Green, and Black at the nearest physical Samsung store or online at the Samsung Official Store.

For our local set, this is an entry-level phone featuring an Exynos 850 chipset, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The memory space isn't much, but you can still expand it up to 1TB via a microSD card. Meanwhile, the PLS LCD is 6.5-inches and supports 720p. The 5MP front camera hanging out on the top centre of the Infinity-V display.

On the other hand, the triple rear camera consists of a 50MP main sensor, followed by a 2MP for the depth and macro lens. And as always, the battery pack is 5000mAh supporting a 15W charging technology. Other than that, nothing else really stands out but it's worth nothing that there's a 90Hz refresh rate and an extra 4GB RAM Plus, allowing users to have 8GB of RAM in total.

To read more about the Samsung Galaxy A04s, you visit the official webpage right over here. Stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.
Credit: DesignRage/Shutterstock

As winter approaches, and with energy bills at record highs, insulating the UK's leaky homes has never been more urgent. With 14% of greenhouse gas emissions coming from heating and powering homes, it would also help the country meet its climate change targetsa genuine win-win.

Yet current policies to encourage more efficient energy use (and so, lower emissions) are failing. The UK's housing stock is one of the worst insulated of all advanced economies.

Installation rates for loft, cavity wall and solid wall insulation all need to grow by an order of magnitude by the middle of this decade. Installation rates for electric heat pumps need to reach one million a year in new and existing homes by 2030, up from around 54,000 in 2021.

There is currently little or no help for the roughly 64% of households who own their own home to make these improvements, unless they qualify for schemes targeting those on very low incomes.

The government assumes they will find the money to invest in better insulation and replace their gas boilers with heat pumps, but this is reckless. The government's own advisory body, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), has criticised the current lack of support for homeowners.

So how could we design better policies to help homeowners make their homes fit for the future? We teamed up with the CCC to try to find out. Rather than relying just on the economic modelling and technical analysis that policymakers normally reach for, we wanted to try a new approach: asking homeowners what would work best for them.

What our panel said

As part of our project on public engagement and climate change at Lancaster University, we set up and oversaw a citizens' panel.

The panel consisted of 24 people, demographically representative of UK homeowners in terms of age, ethnicity, housing type and attitudes to climate change. Participants spent 25 hours over seven sessions, both online and in person, learning about how to eliminate carbon emissions from homes and designing solutions they thought would work for owner-occupiers.

CCC analysts, whose day job is to analyse how well government policy aligns with the UK's legally binding climate targets, took part in the discussions and helped to shape the findings.

The panel told us that they care about tackling climate change and want to act, but the government's assumptionthat homeowners will take the initiative and make the investment their homes needis wide of the mark. Instead, panellists stressed that they would need guidance, and help with costs, if they were to make changes.

Not enough homeowners will invest in a heat pump without government support. Credit: Virrage Images/Shutterstock

The panellists designed a comprehensive package of support based around the life cycle of owning a home: buying it, living in it and renovating it. This would include a logbook provided to all home buyers with reliable information on what the house needed and what the costs and benefits would be.

Financial incentives would help homeowners make changes at each stage, such as stamp duty rebates and cheap financing for cosmetic renovations when rolled together with energy retrofits. Regulations would ban the most polluting products, such as gas boilers.

We have now published these findings and the CCC has written to Graham Stuart MP, the UK climate change minister, to inform him.

The benefits of deliberation

Getting policy experts to talk with members of the public seems to be an effective way to make climate policy. There have been efforts to try this before, most notably Climate Assembly UK, which asked ordinary people about their support for different climate policies. We went a step further by asking panellists to work with analysts to design a policy from scratch.

Our panel showed that giving people the opportunity to consider options and weigh up the evidence can result in workable solutions which chime with the views and life experience of the people most affected. Neglecting this perspective while designing policies can invite a backlash. Expecting people to make significant changes to their lives without adequate support could threaten the UK's ability to meet its climate targets.

The standard tools of policy analysis, such as economic modelling and technical forecasting, are not obsolete. But they must be complemented by a more sophisticated understanding of how policies affect lives. Deliberative exercises like our panel, which include informed discussion, are quite different to other ways of taking the public's temperaturelike polls or surveys with a large sample size.

When it comes to complex problems and their solutions, many people lack stable or well-informed preferences about what they want to see happen. It is not the initial reaction to an idea captured through a poll that counts, but whether people actually support it once it is affecting their lives.

In Switzerland, where many policies are put to a referendum, research has shown significant differences between what people say their preferences are in surveys and what they end up voting for. Deliberation offers people enough information and time to develop their understanding of how different policy solutions will affect them and those like them.

The same approach we used could be applied to designing low-carbon transport in cities and towns, or reforms to the food system that balance the need for sustainability with thriving rural economies. We would like to see a much wider use of deliberation by organisations developing and delivering climate policy, from government departments, to local and regional authorities, to thinktanks and civil society groups.

With ever-pressing emission reduction targets, every policy misstep costs precious time. Why would policy makers not want to ensure they get it right the first time around?

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Coupling lithium extraction with geothermal energy could provide clean energy and valuable minerals. Credit: Melanie Hess-Robinson | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Beneath the Earth's crust, super-hot rock holds the potential to provide clean, renewable energy called geothermal energy. This resource is just waiting to be tapped. However, the development of geothermal energy over the past couple decades has been hampered by significant upfront investment, financial risk, and a perceived cost higher than renewables like wind and solar. But that could all change if geothermal energy is paired with lithium extraction.

Research from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) shows that coupling geothermal energy production with lithium extraction could substantially lower the cost of geothermal developments and boost plant profitability. Plus, it would provide a way to extract high-demand minerals like lithium to manufacture batteries, electronic vehicles, and more.

"Geothermal development has been stagnant for the last 30 years due to economic and logistic constraints but coupling it with lithium extraction could make plants more profitable, faster," said Dave Goodman, PNNL research analyst.

Zeroing in on the Salton Seaan area with abundant geothermal potential and lithium reservesthe research team took a close look at how various finance, policy, and technology scenarios could affect the time to profitability and projected profits of geothermal plants in the region. Shorter permitting timelines, reduced construction costs, and government subsidization could all increase geothermal viability, but co-location with lithium extraction was shown to have the greatest potential to lower barriers and encourage successful future geothermal development.

Wringing water, and metals, from stone

In geothermal energy production, watercalled brineis heated by super-hot rock deep underground. When the brine is moved to the Earth's surface, it cools rapidly, producing steam that turns turbines and generates energy. Then, the brine is returned to the ground, continuing the cycle. The United States has the largest known geothermal resource in the world, with an estimated potential to provide up to 10% of the total U.S. electricity capacity.

But geothermal resources at the Salton Sea don't just offer renewable energythe brine is full of minerals, including valuable metals like lithium, that could be extracted with the right technologies. Demand for lithiuma key battery ingredientis already high and expected to skyrocket up to 40 times by 2040.

Currently, very little lithium is produced in the United States, which imports most lithium from Australia, Chile, and China. Creating a sustainable domestic supply of lithium has led researchers and developers to get creative about how and where to extract more lithium. One potential solution is to extract lithium from geothermal brine and a promising location is the Salton Sea in California.

"There's a lot of optimism around future lithium extraction technologies," explained Patrick Mirick, PNNL Earth scientist. "Our research shows that if these technologies work as planned, they'll be a financial game changer for the geothermal industry."

To determine just how much co-locating lithium extraction at geothermal power plants could potentially change the industry, researchers conducted a techno-economic analysis to project plant profitability over time in the Salton Sea. Looking at different timelines, financing options, and technologies, the researchers projected that incorporating lithium extraction would result in the biggest potential impacts for geothermal plants: decreasing the cost of electricity generation, shortening the time to plant profitability, and increasing net profitspotentially many times over. Such changes would remove significant barriers to development in the geothermal industry.

A geothermal power plant in the Salton Sea, which has abundant geothermal and lithium resources. Credit: Cynthia Parris | Shutterstock.com

Building momentum for domestic lithium production

In 2020, the California Energy Commission (CEC) estimated that the subsurface rock in the southern Salton Sea region contained subsurface brine with the potential to supply 40% of the world's lithium demand and generate over $7 billion U.S. dollars in annual revenue. The enormous potential of this region to produce clean energy and lithium is so promising that the CEC set up the Lithium Valley Commission to further investigate opportunities in this area.

Extracting lithiumand potentially other valuable earth mineralsfrom geothermal brine avoids many of the environmental and social concerns associated with current lithium extraction methods. Because the brine is already brought to the surface to support geothermal development, the additional impacts of adding lithium extraction to a geothermal plant are minimal and expected to have fewer environmental impacts than traditional hard rock mining while providing critical minerals for a clean energy future.

PNNL is a leader in developing mineral extraction technologies that could be used to collect lithium and potentially other rare earth minerals from geothermal brine. Developing more environmentally friendly lithium extraction technology would be a valuable step in meeting the growing demand for lithium.

Looking beyond lithium

PNNL researchers have also studied strategies that resource developers, government regulators, and policymakers could pursue to improve the value of geothermal resources independent of lithium extraction. For example, innovative contracting approaches and support for resource identification could lower risks for developers, making geothermal a more attractive investment option.

Incentives supporting enhanced geothermal systems could increase the number of sites in the U.S. suitable for geothermal energy production. These approaches would support the growth of this renewable energy source to help meet baseload power needs for the electrical grid.

"Renewables like wind and solar could provide up to 90% of our clean energy needs, but beyond that, there are diminishing returns. Geothermal could help close the gap to achieve 100% clean energy because it provides a consistent supply of power and the potential for flexibility," said Dhruv Bhatnagar, PNNL senior energy systems research engineer.

In a separate report, PNNL researchers found that reducing development costs through incentives, modernizing contracting options, and valuing the grid services provided by geothermal plants would help geothermal development to be competitive and profitable in less time.

One option for lowering the risks and costs of geothermal development is through a market-based approach that appropriately compensates for the characteristics of geothermal energy. For example, valuing geothermal's firm capacity contribution in complementing low-cost but variable renewables, like wind and solar, could increase its market value and lead to a quicker return on developer investments, spurring industry growth.

"Finding ways to make geothermal more competitive on the market will open up opportunities to generate more clean energy in the future," explained Bhatnagar. "This includes aligning markets and policies to leverage the value that geothermal can provide to the grid."
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Artificial and machine intelligence are changing the way we live more and more each day. Manufacturing robots, self-driving cars, and virtual travel booking agents are just a few examples of how these technologies have permeated our world.

According to JoAnn Paul, associate professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, even with the notable advancements in machine intelligence over the last few years, we've just begun to scratch the surface.

To continue on the path to true machine intelligence, Paul has been awarded a National Science Foundation award to investigate methods to design a computer architecture that emulates the way the human brain operates.

The Virginia Tech faculty member, whose research focuses on brain-inspired computer architecture, is the sole principal investigator of the $400,000 project and hopes to help lay the foundation for what could potentially be a revolutionary understanding of true machine intelligence.

"In its current form, artificial intelligence is a misnomer. No current form of computing is actually intelligent," said Paul. "In order for true machine intelligence to come into being, it must exhibit common sense and creativity, as these are required for general intelligence."

The human brain can simultaneously process several incoming stimuli of different quality. A recent article in Nature explains that this level of information analysis is known as parallel processing, something that researchers have been trying to emulate in computing for quite some time.

Paul's research focuses more specifically on another capability of the human brain: tackling a paradox.

So what is a paradox? When it comes to information processing in the brain, it can be described as the brain's way of accommodating conflict at the highest levels. According to Paul, when the human brain processes conflicting information, it uses parallelism to deal with uncertainty. Uncertainty and ambiguity provide the foundation for creativity in the way we think.

"Creativity is the result of seeing things multiple, different, even contradictory ways," said Paul. "Paradox is the quintessential example of a contradiction. So, we will research algorithm-architecture solutions to problems that produce competing results and understand how those can be accommodated and also continuously evolve and thus lay the foundation for creativity."

One of the challenges of this research will be coming up with fundamental problems to illustrate applicable concepts. For this research, Paul is focusing on how the brain uses compartmentalization, but also may access multiple compartments for the same set of inputs or the same situation. This ability may be the key to how the brain uses such high levels of parallelism while also accommodating ambiguity and conflict.

An example would be when two bilingual people have a conversation. If one person speaks a single sentence that contains both French and English words, the sentence might be processed in separate regions of the brain, one for each language. Each corresponding region must conclude whether the sentence is French or English. However, the sentence is actually bothand neither, said Paul.

The listener must decide what the speaker actually meansespecially if there is phonetic ambiguity in what is being said, said Paul. In doing so, they must resolve the conflict and the ambiguityall while keeping their language centers from becoming too large and inefficient.

By better understanding the way the human brain processes information, Paul hopes to apply those same principles to computer architecture, leading to an understanding of the structural mechanisms behind true machine intelligence.

Machine and artificial intelligence still rely heavily on algorithms to "make decisions," but following these rules does not produce a human-like result. As most of us have learned through trial-and-error, most problems have more than one solution.

Over the course of the three-year award cycle, Paul and graduate student Isaac Bettendorf will conduct experiments that feature problems with multiple algorithmic solutions that are similar to what a person might encounter on a daily basis. Those experiments will help form the basis of a high-level foundation for a new architecture capable of accommodating high degrees of parallelism and resolving conflict resolution.

Bettendorf is currently pursuing a Master of Science in computer engineering. He enjoys the challenge of this particular research and the new perspective it has given him as an embedded systems engineer for the U.S. Navy at Dahlgren.

"The research that I am performing with Dr. Paul is providing fundamentally new ways of looking at computing. It is an honor to work with her," said Bettendorf. "Developing technology for the Navy has provided me with a wide range of opportunities. I have developed and implemented solutions using both integrated circuit and microcontroller unit environments and have experienced many of the limitations addressed by this research [by Dr. Paul and me]. In many ways, this has motivated me to take a step back to try and see the bigger picture and address these limitations from a different point of view."

In addition to the research, Paul will create a magazine-style article to educate audiences without STEM backgrounds. The article will focus on the differences between computer architecture and human intelligence by describing the future use of personal avatars and how they could one day be making decisions for usespecially if those avatars are capable of coming up with creative solutions to problems.

"The fundamental questions are what is most exciting," said Paul. "I'm not as excited by applied research. For me, true research does not provide a tool or a solution so much as it provides the basis and stimulus to see things entirely differently."
A Bryan man was sentenced to 45 years in prison last Friday for charges stemming from him shooting at police during a standoff at a College Station apartment in February 2021.

Jonathan Bridges, 31, pleaded guilty to multiple charges and received 45-year sentences on two aggravated assault charges and a burglary charge, according to the Brazos County District Attorneys Office. All of his sentences will run simultaneously.

On Feb. 25, 2021, College Station police responded to a disturbance between Bridges and his girlfriend, who reported Bridges had a gun and was assaulting her, according to the Brazos County District Attorneys Office. The first officer who arrived saw Bridges leaving the scene with his girlfriend in the car. Officers tried to pull over Bridges and when he stopped the car, he fled on foot and ran through a parking lot before turning around and shooting at an officer.

Bridges then broke into an apartment and barricaded himself inside, according to the Brazos County District Attorneys Office. He told police he had residents as hostages, but it was later found the residents werent home at the time of the incident. Before that information was known by police, Bridges said he had explosives and threatened to use them to kill hostages. During the standoff, Bridges continued to shoot at police through apartment walls and windows.

Later, Bridges attempted to escape into another apartment that was occupied and threatened to kill the apartment occupants when he came through a wall, according to the Brazos County District Attorneys Office. Hostage negotiators tried to contact Bridges by delivering him a phone, but Bridges shot at law enforcement officials. After several hours, Bridges surrendered.

According to the Brazos County District Attorneys Office, Bridges was then arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault of a public servant, burglary of a habitation, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, tampering with evidence, evading arrest and possession of marijuana.
All but lost in the shadow of major contests for U.S. Senate and governor, voters in some battleground states will be deciding ballot proposals this November that could reshape the way they vote in the next presidential election.

In Arizona, scene of the closest presidential contest in 2020, the question is whether to require more identification to vote in the future. In Michigan, another swing state, voters will consider whether to make it easier to cast early ballots.

Voting-related proposals will be on the ballot in several other states, including a measure to adopt ranked-choice voting in Nevada that  if approved this year  would need a second vote in 2024 to take effect.

Most of the measures are garnering little attention but could have profound effects on voting in some of the most politically competitive states for years to come. They mark an escalation of what voting expert Jon Sherman describes as the voting wars  battles between Democrats, Republicans and activist groups over laws specifying how people register, obtain mail-in ballots, prove their identity and cast ballots.

The parties and their allies are fighting over every last voting rule and trying to make predictions about how they think it will help or hurt their chances of winning, particularly in closely competitive states, said Sherman, litigation director and senior counsel at the Fair Elections Center, a nonprofit that advocates for voting access.

Efforts to change voting laws ramped up after the 2000 presidential election, when a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Floridas exceptionally close race gave Republican George W. Bush the victory over Democrat Al Gore. It intensified after the 2016 presidential election when Hillary Clinton and others claimed Russia aided Donald Trumps victory and again after the 2020 election, as Trump refused to acknowledge his loss to Joe Biden while pressing claims of widespread fraud, and some Republican-led states responded by passing restrictive voting laws.

Arizona, which Biden won by about 10,500 votes, was one center of controversy. After a six-month review focused on Arizonas largest county, a Trump friendly firm hired by Republican state lawmakers ended up with vote results confirming Democrat Bidens victory.

Republicans who control the Legislature subsequently placed a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would strengthen voter identification laws. It would require people voting in person to show a photo ID, and eliminate a current alternative of providing two documents bearing a persons name and address, such as a recent utility bill and bank statement.

People voting with mailed ballots  the vast majority in Arizona  would have to list their date of birth and either their drivers license number, a state identification number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.

Republican state Sen. J.D. Mesnard, who sponsored the measure, said the intent is to make the election as secure as possible while addressing a growing crisis in confidence that could discourage some people from voting.

But rather than reassuring voters, tougher ID requirements could dissuade some from voting at all and actually lead to fraud by exposing personal information, said Darrell Hill, policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, which opposes the measure.

Youre opening people up to greater potential identity theft, Hill said.

Only a few states  Georgia, Minnesota, Ohio  have similar proof-of-identity measures for mailed ballots, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Arkansas requires voters to provide a copy of a photo ID when returning a mailed ballot.

In Michigan next month, a ballot initiative would pre-empt Republican attempts to tighten photo identification laws by amending the state Constitution to include the current alternative of signing an affidavit. It also would expand early voting options, require state-funded return postage and drop boxes for absentee ballots, and specify that the Board of State Canvassers has only a clerical, nondiscretionary duty to certify election results.

Trump allies had tried to persuade canvassers to delay certifying the 2020 results.

The goal of the new initiative is to enhance the integrity and security of the elections by sort of modernizing how theyre administered and making them more accessible, said Khalilah Spencer, president of Promote the Vote, which backs the measure.

On the other side, Michigan Republican Party spokesman Gustavo Portela said the initiative opens the door up for fraud through the combination of early voting and a constitutional exception to showing photo ID.

Just four states  Alabama, Connecticut, Mississippi and New Hampshire  lack an in-person early voting option for all voters. Connecticuts November ballot will feature a proposed constitutional amendment authorizing the Democratic-led General Assembly to create an early voting law. A similar ballot proposal failed in 2014.

Supporters in Connecticut hope this time is different  both because the new version is more clearly written and because the vote comes after the coronavirus pandemic heightened awareness about early voting.

The idea that everybody has free time on a Tuesday between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.  and thats their only opportunity to participate in our democracy  is a little dated, said Democratic state Sen. Mae Flexer, co-chair of the Connecticut legislative committee that sponsored the measure.

In Nebraska, Republicans havent been able to get a voter photo ID bill through the nonpartisan Legislature. But it will appear on the November ballot, thanks to an initiative petition drive bankrolled by Marlene Ricketts, the mother of term-limited Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Civic Nebraska, a voting rights group opposed to the measure, describes it as a solution in search of a problem.

Theres not an iota of evidence in Nebraska that says we would need this extra step to vote, said Civic Nebraska spokesman Steve Smith.

Gov. Ricketts acknowledged during a recent radio call-in show that there hasnt been much election fraud. But he said one of the things that came out of the 2020 election is that people had concern about the integrity of our voting systems.

There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Judges have turned away dozens of challenges by Trump and his allies, multiple state reviews have confirmed the results, and Trumps own Department of Justice concluded the election outcome was accurate.

Nevadas proposed constitutional amendment would advance the top five vote-getters in an open primary. It then would use ranked-choice voting to determine the winner of the general election. If no candidate received a majority on the first count, the votes for the bottom candidate would be reassigned to voters next preferences until one candidate has a majority.

A similar system already exists for some elections in Maine, where Republicans have opposed it. Ranked-choice voting also began this year in Alaska. Former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin derided it as crazy, convoluted, confusing after losing a special election for the U.S. House in August.

Nevadas ranked-choice initiative has been opposed by majority Democrats, including Gov. Steve Sisolak, who said it would make our system confusing, error-prone, and exclusionary.
UVALDE  The Uvalde school board approved the terms of Superintendent Hal Harrells retirement Wednesday, but did not disclose any details of his exit as leader of a school district still reeling from the worst school shooting in Texas history.

When voting on the retirement terms, trustees referred to discussions that happened behind closed doors during an executive session that lasted hours. Trustees then quickly announced that Gary Patterson would be the interim superintendent. But trustees did not say when Harrells departure would take effect or when Patterson would begin as his interim replacement.

The votes capped a meeting that became heated when residents and families of Robb Elementary shooting victims were not allowed to make public comments about school safety and other matters. On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at the elementary school.

For months, some family members of shooting victims called for Harrells resignation, arguing that he, and many other school officials, should be held responsible for failing to prepare for a school shooting. A Texas House committee investigation into the shooting provided a damning portrayal of a school district that had strayed from strict adherence to its safety plan and a police response that disregarded its own active shooter training.

The board on Wednesday also approved plans for the search for a long-term superintendent, but again only referred to terms disclosed behind closed doors without publicly disclosing them. Officials said details about the search process will be posted on the districts website in about a week.

At the start of the meeting, some parents and relatives of the victims and survivors of the May 24 shooting wanted to make comments about safety plans, and what role school board member J.J. Suarez would play in the search for a new superintendent. Suarez is a former Uvalde police officer who worked at Southwest Texas Junior College as division chair of allied health and human services when he responded to the shooting at Robb Elementary.

Residents were interrupted by the boards lawyer and board members saying some of the parents had not previously signed up to make public comments or their comments were not relevant to the agenda items.

Attendees shouted at the lawyer to let people speak. The board abruptly ended the public comment period and went behind closed doors to discuss the details about Harrells retirement. After three hours, the board came out to announce Patterson as the interim superintendent. Reporters were cordoned off from audience members and trustees throughout the meeting.

Harrell announced his decision to retire just under two weeks ago. His pending departure is the latest in a series of school officials who have left, often unwillingly, since the shooting.

After the gunman entered the school May 24, hundreds of law enforcement officers from several local, state and federal agencies descended on the campus. Despite the urgent pleas from officers and parents amassed outside, officers inside the school stayed put outside the classrooms where the gunman massacred his 21 victims. Officers waited more than an hour before confronting the gunman, contradicting law enforcement doctrine dictating that officers immediately confront active shooters.

Just prior to Harrell announcing his retirement earlier this month, school officials suspended the entire district police department after protesters held a dayslong protest outside the Uvalde CISD administrative building during which demonstrators called for the removal of all district officers until investigations into the police departments response to the shooting are complete.

That suspension of the small police force came on the heels of school officials firing a recently hired district police officer after it became public that she was one of the first state troopers to arrive at Robb Elementary on May 24.

In August, the school district fired the head of the police department, Pete Arredondo, who was widely criticized for his response to the shooting. Last month, the Texas Department of Public Safety said it was investigating five of its 91 officers who responded to the shooting.
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ROCKY MOUNT  Telecommunications company Brightspeed has purchased assets in Franklin County that formerly belonged to Lumen and CenturyLink, but will have to contend with former CenturyLink customers who have been less than pleased with service.

In August, Franklin County resident Denise Bryant emailed The Roanoke Times about the poor CenturyLink service.

My mother and others are having issues with their service and getting resolution, Bryant wrote. I have filed complaints  and spoken to Senator [Bill] Stanleys office for assistance. My mother who is 86 years old and sick has not had a phone since 8/6/2022. I have spent a countless [hours] trying to resolve the issue with CenturyLink. I have been given promises of resolution but it hasnt been fulfilled. When I try to speak to someone, I get transferred multiple times. I am not able to speak to someone in the United States.

It took about week to resolve the issues, Bryant told The Roanoke Times on Tuesday.

They did not put a work order in until Aug. 10 and they finally fixed it on Aug. 12. ... Franklin County deserves better telephone service, Bryant said.

At the Franklin County Broadband Authoritys Sept. 20 meeting the county supervisors serves as the authority Assistant County Administrator Steve Sandy brought up service disruptions for CenturyLink customers in the Calloway area. At the time, he said the issues experienced by individual customers had largely been resolved.

Ill be the first to admit it took way too long for them to get their service restored. ... I think every district probably has some people whove had issues with CenturyLink, Sandy said.

At the supervisors meeting Tuesday, Richard Schollmann with Brightspeed said the company serves about 6,000 broadband customers on DSL lines and about 1,000 voice customers in Franklin County

In September, Sandy said he believed the service issues come down to a lack of infrastructure investment on CenturyLinks behalf.

The push was for some mechanism to have them invest more money into their infrastructure through this purchase agreement. Thats a process thats going on and there is some ... The State Corporation Commission has mandated some things that will happen when the ownership changes and Brightspeed will have to do some things, Sandy said.

Schollmann referenced some of those requirements Tuesday.

We are required ... to submit a report with measurable and verifiable commitments regarding the plans for the maintenance, repair and replacement of the copper network ... due in January, Schollmann said.

Schollmann explained that rural areas of Virginia rely more heavily on the copper network for access to 911 services, especially in places without reliable cellphone service.

Schollmann started working for Brightspeed less than two weeks ago, but his time in the telecommunications industry goes back about 20 years.

I had 15 years working with initially Sprint, which became Embarq, which became CenturyLink, which became Lumen, which is now becoming Brightspeed, Schollmann said.

Schollmann retired about two years ago but recently returned to work because of Brightspeeds commitment to improving customer service. He noted that the company has already made investments in customer service and has a new repair center phone number for customers: 833-692-7773.

The company has a different philosophy about providing service and providing good customer service. To be very honest with you, I spent 15 years with the company and I had no desire to come back and bang my head against a wall. ... Talk is cheap but its going to be the actions that youll be looking at. And thats what Im here to tell you ... Im not going to be absent, Schollmann said.
Acknowledging that you have a problem is the first step to addressing the problem in a serious way. This seems to be the reasoning for the White House recently announcing its "Strengthening America's Cybersecurity" initiative.

The text of the announcement contains several statements that anyone who's ever read about cybersecurity will have heard many times over: increasing resilience, greater awareness, countering ransomware attacks  the list goes on.

There are some novel aspects to the text as well, including a realization that cybersecurity is not, has never been, and will never be something that can be solved at the nation-state level.

The White House also pointed to IoT warning labels as a solution  and reminded us all (and we do need reminding) about the importance of cybersecurity education. Let's take a look.

International cooperation is critical

A key point that the White House statement makes very clear is that cyberattacks are asymmetric in the sense that threat actors can operate across borders with impunity. Meanwhile, defenders will often be restrained by legal requirements that do not allow for proportional responses.

Attackers feel a sense of protection because they enjoy lighter regulatory and enforcement measures at home, while they can target systems operating virtually anywhere on the planet  no matter how strongly the law is enforced in the target's country of residence.

As long as the issue is not addressed at an international level, any solutions that are found will be no better than band-aids. The White House initiative correctly states, in multiple instances, that international partners and organizations like NATO will play a decisive role in the cybersecurity space.

This is not an ideal solution. Yes, international partners working together expands the defense landscape to a size that more closely resembles the size of the problem. However, this is still a patchwork solution with limited effectiveness.

What we need is something more like a global treaty that actually enforces cybersecurity law. Just think about the impact of international maritime law, for example.

Nonetheless, sharing information about threat actors, methodologies, and novel techniques is undoubtedly in everyone's best interest and, if set in motion adequately, will enable faster responses to new threats.

Cybersecurity education continues to matter

Another interesting aspect of the Strengthening America's Cybersecurity initiative is the focus on boosting cybersecurity education. As we are constantly and painfully made aware, cybersecurity is first and foremost a people problem rather than a technology problem.

Increasing cybersecurity literacy and teaching people the basics of how to behave securely online at all stages of private and business life will have compounding effects both in reducing risk and in lowering the impact of any incidents that will inevitably still occur.

Take the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) supported by the NIST, for example. With a formal framework, regular events, and newsletter updates, it makes a strong effort. No solution is foolproof, of course, but the cumulative effects of every initiative will make a difference.

What about risk labels for IoT devices?

There's a hot debate around a new risk label scheme for IoT devices. Consumer cybersecurity labels are intended to act as a route to disclosure, similar to the way that food labels list ingredients and nutritional scores.

However, the jury is still out on how effective a consumer cybersecurity label will be. New vulnerabilities emerge all the time, so how accurate a label printed half a year ago will be when a device is sitting on a shelf at Best Buy is debatable.

Also, without adequate international support, the labeling initiative will probably lead to fragmentation, just like GDPR did  as some websites now choose to simply block off all visitors from GDPR-covered regions rather than try to comply with GDPR requirements.

There's also a concern that a label could simply be an "a la carte" menu for attackers. If a label clearly specifies all the cybersecurity measures a device has in place, it just makes it easier for an attacker because they can save time by skipping attack strategies that obviously won't work.

It's a step-by-step process

A consumer cybersecurity label is a step in the right direction in a landscape where it's often tough to make any progress. If implemented correctly, consumer cybersecurity labels could lead to an overall improvement of security conditions across the Internet and its assorted networks. The same goes for the growing number of cybersecurity education initiatives.

But, as they say, the devil is in the details, and those are still to be announced. The takeaway is that the US government is making at least some effort to help the country's citizens and businesses get a grip on the cybersecurity crisis.

Will it be enough? Probably not, but some movement is better than no movement at all.

This article is written and sponsored by TuxCare, the industry leader in enterprise-grade Linux automation. TuxCare offers unrivaled levels of efficiency for developers, IT security managers, and Linux server administrators seeking to affordably enhance and simplify their cybersecurity operations. TuxCare's Linux kernel live security patching and standard and enhanced support services assist in securing and supporting over one million production workloads. To stay connected with TuxCare, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
RAVENNA  A fundraiser will be held Saturday for a Ravenna man injured in a car accident last month.

Joey Psota, 20, was seriously injured Sept. 24 during a two-vehicle crash north of Shelton in rural Buffalo County. He is undergoing treatment at the University of Iowa Hospital at Iowa City, Iowa.

The fundraiser will be from 5-8 p.m. Saturday at the Ravenna City Auditorium, 301 Alba Ave. in Ravenna. The event will include a pork sandwich meal and a silent auction with new and vintage items.

Funds raised will help with travel and medical expenses for Psotas family. The event is sponsored by the Ravenna Volunteer Fire Department.

A fund has also been set up for Psota at Town & Country Banks.
FAIRMONT  Volunteers continue to serve and protect the Fairmont community with a strong roster and ongoing equipment upgrades.

Aaron Veleba said the Fairmont Volunteer Fire Department recently purchased several new self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) packs. He explained, these allow firefighters to enter an area where the air is not clean air, but firefighters can breathe clean air from the air bottle through a mask.

Veleba said they also purchased a monitor for their grass firefighting truck. This will allow us to fight grass fires from a safer distance.

Meanwhile, they continue to enjoy the ownership of a 2002 Stewart Stevenson M1083A1  which is a 6x6 all-terrain truck. This was obtained through the Nebraska Forestry Service, which allows small rural departments to purchase much needed vehicles for a greatly reduced price. The truck was then identified as part of the Fairmont squad with special, individualized graphics  including the clear name of the department and an American flag.

The department continues to help the community in other ways as well. They have their annual prime rib fundraiser, with hundreds upon hundreds of people attending each year. They also participate in the annual community event in June  the Old Settlers Picnic  during which volunteers drive trucks in the parade, as well as give community members rides on different forms of apparatus. They also facilitate the annual water fights.
Expert Viewpoint

Why Object Storage for Backups Can Keep Schools' Data Safer When Ransomware Comes Calling

As schools across the country welcomed students back into their classrooms this semester, ransomware groups showed up, as well. In late August, hackers breached the Mansfield, Texas school district with ransomware, disrupting website, phone, and internet access.

A week later, ransomware group Vice Society infiltrated the Los Angeles Unified School District  the second-largest school district in the United States  temporarily taking down their IT services and access to networks and instructional apps, among other things. Though both school districts have recovered, in the weeks since, the rapid rate of successful cyberattacks targeting schools during back-to-school season is concerning and likely a sign of more attacks to come.

Why all this threat-actor attention on education systems? Schools are often seen as lucrative targets due to the personal and sensitive student information that school IT systems store. The plan for ransomware groups is simple: penetrate a schools cybersecurity defenses, take hold of lucrative data, and hold it for ransom.

Considering that school systems across the country significantly vary in IT budgets and subsequent cybersecurity budgets, its reasonable to conclude that for schools, suffering a cyberattack is not a question of if, but when. Attack rates are only increasing, and ransomware groups are multiplying.

In the face of a growing attack front, how can schools truly protect their sensitive student data and avoid paying costly ransom in hopes of data being recovered?

Quality over Quantity

The best-case scenario when defending against ransomware is stopping the attack from hitting the production environment before it happens, but thats not always possible. While measures are evolving to ensure core security components such as monitoring network traffic, deploying strict permission guidelines, and rolling out multi-factor authentication to confirm identities are implemented, its clear that they dont always stack up against attackers increasingly sophisticated methodologies. Weve seen time and again that as cybersecurity tactics advance, so do the tactics of bad actors. Unfortunately, no amount of security is foolproof.

Instead of adding extra fences that hackers could potentially get around, schools are better off ensuring data is recoverable no matter the circumstance. This helps to stop forcing ransom payments and alleviates the long list of security tools a schools already-strapped IT and security team has to worry about.

Simply put, it is easier to defend the known than the unknown  and the known, in this case, is sensitive student data. This is why schools need to invest in the right tools (not more tools) that can guarantee that downtime and data loss are not the end result when an attack hits.

Safeguarding Data with Backup and Recovery

Data protection provider Veeam recently published a study analyzing ransomware attacks and their varying success rates. The study found that 76% of all cyberattack victims hit by ransomware ended up paying the ransom in an attempt to recover their data. However, it also revealed that 24% of victims paid to recover their data and never recovered it.

These results highlight a clear gap in data protection: Backup and recovery are often afterthoughts, and those who have paid ransoms to retrieve stolen or lost data will tell you its a slow and lengthy process, often resulting in partial or failed recoveries.

Schools cannot risk a 1-in-3 chance of losing all of their staff or students personal information when struck by a ransomware attack. Data backup and recovery must be present in their security portfolio to combat this ever-changing threat. By adequately implementing data backup, schools ensure their IT teams have a clean copy of data to recover, when (not if) ransomware gets through.

The Benefits of Object Storage-Based Data Backup

As ransomware attacks continue to rise, targeting both primary data and backups is not out of the question. In our cloud-dominated environment of today, object storage positions itself as a must-have for schools because it provides numerous inherent advantages for protecting data and data backups.

First and foremost, object storage is ransomware-proof, with versioning and object-lock enabled. In instances of object storage solutions with out-of-the-box immutability, data backups cannot be altered or impacted by ransomware. If ransomware cannot infiltrate your data backups, your data cannot be held for ransom.

In addition, some object storage providers offer scalability, a key factor for any organization dealing with large amounts of personal information. Investing in an object storage solution with scalability allows schools to maintain data safety regardless of current data volumes or future data intake.

Furthermore, object storage offers consistent availability in some instances, meaning that data backed up to local object storage repositories can be recovered quickly to ensure continuity in day-to-day school operations.

Add in its general affordability in relation to file or block storage solutions  an integral factor for budget-strapped schools  and object storage becomes the ideal solution for defense against ransomware.

Back-to-school season is not the lone peak ransomware season for schools. Groups like Vice Society will continue their attacks all year long, and schools must be prepared around the clock.

Data is more valuable than ever, and schools (like every other industry) are collecting more data than ever. The cost to recover from a ransomware attack  whether that means paying a ransom or dealing with the aftermath of IT outages and successful data theft  is overwhelming. Not to mention its sure to place a financial burden on affected schools.

However, by investing in cost-efficient solutions like object storage, classes can stay in session, and students' personal information can remain where it belongs: safe, secure, and out of the hands of hackers.
HARRISBURG  Gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey and his running mate, Stephanie Trussell, brought their get the vote out bus tour to Saline County on Thursday afternoon.

Speakers at the rally included State Sen. Dale Fowler, State Rep. Patrick Windhorst and State Rep. Adam Niemerg, along with Bailey and Trussell.

Windhorst explained that it is important to get out and vote.

Every vote we get here is one less vote we will have to get elsewhere in the state, Windhorst said.

Are you ready for a new governor? Niemerg asked the crowd. Niemerg is the representative in the 109th District of the Illinois House.

Trussell told the crowd they were having so much fun on their bus tour to get out the vote. They made stops in Anna and Marion on Thursday before stopping at Morellos in Harrisburg.

Trussell grew up in Chicago and raised five kids. Her youngest child is 17. She said running for office has given her the chance to tour the entire state, and she has loved it.

She has learned about Saline County from two members of Baileys campaign staff: Joe Debose and Jose Durbin.

Hard working people want to take the state back, Trussell said.

She introduced her running mate, Darren Bailey, as the next governor of Illinois.

Pritzker is not running against Darren Bailey  hes running against four years of failed policies, Trussell said, mentioning gas taxes and people moving out of the state.

She said farmers are often the third or fourth generation of their family to work the land. They cannot roll up their farms and move to another state. She asked everyone to make J.B. Pritzker non-essential in November.

Bailey talked about the second debate, and said the governor took eight days to prepare and did not do well.

On Thursday morning, he met with nine states attorneys to talk about what will happen Jan. 1. Bailey is living in Chicago and being guarded by off-duty Chicago police officers. They tell him when they arrest someone, that person often is released before their paperwork is done because of no-bail in Chicago.

Bailey said that will happen in the rest of the state Jan. 1.

Bailey also talked about the importance of getting the vote out for the general election, giving some statistics. Thirty percent of eligible voters are not registered to vote. In the Illinois primary, only 18% of registered voters cast a ballot. In general, about 40% of eligible voters cast their votes in a general election.

We have the opportunity to save not Chicago, not Illinois, but our nation, Bailey said.

He asked everyone to get people registered to vote and talk to others about who will get their votes.

Be a part of the solution because we are working alongside of you, Bailey said.

Bailey said that his 9-year-old granddaughter told him about her friend during a recent trip home. Her friend had to quit going to American Heritage Girls because the family could not afford the gas to take her to meetings.

We can restore hope and integrity to Illinois, Bailey said.

The Illinois General Election is Nov. 8. Early voting is available in county clerk's offices and at select locations.
METROPOLIS  Fort Massac, located high on the bluff overlooking the Ohio River in what is now Metropolis, was decommissioned by the fledgling United States government in 1814.

Yet, last weekend (Oct. 15-16) soldiers from the United States colonial army, as well as troops from England, France and Germany gathered at the historic site for the annual Fort Massac Encampment, hosted by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Fort Massac State Park. All camped at the park in traditional tents throughout the weekend.

Fort Massac is the oldest state park in Illinois.

The sounds of traditional music filled the air. Fife and drum corps from the various military re-enactment groups performed, posted their colors and fired their salutes. And, for a few brief moments Saturday and Sunday, the sights, sounds and smells of rifle and canon fire filled the air as a colonial era battle scene was re-enacted.

There was also a group portraying the men of the Voyage of Discovery, the Lewis and Clark expedition. The re-enactors take a deep dive into history and portray the men who traveled with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

The Lewis and Clark expedition camped near Fort Massac as they made their way down the Ohio River to the Mississippi. The group had several booths to explain the weaponry, medicine and even the methods of propulsion on the river.

This was the 48th year of the encampment.

In addition, to the re-enactors, Fort Massac fills up with vendors, selling colonial era goods from their tents, as well as food vendors, many of whom cook their stews and soups in plain view in cast iron pots.

Chris McGinnis, site superintendent at Fort Massac State Park, indicated early this week that attendance appeared to be down somewhat this year, although the event attracted large crowds both Saturday and Sunday.
FARMERSVILLE, Texas  On the first Saturday of fall, a sweating Bart Barber trekked across a weedy pasture in search of Bully Graham, the would-be patriarch of the rural Baptist pastor's fledgling cattle herd.

With the afternoon temperature in the mid-90s, the 52-year-old Texan found the bull  whose nickname reflects his owner's deep affection for the late Rev. Billy Graham  and 11 heifers cooling under a canopy of trees.

"Hey, baby girl," Barber said as he patted one of the cows, a favorite he dubbed Lottie Moon after the namesake of his denomination's international missions offering.

For nearly a quarter-century, Barber enjoyed relative obscurity as a minister in this town of 3,600, about 50 miles northeast of Dallas. That changed in June as delegates to the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Anaheim, California, chose Barber to lead the nation's largest Protestant denomination at a time of major crisis.

The previous month a scathing, 288-page investigative report hit the denomination's 13.7 million members. It laid out the findings of an independent probe detailing how Southern Baptist leaders stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over two decades while seeking to protect their own reputations.

In August, SBC leaders revealed that the Department of Justice was investigating several of its major entities, giving few details but indicating that the inquiry concerned the sex abuse allegations.

Barber's background as a trusted, small-town preacher  not to mention his folksy sense of humor and self-deprecating style  helps explain why fellow Baptists picked him.

"In this moment where I think there's a lot of widespread distrust of these big institutions, I think a lot of people find it refreshing that the one leading us is an everyday pastor," said Daniel Darling, director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

A staunch theological conservative, Barber touts biblical inerrancy, opposes women serving as pastors and supports abortion bans. In running for SBC president, he expressed a desire to be a peacemaker and a unifier. Emerging from a field of four candidates, he received 61% of votes in a run-off against Tom Ascol, a Florida pastor who vowed to take the denomination further right.

The SBC faces multiple challenges. Rank-and-file Baptists have demonstrated a strong commitment to implementing sex abuse reforms, but the final outcome remains unclear. The denomination also has a problem with falling membership, which has slid 16% from its 2006 peak. Annual baptisms last year were 154,701, down 63% from their 1999 high, according to SBC affiliate Lifeway Christian Resources.

Nathan Finn, a church historian and provost of North Greenville University in South Carolina, agreed that Barber's small-town appeal is a big part of why Baptists turned to him to lead the SBC through such troubled times.

"To many Southern Baptists, Bart is an appealing president precisely because he does not pastor a suburban megachurch or lead a seminary," Finn said via email. "He pastors a 'normal' Southern Baptist church and sounds like the pastor down the road. I think many find him to be a breath of fresh air as well as a thoughtful voice to represent Southern Baptists to the outside world.

"Though he is a well-educated church historian and an expert on SBC history and polity, Bart is not an elitist," Finn added. "He gives the impression that he would rather be working on his farm than hobnobbing with denominational leaders."

For his part, Barber said he ran for president because he prayed and concluded God was calling him to do it, not because of the sex abuse crisis.

Still, after recently appointing an abuse task force that will make recommendations at next year's annual meeting in New Orleans, he said Southern Baptists are determined that there must be reforms and identifying solutions to the problem is his top priority.

"Look who all has been touched by this," Barber said of sex abuse. "It's in public schools. It's in Scouting. It's in the military. It's in Hollywood. It's in sports. It's in USA Gymnastics.

"And so if Southern Baptists, who also have problems in this area, can lead the way to real solutions  that would be a great shining victory for the SBC," he added. "And what Hollywood and USA Gymnastics and the government and the military  don't have is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and the promise of God himself that he has built his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."

Barber grew up in a Southern Baptist family in Lake City, Arkansas. Baptized just before his sixth birthday, he felt God calling him to ministry at age 11 and preached his first sermon at 15.

His late father, Jim, ran the home office for an Arkansas congressman, a Democrat named Bill Alexander. His stay-at-home mother, Carolyn, now 77, taught him to read by the time he entered kindergarten and made sure he paid attention in church.

Often his dad would bring politicians by the house, he recalled, and his mom would make chicken pot pie or smothered steak with mashed potatoes and gravy.

"It's kind of weird," Barber said. "Here we were in very small-town Arkansas  not a lot of money, not a lot of fame or anything like that  and a gubernatorial candidate would stop by the house.

"Dad always had an interest in politics and current events," he continued. "And from when I was young, I enjoyed sitting there listening to the adults talking about all this stuff."

Barber attended Baptist-affiliated Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he met his future wife, Tracy, in a campus ministry. They have two children: Jim, 19, and Sarah, 16.

He also earned a master's in divinity and a doctorate in church history from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He pastored in Mill Creek, Oklahoma, and Royse City, Texas, before moving to Farmersville in 1999.

"He has the heart of a pastor. He is someone who really cares about folks," Tracy Barber said of her husband of 30 years. "The people in our church are our family, and Farmersville is a small town, so it lends itself to that."

Steve Speir, 74, is a 42-year member of First Baptist Church of Farmersville, which averages Sunday attendance of about 320. His wife, Linda, plays the church organ.

Barber is "very organized," Speir said. "He won't keep anything hidden. Our entire church has full disclosure on all financial matters. They give an accounting for every check that gets written."

Another longtime member, Donna Armstrong, 75, voiced similar confidence in Barber: "We never doubt whether he's biblically based or loves the Lord. He also just knows how to be human and relate with people."

On a recent Sunday, Barber got up at 4:30 a.m., attended a deacons meeting at 7 and preached at his congregation's 8:30 and 11 worship assemblies. After a two-hour afternoon nap, he drove to Dallas and flew to Nashville, Tennessee, for meetings at the Southern Baptist Convention headquarters.

After three nights there, he caught a ride to Louisville, Kentucky, where he stayed overnight Wednesday and spoke Thursday at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the oldest of the SBC's six seminaries. A canceled flight kept him in Louisville an extra night before he returned home Friday.

"It is stressful. It is time-consuming. I do enjoy it," Barber said of his new job.

Back home, he rose before the sun that Saturday to help his daughter load a 1,000-pound heifer named Iris into a cattle trailer. They drove a half-hour to a dirt-floor events center in McKinney, a Dallas suburb, for a livestock show organized by local chapters of the 4-H Club and the National FFA Organization.

Barber greeted children who came to see the animals, used clippers to help Sarah shave Iris and periodically shoveled manure into a garbage can.

He also enjoyed a friendly chat with rancher Joni Brewer about the miniature Hereford cows her family brought to the show. Brewer attends a Southern Baptist church, but she had no clue that the man she was talking to was the new leader of the SBC.

"I live out in the country," she said, "so you don't always see all of those things."

But James Callagher, who knows Barber through 4-H Club activities, described his friend as perfect for the job.

"The thing that sticks out to me is just authenticity," said Callagher, who is Catholic. "He lives his faith, and as Christians we have a lot of common ground."

In addition to such in-person contacts, Barber maintains an active presence on Twitter, where he has 20,000 followers and interacts with supporters and critics alike. Just in the last week, he posted pictures and videos of his cows, debated biblical qualifications for church leaders and shared SBC plans for Hurricane Ian relief.

Barber and his family live in a church-owned parsonage, but last year they bought 107 acres of land where they're raising their Santa Gertrudis beef cattle and where they intend to build a home when it becomes more affordable.

"If something happened to me, my wife would not only lose her husband but she'd lose her house, because that house goes with my job," he said of the parsonage. "So we started making a more permanent plan at this stage of our lives."

For now, they keep a recreational vehicle with a generator on the property, providing a convenient place for a cold drink or a hot shower.

In a recent sermon, Barber joked that a boyhood job chopping cotton and hoeing soybeans was what inspired him to go into ministry. Asked on the drive back from the livestock show if he's now enjoying life as a farm owner, Barber smiled and nodded.

"Not only that, but I'm surviving everything else because of how I'm enjoying it," he said. "It's a great source of tranquility for me.

"To watch a herd of cattle around sunset slowly graze their way across the pasture, it's very difficult to be stressed watching that," Barber continued. "I mean, I can spend 15 minutes on the tractor disking up an area  and everything that you need to rest from goes away."
Claflin University is poised to elevate and transform its globalization agenda with the arrival of Dr. Annette Singleton Jackson, who was appointed director of Global Programs in August.

Jackson has more than two decades of higher education experience, including developing and teaching study-abroad courses. She has extensive experience in international travel and global learning. In 2016-17 Jackson was selected as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar to the kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), a small developing country in Southern Africa.

"My focus is infusing globalization throughout the university," said Jackson, who earned her bachelor's degree at Florida A&M University and a doctorate at Florida State University.

"Study abroad will be one of several important initiatives within our overall vision for globalization throughout the university. We will also increase international awareness and involvement among students, faculty and staff to achieve the universitys goals and objectives. Faculty support will be critical because they develop the academic curriculums."

Jackson's goal is to establish partnerships that will provide scholarships to expand study-abroad opportunities for Claflin students, faculty and staff. She believes that all members of the campus community who meet the program's criteria should be able to participate.

"We want to connect students with study-abroad scholarships and paid opportunities so all students can participate regardless of their incomes. Any student can apply, including continuing education students," Jackson said.

After an almost three-year hiatus due to COVID-19, Claflin resumed study-abroad travel during the summer of 2022.

Dr. Catherine L. Adams, associate professor of African American Studies, explored the U.S. Virgin Islands with two students.

Dr. Jason Youngkeit, associate professor of Spanish, traveled to Puerto Rico with 10 students as part of a Spanish Immersion Program. Students were encouraged to speak Spanish everywhere they went -- at their hotels, to taxi drivers, to wait staff at restaurants, and wherever they traveled each day.

Otiana Thompson, a senior from Columbia with a double major in history and Africana Studies, and Lauren Tolbert, a senior from Chattanooga, Tenn., also majoring in Africana Studies, accompanied Adams to the Virgin Islands. Thompson is Claflin's current Student Government Association president. She succeeded Tolbert, who was SGA president in 2021-22.

"The main value was recognizing that the world is bigger than what you're used to, that it is vast and that can be purposeful," said Thompson of her weeklong stay in the Virgin Islands of the United States.

The months that travel was restricted because of the global pandemic weighed heavily on Claflin faculty, and perhaps even more so, on students.

Students were always saying, We want to travel. When are you going to organize a trip? said Youngkeit. They were hungry for it. It was great to finally get back out there. Study Abroad really is an integral part of foreign language.

Although Youngkeit is an associate professor of Spanish, most of the students who went to the Spanish-speaking island were from other disciplines at Claflin.

Maurice Moore, a senior mass communication major, is a progeny of a military family. Although he has lived in California, Mississippi, North Carolina and, most recently, Texas, Moore had never traveled outside the contiguous United States until he accepted Youngkeit's invitation to travel to Puerto Rico.

Motivated and encouraged by his parents, Moore signed on. He didn't know any of the other nine students on the trip, but they were also integral to his successful travels.

"They pushed me to do something every day," Moore said. "I might not have been interested in going, but just staying in my hotel room. But they said 'nah, nah, come on, we're going,' and I did. "The whole trip expanded my horizon and helped me get a good picture of what other places could also look like now that I've seen Puerto Rico. I really loved it."

The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are both United States territories. While in those two territories located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, students were able kayak at night on the narrow straits of Laguna Grande, one of Puerto Ricos three bioluminescent bays illuminated by the twinkling glow of thousands of microscopic one-celled dinoflagellates.

Only five bioluminescent bays exist in the world. They also explored 16th-century Spanish colonial forts in Puerto Rico; rode horseback in the hills and dales of St. Croix; sampled local cuisine; and toured the ruins of 1700s sugar factories in the Virgin Islands.

Students returned home and are now back at Claflin with memories predicted to last the rest of their lives and experiences that will, for some, shape the trajectory of their careers.

Adams said that she, Thompson, Tolbert and possibly other Claflin "ambassadors" will likely be asked to return to the U.S. Virgin Islands during the 2022-23 year to present at an upcoming Caribbean conference.

Tolbert hopes to continue traveling abroad, and she looks forward to returning to the Caribbean. She has a 20-year plan to ultimately spend 10 years teaching African American/Africana studies, earn a law degree, and then run for Congress to help focus the U.S. government on providing more educational equity "across the board."

"The trip helped me to see that my purpose is bigger than what my culture looks like, that I am a part of the diaspora that binds us; that we're technically all in this together," Thompson said. "There are just so many people I want to know, to connect with; so many roots that I haven't connected with."
(TBTCO) - Nam 2022, thanh pho Ha Noi du kien hoan thanh 22/22 chi tieu ke hoach e ra, trong o co 5 chi tieu vuot ke hoach. Kinh te phuc hoi tang truong khoang 8,8%, cao nhat trong nhieu nam tro lai ay va vuot ke hoach e ra.
This voter guide provides information on the 2022 general election, proposed constitutional amendments, judges standing for retention, local tax renewals, and candidates for office. Election laws are specific and detailed. Where you live determines whats on your ballot. Planning makes voting easier. If you have questions, go to the Secretary of States web page or call your county clerk.

Changes this year

This is the first general election after the 2020 census and redistricting. Your polling place and your precinct may have changed. Your county clerk mailed you a notice in the early summer if that happened. You can also go to the Secretary of States web page where you can find your polling place and see a sample ballot (https://sos.wyo.gov/Elections/PollPlace). A new law requires voters to show a valid I.D. to vote. Find the list of acceptable IDs: https://sos.wyo.gov/Elections/State/RegisteringToVote.aspx .

Unchanged this year

Some election laws have not changed: You are still registered if you voted in the 2020 General Election. If you moved, changed your name, wish to change your party affiliation or didnt vote in 2020, you will need to reregister. If your address is incomplete, reregister. You will have to fill out a form, show your ID, and have the registration notarized. Plan on that taking some time on Election Day or reregister before Election Dayyou could vote early at the same time.

Military and overseas citizens

Here is information specifically for members of the military and citizen overseas: https://sos.wyo.gov/Elections/MOVE_Overview.aspx You know how fast the mail is between your home county and your deployment.

Plan how to vote

Your county website has sample ballots by precinct on them. Access varies by county. You may key in your address or put in your precinct. You can look at the races, measures, and judges up for retention, if any, and have time to think about who and how you wish to vote. That speeds up your voting on the day.

Planning when youll vote makes voting less stressful. You have several options:

People can register by mail by downloading the form, providing a copy of the required identification, and having the application notarized.

You can vote absentee by downloading and filling out the ballot request form from the Secretary of States website or calling your clerks office.

People can register and vote in person at the same time both before and on General Election Day.

Plan when to vote

You can vote early at your election office or wait until Nov. 8 and vote when the polls are open: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Some counties will have vote centers; others have polling places. Again use the Secretary of States webpage, call your clerk, or refer to Vote411, LWVs web site.

Ask your boss about having time to vote. Depending on the time of day, there may be a line  7 a.m., 12 noon, 1 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m. can be crowded times. Can you leave work in the middle of the morning or afternoon? Come in late or leave early? If youre in line at 7 p.m., you can vote.

If you have mobility, dexterity, or sight problems, there are special voting machines for you. Handicapped parking is available outside polling places and the courthouse if you vote early. Curbside voting is also possible. Call your clerks office and plan what you want to do. A friend or family member may accompany you if you want assistance. Two judges of alternate parties can help you. Your employer or union representative cannot.

Write-ins

You can write in a persons name on a blank underneath the office. Print legibly and spell the name correctly. Be sure to fill in the oval next to that name. You can see a write-ins report after the election.

Election workers, poll watchers

Members of the community volunteer to serve as election judges. They are appointed and trained election officials. Their pay is minimal, their day is long. Both political parties may identify poll watchers who observe during the day and report back. They are not election officials and have no authority.

Last reminders

Remember your ID. Black pens will be provided if necessary. Fill in the oval completely by your candidates names. This guide helps you decide who youll vote for. Use a sample ballot or make notes as you read and take the notes with you to vote. Plan on voting taking longer than you hope. Enjoy seeing your neighbors.

The surveys

The Wyoming League of Women Voter s surveyed 137 candidate for six state-wide offices and 78 legislative offices. The Casper League surveyed 77 candidates for 20 offices. Their responses follow. LWV does not confirm the accuracy of candidates answers. The League uses Vote411 software to survey candidates, track responses, and provide information to voters. Go to Vote411.org and type in your address. You dont need to select your party for the general. You will get a list of the offices and candidates in your precinct, local and state-wide measures, and judges up for retention. You can compare two candidates side by side.

League members volunteered to write the questions, wanting to cover a variety of issues, giving the same opportunities to all candidates at no cost to them, and showing no favoritism. All candidates for an office received the same questions; all candidates were asked about their qualifications for office. There was a limit of 750 spaces for each question. Each office begins with brief information about term of office, salary, and qualifications if any.

The first surveys were emailed based on information from the Secretary of States or Natrona County Clerks list of filed candidates. They received background information, a list of questions, and a unique link, so they could input additional contact information, answer the questions online, and post a photograph. Candidates could also reply to an email if they wanted to avoid the online option. Candidates who did not supply an email address were not surveyed. The deadline for response for the printed guide was 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20. Late responses will be available on Vote411.org, but not in the paper.

Candidates give up their privacy and free time. They are inundated with demands, invitations, and surveys. They have to attend meetings, speak in public, travel. Campaigning can be expensive and exhausting. Winning is not guaranteed. Compensation may not equal the time, energy, and hope invested. Yet these people seek your vote and want to serve. This is democracy in action. Thank you to all the candidates who put their names forward and stepped up to represent us in a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

About the League of Women Voters: The LWV is a nonpartisan grassroots organization with the mission of empowering voters and defending democracy. The League does not support candidates or political parties. It does take positions on issues after study and discussion, but does not survey candidates based on its positions. It is organized and active at national, state, and local levels. Educating voters is a primary goal. In addition to this guide, you will find videos of forums on League Facebook pages, YouTube channels, and Vote411. Local Leagues in Casper, Cheyenne, and Laramie surveyed local candidates and results are on Vote411. Fremont County did a separate survey which will be mailed to all county residents.

Suffragists founded the LWV just before the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, so that women could be informed as they exercised their right to vote. League membership is open to all people age 16 and up. Further information is available at wyominglwv.org and lwv.org.
Authorities search for Casper Reentry Center escapee

A man serving a burglary sentence at the Casper Reentry Center failed to return Thursday from a work-release program. Jacob Hair, 30, is wanted for felony escape from official detention, the Natrona County Sheriffs Office said Friday. He was serving a two- to four-year sentence out of Campbell County, according to Wyoming Department of Corrections records.

Hair was supposed to return from the work-release program at 3 p.m. Thursday, but did not show up.

He is a white man who is 6 feet tall and weighs 200 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He has tattoos of stars on both sides of his neck and numerous tattoos on his arms.

Anyone with information about Hairs whereabouts is asking to contact the sheriffs office at 307-235-9282. Information can also be reported anonymously through crime-stoppers.com.
CHEYENNE  The Wyoming Department of Education will no longer use taxpayer money for a news conference here requested by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Brian Schroeder.

A flyer for the event, labeled Stop the Sexualization of Our Children, was recently distributed by email. It stated the media event would be Oct. 25 at 10 a.m. in the Emerson Building on Capitol Avenue. The invitation said this is to bring awareness to the growing issue of the sexualization of our children, and the ways its occurring in schools.

The document said parents would share their own stories, state and national leaders would speak, and legislators would attend. A meeting was scheduled after lunch for parents, legislators and special guests.

The Wyoming Department of Education then informed the Wyoming Tribune Eagle it is not the organizer or sponsor, despite Schroeders support for the gathering.

WDE Communications Director Linda Finnerty sent a statement Thursday from Schroeder. It said he believes parents are the sole authority when it comes to teaching their children about sex and gender identity, and he is concerned teachers are circumventing parental authority and imposing their personal views of sex and gender ideology on children without parent consent or notification.

The superintendent intends to give a voice to the vast majority of Wyoming parents who believe that school libraries are not the place for sexually graphic material, according to the statement.

Changes

Since the flyer was distributed, the details of the event, and its association with the WDE, have changed.

Finnerty said Wednesday morning it was not sponsored by the agency, but there were funds being used for the press conference. Schroeder planned to use state dollars for food, lodging and travel for three people from No Left Turn, including the announced special guest, Executive Director Elana Fishbein.

Officials from No Left Turn didnt immediately comment. Its website said it is a national grassroots movement that believes K-12 education should be free from indoctrination and politicization. It uses examples of The New York Times 1619 Project, critical race theory and comprehensive sexuality education as tools to overturn society by sowing divisiveness and hate.

Schroeder cited Wyoming Statute Article 7, Section 14 for spending authority for the groups visit.

The law states, The general supervision of the public schools shall be entrusted to the state superintendent of public instruction, whose powers and duties shall be prescribed under law.

The further scope of those duties is outlined in W.S. 21-2-201 and 21-2-202, which includes consult with and advise the state board, local school boards, local school administrators, teachers and interested citizens, and seek in every way to develop public support for a complete and uniform system of education for the citizens of this state.

However, Finnerty told WTE Thursday morning the funds would no longer come from the state for guest-speaker travel. The event will no longer be at the Emerson Building.

Although the superintendent believes it is well within his duties as state superintendent, he has decided to separate the press conference from the Wyoming Department of Education. No state funds will be used in connection with this event, and the final venue for the press conference is yet to be determined, per a follow-up statement Finnerty emailed to the WTE. The superintendent wants the focus of the discussion to be on the issue of parental authority and standing up against the inappropriate sexualization of Wyomings children.

WDE staff

Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Chad Auer weighed in on the separation of the state agency from the event, through a statement. He responded to the WTE on whether staff had concerns about agency funds and resources being used for the event.

By constitutional design, there has always been and always will be tension between the role of the agency and the prerogative of the state superintendent, he wrote. My role as deputy superintendent is particularly tasked with navigating the often turbulent intersection of agency role vs. superintendent prerogative. Therefore, the short answer to your question is yes because discomfort comes with the job.

He said the question deserved proper justice, noting there will be times when the political opinions of the whoever is superintendent will not match every staffers. Any personal discomfort arising from the differences between personal political opinions and those held by any given state superintendent have not distracted the agency from serving the mission.

Auer explained the role of the agency is more tightly defined than the superintendents, and there are arguments that they have a wider range of issues they can engage in. He said there are guardrails to keep the role focused, and administrations have strained these guardrails on occasion. In some instances, to the point where the Wyoming Supreme Court had to weigh in.

Auer said he believes a proper balance has been struck by not using state money.

Location changes

While addressing these issues is arguably within the prescribed responsibilities of the office of superintendent of public instruction, it could be argued that using taxpayer funds/agency resources to address this issue falls outside of the proper role of the agency, Auer wrote. When objectively presented with available options, Superintendent Schroeder decided to separate the press conference from the WDE.

On Friday, Schroeder announced by email that the event will still take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Little America Hotel and Resort, 2800 W. Lincolnway, Cheyenne.

Schroeder didnt respond to direct inquiries. He did respond to a stakeholders questions in an email, which was shared with the WTE. In an email to local attorney George Powers, Schroeder said the money to cover the costs will now come through donations. The event will continue to be open to the public, and will be publicly noticed when a new venue has been secured.

Schroeder said invitees are parents, legislators and (when the new venue is secured) the press. Specific state legislators have not been determined yet. Fishbein and her associates will be speakers.

Schroeder was appointed earlier this year by Gov. Mark Gordon to fill the remainder of Jillian Balows four-year term after she left to take a similar job in Virginia. He ran for the position, and was defeated in the Aug. 16 Republican primary by Megan Degenfelder.

On Nov. 8, Degenfelder faces Democrat Sergio Maldonado Sr.
In an attempt to stretch its remaining federal dollars, the Department of Family Services will stop accepting new applications for Wyomings pandemic rental relief program on Nov. 10.

The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) was created by Congress to help tenants struggling to keep up with rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program launched in Wyoming under the Department of Family Services in the spring of 2021.

Demand for rental relief in Wyoming has only increased since its debut. As of early September, the program was receiving roughly 200 applications a day.

While the money doesnt expire until 2025, current spending patterns  coupled with an ongoing reallocation of ERAP dollars on the federal level  indicate the program could dry up as early as February or March.

With that in mind, the Department of Family Services has decided to start scaling down its services.

We dont want to crash the plane, Korin Schmdit, director of the Department of Family Services, said. What we would rather do is start to slowly land it.

To make the most of the remaining money it has, the agency will prioritize current clients of the program, Schmidt said.

The decision to stop accepting new applications wont affect ERAP extensions.

(Though ERAP provides up to 18 months of relief, the department can only approve tenants for three months at a time, meaning clients must reapply for extensions every few months.)

The agency will also be suspending its letter-of-intent program, which was introduced last year as a way to preapprove homeless for the program. Applicants who couldnt otherwise afford rent and a deposit could show prospective landlords letters from the state showing they qualified for rental assistance.

Since its launch, the relief program has been funded by two separate federal packages. Wyoming officially transitioned to the second package of funding in January.

Though the second originally earmarked $152 million for Wyoming, the state may only get about $106 million of that.

Federal guidelines make it so that states can only get their rental relief funding piecemeal.

Thats because the federal government wasnt sure what the level of need for rental assistance would be in each state. It wanted the ability to adjust funding allocations over time.

So, each state has to meet certain spending benchmarks in order to unlock its full allocation. So far, Wyoming has only unlocked about 70% of its funding.

Were required to spend money to get more money, Schmidt said. And then were required to spend money to keep our money.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is currently deciding how to reallocate states remaining ERAP money based on each states spending patterns.

States that dont appear to be heavy spenders will likely have some of their funds redistributed.

And, despite the high demand from residents, Wyoming may not appear to be spending its ERAP money fast enough to prove to the federal government that it should keep the funds, Schmidt said.

Thats why the Department of Family Services isnt sure it can count on its remaining $45.6 million  and why Wyomings rental relief might run out as early as next spring.

And the agency wont know what the Treasurys plans are until January or February, Schmidt said.

The changes to ERAP arent necessarily permanent. Once the agency knows more about its funding situation, itll reevaluate, Schmidt said.

The agency anticipates another spike in applicants as the Nov. 10 deadline approaches. Thats likely to slow down the time it takes for the state to get assistance out.

As of Oct. 15, the Department of Family Services had given out a total of $62 million in rental assistance. Of that, $49 million has gone to landlords, $9.7 million to renters, $3.6 million to utilities companies and another $21,000 to pay for moving costs.
T&Ts Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF) declined by 15.14 per cent between January 1, 2022 and June 30, 2022, according to the two quarterly reports for the Fund for this year.

The HSF reports, which are published on the Ministry of Finance website, indicate that at the start of 2022, the value of the assets in the Fund totaled US$5.62 billion.

At the end of March 2022, the total net asset value of the HSF was US$5.29 billion, approximately US$323.63 million lower than the previous quarters closing value. And at the end of June 2022, the total net asset value of the HSF was US$4.77 bllion, approximately US$528 million lower than the previous quarters closing value of US$5,299.5 million.
AN 89-year-old woman was found dead in Tunapuna yesterday morning after a fire at her home.

The deceased has been identified as Zubida Mohammed of Prescott Lane in Tunapuna.

Residents of the area told the Express that around 8.45 a.m. they heard a loud explosion, and then observed flames coming from one of the rooms of the bottom floor of the two-storey home.
PHOENIX  The executive director of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission director wants to block a group monitoring ballot drop boxes from using the Clean Elections name, at least in Arizona.

In a message to the Attorney Generals Office, Tom Collins said people associated with the separate group Clean Elections USA are actively monitoring drop boxes in Maricopa County.

Collins is not saying the monitoring itself is illegal. But he said the activity under that banner undermines the work the commission is doing in Arizona. That work includes everything from sponsoring debates, to sending out voter education guides to every household in which candidates make pitches in their own words.

The groups usage of the Clean Elections name in Arizona creates a high likelihood of voter confusion and may cause voters to find the guide untrustworthy or partisan, Collins wrote in seeking immediate legal help.

Some individuals watching a drop box outside the offices of the Maricopa County Elections Department told a reporter they were with Clean Elections USA.

And the Secretary of States Office has filed a complaint with both state and federal officials after a voter reported being approached and followed while trying to deposit a ballot at a drop box outside another county office in Mesa. It was not immediately known if they were with the same organization.

What is clear is that Melody Jennings, founder of the national organization, told former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon on his podcast that she has people ready to go in 18 states, including Arizona, to go out in shifts and guard these boxes.

In a separate podcast, Jennings said Clean Elections USA is working to get 10 or more volunteers around each drop box. She said her organization will make sure the volunteers are one of us.

Said Collins: The voters of Arizona have said they want a clean elections system. That came in 1998 when they approved creating the commission, which provides public funds to candidates who decline to take donations from special interests.

But the voter-approved initiative also had other goals. They want us to do the things it does which is to inform voters and ensure they have access to information and promote participation, Collins said.

This group, when they step into Arizona, is not standing for those propositions, he continued. In fact, all evidence is that it stands for the opposite of that.

Collins said the commission needs the legal help to be able to push back and keep anyone else  particularly those who may be involved in voter intimidation  from operating under a Clean Elections banner.
Pima Community College on Thursday christened a $21 million expansion of its Aviation Technology Center at Tucson International Airport that will double its student capacity, helping to relieve a severe shortage of aviation mechanics.

The expansion more than doubles the aviation centers footprint on South Park Avenue, to 87,000 from 35,000 square feet, adding additional classrooms, labs and a second hangar large enough to accommodate large jetliners.

The expansion will allow the highly-rated aviation tech school school to double the number of enrolled students to 250 and graduate 75 or more students per year, Pima Dean of Applied Technology Greg Wilson said.

Pima Aviation Technology Center Director Jason Bowersock said the expansion is just the latest milestone in a journey that started when the school launched its federally-certified aircraft airframe and powerplant program in 1990.

The school opened its first hangar in 2001 and added an avionics tech program in 2008 and expanded its facility, then in 2016 added a program to streamline the transition of military aircraft maintainers to civilian jobs.

The Pima program is one of only a handful of Federal Aviation Administration-approved schools in the U.S. with curriculum and facilities to accommodate large commercial jets. The Pima Center now has 20 aircraft including a Boeing 727 and a Bombardier CRJ-200 narrow-body regional jet recently donated by SkyWest Airlines, which has announced plans to build a new maintenance hangar at TIA.

Pima plans to add a certified program in non-destructive testing next fall, thanks to a $490,000 FAA grant the school won in January, and is adding a program in unmanned aircraft funded partly with a $2.5 million grant from the Thomas R. Brown Family Foundation in 2020.

Theres never been a better time to be in this industry, to try and go out there a find a meaningful career, said Bowersock, a former Air Force flight chief who joined the Pima program as an instructor in 2015 and was named director in 2016.

Pima officials described how winning the state funding that made the expansion possible was a team effort including local aviation industry leaders Dave Querio, president of the Tucson-based commercial aviation maintenance firm Ascent Aviation, and Mark Gaspers, longtime government operations manager for Boeing Co.

Querio, who sits on Pimas aviation advisory board, said the COVID-19 pandemic only worsened a growing shortage of aviation techs, noting that some 23,000 or 8% of the workforce left the industry since the pandemic emerged.

Querio said his own company, which besides TIA has maintenance stations at Pinal Air Park and Roswell, New Mexico, has about 550 employees but has 130 open positions.

Its a great field  its not glitz and glamour but it will take you around the world, Querio said.

Pima airfame and powerplant tech student Suzanne Roy described how she enrolled in the aircraft maintenance program after COVID-19 halted her study of classical music and voice.

She said that while many aircraft techs have military experience, which she didnt have, the school provided all the training she needed and is looking to graduate and find a well-paying job in six months.

Pima Community College bridges the gap between those with experience and those without, leading them to fulfilling and lucrative careers in aviation maintenance, Roy said, noting that Boeing has estimated that more than 600,000 new mechanics will be needed industrywide by 2041.

The median annual wage for aircraft mechanics and service technicians was $65,380 in May 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

PCC Chancellor Lee Lambert thanked industry leaders who helped lobby legislators and Gov. Doug Ducey to include the $15 million appropriation in the state budget.

Sens. David Gowan, a Sierra Vista Republican and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and co-chair Sen. Vince Leach of SaddleBrooke, were singled out for shepherding the appropriation through the budget process with the Duceys support.

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The former student who authorities said shot and killed a University of Arizona professor had not only been threatening the schools hydrology department, but other staff members as well, causing one college official to work from home because she was afraid of what he was going to do, police records show.

Police said Murad Dervish, 46, entered the John W. Harshbarger Building on Oct. 5 and shot Professor Thomas Meixner in an office. Meixner was the head of the schools hydrology department and an expert on desert water issues.

Dervish fled the scene and was found three hours later traveling south on Arizona 85 toward Mexico, 30 miles south of Gila Bend, court records say.

Dervish has been indicted on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited possessor, endangerment and burglary. He is being held without bond at the Pima County jail.

Prior to the shooting, Dervish had been expelled from the UA and barred from being on campus in February after he had been the subject of several reports of harassment and threats to staff members working at the Harshbarger Building, court records show. His teaching assistant contract also had not been renewed by the university.

In April, a UA assistant dean of students had been receiving threatening emails from Dervish while he was awaiting the outcome of his appeal to the dean of students. He had been emailing her threats such as, If you dont I promise the consequences are going to be absolutely catastrophic, UA police reports say.

In another email, Dervish told the UA official, Mr. (expletive deleted) Meixner attacked me in the hallway and I defended myself and your office needs to do something about that/ I dont think you have any clue who you are dealing with but you are about to find out and I really dont think youre going to like it, records say.

In one meeting, Dervish called the assistant dean of students a racial slur to her face, records say.

The UA official reported the threats to the UA Police Department, telling them she supervises Dervishs appeal process and had many contentious meetings and emails with him, records say. She also said his demeanor was becoming more aggressive and believed he was capable of carrying out any threat, leading her to work from home for two days because she just doesnt know what this guy will do.

Despite being in her profession for over 25 years and having a high threshold for inappropriate behavior, she told police she believed the threats should be taken seriously and wanted to press charges against Dervish, records state..

On April 15, two UAPD officers went to Dervishs residence and introduced themselves. Dervish told the officers they would need to get a warrant if they wanted to talk further, records say.

The officer told Dervish a warrant wasnt necessary and asked if he wouldnt mind stepping outside. When Dervish refused, the officer explained that he was going to be charged with two counts of misdemeanor threats due to his communication with UA staff, records say.

When the officer asked Dervish to open the door so he could sign the citation, he refused and asked the officer to slide it under the door instead, records say. After a back and forth between the two, the officer told Dervish he would be filing the paperwork with the court and request that a warrant be issued. Dervish told him to do whatever he needed to do.

As the officers were leaving, a neighbor asked why they were meeting with Dervish, explaining to them that he routinely has outbursts where he shouts obscenities out loud, sometimes toward her and her roommates, records say. The officer advised her to let her landlord know and to contact the police if he acts out in the future.

On April 18, Dervish emailed the UA official again, asking her to accept his apology and withdraw the charges, records say.

Earlier this week, UA President Robert Robbins said UAPD had asked the Pima County Attorneys Office twice to file criminal charges against Dervish.

Pima County attorney Laura Conover responded to Robbins statement, saying county prosecutors did not have enough evidence to charge Dervish with misdemeanor threats and intimidation, Palmer reported.
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With three seats up on the Catalina Foothills School District governing board, the six candidates have divided into two opposing slates.

One slate consists of incumbents Amy Bhola and Amy Krauss, as well as newcomer Gina Mehmert, all running under the name of Thrive4CFSD, and saying they support the work the district administration and governing board are currently doing.

The other slate, campaigning with the slogan Getting Back to Basics, includes candidates Grace Jasin, William Morgan and Bart Pemberton. They are campaigning against what they call changes in the CFSD curriculum based on overreaching and political policies and practices.

For the Getting Back to Basics candidates, the three said they share the same concerns regarding the general direction and policy decisions of the district.

We decided that rather than just complain about it, we would try to do something constructive and come up with some potential solutions, the Getting Back to Basics candidates said in an emailed statement.

The Getting Back to Basics candidates provided the emailed statement but declined an interview with the Arizona Daily Star. Instead, they pointed to information in candidate questionnaires and the groups website for more information about their platform.

As for the Thrive4CFSD candidates, the three women also teamed up based on their common set of values for the district.

It became very clear early on that the three of us, although very different individuals who have different interests and expertise  we share a common set of values and outlook on what school board members should do and how they should be oriented. That is very different from our opponents, Krauss said.

Two different platforms

Under their mission statements, the Thrive4CFSD candidates listed continuing to build an innovative curriculum with the help of teachers and ensuring the continuation of the districts strategic plan, known as Envision 21 Deep Learning.

That plan consists of efforts to reduce the student achievement gap, raise students engagement in school, and strengthen relationships with the community.

We firmly believe that every student deserves an equal opportunity to thrive, Mehmert said. We need students with different levels of ability or disability, students of different race and ethnicity, students of different gender and gender identifications and different sexual orientations, students from different ZIP codes.

The Thrive4CFSD candidates also highlighted attracting and retaining high-quality educators as one of their top priorities.

The most important factor for student success or for student achievement is the quality of the teacher in the classroom, Bhola said.

The Getting Back to Basics candidates say the district needs improvement and change.

Suddenly, many of us find ourselves in a school system that we do not even recognize; one in which many of our students do not feel comfortable and are not learning up to their potential, the candidates state on the Getting Back to Basics website. They say curriculum changes were made with little to no parental/guardian input.

The CFSD governing board's process before approving changes to students' curricula consists of providing public notice of the potential changes and allowing a window of time for the community to preview the materials and provide feedback to the board.

Their list of top priorities includes increasing students academic performance, as well as hiring an armed officer for every campus and training all teachers and staff on physical safety.

The issues on the website also stress a focus on academic materials, as opposed to a social and emotional learning curriculum that they say asks students to declare their preferred pronouns.

One example that has recently been implemented is gender identity, in which students are encouraged to identify themselves based on their internal sense of gender (their feelings), their website states.

Students and teachers should be devoting their time to reading, writing, math, civics, science and the arts, not topics that are considered by many to be political and divisive, it says.

Working together

If elected, the Getting Back to Basics candidates said they would continue to work with each other as now, by collaborating and brainstorming, along with the entire board and administration.

The Thrive4CFSD candidates also said they plan to work collaboratively as a board, but emphasized they would maintain their independence as individual board members, rather than continue their work as a group.

The only time a board has authority to act is when they are in an open session, meeting up on a topic thats been noticed and the public is aware  and we take that responsibility very seriously, Krauss said. So maintaining the independence of the three of us is very important to us.

To learn more about the two opposing slates, visit btb.school and thrive4cfsd.org.
Democratic candidate for governor Katie Hobbs declared, This debate over debates is over during an interview Wednesday that served as a debate substitute.

In reality, that debate probably isnt over, but the debate issue is finally, formally resolved.

Hobbs did a half-hour interview with Ted Simons of Arizona PBS in Phoenix on Wednesday, and Republican Kari Lake will do a half-hour interview with radio host Mike Broomhead Sunday at 5 p.m. on KAZT, which is Channel 7 in Phoenix. The Lake interview will also be streamed on the stations website, aztv.com.

The interviews are the outcome of a dragged-out discussion over whether Hobbs would join Lake in a debate sponsored by the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission. Lake was enthusiastic, but Hobbs was unwilling.

Hobbs cited the fact that the GOP gubernatorial debate was chaotic and became the source of mockery around the country. She also said she didnt want to spend a debate trying to refute Lakes lies, especially about the 2020 election.

Unstated in the Hobbs campaigns explanation was that Lake is a highly skilled television communicator, after a career as a news anchor, while Hobbs has demonstrated only a rough ability to think on her feet and communicate sharply in TV interviews.

Hobbs offered to do half-hour consecutive interviews, one with Lake, then one with her, but the clean elections commission declined and planned to give Lake the entire time set aside for the debate, as it has in the past when candidates decline to debate.

That arrangement blew up last week when it was revealed that Arizona PBS, which is part of Arizona State Universitys Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, made a separate arrangement to interview Hobbs this week, under pressure from ASU President Michael Crow.

The new Hobbs interview was to happen after Lake took up the debate time slot last week, but Arizona PBS kept its partners at the clean elections commission in the dark on the new arrangement. That led, last week, to the commission aborting the debate arranged at Arizona PBS.

That then led to Lake holding a news conference in front of the Cronkite School last week, which, Hobbs said, led to harassing emails and calls made to the school and the station.

Instead of last weeks time slot for the debate on Arizona PBS, Lake will appear this Sunday in the interview with Broomhead, a conservative host on KTAR radio. Records from the clean elections commission show that KAZT and the commission went through a variety of possible moderators, but Broomhead was the only one both willing and available.

Ballots damaged at post office

Some early ballots were damaged when going through the automated sorter at the U.S. Postal Service, a process that began Oct. 12, the Pima County Recorders Office reported Thursday.

Post office employees saw what was happening and began hand-sorting the ballots, but that delayed processing, meaning that some were not mailed out until Oct. 17, recorders office spokesman Micheal Truelsen said in a statement Thursday. Still, all early ballots should arrive on time to be mailed back.

Voters should contact the Pima County Recorders Office at 520-724-4330 if any of the following materials are missing from their envelope:

The ballot

The blue instruction sheet with I Voted sticker

Instructions on how to return a ballot, with a list of early voting sites

A list of all statewide and Pima County propositions

The white ballot affidavit envelope

The yellow return envelope

Finchem protests Jan. 6 ads

A law firm representing Mark Finchem, the GOP candidate for Secretary of State, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Arizona TV stations Tuesday, demanding that they stop broadcasting an ad criticizing Finchem for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol.

The ad, by the Arizona Democratic Party, opens by calling Finchem a conspiracy theorist and a member of an extremist militia. It goes on to describe his effort to deny and overturn the results of the 2020 election, saying, He led the effort to discard legitimate votes, helped organize the Jan. 6 protests where police were attacked, then said politicians should have the right to decide elections, not voters.

Finchems objection is to the word organize. Its undisputed that he attended Trump-supporting protests in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6. He also promoted attendance at the event, and was in close contact with organizer Ali Alexander, but Finchem says its defamatory to claim he helped organize Jan. 6.

Mr. Finchem was not involved with the organization of the January 6 protest, the letter from attorney Jack Wilenchik says. Therefore, Mr. Finchem demands that you immediately cease and desist from further unlawfully defaming Mr. Finchem and retract the defamatory statements described herein.

Text messages from Finchem, released after public records requests last year, show he repeatedly discussed plans for Jan. 6 with organizer Alexander in the runup to the event.

Recorders reject Prop. 309

Arizonas 15 county recorders, both Republicans and Democrats, unanimously announced this week that they oppose Prop. 309, a referral from the Legislature on this years ballot.

It addresses a non-existent problem, it imposes new burdens on voters, it delays tabulation results, it jeopardizes voter data privacy, and it will likely disenfranchise thousands of voters, they said this week in a letter from the Arizona Association of County Recorders.

Prop. 309 would change election procedures by, among other things:

Requiring voters to write their birth date, a state-issued identification number and the last four digits of the voters Social Security Number on early-ballot affidavits.

Requiring federal, state or tribal identification to receive a ballot at an in-person voting location.

Requiring that the affidavit accompanying an early ballot and return envelope be concealed when returned.

Requiring the state Department of Transportation to provide an identification card for free to people who request them for voting.

Supporters of Proposition 309 cannot identify a single instance of fraud that the measures would remedy, the recorders said.
Pascal (They/Them) joined the Arizona Daily Star in 2022 as a digital producer. Their background in alternative digital journalism excites them about the digital stories being produced.
China to persist in development of human community with shared future: vice FM

Xinhua) 08:22, October 21, 2022

Ma Zhaoxu, vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, speaks at a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 20, 2022. The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosted the press conference on the topic "Under the Guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, Forge Ahead and Strive to Break New Ground for Major-Country Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics" on Thursday. Shen Beili, vice minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, also attended the press conference. (Xinhua/Chen Jianli)

BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China will promote with concrete actions the building of a community with a shared future for humanity and work to make the system of global governance fairer and more equitable, Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said on Thursday.

Ma made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Efforts in building a community with a shared future for humanity have made substantial progress in various fields and regards, he said.

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative has become a well-received international public good and an important platform for international cooperation, he said, adding that the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative have brought new impetus to the world peace and development.

China is firm in safeguarding the international system with the United Nations (UN) at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, Ma said.

He pointed out that the humanity is facing unprecedented challenges, and hegemony and bullying by certain forces are posing great threat to the world order. "A divided world is in no one's interest, and bloc confrontation would only lead to a dead end."

China will explore its own development while firmly safeguarding world peace and development, and better promote world peace and development through its own development, he said.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Du Mingming)
TEHRAN, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian commander said on Friday the recent military drill staged in northwestern Iran warned the "enemies" of a crushing Iranian response in case of taking any hostile action.

Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, deputy commander for Coordination of the Ground Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), made the remarks in the northwestern city of Tabriz, according to Iranian Students' News Agency.

He stressed that for the "enemies who are present in parts of the neighboring states' soil and seek to incite sedition in Iran," the massive three-day military exercise held a few days ago sent a message that they will face "our clenched and strong fist" in case of aggression.

Pourjamshidian added the IRGC attaches great importance to its border dwellers as well as vital and economic interests, emphasizing that these are among the country's red lines.

He warned that Iran is very sensitive about any act of aggression that would be perpetrated against its soil and bids to change the country's borders, and will react "decisively" to them.

Starting on Monday, the IRGC Ground Force held a large-scale military exercise in Iran's northwestern border regions with the participation of various units. 
A new shop opened on Historic Fourth Avenue today and it may be, dare we say, the best-smelling shop on the block.

The Lavender Manor located in a historic house on the northern end of Fourth Avenue at 347 E. Fourth St. is the new home for all things lavender in Tucson.

The shop carries homemade products like soaps, lotions, lip balms, essential oils and mists that are all infused with locally grown, fresh lavender from the shops farm Life Under the Oaks in Oracle, about 37 miles north of downtown Tucson.

Carolyn Blair and her family have owned the farm for the last decade and began planting lavender there in 2018. Since Life Under the Oaks opened, the Oracle-based farm has become a must-see destination for Southern Arizonans.

After nearly five years of lavender farming and lavender-based workshops and events, Blair decided it was time to bring a taste of the farm down to Tucson.

I'm super excited. A little nervous, Blair said. Because I'm hoping that people are gonna love it as much as they love the farm. You know, it's gonna be a little different clientele that we'll have here. But still, we have lots of people that come from Tucson up to the farm. So I'm hopeful that everybody's going to enjoy it and that it's something different, a different experience.

Like the farm, The Lavender Manor will also host lavender-centric events like enjoying homemade lavender tea in the manors tea room and lavender wreath workshops on the back porch. Blair hopes to add yoga events at the manor, too.

Behind the manors tea room sits a vendor room where two local vendors, Lunas Paper Designs and Arizona Blossom Cellar, will sell their products.

The shops soft opening is this week, but their grand opening celebration with food and music will be on Nov. 12. Currently, the manor is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

While the manor is owned by the Blairs, it will be managed by Life Under the Oaks worker and friend, Kim Marceil.

Working with Carolyn has just been such a calming and eye-opening experience, she said. (Were) just looking forward to, you know, opening for the community, bringing people in with all of our natural products and then really starting to educate and share with everyone around us what we do.

We're bringing like a little little bit of the farm to Tucson except for the farm animals, Blair said.

'It's a unique destination'

Upon entering The Lavender Manor, the slightly floral and earthy scent of fresh lavender is the first thing that welcomes you.

The walls of the historic 1903 house are painted in a shade of lavender and the decor is reminiscent of an old farmhouse. Theres even a Farmer John room  complete with a recliner, TV and an original fireplace with stunning green tiles  for all the gentlemen to relax in while they wait for their significant others.

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The setup of the manor makes you feel like youre in a home rather than a business  a feeling that was important to Blair.

People are always asking, When are you going to have product in Tucson? and We wish you were closer and that kind of thing, she said. And so we thought, Well, why don't we open a location in Tucson? but I needed the right location, I wanted something that would fit with, you know, the farm style. And this property came up and it's perfect because we have a yard and it's like a house setting.  It just felt like I was drawn to it and a part of it. I grew up in a house that looks sort of like this. So it's kind of like nostalgic to me. But I just thought it's just perfect for what I wanted to do.

Blair was initially inspired to start the Oracle lavender farm after she took a family vacation to Washington, the state with the most lavender farms, and saw fresh lavender for the first time in her life.

I just fell in love with that, she said. And I was like, you know, what a dream to have a lavender farm. And I kind of, like, always had that in the back of my mind, but it wasn't the right time.

After her daughter moved out, the Blairs decided to convert a horse-racing arena, where her daughter used to barrel race on their farm, into a lavender farm.

We made it bigger and got our plants, Blair said. And I tell everyone, people in Oracle thought we were crazy because it's hard to grow anything there because there's so much wildlife, they just eat everything. But I knew that the animals don't like lavender, like the deer will go in there and the bunnies and they'll nibble at it and leave it alone. So we have it fenced off because of the javelinas, not that they'll eat the lavender, but they'll dig at the water lines.

Although the Blairs werent expecting a good harvest for a couple of years after the initial planting, they were shocked when the first summer harvest rolled around and the lavender plants bloomed like crazy, Blair said.

From there, the popularity of the farm took off with Southern Arizonans.

So much so that they have since opened a boutique in Oracle, the new shop in Tucson, and have plans to open another shop in Oracle. Despite having the new location in Tucson, Blair hopes that people will still feel inspired to make the trip up to the farm in Oracle.

We're the only lavender farm in Southern Arizona that I know of, Blair said. And definitely the only one that does all the things that we do for all events. So I would say the same thing about the shop. It's a unique destination. It's a place you can come by yourself or with friends or with family. So it's just a new offering to Tucson.

If you go

What: The Lavender Manor.

Where: 347 E. Fourth St.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Visit the farm's website for more information.
Protesters angered by strict anti-virus measures have called for Chinas powerful leader to resign. That's an unprecedented rebuke. It came as authorities in at least eight cities struggled to suppress demonstrations Sunday that represent a rare direct challenge to the ruling Communist Party. Police using pepper spray drove away demonstrators in Shanghai who called for Xi Jinping to step down and an end to one-party rule. Hours later, people rallied again in the same spot. Police again broke up the demonstration, and a reporter saw protesters under arrest being driven away in a bus. The protests began Friday and have spread to cities including the capital, Beijing, and dozens of university campuses. They are the most widespread show of opposition to the ruling party in decades.
An 18-year-old Owasso man was driving faster than 150 mph in the wrong lane of a Payne County highway before a head-on crash that killed two people last weekend, Stillwater police allege.

Luke Christopher House, 18, faces prosecution for second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Ryan Begnaud, 18, and Jeremi Smith, 40, according to a Stillwater Police Department news release.

Around 4:15 a.m. Oct. 15, House was driving a white Ford Mustang east in the westbound lanes of Oklahoma 51 on the west side of Stillwater with Begnaud in the passenger seat. Vehicle data show that House was driving over 150 mph, the release states.

The Mustang struck a westbound Chevrolet Impala head-on, according to police. Smith was a passenger in the Impala; its driver remains hospitalized with injuries from the crash.

House was flown from the crash site to a hospital and was released the next day, police said.

Rogers County deputies arrested House on Thursday at his residence, and authorities are in the process of transferring him to Payne County. Court records indicate that House is from Owasso.

Anyone with information about the crash is encouraged to contact the Stillwater Police Department at 405-372-4171.

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Police identified the victim of a fatal ax-attack on Friday after he died and the suspect was charged with first-degree murder.

James Jimmy Patterson, 22, died in a hospital Thursday after being struck in the head with an ax on Monday, according to a Tulsa Police Department news release.

Police allege that Israel Trejo, 26, was holding an ax he was attempting to buy from a third person in a residence near 12th Street and Houston Avenue, where Patterson was sitting on a couch. Trejo and the victim reportedly never exchanged any words with each other before Trejo swung the ax and buried it deep inside the victims head, police said.

Patterson was taken to the hospital with the ax still in his head, police said.

Trejo ran from the house but was caught by officers near Sixth Street and Peoria Avenue.

Several witnesses were in the house at the time, and security cameras recorded the assault on video, according to police.

Trejo, whose first name is spelled Isreal in some records, was originally arrested on a complaint of assault with a deadly weapon. The murder charge was filed Friday, court records show.

He remains held without bond in the Tulsa County jail on the murder charge as well as on a federal immigration hold.
Oklahoma statutes that outline the punishment for people convicted of cruelty to animals and domestic abuse look surprisingly similar.

But, as members of a panel to bring awareness to domestic violence lamented Thursday, the crimes carry one glaring difference: Animal cruelty is a felony. Domestic abuse can be a misdemeanor.

The running joke (when she worked at an Oklahoma prison) was: If you get mad, dont kick your dog; go slap your girlfriend or your wife, DVIS case manager Sandy Leatherman said. Thats crazy to me.

(Our laws) say a lot about how we think about our women and our victims.

Some types of domestic violence  domestic assault and battery with a dangerous or deadly weapon, some repeated domestic offenses and abuse committed against a pregnant woman  are now felonies, but the contrast still drew an audible reaction across Hodges Bend coffee shop and bar downtown, which was filled with domestic violence advocates and survivors.

Changes the Oklahoma Legislature could make to chart a different course for the state, which has one of the highest rates in the nation at which men killed women in 2020, were only one point attendees took away from Domestic Violence Intervention Services inaugural community talk.

DVIS announced that the program, Conversations to Confront Violence, will be held across the community in different iterations over the next year to correspond with national awareness months, including National Stalking Awareness and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in January; Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April; and LGBTQIA+ Pride Month in June.

Thursdays event recognized October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and was framed around the theme of the National Network to End Domestic Violences Week of Action with the social media hashtag #Every1KnowsSome1.

It clearly happens at every socio-economic level, Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith said as one of four panelists and a survivor of domestic violence herself.

DVIS Chief Development Officer Cathy Wilkie rattled off a number of statistics from 2020, which she said were the most recent data available:

Tulsa County saw the highest rates of abuse in the state, with nearly 13 of every 1,000 residents reporting domestic abuse.

Oklahomas total of 138 domestic violence-related deaths in 2020 represented a 44% increase over 2019 figures.

Oklahoma law enforcement saw nearly 27,100 cases of abuse by family members, current or former partners, or roommates  the highest number in at least 20 years.

DVIS has several resources available to help victims of such situations before they turn deadly, including an emergency shelter where survivors can stay up to 45 days; transitional housing available rent-free up to two years; a kennel for pets; free counseling; and necessities such as food and clothing, Wilkie said. And DVIS also provides rehabilitative services to batterers, another DVIS representative said.

But the panel focused on barriers victims might face in reaching out for help, how those could be removed or mitigated, and how bystanders, friends and loved ones can recognize the signs of abuse and step in to help.

When you are in trauma, you dont think clearly, Keith said. You cant see a path forward.

Domestic abuse tends to exist in patterns of behavior meant to intimidate, control or hurt its victims, and it doesnt always leave physical bruises, panelists said. Most instances go unreported as abusers manipulate their victims into believing a number of lies, including that its not a big deal, its the victims fault or that theyll change.

I think if we were to include those (unreported offenses) in the numbers that were talking about, wed be talking about significantly more than even the really mind-blowing numbers that Cathy read, domestic violence survivor and panelist Caroline Shaw said.

Tulsa Police Department Family Violence Unit Detective Amy Hall told the crowd her five-detective unit is on pace to receive more than 10,000 domestic violence cases this year, a significant increase from prior years. And it seems, she said, that not only is the number of cases rising but also the level of violence.

Tulsa World records indicate that at least 15 of the citys 62 homicides so far this year were domestic violence-related, and  unfortunately, Hall said  no one seems to care until someones dead.

Domestic violence is still viewed as just a low-level crime, Hall said. Somebody just got hit, eh; somebody just got slapped, eh.  Happens all the time, right?

Until  it just gets worse and worse and worse.

Hall said she was appalled when she learned that strangulation is not an 85% crime, which is a rule reserved in Oklahoma law for certain violent offenses. Those convicted of those crimes must serve at least 85% of their prison sentences before becoming eligible for parole.

Anybody who knows anything about strangulation knows that thats the last one shot (for a victim to get out), Hall said, citing studies that have closely correlated choking and domestic homicide.

Lori Gonzales, vice president of advocacy services at DVIS, said research has also indicated that people who attempt to strangle intimate partners are dangerous to the community as a whole.

Theyre your mass shooters; theyre your cop killers, she said. I mean, if somebody is willing to look at somebody and try to choke the life out of em, they are dangerous, so as society we need to come together and hold our elected officials accountable in pushing (effective legislation) through.

Leatherman, DVISs later-in-life advocate, said the most important things witnesses to domestic abuse and friends and family of victims can do are exhibit vigilance when something seems to be awry and continue to support the victim.

Its everyones responsibility, Leatherman said. If you think somethings not right, trust your gut. Its OK to check on somebody; its OK to call and maybe have some law enforcement come by to do a welfare check if you think somethings happening. Its OK to call DVIS or Child Protective or Adult Protective Services. Its better to call and it not be something than to not call and it be something.

You just have to be that support, because we know victims  it takes a long time for them to leave. Dont give up on them, because theyre going to need you when they decide.

Featured video: Stay safe from domestic violence over the holidays
One of two men charged in connection with a Broken Arrow double homicide and an unrelated attempted carjacking and shooting has been convicted.

A jury found Hunter Isaiah Hobbs, 21, of Bixby guilty of felony murder in Indian Country and related charges at a trial that began Monday in Tulsa federal court.

Hobbs and Denim Lee Blount, 19, were charged by second superseding indictment April 18 with robbing and murdering Caleb Vaughn Collier, 20, and Kelly Ray Olen John Landsaw-Davis, 21, in Haikey Creek Park in Broken Arrow on May 13, 2021. The two were also charged with taking Colliers truck during the robbery.

A passerby found one of the victims in the park. Police found the second victim nearby.

Prosecutors alleged that Hobbs and Blount also tried to carjack a man five days before the Broken Arrow killings when a man was shot May 8, 2021, at an apartment parking lot in the 7400 block of East 47th Street in Tulsa.

The man survived after being shot about 10 times when he refused to give up his vehicle to two men. The pair fled after the shooting.

Prosecutors claimed in court filings that Blount was a member of the Hoover Crips while Hobbs had indicated an interest in joining the gang.

Hunter Hobbs conspired with an accomplice to rob two acquaintances and then killed them so they couldnt report the robbery to police, said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. The week prior, the pair shot a complete stranger during an attempted carjacking.

The relentless efforts of this office, the FBI, and the Tulsa and Broken Arrow Police Departments resulted in Hobbs being held accountable for these callous crimes. I want to thank the jury for their service and for following the evidence to a guilty verdict.

Testimony on Thursday tied one of the guns recovered afterward to the residence of former Bixby Police Chief Ike Shirley, who is Hobbs grandfather.

Bixby Assistant Police Chief Andy Choate testified that police first encountered the .45-caliber pistol in 2018 when responding to a self-inflicted gunshot wound call at the chiefs residence.

Hobbs was found bleeding in the bathroom of the home from a self-inflicted wound, Choate testified.

The gun was stored in the Bixby Police Departments property room for about two months before it was released back to Shirley, Choate testified. Shirely has since retired.

After the Broken Arrow double homicide, authorities found a pistol near a Bixby retention pond with the same serial number as the one linked to the 2018 shooting at Shirleys home.

Ballistic testing tied the gun found near the pond to the double homicide and attempted carjacking, according to the FBI.

The defendant in this case acted in blatant disregard for the law and more importantly, human life, said FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Gray. We will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to remove violent offenders like Hobbs from our communities.

The Broken Arrow Police Department, the Tulsa Police Department, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorneys Office all worked closely together on this case, said Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill. We are so appreciative of the team-approach, and we are always ready to do the same for our regional partners.

Federal prosecutors assumed jurisdiction on the case since the crime occurred within the Muscogee Nation reservation and the two homicide victims were American Indian. Bount is also Native American, while Hobbs is white.

Hobbs will be sentenced later. A trial date for Blount has not been scheduled.

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People ride bikes after the inauguration of the first bike-sharing project in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Oct. 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)



by Mahmoud Fouly

CAIRO, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- On the well-known Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, over 20 orange-colored bicycles were lined up at a docking station for public sharing as the first bike-sharing project was inaugurated in the Egyptian capital on Thursday.

The Cairo Bike project was launched by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, accompanied by Cairo Governor Khaled Abdel-Aal. The first phase of the project includes 250 GPS-tracked bicycles in 26 solar-powered docking stations, while the total two-phase project will finally include a fleet of 500 bicycles in 45 stations across Cairo.

Local residents were excited to experience riding a bike in the crowded capital as each of them can enjoy the first ride for free during the first phase.

Ahmed Mahmoud, a local resident, described the experience as "amazing."

"I have a car but when I go downtown, I take the underground metro. Now there are bike docking stations near metro stations, so I can use the metro to reach downtown and then ride a bike to go around and return it to the nearest docking station," Mahmoud said.





A photo shows the bicycles to be used in the first bike-sharing project in the Egyptian capital Cairo. The project was inaugurated on Oct. 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

Rania Sameh, an engineering student and one of the Cairo Bike team members, was among a group of people who rode bicycles together during the inauguration event.

"This bike-sharing system helps people reduce their dependency on cars. Along with public means of transport, these bicycles can be an eco-friendly alternative to cars," she told Xinhua.

A resident can hire a bicycle for 1 Egyptian pound (about 0.05 U.S. dollars) per hour or 8 pounds per day through a mobile application or a prepaid card, with a discount for students.

The bike docking stations are installed near metro and bus stations, main squares, and public places to make it easy for citizens to find the nearest one before and after their bike trips.

The main stations will host 28 bicycles while smaller ones will have 8-10 bicycles. There are also new bike lanes created in several main streets of downtown Cairo to make bike riding safe.

People ride bikes after the inauguration of the first bike-sharing project in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Oct. 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)



Ahmed Arafa, a supervisor of the Cairo Bike project, explained that anyone who seeks to hire a bike should first install Cairo Bike app, register and add their Visa card or get a prepaid card from the Cairo Bike head office in downtown.

"It's a good project, mainly targeting young people, but we found that many Egyptians of all ages are interested in our bike sharing," Arafa told Xinhua.

The Cairo Bike project comes a couple of weeks ahead of Egypt's hosting of the 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh in November.

"Cairo Governorate is working hard to keep pace with modern developments and provide everything that would support the integration of environmentally-friendly transportation and facilitate healthy practices," Abdel-Aal was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Cairo Governorate.

The project, launched by the Cairo Governorate in cooperation with the UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), is funded by Switzerland's Drosos Foundation and technically supported and supervised by the New York-based Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. 
Efforts to find and identify victims of Tulsas 1921 Race Massacre buried in Oaklawn Cemetery will resume Wednesday, city officials confirmed this week.

The work will be confined to the southwest section of the city-owned cemetery, which in 1921 was reserved for the burial of indigent Black Tulsans.

Officials said this phase of the project will involve collecting additional DNA samples from remains exhumed last year and extending an area previously excavated.

Oaklawn Cemetery will be closed to the public during the work, which officials said could last until Nov. 18. Screens and other barriers will be erected to prevent public viewing of any human remains that might be exposed. Video taken by a city photographer will be posted to a Facebook page, official said.

At least 18 African Americans killed in the 1921 massacre were reported to have been buried in Oaklawn. Although their exact location is not recorded, historians have long suspected an area first explored by researchers. Numerous burials were discovered, including more than a dozen from a trench in which caskets had been stacked two deep.

Nineteen sets of remains were disinterred and examined, and DNA samples were extracted.

Officials with Intermountain Forensics, a Utah company that has a contract to analyze the genetic material, later said only two samples contained enough DNA for sequencing. About a dozen others had varying amounts.

During the upcoming phase of the project, Intermountain will be on site to oversee the selection and collection of samples in the hope of getting better results.

Intermountain Forensics came on board after the previous exhumation.

The DNA analysis is to be used in trying to identify individual remains.

Officials say this round of work will begin with the re-exhumation of the 19 sets of remains tested last year, which were temporarily re-interred in Oaklawn afterward. Plans also call for new excavation work south and west of the original site.

This work will be overseen by the Oklahoma State Archeological Survey and a private firm, Stantec, which was previously known as Cardno.

Forensic anthropologist Phoebe Stubblefield and her team will then be in charge of transferring remains to on-site mobile labs for analysis.

Plans call for further investigation of other possible burial locations, including two areas west of downtown Tulsa, but no firm date for that work has been set.

At least 37 people were killed in the 1921 massacre, although experts think the true number was much higher. Stories of bodies being disposed of in various manners date to the massacre itself.

Mayor G.T. Bynum announced an initiative to look for massacre burials in 2018. The first excavations occurred in 2020.

The effort has been criticized by some for not moving fast enough or for not digging in other locations across the city. Subsurface scanning techniques have been used at a south Tulsa cemetery and in Newblock Park, west of downtown, but Oaklawn is the only place excavations have occurred.

Last summer, strong objections to reburying the Oaklawn remains  and the manner in which the re-interments were done  were lodged.

During a meeting in September, some members of a citizens oversight committee voiced skepticism about the searchs direction.

Featured video: Race massacre graves researchers need DNA, genealogies to tie burials to victims
In 1982, Ralph Macchio and his greaser buddies visited Tulsa for the filming of The Outsiders.

In 2022, Macchio was back in Tulsa to reunite with S.E. Hinton on a stage at her alma mater, Will Rogers High School.

Hinton wrote the evergreen young adult novel The Outsiders when she was a student at Rogers. The film was based on, and stayed true to, Hintons book.

Now Macchio is an author, too.

Macchio, who played Johnny Cade in The Outsiders movie, is on a publicity tour to promote his just-released book, Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me. The tour brought him to Tulsa for a Thursday event in Rogers High Schools auditorium, where he was joined by Hinton.

Does Tulsa still want to, as his pals in The Outsiders declared, do it for Johnny?

If that means packing the house, the answer is yes. The event, presented by Magic City Books, sold out far in advance. Some members of the audience wore apparel that made it obvious they were fans of Hinton, The Outsiders, The Karate Kid or all of the above. When introduced, Hinton and Macchio were treated to a standing ovation.

Macchio asked Hinton to be part of the event. She said she would be glad to join him if he wanted her there. Awwws came from the crowd when she talked about doing it for one of her boys. She was sort of a den mother to the youths in the cast during the making of The Outsiders.

Macchio gained an appreciation for The Outsiders before he was in the movie. He read the book when he was a kid and said it had a profound effect on him. Reading Johnnys description in the book caused him to look in a mirror and envision that Johnny looks a little like me, he said.

When he auditioned for The Outsiders, he aimed for the Johnny role. He was disheartened when it seemed the film had stalled, and he began taking acting classes, using a scene from The Outsiders in the classes. Then the film was on again and, after hearing Macchio do a table read, a relieved Hinton gave Macchio a slap on the back and said, Kid, you gave me a good nights sleep.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The Outsiders is hailed for putting its young cast members on paths to stardom. Other greaser actors were Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, C. Thomas Howell, Emilio Estevez and Tom Cruise.

Seeing those actors every day during the filming of The Outsiders, Hinton said she could see they had a lot of talent and were going places.

You could have told us, Macchio said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Macchio appeared in one feature film (Up the Academy, shot in Salina, Kansas) and the television series Eight is Enough before landing a job in The Outsiders. One year later, he starred as Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid, a stick-with-you-for-life role that continues to present day in the Netflix series Cobra Kai. Coincidentally, Macchios return to Tulsa came on the birthday of William Zabka, who plays Macchios nemesis in The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai.

Hinton was asked if she saw The Karate Kid in a theater when the movie was released.

My first response was, Theres my pal Johnny Cade, Hinton said. Its a good movie.

Macchio said The Karate Kid has been influential and inspiration to generations. His connection to The Karate Kid serves as the foundation for his book.

He was approached previously about writing a book, but the timing wasnt quite right, he said. When the pandemic arrived, he used the down time to start working on the book.

At the end of the event, Macchio was presented a citation (backed by state Rep. John Waldron, D-Tulsa. Armed with books, audience members then joined in a long line to have their pictures taken with the greaser who became a Karate Kid.

See Sundays Tulsa World for more about Macchios book.

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Incumbent Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and challenger Democrat State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister sparred during a debate in Oklahoma City on Wednesday.

Voters will decide the states next governor on Nov. 8. Here are takeaways from Wednesday nights event:

Abortion

Stitt modified his position on abortion after signing some of the most restrictive legislation in the country that practically outlawed abortion in Oklahoma. He has said he will sign any pro-life bill that came to his desk.

Some believe that the U.S. Supreme Courts decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion, will draw more people to the polls who disagree with that ruling.

Under questioning, Stitt said Wednesday he would sign legislation that made exceptions in the cases of rape and incest and for women who are going into rehabilitation for chemical dependency.

But there was a caveat. He said he would do so if lawmakers sent him such a bill  something that is highly unlikely.

For years, lawmakers have passed numerous bills putting more and more restrictions on abortion, and they have been signed into law. Before the Supreme Courts recent ruling, many of those laws had been tossed out as unconstitutional by state courts.

Hofmeister, who said she personally is pro-life, said she believes the decision about abortion should be left to a woman and her doctor. She called for repealing some of the states extreme measures but is likely to have little luck with the Republican supermajorities in the Legislature.

Top 10

During his first campaign, Stitt said he wanted to make Oklahoma a Top Ten state, a slogan he often repeated after his election. He changed his tune a little bit during the debate.

Being Top 10 is an aspirational goal; its something were never going to hit, he said.

Party matters

Stitt tried to tie Hofmeister, who switched to Democrat from Republican, to the policies of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, on tax hikes and energy. Oklahoma is one of the most conservative states in the nation.

Hofmeister has pushed back, saying Stitt is reading from a national script and that she is an independent thinker and a moderate. She said she also disagrees with Biden on some issues.

Four years ago, Stitt was running, in part, against the policies of Mary Fallin, an easy target. Fallin, a two-term Republican governor, was serving her final year in office and had seen her popularity drop significantly.

Budget

Stitt has campaigned on leading the state to have the largest savings account in history at $3 billion. He said that when he took office, the state had seen a budget nightmare with deficits.

Hofmeister questioned why he was taking credit for the savings when it was the actions of lawmakers that led to it. She said Stitt had been left out of the budget process.

Stitt has lobbied legislative leaders to increase the states savings.

Dark money

Stitt said people want to know about the $20 million in dark money spent to attack him, saying he would provide 20 million reasons why Hofmeister would be beholden to special interests.

If there is a way to get money out of politics, sign me up, Hofmeister said.

Crime

Hofmeister said that with Stitt as governor, Oklahoma has more violent crime than New York or California, a statement Stitt said was not true.

So lets talk about the facts. The fact is, the rates of violent crime are higher in Oklahoma under your watch than in New York and California. Thats a fact, Hofmeister said without citing a source and with Stitt interjecting, Thats not true.

After moderator Tres Savage said her statement would be fact checked, Stitt cut off Hofmeisters next statement, saying, Hang on, Oklahomans, do you believe we have higher crime than New York or California? Thats what she just said.

Featured video:
Years ago, I had the opportunity to speak before a large group of Chinese students about the United States, and what made it different from other countries.

This was a sharp group. Looking back, I wish I would have been better prepared to speak to such a high-caliber gathering of students.

So I stumbled through my presentation, reciting aspects about America of which they were already well aware.

But one point struck home more solidly. The U.S. differed from China, and many other nations of the world, in that it isnt tied to a race, a language or a specific patch of land.

Instead, were bound by ideas. All of us are created equal. We all have a set of inalienable rights. One person has one vote, regardless of wealth, social status or any number of other traits that might be used to divide one group from another.

From Day One, weve often fallen short of these ideals, sometimes to tragic consequence.

But just as often, weve made something great. The opportunities created by the liberties we enjoy are universally aspirational. Despite all our faults, America is still seen as a destination of choice worldwide.

We gain a lot of strength from that. The fact that we survived the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow and any number of other crises that have divided us over nearly two-and-a-half centuries is a testimony to how resilient Americas ideals have been.

But something Ive learned since Jan. 6, 2021, is that concepts like ideals, precedents or laws are only as strong as peoples beliefs in them.

Last week, U.S. Sen. James Lankford visited the Tulsa World to have a conversation about his record, his plans, and where hed like to see the country move.

Lankford had a unique role on January 6. He was the last senator to speak on challenging the Electoral College results before members of Congress were evacuated from the Capitol. Rioters breached the building and were set to storm both chambers in an attempt to sink Joe Bidens election to the presidency.

When asked about the events of that day, he said voters hes talked to rarely mentioned it at all.

That troubled me. The Capitol riot was unprecedented. Deadly violence was used as a method to overturn a valid election. For several hours that day, constitutional laws, more than two centuries of precedence and ideals that are foundational to our republic were cast aside by an angry mob.

I understand that time has removed the emotion of that day, but what I dont understand is that the gravity of the moment seems to have been forgotten.

More than that, the sentiments that led to January 6 are still strong. Despite numerous court cases, investigations, vote recounts and other exercises in election transparency, large numbers of people continue to believe that Bidens 2020 election victory is illegitimate.

According to a recent Poynter Institute review of polls about the election, about 70% of Republicans still question the validity of Bidens win.

This, despite former President Donald Trumps own attorney general, Bill Barr, telling his former boss that no evidence of voter fraud that could have swayed the election could be found, and that federal election experts called the 2020 election the most secure vote the country has ever had.

Never mind that. People believe what they want to believe. And that brings me to back to my biggest fear leading into next months midterm elections and the 2024 presidential vote.

What if peoples belief in our founding ideals takes a back seat to something else?

This question is fundamental to our future. The American system of governance was designed with bitter memories of the British monarchy in mind. The founders decided that the final word should not be left up to a single man, but instead should be guided by laws applied equally to everyone.

Lex Rex, it was called  the law is king. We might otherwise know that as the rule of law.

Think about the countries where this doesnt exist. These places have laws, but ultimately theyre subservient to a political party or a single ruler.

Such was the case for my audience of Chinese students. They lived in a country that was rapidly becoming more prosperous, but it was also a place where restrictions about what you could read, what you could say and how you could worship were controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

As restrictive as things were back then (this particular visit was back in 2007), Chinese life is even more throttled by the ruling party, which in turn has been bent to the will of its current leader, Xi Jinping. Xi has literally spent the last several years writing himself into that countrys constitution.

You could go down the list of other authoritarian regimes and see similar patterns, be it in Vladimir Putins Russia or Kim Jong Uns North Korea. The disasters of these countries are what happen when the rule of law is supplanted by the whims of an oligarchy, or even those of a single man.

Other nations, including Turkey and Hungary, had been relatively free democracies, but are sliding toward emulating the worlds great dictatorships.

What prevents us from taking that dark path is weve long held our laws and systems of governance in a place of near sacred reverence. This requires a social contract of which we all agree, not only with the letter of the law, but its spirit.

But we cant do that if we dont trust in our systems of governance anymore. Confidence in elections falls. The social contract once seen as inviolable becomes little more than scribbles on paper.

I wouldnt bring this up except there are elected officials and political candidates who keep stoking that negativity, even to the point of vowing not to certify an election if their guy doesnt win.

Case in point is Mark Finchem, who is campaigning for secretary of state in Arizona. He has said he wouldnt certify the vote if Biden won Arizona in 2024.

In numerous states, election officials say theyre having a hard time recruiting poll workers, with volunteers saying they fear for their safety from people angered by the 2020 vote.

If the machinery of elections breaks down and voters feel their votes wont count, trust in the whole system breaks down.

And that is the beginning of how we lose our republic.

Instead, Id like to see people renew their commitment to the idea of who we are. America is not an extension of a single person on a throne. Its not a domain ruled by a single party.

Were an ongoing experiment in democracy, warts and all, that sometimes struggles to live up to our ideals. But when we do, we epitomize Ronald Reagans shining city on a hill.

My hope going forward is that during campaign season, we compete. But after the ballots are cast and the votes tallied, we do as weve done throughout our history: Come together and stay true to who we are.
Voters in House District 79, which covers a swath of midtown and south Tulsa, would be well-served by giving Melissa Provenzano a third term in the state Legislature.

Seeing how much public education has factored into the 2022 election cycle, Provenzanos voice is needed in the Legislature right now. Before taking office, she worked as a teacher and an administrator in Tulsa and Bixby public schools.

Shes determined to make sure public education dollars allocated by the state stay in public schools, rather than be siphoned off into a private school voucher scheme. We believe this is a critical issue in Oklahoma, one that could have serious consequences for Tulsa-area schools and rural districts.

Provenzano has a solid legislative track record. Despite being part of a small Democratic minority in the House, shes managed to work with Republican lawmakers on common-sense legislation that helps Oklahomans.

Last session, she and a Senate Republican colleague passed a bill requiring medical insurers to cover diagnostic mammograms. Prior to the bills passage, many Oklahoma patients would have to choose between high out-of-pocket costs for such screenings or risk their health.

That is no longer the case, thanks to Provenzanos actions on a constituents concern.

Provenzano also sponsored a borrowers bill of rights to better inform families about their rights and responsibilities concerning student loans. Too often, borrowers were unaware of the fine details of a student loan agreement, only to be caught by high costs down the road.

Again, this was a bill generated after listening to a constituents worries about the issue, one in which a borrower was forced to choose between making a student loan payment and receiving cancer treatment.

Provenzano was a key player in helping residents of the Vista Shadow Mountain apartment complex when it was found to be largely uninhabitable.

When COVID-19 vaccines were available only through the states online appointment system, frustrated constituents without online access called for help. She got on her own computer and personally signed up residents.

There is a theme here, one that accurately paints Provenzano as a person who is touch with her district.

The district is roughly south of Interstate 44 between Yale Avenue to the west, U.S. 169 and Garnett Road to the east, and 71st Street and 76th Street to the south.

Provenzano is opposed by Republican Paul Hassink, a retired Public Service Company of Oklahoma engineer. Hassink has said he is open to school voucher programs and mentioned improved government transparency and election security among his legislative priorities.

HD 79 is a diverse district, and its one that Provenzano knows well. Shes proven to be an effective lawmaker, despite being in the minority party. Voters in her district would do well to support her candidacy on Nov. 8.
Long An Province in southern Vietnam has rolled out multiple programs aimed at attracting foreign capital, particularly from South Korea, Japan, and Australia.

Many of these initiatives center on the provincial governments drive to fulfill its responsibilities toward its citizens and the belief that local enterprises can drive the regions economic growth.

Connecting with businesses in Australia

Nguyen Van Duoc, secretary of the provincial Party Committee, alongside Vietnams Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh, and Laura Burke, regional manager - Southeast Asia at Global Victoria, the trade facilitation and promotion agency in the Australian state of Victoria, attended a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony regarding investment cooperation between the Long An Department of Planning and Investment and the Vietnamese Business Association of Australia in late September of this year in Melbourne, Australia.

The ceremony was held in conjunction with an investment promotion conference hosted by Long An  the first time the event had been held in Australia.

More than 150 representatives of Australian and Vietnamese enterprises active in Australia attended the conference.

At the event, Australian investors and Vietnamese businesses shared positive outlooks for Long Ans business climate and ability to attract foreign investment.

The conference also featured two signing ceremonies.

One of these ceremonies was a contract signing between Vietnams Nam Long Group and Australian firms Conybeare Morrison and White Corp. to develop urban projects in Vietnam.

Under the deal, the two Australian companies will invest VND15 trillion (US$614 million) in Long An's 355-hectare Waterpoint residential development project.

The second signature ceremony involved IMG Phuoc Dong Joint Stock Company and Elenberg Fraser Australia Company signing an MoU for the latter to provide consulting services for the Phuoc Dong smart urban area project  a 190-hectare residential project in Long An.

Attracting FDI

In early September, Nguyen Thanh Hai, deputy Party chief of Long An, led a Vietnamese delegation to Tokyo, Japan to attend an investment promotion conference which had attracted more than 100 Vietnamese and Japanese entrepreneurs.

Among the nearly 40 countries and territories currently investing in Long An, Japanese firms account for a combined $480 million in investment capital spread across over 130 projects, making Japan the fourth-largest investor in this Vietnamese locality.

Three MoUs and four cooperation deals were signed at the event in Japan.

South Korea is currently the second-largest investor in Long An thanks to the 200 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth a combined $870 million.

Aside from its efforts to attract foreign investment, Long An regularly holds seminars to discuss issues linked to bilateral partnership in various fields between local firms and businesses from South Korea and Japan.

According to Nguyen Minh Lam, vice-chairman of Long An, the province continues to create optimal conditions for foreign investors to run their businesses.

Through September of this year, Long An licensed 43 new foreign-invested projects with a combined pledged capital of $307.8 million, up two projects compared to 2021.

The province approved capital adjustments valued at $274.1 million across 55 foreign-invested projects.

In its history, Long An has recorded 1,152 projects with foreign investments worth over $9.96 billion. Of these, 588 projects worth over $3.62 billion have been put into service.

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The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has advised Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine to be ready for evacuation from large cities as Russia has intensified airstrikes on Ukraine amid the escalating conflict.

The foreign ministry spokeswoman, Le Thi Thu Hang, reiterated the recommendation at a press briefing held in Hanoi on Thursday, in response to reporters questions about Vietnams actions as the U.S. and China have asked their citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible for safety reasons.

As the military conflict in Ukraine has become more complicated and unpredictable, the ministry has urgently directed the Vietnamese Embassy in Ukraine to regularly contact local Vietnamese communities in order to grasp the situation and take timely measures for citizen protection, Hang told reporters.

The ministrys Consular Department on Tuesday requested Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine to frequently contact the embassy and prepare plans to protect themselves and their families, including evacuating from major cities as well as dangerous areas, Hang noted.

The embassy has arranged staff on duty at the 24-hour citizen protection hotline to receive information and promptly support citizens," the spokeswoman stated.

The embassy has also asked local authorities to take actions to protect Vietnamese citizens and businesses in Ukraine.

Currently, about 500 Vietnamese citizens are still living in Ukraine and no casualties have been recorded in recent complicated developments of the military conflict that has lasted for around eight months, according to the embassy.

Hang reaffirmed that Vietnam always pays attention to and keeps a close watch on the developments of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

We call on relevant parties to resume dialogue and resolve issues by peaceful means on the basis of respect for basic principles of international law, especially the principle of respect for countries independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, the spokesperson said.

We also hope the lives and assets of inhabitants in Ukraine, including Vietnamese citizens, will be guaranteed."

Hang emphasized that Vietnam, as an active and responsible member of the international community, is ready to contribute to promoting dialogue and finding long-term solutions for the conflict, for peace and stability in the region and the world.

The prolonged military conflict broke out on February 24, when Russia officially launched its 'special military operation' on Ukrainian territory.

Since the outbreak of the conflict, some 5,200 out of the 7,000-strong Vietnamese community in Ukraine have been evacuated to neighboring countries and about 1,700 among the evacuated citizens have been repatriated by air to Vietnam, according to official figures.

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A man from Lam Dong Province in Vietnams Central Highlands has been arrested after being caught on camera beating his 10-year-old son and keeping him on a leash as punishment for stealing money.

Police in Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province confirmed on Friday they had apprehended Nguyen Thanh Luan, 37, a resident at Mau Tam apartment building in Ward 5.

Preliminary information shows that Luan returned to his apartment after drinking alcohol at around 9:30 pm on Wednesday.

Luan heard from his wife that N.A.H., their 10-year-old son, had stolen VND100,000 (US$4).

The man became infuriated and started hitting H. on his face and body.

Nguyen Thanh Luan keeps his son on a leash and forces him to crawl along the hallway in Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, October 19, 2022 in this screenshot taken from CCTV footage.

He continued beating the young boy with a belt despite the intervention from his wife and mother-in-law.

Luan then forced H. to strip off his clothes, crawl along the hallway, and bark as if he were a dog.

The man also kept his son on a leash and repeatedly kicked and slapped him.

Some neighbors noticed the incident but did not dare to interfere, knowing that Luan was previously given a suspended sentence for disrupting public order.

The incident was caught by CCTV inside the apartment building.

After receiving reports about the case, police officers launched an investigation and captured Luan.

Luan was not under the influence of narcotics when he beat his son, according to police.

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The first known human case of H5 bird flu in Vietnam since February 2014 was identified as a five-year-old girl in northern Phu Tho Province, Nguyen Luong Tam, deputy director of the Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, said on Thursday.

A report by the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology on October 17 showed that the child tested positive for avian influenza A(H5) virus.

Deputy director of the institute Tran Nhu Duong said that upon identifying the case, the agency sent a mobile prevention team to the area in Phu Tho where the patient lives in order to conduct epidemiological investigations.

The team took 65 samples from the patients distant and close contacts, whose test results showed that they were all negative for avian influenza A virus.

Duong stated that there appears to be no risk of the disease having spread in the local community.

Vietnam has recorded 128 cases of human H5 infection, including 64 deaths, from 2003 to present.

Despite its low prevalence in humans, H5 is still common in poultry populations across the country, according to the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The department forecasts that the risk of avian flu spreading to humans will increase in the near future due to changing weather patterns which seem to favor the development of avian influenza viruses.

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BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- In a report delivered on Sunday at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, expounded on the tasks of the CPC in the new era.

"From this day forward, the central task of the CPC will be to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a concerted effort to realize the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization," he said.

The success of the Chinese path to modernization has been widely recognized as a miracle in the history of human development and a pioneering undertaking in the development of human society, offering an alternative approach to achieving modernization that is different from that of Western countries.

Observers have said they expect China, in its stride towards modernization, to continue to bring development opportunities for the world, make global governance fairer and more equitable, and work with other nations to create a better future for humanity.

A GLOBAL INSPIRATION

Chinese modernization contains elements that are common to the modernization processes of all countries, but it is more characterized by features that are unique to the Chinese context.

Taking deep root in China, the Chinese path to modernization is in line with its national conditions. And China's achievements have inspired many developing countries to seek their own paths to development and prosperity.

Thong Mengdavid, a research fellow at the Phnom Penh-based Asian Vision Institute, lauded China's achievements on its path to modernization as "a true miracle in the history of human development."

China's success in eradicating absolute poverty and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects has inspired many developing countries to seek their own formula to reduce poverty and promote economic development and prosperity, he said.

After reading about Chinese modernization in the report Xi delivered at the 20th CPC National Congress, Gu Qingyang, an associate professor of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore, said Chinese modernization is a mode of development with Chinese characteristics.

The CPC is expected to lead the Chinese people in building a great modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the course of the great rejuvenation of the nation, which is of great significance in a changing world, Gu said.

When speaking of China's achievements in its stride towards modernization, Sommad Pholsena, vice president of the Lao National Assembly, recounted the life of his family in Beijing in the 1960s. He said his siblings still visit China from time to time at present and have experienced in person the changes in China.

"The achievements of Chinese modernization demonstrate that modernization does not simply equal Westernization, and every country can have their own modernization suitable for their respective countries," he said.

Adhere Cavince, a Kenya-based international relations scholar, said that "China's path to modernization is for a huge population" and putting people first.

Building a modernized society for more than one billion people is undoubtedly a huge contribution to humanity's progress, he said, adding that China has set a good example for other developing countries, including those in Africa, in seeking their own paths to modernization and development.

China has gone through a great economic and social transformation, said Luis Delgado, a researcher of Venezuela's Center for Advanced Studies in Development and Emerging Economies, adding that China's modernization has provided an important reference for many countries that are facing economic and social development problems and are exploring development paths suited to their national conditions.

Chinese modernization has created a new mode of human advancement, and provided alternatives for developing countries to achieve modernization, said Gennady Zyuganov, chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

China's rapid development is a major achievement in the development of human civilization, and its success in modernization will inspire other countries striving for a better future, he added.

A BOOST FOR WORLD PROSPERITY

Chinese modernization is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature and of peaceful development, the CPC report said.

Observers worldwide believe that Chinese modernization will push forward the world prosperity and mutual learning between civilizations, making more contributions to the world.

Hamdi Al-Tabbaa, president of the Jordanian Businessmen Association, witnessed China's development while conducting business in industries such as automobile, insurance and trade in the country in recent years, and has benefited from China's opening-up and its robust growth.

Chinese modernization, as was illustrated in Xi's report, means better living standards of the Chinese people in the future, he said, adding that it will vigorously promote the prolonged prosperity and development of the world economy.

China has won an anti-poverty fight unprecedented in scale in human history, raised people's income and is striving to achieve social equity, said Fernando Fazzolari, coordinator of the Infrastructure Commission of the Argentine-Chinese Chamber of Production, Industry and Commerce.

Fazzolari said what China has done has effectively expanded the Chinese market and increased the Chinese people's demand for high-quality goods and services, which is a great attraction for global enterprises.

Chinese modernization that features material and spiritual civilizations highlights the goal of achieving shared prosperity for all and promoting social fairness and justice, said professor Evandro Menezes de Carvalho from the Brazil-China Studies Center of the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

Chinese modernization follows a development path featuring increased productivity, prosperous life and a sound ecological environment, he said.

Chinese modernization highlights material and cultural-ethical advancement, which will continue to lead Chinese culture to the world and broaden the channels for deepening understanding between China and other countries in the world, said Ibrahim Alluhayb, a professor from King Saud University.

Noting the emphasis on "the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature" in the report, Amadou Diop, an expert on Chinese issues and journalist of the Senegal national daily Le Soleil, said "China is today a fundamental player in the preservation of the environment and in the promotion of green development."

"It has worked for a huge reduction in environmental pollution and the development of green economy in the country," he said. Citing the reforestation policies in China's desert areas, he said such ecological protection projects have provided experience for other countries and its promotion of renewable energy also inspires the world.

Chinese modernization, which was pursued on the path of peaceful development, will inject more positive energy into improving global governance, said Eduardo Regalado, a senior researcher at the International Policy Research Center of Cuba.

China firmly adheres to an independent foreign policy of peace and upholds the basic norms governing international relations and international equity and justice, the expert said, adding that he hopes China's new development will bring new opportunities to the world.

FOR BETTER GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

The world has once again stood at a crossroads, with its future course dependent on the choices of people of all countries.

Xi's report delivered at the 20th CPC National Congress says building a human community with a shared future and creating a new form of human advancement are essential requirements of Chinese modernization.

It shows that China, in its path to modernization, will always work to make the global governance fairer and more equitable and is always ready to jointly create an even brighter future for humanity.

Building a human community with a shared future is a great vision on improving global governance, providing a Chinese way of thinking of bringing peace and prosperity to the world, said Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation.

"It has a responsibility to represent all the people and to build the country," he said, commenting on the CPC's mission.

"The concept of a people-centered philosophy is indeed a foundation of how the CPC, the ruling party of China, sees its mission," Kuhn added, noting that building a human community with a shared future brings the same people-centered philosophy to the world.

David Monyae, director of the Center for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg, said the Chinese path to modernization is a pioneering work in the development of human society. From sharing development opportunities to sharing development experience, Chinese modernization has provided a more equitable development path.

China's development experience will have a profound impact on the world, especially on African countries and other developing countries, Monyae said.

China attaches great importance to people's health and well-being, vigorously implements the strategies of invigorating the country through science and education, and safeguards regional and international security, peace and stability, said Smail Debeche, a professor of political sciences and international relations at University of Algiers 3, who has been president of Algeria-China Friendship Association since the 1990s.

China will share its development opportunities with other developing countries, help other countries develop and improve their people's livelihood and promote the building of a human community with a shared future, which reflect the importance of people in the Chinese path to modernization, Debeche said.

He noted that in recent years, China has underlined partnership, mutual benefit and closer bonds in initiatives it proposed.

"A commitment to UN based international law, promotion of peace over conflict, and the establishment of global harmony in a multipolar world will be a clear message from the 20th CPC National Congress," said Dave Bromwich, a China expert from New Zealand.

A stable China and its strong economy are of great global importance, he added. 
Doctors at Hoan My Hospital in southern Vietnams Dong Nai Province said on Wednesday that they had successfully removed an extra tooth from the nasal cavity of a patient who had suffered from headaches for years.

K.N., the 24-year-old patient from Dong Nai Province, was admitted to the hospital earlier this month with a serious headache in the temporal region of their forehead.

A CT scan showed that there was an anomaly in the patient's right nasal cavity.

Doctors at the hospital successfully performed a surgery to remove the anomaly from the patient on October 5, during which they realized that the anomaly was a two-centimeter extra tooth.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Yen, a doctor in the ENT department at Hoan My Hospital, said that having an impacted tooth in the nasal cavity is quite rare.

The patient has been in stable condition since the surgery and her headache has subsided.

This CT scan shows the extra tooth in the patients nasal cavity. Photo: A.B. / Tuoi Tre

According to doctors, the tooth may have led to the patient forming a jaw cyst with irreversible maxillary bone loss had it not been removed.

Dr. Yen warned that people should have their health checked if they experience headaches, migraines, runny noses, and other symptoms in order to facilitate treatment.

People experiencing these symptoms should avoid self-medicating, which may cause the conditions to worsen.

Elaborating on her condition, N. said that she has suffered from headaches for a long time but thought they were normal or cerebral ischemia.

She had self-medicated with headache medicine for years.

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Over the last ten years, Nguyen Van Doi, a salter in Thieng Lieng Commune, Thanh An Ward, Can Gio District, Ho Chi Minh City, has become a pioneer in local salting circles thanks to his modern take on the old school trade.

Dois decision to modernize his five-hectare salting field was made amidst his longstanding disappointment in the high costs and low productivity that result from traditional salting techniques.

Traditionally, salt is made by storing seawater in salterns  large pools  and allowing the sun to evaporate the water, leaving salt behind.

For the best results, water is collected in the salterns during extremely hot weather in order to accelerate crystallization. Photo: Tu Trung / Tuoi Tre

The modern technique Doi now uses involves placing plastic mats on top of the sand at the bottom of his salterns, a method which allows him to boost both productivity and quality.

Dois success using the new method has enabled him to employ dozens of individuals from the local community, while supporting low-income households by helping them learn effective salt-farming techniques and impoverished individuals in setting up their own businesses.

The incredible impact Doi has made on the community has led locals to award him the nickname 'The King of Salters.'

I apply the new technology to make more effective salterns and irrigation, Doi told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Crystalized salt appears clean and comes out in great quantity thanks to effective technology. Photo: Tu Trung / Tuoi Tre

More importantly, I make sure I am producing salt at the right time, when the weather is extremely hot and the salinity level in the sea is well balanced.

These conditions help with rapid crystallization and increased productivity.

Crystalized salt sells for VND2,500-3,500 (US$0.1-0.14) per kilogram, 2-3 times higher than traditionally produced salt.

Dois modern crystallization techniques allow him to produce 90-100 metric tons every hectare.

In the months before the peak salting season, I use my salterns to raise tiger prawns, Doi said.

I do my best to make sure my 6,000-square-meter field is always generating my income.

Nguyen Van Doi puts a plastic mat on top of sand inside a saltern.

Bright salt crystals produced from plastic covered salterns are worth more than traditionally produced salt.

Nguyen Van Doi spends his days supervising the salterns, checking their contents and the salinity level of seawater.

The so-called 'King of Salters' harvests salt from plastic mats.

Many local people have switched to producing salt using Nguyen Van Dois more productive method.

Nguyen Van Doi proudly shares certificates of merit from the Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee.

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A Vietnamese calligraphy artist from Can Tho City recently created a giant non la from hundreds of normal-sized non la, creating a stunning new attraction for tourists and locals in the Mekong Delta city.

Dao Thi Cam Suong, the calligraphy artist behind the sculpture, said that she was inspired by her love for Can Tho, the local culture, and its residents.

A 'non la' is a traditional Vietnamese conical hat typically made from bamboo and straw.

Suongs giant conical hat took 89 days to transform from idea to reality.

A close-up of the work by Dao Thi Cam Suong in Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City, Vietnam. Photo: T.Luy / Tuoi Tre

It is made from 540 normal-sized non la, each decorated with traditional Vietnamese calligraphy of proverbs, poems, folk songs related to the city, and the names of other cities and provinces from across Vietnam.

The massive non la measures eight meters in diameter and six meters tall.

It currently holds the record for the largest calligraphy conical hat model in Vietnam according to VietKings  Vietnams record keeping organization.

The project was funded by a private company.

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Much has been written lately suggesting that ABC is not giving younger presenters airtime.

Putting to side for one minute that there are arguably other broadcasters guilty of the same, there are also some significant budget factors which are affecting opportunities.

After previous governments impacted ABC funding, the broadcaster publicly stated it would no longer commission shows to screen after 9:30pm. Its largely stuck to that rule, with a few exceptions.

But post 9:30 was previously a playing field for younger talent to develop off Broadway.

Emerging comedy acts such as The Chaser and a young Wil Anderson in The Glass House began life in 9:30 slots or later. Looking further back, so did names such as Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro, Marg Downey, Michael Veitch, Magda Szubanski and Tom Gleisner in The D-Generation.

The former comedy channel was also home to Tom Ballards Tonightly and ABC2 for a young Aaron Chen. In primetime there are less chances to take risks on new comedy acts, although Question Everything is adding some to its panel.

Despite this, ABC has still seen presenters under the age of 40 in recent years:

Kurt Fearnleys One Plus One, interview show hosted by Fearnley when he was 39.

Courtney Acts One Plus One interview show hosted by Courtney Act.

The Set music show hosted by Dylan Alcott and Linda Marigliano.

Win the Week quiz show hosted by Alex Lee.

Tonightly, comedy / variety hosted by Tom Ballard.

Aaron Chen Tonight, comedy show hosted by Aaron Chen.

A Dogs World factual series presented by Tony Armstrong.

India Now, Stuff the British Stole, The School that tried to End Racism, presented by Marc Fennell.

Q+A, forum show previously hosted by Hamish MacDonald at 39.

Good Game: Spawn Point gaming show hosted by Angharad Rad Yeo, Gemma Gem Driscoll.

BtN, news for kids hosted by Amelia Moseley and Jack Evans.

Question Everything, co-hosted by Jan Fran.
In the UK, a quarter of people who take their own lives were in contact with a health professional the previous week, and most have spoken to someone within the last month. Yet assessing patient suicide risk remains extremely difficult.

There were 5,219 recorded deaths by suicide in England in 2021. While the suicide rate in England and Wales has declined by around 31% since 1981, the majority of this decrease happened before 2000. Suicide is three times more common in men than in women, and this gap has increased over time.

House of Commons - Suicide Statistics Research Briefing, October 12 2021

A study conducted in October 2022, led by the Black Dog Institute in the University of New South Wales, found artificial intelligence (AI) models outperformed clinical risk assessments. It surveyed 56 studies from 2002 to 2021 and found AI correctly predicted 66% of people who would experience a suicide outcome and predicted 87% of people who would not. In comparison, traditional scoring methods carried out by health professionals are only slightly better than random.

AI is widely researched in other medical domains such as cancer. However, despite their promise, AI models for mental health are yet to be widely used in clinical settings.

Why suicide prediction is so difficult

A 2019 study from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden found four traditional scales used to predict suicide risk after recent episodes of self-harm performed poorly. The challenge of suicide prediction stems from the fact that a patients intent can change rapidly.

The guidance on self-harm used by health professionals in England explicitly states suicide risk assessment tools and scales should not be relied upon. Instead, professionals should use a clinical interview. While doctors do carry out structured risk assessments, they are used to make the most of interviews rather than providing a scale to determine who gets treatment.

The risk of AI

The study from the Black Dog Institute showed promising results, but if 50 years of research into traditional (non-AI) prediction yielded methods that were only slightly better than random, we need to ask whether we should trust AI. When a new development gives us something we want (in this case better suicide risk assessments) it can be tempting to stop asking questions. But we cant afford to rush this technology. The consequences of getting it wrong are literally life and death.

Story continues

AI models always have limitations, including how their performance is evaluated. For example, using accuracy as a metric can be misleading if the dataset is unbalanced. A model can achieve 99% accuracy by always predicting there will be no risk of suicide if only 1% of the patients in the dataset are high risk.

Its also essential to assess AI models on different data to that they are trained on. This is to avoid overfitting, where models can learn to perfectly predict results from training material but struggle to work with new data. Models may have worked flawlessly during development, but make incorrect diagnoses for real patients.

For example, AI was found to overfit to surgical markings on a patients skin when used to detect melanoma (a type of skin cancer). Doctors use blue pens to highlight suspicious lesions, and the AI learnt to associate these markings with a higher probability of cancer. This led to misdiagnosis in practice when blue highlighting wasnt used.

It can also be difficult to understand what AI models have learnt, such as why its predicting a particular level of risk. This is a prolific problem with AI systems in general, and has a lead to a whole field of research known as explainable AI.

The Black Dog Institute found 42 out of the 56 studies analysed had high risk of bias. In this scenario, a bias means the model over or under predicts the average rate of suicide. For example, the data has a 1% suicide rate, but the model predicts a 5% rate. High bias leads to misdiagnosis, either missing patients that are high risk, or over assigning risk to low-risk patients.

These biases stem from factors such as participant selection. For example, several studies had high case-control ratios, meaning the rate of suicides in the study was higher than in reality, so the AI model was likely to assign too much risk to patients.

A promising outlook

The models mostly used data from electronic health records. But some also included data from interviews, self-report surveys, and clinical notes. The benefit of using AI is that it can learn from large amounts of data faster and more efficiently than humans, and spot patterns missed by overworked health professionals.

While progress is being made, the AI approach to suicide prevention isnt ready to be used in practice. Researchers are already working to address many of the issues with AI suicide prevention models, such as how hard it is to explain why algorithms made their predictions.

However, suicide prediction is not the only way to reduce suicide rates and save lives. An accurate prediction does not help if it doesnt lead to effective intervention.

On its own, suicide prediction with AI is not going to prevent every death. But it could give mental health professionals another tool to care for their patients. It could be as life changing as state-of-the-art heart surgery if it raised the alarm for overlooked patients.

If youre struggling with suicidal thoughts, the following services can provide you with support: In the UK and Ireland  call Samaritans UK at 116 123. In the US  call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or IMAlive at 1-800-784-2433. In Australia  call Lifeline Australia at 13 11 14. In other countries  visit IASP or Suicide.org to find a helpline in your country.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Conversation

Joseph Early does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
MILAN (Reuters) - Outgoing Italian Finance Minister Daniele Franco gave his blessing to the appointment of Giancarlo Giorgetti as his successor, saying in a newspaper interview on Friday they shared the same ideas of what Italy needed and would certainly do well.

Giorgetti, the outgoing industry minister in Mario Draghi's government and the deputy leader of the right-wing League party, looks well placed to become economy minister in a new government led by rightist leader Giorgia Meloni.

Giorgetti is considered one of the League's most moderate and pro-European figures. President Sergio Mattarella is expected to give Meloni a mandate to form Italy's new government on Friday.

"We share the idea that Italy's economic development depends on what happens in the production system, first and foremost in manufacturing and services, that these sectors are at the heart of our ability to create income and that they must therefore be at the centre of economic policy," Franco told Corriere della Sera in an interview. "I believe he is very suitable (for the job)."

Meloni's Brothers of Italy party took the most seats in the Sept. 25 general elections, meaning that she should get to head the new government.

But despite winning a convincing majority, behind-the-scenes negotiations to assemble a cabinet have proved more difficult than expected, with Forza Italia's Silvio Berlusconi in particular furious over Meloni's refusal to satisfy his demands over key posts.

In the interview, Franco also pointed to what happened with the UK government and urged caution, adding one needed to be careful and pragmatic when deciding to change deficit targets to not upset markets.

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
A Turkish scholar said that China has achieved tremendous progress over the past decades, and it's concrete proof that the country will show similar successes in the coming period.







Produced by Xinhua Global Service




Zhai Qing, vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, speaks at a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosted the press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" on Friday. (Xinhua/Song Yanhua)

BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Major progress has been made in promoting the Beautiful China Initiative over the past decade thanks to combined efforts to improve the country's ecology and environment, a senior official said Friday.

China has achieved miracles in ecological protection and green development since 2012, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment Zhai Qing told a press conference on the sidelines of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Zhai said campaigns to fight air, water and soil pollution have brought tangible results. In 2021, the average concentration of hazardous airborne particles PM2.5 in Chinese cities at or above the prefecture-level decreased by 34.8 percent from 2015.

In ecological restoration and protection, the total area of nature reserves at all levels accounts for about 18 percent of China's land area, and five national parks have been established, according to him.

The wild populations of more than 300 types of rare and endangered wild animals and plants have been restored and increased, Zhai added.

Solid progress has also been made in the country's green, circular and low-carbon development, Zhai said.

In 2021, China's carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP dropped by 34.4 percent from 2012, and the share of coal in primary energy consumption fell from 68.5 percent to 56 percent during the period.

Looking ahead, China will further improve the quality of ecology and environment, promote the comprehensive green shift in economic and social development, and advance establishing and improving a modern environmental governance system, Zhai said. 
HA NOI  Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine are advised to evacuate from major cities as Russia intensifies strikes in the escalating conflict, according to the foreign ministry.

Spokesperson for the ministry Le Thi Thu Hang made the announcement on Thursday during the regular press conference in Ha Noi.

We follow the situation in Ukraine with keen interest and we pay particular attention to the citizen protection measures for the Vietnamese nationals currently residing and working there, Hang said.

As the situation in Ukraine is witnessing new, complicated and unpredictable developments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has urgently directed the Embassy of Viet Nam in Ukraine to maintain regular contact with the Vietnamese community in Ukraine in order to grasp the situation and to arrange officials for the citizen protection hotline, and to stand ready to receive information and provide assistance in a timely manner, to discuss and ask competent authorities in Ukraine to have measures to support and ensure the lives, livelihood and properties for the citizens as well as Vietnamese businesses in Ukraine, the spokesperson remarked.

According to the Vietnamese Embassy, there are currently 500 Vietnamese nationals residing in Ukraine and there have not been any casualties recorded in recent conflicts.

On October 18, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Consular Department along with the Embassy of Viet Nam in Ukraine issued recommendations asking the Vietnamese citizens to maintain regular contact with Vietnamese associations as well as the embassy in Ukraine, be ready to take measures to keep themselves and their loved ones safe, including evacuation from major cities and staying away from the danger zones.

The citizens are also asked to contact the competent authorities immediately through the citizen protection hotline of the consular department as well as representative agencies of Viet Nam, in Ukraine and in other neighbouring countries, according to the spokesperson.

With regard to the escalation of conflict in Ukraine, Hang said Viet Nam wishes to call upon all parties concerned to resume dialogue, to settle issues by peaceful means, in accordance with international law, especially the fundamental principles including respect for independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

We also wish that the lives, livelihoods, and properties of people in Ukraine, including those of Vietnamese citizens, are ensured and guaranteed, the spokesperson noted.

As an active and responsible member of the international community, Viet Nam is willing to contribute to promoting dialogue and seeking a resolution to stabilise the situation for peace and stability in the region and the world, Hang told reporters.

Workers stranded in Africa

Reporters also raised the question on the Embassy of Viet Nam in Angolas advisory warning Vietnamese citizens to not be tempted into dubious jobs in some African countries following a row of inquiries for help from stranded Vietnamese nationals.

The spokesperson said the ministry has discussed this matter with the Embassy of Viet Nam in Angola, which is concurrently accredited to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and we have received information that the embassy has received requests for assistance and repatriation from Vietnamese nationals residing in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to difficulties with their employers, regarding employment placement, accommodation, and also those who have had their salaries reduced or owed by their employers.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Angola has worked with competent authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo to provide information and to request that the competent authorities have measures to ensure the livelihoods of Vietnamese workers," Hang said, adding that the Embassy of Viet Nam has contacted the Vietnamese community in Congo in order to provide temporary residence for them as they await the resolution of these difficulties.

At the same time, the embassy has issued recommendations for workers to carefully research information before deciding to take up labour contracts in Congo, the spokesperson noted, adding that currently, the situation of the stranded citizens here has seen certain improvements.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed the Embassy of Viet Nam in Angola to continue working closely with local competent authorities and employers in order to resolve emerging issues, she said.

The consular department is also told to work with the Vietnamese Embassy in Angola as well as other government agencies in order to implement the citizen protection members in a timely manner.

The spokesperson also urged Vietnamese to figure out all the information necessary before agreeing to work contracts abroad in order to avoid being scammed by illegal brokers, and when problems emerge, contact the Vietnamese agencies abroad directly or through the ministrys citizen protection hotline.

Human smuggling in Cambodia

Also related to Vietnamese workers overseas, Hang was asked for comments on the recent case of over 100 citizens tricked into forced labour in Cambodia and held captive in a resort near the Cambodia-Thailand border.

The spokesperson said the area in question falls under the jurisdiction of the General Consulate of Viet Nam in Battambang, Cambodia.

According to the consulate, recently Vietnamese authorities have worked with authorities of some Cambodian provinces in this border area to implement many measures in order to support and rescue Vietnamese nationals who have been illegally scammed and brokered into labour, Hang said.

From July to September of this year, the General Consulate has helped to rescue and repatriate over 100 citizens from this area.

Since the end of September this year, through surveying in the area, the consulate has worked with local authorities and rescued an additional 171 individuals, Hang said.

After rescuing the Vietnamese nationals from these illegal business facilities, the General Consulate has sent officials to meet with the victims, and implement citizen protection measures, as well as to provide essentials to these individuals and to support them in finalising procedures for repatriation as soon as possible.

Domestically, the Consular Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working with competent authorities in Viet Nam to identify these individuals and to work on receiving them from Cambodia.

The spokesperson said that Vietnamese authorities including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of Viet Nam in Cambodia, as well as the General Consulate of Viet Nam in Battambang will continue to work with Cambodian authorities to monitor the area to seek and rescue additional Vietnamese nationals if necessary, and to implement citizen protection measures to safeguard their rights and interests.  VNS
NEW YORK  The visit to Viet Nam by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from October 21  22 reflects the importance the United Nations attaches to the international role and position of and contributions by the Southeast Asian nation as well as the partnership between the two sides, a diplomat has said.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Ambassador ang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to the UN, stressed that the visit was of great significance.

Through meetings between the UN Secretary General and Vietnamese high-ranking Party and State leaders and diverse activities during the visit, the multi-faceted cooperation between the two sides would be enhanced in a more intensive and practical manner, the ambassador said.

This also would help promote issues of shared concern such as the implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially those on environmental protection and climate change response, enabling Viet Nam to contribute more to international efforts in addressing global challenges, for peace, stability and development in the region and the world, he continued.

Reviewing the cooperation between the two sides over the past 45 years, Giang noted that the UN was Viet Nams biggest international partner that provided support for the country in the post-war reconstruction through a range of projects in poverty reduction, helping to ensure its peoples lives.

Gradually, with marked achievements in reform, socio-economic development and international integration, Viet Nam had consolidated its position in the international arena.

Viet Nam had set up diplomatic ties with nearly 190 UN member countries and strategic and comprehensive partnerships with all leading important partners, Giang said, adding that Viet Nams international position is associated with its active, responsible and practical contributions to common affairs of the international community, particularly the UN.

Viet Nam won seats at UN agencies including the Security Council for the 2008-2009 and 2020-2021 tenures, the Human Rights Council for 2014-2016, and the Economic and Social Council for 2016-2018; and had chances to engage in discussions to promote solutions in important areas.

Since 2014, Viet Nam had joined UN peacekeeping operations. Most recently, the country was elected a Vice President of the 77th UN General Assembly for 2022-2023, and a member of the Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 tenure.

Through such engagement, Viet Nam had affirmed that it not only was serious and willing to be a reliable, constructive and responsible member of the international community, but also had full capacity in terms of capacity and resources to take on tasks and join international efforts in handling common issues, according to the ambassador.

Giang added that Viet Nam had played a role in promoting multilateralism and collective approach, which is crucial and drawing attention of countries given the complex developments, competitions and differences of the world situation.

These noteworthy achievements helped affirm Viet Nams development attainments over the past years, while facilitating its intensive and extensive participation in regional and global affairs in the time ahead, he said.

They had also contributed to implementing Viet Nams inclusive target of ensuring the highest interest of the nation and utilising resources to serve national development.

Giang said the current global and international situation, as well as the countrys potential and its rising position, had both required and created conditions for Viet Nam to work harder to make quality progress for the relationship with the UN.

He suggested Viet Nam further work together with other countries to promote multilateralism and the role of the UN, while actively contributing to joint efforts in maintaining international peace and security, especially issues directly related to the region.

Viet Nams joining UN peacekeeping activities would be further expanded in various localities, he said, emphasising that the country would carry forward its active role in promoting important agendas, covering the implementation of SDGs.

The engagement was expected to help the country optimise resources and support of the international community for its sustainable development.

Giang noted Viet Nam was working together with key countries to prepare a UN summit on improving the worlds response to pandemics, and that Viet Nam would strive to bring into full play opportunities through its membership at the Human Rights Council for 2023-2025.  VNS
HA NOI  Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son hosted a reception in Ha Noi on Friday for Secretary General of Foreign Policy of the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alex Wetzig Abdale, who has been on an official visit to Viet Nam to co-chair the 7th political consultation between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs.

The minister expressed his delight at the practical development of the Viet Nam-Chile traditional friendship and comprehensive partnership in the recent past despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Having spoken highly of the results of the 7th political consultation co-chaired by foreign ministers assistant Le Thi Thu Hang and Abdale, Son suggested both sides continue implementing important contents of the bilateral agenda, especially promoting the exchange of high-level delegations and meetings as well as between ministries, agencies and businesses.

He proposed effectively upholding existing cooperation mechanisms such as the Political Consultation and Free Trade Council; encouraging the two countries enterprises to access the other's markets; making the most of signed bilateral and multilateral legal frameworks, particularly the Viet Nam-Chile Free Trade Agreement; and expanding new cooperation areas such as climate change response, renewable energy and food security.

Abdale highly appreciated Viet Nams achievements in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining economic growth and ensuring social security.

He congratulated Viet Nam on securing a seat at the UN Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 tenure and other important organs of the UN.

Chile always treasures and wants to further deepen its traditional friendship and cooperation with Viet Nam in politics-diplomacy, economy-trade, culture-education, science-technology, and people-to-people exchanges, the official said.

He underscored the importance of cooperation in the process of ratifying implementing the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and strengthening the development partnership between Chile and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

At the political consultation, the two sides informed each other about their respective countries' situation and discussed measures to deepen the Viet Nam-Chile friendship and comprehensive cooperation as well as ties between the two foreign ministries in the near future.

They agreed to continue working closely together to promote the exchange of high-level delegations and meetings, maintain the efficiency of existing cooperation mechanisms, and encourage linkages between the two countries ministries, agencies, localities and businesses.

On global and regional issues of shared concern, they agreed to a view that international differences and disputes should be settled via peaceful measures in line with the UN Charter and international law.

As both Viet Nam and Chile have been elected to the UN Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 tenure, the two sides pledged to work closely together at international organisations and multilateral forums of which both nations are members in order to protect legitimate interests of their people and contribute to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.  VNS
HA NOI  Better Health Programme  a UK-led initiative launched in 2020  has helped tackle systematic issues and strengthened the health system in Viet Nam.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health and the British Embassy in Viet Nam co-hosted the programme's closing event.

The event was attended by policymakers, the ministry's technical experts, and representatives from research institutes, hospitals, and international organisations. The participants discussed the programme's outputs, outcomes, challenges, and lessons learnt to enable the transfer of knowledge for its sustainability.

The event witnessed the handover of the Better Health Programme's deliverables outputs from the British Ambassador to Viet Nam, Iain Frew, to Deputy Health Minister Prof. Dr Tran Van Thuan.

Ambassador Frew said that over the past three years of the Better Health Programme, they made great strides in building capacity for Vietnamese healthcare workers, introducing new models and information systems, and supporting Vietnamese institutional development.

"I believe the Ministry of Health will continue sustaining all those outcomes after the handover. As we advance, the UK government will continue our commitment to strengthening global health security through supporting health systems and access to new health technologies," he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of a health system resilience for both pandemic preparedness and addressing persistent health challenges, including non-communicable diseases. One of the key factors in addressing those underlying issues is establishing effective and coherent information flows and surveillance systems. This will help prevent non-communicable diseases, mobilise resources, and deliver better care.

Through the Better Health Programme, the UK Government supports the Vietnamese Ministry of Health in tackling the systematic issues to build Vietnamese health system resilience through improving workforce capacity, supporting institutional development and harnessing the potential of digital innovation to strengthen equitable access to safe and quality care.

The programme provides recommendations for non-communicable diseases strategies, special education management, and digital health roadmap in Viet Nam with technical cooperation from world-leading experts from the UK National Health Service (NHS) and international organisations.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Health Minister Thuan said that within a limited timeframe, the programme had remarkably supported the Vietnamese health sector in strengthening the capacity to tackle the burden of non-communicable diseases, improving innovation in health education and training, and digital health transformation.

"With strong cooperation and commitment, I hope all relevant stakeholders will work together to fulfil the remaining health gaps, as well as monitor, evaluate, and update its deliverables to reflect our current needs," he said.  VNS
Hanoi-The northern province of Bac Ninh and Gumi city of the Republic of Korea co-held a business forum in Bac Ninh city on October 20, aiming to intensify cooperation between the two localities as well as the two countries.

At the forum (Photo: VNA)

Standing Vice Chairman of Bac Ninh Peoples Committee Vuong Quoc Tuan welcomed the Gumi delegation to the province, and affirmed that the forum will open up opportunities for bilateral partnerships in investment, trade, tourism, health care, education, culture and communications.

Tuan highlighted that the RoK is the biggest foreign investor in Bac Ninh with about 14.25 billion USD in 951 projects, accounting for 62% of total foreign investment capital in the province. Projects of Korean investors such as Samsung, Intops, Hanwha, Techwin and Amkor have contributed importantly to social-economic development and social security in Bac Ninh, he said.

The official hoped for investment from Gumi into industries important in the Fourth Industrial Revolution such as information communication technology, digital technology, nano technology, biological technology and new materials. He pledged that Bac Ninh will create the best possible conditions for investors from Gumi.

The mayor of Gumi, Kim Jang-ho said among 44 Gumi companies investing in Vietnam, 20 are based in Bac Ninh, which showed the provinces investment attraction policy is effective.

He expressed a hope that the two sides will continue to boost joint work in all aspects.

At the forum, Bac Ninh introduced its industrial parks and investment incentives to companies from Gumi.

The Gumi business delegation also paid a courtesy visit to leaders of Bac Ninh province.

Korean semiconductor manufacturer to pour 1.6 billion USD in Bac Ninh The Republic of Koreas Amkor Technology, Inc. will embark on the first-stage construction of its plant at Yen Phong II-C Industrial Park (IP) in the northern province of Bac Ninh in the first quarter of next year, said provincial authorities announced on November 5.

Shinhan Bank Vietnam opens new locations in Bac Ninh and Dong Nai Shinhan Bank Vietnam has opened the Que Vo branch in Que Vo district, Bac Ninh province, and the Thong Nhat transaction office in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai province in early 2022.
Vietnam has ample potential for tourism development as the country boasts a long coastline, beautiful landscapes, and abundant natural resources. Located in a strategic position, Vietnam is an important link in the global supply chain. To unlock the countrys full potential, it is vital to promote the development of infrastructure, especially aviation infrastructure.

Some of Vietnams small airports have seen a huge rise in passenger numbers, Photo: Le Toan

The fact is that the aviation structure has yet to be fully developed in some areas. Provinces in the north-west region are known for their magnificent scenery and cool climate, which is ideal for ecotourism, adventurous travel, and luxury hospitality. Beside tourism, the provinces can focus on the processing and export of agricultural and forestry products as well as the making of handicrafts. However, the localities fail to take advantage of their strengths due to a lack of infrastructure facilities like airports.

Likewise, the Central Highlands have the potential to develop eco-tourism, agricultural, and forestry sectors. Despite its strategic location in terms of economics and national security, the region has limited connectivity, which complicates trade flows.

Recognising the importance of aviation infrastructure, some localities have proposed the construction of small airports to serve passenger and cargo transport, which will help promote the local tourism industry and exports of agricultural products. At the same time, the proposed airports are expected to be a driving force for the local economy by improving connectivity.

Recently, in an official dispatch to the prime minister and the Ministry of Transport (MoT), chairman of Ha Giang Peoples Committee proposed to include Tan Quang Airport in the master plan for the development of airports in the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050. The master plan is being reviewed and finalised by the MoT.

Ha Giang Peoples Committee noted that the province boasts favourable conditions to develop citrus fruit trees, afforestation, tourism, and a border gate economy. Some popular tourist attractions in the locality include Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark and the national heritage terraced rice fields in Hoang Su Phi.

However, due to its location and terrain, Ha Giang can only currently be accessed via road, with the two-lane National Highway No.2 connecting with Hanoi and other provinces. The downtown area is 260km from Noi Bai International Airport.

The provincial leaders stressed that it is crucial to include Tan Quang Airport in the master plan and call for private investors.

At the meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, the leaders of 15 cities and provinces emphasised the importance of developing new airports to meet the rising demand for air travel in their localities.

New airports have been proven to catalyse the economic growth of certain localities in Vietnam. For example, Phu Quoc, which was once a poor island district. Despite its prime location and proximity to other regional countries, Phu Quoc was previously underdeveloped and had only ocean transportation. However, Phu Quoc has now become Vietnams first island city with a vision to become Asias leading economic and tourism centre.

According to local authorities, Phu Quoc only welcomed 300,000 tourist arrivals in 2010. In 2014, this figure had doubled to 600,000, including 125,000 international tourists, up 21.5 per cent year-on-year. The island city has earned $91.91 million in revenue from tourism, up 84 per cent from 2018. The increase is driven by the launch of Phu Quoc International Airport in 2012.

Since the airport was put into operation, a growing number of large investors have flocked to Phu Quoc to develop hotels and resorts, transforming the island into a tourist destination in the region.

Vietnam still has many provinces with ample potential for tourism development, such as in the north-west and Central Highlands regions.

The provinces have not only beautiful sceneries to promote the tourism sector but also favourable conditions to develop industries.

Nguyen Tien Dat, CEO of AZA Travel, said that it is suitable to build new airports in these regions, where aviation infrastructure remains limited. Tourists living in the south prefer travelling to the north, like Ha Giang. However, it is quite challenging to travel by road to this province. If there is a direct flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Ha Giang, it will be more convenient for tourists from the south, Dat said. The airport development in Ha Giang will have a positive impact on tourism, thereby contributing to the local socioeconomic development, he stressed.

Other leaders of travel agencies believe that the comprehensive development of transport infrastructure is vital to boost tourism and the economy in the provinces. Despite some upgrades in the road system, the provinces are still hard to reach due to the mountainous terrain.

Finding suitable models for small airports in Vietnam Michel Werson, chief economist and lead of Financial Advisory at NACO  a subsidiary of Royal HaskoningDHV  delves into the ins and outs of airport development.

Utilising national advantages with crucial infrastructure Small airports and dual-use airports are expected to be valuable infrastructure fulcrums for many remote localities to attract investment and exploit the advantages of tourism, if selected and added to the plan and early investment implementation.
The Vietnam Startup 4.0 Forum 2022 took place on October 19.

Dr. Dinh Viet Hoa, president of the National Association of Entrepreneurship shared at the forum, "A strong country is a country that produces many strong enterprises. Enterprises must identify innovation as the driving force and the ultimate solution to improve competitiveness as international economic integration is increasingly deep and comprehensive."

The National Association of Entrepreneurship and the National Innovation Centre participated in the signing ceremony of a strategic cooperation agreement to develop the national startup ecosystem.

Dr. Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC) emphasised, The key to national development at the present lies in the two most important phrases: improving the quality of human capital and innovative startups. These are the wings of the economy.

According to Loc, innovation is a vital factor for businesses. The government's policy is to accelerate the transformation of the growth model based on the application of science, technology, and innovation to improve the productivity, quality, and competitiveness of the economy.

Vu Quoc Huy, director of the National Innovation Centre, said that Vietnam's innovation startup ecosystem is growing day by day.

Vietnam is rated by international organisations as one of the top three most dynamic startup ecosystems in Southeast Asia. The Global Innovation Index 2022 recognises Vietnam as one of the countries that have made great progress in the past decade," said Huy.

Huy added that in 2021, the total investment capital in Vietnamese startups will reach a record of $1.4 billion, an increase of nearly four times compared to 2020 and six times higher than the record figure in 2019 ($874 million). Vietnam also appeared two more tech unicorns, Sky Mavis and Momo.

Sharing the experience of the startup nation, Maayan Ben Tura, Deputy Ambassador of Israel to Vietnam, informed that Israel has many startup businesses that have been valued at up to a billion US dollar. Israel also has many hubs and incubators in different parts of the country to best support startups.

From the very beginning when starting a business, businesses have defined the idea of going out into the world. In Israeli culture, failure is something of great value and experience, said Tura.

In fact, many countries around the world such as Israel, Japan, China, and South Korea have developed a prosperous country by promoting startup and innovation activities. Despite its small area with 9.4 million people, in 2021, Israel ranks third in the world in terms of number of tech unicorns (17), while the United States is 45 and China is 25.

Dinh Viet Hoa, president of the National Association of Entrepreneurship, said that the experience of entrepreneurship and innovation from Israel, South Korea, Japan, and China can draw lessons and good suggestions for Vietnam in its journey of national startup ecosystem promotion programme.

At the event, the National Association of Entrepreneurship and the National Innovation Centre also signed a strategic cooperation agreement to develop the national startup ecosystem.

Defining innovative startup enterprises in Vietnam The state has provided special policies to encourage small- and medium-sized startup enterprises (SMEs) that primarily focus on tech advancement and research, and need the assistance of all resources for building their reputation and market status.

Edtech startup VUIHOC bags $2 million in bridge funding ahead of Series A VUIHOC has raised $2 million in a bridge round led by Ant Group-backed venture capital firm BAce Capital that was joined by other investors including Vulpes Venture, DT&Investment & Colopl Next, and Nextrans.

Vietnam's innovation start-up ecosystem investment forecasted to hit $2 billion Vietnam's innovation start-up ecosystem is forecast to see an investment of US$2 billion, maintaining the form of a "rising star" of start-ups in South Asian countries.
NACO has over 70 years of airport planning and design experience and has delivered 600 airport projects worldwide. Our consulting and engineering firm has 6,000 employees and 30 offices worldwide, and has analysed the small airport model, international experiences, and recommendations for Vietnam.

Michel Werson, chief economist and lead of Financial Advisory at NACO  a subsidiary of Royal HaskoningDHV

According to data sourced from our policy brief from 2019 about the sustainability of small airports, prepared by Airports Council International (ACI), there are almost 4,200 commercial airports with scheduled traffic worldwide.

In terms of throughput, we see that only 3 per cent of commercial airports handle more than 20 million annual passengers and 19 per cent handle between one and 20 million annual passengers. A total of 78 per cent of commercial airports handle less than a million passengers per year.

Together, these airports handle only 5 per cent of global traffic. So when looking at volume, small airports and airports with less than a million annual passengers play a very modest role in the aviation sector. Considering the commonly used rule of thumb that airports need at least one million annual passengers to be financially sustainable, it is tempting to conclude that small local airports have no importance or reason to exist.

Size is not everything

Even though a relatively small group of large airports dominate in terms of throughput, small and regional airports have an important function. We can think of the airport system in three layers. The top layer are the large hub airports with annual traffic volumes of more than 20 million passengers.

The lowest layer is made up of local airports with less than one million annual passengers. And the third layer is in-between, which connect both the hub airports and the local airports, and function as a direct feeder for large airports but also as a provider of strategic spare capacity capable of absorbing spill-over traffic.

But small airports bring other values. Small airports with more than one million annual passengers can  when managed properly  create direct economic value in terms of profits for the operators and investors. In addition, they create direct employment. And finally, they create indirect economic value: they attract investments and promote or support economic activities (such as tourism) and generate indirect employment and tax income for governments. Although each case is different, in general every million annual passengers creates about a thousand direct and indirect jobs.

The ACI report shows that most small airports are not operated stand-alone, but as part of a network. Of airports that handle less than one million passengers per year, 56 per cent are part of a network. Networks are either operated by a state or are corporatised. The latter are airports are part of a network entity that is not part of a ministry but has public shareholders. An example of this is the Schiphol Group. Besides Amsterdam Airport, Schiphol operates three regional airports in the Netherlands, and its shareholders are the Dutch state and two municipalities.

The rationale for that is that small airports benefit from a network. Firstly, network membership gives access to capital, something that many small standalones are typically struggling with. That makes it possible to keep facilities up to date, which helps to create a quality product and attract and retain airlines.

Furthermore, being part of a group helps to keep costs low through benefiting from joint procurement and shared services such as financial administration, human resources and IT systems management. It also gives access to best practices, expertise and contacts that would be too expensive when operating stand-alone. And finally, a maybe less obvious advantage is that within the group, economic performance can be compared with peers, which helps promote economic efficiency. Having looked at the airport network and the roles of airports of various sizes in the hierarchy, the question arises of what the optimal network looks like, how to plan for different airport sizes, where, and especially how close-by. Such nuances are considerations of the idea that airports, by definition, must be located far apart. Or that airports that are located close together are a waste of investment.

In many countries, the airport network historically grew and evolved over time, and the current network is only partly the result of a planning exercise. Looking at the presence of small airports worldwide, there is no easy generic formula that can define where airport capacity makes economic sense.

Each case needs to be analysed individually. There are situations where multiple airports can co-exist in proximity and where healthy competition contributes to creating a functioning equilibrium. And there are situations where this is not the case, and where  if you could plan anew  you would do it differently.

Private sector approaches

The potential benefits that private sector participation can bring to airport development and operations are clear. The growing number of airport concessions in various regions worldwide is a testimony to that.

Firstly, established companies bring along capital and a track record, which creates trust and makes lenders willing to provide capital. Next, private sector companies bring along management capabilities required for operational excellence and cost efficiencies, but to execute large and complicated capital programmes on time and within budget.

Markets with multiple airports can adopt various approaches involving the private sector. The first approach is to privatise the large airports and use the proceeds to sustain and invest in smaller ones. This approach can be considered when the small airports do not need much investment and/or have little potential. The disadvantage is that only the large airports benefit from private sector involvement.

A second approach is the opposite: bundling multiple small airports. Either because there are no large airports in the network or because large airports have another status or need to be retained under control for another reason. In this case, it is important that small airports are of sufficient size for the private operator.

A third approach is to create bundles or clusters that combine one or more larger airports with multiple small airports. This is probably the most common form. The advantage is that the smaller airports will be cross-subsidised by the larger ones. In such an approach, it is crucial to well-define any investment requirements for small airports. If not, the concessionaire might be tempted to only focus on the more profitable large airports in the bundle.

There are various ways governments can invite the private sector to participate in the development and operations of airports. There is no right and wrong way to do it. Considering the advantages that being part of a network brings, it makes sense to evaluate the possibility of privatising the development of smaller airports in a bundle. This creates economies of scale and scope.

PPPs driving small airport investment Vietnam wants to increase investment in domestic airports and establish better infrastructure, but capital will only increase when the institutional conditions are further improved.

Capital sought for upgrade of airports Six airports, including five international ones, will shortly be handed over to local governments to actively solicit capital for upgrades.
The California-based company's Android mobile operating system is by far the dominant player in India and is run on 95 percent of all the country's smartphones, according to research agency Counterpoint.

Google fined $162 mn by Indian watchdog over market dominance

But the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said the operating system was configured to unlawfully crowd out rivals to YouTube, web browser Chrome and other popular Google apps.

Android had a suite of Google apps pre-installed on its phones, including the company's own search engine, "which accorded significant competitive edge to Google's search services over its competitors", a CCI statement said late Thursday.

"Markets should be allowed to compete on merits and the onus is on (Google) that its conduct does not impinge this competition on merits," it added.

The commission levied a fine of 13.4 billion rupees ($162 million) and instructed the company to allow Android users to remove pre-installed Google apps.

It also told Google not to enter into any agreement with smartphone makers that would encourage them to only sell Android-based devices or exclusively use its software.

Google faced a similar anti-trust ruling in the European Union that found the company had imposed "unlawful restrictions" on smartphone makers to benefit its search engine.

Last month the EU's second-highest court upheld a $4.1 billion fine against the company.

Global regulators have followed suit, with Google facing a barrage of cases in the United States and Asia based on similar accusations.

India is home to the second-highest number of smartphone users in the world, after China.

Its smartphone market grew 27 percent year on year in 2021, according to Counterpoint, with annual sales exceeding 169 million units.

More than 60 percent of phones sold in the country come from leading Chinese manufacturers including Xiaomi and Oppo.

Apple remains a minor player in the budget-conscious market but has seen some inroads in recent years, and the company last month announced plans to locally manufacture its flagship iPhone 14.

Google launches third data centre in Singapore Tech giant Google has launched its third data centre in Singapore on August 23, bringing its total investments in such facilities in the Southeast Asian nation to 850 million USD.
Brussels-A delegation from the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong led by Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Tran Duc Quan has paid a visit to Belgium to seek stronger partnership with businesses and localities in the European country.

At the working session with Lam Dong delegation and leaders of East Flanders province (Photo: VNA)

On October 20, the delegation had a meeting with representatives of Delahaut, a company specialising in coffee, and flower company Deroose Plants. The firms showed interest in cooperation opportunities in Vietnam and Lam Dong in particular.

The same day in Gent city, the delegation had a working session with Governor of East Flanders province Carina Van Cauter who introduced strengths of the locality in sea port and tertiary training. Currently, Gent is focusing on boosting circular economy, sustainable development and smart city, she said.

For his part, Quan briefed the host on Lam Dongs advantages in high-tech agriculture and tourism thanks to its favourable weather conditions. Highlighting the provinces orientations to combine agriculture and tourism, he asked for support from East Flanders in developing green and circular agriculture and health care.

Speaking to Vietnam News Agencys correspondent in Brussels, Vice Chairman of Lam Dong Peoples Committee Dang Chi Dung said that East Flanders and Lam Dong shared many similarities and cooperation potential, especially in flower farming, scientific research and environmental-friendly agriculture.

The delegations visit to the locality aims to promote collaboration between the two localities after two years of COVID-19, and seek partnership with local businesses in the field of coffee and flower farming.

On October 21, the delegation is scheduled to visit a number of establishments producing saplings, vegetable and flower and ornamental plants in East Flanders, a major flower, vegetable and beef supplier of Belgium.

Since Lam Dong and East Flanders set up their partnership in 2000, the two sides have conducted various projects that benefit both sides. East Flanders has supported Lam Dong by sending many officials to the province and provide funding in agriculture to the locality.

Lam Dong to develop VND4.5 trillion Tan Phu-Bao Loc Expressway Lam Dong Peoples Committee will spend VND4.5 trillion ($195.65 million) from the provincial budget developing Tan Phu-Bao Loc Expressway, which connects Lam Dong with the neighbouring province of Dong Nai, under the public-private partnership format.
SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- South Korea logged trade deficit in the first 20 days of this month amid faltering export, customs office data showed Friday.

Trade deficit amounted to 4.95 billion U.S. dollars in the October 1-20 period, up from a deficit of 2.37 billion dollars tallied in the same period of last year, according to the Korea Customs Service.

For the past six months to September, the trade balance remained in red with deficits of 2.48 billion dollars in April, 1.6 billion dollars in May, 2.5 billion dollars in June, 5.09 billion dollars in July, 9.39 billion dollars in August and 3.78 billion dollars in September.

The continued deficit was attributed to sluggish export and growing import, caused by higher energy prices.

Export declined 5.5 percent over the year to 32.4 billion dollars for the first 20 days of October, while import gained 1.9 percent to 37.35 billion dollars.

Semiconductor export reduced 12.8 percent in the cited period, and shipment for steel products and mobile devices retreated in double figures.

Shipment for oil products and cars advanced in double digits, and auto parts export grew 9.8 percent.

Import for the country's three major energy sources, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, stood at 8.61 billion dollars in the first 20 days of October, up 8.5 percent from a year earlier.

Import from the United States increased 6.6 percent, but import from Saudi Arabia shed 1.4 percent. 
Vietnam currently has 22 operating airports, including nine international ones. All are dual purpose, serving both military and civil users. A list of airport development projects for the 2021-2030 period was set out in a draft proposal for the 2021 Airports Development Masterplan which the Ministry of Transport (MoT) submitted to the prime minister mid-2021.

Tony Foster, managing partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

As often, plans and reality do not necessarily coincide. Some newcomers are jostling for position. The government has approved in principle the building of Quang Tri Airport as a public-private partnership (PPP). And an expansion at Can Tho seems to have been added into the plans.

Other projects have been batted into the long grass. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has rejected proposals by Ha Giang, Bac Giang, Ninh Binh, Binh Phuoc, and Ha Tinh provinces to build new airports in their localities or develop their military airports into mixed-use facilities.

There is little economic justification, nationally, for airports in every province. The number required of course depends on numerous factors, but if any citizen is within 100km of a public airport the country is generally deemed to be well-served.

Private sector investors have spied an opportunity because the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) has been weakened. COVID-19 did it no favours. ACVs earnings soared in H1/2022, but this was flattering as the comparison was against H1/2021, when COVID-19 was battering the country. And earnings in H1/2022 benefited from revaluation gains in its Japanese debts caused by the sudden plummeting of the Japanese yen.

ACV has the job of investing in the mammoth Long Thanh International Airport project and the third passenger terminal at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. These two projects will strain ACVs investment budget. Little will be left for other airports, whose investment capital needs for the 2022-2030 period are estimated to be about $15 billion.

The private sector is right to spot investment opportunities. The government appears to be encouraging it. The CAAV has recommended that airports/expansions at Na San, Vinh, Chu Lai, Tho Xuan, Lam Dong, and Can Tho be built using private investment. But caution is required. So far it has proved difficult to raise capital for airports outside the state budget for numerous reasons.

One is that there is an ACV overhang. There are privately-built and owned terminals in Danang and in Cam Ranh, but the airports are still operated by ACV. The same appears to be true for Van Don. If an entity other than ACV wishes to acquire the right to operate a new airport or new infrastructure in ACVs airport, such entity must also obtain a licence. In order for it to obtain that, it must prove that it has qualified and licensed staff to operate the airport and sufficient technical resources and machinery and equipment to ensure safety and security. So private developers of new terminals would either have to show the MoT that they had these qualified people and expertise or that ACV had agreed to operate these facilities for them. So ACV retains substantial power.

Another significant issue relates to the responsibility for building supporting infrastructure, such as roads and railway links from the city to the airport. The Long Thanh project demonstrates the difficulties, for if there is no rail link and the roads remain clogged, it will not be an attractive proposition for airlines (or customers).

Other complicated issues that will trouble rational private investors include complicated and inconsistent procedures for converting airport land from military land into civil use land; issues relating to the costs of ownership of airside land and tariff and franchise structures; and the complexities and burdens of the PPP regulations. But none of this overshadows the fact that Vietnams policy (albeit not very well implemented through its visa policies) is to welcome foreign tourists and businesses. Vietnam should serve as an affordable tourism destination in the region for many years to come. To conclude that there is a need for airports is a leap, but developers are not always graded on logic.

Different countries have had different experiences with private sector airport operations. If one were to generalise, some of the more accepted takeaways would include the following. The state has to support private participation in airports. This is not so obvious in Vietnam. The country has the Law on Public-Private Partnership Investment that would allow it, but the controlling position of ACV and the role of the military in any new airport would have to be defined in order to attract genuine private investment.

Furthermore, as a political and practical matter, given the states ownership of ACV, the state is unlikely to approve any other operator at systemically important new airports. The state should decide if the goal of private sector investment is to improve competition or to provide services to citizens where none would otherwise be available. An argument could be made that ACV is inefficient and would benefit from competition. Yet the truth of the assertion would have to be tested because airports  being geographically separate  do not necessarily compete in a traditional sense. And ACV, as a near-monopoly, is responsible for cross-subsidies to unprofitable airports that serve a social and national purpose, such as Dien Bien Phu Airport.

Better service can (at least in theory) be cajoled out of even monopoly airport companies through regulations that set appropriate standards. Before a project is offered to private investors for bidding, the feasibility study should demonstrate that the project is economically viable.

Private sector involvement in airports should be based on the existence of a refined regulatory structure. This needs to be supported by a genuinely independent regulatory agency, whose mandate is to promote accepted public interest criteria. There should also be capable and genuinely independent appeal or arbitration processes. All of the above is currently a work in progress in Vietnam, and as such there are obstacles to a broad-based private airport regime.

The key to success is to determine how regulations govern airport performance and what standards to set for acceptable performance.

One of the difficulties with allowing airport PPPs will be to determine what revenue sharing is appropriate, and what political risks will remain with the government. If the risks are not properly allocated, financing an airport development on a project basis will be challenging. If foreign investors are desired, then there will be foreign currency issues given recent volatile currency markets. If a government guarantee is to be avoided, some of the airport charges would presumably have to be in US dollars, though that would be challenging in the context of a domestic airport.

Developers have to be able to plan, knowing the risks of policy changes. Overreliance on tourists from one or two countries can make an existing risk even worse.

Unsurprisingly, a transparent tendering process, based on equal treatment of bidders and full disclosure of information, produces a better result. Otherwise, costs will rise and efficiencies will decline.
As MiYork Education has been shortlisted in the YSE Global 2022, what motivated you to enter the competition?

Khoa Tran: Our motivation to join the Singapore International Foundations YSE Global 2022 stemmed from the potential for global collaborations and opportunities to work with experts from leading consulting firms, such as McKinsey & Company, Bloomberg, and PwC to digitalise and scale our social enterprises.

Additionally, we knew that YSE Global offers data-oriented training workshops, from using data to tell stories in marketing to assessing our current needs for mentor matching. Most of our co-founders have business and legal backgrounds rather than analytics.

What YSE Global could offer exceeds those of other incubators and accelerator programmes that we can access. Therefore,the YSE Global was our best choice to learn and scale our business.

MiYork Education co-founder Tuyet Nguyen has always fixated on how to initiate sustainable and impactful social projects for the community

Can you share more about your business idea that you brought to the YSE Global this year and what is the inspiration behind it?

Tuyet Nguyen: Growing up in Dak Nong province, one of the most underdeveloped places in Vietnam, I have always fixated on how to influence the community positively and sustainably and initiated various social projects with sustainable impacts.

When meeting students across Vietnam, we found out that many students lack access to resources and a conducive learning environment that suits them, resulting in them being unable to unleash their full potential to contribute to society. Additionally, college consulting and career orientation programmes are not affordable, which makes them inaccessible to the low-to-middle income group.

To address this gap, we launched MiYork Education in 2021, aimed at providing a virtual ecosystem for education and youth consultation. The project motivates students to learn via social contributions and rewards them with scholarships to study overseas in the United States, South Korea, Germany, the United Kingdom, and many others.

Our services are also oriented towards the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By having students immerse themselves early in SDGs with hands-on projects, we hope to nurture social innovation and skills within each of them. Additionally, MiYork allocates funds to support student-led projects across Vietnam to scale their impacts.

Our services are affordable with financial aid models and have flexible payments, ensuring all students can use our service regardless of their financial standing.

How do you see your strengths and disadvantages compared with other teams from overseas?

Hoai Luu: Firstly, the services provided by MiYork  bringing scholarships and educational opportunities to students across Vietnam  have passed their minimum viable product stage.

Secondly, MiYork has gained strong traction since we started. We have already started making profits, with strong support from our stakeholders across Vietnam, South Korea, the US, the UK, Singapore, and Israel.

Tuyet Nguyen: Finally, MiYork has a strong community of students and alumni. Our alumni from across the world are very active in supporting new MiYork students, acting as career advisors for students and project advisors for a wide range of sponsored projects.

I believe the close-knit and proactive community is the strength that MiYork has, reflecting a Vietnamese culture that values social entrepreneurship and social impact missions.

Khoa Tran: On the other hand, we do not see our shortcomings as disadvantages'. We are a very young team  and most of our members are undergraduate and high school students, while some fellow YSE participants are full-time professionals with multiple years of experience.

Because of this, our team has learned a lot from the more experienced teams, and we value these exchange opportunities during the YSE sessions. We are also amazed by other teams who have strong tech-based backgrounds, which is an aspect MiYork still needs to improve.

MiYork Education has a strong community of alumni, who are actively engaging as career and project advisor for current students

How do you think participating in the YSE Global 2022 will benefit the development and growth of your business?

Khoa Tran: Balancing the social and financial objectives has always been a challenge faced by the MiYork team. The storytelling and impact measurement sessions equipped us with skills to better communicate our practices and mission with our stakeholders to receive more support.

For example, during the different lessons, we learnt that we had concentrated too much on financial output in our pitch while instead should also highlight our social outcomes and impact.

Hoai Luu: Our mentors from McKinsey & Company also guided us to build business models to calculate our operational effectiveness and identify the inefficiencies in our sales and marketing process. We are still constructing this digital model, hoping to generate practical insights and data soon.

What will be your next steps after the YSE Global 2022, and where do you see your business in five years?

Tuyet Nguyen: We look forward to building alumni connecting programmes and leveraging our strong ties within MiYork communities. We also hope to provide better quality research mentorships and career opportunities for our MiYork students. As a result, MiYork communities can create more meaningful social projects and produce high-value research, aiming at SDGs in Vietnam.

Additionally, thanks to YSE's support, we have built new connections with startups and NGOs in Singapore and Indonesia to promote more international research and studying opportunities for our students.

We have already established partnerships with some Singapore organisations and will have the first meeting with a YSE alumni from Indonesia soon. We are hoping for more international outreach after this wonderful experience with the YSE Global programme.

The YSE Global programme was first launched in 2010 by the Singapore International Foundation with the aim to inspire, equip, and enable youths to launch or scale up their social enterprises in Singapore and beyond. Now in its 13th year, the programme has nurtured more than 1,400 alumni across 43 countries and a network of 674 social enterprises worldwide.

Social enterprises in need of more support Detailed support policies are needed to help develop social enterprises, experts have said.

Impressive figures about social enterprises in Vietnam In order to map the Vietnamese social enterprise landscape and to identify key opportunities and issues that need to be addressed to create a healthy and sustainable ecosystem for social enterprises to thrive, the British Council (BC) accompanied by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (United Nations ESCAP) and the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) produced a report showing impressive figures about this sector.
At least 15 cities and provinces need to renovate, expand, or construct airports. Is this justifiable until 2030?

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, former director of the Central Institute for Economic Management

In reality, regions that need airport construction are not a new issue. We have advocated for a long time that there are too many municipal airports, despite the fact that financing is restricted. However, the majority of these concerns are justifiable. I believe Vietnam should not be confined to 28 airports by 2030 or 31 airports by 2050, but instead should have an open plan. We see airports that are overcrowded as well as ones that are vacant.

Can Tho city in the Mekong Delta region is an example. This province has a great deal of promise, but it is evident that improving the airport alone will not be sufficient; regional economic growth is also vital.

For instance, in the tourism sector, there are no offerings to boost tourism like Phu Quoc Island or other localities, where the synchronisation of development investment has not yet been observed while creating a supply of transport services, but at the same time, creating demand for local economic development through products and services of all types that require air transport.

In this approach, prescribing a spacing of 300km between airports is unfeasible. In reality, we already have well-functioning airports within 100km of each other.

This regulation should not become an impediment to industry. To analyse and add new airports, the Ministry of Transport has developed six primary criteria and 22 detailed criteria. In the present climate, however, it is not prudent to impose strict requirements that enterprises cannot meet. Even in the realm of technology, it has become obsolete.

Are you contemplating a local airport approach that takes regional connections into account?

Travel and interprovincial commerce need a rapid connection in the contemporary environment. Without this connectivity, the potential of some provinces cannot be appreciated or developed.

The northern mountainous province of Ha Giang is an example of a developing economy with a focus on tourism. Or, similar to Lai Chau, this northern province possesses untapped potential. Likewise for the central province of Quang Tri.

With improved connections, tourism has blossomed in Phu Quoc and it has become a popular tourist destination. The rule here is that supply generates demand, thus enhancing Phu Quocs economic potential. Consequently, we must respect this necessity.

Is there the prospect of investment disputes between major airport projects and small local airports if the policy outlook is altered?

We find no contradiction here. More international airports are needed in Vietnam. In principle, economies of scale exist but in reality a number of problems impede their implementation.

The airports in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are now overcrowded and inadequately sized. The clearance demand is high, but would we prioritise upgrading and processing Hanois airport or Ho Chi Minh Citys airport, Hues or Vinhs first? Someone must handle this situation. This issue cannot be addressed immediately; it must be tackled in a decade.

Is it correct that the capital structure is also associated with a shift in policy?

Currently, finance is not a critical challenge. I do not consider the lack of investment funds for airports; rather, I consider the lack of awareness and planning. The government must devise a more adaptable method for capital mobilisation. To do this, developers/investors must downsize the airport in which they want to engage, transferring the project to the regions so that they may take care of their own capital development since airport development is based on local demands.

They will discover methods to recoup funds while also exploiting and taking advantage of the province and the surrounding area. Local officials will be more encouraged to devise a mechanism to attract capital investment for economic growth and airport development.

However, this does not imply that the government is inactive. The government must devise ways to stimulate private sector capital mobilisation for airports and local economic development investments. To achieve this, the government should revise its investment attraction policies, particularly the Law on Investment, which must be modified to accommodate local economic growth.

Therefore, attracting investment should be more adaptable. It might not be necessary to make it a law, but that would open the door for businesses and governments to use it as a way to make decisions.

Finding suitable models for small airports in Vietnam Michel Werson, chief economist and lead of Financial Advisory at NACO  a subsidiary of Royal HaskoningDHV  delves into the ins and outs of airport development.

Utilising national advantages with crucial infrastructure Small airports and dual-use airports are expected to be valuable infrastructure fulcrums for many remote localities to attract investment and exploit the advantages of tourism, if selected and added to the plan and early investment implementation.
Clean room and High-Tech Factory Solutions  Cleanfact 2022 is a global expo and a set of activities designed to generate maximum value for clients interested in investing in and constructing plants. The objective of the event is to promote the growth of the high-tech manufacturing sector in Vietnam.

With a size of up to 3000sq.m, over 100 kiosks will be occupied by a variety of companies, including Bluescope, Sunwizz, Techmaster, BigaPanel, CBRE, VSIP, Sotaville, and BCE Vietnam.

Cleanfact 2022 is a location for investors, contractors, designers, and constructors, fostering a strong relationship between companies and collaborators and encouraging the growth of high-tech factories.

At the expo, high-tech goods, services, and solutions will be displayed by participating companies. Solutions for high-tech factories, new material solutions, energy-saving solutions, high-tech factory auxiliary systems, machinery, production lines for high-tech factories, and many other items and fields will be on display.

The sequence of occurrences includes the following:

Exhibition Cleanfact 2022 (November 11 to 13): Exhibiting goods and bringing together entrepreneurs, developers, and design consultants in the investment-building of high-tech manufacturers.

The Seminar "Industrial Investment Trends and Solutions for Designing, Constructing, and Operating Modern Factories" (November 11): For investors in high-tech factories who are interested in investment, growth, and optimum plant operation. The event will provide investors with an understanding of regulating, assuring quality, cost-optimising, and a straightforward building process.

The Seminar "Cleanroom Technology Trends" (November 11): Addressing industry possibilities and problems, as well as trending clean room strategies and demonstrating innovative technology.

The Cleanfact 2022 will be held at the Intech Building

Intech Group is involved in sterile environments and high-tech factory development and construction.

Intech Group has three offices in Hanoi, Bac Ninh provine, and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as ten members that comprise an ecosystem.

Local suppliers fuelled to meet higher standards Samsung Electronics and the Ministry of Industry and Trade last month held a kick-off ceremony for a smart factory in the northern province of Vinh Phuc. Ngo Huu Tiep, group chairman of Haast Industry Vietnam  one of 14 domestic suppliers being supported  told VIRs Kim Oanh about the factorys role in fostering Vietnams supporting industries.

Conducting smarter factory processes Manufacturers are being urged to adapt to Industry 4.0 to increase competitiveness or lose out in the stiffening digital era.
Starting in September, the Ministry of Transport (MoT) gave instructions for the evaluation and preparation of a detailed assessment report on the possibility of forming new airports in localities according to the criteria set out in the planning dossier and strategies to address local recommendations.

There is a belief that the transport infrastructure must be one step ahead to entice investment and tourists

Pham Huu Son, general director of Transport Engineering Design Incorporated (TEDI), a consulting unit for the formulation of a master plan for the development of the national airport system, said, We are pressingly evaluating the possibility of incorporating a number of potential new airports into the draft master plan on advancement of the national airport mechanism in the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, so that we can report to the MoT.

According to Son, additional airports may be explored and included in the plans provided there are no aircraft conflicts and the firms commit to spending all of their investment resources.

Of course, it is not realistic for all 63 cities and provinces to have airports, but in the near future, emphasis will be given to rural locations, islands, and places with high tourist potential growth.

As the economy is now expanding at a rapid rate, aviation planning must also evolve to allow regions to actively request the construction of critical infrastructure, Son said.

In addition to the airfields proposed by the peoples committees of Tuyen Quang, Ha Tinh, Quang Ngai, Dak Nong, Kon Tum, Khanh Hoa, and Son La, which were directly considered by Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, TEDI looked into the possibility of including Tan Quang (Ha Giang), Quan Binh (Bac Kan), and Go Gang (Ba Ria-Vung Tau) in the planning.

These would be brand-new, small-scale airports with a total area of between 300 and 500 hectares and a load capacity of 1-2 million passengers per year. They are outside the network of 28 airports planned by the MoT for the 2021-2030 period.

Active approach

According to TEDI experts, the majority of proposals to include airports in municipal planning are feasible, which is especially evident in the northern province of Ha Giang.

Given that the investment in highways connecting this locality with the capital has a high initial investment and the project schedule can last decades, investing in an airport of a decent size for the cost of a few dozen kilometres of freeways can bring a significant uplift to investment appeal.

Michel Werson, chief economist and lead of Financial Advisory at NACO  a subsidiary of Royal HaskoningDHV, stated, Local airports and minor airports play an essential part in the national port network. They are critical to the successful operation of the system in this case.

This is crucial for distant regions or areas that require transport connections that promote local economic development, such as tourism destination development; employment generation, tax revenue income, and the swiftest base station for disaster relief; as well as the provision of accelerated access to specialised emergency treatment that is sorely missing in that area, Werson explained.

According to the TEDI spokesperson, the investment dispersion of airports has a major role in profitability, since it takes around $210 million to invest in a new 3C airport in order to obtain an Airbus 320/321. With an annual passenger demand of fewer than one million, no airport that invests via public-private partnership (PPP) can be successful.

Without doubt, while investing in airports, investors will not rely just on the aviation infrastructure industry for revenue. However, according to the regulations, investors may decrease the cost burden by determining the size of the station and apron based on the real utilisation requirements, said Son.

When composing the first draft of the aviation master plan in April, the MoT listed six important criteria for an airport to be included in the plan: cargo volume; socioeconomic development needs; the need to ensure national security; the need to respond to emergency and relief activities; natural conditions; and proximity.

Infrastructure is crucial

Many experts believe that an airport should only be developed and built in a particular region if there is sufficient demand.

Nonetheless, there is a belief that the transport infrastructure, including the airfield, must be one step ahead in order to entice investment and tourists, hence generating an opposing demand for aviation growth.

The most prominent example is that of Quang Tri Airrport. Right after the prime minister authorised the PPP scheme for the construction of a new Quang Tri Airport, the neighbourhood obtained two $5.5 billion in energy sector capital and five international real estate and resort projects.

Vo Van Hung, Chairman of Quang Tri Peoples Committee, stated that the new airport would serve as a catalyst for economic growth and guarantee the regions national security and defence. People in the project region are extremely supportive, Hung said, adding that the province intends to begin construction of the airport in early 2023 and operate it in 2025.

This is the provinces resolve, with a PPP investment mechanism serving as the key, he said.

According to Dr. Tran Quang Chau, chairman of the Vietnam Association for Aviation Science and Technology, the airspace resources of Vietnam have not been fully used.

If this scenario persists, it will be difficult to attract foreign investment capital, since many provinces now have five to six huge industrial zones or areas with extremely rich tourist potential but no airports. Thus, the development of airports is quite logical. In addition to transporting people, these airports also convey agricultural products and high-value import and export items, particularly when Vietnam develops a large-scale fleet of specialised cargo planes, he said.

Chau also said that Vietnams aviation potential is enormous because of its stunning scenery, diverse coastlines, and unexplored islands.

Therefore, for the socioeconomic growth of the nation, it is necessary to extend the airport network widely. In particular, it would be vital to improve the system of legal papers and sub-law documents by making them public and accessible in order to secure the alignment of government, investor, and citizen objectives.

PPPs driving small airport investment Vietnam wants to increase investment in domestic airports and establish better infrastructure, but capital will only increase when the institutional conditions are further improved.

Capital sought for upgrade of airports Six airports, including five international ones, will shortly be handed over to local governments to actively solicit capital for upgrades.

Small airports set to help local economies take off The development of small airports is believed to be crucial to boosting the potential of various regions and helping local economies to take off, a VIR roundtable heard on October 11.

New methods for small property investors Although a new model in Vietnam, buying split real estate is considered an effective investment channel for those with little capital, especially in the current market with limited cash flow.
Waco police appealed for help from the public Wednesday in a multi-jurisdictional search for two people wanted in more than 80 cases, including the theft of several vehicles with a total value of $750,000, officials said.

Isabel Gonzalez and Rolando Hernandez, both 33, are wanted by the Waco Police Department on a first-degree felony charge of engaging in organized crime, Waco police spokesperson Cierra Shipley said in a statement.

Hernandez also caused a car wreck and did not stop to give aid while fleeing a Waco traffic stop, Shipley said.

Other police agencies seeking the pair include the McLennan County Sheriff's Office and police departments in Robinson and Bellmead and as far away as Plano.

Police ask anyone who knows where to find Gonzalez or Hernandez to call 254-750-7500 or send an anonymous tip to Waco Crime Stoppers at 254-753-4357 or wacocrimestoppers.org.
The week before the fall semester began at Baylor University this year, my administrative assistant fielded a call from the mother of an incoming freshman. Her daughter would be moving into a residential hall in a few days, she said, and she had a motherly concern.

Ive heard, she began, that professors in the Department of Religion are woke. Is that true?

I wasnt available at the time and my assistant did her best to remind the mom that all Baylor University faculty are Christian or Jewish. The caller responded that woke faculty members could not possibly be Christian!

This is not the first time our office has fielded such a call.

As a member of the Waco Tribune-Herald Board of Contributors the past five years, Ive written columns exploring national issues of religion and politics that touch our common life in Waco. And, yes, sometimes, Ive been dismissed by readers  including some family and friends  as one who is woke.

Perhaps tellingly, the adjective woke originated in African American vernacular and emerged widely in the 2010s to indicate one who is aware of the social injustice engendered by racism and sexism. For right-wing media moguls and MAGA Republicans, particularly those advocating white Christian nationalism, woke is however a derogatory term.

Those who identify me as such think they have explained me. They havent.

My awakening to social inequities in America began in high school in the 1970s, long before the advent of the Black Lives Matter movement. I grew up at a time in Texas when many whites were oblivious to systemic racism in America. As a child, I was like everyone around me. The n-word was used in daily conversations with my family members and friends. In more polite company, the n-word was softened to nigra.

My church, school and neighborhood were segregated in a near absolute way; it was rare to see a person of color as I went about daily activities.

But something changed in me around the age of 16. A light came on  gradually at first but eventually it began to burn more brightly. In recent years, Ive tried to reconstruct how that candle was lit. My only explanation is that I began reading the Bible in a more serious and discerning way. By studying scripture, I began to sense that something was wrong with segregation. While I was not on the streets marching, I sometimes wore to school a black arm band in solidarity with civil rights activists.

One evening when I was 17, while watching a Miss America beauty pageant with my grandfather, a black contestant appeared on stage. My grandfather turned to me and asked, You dont think shes pretty, do you? I replied: Well, as a matter of fact, I do.

Hmm, he murmured. But you wouldnt marry one, would you?

I turned to him and said, I might.

He turned away. I began to be accused of being an n-lover.

Still to this day, my only explanation of what caused me to begin to see things differently from so many of my family and friends was the fact that I was reading the Bible.

Historically, Baptists are biblicists. We understood the Bible to be our only creed. From the cradle till I left home for college, I read or heard the Bible read every Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday evening, 52 weeks a year. And in high school I began to read it on my own outside of church time as a daily habit. I memorized scripture such as Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with Christ. And when the Baptist prophet Martin Luther King Jr. was martyred for Christ in 1968, I knew that he was reading the same book I was.

After returning from a 1971 Billy Graham crusade in the newly built Texas Stadium where Americas pastor shouted from the pulpit, I cannot understand segregation in the church, I went home and pondered Galatians 3:28: There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. The changes in me  a conversion of sorts  would occur in an all-white Dallas neighborhood.

So, for me, being woke  or perhaps more aptly waking up since Ive still got a long way to go  started long before the Black Lives Matter movement gathered. Ive been against white Christian nationalism for decades.

Will Campbell, a Baptist minister and activist who died in 2013, said, Im a Baptist! I come from a long line of hell-raisers. I was taught that I wasnt a robot, that I was a human being with a mind, capable of reason, entitled to read any book, including the Bible, and interpret it according to the ability of the mind I was given. Thats why I do things like that.

Parents who call to complain about Baylor faculty members who are teaching their students to become aware of their individual responsibility before God instead of repeating political propaganda theyve heard from some pulpits are woefully ignorant of Baptists 400-year-old history. We are guided by historic Baptist principles such religious liberty for all people and the freedom of conscience. We dont sign credal statements and we dont worship idols.

At the Religion Departments August 2022 faculty meeting, a photo was taken of our faculty. When I came to Baylor in 1974 as a student majoring in religion, there were no faculty of color and no women in the department. By my count, of the 32 faculty members in our recent photo, 11 are women and eight are people of color. Yes, we are awaking. Thanks be to God. And thanks be to Baptists like Roger Williams, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Helen Barrett Montgomery, Muriel Lester, E.Y. Mullins, Walter Rauschenbusch, Howard Thurman, Billy Graham, Martin Luther King Jr., Will Campbell, and John N. Jonsson, who lit the lamps by which we, too, can see.

They were reading their Bibles.
VIENTIANE, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Lao government is scheduled to resume the annual That Luang Festival so as to boost economic recovery and preserve the country's cultural traditions, after it was canceled for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lao authorities are inviting businesses from China, Thailand and Vietnam to take part in a trade fair, which will take place on Nov. 4-8 on the sidelines of the That Luang Festival in Lao capital Vientiane.

Director of the Vientiane Industry and Commerce Department Vanmany Phimmasane told a press conference on Wednesday that the festivities and the trade fair will involve exciting activities.

The trade fair will exhibit Lao-made products, tourism products, as well as railway, expressways and logistics parks, alongside goods made under the "One District, One Product" scheme.

The That Luang Festival is one of the most important religious festivals in Laos, which was observed by Lao people from all over the country. The main religious activities will include the traditional wax castle procession, and almsgiving. 
WESTON  Northeast Nebraska Telephone Company (NNTC) recognized the Village of Weston as a Smart Rural Community (SRC) on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at the Fire Hall in Weston as part of the companys open house.

The designation comes from the Rural Broadband Association (NTCA) in conjunction with NNTC. This recognition is presented to those broadband enabled communities who see an importance of broadband internet as a way to connect and grow through the capabilities of expanded online education, remote work, telehealth, ag technology, economic development, government services, safety and security. Weston is a Gig-Certified capable community enabling technology for all those who live and work there.

The Smart Rural Community designation is an opportunity for rural communities to position themselves among a national network of communities powered by innovative rural broadband providers for growth. Gig-capable fiber communities have the power to build a brighter future for small-town America.

At a time in Nebraska and the United States when government is investing millions to help close the Digital Divide, Weston is already enjoying the same great fiber enabled speeds as those in urban areas like Lincoln and Omaha.

NTCA Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield also recognized NNTC for this achievement, noting, We are so excited to welcome another Smart Rural Community provider into this growing network of innovative broadband providers delivering the internets fastest speeds in some of the most remote and rural communities of our country. I applaud NNTC and Weston for their commitment to enabling cutting-edge technologies that drive innovation and promote economic development in their region and nationwide.

The presentation to Weston by NNTC was part of a company hosted open house. All NNTC communities will receive this designation at a later date.
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CEDAR FALLS  Three laureates and an entrepreneur were inducted into the Cedar Valley Business Hall of Fame on Thursday.

The 28th annual black-tie gala event sponsored by Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa and presented by First Interstate Bank, formerly Great Western Bank, took place at the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center.

Individuals inducted into the Business Hall of Fame are outstanding business leaders who have made significant contributions to the free enterprise system. This years laureates are Stacey Bentley, president and CEO at Community Bank & Trust; Kris Hansen, CEO of Western Home Communities; and Mike Mallaro, CEO of The VGM Group. Andy Fuchtman, co-owner of Sidecar Coffee locations, received the entrepreneur award.

A Waterloo native, Bentley began her banking career in bookkeeping at Cedar Falls Trust & Savings in 1981. She worked her way up through the ranks, joining the trust department and then becoming a branch manager before becoming head of retail banking. When friend and bank colleague Joe Vich started a local bank, Bentley wanted to be involved. In 1997, Vich, Bentley and 16 colleagues opened the doors to Community Bank & Trust. In 2013, the bank sold to QCR Holdings Inc.

She was featured in USA Today for her work providing guidance to a Black-owned start-up bank in the community.

Bentley is an active member and has served on the boards for the Iowa Bankers Association and American Bankers Association. She is also involved in the community, serving on the boards of Grow Cedar Valley, UnityPoint Hospital and Hawkeye Community College. She has been board chair for Western Home Communities, Exceptional Persons Inc., and Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa. She also has co-chaired the American Heart Association Heart Walk and Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health event.

Hansen learned the value of hard work growing up on a farm near Vinton. In addition, he spent time with his grandparents, who were administrators at the Ackley Presbyterian Home. After graduating, he began farming and worked at an implement dealership, as a police officer, and as a deputy.

After the farm crisis hit Iowa in the 1980s, Hansen sold his farmland and went to work at Cedar Heights Baptist Church in Cedar Falls while earning a degree in accounting and business management at Upper Iowa University. He worked for IBM and as a public accountant in Vinton, before becoming controller for Western Home in 1995. He left briefly but returned in 2009 as CEO.

He has received such awards as the advocate of the year and Francis Lackner award from Leading Age National Association and the legacy award from Grow Cedar Valley. He co-chairs the public policy committee for Iowa Health Care Association and is involved in many other professional organizations.

Mallaro grew up in Charles City and graduated from the University of Iowa in Iowa City in 1985. After an early career as a certified public accountant and CFO for a regional retailer, Mallaro joined VGM as CFO. He lead the charge for an employee stock ownership plan and in 2008, VGM became 100% employee-owned. After the sudden death of founder and CEO Van G. Miller in 2015, Mallaro was chosen as CEO, officially taking over in 2016.

He serves on the board of the National Center of Employee Ownership and numerous professional groups. He is active in the community in such organizations as the Otto Schoitz Foundation, Van G. Miller Family Charitable Foundation, Grow Cedar Valley, Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa and others.

Sidecar Coffees Fuchtman was born in Colorado, grew up in Kansas and graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 2001. He was music director and a musician at Orchard Hill Church in Cedar Falls and became known as the coffee guy who was in charge of coffee for colleagues and friends.

Fuchtman met and became a business partner with Brent Dahlstrom. When Dahlstrom purchased a building on College Hill in Cedar Falls, he asked Fuchtman to help open and run a new coffee shop.

The first Sidecar Coffee shop opened on College Hill in 2012. Today there are four Sidecar Coffee locations, with a fifth set to open soon. Fuchtman also works with Alexander Hottle at Verve Kombucha, a restaurant and brewery they opened in 2019.
TAMA  A federal grand jury has charged a Tama woman with stealing from a disabled relative she was looking after.

The grand jury issued an indictment on Wednesday charging Nancy Lee Johnson with seven counts of bank fraud in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids.

Johnson was appointed to be a guardian and conservator for a male relative who is a member of the Meskwaki Tribe and was unable to manage his own financed because of mental disabilities, according to court records.

The relative had a trust fund that he received before turning 18 as well as per capita payments from the tribe. The Meskwaki Tribal Court appointed Johnson conservator and guardian in 2017.

Authorities allege she used her position to move all of the relatives trust fund account  $295,000  to an account in his name that she had set up at a bank where she also had an account. Then between November 2017 and July 2019, she transferred $123,800 from the relatives account to her own account, records state.

Johnson also had the tribes Family Services give her control of his per capita payments. In addition, she obtained a debit card linked to the relatives account and used it to make purchases for herself, court records state.

By the time the tribal court learned about the transfers and terminated her guardianship, the relative had only $1,871 in his account, records state.
CEDAR FALLS  University of Northern Iowa students headed to the polls say one of their biggest reasons for voting this year is to reclaim the right to abortion.

State Sen. Liz Mathis, running for Iowas 2nd Congressional District against incumbent U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, met with UNI students on Thursday to discuss the importance of voting.

Early voting began Wednesday. UNI and seven other colleges in the district  Kirkwood, Coe, Mt. Mercy, Cornell, Wartburg, Clarke and Grinnell  petitioned to have early voting stations located on or near their campuses. To qualify for voting stations required at least 100 signatures.

UNIs early voting location is in Maucker Union, and voting there will continue from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday.

My goal is to talk to all voters, Mathis said, standing in front of the Campanile.

The visit was appreciated by Sam Caughron, speaker of the Senate for Northern Iowa Student Government.

A lot of candidates dont show up to UNI, he said. We feel heard when candidates do come.

Caughron, who will utilize the campus early voting option, said issues important to him include codifying Roe v. Wade, codifying LGBTQ+ and interracial marriages, and the economy. He mentioned concern with business practices such as price gouging during an the economic downturn.

Several students at the rally listed the Supreme Courts overturning Roe v. Wade as one of their main reasons for voting.

The overturn (of Roe v. Wade) has brought more people to the polls, Olivia Schneider said. Schneider is a second-year student and is president of Panthers for Liz, a UNI organization that supports Mathis.

Mathis said she watched her daughter go from a first-class citizen to second-class status within a day when the Supreme Court scrapped the nearly 50-year-old ruling in June. She listed the right to choose, as well as bringing prices down and protecting Medicare and Social Security, as some of her top issues.

The Des Moines Registers latest Iowa Poll, released earlier this week, found that 48% of those surveyed would prefer a Democratic candidate for the House seat, while 46% said they would vote Republican. In July, Republicans were at 54% while Democrats were at 42%.
Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, a 2024 presidential prospect, is headed back to Iowa next week to campaign on behalf of elected Republican women in the state.

Haley, a former governor of South Carolina who served as former President Donald Trumps ambassador to the U.N., will appear at rallies in Davenport and Cedar Rapids on Tuesday with Republican women seeking re-election in the Nov. 8 general election, including Gov. Kim Reynolds and U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

The rallies are being hosted by Winning For Women Action Fund as part of its Women on a Mission tour. The Super PAC is dedicated to electing Republican women. It and related groups raised more than $16 million through the third quarter, according to a news release.

Iowa grows strong women, and Gov. Reynolds, (Iowa U.S.) Sen. (Joni) Ernst, and Reps. Miller-Meeks and Hinson prove just that, Haley said in a statement. Whether it be in Des Moines or Washington, these ladies arent afraid to put up a fight against (President) Joe Bidens reckless agenda.

Haley has been a regular presence in the state over the last two years, campaigning for Republicans up and down the ballot.

Reynolds faces Democrat Deidre DeJear, a businesswoman from Des Moines.

Hinson is running in Iowas new 2nd Congressional District against Democratic state Sen. Liz Mathis of Hiawatha. Miller-Meeks is running in Iowas new 1st Congressional District, and faces an election challenge from Democrat Christina Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor and state representative from Iowa City.

DEJEAR RELEASES NEW AD: Democratic gubernatorial nominee Deidre DeJear released her second TV ad on Thursday.

A campaign spokeswoman said the ad will air in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids TV markets. It was posted on social media Thursday.

In the ad, DeJear states I couldnt be more different from Kim Reynolds.

Are you sick of politics? Enough to surprise the so-called experts? DeJear says. Show them Iowa doesnt want a governor who lets states outlaw abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, or take millions from public schools and give it to private schools.

Reynolds has petitioned to lift an injunction on the states fetal heartbeat law, which would ban abortions after about six weeks, with limited exceptions for medical emergencies, including threats to the mothers life, rape, incest, and fetal abnormality.

Reynolds has also pushed a proposal to provide taxpayer-funded scholarships to families to seek education at a private school.

DeJear goes on to say shell work across the aisle with people from both major political parties to create jobs, invest in public schools, and stop the radical nonsense, alluding to Reynolds push to restrict abortion access in the state.

Reynolds campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday on the ad.

REPUBLICAN TREASURER CANDIDATE RELEASES ADS: A Republican state lawmaker running to unseat the longest-tenure state treasurer in U.S. history released two new TV ads.

Roby Smith, from Davenport, has served as a state legislator since 2010 and owns an advertising and publication business. He is running to unseat Democrat Michael Fitzgerald, from Waukee, who has been Iowas treasurer since 1983.

In one ad, titled Never Misses, Smiths wife and children say the Republican state senator will never miss a chance to save taxpayer dollars, improve financial literacy and help Iowa families afford college.

Smith has touted tax cuts enacted by state GOP lawmakers and Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2018 and 2022.

In another ad, titled Losing Interest, the ad says Fitzgerald failed to advocate for tax policies that eliminated taxes on retirement income for Iowa seniors. The ad also criticizes Fitzgerald for a recent rating downgrade of the states college savings plan. In its annual ratings, Chicago-based financial services firm Morningstar lowered its rating of College Savings Iowa to neutral, which is the fourth of five ratings and which the company describes as average.

Fitzgeralds campaign said the ads misrepresent the responsibilities and programs of the state treasurers office.

Fitzgerald, during a taping of Iowa Press on Iowa PBS earlier this month, said the treasurer is responsible for managing the states finances  not weighing in on tax policy. He also said he believes part of the downgrade was the result of miscommunication, and that he believes Morningstar will soon move the programs rating back up.

It demonstrates that Mr. Smith does not understand the office he is running for, according to a statement from Fitzgeralds campaign. Additionally, it shows his willingness to politicize a program that helps Iowans save for college. As a fiduciary, that is reckless.

The ads will air on broadcast in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids TV markets and expand to the Quad Cities and Sioux City markets on Monday, according to a spokesman for the Republican Party of Iowa.

Fitzgeralds office on Thursday announced the launch of an app that Iowans can download to open a College Savings Iowa account, make contributions, review investments and check transaction history from their mobile device.

The READYSAVE 529 app can by downloaded on the Apple and Google Play app stores. For details, go to CollegeSavingsIowa.com.

SUPPORT FOR GRASSLEY: Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley announced a coalition of women from Iowas 99 counties supporting his re-election, adding to coalitions of farmers and veterans he has announced in recent months.

In a news release, the campaign said Grassley has worked on legislation that benefits women, including maternal health care and legislation aimed at protecting victims of sexual assault. The campaign also recently released a video titled Grassley Works for Women.

Grassley is challenged for re-election by Democrat Mike Franken, a former U.S. Navy admiral. Franken has accused Grassley of harming women with his votes over his career, including support for federal abortion limitations.

Grassleys campaign, in turn, has accused Franken of disrespecting women and highlighted an allegation from a former staffer that he kissed her without her consent. Franken denies the incident.
The Hawkeye Area Labor Council AFL-CIO has a longstanding tradition of vetting and endorsing political candidates in every election. Unions do not make political endorsements on a whim, so I would like to explain our endorsement procedures and criteria.

Candidates must meet with a representative from the labor council, and then complete a questionnaire if they are running for a local race such as school board or city council. We ask questions that affect all workers, not just union workers. We believe that when we all do better, we all do better.

The candidate traditionally attends a monthly delegate meeting to address the delegation of the labor council or chapter in which that candidate is running. The HALC currently covers 26 counties and has five chapters in those counties. If the questionnaire has been passed by the candidate and the delegation votes to endorse, then the candidate is endorsed. All endorsements require that two-thirds of the delegation present vote to approve endorsement.

State candidates must complete a candidate academy to be considered along with the above requirements. A state candidate must first traditionally receive a recommendation for endorsement by the Area Labor Council in the candidates district, then that recommendation is sent to the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, where every affiliated union in the state has a vote on the endorsement through their declared delegates and again requires two-thirds approval. The endorsement of Federal candidates is done in a similar fashion and also requires two-thirds approval from the delegates throughout the state.

We focus on working family issues and pay attention to voting records of incumbents. We believe elected officials should serve all constituents regardless of party affiliation. Contrary to belief, we are nonpartisan and follow policy, not party.

Historically one party has better supported working family issues in the state of Iowa, so it follows that in most cases, unions will back candidates from the Democratic Party. Republicans have been endorsed before if they get through the vetting process. Many Republicans refuse to take part in the vetting process; therefore we cannot even consider those individuals.

This year the HALC endorsed the following candidates who fall in our jurisdiction for the Nov. 8 midterm elections:

Iowa House  Elizabeth Wilson, Eric Gjerde, Jeff Cooling, Sami Scheetz, Tracy Ehlert, Art Staed, Kris Nall, Sara Yedlik, Amy Nielsen, Dave Jacoby, Ellinor Levin, Timi Brown-Powers, Jerome Amos Jr., Bob Kressig, Kate Wyatt, Sharon Steckman , Sue Cahill, Sarah Smith, Carissa Froyum, Terry McGovern.

Iowa Senate - Molly Donahue, Liz Bennett, Todd Taylor, Charlie McClintock, Zach Wahls, Janice Weiner, Kevin Kenny, Whitney Mixdorf.

U.S. Congress  District 1, Christina Bohannan; District 2, Liz Mathis; District 3, Cindy Axne, District 4, Ryan Melton.

Statewide races

U.S. Senate  Mike Franken.

Governor  Deidre DeJear.

Secretary of State  Joel Miller.

Attorney General  Tom Miller.

Auditor of State  Rob Sand.

Treasurer of State  Mike Fitzgerald.

Secretary of Agriculture  John Norwood.

County races

Black Hawk County

County Supervisor  Tavis Hall, Glen Keith.
 Ukrainian insider telegram channel:

In order to divert the attention of the world media from the possible destruction by the Ukrainian Nazis of the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, British experts from MI6 recommended Zelensky to carry out a distracting sabotage on the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline in the Nikolaev region.

The destruction of the ammonia pipeline is planned to be carried out in the Bereznegovatsky district, where more than 15 thousand people live.

The destruction of a part of the pipe is planned with the help of the S-300 air defense system. After that, the Western media will cover events to rescue the residents of nearby villages and traditionally accuse Russia of terrorism.

The preparations for a terrorist act on the ammonia pipeline are indicated by the actions of the State Service of Ukraine for Emergency Situations. In the administration of settlements of the Bereznegovatsky district, representatives of the State Emergency Service delivered memos on first aid in case of damage to hazardous chemicals.

It should also be noted that a large number of foreign journalists arrived in Nikolaev, who, according to some reports, should be involved in covering a certain emergency.

Such a strategy of action is not new. More than once, the West has been ready to sacrifice civilians to achieve its goals, especially if they are not citizens of Western countries.

The resumption of ammonia exports was part of the extension of the grain deal. By the way, the American company Occidental Petroleum has already paid for the next supply of ammonia.

https://t.me/intelslava

WtR
I believe that a package of bills to ban the propaganda of non-traditional values should have been submitted to the State Duma even earlier, but better late than never. I express my gratitude to the initiators of such a necessary undertaking.

I fully support every line of this package. Finally, we will not leave the vile propaganda of the LGBT community any chance to spoil our society. And the amount of fines can be safely raised even higher. We are responsible for our children, so they must grow up in an environment where there is not a single hint of such a disgusting infection. Every day our state follows the path of spiritual and social recovery, and the ban on LGBT propaganda is an important, necessary and useful step for every family, and, therefore, for the state.

I consider it an honor to live in a state where there is a father and mother, a boy and a girl, where literature, cinema and advertising will tell about normal relations in healthy and strong families, in which the man is the protector and support of the family, and the woman is the keeper of the hearth and loving mother.

For such a state, laws and values, as well as for such a leader, I am ready to fight in any field to the last drop of blood! I look forward to the adoption of the law and its entry into force!

Allahu Akbar!

WtR
MANILA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- More than one million children in the Philippines have yet received a single dose of routine vaccine, the United Nations children's fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

UNICEF said nearly 1.5 million Filipino children have yet to receive or complete their polio vaccine, making 67 provinces in the country at high risk for polio infections.

Polio is a highly infectious disease that can cause paralysis or death. Complete vaccination for polio according to schedule is the most effective way to protect children from this disease.

Meanwhile, all regions in the Philippines are also at high-risk for a measles outbreak, said the UN agency, citing a 2022 World Health Organization Risk Assessment.

UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov told a press conference that the increasing number of children at risk of measles, polio, and other vaccine-preventable diseases "must be treated as a public health emergency that needs urgent action."

She said the COVID-19 pandemic "highlights the need to strengthen primary health care," urging the authorities to prioritize investments and bolster human resources to reach zero-dose children. 
 Top News Today

 Supreme Commander-in-Chief has visited Western MD training ground in Ryazan region to review progress in instructing mobilised personnel

 Joint Coordination Headquarters of Russia and Syria have held a session on the return of refugees to their homeland.

 Concentrated fire of Russian troops have resulted in frustrating the attempts made by units of the AFU to cross Zherebets River near Nadiya, Stelmakhovka, Makeyevka (LPR) and Yampolovka (DPR) at Krasny Liman direction.

 Up to 3 AFU battalions, including 1 armoured, attempted to break the defence of Russian troops towards Novaya KamenkaChervony Yar (Kherson region).

 Russian Defence Ministry has published footage of signal units from Western and Central military districts, Airborne Troops UAVs and repair units in combat action within the special military operation.

 Mobilised personnel and volunteers continue their training course in Samara, Orenburg and Novosibirsk regions.

#MoD #TopNews #Russia #Ukraine

@mod_russia_en

WtR
Orban explains to his not as intelligent colleagues in the EU. He teaches the principles of basic economic relations

The proposal of the European Commission on the ceiling of gas prices is like coming to a bar and telling the bartender that you want to pay half the cost of your beer, the Hungarian prime minister wrote

WtR
German and Italian authorities have, at the US request, detained Russian citizens suspected of evading anti-Moscow sanctions and smuggling. Source: Russian governors son detained in EU after US request  RT World News

What the flipping HELL was any Russians doing even hanging around the EU for any reason at all? Russians do realize that WW3 is in full swing?

Any reason, good and or bad, any reason, for any reason do not go to the Collective West. If you are Russian? and If you live there? Run to Mother Russia. Today, not tomorrow

Russians better grow up and wake up

The Collective West wants all Russians dead!

WtR
Bestseller plans to reach 1,000 shops in Spain within five years, driven by womenswear By



Eva Gracia Morales Translated by

Roberta HERRERA Published

Oct 21, 2022

The Danish group , owner of brands such as , , and Pieces, began operating in Spain 25 years ago. Its facilities then, a modest office in Malaga, and its resources, a series of physical showrooms, were far from what they are today: an impressive headquarters inaugurated five years ago in Churriana, on the outskirts of the capital of Malaga, and a retail network that will soon reach seven showrooms.



In addition, the company boasts 600 mono-brand spaces, 1,800 wholesale clients and 2,200 multi-brand points-of-sale. In these two and a half decades, Spain has become the third most important market for the company, behind Germany and France, and its strategic plan is to reach 1,000 shops in the country within the next five years.







Bestseller headquarters in Churriana (Malaga) - Bestseller



Jack & Jones is Bestseller's main asset in Spanish retail, with 110 shops and 100 spaces in . The company is planning to boost this chain with 20 store openings in 2023. However, the group's driving force will be womenswear.



"We are aiming to open 50 Vero Moda and Only shops in the next 24 months," Andres Contreras, the group's CEO Spain, Portugal and Latin America told .

"With these store openings and others to come, our goal is to reach 1,000 shops by the 2027-2028 financial year. In these 1,000 spaces we include the 400 points of sale that we already have in El Corte Ingles, so growth from now on will come from our own shops and franchises, although 70% of this network will be self-managed," continued the manager.



Bestseller's strong offline sales network in Spain consists of six showrooms, located in Malaga, Madrid (with offices where the marketing, communication and architecture teams work), Vigo, Bilbao, Barcelona (where it also has a warehouse, opened two years ago) and Valencia, which opened this year. November, a seventh space will be inaugurated in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, bringing its network of showrooms to seven.



The group's growth and commitment to the Spanish market is also reflected in its investment in the country, which reached 5 million euros in the last 12 months.



"We intend to continue this investment, especially in the online area, where we are betting on digital showrooms in order to complement the physical ones," he added.







The company celebrated its 25th anniversary in Spain with a corporate gathering of employees, customers and partners - Bestseller



Of the 20 brands in Bestseller's portfolio, 17 are available in Spain, either in multi-brand, retail or online. The latter channel is indeed one of the growth drivers of the group, which runs an e-commerce store for each brand and market (more than 400 in global terms) and is also present in marketplaces.



"In the company as a whole, online sales already account for 50 % of total sales. In Spain this figure is lower, at around 30 %, as e-tailers such as or are less established in Spain than in Germany or Austria," he explained.





Offices in Portugal and potential in Latin America





Contreras has been CEO of Spain, Portugal and Latin America since February 2020, although he joined the firm 22 years ago.



"The management of Portugal was done from Spain, but in 2022 we have opened offices in Lisbon, where we already employ 30 people. Our expansion plan is to open 25 Jack & Jones shops in the next three years and to reach, with all the brands, 100 shops. Our objective is also to develop wholesale with the aim of adding more than 500 multi-brand customers in the next three years," explained Contreras.



Before assuming his current position, he spent eight years in Montevideo, heading the Latin American market, where he managed more than 500 points-of-sale and 1,000 employees.



"We are present in 17 countries in the region, but Latin America is managed from Uruguay, and there are also offices in Mexico and Chile," said the CEO.



He went on to underline the region's potential: "We expect to grow to 1,000 shops within three years and for this market to outgrow the Spanish market over the next two years."



Although it does not break down its turnover by country, Bestseller did detail that it distributes 15 million garments annually in Spain. Overall, the company closed the 2021/2022 financial year (which ended on July 31) with record sales of 4.7 billion euros and a pre-tax profit of 8.6 billion euros. With a presence in more than 70 countries, it operates almost 9,000 shops worldwide, 6,000 in China and the rest mainly in Europe.
Weather Alert

...Cold Temperatures, Winds, and Snow Return This Week... After a quiet holiday weekend, a few storms are on track to bring back colder temperatures, periods of windy conditions, and the potential for snow in the Sierra and western Nevada the week ahead. A quick-hitting storm will pass through the region Monday afternoon and evening with gusty winds, colder temperatures, and chances for snow. Highest snow potential will be for the Warner mountains, Surprise Valley and northern Washoe County (60% chance of 2-4 inches) with lesser potential as the storm slides southward across the Interstate 80 corridor (50% chance of a dusting). Snow is anticipated after the Monday evening commute, but could bring localized slick roads overnight and into the Tuesday morning commute. Winds will be more impactful than the snow with this early week storm. Widespread valley wind gusts 35 to 45 mph are forecast with Sierra crest winds gusting 80+ mph. Plan on recreational impacts for backcountry activities and for area lakes as well as turbulence for aviators on Monday. Later in the week simulations are honing in on a couple of potentially more impactful storms. These stronger storms would pack more of a wind and snow punch if they track into the Sierra and western Nevada.
Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong (2nd R) and Pakistan's Minister of IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque (2nd L) attend a donation ceremony for flood-hit Sindh province, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Oct. 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Minister of IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque said that his country is going through an unprecedented flood disaster, and China's support to the flood-hit people is playing an important role in relief activities.

Speaking at an event organized by the Chinese cellular network in Pakistan, Zong 4G, on Thursday, Haque said that whenever his country is in crisis, China always extends support and both the Chinese government and people stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistanis.

The event was aimed at donating cash to the country's south Sindh province where some districts had been worst hit in recent floods, and at appreciating efforts of local employees who worked hard to restore the cellular network after it was hampered by the rains.

Haque said that the devastating floods have affected over 33 million Pakistan people, adding that Chinese companies in Pakistan have shown great support during the tough times.

Speaking at the event, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong said that China was the leading country to send donations to Pakistan in its hour of need amid the flood disaster and helped the country meet the challenges in rescue and relief operations.

"A lot of people were affected and their houses damaged. The Chinese government expressed concerns and sympathy and responded quickly to the serious situation. Currently, several batches of tents, blankets, and food donated by the Chinese side have been delivered to the people in need," he said.

Floods in Pakistan disrupted over 12 percent of the Chinese cellular network in Pakistan. As a result, the company spent most of the last few months working fervently to restore it and maintain good services.

Lauding the hard work of local employees when the catastrophe hit the country, Zong's CEO Wang Hua said that technical employees remained on their toes day and night to restore networks in areas that were completely submerged in flood water.

"Our teams recovered 99 percent of the network in three weeks, which is a commendable effort," he said. 
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

State Police officers arrested a Colorado man in a mountainous area of San Miguel County on Thursday night following a string of crimes that began when he allegedly exposed himself to a couple and threatened them with a gun and ended in a crash during a police pursuit on Interstate 25.

New Mexico State Police Lt. Mark Soriano said officers in a helicopter spotted Aurelio Carrasco, 33, around 7:30 p.m. on a mountain 6 miles south of Rowe and west of I-25. Carrasco had last been seen fleeing into the woods from southbound I-25 just west of San Jose after a head-on crash during a police chase.

Officers took Carrasco into custody and he was transported to an area hospital in Santa Fe, where he is being treated for the injuries he sustained during the crash, Soriano said.

Carrasco, of Brighton, Colorado, was booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center on attempted vehicular homicide, indecent exposure and two counts each of aggravated fleeing a police officer and aggravated assault upon a peace officer, among other charges.

His attorney could not be reached Friday.

The case began around 10:45 a.m. Thursday, when several State Police officers were eating at a Pecos restaurant and a distraught man began banging on the door, according to a statement of probable cause filed in Magistrate Court. He told police a man at the gas station had exposed himself to his wife, pointed a gun at the couple and said he would kill the couple and would kill anyone and would kill any cop.

Police said an officer found the suspects truck on N.M. 50 driving into oncoming traffic and the driver hit two vehicles before crashing and fleeing into the forest. The officer found a wallet in the truck and identified the suspect as Carrasco.

Then, around 1:46 p.m., a woman reported she found Carrasco in her garage trying to hot-wire a dirt bike before he fled on foot, according to court records. At 4 p.m., Carrasco was spotted flirting with a woman at the Glorieta campground and then stole her minivan.

Police said an officer spotted the van on the I-25 frontage road and pulled Carrasco over but he argued with the officer and drove off. Carrasco reportedly drove into oncoming traffic on I-25 and nearly crashed into two responding State Police vehicles before colliding head-on with a moving truck.

Carrasco fled on foot as two officers gave chase and one used a Taser on him but it was ineffective and he fled into a heavily wooded forest along I-25 west of San Jose, according to court records.

A State Police helicopter was called in to assist with a search of the area and found Carrasco in a mountainous area miles southwest of the crash site.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

When Oscar Anchondo Jr. was shot and killed by U.S. Marshals Service Task Force members in June, it was not the first time he had been shot at by law enforcement in the city.

The previous time, in 2015, immediately preceded his last arrest and he was not injured.

More recently, 45-year-old Anchondo had been finishing out a federal sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm and interference with interstate commerce by robbery when officials said he escaped from a halfway home.

Task force members found him about a month later  on June 27  in the parking lot of a Walgreens on San Mateo NE near Montgomery. Thats when, a U.S. Marshals spokesman said, he allegedly brandished a firearm and at least one officer discharged their firearm striking the subject.

Although the shooting happened months ago, neither the U.S. Marshals Service nor the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office  which had members on the task force and is leading the investigation into the incident  had publicly identified Anchondo by name.

This week, in response to the Journals Inspection of Public Records Act request, BCSO released lapel camera footage of the shooting that had been blurred in parts and muted. A BCSO spokeswoman confirmed that Anchondo was the man who was killed and said he did possess a firearm which he raised at task force members.

The footage, from three deputies, does not show Anchondos actions. Deputies can be heard yelling for him to drop a gun.

Jayme Fuller, a BCSO spokeswoman, said there are four deputies on the U.S. Marshals Task Force and none of them fired their weapons in this incident. She said the investigation is complete, but the report is still under review so she couldnt answer other questions.

The U.S. Marshals Service did not respond to questions about how many members fired at Anchondo.

Anchondos wife told the Journal she saw the news about the shooting and suspected he was the one who had been killed because reports included the date that he absconded from the halfway home. She said that, in the month after his escape and before he was shot, authorities had come to her job looking for him.

She said Anchondo had a troubled past, but the man she knew cared deeply for their three kids, ages 10 to 23, and was excited about their new grandson. She said that, when their oldest daughter was born, he loved to hold her and made up lullabies to sing.

I kind of want to know what happened, but I dont want to know any details because it makes everything real, she said. You dont want to know, but, then again, we do want to know.

The last time Anchondo was shot at was Sept. 30, 2015, when police said he carjacked someone and then pointed a gun at officers, who shot at him. After an hourslong SWAT call at a mobile home park, officers realized he had escaped.

Anchondo was arrested in Bernalillo by the Rio Rancho Police Department and the New Mexico State Police six days later and charged with receiving or transferring a stolen motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon.

That case was dismissed and he was charged in federal court instead. In 2016, he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and robbing two convenience stores.
An Albuquerque woman is accused of enlisting her children to help steal more than $8,000 in flowers and plants from outside Albertsons grocery stores dozens of times over the course of a year in Northeast Albuquerque.

Authorities said Lovelea Degeer then sold the stolen plants on Facebook, in garage sales and on display in front of her northeast-area home.

The Albuquerque Police Departments Organized Crime Unit arrested the 36-year-old woman and her boyfriend, Jayson Morales, 41, on Wednesday.

APD spokeswoman Rebecca Atkins said authorities seized two guns, $1,500 in stolen goods, $3,300 in cash and numerous items of drug paraphernalia from Degeers home during the arrest.

She is charged with 19 counts of shoplifting, six counts of child abuse and seven counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, among other charges, in connection with the plant-centered crime spree.

Morales is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Atkins said Morales was currently on probation, which was ultimately revoked due to his involvement with Degeer.

Court records for that revocation could not be found and, although Atkins said he assisted Degeer in 2022 thefts, Morales has not yet been charged in the alleged crimes.

The pair have been booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Degeer was awaiting trial in a Sept. 23 DWI arrest in which, according to court records, she was found passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle in Northeast Albuquerque and blew above the presumed level of intoxication.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court:

In April 2021, the Albertsons asset protection office took notice of a woman, her two children and an unidentified man stealing flowers and plants from the displays out front of multiple stores. Degeer, her 12-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter were later identified as the trio.

Police said that, from April 11, 2021, to Sept. 14, 2022, Degeer, often accompanied by her children, stole plants from Albertsons on at least 23 occasions  sometimes making off with more than $500 worth of plants. Authorities said they identified more cases involving Degeer, but the evidence was not sufficient.

Degeer targeted Albertsons stores on Wyoming, Academy, Ventura, Eubank and Lomas.

In the thefts, Degeer would pull her car up to the display and she, her children and the unidentified man would load plants into the car, often ignoring employees, security or customers who tried to stop them.

During one incident, Degeers daughter hesitated when a customer passed by, but her mother, who had not stopped loading plants into the car, motioned her daughter to continue.

This encouragement caused (Degeers daughter) to ignore her conscience and she quickly stepped out of the vehicle to help her mother again, according to the complaint.

Albertsons removed its floral displays from outside the stores due to the losses, which proved to be helpful, but, in September, corporate officials advised that the plants needed to be displayed as before.

Within a week of displaying the plants, according to police, Degeer was back to stealing the plants from the storefront displays.

Police said Degeer used Facebook Marketplace to sell the plants under market value and with the Albertsons barcodes still visible. She also put the stolen plants on display for sale in front of her house and had garage sales.

Authorities said Degeer appeared to be unemployed and has had no listed work history in several years.

She rarely left her residence unless it was to replenish her plants; thus, it appeared Degeer supports herself and her children solely through retail crime, according to the complaint.  If left to her own devices, and without specific intervention or appropriate prohibitive measures, Degeer will continue this crime spree into perpetuity.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

The Democratic challenger in what is likely New Mexicos most competitive U.S. House race is being targeted for tweets and statements he made prior to his candidacy that were critical of the oil and gas industry and implied the Trump administration was racist.

Gabe Vasquez, a Democrat, is running to oust Rep. Yvette Herrell, the lone Republican member of the states congressional delegation. The district includes the states border with Mexico and parts of the Permian Basin, a prolific oil and gas producing region.

The race is receiving national attention and is the most expensive House race in the state. Vasquez and Herrells campaigns had already spent nearly $5.3 million through the end of September, according to the Federal Election Commission.

The Republican National Congressional Committee released a television ad in New Mexico on Tuesday that quotes Vasquez in a 2018 podcast where he talked about shutting down the oil and gas industry. The ad dropped after CNN last week reported on a series of since-deleted tweets sent by Vasquez that referenced the Ku Klux Klan and the Trump administration. In other tweets he criticized politicians of color with different political ideologies and the oil and gas industries. And Fox News this week reported on emails Vasquez sent to constituents in 2020, saying he agreed with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Vasquezs campaign pointed out that his record as a Las Cruces city councilor stands in contrast to some of his old tweets, which were written during times of strife in the country, including during the summer of 2020 during Black Lives Matter protests and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Vasquez said in a statement to the Journal that he will try to strike a balance in Congress. He said that means working to reform police while fully funding them, and fighting to protect oil and gas workers livelihoods and increase production while also expanding renewable energy jobs and holding extraction companies accountable for polluting.

Republicans have tried to cherry pick my words and distort my record throughout this campaign, he said. As a city councilor, I voted, every year, to increase the police budget by millions. My actions clearly show my priorities and that I will work to solve the challenges all residents of our district face  regardless of party  instead of playing Washington political games like my opponent.

While Republicans target his past statements, Vasquez ran an ad earlier this month in which he says he will protect a womans right to choose, pitting his stance on abortion against Herrell, who is against abortion except in certain circumstances.

The CNN report last week includes images from since-deleted tweets that Vasquez made in 2020 and prior to his candidacy.

In one tweet he said that conservation was a way forward to replace the extremely toxic fossil fuel industry.

In more than one tweet he used the term AmeriKKKa when commenting about the Trump administration and the Department of Justice.

He said white nationalism was to blame for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol in a tweet that has been deleted. In another tweet, he referred to minority candidates who are on the other side of the political spectrum as vendidos, or sellout.

Earlier in the campaign, Republicans targeted Vasquez for comments he made during a Black Lives Matter protest in the summer of 2020. Vasquez appeared on an El Paso, Texas, television stations segment where he said: We need serious police reform in this country. Its not just about defunding police, its about defunding a system that privileges white people over everyone else.

When asked about the comments, Vasquez pointed out that he voted to increase the police budget as a city councilor.

The more we find out about Gabe Vasquezs real beliefs, the worse it gets, Herrell said in a statement. Whether its advocating for defunding the police, ending the oil and gas industry, using inflammatory racial rhetoric to divide New Mexicans, or repeatedly referring to our amazing country as AmeriKKKa, Vasquezs radical agenda is dangerous  and just plain wrong. Vasquez is pretending to be a moderate to get elected, but his true views are now in plain sight for all to see despite his best attempts to hide them from the voters.
VIENTIANE, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd. (LCRC), a joint venture based in Lao capital Vientiane and responsible for the operation of the railway's Lao section, has conducted an exercise responding to emergency cases in the tunnel and on long ramps.

The drill, testing the emergency brake performance and the anti-slip control system on the long ramp, was held Tuesday on the Railway's Lao section in Kasy district, some 150 km north of Vientiane.

When the train had to stop suddenly on a slope, the staff checked the parking conditions and recorded machine information, verifying that the brake and anti-sliding performance of the train meets the safety standards of train operation.

The exercise also included emergency response skills to organize the evacuation of passengers in the event of a fire incident in the long tunnel to ensure that the stages of evacuation are properly implemented and the equipment can be used with quality.

An LCRC official told Xinhua on Friday that as a result of the drill, it has been tested that the emergency evacuation procedure in the long tunnel is scientifically correct, reasonable and possible. The warning signal, emergency lighting, communication and other equipment in the tunnel along the China-Laos Railway are in good condition. 
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Families of hundreds of missing New Mexicans will be able to connect with several government agencies Saturday at the first Missing in New Mexico Day.

There are 984 missing people in New Mexico as of Oct. 1, said Regina Chacon, bureau chief of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. According to the FBIs website, 192 of those people are Native American.

The New Mexico Indian Affairs Department is hosting the event in collaboration with the Department of Public Safety.

The event, which will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th NW, in Albuquerque, aims to connect families of missing people in the state with agencies.

Families can meet with investigators, access support services and submit DNA records.

The event looks to provide a network for New Mexicans with missing relatives to heal, access support services, and access media outlets to distribute information about missing relatives, the Indian Affairs Department website states.

Attendees are advised to bring recent photos, dental records and information about their missing relatives, according to the website. Federal, state, local and tribal governments will be at the event to assist in filing missing persons reports.

The FBI, Attorney Generals Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Navajo Nation Police Department and 16 other agencies from across the state are expected to attend, Chacon said.
BRUSSELS  European Union leaders on Friday gave the green light to a plan to provide Ukraine with 18 billion euros (dollars) in financial support over the next year, after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia is trying to spark a refugee exodus by destroying his countrys energy infrastructure.

The plan, endorsed at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, would see the 27-nation bloc match U.S. financial support for war-ravaged Ukraine in monthly installments.

Ukraine is telling us that they need approximately 3-4 billion euros per month to have enough resources for the basics, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. She said that figure would be met in equal part by the EU and the U.S., plus additional money from international financial institutions.

It is very important to Ukraine to have a predictable and stable flow of income, von der Leyen told reporters. She said the EU is looking to provide about 1.5 billion euros each month, describing it as a funding amount that would be stable and reliable.

The blocs finance ministers have been tasked with coming up with a system for pulling together the money, which would come on top of the 9 billion euros in macro-financing support that the EU is already sending.

Von der Leyen also slammed Russias atrocious and deliberate attacks on civilians and infrastructure. Nearly eight months into the war, Russia has increasingly targeted Ukraines power stations, waterworks and other key infrastructure with missile and drone strikes.

In a speech to the leaders via video link on Thursday, Zelenskyy said that attacks by Russian cruise missiles and Iranian combat drones have destroyed more than a third of our energy infrastructure.

The president added: Russia also provokes a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to EU countries, by attacking electricity and heating sources so that as many Ukrainians as possible move to your countries.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas described the targeting of civilian infrastructure as pure terrorism.

Russias attacks are meant to make us afraid. It is to make us refrain from the decisions that we would otherwise make, and this is awful that it is possible to do this in the year 2022, Kallas told reporters.

Her Latvian counterpart, Krisjanis Karins, added: Russias war is becoming ever more brutal, now blatantly aimed not at the Ukrainian military but at Ukrainian citizens.

More than 4.3 million Ukrainian citizens have registered for temporary protection in the EU. Poland is hosting almost almost a third of them.

In a summit statement, the EU leaders affirmed that they will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes with continued political, military and economic support. They also said that the bloc will step up its humanitarian response, in particular for winter preparedness.

The EU is deeply divided over how to handle the arrival of migrants without authorization, an issue that lies at the heart of one of the blocs biggest-ever political crises. But many countries, particularly in central and eastern Europe, so far have set aside their objections to welcome large numbers of war refugees from Ukraine.

The leaders also warned Belarus against helping Russia in the war. Ukraines military leaders said this week that Russia is deploying aircraft and troops to Belarus and that Russian forces could attack from there to cut supply routes for Western weapons and equipment.

The Belarusian regime must fully abide by its obligations under international law. The European Union remains ready to move quickly with further sanctions against Belarus, the summit statement said.
GREENWOOD, Miss.  Hundreds of people applauded  and some wiped away tears  as a Mississippi community unveiled a larger-than-life statue of Emmett Till on Friday, not far from where white men kidnapped and killed the Black teenager over accusations he had flirted with a white woman in a country store.

Change has come, and it will continue to happen, Madison Harper, a senior at Leflore County High School, told a racially diverse audience at the statues dedication. Decades ago, our parents and grandparents could not envision that a moment like today would transpire.

The 1955 lynching became a catalyst for the civil rights movement. Tills mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral in Chicago so the world could see the horrors inflicted on her 14-year-old son. Jet magazine published photos of his mutilated body, which was pulled from the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi.

The 9-foot (2.7-meter) tall bronze statue in Greenwoods Rail Spike Park is a jaunty depiction of the living Till in slacks, dress shirt and tie with one hand on the brim of a hat.

The rhythm and blues song, Wake Up, Everybody played as workers pulled a tarp off the figure. Dozens of people surged forward, shooting photos and video on cellphones.

Anna-Maria Webster of Rochester, New York, had tears running down her face.

Its beautiful to be here, said Webster, attending the ceremony on a sunny afternoon during a visit with Mississippi relatives. Speaking of Tills mother she said: Just to imagine the torment she went through  all over a lie.

Mississippi has the highest percentage of Black residents of any state, now about 38%. Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, whose district encompasses the Delta, noted that Mississippi had no Black elected officials when Till was killed. He said Tills death helped spur change.

But you, know, change has a way of becoming slower and slower, said Thompson, the only Black member of Mississippis current congressional delegation. What we have to do in dedicating this monument to Emmett Till is recommit ourselves to the spirit of making a difference in our community.

The statue is a short drive from an elaborate Confederate monument outside the Leflore County Courthouse and about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the crumbling remains of the store, Bryants Grocery & Meat Market, in Money.

The statues unveiling coincided with the release this month of Till, a movie exploring Till-Mobleys private trauma over her sons death and her transformation into a civil rights activist.

The Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., the last living witness to his cousins kidnapping, wasnt able to travel from Illinois for Fridays dedication. But he told The Associated Press on Wednesday: We just thank God someone is keeping his name out there.

He said some wrongly thought Till got what he deserved for breaking the taboo of flirting with a white woman, adding many people didnt want to talk about the case for decades.

Now theres interest in it, and thats a godsend, Parker said. You know what his mother said: I hope he didnt die in vain.'

Greenwood and Leflore County are both more than 70% Black and officials have worked for years to bring the Till statue to reality. Democratic state Sen. David Jordan of Greenwood secured $150,000 in state funding and a Utah artist, Matt Glenn, was commissioned to create the statue.

Jordan said he hopes it will draw tourists to learn more about the areas history. Hopefully, it will bring all of us together, he said.

Till and Parker had traveled from Chicago to spend the summer of 1955 with relatives in the deeply segregated Mississippi Delta. On Aug. 24, the two teens took a short trip with other young people to the store in Money. Parker said he heard Till whistle at shopkeeper Carolyn Bryant.

Four days later, Till was abducted in the middle of the night from his uncles home. The kidnappers tortured and shot him, weighted his body down with a cotton gin fan and dumped him into the river.

Jordan, who is Black, was a college student in 1955 when he drove to the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner to watch the murder trial of two white men charged with killing Till  Carolyns husband Roy Bryant and his half brother, J.W. Milam.

An all-white, all-male jury acquitted the two men, who later confessed to Look magazine that they killed Till.

Nobody has ever been convicted in the lynching. The U.S. Justice Department has opened multiple investigations starting in 2004 after receiving inquiries about whether charges could be brought against anyone still living.

In 2007, a Mississippi prosecutor presented evidence to a grand jury of Black and white Leflore County residents after investigators spent three years re-examining the killing. The grand jury declined to issue indictments.

The Justice Department reopened an investigation in 2018 after a 2017 book quoted Carolyn Bryant  now remarried and named Carolyn Bryant Donham  saying she lied when she claimed Till grabbed her, whistled and made sexual advances. Relatives have publicly denied Donham, who is in her 80s, recanted her allegations. The department closed that investigation in late 2021 without bringing charges.

This year, a group searching the Leflore County Courthouse basement found an unserved 1955 arrest warrant for Mrs. Roy Bryant. In August, another Mississippi grand jury found insufficient evidence to indict Donham, causing consternation for Till relatives and activists.

Although Mississippi has dozens of Confederate monuments, some have been moved in recent years, including one relocated in 2020 from the University of Mississippi campus to a cemetery where Confederate soldiers are buried.

The state has a few monuments to Black historical figures, including one honoring civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer in Ruleville.

A historical marker outside Bryants Grocery has been knocked down and vandalized. Another marker near where Tills body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River has been vandalized and shot. The Till statue in Greenwood will be watched by security cameras.

Jordan won applause when he said Friday: If some idiot tears it down, were going to put it right back up.

___

Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus.
WASHINGTON  Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was sentenced Friday to serve four months behind bars after defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols allowed Bannon to stay free pending appeal, a potentially lengthy process, and also imposed a fine of $6,500 as part of the sentence. Bannon was convicted in July of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents.

Nichols handed down the sentence after saying the law was clear that contempt of Congress is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of at least one month behind bars. Bannons lawyers had argued the judge couldve sentenced him to probation instead. Prosecutors had asked for Bannon to be sent to jail for six months.

In my view, Mr. Bannon has not taken responsibility for his actions, Nichols said before he imposed the sentence. Others must be deterred from committing similar crimes.

The House panel had sought Bannons testimony over his involvement in Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Bannon has yet to testify or provide any documents to the committee.

Prosecutors argued Bannon, 68, deserved the longer sentence because he had pursued a bad faith strategy and his public statements disparaging the committee itself made it clear he wanted to undermine their effort to get to the bottom of the violent attack and keep anything like it from happening again.

He chose to hide behind fabricated claims of executive privilege and advice of counsel to thumb his nose at Congress, said prosecutor J.P. Cooney.

Your honor, the defendant is not above the law and that is exactly what makes this case important, Cooney said. It must be made clear to the public, to the citizens, that no one is above the law.

The defense, meanwhile, said he wasnt acting in bad faith, but trying to avoid running afoul of executive privilege objections Trump had raised when Bannon was first served with a committee subpoena last year. The onetime presidential adviser said he wanted to have a Trump lawyer in the room, but the committee wouldnt allow it.

In imposing the sentence, the judge noted that Bannon did have a lawyer, and while his advice might have been overly aggressive he did appear to be following it.

Mr. Bannon did not completely ignore the fact he had received the subpoena nor did he fail to engage with the committee at all, Nichols said.

Many other former White House aides have testified with only their own counsel. Bannon had been fired from the White House in 2017 and was a private citizen when he was consulting with the then-president before the riot.

Before the judge handed down the sentence, Bannons lawyer, David Schoen, gave an impassioned argument railing against the committee and saying Bannon had simply done was his lawyer told him to do under Trumps executive privilege objections.

Quite frankly, Mr. Bannon should make no apology. No American should make any apology for the manner in which Mr. Bannon proceeded in this case, he said.

Schoen also defended Bannons public remarks about the committee: Telling the truth about this committee or speaking ones mind about this committee, its not only acceptable in this country, its an obligation if one believes it to be true, Schoen said.

As he walked into court on Friday, Bannon told reporters, This illegitimate regime, their judgment day is on 8 November when the Biden administration ends. Bannon did not speak during the hearing, saying only, My lawyers have spoken for me, your honor.

Leaving the courthouse after the sentencing, Bannon said he believed Attorney General Merrick Garland would be impeached.

When President Joe Biden, for his part, was asked about the sentence as he left the White House he said: I never have a reaction to Steve Bannon.

Prosecutors had pushed for the maximum fine, saying Bannon refused to answer routine questions about his income and insisted he could pay whatever the judge imposed. The judge, though, found the short answers were an effort to spare court staff a lengthy effort of tracing Bannons finances and imposed a smaller fine.

Bannon has also argued that he had offered to testify after Trump waived executive privilege. But that was after the contempt charges were filed, and prosecutors say he would only agree to give the deposition if the case was dropped.

Bannon is also facing separate money laundering, fraud and conspiracy charges in New York related to the We Build the Wall campaign. Bannon has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say Bannon falsely promised donors that all money would go to constructing a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, but instead was involved with transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars to third-party entities and using them to funnel payments to two other people involved in the scheme.

___

Associated Press journalist Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.
This Sunday, head out to Zia Park Casino Hotel & Racetrack in Hobbs and support Pink Day, a fundraiser with the proceeds going to a local charity.

All jockeys, gate crew and valets will wear pink for the occasion and there will also be a silent auction with novelties being sold.

New Mexico resident Jamie Zamora of Zamora Racing Team has coordinated this event for 14 years and has been involved with horse racing since she was a young girl in Raton, where she saw the races at La Mesa Park.

Zamora began to coordinated the event after she was diagnosed with breast cancer years ago.

After I got done with all my treatments and my surgeries and all the happy (stuff) that goes with it, I just decided I needed to do something to give back, Zamora said.

Though Zamora was upset for a while, she credits her husband for helping her get back on track.

One day I was having a pity party, and my husband said, Im sorry why not?,  she said. We left the doctors office and she said its a one-in-four chance, so God didnt punish me, but he chose me, because if it wasnt me, it would be my mom or my one of my two sisters.

After that, Zamora went to work.

My husband and I have both been around the racetrack our whole lives and we asked to do the pink day and they said absolutely and to run with it, Zamora said. What I thought might be a one-race track event or a one year thing or you know, has turned into 14 years.

Zamora has held a number of racing jobs in her 40-plus years in the horse racing industry, including as a licensed groom, trainer, owner, jockey agent, program coordinator, chart caller and entry clerk.

Its over a decade later and Zamora is still pushing.

So when I was done, I just decided he was absolutely right and I needed to do something with it, Zamora said.  Like I said, were from the track, I knew they would let me use their facilities and we know the people I know I could ask for help.

I buy jockey silks for all of them, so every horse is pink and on race day you just bet on the pink one.

Though purple is her favorite color, one cant tell that on race day as she dons all pink.

For Zamora, seeing all of the participants is her favorite aspect of the fundraiser.

It is like a sea of pink and we include everybody you know and there is a few games and little novelty items to buy to help us raise money, Zamora said. Just to include everybody and create some energy is great and it just warms my heart seeing the people.
KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian forces bombarded Russian positions in the occupied and illegally annexed southern Kherson region, targeting resupply routes across a major river while inching closer Friday to a full assault on one of the first urban areas Russia captured after invading the country.

Russian-installed officials were reported desperately trying to turn the city of Kherson, a prime objective for both sides because of its key industries and major river and sea port, into a fortress while attempting to evacuate tens of thousands of residents.

The Kremlin poured as many as 2,000 draftees into the Kherson region  one of four Moscow illegally annexed and put under Russian martial law  to replenish losses and strengthen front-line units, according to the Ukrainian armys general staff.

The Dnieper River figures prominently in the regional battle because it serves critical functions  crossings for supplies, troops and civilians; drinking water for southern Ukraine and the annexed Crimean Peninsula; and power generation from a hydroelectric station. Much of the area, including the power station and a canal feeding water to Crimea, is under Russian control.

Kremlin-installed Kherson officials said Ukrainian shelling of a Dnieper River ferry crossing killed two journalists working for a local TV station they set up under occupation. At least two other people were reported killed and 10 members of the broadcast crew and their relatives were wounded, Russias Tass news agency reported

Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraines southern operational command, confirmed the Ukrainian military struck the Antonivskyi Bridge near the crossing but only during an overnight curfew Russian-installed officials put in place to avoid civilian casualties.

We do not attack civilians and settlements, Humeniuk told Ukrainian television.

Earlier Ukrainian strikes had made the Antonivskyi Bridge inoperable, prompting Russian authorities to set up ferry crossings and pontoon bridges to relocate civilians and transport supplies to Russian troops in Kherson, which sits on the Dniepers western bank.

Russian-installed officials are trying to evacuate up to 60,000 people from Kherson for their safety and to allow the military to build fortifications. Ukraines military reported Friday that bank employees, medical workers and teachers were relocating as the citys infrastructure wound down.

The situation is really difficult, the deputy head of Khersons Kremlin-installed regional administration, Kirill Stremousov, said in a video he posted on Telegram. Today we are preparing the city of Kherson as a fortress for defense and are ready to defend to the last. Our task is to save people, build defenses and protect the city.

Kherson city, with a prewar population of about 284,000, was one of the first urban areas Russia captured when it invaded Ukraine, and it remains the largest city it holds.

Another flashpoint on the Dnieper River is the Kakhovka dam, which creates a large reservoir, and associated hydroelectric power station, about 70 kms (44 miles) from Kherson city. Each side accuses the other of targeting the facilities. Russian-installed officials claim Ukrainian forces have been attacking the facilities in part to cut the water supply to Crimea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy contends the Russians plan to blow up the dam and power station to unleash 18 million cubic meters (4.8 billion gallons) of water and flood Kherson and dozens of other areas where hundreds of thousands of people live. He told the European Council on Thursday that Russia would then blame Ukraine.

None of the claims could be independently verified.

Defying international law, Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Ukraines Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions last month even though his forces dont control all the territory. Putin declared martial law in the regions as of Thursday to assert Russian authority in the face of military setbacks and strong international criticism.

In the Donetsk region, two people were killed in Russian shelling of the city of Bakhmut, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the provinces Ukrainian governor. Russian troops have been unable to advance toward the city for more than a month.

In the capital of the eastern Ukraines recently reclaimed Kharkiv region, nine people were wounded in two Russian attacks, according to Gov. Oleh Syniehubov. In the city of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian S-300 missile strike Friday wounded three people and damaged a residential building, a school and infrastructure, Ukrainian authorities said.

Each strike wont scare anyone. It will make us stronger, said Dniprovskyi District acting administrative chief Volodymyr Hrianysty.

In an apparent effort to keep hostilities from spinning out of control, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin reached out to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday for their first phone call since May 13. Defense officials have said the Russians had not responded to U.S. efforts to set up calls.

Russias deployment of aircraft and troops to air bases in Belarus raised the specter of another front on Ukraines northern border, although Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday: Were not going anywhere today  If you do not want to fight with us, then we will not, there will be no war.

The Ukrainian armys general staff has warned that Belarus could attack to cut supply routes of Western weapons and equipment. Belarus intervention could also divert Ukraines resources and weaken its southern counteroffensive.

While prospects for peace appear slim, the Kremlin insisted Friday that Putin has been open to negotiations from the very beginning and nothing has changed. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin tried to initiate talks with both NATO and the United States even before the special military operation  the Russian term for its war in Ukraine.

Peskov was responding to Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said earlier Friday that the Russian leader appeared to be much softer and more open to negotiations.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Putins war has backfired.

President Putin thinks that these attacks will somehow break the will of Ukrainian people. Instead, he is only deepening their resolve to defend their country, Blinken told reporters on Friday.

Moscow can knock out the lights across Ukraine, but it cannot, it will not, extinguish the Ukrainian spirit. President Putin thought he could divide the trans-Atlantic alliance; instead, hes brought us even closer together.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
WASHINGTON  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol formally issued an extraordinary subpoena to Donald Trump on Friday, demanding testimony from the former president who lawmakers say personally orchestrated a multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The nine-member panel issued a letter to Trumps lawyers saying he must testify, either at the Capitol or by videoconference, beginning on or about Nov. 14 and continuing for multiple days if necessary.

The letter also outlined a sweeping request for documents, including personal communications between Trump and members of Congress as well as extremist groups. Those are to be turned in by Nov. 4, although the committees deadlines are generally subject to negotiation.

We recognize that a subpoena to a former president is a significant and historic action, Chairman Bennie Thompson and Vice Chair Liz Cheney wrote in the letter to Trump. We do not take this action lightly.

The panel rooted its action in history, listing past presidents from John Quincy Adams to Gerald Ford, who testified before Congress after leaving office  and noted that even sitting presidents have responded to congressional subpoenas.

It is unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond. He could comply or negotiate with the committee, announce he will defy the subpoena or ignore it altogether. He could also go to court and try to stop it.

We understand that, once again, flouting norms and appropriate and customary process, the Committee has publicly released a copy of its subpoena, David Warrington, a partner with the Dhillon Law Group, which is representing Trump, said in a statement late Friday. As with any similar matter, we will review and analyze it, and will respond as appropriate to this unprecedented action.

The subpoena is the latest and most striking escalation in the House committees 15-month investigation of the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, bringing members of the panel into direct conflict with the man they have investigated from afar through the testimony of aides, allies and associates.

In the letter, the committee wrote about the overwhelming evidence it has assembled, showing Trump personally orchestrated an effort to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election, including by spreading false allegations of widespread voter fraud, attempting to corrupt the Justice Department and pressuring state officials, members of Congress and his own vice president to change the results.

In short, you were at the center of the first and only effort by any U.S. President to overturn an election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power, ultimately culminating in a bloody attack on our own Capitol and on the Congress itself, Thompson and Cheney said.

Lawmakers say key details about what Trump was doing and saying during the siege remain unknown. According to the committee, the only person who can fill the gaps is Trump himself.

The panel  comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans  approved the subpoena for Trump in a surprise vote last week. Every member voted in support.

The subpoena calls for testimony about Trumps dealings with several former aides and associates who have asserted their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination to the committee, including Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark and Kelli Ward.

These Fifth Amendment assertions  made by persons with whom you interacted  related directly to you and your conduct, the subpoena letter reads. They provide specific examples where your truthful testimony under oath with be important.

The committee also made 19 requests for documents and communication  including for any messages Trump sent on the encrypted messaging app Signal or any other means to members of Congress and others about the stunning events of the Capitol attack.

The scope of the committees request is expansive  pursuing documents from Sept. 1, 2020, two months before the election, to the present on the presidents communications with the groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys  as the panel looks to compile a historical record of the run-up to the Capitol attack and then the aftermath.

But there remains little legal advantage for Trump to cooperate with the committee as he already faces other civil and criminal legal battles in various jurisdictions, including over his family business in New York and the handling of presidential records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Its possible his lawyers could simply run out the clock on the subpoena if they go to court to try to squash it as the committee is required to finish its work by the end of the year.

It seems improbable to me that this could be litigated to conclusion in the time remaining to the Committee in this Congress, Peter Keisler, who served as acting attorney general under President George W. Bush, told The Associated Press.

There is ample precedent for Congress to seek testimony from a former president. Over the past century and a half, at least six current and former presidents have testified on Capitol Hill, including John Tyler and Quincy Adams after both were subpoenaed in 1848.

This could be Trumps chance to respond directly to the committee, to tell his version of events, but its unlikely the defeated president would take it. He has ridiculed the panel and its work, preferring to share his views on his own terms. And testifying under oath could create legal exposure in the several other investigations he is caught up in.

If Trump refuses to comply with the subpoena, the panel will have to weigh the practical and political implications of holding him in contempt of Congress.

Thats a bridge we cross if we have to get there, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican member of the committee, told ABC on Sunday. Hes made it clear he has nothing to hide, is what he says. So, he should come in.

If the full House voted to recommend a contempt charge against Trump, the Justice Department would then review the case and decide on any further steps.

Other witnesses have faced legal consequences for defying the committee, including close Trump ally Steve Bannon, who was convicted of contempt in July and was sentenced Friday to four months behind bars. But holding a former president in contempt would be another matter.

The subpoena to Trump comes as the committee is looking to wrap up its investigative work and compile a final, comprehensive report that will be published by the end of the year. Investigators have interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, including many of Trumps top White House aides, and obtained tens of thousands of pages of documents since the committee was formed in July 2021.

But the panel is authorized only through this Congress, which ends on Jan. 3. That means members have only a few short months  amid a hectic lame-duck legislative period after the midterm elections  to refine their historical record of the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries. Whether that will include the testimony from the 45th president of the United States remains to be seen.

The committee ended its subpoena to Trump by quoting one of his predecessors: President (Theodore) Roosevelt explained during his congressional testimony, an ex-President is merely a citizen of the United States, like any other citizen, and it is his plain duty to try to help this committee or respond to its invitation.'

___

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Jill Colvin and Mark Sherman contributed to this report.

___

Follow APs coverage of the Jan. 6 insurrection at https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege

Follow APs Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump
The New Mexico Environment Department on Wednesday issued a notice of noncompliance to the R. Marley trucking company for failing to tell the agency about an asphalt emulsion spill into a Gila River tributary.

NMED says the spill caused significant surface water impacts. Additional compliance and enforcement measures are likely.

On Sept. 26, one of the companys trucks overturned northeast of Silver City near Meadow Creek along N.M. 15.

The spill sent about 2,000 gallons of asphalt, water and a binding agent into Jaybird Canyon in the Gila National Forest north of Pinos Altos.

NMED was notified of the spill on Oct. 4 by the state Transportation Department and local residents.

The company has hired a contractor to clean up the spill.
A man is in custody after shooting a woman during a domestic dispute on Friday afternoon at the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Northeast Albuquerque.

Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque police spokesman, said the woman is in critical condition.

This shooting has been made a serious crimes callout because of the nature of the wounds, he said.  A male suspect is in custody. This appears to be a domestic violence-related shooting.

Gallegos said the shooting was an isolated incident that involved a man and woman who knew each other.

He said officers responded sometime before 1:45 p.m. to a shooting at the Walmart near San Mateo and Interstate 40.

Gallegos did not say if the shooting happened inside or outside the store but police tape cordoned off the front of the Walmart and investigators appeared to concentrated inside the store.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Turnout remains strong  up 31% over four years ago  as New Mexico prepares to open an expanded set of early voting sites Saturday.

A little over 54,000 voters have cast ballots absentee or in person, according to figures released Friday morning, up from about 42,000 at a similar point in the 2018 election cycle.

The healthy start to turnout comes as counties across New Mexico prepare to open satellite early-voting locations Saturday morning, sharply expanding the options for in-person voting.

Rio Arriba County Clerk Linda J. Padilla said Friday she expects substantial turnout as her county moves from two in-person sites to six altogether for the remainder of the early-voting period.

Voter interest, its been really steady, she said. I think its looking really good.

Bernalillo County will expand from one in-person site to 20 voting locations  plus a mobile voting unit at Expo New Mexico  for the final 2 weeks before Election Day.

Most of the countys locations will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Voters may cast a ballot in person at any site, and each location also accepts the hand delivery of completed absentee ballots.

While online voter registration has closed for the election, same-day registration is available at early-voting locations, allowing a person to register to vote and then immediately cast a ballot. A photo identification and a document with the persons name and current address in the county are required to register.

Turnout, meanwhile, has climbed across the board except for voters registered with a minor party, according to a Journal analysis. Democrats have cast about 35% more ballots so far than they had at a similar point in the 2018 general election, and Republican ballots are up 27%.

This years ballot includes races for governor and other statewide executive offices, Congress, the Legislature and county-level positions.

Early voting will run through Nov. 5, with Election Day set for Nov. 8.

Bernalillo County early voting locations

Open Saturday through Nov. 5, Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.:

 98th and Central Shopping Center, 120 98th NW, Suite B101, B102

 Andalucia Shopping Center, 5600 Coors NW, Suite C-5

 Bernalillo County Visitor Center, 6080 Isleta SW

 Caracol Plaza, 12500 Montgomery NE, Suite 101

 Central Mercado, 301 San Pedro SE Suites B, C, D & E

 County Clerks Annex, 1500 Lomas NW, Suite A

 Cottonwood West, 10131 Coors NW, Suite C-02

 Daskalos Center, 5339 Menaul NE

 Four Hills Shopping Center, 13140 Central SE, Suite 1420

 Holly Plaza Shopping Center, 6600 Holly NE, Suite B-6

 Los Altos Plaza, 4200 Wyoming NE, Suite B-3

 Los Ranchos Villa, 6601 Fourth NW, Suite U

 Petroglyph Plaza, 8201 Golf Course NW, Suite D-1

 South Valley Multi-Purpose Senior Center, 2008 Larrazolo SW

 The Shoppes at 6001 San Mateo, 6001 San Mateo NE, Suite B-3

 Tijeras City Hall, 12 Camino Municipal, Tijeras

 University of New Mexico, Student Union Building, Louies Lounge

 West Bluff Center, 5211 Ouray NW, Suite B

Other dates, hours

 Desiderio Community Center, 117 Tribal Road 7036, ToHajiilee, Monday through Nov. 4, Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 Isleta Elder Center, Building 79 Tribal Road 40, Isleta, Saturday through Nov. 5, Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 Mobile Voting Unit, State Fair grounds, Monday through Nov. 4, Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Justice, development critical to strengthening women's resilience in conflict: Chinese envoy

Xinhua) 08:27, October 21, 2022

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Thursday urged the international community to take concrete actions to achieve justice and development for women in conflict to strengthen their resilience.

Strengthening the resilience of women in conflict is inherent in the agenda for women, peace and security, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council open debate on the theme of "Strengthening Women's Resilience and Leadership as a Path to Peace in Regions Plagued by Armed Groups."

Behind strength and resilience is the expectation and hope for the future, he said, noting that only by achieving fairness and justice can women in conflict believe that they can look forward to the future.

Citing the Palestinian question, which has been dragging on for more than 70 years without a solution, Geng said that generations of Palestinian women "have seen their hair going from black to white."

"The international community must come up with concrete actions to uphold justice and deliver on its commitments to promote a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question at an early date, so as to return Palestinian women a belated justice," he said.

The envoy pointed out that the lack of resilience for women in conflict is rooted in the lack of development.

At present, the global food crisis is becoming more severe. The international community should speed up its response to the crisis and provide emergency assistance to vulnerable groups such as women in developing countries, he said.

China hopes that all parties concerned to the Ukrainian issue will promote dialogue and consultation, fully implement the Black Sea Grain Initiative and ensure that more grain is shipped to developing countries, Geng said.

"We should also take a long-term view in supporting women's economic empowerment and help more women earn their own living," he added.

Geng also urged the immediate lift of unilateral sanctions against countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela, saying that those unilateral measures are "the heavy shackles impeding the survival and development of local women."

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Wu Chaolan)
HANOI, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Police in northern Vietnam's Lai Chau province have arrested a man for trafficking 30 cakes of heroin, local media reported on Friday.

The 37-year-old man, a resident of Lai Chau's Nam Nhun district, was caught red-handed with 30 cakes of heroin, equivalent to over 10.5 kg, in the same district, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The drug trafficker admitted that he and his accomplices had been hired by a man in the neighboring province of Dien Bien to sell the drug and would be paid 400 million Vietnamese dong (16,100 U.S. dollars), according to the report.

Meanwhile, police in the northern Hoa Binh city said on Friday that they had arrested a husband and wife and seized two cakes of heroin, equivalent to more than 661 grams.

The couple, aged 55 and 24, were caught by the police while transporting the drug in Hoa Binh on Tuesday, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Further investigation into the cases was underway, said the news agency.

According to Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces the death penalty. 
This years finalists for the Third Olga Kern International Piano Competition reflect global turmoil.

The competitions debut year in 2016 lured 100 applicants. This years group numbered just 96, said Marian Tanau, New Mexico Philharmonic executive director.

I think thats because we missed the Russians, he said. Their conditions of coming became a problem.

The Ukrainians also disappeared, he added. In 2019, Ukrainian pianist Tetiana Schafan took first place.

Competition namesake Olga Vladimirovna Kern is a Russian-American classical pianist. She became an American citizen in 2016.

Kern was born into a family of musicians with direct links to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff and began studying piano at the age of 5. She jump-started her U.S. career with her historic Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, as the first woman to do so in more than 30 years. She serves on the piano faculty at the Manhattan School of Music.

The 11 finalists will perform with the New Mexico Philharmonic at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at Popejoy Hall. The competition is open to pianists ages 18-32.

The musicians hail from five countries, including the U.S., Poland, China, Italy and South Korea.

A jury of eight plus Kern will determine the winners, Tanau said. The pianists will compete for $35,000 in prize money. In addition to the cash, the winner will receive concert engagements throughout Europe and the U.S.

A July virtual round kicked off the contest.

The current schedule is:

 Oct. 24-25  In-person second round 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 114 Carlisle Blvd. NE.

 Oct. 27  Semifinal chamber music round 6:30 p.m. at the Robertson & Sons Violin Shop, 3201 Carlisle Blvd. NE.

 Oct. 29  At 6 p.m., Popejoy Hall with the competition finalists in concert with the New Mexico Philharmonic and conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong, music director of the Eugene Symphony in Oregon.

 Oct. 30  At 3 p.m., awards ceremony and winners recital at Immanuel Presbyterian Church.

The in-person second round, semifinal round, the awards ceremony and winners recital are free. Tickets for the New Mexico Philharmonic range from $22-$90, plus fees at unmtickets.com or 505-925-5626.

All rounds can be streamed free at olgakerncompetition.org.
CNN will once again use its platform to shine a light on the environmental emergencies facing our planet, as Call to Earth Day returns on Thursday November 3rd for a day of action.

Call to Earth Day will see special coverage across CNNs television, digital and social media platforms. This multi-platform content will be complemented by a series of live events, and partnerships with schools, organizations and individuals across the globe, including the Asia Pacific region, dedicated to conservation, environmentalism, and sustainability.

For 2022, Call to Earth Day will focus on Living Oceans: Turning the Tide. Stories, live programming and interviews on this theme, gathered from across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and both North and South America, will run in every hour of CNN International programming.

On television, a 30-minute special will feature leading oceanographer, explorer and Rolex testimonee, Sylvia Earle. The world-renowned marine biologist will take CNNs audiences inside her conservation work on Floridas increasingly fragile coast. Connect the World with Becky Anderson will also air a special panel, discussing some of the key issues facing the worlds oceans.

On CNN digital, comprehensive features, a dynamic live blog cataloguing the days events, and social-first storytelling on remarkable conservation projects around the globe will run across the day. Once again, participants will be encouraged to share their actions, ideas, and inspirational thoughts on social media, using the hashtag #CalltoEarth.

For the first time, CNN en Espanol will also join Call to Earth Day, with special programming across TV and digital in Spanish.

This years event will build on the phenomenal success of the inaugural Call to Earth Day. Last year CNN connected with thousands of environmental organizations around the world, including over 500 schools, to raise awareness, educate students, and inspire actions that created real impact.

Ellana Lee, SVP & Managing Editor, CNN Asia Pacific, said: The first Call to Earth Day proved just how motivated people are to take tangible actions and tackle the climate crisis directly. Seeing that response has inspired us to continue its momentum, and were tremendously excited about everything we have lined up this year. Well be taking our audiences from the pristine coastal waters of Patagonia to the polluted banks of the Ganges, and down to the depths of the deepest seas, while helping to raise the voices of thousands of individuals and organizations who are determined to fight for our planets future. This years event will also arrive as many of the worlds leaders and keenest scientific minds prepare to gather in Egypt for COP27, so Call to Earth Day will give us a platform on which we can build towards that important moment.

Call to Earth Day is part of Call to Earth, a major network initiative launched by CNN in 2019, in partnership with Rolex and its Perpetual Planet initiative, shining a light on those committed to safeguard our planet for future generations. Over the last three years, this award-winning programming has told stories of change-makers, visionaries and ground-breaking projects making a difference to the world around them.

Call to Earth Day promo: https://bit.ly/3TEFoN9
BREEZER Vivid Shuffle (BVS), Indias biggest hip hop festival, has announced the launch of its sixth consecutive season, to make Mumbai groove to the #BeatsOfTheStreets with a high-energy on-ground experience on 12th and 13th November 2022. Kriti Sanon, one of Indias most loved actresses who has had a longstanding association with BVS, will also be present to vibe with the audience.

A hip hop festival thats transformed into a cultural phenomenon, BREEZER Vivid Shuffle is all set to celebrate the artists pushing the hip hop culture to greater prominence in the country. Bringing this movement to Mumbais hood, the festival will see adrenaline-pumping performances by some of the most sensational hip hop talents in India, making this season bigger and better than ever before. Day 1 of the festival will see the hard-hitting bars of Wicked Sunny; hip hop, trap, and funk biggie DJ Proof; along with rapper, composer, and YouTube knockout Dino James. On Day 2, hip hop enthusiasts will get to party with rappers Pavan, Agsy, and Krsna as well as rap superstar Raftaar

Arti Hajela, Regional Brand & Category Head  RTD (Ready To Drink), AMEA (Asia, Middle East, Africa) BACARDI said, Indias hip hop scene has grown exponentially in the past decade with new renditions of music, art and dance emerging every day. With the aim to celebrate hip hop as a passion point of our culturally leaned-in consumers, were bringing BREEZER Vivid Shuffle back for its sixth season with a two-day festival in Mumbai. With electrifying acts and streetwear pop-ups to look forward to, this nod to the #BeatsOfTheStreets will be a melting pot of all things hip hop. We are committed to celebrating the hip hop movement in India and will continue to build avenues for both artists and enthusiasts to experience and embolden the power of hip hop.

Drumming up the #BeatsOfTheStreets, BVS will transport audiences to the world of hip hop by encouraging them to show off their moves at open dance cyphers, update their drip at the street-style souk, and enjoy delicious food, all under one roof. To learn more about the skill behind hip hop, there will also be a School of Shuffle workshop on dance and music for enthusiasts.

In addition to the two-day-long festival in Mumbai, BVS is set to kick off a block party in Hyderabad on the 5th of November and another in Guwahati on the 19th of November, celebrating the growth of hip hop culture in India.

Akshat Rathee, Co-founder and Managing Director, NODWIN Gaming, said, It is absolutely exhilarating for us to be a part of the most hip and happening festival, BREEZER Vivid Shuffle. Hip hop has almost become a cult in the country and fans and artists alike look forward to such fests wherein they can showcase their talent as well as get the right exposure. BVS is the stage where all things hip hop come together to permeate the senses and mesmerise the mind. #BeatsOfTheStreets is just where enthusiasts can be a part of the diversity of genres while getting immersed in the artful vibe of it all. The festival has been a platform to discover some of the most extraordinary talent from across the country and we are proud to say that it is marching ahead into becoming one of the most popular destinations for hip hop fans.

Bollywood actress and BVS Season 6 Brand Ambassador, Kriti Sanon - talked about her connection to hip hop. Hip hop to me goes beyond music - it is an expression of self, and that is what makes it special. I am honoured to be a part of Indias biggest hip hop festival, BREEZER Vivid Shuffle, once again as it celebrates its sixth season. It is incredible to see the level of talent and performances that infuse the stage with infectious energy each year. I am thrilled to be associated with a platform that opens doors for many artists to hone their skills, build confidence, and express themselves. I cant wait to see BREEZER Vivid Shuffle come alive in Mumbai yet again this year and celebrate the #BeatsOfTheStreets with India's bustling hip hop community, she shared.

In a move to nurture and embrace hip hop talent in India, BVS is also hosting a digital dance battle judged by international stalwarts Marie Poppins, Boubou, and Outrage. The attractive awards include a prize pool of 6 lakh rupees, and a meet and greet session with Kriti Sanon.

Click here for more information on #BeatsOfTheStreet digital dance battle.

Get Groovin! Tickets now available on: Insider.in - BREEZER Vivid Shuffle Mumbai.
On the occasion of World Bosss Day on 16th Oct, Naukri.com celebrated different types of bosses that exist in the corporate world. With this intent, the leader brand launched its latest brand campaign, The Boss Sauce.

#BossSauceByNaukri was designed to create awareness about World Bosss Day and to acknowledge the different flavors of bosses from sweet to salty, sour to bitter, and more. The campaign started with 12 different boss personalities that employees may have interacted with in their professional journey at some point. The campaign connected with its audience across multiple social media platforms; via campaign kick-start video, influencer collaborations, 12 Boss Personality Cards, and vox-pop video partnership with Radio Mirchi.

Additionally, Naukri.com conducted a survey to understand the present equation of managers and subordinates. This acted as a building block for the brand campaign and saw active participation from over 4600 employees across the sectors and experience levels. Surprisingly, a whopping 44% of respondents are currently happy with their current bosses. Another noteworthy finding revealed that a bad boss is not the top reason for employees leaving their jobs.

Overall, the campaign saw massive success as it was well-received by the audience and users. The Boss Sauce campaign trended at #1 on Twitter and remained in the top 5 trending list for over 4 hours with 9,000+ tweets made using #BossSauceByNaukri. Apart from this, the influencer and Radio Mirchi collaboration got 90k+ likes and reached 1.6k + people.



Commenting on the brand campaign, Sumeet Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Naukri.com, said, Naukri.com relentlessly works towards providing accurate information on the Indian corporate world. This campaign aims to celebrate the unsung heroes of our professional lives - Bosses. With World Bosss Day around, Naukri.com was driven to analyze and reveal todays manager-employee relations.
An early-stage technology focussed fund, Silverneedle Ventures today announced the launch of their INR 100 Crore Fund. Their first investment is in the creator monetization platform Knorish. Silverneedle Ventures (SNV) has invested an undisclosed amount of funding in a Pre-Series A extension round of the startup. The round is backed by marquee investors such as Andrew Holland, Bharat Serum Family Office, IPV, Mumbai Angels, and Jet Synthesys. Knorish is building the worlds most convenient platform for Creator Monetization through a sales funnel for online courses, webinars and memberships.

SNV is a sector-agnostic early-stage technology fund that partners with entrepreneurs to increase their probability of success through an active hands-on approach. The fund aims to invest in Pre-Series A/Series A round of early-stage startups focused on B2B SaaS, Deeptech, Sustainability, and D2C/Consumer Internet, among a few other sectors. The fund is founded by Ajay Jain and Deepesh Agarwal who were also the founders of Xseed Partners. The team has a group of seasoned professionals who have invested in 30-odd early-stage investments & mentored numerous startups. The SNV team has run successful startups & has been part of the startup ecosystem as employees/advisors of incubators & accelerators. The leadership team is based out of Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, and California.

With the launch of SNV, they have announced their first investment in Knorish. Knorish aims to utilize the fund by expanding and growing its business to new markets while planning to onboard more creators and use the rest of the fund to enhance its tech ability. Currently, the startup has a team of 32 people in technology, sales, customer success, content designing, and marketing. The startup is tapping a market of 80 Million creators and knowledge professionals in India who can eventually convert their skills into a creator business.

Knorish caters to 38,000 academies built by creators from 11 countries, impacting a million users in 45 countries. The goal is to actively acquire more customers from the growing global markets. The startup is founded by Kinner N Sacchdev (Co-Founder & CEO) and Rakhi Wadhwa (Co-Founder), serial entrepreneurs, who have previously led a leading consulting firm with Fortune 50 clients from the US, the UK, and the Middle East.

Mr Ajay Jain, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, of Silverneedle Ventures said, After the success of Xseed Partners, we have set up Silverneedle Ventures with a very strong and diverse team, bringing expertise in core areas of the Startup business model. With our mentor-driven model approach, we will assign segment-specific experts across the globe, for the portfolio, so that each startup is taken on a growth trajectory. The SNV team is positive about success because of our previous investment track record & strong pedigree which holds us in good stead to not only source better but also to add maximum value to the startups throughout the journey. Our limited partners(investors) - be it individuals, family offices or fund of funds have the ability to fuel the growth for the startups.

On the investment in Knorish, Deepesh Agarwal, Founding Partner at, Silverneedle Ventures further said, Our core team recognizes the increasing contribution of evolving sectors in the Global economy and the potential they offer via Startup investments. The team believes the creator economy stands at an inflection point, as content creators are moving beyond simply working with brands and evolving their businesses by adding numerous revenue streams. As a result, platforms are moving fast to build an increasingly multifaceted offering of opportunities. In turn, creators are leveraging these new tools to connect directly with fans and build their own communities. Knorish's offering stands to benefit from this trend and has got off to a good start. We expect Knorish to build out offerings that will make it a critical omnichannel gateway for creators.

Kinner N Sacchdev, Co-Founder & CEO, Knorish on the funding announcement quotes When the creators set on their monetization journey, their biggest challenge is not content creation or basic setup. The challenge, instead, is building sales funnels, which Knorish aims to solve. We are extremely excited to partner with Silverneedle Ventures and the team is already working harder towards closing our Series A round. 

Well truly see a creator in every home at some point in the near future, and in order to enable millions of creators to live better lives with the newfound monetization, we need to train them, handhold them. Monetization is just like any other skill, it can be learned. We are glad to have SNV as one of our investors, and looking forward to our partnership with them said, Co-Founder & CBO of Knorish, Ms Rakhi Wadhwa
Diwali Celebration Series (DCS) on Spartan Poker has some amazing fireworks for all players this Diwali. The highlight of the Diwali Celebration Series was the leaderboard which offered prizes worth Rs. 20 Lakh. The DCS saw a GTD of Rs. 9 CR and a Rs. 9,68,16,230 GTD prize pool crushed. Ujjwal Narwal is the DCS High- 1.5 CR GTD, Main Event Winner, who won prize money of- Rs. 22,18,003 and the Runner Up Gopal Bajaj took home a whopping Rs. 19,75,956. The DCS Highroller 50 Lakh GTD winner is Aayush Arya who won Rs. 12,12,000.

The enthralling 8-day-long series received 153801 entries. Players played from the 20 Lakh leaderboard by playing across low, mid, and high stakes. Buhr1085 finished 1st at the HIGH stakes Leaderboard & took home a brand new astral Royal Enfield Hunter 350. Vikhyat Ahlawat finished 1st at the MID stakes Leaderboard & won an iPhone 14. Karan Thakker finished 1st at the LOW stakes Leaderboard and brought home a 256 GB iPad.

Speaking on the success of the series, Amin Rozani, Group CEO of Quadrific Media Pvt Ltd said, Spartan Poker enjoys the patronage of poker enthusiasts and hosts Indias biggest online poker community. We at Spartan Poker want to share Diwali with our extensive poker family. The success of the Diwali Celebration Series is evidence of how popular skill-based games like poker are becoming in India. The players' enthusiasm and curiosity are what motivates us to keep holding these virtual poker tournaments on a regular basis so they may have a larger stage to hone their talents and compete against other poker legends across the country.

The Diwali Celebration Series is an ode to the customary Indian Diwali celebration and an effort to bring people together to have fun. Poker is a great fit for the occasion as it captures the spirit of Diwali. The Diwali Celebration Series also hosted the Mukkamaar PKO tournament which is a charity event. The revenue generated from this event will go towards empowerment and self-defence programs for women. The 20 Lakh GTD DCS High Mukkamaar was crushed with a total of 471 entries and a prize pool of 23.5Lakh. Mukkamaar is an NGO that started in February 2016. Mukkamaar works in collaboration with government education departments, empowering girls through self-defence.

The rate at which the Indian poker market is expanding is astounding as well as freeing, and I am thrilled to be a part of this revolution. The popularity of poker as a skill-based game is growing, making India one of the top five countries in the world for online gaming. As a result, the online poker market is expected to expand at an unfathomable rate over the next few years. Based on this pattern, we are concentrating on using our innovations and world-class technology to meet the demands of a lot more poker players. Added Rozani
Viacom18, Network Branded Content Team has yet again teamed up with Pernod Ricard  Seagrams Imperial Blue Packaged Drinking Water & Wavemaker India to celebrate the festival of lights  Diwali. This association is an extension to their partnership after the massive success of the Holi campaign they did earlier this year.

The light-hearted campaign videos have been jointly conceptualized and executed by Viacom18 and Wavemaker and is being extensively marketed across platforms.

The campaign features notable celebrities such as ex Bigg Boss contestants: Rubina Dilaik, Karan Kundrra, Pratik Sehajpal, Nishant Bhat and ex Bigg Boss Marathi contestants Jay Dhudhane, Meenal Shah, Vikas Patil and Vishal Nikam.

The campaign captures these celebrities who are also friends celebrating the festival of lights. The campaign film celebrates the quirks around the exchange of sweets & gifts during Diwali.

The light-hearted fun video plays up on the common & very popular emotion every Indian probably feels when they receive a box Soan Papdi as the rotational gift every year. What happens when this group of friends is faced with the same predicament, when its given by someone you cannot say no to. The film ends on a fun note that will bring a smile to the audiences.

Commenting on the association, Vivek Mohan Sharma, Head  Branded Content, Viacom18, said, We are thrilled to be to partnering with Imperial Blue packaged drinking water again and celebrate the festival of lights. The campaign is a beautiful rendition of friends coming together and celebrating Diwali with loved ones. Though the spirits are visibly low at the beginning, the mood lights up when a loved one comes in to share the joy. We are sure this fun filled campaign will strike a chord and help the brand message be more conspicuous, leaving an impact on the audience.

Ishwindar Singh, GM Marketing, Pernod Ricard India commented, The festival of lights, Diwali, is the symbol of joy and prosperity bringing loved ones together for celebrations. The brand Imperial Blue inspires its consumers to embrace life with a smile and with this campaign we bring forth a light-hearted take on the festivities and the art of gifting around Diwali.

Karthik Nagarajan, Chief Content Officer, Wavemaker India and Head- Branded Content, GroupM India commented, "It is a great collaboration on Wavemaker's part with Pernod Ricard India and Viacom18 of putting together this creative and innovative campaign. We are sure this campaign will connect well with the audience and elevate their festive spirits through brand messaging of celebratory times of the year."

The campaign caters to Hindi and Marathi markets and expected to deliver the message of coming together and celebrating with loved ones unconditionally. The video can be viewed on COLORS and Colors Marathi television channels, VOOT and the networks and artists social media handles.
ACIP voted 15 - 0 to approve the Covid vaccine for the pediatric schedule yesterday. On that note, see you Sunday.





We've launched our annual fundraiser with a colossal, amazing, generous $10,000 matching gift from Laura Hayes. Please see her kind words below the jump. We use DonorBox for our online donations, and you can always send a check to Autism Age PO Box 110546, Trumbull, CT 06611. Donations are tax deductible - EIN is 47-1831987. Thank you.



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The Real Anthony Fauci Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health (Childrens Health Defense) by Robert Kennedy, Jr.

Pharma-funded mainstream media has convinced millions of Americans that Dr. Anthony Fauci is a hero. Hands down, he is anything but.







Lies My Government Told Me by Dr. Robert Malone

Available for pre-order now.

With contributions from eminent doctors, scientists, and experts in their fields, Lies My Gov't Told Me offers a comprehensive look at the coronavirus pandemicwhere we are today, how we got here, and what's on the horizon. Challenging the mainstream government-pharma-media narrative, the chapters in this book will not only outrage readers but will also inform and give readers hope.

Cause Unknown: The Epidemic of Sudden Deaths in 2021 & 2022 by Ed Dowd

Available for pre-order now.

What is killing young healthy Americans? Edward Dowd, a former Wall Street analyst and BlackRock portfolio manager, examines the epidemic of sudden deaths in America.




Photo taken on Oct. 21, 2022 shows a general view of a session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Yerevan, Armenia. The five member states of the Eurasian Economic Union vowed to enhance their economic cooperation in various fields on Friday in Yerevan. The two-day meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council kicked off on Thursday. (Photo by Asatur Yesayants/Xinhua)

YEREVAN, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The five member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) vowed to enhance their economic cooperation in various fields on Friday in Armenia's capital of Yerevan.

During the two-day meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council kicked off Thursday, which brought together the prime ministers of the five post-Soviet states, including Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the participants reached several agreements in the fields of agriculture, energy and e-commerce, local Armenpress reported.

During the session, issues concerning the formation of a common natural gas market, further lowering customs and the promotion of closer economic integration were discussed among the prime ministers.

According to the Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at the meeting, the volume of trade between the union's countries surpassed 73 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, up 33 percent from the previous year.

The next session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in early 2023. 
Today in history, on October 21, 1094, a small force of Christian knights destroyed a massive Muslim horde in Spain, where the Jihad and Reconquista had been raging.

Some years earlier, the Almoravids, a North African group committed to jihadist teaching and led by the emir Yusuf bin Tashfin, began to pour into Spain to aid their Islamic counterparts, the Moors, who had suffered several significant defeats to the Christians in recent years.

In 1086, the Muslims and Christians clashed at Sagrajas. The Christians were annihilated; their king barely managed to escape with a dagger stuck in his thigh. Afterwards, in a typical gesture of Islamic supremacy, Yusuf had some 2,400 Christian heads decapitated and assembled into a pyramid, atop which the muezzin called the faithful to prayers.

Following the disaster at Sagrajas, one by one, Muslim kingdoms that had been liberated during the Reconquista -- even a few Christian strongholds -- fell back under Islamic control.

When, however, the Muslims overran Valencia in 1093, its lord, Roderick (or Rodrigo) Diaz of Vivar -- better known to posterity as the Cid -- who had been elsewhere, returned and laid siege to Valencia for nearly 19 months, finally reconquering it.

As a result, the pride and prestige of the glorious jihadist victor of Sagrajas, who had subsequently unified virtually all of Muslim Spain under his authority, was shaken to its core: He has forcibly invaded my territory and he attributes all his success to Jesus Christ! blurted Yusuf, who, on hearing of the fall of Valencia, was powerfully moved to anger and bitterness.

He was, accordingly, determined to recover the city at all costs, writes the contemporary Muslim, Ibn Bassam, before adding that the news of the fall of Valencia filled every Moor in Spain with grief and humiliation.

A showdown was inevitable: Islam and the Occident were now each represented by an outstanding personality, writes historian Ramon Menendez Pidal: Yusuf the Saharan and the Castilian Cid stood face-to-face in the struggle between the two civilizations.

The emir responded by sending the supreme Almoravid general of Spain, his nephew, Muhammad, with an infinite number of barbarians and Moabites [Almoravids] and Ishmaelites [Moors] drawn from all over Hispania to besiege Valencia and to bring Roderick to him captive and in chains, one contemporary explained. Reportedly consisting of some 50,000 fighters, the Almoravids dwarfed the Cids Valencian garrison of 4,000 men. By late 1094, the infidel hordes had arrived and pitched their tents and encamped at Cuarte, three miles from Valencia.

The final showdown between the Cid and his African adversaries had come and is recorded in both song and chronicle. According to the Historia Roderici,

This Moabite army lay about Valencia for 10 days and as many nights, and remained inactive. Every day indeed they used to go around the city, shrieking and shouting with a motley clamor of voices and filling the air with their bellowing [references to the takbir, i.e., spasmodic cries of Allahu Akbar]. They often used to fire arrows But Roderick comforted and strengthened his men in a manly fashion, and constantly prayed devoutly to the Lord Jesus Christ that he would send divine aid to his people.

The sources emphasize the ominous beat of the African drums, the thundering roll of which seemed to rend the earth asunder. It filled the hearts of all -- especially those unacquainted with its booming sounds, such as Rodericks wife and daughters, who were then holed up with him in Valencia -- with dread and consternation.

With every day that the Cid remained in a defensive posture, the Muslims became more emboldened and encroached closer to his citys walls. Before long they had surrounded Valencias gates in very tight formations -- precisely what the Cid was waiting for.

Thus, on October 21, 1094, when the enemy were as usual going around outside the city yelling and shouting and scrimmaging, confident in the belief that they would capture it, Roderick Diaz, trusting with his whole mind in God and his mercy, courageously made a sortie from the city, whereupon a major encounter ensued.

At the height of Muslim confidence, heavily armored knights astride even heavier steeds of war burst out of one of the gates, taking the jihadists completely by surprise. Before they could effectively retaliate, another Christian sortie burst out from another gate. Though unclear which, the Cid led one of these two forces which now crisscrossed each other in a medieval style blitzkrieg, causing mass confusion and carnage among the densely packed Muslims. After a multitude of Almoravids fell to the sword, the panicked Africans turned their backs in flight, the Historia concludes, many of them falling and drowning in the Jucar river.

The battle of Cuarte was a shattering blow to the hitherto undefeated Almoravids: 4,000 knights had defeated and driven off 50,000 jihadists. Christians all throughout Western Europe wildly celebrated.

Historian James Fitzhenry summarizes the Cids strategy:

The maneuver Rodrigo used that day has come to be known as la tornada, or, the tornado. Once the Christian knights had charged through the enemy lines in one direction, they turned and passed through again in a different direction. Whole units were disrupted, broken apart and irreversibly separated. The Africans were packed so tightly together, and their shouts and screams and the clash of steel so loud, that few commands could be heard over the din of battle. Besides, the attack was so swift that there was no tactic that could be successfully employed to neutralize it.

The twelfth-century Poem of the Cid resumes the narrative: after the battle the Cid returned to his wife and daughters, his helmet gone, the hood of his coat of mail thrown back and the linen under-cap pushed over his brow. His sword was dripping with blood, which had run up the blade to the hilt and along his arm up to the elbow. With the other arm he hurled a mutilated drum at their feet, crying Thus are Moors vanquished! In terror and awe, they fell to the ground before him -- We are thy servants!

For the full story of the Cid -- as well as several other Christian heroes who stood against Islamic jihad -- see the authors Defenders of the West, from which the above account was excerpted. Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Image: Public Domain
In a recent interview for the Arab News program "Frankly Speaking," the U.K. representative for the NCRI  an Iranian opposition group  claimed that the only way to curb a growing Iranian threat is to block the regime from its financial streams.

Violence in Iran is growing rapidly by the day. Since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, died after an encounter with Iran's "morality police," deadly protests have erupted throughout the country in what some consider the beginning of a new revolution.

The Iranian people have become disenchanted with the draconian regime  calling for freedom, democracy, and economic overhauls that have been denied to them for decades. It is not difficult to understand their concerns. For example, although Iran could be one of the world's richest countries, due to its vast oil and gas reserves, approximately 60% of its people live below the poverty line.

In a recent interview with Arab News, Dowlat Nowrouzi said, "[Those running Iran are] exporters of terrorism [and] they're acquiring nuclear weapons, all of it by stealing the money and the national revenue of the Iranian people's oil and gas, which are being spent by the mullahs on destruction rather than construction." Nowrouzi notes the 2018 incident when police foiled an Iranian diplomat's plan to target a NCRI rally in Paris as evidence of the Iranian regime's continued influence outside the country's borders.

These exporters of terrorism have only picked up speed in recent months. Against the backdrop of historic civil unrest, Iran continues to supply Russia with "kamikaze drones," which have not only destroyed Ukrainian cities and killed civilians, but could also be in clear breach of the 2015 nuclear deal. And although this has unleashed a potential slew of new sanctions, the world must do more to curb Iran. Efforts to curb Iran's proclivity for violence and tyranny will be strengthened through economic strategy.

Before the 2018 Paris plot, Iran's top trading partner was India. Since then, China has overtaken India to become Iran's top trading partner, responsible for over 50% of Iran's exports. Cutting back on trade reliance with Iran must be a global effort.

The Russia war has fundamentally changed the energy markets forever. These changes have shocked the Commonwealth and beyond  instigating an unparalleled energy crisis. This has shifted the markets in an unprecedented fashion, with Western countries hunting for reliable energy resources  a reality that Iran was already reported to be capitalizing on.

Oil is the lifeline of the regime's power, and any pivot away from Russian reliance toward Iranian trade deals would only fuel the risk of global destruction.

Tensions between the Iranian regime and the West have been escalating. For example, Iran, having dubbed America the "Great Satan," has been quick to blame the West for its internal strife.

Bold leadership across members of the Commonwealth of Nations needs to be assumed with a sense of urgency, as they stand up to Iran in the same way they have confronted Russian tyranny. We must learn from Boris Johnson's insightful visit to Kiev, where he was filmed walking the streets, and listen to the Kenyan ambassador, who, at the United Nations General Assembly, dubbed Russia's war in Ukraine as another form of colonialism.

If Commonwealth states would summon such strength in the face of a growing Iranian threat, now is the time to act.

Lennox Kalifungwa is a political and cultural affairs writer based in his native Zambia, where he is involved in a number of Christian faithbased initiatives.

Image: Chickenonline via Pixabay, Pixabay License.
I wonder if the Founders envisioned a federalized police force, with a nearly unlimited supply of unaccounted for cash, and shrouded in secrecy? Odds are, not in the slightest.

In a precursory report published on American Greatness, journalist Julie Kelly detailed an established, yet fairly untalked about program  confidential human sources  and recent high-profile criminal litigations are shedding light on what the FBI hopes to keep hidden.

In an ongoing investigation into Oath Keepers (a group which the FBI admits to have infiltrated), federal attorneys for the Department of Justice are requesting secrecy for the under-fire Bureau:

Prosecutors last week asked for a protective order to conceal from jurors information about confidential human sources (CHS) expected to testify during the seditious conspiracy trial of five members of the Oath Keepers. Prosecutors dont want sources to publicly disclose any involvement in past or pending criminal investigations or details of the FBIs CHS program and the training and methods used by the FBI as part of their undercover operations.

Well gee, I wonder why.

Also according to Kelly:

[T]he FBI spends an average of $42 million per year to pay informants and does so with absolutely no financial or legal accountability. Confidential human sources are paid in cash; they can offer their services for a variety of reasons including financial need or to obtain a change inimmigration status.

How fortuitous! Throw Americans under the bus in exchange for fast-tracked citizenship!

In 2015, researcher Trevor Aaronson delivered a TED Talk, with the synopsis below:

Theres an organization responsible for more terrorism plots in the United States than al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab and ISIS combined: The FBI.

Aaronson revealed a disturbing FBI practice that breeds terrorist plots  you dont say?  and found:

These operations, which are usually led by an informant [emphasis added], provide the means and opportunity, and sometimes even the idea [emphasis added]....

In completely unrelated news:

A man who created an encrypted group chat and can be heard urging at least one Oath Keeper to commit violence remains unidentified and uncharged[.]

Eventually, Aaronson arrived at the conclusion that, the FBI is much better at creating terrorists than it is at catching terrorists and undoubtedly, Id have to agree.

Out of curiosity, I wonder if these informants who operate with complete impunity claim these cash payments (which according to Aaronson are commonly around the $100,000 mark) on their federal income taxes? Or are they also shielded from tax consequences and the Democrats IRS army? In Aaronsons words, Thats right, the FBI is paying mostly criminals and con men six figures to spy on communities in the United States[.] Pretty sure con men arent forking over the proceeds of their lucrative snitch schemes.

What a great program, and so typical of the Democrat ethos: America(ns) last. Were living under Big Brother, but instead of two-way surveillance screens, were betrayed by our own countrymen .

Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required.
The legacy media in this country are nothing but propaganda organs for the Democrat party that has been captured by the far left. Just as they dismissed the story of Hunter Biden's laptop in order to corruptly influence the 2020 presidential election, they are now covering up a series of disturbing tweets from Wisconsin's Democrat nominee for the Senate seat held by Ron Johnson, a dedicated warrior for the truth on COVID, Russiagate, and much more.

That Barnes was ever elected to any significant office (he is lieutenant governor of Wisconsin) and is within 3 points of Johnson on a weighted poll average is a disgrace. Alana Goodman of the Free Beacon reports on tweets of his that just surfaced revealing a dangerous naivete (that's the charitable interpretation) or downright nuttiness of his approach to the Middle East:



Mandela Barnes (public domain picture).

Mandela Barnes, the Democratic Senate candidate in Wisconsin, praised Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei for supporting Black Lives Matter, said he wanted to be the "Dennis Rodman" of the Assad regime, and used his Twitter account to defend some of the world's most notorious dictators and repressive regimes. On Jan. 1, 2015, Barnes applauded a Twitter post by Khamenei that slammed the U.S. government over slavery "The issue of US govt oppression against blacks is a 100s year-old issue," wrote Khamenei, adding the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Barnes "liked" Khamenei's post on Twitter and responded to the Iranian leader: "The first tweet of 2015 from @khamenei_ir is #BlackLivesMatter. Let that sink in. May This be a most wonderful year for you and yours." (snip) "I'd like to pull a Rodman next. I should have hopped that fence to Syria when I had the chance," wrote Barnes on April 9, 2013, a few weeks after Assad's regime carried out a deadly Sarin gas attack against its opposition. He also opposed efforts by the United States to aid the Syrian opposition after Assad's use of chemical weapons. "Seeing school administrators plead for more state aid, but seeing that our country is able to send weapons to Syria makes me more anti war," wrote Barnes in June 2013.

According to a Google search, not a single non-conservative outlet has picked up on the story.

Unsurprisingly, Gallup reports that trust in the media has reached a new low. Via the Washington Examiner:

"Just 7% of Americans have 'a great deal' of trust and confidence in the media, and 27% have 'a fair amount," said Gallup in dishing up the depressing news for media outlets. "Meanwhile, 28% of U.S. adults say they do not have very much confidence and 38% have none at all in newspapers, TV and radio. Notably, this is the first time that the percentage of Americans with no trust at all in the media is higher than the percentage with a great deal or a fair amount combined," according to the survey analysis.

Ron Johnson has noticed, and tweeted (without being censored...so far) about it:

Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, who's seeking reelection this year against Barnes tweeted Thursday: "Mandela Barnes cannot be trusted with foreign policy in the Senate. He praised Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, defended [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad, and went on Russian television to criticize American police officers. He does not have the judgment to be a Senator."

There is no way that an honest media establishment would keep this information from Wisconsin voters. Kurt Schlichter's expression "garbage media" is to the point.
Before House minority leader Kevin McCarthy moves ahead with the Commitment to America, I hope he spends some time listening to parents firsthand. I think he may see that his version, while close, misses the mark.

Taxpayer-funded schools continue to push pornographic materials to even the youngest students, and they seem more energetic than ever to teach anti-American propaganda and Marxist critical theories. Who gave his consent to this? Not the parents I know. Schools are building walls between parents and schoolchildren, destroying families with grooming, counseling, and even medicating students in "gender transitions," all against the will of their parents.

As members of a national organization standing for parents, United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) greatly anticipated McCarthy's Commitment to America. We firmly believe that our country is suffering under Democrat party governance and agree that Republicans must act boldly to regain control and return our county to robust prosperity.

We also agree wholeheartedly with McCarthy's aim for "A Future That's Built on Freedom." Freedom is the essence of our nation. The Commitment begins with a statement about education and parents, a key constituency. School board meetings are seeing parents speak out in greater numbers than ever before. Parents are fed up with the state of public education in our country. Disregard for parental rights and responsibilities for their own children is prevalent.

However, our vision for solving this problem is very different from that stated in the Commitment to America. We do not believe that parents need a "voice." We believe that parents need control. The evidence is clear: although the federal government has been overseeing public education for more than 50 years with ever increasing funding and regulation, school performance has plummeted. American education is seeing the largest drop in reading and mathematics scores since 1990, but children can articulate the LGBTQ+ agenda, describe how to put on a condom, and explain why America is and always has been a racist and sexist country. All of this is well documented by experts in our newly released documentary film Truth and Lies in American Education.

USPIE's mission is to return control of education to parents and local communities by eradicating federal intrusion. Through USPIE, grassroots leaders from around the country have joined forces to abolish the United States Department of Education and put an end to all federal education mandates. Ronald Reagan knew that this was the right course of action when he ran, but sadly, he could not make it happen. We believe that McCarthy and other upstanding lawmakers can if they commit to do so.

We are attempting to create a culture where parents, empowered with the authority to choose what and how their children learn, are the undisputed primary educators of their children, where local schools operate in support of families, and where education is unencumbered by federal mandates.

We strongly urges McCarthy and House Republicans to endorse our Blueprint to Close the Federal Department of Education. It is a concise, nine-page document with clear instruction and supporting research. It has been reviewed by experts with the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation, as well as numerous Washington congressmen and their staff.

We are hopeful that Republicans are serious about restoring educational freedom. You cannot do this if the federal government is the entity "making sure every student can succeed" or "expanding parental choice." You can ensure freedom in education only if you get the federal government out of the education business and restore the vision of our Founding Fathers where local communities and parents direct the education of their children.

Sheri Few is the founder and president of United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE), whose mission is to end the U.S. Department of Education and all federal education mandates. USPIE has established 20 state chapters and is growing rapidly amid the national outcry from parents who want to regain control of their children's education. Few is a nationally recognized leader on education policy and is often quoted in conservative media. Few has spent much of the last year exposing Critical Race Theory and serving as executive producer for the new documentary film titled Truth & Lies in American Education.

Image: Eric Ward.
Even if DEI were a worthwhile endeavor, instead of a method of tearing apart society with racial grievances, this would be a colossal waste of time and misdirection of attention and effort in a world on the brink of nuclear showdown, with many of our key relationships in crisis (for instance, Saudi Arabia).

Jimmy Quinn in National Review Online:

The State Department is planning a massive DEI-focused event expected to involve more than a dozen federal agencies and up to 50,000 government employees, National Review has learned. The overarching goal is to mobilize department employees around diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) principles and psychological safety at work, and its a mission imperative, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NR in a statement.

Called the 10 Day DEIA Interagency Equity Pursuit Challenge, the initiative will involve purely voluntary activities, during non-work hours, intended to educate federal-government employees about a range of topics. It will conclude in December with a reflection rally and a Jeopardy-style game that organizers hope will actively involve participants.

Mental health and diversity equity inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) are closely connected, reads an overview of the event posted on the State Departments website.
Samsung may have a new AR (augmented reality) product in the works. Dutch publication GalaxyClub spotted the product in development with the model number SM-I120, but details are scarce. It is likely a pair of AR glasses, though we cant rule out the possibility of a more sophisticated headset.

Samsung shelved its VR (virtual reality) efforts a few years back and shifted focus to AR. It has filed patent applications for various AR products over the years. The company also showcased a prototype of its first-gen AR glasses at CES 2020. The pair leaked in official concept videos shortly after that, giving us a glimpse of what to expect. However, more than two years later, no such product has come out through Samsungs doors yet.

In the meantime, the Korean behemoth has continued the work. It filed more patent applications and also made a development kit for AR glasses, allowing third-party developers to create AR software. The latter picked up the Bluetooth SIG certification in October of last year bearing the model number SM-I110. The newly spotted SM-I120 appears to be a succeeding model. Unfortunately, theres no telling if it is also a development kit or a prototype device, or if Samsung has a commercial AR product nearing market debut. If it does, then we may see it arrive in the market in 2023.

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For the time being, all we know is Samsung is working on technologies around AR behind the scenes. The SM-I120 exists somewhere in the companys R&D labs and may or may not see the light of day. Perhaps the firm is taking its time to come up with a revolutionary product. Despite being around for years, AR, VR, and MR (mixed reality) are still seen as the technologies of the future. Many big names are just getting started in this emerging segment of mobile tech products, including Apple, Google, and Meta. So, theres no need for Samsung to rush and release an undercooked product.

Samsung prefers MicroLED displays for AR devices

We have no confirmation yet if Samsung will launch an AR device anytime soon. But when it does, the company will likely equip it with MicroLED displays. These panels have luminance or brightness advantages over OLED panels, Samsung Display group leader Kim Min-woo explained at the MicroLED Display Workshop industry event in South Korea. Perhaps, Google also echoes this. The company acquired MicroLED display startup Raxium in May this year to boost its AR efforts.
(see related stories) (ANSA) - ROME, OCT 21 - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron both said they were ready to work with a new Italian government headed by Brothers of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni at the end of the European Council in Brussels.

"We are all together as European nations within the EU and it is essential that we democracies cooperate a great deal," said Scholz.

"Every time that there is a change of government because of elections, as (happens) in a democracy, it cannot change the good relations that we have with the other member States or, for example, that we have between Germany and Italy.

"We will continue to work with very good cooperation between the countries and within the sphere of the European Union".

Macron echoed those sentiments.

"I am ready to work with Meloni," he said.

"I will meet her around the table of the European Council".

The French president is visiting Rome on Sunday and Monday to meet Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Francis.

He did not say whether he would have talks with Meloni, who may have been sworn in as premier by them.

"I want to respect the procedures," he said. (ANSA).


(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 20 - Italy's membership of the EU and NATO are cornerstones for the country, outgoing Premier Mario Draghi said Thursday, adding that Italy's international credibility was the best tool for achieving results.

"Membership of the European Union and NATO are cornerstones of our foreign policy," he said.

"The single market, monetary union, and the Atlantic Alliance are the best way to bolster our weight in the world, make our economy grow in a sustainable way, and to guarantee our security.

"We fully share European and transatlantic values and we want to continue to safeguard and strengthen them".

Draghi made his remarks while bidding farewell to Italian representatives at the EU, NATO and Belgium in Brussels.

"The credibility which we have acquired over the last few years is the best instrument to achieve the results we aspire to," the former European central banker added.

"In this process, your role is fundamental," he told the envoys.

"As an Italian citizen, above and beyond being premier, I am deeply grateful (to you)," he told the representatives. (ANSA).


Greek coast guards on Friday morning rescued 80 migrants on a sailboat in distress due to bad weather off the southern coast of Peloponnese.



Two coast guard cutters and three vessels were travelling to the area, while the sailboat was being towed by a tug to a nearby port, coast guards said.



Since the beginning of October, at least 27 people have drowned in two separate shipwrecks off the coast of the islands of Lesbos and Kythira.




Energy: years for pipeline with France, Madrid Objective to get EU funding for 'green corridor'

(ANSAmed) - MADRID, 21 OTT - MADRID -The construction of a new energy pipeline that will work as a "green corridor" between Spain and France, transporting gas and, in future, hydrogen, will require "five, six or seven years", said Spanish deputy premier and minister for ecological transition, Teresa Ribera, referring to the agreement reached yesterday by Premier Pedro Sanchez with French President Emmanuel Macron and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa. "Now it will be necessary to outline a project", explained Ribera in an interview to Catalunya Radio, adding that the Spanish government's intention is to apply for European funding to develop it. "Now remains the most complicated part, which is working with technicians", added the Spanish deputy premier.



Paris, Madrid and Lisbon yesterday announced unexpectedly at the European Council the agreement which definitely closes the project of a gas pipeline in the Pyrenees, on which Berlin was betting to gain quick access to Spanish regasified methane. The Mediterranean pact eyes the future but, at the same time, risks to be seen as a slap to Germany, too concentrated on its immediate needs.



"It is an agreement that goes towards an increase of interconnections and strengthens European resilience and solidarity", Sanchez said Thursday, presenting the agreement.



(ANSAmed).




Cultural heritage to be promoted through shared system In Palermo forum with operators from seven Med countries

(ANSAmed) - PALERMO, 21 OTT - A system based on Sicily's experience to share a model for the promotion of cultural heritage in the Mediterranean is being discussed at a forum which started on Friday in Palermo and will wrap up on Saturday to discuss experiences and "good practices". The model of reference is the Vie dei Tesori, a festival supported by the foundation by the same name, focusing on the discovery of many sites that are little-known or closed to the public. And the foundation Vie dei Tesori, in collaboration with the University of Palermo, organized the forum at Palazzo Steri. It is attended by operators from different Italian regions and seven Mediterranean countries: Albania, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority and Turkey.



"We are opening to the Mediterranean - said Laura Anelli of Vie dei tesori - to discuss about similar experiences. And in this way we try to define a system to promote cultural heritage interpreting specific territories".



Representatives of grassroots organizations and NGOs are in Palermo for this first meeting to promote an initiative for the future, organizers said. Experts of digital promotion, cultural managers and even pedagogues intervened to talk about their experiences. The primary objective is to involve a young public through the use of technology and new languages.



The forum will wrap up on Saturday, October 22, with the elaboration of the "Charter of Palermo" in which strategies will be defined to valorize the cultural heritage of the Mediterranean. (ANSAmed).




Migrants: Greek coast guards rescue 80 people In distress on sailboat off Peloponnese coast

(ANSAmed) - ROME, 21 OTT - Greek coast guards on Friday morning rescued 80 migrants on a sailboat in distress due to bad weather off the southern coast of Peloponnese.



Two coast guard cutters and three vessels were travelling to the area, while the sailboat was being towed by a tug to a nearby port, coast guards said.



Since the beginning of October, at least 27 people have drowned in two separate shipwrecks off the coast of the islands of Lesbos and Kythira. (ANSAmed).




ANSAmed - Weekly diary from October 24 to October 30

(ANSAmed) - ROME, 21 OTT - The following are the main events scheduled in the Euro-Mediterranean area from October 24 to October 30: MONDAY OCTOBER 24 BRUSSELS - EU, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen holds a speech at the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting.



LUXEMBOURG - Meeting of European environment ministers.



ROME - Visit of French President Emmanuel Macron ROME - Peace Summit organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio (until the 25th).



ABU DHABI - Abu Dhabi Culture Summit (until the 25th) DAKAR - Eighth edition of the Dakar international forum on peace and security in Africa (until the 25th).



RABAT - Trial against human rights activist Rida Benotmane continues. Benotmane is on trial for criticizing authorities on YouTube and Facebook.



TUESDAY OCTOBER 25 LUXEMBOURG - Meeting of European energy ministers .



WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 26 BRUSSELS - European Commission presents its zero pollution action plan.



THURSDAY OPCTOBER 27 BRUSSELS - EU, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni receives Nadia Calvino, Spain's deputy president and minister of economy and digital transformation.



PARIS - The International Energy Agency (IEA) publishes its World Energy Outlook 2022.



TIRANA - EU, visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.



FRIDAY OCTOBER 28 BELGRADE - EU, visit of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.



BRUSSELS - EU, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni to hold a speech introducing the EU summit on sustainable investments - Session 2 "Clean, safe and convenient energy for the future".



SARAJEVO - EU, visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.



CASABLANCA (Morocco) - First edition of Oktoberfest, the beer festival organized by the German chamber of commerce and industry.



SATURDAY OCTOBER 29 PODGORICA - EU, visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.



SUNDAY OCTOBER 30 PRAGUE - EU, informal meeting of trade ministers (also on the 31st). (ANSAmed).




Friday night will see Mock The Week come to an end on BBC Two after 17 years.

The finale comes after 21 series and more than 200 episodes of the show hosted by Irish comedian Dara OBriain.

The programme first aired in June 2005, and another series regular has been Hugh Dennis, with other comedy stars including Chris Addison, Frankie Boyle, Rory Bremner and Russell Howard previously featuring.

As its time on BBC Two comes to an end, we look at some of the big name stand-ups who have emerged from the series.

 Russell Howard

Russel Howard was a regular panellist on Mock The Week between 2006 and 2010 (PA)

Howard, 42, is well-known for his television shows Russell Howards Good News on the BBC and Skys The Russell Howard Hour.

But he first made his name through appearances on Mock The Week, where he was a regular panellist from 2006 until 2010.

The Bath-born comic, who previously won best comedy talent at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, soon became well-known for his topical, observational style.

In 2009, before he left the show to pursue other commitments, Howard said: What I love about Mock The Week is that its big belly laughs rather than that kind of sneering laugh

The great thing is that its topical so every time theres a new story, we have to have a new approach to it.

 Frankie Boyle

Frankie Boyle became a regular panellist on Mock The Week in 2005 (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The acerbic Scottish comedian, 50, shot to fame after joining Mock The Week as a regular panellist in 2005.

He soon became known for his controversial material, with some of his gags, including remarks about the Queen and Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington, deemed offensive by viewers.

Since leaving the programme in 2009, Boyle has authored five books and starred in a number of shows, including Frankie Boyles Tramadol Nights in 2010 and Frankie Boyles New World Order, which has run since 2017.

A vocal advocate for free speech in the arts, Boyle has since claimed Mock The Week producers avoided certain topics for fear of frightening the horses and causing offence.

 Dara OBriain

Dara OBriain became host of Mock The Week in its first episode in 2005 (Jane Barlow/PA)

While OBriain had already built a reputation as a stand-up comedian and childrens TV presenter in his native Ireland, he cemented his reputation as the host of Mock The Week.

He made his hosting debut in the shows first episode on June 5 2005 and has since become one of the most recognisable faces in British comedy, hosting numerous successful television shows and sell-out tours.

In 2020, when asked in an interview with Radio Times whether he thought Mock The Week would still be on TV screens after so many years, OBriain responded: Oh God no I mean, you dont presume that anything has any longevity.

 Ria Lina

Ria Lina appeared as a guest on Mock The Week in 2020 (BBC/Hat Trick/PA)

A rising star in comedy, actress and stand-up, Ria Lina is also known for her appearances on Mock The Week.

In November 2021, Lina, who first appeared as a guest on Mock The Week in 2020, was named as one of The Evening Standards Hottest Comedians You Should Be Watching Now.

The comic, who has taken award-winning shows to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Greater Manchester Fringe, has been described by critics as like a Filipina Sarah Silverman and provocative and very funny.

Since her first appearance on Mock The Week, she has featured on programmes including Have I Got News For You, Live At The Apollo and Just A Minute, as well as Amazon Prime Videos Lovestruck High.

 Andy Parsons

Andy Parsons became a recognisable face on TV after his first appearance on Mock The Week in 2005 (Ian Nicholson/PA)

Parsons, 55, was a regular panellist on Mock The Week for 11 series until he quit in 2015.

He began his career as one of the main writers on acclaimed satirical puppet show Spitting Image and as a stand-up comic, but he became a recognisable face on TV following his first appearance on Mock The Week in 2005.

Announcing his departure from the panel show after 10 years, the series stalwart called for a woman to replace him, writing: Perhaps this will be an opportunity to make a female comedian a regular.
Lauren Laverne has revealed an unfortunate coincidence during her first stint as Pointless co-host, in which the shows contestants were asked about the tenure of UK prime ministers.

The episode of the popular daytime game show aired on Thursday, the same day PM Liz Truss announced her resignation, though the show had been pre-recorded.

On the show, contestants were asked for answers relating to British prime ministers who served for two years or longer.

My first category on #Pointless: British PMs and how long they lasted. Just to flag, we pre-recorded the programme  Lauren Laverne (@laurenlaverne) October 20, 2022

Sharing the news on Thursday, Laverne wrote: My first category on #Pointless: British PMs and how long they lasted.

Just to flag, we pre-recorded the programme.

Elsewhere other famous faces reacted to the news of Ms Trusss departure from Downing Street following a chaotic week in Westminster.

We lasted longer on Xfactor than Liz truss as Prime Minister!  JEDWARD (@planetjedward) October 20, 2022

Irish pop duo Jedward pointed out that they had been contestants on X Factor, longer than Ms Truss had been in office.

Appearing to poke fun at the former PM, comedian Joe Lycett tweeted: @trussliz omg just heard theres a leadership election nxt week????? u shud run babe youd be perfect!!

Lycett made headlines in September when he jokingly claimed on the first episode of the BBCs Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that he was very right-wing and felt reassured following Ms Trusss live interview in the studio before she was announced as Tory leader.

Comedian Stephen Fry also expressed concern about who would succeed Ms Truss in the role.

No @BorisJohnson no no no no no NO! Under absolutely no circumstances. Ever. Ever ever ever, dyou hear?  Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) October 20, 2022

No @BorisJohnson no no no no no NO! he wrote.

Under absolutely no circumstances. Ever. Ever ever ever, dyou hear?

News of Ms Trusss departure also came a day before the airing of the final regular episode of topical news programme Mock The Week, though producers confirmed the show would not be re-recorded.
The new prime minister will have to decide whether to go ahead with the planned Halloween statement setting out how the Government intends to get the public finances back on track, Downing Street has said.

Work is continuing in Whitehall, led by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, in preparation for the medium-term fiscal plan to be announced on October 31 along with an updated set of economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

However, a No 10 spokeswoman said it would be up to Liz Trusss successor to decide whether to proceed with that approach and with the same timetable.

Kwasi Kwartengs mini-budget has been junked (Aaron Chown/PA)

Major fiscal decisions will be for the next prime minister, the spokeswoman said.

Work is ongoing in preparation for the medium-term fiscal plan. That is obviously led by the Chancellor working with the PM in the usual way.

We are working in preparation for the 31st but obviously the decision on proceeding with that and with that timetable would be for the new prime minister.

On Monday, Mr Hunt warned of eye-wateringly difficult decisions ahead on tax and spending as he junked his predecessor Kwasi Kwartengs controversial 45 billion mini-budget tax giveaway.

(PA Graphics)

While his announcement calmed the financial markets, which had been in turmoil since Mr Kwartengs statement last month, he made clear taxes would have to go up and spending reined in to address an estimated 40 billion black hole in the public finances.

However it is not clear whether the next prime minister  who may have only just entered office  will want to continue with his strategy.

While Rishi Sunak, who has emphasised the need for financial stability, may take a broadly similar approach if he becomes prime minister, Boris Johnson has in the past taken a more expansionary approach.

However, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England warned that whoever comes in will have to stick with Mr Hunt and his plan if they want to avoid more chaos in the markets.

Professor Sir Charlie Bean told BBC Radio 4s The World at One: Whoever comes in pretty much has to accept whatever Jeremy Hunt has planned for the fiscal statement. What you couldnt really have is a comprehensive re-opening of the issues.

It would be even worse if the new prime minister decided they wanted to replace Jeremy Hunt with another chancellor. That really would create a lot of volatility in the financial markets.

There has really to be an acceptance on the part of whoever takes over as prime minister that they will defer to Jeremy Hunt.
A nanny for former couple Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis is sharing news details about their dramatic split. (Photo: REUTERS/Danny Moloshok)

Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis's former nanny is dishing even more dirt about the exes and their dramatic breakup.

While the former couple, who are parents to Otis, 8, and Daisy, 6, came together earlier this week to issue a joint statement slamming the nanny's "false" claims, the Daily Mail has released interview footage with their former employee, whose name has not been made public. In it, she challenges Wilde's timeline of the couple's split, saying the Don't Worry Darling director and actress was telling Sudeikis she loved him via text days before she and Harry Styles went public with their relationship in early January 2021. The nanny also talked about how entwined she became in the mess, with Sudeikis talking to her about it for hours at night after the kids went to bed and becoming involved in their therapy sessions.

According to the nanny, who spent three years working for the couple, Wilde's claim that she and the Ted Lasso star split at the start of the pandemic was untrue. The employee claimed Wilde and Sudeikis were going strong just weeks before Wilde fell for Styles on the set of Don't Worry Darling in October 2020, and said Wilde and Sudeikis didn't officially split until Nov. 8 (around the time it was reported in the press).

The nanny pointed to images of Wilde wearing her engagement ring on Sept. 8, 2020. She said she was with them on the trip to Malibu over Labor Day weekend.

'Why don't you just ... look at her ring on Labor Day weekend," the nanny said. "This was right before she started seeing Harry. She's wearing her engagement ring from Jason and laughing as she's on the beach."

The nanny claimed that around that time Wilde told her she was planning to marry Sudeikis within the year, expressing excitement that Daisy would be a cute flower girl.

The nanny said Wilde then became smitten with Styles in October when DWD production began in Palm Springs, Calif., and started spending more time away from home. The nanny brought Daisy to the set, because the child had a small part in the film, and she recalled Wilde being visibly "giddy" around Styles. At the start of November, Wilde moved into the Paramour Estate Hotel in L.A., telling Sudeikis it was because of a COVID outbreak on the set. However, she broke up with him soon after, on Nov. 8, during a visit to the house they shared.

As reported earlier this week in part one of the nanny's interview, Sudeikis and Wilde broke up after a huge fight at their home. Wilde was preparing a salad with a "special dressing" that she was bringing to Styles, 10 years her junior. Sudeikis was upset and filmed them fighting. Wilde claimed she was "scared" of Sudeikis. When Wilde tried to leave the home, Sudeikis then allegedly laid on the ground under her car so she couldn't drive to see Styles. He later uncovered the full details of Wilde's relationship with Styles by reading messages on an Apple Watch that she left behind at their home.

The nanny claimed Sudeikis was "erratic" and "unstable" after the blowup and breakup. She also claims Wilde continued to string Sudeikis along. Wilde allegedly slept nude in the same bed as Sudeikis, swam naked in their pool and send him texts claiming she loved him up until December 29, when Sudeikis, the nanny and kids flew to London so he could shoot Ted Lasso. (Wilde and Sudeikis were photographed hugging after their reported split on Nov. 16. They were also pictured hugging on Dec. 20.)

It was just days after Sudeikis left for London that Wilde went public with Styles at a wedding. The nanny claimed she tried to contact Wilde that weekend, but she claimed she had bad cell service. The nanny said she found out about Wilde's new relationship with Styles after seeing it on the cover of a tabloid.

"I'm like, wait, how can you be holding hands with Harry and they're taking pictures of you, and you're a couple, but you just left?" the nanny recalled thinking.

The nanny also claimed that after Wilde and Styles's relationship became public, Wilde accused Sudeikis of being the source of a story that claimed Wilde cheated on him with Styles.

The nanny said everything became even more complicated after Wilde went public with Styles. She was in London with Sudeikis, who would talk to her two hours at night, after the kids were asleep, about his relationship woes. He'd also text her all day. (Some of the texts between them were previously revealed.) The nanny became involved in the former couple's therapy sessions, she claimed.

"The way [the therapist explained Wilde leaving to] me and Jason is, we are reality," the nanny said. "Her children, Jason, and myself were reality, so she didn't want to talk to us because she was living in a different world now." The therapist also allegedly told the nanny, "Olivia is like an addict right now"  with an addiction to Styles  "so we have to treat her like an addict to get her back to the family. It's like having a drug addict come back to reality."

The nanny felt put in the middle of everything. Sudeikis also had the nanny start seeing his life coach, so she had an outlet in which to discuss all the drama she found herself pulled into. However, she recalled the coach asking her so many questions about Wilde that she started to be suspicious that it was "manipulation" and they were trying to get information out of her to use against Wilde. "It was getting really weird," she said, so she stopped talking to the coach.

Wilde and Sudeikis, who haven't been speaking amid their split and subsequent custody battle, banded together Monday to respond to the nanny's first part of the interview.

"As parents, it is incredibly upsetting to learn that a former nanny of our two young children would choose to make such false and scurrilous accusations about us publicly," they said. "Her now 18 month long campaign of harassing us, as well as loved ones, close friends and colleagues, has reached its unfortunate apex. We will continue to focus on raising and protecting our children with the sincere hope that she will now choose to leave our family alone."

Social media has been going crazy this week over the nanny revelations. People have been fascinated about what was in Wilde's "special dressing," in her salad for Styles, prior to an upset Sudeikis blocking her car with his body.

Wilde later posted to Instagram a salad dressing recipe, from Nora Ephron's Heartburn, playing into the frenzy.

(Screenshot: Olivia Wilde via Instagram)

And the frenzy continues. On Thursday, the brand Grey Poupon, which had its mustard name-checked in the Heartburn salad dressing recipe, capitalized on the mention.

"You too could win someone over with a dash of Grey Poupon with our limited edition 'Dont Worry Dijon' jars"  a play on Don't Worry Darling  stay tuned for how you can get your hands on one." The image included the jar draped in a red boa, a nod to Styles.
President Joe Biden on Friday offered an update on the launch of his administrations student loan forgiveness efforts, announcing that in just under a week, nearly 22 million people applied online.

But just a few hours later, a federal appeals court threw the program into limbo with an administrative stay that, for now, prevents the administration from actually dispensing with the loans. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued the pause Friday night as it considers a request from six Republican-led states to block the program permanently.

But with legal wrangling over the program now expected to spill into next week, the White House quickly asserted that borrowers will continue to be able to at least apply for relief.

"[W]e encourage eligible borrowers to join the nearly 22 million Americans whose information the Department of Education already has," Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

The ruling also "does not prevent us from reviewing these applications and preparing them for transmission to loan servicers," she added.

Nevertheless, the program and whether the approved applications will ever be completed is now up in the air a week after the program first went live. The beta version of the application for up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness launched on Oct. 15 followed by the presidents formal unveiling on Monday of the sign-up process.

President Biden delivered remarks on student debt relief at Delaware State University on October 21. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson  one of the state officials who is suing to stop the program  praised the ruling in a statement, saying: Its very important that the legal issues involving presidential power be analyzed by the court before transferring over $400 billion in debt to American taxpayers.

A focus on 40 million borrowers

Biden and his top aides including Education Secretary Miguel Cardona have been persistently prodding Americans to sign up. The online form has been noted for its simplicity: asking borrowers for nothing beyond their name, Social Security number, date of birth, phone number, and email. Some documents may be required later in the process, according to the form.

It is so encouraging to see so many borrowers apply so quickly, Persis Yu of the Student Borrower Protection Center told Yahoo Finance Friday before the ruling. I think it speaks to the need for this relief and how desperate borrowers really are to get this cancellation.

Prior to Friday's ruling, the soonest debt was expected to be erased was mid-November.

In August, the Biden administration announced a debt forgiveness plan that would forgive $10,000 of debt for people making less than $125,000 and an additional $10,000 for those who received Pell Grants, which go to borrowers with extreme financial need.

Some critics argue the plan doesn't address the root problems that make college so expensive, while others claim the plan overstepped the executive branch's constitutional authority. Many have also noted the high cost of the program, which budget experts say could be as high as half a trillion dollars depending on how many people sign up.

The White House has said that around 40 million Americans may eventually be eligible for forgiveness and 60% of them are Pell Grant recipients, who are eligible for extra relief.

The question, for Kyra Taylor, a staff attorney focused on student loans at the National Consumer Law Center, is this: Do they all know that they need to apply, that they need to raise their hand and I think that will be an open question and that will really turn on outreach as we move forward.

The forgiveness process going forward

If the administration is able to get the forgiveness process back on track, the Department of Education will review and approve applications on a rolling basis. Loan servicers are the ones who would then actually execute the forgiveness if that final step in the process is reinstated.

Administration officials chose Delaware State University as the site for Biden's Fridays speech because the historically Black university includes a student body where over 75% of students receive a Pell Grant  and would therefore be eligible for increased forgiveness.

"There is no better example of a university that has changed so many lives," Biden said on Friday.

Biden also lit into the critics of his student loan efforts, singling out Republicans who criticized the program after benefiting from forgivable loans from the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses."Who the hell do they think they are?" Biden asked.

The administration's forgiveness plan had gained two significant victories on Thursday when a federal judge in Missouri ruled that the six states lacked standing to block the program and the Supreme Court also made a similar ruling in reference to a different case.

"A state court and the Supreme Court said no 'we're on Biden's side,'" the president said on Friday.

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit granted a temporary win for officials seeking to block the program from six states: Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina. Those states argue that Biden's plan oversteps its spending authority as the executive branch and threatens the states' future tax revenues.

A federal judge dismissed the case on Thursday, finding the states lacked standing to sue  meaning they failed to show that they would be hurt by the debt relief program. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will now decide whether to affirm that decision.

This post was updated after the Eight Circuit issued an order pausing the debt-relief program on Friday.

Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

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During a virtual campaign event with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday, Democrat Stacey Abrams took aim at her Republican opponent for governor and a U.S. Supreme Court justice when asked whats at stake in this years election.

I call it Stacey Abrams versus Clarence Thomas, Abrams said, describing the conservative justices desire to overturn federal protections  including the Voting Rights Act, the right to access contraception and a ruling allowing same-sex couples to marry  much in the same manner that the court struck down the national right to have an abortion by leaving the decisions to individual states.

A Thriving Life, a virtual conversation between Oprah Winfrey and Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. (Stacey Abrams, One Georgia)

That means, Abrams argued, that state governors would then play a central role in determining whether to maintain protections on all of those issues to their citizens.

Brian Kemp has proven that he doesnt care and he wont help, said Abrams, the former Georgia House Minority Leader, noting that whats left of the Voting Rights Act, LGBTQ access to public accommodations and same-sex marriage would be in peril under Kemp.

Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams shakes hands with Republican Gov. Brian Kemp as Libertarian challenger Shane Hazel looks on following a debate in Atlanta on Monday. (Ben Gray/AP)

After a narrow 2018 gubernatorial loss to Kemp, Abrams told Winfrey she was seeking redemption this year so that every voter in Georgia is heard.

If you believe in democracy, theres the Moore decision, Abrams said in reference to the Moore v. Harper case currently before the Supreme Court, which is going to say that governors and legislators alone have the authority to determine Electoral College election laws, meaning that you dont have to commit treason like Donald Trump tried to. All you have to do is have a governor who changes the law.

More than half a million Georgians have cast their ballots in the midterm elections through four days of early voting, according to Gabriel Sterling, Georgias top election official, crushing the previous four-day record for votes cast in a midterm election that was set in 2018 and keeping pace with the historic 2020 turnout in the presidential election.

Voters turn out to cast their ballots as early voting begins on Oct. 17 in Atlanta. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

The high early voting numbers could be a positive sign for Democrats, who historically fare better than Republicans with early voter turnout. Abramss efforts to increase voter turnout are widely credited with helping to put President Biden and two Democratic senators over the top in 2020, turning Georgia from a red state into one with a more purple hue. But Abrams was clear-eyed Thursday about the direction the state will head in if she once again fails to defeat Kemp.

If we dont elect me, we wont have health care for half a million Georgians, our children will continue to go to underfunded schools  we will have divisive laws that say you have to lie to your children about their history, members of LGBTQ will not have protection, no access to affordable housing and he has already shown that he will attack our freedoms, especially if youre a woman, Abrams said.

Four years ago Oprah campaigned with Abrams, going door-to-door to encourage Georgians to get out and vote. This time, with both women wearing purple tops to signify Georgias changing electorate, Winfrey said, We have unfinished business.

_____

Cover thumbnail: Stacey Abrams, One Georgia
Working in Beaufort County schools as well as serving on the boards of nonprofits gave Marilyn Harris an in depth understanding of the county, she says.

Harris is running for the District 2 seat on the Beaufort County Council as a Democrat in the Nov. 8 election.

She is self-employed with a masters degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College, a masters in public administration from Shippensburg State University, a masters in human relations from the University of Oklahoma, and a bachelors degree in education and lifetime teaching certification from the University of Missouri.

This is her first time running for public office.

The Island Packet sent questionnaires to all candidates in contested races. Candidates were asked to keep their responses to 150 words per question.

Here are Harris answers:

How will your expertise or past experiences bring to the county council?

Over the past eight years I have worked in Beaufort County schools and as a program coordinator for Beaufort County while also serving on the boards of Second Helpings, the United Way, the Boys and Girls Club, and the Coastal Community Foundation. These experiences have afforded me an in-depth understanding of Beaufort County residents and their concerns. I bring leadership skills, a strong financial acumen, expertise in long-range planning, a relevant academic background and experience gained from working alongside some of the brightest, bravest and most honorable military leaders in the world, from attending the U.S. Army War College, from serving as a U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee Investigator and from my tenure as a policymaker for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Whats the biggest issue facing Beaufort County?

I have spent the past 10 months meeting with and asking District 2 residents that question. District 2 constituents have told me that their biggest issues are responsible growth and infrastructure; affordable housing; resurrecting, reviewing, revising and finally executing the Ladys Island Plan; traffic on Sams Point Road and the Sea Island Parkway; equitable services for both sides of the Broad River, and maintaining, conserving and preserving our critical lands and waterways.

Development and maintaining Beaufort Countys historic character sometimes collide. What is your position on development versus historic preservation?

The two dont have to be mutually exclusive. The countys historic character and development can coexist. We must employ a balanced approach to working together that engenders both preservation and respect for our historic character as well as management of development in a resident-friendly way.

Affordable housing is an issue throughout Beaufort County. What more should the council be doing, if anything, to address it?

I worked as the countys Facilitator for the Lowcountry Affordable Housing Coalition, so I am familiar with this issue. I am delighted to see the Housing Trust Fund become a reality and to see the collaborative efforts that will make it successful. As Beaufort County continues to grow so will affordable workforce housing needs grow. I would endeavor to ensure that the outreach of the Housing Trust Fund will include seeking incentives to further the public good in addressing the countys affordable workforce housing needs.

Do you support the direction the county is going with the 278-bridge project and the one bridge vs two bridge debate?

Beaufort County Council voted 11-1 to approve a Memorandum of Agreement with the Town of Hilton Head to move forward on the 278 Corridor Project with a one-bridge solution. The Town of Hilton Head voted in favor of approving the Countys MOA. I respect the County Councils vote and the Town of Hilton Heads decision to move forward.

Many candidates have mentioned transparency as being important. If elected, how will you strive to be more transparent with the public?

Transparency as an issue has come up in many meetings I have held with District 2 residents over the past 10 months. District 2 constituents have shared that as much as transparency is important, what they desire even more is accessibility to their representative. Transparency and accountability are an integral part of accessibility. Constituents have asked for communication through regular town hall meetings, emails and/or newsletters and social media. I intend to honor those requests.
The Republican candidate for a key state legislative seat in the Raleigh suburbs  one of the few competitive N.C. Senate districts anywhere in the state  doesnt actually live there, a new complaint against him alleges.

E.C. Sykes ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 2020 and this year is challenging Democratic candidate Mary Wills Bode for a seat in the state Senate. Unlike for congressional races, candidates for the state legislature must live in the district theyre seeking. And Sykes does not, according to a challenge filed Wednesday and backed by the Democratic Party.

Article II, Section 6 of the North Carolina Constitution requires that he have been domiciled of the district for one year before the election, the complaint says. Mr. Sykes did not live in the district on Nov. 8, 2021, and does not live there today.

Private investigators followed Sykes for days and reported that he was sleeping, and otherwise appeared to be living, at the same North Raleigh house hes lived in ever since moving here from Texas in 2019.

But that house is not where hes registered to vote. Nor is it in the district he claims to live in and wants to represent in the state Senate.

Instead, the complaint alleges, the address he claims as his primary residence was little more than an abandoned lot when he first switched his voter registration there, and remains uninhabitable to this day.

Reached Thursday by The News & Observer, Sykes said he couldnt comment because he was out at the polls for the first day of early voting. After this story published online Friday, he sent a written response, saying he and his wife are in the middle of building a house there. He said they have been living on a camper at the construction site instead of at their home  which is located in a different, and deeply Democratic, state Senate district.

The investigators following Sykes did note the camper on the lot, but claimed it had no electrical hookup, and that neighbors signed sworn affidavits saying they had rarely seen him there  and never in 2021, but only since about April 2022.

Sykes disputed all of that. The timing is particularly important, given the states requirement for a candidate to live in his or district for at least a year.

We have been living there since last fall; it has electricity, gas, water and Wi-Fi, he wrote. Im registered to vote there. My wife and I have hosted our grandsons there for extended visits.

Why this race matters

The district Sykes and Bode are competing for, Senate District 18, starts just outside the Interstate 540 beltline in North Raleigh. It covers neighborhoods around Falls Lake, plus the towns of Rolesville and Wake Forest. The district also includes all of Granville County, which stretches from the Wake County border north to the Virginia state line.

As is the case with some other suburban districts around the state, the election is expected to be a nail-biter this year. Most seats in the state legislature are more or less predetermined, but this is one of the few that could go for either party.

Outside analyses of past election results show it leans barely left, with voters in the district favoring Democrats by maybe 2% in a normal year. So if 2022 is a better-than-average year for Republicans, the GOP would hope to win the district  and potentially a supermajority in the Senate, allowing Republican lawmakers to override any vetoes from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

A Senate supermajority requires 30 seats, and Republicans currently have 28. So flipping this seat is a high-priority target for the GOP.

The current incumbent, Democratic Sen. Sarah Crawford, chose to not run for reelection to the Senate this year but instead is running for a seat representing the same area in the N.C. House.

Running on the Democratic side to replace Crawford is Bode, a local attorney who previously led an anti-gerrymandering group, North Carolinians for Redistricting Reform.

North Carolinians deserve quality, local representation for their community in the General Assembly  as is entitled to them by our state constitution, Julia Walker, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party, wrote in an email. Legally, if Mr. Sykes has misrepresented his presence in the community and has not resided in the 18th district for the past year, he is ineligible to serve as their state senator.

The complaint was filed by Todd Stiefel, a philanthropist and prominent Democratic donor whose familys skincare company in Research Triangle Park sold for nearly $3 billion in 2009. Paperwork supporting the complaint indicated he filed it at the request of the N.C. Democratic Party. The complaint doesnt indicate who paid for the investigators who tailed Sykes.

A trailer with no electricity?

The house where the investigators said Sykes appears to be living is in a suburban neighborhood not far from Millbrook High School, where he has an American flag flying and sometimes can be seen with his dog, or washing his car in the driveway.

But thats not where hes registered to vote. Its also not in the Senate district hes running for.

Sykes is instead registered to vote at an address that is inside the district. On paper, that makes him eligible to run for the election  but the complaint against him says theres no way Sykes, a wealthy business executive, actually lives at that address.

In early 2022 Mr. Sykes placed a travel camper, with no electrical connection, on the property but it is not suitable for living nor has anyone been seen there regularly, the complaint says, citing not only the investigators reports but also sworn affidavits from several neighbors.

The complaint goes on to note that it appears Sykes has since started building a house on the lot. But its still not legal to live in, lacking an occupancy certificate, so he continues living at his other house outside the district, the complaint states. Public records from the county show its only about halfway through the permitting process, as of Thursday.

Sykes, however, said he really has been living at the address since last year, and that his camper does have electricity.

But even if Wednesdays complaint turns out to be accurate, it came in too late to potentially force Sykes out of the race. Ballots had already been printed  early voting began Thursday  so state law says the complaint will automatically be put on hold until after the election.

Pat Gannon, a spokesman for the N.C. State Board of Elections, wrote in an email that the election will continue as planned, and the county board would consider the protest after the election.

If Bode wins, then the complaint is moot anyway  pending any potential criminal investigation for voter fraud. But if Sykes wins, the Wake County Board of Elections would start investigating his residency.

When a protest is filed, generally the winner will not be issued a certificate of election until the protest is resolved, Gannon said.

If their investigation agreed with the complaint, and found he doesnt live in the district, the N.C. State Board of Elections could step in and potentially order a new election to be held, similar to what happened in 2018 and 2019 after an election fraud scandal in the 9th Congressional District involving the late political operative McCrae Dowless.

Similar complaints unsuccessful

Sykes is not the first N.C. Senate candidate this year to face a residency challenge.

Democratic candidate Valerie Jordan appeared to live in Raleigh, even though she was running for a district that stretches from Warren County to the Outer Banks, Republicans alleged. They used some of the same types of allegations Democrats have now launched against Sykes, after monitoring where Jordan slept at night and what she otherwise appeared to treat as her home.

However, that complaint went nowhere. Jordan said she has a home in the district where shes running and that she was only temporarily living in Raleigh to care for her grandson. The State Board of Elections voted to accept that and allow her to remain on the ballot.

The vote was 3-2 along party lines, with all the Democrats on the election board voting to allow Jordan to run, and both of the Republicans objecting.

This also isnt even the first time a politician has been accused of claiming to live on an empty lot. In that case, the complaint also went nowhere.

In 2018, elections officials investigated the Republican candidate for sheriff in Columbus County, Jody Greene, but ultimately allowed him to be sworn in after he won the election by a few dozen votes. Greene  who also hired Dowless for his campaign that year  was also accused of not living in Columbus County. He has a home in South Carolina, and the address he claimed to live in inside Columbus County was an empty lot where he parked an RV with a South Carolina license plate, The N&O reported.

Greene told county elections officials he was planning to build a house on the lot, like Sykes is saying now, and the complaint was dismissed. Greene has since faced other scandals, including an investigation into allegations of racist statements he made about his Black deputies after taking office. He was recently suspended from office by a local judge.

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BARCELONA, Spain  Three weeks ago, in the farmlands of central Spain, police spotted something peculiar: a surveillance drone hovering over a forest. Pushing in, they discovered something never before seen in Spain: an outdoor drug laboratory set up under a tarp where Colombian chemists were extracting cocaine that had been infused into concrete powder, a process that police estimate was funneling 264 pounds of cocaine into the country each week.

Last month, Spanish police also seized 1,843 pounds of cocaine and shut down several laboratories and processing centers just outside of Barcelona, and in July they seized six remote-controlled, unmanned submarines fitted with hidden compartments built to transport cocaine to Spain from Africa. On Wednesday, Spains national police announced theyd seized another 145 pounds of pure cocaine hidden in industrial rolling machines shipped from Peru. Last year, around 300 tons of cocaine were seized across Europe, but according to Europol deputy spokesperson Claire Georges, the amount being seized is only a very small part of what is coming in.

These recent busts, largely made possible by advances in tapping criminals encrypted phones, underscore a reality that European drug authorities have been warning about: More cocaine than ever is pouring into the continent, where South American chemists, traffickers and local mafias are helping to bring it to market.

With increasingly clever ways of smuggling the drug and its coca base  including infusing cocaine into plastic chips, charcoal or clothes  authorities and analysts believe they may be finding only 10% to 15%, or even as little as 1%, of whats coming into Europe, a booming market for cocaine that now rivals the one in the United States.

Police officers approaching a container ship in Rotterdam harbor, the Netherlands, which has become a hub of drug smuggling. (John Thys/AFP via Getty Images)

The number of shipments coming in has increased, the interdiction rate has increased, forensics expert Andrew Cunningham, who heads the markets, crime and supply reduction unit at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon, Portugal, told Yahoo News. Cocaine use has increased, and the quality of whats on the streets has increased. The only thing that isnt up, said Cunningham, is the price. On the street, cocaine still sells for around $65 a gram, even though the potency of the drug has gone up. In Europe it is being cut less  boosting its strength  apparently because traffickers have so much product that they want to get rid of it quickly, said Cunningham.

Authorities say there is now a surplus of the drug, with chemists turning some of it into highly addictive crack cocaine or mixing it with deadly fentanyl. Worldwide cocaine production is breaking all records, with some 1,800 tons in 2019, and numbers have grown each year since.

In recent years, traffickers have increasingly looked to expand their customer base in Europe, where cocaine can fetch double the wholesale price of that in the U.S. And while Colombian cartels have historically dealt only with Italian mafias, who controlled its entry into Europe, new criminal actors are now involved in producing, smuggling and distributing cocaine across the continent.

Seized packages of cocaine at a police base in Cartagena, Colombia, previously bound for Rotterdam. (Felipe Caicedo/AP)

Since the breakup of Colombias Medellin and Cali cartels in the 1990s, the trend in drug trafficking has been away from monolithic, centrally controlled operations and towards ever more multinational, decentralized networks, involving numerous different trafficking cells, which often have specialist roles, said James Bargent, a journalist at InSight Crime who co-authored The Cocaine Pipeline to Europe, a report released by Global Initiative. He added that these fluid networks are more flexible and agile, and less vulnerable to law enforcement, as each node knows little about the others and can often be easily replaced if one is taken down.

Over the past 15 years, Albanian crime groups have muscled into the scene and Colombian and Dominican traffickers have moved to Europe to oversee operations from Spain, long a major hub for cocaine entry. Now, however, most smuggled cocaine is believed to be coming via maritime containers into the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands  Europes biggest  and the nearby port of Antwerp, Belgium.

The Netherlands has always been a country thats connected with some drug trafficking, but thats because its a country thats a transportation hub, criminologist Lieselot Bisschop, a professor at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, told Yahoo News. There's a lot of infrastructure that facilitates trade overall. Illegal trade can piggyback off of the legal trade.

Belgian customs officers search for drugs in a container at the port of Antwerp. (Francois Walschaerts/AFP via Getty Images)

With nearly 9 million containers coming through the Dutch port every year, added Georges of Europol, its impossible to check everything, given the volume, and [smugglers] take advantage of the situation.

In 2021, authorities seized over 70 tons of cocaine with a street value of over $3.5 billion in that port alone  a new record. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, a report posted on the Port of Rotterdam website stated. It seems that these drug seizures are not really hampering criminal activities.

As the amount of cocaine coming into the region has skyrocketed, so has the number of traffickers and distributors, narco-crimes, murders and public shootings, all of which has shaken traditionally tolerant Dutch society. Jan Struijs, chairman of the Netherlands PolitieBond police union, said recently that his country has transformed into a narco-state.

But European intelligence agencies recently got a huge boost. In 2021, French, Belgian and Dutch authorities cracked into criminals encrypted networks, including the one used most by drug traffickers, Sky ECC, giving them access to over 4 million messages. We could see the conversations happening live between drug traffickers and other criminal groups, said Georges. This has completely changed what law enforcement knew about the criminal underworld, really a groundbreaking moment.

Many of the ongoing busts across Europe were facilitated by taking down the phone networks, as we realized who's working with who, and the location of the labs, Georges said. Hundreds of alleged cocaine traffickers and distributors have been arrested as a result, drug seizures have soared and dozens of laboratories have been shut down across Europe.

Bales of cocaine weighing more than 5 tons at a Portuguese navy base in Almada, south of Lisbon. (Armando Franca/AP)

Europol is also going after another group that has sometimes proved to be an integral part of the smuggling network: port workers. According to Europol, port workers may be offered up to 10% of a shipment to look the other way.

Despite the progress that's being made, authorities acknowledge it will be difficult to keep on the pressure. Criminal networks are quickly adapting, changing up delivery ports, with smaller European ports now being favored.

Drug traffickers and law enforcement have long been engaged in a type of arms race when it comes to trafficking methods, said InSight Crimes Bargent. Every time law enforcement develops new methods or improves its capacity for detection or interdiction, then traffickers have two options: They look for new routes or they develop new techniques, which is driving the increasing sophistication of smuggling methods.

Some traffickers chemically transform cocaine so it looks like pet food or is infused in industrial materials like plastic, Bargent said. Other smugglers have dressed up as nuns or stitched their cocaine haul into fake buttocks.

Bisschop is concerned that cocaine users dont make the connection between their partying materials and the effects of organized crime groups, whose presence is linked to increased violence, firearms and human trafficking. I was just talking with a student who said she was surprised that her peers who use cocaine dont seem to know or care. I dont know whether everybody is connecting the dots.

Georges thinks that if current trends continue, cocaine users may change their activities and attitudes.

Violence is on the rise in Europe, she said. And thats mainly because of increased competition, especially in drug trafficking. She added that while she hopes that narco-crimes are contained, if the violence starts reaching the streets, as it has in parts of the Netherlands, there might be a switch in the public perception of this drug.
Three commercial fishermen were arrested this week after being accused of raiding another commercial anglers traps and stealing at least one spiny lobster.

Their arrest Tuesday came five days after plainclothes Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers said they observed them from land checking the other boats traps off Long Key and taking one lobster.

Aniel Sanfiel Vallalonga De La Fe, 51, from Miami, Ricardo Daiz De La Cruz, 32, from Boca Raton, and Yumar Gonzalez Ruiz, 49, from Homestead, each face two counts each of felony trap tampering and one count each of theft of the contents of another harvesters traps  a second-degree misdemeanor.

The men, who could not be reached for comment, were released from Monroe County jail Wednesday on a bond of $50,000 each. They work on a boat based out of Conch Key Marina and Fisheries in the Middle Keys

Fish and Wildlife Inspector Adam Garrison and Officer Specialist Jeremy Foell wrote in their probable cause affidavit that they watched the men drive their vessel up to trap marker buoys belonging to the other boat, lift the traps out of the water, inspect them, and remove at least one lobster.

The traps belong to a vessel that is docked at the same marina.

The disrespect these men showed to another commercial fisherman is astounding to me. When our officers performed a follow up inspection on this vessel, they realized that the commercial vessel assigned to the traps they robbed was less than 100 feet away on the same dock, FWC South Bravo Regional Commander Maj. Alberto Maza said in a statement. Every day they go out, they pass the boat of the fisherman they stole from.
A former correction officer at a New York prison was charged after being accused of attacking an inmate and lying about being assaulted first, according to officials.

Taj Everly, 32, served as a correction officer at Green Haven Correctional Facility, located about 70 miles north of downtown New York City, in May of 2020, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

On May 28, 2020, Everly approached an inmate and punched him, knocking him to the ground, according to the release, despite the inmate doing nothing to provoke Everly.

An attorney for Everly could not immediately be reached by McClatchy News for comment.

After the assault, Everly wrote up an incident report that detailed the opposite of what happened. Everly inaccurately stated the inmate had punched him in the neck and shoulder, officials say, and he responded with force.

He lied about how the event transpired so that it would appear that the use of force against [the inmate] was warranted, according to the indictment.

Everly was arrested the morning of Thursday, Oct. 20, and appeared before a judge, according to the release. His charge, falsifying records in connection with a federal investigation, has a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

This Office has no tolerance for correction officers like Everly who, as alleged, commit acts of violence against inmates in their care and custody and then lie to cover their tracks, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in the release.

Everlys false reporting is not unique in New York. An investigation from The New York Times found that more than half of New York Citys correction officers disciplined over a nearly two-year period filed incomplete or inaccurate reports or lied to investigators.

But the investigation also found that most officers escaped serious punishment.

A former Green Haven correction officer pleaded guilty to charges of excessive force in July after repeatedly striking [an] inmates head and body, while the inmate was restrained with handcuffs.

Correction officers are responsible for the custody and security, as well as for the safety and well-being of incarcerated individuals in state correctional facilities, according to New York states website. They have some of the highest rates of non-fatal, work-related injuries, according to research from 2016.

New Yorks prison system is one of the largest in the United States, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a New York nonprofit.

Over 40,000 New Yorkers are behind bars and another 337,000 have spent time in prison at some point in their lives; three-quarters of them are people of color, the organization reported.

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National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday said the White House can confirm that Russia was sending Iranian drones to attack Ukraine from the Crimean peninsula, with military personnel from Tehran on the ground providing technical support and training.

The confirmation from Washington raises the stakes for the international community and United Nations to impose costs on both Russia and Iran. Kirby said the U.S. is exploring new sanctions.

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, Im foreign policy reporter Laura Kelly. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

Kirby says extensive proof Russia using Iran drones

The White House on Thursday said that Russia was launching devastating drone attacks against Ukraine from its military bases on the occupied Crimean peninsula, aided by Iranian military personnel providing technical assistance and training.

Kirby said that the U.S. cannot offer exact numbers on how many Iranians are in Crimea, adding that its a relatively small number but called Russian and Iranian denials of collusion a lie.

Theres extensive proof of their use by Russia against both military and civilian targets [in Ukraine], yet both Iran and Russia continue to lie about it, he said. Russia has received dozens of UAVs so far, and will likely continue to receive additional shipments in the future.



Kirby also raised concern that Russia may also seek to acquire advanced conventional weapons from Iran such as surface to surface missiles that will almost certainly be used to support the war against Ukraine.

Read more here.

Whats next? Kirby said that the administration is exploring new sanctions and that the Department of Defense is looking actively at potential air defense solutions for the Ukrainians.

The U.S., along with the United Kingdom, France and Ukraine, are also pushing for accountability at the United Nations, raising the issue with the Security Council that Irans transfer of weapons to Russia violates resolution 2231, the text that enshrined the 2015 nuclear deal.

Ukraine has called for the U.N. to send experts to examine the drones.

While resolution 2231 allows for the transfer of restricted items to or from Iran  such as weaponized drones  its only allowed when approved on a case-by-case basis. Drone sales to Russia were not brought before the security council.

We are focused on making sure were holding Iran and Russia accountable for these arms sales, and there are existing [UNSC resolutions], like 2231 that give us the authority to continue to sanction Iranian defense industry and that kind of thing, Kirby said.

But how does this affect the administrations efforts to revive the nuclear deal with Iran?

Our focus right now, quite frankly is not on the JCPOA, Kirby said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

Biden worried about Ukraine aid if GOP wins House

President Biden on Thursday said hes concerned about the fate of aid for Ukraine if Republicans win control of Congress after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) signaled the party would not provide a blank check for Ukrainians.

I am worried about it because they said they would cut it, Biden told reporters during a stop in Pittsburgh.

Read more here.

McCarthy told Punchbowl News earlier this week that House Republicans will not write a blank check to Ukraine if they take control of the lower chamber next year.

MCCARTHY IS ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH SENATE GOP LEADER MCCONNELL

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has led Republican support for sending generous military and financial aid to Kyiv, warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin could threaten Poland and other European allies if not stopped in Ukraine.

McCarthy, who would likely become Speaker if Republicans win control of the House, is putting the brakes on more Ukraine aid, warning this week there wont be a blank check from a GOP majority.

McConnell took an unannounced trip to Ukraine in May to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He said he hoped not many members of my party will choose to politicize this issue, also highlighting that House Republicans voted for a $40 billion Ukraine package that month.

But House Republican support for the war in Ukraine is eroding as the conflict drags on, and experts predict the United States could be headed into a recession next year, which could diminish support for sending tens of billions of dollars in additional aid to Ukraine.

Its the first significant policy difference between McCarthy and McConnell that will come into the spotlight after Election Day. Congress will reconvene next month to wrap up the unfinished business of the 117th Congress.

Read more here.



RELATED: Ukrainian defense minister brushes off McCarthys blank check comments as campaign tactics

Trusss downfall sparks talk of UK democracy decline

Questions of democratic legitimacy are swirling in the United Kingdom after the resignation on Thursday of Prime Minister Liz Truss, whose government collapsed just 44 days after she took office.

Trusss downfall will trigger a second leadership election within the Conservative Partys 170,000 members to pick a third prime minister for the country of 67 million this year.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, another conservative, resigned in July following revelations that hed disobeyed the U.K.s COVID-19 regulations while the country was on lockdown.

Trusss departure does not require a public vote to select a new government, though opposition party politicians seized on the moment to call for a general election.

Constitutionally, theres no case for a general election. There wasnt one when Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair in 2007 nor in 1990 when John Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher, British political scientist Vernon Bogdanor told the BBC Thursday. But the political case is obviously very strong.

Trusss swift departure, which marks the shortest tenure of a prime minister in British history, raises questions about the institutional soundness of liberal democracies at a time when divisions between the global East and West are rising.

Those divisions are both military and economic, with NATO supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia and the U.S. rejigging major production pipelines away from China in key industries such as semiconductors.

China and Russia often relish political instability and chaos in the West, exploiting it as an opportunity to bash liberal democracies as inferior to their political systems.

Dmitri Medvedev, deputy head of Russias security council and a close Putin ally, tweeted Bye, bye [Liz Truss], congrats to lettuce, referring to a British-newspaper gimmick that was grading whether the freshness of a head of lettuce would outlast the prime minister.

The headline in Chinas Global Times, considered a mouthpiece for the ruling communist party in Beijing, read Shortest-serving Truss resigns after failed tax-cut plan, showing old Western democracy cannot solve new problems.

Jonathan Katz, director of Democracy Initiatives and a senior fellow with The German Marshall Fund of the United States, said that Political turmoil has an impact on governments ability to function and to react to things that are needed, whether its domestic or international in the case of Ukraine.



He added, Any time you have any of these key partners of Ukraine, and of the transatlantic community, going through a difficult political crisis, it can certainly have an impact on that countrys ability to continue high level support.

Read the full story here.

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, 10 a.m. is discussing Transatlantic Relations with French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna

The Middle East Policy Council, 10 a.m. will host its 110th Capitol Hill Conference on Iran, featuring discussion on historical context and latest developments from Washingtons leading Iran policy experts.

Georgetown Universitys Africa-China Initiative, 12:30 p.m., is hosting Chinese Activities and their Impacts on African Countries Peace and Security

WHAT WERE READING

Economist: A big day for lettuces  Who will be Britains next leader?

Daily chart  Liz Truss is Britains shortest-serving prime minster. A chaotic six weeks ends in humiliating defeat:

Worlds female foreign ministers meet to show support for Iranian women

DoD: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says Mental health is health  period, following annual report on suicide in the military

Defense One: Why the Pentagons Crush on Elon Musk Is Dangerous to Democracy

WaPo: Former U.S. Navy leaders profited from overlapping interests on sub deal

WSJ: Chinas Military Is Catching Up to the U.S. Is It Ready for Battle?

NYT: U.S. Sees Opportunity for Ukraine to Capitalize on Russian Weakness

Thats it for this week! Check out The Hills Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you next Monday!

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Firefighters arrive at the scene of a drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday. (Roman Hrytsyna / Associated Press)

It streaks across the sky and then  when its almost too late to take cover  lets off a guttural sound like a moped blitzing by. Moments later comes the punch-boom of a deadly explosion.

Small, propeller-driven drones were first used last month by Russia in its ongoing war on Ukraine. But this week they have taken to the forefront, with dozens deployed daily to dive-bomb Kyiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv, targeting Ukraines power infrastructure and causing blackouts across the country. At least eight people have been killed in the strikes, Ukrainian authorities say.

Though their markings are in Russian and Moscow refers to them as the Geran-2, Pentagon officials, Ukrainians and observers say the weapons are Iranian-made Shahed-136s, nimble, so-called kamikaze drones (because they destroy themselves in the attack) that can travel thousands of miles before slamming into a target.

They came as part of a package comprising thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, that Moscow imported from Tehran earlier this year to replenish its own rapidly vanishing stock of long-range precision missiles. And Thursday, the White House said the U.S. had evidence that a small number of Iranian troops were directly engaged on the ground in Russian-occupied Crimea to help launch the drones against Ukraine.

The Iranian drones are killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, said White House National Security Council coordinator John F. Kirby in a news briefing.

Russia and Iran repeatedly deny such accusations. Tehran says it supports a peaceful resolution to the eight-month conflict and has called on Ukraine to provide evidence of the drones deployment.

We have defense cooperation with Russia, but sending weapons and drones against Ukraine is not our policy, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in a phone conversation Thursday.

Yet at the same time, Western condemnation has drawn boasts from Irans military leaders such as Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, who said in a speech Tuesday that Irans drones have become so effective that today we have reached a point that 22 world countries are demanding to purchase unmanned aircraft from Iran.

A drone approaches its target in Kyiv on Monday. (Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP/Getty Images)

A day later, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also appeared to reference the drones, saying they were feats that bring honor to our country.

When images of Iranian drones were published a few years ago, they would say theyre photoshopped. Now they say Iranian drones are dangerous, why do you sell them or give them to so-and-so? Khamenei said, according to a report from the state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iranian drones have been used for years in deadly attacks in Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  often with little response. But their appearance in Ukraines skies and the growing diplomatic storm that has caused highlight how the Russian invasion continues to force governments to contend with a Cold War-style calculus that accepts increasingly less overlap between the West and Russia.

Saudi Arabia ran afoul of that equation earlier this month when it pushed oil production cuts at an OPEC+ meeting, infuriating the U.S., which said that the move signaled Riyadh had sided with Moscow and that it would now have to review its longstanding relationship with its Middle East ally.

Drone sales have also prompted geopolitical recalculations.

Firefighters respond after a Russian attack in Kyiv on Tuesday. Local authorities reported a wave of drone and missile strikes on the country's capital. (Ukrainian State Emergency Service / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

For Iran, which had a relatively amiable relationship with Ukraine, fractures first appeared in September, when Ukrainian forces began shooting down hundreds of drones, including what they said were Shahed-136s. In response, officials in Kyiv downgraded relations with Tehran, stripping the Iranian ambassador of his accreditation and reducing diplomatic personnel at the embassy.

This weeks attacks pushed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to propose a full severing of diplomatic ties with Iran.

Leaders in Tehran would bear the most severe responsibility if they continue arms sales, Kyiv said, while inviting United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to dispatch inspectors and examine the wreckage of the more than 220 drones it claims to have destroyed thus far. The arms transfers, the U.S and Ukraine say, violate U.N. sanctions against Iran and Security Council Resolution 2231, which is related to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, with Tehran to limit its nuclear program.

The proposal, publicly supported by several U.N. Security Council members after the bodys closed-door meeting Wednesday, infuriated Moscow, whose Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said afterward that the Guterres team should not go beyond their technical mandate.

Iran is of the firm belief that none of its arms exports, including UAVs, to any country violate resolution 2231, Irans U.N. envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, told reporters Wednesday.

A woman arranges flowers Wednesday outside a Kyiv house where a couple were killed in a Russian drone strike two days earlier. (Ed Ram / Getty Images)

The threat of additional sanctions  on what is already one of the worlds most heavily sanctioned nations  comes at a difficult time for Iran, rocked by weeks of protests after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the so-called morality police.

Those demonstrations have become an expression of wider grievances, including what many view as the governments intransigence in negotiations that could provide sanctions relief. Meanwhile, polls show the Iranian public doesnt view Russia favorably and believes the invasion of Ukraine is illegitimate.

Its unlikely Iran would accept punishment in the name of supporting Moscow. And before the drone sales, trade between the two countries was $4 billion, hardly worth the financial hit from more sanctions.

Yet its a calculation Tehran appears willing to make, said Ali Vaez, who directs the Iran project at the International Crisis Group, even at the expense of completely killing off the nuclear deal.

The view there is: Why should they abandon Russia at the time of its need, when even if the JCPOA is restored, theyre completely disillusioned about its effectiveness and the durability of sanctions relief that it offers? Vaez said. The strategic priority, for Iran, of preventing Russias failure in the Ukraine conflict is bigger than the restoration of the JCPOA.

Another Middle East power facing a balancing act with sales of UAVs in the conflict is Turkey. Its Bayraktar TB2 drones  a medium-sized aircraft that can launch missiles  have in years past faced off against Russian armor and Russia-aligned fighters in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. Now in Ukraine they hunt Russian troops, with Kyiv deploying the dozens of TB2s it purchased to such powerful effect that Ukrainians dedicated a song to the drones battlefield prowess.

At the same time, Russia is a vital economic trading partner: It provides almost half of Turkeys natural gas and almost three-quarters of its wheat. Some 4.7 million Russian travelers visit Turkey every year.

Diplomatically, Turkey has hedged: It condemned the invasion but nevertheless refused to levy sanctions and continues to welcome Russian oligarchs and other visitors. It also worked on a deal that allowed grain shipments to leave Ukrainian ports despite a Russian sea blockade.

Though Russia complained to Turkey over the Bayraktar TB2 sales, Ankara said Kyiv had purchased the drones in a private capacity and did not constitute an agreement between the two governments. For now, Moscow appears to have been mollified: Baykar, the company that produces the TB2s, continues to sell them to Ukraine even as Ankara says it can play the role of intermediary between Moscow and the West.

The ripple effects of the presumptive Iranian drone attacks have also hit Israel, a top U.S. ally with strong links to Russia.

Roughly 15% of Israels population (some 1.3 million people) are Russian-speaking immigrants  with more Russian emigres arriving by the month because of the Ukraine war, according to Israeli government statistics.

Israel also works with Moscow to coordinate military maneuvers in Syria, where Russia has bolstered forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad since 2019 while turning a blind eye to Israeli strikes over Syrian territory on what it says are targets affiliated with Iran, Israels regional nemesis.

And the Israelis have previously exported UAV tech and components to Moscow, including two surveillance drones deployed by the Russian army, the Zastava and Forpost, licensed copies of Israeli-built platforms, according to a report from Conflict Armament Research.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Israel didnt join in the U.S. and European Union economic sanctions, but it did dispatch humanitarian aid  including helmets and bulletproof vests for rescue teams  to Ukraine.

Fearing Russian umbrage, Israel has thus far refrained from providing Kyiv with military assistance, despite repeated entreaties. But with its arch-nemesis now embroiled in the conflict, its position appears increasingly untenable.

This week, an Israeli lawmaker demanded the government change its stance. That appeared to elicit a response from former Russian president and top Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev, who warned Monday that arming Ukraine would be a very reckless step that would destroy government relations between our countries.

A day later, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba reiterated a long-standing request for Israel to urgently provide  antiaircraft systems and to start high-quality cooperation on obtaining appropriate technologies for Ukraine.

Iran is a red line for Israel, and after Iran has directly, in fact, become complicit in the crime of aggression against Ukraine, I think anyone in Israel who still has any hesitation about whether or not to help Ukraine, he must dispel these hesitations, Kuleba said.

But Israel refused again.

Israel will not deliver weapon systems to Ukraine due to a variety of operational considerations, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said during a meeting with EU ambassadors in Tel Aviv, adding that Israel would continue to support Ukraine within our limitations.

That, however, is not enough, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk said.

You cant win the war with air defense alert systems. We asked for defensive weapons, and they have all our requests and no reply, he said in a CNN interview Wednesday.

Its like when youre going to the market and youre asking someone for the bread, and instead of the bread they give you the spoon.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
FILE - UCLA gynecologist James Heaps appears in Los Angeles Superior Court on June 26, 2019. Heaps, a former gynecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles was found guilty on five counts in a sexual abuse case Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022 in a Los Angeles court. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

LOS ANGELES (AP)  A former gynecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles was found guilty on five counts in a sexual abuse case Thursday in a Los Angeles court.

The jury found Dr. James Heaps not guilty on seven of the 21 counts and were deadlocked on the remaining charges.

Heaps, a longtime campus gynecologist at UCLA, had pleaded not guilty to 21 felony counts in the sexual assaults of seven women between 2009 and 2018. He has denied wrongdoing.

Heaps was indicted last year on multiple counts each of sexual battery by fraud, sexual exploitation of a patient and sexual penetration of an unconscious person by fraudulent representation.

The jury delivered a guilty verdict on three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person. He was found not guilty of seven other counts of sexual battery and penetration, as well as one count of sexual exploitation. The jury was hung on the nine remaining counts, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial for those charges.

UCLA has agreed to pay nearly $700 million in lawsuit settlements to hundreds of Heaps patients, who said he groped them, made suggestive comments or conducted unnecessarily invasive exams during his 35-year career.

Women who brought the lawsuits said the university ignored their complaints and deliberately concealed abuse that happened for decades during examinations at the UCLA student health center, the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center or in Heaps campus office.

UCLA acknowledged it received a sex abuse complaint against Heaps from a patient in December 2017 and it launched an investigation the following month that concluded she was sexually assaulted and harassed, attorneys said.

Heaps, however, continued to practice until his retirement in June 2018 amid the scandal. The university did not release its finding in the investigation until November 2019  months after Heaps was arrested.

UCLA Health is grateful for the patients who came forward," the university said in a statement after the verdict. "Sexual misconduct of any kind is reprehensible and intolerable. Our overriding priority is providing the highest quality care while ensuring that patients feel safe, protected and respected.

Heaps attorney did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.
President Biden chats with workers during his visit to a Metro subway construction site in Los Angeles on Oct. 13. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Two small planes were intercepted by F-16 fighter jets on two separate occasions after entering temporary restricted airspaces last week during President Bidens visit to Southern California, authorities said.

The breaches by the single-engine planes happened when Biden was attending events in Los Angeles and Orange counties, according to a news release from the Continental United States North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, or CONR, which oversees airspace surveillance and control and directs air sovereignty activities for the lower 48 states.

The first breach occurred Oct. 13 over Los Angeles, shortly before Biden spoke at the site of the new Metro D Line extension in West L.A. alongside mayoral candidate and Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles). At around 12:40 p.m., two F-16s, under the direction of CONR, intercepted a Beechcraft Bonanza that entered the temporary flight restricted area without proper clearance or communication. The plane landed safely, CONR said.

The second breach occurred on Friday, when a Cessna 182 entered a temporary restricted airspace over Santa Ana at 3:10 p.m. without the proper clearances or communication, CONR said. Biden was attending an event at Irvine Valley College, where he and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) spoke about Democrats efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs, when the violation occurred.

According to CONR, officials used flares to catch the pilots attention, and the plane landed safely. Flares are a standard tool to bring pilots into communication, the agency said.

The Secret Service was aware of both breaches and neither disrupted the presidents schedule, an agency spokesperson said. Violations of the temporary flight restrictions are common, particularly by small planes, the spokesperson said.

Temporary flight restrictions are routine procedure based on the presidents schedule and location, the Secret Service said.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, temporary flight restrictions can be used during natural disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes, certain major sporting events and emergency or national security situations.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Stephen Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison Friday for his defiance of a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Federal District Judge Carl Nichols ruled that Bannon would also pay a fine of $6,500 alongside his four-month sentence, allowing Bannon to serve jail time for each contempt of Congress charge concurrently.

At the outset of the hearing, Nichols said Bannon had shown no remorse for his actions and has yet to demonstrate he has any intention of complying with the subpoena.

The onetime Trump White House strategist was subpoenaed by the panel in September of last year after he failed to provide either the required documents or testimony as he railed against the committee.

At the outset of the hearing, Nichols said Bannon had shown no remorse for his actions and has yet to demonstrate he has any intention of complying with the subpoena.

But the judge also agreed to stay his ruling while Bannon appeals his guilty verdict, likely delaying for some time his eventual prison service.

The Jan 6 committee thus has every reason to investigate what happened that day including who may have been involved in planning or instigating what happened, Nichols said after listing off the actions of the numerous rioters that stormed the building.

He added that for much of the information the committee sought from Bannon were instances where no conceivable claim of executive privilege could be made.

A Justice Department prosecutor argued that Bannon deserved a severe penalty for his wholesale resistance to the committees subpoena, noting that he never lifted a finger to find a responsive document or appear in person to assert any potential privileges.

The importance of this case has everything to do with defendants obligations as a citizen of the United States, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Cooney told the court.

No one, regardless of their means, their station, the influence of their friends or their patrons, is above the law.

Bannons attorneys  David Schoen, one of former President Trumps impeachment attorneys, and Evan Corcoran, who is currently representing the former president in the Mar-a-Lago case  argued Bannon had little choice but inaction when faced with the committee subpoena.

His hands were tied by Trumps claim of executive privilege, they argued, with Schoen saying it was the only lawful course he could take consistent with the Constitution and his obligation.

A jury largely rejected that argument when it found Bannon guilty on both counts of contempt of Congress.

The Justice Department had recommended six months jail time and a $200,000 fine  the maximum financial penalty for the two counts of contempt of Congress.

For his sustained, bad-faith contempt of Congress, the defendant should be sentenced to six months imprisonmentthe top end of the Sentencing Guidelines rangeand fined $200,000based on his insistence on paying the maximum fine rather than cooperate with the Probation Offices routine pre-sentencing financial investigation, the agency wrote in a Monday court filing.

Bannon is the first former adviser to Trump to face penalties for rebuffing a subpoena from the committee.

The full House has voted to censure three others for contempt of Congress relating to the investigation, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows and communications guru Dan Scavino. But the Justice Department has only otherwise pursued charges against White House adviser Peter Navarro.

The subpoena to Bannon noted his presence in the Trump campaigns war room at the Willard Hotel, including involvement in a discussion with Republican lawmakers about objecting to election results.

They also sought to ask him about a comment on a Jan. 5, 2021, episode of his podcast where he said all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.

Before the sentencing, Bannon was seen pacing the courtroom, wearing his usual green jacket to the hearing.

But after the ruling, Bannon pushed a more confident tone, with Schoen at his side suggesting a successful appeal in their future.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Bannon repeated familiar refrains, praising the judge but saying that Judgment Day for the Biden administration was coming and mocking the members of the Jan. 6 panel.

This thing about Im above the law is an absolute and total lie, Bannon said as demonstrators interrupted him with shouts of area podcaster goes to prison.

Updated at 3:03 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Nearly half a million Georgians have cast their ballots in the midterm elections through three days of early voting, according to Georgias secretary of state, blowing past the previous record three-day totals in 2018 and keeping pace with a historic 2020 turnout in the presidential election.

"One of the bigger surprises ... was the huge turnout in early voting," Greg Bluestein, a veteran Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalist who wrote a book on Democrats turning his state blue in 2020, said earlier this week on his newspaper's politics podcast. "I expected the turnout to be high, but the levels we're reaching here in Georgia are reaching presidential levels".

Bluestein added: "Just the rush of attention, the early energy towards casting their ballots, it shows that ... there's tremendous energy out there that could change the calculus for a lot of these campaigns."

Georgia has a number of consequential races on the ballot this year, including a marquee Senate race between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, as well as between Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and his Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams.

Voters in Atlanta turn out to cast their ballots as early voting begins on Oct. 17, 2022. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

While the high turnout has surprised many political experts, a number of diverse grassroot organizations say the enthusiasm reflects their yearslong commitment to voter turnout efforts.

I'm not surprised by the numbers, just because of what we're hearing from those on the ground, Nicole Henderson of Progress Georgia, a political digital and communications hub for progressive groups around the state, told Yahoo News.

Our field teams have knocked on over 750,000 doors since Aug. 1 and are on track to hit a total of 1 million doors by Election Day," said James Mays, field deputy director of the New Georgia Project Action Fund. Georgians are hitting the polls energized, motivated and more than anything, resolved to make their voices heard.

Through Wednesday, 434,567 Georgians had already voted  396,332 in person and 38,235 by absentee ballot  a figure 44% higher than in 2018, according to Georgia Votes. By this point in 2020, just over 410,000 Georgians had voted in person. Presidential-year elections like 2020 typically draw far more voters than midterms.

"A lot of people up here in Washington will be watching those early vote numbers very closely in Georgia, because it certainly can give us some insight into how motivated the voters are for the November elections, Washington columnist Jamie Dupree said on the Journal-Constitution's podcast about the early-voting numbers. The fact that turnout on the first day was almost what it was in a presidential election year tells me that we will see a very active final three weeks.

A voter turns out to cast a ballot as early voting begins on Oct. 17 in Atlanta. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Black and Hispanic voters, in particular, make up 36% of the ballots received thus far. The high early voting numbers are exciting Democrats, who historically have larger early voting turnout than Republicans, although many of the votes are also undoubtedly for GOP candidates. More than 4 million people will likely vote in this years midterm election, with at least half of those voters expected to vote early.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger issued a statement on Wednesday touting the overall numbers, which he said occurred without any reports of substantial delays. He attributed the turnout to the hard work of Georgia's election workers, the professionals who keep our elections convenient and secure."

Yana Batra, an 18-year-old college student and a leader in the group Georgia Youth Justice Coalition for Action, said her classmates frequently speak about the election. She cited issues like womens reproductive rights and school censorship.

As a first-time voter spending my time reaching neighbors and peers, its clear Georgians are fired up to make history yet again, said Batra. We know this election matters.

Residents gather to see Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., as he meets with community members to encourage them to come out and vote on the first day of early voting on Oct. 17 in Duluth, Ga. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Progressive activists nevertheless cautioned about alleged voter suppression efforts, particularly after Kemps signing of SB 202 into law in March last year. The Election Integrity Act cut runoff periods in half, from nine to four weeks, placed limits on who can turn in absentee ballots and enacted a partial ban on offering food or water while waiting in line to vote. It also restricts the use of drop boxes, which historically, have overwhelmingly been used by voters of color.

A part of the conversations that we have at the doors isn't just talking about the issues that are at stake, but we're also doing really mindful voter-protection efforts, Hillary Holley, executive director of Care in Action, told Yahoo News. We've also done so much work to teach voters how to overcome these obstacles that have been put in place post 2020.

_____

Cover thumbnail: AP Photo/Jerome Delay
Patsy Brison is running for the Hilton Head Town Council Ward 2 seat. In 2018, she ran for the Ward 5 position, but was defeated by outgoing incumbent Tom Lennox.

Four years after falling to Tom Lennox in the 2018 Ward 5 election, Patsy Brison returns to the ballot  this time for Town Council Ward 2.

The Gastonia, North Carolina, native lost to Lennox by 376 votes in 2018, finishing second in a three-way race. Lennox is not seeking reelection.

Brison is a retired attorney who serves as chair of the Hilton Head Island Board of Zoning Appeals. She also helped co-found the community group, Coalition of Island Neighbors.

Brison earned a bachelors degree in political science and international studies from UNC-Greensboro and holds a law degree from Campbell University. In her legal career, she specialized in local government, land use regulation and zoning law.

The Island Packet sent questionnaires to candidates in contested races and limited their answers to 150 words.

Here are Brisons responses:

Which campaign issue is most urgent to you? Why do you feel that issue should be the top priority?

Workforce availability through housing and transportation opportunities is the key issue being raised in candidate forums. The local residential and business communities see the economic, services and community benefits of addressing this issue. I agree because these communities are crying out for resolutions to address workforce needs. I agree because those who want to live and work in our community deserve the opportunity to do so.

What is your position on the recently approved U.S. 278 plan?

The community has grown tired of the 278 Project discussions and is concerned about the safety of the access to Hilton Head. In addition, the community recognizes the substantial impacts the 278 Project would have on the Stoney community and the environment. All the SCDOT proposals so far have failed to address the needs, concerns and interests of our community, our workforce, and our visitors. I support the due diligence of Sen. Tom Davis to find the best solutions to address this once-in-a-lifetime project.

I support replacing the bridge identified by SCDOT as needing replacement, addressing safety at intersections, increasing the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, protecting Stoney, and including a through-put study, an adaptive traffic signal system, and land use planning. The 278 Project should respect the concerns of the community.

After years of division and intermittent leadership, the town and county agreed to an independent end-to-end analysis, installation of an adaptive signal system installation, and incorporation of most of the land-use planning recommendations, while reserving the towns municipal consent. We are waiting for those results before making that very important decision.

What steps would you take to address the shortage of workforce housing? Is the solution a public or private sector issue? Should Hilton Head focus on encouraging housing off-island through the regional housing trust fund or build locally?

No one source can solve the workforce housing challenge. There must be many approaches, including Habitat for Humanity and other kinds of public-private partnerships. We must also explore many different funding opportunities, including grant, foundation, non-profit, federal, and state funding sources. While the town cannot act alone, the Town Council can and must provide leadership.

As a partner with developers, the town can seek land which is available and has been used for housing before it is converted to uses which close out workforce housing. The town could consider assisting with infrastructure improvements, reasonable permitting systems, and sensible land use regulations. The time for study is past; the time for action is now.

The Chamber of Commerce receives significant public funding each year, but is not subject to the same transparency laws as Town Council. What steps would you take, if any, to secure greater transparency from the chamber on where public funds are being used?

As a result of community concerns, the Town Council renegotiated the agreement with the chamber during the four years of the current council and included reporting, inspection rights, and auditing requirements. The agreement runs until 2025, so those terms control. The agreement requires an annual budget and an annual report on the marketing plan, which are submitted to the towns ATAX Committee for review and recommendation and then to the Town Council for review and approval.

If agreed, it may be helpful to have more frequent than annual reports made to the Town Council by the chamber. Perhaps, the councils Finance and Administrative Committee could request semi-annual or quarterly summary reports and then include them in the reports from the committee chair during the next Town Council meeting. Those reports would be a part of the public record.

Friction between development and maintaining Hilton Heads character has been highlighted recently. How do you think the town should balance the two? At this time, is it more important to develop for the future or preserve the past?

I believe that the town can balance both while protecting the natural environment and the historic Gullah neighborhoods. There are existing workforce housing units which could be saved for that use by private investment, with public support. There could be revisions in the towns land management ordinance (LMO) to enable the conversion of empty commercial spaces to allow mixed-use of retail, offices, and restaurants with residential spaces above, which is not now allowed.

This type of model is being recommended by MKSK, the towns land-use consulting group, which is working on a plan for the Mid-Island area. There are now opportunities for native islanders to invest in their properties with family compounds and family subdivisions, thereby helping with family housing. As we look ahead, it is important to honor the past, know the present, and plan for the future.
Hurricane Ian dealt a devastating blow to Southwest Florida and its beloved attractions, resorts and restaurants. Now, one of its best known resorts has announced layoffs.

This week, South Seas Island Resorts director of human resources, Marsha Michael, filed a required notice to Floridas Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act that 238 employees were to be laid off at the 330-acre Captiva landmark.

The state requires companies to file a WARN notice when 50 or more employees are to be laid off.

After Hurricane Ian, which jobs are lost to Southwest Florida? Which will come back sooner?

In her letter to the state, Michael wrote that the devastation caused by Hurricane [resulted] in the cessation of operations for the foreseeable future.

The layoffs started Oct. 10 and conclude on Oct. 23, according to the filing, and are noted as temporary.

South Seas is the first employer to do so in Southwest Florida after Ian, according to the Fort Myers News-Press.

The cuts are across South Seas Island Resorts operations, including the 77 employees in housekeeping and laundry services and the 84 in food and beverage services. They also affect the front office and reservations.

South Seas owners have said they plan to restore the resort to its original grandeur as soon as possible. The picturesque 2 1/2 miles of beachfront grounds, a tourist lure since 1946, sit on a third of the northern tip of the six-mile-long Captiva Island, according to Business Observer.

We do have teams going to the ground who are doing the cleanup and property assessment, but for right now were kind of waiting on an update to when the property is going to be back up and running, a reservations worker told the Miami Herald on Friday, declining to give her name.

I have a reservation at South Seas. What should I do?

You should call the resort to cancel any outstanding reservation  if it hasnt been canceled already. The resort is in the process, according to its postings.

Since there is no date yet for when South Seas Island Resort can be operational, any reservations made before Hurricane Ian will have to be refunded.

Greg Spencer, CEO of Timbers Resort, one of the propertys owners, told the News-Press it could cost anywhere from $800 million to a billion to rebuild the property to current standards and that they are prepared to get that work done.

But its going to take time, and Dec. 31 is highly unlikely. South Seas announced it had begun the process of canceling all reservations that have been made through Dec. 31. But if you have an upcoming reservation, South Seas asks that you contact the reservations team at 866-565-5089 to process cancellations.

It will take about two to four weeks for the refund to show up on a customers credit card, South Seas reservation worker said.

Your favorite Sanibel hangouts were ground zero of hurricane. A look at some of them

Can you book a stay at South Seas for 2023 or beyond?

These images of South Seas Island Resort in Captiva, Florida, were taken on Sept. 29, 2022, a day after Hurricane Ian made landfall, and are from NOAAs Emergency Response Imagery website. They show the damage from Hurricane Ian.

You cannot book a stay at South Seas right now for any time. The resort posted on its website that it is not taking reservations through Dec. 31. South Seas plans to come back, but its best to wait until a reopening is officially announced.

We arent taking new reservations because we dont have an update on when the property is going to be back up and running, the reservations worker said.

Can you book nearby resorts?

Tween Waters named a cottage for one of its most famous guests, aviator Charles Lindbergh. He and his wife, author Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who wrote Gift From the Sea after seeking inspiration on its seashell-festooned beaches in Captiva in the early 1950s, stayed at the inn.

Other resorts similarly affected by Ian on Captiva and Sanibel are also not taking reservations, including Casa Ybel Resort, Island Inn, Signal Inn and Sundial Resort on Sanibel.

Also, Tween Waters on Captiva has started issuing refunds for reservations made through Dec. 31. For reservation inquiries Tween Waters suggested sending an email to Resv@Tween-Waters.com.

But on Oct. 18, Doug Babcock, CEO, posted an optimistic report to the Tween Waters website on recovery efforts for both of its properties, Tween Waters on Captiva and West Wind Island Resort on Sanibel. Babcock wrote that a full recovery of its flagship resorts could come much quicker than we first imagined.

This image of Tween Waters Island Resort and Captiva Yacht Club in Captiva, Florida, was taken Sept. 29, 2022. The image is from NOAAs Emergency Response Imagery website and shows the damage from Hurricane Ian.

How to help the resort employees

The resort set up a South Seas Associate Team employee relief via GoFundMe.

As of Friday afternoon, the campaign has raised $90,500 toward a $1 million goal. According to the GoFundMe page, 50% of funds generated will be designated to employees whose jobs were affected and 50% will go toward those who lost their homes or cars to Ian.

More than 370 donations are listed, ranging from $10 to three at $5,000.
A Kansas City man will be sent to prison for the death of Marcus Haislip III, a 3-year-old boy who was killed in a triple shooting in the Blue Hills neighborhood while he was strapped into his car seat on May 12, 2017.

Derrick D. Wren Jr., 30, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and other charges during a hearing Friday morning in Jackson County Circuit Court.

Jackson County Circuit Court Judge S. Margene Burnett sentenced Wren on four felony charges, including one count of voluntary manslaughter, two counts of assault in the second degree, and one count of tampering with evidence.

The first count of assault in the second degree concerns Marcus Haislip III. The second count concerns the boys father, Marcus Haislip Jr.

Wren was sentenced to 12 years for voluntary manslaughter, 10 years for each assault count and five years for tampering with evidence. The sentences were set to run concurrently.

The boys mother, Angela Brown, gave a statement shortly before Wren was sentenced and thanked the judge for letting the family move forward.

You dont prepare yourself for things like this, she said. One hour youre getting kisses and I love yous, and an hour later youre in the hospital.

2017 shooting of Marcus Haislip III

The shooting unfolded in broad daylight on a residential street near the corner of 54th Street and Park Avenue. Haislip was in a car with his father and another relative when the gunman opened fire.

A volley of at least 10 bullets struck the vehicle, busting out its windows and striking all three inside. Afterward, the boy  who was struck in the head, neck and elsewhere  was rushed in the bullet-riddled car to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Four years went by before a case was made and Jackson County prosecutors filed charges against Wren. It was investigated by Kansas City police with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and state police.

Eyewitness statements helped lead police to Wren as a suspect early on in the long-running investigation.

Descriptions included accounts that described a heavyset man firing a long gun from the front porch of a house on the block that was known to police for a number of violent offenses. Witnesses said the shooter fled the scene in a gray Dodge.

Detectives attempted to interview Wren about the shooting in November 2018, but that ended when he asked for a lawyer, according to court papers.

In 2019, the Missouri State Highway Patrol matched DNA found on a styrofoam cup found near the crime scene to Wrens profile in a state criminal database.

Then in late 2020, two witnesses allegedly known to Wren were interviewed by police and claimed he had confessed to the boys killing. They said he was known to carry a short rifle with a wooden stock that he kept loaded with a large ammunition clip.

One witness told investigators Wren made the admission one day while crying, saying: This (expletive) wasnt supposed to happen.

In February 2021, Jackson County prosecutors charged Wren with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and first-degree assault.

He will not be the first to go to prison in connection with the toddlers killing.

Others prosecuted

Roughly a year after the triple shooting, Marcus D. Haislip Jr.  the boys father  allegedly walked into a gas station at 37th and Broadway firing a 9mm handgun. He first shot a customer, later identified as a person of interest in his sons killing. After he saw the security guard, he allegedly shot him too.

Authorities quickly concluded the shooting was retaliatory in motive.

The elder Haislip pleaded guilty in September to one count of second-degree assault and unlawful firearm possession. He was sentenced last month to seven years in state prison.

Also connected to the shooting as part of a federal investigation led by the ATF was Mickael N. Oliver, 28, who lived at the house where witnesses pointed early on as the place where the gunshots may have come from.

Witnesses said the shooting suspect possibly came from and fled into Olivers nearby residence that afternoon. But Oliver, when interviewed by police at the time, provided a statement that lacked any substance to identify the shooter or procure charges.

In 2017, The Star reported that Olivers house had been tied to a staggering amount of violence, including the death of a man who was fatally shot in the driveway. A prosecutor once called Olivers potential risk to public safety off the chart.

Oliver was found guilty by a federal jury in December 2021 in the Western District of Missouri of selling stolen firearms and selling a firearm to a convicted felon, among other crimes. On Oct. 12, he was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison.

The Stars Luke Nozicka and Glenn E. Rice contributed to this report.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP)  The victims of a racist mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket will be honored with a permanent memorial in the neighborhood, elected and community leaders announced Friday.

The shooting is part of the Buffalo story forever going forward, Gov. Kathy Hochul said. We want to do something that people remember. A place to come and reflect. A place to honor. And a place to say never again.

Former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, whose 86-year-old mother Ruth Whitfield was among the 10 Black people killed May 14, is among those appointed to a planning commission tasked with acquiring land, seeking input on the design, securing funds and maintaining the monument. Buffalo NAACP President Mark Blue will lead the effort.

It's not going to take the place of my mother or the lives of the other loved ones that were lost here," Whitfield said. "So we will forever miss them and honor their legacy by what we do going forward.

The officials did not specify a budget or timeline for the project's completion. Brown said numerous businesses and people have offered to contribute.

Related video: Report details role of online platforms in Buffalo supermarket shooting

Payton Gendron, 19, has been charged with killing 10 and wounding three others at the Tops Friendly Market. Investigators said he drove 200 miles from his Conklin home intending to kill as many Black people as possible at the store, which he targeted because of its location in the predominantly Black East Buffalo neighborhood. He has pleaded not guilty.

In the wake of the shooting, New York banned anyone under age 21 from buying or possessing a semi-automatic rifle like the one used by Gendron, who was 18 at the time.

Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats, also have called on lawmakers to outlaw the creation of videos of homicides, citing the viral spread across the internet of recordings livestreamed by killers. In a report this week, they also recommended ensuring online platforms take reasonable steps to stop such recordings from being circulated.

The shooter wrote in an online diary that he was inspired in part by violent videos and writings accessible across various platforms, especially by a video clip of the mass shooting at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.

We talk to these social media platforms and the legitimate ones are with us, Hochul said Friday, but what we have to continue to deal with are those on the dark web and find ways to change federal laws, because right now they have a lot of protections under federal law. Thats the barrier we face.

Also appointed to the memorial commission were representatives of Tops Friendly Markets, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Buffalo Arts Commission and a coffee shop near the shooting site.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitts office said Thursday night that Missouri and five other Republican-leaning states will appeal a federal judges ruling dismissing a lawsuit that challenged President Joe Bidens student loan forgiveness plan.

Schmitt and Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, both Republicans seeking higher office, joined GOP officials from four other states to file a lawsuit last month in U.S. District Court attempting to block Bidens plan. They alleged the states student loan servicer faces financial harm because of the plan.

Judge Henry Edward Autrey, from the Eastern District of Missouri, said the states werent able to adequately prove that their states were harmed by the program and lacked standing to bring the case.

Schmitt, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Missouri, promised to appeal the ruling, which comes just weeks before the Nov. 8 election.

The Biden Administrations push to cancel student loan debt will unfairly burden working class families with even more economic woes, Schmitts spokesman Chris Nuelle wrote in an email Thursday evening. We plan to appeal this decision.

The White House on Thursday night celebrated the ruling. Biden is scheduled to make a speech about his proposal at Delaware State University on Friday afternoon.

Today, a district judge in Missouri rejected an attempt to prevent implementation of the Administrations student debt relief plan, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Republican Members of Congress and Republican Governors are doing everything they can to deny student debt relief, even to their own constituents. The President wont stop fighting these suits and working to help families as they recover from the pandemic.

Americans who make less than $125,000 or households that make less than $250,000 are eligible to have up to $10,000 in their loans forgiven and people who received Pell Grants are eligible to have up to $20,000 forgiven. Roughly 777,300 Missourians and 360,900 Kansans will qualify to have a portion of their debt eliminated, according to White House estimates.

John Milburn, a spokesman for Schmidt in Kansas, noted in a statement Friday morning that despite finding the states lacked standing the court acknowledged in its opinion that the states present important and significant challenges to the Biden administrations student loan debt cancellation program. Schmidt is seeking to unseat Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly in the Nov. 8 election.

While the court said that the states do not have standing to bring this lawsuit, we continue to believe that they do in fact have standing to raise these important legal challenges, Milburn said. As a result, the plaintiff states will be appealing and seeking immediate relief from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The suit is led by Nebraska Attorney General Douglas Peterson. Arkansas, Iowa and South Carolina are also plaintiff states.

Republican opposition has largely centered around the cost of Bidens debt forgiveness plan. The plan is projected to cost the federal government $400 billion over the next 30 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Republicans have objected to the cost.

The Biden administration has already launched an application for people who are seeking to take advantage of the program. Jean-Pierre said Thursday that the administration expects that the majority of the money will go to people who make less than $75,000 and that 23 million Americans will have all of their debt forgiven.

The Stars Katie Bernard contributed reporting.
Long before Fidel Castro proclaimed the socialist character of his revolution on April 1961, the new regime was already on the path to communism and was discreetly placing sympathizers in key positions in government, Castros younger brother Raul told Soviet leaders, according to a rare document obtained by the Washington-based National Security Archive.

The recently declassified document from the State Archive of the Russian Federation, an official record of a conversation in Moscow between Cubas defense minister, Raul Castro, and the Soviet premier at the time, Nikita Khrushchev, on July 18, 1960, provides previously unknown details of the crucial moment the two countries sealed an alliance that would push the world to the brink of nuclear war just two years later during the Cuban Missile crisis.

The transcript of that pivotal exchange also provides critical insights into what Cuban and Soviet leaders really thought of a potential U.S. economic embargo and how Fidel Castro disregarded Soviet advice to avoid provoking the United States.

This document is very important because it shows how the relationship between the Soviet and Cuban leadership developed from very early stages, said Svetlana Savranskaya, the National Security Archives senior analyst on the Soviet Union who obtained and translated the document.

The meeting took place amid growing tensions between Castro and U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The new revolutionary government had nationalized U.S. oil refineries and land owned by American companies, and Eisenhower retaliated by cutting the islands sugar quota on July 6, 1960.

Three days later, on July 9, Khrushchev made a veiled warning that he might even use nuclear weapons to defend Castro, a prelude to the Cuban Missile Crisis that unfolded 60 years ago this month.

It should not be forgotten that the United States is not so inaccessibly distant from the Soviet Union as it used to be, he said during a speech. Figuratively speaking, in case of need Soviet artillerymen can support the Cuban people with their rocket fire if the aggressive forces in the Pentagon dare to launch an intervention against Cuba. And let them not forget in the Pentagon that, as the latest tests have shown, we have rockets capable of landing directly in a precalculated square at a distance of 13,000 km.

This, if you will, is a warning to those who would like to settle international issues by force and not by reason, he added.

Days later, Fidel Castro dispatched his younger brother, who was known to be a committed communist with ties to the Soviet Union, to Moscow to figure out to what extent actions of the USSR could be decisive in the spirit of what was said in comrade Khrushchevs statement, Raul said during the meeting.

What was surprising for me is that essentially the Cubans, after Khrushchevs public statement of support for Cuba, come to Moscow hoping to get explicit Soviet security guarantees, a nuclear umbrella, just like the other countries of the socialist camp were given, Savranskaya said.

Khrushchev shows deep commitment to the Cuban revolution but tries to guide the young revolutionaries in a more moderate direction as not to create a violent crisis, she adds. This position, not taking the U.S. threat to Cuba seriously, might affect his thinking in 1961 after the Bay of Pigs invasion, when USSR did not do anything to protect Cuba, and his decision to supply the missiles in 1962.

Fresh details about Cuban handlers of convicted spy Ana Belen Montes revealed in new book

Notably, the conversation reveals new evidence contradicting a mainstream position among academics and historians, who have argued that U.S. sanctions against Castros government were the main driver that pushed Castro towards communism and the Soviet Union.

In that Moscow meeting  and despite public assurances to the contrary  Raul Castro told the Soviet leader that support for communism was growing on the island and that militants were securing key posts in government.

The Cuban people have now realized what immense assistance the Soviet Union is providing to Cuba, and your role in it is exceptionally great, Castro told Khrushchev, according to the transcript.

There are many Communists in Cuba now, and some of them occupy high state command positions, even though they do not have an official party card, he added. It is done this way in order not to give foreign imperialists an extra excuse to say that Communists captured Cuba in their hands.

Khrushchevs response suggests that Soviet leaders were aware of the convenience of publicly blaming the United States for the warming relationship.

So, like we say, that the U.S. actions are pushing Cuba toward the road of Communism, he replied.

By July 1960, several people who had been prominent members of the Castro guerrilla movement in the 1950s that toppled the government of Fulgencio Batista had gone into exile or were in prison for opposing what they believed was the increasing influence of Communists and Cubas Popular Socialist Party on the revolution. Castro himself had publicly rejected communism, and the ideology was unpopular in Cuba at the time. But the head of the PSPs propaganda office, Luis Mas Martin, who was also present during the Moscow meeting, told Soviet officials otherwise.

All these years, the American propagandists were spreading false fabrications about the horrors of communism; now they are accusing the Cuban government of communism, Mas Martin told Khrushchev. However, the Cuban people, watching the measures undertaken by this government, are saying: If all this is communism, one cannot even wish for better. 

Mas Martins presence in such sensitive negotiations seems to confirm much of what former members of Fidel Castros inner circle, like Huber Matos, and foreign diplomats in Cuba were saying at the time: that the Cuban revolution was increasingly under the influence of communism.

We do not want war

During the meeting, Raul Castro anxiously repeated his brothers request for clarification about how far the Soviet Union would go in defending Cuba from U.S. military aggression, insisting that the ruling circles of the United States are aggressive. At the time, the U.S. government was launching covert operations to support Cuban armed opposition groups inside the island and Cuban exile groups trying to overthrow Castro.

Drugs, spying and terrorism: CIA files offer insight on life of Luis Posada Carriles

But Khrushchev cautioned Castro against escalating a confrontation with the U.S.

When you, our Cuban comrades, ask us, what further steps the USSR might take, we want to tell you: Do not be impatient to get an exact answer from us; there is no need for that, he said. We will try to do everything to not allow intervention against Cuba. But we do not want war. However, one has to keep in mind that one could unleash a big war defending Cuba. But one can also defend Cuba and not allow war to erupt.

Khrushchev assured Castro that the Soviets had information suggesting the U.S. was apprehensive about launching an invasion of Cuba.

The most acute moment of the recent events was when the Soviet Union stated that our missiles would reach those who try to launch an intervention against Cuba, Khrushchev said. In this connection, the USA stated that they did not plan to launch an intervention. This is a big victory for you and for us.

Khrushchev said he believed the United States does not want war either, but also passed a warning to Havana.

We warned the United States seriously so that they would not even think about an intervention against Cuba, he said. But you, the leadership of the Cuban Republic, should also restrain yourself so that you do not let yourself be provoked. By our statement, we, so to speak, hung heavy weights on the USA, but in a way, we also did it to you. We are counting on you not to let us down.

Actions taken by Fidel Castro shortly after the meeting show he did not heed Khrushchevs advice.

Nationalization of U.S. property

Raul Castro said that one of the stated purposes of his trip was to probe the Soviet leadership about their views on future steps the Cuban government could take, since the Soviet Union was the leader of the international revolutionary movement and the bastion of peace in the world.

In particular, Castro floated the idea of nationalizing all American companies.

In connection with the U.S. threats to cut the Cuban sugar quota, the prime minister of Cuba warned the American ruling circles that the Cuban government would confiscate all American property, Castro told the Soviet leader. The United States has already refused to purchase 700,000 tons of our sugar, but we still have not taken the retaliatory measures mentioned above in practice so far. We are not doing it because we do not know how the Soviet comrades would react to it. We would like to know your opinion on all the issues relating to our actions.

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Once again, Khrushchev reiterated the message that the United States was not likely to intervene in Cuba, implying that the confiscation of U.S. assets was not advisable at that point.

The policy of the Cuban government is revolutionary, correct and flexible. We believe, for example, that the Cuban government did the right thing by giving full authority to the president and the prime minister of the republic to nationalize American property in response to cuts in the sugar quotas, but it is also right that you have not done it in practice, he said.

Apparently going against his Soviet allys call for restraint, three weeks after the Moscow meeting, on Aug. 6, Fidel Castros government passed a law nationalizing all U.S. companies on the island. The U.S. response: a comprehensive economic embargo on Cuba, key parts of which remain in place 62 years later.

Why Castro chose confrontation may have something to do with another promise Khrushchev made during the meeting with Raul Castro.

This blockade is doomed to fail

At the beginning of the conversation, Khrushchev offered Fidel Castro full support to ensure the regimes survival even if the country was completely cut off from the U.S. economic orbit.

The government of the Soviet Union is ready to take responsibility for supplies of oil and other goods in the amounts that would fully satisfy Cuban needs in exchange for Cuban products, he told Raul Castro.

Khrushchev boasted that the socialist bloc could compete economically with the West, and that Cuba could easily replace its trade with the United States by dealing with socialist countries.

Early on, Soviet and Cuban leaders referred to the sugar quota cut as an economic blockade. Khrushchev told the Cuban delegation he was confident that nothing will come out of the economic blockade.

In our opinion, if the United States limits its actions to just the economic blockade, then, provided that the Cuban revolution is supported by the masses, this blockade is doomed to fail, he said. Under modern conditions, an economic blockade is just baby steps. One can say that the United States is just as stupid as it is rich.

Castro intervened: The economic blockade could even lead to the strengthening of the Cuban economy.

Sixty-two years later, both the Cuban regime and the U.S. embargo remain in place. Cubas socialist economy is in tatters. The United States is again on a confrontation path with Russian leaders. And Raul Castro, who formally retired in 2018, is still the ultimate ruler of Cuba.
Then-L.A. City Councilmember Nury Martinez, with colleague Gil Cedillo, left, and then-council President Herb Wesson, addresses a crowd at a 2019 immigrant rights rally. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

In simple terms, the scandal that has sent Los Angeles politics into a tailspin began with a surreptitiously recorded private meeting last year involving three City Council members during which crude, racist comments were made.

But the back story for what one political observer calls this foreseeable catastrophe is more than a century old, dating to a time when local officials were deciding how they wanted to govern.

Inspired by a progressive movement sweeping across California, they chose a structure that has for the most part survived challenges and tweaks over the years, maintaining a council that is relatively small and unusually strong.

It breeds a certain kind of arrogance, said Jim Newton, a public policy lecturer at UCLA and editor of the political magazine Blueprint. What I heard on that tape, it was just unbridled arrogance.

Now, as support grows for changes that would expand the number of council seats and create independent commissions to further dilute each members individual power, the city might have to look back for clues on how to move forward.

Its human nature  until things get to a crisis stage, its hard to get the energy together to do much about it, said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State L.A. Now I think there is going to be a pretty open discussion.

At issue is an October 2021 meeting at which then-Council President Nury Martinez, along with members Gil Cedillo and Kevin de Leon, sat down with labor leader Ron Herrera to strategize over redrawing council district boundaries to enhance Latino political power. The discussion included derogatory remarks about Black, Jewish, Armenian, Indigenous and gay people.

When the recording went public, Herrera quickly stepped down as president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. Martinez followed with her resignation; Cedillo and De Leon face growing pressure to do likewise.

The incident has sparked conversation about creating an independent redistricting commission to avoid the kind of backroom negotiations and gerrymandering at the heart of the furor. Other proposed changes would establish stricter ethics oversight and enlarge the council to as many as triple its current 15 seats.

Perhaps lost amid pondering what comes next is a reckoning about what happened before.

Los Angeles governance style was born of that statewide progressive movement in the years prior to World War I. Wary of big-city bosses who dominated politics in other parts of the country, officials created a structure that divided authority between the mayor, the council and civil servants.

The mayor had limited influence over council members; importantly, he needed their approval to fire most city department heads.

Beginning in the 1970s, former Mayor Tom Bradley found a way to operate in this weak mayor system by wielding the power of the budget and forging consensus with a council that largely shared his liberal views. Others havent been as successful.

The use of weak sometimes becomes an excuse for someone who isnt a good mayor and cant work with people to get things done, Sonenshein said. But there are times when we have to rethink the councils role.

Former Mayor Richard Riordan challenged the status quo in the late 1990s, looking to make municipal government operate more efficiently, like a private-sector corporation run by a chief executive.

Voters approved much of his vision with charter reform in 1999, giving the mayor greater authority to fire general managers and city commissioners. Council members lost some of their influence over those city commissions and saw their clout further diffused by the creation of neighborhood councils.

But a long-standing tradition remained intact as members continued to govern their districts with little interference from colleagues. This deference has always given the council what experts characterize as a large degree of autonomy.

Members have also retained the right to redraw districts every 10 years to reflect the latest federal census. Limited restrictions and oversight do not necessarily keep this process from succumbing to political considerations.

Incumbents can seek to group communities that will garner them and their allies the most votes, which can involve issues of race. They can conspire to maintain control over politically valuable assets such as parks, airports and major businesses.

Martinez, Cedillo, De Leon and Herrera were plotting just such maneuvers during their recorded conversation.

Plenty of council members havent succumbed to that, said Newton, who previously covered politics for The Times. But it is a temptation.

In addition to redistricting, the 1999 charter reform missed on another critical issue: council size.

Each of the 15 districts effectively represents more than 250,000 residents, a larger ratio than exists for many state legislatures. New York City, by comparison, has 51 districts. Charter reform leaders devised two potential expansions  to 21 and 25 seats  but worried about voter approval. They split the expansions into separate measures, both of which were defeated.

When you ask [voters] if they want more politicians, they say no, said Fernando Guerra, a professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University. And every time you talk about expanding the council, the council members are against it. They are the ones who say, You dont want more people like us.

Guerra suspects the traditional L.A. structure needs an autonomous ethics commission with its own investigative staff. He says: At the end of the day, no matter what the rules are, just like water will always find the lowest level, politicians will always find the lowest level. We have to rebuild norms.

If history is any guide, none of the changes now being discussed figure to be easy or neat, not in a city as sprawling and diverse as Los Angeles. But experts insist that doing nothing would be worse.

There are moments when the public is willing to listen, to be engaged in the process, Newton said. This could be one of those moments.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Videos of San Francisco Mayor London Breed's comments at a live event, in which she pushed back against claims of racial profiling by police, drew condemnation from the city's Latino community. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

San Francisco Mayor London Breed issued an apology Thursday for comments she made that linked Honduran immigrants to drug dealing in the city, which drew condemnation from Bay Area Latino organizations and community members.

In clips from the hourlong interview at an Oct. 5 live event with public radio station KQED-FM that began to circulate on social media this week, Breed said a large number of those arrested for dealing fentanyl are Honduran.

"There are unfortunately a lot of people who come from a particular country  come from Honduras  and a lot of the people who are dealing drugs happen to be of that ethnicity," she said, pushing back against criticism that law enforcement was racially profiling Latinos in the Tenderloin neighborhood.

"It's nothing 'racial profile' about this," Breed said. "We all know it. It's the reality, it's what you see, it's what's out there."

In her written apology, Breed said that while trying to explain the situation in the Tenderloin, she "failed to accurately and comprehensively discuss what is an incredibly complex situation in our City and in Central America."

"We do have significant challenges with drug dealing in the Tenderloin, and those challenges are impacting families that live there, including immigrant Latino families and residents who are living in fear," Breed said. "As a proud Sanctuary City, we have an obligation to provide a safe space for our immigrant families to live and thrive. That includes ending open-air drug markets and hold drug dealers, regardless of ethnicity, accountable."

During the KQED event, Breed was asked about how officials would address drug use and the estimated 1,700 overdose deaths in the city since 2020.

The videos circulated as Latino leaders and community members were still dealing with the shock of Los Angeles city leaders' racist comments toward Black and Indigenous people, which were brought to light in leaked recordings a week earlier.

"The comments in L.A. hurt people in the Bay Area, also," said Lariza Dugan-Cuadra, executive director of San Francisco nonprofit Central American Resource Center of Northern California. "And then to have this thing resurface with the mayor, it kind of added insult to injury with how our community is feeling in California overall."

Dugan-Cuadra was among the Latino leaders who sat down with Breed this week to push for an apology and to convey the community's disappointment and hurt.

She was concerned that Breed's comments fed the xenophobic narrative of viewing immigrant communities as criminals, drawing parallels to former President Trump's rhetoric. Dugan-Cuadra instead asked Breed to focus on solutions and preventive measures that address drug dealing and root causes of migration to the U.S.  such as poverty  rather than ramp up criminal law enforcement.

Breed said last month that she would be "less tolerant of all the bulls that has destroyed our city." She and Dist. Atty. Brooke Jenkins, Breed's pick to succeed Chesa Boudin after he was recalled, have committed to a more aggressive approach of policing and prosecuting drug dealing and property crimes.

"I think any young person with migratory status whose only option to survive is existing in an underground economy is a reflection of our society," Dugan-Cuadra said. "Young people should have more opportunities to fulfill their dreams, and shouldn't be excluded and criminalized."

Dugan-Cuadra also invited Breed to visit Honduras and Central America, so she can better understand the violent, impoverished conditions Hondurans and others are fleeing from. She said the mayor has been responsive and receptive.

Breed's apology also included a pledge to support Dugan-Cuadra's organization, CARECEN SF, which is opening a larger office near the Tenderloin. The nonprofit provides resources for Latino and immigrant families, including legal aid and representation in immigration and criminal courts.

"We are also a City that believes in second chances and giving people opportunities," Breed said in her apology.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
About 500 students walked out during a break at John Marshall High School in Los Feliz Thursday, demanding improved security measures after the on-campus stabbing a day earlier of two students.

Several Marshall students who walked out said school administrators need to do a better job protecting them. They suggested a range of safety measures that could be taken, including more accessible mental health counseling, a stronger security presence and possibly even random searches for weapons and drugs  although they said such actions are not supported by all on campus.

The students said the stabbings came after another on-campus student assault in a classroom on Monday, raising their fears about campus safety.

School district officials would not respond to queries about the Monday incident but said that security measures have been increased at the school and a mental health team had been dispatched to the campus.

A 15-year-old, 10th-grade student said she witnessed one of the two stabbings, which took place on school grounds in an area with basketball courts and classroom bungalows. Four angry students appeared to jump another student and one of the attackers stabbed the student, she said. The student was stabbed in the midsection.

Several students said the other stabbing took place nearby, involving other students, and resulted in a less-serious injury.

District officials declined to discuss details of the stabbings. School police have confirmed that an altercation took place on campus Wednesday at about 3:30 p.m., resulting in two students being stabbed and then briefly hospitalized.A person of interest was detained and released.

The situation at Marshall is the latest to unfold involving school security issues as concern over campus safety has spiked in Los Angeles Unified and nationwide since the mass shooting in May at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Recent incidents in L.A. that have elevated worries include a Sept. 22 stabbing across the street from Grant High School in which one student attacked another. In June, a Grant High student had been injured by gunfire around dismissal at the perimeter of the school and was hospitalized.

Last month, a 15-year-old girl died of a drug overdose in a bathroom at Bernstein High in Hollywood. The student had obtained a fentanyl-laced pill from another student on campus. Two high school boys who attended a different school on the campus were arrested, including a 15-year-old who allegedly sold the pill to the girl.

Marshall High is renowned for a Gothic-style main building and a rich academic tradition that includes two national academic decathlon championships. The school has a rigorous gifted and high ability magnet and also touts programs in health sciences and sports medicine and environment studies. Principal Gary Garcia is among the district's most experienced administrators. The school,with 2,000 students, is located in a leafy and hilly Los Feliz neighborhood and has a diverse, Latino-majority student body.

A few students suggested metal detectors to keep out guns and knives but acknowledged that metal detectors at the entrance might make the campus less appealing to prospective families.

Students who walked out Thursday said their sense of security on campus has been jolted  and in a debate that mirrors the community at large, they had a range of opinions about what to do. They all agreed more mental health support is needed.

Some students said a stronger law enforcement presence might be necessary.

Periodic random searches would be an invasion of privacy, said 10th-grader Gabrielle Ghazarian, but could "make sure that everyone is safe and everyone is not bringing things that are a danger to themselves or other people to school."

Her classmate Marina Wells disagreed, saying she opposes returning to the previous practice of stationing a police officer on campus.

"I don't think we would need a school police officer if the administration was taking more care of the students' mental health and just figuring out what's going on with the students," she said.

Vivienne Moncure-Leen, a 10th-grader, said the school needed better communication and more transparency on what is going on.

In a message Thursday to parents, Principal Garcia listed measures taken in response to the stabbing, including increased supervision,more mental health counseling and a law enforcement presence.

"Our supervision staff is conducting hourly perimeter gate and fence checks," Garcia said in the message.

Even though an armed police officer is no longer permanently stationed on campus, unarmed security aides are part of the regular staff. Several students said there are two such security aides  not enough, they said, to properly supervise the sprawling campus of 2,000 students.

Garcia said temporary measures include "increased patrols by the Los Angeles School Police Department, especially during morning and afternoon safe passage times." Two school policeofficers had been assigned to the campus for the remainder of this week.

There also is "increased supervision" between class periods and "social psychiatric workers are on site to assist staff and students with their mental/emotional needs."

Garcia did not respond to an email request to comment.

Students said they reacted more strongly to the stabbing because of a Monday incident in a 10th-grade classroom.

Two students in the class said they witnessed a student launch an unprovoked attack against another student, hitting the victim in the back of the head with a weighted tape dispenser, which shattered, then continuing to hit him with a mason jar, which cracked.

The alleged attacker ran out of class, but eventually went to his next class, from which a school administrator pulled him shortly before the end of the period, according to a student in that class.

In the meantime, the school had gone on lockdown, students said. After the alleged attacker was removed from class, the lockdown was lifted and announced as a "false alarm," students said.

One parent said she was alarmed when the alleged attacker was allowed to attend school the next day.

"I understand that things happen. It's how they dealt with it afterwards," said Claire Flewin. "This wasn't two kids roughhousing on the playground. It was an assault."

"That isn't fair for the kids in that class to have to be put straight back the next day into class with a kid that assaulted another kid," Flewin said.

Marshall students said they were familiar with the fentanyl-related death at Bernstein and said their school  which they praised in other respects  also has a drug problem. Drugs are available on campus and students are taking them on campus, they said.

Los Angeles schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho is preparing to bring forward a districtwide school safety plan that will include his vision for the use of police and other security measures. He's also pledged to make public information about drug use campus by campus.

A coalition of groups, including Students Deserve, United Teachers Los Angeles and the ACLU of Southern California, sent a letter last month to Carvalho and the school board opposing calls to increase school police.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A transgender woman who was deported from the U.S. in July was fatally shot in her native Honduras this week, according to local reports.

Melissa Nunez, 42, was killed Tuesday night in Moroceli, a municipality in eastern Honduras located about 40 miles east of the capital Tegucigalpa.

She was shot by a group of hooded individuals as she was leaving home, according to Reporter Sin Medo, a local media nonprofit that focuses on issues affecting minorities.

Nunez, a popular TikTok user with more than 20,000 followers, was living in Honduras at the time. She previously lived in Miami, Fla.

Shed traveled home in December 2021, but when she returned to Miami, in July 2022, she was deported back to Honduras. Thats according to Indyra Mendoza, general coordinator of Cattrachas, a Tegucigalpa-based lesbian feminist organization.

Nunezs death marked the 34th killing of a member of the LGBTQ community in the Central American nation of 9.9 million people so far this year, Cattrachas said.

At least 434 LGBTQ individuals have been killed in the country since 2009. Of those, 131 were transgender people, according to the organization.

According to Mendoza, initial investigations indicate that Nunez was killed by two shots to the head.

Nunez was described by a friend in a Facebook post as a very talented woman who was so full of life and energy that nothing was complicated for her.

There are no words to describe the sadness of seeing you leave this world so soon, another friend wrote, calling her a great woman, a great friend, a tremendous partner in the fight, an excellent human being with a great capacity to love both family and neighbor.
Ukraine appears poised to deliver another crucial blow to Russian President Vladimir Putins war effort with a counteroffensive to take back Kherson, which was the first major Ukrainian city seized by Russia after its invasion in February.

Ukraine has blacked out all media on its operations around the southern city this week, as it did ahead of a successful counteroffensive in the northeast last month. Experts studying the war said all signs point to a major offensive in the coming days, with Russia already signaling its potential retreat.

Ukrainian victory in Kherson, which is the only regional capital that has been captured by Russian forces, could set the direction of the rest of the war, said John Spencer, chairman of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point.

Strategically, operationally and tactically, itll send a signal that Russia cant hold ground in Ukraine, and the path to victory for Ukraine is pretty much assured. The timelines still in question, but the path to victory is pretty assured, he said.

Russia has sent nearly 30,000 troops to Kherson in an attempt to reinforce its positions; however, Ukraine has reportedly reclaimed dozens of settlements in the region and has been increasing its air strikes on Russian defense systems, suggesting a combined ground and air assault coming soon, Spencer said.

With no information coming from the Ukrainian side, war observers have been left interpreting radar and signals from the Kremlin, which appears to be shaping the information space to prepare the Russian population for military defeat in Kherson, said George Barros, a Russia and Ukraine analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.

Gen. Sergey Surovikin, the newly installed commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, this week said difficult decisions may be necessary in Kherson, adding: We will be guided by the need to preserve the lives of the civilian population and our military personnel as much as possible.

Barros said that does not mean Russia will give up the city without a fight, but rather that it is preparing for possible defeat, after its losses in Kharkiv last month seemed to stun many pundits and the Russian public.

The U.K.s Defense Ministry said Thursday that Surovikins announcement likely indicates that the Russian authorities are seriously considering a major withdrawal of their forces from the area west of the Dnipro river.

And American officials told The New York Times that sustained Ukrainian pressure in the coming weeks could break Russian units and clear the way to seizing Kherson.

Putin also announced martial law in annexed regions of Ukraine this week, creating a veneer of legal legitimacy for efforts by occupying officials to evacuate Kherson. Those officials said Thursday that 15,000 Ukrainians had already been evacuated, with plans to send some 60,000 people to Russia in the coming days.

Even a withdrawal of Russias 30,000 troops would not be easy. Ukraine has largely destroyed the main bridges crossing the Dnieper River around Kherson, leaving Russians only a pontoon bridge and an earthen crossing at the key Kakhovka dam to move forces and equipment across the river.

Branislav Slantchev, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, said Ukraine appears to be allowing Russian troops to leave, either to avoid casualties or because Ukrainian commanders are not confident they can take on the current Russian forces.

Russian officials have also been warning locals that Ukraine is planning to blow up the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant, which Slantchev and others see as laying the groundwork for a false flag operation, in which Russia will destroy the dam after retreating across it, flooding densely populated areas along the riverbank in a foot or more of water.

And then theyre going to start shelling this entire area from the other bank, Slantchev said of Russian forces. Thats a bit of a problem because they actually can reach it  and it will not be easy for Ukrainians to push them out until they figure out a way to cross the river themselves.

However, Ukrainian victory in Kherson is not a fait accompli. Russian officials have said they are not giving up the city, but merely moving out civilians ahead of the battle to come.

It should be remembered that if the Kremlin decides to defend Kherson and turn it into a fortress, the Ukrainian forces may give up their capture for fear of suffering heavy losses during the fighting in the city, said Piotr Zochowski, a senior fellow at the Warsaw-based OSW Centre for Eastern Studies.

Zochowski added that Kherson remains of great military importance to Russia, and losing it would jeopardize a crucial land connection between occupied Crimea and Russia.

Barros called the north bank of the Dnieper extremely strategically important territory, and said Ukraine failing to oust Russian troops could allow them to continue ground operations in right bank Ukraine, which includes the crucial port city of Odessa, a little more than 200 km (124 miles) away from Kherson.

Russias military victories so far have been contained in the east of the country, where it has now annexed four occupied regions including Kherson, though Russian missiles have hit targets across the country.

Kherson is not the only battle raging in Ukraine ahead of the winter. Fighting continues in towns in the northeast, where Ukraine surprised the world with its rout of Russian forces last month.

And Russia is also waging a furious assault on Bakhmut, an eastern city in the Donetsk, where the private Wagner forces are said to be making some gains with pounding artillery attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the weekend called the fighting in Bakhmut the most difficult in the country.

If Ukraine loses Bakhmut, it could allow Russia to advance to other key cities in Donetsk, which is among the regions annexed by Moscow.

Zochowski said the Russian Ministry of Defense has told forces to capture Bakhmut by the end of October, which would deliver a win that could help offset a loss in Kherson.

Slantchev said Russian control of Bakhmut would threaten all of the territories in the north that Ukraine has recently liberated.

With this kind of war there is always back and forth, he said. People always want to say so now theres momentum and now its going to end this way. But it never quite works out that way.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Future riders of Californias planned high-speed rail system wont be boarding the trains until the end of this decade. But planning is already underway for the first passenger stations for the initial operating route through the San Joaquin Valley.

The California High-Speed Rail Authoritys board unanimously awarded a $35.3 million, 30-month contract for preliminary site planning and design for stations in Fresno, Merced, Hanford and Bakersfield.

The contract, awarded Thursday at the boards meeting in Sacramento went to a joint venture comprised of two London-based multinational companies: Foster + Partners, an architectural firm, and engineering consulting firm Arup. It calls for the team to analyze the sites, acquire the needed property, and develop preliminary designs and configurations for the stations.

The first four Central Valley high-speed rail stations are one step closer to reality, said Tom Richards, a Fresno developer who is chairperson of the rail authoritys board. High-speed rail stations will transform cities, spur economic development and create community hubs within the heart of our state.

The station locations in the Valley are:

Fresno: Adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks on a site bounded by Fresno, Tulare, G and H streets in the downtown district.

Merced: Along the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, either between G Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way or a few blocks to the northwest near R Street.

Bakersfield: North of downtown at a site bounded by Highway 204, the Union Pacific freight tracks, Chester Avenue and the Kern River.

Hanford: East of the city, north of Lacey Boulevard and Highway 198, east of Highway 43.

There is an option for the authority to have the same Foster/Arup team develop final construction-ready plans and support construction and commissioning of the stations for initial passenger operations. That second phase of design is estimated at about $36 million.

The combined price tag of about $71 million for both the preliminary and final designs does not include construction of the stations, which will be built in stages. The first stage of each site will be scaled to serve the initial operating segment between Bakersfield and Merced.

A second stage for the stations will be designed to handle operations for a built-out system that is ultimately planned to connect the Bay Area and the Los Angeles Basin with trains moving at up to 220 mph.

The 171-mile stretch between Bakersfield and Merced is planned to be the first operational segment for high-speed trains. The latest estimates of construction costs for the Valley route between Merced and Bakersfield range from $22.5 billion to $23.9 billion.

For a full San Francisco-Los Angeles/Anaheim system, the rail agency estimated earlier this year that the costs could range from a low of $72.3 billion to as much as $105.1 billion. Much of that wide variation stems from the uncertainty of how much it would cost to tunnel through mountain ranges, as well as the price of property that would be needed before construction could begin.

Role of stations

Margaret Cederoth, director of planning and sustainability for the rail agency, said engineers have already identified early design concepts for the stations. This contract will take those concept designs and take them to a configured footprint, Cederoth told the board. Thirty months should get us through to configured footprints by 2025.

A station in Madera is also under development under a separate process led by the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority, the agency that oversees Amtrak operations in the San Joaquin Valley.

The selection of the Foster/Arup team and award of a contract is the culmination of a process that began earlier this year, when the California High-Speed Rail Authority solicited proposals from firms interested in competing for the design contract.

The Foster/Arup team was the highest-rated of two firms that responded to the solicitation.

Stations are so important going forward for the economic development of the areas, said Lynn Schenk, an authority board member from San Diego. Schenk said she hopes the board members will have a chance to see the designs as they are developed and perhaps offer their thoughts on how a station can fit into each of the communities.

Earlier this year, Cederoth acknowledged the importance of creating stations that serve as more than just a place where people can board or disembark from the bullet trains. While rail operations arent expected until the end of the decade, other parts of the station complex could be built independently and put to use, Cederoth said in April, when the agency began the process of seeking proposals from design firms.

At that time, Cederoth added that the public will be able to weigh in with what they would like to see in station complexes in each of the communities, both before and after rail operations begin.

In Fresno weve started work on some things that we hope to have in place in 2025. We refer to it as placemaking or early site activation, she said. We recognize how important it is for people to think about going to that spot.  Theres a portion of our station site thats adjacent to the surrounding development that we can move into things with that, in advance of rail service.

In Spain, for example, high-speed train stations in major cities such as Madrid and Barcelona are also hubs for retailers and restaurants amid the downtown areas where they are located.

The idea, Cederoth said, is to get people used to thinking that the train station site will definitely be a place to go to even if youre not taking the train.
As Yesenia Cruz-Bejarano emerged from the Moose Lodge, an early voting location in South Phoenix, tears streamed down her face even as she smiled brightly with joy.

"I've been here for so long, you know, more than half of my life. So, I feel so proud," said Cruz-Bejarano, who had just cast her first ballot as a newly-naturalized U.S. citizen. "I'm happy that I can make a difference, you know, with my vote."

PHOTO: Yesenia Cruz-Bejarano of Phoenix, Ariz., is one of 64,000 new American voters in Arizona since 2016. She cast her first ballot as a U.S. citizen in the 2022 midterm election. (Abc News)

The married mother of three from Mexico, who works full-time at a local children's shelter, is among a highly diverse wave of new American voters that could play a critical role in one of the hottest political battlegrounds of the midterm elections.

More than 64,000 immigrants gained citizenship in Arizona since 2016, according to a report last month by a coalition of immigrant, labor and voting rights groups in partnership with researchers at the University of California, San Diego.

PHOTO: In this Nov. 3, 2020, file photo, voters deliver their ballot to a polling station in Tempe, Ariz. (Matt York/AP, FILE)

"Arizona is at the top of the list of states for newly-naturalized voters," said Nicole Melaku, executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that sponsored the report. "We know that they will play an outsized role in determining the fate of the U.S. Senate and, of course, their state legislative body."

Melaku points out the 2020 presidential election in Arizona was decided by just over 10,000 votes. The voting bloc of newly-naturalized citizens is more than six times that margin.

PHOTO: Eduardo Sainz of Phoenix, Ariz., holds up his completed mail-in ballot before delivering it in-person at an early voting location. The 2022 midterms are the first general election for Sainz since he received U.S. citizenship. (ABC News)

"In order to have a better future, we need to show up and vote and elect those that represent our values," said Eduardo Sainz, a father of three who recently became a naturalized citizen after waiting 16 years in line. "We have to take out racist politicians out of office."

Arizona's population of naturalized American voters is a racially and ethnically diverse mix of immigrants from all over the world. More than half immigrated from Latin America and a third came from Asia, according to the report. Both groups of new citizens have a historically high rate of voter participation.

PHOTO: Petra Falcon, executive director of Promise Arizona, a nonpartisan immigrant advocacy group, says a wave of newly-naturalized citizens could be a key voting bloc in the 2022 midterm election. (ABC News)

"They're important because they've come to this country to be part of the American dream. They've come here to be part of the fabric of our country," said Petra Falcon, executive director of Promise Arizona, a nonpartisan immigrant advocacy group.

The issues most important to them mirror those of the U.S. electorate more broadly, Falcon said, sharing concerns about the economy, health care, education, immigration, and abortion rights.

"No voting bloc is a monolith, but they are most certainly not all Democrats," said Melaku, "and they're certainly people who need to be engaged, courted to really fully understand the issues at stake."

PHOTO: Tuach Ruon, a father of 5 and overnight warehouse worker in Phoenix, Ariz., recently became an American citizen as a refugee from South Sudan. He cast his first vote in the 2022 midterm election. (ABC News)

Tuach Ruon, a father of 5, and Tema Patrick, father of 6, became U.S. citizens earlier this year as refugees from north and central Africa. Both now have union jobs working the overnight shift at a distribution warehouse -- and both said health care is a top issue.

"In my native Congo, I never vote," said Patrick, 45, who explained in broken English that he had never been able to cast a ballot. "This is my first time. I'm very happy."

"It is important for us to vote to show that we are American," added Ruon, "and to show that the people who we are voting for are doing the job that we are expecting them to do."

PHOTO: Tema Patrick, 45, of Phoenix, Ariz., is a newly-naturalized American citizen from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The father of 6 cast his first ballot in the 2022 midterm election. (ABC News)

Researchers say the newest Arizona voters are disproportionately young and female: More than half are under the age of 45 and nearly 6-in-10 are women.

"Self autonomy is a very big thing, specifically to women, non-binary individuals, anyone," said Arisbeth Valenzuela, who became a U.S. citizen in 2019 and is now a grassroots organizer with Mi Familia Vota, a civic engagement group.

"There's been a lot of women that have the same concerns that I do, and a lot of them are now getting much more invested in politics," she said.

PHOTO: Arisbeth Valenzuela, a community organizer with Mi Familia Vota, a nonpartisan civic engagement group in Phoenix, Ariz., says women who are newly-naturalized citizens are particularly engaged in politics in 2022. (ABC News)

Overall, Arizona is home to nearly half a million naturalized citizens that comprise more than 6% of the state's total population. Nearly one-fifth of those immigrants joined the voter rolls since 2016.

"We have a diversity of new people that are changing the electorate of Arizona," said Arizona State University political scientist Irasema Coronado.

"The fact that we have two Democratic senators is a change. The fact that we have progressive members of the city council is a change. And so, you have a variety of people with new experiences and more progressive politics," she said.

PHOTO: Irasema Coronado, director and professor of the School of Transborder Studies at Arizona State University, says rapid demographic changes have made Arizona's red Republican politics more purple in recent years. (ABC News)

Their political power may depend in part on the ability to navigate state new voting restrictions, advocates said.

"That really could have a negative impact for voter behaviors, but we're actually feeling quite hopeful that this year," said Melaku, whose group is spearheading outreach to newly-minted American citizens.

"This is a powerful, rising voting bloc of people who are most likely bilingual, multicultural, come from, you know, diverse families and, of course, who care about a lot of issues," she said.

PHOTO: Yesenia Cruz-Bejarano of Phoenix, Ariz., embraces her daughters after casting her first vote as a U.S. citizen. (ABC News)

Cruz-Bejarano said the responsibility and excitement of being a new voter instills a natural sense of engagement.

"There's so many people becoming American citizens," she said. "I have a lot of friends, you know, they are doing it right now. It's -- I think it's really going to make the difference."

Wave of new Americans could play key role in Arizona midterm election originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Only 10% of women in Northern Ireland know how to access abortion services, a survey has found.

The poll also revealed that three years after abortion was decriminalised in the region, only 47% of adults realise it is lawful.

The survey, conducted by Opinium on behalf of Amnesty International UK, surveyed more than 1,000 adults over the age of 18 in Northern Ireland.

It finds that 87% say the public are often unaware of the circumstances that abortion is permitted and how to access it, and that fewer than half (46%) of women would be comfortable speaking to their GP about accessing abortion.

It also reveals that 60% of adults think the Government should be doing more to make abortion services available and accessible across Northern Ireland.

Bronagh Waugh is among celebrities to have called for abortion services to be commissioned (PA)

Abortion legislation in Northern Ireland was liberalised in 2019 following laws passed by Westminster at a time when the powersharing government at Stormont had collapsed.

However, while individual health trusts offer services on an ad hoc basis, the Department of Health has yet to centrally commission the services due to a political impasse at Stormont on the issue.

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis had given the administration a March 31 deadline to commission the services.

In May, with that date having passed and the Executive currently not functioning, Mr Lewis moved to introduce regulations at Westminster to break the logjam.

The regulations laid at Parliament were designed to remove the need for the Department of Health to seek the approval of the wider Stormont Executive to commission the services.

Celebrities including Bronagh Waugh, Olivia Colman, Vick Hope and Juliet Stevenson have joined medical bodies, service providers and human rights organisations signing an open letter to the Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris to urgently set up commissioned services.

The letter warns that the continued delay in establishing abortion services is unacceptable and causing harm every day.

It states that at a time when we are seeing deeply concerning rollbacks on reproductive rights in other countries like the US, we cannot forget that people in the UK are being denied their rights too.

Grainne Teggart, Amnesty International UKs Northern Ireland deputy director, said that while shocking, the poll results are not completely surprising.

The Government has been dragging its heels on getting abortion services up and running for three years. No wonder people are left confused and unaware of their rights, she said.

Half the population doesnt realise abortion is now lawful and worryingly few know how to access services  this is a huge failure by the Government, and their delays are having a harmful impact on those in need of this healthcare on a daily basis.

The law is meaningless if people dont have access to abortion in practice. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland must set up abortion services and launch an information campaign without delay.
A Renaissance masterpiece by Italian painter Titian is expected to fetch up to 12 million when it goes under the hammer in December.

One of the finest versions of the artists work, Venus and Adonis, was unveiled on Friday morning in London, and will feature in a sale at Sothebys auction house on December 7.

The painting is considered among the most highly-prized of Titians works, with renditions starring in the collections of the worlds most illustrious public institutions today.

(Belinda Jiao/PA)

It was first popularised as one of a cycle of paintings he created for one of the most powerful men in the world at the time, King Philip II of Spain.

The painting depicts the young Adonis pulling himself away from his lover Venus, carrying a feathered spear and the leads of his three hounds.

The god Cupid lies asleep under a nearby tree and in the sky a figure rides a chariot.

Only a dozen renditions survive today, more than half of which are held in major public collections including the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the National Gallery in London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.

(Belinda Jiao/PA)

George Gordon, co-chairman of Old Master Paintings Worldwide at Sothebys, said the sale was a once in a generation opportunity.

The subject of Venus and Adonis is justly celebrated as one of Titians most popular creations, sought out by collectors the world over ever since it was made famous by his ambitious commission for the future Philip II of Spain 470 ago, he said.

One of the very finest of Titians renditions of this subject, it is only recent research, made possible by its re-emergence last year, that has revealed the full extent of the artists hand in the execution of this painting, surely one of the finest works by Titian to appear on the market this century.

The offering of a painting of extreme rarity by one of the greats of the Renaissance is a once in a generation opportunity.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Texas has filed a lawsuit against Alphabet's Google for allegedly collecting biometric data of millions of Texans without obtaining proper consent, the attorney general's office said in a statement on Thursday.

The complaint says that companies operating in Texas have been barred for more than a decade from collecting people's faces, voices or other biometric data without advanced, informed consent.

"In blatant defiance of that law, Google has, since at least 2015, collected biometric data from innumerable Texans and used their faces and their voices to serve Googles commercial ends," the complaint said. "Indeed, all across the state, everyday Texans have become unwitting cash cows being milked by Google for profits."

The collection occurred through products like Google Photos, Google Assistant, and Nest Hub Max, the statement said.

Google said it would fight the lawsuit, saying that users of the services had the option to turn off the biometric collection feature.

"AG Paxton is once again mischaracterizing our products in another breathless lawsuit," said Google spokesman Jose Castaneda. "We will set the record straight in court."

The lawsuit is one of several filed by states against Google alleging unfair practices with regard to privacy. Arizona settled one in early October for $85 million. Texas, Indiana, Washington State and the District of Columbia sued Google in January over what they called deceptive location-tracking practices that invade users' privacy.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement that the "indiscriminate collection" of such data "will not be tolerated."

(Reporting by Diane Bartz and David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Diane Craft)
The Irish president has led tributes to the inspirational Baroness May Blood, who has died aged 84.

Politicians and trade unionists praised her community work in tackling unemployment in west Belfast, as well as promoting integrated education and striving for peace in Northern Ireland.

The Integrated Education Fund (IEF) said that it was that desire for peace that drove her to do exceptional things for so many people.

Remembering a visit the baroness paid to him in June last year, President of Ireland Michael D Higgins said she was a truly progressive force and her loss will be felt by so many.

The work she has done on the integrated education campaign, as well as her proud record of trade union activism and the bravest presentation of gender rights, have benefited all those committed to building a generation who will enjoy peace and a shared life together.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson paid tribute to the baroness as a fearless and tireless campaigner to make Northern Ireland a better and more peaceful place.

She was someone steeped in the community and focused entirely on making their lives better.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said she was a genuine servant of the people and someone who placed peace, prosperity and fairness at the heart of her politics.

She did a great deal of good in her life, was always willing to help others and her passing is a great loss to Northern Ireland.

US Senator George Mitchell with Baroness May Blood in Belfast (Paul Faith/PA)

Former UUP leader and MLA Mike Nesbitt called her a force of nature, determined to ensure her community was recognised, helped and assisted.

She was a role model as a community worker, trade unionist, activist for integrated education and promoter of the needs of the people. She was one of our finest and will be sorely missed.

May Blood grew up in a working class community in Belfast before leaving school at a young age to work in the Blackstaff Linen Mill in west of the city.

Although she enjoyed her time at the mill, she was exposed to hard working conditions which she would later work as a trade unionist to improve  fighting for shorter hours and more money for the Belfast mills mostly female workforce.

SDLP leader and MP Colum Eastwood said she would be remembered across the North, but particularly in west Belfast.

May Blood epitomised the ethos of the labour movement, starting out at the age of 14 as an ordinary worker who saw the problems and unfair treatment that existed, particularly for women, and used her skills and formidable nature to secure change.

Baroness May Blood with Jamie Dornan and Oliver Jeffers at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast before a discussion of how integrated education in Northern Ireland shaped their lives (Liam McBurney/PA)

ICTU General Secretary Owen Reidy recalled her years as a trade union activist, saying that her lifes mission was the advancement of working people, and challenging sectarianism.

May Blood learned her politics and her vocation in the vanished world of the mills of Belfast, a harsh environment of long hours and lives shortened by unsafe working conditions.

From her teenage years, she was active in the Transport and General Workers Union, challenging mill bosses on behalf of a largely female workforce for decency at work and winning more money, shorter hours and better lives.

She took risks for her neighbours, even being burned out of her home at the start of The Troubles, and later took risks for peace in supporting Labour causes, better housing, integrated education, womens rights and most of all the trade union movement.

May Blood went on to become a founder member of the Northern Ireland Womens Coalition, as well as a volunteer fundraiser for the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) in 2001, a fund she would continue to support for the next 22 years as its campaign chair.

The IEF said she helped to raise millions for the fund during that time.

She was also described as a woman whose Christian faith was important to her, and who carried these values throughout her life in her kindness and compassion.

Archbishop John McDowell said Baroness Blood was a quintessential Belfast woman who spoke directly and constructively from the depth of a kind heart.

I know that May has been an inspiration and an encouragement to many people, especially to women, and in that sense her influence lives on in the lives of others.
WASHINGTON  The White House said Thursday that Iranian troops are directly engaged on the ground in Crimea, supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraines power stations and other key infrastructure, troubling evidence of Tehrans deepening role assisting Russia as it exacts suffering on Ukrainian civilians just as the cold weather sets in.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Iran has sent a relatively small number of personnel to Crimea, a part of Ukraine unilaterally annexed by Russia in contravention of international law in 2014, to assist Russian troops in launching Iranian-made drones against Ukraine. Members of a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were dispatched to assist Russian forces in using the drones, according to the British government.

FILE - Firefighters work after a drone attack on buildings in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 17, 2022.



FILE - Firefighters work after a drone attack on buildings in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 17, 2022. (Roman Hrytsyna/)

The revelation of the U.S. intelligence finding comes as the Biden administration seeks to mount international pressure on Tehran to pull back from helping Russia as it bombards soft Ukrainian civilian targets with the help of Iranian-made drones.

The Russians, in recent days, have increasingly turned to the Iranian-supplied drones, as well as Kalibr and Iskander cruise missiles, to carry out a barrage of attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure and nonmilitary targets. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that Russian forces have destroyed 30% of Ukraines power stations since Oct. 10.

The information we have is that the Iranians have put trainers and tech support in Crimea, but its the Russians who are doing the piloting, Kirby said.

He added that the Biden administration was looking at imposing new sanctions on Tehran and would look for ways to make it harder for Iran to sell such weapons to Russia.

The U.S. first revealed this summer that Russia was purchasing Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles to launch against Ukraine. Iran has denied selling its munitions to Russia.

FILE - In this photo released by Iranian Army on Aug. 24, 2022, drones are prepared for launch during a military drone drill in Iran.



FILE - In this photo released by Iranian Army on Aug. 24, 2022, drones are prepared for launch during a military drone drill in Iran.

White House officials say that international sanctions, including export controls, have left the Russians in a bind as they try to restock ammunition and precision-guided munition stocks that have been depleted during the nearly eight-month-old war. As a result, Russia has been forced to turn to Iran as well as North Korea for weaponry.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters that military officials wouldnt be surprised if the Russians sought more drones from Iran given their situation.

U.S. officials believe that Iran may have deployed military personnel to assist the Russians in part because of the Russians lack of familiarity with the Iranian-made drones. Declassified U.S. intelligence findings showed that Russians faced technical problems with the drones soon after taking delivery of them in August.

The systems themselves were suffering failures and not performing to the standards that apparently the customers expected, Kirby said. So the Iranians decided to move in some trainers and some technical support to help the Russians use them with better lethality.

FILE - This undated photograph released by the Ukrainian military's Strategic Communications Directorate shows the wreckage of what Kyiv has described as an Iranian Shahed drone downed near Kupiansk, Ukraine.



FILE - This undated photograph released by the Ukrainian military's Strategic Communications Directorate shows the wreckage of what Kyiv has described as an Iranian Shahed drone downed near Kupiansk, Ukraine. (Ukrainian militarys Strategic Communications Directorate/)

The Biden administration released further details about Irans involvement in assisting Russias war at a sensitive moment. The administration has levied new sanctions against Iran over the brutal crackdown on antigovernment protests spurred by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in Iranian security custody.

Morality police had detained Amini last month for not properly covering her hair with the Islamic headscarf, known as the hijab, which is mandatory for Iranian women. Amini collapsed at a police station and died three days later.

Her death and the subsequent unrest have come as the administration tries to bring Iran back into compliance with the nuclear deal that was brokered by the Obama administration and scrapped by the Trump administration.

At the United Nations this week, Ukraine accused Iran of violating a Security Council ban on the transfer of drones capable of flying 180 miles. Britain, France and the U.S. strongly back Ukraines contention that the drones were transferred to Russia and violate a 2015 UN Security Council resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal between Iran and six nations  the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany  aimed at curbing Tehrans nuclear activities and preventing the country from developing a nuclear weapon.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, speaks to a soldier as he visits a military training centre of the Western Military District for mobilised reservists in Ryazan Region, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is seen back to a camera.



Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, speaks to a soldier as he visits a military training centre of the Western Military District for mobilised reservists in Ryazan Region, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is seen back to a camera. (Mikhail Klimentyev/)

Kirby said the administration has little hope for reviving the Iran nuclear deal soon.

Were not focused on the diplomacy at this point, Kirby said. What we are focused on is making sure that were holding the regime accountable for the way theyre treating peaceful protesters in their country and supporting those protesters.

The White House spoke out about Iranian assistance to Russia as Britain announced new sanctions on Iranian officials and businesses accused of supplying the drones on Thursday.

These cowardly drone strikes are an act of desperation, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement. By enabling these strikes, these individuals and a manufacturer have caused the people of Ukraine untold suffering. We will ensure that they are held to account for their actions.

Among the individuals hit with asset freezes and travel bans by the British were Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, chairman of the armed forces general staff overseeing the army branches supplying Russia with drones; Brig. Gen. Seyed Hojjatollah Qureishi, a key Iranian negotiator in the deal; and Brig. Gen. Saeed Aghajani, the head the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Aerospace Force UAV Command.

Shahed Aviation Industries, the Iranian manufacturer of the drones being used by Russia, was also hit by an asset freeze.


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YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called for eliminating existing obstacles in the internal market of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Speaking at the Eurasian Inter-governmental Council session in Yerevan, the PM said that eliminating the obstacles is for the stability of the internal market itself.

In conditions of all opportunities provided by the EEU single market the member states preserve peculiarities and demands of national legislations, and if necessary apply defensive measures for their domestic markets in response to new challenges. At the same time, on the path of ensuring the key idea and principle of integration and full implementation of the four principles of the EEU free zone we consistently and steadily move forward in the direction of eliminating obstacles, Pashinyan said, adding that eliminating obstacles in the modern realities is for the stability of the internal market. This is a continuous process and its effectiveness greatly depends on the coordinated work of member states and agencies, and readiness to find compromise solutions, the PM concluded.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Ministry of Defense denied the statement of the Azerbaijani defense ministry on opening fire.

The statement of the Azerbaijani defense ministry, according to which the units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire in the direction of Azerbaijani positions and a vehicle, is disinformation, the Armenian Defense Ministry said.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is ready for constructive dialogue based on taking into account interests of all member states of the Eurasian Economic Union and mutual understanding for regulating certain provisions of the draft treaty on forming a single gas market, which will enable member states to fully benefit from the advantages of the single gas market, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the Eurasian Inter-governmental Council session in Yerevan. Otherwise the member states wont be able to use the potential of the single gas market by the completion of the bilateral agreements. Of course this is a sensitive matter, and we all need to understand the circle of the price range for at least the mid-term, he added.

Pashinyan also highlighted the issues of reducing greenhouse gases or carbon neutrality, which he described as having entered not only the environmental but also economic and commercial agenda.

I am pleased to note the confirmation of the first package of the cooperation roadmap of EEU member states within the framework of the climate agenda. As a contribution in the global efforts for mitigating climate change consequences we are voluntarily implementing a number of measures for reducing emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement, Pashinyan added.
Xi advances head-of-state diplomacy

(China Daily) 08:30, October 21, 2022

President Xi Jinping attends and addresses the plenary session of the 25th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in virtual format upon invitation, June 17, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

President 'takes the lead', 'sets example' in promoting global peace, prosperity

As led by President Xi Jinping over the past 10 years, China's major-country diplomacy has contributed original initiatives and delivered substantive actions for global peace and prosperity, winning the country a greater network of partners worldwide, officials and scholars said.

Xi has proposed a series of new concepts, propositions and initiatives "that bear Chinese characteristics, meet international expectations and conform to the trend of history", Vice-Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said on Thursday.

Xi also "takes the lead and sets an example" in taking actions as he rolls out head-of-state diplomacy, Ma said at a news conference on China's diplomacy on the sidelines of the ongoing 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

In the past 10 years, Xi has made 42 trips abroad covering five continents and 69 countries, and at home he has hosted more than 100 heads of state and government.

During the Beijing Olympic Winter Games this year, Xi held over 20 bilateral events with leaders. During his recent visit to Central Asia, Xi attended 31 events within 48 hours.

Xi "achieved full coverage of key countries, regions and international organizations" and helps China build a more comprehensive and solid global partnership network, strengthening cooperation and friendship from all over the world, Ma said.

"Over the past 10 years, China's circle of friends has grown, and its global partnership network is getting clearer shape and definition," said Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the China Institute of International Studies' Department of American Studies.

"In China's global partnerships, it is essential to treat each other on an equal footing. China does not speak to other nations from a position of strength, it is not a bully and it expects the world order to be fairer and every country to have an equal role," she said.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Xi actively carried out cloud diplomacy and had 181 phone conversations with foreign leaders and heads of international organizations.

Xi attended 78 major foreign affairs events via video link, bringing together a strong joint force for international cooperation in the fight against the novel coronavirus, according to Ma.

Wang Fan, president of China Foreign Affairs University, said that while some countries are repeatedly trying to slice the world's "pie" for development to leave other nations with a smaller share, "China is working on making the whole 'pie' even larger by advancing visions such as the Belt and Road Initiative".

"By making the 'pie' even bigger, each country will have a greater sense of gain and shared interests," Wang said.

China aims to develop its major country diplomacy on three fronts  advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, build on a new type of international relations and remain true to genuine multilateralism, he said.

When asked about the 17th G20 Summit, which is scheduled to be held next month in Bali, Indonesia, Ma, the vice-minister, said the G20 is a major forum for international economic cooperation, and Beijing supports Indonesia's work in its role of presidency of the G20.

"We look forward to seeing the summit playing a positive and constructive role in strengthening international cooperation in fighting the pandemic, promoting world economic recovery, and safeguarding global food and energy security," he said.

Yuan Zheng, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of American Studies, said China has demonstrated its strong sense of responsibility as a major country when facing global challenges.

"China is a major contributor to world peace, global development, international order and international public goods, and it plays a stabilizing, constructive role amid the changing world situation," Yuan said.

Su, the CIIS scholar, said that as China develops its global partnership network, it finds more common ground for promoting shared interests and boosting common prosperity.

"China is not shortsighted or narrow-minded. It looks to breathe some fresh air into the pattern of countries' interactions when it seeks to build a community with a shared future for mankind," she said.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Du Mingming)
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan held a meeting with the members of the newly formed Public Council.

The Head of the State wished efficient work to the members of the Public Council, highlighting that it should first and foremost be aimed at strengthening public control over the state administration system and deepening society-state ties, the Artsakh presidency said in a press release.

During the meeting, the latest military-political developments around the Artsakh Republic, as well as a number of issues related to the socio-economic situation and domestic policy were discussed in a question-and-answer format.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. A drastic decline in global economic growth rates and a recession are expected in coming years, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Zhaparov said during the extended-format session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Yerevan.

It should be noted that the global economic development forecasts are not very comforting. A drastic drop in the economic growth rates and a recession of the world economy are expected in the following years, he said.

The PM of Kyrgyzstan proposed the Council to conduct a monitoring of the economic conjuncture at the global and regional levels for increasing the stability of the economies of the EAEU member states, and also proposed an anti-crisis package of measures in case of necessity.

Akylbek Zhaparov said that in order to ensure economic stability the member states of the EAEU have agreed on the 55 decisions of the EAEU bodies and adopted 3 packages of measures. He informed that the customs rates for the import of 1310 goods have been nullified temporarily based on the adopted decisions.

And these are the food and raw material products, for food production, light industry, pharmaceutical products, engineering and other products. In order to assist the businesses, several technical regulation requirements of the Union have been mitigated, Akylbek Zhaparov said.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. In conditions of drastic increase in the prices of energy carriers globally, the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union are reliably protected from this unjustified price increase, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during the extended-format meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Yerevan.

Our Union is reliably protecting its participants from the unjustified increase in the prices of energy carriers, which proofs that our strategy of integration, the implementation of previously signed inter-governmental agreements are right, Mishustin said.

He added that the creation of single markets of gas, oil, oil products and energy remains a priority for the Unions member states.

The PM said during the meeting in Yerevan the EAEU prime ministers agreed to take joint actions to avoid new barriers in trade.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan held a meeting with the prime ministers of member states of the EEU and the Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mikhail Myasnikovich whove arrived to Yerevan for the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council session.

I am convinced that the ongoing council session will contribute to economic development, expansion of Eurasian integration processes and strengthening of the mechanisms ensuring economic security of our countries, the president said.I am sincerely convinced that only through joint efforts will we be able to confidently move forward and create new opportunities for improving the quality of life and increasing the level of welfare of our nations. I find it important to emphasize that in current conditions, when our peoples face new global and regional challenges, it is necessary to use all available measures and resources at our disposal to strengthen cooperation, coordinate and effectively implement adopted decisions. I would also like to express hope that as a result of this meeting, by fully respecting and taking into account mutual interests, we will be able to make another confident step forward on the path of developing the Eurasian economic zone.
YEREVAN, 21 OCTOBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 21 October, USD exchange rate down by 0.58 drams to 403.01 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.91 drams to 392.85 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.03 drams to 6.60 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 4.44 drams to 448.27 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 16.22 drams to 21188.70 drams. Silver price up by 4.19 drams to 243.40 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Trade turnover between Armenia and Russia increased by 60 percent in the first eight months of 2022, ARMENPRESS reports, Minister of Economic Development of Russia Maxim Reshetnikov at the Ministry of Economy.

According to him, transfers increased to 2.4 billion dollars in January-July, which is five times more compared to last year.

"We have examples of successful cooperation in a number of fields, including energy, finance, pharmaceuticals, engineering and other fields. There are concrete proposals for the development of the gold mining plant, the metro. A project to create a joint venture for the production of building materials and pharmaceuticals in Armenia is being considered," he said.

The Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation also mentioned that Armenia and Russia are long-term strategic partners.

"We highly appreciate the interest of Armenian entrepreneurs in the Russian economy. Our business environment is ready to expand its presence in Armenia. We are ready to continue our joint initiatives, start new ones, develop trade relations," he said, adding that now is a very favorable period for investments, there are more opportunities.

"Russia has long learned to live and develop in the presence of sanctions. Our domestic market and foreign economic ties are adapting to the current situation and our economy is currently enduring unprecedented pressures. Despite this, we managed to maintain our financial and currency stability," the minister emphasized.

It should be admitted that sanctions open up new opportunities for the business of partner countries.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Consul General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kapan Morteza Abedin Varamin referred to the circulating news that Armenia has officially submitted an application for the purchase of Iranian drones.

ARMENPRESS reports, to the journalist's question if the Iranian Consul confirms the information that Armenia has officially submitted an application for the purchase of Iranian drones and whether Iran is ready to sell weapons to Armenia, and if the Armenian side has such a desire, he answered.

"I think that this question should be better addressed to those responsible for the defense sector. Defense officials of the two countries are in contact with each other and have mutual visits and discussions. I think Armenia will never need offensive weapons."
Among the immediate and urgent challenges facing the Congress and its new non-Gandhi president are the Assembly elections in Gujarat and HP

The Congress presidents election was free and fair, which is as it should be in a democratic polity. However much the detractors or political enemies of the party may have wanted it to be a sham, that it was not was affirmed by the candidate who lost, Shashi Tharoor, who said the elections were held on a level playing field.

Does that make Mallikarjun Kharge a fully independent president and does that delink the Gandhis  Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka  from the Congress organisational and political management? It makes Mr Kharge an independent power within the Congress, but it doesnt mean the Gandhis will not exert considerable power and influence, going forward. And that would be entirely normal.

As former party chiefs, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have a responsibility to join Mr Kharge and the new team he puts together in reconstructing the shambolic party, with its factions, tensions and wayward, indisciplined leaders in the states and at the national level. How that relationship will structure itself, what frictions may arise, or the amity that adds strength to the idea of collective leadership will become obvious very soon.

Among the immediate and urgent challenges facing the Congress and its new non-Gandhi president are the Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. In both states, the Congress is perhaps the strongest challenger to the BJP, despite the AAPs efforts to wrest away chunks of voters, dividing the anti-BJP vote and giving that party another term.

The election of the president was quite an achievement for the Congress, which has dithered over making any change for years. The Gandhis have exited from heading the organisation; an old warhorse and a Dalit leader has won fair and square. This is what the Group of 23 wanted when they told the party that things must change. The group was formed in August 2020, after the Lok Sabha debacle and Rahul Gandhis resignation as president and Sonia Gandhi taking over as interim president.

The election and how Mr Kharge functions will be a challenge to the BJP. To begin with, it proves the BJP wrong. Its chest-thumping claims about being a democratic party and not a fiefdom controlled by a dynasty will now have to be reworked to reflect Mr Kharges election as president. The strategy of juxtaposing itself as an efficient, focused and fully disciplined organisation in contrast to the Congress, that is so plagued by disaffection and defections that it keeps losing the plot as the dynasty is interested in nothing other than perpetuating its control must be revised.

It will be very awkward indeed for the BJP to explain why J.P. Nadda is all too obviously a figurehead and that real power in the party is vested in Narendra Modi and Amit Shah should it continue to pursue with the narrative that the Gandhis control the Congress, regardless of who is its president. If theres a power behind the throne in the Congress, so too is there a power behind Mr Nadda. Amit Shahs role as mastermind and extraordinary strategist has been built up by the BJP. There is very little room it has left for itself to deny the party is run by the Modi-Shah duo.

If the Congress is savvy, it will leverage the elections to present itself to voters and opinion leaders across India as a democratic organisation that has the capacity to accommodate and respect debate, differences in views, dissent and even rebellion. The chronology of the election covers it all -- the G-23 emerged as a group of dissidents; it raised a lot of issues on how the party was functioning and it listed how it thought the party should function. There were rebels within the G-23: some like Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal, who quit the party, as did Sunil Jakhar, Ashwani Kumar, R.P.N. Singh, Jaiveer Shergil. In the states, from Goa to Assam, from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, there has been a constant stream of leaders and workers who left the Congress, in the belief that the party was a sinking ship.

It is therefore Mr Kharges challenge as much as that of the Gandhis, who like Mr Modi and Mr Shah are the partys star campaigners, to stop it from haemorrhaging, get it back to being an outfit that is functional rather than dysfunctional. For the past two years, if not longer, the Congress has been in limbo most of the time, with Rahul and Sonia Gandhi incommunicado for whatever reasons.

The election in Himachal Pradesh is just weeks away, and Mr Kharges election as president doesnt give him enough time to take charge of the party and strategise on what it needs to do. He doesnt have breathing space to strategise on the Gujarat elections either. He will nevertheless have to meet the challenges and take the blame when things go wrong for the party, as they seem likely to.

It is true that Rahul Gandhi as star campaigner is successfully leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra, but he is far away from Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. For him to opt out of the yatra at this point will damage the march and affect the long-term fortunes of the Congress. It is a dilemma that Mr Kharge will need to solve, and quickly. He can galvanise the party in the two election-bound states to offset the absence of Rahul and hope to staunch the bleeding, or he can do little and play victim.

Mr Kharges greatest advantage, and he probably understands it better than most, is the resilience of the Congress in dealing with what would appear to most others as out-of-control chaos. How he manages morale will be crucial to how the Congress fares in the two state polls. There are other organisational challenges that await him as president, including resolving the Rajasthan leadership issue. Mr Ashok Gehlot will expect to be compensated for giving up the presidents position even though he wanted to retain his job as chief minister. Mr Sachin Pilot will expect some change in his status from being an understudy. The Congress, more than most parties, needs the president and collective leadership to work out a balance by reaching a complicated equilibrium. If Mr Kharge and the Gandhis can do this by reconstituting the Congress Working Committee and some key state party units, much will have been achieved to revive the party as a war machine ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In his words: "I am just a professional writer, which means I don't do blogs and try and get money for whatever I write."

The policies Truss announced are now no longer indications of British govts intentions, except perhaps for one  a trade deal with India

Only humans laugh

Only humans feel grief and shame

Oh Saki pass me the full carafe

Its love and wine that are to blame

 From Theyrey Paas Wi-Fi Meyrey Paas Wi-Guru, by Bachchoo

Liz Truss, who resigned as Britains Prime Minister on Thursday, remains in office as the acting PM till the Tory Party, which shamelessly clings on to power, despite utterly losing the confidence of the British public, elects a new leader. Of course, the policies she announced are now no longer indications of the British governments intentions, except perhaps for one  a trade deal with India.

That deal will be pursued by anyone who succeeds her as the UK needs to replace the 40 per cent hole in its imports and exports left by its wilful exit from the European Union. This desperate pursuit has been, in the main, unsuccessful. The United States has said that Britain is last in the queue; Australia says it will continue to flog lamb chops to Blighty. The Saudis will certainly buy weapons. Papua New Guinea and Tahiti havent as yet struck a deal  but the 40 per cent of trade that Britain did with the European Union is now a dodo on a respirator.

Indias approach to the deal entailed Britain accepting more students and issuing work visas to Indian citizens. This essential requirement had caused a rift in the UK government. While Trussed-up was desperate for a deal, her former home secretary, one Suella Braverman who resigned earlier this week, setting in train the events leading to the present chaos, publicly declared when she was in office that she was against admitting more Indian students and workers to Britain because they notoriously overstay their visas. Jeremy Hunt and Truss, who were desperate for the Indian deal, then forced Cruella to resign.

I dont rightly know if Cruellas stance against visas for Indians was reciprocated by India making it more and more difficult for Brits to get visas to visit or work in the land of the Ganga. At gatherings of friends and strangers when such travel is discussed, one inevitably hears about the frustrating difficulty, bureaucracy and period of time it takes to get a visa for India.

Now that the entire British Cabinet is in abeyance, Cruella may well be replaced by an Indophile and then maybe Indias home ministry will consider detoxing the visa process.

And if Trussed-ups successor then resumes trade negotiations, I have a suggestion for him or her:

King Charles III has announced the date for his coronation  in May next year. Its to be a relatively modest and multi-faith affair with the parades and pageantry somewhat limited. At the coronation his Queen Consort will also mount a throne and wear a crown which she inherits from the late Queen, her mother and her grandmother.

This crown, gentle reader, has had, from the late nineteenth century, embedded in it as its crowning glory, the Kohinoor diamond. When the coronation was announced and the ceremony was publicly contemplated, the palace, or perhaps King Charles III himself, said that the Kohinoor diamond, solen from India in imperial times, should be removed from the crown. Charles is reputedly apologetic about the nasty and racist aspects of colonialism and the imperial Raj. The speculation that the diamond should be removed before Camilla wears the crown, is in deference to this apologetic stance about the Empire. The stolen token of imperial rule should not still be an emblem of British majesty.

The world knows that the Kohinoor, the mountain of light, carries with it a curse. Lord Dalhousie, who stole the gem from the Punjabi dynasty of Ranjit Singh, was well aware of the curse bringing defeat, desolation and death to all males who possessed it. The fact that Queen Victoria passed it on, not to her son Edward VII, but to his wife, was because she was aware that the curse would not operate on a female possessor of the priceless crystal.

In this day and age, it is perfectly legitimate to wonder if, and to what extent, the curse would operate if the Kohinoor was in the possession of a transgender woman  one who had wilfully transitioned, through hormone therapy and surgery, from being a male to claiming to be a woman.

Camilla is, as far as I know, a genuine woman and wearing the Kohinoor in a crown would do her no harm. So, the contention that it should be removed before next years coronation has nothing to do with fear of the curse, but everything to do with not displaying the triumphant spoils of colonialism and insulting the Indian nation. And so, to my suggestion.

The royal family, who own the wretched stone, could go a step further. They could request the new Prime Minister to return the diamond to India and use the goodwill that this would create to further a trade deal with Bharat Mata.

India would certainly welcome the return of the diamond and Narendra bhai, while accepting it, would be well aware of the curse that inhabits it. Putting it in a museum with a male curator may endanger such a persons life and existence. Better then, to hand it as a gift to a friendly foreign despot of proven vanity who will be unaware of the consequences of accepting it and would wear it proudly on the podium of Red Square in Moscow during the coming retreat-from-Ukraine parades.
by Guido Alberto Casanova

Prosecutors are seeking arrest warrants for a former defence minister and a former Coast Guard general commissioner in connection with two cases that touch Moons detente policies with North Korea. According to the opposition Democratic Party, President Yoon Suk-yeol is the mastermind of the whole affair.

Milan (AsiaNews)  Former South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a democrat, has been caught up in two investigations that touch his detente policies vis-a-vis North Korea.

The first case involves the repatriation, in 2019, of North Korean defectors for killing another defector as they tried to make their way to South Korea.

The second concerns the death of a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korea in 2020. South Korean authorities apparently tried to claim (without sufficient evidence according to investigators) that he was trying to defect to the North when he was killed.

The former president is not yet under investigation, but as time goes by, it seems increasingly likely that prosecutors might go after him.

For now, they are trying to get arrest warrants for a former defence minister and a former Coast Guard commissioner general, which could arrive as early as this evening.

The two are accused of falsifying official documents related to the 2020 killing to prevent criticism of North Korea. But others too could end up in the crosshairs of investigators.

Last week, the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) recommended opening an investigation into 20 Moon administration officials, including a former defence minister, a former intelligence chief, and a national security adviser.

This month, the BAI tried to get Moon to answer questions in writing over the fisheries officials case, but the former president refused, calling the request disrespectful.

According to the ruling conservatives, the falsification of documents could not have happened without Moons direct intervention.

With respect to the repatriation of defectors in 2019, Moon's presidential chief of staff was questioned on Wednesday to determine his involvement in the affair and whether he acted on orders.

Photos published during the summer suggest that neither deserter wished to return to the North.

The Democratic Party, now in opposition, strongly protested the investigations. The party whip Park Hong-keun blames President Yoon Suk-yeol for the probe into the previous administration.

During the election campaign last March, Yoon said that he would call for an investigation of his rival. It is obvious that the presidential office is the mastermind," he said.
A steady flow of refugees from Afghanistan and Myanmar has highlighted what some observers have called Indias deliberate strategic ambiguity. India is not a party to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees. Assistance and refoulement depend on geopolitical and domestic political considerations.

Milan (AsiaNews)  At least a thousand Afghan refugees arrived in the Indian capital seeking asylum right after the Taliban seized Afghanistan again in 2021.

After this, India introduced an electronic visa with the number of applications by Afghans growing steadily, up to 60,000; however, by December 2021, only 200 were granted.

India is not a party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, and it reportedly had 46,000 registered refugees in January of this year. However, the actual number is thought to be at least 213,000, almost half of them women, 36 per cent minors.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at least 15,000 are Afghans, but most have no papers other than UNHCR-issued visas and identity cards which Indian authorities are not required to recognise.

Most Afghan refugees are Muslim, which makes it harder for asylum seekers to get citizenship, after the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed the law to favour Sikhs and Hindus.

The Citizen Amendment Act offers protection from religious persecution to people of all faiths except Islam. According to Human Rights Watch, some 40,000 Rohingya found refuge in the country, but only half of whom are registered with the United Nations.

War in Afghanistan and Myanmar wars highlight the problem that India has with refugees. Foreigners, including refugees, come under the Foreigners Act of 1946, which does not guarantee assistance or protection from refoulement; on the contrary, it prohibits refugees from having any association with persons or engaging in activities, and restricts their movements.

The UNHCR has tried to fill the gap left by the lack of domestic legislation, but its operations remain unofficial.

India has never clearly explained why it has not signed the 1951 convention; some believe it is because the convention is Eurocentric, while others argue that the obligation to assist would place too much of a burden on government coffers.

Hence, India proceeds with ad hoc regulations based on the different groups seeking refuge and maintains what some call a deliberate policy of strategic ambiguity" allowing it to act as it pleases in response to geopolitical events of the region and domestic politics.

For example, when Tamil refugees fled Sri Lanka's civil war, they were welcomed with open arms, but when Muslims fled Myanmar from internal strife, they were portrayed as a security threat.

In some cases, Indian courts have tried to fill the gaps, but were not always successful. In general though, refugee legislation would not only facilitate the work of UN agencies, but also reduce tensions in the region.

If it adopted its own laws, India would improve its reputation by presenting itself as a tolerant and secular nation, but the current government does not seem interested in this.

Granting six-month e-visas to Afghans seems more a propaganda ploy since it is unclear what will happen when their visa expires; meanwhile, security concerns have already led to the expulsion of hundreds of Rohingya.

INDIAN MANDALA IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO INDIA. WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE IT EVERY FRIDAY IN YOUR E-MAIL? TO SUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE.
by Steve Suwannarat

The refugees turned away include opponents of Myanmars ruling junta. According to the United Nations, Malaysia hosts at least 158,000 asylum seekers from Myanmar, two thirds of whom are ethnic Rohingya.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews)  A new wave of expulsions in Malaysia raises concern about the fate of Myanmar refugees who have sought asylum in neighbouring Southeast Asian countries after long and perilous sea journeys.

At least 150 asylum seekers have been deported since the start of the month, despite international pressure and assurances from the Malaysian authorities. They include several opponents of Myanmars military who overthrew the countrys civilian government on 1 February 2021, sparking a brutal civil war.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), about 158,500 refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar had found refuge in Malaysia by the end of July, about two-thirds ethnic Rohingya and one third from other ethnic groups opposed to Myanmars military regime.

Many reached Malaysia following the land route through Thailand, while others, like the persecuted Rohingya, arrived after travelling first to Bangladesh, which hosts hundreds of thousands of them.

Malaysia has upheld the international legal principle of non-refoulement, but this has not been matched by an equal commitment to granting refugees a legal status that allows a safe stay, at least until relocation to third countries. This has led to abuses perhaps as a part of a policy of deterrence to discourage people from coming to Malaysia.

Although the Southeast Asian country has been the ASEAN member most critical of Myanmars military junta, it has entertained an ambiguous attitude towards refugees, as evinced by the expulsion of refugees who belong to Myanmars pro-democracy opposition.

The latter include members of the National League for Democracy, the party of former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and members of the National Unity Government (NUG), which leads the armed resistance within Myanmar and supports internally displaced persons (IDPs) who now number over a million, mostly from minority ethnic groups.

Recently, Myanmars military junta decided that displaced people would no longer have access to camps or other facilities. This increases the risk that, despite sealed borders, more people might try to flee to Myanmars neighbours; the one exception being Thailand.
The imminent papal visit is generating great expectations and enthusiasm in the country, which is part of the Vicariate of Northern Arabia. Set at 8.30 am on 5 November, the papal Mass will pack the local stadium, with early arrivals at night. Some 2,000 visitors are expected from Saudi Arabia.

Manama (AsiaNews)  At least 28,000 people are expected to tightly pack Bahrains National Stadium for the Mass Pope Francis will celebrate at 8.30 am on 5 November, during his historic visit to the Arab country.

Organisers note that participants will come from Bahrain as well as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Buses will take them to the venue, in Riffa, starting at midnight.

For the papal Mass we are expecting 28,000 people, which is the stadium capacity, said John E. John, director of communications at the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia speaking to The National.

Most people, about 24,000, will come from Bahrain, while 2,000 will travel from Saudi Arabia: essentially migrants from the Philippines, India, other Asian countries, and Africa.

Some 500 places have been reserved for residents of the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Oman, plus about 900 places for people from the rest of the world.

Islamic religious and community leaders will also attend the service.

As the papal visit approaches, enthusiasm is growing, local sources say. The visit, which takes place from 3 to 6 November, includes stops in Manama, Riffa and Muharraq.

Our chief shepherd is coming, said Fr Saji Thomas, parish priest at Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral. People are eagerly waiting for November to welcome the pontiff in an atmosphere of community celebration.

The whole operation will involve more than 700 volunteers, including 300 Eucharist ministers,[*] as well as 120 priests, bishops, and cardinals.

However, most of the people who might have wanted to come will have to follow events live on the Internet. Bishop Paul Hinder, administrator of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, is conscious of this.

I know that many of you may be disappointed in not being able to secure an invitation to the Papal Mass, he said.

The fact is that we have to keep in mind that the size of the stadium is not able to fit the size of our Catholic community in Bahrain  much less the Catholic community in the vicariate, he explained.

It is also important to remember [that] some of the faithful of the neighbouring countries which are much bigger in size and are making huge sacrifices even to travel to the venue.

[*] Lay people called to help in the distribution of communion during Mass.
Admiral Michael Gilday anticipates the time frame for a possible Chinese invasion. Taiwan's forecast was for 2025. In the next two years, Washington must deliver a large consignment of anti-ship missiles to Taiwan. Secretary of State Blinken: China is pursuing 'reunification at a faster pace'.

Taipei (AsiaNews) - China may be able to invade Taiwan by 2024 and not 2027, as previously predicted by the Pentagon according to Admiral Michael Gilday, the US Navy's chief of naval operations. In March 2021, Admiral Phil Davidson, then head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, had stated that the Chinese might try to retake the island within the next six years.

Beijing considers Taiwan a 'rebel province' and has never ruled out recapturing it by force. The island has been de facto independent of China since 1949, at which time Chiang Kai-shek's nationalists took refuge there after losing the civil war on the mainland to the communists, making it the heir to the Republic of China founded in 1912.

Gilday's prediction, made on 19 October at a conference organised by the Atlantic Council, not only anticipates the 'Davidson window', but also the Taiwan window. In October last year, Taiwanese Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng warned that China would achieve the capability to launch a 'large-scale' attack against the island by 2025.

Gilday's release is in line with what AsiaNews reported in late 2021, with the possibility of Chinese aggression on Taiwan before Taipei receives a major anti-ship missile delivery from the US, scheduled for 2023 and 2024.

In his speech, Gilday emphasised that the US fleet must be ready for a war scenario along the Taiwan Strait. And this is not because of Xi Jinping's bellicose words at the opening of the 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress, but because Beijing has been realising its goals ahead of schedule for the past 20 years.

However, the US government leadership seems less certain on the Taiwan issue. To soften the blow after Gilday's statements, the White House National Security Council spokesman declared yesterday that 'there is no reason' for a conflict in the Taiwan Strait. On 17 October, however, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that China is pursuing 'reunification at a faster pace'.

Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the US is committed to defending the island. Adopted in 1979 after the formal diplomatic recognition of Communist China, the act does not specify the actual nature of Washington's commitment to Taiwan: a 'strategic ambiguity' that produces continuing tensions with Beijing.
by Mathias Hariyadi

The incident, which occurred at the SMAN 52 Senior High School in North Jakarta, saw the teacher, Edi Sarwono, prevent a student, PI, from running for the student body. As a result, he lost his position as vice principal but he kept his job. This follows a string of similar acts of intolerance in the countrys schools.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  Another episode of religious intolerance was reported recently involving a teacher in an Indonesian school.

Edi Sarwono, who teaches at the SMAN 52 Senior High School in North Jakarta, prevented a non-Muslim student from running for the student council in September.

Before the vote, a panel of teachers interviewed five candidates, one of whom, known as PI, was not Muslim. Because of this, the teacher had the student excluded from the race.

Footage from the interview shows Edi Sarwono, who was also the schools vice president, objecting to PI's nomination on religious grounds.

When the story became public, lawmakers from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)[*] called for a investigation.

One consequence was that the North Jakarta Regional Education Subdepartment dismissed the teacher from his position as vice principal, but allowed him to keep his job.

Meanwhile, a probe began, including the other teachers, who could be prosecuted for failing to defend the principles of plurality in schools and equal opportunities for all students.

This case is but the latest in a long series involving Indonesian schools. In August, the PDIP expressed concerns about at least 10 incidents in state schools in the capital, that involved forcing girls, including non-Muslim girls, to wear the hijab, or keeping non-Muslims out of school councils.

[*] Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Law against the "propaganda" of "non-traditional" sexual relations under discussion. The Orthodox Church sees the Lgbt reality as "an instrument of invasion of the collective West in a hybrid war against Russia". More proposals for restrictions and punishments for "Satan's messengers" will be forthcoming.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - Discussions are underway in the State Duma on the law initiative for a complete ban on any kind of information that could be interpreted as a form of propaganda of "non-traditional" sexual relations. The debate is being attended by deputies, senators, government officials, representatives of society and the church world in Russia.

No one spoke in favour of non-traditional values. Instead, all the speakers insisted on the danger of LGBT propaganda, associating it in particular with the circumstances of the war conflict in Ukraine, which President Putin further dramatised by declaring a 'national emergency situation': in practice the explicit condition of a state of war.

Russian politicians reiterate a concept proclaimed by Moscow Patriarch Kirill after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, namely that such propaganda represents 'the instrument of invasion of the collective West in a hybrid war against Russia'. From the Orthodox Church comes explicit approval of the current procedure as a 'victory in the war against the evil one'. The project had originally been presented back in June by the chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee for Family Matters, Nina Ostanina of the Communist Party (Kprf), to stop the spread of unwelcome ideals on the Internet and in all media.

The proposal also includes the suspension of licences for cinema screenings that reproduce content related to homosexuality and non-traditional unions. Now the text has been supplemented by a new package of measures, drafted by the head of the Information Policy Committee Aleksandr Khinstein of United Russia, which envisages heavy fines for citizens guilty of LGBT propaganda: from 50 thousand to 400 thousand roubles (EUR 1,000-8,000); from 100 thousand to 800 thousand if they are state officials; and from 800 thousand to 5 million for legal persons, with interruption of activities for up to 90 days.

Duma Speaker Vjaceslav Volodin emphasised the particular topicality of the topic, basing his remarks on recent polls by the Vtsiom institute, according to which the number of citizens who have had to deal with LGBT propaganda in the last 10 years has in fact doubled: in 2012, 6% of respondents had denounced such situations, this year it was 12%. Khinstein confirmed that since the start of the special military operation (invasion), the ban on such propaganda 'has not only not lost its relevance, but has been given an even more obvious and decisive meaning', as 'it is clear that our opposition to the West largely takes on a meaning of a clash of civilisations, where Russia has remained the fortress of defence and custody of traditional values'.

According to the MPs, a vast 'LGBT revolution' is underway in the West, where 'gays, bisexuals and transgender people occupy the most important positions of power and the leading functions of states, while propaganda becomes an incessant advertisement, and becomes the norm even in children's fairy tales', Khinstein further explained. The new law aims to prohibit unwelcome expressions not only in the area of communication for children, but also for all citizens of any age and social status, and also prohibits propaganda of paedophilia and sex change.

Discussing how to distinguish propaganda from mere artistic expression, Volodin gave the example of Nabokov's 'Lolita', in which 'there is no propaganda of paedophilia, because no reader of this book wishes to repeat the hero's fate'. The representative of the Moscow Patriarchate, Protoierej Andrej Tkacev, recalled that 'sin is not a private matter', and sinners 'spread the stench of their degradation far beyond the confines of their bedrooms'. Further proposals for restrictions and punishments for 'Satan's messengers' will be forthcoming, leading eventually to the 'final victory'.
Mullen Buys Bankrupt ELMS, Indiana Plant for $240 Million

Written by Dan Mihalascu, InsideEVs

Published Oct. 21, 2022

After acquiring a 60% controlling interest in Bollinger Motors in September, Mullen Automotive recently bought bankrupt Electric Last Mile Solutions (ELMS) and its assets, including the plant in Mishawaka, IN.

The EV startup received approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Oct. 13 to acquire ELMS's assets in a $240 million cash transaction.

The California-based startup said the former ELMS plant in Indiana will provide it with the capability to produce up to 50,000 vehicles per year.

Furthermore, the deal will accelerate the launch of the Mullen Five crossover, Bollinger B1 SUV and Bollinger B2 pickup by more than 12 months. This confirms the B1 and B2 are back on the table after Mullen became the majority owner of the Michigan-based startup.

While the Mullen Five and Bollinger B1/B2 retail vehicles will be made at the newly acquired Indiana plant, the Mullen Class 1 and Class 3 Commercial Delivery vehicles will be assembled at Mullen's existing facility in Tunica, MS. The site will become the Commercial Manufacturing Center and will produce all Mullen and Bollinger Class 1 to 6 commercial vehicles.

The Mullen Class 1 and Class 3 commercial vehicles will be the first to arrive on the market in 2023, while production of the Mullen Five will begin in 2024 in Indiana. The company also plans to build the 1,000-horsepower Mullen Five RS "ultra-high-performance EV sport crossover," claimed to be capable of 0-60 mph acceleration in under two seconds and a top speed of 200 mph.

"Mullen's acquisition of Bollinger was one of the largest transactions of its kind in the EV market. Upon closing the ELMS transaction, the company will be in a position to strategically leverage all its acquired assets to shorten its production path and aggressively expand into the commercial and consumer EV market," said David Michery, CEO and chairman of Mullen Automotive.

Mullen said the Indiana factory, which previously produced General Motors' Hummer H2 SUV and SUT vehicles, the Mercedes-Benz R-Class as part of a contract manufacturing deal and ELMS Urban Delivery vans, is the main benefit of the ELMS acquisition. Besides bringing additional production capacity, the plant will enable a significant reduction of Mullen's previously forecast overall spend.

The deal also gives Mullen Automotive control over ELMS's intellectual property rights and inventory---including finished and unfinished vehicles, part modules component parts, tooling, raw materials and more.

We thank InsideEVs for reprint permission.
Mercedes-Benz built two and a half million models of the 124 series over this model's career, including all its body styles, and the Bruno Sacco design has aged beautifully.This example is a 1991 model year vehicle originally sold in Europe, and it is a 250 TD with a manual gearbox, which makes it a rare configuration in the American market today, not to mention the fact that it was an estate, or T-Modell, as Mercedes-Benz likes to call these.The owner of this example has passed away, but his car will live again once Larry Kosilla does his magic in his studio. While the vehicle was kept in a storage facility for the last ten years, doing so has not stopped various animals from entering it.As Larry quickly notes, there are all kinds of spiders under the hood, as well as inside, complete with white mold, rat prints, and other less-than-fortunate signs that critters have been there.If you have a vehicle that is close to this one when animal contamination is concerned, wearing personal protective equipment is mandatory, not just recommended, as you might touch something that could make you sick.Returning to the stylish black estate with alloy wheels, you can see that someone once loved this car, as was the case with its 300CD sibling that was featured weeks ago. Yes, they had the same owner, and this example also comes back to the used car market and, hopefully, to the road where it belongs.With a reasonable investment in its drivetrain, suspension, brakes, and steering, this 1991 Mercedes-Benz 250 TD will once again shine as it did three decades ago. Back then, the T-Modell versions, such as this one, had a self-leveling rear suspension with struts instead of shock absorbers that offered improved comfort for the rear occupants.Mercedes-Benz even offered a seven-seat version of the S124 chassis, which had a rear-facing bench seat in the luggage compartment that could have been folded to leave a flush storage area when it was not in use.Until 1994, Mercedes-Benz also offered a retractable cargo net for this body style. Its only downside, when compared to a sedan, coupe, or convertible of the W124 generation, is the higher-mounted rear seat squab (the part that you sit on), which robbed the passengers of a fair bit of headroom in comparison to the other body styles.With that being written, it is time to watch Larry do his thing
Despite taking nine pole positions this year, Leclerc has only managed to win three times  the last time in Austria this past summer. Since then, Max Verstappen has won six races (and is now world champion), with Sergio Perez claiming victory in Singapore.When asked about what his team needs to do in order to improve going forward, Leclerc was very blunt with his answer: Its Sunday execution as a whole, its loads of things. Its tire management, as weve seen at the last races, is a weak point, communication, strategy, reliability.Just to be a stronger team on the Sunday and finalize the weekend in the strongest way possible because the Saturday is often very strong, but the Sunday, things often fall apart.To say things fall apart during race day may sound rather harsh, but it is a good representation of the facts, as far as Ferrari are concerned.Well, I think for strategy, communication, etcetera, there have been a few races now that weve been working on it, and Ive seen positive signs so that is good. Then there is the tire management, which weve seen in the last few races, and this is a bit more difficult; we need to identify all the causes of it.The Monegasque driver then admitted to being disappointed with how this season has gone, yet chooses to keep his head up.When I look back at the season, coming from 2020 into 2021 which has been very difficult for the team and this year we did a huge step forward in terms of performance, but there were loads of missed opportunities and parts of the season where there were too many mistakes, so its been a frustrating season overall. But on the other hand, Im sure it will help us to get better in the future.
Doctors ascertained the possibility of life-threatening blood clots in my hand and recommended an immediate transfer to a hospital. My health is of course paramount. I accepted to leave this wonderful group and was taken to hospital, continuing my hunger strike.8/ pic.twitter.com/FUEUj7wu1b  gianluca grimalda (@GGrimalda) October 21, 2022

As with everything else in life, the answers to these questions depend on who you ask. The Autostadt protest meant to ring the alarm on Volkswagens ability but lack of willingness to do something to slow down climate change has ended after less than 48 hours. The activists were arrested by the riot police, but the controversy continues to rage online, where supporters claim they were handcuffed and carried away just as they were about to leave the premises willingly.It all started this week, when a group calling themselves Scientist Rebellion took over the Porsche Pavilion in Autostadt, the visitor attraction opposite the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany. Bearing leaflets and plenty of superglue, they took to sticking the leaflets to the cars on display and then using the glue to glue their palms to the showroom floor. Some went on a hunger strike, and they claimed they would only stop when Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume came to speak to them in person.Their demands were not unreasonable, especially considering the dire situation were in (as a species) with climate change . Its long been said that, if we dont do something drastic to cut down pollution within years, it will be too late for our planet, set as it will be on an irreversible course. The protesters in this case asked for more action from Volkswagen to reduce climate change, measures to encourage public transport and a speed cap for the countrys highways at 100 kph (62 mph).Gianluca Grimalda, an experimental economist and senior researcher with Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), emerged as the leader of the group of nine who had glued themselves to the floor. He was also the first one to leave, after noticing that his glued hand had swollen to twice the size of the other one, and after being told that he could develop life-threatening clots.Riot police swept in and arrested the other protesters, shortly after Autostadt staff had asked them to leave of their own free will or face legal consequences. The entire stunt lasted under 48 hours and was not without drama, much of it fabricated for its own sake. Reality show producers, take note.The protesters complained about the poor conditions they were put in, when Autostadt staff turned off the lights and the heating at the end of the workday. They complained that the premise was shut off and supporters couldnt get in to bring them food, so they had to contend with the food VW brought for them. They complained about the glue on their hands (which they had placed there, in case you need reminding), and then said that VW denied them medical assistance. They said VW refused them basic needs by not providing them with bowls to urinate in. They complained of random security checks throughout the night, which kept them from getting a proper night's sleep.Nine people took the Porsche Pavilion hostage after trespassing and then complained that VW didnt go head over heels to make them more comfortable. Nine people staged a protest where theyd be glued with their palm on the floor and, as such, unable to move, and got upset that someone else didnt bring them potties. Nine fully-grown adults, seemingly intelligent and highly educated people of different nationalities thought they could just storm in, do some mild destruction of private property and then suffer no consequence or, even better, be treated like guests. This is not how things work.Granted, the bigger the evil youre fighting against, the more drastic the measures you have to take. People like these protesters are probably fed up with being nice, with lobbying, and trying to talk their way to some kind of positive measure. Theyre also more aware of how bad things are with our planet than the average Joe by force of their involvement in the cause. But this is not the way to do it.Stunts like this one do ring the alarm and maybe help rally more supporters , but they also discredit the people taking part in it. Theyre akin to what other Rebellion activists are doing, particularly those who glued themselves to motorways and blocked ambulances from passing or threw canned soup at famous paintings in museums. They are the stunts that have earned the Rebellion activists the nickname of eco-morons, and make a mockery of the cause itself.No ones thinking of the fate of the planet when you make a spectacle out of playing the victim. Moreover, if you cant plan ahead for your protest and think of where youre going to pee as you sit on the floor of a car showroom, why should anyone take your doomsday warnings seriously?
PHEV

The technical safety and regulatory compliance organization within FCA US LLC started investigating this problem on April 25th after the Auburn Hills-based automaker became aware of a damaged fuse in a 2022 model year Jeep Wrangler 4xe. The second and third reports followed on April 26th and April 29th. Come May 2nd, it was determined that incorrect fasteners were to blame. A month later, yet another report of a damaged fuse was received, prompting FCA to send the battery to Samsung SDI for inspection.It should be noted that Samsung SDI has already recalled the high-voltage batteries in the Ford Escapeand Jeep Wrangler 4xe over an issue concerning the busbar terminal. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles received confirmation of the wrong fastener used to secure the 200-amp fuse from the South Korean supplier, escalating the issue to the Vehicle Regulations Committee. Better late than never, FCA decided that a recall is necessary.The third-largest automaker of the Big Three in Detroit is aware of six field reports, three warranty claims, and three customer records related to the aforementioned condition, with dates of receipt ranging between March 26th and June 24th of this year. Dealers will be informed to inspect and  if necessary - replace the high-voltage battery fuse fasteners on December 2nd, the day that notifications will be mailed to known Wrangler 4xe owners.Recall 22V-768 lists build dates ranging from January 13th and May 18th, the day the incorrect fasteners were removed from vehicle production. Vehicles assembled before or after this period feature correct fasteners. Incorrect fasteners may cause high resistance in the 200-amp fuse interface, thus generating heat and potentially resulting in a sudden loss of motive.
The unexpected three-way design partnership is, obviously, focused on the aesthetics of the new motorcycle, which exudes style through all its pores, as youd expect from any bike featuring the Mandello eagle.Moto Guzzi V7 Stone proudly displays the collaborative design choices made by the three brands and highlights the convergence between them rather than their differences.Moto Guzzi and Gucci, two brands synonymous with Italian style and design, meet the irreverent British street culture of Palace, in one of the most anticipated special items of the extraordinary Gucci Palace collaboration, the motorcycle manufacturer notes on its website Considering the Palace Gucci Moto Guzzi V7 will be officially launched as part of the Palace Gucci collection, most of the standard V7 Stone details are blacked out to allow the signature elements added by the two fashion brands to shine bright.As such, the motorcycle comes with many components painted in black, like mirrors, side cases, wheels, headlight bezel, engine cases, fork gaiters, and more.Gucci covered the riders seat in fine-grain dark brown leather monogrammed with the G logo. This is flanked by two saddlebags with camo material that features both Guccis logo and the Palace P. The custom paint job adopts the same camo pattern over matte black, with the right side of the tank displaying the Palace and Gucci logos in burnished gold, while the left side features the golden Moto Guzzi eagle badge. The tank cover also matches the travel bags material.The bike is set to be officially launched today, October 21, 2022. Only 50 examples of the Palace Gucci Moto Guzzi V7 will be produced, and they will be made available through Guccis Vault webstore and select Gucci brick-and-mortar stores around the world.
EV

The strategic partnership between the two companies was announced during a German-Canadian summit in Toronto in August this year. Thanks to it, the three-pointed-star brand will be able to secure high-quality lithium for its battery production.Lithium hydroxide from Rock Tech offers Mercedes-Benz the opportunity to support two strategic goals: localized and reliable sourcing as well as production under high sustainability standards, said Markus Schafer, Chief Technology Officer, Mercedes-Benz Group AG.Rock Tech will supply the lithium hydroxide to Mercedes-Benz battery partners from a converter based in Guben, Brandenburg, Germany, along with other mining sites audited by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurances ("IRMA"), to ensure that high environmental and human rights standards are met.The five-year collaboration will begin with a qualification period in 2026, allowing Mercedes to supply its battery partners with the raw material needed, which, in turn, will help the brand to rapidly scale upproduction. This will move the automaker closer to its objective of going all electric by the end of the decade, while also reducing CO2 emissions and the amount of rare earth metals used for each vehicle.The agreement covers an average of 10,000 tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide per year  or about 150,000 electric vehicles produced annually, meaning over 40 percent of the expected annual production from the planned converter capacity, according to Rock Tech.We are well aware of the significance of this relationship to both parties. () This arrangement is a major step forward in our plans to directly contribute to clean mobility," said Markus Bruegmann, Chief Executive Officer of Rock Tech Lithium.
As Mitsubishi revealed, the idea is to sell the XFC in the countries that compose the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Nissan could possibly do that with the Magnite, but Mitsubishi must be a strong brand in these markets, perhaps even more than its owner. That said, it makes perfect sense to sell a Mitsubishi product in the A-segment.The concept presents a reasonably different vehicle, which is a relief when you remember what Mitsubishi did with the ASX in Europe: a lazy badge engineering of the Renault Captur . Hopefully, there will be no such thing with the XFC, even if that is not very likely.In an ideal world, what Theottle obtained would be the right production version of the XFC. The rendering artist used its images as the skin on a Nissan Magnite, and we can see that some metal panels would have to be modified to accommodate new taillights, the different glasses between the C and D pillars, and the unique headlights.The relatively small changes would be the best way to make the little car. However, it is supposed to be pretty affordable and present a reduced profit margin. If Mitsubishi wants to make money with it, it will have to sell thousands, if not millions of units. That said, we would not be surprised with a Magnite with a Mitsubishi badge. What may prevent that is that Nissan also sells its A-segment vehicle in Brunei and Indonesia.The Mitsubishi XFC will also have an electric version, which is not surprising when the CMF-A architecture also underpins the Renault City K-ZE, Dacia Spring, Renault Kwid E-Tech Electric, Venucia e30, and the Dongfeng Aeolus EX1, Fengxing T1, and Fengguang E1. Sadly, XFC will not mean the compact electric crossover has the StoreDot cells with the same name, meaning they present extreme fast-charging capability.
That's why recent reports that Lockheed Martin , the Orion Capsule's primary manufacturer, is now under contract with NASA to build three more state-of-the-art space vehicles for the slew of Artemis missions slated to commence between now and the decade's end. By the time these three orders are delivered, as many as six Orion capsules will be ready for operation. With missions to the Moon and potentially even Mars on the horizon, it's a very welcome sign indeed."Lockheed Martin is honored to partner with NASA to deliver Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis missions. This order includes spacecraft, mission planning, and support, and takes us into the 2030s," said Lisa Callahan, vice president and general manager for Commercial Civil Space, Lockheed Martin. "We're on the eve of a historic launch kicking off the Artemis era, and this contract shows NASA is making long-term plans toward living and working on the Moon while also having a forward focus on getting humans to Mars."Under the umbrella program referred to as the Orion Production and Operations Contract (OPOC), each Orion capsule's flight hardware will be fine-tuned and optimized wherever possible. If all goes to plan, the Orion capsule could be a substantial percent cheaper to manufacture by the time Artemis III is ready to roll out than it costs to complete for Artemis I. By Lockheed Martin's own estimates, NASA could reduce the costs per vehicle by as much as 50 percent between Artemis III through V.Concrete evidence on the exact expenditures needed to get Orion to where it stands today is not always forthcoming. But it's important to understand that its entry into operational service has been a prime NASA objective since long before the Artemis Program was even founded. In fact, Orion is the sole surviving remnant of NASA's previous Constellation initiative set to use the canceled Ares series of rockets.If you figure Orion's investment under that program before its restructuring into Artemis and add everything that added up until 2022, one can't help but think the number at least matches the $23.011 billion cost of operation for the Artemis SLS booster rocket. That said, NASA watchdogs within the agency have unearthed clues about some of the more pressing details regarding Orion's cost breakdown.As reported by Eric Berger of arstechnica.com, NASA's Inspector General Paul Martin's team has been able to surmise that at least on the private contractor side of things, the performance from SLS, Orion, and Artemis as a whole has been in his own words"very poor." When appearing before Congress' House Science Committee hearing, Berger and his colleagues revealed the cost to manufacture one Orion capsule as being in the range of $1 billion and $300 million for its accompanying ESA European Service Module.Though rocket science is never cheap, that's a figure that people from the civilian and the industrial side find unsustainable. But in spite of all of this, it's important not to errantly blame the brilliant engineers who brought the Artemis program to the brink of fruition.As NASA personnel will tell you, the agency likes to test as they fly. So to say, they'd rather test, retest, scrub launches, test some more, and scrub launches again than allow a program-poisoning catastrophic failure to occur in the first place. This style of engineering has been especially crucial in light of the tragic losses of Space Shuttle orbiters Challenger and Columbia. Since Columbia's loss in 2003, not a single crewmember has been lost on a space mission.That style of engineering doesn't come cheap. But as NASA's second Chief Flight Director Gene Kranz once famously said, "Failure is not an option." This appears to be the true cost of adhering to the Gene Kranz Dictum.
The 993 marked a much-needed break from the iconic 964 series, and Porsche almost turned a blank page on the legendary 911 with the vastly different and improved new generation. It was the first time a 911 got a six-speed gearbox, and just like its predecessors, it was derived into many glorious versions , from Carrera to GT2 or Turbo S and from Targa to Speedster or Turbo Cabriolet.Alas, none of them dared to cross the craziness threshold. No worries, though, as diehard fans should know that no Porsche 993-series 911 was harmed during the making of this raw, untamed RWB-style slammed and widebody restomod that even comes with digitally inked gold concave wheels.Instead, this is the artsy digital work of Andreas Richter, a virtual artist formerly known as ar. visual_ (now richter.cgi) on social media, who has decided to get down to ruining his most favorite Porsche for the twentieth entry into his version of the famed Inktober challenge. This time around, he is way closer to the initial drawing and inking desiderates than ever before  and still manages to make this Porsche look completely bonkers and out of this world.Well, that atmosphere is not hard to achieve, considering the exposed technical components, the thoroughly slammed attitude, the RWB-style exotic widebody aerodynamic kit, as well as the crazy transformation of those Yokohama Advan wheels. Those deep-dish rims are a piece of art and style all on their own, frankly, especially in this super-concave gold form!As for what motivates this Porsche 993 RWB restomod, do we even need to know the details from the author when it already triggers an imagination overload even when standing still, and anyone can easily select their perfect powertrain option?
Rolls-Royce and Washington-based Alder Fuels are getting ready to dive deeper into the testing of green jet fuel. The aerospace giant plans to provide its new Pearl engine for future flight tests. The Pearl10X will exclusively power Dassaults newest ultra-long range airliner, the Falcon 10X, and a new production support facility for this engine is being built by Rolls-Royce in Le Haillan, near Bordeaux, France.Alder Fuels has developed a type of green jet fuel that can be used as a drop-in alternative (meaning that no technical modifications are required for the aircraft) in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energys National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency, Boeing, and Honeywell are just some of the big names that are currently backing this particular fuel.Forest residue and agricultural waste are used to produce the low-carbon Alder Greencrude (AGC), which is then converted into a drop-in fuel using conventional refinery infrastructure. Compared to standard jet fuel, this product is expected to cut GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions by more than 80%.The future tests carried out using Rolls-Royce engines will compare the performance of the Alder SAF to that of fossil-based fuel. Plus, a full lifecycle assessment will be conducted. The feedback from these complex tests will then be used to accelerate the development of an alternative fuel that can be used on a large scale.While we are also working on electrification, hybrid-electric and hydrogen technologies as long-term alternatives, rapid decarbonization is within reach through this critical pathway, said Frank Moesta, SVP Strategy & Future Programs  Business Aviation, Rolls-Royce.
On Dec. 2, well unveil the worlds first sixth-generation aircraft. Stay tuned for your first look at the B-21 Raider. https://t.co/y5TJ8wOkY8 pic.twitter.com/SEWbsmVZR3  Northrop Grumman (@northropgrumman) October 20, 2022

The B-21 is to become the newest bomber in Americas arsenal, complementing the existing triad comprising the B-1B Lancer, B-2 Spirit, and the aging but still capable B-52 Stratofortress.As per the official USAF description, the Raider is a long-range, highly survivable, penetrating strike stealth bomber. In time, it will come to replace both the B-1 and B-2, and will operate in the skies of the world only with the Stratofortress , whose life was extended into the 2050s, to keep it company.No official details as to the capabilities of the bomber have been revealed so far. Northrop Grumman describes it as the most advanced military aircraft ever built, but theres not much to go on there.As said, USAF made public the official unveiling date, and that is December 2, maybe too early for the military branch to celebrate Christmas, but not too early to enjoy a proper gift."The unveiling of the B-21 Raider will be a historic moment for our Air Force and the nation," said in a statement Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr."We last introduced a new bomber over 30 years ago. As we look to the threats posed by our pacing challenge; we must continue to rapidly modernize. The B-21 Raider will provide formidable combat capability across a range of operations in highly contested environments of the future."Unveiling the aircraft does not mean its ready to enter service. The plane will soon enter the testing phase, which will be performed by the Air Force Test Center, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, and Northrop Grumman. The main focus will, at first, be on the performance of the aircraft and capabilities of its weapons system.Chances are the new B-21 Raider nuclear bomber will enter service by the end of the decade.
The poor result is blamed on the unstable structure, unstable foot-well area, differences between the seats of the single- and double-cab variants, poor-performing side airbags that showed incorrect deployment, and lack of safety gear.As a result, the Ram 700 / Fiat Strada single-cab was awarded with 47.47% in Adult Occupant protection, 22.08% Child Occupant protection, 40.23% Pedestrian protection, and 41.86% for the Safety Assist. The double-cab got 41.39%, 52.96%, 40.23%, and 48.84% respectively.With such a popular model in the region, we can only denounce Stellantis for this practice of discrimination against consumers in Latin America and the Caribbean , Brodziak said. We know that Stellantis produces cars with very high safety standards, but given the poor performance shown in Latin NCAPs Fiat Strada / Ram 700 test, we can see that it is incurring in the pernicious practice of double standard to the detriment of not only of the occupants of these vehicles, but of the population in general and in the degradation of the vehicle fleet in the region.Fiat (FCA) once again disappoints with this poor result after the appallingly low performance of the Argo / Cronos from last year," added Latin NCAPs Secretary General, Alejandro Furas. These two models are among the most popular ones in the region. It is a concern that global parts-suppliers are still offering restraint systems without the robustness expected in Latin America for the tested scenarios of Latin NCAP, unlike what they do in other markets like Europe, US and Australia.According to the safety specialists, there are relevant differences in the seats of the two body styles, with those in the double-cab showing good protection, whereas those in the single-cab offering poor protection. Also, the side airbags, which are standard in the former, do not do their job as intended, and their performance is a concern for Latin NCAP, which spoke of a high probability of life-threatening injuries in the side pole impact scenario. Latin NCAP compared them to those of the Renault / Dacia Logan / Sandero / Sandero Stepway. Performance in the Child Occupant protection was good overall, yet the final score was affected by the lack of i-Size anchorages and marking.
ICE

EV

According to a Toronto media outlet , the Lincoln owner bought his 2011 model just four years ago. Initially, the dealerships quote was for $15,000, but the battery replacement with labor and taxes rounded up to $20,000.It goes without saying that when you already have an 11-year-old car, investing that kind of money in it isnt on your primary to-do list. Unless maybe its a classic or a gem of some sort.Thankfully, his car is a full hybrid, which means he can drive it solely on its 263-horsepower (267-ps) 3.5-liter V6engine with no problems . Well, no problems other than the current gas prices.As for the 2018 Kia Soulowner, the situation wasnt as fortunate as simply switching the engine it runs on. The vehicle was under warranty for up to eight years or 99,419 miles (160,000 km), whichever came first.A bit of bad luck was also involved because earlier this year, the owner just hit the 105,633-mile (170,000 km) mark, just 6,214 miles (10,000 km) over the warranty limit.If it hadnt gone over, the bill would have been on the house, as they say. Therefore, the dealerships check for the battery replacement came back an astounding $23,000, with additional costs included.However, even though the car was out of warranty, the Kia dealership did say that it would cover half the cost, leaving the remaining $11,500 for the owner.The sum still wasnt enticing enough to pay for the replacement, so the Kia was returned to the financing company and put up for auction.
The U.S. Border Patrol will start using some new American-made military sUAS (small unmanned aircraft systems). U.S. Customs and Border Protection awarded a $1 million contract to Teal Drones, a subsidiary of Red Cat Holdings, for its Golden Eagle drone. That sounds like a lot of money, but its just a fraction of what U.S. Customs and Border Protection is planning to spend on drones overall.At the end of last year, it announced signing a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with five drone companies, with an estimated value of $90 million over a period of five years. All of these drones were given the green light by the Department of Defense.This recent agreement will cover not just the aircraft itself but also battery packs and chargers, gimbal-mounted cameras, transportation cases, as well as training sessions.The Golden Eagle is described as being lightweight but also rugged, designed in compliance with the strict guidelines set by the Department of Defense. Its equipped with powerful computer vision, next-generation cameras, and advanced sensors that allow it to operate effectively even in GPS-denied areas. Its also specifically adapted for nighttime operations. Plus, its propulsion and battery systems, as well as the specific cargo, can be replaced or repaired fast and easily.The U.S. Border Patrol will apparently use the Golden Eagle in areas where standard surveillance systems and manned air support are not available. The drone will provide reconnaissance, surveillance, and tracking data to field commanders in the area.
The story begins with a regular Peugeot 208 driver waiting for the green light somewhere in Brazil  it looks a lot like Rio de Janeiro  when the Ant Hill Mob stops on his left. We never knew the Bulletproof Bomb was a Hispano Suiza  Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly menacingly come right behind the French hatchback with the Army Surplus Special, while Peter Perfect and the Turbo Terrific join the crowd stopping on the right of the 208.We can soon see Penelope Pitstop and the pink Compact Pussycat, the Slag Brothers and the Boulder Mobile, and the Gruesome Twosome in the Creepy Coupe a bit before the green light shows up. The Wacky Racers shoot in a drag race as soon as they see it. Peugeot certainly did not want to be accused of stimulating dangerous driving, so the 208 just lets them vanish ahead, moving forward in a pretty civilized way (certainly within the speed limits).It is no use: the Ant Hill Mob goes after the French hatchback and tries to explode it with TNT. Peugeot tries to demonstrate how quickly the paddle shifters are, and the 208 escapes the bomb attack. We wonder if the driver has ever heard of kickdown downshifting. The French carmaker charged for the paddle shifters, so it was probably not worried about explaining the buyers did not need them.The commercial continues with the Peugeot 208 getting its next challenge with the Red Max. The 208 driver gets to see it through the panoramic roof, trying to overtake in the peculiar way the Crimson Haybaler allowed: through a short flight. Unfortunately for the Red Max, it all ends in a crash against a tunnel.Peugeot tries to show how handy the infotainment screen with navigation is when the hatchback driver almost gets stuck in traffic due to a car crash involving Peter Perfect, the Slag Brothers, the Gruesome Twosome, and Private Meekly. The driver manages to avoid the confusion with an alternative route that is eventually interrupted by the one and only Dick Dastardly.Typical of the character, he drops spiked steel balls right in front of the Peugeot . The 208 driver escapes them thanks to the agile steering the French carmaker wanted to highlight, and Dick Dastardly flies off a bridge in construction, ending up in a mud pool.After all that trouble, the final reward is getting to help Penelope Pitstop: the Compact Pussicats engine faced overheating, and the Peugeot 208 meets her on the way. The romantic vibes get broken by a familiar laugh coming from the back seat: it is Mutley trying to hitch a hike. Sadly for the dog, he gets kicked out of the hatchback so that the driver can be alone with Penelope. If you are not familiar with Wacky Races, this commercial will assist you with that. If you are, youll get anxious to watch the classic cartoon again. For the record  as brilliant as the commercial was  Peugeots hatchback was never a success in Brazil.
kW

Prior to having its photos taken in Italys capital city, the Lamborghini Urus Performante got to prove its mettle at the Autodromo Vallelunga. Here, the media and dealers witnessed first-hand what the model is capable of and also laid eyes on the Urus S , the successor to the original Urus, in a premiere.With a devilish 666 ps (657 hp / 490) available on tap, and 850 Nm (627 lb-ft) of torque produced at 2,300 rpm, the Urus Performante is supercar-fast. The twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 allows it to hit the 100 kph (62 mph) mark in just 3.3 seconds from a standstill, and it will run out of breath at 306 kph (190 mph). Other highlights include enhanced aerodynamics over the regular Urus and tweaked suspension.Besides feasting on apexes on the flat surface, it was also unleashed on a specially-created rally-like circuit, further emphasizing its versatile nature. No matter the environment, the Urus Performante drives on Pirelli P Zero tires wrapped around the 20-, 22-, and 23-inch wheels. As an option, customers can also go for the track-oriented P Zero Trofeo R semi-slicks, which were developed especially for it.From here on, it took to the streets of Rome, as we already told you, starting off in Stadio dei Marmi and cruising around Palazzo Fendi and in the Cave di Travertino. As all roads lead to Rome," it also visited Appia Antica, which is one of eight ancient routes that converge in the city. The models dynamic debut came after the Urus Performante set a new record at Pikes Peak for production SUVs, clocking 10:32.064.
SUV

ICE

Well, at least as far as the current 2022MY is concerned, that one is not too big as it only consists of the aforementioned pony/muscle coupe and sedan, plus the three-row familyoption, aka the Durango. And the latter is not particularly enticing right now, as opposed to the 2023 model year when the absolute hoot of a Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is scheduled to return Oh yeah, the little 2023 Dodge Hornet is also programmed to arrive, but of course, everyone only has eyes for the big, brawny, Hemi-powered SUV. Even across the virtual realm , it seems. Over there, Nikita Chuicko, the pixel master better known as kelsonik on social media, probably thinks that now is the right CGI time to fiddle with the three-row monster ofSUVs.This CGI expert is not exactly passionate about the Americana side of the automotive industry, as we have seen him mostly play with European and Asian brands. Alas, this virtual take on a U.S.-born model does warrant its five minutes of digital fame, even though all the changes might seem pretty subtle, at first sight. The author probably wanted to keep close to the OEM looks as much as possible, as there is not even his usual CGI Shadow Line treatment to speak of.Instead, the virtual artist wanted to attract our attention toward the 710-hp 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8-equipped three-row SUV with potential factory improvements. So, just like the Challenger and Charger, the Durango SRT Hellcat, too, gets an inconspicuous widebody aero kit treatment with wider wheel arches and a little lip spoiler plus side add-ons. Additionally, there is also a beefier set of new wheels, larger red-painted brake calipers, and a slightly lowered suspension setup.
Harutiunian also said that a planned peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot force the Karabakh Armenians to give up their right to self-determination.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has repeatedly expressed readiness to recognize Azerbaijans territorial integrity through such a treaty. His critics say that this would amount to Armenian recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.

We have to tell our public that international players that are trying to offer their services with regard to that formula or treaty are not quite making beneficial proposals, Harutiunian told Karabakh television. But this will not prevent us from using the important norm about peoples right to self-determination in accordance with the UN charter, and our struggle will be within the framework of that norm.

He noted in that regard that the peace treaty is on the agenda of the United States, France and the European Union.

The Western powers have played the central mediating role in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks held in recent month. Russia has been very critical of their peace efforts, saying that the West is exploiting the Karabakh conflict in its geopolitical standoff with Moscow.

Russia helped to stop the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war through a ceasefire brokered by President Vladimir Putin. It deployed 2,000 Russian peacekeeping troops in Karabakh under the terms of that truce accord.

Generally speaking, I dont imagine the future of Artsakh without the presence of the Russian Federation in the form of a peacekeeping contingent or another mission, stressed Harutiunian.

For Tigran Grigorian, a political analyst, the remarks are a further indication that Karabakhs ethnic Armenian leadership is unhappy with the Western peace proposals.

His comments suggest that at this stage the [Karabakh Armenians] sole hope is Russia, Grigorian told RFE/RLs Armenian Service. He made a point of emphasizing the role of the Russian peacekeepers.

A Karabakh delegation headed by Harutiunian visited Yerevan last week to seek clarification over the Armenian governments plans to sign the peace deal with Azerbaijan. Earlier this week, the Karabakh leader briefed local political factions on the results of the delegations talks with Pashinian and other senior Armenian officials.
The Islamic Republic of Iran regards the security of Armenia and the region as its own security, Amir-Abdollahian said at the inauguration ceremony held in Kapan, the capital of Syunik province. Our policy is to respect territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan also attended and spoke at the ceremony, again welcoming Tehrans decision to open the diplomatic mission in our countrys backbone.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has always been and will always be a key partner for Armenia, he said.

The decision announced in December 2021 underscored the Iranian governments strong interest in Syunik and concerns over Azerbaijans efforts to secure a special corridor to its Nakhichevan exclave passing through the sole Armenian province bordering Iran.

Over the past year Iranian leaders have repeatedly warned against Azerbaijani attempts to change their countrys historical border with Armenia. They stepped up those warnings following the September 13-14 fighting at various sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. One of them is about 30 kilometers south of Kapan.

Irans elite Revolutionary Guards began on Monday military exercises near Syunik and an adjacent region in Azerbaijan. Amir-Abdollahian said on Tuesday that the drills are meant to demonstrate that Iran will not permit the blockage of its connection route with Armenia.

The Iranian minister said that his country has the capacity to impede and confront any such moves after holding talks with Mirzoyan in Yerevan on Thursday.

Work on the Iranian consulate building in Kapan was still not over on Thursday. Workers paved its courtyard only the following morning, hours before the start of the opening ceremony. Some of those Armenian workers suggested that the consulates inauguration was brought forward at the Iranian sides request.

Speaking in Kapan, Amir-Abdollahian described Syunik as a key transit route for Irans trade with Armenia and other regional countries.

Syunik province is one of the most important sections of the North-South corridor, he said. We regard Armenia as one of the most important countries situated along the North-South highway and will do our best to develop this transit route.

He referred to an ambitious project to create a transport corridor that would connect Irans Persian Gulf ports to the Black Sea through Armenia and Georgia. Mirzoyan reaffirmed Yerevans support for the project after Thursdays talks with Amir-Abdollahian.

Also, Mirzoyan again ruled out giving Azerbaijan any extraterritorial corridors through Armenian territory.

Armenian officials said earlier that Baku could try to forcibly open such a corridor through further military action against Armenia.
In January-August this year, Armenias trade with [the other] EEU countries reached $2.8 billion, up by 74 percent from the year-earlier period, Pashinian said at the meeting.

Armenian government data shows that Russia accounted 95 percent of that figure, solidifying its status as Armenias number one trading partner. Armenian exports to Russia doubled to almost $1.1 billion in the eight-month period despite the barrage of Western sanctions against Moscow.

Armenia was initially expected to be hit hard by the sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and other Western powers following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian-Armenian trade fell in March but recovered strongly in the following months as the Russian economy proved more resilient than expected.

Economic growth in the South Caucasus state is now on course to reach a double-digit rate. It has also been helped by a surge in cash remittances from Russia.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion in Yerevan on Friday, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov described Armenia as one of the beneficiaries of the resetting of Russias economy and flows of goods and services resulting from the sanctions. He said the continuing exodus of Western firms from the Russian market is opening up more business opportunities for Armenian firms.

Pashinian described rising trade among the five ex-Soviet states making up the EEU as proof of serious successes achieved by the Russian-led trade bloc. An extensive common market has been created, he said.

Pashinian at the same time renewed his calls for the creation of a common gas market that could lower the cost of Russian natural gas imported by Armenia and other EEU member states. He called that a necessary condition for realizing the potential of economic integration.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin insisted that Moscow remains committed to the eventual creation of such a market. But he emphasized that the Russian gas price for Armenia and other resource-poor member states is already well below international market-based levels and that it has remained unchanged just as global energy prices skyrocketed in recent months.

I believe that our Union seriously protects its participants against unjustified rises in the cost of energy resources, Mishustin said in Yerevan.
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You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.
All Quiet on the Western Front Trailer Starring Daniel Bruhl Shows the Horrors of WWI Trench Warfare

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A new adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front arrives on Netflix next week  at a time when we need its message about the real, human toll of war.

All Quiet on the Western Front is a masterpiece that examines the dangers of blind nationalism and the effect war has on soldiers lives long after the fighting is done. After the books publication in 1929, it was banned across Europe and burned by the Nazis for its anti-war message. For the same reason, it was held up by pacifists and activists who were against the start of WWII raging across Europe. It is a novel thats continued to be relevant in the decades following its publication. Even now.

I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another.  Paul Baumer in All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front Details

Felix Kammerer stars as Paul Baumer, and Daniel Bruhl is playing an unnamed German diplomat negotiating Germanys surrender in the last days of the war. The cast also includes Albrecht Schuch, Moritz Klaus, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic, Adrian Grunewald, Devid Striesow, Andreas Dohler, Sebastian Hulk, Alexander Schuster, Luc Feit, Michael Wittenborn, Michael Stange, Andre Marcon, Tobias Langhoff, and Anton von Lucke.

Director Edward Berger has won the German Film Award for his work. Cinematographer James Friend has won multiple BAFTAs and other awards. It opened to high praise at TIFF and Germany has chosen it as their official contender for next years Academy Awards.

The gripping story of a young German soldier on the Western Front of World War I. Paul and his comrades experience first-hand how the initial euphoria of war turns into desperation and fear as they fight for their lives, and each other, in the trenches. The film from director Edward Berger is based on the world-renowned bestseller of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque.

All Quiet on the Western Front debuts on Netflix on October 28.

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Author: Mars Garrett Pop culture staff writer that has been on the BoLS team since 2010. Contributor on the One of Us podcast. Marvel, Vertigo, and dystopian sci-fi fan. Enjoys bad movies, amazing stunt performances, and the internet. Hates rom-coms. (she/they)

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Australia will increase its aid to the Pacific by more than half a billion U.S. dollars over four years, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Friday, as the country steps up efforts to keep influence in a region that has increasingly turned to China for development assistance.

The aid will help Pacific island nations respond to climate change, reduce pressure on government budgets and support aviation links in the region, Wong said in a speech at the Pacific Way conference, held in Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia.

Australia is committed to working with all in the Pacific to achieve our shared aspirations and address our shared challenges, Wong said.

The boost to Pacific development assistance forms the largest part of an increase to Australias foreign aid spending that will be further detailed in the Australian governments annual budget due on Tuesday.

It follows a period last decade when Australias foreign aid dwindled due to budget cuts under the conservative Liberal party, which was in government from 2013 to 2022. During this time, Canberras relationship with Pacific island countries soured.

Without these investments, others will continue to fill the vacuum, and Australia will continue to lose ground, as it did under previous governments, Wong said, according to Australian broadcaster ABC.

She said Australian foreign aid would be increased by 1.4 billion Australian dollars (U.S. $877 million) over four years, with 900 million Australian dollars of that allocated to the Pacific.

Australias last annual budget, for its fiscal year ended June, had allocated 3.73 billion (U.S. $2.3 billion) to foreign aid.

Wong said Australia would also increase its infrastructure finance fund for the Pacific from 3.5 billion to 4.0 billion (U.S. $2.5 billion) and lend on favorable terms to Pacific island countries.

We recognize that as a major lender in the region, we have a responsibility to ensure that Australia is a partner that wont impose unsustainable debt burdens, Wong said.

Over the past two decades, Beijing has amassed substantial goodwill with economically lagging Pacific island countries by building infrastructure and providing other assistance on easier terms than countries such as Australia.

Chinas security pact with the Solomon Islands, signed in April, amplified concerns in the United States and Australia that Beijing aims for a military presence in the region. Chinas government also has been providing training to Solomon Islands police.

ABC reported Friday that Australias increased aid would include funds for Australian police stationed in the Solomon Islands following riots there last November.

Last month, the United States promised more than U.S. $800 million in assistance over a decade as it tries to rebuild relationships with Pacific island countries after a period of neglect.

Australia is also trying to repair its relationship with the Pacific. Wong became Australias foreign minister in May after the center-left Australian Labor Party won national elections.

Since then, she has visited 12 Pacific island nations and territories, which was an expression of the priority that the new Australian government attaches to this region, she said Friday.

She also reiterated her support for regional organizations such as the Pacific Islands Forum, which has been challenged by tensions with Micronesian member countries over the forums leadership and Kiribatis departure as a member.

Working through the forum ensures each member countrys sovereignty is respected and that the responsibility for Pacific security remains in the hands of the Pacific, Wong said.

Canberras increase in aid comes a day after Australia and Fiji signed a Status of Forces agreement, which allows the presence of one countrys forces in another.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the countrys prisons chief be suspended without pay after an inmate who allegedly brokered the contract killing of an outspoken broadcaster died while incarcerated earlier this week, the justice secretary announced Friday.

Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gerald Bantag will go on leave indefinitely during an investigation into the Tuesday death of the inmate, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said.

Remulla said he met with Marcos recently to update him on the ongoing investigation behind the Oct. 4 killing of broadcaster Percival Mabasa, better known as Percy Lapid, a critic of former President Rodrigo Dutertes administration as well as some officials in the Marcos administration.

I went to the president to tell him about this. What was the reaction of the president? He asked me to preventively suspend Undersecretary Director General Bantag of BuCor so there may be a fair, impartial investigation on the matter, so that doubts will be put to rest, Remulla told reporters. There are no sacred cows in this administration.

While not revealing the cause of death for the inmate, Remulla identified him Crisanto Villamor, but noted he was also known as Jun Globa Villamor and Jun Garcia Villamor in jail records.

The alleged gunman, Joel Estorial, surrendered the same day Villamor died and confessed to Mabasas killing while identifying a conspiracy he said originated from inside the national penitentiary.

Remulla said Bantags suspension would be indefinite, although a written order said the suspension without pay is to last for three months. Gregorio Catapang Jr., a former armed forces chief, has been designated as Bantags replacement.

Remulla said Bantags suspension would lead to an impartial investigation into the death of Villamor, who was serving prison terms for murder as well as for violating election gun ban laws. When asked by reporters why Villamor was not secured after Estorial surrendered, Remulla said he only found out about his death on Thursday.

He conceded there was probably a shortcoming by the justice department and BuCor.

And probably (in) the excitement of things, it was forgotten, Remulla said.

BuCor spokesman Gabriel Chaclag said in a statement that Villamor was brought to the prison hospital after he collapsed and lost consciousness. By early Tuesday afternoon, he was declared dead.

Initial findings showed no signs of physical external injuries which probably indicates a natural cause of death or no signs of foul play, Chaclag said. However, we are still awaiting the official and final autopsy result which will include a toxicology test that will be further conducted today to complete the autopsy.

When he surrendered, Estorial, 39, said he feared for his safety after his photo was released to the public and a bounty was raised for his capture. He named two brothers in the plot to kill the broadcaster along with a third person while alleging the order came from inside the penitentiary.

The Philippines ranks among the most dangerous countries for journalists worldwide. Dozens have been killed since the dictatorship of Marcos late father, Ferdinand E. Marcos, more than 36 years ago.
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Showers early, then cloudy in the afternoon. High 47F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 24F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
An aircraft crosses the vapor trails of another plane over Frankfurt, Germany, on April 19, 2018. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming that a CNBC story on research into technology to combat climate change admitted that chemtrails are real.
In this Jan. 6, 2021 file photo, Trump supporters participate in a rally in Washington. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming that former President Donald Trump signed an order to deploy 20,000 National Guard troops before his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but was stopped by the House sergeant at arms, at the behest of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
A Longmeadow, Conn. man crashed a motorcycle into a tree in Sandisfield after losing control on a turn. He then rolled 50 feet down an embankment and had to be extricated and airlifted to a hospital. He was in stable condition as of Monday. Sandisfield police are investigating the accident.
The Mystic Generating Station in Everett is the largest power plant in Massachusetts. Severe cold this winter could lead to a shortage of natural gas, which could result in rolling blackouts or other conservation efforts to keep electricity supply and demand in balance, according to columnist Bill Schmick.
In 1985: Former San Francisco Supervisor Dan White  whod served five years in prison for killing Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay-rights advocate  was found dead in a garage, a suicide.
Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data.
BOISE - A former U.S. Congressional candidate was sentenced on Wednesday to 30 months in prison for his scheme to use COVID-19 relief funds for personal expenditures and filing a false report with the Federal Elections Commission by concealing thousands of dollars of in-kind contributions by employees.

36-year-old Nicholas Jones, of Boise, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and falsification of records on June 1. In addition to the prison sentence, Jones was also ordered to pay a $100,000 fine and $90,564.84 in restitution.

According to court documents, Jones was a small business owner who applied for and received $753,600 in COVID-19 relief funds, primarily from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Despite certifying that the funds would only be used for business-related expenditures, Jones used a significant portion of these funds for personal expenses, including car payments, life insurance policies, and political advertisements.

According to court documents, in 2020, Jones ran as a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives and told employees of his small business that they could continue to be paid their normal wages if they worked on his congressional campaign. Employees reported to work on behalf of Joness congressional campaign and were paid thousands of dollars in wages through Joness small business including, in part, with funds Jones had received as part of a PPP loan. After losing the primary election, Jones caused his campaign committee to file a campaign finance report with the FEC that omitted any in-kind contributions from any entity or individual other than Jones, including the thousands of dollars of in-kind contributions to his campaign in the form of employee time and work.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit for the District of Idaho, and Special Agent in Charge Dennis Rice of the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI investigated the case.
LEWISTON - The Idaho Animal Rescue Network has been nominated and selected to receive the "Spirit of Idaho" award from U.S. Senator Mike Crapo. IARN will be presented the award on October 27.

The Spirit of Idaho Award was created by Crapo in 2000 to honor the acts of service by Idahoans for their commitment to improving their community and serving their fellow citizens. Since the award's inception, Crapo has presented more than 600 Spirit of Idaho Awards.

The ceremony will be held at Fur Family Cinema in Lewiston (3323 10th Street) beginning at 1:00 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.

"The ldaho Animal Rescue Network is a community organization. lt takes many people to make it work, and I couldn't be more thankful for the LC Valley," said Director Jenna Redheart. "The Great Danes case is a great example of teamwork. The Nez Perce County Sheriffs Office, Lewiston Police Department, Lewiston Fire Department, Fur Family Cinema, Southway Animal Clinic, Riverview Animal Clinic, Lewis Clark Animal Shelter, multiple other animal rescues and community volunteers worked together and made this case a success. We received donations from local community members and from around the nation. Because of the community, the Great Danes will have a better life."
POCATELLO - A skull of an unknown victim found in Oneida County in October 1986 has now been positively identified 36 years later thanks to forensic genealogy.

In October 1986, a hunter in Oneida County found the skull of an unknown victim, 400-500 yds away from where partial remains of two teenage girls from Pocatello were found in 1981. 12-year-old Tina Anderson and 15-year-old Patricia Campbell were last seen at Pocatellos Alameda Park during a 1978 Pioneer Day celebration.

Now, 36 years later, the skull has been positively identified.

This unknown skull was initially identified as a third victim, possibly of mixed-race descent according to experts in the 1980s. For years, the public wondered and speculated as to her identity. Past Oneida County leaders, most notably Sheriff Jeff Semrad and Lt. Patsy Sherman, Capt. Paul Newbold from Bingham County, Pocatello Police detectives, and many others from various agencies worked this case for over 40 years.

In 2021, members of the Idaho Cold Cases Facebook page donated $5000 towards the forensic identification of the skull by Othram Labs in Texas.

Through forensic genealogy, the skull was 100% positively identified as that of Patricia Campbell. Campbells family has been notified.

Oneida County will be paying towards the cremation and burial of Patricias remains so she can be interred with her mother.
The Kitale Film Week has officially opened its call for submissions of films for its maiden event scheduled for next year.

The Kitale Film Week is a week-long film festival which is attempting to position film as a strategic factor for sustainable development in Trans Nzoia.

The festival organisers include young men and women born and bred in Kitale, some of whom have worked at the top of the film industry in Kenya and abroad.

The main events in the festival include film screenings which have been integrated with conversations on key community issues and are moderated by local filmmakers and students from Kitale; school film events geared towards developing filmmakers and film critics from primary and secondary school level; filmmaking workshops with top industry professionals seeking to develop socially engaged filmmakers locally; and an ambitious short film fund which the festival hopes can help two projects by upcoming local talent to get produced in Trans Nzoia.

It also involves a competition for top awards which is only open to Kenyan and Ugandan filmmakers, to enhance artistic collaboration between western Kenya and Kampala. Short films from Trans Nzoia and the North Rift are curated in collaboration with the Eldoret Film Festival.

Future plans include an extension of the festival to South Sudan filmmakers, further integration of community development issues in the film spaces, and a push to get Kitale to become a Unesco creative city for film.

The film week, a seven-day festival that will take place in Kitale, Trans Nzoia, seeks to curate strands of cinema for the cosmopolitan audiences of Trans Nzoia, giving prominence to the voices of the North Rift and Western Kenya.

It also features a competition which will be open only to Kenyan and Ugandan films, as the organising team seeks to build industry relations between the two countries. Kitale is close to the border of Kenya and Uganda, making it easy for artistic exchange and collaboration. The competition is led by Kenyan film producer Wangui Ngunjiri, with support across the border coming from Ugandan film executive Joel Tugaineyo. A festival jury is expected to be announced in late October.

It is a pleasure for us to be able to open this window. The growth of our film industry and our towns will not happen without the effective participation of filmmakers. Our hope is to get as many Kenyan and Ugandan films submitted, Ngunjiri said.

Submissions are to be received on the online portal Film Freeway under the event title Kitale Film Week.

The festival kicks off its pre-festival programme this September with outdoor screenings of Biko Nyongesas comedy feature, Get Some Money (2017), seeking to introduce the event to the rural communities of the county. Nyongesa is himself a Trans-Nzoia native who has directed other films such as Napunyi (2020), among others. Deadlines for festival submissions are set for the end of November while calls for applications for workshop participants will be announced in due course.

Kitale Film Week is born out of the belief in the power of cinema and heritage, and on the backdrop of successful film events in Kitale and elsewhere in Kenya by the organising team, which has previously planned and managed the Festivals of Dots (2016, Nairobi) and The Hip Hop Film Festival (2018, Nairobi). Bwire also launched the award-winning short film, Raised in Kitale, in March 2022 which was well attended by an enthusiastic crowd.

The Kitale Film Week will take place from 19-23 February 2023. The submission deadline is 30 November. Filmmakers can submit their films via Filmfreeway here.
I met Leih when I was working on AdVantage magazine many years ago at a conference at some bush lodge. I remember him with a glass of red wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other (we are talking many years ago) telling an entertaining tale.

:Source  Facebook Facebook Gary Lieh has passed away

Years later I meet Leih again when he was a member of the 2016 AdFocus Awards jury. It was here I got to know the astute adman, and why he was so successful in his chosen career.

The White House

Leih started his creative career at Ogilvy SA, eventually becoming the group managing director of Ogilvy SA in 2000. Five years later he took up the position of chairperson and CEO of Ogilvy UK. He was also president of the European Advertising Association.

He cofounded one of the hottest-rated shops in the country in the 80s, The White House which was eventually acquired by DDB, and Public Image in Australia (and later acquired by TBWA).

In his tribute to Leih, Mike Abel, chief executive partner, M&C Saatchi Abel SA, says, His young agency The White House DDB was an incredibly special and magical place in the late 80s and early 90s.

Derek Craig describes in his tribute to Leih on Facebook just what the White House was to those who worked there.  Quite out of the blue, while I was at JWT, you sidled up at one of those epic cocktail gatherings, at the Heerengracht I think, and offered me a partnership at the most exciting thing that was about to happen to advertising in Cape Town, since RST&M. How could anyone turn that one down. You offered me a seat and partnership at The White House, undoubtedly one of the happiest and most adrenaline-fueled times of my advertising life, in the most beautiful advertising HQ location in the world (Think Oudekraal/Twelve Apostles Spa). Thank you for the opportunity and some special memories.

In 2011 he co-founded OFyt (which he jokingly once told me stood for Old Farts Young Talent) and was CEO, with Chris Gotz as creative director.

Industry tributes

Tributes have poured in from the industry following the announcement of Liehs passing on social media.

It is with great sadness that we hear of the passing of Gary Leih. Ogilvy SA would like to extend our deepest condolences to his family and everyone who knew him. Gary made an amazing contribution to both Ogilvy and our industry. May he rest in peace.  pic.twitter.com/EC6w3yoRWL

 Ogilvy South Africa (@OgilvySA) October 20, 2022

David Fox, CEO, Middle East and North Africa region, said, A man with a cheeky smile and a glint in his eye which always meant trouble (fun) and a boss who always looked after you, pushed you and wanted you to succeed.

But perhaps Jennifer Lindridge sums Leihs contribution to the industry up best: Rest gently, Gary Leih. Thank you for making the ad industry in South Africa one of which I wanted to be a part.
Greater successes for CPC expected

(China Daily) 08:35, October 21, 2022

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China opens at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct 16, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Communist Party of China will accomplish even greater successes, lead the Chinese people to build a modern socialist country in all respects and join the rest of the world to create a better future for all of humanity, global experts said.

They made the comments after the report that Xi Jinping delivered to the 20th CPC National Congress' opening session on behalf of the 19th CPC Central Committee on Sunday vowed to comprehensively advance national rejuvenation through a Chinese path to modernization.

Jon Taylor, chair of the political science and geography department at the University of Texas at San Antonio, noted that the report emphasized that Chinese modernization is now a central task of the Party and will drive policy initiatives during the next five years and beyond. He pointed out that this modernization is infused with self-reliance, and an emphasis on science and technology that comprises more basic research, original innovation and breakthroughs in strategic technologies.

Taylor said another important near-term goal is "making the cake bigger first" and then dividing it more equally-"a daunting task, but one that is in keeping with China's goals of economic stability and long-term prosperity. Modernization is not just economic, but political and military. Xi's speech clearly signaled that he intends to steer China's foreign policy in a direction that is strategic and aimed at strengthening regional security."

David Marsh, chairman of the UK-based independent think tank the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, welcomed the plans unveiled in the report to accelerate the modernization of the nation's industrial system.

He said China has made enormous strides in economic modernization over the past decades, and this achievement has won respect from all over the world.

"I would be more confident the plans would fulfill their aims if they were accompanied by measures to work with foreign partners, including smaller companies, for example, in the high-tech startup area  to ensure that China remains at the forefront of technology," Marsh said.

He said he would like to know more details of the plans behind policies to advance industrialization and boost China's strength in areas like product quality and digital development.

"This could raise opportunities for Sino-British and Sino-European cooperation in advanced fields," he said.

Yulia Lapteva, from the Russian International Affairs Council, said the report demonstrated that the CPC has successfully implemented its plan for improving the governance model and showed the Party's strong leadership in China.

"Without a doubt, the 20th CPC National Congress will become a new chapter for China to construct a socialist country with Chinese characteristics, and the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will definitely be realized," Lapteva said.

Philippine-BRICS Strategic Studies founder Herman Tiu Laurel said China's successes show the world that countries struggling to advance can achieve similar progress with an appropriate model of development and leadership adapted to domestic conditions. In China's case, that is what is meant by "with Chinese characteristics".

He said China's development model has opened the eyes of the world to great possibilities.

Song Pingand Chen Yingqunin Beijing contributed to this story.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Du Mingming)
The Effie Awards has awarded a record eight gold awards for the 15 winners of the 2022 Effie Awards with Tesco taking the top prize.

Source: Supplied.

The awards recognise and celebrate the most effective marketing work of the year.

Rich and flexible platform

Tesco scooped the Grand Effie for Wearing in, not Wearing out: Six Years of Food Love Stories (and counting). The judges praised the marketing team and agency for creating a rich and flexible platform that delivers a tangible impact to the brand and the wider business year after year.

This years competition received another set of diverse entries with the judges particularly impressed by the high standard. Winners were selected for solving a marketing challenge effectively, connecting with the target audience, and achieving outstanding results.

Gold awards also went to Aldi UK, Anusol, ITV, KFC, McDonalds, Mini Cheddars and Very. Several winners were noted for making great use of humour to connect with audiences, including ITV and Veg Powers Eat Them To Defeat Them, a supposedly silly idea designed to solve a serious problem, and Anusols taboo-smashing and growth delivering, Bums the Word.

Five Silver awards were also handed out: Brook, the sexual health and wellbeing charity, which won in the small budgets category, B&Q, the British Beer and Pub Association, family history site Ancestry and pharmaceutical brand, Naloxone.

The AA and NHS England each took a bronze award.

Innovation and resilience

Two out of the three Silver-winning entries were campaigns aimed at mobilising the nation to influence the government. These were Long Live the Local from the British Beer and Pub Association, and Brooks Never Without Consent.

Karin Wilsher, chair of the Effie UK Council and partner and global CEO at Anomaly, said: This year we had more entries and winners from sustained success; and positive change than ever before. This highlights more than ever the crucial role marketing can play, particularly during testing times. The UK industry has proved that even as we head into another challenging period, it is delivering ideas that work and showing innovation and resilience.

Juliet Haygarth, managing director, Effie UK, said: The UK Effie judges are considered the toughest across our 56 international programmes, so to have awarded a record eight Golds says so much about the high standard of entries we received. It is even more fantastic given many of the campaigns launched during the tough second year of the pandemic.

Here are the winners in full:

BRONZE



Category: Finance

Brand: The AA

Lead agency: adam&eveDDB

Contributing companies: Goodstuff

Category: Positive Change: Social Good  Non-Profit

Brand: NHS England

Lead agency: MullenLowe Group UK

Contributing companies: Freuds, 23Red, Manning Gottlieb OMD, MMC



SILVER

Category: Positive Change: Social Good - Brands

Brand: Naloxone, Ethypharm

Lead agency: Havas Lynx Group

Category: Seasonal Marketing

Brand: B&Q

Lead agency: Uncommon Creative Studio

Category: Small Budgets

Brand: Brook

Lead agency: Grey London

Contributing companies: Jelly London

Category: Sustained Success - Services

Brand: Long Live the Local, British Beer and Pub Association

Lead agency: Havas London

Contributing companies: One Green Bean, Ekino, Havas Media

Category: Sustained Success - Services

Brand: Ancestry

Lead agency: Anomaly, the7stars

Contributing companies: Performics



GOLD



Category: Sustained Success - Services

Brand: Tesco

Lead agency: BBH, MediaCom

Category: Positive change: Social Good - Brands

Brand: ITV; VegPower

Lead agency: adam&eveDDB

Contributing companies: Goodstuff, Essence

Category: Food

Brand: Mini Cheddars

Lead agency: TBWA London

Contributing companies: Manning Gottlieb OMD

Category: Seasonal Marketing

Brand: Very

Lead agency: Grey London, DentsuX

Category: Sustained Success - Products

Brand: Anusol

Lead agency: MSQ Partners

Contributing companies: Wavemaker

Category: Sustained Success - Products

Brand: KFC

Lead agency: Mother London

Contributing companies: Mindshare UK

Category: Sustained Success - Services

Brand: Aldi UK

Lead agency: McCann Manchester, UM Manchester

Contributing companies: Gain Theory

Category: Sustained Success - Services

Brand: McDonalds

Lead agency: Leo Burnett

Contributing companies: OMD




An expanded partnership leading the creative group of companies brings new skills and perspectives, amplifying strategic and data smarts, diversity and inclusion, operational agility and creative excellence.

Jacques Burger, chief executive officer, and Neo Mashigo, chief creative officer at M&C Saatchi Group South Africa

M&C Saatchi Group South Africa has announced the appointment of long-time partner and Group co-founder Jacques Burger to Group chief executive officer, with Mike Abel assuming the role of executive chairman. With the South Africa Group experiencing significant growth over the last two years, an expanded leadership team for the Group has also been appointed. The move also allows Abel, part of the global Exco of M&C Saatchi Plc, to focus more on his global portfolio, which includes driving the groups overall creative product and continually engaging with the South African team on key initiatives and high-level projects.

Over the last 12 years we have focused our energy on building an agency group founded on strong values, deep smarts and meaningful client partnerships. With an expanding Group, this move gives us even more ability to unlock powerful and connected creative solutions for the challenges our clients face, says Abel.

Indeed, says incoming CEO Burger, this is a new chapter of radical collaboration across our Group and the multiple disciplines and solutions they each bring. The ability to connect these opportunities while constantly and relentlessly applying our trademark approach of 'brutal simplicity of thought' is a powerful proposition. It is most certainly where the future of communication lies and will deliver greater value to our clients.

With this focus on connected creativity and radical collaboration, the expanded Group leadership is orientated around six pillars:

Creativity  unlocking the power of creativity and creative solutions to every part of the business, not only the advertising solve, to drive greater brand impact and effectiveness continues to be the focus of chief creative officer Neo Mashigo.

Data fluency  accelerating data fuelled solutions across the Group, including a partnership with Fluency (the Groups UK-based data consultancy), to help clients more precisely define where growth will come from, and unlocking this growth across the marketing and communication levers. To this end, Black & White managing partner Diana Springer will also assume the role of chief data and intelligence officer leading the data offering for the Group.

Strategy  building on the Groups longstanding strategic credentials with an evolutionary strategic approach that sees a much broader mix of marketing and communication solutions coming together to drive more precise positionings. The result will be stronger equity and faster conversion rates for clients. This will be led by co-founder Robert Grace, who moves from head of strategy to chief strategy officer.

Diversity  further accelerating success to deliver relevant and resonant solutions through unlocking diversity of thought. Key to this is a continued group-wide focus on diversity in terms of talent and ways of working with the appointment of head of strategy (Johannesburg), Makosha Maja-Rasethaba to chief diversity officer, leading diversity and inclusion at a Group level beyond her current remit on the M&C Saatchi Abel board.

Agility and innovation  building tighter collaborations across group-wide disciplines matched with operational excellence to enable increased agility and the ability for our group companies to move at speed of culture and change will be led by Jason Harrison, who assumes the role of chief operating officer from being Group managing director.

Commercial excellence  Graham Mears as chief financial officer continues to ensure that the Groups strategic growth plans are underpinned by astuteness, simplicity and shared value for innovative start-ups and key acquisitions. In addition, he will also lead the ESG mandate for the Group.



You get succession planning, and then you get this level of planning, quips Abel, as he reflects on a 25-year friendship and business relationship with Jacques. This move opens up an exciting new chapter in the executive and operational leadership of our Group to see it deliver more connected, creative solutions for our clients. It also enables me to apply sharper focus on our priorities locally and internationally."

Jacques is a formidable leader with impeccable credentials and an incredible track record. He was the highly successful managing director of Ogilvy Cape Group, was CEO of the Campaign Palace, Australia and returned to South Africa in 2010 to start M&C Saatchi Abel, Johannesburg and to co-lead the SA group with me and a few trusted friends and business partners, says Abel.

The M&C Saatchi Group South Africa leadership team is structured as follows:

Mike Abel: executive chairman



Jacques Burger: chief executive officer



Neo Mashigo: chief creative officer



Jason Harrison: Chief Operating Officer



Robert Grace: chief strategy officer



Makosha Maja-Rasethaba: chief diversity officer



Diana Springer: chief data and intelligence officer



Graham Mears: chief financial officer

Just 12 years old with 350+ diverse team members, the M&C Saatchi Group SA comprises six distinct creative companies, M&C Saatchi Abel (integrated advertising solutions), Razor (reputation & PR), Connect (media & touchpoint), Levergy (passion-point marketing), Dalmatian (through-the line-advertising) and Black & White (marketing consultancy). Powered by a unique partner model, the new leadership structure will bring about radical collaboration across individual best-in-breed specialists within the Group. M&C Saatchi Group South Africa is also one of only two finalists in the Financial Mail AdFocus Awards 2022 in the category of Agency Group of the Year.

Concludes chief creative officer Neo Mashigo: We speak a lot about wanting to be the most admired creative company and marketing group on the African continent, and we are further gearing ourselves to do this with our new structure and relationships in our agency and with our clients. Were excited about what this means for our Group as an increasingly data fluent and diverse team of specialists with creativity at our core.




South African state logistics group Transnet said on Friday that force majeure had been lifted with immediate effect at its automotive, bulk and multi-purpose terminals, after a strike over a wage dispute ended earlier this week.

Source: Transnet Port Terminals - Durban Container Terminal

Transnet workers went on strike for nearly two weeks from 6 October paralysing freight rail and port operations and throttling exports from Africa's most advanced economy.

But Transnet said on Friday that backlogs and the related impact on operations meant force majeure at its port container terminals remained in place, with the company anticipating it will be lifted by 31 October.

"Transnet Port Terminals' full workforce reported for duty with effect from 20 October 2022, and the backlogs in the container terminals are being cleared as part of the recovery plans underway," the company said in a statement.
The Covid pandemic undeniably changed the face of education - fast-tracking the need for online learning development and solutions. What the pandemic also exposed was the digital divide and the extent of the gap between the "haves" and "have-nots".

Image source: Getty Images

This was the consensus between the panelists of last week's CNBC Africa forum on The Future of EdTech in Africa - hosted by broadcast and financial journalist, Alishia Seckam. Speakers included Rogers Sithole, managing director of OneConnect Education; Melvin Govender, country manager for South Africa at Anthology; and Dolf Jordaan, deputy director of e-learning at the University of Pretoria.

Sithole believes that while many were left behind during the pandemic's era of digital learning, it's not all doom and gloom: "There have been many institutions that have been able to keep up in the areas where governments and private sectors were willing to invest to ensure that there's continuity in this space."

He said now that the challenges and issues for those who have been left behind have been exposed, there lies an opportunity for improvement and growth across the continent.

Govender agreed with Sithole, saying that the past two years have provided us with "an opportunity to reflect on where education in Africa was, and what this pandemic has done to expose where it was". He said it's allowed us to identify tech and skills gaps, and now we need to take necessary steps, both as edtech institutions and the private sector at large, to bridge those gaps.

Despite the underlying issues that were revealed in this period, Jordaan reminded us not to underestimate our students' creativity in finding solutions to their own challenges. He reflected on the #FeesMustFall protests of 2016, where groups of students would continue to study - by establishing collaborative groups and sharing data as well as learning space - despite the disruption.

Future of learning

Govender said the way forward lies in what the learner data says - what it tells us about where our students are based and how they are responding to this year. "We can't take a broad brush and stroke all our students in the same light." There is no one-size-fits-all response to their educational needs - we need to employ personalised learning solutions.

Sithole said that while it is important to invest in such services, we do not have to invest in software development from scratch. "It does not necessarily have to be African-developed platforms; it needs to be African-centric solutions. And from a tech point of view, many have already made the investments and we do not have to recreate some of those platforms. However, we need to make sure that they are fit for our context."

Implementation, customisation and consumption

As we look to employ a new online education system and its personalisation for students, we will need to move away from the synchronisation of consumption.

"The typical ways of teaching and learning were done synchronously," said Sithole, describing the typical setting of an educator standing and instructing students in the classroom. "If we're going to move into the digital world, and we think we just want to take that and 'automate it', that's not necessarily going to work."

Sithole pointed out a benefit of moving to an asynchronous teaching model is that students who do not have access to the classroom at a specific time will be able to view the lesson material and catch up as if they were in class.

Jordaan noted that student profiles are changing - there are more adult learners who are studying while working regular jobs. They have also seen that students and lecturers alike are accessing the online platform at all hours of the day and night.

"They want to study how they live," said Jordaan. "And they want to be able to customise that experience for themselves, which may even impact on the time it takes to complete their degree. That is something we need to start looking into."

"Technology allows us to leverage itself in order to give students a personalised experience and give them options," Govender added. As content is produced and provided online in a certain way, "what we want technology to do is allow that student to access that content in a way and a form that they find most accessible".

"We've seen textbooks - don't laugh, it's a reality - photocopied, generated into PDFs, put online and be called 'digital teaching and learning'. That's where the challenge is - we're not leveraging the capacity and capability of the devices that we have," continued Sithole, emphasising the importance of content and instructional designers at institutions that offer online learning options.

Opportunity to scale

"The move to this online digital environment is a huge opportunity for expansion of institutions," Govender commented. "We are not confined now by the brick-and-mortar lecture venue. What we have is knowledge systems within the universities, we have distinguished professors in the institutions, and now what we can do is expand that offering to a wider environment and at a low cost."

He advised universities to seriously consider this third-stream income: "We have largely contextual curricula that we can offer to the global market. When we look at the cost of that [expansion], we have to ask ourselves: cost and value.

"What we're going to see is that the expansion, the income generation - that third-stream income - is largely going to come from that virtual learning environment, which previously was not available in the way that we see now, but it was confined by what our brick-and-mortar structures at our institutions were."

Democratisation of education

Seckham asked Sithole whether it really is possible for children in rural and remote areas to access the same quality of education experience using technology solutions as those in the best private schools.

"I don't care where the location of a child or student is," Sithole answered, "if an institution has got the best quality educator in a specific course, and this student is found in a location across the continent where they may not necessarily have a quality teacher like that, technology should be able to bridge that gap in connecting that student with that teacher.

"This is true in higher education, but this is equally true in basic education."

Sithole said his vision, in line with Unesco's own agenda, is to leverage technology to democratise education to ensure that every child has access to good, quality education by 2030. This will be the first step out of poverty for so many in the country, as well as the continent, and so access to the necessary technology must be prioritised by government.

Upskilling teachers

Govender explained that the focus of edtech needs to not only consider the students, but the teachers as well: "They are the ones wielding the technology.

"We have to ensure they are skillful enough to leverage that technology to get the personalised experience we want the student to have."

Sithole said we can't expect brilliant educators to switch from classroom to digital teaching overnight and still be brilliant: "We need to have solutions that can look at teachers themselves, and be able to provide ways of training them - almost retraining them - to become digital teachers.

"We've got programmes that exist to convert and to help them learn how to do lesson plans and generate the content online.

"We can't leave them behind, we need them to continue to deliver good teaching and learning in this digital era."
The National Assembly (NA) on Thursday approved the Electoral Amendment Bill at its hybrid plenary sitting on Thursday.

Image source: renjith krishnan  123RF.com

The Bill was warranted by the Constitutional Court judgment in the New Nation Movement NPC and Others vs President of the Republic of South Africa and Others case in June 2020, which ruled that the Electoral Act of 1998 was unconstitutional, to the extent that it requires that adult citizens may be elected to the National Assembly and Provincial Legislation only through their membership of political parties.

The Bill is mostly aimed at, amongst others, inserting certain definitions that are deemed consequential to the expansion of the Act to include independent candidates as contesters to elections in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.

It seeks to provide for the nomination of independent candidates to contest elections in the National Assembly or provincial legislatures, and also provides for the requirements and qualifications that must be met by persons who wish to be registered as independent candidates.

The Electoral Amendment Bill was introduced to Parliament by the Home Affairs Minister on 10 January and published for public comment on 21 January 2022, with the closing date set for 21 February 2022.

Parliamentary spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, said the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, which was tasked with processing the Bill, received 107 written submissions and 13 oral submissions from individuals and organisations, including One South Africa Movement, Africa School of Governance, Zolani Zonyani, Citizens Parliament, Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Abatsha Force of Change, Independent Candidate Association, and the Inclusive Society Institute.

Submissions were also received from the 70s Group, New Nation Movement, Indigenous First Nation of South Africa and the Council for the Advancement of South African Constitution.

Mothapo said the committee also conducted provincial public hearings in all nine provinces from 7  23 March 2022, where a total of 3,483 people attended the public hearings and 610 made oral submissions, with 389 supporting the Bill and 222 rejecting the current format of the Bill.

However, he said that due to the complexity of the Bill, including the demanding extensive public participation process, the committee foresaw that it was not going to meet the Constitutional Court deadline of 10 June 2022.

In this regard, prior to the expiry of the deadline, Parliament approached the Constitutional Court to request an extension period of six months to finalise the Bill.

Mothapo said the Constitutional Court granted an extension until 10 December 2022 to complete the processing of the Bill.

In the further processing of the Bill, the committee invited the Department of Home Affairs, the Electoral Commission, and Parliamentary Legal Service to comment on the report on public participation, and the report formed the basis of the committee deliberations, where it deliberated on the Bill on several occasions and held meetings during the Parliaments Constituency period in June, July and October 2022.

The extended deliberations led to the committee proposing additional amendments to other sections of the Electoral Act, 1998, which were not part of the Bill and proposed other material changes to various definitions and clauses in the Bill. As a result, the committee requested permission from the National Assembly to extend the scope of the Bill, in terms of the National Assembly Rule 286(4)(b) and (4)(c).

The National Assembly granted permission on 1 September 2022, whereby on 2 September 2022, the committee advertised these proposed amendments and called for public submissions two weeks later on 16 September 2022, in order to ensure that members of the public have a chance to comment only on those proposed amendments to the Bill, Mothapo explained.

With reference to the renewed call for public comments, Mothapo said 258 submissions were received, comprising 254 email submissions and three hand-delivered submissions.

Also, 13 substantive submissions (emails) encompassing over 100 pages of inputs were received that included three physically hand-delivered submissions from 'Civil Society' with a total of 1,218 signatures from 'Defend our Democracy' being supported by 56 organisations and from DearSA providing a summary of its emailed submissions.

The committee considered all the received submissions and respectively deliberated on them. All these resulted in five significant changes. The committee having reconsidered the amendments in the Electoral Amendment Bill, recommended that the House approves the Bill, Mothapo said.

The Bill will now be sent to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for further consideration and concurrence.
With the KZN economy being so hard hit with Covid, looting and then the floods, it's encouraging to see the resilience of many local businesses that not only weathered these storms but continue to grow from strength to strength.

Capital Legacy, South Africas leading provider of wills and estates, is headquartered in JHB but has offices across the country, with their Umhlanga office in KZN being their second largest by staff and client base.

Capital Legacy, which launched 10 years ago in 2012, only opened their KZN offices in 2016 with all of three staff. Six years later, the KZN team has grown to over 83 people and the company as a whole now employs just over 1,000 people countrywide.

The KZN team has just moved into their new offices on Umhlanga Ridge, with room to grow and a view to boot. Touted as South Africas fastest growing financial services company, Nic Stead, KZN regional manager, says their success has not only come from their unique offering, but also because of their close relationships with their supporting financial advisors and clients.

True to many KZN businesses, the company and team remain grounded and committed to the local economy and community. Just recently, they committed to a long-term sponsorship of local rugby club, Crusaders.

CEO and co-founder, Alex Simeonides, says: We have invested time and effort into the KZN region, and we are so proud of the growth and relationships weve built. Over the last 10 years we have worked hard to claim the position of South Africas number one provider of wills. What we do as a company is not necessarily only for the client drafting the will, but for their children and family that survive them. That is why, when we rebranded, we chose yellow as our new corporate colour, because it represents a celebration of life.

Stead says: If you are in the area, feel free to pop in, grab a coffee and see our new offices. If you happen to need a last will and testament, we can help you too.

Capital Legacys new KZN offices are at 2 Ncondo Place, Block A, Umhlanga Ridge, Durban, (enter via Ntusi Road). Visit their website www.capitallegacy.co.za.
South African Auto Week - organised by naamsa | the Automotive Business Council of South Africa (naamsa) - is taking place for the first time from 24 to 30 October 2022. AutoTrader is a headline partner of the event, which will see industry experts and stakeholders from around Africa and the world coming together at the Kyalami International Convention Centre. The event will also host the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) General Assembly and its Council meeting.

According to George Mienie, AutoTrader CEO, SA Auto Week could not have come at a more appropriate time. The South African motor industry  and indeed the global automotive business  stands upon the precipice of great change. Central to that change, is the move to electric vehicles (EVs), which are essential to the future of transportation and indeed the survival of the automotive industry.

With the future of the auto industry in Africa under the microscope, numerous questions have been raised on the readiness of the SA and African market  specifically when it comes to battery electric vehicles, hybrid cars, and the future of online automotive shopping in South Africa. Never has there been a greater need for dialogue within our industry. As a headline partner, we are proud to facilitate this dialogue, he notes.

Mienie explains that there are a number of compelling reasons for the headline partnership. As the custodian of the car shopping consumer, AutoTrader is a key partner within the local automotive industry and to the various stakeholders who sell and buy cars. Furthermore, AutoTrader is the automotive industrys most trusted data partner  an asset which we leverage to enable, empower and educate the local industry. Its therefore logical to align the AutoTrader brand to SA Auto Week, he explains.

The theme for the thought leadership conference, Re-imagining the Future Together, also resonates with the company. AutoTrader is a pioneer and a driver of change. As a brand, were constantly reimagining the future together with key industry players, notes Mienie.

In addition to being a headline partner, AutoTrader is also the media centre partner, digital marketing partner and category award partner (for the awards programme). It has also invested and committed to upskilling 12 young content developers which forms an essential part of AutoTraders ongoing enterprise development.

Mienie, an automotive industry expert, will be part of discussions during SA Auto Week and will participate in panels with local and global key stakeholders.

Furthermore, AutoTrader will host a stand at SA Auto Week, which will support car dealers with market-leading and data-based insight to enable them to operate successfully in a digital world. The stand will showcase products to help dealers improve customer experiences (with the goal of driving sales).

The stand will showcase Fuzion  AutoTraders live market data pricing and car valuation tool that is used by hundreds of dealers everyday to make buying and selling decisions. Staff manning the stand will collaborate with dealers to help address business problems to solve consumer pain points. These include the dealers digital transformation, how to attract an online audience and how to price vehicles. As part of this journey, the AutoTrader team will also share unique insights on current in-market car shopping behaviour.

During SA Auto Week, AutoTrader will also provide details of promotional offers for majority black-owned dealerships, targeted at small dealerships and start ups. These include enticing pricing discount options to list on AutoTraders marketplace as well as the ability to buy stock through AutoTraders recently launched, Instant Offer, personalised workshops, consultations and training on how to market a dealership, get more leads and build a brand as well as exclusive invitations to AutoTraders Dealer Masterclasses.

Delegates and visitors to SA Auto Week will also be able to learn about AutoTraders sought-after learnership programmes as well as AutoTraders free K53 guides (over 375,000 of these guides have already been provided free of charge to aspirant car drivers and motorcycle riders).

Ultimately, the goal of South Africas largest and most digitally advanced motoring marketplace in South Africa at SA Auto Week will be to demonstrate the supportive role AutoTrader provides to the South African automotive industry. AutoTrader is much more than just a marketplace to buy and sell cars. Instead, we are able to help the industry to leverage off data from the millions of users that visit our platform. As a pioneer and driver of change, we look forward to reimagining the future together with key industry players, concludes Mienie.

To purchase tickets for the conference, click here.




The implementation of Stage 6 load shedding scares all of us, but it may also put automotive parts suppliers - the lifeblood of South Africa's advanced car industry - out of business. The South African heavy industry has been forced to innovate by necessity. When your power demands are huge, Eskom's inability to fulfil its mandate triggers anxiety... and action.

With global orders to fulfil, South African automotive assembly facilities have not been indifferent to the off-grid concept. Impressive solar installations and all manner of clever alternative power sources, independent of the stumbling reality of Eskom, have been integrated by the countrys local vehicle manufacturers.

Take a broad view of the South African automotive industry, and the power risk doesnt look too terrible. Automotive assembly, unlike food retail, doesnt require a demanding cold chain refrigeration commitment. The paint shops chemical stability and curing lights are probably your most sensitive power-off risk.

But beyond industry conferencing optimism and thought leaders drinking glasses half full of Kool-Aid, the developing risk to localised automotive assembly is massive. And on the increase.

An issue outside the factory gates

East London has been deindustrialising for years, with Mercedes-Benzs factory the only notable exception. But its solar power generation cant support everyone.

To understand why Eskoms escalations to and beyond stage 6 could tip the entire automotive assembly industry into crisis, think beyond Rosslyn, Prospecton, Silverton, Kariega, Gqeberha and the Buffalo River. BMW, Nissan, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen (VW), Isuzu, and Mercedes-Benzs core assembly assets have secure power, the result of engineers and management recognising that Eskom was beyond repair a decade ago.

But the issue is not at the final assembly stage. Its in the supplier community. Those small engineering shops and enterprises supply the diversity of components that make up nearly a third of locally produced car content.

The reason South Africa has such a sophisticated and scaled automotive industry is part legacy, part incentive policy. When the country was an economic powerhouse in the 1960s, demand for passenger and commercial vehicles was so great that most brands happily established local manufacturing facilities.

As the economy diversified and the Rand depreciated throughout the 1990s, conditions became conducive to servicing export markets, which is what most local vehicle manufacturers pivoted to. And Governments industrial policy regarding the automotive industry has been one of creeping localisation  a worthy idea, with some very unintended consequences.

Manufacturers must use a fixed percentage of domestic content to keep Government happy and retain the export credit incentives that make local vehicle assembly viable. And that percentage has been increasing, over time, to the current requirement of close to 40%, depending on specific formulations. The goal in future is to raise this to 60%. That means the domestic supplier base needs to grow to achieve that 60% number, but Eskom is making that nearly impossible.

Its not just alternative power, its storage too

These are the true heroes of South Africas world-class auto industry, the small-scale suppliers.

It is a credit to the quality of local suppliers that luxury car buyers in many of the worlds wealthiest cities own cars of which about a 3rd is made up of South African engineering content.

But what happens when stage 6 load shedding keeps happening and smaller suppliers, without the shielding of alternative energy sources, start running way behind schedule  or simply go offline for weeks on end? Direct-feed solar is a huge benefit, but to run late shifts after sunset, battery capacity is required. And energy storage remains notably expensive, making it prohibitive for many small businesses.

There is, of course, a tremendous sense of irony in the fact that battery storage is so expensive, due to import tariffs. Broadly the same tariffs are making it so challenging to price electric vehicles competitively and stimulate local demand.

We have a real-world example of what will happen to South African vehicle assembly if a higher frequency of stage 6  and higher  load shedding persists: there will be a lot of incomplete cars and unfulfilled global delivery commitments.

For the last year and a half, theres been a global shortage of new vehicles due to one sub-type of componentry being difficult to source  the semiconductor (possibly the smallest and lightest part of a new car). The semiconductor crisis illustrated how vulnerable vehicle manufacturing could be due to an overreliance on external suppliers instead of vertical integration.

The semiconductor crisis proved how complex modern cars have become. There was no option to switch and substitute between suppliers and specifications with a component as sophisticated as a semiconductor.

And that theme applies on a very granular level across the South African domestic automotive supply chain. There just arent enough redundancy suppliers because of the just-in-time and just-in-place production systems that all car companies have copied from Toyota in preceding decades; those strategies are all about running ultra-lean/within very narrow margins.

Off-grid and running shifts

South African OEMs, such as FMCSA, have invested in solar. But how many small engineering businesses can do the same?

What is the nightmare scenario for South African automotive manufacturing? Its the risk that skilled locally component suppliers might liquidate their business after a bout of prolonged power outages. All the best intentions and solar panels at OEM assembly facilities do nothing to protect suppliers from stage 6 and worse.

Its credible and prudent that BMW, Ford, Isuzu, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, VW and Toyota have journeyed to a position of relative independence from the disaster that is Eskom. But they remain deeply vulnerable to the risk of stage 6 and worse. Without specific locally sourced components, there will be no fully assembled vehicles rolling off their production lines and being shipped offshore, to earn those credits.

Supplier vulnerability was never a theme of discussion until the pandemic and the resulting semiconductor crisis proved exactly how exposed large car companies were to external influences. Solutions? During the deepest pandemic panic, there was an understanding that car companies would financially support select global suppliers. It was a matter of mutual survival instead of corporate generosity.

But the pandemic was always going to be temporary. Eskoms power crisis, by contrast, has been a permanent feature of the South African economy for the past 15 years and, alarmingly, the situation shows no signs of improving.

Small business needs help

SA-built bakkies, travelling by road, for export by port. But will the volumes continue to grow, into the future?

The Department of Trade and Industry, which is mandated to grow the automotive industry, reduce risks to business and enhance entrenched employment diversity, is doing nothing. Small automotive industry suppliers need relatively little power, compared to large industrial users, but they need it consistently. If the government enacted the 100MW private generating laws, various build projects across urban industrial zones could solve the issue. But it hasnt.

The talk is about South Africas automotive industry transforming in line with the motoring worlds transition from ICE to new-energy powertrains. That will require new production systems and local suppliers producing complex battery chemistry slurries, where power outages would be a total disaster.

When your CNC machine stops milling a metal part, thats not great, but it can restart and complete the job when power is restored. But battery chemistry? All those solvents and sensitive coasting require meticulous processing and dont take kindly to interruption.

Whats the worst-case scenario for the local motor industry? Instead of local sourcing and true proudly South African built vehicles, we could experience a future of many CKD kits, where you only fasten a few elementary parts, completing a vehicle which is effectively imported, in a state of near completion. In this dystopian future, South Africa will still have an automotive production sector, but it will be an artificial one, without the depth of skilled employment and career progression it has offered since the mid-2000s.

Then there is the impending end of the current generation of vehicles built locally. Each manufacturing plant has to bid for whatever product comes next and if our local plants dont meet the standards of the German/Japanese bosses (due to constant delays caused by power shortages) they will simply shut up shop and go elsewhere.

Even worse would be the loss of a diverse and thriving small business sector of technical suppliers that keep the country in touch with global technology trends  one that offers true labour upskilling.

This article was originally published on Cars.co.za...
October is Transport Month in South Africa - a time dedicated to raising awareness around road safety and the economic importance of the sector and looking at how local and global developments are driving change in the industry.

Ben Bierman

For people interested in starting a business, Transport Month provides the ideal opportunity to hone in on the industrys value chain and the emerging opportunities that exist for aspiring business owners.

This piece explores three lower-investment opportunities that exist within the transport sector as well as the major challenges that lie ahead for entrants going into the market.

Express courier company

The e-commerce boom, triggered by the pandemic in 2020, led to a sudden upsurge in the demand for courier services. Post-pandemic, this trend is showing no signs of slowing down.

More specifically, according to the South African Express Parcel Association (SAEPA), the express parcel industry is currently the fastest growing transport-related sector in the country. Consumer appetite for quick shipping turnarounds or 48-hour deliveries has increased, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to start home delivery businesses. Innovative ideas in this arena include a bicycle courier service, grocery delivery to underserviced areas or a gift basket delivery company.

The biggest challenge that aspiring entrepreneurs will face when entering the sector is likely to be sourcing funding to cover the cost of the first vehicles, GPS-technology, uniforms, marketing costs and insurance. The success of an application for small business funding in this sector rests largely on the thoroughness of the business plan and a clear breakdown of how the funding will be spent.

Owner-driver training provider

The owner-driver concept first entered the South African market in the mid-1980s and experienced a boom with the advent of technology such as Uber. In these models, employees own the vehicles they use to transport people and goods and have the opportunity to become formal business owners.

Several owner-driver programmes to encourage job creation in this sector have been launched by key industry players such as SAB and Mondi. This has opened up a new ecosystem for aspiring entrepreneurs, specifically with regards to driver education and training. Programme facilitators will need to partner with training providers for soft skills such as financial acumen, customer service, sales as well as health and safety.

The biggest challenge for small businesses in this arena is sharp competition, particularly in terms of pricing. Here, operational efficiency and customer service will need to be prioritised in order to remain competitive and profitable.

Waterless car wash

The Cape Town water crisis of 2017 saw many car wash services across the city iterating their offering to include waterless options. A few years after this disaster brought the reality of water scarcity to the fore, the impact of climate change has reawakened the demand for more sustainable business models.

This has created an opportunity for pioneering entrepreneurs to start eco-friendly and environmentally conscious car washes. The market for these kinds of establishments remains relatively unsaturated, which gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to be one of the first to market. A mobile, green car wash business that provides a house-to-house, on-demand service for example, could serve as an attractive differentiator in the market.

Entrepreneurs who wish to start their own green car washes will likely be faced with the challenge of sourcing, testing and learning about new technology. Currently, although there are multiple entrants into this space, waterless car wash technology is likely to develop in leaps and bounds in the years to come. The challenge for entrepreneurs, therefore, is finding the most cost-effective tech solutions and then keeping abreast of developments in the sector in order to remain competitive.




The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a new $88 billion national biodefense strategy that outlines the governments plans for how to respond to future pandemics, public health emergencies and biological threats.

The launch of the National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan for Countering Biological Threats, Enhancing Pandemic Preparedness, and Achieving Global Health Security included the signing of National Security Memorandum-15 (NSM-15).

Key elements of the new strategy include the rapid production and distribution of vaccines and diagnostic tests, and enhancing global health security.

The strategy also includes a new framework for the federal governments role during a future crisis, which places the White House at the center of any such response, coordinating the actions of multiple federal agencies.

The White House said the new strategy adopts lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an interview with The Defender, University of Illinois international law professor Francis Boyle, J.D., Ph.D., a bioweapons expert who drafted the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, said:

It appears that the enormous amount of money here, $88 billion over five years, when you add it on to well over, I would say, maybe $130 billion [in biodefense spending] since Sept. 11, 2001, means that they are gearing up to fight biological weapons warfare around the world.

Boyle told The Defender that between October 2001 and October 2015, the federal government spent $100 billion on biological warfare purposes.

To put that into perspective, he said, in constant dollars, the Manhattan Project to develop the atom bomb was $40 billion.

Plan calls for development, distribution of new vaccines within 130 days

Bidens new biodefense strategy includes the rapid development and deployment of new vaccines and diagnostics that it foresees in response to any future biological threats.

According to the White Houses plan, these biological threats may be naturally occurring, accidental [or] deliberate, with the potential to significantly impact humans, animals (domestic and wildlife), plants, and the environment, and to negatively affect health, the economy, society, and security.

According to STAT, the plans targets include:

Being able to test for new pathogens within 12 hours.

Making rapid tests available to the public within 90 days.

Repurposing existing drugs within 90 days.

Developing vaccines within 100 days.

Manufacturing enough of the new vaccine for the entire U.S. population within 130 days and for the high-risk global population within 200 days.

Developing new treatments within 180 days.

In justifying the new strategy, an unnamed senior Biden administration official quoted by The Hill said:

We  know that the risk of another pandemic as bad or worse than COVID is a real threat. The new National Biodefense Strategy therefore outlines a bold vision  towards a world free of pandemics and catastrophic biological incidents.

According to Defense One, other goals contained within the plan include detecting the spread of pathogens before patients even begin to show symptoms like fever and scaling up the number of diagnostic test kits by tens of thousands within a week.

A further element of the plan is restoring community, the economy and the environment after a pandemic or biological incident, The Hill reported.

The Biden administrations plan also includes provisions for preparedness against the accidental release of biological agents, and threats posed by terrorist groups or adversaries seeking to use biological weapons.

Noting that COVID-19 has highlighted that the United States and the world are vulnerable to biological threats, whether naturally occurring, accidental, or deliberate, the plan states:

It is a vital interest of the United States to prepare for, prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from biological threats at home and abroad.

Therefore, countering biological threats, advancing pandemic preparedness, and achieving global health security are top national and international security priorities for the United States.

Moving forward, the United States must fundamentally transform its capabilities to protect our Nation from biological threats and advance pandemic preparedness and health security more broadly for the world.

According to STAT, an unnamed senior Biden administration official said Tuesday, One of the important things that COVID has taught us is that we need to be able to move much faster to counter pandemic threats, and we also need to be prepared for completely unknown threats.

The same official said the plan includes moonshot targets that are not scientifically feasible presently, but potentially could be within a decade.

According to the official, these new developments can target the 26 families of viruses that infect humans, many of which we are far less prepared for than coronaviruses.

Will Congress fund it?

Some questioned the plans price tag and the willingness of Congress to approve its funding.

One of the elements of the new strategy is its connection to a March 2022 request to Congress for $88 billion in funding over five years for pandemic preparedness and biodefense, a request that has thus far stalled.

These monies are intended, in part, to fund new research to predict outbreaks before they become pandemics, and accelerate rapid testing to get ahead of where viruses are moving, Defense One said.

Some of this money will come from the baseline funding of the federal agencies involved in this strategy, but its unclear whether Congress has much of an appetite for additional public health spending, according to STAT, which noted that Republicans in Congress have balked at recent requests for funding the ongoing monkeypox and COVID-19 responses.

According to the White House, the new strategy builds on USAIDs [U.S. Agency for International Development] announcement earlier this year committing $150 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to accelerate the development of life-saving vaccines and countermeasures against biological threats.

The White House also included the $1.4 billion in seed funding it provided earlier this year to the groundbreaking new Financial Intermediary Fund for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response at the World Bank.

Boyle described the $88 billion in projected funding over the next five years as a dramatic escalation with no justification from legitimate scientific reasons.

He noted that since 2015, the federal government has allocated anywhere from $5 to $6 billion per year on biological warfare purposes, which, being conservative, would mean a sum total from Sept. 11, 2001, until now, of $135-$140 billion.

In his view, this money is being allocated into further expanding the U.S. biological warfare industry  for the purpose of waging biological warfare, and instead should have been spent on the public health of the American people.

You find Tony Fauci behind all of it

Part of the price tag for the new biodefense strategy appears to be directed toward recruiting, training and sustaining a robust, permanent cadre of health workers in all 50 states, in the words of a senior Biden administration official quoted by Reuters.

Referring to it as a public health army, STAT reported that this cadre of health workers will include laboratory technicians, veterinarians, and community health workers  to not only better detect emerging diseases but respond to them.

In turn, Defense One reported that the strategy aims to boost the number of local healthcare workers and traditional frontline healthcare workers, but also, many new positions related to research and data collection, including expanding the CDCs epidemiology field officer program and bringing more epidemiologists to every state.

The Biden administration also said it is committed to helping at least 50 countries strengthen their own local capacities, strengthening public health workforces both in the United States and globally and establishing international mechanisms to bolster laboratory safety, according to STAT.

For some, international mechanisms may bring to mind the recent and ongoing efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO) to establish a renewed global pandemic treaty  efforts in which the United States under the Biden administration has played a leading role.

As previously reported by The Defender, the Biden administration expressed broad support for a pandemic treaty and previously headed negotiations on this issue.

In his interview with The Defender, Boyle also drew connections between the Biden administrations new strategy, and efforts to develop the pandemic treaty.

Referring to the Biden administrations recently signed executive order on advancing biotechnology and biomanufacturing, Boyle remarked that it makes mention of dual-use research of concern, and research involving potentially pandemic and other high-consequence pathogens.

For Boyle, dual-use research refers to the development of both offensive and defensive biological weapons of warfare, noting that when it comes to biological warfare, defense means offense.

If they are saying they are doing all this for defensive purposes, its because they are also planning offensive use of biological warfare weapons, with the defense to defend themselves in the event that adversaries respond in kind, Boyle added.

This then connects to the pandemic treaty, according to Boyle, noting that Dr. Anthony Fauci has close ties to the WHOs executive committee:

If you recall, Trump pulled us out of the WHO. The first act Biden did was to put us back into the WHO  and he appointed Tony Fauci as the U.S. governments representative on the WHO executive committee.

So the same guy supporting this dual research of concern  is also implementing, supervising this new WHO treaty.

Bidens strategy also calls for international mechanisms that can help strengthen lab safety and biosecurity practices around the world, especially in light of questions about the risks and benefits of research into potentially dangerous viruses, including the COVID-19 Wuhan lab-leak theory.

This may indicate that Biden is seeking to expand gain-of-function research globally. As recently reported by The Defender, facilities conducting such research  including a facility where a purportedly more lethal strain of the COVID-19 Omicron variant was developed  are currently being expanded in the U.S.

Gain of function refers to the manipulation of pathogens to make them more dangerous, in the hope of getting ahead of a future outbreak.

As part of the new strategy, a policy coordination structure for biodefense among government agencies with oversight by the White House was signed, Reuters reported.

According to The Hill, this memorandum outlines the coordination structure for biodefense across federal agencies, directs agencies to prioritize biodefense, directs the intelligence community to track evolving threat landscapes and ensures the government is continuously reviewing and adjusting priorities.

Boyle, an outspoken critic of gain-of-function research, said it appears such research will be an integral part of the Biden administrations new biodefense strategy. He told The Defender:

Its clear in the language that they are going full steam ahead on abusing DNA, genetic engineering, gain-of-function, synthetic biology, gene splicing, CRISPR-Cas9, to develop biological warfare weapons.

He said that the proposed WHO pandemic treaty includes language on measures to provide oversight and report on laboratories that do work to genetically alter organisms in order to increase pathogenicity and transmissibility.

For Boyle, this means gain-of-function work, using and abusing DNA engineering, synthetic biology, CRISPR-Cas9. Thats in the WHO treaty.

It all ties up, Boyle added. The executive order, the biodefense strategy, the WHO treaty. You find Tony Fauci behind all of it.

Boyle added:

When you add all this up together, it seems to me theyre gearing up to prepare to wage offensive biological warfare and preparing for the defense, for other states to respond with biological warfare weapons.

Plan calls for coordination across federal agencies under White House control

The administrations new biodefense strategy will utilize more than 20 federal agencies, while oversight for the strategy will be at the White House, under the national security advisor.

According to a senior Biden administration official, the new strategy directs the U.S. intelligence community to monitor for threats and ensure the United States continuously adapts to this evolving threat landscape by holding annual exercises, to prevent epidemics and biological incidents before they happen, Reuters reported.

This may bring to mind exercises and simulations that took place just prior to the COVID-19, monkeypox and anthrax outbreaks, which appeared to predict, with remarkable similarity, what was to follow.

According to Bidens new strategy, the heads of the relevant federal agencies shall implement the Biodefense Strategy, as well as related strategies such as the U.S. Global Health Security Strategy, and include biodefense-related activities  within their strategic planning and budgetary processes.

Federal agencies also will be expected to coordinate with each other and with non-federal agencies on matters pertaining to the biodefense enterprise.

Is new strategy a moonshot, or pie-in-the-sky?

In addition to questions about funding, some also questioned the feasibility of the new plan.

Defense One wrote that meeting some of the moonshot goals of the strategy will require scaling up data-collection efforts at research facilities around the globe, in addition to significantly ratcheting up a host of other research-related efforts, noting that the administration did not specify exactly what technologies they will invest in.

According to Defense One, new approaches to RNA research to ease pandemics may need to be developed, in addition to new forms of plant-based vaccines that could allow for the scaling up of vaccine production by orders of magnitude.

An unnamed senior Biden administration official quoted by Defense One acknowledged that the moonshots foreseen by the plan are not possible today, but these capabilities can be achieved and are within our reach with the right resources over the next five to 10 years.

Hiring more health workers may also prove challenging for the Biden administration due to a shortage of nurse practitioners that is expected to grow by 2025, along with looming shortages of other healthcare workers.
Liquor retailer Dan Murphys credibility as a tenant is underpinning the strong prices being paid for the freehold of its stores by investors.

A private consortium has set a record-low 2.94 per cent yield for a Dan Murphys store in Pakenham, on Melbournes south-east urban fringe, forking out $14.75 million for the freestanding store.

The Dan Murphys tenancy is on a large 1.216 hectare parcel at 8 Portobello Road. Credit:

The sharp price paid by the consortium bettered a previous benchmark result set by a family of Italian heritage when they paid $22.5 million in 2017  at the time one of the sharpest retail yields around at 3.22 per cent  to snare Dan Murphys Alphington outlet which also included groups head office in Heidelberg Road.

The latest deal also comes hot on the heels of an investor paying a benchmark 3.48 per cent yield for the liquor retailers Malvern outlet, which fetched $21.1 million last month.
Online news outlet Crikey has had a preliminary win in its defamation fight with Lachlan Murdoch, after a judge rejected Murdochs application to throw out part of the media outlets public interest defence before the trial.

In a decision in the Federal Court in Sydney on Friday, Justice Michael Wigney said he was not persuaded its appropriate to strike out any paragraph of Crikeys defence before the trial.

Eric Beecher, the chairman of Private Media, the publisher of Crikey; Trump supporters outside the Capitol in 2021, and Lachlan Murdoch. Credit:Thom Rigney, AP, Getty

He also rejected an application by Crikey to strike out part of the News Corp co-chairmans reply to its defence.

The issues raised were more appropriately determined on a final basis at trial, Wigney said.
Calls to crackdown on vaping laws in Australia

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Car crashes into Melbourne childcare centre

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A prehistoric icon has won out over a recent heavyweight challenger, with Muttaburrasaurus officially named Queenslands State Fossil.

A replica skeleton of the dinosaur has been a centrepiece of Queensland Museums collection in Brisbane for many years, with generations of schoolchildren gazing up at the home-grown dinosaur.

The Muttaburrasaurus has convincingly won the title of Queenslands State Fossil.

That recognition appears to have worked, with a recent poll by the state government to determine the state fossil seeing the dinosaur earn twice as many votes as its nearest rival, the recently discovered Australotitan cooperensis.

That giant sauropod is the largest dinosaur ever discovered in Australia and one of the largest in the world, with the announcement of its official classification in 2021 drawing headlines around the world.
This story is part of a series examining how billions of dollars are being rorted from Medicare each year. See all 24 stories .

Doctors billing Medicare for consultations at a NSW aged care facility while residents were asleep; radiologists claiming for a single CT brain scan as two separate procedures; and a specialist surgeon calling a patient to cancel an operation so he could take his dog to the vet but then claiming the call as a specialist consultation.

These are just three of the hundreds of cases that have flooded in after a joint investigation into Medicare rorting by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and ABCs 7.30, as the calls grow louder for federal Health Minister Mark Butler to launch an independent inquiry into Medicare.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler is under pressure to launch a review into the Medicare scheme. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

One patient, Trevor, who had his surgery cancelled on December 17 last year said the surgeon spent less than a minute talking to him on the phone.

I was booked in to have a small lump removed from my mouth on a Saturday morning and the surgeon rang me the day before to say he had to take the dog to the vet and had to cancel my toe surgery. I told him it was my mouth, he said.
A baby girl is in a stable condition in hospital after a car crashed into a family daycare centre in Melbournes north on Friday morning.

The car ploughed through the front glass window of Bright Beginnings Family Day Care in Broadmeadows about 9am, injuring the 11-month-old girl and three adults.

Victoria Police said the baby was lucky to escape serious injury and that she was taken from the Central Grove centre to the Royal Childrens Hospital for observation.

A spokeswoman for the hospital confirmed the baby was in a stable condition on Friday afternoon.
You converted to Judaism when you married American journalist and author Tony Horwitz, a fellow Pulitzer Prize-winner, in 1984. Yes, but he couldnt have cared less. For me, it was about history more than it was about religion. His Jewish lineage had obviously survived through millennia, through expulsion and  in more recent times  pogrom and the Shoah. I wasnt going to be the end of Judaism in his branch of the family, so I converted. And I thought, Well, this is my way of giving the finger to Adolf Hitler.

Of all the thousands of things I miss, what I miss the most is the humour. [My late husband Tony Horwitz] was just such a funny guy; he made me laugh every single day. Credit:Jennifer Soo

Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects were told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics theyre given. This week, he talks to Geraldine Brooks. The author and journalist, 67, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel March in 2006. Her debut novel, Year of Wonders, has been translated into more than 25 languages; her latest is Horse.

Where does that sigh of exasperation come from? Its not really exasperation. Im very grateful to have grown up in a tradition: Catholicism. My sister and I dragged ourselves to Mass and went to a Catholic school. Im grateful for the nuns and their dedication to womens education, particularly. And, at the time I was coming up, they were a bunch of ardent feminists, so it was fantastic, actually.

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And yet  there was also ambivalence? Oh, I rebelled against it at a very young age. I was in my early teens and I was just incredibly pissed off at the fact that Catholics were against birth control and at the consequences of that for the developing world. So I had a social conscience, probably created by the same nuns who I was rebelling against.

Tony died suddenly in 2019, aged 60. How has that loss changed how you see the world, or what you believe in? Its a much more personal, sensual, daily absence. Of all the thousands of things I miss, what I miss the most is the humour. He was just such a funny guy; he made me laugh every single day. I just miss the guy that I hugged who made me laugh at the end of every working day.

What are your commandments for good writing? Put your bum in the chair and stay there for as long as possible. When theres no wind, row. You have to do the work every day, just like anybody else with a job does. Read poetry.
The federal parliaments law enforcement committee chair, Helen Polley, says Lidia Thorpe should consider her future in the Senate, as she launches an inquiry into what confidential briefings the Greens senator received about motorcycle gangs and organised crime.

Adding to the pressure on Thorpe, the Coalition is pushing for her to censured in the Senate when parliament returns next week, following revelations she failed to disclose a relationship with former Rebels bikie president Dean Martin.

Greens leader Adam Bandt, left, Lidia Thorpe, and Dean Martin. Credit:Jason South, Paul Jeffers, Jesse Marlow

Polley, a Labor senator, stressed she was not suggesting Thorpe had shared confidential information but said I think trust has been breached by her not declaring her conflict of interest.

She needs to look at whether or not the Senate is the right place for her, Polley said. It doesnt pass the pub test if you dont declare your interests  her staff warned her and still she failed to act.
Some schools are reconsidering whether to run muck-up days for year 12s after a religion teacher at the high-fee boys school Scotch College was injured during an end-of-year celebration.

Scotch College has yet to communicate with the school community about the muck-up day incident last Friday, which led to a teacher being taken to hospital after falling and hitting his head.

Scotch College in Hawthorn. Credit:Joe Armao

Workplace relations specialist at Dentons law firm, Paul OHalloran, said his school clients were looking at whether muck-up days and similar events should continue, given their unpredictable nature and potential health and safety risks.

Employers have responsibilities to ensure the health and safety of employees in their workplace, OHalloran said.
University student Akshay Gonpot never expected to be evicted from his Chippendale home just weeks after agreeing to a rent rise.

He knew Sydneys rental market was becoming increasingly expensive, but thought paying an additional $45 per week would be enough to satisfy his landlord. It was not.

International student Akshay Gonpots rent rose by $45 per week. Less than three weeks later he was told to move out. Credit: Janie Barrett

Within three weeks the 27-year-old international student and other tenants at his boarding house were given two weeks notice to vacate. And within three days, another tenant had put a deposit on his room that had gone from $295 per week to $430.

They gave us an eviction notice to 16 tenants without reason  when my friend asked why they said it was because they wanted new tenants as [they] thought [we] wouldnt agree to pay the new rent, he said.
Mordaunt came third in the MPs vote and will need to beat Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak if she is to become Britains fourth female prime minister. Ive been encouraged by support from colleagues who want a fresh start, a united party and leadership in the national interest, she said on Twitter. Im running to be the leader of the Conservative Party and your prime minister - to unite our country, deliver our pledges and win the next general election, she said. Conservative leadership hopeful Penny Mordaunt. Credit:Bloomberg Mordaunt will need the endorsement of 100 MPs and had less than 20 when she declared.

Both Sunak and Johnsons teams were gathering numbers, with Sunak gaining momentum. Based on public declarations made by MPs, Sunak is in the lead. But neither man had declared themselves a candidate, with three days left until the first round of voting begins. A maximum of three candidates can stand based on the number of Conservative MPs and the 100-vote threshold required to nominate. A Reuters tally of Conservative lawmakers who have made public declarations of support put Sunak on 70 backers, Johnson on 37 and Mordaunt on 20. If three candidates nominate, a first round of voting will knock out any third candidate. A further indicative vote will be held to signal to members the MPs preferred candidates, to try to avoid a rerun of the Truss scenario where members voted for the candidate who had the least support among MPs.

Its possible that just one candidate could emerge by the end of nomination and voting on Monday, and if so, would see the installation of the UKs next prime minister earlier than next Friday. But if the poll goes to an online vote of members, the result wont be known until Friday. Truss remains prime minister until she visits the King. Sunak supporters were heartened by a poll which found that the former chancellor of the exchequer would pose the strongest challenge to Labour leader Keir Starmer. Former chancellor Rishi Sunak. Credit:AP

However, a separate poll found that if an election were held today, Starmer would defeat all candidates and return Labour to power after 12 years in the political wilderness. Labour wants a general election but one is not due for another two years. Opiniums survey of 1350 British adults asked participants who they thought the Conservative Party should choose as its next prime minister. Sunak beat Mordaunt 45 per cent to 23 per cent and also outranked Johnson 44 per cent to 31 per cent. George Brandis with Liz Truss in London after she became Conservative Party leader. Just 45 days later, she announced her resignation.

YouGov found that Starmer was preferred to all three candidates and had Labour polling at 56 per cent compared with 19 per cent for the Conservatives and 10 per cent for the Liberal Democrats. Johnson remains popular with Conservative party members but a YouGov poll of 3429 adults conducted on Friday found 52 per cent of Britons would be unhappy to see him return as prime minister. Allowance questions Ratings agency Moodys on Friday lowered the United Kingdoms outlook to negative from stable. There was heightened unpredictability in policymaking amid weaker growth prospects and high inflation, the agency said. The report said there was also risks to the UKs debt affordability from likely higher borrowing and risk of a sustained weakening in policy credibility. Starmer called on Truss to decline the 115,000 annual allowance allocated to former prime ministers. She has not earned the right to that entitlement. In my view, she should turn it down, he said.
Latest News Mortgage brokers hit more than 70% market share Highest percentage recorded for residential home loans

RBA governor apologises to mortgage holders Lowe sorry interest rates comment was misconstrued

Bendigo Bank has expanded its flood assistance package for agribusiness customers in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, and Tasmania.

Eligible customers will now see their agribusiness loan payments deferred for up to six months, from three months, to support customers who were impacted by the floods.

Adam Rowse, chief customer office business and agribusiness, said the move was the right thing to do given the circumstances.

What were seeing on the ground is simply devastating for many of our farmers and agribusinesses customers, Rowse said. Expanding our assistance package is just one small way we can help. Our farmers are the backbone of this country, providing the food we put on our tables every night. Its critical we provide them with the support they need when times are tough.

Other support measures available to flood-impacted agribusinesses include flood grants of $10,000 from the Victorian government for eligible farmers and primary producers in Victoria and the federal governments Disaster Recovery Payments of $1,000 per adult and $400 for children under 16.

Concerned customers are advised to speak with their local branch manager, banking manager, or agribusiness relationship manager when its safe to do so.

For more information regarding financial hardship and applying for assistance, Bendigo Bank customers can contact the Mortgage Help Centre on 1300 652 146 or visit www.bendigobank.com.au/help.
Latest News Mortgage brokers hit more than 70% market share Highest percentage recorded for residential home loans

RBA governor apologises to mortgage holders Lowe sorry interest rates comment was misconstrued

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has joined forces with Griffith University to establish a new academy focused on tackling financial crime.

The academy will combine CBAs existing capability to combat financial crime and Griffith Universitys expertise in business and accounting structures, criminology, and cybersecurity technologies, to offer financial crime investigation and compliance programs.

This collaboration is part of a global effort to address financial crime, said Andreas Chai, Griffith Business School Accounting, Finance and Economics head of department. We aim to contribute to national solutions to safeguard the integrity of the global financial system and of Australias national security. The new national standard will be achieved by equipping students with foundational knowledge of financial crime obligations and core analytical skills in forensic accounting, investigations, and criminology that will help them to identify and detect patterns of financial crime behaviour in financial data.

Chai said proceeds from criminal activity accounted for $3 trillion annually around the world, which was about 2% of the global GDP, with less than 1% of this ever reclaimed.

The academy has been established to help address the shortage of skilled workers who specialise in combatting financial crime. It also aims to create learning pathways for students, people wishing to re-skill to move into financial crime prevention, as well as existing professionals who would like to build on their expertise.

The academy will provide CBA employees access to professional development opportunities as well as help grow the financial crime workforce. Programs will be offered as non-award micro-credentials and award postgraduate graduate certificate and graduate diploma qualifications.

We are pleased to partner with Griffith University to build Australias capability to combat financial crime, said Nigel Williams, CBAs group chief risk officer. Together we will help protect our community by making it harder for criminals.

I am excited by this partnership with Griffith University, enabling the combined skills and experience of our respective institutions to build a sustainable career path for this profession, said John Fogarty, CBAs executive general manager of financial crime compliance. This is the start of a qualification that can be applied across all industries to help combat the real impacts of financial crime in our community.

CBA will provide investment, experts, and support a number of graduate positions. The tie-up will also enable collaborative research projects and the development of innovative technology and service delivery tools.
Latest News Mortgage brokers hit more than 70% market share Highest percentage recorded for residential home loans

RBA governor apologises to mortgage holders Lowe sorry interest rates comment was misconstrued

The impact of mum and dad investors on the real estate market, and especially the rental market, is significant. Increasing costs and dwindling rental stock levels (particularly in Perth) prove how integral mum and dad investors are to a healthy rental pool. To learn more about the definition of a mum and dad investor, how tenancy law reforms could impact them, and what may be pushing them out, read on.

Who exactly are mum and dad investors?

Mum and dad investors are essentially non-professional, small-scale investors. The definition creates a distinction between Australians who invest in the property market versus Australians who invest in anything outside that market. In other words, high rollers tend to invest in the stock market. If you invest in the property marketand you are not a property developerthen you are a mum and dad investor.

The impact of mum and dad investors is significant. At the beginning of 2022, these types of investors were especially active in Queensland, South Australia, and New South Waleswhich was welcome news for the property market. At the end of 2021, new investor loan commitments increased by 1.1% to near record levels, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. It had been the 12th consecutive month that the value of new loan commitments increased, reaching the highest level since 2015.

How would reforms for tenancy laws affect mum and dad investors?

Some 61% of investors are willing to sell their homes if significant changes to residential tenancy laws are adopted, according to a survey of more than 7,000 investors conducted by Synergies Economic Consulting. Two of the more controversial proposals to reform the Residential Tenancies Act (1987) include eliminating the requirement for a tenant to get the property owners consent to make modifications to the property and removing the property owners right to end a tenancy unless on prescribed grounds, such as the owner wanting to sell the property or move back in, for instance.

This would impact mum and dad investors disproportionately since those investors with one or two properties make up over 90% of all rental owners. Some say removing these property owner rights will prevent Australians from investing in Western Australia properties in the future, and therefore add pressure to local governmentsand taxpayers.

According to the Synergies report, the proposed reforms would, if passed, impose up to $105 million in increased rents on Western Australias tenants every year. It would also incur an estimated $143 million in higher property management costs each year.

The importance of mum and dad investors to Australias rental pool

Mum and dad property investors are seen as integral to a healthy rental pool in Australia. What is currently happening in Perth is a good example of why. Rental stock levels in the Western Australia capital have hit a 12-year low, with only 1,675 properties available to rent at the end of September, according to the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA). That figure represents the lowest the stock has been since November 2010, when there were only 1,537 available.

And this is where mum and dad investors come in, according to REIWA president Damian Collins who said they ensure that rental prices remain affordable. Our research shows that 72% of people who own investment properties only own one, and are most likely working as schoolteachers, nurses or other healthcare professionals, Collins told Mortgage Professional Australia recently. Any changes to WAs tenancy laws that discourage investors from buying residential property in WA will make an already tough situation worse. Thats why REIWA is working hard to keep tenancy laws fair and equitable for all parties.

Why do mum and dad investors exit the rental market?

Increasing costs for land tax, maintenance and rates are forcing mum and dad investors into a precarious position, with some considering a high-priced sale in a hot market. The real dilemma for most of these investors is whether a lump sum of money would be more secure in the longer term than a regular income rental.

According to the Real Estate Institute, mum and dad investors are starting to bail out of the market to earn massive capital gains. Often, investors want to sell due to increased land taxes, legislative changes, and escalating energy efficiency standards.
Motilal Oswal, one of Indias largest financial institutions, has funded a sum of Rs 260 crore in Urbanrise - Alliance Group, South Indias largest developer, for the companys upcoming three major projects in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The funds were raised towards three upcoming projects - 30 acresvilla project on Kanakapura Road, Bangalore, 7 acres high-rise apartment project in Whitefield, Bangalore and the 17.5 acres of high-rise apartment project in Nizampet, Hyderabad. The total saleable area in these three projects would extent to 6.2 million square feet and is expected generate a revenue of Rs 4,600 crore.

We are pleased to announce that has funded three of our projects in one tranche, thereby marking a new beginning in our relationship. This has been possible due to our track record of promptly repaying every single of our loans taken over the last 18 years and even prepaying loans ahead of the loan tenure. Financial Discipline has always been the DNA of our company, through which we have managed to mark many benchmarks in the industry. During the middle of Covid lockdown we have prepaid a loan of Rs. 140 crore funded by ADIA and Kotak Realty, a good 24 months ahead of that loan tenure, said Manoj Namburu, Chairman and Managing Director of Urbanrise and Alliance Group.

We have partnered with Alliance Group  a leading developer based in South India having operations in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore - for a total commitment of INR 260 Crore. We continue to remain bullish on the mid-income housing segment in India. We hope that this investment forms a foundation of a long-standing partnership with Alliance Group. said Sharad Mittal  Executive Director and chief executive officer of funds, Alternates.
firm is in talks with its parent Walmart, General Atlantic, and other existing to raise about $700 million, sources said.

The round is expected to more than double the firms valuation to around $12 billion and make it Indias most-valued financial technology firm ahead of Razorpay, which is valued at $7.5 billion.

 has been in talks with for a while to raise the round and is seeking valuation to about $12 billion, said a person familiar with the matter.

was last valued at about $5.5 billion in December 2020 after raising $700 million in primary capital from existing including Tiger Global, and Walmart, the worlds largest retailer.

Industry sources said the new round is not related to PhonePes initial public offering (IPO) plans, which are at least three years away. The is expected to help PhonePe scale up its operations and help it compete with Google Pay, Paytm, and Amazon Pay in the space, which is expected to touch $350 billion in enterprise value by 2026, according to a report by Bain and Company.

The firm recently moved its domicile to India, after it moved its businesses, including insurance and wealth broking, and subsidiaries of PhonePe Singapore to PhonePe India.

PhonePe didnt respond when asked to comment on its funding plans.

Industry sources said if the firm pulls off the fund round it would set a precedent at a time when India is experiencing a funding winter.

Indian start-ups raised $3 billion in the third quarter of calendar year 2022, which was 57 per cent lower than the previous quarter, according to a report by market intelligence firm Tracxn.

This was also 80 per cent lower than the peak funding of $14.9 billion received in the year-ago period.

PhonePes rival has seen its valuation drop over 60 per cent since it got listed last November.

PhonePe recently said its revenue grew 138 per cent to Rs 1,646 crore, while its losses (without ESOP costs) narrowed by 15 per cent year-on-year to Rs 671 crore in FY22. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by robust growth across all its lines of business. The companys contribution margin grew to 88 per cent from 84 per cent the previous year on account of improved cost optimisation, process automation, and a favourable product mix.
Venture capital firm Silverneedle Ventures on Friday said it has launched a Rs 100-crore fund and plans to invest in 30 startups in the next 18 months.

The fund was founded by Ajay Jain and Deepesh Agarwal, who were also the founders of Xseed Partners, and it was approved by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in August.

"We will invest in 30 startups in the next 18 months and will support them till we get exits -- generally in 3-5 years for a healthy exit. The fund will aim for investing in the range of Rs 1 to Rs 6 crore per deal," Silverneedle Ventures, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Ajay Jain said in a statement.

Silverneedle Ventures (SNV) shared the first investment of an undisclosed amount of funding in a creator monetisation platform Knorish.

The funding round was backed by marquee investors such as Andrew Holland, Bharat Serum Family Office, IPV, Mumbai Angels, and Jet Synthesys.

"Knorish aims to utilize the fund by expanding and growing its business to new markets while planning to onboard more creators and use the rest of the fund to enhance its tech ability. Currently, the startup has a team of 32 people in technology, sales, customer success, content designing, and marketing," the statement said.

SNV fund plans to mainly invest in B2B SaaS, deeptech, sustainability, and direct-to-consumer (D2C) and consumer internet focussed startups.

"After the success of Xseed Partners, we have set up Silverneedle Ventures with a very strong and diverse team, bringing expertise in core areas of the Startup business model.

"With our mentor-driven model approach, we will assign segment-specific experts across the globe, for the portfolio, so that each startup is taken on a growth trajectory," Jain said.

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Wockhardt, the international pharmaceuticals company, is likely to focus on its UK operations and sell the low-margin India business to pare debt, analysts have said.

Two Mumbai-based analysts told 'Business Standard' that had few options besides selling its Rs 670-crore domestic business. This is the only business vertical that it can sell, and can fetch about 3-4 times the revenue multiple easily. Many players are looking for brand acquisitions if they come at a reasonable price, said one analyst, adding that Wockhardts next step would be to focus on its UK and EU businesses.

Another analyst said the company sold some profitable brands to Dr Reddys Laboratories (DRL) in 2020 and those that remain with it are for chronic therapy. The renowned brands like Practin, Zedex, Bro-Zedex, Tryptomer, and Biovac have been sold off to DRL. These four-five brands were almost 40 percent of the business that it sold to DRL. It sold a total of 62 brands, the analyst said.

The brands left with the company are new and have low margin. Instead of spending energy on building these brands, it is more pragmatic to sell those, he said. sold its plant in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, to DRL, along with the facilitys manpower.

officials could not be reached for an immediate comment on the matter.

Anti-diabetic brands constitute 27 per cent of Wockhardts India sales, and minerals around 26 percent, and gastro-intestinal drugs contribute 20 percent, said the analyst. Three brands--Methylcobal (vitamin), Spasmo Proxyvon Plus (pain and analgesic) and Wosulin (insulin)--together contribute over 50 percent of Wockhardts India revenues.

The company has been paring debt for the years, responding after its revenues and profits were impacted due to issues with the US drug regulator (see chart) about its plants in India. The in 2013 banned two of its main plantsWalunj and Chikalthana in Maharashtraand later the companys Ankleshwar plant in Gujarat also came under scrutiny. It took Wockhardt several years to emerge from this setback.

It has managed to build a successful UK business where it operates plants that supplies vaccines to the UK government. In fact, 50 per cent of Wockhardts business comes from the UK and EU. The US contributes roughly 11 percent and the rest of the world markets around 19 percent. India is around 20 per cent of Wockhardts consolidated turnover.

The company recorded a turnover of Rs 3,230 crore in FY22. In FY22, Wockhardt undertook a Rs 748 rights issue to finance long-term debt and fund research.

Murtaza Khorakiwala, managing director of Wockhardt, said in a FY22 annual report the companys Wrexham facility supplies 100 million doses of vaccines for the UK government. Khorakiwala spoke about future growth prospects from the market.

Our collaboration with Serum Life North Wales, will deliver a total of 150 million doses of multiple vaccines, which is a strong indicator of future growth. Focus on emerging markets, development of biosimilars and biobetters for diabetes, development of NCEs, etc. The faster-than-market growth of the India business and rapid growth in EMROK sales is testimony to the soundness of the plan, he said.

In 2020, the company progressed in its novel antibiotics pipeline as the Indian drug regulator gave nod for two of its novel antibiotics used for acute bacterial skin and skin structure Infections including diabetic foot infections. The drug targets superbugs that are resistant to other molecules.
Almost 60 years after Bhoodan Andolan, a campaign to donate land initiated by Gandhian Vinoba Bhave, the government has found around 1.60 lakh acres of land, donated during the movement, is fit for distribution among landless people.

Sources in the Revenue and Land Reforms department in the government confirmed that the process of distribution of these 1.60 lakh acres of confirmed' (authenticated by the revenue officers) land will start anytime after December this year.

Many plots of land were donated by people during the 1950s and early 60s. But while they were being checked by the State Bhoodan Committee for authentication, it had been found that a number of them lack details of documentation. So, though donated, legally they are still owned by the donors.

Besides, the Bhoodan Committee found that certain plots were actually on river beds, hills and forests.

The entire process got delayed for so long due to these problems, a senior official of the revenue department said.

These plots which were found fit will be equally distributed among the landless once the process starts. The department is also waiting for the final report of a commission formed to probe irregularities in the management and distribution of around 6.48 lakh acres of land received under the Bhoodan Andolan in the state, the official said.

The three-member commission was set up by the government in 2017. Headed by former state chief secretary Ashok Kumar Choudhary, the panel is expected to submit its report to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in November.

Yes, it is true that around 1.60 lakh acres of land donated during Bhoodan Andolan have been found fit for the distribution among the landless people, Land Reform and Revenue Minister Alok Kumar Mehta told PTI.

The government has also started a survey of landless people in all 38 districts in the state and it will be completed by December this year. Distribution of the land will definitely start anytime after December this year, Mehta said.

However, out of a total of 1.60 acres of confirmed land, around 33,500 acres in Rohtas and Kaimur districts are not fit for agricultural purposes.

The department will explore other options, like opening government institutions or other centres on such land, Mehta said.

In Purnea district alone there are 65,054 acres of confirmed land, donated during Vinova Bhabe's Bhoodan movement, are ready for distribution, sources said.

Other districts where huge land is available for distribution include Kishanganj (38,060 acres), Aurangabad (11,089 acres), Katihatr (7,007 acres), Madhepura (3,879 acres), Gaya (1,601 acres) and Munger (1,057 acres).

Born in 1895, Vinova Bhave dedicated his life to propagating Gandhian values and is particularly known for the Bhoodan' campaign as he persuaded people across the country to donate a part of their land for distribution among the landless poor. It was initiated in 1951 and continued for several years.

"The motto of our Mahagathbandhan government is clear that no poor should remain landless in the state," said Mehta.

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BJP leaders on Thursday targeted the over the complete ban on firecrackers, dubbing the Arvind Kejriwal-led dispensation "anti-Hindu".

The Kejriwal government said the ban on crackers was imposed on the orders of and the BJP leaders were showing disrespect to the court.

Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should allow people in Delhi to burst crackers for two-three hours on .

Party leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga termed the Kejriwal government as "anti Hindu" and said that it earlier banned Chhath celebration on Yamuna bank and was now trying to prevent cracker bursting on .

The Delhi government, in a statement, said the cracker ban was imposed by the in view of health of the people.

"In such a situation, the BJP leaders were disrespecting the order and indulging in dirty politics over health of the people," the statement said.

The AAP government also questioned the BJP why it was mum over the cracker ban in Haryana ruled by it.

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Delhi Chief Minister on Friday paid tribute to martyrs and said he bowed to all brave policemen who have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.

On Commemoration Day, he took to Twitter to also say that his government "always takes care" of the families of such policemen.

"On ' Memorial Day', I bow to all the brave policemen who sacrificed their lives in the service of the public while performing their duty with full devotion.

"Our government always takes care of the families of all such brave policemen," Kejriwal tweeted.

The Police Commemoration Day is observed in the memory of 10 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who were killed on this day in 1959 in an ambush by Chinese troops in Ladakh's Hot Spring area.

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The has arrested a Chinese woman for staying in India under a false identify and allegedly indulging in "anti- activities", officials said on Thursday.

The woman has been identified as Cai Ruo and is a native of Hainan province in China, they said on Thursday.

She was residing in India as a Nepalese citizen and was detained from Majnu ka Tila in north Delhi, police said.

During verification, a Nepalese citizenship certificate in the name of Dolma Lama was recovered from her. However, when inquired with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office, it was found that she is a Chinese citizen and had travelled to India in 2019, they said.

On the basis of information that Ruo is involved in "anti- activities" and presently residing in India as Nepalese citizen, she was detained from Majnu Ka Tila, a statement said.

A case has been registered against her on October 17 under section 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Foreigners Act, police said.

Further investigation is underway, they said.

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A protest by farmers near Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's residence in Sangrur district over various demands, including compensation for crop damage due to rains and pest attack, entered the 12th day on Thursday.

The protesters under the banner of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) threatened to intensify their stir if the AAP government did not accept their demands.

Farmers went on an indefinite protest on October 9 near Patiala Road over various demands, including compensation for crop damage due to rains and pest attacks, Rs 200 per quintal for managing paddy stubble, compensation for land acquisition, compensation to dairy farmers whose livestock died due to lumpy skin disease and MSP for crops like maize, moong and basmati.

"We have started gheraoing one side of the road leading to the residence of the chief minister," said BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan.

If the AAP government continues with its lax attitude" towards these demands, then the other side of the road will also be blocked, he warned.

As part of their protest, farmers parked their tractor-trolleys on the three-km stretch road.

The protesters were carrying rations, mattresses, cooking gas cylinders, fans and other essentials as they said they were ready for a long haul to press the chief minister to accept their demands.

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Promoting India-Australian bilateral trade and investments, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways emphasised on the investing opportunities in India including the transport infrastructure sector.

Among various meetings in New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Gadkari had a fruitful interaction with Australian Senator Tim Ayres, Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing.

Gadkari and Ayres discussed the "excellent investment opportunities" for Australian Investors in the Roads and Transport sector in India.

The Minister said the trade relations between the two nations are upbeat and win-win for both the countries with technology and innovation being the key drivers for future growth.

Gadkari visited the Research Centre for Integrated Transportation Innovation (rCITI) at University of New South Wales, Sydney.

rCITI in collaboration with IAHE and Indian Mobility Industries will work together to build the Centre for Advanced Transportation Technology and Systems (CATTS) in India.

A testimony of the Indo-Australian Partnership, CATTS will serve as the Centre of Excellence to build capacities in the fields of smart transport systems.

The Minister had a meeting with the Team of Australia-India Infrastructure Forum (AIIF) in Sydney, hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Gadkari had a meeting with John Hopkins, CEO of Export Finance Australia.

Discussions pertained to effects of India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) on trade and bilateral investments between the two countries.

The Minister said India's export of goods and services to Australia will increase in the coming years with the fostering of a strong India-Australia Partnership.

--IANS

kvm/pgh

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World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday said global roll-out of more than 12 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses is the largest and fastest in human history.

Addressing the annual general meeting of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) virtually, he flagged the issue of inequities in access to COVID-19 vaccines. The three-day event is being co-hosted by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, said a statement. Global roll-out of more than 12 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses is the largest and fastest in history with an estimated 60 per cent doses produced by manufacturers in developing countries. Despite this achievement, stark inequities in access to COVID-19 vaccines remain," he said. "These inequities are due partly to the fact that globally vaccine production is too concentrated. To address this, the and our partners have established the mRNA Tech Transfer hub in South Africa to facilitate the know-how in low & middle-income countries," Ghebreyesus said. Adar Poonawalla, CEO of SII, said it was a proud moment for his company to co-host the 23rd DCVMN annual general meeting in Pune. "Today, the world is more aware and focused on chalking out an ambition-to-action roadmap for future pandemic preparedness. For that, building the infrastructure and regulations to ensure global equity and timely access to vaccines is the foremost priority," Poonawalla said. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya delivered the inaugural address. DCVMN is an international alliance of manufacturers from developing countries are engaged in innovation, research, development, manufacturing and supply of high-quality vaccines to 170 countries.

The organisation aims to protect people against known and emerging infectious diseases globally by increasing the production of high-quality vaccines in developing countries.

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The of (ECP) on Friday pronounced former prime minister guilty in the Toshakhana reference for not sharing details of gifts and proceeds from their alleged sale. The four-member bench headed by chief election commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja unanimously disqualified Khan for five years as the chairman of Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and a member of the national assembly.

The charges have been put under Article 63(i)(iii) for submitting a false statement in the Toshakhana reference.

Khan will also be subjected to criminal proceedings for misdeclaration.

Lawmakers from the Pakistan Democratic Movement  the ruling alliance  had submitted the reference to National Assembly speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, who had subsequently forwarded it to CEC Sikander Sultan Raja for further action.

According to Toshakhana rules in Pakistan, gifts or presents received by persons to whom these rules apply should be reported to the cabinet division.

PTI, while in government, did not disclose details of the gifts presented to Khan since he assumed the office of the PM in 2018. They maintained that doing so would jeopardise international ties.

They did not disclose the details even as the Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) ordered it to do so, according to The Dawn.

In a written reply submitted to the ECP on September 8, Khan admitted to selling at least four presents he had received during his tenure as the prime minister.

Khan added that he procured the gifts from the state treasury after paying 2.1 crore Pakistani rupees. He sold them for 5.8 crore Pakistani rupees. The gifts were a graff wristwatch, a pair of cuff links, an expensive pen and a ring, while the other three gifts included four Rolex watches.
As Indian students stuck at home due to COVID travel ban started returning gradually to re-join their colleges in after Beijing began issuing visas, the here on Friday asked them to register with the mission to ensure timely facilitation of their consular needs.

Over 23,000 Indian students, mostly studying medicine, are reportedly stuck back home due to COVID visa restrictions.

began issuing visas for students who obtain permits from their Chinese colleges and universities to return to take up their studies.

But they find it hard to travel to as both countries have yet to resume flight services.

Reportedly over 100 students returned travelling through third-country flight routes or through Hong Kong.

The in its latest advisory (https://www.eoibeijing.gov.in/eoibejing_listview/MTE0OA) urged the returning students to register with the mission.

With concerted efforts, Indian medical students have started returning to mainland China to rejoin their respective universities. In order to ensure timely facilitation of their consular needs Indian students in China are requested to fill in the registration form, the notice posted on Embassy's website said.

They can register with the or Indian Consulates in Shanghai or Guangzhou, it said.

It also provided names of the officials and their contact details.

All Indian students are encouraged to register so that the Embassy/consulates can reach out to them for any facilitation at the earliest, it said.

Students who are yet to return to China may fill the form after reaching China only, it added.

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Austrias Federal Police and Director of Criminal Intelligence Service, General Mag Andreas Holzer said that probes by the India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) helped check cyptocurrency scams in and neighboring countries, reported The Economic Times.

After receiving information from multiple countries that call centres operating in Delhi and nearby regions were duping international nationals, the recently busted a bitcoin racket.

While talking to ET, official said that the investigation agency had counducted searches on a call centre in Shadi Khampur village in West Delhi where victims from foreign countries were duped by the accused, who impersonated Europol officers. "They told them that their identities were stolen and crimes pertaining to narcotics drugs were committed in their names. The scamsters asked the victims to transfer money to a trust account through banks, crypto wallets, gift card codes or voucher codes to clear themselves of suspicion, a official told ET.

During its investigation, the CBI located a second call centre in Noida and seized bitcoins, Rs 30 lakh in several wallets, and Rs 30 lakh from one of the accused's bank account. The UK, US, Australia, UAE, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Austria, South Africa, New Zealand, Japan, Bhutan, Namibia, Bahrain, Russia, Canada, Oman, Serbia, Malaysia, and Mongolia were among the countries with which India held a bilateral meeting Thursday on the matter.

Holzer's delegation met CBI representatives at the Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) general assembly, and they came to an agreement on improving the sharing of criminal intelligence, geolocating wanted criminals and fugitives, combating terrorism, financing of terrorism, and online radicalisation, as well as coordinating efforts to stop cybercrime and child sexual exploitation online. In order to increase police collaboration and to develop a working framework for cooperation, CBI and Europol also held bilateral discussions.

Interpol was not formally established in 1923. Johannes Schober, the head of the Vienna Police, revived the notion of an international police body. In Vienna in 1923, he organised the second International Criminal Police Congress. There are currently 195 countries represented among the original 24. India, that joind Interpol in 1949, is one of the oldest members of the organisation.
On the sidelines of DefExpo, Sri Lankan Defence Minister Premitha Bandara Tennakoon met Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and appreciated the continued support of India for the island countries' armed forces.

Tennakoon also praised India's impressive progress in establishing a strong defence industrial base.

Apart fromTennakoon, several other countries' Defence Ministers were also present in .

Earlier, on october 18, the Sri Lankan Defence Minister had met Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar. "Enriching consultations on collaborative Maritime Security & avenues to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation," Indian Navy spokesperson tweeted.

Yesterday, Rajnath Singh addressed HQIDS-FICCI seminar on 'Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India' in Gandhinagar, where he said that the country "must have technological and production capability" if the "reliability of supplies" of defence items has to be maintained.

"If we have to maintain sustainability and reliability of supplies of our defence items, then we must have technological and production capability within the country so that whenever we face a long-drawn conflict, our capabilities remain intact," he added.

"Our armed forces should provide more support to the domestic industry. It's a matter of happiness that our forces have given full support in the self-reliance of the defence sector," he added.

Noting that the Indian armed forces are passing through an important phase of transformation, the Minister said that the country's preparedness to deal with the challenges of the changing geo-political scenario has strengthened.

"Our preparedness to deal with a rapidly changing geo-political scenario, and challenges arising out of it, especially neighbourhood threat, has strengthened significantly in recent past," he said.

"Not only the assurance of procurement of defence products but also the objective of developing world-class technologies is very clear in front of us. For this, for the first time, the government has allocated 25 per cent of the Defence R & D budget for industry, start-ups and academia," Singh added.

He said the government fully understands the role of MSMEs and start-ups in the defence sector.

"Hence, to create more opportunities for MSMEs and start-ups, the scope of the Defence Innovation Start-Up Challenges and Technology Development Fund has been further expanded," he said.

Rajnath Singh also inspected arms and ammunition displayed at DefExpo- 2022.

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Prime Minister will visit and Badrinath on Friday during which he will inspect various ongoing development works and also lay foundation stones for some new projects. In view of the visit, security arrangements have been tightened in the area, an official said. The Prime Minister will reach at around eight Friday morning and will perform worship of Baba Kedar. After it, he will lay the foundation stone of the 9.7 km long Gaurikund- ropeway project.

Elon Musks plans for Twitter Inc. involve slashing its staff by nearly 75% in a matter of months, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post. Musk, whose $44 billion purchase of the social network is set to close by October 28, would reduce Twitters staff to just more than 2,000 people, compared with the 7,500 it currently employs, the Post reported, citing Musks comments to prospective investors. Musk had told investors he planned to shrink staff in his initial pitch to bankers for funding, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in April.

The IMD Thursday said that the possible in the is likely to reach West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts by October 25, skirting Odisha. The IMD in a statement said that a low pressure area has formed in the on Thursday and is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm on October 24. The low pressure area is very likely to move west-northwestwards and develop into a depression over east-central and adjoining southeast around October 22. It is likely to intensify into a deep depression by October 23.
The authorities seized 46 tonnes of banned single-use plastic (SUP) items and issued fines of Rs 41 lakh during a nationwide campaign this week, said the ministry in a statement about a significant source of pollution in the country.

More than 4,000 violations were observed and 2,900 challans (fine paperwork) issued during the Central Pollution Control Boards campaign that ran October 17 to October 19. More than 50 teams inspected vegetable, fruit and fish markets and street vendors.

State urban development department officials participated during inspections. State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/ Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) have also been asked to conduct similar drives to break the supply chain of SUP items in the market.

Retailers, wholesalers and factories engaged in manufacturing SUP items have been traced and a huge cache of the banned items seized during the inspections, the statement said. Interstate borders are being checked to prevent interstate transportation of SUP items.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2019, urged people to stop using SUP and reiterated the point in his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio address.

India generated around 34.7 lakh tonnes per annum (TPA) of plastic waste in 2019-20, Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey told Lok Sabha in August 2022.

India on July 1 banned 19 SUP items, including earbuds, flags, candy and ice-cream sticks, polystyrene (thermocol), plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, and straws.

Carry bags of thickness less than 75 microns are also prohibited under the Rules. Their thickness will have to be increased to 120 microns from December 31.

Plastic wrapping material less than 50 microns in thickness and plastic sachets used for selling and storing tobacco, pan masala and gutkha are also not allowed.

In order to ensure its implementation, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had earlier issued directions to SPCBs, PCCs and other stakeholders.

The CPCB, along with SPCBs/PCCs, earlier conducted inspections of major commercial establishments in July-August 2022.
Opportunities of production worth Rs 8 trillion are likely to come up in the next 8 years in a drive to increase indigenisation, Army Chief General Manoj Pande said. According to a report in the Economic Times (ET), the areas that require new technologies like quantum computing and AI-based satellite imagery can offer a viable opportunity for the private sector.

"In the last three to four years, indigenous contracts have grown three times. In the next seven to eight years, we feel that the potential of the indigenous market will be about Rs 7-8 trillion. It will be a viable market with adequate scope for the defence industry," Pande told ET.

According to Pande, the Russia-Ukraine war has made it critical for countries to establish indigenous production and reduce import dependence.

"We are handholding startups and smaller companies by making firing ranges available, easing trial and testing procedures, and making it easier to conduct demonstrations in forward areas so that the industry is able to understand our operating environment better," he added.

The army is currently processing the fourth round of emergency procurements. It, according to ET, will focus on indigenous products in the army.
Two private security guards of a housing complex here were taken into police custody over clashes between two groups of residents, officials said on Friday.

The two groups of the residents of Hyde Park in Sector 78, located within the Sector 113 police station limits, clashed on Thursday night, resulting in minor injuries to two women, they added.

"The clashes broke out between the residents over the post of president of the society's Apartment Owners' Association (AOA). The guards also got involved in the fight, leading to injuries to two women," a police official said.

"Two guards have been detained following a complaint from the injured women and further investigation is underway," the police official said.

Police said CCTV footage is being analysed to ascertain the sequence of events.

Video clips purportedly of the clash are circulating on social media platforms.

In one of the clips, a woman is seen slapping a security guard.

(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 central committee member of the ruling JMM in was shot dead by unidentified persons in Garhwa district on Thursday evening, police said.

The incident occurred around 6.30 pm in Chinia village of the district, around 200 km from the state capital Ranchi, when Ayub Ansari, aged 58, was shot at by the miscreants, a senior officer said.

"Some criminals opened fire at Ansari in his village. He was brought to the Garhwa Sadar Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. We are investigating the matter and the persons involved in the will soon be arrested," Chinia Police Station in-charge Virendra Hansda said.

According to villagers, the incident took place when the Mukti Morcha leader was going to a mosque.

The deceased was the husband of Chinia panchayat mukhiya Sabera Biwi.

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The on Friday junked a plea seeking a "fact-finding inquiry" into the history of the and the "opening of 22 rooms" on the monument's premises, terming it "publicity interest litigation".

A bench of justices M R Shah and M M Sundresh refused to interfere with the Allahabad High Court order that had dismissed the plea.

"The high court was not in error in dismissing the petition, which is more of a publicity interest litigation. Dismissed," the bench said.

The high court had, on May 12, said petitioner Rajneesh Singh, who is the media in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Ayodhya unit, had failed to point out which of his legal or constitutional rights were being infringed.

It had also pulled up the petitioner's lawyer for filing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition in a "casual" manner and said it could not pass an order under Article 226 of the Constitution in the matter.

The article empowers a high court to issue orders or writs to any person or authority in the area under its jurisdiction to enforce fundamental rights.

Several Hindu right-wing outfits had claimed in the past that the Mughal-era mausoleum was a temple of Lord Shiva.

The monument is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The petition had also sought the setting aside of certain provisions of the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Declaration of Importance) Act, 1951 and the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, under which the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, the Agra Fort and Itimad-ud-Daulah's tomb were declared historical monuments.

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The has refused to entertain a plea challenging the constitutional validity of a ordinance reducing the number of seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), thus paving the way for holding the civic polls.

A bench of Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli asked the petitioner to withdraw the plea and approach the Bombay High Court.

The plea had challenged the government's decision to reduce the number of seats from 236 to 227.

Senior advocate Devadutt Kamat, appearing for the petitioner Raju Shripad Pednekar, submitted that the ordinance is against the orders of the apex court.

"Mr Devadutt Kamat, senior counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner seeks liberty of the Court to withdraw the petition under Article 32 of the Constitution so as to enable the petitioner to pursue the remedies which are available in law under Article 226 of the Constitution since the petitioner seeks inter alia to challenge the constitutional validity of Ordinance No 7 of 2022 and the Act No 43 of 2022 which has replaced it," the bench said.

"The petition is accordingly dismissed as withdrawn with liberty as sought," the bench said.

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The on Friday sought response from the Centre and others on a batch of petitions alleging rising assault on and other medical professionals in the country.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi issued notices on the pleas filed by Delhi Forum, Indian Medical Association and Suneet Kumar Upadhyay, a doctor.

The petitions alleged rising assault on medical professionals in the country and sought a direction to the Centre and other stakeholders to take remedial steps.

Upadhyay's wife Archana Sharma, a gynaecologist, had committed suicide in Rajasthan after being harassed by a mob following the death of a woman during the delivery.

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Union Home Minister on Friday paid tributes to police personnel, who lost their lives in the line of duty, at the in the national capital on the occasion of 'Police Commemoration Day'.

Shah said that the sacrifice of police personnel for the motherland would always be remembered.

"On 'Police Commemoration Day', Nation salutes the valour of our police personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty. Their sacrifice for the motherland would always be remembered," the Home Minister said in a tweet.

'Police Commemoration Day' is observed every year in memory of ten valiant Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) killed during patrol duty in an ambush by heavily armed Chinese troops in Hot Springs, Ladakh on October 21, 1959.

To honour the police personnel who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty for national security, the idea of setting up a in Delhi was approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1992.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the to the nation on Police Commemoration Day on October 21, 2018. The Memorial gives Police Forces a sense of national identity, pride, unity of purpose, common history and destiny.

The Memorial includes a Central Sculpture, the Wall of Valour and an underground Museum. As one enters the site, the flower-laden ramparts with two large symmetrically placed bowls, laced with flowers, symbolize the everlasting spirit of Police martyrs and their dedication.

According to Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, a total of 307 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles (AR) personnel sacrificed their lives in the line of duty for the nation in the last five years.

Rai said this in a Rajya Sabha, mentioning 27 of the 307 personnel sacrificed their lives in 2021; 39 in 2020; 90 in 2019; 75 in 2018; and 76 in 2018.

Of the 307 troops, 180 were deployed in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 49 in Border Security Force (BSF), 37 in Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), seven each in Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and 27 in Assam Rifles.

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The on Friday stepped up its attack against the Congress over its leader and former home minister Shivraj Patil's claim that Bhagavad Gita also spoke of jihad, saying that this is one more attempt by the opposition party to smear .

spokesperson Prem Shukla alleged that the Congress has long been involved in the conspiracy to "insult Hindu, and Hindustan" and Patil's remarks are yet another chapter towards this.

Congress leaders in the past have drawn a parallel between with terror organisations like Boko Haram and Taliban, he alleged.

Former Union ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and P Chidambaram had spoken about "saffron terror", he said.

Gita is the philosophy of humanity, Shukla asserted.

Patil on Thursday claimed that the concept of jihad was not just in Islam but also in Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture, and Christianity.

Attacking the Congress, the also accused it of playing vote bank politics. Speaking at the launch of Congress veteran and former Union minister Mohsina Kidwai's biography, Patil, also a former Lok Sabha Speaker, said it is said there is a lot of discussion of jihad in the religion of Islam.

The concept comes to the fore when despite having the right intentions and doing the right thing, nobody understands or reciprocates, then it is said one can use force, he said.

"It is not just in Quran, but in Mahabharata also, the part in Gita, Shri Krishna also talks of jihad to Arjun and this thing is not just in Quran or Gita but also in Christianity," he claimed in his remarks in Hindi.

Reacting to Patil's comments, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Thursday tweeted,"after AAP's Gopal Italia & Rajendra Pal, not to be outdone in Hindu hatred & vote bank politics, Congress' Shivraj Patil says Shri Krishna taught 'Jihad' to Arjun!



"Congress coined Hindu/Saffron terror, opposed Ram Mandir, Questioned Ram JI's existence, said Hindutva=ISIS," Poonawalla tweeted.

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Solar power project developers will not be able to avail themselves of concessional import duty of 7.5 per cent and avoid the existing basic customs duty (BCD) levied on imports: the impact of a policy update that is likely to lead to increase the cost of production.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs issued Project Imports (Amendment) Regulations, 2022 on Thursday. "In the Project Imports Regulations, 1986, against Sr. No. 2, in column 2, and in Sr. No. 3, in column 2, for the words 'All Power Plants and Transmission Projects', the words 'All Power Plants and Transmission Projects, other than solar power plants or solar power projects,' shall be substituted," it said.

The regulations pertain to a concessional import rate of 7.5 per cent for new industrial units. It was 5 per cent earlier. Developers were using this to circumvent the BCD on solar product imports.

The government imposed 25 per cent BCD on imported solar cells and 40 per cent on imported modules from April 2022 in order to support domestic manufacturing. Almost 85 per cent of Indian solar capacity is built on imported cells and modules, majority from China. Recently, the Indian government allowed solar power projects awarded before the BCD regime to pass through the additional cost of procuring costly cells and modules.

Industry players pointed out that many developers avoided BCD by availing of the project import regulations under the garb of setting up new units.

"In the past many solar power producers have been taking the benefit of a concessional rate of customs duty under the Project Import scheme. With the exclusion of solar power projects from the Project Import scheme the cost of modules would likely increase by approximately 33-34 per cent, said Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner at EY.

Agarwal said the move is to push the government's Make in India plan under the solar PLI scheme Tranche 2.

"The solar power producers would now have to explore the possibility of claiming change in law in terms of their power purchase agreement, calculate the impact of the said change in their cash flows and the impact of return on investment," he said.

The Union Cabinet last month approved a Rs 19,500-crore proposal of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for the second tranche of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for solar equipment manufacturing.

The PLI is part of National programme on High Efficiency Solar PV Modules for achieving manufacturing capacity of gigawatt (Gw) scale in high efficiency solar photovoltaic (PV) modules.

In the first tranche of tendering, MNRE received close to 50 Gw of bids against a PLI sanction of Rs 4,500 crore and request for proposal of 10 Gw. It received close to 18 bids from a range of companies, including Coal India, L&T, Vikram Solar, and Megha Engineering. The winners were Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd, Adani Infrastructure and Shirdi Sai.

The corpus was increased to Rs 19,500 crore under the Union Budget 2022-23 to accommodate the large number of bids.

The new round of the PLI will have three different schemes for different product categories, this paper reported recently. Of the allocated corpus, the highest share of Rs 12,000 crore could go to end-to-end manufacturing of polysilicon-wafers-cells-modules (raw material to finished product).
police aims to install 15 lakh CCTV cameras across the state even as six lakh have been set up in the capital so far, Director General of Police M Mahendar Reddy said on Friday.

He was speaking at Police Commemoration Day here.

The police department so far has installed over 10 lakh CCTV cameras across the state in villages and towns with public cooperation. In city alone there are nearly six lakh cameras. In the coming days, the state police is moving forward with an aim to install 15 lakh CCTV cameras throughout the state," Reddy said.

He said the city has been retaining its position as the most Livable City in the world for the past several years and it is due to the better law and order situation.

The police official said better policing is also one of the reasons for the state being able to attract huge investments from multinational corporates.

He said as per the vision and direction of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the police department also has taken up several people-centric measures.

Reddy said the department is striving hard to make a crime-free state as envisioned by KCR (Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao).

According to him, several welfare measures and schemes are being implemented for the police personnel.

Home Minister Mahmood Ali also spoke on the occasion.

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A day after he was granted anticipatory bail by a court in a case of rape and attempt to murder, MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly on Friday appeared before the media and claimed that he was innocent and had done nothing wrong as alleged by the complainant woman.

The two-time legislator expressed confidence that he could prove charges against him as wrong in the court and could come out clean.

Kunnappilly, who met reporters separately at his house here, also said he gave his explanation to the party as directed by the KPCC and it was up to them to decide on further steps.

Asked why he had gone absconding after the victim approached the police with the complaint, the Perumbavoor MLA just said his anticipatory bail plea was before the court.

"My anticipatory bail plea was before the court. I have not done anything wrong. I submitted every proof for that before the court. It will be proved that I have committed nothing wrong," Kunnappilly said.

The police and party leadership had made it clear that he was untraceable after the case was registered against him.

When asked about the victim's charges against him, the MLA rubbished it saying they were all just allegations.

"I will be exonerated in this case. I have complete faith in that. But, I cannot divulge anything right now as I have to comply with the bail conditions directed by the court," he said.

He also said he, his family and the party would completely cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

A sessions court in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday granted the Congress MLA anticipatory bail in a case of rape and attempt to murder.

Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran said the MLA had given an explanation to the KPCC office through his lawyer and the same would be examined after he reaches on Friday.

Besides rape and attempt to murder, the Congress MLA has also been charged with assault following a complaint from the alleged victim who stated he had abducted and manhandled her.

The case was filed against three accused, including the MLA's personal assistant and a friend.

The victim claimed that Kunnappilly offered her Rs 30 lakh to settle the case registered against him.

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The on Thursday directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Ankita Bhandari murder case to file a status report along with the case diary.

A single bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra passed the order while hearing a petition filed by Ashutosh Negi, a resident of Pauri Garhwal.

The court has fixed November 3 for the next hearing of the matter.

The petition has requested to hand over the investigation of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Bhandari (19) was allegedly killed by the owner of a resort where she worked as a receptionist.

It has been alleged that after the murder, important evidence related to the crime was destroyed on the instructions of Yamkeshwar MLA Renu Bisht by running a bulldozer at Vanantra Resort.

Bhandari was allegedly killed by the resort owner owner Pulkit Arya, manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta when she resisted their attempts to force her to offer "extra services" to a VIP guest.

The murder had triggered a massive public outrage.

Arya, now in jail along with the other two accused, is the son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, who was expelled from the party soon after the murder came to light.

The body of Bhandari was recovered from the Chilla canal in Uttarakhand's Rishikesh on September 24.

(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.)
According to sources, India and are pursuing a cross-country initiative carried by the tide of a new era of energy diplomacy, and the Gujarat coast may soon be linked to the Middle East with deep sea cables, creating a grid, reported The Economic Times.

In order to lay the groundwork for the visit of Saudi Prime Minister and Crown Prince to India next month, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi Arabian energy minister will be in New Delhi on Friday for a day. The undersea cables' project will be a part of his agenda in India.

Officials with the knowledge of the matter said that both parties are likely to start talks on an undersea cables for an electrical grid involving South Asia and Gulf nations, expanding the conversation beyond oil exports. The two countries are investigating the project's business potential.

The Abu Dhabi government might also join the ambitious project with the capital cost between $15 billion to $18 billion, according to preliminary industry estimates.

Leading corporations like the Tata Group, Reliance Industries Ltd., JSW, and Adani, among others, have already received invitations from the Saudi envoy to India asking for their opinions. The crown prince will visit India first before travelling to Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan.

The Arabian Sea separates the Gujarat coast (Mundra Port) from the emirate of Fujairah, a distance of 1,600 kilometres. The cable might possibly travel 1,200 km through Oman, with the deepest point at 3.5 km. According to the souces, three years ago, petroleum and natural gas officials did a feasibility study but the project has only just started to move forward as a result of the Indian government's push for the International Solar Alliance.
Oct 21 (Reuters) - Indian banks' loans rose 17.9% in the two weeks to Oct. 7 from a year earlier, while deposits rose 9.6%, the Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement showed on Friday.

Outstanding loans rose 2.30 trillion rupees ($27.78 billion) to 128.60 trillion rupees in the two weeks to Oct. 7.

Non-food credit rose 2.31 trillion rupees to 128.39 trillion rupees, while food credit fell 11.55 billion rupees to 206.33 billion rupees.

Bank deposits rose 2.41 trillion rupees to 172.73 trillion rupees in the two weeks to Oct. 7.

Source text: (https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx)

($1 = 82.8740 Indian rupees)

((India Headline News Team; +91 80 6749 1310))

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Festival season helped spends touch a record high of Rs1.22 trillion in September. But the saw a net reduction of close to 290,000 cards during this period, impacted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms warranting deactivation of cards that are inactive for a year.

In September, spending rose 9 per cent monthonmonth (MoM) and 53 per cent year-on-year (YoY) and has remained over the Rs1-trillion mark for over six months now, indicating a sustained increase in consumer spends. It is expected to rise further due to the ongoing festival season.

Spends remained strong and continued their healthy momentum, led by the rising share of e-commerce transactions, which will keep growth in spends buoyant, said Nitin Aggarwal and Yash Aggarwal, research analysts at Motilal Oswal, in a report.

Among large players, SBI Card, ICICI Bank, and have gained market share in spends as they saw strong MoM growth of 19 per cent, 18 per cent, and 28 per cent, respectively, but has lost a significant market share.

SBI Card's market share in spends increased by 159 basis points (bps) in September over August, while that of rose by 142 bps and 162 bps for . On the other hand, HDFC Bank's market share declined by 234 bps.





As of H1FY23, in terms of spends, has 27.7 per cent market share, followed by with 19.3 per cent, with 18 per cent, and with 9.2 per cent.

The net reduction in credit cards by about 290,000 has meant that the total outstanding credit cards in the system has fallen to 77.7 million. Last month, the outstanding base had dropped to 77.99 million from 80 million in July, thereby losing over 2 million cards in a month. Interestingly, prior to this, the banking system, on an average, was adding 11.5 million credit cards a month.

While card additions may see some divergence as comply with RBIs guidelines, incremental sourcing is likely to remain strong. Players such as SBI Card, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank will continue their strong performance, said the Motilal Oswal report.

Kotak Mahindra Bank was the largest acquirer in September with 192,311cards, followed by IDFC First Bank with 90,645 cards, Bank of Baroda with 74,892 cards, and IndusInd Bank with 62,299 cards.

On the other hand, lost around 100,000 cards, lost 620,667 cards, and Axis Bank lost around over 54,000 cards.
The consolidation of public sector has not impacted spread of as the total number of bank branches remained almost the same, M Rajeshwar Rao, deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India said on Friday.

In the last few years, the number of public sector has fallen to 12 from 27, between March 2017 and now, due to the government's decision to consolidate the lenders.

The number of private sector has remained constant at 21 during the same period.

The consolidation of public sector banks does not seem to have had any negative impact on their outreach or inclusive banking efforts as the total number of bank branches has largely remained same (with minor reductions due to rationalisation) pre-and-post merger, Rao said in his address during the RK Talwar Memorial Lecture on Friday.

Besides, the efforts have already transcended to a business correspondent led model leveraging on technology, he said.

The deputy governor also hailed the introduction of niche banks  payments banks and banks  which came into existence in the previous decade. SFBs have started playing a progressive role in mobilising savings from and providing credit to their niche customer segments, furthering the cause of financial inclusion, he said.

According to RBI, the growth of aggregate deposits and credit of SFBs have been significant since March 2018.

In the quarter ended Mar 2022, SFBs deposits grew by 37.3 per cent on y-o-y basis while growth in credit portfolio was 25.6 per cent, as against growth rate of deposits and credit of scheduled commercial banks at 10.2 per cent and 10.8 per cent respectively

Although, it may seem unfair to compare the concerned numbers of public and private sector banks to SFBs because of scale effects, even in terms of outreach through bank branches, SFBs represent about 4 per cent of bank branch network in India currently, expanding from less than 1% in 2017, he said.

Regarding payments banks, Rao said these entities facilitated a total of about 11.4 crore mobile banking transactions amounting Rs.17,465 crore in value in the month of June 2020, which has increased to 47.3 crore transactions with aggregate value of about Rs.46,338 crore in just two years (August 2022), growing by 4.1 times in terms of volume and 2.7 times in terms of value.

It is also important to highlight that as of August 2022, there were 2.5 crore active users of payments banks using their mobile banking facilities, representing about 2.7 per cent of all active internet users in India, he said.

He also responded to the criticism that the banking regulator is conservative and reluctant to encourage to back innovation in the banking system.

technological changes need to be imbibed in digestible doses to forestall destabilising of the financial system. No doubt, growth of tech led innovation need to be fostered, but preserving financial system stability is an overriding objective for the regulators and achieving the right mix of ensuring stability while fostering innovation remains the goal, he said adding that regulators expect that the nature of partnership between traditional banks and the new fintech players to evolve into a symbiotic one, and not necessarily an adversarial one.
(PSBs) may soon set up a 'single national helpline' to address customer grievances. According to a report in the Economic Times (ET), the government had asked PSBs to set up a such helpline in September.

"The helpline number will be preferably of three or four digits, so that in case of need customers dial the given number to reach out to their and respective branches or departments by way of a hub-and-spoke mode," an official aware of the matter told ET.

This comes against the backdrop of a large number of complaints by customers over non-operating helpline numbers of several branches of PSBs in India.

"A single helpline will help all put in place a uniform policy to address customer complaints and turnaround time for their redressal," the official said, as quoted by ET.

They further added that a single number is in line with the government's focus on digitisation in banking.

PSB Alliance Pvt Ltd has been asked to coordinate and develop such a helpline.
An elderly woman who complained of impaired vision and a feeling of "something in her eye" in California was found with 23 disposable stuck under her eyelid, Dr. Katerina Kurteeva of California Eye Associates in Newport Beach, California, told TODAY.

Dr Kurteeva said she was shocked to discover the clump of contacts and added that all the were hidden underneath the upper lid in a pancake stack. "To this day, the patient herself does not understand how it took place. She is still baffled by it all," she said.

The patient, who is in her 70s, used for 30 years, according to the physician. On September 12, she complained that her right eye felt like it had a foreign object in it. She also noticed mucous there. She then went to see Dr Kurteeva. The woman had been skipping her regular visits to the ophthalmologist out of concern for Covid.

According to the doctor, she first examined her eye to rule out conjunctivitis or a corneal ulcer. She also checked her right cornea for an eyelash, piece of mascara, pet hair, or other common material that might create the impression of a foreign body, but she found nothing. She did observe a discharge. The elderly woman then informed Dr Kurteeva that when she lifted her eyelid with her fingers, she saw something dark sitting there but could not get it out. That's when Dr Kurteeva examined her eyelid using a lid speculum, an instrument made of wire to keep eyelids open and far apart. On looking deeper under the eyelid, she saw the first couple of contacts stuck together.

After retrieving a few contact lenses from her eye and finding more, Dr Kurteeva had her assistant video the removal of the contact lenses on her phone thinking this would be her Guinness Book of World Record moment. However, removing 23 disposable contact lenses in one eye in a patient is not a record-breaking number. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, in 2017, a 67-yeay-old British woman was found to have 27 contact lenses stuck in her eye.

Photos and videos of the stack of contact lenses being pulled out of the woman's eye have gone viral.
Seven years after unveiled its ambitious Made in 2025 plan to become globally competitive in 10 industries, President is using the Communist Party congress this month to redouble efforts to win the battle in key core technologies.



His rallying call reflects the intensifying tensions between and the US, which has tightened the screws in recent years on the transfer of cutting-edge to the worlds second-largest .

Here are seven charts that illustrate how much China has closed the gap with the US in state-of-the-art technology, and why the Biden administration feels threatened to the point it is dramatically increasing restrictions.

Booming Research



As its has boomed, China has relentlessly increased investments in in the decades since Deng Xiaoping rekindled the countrys economic opening up in the early 1990s. The country now lags just slightly behind the US in total expenditures on research and development.

Times of economic crisis have been opportunities for China to narrow its gap with the US. After the 2000 dot-com bust and the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, US R&D spending grew at a slower pace or shrank, whereas China kept expanding.

Gross R&D spending for 2021 isnt available yet from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, but China announced its official investment rose more than 14% to 2.8 trillion yuan ($388 billion) last year, accelerating from 10.2% in 2020. Meanwhile, the US federal budget for R&D fell 2.6% last fiscal year to $165.6 billion, according to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.

High-Tech Demand Grows



The worlds biggest exporter, China, is also the most aggressive importer of satellites, optical fibers, silicon, laser beams and other high-tech products that underpin the development of advanced . Chinas share in the global imports of high-tech products has steadily increased in the last decade from 16.3% to 18.6%, according to data from Kim Minwoo, a researcher at the Korea Trade Association.

Some of that increase is likely due to Chinas position as the factory of the world, as it imports high-tech parts for assembly into products such as phones or computers that are then exported.

But the large amount of imported goods also means China is more vulnerable as the US toughens export controls. In particular, Chinas high-performance computing -- essential in aerospace, weapons and artificial intelligence development -- may be severely damaged if US bans widen further, according to TrendForce.

Supercomputing Status



China surpassed the US in the number of supercomputers in 2016, widening the gap to the most in 2020. But the lead is narrowing as the US increases restrictions on Chinas access to advanced devices, according to data from TOP500, a project that tracks trends in high-performance computing.

Supercomputers are used for a variety of purposes from climate forecasts to vaccine development to space exploration. They can also simulate nuclear tests and missile defense and handle large volumes of data used in artificial intelligence development. The new Biden administration restrictions on China exports specifically ban chips that are used in supercomputers and AI.

Supercomputer Speed



The problem is more serious for China when it comes to supercomputer performance. Whereas China struggles to improve speed, the US began to surge ahead last year, at the same time it imposed sanctions on seven Chinese supercomputing firms.

The US cited activities undermining American national-security or foreign-policy interests. Beijing has repeatedly rejected the American claims, saying the moves against Chinese tech firms are aimed at preventing China from surpassing the US.

AI Influence



Chinas stagnating supercomputer performance contrasts with the rising number of high-impact AI papers by its researchers, who can rely on data generated from the countrys 1.4 billion-strong population.

Chinas academics got a boost in 2017 when the government enshrined the pursuit of global AI leadership by 2030. They focus more on surveillance-related tasks, such as tracking, action recognition and object detection compared with American ones, according to the State of AI Report 2022, by investors Nathan Benaich and Ian Hogarth.

Chip Size



The $550 billion semiconductor industry is the front-line in the tech war between the two countries. China accounted for 17% of global chip production in 2020, a jump from 2% in 2000, while the US share halved from 24% to 12% in the same period, according to South Korea. By 2030, China is forecast to raise its share to 24% while the US slides to 10%, according to a report from the Belfer Center for Science and Affairs at Harvard University, which was published before the latest round of sanctions.

A key scorecard in the competition is progress in downsizing individual transistors for faster and more efficient chips. In July, Chinas Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. reportedly developed a Bitcoin-mining chip that was built with 7-nanometer technology, overturning expectations it wouldnt be able to develop a chip smaller than 10-nanometers due to a US ban on the sale of advanced lithography machines that project patterns on silicon wafers.

Despite that reported success, China is struggling to develop a domestic chip industry, even with the billions of dollars in funding it has thrown at the sector in the past decade.

Startup Money



The US has since widened regulations further limiting the sale of chipmaking tools to Chinese firms, including electronic design automation software key to 3-nm fabrication and beyond.

That is spurring China to accelerate the growth of its homegrown developers. Chinese startups in chipmaking and other key technologies outpaced US ones by about nine times in funding procurement last month, according to data available from Semiconductor Engineering, an industry publication.

China believes what doesnt kill you will make you stronger, said Kwon Seok Joon, author of Semiconductor War in East Asia who teaches chip fabrication at Koreas Sungkyunkwan University. Its a war that will be costly for the US as well and intensify further after the congress as Xi ramps up his bid for self-reliance.
The all-important 20th Congress of China's ruling Communist Party, which is widely expected to endorse an unprecedented third five-year term for putting him on course to be in power for life, will conclude on Saturday after electing the party's Central Committee, a powerful body comprising top leaders.

The key once-in-a-five-year Congress of the Communist Party of (CPC) comprising 2,296 elected delegates from its branches all over the country will end its week-long meeting with the election of the Central Committee, the main governing body of the party.

The present Central Committee is 376 members strong with 205 full members and 171 alternate members. The Congress will determine the size of the new Central Committee as per the published rules of the party.

The new Central Committee will meet on Sunday to elect a Political Bureau, which will in turn elect a Standing Committee, regarded as the most powerful body of the party as it governs the country.

The Standing Committee will meet on the same day to elect the General Secretary, who will be the top leader of the 1.4 billion people country.

The present Political Bureau has 25 members and the Standing Committee comprises seven members, which included the 69-year-old Xi, who remained the party's General Secretary since 2012. It is widely speculated that Xi will be formally endorsed as the General Secretary for an unprecedented third-five-year term by the new Standing Committee on Sunday.

Xi, who is completing a 10-year tenure this year, will be the first Chinese leader after party founder Mao Zedong to continue in power, ending three decades of rule followed by his predecessors to retire after two five-year tenures.

Observers say the new tenure will put him on course to continue in power for life like Mao.

After the end of the new election process, Xi along with the new Standing Committee members will appear before the media.

A large number of Beijing-based journalists have already been put in a closed-loop system for the past four days to cover the media appearance of the new leaders.

The end of the 20th congress will usher in brand new leaders at all levels, except Xi who is expected to remain a powerful leader continuing to hold the posts of President of China, General Secretary of the CPC and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the two million-strong Chinese military.

Premier Li Keqiang, 66, the number two ranked leader has already announced that he will not continue in the post though he is still below the official retirement age limit of 68.

The new administration will take over in March next year after the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's parliament.

Ahead of the 20th Congress, Beijing witnessed rare public protests with banners hung on overpasses of major thoroughfares, protesting against Xi's unpopular zero-COVID policy and authoritarian rule.

Banners displayed on a bridge in the district of Haidian, home to universities and tech firms in Beijing, had slogans: food, not COVID test; reform, not a cultural revolution; freedom, not lockdowns; votes, not a leader; dignity, not lies; citizens, not slaves.

Battery-operated loudspeakers were hung in some places blaring anti-Xi and anti-Zero COVID slogans.

Police quickly moved to remove the banners and loudspeakers. Similar reports of protests came from different cities of .

After the appearance of the banners, security was further tightened in Beijing with deployment of police on most of the city's bridges and underpasses.

Besides electing the new Central Committee, the congress, which evoked interest in India and the rest of the world, is expected to endorse among others a key amendment to the party's constitution incorporating the thought, the new theoretical doctrine further elevating his status in the party.

The 2017 Congress of the CPC amended its charter Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Experts believe the new revision of the party charter would put Xi's status beyond challenge.

Xi may shorten the tongue-twisting political thought to just Xi Jinping Thoughts, which will put him on a par with party founder Mao in the party ideology, said Alfred Wu, associate professor at the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

The current version is 16 characters long in Chinese, and difficult for most people to remember. If he manages to shorten it to Xi Jinping Thoughts' with just five characters it will not only travel better but will also make him like an equal to Mao, Wu told the Hong Kong-based South Morning Post recently.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry already hinted on Thursday about Xi's attendance at the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia next month which was expected to be his first foreign tour during which he will have an opportunity for one-on-one meetings with US President Joe Biden and other world leaders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to attend the Bali summit.

(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.)
celebrations have started in the from the iconic Times Square in New York, with the US Vice President and former president celebrating the festival of lights at their residences on Friday.

Eminent Indian-Americans from across the country started flying into the American Capital from Thursday night which now appears to be a week-long celebration by the Biden Administration and members of the Congress.

Harris and the Second Gentleman have invited scores of eminent Indian-Americans, diplomats and members of the administration for the celebrations at VP residence on Friday.

Three days later, US President Joe Biden and the First Lady Dr Jill Biden have invited Indian-Americans at the White House to celebrate the Diwali on Monday, October 24, itself. The Secretary of State Tony Blinken is hosting another Diwali party at the State Department with the diplomatic community on October 26.

Diwali is also being celebrated at the US Capitol which as usual is being attended by eminent lawmakers.

On Friday, Trump would be joined by around 200 Indian-Americans members of the Republican Hindu Coalition to celebrate Diwali at his residence in Mar-a-Lago in Florida. The event that is expected to last for a few hours on Friday night would have a Bollywood dance and guests would be served with Indian dishes.

Both Harris and Trump are expected to deliver addresses to the community at their respective residence. So does Biden and Blinken. Coming just two weeks ahead of the crucial mid-term polls, politicians across the aisle want to gain the attention of the influential Indian-Americans by celebrating the festival of lights in a big way.

This year it all started on October 15 from the iconic Times Square which among was attended by the City Mayor Eric Adams, Senate Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer and India's Consul General in Randhir Jaiswal.

Adams announced that Diwali will be a public-school holiday in City starting in 2023. This sends a message about the significance of the city's inclusiveness and the long overdue step will encourage children to learn about the festival of lights, he told a gathering of several hundreds.

On this occasion, renowned Oncologist Dr. Dattatreyadu Nori was recognised and honoured for his lifetime excellent services to Health and Medicine by Mayor Eric Adam.

We love our community, our Indian community, and we love that we all come together here in with our diversity, Senator Schumer said, adding that he has been celebrating the festival of Diwali with the Indian-American community in New York for many years.

South Asia Engagement Foundation has once collaborated with Durst Organisation to curate digital animation displaying Diwali imagery on the iconic World Trade Center.

This digital display called All American Diwali will run continuously from October 22 to 24 from sunset until 2am.

As usual Diwali party is also being organized at several State Capitals and Governor House.

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leaders are gathering on Friday to take stock of their support for Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia is trying to spark a refugee exodus by destroying his war-ravaged country's energy infrastructure.

Nearly eight months into the war, Russia is increasingly targeting Ukraine's power stations, waterworks and other key infrastructure with missile and drone strikes.

Meanwhile, the EU is struggling with the fallout of having to urgently wean itself off Russian gas and oil as the war fuels price hikes and market nervousness.

In a speech via video link to European leaders in Brussels on Thursday, Zelenskyy said that attacks by Russian cruise missiles and Iranian combat drones have destroyed more than a third of our energy infrastructure. Because of this, unfortunately we are no longer able to export electricity to help you maintain stability.

Russia also provokes a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to EU countries, by attacking electricity and heating sources so that as many Ukrainians as possible move to your countries".

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has branded Russia's attacks on civilian infrastructure as war crimes and acts of pure terror.

More than 4.3 million Ukrainian citizens have registered for temporary protection in the EU. Almost a third of them are being hosted in Poland alone.

In a draft of an EU summit statement, the leaders affirm that they will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes with continued political, military and economic support.

They also say that the 27-nation bloc will step up its humanitarian response, in particular for winter preparedness.

The draft text, seen by the Associated Press, is expected to be adopted later Friday but its precise wording could still change.

The EU is deeply divided over how to handle the arrival of migrants without authorisation the issue lies at the heart of one of the bloc's biggest ever political crises but many countries, particularly in central and eastern Europe, have set aside their objections to massively welcome in war refugees from Ukraine.

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leaders on Friday gave the green light to a plan to provide with 18 billion euros (dollars) in financial support over the next year, after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia is trying to spark a refugee exodus by destroying his country's energy infrastructure.

The plan, endorsed at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, would see the 27-nation bloc match US financial support for war-ravaged in monthly installments.

is telling us that they need approximately 3-4 billion euros per month to have enough resources for the basics, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. She said that figure would be met in equal part by the EU and the US, plus additional money from financial institutions.

It is very important to Ukraine to have a predictable and stable flow of income, von der Leyen told reporters.

She said the EU is looking to provide about 1.5 billion euros each month, describing it as a funding amount that would be stable and reliable.

The bloc's finance ministers have been tasked with coming up with a system for pulling together the money, which would come on top of the 9 billion euros in macro-financing support that the EU is already sending.

Von der Leyen also slammed Russia's atrocious and deliberate attacks on civilians and infrastructure. Nearly eight months into the war, Russia has increasingly targeted Ukraine's power stations, waterworks and other key infrastructure with missile and drone strikes.

In a speech to the leaders via video link on Thursday, Zelenskyy said that attacks by Russian cruise missiles and Iranian combat drones have destroyed more than a third of our energy infrastructure."



The president added: Russia also provokes a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to EU countries, by attacking electricity and heating sources so that as many Ukrainians as possible move to your countries.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas described the targeting of civilian infrastructure as pure terrorism.

Russia's attacks are meant to make us afraid. It is to make us refrain from the decisions that we would otherwise make, and this is awful that it is possible to do this in the year 2022, Kallas told reporters.

Her Latvian counterpart, Krisjanis Karins, added: Russia's war is becoming ever more brutal, now blatantly aimed not at the Ukrainian military but at Ukrainian citizens."



More than 4.3 million Ukrainian citizens have registered for temporary protection in the EU. Poland is hosting almost almost a third of them.

In a summit statement, the EU leaders affirmed that they will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes with continued political, military and economic support. They also said that the bloc will step up its humanitarian response, in particular for winter preparedness".

The EU is deeply divided over how to handle the arrival of migrants without authorisation, an issue that lies at the heart of one of the bloc's biggest-ever political crises.

But many countries, particularly in central and eastern Europe, so far have set aside their objections to welcome large numbers of war refugees from Ukraine.

The leaders also warned Belarus against helping Russia in the war. Ukraine's military leaders said this week that Russia is deploying aircraft and troops to Belarus and that Russian forces could attack from there to cut supply routes for Western weapons and equipment.

The Belarusian regime must fully abide by its obligations under law. The remains ready to move quickly with further sanctions against Belarus, the summit statement said.

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took formal delivery Friday of its first, modest, batch of hydrogen from the United Arab Emirates, a "green" fuel it hopes will help replace and gas used by energy-intensive industries in future.

is scrambling to substitutenatural gas imports from Russia while also staying on track for its ambitious goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.

One alternative is energy-rich hydrogen gas, provided it is made with the help of renewable energy. Since hydrogen is difficult to transport it is sometimes stored as liquid ammonia.

The delivery in Hamburg was modest: just a single container with 13 metric tons of ammonia.

Still, it was symbolic enough for German Economy Minister Robert Habeck to hold a joint ceremony with the UAE's climate envoy, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, and the CEO of German metals manufacturer Aurubis, which is testing the fuel to make copper wire.

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On Thursday, resigned from her position as the United Kingdom's prime minister and the Conservative party leader. Truss's resignation came amid speculations over the future of her six-week-old government and the growing chaos from the party members seeking her resignation.

Truss came to power on September 6 and is the shortest-serving who succeeded .

Why did resign?

According to a BBC report, the announcement of her resignation came after she met the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs as more Tories called for her to quit. The pressure was mounting on Truss, owing to turmoil in the financial markets due to her economic policies.

Before her resignation, two of Truss's cabinet ministers were removed from their posts- Suella Braverman and Kwasi Kwarteng. While Braverman resigned owing to a technical breach of government rules- she sent an official document from her email account. Kwarteng left after the 'mini-budget' debacle, which he announced later led to market volatility, tanked the currency, and increased mortgage rates.

In her address outside Downing Street on October 20, Truss said that she could not deliver on the mandate she was elected on and had therefore notified King Charles III about her resignation as the Tory leader.

Truss's resignation has again put the onus back on her opponent . While Sunak is one of the front-runners, other leaders of the Conservative Party could replace Truss in the coming week.

Here is a look at some of the front-runners for the post of the next UK prime minister:

Rishi Sunak

Sunak, who lost to Truss last month in the Conservative leadership election, continues to be the key contender to step up for the post. According to a Bloomberg report, Sunak remains Sky Bet's favourite, with the bookmaker paying out 7 ($7.83) for every 4 bet on the ex-chancellor

Jeremy Hunt

UK's new chancellor Jeremy Hunt has moved up the ladder of favourites after less than a week in the role. Former health and foreign minister Hunt ripped up Truss's manifesto, which led to some lawmakers referring to him as the 'real prime minister'.

Boris Johnson

Johnson, the face of the Brexit vote, was forced out by several scandals. Given his solid 2019 electoral mandate, Johnson loyalists believe that the leader should make a comeback. Sky Bet sees returning to the top post just three months after his resignation.

Penny Mordaunt

was a former defence secretary who won plaudits for her performance in the parliament on October 17, when she defended the Truss government even after it reversed most of its policies.

Ben Wallace

UK's defence secretary and a former soldier, Ben Wallace, is among the few ministers who have emerged from the recent political turmoil with enhanced credibility.

Keir Starmer

According to Sky Bet, Keir Starmer has slipped down the list of likely candidates, suggesting that the bookies favour an internal Tory replacement rather than a general election. Starmer renewed his call for a general election as the only way out of the "pathetic squabbles" within the governing party.
A gas pipeline is to be built connecting Iberia to and the rest of Europe, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has confirmed.

Spain, and have agreed to cooperate on the project, Sanchez was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Speaking on his return to on Thursday after attending an EU summit on the energy crisis, Sanchez said that the pipeline will hugely increase the volume of the two existing links between and . It will also help to transport green hydrogen and gas during the transition period Europe needs until it increases its capacity for renewables.

The "Green Energy Corridor" will connect Barcelona to Marseilles in southern France. It replaces the "MidCat" scheme, which was dropped in 2019 due to concerns over costs and regulations.

The ongoing energy crisis, caused by the conflict in Ukraine and uncertainties over supplies from Russia, has led to the revival of plans to ship gas through and (which is connected by pipeline to Algeria).

Spain has spent several months pushing for the project, which is also supported by Germany. As well as its Algerian pipeline, Spain also has a high capacity for converting liquid natural gas (LNG), with 6 LNG terminals.

--IANS

int/sha

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The Sri Lankan Parliament on Friday passed, with over 2/3 majority, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution curtailing certain powers of the President.

All main opposition parties voted together with the parties aligned with the government, led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in favour to make a total 174 out of 225 MPs at the third reading of the amendment.

Only one MP from Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) voted against the amendment while most of the others from ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's party abstained from voting while the others were absent.

Main opposition, Samagi Janabalawegaya (United People's Power), main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance and left-wing party Jathika Janabalawegaya (National People's Power) representing the opposition in parliament voted in favour of the Amendment. Most legislators of the ruling SLPP and its main ally Freedom Party, led by former President Maithripala Sirisena, too voted in favour of the Amendment.

The Amendment reintroduced some features of 19th Amendment which was passed during

Sirisena-Wickremesinghe joint government which ruled the country from 2015 to 2019.

Curtailing super powers enjoyed by the President, the 22nd Amendment will shift some of President's powers to the Constitutional Council representing both government and opposition lawmakers and independent bodies such as the National Election Commission (NEC), the Public Service Commission (PSC), the National Police Commission (NPC), the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), the Finance Commission and the Delimitation Commission which would be led by non-political independent persons.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was elected as President with a 2/3 majority in 2019, introduced 20th Amendment completely changing the 19th Amendment and giving more powers to the

President.

The new Amendment is also prohibit foreign nationals or those with dual-nationality from entering politics, a move that prevents ex-President Rajapaksa's brother and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is a US citizen, from becoming involving in .

Passing of the 22th Amendment is also a crucial for Sri Lanka to get assistance to come out from the ongoing economic crisis. Before Friday's voting to the Amendment, Justice Minister Wijayadasa Rajapakshe who also tabled the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, informed Parliament that passing of 22n amendment is vital to get the crucial support of the Monetary Fund (IMF) and GSP+ trade concessions to the country. Sri Lanka awaits a $2.9 billion conditional concession from the IMF as one of the initial measures to recover from the crisis.

Following a severe economic catastrophe where people had to spent days in queues to obtain fuel, cooking gas and many other essentials, in March, people got on to the streets until the government led by Mahinda Rajapaksa was resigned and his brother Gotabya fled the country.

One of the main demands of the protestors was to reduce powers of the President.

--IANS

sfl/vd

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Iranian Foreign Minister has rejected the claim of the European Union (EU) that had sent missiles and drones to Russia to be used against Ukraine.

In a phone conversation with Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian stated Iran's policy of opposing the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its escalation, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a tweet by the Iranian top diplomat.

"Although has defense cooperation with Russia, sending drones and weapons against Ukraine is not Iran's policy," he tweeted, adding "the claim of sending Iranian missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine is baseless."

On Thursday, the EU agreed on sanctions against three Iranian individuals and one entity for the alleged "use of Iranian drones by Russia against Ukraine in their ongoing conflict."

--IANS

int/sha

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shares hit a record high of Rs 905 on the BSE on Friday, surging 9.5 per cent in the intra-day trade, after the bank beat Street's September quarter earnings' expectations across parameters by a wide margin. They closed at Rs 900 level, up 8.9 per cent on the BSE as against 0.2 per cent gain in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex.



The stock of private sector lender surpassed its previous high of Rs 866.60, touched on October 25, 2021. Key brokerages have raised their target prices on the stock, and see up to 28 per cent upside.
The cement major's standalone net profit slipped 68.7% to Rs 137.89 crore on 14% increase in net sales to Rs 3,631 crore in Q3 CY22 over Q3 CY21.

The company's sales volume grew by 12.3% YoY to 6.74 million tons and realizations stood at Rs 5,148 per ton in Q3 CY22 as against Rs 5,154 per ton in Q3 CY21.The growth in sales volume was driven by reduction in logistic costs, unleashing network synergy and various other cost efficiency measures.

Profit before tax in Q3 CY22 stood at Rs 156.30 crore, down by 73.6% from Rs 592.21 crore in Q3 CY21.

EBITDA dropped 56.76% to Rs 304 crore in Q3 CY22 from Rs 703 crore recorded in Q3 CY21. EBITDA margin declined to 8.4% in Q3 CY22 as against 22% in Q2 CY21.

On consolidated basis, the company's net profit slumped 94% to Rs 51 crore despite of 8% increase in net sales to Rs 7,051 crore in Q3 CY22 over Q3 CY21. EBITDA fell 76% to Rs 334 crore during the quarter. EBITDA margin stood at 4.7% in Q3 CY22 as against 21.7% in Q3 CY21.

Ajay Kapur, CEO of Ambuja Cements said, "Cement industry has been facing significant margin pressure resulting from steep rise in global energy prices. However, recent cooling off in energy prices and post monsoon demand pick up appears like silver lining for coming quarters. Ambuja has embarked upon a transformational journey to gain both scale and market leadership, with focused efforts on ramping up capacity, and margin expansion. By taking advantage of the scope and resources of the Adani Group, we aim to expand more quickly and with greater impact to gain leadership position in cement industry.

With the equity infusion by the promoter group in the company, the expansion program will gather pace in the coming time. Considering the promise, we made to double our manufacturing capacity over the next five years, our growth plans are ambitious and this will be evident in 2023. While cost pressures have not gone away, our growth plans remain strong".

The company's cash and cash equivalent stood at Rs 3,479 crore as on 30 September 2022.

Ambuja Cements is one of the leading cement companies in India. It is part of the Holcim Group, a global leader in building materials and solutions and active in four business segments: cement, aggregates, ready-mix concrete and solutions & products.

Shares of Ambuja Cements declined 0.78% to currently trade at Rs 513.50 on the BSE.

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Dynamatic Technologies rose 2.78% to Rs 2250.50 after the company announced the signing of a MoU with Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) for long-term production of Front Fuselage of LCA Tejas.

HAL and Dynamatic Technologies shall work together for manufacturing and supply of Front Fuselage Assembly along with Jig and Tooling complying to quality requirements. The purchase order for this understanding shall be released soon.

Separately, the company informed that the Northrop Grumman has signed a letter of intent (LoI) with Dynamatic Technologies, to support their workshare for India Navy F/A-18 program.

Dynamatic Technologies designs and builds highly engineered products for aerospace, hydraulic, metallurgy and security applications at its design facilities in Europe and India. Dynamatic is a demonstrated leader for the development of exacting airframe structures and precision aerospace components for major global aerospace companies.

The company's consolidated net profit surged to Rs 8.17 crore in the quarter ended June 2022 from Rs 2.52 crore during the previous quarter ended June 2021. Sales declined 2.95% to Rs 310.96 crore in Q1 FY23 over Q1 FY22.

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Sales decline 21.67% to Rs 252.28 crore

Net profit of Gujarat Industries Power Co declined 50.09% to Rs 26.63 crore in the quarter ended September 2022 as against Rs 53.36 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2021. Sales declined 21.67% to Rs 252.28 crore in the quarter ended September 2022 as against Rs 322.08 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2021.252.28322.0829.9436.8380.27116.0238.9978.5426.6353.36

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Lakshmi Machine Works rose 1.94% to Rs 12486.75 after the company reported 139.6% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 104.30 crore in Q2 FY23 from Rs 43.53 crore in Q2 FY22.

Net sales during the quarter increased by 50.9% YoY to Rs 1,211.90 crore. The Textile Machinery Division recorded revenue of Rs 974.11 crore (up 61.1% YoY), revenue of Machine Tool & Foundry Division was Rs 263.87 crore (up 24.1% YoY) and that of Advanced Technology Centre was Rs 32.86 crore (up 3.6x YoY) during the period under review.

Total expenses rose by 47.7% to Rs 1,1110.43 crore in Q2 FY23 as compared with the same period last year, due to higher raw material costs (up 53% YoY), higher employee expenses (up 25.6% YoY) and higher other expenses (up 50.6% YoY).

Profit before tax in Q2 FY23 stood at Rs 144.09 crore, up by 118.9% from Rs 65.81 crore in Q2 FY22.

Separately, the company informed that its board has approved the proposal for making an investment of Rs 50 crore in the 5,000 unsecured compulsorily convertible debenture (CCD's) issued by LMW Aerospace Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

LMW Aerospace is involved in the production, assembly, supply of products and rendering of services for

Aerospace industry. It is yet to commence its operations.

Lakshmi Machine is making the said investment in order to support working capital requirements of the wholly owned subsidiary company upon commencement of business operations.

Lakshmi Machine Works is a leading textile machinery manufacturer in India and one among the three in the world to produce the entire range of spinning machinery.

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Sales rise 30.97% to Rs 600.37 crore

Net profit of Rane (Madras) declined 97.81% to Rs 0.05 crore in the quarter ended September 2022 as against Rs 2.28 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2021. Sales rose 30.97% to Rs 600.37 crore in the quarter ended September 2022 as against Rs 458.41 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2021.600.37458.415.584.4827.2415.925.34-4.100.052.28

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Politically, the and likeminded countries around the world have adopted a war footing to stop Russian aggression. Russian President violated the most fundamental principle of international law by launching an unprovoked attack on another member of the United Nations  an institution created explicitly to prevent such aggression. The dangers of appeasement should be obvious. Even a little empathy should make us shudder in horror at the prospect of having to live under Putins rule.

It is a peculiar war. While Putin has described his project as a confrontation with the entire West, Ukrainians alone are doing all the fighting and bearing the full brunt of Russian attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. Meanwhile, Europe and America have provided economic and military assistance, and the rest of the world has been dealing with the wars fallout, including higher energy and food prices.

But it is a mistake to think that the war can be won with a peacetime economy. No country has ever prevailed in a serious war by leaving markets alone. Markets simply move too slowly for the kind of major structural changes that are required. Thats why the United States has the Defense Production Act, which was enacted in 1950 and invoked recently in the war against Covid-19, and again to address a critical shortage of baby formula.

Wars inevitably cause shortages and generate windfall gains for some at the expense of others. Historically, war profiteers have typically been executed. But today, they include many energy producers and traders who, rather than being marched to the gallows, should be subjected to a windfall profits tax. The European Union has proposed such a measure, but it would come too late, and it is too weak and too narrow for the challenge at hand. Similarly, while several members of Congress have put forward bills to tax Big Oils superprofits, the Biden administration has so far failed to move on the issue.

That is understandable, given that US President Joe Biden has been busy enlisting support for signal achievements like the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act. Moreover, in seeking the private sectors cooperation in limiting price increases, he has been at pains not to appear anti-business. But taxing windfall profits and using the proceeds to finance the necessary war spending and support for those hurt by high prices is not anti-business; it is responsible wartime governance, which is necessary to maintain popular support for the war effort. Such temporary taxes hurt neither investment nor employment, and there is nothing unjust about taxing exceptional gains that companies did nothing to deserve. (Besides, more generally, taxes on corporate profits are not distortionary, because costs, including capital, are deductible.)

Even more comprehensive measures are needed in Europe, where todays electricity market was not designed to deal with wartime conditions. Instead, it follows the principle of marginal-cost pricing. That means the electricity price reflects the highest-cost source of production needed to meet current demand. As gas prices have soared, marginal costs have risen far above average costs. The cost of renewable energy has, for instance, changed little.

As such, many sellers of low-cost electricity are making a killing, as are the traders who bought energy at the lower pre-war prices. While these market players reap billions of euros in profits, consumers electricity bills are soaring. Electricity prices in energy-rich Norway, with its enormous gas and oil reserves and hydro capacity, have increased nearly tenfold.

Illustration: Ajay Mohanty

Meanwhile, households and small businesses are being pushed to the brink, and even some big companies have already gone bankrupt. Last month, Uniper, a large company supplying one-third of Germanys gas, was nationalised, effectively socialising its massive losses. The European principle of no state aid has been thrown aside, mainly because European leaders moved too slowly in changing a market structure that was not designed for war.

Economists love marginal-cost pricing because it provides appropriate incentives, and because its distributive consequences tend to be small and easily manageable in normal times. But now, the systems incentive effects are small and its distributive effects are enormous. In the short run, consumers and small businesses will have to turn down their thermostat in the winter and turn it up in the summer, but comprehensive energy-saving investments take time to plan and implement.

Fortunately, there is a simpler system (already under discussion in some countries, and already being partly implemented in others) that would retain most of marginal-cost pricings incentive effects without the distributive effects. Under a non-linear pricing framework, households and firms could be allowed to purchase 90 per cent of their previous years supply at the previous years price, and 91-110 per cent of supply at, say, 150 per cent of the previous years price, before the marginal-cost price kicks in.

While non-linear pricing cant be used in many markets  owing to the possibility of arbitrage (buying a good at a low price and immediately reselling it at a much higher price)  electricity is not one of them. That is why some economists (like me) have long advocated its use in cases where large market failures are having important distributive effects. It is a powerful tool that governments can and should use, especially when confronting wartime conditions.

Something also must be done about soaring food prices. After a half-century of paying US farmers not to farm (an old method of agricultural price support), we now should pay them to produce more.

Such changes have become imperative. As the Vietnamese understood, wars are won as much on the political front as on the battlefield. The purpose of the 1968 Tet Offensive was not to gain territory but to change the political calculus of the war, and it worked. Defeating Russia obviously will require more help for Ukraine. But it also will require a better economic response on the part of the West more broadly. That starts with sharing more of the burden through windfall profit taxes, controlling key prices  such as those for electricity and food  and encouraging government interventions where necessary to alleviate critical shortages.

Neoliberalism, based on simplistic ideas about how markets should operate that fail to comprehend how they actually operate, didnt work even in peacetime. It must not be allowed to stop us from winning this war.

The writer, a Nobel laureate in economics, is University Professor at Columbia University.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2022
Union Home Minister will on Friday address the concluding session of the 90th Interpol General Assembly here, in which 164 countries are participating to discuss ways to combat transnational crimes.

Shah will arrive at the newly-built swanky Pragati Maidan to address the concluding session of the assembly at 12.50 pm, the home ministry said on Twitter.

During the four-day conference that began on October 18, the participating member countries of Interpol underlined that cyber crimes and online sexual abuse of children are emerging as major threats globally, officials said.

During the general assembly, the global police organisation also announced its presence in the virtual world through Interpol Metaverse, where registered users can tour a "virtual facsimile" of the Interpol General Secretariat headquarters in France's Lyon from anywhere in the world.

They can interact with other officers via their avatars and even take immersive training courses in forensic investigation and other policing capabilities.

The assembly also resolved to pay special attention to transnational financial crimes using instruments of the global police cooperation organisation, such as the Interpol Financial Crime Analysis File and the Interpol Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR)Global Focal Point Network (GFPN) on Asset Recovery.

The assembly discussed the issue of providing financial intelligence units (FIUs) a direct access to Interpol's Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database, in compliance with the legislations of the respective countries.

This would allow the FIUs to combine information from police and other sources, thereby enhancing the member countries' capacity to combat financial crimes and corruption, the statement said.

The 90th General Assembly is being organised in India to coincide with the 75th anniversary year of the country's independence, after a proposal in this regard was made to Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock by Shah during the former's visit here in 2019.

The proposal was put to vote last year and a majority of countries voted in favour of India. This is the second occasion that India is hosting the event, with the last general assembly held here in 1997.

Inaugurating the assembly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged Interpol on Tuesday to speed up red corner notices against fugitive offenders to help eliminate safe havens for terrorists, criminals and those accused of corruption.

Modi had also warned about the harmful globalised threats that the world faces -- terrorism, corruption, drug trafficking, poaching and organised crime.

"The pace of change of these dangers is faster than earlier. When threats are global, the response cannot be just local. It is high time that the world comes together to defeat these threats," the prime minister had said.

He had added that India has been combating transnational terrorism for decades.

"Long before the world woke up to it, we knew the price of safety and security. Thousands of our people made the ultimate sacrifice in this fight. But it is no longer enough that terrorism is fought only in the physical space. It is now spreading its presence through online radicalisation and cyber threats," he had said.

Modi had also said what each country does within its boundaries is not enough.

"There is a need to further develop international strategies. Establishment of early detection and warning systems, protecting transportation services, security for communication infrastructure, security for critical infrastructure, technical and technological assistance, intelligence exchange -- many of these things need to be taken to a new level," the prime minister had 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.)
Congress leader on Friday accused the and of spreading hatred and violence everywhere in the country, as he also targeted the saffron party governments at both the Centre and state on a host of issues.

The former AICC president was addressing the gathering at Yeragera here at the end of the 44th day of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which began at Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh this morning.

"If we see this country and the region today, and have spread hatred and violence everywhere. This country is not the country of hatred and violence and they won't benefit this country in any way," Gandhi said.

Thanking the people for giving strength and support for the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by him, he said, "You have given power for unifying India, stood against hatred and violence. You have protected the Indian flag and taken it up much higher, from the people who are attacking it by spreading hatred and violence in the country."



The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Gandhi on Friday re-entered Karnataka here, after three days in neighboring Andhra Pradesh.

The yatra that entered the state near Gillesuguru at Raichur border, will march through the rural and urban segments of the district, before entering neighbouring Telangana on the morning of October 23.

Noting that walking a total distance of about 3,500 km is not easy, Gandhi said that the support, strength and love of people has made it a bit easy for him. "It is you, who are pushing me ahead."



He said the yatra is being taken out for three reasons -- to unite the country and eradicate hatred, to tell and Narendra Modi-led government that they should fulfill their promise of creating two crore jobs for youth every year, and against price raise.

Pointing out that during the 7-8 hours long walk every day as part of this yatra, he and his party leaders listen to farmers, labourers, youth and women, Gandhi said they share their concerns and difficulties.

Speaking about the tax/GST on fertilisers, tractors, pesticides and diesel, he said farmers say that they are able to save only a meagre amount of money.

"Farmers, especially cotton farmers, shared their plight due to crop destruction because of rains. They also said that the BJP government hasn't done anything for them. This is the plight of Karnataka's farmers," he added.

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of imposing demonetisation and "wrong GST" on the country, the Wayanad MP said small and medium traders and industries "are all finished because of it".

Stating that India is unable to provide jobs to its educated youth today and that he has met hundreds of them during the yatra, he said, "The world's second richest man is from India. India's Prime Minister has given him the country's infrastructure completely like airports, ports, agri business, road work, and is now giving him telecom sector too."



"In India on one side, there are the world's richest people, while on the other there are the world's most unemployed," he remarked.

Questioning as to where the pockets of these rich are getting money, he further said, "Whose money is this? It belongs to India's farmers, labourers and you (the common people)."



Alleging that the BJP government in Karnataka has broken all records of corruption with 40 per cent commission on everything, Gandhi said, "Even to make pakodas, 40 per cent commisison has to be given... Sub-inspector's job is available for Rs 80 lakh."



Further claiming credit on behalf of Congress for implementing Article 371J, which grants special status to six backward districts of Hyderabad-Karnataka region, while pointing out that BJP had refused to do it, he highlighted the education, employment and infrastructure-related benefits that the region has gained because of the provision.

(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.)
Hong Kong: Seniors jab services launched

The Government will roll out a new round of a scheme from tomorrow to visit seniors in Wong Tai Sin, Kwun Tong and Kwai Tsing to encourage them to receive COVID-19 vaccination.

The Secretary for Health has written to some of these residents explaining the scheme's arrangements and urging them to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Community organisations of the three districts, the Association of Property Services Agents together with the Health Bureau and relevant government bureaus and departments will visit elderly public housing tenants to persuade those aged 70 or above to get vaccinated.

Seniors to be visited will be arranged to participate in vaccination events in the districts if they are willing to receive the jab. Those with special needs can register for the Home Vaccination Service.

The Wong Tai Sin District Office will organise a Sinovac vaccination event at S K H St Benedict's School tomorrow from 10am to 3pm, while the community vaccination station at Wong Tai Sin Temple Square will provide Sinovac and BioNTech vaccination services from 9am to 6pm.

The Kwun Tong District Office will organise a jab event at Sau Ming Primary School on Sunday from 9.30am to 4.30pm, providing both types of vaccination services.

While the Kwai Tsing District Office will organise a Sinovac vaccination event at Cheung Hang Community Hall also on Sunday, from 2pm to 4pm.

This story has been published on: 2022-10-21. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Resolving Taiwan question highlighted in report

(China Daily) 08:36, October 21, 2022

Fighting against separatism and countering interference from foreign forces aimed at "Taiwan independence" have been highlighted in the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, given the unprecedented risks across the Taiwan Straits, experts said.

While delivering the report at the opening session of the congress on Sunday, Xi Jinping said that resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese people, and is a matter that must be resolved by the Chinese people.

Xi said that China will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, "but we will never promise to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary".

This statement is directed solely at interference by outside forces and the few separatists seeking "Taiwan independence" and their separatist activities, and it is by no means targeted at Taiwan compatriots, he said.

Tang Yonghong, deputy director of Xiamen University's Taiwan Research Center, said that with China's growth, the United States has shifted its strategy toward China to strategic competition aimed at containment and suppression, adding that the US is using Taiwan to contain the Chinese mainland, while the Democratic Progressive Party authorities on the island rely on the US to seek "independence".

"The collusion between the DPP and the US is now more intense than at any time since China and the US established diplomatic relations," Tang said.

It has not only seriously influenced the prospect of China's peaceful reunification, but also the country's development and national rejuvenation, he added.

A white paper on the Taiwan question issued in August reiterated that Taiwan is part of China, which is an indisputable fact supported by history and the law. Any attempt to distort these facts and dispute or deny the one-China principle will end in failure.

"It is the sacred right of every sovereign state to safeguard national unity and territorial integrity. It goes without saying that the Chinese government is entitled to take all measures necessary to settle the Taiwan question and achieve national reunification, free of external interference," the white paper said.

Although it is clear that Taiwan is part of China, "the cross-Straits situation has undergone serious challenges in the past decade, with escalating collusion between the US and Taiwan", said Huang Zhixian, president of the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots and a delegate to the 20th CPC National Congress.

Lin Yen-chen, who is from Taiwan and is now a doctoral student at Peking University's School of International Studies, said, "The secessionists do not care about the wellbeing of the people in Taiwan."

The DPP authorities use people's hard-earned money to buy weapons from the US and engage in meaningless ideological confrontation against the mainland, he said. "None of this will help the people of Taiwan live a better and happier life."

Tang, from Xiamen University, said, "Facing the current situation, the CPC gave the latest answers on how to solve the Taiwan question in the report."

Compared with the report to the 19th CPC National Congress, the report to the 20th CPC National Congress continues to stress fighting against separatism and countering interference, while putting more emphasis on resolving the Taiwan question and achieving China's complete reunification, Tang said.

While calling for opposing "Taiwan independence" and promoting reunification, the report made it clear that the mainland "will never promise to renounce the use of force", he said.

Jiang Erxiong, another delegate to the congress and also president of the Fujian Federation of Taiwan Compatriots, said that one highlight of the content related to Taiwan is that the Party's overall policy of solving the Taiwan question in the new era has been included in the report.

It's clearly pointed out in the report that "Taiwan is China's Taiwan" and it necessarily draws a red line for "Taiwan independence" separatists and external forces, she said.

While making clear the bottom line that the mainland will adopt peaceful means to solve the Taiwan question but reserves the option of the use of force, it also clearly distinguishes between the secessionists and Taiwan compatriots.

Lin Tse-yuan, who is originally from Taiwan and is now an associate professor at East China Normal University's School of Communication, said that the significance of the Taiwan question and the severe situation were demonstrated by the mentions in the report of the fight against separatism and countering interference.

"Facing an unprecedentedly severe cross-Straits situation, the CPC conveys its firm attitude toward foreign forces' meddling in China's internal affairs through the fighting spirit mentioned many times in the report," he said.

Huang, the delegate, said that the Party leadership, with great wisdom, courage and strong determination, has taken resolute measures to counter these provocations with measures in political, economic, military and diplomatic fields, which have effectively countered the "arrogance of these Western forces and 'Taiwan independence' forces".

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Du Mingming)
Upper Siang: Smoke billows after an advanced light helicopter of the Indian Army crashed at Migging in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. (Photo: PTI)

ITANAGAR: Three persons were killed in an Army helicopter crash in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh on Friday morning, a defence official said.

The advanced light helicopter, carrying five Army personnel, was on regular sorties, he said.

The incident took place at 10.43 am at Singging near Migging, around 25 km from district headquarters Tuting.

"There were five Army personnel onboard. Three of them died. Two bodies have been recovered, while one has been sighted. Two others are yet to be spotted," the defence official said.

A rescue team reached the spot and search operation is underway, Tezpur based defence spokesperson Lt Col AS Walia said.

Two choppers, one each of Army and India Air Force, have been deployed for the search and rescue operation, he said.

Upper Siang SP Jummar Basar had earlier said the crash site is a mountainous region, and it would take time for the search and rescue team to reach the spot.

The district police also sent a team to the spot for search operation, the SP said.

The Army chopper, also known as HAL Rudra, took off from Likabali in Lower Siang district of the state with the army personnel onboard.

This is the second incident of an Army helicopter accident in the state this month.

A Cheetah helicopter crashed in Tawang district on October 5, killing one of the two pilots onboard.

Another Cheetah chopper crashed in March near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The pilot died in this incident, too.
Chief Minister on Friday refused to comment on the claim made by political strategist that the former was still in touch with the and said he keeps talking rubbish.

The political strategist on Thursday claimed that Kumar is in touch with the and he might once against tie up with the party if the situation demands.

What should I say on this.he (Prashant) keeps talking rubbish. He makes such statements just for his publicity. Everybody knows that he is working for which party, Kumar remarked in reply to questions from journalists who sought his views on Kishor's claims that the CM is still in touch with the saffron party.

Kishor had also told PTI on Wednesday that Kumar has kept a line of communication open with the through JD (U) MP and Rajya Sabha deputy chairman, Harivansh.

"After having snapped ties with the BJP, should have asked Harivansh to step down. If he insisted on occupying the post, he could have been expelled from the JD(U). But Nitish is having this arrangement to keep options open for the future," Kishor on Wednesday had alleged at a public meeting in West Champaran district, where he has been for three weeks as part of a state-wide 'padayatra'.

The chief minister said, Let him (Kishor) speak whatever he wants. We have nothing to do with him. Earlier, he used to work with meIt's a fact that there are certain people whom I promoted, ditched me.

Commenting on phone calls made to DGP by a conman, who posing as a high court judge sought leniency towards a now-suspended IPS officer accused of links with liquor traders in the dry state, the chief minister said, All the accused, except the IPS officer who is absconding, have been nabbed by the police. The DGP detected the case on time.

The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the state police sent the fraudster Abhishek Agarwal to jail on Thursday.

He was arrested on the charges of cheating, impersonation, causing hindrance in government work, and cybercrime.

When asked about the Patna High Court's latest ruling that the civic polls in may be held, with seats reserved for Extremely Backward Classes, the CM said, Bihar is the first state in the country where the government allowed reservation for extremely backward classes. We welcome this ruling of the Patna HC and the process will start very soon.

On Wednesday the High Court, which had on October 4 declared as illegal the quotas for extremely backward classes in the state's urban local bodies, agreed to the state government's plea that fresh polls, with reservations in place, be allowed after a report to the effect was obtained from a statutory commission set up for the very purpose.

(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 Friday took a swipe at Prime Minister for his long visits to poll-bound saying it indicates all is not well for the BJP in his home state and he should open up a camp office there.

Congress' In-charge for affairs Raghu Sharma on Friday claimed that there is a lot of anger against the BJP in the state, and called the ruling party "anti-tribal."



He said the party's stance towards tribals was evident from the recent attacks on MLA and tribal leader Anant Patel, which he alleged was done at the behest of BJP chief C R Patil.

Sharma also accused new entrants, Aam Aadmi Party and AIMIM, as "B-teams" of the BJP, as they were aiding the saffron party in elections across the country, including in Gujarat.

He took a dig at Union Home minister Amit Shah saying he is always seen in Gujarat these days, which is indicative of the rising unrest among local people in the state, which will be reflected in the upcoming assembly elections.

"Going by the frequent long visits of the prime minister and the home minister to Gujarat, it is evident that all is not well with the BJP in their home state. To me, the prime minister should open up his camp office in Gujarat, as he is spending many days there and is not focussing on governance in the country," he told reporters.

There is a misconception that the is nowhere in Gujarat, but such people are highly mistaken as the Congress will storm to power in the elections and will win 125 seats in upcoming polls and form its own government, he claimed.

"There is a lot of anger among the people, especially tribals, against the ruling BJP in the state. The Congress is very much in the reckoning to form its next government in Gujarat.

"The AAP and AIMIM are also functioning as 'B-teams' of the BJP as they do not have any cadre in Gujarat and all people working for them are paid," he alleged.

Sharma also hoped that the Congress will release its first list of candidates for assembly polls by the end of the month.

Gujarat goes to polls very soon and the Election Commission is likely to announce the dates in the next few days.

(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.)
Political strategist-turned-activist on Friday launched a stinging attack on Prime Minister over the issues of price rise and lack of industrial development in states like Bihar.

Kishor, who is on a state-wide padayatra of his home state, was addressing villagers in Narkatiaganj, a subdivision of West Champaran district, about 300 km from the state capital.

A video clip of his speech, in fluent Bhojpuri, was shared on social media by "Jan Suraaj", his initiative that is likely to evolve into a political party upon completion of the state-wide tour.

"We chanted Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi and he became the Prime Minister. What we got is a jump in the price of cooking gas, from Rs 500 to Rs 1,300 per cylinder..... If he gets elected for yet another term in office, the price may reach Rs 2,000 per cylinder", said Kishor whose first claim to fame was handling Modi's poll campaign in 2014.

He also sought to rubbish welfare measures of the current regime, often credited for the BJP's electoral success in several states, pointing out "with free five kg of food grains, worth Rs 200, we are being shortchanged. Give us gas cylinders for Rs 500 instead".

Kishor, who bristles at suggestions that he was covertly working for the BJP, also underscored that industries were being set up only in lucrative states like Gujarat, to which Modi belonged.

"Modi had promised to the people of Bihar that he will revive the moribund sugar mills here and savour tea sweetened with locally produced sugar. Nothing came of it", said the IPAC founder.

"Our boys are still going to places like Gujarat where they have factories. So much for Gujarat, which sends only 26 MPs. So little for Bihar which has 40 and all but one of which went to BJP and its allies in the last Lok Sabha polls", Kishor 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.)
High drama was witnessed at the site of the sit-in by TET candidates here on Thursday midnight as police dispersed the protesters, saying section 144 of the CrPC had been imposed in the area.

A strong police contingent led by senior officers removed the 500-odd protesters, who claimed to have qualified the 2014 TET exams but were still omitted from the merit list, from near the head office of the Board of Primary Education.

Section 144 of the CrPC prohibits the assembly of four or more people in an area. Violation of the order is punishable under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.

The agitators had earlier ignored repeated pleas by police to vacate the spot insisting they would leave only after getting appointment letters for teaching jobs in state-run and state-aided primary schools.

A police officer said as the agitators refused to move away from the spot despite repeated appeals, minimum force was used to remove them from the site around 12.35 am.

However, the protesters alleged that police physically abused some of them.

"We were manhandled by the cops who dragged us away and dumped us in three waiting vehicles. Even women were physically abused," Shila Das, a protester alleged.

She claimed police had undemocratically attacked them even though they had shifted 100 metres away from the spot where they were protesting earlier after being informed of the imposition of section 144 of the CrPC.

"Several protesters became ill in the melee," Ayan Ghosh, another protester added.

Condemning the incident, BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul said, "Police beat up young protesters, including women, after dusk. We will not tolerate this and there will be protests all over the state against the high handedness of police on October 21."



"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had promised to directly appoint around 20,000 TET candidates who had qualified in the 2014 and subsequent tests but why only 6,100 posts are filled up now. Why 2014 TET candidates are being asked to sit for tests and interviews now?" she asked.

CPIM youth wing DYFI leader Minakshi Mukherjee said the left organisations will hold state wide protests against the police action on October 21.

The protesters, on indefinite sit-in since October 17, had earlier asserted that they will not leave the area without their appointment which led to the deployment of additional police personnel, including women constables and Rapid Action Force, in the area.

Since Thursday evening, they sat in small groups so as not to violate the prohibitory orders and held each other's hands as a mark of solidarity.

The indefinite sit-in by the candidates of the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) 2014 had entered its fourth day on Thursday. They claimed to have qualified the test but were overlooked by the board during recruitment. Twenty agitators were on hunger strike for the past three days.

About 100 others, who claimed to be TET 2017 candidates, began a dharna about half a km away. There was, however, no police personnel at that spot.

Earlier in the day, state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar visited the sit-in venue and expressed solidarity with the agitating candidates.

The protesters had turned down the requests of state Education minister Bratya Basu and president of Board of Primary Education Goutam Pal to withdraw the agitation and sit for a fresh test and interview.

If we go through the entire process of written test and interview again, how can it be ensured that we will not be discriminated against again? one of the agitators had told reporters.

Pal, however, argued that the Board cannot directly recruit the TET 2014 candidates if their names do not figure in the panel.

How can we take candidates from outside the panel merit list? The board will not be in a position to accede to such pleas, he said.

About reports that eligible TET candidates were deprived of jobs while undeserving ones were chosen during the tenure of his predecessors, Pal had said, The matter is being investigated and as per the directive of the (Calcutta) high court. Several candidates have already been recruited.

The Board president had said, We are ensuring transparency and fairness in the recruitment process. I urge the agitators to have faith in us and withdraw the sit-in, which is disrupting the functioning of the Board.

(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.)
kingpin on Friday defended the oil cartel and its partner's decision to cut crude oil production, saying they were doing the right job to secure and stabilise the market.

OPEC+ alliance "is doing the right job", said Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman here.

The minister is on a day-long visit to prepare the ground for Saudi Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's trip to India next month.

OPEC+ earlier this month decided to cut crude oil production quotas by 2 million barrels per day, starting in November.

The decisions of OPEC+ are aimed at securing, stabilise and sustaining the markets, he said.

Since the OPEC+ decision on October 5, Dated Brent peaked at USD 98.775 per barrel on October 7 and was down to USD 91.35 on Friday.

The visiting minister held discussions with top Indian ministers including Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Power Minister RK Singh.

The Saudi Minister said bilateral issues were discussed at the meeting. He however did not elaborate.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 21 (ANI/PNN): When it comes to financial planning, investments play a critical role in a person's life. Real estate has long been regarded as one of the most important investment opportunities. Investing in real estate is not a new trend; on the contrary, it has long been a popular option. However, as real estate investing has evolved over time, particularly since the COVID era, investors now have access to a wide range of novel concepts and resources. People are choosing real estate as a major investment because they have higher aspirations, better lifestyles, and more money.

Home buyers now have a wide range of options and variety as a result of the development of new outskirts and the renovation of older areas. The already thriving real estate market has brighter prospects as a result of favourable government policies, robust infrastructure, and a variety of developments. Positive sentiments in the residential real estate market are at an all-time high. For its developer clientele in H1 2022-23, The Guardians Real Estate Advisory, India's top one-stop real estate solution provider, reported a combined sales turnover of Rs 6,045 crore. This results from the sale of 3,372 units in Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru. In addition, 42,150 walk-ins were recorded across 60+ new projects launched in Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru.

While speaking on the development, Ram Naik, Director, The Guardians Real Estate Advisory, said, "Following COVID, the Indian real estate market now offers a wide range of apartments, villas, condos, gated communities, and plotted developments to meet the diverse needs of investors. As new properties and investment opportunities have entered the market, the sector has been thriving and gaining momentum."

He added, "The emergence of co-living and co-working spaces in the real estate industry, particularly in metro cities, has given investors reason for optimism about the real estate market in the current climate."

Real estate offers a wealth of advantages and possibilities, including stability, future security, guaranteed returns, and others, and it is currently luring homebuyers who are making plans for a secure future and hassle-free living. As a result, investor preference for the real estate industry has surpassed that of all other asset classes.

Similarly, as the industry normalises, The Guardians has established itself as the undisputed leader in both sales volume and value. The company's sales turnover increased by 86% year-on-year in the first half of the current fiscal year.

The Guardians' developer clientele includes Mumbai's top brands like Adani, Godrej Properties, Prestige Group, Chandak, Wadhwa Group, MICL, Sheth Creators and Kanakia among others. It has also been appointed the strategic marketing and sales partner for the Kolkata-based Siddha Group and Pune-based Goel Ganga Group.'

This story has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content in this article. (ANI/PNN)
ANANTAPUR: Rahul Gandhis Bharath Jodo Yatra through Andhra Pradesh concluded on Friday at Madhavaram in Mantralayam mandal of Kurnool district. The four-day-long 119-km-long yatra in AP covered four assembly segments of Kurnool district.

However, a large number of public organisations and activists from all parts of the state met the top Congress leader, raising serious issues like the promised Special Category Status for the state, Polavaram project, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and gram panchayat system.

In a statement at the end of his tour, Rahul Gandhi said: "We thank people for their overwhelming support and encouragement. It has truly been a memorable experience. Congress party is deeply aware of challenges we face in Andhra Pradesh. The state had been a bastion of Congress party in the past. It has produced outstanding statesmen for India. We are determined to do all we can for ensuring that Congress returns to its pre-eminent position in the hearts and minds of Andhra people".

Referring to his interactions with diverse groups of people during the AP leg of his Bharath Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi underlined that Congress is committed to granting special category status for Andhra Pradesh and develop a single capital at Amaravati.

"We support demand for continuation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant as a public sector company. We note that the state government has systematically undermined the panchayati raj system in Andhra Pradesh. We are strongly opposed to its assaults on democratic institutions. We will also continue to amplify the voice of farmers, youth, women, workers and many other stakeholders, whom we interacted with during the last three days," the Congress MP stated.

He recalled the commitments made in 2014 by then Congress-led UPA government in Parliament to people of Andhra Pradesh. These are not assurances made by one person or one party. They have been made by the Parliament to people of Andhra Pradesh. Congress is determined to ensure that these commitments are metfully and speedily. He blamed both central and state governments for failing in this regard.

Rahul Gandhi underlined: "I believe that Bharat Jodo Yatra will serve as a first step forward in this journey. There is a continuing effort on a daily basis to pit Indians against each other on the lines of caste, religion, language, food and dress. The unparalleled economic distress caused by skyrocketing prices and record unemployment, as well as the increasing concentration of political and economic power in a few hands, are all matters of grave concern."

Meanwhile, the Congress MP spent 20 minutes with a family at an Indiramma house in Madhavaram bridge colony. Noticing that the family has no cots, he directed Karnataka party leaders to arrange at least two cots for the house.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who is supervising the yatra through AP and Karnataka, expressed his gratitude towards people of Andhra Pradesh for their overwhelming response to Bharat Jodo Yatra in the state.
Only humans laugh

Only humans feel grief and shame

Oh Saki pass me the full carafe

Its love and wine that are to blame

 From Theyrey Paas Wi-Fi Meyrey Paas Wi-Guru, by Bachchoo

Liz Truss, who resigned as Britains Prime Minister on Thursday, remains in office as the acting PM till the Tory Party, which shamelessly clings on to power, despite utterly losing the confidence of the British public, elects a new leader. Of course, the policies she announced are now no longer indications of the British governments intentions, except perhaps for one  a trade deal with India.

That deal will be pursued by anyone who succeeds her as the UK needs to replace the 40 per cent hole in its imports and exports left by its wilful exit from the European Union. This desperate pursuit has been, in the main, unsuccessful. The United States has said that Britain is last in the queue; Australia says it will continue to flog lamb chops to Blighty. The Saudis will certainly buy weapons. Papua New Guinea and Tahiti havent as yet struck a deal  but the 40 per cent of trade that Britain did with the European Union is now a dodo on a respirator.

Indias approach to the deal entailed Britain accepting more students and issuing work visas to Indian citizens. This essential requirement had caused a rift in the UK government. While Trussed-up was desperate for a deal, her former home secretary, one Suella Braverman who resigned earlier this week, setting in train the events leading to the present chaos, publicly declared when she was in office that she was against admitting more Indian students and workers to Britain because they notoriously overstay their visas. Jeremy Hunt and Truss, who were desperate for the Indian deal, then forced Cruella to resign.

I dont rightly know if Cruellas stance against visas for Indians was reciprocated by India making it more and more difficult for Brits to get visas to visit or work in the land of the Ganga. At gatherings of friends and strangers when such travel is discussed, one inevitably hears about the frustrating difficulty, bureaucracy and period of time it takes to get a visa for India.

Now that the entire British Cabinet is in abeyance, Cruella may well be replaced by an Indophile and then maybe Indias home ministry will consider detoxing the visa process.

And if Trussed-ups successor then resumes trade negotiations, I have a suggestion for him or her:

King Charles III has announced the date for his coronation  in May next year. Its to be a relatively modest and multi-faith affair with the parades and pageantry somewhat limited. At the coronation his Queen Consort will also mount a throne and wear a crown which she inherits from the late Queen, her mother and her grandmother.

This crown, gentle reader, has had, from the late nineteenth century, embedded in it as its crowning glory, the Kohinoor diamond. When the coronation was announced and the ceremony was publicly contemplated, the palace, or perhaps King Charles III himself, said that the Kohinoor diamond, solen from India in imperial times, should be removed from the crown. Charles is reputedly apologetic about the nasty and racist aspects of colonialism and the imperial Raj. The speculation that the diamond should be removed before Camilla wears the crown, is in deference to this apologetic stance about the Empire. The stolen token of imperial rule should not still be an emblem of British majesty.

The world knows that the Kohinoor, the mountain of light, carries with it a curse. Lord Dalhousie, who stole the gem from the Punjabi dynasty of Ranjit Singh, was well aware of the curse bringing defeat, desolation and death to all males who possessed it. The fact that Queen Victoria passed it on, not to her son Edward VII, but to his wife, was because she was aware that the curse would not operate on a female possessor of the priceless crystal.

In this day and age, it is perfectly legitimate to wonder if, and to what extent, the curse would operate if the Kohinoor was in the possession of a transgender woman  one who had wilfully transitioned, through hormone therapy and surgery, from being a male to claiming to be a woman.

Camilla is, as far as I know, a genuine woman and wearing the Kohinoor in a crown would do her no harm. So, the contention that it should be removed before next years coronation has nothing to do with fear of the curse, but everything to do with not displaying the triumphant spoils of colonialism and insulting the Indian nation. And so, to my suggestion.

The royal family, who own the wretched stone, could go a step further. They could request the new Prime Minister to return the diamond to India and use the goodwill that this would create to further a trade deal with Bharat Mata.

India would certainly welcome the return of the diamond and Narendra bhai, while accepting it, would be well aware of the curse that inhabits it. Putting it in a museum with a male curator may endanger such a persons life and existence. Better then, to hand it as a gift to a friendly foreign despot of proven vanity who will be unaware of the consequences of accepting it and would wear it proudly on the podium of Red Square in Moscow during the coming retreat-from-Ukraine parades.
News Details

India semiconductor fab dream: One more bus to get in

Date: 21/10/2022At the recently held 17th IESA Vision Summit 2022 in Bangalore, you could see the presence of most of the US and Europe based top 10 global semiconductor-industry focused companies except chip foundries. John Neuffer, President of U.S.-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) was himself present at the event. The speakers from three leading semiconductor equipment manufacturing companies namely Applied Materials, Lam Research, and KLA gave keynotes covering global semiconductor industry trends and its implications on India's semiconductor market. The speakers from the semiconductor equipment companies include: Prabu Raja - Senior Vice President, Semiconductor Product Group - Applied Materials, Rangesh Raghavan - Corporate VP and GM - Lam Research Corporation, and Dominic David - President - KLA India.Electronics Design Automation (EDA) software tools is another important part of the semiconductor eco. You could see all the top three EDA companies namely Synopsys, Cadence and Siemens were present at the event and share lot of their latest gyan on chip-design-automation to the attendees. The keynotes/talks delivered by Ravi Subramanian - GM Corporate staff - System Designs Group, Synopsys, Anirudh Devgan - CEO - Cadence Design Systems and Ruchir Dixit - Vice President and Country Head - Seimens EDA.Semiconductor equipment and EDA tools are basic foundation of chip industry. Though foundries make billions of dollars of revenue, far higher then equipment and EDA toolmakers, they are heavily dependent on equipment suppliers and EDA tools. Lot of Indians holding senior positions in these companies. All the six speakers mentioned above are Indians.

Pic above: Young Indian executives working in global semiconductor companies discussing on next wave of semiconductor design.From L to R: Moderator: Muthukrishnan Chinnaswamy - CEO - Semiconductor Fabless Accelerator Lab(SFAL), Girish Baliga - General Manager|Marketing - Keysight Technologies, Rituparna Mandal - GM - MediaTek , Ruchir Dixit - VP and Country Manager - Siemens EDA, Anil Kempanna - Vice President - Intel, Ashok Vittal - Senior Member, Technical Staff, EDA Group - Synopsys, and Kripa Venkatachalam - Vice President - Cadence.Any region or any company which want to get into semiconductor manufacturing, they absolutely need to work closely with semiconductor equipment and EDA toolmakers. India's fresh bid to get into semiconductor manufacturing can only be successful with the support of leading semiconductor equipment makers and EDA software tool vendors. So in that sense, this year's Vision Summit was clearly centred around building semiconductor Eco.India's strength lies in its ability to design chips and electronics systems. Millions of VLSI and electronics design engineers in India mainly concentrated in the cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, tech clusters around Delhi, and in Chennai have designed hundreds of new semiconductor chips completely from design to tapeout. India clearly has world-leading-strength in this area. And this strength is growing. Leading fabless design companies such as Qualcomm, MediaTek, Marvell, Broadcom, send their GDS files to leading foundries mainly TSMC and get back taped-out chip to India's test facilities for testing and then volumes are made by these foundries and shipped worldover. Why not that foundry present in India? Qualcomm has openly supported to utilise India's fab facility to make its chips domestically. So what is really stopping leading semiconductor foundries from building a fab here. It is simply too expensive, highly-risky and also lot of geopolitics involved. 10/20 years back, investors used to complain about lack of market. Now it is growing and big market, if not for every semiconductor vertical, but for smart phones and computers and any such mass consuming electronics products. When it comes to investment, Government of India is ready to pump in tens of billions of dollars. So the only thing left is geopolitics situation. That's where US Chips Act comes in. US is heavily restricting movement of latest cutting-edge technology born out of U.S.-based companies getting into China. That costs billions of dollars of revenue loss for U.S.-based companies and private companies headquartered in its allied nations. One of the critical technology to make 3 nm chips is use of Extreme Ultra Violet(EUV) laser based lithography equipment. The only company making such equipment is Netherland based ASM lithography. Though they have developed such a cutting-edge technology they can't sell that to China based foundries.So lot of immediately available cutting-edge semiconductor equipment manufacturing technology and EDA tools can directed towards regions which have high potential to compete with China. By doing that these companies can generate revenue and also US goal of curtailing providing cutting-edge technology to China can be achieved. So India is clearly an opportunity for these companies to invest. Vivek Thyagi, chairman of IESA was expressing a similar view in a business TV news channel.With the support of all the stakeholders, what is really required is investment of billions of dollars into a fab in India by risk-taking investor. Vedanta, an oil and gas and metal company forays into semiconductor high-tech manufacturing by signing memory of understanding with government of Gujarat to set up semiconductor and display fab units. This is one great opportunity for Government, US, semiconductor equipment makers and EDA toolmakers to achieve their present geopolitical and business goal.There is a saying by experts in semiconductor domain, India missed the bus for its failure to sustain electronics and component manufacturing eco post economic liberlization. This author thinks this is one more bus for India to get into semiconductor manufacturing.p>Pic above: Srinivasa Reddy N, Author, and Editor of EE Herald with John Neuffer at the IESA Vision Summit 2022.
Bestway Cement fires new kiln line at Mianwali plant

21 October 2022

Company Secretary of Bestway Cement Ltd, Hassan Niazi, has informed Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that the company has achieved the major milestone of lighting up the kiln at its 7200tpd greenfield plant near Paikhel, Mianwali district, in Punjab Province of Pakistan. The kiln was successfully lit up at 9.22h on 20 October 2022, added the regulatory filling. Chairman of Bestway Group, Sir Mohammed Anwar Pervez OBE HPk cut the ribbon to inaugurate the lighting up of the kiln.

Mr Niazi explained that Sinoma was the OEM for the new Mianwali kiln line and this additional capacity will raise the company's total cement capcity to 12.9Mta. According to the annual report FY21-22 of Bestway Cement, the management envisages that the new cement plant and 9MW waste heat recovery (WHR) power plant will be operational by December 2022.

Speaking on the occasion, Bestway Groups CEO, Lord Choudrey, said, "Our new greenfield production line at Mianwali has been set up in a record time of less than 18 months, from establishing the L/C to lighting up the Kiln. This has been achieved despite various hurdles and supply chain disruptions caused by Covid-19. By virtue of the Mianwali plant, Bestway Cement has now become the largest cement producer in the country..



Lord Choudrey added that work on the 7200tpd brownfield production line at the Hattar site was also at an advanced stage and was likely to be operational by March 2023. The 9MW WHR power plant at the same site is also making good progress and is anticipated to come online at around the same time as the kiln line.

Financial brief

During the year, Bestway recorded growth in turnover by 21 per cent from PKR85.2bn last year to PKR103bn in the year ended 30 June 2022. Gross profit for the year grew to PKR23bn, and net profit after tax amounted to PKR10.2bn. The companys total cement dispatches showed a decline of 10 per cent (7.839Mt) due to a reduction in both local and export sales volumes.

Solar power generation

Building on the legacy of being an environmentally-conscious company, Bestway has commissioned solar power plants at all four locations. With a total solar capacity of 55.4MW, the company has the largest distributed captive power generation capacity in Pakistan and the entire region, reducing its reliance on the national grid. Moreover, it has reduced its carbon footprint by more than 3.4Mt CO 2 emissions over the project's life, the equivalent of planting approximately 5.4m trees.

Going forward, the cement producer plans to shortly enhance its solar power generation capacity at all four plants.





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The Chattanooga Historical Society, in partnership with the Chattanooga Public Library, will host former Mayor Ron Littlefield as a guest speaker this Saturday at 10 a.m. in the first-floor theater of the Chattanooga Public Library, 1001 Broad St. in Chattanooga.



"Come join the Chattanooga Historical Society / Picnooga as we invite former Mayor Ron Littlefield to share his stories, recollections and never before seen photographs/scrapbooks from his personal collection as part of our ongoing lecture series," organizers said.

This Saturday's lecture is titled "Mayor Ron Littlefield: Saving Walnut Street Bridge (And Other Stories Of My Years In Public Service)."

This event is open to the public and free. The Chattanooga Historical Society is asking for donations in lieu of admission.



RSVP by visiting the FaceBook Event page. For additional information, call Lindsay Stuber at 423-541-9981.
The Chattanooga Music Club will host a free Holiday Festivity program for the community on Nov. 20, at 3 p.m. at First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1505 N. Moore Road. The public is encouraged to attend the program featuring the Metropolitan Bells and the Choral Arts Society. This program will also feature a Sing Along and a visit from Santa Claus himself.

The Metropolitan Bells, under the direction of Gary Bynum, is an advanced community handbell ensemble consisting of auditioned ringers from the Greater Chattanooga area. They perform on seven octaves of Malmark bells, and seven octaves of Malmark choirchimes. The goal of the organization is to bring advanced sacred and secular handbell music to the community and to promote the art of handbell ringing.

Choral Arts of Chattanooga, under the artistic direction of Darrin Hassevoort, is one of the citys premier choral groups, founded on the cornerstones of vocal excellence and quality choral literature, said officials. Established by Dr. John Hamm in 1985, Choral Arts has been part of the music scene in Chattanooga for more than 35 years.

The Chattanooga Music Club was founded in 1896 by a small group of musicians dedicating the club to the stimulation of interest in the beauties of art in Chattanooga. The CMC holds the distinction of being the oldest music club in Tennessee and has played a leadership role in Chattanoogas fine arts for 125 years. It continues to provide free music concerts to the public and to foster other music activities to members and guests. The CMC is also renowned for major restorations of the Austin pipe organ at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Auditorium.
David Hutchings, Ph.D., will present a webinar, Alzheimers, Dementia and Caregiving, through the Morning Pointe Foundation on Nov. 10 at 6:30 p.m.



The presentation is the latest in the Foundations Caregiver Cafe series and is free to caregivers

around the world.



For the first time, through a partnership with the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, the

Foundation is offering continuing education credit for registered nurses, licensed practical

nurses and masters of social work. These professionals can sign up to earn 1.5 contact hours or

0.15 CEUs with a cost of $25. Following the presentation, they will take a brief survey to earn

the credit.



Dr. Hutchings is a geriatric neuropathology and dementia specialist. The seminar will touch on

types of dementia and the difference between them, as well as genetic risks, treatment, stages

of dementia and managing advanced symptoms. Live attendees will also have a chance to ask

questions at the end of the session.



This is an exciting opportunity for The Morning Pointe Foundation and Morning Pointe Senior

Living, said Miranda Perez, Foundation executive director. We are passionate about

education for our caregivers, and being able to further our associates professional careers this

way is taking what we do to the next level. We are thankful to UTC for partnering with us for

this opportunity.



To register, go to morningpointe.com/caregivercafe. The ongoing Morning Pointe Caregiver

Cafe wellness series connects experts on senior living and care with those experiencing the

physical and mental effects of aging. Registrants not using the webinar as a continuing

education course can watch the webinar live or register and watch later at their convenience.
The Hamilton County Education Association has submitted enough signatures to start the process of collaboratively conferencing with Hamilton County Schools on issues including salary and working conditions. This process, formerly known in Tennessee as collective bargaining, brings educators and district officials together to create a Memorandum of Understanding that outlines educators salary, benefits, insurance, working conditions, and other provisions. President Jeanette Omarkhail will be speaking about this issue at the school board meeting Thursday evening.

Under the Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act, a professional employee organization has to submit a petition signed by 15 percent of certified educators to trigger a poll calling for collaborative conferencing. HCEA has submitted approximately 1,550 signatures, or 40 percent of certified educators.

The next step in the process is the creation of a Special Question Committee that will create the ballot and choose a polling method. Last year, the poll was done using the website surveymonkey.com. Unfortunately, not all educators were able to participate due to irregularities in the survey tool. Despite litigation resulting in a second voting window, the effort fell short by 17 votes. This year, HCEA hopes to use a different vendor and is willing to front the cost.

It is imperative that Hamilton County Educators are given a fair chance at participating, said HCEA President Jeanette Omarkhail. We are confident that if teachers are given a fair chance to vote, with ample time and notification, they will vote for a voice in their working conditions. HCEA has identified a third-party vendor that is certified by the federal government to conduct digital balloting. It will be up to the Special Question committee to approve the use of this vendor.

If a majority of polled educators respond that they want collaborative conferencing, then the district and professional employee organization will meet over the spring semester to create the Memorandum of Understanding, which can cover salary, insurance, fringe benefits, working conditions, grievance procedures, leave, and payroll deductions for non-political activities.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation on Thursday announced the acquisition of an additional 838 acres of land for Fall Creek Falls State Park from a purchase arranged by multiple partners, expanding the extensive conservation footprint in the region.

The acquisition is the result of collaboration between TennGreen Land Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee, and The Conservation Fund and purchased with the support of the Open Space Institute and the Lyndhurst Foundation. The park in Van Buren County is one of the largest and most visited state parks in Tennessee, already encompassing more than 29,800 acres on the Cumberland Plateau.

The property has shared nearly a mile of its border with the park and contains steep bluffs, rock houses, and caves that provide significant habitats for species threatened by climate change. The land lies within the Cradle of Southern Appalachia Initiative, a conservation blueprint adopted by the Thrive Regional Partnership's Natural Treasures Alliance (of which TennGreen Land Conservancy is a partner). Although the tri-state region around Chattanooga is one of the most biodiverse areas in the world, only 15 percent of the area is currently protected. Acquisition of this property is the most recent step among decades of collaborative efforts to expand conservation work in the region.

This is a magnificent addition to this popular state park, said TDEC Deputy Commissioner Greer Tidwell. We are grateful to the partners who put this acquisition together. They serve Tennesseans in outstanding ways, and we look forward to park visitors enjoying this expanded boundary of the park.

"Like many places in Tennessee, and in large part the result of its scenic beauty, the Southeast region's population is booming  putting its natural assets at risk," said Alice Hudson Pell, interim executive director of TennGreen Land Conservancy. "The Natural Treasures Alliances goal is to double the amount of conserved land within this region by 2055, improving water quality, protecting at-risk species, fostering conservation awareness and education, and expanding open space for the health of our communities. TennGreen Land Conservancy is proud to play a role in advancing these efforts through this expansion of Fall Creek Falls State Park. We're especially grateful to our project partners from the Open Space Institute, The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee, The Conservation Fund, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation."

Fall Creek Falls State Park, and public land in general, is a huge driver of Tennessees recreation economy, said Ralph Knoll, Tennessee state director at The Conservation Fund. This addition of state park land is a perfect example of how environmental protections and economic sustainability can go hand in hand, and how partnerships can make it happen.

The Open Space Institute is proud of its role in expanding Fall Creek Falls State Park, and its efforts to secure the fragile forests that are so important to all of us in the state of Tennessee, said Joel Houser, Southeast field coordinator for Open Space Institute. We thank TennGreen Land Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee, The Conservation Fund, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for their outstanding efforts to protect this property, forever.

Located within the Dry Fork watershed, the property contains nearly five miles of streams, including Dry Fork, Benton Branch, and Mount Pleasant Branch. Waters from these streams flow within the park to Cane Creek. In addition to pristine waters, the property is within the headwaters of numerous nearby caves. The land also serves as a buffer area that protects several known Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) and other rare species. During a visit to a cave on the property, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency scientists documented the threatened tricolor bat (Perimyotis subflavus).

The acquisition was funded through the Open Space Institutes Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund, and the Lyndhurst Foundation. The Open Space Institutes fund supports land protection along the Appalachian Mountain range. This area is home to the worlds largest broadleaf forest, stores most of the nations forest carbon, and provides essential refuge for plants and animals at risk of habitat loss from climate change. The fund is made possible thanks to major support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and additional funding from the Lyndhurst Foundation, Riverview Foundation, Footprint Foundation, and the McKee family from Collegedale, TN.

More about the project can be found at tenngreen.org.
The Highway Department will be continuing to work on Hunter Road through Oct. 28.

Hunter Road will have one lane closed, and drivers are encouraged to use an alternate route.

The anticipated completion date was pushed back due to unforeseen complications with underground utilities. The Highway Department appreciates the patience while striving to improve existing infrastructure and create a safe place to travel.
A Hamilton County Sheriffs Office School Resource Deputy (SRD) was advised on Thursday, that a student had brought a firearm to Brainerd High School.

The student was located soon after by the SRD and asked to step aside into the administrative offices, where the student was questioned and admitted to having a firearm on their person.

The SRD proceeded to search the student and found a loaded Taurus 9mm handgun in his front waistband.

The student has been taken into custody and will be charged with carrying a weapon on school property.

Hamilton County Schools released the following statement:

"The safety of our students and staff is the highest priority for Hamilton County Schools.

"As we continue to foster a learning environment where all students can learn and grow, we appreciate the partnership with families, children, and school staffs. The safety of our schools is a shared responsibility, and we value the communication we receive from our students and families. When you have concerns, we hope you will share them with us. We appreciate the communitys support as we work together to keep our schools safe."
Here is the weekly road construction report for District 29:

BRADLEY COUNTY SR-2 (US-11) resurfacing from Old Highway 11(LM 18.2) to near the Hiwassee River (LM 20.9): During this reporting period, the contractor will have daily lane closures on SR-2 (US-11) to perform final pavement markings and to work on the punch list. These closures will be in place from 8 AM to 5:30 PM. Motorists are advised to reduce speed in the work zone and watch for flaggers assisting with traffic control.

[Wright Brothers Construction Company, Inc./Wagner/CNW158]

BRADLEY COUNTY SR-60 widening from the 4-lane north of I-75 (LM 17.2) to SR-306 (LM19.9): During this reporting period the contractor will have short term intermittent lane closures throughout the project for utility relocation and moving equipment as work continues on new roadway alignments and a new bridge over Candies Creek. The speed limit in the work zone has been reduced to 35 mph. Motorists are advised to use caution in the work zone and watch for flaggers assisting with traffic control.

[Summers-Taylor, Inc./Wagner/CNV130]

HAMILTON COUNTY I-24 interchange improvement at SR-2 (US-11, US-41, US-72, Broad Street) and SR-58 (Market Street): Williams Street is closed to all traffic at the I-24 underpass to support the installation of new storm drainage structures for the new frontage road. Traffic will still be able to access the ramps to I-24 and US-27, but no through traffic will be allowed on Williams Street between West 21st Street and West 25th Street. Traffic will detour around the closure via West 21st Street and Broad Street. Signs will be posted. The contractor will be working on new bridge construction, storm drainage structures, and utility relocation. Chestnut Street is closed at the I-24 underpass and will remain closed until the construction of bridge #2 is complete. Detour routes are posted. The US-27 N on-ramp at Williams St. has been closed and it will be closed until the new alignment for this ramp is completed. There will be marked detour signs to use the Broad St. US-27 on-ramp. The contractor has opened up the new Broad St. Exit off I24 and closed the existing exit to the Broad St off the US27 S exit. Traffic from US27 S that needs to access Broad St. will use the Williams St. exit. There will be detour signs to direct traffic off the Williams St. exit to Broad St. Also, with the new exit there will be a new traffic signal at the intersection of the new exit and Broad St. On Thursday night from 9 PM-6 AM, the contractor will be closing one lane on the US27 S exit to I24 E to work on the overhead signs. On Friday night starting at 9 PM until Saturday morning at 10 AM, the contractor will also close one lane on the US27 S ramp to I24 E so they can pour the overhead footers for the project. On Friday of this reporting period, the contractor will have intermittent lane closures on East 20th Street near Broad St so that they can remove the temporary bike lanes and restripe in this area.

[Wright Brothers Construction Company, Inc./Curtis/CNU011]

HAMILTON COUNTY I-75 concrete repair from MM 6.6 to MM 12.8: During this reporting period, the contractor will be having lane closures in both directions on I-75 from 9 PM-6 AM. During these lane closures, the contractor might have to temporary close some of the ramps so that they can work on the ramp.

[Summers-Taylor, Inc./Curtis/CNW046]

HAMILTON COUNTY SR-153 resurfacing from LM 3.5 to LM 3.7, including bridge expansion joint repair on the railroad overpass bridge (LM 3.6); SR-2 resurfacing on (US-11, US-64) from the NB interstate ramps (LM 20.6) to the Bradley County line (LM 24.4): During this reporting period, the contractor will have intermittent lane closures on SR-153, LM 3.6 to perform a resurfacing operation starting on 10/24/2022, between 7 PM and 6 AM. The traveling public is encouraged to be aware of safety personnel and construction vehicles entering and exiting the jobsite.

[Wright Brothers Construction Company, Inc./Osbonlighter/CNW131]

HAMILTON COUNTY SR-17 resurfacing from the Georgia state line (LM 0) to SR-2 (US-11, US-64, US-72, LM 2.2): Starting during this reporting period, the contractor will have intermittent lane closures as they begin on this project.

[Talley Construction Company, Inc./Curtis/CNW213]

HAMILTON COUNTY SR-2 (CUMMINGS HWY.) TDOT Maintenance both directions from LM 3.3 to LM 5.75: During this reporting period, TDOT maintenance crews will have lane closures on Cummings Highway between LM 3.3 and LM 5.75 for vegetation removal. Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction during this operation. Motorists are advised to reduce speed in the work zone and watch for trucks entering/leaving the highway.

HAMILTON COUNTY SR-29 (US-27) slide repair between LM 29 and LM 30: During this reporting period, TDOT Maintenance and contract forces will have traffic reduced to one lane in each direction on US-27 (SR-29) to continue work on a new retaining wall and slope stabilization. Motorists are advised to reduce speed in the work zone.

[GeoStabilization International, LLC /Maint - Chattanooga/MAINT]

HAMILTON COUNTY SR-317 (Apison Pike) improvement project from SR-321 (Ooltewah-Ringgold Road) to east of Layton Lane: Lane closures and flagging operations will be required on SR-317, Apison Pike, for utility work. The flagging operations will be performed on 10/20/22, 10/21/22, 10/24/22, 10/25/22, and 10/26/22 from 7 AM to 1 PM and 3 PM to 7 PM. Closures will last about 2 hours per location. The contractor will have intermittent flagging operations during daytime non-peak hours for utility work, delivery of materials and equipment. Traffic has been shifted onto the new alignment of SR-317 by the existing intersection of Apison Pike and University Drive and by Eastview Terrace. The tie-in of College Drive to SR-317 has been closed and a detour route is in place.

[Wright Brothers Construction Company, Inc./Osbonlighter/CNT336]

HAMILTON COUNTY SR-317 (BONNY OAKS DR.) Utility Work westbound from LM 4.55 to LM 4.54: Shoulder and single lane closures from Lee Hwy and Silverdale Road. Motorists should reduce speed and be prepared to stop. Trucks, signage, drums, and flaggers will be present, 09/22/22 through 10/26/22 from 9 am  2 pm. [2022-475]

HAMILTON COUNTY SR-8 (US-127) construction near Palisades Road (LM 15.2) to near Sunset Drive (LM 15.4): The contractor has closed the right lane going up the Signal Mountain Road from LM 15 (about 1/2 mile from Palisades Road) to past Sunset Drive. This closure will be in effect for several months during this project. Also, there will several intermittent lane closures daily on SR8 (Signal Mountain Road) as the contractor is works to remove brush on this project for the next couple of weeks.

[Wright Brothers Construction Company, Inc./Curtis/CNW001]

HAMILTON COUNTY SR-8 (US-41, US-76) Bachman Tubes cleaning: On Thursday night of this reporting period, the contractor will close the tunnels from 8 PM-6 AM to clean it. There will be a signed detour for traffic to follow to get around the closure.

[Diamond Specialized, Inc./Curtis/CNW197]

HAMILTON COUNTY The construction of an S.I.A. to VW: The contractor will be performing resurfacing operations starting 10/20/2022 throughout the intersection connecting the S.I.A. route, Ferdinand Piech Way, & Volkswagen Dr. The new 4-way signalized intersection will continue to operatorial & traffic has been shifted to the new alignment. Traveling public should be cautious of the new traffic pattern and lane shifts in effect including a lowered speed limit. The traveling public should also be alert to the entrance and exit of construction vehicles & staff on and around the jobsite and the connecting roadways. Flaggers may be onsite directing traffic.

[Talley Construction Company, Inc./Osbonlighter/CNU221]

MCMINN COUNTY SR-163 resurfacing from near SR-2 (US-11 / LM 2.5) to west of County Road 750 (LM 8.9): During this reporting period, the contractor will have daily lane closures from 7 AM to 7 PM to perform roadway striping and guardrail repair. Motorists are advised to reduce speed in the work zone and watch for flaggers assisting with traffic control.

[Wright Brothers Construction Company, Inc./Wagner/CNW112]

MCMINN COUNTY SR-2 (CONGRESS PKWY.) Utility Work both directions at LM 10.31: Shoulder and single lane closures from County Road 150 to Woodland Circle. Motorists should reduce speed and be prepared to stop. Trucks, signage, and barrels will be present, 10/18/22 through 10/30/22 from 8 am - 4 pm. [2022-257]

MCMINN COUNTY SR-2 (CONGRESS PKWY.) Utility Work westbound from LM 12.93 to LM 12.1: Mobile shoulder closure along SR-2 between the intersection of Congress Pkwy and Dennis Street and the intersection of Congress Pkwy and Rocky Mount Road. Motorists should reduce speed and be prepared to stop. Trucks, signage, cones, and flaggers will be present, 08/15/22 through 04/12/23 from 7:30 am  5:00 pm. [2022-019]

POLK COUNTY SR-33 (US-411) resurfacing from the Georgia state line (LM 0.0) to south of Lowery Road (LM 9.3): During this reporting period, daily lane closures will be in place from 8 AM to 5:30 PM as the contractor completes resurfacing work and begins work on final pavement markings. Motorists are advised to reduce speed in the work zone and watch for flaggers assisting with traffic control.

[Talley Construction Company, Inc./Wagner/CNW188]

RHEA COUNTY SR-30 (STATE HWY. 30) Utility Work both directions from LM 12.62 to LM 16.33: Mobile shoulder and lane closures on SR-30 as crews transition work zones between New Union Road and SR-302. Motorists should reduce speed and be prepared to stop. Signage and flaggers will be present, 10/06/22 through 12/05/22 from 9 AM - 2:30 PM. [2022-643]

RHEA COUNTY SR-302 (OLD DIXIE HWY.) Utility Work both directions from LM 0.01 to LM 2.5: Mobile shoulder and lane closures on SR-302 as crews transition work zones between SR-30 and Taylor Road. Motorists should reduce speed and be prepared to stop. Signage and flaggers will be present, 10/06/22 through 12/05/22 from 9 AM - 2:30 PM. [2022-643]
The Boynton Lions Club of Ringgold renewed its practice of donating 750 flags for the Boynton Elementary Veterans Day celebration.

"The practice began by late Lion David Carlock was a patriotic outreach of the club to help instill respect in our youth for those who served in the military," Lion member Randall Franks said.

The club presents special awards annually to Boynton Elementary graduates.

The club, marking its 70th Anniversary, meets on the second Tuesday of each month at Boynton United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, 4246 Boynton Dr.

in Ringgold at 6:30 p.m. New members and interested guests are welcome. Like Boynton Lions Club of Ringgold on Facebook.
Andrew Keller, a 20-year-old home-schooled entrepreneur, who's been taking pictures since he was three-year-old, has produced his second annual edition of his Chattanooga & Surrounding Areas Calendar.

He says, "Last year all 700+ ended up selling out. This year I ended up ordering more in anticipation of growing my sales. Mr. Keller is pleased to inform his buyers that he did all the design and photography work himself and even took eight of the 12 photos while out on a bike ride.

My Grammie was the inspiration for me to start producing Chattanooga calendars," said Mr. Keller. "She could never find one she liked and I jumped in to fill that need, not only for her but also for hundreds of other people.

Mr. Keller worked out arrangements with a Fort Oglethorpe printer to produce the calendar priding himself in keeping it local.

Available currently in several local stores as well as on his website ISOneedphotos.com, it has a cover featuring Chattanooga's downtown bridges. The calendar contains photos from Lookout Mountain, Downtown Chattanooga, and The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, and it features many iconic Chattanooga scenes from around the Scenic City.

Through the creation of last years calendar, he ended up meeting and gaining clients who needed his real-estate photography services. Mr. Keller has continued to grow that part of his business and has since been recognized as one of Chattanoogas Top 8 real estate photographers, according to Gigster.com. I stay busy in Chattanooga as well as places like Ellijay, Blue Ridge, and Gatlinburg. In fact, I just got back from a trip to Branson, Missouri for a luxury cabin rental company." Mr. Keller specializes in photos for short-term vacation rental listings.

Mr. Keller is an FAA certified drone pilot and he utilized his drone for some creative angles in this years calendar.

He can also mount photos on metal, acrylic, or canvas and fulfill your home or office decor needs with his Chattanooga-themed work. Several of his photos are already hanging in some Chattanooga businesses.

Information on ordering the calendar is at ISOneedphotos.com/2023-calendar or you can place orders via text at 316-1967.
Don Walker Daniel Harrigan Geeta Maharaj Previous Next

Mayor Tim Kellys administration on Friday announced the appointment of three new deputies to help lead key city projects and priorities in the areas of community development, human resources, and public health.



Don Walker is joining the City as Deputy Administrator for Community Development, Daniel Harrigan will serve as the new Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer, and Dr. Geeta Maharaj, DNP, RN, CPNP, will serve as the new Deputy Director of the Office of Community Health and Safety.



It takes a talented, diverse team working across departments to truly create lasting change, which is why Im thrilled to have Don, Daniel, and Geeta on board, said Mayor Tim Kelly.

From years of service in local government and community institutions, to on-the-ground work improving the health of some of our most vulnerable communities, this trio brings the breadth and depth of experience that will help ensure we get big things done for our residents.Mr. Walker, serving as deputy under current Administrator for Community Development Anthony Sammons, will support the mayors and the administrators goals by directing, planning, and organizing the Department of Community Developments programs and operations to help strengthen and empower communities throughout the city. The department oversees neighborhood services, community centers, community development and other assistance programs, and coordinates with workforce-development initiatives.Mr. Walker comes to the city with more than 30 years of experience in managing complex program operations and solving customer service challenges. He spent 25 years as the director of Guest Services and Operations for the Tennessee Aquarium, where he implemented multiple company-wide programs and processes to improve operations and guest satisfaction, including the development of a company-wide customer service and training program that led to sustained increases in customer satisfaction ratings.Don spent decades strengthening programs and policies at the Tennessee Aquarium to meet the needs of residents and visitors alike, and I couldnt be more thrilled that he is bringing that unique expertise to the Department of Community Development, said Mr. Sammons. Our teams work every day to strengthen Chattanoogas communities, and I look forward to opening up even more opportunities for our residents to engage and lead in their neighborhoods with Dons added leadership.Mr. Harrigan will serve as Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer directly under the Chief, Mande Lawrence, to help drive the Citys day-to-day operational goals. He is charged with implementing processes and policies to continuously improve the employee experience, while inspiring teams in their work to advance the One Chattanooga vision.Mr. Harrigan brings more than 13 years of experience in human resources to the city, 12 of which were spent working for Clark County in Washington State. Most recently, he served Clark County as a Senior Human Resources Representative, advising approximately 400 employees in eleven internal departments on policy and contract interpretation, labor relations, recruitment and compensation, and performance management.Greatness starts from within, and thats why Im so excited to have Daniel on board to help advise and empower the nearly 3000 employees who serve our city every day, said Ms. Lawrence. Having worked for local government for over a decade, Daniel understands first-hand the unique types of challenges - and opportunities - that city staff face on a daily basis, and Im confident his expertise will grow our capacity to support every employee as we work together to create a city where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.Geeta Maharaj, DNP, RN, CPNP, serving as Deputy Director of the Office of Community Health and Safety, will work under director Dr. Mary Lambert to lead community health programs designed to address long standing health disparities in Chattanooga. Dr. Maharaj will also provide leadership support to the Family Justice Center and the Citys safety and gun violence prevention program, both of which also fall under the Office of Community Health and Safety.

Dr. Maharaj has more than 30 years of experience in health care, including advanced nursing practice, public health, education, and research, with an emphasis on serving vulnerable populations. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, and holds a masters degree in advanced practice from the University of California, as well as a Doctorate in Nursing Practice from the University of Utah.



I am thrilled to have Dr. Maharaj join my Office to move forward our continued efforts to close public health gaps and address disparities, said Dr. Lambert. Her extensive experience is a testament to her commitment to promoting health and serving communities in need, and Im excited for her to bring that same passion and expertise in service to our city.
Reginald Fessenden, born in East Bolton, Quebec, was nearly ten years old during the summer of 1876 when he witnessed inventor Alexander Graham Bell give a public demonstration of his new telephone device in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Bell impressed the people watching by demonstrating how a persons voice could be electrically transmitted long distance through a telegraph wire from Brantford to a Paris, Ontario, telegraph receiving station some 9.5 miles away. Citizens in the Brantford telegraph station spoke and even sang and played music into the telephone. Their audio was transmitted over the telegraph wire. Bells assistant at the telephone receiving end in Paris was listening and replied, saying he heard everything from the folks in Brantford. Bell proved his invention could be used for voice communication between towns miles apart connected by telegraph wires. Witnessing Bells demonstration inspired the young Reginald Fessenden to dream of the day when the human voice would communicate over long distances without wires. Years later, Reginald Fessenden was employed with the Edison Machine Works in New York. He also taught electrical engineering at two universities while continuing his research in wireless communication. Fessendens research led him to experiments with amplitude modulation technology and the development of wireless sound transmission. He designed and engineered how an audio sound wave could modulate its amplitude with an electrical signal and be oscillated and transmitted as a constant radio frequency. On Dec. 23, 1900, from his telegraph radio station in Cobb Island, MA, Fessenden, speaking into a microphone, voiced a message wirelessly transmitted through the air to a telegraph radio station one mile away. One, two, three, four. Is it snowing where you are, Mr. Thiessen? If it is, telegraph back and let me know. Fessendens words were electrically transmitted through the air as a radio signal. Mr. Thiessen, listening with earphones at the telegraph station, could perfectly hear and understand the words Fessenden said. Reginald Fessenden had successfully demonstrated radiotelephony (wireless speech transmission). I learned Fessenden used power from steam engines to generate the electricity needed for transmitting the audio radio message. Fessenden later told the story of how Dec. 24, 1906, he accomplished wireless voice communication to radiotelegraph operators stationed aboard ships in the Atlantic Ocean. From inside his radio shack in Brant Rock, MA, Fessenden, using a telegraph, keyed Morse Code CQ-CQ-CQ dots and dashes, transmitting the message for getting the attention of any telegraph operators within range. Inside a ships radio room on the Atlantic Ocean, a telegraph operator hears Fessendens CQ calls and acknowledges them by keying a coded message through a radio wave spark-gap transmitter. As the ships telegraph operator listened, Fessenden spoke into a microphone wired to an amplifier connected to a 420-foot tall radio tower from where radio signals carrying his audio message were transmitted. I can only imagine the telegraph operators reaction when he heard a human voice in his earphones. Fessenden gave a brief speech and then introduced a special Christmas concert for all those listening. He turned on an Edison phonograph with a recording cylinder that played a holiday song for two minutes into the microphone. Fessenden then reached for his violin and played the song O, Holy Night. He ended the radio broadcast by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. The radio operators on ships up and down the Atlantic seaboard and in wireless land-based telegraph stations miles away in Virginia who heard Fessendens Christmas concert broadcast were reportedly astonished. I found a Nov. 7, 1907 article from the Connecticut Waterbury Democrat titled Telephoning Without Wire. It referenced Reginald Fessendens . . . telephoning without the aid of wires. His latest and most successful test has been to carry on a conversation over a distance of 10 miles. On May 10, 1910, the Minneapolis Wireless Association was founded by a group of local amateur radio hobbyists to generate public interest in using wireless radio communications as a broadcast medium. A Minneapolis Journal article from May 12, 1910, reported a meeting where George W. Almour, the chief wireless operator on the battleship Connecticut, addressed the Minneapolis Wireless Association. Almour discussed building and operating a wireless station in Minneapolis, connecting local business establishments with radio communications. In March 1920, the University of Minnesota obtained an experimental license for a radio transmitter and operated a radio station on campus using call letters 9X1. On Jan. 13, 1922, the University of Minnesota radio station 9X1 was granted a full license to operate under the call sign WLB. St. Olaf College (WCAL) in Northfield, MN, and Dunwoody Industrial Institute (WCAS) in Minneapolis also began broadcasting over its student-operated radio stations. During the early 1920s, radio listeners were using crystal sets. These crystal radio receivers contained a piece of galena crystal, a natural semiconductor, and a thin wire or cats whisker detector used with a tuning coil that filtered out a radio frequency signal (broadcast) a listener wanted to hear. The crystal-set radio itself requires no power. Instead, its antenna wire receives an oscillating radio wave electrically transmitted by the radio stations tower, which provides power to the crystal sets earphone for hearing a radio broadcast. A crystal-set radio uses high-impedance earphones so the listener can hear the audio produced by the sound wave vibrations. Sometimes, a radio broadcast from miles away could be listened to. Radios Roaring Twenties had begun. Be sure to read next weeks column, Radio continues to Roar.
A gaggle of liberal newsies attacked Republican candidates this year as dangerous election deniers (Seattle Times, J Brunner, 9/2/22; NBC, A Edelman, 9/12/22; Cronkite News AZ, 10/11/22; WashPo, A Gardner, 10/12/22; Boston Globe, 10/12/22; NBC, A Edelman, 9:12/22).

Interestingly they overlooked Stacy Abrams. Regarding her last loss, the Democrat rising star told Chris Hayes on MSNBC (11/19/18) It was not a free and fair election. Speaking to Families USA, 1/24/19, Abrams said, We didnt lose, we just didnt get the governors mansion.



March 11, 2019, Abrams told a Vanderbilt University crowd, I dont concede that I lost. In fact Abrams stood by her refusal to concede in an interview as late as August, 2022 (Yahoo, Marquise Francis).

Apparently no liberal journalist has chosen to question Abrams about whether or not she will accept the results of this years election, given the fact she didnt accept the last one. Jonathan Karl didnt hesitate to question Republican Kari Lake about whether she would accept the results of the Arizona governors race if she lost (ABC, Isabella Murray, 10/21/22).

Perhaps Karl knows he would become the focus of attacks by fellow reporters for bursting rising star Abrams little fantasy like the NBC reporter who questioned PA Democrat John Festermans fitness to serve in the senate (WESA, D Bauder, 10/13/22).

Ralph Miller

* * *

Ralph Miller is avoiding today's newsworthiness of the "dangerous election deniers". He appears to be making the issue Stacey Abrams' refusal to concede the 2018 gubernatorial race but not that a "gaggle of liberal newsies attacked Republican candidates this year as dangerous election deniers.

The "dangerous election deniers" still promote "The Big Lie", despite Trump's losing each of the 60+ lawsuits filed and each appeal. The "dangerous election deniers" promotion is after evidence that Trump knew he lost the election. Their promotion is after the revelation and evidence of Trump's instigation of and fomenting the insurrection to overturn a free and fair election.

"The Big Lie" is the only real reason for each "election deniers" campaign. Issues are merely secondary.

Each campaigns under the guise of free and fair elections. But this actually means voter suppression directed at Democrats, making Democratic minority voting more difficult, challenging each and every Democratic election winner. Some also campaign on impeachment and conviction of Democrats holding any office.

I will also point out that Mr. Miller failed to include that Ms. Abrams lost her single court challenge of voter suppression (NBCNews.com 9/30/2022 and others). That lawsuit was the basis for her "refusal to concede" and was not appealed.

Ms. Abrams' loss and declining to appeal is antithetical to Trump's loss of the 60+ lawsuits, their appeals and failing to prevail in any lawsuit. Even today, he continues to promote "The Big Lie" of a stolen election as Ms. Abrams moves on from her loss. Both she and Georgians no longer care about the 2018 election.

And there is no conundrum. I think Mr. Miller was hunting the word hypocritical, which is more germane to his criticisms.

Joe Warren




ABCs new hit television show Alaska Daily has two stars  Hilary Swank and Alaska. Swanks character Eileen Fitzgerald is a fish out of water in the biggest state in the U.S., and the production does a great job of highlighting both puzzle pieces that make up Alaska Daily. However, is the ABC drama an accurate depiction of Alaska?

Hilary Swank as Eileen Fitzgerald | ABC/Darko Sikman

What is Alaska Daily about?

Alaska Daily begins with Eileen Fitzgeralds life crashing down around her due to a published story with an unreliable source.

Eileen is a prestigious journalist who wants to expose the next Secretary of Defense for allegedly selling weapons to enemies of the state. She receives information from a source and goes forward with her story. Unfortunately, after its published, the source goes M.I.A., and the public cancels Eileen for possibly printing a made-up story about a high-ranking U.S. official.

Eileen quits her job and begins writing a book about the now Secretary of State. However, her former boss from years ago, Stanley Cornik, played by Jeff Perry, tracks Eileen down in New York City and offers her a job at the Daily Alaskan in Anchorage, Alaska. At first, she turns him down. But after Stanley tells Eileen about the story he wants her to investigate  missing and murdered indigenous women in Alaska  she agrees.

Despite its canonical location, the cast and crew of Alaska Daily dont film the show in Alaska. Production is located in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. However, many believe exterior shots are filmed in Anchorage and other parts of Alaska.

Alaskans share their thoughts on the show

Following Alaska Dailys premiere, Alaska viewers took to Reddit to discuss the show. And the reviews are mostly positive.

I didnt want the first episode to end, and Ill definitely keep tuning in, one Reddit user wrote. ABC is kind of notorious for yanking shows off the air if they think they arent doing well immediately. I hope this doesnt happen this time. They need to give this a chance to find its audience.

A fan added, I watched it. It was good to see some of it being shot in Alaska. Interested to see how they portray village life.

Its fun to see shots of Anchorage, someone commented. And I am super jealous of the poet-pilots Turnagain Arm house, hahaha. I thought she got really drunk and woke up in Seward.

A different Reddit user said, Really fun to see our city featured in a show. Cars look too clean in it, though, lol. And another fan criticized, I liked watching the shots of empty streets downtown with the road closure signs and stopped traffic clearly visible in the background. Kinda dumb to portray Anchorage as an empty place, unless they are shooting on 4th of July weekend.

A mystery like this can't be solved alone. Don't miss #AlaskaDaily TONIGHT at 10/9c on ABC and Stream on Hulu. pic.twitter.com/csqfaxPZtY  Alaska Daily (@AlaskaDailyABC) October 20, 2022

Alaska Daily is based on a true story

Although its a fictional show, Alaska Daily is inspired by Lawless, a series of articles from the Anchorage Daily News. These pieces shined a spotlight on the concerning uptick of missing and murdered indigenous women in Alaska in recent years.

All of the characters in Alaska Daily are entirely fictional and not based on real-life journalists, though.

Alaska Daily airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

RELATED: Alaska Daily: Why Stanley Looks Familiar
ABCs new drama Alaska Daily centers around Eileen Fitzgerald, played by Hilary Swank. She is a journalist who accepts a new job in Anchorage, Alaska, after getting shunned in New York for writing a story about the Secretary of Defense. And her new investigative piece is about missing and murdered indigenous women in Alaska. Read on for a recap of Alaska Daily Episode 3 and Eileens continued investigation into Gloria Nanmacs death.

[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Alaska Daily Season 1 Episode 3, Its Not Personal.]

Grace Dove as Roz Friendly | ABC/Darko Sikman

Eileen and Roz confront the police in Alaska Daily Episode 3

Eileen and Roz Friendly travel to Meade with Glorias mother, Sylvie, by plane to investigate Glorias case further in Alaska Daily Episode 3. Meade was her hometown, so Eileen and Roz stay at Sylvies house.

After arriving, Eileen and Roz disagree about their next steps. Eileen believes they should go to the cops first to ask for a police report. However, Roz states they should go to the cultural council and inform them of the situation while offering a gift. Eileen stands her ground, but Roz warns her that they dont want to make an enemy of the council. They end up going to the police station.

There, they sit down with Chief Durkin, who was in charge of Glorias case. Durkin agrees to review the report, redact any sensitive information, and turn it over to the journalists.

Eileen and Roz leave the police station and head to the crime scene and Skeeters house. They ask around and get Skeeters real name  Clarence Redding. And they find out the police are confiscating drugs and re-selling them. At one point, Eileen and Roz run into Rozs half-brother, Derek, who she has never met. They share a father who left Roz when she was a baby.

At Sylvies house, Eileen and Roz receive the police report, but almost all of it is redacted. They decide to look into Durkin by trying to get his monthly reports, but City Hall refuses to hand them over. Eileen goes to Derek, who works at payroll, for help behind Rozs back. Eileen gets the reports, and Roz is furious with her for turning to Derek.

Roz meets with the cultural council leader to ask if they have had any problems with the local police. There is one girl who went to the cops when her boyfriend beat her up, but Durkin determined her case was unfounded. Her case is one of many, and she is willing to go on record against Durkin. Eileen and Roz later discover the police have dismissed over 70 sexual assault cases against women.

The duo tracks down Durkin and confronts him. He admits he is prejudiced against indigenous women, and Eileen and Roz get it all on tape.

Austins case of the week involves a conflict of interest at the paper

Austin Teague works on a story about a senatorial candidate, Frank Moses, in Alaska Daily Episode 3. He interviews him in a cafe, but the politician has an emergency and has to leave before its done. Bob Young informs Austin that an environmental activist leaked photos of dead fish at Meacham tailings pond, and LH Mining is responsible.

Moses tweets his support for the fishing industry and his disgust with the leaked photos.

Stanley Cornik, played by Jeff Perry, assigns tasks to the team about the scandal, including political candidates responses. Austin recruits Yuna Park to help him dig into Mosess financials. They discover that mysterious LLCs are funding Mosess campaign. And Austin and Bob connect names tied to the LLCs to board members of LH Mining.

They take the information to Stanley, but he wants Austin to double-check that LH Mining isnt backing other candidates, which angers Austin. He believes theyre holding back because Aaron Pritchard, the Daily Alaskans owner, is endorsing Moses. Stanley meets with Aaron, who tries to persuade him not to publish the story on Moses. However, that just made him suspicious of the owner.

Stanley later gives Austin the green light to publish his story about Mosess ties to LH Mining.

Collaboration is key to solving a mystery. #AlaskaDaily is all-new TONIGHT on ABC and Stream on Hulu. pic.twitter.com/h09gRak9Mx  Alaska Daily (@AlaskaDailyABC) October 20, 2022

Roz gives Eileen an ultimatum in Alaska Daily Episode 3

Eileen and Roz return to Anchorage at the end of Alaska Daily Episode 3 and meet with Stanley. The managing editor agrees that they should go forward with the story about Durkin.

Before leaving, Roz confronts Eileen about going behind her back with Derek. She wants her to stop being a dick, and if she pulls anything else, Roz is cutting off their partnership. Eileen agrees, and they exit Stanleys office.

Elsewhere, Yuna meets with a therapist to discuss Jordan Tellers suicide and the online hate shes receiving about her article on him. And Austins ex-wife, Anna, informs him that she has an offer for a new job in Chicago. Annas going to accept it, and she wants to take their son with her. Austin, understandably so, tries to convince her to reconsider.

The final scene previews Stanley looking into the Pritchard Family.

Alaska Daily airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheets YouTube channel.

RELATED: Alaska Daily: Is the Show Filmed in Alaska?
TL;DR:

In retrospect, Paul McCartney felt The Beatles Nowhere Man was a cry for help from John Lennon.

John Lennon said he was the nowhere man before he met his teacher.

Nowhere Man was a hit in the United States but not in the United Kingdom.

The Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney | Fox Photos/Getty Images

Paul McCartney said The Beatles Nowhere Man and another song were John Lennons cries for help. During one of his last interviews, John gave fans insight into the song. Notably, Nowhere Man became a hit in the United States but not the United Kingdom.

Paul McCartney said 2 of The Beatles songs were John Lennons cries for help

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed Johns songwriting. Looking back on it, I think songs like Im a Loser and Nowhere Man were Johns cries for help, he recalled.

We used to listen to quite a lot of country and western songs and they are all about sadness and I lost my truck so it was quite acceptable to sing Im a loser,' he said. You didnt really think about it at the time, its only later you think, God! I think it was pretty brave of John.

RELATED: John Lennons Son Named His 2 Favorite Beatles Songs Even Though He Hates Being Asked About That

John Lennon seemed to connect The Beatles Nowhere Man to his life before meeting Yoko Ono

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, he discussed his relationship with Yoko. Thats what people dont understand, he said. Shes the teacher and Im the pupil. Im the famous one, the one whos supposed to know everything, but shes my teacher. Shes taught me everything I f****** know.

Subsequently, John identified himself with the title character of Nowhere Man. She was there when I was nowhere, when I was the nowhere man, he said. Shes my Don Juan [a reference to Carlos Castanedas fabricated Yaqui teacher]. Yoko said she learned from John as well.

RELATED: The Beatles: John Lennon and Paul McCartney Used These 2 Words in Their Song Titles and Lyrics to Connect to Fans

How Nowhere Man performed on the pop charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

Nowhere Man became a hit for The Beatles in the United States. It reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for nine weeks. The tune appeared on the compilation album 1962-1966. The compilation peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 175 weeks. 1962-1966 lasted on the Billboard 200 longer than most Fab Four compilations.

Nowhere Man was never a single in the United Kingdom, so The Official Charts Company reports it did not chart there. Meanwhile, the song appeared on the British edition of Rubber Soul. The album hit No. 1 for eight of its 42 weeks on the chart.

Nowhere Man was a hit and it provides insight into Johns life before he met Yoko.

RELATED: When Nowhere Man Snapped The Beatles Record Run of 6 Consecutive No. 1 Hits
Fans believed that the days of Julia Roberts starring in romantic comedy movies were long over. Roberts always said she just couldnt find one good enough. That was until she found Ticket to Paradise co-starring George Clooney. While filming the rom-com in Queensland, there were some hilarious scenes shared by all.

Ticket to Paradise is the first rom-com for Julia Roberts and George Clooney together

#TicketToParadise, a romantic comedy that reunites Julia Roberts and George Clooney, is  surprise, surprise  charming audiences at the international box office. https://t.co/1fFU9HoyJ4  Variety (@Variety) October 10, 2022

According to IMDb, Ticket to Paradise is about David and Georgia, two divorced parents who cant stand each other, head to Bali after their daughter, Lily, announces her plans to marry a local islander she just met while on holiday. They decide to put aside their differences and work together to stop the wedding, believing that doing so will keep Lily from making a dreadful mistake similar to their own.

Roberts plays the part of Georgia alongside Clooney who plays David. Their fictional daughter, Lily, is played by Kaitlyn Dever. Billie Lourd plays the part of Wren Butler, who is Lilys friend and travels with her to Bali.

Roberts and Clooney have a history of acting together in projects, but never in a romantic comedy like Ticket to Paradise. The duo first appeared together in Oceans Eleven (2001) followed by Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) and Oceans Twelve (2004). The last time Roberts and Clooney acted together before Ticket to Paradise was in Money Master (2016).

Julia Roberts and George Clooney on the pink carpet at the premiere of #TickettoParadise. https://t.co/JrxT1dETxh pic.twitter.com/6QFU4EpT3W  Variety (@Variety) October 18, 2022

Roberts was not the only co-star in Ticket to Paradise with a longtime friendship with Clooney, according to The New York Times. Lourd is the daughter of Carrie Fisher and her father, Bryan Lourd, is a longtime agent for Clooney. So, Clooney has known Lourd for pretty much her entire life. And now Lourd has a baby she had with her on the set.

Ticket to Paradise started shooting in Queensland, Australia in 2021 but paused for three months due to an outbreak of Covid-19. The movie will now be released on October 21, 2022.

The dancing scene was too much for the younger cast

There is a scene in Ticket to Paradise when David and Georgia drunkenly dance to Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now). They embarrass their daughter and her friends in the process. To add to the mortification, that scene was not even choreographed.

Roberts told the NY Times, People always want to choreograph it, but you cant put steps to it. You have to just open the box and let the magic fly.

Clooney explained further, I remember early on in my career, I had to do a kissing scene with this girl and the director goes, Not like that. And I was like, Dude, thats my move! Thats what I do in real life! It was sort of that same way here, because everyone had plans for how we should dance, and then we were like, Well, actually weve got some really bad dance moves in real life. Julia and I have done all those moves before, thats the sickest part.

The younger co-stars were apparently horrified by the dancing job of Clooney and Roberts who found the whole thing to be hysterical.

Clooney and Roberts laugh about their kissing scene

Ticket to Paradise stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney | MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images

Clooney made it clear he doesnt like having his kissing scenes choreographed for him. Clearly, since Ticket to Paradise is a romantic comedy there has to be a kiss. There is one kiss and Clooney said, Yeah. I told my wife [Amal], It took 80 takes. She was like, What the hell?'

Roberts clarified, It took 79 takes of us laughing and then the one take of us kissing.

RELATED: George Clooney Sent Julia Roberts a $20 Bill To Convince Her To Star in Oceans Eleven
Physicist Prof. Dr. Kerstin Volz and physical chemist Prof. Dr. Jurgen Janek will receive the 2022 Greve Prize from the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina for their fundamental insights into rechargeable batteries. The newly established prize, which is worth 250,000 euros, is donated by the Helmut and Hannelore Greve Foundation for Science, Development and Culture. This years prize honours outstanding research into the scientific foundations of sustainable energy supply.

Kerstin Volz, Director of the Materials Sciences Center (WZMW) at the Philipps-Universitat Marburg, and Leopoldina member Jurgen Janek, Director of the Center for Materials Research at the Justus Liebig University Gieen (JLU), investigate issues relating to electrochemical energy storage. Their research, both as individuals and as a team, has helped to improve high-performance batteries and develop new, resource-saving electrochemical energy storage concepts. Kerstin Volz and Jurgen Janek are advancing the research into and development of the battery systems of the future. They are thus making important contributions to sustainable energy storage, which is urgently required to tackle the climate crisis, says Leopoldina President Prof. (ETHZ) Dr. Gerald Haug.

Kerstin Volz (born in 1971) is a leading international scientist in the area of solid-state physics. She examines the production of novel functional materials and their quantitative characteristics. She enables high-resolution insights into batteries and semiconductors using electron microscope methods. Her fundamental insights into separation and structure have helped, for example, to develop energy materials and make them more powerful, and to significantly improve solar cells and devices for photo-electrochemical water splitting. Volz studied physics at the University of Augsburg and after completing her doctorate did her habilitation at the Philipps-Universitat Marburg, where she has been Professor of Experimental Physics since 2009 and Managing Director of the Materials Sciences Center since 2015. There she is head of a Collaborative Research Center (Sonderforschungsbereich) funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), which examines fundamental aspects of charging and energy transfer at and over interfaces, which then also play an important role in devices.

Jurgen Janek (born in 1964) is an expert in the field of solid-state electrochemistry and specialises in materials research for batteries. He is one of the worlds most cited scientists in this area and his achievements include the development of a metal-oxygen battery that is based on readily available and affordable sodium instead of lithium. More recently, he has made significant contributions to the development of concepts for solid-state (lithium) batteries and the understanding of their physical and chemical characteristics. Janek studied chemistry at the Leibniz University Hanover and after completing his doctorate did his habilitation in physical chemistry. He has been Professor of Physical Chemistry at the JLU Gieen since 1999, and head of the Center for Materials Research since 2016. He has also been scientific head of the Battery and Electrochemistry Laboratory (BELLA) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) since 2011 and is a member in the Cluster of Excellence POLiS at KIT and Ulm University, which focuses on developing new battery materials and technology concepts for storing electrical energy. Janek became a member of the Leopoldina in 2022.

In their collaborative work, Kerstin Volz and Jurgen Janek investigate processes in solid-state batteries and structural changes during operation. Using a combination of electron microscope and electrochemical methods they have managed, for example, to illuminate ageing phenomena which lead to reductions in battery capacity.

The German National Academy of Science Leopoldinas Greve Prize is awarded to scientists or research teams that work at German universities, non-university research institutes, or commercial enterprises. The newly established prize is awarded every two years and honours outstanding research achievements in the natural sciences/medicine and engineering sciences. The Greve Prize, on each occasion, focuses on a specific topic. This year, the topic was the scientific foundations of sustainable energy supply. The prize is endowed with 250,000 euros, with funds from the Greve Foundation.
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For years, Caleb Bartel wanted to deepen his understanding of the Bible and theology.

Theres really not a way to get that from just a Sunday morning sermon or just Sunday school, said Bartel, who attends Central Church in College Station, Texas. You can grow on your own, absolutely, but youre not getting seminary-level teaching.

Bartel never felt called to become a pastor. Hes a home remodeler and a married father of five, which makes seminary impractical. But the 33-year-old is now getting the chance to study theology thanks to a program at his church.

Congregations across the country are implementing in-house theology programs, designed to engage members like Bartel who arent pursuing professional ministry but still want to study theology, church history, and the Bible. Some programs, like Centrals, are designed to replicate formal theological education, just without the seminary setting or the tuition billwhich can easily run up to $16,000 per year. Others aim to be more accessible.

Thats the kind of thing Tyler Johnson at Redemption Church in Phoenix started doing 20 years ago. He wanted to make the gospel understood and applicable among people who might never read the Bible in Greek or know how to pronounce exegesis. Along with fellow church planters, he launched a one-year theology program called Surge, open to anyone who would commit to about a school years worth of weekly meetings.

It just feels like a lot of the deeper theological stuff gets outsourced to Bible schools, he said. The church planters wondered, Could we do this inside, at communal levels, at tables?

The church planters started with a list of books and articles they felt broadly encapsulated the churchs tagline, All of life is all for Jesus. They turned that list into a curriculum. The Drama of Scripture by Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen and Salvation Belongs to Our God by Christopher J. H. Wright were foundational texts.

At each Surge meeting, participants gathered in groups called Tables and heard from pastors, guest lecturers, and the authors of the books they were reading. A few times a year, the Surge Tables from all participating churches met together for intensives.

Two decades later, Surge has expanded to include dozens of churches across Arizona, each using the same core curriculum.

Pastor J. T. Englishformerly of The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas, and now lead pastor at Storyline in Arvada, Coloradohad similar convictions that the church should reclaim its place educating the people of God.

Too many churches have transferred the responsibility of discipleship to nonprofits, seminaries, colleges, and other organizations, said English, whose 2020 book Deep Discipleship makes the case for theological training for laypeople at the local-church level. Christians should not have to leave the local church in order to be disciples.

In 2015, English started The Village Church Institute in Texas. Almost 500 people applied that first year, which surprised English because of how rigorous the program was.

The in-church programs had one big thing in common with seminary: There were a lot of books involved. The curriculum is deliberately academic. Students are tasked with memorizing Scripture and reading texts by theologians including Athanasius, John Calvin, and Herman Bavinck.

Similar to Surge, The Village Church Institute is a one-year program with weekly two-hour sessions, including lectures and group discussions. Students write and submit doctrinal statements. They compose and recount the story of Scripture in 20 minutes.

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Daniel Patterson, Central Churchs executive pastor, said whether or not lay Christians learn big theological words, understanding Christian doctrine is essential. And although churches feature theological teaching in sermons, Sunday school, and Bible studies, Patterson said deep study isnt always possible or prioritized in the life of the church.

For our weekly corporate worship gathering, the primary thing it delivers is worship, he said.

Central members also learn the Bible at midweek Life Groups, but the focus there is community, he said. So the theology program, which started in September, is where the church puts learning at the forefront.

The program is open to anyone, including people who arent among Centrals roughly 3,000 regular attendees. Some take the class as part of the process of becoming an elder, but many see it just as a way to grow in their knowledge of the faith.

Over 100 people signed up this year, including Bartel, the home remodeler.

When I finished college, I wasnt really aware of programs or things that I could do to continue to grow in my faith other than go to seminary, Bartel said. I just want to apply this to the stuff in my life that Im already doing, in my work, with those that are around me.

Forest Park Church, a small Acts 29affiliated congregation in Waldorf, Maryland, is in its second year of the Core Classes program, which runs through the school year, as well as the churchs more intense and book-laden Training Program. Pastor Neil Grobler credits Englishs Deep Discipleship for prompting him to start the classes at his 200-person congregation.

We need about four elders, but the church is not going to be able to afford four pastors. So most of them are going to be lay leaders, Grobler said. But I do think theological training is going to be important for them.

Grobler has an undergraduate degree in biblical studies, but he hasnt gone to seminary. Hed like to someday. But as a pastor, he thinks its the churchs job to offer robust theology to all Christians.

At the beginning of Forest Parks inaugural Core Classes last year, he said he was unpleasantly surprised to find deep biblical and theological illiteracy among his incoming students.

People knew the many stories of the Bible that they grew up hearing in Sunday school, Grobler said. But they had a hard time seeing how these stories point to the one big redemptive story of God in the Bible.

Certain Christian teachings, like the doctrine of the Trinity and the idea of Jesus as fully God and fully man, were new concepts for some.

The pastors who have implemented these programs are adamant that they dont mean to supplant a seminary education for aspiring clergy. Some even partner with accredited seminaries to offer class credits or degrees. A few years ago, Surge in Arizona launched a partner ministry called The Missional Training Center, which offers an accredited degree from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. Students of The Village Church Institute in Texas can also earn credits toward degrees at Dallas Theological Seminary and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Though most of these programs lean toward Reformed theology, Johnson and the other leaders of Surge have expanded the program across denominations. This year, Surge includes Presbyterian, Anglican, Pentecostal, and Baptist congregations. The churches host their own Surge Tables but gather for occasional intensives.

The model highlights Johnson and his teams original motivation for starting Surge, which was named in part after the US militarys surge of troops into Iraq in 2007.

Johnson balks now at the use of militaristic language, but the heart of the program, as well as others like it in churches across the country, remains the same: to teach everyday Christians that God made the world, that Jesus came to save that world, and that truth should mark the lives of all believersincluding pastors and plumbers and everyone in between.

Maria Baer is a contributing writer to CT based in Columbus, Ohio.

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According to US attorney Damian Williams, multiple workers had warned New Jersey builder Finbar ONeill that the wall he had built was unsafe. But ONeill ignored their warnings. He might have seen it as a small risk likely to pay off, but his employees were tragically right. ONeill was charged in August for criminal neglect after those construction shortcuts turned deadly.

In 2017, ONeills company, OneKey, had been building multistructure luxury apartments along the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie. Site plans called for large mounds of dirt to be piled up to compact loose soil before construction began. Instead, the builder had a concrete-block wall erected to hold back a pile on one site while work began on a neighboring plot.

The wall failed under the weight of the dirt, killing one worker, Maximiliano Saban, and injuring another. The charging documents allege that ONeill compromised safety in order to speed up construction.

Such cases of neglect are commonplace. In May of this year in Senegal, a fire broke out in a hospital neonatal unit. Eleven newborns died. According to the initial statement of Senegals Ministry of Health, the fire was likely caused by a preventable electrical shortfaulty wiring.

This country is sick, tweeted @samba_massaly, one of many Senegalese who took to social media after the hospital fire. Our hospitals have become places of death. Too much negligence, indifference, and flippancy!

When we think about injustice, we typically think of deliberate harms like theft, murder, and other criminal acts. But neglectful harms are also forms of injustice.

Historically, the church has understood this. Sins of omission (things we dont do but should) are just as wrong as sins of commission (things we do but shouldnt). A biblical vision for justice guards against accidental harms as well as intentional wrongs. It also supports regulations to reduce such accidents.

Many of us face temptation to settle for a not-quite-good, not-quite-safe job, whether because of time pressure, embarrassment that we need help, or the belief that our shoddy work probably wont hurt anyone. But competence, foresight, and carefulness are not just about safety; they are part of the Christians pursuit of holiness.

Intentions matter. Jesus taught his disciples that evil intentions, whether they are acted upon or not, are sinful (Matt. 5:22, 28). But a lack of ill motives does not necessarily indicate innocence. A person may have no malice toward another yet be guilty of accidentally causing them harm.

In fact, biblical Israel had an entire category of law about unintentional sins (Lev. 4:15:18).

If anyone sins  though they do not know it, they are guilty and will be held responsible. They are to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram.  The priest will make atonement for them for the wrong they have committed unintentionally, and they will be forgiven. (5:1718)

Our cultures current distaste for forgiveness makes it hard to ask for it when we didnt intend harm. But in Israel, sins committed by accidentparticularly when there was negligenceincurred guilt, just like those done intentionally. They both required atonement.

With such a high standard of justice, praise God for his grace in the person and work of Jesus! For Christians, the law in every pointincluding unintentional sinswas satisfied at the Cross. Christians are no longer under the law and its judgment (Gal. 5:18).

But the law has much to teach about the nature of justice and Christlike love for our neighbors (Matt. 22:3740). That includes its lessons on accidental harms.

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In modern law, people are culpable for accidents if they were negligent. A further distinction is typically drawn between simple negligence (like failing to fix the fence around your pool) and willful or gross negligence (like leaving a toddler alone near a pool). Biblical law similarly identifies different levels of guilt based on the level of irresponsibility.

Deuteronomy 19:113 introduces the principle of negligence by comparing two homicide cases. In one case, a person died from an accident caused by what today would be called simple negligence. In the contrasted case, a person was killed intentionally. Each incident received a different verdict, but both perpetrators were liable to punishment.

The example of deliberate killing begins with a man who lies in wait, assaults and kills a neighbor (v. 11). He made plans. He waited for an opportune moment. Then he followed through. It was a straightforward case of murder with intent.

In that laws verdict, the intentional killer was to be turned over to the avenger immediately. He was guilty of bloodshed and liable to the full punishment of the law. His action, motivated by evil intent, condemned him.

The contrasting example is more complex. In it, one man kills another by a careless accident. A man was chopping wood when the axehead flew off the handle of his axe. Another person standing nearby was struck and killed.

It was an accident, but the axe-wielder was responsible for the care and use of his tool. Any person using a dangerous tool should be aware of its risks (Num. 35:1718). Theres responsibility that goes with axe use, especially with another person present.

In any case, the verdict places a measure of responsibility on the axe-swinger. The victims family would have been justified if they had avenged their relatives death. However, since it was an accident, the law granted the woodcutter safety in a city of refuge. If he ran to the nearest refugee site and stayed there, he was granted asylum.

However, if he left the city of refuge, he lost that safety. The possibility of retribution remained. He was still responsible for the death caused by his carelessness with the axe, even though he bore no ill will toward the person harmed. (See also Num. 35:2627, 3233.) Thus Deuteronomy 19:113 makes it clear that someone was morally responsible for anothers death in both cases.

Failing to exercise sufficient caution with a dangerous tool is a violation of justice. This realization should challenge Christians to exercise due care in all areas of life.

It would be a mistake to limit the homicide laws of Deuteronomy 19 to cases of homicide; those extreme examples are meant for us to extrapolate to other situations. It is a legal paradigm, not a comprehensive statute. The passage on homicide shows the principle: Accidents from simple negligence generally incur guilt, though less guilt than intentional harms.

This principle teaches us to do our work heartily with all due caution, always mindful of potential risks. Whether chopping wood, wiring an outlet, prescribing medicine, preparing dinner on the stove, driving a tractor-trailer on the highway, or operating a factory machine, handling dangerous equipment responsibly is an aspect of personal holiness.

As we have seen, penalties for simple negligence are less severe than for intentional damages. However, there are accidents that deserve penalties equal to those for deliberate wrongs.

Willful negligence, sometimes called gross negligence, can increase liability to match that of intentional harms.

The most recent edition of Blacks Law Dictionary defines gross negligence as a conscious, voluntary act or omission in reckless disregard of a legal duty and of the consequences to another party. It is thoughtful, conscientious neglect as opposed to the thoughtlessness behind simple negligence.

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The increased liability for willful neglect is illustrated in a pair of biblical laws about oxen:

If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death  [or] may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. (Ex. 21:2830)

In the first scenario, an ox with no history of aggression attacked and killed someone. It was unexpected and could not reasonably have been anticipated. It was an accident. Nevertheless, that oxs owner was penalized. The ox was killed, and the owner was not permitted to recover its meat.

That would have been a significant loss to the ox owner. He suffered a real consequence for not adequately restraining his ox. But it was an incident of simple negligence since, even though the ox was large and inherently dangerous, there was no reason to expect the ox would gore someone.

In the second scenario, almost the exact same events occurred. There is no difference between the facts of the two caseswith one exception. In the latter case, the owner knew his ox had a tendency for aggression, and he refused to restrain it.

This knowledge of danger deliberately ignored is what constitutes willful negligence. And that willful negligence made a profound difference in the penalties due.

The second ox owner was punished as though he himself had killed the person. The full penalty for the death was imposed on the owner of the second ox. In Gods system of justice, willful negligence can raise ones liability for accidental harm to a level equal to one who intends harm.

In an interview about ethics and product design, Steven VanderLeest, coauthor of A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers, offered a modern instance of gross negligence. The Ford Pinto, he said, was a classic example.

The gas tank placement of the 1970s compact car, VanderLeest explained, was known to be dangerous for a rear end collision. Despite knowing about this danger, Ford made an intentional decision that it wouldnt cause enough accidents to change the design, which would be costly.

Knowing the danger, Ford continued production anyway.

Sadly, fuel leaks and gas fires did happen, even from rear-end collisions at moderate speeds. Over 100 lawsuits were filed against the auto manufacturer. One of the most prominent was Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co.

During the Grimshaw trial, internal documents from Ford revealed the companys prior knowledge of the design flaw and its risks. The jury awarded $127.8 million in damages to the plaintiffs in that case. At that time, VanderLeest noted, [it was] the largest civil lawsuit [in American legal history]. Ford began settling other cases out of court and issued a voluntary recall to correct the Pintos design flaw.

The Pinto damages were accidental. The car company didnt intend to cause injuries or deaths. But it didnt take steps to stop them, either. The problem had been well known beforehand. According to biblical standards of justice, willful negligence calls for penalties similar to those necessary for intentional harms.

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Risk mitigation is not simply a matter for personal attention, however. Biblical law models the importance of community regulation to reduce accidents.

VanderLeest explains: The more powerful the technology, the more society needs to put regulations in place, because the more complex and the more powerful, the more difficult to predict every way it can go wrong.

Ancient Israels technologies were not as powerful as ours, but its laws regulated the technologies they did have to mitigate harm. For example, God gave Israel building codes to practice safe construction designs and methods.

Here is one directive: When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof (Deut. 22:8).

The flat roofs of ancient Hebrew houses, as with many buildings in the Middle East today, were used for relaxation and sometimes for sleeping. Since it was known people would congregate on the roof, failing to ensure safety provisions constituted willful negligence. If someone fell and died as a result, the builder could be charged with homicide (the guilt of bloodshed).

The concept of neglect and its unholiness appears in Israels health regulations as well as its safety regulations. Leviticus 1314, for example, provided instruction for the purification of persons, houses, and garments infected with diseases called, in Hebrew, tsaraat. In people, tsaraat seems to have referred to various ulcerating skin diseases that are no longer known (they are not what is today called leprosyHansens disease). In houses and garments, the term indicated a mold or fungal infestation.

According to Leviticus 1314, Israel had reporting, inspection, and remediation regulations for these conditions. These processes were instituted to stop the spread of tsaraat and to restore ritual purity to those afflicted.

Health was an aspect of the peoples ritual wholeness before God. The primary concern of the tsaraat rules was the peoples readiness to worship.

Stopping the spread of disease seems not to have been the main point, but it was a significant aspect of the nations integrity. Ensuring houses were built for safety and that outbreaks did not spread was a social concern that called for systemic protections with community enforcement. They were not merely personal matters.

The Christians calling to live justly therefore requires both care to avoid personal negligence and support for suitable community health and safety regulations.

Societies today have widely varying levels of regulation against accidental harms like disease spread. James Knox, an Orthodox Presbyterian missionary doctor, has served in American hospitals where, he says, regulations seemed too burdensome. He has also served in clinics in the developing world where, he said, regulations are frighteningly lax. He currently serves at Akisyon A Yesu (Compassion of Jesus) Presbyterian Clinic in Nakaale, Uganda.

Two years ago, Knox was serving at the Joy Health Centre and Hospice in Mbale, Uganda. At that time, he had the unenviable distinction of being the attending doctor for Ugandas first recorded COVID-19 death.

In an interview with CT, Knox recalled, Government health officials arrived in protective equipment and instituted strict quarantines immediately. Initially, the government response seemed strong.

But, he continued, within two or three months, government coordination was gone, and our clinic could not even get COVID tests or protective equipment.

Such feast-or-famine oversight is typical, according to Knox. Cases like this show that the problem of the Pinto can crop up in any setting where real solutions seem too burdensome to implement.

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What level of neglect does a government or a corporation consider worth addressing? They sometimes accept fines and lost court cases as the cost of doing business or advancing political power. But Gods people need to consider Gods values, not other rewards and drawbacks of neglect.

Reporting and oversight can be onerous. Still, Israels building codes and the Levitical tsaraat protocols show us that God expects communities to establish cooperative policies to reduce harm.

The Bible does not provide a list of regulations appropriate for every time and place, or many details on how they are to be administered. Those kinds of society-by-society decisions are matters for community deliberation. They are deliberations Christians should support and participate in.

Evangelicals are typically well organized to support issues like pro-life legislation and religious freedom. The Bibles influence should also lead Christians to advocate for systemic protections against unintentional harms, like unsafe buildings and pathogen outbreaks.

Justice in a society is not solely the work of court systems. Nor is it limited to the restraint of deliberate wrongdoing through police or other means. Justice is the duty of each of us before God (Mic. 6:8). And justice includes trying to prevent accidents.

Biblical law offers paradigms, presented in the practices of ancient Israel, that help us think about such aspects of holiness for application today. There is much need for a strong Christian witness in this regard, especially with the increasing power of modern technologies and their potential for

accidental damage.

Even in the US, where accidents are rarer than in some other regions of the world, their scope is grievous. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published a study of the Top Ten Leading Causes of Death in the U.S. for Ages 144 from 19812020. The number one cause of death in that age group for four decades was unintentional injurya category that, tragically, has swelled in recent years due to drug overdoses. Nearly 2.5 times more people died from unintentional injuries (more than 2 million) than from the second most common fatality, cancer (868,100).

Of course, risks can never be fully avoided. Theoretically, Israels law could have banned oxen from Hebrew farms altogether to keep people safe from being gored. Where there are no oxen, Proverbs 14:4 (ESV) states, the manger is clean. Also, there are no ox accidents. But abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

God calls humankind to be productive and courageous, stewarding the world and developing communities. Risks are not completely avoidable, nor are they necessarily neglectful. But accidental harms must be studiously minimized. And when risks are known, it would be willfully negligent to ignore them.

We can faithfully extrapolate beyond livestock and OSHA-like regulations. Like the biblical ox owner, a pet owner today must take precautions if a pet is known to be aggressive. Texting while driving is known to be extremely dangerous; it is willful negligence to text and drive.

Knowing oneself to be COVID-19 positive yet failing to protect against spreading the disease is another modern example of willful negligence. To do so would open oneself to greater responsibilityin Gods eyes, if not legallyif others are infected and harmed as a result.

This principle also instructs our approach to sexual abuse in the church. Like the man who knows his ox is prone to aggression, those in leadership who know the proclivities of an abuser are responsible to use that knowledge.

To leave abuse willfully unaddressed or underaddressed is negligence, and people with the authority to prevent further harm arent innocent if it happens. Complicity in this case doesnt mean they collaborated with an abuser; it means that they failed to take responsible action.

Within the biblical vision of justice, willful neglect can be as serious as intentional harm. Giving full attention to all known risks, even when sacrifices are required as a result, is part of the Christian pursuit of holiness.

Michael LeFebvre is a Presbyterian minister, an Old Testament scholar, and a fellow with the Center for Pastor Theologians. He is the author of The Liturgy of Creation: Understanding Calendars in Old Testament Context.

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Australia is looking into claims that former UK military pilots are offered attractive packages to be trainers in the PLA, said some sources.

Beijing Allegedly Lures Former Pilots

The investigation was initiated by Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marle, who requested the Australian defense department to find out the allegation of ex-Aussie pilots chosen to be instructors in a South African flight school somewhere in China, reported Sputnik News.

Following speculation that China's armed services have been utilizing remunerative strategies to hire former British RAF jet pilots to help train its very own air force, it is to investigate whether its pilots are being correspondingly headhunted, noted SCMP.

Marle mentioned it would be disturbing if a monthly paycheck entices them from a foreign nation above providing their country.

The department was to start investigating such assertions and return to his office to provide clear advice on this matter.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of Australia, the former defense minister, stated that observations of the reports were "alarming," so the government would have his support for regulations to deal with the problem.

China Seeks for Experienced Pilots

Intentional recruitment of UK ex-pilots was done by a third party with links to a certain South African flying academy, as noted by UK media. Based on the information available that says 30 combat jet pilots with helicopter pilots have been offered about 240,000 in salary.

Based on an anonymous Western intelligence official mentioned by Sky News, the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA), with its headquarters in Oudtshoorn, also functions as the Chinese government's headhunting firm, citing Business Insider South Africa.

Read Also: Mark Zuckerberg Net Worth 2022: How Did Facebook Founder Lose $30 Billion in 1 Day?

TFASA recommended its clients hired competent fighter and tactics instructors for employment and revealed a partnership deal with the South African Civil Aviation Authority in January.

The South African company did not respond to media stories alleging that it employed Australian pilots to collaborate in China, Reuters reported.

In an unsent advertisement message with the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) online, TFASA supposedly declared it was looking to find "fixed wing and helicopter test pilot lecturers" to collaborate at an unknown location in "Far East Asia."

This company intentionally sought applicants who had attended military test-flight schools in the United States or Great Britain. As stated by an Australian member cited by Reuters, the advertisement was emailed to every SETP member.

In a Defensive Ministry (MoD) statement issued on Tuesday, the UK advised former military pilots who supposedly train Chinese servicemen of the risk of prosecution and underlined that it viewed the behavior as undermining the UK's defense capability.

Ministry of Defense stated in a tweet that British pilots are at risk of being sued under the Official Secrets Act and that such a national security bill will also provide routes to litigation.

Despite the reports, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin denied the claims of such recruitment of British pilots to prepare the country's armed services and said at a frequent media briefing that he would be privy to it.

Former Australian Defense Minister Richard Marle claims Beijing's recruitment of UK military pilots and the need to know how extensive it is.

Related Article: NATO Cannot Pressure Beijing To Drop Moscow as Furor Breaks Out Over Comments During Icelandic Conference

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
In the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, evangelicals laid down their lives for their Lord. Living in Nusaybin, once home to the ancient theological school of Nisibis, they were among the firstfruits of the Sayfo (sword) martyrs.

Overall, modern estimates posit half a million deaths of Syriac-Aramean Christians at the hands of Turkish and Kurdish soldiers, concurrent with the Armenian genocide that claimed 1.5 million lives. Today this Christian community, still speaking the language of Jesus, seeks its own recognition.

In June 1915, the Muslim-majority citynow located on Turkeys southeastern border with Syriahad about 100 Syrian Orthodox families, and an equal number belonging to other Christian sects. The Protestants were rounded up with Armenians and Chaldeans, marched to the front of town, and shot dead.

The Orthodox families were promised peace by the local leader, but 30 men fled and sought refuge in the rugged mountains. A monk, trusting authorities, led soldiers to their hideout seeking to reassure the frightened band.

According to reports, along the way they turned on the monk, demanding he convert to Islam. Upon his refusal, they cut off his hands, then feet, then head. Returning to Nusaybin, the soldiers assembled the remaining Christians, leading them out of town. In joyful procession the believers sang hymns of encouragement: Soon we will be with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Refusing conversion, one by one they were shot, and then dumped in a well.

In 1919, then-Syrian Orthodox Archbishop Aphrem Barsaum filed a report to the prime minister of Britain, after the Allied powers displaced the Ottomans. Similar massacres had been repeated in 335 other villages in the archbishops jurisdiction, killing 90,313 Christians and destroying 162 churches. Collecting other reports, delegates to the Paris Peace Conference following World War II tallied 250,000 deaths.

It is unjust when they speak only of the Armenian Genocide, said Archbishop Joseph Bali, secretary to Syriac Orthodox patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II. We also need to be vocal about our people.

Fueled by a substantial diaspora, the Armenian tragedy has been recognized as a genocide by 33 nations. The US resolution, passed by Congress in 2019, listed additionally Greek, Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac, Aramean, Maronite, and other Christian victims.

Greeks are also among those seeking individual recognition.

The situation with the others is complicated by name. Divided into three sectsSyriac Orthodox, Chaldean Catholic, and the Assyrian Church of the Eastportions of the community prioritize different terminology.

Chaldean patriarch Louis Sako has stated the theological differences are not substantial, but each body represents a distinct tradition. His church, based in Baghdad, is aligned with the Vatican, while the Syriacs, based in Damascus and most populous in India, are within the non-Chalcedonian Oriental Orthodox family. The independent Assyrians are heir to the ancient Nestorian church.

I see nothing to prevent [our] union, said Sako last month. What unites us is much greater than what divides us.

This would include the genocidebut advocacy was slow to develop. Scattered across remote mountain villages, Syriac-Aramaic farmers were less cosmopolitan than the integrated Armenians. Violence began in the 1840s, killing thousands. Another massacre followed in 1895, and the Young Turk revolution of 1908 led to further displacement.

As the Ottomans lost territory in the Balkans in 1913, Muslim refugees streamed to the empire, which resettled them in Christian areas. And following the empires dissolution after the Great War, the 1923 Lausanne Conference established the current borders of Turkey and Greece, leading to further transfer of Muslim and Christian populations.

But by then, local Christians, indigenous for centuries, had been subjected to death marches, with survivors fleeing to Syria. The Armenians were awarded a nation-state in the Caucasus, but the Syriac-Aramaic people had no country of their own.

Both communities integrated into the religious diversity of the Levant. But Habib Ephrem, president of the Syriac League in Lebanon, said that the traumatized families hardly wanted to speak of Sayfo among themselves, let alone to the outside world.

Our people were late to begin a political effort to recognize what happened to them, he said. We had no PR or international relations.

Ephrems grandfather came to Lebanon in 1917, but eventually many compatriots relocated to Europe, particularly to Sweden. He has been advocating for genocide recognition the past 15 years, rewarded in 2007 when the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) judged that both the Assyrians and Greeks deserved separate status.

It called on the Turkish government to issue a formal apology.

As with the Armenian Genocide, Ankara denies any formal policy to exterminate a people. Seeking an audience, Ephrem traveled to Istanbul University in 2006 and quoted a Turkish poet: Separating a person from his land is like ripping his heart out of his chest.

My grandfather did not come for tourism, he said. We were uprooted, just because we were there.

Despite failures in Turkey, since the IAGS decision genocide advocacy has gained steam. Sweden (2010), Armenia (2013), the Netherlands (2015), Germany (2016), and Syria (2020) have all officially recognized the Syriac-Aramaic plight.

Ephrem has lobbied in the US as a regular attendee of the National Prayer Breakfast. But his primary concern lies elsewherein the stability of Middle East Christian communities. In 2015, ISIS overran 33 villages in Syrias Khabour River valley, and today less than 400 people remain, he said. The economic crisis is driving emigration from Lebanon, and he fears his people will eventually dissolve into the European mosaic.

It is right to recognize the genocide, but the stakes are greater than memory.

Is it better to forget and live as a citizen in Sweden, or to weep and cry? Ephrem asked. If you dont have a future in your homeland, who are you?

That question, said Theodora Issa, must be answered by faith and forgiveness.

The responsibility falls to the church and the faithful, said the Australian academic and daughter of an archpriest in the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, originally from Iraqs Nineveh Plains region. Speaking about Sayfo will help our people cling to their identity.

Issa bears a double burdenher mothers family fled the Turks; a century later, her fathers family fled from ISIS. Her activism includes publishing books, participating in conferences, and representing her denomination in the central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Last month, the general assembly voted to not only recognize the Syriac-Aramaic genocide as distinct and separate from the Armenian tragedyrecognized by the WCC nine years earlierbut also to work for its greater awareness among all member churches.

We acknowledge that these tragic events occurred, read the official WCC resolution, and that they must be named by their right name.

If it was simply called the Christian Genocide from the beginning, said Issa, things might have been different. As it is, the standard designation has overshadowed the suffering of Sayfos diverse Syriac-speaking communities.

This religious label, said Craig Simonian, fits the history.

Turkic-Ottoman leadership was not concerned whether a Christian was of Armenian, Greek, or Assyrian descent, said the regional director for the World Evangelical Alliances Peace and Reconciliation Network, an ethnic Armenian. And in the face of outright genocide denial on the part of the Turkish government today, it is vital that the atrocities perpetrated against the Syriac-Aramaic people be recognized in its own right, rather than a footnote in the broader Armenian Genocide.

Without denying the massacres, other Armenians say that Sayfo lacked the clear political agenda that marked the eradication of Armenians. As such, it does not meet the standard of official genocide.

Armenians commemorate April 24 as the beginning of the 1915 genocide. To distinguish, Bali stated that his churchs Holy Synod designated June 15 instead. It marks the approximate date two bishops were killed in the monastery-laden region of Tur Abdin, which translates to mountain of the servants of God.

And since their capture in Syria in 2013, two Syrian-born Orthodox bishops remain missing today. Sayfo, its denial, and continued atrocities against the community can lead many to animosity.

For me, as a Christian, it is an outrage to hear how members of my community, especially the elder among them, indiscriminately curse Kurds and Turks as people that one just cannot trust, wrote Amill Gorgis, publisher of The Persecution and Extermination in Tur Abdin, 1915, which relates the evangelical story from Nusaybin above. Why are we like this? Are we not used to learning and hearing the texts from the gospel where it says: Love your enemies, and pray for those that persecute you?

The compendium, he wrote, is an effort to understand the source of this pain.

Many sources emphasized that Sayfo is not about revenge. Tens of thousands of Syriac-Aramaic people live in Turkey today in relative peace, while the Assyrian Church of the East is returning its patriarchal headquarters to Iraqi Kurdistan.

Sayfo can never bring our ancestors back, said Bali. And it is not about reconciliation, for the original killers cannot be identified. At stake is the truth, and a gaping wound.

Jesus healed the bleeding woman, he said. But before the miracle, he asked for her story, and let her speak about her pain. The same is necessary for Syriac-Aramaic peoples todayin recognition of their genocide.

We as Christians have to forgive, for the sake of our healing, said Bali. It is not true forgiveness, if we just keep it inside.
Every pastor will face the seduction of being "one of the gang." The temptation will begin in the interview process. Someone on the committee will say, "We're looking for a pastor who will be one of us." What they mean is that they're looking for a pastor who will understand their community's values, someone who will appreciate their humor and understand that there are certain days in the community that need to be noted. What they're saying is, "We want a pastor we can identify with and who will identify with us."

Sounds good.

But it's a trap.

Here's how the trap works. The pastor will fit in. They will attend local social functions. They will laugh at all of the jokes. They will agree with several of the opinions being expressed and everything will be lovely until the pastor has to make a stand. Perhaps the pastor will discover a friend who's having an affair or someone in the gang will tell an off-color joke and when the pastor confronts the misbehavior, the gang will dismiss the pastor's concern.

"We're not going to listen to you," the gang will say. "You're just like us."

The temptation to fit in can be a strong one for a pastor of a local church. Few people understand how lonely the ministry of a local pastor is. For one reason, pastors spend a lot of time with people. And, because pastors are always with people, others assume we're always with friends. We're not. Most of the time when pastors are with members of the congregation it's because the members need something from their pastor. They are telling the pastor about a pastoral care need -- an upcoming surgery or a family member who needs prayer  or they want money out of the church budget for a special project. Rarely is anyone asking how the pastor is doing. After all, the members assume that the pastor is there to serve, not to be served.

That's the nature of the calling. Just read the stories of those who were used by God. John the Baptist, Elijah, Ezekiel, David, and yes, even Jesus, were marked by a profound loneliness. There is something about an encounter with God that marks the pastor's life. The pastor can't just fit in. They are different. They see things differently. They respond to things differently. They can't help themselves. There's an uneasiness with the status quo -- a vision of what could be that can never be reconciled with what actually is. Living in this "if only" is extremely painful.

Our church could do so much more "if only"...

Their marriage would be so much happier "if only"...

Our people would be so much freer "if only"...

This "if only" feeling is hard to live with, but as much as the pastor would like to, they can't let it go. They know too much now. The curtain that hides what could happen in the lives of the people has been lifted. The pastor who loves their church aches for the gap to be closed between what is and what could be -- or at least brought closer.

In the solitude of Bible study, in the lonely crafting of the sermon, during the quiet moment in the pastor's head just before the preaching moment -- the Spirit comes. In the Spirit's coming, the pastor will be changed, and the pastor can't be changed back. Even if the pastor doesn't want this distinction, people around them will recognize the mark of Christ on them. They will treat the pastor differently even if the pastor insists on being treated like everyone else.

And yet, it's from the peculiarity that the pastor draws their authority and power. When the disciples were brought before the religious leaders of their day, the leaders concluded that while the disciples weren't gifted theologians or Bible scholars, the disciples had indeed been with Jesus. That's what congregations want to know about their pastor. Have their pastors been with Jesus? Do the pastors know Jesus? I mean, does the pastor really know Jesus? Not just have they met, but have they talked?

And when the pastor talks to Jesus, what does Jesus say about His church? About them?

Like Moses, being stuck between God and His people can be an uncomfortable place to be. Standing between the justice of a Holy God and the mercy needed by a sinful congregation can put the pastor in a bind.

But where else would the pastor be? This is where the shepherd always stands -- with their sheep. It's where Jesus stood. It's where He stands now.

Pastors are a peculiar bunch, but we have to learn to embrace our peculiarities. We can't lose it, ignore it, or give it away. Without it, we have nothing to offer our people. Our people count us to be different and if Jesus has indeed touched our lives, we can't help but be a little peculiar.
Baptist church denies breaking the law after hosting Idaho GOP rally

A Baptist church in Idaho is pushing back against criticism after being accused by an atheist group of "breaking the law" by hosting a GOP rally.

The Idaho Republican Party held its "Keep Idaho Red" rally at First Baptist Church (FBC) in Coeur d'Alene on Monday, drawing what the GOP described as a "packed house."

The event featured Idaho GOP chairwoman Dorothy Moon, along with statewide and federal candidates, as part of what the Idaho GOP called a "fun, family-friendly rally" to offer "folks the opportunity to hear from our entire slate of candidates  from the top of the ticket to your local officials  all in one place."

An Oct. 17 tweet from Idaho GOP reads: "Packed house tonite [sic] at our #KeepIdahoRed Rally in CDA. Thank you First Baptist Church for opening your doors, to our GOP candidates for being there to speak, to voters for attending & most importantly thank you to our hardworking volunteers who made it happen! #WeAreIdaho #idgop"

Packed house tonite at our #KeepIdahoRed Rally in CDA. Thank you First Baptist Church for opening your doors, to our GOP candidates for being there to speak, to voters for attending & most importantly thank you to our hardworking volunteers who made it happen! #WeAreIdaho#idgoppic.twitter.com/l3eKJoldCT  Idaho GOP (@IdahoGOP) October 18, 2022

The following day, the organization American Atheists accused FBC of "breaking the law" by hosting the event. The law in question is the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 measure named after then-Senator Lyndon Johnson that prohibits nonprofits from maintaining a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status if they engage in partisan political activism.

The group tweeted: "The First Baptist Church in Coeur d'Alene is breaking the law! Report them to the IRS." The group included a link to a page on the IRS website titled "How Do You Report Suspected Tax Fraud Activity?"

American Atheists President Nick Fish took it a step further and suggested the Idaho GOP is "just openly bragging about breaking the law now."

Under the U.S. tax code, churches and other tax-exempt organizations are "absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of [or in opposition to] any candidate for elective public office."

The tax code also states that churches can hold "certain voter education activities (including presenting public forums and publishing voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner."

A spokesperson for FBC Coeur d'Alene told The Christian Post that the church "did not endorse any specific candidate" during the rally and that the Idaho GOP was allowed to use the facility only after the group "accepted First Baptist Church (FBC) Mission Statement and Bi-laws, and agreed to open the event with prayer, and to remain respectful during the event."

According to the spokesperson, FBC allows the use of its facility to groups that agree with the church's mission statement and bylaws and "agree to promote respectful and Christian behavior and beliefs through any use of the facilities. "

All events at FBC are also expected to be opened in prayer.

"American Atheists and other organizations and groups might be included in the use of our facilities if they meet these conditions," the spokesperson added.

Fish did not respond to a request for comment from The Christian Post.

According to Nonprofit Issues, the IRS allows charity organizations that ordinarily rent their facilities to the public to rent facilities to political candidates at standard rates without being deemed to be intervening in a political campaign.

Since its enactment, the Johnson Amendment has been a frequent source of controversy for churches and other nonprofits over what some say is a denial of the First Amendment right to take political stances.

In 2017, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order demanding more leniency for churches defying the Johnson Amendment, but it was not officially repealed.
Parental Rights Amendment introduced in Congress amid 'grassroots groundswell'

A constitutional amendment to protect parental rights was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week amid heightened concerns about the state of public education in the United States.

Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., introduced the measure on Tuesday. With Democrats in control of both chambers of Congress, it is unlikely that the amendment will pass before the current session of Congress ends next January. But supporters want to "get the ball rolling" in hopes the 2022 midterms shake up the power dynamics in Congress and statehouses.

The proposed amendment contains five sections, with one declaring that "the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children is a fundamental right." The proposal also contends that "the parental right to direct education includes the right to choose, as an alternative to public education, private, religious, or home schools, and the right to make reasonable choices within public schools for one's child."



"Neither the United States nor any State shall infringe these rights without demonstrating that its governmental interest as applied to the person is of the highest order and not otherwise served," the proposed amendment continues. "The parental rights guaranteed by this article shall not be denied or abridged on account of disability. This article shall not be construed to apply to a parental action or decision that would end life."

In a statement, Lesko said she believes the amendment is necessary to "protect parents" from left-leaning school board officials and "government bureaucrats" who have "actively worked to undermine parental rights and eliminate educational choices for families."

As a proposed constitutional amendment, the Parental Rights Amendment has a higher threshold to clear than most legislation before it can take effect. It must secure the support of two-thirds of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, and then three-fourths of the state legislatures must ratify it.

The Parental Rights Amendment, crafted by the advocacy group ParentalRights.org, has been introduced in every U.S. Congress dating back to the 110th Congress, which convened from 2007-2008.

In an interview with The Christian Post, Will Estrada of ParentalRights.org and the Parental Rights Foundation said introducing the amendment in the current session will "get the ball rolling so we can hit the ground running" in the 118th U.S. Congress, which begins Jan. 3.

"This is the first time that the amendment has been introduced when everybody across the country has been talking about parental rights," he said. "But the thing that's different this time is [parental rights] was not a high priority among the general population for the longest amount of time. That changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, when parents were home from work, working from home, when kids were doing Zoom school at the kitchen table and parents were disappointed ... with the quality of public education."

Estrada told CP, "the moment has arrived where parents across the political spectrum are upset that their right to direct the education, upbringing and care of their children has not been respected."

"[W] e're seeing a groundswell for parental rights that we've never seen before in the history of ParentalRights.org and the Parental Rights Foundation," he stressed.

Estrada told CP that he and other advocates are already discussing with allies in Congress about holding House subcommittee hearings, full committee hearings and voting the amendment out of committee in the 118th Congress.

While the U.S. House held hearings on the Parental Rights Amendment in 2012 and 2014, the U.S. Senate has never held such hearings.

He predicted that the U.S. Senate will introduce a separate version of the Parental Rights Amendment in the 118th U.S. Congress, noting that it has an additional provision not present in the House version proclaiming that "no United Nations treaties shall be ratified that alter or abridge the fundamental right of parents."

"I am optimistic that will change in the next Congress," Estrada remarked.

While U.S. Supreme Court precedent dating back to 1923 recognizes the importance of parental rights, Estrada believes parents "can't just rely on Supreme Court precedent."

"It should be enshrined in the text of the Constitution to show that it is such an important right," he asserts.

Jim Mason, chairman of the board for ParentalRights.org, cited the current political climate surrounding the role of parents in education as evidence that a Parental Rights Amendment is needed.

"The Supreme Court in 1923 said 'the child is not the mere creature of the State,' but many of today's bureaucrats have lost sight of that," he said in a statement.

Estrada said "discussions and battles in public schools and school boards over who's going to make decisions for minor children" suggests that the right of parents to determine how to "raise their children, educate their children, care for their children, [and] make medical decisions for their children" are being infringed.

In 2020, Estrada's organization contested a law passed in Washington, D.C., allowing students 11 and older to consent to vaccinations in schools. The law prohibits insurance companies from stating in an explanation of benefits that the children had been immunized.

The advocacy group secured a preliminary injunction in federal district court, blocking the policy. The District of Columbia declined to appeal.

Parents nationwide have expressed concern about some school district policies that prevent parents from being informed if their child identifies as the opposite sex at school.

"Parents love their kids more than any government official who's paid to be there," Estrada said. "[T]hey would lay down their life for their children, and they knew their children better than even the most well-meaning government official."

Estrada acknowledged that "amending the Constitution is not something that should be done lightly" and characterized the process for passing the Parental Rights Amendment as a "journey of 1,000 miles." His advocacy organization will rely on a "grassroots groundswell of parents in all 50 states."

"We're urging our grassroots to call their U.S. representative, ask him or her to cosponsor the Parental Rights Amendment since this is something that everyone can join in with," Estrada said.

The Parental Rights Amendment has secured the support of the religious liberty law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, which has won several religious freedom cases before the Supreme Court.

"Parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children," ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Advocacy Strategy Emilie Kao asserted in a statement endorsing the effort.

"Sadly, as parents have stood before local school boards and state legislatures across the country to claim that right, they've been met by government officials who declare themselves the ultimate determiners of what's best for children. This includes growing instances of schools actively hiding controversial curricula and critical information about children's mental and physical health from parents."

ParentalRights.org supports similar protections at the state level.

Data compiled by the advocacy organization reveals that 15 states have statutes that define and protect parental rights: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

The group identified 19 states that do not have statutory protections for parental rights but whose courts have effectively treated parental rights as fundamental rights: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

California, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon and South Dakota have neither statutory nor court-enforced protections for parental rights while it is unclear whether courts in Nebraska, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington have courts that recognize parental rights as fundamental rights.
Pastor claims one-third of UMC churches in North Carolina regional body will leave denomination

An organizer with a theologically conservative alternative to the United Methodist Church has predicted that nearly a third of congregations in North Carolina might leave the mainline Protestant denomination.

The Rev. Jerry Lewis, the North Carolina organizer for the Global Methodist Church, told The Carolina Journal earlier this week that he believed at least 226 congregations will leave the UMC North Carolina Conference.

Lewis, who's a church administrator for a Methodist congregation in Jacksonville, claimed that 180 churches have already voted to leave this year, while around 80 have indicated to the GMC that they might also leave the UMC next year. The 260 churches would make up around one-third of the regional bodys 779 member churches.

Were delighted at the sheer amount in what we called the first wave, said Lewis. To have 180 in this first phase is kind of mind-boggling in regard to everything they had to accomplish to reach this state in such a short amount of time.

Of the 180 churches that have already voted to leave, according to Lewis, over 150 plan to join the GMC, while the remainder might either join GMC, another denomination or become nondenominational.

The Christian Post reached out to the Rev. Jerry Lewis for a comment, however, he was unable to return comment by press time.

The UMC annual conferences that cover the state are the North Carolina Conference and the Western North Carolina Conference.

Aimee Yeager, director of communications for the Western North Carolina Conference, told CP that 41 of their 990 congregations have already disaffiliated, while another seven congregations are undergoing the disaffiliation process.

Seven congregations have had their church conference to begin the disaffiliation process, explained Yeager. They will petition for approval at the 2023 Annual Conference. We cannot estimate beyond that how many churches may vote to disaffiliate in the coming months.

Derek Leek, director of communications for the North Carolina Conference, told CP that some of the regional bodys congregations are still in the voting process when it comes to disaffiliation.

We had 784 churches at the beginning of the year. Two have merged with other congregations, and three closed. As of today, we have 779 churches, Leek noted.

Leek also told CP that the North Carolina Conference plans to release the official list before our special called session of Annual Conference on Nov. 19.

Over the past several years, the UMC has been embroiled in an internal debate over whether to change its official stance banning same-sex marriage and the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals.

Although efforts to change the standards at the UMC General Conference have always failed, many progressive leaders within the denomination have often refused to enforce the rules.

In May, theological conservatives officially launched the Global Methodist Church, which was to be a new denomination that conservative UMC congregations tired of the ongoing debate could join.

Since then, large numbers of congregations in the United States have voted to disaffiliate from the UMC in order to join the GMC.

In April, before the GMC was officially launched, the UMC Bulgaria-Romania Provisional Annual Conference voted unanimously to join the new conservative denomination; however, a later ruling by the United Methodist Judicial Council stated that annual conferences could not leave the denomination.
Pentagon to pay travel costs for military service members to get abortions

The U.S. Department of Defense will pay for service members to travel out-of-state to obtain abortions to "ensure that our Service members can access reproductive health care and our health care providers can operate effectively."

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent a memorandum to senior Pentagon leadership Thursday on "Ensuring Access to Reproductive Health Care." He directed the department to establish "travel and transportation allowances for Service members and their dependents, as appropriate and consistent with applicable federal law and operational requirements."

He also called for creating a "uniform Department of Defense policy that allows for appropriate administrative absence consistent with applicable federal law for non-covered reproductive healthcare."

The memo outlines that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June to allow states to pass laws banning or restricting abortion will mean that "significant numbers of Service members and their families may be forced to travel greater distances, take more time off from work, and pay more out of pocket expenses to receive reproductive health care."

Lloyd believes that the effects of the court'sruling will impact the Department of Defense's ability to "recruit, retain, and maintain the readiness of a highly qualified force."

The secretary ordered the amendment of "any applicable travel regulations" to "facilitate official travel to access non-covered reproductive health care that is unavailable within the local area of a Service member's permanent duty station."

He suggested new policies were necessary due to "concerns from many of our Service members and their families about the complexity and the uncertainty that they now face in accessing reproductive health care, including abortion services."

"The actions outlined in this memorandum will be executed as soon as possible. All actions will be completed no later than the end of this calendar year, to the maximum extent possible," the memo states. "The Department of Defense will continue to closely evaluate our policies to ensure that we continue to provide seamless access to reproductive health care as appropriate and consistent with federal law."

In a statement, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the national grassroots pro-life group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America decried the Pentagon's new policy.

"The Biden administration will stop at nothing to impose abortion on demand until birth nationwide, paid for by taxpayers, no matter what laws they have to ignore or rewrite," she said.

The new memo comes as other federal agencies have enacted policies to protect access to abortion for service members.

The Biden administration submitted an interim final rule to the Federal Register in September that will authorize Veterans Administration hospitals to perform abortions on service members, even in states where the procedure is illegal.

President Joe Biden expressed support for establishing a federal abortion leave fund in a previously taped interview forum with NowThis News slated to air this weekend.

"It is heartbreaking to see President Biden is so obsessed with abortion on demand that he is willing to use American tax dollars to push for more abortion rather than offering federal funding for lifesaving options offered by pro-life organizations and maternity homes around the country," Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, said in a statement.

The conservative advocacy group CatholicVote argued in a Twitter thread that a federal abortion fund would amount to "govt sponsored abortion vacations" that would "take tax dollars out of the pockets of American workers to pay for time off to destroy unborn children."

Govt sponsored abortion vacations? @potus now doubling down on his abortion extremism, committing to take tax dollars out of the pockets of American workers to pay for time off to destroy unborn children. https://t.co/9RLNczfyto  CatholicVote.org (@CatholicVote) October 20, 2022

The president also hopes to establish a federal right to abortion after the midterm elections.

Speaking at the Howard Theatre last week, Biden stressed the importance of electing "more Democratic senators to the United States Senate and more Democrats to keep control of the House of Representatives," vowing to "codify Roe once and for all." Biden previously promised to push for Congress to codify Roe days after his inauguration.

The Women's Health Protection Act, legislation that would establish a right to abortion at the federal level, has come up short of the votes needed for passage in the evenly divided U.S. Senate after passing the Democrat-controlled U.S. House on party-line vote.

As Democrats tout the Women's Health Protection Act as simply a codification of Roe, pro-life groups contend the measure will go far beyond Roe and establish a right to abortion until birth.

Public opinion polling indicates that most Americans oppose allowing abortions throughout all nine months of pregnancy.

A May poll from CBS News found that 17% of Americans believed that abortion should be permitted at any point in a pregnancy. A Pew Research Center survey from that same month measured support for legal abortion in all cases at 19%.
'Scare tactic': Pro-lifers refute Democrat's ad showing woman arrested for having an abortion

Pro-life advocates are pushing back against a video advertisement shared online this week by a Democratic member of Congress that they believe misleads the public about laws that ban or restrict abortion.

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif, shared a political advertisement on Twitter Monday night that shows police arresting a woman at her home in front of her children for having had an abortion. The video shows the mother sitting at the dinner table with her husband and two children before the police arrive to arrest her for a past abortion.

As a police officer arrests the mother, he tells the husband that he and his partner are "just enforcing the law." The ad ends by telling viewers that "elections have consequences" and urges them to "vote Democrat" in the upcoming midterm elections.

"MAGA Republicans want women arrested for having an abortion. This is what that looks like," Swalwell's tweet reads.

The advertisement appears to allude to some people's fears that women will face possible charges for having abortions in light of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade this summer. The court's ruling returned authority over abortion laws to the states, and several have enacted bans or restrictions.

Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee, called the video a "scare tactic" in a Wednesday statement to The Christian Post. She believes the video seeks to "intimidate" women into voting for candidates who support abortion access.

"The video shared by Rep. Swalwell is reprehensible," she wrote. "No law, state or federal, places penalties on a woman who gets an abortion."

Tobias cited a letter NRLC spearheaded in May to elected officials, signed by over 70 pro-life organizations, outlining their opposition to prosecuting women for abortions and support for offering life-affirming resources instead.

Katie Glenn, state policy director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told CP in an interview that lawmakers have intentionally ensured that laws against abortion do not punish women.

Glenn said that even before Roe legalized abortion nationwide, the law sought to punish abortionists and not women.

Abortionists sometimes sought to have the court treat the woman as their accomplice, she said, but the law only targeted the individuals profiting from the abortion.

"And so, [state lawmakers] have been very intentional about drafting laws that do not prosecute the woman and are focused on the source of the abortion and on the person who is being enriched financially from that abortion," she said.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has a map on its website tracking abortion laws across the country since the court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The map lists the different laws banning abortion at certain gestational stages or altogether, in addition to exceptions, such as life of the mother cases.

None of the laws listed mention prosecuting women for having had an illegal abortion.

Glenn said that in scenarios where a woman is charged, such as the case in August involving a Nebraska mother who helped her daughter obtain an illegal chemical abortion, the charges are not simply because she had an abortion.

The mother in that case was charged with "performing or attempting an abortion on a pregnancy at more than 20 weeks and performing an abortion as a non-licensed doctor." Both the mom and her daughter were charged in July "with allegedly removing, concealing, or abandoning a dead human body," concealing the death of another person and false reporting.

It is alleged that the mother and daughter tried to bury the body three times and also attempted to burn it after the second exhumation.

The pro-choice research organization Guttmacher Institute contends that women had been prosecuted years before Roe was overturned for "self-inducing abortion under a variety of state statutes, ranging from fetal homicide to failure to report an abortion to the coroner."

"Recently, the issue has gained greater attention because of several well-publicized cases in which women were prosecuted  and even imprisoned  for self-inducing an abortion or being suspected of doing so," the organization states. "Despite claims from antiabortion advocates and lawmakers that abortion restrictions are intended to only criminalize providers of abortion care, some prosecutors have exercised their discretion under current state laws to penalize women who end their pregnancies on their own."

Guttmacher reports, however, that "Women are not commonly charged in the United States for the crime of self-inducing an abortion, and they have rarely been convicted." The organization cited a case from the early 1990s in which a 19-year-old was charged after shooting herself in the abdomen to end her pregnancy. Her case went to the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled that established U.S. legal precedent precluded a woman from being prosecuted in the death of her own fetus.

Guttmacher also states that there have been at least a half dozen U.S. cases where women have been arrested and charged for attempting to "self-induce an abortion using illicitly obtained abortifacients."

"For instance, in 2004, one woman in South Carolina was charged with illegal abortion and failure to report the abortion to the coroner after using an abortifacient. In a 2007 case in Massachusetts, a woman was charged with illegal procurement of a miscarriage; however, because of the state's inability to assess whether the fetus met its definition of viability at the time of the abortion, she was not charged with murder," Guttmacher reports.

"In Idaho in 2011, a woman was charged with unlawful abortion and the prosecutor threatened to charge her under the state's newly enacted 20-week ban on abortion. In a case in Pennsylvania in 2013, a mother who had ordered abortifacients off the Internet for her daughter was reported by hospital staff after they sought medical attention for side effects; she was eventually charged with 'providing abortion without a medical license, dispensing drugs without being a pharmacist, assault and endangering the welfare of a child.'"

In 2015, a Georgia woman was charged with murder after giving birth on her way to the hospital after taking abortion-inducing drugs she ordered off the internet.

"Conviction and punishments varied in these recorded cases," Guttmacher reports. "In the South Carolina and Pennsylvania cases, both women were convicted; the woman in South Carolina was sentenced to jail time and a fine, but was let out on time served, while the Pennsylvania woman began a 918-month jail sentence in September 2014. In Massachusetts, the defendant was given probation and ordered to attend counseling. In the Idaho case, the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. The murder charges were eventually dropped in the Georgia case as well, although the woman is still facing a misdemeanor charge of possession of a dangerous drug."

Glenn believes that claims from people like Swalwell will go away as long as pro-life lawmakers continue to be clear about the content of laws banning or restricting abortion.

"We encourage our lawmakers to be very clear about why they're pro-life and why they are supporting pro-life policies in their state and how it's to help women and families, not to hurt them," Glenn said.

"All of the misinformation that they've been talking about, that women are going to be arrested, that women are going to be denied lifesaving care? As that doesn't pan out and people realize that was a lot of bluster, they won't buy it, and the ads are going to fall flat."
Richard Rohr stepping down from leadership roles after cancer diagnosis

Bestselling author and Catholic priest Richard Rohr is stepping away from leadership duties at his Center for Action and Contemplation, citing a recent cancer diagnosis.

Rohr, who is known for his popular theological books, helped to found the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Center in 1987, and has served in various roles for the organization since then.

In a statement released Thursday, the center explained that the 79-year-old Rohr was stepping away from his leadership role, taking on the position of Core Faculty Emeritus.

However, at this stage in his life, Richards desire is to create space for the rest of us to step in and carry his work forward into the future, stated the center.

For several years, he has been engaged with CAC leadership in a gradual process of stepping back from public life. He has significantly reduced his speaking, travel, and day-to-day involvement in programming, and invited other members of our staff and faculty to assume new responsibilities.

The center also noted that Rohr was retiring as both dean of our core faculty and as a voting member of the CACs Board of Directors, and will no longer assume any new or ongoing teaching commitments.

According to a report by the Jesuit publication America, the announcement of Rohr stepping down from his various duties comes after a diagnosis of cancer in his lymph nodes months ago.

America quoted Rohr as saying that he was optimistic about his battle with cancer, with the Franciscan friar explaining that all signs are positive and he is in good spirits.

I have done what was mine to do. May Christ teach you what is yours, Rohr added.

Born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1943 to a devout Catholic family, Rohr decided to become a friar after reading a novel about Saint Francis of Assisi, eventually being ordained a priest in 1970.

Before founding the center in New Mexico, Rohr helped to found what a 2020 New Yorker piece labeled a radical Christian community in Cincinnati, Ohio, known as New Jerusalem.

A diverse array of ministries and worship gatherings centered on lay Catholics living in the Cincinnati area, New Jerusalem recently celebrated its fifth decade of existence.

Rohr is slight, with a white beard and the starry eyes of a person who spends long periods in silence, the New Yorker described him. Over the past four decades, he has gained a devoted following for his provocative vision of Christianity,

Rohr has authored several notable spiritual books, including The Naked Now, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, The Wisdom Pattern, as well as works on daily meditation practices.

In 2019, Rohr had the book The Universal Christ released, which was centered on showing a deep cosmic meaning on what it means for Jesus to be considered the Christ.

Drawing on Scripture, history, and spiritual practice, Rohr articulates a transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of Gods constant, unfolding work in the world. God loves things by becoming them, he writes, and Jesus life was meant to declare that humanity has never been separate from God  except by its own negative choice, noted the Amazon description for the book.

When we recover this fundamental truth, faith becomes less about proving Jesus was God, and more about learning to recognize the Creators presence all around us, and in everyone we meet.

Rohr is not without his critics. Michael McClymond an author and professor of modern Christianity at Saint Louis University, critiquedThe Universal Christ in a 2019 piece for The Gospel Coalition.

McClymond argued that the book had muddled messages on theology and took issue with various claims by Rohr, believing that his theological framework never addresses the ethical problem  endemic to all monistic worldviews  of distinguishing good from evil.

For if Christ is the Jewish girl hiding in her bedroom trying to escape detection, then Christ is also the Nazi storm trooper kicking in the front door, wrote McClymond. Rohr might wish to identify with the youthful victim in this case, but what if I preferred to identify myself with the brutality of the storm trooper?

I see no escape from this ethical problem, unless Rohr either jettisons his premise of a universal Christ, or embraces a universal Christ who is both good and evil, merciful and merciless. If he admits that not everything is Christ, his argument collapses. But the alternative is to assert that Christ is evil as well as good."
Is competition un-Christian?

I recently saw this question askedis competition un-Christian?as if a negative answer was self evident. It was treated as some kind of weapon against capitalism.

But what does the question even mean? If a man falls in love with a woman and find that others also desire her, is it sin to try to win her over to marry him instead of them?

Note that a quite perverse form of competition can also arise. A man may desire a woman because others desire her and he wants status over them, rather than to be a good husband for her sake. That would be competition motivated by envy, or the desire to boast and is, thus, un-Christian.

But the example of a man really in love raises the possibility that there are many things worth striving for whether or not others are striving for them. While there are many ways it can go wrong, in a world of limitations, there are bound to be situations where an item:

is lawful to possess is lawful to seek to possess can only be possessed by one person is desirable to posses by more than one person

Perhaps you object to using the word item after appealing to the case of a man falling in love with a woman. Thats an evasion. If monogamy is Gods will and a human good, then the monogamous relationship is what the man is seeking. No need to worry about regarding people as things.

Look at it from the standpoint of a woman who is considering the benefits of starting a family: is she obligated to accept the first man who shows an interest? Does a mans judgment that he is right for her override her own judgment that she doesnt know if he is right? Is she guilty of encouraging competition if she considers others?

A lot can go wrong in this sort of decision making. For example, a womans desire for the new may cause her to underestimate the value of a male friend she has known for awhile. But much can go right. The competition that results is not necessarily sinful and can lead to a good outcome for everyone by getting people to marry well, and avoid marrying badly.

If youre an employee who needs to hire someone, is it Christian for you to interview several candidates and pick the one who you think is the most likely to do a good job? Mistakes can be, and are, made in such a process, but it is not self-evident that hiring someone at random to avoid competition would be a more Christian way to proceed. Sometimes an employer, despite his or her best efforts, will hire someone who not only fails to contribute to the business productivity, but actually hampers the other employees in doing their jobs. That would probably would happen more often if you simply hired the first candidate who applied. Would you be treating your other employees, or your customers, in a more Christian fashion by refusing to encourage competition among candidates?

Say I'm a new parent who needs baby formula, diapers, and many other necessities I struggle to afford. Say there are two grocery stores in my area. The older and nearer one charges higher prices, pays employees better, and offers more variety and higher quality. The slightly farther-away, more recently opened grocery store offers the basics at lower prices and doesnt pay employees as well. I can buy more with less there, despite the difference in time and gas money.

Is it un-Christian to make a decision between these two competitors? Am I obligated to deprive my family of needed money by purchasing more expensive groceries? Also, were the investors who risked their money on the bargain store, guessing that people like me would shop there, engaged in un-Christian behavior by competing with the original neighborhood grocery store?

A brief admittedly ad hominem aside: dont people who condemn competition also complain about food deserts in certain neighborhoods? Arent they also more likely to condemn what appears to them to be nepotism on the part of business owners and CEOs?

The Apostle Paul wrote that Christians should outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12:10) I dont think he found competition inherently un-Christian.

Ultimately, the question is vacuous. The proper question is about what things should a Christian regard as worthy of competing over. Once that is decided, it may become more Christian to submit to the results of competition with joyful faith, than to demand an impossible ending of all competition.
Brian Houston announces big night of preaching, praying ahead of court case

Weeks before he is set to face charges in an Australian court for allegations that he concealed his fathers child sex abuse, Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston announced that he and his wife, Bobbie, will have a big night of preaching and fellowship in their home base next month and urged their followers to join them in their return to a local stage.

The announcement comes as the defiant preacher returned to Australia fresh off a six-week tour of preaching in the U.S., where he declared he still has "so much more" to give at 68.

Well, big hello. Bobbie and I are excited because on November the 9th, its a Wednesday evening, were going to have a night called an evening with Brian and Bobbie. Its just all about connection, fellowship, community, Houston began in a 34-second video announcing the event on Facebook Monday.

And of course, Bobbie will share some thoughts. As always, Im sure there will be a prophetic energy to that. Im gonna preach a message, pray for people, he added. Wed really love to see you come, so come along and, of course, well also be livestreamed on all available platforms. So dont miss the night. Were really looking forward to it.

The event, billed as An Evening With Bobbie and Brian, is set to be held at the Pioneer Theatre in Sydney's Castle Hill, which seats approximately 350 people. Houston said tickets for the initial event were all gone in less than two hours so they decided to add a second session to accommodate more people who would like to connect with them in-person.

Houston initially stepped down from the boards of the Australia-based global megachurch he founded in 1983 last September after he was charged with allegedly "concealing child sex offenses."

Hillsong Church announced in January that Houston stepped down from his role at the church's helm for all of 2022 as he faced criminal charges related to allegations he concealed sex abuse committed by his father decades earlier. The megachurch founder has denied wrongdoing.

He completely resigned from the church on March 23 after Hillsong Church said he violated the church's pastoral code of conduct by entering the hotel room of an unidentified woman for 40 minutes while under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs during the church's annual conference in 2019.

Houston doesn't recall having sex with the woman, and the woman did not say if they had sex. Interim Global Senior Pastor Phil Dooley said their accounts of what happened are not entirely reliable because they were impaired by alcohol. Houston was also reportedly under the influence of anxiety medication.

In a second incident, Houston is said to have exchanged an "inappropriate text message" with a staffer in 2013. According to Dooley, the text message was "along the lines of, 'If I was with you, I would like to give you a kiss and a cuddle or a hug.'" The staffer resigned shortly after. Hillsong Church blamed Houston's actions in this case on "sleeping tablets."

Multiple sexual and financial misconduct allegations by other pastors in the U.S. and Australia under Houston's leadership have also emerged in recent years.

In an Aug. 22 message billed as "A Legacy That Outlasts You" delivered at the Christian Faith Center in Seattle, Washington, Houston stated that setbacks and failures in life shouldn't define someone's legacy.

"Legacy can take a lifetime to build and we can damage it. We can dent it in just a moment. And the thing about legacy is it never comes without a few twists and curves," he said.

Last month, at the end of his preaching tour in the U.S., Houston asked his supporters to pray for him as he faces the pending court case.

Well we are still here and mostly smiling. Weve had a wonderful last 6 weeks in USA and Ive preached in 8 cities in that time. Weve had so much wonderful time with pastor couples and we are feeling the love, he wrote in a Sept. 26 Facebook post.

We miss the congregation at Hillsong Church enormously and hopefully well have the chance to tell our story sometime soon. The body of Christ at large have proved themselves to be just that. Grace-filled, loving and overwhelmingly supportive. Pray for me with a court case looming. Love and grace to you all.
After less than two months in office, UK Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation on Thursday under pressure after economic plans were reversed, creating economic turmoil.

A day after adamantly proclaiming that she is a warrior and not a quitter, Liz Truss made the declaration, but ultimately stated that the situation had changed.

Uk Prime Minister Liz Truss Quits After 44 Days

Following the resignation of Home Secretary Suella Braverman in a letter that criticized the prime minister, Truss announced that a leadership election will be held within the next week and that she will serve as prime minister until a replacement has been picked.

Braverman, a Conservative Party's right-wing member, stood for party leader earlier this year but lost to Truss. Days before Braverman's departure, Truss let go of Treasury Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng amid economic upheaval that saw the British pound fall in value to be virtually equivalent to the US dollar.

The issues arose after a tax cut proposal was promoted by the Truss government in September and abandoned by Kwarteng's successor Jeremy Hunt in October.

On Wednesday, Truss apologized to parliamentarians and acknowledged that she had made mistakes during her brief tenure in office-six weeks. However, she claimed that abandoning the tax cut plan was the appropriate option for the sake of the country's economic stability.

"Liz Truss must resign," many members of the Conservative Party said. Simon Hoare, a conservative politician, told the BBC on Thursday that Truss has approximately 12 hours to resolve the issue. Other members of the Conservative Party didn't even seem prepared to hold out for that long, as per Fox News.

The brief tenure of Liz Truss as president is the shortest in contemporary political history. The turmoil has left the British people in shock and anger, and many are now wondering who will be the country's next leader.

Whoever assumes power in less than two months will be the country's second non-elected prime minister. On Thursday, Liz Truss guaranteed that the procedure would be finished in a week. The United States and the United Kingdom are staunch allies and enduring friends - and that reality will never alter, according to President Joe Biden, who previously met Truss in that capacity, Daily Mail reported.

Read Also: Russia Destroys 3 Power Plants, Prompting Ukraine To Revise Emergency Energy Plan; More Evidence Shows Kremlin Uses Iranian Drones

Liz Truss vs. Lettuce

A head of wet lettuce was the live streamed spectacle that was being observed across the globe at the time. Finally, the lettuce prevailed over Liz Truss. The shortest-serving British prime minister will leave office on Thursday, as 10 Downing Street turns a new page.

Day one: Which wet lettuce will last longer? https://t.co/vReEEeL6jk  Daily Star (@dailystar) October 14, 2022

The Daily Star lettuce has come out victorious in the battle of the year - to see whether it could outlast Prime Minister Liz Truss in #LizVsLettuce



[THREAD] pic.twitter.com/sP7QDgqcfr  Daily Star (@dailystar) October 20, 2022

The Daily Star, a British tabloid, created the vegetable stunt after seeing Truss' favorability ratings decline and creating the radicchio-lous "lettuce" competition to match. On October 14, when support for Truss waned, the outlet put some googly eyes on a head of lettuce, placed it next to a framed picture of the prime minister, and started shooting.

The joke's companion YouTube channel swiftly racked up 40,000 likes. The produce's handlers arranged the lettuce in progressively complex setups over the days before deciding on a blond wig for the vegetable.

Opposition leaders used the ploy to draw attention to Truss' shortcomings, which helped the stream gain political traction on its own. The Daily Star lowered a crown over the seven-day-old lettuce after Truss announced her retirement in a succinct speech on Thursday, and when the national anthem played, it turned the Truss photo face-down.

Soon after, there were disco lights, party music, and empty liquor bottles as the chyron read, This lettuce outlasted Liz Truss. The Economist's early October essay, in which the authors declared Truss' political influence gone regardless of how long she might maintain the position, is said to have served as inspiration for the antics, according to HuffPost via MSN.

Related Article: UK PM Liz Truss Resigns Following Controversial Economic Policies; What Will Happen Next?

@YouTube

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SBC seminary passes resolution affirming pastoral roles should be limited to men

A Southern Baptist Convention seminary passed a resolution affirming its president's stance that only men can be pastors, an indirect response to Rick Warren's Saddleback Church ordaining three women pastors last year.

At their fall meeting last week, the trustees at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, unanimously approved a resolution encouraging the seminary's administration to continue theologically training both men and women, "but with men alone reserved for the office and function, and thereby title of pastor."

"It is further resolved that this Board encourages The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary administration and faculty to continue its theological training with this stated conviction graduating both men and women for service to the church, but with men alone reserved for the office and function, and thereby title of pastor," stated the resolution, in part.

The resolution commended the stance of SBTS President Albert Mohler, who helped craft the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, the official statement of faith for the SBC.

Mohler took to his official Twitter to post his support on Tuesday for the trustees' resolution, saying he is "thankful" for their work.

"Our @SBTS trustees made an important statement last week, passing a unanimous resolution defining pastor as both function and office and limited to men by Scripture as confessed by Southern Baptists in the Baptist Faith & Message," tweeted Mohler.

In May 2021, Saddleback Church garnered controversy in SBC circles by ordaining three women  Liz Puffer, Cynthia Petty and Katie Edwards  despite the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 stating the "office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture."

Mohler penned a column denouncing Saddleback's ordinations as "contrary to Scripture" and "an attempt to redefine and reformulate the convictional foundation of Southern Baptist faith and cooperative ministry."

"The theological issues have not changed since the year 2000 when Southern Baptists spoke clearly and precisely in the Baptist Faith & Message. More importantly, the Holy Scriptures have not changed and cannot change," wrote Mohler at the time.

Some within the SBC pushed for Saddleback to be disfellowshiped from the nation's largest Protestant denomination.

However, the SBC Credentials Committee, which handles issues regarding whether member churches are abiding by the SBC standards, announced at the SBC Annual Meeting in June that it would delay a decision on Saddleback.

Committee Chair Linda Cooper told the messengers at the annual meeting that "we have concluded that we are not yet prepared to make a recommendation regarding Saddleback Church, recognizing there are differing opinions regarding the intent of the office of pastor as stated in the Baptist Faith & Message 2000."

"We feel it is very important for you to know that it is the unanimous opinion of the Credentials Committee that the majority of Southern Baptists hold to the belief that the function of lead pastor, elder, bishop or overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture," she added.

"[However, we have] found little information evidencing convention beliefs regarding the use of the title of pastor, for staff positions with different responsibilities and authority than that of lead pastor role."

The Credentials Committee initially recommended that the SBC messengers vote to create a study committee that would report at next year's annual meeting a "recommendation to provide clarity regarding the office of pastor." However, Mohler voiced opposition to the idea.

"If we eventually have to form a study committee over every word of our confession of faith, then we are doomed and we are no longer a confessional people," Mohler said to applause from the crowd.

The Credentials Committee rescinded its recommendation for a study committee.

On July 29, Mohler joined New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Chuck Kelley and Richard Land, the president of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission from 1988-2013, in issuing a statement clarifying the Southern Baptist understanding of the word "pastor." The three men were previously tasked with writing a study guide for the new 2000 Baptist Faith & Message Confession.

"[I]t is important to understand that the word pastor was chosen precisely because of its clarity among Southern Baptists. The statement carefully affirms that both men and women are gifted for service in the church, but the role of pastor is biblically defined and is to be held only by men as qualified by Scripture," the men stressed in the statement.
Adoptive dad of 3 sons from different moms says culture must dignify birth mothers in a post-Roe era

A Colorado man who adopted three children from three different mothers believes society should do more to uplift birth mothers and emphasize what a blessing adoption can be in a post-Roe era.

Paul Batura, vice president of communication for the Christian parachurch organization Focus on the Family and author of Chosen for Greatness: How Adoption Changes the World, is the father of three adopted sons.

Batura and his wife, Julie, struggled with infertility for four years before the birth of their first adopted son in 2005. The couple adopted two other boys from different birth mothers, who were born in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Their eldest son is 17, and they have two younger sons, ages 10 and 12.

Batura said he was hesitant to look into adoption at first despite friends who knew of the couple's desire to start a family recommending the option. He never considered himself an adoptive parent and saw that role as a duty for someone else to fulfill.

"But, you know, God opened that door for us, and my wife was enthusiastic about it. And I've learned long ago to lean on her instincts," Batura said in an interview with The Christian Post.

A memory that Batura will never forget is the night of the entrust ceremony for the first adoption, where their eldest son's birth mother transferred parental rights to them.

As she placed the boy in his adoptive parents' arms, tears fell from her eyes and onto the child's head.

"And that really set the tone for me and for my wife going forward, that this was a gift," Batura explained. "She was literally gifting him to us. It really, I think, was an amazing gift and something that we've been grateful for now 17 plus years."

Following the advice of Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson, who advised the father against letting the boys find out themselves they were adopted, Batura and his wife ensured the boys knew about the adoption as they grew up.

"We probably overdid it in the sense that when we talked about adoption, we talked about it so openly and so regularly that I think maybe all of our kids thought every kid was adopted," Batura joked.

The father said that he and his wife were careful to discuss the adoption with their boys in an age-appropriate way, speaking "lovingly" to them about their birth mothers and the night they were born.

"'And of all the children in all the world, God chose you for us,'" Batura remembered telling his kids.

"Even though we've tried to normalize it, we've had questions from our kids, and they come out here and there," he said. "It sort of just pops up. So we've tried to answer the questions as straightforwardly and honoring as we can."

All three birth mothers were unmarried when they chose adoption for their children.

With the first birth mother, Batura and his wife communicated with her by email and through phone calls during the adoption process. For their first and third son, the couple maintains communication with their birth mothers.

Unlike the other two mothers, their middle son's birth mom chose not to pursue an open adoption.

The circumstances surrounding the birth of his second son were unique, according to Batura, as the boy's mother did not learn she was pregnant until the night she gave birth.

The mother chose Bethany Christian Services while at the hospital, the same agency that the Baturas had been working with, because of the word "Christian" in the title. She felt she would have trouble raising her son due to a lack of support and wanted to ensure he was raised in a Christian household.

Batura and his wife were walking another woman through her pregnancy at the time, who eventually decided not to pursue adoption after having the child. While the parents used Bethany Christian Services for this adoption, their other two sons were adopted through Adoption Choices of Colorado.

"So, of course, we're kind of downtrodden and prayed, and literally the next day, we get this call that this young woman had a baby and was looking to make an adoption plan," he said. "Would we be interested? So that's how that all came together."

For the other two birth mothers, Batura remembers it was important to them that their sons had a father.

Their eldest son's mother was choosing between two families, and she sent the Baturas a questionnaire with nearly 100 questions, asking about their values and typical weekend as a family.

"She said, 'In the end, I chose you because I could see that you wanted so much to be a father and were eager to be a dad,'" Batura remembered. "'That's what I want my son to have because I know if he stayed with me, he wouldn't have that.'"

The birth mother of the couple's third adoptive son lives in Omaha, Nebraska, and the family maintains communication with her through frequent phone calls, text messages and picture exchanges.

Since the Baturas are based in Colorado Springs, the adoptive couple and their children have not been in the same room as their second son's birth mom in 10 years.

Batura said his eldest son's birth mother lives in the Golden Colorado area, not far from where they live, and the family sees her at least twice a year. This past summer, Batura said they attended a wedding in Denver where all the guests were friends or relatives of the birth mom.

At the wedding, the birth mother of Batura's eldest son introduced the adoptive family to those in attendance, including her friends who had never met her son.

"She introduces us by saying, 'This is my son, and these are his parents,'" Batura recalled. "And I just thought that was really sweet. That's affirming to us as adoptive parents and affirming to her as a birth mother."

The positive experience the Baturas have had with their eldest son's birth mother is the "root" of their commitment to uplifting women like her, especially in the pro-life sphere, where many want to see women carry their babies to term and not pursue an abortion.

The adoptive father believes that society should do more to make adoption more appealing and ensure that women who choose adoption don't feel like "second-class citizens" for their decision.

"They shouldn't feel discarded; they should feel honored because they're serving a remarkable role," he said.

Batura says a way culture can do more to uplift birth moms is by portraying adoption more in books or movies, which he feels tend to focus on the adoptive family more than the birth mother.

While he doesn't believe that telling stories through the adoptive parents' perspective is "ill-intentioned," Batura thinks it can cause people to see the issue solely through the lens of the couple and not the birth mother.

Another problem Batura noticed is the tendency to avoid discussing the sacrificial component of adoption. He said relinquishing a child to someone else's care is one of the most "challenging" things someone can do.

"We tend to shy away from those tough things," he said. "And there's probably some judgment in that."

The father of three said he has seen people, particularly on social media, assume women who choose adoption are "unqualified" and made too many mistakes to be parents.

"Well, you know what? So have us all, and we've all made mistakes. We've all fallen short," he said. "And I just think we need to give an ordinate amount of grace."

"Most of it, I think, is not intentional. I think most of it is just one-sided because it's the pop culture's portrayal of adoption."

As the Adoption Network reports, about 135,000 children are adopted in the United States annually, with experts estimating that between 1 million and 2 million couples are waiting to adopt.

A 2017 study published in Women's Health Issues found that one week after a certain group of women were denied an abortion, 14% of 231 reported plans to pursue adoption or to consider the option. The study also found that most women who received abortions knew about adoption but opted to terminate the pregnancy.

"Among women motivated to avoid parenthood, as evidenced by abortion seeking, adoption is considered or chosen infrequently," the study's conclusion reads. "Political promotion of adoption as an alternative to abortion is likely not grounded in the reality of women's decision making."

The analysis used data from the Turnaway Study, which assessed the effects having an abortion and being denied one can have on women's mental health. The study was widely criticized by pro-life researchers for its low participation rate and overreaching conclusions.

Batura thinks some women may choose abortion over adoption because many feel like they're in a "crisis" situation, or the decision may be the result of pressure from their boyfriends. He attributed the problem to the fact that today's world is an "instantaneous society," where everything can be resolved quickly.

"It's an overwhelming idea to carry a child to term and then relinquish it," he said. "I don't think many [women] have been given a vision of how great it can be and how loving it can be and then how involved they can continue to be in their child's life."
12,000 fentanyl pills disguised as candy seized at LAX; Authorities issue Halloween warning

Parents are advised to be extra vigilant this year in checking what their children bring home on Halloween after agents in Los Angeles seized around 12,000 fentanyl pills packaged in several bags of candy, the latest incident of the deadly drug being disguised as something innocuous.

According to a statement from Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, a suspect carrying packages of fentanyl pills attempted to go through a TSA screening at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday, trying sneak past screening and board a plane.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Narcotics Bureau Detectives and Drug Enforcement Agency agents assigned to the airport discovered the pills inside boxes of Sweetarts, Skittles and Whoppers.

The person carrying the drugs fled before he or she could be detained, but the suspect's identity is known. An investigation into the matter is ongoing.

"With Halloween approaching, parents need to make sure they are checking their kids candy and not allowing them to eat anything until it has been inspected by them," officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department warned in the statement.

"If you find anything in candy boxes that you believe might be narcotics, do not touch it and immediately notify your local law enforcement agency."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 71,000 overdose deaths from synthetic fentanyl in 2021, up from 57,000 deaths in 2020.

Last month, New York authorities arrested a New Jersey woman after discovering she had 15,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills inside a lego box. The DEA reported the incident was the largest fentanyl seizure in New York City history.

The 48-year-old suspect, Latesha Bush, was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Sept. 30. A criminal complaint filed by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor (SNP) against Bush charged her with one count of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

New York authorities investigating suspected narcotics trafficking stopped Bush's vehicle and found the two black tote bags and a Lego package containing fentanyl pills in the car. The pills were imprinted with "M" and "30" to resemble Oxycodone pills.

"Disguising fentanyl as candy  and concealing it in children's toys  will never hide the fact that fentanyl is a deadly poison that harms our communities, our families, and our city," Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said in a statement.

Investigators claim Bush traveled from New Jersey to Manhattan in a rental car, and the pills she was carrying originated from Mexico. Investigators said disguising fentanyl as candy or other prescription drugs is a tactic used by the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel, two Mexican drug cartels.

Earlier this month, the DEA announced the results of its One Pill Can Kill initiative, which led to the seizure of more than 10.2 million fentanyl pills and approximately 980 pounds of fentanyl powder from May 23 through Sept. 8. Out of the 390 cases investigated, 51 were linked to overdose poisonings, and 35 were connected to one or both of the Mexican cartels.

In a national survey of 1,000 likely U.S. voters conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC for Rasmussen Reports, 91% of participants said they believe the country's fentanyl issue is serious, with 73% describing it as a "very serious problem."

The survey was conducted from Sept. 26 to Sept. 27 by phone, with a margin sampling of error of is +/- 3 percentage points and a 95% confidence level.
Bible translation group Wycliffe Associates sending emergency aid to partners in Ukraine

An international organization dedicated to advancing work on translating the Bible has announced its efforts to provide emergency aid to its partners in Ukraine.

Wycliffe Associates announced earlier this week that its providing supplies to its ministry partners and translators based in Ukraine who have been impacted by the Russian invasion via their Emergency 911 Fund.

Stephen Martin, vice president of Field Development at Wycliffe Associates, told The Christian Post that they were motivated to act on behalf of their partners by our love, compassion, unity and oneness in Christ.

When the Ukraine invasion occurred, our staff from that region of the world were meeting in another country. As the bombs fell, cell phones began buzzing, chiming and ringing. We immediately went before the Lord in prayer, Martin explained.

There was no additional measure of prayer needed. We knew exactly what God would have us do in ministry to our brothers, sisters, staff and Bible translators in Ukraine.

The invasion, which began on Feb. 24 after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that certain parts of Eastern Ukraine should be independent, has disrupted the work of Wycliffe Associates and their partners in the country.

Martin described the conflict as an immediate disruption, with many family members being separated from each other, while some staff members had their homes destroyed.

The state of crisis, the mental jarring, the shortage of food, of water, the inability to move around without caution and fear, the blockades to escape, said Martin, all of these things worked against the forward movement of Bible translation projects, but none of these things have stopped the translation work.

Martin also told CP that God has greatly blessed Wycliffe Associates with generous donors who respond rapidly when a need, a crisis, is known.

This has been the case with Ukraine, and we were and are able to provide through in-country contacts, he said.

While supplies are limited, there are supplies in country and the best, most efficient, and reportable way is by providing funds to key leaders who are able to see that specific needs are met and the greatest number of people are impacted by the love of Christ through the ministry of Wycliffe Associates.

Additionally, Martin believed that there was a spirit of revival in Ukraine despite the wartime chaos, and that many are coming to Christ.

In chaos, Christ has been lifted, the Church has been the Church, and God has, and is, being glorified. While the Bible translation work in Ukraine stumbled, it didnt fall, said Martin.

May all who come behind us find us faithful.

Wycliffe Associates announcement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has taken steps to seek an accelerated membership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Zelenskyy stated in an online video that he felt the NATO application was a decisive step to protect the entire community of Ukrainians against further Russian aggression.
Chest reconstruction surgeries on trans-identified youth increase nearly 400% in 3 years: report

A new report suggests that chest reconstruction surgeries performed on adolescents with gender dysphoria increased nearly 400% from 2016 to 2019 as concerns about the ethics and consequences of medical interventions for trans-identified youth persist.

The Journal of the American Medical Association released the report Monday examining the frequency of gender transition surgeries involving the human chest among adolescents in the United States.

The report, authored by Rishub Karan Das, Dr. Galen Perdikis and Dr. Salam Al Kassis of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, analyzed data from the Nationwide Ambulatory Surgery Sample on youth with gender dysphoria who underwent "top" surgeries between 2016 and 2019.

The research analyzed the incidence of both masculizing and feminizing chest reconstruction surgery. Masculinizing chest surgeries involve the removal of the breasts, while feminizing chest surgeries involve the augmentation of breast tissue designed to make the organs more visible in biological males who identify as females.

The report found that the number of chest reconstruction surgeries performed on minors increased from about 100 in 2016 to 489 in 2019, a 389% increase in three years.

The number of chest reconstruction surgeries has steadily increased over the years, surpassing 200 in 2017 and eclipsing 300 in 2018.

The study analyzed a weighted estimate of 1,130 operations performed. According to the research, masculinizing chest surgeries accounted for the overwhelming majority of chest reconstruction surgeries in the three-year period. Feminizing chest surgeries comprised just 1.4% of the total.

While the majority of children who had the surgeries were 17 years old, about 5.5% were under 14. The median age for recipients of the surgeries was 16 years old.

The research did not provide statistics about "bottom" surgeries among minors, which involve the removal of the sex organs that correspond with the patient's biological sex and/or creating artificial sex organs that match their stated gender identity.

Many children's hospitals, including the one at Vanderbilt University, have come under fire for performing life-altering procedures on children.

Vanderbilt announced that it will halt those surgeries following backlash to reporting indicating that the hospital offered them.

While the authors contend that "gender-affirming surgery may improve the functioning and mental health" of teens with gender dysphoria, other medical organizations remain skeptical about the benefits of gender transition procedures.

The American College of Pediatricians, which describes itself as a "national organization of pediatricians and other healthcare professionals dedicated to the health and well-being of children," warns about the long-term and short-term impacts of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, which are commonly prescribed to youth with gender dysphoria.

The organization identified the side effects of puberty blockers as "osteoporosis, mood disorders, seizures, cognitive impairment and when combined with cross-sex hormones, sterility." Additionally, the medical organization states that cross-sex hormones come with "an increased risk of heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, blood clots and cancers across their lifespan."

Concerns about the negative consequences of surgical interventions for trans-identified children have prompted several states to outlaw the performance of such procedures on minors.

Alabama, Arizona and Arkansas have passed laws to that effect while the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have classified gender transition surgeries on minors as a form of child abuse.

Critics contend that the gender-transition procedures offer a permanent solution to what might be a temporary problem for many adolescents suffering from gender dysphoria.

Detransitioners, those who formerly struggled with gender dysphoria and have since come to regret the gender transitions they underwent, have become increasingly outspoken about sharing their stories.

Last week, Chloe Cole, an 18-year-old who underwent a double mastectomy at 15, discussed the regret of having her breasts removed when calling into a Conejos Valley Unified School District board meeting in Ventura County, California.

"Very quickly, I was given what I wanted, but it was far from what I needed. Two years later, I was still suffering from major complications," she explained.

Cole suggested that as a minor, she lacked the maturity to understand the ramifications of her life-altering decisions.

"I will not be able to breastfeed any children I have in the future, and my sexuality has permanently been affected because I was allowed to make adult decisions starting at 13 and then again at 15," she said.

Cole characterized her experience as an example of "what happens when we treat children like adults and expect them to have the mental faculties for proper long-term decision-making."
Colorado wedding artists muzzled: 303 Creative v. Elenis

The October term of the U.S. Supreme Court has begun. The previous term yielded some blockbuster decisions, and the new term seems likely to produce more of the same. One of these is the case 303 Creative v. Elenis.

Lorie Smith, doing business in the Denver, Colorado area as 303 Creative, LLC, is seeking to be able to expand her commercial web-design business into the wedding website market. However, she is being prevented from doing so by a Colorado public accommodations law. Colorado and other states have laws that are intended to prevent discrimination based on, among other things, sexual orientation by businesses that are open to the general public. Smiths proposed wedding websites are personalized and would celebrate and promote the couples wedding and unique love story by combining custom text, graphics, and other media.

Smith holds a traditional Christian view of marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Therefore, she states that she would not be able, in good conscience, to produce website products that run contrary to her biblical faith commitments and beliefs. However, under Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), if she refuses to provide websites for same-sex unions, she risks being in violation by her refusal.

Moreover, if she simply seeks to announce on her business site that she is unable to use her artistry to further messages which are contrary to her faith, she is also in violation. Violations trigger fines, cease and desist orders, required reporting, and other conditions that some have described as re-education, all of which are burdensome and costly to a business.

Smith sensibly chose not to risk breaking the same law that she knew had been used against another Colorado-based Christian business (Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colo C.R. Commission) in a similar situation. Instead, she sought a preliminary court injunction against CADAs sanctions being enforced against her. Six years later, her lawsuit has finally made it through the lower federal courts to the Supreme Court.

During this time, she could not safely expand her artistry into the wedding website market. The Supreme Court, in agreeing to hear her appeal, limited its inquiry to whether CADA as applied to her web design business was an unconstitutional restraint on speech.

What will happen next?

First, the court must decide whether the creation of a wedding website is an exercise of speech. At first blush, it may seem strange to regard website creation as speech. However, the courts long ago recognized that the meaning of speech does not end at the spoken or written word (Texas v. Johson). For instance, the Supreme Court has held that wearing black arm bands to school in order to protest the Vietnam War, as well as picketing in labor disputes, are both examples of the exercise of speech.

In the case of 303 Creative, graphics, images, and of course words, were put together to produce a wedding website. That expressive product certainly appears to constitute speech under previous case law. In fact, the lower court which last reviewed this case, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, has already conceded that Smiths wedding website creations are pure speech. That question seems to have already been resolved in the affirmative.

Next, the court would decide if the requirements of CADA infringe upon Smiths freedom of speech. The facts tell the story. In order to avoid violating CADA, Lorie Smith would have to be willing to artistically design and create wedding websites that celebrated marriages, such as same-sex unions, to which she has deeply held religious objections. Put another way, to break into the wedding market, she would have to create wedding websites containing content that the state forces upon her but which she rejects as a matter of personal conviction.

What Colorado and CADA are requiring of Smith runs counter to a nearly 80-year-old doctrine called the compelled or coerced speech doctrine. This doctrine, derived from the First Amendment speech clause, maintains that besides being free to speak, citizens also have a right to be free from being compelled to speak a message mandated by the government or another person.

The oldest and best-known case embodying this idea is W. Va. State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943). There, the court ruled that public school children who were Jehovahs Witnesses could not be required to salute the flag and say the pledge of allegiance, which was against their religions teaching. In that case, the court based its decision in support of the children upon their not being obliged by law to express a message contrary to their own beliefs or convictions. This is precisely what CADA is requiring of Lorie Smith. That should be the end of it.

Smith and her lawyers will have to counter the claim that if she were to create a website for a same-sex union she would not be supporting that view herself, but instead merely conveying the view of marriage endorsed by the couple. However, expressive wedding artistry involves the artist personally embracing and celebrating the subject of her artistry. As her lawyers argue in their brief, Smith is not a passive conduit for someone elses message. She is an intimately involved participant in the finished product. Worse, the requirements of CADA force her to spend some of her limited time and imagination 1) proclaiming and furthering unions with which she disagrees, and 2) taking time away from the message of biblical marriages which she set out to further through her work.

Smith has a strong case against Colorado for another reason. CADA is a content-based law. Content-based laws are those which target speech because of the content of the speech; that is, because of the position taken by the speaker. Here the content that Lorie Smith seeks to further  a biblical view of marriage  is unwelcome and considered biased and discriminatory.

The content of her speech conveyed by her wedding websites is unfavored by Colorado law. Since the court has held that content-based laws like this are presumptively unconstitutional, it should strike down the CADA as applied to 303 Creative. Nonetheless, Colorado may argue that if it can prove that it still had a compelling reason for CADA, it can stand.

The government is rarely able to meet this high standard. Speech is a fundamental, constitutionally protected right. For Colorado to directly or indirectly restrict it is an extremely serious matter. Colorado will maintain that it is seeking to eliminate various types of discrimination that prevent Colorado citizens from market access to goods and services.

Smiths first answer to that claim is that, in fact, she willingly serves gays and lesbians in providing her general website services. It is only when clients insist upon a message which she cannot in good conscience provide that she refuses service. For example, if a gay horse trainer asked her to create a website for his stables, she would have no problem providing a site that promoted his equestrian business.

Secondly, it is clear that other providers would be willing to offer wedding website services to gays and lesbians because these vendors do not have the religious scruples possessed by Smith. To argue that potential clients wanting a wedding website would be unable to find a firm to craft one in the greater Denver area is to practice willful ignorance. Here, note that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, recognizing that the claim of exclusion from market access did not hold water, concocted a finding that Ms. Smiths services were so unique that they constituted a kind of monopoly of quality and skill which could not be duplicated by any other website provider. This is judicial gymnastics at its worst.

Finally, Smith can successfully argue that Colorado has defined public accommodations too broadly while other states have limited its definition to essentials, like food, shelter, and medical care.

The centerpiece of libertyfreedom of speechcannot yield to the new use and abuse of public accommodations laws like the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.
The Pearl of the Gulf: the lustrous symbol of a time-honoured culture

Bahrain has been synonymous with the trading of pearls for centuries. So when the islands Emir commissioned a trio of bespoke watches from Patek Philippe in 1958, it was inevitable that they should be adorned with these shimmering jewels of the sea

Pearls have been part of Bahraini culture since the age of myth. The ancient Epic of Gilgamesh tells how the hero-king journeys to the land of Dilmun  the island of Bahrain  in search of a magic plant or hidden secret. He ventures out to sea and ties his feet with heavy stones. The weight of the stones pulls him down to depths where the seawater is sweet. Gilgamesh seizes the magic plant where it grows, cuts the stones from his feet, and lets the sea cast him upon its shore. This episode reads almost like a factual description of pearl-diving, as practised in Bahrain for centuries. Pearls grow and ripen, after all, like berries in a marine orchard. And even the detail about the sweet water rings true: fresh springs bubble up from the seabed off the Bahraini coast; they are part of what gives the pearls their special lustre. So in 1958, when Emir Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa I privately commissioned a watch from Patek Philippe, it was always going to feature the incomparable pearls of Bahrain.

A pearling vessel in the Persian Gulf in the late 1930s. Photo:  National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

The watch commissioned by the Emir is believed to be a bespoke variant of the Calatrava reference 2573, launched in 1956. The pearls are here used as hour markers  and they make a striking adornment to the dial. Eight Bahraini seed pearls are grouped between the four cardinal points. Arranged in this way, they look like otherworldly eyes. (Fish eyes, as it happens, was the Sumerian term for pearls.) They gaze serenely back at the wearer: it is as if the watch were watching you. To show the pearls to the best advantage, they have been placed atop the dial like tiny billiard balls on a golden table. The daring and the sheer craftmanship of this watch become apparent when you look at it sideways on. From any raking angle you can see how the hands are raised on an elongated central pinion, so that they are able to sweep over the top of the pearls. The long minute indicator is angled near its point, like a stylised arm elegantly bent at the wrist. It could be the outstretched hand of a pearl diver, in the act of harvesting sea gems.

Patek Philippe, Calatrava, ref. 2573 Pearl of the Gulf. A very rare and impressive gold wristwatch with pearl hour markers. Case number: 425302, movement number: 748,659. Diameter: 33 mm. Sold for $214,200 on 26 October 2022, Online

The architecture of the case was adapted and enhanced to make all this visible. The bezel is steeper and wider than on other 2573s. It forms a high circular wall that contains the dial along with the pearls. The domed crystal increases the overall height of the case still further. Together, these design changes lend a pleasing heft and presence to the case. It becomes a miniature vitrine in which the pearls are on display  like the jewels that they are. And like the pearls that Gilgamesh sought in Bahraini waters, this configuration was for many years a hidden secret, an unsolved mystery in the world of horology. It was long known that in the vaults of Stern Freres, owners of Patek Philippe, there was a picture showing a watch with these pearl markers. But no one had any clue as to who had commissioned it, where it might be, or whether it was a one-off.

The case and movement numbers indicate that this watch, manufactured in 1958, was the first of the Emirs three special commissions





That puzzle was partly solved in 2015, when a watch matching the archive image was offered for sale at Christies in Geneva. The Bahraini connection emerged at that time  but the question remained: was it the only one? Still no one was certain. Then, in 2018, a second watch came to market. It too was in rose gold, but with a different dial. So there were two. But two alone? So it seemed  until now.

Based on the Calatrava ref. 2573 that was launched in 1956 (and would continue be manufactured until about 1971), the bespoke case is 18ct yellow gold, the bracelet made by Gay Freres

The present watch is the third Pearl of Bahrain to emerge, and it may possibly be the last. The serial number tells us that it was the first to be created  and it is the only one made from yellow gold. That sunny colour, which is also the colour of the desert, makes a stunning match for the lustrous seed pearls. One could easily argue that this watch is the most perfect and most desirable of the three, the central panel of a horological triptych containing 24 pearls in all  one for each hour of the day.

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The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
181 countries now have diplomatic ties with China

Xinhua) 08:44, October 21, 2022

The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosts a press conference on the topic "Under the Guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, Forge Ahead and Strive to Break New Ground for Major-Country Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics" in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 20, 2022. Shen Beili, vice minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, and Ma Zhaoxu, vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended the press conference. (Xinhua/Chen Jianli)

BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China, up from 172 ten years ago, Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said here on Thursday, as he hailed the country's diplomatic services over the past decade.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the ongoing 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Ma said the number of partnerships China has so far established with countries and regional organizations across the world also increased from 41 a decade ago to 113.

Ma said the country had advanced the building of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era, proposed the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation for China-U.S. relations, and advocated the China-EU partnership for peace, growth, reform and civilization.

It has also consolidated strategic support from neighboring countries, and embraced unity and closer cooperation with other developing countries.

China's national sovereignty, security and development interests have been vigorously protected in the process, Ma said, adding that China has now established diplomatic relations with nine countries that formerly had so-called "diplomatic ties" with the country's Taiwan region.

Over the past ten years, China's diplomatic efforts have consolidated international support for the one-China policy, stemmed external forces' intervention in Hong Kong's affairs, foiled anti-China forces' attacks and defamation against China, and safeguarded the country's national interests and dignity, he said.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Du Mingming)
The United States government said on Thursday that Iranian troops were "directly engaged on the ground" in Crimea and were supporting Russia's drone weapons that were attacking Ukraine's power stations and other key infrastructure.

The White House called the situation troubling evidence of Iran's deepening involvement in helping Russia. In a statement, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that Iran sent a "relatively small number" of troops to Crimea, which is a part of Ukraine unilaterally annexed by Russia.

Iran's Support of Russia

The troops allegedly work to assist Russian soldiers in launching Iranian-made drones against Ukraine's infrastructure. Several members of a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were sent to support Moscow's forces in using the drones, the British government said.

The findings of the US intelligence also come as President Joe Biden's administration continues to mount additional pressure on Tehran to pull back from assisting Russia in its war on Ukraine with the use of Iranian-made drones, as per the Associated Press.

In recent days, Russia has increasingly turned to Iranian-supplied drones to attack Ukraine as well as using Kalibr and Iskander cruise missiles. Moscow used these weapons to carry out a barrage of attacks on non-military structures.

This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian forces have destroyed roughly 30% of Ukraine's power stations since October 10. On the other hand, Kirby said that the information the US has is that the Iranians placed trainers and tech support in Crimea but let the Russians do the piloting of the drones.

According to CBS News, Kirby added that the Biden administration was now looking at imposing new sanctions on Tehran. He said that the White House would look for ways to make it more difficult for Iran to sell such devastating weapons to Russia that would aid the latter's war on Ukraine.

Read Also: UK PM Liz Truss Resigns Following Controversial Economic Policies; What Will Happen Next?

Technical Support for the Drones

The US government first revealed that Russia was purchasing Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles this summer. During a closed-door UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, the United States, the UK, and France accused Iran of selling drones to Russia in violation of a UN Security Council ban against such transfer.

American authorities believe that Iran may have deployed military personnel to assist Russia partly due to Moscow's lack of familiarity with the Iranian-made drones. Findings of declassified US intelligence showed that Russia faced technical problems with the weapons soon after taking delivery of the drones in August.

Kirby said that the systems themselves were suffering failures and were not performing to the standards that apparently the customers have expected. He added that this prompted Iran to move in some trainers and technical support to assist Moscow in using the drones with better lethality.

On Tuesday, State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the deepening relationship between Russia and Tehran should be considered a "profound threat." While it was not immediately clear how many Iranian personnel were sent to Crimea, one source briefed on US intelligence said that there were "dozens" in the region, CNN reported.

Related Article: US Seeks To Jointly Produce American Weapons with Taiwan Amid Rising Tensions with China

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On Thursday, the Supreme Court denied a motion to halt the Biden administration's student loan debt relief initiative. A Wisconsin taxpayers' group had on Wednesday filed an emergency application to stop the program, but Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected it.

Such applications from cases in the 7th Circuit US Court of Appeals, which covers Wisconsin, are handled by Barrett. The Supreme Court's docket does not state that she referred the application to the entire court before denying it, even though she noted her denial there.

Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness Plan

Millions of borrowers will have their student debt of up to $20,000 forgiven thanks to the loan relief program, which is scheduled to start this weekend. Last weekend, more than 8 million people submitted applications for the program. A beta test was started by the Department of Education, as per CNBC.

The Brown County Taxpayers Association's appeal is one of many pending in federal courts to stop the initiative, which detractors claim goes beyond the Department of Education's authority. In August, President Joe Biden made the program announcement.

For those earning up to $125,000 annually or who are a part of a household with total annual earnings of no more than $250,000, Biden's proposal would forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt for Pell Grant winners and $10,000 for other borrowers.

The HEROES Act, which was passed following the September 11 attacks and led to an American-led military fight against terrorism, was what allowed Biden to implement the debt relief program. According to the law, student loan debt can be forgiven with military operations or other serious national emergencies.

The government said that the statute permits loan forgiveness for Americans who are struggling financially as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to USA Today.

The White House reports that 12 million people have applied so far, and 8 million more have received notifications that their applications would be automatically canceled because the Education Department already has their information on file. Before the start of the federal student loan repayment program in January, the administration advised people to submit the form by November 15 to have it processed.

Insistence on the legality of their debt elimination proposal has come from the Biden administration. In an August 25-page memo, the Justice Department defended the policy by a 2003 legislation that gave the secretary of education the power to lessen the hardship that federal student loan holders may experience due to national emergencies.

As Americans dealt with the financial effects of the national health catastrophe, the Trump administration utilized the same statute, often known as the Heroes Act, to halt payments on federal student loans at the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Brian Netter, an attorney for the Justice Department, recently reminded the court of this and pointed out that no attempts had been made to contest the validity of the payment moratorium, The Washington Post via MSN reported.

Read Also: Ukraine War: Iran's Aid of Russia Could Be a Threat to Ukraine ... and the USA

Student Loan Forgiveness Application

The big questions doctrine, a legal theory, was questioned by Judge Autrey at the hearing regarding whether the amount of loan cancellation, at a cost of about $300 billion, required explicit authorization from Congress due to its economic and political significance.

This year, the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to tackle climate change was restricted by the Supreme Court using that concept. Higher education professionals had anticipated that the idea would be applied to discredit Biden's debt reduction plan.

The debt relief program, according to Netter, was created to address the scope of the national disaster and prevent a predicted wave of delinquencies when the suspension of federal student loan payments ends. The hiatus was prolonged until December 31.

Many commercial FFEL debtors consolidated their debt into Direct Loans after Biden presented his cancellation proposal in August to be eligible for relief. According to the states, the strategy encouraged borrowers to consolidate, depriving their associated corporations of interest income.

However, the Biden administration reduced eligibility for the debt relief program hours before the case was filed, stating that commercial FFEL debtors may no longer consolidate to qualify for the one-time relief. Attorneys for the Justice Department stated that the ruling refuted the allegations of the states.

The judge concurred. In his decision on Thursday, he stated that the arguments of Arkansas and Nebraska are defeated by the absence of the continued incentive to combine.

He also questioned whether Missouri had the jurisdiction to file a lawsuit on behalf of the quasi-state organization that owns and manages FFEL debt, the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority. Even though the governor appoints five of the company's board members, Autrey contends that the company's earnings and obligations are unrelated to the government.

A case brought by the right-leaning Job Creators Network Foundation on behalf of a commercial FFEL borrower who is not qualified for relief and a borrower who is eligible but not eligible for the entire $20,000 in debt reduction is one of the other current cases, as per Washington Examiner.

Related Article: IRS Tax Brackets 2023: Here's Why Your Take-Home Pay Next Year Could Be Bigger

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The newly elected Swedish Premier Ulf Kristersson told Ankara that the NATO deal and all its conditions and obligation for accession us a priority. He insisted that any earlier misunderstandings about the agreement be put aside in order to complete the joining process.

Turkiye's Conditions Will Be Meet

The Swedish leader stated that one of his goals for joining NATO is the pact inked with Finland and Turkiye, reported Anadolu.

The Baltic state has no choice but to comply; otherwise, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan can block Stockholm's bid to become a member of the military bloc.

Premier Kristofferson vowed to comply with the memorandum at a joint press brief with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. He observed that new laws are currently being implemented and that they would significantly influence the ability to fulfill the obligations under the arrangements when terrorism is a significant concern, noted Yenisafak.

The agreement is precisely what it is, he indicated. Like the previous administration, they are absolutely committed to that too. Nevertheless, under tension, Stockholm has a larger capability to demonstrate how it will deliver on the pledges.

This Swedish Premier Ulf Kristersson even said preparations were underway to take a trip to Ankara, and they had already sent that signal to Turkish friends. They discussed what schedule would be appropriate for that travel. As such, that's in the plans.

Stoltenberg even said they agreed on the significance of the joint declaration and the necessity to confront Turkiye's genuine security concerns in the NATO deal.

Read Also: Mark Zuckerberg Net Worth 2022: How Did Facebook Founder Lose $30 Billion in 1 Day?

Turkiye a 'Part of the World'

The Turkish president is aware of Sweden's steps to acknowledge the agreement's placing into effect, which is composed of several demands.

Stockholm, on its part, must comply by following several conditions that will make or break the deal to join the military bloc.

The first step is to work with Turkish officials on counter-terrorism and prevent extremist groups like the PKK from operating in Sweden. One of these aspects is the Joint Implementation Mechanism on issues such as extradition and terrorist financing. He stressed that they should stand as one in light of the worst security crisis in a generation.

Sweden and Finland have formally asked for entry to join NATO due to Russia's special operation on Ukraine. It was not smooth sailing for the two Baltic countries, as Turkiye posted an objection to their bids to become NATO members, denouncing the two nations for allowing and even assisting terrorist organizations, citing the Daily Sabah.

All three nations signed a multilateral memorandum of agreement at the NATO summit in June, which was held in Madrid.

The deal instructs Stockholm and Helsinki not to assist the YPG/PYD, the PKK terrorist group's Syrian offshoot. Another one is the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which orchestrated a failed coup in 2016. These Baltic states have also concurred with Turkiye over deporting or extraditing all requests for suspected terrorists. Only the Turkish parliament can confirm they are joining the military bloc.

Swedish Premier Ulf Kristersson has sent signals to Ankara that the NATO deal must have complied with all conditions.

Related Article: NATO Cannot Pressure Beijing To Drop Moscow as Furor Breaks Out Over Comments During Icelandic Conference

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Just as Europeans prepare for winter amid rising gas pricescalling upon their old ties to gas-rich African countriesa colonial-era island off the coast of Senegal erodes into the rising sea. Both these stories, discussed on this weeks Kicker with Nic Haque, a reporter for Al Jazeera, underscore the urgency of the climate crises that journalists cover across the globe. Some of that work, including Haques, will be celebrated October 25 in Burning Questions, a broadcast on PBSs World Channel showcasing the winners of the 2022 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards.

In this episode, Haque talks with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, on covering climate emergencies in West Africa and how climate change has touched his life, personally and professionally.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Emily Russell is a CJR fellow.
Ten days ago, with Liz Truss, Britains new prime minister, in the process of tanking the countrys economy, The Economist laid into her with a scathing editorial headlined The Iceberg Lady. Putting aside the ten days of official mourning that followed the death of the queen, Truss was in control for just seven days before her attempted budget blew up in her faceroughly the shelf-life, The Economist noted, of a lettuce. A week ago, a less austere publication, a tabloid called the Daily Star, decided to make the metaphor literal, setting up a video livestream of a real-life lettuce next to a photo of Truss, and asking which would last longer. Initially, the scene was spare save for a pair of googly eyes on the lettuce, but as days passed, it picked up some accoutrements: a blond wig, a glass of wine, andafter Suella Braverman, Trusss interior minister, attacked readers of The Guardian as the tofu-eating wokeratia plate of tofu.

When the Daily Star set up its livestream, Would the lettuce last longer? was already a live question, even though Truss had only been in office for six weeks. By the time the tofu appeared, her government was in full-blown crisis. On Wednesday, she attempted a public-facing reset, plotting a combative performance at a parliamentary question session and a media visit to a tech-manufacturing firm. She did the combative parliamentary bitI am a fighter and not a quitter, she roaredbut then canceled the media visit, initially without any explanation. It transpired that Braverman was in the middle of resigning or being fired, depending on which reporters account you believed. From there, things only got worse: officials declared that a vote on fracking would double as a vote of confidence in the government but then appeared to walk that back, leading to chaotic and angry scenes among government lawmakers; reporters covered the meltdown in real time, relying on tips from inside Parliamentincluding the claim that Craig Whittaker, a senior government whip, had stormed out shouting I am fucking furious and I dont give a fuck anymoreas well as photos captured by an opposition lawmaker. Tom Bradby, the anchor of ITVs nightly news show, later quoted Whittakers words in an extraordinary intro that quickly went viral. (He at least switched out the curse words for effing; in her coverage, Annette Dittert, a German TV correspondent, did not.) At 1:30am, political reporters received a text from a government spokesperson confirming that the fracking vote was a confidence vote after all, and that lawmakers who bucked it would pay a price.

ICYMI: Why we should think twice before using the term migrant

When morning finally dawned yesterday, the media was rife with speculation that Wednesdays chaos would be the death knell for Truss, though it was nonetheless a shock when this proved to be the case a few hours later. The resignation of Trusss predecessor, Boris Johnson, played out over a period of months, with reporters often parsing clues to suggest that his end might be nighthe appearance of a senior lawmaker who is effectively the governments designated Grim Reaper; the hasty convening of a government press conferenceonly for Johnson to survive another few weeks. This time, the same clues tumbled in quick succession, and Truss was out; addressing the media from a lectern in Downing Street, she made a half-hearted stab at defending her legacy before confirming her intention to stand down next week, once a successor has been named. The media, predictably, had a field day. The BBC opened one of its news shows by rolling a montage of Truss footage to the Rihanna song Take a Bow. (You look so dumb right now / Standing outside my house.) Channel 4 closed out one of its news shows with its own Truss montage to Taylor Swifts Blank Space, which Truss has said is her favorite song. (So its gonna be forever / Or its gonna go down in flames.)

No one, of course, took as much of a victory lap as the Daily Star. When Truss resigned, her photo was flattened on the lettuce-cam livestream and God Save the King rang out, followed by disco lights and Celebration by Kool & the Gang. (When I checked back this morning, the feed was still live, with the lettuce asleep on camera behind an eye mask.) In print, the Star published a HISTORIC SOUVENIR EDITION bearing the banner front-page headline LETTUCE REJOICE and a picture of the lettuce with a crown and a glass of bubbly. A picture of the lettuce was also beamed onto an outside wall of the Houses of Parliament. By this point, the lettuce had won huge international infamy, including in US media. The Lettuce Outlasts Liz Truss, the New York Times declared in a headline that I did not have on my 2022 bingo card.

I wrote about Truss shortly after she took office last month, assessing what her pattern of both bashing and dodging the media during her leadership campaign might portend for her governments media relations, and where she stood on key media policy questions, not least the fate of the BBCs funding model. The policy stuff turned out not to matter since she never got around to it. She did do some media appearances as prime minister, and they probably contributed to her downfall, not least a disastrous round of local radio interviews in defense of her economic policies (if she expected an easier ride than from national journalists, she did not get one) and a brief press conference last week during which she flailed in response to questions about her future, including from outlets that have been favorable toward her in the past, then walked out. Last week, a former Truss aide claimed publicly that she had, in the past, invented family bereavementsOnly minor people, like aunts and cousins and thingsto get out of media commitments because she hated doing them so much. (She eventually ran out of excuses.) Contempt for journalists isnt the only reason that politicians try to dodge them.

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On the subject of outlets that have been favorable toward Truss in the past, The Guardians Jim Waterson noted yesterday that various right-wing newspapers backed her bid for power over the summer but backpedaled after she unleashed economic carnage. Nowhere has this been more true than at the Mail, a right-wing tabloid that ran pro-Truss stories throughout her leadership campaignas well as stories critical of her main leadership rival, Rishi Sunakand after she took office, with headlines like Cometh the hour, cometh the woman, and, after she started to outline her economic plans, AT LAST! A TRUE TORY BUDGET. By last weekend, the Mails front page was asking HOW MUCH MORE CAN SHE (AND THE REST OF US) TAKE?; this morning, it splashed a column by Sarah Vine, a right-wing commentator, describing Truss as a disastrous dalliance who served only to remind us what a real leader looks like.

Other right-wing papers, including at least one that backed Truss for the leadership, didnt even lead with Truss this morning, despite her extraordinary resignation. Almost unbelievablyand yet entirely believablythe main character was instead Boris Johnson, who reportedly fancies a comeback (which of course he does), briefing the press yesterday that he considers his return to be a matter of national interest (which of course he doesnt, or at least youd hope not). Johnson, not Truss, was pictured on the front pages of The Sun (BOJO: ILL BE BACK!) and the Express (HE COULDNT COULD HE). The Mail pictured him underneath its Truss lead, with Vines column blasting Truss also referring to the prospect of a Johnson comeback as an opportunity for the governing Conservative Party to restore some semblance of respect in the country. Johnson, lest we forget, fell from office under a crushing weight of scandal earlier this year, but the British presson the right, but also in more mainstream quartersnever buried him as a political character, speculating as Truss was being chosen that hed find a way to stay in office, then that he might one day come back. That day could now come remarkably fast.

After Johnson announced his resignation, I wrote that he had fallen prey, in part, to both his own incorrigible lack of integrityhoned during his past life as a journalistand the fickle cut and thrust of a news cycle that sees politics as a blood sport (and that Johnson, as a journalist, once stoked). I also warned that Johnson has nourished a media narrative that he is the master of the comeback, and that the British press would have to be careful not to help him launder that further or whitewash his tarnished record just because hes a colorful character who makes for better copy than his wooden successor. In truth, I did not think such a swift Truss collapse, or Johnson resurrection, likely; I was wrong, and, through one lens, the persistent media attention to his lingering comeback ambitions could be viewed as prescient coverage of a story that hadnt yet ended. I come back, though, to Johnsons skill at gaming the mediahis ability, again surely honed as a journalist, to not only ride narrative waves but to create them. Viewed this way, to present Johnsonwho was desperately unpopular when he left officeas a natural comeback kid, or winner, is to be complicit in the myth of his own inevitability. If Johnson is to return, he need not convince the wider electorate, just the comparatively tiny membership of his party and, first, his Conservative parliamentary colleagues. The Times of London reported this morning that those are starting to offer him supportnot, in the words of a source close to Johnson, because they want him but because they believe hes going to win.

I also wrote after Johnsons resignation that parallels that media figures have often drawn between him and Donald Trump have often been facile. If Johnsons bid to return gathers any more momentumand, before we get ahead of ourselves, thats no guarantee yet; he must meet a high hurdle of nominations among his colleagues, who kicked him out not six months agothose comparisons are likely to flow through sections of the press again. And yet the two remain very different characters, in general and in their hunt for a comeback, and they sit within different media ecosystems, particularly on the right. To overgeneralize somewhat, right-wing media types in the US often exhibit nauseating fealty to Trump; there are Johnson true believers in the UKs right-wing media scene, to be sure (and those whose interests may be more directly entangled with his), but again, it strikes me as a more fickle realm than its American counterpart, at least at the momentright-wing papers, in particular, can still turn on a dime when it seems expedient for them to do so, a calculation swayed by numerous factors, perceptions of momentum and success surely among them. Whether the end result is much different is a separate question.

The Daily Star lettuce somehow reflected this very tabloid sensibility: the paper clearly saw blood in the water and capitalized on it to devastating effect. But the Star is in a separate category from its right-wing tabloid rivals: it styles itself as nonpartisan, and has increasingly lampooned the bizarro world of British politics more than trying to shape it; likewise, the lettuce, intentionally or not, satirized the dog-eat-dog culture of tabloid coverage as much as it channeled it. Plucky Daily Star veg outlasts Lettuce Liz as she wilts in political heat, the front page read this morning. And you wont believe which cabbage might be coming to save us.

Below, more on British media and politics:



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: The Wire pledges transparency as it reviews its Meta coverage

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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.
A new analysis of pedestrian safety by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) reveals that pedestrian fatalities are sharply on the rise. In fact, the report reveals the astonishing news that an average of nearly twenty-two (22) pedestrians per day were struck and killed by automobiles in the U.S. in 2020 and that number is on the rise. This number doesnt include thousands of non-fatality accidents resulting in serious injury.

In New York City alone, in 2018, there were 277,971 auto accidents. Nearly 6% of those accidents involved a pedestrian and many of those injured or killed were on the job when the accident occurred. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data for 2020, most pedestrian traffic deaths occurred in urban settings (80%), on the open road (76%) versus intersections (24%), and during dark lighting conditions (76%). The GHSA report also predicts that 2022 will be a 40-year high for pedestrian deaths.

In an effort to address this growing public safety concern, state legislatures are scrambling to pass new laws which regulate and define who is at fault when a pedestrian is struck. These laws cover circumstances when a vehicle must stop or yield to a pedestrian crossing the street at an uncontrolled crosswalkone where there is no traffic control device governing and/or directing when it is safe to cross the street. For example, a growing number of states require motorists to stop and yield to pedestrians in an uncontrolled crosswalk; an obligation many motorists have had a hard time adjusting to. In Minnesota, the law now requires a vehicle to stop when a pedestrian is in any portion of the roadwaycontrolled or uncontrolled. Drivers in that state must now stop for crossing pedestrians at marked crosswalks and at all intersections without crosswalks or stop lights. Although Minnesota pedestrians must not enter a crosswalk if a vehicle is approaching and it is impossible for the driver to stop, there is no defined distance that a pedestrian must abide by before entering the crosswalk. Furthermore, when a vehicle is stopped at a Minnesota intersection to allow pedestrians to cross the roadway, it is illegal for drivers of other vehicles approaching from the rear to pass the stopped vehicle.

Interestingly, at common law, the rights of pedestrians and motorists at crossings were equal and neither had a superior right over the other. Bartlett v. Melzo, 88 N.W.2d 518 (Mich. 1958). Today, however, most states treat pedestrian rights and vehicle obligations at controlled and uncontrolled crosswalks differently. Controlled crosswalks are typically striped and delineated, as such a crosswalk could be marked or unmarked. The language and definitions differ from state to state. In general, vehicles must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians at plainly marked crosswalks and at intersections where stop signs or flashing red signals are in place. On the other hand, pedestrians must generally yield the right-of-way to vehicles when crossing outside of a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. The laws do vary from state to state, however.

In New Jersey, vehicles must stop for a pedestrian within a marked crosswalk but must only yield the right-of-way to pedestrians crossing within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. Nineteen states put the burden on vehicles to stop and yield if a pedestrian is located anywhere in the roadway. Other states, like Louisiana, require a vehicle to yield only if the pedestrian is on their half of the road, but not if they are on the other half; requiring the pedestrian to stop and wait as traffic passes. Nebraska requires yielding if the pedestrian is on the same half of the roadway or within one lane of the vehicle. Massachusetts is an example of a state that requires the vehicle to stop and yield if the pedestrian is on the same half of the roadway or within ten (10) feet of the motorist. Despite this, some statesincluding Hawaii, Georgia, Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington treat controlled and uncontrolled crosswalks the same.

In general, drivers of motor vehicles must exercise reasonable care to avoid striking a pedestrian. The laws of many states impose a higher duty of care when it comes to pedestrians who are children. At the same time, a pedestrian cannot blindly walk into the roadway without exercising reasonable care and keeping a proper lookout. A pedestrian who fails to do this is guilty of contributory negligence.

A legal culture sea transformation is underway and claims and subrogation professionals must be aware of this change. The University of Minnesota recently conducted research at high-risk intersections in St. Paul as part of a study to track pedestrian and driver behavior. Only 31% of drivers yielded to the pedestrians as required by Minnesota law. Minnesota refers to it as the Stop for Me campaigna public campaign to protect pedestrians and educate drivers that they must stop and let pedestrians cross, even when there isnt a red light. From 2013 to 2017, 835 pedestrians in St. Paul were struck by vehicles. Of those, 17 died and 747 were injured. Of those hurt, 87 were children 10 years of age and under, and 100 were ages 11 to 17. In Minnesota, pedestrians are allowed to cross the street wherever they choose, so long as they (1) act reasonably to ensure their own safety, (2) follow traffic laws and rules, and (3) are not otherwise prohibited from crossing in a specific location. Minn. Stat.  169 (Minnesota Statutes Traffic Regulations chapter). When crossing at a marked crosswalk where traffic control signals are present, pedestrians must obey the signals and may only cross the road within the marked crosswalk. Minn. Stat.  169.21, subd. 1, 3(c). If crossing at a marked crosswalk or at an intersection without a marked crosswalk where no traffic control signals are present, both motor vehicle drivers and bicyclists must allow pedestrians already crossing the road to cross the entire road first before driving further through the intersection. Minn. Stat.  169.21, subd. 2(a). Similarly, pedestrians must allow traffic in the roadway to pass before attempting to cross at locations without traffic signals, such as at crosswalks, intersections, and undesignated locations like the middle of the street where there is no crosswalk. Minn. Stat.  169.21, subd. 2(a), 3(a).

Complicating matters even more are some of the more complex traffic control signs and devices which assist pedestrians in crossing the street. Pedestrians in many states are considered to be lawfully crossing the road within an intersection or crosswalk with traffic control signals when doing so according to a defined set of rules. In Minnesota, these rules are as follows according to the Public Health Law Center:

Where there is only one set of lights applicable to all traffic, the following rules apply: Green Signal: Pedestrians facing any green signal (except when the only green signal is a turn arrow) may proceed across the road within any marked or unmarked crosswalk. Every driver of a vehicle must allow pedestrians to cross the road first  except, pedestrians must allow vehicles lawfully within the intersection at the time that the green signal indication is first shown to proceed before crossing. Steady Yellow Signal: Pedestrians facing a circular yellow signal are notified that there is not enough time to cross the road before a red signal is shown and are prohibited from starting to cross the road. Steady Red Signal: Pedestrians facing a steady red signal alone must not enter the road.

Whenever special pedestrian control signals with the words Walk or Dont Walk or symbols of a walking person or upraised hand are in place, the signals or symbols indicate as follows: Steady Walk signal or the symbol of a walking person: A pedestrian facing either of these signals may proceed across the road in the direction of the signal, possibly in conflict with turning vehicles. Every driver of a vehicle must allow pedestrians to cross before driving further  except that the pedestrian must let vehicles that are lawfully within the intersection at the time that the signal indication is first shown to pass first. Dont Walk signal or the symbol of an upraised hand (flashing or steady): A pedestrian is prohibited from starting to cross the road in the direction of either signal. BUT  Any pedestrian who has partially crossed on the Walk or walking person signal must proceed to a sidewalk or safety island while the signal is showing.



Distracted Walking Laws

Closely related to the laws regarding pedestrians and street crossing is the growing body of laws which regulate what a pedestrian can and cant do while crossing a street. These laws are referred to as Distracted Walking Laws, but more creative names such as Phones Down, Heads Up Act have been used. The use of headphones, smartphones, or other electronic devices while crossing the road has contributed to pedestrian/vehicle accidents, injuries, and deaths. A growing number of municipalities across the country have criminalized the ordinary act of walking by making it illegal to walk across the street while using smartphones or wearing earphones. This movement is sweeping the nation the same way the campaign against drunk and distracted driving proliferated. Cities, towns, and villages across America are passing ordinances making it illegal to cross the street while involved in a phone call, viewing a mobile electronic device, or with both ears obstructed by personal audio equipment. While public safety is certainly a concern across the country, some of these laws border on the absurdboth in terms of enforceability and failure to reflect the realities of everyday life. A 2017 Honolulu ordinance makes it illegal to cross the street and even look at a cellphone, an innocent act no more distracting than looking at ones watch and quite normal for those who rely on smartphones in place of a wristwatch.

Some people have suggested legislation making use of a device called a textalyzer, under development by a firm in Israel, that can scan a drivers phone for activity like texting, Facebooking, and Snapchatting in the moments leading up to a collision. One such bill in New York proposed that anyone who refused to hand over their phone would surrender their license, much like refusal to submit to a breath test is grounds for a license suspension.

Critics of the growing number of distracted walking laws claim that these laws do not target the real public safety threat. They argue that people slow down their walking when theyre looking at electronic devices, enabling them to avoid obstacles and not walk into trouble inadvertently. They claim that you cant legislate common sense. A report from the Office of Ontarios Chief Coroner revealed that a mere 7 out of 95 pedestrians killed in 2010 were distracted by a cell phone or handheld deviceroughly 7%. They argue that jaywalking is already against the law, so if someone crosses an active roadway illegally, notwithstanding the use of a handheld device, theres already a law for that. Besides, they say, many pedestrian laws allow the pedestrian to rely on the fact that a vehicle will not violate the law and strike them when they have the right-of-way. Whats more, in only 23% of collisions with pedestrians was the driver found to be driving properly. They argue that the most serious cause of pedestrian accidents is driver inattention or reckless driving.

White Cane Laws

Complicating the pedestrian mosaic further is the fact many states and municipalities have enacted laws and ordinances with the objective of protecting pedestrians who are blind or visually impaired. When a pedestrian is yielding a white cane, an entire new body of laws and duties enter the picture. Each state handles the situation differently, with some states requiring that the driver yield to a white cane, some requiring that the driver come to a complete stop, some requiring only caution be used by the driver, and still others providing for no extra rights and protections to the visually impaired. Obviously, as with distracted walking laws and ordinances, white cane laws are also part of the legal mosaic which is created when there is a pedestrian injury. A chart detailing the white cane laws for each state can be found HERE.

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990. 42 U.S.C.A.  12101 to 12213; P.L. 101-336, Table 2, Statutes at Large, U.S.C.A., P.L. 101-336. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. One might wonder what this massive federal law has to do with crosswalks, but it has begun to play a role because todays crosswalks are often constructed by municipalities with ramps and other features accommodating to Americans with disabilities. Under Project Civic Access (PCA), the U.S. Civil Rights Division works with local governments nationwide to help them achieve compliance with Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The ADA has many requirements for curb ramps at pedestrian crossings that are currently enforced by the Division under PCA. The guidelines promulgated cover pedestrian access to sidewalks and streets, including crosswalks, curb ramps, street furnishings, pedestrian signals, parking, and other parts of the public right-of-way. Another source of information about the federal accessibility requirements for public rights-of-way is the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Following ADA, the U.S. Access Board has developed specific accessibility guidelines, known as the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG), for the design of certain pedestrian facilities.

In order to help recognize true subrogation potential when a pedestrian injury or death is involved, MWL has created a chart representing an amalgamation of laws from all 50 states addressing the relationship between and the duties of motor vehicles and pedestrians crossing the street. That chart may be viewed HERE. It should be remembered that individual cities and villages may also have ordinances which affect the duties and liabilities of drivers and pedestrians. Claims adjusters and subrogation professionals should not automatically assume that a pedestrian is at fault merely because he or she was struck while crossing the road. Society is changing and the burden and duty to avoid a collision is rapidly shifting to the driver of the motor vehicle.
MIAMI (AP)  The United States said Tuesday it has offered critical emergency humanitarian assistance to the people of Cuba to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian, an unusual but not unprecedented move after years of bilateral tensions.

The assistance includes $2 million in provisions and supplies that will be delivered through independent non-governmental organizations that have experience and are already working on the island directly with the affected populations, said a senior administration official who asked to remain anonymous following government policies.

We are responding to a disaster by working with our international humanitarian assistance partners to deliver critical assistance directly to those most in need, she said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press before the official announcement. We stand with the Cuban people and will continue to seek ways to improve their political and economical well-being.

The emergency aid will be provided through trusted international partners, like the Red Cross, by way of the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID.

The announcement comes after Ian hit the western part of the island in late September, causing extensive damage to its power grid. The hurricane left large swathes of Cuba with blackouts, fueling discontent on the Caribbean island, especially in rural areas where the blackouts are the worst.

Cuba already faced a deep energy crisis and economic turmoil before Ian, especially after a fire in August devastated an oil deposit 60 miles (97 kilometers) from Havana that was a key source of energy.

The protests sparked by the blackouts are the biggest since mass demonstrations in 2021 triggered by similar problems. Detentions of protesters by Cuban authorities have repeatedly generated human rights complaints from international observers, including the U.S.

While the two countries have long had a tense relationship, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez expressed his gratitude for the offer from the Biden administration immediately after the announcement and confirmed that it will come through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Rodriguez said on his Twitter account that the aid will contribute to recovery efforts and support those affected by Hurricane Ian.

After the storm, U.S. officials spoke with the islands authorities to find out what their needs were and how they could help, the official said in the interview with AP. The assistance, however, will not go to the Cuban government, but rather to the population directly, she said. She said through the conversations the administration learned that the greatest needs are in shelter restoration and food.

On some occasions, the Cuban authorities have accused the United States of approving aid for NGOs that are a cover for Cuban dissidents in Florida, whom they allege have appropriated the money.

This is not the first time that the U.S. government has provided humanitarian assistance to Cuba in the wake of natural disasters. It did it in 2008, in the wake of Hurricane Gustav; and from 2004 to 2006, in the wake of Hurricanes Charley, Dennis and Wilma.

The current move represents a small step in thawing icy relations between the two nations.

For more than six decades, the United States has imposed various levels of embargo on Cuba. During the Obama administration, such restrictions were eased but came back into full force under the Trump administration. While President Joe Biden has made efforts to ease a few of the measures  like travel and remittances to bring families closer  hes left many Trump-era restrictions in place, which have significantly affected the Cuban economy. The administration also announced it would resume visa services after previously closing the embassy following a series of health incidents.

The full embargo can only be lifted with an authorization from the U.S. Congress, and the official said the aid will be consistent with the U.S. laws and regulations.

The official said the U.S will continued its demands for the release of political prisoners and respect for human rights on the island.

AP reporters Megan Janetsky and Andrea Rodriguez contributed from Havana.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  A federal judge has dismissed FedEx from a lawsuit filed by relatives of five of the eight people who were fatally shot last year at an Indianapolis warehouse by a former employee of the shipping giant.

U.S. District Judge James Sweeney on Monday granted a FedEx Corp. motion to dismiss it and three of its divisions from the wrongful death lawsuit. He found that the federal court does not have jurisdiction over the case, which seeks unspecified damages, because it falls under Indianas Workers Compensation Act.

Sweeney wrote in his order that because the Indiana Workers Compensation Board has exclusive jurisdiction over the Act, this Court may not grant any relief on Plaintiffs claims against FedEx.

His order does not dismiss from the complaint another defendant, Securitas Security Services, which provides security at the FedEx warehouse on Indianapolis southwest side.

The lawsuit was filed in April in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. The plaintiffs are relatives of shooting victims Amarjeet Johal, 66; Amarjit Sekhon, 48; Jasvinder Kaur, 50; John Weisert, 74; and Karli Smith, 19.

Matthew R. Alexander, 32, Samaria Blackwell, 19, and Jaswinder Singh, 68, were also killed in the attack.

The suit argues that gunman Brandon Scott Hole, 19, had exhibited emotional and mental instability on multiple instances before the April 15, 2021, shooting.

Hole, a former FedEx employee, fatally shot himself after he killed eight FedEx employees, including four members of Indianapolis Sikh community. Five other people were wounded in the attack.

Melvin L. Hewitt, one of the plaintiffs attorneys, said Tuesday in a statement that we were obviously extremely disappointed with the judges decision to dismiss FedEx and its parent and subsidiaries from the wrongful death lawsuit.

Indiana law and the law of a number of states oftentimes shield large employers from liability through Workers Compensation. However, in this case, Indiana not only shields the employer but also shields the parent of the employer and goes so far as to provide immunity to separate companies the employer owns, Hewitt added.

When asked Tuesday whether the plaintiffs would seek redress through Indianas Workers Compensation Board, Hewitt replied that well pursue any avenue thats available to us on behalf of the plaintiffs.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
In the wake of Hurricane Ian, Floridas chief financial officer has taken a hard line on insurance claims litigation, calling for an outright ban on assignments-of-benefits agreements.

At a press conference in Cape Coral, a city hit hard by the hurricane this month, and in a statement Wednesday, CFO Jimmy Patronis also urged Florida lawmakers to establish a statewide insurance fraud prosecutor and to disincentivize public adjusters after a storm

We have bad public adjusters swarming impacted areas, soliciting, and trying to make a quick buck, Patronis said. Not only do individuals need more time to get out of a public adjuster contract during a state of emergency, we need to reduce the percentage a public adjuster is entitled to immediately following a storm, ensuring their motives are aligned with helping Floridians get back on their feet.

Patronis, whose Department of Financial Services regulates adjusters, did not say what he based the bad adjusters assertion on. But some Florida insurers have long complained about public adjusters working closely with contractors and promising homeowners free roofs after a windstorm, leading to exaggerated claims and litigation.

The CFO also did not provide details on his proposed schedule of fees for adjusters.

The call for an end to assignments of benefits, or AOBs, has already met with support from one insurance industry leader.

We commend the CFO for calling attention to ongoing abuse of assignment-of-benefits tools by shady vendors whose goal is profit above all else, said Michael Carlson, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida, which represents a number of insurance carriers. Eliminating post-loss assignments that transfer consumer rights to vendors is a good idea. We also believe that addressing exorbitant public adjuster fees is another good idea and a means to reduce predatory behavior by these licensees.

Several Florida insurance executives in recent years have called for statutory changes that would allow insurance policies to bar AOB agreements, noting that thousands of lawsuits in recent years have resulted from disputed AOB claims. Data from CaseGlide, a litigation management software firm, shows that as much as 41% of litigated claims against Floridas largest insurers resulted from assignees of benefits, usually from restoration contractors. In July, the AOB share of new litigations reached an 18-month high, the company said. That came despite 2019 Florida legislation that aimed to reduce AOB suits.

A number of other states allow insurance policies to include non-assignment of benefits clauses.

Carlson said that claims litigation is the storm after the storm, and that one-way attorney fees also need to be addressed to disincentivize unnecessary lawsuits.

The Florida Association of Public Adjusters pushed back on Patronis agenda.

We are concerned that the recent release misrepresents the important role and work of licensed public adjusters, FAPIA President Chris Cury said in a statement Thursday.

Instead of bad actors in the hurricane zone in southwest Florida, it appears there is a focus on lawful and licensed insurance professionals who are truly working to help policyholders in their time of need.

Cury noted that, following a declared emergency, adjuster fees already are limited to no more than 10% of any claim made in the first year after the loss.

Licensed public adjusters, who are regulated by the Department of Financial Services, adhere to strict standards and continue to serve in an essential capacity for the sake of policyholders, Cury said.

Insurance industry advocates have often blamed the adjusters for advertising heavily after storms and encouraging inflated claims. Insurance agents have reported that homeowners in the Hurricane Ian strike zone have fielded dozens of calls and door-knocks from public adjusters. But some adjusters and claimants attorneys have maintained that public adjusters help homeowners achieve a fair payout on claims, while insurance companies sometimes try to minimize the extent of damages.

The insurance company has adjusters trained to interpret policies and assess a loss but want to preclude an insured from retaining professionals to assist them in doing the same, said West Palm Beach attorney Gina Clausen Lozier, who has represented policyholders in claims disputes.

She pointed out that many insurance policies require insureds to submit statements within a short timeframe attesting to the amount of losses. Failure to submit can result in denial of the claim. If its overstated, insurers have been known to allege fraud. A public adjuster can help provide a timely estimate.

Lozier agreed that Floridas insurance market is facing a number of problems, but said that licensed adjusters are not to blame.

The public adjusting industry in Florida is highly regulated, despite ongoing insinuations that public adjusters are operating without legal or ethical restraints by preying on insureds, she said.

Patronis did not call for another special session of the Florida Legislature to adopt his reform ideas, as some industry advocates have done, but referred to this coming legislative session. The 2023 regular session begins in March.

Patronis also reiterated his call for a $3 million anti-fraud and public education campaign.

Policyholders need to understand what they are signing, and that litigation will only slow down their claims and could result in liens on their property, Patronis said.

About the photo: Snowbird Bob Fennessey of Montreal, Canada, clears out storm-damaged items from his condo, as ruined furniture and a car from his neighbors vacation home sits on the lawn, after storm surge filled the first story of their houses during the passage of Hurricane Ian, near San Carlos Boulevard in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
According to reports, a former federal prosecutor criticized Memphis police for failing to pursue a rape case against a suspect who would go on to abduct and murder Tennessee mother Eliza Fletcher.

A suspect who would eventually abduct and kill Tennessee mother Eliza Fletcher was accused of rape, and a veteran federal prosecutor reportedly criticized Memphis police for not aggressively pursuing the case.

Police Fail to Properly Investigate Eliza Fletcher's Killer

While that case was pending, Fletcher, a married mother, was reportedly kidnapped by Henderson last month while she was out for a jog. A few days later, her body was found behind an abandoned house. Rahmani claimed that Memphis police have enough justification for seeking an arrest in the rape case from 2021.

Alicia Franklin, Henderson's accuser, claimed she initially connected with him via an app in August 2021 and that their first meeting took place in front of his apartment complex the following month. Franklin claimed that Henderson, 38, threatened to kill her, blindfolded her with a T-shirt, and brought her into an empty apartment. She claimed he then forced her into a car and sexually assaulted her there.

Rahmani claimed that after a forensic lab's DNA evidence took longer than expected to return, investigators seemed to have let the investigation go cold. He did, however, claim to Fox that there were other routes they might have taken to ensure an arrest and that a tragedy could have been prevented.

Just days after Fletcher vanished, police sent a rape kit off for analysis, but it wasn't returned until early this September, as per New York Post.

The lawsuit claims that Henderson and Franklin connected through an online dating service in August 2021 and that their meeting was intended to be the first date. According to the lawsuit, Henderson used the user name Cleo on the dating app.

Henderson's last location was in Memphis, where the two had met for a date. It is said that while brandishing a gun and threatening to kill the woman, he forced her into a vacant apartment within the complex.

The lawsuit adds that Henderson allegedly dragged the lady into the backseat of a car and raped her before blindfolding her with a T-shirt and threatening to murder her, according to Fox News.

Henderson, 38, is accused of killing Fletcher, an heiress, and mother of two, while she was out jogging on the morning of September 2, 2022. She is also accused of tampering with evidence and exceptionally aggravated kidnapping.

In a September 2021 incident with Alicia Franklin, another Memphis lady, he was again accused of aggravated rape. Franklin claimed in his lawsuit that the Memphis Police Department failed to properly investigate the event.

Henderson allegedly escaped punishment because of that failure. Authorities claim that the young mother and instructor were abducted and forced inside Henderson's dark-colored GMC Terrain.

Read Also: Russia Destroys 3 Power Plants, Prompting Ukraine To Revise Emergency Energy Plan; More Evidence Shows Kremlin Uses Iranian Drones

Cleotha Henderson Waives Preliminary Hearings

According to WKRN, a gunshot to the head and blunt force trauma were determined to be the causes of death. The Memphis Police Department did not request an expedited analysis of the sexual assault kit from the September 2021 incident, a Tennessee Bureau of Investigations official said.

The spokesman added that if a request for expedited processing had been made, results might have been available in five working days and claimed that no suspect information or DNA standard was provided in the submission.

Additionally, the lawsuit claims that when the crime was reported, police took no tangible evidence straight from the crime scene itself. Franklin alleges she heard police say, Maybe we need to show her a newer picture - this one is 10 to 12 years old when she failed to recognize the suspect in a lineup.

To make matters worse, Henderson was previously found guilty of kidnapping and robbing Memphis lawyer Kemper Durand. It has his DNA on it.

Henderson is detained without posting a bond. According to WREG, the Shelby County District Attorney's Office reported that he waived his preliminary hearings on Wednesday. The charges against Henderson will now be discussed by the grand jury. The case will go to criminal court if an indictment is made, Bizpac Review reported.

Related Article: 4 Missing Friends Found Dismembered, Thrown in Oklahoma River After Planning To Commit Crime; Person of Interest Arrested

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A Chinese diplomat who was filmed pulling the hair of Hong Kong protester Bob Chan said that the violent act was his "duty" in trying to maintain China's dignity.

The treatment of the demonstrator in Britain after he was dragged into the Chinese consulate in Manchester and beaten on Sunday raised concerns about the quashing of dissent outside of Chinese borders.

Violence on Chinese Consulate Grounds

In a statement, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that the incident was "absolutely unacceptable" as he argued that the protests were relatively peaceful and legal. He added that the demonstrations were held on British soil.

During a news conference on Wednesday, a member of the British Parliament, Iain Duncan Smith, said that the consul general in Manchester, Zheng Xiyuan, was most likely involved and that other diplomats were "certainly" involved. He called the violent incident an "abomination here in the United Kingdom."

Smith called for any Chinese diplomat involved in the assault to be sent home, saying that they were no longer welcome in the region. He added that they will be persona non grata and will be sent back to Beijing, as per the Washington Post.

However, such a move risks escalating tensions between Longdon and Beijing, argued Chien-wen Kou, a political scientist at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. He added that assuming the British side does expel the Chinese diplomats, Beijing would likely retaliate strongly.

The protester, Chan, appeared at the news conference alongside Smith and said that he was near the consulate's gates after its staff tried to take away and destroy the demonstrators' posters.

According to CNN, the banners featured satirical images of Chinese President Xi Jinping and were held coinciding with the start of a week-long meeting of the Chinese Communist Party elites in Beijing. During the event, Xi is expected to secure an unprecedented third term as the country's leader.

Read Also: Liz Truss vs. Lettuce: Twitter Has All the Jokes After UK Prime Minister Resigns

Protesting China's Communist Party

Video footage captured the moment when Chan was dragged through the gate into the consulate grounds and was then beaten by a group of men. It also showed Manchester police entering the consulate grounds to break up the violent situation.

Zheng defended his actions during an interview on Wednesday, arguing that the pro-democracy protesters had incited the violence with "rude banners." But when asked about the part where the official pulled Chan's hair, he said that the protester abused his country and his leader, forcing him to enact his "duty."

The Chinese diplomat sent a letter to Manchester police on Thursday, insisting the consulate had been "respectful of the right to protest" and claimed that the consular grounds had been "stormed" by protesters.

Furthermore, China's Foreign Ministry was quick to defend Zheng, describing the protesters as "harassers" who had entered the Chinese consulate illegally. The ministry argued that the demonstrators endangered the security of Chinese diplomatic premises.

The attack, which was only stopped after a Manchester police intervened, left Chan with bruising to his eye, head, neck, and all over his back. The protester called the incident "barbaric" and said he was very concerned for his safety, ABC reported.

Related Article: Xi Jinping Urges To Forcefully Take Taiwan on Faster Timeline After Calling for China To Build 'World-Class Military'

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Human Chain of Solidarity Planned in Support of Iranian People

October 20, 2022

Beginning at 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 21, members of the Carnegie Mellon University community plan to join a human chain that will form in solidarity with and support of Iranian people.

The event will kick off at the University of Pittsburghs Cathedral of Learning, with participants walking toward Bigelow Boulevard, where they will stand together for one hour. Attendees are welcome to join the chain as they arrive.

Incidents of protests in Iran, including at several universities, high schools and elementary schools, being met with violence and arrests have sparked people in the local community who have family, friends and classmates in Iran to raise awareness about the ongoing crisis in the region.

"Iran is experiencing its biggest uprising in the post-revolution era," said Ali Shourideh, associate professor of economics in the Tepper School of Business. "The leaders in this uprising are women who are saying no to oppression and discrimination. They are not afraid for their lives anymore and chant, 'Woman, Life, Freedom.' As Iranian diaspora in the United States, the least we can do is be their voice and generate awareness in our local community. I invite everyone to join this symbolic event even if they are not Iranian or Iranian-American."

CMU President Farnam Jahanian  who emigrated from Iran as a teenager  along with other members of the universitys leadership team, have been meeting with students, faculty and staff to plan events that can increase awareness and understanding regarding the current crisis, including bringing leading scholars to CMU for discussions on the historical context.

There also have been small gatherings involving President Jahanian, Gina Casalegno, dean of students and vice president for Student Affairs, other university leadership, student leaders from the Iranian Student Association (ISA) and additional affected community members. These gatherings have offered opportunities to share reflections, build community and discuss support resources.

Professor Kristin Hughes from the School of Design is partnering with CMU students to curate a public display or exhibit that can spread awareness and promote education about the current issues.

"This new display is expected to be an illuminating, thoughtful and impactful opportunity to involve the greater Pittsburgh community," Hughes said.

The Office of the Provost is engaging the deans and faculty to encourage flexibility for impacted students, underscoring the importance of compassionate engagement.

Casalegno and Wanda Heading-Grant, vice provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, recently communicated ways that Iranian students in the CMU community can connect with resources, support and conversation available to them.

Any students who are experiencing hardship and need support are invited to contact the Student Support Resources team that is available through the Office of the Dean of Students. The Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion also provides space to gather with others in solidarity and to mobilize events or calls to action for the community.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) offers support, day or night, for students, and is also planning to offer facilitated, small-group sessions for students who have been affected.
Liz Truss resigned from her position as secretary of state, only 44 days into her term. She was the third Prime Minister this year, but after her catastrophic "mini-budget" measure in September scared markets, spiked borrowing rates, and ruined the British pound, according to Time.

The turmoil prompted Liz Truss to replace Kwasi Kwarteng with Jeremy Hunt as finance minister of the UK, but that move was insufficient to save her political career. She soon lost the confidence of fellow Conservatives and the general public, as surveys indicate. But did this impact Liz Truss Net Worth?

Political Career

I recognise however that, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.



I have therefore spoken to His Majesty The King to notify him that I am resigning as Leader of the Conservative Party.  Liz Truss (@trussliz) October 20, 2022

Liz Truss has made her mark in history as Britain's shortest-serving Prime Minister due to her brief tenure in office. The previous record holder was George Canning. Approximately 200 years ago, he passed away due to bad health. He became the official shortest-serving prime minister.

Tory party member Canning served as Foreign Secretary under the Duke of Portland before resigning following a dispute with the war minister. Canning replaced Lord Liverpool in April 1827. Unfortunately, in August of the same year, only five months into his term as a government leader, Canning died unexpectedly from poor health. Most accounts claim that his death was caused by tuberculosis. However, the official government website of the UK indicates that Canning died of pneumonia.

Since 2021, she has been the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs, a position she held before becoming prime minister. Politically, Truss has followed a path typical of established conservatives.

She followed in the footsteps of many before her by attending Merton College, Oxford, to study politics, philosophy, and economics. Truss became President of the Oxford University Liberal Democrats organization, where she became immersed in student politics and discovered her passion for politics.

Instead of entering politics right away, Truss went to work for Shell as a certified public accountant. According to The Real Mango, after being unsuccessful in her first two elections, Truss decided to devote herself full-time to her role as deputy head of a think tank, The Reform Research Trust, in 2008.

She collaborated on several reports, including The Value of Mathematics and A New Level, alongside her colleagues. She then created the Free Enterprise Group of Conservative MPs. Before standing for the seat of Hemsworth Conservative MP in 2011, she served as a councilor for the London Borough of Greenwich, which may have impacted Liz Truss Net Worth.

Truss has been a minister since 2012, has written many books, and had a successful business career at Shell, so she is probably quite wealthy.

Read Also: Chinese Diplomat Says Pulling Hair of Hong Kong Protester Bob Chan was his 'Duty'

Liz Truss Net Worth

After serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for the record-shortest amount of time, Liz Truss Net Worth 2022 shows that she is a multi-millionaire. Following the resignation of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson' in September, Oxford graduate and politician Liz Truss moved into 10 Downing Street.

According to PBS, Liz Truss was named prime minister on Sept. 6, one of Queen Elizabeth II's last official decisions before Her Majesty died two days later.

Liz Truss may become jobless after she steps down from her position as UK prime minister, but she is still quite wealthy. Money Transfers estimates Liz Truss Net Worth at 8.4 million (US$9.4 million), as reported by Express. Liz Truss has made a lot of money through her work in the private sector and her time in politics.

Related Article: Liz Truss vs. Lettuce: Twitter Has All the Jokes After UK Prime Minister Resigns

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In a civil trial where it was alleged that actor Kevin Spacey had molested a 14-year-old child in the 1980s, Spacey was found not responsible.

Anthony Rapp, a stage and screen actor, has sued the Hollywood celebrity in a legal action for an alleged event that allegedly occurred in 1986 following a party in Spacey's New York apartment.

Kevin Spacey Sexual Battery Case

Spacey was 26 years old and Rapp, who is now 50, was 14 years old. The charges had been categorically denied by Spacey. Richard Steigman, the attorney for Rapp, pleaded with the jury to punish Spacey for attempting to molestation of his client. He asserted that Spacey lied when testifying.

However, Rapp from Star Trek, Discovery made up the meeting, according to Spacey's attorney Jennifer Keller, who urged the jury to disregard Rapp's testimony. Rapp testified in court that Spacey came on top of him as he was lying on a bed and shoved his crotch into his hip until Rapp was able to escape.

Spacey asserted that he had never been by himself with Rapp while on the witness stand and denied the accusation. Throughout the trial, Keller put up numerous hypotheses as to why Rapp would have lied, such as a need for attention or resentment of Spacey's acting success, as per Sky News.

Spacey described how he was shocked and terrified upon learning about the charges in the 2017 Buzzfeed piece during his evidence. Spacey asserted that he had never been alone with Rapp and queried the plausibility of the charge.

As he apologized for coming out in a statement in response to Rapp's charges, which connected an alleged case of paedophilia and homosexuality, Spacey broke down in tears. Rapp described to the jury throughout the trial how he first met Spacey in 1986 while co-starring with Ed Harris in the play Precious Sons.

Rapp claims that the two met while backstage at a play, and Spacey afterwards brought Rapp and another actor buddy, John Barrowman, out to dinner. A few days later, he claimed, Spacey asked him to an apartment.

He testified in court that he went into the bedroom to watch television because he didn't know anyone else there. Later that night, the actor, who appeared to be intoxicated, who was 26 at the time, joined him.

Rapp was persuaded by Keller to acknowledge that it was untrue that Lupita Nyong'o's piece in the New York Times had motivated him to speak out in 2017. In reality, he had begun talking to a Buzzfeed reporter eight days before, according to Daily Mail.

Read Also: Liz Truss vs. Lettuce: Twitter Has All the Jokes After UK Prime Minister Resigns

Kevin Spacey Removed From 'House of Cards' Netflix Show

The 'Star Trek' star Rapp accused the Oscar-winning actor of sexually abusing him at a party in 1986 and sued him in 2020 for $40 million in a civil case. The #MeToo movement's aftermath included the sexual assault incident, which quickly ended the career of the well-known movie star.

Following the issue, Spacey is said to have been dropped from the popular Netflix series 'House of Cards' and related films. When Spacey, now 63, was accused of sexual misconduct by several individuals and even of preying on young men, he was appearing as one of the main characters on Netflix's highly anticipated series 'House of Cards.'

The creators of 'House of Cards' sued Spacey for violating his contract over allegations of sexual abuse and demanded that he pay them $31 million to make up for the money they lost when they sacked him. 'Gore Vidal' biography featuring Spacey as the author, was also scrapped by Netflix, despite the fact that it was already in post-production at the time the misconduct claims surfaced.

In addition, the star of American Beauty was dropped from the Ridley Scott-directed film "All the Money in the World," which had already wrapped up filming and was scheduled to hit theaters on December 22.

The cast and the film's production team decided to reshoot the scene, and Christopher Plummer was brought in to play the actor's place. Meanwhile, Spacey's supporters on social media have urged those who fired him improperly to make up for his lost pay or at the very least restore his reputation and popularity, Meaww reported.

Related Article: Eliza Fletcher Case: Officials Allegedly 'Drop the Ball' in Investigation of Memphis Heiress' Killer Cleotha Henderson

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Seven Chinese nationals have been prosecuted by the US in an alleged lengthy scheme to coerce a US resident into returning to China to face criminal prosecution.

The case is associated with Operation Fox Hunt, a global anti-corruption drive by the Chinese Communist Party that targets Chinese fugitives.

Report: China Plot to Forcibly Repatriate 'Elite' Chinese

Operation Fox Hunt was started by the Chinese government in 2014 to hunt down wealthy people who had fled the country with a lot of money after being suspected of wrongdoing. According to the US Department of Justice, the Chinese government has acted unilaterally and without consulting or working with the US government to carry out such law enforcement operations on US soil.

The seven defendants were charged on Thursday by the Justice Department with plotting to act in the US as unlawful agents of the People's Republic of China, according to the Justice Department. The remaining five accused are still at large, while two have been captured and arrested. The accused could receive a maximum 10-year prison sentence if found guilty of serving as China's agents.

Chinese officials and their assets allegedly threatened the targets and their families, including those who were still living in China, with harm, including imprisonment, to force their repatriation to China, according to an indictment that was unsealed on Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn.

Authorities allege that the defendants followed a US citizen living in New York and engaged in a campaign to harass him into going back to China, according to CNN.

Residents of Roslyn, New York, Quanzhong An, 55, and his daughter Guangyang An, 34, were detained on Thursday morning and charged with conspiring to act as agents of the People's Republic of China (PRC), conspiring to engage in interstate and international stalking, and conspiring to launder money.

To pressure the victim into going back to China, Quanzhong An is accused of harassing the victim and his family members. In 2018, a victim's relative who still resides in China was led to New York on the pretense of a global tour. In a recorded discussion, the family member met with the son of the primary victim and informed him that the government in China would like to urge the elite overseas Chinese to return.

Read Also: US F-35 Fighter Jet Crashes in Utah, Causes Loud Boom; Photos Show Smoke Coming from Crash Site

Chinese Harassed US Resident

According to the indictment, Quanzhong An allegedly met with the victim's son in a series of meetings from 2020 to 2022 and claimed he was driven by the Chinese government's desire to "save their names" and repatriate as many Chinese fugitives as possible.

The four suspects, who are Chinese nationals, remain at large. On Thursday afternoon, Quanzhong An and Guangyang An were supposed to be charged, as per Fox News. The relative told John Doe-2 during a meeting in a restaurant in September 2018 that he had been obliged to go there by the government as part of a scheme to repatriate the 100 most-wanted fugitives, according to the indictment.

The family also experienced other forms of intimidation, such as a campaign of letters, one of which warned that coming back and handing yourself in is the only way out. The father allegedly stole money from a Chinese employer, and the son allegedly made illicit gains from the scam, according to a case the Chinese government filed in a New York state court against the father and son.

In this instance, the victims attempted to escape an oppressive regime, leaving behind their homes, loved ones, and lives in search of a better life here. According to Michael Driscoll, the FBI's assistant director in charge of the New York office. That same government deployed operatives to the United States to harass, intimidate, and forcibly return them to the People's Republic of China, according to South China Morning Post.

Related Article: Xi Jinping Urges To Forcefully Take Taiwan on Faster Timeline After Calling for China To Build 'World-Class Military'

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Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., was fined $161.95 million and told to alter its strategy on the Android platform by India's competition authority.

The US tech company is being accused of antitrust transgressions, and India is putting more restrictions on the tech industry.

On Thursday, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) ruled that Google used its monopoly in sectors including online search and the Android app market to safeguard the prominence of its Chrome web browser and YouTube video hosting service.

Aside from Google fine, the CCI also prohibited Google from some revenue-sharing arrangements with smartphone makers, adding that such methods assisted Google in achieving exclusivity for its search services to the utter exclusion of competitors.

According to the Commission, Google is using its "dominant" position to drive out rivals in the fields of search, app stores, online browsers, and video services.

Chrome and YouTube are two of the many Google apps that have become expected on phones with the Play Store. Other options, like Firefox and Vimeo, are not included, but you can always add them.

While the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) offers greater customization options, it locks brands out of Google's app distribution platform, the Play Store.

Multiple Violations

In a statement, the CCI noted that markets must be allowed to "compete on merits, and the onus is on the dominant companies (in the current case, Google) that their behavior does not impact this competition on merits," as per Al Jazeera.

The search engine giant Google has been silent over the ruling. When approached for a response, a Google India official said the company had "yet to receive the order," CNN Business reported.

Google India is also being investigated by India's competition commission for its business practices in the smart TV industry and its in-app payment system.

Read Also: US F-35 Fighter Jet Crashes in Utah, Causes Loud Boom; Photos Show Smoke Coming from Crash Site

Why Is India a Crucial Market for US Tech Companies?

India is an important market for American technology companies like Google, which has been investing heavily in the Asian country.

There are already 750 million internet users in the world's second most populous country, with millions more anticipated to join soon. Additionally, unlike its more populous neighbor China, India has welcomed significant investment from US digital giants.

American tech companies Facebook, Google, Amazon, Netflix, and other companies have already made billion-dollar investments in expanding their operations in India.

In 2020, Google stated it was going to invest $10 billion in India as part of efforts to make the internet "affordable and beneficial" for a billion people.

Google made roughly $257.6 billion in sales worldwide in 2017, so the punishment is negligible in comparison. But the ruling, which was made after South Korea, the European Union, and other groups asked for similar changes, may force it to make crucial modifications to its agreements with Android manufacturers.

India is home to over 606.6 million smartphone users, making it the world's second-biggest smartphone market. A forced exit would dramatically affect Google's economical line, not to mention its prominence in the mobile market.

Engadget reported that two junior Indian antitrust researchers and a law student complained about Android in 2019. Google was fined $5 billion in Europe for forcing manufacturers to pre-install its apps on Android smartphones. The Indian case is similar.

Related Article: KakaoTalk Not Working: What Caused the Major Kakao Outage?

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Four Mississippi daycare workers face felony child abuse charges for scaring children with a terrifying mask, while a fifth individual faces two misdemeanor counts.

The charges were filed after a video went viral online showing the daycare staff terrorizing children while wearing masks similar to those used in the horror movie "Scream."

Sheila Sanders, who owns the daycare, is not being prosecuted. She claims that the footage led to the termination of at least four workers, according to AP News.

The videos were shot in September and this month, and both have been shared on social media. They originated from the Lil' Blessings Child Care & Learning Center in Hamilton, an unincorporated community in northeast Mississippi.

Video Shows Terrified Children

In the video, the daycare children were seen crying, hiding, and even running away from the worker wearing a scary mask. Another worker issues orders, identifying which kids have been particularly excellent or terrible. The footage shows the masked worker yelling within inches of the faces of toddlers.

Five daycare workers have been charged with felony child abuse after a video of them terrifying small children with a scary mask went viralhttps://t.co/uX4JSgTEbc  philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) October 20, 2022

According to a press statement from Monroe County Sheriff Kevin Crook, four women were charged with three counts of felony child abuse each. A fifth lady is charged with failing to report abuse by a required reporter and assaulting a kid.

All the culprits were locals, who were identified as Sierra McCandless, 21, Oci-Anna Kilburn, 28, Jennifer Newman, 25, and Shyenne Shelton, 28, are all charged with three counts of felony child abuse, per CBS News.

The Sheriff also mentioned that Traci Hutson, 44, has been charged with two misdemeanors: failing to report abuse by a mandated reporter and simple assault against a child.

Read Also: US Charges 7 Chinese Nationals Accused of Forced Repatriation Campaign, Harassment

Crook speculated that the mask was used as a kind of coercion, as the daycare personnel cannot use corporal punishment. Authorities suspect they were trying to intimidate the kids into doing what they were meant to do.

According to Crook, a meeting was held earlier this week between his office, the county prosecuting attorney, and the district attorney to discuss the matter with the children's parents. At least one set of parents filed criminal child abuse accusations Wednesday, he added, and a judge issued warrants Thursday.

Parents of Victims Worry About the Trauma Sustained by Their Kids

Crook also underscored that investigators do not press charges just because they've seen a video, and authorities do not recommend that anybody else do the same.

"We need time to dig into a situation and find out what the real facts of the case are. All of them," he said.

McCandless and Kilburn's bonds were set at $20,000 apiece, while Newman and Shelton's were placed at $15,000. Hutson did not need to put up a bond since she was charged with a minor offense.

Katelyn Johnson, whose child goes to Lil' Blessings, disclosed that she was shocked by the incident. She told ABC News that nothing about the actions of the daycare staff was appropriate, which made her mad.

"It broke my heart for my child," Johnson said, adding that nothing is funny about their actions, and she hopes to see the personnel end up in jail.

Related Article: Eliza Fletcher Case: Officials Allegedly 'Drop the Ball' in Investigation of Memphis Heiress' Killer Cleotha Henderson

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The trash collection barge is expected to capture more than 30 tons of trash at the juncture between Ballona Creek and the Pacific

The Trash Interceptor, a floating trash-collecting barge, has arrived in Los Angeles and officially deployed at Ballona Creek where it meets the Pacific Ocean.

The Ocean Cleanup, an international Dutch non-profit organization, partnered with the County Department of Public Works to deploy the trash collection device, known as the Interceptor 007, in Marina del Rey last week.

It is expected to capture more than 30 tons of trash before it flows into the ocean, according to Public Works officials.

"The Interceptor is the answer for river plastic waste. It is the first scalable solution to prevent plastic from entering the world's oceans from rivers," said The Ocean Cleanup in its website.

Current efforts to prevent trash from entering the ocean from the Ballona Creek center include the use of floating mesh nets known as trash booms. The interceptor project has been touted by is backers as being an improvement over the boom system because it can both collect a greater volume of debris and is not likely to overflow during heavy rains.

In addition to providing the Interceptor for the pilot period, The Ocean Cleanup will be providing monitoring equipment to help better characterize the anticipated success of the system. Public Works officials said work to install interpretive panels and other equipment will continue through November 2022

The Ballona Creek collection project will allow for a direct way to not only address the issue of trash within Ballona Creek, but also to implement a scalable solution worldwide with the lessons learned.

Countless federal- and state-listed endangered, threatened, sensitive or otherwise protected species call Ballona Creek home, including the Southern California steelhead, the El Segundo blue butterfly, the Palos Verdes blue butterfly, the western snowy plover, the southwestern willow flycatcher, the Pacific harbor seal, the California sea lion and the coastal California gnatcatcher, according to city officials.
20th CPC National Congress provides invaluable insight into China's future path: Moroccan ambassador

Xinhua) 08:47, October 21, 2022

BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) provides invaluable insight into China's future path, Moroccan Ambassador to China Aziz Mekouar told Xinhua.

Mekouar described China's development over the past ten years as "unprecedented" and said he is inspired by the sheer speed, ingenuity and dedication, with which Chinese people have built modern China under the leadership of the CPC.

He applauded the diverse age, ethnicity and gender of the delegates to the congress, saying the diversity shines a bright light on the entire spectrum of the society.

Mekouar said he is deeply touched by China's great achievements in the past ten years.

"I have been very fortunate to travel across the vast and beautiful Chinese land, and I have witnessed firsthand the vitality of its people, maturity of its infrastructure and openness of its cities, be they big or small, to the outside world," said Mekouar.

It is indeed unprecedented for a developing nation to modernize and prosper on such a scale and at such a pace, he said.

Mekouar said China does not stumble upon development by accident. China's accomplishments had gone through a long and arduous process, and required clear vision, thorough planning and precise implementation.

The Chinese people have discovered a formula that best suits their country's characteristics, capabilities and goals. And yet it is one that other countries may wish to learn from and adapt to their realities and conditions, said Mekouar.

Speaking about the report to the ongoing congress, Mekouar said the report revealed, eloquently and with fortitude, a glimpse into the direction that the CPC wants to lead in, as well as priorities it has set for the building of a prosperous Chinese society.

Morocco and China have enjoyed friendly relations, which are deeply anchored in mutual trust and respect, said Mekouar, adding that Morocco has remained steadfast in constantly reinvigorating cooperation with China on either a bilateral basis or through regional and multilateral fora.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Du Mingming)
In the digital age, many businesses have already begun using video conferencing software such as Microsoft Teams. What you might not know, though, is that you can enhance your Microsoft Teams experience using unified communications - and here is how.

What can Microsoft Teams offer already?

Group chats

Microsoft Teams allows you to easily make groups consisting of specific people in your company, which means you can immediately notify the relevant people of any updates. Instant messaging can also allow you to converse with colleagues who are usually based in a different location, improving collaboration for remote, hybrid, and multi-office teams.

Collaborative working

As it is part of a wider Microsoft package, Microsoft 365, you can easily collaborate with others on the same documents by sharing Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel files, to name a few. This can improve efficiency in the workplace, as multiple people can work on the same document at once without having to send it back and forth constantly.

Video calling

The feature Microsoft Teams is arguably most known for is its video calling capabilities, which replaced many meetings and conferences during the pandemic especially, as it allows more people to attend events regardless of geographic location.

What can unified communication integration bring to the table?

Integrated PSTN calling

Microsoft Teams operator connect allows you to operate Microsoft Teams as a softphone, thanks to cloud-hosted PBX software. This means when you aren't at the office, you don't have to worry about manually re-routing your phone to your mobile device.

All calls will be made through the integrated software, which can be operated on any device at any time, no matter where you are. So, whether you make or receive calls on your laptop, smartphone, or through a physical VoIP supported handset, it will all appear to come from the same place - your business line registered at your businesses' address.

Call recording

If you use Microsoft Teams for video conferences, it resembles an in-person meeting in the sense that you cannot go back and double check what was said. However, unified communications typically come with call recording capabilities as standard, which makes it much easier to archive conferences for future reference.

This, of course, also allows people who missed the meeting to fully catch up in their own time, improving productivity and collaboration.

Better technical support

Microsoft has unfortunately suffered from negative reviews surrounding its customer support over the years. This is mainly due to the fact that users must use their own initiative to solve issues using the wealth of information provided online.

However, by using unified communications software in conjunction with Microsoft Teams, you can benefit from more hands-on help from your provider. Thus, you can often get a much better technical support service if anything was to go awry.

So, what does this mean?

As you can see, Microsoft Teams is already a pretty robust video calling software. However, it has, of course, got its downsides - which is why Microsoft is open to collaboration and integration with various other tools.

Overall, integrating unified communications into your Microsoft Teams can make it a more comprehensive and reliable collaboration and communications system, improving productivity and efficiency in the workplace, and enhancing the potential of the Teams platform itself.
Canada's federal government telecom regulator urged Canadians to be vigilant over their cellphones as more phishing scams through text messages are on the rise.

Phishing scams sent as text messages are substantially on the rise in the North American country, Global News reports quoting the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Shift From Email to Text Messages

Unsolicited or spam messages through email remain the dominant type of spam, the CRTC said. But the telecom regulator noted a shift appears to be happening in the category of phishing messages.

Microsoft Support defines phishing as an online attack to steal the victims' money or identities by manipulating the victims to reveal their personal information. This attack originates from websites pretending to be legitimate.

Online thefts pretend to be legitimate companies and present as friends or acquaintances of the targeted victims by sending fake messages that contain a link to a phishing website.

Read Also: Better, Expanded Phishing Attacks Lure Victims Into Fake Bidding for U.S. Government Projects

Most Common

CRTC said a total of 2,157 spam texts were reported to the spam reporting center from Jan. 1 until Oct. 18. Some 4,050 email spam and 32.826 complaints of unsolicited calls were also recorded during the same period.

Fifty-four percent of the spam texts reported to the center were phishing, 18% of these were not determined due to insufficient information from the complainant, 17% were identified as affiliate and commercial marketing messages, and five percent were other types of scams.

Of all the phishing through texts, the telecom regulator said, the most common were attempts to present themselves as representatives of big companies. Telecom and streaming services providers were the favorite companies used by scammers.

In some instances, scammers also impersonate government and financial institutions, the CRTC said.

Alarming

The most disconcerting, according to a spokesperson for the telecom regulator, are reports about text messages of extortion with threats of violence, including a threat to life.

The spokesperson said that other agencies have also reported the rise of the same violent text messages.

Dark Web

Internet criminals usually acquire Dark Web telephone numbers and personal information.

The dark web, according to CSO Asean, is a part of the Internet that is not visible on search engines as web owners block web crawlers from search engines like Google, DuckDuckGo, Bing, and others. These sites are not viewable using a standard browser. To access the dark web, a browser called Tor is needed.

If the information has reached the dark web, that means it has been hacked, the spokesperson said.

Tell-tale Signs to Watch

CRTC said there are several tell-tale signs every Canadian has to watch carefully. These signs include the following:

the message is asking for sensitive information

the person sending the message impersonates people or companies you know

the message contains spelling and grammar mistakes

the message asks for money in advance

the message uses tactics to scare or intimidate the receiver

the message is too good to be true

If a person has been contacted by a scammer or received suspicious messages, report it immediately to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, even if the suspected scammer was not successful, too - (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/report-signalez-eng.htm or 1-888-495-8501).

Related Article: LinkedIn Users Beware: Phishing Attack Skyrocket to Dramatically High Levels - How to Avoid
Oregon gubernatorial candidates Christine Drazan, Tina Kotek and Betsy Johnson tackled topics including abortion, homelessness, gun control and education during an Oct. 4 debate.

Moderated by KATU anchor Steve Dunn, the debate started at 6 p.m. and lasted for about an hour.

Johnson and Kotek, both pro-abortion, said Drazan is out of step for her anti-abortion stance. Drazan said she will not change existing abortion laws if she is elected. Kotek called out Drazan for clearing her anti-abortion stance from her website after the last gubernatorial debate.

Johnson and Drazan both denounced Measure 110. The 2020 measure makes drug addiction treatment more available and removes criminal penalties for low-level drug possession. The candidates said the measure was a failed attempt to reduce drug addiction in Oregon and a contributor to the rising crime rates in Oregons urban areas.

Kotek said the measure has not been properly implemented by Gov. Kate Brown and her administration since its ratification. She also said Portland needs a meth stabilization center.

We need a place for cops to take folks, not the emergency department, when they are in a meth related psychosis, Kotek said.

Kotek and Drazan said they would declare a state of emergency on the homelessness crisis. Kotek said she would use emergency funds to support more shelters, while Drazan said she would use the funds to provide support to local governments. Johnson said she would empower local police to enforce anti-drug laws and keep a census of the people living on the streets.

Both Drazan and Johnson said they will be voting no on Measure 114, which would require individuals obtain a permit issued by law enforcement in order to buy a firearm, stricter background checks to apply for a firearm permit, and a limit on magazine capacity to 10 rounds with violations of that magazine limitation being a Class A misdemeanor. Johnson, who called the measure a Portland solution to gun violence, said it would unduly burden police departments and would lead to litigation due to the measure being overly broad.

Drazan and Johnson said they would veto bills that would increase taxes or hidden fees for Oregonians and roll back regulatory burdens on businesses. Kotek said Drazan voted against a kicker tax credit bill and Johnson voted against bills that increased minimum wage and required employers to offer paid sick leave.

Johnson and Drazan leveled criticisms at Kotek for not signing legislation earlier this year that would have reopened schools. Both said schools were kept closed unnecessarily, and Drazan said she would raise graduation requirements for students and support funding for schools.

Kotek said Drazan voted no on increasing business taxes to enhance school funding in 2021. Kotek said she would vote for gun control to protect classrooms from gun violence and would make sure the lowest paid educators receive wage increases so they stay in the classroom.

Johnson said the teacher shortage is indicative of a larger skilled workforce staffing shortage across the state. She said she would vote to make Oregon a more attractive business hub by cutting regulations and increasing housing.

Johnson said Oregon cannot bring a skilled workforce to a place with no housing.

The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 18. Ballots must be returned by Nov. 8 at 8 p.m.
Student employees at the University of Oregon launched a unionization campaign at last weeks street fair.

UO Student Workers, a grassroots organization of student employees, kicked off the campaign with a card-signing initiative. This is a common first step in forming a labor union.

With tuition rates and cost of living on the rise, students are finding it difficult to balance school and work while also making enough money to live, Kendall McKone, UO sophomore and UOSW member, said.

With these jobs, the university is not taking tuition into account, McKone said. And being a student is a full time job in and of itself.

There have also been complaints, specifically from dining employees, about work conditions and staffing issues.

We're trying to target as many dining workers as we can, McKone said. Dining workers are part of the backbone of this university, and they're treated the worst.

Alex Goodwin, UO student and dining employee of over four years, said he was frustrated with how UO Dining treats its employees. According to Goodwin, many students hold the same responsibilities as the classified workers, who are non-students and union protected.

Our job description isn't fully defined, Goodwin said. They treat us like classified workers who get paid a lot more than us.

Goodwin said he found this frustration is relatively common among student workers.

I've heard the same gripes pretty much unanimously, from dining workers to anyone that works a student job, he said. Minimum wage is never enough, and the month long pay periods are ridiculous.

Goodwin and McKone have been collaborating with other student workers for months to be able to launch the campaign.

We're going live with our labor campaign during the street fair, McKone said. And we did that on purpose.

The foot traffic at the street fair seemed like an obvious opportunity for UOSW to speak directly with student workers and start their card-signing efforts. But going public with the students also means going public with the administration.

With any labor campaign comes requests from the working class. According to Goodwin, UOSW is asking for a livable wage, protected benefits, discounted tuition and more accountability from the administration.

We realize this is going to be a huge, revolutionary sort of effort, McKone said. But we don't want it to cause more harm than good. The goal isn't necessarily to anger the admin, but it might be inevitable. We just don't want to ignite that flame in the wrong way.

UOSW plans to hold a kickoff event in the EMU Amphitheater on Oct. 20.
Softbank Group Corp., a multinational Japanese conglomerate, has formed an executive committee with supervisory power to its Second Vision Fund and Latin America (Latam) funds as well, a top official announced

In a staff memo seen by Bloomberg News, company chairman Masayoshi Son appointed Alex Clavel to supervise investing teams in Latin America and the US.

Greg Moon was also appointed to manage the teams in Asia and Europe, while Navneet Govil will take the lead role in finance and compliance, considered as non-investment teams.

'More Excited'

Son expressed optimism about the future of Softbank Group, saying he is "more excited" about the conglomerate's future.

The Softbank chairman, in the staff memo, pledged to "harness the power of AI" that will promote a world of greater connectivity, empowerment, and joy.

The decision to form the executive committee came after Softbank recently laid off some employees working for its Vision Fund following a record loss.

Softbank lost $23 billion after the value of portfolio companies - South Korea's Coupang Inc. and DoorDash Inc. - plunged.

The conglomerate has pledged $160 billion to over 400 companies through the first and second Vision Funds and also for its Latam funds.

Son said, "all eyes are on us, as the world's leading tech investor."

Read Also: Sprint And T-Mobile Merger Now Possible With Softbank Willing to Cede Control

New Firm

The decision also came on the heels of a new firm, One Investment Management, established by SoftBank Investment Advisers CEO Rajeev Misra. While Misra retains his role as CEO, he will relinquish some of his responsibilities.

In retaining his CEO role, Misra will continue to focus on the first Vision Fund. He will be the vice chairman of SB Global Advisers Ltd. that runs both the second Vision Fund and Latam.

Son considered Misra the chief architect of the Vision Funds.

The second Vision Fund has supported WeWork Inc., Exscientia Plc, and Qualtrics International Inc.

Latam, on the other hand, has investments in Banco Inter, Satellogic Inc., and others.

Winning Back Investors Confidence

The Japanese conglomerate suffered tremendous losses early this year. In May, The Wall Street Journal said Softbank had lost $13.2 billion on tech investments.

A month after the staggering loss Softbank CEO Michel Combes resigned barely five months into office. Combes, a French businessman, took on the role in January after Marcelo Claure, who helmed the SoftBank-controlled Sprint, resigned because of a pay dispute.

Combes had previously served as the CEO of Vodafone Europe. Altice, and Alcatel-Lucent.

After the Japanese conglomerate raked in profits in 2021, its boom year, Softbank reported a not-so-rosy financial picture posting a net loss of 3.16 trillion ($32 billion) in the second quarter of 2022.

Softbank was forced to sell its premium Alibaba investments to recoup the losses, but it did not work well either.

The sale of its stock in Alibaba was perceived by many in the investment circle as a desperate move. When SoftBank sold its Alibaba stock, it was like losing a proverbial goose that lays golden eggs at the very least.

That's why the latest decision to create a new executive committee after the exodus of the group's top lieutenants was seen as a step towards winning back the confidence of its investors.

Related Article: Japan's Softbank Group Posts $32 Billion Loss in Q2 Amid Rising Interest Rates, Threat of Inflation
Buckingham Palace remains silent as the row rages over whether the latest series of The Crown should carry a disclaimer before each episode.

Even though the series depicts the break-up of his marriage to Diana, King Charles is sensibly following in his mother's footsteps: 'Never complain, never explain.'

Judi Dench  who labelled the series cruelly unjust  has called on Netflix to carry a note before each episode saying it is 'fictionalised drama'. But her protest has fallen on deaf ears.

True, there is a tiny disclaimer in small print underneath the trailer for the new series, saying 'inspired by real events, a fictional dramatisation'. But no one reads that. The fact is viewers are being hoodwinked into thinking this stuff is real.

Buckingham Palace remains silent as the row rages over whether the latest series of The Crown should carry a disclaimer before each episode

If Hollywood royalty like Judi as well as an ex-PM can't stop these hurtful falsehoods, perhaps there is one person who could  Prince Harry

It's a series which portrays the Windsors as wholly dysfunctional and a monarchy on the brink of collapse. It is a disgracefully warped version of what happened to real people, many of whom are still alive.

In one scene Charles tells his mother: 'If we were an ordinary family and social services came to visit they would have thrown us into care and you into jail.'

Scenes of Charles colluding with former Prime Minister John Major to force the Queen to abdicate have been slammed by Major as 'a barrel load of malicious nonsense'. The trailer has pictures of Diana floating apparently lifeless in a pool with a voiceover . . . 'I never stood a chance.'

Elsewhere it states: 'The Royal Family is in genuine crisis! Have royal scandals destroyed the country's reputation?' Judging by the four billion people who watched the Queen's funeral worldwide, and the 37 million in the UK alone, the answer's a firm no. Not that Netflix will tell you.

It's a series which portrays the Windsors as wholly dysfunctional and a monarchy on the brink of collapse

If Hollywood royalty like Judi as well as an ex-PM can't stop these hurtful falsehoods, perhaps there is one person who could  Prince Harry.

It is his family, his father and mother, his beloved grandmother, who are being so cruelly portrayed. If he had an ounce of the compassion he's endlessly telling us is so important, he would step in to demand that Netflix  which is paying him and Megs millions  set the record straight and show a disclaimer.

For once Harry would be doing the decent thing by his family  although I'm not holding my breath.

For once Harry would be doing the decent thing by his family  although I'm not holding my breath

The Cold Hard Truth

If there is one good thing to come from our heating crisis it is that we can no longer assume it's our inalienable right to warm our homes to 20-plus degrees and walk around in a T-shirt and jeans in mid-winter. A survey reveals we are eating out less, buying fewer clothes, wearing more jumpers and turning off the lights when leaving a room. Horrid though the prospect of a cash-strapped winter is, shouldn't we have been doing this all along? Our parents certainly did.

With Friends like this who needs doctors?

In his new memoir, Friends star Matthew Perry, who played Chandler in the show, said his co-stars, including Jennifer Aniston, got him through when he nearly died from drug and substance abuse. 'It's like penguins... in nature, when one is sick or injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up, walk around it until that penguin can walk on its own. That's what the cast did for me.' They really did P-P-P-Pick Up A Penguin!

In his new memoir, Friends star Matthew Perry, who played Chandler in the show, said his co-stars, including Jennifer Aniston, got him through when he nearly died from drug and substance abuse

Kate gets it from Carole  yes, it's in the jeans

What is not to admire about the Princess of Wales's mum Carole Middleton, 67, quietly launching her Party Pieces company in the U.S. with pictures of her in a denim shirt, jeans and trainers?

She started the family business in 1987 in a spare room, made millions from it and taught her kids the importance of hard graft. And hasn't put a foot wrong since her daughter met her Prince two decades ago. Job well done, mum!

What is not to admire about the Princess of Wales's mum Carole Middleton, 67, quietly launching her Party Pieces company in the U.S. with pictures of her in a denim shirt, jeans and trainers?

Met Police boss Mark Rowley cried on learning that hundreds of cops accused of sexual assault, domestic abuse and corruption are still working in his force. Let's hope they were tears of rage. We don't employ the country's highest law enforcer to weep, but to act mercilessly in ridding the Met of woman-abusers.

Three years after Harry Dunn, 19, was knocked off his motorcycle and killed, U.S. spy Anne Sacoolas has finally admitted causing his death by careless driving. She will not serve a day in prison, which would enrage most mothers, but not Harry's mum Charlotte who said she didn't want Sacoolas to be imprisoned as 'we didn't wish to separate her from her [three] children, it's not their fault'. Only someone who knows the terrible anguish of losing a child could show such compassion.

Westminster wars

The demise of Liz Truss's premiership, at 44 days the shortest in British history, has already been turned into a pub quiz question. That's far too easy, the question should be how long was her resignation speech? It was just 89 seconds, a full two seconds for each day of her disastrous reign.

The leadership race has turned into a game of snakes and ladders. Snakes are everywhere in the Commons cesspit. The ladder is for the ambitions of Penny Mordaunt, described privately even by her supporters as a Pound Shop Margaret Thatcher.

The demise of Liz Truss's premiership, at 44 days the shortest in British history, has already been turned into a pub quiz question

As for those grand-standing MPs claiming they'll resign the Whip if Boris is elected and trigger a by-election, they should be careful what they wish for. With the Conservatives trailing Labour by 36 per cent in the polls, only 22 of the 357 Tory MPs would survive if a General Election was called.

Much as it saddens me to say it, after the disasters of Theresa May and Liz Truss's leadership, I can't see the Tory Party or the country voting in another woman as PM in my lifetime.

Meghan making Whoopi

A devastating setback for the Duchess of Sussex after Oscar-winner Whoopi Goldberg took her to task for describing women who appeared on Deal Or No Deal (as Meghan did) as bimbos. 'If that's how you feel,' says Whoopi, 'just maybe you don't want to make the other women feel bad because maybe they're not, maybe they're trying to make a living, too.'

'If that's how you feel,' says Whoopi, 'just maybe you don't want to make the other women feel bad because maybe they're not, maybe they're trying to make a living, too.'

And if Meghan was so horrified at being seen in this way, why did she then take a role in TV series 90210, in which she simulates oral sex in a car on actor Dustin Milligan?

Rod Stewart has rented a house for a Ukrainian family  a husband, wife and their five children. How is it that dad Rostyslav, 49, is here when all men under the age of 60 are required by law to stay in Ukraine and support the war effort? Just asking.

Kate Moss says she's 'the happiest I've ever been' having quit booze and drugs, focusing on 'self-love' through her new wellness company Cosmoss. With a little help no doubt from her 120-a-bottle Sacred Mist Eau De Parfum, a balance of oak, moss (geddit) and cedarwood to bring inner peace. I'm loving the sound of that; all that's missing from my life is her 62 million fortune!
Pub staff have revealed the most annoying things they've heard from customers on the job, ranging from unwanted sexual advances to comments on their career choices.

Three women working at The Prairie in Burnley, Lancashire, compiled a selection of the worst offenders in a jokey TikTok from the venue's account.

The humorous clip - which has had more than 6,500 views - highlighted the often patronising and sometimes leery tone used with servers.

Singing along to Alexis Jordan's Happiness, as part of the social media trend which sees people sharing the weirdest things they've been told, the trio danced along while outlining their experience.

Three women (pictured left and right) working at The Prairie in Burnley, Lancashire, compiled a selection of the worst offenders in a jokey TikTok from the venue's account

The humorous clip - which has had more than 6,500 views - highlighted the often patronising and sometimes leery tone used with servers

The comments shared were mostly flirtatious but included quips such as being told they've 'worked here a while'.

Other suggestive phrases hinted the customers would go for them 'if they were 20 years younger' and suggestions that they'd 'make beautiful children'.

Another had asked if the employees 'came as a side order'.

The Prairie describes itself as a 'friendly bunch' which prides itself 'on giving the warmest of welcomes' on the company's website, and has largely positive reviews on social media.

Singing along to Alexis Jordan's Happiness, as part of the social media trend which sees people sharing the most strange out-there things they've been told, the trio danced along while outlining their experience

Another had asked if the employees 'came as a side order'. It comes following a recent public call-out of celebrities who have been rude to servers

The pub's TikTok account appears to be run by the three women in the video, who make funny posts about working at the establishment, including clips about 'when your manager says you can go home early' and 'when it's last orders'.

It comes following a recent public call-out of celebrities who have been rude to servers.

Stars such as Hailey Bieber, Judd Apatow, Leslie Mann and Kylie Jenner have over the years been publicly criticised for their poor treatment of staff at bars and restaurants.

And Monday saw James Corden join the list after he was lambasted online by the owner of NYC restaurant Balthazar, Keith McNally, for being the 'most abusive customer' ever.

James Corden became the latest celebrity to be called out for rude behavior after he was briefly banned from New York's Balthazar restaurant amid claims that he was horrible to staff

The restaurateur shamed the Late Late Show host over two incidents - one in June and another in October - in which he yelled 'like crazy' at staff over an omelet and fries - and demanded free drinks 'this second'.

'James Corden is a hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny cretin of a man. And the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago,' McNally wrote in his scandalous Instagram post yesterday.

Corden, who is paid $36 million-a-year for his Late Late Show on CBS, was forced to apologize after the restaurateur's post immediately went viral.

Hours later, McNally posted an update and revealed that Corden had phoned to apologize 'profusely', and that he was no longer banned from the restaurant.

Owner Keith McNally described two incidents in which Corden mistreated his staff, which the Late Late Show host has since apologized for

'Anyone magnanimous enough to apologise to a deadbeat lay about like me (and my staff) doesnt deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar....all is forgiven,' he said.

The scandal is just the latest headline-making moment in which a famous name has been exposed for their less than impressive behavior while out in restaurants and bars.

In 2020, Hailey Bieber apologized to former New York City restaurant hostess Julia Carolan for her behaviour during their interactions.

Just days after Julia's viral TikTok video was posted, Hailey shared an apology and wrote in the comments: 'Just came across this video, and wanted to say so sorry if I've ever given you bad vibes or a bad attitude. Thats not ever my intention.

'Hate hearing that was your experience with me but glad u called me out so I can do better!! Hopefully we meet again so I can apologize in person.'
A Welsh man who loves foraging and eating free food from the sea is now educating people from around the world on how to go 'coastal foraging' with the support of his loyal 'business partner' - his dog.

Craig Evans, 62, from Ammanford, south west Wales, is always accompanied by his golden retriever, Llew, six, when he sets off on a seaside foraging mission and the pair often find delicacies like scallops, lobsters, crabs, seaweeds, mussels and razor clams.

But the father-of-four children aged 22 to 38, who is married to banking employee Liz Evans, 56, warns anyone tempted to go hunting for free gourmet produce that there are serious dangers involved, especially for beginners.

Craig Evans, 62, from Ammanford, south west Wales, who loves foraging and eating free food from the sea is now educating people from around the world on how to go 'coastal foraging' with the support of his loyal 'business partner' - his dog

Craig, a former aircraft weapons engineer and later bank employee, started learning how to forage as a 5-year-old child, exploring the rockpools when he was growing up in Carmarthenshire.

He said: 'People need to learn how to do this safely or so much can go wrong - not just for their own safety but also from an environmental point of view, if they take too much.

'A part of the physical danger is that people can be cut off by the tide after going out on a sandbank and getting trapped there.

'Another serious danger are cliff falls. I always tell people that they should stay away from the cliff sides because a number of people have been killed by cliff falls before.'

Craig often finds delicacies like scallops, lobsters, crabs, seaweeds, mussels and razor clams (pictured, a pot of seafood from his foraging)

His passion for coastal foraging turned into his full-time job five years ago when Craig set up his courses, which usually run six to seven days in a row depending on the tide, followed by an off week

He added: 'There are also fish that have sharp fins, like the Weever fish, whose sting inserts a neurotoxin which is extremely painful and can be fatal, which is why I insist people on my courses wear appropriate footwear.'

Craig's recipe for a coastal foraging meal... My 'standard' cooking method is: 1) Stir fry wild garlic bulbs, rock samphire and some dulse seaweed, which we forage during the course, in unsalted Shirgar Carmarthenshire butter. 2) Prepare the foraged items which can include, oysters, cockles, mussels, razor clams, soft shell clams, prawns, shrimps, by checking them, washing off any sand etc. 3) Humanely dispatch any crabs - that could be velvet swimming crabs, brown crabs or, if we are very lucky, lobsters. 4) Place the seafood in the stir fry with a little water. 5) Add some edible wildflowers and some other sea herbs on top and let the juices and butter bubble and steam through for around 10 minutes. 6) Once everything is cooked, serve in bowls with the resulting broth/sauce on the beach-yum!" Advertisement

To make good finds that are edible and can result in tasty one-pot meals at the end of a foraging day, several factors should be kept in mind, he said.

'It really depends what type of environment you're in, if you're going to get good finds. We've got rocky shores, muddy sand - there's a difference.'

He added: 'You get the better finds when the tides are lowest, which are called the spring tides. You usually only get about 15 a year.'

While Craig mostly now goes foraging while he's teaching courses, he also loves going out alone with Llew - and looking after the environment by collecting food sustainably is his number one priority.

'I don't just go foraging to find food, but also to be in the environment and to do research on how everything interacts,' he said.

He added: 'If something is taken away from nature, it creates a void. It's all about finding the perfect balance.

'Things like pollution or human activity cause imbalances, which is why I teach people on my courses to only take as much as they need and nothing more.'

By keeping everything in a balance, nature can recover, according to the foraging expert.

His passion for coastal foraging turned into his full-time job five years ago when Craig set up his courses, which usually run six to seven days in a row depending on the tide, followed by an off week.

He said: 'Basically, coastal foraging is something that's been going on since the start of time, since people have always lived along the shore and have been eating from the shore.

'At the end of the day, it was much more convenient and nutritious to gather food from the shores than go into the forest and get killed by bears or other animals.'

Craig passed his passion on to his own children and sometimes his two sons, Anthony Evans, 35, and Dafydd Evans, 22, help him with bigger courses or go foraging with him

Meanwhile his dog Llew often joins Craig and his groups in searching for the perfect meal on the coastline

He added: 'I take groups of people, usually around 12 of them, to teach them all about the tide, dangers and safety, but also what can be found and how it works.

'The local history and geology are an important part of the courses, as well as the links between low and high tides.'

His own interest in coastal foraging began when he went on beach walks along the 'extremely varied' South Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire coastline with his dad, Peter Evans, 85, and his two younger brothers Branden and Dean - though he wasn't interested in finding food to begin with.

He said: 'I would always pick up copper. My father would leave me and my brothers alone to have a bit of fun in the rockpools.

The father-of-five said foraging 'really depends what type of environment' you live in and that can impact whether 'you're going to get good finds'

'We'd just find things and research what they were. We didn't have a clue, but we picked

Craig passed his passion on to his own children and sometimes his two sons, Anthony Evans, 35, and Dafydd Evans, 22, help him with bigger courses or go foraging with him.

'It's very interesting and quite satisfying to pass the knowledge on, and to my grandchildren as well, which are six so far.'

At one stage, Craig kept aquariums with sea anemones or jelly fish in his office at home, to display the things he found on the coast.

He said that to make good finds that are edible and can result in tasty one-pot meals at the end of a foraging day, several factors should be kept in mind

And after a day's foraging is done, he shows his students how to turn their finds into delicious meals (left and right, razor clams, which are among his favourite finds)

The father-of-five even cooks the foraged foods in front of his students - and meals can range from mussels to octopus

He said: 'There were various types or fish, corals, octopus, crabs, prawns - it was a rockpool at home.

'I stopped because the room was commandeered by my sons for video games!'

Craig's courses have attracted people from all over the world - from Hong Kong, India, Australia, South Africa, Norway and Germany.

The majority of his course participants are from England, and he estimated around 10 per cent are from Wales.

'Just last week, someone flew out from the US just for the coastal foraging course,' Craig said.

Craig's courses have attracted people from all over the world - from Hong Kong, India, Australia, South Africa, Norway and Germany

'It's quite humbling, that people come such a long way.

'Most people only attend the course once, but some people come three or four times.'

And after a day's foraging is done, he shows his students how to turn their finds into delicious meals.

'It's all cooked in front of them and you're going through a step-by-step system,' he said.

'As part of the course, you teach them all about food safety - for example not eating anything that's dead, so getting clams from under the sand rather than those on top - and water quality, which determines what process the collected food needs to go through.'
A singleton who is looking for love made a PowerPoint presentation for her Tinder profile and says it's boosted her matches and likes on the dating app.

Victoria Voos, 31, from San Diego, California, put together the slides in under half an hour after seeing someone else do the same for their dating profile.

Her first slide includes a photo of herself with the title 'five reasons why you should swipe right'.

These include her witty humor, loving boujee things and being the owner of a cute dog.

Victoria Voos, 31, from San Diego, California, made a PowerPoint presentation for her Tinder profile and says it's boosted her matches and likes on the dating app

Her first slide includes a stunning photo of herself with the title 'five reasons why you should swipe right'

The presentation continues to show her interests and favorite things such as watching horror and sci-fi movies and eat pickles

It also highlights some of her favorite things, facts about her and the reasons to date her.

Her presentation continues to show her interests and favorite things such as watching horror and sci-fi movies and eat pickles.

Since uploading the slides to Tinder at the beginning of October, Victoria has been inundated with messages.

She now receives up to four 'super likes' a day - after previously only get three to four a year.

Reason three was because she 'enjoys fun and boujee activities' next to snaps of her looking glamorous

Next to a snap of the beauty holding her sweet pooch she said reason four was because she had a 'very cute dog'

She's hoping her new profile will help her find Mr Right and has even put together a template for others to use too.

Victoria, a social media manager and content creator, said: 'I love to be creative, so it didn't take me long to put together.

'I created slides on my interests and made it clear that I like boujee things rather than being into active stuff.

'It's been a great conversation starter. I've had up to four super likes in a day since putting it up.

Victoria, left and right, said her profile is a 'great conversation starter' and she had up to 'four super likes in a day' since putting it up

Next to snaps of her hanging out with friends she wrote reason number five to date her was because she is 'very adaptable and makes friends easily'

'I think people appreciate the effort. I just hope it catches the attention of the good guys.'

Victoria explained she often struggles in the dating world as a proud plus-sized woman.

'I'm plus sized and I'm not everyone's cup of tea,' she said.

'It's hard finding someone who doesn't just want to get laid by someone larger or is fatphobic.'

Victoria put together a slideshow for her profile - including some of her favourite things, facts about her and the reasons to date her.

'We can't control the options out there but hopefully my profile will help me catch the right ones,' she said.

'My reasons to date me are that I'm funny and witty, enjoys fun boujee activities, I have a dog and make friends easily.

'I've had messages saying they love my PowerPoint and that it's very professional and creative.

'I've had lots of conversations off the back off it and have a date planned next week.

In the last PowerPoint slide Victoria wrote 'if you have made it this far, why not swipe right?' next to a snap of her looking relaxed drinking wine

Victoria shares many pretty fashion snaps on her Instagram profile where she has over 25,000 followers

'My advice to others when making a profile is that they include lots of interests about themselves because that will help them find the right fit.

'My friends have started using my template on their dating profiles.

'I'm comfortable in having high standards for myself to help catch the right one.

'Hopefully my new PowerPoint style profile will help me find the one.'
The calendar has raised $3.4million since 1993

Includes firefighters posing with a range of adorable animals

The 2023 Australian Firefighters Calendar is now available

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Aussie firefighters have ripped off their shirts and picked up adorable animals for the country's most anticipated calendar.

Models in the 2023 Australian Firefighters Calendar are as buff as ever as the publication celebrates its 30th year.

Firefighter Matt Haydon was extra brave as he cosied up with Pooh Bear the echidna, while muscly Matt Ross held Cindy the koala.

There's a diverse offering this year with eight variations of the classic calendar including a 'horse calendar' and 'denim calendar'.

The calendar has raised $3.4million since 1993.

Firefighter Matt Haydon cosies up with Pooh Bear the echidna

Fireman Dennis Fay posed with a tan and white filly on a beach for one shot

The muscly Matt Ross holds Cindy the Koala

Brawny fireman Ben Church poses alongside Daisy the duck for the 2023 calendar

Greig Harris brought his dogs Harley and Hugo along to the shoot

Mitch Evans held Princess the lamb for the calendar

David Moore keeps Oak the horse under control

Nathan Jenkins and Jesse the eagle both struck a perfect pose

Fireman Mal Wright and Kaylie the horse took a stroll on the sand

Greig Harris and Richard McCluskey posed with horses Dove and Claire
Princess Charlene paid an emotional visit to an animal shelter as she sent 'all her love' to fans following her return to royal duties.

The mother-of-two, 44, shared a photo of herself stroking a rescue dog at the Society of the Protection of Animals (SPA) shelter in Peille - a village in between Monaco and the French Alps - yesterday.

The Princess - who was announced as SPA's new president earlier this year - opened the premises with her husband Prince Albert II last month.

Charlene opted for a black turtleneck and slim-fitting camel trousers as she was taken on a tour of the new shelter this week.

Princess Charlene photo of herself stroking a rescue dog at the Society of the Protection of Animals (SPA) shelter in Peille yesterday

Princess Charlene has stepped up her royal duties in recent months. Pictured at The Queen's funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19, 2022 with husband Prince Albert

In the caption, the mother encouraged her 450,000 followers to support their local animal charities.

She wrote: 'Went to visit the Monaco SPA. Please support a local SPA or animal shelter near you.

'Thank you. Merci. With all my love.'

Charlene has stepped up her public appearances in recent months, following a long illness and stint in South Africa, where she campaigned against rhino poaching.

The Princess opened the animal shelter in the mountain village of Peille with her husband Prince Albert II last month

The couple put on a united front and held hands after declaring the animal shelter open. Princess Charlene spent almost a year away from Monaco after undergoing treatment for an unspecified condition.

The 44-year-old spent almost a year away from the Mediterranean principality in her native South Africa, undergoing treatment for an unspecified condition.

She then booked into a clinic in Switzerland, leading to fears that she would find it hard to return to Royal life with her 64-year-old husband, Prince Albert.

But in a soul-searching interview in the latest edition of Monaco-Matin newspaper, the Princess said she was determined to overcome her problems.

'My state of health is still fragile and I don't want to go too fast,' she said. 'The path has been long, difficult and very painful.'

Referring to her seven-year-old twins, Gabriella and Jacques, Charlene said: 'When I returned to the Principality, I focused all my energy on my children, my husband and my health because they are my priority.'

Princess Charlene says she is 'focusing all her energy' on her children Gabriella and Albert, both seven, since returning to Monaco. Pictured on September 3, 2022

Princess Charlene took a stand against rhino poaching in South Africa while receiving treatment for an unspecified medical condition

The Princess was appointed president of Monaco's Society of the Protection of Animals earlier this year. Pictured in South Africa in May 2021

Denying rumours about a possible divorce or a permanent move to Switzerland, she said: 'I am very happy to be back home in Monaco and with my family.'

Princess Charlene returned to public duties in May, making the occasional public appearance with her husband Prince Albert and her children Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella by her side.

She posed with Albert for a portrait marking their 11th wedding anniversary, and joined him in taking her children back to school in September.

Charlene made her most high profile engagement last month when she joined her husband at the Queen's historic funeral in London, joining 2,000 other mourners at Westminster Abbey.
King Charles has paid tribute to his 'beloved mother' and opened up about his 'immense sorrow' following his mother's death.

The King, 73, is replying to people who sent their condolences when the Queen died, in some of the first royal correspondence to be stamped with his new cypher.

In a photo posted on Twitter, a royal fan shared the card they had received from Buckingham Palace, which thanked them for the kind words.

King Charles thanked well-wishers for their 'generous' messages of condolence following the Queen's death in cards which included a sweet photo of himself and his late mother at Balmoral in 1952, when he was around four years old

The message inside the card thanked people for their well-wishes and opened up about his 'immense sorrow' since the Queen died

The message in the card read: 'It was so very kind of you to send me such a wonderfully generous message following the death of my beloved mother.

'Your most thoughtful words are enormously comforting, and I cannot tell you how deeply they are appreciated at this time of immense sorrow.'

The card was imprinted with the C III R cypher, which means Charles II Rex. Rex is the Latin for 'king'.

It also carries a representation of the Tudor Crown in a reference to his grandfather, George VI.

The cards are plain on the front cover with a black border and King Charles's cypher imprinted in the centre

Although the cover of the card is a simple design with a black border and the cypher, the inside shows a sweet photo of a young Charles with his mother.

Taken at Balmoral in 1952, when the King was around four years old, the photo shows him leaning out of a window to reach for something while the Queen stands behind him, beaming.

As Charles dutifully stepped into the role of King immediately after the Queen died, royal fans could be forgiven for forgetting that the he has also been grieving for his mother.

However, since he ascended the throne, the King has kept memories of his mother dear with subtle hints paying tribute to her - and by addressing her legacy, which he hopes to continue during his own reign.

In his first televised address to the nation following his mother's death, the King said: 'Throughout her life, Her Majesty The Queen  my beloved Mother  was an inspiration and example to me and to all my family, and we owe her the most heartfelt debt any family can owe to their mother; for her love, affection, guidance, understanding and example.

'Queen Elizabeth was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing. That promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today.'

He spoke from the Blue Room at Buckingham Palace, where his mother had recorded some of her Christmas Day speeches, and had a photo of the Queen on the desk next to him.

The King continued: 'Her dedication and devotion as Sovereign never waivered, through times of change and progress, through times of joy and celebration, and through times of sadness and loss.'

The new royal cypher was first seen being printed on 27 September as they rolled off the Court Post Office printer at Buckingham Palace.

The cypher is the personal property of the King and was selected by him personally from a series of designs prepared by the College of Arms.

The King's cypher is perhaps best known for appearing on items including postboxes and state signage, but it is also used by government departments and by the Royal Household for franking mail.

A Scottish version of the symbol features the Scottish Crown, approved by the Lord Lyon King of Arms.

Queen Elizabeth II's design featured the St Edward's Crown, which can be found on pint glasses and government buildings to police uniforms.

When the cypher first debuted, some pointed out it bore a striking similarity to Christiano Ronaldo's own branding, which features his initials and his shirt number.
The teenager disappeared on her way home from a flute lesson in Rome, 1983

A 15-year-old girl who vanished nearly 40 years ago in Italy was sexually assaulted by someone close to the Pope before she went missing, according to a new Netflix documentary.

Emanuela Orlandi was on her way home from a flute lesson in Rome when she disappeared near the city's Piazza Navonaon on June 22, 1983 - at the age of just 15.

After nearly 40 years, Netflix documentary Vatican Girl, which investigates the teenager's disappearance, has explored a new theory focused on the Vatican.

A new theory has emerged into the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi (pictured), who vanished aged 15 in 1983. A childhood friend of the teenager claims she was sexually assaulted by someone 'close to the Pope' around a week before she went missing

The disappearance of Emanuela sparked a nationwide search, but nearly 40 years later, there is still no trace of her

The documentary interviews a childhood friend of the teenager, who claims Emanuela was molested in the Vatican 'by someone close to the Pope' - John Paul II.

The theory suggests a criminal organisation called the Magliana Gang knew about the assault and kidnapped her to put pressure on the Vatican to extort money.

The belief is that the Vatican had borrowed money from the gang to fund a trade union in Poland, where the Pope was from, which was fighting back against communism.

In the documentary, the woman claiming to be Emanuela's childhood friend, who does not reveal her face, claims the teen told her about the assault about a week before she vanished, The Telegraph reports.

She claims Emanuela told her she had been 'bothered' by someone 'close to the Pope' while she was walking in the Vatican's grounds a few days earlier.

After confirming the incident Emanuela had reported was 'absolutely' of a sexual nature, she broke down in tears and admitted she was too terrified to speak up about it before now.

The new theory claims someone close to Pope John Paul II (pictured) had sexually assaulted Emanuela just days before she vanished

The vanishing of Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican employee, has horrified and intrigued Italians for decades. Theories around her disappearance have run rife - with some convinced the Holy See knows more about the case than it has revealed.

Some say it was an attempt to blackmail the Vatican to release Mehmet Ali Agca - a Turk jailed in 1981 for trying to assassinate Pope John Paul II.

Another theory put forward in 2012 by an exorcist said she was kidnapped by a member of the Vatican police to be used as a sex slave and later murdered.

Others said there is a connection to the grave of Enrico De Pedis, a mobster buried in a Rome basilica who was a boss inside the Magliana Band criminal organisation.

Investigators looked into the possibility that she had been kidnapped by members of the Banda della Magliana (Magliana Band) in an attempt to recover money lost by crime groups when the Banco Ambrosiano, a Vatican-linked bank, collapsed.

In 1982 Roberto Calvi, the bank's chairman, was found hanging from scaffolding underneath London's Blackfriars Bridge.

In August, another theory emerged which was seen to link Enrico De Pedis to the disappearance, based on testimony given by former mobster Salvatore Sarnataro in 2008, which pointed the finger at De Pedis, as well as his own son.

Sarnataro said his son - Marco, a gang member - had confessed to taking part in an operation to follow and kidnap Orlandi on the orders of De Pedis - who in addition to being a crime boss was also a member of the Opus Dei.

According to Sarnataro, Marco was ordered by De Pedis to tail the teenager for days before he and two others took her in a BMW to Rome's Eur lakes district, before handing her off to another crime boss who took her away.

'I later learned that my son, for this courtesy, had a Suzuki 1100 motorcycle as a gift,' Sarnataro said - according to transcripts newly published by Italy's La Republica in the summer.

According to the newspaper, Sarnataro Senior said his son passed the teenager on to Sergio Virtu, who is believed to have been De Pedis' bodyguard. Where she was taken from there is unknown.

Sarnataro said Marco told him of his involvement in the infamous plot when the pair were serving time in prison on drugs charges.

The transcripts show Sarnataro said he did not know why his son told him about his involvement in the kidnapping. 'I understood immediately that he was living through a period of great fear,' he told police. Marco had died a year prior to the testimony.
Theatregoers were left in hysterics last night as the Hamilton cast sang 'are they going to keep replacing whoever is in charge' - just six hours after Liz Truss resigned.

The outgoing PM announced yesterday afternoon that she will be leaving Downing Street next week -just 44 days after taking on the role.

Following the Prime Minister's statement at 1:30pm, the Hamilton cast and crew hammered home song lyrics about the US voting system - which eerily reflects the UK's current political landscape.

You'll Be Back is a playful break-up sung by King George III, joking that the US will regret its decision to break away from the United Kingdom.

The monarch then appears on stage for two follow-up songs, where he's mystified about the prospect of an elected ruler.

Liz Truss - pictured outside Downing Street yesterday - has resigned just 44 days after becoming PM

King George III - who is currently being played by Joel Montague in London's West End - left theatre fans in hysterics over his delivery of lyrics which eerily reflect the UK's political landscape

Twitter user Matt shared an audio clip of Joel's performance of I Know Him on October 20

In I Know Him, the King - who is currently being played by Joel Montague in London's West End - discovers that John Adams is replacing George Washington as President.

He sings: 'Are they going to keep on replacing whoever is in charge? If so, who's next?'

But following the news that the UK will be shortly be appointed its third Prime Minister in three months, the lyrics struck a chord with audience members last night.

In a video posted on Twitter by theatregoer Matt, the actor is heard purposefully pausing for dramatic effect while the audience howls with laughter.

The delighted theatre fan captioned the clip: 'Being at Hamilton [in the] West End the day liz truss resigned was a blast.'

Over 2.5m people have seen Hamilton in New York since it made its Broadway debut in January 2015. Lin-Manuel Miranda (middle) wrote and starred in the smash hit musical

Since it was shared on social media last night, the video has racked up over 10,000 views and went down a storm with other users.

'We were there and it was amazing,' one replied.

Another joked: 'Sounds as though you were in the room where it happened!'

'It was perfect and electric,' a third said.

Over 2.5m people have seen Hamilton in New York since it made its Broadway debut in January 2015.

According to Disney+, a further 2.8m people watched the recorded performance of the original cast within two weeks of it landing on the streaming platform in July 2020.

After just 44 disastrous days in No10, Ms Truss took to a lectern outside the famous black door to confirm her departure, sealing her fate as the shortest-serving premier in modern political history.

Frozen star Jonathan Groff played King George III in the original Broadway production

Revealing she had informed the King of her decision, she said: 'I cannot deliver on the mandate.... I will remain as PM until a successor has been chosen.'

Penny Mordaunt this afternoon became the first Tory leadership hopeful to officially launch a bid to replace Liz Truss as Prime Minister.

The Leader of the House of Commons, who also ran for the leadership this summer, declared her candidacy on Twitter as she promised a 'fresh start'.

'Ive been encouraged by support from colleagues who want a fresh start, a united party and leadership in the national interest,' she posted, as she unveiled her 'PM4PM' campaign.
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Chilling new footage of Canada's 'Barbie' killer showed her telling police that her 'Ken' husband forced her to torture and kill three teenage girls in the early '90s - but authorities say video tapes of the gruesome attacks show her 'enjoying' it.

Together, 'young and beautiful' couple Paul Bernardo, now 58, and Karla Homolka, now 52, kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered multiple young women - including Karla's own sister - in one of the most 'sensational and sinister cases in Canadian history.'

After they got caught, Karla claimed that 'physically and verbally abusive' Paul made her commit the gruesome crimes with him, and that she too was a victim.

She was offered a plea deal from prosecutors in exchange for her testimony against her then-husband; however, after the police found a series of video tapes that were taken while the offenses were being committed - which told a completely different story - the case, and Karla's sentence, swept the nation, becoming one of the most controversial rulings Canada has ever seen.

Chilling new footage of Canada's 'Barbie' killer showed her telling police that her 'Ken' husband forced her to torture and kill three teenage girls in the early '90s - but authorities say video tapes of the gruesome attacks show her 'enjoying' it

Together, 'young and beautiful' couple Paul Bernardo, now 58, and Karla Homolka, now 52, sexually assaulted and murdered multiple young women - including Karla's own sister - in one of the most 'sensational and sinister cases in Canadian history'

After they got caught, Karla claimed that 'physically and verbally abusive' Paul made her commit the gruesome crimes with him, and she was offered a plea deal in exchange for her testimony against him

However, after the police found a series of video tapes that were taken while the offenses were being committed - which told a different story - the case, and Karla's sentence, became one of the most controversial rulings Canada has ever seen

Now, new videos taken during her hours-long interview with police, shared by Real Women/Real Stories, showed her detailing the horrific killings and admitting to her integral role in them - but insisting that she only participated to stop Paul from 'hurting' her.

'If I didn't turn the water tab off completely, he'd hit me. If I didn't say the right thing, he'd hit me,' she told police. 'He'd hold knives to my throat, he told me I better watch my back. He said, "Always watch your back with me." He was physically and verbally abusive to me.'

The pair met when Karla, originally from St. Catharines, Ontario, was just 17 years old and Paul, from the Scarborough area of Toronto, was 23. She was still in high school but was working at a pet store part time and attended a convention on behalf of the shop in Paul's town.

Paul, who was a University of Toronto student at the time, studying to be an accountant, saw her at her hotel restaurant, it was said to be 'love at first sight.'

'There was electricity in the air, it was love at first sight,' Alan Cairns, author of Deadly Innocence, a book about the murders, said in a previous documentary about the case. 'They called it a match made in heaven, but it was clearly a match made in hell.'

The two quickly fell in love - but while their romance was blossoming, Paul was secretly attacking women across southern Ontario.

Now, new videos taken during her hours-long interview with police, shared by Real Women/Real Stories, showed her detailing the horrific killings and admitting to her role in them - but insisting she only participated to stop Paul from 'hurting' her

'If I didn't turn the water tab off completely, he'd hit me. If I didn't say the right thing, he'd hit me,' she told police. 'He'd hold knives to my throat, he told me I better watch my back. He was physically and verbally abusive to me'

The pair met when Karla, originally from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, was just 17 years old and Paul, from the Scarborough area of Toronto, was 23. Karla is seen as a teen

According to a previous documentary, Paul (left) had a difficult childhood; his mother was verbally abusive and at age 16, he found out that his father (right) wasn't actually his biological dad - something that's been said to have greatly affected him

Throughout late 1987 and early 1988, over a 13-month period, Paul attacked 11 different women across Scarborough. He would grab them at night, and sexually assault them from behind so they couldn't see his face

According to the doc, Paul had a difficult childhood; his mother was verbally abusive and at age 16, he found out that his father wasn't actually his biological dad - something that's been said to have greatly affected him.

As a teen, it was reported that he started looking through his female neighbors' windows while they undressed. But despite his inappropriate behavior behind closed doors, Paul was able to keep it a secret from everyone around him.

'He seemed so normal. This is common in psychopathic personalities, they are often very charming,' Frank Davey, author of Karla's Web explained in the documentary.

During his high school and college years, he had several girlfriends who all later accused him of becoming 'abusive.'

'He became fixated on violence towards women and conquering women,' Alan added.

Throughout late 1987 and early 1988, over a 13-month period, 11 different women across Scarborough were attacked by a man who had become known as the Scarborough Rapist. He would grab them at night, and sexually assault them from behind so they couldn't see his face.

'This was a very dangerous sub-type of rapist. He was very anger-based, perhaps even sadistic in nature,' Gregg McCrary, former FBI profiler who worked on the case, revealed.

Eventually, one of the woman was able to get a look at her attacker's face and she helped the police create a composite sketch (left). Many of Paul's friends noticed a resemblance between him (right) and the sketch - and they contacted authorities

The police then took some of his DNA and sent it away for testing - but it would unfortunately take two more years for them to get the results back after the sample disappeared. During this time, Paul and Karla were falling hard for one another

Karla soon started to learn about her fiance's sadistic sexual deviations, and according to the documentary, two days before Christmas in 1990, she agreed to help him drug her then-15-year-old sister, Tammy (seen), so that he could have sex with her

'Not only were these women being brutalized, but we felt we were on the verge of it moving into the line of homicide.'

The pair laced Tammy's drink with sleeping pills; Paul allegedly raped the teenager while Karla held her down, and he then ordered Karla to rape her too - while he video taping the entire thing. She is seen hours before her death

Eventually, one of the women was able to get a look at her attacker's face and she helped the police create a composite sketch - which was released to the public.

Immediately, many of Paul's friends noticed a resemblance between him and the sketch - and they contacted authorities, who brought Paul in for questioning.

The police then took some of his DNA and sent it away for testing - but it would unfortunately take two more years for them to get the results back, after the sample mysteriously disappeared.

During this time, Paul and Karla were falling hard for one another. He then decided to move from Scarborough to St. Catharines, where she lived, and in December of 1989, the two got engaged during a romantic trip to Niagara Falls.

Karla soon started to learn about her fiance's sadistic sexual deviations, and according to the documentary, two days before Christmas in 1990, she agreed to help him drug her then-15-year-old sister, Tammy, so that he could have sex with her.

'He talked about how he really liked her and how she was getting really cute,' she told police of Paul's fascination with Tammy.

'He kept on pushing and pushing and pushing. Finally I said, "OK," thinking it would just be one time, that's it, it would shut him up,' she added of her decision to help him rape her sister. 'I figured he'd stop bothering me and hurting me.'

Afterwards, Tammy (seen) began to vomit and she tragically choked on her own throw up, resulting in her suffocating to death. Officials concluded that she had died of natural causes

'He kept on pushing and pushing and pushing. Finally I said, "OK," thinking it would just be one time, that's it, it would shut him up,' Karla told police of her decision to help him rape her sister (seen). 'I figured he'd stop bothering me and hurting me'

On June 15, 1991, just days before their wedding, Paul woke Karla up in the middle of the night with a present - a young girl he had kidnapped - 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy - who he planned to keep her as his sex slave

He, with with Karla's knowledge, held her captive for hours, repeatedly assaulting her and recording the attacks on video - but less than 24 hours later, she was strangled to death. Paul and Karla are pictured

It's unclear which of them killed Leslie, but Karla told police that she never touched the young girl, just watched while her husband did

Together, the pair laced Tammy's drink with sleeping pills. Paul allegedly raped the teenager while Karla held her down, and he then ordered Karla to rape her too - while he video taping the entire thing.

Afterwards, Tammy began to vomit and she tragically choked on her own throw up, resulting in her suffocating to death.

On April 16, 1991, the newlyweds abducted 15-year-old Kristen French while she was walking home from school. The couple kept Kristen in their home for days - raping, sodomizing, and beating her, while recording the assaults, before they killed her

Paul and Karla called 911, claiming that she had passed out from drinking. She was pronounced dead at the hospital, and officials concluded that she had died of natural causes.

On June 15, 1991, just days before their wedding, Paul woke Karla up in the middle of the night with a present - a young girl he had kidnapped.

Paul had taken 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy from the backyard of her home in Burlington, Canada, and had planned to keep her as his sex slave.

He, with with Karla's knowledge, held her captive for hours, repeatedly assaulting her and recording the attacks on video - and less than 24 hours later, she was strangled to death.

It's unclear which of them killed Leslie, but Karla told police that she never touched the young girl, just watched while her husband did.

Two weeks later, on the day of Paul and Karla's wedding, Leslie's body was found chopped up into small pieces by fishermen at Lake Gibson.

According to people who knew them, the couple had an 'intense obsession' with each other.

In the police footage, Karla (seen with Paul) admitted to 'holding Kristen's head down' during the car ride, as well as unplugging their phones, closing their blinds, and locking their doors once they got to their house

Karla (pictured) also told police that she helped guard the teenager, who was bound with electrical chord, by watching over her with a rubber mallet when Paul would go on errands

'It was a very destructive relationship. They fed into one another, and encouraged and supported one another in doing things that were unspeakable,' Dr. Fred Berlin, a sexual disorder specialist at Johns Hopkins University, said in the documentary.

'They were attractive, intelligent, in love. The idea that these were the bad guys and that they were capable of doing anything so vile is something that's hard for us to comprehend.'

In January of 1993, however, Karla decided to leave Paul after he allegedly beat her with a flashlight, leaving her with two black eyes and a broken rib

Alan added, 'The interest in this case was not sparked by the brutality of the murders. It was the disbelief that such an attractive man and beautiful young girl could team up and be involved in something so bad. The American's coined them Ken and Barbie.'

On April 16, 1991, the newlyweds abducted 15-year-old Kristen French while she was walking home from school. According to eyewitnesses, Karla asked the teen to come over to their car because they needed help with directions, when suddenly, Paul grabbed her and forced her into the vehicle.

In the police footage, Karla admitted to 'holding Kristen's head down' during the car ride, as well as unplugging their phones, closing their blinds, and locking their doors once they got to their house.

The couple kept Kristen in their home for days - she was raped, sodomized, beaten, and eventually strangled to death. Her body was discovered in a ditch on the side of the road days later.

Again, Karla claimed that she didn't touch Kristen during that time - but that she was present as her husband committed the terrible crimes. She also told police that she helped guard the teenager, who was bound with electrical chord, by watching over her with a rubber mallet when Paul would go on errands.

She said she grew close to the victim during their time together, since they would have 'girl talk,' which made it 'hurt more' when Paul killed her.

Around the same time, Paul's DNA sample - which had been collected two years earlier while police were investigating the Scarborough Rapist - was finally processed. He was arrested on February 17, 1993. He is seen on the day of his arrest

After Karla told the police what had happened, they asked her to bring them around her house and show them where each murder took place, but she seemed more concerned about the state of her furniture

'Can you answer a question for you? Was any of the furniture damaged as a result of the investigation?' she could be heard saying in body cam footage of the house tour. She also asked, 'Can I have that book or does it have to stay here?'

Karla agreed to testify against Paul in exchange for a reduced sentence for herself; she was convicted on two counts of manslaughter and received a 12-year sentence. She filed for divorce from Paul soon after

'I never should've gotten to know Kristen because once you get emotionally involved with these people, it hurts a lot more,' she said.

Karla recalled Paul 'anally raping' Kristen in front of her before 'strangling' her to death.

However, it wasn't until after she had been sentenced that police found the video tapes the couple had taken while committing the crimes, which showed her not only helping Paul in his acts, but also participating in some of them herself. Karla is seen in 2005

'Her feet were tied with electrical chord, and there was electrical chord around her neck,' she told police. 'He anally raped her and then he strangled her after he was done. It stands out really clear in my head because the night before I left him he did the exact same thing to me only he didn't kill me.'

In January of 1993, Karla decided to leave Paul after he allegedly beat her with a flashlight, leaving her with two black eyes and a broken rib.

Around the same time, Paul's DNA sample - which had been collected two years earlier while police were investigating the Scarborough Rapist - was finally processed.

The police soon started to link all the crimes together, and they brought Karla in for questioning, in the hopes that she'd turn on her ex-lover.

After Karla told the police what had happened, they asked her to bring them around her house and show them where each murder took place, but she seemed more concerned about the state of her furniture.

'Can you answer a question for you? Was any of the furniture damaged as a result of the investigation?' she could be heard saying in body cam footage of the house tour.

She later asked, 'Can I ask you a question? Can I have that book or does it have to stay here?'

Karla agreed to testify against Paul in exchange for a reduced sentence for herself; she was convicted on two counts of manslaughter and received a 12-year sentence. She filed for divorce from Paul soon after.

However, it wasn't until after she had been sentenced that police found the video tapes the couple had taken while committing the crimes, which showed her not only helping Paul in his acts, but also participating in some of them, with one officer claiming in the doc that she even appeared to 'enjoy' it; but at that point, it was too late.

After serving 12 years behind bars, Karla was released on July 5, 2005. She moved to Montreal where she got remarried and has since welcomed three kids. She is seen after her release

Karla's plea deal received severe scrutiny at the time, and was branded by the media as, 'The deal with the devil.' She now lives a normal life out of the spotlight, but many people still feel she was given too light of a sentence

On September 1, 1995, then-31-year-old Paul (seen with Karla) was found guilty of nine charges, including kidnapping, unlawful confinement, unlawful aggravated assault, and murder, and was sentenced to life in prison

'As I see it, she was more of an accomplish in these crimes than a victim,' Dr. Berlin said in the documentary.

'Was Karla given too light of a sentence? Did she get off way too lightly on this thing? That's certainly the opinion of a lot of folks,' Gregg added. 'I have my concern that she may be more psychopathic than Paul.'

Karla's plea deal received severe scrutiny at the time, and was branded by the media as, 'The deal with the devil.'

Paul was arrested on February 17, 1993, and charged with nine different counts, including kidnapping, unlawful confinement, unlawful aggravated assault, and murder.

His trial began two years later - and Karla was the prosecutor's key witness. In a letter obtained by the documentary that was sent by Karla from jail, she wrote, 'I'm letting my bangs go, after all, I want to look my absolute best when I go and see Paul, I want him to drool when he sees me.'

She took to the stand, where she branded him as the mastermind behind the whole thing. On September 1, 1995, then-31-year-old Paul was found guilty of all nine charges, and was sentenced to life in prison.

After serving 12 years behind bars, Karla was released on July 5, 2005. She moved to Montreal where she changed her name and got remarried to her lawyer's brother; they have since welcomed three kids together.

She now lives a normal life out of the spotlight, but many people still feel she was given too light of a sentence.

'All we can do now is hope she doesn't harm anyone else,' Gregg concluded in the doc.

As for Paul, he is still in prison, and was denied parole on June 22, 2021.
Wikipedia users may want to add more clarifying keywords when searching about the UK's government crisis in 2022.

Wikipedia editors have recently added a new landing page that asks users to be more specific when searching about the 2022 UK government crisis in light of now-former UK prime Minister Luz Truss' resignation, per Gizmodo.

You may remember that Boris Johnson, Truss' predecessor as UK Prime Minister, had resigned earlier in 2022 due to a separate government crisis.

Wikipedia 2022 UK Government Crises Search Confusion Details

Wikipedia users will find a new landing page when searching about the government crises the UK government faced during 2022. This landing page contains a list of articles related to the title "2022 United Kingdom government crisis" or search terms connected to it.

As of the writing of this article, the page contains two links for the two separate crises the UK government underwent. The first is the crisis caused by a series of events that led to Johnson's resignation, while the other covers the Sept. 2022 mini-budget conflict that caused Truss to resign as prime minister after six weeks in office, per NBC News.

The creation of the landing page was caused by Wikipedia editors' confusion on which political crisis was being written about, as the two happened in short succession of each other - Johnson's crisis took place in July while Truss' occurred in October.

Defining The UK Government Crises

To differentiate between the two crises, the July 2022 UK government crisis started when Johnson's character and integrity were put into question.

Read More: The Surprising Rise of Cyberpunk 2077 From the Brink of Disappointment  How Did CDPR Do It?

Johnson's character was scrutinized when he appointed Chris Pincher, who was the focus of a sexual assault complaint, per TIME. Meanwhile, his integrity was criticized when his staff violated social distancing rules by holding a series of parties during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic while most Britons stayed in their homes, per NPR.

These two events eventually made lawmakers, officials, aides, and members of his cabinet resign due to them believing that they could no longer serve under Johnson's leadership.

A YouGov poll found that 3 in 4 Britons said that Johnson was untrustworthy due to these key events, with 69% believing Johnson should resign.

As for the Oct. 2022 crisis, Johnson's successor, Truss, resigned from her post following a failed tax-cutting budget that was "disastrous" for the Pound Sterling, causing a revolt within her own Conservative Party, per CNBC.

A separate NBC News report mentioned that Truss proposed to remove the top tier of income tax as part of many economic reforms that caused the UK's currency to plunge to historic lows.

Although the pound's value increased as soon as the announcement was made, it eventually dove down after Truss defended the proposed tax cut and her economic agenda.

Many of Truss' colleagues in the Conservative party and in parliament were against the reforms, forcing her to abolish her plans.

This lack of support from her colleagues and in parliament ultimately led to Truss' resignation, as she felt she couldn't deliver the mandate on which she was elected by the Conservative Party.

Related Article: Wikipedia Artciles Have Influenced Legal Judgments, Experiment Shows
The unusual method has many health benefits and has sparked many users to try it in hopes it'll help revive them after a night out

Dr. Jackson has been praised for his 'hack' that sees people dunking their face in a bowl of ice water to help relieve the symptoms that come with hangovers

If you've found yourself with a throbbing headache after having one too many drinks the night before, he recommended a bowl of ice water to 'cure' you

If you've ever found yourself with a throbbing headache after having one too many drinks the night before - listen up, because one doctor claims he has the ultimate cure for your post-alcohol agony... and all you need is a bowl of ice water.

Dr. Chris Jackson, a doctor of pharmacy from Austin, Texas, has gone viral on TikTok after offering insight on how to get rid of post-alcohol illness by submerging your face into a large bowl of ice water.

Dr. Jackson has been praised for his 'hack' that sees people dunking their face in a bowl of ice water to help relieve the pounding headaches, nausea, dizziness and sensitivity to light and sound that come along with a hangover.

Captioning the video, 'If you didn't prepare your body for a night of drinking, this might be the solution for you,' Dr. Jackson explained why ice water is more beneficial than you may think.

Dr. Chris Jackson, a doctor of pharmacy from Austin, Texas, has gone viral on TikTok after offering insight on how to get rid of post-alcohol illness

If you've found yourself with a throbbing headache after having one too many drinks the night before, he recommended a bowl of ice water to 'cure' you

Dr. Jackson has been praised for his 'hack' that sees people dunking their face in a bowl of ice water to help relieve the symptoms that come with hangovers

'Submerging your face in ice-cold water is going to activate the diver's reflex.

'This turns on the part of your brain that's responsible for digestion, which might help with nausea.'

He added that you should be keeping you face in the water for '10 to 15 seconds' and dunking you face 'three times'.

Dr. Jackson added it's a 'low key solution' that 'helps with migraines, anxiety, hangovers,' and, according to the health expert, 'it works wonders.'

The unusual method has sparked many users to try it in hopes it'll help revive them after a night out.

Hundreds of users have posted videos of themselves adding water and ice into a large bowl and dunking their face inside.

In each videos, the social media users claim the hack 'really works' and that they 'feel amazing' after soaking their face in the ice-cold water.

And while many want to reek the benefits of this ice water facial for their hangovers, experts have added it has various other advantages, making it your new favorite facial.

Hundreds of users have posted videos of themselves adding water and ice into a large bowl of water and dunking their face inside

In each videos, the social media users claim the hack 'really works' and that they 'feel amazing' after soaking their face in the ice-cold water

Users seemed to agree with the health expert and couldn't stop praising him for his simple yet effective hack

According to Healthline, an ice facial can help reduce puffy eyes, ease acne, soothe a sunburn, reduce swelling and inflammation, reduce signs of aging and help give you skin a boost.

Ice facials are also said to help reduce anxiety and depression.

Users seemed to agree with the health expert and couldn't stop praising him for his simple yet effective hack.

'Alright, no lie, tried it, it wasn't immediate but about fifteen minutes later the nauseated feeling went away,' commented one user.

One user wrote: 'No wonder cold showers have always worked for me.'

'I've always done this!! Makes me feel so much better,' added another user.

'Omg thank you,' said one user.
Beauty lovers have been sent into a spin over Aldi's super-cheap dupe of Mecca's uber-popular Brazilian Bum Bum cream.

Sol de Janeiro's $72 cream is one of Mecca's best sellers but Aldi has recently released it's own version under its skincare brand Lacura in Australia for just $9.99.

Shoppers online were keen to get their hands on the new budget buy after spotting the Summer Touch Beauty Balm in the Special Buys catalogue for Wednesday, October 26.

Shoppers are sharing their excitement as Aldi Australia is set to launch the $10 Lacura Booty Balm (left) a dupe of the popular Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum cream worth $72 (right).

The $10 Booty Balm, which has been available in other Aldi stores internationally, has guarana extract and coconut oil for firming and conditioning the skin and a tropical scent.

'Ummm has everyone seen the Sol de Janeiro dupe at Aldi next week?? Glow Oil and Booty Balm come at me!' one woman wrote in a post to the YouBeauty Facebook group.

Members were quick to share their excitement over the dupe with many wanting to see if the booty balm was as good as Sol de Janeiro's.

'Oooh I hope it smells the same!,' one woman said while another said: 'OMG finally in Oz!'.

'Shhhh. Let's not miss out,' joked a third.

The $10 Booty Balm, which has been available in other Aldi stores internationally, has guarana extract and coconut oil for firming and conditioning the skin and a tropical scent

One shopper said they were dying to try the Aldi cream as they don't like the scent of the pricey Bum Bum Cream.

People were also eager to try the $8.99 Lacura Summer Touch Glow Oil which gives the skin a golden, sun-kissed shimmer while softening and smoothing.

Other products in the summer beauty line include the $9.99 Body Cream and $7.99 Bubble UP Shower scrub in Cherry or Mango scent as well as the BB Cream with SPF-15 and a cushion compact for $12.99.
A plus-sized model has called out online clothing stores for photoshopping her body to make her look slimmer.

Sarah Jane Kelly, from Sydney, said her body in a picture modelling a top from online fast fashion retailer Shein had been digitally altered so much it didn't look like her.

In a viral TikTok video Sarah showed the modelling shot where her skin had been smoothed out, her waist had been brought in and her stomach flattened.

Scroll down for video

Curve model Sarah Jane Kelly (pictured) has revealed how much her body had been digitally altered in modelling shot for online retailer Shein

A viral TikTok video, Sarah showed the modelling shot where her skin had been smoothed out, her waist had been brought in and her stomach flattened

'When you are the model in the picture and even your body doesn't look like that either,' she wrote in the clip.

Sarah tried to contort her body to look the way it does in the image.

'And that is on unrealistic beauty standards,' she captioned the post adding viewers should remember how much models are edited next time they're online shopping.

The clip has been viewed more than 1.5million times and received a flurry of outraged comments from frustrated women.

The Daily Mail Australia have reached out to Shein for comment.

'This is why I DESPISE plus size model pictures on Shein and everywhere because they say plus size AND THEN EDIT OUT THE PLUS FROM IT,' one viewer wrote.

'What's the point of having a variety of models with different shapes if people are just gonna edit them to look like the typical bodies seen in magazines, Instagram etc,' a second asked.

'Wait omg really? I get so insecure because all of the plus size models look skinny. There's not a roll on them so I can't buy any of the clothes,' another woman said.

'I got rolllllss. And I felt the same till I started modelling and seeing all the behind the scene stuff,' Sarah replied.

Many pointed out the edits to the curve model's waist were obvious by the distorted background.

Many pointed out the edits to the curve model's waist were obvious by the distorted background

'Omg u can see how warped the background flowers are...' one commenter noticed.

'The edits are visible around the edges, almost always,' agreed another.

This isn't the first time Sarah has spoken out about issues plus-sized models face in the fashion industry.

In another viral video she listed the 'unspoken rules of plus-sized modelling' from needing to have a flat stomach to posting gym selfies.

She said curvy models have no fat on their faces and 'fat toned tummies only' while showing a slideshow of images of plus-sized models who abide by these 'rules'.

In a previous video Sarah called out the 'unspoken rules' of plus sized modelling from having no fat on your face, only flat, toned stomachs and hourglass figures

Sarah added that curvy models 'must' have an hour glass figure and regularly post pictures of them working out and at the gym to their social media accounts to 'justify' their health.

One viewer said she 'doesn't feel represented at all' by plus-sized models as they only have 'chiselled jawlines' and 'zero double chin'.

A second wanted 'more belly representation' while another said the beauty standards for plus-sized models make her feel self conscious about her 'chubby' face.

'It's apart of my self images issues around my face. We get plus size models, but not ones with natural round faces,' another agreed.
She revealed that it prevented the 'stinky smell' eggs have after being closed in

A photo of her daughter's lunch showed a boiled egg submerged in water

An Australian mum has confused many with a surprising lunchbox 'hack'

An Australian mum has shocked fellow parents by revealing a special 'hack' she uses to keep her daughter's lunchbox fresh for hours.

'Term 4 Day 1 lunchbox - tomatoes, grapes, boiled egg with mayo, Cukes, Jatz with cheese and Berliner,' she wrote in a Facebook post on Lunchbox Ideas Australia.

But the perfectly prepared lunchbox left many doing a double take at the boiled egg floating in a container of water.

An Australian mum has shocked her fellow parents by revealing a special 'hack' she uses to keep her daughter's lunchbox fresh for hours

The mystery detail did not go unnoticed and was quickly questioned by many.

Poll Did you know about this boiled egg hack? NO - but I will use it all the time now YES - and it works like a charm Did you know about this boiled egg hack? NO - but I will use it all the time now 176 votes

YES - and it works like a charm 35 votes Now share your opinion





'Can I please ask ... what's the reason for the egg to be sitting in water? Or am I just seeing things?' asked another mum.

The Aussie mum was quick to respond - and her expert reasoning came with advice many would soon follow.

'Helps with the stinky smell they can have when opening a lunchbox at school,' she explained to the commenter.

She added, 'My daughter loves eggs but doesn't like eating them at school because she gets the "ewww what's that smell" from other kids.'

The commenter responded: 'What a great idea! I will try that next time. Thank you.'

American chef, Kathleen Ashmore, known online as Kat Can Cook, swears by the power of steam to create perfect hard boiled eggs every time

But cooking the 'perfect' hard-boiled eggs are the first step.

American chef Kathleen Ashmore, known online as Kat Can Cook, swears by the power of steam to create perfect hard boiled eggs every time.

To create them Kathleen simply placed eight eggs into a steamer inside a pot over the stove on a high heat.

She then steamed the eggs for 12 to 14 minutes and revealed that the egg shells simply slipped right off.

Kathleen's trick works as hot steam makes the protein from inside the egg white contract, which pulls it away from the shell membrane.

She posted her "egg-cellent" chef tip to TikTok where it received more than 96,000 views and comments from fellow foodies.

'Yes! 12 minutes on high and the easiest peel ever,' a woman wrote.

'Wait why did I never try this before. Will give this a go tomorrow,' another wrote.

Another clever cook has revealed how he peels freshly-boiled eggs perfectly every time - and his fool-proof method can be done in seconds.

Another clever cook has revealed how he peels freshly-boiled eggs perfectly every time - and his fool-proof method can be done in seconds

Posting in the popular Budget Friendly Meals Australia Facebook Page the man said he finds it easiest to peel boil eggs after shaking them in a jar.

The man said he puts the eggs in a jar with the lid on before 'gently' shaking them together, causing them to crack.

'They peel super easy and fast,' he revealed in the post, before adding people can also sing along to the sound of the eggs cracking if they like.
An Australian homeowner has come under fire for sticking a 'rude' and 'inappropriate' note on his front door ahead of Halloween festivities.

'This is Australia, not America,' the sign read. 'F**k off with your Halloween sh*t you little c*nts.'

A surprised Reddit user posted the photo to r/Australia with the caption 'Trick or Treat.'

An Australian homeowner has come under fire for sticking a 'rude' and 'inappropriate' note on his front door ahead of Halloween festivities

More than 70,000 Aussies engaged with the post but have conflicting opinions on whether the holiday should be celebrated Down Under.

Poll Do you think Australians should celebrate Halloween? YES - it's all in good fun NO - it's too American Do you think Australians should celebrate Halloween? YES - it's all in good fun 134 votes

NO - it's too American 496 votes Now share your opinion





'I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like this,' wrote one man. 'Definitely a little extreme but I understand the sentiment.'

'One of the very rare times of the year I appreciate living in an apartment,' another said. 'The little sh*ts can't get in to knock on my door.'

But others were slightly more polite about the trick or treaters.

'While I dont support Halloween becoming a part of Australian culture, there is no need to be so rude about it.'

'Language aside, there is nothing wrong with that note. Keep the kids away from me!'

Some noted that the rude note was a good way for someone to get their house egged

Some mentioned unfortunate circumstances that might befall the writer of the original note.

'It's a good thing they're not in America,' a woman said about the unfriendly neighbour. 'A note like this is a good way to get your house egged back in the States.'

'It'll get you egged here too,' responded another Aussie. 'When I was a kid and Halloween was just starting to become a thing, if you didn't participate - that was the same as you picking 'trick' and the trick was always eggs.'

Many Australians were saddened to see such a harsh reaction to children simply 'having fun'

But many Australians were saddened to see such a harsh reaction to children simply 'having fun.'

'Gee, kids having fun playing dress up and getting lots of lollies is clearly a horrible thing!' said one woman sarcastically. 'We need to stop children having fun right now!'

'It's just good fun and candy for children - I know we don't like the Americans but I don't see what the problem is at all.'

Another began: 'This breaks my heart. Last year, as we were all coming out of COVID, I decided to make a few goody bags for the kids in my neighbourhood who I expected would turn up for trick-or-treating.'

'I was super excited and even I dressed for the occasion ... Guys, I got over 100 kids come along for treats, ranging from people in their late teens to the tiniest toddlers who waddled their way to me to grab a chocolate.'

She went on, 'It was such a beautiful thing to cherish after two years in lockdown. Please don't ruin kids' happiness, or even an adult's happiness over a few bars of candy and a spooky costume.'
Regulators have expressed 'deep concerns' about the quality of care mothers and babies receive in hospital after maternity services deteriorated to their worst ever level.

A Care Quality Commission report warns more than half of maternity units are failing to meet safety standards, with inspectors finding culture and leadership problems 'time and again'.

Ian Trenholm, the CQC's chief executive, said failings were 'systemic' in the NHS, with two in five maternity services ranked as requiring improvement or inadequate overall.

He described the troubles in maternity as a 'national challenge' and added: 'I don't think any of us could think that's an acceptable number.'

Patient groups said the fact poor care has become so widespread and entrenched is 'deeply troubling'.

It comes just days after a damning inquiry found up to 45 babies could have lived if they had been given better care by East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust.

Some mothers died or were left injured, while other babies were left brain damaged, by a trust that shelved inspector reports and ignored criticism of its services.

Sarah and Tom Richford with their son Harry who died seven days after he was born in November 2017 at the QEQM

Bex Walton, who lost her son Tommy when he was two days old, said: 'Sorry is not good enough'

The mother said she would 'never be able to forgive' after losing her son Tommy (pictured)

East Kent is the latest in a long line of maternity scandals, including at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Morecambe Bay and the upcoming review of services in Nottingham, which is expected to be highly critical.

Mr Trenholm said: 'We're not seeing the rate of improvement that we would like to see.

'I think what we see, time and again, is issues about leadership and culture and, on a practical level, that's about the degree to which the professionals working in that maternity service work together in a collaborative way.

'Also, the degree to which those people listen to women who are speaking up and talking about their experience - and those experiences, those concerns that women are raising, are not being heard by those professionals in the way that they should.

'That is the essence of what the Kirkup report said and Donna Ockenden before him, so I think we do think this is a national challenge.'

The new CQC state of care report shows there has been a deterioration in relation to maternity services overall and in relation to their safety.

Danielle Clark suffered a traumatic birth with her son Noah  now nine  and felt her concerns at at East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust were dismissed

The mother said: 'Things have got to change. Babies are dying just through bad care and pure neglect' (pictured: her son Noah when he was just hours old)

It describes progress on improving services as 'slow'.

The proportion of maternity services rated inadequate (6 per cent) or requires improvement (47 per cent) for safety is the worst it has been since maternity specific ratings were introduced in 2018.

Similarly, the proportion of maternity services rated inadequate (6 per cent) or requires improvement (32 per cent) overall are at their worst levels.

The report said 'we have deep concerns' about care, adding that the 'quality of maternity care is not good enough'.

It continued: 'The findings of recent reviews and reports show the same concerns emerging again and again.

'The quality of staff training, poor working relationships between obstetric and midwifery teams, and a lack of robust risk assessment all continue to affect the safety of maternity services.'

Just 4 per cent of maternity services have been ranked as outstanding this year, while 57 per cent are good, a drop on the 64 per cent the previous year.

Health Secretary Therese Coffey yesterday responded to the Kirkup report, saying ministers will 'carefully consider' it.

She added: 'My sympathies are with the families affected by the failings in maternity care at East Kent Hospital.

'These shocking events should not have happened.'

Health minister Dr Caroline Johnson paid tribute to the families whose 'tireless determination to tell the truth' led to the investigation.

Speaking in the Commons, she added: 'Nothing we can do can bring back the children that they have lost, an awful tragic void of a life never lived.

'But now we know their stories we will listen, learn and act so that no other family should ever experience such a pain.'

Louise Ansari, national director at patient watchdog Healthwatch England, said: 'In the wake of the Ockenden review and this week's report on East Kent Hospitals Trust, it is deeply troubling that CQC's findings suggest the troubles in maternity care could be much wider spread.

'Dr Bill Kirkup pointed in his report directly to repeated and systemic failures to listen to patients, and how this has led to continued scandals across the NHS.

'Health and care leaders need to address the underlying reluctance to listen to patient feedback, otherwise we will undoubtedly continue to see these sorts of inexcusable incidents for years to come.'

An NHS spokesperson, said: 'Despite improvements to maternity services over the last decade  with significantly fewer still births and neonatal deaths  we know that further action is needed to ensure safe care for all women, babies and their families.

'The NHS is ensuring that work is already underway to make these much needed improvements, including a 127million investment this year to boost the maternity workforce, strengthen leadership and culture, and increase neonatal cot capacity  which is on top of an annual boost of 95million for staff recruitment and training announced last year.'

Harry, Archie, Daisy, Harriet, Jessica... Too many names. Too much loss

By Beth Hale, Kate Pickles and Mary O'Connor

Seven years ago, Bill Kirkup published a report into what was then one of the most distressing maternity scandals to have struck the NHS.

In a harrowing 205-page Morecambe Bay review, he wrote of a 'distressing chain of events that began with serious failures of clinical care', the result of which was 'avoidable harm to mothers and babies, including tragic and unnecessary deaths'.

Who could have imagined the spiralling catalogue of scandals that would follow. Morecambe Bay led into Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust in Shropshire; Nottingham still looms on the horizon  each fresh outrage laying bare a litany of tragedy, shattering the confidence of families in maternity provision in the UK and eroding morale within a beleaguered profession.

And yesterday, there was Bill Kirkup again. Delivering words in East Kent that sounded heartbreakingly familiar. 'When I reported on Morecambe Bay maternity services in 2015, I did not imagine that I would be back reporting on a similar set of circumstances seven years later,' he said. 'It is too late to pretend that this is just another one-off, isolated failure, a freak event that 'will never happen again'.'

Among those hoping his words will, this time, mark a turning point for maternity care are the families of those whose children and grandchildren's lives were cut short  sometimes before birth, sometimes shortly afterwards  when they could have been saved.

There are far too many of them. In East Kent alone, Kirkup's review found that the 'outcome' (put less clinically, that's life or death) could have been different for 45 out of 65 baby deaths.

From insolent staff to bosses in denial, probe lays bare baby ward failures The independent inquiry into maternity services at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust heard 'harrowing' accounts from families. Its excoriating report found: UNCARING STAFF Staff were at the heart of many of the failures. There was 'a clear pattern' of staff providing suboptimal clinical care that led to significant harm, failing to listen to families, and acting in ways which made families' experience unacceptably and distressingly poor. Families did not just suffer physical harm, with the 'equally disturbing effects of the repeated lack of kindness and compassion' by some staff. LACK OF PROFESSIONALISM There was a repeated lack of professionalism, where mothers and babies were not put first and often blamed when something went wrong. Staff often put their own needs ahead of the mothers and babies they treated. Some staff were disrespectful and disparaging towards colleagues in front of pregnant women, who would then lose confidence in services as a result. Others sought to deflect responsibility when something had gone wrong, with some mothers blamed for their own misfortune. A woman admitted to hospital to stabilise her type 1 diabetes pointed out to antenatal ward staff that they were not adjusting her insulin correctly. She was told that 'we're midwives not nurses and we don't deal with diabetes... it's not our issue and you don't fit in our box'. Midwives who were not part of the favoured in-group or 'A team' were sometimes assigned to the highest-risk mothers and challenged to deliver babies with no intervention. This was described as 'a downright dangerous practice'. LACK OF COMPASSION The report found many 'shocking' examples of uncompassionate care. A woman who asked for additional information on her condition during an antenatal check was told to look on Google. A mother who asked why an additional attempt at forceps delivery was to be made, was brusquely told that it was 'in case of death'. Women who said their spinal or epidural analgesia was not effective and they were in pain, were ignored or disbelieved, with one saying 'they didn't listen... they carried on, obviously, to cut me open. I could feel it all'. FAILURES OF TEAMWORK Gross failures of teamworking across maternity services were found, with problems between the midwives, obstetricians, paediatricians and other professionals involved. Some staff 'acted as if they were responsible for separate fiefdoms, cultivating a culture of tribalism'. Divisions among the midwives, including bullying, was to such an extent that the maternity services were not safe. Some obstetric consultants expected junior staff and locum doctors to manage clinical problems themselves, discouraged escalation, and on occasion refused to attend out of hours. The report found clear instances where poor teamwork hindered the ability to recognise developing problems. It said the dysfunctional working between and within professional groups was fundamental to the suboptimal care provided. CULTURE OF DENIAL Senior managers and the trust board knew about problems but put professional reputation ahead of acknowledging the scale of the issues. There was a culture of 'deflection and denial' when families sought answers over substandard care. Although no evidence of a conscious conspiracy was found, 'the effect of these behaviours was to cover up the truth'. The trust focused on 'reputation management' and would often put incidents down to individual clinical error, usually on the part of more junior staff, or to difficulties with locum staff. There was a failure to challenge poor behaviour among midwives and consultants, with some staff left in tears, being shouted at and having things thrown at them. The trust did 'little to change the poor working culture; instead, it tolerated bad behaviour'. WHAT ABOUT REGULATORS? Since 2010, the trust has had the involvement of at least ten external bodies, including the Royal College of Midwives, NHS England, regional managers and the Care Quality Commission. The inquiry criticised external bodies for failing to take proper action, with numerous missed opportunities dating back to at least 2010. Investigators described 'a bewildering array of regulatory and supervisory bodies', but the system as a whole failed to identify the shortcomings early enough to ensure real improvement. Dr Bill Kirkup, chairman of the independent inquiry, said the East Kent report was 'simply the latest to focus on failings in an individual NHS trust' with similar harrowing practices dating back to the 1960s, and he called for urgent change. The obstetrician wants it to become a criminal offence for NHS staff and public sector workers to lie to the public. Dr Kirkup also called for a national 'maternity signalling system' to monitor data from all NHS trusts for abnormally high rates of baby deaths. The report identified four areas where urgent action is needed within the NHS: better identifying poorly performing hospitals, ensuring care is given with compassion and kindness, better teamworking, and responding to issues with honesty. Advertisement

Among them was Harry Richford, whose death at William Harvey hospital  a week after he was delivered at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital (QEQM) in November 2017  triggered the inquiry.

Harry died a week after his chaotic birth, which involved a catalogue of errors by medical staff that were exposed only through the determined efforts of the little boy's family.

Parents Sarah and Tom, both teachers, had been excitedly planning the arrival of their much-wanted child. After a 'textbook' pregnancy, Sarah had an emergency caesarean section which was performed too late and by an inexperienced locum who had not been fully assessed by the trust.

Harry was born silent and limp, and there was a delay in resuscitating him. He died seven days later from irreversible brain damage and yet, initially, East Kent refused to refer his death to the coroner, claiming it was 'expected'.

It was his grandfather, Derek Richford, now a passionate campaigner for transparency and improvements in maternity care, who  fearing a cover-up  did so in March 2018. The three-week inquest in January 2020 exposed serious failings at the trust and ruled that Harry's death was 'wholly avoidable' and amounted to 'neglect'.

There followed a landmark decision by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to prosecute the NHS trust for failing to provide safe care and treatment. Meanwhile, other grieving families came forward with devastating tales of potentially avoidable tragedies.

Archie Batten, Archie Powell, Harriet Gittos, Reid Shaw. Too many names. Too much loss.

Iris Crowhurst, like so many other mothers, still grieves the loss of her daughter Jessica, who would be 11 if events had unfolded differently.

Iris was thrilled to discover she was expecting a second child in 2011. At the time she was running several of dental practices, while juggling looking after her four-year-old daughter Felicity.

Jessica's arrival would complete the family, but it was never to be.

After a pregnancy made gruelling by sickness, a series of failures to correctly monitor the mother culminated in a harrowing stillbirth.

Iris, 45, who still lives in Ramsgate and now works in security after her business crumbled under the weight of her loss, says: 'It was a catalogue of errors. It wasn't just one.'

At 30 weeks pregnant, Iris was told her unborn child was much larger than expected and she would need to be induced. But for reasons she cannot fathom, her gestational diabetes  high blood sugar which develops during pregnancy, and which can cause a baby to grow larger than usual  went undiagnosed and just four weeks later, a consultant told her: 'Don't worry, your baby is large but no more scans, no nothing.'

'We got to 39 weeks and I was huge and my blood pressure was through the roof,' says Iris. 'I went to the hospital a few times to be checked and they deemed her to be okay. But I later found out there were signs she was in distress.'

Worse was to come in her final desperate visit to hospital. Inexplicably, midwives mistook Iris's heartbeat for that of her unborn child and sent her home. 'She wasn't alive, she had died at four o'clock in the afternoon, which they knew when they looked back at the trace [from the monitor Iris had to wear], but I was sent home,' Iris says quietly.

In the ensuing operation to deliver Jessica, Iris suffered a devastating haemorrhage in which her partner Andy feared he was losing her too.

When she came around she was in a tiny room at the end of a corridor where she could hear medical staff talking about keeping her away from new mothers on the maternity unit so she didn't 'upset them'.

So harrowing was the experience, Iris didn't even hold her child; she felt it would be just too painful. 'If I had held her, I didn't know how I would be able to give her back.'

Iris battled two years of terrible health, a break-up with her partner and her business crumbling before being diagnosed with the auto-immune disorder Graves' disease. Last year, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and is convinced it is her body's response to the strain of losing Jessica. Now she runs a small charity helping other bereaved families. The open wounds of loss have healed, but the deeper ones  and the anger at how she and others were treated  remain.

Harder still is the stark fact so many have to bear. 'It was entirely avoidable,' she says. 'If I had been induced she would have lived, even on that last day there was a chance for her to survive.'

Thoughts of what might have been haunt so many parents.

Emma Robinson, 27, is convinced that failures in her treatment at the QEQM hospital led to her daughter Daisy's death at just an hour old in 2014. In yesterday's long-awaited report, Bill Kirkup says: 'An over-riding theme, raised us with time and time again, is the failure of the trust's staff to take notice of women when they raised concerns, when they questioned their care, and when they challenged the decisions that were made about their care.'

Emma, a trainee nurse and mother-of-three, feels she was stereotyped as a young mother, whose concerns were dismissed by unsympathetic staff.

After a straightforward early pregnancy, it was in her final trimester that she found herself making repeat visits to hospital with issues such as swelling and high blood pressure, but says she was dismissed by nurses, who told her 'not to be silly'.

She was scheduled to be induced at 42 weeks, but at 41 weeks, suffering swelling, itchy skin and migraines, she returned to hospital, where despite tests revealing she had high blood pressure and protein in her urine  classic symptoms of pre-eclampsia, which can cause serious complications for both mother and baby and requires careful monitoring  she was sent home.

Her designated induction day was marred by more worrying warning signs  elevated blood pressure and meconium in the waters (this is a baby's first faeces, and can be a sign of distress).

Daisy's joyful arrival at 8lb 2oz was heartbreakingly brief.

'She came out crying and fed on me, passed a poo and we had a cuddle,' says Emma. 'Then they went out of the room for a bit, did what they had to do and stitched me up and then they came to grab Daisy. But when they did, they ran out the room.

'They were trying to resuscitate her for way over an hour.'

Emma Robinson believes failure in care contributed to the death of her daughter Daisy. An inquest recorded an open verdict, with the cause put down as sudden infant death

Emma needed further treatment to stabilise her blood pressure, meaning she had to stay in hospital while trying to process what had happened.

'They left me in that ward until 11pm, listening to everybody else have their babies,' she says.

A subsequent inquest recorded an open verdict, with the cause put down as sudden infant death. But Emma believes failures in her care contributed. 'I was made to feel like it was just one of those things, that people lose their babies. I was told 'babies die' and I was made to feel like there was no blame. But Daisy should still be here now,' she says.

Families caught up in the scandal report a familiar refrain: Everything is okay, don't worry. Until, that is, it was too late.

Shelley Russell, 41, was repeatedly told not to worry during her high-risk pregnancy with a longed-for third child in 2019.

After being told she had a blocked fallopian tube in July 2017, she had lost hope, but fell pregnant with her miracle baby after 18 months of trying.

When midwives first remarked on her daughter's rapid heart rate, they told Shelley and her partner Nicholas (from whom she has since split) that their little girl was destined to be 'an athlete'.

Mothers are convinced that failures in treatment at the QEQM hospital led to the death of their children

Tracey Fletcher, Chief Executive of East Kent Hospitals providing a statement following the publishing of Dr Bill Kirkup's report into failings in maternity care and treatment of mothers and babies at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

Shelley, from Dover, had her first inkling something wasn't right at 36 weeks pregnant when she woke and realised baby Tallulah-Rai wasn't moving as much as normal. She phoned her midwife and was told to go to Buckland hospital for a CTG (cardiotocography scan) to monitor the baby's heart rate. A student midwife and a more senior midwife were involved in a protracted process of trying to detect the heart rate, culminating in the senior midwife signing off on the reading.

'She came in, looked at the monitor, said 'Are you happy?'. I said 'If you are happy, I am happy'. That was it, off I went. She said if anything changes come back. But the next day, nothing had changed. Then the following day I remember waking up and feeling no movement whatsoever.'

Shelley and Nicholas returned to hospital, only to have their worst fears confirmed  their baby had died. Following a C-section delivery, a post-mortem examination revealed Tallulah-Rai had died of oxygen deficiency.

Now, in the process of taking legal action against the trust  it has denied liability in her case  not a day goes by when she doesn't think of her daughter and what might have been.

Shelley was not in Kent for the delivery of the report, but on holiday in Dorset. Tallulah-Rai's ashes, in a box decorated with Sleeping Beauty and her name, were beside her as they are every night. 'After she was born I spent two days and one night with her and I thank my lucky stars for that time.'

For all she has been through, her feelings about the care she received tell two different tales of maternity provision.

'I remember asking a midwife to look after Tallulah-Rai while I went to the toilet. As I walked back down the corridor, I heard singing, and there was the midwife holding Tallulah-Rai's body and singing to her. I had three midwives during that time and they were amazing. I experienced the best and the worst of care.'

And therein lies one of the most bitter twists in scandal after scandal sweeping maternity provision. The best can so often be lost under the weight of the worst.

Timeline of what went wrong at East Kent Hospitals Trust: Alarm bells were first raised about poor maternity care in 2012 - EIGHT YEARS before No10 decided to formally probe the scandal-hit unit

2009

East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust becomes a foundation trust, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 695,000 people.

2012

Serious problems at the trust were first highlighted when newborn Harry Halligan died at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

His twin sister was first delivered without any major complications but Harry was delivered by emergency caesarean after failed attempts to use forceps.

His mother, Alison Halligan, said the decision was taken 'a bit late' and the hospital did not seem prepared to deliver twins.

After numerous investigations, the trust told Harry's parents lessons would be learnt from the case.

2014

The trust is put into special measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission after the regulator rated its care, including maternity services, as inadequate.

During this time eight baby deaths were recorded in that year alone, according to trust documents.

One of these was Harriet Gittos who died a week after suffering a brain injury during the birth.

Problems were highlighted at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust numerous times over the years. Pictured here is the Trust's William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent

From probing the 1989 Hillsborough disaster to how Jimmy Savile was able to sexually abuse Broadmoor patients: How Dr Bill Kirkup - leading the review into the failings at East Kent Hospitals Trust - is no stranger to huge inquiries Dr Bill Kirkup was tasked with investigating dozens of avoidable baby deaths at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust. But it is not his the first time probing events which saw ordinary Britons let down by those in power. Since retiring from public health duties over a decade ago, Dr Kirkup has gone on to investigate both the Hillsborough stadium disaster and Jimmy Savile's involvement at Broadmoor hospital. He also led investigations into maternity care at Morecambe Bay which, as it would later turn out, would be the first in a series of damning reports into shocking care of mothers and babies within the NHS. Dr Kirkup issued a chilling warning at the time that if lessons weren't learnt from the report, then other NHS trusts would be destined to repeat the same mistakes. Dr Bill Kirkup is no stranger to uncovering the failings of those in power to protect vulnerable Britons Dr Kirkup's career in health began as ward orderly before he qualifying as doctor, choosing to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecological oncology. He then switched focus into public health and medical management, eventually becoming associate chief medical officer for England. Dr Kirkup has also previously volunteered to work alongside military operations in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan as a medical professional to help in reconstruction efforts. But he stepped down from public health roles in 2009. Following that, he has been involved in multiple serious independent investigations into some of England's biggest public service failures. These include a spate of deaths at a children's cardiology unit at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where there were attempts to 'restrict' knowledge of problems there after four fatalities in early 2010. Dr Kirkup was also joint lead investigator into the involvement of paedophile presenter Jimmy Savile at Broadmoor Hospital. This included how Savile charmed his way into obtaining a set of hospital keys effectively giving him the run of the hospital, including access to various patient areas. Savile, who Dr Kirkup described as an 'adept manipulator of people', had a caravan on the hospital site that he used to 'entertain' a stream of female visitors. He also used his access to the wards to watch female patients undress and as they bathed. The report uncovered 10 allegations of sexual assaults by Savile at the hospital, two involving minors. Five of these were assessed as cases of sexual abuse by Savile, with another one deemed 'more likely than not' by Dr Kirkup and his fellow investigators. Investigators were unable to speak to the victims of the other five alleged assaults. They added, however, that the total number of cases of assault is likely to be higher due to underreporting. Dr Kirkup's report found the closed and introspective institutional culture of Broadmoor failed to prevent the sexual abuse of patients including by Savile. They recommended NHS introduce stricter polices on sexual relationships in the health service between staff and patients, and the reporting of it, as well as tighter controls on appointment of celebrities to positions in the health service. Perhaps most relevant to the current investigation is Dr Kirkup's work as the chair into the report on the Morecambe Bay maternity scandal, the first in a series of reports exposing poor care in the last decade. The two-year investigation, completed in 2015, found 11 babies and one mother died following a lethal mix of shocking failures in a 'seriously dysfunctional' maternity unit at Furness General Hospital in Barrow, Cumbria, run by Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust. In what would sadly be an unheeded warning, Dr Kirkup said other hospitals needed to learn lessons from Morecambe Bay to avoid similar scandals in the future. 'It is vital that the lessons, now plain to see, are learned and acted upon, not least by other trusts which must not believe 'that it could not happen here'', he said. 'If those lessons are not acted upon, we are destined sooner or later to add again to the roll of names.' He has also been involved in multiple investigations into patient safety incidents and deaths at the former Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust, one of which is still ongoing. Dr Kirkup has also served as a member of the Hillsborough Independent Panel and was responsible for medical evidence which led to new inquests into some of the deaths resulting from the disaster at the stadium in 1989. He also served on the Independent Panel which investigated deaths due to drug overdoses at Gosport War Memorial Hospital in 2018. They found that more than 450 patients had been given opioids 'without appropriate clinical indication', and 200 more patients were 'probably' also affected. There was also a 'disregard for human life and a culture of shortening the lives of a large number of patients'. Advertisement

2015, March

The Morecambe Bay report which investigated failures at a Cumbrian hospital that led to the deaths of 11 babies is published.

Written by Dr Bill Kirkup, who has led the East Kent independent review, he stated it was vital lessons were learnt by other trusts.

2016 February

A Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) report raises concerns about inadequate maternity care at the Trust.

It flags multiple issues, including poor working culture between staff, inconsistent adherence to national standards, and poor governance following serious incidents.

A maternity improvement plan for the trust is then launched, following the RCOG report.

2016, November

Dr Kelli Rudolph gives birth to her daughter Celandine at the Trust following a concerning labour.

Celandine suffers brain damage due to a lack of oxygen during the birth and lives less than a week.

She is controversially classified as 'stillborn' by staff despite living for five days, prompting concerns of a cover-up.

2017, April

Hallie-Rae Leek dies on April 7, four days after being born.

During the labour a midwife struggles to find her heart-rate and by the time she is born she is in a poor condition.

It then takes 22 minutes to resuscitate her, by which time irreparable damage is done.

The Trust accepts the death was preventable.

2017, November

Harry Richford was born on his due date at Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital in Margate, Kent.

Staff's handling of the labour, delivery and resuscitation of Harry were severely botched, resulting in him suffering severe brain damage.

He dies seven days later following his life support being withdrawn after his parents are told he would never have any quality of life considering his paraplegic state and significant learning and cognitive difficulties.

His family being campaigning for justice and an independent investigation into Harry's death.

Their fight for answers would eventually lead to an inquest into Harry's death.

2018

Watchdogs are the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch launch their own investigation into the Trust regarding Harry's death.

They found numerous failings, including the fact the medic managing the birth was a junior doctor, when it should of been a more senior consultant.

Failings at the Trust are also uncovered by an investigation undertaken by the Healthcare Safety Investigations Branch.

2019, January

Tallulah-Rai Edwards dies on January 28, stillborn.

In the 36th week of the pregnancy, her mother became worried about the slow movement in the womb.

Midwives, despite struggling to get a good heart-rate reading from the baby, sent her home.

She returned two days later still worried and asked for further tests  but by this time Tallulah had died.

An internal investigation found staff should of tried to get a good reading for longer and then arranged an ultrasound.

2019, February

Archie Powell dies on Valentine's Day 2019.

Medics failed to spot he was suffering from a common infection, group B streptococcus.

The delay led to severe brain damage, and he dies shortly after. An internal trust investigation said his death was 'potentially avoidable'.

2019, September

Archie Batten dies shortly after being born.

When his mother went into labour, she called Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate who told her their maternity unit was full and she should drive to the Trust's other hospital, the William Harvey in Ashford, about 38 miles away.

Midwives are then sent to her home but struggle to deliver the baby.

She is later taken back to the Queen hospital where her son dies of a brain injury due to the long labour.

The hospital apologised for their handling of the birth, and said changes had been implemented.

2020, January

A coroner gave his conclusion to Harry Richford's three-week inquest and found seven gross failings in the care received that he says amount to neglect.

Following the conclusion, the trust said it accepted the coroner's findings and was 'deeply sorry' for its failings in Harry's care.

During the inquest, it also emerges that the trust failed to complete 21 recommendations out of 23 made by the 2015 review conducted by RCOG.

These recommendations included a lack of reviews into high risk women and reluctance of some senior staff to attend out of our calls.

2020, February

Then health minister, Nadine Dorries MP, announces that Dr Bill Kirkup will lead an independent review of maternity services in East Kent.

2020, October

The health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, announces it will criminally prosecute the Trust on two counts of unsafe care and treatment for Harry and his mother Sarah Richford.

This is the first prosecution of its kind in NHS history. The trust is fined 733,000.

2021, April

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust pleads guilty to failing to provide safe care and treatment to Harry and his mother.

2021, September

The Kirkup report is originally due but is delayed because of the impact of the Covid pandemic.

2022, June

A coroner finds the death Archie Batten was 'contributed to by neglect' and 'gross failure' of the hospital.

2022, September

The Kirkup report is delayed yet again, this time by the death of The Queen.

2022, October

The Kirkup Independent Inquiry investigating maternity services at East Kent Hospitals Trust is published.

It finds 45 baby deaths could have had a different outcome if nationally recognised standards of care had been provided.
Patients are routinely at risk of harm because health and social care services are 'gridlocked', the care watchdog says.

The Care Quality Commission warns the logjam is paralysing services, making it 'tougher and tougher' to access care  with a lack of staff as a major factor.

In a report out today, the regulator says reduced capacity in adult social care has contributed to bed-blocking in hospitals, with only two in five patients discharged when medically fit to leave.

This has led to record-breaking waits in A&E and 'dangerous' ambulance handover delays, as crews wait for a bed to become available before they can offload patients.

The CQC report states: 'What this gridlock means for people is that they are stuck  stuck in hospital because there isn't the social care support for them to leave, stuck in emergency departments waiting for a hospital bed to get the treatment they need, and stuck waiting for ambulances that don't arrive because those ambulances are stuck outside hospitals waiting to transfer patients.'

The NHS's bedblocking crisis has exploded since the pandemic with the levels of delayed discharge around triple the comparable figures before the pandemic

Interviewed about urgent and emergency care, 250 health leaders told the CQC the system was 'in crisis'.

Bed-blocking reached a new high last month. In the week to September 30, an average of 13,646 beds a day were occupied by people ready to be discharged from hospital, according to NHS England.

The number of people left languishing on a trolley in A&E for 12 hours or more while waiting for a bed on a ward also hit a record high.

There are 132,000 job vacancies in the NHS and 165,000 across adult social care.

Some of the trusts with the biggest bedblocking problem, like North Bristol had almost one in three beds taken up by patients which were medically fit to be discharged

A THIRD of NHS capacity is taken up by bed-blockers at busiest trusts Up to a third of beds at England's busiest NHS trusts are occupied by patients who shouldn't be there, according to a startling MailOnline analysis that lays bare the scale of the country's 'devastating' bed-blocking jam. More than 13,000 hospital beds across the country, or one in seven, are currently filled with patients declared fit for discharge by doctors. But rates soar to as high as one in three at the worst-hit hospitals, found in Bristol and Coventry as well as parts of Lancashire and Norfolk. NHS data show that between August 2010 and February 2020  the month before Covid kicked off, an average of 4,580 beds a day were blocked by so-called 'delayed discharges'. Even before the pandemic, the situation prompted warnings that the knock-on effects, including having to cancel operations due to a lack of space, were killing thousands every year. Now official NHS figures analysed by MailOnline show how the scale of the crisis has drastically worsened during the pandemic. August just gone was the worst month ever, with an average of 13,000 beds blocked every day in England. Advertisement

CQC chief executive Ian Trenholm warned the recruitment challenge would 'translate into real difficulty'.

The regulator said it had seen a big rise in the past year in people stuck in hospital thanks to a lack of social care for them upon discharge.

In some cases, almost half a hospital is full of people who are medically fit to be discharged but are waiting for social care support, it said.

Beds are available but some care homes are closing their doors to arrivals due to a lack of safe staffing levels.

Mr Trenholm said: 'This is not just a care consequence. There's an economic consequence as well. People who are ill can't go back to work because they're in a backlog.'

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services said 542,002 people were waiting for assessments, reviews or care as of April 30 this year.

The CQC report also warned that the rising cost of living could result in more care staff leaving for better-paid work. Meanwhile the 'inability' of patients to access GP services is 'exacerbating the high pressure on urgent and emergency care services', its report found. The CQC said that, overall, public satisfaction with the NHS and social care in 2021/22 had 'plummeted'.

It stated: 'Most people are still receiving good care when they can access it. Too often, however, people just can't access the care they need.'

The report comes days after it was revealed NHS waiting lists had passed seven million for the first time.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: 'The state of our health and care services has crossed a line in a way we hoped never to see.'

The Department of Health and Social Care said: 'The report identifies the same priorities set out by the Health and Social Care Secretary in our plan for patients... to address ambulance pressures, bust the backlog, support care and discharge from hospital and improve access to doctors and dentists.'
An unfortunate Chinese man developed a 2inch-long horn on the tip of his penis, doctors have revealed.

The unidentified 43-year-old sought medical advice after sprouting the 'hard' and 'yellowish-brown' growth.

Doctors had already chopped off a similar mass three years earlier, when it was the size of a grain of rice.

But it had since regrown, reaching 5.5cm by 3cm in size.

Surgeons in Taiyuan, north east China, successfully chopped off the horn  which was cancerous  and the patient fully recovered.

Medics do not know what causes the condition, which has only been reported six times in the last three decades.

The unidentified 43-year-old sought advice from urologists in Taiyuan, north east China, three years after it initially appeared. Despite the 'hard', 'yellowish-brown' growth starting off as small as a grain of rice, it grew 5.5cm by 3cm (2 inch by 1 inch) before doctors intervened (pictured, top). Analysis of the tissue showed that the man had squamous cell carcinoma  the second most common form of skin cancer (pictured, bottom)

WHAT ARE PENILE HORNS? Penile horns are usually overgrown build-ups of keratin, the same protein that forms hair, skin and nails. Doctors are baffeled over what causes the condition. However, they note that injuries to the penis and a tight or excess foreskin are risk factors, as are poor hygiene and STIs. Just five cases of penile horns have been reported in medical literature since 1990, according to doctors in China who treated a patient with the condition. They said the horn usually develops within one year of being circumcised, leading them to suggest that the operation may trigger the growth. The horns may be cancerous and should be removed surgically, medics say. Advertisement

Urologists at The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University diagnosed him with a cutaneous horn  a hard cone-shaped lump which protrudes from the skin.

The build-up is made from keratin  the protein which forms hair, nails and the outer layer of skin.

The condition is often likened to that of an animal horn because the growth is usually spotted on the head and face.

However, doctors have also reported horns appearing on the chest, neck, shoulders and penis.

Describing the case in the Asian Journal of Surgery, doctors stated the patient first noticed the horn when it was around the size of a grain of rice three years earlier.

It was removed by surgeons at the time.

But over the following 36 months, it grew back bigger and became more painful the larger it got.

The horn was 'yellow-ish brown' and 'hard in consistency', extending from just under the foreskin and past the urethra, according to doctors.

It was smooth at the top and rough at the base, 'where there were several mass-like protrusions', they said.

The horn was sliced off by surgeons for a second time, who also removed 1.5cm of penile tissue around its base.

Analysis of the tissue showed the man had squamous cell carcinoma  the second most common form of skin cancer.

The cancer, which is spotted in around 50,000 Britons and 3.3million Americans annually, can appear as raised growths from the skin, scaly red patches, open sores or thickened wart-like skin.

The patient fully recovered, with the procedure successfully clearing him of the horn and cancer.

His medical team noted that he had no history of sexually transmitted infections and was not taking any medication.

Just five cases of penile cutaneous horns has previously been reported in medical literature since 1990, according to the doctors who are baffled about what causes it.

The new report brings the total to six, with three being spotted in China and one in each of India, Spain and the US.

The doctors noted that having tight or excess foreskin are risk factors, as are penile injuries, poor hygiene and STIs.

Penile horns usually develop within one year of being circumcised, leading the urologists to suggest that the operation may trigger the growth.

It is unclear whether the 43-year-old underwent the procedure shortly before the horn appeared.

They warned that the horns may be cancerous and should be removed surgically.

In a previous case, a 60-year-old man in India developed an inch-long horn no his penis following an operation to repair his urethra.

Surgeons had to remove the growth, which was not cancerous, twice before it was banished for good.
This week the EU's medicines regulator approved Covid jabs for 6-month-olds

International pressure is piling on Britain to approve Covid vaccines for babies

But experts warn that the vaccine should not be rolled out to children en masse

UK regulator says it will only be approved if it meets strict safety standards

Regulators may decide on whether Covid vaccines should be approved for British babies before Christmas.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which polices the safety of drugs used in the UK, told MailOnline it is currently reviewing data on Moderna's vaccine.

The pharmaceutical firm has submitted evidence in the hope of getting its jab approved for children aged six months and older, as it is in the EU and US.

Only over-fives can currently get Covid vaccines in the UK.

Any approval of jabs for babies would cause huge controversy.

British authorities have so far held out on approving jabs for infants despite massive pressure, due to concerns that the benefits do not outweigh any potential risks.

Children rarely get seriously ill with Covid and the majority are thought to have already been infected.

Experts said today that, even if approved, the jab must not be rolled out 'en masse' to healthy infants.

Covid jabs for babies in Britain could be available by Christmas with UK regulators considering an application from pharmaceutical giant Moderna (stock image)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates 1.7million people in the country, or 3 per cent, were infected in the week to October 10. The figure, based on random testing of thousands of Britons, is up 12 per cent in a week. But the growth rate has slowed by a third in comparison to seven days earlier

Only 6 per cent of Britons in England have had two doses of a Covid vaccine, Government data shows

Everything you need to know about Covid vaccines for children Which children can get the vaccine? All children aged 5 and over can get a first and second dose of a Covid vaccine. They are given either jabs by Pfizer or Moderna. Over-5s with a severely weakened immune system can get a third dose. High-risk children can also get booster jabs, if needed. But vaccines have yet to be approved for under-5s. Do children get ill with Covid? Most children only experience mild symptoms after being infected with Covid. Just one in 300,000 children who test positive for Covid die, according to UK Government data. And the risk of being hospitalised and getting admitted to ICU is similarly low. But the risk is higher to children with serious underlying conditions. Doesn't the vaccine have complications? One of the main fears is that the vaccines have been linked to cases of myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle. But experts insist the majority of cases are mild, and that rates in Britain are lower than in Israel and the US, where concerns were first sparked. The virus itself can also cause the condition. Covid vaccines approved for use in the UK have met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness. They can cause some side effects in children, but not everyone gets them. Any side effects are usually mild. Advertisement

Dr Laura Squire, the MHRA's chief healthcare quality and access officer, revealed the regulator was processing an application from Moderna.

But she added the mRNA jab, which works in a similar way to Pfizer's, would only be approved if it met strict safety and efficacy standards.

She said: 'We have received an application from the company to extend the approval of Moderna to those aged six months to five years.

'No extension to the vaccine will be approved unless it meets our stringent standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.'

Moderna's jab application was submitted in mid-September, meaning it has already gone through weeks of analysis.

The MHRA declined to detail the timeframe for its expected decision.

But it took health chiefs two months to consider the evidence before approving the first Covid jab in December 2020.

Moderna's application is for its existing jab to be rolled out to other groups, rather than for a new drug.

Dr Squire also confirmed rival vaccine maker Pfizer has not yet applied to have its jab approved for use in the youngest children.

Professor David Livermore, a microbiologist at East Anglia University, said giving the jab to the very limited numbers of children with specific conditions might be wise.

He said: 'The tiny minorities of children with severe underlying health problems may benefit from vaccination against Covid.'

But he added that a large-scale jab campaign for children should be off the cards.

'There should be absolutely no question of mass vaccination of healthy children, for whom the benefits dont outweigh the risks,' the professor said.

'Over 80 per cent of children have now had Covid and have developed natural immunity.

'This lasts longer than vaccine-induced immunity and is broader in respect of covering variants. Vaccines offer nothing useful to this very large majority.'

Professor Livermore said the risks of vaccine-related harm, while tiny, do not clearly outweigh the very minor benefits for the vast majority of children.

'This is acceptable for elderly vulnerable populations at risk from severe Covid,' he said.

'Its not acceptable for healthy children, who are at minuscule risk of developing severe Covid.'

He added that he would like Britain to follow Denmark's lead and stop vaccinating children against Covid unless recommended by a specialist paediatrician.

While the MHRA may sign off the jab for use in children, a separate Government group, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, will decide under what circumstances it is dished out.

This could include a list of specific conditions that make children vulnerable to Covid, such as type 1 diabetes or sickle cell disease.

Covid vaccines for children in Briton have so far been incredibly unpopular.

The latest Government data on vaccine uptake shows only 6 per cent of people aged between five to 11 in England have had two doses of a Covid vaccine.

If Moderna's jab was approved for use in UK babies, it would likely be an even smaller dose than the one offered to older children, itself reduced from the full vaccine dose offered to adults.

Lower doses are given to children to avoid complications, such as myocarditis  the rare condition that spooked health chiefs early on in the pandemic.

MailOnline attempted to contact Moderna for comment.

It comes after EU health chiefs approved both Moderna and Pfizer's jabs for children as young as six months old.

Children in the age bracket whose parents want them to be jabbed with Pfizer's will be offered a dose of three micrograms, under the European Medicines Agency (EMA) ruling.

For comparison, adults in Britain get a dose ten times stronger.

Older children, who are allowed to be vaccinated in the UK, get given a dose of up to 10micrograms.

Slightly stronger doses are recommended by the EMA for children given Moderna's vaccine (25micrograms).

This is half the dose given to older children in Britain, and a quarter of that approved for adults.

The EMA's recommendations, which have already sparked concerns, will be sent to the European Commission for a final decision.

Scores of countries including the US, China and Israel, already offer vaccines to children under five, despite huge backlash over the moves.

It sparked a huge debate over the merits of vaccinating children, given that their risk of falling seriously ill with the virus is tiny.

The mNRA jabs, made by Pfizer and Moderna, have been linked to a rare chance of myocarditis.

Data has shown the risk of the condition  which is usually mild is highest in younger people, especially boys.

Up to September 28 this year, there have been 83 cases of suspected myocarditis or pericarditis (a similar heart inflammation) in under-18s who received a Covid vaccine in the UK.

All reported cases were youths who received the Pfizer jab, not Moderna's.

Seven fatalities have been reported to the MHRA for children who received a Covid vaccine in the UK.

Reports of a fatality only indicate a suspicion the death was linked to the vaccine, not conclusive proof.
But the new guidelines would restrict referrals to just GPs and other health staff

The NHS is proposing a crackdown on how children are referred to gender care

Shockingly, this figure included over a dozen children aged 4-years-old or less

Half of children referred to Tavistock's gender ID clinic were under the age of 15

At least 15 children under the age of four were directed to the NHS's transgender health service in England in the past two years.

A similar number of five-year-olds were referred between 2021-2022 to the highly-controversial Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock clinic, the country's only gender identity service for children.

NHS documents state that, in total, over 5,000 children were referred to Tavistock's service in the past two years, over concerns they were suffering from their gender identity not matching their biological sex.

Only half of referrals were for children aged 15-plus.

The NHS data, unveiled among some new guidelines for how to treat children with gender dysphoria, only concerns referrals to the GIDS at Tavistock.

Not all of the patients would have been taken on for actual treatment, which can include puberty blockers and hormones that help change their bodies to align more with their gender identity.

It is not known how many of the children aged five or under referred to GIDS went on to become patients. Any that did are unlikely to have been prescribed medication.

But the figure is likely to cast even more questions over how children questioning their gender are directed to NHS care in England.

NHS England is cracking down on how children are referred to gender identity care in the future, in the wake of the Tavistock chaos which saw its GIDS service ruled unsafe following a review.

At least 15 pre-primary school children were referred to the NHS England's gender identify service in 2021 and 2022

The figures were detailed in NHS England's draft guidelines for how gender care will operate in two new centres due to open in the spring to replace the Gender Identity Development Service at Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust

Tavistock's handling of children suffering a gender identity crisis has come under increasing focus in recent years. In 2020 former patient Keira Bell took the clinic to the High Court in claiming that she had not been challenged enough before being prescribed the drugs at 16

Other mental health issues were 'overshadowed' in favour of gender identity treatment, prompting accusations that staff rushed children onto powerful drugs.

Under current guidelines, health and social service staff, teachers, and charities can refer a child they think is suffering from gender dysphoria to specialist NHS care.

But under draft rules published yesterday, which could be enforced from the spring, referrals to NHS gender identity care would be restricted to just GPs and health service staff.

Stella O'Malley, psychotherapist and director of campaign group Genspect said the fact children under the age of four were being referred for gender identity care, 'shocking and concerning'.

'Children up until the age of roughly seven or eight engage in magical thinking, for example they can believe that thinking about something can make it real,' she said.

'Very young kids who are gender non conforming should be free to live as they please- nobody should be responding to gender non conformity as a problem to be treated.'

The NHS estimates this change would slash referrals to gender identify care by 5 per cent, or about 250 children based on the latest data.

Other sections of the NHS draft outline that doctors must weigh up the risks of social transitioning for young children, which can include changing their pronouns and dressing as the opposite sex.

They also detail that puberty blockers should only be provided via an NHS research programme, and medics should consider safeguarding processes if children obtain such drugs online.

Health authorities published draft guidelines for its new specialist gender dysphoria services children and young people yesterday for public feedback.

These services, one in London and one in the North West, would replace the GIDS at Tavistock when it eventually shuts it doors in the spring.

The new clinics would, in theory, operate under the new draft guidelines.

Current rules have been criticised by some experts who say they rush young people onto medication.

They have also been attacked by patients who have complained that the service is not meeting fast-growing demand, with some having been on the waiting list for over four years.

The new London service will be run by a partnership between Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Evelina London Children's Hospital.

In the North West, the service will be a partnership between Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

After these initial two, a further six or seven similar services could be opened in other parts of the country.

Patients currently being treated at Tavistock's Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) will have their care transferred to the new operators early next year.

NHS England's draft guidelines are in response to an ongoing review of GIDS by senior paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, who warned the gender clinic was 'not a safe or viable long-term option'.

She found other mental health issues were 'overshadowed' in favour of gender identity issues when children were referred to Tavistock.

The clinic had been accused of rushing children onto puberty blocking drugs by former patients who feel they weren't challenged enough.

Dr Cass has called for 'rapid' research on the use of the drugs after she found 'insufficient evidence' on their benefits.

GIDS has found itself facing increasing scrutiny in recent years, with campaigners accusing it of rushing children onto puberty blocking drugs.

Former patient Keira Bell took the clinic to the High Court in 2020, claiming that she had not been challenged enough when she was prescribed the drugs at age 16.

Feedback on the NHS's draft guidelines closes on 4 December.
YouTube is implementing a major price increase in its Premium Plan, according to Engadget. Starting November 21, the Premium Plan will be $22.99 from the previous price of $17.99.

The substantial price hike is announced today through an email to subscribers. The said $22.99 price would apply to the Family Plan, which allows for up to six accounts to use the same subscription.

Change in YouTube Family Plan Price Will Take Place on November 21

The $5 increase from the previous price is over 25% of the former price, as per The Verge. In addition, those who are subscribed through the Apple App Store would have to pay $29.99 per month instead of $22.99.

Despite the increase in the Family Plan, the streaming platform does not appear to be implementing a hike in the cost of YouTube Premium for individual accounts. Based on YouTube's website, the cost is still $11.99 per month.

If you are a new subscriber, you will no longer be able to sign up for the previous $17.99 plan, as the change in price is already in effect for new subscribers.

However, for current subscribers, "this change will take place on your next billing cycle starting on or after November 21, 2022," according to an email from YouTube, shared by 9to5Google.

It is unclear why YouTube decided to implement a major price hike in its Family Plan. Since 2018, YouTube Premium has kept the same $17.99 price.

Google has a support page where you can express your complaints if you are not happy with the price increase. However, the company issued a statement that "you will not receive a response" even if you send a message to the page.

Read Also: New YouTube Premium Referral Program Offers 12 Months Free | Here's How

YouTube Stops Its Experiment That Involves 4K Streaming of Videos

YouTube implemented its price hike just a few days after the company ended its "experiment," which requires users to have a YouTube Premium account in order to stream videos in 4K.

Earlier this month, you will see the word "Premium" next to the 4K resolution option when you try to access the drop-down menu. This only means you have to be a premium user to be able to watch the video in 4K.

This is part of YouTube's experiment, and this applies only to select users. But just a few days ago, the streaming platform decided to end this experiment.

"We've fully turned off this experiment. viewers should now be able to access 4K quality resolutions without Premium membership," TeamYouTube tweeted.

Since it ended, all users can now stream 4K videos on the platform, even if they are not Premium account users.

YouTube Premium users can watch videos on the platform without advertising. The subscription plan also allows users to play videos in the background, as well as download videos to watch offline.

Just like the sudden increase of YouTube's Family Plan, the streaming platform did not explain why it decided to discontinue the experiment.

However, it is likely that it was stopped because the experiment got significant negative feedback from the users.

Related Article: YouTube Stops Test Requiring Premium Subscription to Watch Videos in 4K
Pregnant women are to be given free vapes by a London council to stop them from smoking.

Lambeth Council will offer e-cigarettes as part of its 'stop smoking' service in a bid to help parents save 2,000 a year that would usually be spent on smoking.

Little research has been conducted into the safety of e-cigarettes and e-liquids in pregnancy and it is not known whether the vapour is harmful to a baby, the NHS website says.

Lambeth councillor Ben Kind revealed details of the scheme in response to a question about what the authority was doing to tackle child and family poverty in the borough.

Experts say the financial incentives were 'highly effective' in helping women stop smoking during pregnancy

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Kind, cabinet member for children and young people, wrote: 'The council is soon to start providing free vape products, as part of the stop smoking service, to smokers who are pregnant and/or are carers of young children.

'This is aimed at improving the health of the family and saving money in the process of approximately 2,000 per year per family.

'It is estimated over 3,000 households in Lambeth fall under the poverty line due to smoking and many of these households include children.'

Last month a landmark government-commissioned review, researched by King's College London, confirmed that vapes are not risk-free.

However it emphasised that the report was 'good news' for people who smoke, with vaping found to be 'substantially less harmful' than smoking.

On vaping outcomes in pregnancy, it said the evidence 'remains insufficient'.

'Effects of vaping on foetal development and pregnancy outcomes remain in particular need of research, including the effects of switching from smoking to vaping in the perinatal phase,' it added.

The NHS website recommends pregnant women use licensed NRT products such as patches and gum to help you stop smoking.

However, it adds: 'But if you find using an e-cigarette helpful for quitting and staying smoke-free, it's much safer for you and your baby than continuing to smoke.'

Research from Queen Mary University of London suggested earlier this year that e-cigarettes are just as safe as nicotine patches for pregnant women and may help more women stop smoking.

A Lambeth Council spokesman, who highlighted such research, said: 'Smoking during pregnancy is the leading risk factor for poor birth outcomes, including stillbirth, miscarriage and pre-term birth.

'We recognise that while it is best for pregnant smokers to stop smoking without continuing to use nicotine, if this is difficult, and if they choose to use e-cigarettes it can help them become smoke-free.'

But Professor Andrew Bush, from Imperial College London's National Heart & Lung Institute, said the council was 'playing with fire'.

'E-cigarettes have not been around for a long time,' he said.

'We're still learning about these things. I would be really, really worried about this as being yet one more step saying: 'Okay, e-cigarettes are okay.'

'I'm sure the council is doing it with the best of motives  they're not in the pockets of the e-cigarette manufacturers.

'But, what are you encouraging women to inhale? What's the safety of these things?'
NHS blood supplies are already bouncing back just days after officials began postponing ops to come with shortage.

Health chiefs last week issued their first ever 'amber alert', with just two days' of supply of O negative blood  the universal type which hospitals are reliant on in emergencies.

Levels have since doubled, however. There is now four days' worth of supplies, according to the NHS Blood and Transplant service.

Patients' rights groups today questioned whether it was time for NHS bosses to drop the emergency rationing plans.

But health officials insist levels are still below the ideal amount and that upticks are just a 'short-term improvement'. They aim to have at least six days' worth.

Data today showed there are now four days worth of O negative  compared to two days last week. The health service aims to have more than six days of stocks

Trusts have been told to implement emergency plans to protect their dwindling stocks under the first ever 'amber' alert status

What is the problem with NHS Blood and Transplant staffing and can I help? Since July 1, NHS Blood and Transplant has recruited more than 250 staff in key frontline roles. But turnover continues to be a challenge, with a quarter of staff who joining leaving every year. NHSBT aims to have around 1,296 staff in its blood donation teams, with 837 donor carers. Currently, only 778 donor carers are working. The shortages have led to appointment cancellations because there are not enough staff to take the blood. This has been exacerbated by Covid and other illnesses causing last minute absences. What roles are there? The greatest challenge is in donor carers. The role looks after people giving blood and administers the needle. Donor carers are paid in NHS band three and forum with salaries ranging from 22,000 to 26,000. They are supervised by session nurses who are in NHS band six, earning between 34,000 and 41,000. Do I need a medical background to be a donor carer? No. Donor carers used to need to take a 12-week training course. But this has been rapidly fast tracked to around eight weeks to tackle the current stock challenge. However, volunteers with no training are not currently being asked for. Advertisement

NHS Blood and Transplant triggered the amber alert on October 12. It will remain in place until at least November 9.

While the alert is in place, hospitals have been told to 'protect blood stocks'.

This includes postponing 'non-urgent' hip replacements for the four-week period and swapping the slots with hernia repairs, gall-bladder removal and eye surgery which don't require blood on standby.

The health service said it will continue to carry out urgent, emergency, cancer and transplant surgery and treat those with long-term conditions, stating that it does not take the step 'lightly'.

Officials insist the crisis is solely down to staffing shortages and rising Covid rates, as opposed to a lack of donors.

Most donor sessions are full, with some appointments having to be cancelled at the last minute because there aren't enough workers to take samples.

In a desperate attempt to fix the issue, NHS staff in other roles are being moved to the frontline to fill in on a temporary basis.

But blood supply stock data shows there are now four days worth of the universal blood O negative blood  twice as much as last week.

And stocks of A positive have jumped from 2.8 to 4 days, B negative has risen from 3.3 to 4.3 days, while AB negative has increased from 3.8 to 5.3 days.

Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, a campaign group for the over-sixties told MailOnline that it seems 'rather strange' that elective operations are being postponed when the blood supply situation is 'getting better'.

He said: 'It's always cancelling elective operations that seem to be the default position when NHS in trouble.

'It goes by the wayside, almost as if they are discretionary, just because they are not life or death.

'With the waiting list now at 7million, it's extremely worrying that this will get even worse.'

Latest NHS data shows one in eight people in England are now in the queue for elective procedures, with 390,000 of those been waiting for at least one year.

Mr Reed said that some of those waiting can't walk properly or are in constant pain and were looking forward to getting some respite.

'So it's a real blow when you get the letter or phone call that it's off and can have serious complications,' he said.

However, NHS Blood and Transplant said blood supplies are not sufficient enough to press ahead with all elective operations.

A spokesperson said: 'Stocks have improved because hospitals have reduced demand and appointments to donate are close to 100 per cent capacity thanks to the amazing response from donors.

'The latest figures are encouraging but we need to improve long term staffing capacity.

'We need to be able to cope with hospitals going back to normal ordering when we come out of amber.

'We are aiming to build up to a strong and sustainable level of stocks over the next four weeks.'

Professor Neil Mortensen, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, told MailOnline that hospitals are doing 'everything possible to ensure life-saving surgeries, including cancer surgeries, can go ahead'.

He said: 'There have been many advances in surgery over recent decades which mean patients are much less likely to lose a lot of blood during surgery.

'There are also new technologies and medicines to reduce blood loss for higher risk patients.

'As with any emergency situation, patients will be prioritised according to clinical need.

Professor Mortensen added: 'It is inevitable that some less urgent surgeries will be postponed but hospitals will reschedule these as soon as possible.

'Hospitals may also re-prioritise surgery that does not need a blood transfusion so that resources can still be used, and the impact on the backlog is reduced.

'I would urge anyone that is able to give blood to make an appointment at a donation centre as soon as possible to help us move out of this temporary situation more quickly.'

What IS an amber alert? Will my operation be cancelled? Why ARE supplies low? And how do I even donate blood? Everything you need to know about the NHS's blood supply crisis

Hospital trusts in England went into crisis mode last week after the NHS issued its first ever amber alert for blood supply.

Dwindling blood stocks have lead the health service to ration supply, postponing elective surgeries like hip replacements.

Supply of the universal blood type O are particularly low, making it difficult in emergency procedures and when the blood type of the recipient is unknown.

The alert will continue for at least the next four weeks and will not be lifted until stocks return to manageable levels.

If they continue to fall, a red alert may be issued, which would see only the most serious emergency operations going ahead.

Here, MailOnline explains everything you need to know about the situation.

What is an amber alert?

The NHS has an official traffic-light system for handling low levels of blood.

Currently England is at 'amber', which means hospitals must 'reduce and prioritise' blood use.

It could see elective surgeries, such as hip replacements, cancelled.

But urgent or emergency, cancer and transplant surgeries will all continue to run as normal for now.

Before today, the NHS was at the pre-amber stage. NHS staff were advised to be cautious of wasting stock and to try to hold back blood types that most likely run low.

The next stage, red, would force hospitals to ration blood supplies for emergencies only.

How much blood does the NHS have?

NHS Blood and Transplant aims to have at least six days worth of stock.

Levels of O negative blood stand at 4 days.

Stocks of O positive (4.28), A positive (4.01), B negative (4.31) and AB negative (5.34) are all also below the threshold.

O negative is the universal type which can be given to everyone.

It is vitally important during emergencies and when the blood type of the recipient is unknown.

B positive, an important blood type for treating people with sickle cell disease, has 6.76 days worth of stocks, while A negative (9.25) and AB positive (10.78) are also both above the target.

What does this mean for hospitals?

An email circulated to hospital bosses has told them to postpone elective surgery which is likely to require donor blood.

The emergency measure could see thousands of routine operations cancelled.

This could include joint replacements, which require adequate stocks of blood on hand in case a patient bleeds heavily.

Decisions will be taken by individual hospitals.

But hospitals might instead book in other surgeries, such as hernia repairs, gall-bladder removal and eye surgery, which do not require blood to be on standby.

Already about 6.5million patients are on waiting lists for such operations, with around 300,000 waiting at least a year.

Why are supplies low?

The current amber alert is also thought to be due to ongoing staffing issues, with more staff needed to work at donor sessions.

NHSBT claimed maintaining stocks has been a challenge in the wake of Covid, partly due to fewer people visiting collection centres in towns and cities.

But some donors also had their appointments cancelled more recently because of the lack of staff.

NHSBT say bookings have been dropped at the last minute because of Covid and other sickness absences.

An NHSBT spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Unfortunately we have needed to cancel some appointments  sometimes at the last minute  because of staff sickness absence.

'Ongoing staff shortage issues have been caused by accelerated turnover and the time it takes to recruit and train new colleagues.

'This has left NHS Blood and Transplant vulnerable to short term sickness, which remains high due to increases in Covid cases.

'This has led to unavoidable cancellations of high numbers of donor appointments, impacting collections and stock levels.'

Is there a potential solution?

Experts say one vital tool that could help procedures go ahead is being neglected in NHS hospitals.

A drug called tranexamic acid reduces major blood loss by a quarter when given before an operation.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends it is given to all patients undergoing major operations.

But an audit of 152 NHS hospitals revealed just two thirds of eligible patients were offered the 2-per-dose drug last year.

A report published in British Journal of Anaesthesia last month claimed giving the jab to all hospital surgery patients could prevent 15,000 major bleeds per year.

Lead author Professor Ian Roberts, one of the UK's leading experts on blood loss at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said this could reduce the current and future strains on blood stocks.

He told the Mail On Sunday: 'It makes perfect sense for doctors and patients. It is a cheap, low-risk intervention that will save tens of thousands of blood units, and lives.'

Currently, about 13,000 Britons die every year as a result of a major bleeding during surgery.

He added: 'Not only do more doctors need to offer tranexamic acid, but we want every patient having an operation to know they can, and should, ask for it.'

How can I donate blood?

If you would like to donate blood, you can register online at www.blood.co.uk or call 0300 123 23 23.

When you log into your account, you are able to find an appointment.

As news of the amber alert broke, the blood donor website became very busy, with people placed in a queue.

NHS Blood and Transplant said: 'You can book an appointment to give blood as soon as you register as a blood donor.

'However, the next convenient appointment might not be straightaway. This could be because we already have a good supply of your blood type.

'People need blood all year round so your donation will still save lives, even if your appointment is in a few months' time.'

There are 25 main permanent sites where you can donate. They are in:

Birmingham

Bradford

Bristol

Cambridge

Gloucester

Lancaster

Leeds City Centre

Leicester

Liverpool

London Edgware

London Tooting

London West End

London Westfield Shepherd's Bush

London Westfield Stratford City

Luton

Manchester, Plymouth Grove

Manchester, Norfolk House

Newcastle

Nottingham

Oxford

Plymouth

Poole

Sheffield

Southampton

Stoke

In addition to these 25 main centres, there are also thousands of temporary community-based venues where you can give blood.

What happens when I donate?

When you are comfortable in the chair, a nurse will put a cuff on your arm to maintain a small amount of pressure during donation (this does not measure blood pressure).

They then examine your arm to find a suitable vein and clean it with an antiseptic sponge.

A needle will be inserted into your arm which will collect your blood into a blood bag with your unique donor number.

You should not feel any discomfort or pain. If you do, tell a member of staff.

A scale weighs the blood and stops when you have donated 470ml (or just under a pint). This usually takes between 5-10 minutes.

The needle will be removed and a sterile dressing applied to your arm.

Your donation is transported to one of our blood centres where it is tested and processed before being issued to hospitals.
Gas stoves are leaking dangerous - potentially cancer-causing - chemicals into the home even when they are turned off, a shocking new study finds.

Researchers from PSE Healthy Energy found that stoves in California were emitting 12 hazardous chemicals, including benzene, which is a carcinogen.

The highly dangerous chemical was found in 99 per cent stoves tested for the study, making the problem near-universal.

It has been linked to leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and a variety of other dangerous health conditions.

Contamination in the household air was up to seven times what health officials consider to be acceptable exposure levels.

Experts have warned against the use of these stoves, both for their environmental impact and the in-home pollution they expose residents to.

Despite warnings from health experts, 40million American households still have gas stoves.

Previous research found that having a gas stove in the home can cause as much air pollution as a highway and especially cause harm to children with asthma.

Researchers found the prevalence of 12 dangerous chemicals in gas stoves. Hexane, which has been linked to nerve damage, was the most prevalent. The cancer-causing benzene was detected in nearly every stove in the sample as well.

Gas stoves are in around 40million Americans households, meaning millions could be exposed to these dangerous chemicals without even knowing it (file photo)

Dr Jonathan Levy (pictured), a professor at Boston University, recommends for the 40 million American households still with a gas stove to make the switch to electric

Researchers, who published their findings Thursday in Environmental Science and Technology, gathered gas samples from 159 stoves across 16 California counties.

They also used a model that calculated to average exposure to chemicals by using the size of the kitchen, ventilation and the amount of chemicals being leaked.

Benzene, the most dangerous chemicals of the bunch, was found in nearly every stove.

Hexane was found in the highest concentrations, with an average of around 7.5 parts per million by volume (ppmv) in the household air.

The compound is known to cause permanent weakness and nerve damage in the feet, legs and hands of people who suffer long-term exposure.

It is also linked to symptoms like muscular weakness, eyesight issues, headaches, fatigue and other problems, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns.

Cyclohexane, a chemical that can cause burns and irritation of the nose and throat was the second most common chemical - at 5ppmv.

Benzene - the cancer causing chemical found in paint and glues Benzene is a cancer-causing chemical, also known as a carcinogen, that is widely used in manufacturing in the US. It is used in the creation of plastic, nylon, rubbers, paint and glue products. It can also be found in tobacco smoke, motor vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions. Long-term exposure to the chemical has been linked to severe damage to a person's blood. In has been linked to blood cancers like leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The chemical has also been linked to anemia. Source: CDC Advertisement

There was just under 2ppmg on benzene found in each stove unit.

The gas in considered to be a carcinogen, having been linked to leukemia and other blood-based cancers.

It is sometimes found in glues and paint products, and smokers are also at risk of being exposed to it.

'Anywhere natural gas is leaked, hazardous air pollutants are likely being released, as well,' Dr Kelsey Bilsback, co-author of the study and scientist at PSE said on a media call.

Dr Jonathan Levy, an environmental health professor at Boston University, wrote for The Conversation last month that gas stoves pose a real danger.

He warned that they were significant sources of NO2 exposure - alongside the other chemicals.

'[NO2] is a byproduct of fuel combustion,' Dr Levy explained.

'Nitrogen dioxide exposures in homes have been associated with more severe asthma and increased use of rescue inhalers in children.

'This gas can also affect asthmatic adults, and it contributes to both the development and exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.'

Benzene could be being emitted by a person's switched off stove as well.

The amount of benzene coming from the stove is limited, though, and does not reach levels considered to be toxic by health officials.

There are still worries over continued exposure, though.

Most recently available data from 2015 estimates that around 40million US households are using a gas stove - or nearly a third of homes in the country.

This means that a large portion of Americans may be unknowingly exposed to dangerous chemicals on a consistent basis without even knowing.

Dr Levy, like many other environmental health experts who have long warned against usage of these stoves, believes that the potential health risks should be enough to push people into making the switch to an electric device.

'In my view, even if you're not driven to reduce your carbon footprintor you're just seeking ways to cook pasta fasterthe opportunity to have cleaner air inside your home may be a strong motivator to make the switch,' he said.
They also say most children will not commit to gender changes in their teens

New guidelines say it can have significant effects it on a child's psychology

NHS to consider risks of social transition in youth questioning gender identity

Doctors will no longer encourage gender-curious children to use the pronouns of their preferred identity.

New NHS draft guidelines will also discourage the act of children dressing in clothes of the opposite sex.

Health chiefs say 'social transitioning' should be no longer be viewed as a 'neutral act' due to the significant effects it may have on a child's psychology.

Social transitioning refers to a person being treated as the gender different to their biological sex but without medical interventions like controversial puberty blockers or hormones.

This can see people change their name, their pronouns and dress in clothes usually associated with their opposite sex.

Their family, friends and school are encouraged to be supportive of this process.

At the extreme end of the scale, social transitioning can see people controversially use the bathrooms or changing facilities of their believed gender identity.

But now NHS England's draft approach calls on clinicians to recognise most cases of 'gender incongruence' in children are just a phase.

'The clinical approach in regard to pre-pubertal children will reflect evidence that in most cases gender incongruence does not persist into adolescence,' it reads.

Therefore, it says encouraging social transitioning for prepubescent children should be considered carefully due to the mental health risks posed to the child when they reach their teenage years.

'The clinical approach has to be mindful of the risks of an inappropriate gender transition and the difficulties that the child may experience in returning to the original gender role upon entering puberty if the gender incongruence does not persist into adolescence,' it reads.

Children considering changing gender could be discouraged from social transitioning, like switching pronouns or dressing like the opposite sex as NHS the proposes to shake-up its approach to gender identity care

Revealed: At least 15 under-FOURS were referred to NHS Tavistock clinic to undergo gender care services At least 15 children under the age of four were directed to the NHS's transgender health service in England in the past two years. A similar number of five-year-olds were referred between 2021-2022 to the highly-controversial Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock clinic, the country's only gender identity service for children. NHS documents state that, in total, over 5,000 children were referred to Tavistock's service in the past two years, over concerns they were suffering from their gender identity not matching their biological sex. Only half of referrals were for children aged 15-plus. The NHS data, unveiled among some new guidelines for how to treat children with gender dysphoria, only concerns referrals to the GIDS at Tavistock. Not all of the patients would have been taken on for actual treatment, which can include puberty blockers and hormones that help change their bodies to align more with their gender identity. It is not known how many of the children aged five or under referred to GIDS went on to become patients. Any that did are unlikely to have been prescribed medication. But the figure is likely to cast even more questions over how children questioning their gender are directed to NHS care in England. NHS England is cracking down on how children are referred to gender identity care in the future, in the wake of the Tavistock chaos which saw its GIDS service ruled unsafe following a review. Advertisement

Even for older children, those already in their adolescence, social transitioning should only be considered a last resort in severe cases.

'Social transition should only be considered where the approach is necessary for the alleviation of, or prevention of, clinically significant distress or significant impairment in social functioning and the young person is able to fully comprehend the implications of affirming a social transition,' the draft reads.

Stella O'Malley, psychotherapist and director of campaign group Genspect, said medics needed to take heed of warnings over social transitioning.

'Professionals working with children need to reflect on that and make sure they aren't inadvertently causing harm by providing short term relief that leads to long term distress,' she said.

'At Genspect we believe that children should be free to wear whatever clothes they want, boys should be free to run around waving fairy wands in princess dresses and girls should be free to act however they wish, yet we don't think changing pronouns helps anyone- it creates more problems than it resolves.'

The NHS England draft guidelines are part of the health service's plan to close the highly-controversial Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock clinic, the country's only gender identity service for children.

GIDS is scheduled to shut its doors in the spring after a review ruled that the service was unsafe.

It found that other mental health issues were 'overshadowed' in favour of gender identity treatment, prompting accusations that staff rushed children onto powerful drugs.

As part of its response NHS England said GIDS would be replaced with two services one in London and one in the North West.

The new London service will be run by a partnership between Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Evelina London Children's Hospital.

In the North West, the service will be a partnership between Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

After these initial two, a further six or seven similar services could be opened in other parts of the country.

These services would operate under the draft documents now up for public consultation.

Other changes in the draft include a clampdown on referrals to gender identity care.

Under current guidelines, health and social service staff, teachers, and charities can refer a child they think is suffering from gender dysphoria to specialist NHS care.

But in the new system referrals to NHS gender identity care would be restricted to just GPs and health service staff.

At least 15 pre-primary school children were referred to the NHS England's gender identify service in 2021 and 2022

Other sections of the draft also detail that puberty blockers should only be provided via an NHS research programme, and medics should consider safeguarding processes if children obtain such drugs online.

The documents released yesterday also show that least 15 children under the age of four were directed to the NHS's transgender health service in England in the past two years.

A similar number of five-year-olds were referred between 2021-2022 at GIDS.

NHS documents state that in total over 5,000 children were referred to Tavistock's service in the past two years, over concerns they were suffering from their gender identity not matching their biological sex.

Only half of referrals were for children aged 15-plus.

Patients currently being treated at Tavistock's Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) will have their care transferred to the new operators early next year.

NHS England's draft guidelines are in response to an ongoing review of GIDS by senior paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, who warned the gender clinic was 'not a safe or viable long-term option'.

She found other mental health issues were 'overshadowed' in favour of gender identity issues when children were referred to Tavistock.

The clinic had been accused of rushing children onto puberty blocking drugs by former patients who feel they weren't challenged enough.

Dr Cass has called for 'rapid' research on the use of the drugs after she found 'insufficient evidence' on their benefits.

GIDS has found itself facing increasing scrutiny in recent years, with campaigners accusing it of rushing children onto puberty blocking drugs.

Former patient Keira Bell took the clinic to the High Court in 2020, claiming that she had not been challenged enough when she was prescribed the drugs at age 16.

Feedback on the NHS's draft guidelines closes on 4 December.
US health chiefs are 'monitoring' a new Covid variant that is feared to be the 'most vaccine-resistant yet' after it sent cases spiraling in Singapore.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the strain  dubbed 'XBB'  was still 'very rare' in the US with just 52 cases detected in 15 states to date.

But in a variant update today they confirmed they were keeping 'a close eye' on it after Singapore's cases doubled in a fortnight.

Health chiefs are also tracking the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, which they said was spreading 'relatively quickly' on American soil.

They now account for one in five infections, double the level a week ago.

XBB is another spin-off of the Omicron variant and has been blamed for Singapore's sudden surge in infections.

The alarm has been sounded by experts including Dr Raj Rajnarayanan at the New York Institute of Technology who said it was the 'most immune evasive yet'.

But there is no evidence that it is more likely to cause severe disease or death compared to its parent or sister strains  which have all proven to be mild for most.

Nearly three people are dying in Singapore from Covid every day on average, figures show.

While in the past there have been just one or two dominant global variants, the virus now appears to have splintered into a swarm of closely-related subvariants.

Just last month scientists were worried about BA.2.75, which took off in South Asia. In the US, there were concerns over strain BA.5 which is now dominant.

Shown above are the American states that have picked up variant XBB, which is a merger of two Omicron subvariants

The above graph shows the infection rate in Singapore per million people. It is now showing early signs of peaking after spiraling with the emergence of the XBB variant

It is currently recording three deaths from Covid a day. There is no evidence to date that XBB causes more severe disease or raises the risk of death from Covid

The above graph shows the proportion of cases in Singapore by variants. It reveals that XBB (red) has been surging in the country

The above shows the proportion of variants in the United States for week. Officials are keeping an eye on BQ.1 (light green) which is now behind one in ten infections

This map shows the variant proportions across the United States. BQ.1 is represented by light green, while BQ.1.1 is the darker green

XBB arrived in America on September 15, data shows, and has now been detected in 15 states.

Most cases are in New York with 22 infections to date and California where it has been detected ten times.

But it has also been registered in New Jersey, Washington, Hawaii, Michigan, Arizona, Arkansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Virginia.

Pfizer to charge Americans $130 per dose of COVID-19 vaccine Future shots Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine could cost Americans up to $130 each. The New York City-based firm confirmed the price point to DailyMail.com on Friday. It says that it expects out-of-pocket costs to remain at zero for the insured. The move comes as the nation moves away from government-controlled distribution of the jabs to rolling them out through the traditional US healthcare system. This means that, similar to a flu shot, Americans will be able to get the shot from their primary-care provider, though there may still be some out-of-pocket costs. A transition in the distribution of the shots could come as early as early 2023, Pfizer said. Demand for the shots has plummeted in the US in recent months - with Americans largely being uninterested in receiving repeated booster shots. Uptake for the shots crashed to such a point that Wall Street analysts told Reuters earlier this week that prices would have to triple to reach expected revenue targets. The federal government may soon run out of COVID-19 vaccines, as the White House has failed to convince congress to approve $15billion on pandemic spending. Advertisement

Limited testing for Covid  currently at its lowest level since the pandemic began  and variant monitoring means this is likely an undercount of the true scale of infections.

Revealing it was keeping an eye on XBB today, the CDC said: 'CDC is also keeping a close eye on a sublineage called XBB based on international reports.

'[But] it's still very rare in the United States.'

On a separate variant, they added: 'BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are offshoots  grandchildren, if you will  of the BA.5 that's been dominant for months.

'CDC data shows they seem to be spreading relatively quickly, but they're still a small proportion of overall variants.'

The World Health Organization (WHO) also revealed it was monitoring the XBB variant this week.

XBB has accumulated mutations in its receptor binding domand, a key part of the spike protein where virus-fighting antibodies dock and block infections.

Changes to this spot make the virus less recognizable to the immune systems of people who are vaccinated or have been infected with Covid previously.

Singaporean scientists estimate it is 30 per cent milder than the previously dominant BA.5 Omicron strain.

'XBB' is formed of two variants scientifically named BJ.1 and BA.2.75 which have merged.

It was first detected in India back in August, authorities said, but did not spark a wave until now.

Covid variants can merge  in a process scientifically known as recombination  if they infect the same cell in the same person at the same time, and then swap genes.

There have been several recombinant variants already  such as 'Delta-plus' last year  but none have led to a major surge in infections.

Instead, most quickly die out because the merger has left them less infectious than their rivals.

But XBB appears to be the most successful yet, and is behind 54 per cent of infections in Singapore, up from 22 per cent a week ago.

One possible cause for concern is that Singapore's reinfection rate has risen dramatically since the arrival of XBB  from five to 17.5 per cent of all cases.

It is not clear yet if this is simply due to waning vaccine protection.

There are now early signs that this is starting to peak, however, much earlier than the mid-November expected in Singapore.

Dr Rajnarayanan is tallying cases of the XBB variant in the United States using data from GISAID which is the top platform for monitoring variants.

He told DailyMail.com today: 'XBB is the most immune evasive variant yet... that's why we're worried about it.

'XBB can pick up additional convergent mutations and get fitter.'

It comes as America struggles to turbo-charge its winter vaccination drive despite warnings of another Covid wave.

The US is currently rolling out a bivalent vaccine to all over-5s, which is designed to protect against Covid variants BA.5 and BA.5.

It is unclear whether it will also protect against XBB, although scientists say it will still help to refresh people's immunity.

Just six per cent of people who are eligible have come forward so far, a month after the program started.

Last week eligibility was expanded from over-12s to over-5s, with American health chiefs saying they should also get jabs.

But the move goes against that in other nations which are quietly raising the age limit for their Covid jabs amid concerns over side-effects like heart inflammation and limited evidence that it will benefit children
The French President Emmanuel Macron bounced energetically on to the Renault stand on the opening day of the Paris Motor Show, earlier this week.

I watched on Monday as he was given a guided tour of the exciting new cars on show by Renault's own new charismatic chief executive, mercurial Italian Luca de Meo.

Macron has more than a passing interest in Renault  the French government holds a majority stake in the car maker, which only recently was on the brink of bankruptcy before de Meo came in to rescue it.

Electric reboot: A concept reviving the Renault 5 Turbo but in electric form was shown in Paris

Rugged Renault: Luca de Meo unveils a new 4Ever Trophy - a widely available production car may be a little more ordinary

Macron later moved on to the stand of Renault's arch-rivals Peugeot  now part of the giant Stellantis conglomerate  in an adjoining hall, where he chatted with the company's Coventry-born global chief executive Linda Jackson, and also saw vehicles from Stellantis-owned brands DS and Jeep.

Yet, as the crowds looked on, a small delegation from the UK's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) observed how they wished UK governments would similarly recognise the value of the British motor industry, as the French clearly do.

Renault's dynamic duo of reboots: The 4 and the 5 Turbo

Renault CEO de Meo was on sparkling form as he unveiled the 4Ever Trophy  a prototype of a classic Renault 4 reborn for the 21st century as an electric family run-around.

The original '4' sold more than eight million globally between 1962 and 1992 (1994 in Slovenia). De Meo said: 'The 4L is a legend. And legends never die!'

The '4' is the second classic Renault to get a 21st-century electric reboot, following on from the 5 electric prototype, which was discovered by de Meo at the back of the company's design studio after the previous management had dismissed it as 'too retro'.

De Meo also revealed that he has 'found the funds' to put into production a fully electric version of the wild R5 Turbo 3E rally-based concept, based on the Renault hot hatch of the 1980s.

The trio  all on display  will help spearhead a new Renault Group product offensive with 25 new vehicles to be launched between 2022 and 2025, he said.

Of his meeting with Macron, he quipped: 'I think you forget that he is my major share-holder.'

He told me: 'Two years ago we were almost bankrupt. When you don't have the money. You tend to work smarter.'

Dacia and Peugeot also reveal new cars

Dacia is the budget-car arm of the Renault group and its boss Denis Le Vot unveiled an all-wheel-drive electric prototype, which looks like a cross between a beach-buggy and a Jeep.

But Dacia has its feet firmly on the ground with a range of basic but stylish cars  including the Sandero, the new seven-seater Jogger, and the flagship large SUV Bigster from 2024-5  that will all be petrol-driven until that fuel is outlawed, he insists.

Dacia is Renault group's 'insurance policy' in case the electric revolution timetable slips because of the global economic crisis.

Hot hatch revival: The Renault 5 concept will have quickened the hearts of those who remember the 1980s Turbo in all its glory

Priced at 43,250, the Peugeot 408 comes with an electric-only range of about 39 miles

Peugeot CEO Linda Jackson was in Paris to oversee the world premiere of the new Peugeot 408 hybrid. Jackson started her career with Jaguar Land Rover in Coventry, where she was born, before a spell running Citroen in the UK and then globally.

She is now in charge of the upwardly-mobile Peugeot brand around the world. She told me: 'For Peugeot, 2023 will be our electric year.'

Over the next two years there will be five new 100 per cent electric cars. By 2025, every model will offer at least one fully electric option. And by 2030, all of Peugeot's European models will be 100 per cent electric.

Next month, Peugeot will unveil a prototype called Inception highlighting the marque's future direction for electric car style, interior and exterior design, new technology and driver experience from 2025.

Next year, it will also launch a more powerful electric e-208 GT supermini as well as the e-308 hatchback and e-308 SW estate.

In the driving seat: French President Emmanuel Macron was given a guided tour of the exciting new cars on show

China out in force

However, the elephant in the room is China.

A significant number of European car-makers  particularly German  were absent from Paris, which was a shadow of its former pre - Covid self. But the Chinese were out in force and filling some of the gaps.

The Paris Motor Show at Porte de Versailles runs until this Sunday and is worth a pleasant diversion if you combine it with a weekend city break  by Eurostar or car ferry. Details at mondial.paris/en/ticketing

BMW ends UK electric Mini hope

A bitter blow for Britain and for Mini fans was delivered this week as parent-company BMW confirmed that all future electric models will, for now, be built abroad  mainly in China  and not in Oxford.

BMW makes 40,000 electric Minis a year in Oxford, but production will end next year under plans to revise the line-up from 2024.

Most battery-powered Minis will then be built under a joint deal between Munich-based BMW with Chinese car giant Great Wall.

All change: BMW makes 40,000 electric Minis a year in Oxford, but production will end next year under plans to revise the line-up from 2024

The move is a blow to government aims of making the UK a centre of electric car production. The decision follows months of obfuscation by BMW executives.

As a consolation for Oxford, the 2,000 workers there will build the petrol Mini Cooper three-door and five-door Hatch models. Mini Convertibles will also be built at Oxford from 2025.

The firm insisted there will be no impact on jobs and said the factory will 'remain at the heart of Mini production'.

The first electric Mini was built in Oxford in 2020. All Minis will be electric by 2030, when new petrol and diesel cars are outlawed in Britain. This latest decision leaves a big question mark over the Oxford factory beyond 2030.

An armoured car fit for a president

Do you consider yourself a VIP target likely to be kidnapped, bombed or shot at?

Perhaps you're rich, successful, controversial, or simply unpopular enough to fall into one of these categories. If so, Land Rover may have just the answer with a tooled-up new Defender variant.

It says customers with 'security protection requirements' can now order a Defender 110 model equipped with 'enhanced ballistic and blast protection' thanks to a partnership deal with vehicle protection specialists Trasco.

Bullet-proof: The new Land Rover Defender 110 is equipped with 'enhanced ballistic and blast protection'

Land Rover says the lightweight anti-kidnap, or 'A-KIP' conversion 'offers protection with minimal compromise'; and that its inconspicuous design ensures a Defender is 'virtually indistinguishable from a standard vehicle'.

There are two levels of ballistic protection. The vehicles are fitted with lightweight security-grade steel, glass and composite materials to provide enhanced safety to clients, which include government departments and high-net-worth individuals.

Certified ballistic materials include the windscreen, doors and door glass, roof, footwells and a new ballistic rear partition with window situated behind the second row of seats.

Additional equipment includes a fire suppression system for the engine compartment, a front grille-integrated flashing blue-light pack and siren, intercom system, run-flat tyres, heavy-duty window lifters, under-body ballistic protection and a self-sealing fuel tank.
Fallout: Neil Woodford

The business that supervised Neil Woodford's management of his doomed flagship fund has been put up for sale.

Link Fund Solutions (LFS) is being touted to buyers by Australian parent company Link Group, as the fallout from the Woodford debacle continues.

Link Group's decision to rid itself of LFS comes as the British unit faces fines, lawsuits and redress payments over allegations it failed Woodford investors. The parent company has appointed investment bankers at Macquarie Capital and UBS as advisers.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed last month that it was preparing to fine LFS 50m, and would order it to pay up to 306m of redress to Woodford customers.

This scuppered Link Group's hopes of selling itself to Canadian software and technology group, Dye & Durham (D&D), in a deal which would have valued it at 1.4bn. Link Group is in talks to sell its corporate markets and banking and credit management units to D&D, for around 700m.

But by selling the toxic LFS business, Link Group may be hoping it can revive the earlier, more generous offer for the whole company.

Three years have passed since Link shuttered the Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF), freezing 3.7billion of savers' money inside, following a run of poor performance from the manager.

But the ripples from the implosion of Woodford's empire continue to spread across the funds industry.

Hargreaves Lansdown, the investment platform which recommended WEIF to savers, revealed this week that its chief executive Chris Hill was stepping down as it too faces a lawsuit from angry Woodford investors. Hargreaves Lansdown's co-founder, 76-year-old Peter Hargreaves, blasted its chairman Deanna Oppenheimer yesterday as he slammed the 'diabolical' performance on her watch.

WEIF has since been wound up and its assets sold, though some of the harder-to-sell stocks remain locked inside.

Investors have lost around 1billion during the process.

LFS is being sued by investors for failing to keep a closer eye on Woodford as he invested increasing amounts of their money in risky and hard-to-sell stocks.
Growing pains: Boss Nick Devlin and a Naked Wines vineyard

'The only things certain in life are death, taxes and maybe drinking,' the boss of Naked Wines declared as he unveiled a turnaround plan for the business.

Nick Devlin is under pressure to shake up the company as lacklustre growth, over-zealous expansion plans and growing worries around the state of the economy and consumer spending left it facing a cash crunch.

But the Cambridge-educated businessman, who now lives in California, was adamant that households would keep buying wine despite the cost-of-living crisis.

'I think customers will want to keep the subscriptions they have a real connection with,' he said yesterday.

Naked Wines has had a tough year. This summer, as it released its accounts for the year ending March 28, the business revealed there was 'material uncertainty' over its ability to keep going.

In a rare mea culpa yesterday, Devlin said: 'We recognise that in pursuit of rapid growth we have made mistakes.

'Whilst the business today remains materially bigger than pre-pandemic, in 2021 we bought inventory and added to our cost base in anticipation of sustained faster growth which has not been delivered.'

His mistakes meant he had to wield the axe. Naked cut 30 staff, around 6 per cent of its workforce, saving around 18m in an attempt to create a 'leaner and more focused organisation'.

And Darryl Rawlings, who was chairman for just over a year, was shown the door to be replaced by David Stead, who has been on the board since 2017.

Devlin said: 'This change in direction has been hard, but it has been necessary.'

With cash in short supply as autumn approached, the net was closing in on Naked.

It had a 53m debt facility in place, but there were strict 'covenants', or rules, set by the banks which dictated whether Naked could access the money.

One of these covenants concerned repeat customer contribution  a metric on which Naked was in danger of falling short. But yesterday Devlin proudly revealed the business has renegotiated its covenants with the banks, so they were now more closely related to plain old profitability.

Now, in order to access the loan, Naked needs to generate at least 1m of 'adjusted' profit every quarter for the first three quarters of the year, and 4m for the year as a whole.

In the first half of this year alone, Devlin said, Naked had pulled in around 6m of profit on this measure. This will come as a relief to Naked's so-called Angels  customers who pay a regular monthly sum into their account, which goes towards their next wine purchase.

What many customers may have missed is that this cash  an eye-watering 72m as of the end of March  is used by Naked as working capital. That means if Naked had hit the rocks, and become insolvent, they may never have seen that money again. Much of it has already been used to bulk up the firm's wine supplies as it prepared for growth that never materialised.

Devlin said Angels need not worry now he has the business back on the straight and narrow. He plans to sell the excess stock slowly over the next year, slash investment in growth and cut marketing costs. Wayne Brown, an analyst at Liberum, said the plans were 'sensible'.

Investors seemed satisfied. Shares rallied 29.2 per cent, or 27.6p, to 122p. But they are still down 82.2 per cent over the last year.

David Reynolds, an analyst at Davy, said a severe economic downturn could mean Naked misses expectations again.

'I personally think you would have to make an enormous leap of faith to invest in the business here,' he said.
A White House lawyer sent Hunter Biden and his business partner emails about then-Vice President Joe Bidens taxes, calling into question the president's claim that he had no financial link to his son.

Counsel to the Vice President Cynthia Hogan sent Hunter and his Rosemont Seneca consultancy business partner Eric Schwerin an email in March 2010 discussing issues with Joe's IRS returns.

The document is the latest in a string of shocking evidence revealed by DailyMail.com of the deeply intertwined finances of the president and his son, who is under federal investigation related to his business dealings.

This site has previously published emails showing Schwerin was handling Joes tax returns and managing his bills. But it does not explain why Hunter was also copied on Hogans email about Joes taxes.

Hunter Biden could soon face federal indictment for alleged tax crimes  but Hogans message also shows that Joe got into hot water with the US Treasury over his 2008 tax filing, even requiring White House lawyers to get involved.

Hogan's message revealed Joe had received a 'tax audit letter' from the IRS regarding his 2008 filing, with questions over his claim that he was 'not required to pay self-employment tax'.

'I spoke to Walter [Deyhle, Joe's accountant] yesterday to review what materials he will present and to review our rationale and reliance on IRS revenue rulings in determining that the VP was not required to pay self-employment tax,' Hogan wrote.

'He will contact the IRS agent and present this information and report back to us.'

Emails obtained by DailyMail.com reveal Joe Biden had received a 'tax audit letter' from the IRS regarding his 2008 filing when he was vice president. Pictured: The then VP with son Hunter Biden and then President Barack Obama in 2010

In March 2010, counsel to the vice president Cynthia Hogan emailed the VP's son Hunter and his business partner Eric Schwerin about Joe's 'tax audit letter' from the IRS

The IRS sends an 'audit letter' when they have unanswered questions about a filing  and if accountants can't immediately satisfy tax collectors then it can lead to a full-blown audit.

Other emails from Hunter's abandoned laptop previously published by DailyMail.com show Schwerin handled Joe's taxes for years.

But it is unclear why Hunter was copied on the accounting discussions for the then-VP with his government lawyer  especially as Joe has repeatedly denied ever discussing Hunter's business dealings with him.

Schwerin met with Joe at the White House at least 19 times, according to Obama administration visitor logs, and was handling the VP's financial affairs at the same time as working with Hunter on his foreign business dealings in Ukraine and China.

Those business dealings are currently part of an investigation by federal prosecutors into potential money laundering, foreign lobbying and tax crimes by the First Son.

The president has not been named as a person of interest in the FBI probe, but DailyMail.com has uncovered extensive evidence linking him to Hunter's business affairs.

Emails from Hunter's abandoned laptop indicate Joe and Hunter paid each other's bills throughout the period Hunter was making suspect deals with foreign oligarchs and America's adversaries.

Last year John Cassara, a former US Intelligence Officer and Treasury Special Agent who is an expert in money laundering investigations, told DailyMail.com that were Joe not president, he would probably be in prosecutors' crosshairs by now along with his son.

Counsel to the Vice President Cynthia Hogan sent Hunter and his Rosemont Seneca consultancy business partner Eric Schwerin an email in March 2010 discussing issues with Joe's taxes

In a December 2016 email Schwerin broke down approximately $25,000 in monthly autopayments taken out of Hunter's account

Bills Hunter paid for Joe included a $190-a-month AT&T phone bill for several phone lines that the then-VP used, apparently circumventing White House security protocols

'The information available publicly is very worrisome, particularly in the areas of corruption,' Cassara said.

'This kind of thing should not be happening. It undermines full faith in the US government. It undermines trust and our international reputation. It's an embarrassment.'

Hunter complained that 'half' of his salary went to paying his father's bills while he was VP, casting doubt on Joe's previous claims that he's never benefited from his son's business dealings.

In a 2019 text to his daughter Naomi, he wrote: 'I hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family for 30 years.

'It's really hard. But don't worry, unlike Pop [Joe], I won't make you give me half your salary.'

Bills Hunter paid for Joe included a $190-a-month AT&T phone bill for several phone lines that the then-VP used, apparently circumventing White House security protocols.

Texts show Joe only started paying for the discrete phone lines himself in 2017, after he left office.

In 2018 texts with his assistant, Hunter complained that he had been shut out of his own bank account and that his father had been using 'lines on this account'.

'Too many cooks in the kitchen. Too many profile changes and such. Happened 10 days ago too,' Hunter texted to Rosemont Seneca assistant Katie Dodge.

Schwerin alluded to a money-making plan in a July 2010 email to Hunter and mentioned 'some positive news' about his father's 'future earnings potential'

In January 2019, Hunter's assistant Katie Dodge wrote an email to book-keeper Linda Shapero and Biden aide Richard Ruffner, saying Joe had agreed to pay his hundreds of thousands of dollars of bills

Joe received a tax audit letter from the IRS in 2010, when he was serving as vice president to Barack Obama (left)

'My dad has been using most lines on this account which I've through the gracious offerings of Eric have paid for past 11 years.'

From 2017, texts show Joe offered to pay Hunter's bills for his children including school and medical fees, and even agreed to pay Hunter's legal fees for his deal with a Chinese government-controlled company, according to one email.

A January 2019 email from Dodge, which listed $737,130.61 of bills including the China deal legal fees, said: 'I spoke with Hunter today regarding his bills. It is my understanding that Hunt's dad will cover these bills in the short-term as Hunter transitions in his career.'

A report by right-wing research group Marco Polo on the laptop material, obtained by DailyMail.com, highlights the conversations about Joe's bills and claims that they could constitute substantial undeclared gifts and income by the president.

'There was effectively one pot of money for the clan, and Joe was free to withdraw as much as necessary,' said the report, authored by Marco Polo founder and former Trump White House staffer Garrett Ziegler.

'Schwerin controlled bank accounts that were capitalized by Hunter's firm (which was funded, in part, by foreign oligarchs). These accountswith Schwerin as the front manwere used to pay bills, large and small, for 'JRB' [Joe].'

At the time, Hunter had also been working on a plan to start a lucrative Washington DC consultancy with his father when he left office.

He even considered joining up with former FBI director Louis Freeh whose clients included the corrupt Malaysian former prime minister and a Romanian businessman convicted in a bribery case.

Schwerin alluded to the money-making plans in a July 2010 email to Hunter.

'Your Dad just called me about his mortgage,' he wrote. 'So it dawned on me it might be a good time [for] some positive news about his future earnings potential.'

In April this year DailyMail.com uncovered anomalies in Joe Biden's financial filings.

The president declared almost $7million more income on his tax returns than he did on his Office of Government Ethics transparency reports between 2017 and 2020.

Some of that difference can be accounted for with salaries earned by First Lady Jill Biden and other sums not required on his reports  but still leaves $5.2million earned by Joe's company CelticCapri Corp, and not listed on his transparency reports.

Emails from Hunter's abandoned laptop previously published by DailyMail.com show Schwerin handled Joe's taxes for years

A previously published 2017 email from Hunter's business partner James Gilliar to Hunter and associates titled, 'Expectations', details 'remuneration packages' for six people in the business venture with CEFC

The breakdown of the stake in the business included the 10% to the 'Big Guy', alleged to be a reference to Joe Biden

The 'missing millions'  combined with emails on Hunter's abandoned laptop suggesting Joe would have a 10 per cent share in Hunter's blockbuster deal with the Chinese  raise a troubling question: did Joe Biden receive money from the foreign venture?

In a now-infamous email sent by Hunter's business partner James Gilliar in May 2017, it was suggested 10% of the equity in their joint venture with Chinese oil giant CEFC would be 'held by H for the big guy'.

Another partner in the deal, Tony Bobulinski, has claimed that the message meant Hunter would secretly hold the shares for his father, who was involved in the deal.

Several other emails on Hunter's laptop refer to Joe as 'the big guy'.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment in April about the financial anomalies in Joe's filings.
Psychic mediums took the stage to reunite people with their long dead pets

The woman in front of me was talking to her dead dog.

To be more precise the deceased canine, which was a 'German Shepherd with a mottled coat', was making its presence known through a female psychic.

At Sydney's Mind, Spirit and Body festival this was perfectly routine.

Ex-Bachelorette and now meditation teacher Ali Oetjen at Sydney's Mind Body Spirit Festival

The professional medium, who was presenting a morning session on the event's main stage, said she often channelled dead pets, such as guinea pigs or even horses, which were not easily ignored.

On one occasion she told the audience of about 50 the spirit of a horse crammed into her small hatchback and 'nagged' her all the way while driving home from a session because she had failed to 'find its family'.

For four packed days, the core consciousness of the universe manifested itself in non-stop fortune-telling, crystal-gazing, chakra-aligning and herbal tea-spitting out - although perhaps that was just me.

There were around 100 stall holders displaying all manner of things to make life more meaningful and healthy at the Sydney Mind Body Spirit Festival

Ali Oetjen leading a meditation class at the festival

Sydney's Darling Harbour International Convention Centre was the focus of this outpouring of spiritual energy and consciousness-raising, with over 100 stalls displaying the weird, the wonderful, the daffy and delightful.

It was as if all the New Agers around alternative lifestyle haven Byron Bay had been condensed into an aircraft hanger.

Even for a third eye there was a lot to take in.

There were three presentation areas plus the 'soul kitchen' cookery display area, a workshop room, a 'sound healing room' and what looked like a prognostication exam room, with about 30 psychics sitting at single desks waiting for clients.

Perhaps it was the equivalent of psychic speed-dating.

Every possible way to predict the fates was in evidence with palm reading, tarot cards, astrology and 'angel guides'.

For those with a stronger need for caffeine than is afforded by tea leaves you could even get coffee cups read.

You can't just hand in the foamy remains of Starbucks to do this, it has to be Greek coffee that leaves a swirling sludge of grounds.

When the cup is drunk to about three quarters of the way down, the soothsayer will turn it in such a way to leave a meaningful coating of sediment.

I wafted through the heavy fragrance of incense into a session where a woman was leading about 30 people through 'ancestral healing'.

She told them to visualise a red chord running down their spine 'stretching down, down, down to Mother Earth'.

'Allow Mother Earth to hold you, surround you, (know) that you are a part of the being, allow the stars to remind you of the magic that resides inside of you,' she soothingly intoned.

People getting their auras photographed and then interpreted at the Mind Body Spirit Festival

Those gathered were told to visualise and enter into a 'quartz crystal healing chamber' as the speaker changed from English to the 'Light Language', which she explained is 'the language of the soul'.

What followed was a melodic chant, with words that sounded a little like Japanese and then high-pitched singing interspersed with 'shhh' and hissing sounds.

This, as far as I could gather, was the 'ancestral super consciousness' dissolving wounds inflicted by old family members.

Another 'healer' named Paul Williamson promised relief from what he called 'past-life progression', which means experiencing incarnations of your soul's previously lived lives.

'I help people open their consciousness to memories of one of their lifetimes,' he said.

There were plenty of people looking for some kind of enlightenment amid the many stalls at Sydney's Mind Body Spirit festival

The ability to perceive past lives can vary widely.

'Some easy, good subjects will go right into the experience and they are fully there with the emotions and thoughts and they are 100 per cent of that character,' Mr Williamson said.

'And for others that it is quite hard work.

'Some of us who are more analytical might find it more difficult to let go.'

Mr Williamson said he had 'lots' of past lives.

There were also ways to improve health and beauty at the festival

He has written books about some of them, with one being about Ilsa a 'strong female Celtic leader' who lived in Britain over 1,000 years before the birth of Christ.

In a more recent incarnation, Mr Williamson channelled Marjorie Wilson, a working class woman who worked as a machine operator during World War II and struggled with family and personal illness and hardship in the post-war years.

Not very far from Mr Williamson's stall was the area to get your aura photographed, which cost $55.

The operator explained an aura photo is 'a computer-generated image of the energy we are giving out'.

This is measured by touch or as the operator put it 'dermal resistance'.

Some of the advice offered at the Mind Body Spiritual Festival was more a little more earthy

A subject sits in a chair and puts their hands flat on two sensors sitting either side.

The metallic pads send a small electrical current into the hand and this determines which lights are turned on inside the camera and recorded digitally.

The colours above the head show current experiences, those on the photo's right side indicating show how people perceive the subject and those on the left display 'potential'.

Seeing 'beyond' the physical was also evident in Nia's striking artwork, which typically displayed colourful eye motifs adorned with collages of glass, glitter and crystal on matte black backgrounds.

Nia, left, shows off some of her artwork. There was also scented candles galore at the four-day festival held at Sydney's Darling Harbour (right)

Nia, an electrical engineer by profession, explained her works show 'the source energy within all the humans that most of us won't really remember'.

She admitted her work, which sells from $520 for big pieces down to $120 for smaller ones, is 'not commercial' but that's not what it is for.

'A guy brought this work from me here yesterday and he was crying and that is the connection I want,' she said.

Weaving my way patiently through the thickening crowds I began to feel something in my soul, which was tiredness.

I took that as the universe's signal it was time to send my feet back home and leave other seekers to the animal spirits, dermal resistance auras and ancestral super consciousnesses.
Elon Musk has told prospective investors that he is planning to implement massive layoffs once he acquired Twitter, according to Engadget.

The billionaire said that he plans to cut 75 percent of the platform's workforce upon completion of the deal. Currently, the company has 7,500 employees, which means around 5,600 employees will be laid off.

Twitter is Gearing for Massive Job Cuts

According to The Verge, Musk will be implementing massive layoffs to bring down the cost of the company's operation.

However, no matter who owns Twitter, the company is likely to be hit with massive job cuts in the coming months.

According to The Washington Post, the current management of the social media platform is also planning to reduce the company's workforce by around 25 percent. The plan is to reduce the company's payroll by $800 million.

If this were the case, 1,900 employees would be left unemployed. The company is also planning to have major infrastructure cuts and data center closures to further cut costs.

However, Tesla CEO's decision to lay off 75 percent of the employees is unimaginable, according to Edwin Chen, a data scientist formerly in charge of Twitter's spam and health metrics. He said that the billionaire's plan would be "a cascading effect."

"You'd have services going down and the people remaining not having the institutional knowledge to get them back up, and being completely demoralized and wanting to leave themselves," Chen further added.

The multi-company CEO has always expressed that he is in favor of cutting the number of employees. This was evident during the Twitter Town Hall meeting in June when he said that "he didn't see why low-performing workers should remain employed."

Read Also: Elon Musk, Twitter's Legal Battle Now Involve Signal Messages

Deal Between Elon Musk and Twitter is Moving Forward

According to Chen, if Musk proceeds with the massive layoffs, the impact would likely be immediately felt by millions of users.

He added that the massive job cuts would put Twitter's users at risk of hacks and exposure to offensive material.

According to TechCrunch, it seems that Tesla's CEO does not have a fundamental understanding of some serious issues the company faces. Some of the dire security and safety needs of the company will not be resolved by massive layoffs.

The billionaire also plans to loosen the content moderation restrictions of the platform. Once the deal is completed, he plans to allow formerly banned accounts to be reactivated.

Given this, it appears that the billionaire also has a very limited understanding of the content moderation issues the company deals with.

The deadline for Tesla's CEO to close the purchase of Twitter is approaching. He should be able to complete the deal by October 28th. It seems that the deal is moving forward, according The Washington Post.

The Elon Musk-Twitter deal has been a complicated issue. Back in April, the multi-company CEO proposed to buy the social media platform for $44 billion.

Later on, Musk announced that he was putting the deal on hold because of the spam accounts. Eventually, the billionaire decided to abandon the deal because his condition was not satisfied.

But in a sudden turn of events, Tesla's decided to proceed with the deal. A sign that the deal is proceeding is the social media platform froze its employees' equity awards until the merger agreement was signed.

Related Article: Elon Musk Wants Twitter To Release Features That Block Offensive Comments
This is despite Peterson never setting foot on any Victorian racecourse in her life

Victorian Police plan to ban her from racecourses over plans to protest the Cup

Brought her scantily-clad brand of disruption to Sydney and Melbourne

Notorious vegan activist Tash Peterson is set to be banned from all Victorian racecourses in a preemptive strike to stop her protesting at the Melbourne Cup.

The serial provocateur known for outrageous semi-nude stunts calling meat eaters 'animal abusers' received the notice from Victorian Police last week.

Deputy Commissioner Wendy Steendam warned Peterson, 28, she intended to issue the ban unless she was given compelling reason not to.

'My preliminary view is that it is necessary in the public interest to make an exclusion order,' she wrote.

'I formed that preliminary view after having carefully considered information about you, as it relates to the public interest in protecting the integrity of of the racing industry at Victorian race-courses and race meetings.'

Notorious vegan activist Tash Peterson is likely to be preemptively banned from all Victorian racecourses so she can't protest at the Melbourne Cup

Deputy Commissioner Steendam listed 15 grounds for her determination, recounting Peterson's long history of in-your-face protests over the past three years.

'On the basis of the above matters I believe your attendance at a specified racecourse may pose a threat to the safety of riders, horses, and the public at each of these racecourses during race meets,' she wrote.

The list included incidents of the animal rights activist harassing Coles and Woolworths customers and diners at KFC and restaurants, often topless or dressed as an animal stained with fake blood.

Other points included Peterson's pitch invasion at an AFLW match in February 2020, and the infamous August 2021 Louis Vuitton protest where she smeared her torso with her own period blood.

Tash Peterson (pictured) has a history of outrageous displays in the name of veganism - earning her a legion of fans, and critics, online

Finally, Deputy Commissioner Steendam cited a radio interview in July where Peterson revealed her plans to protest the Melbourne Cup.

'Yes definitely, every year until it stops,' she said on 3AW when asked if she would be targeting the race this year.

Poll IS HORSE RACING CRUEL? Yes No IS HORSE RACING CRUEL? Yes 215 votes

No 375 votes Now share your opinion





'I'm banned from Ascot Racecourse in Perth, so I'll be going elsewhere to bring light to the atrocities happening in the horseracing industry where they are all brutally murdered once they're considered no longer profitable.'

Peterson copped the two-year Ascot ban, along with one for Belmont Racecourse, after wearing a t-shirt reading 'you bet, they die' to a Melbourne Cup event last year.

'These beautiful, innocent beings. You bet, they die. You have paid for their murder, their blood in on your hands,' she screamed as she was ejected by police.

She added online after the event: 'Melbourne Cup Day celebrates and glamourises animal abuse, slavery and murder. It is an abhorrent, outdated, and barbaric event.'

Deputy Commissioner Steendam told Peterson she had a week to make a submission that would be considered before a final decision was made.

The serial provocateur is known for outrageous semi-nude stunts calling meat eaters 'animal abusers', such as this protest in Sydney in September

Peterson said she believed Racing Victoria requested the police move to ban her ahead of the Melbourne Cup.

'I feel honoured that I am so much of a threat to the horseracing industry that they plan to prohibit me from entering all racecourses in Victoria, even though I have never stepped into a Victorian racecourse in my life,' she said.

'The horseracing industry has become incredibly threatened by animal rights activists, as these are the very people who exposed the abhorrent abuse and murder of racehorses.

'Although it's concerning that these banning notices are infringing on my right to freedom of political speech, it's just a clear sign that change is happening.

'Over the recent years, more and more people are choosing not to fund the cruel, barbaric, and outdated horseracing industry.

'Animal rights activists, will continue to protest, expose these industries and eventually shut them down.'

Peterson (pictured, left and right) attended the Ascot Races last year disguised as a reveller in a lacy black dress before pulling on a white t-shirt that read: 'You bet, they die'

Peterson repeated her claims that racehorses were routinely slaughtered at the end of their careers, or if they failed to become successful.

'Race horses are abused in many ways: such as being commodified and forced to race, whipped repeatedly, forced to train as babies, given a toxic accumulation of performance enhancing drugs etc,' she wrote online on Tuesday.

'And at the end of it all, send to a murder house where they are bolt-gunned to death because they're no longer profitable to the industry.'

Tash Peterson's topless trolling Tash Peterson trolled a newspaper with another bare-chested stunt at her latest court appearance on Thursday. The serial activist faced Perth Magistrates Court on trespass and disorderly behaviour charges over a protest at the Perth Royal Show last month. Outside court she lifted up her top to reveal 'F**k the West' and 'animal liberation' written in blue paint across her torso. Peterson said the stunt was in response to the West Australian describing her as 'docile' during a previous court appearance. 'I will never stop disrupting and partaking in civil disobedience until all animals are liberated,' she said. 'I will never be docile until animal slavery and the animal holocaust ends.' The charges were over her and another activist chaining themselves to a fence where a cattle judging contest was taking place. Peterson said she objected to cows being 'judged based on how palatable their bodies look'. Advertisement

Peterson moved to Melbourne earlier this year after being banned from all licenced venues in Western Australia until March 4, 2023.

'I find WA very draconian in the legal system in comparison to most other states in Australia,' she told 3AW.

'They're really hammering down on me in my activism, criminally charging me, using the law in ways that it shouldn't be used to try and stop me and silence me as an activist.'

Stefania Ferrario was front and centre of a topless protest in Melbourne, upstaging Tash Peterson (right)

In Sydney she lay topless inside a human-sized meat tray in the Pitt Street Mall as shocked shoppers strolled past

She now lives between WA and the east coast, returning in September to protest against livestock shows at the Perth Royal Show.

While in Melbourne she joined a topless PETA protest at Bourke Street Mall where she was upstaged by OnlyFans star Stefania Ferrario, and confronted the city's famous horse and cart drivers, one of whom threatened to 'beat her to death with her camera'.

Then in Sydney she lay topless inside a human-sized meat tray in the Pitt Street Mall as shocked shoppers strolled past.

Peterson claims to earn about $40,000 a month posting raunchy content to OnlyFans as her activism makes it impossible to hold down a job.
Mr Joyce was named co-patron to ACON's Pride in Diversity campaign in 2018

Qantas boss Alan Joyce is the patron of a controversial not-for-profit organisation that's advising workplaces to stop using the words 'mother' and 'father'.

Sydney-based queer health organisation ACON, primarily funded by the NSW Government and receives money from the ABC, advised companies to abandon the terms to promote LGBTQ inclusion.

The lobby group has suggested the words' mother', and 'father' be replaced with 'primary caregiver' and 'secondary caregiver'.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce attends Australian LGBTI Inclusion Awards in 2018 after becoming a co-patron of ACON - a group that wants to ban the use of 'mother' and 'father'

Qantas' website only mentions the word 'mother' on its Mother's Day sales page - with the airline refusing to comment to Daily Mail Australia on if it follows ACON's guidelines

Mr Joyce was announced as a co-patron for ACON's Pride in Diversity campaign in 2018 and has appeared at several events alongside other directors.

'I'm honoured to be part of ACON's efforts to create workplaces where LGBTI Australians feel confident to be themselves,' he said upon his appointment.

'Companies have so much to gain when employees bring their whole selves to their job, but I've heard too many stories from people who feel they have to devote a lot of energy to hiding a big part of their identity.'

In welcoming Mr Joyce, ACON President Dr Justin Koonin said that he brings a wealth of experience in leadership and advocacy from the corporate sector.

'Even with the successful passage of marriage equality legislation in 2017, there is still a tremendous amount of work to do, and it is important that in all aspects of Australian life we have outstanding leaders, advocates and allies  including of course within Australia's major business, governmental and educational institutions,' Dr Koonin said.

ACON, which stands for AIDS Council of NSW, receives $13million in government funding annually and $4 million from organisations that sign up as members, including Qantas.

The organisation was originally founded to respond to the AIDS epidemic in 1985. It has since diversified into advocating for national workplace policy.

The lobby group advises workplaces to avoid using gendered terms when writing office policies to make sure gender norms are not reinforced.

'When we continue to use terms that buy into that, such as 'maternity leave', 'paternity leave', 'mother', 'dads', all of these terms, that's reinforcing those gender norms,' the lobby group's training video for employers states.

'Often, our parental leave policies have been written, using a traditional view where a woman will become pregnant, have a child, take six months off work to be the primary caregiver of a child. The male husband might also take a couple of weeks off work,' it says.

ACON recognises Qantas as a 'silver LGBTQ inclusive employer', with other powerhouses including PwC, Commonwealth Bank, Deloitte and JP Morgan, and others recognised for making workplaces more inclusive for LGBTQ staff by following some of the lobby group's advice.

Qantas' website has only one mention of the word 'mother', on its Mother's Day sales, and no mention of the word 'father'.

The airline instead refers to 'parents' or 'guardians' when talking about children flying.

In response to Daily Mail Australia, Qantas said they would not comment directly on any relationship with ACON and whether it follows its guidelines, but noted Mr Joyce has used the term mother personally in the past.

The airline also said it regularly mentions mother and father in social media posts.

Jetstar, the sister company of Qantas, does use the term 'mother' on its website, referencing 'new mothers' in its section on pregnancy.

Competitor Virgin Australia also uses the terms 'mother' and 'father', offering travel tips for parents and pushing its not-for-profit partner Gidget Foundation Australia - which emotionally supports expecting and new mums and dads.

'Nearly 1 in 5 mothers and 1 in 10 fathers will experience perinatal depression and anxiety (known previously as Postnatal Depression), with suicide a leading cause of maternal death,' VA says on its website.

'That's around 10,000 Australians each year. Nearly 50% of all parents experience adjustment disorders.'

Sydney-based health organisation ACON, which is primarily funded by the NSW Government, has advised workplaces abandon the terms to promote LGBTQ inclusion (stock image)

2GB Radio host Ben Fordham described ACON's push to remove the words as 'another crackpot idea'

Up to 60 government departments and agencies - which includes schools, the Prime Minister's office, universities, the Police and private businesses - have signed up as members of its schemes.

In a statement addressing the 'repeated attacks' in recent months from 'opponents of LGBTQ equality, ACON said the goal of the employer support program was to create more inclusive workplaces for LGBTQ employees.

'Our members strive to be inclusive of all employees and create inclusive workplaces for all Australians. Pride in Diversity provides members with LGBTQ subject matter expertise in this aspect of their diversity and inclusion strategy,' it stated.

'Pride in Diversity was established following requests from employers, seeking advice and support in this area to enable parity with their international offices and emerging best practice in diversity and inclusion.'

In a statement addressing the 'repeated attacks' in recent months from 'opponents of LGBTQ equality, ACON said the goal of the employer support program was to create more inclusive workplaces for LGBTQ employees.

'Our members strive to be inclusive of all employees and create inclusive workplaces for all Australians. Pride in Diversity provides members with LGBTQ subject matter expertise in this aspect of their diversity and inclusion strategy,' it stated.

'Pride in Diversity was established following requests from employers, seeking advice and support in this area to enable parity with their international offices and emerging best practice in diversity and inclusion.'

ACON's 2022 Australian Workplace Equality Survey of 45,000 employees found less people were comfortable with being out to everyone they work with - falling from 66 per cent in 2020 to 58 per cent in 2022.

'Another 33 per cent said they felt they wouldn't be accepted by some members of their team, and 19 per cent said being out at work would negatively impact their career progression,' it said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted ACON for comment.
She says all Western countries are avoiding the truth about unhealthy lifestyles

An Australian woman wants airlines to stop tiptoeing around obese passengers and make them pay for an extra seat if the size of their bodies invade the personal space of 'regular-sized' travellers.

Sydney Watson, who grew up in Melbourne but has lived in the US since 2019, was jammed between an overweight brother and sister who 'spilled' over into her middle seat during a recent three-and-a-half-hour American Airlines flight from New York to Dallas.

Ms Watson, 29, created an online storm and made headlines around the world after she sent photos of her predicament to her 300,000 Twitter followers.

American Airlines at first brushed off the complaint but later offered her a $US150 voucher towards another flight.

Sydney Watson sparked a storm after she shared a photo of her three-hour flight and complained about being 'wedged between two obese people'

Ms Watson, who is spending two weeks in Melbourne to catch up with family, said her photos did not convey the 'absurdity' of the situation.

'I don't think it's right ever to put a regular-sized person in a situation where they have their space encroached upon,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'For them (a regular-sized person) to be touched without their consent and in my case having to contort in really weird positions to fit in the situation.

'I don't think people really recognise or realise how bad it was because I wasn't able to get a full shot of how bad it was. But it was absurd.'

Ms Watson said although it is 'harsh', there is a 'social contract' people enter when they get on shared transport.

That contract is 'I am going to make my greatest attempt to not encroach on the space of other passengers, to not make other people uncomfortable'.

Ms Watson admitted that sometimes this was 'unavoidable'.

'People have made the example of tall people, I am a tall person I am over six foot. I realise it can be challenging for us to fit into seats.'

'What are they going to do hack their legs off?

'So they buy a business class ticket or they sit in the bulkhead. The question becomes why aren't overweight people, morbidly obese people expected to do the same?

'I don't understand why we make different provisions for them.'

'My primary thing with what happened on the flight is that I had no personal space,' Ms Watson said

Ms Watson asked the brother, who was sitting in the aisle seat, if he would swap with her to be next to his sister but he declined.

'I have to assume it's because he knew being sandwiched with his sister for a multiple hour flight would probably have been quite uncomfortable for them,' she said.

'To have at least part of his body sitting out in the aisle was probably preferable to being squashed next to her and next to me.

'They were probably anticipating or hoping that there would be a vacant middle seat which is why they booked the say they did.

'My primary thing with what happened on the flight is that I had no personal space.'

Ms Watson shared another picture of her legs squeezed between the bodies that surrounded her

Ms Watson said that while there are a small number of people who are overweight because of medical issues the overwhelming reason is bad lifestyle choices

Ms Watson told Daily Mail Australia the $150 voucher wasn't good enough and the airline should have followed its policy of making people who are too big to fit comfortably in a seat buy the one next to them, even if that means waiting for the next flight.

The American Airlines website states customers who 'do not have enough space to even sit in their seat and buckle their seatbelt' are referred to as 'passengers of size'.

The website set out that 'any traveller who requires an additional seat will be given an additional seat whenever one is available' but if there are no empty seats on a plane 'that passenger may be required to purchase a second seat and wait for a new flight'.

American Airlines initially told Ms Watson it caters to passengers of all shapes and sizes

Ms Watson also said Americans were in denial about the problem of weight.

'I think the biggest way of solving this issue is to stop normalising obesity,' she said.

'In a very small portion of cases there are people who are overweight for medical reasons because they are on certain medications and it is by and large out of their control.

'I really feel for those people because they get caught up in these conversations.

'Most people are fat because they make bad lifestyle decisions and to act like thats not the case is not good socially, that's not good for society.

'The simple fact is people need to lose weight.'

Ms Watson said a recent trip to the US Midwest town of Michigan was eye-opening.

'I couldn't get my head around how many people were on those fat chairs (mobility scooters), she said.

'The vast majority of people who are that overweight, I don't think they are ones getting on planes to be fair, but that the vast majority of people who are that overweight probably got there by making not OK choices.'

She has now shared an email she received from the company on Monday, where American Airlines apologised and offered her a US$150 coupon

She believes that it has become challenging to call out the problem of obesity because in many Western countries 'people are fatter than they are thinner'.

A 2008 study found that Australia had more obese adults as a percentage of population (26 per cent) than America did (25 per cent).

'The body positivity/fat acceptance movements have tried to harness this shame and do away with it,' Ms Watson said.

'Which is why you see so much of this "fat and proud" type of commentary from overweight people. Although, I personally think that's a "cope".

'I received so many supportive comments from self-confessed "fat" people over my situation.

'These people are not denying the reality that they're carrying a little more weight than they'd like, and they're self-aware enough to see how that might impact another person.'

Ms Watson said obesity is a problem that needs to be called out and tackled openly.

Ms Watson is an Australian-American conservative commentator with more than 300,000 Twitter followers

'We absolutely need more truth in talking about this,' she said.

'More people die annually from obesity related issues than malnutrition.

'It doesn't help that our society isn't structured around healthiness - we're mostly sedentary, our food is full of chemicals and additives, going "to the gym" and "eating healthy" are considered an achievement.'

Ms Watson, who moved to America to make a living out of political commentary which she does primarily on her YouTube channel, said she had been accused of posting about the incident to get 'compensation'.

She said she was initially reluctant to make a video about the incident but has posted one in response to the furore.

'Its not about being compensated for me,' she said.

'With a flight credit I would actually prefer to put that towards someone bettering themselves than me pocketing that.'

Thankfully she did not face a similar uncomfortable situation on her flight to Australia.

'I think I would have cried if I was in the same position because my flight from Dallas was about 16 hours,' she said.

'I was actually lucky to be sat next to two very, very lovely Americans. They were thin  they were reasonably sized people.'
Harvey Weinstein, currently serving a 23-year sentence for sex crimes in New York, will be tried by a jury of nine men and three women at his rape trial in Los Angeles, the city where he once held sway as one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood.

The 12 people who will decide Weinstein's guilt were chosen in a process of about six days from a pool of 225 potential jurors who were summoned last week.

Weinstein, 70, is facing 11 charges of rape and sexual assault involving five women in the Beverly Hills and Los Angeles area between 2004 and 2013.

Opening arguments are expected to start on Monday in a trial that is set to last two months. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty.

The judge and attorneys still need to seat 10 alternate jurors. Opening statements in the case are expected to begin next Monday.

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein, left, interacts with his attorney Mark Werksman in court at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, California during jury selection which has just been concluded

Weinstein will go on trial in Los Angeles, the city where he once held sway as one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood. He is pictured in April 1989

The former movie mogul, 70, is already serving 23-years after a 2020 conviction in NYC. He pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles to four counts of rape and seven of sexual assault. He is pictured in 2017

Weinstein has been married twice. In 1987, he married his assistant Eve Chilton and the couple divorced in 2004. They had three daughters

One of Weinstein's accusers is Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker, actor and wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Siebel Newsom will testify that Weinstein sexually assaulted her during what she thought was going to be a business meeting, according to her attorney, Elizabeth Fegan.

The identities of the other accusers are being kept secret in court documents, which refer to them as Jane Does 1 through 5. Weinstein has said all of his sexual encounters with women were consensual.

One potential witness against Weinstein is actor Mel Gibson, who prosecutors said was a friend of one of the accusers.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench ruled last week that Gibson could testify about what the friend told him about Weinstein, though the judge said she could change her mind depending on the friend's testimony.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom has confirmed that she is one of Weinstein's accusers and will testify at trial . Pictured in 2019

One potential witness against Weinstein is actor Mel Gibson, who prosecutors said was a friend of one of the accusers

Weinstein was extradited from New York to a Los Angeles prison in July. Now in declining health, he has been seated in a wheelchair during jury selection in Los Angeles Superior Court

THE LOS ANGELES CHARGES AGAINST WEINSTEIN JANE DOE #1 - Unidentified Italian actress Forced oral copulation - February 18, 2013 Sexual penetration by foreign object - February 18, 2013 Forcible rape against the same woman on the same day - February 18, 2013 JANE DOE #2 Sexual battery - February 19, 2013 JANE DOE #3 Sexual battery by restraint - May 11, 2010. 'Weinstein unlawfully touched an intimate part of Jane Doe #3 while she was unlawfully restrained'. JANE DOE #4 - Jennifer Siebel Newsom Forcible oral copulation - September 2005 Forcible rape - September 2005 JANE DOE #5 Forcible oral copulation November - 2009 Forcible rape - November 2009 Forcible oral copulation - November 2010 Forcible rape - November 2010 Advertisement

Weinstein, the Oscar-winning producer of Shakespeare in Love and The King's Speech, was convicted of sexual misconduct in New York in February 2020. Allegations against him helped fuel the #MeToo movement of women speaking out about harassment and abuse by men in Hollywood and beyond.

Weinstein was extradited from New York to a Los Angeles prison in July 2021. Now in declining health, he has been seated in a wheelchair during jury selection in Los Angeles Superior Court.

In New York, Weinstein is appealing his conviction and 23-year prison sentence. He could face up to 140 years in prison if convicted on all 11 of the charges in Los Angeles.

Very little is known publicly regarding the nine men and three women who sit on the jury - the 12 who will decide on Weinstein's guilt.

Their personal information was revealed mostly in questionnaires that remain sealed.

Those who were seated were asked few questions in court.

Their ages appeared to range mostly between 40 and 70. A few appeared to be older than that, and one man appeared to be in his early- to mid- 20s. Of the three women, two are older and one appeared to be about 30.

One of the women said during the selection process that she was 'on the fence' about the #MeToo movement.

'I believe most women but not necessarily all,' she said.

Some of the rejected jurors expressed skepticism about sexual assault accusations.

One, a young man, had written 'the #MeToo movement is pointless and fraudulent' on his jury questionnaire, and was asked about it.

'I don't really believe in that movement. I myself wouldn't believe every woman who said someone did something to them,' he said.

Another, an older man, has a daughter who is an attorney. 'I have a great deal of respect for both sides of the table and our system of justice,' he told one of Weinstein's attorneys.

He expressed some doubt about whether he could find a guilty verdict in a sexual assault case with no DNA evidence, of which there is none in this trial.

'It's kind of an ambiguous question,' the juror said. 'It all depends on the type of assault.'

Another man said he was not worried about getting grief from family, friends or co-workers if they learned he returned a not guilty verdict against Weinstein.

Former movie mogul, 70, already serving 23-years after a 2020 conviction in NYC, pleaded not guilty in LA to four counts of rape and seven of sexual assault

Harvey Weinstein and Ellen Barkin pictured at a movie premier in 1996
Donald Trump's former aide Steve Bannon faces possible prison time Friday, when a judge will sentence him or refusing to testify in Congress' probe of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Bannon, a longtime political strategist and ally of the Republican former president, was found guilty in July on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena to testify.

The Justice Department urged the court Monday to sentence the 68-year-old to six months in prison - the high end of sentencing guidelines but less than the maximum possible 12 months - and fine him $200,000, pointing out that Bannon had repeatedly sought to delay the proceedings by hinting he might cooperate.

Bannon 'has pursued a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt,' the department said.

His legal team have called the process political and he has compared the proceedings to a hearing under a communist regime.

Donald Trump's former aide Steve Bannon faces possible prison time Friday, when a judge will set his sentence for refusing to testify in Congress' probe of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol

Bannon asked the court to sentence him to probation, saying he had rejected the congressional subpoena on the advice of his lawyers.

He also asked that the court place a stay on implementation of any sentence while his appeal of the original verdict goes ahead.

'Mr. Bannon respectfully asserts that a sentence of incarceration would violate his constitutional rights,' his submission said.

The investigation by a special House committee has depicted Bannon as knowing in advance of the plan by hardline Trump supporters to attack the Capitol on January 6 to prevent Democrat Joe Biden from being confirmed as the next president.

It also showed him advocating for Congress to block Biden -- who defeated Trump in the November 2020 election - from becoming president.

'The rioters who overran the Capitol on January 6 did not just attack a building -- they assaulted the rule of law upon which this country was built and through which it endures,' the Justice Department told the court in its sentencing memo.

'By flouting the Select Committees subpoena and its authority, the defendant exacerbated that assault.'

Bannon was one of the masterminds behind Trump's original presidential campaign and victory in 2016.

He served in the White House for the first seven months of Trump's term as chief strategist, leaving reportedly due to conflicts with other top staffers.

In 2020, Bannon was charged together with others with wire fraud and money laundering for taking millions of dollars for personal use that donors contributed to their scheme to build a wall on the border with Mexico.

While others were found guilty in the scheme, before leaving office in January 2021, Trump issued of blanket pardon for Bannon, leading to the dismissal of the charges against him.
Gordon Sondland, EU ambassador from 2018-2020

Gordon Sondland was thrust into the limelight as a focal witness in Donald Trump's first impeachment trial in 2019.

The hotelier-turned U.S. Ambassador to the European Union put the nail in the coffin with his bombshell testimony that Trump did offer Ukrainian President Zelensky millions in military aid and a trip to the White House if he investigated his political rivals.

Three years on he insists he doesn't regret his 'quid pro comments' and has distanced himself from Trump - but believes the Democrat's impeachment of the former president was a scam.

He also admitted in an interview with DailyMail.com that even though he might not support Trump, he still agrees there was a smaller chance of Putin invading Ukraine if he was president and admits the Donald had a point when he said American Jews need to 'get their act together.'

'I think he's right to a certain extent actually,' Sondland, whose Jewish parents came to America to escape the Holocaust, said in a wide-ranging conversation. 'The irony to me is that some of the most successful jews whose parents grandparents like mine came out of the holocaust built lives fortunes here in US don't understand importance of Israel.'

'No President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S,' Trump said on his Truth Social app Sunday.

'Those living in Israel, though, are a different story - Highest approval rating in the World, could easily be P.M.!'

Trump concluded: 'U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel - Before it is too late!'

Turning to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Sondland said Vladimir Putin would have been far less likely Trump had been president.

'I think that deep in Putin's DNA is the reunification of Ukraine and Russia. I think he would have been looking for any opportunity under any president,' he said. 'But the odds would have been lower. A lot lower.'

Sondland chats with Trump on the tarmac in Brussels in 2018, in a moment where he tells in his book of how he scored a ride in the Beast with Trump by telling a crude joke

Sondland testified before the House Intelligence Committee in 2019. Three years on he insists he doesn't regret his 'quid pro comments' and has distanced himself from Trump - but believes the Democrat's impeachment of the former president was a scam

Turning to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Sondland said Vladimir Putin would have been far less likely Trump had been president

'Trump took a counter-veiling approach which is instead of doing what every president since the beginning of time has done to people like Putin, which is condemn them publicly, he sort of set Putin on his heels by praising him publicly but in private he kind of beat the s**t out of him. He said 'Don't do that because we're going to come after you,' Sondland said.

About the potential for all-out nuclear war, Sondland said, 'I'm very concerned about it.'

'I don't think we're dealing with a rational actor today. Why isn't he rational? Because he's being boxed in on a botched invasion, getting a lot of pressure from both his hardliners to go further, others in Russia to immediately stop withdraw. He's under tremendous pressure.'

And while Sondland said he prefers Trump's game of hardball with the European Union to Biden's deference, he credited White House's current occupant for his backchannel negotiations to keep the Europeans in line in opposition to Putin. 'His team has done a very, very credible job quietly keeping the alliance together. For that he deserves kudos.'

But Sondland said Trump was the first president to call out the Europeans for being ungrateful to the U.S. for helping build the E.U. in the decades since World War II.

'We were the biggest check writers of anyone on the planet,' Sondland said. 'Europe doesn't think they owe us big time at all - It's "what have you done for us today, what are you going to do for us tomorrow." So Trump was the first one to really call them on it,' he said.

'Biden is more predisposed to going back to the old ways which is a lot of back slapping a lot of nice talk that accomplishes very little.'

In his new book, Sondland unabashedly tells of how his $1 million donation to Trump's campaign helped him land the job he'd always dreamed of, how he played his political novice to score a high-level role in setting the president's agenda and how he reluctantly etched his name into the history books by uttering the three words Democrats seized on to prove Trump's guilt in the first impeachment.

The book, 'The Envoy: Mastering the Art of Diplomacy with Trump and the World,' out Tuesday, is replete with idiosyncratic Trumpisms, such as when Sondland walked into the Oval Office for a meeting to find Trump blasting country music to pick songs to play at his rallies.

'Never mind that the Oval Office sounds like a country western bar, and we're supposed to be prepping for a visit with a foreign leader,' Sondland wrote.

In his new book, Sondland unabashedly tells of how his $1 million donation to Trump's campaign helped him land the job he'd always dreamed of, how he played his political novice to score a high-level role in setting the president's agenda

In another moment Sondland told of how he scolded the former president for pulling out TicTacs and pouring them onto his tongue without offering any to him. 'What the f**k? Aren't you going to share?' Sondland said. 'When you call him out on not acting like a normal person, it catches him off guard, and then he kind of likes it. People do it too infrequently,' the ambassador surmised.

The longtime Republican fundraiser and donor initially supported Jeb Bush in the 2016 primary, before backing Trump and then breaking with him over his belittlement of Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim U.S. soldier who died in Iraq. He described how he had to work twice as hard to beat out 'loyal' donors for a cushy ambassadorship, putting his name back on the map with a $1 million donation to the inaugural committee.

Once he scored the role, he had to figure out how to make a lasting impression on Trump.

On greeting Trump on the tarmac in Brussels for the first time in his new role, he decided to ignore the advice of White House staffers who told him not to get into the Beast, the president's armored vehicle, with him.

'Another off-the-shelf greeting would get me nowhere,' he explains in the book. 'I need a hook, something to grab his attention.'

When Trump asked him how he was doing Sondland told the president his genitals were 'sore' because the Europeans had been 'kicking' them since he arrived. Trump took delight in the irreverence, invited Sondland to ride in his limo with him, and the ambassador had established his direct line to the president.

While some might disdain the long-established mega-donor-to-posh ambassador pipeline, Sondland said he found business moguls make better diplomats than life-long foreign policy buffs.

'Heres my take: many who disdain political appointees say that a career-groomed Georgetown foreign service graduate is more qualified to hold the position of chief of mission than the head of a hedge fund who knows relatively little about foreign policy but knows how to manage people and make and close deals, Sondland wrote in the book. The former has subject matter expertise, but the latter understands business, knows how to negotiate, knows how to get things done, and has access to the commander-in-chief. Who do you want running the embassy?'

In a move that cost him his job and his favor with the former president, Sondland told the House Intelligence Committee in 2019 there was in fact a 'quid pro quo' linking a U.S. demand for Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden-linked Burisma with a meeting between then- new President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump.

'Quid pro quo- It's kind of a sexy word. I don't think it was in the American lexicon until that impeachment hearing,' Sondland mused over breakfast at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C.

The point he wanted to drive home was that everything in life was transactional. Trump as a businessman, he thought, should have embraced this, rather than insisting it was a 'perfect phone call.'

'They're giving me food,' he said, motioning to the wait staff, 'And I'm giving them my Amex card. That's our quid pro quo.'

Sondland had been tasked by Trump with working with Rudy Giuliani to convince Zelensky to restart corruption investigations in exchange for a meeting.

He place blame squarely on Giuliani, not Trump or himself, for tying aid and a meeting to investigating Hunter Biden before his father Joe faced off with Trump in the 2020 election.

'It was coming from Giuliani, it was never from Trump. That's what the committee didn't want to hear, I never discussed it with Trump. Trump said, 'Deal with Rudy, I don't want to deal with it.'

Sondland also said that Giuliani never once mentioned to him that Trump's opponent's son would be caught up in the investigations he wanted so desperately.

'Hunter Biden's name never came up. Not once. I never heard the word Hunter Biden,' he insisted.

'We want to end corruption in Ukraine,' Sondland recalled Giuliani telling him, 'They have to make an announcement that they're going to resume corruption investigations.'

Where Trump went wrong, he said, was letting Giuliani as a private citizen handle high-level diplomatic negotiations. 'It was not appropriate for him to be involved in any of these matters.'

Still, he said the Ukraine phone call was just a 'red herring' blood-thirsty Democrats used to avenge a highly polarizing president.

'I think a lot was made out of a phone call that was probably not handled as deftly as it should've been,' Sondland said.

He said that he had at first tried to avoid testifying, asking the State Department to back him up in ignoring the subpoena. When they would not, his lawyers advised him to sit before the committee.

'As I got into impeachment process I realized [Democrats] already had the answer,' Sondland said. He claimed that impeachment managers tried to feed him lines before he went in front of the cameras at the hearing.

'They would ask my counsel, 'would he say this?' My counsel would say 'no he won't say that because that's not true.' They would say 'well could he say it this way?' 'No, he can't say it this way, that's not true. He can say this because this is what happened. He's not going to make things up.'

But Trump, too, should have embraced the quid pro quo, according to Sondland, instead of firing him.

'This whole issue would have gone away if Trump had not been so combative,' he said.

'Instead of saying it's a perfect phone call, I think he should've just put all the cards on the table and just said, 'I was elected president, I get to decide who the US does business with. I don't want to do business with this guy until he does certain things. If that means I'm going to hold up military aid, if you don't like it, don't reelect me, but that's what I'm going to do. Instead he did everything possible to fan the investigatory flames.'

After doing Trump's bidding for two years overseas, the ambassador said he would not vote for the former president again.

'I was accepting of the package the Trump package, the good, the bad and otherwise up until the January 6th incident,' he said. 'One thing I learned as an ambassador is that democracies all over the world admire us for how we turn the keys over to the next leadership.

'We go through these ceremonial symbols - someone greets their successor at the steps of the White House even if they hate their guts, they ride in the car to Capitol together ... They leave the note in the drawer, we do all of these things to show we don't transfer power at the point of a gun. People look to us for that. Trump screwed that up.'

If 2024 comes down to Trump and President Biden, 'I'd have to do a write-in,' Sondland said.

For now, Sondland is back to managing his hotels, but he's not ruling out fishing for another ambassador's role. 'I would do it, for the right president.'
A shocking TikTok video captured the moment a man escaped his SUV before it was swept away by a mudslide in the central Venezuela state of Aragua.

The footage showed the motorist sitting in his vehicle as the maddening flood water rushed down a street after a dam had overflowed in El Castano, Maracay, on Monday.

The car suddenly started to slide away when the man opened the door in an attempt to hop out of the vehicle.

An SUV is swept away by a raging mudslide after heavy rains caused a dam to overflow in the central Venezuelan city of El Castano on Monday. The storm killed at least three people

Rescue workers carry a woman from her home during flooding in El Castano, Venezuela, on Tuesday

Fortunately, the SUV collided with a pole, thus providing the man sufficient time to escape and reach the sidewalk.

Two seconds barely passed when the SUV was turned sideways and carried away by the flood.

The downpour caused a flood that carried rocks, trees, and mud down the main road in El Castano.

Rosana Cano, a 26-year-old influencer, was among the three people who were killed by a landslide in El Castano, Venezuela, on Monday

At least four residents, including 26-year-old social media influencer Rosana Cano, were killed, according to Venezuelan news portal Caraota Digital.

Cano was traveling in a car with her driver and another person before it was swept by the flash flood.

It's unknown if the driver and the other individual, whose names have not been released died or survived.

The fourth victim, Fredymar Nieves, 54, was found lying under rubble Thursday.

At least 50 families were impacted, including one that was seen in a separate video walking up the roof of their home and into a helicopter.

A man escapes from his SUV moments before is was swept away by a mudslide in El Castano, Venezuela

Rescue workers escort a family from their home into a helicopter after the residence was damaged by a mudslide Monday

At last 50 families were evacuated after their home were damaged by the landslide

The storm also damaged the home of Cincinnati Reds legend David Concepcion.

The state of Aragua has been hit by heavy rains in recent weeks that have killed dozens and left hundreds homeless.

At least 54 residents were killed in the municipality of Las Tejerias on October 8 after a storm provoked mudslides that buried homes and businesses.
Lucinda Miller, 24, (pictured) has not been seen since around 11.30am on Sunday

Close friends of a missing Victorian woman who disappeared five days ago after being dropped off by a rideshare driver have revealed her phone has been switched off.

Lucinda Miller, 24, was last seen at 11.30am on Sunday when she was dropped off at a bush track about 2.5km from her home in Nerrim South, around 110km east of Melbourne.

Victoria Police do not believe a second party was involved in her disappearance and hold grave concerns for her welfare with a desperate search underway.

In a Facebook post, a worried loved one said her phone was no longer active one day after she vanished and that Ms Miller's mother and close friends are 'frightened and incredibly concerned'.

'There are tremendous concerns for Lucinda's safety and wellbeing,' friend Esther Livingston wrote on Monday afternoon.

'Her mobile is currently turned off and every place Lucinda is known to has been checked.

'Due to the nature of Lucinda's disappearance and health, please immediately contact police and ambulance with any relevant information or sightings.'

Ms Miller was captured on CCTV in Dandenong, in Melbourne's southeast around 11am on Sunday before she was dropped off on McDougal Road, near the intersection with Ingleman Road.

Police have spent the last few days searching dense bushland for Ms Miller. Pictured: McDougal Road in Neerim South

Ms Miller was spotted in Dandenong, in Melbourne's southeast, around 11am before she travelled east to McDougal Road

Police have interviewed the rideshare driver but there is no evidence to suggest they were involved in Ms Miller's disappearance.

Around 50 police officers, including a dog squad, and volunteers spent Wednesday searching for Ms Miller in dense bushland. The search crew was reduced to 30 people the next day, and further people are expected to go out on Friday.

Victoria Police Inspector Peter Fusinato revealed the focus point of the search, which was initially centred on the area between her drop-off spot and home, had shifted after reports of a possible sighting.

A witness came forward on Wednesday afternoon to reveal they may have seen Ms Miller several kilometres to the south of the area on Monday.

'We're talking to all property owners in that area, checking all the rivers, creeks, roadways, tracks,' Inspector Fusinato said.

'So any property owners... be mindful that she may have wandered onto your properties and we just ask if you could check all your buildings or outbuildings just make sure that no-one has either been there or Lucinda is still located within your property.'

Police and loved ones have concerns for Ms Miller's welfare. She is described as blonde with blue eyes

The young woman was last seen wearing a white top, a pair of pink pants, a green jumper, beanie, scarf and face mask in Dandenong

Inspector Fusinato was familiar with the bush trail to her house and said it was strange she never came home.

He said it was possible Ms Miller may not want to be found.

'She may be missing of her own volition or unfortunately has .. hurt herself. We're not quite sure,' Inspector Fusinato told ABC News.

'But we're working on the theory that Lucinda may not want the family to know she'd come home.'

Police are appealing to the public for help in locating Ms Miller, who is described as being 165cm tall (or 5'5) with a thin build and blonde hair.

She was last seen wearing a white top, a pair of pink pants, a green jumper, beanie, scarf and face mask.

Other agencies have assisted police in the search in the dense bushland including the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria State Emergency Service and CFA (Country Fire Authority).

Anyone who has seen of has information about Ms Miller is urged to call Warragul Police Station on 5622 7111.
Accused Waukesha parade killer Darrell Brooks broke down in tears as he delivered his opening statement to the jury today, the latest display in a trial which has been marked by his disruptive outbursts and erratic behavior.

Brooks, 40, tearfully told the jury to remember that there were two sides to every story, while repeatedly mentioning the amount of 'suffering' the parade incident had created - his own included.

He insisted that nothing that happened during the parade attack last November was intentional, and tearfully bemoaned the names - such as 'monster' and 'demon' - he had been called in the press since his arrest.

Brooks finally told the jury that he wanted them to see him for who he truly was, and told them the power was in their hands to determine what was truth and what wasn't.

He is charged with murdering six people by ploughing an SUV through a Christmas parade in Wisconsin last year.

Darrell Brooks, 40, is accused of killing six people by ploughing an SUV through a Christmas parade in Wisconsin November last year

Darrell Brooks broke down in tears during his opening statement to the Jury in court today

Judge Jennifer Dorow noted that she had provided him with excerpts from a judicial book on opening statements that she felt 'would be helpful to provide to Mr. Brooks as he puts together his opening statement.'

She added that his remarks needed to be 'based on the law and evidence you believe is properly admissible.'

Brooks started in by talking about how there are 'two sides to every story.'

'I would just like to first say that, I want to bring to remembering something that I think everyone in this room has been taught, pretty much as far back as we can remember, is that there's always two sides to every story,' he said.

'And for so long now, roughly a year, there's really only truly been one side told of this story. And I've sat back and watched from countless narratives that's been put out there, the way this incident has been portrayed at times. And finally, everyone getting a chance to get the full story.'

Brooks said 'You won't hear me try to argue facts. This was tragic,' before going on to say that a lot of families are still healing from the incident, his own included.

'This incident was not planned. It was not intentional,' he said. 'There's been a lot of suffering involved in this incident; a lot, obviously, with the families.'

He added that there were families healing 'on both sides.'

Brooks wipes away tears while delivering his opening statement on Thursday. He insisted 'there's always two sides to every story'

After he concluded his opening statement, Brooks rested his head on his desk and visibly sobbed

Judge Jennifer Dorow provided Brooks with some legal texts to help him prepare his opening statement

The tears came about halfway through the statement as Brooks recounted the ways he's seen himself portrayed in the media.

'Lot of speculation, lot of ridicule,' he said while wiping tears away with a tissue, 'Words like 'demon.' Words like 'monster.' I know a lot of the time I've been before you, you've seen me with this mask on. I've had my reasons for that, but I feel now is the time that it's important that you see me for who I am. No mask. For who I am. I think this is the moment for that.'

He closed by telling the jury that the weight of truth and falsehood were in their hands, and implored they 'remain as open as possible.

'I pray that your eyes and ears remain as open as possible. I understand that you alone decide this case, this matter,' Brooks said. 'The power is in your hands. All of you. To determine for yourself what truth is. Thank you.'

Returning to his seat, Brooks laid his head on his desk and visibly sobbed.

"Don't nobody TELL me what to do!", #DarrellBrooks shouted at Judge #JenniferDorow after she was asking him to be quiet. "I am a grown man with grown kids. Don't nobody...ain't nobody gonna talk to me like that," Brooks said. pic.twitter.com/3RKUhUQONc  Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) October 19, 2022

A video of the SUV ploughing through the Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in November 2021. Brooks is accused of being behind the wheel

Pictured: a video screen shot of the Red SUV that plowing into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin in November 2021

The statement came as persecutors rested their case after calling 57 witnesses to the stand. Brooks - who has chosen to represent himself - will now begin the process of calling and cross examining witnesses.

He is charged with murdering six people by ploughing an SUV through a Christmas parade in Wisconsin last year.

Brooks has been continually disruptive throughout the trial. He has verbally sparred with the judge over legal terms and proceedings he appears to know little about, been removed from the courtroom for repeated interruptions, and at one point even removed his shirt and turned his back to the proceedings.

Yesterday he got into a spat with Judge Dorow over her requests that he stop interrupting so that the trial could proceed.

'Don't nobody tell me what to do!' he yelled, 'I am a grown man with grown kids. Don't nobody...ain't nobody gonna talk to me like that.'
Seven children who were rescued from their abusive mother have detailed the years of torture she inflicted on them - including forcing them to drink bleach and pouring it over their genitals.

The alarm was raised on Tuesday, when two of the children - 16-year-old twins, a boy and a girl - managed to escape from the family home in Houston, Texas and convince a neighbor to help.

The mother, Zaikiya Duncan, 40, and her boyfriend Jova Terrell, 27, left the house on learning the twins had escaped and were arrested later that day in Baton Rouge - a four hour drive, across Texas into neighboring Louisiana.

The pair were kept naked and handcuffed to a removal dolly in the laundry room, and their feet were often zip-tied. Photos of the twins showed deep cuts, bruises and scars on their wrists and ankles, along with other parts of their bodies.

The boy said he found the handcuff key in his mother's purse and hid it in his mouth, then made a pre-dawn run for freedom at around 5am.

He was wearing only pants when he escaped, and the girl had on a thin hoodie and pants: both were barefoot when a neighbor took them in, after they knocked on several doors.

The severely-malnourished 16-year-old boy can be seen (left) in a pre-dawn escape from a Houston home on Tuesday. His twin sister (right, in black hoody) stands next to him, begging for help from neighbors

Zaikiya Duncan, 40, (pictured), the mother of the children, has a history of prior child abuse allegations. Her boyfriend Jova Terrell, 27, (right) was also arrested on Tuesday

Duncan's other five children aged from seven to 14 were taken into the care of child protection services: four of them had been left with relatives in Louisiana, and the fifth was with them.

The father of the children, Nicholas Menina, a photographer and media director for a Baptist Evangelical megachurch, who lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, told DailyMail.com he did not wish to comment.

On Thursday, charging documents obtained by Houston network KHOU detailed the litany of appalling abuse.

The 16-year-old boy told his investigators his mother once gave him 24 Benadryl tablets, usually used for allergies and colds, to make him sleep.

The usual dose is one to two tablets every six hours, with a maximum of 12 in 24 hours.

He was forced to take an entire packet at once, and the pills caused him to have a seizure.

Duncan then lowered the dosage to 20 tablets.

His twin sister was also given dangerous doses of the drug.

The children told investigators their mother poured bleach down their throats and on their genitals until it burned their skin.

Two 16-year-old twins in Texas were seen on video making a brave escape from imprisonment by their abusive mother and her boyfriend

The 16-year-old girl, extremely thin, is seen with scars on her wrists from the handcuffs

Her twin brother also had deep cuts on his wrists from the handcuffs

The kids showed the woman who found them that they had just broken free from being handcuffed by their mother

The twins 'were bruised and malnourished in our eyes', police said, when they finally got to them on Tuesday

The expansive $600,000 house in Houston where the children were living. The twins spent a half hour going door-to-door desperate for help

She also made them drink household cleaners like Lysol and Easy Off as a punishment if they 'talked too much,' according to the court documents obtained by the the channel.

Duncan forbade her children to use the bathroom, and they were forced to defecate and urinate on themselves and then eat and drink it.

They only had dirty water from a mop bucket to wash themselves, they said.

The children told the investigators they were subject to extreme beatings, with their mother using extension cords, curtain rods and other metal poles to hit them.

Her boyfriend, Terrell, often punched the 16-year-old boy.

The children, who were severely malnourished when they escaped on Tuesday, said they were starved and fed one to three times a week, surviving on sandwiches made of mustard, or relish or bologna.

Duncan is currently listed as being in a Baton Rouge prison on charges of being a fugitive. Terrell, who was also arrested, is being detained at an undisclosed location

The breakout was caught via Ring camera footage that saw the twins, who have not been named, run from their Houston home in the early hours of Tuesday in an attempt to get someone to call the police

The family had recently been moved to Texas and the twins were not even sure of their address. No one has been able to find out exactly how long they had been living there, though parents told ABC13 their children had been going to school with some of the kids in the house for the past two weeks

The home, on Marina Alto Lane, had sold in late July and was valued between $552,001 and $627,000.

Police are yet to confirm whether Duncan and her boyfriend had bought or rented the house

The four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home includes a formal living and dining room, covered patio, two-car attached garage and access to a community pool

It is believed the family only moved into the Houston neighborhood this summer, living in an expansive home in a smart neighborhood.

The home, on Marina Alto Lane, had sold in late July and was valued between $552,001 and $627,000.

Police are yet to confirm whether Duncan and her boyfriend had bought or rented the house.

The four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home includes a formal living and dining room, covered patio, two-car attached garage and access to a well-kept community pool and waterpark.

Duncan had previously been accused of child abuse, 10 years ago in Louisiana.

A five-year-old child of hers was taken from school to a local hospital to be treated for burns to his feet, genitals, and other parts of his body.

Doctors determined it was likely the result of being burned by hot water. The boy also had bruises on his torso, back, hip and buttocks.

When police went to Duncan's home, they found a 20-month-old child wrapped in clothing with his hands bound. The only other person in the home was the child's 4-year-old brother, according to the documents.

Police said Duncan admitted to routinely disciplining one child by making him get into a push-up position for up to an hour, causing the child's hands to swell.

The child was also forced to sleep on the closet floor, with the door of the closet blocked by boards to keep the child from 'escaping' and 'stealing food from the kitchen,' court records said.

Police reported at the time that two of Duncan's other children also showed signs of abuse and were removed from the home. They said Duncan admitted she had been investigated for abuse of the children in the past.

She was charged with cruelty to juveniles, but the children were ultimately returned to her.
Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, center, meets with family members of South Koreans detained in North Korea at the government complex building in Seoul, Oct. 21. Yonhap



Unification Minister Kwon Young-se said Friday the government will mobilize all available means to win the release of South Korean detainees in North Korea.



Kwon was speaking at a meeting with family members of two of the six detainees who have been held in the North since 2013. The rare session was arranged to explain the government's commitment to resolving the long-running issue.



"The government will do its best to win the release of the six detainees by mobilizing all available means," Kwon said.



He said frosty inter-Korean ties would be a major hindrance in resolving the issue, but the government will make its upmost efforts to protect its nationals.



Currently, six South Koreans, including three pastors, are being detained in North Korea on charges of committing what Pyongyang called anti-North Korea crimes.



Of them, three South Korean pastors  Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kuk-gi and Choe Chun-gil  were sentenced to hard labor for life on charges of spying for South Korea's intelligence agency. The other three detainees are known to be North Korean defectors. (Yonhap)


Lindsey Graham must testify before a special grand jury investigating whether Donald Trump and his allies illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in Georgia, a federal appeals court said Thursday.

The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court judge in ruling that the Republican senator from South Carolina may be questioned. Graham had been appealing an August ruling that also ordered his testimony.

With its new ruling, the appeals court lifted the temporary hold it had placed on the subpoena while it was hearing Graham's case.

'Senator Graham has failed to demonstrate that this approach will violate his rights under the Speech and Debate Clause,' according to the six-page ruling.

Graham can appeal the order to the Supreme Court and his lawyers have indicated he will do so.

Thursday's ruling from the three-judge panel is another victory for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

It will allow her to bring Graham in for questioning as she tries to wrap up her investigation into the 2020 election in Georgia, a state Joe Biden won and Trump falsely claimed to be the victim of vote fraud.

Willis has said she hopes to be able to 'send the grand jury on their way' by the end of the year.

Graham could appeal the ruling to the full appellate court. His team didn't immediately comment on the matter.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican of South Carolina, must testify before a special grand jury investigating whether Donald Trump tried to overturn his 2020 loss in Georgia

Prosecutors want to speak with Lindsey Graham about his conversations with Donald Trump (above) and his allies in the aftermath of the 2020 election, which Trump was trying to overturn Joe Biden's victory in Georgia

Willis has said she wants to question Republican senator from South Carolina about phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the states top elections official, in the weeks after the 2020 election.

Raffensperger has said he interpreted questions about whether he could reject certain absentee ballots as a suggestion to reject legally cast votes.

Graham has said, as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he was interested in cases of possible voter fraud. He's denied any wrong doing.

'I was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and had to vote on certifying an election,' Graham told reporters this summer. 'This is ridiculous. This weaponization of the law needs to stop. So I will use the courts. We will go as far as we need to go and do whatever needs to be done to make sure that people like me can do their jobs without fear of some county prosecutor coming after you.'

Lindsey Graham is a longtime ally of Donald Trump - above the two men exiting Marine One in Texas during a 2021 trip to the southern border

He had challenged his subpoena, saying his position as a U.S. senator protects him from having to testify in the state investigation.

Willis also wants to talk to the senator about conversations he had with the Trump campaign on the heels of election day in 2020, when Trump and his allies were trying to overturn his loss.

Graham is a longtime ally of the former president.
Ukraine has officially backed Boris Johnson to return as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the resignation of Liz Truss.

Amid mounting speculation Mr Johnson is poised as a likely contender to replace Ms Truss, the official Twitter account for Ukraine released a statement which read: 'Better call Boris'.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr Johnson shared a particularly close relationship during the former PM's time in office, owing primarily to his outspoken support of Ukraine after the Russian invasion.

Throughout Mr Johnson's messy departure from No10, Mr Zelensky hailed him as a 'true friend' who 'acted swiftly and resolutely' to offer support during the crisis.

Mr Zelensky said the UK was his country's 'dearest friend and closest ally' under Mr Johnson, and praised the PM's 'courage and determination' in championing support for Ukraine.

Amid mounting speculation Mr Johnson is poised as a likely contender to replace Ms Truss, the official Twitter account for Ukraine released a statement which read: 'Better call Boris'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr Johnson shared a particularly close relationship during the former PM's time in office, owing primarily to his outspoken support of Ukraine after the Russian invasion

Now, it's looking increasingly likely the pair will be able to continue their professional relationship

'At every meeting and conversation Boris had one very good question, 'What else? What else do you need?',' he said. 'It became our watchword, guaranteeing effective progress and movement forward.'

Now, it's looking increasingly likely the pair will be able to continue their professional relationship.

Twitter is alight with debate on both sides of the argument. While many are excited at the thought of Mr Johnson's triumphant return to the top job, others have voiced concerns.

'The country needs stability, not scandal,' one critic said.

'Integrity, market confidence, support for the most needy. Oh and there's no money left thanks to him and Truss. Johnson is not anything that this country needs.'

The hashtag #BringBackBoris is trending on social media with hundreds of voters voicing their support for the axed PM

Mr Johnson has been referred to as 'the people's prime minister' in some tweets

Another said: 'Boris Johnson?! Are you having a laugh? Picking a new Tory leader is like picking the best toilet on the last day of a festival.'

The hashtag #BringBackBoris is trending on social media with hundreds of voters voicing their support for the axed PM.

Mr Johnson's face was superimposed onto multiple snippets of scenes from the Top Gun movies in order to depict him as the hero the UK needs to escape this mess.

One of his supporters said: The country never lost confidence in Boris. The party did. It's time he returned.'

Another added: 'Boris is on his way back to save the UK, he'll rise from the ashes like a phoenix. And we will all live happily ever after.'

With a quarter of MPs declaring support for their preferred candidates, Mr Johnson currently counts 50 backers, compared to Rishi Sunak's 39 and Penny Mourdant's 17, according to the latest tally by Guido Fawkes.

Twitter is alight with debate on both sides of the argument. While many are excited at the thought of Mr Johnson's triumphant return to the top job, others have voiced concerns

'The country needs stability, not scandal,' one critic said. 'Integrity, market confidence, support for the most needy. Oh and there's no money left thanks to him and Truss. Johnson is not anything that this country needs.'

It comes after the Conservative Party announced would-be successors would need to win nominations from 100 MPs to get on the ballot.

The threshold means that realistically a maximum of three can make it into a vote, and that there could be a simple coronation of a winner if they get far more than that.

While Mr Johnson has been publicly backed by some MPs to run to return to power, including his former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, several others said they don't believe he will reach the threshold.

One said the 'brutal truth' is he is likely to get no more than 60 - leaving some of his close friends to advise him not to run. He also remains on holiday in the Caribbean and faces a race against time to return and launch an effective campaign.

However in a boost to his chances, the final two candidates will go head-to-head in a final online vote by party members next Friday.

Mr Johnson remains popular with the Tory grassroots and could win such a vote, and allies say he would be able to 'honestly say' he has a mandate for government, and has the ability to 'turn the tide and avert the disaster of a Labour government'.

But it remains unclear whether he can reach the 100 threshold, or whether a figure from the Tory right could stand and risk splitting the vote.

The technicalities of the party vote has not stopped the public from voicing an opinion.

Inside the close friendship between Boris Johnson and Volodymyr Zelensky Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made no secret of the high esteem in which he held Boris Johnson during his time as Prime Minister. Mr Zelensky said the UK was his country's 'dearest friend and closest ally' under Mr Johnson, and praised the PM's 'courage and determination' in championing support for Ukraine. Mr Zelensky thanked Boris for walking with him through the streets of Kyiv in April, and again on Ukraine's independence day. 'Boris Johnson, as his nation's envoy, was with us, welcomed by ordinary Ukrainians,' he said. 'We even started to address him, warmly and humorously, as 'Boris Johnsoniuk'  a Ukrainian-sounding surname if you put a stress on the last syllable.' The Ukrainian leader praised the UK's 'unwavering' support and ongoing financial and humanitarian aid, as well as its introduction of sanctions against Russia. He added: 'But I believe in the power of personal leadership. I know it has not been an easy ride for Boris Johnson as he had to deal with many internal challenges. Prioritising support for Ukraine demanded a great courage and determination.' He said upon Boris' messy exit: 'I sincerely wish that Boris's legacy be preserved.' Advertisement

It comes as Ms Truss was relentlessly mocked on Twitter last night after her humiliating resignation.

Her 44 days in office made her the shortest serving prime minister in UK history.

Speaking from a lectern in Downing Street this afternoon, Ms Truss said she had told the King she was resigning as the leader of the Conservative Party as she recognised she 'cannot deliver the mandate' which she committed to a little over six weeks ago.

She held talks with the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservatives, Sir Graham Brady, and agreed to a fresh leadership election 'to be completed within the next week'.

'This will ensure that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plan and maintain our country's economic stability and national security,' she added.

'I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen.'

Twitter was alight yesterday with Tweets mocking Liz Truss for her unsuccessful stint in the top job

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded a general election 'now' so that the nation can have 'a chance at a fresh start'.

Without a general election, the Conservatives will be on their third prime minister on the mandate won by Boris Johnson in December 2019.

Sir Keir said: 'The Conservative Party has shown it no longer has a mandate to govern. The British public deserve a proper say on the country's future. They must have the chance to compare the Tories' chaos with Labour's plans to sort out their mess, grow the economy for working people and rebuild the country for a fairer, greener future.

'We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election - now.'

Ms Truss's resignation came just a little over 24 hours after she told MPs she was 'a fighter, not a quitter'.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson currently has the largest number of Tory MPs backing him

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak is almost certain to stand and is running a close second to Mr Johnson tonight

Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt is in third place tonight with 12 MPs backing her

Sir Graham Brady MPs hoping to have their name on Monday's ballot would need to have at least 100 nominations from their colleagues

But her odds of survival were slashed following chaotic scenes in the Commons after the resignation of Suella Braverman as home secretary.

The number of Tory MPs publicly demanding Ms Truss's resignation doubled before lunch was over on Thursday, taking the total to 15, but a far greater number were privately agitating for her exit.

The pound lifted on the resignation announcement following another volatile 24 hours for the currency amid political turmoil.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: 'We don't need another Conservative Prime Minister lurching from crisis to crisis. We need a general election now and the Conservatives out of power.'

Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street
Disturbing new video has emerged showing a mother dancing happily with her smiling children - a little over a year before two of them escaped her captivity and told of an appalling regime of abuse.

Zaikiya Duncan, 40, was arrested on Tuesday in Baton Rouge, Louisana, alongside her boyfriend Jova Terrell, 27.

She was detained after her eldest children, 16-year-old twins, escaped from the home the family had recently relocated to in Houston, Texas, and begged neighbors for help.

The severely malnourished teenage girl and boy told how they and their siblings had been starved, beaten, handcuffed, kept naked and forced to eat their own excrement. They were whipped with electrical cords, beaten with a metal rod, and made to drink bleach as a punishment.

Yet the previous summer, Duncan was posting proud photos of her children - and the year before that, they were dancing together in TikToks.

Zaikiya Duncan, 40, (pictured), the mother of the children, has a history of prior child abuse allegations. Her boyfriend Jova Terrell, 27, (right) was also arrested on Tuesday

In April 2020, Duncan posted this clip of five of her seven children performing a dance routine. The oldest set of twins appeared to be missing

Duncan posted this clip in April 2020, showing her dancing with two of her seven children

The mom recorded herself dancing with the children to viral trends at the time - just months before the twisted reign of abuse started behind closed doors at their home.

Duncan is known to be the mother of seven children: the 16-year-old twins, seven-year-old Nicholas Menina; 10-year-old Zayden Menina; another set of twins, 12-year-old boys Javion and Javier Menina; and 14-year-old Jarod Menina.

All seven are now in the care of child protection services.

The father of the children, Nicholas Menina, a photographer and media director for a Baptist Evangelical megachurch, who lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, told DailyMail.com he did not wish to comment.

From December 2018 she was sporadically on Instagram, and posted 15 photos of herself with her children, cousins, sister and friends.

'I love spending time with my boys,' she captioned one photo in April 2021, with four of her six sons sitting round a kitchen table, eating candy.

A month later, in May 2021, she posted a photo of her youngest son Nicholas graduating from Ideas Academy school.

'Congratulations to my Baby Boy Nicholas On all his accomplishments this school year I'm so proud of you!' she wrote.

'Second grade here he comes! Lol he is the tallest in his class!'

In July 2019 Duncan shared a photo of herself, striking a pose at an event

Duncan is currently listed as being in a Baton Rouge prison on charges of being a fugitive. Her boyfriend, Jova Terrell, who was also arrested, is being detained at an undisclosed location

Two 16-year-old twins in Texas were seen on video making a brave escape from imprisonment by their abusive mother and her boyfriend

The severely-malnourished 16-year-old boy can be seen (left) in a pre-dawn escape from a Houston home on Tuesday. His twin sister (right, in black hoody) stands next to him, begging for help from neighbors

The two can be seen going door-to-door in their neighborhood trying to find someone to help for half an hour in the early morning hours Tuesday, with several neighbors, unsure what to make of the situation, telling the kids to keep moving

The 16-year-old girl, extremely thin, is seen with scars on her wrists from the handcuffs

Her twin brother also had deep cuts on his wrists from the handcuffs

The kids showed the woman who found them that they had just broken free from being handcuffed by their mother

She shared several clips of the children dancing, and in June 2021 wrote: 'Javion we are so proud of you... When your kid teacher hits you with this!

'Javion was offer the opportunity to go to summer school since he was virtual the whole school year to prepare him for 5th grade and he wanted to go!'

Duncan joined TikTok in March 2020, and her first post was her dancing with two of the children, captioned: 'Me and the kids Goofing Out'.

She posted 10 videos in total, with the final one in June 2020.

Every clip was of her joyful, dancing children - in April 2020, the video showed five of the children dancing, and was captioned: 'Me and my Crew'.

The oldest set of twins did not seem to appear in any of her social media posts, and neither did her boyfriend, Jova Terell.

It is unclear when the pair began dating.

It also remains unclear when they moved to Texas, and why.

The children told the investigators they were subject to extreme beatings, with their mother using extension cords, curtain rods and other metal poles to hit them.

Her boyfriend, Terrell, often punched the 16-year-old boy.

The children, who were severely malnourished when they escaped on Tuesday, said they were starved and fed one to three times a week, surviving on sandwiches made of mustard, or relish or bologna.

The breakout was caught via Ring camera footage that saw the twins, who have not been named, run from their Houston home in the early hours of Tuesday in an attempt to get someone to call the police

The family had recently been moved to Texas and the twins were not even sure of their address. No one has been able to find out exactly how long they had been living there, though parents told ABC13 their children had been going to school with some of the kids in the house for the past two weeks

The home, on Marina Alto Lane, had sold in late July and was valued between $552,001 and $627,000.

Police are yet to confirm whether Duncan and her boyfriend had bought or rented the house

The four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home includes a formal living and dining room, covered patio, two-car attached garage and access to a community pool

It is believed the family only moved into the Houston neighborhood this summer, living in an expansive home in a smart neighborhood.

The home, on Marina Alto Lane, had sold in late July and was valued between $552,001 and $627,000.

Police are yet to confirm whether Duncan and her boyfriend had bought or rented the house.

The four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home includes a formal living and dining room, covered patio, two-car attached garage and access to a well-kept community pool and waterpark.

Duncan had previously been accused of child abuse, 10 years ago in Louisiana.

A five-year-old child of hers was taken from school to a local hospital to be treated for burns to his feet, genitals, and other parts of his body.

Doctors determined it was likely the result of being burned by hot water. The boy also had bruises on his torso, back, hip and buttocks.

When police went to Duncan's home, they found a 20-month-old child wrapped in clothing with his hands bound. The only other person in the home was the child's 4-year-old brother, according to the documents.

Police said Duncan admitted to routinely disciplining one child by making him get into a push-up position for up to an hour, causing the child's hands to swell.

The child was also forced to sleep on the closet floor, with the door of the closet blocked by boards to keep the child from 'escaping' and 'stealing food from the kitchen,' court records said.

Police reported at the time that two of Duncan's other children also showed signs of abuse and were removed from the home. They said Duncan admitted she had been investigated for abuse of the children in the past.

She was charged with cruelty to juveniles, but the children were ultimately returned to her.
Australian tourists have vented their disgust at fellow holidaymakers for being rude to locals in Bali.

Tanieka Monti and her partner had flown to the popular tourist destination for a romantic getaway.

The Victorian-local was enjoying the exotic sights and culture when she said her experience was interrupted by tourists behaving badly.

Tanieka Monti (pictured) says she is sick of Australians being rude to the Balinese

'I cannot stand one thing and that is rude Australians,' she wrote on Facebook.

'I've caught myself giving the death stare and mentioning to groups of Aussies how rude it is to talk to people the way they are, they are nothing but disrespectful and utterly rude to the local Balinese people.'

Ms Monti said she feared the impoliteness from some tourists would lead locals to believe that all Australians were rude.

'It disgusts me to think that they might have a perception of Australians that is only a representation of very few disgusting Aussies,' she wrote.

Her post has sparked a massive response with social media users sharing their own encounters with rude tourists.

'Yes I witnessed two women being so rude to a handbag seller,' one person wrote.

'When I called them out I got, 'this is our second home' . That phrase pisses me off big time, 30+ trips for me but never throw off about that.

Tanieka Monti and her partner had flown to the popular tourist destination for a romantic getaway (stock image)

'Just because you visit there a lot gives you no special entitlement - especially bad manners! It's the Balinese home, we are visitors no matter how many times you've been.'

Another added: 'It's so embarrassing. I was at a restaurant yest and this old guy sitting there no shirt having beers and lunch. I mean is it that hard to put a shirt on mate. Gross.'

Other social media users said the bad behaviour was only shown by a small number of Australians and that most were actually well behaved.

'Fortunately they are the minority, and locals love and appreciate Aussies and vice versa,' one wrote.

A second added: 'That is unfortunately the negative side of 'people'.. its not where they are from but it says more about who they are on the positive side there are truly beautiful 'people' out there.'

Drunk and disrespectful Australian tourists who run amok in Bali should be thrown behind bars, according to Perth-based Indonesia Institute (stock image)

Ross Taylor from the Indonesia Institute suggest badly behaved Aussies should learn their lesson in prison. 'Give them an extended holiday in Bali and perhaps one to six months in Kerobokan Prison would perhaps enlighten some of these people,' he said

Her comments come after calls were made for drunk and disrespectful Australian tourists who run amok in Bali to be thrown behind bars, according to an Australian-based Indonesian group.

Perth-based Institute has previously urged local authorities to lock up mischievous visitors after a string of alleged offences rocked the holiday island

Ross Taylor, a spokesperson for the group suggest badly behaved Aussies should learn their lesson in prison.

'Give them an extended holiday in Bali and perhaps one to six months in Kerobokan Prison would perhaps enlighten some of these people,' he said.

WA Police Minister Michelle Roberts said she was 'embarrassed' by the etiquette of some Australian tourists but didn't think jail time was the solution.

'Incarceration brings with it a whole range of other issues and I don't care if you're on day one of your holiday in Bali, if you behave in an unacceptable manner you should be sent home,' she said.

About 1.2 million Australians choose Bali as a holiday destination each year, with the majority respecting local laws and culture.
The Conservative Right warned yesterday that the party must not go soft on immigration.

Former Brexit chief negotiator Lord Frost and senior backbenchers spoke out after Liz Truss sacked Suella Braverman on Wednesday following a row over policy on migrant numbers.

They turned on Miss Truss just hours before her resignation amid anger at suggestions that she wanted to weaken rules on illegal immigration.

A No 10 spokesman then declined to confirm that Miss Truss would stick to the Conservative Partys manifesto pledge to reduce overall net migration.

Mrs Braverman was sacked as home secretary after a 90-minute shouting match on Tuesday night in which she warned the then-PM it would be insane to relax immigration rules in order to boost economic growth, sources said.

But Downing Street said she had resigned after sending a confidential document to a Tory MP in breach of the ministerial code.

The Conservative Right warned yesterday that the party must not go soft on immigration under their new leader following Suella Braverman's (pictured) departure as Home Secretary

Former Brexit chief negotiator Lord Frost (pictured) and senior backbenchers spoke out after Liz Truss sacked Mrs Braverman on Wednesday following a row over policy on migrant numbers

The ousted home secretary used her resignation letter to accuse the PM of breaking key pledges and wobbling over manifesto commitments such as reduced migration.

Tory peer Lord Frost, writing in the Daily Telegraph yesterday, accused the Government of implementing neither the programme Liz Truss originally advocated nor the 2019 manifesto.

There is no shred of a mandate for this. Its only happening because the Truss Government messed things up more badly than anyone could have imagined, he said.

He added: If it sticks with the current approach, austerity pure and simple, budget cuts and more immigration, then it is game over.

Conservative MPs lined up in the Commons yesterday to seek reassurance over immigration policy.

Mrs Braverman used her resignation letter to accuse the PM of breaking key pledges and wobbling over manifesto commitments such as reduced migration. Pictured: Migrants arriving at Dover last week

Scott Benton, Tory MP for Blackpool South, said: I was very disappointed to see the previous home secretary leave her role.

She is a tremendous loss to those of us who hope that one day, just one day, this Government might finally get a grip of the small boats crisis.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman told reporters yesterday: We have a commitment to control immigration. We recognise that, alongside that, economic stability and growing the economy are important.

The Government is considering how best to strike that balance and we will come forward with more detail.
Tory MPs have warned colleagues against backing Penny Mordaunt to be Prime Minister due to her lack of experience and stance on trans rights.

The Leader of the Commons is widely expected to throw her hat in the ring to replace Liz Truss, after coming third in the previous contest.

But MPs cautioned that Miss Mordaunts views on trans rights are a massive impediment to her ambitions.

During the Tory leadership race over the summer, the Portsmouth North MP faced criticism for her woke views.

Penny Mordaunt is widely expected to throw her hat in the ring to replace Liz Truss, but MPs allegedly said her views on trans rights are an 'impediment to her ambitions

But she then came under fire for an apparent change of stance after declaring that trans women  who she had previously said were women  were not.

Last night a former Cabinet minister warned: Penny Mordaunts views on transgender people are a massive impediment to her ambitions to be Prime Minister. If she were to win the contest, female voters would stay away in droves.

Another senior Tory said: Theres lots of talk that wherever she goes she leaves a chaotic mess behind her. But Im also not sure what her views are. I dont know of any original idea that has ever come to her in the course of her life.

I dont know what makes her tick, and there are definite issues about her trans position that will put a lot of people off.

A former trade minister with Cabinet experience in the defence and international development briefs, Miss Mordaunt ran to replace Boris Johnson with the campaign name PM 4 PM.

The Royal Navy Reservist narrowly missed out on a place in the head-to-head phase in which she backed Miss Truss over Rishi Sunak.

Mordaunt said she planned to keep calm and carry on and told MPs that the country needs stability and calm before praising new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt

Yesterday Miss Mordaunt said she planned to keep calm and carry on and encouraged others to do the same in the wake of the PMs resignation.

She also told MPs that the country needs stability and calm before praising new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

Responding to criticism from Labour, she said: Market functioning has improved, borrowing costs have been lowered and the pound is strengthening... Despite the very volatile global economic conditions, the economy remains resilient.

A source close to Miss Mordaunt said: 'Penny has always been consistent in her views. She has never supported self I-D.

'She supports safe spaces for women and protection for women in sport. These accusations would come as a surprise to the people of Portsmouth, who have repeatedly elected Penny since 2010.'

On her Government experience, they added: 'Penny has the ministerial experience to run the country at this time having had nine jobs in eight departments, including three Cabinet roles since 2014: Defence Secretary, Development Secretary and Leader of the House.'
President Joe Biden on Thursday slammed Republicans for saying they want to cut off funding for Ukraine, saying there would be 'serious consequential outcomes' if it happens.

Speaking at a fundraiser in Philadelphia for Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, Biden went after the GOP for their threat to end Ukraine aid if they win control of Congress in November.

'They said that if they win they're not likely to fund, to continue to fund Ukraine,' he noted in his remarks.

'These guys don't get it. It's a lot bigger than Ukraine. It's Eastern Europe. It's NATO. It's really serious, serious consequential outcomes,' he noted. 'They have no sense of American foreign policy.'

Biden said the rest of the world looks to America to be a leader, hinting western allies could follow suit, damaging Ukraine's ability to fight off Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces.

'These guys on the other team don't get it. They don't get it that how America does is going to determine how the rest of the world does,' he said, adding: 'They look to us as a leader. They look to us  because they're not as big or as powerful.'

President Joe Biden slammed Republicans for saying they want to cut off funding for Ukraine, saying there would be 'serious consequential outcomes' if it happens

Ukrainian volunteer sits near shells in a private building in the recently liberated Kamyanka village of Kharkiv's area, Ukraine

Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a residential building destroyed by a Russian drone strike in central Kyiv

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is poised to become speaker should Democrats lose control in the House, has warned Republicans are 'not going to write a blank check to Ukraine.'

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill seem have taken McCarthy's threat seriously.

Lawmakers from both parties have discussed adding $50 billion in Ukraine funding to an omnibus spending bill that they'd pass before a new Congress is sworn-in in January, NBC News reported.

Congress last month approved $12 billion package to Ukraine but are looking to add even more funds to the war-torn nation before a new class of lawmakers takes over on Capitol Hill.

The amount would be enough 'to make sure [Ukraine] can get through the year,' a Republican senator with knowledge of the matter told NBC News. 'It'll make the $12 billion look like pocket change.'

Republicans are favored to take control of the House in the Nov. 8th midterm election. The Senate is seen as more up for grabs. The new lawmakers would be sworn into office in early January.

Congress has allocated a total of $65 billion in funding to Ukraine since Russia attacked the country in February.

Biden spent Thursday in Pennsylvania campaigning for Fetterman, who is facing a tough race against Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, who's been endorsed by Donald Trump.

Fetterman greeted Biden when the president landed in Pittsburgh. The two men visited the site of a collapsed bridge to talk about the infrastructure funds coming to the state.

They also made a stop at Primanti Brothers in Moon Township - a must-eat sandwich shop in the area - before heading to Philadelphia for the fundraiser.

Primanti's sandwiches are a Pittsburgh staple, served with a layer of coleslaw and French fries stuffed between giant pieces of bread.

Biden ordered the 'Pitts-burger' - beef patty, lettuce, tomato, slaw and fries - and tipped $40, the White House said.

President Joe Biden (left) returned to the site of the Pittsburgh bridge collapse Thursday to talk infrastructure and appeared alongside Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman (right) - who ditched his trademark hoodie and sported a suit for the occasion

President Joe Biden expressed stopped at a Primanti Brothers Thursday afternoon in Moon Township where he ordered the 'Pitts-burger' - beef patty, lettuce, tomato, slaw and fries

President Joe Biden (left) shakes the hand of workers at a Primanti's in Moon Townshi as he's accompanied by Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (center) and his wife Gisele (right)

After his lunch stop, Biden turned to politics at his final event of the day.

Speaking to the Democrats at the fundraising event, Biden warned: 'If we lose this off year election we're in real trouble. America's at a real inflection point.'

The Pennsylvania Senate race will help decide whether or not Biden's Democratic Party retains control of the Senate.

Biden got in a few shots at Fetterman's rival, Dr. Oz.

He noted Oz went to high school in Delaware but 'Delaware was smart enough to send him to New Jersey.'

Oz 'is for undoing everything we have done,' he noted.

He also repeated his criticism that much of the Republican Party are 'MAGA Republicans' who are loyal to Trump.

'We have to remind people what the Republicans are for, this new Republican party. This is not you father's Republican party,' he said.
The Democrat-led city of El Paso, Texas, is ending a months-long effort to bus migrants to New York and Chicago after the Biden administration re-instituted a policy forcing Venezuelan migrants back to Mexico.

A spokesperson for the city said the busing program, which coordinated with Democratic mayors in receiving cities, is no longer needed as U.S. border authorities have stopped sending migrants to the city under a new expulsion policy.

The city had previously been inundated by a large number of migrants that overwhelmed the capacity of city shelters and left many of the illegal immigrants on the streets, El Paso Matters reports.

By late August, the city's Office of Emergency Management began sending charter buses to New York and later Chicago following higher-profile busing efforts by the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona.

It has since sent 292 buses to the liberal cities  the last of which departed on Thursday  carrying almost 14,000 people.

Of those, nearly 10,600 migrants were brought to New York, leading Mayor Eric Adams to ask his counterparts in El Paso to stop sending the buses.

El Paso city officials announced on Thursday they would stop sending buses of illegal Venezuelan migrants to New York and Chicago

Since late August, the city has bused nearly 14,000 migrants to the northern cities

The city had previously been inundated by a large number of migrants that overwhelmed the capacity of city shelters and left many of the illegal immigrants on the streets

But city officials say since President Biden reinstated Title 42  a COVID-era policy enacted under former President Donald Trump to reduce border crossings  the buses are no longer needed.

The decision also comes as El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeds faced criticism for not declaring a state of emergency.

He claimed at a city council meeting last month that the White House requested he did not declare a state of emergency, but then denied the claim in an interview with FOX News on Wednesday.

The reversal comes as Democratic Mayor Oscar Leeds was facing scrutiny for failing to declare a state of emergency in the city, and after President Joe Biden decided to re-enact Title 42 and send Venezuelans who cross the border illegally back to Mexico

Biden had previously criticized Trump for enacting Title 42 during the pandemic, and even tried to get it overturned in the courts.

But in recent weeks, the Democratic president has faced immense pressure by southern Republicans to address the southern border crisis as Texas Gov Greg Abbott and Florida Gov Ron DeSantis continued to send migrants to northern cities.

He finally announced on October 12  just a few weeks ahead of the midterm elections  that he would use Title 42 to address the influx of Venezuelans illegally crossing the border, which has reached record levels since Biden took office in 2021.

At the same time, Biden's administration launched a new program to allow up to 24,000 Venezuelans with U.S. sponsors to apply for humanitarian entry by air.

But any Venezuelans who cross into the United States, Mexico or Panama illegally are ineligible.

NEW YORK: The vast majority of the nearly 14,000 migrants that have been bused out of El Paso arrived in New York City

NEW YORK: The arrival of the more than 10,000 migrants has prompted New York City Mayor Eric Adams to ask El Paso officials to stop its program

CHICAGO: El Paso officials also started sending thousands of migrants to the Windy City

NEW YORK: The last two buses out of El Paso departed on Thursday. Migrants are seen arriving in New York from the city on August 30

Since Title 42 was reinstated on October 12, Mexican officials say, more than 4,500 Venezuelans have been returned to the country, where they are now straining resources there.

But in the United States, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus told Bloomberg News, border agents had encountered just 155 Venezuelans on Wednesday, down from a daily average of 1,200 earlier this month.

And at a shelter in the U.S. border city of Deming, New Mexico, Venezuelans went from being the most common nationality to absent, according to Ariana Saludares, executive director of Colores United, which runs the center.

On Thursday, a U.S. government bus transporting migrants from El Paso to the shelter to alleviate overcrowding instead carried about 50 Colombians, Ecuadorians, Peruvians, Dominicans, and Nicaraguans, she said.
She was twice arrested after seeking out police for help when she was 'harassed'

The Met Police has paid out 10,000 in damages to a Christian evangelist preacher for wrongful arrest and unlawful imprisonment.

Hatun Tash was twice arrested at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park after reporting to officers that she was being harassed and threatened by Islamic demonstrators.

Ms Tash, 40, often would visit the park to debate and critique Islam and the holy book, the Quran, which would spark backlash from the community.

Instead of offering her support, The Times reported Ms Tash she was arrested both times she approached police, accused of breaching the peace or committing a similar public order offence.

The evangelist brought legal action against Scotland Yard after she was held in custody for 24 hours before being releeased without charge.

Hatun Tash is a Christian preacher from a group called DCCI (Defend Christ Critique Islam) Ministries which 'seeks to preach the Gospel to Muslims using apologetics and polemics'

Her legal team said it was 'abundantly clear' she never should have been arrested in the first place, claiming she was unlawfully detained.

'The police should have protected her free speech by bringing more officers to Speakers' Corner to facilitate her rights,' her legal team said in a statement.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: 'This pay-out to Hatun is a rare admission by the police that they got it wrong.

'Hatun is a fearless and passionate woman who loves Jesus and who has love and compassion for people from all backgrounds who she debates with and wants to reach with the gospel, which has transformed her life.'

The publication reported Inspector Andy O'Donnell, from the Met's professional standards directorate, apologised directly to Ms Tash in a letter.

The letter reportedly said he was sorry 'for the distress that you have suffered', adding that 'on these occasions the level of service did fall below the requisite standard'.

Hatun Tash (in Charlie Hebdo T-shirt) was treated in hospital after being slashed across the face with a knife at Hyde Park in London. Police are still hunting for the assailant

It's understood the Met Police agreed to pay Ms Tash 10,000 in damages, as well as her legal costs.

Ms Tash alleges she was stabbed in the face by an unknown man dressed in black while she was in Speakers' Corner.

Police reportedly told her they're continuing to make enquiries about the incident.

She is from a group called DCCI (Defend Christ Critique Islam) Ministries which says it 'seeks to preach the Gospel to Muslims using apologetics and polemics'.

MailOnline has contacted the Met Police regarding the reported payout.

Ms Tash suffered a stab wound and was seen with blood pouring down her face after the incident
Despite its usual neutrality, Switzerland joined Europe in sanctioning Russia for invading Ukraine

The neutral country has a large military of 140,000 and puts on the mountainous air show every year

Switzerland's Air Force put on a stunning display above the alps yesterday for thousands of onlookers

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Switzerland's Air Force put on an impressive display at an annual air show in the Alps, amid heightened military tensions in Europe.

The famously neutral country has an air force with around 20,000 active personnel, and yesterday showed off its aerial prowess near the summit of the Axalphorn mountain.

Tiger F5 airplanes, F-35s, Cougar helicopters and special forces put on a highly-skilled and synchronised performance for onlookers above a stunning background at the annual Axalp show.

The land-locked nation has traditionally avoided major European conflicts, such as WWI and WWII, however earlier this summer they angered Russia.

In August Russia said Switzerland could not act as go-between in talks with Ukraine because Moscow no longer considers it a neutral country.

Switzerland mirrored nearly all the sanctions that the European Union imposed on Russia over its military intervention in Ukraine.

The Swiss Air Force put on a stunning display at an annual air show, after unusually joining Europe in sanctioning Russia over the summer

Russia said the neutral nation could not as a mediator for talks with Ukraine earlier this year, because of their sanctions

Tiger F5 airplanes, F-35s, Cougar helicopters and special forces put on a highly-skilled display at the annual Axalp show

Switzerland mirrored nearly all the sanctions that the European Union imposed on Russia over its military intervention in Ukraine

Five Tiger F5 airplanes from the Patrouille Suisse perform a routine during the annual airshow of the Swiss Army

Fighter jets deploy flairs while flying creating a dramatic scene above the Swiss Alps in the annual public display

Pilots of a Cougar helicopter of the Swiss Air Force wave their hands to greet the public during the annual airshow

A Parascout with a Swiss flag descended from a helicopter and glided above the crowd despite the cloudy skies

The origins of demonstration trace back to World War II, due to the threat of a possible Nazi invasion.

The two-day event from the air force shows off its ability in an alpine environment to a public audience.

Onlookers were able to see Tiger F5 airplanes from the Patrouille Suisse drop flares during the annual airshow.

A Cougar helicopter of the Swiss Air Force also dropped flares and showed its manoeuvrability, including an exercise where Special forces were evacuated.

The event is held at Ebenfluh firing range near the summit of the 7,614 feet (2,321m) high Axalphorn mountain.

A Cougar helicopter of the Swiss Air Force pictured shortly after deploying flares and performing an acrobatic manoeuvre

An Italian Air Force multirole combat aircraft F-35A (6-01) performs in front of thousands of onlookers

Record-high numbers of Swiss said in July that the government should increase defence spending, maintain a fully-equipped army, and build tighter relations with NATO

Neutrality in Switzerland remains high - with 89 per cent of the population saying they still favoured it this summer

Live rounds are used in the show. Pictured: A target is hit by shots from an F/A-18 Hornet jet

Why is Switzerland a neutral country? Switzerland has been officially neutral since the singing of the Treaty of Paris 1815, following the final defeat and abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte. However, the Swiss Confederacy had been effectively neutral since 1525 when it pledged never to wage a war of aggression again following defeat to the French at the Battle of Marignano ten years earlier. It means the Swiss can lay claim to having one of the longest-standing neutrality pacts in the world which it maintained throughout both world wars - though it sometimes shot down planes of both sides that crossed into its airspace. Despite its neutrality men aged 19 or older are required to complete compulsory military service. Switzerland has around 140,000 military personnel Advertisement

Switzerland has effectively been neutral for more than 500 years, but a poll from the summer shows citizens increasingly believing that is not the best way to protect their country.

Record-high numbers of Swiss said in July that the government should increase defence spending, maintain a fully-equipped army, and build tighter relations with NATO.

It comes after Sweden and Finland broke with decades-long neutrality agreements of their own to join NATO, saying Putin's war in the east had prompted them to do so.

Overall, support for neutrality in Switzerland remains high - with 89 per cent saying they favour it - but for the first time in two decades that figure has fallen.

Back in January, before Russia invaded Ukraine, 96 per cent of Swiss were in favour of neutrality - meaning support has dropped eight per cent in just six months.

An unprecedented 52 per cent now favour their country 'moving closer' to NATO, though only 27 per cent want to actually join.

The new study was carried out by the Swiss military academy and the Centre for Security Studies, which polled 1,000 people between May and June.

The results were compared to a similar survey that was published in January.

Pollsters also found that 80 per cent of Swiss now favour their country having an army, while a record 74 per cent say it should be 'fully-equipped'

Switzerland has one of Europe's largest reserve forces and still has national service, but maintains only a tiny standing army supported by ageing tanks, armoured vehicles and planes.

Nineteen per cent of Swiss now want their government to spend more money on improving that force, up from just seven per cent early this year.
The Redback Korean infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) / Korea Times file





By Kwon Mee-yoo







Poland is mulling the purchase of the Redback Korean infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as AS-21, in addition to a series of recent military equipment deals with Korea, according to the Polish defense minister.







Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak wrote on his Twitter Thursday (local time) that the Polish government is looking for ways to strengthen its mechanized troops and considering purchasing the AS-21 IFV from Korea to complement its homegrown Borsuk IFV. He attached photos of the Polish Borsuk IFV and the Korean Redback to the text.







This is the first time that a high-ranking Polish official commented about importing the Korean IFV.







Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak writes about Korean infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) Redback to complement its homegrown Borsuk IFV, Thursday (local time). Captured from Twitter





According to Blaszczak, there will be a demonstration of the Redback in Poland next week.







An official from Hanwha Defense said the demonstration will showcase the Redback's performance to Poland and will not be an official evaluation for a bid.







The AS-21 Redback is an advanced version of the K-21 IFV, which is currently used by the South Korean army. The Redback is a fifth-generation IFV featuring a variety of state-of-the-art technologies, including composite rubber tracks and the Iron Vision helmet-mounted display. It is also known to provide protection against ballistic, chemical, biological and nuclear threats.





Poland's interest in the Redback came after a series of military deals with Korea. Korea and Poland agreed to a framework agreement in July, which includes K2 main battle tanks, K9 howitzers as well as FA-50 light attack aircraft.







Blaszczak originally planned to visit Korea this week to hold a meeting with his Korean counterpart Lee Jong-sup and attend the roll-out ceremony of Korean K9 self-propelled howitzers to be exported to Poland. However, he and his delegation was not able to attend in person.







The first K9 self-propelled howitzer to be exported to Poland is showcased at a roll-out ceremony at Hanwha Defense Co. in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. Yonhap





Polish Army Inspector of the Land Forces Maciej Jablonski and Poland's Ambassador to Korea Piotr Ostaszewski took part in the roll-out ceremony in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday, which featured 24 K9 howitzers to be exported to Poland as part of a 3.2 trillion won ($2.2 billion) deal.







Hanwha Defense also signed a deal with the Polish armament agency to sell 288 Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers, which is estimated to be worth about $6 billion according to Polish media.






Two men were caught in the act allegedly throwing eggs at a police speed camera vehicle, with some on social media praising the pair for 'doing the Lord's work'.

A police officer was monitoring speeds in the car in Reservoir, north of Melbourne's CBD last July, when four men approached the vehicle.

An image of two of them in action was released online on Thursday, with police calling for anyone who recognised them to contact authorities.

The snapshot shows the pair wearing hoodies, facemasks and allegedly carrying what appears to be egg cartons, with one of them wearing camouflaged pants (pictured)

The attack prompted the officer in the car to halt the speed operation and to leave the vehicle, police alleged (pictured, a stock picture)

'Officers were told two males approached a traffic camera vehicle parked on Hughes Parade around 9.50pm on Monday, 18 July,' the post read.

The snapshot shows the pair wearing hoodies, facemasks and carrying what appears to be egg cartons, with one of them wearing camouflaged pants.

The attack prompted the officer in the car to halt the speed operation and to leave the vehicle, police alleged.

The men then fled the scene in an 'unknown direction'.

But social media users took to the post congratulating the group for taking on the speed camera operators, with one saying they had 'restored my faith in humanity'.

The men who allegedly egged the vehicle fled the scene in an 'unknown direction', police said

'Doing the Lord's work,' one online user said about the men in the photo (pictured), while another commenter responded, 'inclined to agree'

'Doing the Lord's work,' one user added, while another commenter responded, 'inclined to agree'.

Safe Roads Australia lashed back over the comments on the social media page.

'Speeding is the biggest cause of fatalities & serious injuries on Australian roads. Are you suggesting we shouldn't be enforcing the road rules?' it asked.

'Are you suggesting we imprison them for throwing an egg?,' a commenter replied.

'Carry on egging,' said another, who was angry over the 'blatant revenue raising'.

Funds raised via road safety cameras numbered a whopping $319million between 2020-21, the Victorian government said.

'This figure represents a fraction of the overall cost of speed-related crashes,' it added.

'Road trauma costs Victoria between $4 and $6billion per year, this amount includes serious injuries and fatalities.'

The news comes as Beau Jackson, 17, who has been called a 'speed camera crusader' in NSW continues to warn drivers of hidden speed camera vehicles.

He puts up warning signs in Sydney and across the NSW Central Coast and Hunter region, keeping track of their locations via navigation app, Waze.

Beau Jackson, 17, (pictured) who has been called a 'speed camera crusader' in NSW, continues to warn drivers of hidden speed camera vehicles. He puts up warning signs in Sydney and across the NSW Central Coast and Hunter region

Mr Jackson puts up warning signs in Sydney and across the NSW Central Coast and Hunter region, keeping track of their locations via navigation app, Waze (pictured, an image from his social media)

Meanwhile, the jokes kept running over the eggers and the officer in Melbourne.

'The operator of the traffic camera vehicle was later treated for shell shock,' one joked.

'They brought a whole dozen [eggs] with them. This was clearly a pre-meditated egging,' one more added.
Pennsylvania Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman turned his stroke into a joke Thursday night at closed-door fundraiser with President Joe Biden in Philadelphia.

The candidate, who had a stroke in May, used the occasion to attack his rival, Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, who's been endorsed by Donald Trump.

'Dr. Oz never lets me forget that I had a stroke,' Fetterman, 53, noted.

Oz often questions Fetterman's health in appearances on the campaign stump and in campaign ads. Their competitive race could decide which party controls the Senate after November's midterm election.

Fetterman pivoted to questioning Oz's medical credentials.

'Ask yourself a question: what kind of doctor roots for a person who is sick to stay sick,' he said. 'Sometimes Ill miss a word or Ill mush two words together sometimes.'

'In January I'll be feeling much better, but Dr. Oz will still be a fraud,' he added.

'He'll say anything for a buck, he'll say anything for a vote.'

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman turned his stroke into a joke Thursday night at closed-door fundraiser with President Joe Biden - above the two men at the Pittsburgh airport on Thursday

John Fetterman's race with Republican candidate Mehmet Oz (above) could decide which party controls the Senate next year

Fetterman easily won the Democratic Senate primary in May, despite suffering from a stroke just days before.

But his medical condition has now become a huge issue in the Senate race.

On Wednesday, after previously not committing to doing so, Fetterman released a new doctor's letter saying he was still having some issues with 'auditory processing' but that his 'communication is significantly improved.'

An NBC interview last week that showed how Fetterman used closed captioning, renewed the attention on his stroke. The closed captioning transcribed the interview in real time to aid him in understanding the questions presented to him.

On Thursday, Fetterman ditched his trademark hoodie and sported a suit to spend the day in Pennsylvania with the president.

The two men visited the site of a collapsed bridge in Pittsburgh to talk about the infrastructure funds coming to the state.

They also made a stop at Primanti Brothers in Moon Township - a must-eat sandwich shop in the area - before heading to Philadelphia for the fundraiser.

Fetterman joked about his medical condition as he spoke to Democrats at the fundraising event. Some reporters were allowed inside but cameras were not.

'I'd like to address the elephant in the room and it's not because I'm wearing a suit,' he said. 'But as you know I had a stroke. I had a stroke back in May.'

He said he wanted to deny he was having a stroke and carry on to his planned event but 'thankfully they got me to the hospital quick.'

'I had really to consider mortality and all these issues. It's really jarring,' he said.

Of his race with Dr. Oz, where the GOP candidate has been closing in on him in polling, Fetterman said: 'It's gonna be close.'

He asked the crowd: 'Please send Dr Oz back to New Jersey and send me to DC to be that 51st vote.'

President Joe Biden talks with Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman and Gisele Fetterman at the Pittsburgh airport Thursday

President Joe Biden (left) shakes the hand of workers at a Primanti's in Moon Township, en route back to the Pittsburgh airport, as he's accompanied by Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (center) and his wife Gisele (right)

President Joe Biden also warned of consequences if Democrats don't keep control of the Senate.

Speaking to the Democrats at the fundraising event, Biden warned: 'If we lose this off year election we're in real trouble. America's at a real inflection point.'

And he got in a few shots at Fetterman's rival, Dr. Oz.

He noted Oz went to high school in Delaware but 'Delaware was smart enough to send him to New Jersey.'

Oz 'is for undoing everything we have done,' he noted.

He also repeated his criticism that much of the Republican Party are 'MAGA Republicans' who are loyal to Trump.

'We have to remind people what the Republicans are for, this new Republican party. This is not you father's Republican Party,' he said.
As the oldest person ever sworn in to the White House, President Joe Biden has faced questions and concerns over his mental as well as physical acuity since taking one one of the most stressful jobs in the world.

But aside from his advanced age, Biden, 79, has worried even supporters with numerous gaffes over the year he's been in office.

JANUARY 24, 2022 - BIDEN CALLS PETER DOOCY A 'STUPID SON OF A B*****'

'You displayed this type of mood change during a cabinet meeting on when you apparently did not know your microphone was on after finishing your opening remarks, and you called a White House reporter a stupid son of a b****in response to a question asked on inflation,' Jackson claimed.

He was referring to a hot mic moment in late January during which Biden criticized Fox News reporter Peter Doocy, after which the president personally apologized to the journalist.

Biden has also been known to have trouble with the names of his most senior officials, foreign leaders and even countries.

MARCH 8, 2022 - SLIPPING AND FORGETTING LLOYD AUSTIN'S NAME

The president slipped up during the March 8 speech while trying to remember Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's name.

'I want to thank Sec-, the former general, I keep calling him "General." My - the guy who runs that outfit over there,' Biden said, before quickly adding, 'I want to make sure we thank the secretary for all he's done.'

A trip to Texas that same month to visit a Houston-area vaccination center saw Biden apparently lose his train of thought and become confused. He even asked, 'What am I doing here?' while trying to get himself back on track.

On multiple occasions Biden has also appeared to refer to Vice President Kamala Harris as the 'president.' During a commencement speech at South Carolina State University in late December, Biden remarked: 'Of course, President Harris is a proud Howard alum.'

He made the mistake again more recently, declaring during a voting rights speech in Georgia on January 11 that 'President Harris and I stood on the United States Capitol.'

Biden has been known to get dates confused as well -- in May 2021 he recalled traveling via Amtrak to see his mother while he was vice president in 2013. But his mother had died in 2010.

The apparent issues began long before Biden took the White House. When he was on the campaign trail in September 2020, then-candidate Biden was widely mocked for saying '200 million people have died' from COVID-19 under Donald Trump's watch. The number was around 200,000 at the time.

And while president, Biden had to be corrected on a statistic regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. During a COVID-19 White House press conference, Biden attempted to say, '57 excuse me 570 I dont want to read it, Im not sure I got the right number' Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci aided him to say the figure was '57 million.'

JUNE 18, 2022 - BIDEN FALLS DURING BIKE RIDE

Joe Biden fell off his bike during ride near his Rehoboth Beach home in Delaware on June 18, as he and his wife celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary

Gasps rang out after the president unexpectedly fell on June 18 as he was trying to dismount his bike to chat with a crowd who had gathered along a Rehoboth Beach bike path

Biden took the solo bike ride, surrounded by agents, on June 18 near his Rehoboth Beach home

President Joe Biden hopped out of church later on June 18 to prove he wasn't injured after falling over on his bike during a ride near his Rehoboth Beach home earlier in the morning

Biden fell off his bike during a ride near his Rehoboth Beach home on June 18.

He had come over to say hello to a crowd that had gathered near the Gordon's Pond State Park bike trail, with people yelling 'Happy Father's Day' to the president.

Upon trying to dismount the bike, his shoes caught and he fell over sideways, causing a mad scramble of Secret Service and press trying to help him up.

Gasps rang out after the fall, which saw Biden stay on the ground for roughly 10 seconds, before being helped up by several Secret Service Agents, who immediately swarmed the downed Democrat.

Moments later, Biden was glad-handing the crowd - even bringing one woman out to meet first dog Commander, who was being walked nearby.

Despite the tumble, the president did not appear to suffer any abrasions or cuts from the spill and the White House said he didn't need to see a doctor after the incident.

Biden himself told reporters: 'I'm good' after the tumble.

JULY 8, 2022 - BIDEN HAS ANOTHER RON BURGUNDY MOMENT

President Joe Biden was reading a quote off of his teleprompter during a Friday White House speech when the apparent gaffe occurred

Multiple people compared Biden to Will Farrell's iconic journalist character Ron Burgundy of the film 'Anchorman'

Republican strategist Greg Price mocked Biden on Twitter after yet another gaffe in which the president appeared to read speaking directions off of his teleprompter.

'It is noteworthy that the percentage of women who register to vote and cast a ballot is consistently higher than the percentage of the men who do so. End of quote. Repeat the line,' the president said during a White House speech Friday.

'Women are not without electoral...or political power.'

Posting the clip on social media, Price compared it to Will Farrell's Ron Burgundy being unable to deviate from the script on his teleprompter despite grammatical mistakes and obvious errors.

Burgundy's embarrassing on-air verbal incidents are a recurring gag throughout the movie.

Price posted a clip of Burgundy's frustrated news crew and suggested the White House staffers behind-the-scenes were feeling similarly.

But White House Assistant Press Secretary Emilie Simons challenged Price's claim that Biden made a mistake.

'No,' Simons wrote, adding that Biden said 'Let me repeat that line.'

September 21, 2022 - BIDEN GETS LOST ON STAGE AFTER UN SPEECH

After speaking the UN's Global Fund Conference, the president began walking off the stage before abruptly stopping in his tracks and looking around with an appearance of confusion on his face.

He then seemed to ask people on the ground how to get off stage and did a few stuttering steps.

He looked even more confused after the announcer thanked the president before eventually leaving the stage.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz called the scene 'terrifying,' on Twitter, with his communications adviser Steve Guest adding in own own tweet: 'Joe Biden is completely lost on stage. Scary and sad.'

CONFUSING LIBYA AND SYRIA

Biden repeatedly confused Syria with Libya while discussing ways of working with Russia during a press conference at the G7 on June 13, 2021

The White House later brushed the confusion off, confirming that it was indeed, Syria, the country where Russia and the US have been involved in a decade-long civil war, which the president was referring to

WATCH: Joe Biden confuses Syria with Libya THREE TIMES. pic.twitter.com/8iewTindfr  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 13, 2021

Biden repeatedly confused Syria with Libya while discussing ways of working with Russia during a press conference at the G7 on June 13, 2021.

The 78-year-old gaffe machine spoke of working with Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide economic assistance to the people of Libya, prompting some confused glances from the press pack at the G7 summit in Cornwall, England.

'I'm hopeful that we can find an accommodation where we can save the lives of people in  for example, in  in Libya,' the president said, mentioning the north African country for the third time instead of Syria, which is in the Middle East. The White House later brushed the confusion off, confirming that the president was indeed referring to Syria, the country where Russia and the US have been involved in a decade-long civil war.

TRIPPING WHILE CLIMBING THE AIR FORCE ONE STAIRS

On March 19, video captured Biden tripping up the stairs as he boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews.

In the clip, Biden stumbles as he walks up the airstairs. He grabs the hand railing to catch his balance, but then loses his footing two additional times.

During the third stumble, he falls to his knees. However, after brushing off his leg, he reaches the top of the plane and gives a salute before disappearing inside.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later told reporters that Biden was '100 percent fine' and preparing for his trip in Atlanta.

'It's pretty windy outside. It's very windy. I almost fell coming up the steps myself,' she said.

On March 19, he was caught tripping up the stairs as he boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews

Just one day earlier, during a press conference on March 18 (pictured), he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as 'President Harris'

Just one day earlier, Biden accidentally referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as 'President Harris.'

The gaffe occurred during a press conference on March 18, during which he lauded his administration for being close to meeting their goal of 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office.

'Now when President Harris and I took a virtual tour of a vaccination center in Arizona not long ago, one of the nurses on that, on that tour injecting people, giving vaccinations, said that each shot was like administering a dose of hope,' Biden said.

Harris was standing behind Biden as the president carried on with his speech, but did not correct himself.

Later that day, when the White House released the transcript of his speech, Harris's proper title was inserted with brackets.

In a speech on March 9 (pictured), Biden seemed to fumble with his words and forget the name of his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin

In a speech on March 9, Biden seemed to fumble with his words and forget the name of his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

'I want to thank Sec - the former general - I keep calling him "General,"' Biden said.

'My - the guy who runs that outfit over there. I want to make sure we thank the Secretary for all he's done to try to implement what we've just talked about, and for recommending these two women for promotion.' The slip-occurred despite the fact that just a few minutes earlier, he had mentioned Austin's name in the speech without an issue.

During an Election Day speech in Philadelphia, Biden stumbled over his words and confused his granddaughter with his late son, Beau Biden.

Biden told the crowd: 'I want to introduce you to two of my granddaughters...this is my son, Beau Biden who a lot of you helped elect to the Senate in Delaware.'

The commander-in-chief had meant to introduce the crowed to Natalie, Beau's daughter, but hadn't just mixed up the name but the person - he also put his arm around Finnegan Biden, Hunter's daughter.

He finally corrected himself as he draped his arm around Natalie's shoulder and said: 'This is Natalie, this is Beau's daughter.'

Beau Biden passed away in 2015 after a months-long battle with glioblastoma, one of the deadliest types of brain cancer.

TOLD STATE SENATOR IN WHEELCHAIR TO STAND UP

In 2008, Biden told then-Missouri state senator Chuck Graham to stand up for the crowd at a rally, before realizing he was in a wheelchair

Not all of Biden's gaffes occurred in the 2020s or even the 2010s. In fact, some happened in the early aughts.

In September 2008, after Biden had been named former President Barack Obama's running mate, he attended a campaign rally in Missouri.

It was there that he called on then-Missouri state senator Chuck Graham, who passed away last year. to stand up for the crowd.

'I'm told Chuck Graham, state senator, is here. Stand up Chuck, let 'em see you,' Biden said.

It was at that moment he realized Graham was in a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy.

'Oh, God love you. What am I talking about. I'll tell you what, you're making everybody else stand up, though, pal.'

According to the Columbia Tribune, Graham said he was never offended by the mistake.
Five years after Bruce Saunders' body was found in a woodchipper, Gregory Lee Roser has been found guilty of his murder.

All that was left of Mr Saunders were his legs sticking out of the chipper when emergency services arrived at a property north of Brisbane in November 2017.

Roser, 63, did not deny Mr Saunders was murdered at his five-week Brisbane Supreme Court trial.

Roser said he had 'shamefully' assisted with disposing of the body in the chipper then lied about it, telling police that it had been an industrial accident.

However, Roser accused another man - Peter Koenig - of killing Mr Saunders while they were clearing trees at the Goomboorian property near Gympie.

The jury began deliberating on Tuesday afternoon and found Roser guilty with Mr Saunders' family and friends in attendance on Friday morning.

A jury has found Gregory Lee Roser (pictured left with co-accused Sharon Graham) guilty of murder

Bruce Saunders (pictured) was killed after becoming embroiled in a 'love quadrangle'

The Crown alleged that Sharon Graham asked her lovers Roser and Koenig to kill her ex-partner Mr Saunders and make it look like an accident in a bid to claim his $750,000 life insurance.

Roser said he refused despite pressure from Graham and Koenig to murder the 'happy go lucky' Mr Saunders.

However, Koenig claimed Roser repeatedly bludgeoned Mr Saunders with a metal bar as they finished work at the property.

Koenig told the court that he helped carry the body to the chipper because Roser had a bad back.

Koenig said he fed Mr Saunders into the machine, leaving the legs sticking out to make it look more like an accident.

'Just to leave a bit of Bruce... for the police to see,' he said.

Emergency services were confronted with horrific scenes when they arrived at the property (pictured) near Gympie north of Brisbane in November 2017

Mr Saunders was killed after becoming embroiled in a 'love quadrangle', the court heard.

Graham was living with Mr Saunders albeit in separate bedrooms and was in a relationship with Roser while also having 'intimate relations' with Koenig.

Mr Saunders was still 'besotted' with Graham, the court heard, making out his will and life insurance policy in her favour.

Graham, 61, and Roser had pleaded not guilty to murder before the former successfully applied for a separate trial.

Koenig pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder earlier this year.

Bruce Saunders (pictured) had been clearing trees on a Goomboorian property near Gympie when he was murdered
Florida has had 65 cases of the bacteria this year and more than 100 people have died from Hurricane Ian

His fiancee Leah Venlet-Delano said they were unaware Vibrio Vulnificus was a threat in Florida, but said locals knew about it

A Michigan man has died from a flesh-eating bacteria after he rushed to Florida after Hurricane Ian to help with relief efforts.

James Hewitt, 54, of Jenison, passed away on October 11 after contracting Vibrio Vulnificus - which lives in warm saltwater - after he fell into a canal while working on his friend's damaged boat in Naples, Florida, following Hurricane Ian.

The scrape on his leg became infected, causing the bacteria to enter his bloodstream, which led to sepsis, organ failure, and low blood pressure. He was hospitalized and later died, his daughter Kendall Smoes, 29, announced on Facebook.

'He fought a hard battle but went peacefully [on October 11] with Joshua, Leah, and I at the bedside,' she wrote on Facebook.

'They weren't really sure how things were going to go and that they really they encouraged us to get down here as soon as possible,' Kendall told CBS Miami.

James Hewitt, 54, of Jenison, passed away on October 11 after contracting Vibrio Vulnificus

He died surrounding by his children Josh Hewitt, 27, (left) and Kendall Smoes, 29, (right) and his fiancee Leah Venlet-Delano

He contracted the disease after falling into a canal while working on his friend's damaged boat in Naples, Florida, following Hurricane Ian. He went down to Florida

The family said they were 'extremely shocked' by his death because non-locals had not been warned about the deadly bacteria.

'We were very angry that nobody knew about this at least from up here, you know, in Michigan. It's a problem now, this is out there and it has been out there and the locals know about it but the people that go down to help don't,' his fiancee Leah Venlet-Delano told the Detroit News.

Florida as had 65 cases of the bacteria this year, according to CBS Miami.

His family said he was the type of person to always offer his help when he could and after seeing the damage the Category 4 storm caused, he rushed down there on October 5.

'He jumped at this opportunity because he had seen, like the rest of us just how devastating the hurricane was,' Leah told the Detroit News. 'Jim is always the kind of person that would, you know, give the clothes off his back.'

The scrap on his leg became infected, causing the bacteria to enter his bloodstream, which led to sepsis, organ failure, and low blood pressure

He was later put on a ventilator and was sedated before his family arrived to the hospital

His family is now trying to raise awareness as they claimed those who flocked to Florida to help were unaware of the flesh-eating disease lurking in the warm saltwater and they want to prevent other deaths. So far this year, 65 people have contracted

He was helping an old friend pack up his damaged house on October 8 when he fell and after applying antibacterial ointment, he let it slip his mind.

The next morning, he woke up to his leg being 'extremely painful and swollen' and asked his friend to take him to the hospital.

They immediately began treatment with the appropriate antibiotics but he was not responding as quickly as we had hoped,' Kendall wrote on the GoFundMe.

'He continued to worsen and decline in the emergency department and was admitted to the ICU with sepsis, where he ended up on a total of 5 vasopressors to try to support his heart and blood pressure.'

On Sunday, hospital staff decided to put James on a ventilator and sedate him.

Prior to the sedation, Kendall said she spoke with her father and told him: 'Dad I need you to fight with everything in your being and I am coming and I will be there as soon as I can.'

'I cried in fear while saying this to him not knowing if I would make it in time. The last thing he said to me was that he loved me too,' she said on the fundraiser, which has raised more than $6,500.

Kendall arrived to the hospital on Monday, while Josh Hewitt, 27, and Leah arrived Tuesday and James died on Tuesday evening.

'I know my Dad had a big heart filled with love for so many friends and family,' Kendall wrote.

'He was so full of life and love and we've really, we really lost someone very special,' Leah told the Detroit News.

His family started arriving on Monday and Tuesday and he died on Tuesday evening

The family is now trying to raise aware of the disease, so others don't meet the same situation as James.

'The people that want to help are usually coming from areas that they're not familiar with... the dangers that are down there and I think that message should be shared,' his fiancee told the local outlet.

'They're not necessarily part of an organized volunteer group that may receive that kind of information,' she said. 'If you have an existing condition, or even if you're perfectly healthy and have any open cuts, don't go into that water. You don't know what's in it.'

James was the second Michiganian to die from Hurricane Ian and more than 100 others have also lost their lives due to the cataphoric storm.
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Seattle had the worst air quality out of all cities in the world for two days in a row this week, beating out notoriously polluted cities like Beijing and Delhi.

The city's horrible air quality was brought on by forest fires raging in the nearby Cascade Mountains, coupled with successive weeks of abnormally hot and dry weather in the region.

Smoke poured into the city streets and blotted out the sun and the skyline, and even left Mount Rainer completely shrouded in smoke and fog.

The view from atop the Seattle Space Needle was equally bleak, with most of the city lost behind an apocalyptic cloud of smoke during the daylight hours.

On Wednesday Seattle's Air Quality Index (AQI) topped 240, a level labeled 'very unhealthy' by the air quality monitor IQAIR. Beijing clocked a comparatively meager 'unhealthy' 167.

Many Seattle residents ventured outside only with masks on their faces, and the city was filled with the acrid scent of smoke, according to the Washington Post.

Seattle had the worst air quality of all cities in the world on Wednesday and Thursday this week, beating out the usual contenders for the smoggy crown like Beijing and Delhi

The air quality index score in Seattle clocked in at a whopping 240 on Wednesday, which the air quality monitoring website IQAir qualifies as 'very unhealthy'

The view from atop the Seattle Space Needle this morning (above) showed the entire city shrouded in a thick blanket of yellow smoke

The I-90 bridge is blanketed in smoke as seen from East Point Viewpoint on Wednesday afternoon in Seattle

National Weather Service meteorologist Maddie Kristell said that Seattle's position at the top of the smoggy heap was a 'shocking statistic.'

She said a persistent high pressure ridge near the city kept vital storm rains from coming to the city and allowed dryness and fires to flourish.

'That ridge was really strong and it was just not allowing a difference in weather patterns to come through,' Kristell said.

Washington State has been dealing with an unprecedented drought since June, and has also been dealing with months of unusually high temperatures.

Just this past Sunday, Seattle broke its record for this hottest day this late in the fall after clocking 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

Smoke and haze fill the skies over Beacon Hill and I-5 in Seattle

Scenes from Seattle showed the skyline shrouded in grey smoke which blotted out the sun and even nearby Mount Rainier

Many Seattle residents ventured outside only with masks on their faces, and the city was filled with the acrid scent of smoke, according to the Washington Post

The acrid air was caused by forest fires raging in the nearby Cascade Mountains, coupled with successive weeks of abnormally hot and dry weather in the region

Seattle maintained its inglorious position at the top of the charts throughout Thursday.

Though Delhi, India, took the top spot for a spell by nightfall - currently Karachi, Pakistan reigns - Seattle has maintained a steady second place.

As of midnight Thursday, Seattle was clocking a 176 AQI, which IQAir deems 'unhealthy.'

The website recommended closing windows to keep out the filthy air, running air purifiers in doors, wearing masks outdoors, and avoiding outdoor exercise.

Rain is forecast to finally return to Seattle on Friday, which is expected to clear out the smoke and return the air to safe quality.

On Wednesday Seattle's Air Quality Index (AQI) topped 240, a level labeled 'very unhealthy' by the air quality monitor IQAIR. Beijing clocked a comparatively meager 'unhealthy' 167
Investigation is underway to ascertain if the wall contributed to flooding homes

The event saw media personalities dine out with a who's who of big wigs

Flood victims have branded the posh event a further 'kick in the guts'

It was the day the Maribyrnong River burst its banks and destroyed the area

Victorian Chamber of Commerce celebrated in style at last Friday's luncheon

Business leaders sipped champagne behind the safety of Flemington Racecourse's controversial flood wall at a $270-a-head luncheon while those on the other side drowned in misery.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal hundreds of people gathered in The Atrium on October 14 for a two-course 'premium lunch and drinks' while homes in surrounding suburbs were inundated with flood waters from the Maribyrnong River.

Flood victims have expressed their disgust at the well-to-do event continuing while residents opposite the racecourse watched their world possessions get swept away.

Vecci boss Paul Guerra (third from left) stands next to Melbourne Cup winning jockey Damien Oliver (centre), presenter Jacqueline Felgate and VRC Chief Executive Officer Steve Rosich (far right)

High and dry: Flemington Racecourse was awash with wine swilling big wigs behind the safety of a wall while the surrounding area flooded

The safety wall (pictured) surrounding Flemington Racecourse was built to keep it dry, but may have made everywhere else very wet

Maribyrnong resident Hannah, who lost everything in last week's flood, said she was furious business leaders dined in safety behind a wall she believes contributed to the community's heartache.

'I guess it is a bit of a kick in the guts. You don't expect everyone to stop and not go about their business and do what they need to do, but you know it was a state emergency for everybody else and we were left on our own,' she said.

'You look at drone footage of when the floods were happening and everywhere else but Flemington Racecourse is wet and it is completely dry.

'They couldn't care less at the moment about us. We're all suffering here. People have lost homes and I really feel for those people who don't have insurance because where do they go?'

The luncheon had been hosted by the Victorian Chamber of Commerce to mark the beginning of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

A resident walks towards his flood-hit home on Oakland Street, Maribyrnong on the day of the big Vecci luncheon

Stables next to Flemington Racecourse were the only buildings that appeared to get wet during the floods

Flemington Racecourse hosted business big wigs while outside its walls it flooded the community

The event saw television's Jacqueline Felgate host a panel of racing experts, including the Victorian Racing Club's Chief Executive Officer Steve Rosich, Emma Freedman and champion jockey Damien Oliver.

A who's who of other media identities from print, radio and television attended the gala event.

So proud of the event, VECCI posted 300 images from it to a flickr website so that people could download and relive their posh memories of the day.

VECCI chief executive Paul Guerra did not respond to Daily Mail Australia's requests for comment on Friday.

He appears in many of the photographs enjoying himself within the warmth and safety of the racecourse.

Among a swag of shots are photos of attendees enjoying drinks on the balcony overlooking the flooded surrounds.

Residents living in the shadow of Flemington Racecourse remain homeless, with one resident telling Daily Mail Australia he is the only person still left living in his street.

Maribyrnong sits just north of Melbourne's CBD

The clean-up on Oakland Street in Maribyrnong continues a week after the floods

Oakland Street in Maribyrnong after the flood washed it away

Zac Najdovski said his entire street went underwater while the business lunch continued as planned 'protected by the wall'.

'I don't know what else could have been done ... they probably couldn't have helped anyway,' he said.

'They were probably drunk. You could say it's (insensitive), but on the day it didn't matter because no-one could have done anything.

'Maybe instead of pissing it up there they could have been putting plans into place to immediately help us ... I would've thought they might say "we are the higher power, let's cut this short. We've gotta start putting action into place", not wait until Tuesday for something to start happening.'

Mr Najdovski said he had two strangers from a far away suburb turn up at his street armed with shovels to help with the clean-up.

'When you get people like that compared to people in higher places and have got the power to do actual good, they're pissing it up and we have community people just coming by. That's the difference,' he said.

A spokesperson for Maribyrnong City Council told Daily Mail Australia no-one associated with the council's main core attended the event.

'Council staff, including our mayor and executive team, were involved in supporting our community on Friday 14 October,' it said via a statement.

The VRC failed to comment on the event.
An urgent search is underway for a missing boy who mysteriously vanished without a trace from his western Sydney home two days ago.

Lucas Thompson, 12, was last seen at his Marayong home on Wednesday.

The schoolboy was reported missing to police the following day after he failed to return home and hasn't been seen or heard from since.

Police and family hold grave concerns for Lucas' welfare due to his young age.

Police have launched an appeal to find western Sydney schoolboy Lucas Thompson, 12,

Lucas is described as Caucasian, 125cm tall, slim build, light brown hair and brown eyes.

Lucas is known to frequent Marayong, Kings Park, The Ponds and surrounding suburbs in Sydney's west and north-west.

Anyone with information about Lucas' whereabouts urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Vegan activist Tash Peterson has exposed her breasts with a blunt message for her home city's newspaper during her latest court appearance.

The relentless protestor displayed her chest inked with 'F*** the West, Animal Liberation' in blue marker - a barb directed at the West Australian newspaper.

The anti-meat crusader revealed the vulgar message as she arrived at the Perth Magistrates' Court on Thursday to face charges over a cattle show stunt.

Ms Peterson, 28, was arrested and charged after she allegedly took on a cattle-judging event at the Perth Royal Show last month, allegedly locking herself to a fence with another protester.

The anti-meat crusader pulled her top up to reveal the vulgar message as she arrived at the Perth Magistrates' Court on Thursday to face charges over a cattle show stunt (pictured, the image she posted on social media)

Tash Peterson (pictured, with boyfriend, Jack Higgs) faced Perth Magistrates' Court on Thursday while fully clothed but beforehand, bore her chest to a photographer with the crude words written with a blue marker

After Thursday's court appearance she took to social media saying the jibe across her chest was aimed at the Seven West Media-owned paper.

'Today I walked into court with this message response to The West newspaper who reported on my court appearance last month, describing me as 'docile',' she wrote.

'I will never stop disrupting and partaking in civil disobedience until all animals are liberated. I will never be docile until animal slavery and the animal holocaust ends.

The reference was to the paper's coverage of a court appearance to face criminal charges over an alleged outburst she made at a Perth Outback Jacks Steakhouse in Northbridge last June.

Ms Peterson allegedly screamed at patrons, while blaring disturbing animal sounds which she claimed were from slaughterhouses in Australia.

On Thursday the animal rights advocate was appearing for the first time on charges relating to the Royal Perth Show incident, Perth Now reported.

Ms Peterson faced a magistrate fully clothed after arriving with her boyfriend, Jack Higgs.

Ms Peterson's stunt on Thursday was in reaction to The West Australian paper described her as 'docile' at a recent court appearance (pictured, Ms Peterson with Mr Higgs leaving court last month)

On Thursday the animal rights advocate (pictured, with Mr Higgs) was appearing for the first time on charges relating to an incident at the Royal Perth Show

She did not enter pleas and had her case adjourned until next month for legal advice.

The animal lover stormed the agricultural show with another protester last month, where the pair allegedly locked themselves to a cattle judging ring.

Both were charged with trespass and disorderly behaviour in public or in sight or hearing of any person in a public place.

She told her social media followers she had joined 'fellow animal rights activist Aly' and 'disrupted the abhorrent 'Royal' Agricultural Show'.

But it wasn't the first time annual show goers had experienced the methods of the vegan enthusiast.

In 2021, she disrupted a cattle judging event at the show by leaping over the barrier and screaming 'these beautiful and innocent beings are going to be brutally murdered and shot in the head'.

As horrified onlookers including children watched on, an irate farmer then roughly manhandled her and ejected her from the exhibit.

Ms Peterson did not enter pleas and had her case adjourned until next month for legal advice (pictured, the Perth Magistrates' Court)

Ms Peterson previously said she was put off eating meat when she watched the hit 1995 Australian film Babe, about an orphaned farm pig that wants to do the work of a sheep dog.

She is infamous for her public protests and last month, lay down in a human-sized meat tray in Sydney's busy Pitt Street Mall almost naked, covered in blood and wrapped up in plastic like a slab of meat.

Ms Peterson has claimed to earn $40,000 a month from her OnlyFans account, which she opened last year to fund her dream to commit all of her energy to animal activism.
He has pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse without consent

Brittany Higgins is pictured outside court. She has not been present in the courtroom this week as her accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann goes on trial

Jurors in the trial of Brittany Higgins's accused rapist have been urged not to look at social media over the weekend - as they are sent home.

The eight women and four men of the jury will return to their deliberations on Monday after being dismissed for the week by ACT Supreme Court Justice Lucy McCallum on Friday afternoon.

'Please remember the reminders I have given you, as you come into contact with a broader range of people over the weekend,' Justice McCallum said.

'It's extremely important at this stage that you don't engage in any conversation, you may accidentally engage with someone who might tell you something that might be problematic.

'Give yourself a social media holiday.'

They will return to court at 10am on Monday to continue determining whether Bruce Lehrmann sexually assaulted the former Liberal staffer in Parliament House in March 2019.

He has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent. The jury have been directed to reach a unanimous verdict. Jurors began deliberating since about 3pm on Wednesday following an explosive three-week trial.

Bruce Lehrmann (pictured outside court) is charged with sexual intercourse without consent. He has pleaded not guilty

In his closing remarks this week, Lehrmann's defence lawyer Steven Whybrow criticised Ms Higgins' evidence that she believed she would do a TV interview about her alleged rape and then return to anonymity.

He pointed out that she secured the book deal before she was finished speaking with police.

Mr Whybrow said, come 2021, Ms Higgins was 'talking to (News Corp journalist Samantha Maiden, talking to The Project, goes to police, got a book deal for $325000. This's a big story.'

'I'm not here to prove why she goes back to police and initiates this (investigation) again,' Mr Whybrow said. 'I'm not sure why. But there are 325000 reasons why this case is important from her perspective.'

While speaking about the evidence Ms Higgins gave the jury earlier in the trial, Mr Whybrow invoked 'con artists'. Mr Whybrow said: 'We have these things called con artists because demeanour is hard to pick up sometimes'.

The defence lawyer said he wasn't suggesting what Ms Higgins' behaviour in the witness box was an act, telling the jury: 'You all saw it.'

He argued: 'She doesn't know what happened and she has reconstructed events to the point that she now genuinely believes them to be true. That doesn't mean that they are true.'

Meanwhile, Crown prosecutor Shane Drumgold told the jury Lehrmann took Ms Higgins back to Parliament House on the night he allegedly raped her because 'it was the most convenient place to get her drunk and confused'.

Crown prosecutor told the court Lehrmann took Ms Higgins (pictured centre) to Parliament House because it was 'convenient'

He suggested that was the answer to one of the key questions jury members had to consider - why did Lehrmann and Ms Higgins go to Parliament House that night?

Mr Drumgold said the jury also must consider whether they believed Lehrmann and Ms Higgins had sex - and whether it was consensual - as well as whether he was attracted to the alleged victim and if he was 'reckless' regarding her consent.

'[The case is not about] whether young people, whatever gender, have the right to drink what they choose or to be safe. Or whether Ms Higgins likes Linda Reynolds, or about whether parliament house responded adequately,' he said.

'This case is certainly not about the experience of other women in parliament or the "Me Too" movement, media interviews or book deals.'

Mr Drumgold said the case was about 'what happened on a couch in a room' on March 23, 2019 - between when Ms Higgins and Lehrmann entered parliament at 1.41am and when the accused left alone at 2.31am.

In her closing summary on Wednesday, Justice McCallum reminded jurors that Lehrmann was presumed innocent unless or until his guilt is proven by the prosecution beyond a reasonable doubt.

They were instructed to act impartially, without emotion or prejudice and give a true verdict according to the evidence presented in the courtroom.

Lehrmann's defence lawyer Steven Whybrow is pictured outside court with his defence counsel, Katrina Musgrove

'You are not answerable to popular opinion... whichever way you may think it sways,' Justice McCallum said.

'Your verdict, whether it be guilty or not guilty, must be unanimous.'

Justice McCallum also addressed parts of defence lawyer Steven Whybrow's closing arguments, including when he spoke about Ms Higgins' recollection of events.

On Wednesday morning, Mr Whybrow told the jury Ms Higgins 'doesn't know what happened' and reconstructed events in her mind based on what others told her.

He quoted Ms Higgins' comments to police while she was watching CCTV footage of her and Lehrmann entering Parliament House at 1.41am: 'My memory gets a bit hazy.'

Justice McCallum urged the jury to also look at the parts of Ms Higgins' evidence where she recalled events that did not need to be substantiated by anyone else.

Specifically, the moment she recalled sitting on a windowsill alone in parliament and looking over the Prime Minister's courtyard before the alleged rape took place.

'That was something she described as a recollection of her own, that was not reconstructed,' she said.
Pentagon spokesman U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder speaks during a media briefing at the Pentagon, Oct. 20, in Washington. AP-Yonhap



The United States remains committed to the denuclearization of the "entire" Korean Peninsula, a defense department spokesperson said Thursday, indicating that the U.S. is not considering deploying nuclear weapons to South Korea.



Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder also reiterated that the U.S. extended deterrence provided to South Korea would be sufficient to defend the Asian ally and deter any potential aggression from North Korea.



"We are still committed to denuclearization of the entire peninsula," the spokesman said when asked if the U.S. was considering making South Korea a nuclear state.



"Here in the Pentagon our focus is on providing a strategic deterrent capability to the Republic of Korea and to our allies and partners in the region," he added, referring to South Korea by its official name.



The remark comes amid calls for the redeployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea following a recent series of North Korean missile launches.



Pyongyang has fired 44 ballistic missiles this year, a senior U.S. administration official said earlier in the day, the largest number of ballistic missiles it launched in a single year.



North Korea also fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan this month, the first missile to do so since 2017.



Ryder insisted the U.S. is already providing the security assistance that South Korea requires.



"We have a significant U.S. force presence on the peninsula," the spokesman said, referring to the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea.



"The United States, the Republic of Korea and other allies and partners in the region to include Japan conduct regular exercises to ensure that our forces have interoperability, that we can work together with the idea to defend one another's interests and our territorial integrity, as well as deter a potential attack," he added.



He earlier said South Korea is already backed by the "full range" of U.S. defense capabilities, including "nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities" when asked the same question.



U.S. and South Korean officials have said the North may soon conduct a nuclear test, following the resumption of ballistic missile tests after a four-year hiatus.



"We continue to believe that North Korea is preparing for potential future nuclear test," said Ryder, adding the U.S. and its allies in the region are keeping a "close eye" on the reclusive country.



Pyongyang conducted its sixth and last nuclear test in September 2017.



The Pentagon spokesman underscored U.S. capabilities to counter any potential North Korean aggression, also noting a group of U.S. bombers are currently in Guam, sending a "very clear message" to North Korea.



"So it's not uncommon for us to have bomber task forces, which conduct operations around the world again for two reasons; one to send a very clear message that we will support our partners and allies around the world, and two that we do have the capability to conduct global operations on any given day," he said when asked about the bombers.



"So to answer your question, it is meant to send a message that the United States stands closely with its allies and partners to deter potential provocation," added Ryder. (Yonhap)


A grandmother who was brutally beaten outside a Melbourne church and left unconscious on the footpath has forgiven her attacker, who has been jailed for five years.

Penelope Katsavos, 79, was unlocking the doors of the Greek Orthodox church in South Yarra for morning service on March 13, 2021 when she was attacked by Amrick Roy.

She was on the church steps holding a shopping trolley containing food, cash and her phone, when Roy, 27, approached her about 6am. He screamed at her and grabbed the trolley.

Roy punched her in the face and she fell to the ground, hitting her head on the concrete steps. He took the trolley and fled, leaving Ms Katsavos unconscious.

A council worker found her at 6.30am and she was taken to hospital with a fractured hip and broken wrist, her face swollen and covered in cuts and bruises.

Roy was arrested by police five days later.

Penelope Katsavos was left lying on the steps of the church (pictured) after being brutally attacked in 2021

Amrick Roy (pictured after his arrest) pleaded guilty to five charges, including three assaults, recklessly causing injury to Ms Katsavos and stealing her trolley

He lied to officers and said the elderly woman hit him first, which the County Court of Victoria was told on Friday was likely due to his 'overwhelming shame'.

He was in a state of psychosis during the offending after smoking synthetic cannabis and drinking at Revolver nightclub earlier that evening, the court was told.

Before attacking Ms Katsavos, Roy assaulted a club patron, a street cleaner, a man waiting outside the Chapel Street Nike store and another man near Liquorland.

However, Roy's assaults on those four men was not as violent, because other people had intervened.

Roy pleaded guilty to five charges, including three assaults, recklessly causing injury to Ms Katsavos and robbery of her trolley.

The court was told she has forgiven Roy for the attack, which robbed her of her independence and ability to care for her husband.

'No sentence you are given will change the life sentence you have given me,' she wrote in a statement to court.

'I will continue to walk through this life with love and strength.'

Penelope Katsavos' face was covered in massive purple bruises, trailing from her right eye down to her chin (pictured left after the attack and right in hospital)

Amrick Roy (pictured) was sentenced to five years in jail on Friday. He has already served 18 months behind bars

Ms Katsavos requires a walking frame due to her injuries and has been forced to place her husband in a nursing home as she can no longer care for him. She struggles daily with loneliness, sadness and pain.

Judge John Carmody said Ms Katsavos had exhibited grace and wisdom, as he described Roy's offending as 'unprovoked and gratuitous'.

'Ms Katsavos was an elderly woman, alone at a church door, going about her charitable work for others,' he said.

'The incident started because you wanted to take her trolley, after taking it you dumped it, left her on the footpath unconscious and helpless after the assault.

'Your offending is objectively serious.'

Roy has already served one-and-a-half years in pre-sentence detention. He must spend three-and-a-half years in prison before being eligible for parole.
The Justice Department is asking Congress for a further $34 million in order to continue to investigate the January 6th Capitol siege with just weeks to go until November's Midterm elections.

The funding bill would likely come before the House in December but should Republicans take control in a matter of weeks, it is unlikely such an approval for such a funding request would be granted.

The criminal investigation into those who participated in the riot has been sprawling and has looked into thousands of rioters who stormed the building in support of then-President Donald Trump. So far there have been 870 arrests.

'There are lots of requests,' House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut told NBC News about the DOJ's request for the extra funding.

Violent insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump, stormed the Capitol, on January 6, 2021, in Washington D.C.

Online sleuths have managed to further identify hundreds of additional people who attended the protest but have not yet been arrested

'We're taking a look at all of them and seeing what makes it and seeing what doesn't make it.'

The Justice Department has described the investigation into the events of January 6, 2021 as 'the most wide-ranging' in its history.

The Department has written to Congress outlining how more than $34 million in funding is 'critically needed' in order to fund the investigation.

'The cases are unprecedented in scale and is expected to be among the most complex investigations prosecuted by the Department of Justice,' the Justice Department wrote to the legislative branch.

Should the extra funds be unable to be procured, it would have a 'detrimental impact' on U.S. Attorney's Offices across the country, which would 'need to incur a budget reduction to fund these prosecutions.'

The January 6, 2021 Capitol riot grew out of President Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen

So far there have been 870 arrests but hundreds more people will be targeted. This still frame shows Thomas Webster, in a red jacket, at a barricade line at on the west front of the U.S. Capitol on January 6. He was sentenced for attacking a police officer with the pole

The worry then would be offices would be prevented from prosecuting other important cases in their locales.

The funding would be part of the fiscal year 2023 budget, which Congress is planning to pass in December, around a similar time that the January 6 committee will be issuing its final report.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia has led efforts together with assistance from 93 federal prosecutors offices across the country who have volunteered personnel but there is still more work to be done.

Online sleuths have managed to further identify hundreds of additional rioters who were present a the Capitol on that day but have not been arrested.

The Department's in-tray is slowly being whittled down with those being sentenced outweighing the number of new arrests.

Since the start of the year there have been about four people arrested in connection with the riots each week.

Congress now has until December 16 to try and thrash out an agreement over funding.

The January 6 committee will be issuing its final report, likely in December

The initial funding request was packaged in a bill that cleared the Democratic-led House Appropriations Committee this summer, but it will be harder to pass as a bipartisan bill that will be able to be approved by both chambers.

A minimum of 10 Republican votes are required for the bill to pass the House chamber with the prospects of it gaining approval far slimmer should Republicans take the house making Trump ally, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House Speaker.

A likely Judiciary Committee chair overseeing the Justice Department could be Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan who is also outspoken Trump ally who has peddled clams the election was stolen and outwardly criticized the January 6 committee.

Nevertheless, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa say the prosecutions into those who were involved on January 6 will go forward even if U.S. Attorneys' offices take on the cases and a subsequent budget hit.

'Of course, we'd like more resources, and if Congress wants to give that to us, that would be very nice,' Garland said in July. 'But we have people  prosecutors and agents  from all over the country working on this matter, and I have every confidence in their ability, their professionalism, their dedication to this task.'
Virgin Australia has admitted it made 'an error of judgement' when it published a customer's email slamming its 'Pride Flights' while promoting the initiative in a social media post.

The airline shared to Twitter a screenshot of an email it claimed had been sent by the disgruntled passenger who said celebrating drag queens was 'mentally deranged'.

'Your most recent advertising campaign featuring an infinitesimally small fringe group in our society is an insult [to] the normal everyday Australians,' it read.

The email, sent from an account belonging to 'Ian and Karen', attacked drag queens throughout and was signed by a 'disgusted former customer' who vowed they would never fly with Virgin again.

In the Twitter post accompanying the email, the airline wrote: 'Thank you for your email Karen, in case you missed it, Pride Flight is on sale now.'

Virgin was quick to cop brutal backlash over the tweet and on Friday evening admitted posting the email 'was an inappropriate thing to do'.

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, the airline said the decision to post 'disrespectful and hateful email communications about our Pride Flights was an error of judgement by our team'.

Virgin Australia has admitted it made 'an error of judgement' by using vile homophobic hate speech in a social media post promoting its 'pride flights (pictured, the Pride Flight campaign)

On Thursday morning the airline posted to Twitter a screenshot of an email it claimed to have received - which stated celebrating drag queens was 'mentally deranged'

Twitter followers were quick to call out the airline over posting the offensive email and demanded to know whether it had been faked.

'Yes, please, support LGBTQI+ but don't make up fake hate emails to sell airline tickets and then delete your post when called on it,' tweeted journalist Asher Wolf.

Queer writer and philosopher Joshua Badge called the misguided campaign 'rainbow capitalism at its finest'.

'Either it's fake or they published a hate email... taking bets for which is worse lmao,' they wrote.

'I might humbly suggest that the real solution is to just *not* use homophobia as a pretence to hawk plane tickets.'

Twitter followers had been quick to call out the airline over posting the offensive email and demanded to know whether it was faked by Virgin (pictured, airline staff celebrate Pride)

The email Virgin shared, which is understood to have been genuine, attacked drag queens throughout (Pictured, scenes from Virgin's pride flight launch campaign)

READ THE 'HOMOPHOBIC' EMAIL SHARED BY VIRGIN AUSTRALIA: I am writing to your organization to inform you that I will never fly with your airline again. Your most recent advertising campaign featuring an infinitesimally small fringe group in our society is an insult to the normal, everyday Australian. It highlights the depths of depravity your leaders have descended to. Who, in their right mind, would think it would be a good idea to celebrate the drag queen community and think it will paint your organization in a favourable light...mentally deranged people, I would suggest. Have you heard the phrase, GO WOKE GO BROKE Just think of all your everyday staff who are all going to suffer because of your irrational decisions. Signed, A disgusted former passenger Advertisement

A health advocate wrote: 'Trying to clickbait both sides to increase engagement? What's this marketing tactic called? Mirroring? Rage-Baiting?'

When Twitter users continued to complain about the offensive email, the airline quietly deleted the post from its account.

It is understood the email was genuine and was sent to Virgin as a complaint about its pride flight promotion, which includes its own webpage.

In a statement on Friday, the airline told Daily Mail Australia it 'is incredibly proud of its inclusive culture and its Pride Flight initiative'.

'At Virgin Australia, we believe it's incredibly important that we use our voice to champion and support the LGBTQIA+ community in the places we live, work and fly.

'However, the decision to post online disrespectful and hateful email communications about our Pride Flights was an error of judgement by our team.

'Whilst the intention was to shine a light on this intolerant conduct, the reality was that it was an inappropriate thing to do.'

LGBTQI+ passengers are encouraged to buy the flights but on twitter one follower called the airline's misguided promotion 'rainbow capitalism at its finest'

Several Virgin flights from Australian capitals to Sydney in February 2023 will be co-hosted by Ru Paul's Drag Race Downunder stars and well-known drag queens

The airline copped a brutal social media backlash over the tweet and on Friday evening it admitted posting the email 'was an inappropriate thing to do'

The email that triggered the Twitter storm on Thursday stated the Pride Flight initiative featured 'an infinitesimally small fringe group in our society'.

'Who, in their right mind, would think it would be a good idea to celebrate the drag queen community and think it will paint your organization in a favourable light...mentally deranged people, I would suggest,' it read.

The email went on to say that celebrating the LGBTQ community highlighted the 'depths of depravity' Virgin Australia bosses had 'descended to', and suggested staff would suffer due to 'irrational decisions'.

The message was signed off as 'a disgusted former passenger'.

Several Virgin flights to Sydney in February 2023 will be hosted by Ru Paul's Drag Race Downunder stars including Coco Jumbo, Maxi Shield and Kween Kong and well-known drag queens Penny Tration, Barbie Q and Torah Hymen.

Dannii Minogue was also involved in the launch of the 2023 pride flights initiative.

Virgin's pride flights to Sydney in February 2023 will leave from Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne

Virgin Australia told Daily Mail Australia the social media post was 'inappropriate' and said it was proud of its pride flight program

The airline has spent the last week sharing promotional videos for the campaign featuring drag queens dressed as flight attendants and waving rainbow flags.

Perth passengers can book one-way Pride Flight's to Sydney for $379 - with Virgin to donate $30 from the sale of each ticket to queer youth charity Minus18.

A dedicated flight on February 24 will be hosted by Perth drag queen Barbie Q with passengers to enjoy DJ performances and a pre-flight party.

Virgin Australia chief people officer Lisa Burquest said the number of Pride Flights had been doubled after the airline received positive community feedback.

'Diversity and inclusion on all levels is really important at Virgin Australia and the LGBTQ+ community has always been important, as customers and as employees,' she said.
Media mogul Lachlan Murdoch and news publication Crikey have both unsuccessfully attacked each others' pleadings amid a hotly contested defamation lawsuit.

Bids by media mogul Lachlan Murdoch and Australian news publication Crikey to strip down each others' pleadings have failed amid a bitter defamation dispute.

On Friday, Justice Michael Wigney found there was no appropriate reason to strike out Crikey's public interest defence. He rejected Mr Murdoch's claims sections of the defence were a 'furphy' and were evasive, ambiguous or prejudicial.

'Nor am I persuaded that those paragraphs together fail to disclose a reasonable defence,' the judge said in the Federal Court.

It was 'at the very least arguable' that the facts claimed by the publication surrounding the January 6 riots in the US showed the article was written in the public interest, he said.

'I'm not persuaded that the pleaded facts are demonstrably irrelevant.'

Lachlan Murdoch, pictured with wife Sarah at the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar party, has encountered his first hurdle in his defamation lawsuit against news publication Crikey

Mr Murdoch also failed to remove other parts of the defence regarding mitigation, including claims he had a bad reputation as head of Fox News, an organisation that engaged in 'biased reporting' and 'systematic unethical practices'.

Crikey relies on statements made by US Fox commentators such as Tucker Carlson, Jeanine Pirro and Sean Hannity to back up these allegations.

'Our system has never been more disorganised and it's never been more vulnerable to manipulation,' Carlson said in November 2020.

Days before January 6, Pirro publicly railed against the 'left's hypocrisy' and questioned whether Joe Biden was the legitimate president of the United States.

On Friday, Justice Wigney also shot down Crikey's bid to strike out a portion of the media mogul's reply claiming the publisher had acted in malice.

If Mr Murdoch was able to prove the predominant purpose of the article was harm, this would defeat the defence of public interest, the judge noted.

The co-chair of News Corp and chief executive of Fox Corporation is suing Crikey over a June 29 opinion piece by political editor Bernard Keane, that was taken down and then posted back online on August 15.

The media mogul is suing Crikey over a political opinion piece about US House of Representative hearings into former president Donald Trump and the Capitol riots (pictured) in Washington DC in January 2021

It related to US House of Representative hearings into former president Donald Trump and the Capitol riots in Washington DC on January 6, 2021.

Mr Murdoch alleges it contained defamatory claims including that he entered an illegal criminal conspiracy with Mr Trump to overturn the US 2020 presidential election and incite a mob with murderous intent to march on the Capitol.

The article was titled 'Trump is a confirmed unhinged traitor. And Murdoch is his unindicted co-conspirator'.

In the lawsuit, Mr Murdoch is suing Crikey's publisher Private Media, Keane and editor-in-chief Peter Fray.

A nine-day trial is due to start on March 27.
Just 24 homes were initially slated to be removed for upgrade in north Brisbane

Dozens of Brisbane families could be forced to sacrifice their dream homes to make space for a major highway as entire streets are set to be bulldozed.

More than 90 homes, a fire brigade and an ambulance station could be demolished as the state government pushes ahead with plans to expand the Bruce Highway.

Up to 24 homes were initially estimated to be affected by the controversial upgrades however in the space of a few days this figure has almost tripled.

A Department of Transport and Main Roads spokeswoman said up to 90 letters have been sent out to property owners warning they would be impacted by the project.

'There are about 120 potentially impacted property owners for the whole Gateway Motorway and Bruce Highway Upgrades project... these owners have been contacted,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.

The department said a third of the letters were sent to owners of private properties in Murrumba Downs, about 25km north of Brisbane.

Up to 25 homes on a single street of the Aspire housing estate in Griffin face being demolished in addition to the newly-opened $6million Bracken Ridge Fire and Rescue Station and the Sandgate Ambulance Station.

More than 90 homes, a fire brigade and an ambulance station could be demolished in the Queensland government's plans to expand the Bruce Highway (pictured)

Charmaine and James Jackson, who have two young sons, had lived in their dream home for less than two months before they were notified it would be bulldozed in the upgrades

The department spokeswoman said both stations would be moved to new locations nearby and would remain operational until new facilities were up and running.

She said upgrading the motorway is 'critical to ensuring this important road corridor can operate safely while catering for current and future traffic demands'.

The state government forecasts traffic levels between the Moreton Bay Region and north Brisbane each day will increase by around 50 per cent by 2041.

Many devastated homeowners in Griffin were sent letters from the Department before even receiving the keys for their new homes this week.

Half of the homes earmarked for demolition are newly-built while the other half are still under construction.

Charmaine and James Jackson, who have two young sons, received an email on Monday informing them their 'dream home' at Griffin will be demolished.

The young parents only moved into the newly-built $600,000 home less than two months ago on September 1.

'I haven't been able to stop feeling sick since I got the email,' Ms Jackson, 29, a stay-at-home-mum told Daily Mail Australia.

'We thought we'd be in this house until our kids left home.'

The couple (pictured celebrating the purchase of their dream home) paid about $600,000 for the house and land and only moved in on September 1

Charmaine and James Jackson, who have two young sons, received their email on Monday informing them their 'dream home' at Griffin (pictured) will be bulldozed in the upgrades

Families who live in the Aspire development in Griffin (pictured) are set to see their dream homes bulldozed as part of $2.1billion upgrades to the Bruce Highway

Moreton Bay regional council mayor Peter Flannery told 4BC Radio host Neil Breen he hadn't seen any 'lines on the map' until Thursday.

'And now we are having people who have been set letters in the mail or email saying your total house could be resumed for the widening of this road,' he said.

'It's probably a blueprint for how not to do good communication engagement with the community about vital infrastructure.'

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said on Thursday the upgrades to the Bruce Highway were 'in the very early planning stages'.

'Residents who are potentially impacted are the first to be notified,' he said.

'We are committed to important upgrades like this which will see Queenslanders get home safer and sooner.'
Australia has expressed fears that a UK trade deal could be scuppered due to Liz Truss' resignation after just 44 chaotic days in the job, with the country's Prime Minister making a dig at Britain's political turmoil.

Anthony Albanese today said: 'I am concerned about any delay that would occur to the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement.'

Britain and Australia finalised the deal in December 2021, but it has yet to be confirmed by either country.

Albanese said he had asked Truss, who has days left in office before a new Conservative leader is elected, to fast-track the ratification process.

He added: 'We had discussed trying to get it concluded this year to make sure the appropriate parliamentary processes went through.

'I will of course speak to whoever it is that will become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom about doing that.'

Albanese, pictured, said he had asked Truss, who has days left in office before a new Conservative leader is elected, to fast-track the ratification process of the trade deal

Albanese also made a subtle dig at his counterparts in London amid the current political turmoil.

The centre-left prime minister said: 'I must say, I've been in office about five months, I've met with two British prime ministers so far, and obviously will have contact with the third.'

Although Australia is no stranger to political turmoil, having seen seven changes of prime minister in 15 years, rules put in place by both leading parties have stemmed the habit of members ousting their own leaders.

Albanese said: 'Here in Australia my government is stable, is orderly, the adults are in charge.'

Liz Truss, pictured, yesterday announced her resignation after just six weeks in office

Australia's agreement with the UK was the first free trade deal to be signed since Britain officially left the EU at the start of 2021.

Britain claimed the deal would unlock annual bilateral trade worth 10.4 billion ($12.4 billion).

However a cross party UK parliamentary trade committee warned the-then prime minister Boris Johnson against 'overselling the benefits.'

The British economy has struggled with fraying ties with its largest trading partners inside the EU.
Eve the kelpie is not yet two but half a century of work has gone into making her a star.

The classic black and tan working dog, from Capree Stud at Newbridge in central-west NSW, set a new Australian record for kelpies when she sold at auction for $49,000 on Thursday.

Breeder Chris Stapleton said it appeared to be his lucky number as he celebrated 49 years of marriage to his wife Pauline on the same day.

'I was pretty happy yesterday,' Mr Stapleton told AAP on Friday morning.

The previous record, set last year, was $35,200. Mr Stapleton had expected to get about $30,000 for Eve and was surprised by the result.

The classic black and tan working dog, from Capree Stud at Newbridge in central-west NSW, set a new Australian record for kelpies when she sold at auction for $49,000 on Thursday

'She's a pretty good little dog and she's really well bred. She was no accident, she was bred to be as good as she is,' he said.

Eve's bloodline goes back 50 years to some of Mr Stapleton's original dogs.

'She's pretty laid back and goes with the flow, she doesn't get too excited about things,' he said.

'She's a very nice dog to have around because she's not hyperactive and when you need a job done, she's willing and able to do it. She's the perfect dog.'

When the bids reached $46,000 from buyers onsite at Newbridge and online through AuctionsPlus, auctioneer Jason Pearce joked: 'It's fair to say she's on the market.'

Mr Pearce, from Elders in Mudgee, said working dogs were in high demand due to skills shortages across agriculture.

'With demand comes increasing price, like any commodity. There's more emphasis on there being fewer workers, less skills, so there's a requirement for a dog to potentially do more,' he said.

Eve's fit physique and her unique ability to work with cattle, sheep and goats attracted buyers.

Auctioneers say Australian working dogs are in high demand due to skill shortages across NSW's agriculture sector (pictured, a kelpie rounds sheep in Broken Hill, western NSW)

'She had pedigree bloodlines, the physical attributes, she was trained at 20 months, which is quite rare,' Mr Pearce said.

'She was the complete package.'

Eve's new home will be at a sheep stud in nearby Oberon.

Mr Stapleton, who has about 20 dogs including pups and retired kelpies, said the ultimate reward for a working dog was a warm kennel.

'I like to keep my dogs into retirement, so I've always had quite a few.

'You give them verbal praise, and they know when they've done something well. I like to give them a pat.'
Chicago paramedics were forced to duck for cover in an ambulance after gunmen started shooting just yards from their vehicle, shocking footage has revealed.

Dashcam video shows the two Med Express Ambulance paramedics crouching down after gunshots rang out on September 21 near Jackson Park.

The pair are driving along Marquette Drive when a loud noise is heard nearby.

Chicago paramedics were forced to duck for cover in an ambulance after gunmen started shooting just yards from their vehicle

The dashcam shows a black Infiniti zoom past with two men hanging out of the window appearing to fire at least five shots

One paramedic sitting in the passenger seat is heard saying: 'Sounded like a gun to me.'

Then they both suddenly slid down under the windows after realising shots were being fired right by the ambulance.

The dashcam then shows a black Infiniti zoom past with two men hanging out of the window appearing to fire at least five shots.

Other cars were in the vicinity by the park when the men discharged their guns in broad daylight.

The pair are driving along Marquette Drive when a loud noise is heard nearby

They both suddenly slid down under the windows after realising shots were being fired right by the ambulance

Other cars were in the vicinity by the park when the men discharged their guns in broad daylight

After the car sped off, the paramedics looked around to see if anyone had been hit.

One said: 'Oh, someone on a bike just got shot.'

They raced over to him to check on his wellbeing but discovered he too was just hiding from the gunfire.

Nobody was injured in the shooting but it shows how dangerous the streets of Chicago can be.

Footage was released yesterday by MedEx.

Michael Pieroni, the company's chief operating officer, said: 'Our primary concern is crew safety, but the team put their safety aside and went to the aid of someone else.

'While nobody was seriously injured in this incident, it illustrates the hazards EMS providers face daily.'
But Aerolineas Argentinas said people were warned and seatbelt signs were on

A flight was plunged into chaos when it hit turbulence that threw screaming passengers around the cabin, with one breaking their nose on the ceiling.

The Aerolineas Argentinas AR1133 flight to Buenos Aires took off at 8.21pm on October 18 from Madrid.

But the Airbus A330 carrying 271 passengers and 13 crew members was affected by bad turbulence around seven hours into the 12-hour flight off the coast of Brazil.

The passenger jet sagged and shook around at 11,500 metres (38,000 feet) above the Atlantic.

The Aerolineas Argentinas AR1133 flight took off at 7.51pm on October 18 from Madrid and was heading to Buenos Aires. But the Airbus A330 that was carrying 271 passengers and 13 crew members was affected by bad turbulence. Pictured: The cabin after the turbulence

The flight fell into pandemonium, with passengers, most of whom had been sleeping, panicking and food and drinks trolleys thrown around.

Aerolineas Argentinas said that at the time of the turbulence, seat belt signs were on and an announcement had been made.

But some passengers fumbling for seatbelts or those who were unbuckled at the time hit the ceiling.

Trolleys and bags hurtled through the cabin as hand luggage compartments opened.

At least 12 people were injured and three of them were later hospitalised with severe injuries. One was left with a broken nose, according to Bild.

The flight landed in Buenos Aires four-and-a-half hours after the turbulence.

Passengers who suffered injuries were taken to hospital. Some were admitted.

Turbulence began around seven hours into the flight off the coast of Brazil when the passenger jet sagged and shook around at 11,500 metres (38,000 feet). The flight descended into pandemonium, with passengers, most of whom had been sleeping, panicking and food and drinks trolleys thrown around. Pictured: An injured woman after the turbulence

Aerolineas Argentinas said that at the time of the turbulence, seat belt signs were on and an announcement had been made. But some passengers fumbling for seatbelts or those who were unbuckled at the time hit the ceiling. Pictured: Open compartments and oxygen masks after the turbulence

At least 12 people were injured and three of them were later hospitalised with severe injuries. One was left with a broken nose, according to Bild. Pictured: An Aerolineas Argentinas plane (file image)

Passenger Adrian Torres told newspaper El Pais: 'We had flown about seven hours and almost all of us slept, because at that time it was almost three in Spain.

'The plane started to move a lot and I said to my colleagues, "how much turbulence, buckle up".

'As I fumbled for my seat belt, the plane encountered severe turbulence.'

He said the plane then suddenly dropped metres and they shot at the ceiling, leaving him with a small bruise.

Adrian added that the incident left his colleague with a broken nose.

Pictured: A part of the ceiling panelling of the passenger jet was destroyed by the turbulence

Another passenger, Esperanza Borras, said there was no warning.

She had unbuckled her seatbelt for a short time. After the turbulence started she hit her head on the ceiling and broke her nasal septum.

The chaos left other passengers injured, suffering cuts and bruises. Some of these were severe.

Turbulence left the Airbus galleys wrecked, with the ceiling panelling damaged.

Pictured: More of the damage caused by the chaotic incident on board the flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires

Aerolineas Argentinas said in a statement that the seat belt signs were switched on when the turbulence occurred.

The company also said passengers were warned with an announcement.

But not all of the passengers agree with this version of events.

The airline added that due to the severe turbulence on the flight, nine passengers had to be treated with minor injuries after it landed at Ezeiza airport at 4.30am.

And it confirmed that another three were hospitalised due to their injuries. It also stated that the plane did not suffer significant damage to its structure.
Social media is exploding with memes calling for a return of Boris Johnson following the dramatic resignation of Liz Truss - using references from Top Gun, Lord of the Rings and Terminator.

The hashtag #BringBackBoris is trending on social media with hundreds voicing their support for the axed PM just six weeks after he left No 10, forced out by his own MPs after one scandal too many.

Mr Johnson's face was superimposed onto multiple snippets of scenes from the Top Gun movies in order to depict him as the hero the UK needs to escape this mess.

One shared a photo of Mr Johnson on the cover of The Lord of the Rings 'The Return of the King'. Another replaced the well known 'keep calm and carry on' slogan with 'keep calm and bring back Boris'.

One supporter said: 'The country never lost confidence in Boris. The party did. It's time he returned.'

Another added: 'Boris is on his way back to save the UK, he'll rise from the ashes like a phoenix. And we will all live happily ever after.'

The former prime minister, who is is reported to be jetting back from the Caribbean, has not announced plans to stand for leader, but is believed to have the backing of dozens of MPs.

But social media has been flooded with memes on both sides of the argument since yesterday - with many calling to 'bring back Boris' but others saying 'no, not again.'

The hashtag #BringBackBoris is trending on social media with hundreds of voters voicing their support for the axed PM

While many are excited at the prospect of Mr Johnson's triumphant return to the top job, others have voiced concerns.

'The country needs stability, not scandal,' one critic said.

'Integrity, market confidence, support for the most needy. Oh and there's no money left thanks to him and Truss. Johnson is not anything that this country needs.'

Another said: 'Boris Johnson?! Are you having a laugh? Picking a new Tory leader is like picking the best toilet on the last day of a festival.'

'Imagine the bar being so low that Boris Johnson coming back actually seems like an improvement in some people's eyes,' one critic tweeted.

Another said: 'You call for a return to 'mature politics' and return of Boris Johnson with straight face? Johnson? The man who prefers quips, winks, and punchlines over debate, meetings and preparation?'

Twitter is alight with debate on both sides of the argument. While many are excited at the thought of Mr Johnson's triumphant return to the top job, others have voiced concern

Ukraine officially backed Boris Johnson to return as Prime Minister yesterday. Amid mounting speculation Mr Johnson is poised as a likely contender to replace Ms Truss, the official Twitter account for Ukraine released a statement on Thursday which read: 'Better call Boris'.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr Johnson shared a particularly close relationship during the former PM's time in office, owing primarily to his outspoken support of Ukraine after the Russian invasion.

Throughout Mr Johnson's messy departure from No. 10, Mr Zelensky hailed him as a 'true friend' who 'acted swiftly and resolutely' to offer support during the crisis.

Mr Zelensky said the UK was his country's 'dearest friend and closest ally' under Mr Johnson, and praised the PM's 'courage and determination' in championing support for Ukraine.

Amid mounting speculation Mr Johnson is poised as a likely contender to replace Ms Truss, the official Twitter account for Ukraine released a statement which read: 'Better call Boris'

Now, it's looking increasingly likely the pair will be able to continue their professional relationship

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr Johnson shared a particularly close relationship during the former PM's time in office, owing primarily to his outspoken support of Ukraine after the Russian invasion

Inside the close friendship between Boris Johnson and Volodymyr Zelensky Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made no secret of the high esteem in which he held Boris Johnson during his time as Prime Minister. Mr Zelensky said the UK was his country's 'dearest friend and closest ally' under Mr Johnson, and praised the PM's 'courage and determination' in championing support for Ukraine. Mr Zelensky thanked Boris for walking with him through the streets of Kyiv in April, and again on Ukraine's independence day. 'Boris Johnson, as his nation's envoy, was with us, welcomed by ordinary Ukrainians,' he said. 'We even started to address him, warmly and humorously, as 'Boris Johnsoniuk'  a Ukrainian-sounding surname if you put a stress on the last syllable.' The Ukrainian leader praised the UK's 'unwavering' support and ongoing financial and humanitarian aid, as well as its introduction of sanctions against Russia. He added: 'But I believe in the power of personal leadership. I know it has not been an easy ride for Boris Johnson as he had to deal with many internal challenges. Prioritising support for Ukraine demanded a great courage and determination.' He said upon Boris' messy exit: 'I sincerely wish that Boris's legacy be preserved.' Advertisement

'At every meeting and conversation Boris had one very good question, 'What else? What else do you need?',' he said. 'It became our watchword, guaranteeing effective progress and movement forward.'

It comes after the Conservative Party announced would-be successors would need to win nominations from 100 MPs to get on the ballot.

The threshold means that realistically a maximum of three can make it into a vote, and that there could be a simple coronation of a winner if they get far more than that.

According to the ConservativeHome tally, Mr Sunak is the current front runner with 35 openly declared, while Mr Johnson has 19 and Ms Mordaunt 11.

While Mr Johnson has been publicly backed by some MPs to run to return to power, including his former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, several others said they don't believe he will reach the threshold.

One said the 'brutal truth' is he is likely to get no more than 60 - leaving some of his close friends to advise him not to run. He also remains on holiday in the Caribbean and faces a race against time to return and launch an effective campaign.

However in a boost to his chances, the final two candidates will go head-to-head in a final online vote by party members next Friday.

Mr Johnson remains popular with the Tory grassroots and could win such a vote, and allies say he would be able to 'honestly say' he has a mandate for government, and has the ability to 'turn the tide and avert the disaster of a Labour government'.

But it remains unclear whether he can reach the 100 threshold, or whether a figure from the Tory right could stand and risk splitting the vote.

The technicalities of the party vote has not stopped the public from voicing an opinion.

Diehard loyalist Nadine Dorries, the former culture secretary, said she had spoken to Mr Johnson following Ms Truss's resignation and hinted strongly that he was preparing to run.

'He is a known winner and that is certainly who I'm putting my name against because I want us to win the general election. Having a winner in place is what the party needs to survive,' she told Sky News.

Veteran backbencher Sir Roger Gale, a long-time critic of Mr Johnson, however warned that if he succeeds he could be met with a wave of resignations by Tory MPs.

'I think that there would be people, indeed like myself, who would find ourselves in the awful position of having to resign the Conservative whip,' he told Times Radio.

For critics, a comeback would be particularly problematic as Mr Johnson still faces an investigation by the Commons Privileges Committee over claims he lied to Parliament over lockdown parties in Downing Street, which could potentially see him expelled as an MP.

It comes as Ms Truss was relentlessly mocked on Twitter last night after her humiliating resignation.

Her 44 days in office made her the shortest serving prime minister in UK history.

Speaking from a lectern in Downing Street this afternoon, Ms Truss said she had told the King she was resigning as the leader of the Conservative Party as she recognised she 'cannot deliver the mandate' which she committed to a little over six weeks ago.

She held talks with the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservatives, Sir Graham Brady, and agreed to a fresh leadership election 'to be completed within the next week'.

'This will ensure that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plan and maintain our country's economic stability and national security,' she added.

'I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen.'

Twitter was alight yesterday with Tweets mocking Liz Truss for her unsuccessful stint in the top job

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded a general election 'now' so that the nation can have 'a chance at a fresh start'.

Without a general election, the Conservatives will be on their third prime minister on the mandate won by Boris Johnson in December 2019.

Sir Keir said: 'The Conservative Party has shown it no longer has a mandate to govern. The British public deserve a proper say on the country's future. They must have the chance to compare the Tories' chaos with Labour's plans to sort out their mess, grow the economy for working people and rebuild the country for a fairer, greener future.

'We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election - now.'

Ms Truss's resignation came just a little over 24 hours after she told MPs she was 'a fighter, not a quitter'.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson currently has the largest number of Tory MPs backing him

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak is almost certain to stand and is running a close second to Mr Johnson

Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt was in third place last night with 12 MPs backing her

Sir Graham Brady MPs hoping to have their name on Monday's ballot would need to have at least 100 nominations from their colleagues

Prime Minister Liz Truss delivered a resignation speech outside of 10 Downing Street

Prime Minister Liz Truss walking back inside No10 with her husband Hugh O'Leary

But her odds of survival were slashed following chaotic scenes in the Commons after the resignation of Suella Braverman as home secretary.

The number of Tory MPs publicly demanding Ms Truss's resignation doubled before lunch was over on Thursday, taking the total to 15, but a far greater number were privately agitating for her exit.

The pound lifted on the resignation announcement following another volatile 24 hours for the currency amid political turmoil.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: 'We don't need another Conservative Prime Minister lurching from crisis to crisis. We need a general election now and the Conservatives out of power.'

This morning Sir David Lidington, who served as a Cabinet Office minister under former prime minister Theresa May, said Mr Johnson's time in office ended with 60 ministers and parliamentary private secretaries saying 'they did not feel they could remain in his government and that he was not fit to lead an effective administration'.

Sir David told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We do need competence now at a time of great economic challenge for this country.

'Boris Johnson has always been somebody who has focused on the big picture, not on detail.

'He is not really interested in the detail of governing and nor when he was prime minister did he appoint a couple of ministers with delegated authority on his behalf to get things done, instead we had bunches of aides in Number 10 busy briefing the media and shouting at each other most of the time.'

Sir David added: 'Even on top of the fact that he is still being investigated by Parliament on allegations of deliberately lying to MPs, I think he has had his chance and the Conservative parliamentary party concluded just a few months ago this could not go on and it would not be right for him to continue as prime minister - that, after all, is why he resigned.'




The top military officers of South Korea, the United States and Japan emphasized the importance of trilateral security cooperation against North Korea's threats during their Pentagon meeting, as Washington reaffirmed its commitment to the defense of the regional allies, according to a joint statement.







Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum participated in the Trilateral Chief of Defense Meeting, along with his American and Japanese counterparts  Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Koji Yamazaki, respectively  on Thursday (local time). U.S. Indo-Pacific Command commander Adm. John C. Aquilino and Gen. Paul J. LaCamera, top commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, attended it as well.







"This session featured discussions on regional security challenges, to include the DPRK's recent missile activities and nuclear program developments, which destabilize the region," it read. "The leaders discussed continued efforts to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Gen. Milley reaffirmed the ironclad commitment of the U.S. to defend Japan and the Republic of Korea." DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.







The three sides stressed the importance of bilateral, trilateral, and multilateral cooperation and coordination to enhance the security of the Korean Peninsula and the region, it added. (Yonhap)


The boss of a luxury yacht company will have to pay 1.12million to a couple who sued over a leaky boat they branded 'HMS Disappointment' after his firm went into liquidation.

Former paratrooper and deep-sea diver Andrew France bought the 58ft sailing yacht 'Elusive' for 1.5million in January 2017 and planned to take off around the world with his wife, Maria, after their home was destroyed by a fire.

But the couple said their dream turned into a 'nightmare' due to multiple 'defects on the yacht', which they later dubbed 'HMS Disappointment'.

Mr France, 61, sued Southampton-based boat seller Discovery Yachts Sales Ltd (DYS) and another company Discovery Yachts Group Ltd - which carried out repairs on 'Elusive' after buying out DYS - claiming the boat was 'not fit to sail' the high seas and 'not watertight', with one of the cabins flooding just three days after it was delivered.

Following a trial at the High Court in December 2019, judge Mr Justice Teare backed the claim against both companies and awarded the couple more than 1million in compensation and costs.

Both companies, as well as boat builder Discovery Yachts Ltd, are in liquidation - but Discovery Group's then managing director Sean Langdon, 58, will now have to pay out personally after losing a court battle.

Andrew France bought 'Elusive' for 1.5m in 2017 and planned to take off around the world with his wife, Maria (pictured together outside the High Court in 2019) after their home was destroyed by a fire. They sued Discovery Yachts Sales Ltd claiming the boat was 'not fit to sail'

The boss of the luxury yacht company, Sean Langdon, 58, (pictured) will have to personally pay 1.12million to a couple who successfully sued over a leaky boat they branded 'HMS Disappointment' after his company went into liquidation

Andrew and Maria France bought the 58ft sailing yacht 'Elusive' (pictured) for 1.5million in January 2017 and planned to take off around the world

Mr Langdon had tried to get out of paying the money owed to Mr and Mrs France by challenging a High Court decision from last year which had ruled he was personally liable.

His barrister, Adam Chichester-Clark, argued on appeal that Mr Justice Vos wrongly interpreted the Insolvency Act in his ruling last September, resulting in Mr Langdon being deprived of his right to 'defend himself.'

He should be allowed to start with a 'clean sheet' and the debt must be proved at a trial in which he can contest it, Mr Chichester-Clark argued.

But appeal judge Lady Justice Asplin ruled Mr Justice Vos had not been wrong in his interpretation of the 'quite clear' rules, which make directors automatically liable for their company's debts if they were in breach of 'phoenix company' rules.

Mr Langdon was in breach of such rules, she said, by continuing to use the 'Discovery' name as Discovery Yachts Group Ltd after the boatbuilder, which his company had acquired, was put into liquidation.

The court heard during the original 2019 trial that Mr France spent more than 20 years working as a saturation deep sea diver before he set his heart on seeing the world from his own boat and splashed out on Elusive.

But defects showed up soon after her delivery to Guernsey on January 12, 2017, with the forward cabin being flooded with water just days later, said Mr Justice Teare in his earlier ruling.

On January 29, Mr and Mrs France set sail for the Caribbean on the Atlantic leg of their world cruise but were forced to retreat to the Canary Islands when the boat's generator packed in.

Other problems included the navigation equipment playing up and the autopilot temporarily 'shutting down'.

Mr France reported that Elusive was attracting 'admiring glances' from fellow sailors due to her appearance, but complained: 'I am embarrassed to show them the state of the boat, with blue tape holding drawers and cupboards shut, towels to catch water leaks, badly stained furniture and stink of diesel in the saloon.'

The same month, he sent a 'message of complaint' to Discovery Yachts Group, which read: 'Surely this is not the standard of build quality one should expect when spending 1.5m.'

By August 2017, Mrs France was chiming in with complaints, emailing about things 'which drove her crazy on this beautiful-to-be boat', while Mr France referred to it as 'HMS Disappointment' in a later message.

After the 2019 trial, Mr Justice Teare ruled in Mr France's favour against Discovery Yachts Group Ltd and Discovery Yachts Sales Ltd, awarding over 1million in compensation and costs.

Now, Lady Justice Asplin has ruled that Mr Langdon is responsible for paying out after he admitted unwittingly breaching Section 16 of the Insolvency Act by carrying on using the 'Discovery' name after the liquidation of Discovery Yachts Ltd.

The boat's generator broke down while the couple were trying to sail across the Atlantic. Other problems included the navigation equipment playing up and the autopilot temporarily 'shutting down'

'Phoenix company' rules means creditors can be saved the 'time and expense' of having to take further proceedings against a director in order to establish their company's debt a second time, she said.

'A director who contravenes section 216 [of the Act]...becomes personally responsible for the company's debts and liabilities if they are incurred whilst there is a contravention of section 216,' she added.

'It seems to me that the words are quite clear and no question of a doubtful penalty arises.'

His company's debt to Mr France had arisen at a time when Mr Langdon was in breach of the Insolvency Act, she also ruled.

Lord Justice Arnold and Lord Justice Lewison agreed and Mr Langdon's appeal was dismissed.
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When he gave his final speech in the House of Commons as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson hinted that he wished to return.

Defending his record to MPs, Mr Johnson said 'mission largely accomplished - for now'.

With Liz Truss being forced to resign yesterday, her predecessor is believed to be set to run in the week-long contest to replace her.

If he were to be triumphant in that battle, Mr Johnson would be echoing his hero Winston Churchill, who became PM for a second time in 1951 six years after being turfed out of office at the 1945 election.

Labour's Harold Wilson achieved the same feat when the loss of the 1970 election ended his first term, before he returned as PM in 1974 after winning more seats than Conservative leader Edward Heath.

And former Conservative PM Stanley Baldwin served three terms as Prime Minister, with the first coming between 1923 and 1924 and the last from 1935 until 1937.

However, neither Baldwin, Churchill nor Wilson resigned as leaders of their parties during their time out of Downing Street.

For direct inspiration from the 20th century, Mr Johnson would have to look back to another Labour Prime Minister, Ramsay Macdonald, who made a comeback as PM despite losing his seat as an MP and being forced out as Labour leader.

MacDonald served his first stint as Labour leader between 1911 and 1914 and then lost his seat in 1918, before returning to Parliament in 1922.

He became PM for the first time in 1924, but that period in Downing Street came to an end ten months later.

MacDonald returned for a six-year second stint in the top job between 1929 and 1935.

Going back to the 19th century, a host of Prime Ministers served more than one term, with the most notable ones being William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli.

Gladstone served four separate stints as PM, with the final three coming after he had resigned as leader of his party and then made a comeback.

Speaking to MailOnline, historian Anthony Seldon said if Mr Johnson were to return he would be 'reverting to a pattern' because it was once 'the norm' for Prime Ministers to serve another separate term.

But he added that 'for the last 50 years nobody has', because leaders now generally retire when they leave Downing Street.

Boris Johnson is set to stand in the week-long Tory leadership contest after Liz Truss dramatically resigned in a speech outside Downing Street. Mr Johnson's potential comeback comes less than two months after he left office

Last night, Sir Graham Brady, the backbench leader of the 1922 Committee, set out a week-long timescale for choosing a new leader.

Conservative MPs have begun throwing their support behind three main names: Mr Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt.

Contenders will need the backing of at least 100 MPs to make it into a potential run-off in an online members' vote. Only two candidates will be put before the members.

With a slew of MPs having backed Mr Johnson, there is a realistic prospect of him returning as Prime Minister less than two months after he left office.

Churchill became Prime Minister for the first time in May 1940, after Neville Chamberlain had been forced to resign.

Although he then led Britain to victory in the Second World War and had enormous popular appeal throughout the country, Churchill's Conservative Party lost the 1945 election.

The new Labour administration, led by his War Cabinet ally Clement Attlee, ushered in transformative changes that included the creation of the welfare state.

If he were to return to the country's highest office, Mr Johnson would be echoing his hero Sir Winston Churchill, who returned to Downing Street in 1951, after being turfed out of office at the 1945 election. Above: Churchill during his first stint as PM

However, Labour went on to lose the 1951 election, and so Churchill, who had remained as Conservative leader during more than five years in opposition, returned as PM.

He remained in Downing Street for a further four years before a stroke he suffered in 1955 prompted him to resign for the second and final time in April of that year.

Wilson first became PM in October 1964, and remained in post until June 1970, when Edward Heath's Conservatives won that year's election.

The Labour politician remained leader of his party for four years and then returned to Downing Street in March 1974.

However, he unexpectedly resigned midway through his second term, allowing James Callaghan to become PM in April 1976.

Baldwin's first term as PM began in 1923 but only lasted until the following year, when he called an election and lost it to Labour.

Labour's Ramsay Macdonald then entered Downing Street for the first time but was only PM for nine months before losing the 1924 election.

Labour's Harold Wilson (pictured in 1974) achieved the same feat when the loss of the 1970 election ended his first term, before he returned as PM in 1974 after winning more seats than Conservative leader Edward Heath

Former Conservative PM Stanley Baldwin (left) served three terms as Prime Minister, with the first coming between 1923 and 1924 and the last from 1935 until 1937. For direct inspiration from the 20th century, Mr Johnson would have to look back to another Labour Prime Minister, Ramsay Macdonald (right), who made a comeback as PM despite losing his seat as an MP and being forced out as Labour leader

Baldwin then served his second stint as PM, from 1924 until 1929 before he narrowly lost the 1929 election.

Macdonald returned as PM and then lasted in office until 1935, before Baldwin again replaced him and won that year's election. Baldwin then served a final two years as PM before retiring in favour of Neville Chamberlain.

The first of Gladstone's remarkable four stints as PM began in 1868 and lasted until 1874.

He had first entered the House of Commons in 1832 and had held a series of Cabinet posts, most prominently as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

After his first stint as PM came to an end he resigned as leader of the Liberal Party, but then returned and became PM again in 1880.

His second stint in office came to an end five years later, in 1885. Gladstone's third period as PM lasted only five months, from February until July 1886.

Going back to the 19th century, a host of Prime Ministers served more than one term, with the most notable ones being William Gladstone (left) and Benjamin Disraeli (right). Gladstone served four separate stints as PM, with the final three coming after he had resigned as leader of his party and then made a comeback. Disraeli served two stints as PM

The veteran politician then served for his final stint in office between 1892 and 1894. He was aged 82 when he was appointed for the last time.

His final term came to an end amid his strong disagreement with colleagues' desire to increase navy expenditure.

Gladstone had famously passionately argued for Irish Home Rule, but his attempts to pilot legislation through Parliament that would have put it into force failed.

Disraeli - a great rival to Gladstone - served as PM for the first time from February 1868 until December of that year.

He then returned to Downing Street in February 1874, and served for just over six years before Gladstone's Liberals won the 1880 election.

Asked about the prospect of Mr Johnson coming back, political historian Sir Anthony said: 'It was the norm for prime ministers to come back.

'Since the war, two have come back and they were Churchill and Harold Wilson but in the last 50 years nobody has.

'Oddly because at the same time PMs that have become younger, so you might have expected them therefore to still have had the age on their clock and the energy to do that. But the norm since then has been for them to retire.

'So Callaghan retired, Thatcher retired, Major retired. Blair made it clear he wouldn't come back, Brown ditto, Cameron there was always that slight question mark.

'Johnson would be reverting to a pattern, when you come back before WWII it is far more common.

'It was far more the accepted norm that when you lost a general election you remained as party leader. In the back and forwards, your party would win sooner or later.

'Baldwin made a comeback in the inter-war years in 1935, but also Ramsay MacDonald did in 1929. But before then it was much more common, the supreme example being Gladstone.
One of Australia's largest power companies has become the latest victim in a series of cyberattacks as the private details of hundreds of customers are exposed.

Chinese-owned EnergyAustralia disclosed on Friday night the personal data belonging to 323 small business and residential accounts had been hacked.

The breach occurred via its My Account portal, the energy company said in statements on its website and social media accounts.

Accounts include information like name, address, email address, utility bills, phone number, and the first six and last three digits of credit cards.

The cyberattack comes after after the personal data of 11 million Optus and 1 million Medibank customers was hacked in the last two months.

Chinese-owned EnergyAustralia disclosed in statements on Friday night that the data of 323 small business and residential customers had been exposed in a breach

The breach occurred via its My Account portal, EnergyAustralia revealed in statements on its website and social media accounts on Friday (stock image)

The energy giant, which has 1.7 million electricity and gas customers mainly across the eastern states, disclosed the breach in a Facebook post on Friday.

'Unfortunately, our My Account portal was targeted in a cyber incident in September-October 2022, resulting in the exposure of data for 323 residential and small business customers,' the post read.

EnergyAustralia tried to reassure its customers the hack had been minimal and that those impacted had all been contacted.

'There's no evidence that the 323 customers' information was transferred outside of our systems during the incident,' it said.

'No other EnergyAustralia systems were affected.'

The accounts were hacked on September 30 and the affected customers were contacted by October 2.

The energy giant, which has 1.7 million electricity and gas customers mainly across the eastern states, admitted the breach in a Facebook post titled 'Keeping your information safe'

EnergyAustralia said identification documentation like driving licenses and banking details were not stored in My Account portals (stock image)

EnergyAustralia will now require customers to create 12-character passwords that include a mix of capital and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.

The energy company said identification documentation like driving licenses and banking details were not stored in My Account portals.

The power giant warned customers not to be fooled by 'phishing' scams and fake emails which try to get them to click on genuine-looking but fraudulent links.

EnergyAustralia hacked - account warning The data of 323 EnergyAustralia customers was exposed in a new hack of its MyAccount portal. The company warned customers over the security of their online passwords. It suggested customers: Create a password with a minimum of 12 characters, with a mix of upper- and lower-case letters, special characters and numbers

Don't use a password that you've used before or for other accounts

Don't share your password with anyone Source: EnergyAustralia Advertisement

'At first glance, fake EnergyAustralia emails might look convincing. They feature our company name, brand logo and colours, and even our 'View bill' icon which will be familiar to our customers who receive eBills.'

A 'phish' is a disguised email that tries to lure you to enter your password into a fake website or download malicious software.

The company's chief customer officer Mark Brownfield apologised for the impact on customers.

'While this incident was limited in terms of customers affected, we take the security of customer information seriously and have been working hard to put in place additional layers of security to ensure the protection of all customer information,' he said.

EnergyAustralia is owned by the China Light and Power Company after it was sold by the Australian government for $1.4 billion in 2011.

Last month technology futurist and keynote speaker Shara Evans warned Australia was an easy target for international hackers.

The tech analyst said a particular weakness was Australian's habit of sending sensitive data in unencrypted email.

She referred specifically to healthcare and insurance providers as companies that have sub-standard practices in terms of requesting sensitive customer information.

UNSW Institute for Cyber-Security Director Nigel Phair agreed that Australia is vulnerable online and said the threat was only growing.

'We've got to do a lot better in Australia when it comes to cyber-crime,' he said.
A Scottish council have stalled on their plan to bulldoze Jimmy Savile's Highlands lair - where the celebrity BBC paedophile is believed to have abused 20 victims - and replace it with a futuristic new-build.

Jimmy Savile lived in the remote cottage at Allt-na-Reigh in Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands from 1998 until his death aged 84 in 2011.

The cottage was bought for a reported 335,000 by the family of retail tycoon Harris Aslam - with plans to flatten the current cottage and replace it with a futuristic new-build 'family home'.

'Yes the property does have a dark history - but only for a certain period. I think we can do something really positive with it,' said Mr Aslam.

Jimmy Savile lived in the remote cottage at Allt-na-Reigh in Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands from 1998 until his death aged 84 in 2011

But the plans have met with controversy, with mountaineering groups arguing that the design doesn't fit in with the 'scenic landscape' of the Scottish Highlands.

Highland Council shelved the application in January but there is still no sign of a decision nine months later.

A council spokesperson said 'The application is still live and is going through the planning process.

'We are unable to provide any further details or timescales at this stage.'

The family of retail tycoon Harris Aslam plans to flatten the current cottage and replace it with a futuristic new-build 'family home'

The disgraced DJ and radio presenter is believed to to have abused up to 20 young women, girls and boys at the cottage.

He once entertained King Charles over dinner and it was featured in notorious Louis Theroux documentary When Louis Met Jimmy.

It has been repeatedly vandalised following revelations in 2012 of his prolific sex abuse, as the cottage's white walls have been painted with 'Paedo' and 'Jimmy the Beast'.

Mountaineering Scotland, which has over 15,000 members, is frustrated at the delay to the council's decision and objects to the plans.

The mountaineering group said: 'The concept of rebuilding a cottage at this location is fine, as there has been a cottage here for many years.

'What we are questioning is the design. This has the effect of drawing the eye to the structure itself and away from the scenic landscape, seeming to impose the building on the landscape, rather than within the landscape as the plans suggest.

The disgraced DJ and radio presenter is believed to to have abused up to 20 young women, girls and boys at the cottage

'This is in a National Scenic Area, a designation that acknowledges that the landscape here is up there with the best that Scotland has to offer.'

They added that residents had lodged objections since the planning application.

In the 1960s and 70s the property was also home to mountaineering legend Hamish MacInnes.

He founded mountain rescue teams, invented the MacInnes stretcher - used for rescues worldwide - and designed the first all-metal ice axe.

Mountaineering Scotland said the restorations would also destroy MacInnes' 'positive effect' on the land and his 'historical importance'.

Mountaineer, writer and broadcaster Cameron McNeish said he did not want the cottage bulldozed and that its links to Hamish MacInnes should not be over-shadowed by the paedophile.

Following revelations of late owner Savile's prolific sex offences, the cottages has been repeatedly vandalised and had slogans sprayed on its walls.

Mr McNeish said 'For me that house will always have associations with Hamish MacInnes, not only because Hamish is probably our greatest Scottish mountaineer.

'That will always be Hamish MacInnes' house and will always have that mountaineering historical significance.

'It would be a shame if those mountaineering memories were swept up along with the tarnished memories of Jimmy Savile.'

Mr McNeish argued the cottage should be retained and put to use for the local community's benefit as a museum, mountaineering club hut or as a home.
The Margherita pizza was created there in 1889 in honour of Queen Margherita

Owner Eduardo Pagnani hoping to deal with deficiencies and reopen soon

Italians are furious after the legendary pizzeria that invented the Margherita pizza in 1889 was ordered to shut its doors yesterday for breaking health and safety rules.

The Antica Pizzeria Brandi in Naples has long been a staple for tourists visiting the city and has hosted a number of famous guests over the years.

But the restaurant, the oldest pizzeria in the world having opened its doors in 1760, was asked to close by authorities Nas and ASL (Azienda Sanitaria Locale) because of a number of hygiene and sanitary breaches.

The Antica Pizzeria Brandi in Naples, pictured, has long been a staple for tourists visiting the Italian city and has hosted a number of famous guests over the years. But the restaurant, the oldest pizzeria in the world, was asked to close by authorities Nas and ASL (Azienda Sanitaria Locale) because of a number of hygiene and sanitary breaches

After an inspection two months ago, recommendations for the restaurant's hygiene had not yet been fulfilled.

Antica Pizzeria Brandi immediately began work on cooperating with what the health authority recommended.

According to Pagnani and those who work with him, findings by the health authority would be about 'minor' issues.

These include water infiltration in a room, broken tiles and failing to comply with a law about collecting glass in bins.

Owner Eduardo Pagnani is looking to reopen as early as possible, according to a press release from his lawyer. It is possible that he will welcome customers back next weekend.

Customers were told of the closure via an announcement on social media which was posted in multiple languages.

Antica Pizzeria Brandi said the restaurant was undergoing 'extraordinary' maintenance until at least Friday.

People were left shocked by the announcement and showed their solidarity with the owner and the staff.

The closure has made waves in the whole of Naples among tourists and other restaurants.

Naples is still full of tourists due to ongoing hot weather in October.

The Antica Pizzeria Brandi in Naples has long been a staple for tourists visiting the Italian city and has hosted a number of famous guests over the years. But the restaurant, the oldest pizzeria in the world, was asked to close by authorities Nas and ASL (Azienda Sanitaria Locale) because of a number of hygiene and sanitary breaches (stock image)

Antonio Pace, president of the True Neapolitan Pizza Association told Ansa: 'The measure affects not only Brandi, but the story of Margherita and an entire system that revolves around pizza and which has recovered from three years of suffering, first for the pandemic and then for the expensive bill.

'I do not know the merits of the alleged defaults- but it seems to me a severe measure. I think we could have been less energetic and allowed a little more time to comply'.

Mr Pace is concerned that the closure of Antica Pizzeria Brandi will affect the whole industry and its image as it will be read about around the world.
North Korean police have been ordered to boost security nationwide to ensure dictator Kim Jong Un is protected and to 'eliminate' threats to his party's leadership, amid reports of crumbling loyalty towards him.

The news comes at a time of increased tension on the Korean peninsular, where analysts fear the isolated country is preparing for another nuclear test.

In the past two months, North Korea's strategy of brinkmanship has appeared reinvigorated. Kim introduced a new law that allows for preemptive nuclear strikes, and has launched a series of test missiles - including one that flew over Japan.

North Korean police have been ordered to boost security nationwide to ensure dictator Kim Jong Un (pictured during a visit to a school on October 17) is protected, amid reports of crumbling loyalty towards him

But while North Korea presents a united front to the world, it would seem Kim has been spooked by dissent from inside his own locked-down borders.

Local officials have been ordered by North Korea's highest authorities to get their houses in order, and to take out all potential threats to the leadership from within, Radio Free Asia (RFA) has reported - citing a judicial source.

The Ministry of Social Security - a law enforcement agency overseen by the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, which is headed up by Kim himself - has ordered the police and social safety agencies to create a tight network of surveillance.

Its goal is to identify people considered problematic to the regime, and to keep tabs on their activities, and ultimately 'eliminate' them, the source told the news outlet.

On October 12, the Ministry 'sent down a project agenda for protecting the safety of the Chief of the Revolution (an honorific used for Kim),' the source said. 'This is in response to the recent increase in political tensions upsetting social stability.'

He continued: 'Police were ordered to find and eliminate factors that could be maneuvered by impure hostiles among the residents  in their jurisdiction within this month.' Impure hostiles refers to people whose loyalty to North Korea's supreme leader may have wavered - and who might influence others to take the same path.

The source also said that police have been ordered to 'remove all subjects who have illegally entered their jurisdiction' and to prevent 'problematic subjects from leaving their jurisdiction to other areas'.

North Koreans are not allowed to move freely and and live where they please in the country without permission from the powers that be.

Local officials have been ordered by North Korea's highest authorities to get their houses in order, and to eliminate all potential threats to the leadership from within, Radio Free Asia (RFA) has reported - citing a judicial source. Pictured: Kim poses with graduates in military uniform

Pictured: Kim Jong Un pats the face of an uncomfortable-looking graduate in military uniform

If they are permitted to move, they must then register with local authorities, and living outside their designated area is illegal.

The judicial source told RFA that police have been ordered to carry out daily 'search and patrol checks' for such problematic citizens.

This will be done in cooperation with 'security forces, special agencies, and the Worker-Peasant Red Guards', he said. The Worker-Peasant Red Guards is a North Korean paramilitary group, and forms the country's largest civil defence force.

Police have also been tasked with keeping tabs on and reporting 'rumours', and told to work to prevent their spread among those in their jurisdiction.

'They must thoroughly control and report on the trends and public sentiments of the residents under the pretext of recent political tensions,' the source told RFA.

However, officials are growing tired with the workload, he said, with some complaining of fatigue thanks to being made to work late into the night.

'Some of the officials complain that the central party's orders ignore the reality of provincial areas and they keep sending more and more,' a second source told RFA.

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center in white, inspects military exercises at an undisclosed location in North Korea, Oct. 6

Pictured: Kim Jong Un stands on a hill overlooking a missile test launch in North Korea

News of the crackdown came days after a terrified North Korean graduate was pictured looking at the floor while Kim embraced him in his latest propaganda stunt.

The despot was visiting a school in Pyongyang, possibly just days after launching a series of missiles in the direction of Japan, escalating tensions in the region.

The leader was shown grinning as he put his arm round the young man, wearing military uniform, and cupped his face with his other hand.

The graduate looks at the ground, clearly uncomfortable with the sudden embrace from one of the world's most infamous dictators.

Pyongyang fired 100 more artillery shells off its west coast on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, just hours after it launched hundreds of shells into the sea off its east and west coasts in what it called a grave warning to South Korea.

North Korea has been carrying out weapons tests at an unprecedented pace this year, firing a short-range ballistic missile and hundreds of artillery rounds near the heavily armed inter-Korean border on Friday.

On Monday, South Korean troops kicked off their annual Hoguk defence drills designed to boost their ability to respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

Pyongyang has angrily reacted to the South Korean and joint military activities, calling them provocations and threatening countermeasures. Seoul says its exercises are regular and defence-oriented.

Pyongyang fired 100 more artillery shells off its west coast on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, just hours after it launched hundreds of shells into the sea off its east and west coasts in what it called a grave warning to South Korea

North Korea fired the latest shots at around 12.30pm, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, urging Pyongyang to halt acts threatening peace and security in the region.

In Washington, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name: 'We are aware of these reports. We call on the DPRK to cease all provocative and threatening actions.'

Earlier, a spokesman for the General Staff of the North's Korean People's Army (KPA) said the latest move was in response to South Korea's firing of over 10 shells of multiple rocket launchers near the frontline between 8.27am and 9.40am.

'Our Army strongly warns the enemy forces to immediately stop the highly irritating provocative act in the frontline areas,' the KPA official said.

Wednesday's exchange of firings comes shortly after the North fired some 100 shells into the sea off its west coast and shot a further 150 rounds off its east coast on Tuesday night.

North Korea said later the shots were designed to send a 'serious warning' and 'powerful military countermeasure' to South Korea.
This is the moment bystanders caught a an alleged knifeman yesterday after a woman was repeatedly stabbed on a busy London street.

Brave members of the public chased the man after he stabbed a woman in her 30s who was pushing a buggy along Edgware Road in the city's west at around 9am.

Witnesses described builders jumping out of a van and pedestrians running to the women's rescue and taking her to safety in a nearby M&S cafe, where she received medical treatment before being taken to hospital.

And others intervened by allegedly throwing chairs and other objects to apprehend the attacker, who tried to flee the scene.

Detectives today have charged Waleed Ali, 54, of no fixed address, with attempted murder and possession of a knife in a public place.

Footage has emerged showing a man bloodied and dazed being detained after brave witnesses intervened.

The man is seen with a gash to his forehead and the back of his head as he is lifted from the ground to a seated position by a police officer.

Footage has emerged showing a man bloodied and dazed as he is lifted from the ground by a police officer, after brave witnesses allegedly intervened to stop the attack

The man is seen with a gash to his forehead and the back of his head as he is lifted from the ground to a seated position by a police officer

Ali will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court tomorrow.

The woman was taken to hospital with stab wounds. Her condition was assessed as not life-threatening.

There are reports that she was pushing a buggy at the time of the attack, according to The Times.

Customers inside a busy M&S coffee shop in central London bravely tackled a knifeman as he repeatedly stabbed a woman

Police were called to Edgware Road yesterday morning after they received reports that a woman in her 30s had been stabbed

The woman was rushed to hospital with multiple knife injuries after the attack. Her condition has been assessed as non life-threatening. Pictured: The crime scene on Thursday

One witness praised the staff at the cafe after the 'utterly horrific' incident.

She wrote on Twitter: 'Just been at the M&S on Edgware Road when a stabbing happened out side the store.. utterly horrific.. but have to say to M&S all your staff where absolutely amazing they were so brave and all deserve a pay rise.'

Another witness tweeted: 'Sickened witnessing a woman being beaten in the road [...] on the Edgware Road - I hope she's OK, brave people getting involved and fighting him off/dragging her to safety, I was too far away to instantly help.'

He added: 'Builders jumped out of van and pedestrians men and women all trying to help I was behind M&S. Horrific to watch.'

Police were called to Edgware Road in west London yesterday morning. A man has since been charged with attempted murder and possession of a knife in a public place

The owner of a shop on the other side of the street said members of the public chased and beat the suspected attacker and held him before police arrived.

Omar Awada, 47, said: 'He tried to run away but the local guys managed to catch him and they beat him until the police came.

'It was like Tom And Jerry, they were on him right and left, the guys.

Forensic investigators have been combing the scene for evidence.

A police cordon was set up around Maison Du Sultan and a nearby Costa coffee shop.

A glass shisha pipe lay on its side on the ground outside the front door of the business, while three chairs and a small table were also knocked over.

A first aid bag could be seen next to a coat and a pair of boots in a neighbouring doorway. These were later collected in a clear plastic bag by a police officer.
Family have not used their bank accounts or mobile phones since disappearance

Mystery as it emerged that Anthony called 911 in distress about 9/11 conspiracy

Anthony and Suzette Cirigliano, both 51, and their two sons Brandon, 19, and Noah, 15, have not been seen at their home in Fremont, Michigan, since Sunday

A couple and their two teenage sons have mysteriously vanished from their home in Michigan, as police said they are 'very concerned' for their safety.

Anthony and Suzette Cirigliano, both 51, and their two sons Brandon, 19, and Noah, 15, have not been seen at their home in Fremont since Sunday and police believe they are traveling in a silver 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan.

Mystery has shrouded the case after it emerged that on the night before they disappeared, Anthony had called 911 in distress about a 9/11 conspiracy theory and was 'paranoid' about the FBI and CIA.

Officers only discovered that the family were missing when they found Suzette's elderly mother, who suffers from dementia and is cared for by Suzette, was found wandering the streets of Fremont confused and alone, reports Fox News.

When the police took Suzette's mother back to the family home, they discovered the parents and their two sons were missing.

Anthony and Suzette Cirigliano, both 51, (pictured together) and their two sons Brandon, 19, and Noah, 15, have not been seen at their home in Fremont since Sunday and police believe they are traveling in a silver 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan

Brandon, 19, and Noah, 15, (pictured) and their parents have not been seen since Sunday

Police have since searched the family's home and found Suzette and the two teenager's phones there.

The couple have not used their credit cards and there has been no activity on their bank accounts, while Antony's phone has been turned off, police said.

'We're just very concerned,' Fremont police department chief Tim Rodwell said. 'The circumstances are strange.'

The family appeared to have left abruptly as they had not made any arrangements for Suzette's elderly mother, who is now in the care of another relative.

The night before they disappeared, Anthony had called 911 in distress.

Police believe thee couple are traveling in a silver 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan (pictured)

Officers only discovered that the family were missing when they found Suzette's elderly mother, who suffers from dementia and is cared for by Suzette, was found wandering the streets of Fremont confused and alone

'Anthony was complaining of some elaborate issue in regard to the Sept. 11 attack,' Rodwell said.

'He was displaying to my officers paranoia and some concerns in regard to the FBI and CIA.'

Two police officers went to their family home that night and spoke to Anthony for 45 minutes, police said. They also spoke to Suzette to make sure she was safe.

But the police officers determined from the visit that the family were not in imminent danger.

'They seem like really good people who were taking care of their family,' Rodwell said. 'No one has had any problems with them.'

Rodwell is urging anyone who has information about the case to contact the Fremont Police Department at 231-924-2100.
He has been jailed for 20 years for the attack and four historic child sex offences

A child sex offender who stabbed and seriously injured two police officers in a 'savage' and drunken attack after they found him drinking at wheel of car has been jailed for 20 years.

Jon Ross, 62, stabbed and slashed at PCs Darren Brimacombe and Timothy Willett after they responded to a disturbance at a home in Dartmoor.

Ross burst from his parked car launched a 'frenzied' attacked the officers with a knife after they found him in Princetown, Devon, in the early hours of July 9, 2021.

PC Brimacombe suffered a serious arm injury and cuts to his head and face while PC Willett sustained serious injuries to his arm and fingers.

Both officers needed hospital treatment and have undergone surgery as part of their recoveries. Neither officer has come back to frontline duties as a result of the incident, and both are looking for other roles within the force.

This is the shocking face of child sex offender Jon Ross, 62, after he stabbed and seriously injured two police officers in a 'savage' and drunken attack

Ross of Burrator Avenue, admitted to two counts of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, with intent. He had also pleaded guilty to charges of affray and assault on a previous occasion.

He was sentenced to 12 years for these offences.

He had previously been found guilty of four historic sexual offences against a child in a trial that concluded in April, for which he was sentenced to eight years in prison.

The total 20 year sentence will be served consecutively and was handed down by Judge Simon Carr at Truro Crown Court yesterday.

Ross must serve two-thirds of that before he will become eligible to be released on licence and will be on the Sex Offender's Register for life.

Judge Carr praised the victim of the sexual offences and said: 'Your victim gathered the courage to approach the police to report what had happened to her.'

Referring to the serious assault on the officers, he said: 'Frenzied is a term overused by the court but not in this case.

'Armed with a knife, you stabbed out repeatedly causing permanent injury to both. The psychological damage has been immense. You went on to attack two other officers.'

Devon and Cornwall Police released shocking images of the scene, with the blessing of PCs Brimacombe and Willett, to highlight the dangers faced by officers

The court heard how police were called to reports of a disturbance at a property late on July 8, 2021.

Officers were told Ross had been drinking alcohol, had taken his car keys and left the address and that the caller was unsure of his state of mind.

PCs Brimacombe and Willett, who knew Ross from previous community work, searched the area and located his vehicle.

They found him in the driver's seat and drinking from a bottle.

Both officers calmly spoke to Ross despite him being verbally abusive and aggressive towards them.

Without warning, Ross swung at and narrowly missed PC Willett with a knife.

He then exploded out of the open car door and attacked PC Brimacombe, repeatedly stabbing him as they grappled on the ground.

The officer suffered lacerations to his scalp and face  nearly having the end of his nose cut off.

Ross exploded out of the open car door and attacked PC Brimacombe, repeatedly stabbing him as they grappled on the ground. Pictured, the knife at the scene

Ross stabbed PC Brimacombe in the arm, causing a significant arterial bleed, which had to have a police-issue tourniquet applied. Pictured, the weapon

Ross stabbed PC Brimacombe in the arm, causing a significant arterial bleed.

PC Willett then struggled with Ross and pulled him off his injured colleague.

He was stabbed in his forearm and sustained finger injuries as he wrestled the blade from Ross's grasp.

PC Willett deployed his Taser to subdue Ross, allowing PC Brimacombe to apply handcuffs and detain him.

Both officers then activated emergency buttons on their radios to request immediate help.

PC Brimacombe's arm was bleeding so heavily, a police-issue tourniquet had to be applied to the wound.

Ross was later found to be twice over the legal limit of alcohol to drive a vehicle.

Devon and Cornwall Police released shocking images of the scene, with the blessing of PCs Brimacombe and Willett, to highlight the dangers faced by officers.

Detective Constable Craig Ferguson said after the sentencing hearing: 'We are pleased with the outcome in what has been a lengthy and detailed police investigation.

'Jon Ross employed an extreme and savage level of violence, with a bladed weapon, to severely injure the two police officers.

'The officers were on duty and in uniform when they attended to try and help him. They knew him personally from previous dealings where they had successfully helped him.

'The officers sought to speak with him and tried to help, but he responded by repeatedly stabbing them in a sustained attack.

'As a result, Jon Ross has been imprisoned for a lengthy period of time, meaning that a significant risk has now been removed from our local community.

'I have worked as a police officer for the past 18 years and can say that this assault is without doubt the worst incident of its kind that I have dealt with.

'The officers conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism, both before and after this terrible ordeal, and we have concluded that their approach and conduct throughout was of a very high standard.

PCs Brimacombe and Willett found Ross in the driver's seat and drinking from a bottle. Pictured, the scene in Princetown

PC Willett was stabbed in his forearm and sustained finger injuries as he wrestled the blade from Ross's grasp. Pictured, police tape at the crime scene last year

'There was nothing that they could do to plan for or avoid the extreme level of violence that Jon Ross had in mind.'

Assistant Chief Constable Steve Parker added: 'I would like to praise the courage shown by the sexual assault victim.

'This is an important reminder that such reports will always be taken seriously by the police and justice will be sought and we would always encourage victims to come forward.'

He added: 'The assault on the officers reflects the dangers and challenges police face on a daily basis, despite this force area being one of the safest places to live in the country.

'They understand risk comes with the nature of policing but being assaulted on duty should never be condoned or seen as 'part of the job'.

'Devon and Cornwall Police will always seek to pursue and prosecute those who behave in this way.

'This incident could all too easily have resulted in a more tragic conclusion.

'I would like to take the opportunity to praise the bravery of PCs Brimacombe and Willett and acknowledge the actions taken by their colleagues and other emergency service workers who came to their aid, whose actions and professionalism under difficult circumstances played a huge part in preventing an even worse outcome.'
Fusilier Jack Laing (pictured outside court), 22, has been cleared of one count of sexual assault by penetration

A British Army sniper was today cleared of sexually assaulting a sleeping female colleague after they attended the funeral of a fellow soldier.

Fusilier Jack Laing was accused of leaving the soldier 'frozen' in fear during a drunken attack in which she awoke to discover him touching her intimately.

But the 22-year-old told a court martial he was 'absolutely sure' his colleague consented and that the pair had been awake and cuddling each other.

He claimed she must have been 'enjoying it' because she was was 'moaning' throughout.

Today, following a three-day trial, Fusilier Laing was acquitted of sexual assault after just 35 minutes of deliberation by a panel of Army officers.

Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire was told that Fusilier Laing and the soldier, who can't be named for legal reasons, attended the commemoration of their colleague who died.

Fusilier Laing, of 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment Fusiliers, was then alleged to have intimately touched the woman after joining her in the spare room of her flat following drinks to celebrate the life of the late soldier.

The woman claimed she awoke to a 'pleasurable' feeling with 'butterflies in my stomach', thinking it was her boyfriend being intimate with her.

But then she said she realised it was Fusilier Laing 'taking advantage' of her while she was asleep on a yoga mat on the floor, and that she has been left suffering sleepless nights.

Fusilier Laing denied sexually assaulting her, telling Bulford Military Court they engaged in consensual sexual activity together after sleeping on the same yoga mat.

Fusilier Jack Laing claimed it was the woman who 'definitely started it' and that the two of them cuddled in a 'freezing' cold room, before she 'guided' his hand into her crotch area

Giving evidence, he said: 'She rolled over and pulled my arm onto her. At that point I put my left arm underneath her to complete the cuddle.I thought she was cuddling me to gain warmth.

'At that point she scooted her bum into my crotch area - I thought she was getting comfortable.

'She did it again 30 seconds later - at that point I thought it was an obvious move.

'We were cuddling, I've seen this as an invitation - I started stroking her arm.'

Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire (pictured) heard yesterday that the woman was 'frozen' in fear during the drunken attack following the commemoration of their fellow soldier

Fusilier Laing said things 'naturally progressed' and that she gave him the 'green light' to touch her intimately and then 'moaned' in pleasure.

'From her body language, she was moving, she was enjoying it', Fus Laing said.

The soldier insisted he did not perform any sexual activity without consent, that he was 'absolutely sure' he had her permission and she had 'definitely started it'.

Fusilier Laing was cleared of one count of sexual assault by penetration.
China-funded road project breaks ground in Jordan

Xinhua) 08:50, October 21, 2022

Officials from Jordan and China attend a foundation-laying ceremony for a China-funded road project in Al-Salt, Jordan, on Oct. 20, 2022. (Photo by Mohammad Abu Ghosh/Xinhua)

AMMAN, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The project of upgrading and rebuilding the Al-Salt/Al-Ardah Road in Jordan, which is funded by the Chinese government, broke ground on Thursday.

During the foundation-laying ceremony held at one end of the road, Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Chen Chuandong said the project would improve the road condition, boost logistics efficiency, and promote the development of tourism, industry and agriculture in Jordan.

The project, which is expected to create hundreds of jobs, will help raise the standard of living for Jordanians, he said.

The Chinese envoy said that the road would become a "road of convenience" that facilitates people's movement, a "road of prosperity" that promotes socio-economic development, and a "road of bonds" that deepens the friendship between China and Jordan.

Noting that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Chen said China regards Jordan as an important partner in promoting regional peace and development.

He called on the two countries to build stronger synergy between their development strategies and advance high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative to ensure people from both countries benefit from the win-win collaboration.

For his part, Jordanian Minister of Public Works and Housing Yahya Kasbi said the project, which is of great importance for Jordan, is a testimony of the solid relations between the two countries.

The Jordanian government is keen on enhancing ties with China in all areas, he said, stressing that the project will benefit many Jordanians, especially farmers in the Jordan Valley.

Located in northwestern Jordan, the upgrading and rebuilding of the 12.5-kilometers-long four-lane road is expected to be finished in 18 months.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Wu Chaolan)
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lee Jong-ho speaks during a parliamentary audit at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters, 146 kilometers south of Seoul, Oct. 21. Yonhap



Korea's Navy is seeking to create a new command running unmanned ships, submarines and aircraft in the 2040s, the armed service said Friday, in an effort to address a potential troop shortage caused by the country's low birthrate.



During a parliamentary audit, the Navy unveiled a series of policy goals, including removing one of the three fleet commands and creating the new command employing unmanned naval assets.



The envisioned command is to comprise three units  the unmanned surface ship, submarine and aviation groups  the Navy said.



For the change in its overall force structure, the Navy plans to curtail the percentage of conscripts in its personnel makeup to 20 percent in the 2040s from the current 37.1 percent.



The Navy also outlined its plan to increase the percentage of unmanned assets in its overall operations, which currently stands at 1 percent to 9 percent in the mid-2020s, 28 percent in the mid-2030s and 45 percent in the 2040s.



In addition, it emphasized its focus on establishing a key deterrence system that includes the underwater Kill Chain strike system and maritime multilayered missile defense platform.



The Kill Chain program employs the Navy's next-generation 3,000-ton submarine, maritime surveillance aircraft and naval helicopters. The missile defense platform consists of the country's high-tech Aegis destroyers.



Meanwhile, the Marine Corps said it is weighing the possibility of its separation from the Navy as an independent entity under its mid- and long-term plan. (Yonhap)


Around 35 MPs would need to ditch support for Government to trigger snap poll

Prospect of wave of resignations has raised the threat of a snap general election

Senior Tory MPs warn Boris Johnson returning to No10 would see them quit party

Senior Tory MPs have warned Boris Johnson returning to No 10 would see them quit the party in a threat to the Conservative majority in the Commons.

Veteran backbenchers Sir Roger Gale and John Baron have suggested they would resign the Tory whip if the former Prime Minister were to make a shock comeback.

Mr Johnson is believed to be flying back early from a family holiday in the Dominican Republic in the wake of the latest Westminster drama.

He is said to be 'taking soundings' on whether to stand again for the Tory leadership after the humiliating resignation of Liz Truss.

It has prompted fears of a wave of resignations among Tory MPs should Mr Johnson - who was forced out amid a series of scandals only six weeks ago - win a second spell as the party's leader.

Such an outcome might even trigger an early general election at a time when one opinion poll has put the Tories a staggering 39 points behind Labour, their lowest-ever rating.

Only around 35 MPs would be needed to ditch their support for the Government in a Commons confidence vote to bring down the Tory administration and pave the way for a snap election.

Some Tories have recently expressed fears - amid the current economic turmoil and their party's poor polling with voters - an election defeat could see them out of power for 'a generation'.

The prospect of a comeback by Mr Johnson is being fiercely contested by the 'centrist' wing of the Conservative Party.

One opinion poll has put the Tories a staggering 39 points behind Labour, at their lowest-ever rating

According to a ConservativeHome tally, Rishi Sunak is the current front runner with 50 openly declared backers among Tory MPs, while Boris Johnson has 32 and Penny Mordaunt 17

Veteran backbenchers Sir Roger Gale (left) and John Baron have both suggested they would resign the Tory whip, if the former Prime Minister were to make a shock comeback

Poll Who do you want to be the next Prime Minister? Boris Johnson Rishi Sunak Penny Mordaunt Ben Wallace Suella Braverman Kemi Badenoch Grant Shapps Other Who do you want to be the next Prime Minister? Boris Johnson 20436 votes

Rishi Sunak 8773 votes

Penny Mordaunt 3006 votes

Ben Wallace 1692 votes

Suella Braverman 942 votes

Kemi Badenoch 901 votes

Grant Shapps 168 votes

Other 4002 votes Now share your opinion





Sir Roger, a long-time critic of the former PM, has urged fellow Tories to 'remember' that Mr Johnson is still being investigated by a parliamentary committee over claims he lied to MPs about Partygate.

'Until that investigation is complete and he is found guilty or cleared, there should be no possibility of him returning to Government,' Sir Roger posted on Twitter.

The North Thanet MP also warned of a wave of resignations among Tory MPs, should Mr Johnson return as leader.

'I think that there would be people, indeed like myself, who would find ourselves in the awful position of having to resign the Conservative whip,' he told Times Radio.

Mr Baron, MP for Basildon and Billericay, also threatened to quit the Tory whip if Mr Johnson were to become PM again.

'I would find it very, very difficult, almost impossible  in fact I would find it impossible  to serve under Boris coming back and being PM,' he told BBC Radio 4s PM programme.

Simon Hoare, MP for North Dorset and chairman of the Commons Northern Ireland committee, insisted Mr Johnson had made 'too many mistakes' to be allowed to return.

'My sincere anxiety/fear is that Boris Johnson simply has too much baggage and history to ever allow the country, Government and Party to move on and look forward,' he posted on Twitter.

'He made too many mistakes. We need a new, fresh chapter.'

Mr Hoare is among those MPs backing former Chancellor Rishi Sunak for the Tory leadership.

Former Cabinet minister David Davis told LBC that Mr Johnson should 'go back to the beach, frankly'.

And Foreign Office minister Jesse Norman tweeted: 'There are several very good potential candidates for Conservative leader.

'But choosing Boris now would be  and I say this advisedly  an absolutely catastrophic decision.'

Other MPs are also making private threats to resign the Tory whip - or even defect - should Mr Johnson return.

'The party will rip itself to shreds under Boris,' one MP who was formerly loyal to Mr Johnson told Politico. 'MPs are already saying theyd defect or resign the whip. It just wont wash.'

Another MP told the website: 'I will stop Boris at all costs. If he wins, it means the end of the Conservative Party.'

A new poll by PeoplePolling put Labour on 53 per cent - a 39 points ahead of the Tories, who slumped to 14 per cent.

If the Tories were hit by a wave of resignations by unhappy MPs, they could see their Commons majority whittled away in a series of by-elections.

Alternatively, if those disgruntled MPs decided to stay in the Commons as independents, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer could be encouraged to follow up on his demands for a general election by tabling a no-confidence vote.

If he, as the leader of the opposition, were to do so, convention means the Government is obliged to provide parliamentary time for the motion to be debated.

If the Government loses it could trigger a general election.
The 56-year-old is accused of assaulting three people by 'beating' in June

A landowner who was given a criminal behaviour order for putting barbed wire across a footpath to stop ramblers has now been charged with three counts of assault.

Frances Payne, 56, made headlines when she became embroiled in the bizarre row with walkers who she accused of straying onto the land by her Hampton Mill home in Evesham, Worcestershire.

She blocked the path with razor-sharp barbed wire, chains and 'keep out' notices and even hurled a branch at two women who tried to get through the gate.

Payne, who appeared on Channel 5's The Nightmare Neighbour Next Door, was slapped with a with a five-year criminal behavior order by magistrates in February, prohibiting her from being abusive or aggressive to any member of the public.

Frances Payne (pictured arriving at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court on February 1), 56, is accused of three assaults. She was previously involved in a broil over putting barbed wire across a footpath to stop ramblers

She blocked the path to Hampton Mill, in Evesham, Worcestershire, with razor-sharp barbed wire, chains and 'keep out' notices and even hurled a branch at two women who tried to get through the gate

Today it emerged Payne will be hauled before a court again after being charged with a string of further offences including three counts of assaults by 'beating' in June.

She is also accused of breaching the CBO and using threatening, abusive, insulting words and behaviour likely to cause harassment alarm or distress.

Payne was set to appear at Worcester Magistrates Court on Thursday but the case was rescheduled for November 7.

She previously said she put up the fencing last April after being abused near her home by walkers who 'lacked common sense' and 'knowledge of the countryside code'. Pictured: Barbed wire seen by the footpath in Evesham

She previously said she put up the fencing last April after being abused near her home by walkers who 'lacked common sense' and 'knowledge of the countryside code'.

She described 'constant' problems such as people taking drugs, assaults, thefts and vandalism and said she had sought to permanently reroute the path.

She even claimed a pony had been shot with an air rifle and said that a failure to act would have endangered her flock of sheep who would be liable to escape through a gate left open by ramblers.

She said: 'I think people ought to know the countryside code and have some manners in the country. That barbed wire has gone up because, in my mind, it is closed.

Frances Payne is accused of breaching her criminal behaviour order and is charged with three assaults

Pictured: Hampton Mill, which is nestled beside the blocked footpath in Evesham

The footpath runs close to Payne's home at Evesham, Worcestershire

'It is my land. I am aware it is probably illegal to shut a footpath but it is also illegal to attack and assault people.

'As a 55-year-old woman I have to guard my own safety and that of other people on that track.

'It has got far too toxic and I have every right to defend my own health and safety. I don't feel I have a choice. I am trying to maintain the countryside and nature.'

But she was slapped with community protection notices ordering her not to block off the footpath and was later charged with a string of offences.

Frances Payne, 55, claimed she was repeatedly sworn at and even physically attacked by walkers who stray onto her land. Pictured: The closed footpath

Locals have accused her of acting in an extremely aggressive way and of lying to justify her behaviour.

JPs found her guilty of displaying a sign with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress and failing to comply with a community protection notice.

She was also convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal after failing to help a cat being killed by her dog.

A notice on a gate to the footpath noted it was 'temporarily closed due to surface damage'

Payne told Channel 5 that a new housing development was the source of the problem.

She said: 'It is very new build and like a little town in itself. The people who live there are from all sorts of areas.

'I've noticed quite a lot of accents from Birmingham, Wolverhampton, I don't think they have necessarily had experience of farm land, the countryside. The estate is causing a problem.

Signs pointing towards a public footpath and public bridleway close to the Payne's home

Locals have accused her of acting in an extremely aggressive way and of lying to justify her behaviour

'Years ago people would come through here, have some common sense and know about the land and people living here. They'd appreciate it and we would be fine with that.'

Sentencing her, District Judge Ian Strongman said: 'I am going to put you under a criminal behaviour order for five years, so you don't interfere with the public footpath.

'This means that you should not be abusive or behaving in an aggressive manner towards any member of the public making use of the footpath within the area of Hampton, Evesham.

'Also, that you must not place any obstructions, such as wire, on any public footpath, or block off any exit and entrance points.'

Payne was set to appear at Worcester Magistrates Court on Thursday for the awaiting hearing for the new assault offences but the case was rescheduled for November 7.
Witness, who can't be named, described giving Baby A CPR after deterioration

A nurse sat crying in the witness box today after telling the trial of neonatal nurse Lucy Letby how she felt the final heartbeat of a baby she was trying to resuscitate.

The shift leader at the Countess of Chester Hospital, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was carrying out CPR on Baby A after he suddenly deteriorated in the neonatal unit.

In order to give the infant CPR, she was reaching in through a flap at the back of his incubator. Her hands were around the tiny infant's chest, her thumbs near his sternum.

All the time she was holding him, nurses and doctors were crowded around the incubator in the final attempts to revive him.

Nurse A recalled Baby A, who weighed 3lb 12oz at birth, being given tiny amounts of adrenalin one by one. After each dose, they listened for a response.

'There was nothingjust one more heartbeat', she told the court.

The nurse was giving evidence from behind a screen at Letby's murder trial.

Letby, 32, denies murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 more at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire between 2015 and 2016.

A colleague of neonatal nurse Lucy Letby (pictured) could not recall the alleged killer going to comfort a baby's family as he collapsed, a jury heard today

John and Susan Letby, parents of Lucy Letby, arriving at Manchester Crown Court today for their daughter's murder trial

At times, the nurses voice dropped to a whisper. Finally, as her evidence concluded for the day, she could be heard crying.

At the start of her evidence the nurse was asked how Baby A had looked as he went into a rapid collapse.

'I've never seen a baby look that way before,' she told Simon Driver, prosecuting. 'He looked very ill. He had a discolouration pattern I've never seen before.

'He was white with sort of purply blotches. He looked cyanotic. It was these purple blotches with white that I'd not seen before, all over his body'.

Asked where in particular on his body, she replied: 'Everywhere. Maybe more torsono, I can't remember clearly. I just knew it was very unusual. It had come on very suddenly. It was just so unusual'.

She had remained in Nursery 1 following the baby's death. 'It was sudden and very unexpected,' she said.

The nurse recalled a decision being taken to leave the lines being used to treat him 'because we didn't know if the coroner would need them'.

Dr Owen Arthurs (pictured arriving at Manchester Crown Court), professor of radiology at Great Ormond Street Hospital, gave evidence at Lucy Letby's murder trial today

Earlier in the day, the court heard that an X-ray taken the day after Baby A died while in the care of neonatal nurse Lucy Letby revealed an 'unusual' line of gas not normally seen in infants.

On day 10 of her murder trial, Dr Owen Arthurs, professor of radiology at Great Ormond Street Hospital, guided the jury through an image displayed on a screen at Manchester Crown Court.

He showed them pockets of gas in the infant's stomach and heart. Both were normal.

But the doctor then pointed out a third accumulation of gas  in a line just in front of the spine, running from the stomach to just beyond the heart.

'That is an unusual find,' said Dr Arthurs.

His conclusion after carrying out a review of cases of infant mortality was that the line of gas was consistent with 'air being administered' to Baby A.

Dr Arthurs said that after initially noticing the gas near the spine he carried out a large-scale review of past cases at Great Ormond Street, organising them into a list of possible circumstances for that type of image to appear in deaths attributed to natural causes.

A court sketch of Lucy Letby at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday, October 20, where she stands charged with the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of another ten

Letby, 32, of Hereford, is on trial for the murders of seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Cheshire, and the attempted murder of 10 more between 2015 and 2016. She denies all charges

Such accumulations of trapped air could be found in cases such as serious road traffic accidents, overwhelming infections of sepsis, or 'very occasionally' in cases of 'sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI).

Before studying the X-ray of Baby A's body he had never previously seen such an accumulation in an infant.

Nick Johnson, KC, prosecuting, asked: 'Have you ever seen this in a baby before?'

The radiologist replied: 'Only in one other case, which I think we'll discuss later on'.

Mr Johnson: 'One of the other children in this case?'

Dr Arthurs: 'That's right'.

He added: 'My opinion was that this was an unusual experience, not typical of what you would normally see. In the absence of any other explanation, it is consistent with, but not diagnostic of, air being administered'.

The court heard that Dr Arthurs had also studied X-ray images of Baby A's surviving twin sister, Baby B, taken on June 8, the day he had died, and on June 10.

None of these had shown an accumulation of air similar to the one he had seen in her brother's X-rays.

Full indictment against Lucy Letby Lucy Letby is charged as follows: Count 1 - Charged with murder of Baby A on June 8, 2015 Count 2 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby B between the June 8, 2015 and June 11, 2015 Count 3 - Charged with murder of Baby C on June 14, 2015 Count 4 - Charged with murder of Baby D on June 22, 2015 Count 5 - Charged with murder of Baby E on August 4, 2015 Count 6 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby F on August 5, 2015 Count 7 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby G on September 7, 2015 Count 8 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby G on September 21, 2015 Count 9 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby G on September 21, 2015 Count 10 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby H on September 26, 2015 Count 11 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby H on September 27, 2015 Count 12 - Charged with murder of Baby I on October 23, 2015 Count 13 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby J on November 27, 2015 Count 14 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby K on February 17, 2015 Count 15 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby L on April 9, 2016 Count 16 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby M on April 9, 2016 Count 17 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby N on June 3, 2016 Count 18 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby N on June 15, 2016 Count 19 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby N on June 15, 2016 Count 20 - Charged with murder of Baby O on June 23, 2016 Count 21 - Charged with murder of Baby P on June 24, 2016 Count 22 - Charged with attempted murder of Baby Q on June 25, 2016 Advertisement

They neither pointed towards a possible diagnosis of air embolism in Baby B, nor against it.

But he added: 'The absence of air doesn't mean that didn't happen'.

Cross-examined by Ben Myers, KC, defending, Dr Arthurs said his case review had been the largest available at the time.

When the barrister asked whether any of the cases had involved neonatal babies in the first three or four days of life, he replied: 'The vast majority of those don't die'.

Dr Arthurs agreed he had looked initially at 500 cases at Great Ormond Street. After narrowing down the criteria, the review amounted to the cases of 38 babies aged under two months. Of those, eight had gases in the greater vessels of their bodies.

The causes of death had included trauma, a road traffic accident, congenital heart disease and sudden expected death in infants.

He agreed with Mr Myers that 'one possibility' that would explain the line of gas shown in the image would have been air administration. Other possible causes could have been attempts made at resuscitation or post-mortem changes.

The barrister then asked about an X-ray taken of Baby B on June 10, about 40 minutes after her non-fatal collapse.

'On that image there are no features which support an air embolus diagnosis?'

Dr Arthurs agreed.

Later, another nurse recalled the moment Lucy Letby called her over to help with the collapse of Baby A.

Senior nurse Caroline Bennion was looking after the infant's twin sister, Baby B, a few feet from the alleged killer in Nursery 1.

The room was 'quite full' because there was a crossover between the day and night shift.

There was no need for a crash call because there were doctors already present  David Harkness and Christopher Wood, a trainee. The consultant, Ravi Jayaram, came a short time later.

'I remember Lucy asking for some assistance,' said Mrs Bennion, a Band 6 nurse in the unit. 'When it became obvious there was a problem I moved over to help with A'.

She helped her colleague deliver some ventilator breaths over the Neopuff via a face mask.

As the infant deteriorated she took on the role of drawing up the emergency drugs needed to resuscitate him.

She was still there when Baby A was declared dead. By then she had returned to care for his sister.

Nurse Bennion told Ben Myers, KC, defending that there were times when nationally recommended staffing levels could not be achieved.

She agreed that in a neonatal unit there was 'an awful lot' to observe and monitor, and it was quite possible for a neonate who appeared well to suddenly deteriorate.

'These babies are very vulnerable and there's always the potential for them to deteriorate very rapidly'.

Over 30 years she had experienced occasional deaths in neonatal units.

Asked by Simon Driver, prosecuting, whether the speed and nature of A's deterioration was typical of those experiences, she replied: 'It was very rapid. Very sudden. And sometimes there's an indication that you are going to have a deterioration.

'There was no evidence that he was going to deteriorate. However, it can happen and it has happened'.

Letby's parents, John and Susan Letby, have been supporting their daughter throughout the trial and were seen arriving at Manchester Crown Court earlier today.

The trial continues on Monday.
Likening himself to art icons, he said: 'Like artists such as Andy Warhol and Van Gogh, I focus on the mundane'

Mr Beresford, who says it is 'sexy being dull', believes the best one is Trinity Street Car Park in Birmingham

He compiled his 12 favourites from the 603-mile journey for the calendar he said 'nobody else is selling'

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The 'dullest man in Britain' has produced a bizarre calendar for 2023 - celebrating the country's best car parks, including a haunted battle site, one costing just 15p an hour and another with a cocktail bar.

Kevin Beresford spent months travelling the UK reviewing parking offerings from Land's End to John o' Groats.

The 70-year-old compiled his 12 favourites into a contender for the most boring calendar of 2023 - devoted entirely to car parks.

Mr Beresford, of Redditch, Worcestershire, who admits he could be 'Britain's dullest man', decided to go on the 603-mile journey in search of the nation's prime parking spot.

And he believes the best one is in Birmingham.

JANUARY: The 20million Edinburgh Airport car park where Mr Beresford says you are 'instantly rewarded with a light and spacious environment' and can take in the 'dynamic Scottish landscape'

FEBRUARY: Rupert Street multi-storey car park in Bristol, which has a loop-the-loop design 'parking experience', but 'rather disappointingly the roof level turned out to be for private parking'

MARCH: Britain's most haunted car park is in the Highlands on Culloden Moor, where hundreds of people were killed in 1746 during the Battle of Culloden

APRIL: Brewer Street car park in Soho, London, which was built in 1929 and attracts theatregoers. But one hour of parking will cost you not too shy of 12

The Trinity Street car park in the city's creative quarter Digbeth boasts a cocktail bar along one of its sides, has walls made from crushed cars and is adorned with street art.

Also among his top picks is the striking art deco Brewer Street car park in London's Soho, which costs 47.80 to park for four hours.

Elsewhere, Britain's most haunted car park in Culloden in the Highlands, where hundreds of people were killed in 1746 in the last major battle on British soil, is also featured.

The Rupert Street car park in Bristol, where motorists are forced to park on a steep incline, is February's picture.

MAY: Albert Dock Car Park B in Liverpool, an open-plan car park boarded from the water by brickwork and chains to stop your car plunging into the river

JUNE: Waterloo Street multi-storey car park in Glasgow which, after a 3.5million makeover, is clad with Siberian Larch wood and has been named a European Award-Winning Car Park

JULY: Redditch Railway car park, Worcestershire, a 24-hour site in the area Mr Beresford lives, which he says has 'excellent' parking rates

AUGUST: Marlborough Gate multi-storey car park in Milton Keynes, which Mr Beresford calls the most 'unloved' in town despite its amazing rate of just 15p-an-hour

Others featured include Edinburgh Airport, which showcases 'helter skelter' ramps - and possibly the nation's cheapest car park in Milton Keynes, which costs just 15p an hour.

Duncansby Head, in Scotland, is the most northeasterly point on the British mainland, and is said to be the car park offering the best views.

When judging what makes a good car park, Mr Beresford considers factors such as lighting, price and aesthetics.

Mr Beresford, who is also president of the Car Park Association Society, said: 'I think first and foremost if I had to design a car park myself it would have to be brightly lit.

SEPTEMBER: Q-Park Sovereign car park in Leeds, formerly called Criterion, which has a 'swanky' Italian restaurant on the ground floor, glitzy summer balls on its upper levels, potted plants and a resin car carpet

OCTOBER: Duncansby Head Car Park, north of John o' Groats, is the most north-easterly car park in mainland Britain. It is accessed via a single-track road and includes a lighthouse

NOVEMBER: Charity car park in West Bromwich. It has a one-way system, prices starting at 60p and is easily situated within reach of shops and a fish market

DECEMBER: The Custard Factory car park in Birmingham - also called Trinity Street car park - has an entrance made of crushed car engines and features a cocktail bar and street art

'That is so important and something that is often overlooked. A dark car park is scary especially at night.

'Also a lot of the car parks were designed years ago for small cars.

'Now you have big 4x4s, so a lot of the small parking spaces are not adequate really anymore.

'It's also got to be reasonably priced to entice people into an area

'But for me as well, it's the aesthetic of the car park and that is what drew me to the Trinity Street one in Birmingham, which is just amazing.

'What other parking area has an entrance made up of crushed car engines - it's incredible.

Kevin Beresford (pictured), who is also president of the Car Park Association Society, said: 'I think first and foremost if I had to design a car park myself it would have to be brightly lit'

When judging what makes a good car park, Mr Beresford considers factors including lighting, price and aesthetics of the spaces

'As you enter there is street art everywhere including a giant Spider-Man and it's all very artistic.

'And on your right when you go in to park your car, there is a cocktail bar. If it rains, you can sit under a wigwam - this car park has everything.

'This parking is also very cheap and it's close to the city centre too. It is quite unique and out of the ordinary.'

The car park enthusiast came up with his latest idea after flogging previous mundane calendars featuring roundabouts, benches and postboxes.

He says he prides himself on showcasing the parts of British society that more conventional calendars never do in order to stand out from the crowd.

When judging what makes a good car park, Mr Beresford takes into consideration factors including lighting, price and aesthetics of the spaces

The Trinity Street car park in Birmingham's creative quarter Digbeth (pictured) has a cocktail bar along one of it sides, has walls made from crushed cars and is adorned with street art

He added: 'I focus on slices of English life that nobody else does. I suppose like artists such as Andy Warhol and Van Gogh I focus on the mundane.

'I don't create your normal conventional calendars; I make the ones nobody else is selling.

'I think that is another reason people buy my calendars because they are unique.

'I've been called the dullest man in Britain, but I am proud about this title. It's sexy being dull.'

Mr Beresford's 2023 car park calendar costs 12.50 and can be bought online here.
Clothes brand apologized and said it was 'surprised' to learn product was on sale

Beatriz Gutierrez said $360 Ralph Lauren cardigan with colorful indigenous motifs appropriated designs of Conta and Saltillio peoples in Mexico

Ralph Lauren has apologized after the wife of Mexico's president accused the luxury US clothes brand of plagiarizing indigenous designs, which she described as an appropriation of the work of the country's pre-Hispanic cultures.

Beatriz Gutierrez posted a photo of a $360 Ralph Lauren cardigan with colorful indigenous motifs, which she said appropriated the designs of the Conta and Saltillio peoples in Mexico.

'Hey Ralph (Lauren): we already realized that you really like Mexican designs,' Gutierrez, a writer and researcher, said in an Instagram post.

'However, by copying these designs you are committing plagiarism, which is illegal and immoral,' added Gutierrez, who is married to Mexico's president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and is the head of a cultural affairs commission.

'Hopefully you repair the damage to the original communities that do this work with love and not for profit,' Gutierrez added, attributing the designs to the indigenous communities of Contla and Saltillo.

Ralph Lauren has apologized after the wife of Mexico's president Beatriz Gutierrez (pictured) accused the luxury US clothes brand of plagiarizing indigenous designs, which she described as an appropriation of the work of the country's pre-Hispanic cultures

Beatriz Gutierrez posted a photo of a $360 Ralph Lauren cardigan with colorful indigenous motifs, which she said appropriated the designs of the Conta and Saltillio peoples in Mexico

'Hey Ralph (Lauren): we already realized that you really like Mexican designs,' Gutierrez, a writer and researcher, said in an Instagram post. 'However, by copying these designs you are committing plagiarism, which is illegal and immoral.'

Ralph Lauren told Reuters it was 'surprised' to learn the product was still being sold, after issuing a directive to remove it from its channels after discovering it some months previously.

'We are deeply sorry this happened and, as always, we are open to dialogue about how we can do better,' it said in a statement.

The U.S. fashion retailer has pledged that all new products using indigenous designs following its summer 2023 season will be created under a model of 'credit and collaboration'.

DailyMail.com also found that the Ralph Lauren cardigan was being sold on Zalando's UK online site for 349.99 ($389.75).

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador with his wife Beatriz Gutierrez in Mexico City

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has launched an intense campaign to reclaim relics of Mexico's pre-Columbian heritage since taking office in 2018, including lodging complaints against auction houses in the United States and Europe, and recovering dozens of Mexican antiques.

In July, the Mexican government also asked Chinese fashion retailer Shein to explain its use of indigenous Mayan elements in one of its pieces, causing it to remove the garment from its website.

The government has made similar complaints against France's Louis Vuitton, Venezuelan designer Carolina Herrera, Spain's Zara and U.S. retailer Anthopologie.
Baker, who has also since become a mother, was given a suspended sentence

Her assailant, Jessica Baker, attacked her in a park in Poundbury, Dorset last year

She told MailOnline she was worried she would suffer a miscarriage as a result

EXCLUSIVE: Amelia Duckworth, 21, was six weeks pregnant at time of the attack

A woman battered over the head with a stiletto-shaped perfume bottle by a love rival has spoken for the first time about the attack - and revealed how she feared it could see her lose her first baby.

Amelia Duckworth, 21, who was six weeks pregnant, was left bloodied and dazed after being assaulted with the distinctive Carolina Herrera glass perfume bottle wielded by Jessica Baker, who had been dating her ex-boyfriend.

Ms Duckworth, who has since safely given birth to a daughter, Bodhi, said: 'Jessica was completely crazed and it was terrifying when she started battering me - I honestly thought she might kill me. And later I feared the attack might see me lose my baby.'

The vicious assault happened in a park in King Charles' model village of Poundbury, Dorset last August.

This Wednesday, Baker pleaded guilty to one count of actual bodily harm and another for possession of an offensive weapon at Bournemouth Crown Court where she was given a suspended sentence.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Ms Duckworth said she only found out she was pregnant in the immediate aftermath of the attack - and then spent weeks fearing she would suffer a miscarriage.

Amelia Duckworth (pictured) said she spent weeks worrying that she would suffer a miscarriage after being assaulted by Jessica Baker, her ex-boyfriend's new partner

The 21-year-old was left covered in blood and was taken to hospital where she received stitches for a gash between her eyes and her scalp was glued

She said: 'I had an emergency scan because I was worried about what damage I'd done to the baby when I fell to the floor after being struck with the bottle.

'I feared that I had potentially miscarried as a result of the fall but thankfully there were no problems with the pregnancy.

'However, I had a horrible concussion right the way through it, which made it all the harder to cope with.'

Jessica Baker (pictured) assaulted her partner's ex-girlfriend with a glass perfume bottle, leaving her bloodied and dazed

Ms Duckworth, who was living in Christchurch in Dorset at the time, was visiting her cousin in nearby Poundbury, a village on the outskirts of Dorchester developed by King Charles and the Duchy of Cornwall.

She had been on the village green on August 24, 2021 when she was confronted by Baker, who told her 'I'm going to do you in'.

Baker, 20, then produced the perfume bottle and struck her twice across the head and slashed her face.

Ms Duckworth was left covered in blood and was taken to hospital where she received stitches for a gash between her eyes and her scalp was glued.

Recalling the moment Baker lunged at her with the bottle, she said: 'I saw Jessica come storming over to where I was sitting with my new boyfriend, cousin and friend.

'I could sense she was up to something by her aggressive demeanour, so I asked my boyfriend to record her on his mobile phone.

'I stood up to meet her and as soon as she got near me, she pulled the bottle from behind her back and hit me twice over the back of the head with the perfume bottle.

'The second blow knocked me off my feet and I was sent sprawling to the floor. I got up but she quickly hit me across the face with the bottle.

'She shouted "try and fight me again" and then ran off to where she'd parked her car. It was over in a matter of seconds.

'As soon as she hit me the first time, my boyfriend rushed over but he was unable to stop her from hitting me again.

'He stemmed the bleeding from my head with his jumper as my cousin and friend ran after Jessica and tried to get a picture of her car registration plate.

'They then called the police and an ambulance.

'As I was being treated by the paramedics, my phone was ringing constantly, and I had a load of missed calls.

Baker (pictured with boyfriend Dan McCarron) has also become a mother since the attack last August

Baker assaulted Ms Duckworth with a distinctive Carolina Herrera glass perfume bottle (pictured)

'I answered one of the calls and it was Jessica. I think she was trying to see how I was, but I instantly hung up on her.'

Ms Duckworth said trouble began when her ex-boyfriend, Dan McCarron, took umbrage to comments she made about him on social media.

They had been living together during lockdown in 2020 but argued a lot and eventually broke up.

Mr McCarron then began dating Baker - and she began to get angry about the remarks Amelia made about her time with Dan.

Ms Duckworth told how Baker contacted her first via Instagram and left abusive messages but the threats worsened.

She said: 'Why it bothered her so much, I've no idea, but she started leaving messages on my Instagram posts.

'I thought it would stop eventually but she just got worse, telling me that she was going to come for me in my flat and at work.

Ms Duckworth has since given birth to a daughter, Bodhi, and credited her with helping her through the aftermath of the assault and the ensuing court case

This Wednesday, Baker (pictured outside court) pleaded guilty to one count of actual bodily harm and another for possession of an offensive weapon at Bournemouth Crown Court where she was given a suspended sentence

'She'd contact friends - even my younger sister - through Instagram and badmouth me and threaten me.

'She got hold of my friend's phone number and told her that she was going to put me in hospital.

'This went on for months. Then, a day before the attack in the park, she somehow got my new phone number and called me.

'She was just screaming down the phone at me, I couldn't get a word in, and she was saying stuff like she was going to put "diarrhoea in my mouth and all over my birth father's grave". It was nasty, sick twisted stuff like that.

'I'd had enough of it by then so I told her that if she wanted to talk to me face to face I'd be in Poundbury the next day and so she should show up there.

'She'd always made empty threats beforehand and I didn't expect her to actually show but she did- and she obviously wasn't there to talk.'

Ms Duckworth said trouble began when her ex-boyfriend, Dan McCarron (pictured), took umbrage to comments she made about him on social media

The vicious assault happened in a park in King Charles' model village of Poundbury, Dorset, (pictured) last August

Ms Duckworth said she did not attend court because she did not want to see her attacker or her old flame.

She was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, suspended for two years on condition of a two-month curfew between 9pm and 7am.

She said she believes the judge was lenient on Baker because she too has now become a mother.

Ms Duckworth has credited her own baby daughter, Bodhi, whom she has had with her new boyfriend, of helping her through the aftermath of the assault and the ensuing court case.

The beauty spa therapist added: 'She's really calmed me down through all this, taken my mind off what has been going on.

'I don't ever want to see Jessica or Dan again. They've got their life together and I have mine.

'We are both mothers now, I just want to look after Bodhi and give her the best possible life.'
A community police support officer asked a woman when she last had sex after she called up to complain about a noisy neighbour.

Kent PCSO Thomas Daley, 49, told the woman he was married but did not have sex with his wife after she made the routine call in 2020.

He said he found her attractive and asked her if she found him attractive, said Richard Cherrill, prosecuting.

He then became more specific and asked what kind of sex she liked.

He asked her when she had last had sex and asked her what kind of sex she liked. This of course was nothing to do with the original complaint.

The demonstration of his attraction to her and his desire to pursue her is what he hoped would be some kind of relationship.

PCSO Thomas Daley, pictured outside Southwark Crown Court admitted Misconduct in Public Office after he made inappropriate approaches to a woman who had complained about a noisy neighbour

The Canterbury-based PCSO also sent the woman a series of WhatsApp messages over a four day period in July 2020, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Daley also lied about leaving a book at her home to give him an excuse to go back.

The prosecutor read from a victim impact statement directed to the PCSO that said: I let you into my house because I trusted you as the police and you were in a position of trust when you were in that uniform.

I barely looked you in the eye, I didnt think twice about you.

When that second message came through, I panicked thinking it would be urgent. When you messaged again I thought you were bored at work. I thought maybe you were just a nice guy with time on your hands.

Then you told me you had lied. You decided to tell me you were married and didnt have sex with your wife.

You chose to do what you did because I was vulnerable. You dont deserve to be in a position that is there to protect people.

Daley has since resigned as a PCSO and now works as a security guard.

Adrian Macho, defending, said Daleys wife was aware of the incident and they remain as a couple and a family unit.

Daley, of Deal, Kent, resigned as a PCSO and now works as a security guard

Daley, of Deal, Kent, admitted misconduct in a public office at Southwark Crown Court.

He broke down sobbing in the dock as Judge Alexander Milne, KC, described the offence as a gross violation of trust.

The judge said: Everybody who turns to the police in a time of need is to a certain extent vulnerable. This particular complainant was more vulnerable than most.

They made no indication and in no way were you led to believe that it would be appropriate to contact her.

This is exploitation in the eyes of the public, since police and PCSOs both exercise the same powers under the law.

Public confidence in the police is low. It is low because of the actions of many others, some of whom of course their cases are on a far worse scale than this.

However every case of this nature chips away at the confidence the public should be able to invest in the police.

You will live with this for the rest of your life.

Public confidence in the police is low. It is low because of the actions of many others, some of whom of course their cases are on a far worse scale than this. However every case of this nature chips away at the confidence the public should be able to invest in the police' Judge Alexander Milne, KC

Daley was sentenced to eight months imprisonment suspended for two years, during which time he must carry out 150 hours unpaid work in the community.

He must also attend 20 days of rehabilitation activity.

Judge Milne congratulated the bravery of the victim for speaking in court and expressed his profound sympathy.

He said: It is shameful that she had to go through that. I hope todays sentence shows that this was marked by the courts as being a serious offence.

IOPC regional director Graham Beesley said: Ex-PCSO Daley was found to have engaged in an inappropriate level of communication with a woman, using his personal mobile phone, contacting her while on and off duty, and generally engaging in conversations unrelated to his professional duties.

He failed to maintain appropriate and professional boundaries between himself and the woman and failed to follow police policy by observing guidance on maintaining this boundary.

He has now paid the price for his behaviour.

Daley resigned from Kent Police in December and now faces a gross misconduct hearing.
A professor who was fired from NYU after students signed a petition against him has called out 'personal and profane' attacks by those students and what he feels is American colleges coddling them to the point of putting their careers at risk.

A group of 82 of 350 organic chemistry students signed the petition against Maitland Jones Jr., 84, citing his teaching methods and course outline as reasons for their poor grades.

Jones Jr. wrote an op-ed in the Boston Globe Thursday where he detailed the trouble that led to his firing and detailed a culture of students not working hard enough, while professors don't 'dare to give real grades' out of worry they'll be fired, too.

He wrote that he'd arrived at NYU in 2007 after over 40 years at Princeton, hoping his techniques of focusing more on 'small-group problem solving' over lecturing could work at a new school.

Jones claims at first 'students prospered' with his methods but around 2012, there became a disconnect, with exam scores and class attendance declining even before COVID-19.

He started to see exams that usually led to a B average drop to C-minuses or worse, with 'top students' no longer being adequately tested and those who scored poorly dropping out.

The professor also criticized evaluations, which had become 'personal and sometimes profane' and compared them to social media ranting.

In 2020, he started to notice that he and his co-teacher were receiving 'anonymous emails, often just short of threatening,' and eventually the petition was sent to deans at NYU for being 'insensitive' because students were failing.

Maitland Jones Jr., 84, was fired from his position as an organic chemistry professor at NYU after 82 students signed a petition against him

Jones' students said the organic chemistry course was too difficult and that Jones was not helpful in supporting them

The petition said: 'We are very concerned about our scores, and find that they are not an accurate reflection of the time and effort put into this class,' the petition said, according to a New York Times report.

'We urge you to realize that a class with such a high percentage of withdrawals and low grades has failed to make students' learning and well-being a priority and reflects poorly on the chemistry department as well as the institution as a whole.'

While Jones clarifies he doesn't feel 'unjustly treated' nor his reputation damaged - noting that at his age, it was probably time for him to think about stepping aside - but he feels that students are just not being taught challenging material or graded accurately.

Jones writes: 'In a university, the feeling of community crumbles when trust is lost. If tenured faculty cannot depend on fair-minded support from departmental and university leadership, they cannot transfer their knowledge and experience to the next generation of students and teachers.'

At the beginning of his essay, he noted that his subject matter of organic chemistry has become one where both students and teachers are doing poorly, with teachers 'burning out' and students 'unwilling to put in the necessary effort.'

He says that fixing the problem will take students to 'develop the ability to take responsibility for failure,' teachers having 'the courage to assign low grades when students do poorly' and deans to 'learn to not coddle students for the sake of tuition.'

Jones finishes: 'In these times when critical thinking skills are desperately needed, it is more important than ever to dedicate ourselves to the high standards of education. Without those standards, we as a nation will not produce those individuals - doctors, engineers, scientists, - citizens! - who will guide us toward a better future.'

Accusations made against Jones include: reducing the number of midterm exams from three to two; no offering of extra credit; no Zoom access to lectures for those with COVID-19; and, Jones taught with a 'condescending and demanding' tone.

Jones defended accusations made via the petition, adding that he reduced the number of exams because NYU scheduled his first test after six classes.

As students returned from virtual learning as a result of the pandemic, that problem only got worse. Students were not studying and, Jones said, seemingly did not know how to.

In an effort to help students, Jones and two other professors taped 52 lectures, which Jones says he paid $5,000 of his own money to publish. They are still used.

In 2020, an estimated 30 students out of 475 signed a petition saying they need more help.

'They were really struggling,' Jones said. 'They didn't have good internet coverage at home. All sorts of things.'

Pictured: The 1,300-page textbook on organic chemistry written by Maitland Jones Jr., who taught the subject at Princeton before moving to NYU in 2007

Jones was not alone in the pushback from students in the return from pandemic learning.

Kent Kirshenbaum, another organic chemistry professor, discovered students cheating during online tests. Citing poor conduct in his decision to reduce grades, students protested by saying 'they were not given grades that would allow them to get into medical school.'

Entering 2022, Jones said students were increasingly disengaged.

'They weren't coming to class, that's for sure, because I can count the house,' Jones said. 'They weren't watching the videos, and they weren't able to answer the questions.'

Following the course's second midterm - a test which resulted in an average score of 30 - several students began to panic about the course as it was a prerequisite for applying to medical schools.

Former student Ryan Xue, who transferred to Brown after completing the class, said he liked both Jones as a professor and the course.

'This is a big lecture course, and it also has the reputation of being a weed-out class,' Xue said.

'So there are people who will not get the best grades. Some of the comments might have been very heavily influenced by what grade students have gotten.'

Former students and faculty members defended Jones, who said students had progressively lost focus in his class over the last decade

Other students who most recently took the course told The New York Times that Jones was helpful when they asked for help, but he could be sarcastic.

Zacharia Benslimane, a Ph.D student at Harvard and former teaching assistant for Jones, emailed NYU in his defense.

'I think this petition was written more out of unhappiness with exam scores than an actual feeling of being treated unfairly,' he wrote. 'I have noticed that many of the students who consistently complained about the class did not use the resources we afforded to them.'

Jones said he fears for other professors at the university who may face the same response from faculty.

'I don't want my job back,' he said. 'I just want to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.'
The two 16-year-old teens held captive in Texas by their mother made their daring escape after the boy hid the key to their handcuffs in his mouth and waited for their mom and her boyfriend to fall asleep.

The severely malnourished teenage girl and boy have already told how they and their siblings had been starved, beaten, handcuffed, kept naked and forced to eat their own excrement.

Court documents have now revealed that the boy held the key in his mouth and waited for mother Zaikiya Duncan, 40, and boyfriend Jova Terrell, 26, to fall asleep.

The children also alleged they were whipped with electrical cords, beaten with a metal rod, and made to drink bleach as a punishment. They said they had to drink water from a supply valve in the washing machine and that their mother would force them to take up to two dozen Benadryl in order to get to sleep.

The neighbor who assisted them - who wishes to remain anonymous - spoke to Good Morning America Friday, in continued shock at the condition in which she found them.

She said: 'Their hands were so swollen, their poor hands were bigger than the rest of their bodies.'

Jeff McShan, a spokesman for the county constable's office, confirmed the kids weren't allowed to leave the laundry room and 'were naked most of the time.'

Duncan and Terrell were detained after her eldest children, 16-year-old twins, escaped from the home the family had recently relocated to in Houston, Texas, and begged neighbors for help.

The two 16-year-old teens forced into captivity in Texas by their mother told the neighbor who helped them after their escape that they had to find a way to disconnect their washing machine to be able to drink water

The neighbor who assisted them (pictured right) - who wishes to remain anonymous - spoke to Good Morning America Friday, in continued shock at the condition in which she found them

Zaikiya Duncan, 40, (pictured), the mother of the children, has a history of prior child abuse allegations. Her boyfriend Jova Terrell, 27, (right) was also arrested on Tuesday

The children also alleged they were whipped with electrical cords, beaten with a metal rod, and made to drink bleach as a punishment. They also said they had to drink water from a supply valve in the washing machine

TWINS ESCAPE ALLEGED "HOUSE OF HORRORS": Their mother and her boyfriend have been arrested on preliminary charges of assault and continued violence. @ABCMireya reports. pic.twitter.com/7hZEe7SRGI  Good Morning America (@GMA) October 21, 2022

McShan confirmed to DailyMail.com that the pair have been charged with aggravated assault of a family member.

The children remain hospitalized. It's likely they will go into the foster system once they've physically recovered.

The Texas Department of Family Protective Services has started their own investigation into the case.

This comes after disturbing new video emerged showing Duncan dancing happily with her smiling children - a little over a year before two of them escaped her captivity and told of an appalling regime of abuse.

Yet the previous summer, Duncan was posting proud photos of her children - and the year before that, they were dancing together in TikToks.

In April 2020, Duncan posted this clip of five of her seven children performing a dance routine. The oldest set of twins appeared to be missing

Duncan posted this clip in April 2020, showing her dancing with two of her seven children

The mom recorded herself dancing with the children to viral trends at the time - just months before the twisted reign of abuse started behind closed doors at their home.

Duncan is known to be the mother of seven children: the 16-year-old twins, seven-year-old Nicholas Menina; 10-year-old Zayden Menina; another set of twins, 12-year-old boys Javion and Javier Menina; and 14-year-old Jarod Menina.

All seven are now in the care of child protection services.

The father of the children, Nicholas Menina, a photographer and media director for a Baptist Evangelical megachurch, who lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, told DailyMail.com he did not wish to comment.

From December 2018 she was sporadically on Instagram, and posted 15 photos of herself with her children, cousins, sister and friends.

'I love spending time with my boys,' she captioned one photo in April 2021, with four of her six sons sitting round a kitchen table, eating candy.

A month later, in May 2021, she posted a photo of her youngest son Nicholas graduating from Ideas Academy school.

'Congratulations to my Baby Boy Nicholas On all his accomplishments this school year I'm so proud of you!' she wrote.

'Second grade here he comes! Lol he is the tallest in his class!'

In July 2019 Duncan shared a photo of herself, striking a pose at an event

Duncan is currently listed as being in a Baton Rouge prison on charges of being a fugitive. Her boyfriend, Jova Terrell, who was also arrested, is being detained at an undisclosed location

The severely-malnourished 16-year-old boy can be seen (left) in a pre-dawn escape from a Houston home on Tuesday. His twin sister (right, in black hoody) stands next to him, begging for help from neighbors

The two can be seen going door-to-door in their neighborhood trying to find someone to help for half an hour in the early morning hours Tuesday, with several neighbors, unsure what to make of the situation, telling the kids to keep moving

The 16-year-old girl, extremely thin, is seen with scars on her wrists from the handcuffs

Her twin brother also had deep cuts on his wrists from the handcuffs

The kids showed the woman who found them that they had just broken free from being handcuffed by their mother

She shared several clips of the children dancing, and in June 2021 wrote: 'Javion we are so proud of you... When your kid teacher hits you with this!

'Javion was offer the opportunity to go to summer school since he was virtual the whole school year to prepare him for 5th grade and he wanted to go!'

Duncan joined TikTok in March 2020, and her first post was her dancing with two of the children, captioned: 'Me and the kids Goofing Out'.

She posted 10 videos in total, with the final one in June 2020.

Every clip was of her joyful, dancing children - in April 2020, the video showed five of the children dancing, and was captioned: 'Me and my Crew'.

The oldest set of twins did not seem to appear in any of her social media posts, and neither did her boyfriend, Jova Terell.

It is unclear when the pair began dating.

It also remains unclear when they moved to Texas, and why.

The children told the investigators they were subject to extreme beatings, with their mother using extension cords, curtain rods and other metal poles to hit them.

Her boyfriend, Terrell, often punched the 16-year-old boy.

The children, who were severely malnourished when they escaped on Tuesday, said they were starved and fed one to three times a week, surviving on sandwiches made of mustard, or relish or bologna.

The breakout was caught via Ring camera footage that saw the twins, who have not been named, run from their Houston home in the early hours of Tuesday in an attempt to get someone to call the police

The family had recently been moved to Texas and the twins were not even sure of their address. No one has been able to find out exactly how long they had been living there, though parents told ABC13 their children had been going to school with some of the kids in the house for the past two weeks

The home, on Marina Alto Lane, had sold in late July and was valued between $552,001 and $627,000.

Police are yet to confirm whether Duncan and her boyfriend had bought or rented the house

The four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home includes a formal living and dining room, covered patio, two-car attached garage and access to a community pool

It is believed the family only moved into the Houston neighborhood this summer, living in an expansive home in a smart neighborhood.

The home, on Marina Alto Lane, had sold in late July and was valued between $552,001 and $627,000.

Police are yet to confirm whether Duncan and her boyfriend had bought or rented the house.

The four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home includes a formal living and dining room, covered patio, two-car attached garage and access to a well-kept community pool and waterpark.

Duncan had previously been accused of child abuse, 10 years ago in Louisiana.

A five-year-old child of hers was taken from school to a local hospital to be treated for burns to his feet, genitals, and other parts of his body.

Doctors determined it was likely the result of being burned by hot water. The boy also had bruises on his torso, back, hip and buttocks.

When police went to Duncan's home, they found a 20-month-old child wrapped in clothing with his hands bound. The only other person in the home was the child's 4-year-old brother, according to the documents.

Police said Duncan admitted to routinely disciplining one child by making him get into a push-up position for up to an hour, causing the child's hands to swell.

The child was also forced to sleep on the closet floor, with the door of the closet blocked by boards to keep the child from 'escaping' and 'stealing food from the kitchen,' court records said.

Police reported at the time that two of Duncan's other children also showed signs of abuse and were removed from the home. They said Duncan admitted she had been investigated for abuse of the children in the past.

She was charged with cruelty to juveniles, but the children were ultimately returned to her.
A fundraising day by the Royal British Legion to collect cash for the Poppy Appeal has been forced to be axed - due to union barons' planned rail strikes.

The event, which is called London Poppy Day, sees volunteers man stalls to sell merchandise and the paper flowers to members of the public.

But the Mick Lynch-run National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers have planned strikes for its day on November 3.

This afternoon Tory MP Fay Jones spoke for many when she said 'Hope the unions are proud of this'.

A spokesperson for the Royal British Legion said: 'Today we are announcing that London Poppy Day will not go ahead as planned on Thursday, November 3, owing to a rail strike called by the RMT.

Serving personnel hand out poppies and collect donations for the Royal British Legion Appeal at Liverpool Street Station, during London Poppy Day last year

The RMT's firebrand general secretary Mick Lynchis behind the numerous strikes being held

The Royal British Legion announced it was being forced to can the day due to the rail strikes

'Raising up to 1million annually, the event sees 2,000 military personnel and veterans collecting for the RBL's Poppy Appeal across transport hubs in London.

'We are urgently considering alternative arrangements to lessen the impact from the loss of funds on our vital work with the Armed Forces community, and we will update you as our plans progress.

'Thank you for your support.'

Rail and beer industry workers are planning mass walkouts in the lead-up to and during the Bonfire Night weekend, putting revellers plans up in the air.

Rail and beer industry workers are planning mass walkouts in the lead-up to and during the Bonfire Night weekend, putting revellers plans up in the air

The 14 train firms affected by the upcoming strike Chiltern Railways Cross Country Trains Greater Anglia LNER East Midlands Railway c2c Great Western Railway Northern Trains South Eastern South Western Railway Transpennine Express Avanti West Coast West Midlands Trains GTR (including Gatwick Express) Advertisement

Workers at 14 train operating companies will walk out next month in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Members of the Lynch-led RMT will walk out on November 3 and 5.

The action will coincide with strikes on the same days by RMT members on Network Rail, London Underground and London Overground.

The strikes will cause widespread disruption to services across the country after a summer of action in the deadlocked row.

The RMT's general secretary Mick Lynch accused the Rail Delivery Group of being 'completely unreasonable' throughout the dispute and lashed out train firms 'making millions of pounds of profit'.

My Lynch had already slammed Network Rail, hitting out yesterday at what he called 'dishonesty' and 'a new low'.

The previously announced strikes affecting Network Rail will be by signal and maintenance employees. Given that they coincide with the other walkout, the action will cause chaos on the railways.

The RMT accused Network Rail of attempting to impose 'drastic changes' in working practices on its staff and of writing directly to staff 'undermining delicate talks'.

But Network Rail's chief negotiator Tim Shoveller insisted that an 8 per cent pay deal had been offered and said the RMT was 'more intent on damaging strikes rather than giving members a vote on our offer.'
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. Newsis



Rep. Lee of Democratic Party of Korea calls for special counsel to conduct corruption probe



By Jung Min-ho



Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader Lee Jae-myung denied allegations of involvement Friday as his right-hand man faces arrest for allegedly receiving bribes prosecutors believe were used to finance Lee's election campaigns.



Lee called for a new investigation led by an independent counsel, as he accused the prosecutors of carrying out a "political repression" campaign on behalf of President Yoon Suk-yeol.



Lee's proposal to appoint an independent counsel comes a day after prosecutors asked judges to issue an arrest warrant for Kim Yong, who served as the head of Lee's campaign for the party's presidential primary, on charges of receiving 847 million won ($600,000) in illegal political funds from real estate developers between April and August 2021. The suspicions against Lee are that he gave favors to the developers when he was the mayor of Seongnam (2010-18).



"I did not receive even a piece of candy, let alone presidential campaign funds," Lee said at a press conference at the National Assembly. "I officially ask the president and the ruling party to accept my proposal to appoint a special prosecutor  Yoon's prosecutors appear to even fabricate the case while overlooking the facts and stepping up for the blatant act of political repression."



The ruling People Power Party (PPP) immediately rejected his proposal, saying it is just a tactic to delay the investigation. Rep. Joo Ho-young, its floor leader, told reporters that Lee appears to be trying to water down the seriousness of the allegations he faces.



There is little incentive for the ruling party to accept the proposal as it means giving the DPK, which holds a majority in the Assembly, what could be a life-saving opportunity. The DPK will get to have a say over who should be the special prosecutor and how far the investigation can go. It will also take a long time to start the process and finish the investigation.



Speaking to reporters after his statement, Lee vowed to push ahead with the unilateral passage of a bill to appoint a special prosecutor if the PPP refuses to accept his proposal. He added that the bill would include an investigation into criminal allegations surrounding Yoon.



When asked whether he received any money from Kim, Lee said he was not sure about his legal donations.





Yoo Dong-gyu, former acting president of Seongnam Development Corp. and one of the key figures in the scandal-ridden development project in Seongnam, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, Friday, after attending a hearing on the case. Yonhap
The man was arrested and taken into custody; there are no reports of injuries

He was stopped by armed police on Millbank and a taser was discharged

A man was seen 'behaving erratically' at around 11.50am in the SW1 area

Armed police shot an alleged knifeman with a Taser after he was seen 'behaving erratically' near the Houses of Parliament this morning.

A man was seen behaving 'erratically' at around 11.50am in the SW1 area.

He was stopped by armed police on Millbank and a taser was discharged.

Armed police shot an alleged knifeman with a Taser after he was seen 'behaving erratically' near the Houses of Parliament this morning

The man was arrested on possession of a bladed item and was taken into custody.

There have been no reports of any injuries following the incident.

A video posted on Twitter showed the scene as around six Metropolitan Police officers restrained the man and made the arrest.

The man was arrested on possession of a bladed item and was taken into custody

The Metropolitan Police said: 'At around 11:50hrs on Friday, 21 October a man was seen behaving erratically in the SW1 area.

'He was stopped by armed officers on Millbank.

'Police taser was discharged and the man was arrested on suspicion of possession of a bladed article. He has been taken into custody.

'There have been no reports of any injuries.'
President Joe Biden mocked Pennsylvania Republican Senate hopeful, Dr. Mehmet Oz, for going to high school in Delaware - the state he represented in the U.S. Senate for 36 years.

'Delaware was smart enough to send him to New Jersey,' Biden said Thursday night at a closed door fundraiser for Democratic Senate candidate, John Fetterman, in Philadelphia.

The line was delivered as Fetterman and Oz are locked in a tight race in the Keystone State, which could decide the fate of the Democrats' Senate majority.

Fetterman has spent much of the campaign portraying Oz as an out-of-touch carpetbagger from nearby New Jersey.

The longtime television personality lived in Jersey during the years his program was on the air, and only established Pennsylvania residency ahead of his Senate run.

President Joe Biden (center left) mocked Pennsylvania GOP Senate hopeful, Dr. Mehmet Oz (right), for going to high school in Delaware saying Thursday at a fundraiser for John Fetterman (left): 'Delaware was smart enough to send him to New Jersey'

While Oz has pushed that Fetterman may not be up to the challenge after he suffered a stroke in May, the Democrat used social media and viral marketing tactics to troll Oz about his New Jersey roots.

Over the summer, Fetterman used the Cameo rent-a-celebrity service to have the Jersey Shore's Snooki tell Oz that Jersey would not 'forget' him.

'And don't worry because you'll be back in New Jersey soon. This is only temporary,' the reality starlet said.

The Fetterman campaign also flew a banner over New Jersey beaches welcoming Oz 'home.'

A number of Philadelphians - and thus Pennsylvania voters - spend summers down the shore.

Over the summer, Fetterman used the Cameo rent-a-celebrity service to have the Jersey Shore's Snooki tell Oz that Jersey would not 'forget' him.

The Fetterman campaign flew a banner over the Jersey shore in July welcoming Pennsylvania Republican Senate hopeful Dr. Mehmet Oz 'home'

John Fetterman had also mocked Oz for taking a trip to South Philly for Pat's and Geno's cheesesteaks in July. 'Ah yes, the trip to Pats + Geno's - a rite of passage for every tourist,' Fetterman tweeted at the time

President Joe Biden, John Fetterman and his wife Gisele arrive Thursday afternoon at a Moon Township Primanti Brothers en route back to the Pittsburgh airport, picking up sandwiches that are stuffed with French fries and coleslaw

On Thursday, Biden spent time with Fetterman on both sides of Pennsylvania, first traveling to Pittsburgh to the site of the January bridge collapse before raising dollars for the candidate in Philly.

Fetterman had also mocked Oz for taking a trip to South Philly for Pat's and Geno's cheesesteaks in July.

'Ah yes, the trip to Pats + Geno's - a rite of passage for every tourist,' Fetterman tweeted at the time.

But Fetterman, his wife Gisele and the president, did their own bit of food politicking Thursday afternoon, stopping at a Primanti Brothers in Moon Township on the way back to the Pittsburgh airport.

A Western Pennsylvania staple, the sandwich chain is known for adding a layer of French fries and coleslaw between the giant slices of bread.
Human remains found in a loft in Milton Keynes have been formally identified as Leah Croucher, three years after the 19-year-old went missing.

Thames Valley police said that a post-mortem examination last week has been inconclusive as to the cause of Leah's death and investigations continue.

The remains and the teenager's belongings, including a rucksack, were found in the loft of a property on Loxbeare Drive in Furzton, Milton Keynes, on October 10, sparking a murder investigation.

Thames Valley Police announced on October 14 that a deceased man, 49-year-old Neil Maxwell, was the prime suspect in their investigation.

Leah Croucher, 19, (pictured) was last seen on CCTV on her way to her job on February 15, 2019, but never made it to work

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Kevin Brown, head of the Major Crime Unit, said: 'The thoughts of all of us at Thames Valley Police remain and will always be with Leah's family and friends.

'The entirety of our investigation keeps them uppermost in our minds, and they continue to be supported by specially trained officers and updated on every development.

'After a difficult process, we are now in a position to formally confirm that the body found in Loxbeare Drive last week is that of Leah.

'The grief and shock of Leah's family and friends is unimaginable, and they have shown enormous courage, patience and dignity over the last three years and eight months while our search for Leah continued.

'They have always been supportive of Thames Valley Police, both during our extensive missing person investigation and this subsequent investigation into Leah's murder.

'We ask again, on their behalf, to please respect their privacy at what is such a traumatic and upsetting time for them all.

'Our investigations into Leah's murder will leave no stone unturned, and we owe it to Leah's family to ensure we find the truth.

'We are absolutely committed to doing so, to allow them to gain an understanding of what happened to Leah.'

The 19-year-old was last seen on CCTV on her way to her job on February 15, 2019, but never made it to work.

Neil Maxwell took his own life two months after Leah's disappearance and has been named as the prime suspect in the police investigation

Human remains were found in the loft of a property at Loxbeare Drive in Furzton, Milton Keynes (pictured) along with Leah's rucksack and other personal possessions

Maxwell had a string of past convictions for sexual offences including rape. He was wanted by police at the time Leah went missing in connection with an attack in Newport, Buckinghamshire.

He was working as a handyman in the house on Loxbeare Drive in February 2019.

At the time, he was the only person believed to have had a key.

Maxwell was on the sex offender's register, having been convicted of multiple offences, including a teenager aged 13 to 15.

In April 2019, months after Leah's disappearance, Maxwell hanged himself in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes.

Police have previously admitted Maxwell, 49, had evaded arrest 18 times while on the run from 2018 to 2019.

Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Hunter said police were unaware of any potential links between Maxwell and Leah until a maintenance worker alerted police on Monday to a suspicious object in a loft of the Furzton property.

Despite the number of times Maxwell evaded police, Leah's family released a statement at a press conference last Friday saying they believe Thames Valley Police 'could not have done anything differently'.

The statement said: 'We would like to take this opportunity to thank Thames Valley Police for all their efforts over the past three years and eight months.

'We believe that they could not have done anything differently, they have always approached every conversation with dignity and compassion.

'As a family, we ask that everyone respects our privacy as well as our immediate family, at what is one of the most difficult times of our lives.'

A bunch of flowers were left at the scene by Leah's parents, with a heartbreaking note to 'our darling Leah'

People have laid tributes and flowers outside the house where Leah's remains were found this week

The community, including Leah's family, have laid tributes to the missing teenager outside the property where her remains were found.

Last Thursday an undertaker carried a bouquet of flowers as he accompanied her parents to a makeshift memorial at the front of the house which is at the centre of the police investigation.

A note with the flowers read: 'To our darling Leah. Our darkest fears have come true, we only need to be apart a little longer now.

'We have so missed you for so long already. The future looks so bleak now. We know we will never see your smile or hear your laughter again. We will cherish your memories forever. We love you, Mum and Dad'.

Another note, by Leah's elder sister Jade, read: 'To my beautiful sister Leah, My heart has broken, my mind racing with thoughts and my body numb. How can a life as beautiful as yours come to an end in such a tragic way.

'I have loved you from your very first breath and I will love you until my last. There has never been a moment when you were not in my thoughts and there never will be.

'My only comfort is that you and Haydon are together in heaven. All my love forever your big sister Jade and nephew Reggie.'

Haydon, Leah's brother, tragically took his own life after being so tormented by the loss of his sister. He was discovered by his mother and sister Jade.

If you are affected by the issues raised in this article, you can contact the Samaritans for free and completely anonymously on 116 123.
Extra police are being deployed on Shetland as phones and internet services are temporarily restored for its 23,000 inhabitants - but it could take a week to fix damaged underwater cables.

Shetland suffered a total blackout yesterday after the south subsea telecommunications cable between the islands and the mainland was cut which saw a 'major incident' declared by police.

It came after another subsea cable connecting Shetland and the Faroe Islands was damaged last week.

BT Group, which provides communications services through the cables, said engineers who have been working 'flat out' have been able to reconnect all services via a temporary solution - but both cables are still being repaired.

The temporary solution was found on Thursday afternoon and by last night broadband and phone signals were returning to the islands.

Cable operator Faeroese Telecom said they expect repairs to the first damaged cable to be completed by this weekend.

The second damaged cable will then be examined by specialist subsea engineers and is expected to be repaired next week.

Police Scotland told Mail Online they are still carrying out patrols today to provide support and will continue to do so until the issue is completely resolved.

Police declared a major incident after the south subsea cable between the Shetland islands and the mainland was cut yesterday - a temporary fix has now been created

Faeroese Telecoms head of infrastructure Pall Vesturbu said he believed the damage to both cables was likely caused by fishing vessels. The cause is yet to be officially confirmed.

It came after a top military man warned in January that Russian sabotage could wreck undersea cables that supply our internet and $10 trillion of financial deals a day.

Then just weeks ago senior politicians, defence chiefs and experts warned Europe's critical infrastructure is now at risk after the Nord Stream gas pipes were blown up in an attack widely thought to have been orchestrated by Russia.

A spokesperson for the BT group said on Friday: 'Further testing and monitoring overnight has shown that broadband services have remained stable, and we will continue to monitor this.

'As a precaution, we have specialist teams in Shetland with satellite backup links should either of the subsea cables fail while they are being repaired.'

Mr Vesturbu told the BBC: 'We have reason to believe that the cable was damaged by a fishing vessel.

'There was also an incident last week, and we also believe that this was caused by a fishing vessel.'

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the situation as 'very serious' for Shetland and confirmed the Scottish government's resilience committee met to ensure necessary support was provided.

Homes and businesses were affected across the Shetland archipelago, which is 130 miles (210 km) from the Scottish mainland. Many shops were unable to take card payments.

People were warned not to try and make non urgent calls and to check on elderly or vulnerable neighbours amid concerns assistance alarms could not be working.

A tweet yesterday after phones and internet suffered a total blackout in Shetland

The MP for Orkney and Shetlands, Alastair Carmichael, told Mailonline yesterday: 'We don't know the cause yet. These things have happened in the past with catastrophic effect.

'It is not unknown and usually it is because a trawler picks up the line on the seabed and pulls it up and breaks it.

'That has been known to happen in the past but at the moment they are pretty well focused on finding out exactly where it is broken and getting whatever you need to do to get it fixed.'

While he said the priority was fixing the issue, he added that resilience would also need to be looked at in future.

'That is kind of the order of things,' Mr Carmichael said. 'Get it fixed, find out how it broke and then think about what you need to do to make sure it doesn't happen again in the future.'

Asked if the damage could have been caused by the Russians in retaliation for the UK's support for Ukraine during the country's war with Putin's army, Mr Carmichael said that had not been ruled out and was very much on people's minds.

Mr Carmichael added that it was too early to say with any certainty what was behind the damage and that Russian interference could not be ruled out.

He said: 'You're not the first person to ask me that. I have no reason to believe that is the case and as I say we have known this kind of thing to happen before. But until you know anything I guess is possible.'

Residents were warned not to attempt non-urgent calls in order to retain capacity for emergency communications. Pictured: Town of Scalloway in the Shetland Islands

Northern Police said in a tweet about the Shetland outage on Thursday morning: 'Engineers are working to fix a complete outage on Shetland affecting its connection to the main line.

'Phones, internet and computers are not usable.

'Officers will continue to patrol the area and we will give you an update on the situation as soon as we have more information.'

A BT Group spokesperson had said: 'Due to a break in a third-party subsea cable connecting Shetland with the Scottish mainland, some phone, broadband and mobile services are affected.

'Engineers are working to divert services via other routes as soon as possible and we'll provide further updates.

'Our external subsea provider is also looking to restore their link quickly.

'Anyone who needs to call 999 should try their landline or their mobile, even if they don't have signal from their own mobile provider. We're sorry for any inconvenience.'

People tweeted about the incident as minimal WiFi appeared to be functioning. One said: 'I messaged my dad and no reply, obviously.'

She added: 'Guess I won't be speaking to my parents then.'

Another wrote: 'No internet. No mobiles. Limited landline phone, sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. Shop down the road only accepting cash.'

One said he was having to reschedule meetings and described the implications of the outage given the scale of it as 'pretty scary'.

People tweeted yesterday about difficulties getting in contact with relatives in Shetland amid an outage

History of the Shetland Islands Shetland, also known as the Shetland Islands, lie 105 miles north of the Scottish mainland. The total area is just 550 square miles and, in 2019, the population totalled 22,920. The local authority, Shetland Islands Council, is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and the islands' administrative centre is Lerwick - which has been the capital of Shetland since 1708. The islands were initially dominated by Scandinavian influences, especially from Norway, and they later became part of Scotland in the 15th century. Scotland became part of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 which caused a decrease in trade with northern Europe. Fishing continues to be an important aspect of the economy up to the present day. The discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s significantly boosted Shetland's economy, employment and public sector revenues. There are also numerous areas set aside to protect the local fauna and flora, including a number of important sea bird nesting sites. The Shetland pony and Shetland Sheepdog are two well-known animal breeds that originated on the islands. Advertisement

Police Scotland was in talks with partners including the Scottish Fire and Recue Service and HM Coastguard to bring additional emergency support to the island.

Their most recent statement said: 'Extra resources are being sent to Shetland as Police Scotland works with partners to ensure the public can access emergency services during the current outage affecting some landlines and mobiles.

'Engineers are working to restore or divert services via other routes and in an emergency you should be able call 999 from your landline or mobile even if you dont have a signal from your mobile provider.'

Superintendent David Ross added: 'We are working with partners to ensure people across Shetland have access to emergency services. Officers and vehicles from across Scotland are being sent to assist until normal service is resumed.

'They will be ready to be deployed on Friday, 21 October, and will remain as long as necessary. Local police stations are open and there is an emergency Hub set up in the Tesco car park in South Road, Lerwick.

'In the meantime, we are advising people not to make non-urgent calls for the time being so that all available lines can be used for emergencies if required.

'If you cannot access 999 by phone you should go to your nearest police station, ambulance station, fire station or hospital to report an emergency or try flagging down an emergency services vehicle that does not have its blue lights on.

'Officers are patrolling in vehicles and on foot and will continue to make themselves available. In addition, I would ask that relatives and neighbours of elderly or vulnerable people check on them regularly. Assistance alarms may not be operating correctly.'

Mr Carmichael yesterday said he had raised the issue with the UK government. He insisted both the Scottish and UK governments should be 'all hands to the pump' to get the line repaired as soon as possible.

'The impact has been severe. It is a massive inconvenience because we rely on good phone and broadband lines for so much these days but also the fact that you are not easily going to be able to contact the emergency services has got to be worrying.'

He added: 'I don't want ministers in Edinburgh saying this has nothing to do with us. It's all London's fault or vice versa. If there's something to be done to fix this they should all be doing it.'

More than 97 per cent of the world's communications are transmitted through sub sea optical fibre cables surrounded by armouring wire and a Polyethylene cover

Thousands of feet under the ocean lies a global network of internet cables responsible for carrying 97 per cent of international communications.

If they were to be disabled, it would not just prevent us accessing the web on our phones and laptops  it would disrupt everything from agriculture and healthcare to military logistics and financial transactions, instantly plunging the world into a new depression.

According to experts, this doomsday scenario ranks alongside nuclear war as an existential threat to our way of life.

In January, chief of the defence staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said he thought Russia is the hostile power most likely to cripple these vital arteries.

In an interview, he said there had been 'a phenomenal increase' in Russian submarine activity over the past 20 years, adding: 'Russia has grown the capability to put at threat those undersea cables and potentially exploit them.'

Russian President Vladimir Putin, pictured, has been investing heavily in his country's submarine fleet, including developing technology to interfere with sub sea cables

Any such interference would be treated with the utmost seriousness.

Asked whether destroying cables could be considered an act of war, Britain's most senior military officer said: 'Potentially, yes.'

In shallower waters, a vessel could deliberately drag an anchor along the seabed to rip the cables apart.

Such an attack could be covered up by passing it off as an innocent fishing boat accident.

Defence experts warned last month that Europe's critical infrastructure could be at risk after the Nord Stream gas pipes were blown up in an attack widely thought to have been orchestrated by Russia.

Fears mounted that pipelines, rigs and undersea cables that countries including Britain rely on for energy, banking, stock trading and business could now be targeted, as German interior minister Nancy Faeser warned leaders to prepare for 'previously unimaginable' threats to their nations.

Some have already begun scrambling to shore up their defences. Jonas Gahr Stoere, Norway's prime minister, said the military would be visibly deployed around oil and gas rigs to protect them.

That suggests the UK - connected to Norway via two major pipelines which carry a third of this country's gas - could also be at risk. Britain's largest oil and gas fields, which are dotted with dozens of rigs and criss-crossed by pipes, also sit close to Norwegian waters.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman previously said: 'We constantly observe our areas of responsibility and interest, this includes protecting critical infrastructure such as underwater cables and offshore structures.'

The release of gas emanating from a leak on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, in the Swedish economic zone in the Baltic Sea in September

Frigate HMS Somerset pictured at the Frigate Support Centre in HMNB Devonport. It is a 'fast, adaptable, versatile frigate' that has previously been deployed to shadow Russian naval destroyers through UK waters

Royal Navy Type 23 Frigate HMS Somerset (top) shadowed a Russian submarine (bottom) as is passed through the English channel in May 2017

Mark Galeotti - a Russia expert, former adviser to the foreign office, and now at the Council on Geostrategy - told MailOnline that Putin is 'likely' behind the Nord Stream attack and intended it 'as a warning'.

'They blow up their own pipeline to remind the West that if it really pushes Putin into a corner, amongst his options are attacks on infrastructure,' he said.

'A pipeline from Norway to Poland has just been inaugurated, after all. Just as seriously, he could target undersea internet cables, which would not 'break' the internet but would certainly degrade it.'

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the explosions, dismissing the suggestion as 'stupid '. But Russia does have the capacity to carry out such an attack.

Britain sent warships to the North Sea to protect underwater gas and oil pipelines and internet cables from Russian sabotage after the Nordstream was blown up in a suspected Kremlin attack.

Type 23 frigate HMS Somerset and survey ship HMS Enterprise were deployed earlier this month amid fears that pipelines, rigs and undersea cables that countries including Britain rely upon for energy were at risk of further attacks.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace acted to 'reassure' those working near the pipelines after Western intelligence agencies were blindsided by the pipeline blasts.
Boris Johnson feels he has 'unfinished business' as Prime Minister and 'this could be his moment' to return to Number 10, his father Stanley has told MailOnline.

Though Mr Johnson Snr says he doesn't yet know if Boris will stand, he gave his tacit backing by declaring: 'He has proved an election winner in the past and there may be some MPs who are looking ahead feeling that he may be the man for them anyway.'

At the same time, he urged his son  currently struggling to return to the UK from a Caribbean holiday  to ditch the 'mistakes' on the environment which he said had been made during Liz Truss's brief premiership and 'reclaim the centre ground'.

He added: 'If he is reverting full face to the 2019 manifesto, I can't see why any MPs should be against that.

'He must have a sense that there is a lot of unfinished business so if he wants to see that business finished... this could be the moment.'

But Mr Johnson Snr  a member of the Conservative Party himself  made it clear his son couldn't necessarily count on his vote if it came to it, and described likely rival Rishi Sunak as 'highly competent'.

He said he would back his son to return as Prime Minister in the hope he would promise greater importance to environmental issues.

Stanley Johnson (pictured) said his son 'must have the sense that there is a lot of unfinished business' and 'this could be his moment' to return to Number 10

It is not yet confirmed that Boris Johnson (pictured) will run to be Prime Minister again but he is reportedly already half-way to gaining the required backing of 100 Tory MPs

'I think at this moment I will be behind him, but I do want to get some re-assurances over the mistakes that the Tory Party is now making on the environment.'

Asked if he was certain Boris, who is currently stranded 4,000 miles away in the Dominican Republic and, according to the Telegraph, won't be able to return until tomorrow morning, would stand as Tory leader, Stanley said: ' I have no feel for this at all.

'I could easily see the attraction of him writing a good book on Shakespeare. That would be something. I can see that.'

The former Prime Minister has yet to throw his hat into ring but is reportedly more than half-way to gaining the backing of 100 Tory MPs which would enable him to enter the race for Downing Street.

Some supporters think he will only enter the race if he feels he can win it, while others have suggested he should bide his time and leave it to Mr Sunak or Penny Mordaunt to ride out the next year or so.

The Telegraph reports that a group of loyal allies led by Nigel Adams, a minister in Mr Johnson's administration, were canvassing MPs on Thursday as Boris sent WhatsApp messages between frantic phone calls to his travel agents.

The Boris Campaign is being led by his 'inner circle' of key friends in the Commons, among them Mr Adams, a former minister of state in the Cabinet Office.

Mr Johnson Snr urged his son to ditch the 'mistakes' on the environment which he said had been made during Liz Truss's brief premiership and 'reclaim the centre ground'

He said he would back his son to return as Prime Minister in the hope he would promise greater importance to environmental issues. Pictured together during the 2019 leadership campaign

With the telephone operation gearing up, Mr Johnson contemplated how to get back to the UK quickly. Under the compressed leadership timetable, there is hardly a chance to press the flesh with MPs who might support him.

One alternative was to fly back to the UK via New York on a US airline that would get him to the Commons on Friday, jetlagged and barely in time to canvas in person.

Or else Mr Johnson could requisition a private jet from a wealthy backer to enable his escape from the Caribbean Island.

Amid the confusion, one friend said last night: 'He is coming back on Friday' while another said: 'He is stuck in the Caribbean. He is trying to get a flight tonight. He is likely but not certain to run. He is worried he will not get through the MPs' rounds but if it does go to the members, he knows he has a real chance.'

A close friend insisted would stick to his plans and land in the UK on Saturday morning at the completion of the two-week family holiday with his wife and two children.

But the former PM was being advised by some close friends not to stand on the grounds that the party will be desperate for his return in a year's time. And that he should bide his time until then.

The friend said: 'It is too early. In autumn next year the party will be on its knees. He is walking into a s--t show he can't control. They need to be on their knees.'

Mr Johnson's sister, journalist Rachel, told LBC: 'If he wants to stand wild horses won't stop him.'

MPs supporting him urged Mr Johnson to return on Friday to mobilise his leadership operation. 'He needs to get back pronto,' one said.

The MP said: 'He needs to be schmoozing in overdrive.'

Sir James Duddridge, Conservative MP for Rochford and Southend East, tweeted: 'I hope you enjoyed your holiday boss. Time to come back. Few issues at the office that need addressing' while adding the hashtag 'bring back Boris'.

Boris Johnson is currently stranded 4,000 miles away in the Dominican Republic and it is not clear when he will be able to get back

The Telegraph reports that a group of loyal allies led by Nigel Adams (pictured), a minister in Mr Johnson's administration, were canvassing MPs on Thursday as Boris sent WhatsApp messages between frantic phone calls to his travel agents

Stanley Johnson told Mailonline: 'I think if Boris is a candidate, then I think he will go back to the 2019 manifesto and he will have the legitimacy there because he was elected with quite a large majority.

'And to that extent, I think you could say that constitutionally, his re-appearance as Prime Minister would be more acceptable than perhaps the appearance of another candidate.

'I think he has a chance. Basically, Liz Truss's 'growth, growth, growth' was a kind of right-wing ideology gone mad. It was a total aberration.'

He added: ' Boris has to re-gain the centre ground if he comes back as the candidate or the winning candidate.

'But it is just possible that he will now have the chance to help deliver what he promised to deliver in 2019. But who can tell?

'There is no way in saying which way the vote in the House of Commons will go or which way the vote of the country will go.

'But at least he has a chance to get back on that track.'

'I am a voter in this contest because I am a member of the Conservative Party from the Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency.

'I will listen very carefully to what the candidates say on the environmental issues which I am extremely interested in.

Mr Johnson's sister, journalist Rachel (pictured with her father and brother at Boris's book launch in 2014), told LBC : 'If he wants to stand wild horses won't stop him'

Asked if Boris really wanted to re-gain power as he has two young children and has recently married, Mr Johnson Snr said: 'He had a mandate in 2019 and he was dislodged and diverted from being able to carry on the mandate'

'I want to see Boris deliver if he is a candidate on the environmental issue because I am extremely worried that the current regime has really trashed the Conservative's regime on the environment.

'Boris was so important in getting us out of Europe. He now the chance of re-building a proper link with the EU because we desperately need it.

'The trade figures between United Kingdom and the EU have gone dramatically against us. This is a very, very important moment.

'If I was coming in as Boris, I would go on the environment side and on the EU side and say we have got to re-build that and of course the international side is crucial too.'

Asked if Boris really wanted to re-gain power as he has two young children and has recently married, he said: 'He had a mandate in 2019 and he was dislodged and diverted from being able to carry on the mandate.'

He said of Boris's expected big rival: 'There is absolutely no doubt about the competence of Sunak.

'I am sure Boris will be entirely grateful to have highly competent people in his party or his cabinet or whatever.'
Residents of a Florida neighborhood have captured chilling surveillance footage of a well-dressed man knocking on doors with a machete.

Video shows a bald, clean-shaven man with glasses, a tucked-in collared shirt complete with a tie and dress pants walking up to one Lauderhill home around 5.30am Monday morning.

He uses the machete's handle to knock on the door before immediately walking away.

'I see some random dude knocking on the door with the back of a machete,' a male resident, who said he thought the man was a potential solicitor, at the home said.

'Then he just disappears as quick as he came.'

A woman at the residence added that she was confused as to why the man came and knocked once before leaving.

'It's so mysterious that we have no idea whatsoever of his intent,' she said.

'He didn't seem like someone lost or confused. He seemed very intentional, very businesslike, like he was dressed for business - just with a machete.'

An unidentified man was seen approaching homes in Lauderhill, Florida, with a machete

He approaches the home wearing glasses, a tucked-in shirt and tie

He uses the back of the machete to knock on the door, attempting to conceal the blade behind his shirt

He reaches the door, knocking once, before walking away

He leaves before he is seen approaching another home in the neighborhood

The unidentified man knocked on another home's door earlier in the night, according to the woman.

'They saw the same thing that they went up to their door, the same away, and did the same thing,' she told WSVN. 'I think they were driving around.'

'Yeah, we're kind of freaked out,' the man said.

Police were notified of the incidents and have since increased patrols of the neighborhood. Though the footage induced fear in the homeowners, police have classified the images as suspicious and said no crimes were committed.

It's unknown how many doors the man knocked on in total, but neighbors have urged others to continually check their cameras for additional sightings of the man, who they are still hoping to identify.

'I just hope somebody knows who the person is. That way we have peace of mind of what happens or  we don't want the person coming again, right?' the man said.

'So we want to know exactly who it is that way everyone is aware also.'

Police were notified of the incidents and have since increased patrols of the neighborhood (pictured). Though the footage induced fear in the homeowners, police have classified the images as suspicious and said no crimes were committed

The second, colorized footage of the man shows him approaching a different home in the same manner

He approaches before knocking on the door with the end of the machete, and then abruptly leaves

He is seen in the distance in the first footage. Police have been notified of the footage and neighbors are asking others to help identify the man

Because he is wielding a machete, the woman said she is concerned for the well-being of her child.

'We have a 4-year-old son, I'm suddenly a lot more concerned and just with him getting out of the car, you know, myself,' the woman said.

'Yeah, he's got us looking at the cameras a lot more now,' the man added.

Anyone with information on who this man with a machete is should call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Those with information are eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.

Do you know who this man is? Contact me at ty.roush@mailonline.com.
Jill Biden defended Hunter Biden, calling her troubled son 'innocent' and pointing out he's survived multiple investigations into his work.

'Everybody and their brother has investigated Hunter,' she told NBC News in an interview that was posted online Friday. 'They keep at it, and at it, and at it. I know that Hunter is innocent. I love my son, and I will keep looking forward.'

Hunter Biden, the only surviving son of the first couple, has admitted to troubles with addiction. Photos and video have shown him drinking and appearing to smoke crack with a prostitute.

But he also faces scrutiny over business dealings with China and the Ukraine dating back to when his father was vice president. And he is under federal investigation over possible tax crimes and a false statement related to a gun purchase. Hunter has denied any wrong doing.

House Republicans have vowed to investigate Hunter Biden if they take control of the chamber in the November midterm election, which they are favored to do so.

But Jill Biden shrugged off the matter. In the interview, which was conducted in her East Wing office, the first lady indicated that President Joe Biden will seek a second term, dismissed the vitriol aimed at her family and said she ignores Donald Trump's attacks on them.

'I don't pay attention because I just don't want to hear it,' she said. 'I don't want to hear all the ugliness.'

Trump made the Biden family, particularly Hunter, a target of his wrath on the campaign trail. His comment - 'where's Hunter' - was a favorite for his MAGA fans, who would cheer him on after his said it.

Jill Biden, in an interview with NBC News posted on Friday, discussed her son Hunter Biden, indicated President Biden will run for a second term and dismissed attacks on her family - above the first lady thanks staffers during a visit to Democratic National Committee headquarters on Wednesday

Jill Biden defended Hunter Biden, calling her troubled son 'innocent' and pointing out he's survived multiple investigations into his work - above Jill and Hunter at a World Food Program event in May 2013

Jill Biden kisses grandson Beau Biden as his parents Hunter Biden and Melissa Cohen look on during a December 2021 event at the White House

Jill Biden has been active on the campaign trail in the 2020 midterm election - above she campaigns for Florida Senatorial Candidate Val Demings (lelft) and Gubernatorial Candidate Charlie Crist (right) at a rally in Orlando on Saturday

Jill Biden declined to say if her husband will seek a second term - Trump also won't say if he'll run again in 2024 - but she did appear to endorse the idea.

'He understands government better than anybody else,' Jill Biden said of the president.

She brushed off concerns about President Biden's age and health. Biden was the oldest president to take office. He turns 80 next month.

'You've got to let it just slide off. You can't take it personally,' the first lady said of political attacks on her family.

President Biden, at times, shuffles when he walks. There are occasions he has appeared disorientated at times when it's time to exit a stage. He tripped going up the stairs of Air Force One in May 2021. At his annual physical last November, Biden was found to have a stiff gate and some acid reflux but his doctor declared him in overall good health and fit to be president.

Jill Biden keeps an eye on her husband - physically and politically.

She has been spotted on the Truman balcony on the second floor of the White House, watching him walk off Marine One when he returns from a trip.

She also keeps the famously tardy president on time, gently tugging at his arm or elbow when he lingers too long talking to supporters or doing interviews with the press.

And she's weighed in on policy and personnel matters at the White House.

Now she's working to keep Democrats in control of Congress, which will be decided in the November 8th midterm election.

'I'm trying to elect Democrats,' she told NBC News. 'We've got to keep the majority. We've got to do it.'

The first lady rallied the troops on Wednesday night during a visit to Democratic National Committee headquarters.

'We're gonna win,' she told the cheering crowd of young staffers. She then worked the room, shaking hands and taking selfies.

Hunter Biden hugs Joe and Jill Biden at President Joe Biden's January 2021 inauguration

Jill Biden often stands on the Truman balcony on the second floor of the White House to watch her husband exit Marine One as she does above in September 2021

Jill Biden keeps the famously tardy president on time, gently tugging at his arm or elbow when he lingers too long talking to supporters or doing interviews with the press - above she nudges President Biden as he talks to the press in March

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at Joint Base Andrews following their visit to Florida to see the damage from Hurricane Ian

She has been active on the campaign trail. Last week she did a trip to multiple swing states, including Wisconsin, Georgia and Florida.

More stops will be added to her schedule, which is still being finalized for the final two weeks of the campaign.

Biden officials say Jill Biden also is a highly-requested surrogate.

The First Lady is one of the most requested surrogates and there are many requests for her to campaign this fall in competitive states across the country, a senior Biden advisor told DailyMail.com last week.

She will continue to stay engaged through the midterms and will carry a message of optimism and hope, focusing on the accomplishments of her husbands administration. Joe is delivering results will be a frequent message from her on the stump, name checking his achievements, and calling on voters to imagine what more he could do with larger majorities in Congress, the adviser said.

She also has proven a prolific fundraiser. A DNC official told DailyMail.com she has raised millions for the party.

First Lady Jill Biden is one of the Democratic Partys most important surrogates and fundraisers, including being a big draw for grassroots supporters, the official said. This year alone, she has done 9 fundraising events for the DNC. Events, emails, SMS, and direct mail signed by her have brought in millions of dollars for the DNC to support Democrats up and down the ticket.
The couple has a previous history of domestic violence, according to the probably cause report

Young Sook pleaded with a judge to deny her husband bail, saying, 'I fear him so much and he will kill me again if he is out'

Her husband is now facing charges of first-degree attempted murder, first degree kidnapping and first-degree assault

She was able to dial 911 on her Apple watch as the assault took place on Sunday, though it was not until the early hours of Monday that she would escape

The couple, who lived in a suburb 60 miles southwest of Seattle, were in the midst of a divorce and fighting over money

She was able to escape and call the police who later arrested Chae Kyong An, 53

Young Sook An, 42, was assaulted, duct taped and kidnapped by her estranged husband on Sunday before being buried in a shallow grave

A Washington woman was stabbed, duct taped and buried in a shallow grave in the woods by her husband, before digging herself out and finding help.

Young Sook An, a 42-year-old woman from a suburb of Washington about 60 miles southwest of Seattle, was kidnapped by her husband on Sunday afternoon. The couple, who are divorcing, were fighting about money.

Her husband allegedly told her he would 'rather kill her than give her his retirement money.'

Chae Kyong An, 53, who does not live with the woman, but would stop by to do laundry, according to the couple's daughter, attacked his wife at the house he used to share with her at about 1.00pm on Sunday October 16.

An followed Young Sook into the bedroom where she had gone to change and attacked her.

He punched her and duct taped his wife's hands behind her back and placed tape across her eyes, thighs and ankles.

Young Sook was able to call 911 with her Apple watch and sent an emergency notification to her daughter, 20, and best friend, before being dragged by her husband to the garage and having her watch smashed with a hammer.

She was then dragged to the garage and put in An's 2006 Dodge Caravan.

Surveillance footage from a neighbor's house shows the van parked at the family home and then speeding off a little while later.

Young Sook told police she was bound and taken somewhere in the van where she could hear her husband digging in the dirt. He then stabbed her in the chest and put her in the ground.

The probable cause document reads that 'a heavy tree' was also 'put on top of her.'

'After being put in the ground she could hear her husband walking around the hole and dirt being put on top of her,' it continues.

She said her husband told her she was going to die.

Chae Kyong An, 53, has been held without bail since Wednesday. He faces charges of first degree attempted murder, first degree kidnapping and first degree assault

Young Sook An, 42, was allegedly beaten, duct taped, kidnapped and buried in a shallow grave by her estranged husband, with whom she is in the middle of a divorce

The couple previously shared a home together in the Washington suburb of Lacey, about 60 miles southwest of Seattle. An would still come by to do his laundry, according to the couple's daughter

Surveillance footage from a neighbor's house showed An's 2006 Dodge Caravan pulling into the garage Sunday afternoon and speeding off a little while later

Young Sook recalled to authorities struggling to breathe while inside the shallow grave and managing to keep dirt off her face by continually squirming around.

She estimated she was inside the shallow grave for several hours.

As the day turned to night, Young Sook said she was able to free herself from the duct tape.

Once the tape was off her eyes, she saw the van's window was steaming and a light was on inside.

She then got up and ran for about 30 minutes until she found a home.

According to court documents, she was found hiding behind the shed in the front yard of a property just before 1.00am on Monday October 17. The residents had called 911.

When police arrived and identified her as the missing female she exclaimed, 'My husband is still out in the woods somewhere!'

Investigators were later able to find the shallow grave at the edge of a clearing.

'The hole appeared to be freshly dug. Outside the hole was a piece of duct tape,' the report said.

According to a Thurston County Superior Court filing, when Young Sook ultimately escaped and called the police, she 'had duct tape still wrapped around her neck, lower face and ankles.'

'There was also extensive bruising to her legs, arms and head and her clothing and hair were covered in dirt.'

Young Sook told police she was put in the van and taken somewhere where she could hear her husband digging in the dirt

Police in Lacey, Washington responded to the woman's home Sunday afternoon after hearing the screams of a woman who sounded 'gagged' over a 911 call.

The responding officers found the empty home with signs of a disturbance inside.

The garage door had been left open and the door to the house was unlocked.

Neither of the couple's two children were initially present at the scene.

According to the probable cause report, the home has a 'history of domestic and violence.'

Sook Young's friend who received an emergency notification and was on the scene at the house when the police arrived told authorities that An had previously told his estranged wife, 'I'm not going down alone.'

Chae Kyong An is facing charges of first-degree attempted murder, first degree kidnapping and first-degree assault, though he has not yet been officially charged.

He was booked into county Jail Tuesday and has been held without bail since Wednesday.

Young Sook pleaded with the judge to keep her husband in jail. She described her husband as 'extremely smart,' having worked in intelligence for the US Military.

According to a statement by Young Sook - delivered on her behalf by her attorney in court - she has requested he continue to be held without bail.

'Please no bail. I am really afraid for my life. I just want to emphasize that I fear him so much and he will kill me again if he is out.'

Young Sook's attorney asked that her client's husband be held without bail citing the victim's intense fear that he will attempt to kill her again
He helped his wife Julia escape the burning home before running back inside

Tom Emberton saw his Edmonton home go up in flames in the early hours

Tom Emberton has died in a house fire after saving his wife

A former Kentucky appeals judge has died in a horror house fire after saving his wife when he rushed back into the blazing building.

Tom Emberton, 90, a one-time gubernatorial candidate, saw his home in Edmonton go up in flames at 3.30am last night.

He helped carry his wife Julia to safety before running back inside the house to save his possessions and put out the fire but died in the inferno.

The house was entirely consumed by fire and the exact circumstances surrounding it are unclear.

Emberton ran for governor of Kentucky in 1971 and was appointed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1987.

Edmonton mayor Doug Smith, who was a close friend and fishing partner of Emberton, paid tribute to him today.

He told WBKO: 'He heroically rescued his wife and got her to safety.

'Then he went back in to save his home and lost his life.

'Tom was just the greatest guy in the world to be around. He was infectious to everybody. He had a way about him that was really special.'

The one-time gubernatorial candidate, saw his home in Edmonton go up in flames at 3.30am last night

The house was entirely consumed by fire and the exact circumstances surrounding it are unclear

The judge had been married for 65 years and was a devoted father to two children and a grandfather to five.

He was re-elected to the Court of Appeals twice and served as chief judge of the appellate court until he retired in 2004.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell worked with Emberton on his gubernatorial campaign.

He said in a touching message that he was 'heartbroken' to hear of the loss.

The judge had been married for 65 years and was a devoted father to two children and a grandfather to five

He helped carry his wife Julia to safety before running back inside the house to save his possessions and died in the blaze

He was re-elected to the Court of Appeals twice and served as chief judge of the appellate court until he retired in 2004

The Republican said: 'Tom gave me one of my earliest experiences in the rough and tumble reality of political campaigning, hiring me to work on his 1971 gubernatorial campaign.

'He taught me valuable lessons on public service and running as a statewide Republican in Kentucky.

'Tom advocated for conservative values across our state and played a key role in organizing Kentucky Republicans at every level, paving the way for me and so many other conservatives to follow in his footsteps.

'Tom was a model gentleman, a devoted husband, and a wonderful father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.

'Our prayers are with Julia Lee, their children Laura and Tom Jr., their five grandchildren, and the entire Emberton family in this difficult time.'
Alex Murdaugh waited an hour to phone 911 after shooting his wife and son dead and was caught on camera at the murder scene, according to bombshell new evidence that prosecutors say will seal his guilt.

Murdaugh is accused of murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul at the family's home in South Carolina last June.

He is preparing for trial, and is also facing 80 separate charges for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from his own law firm and from the family of his late housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield.

Murdaugh, 52, denies murder. He has claimed that he thinks his cousin, Curtis Eddie Smith, is to blame for shooting Maggie and Paul.

Alex Murdaugh, 52, is accused of murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul last June at the family's home. He denies the killings

Maggie and Paul were found shot dead on the family's property. Alex called 911 at around 10pm claiming he'd just found them. Prosecutors say that's a lie

Smith is the man he is also accused of hiring to shoot him in the back of the head in a failed attempted life insurance scam; Murdaugh wanted to stage his own murder to secure a life insurance payout for his only surviving son, Buster.

Murdaugh is trying to pin the murders on his distant cousin, Curtis Eddie Smith

For the first time yesterday in court, prosecutors described evidence that they said nails Murdaugh to the scene of the crime, when it happened.

They say they have video evidence of him arriving at the property at 8:44 p.m., then was filmed 'firing up his car and leaving' at 9.06pm.

It took another hour for him to call 911 reporting them dead.

The prosecution did not clarify yesterday at the hearing if Murdaugh returned to the property to make the call, or if video showed anyone else arriving at the home between 9.06pm and 10pm, when the call was made.

His attorneys insist he is not guilty of the murders.

They say it was Curtis Eddie Smith, the distant cousin and would-be hitman.

They are yet to present any evidence that Smith was at the home on the night of the murders, but they say the fact that he failed a polygraph test about the killings implicates him.

Maggie and Paul were found shot dead near these dog kennels on the family's home in Islandton, South Carolina

Murdaugh's defense has proposed the theory that Smith killed Maggie and Paul in a panic after discovering an illicit affair between Maggie and an unnamed groundskeeper.

In court filings on Wednesday, prosecutors said that theory was not only untrue but 'salacious' and 'insulting' to his late wife's memory.

They content that Murdaugh killed his wife and son after swindling millions of dollars and all but losing the family fortune.

The Murdaugh family had been a pillar of the community in Islandton - many previous generations of men had served in local politics and as prosecutors.

Before she was murdered, Maggie had been left red-faced after writing checks for charity luncheons that later bounced.




President Yoon Suk-yeol said Friday police should uphold the legal order in every sector of society in order to help people fully enjoy safety and freedom.







"Only when police protect the lives and property of people and set right the legal order in every sector of society will people enjoy full freedom," Yoon said in a congratulatory message on the 77th Police Day.







Yoon said the safety of people is a foundation of the government's commitment to freedom.







"Without the belief that the law will be upheld, neither peaceful daily life nor dazzling prosperity can be achieved," Yoon said.







Yoon also called for police to make more efforts to root out crimes against socially vulnerable people, including child abuse, stalking, scams and drug offenses.







With regard to crimes against children and stalking, Yoon said, "The nation needs to step forward more quickly."







Relevant authorities should set up a "pan-governmental safety net" to protect victims and prevent the recurrence of such crimes, Yoon said.



Yoon noted that police need to cooperate with relevant institutions and the international society to eradicate drug crimes.



Yoon said the government will spare no efforts to help police enhance their capabilities with technology, including location tracking of victims and unmanned patrol robots. (Yonhap)


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Steve Bannon, a former top adviser to Donald Trump, was sentenced Friday morning to four months in prison and a $6,500 fine for criminal contempt of Congress after defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee.

The judge will hold off on imposing the sentence if Bannon files an appeal before Nov. 15, which his team has signaled he is ready to do.

Bannon attorney David Schoen promised a 'bulletproof' appeal upon exiting the court.

'Today was my judgment day,' Bannon said on leaving court. 'On November 8th its going to be judgment day on the illegitimate Biden regime and quite frankly, Nancy Pelosi and the entire committee.'

'Either they've already been turfed out like Liz Cheney .... or they're about to be beaten.'

'The Biden administration ends on the evening of the 8th of November,' Bannon said, then predicting Attorney General Merrick Garland would be impeached by a Republican Congress.

'Merrick Garland will end up being the first attorney general that's brought up on charges of impeachment. He will be removed from office.'

Judge Carl Nichols agreed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) that Bannon had showed 'no remorse' for his actions and 'attacked the select committee at every turn.'

He said that Bannon has 'yet to demonstrate that he has any intention to comply with the subpoena.'

He knocked down Bannon's argument of executive privilege, noting that Bannon was a private citizen in the lead up to the insurrection. 'Some of the information sought by the subpoena is information under which no conceivable claim of executive privilege could've been made,' Nichols said.

Schoen tore into Trump attorney Justin Clark, who was interviewed for the prosecution and said Trump never invoked executive privilege over Bannon's January 6 testimony.

'He is nothing but a thug. I wouldn't believe a thing he says, one of what one might call the Three Stooges He has lied to me personally. He has ripped me off personally.'

Bannon speaks to the media as he arrives at federal court to be sentenced on October 21, 2022 in Washington, DC

Bannon carried a copy of Friday's Financial Times into the courtroom with him

However the judge noted that Bannon did appear to simply be following legal advice, and noted he had some engagement with the committee. 'Bannon did not completely ignore the subpoena or fail to engage with the committee at all.'

He said the fact that the committee did not go to court to try to enforce the subpoena but immediately went to criminal prosecution 'cuts in Bannon's favor.'

But, the judge noted the importance of honoring the authority of Congress and said 'others must be deterred from committing similar crime.'

Asked for reaction to the Bannon sentencing, President Biden told reporters: 'I never have a reaction to Steve Bannon.'

As he walked into the courthouse Friday morning, Bannon told a group of reporters: 'Remember this is an illegitimate regime. Their judgment day is on the 8th of November when the Biden administration ends.'

'By the way, and remember: Take down the CCP,' Bannon added, comparing the Biden administration to the Chinese Communist Party.

The Trump strategist did not speak during his sentencing.

Bannon, 68, is the first Trump ally to be sent to prison for being tied to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He was the first figure to be found guilty of contempt of Congress since Attorney General Richard Kleindienst and Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy were convicted in 1974.

The charge is only a misdemeanor, but DOJ had recommended a six month prison sentence and $200,000 fine, with prosecutors claiming that he showed 'bad faith' in approaching the subpoena. Bannon's attorney had asked for probation.

Each of the two counts of contempt of Congress he faces have a minimum 30 days prison sentence and fine between $100 and $100,000.

'In my view the statute sets out a mandatory minimum of one month and a mandatory maximum of 12 months,' the judge said.

Trump rat makes an appearance outside DC courthouse as Bannon sentencing begins

Bannon spoke with Trump at least twice on January 5, attended a planning meeting at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. and said on his podcast, 'all hell is going to break loose tomorrow,' according to J6 committee

Schoen argued there is no one month minimum for the contempt charges, but Nichols asserted the minimum.

Schoen argued that Bannon was solely following the constitution when he asserted executive privilege precluded him from testifying. The defense was unapologetic.

'Quite frankly, Mr. Bannon should make no apology. No American should make an apology for the way Mr. Bannon proceeded in this case,' Schoen said. 'There is nothing here to deter. There is nothing here to punish.'

The defense claimed prosecutors were showing 'zeal to make Mr. Bannon their trophy.'

A jury convicted Bannon after just three hours of deliberations for refusing to testify or offer documents to the January 6 committee in July.

One day before Bannon was found guilty, the committee played a clip of the strategist saying that Trump planned to declare victory in 2020 no matter what the results were.

According to the committee, Bannon spoke with Trump at least twice on January 5, attended a planning meeting at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. and said on his podcast, 'all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.'

Another Trump adviser, Peter Navarro, has been charged with contempt of Congress after defying a subpoena and stands trial in November. Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former social media director Dan Scavino were referred by the House for contempt of Congress, but the DOJ declined to mount a prosecution.
Virginia Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria accused her Republican rival of wanting to kiss House Minority Leader McCarthy's 'feet, ring and every other thing'  in a slam her rival called a 'disgusting' attack.

Luria, who won a GOP-leaning district in 2018, is in a tight race with her Republican rival, Jen Kiggans, a state senator.

The two faced off in a debate in Smithfield, Va., where Luria, a member of the House January 6 committee, accused Republicans of wanting high gas prices as a political issue.

'They just want gas prices to stay high so they can win the election,' she said, sitting just feet away from Kiggans.

Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) accused her Republican rival of kissing Rep. Kevin McCarthy's 'feet, ring and every other thing'

'And Kevin McCarthy wants to be speaker, who she says she'll vote for, and go kiss his feet and his ring. And every other thing,' she said with a pause.

That prompted a furious response from Kiggans, a former Navy helicopter pilot. Luria is herself a Navy vet, in a district that includes Hampton Roads, Virginia.

'This is what's wrong with politics,' Kiggans wrote, retweeting a clip of the exchange. 'My opponent resorts to disgusting and unhinged attacks because she can't defend her record of voting with Nancy Pelosi 99% of the time. It's insulting as a woman and it's absolutely repulsive,' she said.

Luria started off the attack by pointing to comments McCarthy made to Punchbowl news referencing gas prices, and saying 'August was not a good month for Republicans.'

'This woman wants your gas prices to be high,' she said of her opponent.

Luria is a tough race to hold onto her Hampton Roads-based district

She said her rival would be lackey to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who could become speaker

Virginia State Sen. Jen Kiggans is hoping to unseat Luria in a tough year for Democrats

A spokeswoman told Fox News Luria was 'too polite' to call her rival an ass-kisser.

'Though she spent 20 years in the Navy, the Congresswoman was too polite to say Jen Kiggans is an a** kisser at the debate,' campaign spokesperson Jayce Genco said, while rapping the network for asking. 'Kiggans has made clear that she is in lockstep with Kevin McCarthy to end Medicare as it currently exists and cut Social Security.'

The attack came days after Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan accused rival Republican JD vance of having 'kissed [Donald Trump's] ass'  after Trump himself made a similar comment on stage.

Ryan pointed out Vance's earlier comments before swinging to support Trump calling him 'America's Hitler. Then he kissed his ass.'

He was riffing of a rally in Youngstown where Trump himself quipped that 'J.D. is kissing my ass.'
A serving police officer who raped a girl under the age of 13 then wiped his phone to delete evidence was branded a 'disgrace' by a judge as he was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

James Ford, 31, of Hertfordshire Police, was found guilty of 10 counts of sexual abuse against the same child following an earlier trial at Cambridge Crown Court.

The judge in the case, Mr Justice Simon Bryan, described it as a 'horrific catalogue of serious sexual offending against a young child'.

Addressing the defendant, the judge said: 'As a serving police officer you, of all people, should have protected society against sexual abusers, and you acted as a perpetrator of such vile crimes yourself.'

The girl's mother described Ford as a 'disgusting excuse of a human being', and said her daughter was 'no longer the happy, sociable girl she was before', in a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Isobel Ascherson.

James Ford, 31, of Hertfordshire Police, was found guilty of 10 counts of sexual abuse against the same child following an earlier trial at Cambridge Crown Court

Addressing Ford, the judge said: 'As a serving police officer you, of all people, should have protected society against sexual abusers, and you acted as a perpetrator of such vile crimes yourself'

Ford, formerly of Bishop's Stortford, was also found guilty of intending to pervert the course of public justice, in that he 'deliberately wiped his phone by factory resetting his Samsung Mobile phone'.

The judge said that jurors were satisfied that Ford had wiped his phone as he 'knew or suspected material relating to the offences' was on it.

He said this was consistent with the girl's evidence that Ford was 'pointing (his) phone at her while acts of sexual abuse were going on'.

The judge described the girl's evidence as 'incredibly credible', adding: 'Her graphic descriptions of your offending are as harrowing as they are convincing.'

He told Ford he was a 'disgrace to your office'.

The judge sentenced Ford to 18 years and three months in prison with an extended licence period of one year.

The defendant must serve two thirds of the custodial term before he can be deemed eligible for release on licence.

Ford, formerly of Bishop's Stortford, was also found guilty of intending to pervert the course of public justice, in that he 'deliberately wiped his phone by factory resetting his Samsung Mobile phone'

He was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order until further order and given a restraining order in respect of the girl.

The bearded defendant showed no reaction as he was led to the cells.

Ford was found guilty of four counts of rape, four of sexual assault and two of causing or inciting a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity.

The offences, which had been denied by the defendant, happened between 2019 and 2021.

Hertfordshire Police said Ford, who joined the force in December 2019 and was originally based in East Hertfordshire as a uniformed response officer, was suspended from duties last November.

In the victim statement, the girl's mother said: 'You should be able to trust a police officer.'

She described Ford as a 'disgusting excuse of a human being', adding: 'No prison sentence is ever going to be long enough for what happened.'

Ford was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order until further order and given a restraining order in respect of the girl

The woman described her child as a 'sweet, innocent, chatty, friendly girl' but said that she is 'no longer the happy, sociable girl she was before'.

'No child should have to go through what she has,' she said.

Fiona Robertson, mitigating, said Ford has no previous convictions.

'He has only himself to blame but these convictions mean he's irrevocably lost his career,' she said, adding that his former career as a police officer and the 'nature of the allegations will cause him difficulty in prison'.

Hertfordshire Police said that when allegations emerged, the case was independently investigated by specialist officers based within the Child Abuse Investigation and Safeguarding Unit (CAISU) at Cambridgeshire Police.

The matter was also referred to police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, and the force's Professional Standards Department.

Hertfordshire Assistant Chief Constable Genna Telfer said she was 'disgusted' by Ford's actions, adding: 'He will face a fast track hearing for dismissal.'
For years, Cole had a lesion growing on his brain - separate from a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia - that impacted his movement and social interactions

His attorneys previously argued that Cole was severely mentally ill and not competent for execution

Cole, who said he hoped his spirit would return to his 'Father in Heaven,' referred to himself as 'just a super-duper hyperbolic Jesus freak'

Prior to his execution, Cole requested a 'religious meal' consisting of vegetarian lasagna, salad, a tortilla and a fruit drink packet

He was convicted of brutally killing his infant daughter in 2002

Benjamin Cole, 57, was executed by the state of Oklahoma Thursday morning

Benjamin Cole, who was executed by the state of Oklahoma Thursday morning for the 2002 killing of his 9-month-old daughter, did not request a traditional last meal.

The 57-year-old, who died by lethal injection, was given a 'religious meal' consisting of vegetarian lasagna, salad, a tortilla and a fruit packet, according to The Oklahoman.

Cole, who said he hoped his spirit would return to his 'Father in Heaven,' also referred to himself as 'just a super-duper hyperbolic Jesus freak.'

As his last words, Cole delivered a two-minute religious ramble that included the words 'choose Jesus while you still can,' and 'keep your eyes peeled  Be ready at all times.'

He asked that Jesus 'receive my spirit.'

Cole was pronounced dead at 10.22am Central Time after declining to have a spiritual advisor in the room. He did not want his attorneys in the witness room.

His attorneys had previously argued that Cole was mentally ill and not competent to be executed.

Benjamin Robert Cole, 57, was killed by the state of Oklahoma Thursday morning after being convicted of the 2002 murder of his infant daughter

Cole's attorneys unsuccessfully argued for clemency for the murderer due to severe mental illness and a continually growing lesion on his brain that impacted his problem solving, movement and social interactions

Brianna Cole was tragically killed by her father in on December 20, 2002. She was nine months old

Cole was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and, according to his attorneys, is 'incapacitated by his mental illness to the point of being essentially non-functional.'

Attorneys for the state and members of the victim's family, however, have said that symptoms of Cole's mental illness are exaggerated, and that the brutality of his daughter's killing merited the death penalty.

Five days before Christmas in 2002, Brianna Cole was murdered by her father, who forcibly bent the infant backwards until her spine broke and her aorta tore. Prosecutors said Cole was angry that her cries were interrupting his video game playing.

Cole's was the sixth execution carried out in Oklahoma since October 2021 when the state recommenced the practice.

In the execution chamber, Cole did not express direct remorse for the killing of his baby but did reference 'everyone that I have done wrong.'

His attorney's, however, argued Cole was both severely mentally ill and had a growing lesion on his brain that gradually worsened as he sat in prison.

The lesion impacted the parts of his brain that dealt with problem solving, movement and social interaction. The sort of lesion he has is often associated with Parkinsonism disease.

While awaiting execution on death row, Cole reportedly neglected his personal hygiene and refused medical attention. He hoarded food and barely communicated with other prisoners or prison staff.

His attorney, Katrina Conrad-Leger, said his 'condition has continued to decline over the course of this year.'

Cole's attorneys argued he was living in a near catatonic state and that they had not had meaningful interaction with him for years. They said he was unable to comprehend why the state of Oklahoma wanted to kill him

Cole died by lethal injection. He was the sixth inmate to die in Oklahoma after the state recommenced the practice in 2021

According to his clemency petition, Cole lived in an all-but 'catatonic' state.

'His own attorneys have not been able to have a meaningful interaction with him for years, and the staff who interact with him in the prison every day confirm that he cannot communicate or take care of his most basic hygiene. He simply does not have a rational understanding of why Oklahoma seeks to execute him,' said attorney Tom Bird.

His attorneys pointed to an 'evolving standard of decency' when it comes to executions of the mentally ill.

'At this moment, Oklahoma has the opportunity to exhibit courage, to follow these standards, and to be on the right side of history by prohibiting the execution of Benjamin Cole, a severely mentally ill and physically infirm person,' they wrote.

But the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 last month to deny clemency and earlier in October, a district judge ruled he was competent to be executed.

The curtain went up in the execution chamber at 10.04am Central Time several minutes late.

The lethal injection itself took 16 minutes to complete. At one moment during the process, Cole opened his eyes, trembled slightly and yawned as the poison flowed through his veins.

Cole's attorneys said his mental state seriously disintegrated over the course of his time in prison to the extent that he was non-functional by the time of his death

Cole, on Thursday, became one in a series of more than 24 executions that Oklahoma is in the process of carrying out

Two appeals to the US Supreme Court were rejected also this week and so the execution went forward Thursday morning.

A separate case filed Wednesday argued that Oklahoma's execution protocol is unconstitutional because of, among other things, a number of issues that have occurred inside the death chamber.

A federal appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling from earlier this year that the state's execution protocol is constitutional.

'Oklahomas earlier problems in the execution chamber are not enough to show that future similar problems are imminent,' read the opinion from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Furthermore, the state and family of victim Brianna Cole argued that symptoms of Cole's mental incompetence have been overstated.

Assistant Attorney General Tessa Henry told the clemency panel that Cole murdered his child because he was angry that her cries were interrupting his video game playing.

In a taped confession to the police, Cole admitted he caused his daughter's fatal injuries and said he would 'regret his actions for the rest of his life.'

Twice during his initial trial, Cole's attorneys called for competency evaluations due to their client's religious delusions and irrational behavior. He had not yet been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was found competent to stand trial.

Prior to his trial, prosecutors offered him a plea deal that would have resulted in a life sentence without parole, which he rejected - a decision his more recent team of attorneys called a 'complete act of irrationality against self-interest.'

Prosecutors flagged that the infant had a number of injuries consistent with a history of abuse and that Cole had previously served time in prison in California for aggravated child abuse of a son from his first marriage.

Emotional testimony from the family of baby Brianna was also presented to the board.

Her aunt, Donna Daniel, said that the first time she got to see her infant niece was in her casket.

'Do you know how horrible it is to see a nine-month-old baby in a casket?' she asked.

'This baby deserves justice. Our family deserves justice.'

Cole's execution was originally intended to take place in 2015, but the state halted the practice to investigate a drug mix-up.
Leilani Simon is the main suspect in the disappearance of her 18-month-old son Quinton Simon, who vanished on October 5

One-year-old Quinton Simon has been missing since October 5

The uncle of missing Quinton Simon says he cannot support his sister as the search continues for her 18-month-old son.

Joe Swain is the brother of Leilani Simon, 22, who has been named as the primary suspect in her son Quinton's disappearance.

'I don't side with my sister at all. She's on her own in this mess,' Swain said in a Facebook message.

Quinton vanished on October 5 but police have yet to arrest Leilani, nor will they say how they think she killed him, but they believe he is dead.

Leilani and her mother, Billie Jo Howell, were spotted at Sting Ray's, a beach bar in the nearby vacation town of Tybee Island in Georgia, drowning their sorrows this week while the FBI was searching through landfills for the boy.

Swain did, however, defend his mother Billie Jo, and said she needs 'peace and quiet' and hit out at 'protestors surrounding her house day in and day out.'

'Sorry she had dinner on Tybee with two of her friends that drug her out the house to get her some peace as if the stress alone isn't killing her already,' he said, defending his mother's beach bar outing.

On Friday, the Chatham County Police Department shared photos of the team sorting through tons of garbage. Authorities said they will be stepping down over the weekend to maintain the health of the search team, and will resume on Monday.

Joe Swain is the brother of Leilani Simon. He said in a Facebook message, 'I don't side with my sister at all. She's on her own in this mess'

Leilani Simon, 22, is the main suspect in the disappearance of her 18-month-old son Quinton Simon, who vanished on October 5

Swain defended his mother Billie Jo, and said she needs 'peace and quiet' and hit out at 'protestors surrounding her house day in and day out.' 'Sorry she had dinner on Tybee with two of her friends that drug her out the house to get her some peace as if the stress alone isn't killing her already,' he said

While Leilani and her mother were drinking, agents were searching this landfill for any signs of little Quinton's remains

The Chatham County Police Department shared photos of the team sorting through tons of garbage as they search for little Quinton

On Tuesday, authorities started the grim process of searching a landfill near the family's home in Savannah, Georgia, for little Quinton's body.

At the same time, the mother-daughter-duo spent around three hours at the bar, sitting outside in a large group, downing Patron shots and pestering their server to drink with them.

Quinton's grandmother, Billie Jo, had legal custody of him. Her son said, 'She's a loving and caring woman with a beautiful heart'

Swain said that the characterization that his mother and sister were 'partying' or at a 'vacation spot' is incorrect.

'I know my mother better than anyone on the planet and I mean anyone. She's a loving and caring woman with a beautiful heart.'

He added, 'Right now all we can do is sit and wait and pray they recover him so we can serve justice to him.'

A worker at the restaurant told DailyMail.com, 'Eventually someone tried to get them to leave, they were really uncomfortable with them being there.

'You'd think they would be quiet but they weren't.

'It was like they wanted attention.

'There were around six of them in the group.

'They were drinking Patron... a top-shelf tequila.

'They were here from around 5pm until 8pm.'

Others told WSAV that they ran up a $300 bar tab and were flirting with the staff.

Police have already been in contact with the bar to request the surveillance footage of their three-hour drinking session.

After details of Leilani's outing at the bar emerged on Wednesday, the local police department tweeted a photo of their landfill search for Quinton.

'We're not ready to charge anyone, yet. We still have work to do.

'We still have an investigation to do, and we're not going to do anything pre-emptively that would harm future prosecution,' the department said, quoting Chief Jeff Hadley.

The bar was running a two-for-one cocktail promotion last night, which they may well have taken advantage of.

The pair decamped to The Sandcastle Inn, a $64-a-night motel across the street from Sting Ray's, and 35 miles from the town where Quinton was last seen alive.

Authorities started the grim process of searching a landfill near the family's home in Savannah, Georgia, for little Quinton's body. But Leilani and her mother, Billie Jo Jowell, were at Sting Ray's, a beach bar in the nearby vacation town of Tybee Island, drowning their sorrows

The @WSAV Investigative Unit has learned as federal agents were ending their first day of searching for #QuintonSimon in a dump, his mom and grandmother were taking shots and drinking at a popular Tybee Island beach bar. pic.twitter.com/iQ1nXxFSGO  Brett Buffington (@BrettWSAV) October 19, 2022

On Friday, the Chatham County Police Department shared photos of the team sorting through tons of garbage. Authorities said they will be stepping down over the weekend to maintain the health of the search team, and will resume on Monday

Local WSAV reporter Brett Buffington tweeted on Wednesday that Billie Jo, Quinton's grandmother who had legal custody of him, complained to police that she'd become 'annoyed' with the media attention.

He obtained a photo of Leilani after her drinking session.

Leilani was arrested in 2021 for theft. She's pictured in a mugshot

Quinton's mother had lost custody of him and his brother, and had just been ordered by the state to start paying child support when Quinton vanished.

A week beforehand, she was told she'd need to cough up $150-a-month for the boys. If one of them died, that bill would be reduced by $50.

On October 5, Quinton's mother claims she woke up at 9.30am and found the door of the house open.

Quinton, she said, was nowhere to be found.

His stepfather, Daniel Youngkin, told police he last saw the boy at 6am that morning. The family quickly fell under suspicion.

Quinton's babysitter immediately voiced her concern over his disappearance.

She said she thought it was strange that hours before he was reported missing, she was told not to come to work that day to look after him.

Chatham County Police Department have refused to give details of why they think Leilani killed the boy, much less why they have yet to arrest her.

Last week, they admitted not even knowing where she was.

When Quinton first disappeared, Billie Jo told local reporters that her daughter - who she'd previously evicted - 'didn't always do the right thing'

The pair decamped to The Sandcastle Inn, a $64-a-night motel across the street from Sting Ray's, and 35 miles from the town where Quinton was last seen alive

Her nonchalant behavior since his death has eerie hallmarks of Casey Anthony, who was spotted dancing in a bar four days after her daughter Caylee vanished in 2005.

Casey was found not guilty in 2011 - a decision that shocked and outraged America.

Billie Jo has a long rap sheet that includes prior arrests for prostitution, cocaine possession and assault.

When Quinton first disappeared, she told local reporters that her daughter - who she'd previously evicted - 'didn't always do the right thing.'

When Quinton's worried babysitter spoke out about her concerns for the boy, Billie Jo confronted her angrily.

She stormed into her house and demanded that she stop speaking publicly about their family.

Police in Chatham County say they are not yet ready to charge Leilani, or anyone else, in the boy's death.

They say they are pacing their investigation so as not to jeopardize the chance of conviction.
A woman claiming, she was abused by her GP said he told her it was best for her to see him for examinations because he had 'small hands and it wouldn't hurt.'

Manish Shah, 53, is accused of abusing eight women, including two teenagers, at Mawney Road medical practice in Romford, east London.

The alleged abuse took place between October 2009 and July 2013, with accusers claiming the doctor would persuade them to have unnecessary appointments.

One alleged victim, who appeared at the Old Bailey in London this afternoon, said Shah would call her in for internal examinations for sexually transmitted diseases between 'every six to eight weeks'.

Local GP Manish Shah, 53, (pictured) is accused of abusing eight women, including two teenagers, at Mawney Road medical practice in Romford, east London

The woman told prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones she had been attending Shah's clinic since she was a child.

She told the jury she thought at first, she was being supported by Shah.

The prosecutor asked her 'what did you think of Dr Shah back then' to which she replied 'I thought he was a good doctor. He would go above and beyond.'

When asked by the prosecutor whether that impression remained, she said it did not.

She said: 'I started to have doubts in my head'

'How many times I had been checked. The nature of them. He always seemed to prolong. At first, I felt supported by him. The more appointments I had, I didn't feel the intentions were legit if that makes sense.'

The alleged victim told the prosecutor the doctor would see her for 'sexually transmitted checks' requiring 'internal examinations.

When asked how often the check-ups were, she told the court: 'Every six to eight weeks. He would suggest I come back.'

When asked if she questioned the appointments she said 'no, I trusted him'.

The prosecution said Shah was 'well regarded' as a GP at the Mawney Road medical practice in Romford, east London, (pictured)

She added: 'At first I thought it was normal.

'Over time...how often I was having them did become a concern. It took me a while to work that out.'

Since switching doctors, the alleged victim said appointments have been 'very quick, very appropriate' and 'very professional' compared with Shah.

She added: 'He would ask me about my parents, how my family was. He would ask me about school, relationships, what I was interested in at the time.'

The woman was also questioned by Dominic Benthall who is defending the accused doctor.

He asked: 'Looking back, do you think he might have been talking to you, because you were a child, to assess your level of maturity?'

The woman replied: 'No. it was more about what I was doing with my life. It wasn't targeted at my level of understanding. It was to befriend me. That's how I feel.

'I didn't have much experience with doctors. I didn't know what to compare it to.'

Asked if she recalled Shah joking during vaginal examinations she said: 'He said it was most comfortable to come to him as his hands were small and it wouldn't hurt.'

Shah, from Romford, denies 23 counts of assault by penetration and 18 counts of sexual assault.

Earlier during the trial, the court heard he was a 'well regarded' doctor who was often 'booked out'.

On Wednesday, the court heard that Shah had advised women, to have the 'invasive' examinations because of a medical need or family history of cancer.

Opening the trial, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC said: 'This case concerns sexual assaults by a doctor upon his patients.

'He took advantage of his position to persuade women to have invasive vaginal examinations, breast examinations, intimate examinations when there was no medical need for them to be conducted.

Prosecutors at the Old Bailey in London (pictured) conducted many invasive vaginal and breast examinations 'for his own sexual gratification'

'Outwardly giving the appearance of conducting apparently medically compliant examinations, he was, in fact, conducting many of the examinations he performed for his own sexual gratification.'

During one incident, he allegedly left a woman naked from the waist down while he leaned his head on his hand resting on her leg.

Ms Karmy-Jones said there were 'apparent lies within the medical notes made by the defendant, seemingly to justify the examination he went on to conduct'.

'For example, the suggestion that the patient had requested an examination, when in fact Mr Shah has spent some efforts persuading the patient of the apparent medical need for the examination or suggesting that they had a family history of cancer,' she added.

'In the medical notes, these appointments are entered with the short hand 'req', which might stand for 'requested' or 'required'.'

Shah 'exposed the women to the risk of false positives and unnecessary biopsies' by flouting NHS guidelines on giving smear tests to asymptomatic women under the age of 25, the court was told.

He also gave routine breast examinations on asymptomatic women under the age of 50, causing 'unnecessary follow-on treatment and concomitant worry', the jury heard.

The intrusive internal bimanual vaginal and breast examinations were not 'medically justified or necessary' and were carried out despite 'repeated expressions of concern from other GPs in the practice', prosecutors argued.

The trial continues.
Some San Fernando Valley residents believe there should be a curfew for the PJs, which currently fly in and takeoff at all hours of the day and night

Area residents are upset about the constant noise and air pollution generated by the airport, especially as private jet usage has become more popular

Celebrities including members of the Kardashian clan, Travis Scott, Bennifer 2.0, Gwen Stefani, George Clooney and many more use the airport regularly

The Van Nuys airport is the single most heavily trafficked destination in Los Angeles for private jets, and one of the most heavily trafficked in the world

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The Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, California has become one of the hottest spots in the country for private jet takeoffs and landings, much to the chagrin of local residents who complain about ever-increasing amounts of noise and air pollution.

The likes of Kylie Jenner, Travis Scott, George Clooney, Britney Spears, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, and any other number of celebrities and Los Angeles VIPs use Van Nuys as a launchpad for their fabulous lives.

But residents of the central San Fernando Valley, which borders the airport, are subjected to the constant sound, smell and environmental impact of jet engines running as planes prepare for take-off.

The issue has gotten so bad that some residents are demanding curfews for the jet engines that pollute their skies at all hours of the day and night.

According to the airport's own noise and operations monitoring system, a jet takes off or lands once every seven minutes.

The A-lister looked exuberant as she showed off new elements of her custom acquisition

Ben Affleck escorts wife Jennifer Lopez onto a private jet at the Van Nuys airport ahead of his 50th birthday celebration this summer

Khloe Kardashian de-planes a private jet at the Van Nuys airport in Los Angeles, California. Members of the ultra-famous reality tv family are some of the worst polluters when it comes to private jet usage

Pop icon Gwen Stefani returns to Los Angeles via PJ after a visit to husband Blake Shelton's home state of Oklahoma

Van Nuys airport is an extremely popular location for celebrities and other show business executives and personalities to jet in and out of on their various travels. Some - like the Kardashians - have used Van Nuys as a launch pad for flights that are less than 50 miles.

Residents of the areas of the San Fernando Valley that surround the Van Nuys airport complain of the constant noise and air pollution caused by the private jet usage of the rich and famous

While members of the Kardashian clan and Bennifer 2.0 selfie from the runway, residents in nearby houses are breathing in pollutants emitted during jet operations that have been linked to various health conditions.

Not to mention having conversations constantly interrupted by the roar of jet engines owned and operated by the rich and famous.

Some are residents say the constant stream of pollution and gassy smells have negatively impacted the area to the extent that they won't let their children play outside when engines are running.

'I can't let my son out. When the fumes come out, I have to bring him inside,' one area resident who is planning to move told the LA Times.

Over the summer, Kylie Jenner was reprimanded by her followers after she posted a black-and-white picture making out with beau Travis Scott in between their private jets.

'You wanna take mine or yours?' she captioned the post.

Her jet is reportedly worth close to $60 million.

That day, the Twitter account Celebrity Jets reported Jenner's plane took off from the Van Nuys airport and flew less than 50 miles to an airport in Camarillo, California.

A single private jet emits as much carbon dioxide in an hour as the average person does in an entire year, with private flights offering 14 times more pollution (per passenger) than a commercial plane.

Recently, British marketing agency Yard compiled a list of the worst celebrity polluters.

Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Oprah and Tom Cruise topped the list of worst offenders.

Kim Kardashian even recently offered a tour of her custom, cashmere-lined private jet on an episode of the family's new Hulu show.

Kylie Jenner makes out with her boyfriend Travis Scott in front of their two private jets. She captioned the shot on Instagram, 'you wanna take mine or yours?'

Kylie Jenner's Jet Took off from Van Nuys, California, US. Going to Camarillo, California, US (KCMA, Camarillo International Airport). pic.twitter.com/TCTMm3gTFJ  Celebrity Jets (@CelebJets) July 15, 2022

The reality superstar was named one of the most egregious users of her private jet in a list that measured the environmental impact various celebrities make with their globe trotting habits

The Van Nuys airport is the single most heavily trafficked destination in Los Angeles for private jets to take off and land

Some area residents of neighborhoods like Lake Balboa, which borders Van Nuys airport, won't allow their children to play outside when engines are roaring and jet gases are pouring into their backyards

The surrounding area of the San Fernando Valley has been significantly impacted by the increase in private plane usage out of the Van Nuys airport. Noise and air pollution have reached new heights in the area and conversations are regularly interrupted by the sound of PJ engines rumbling

Britney Spears and now-husband Sam Asghari arrive at Van Nuys airport after celebrating the pop queen's 40th birthday in Cabo San Lucas

Private jet usage has exploded in recent years and became especially popular during the pandemic, ballooning by more than 300% during the first year of COVID-19 alone.

Across the globe, private jet flights increased by 16% between August 2019 and August 2022 to more than 300,000 per month.

That increase is hitting Los Angeles just as hard if not harder than the rest of the world and Van Nuys is the single most popular airport for private jet takeoffs in the densely populated West Coast city.

One major reason for the increased popularity in PJ flights is the so-called democratization of the private airline space.

Part ownership of a jet and private charters, on which an individual can purchase a single seat, have made flying private more accessible - though still significantly more expensive than the commercial alternative.

Van Nuys does not operate as a commercial airport, but by-the-seat charters on specific sorts of aircrafts are permitted to operate by the FAA out of airports like Van Nuys, creating a loophole that has led to more jet traffic there.

Suzanne Gutierrez-Hedges, a resident of Lake Balboa, said the loophole 'turned Van Nuys into a commercial airport.'

'We die so the 1% can fly!' she said.

Guttierez says a concrete curfew for PJ usage would offset the damage done to the surrounding communities.

The airport currently keeps recommended 'quieter night' hours, which was implemented to limit takeoffs and landing between 11.00pm and 7.00am. But the program is voluntary and mostly ignored.

Los Angeles is now home to sets that look like the interior of private jets, where influencers, brands and other entertainment-related professionals can go to shoot content that makes it appear as though they they are on private jets

The downtown LA set can be rented for $50 an hour, or less if you're renting for the whole day

In the glamorous and materialistic world of Los Angeles, private jets have become such a necessary status symbol that even for those unable to make the financing work, there is now a set in downtown LA designed to look like the interior of a private jet.

It's available for about $50 an hour (and a cheaper rate if you buy it out for the day) for fashion shoots, filming, and Instagram shoots.
An ex-soldier has had his record 3m trench foot compensation claim against the MoD thrown out after a judge today found he was lying about the severity of his injuries.

Brian Muyepa, 34, has been left facing 180,000 in lawyers' bills after falsely claiming severe 'non-freezing cold injuries' - more commonly known as trench foot - left him walking 'like a penguin.'

He had insisted that his injury left him so disabled that he was reduced to shuffling about and relying on a walking stick or his wife to help him get around.

But footage posted on Facebook, which showing him dancing to loud music at a barbecue and seemingly walking 'normally' at a friend's wedding party in Nottingham, raised doubts about the credibility of his claim.

Now Mr Justice Cotter, at London's High Court, has thrown out his claim and handed him a 180,000 legal costs bill after finding him guilty of 'fundamental dishonesty' for 'hugely exaggerating' his injuries.

Ex-soldier Brian Muyepa, 34, has had his record 3m trench foot compensation claim against the MoD thrown out after a judge today found he was lying about the severity of his injuries

Mr Muyepa, who was based at Salisbury, had sued the MoD for around 3m compensation - thought to be the highest ever damages claimed for trench foot.

The former Royal Artillery gunner's case revolved around a promotion exercise he attended in Sennybridge, Wales, in March 2016.

During the exercise, he spent time in a cold water-filled tunnel, but then had to continue for another five-and-a-half hours afterwards in wet boots.

He was later diagnosed with non-freezing cold injury, a disabling condition which is characterised by pain in the extremities and an oversensitivity to cold.

Most commonly experienced by servicemen, it was first noted in the trenches of Europe during the First World War, resulting in its more commonly used description as 'trench foot.'

My Muyepa had insisted that his injury left him so disabled that he was reduced to shuffling about and relying on a walking stick or his wife to help him get around. Above: The former soldier with his wife Racheal [sic]

Following his diagnosis, it was recommended that Mr Muyepa be protected from cold in future, his lawyers claim.

But after a stay on Ascension Island, he was exposed again at Salisbury Plain in early 2017, when he spent much of his time working outdoors on vehicles.

His condition subsequently worsened and he was diagnosed as having 'very severe' cold sensitivity in his feet.

Claiming around 3m damages, but later dropping it to about 1.7m, Mr Muyepa told the judge that the injury had severely impacted on most aspects of his everyday life.

He almost always requires a walking stick, sometimes cannot get out of bed, suffers sleeplessness and often feels 'like a prisoner' in his home, he said.

But cross-examining him, MoD barrister Andrew Ward suggested that Mr Muyepa had told a pack of 'lies' to inflate the value of his compensation claim.

Mr Muyepa, who was based at Salisbury, had sued the MoD for around 3m compensation - thought to be the highest ever damages claimed for trench foo

The barrister produced a stream of videos, taken from Facebook or from covertly recorded surveillance, which he said showed Mr Muyepa had 'ramped up and exaggerated' an 'extravagant claim.'

In one video, Mr Muyepa can be seen in an apron, marinating chicken at a barbecue, while dancing around to loud music.

Mr Ward suggested it showed that Mr Muyepa had misled care experts about his disability.

But Mr Muyepa - who was medically discharged from the Army in January 2018 - said, like his walking had changed, he now cannot dance enthusiastically as he once would have done.

'I am dancing like I'm at a wedding,' he said.

'I'm not jumping around in the air. I am dancing like a penguin, from side to side.'

Mr Justice Cotter found that Mr Muyepa had suffered minor genuine non-freezing cold injures during his army service and would have been entitled to damages of 97,595.33.

But he stripped him of that compensation and handed him a massive costs bill because of his lies and exaggeration about the impact of his condition.

He said: 'I find that the claimant suffered a minor non-freezing cold injury.

'After an initial period of trying to cope with the symptoms, he decided to present a picture to the defendant, his friends, medico-legal experts and the court that he was suffering from a very severe NFCI which had left him greatly disabled.

'He fundamentally and persistently transformed the claim by dishonest exaggeration.

'His dishonesty tainted the whole claim from the outset.

'The claimant started to exaggerate symptoms by limping and using a stick. There was no reason for him to limp and he did not need a stick.

'Reading the claimant's account of his disability and then watching the footage of him at the wedding and at the barbecue, any reasonable person would be struck by the marked discrepancies.

'Those with significant neurological conditions would dearly love to be able to cast aside items such as walking aids for a day and to be able to walk entirely normally; but they cannot do so.

'Social media clips and surveillance showed the claimant was able to walk normally without a stick, dance, drive - getting into and out of the car unaided in respect of the former it was shown with ease - and undertake shopping.

'He has hugely exaggerated his symptoms.

'I am wholly satisfied the claimant was dishonest. He deliberately exaggerated symptoms and functional limitations for financial gain.

'I find that the claimant began to deliberately and significantly exaggerate symptoms in March/April 2017 in order to secure his discharge from the army with a payout.

'He was dishonest from a very early stage and before the case was commenced..'

According to lawyers, Mr Muyepa will now be liable for the MoD's legal costs of approximately 280,000, less the 97,000 which the judge found his claim was actually worth.
The exact cause of the blaze is unknown at this time, officials said

The fire happened at a 'four family apartment building' Hartland Police Department Chief of Police Torin Misko said Friday morning

Officials say the fire broke out around 5am Friday on Mansfield Court in Waukesha County

At least seven people have died in an early morning fire at a Wisconsin apartment building.

The fire broke out at 5.11am on Friday in the 700 block of Mansfield Court in Hartland, about 26 miles from Milwaukee.

According to CBS 58, at least 15 fire departments and nine police departments with the were called to the scene for the blaze.

The group of first responders were unable to save at least seven individuals inside what some have described as a duplex.

At least seven people were killed when a fire broke out at an apartment complex in Hartland, Wisconsin early Friday morning

The damage to the apartment building, which contained four family units according to police, was extensive as photos show bricks completely smashed out siding heavily burnt

Fifteen fire departments and nine police departments were called in to the scene to deal with the blaze that killed seven

A helicopter flew over the scene early Friday afternoon and noted the damage to the complex, although major portions of the roof appeared to be intact

This is what the apartment building looked like before the blaze happened on October 21

Heavy police and fire presence was seen Friday morning on Mansfield Court in the Village of Hartland as officials worked to quickly extinguish a heavy blaze

Elaine Rojas-Castillo with TMJ4 spoke with one neighbor who said that they had heard a loud boom before fire officials were called to the scene.

WISN's News Chopper 12 flew over the scene earlier Friday morning and noted heavy damage to the building.

A reporter inside of the helicopter said he also observed heavy smoke coming from the home.

Hartland Police Department Chief of Police Torin Misko held a press conference Friday morning, confirming the very few details known at this time.

'We received reports of a fire within a four-family apartment building,' Misko said at the beginning of the briefing.

Seven people were killed early Friday morning at an apartment complex in Hartland, Wisconsin, a village located just about a half hour outside of Milwaukee

The police chief said that officers and firefighters were met with 'a large amount of fire' immediately upon arrival.

During the process of the rescue, Misko said that they attempted to rescue individuals both inside of the building and some who were 'on the balconies' hoping to be rescued.

It's unclear how the fire started, but police said they have launched a criminal investigation.

'It's very early on in the investigation,' Misko said, 'that's what we're looking into now.'

'It's under active investigation, I just don't have those details.'

One startling moment came when Misko stated that the fatality number from the fire is at seven 'right now,' indicating that the number could change.

The chief said that there is no information on ages or identities of the victims at this time.

He also said that he could not confirm if all seven deaths were from the fire or if there may have been other factors involved.

'Unfortunately, this is a very active and dynamic situation, we're still learning a lot of information as we work through this.'

The Wisconsin Fire Marshal's Office has also been called in to assist in the case, Misko confirmed, along with the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department, the Wisconsin Crime Lab, and multiple other agencies.

'This is a tragic incident for the residents and the community involved,' an officer said during a press conference this morning.

DailyMail.com spoke with a representative from the Village of Hartland's Police Department who confirmed that as of noon Eastern Standard Time, police and fire crews were still at the scene.

The representative confirmed that a press release with more information would be coming shortly, but did not share how soon that info would be available.

This is a developing story
An airline hired by the government to deport migrants from the UK to Rwanda has pulled out of the scheme following 'controversy' surrounding it and backlash from human rights campaigners.

Privilege Style was due to remove people to Rwanda in June for the first time under the government's new immigration policy, but the flight was grounded at the last minute after intervention by the European Court of Human Rights.

The Majorca-based airline had faced calls and public demonstrations urging it to abandon the arrangement and today confirmed it would not put on any more flights.

Privilege Style was due to remove people to Rwanda in June for the first time under the government's new immigration policy, but the flight was grounded at the last minute after legal challenges

In a major blow to the government's policy, the airline has now described the 'controversy' surrounding the episode and pledged to 'never' attempt to fly migrants to Rwanda again.

In a statement the operator said: 'It's important for us to clarify that we will never operate the flight to Rwanda since the one scheduled in June 2022, the reason for this controversy, was suspended and never flew; that we won't operate flights to Rwanda in the future.'

Freedom from Torture, which led the campaign, said it had received a letter from the airline detailing the decision in which it also asked the charity to now cease 'actions against our brand'.

The first flight in June was halted following an 11th hour intervention from the European Court of Human Rights

Kolbassia Haoussou, who fled torture in central Africa and now works for the charity, described the news as a 'victory for people power' after activists 'stood up against the UK government's cruel "cash for humans" Rwanda scheme'.

'With Privilege Style pulling out, the wheels are coming off the Government's dodgy Rwanda deal: whoever succeeds Liz Truss as Prime Minister should put an end to this inhumane plan once and for all,' he added.

Last week activists stood outside Privilege Airline's headquarters in Palma de Mallorca with a banner reading 'worst airline award winner' in both Spanish and English.

The withdrawal of the operator, which became known as the government's 'airline of last resort', has prompted questions over which airline could be used to operate the government flights, should they go ahead.

Two other charter airlines that previously conducted deportation flights, Titan Airways and AirTanker, have already ruled themselves out of the scheme, the Guardian reports.

The Home Office said it does not comment on 'operational matters' but that the Government remained 'committed' to the Rwanda policy.

Last week activists stood outside Privilege Airline's headquarters in Palma de Mallorca with a banner reading 'worst airline award winner' in Spanish and English

Then-Home Secretary Priti Patel announced the 120 million deportation deal in April in a bid to curb Channel crossings by people in small boats.

Since then at least 32,300 have made the journey.

The legality of the arrangement has been contested in the courts, with ministers and campaigners awaiting a ruling from High Court judges on the case.

The first flight in June was halted following an 11th hour intervention from the European Court of Human Rights.

The plans had also faced condemnation from public figures including Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who said: 'Deporting asylum seekers should shame us as a nation.'

The legality of the arrangement has been contested in the courts, with ministers and campaigners awaiting a ruling from High Court judges on the case

The outgoing Prime Minister, Miss Truss, had vowed to stand by the plan, as did Rishi Sunak and other candidates who ran to become Conservative Party leader over the summer.

So far this year more than 37,500 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel, according to provisional Government figures.

This includes over 4,500 this month alone. But the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has not recorded any arrivals in the UK since Tuesday amid poor weather conditions at sea.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'We remain committed to our world-leading migration partnership with Rwanda, which will see those who come to the UK through dangerous, illegal and unnecessary routes relocated to Rwanda to rebuild their lives there.

'Rwanda is a safe and secure country with a strong track record of supporting asylum seekers and we will continue to robustly defend the partnership in the courts.'
The main opposition Democratic Party Chair Lee Jae-myung, Oct. 20. Yonhap



Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung will hold a previously unannounced press conference at 11 a.m., officials said, as a prosecution investigation closes in on him after an arrest warrant was sought for one of his closest aides on charges of taking illegal campaign funds.



Kim Yong, a long-time confidant of Lee, is suspected of receiving 847 million won ($593,552) in illegal political funds last year from real estate developers involved in a corruption-laden project in the city of Seongnam when Lee was mayor.



Prosecutors suspect the money was used to help finance Lee's presidential campaign.



Lee, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, has denied any wrongdoing, saying he never used a penny of illegal money and he believes Kim is innocent.



Lee and his party have denounced the prosecution investigation as a political reprisal and an attempt to supress the opposition.






A viral TikTok star and transgender activist visited President Joe Biden in the Oval Office to discuss her transition and transgender issues in the US.

Dylan Mulvaney, who documents on the app her 'firsts' as a woman in a series she calls 'days of girlhood,' revealed that she and members of NowThis News were visiting the White House for an interview that will be made public on Sunday.

'I'm ready to step up and show trans people we're not going anywhere and that trans kids they deserve a fighting chance to be their true selves,' she says in the video posted Thursday, which has since garnered over 500,000 likes.

Mulvaney recently faced controversy after many called for boycotting Ulta Beauty, which hosted her on the brand's 'The Beauty of ...' podcast on October 13.

The beauty brand, which has more than 1,200 stores across the country, was slammed by some women after she explained on the show that she plans on becoming a mother as a transgender woman.

Mulvaney said she 'wants to be a mom one day and I absolutely can,' adding that 'the narrative still has a long way to go'.

Mulvaney, who has been living as a woman for less than a year, has been accused of 'womanface' by some feminists, who claim she is play-acting the parts of being a woman she enjoys, while ignoring the misogyny faced by females on a day-to-day basis.

Mulvaney documented her traveling to the White House, including her decision to wear an outfit featuring the colors of the transgender flag

During a digital campaign entitled 'The Beauty Of ...' the podcast saw the 25-year-old TikTok star being interviewed by gender-fluid hairdresser David Lopez about 'all things girlhood'.

Customers took to social media to slam the podcast, saying the company and influencer were 'trolling women.'

The company defended Mulvaney, in an attempt to quell the online vitriol.

'At Ulta Beauty, we believe that beauty is for everyoneand we kindly request that everyone be treated with respect on our channels,' the company wrote in a statement.

Mulvaney recently faced controversy after many called for boycotting Ulta Beauty, which hosted Mulvaney on the brand's 'The Beauty of ...' podcast

The beauty brand, which has more than 1,200 stores across the country, was slammed by women after comments she made during the show

Pictured: Tweets protesting Ulta for posting a podcast with Dylan Mulvaney

The video Mulvaney posted of her time at the White House this week shows her deciding on an outfit - featuring colors of the transgender flag - before she's shown walking up the White House.

'Do you think I just knock on the front door?' she jokingly asks the camera.

Mulvaney flashes images from inside the building, including a portrait of Michelle Obama, before cutting to a post-meeting debrief gushing over a cookie emblazoned the presidential seal given to her by Biden himself.

'The president of the United States gave me a cookie.'

She was unable to post any other clips, but an interview is expected to be released by NowThis on Sunday night, after which she will be able to post more footage.

Mulvaney said the interaction with Biden was productive.

'I left with a lot of hope and optimism, not only for just trans people, but many different topics,' she said.

Biden told Mulvaney that he has watched her 'days of girlhood' series.

'It's kind of epic,' she added. 'I've had a rough go of it lately, a lot of darkness, and today was what I needed to keep going.

'There is so much darkness in this world. I mean, sometimes the bad actually outweighs the good, but we have to get in the mud right now and we're going to clean up some messes that have needed cleaning for hundreds of years. And we've got to protect each other.'

Biden told Mulvaney that he has watched her 'days of girlhood' series, which documents her time as a trans woman

In her video series Mulvaney discusses what has become accessible to her as a woman, including finding love, being a performer, having a family and being a mother.

'Now I know I can find love. I know I can still be a performer. I know that I can have a family. I want to be a mom one day and I absolutely can.

'There much shame, so much stigma. I had this idea of trans-people and it was weird because I knew I was trans yet had transphobia of myself.

'I was still judging the community and I've had to get over that. We gotta change it,' she said.

In her videos, Dylan refers to herself as a 'girl' instead of a 'woman' because she feels she never got to live her childhood as a girl.

'The term woman scares the heck out of me. It feels so strong, so sure of herself, so grounded,' she told the Skimm.

'And I don't feel like that yet. There are times I feel like a woman, but the term girl feels like it lends itself to failing, to trying new things or trying to figure things out. I never got to be a girl growing up. So, now I get to claim that word as mine today.'
The contents of the classified documents recovered from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate included information about Iran's missile program and intelligence work aimed at China, The Washington Post reported Friday.

If this information seeped out, experts told The Post, people aiding U.S. intelligence efforts could be put in danger and collection methods could be exposed. The U.S. could also face retaliation from foes.

Sources told The Post that the secret documents related to Iran and China were among the most sensitive found when the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago on August 8.

Trump pushed back in a statement Friday afternoon, raging against the FBI, the Department of Justice and the National Archives, which jumpstarted the investigation into missing documents from the Republican's tenure. He also suggested that the documents found could be planted or tampered with.

'The FBI and the Department of "Justice," which paid a man $200,000 to spy on me, and offered a $1 million "bounty" to try and prove a totally made up and fake "dossier" about me (they went down in flames!), are now leaking nonstop on the Document Hoax to the Fake News,' the ex-president said.

The contents of the classified documents recovered from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate included information about Iran's missile program and intelligence work aimed at China, The Washington Post reported Friday

Authorities stand outside Mar-a-Lago, the residence of former President Donald Trump, amid reports of the FBI executing a search warrant on August 8 as a part of a document investigation

Former President Donald Trump has provided a number of defenses for why the information made it to his Florida members-only club and home, including that a president can declassify information 'even by thinking about it'

'Who could ever trust corrupt, weaponized agencies, and that includes NARA, who disrespects our Constitution and Bill of Rights, to keep and safeguard any records, especially since theyve lost millions and millions of pages of information from previous Presidents,' Trump continued. 'Also, who knows what NARA and the FBI plant into documents, or subtract from documents - we will never know, will we?'

The Washington Post had reported in August that some of the documents related to another country's nuclear capabilities, but the paper's sources wouldn't say if Iran or China were the countries involved.

Trump denied the report on Truth Social.

'Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a Hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a Hoax, and much more. Same sleazy people involved,' he wrote.

Officials from the National Archives started last year trying to get records back from Trump, pointing out in one letter that correspondence between the former president and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was missing.

Overall, more than 300 documents recovered from Trump were found to be classified.

From the August 8 raid, about 13,000 documents were taken, including 103 that were classified and 18 top secret.

Prior to that, the National Archives and Records Administration was voluntarily sent a cache of documents removed from the White House that included 184 classified documents and 25 that were top secret.

And in June, Trump's representatives responded to a subpoena by giving back 38 classified documents.

Trump has provided a number of defenses for why the classified information made it to his Florida members-only club and home, located in the tony Palm Beach.

Among them, the ex-president said a president can declassify information 'even by thinking about it.'

'No other president has been harassed and persecuted like we have,' Trump has said, while falsely suggesting that other ex-presidents made off with troves of documents.

He also lashed out at the Archives, calling it a 'seriously radical left' entity that is 'woke and broken.'

Workers at the National Archives consist of archivists, librarians, curators and other record-keepers.
Teachers at Cambridge university have announced they are boycotting a talk

Cambridge dons have sparked a new free speech row by announcing plans to boycott a talk by a gender critical feminist.

Professor Pippa Rogerson, master of Gonville and Caius, and senior tutor, Dr Andrew Spencer, have attacked an upcoming college visit by Helen Joyce, a former Britain editor at The Economist.

They have informed students they will avoid the discussion, labelling Dr Joyces views on transgender people as offensive, insulting, and hateful to members of our community.

It is the latest freedom of speech row to hit campuses, with speakers being shunned or no-platformed due to their differing views.

Dr Joyce, who maintains biological sex is binary and immutable, is the best-selling author of Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality.

She argues in the book that the trans lobby is trying to supplant biology, equating the movement to a new state religion, complete with blasphemy laws.

Teachers at Cambridge University are boycotting a talk by Dr Helen Joyce (pictured) for her views on transgender people - she maintains biological sex is binary and immutable

Professor Pippa Rogerson (left) and Dr Andrew Spencer (right) insist they support freedom of expression but will not attend Dr Joyce's talk

The journalist is speaking at an event entitled criticising gender-identity ideology: what happens when speech is silenced, which takes place at the college on Tuesday.

Writing to undergraduates in a personal capacity, Professor Rogerson and Dr Spencer insist they wholeheartedly support the principle of freedom of expression but will not attend, according to the Varsity student newspaper.

They add: We have worked hard and we will continue to strive to make Caius an inclusive, diverse and welcoming home for our students, staff and Fellows.

We feel events such as this do not contribute to this aim.

Caius should be a place for the highest quality of research to be produced and discussed, rather than polemics.

The debate is being hosted at the college by Caius fellow and professor of philosophy, Arif Ahmed.

Dr Joyces appearance has prompted outrage among students, with some accusing Dr Joyce of being a Terf (a trans exclusionary radical feminist).

LGBT college reps have also condemned the feminist campaigners anti-trans rhetoric and trans-exclusionary radical feminism.

They said they were unanimously disgusted by the platforming of such views by Caius and the promotion of the event by the various faculties.

The debate is being hosted at the college by Caius fellow and professor of philosophy, Arif Ahmed

However, Professor Ahmed yesterday defended the planned talk, saying Dr Joyce and Sir Partha will be discussing important questions to do with sex and gender.

He said: These are matters of great public interest on which it is very important that there is free and open debate.

Anyone who would like to learn about Helen Joyces views and her reasoning, and to discuss them with her, should feel free to come along. Everyone is welcome.

A Gonville and Caius spokesman said the college prides itself on being a welcoming and inclusive community.

He said: The event on October 25 is an external event hosted by Professor Arif Ahmed, a Caius Fellow. It is not a College event.

We support free speech and would encourage those within the College community and wider society to challenge views they find reprehensible through debate and to celebrate our diversity.
Restauranteur Keith McNally has challenged James Corden to 'apologize to the young servers he abused' after the talk show host performed a U-turn and said he hadn't done anything wrong.

Corden apologized on Tuesday for being rude to two young servers after he was called out by Balthazar owner McNally on Instagram.

However, in an interview with a New York Times reporter Friday, Corden broke his silence and said: 'I haven't done anything wrong, on any level.'

Responding to the interview, McNally wrote in a new Instagram post: 'I have no wish to kick a man when he's down, but I believe the best way for James Corden to retrieve some of the vast respect the public had for him before this incident is to own up to it and apologize to the young servers he abused.'

He added: 'Whatever Corden meant, his implication was clear: he didnt do it.'

The Balthazar owner said if Corden 'apologizes to the 2 servers he insulted, I'll let him eat free at Balthazar for the next 10 years.'

Corden went on to say in the New York Times interview that speaking about the ordeal was 'beneath' the publication after the reporter appeared grateful Corden hadn't called off the interview.

'I feel so Zen about the whole thing. Because I think it's so silly. I just think it's beneath all of us. It's beneath you. It's certainly beneath your publication.'

Corden compared the media response to his bad behavior to a school principal helping classroom bullies.

'The principal makes the decision to stand up and say, 'I'd like all of those bullies to come up onto the stage and say, into the microphone, what they've just been saying in the hallway over there,' he told the publication.

Restauranteur Keith McNally has challenged talk show host James Corden to 'apologize to the young servers he abused' after the host made a reversal and snapped at a New York Times reporter about the incident

McNally appears to have responded to the interview in another Instagram post, writing: 'I have no wish to kick a man when he's down, but I believe the best way for James Corden to retrieve some of the vast respect the public had for him before this incident is to own up to it and apologize to the young servers he abused' and added that 'Whatever Corden meant, his implication was clear: he didnt do it'

DailyMail.com has reached out to McNally for further comment.

The interview was conducted on Thursday morning at another pricey restaurant on the Upper East Side. Itzkoff asked if the Tony award-winner, who earns $36million a year, was 'all right'.

'About what? What do you mean?' Corden responded coyly.

Corden was banned from the NYC restaurant on Monday after owner Keith McNally revealed he berated staff at his restaurant - and a day later, he revoked that ban the Late Late Show house called him to apologize.

Talk-show host James Corden has snapped once again, this time at a reporter for the New York Times who was interviewing about his latest project for Amazon

Corden says he believes the media has simply over-egged the story. James Corden and Julia Carey seen having lunch at Scott's restaurant in Mayfair on June 27, 2018 in London, England

As the interview about his latest project for Amazon Prime Video took place at the Mark Restaurant by Jean-Georges, a patron could be heard getting frosty with a server over her egg order.

'Happens every day. It's happening in 55,000 restaurants as we speak. It's always about eggs,' Corden said.

'Can you imagine now, if we just blasted her on Twitter? Would that be fair? This is my point. It's insane,' he continued.

When asked by Itzkoff if he was even aware of the conversations being printed about him as a result of McNally's Instagram posts, Corden appeared oblivious.

'I haven't really read anything. It's strange. It's strange when you were there. I think I'm probably going to have to talk about it on Monday's show.

'My feeling, often, is, never explain, never complain. But I'll probably have to talk about it,' he said to the New York Times. 'It feels like such a silly thing to talk about,' he added.

Corden says he believes the media has simply over-egged the story.

'Should we not all be a little grown-up about this?', he asked Itzkoff. 'I promise you, ask around this restaurant. They don't know about this. Maybe 15 percent of people.

'I've been here, been walking around New York, not one person's come up to me. We're dealing in two worlds here.'

DailyMail.com has contacted Corden's representatives.

Corden appeared to lash out at New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff over the omelet incident

Julia Carey wife of James Corden is pictured outside their home in Los Angeles on Thursday

James Corden's wife, Julia Carey, is spotted in LA outside the family home on Thursday while her husband conducted media interview for his new Amazon Prime Project

The saga began on Monday when McNally, who has a colorful history of booting out celebrities from his exclusive restaurants, claimed Corden behaved badly at his former restaurant, Cafe Luxembourg, on several occasions and left one server 'shaken'.

McNally then posted two separate examples of Corden's 'extremely nasty' behavior at Balthazar, the French brasserie.

The 71-year-old started his post by calling the funnyman a 'hugely gifted comedian', before laying into Corden.

The furious owner said that he '86'd' - banned - the star and claims Corden found a hair in his main course when dining there in June, before demanding free drinks for the mistake.

Restaurateur Keith McNally, 71, banned the Late Late Show host from his restaurants because of his 'extremely nasty' treatment of staff - only to rescind the ban hours later

The popular French eatery Balthazar, in New York's SoHo district, is pictured on Monday

Balthazar's owner, Keith McNally, regularly shares updates from his staff - including, on Monday, excoriating James Corden for his behavior

The restaurant, pictured on Monday, is a popular spot for celebrities, tourists and locals alike

Corden and his wife Julia Carey are accused of sending back an egg yolk omelette because it had a 'little bit of egg white' in it while dining at the plush restaurant

He said: 'After eating his main course, Corden showed the hair to Balthazar manager G. who was very apologetic.

'Corden was extremely nasty to G, and said: 'Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I write any nasty reviews in yelp or anything like that.''

In a second incident, McNally claims that Corden was dining with his wife, Julia Carey, at the eatery on October 9 for brunch.

He says that Corden asked for a table outside, and wife Carey ordered an egg yolk omelet with a salad.

The couple complained to the server that there was 'a little bit of egg white mixed with the egg yolk' and sent the dish back.

McNally added: 'The kitchen remade the dish but unfortunately sent it with home fries instead of salad.

'That's when James Corden began yelling like crazy to the server: 'You can't do your job! You can't do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelet myself!'

Tony-award winning Corden has risen to fame over the past ten years after moving across the pond, and becoming famed for his cheeky smile and stream of A-list pals

Balthazar in New York's Soho is a much loved celebrity haunt, but the British funnyman has now been banned from dining there

Balthazar: Fancy French brasserie-style diner in trendy Soho district Balthazar is a French brasserie-style restaurant housed in New York City's Soho neighborhood. The restaurant opened in 1997 in a building formerly used as a tannery, a place where animal hides are treated. It has since become one of owner Keith McNally's benchmark brasseries. The Michelin Guide describes the restaurant as being 'quintessentially SoHo.' The menu features pastries, seafood and other French-inspired delicacies. McNally has since other Balthazar locations across the globe, including in London, UK. His culinary empire also includes NYC hot spots Pastis and Minetta Tavern. Advertisement

'M.K (server) was very apologetic and brought G. (floor manager) over to the table.

'He returned the dish, and after that, everything was fine. He gave them promo Champagne glasses to smooth things out.

'G. said that Corden was pleasant to him but nasty to the server. M.K. was very shaken, but professional that she is, continued to finish her shift.'

Corden will not stay on at The Late Late Show after his current contract ends next year - a decision that was made earlier this year, long before the Balthazar saga.

Corden is well known for his provocative and at times strange behavior.

In 2017, as the Harvey Weinstein scandal was just being published, Corden joked and made fun of the rapist's victims.

'It has been weird this week watching Harvey Weinstein in hot water,' he told a gala in New York City.

'Ask any of the women who watched him take a bath, it's weird watching Harvey Weinstein in hot water.'

He later apologized, tweeting: 'To be clear, sexual assault is no laughing matter. I was not trying to make light of Harvey's inexcusable behavior, but to shame him, the abuser, not his victims. I am truly sorry for anyone offended, that was never my intention.'

At the end of 2019, he ridiculed the technical team behind the film Cats, in which he starred.

'I haven't seen it, I've heard it's terrible,' he told a British radio show, and then told the Oscars audience while presenting an award: 'As cast members of the motion picture Cats, nobody more than us understands the importance of good visual effects.'

In September 2021, while promoting his film Cinderella, he dressed as a mouse and danced in a road, thrusting his groin at bemused drivers.

Corden was accompanied by Camila Cabello, who plays the lead role, and Billy Porter, as a character called Fab G.

At one point Corden seemed to take a drag on what looked like a spliff, before dancing some more.

In July this year, he was knocked off his bicycle in London by a fellow cyclist, who swerved in front of him on busy Regent's Street, nearly pushing Corden into a car.

The comedian was furious, and loudly berated the young bike ride who cut him up.

Corden, in his mouse suit, is seen with Camila Cabello and Billy Porter in a street performance to promote his new film, on August 27, 2021

Corden gyrates at bemused motorists in Los Angeles, in August 2021, to promote his new film, Cinderella

The British comedian is pictured with Cabello, who plays Cinderella, and Billy Porter, whose character is called Fab G

Balthazar owner Keith McNally made a raunchy Instagram post detailing how a couple used the men's room at the swanky NYC restaurant as their private sexual oasis over the long Fourth of July weekend

McNally claims a couple had sex in the bathroom before scurrying off, leaving behind a wedding ring. The ring has since been placed in lost and found

McNally on Monday banned Corden from his restaurant but then later reversed it after saying he had spoken to the actor on the phone.

He had told how Corden had been rude to his staff several times - berating them over a hair in his food and demanding free drinks during the summer.

Meanwhile on October 9 he furiously reprimanded the waiters over an omelet he was unhappy with.

Four hours after announcing the ban to his 87,000 Instagram followers, McNally promptly reversed it, saying he had received a call from Corden apologizing.

The fiery restaurateur posted a new photo on Tuesday night captioned: 'Feeling strange about the James Corden thing. On the one hand, he was definitely abusive to my staff, on the other hand, I feel really sorry for him right now.

'Like most cowards I want it both ways.' He concluded: 'F*** it, I'm going to get drunk.'
The arc of Steve Bannon's career has taken him from the US Navy to Hollywood to the Donald Trump White House  followed by four months in a federal pen unless he can win on appeal.

Bannon's rollercoaster saga in the public eye took another unfortunate turn Friday when a federal judge sentenced him to four months in prison following his conviction on contempt of Congress charges.

Things could have gone worse for the former chief White House strategist and defiant podcaster, with Judge Carl Nichols imposing a modest $6,500 fine for criminal contempt for his defiance of a congressional subpoena from the House January 6th committee.

Bannon will have no trouble paying the fine, and could have had to shell out much more after refusing to participate in the committee process and declining to speak on his own behalf.

Former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison for defying a congressional subpoena. His lawyer David Schoen says he has a 'bulletproof' appeal coming

And he gets to remain out of prison  for now  after Judge Nichols allowed him to remain free pending an appeal, which his lawyer David Schoen claimed was 'bulletproof.'

The sentence came as Bannon is still facing trial in New York based on corruption charges related to the 'We Build the Wall' scheme, after Donald Trump issued a preemptive pardon of federal charges in his final hours as president.

Bannon was convicted in June of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot.

A jury found Bannon, 68, guilty of two misdemeanor counts for refusing to provide testimony or documents to the House of Representatives select committee.

He faced up to two years in federal prison. But prosecutors had sought only six months. His lawyers countered with probation and asked for home confinement.

Each count carries a minimum sentence of 30 days in jail, as well as a fine of $100 to $100,000.

The verdict by the jury of eight men and four women, after less than three hours of deliberations, marked the first successful prosecution for contempt of Congress since 1974, when a judge found G. Gordon Liddy, a conspirator in the Watergate scandal that prompted President Richard Nixon's resignation, guilty.

His conviction ends a chapter for a stunning rise and fall for a man who seemingly came out of nowhere to lead Donald Trump to the presidency.

The famed flame-thrower was Trump's campaign manager in the final stages of the 2016 election, having risen from his role at Breitbart to become one of the most influential right-wing voices.

Bannon joined Trump in the White House but fell out with him in spectacular fashion and turned on Trump and, in particular, his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon was convicted Friday of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot

A jury found Bannon, 68, guilty of two misdemeanor counts for refusing to provide testimony or documents to the House of Representatives select committee

Steve Bannon, pictured with Trump in the White House in January 2017, was convicted Friday of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot

Bannon is pictured walking out of court in New York on August 20 after his arrest

He was forced out and roamed Europe trying to set up a right-wing political movement across the continent, before returning to the US where in August he was arrested for allegedly attempting to defraud Trump supporters who donated to a crowdfunded effort to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

The former investment banker was arrested on August 20, 2020 on a $28 million yacht, owned by a fugitive Chinese billionaire.

Bannon was the campaign CEO for its last 88 days after the ousting of Paul Manafort - who became a convicted felon himself.

He was pardoned by Trump on the eve of the president's departure from the White House as a remarkable reward for loyally insisting that the election was stolen.

The Virginia-born strategist, who worked alongside Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager, encouraged Trump to go after his primary opponents, clash with Republican Party elites, and launch tirades against China and global trade.

Bannon was seen as being a driving force behind attempts to frame a populist appeal to 'forgotten' Americans.

He had informally advised Trump before jumping on board from the conservative Breitbart website, which was backed by billionaire Rebekah Mercer.

He became, in the White House, Trump's Chief Strategist, with a West Wing office close to the Oval Office.

Bannon clashed with many within the White House - in particular Jared Kushner (right)

Bannon dismissed Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, as 'globalists' and openly mocked them

Bannon for a while had the ear of the president, but made the fatal mistake of clashing with the other power center: Kushner and Ivanka Trump, who Bannon sneeringly named Javanka.

He fought internecine battles and sometimes forged unexpected partnerships with Trump's first chief of staff, Reince Preibus, during chaotic early days of the Trump administration.

But after it was revealed he had been cooperating with Michael Wolff in his scathing Trump takedown, Fire and Fury, the president fired him, in August 2017.

Not only had Bannon consented to on-record interviews, he took aim at Trump family members, including Donald Trump Jr.

He called the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting about dirt on Hillary Clinton that was attended by Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Kushner 'treasonous' and 'unpatriotic.'

He predicted of authorities: 'They're going to crack Don Jr. like an egg.'

Wolff reported in 2018 that Bannon told investigators: 'Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad s**t, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately.'

Bannon, pictured in the White House in January 2017, made many enemies within the team

Trump in characteristic fashion distanced himself with Bannon after throwing him overboard.

'Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency' Trump said at the time.

'When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.'

After he was out at the White House, Bannon was subpoenaed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators who were probing Trump campaign contacts with Russians.

He reportedly met with them for 20 hours, speaking on multiple occasions, and his assessments are reflected in the Mueller report.

The former Goldman Sachs banker is worth an estimated $48 million, according to White House financial disclosures made in 2017.

He has enjoyed an eye-catchingly varied career, including a stint during the early 1990s as boss of the Biosphere 2 experiment, which locked scientists way in a greenhouse for two years to see if they could become self-sufficient.

He lost his lucrative backing from Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah, after the publication of Fire and Fury. He also lost his job at Breitbart, which pushed him to seek new horizons.

From his base at an 800-year-old monastery outside of Rome, Bannon travelled to Paris, telling the far-right Front National that 'history is on our side and will bring us victory'.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump's White House chief strategist Steve Bannon speaks as he departs after he was found guilty during his trial on contempt of Congress charges for his refusal to cooperate with the U.S. House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack

Bannon for a while had the ear of the president, but made the fatal mistake of clashing with the other power center: Kushner and Ivanka Trump, who Bannon sneeringly named Javanka

Italy was unimpressed, and last year, Italy's Culture Ministry, which owns the mountaintop monastery, withdrew a 19-year lease, citing violations of contractual obligations.

In May that ruling was overturned, allowing work on the Dignitatis Humanae Institute think-tank to continue.

More recently Bannon has retained some of his power as an influential Trump world voice, appearing frequently on television and running a podcast where Trump aides are guests. There have been persistent reports of regular contact between the two men, but no known in person meetings.

Trump - who fell out with the former Breitbart editor in spectacular fashion, dismissing him in August 2017 as washed-up 'Sloppy Steve' - tried to distance himself from Bannon, saying: 'I haven't been dealing with him for a very long period of time.'

Bannon was the eighth close Trump associate to be arrested or convicted of a crime, a list that also includes former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

Bannon helped make confronting China a centerpiece of Trump's 2016 campaign, a posture the president has continued into his tenure in office.

Another key tenet of that election was building a wall on the southern border that Trump said Mexico  not the U.S. government  would pay for.

Bannon began scheming to start a new U.S. political party that he planned to call the 'National Union Party' - the temporary name Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party had adopted in 1864 to attract War Democrats and Unionists - imagining that he could unite disaffected populists on both ends of the political spectrum and make his own run at the White House.
It's unclear whether the loss was 'worth the benefits' in lives saved, it adds

States with 'less stringent Covid mitigation strategies fared much better' economically, says study

Those in Mississippi got off lightest, each losing out on $1,004 in the first quarter of 2021

Folks in Massachusetts were the worst hit, with a personal loss of $2,862 each

Covid-19 safety measures cost Massachusetts residents $2,862 each in lost economic growth in early 2021  nearly three times as much as it did for folks in Mississippi, with its light-touch lockdown, says a recent study.

Researchers from the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank, estimated the economic cost of shuttered businesses and lost jobs due to each states lockdown measures from January to March, in 2021.

They then estimated the cost on each resident of those states  a Massachusetts family of four lost out on $11,448, while a comparable Mississippi household lost out on only $4,016, according to the 42-page document.

While not exhaustive, the study offers a perspective on how lockdowns hit economic growth, and therefore of the population at large, and raises questions about whether more stringent lockdowns saved enough lives to warrant the costs.

The Minnesota-based think tank estimated how much money residents of each state lost out on due to lockdown restrictions on the economy

Decisions to shut down large parts of the economy because of the pandemic were not free, said researchers from the Minnesota-based think tank.

States that employed less stringent Covid mitigation strategies fared much better when it came to Gross Domestic Product growth.

The researchers focussed on their own state, Minnesota, where relatively stringent anti-Covid lockdown measures took a 3.1 percent bite out of the economy and cost each resident some $1,866 in early 2021, said the study.

Public policy must be judged on its cost as well as its benefit, said the study.

With this research, we can now begin to answer the question of whether the costs of these policy responses  $7,464 for a family of four over the first year of the pandemic  were worth the benefits.

The question over whether strict lockdowns were an effective pandemic strategy, or whether they caused too much economic pain, has been debated since Covid-19 swept the globe in early 2020.

No single study has reached a definitive answer.

The research comes as America has largely turned the page on the pandemic, as daily infections are dropping and people return to schools, offices and grocery stores, mostly without the masks that have been a feature of the pandemic.

The Minnesota-based think tank found that Hawaii's economy took the biggest hit from lockdown measures, with a 4.2 percent drop in turnover in early 2021

A business center shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic. Whether lockdowns were an effective pandemic strategy, or whether they caused too much economic pain, has been debated since Covid-19 swept the globe in early 2020

More than 330 people die on average each day of Covid-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the national death toll standing at more than 1.06 million.

The White House this month urged Americans to get the updated Covid-19 boosters by Halloween to have maximum protection against the coronavirus by Thanksgiving and the holidays, and warned of a challenging virus season ahead.

The World Health Organization this week said Covid-19 remained a global emergency, nearly three years after it was first declared as one.

The UN health agency calls for nations to remain vigilant and push their most vulnerable populations to get jabs.

A protest against strict Covid lockdowns in St. Paul, Minnesota, in April 2020. Lockdowns cost a typical family of four $7,464 in lost output, according to a recent study
A man accused of plotting a terror attack at London's Hyde Park has appeared at the Old Bailey.

Edward Little, 21, allegedly planned to buy a firearm and kill a Christian preacher and others gathered at Speakers' Corner on or before September 23.

He was arrested on September 23 after taking a taxi from Brighton to London and charged with engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts.

Edward Little, 21, allegedly planned to buy a firearm and kill a Christian preacher and others gathered at Speakers' Corner on or before September 23

On Friday the defendant, from Pelham Street in Brighton, appeared at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing.

Prosecutor Kathryn Selby told the court the allegation in the case 'concerns a plan to carry out an attack on Hyde Park'.

Mr Justice Sweeney set a plea hearing for February 10 next year and a provisional trial from June 26.

The case would be heard either by the Recorder of London or a High Court judge, he said.

Little, who wore a grey tracksuit top in the dock, spoke only to confirm his identity.

He was remanded into custody.
A Canadian Idol winner and frontman for the indie-rock band Hedley has been sentenced to five years in prison for raping a woman, in what the presiding judge called a 'particularly degrading rape.'

Jacob Hoggard, 38, had pleaded not guilty to the charges when he went on trial this month in Toronto for raping the woman in a hotel room in 2016.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Gillian Roberts said she accepted the womans testimony in its entirety and said it involved 'gratuitous degradation' and 'gratuitous violence.'

The sexual assault took place in a Toronto hotel room and the Ottawa woman told Hoggard's sentencing hearing that what happened will haunt her for the rest of her life.

The woman, who was in her early 20s at the time, said Hoggard choked her so hard she thought she was going to die. She testified the sexual assault lasted for hours.

Hoggard had also been charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm in the case of a teenage fan, as well as sexual interference involving that complainant, but was found not guilty.

Jacob Hoggard, 38, had pleaded not guilty to the charges when he went on trial this week in Ottawa for raping the woman in a Toronto hotel room in 2016. He is seen arriving at court with his wife Rebekah Asselstine

During his trial, Ontario Superior Court Justice Gillian Roberts said she accepted the woman's testimony in its entirety and said it involved 'gratuitous degradation' and 'gratuitous violence'. He has been sentenced to five years in prison

A jury deliberated for six days and twice found itself deadlocked on 'some counts' before finding Hoggard guilty in June of sexual assault causing bodily harm in the Ottawa womans case.

Hoggard said at trial that he had consensual, 'passionate' sex with both complainants.

He denied choking the Ottawa woman, but said the other elements described, such as spitting and slapping were among his sexual preferences - and could have happened.

At a sentencing hearing earlier this month, the Ottawa woman told court the incident left her paralyzed with fear and despair for months.

The woman, who cannot be named due to a standard publication ban, said the sexual assault robbed her of her confidence, her dreams and altered her life.

'I was never the same after that day,' she said. 'A part of me died that day that I will never get back.'

Hoggard's band, Hedley, rose to fame in Canada after he came in third on the reality show 'Canadian Idol' in 2004.
A drunk driver with a provisional licence who killed his partner's cousin when he lost control and crashed into a tree has been jailed for two and a half years.

Aron Dunn, 30, was drunk, speeding, uninsured and only held a provisional licence when he crashed on May 1 last year.

His passenger Jade Elliott-Davis, 23, was in the back seat and suffered fatal head and chest injuries.

The court heard that Jade's mother Lisa had also died in a road accident, aged 16, when Jade was just a baby and she had been raised by her grandmother.

Witnesses described being concerned by Dunn's driving just before the crash with one predicting 'he'll hit a tree in a minute' as he overtook them, just before a bend in the road that Dunn lost control on.

Jade Elliott-Davis, 23, was in the back seat of Dunn's car and suffered fatal head and chest injuries

Bournemouth Crown Court heard Dunn was in a relationship with Miss Elliott-Davis' cousin, Leila-Marie Davis.

The cousins had fallen out over a 'trivial matter' and arranged to meet up to resolve it on May 1 last year.

They were returning to their homes in Gillingham, Dorset, when the crash happened at about 8.15pm on the B3081.

Dunn and Davis were injured in the crash and taken to Salisbury District Hospital.

Dunn's blood test was not taken until some five hours after the crash, but police calculated the reading meant he would have been over the limit at the time of accident and that the level would have 'significantly impaired' his ability to drive.

The court heard Dunn had only bought the car two days before the crash and had not got insurance.

He had a provisional licence but did not have L plates on the car and the two young women were not qualified drivers able to accompany a learner.

Aron Simon James Dunn, 30, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court today to two and half years in prison after admitting to causing death by dangerous driving

Stuart Ellacott, prosecuting, said: 'Prior to the crash, seconds before Ms Seluka and her family were driving around 50mph because of the bend.

'As they approached the bend she describes being overtaken by the defendant.

'Her husband said 'slow down, he will hit a tree in a minute'. She said he was going 15-20mph faster than her.

'As she came round the corner she saw what they had predicted.

'The vehicle hit the tree and bounced back into the road. It was fortunate Mr Blake, driving the opposite direction, had not left home a minute or two earlier. He saw the vehicle bouncing into his ride of the road and was able to stop.

'Jade was removed from the back of the vehicle and people tried to help her, carrying out chest compression, but she suffered injuries which were unfortunately unsurvivable.

'The defendant was trapped in the vehicle with a leg injury.

'He told police he had lost control at speed, he said about 70mph, and admitted he had drunk alcohol prior to driving.'

He also read a statement from Jade's grandmother, Mary Elliott-Davis, who said: 'I formally adopted her when she was two. It was hard seeing her growing up without her mother but I gave her the best childhood I could.

'She was my life. My entire world has been turned upside down.

'I am so proud of who she was and what she achieved in her short life. My home feels empty and so does my heart.

'I wish Jade had never got into that car, the world is a far less happy place without Jade.'

The court heard Miss Davis has stood by Dunn, who is the father of two of her three children, and has been cut off from her family because of it.

Tom Evans, defending, said: 'My client didn't set out to cause this type of hurt, but his offending has caused unimaginable pain to the family of his victim and that includes his own partner.

'She has been punished many times over. She was actually involved in the accident, had to cope with the loss of her cousin and had to cope with her decision to remain with the defendant which meant her own grandmother has severed ties with her.

'There will be a significant impact on someone who is wholly innocent.

'Those who saw his driving were concerned and had an ominous feeling but none of them felt it necessary to contact the police, he appeared to be in control up to that point, albeit driving stupidly and recklessly.'

He also said Dunn had been mentally and physically affected, requiring several surgeries on his broken leg, and attempting to take his own life in the aftermath.

Judge Stephen Climie said he would consider Dunn a man of good character as he only had 'minor blemishes' on his record from when he was a teenager.

He said: 'That good character is totally lost as a result of the circumstances on May 1.

'You chose to get into a car you had acquired in the previous 72 hours, you were uninsured with only a provisional licence. Those are significantly aggravating features and add to that you were under the influence of alcohol.

'You have driven in a way which amounts to dangerous driving. Any reasonable driver would not have contemplated overtaking coming into that corner.'

He sentenced Dunn to 30 months in prison and disqualified him from driving for four years.

Dunn admitted causing death by dangerous driving in his Audi A6 Allroad.

PC Leanne Howes, of the Dorset Police traffic unit, said: 'Our thoughts go out to the family of Jade, whose young life was tragically cut short by this collision.

'Nothing will ever make up for their loss, but our investigation team has worked tirelessly to establish the full facts of this collision and compile evidence so we could hold Aron Dunn to account for his actions on the evening of Saturday 1 May, 2021.

'This case is yet another sad reminder of the truly devastating consequences that can occur when motorists such as Aron Dunn drive with disregard for the safety of themselves and others while their judgement is impaired by alcohol consumption.'

Following the sentencing hearing, Jade's grandmother, who legally adopted her when she was two, issued a tribute saying: 'After losing Jade we are heartbroken, Jade was the light of my life, she has a smile that would light up a room, she was so kind and honest and would help anyone in need.

'A day doesn't go by when I say she should be here, she was only 23 and had her whole life in front of her. It was taken away with no goodbyes, she will be forever missed and loved always.

'I am left with an empty space where she should be, and nothing will ever fill that space in our hearts or our home.'
An Quanzhong's attorney told DailyMail.com: 'My client is not an agent of the Chinese government. He is a respected, well-established American businessman'

Both the father and daughter deny the allegations

Prosecutors say the pair facilitated meetings with Chinese officials when they visited New York, and also tried to convince the 'fugitives' to return themselves

A 40-page indictment claims they took millions of dollars in payment to locate and spy on dissidents Beijing wanted to repatriate

They are accused working for the People's Republic of China in New York between 2016 and 2022

An Quanzhong, 55, and his daughter An Guangyang, 34, were charged by federal prosecutors in New York

An Quanzhong, 55, is a Chinese-American businessman charged with acting as an agent for the PRC

A Long Island businessman and his adult daughter have been charged with acting as spies for the Chinese government in New York to locate and report dissidents and have them sent home in a secret mission dubbed Operation Foxhunt.

An Quanzhong, 55, and his 34-year-old daughter An Guangyang - also known as Angela - were arrested yesterday and are now being held in custody.

According to a 40-page indictment that has just been unsealed, the pair worked for the People's Republic of China as US-based 'assets' to locate Chinese citizens who had defected to America.

The indictment also charges four people in China, who are said to have traveled to the US to locate the dissidents and bring them home. The others charged are all reside in China. They are Tian Peng, Chenghua Chen, Xuexin Hou and Weidong Yuan.

An Guangyang - also known as Angela - was arrested along with her 55-year-old father. She is shown in a surveillance camera still image from the indictment which prosecutors say shows her at the home of one of the victims

The An family owns this $2million home in Roslyn Heights, Long Island

The family owns a $2million home in Roslyn Heights on Long Island, but they are described by federal prosecutors as residents of both Queens and Shandong Province.

An Quanzhong was the head of the Chinese Business Association. He has donated thousands to Democratic candidates in local Long Island and New York state elections.

They both denied the allegations through their attorneys when contacted by DailyMail.com.

They were paid millions by the Chinese government in small installments of $40,000 to $50,000 between 2016 and 2021, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say they spent the money paying off personal and credit card debt and mortgages.

The pair have been charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government, acting as agents of a foreign government, travel act violations, conspiracy to engage in interstate harassment and money laundering.

Both appeared before a federal judge yesterday and were remanded in custody.

Angela's attorney, April Wei, told DailyMail.com on Friday in a brief statement: 'Of course, she is innocent'.

Michael Horn, her father's attorney, said: 'We intend to fight these charges vigorously.

'My client is not an agent of the Chinese government. He is a respected, well-established American businessman.'

Defendant Weidong Yuan is shown with An at the home of one of the victims. He and three others charged remain in China and have not been taken into custody

New York's secret police station is above a ramen shop located on East Broadway between Chinatown and the Lower East Side and was opened on February 15

Pictured: Chinese officials operating inside their police station in New York City. It is one of at least 54 active around the world, and the only known to be operating in the US

Angela was in court on Friday applying for bail. Her father's attorney said they intended to do the same next week.

'As alleged, the defendants engaged in a unilateral and uncoordinated law enforcement action on U.S. soil on behalf of the government of the Peoples Republic of China, in an effort to cause the forced repatriation of a U.S. resident to China,' said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

'The United States will firmly counter such outrageous violations of national sovereignty and prosecute individuals who act as illegal agents of foreign states.

'The victims in this case sought to flee an authoritarian government, leaving behind their lives and family, for a better life here.

'That same government sent agents to the United States to harass, threaten, and forcibly return them to the People's Republic of China.

'The actions we allege are illegal, and the FBI will not allow adversaries to break laws designed to protect our nation and our freedom, stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll.

The revelations come within weeks of a damning report which found China was operating a secret police station in downtown Manhattan.
Main opposition Democratic Party Chair Lee Jae-myung adjusts his glasses on Oct. 21. Yonhap



Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung called Friday for an independent counsel investigation into a corruption scandal that led to an arrest warrant request for one of his closest aides, claiming his innocence as a prosecution probe closes in on him.



Lee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea made the remark after prosecutors sought the warrant for Kim Yong, a longtime confidant of Lee, for allegedly receiving 847 million won ($593,552) in illegal political funds from real estate developers involved in a corruption-laden project in the city of Seongnam.



Prosecutors suspect the money was used to help finance Lee's presidential campaign.



"I didn't receive even a piece of candy, let alone presidential campaign funds," Lee said.



Lee urged President Yoon Suk-yeol and the ruling People Power Party to agree to a special prosecutor investigation into the development corruption scandal in Seongnam, including allegations of irregularities involving Yoon.



"I officially ask the president and the ruling party," Lee said. "Please accept a special probe."



Lee and his party have denounced the prosecution investigation as a political reprisal and an attempt to suppress the opposition.



"The government and the ruling party seem to be trying to annihilate and deny the existence of the opposition party," Lee said.



The investigation gained speed after Yoo Dong-gyu, former acting president of Seongnam Development Corp. involved in the land development project, told investigators that he relayed the money to Kim from private developers.



DPK floor leader Park Hong-geun raised suspicion that prosecutors released Yoo in return for the statement.



Yoo was arrested and indicted last year for his alleged involvement in the development scandal and other charges and was released from jail early Thursday due to an expiration of a legal detainment period.



"We have to suspect that Yoo Dong-gyu and the prosecution had a shared interest in lowering the criminal penalty for Yoo and weaving Lee Jae-myung into the case through Kim," Park said in a radio interview. (Yonhap)


San Francisco Mayor London Breed was forced to apologize Thursday after making comments about Honduran migrants being the cause of the city's drug problem.

In a statement issued Thursday, Breed walked back the words she used to describe members of the Honduran community during a recent interview.

The mayor sat down on KQED's Political Breakdown on October 5 and blamed the Latin American group for a major portion of the drug dealing happening in the city but claimed that her assessment wasn't racial profiling.

'There are unfortunately a lot of people who come from a particular country  come from Honduras  and a lot of the people who are dealing drugs happen to be of that ethnicity,' Breed said.

The mayor may have even predicted backlash to come, saying at the time that she didn't believe her comments were racially motivated at all.

'It's nothing "racial profile" about this,' Breed said. 'We all know it. It's the reality, it's what you see, it's what's out there.'

'It's not about racial profiling, it just so happens that this is the case just like when you look at disparities around things that are happening, this is just the reality.'

San Francisco Mayor London Breed was forced to apologize after she made comments about how the Honduran migrants and drug dealing in the Bay Area city

Breed said that Honduran migrants are responsible for a major portion of the drug trade and sale that is going on in the city

During an interview with KQED, the mayor said that her statements have nothing to do with racial profiling, but rather that the comments simply reflect 'the reality' of the situation

The mayor was discussing the ongoing drug and homeless crisis in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the city could record roughly 20,000 people who have experienced homelessness throughout the year in 2022.

Research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration indicated that the drug problem in the Bay Area has just gotten worse over time.

In the Bay Area, 'an annual average 782,000 persons aged 12 or older used any illicit drug in the past year,' the organization noted. 'This represents 21.9 percent' of area's population, 'which is higher than the rates for the State of California.'

The mayor's comments come just weeks after she signaled a U-turn in her approach to the city's rampant drug taking.

Previously, Breed's 'soft touch' policies included open-air drug markets where people could shoot up 'without anyone going to jail.'

The policy has been called a disaster as San Francisco has seen a surge in open-air drugtaking, with nearly 1,700 fatal overdoses since the start of 2020.

A homeless woman was seen smoking crack with two others in the Tenderloin in October

In a press conference earlier this month, Police Chief William Scott and Breed-appointees District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, and District Six Supervisor Matt Dorsey, discussed the ongoing issue and plans to solve it.

Breed appointed Jenkins after the previous district attorney, Chesa Boudin, was recalled in June for 'not being tough enough on drug dealers', and she appointed former police spokesperson Dorsey in May.

The mayor's apology touched on 'conversations' she's had with the Latino community in the Bay Area and how the talks led her to change her tune.

'Over the last few days, I have had conversations with several leaders from our Latino community about comments I made during a recent conversation about drug dealing in the Tenderloin,' Breed wrote in an apology this week.

She continued, stating in a lengthy note that she 'has a moral obligation' to stop the drug dealing in San Francisco and that she believed she was stating nothing more than a fact.

Breed's full apology for the Honduran comments can be read below:

'Over the last few days, I have had conversations with several leaders from our Latino community about comments I made during a recent conversation about drug dealing in the Tenderloin.

'I want to apologize to the Latino community for what I said and how I said it. In trying to explain what is happening in the Tenderloin, I failed to accurately and comprehensively discuss what is an incredibly complex situation in our City and in Central America.

'We do have significant challenges with drug dealing in the Tenderloin, and those challenges are impacting families that live there, including immigrant Latino families and residents who are living in fear. As a proud Sanctuary City, we have an obligation to provide a safe space for our immigrant families to live and thrive. That includes ending open-air drug markets and hold drug dealers, regardless of ethnicity, accountable.

'We have helped to create and grow our own problem in the last couple of years through the City's inability to effectively prosecute the crime of drug dealing in our City. As Mayor, I have a moral obligation to stop the open-air drug dealing that terrorizes our families and also encourages criminal gangs from other countries to coerce young men to come sell drugs in our streets. I am working with the District Attorney and our Police Department to do just that. I believe there needs to be accountability for those selling drugs on our streets, which includes people of all races, ethnicities, and genders. But we are also a City that believes in second chances and giving people opportunities, which is why we are helping CARECEN in opening a service center for Central American refugees across from UN Plaza.

'As I said, these are complex problems, and I want to again thank those from the Latino community who have reached out to discuss this issue with me. We are stronger when we listen to each other and work together to move this City forward.'

In her apology, issued earlier this week, Breed said that she spoke with the Latino community who showed her the error in her statements

The San Francisco mayor said that she 'failed' to accurately discuss the surrounding details of the drug-dealing issue in the city

During the interview with KQED, Breed railed against advocates looking to bring more migrants into the sanctuary city, stating that she is more focused on innocent kids and families impacted by the drug and fentanyl problem in San Francisco

During her October 5 interview, Breed also expressed anger and frustration over advocates pushing to bring more migrants into the sanctuary city when San Francisco is struggling to contain the issue as it stands.

'We have people advocating for folks who are selling fentanyl that's killing people, but what about the kid that got a hold of some fentanyl by accident? And died what about the families? What about the people who live there?'

'For me, we we can't just, you know, throw our hands up and say "people have rights." I am happy to give anybody an opportunity that wants to do something that doesn't consist of breaking the law. I'm happy to figure out ways in which we can make those kinds of connections.'

'We've tried it's been very, very difficult,' Breed stated before the interviewer changed the topic to the uptick in drug arrests.

The Los Angeles Times spoke with Lariza Dugan-Cuadra, the executive director of San Francisco's Central American Resource Center of Northern California, who condemned Breed's comments about Hondurans.

Dugan-Cuadra also pointed to the recent racist comments made by several members of the Los Angeles City Council about Jewish people, Oaxacans, and the young Black son of a colleague.

'The comments in L.A. hurt people in the Bay Area, also,' said Dugan-Cuadra. 'And then to have this thing resurface with the mayor, it kind of added insult to injury with how our community is feeling in California overall.'

The executive director was among the group of Latinos who spoke with Breed following her comments about the Honduran migrants, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Homeless drug addicts smoke fentanyl on the street near San Francisco's City Hall

A homeless drug addict shows bruises and scars on his swollen legs from drug use in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco

Earlier in the interview, the mayor mentioned discussions she had had with those impacted by the drug and homeless crisis.

'I had met with all these families who, many were immigrant families, who were telling me stories and in tears, through an interpreter telling me these stories about their encounters which consisted of violence,' Breed told the interviewers.

The woman described the issues like 'nothing we've ever experienced,' and even touched on a recent incident where a mother was knocked unconscious in front of her young child.

'Why is this okay? Why do people who deal drugs have more rights than people who try to get up and go to work every day and take their children to school,' Breed said.

A homeless drug addict holds pieces of fentanyl near City Hall in in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco

A homeless man injects fentanyl into his arm in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco

A homeless drug addict injects fentanyl into his arm near City Hall in early October

Homeless drug addicts take over a city bus stop in front of the Asian Art Museum as people who are waiting for the bus wait in the background in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco

In their early October press conference, the San Francisco officials discussed the uptick in drug seizures in the Tenderloin neighborhood, and drug arrests and felony narcotics charges across the city in the three months since Jenkins took charge.

During the conference, Breed touched on her own personal issues with the city's drug problem.

Breed's younger sister died at just 25 from an overdose.

In December 2021, the mayor promised a crackdown on the 'bulls*** destroying the city.'

London Breed's tragic younger sister London Breed's younger sister died of a drug overdose in San Francisco in 2006. The tragedy happened the day before she turned 26. 'I lost a sister to a drug overdose. No, it was not fentanyl, but I did lose a sister in this city,' an emotional Breed said. 'She was my younger sister.' Her brother is also serving a 44-year prison sentence for manslaughter and armed robbery in 2000. Advertisement

But the intervening ten months have seen policies brought in which have included trialing the infamous taxpayer-funded 'open-air drug markets', which were shuttered in June.

Other soft-touch policies have included electronically-tagging users and having police officers track them down and confiscate their drugs if they wander into known drug-dealing areas.

When she was asked what would be different under the new policies compared to last December, Breed pointed to an increase in enforcement, including boosting the police budget and hiring a further 200 officers.

She also said that the city has expanded the number of treatment beds by hundreds on top of the 2,200 already available, and highlighted expanded alternative response teams and safety ambassadors.

The mayor and law enforcement also promised to come down harder on not just drug dealers but also drug users who refuse to accept public services to help them. The criminal justice system will also provide treatment options, they added.

'We need to firmly establish what is acceptable conduct on our streets and in our public spaces,' Breed said.

'San Francisco has to draw a firm line at behaviors that harm, that injure and cost neighborhoods peace of mind, everyday safety and quality of life.'

The city must be more aggressive with enforcement against drug dealing and violence, she said.

'Selling drugs is not legal,' she continued. 'Using drugs out in the open is completely unacceptable. So, yes, public health is a part of this enforcement effort, but we have to be moving together in the same direction.'

A homeless man injects fentanyl into his friend's armpit, due to a lack of usable veins, as people walk by near City Hall

The police chief showed that arrests for drug sales and possession increased 72 per cent from July to September compared with the same period last, with a total of 266 compared with 163. In Tenderloin the seizure rate more than doubled.

The new DA has a similar charging rate to Boudin, at 62 per cent, but she said the difference has been that has charged 85 per cent of felony felony narcotics cases, nearly double the rate under Boudin.

Jenkins also pulled back more than 30 plea offers for alleged fentanyl dealers under Boudin and she has also introduced the possibility of murder charges for dealers who sell drugs that result in lethal overdoses.

Dealers could selling near schools would also face harsher punishment.

Overall, the promise of a firmer hand and more carrot than stick is likely to be welcome news to San Franciscans who are fed up with crime and harassment.

But critics such as Public Defender Mano Raju have accused Jenkins and Breed of returning to the failed 'war on drugs', which did not reduce overdose deaths.

Raju said in a statement that the 'heavy focus on relying on police and prosecutions to arrest and cage our way out of a public health crisis remains in direct conflict with decades of social and scientific data which indicates otherwise.'

Drug-related incidents have been rampant in San Francisco in recent years, save for a predictable dip during the Coronavirus pandemic, with much of it blamed on old DA Chesa Boudin, who was recalled in June. The spike in July 2022 has been attributed to a federal grant the police department got to tackle drug crime in the Tenderloin neighborhood

Scott said that officers would still take a 'harm reduction' approach first with users. But he said that 'we can't just arrest dealers and then leave the people who are buying drugs alone to do as they please and think this is going to get better.'

'That doesn't mean that people who are addicted get a free pass,' he said. 'Our job is to take away all of the excuses about why they can't and won't seek help, and then when they don't, that's when enforcement comes into play.'

Civil rights attorney Joe Alioto Veronese, one of Jenkin's opponents in the upcoming election, called the press conference a political stunt.

Veronese told The San Francisco Chronicle the mayor 'paraded her two candidates' right before ballots are sent out 'on an issue that is very important to San Francisco and that she's frankly failing San Francisco on.'

The infiltration of fentanyl to the US narcotics market in the mid-to-late 2010s saw a spike in accidental drug overdose deaths.

The opioid, which is manufactured synthetically and added to other drugs, can be 50 times stronger than heroin. Just 2mg can be deadly.
An academic at the centre of a row about trans rights says she will never work again in a British university due to a lack of free speech.

Professor Kathleen Stock, 50, was hounded out of her position at Sussex University by activists last October because she questioned transgender ideology.

The professor of philosophy today claimed academic institutions treat students like customers and the grown-ups do not tell young people that hearing differing views will not harm them.

She was speaking during a debate at the annual LGB Alliance conference in central London.

Former Sussex University academic Professor Kathleen Stock, 50, said she is 'never going to teach in academia again' due to a lack of free speech in the UK

Stock Out was graffitied on a wall at the University of Sussex by trans activists

Professor Stock insisted she is never going to teach in academia again, at least in the UK.

She said: I can now say exactly what I want to say, without feeling like Im being watched all the time by my colleagues, by managers, by students who are constantly waiting for me to put a foot wrong, which is basically what was happening.

She said universities had started competing for young people and to think of their students as customers that they have to please, which is not good.

She added: If someone is anxious, you really actually shouldnt necessarily validate all their worries and tell them that they are in fact genuinely threatened and harmed by the world. But that is increasingly whats happening in universities.

So that creates this environment where a student says she is harming me through her words and the grown-ups in the room are less likely to push back and say no, no, she isnt, shes only saying something that you dont like and that is different.

During a protest at Sussex University she was confronted with protestors calling for her to be sacked. One poster said: 'Fire Kathleen Stock' another said 'Kathleen Stock is a transphobe'

Professor Stock was subjected to abuse at Sussex, with posters calling for her to be fired put up near the campus. An image also emerged on social media of a campaigner holding a banner, saying: Stock Out.

The academic quit, describing a medieval experience of campus ostracism and protests.

Professor Stock is outspoken on gender identity issues and has advocated that women should not be made to share toilets and changing rooms with transgender women.
It's now hit the market for 10 million, but it may be 'a while' until the property is actually sold

The nightmarish project went over budget, cost Short his marriage and blew out beyond its build timeframe

Owner Edward Short said Michael Jackson's former bodyguard also expressed interest but was a 'time waster'

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It once earned the reputation of Britain's 'saddest ever' Grand Designs project, but the cursed lighthouse has now reportedly caught the eye of stars, including Harry Styles and Michael Jackson's former bodyguard.

Chesil Cliff House and its annex, known as The Eye, in Croyde, North Devon became a 'nightmare' for Grand Designs star Edward Short, ending his marriage after 12 years and plunging his family into debt.

After more than a decade of hard work, the project has finally morphed into a luxurious coastal home, boasting an infinity pool and endless views of the sea.

The unique location at Down End Point boasts panoramic views across Croyde Bay to the north as well as to Saunton beach and Braunton Burrows in the south.

Mr Short claims the property - which is on the market for 10 million - has attracted interest from the likes of superstar performer Styles and Matt Fiddes, 45, an entrepreneur who is better known for being Jackson's former bodyguard for a year before his death in 2009.

This week, Grand Design viewers watched Mr Short return to the home he once called a 'carcass' on the seashore.

Edward Short pictured outside his dream home, Chesil Cliff House in Devon, with his fiancee Julie Nambassa. The home, which took 12 years to build, is now being sold for 10 million

Michael Jackson's former body guard Matt Fiddes stood outside the Devon home. Mr Fiddes, who owns a multi-million-pound Martial Arts firm, wanted to convert the sprawling coastal home into 12 flats. The owner, Edward Short, however, called him a 'timewaster'

Harry Styles has been approached for a comment after Mr Short claimed the superstar had expressed interest in the home

The build went over budget and took years longer than initially anticipated due to a series of unfortunate setbacks

Music industry executive Mr Short told The Sun both Styles and Mr Fiddes had shown interest in the 'Greek styled' home.

The father-of-two, who ended his marriage with his wife Hazel because of the stress of the project, called Mr Fiddes a 'time-waster'.

His own daughters Lauren, 24, and Nicole, 22, admitted there had been times where even they were 'over' the project.

Mr Short told the publication: 'We were approached by a buying agent who said they represented Harry's family. His family were interested in it and it was Harry's money - but that's been it. That's the only fact I know.

'I read that he has said he's interested in buying a house in North Devon for 10million. I don't think there's anything in it. I mean, he would have bought it by now if he was buying it.'

Harry Styles' representatives have been approached for comment on the allegations.

In September Mr Fiddes, who owns a multi-million-pound Martial Arts school, told MailOnline he had put in a 7.5 million bid to buy the art-deco lighthouse.

The former bodyguard, who grew up in Devon, said: 'Edward won't like my idea of turning his life's work into flats but if he hangs onto the property any longer finding a buyer who will meet his asking price will be almost impossible.'

A graffitied message which read 'please finish' was left for Mr Short on the property's walls during the build

In September Mr Fiddes, who owns a multi-million-pound Martial Arts school, told MailOnline he had put in a 7.5 million bid to buy the art-deco lighthouse

Mr Short said the Martial Arts guru was not 'serious at all' about buying the property, claiming he had not considered planning restrictions

He wanted to convert Chesil Cliff House into 12 luxury flats after he and his wife Monique had a full tour of the property.

But Mr Short said the Martial Arts guru was not 'serious at all' about buying the property, claiming he had not considered planning restrictions.

He added: ' I think the only timewaster who got through our estate agent's vetting was Matt.

'I don't think he was serious at all. You can't turn it into apartments for starters - in planning, you'd never have a chance.'

There is a serious contender for the renowned Grand Designs four-storey home, which boasts five bedrooms, four receptions rooms and a sauna.

Mr Short said a husband and wife, who he believes are Russian, like the property but are 'nervous about the local reaction'.

But he admitted it will likely 'be a while' before the property is actually sold. He hopes to have a sale finalised by the end of the year.

Mr Short insists there is a serious contender for the renowned Grand Designs four-storey home, which boasts five bedrooms, four receptions rooms and a sauna

When he started the project, Mr Short hoped it would be completed within 18 months at a cost of 2.5 million. He admitted he was upset he would never have 'the chance of living' in his dream home

When he started the project, Mr Short hoped it would be completed within 18 months at a cost of 2.5 million. He admitted he was upset he would never have 'the chance of living' in his dream home.

In a 2019 episode of Grand Designs Mr Short explained he had long dreamed of building a lighthouse on the cliff as a home for his family - but said several factors got in the way.

He told Grand Designs' host Kevin the project had become a nightmare, saying: 'Terrifying is an adjective that doesn't really sum it up if I'm honest.'

Setbacks included the 2011 financial crisis which prompted funds to be withdrawn, granite bedrock that took 18 months to drill into - 12 months longer than anticipated - and then Covid halting progress.

When one lender pulled out in 2018, the house was left derelict, looking more like an abandoned multi-storey car park than millionaire's paradise. Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud, visiting in 2019, described it as a 'desolate carcass'  on which one irritated local had graffitied the plea: 'Please finish'.

Mr Short said his fashion buyer ex-wife picked up work as a cleaner in order to fund the 7 million build and that the financial strain had an impact on their marriage.

In a newspaper interview he revealed: 'Hazel supported me and did amazing things to try to keep things going here, learning accountancy and doing holiday-let cleaning.

Setbacks included the 2011 financial crisis which prompted funds to be withdrawn, granite bedrock that took 18 months to drill into - 12 months longer than anticipated - and then Covid halting progress

'She was very successful, working as a fashion buyer for Harrods, Selfridges and Simpsons, so to get to this age and have nothing is hard.'

And while he said the breakdown of his 20-year marriage was not entirely due to the stress caused by the build, he explained he would 'always carry a sense of guilt' for what he 'put Hazel through'.

He added: 'It was awful for the family because I pulled the stability rug from under them, without being able to give answers of how we were going to get out of it, other than that I had to carry on.'

Elsewhere, he explained he plans to marry his fiancee Jalia Nambasa, whom he met through online dating, next summer.

The couple are currently living at her house in Bath, but he hopes to buy another property near Devon for the family to enjoy.

Mr Short and his ex-wife planned to build the luxury home, comprised of a huge circular tower and spectacular glass-edge infinity pool, in just 18 months.
Former President Donald Trump suggested it would be traitorous behavior if former Vice President Mike Pence or other Trump Cabinet officials tried to run against him in 2024.

'I think it'd be very disloyal,' the ex-president said Friday in a radio interview with Fox's Brian Kilmeade.

Kilmeade brought up the names of Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley, who have long hinted they have future political ambitions.

'Well, many of them have said they would never run if I run. So, we'll see whether or not that turns out to be true,' Trump said.

He also pointed to public opinion polls showing that he had a '40, 50 point' advantage over the Republican hopefuls named.

The Real Clear Politics polling average puts Trump about 45 points ahead of Pence in early 2024 GOP primary public opinion polls.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was not a member of Trump's Cabinet but received his endorsement during his 2018 run, is consistenly second in the polls averaging around 19 percent support.

Pence, on the other hand, gets just 7 percent - while Haley and Pompeo both average under 3 points.

On Wednesday, during an appearance at Georgetown University Pence hinted he would not support a Trump 2024 bid.

'Well, there might be somebody else I'd prefer more,' Pence told students.

Former President Donald Trump suggested it would be traitorous behavior if former Vice President Mike Pence or other Trump Cabinet officials tried to run against him in 2024

Former Vice President Mike Pence hinted Wednesday that he wouldn't lend his support to his ex-running mate, former President Donald Trump, should he run for president again

The former veep earned applause for his comments, which suggested he would throw his own name in the hat.

'What I can tell you is, I have every confidence that the Republican Party is going to sort out leadership,' Pence offered. 'All my focus has been on the midterm elections, and it'll stay that way for the next 20 days.'

'But after that, we'll be thinking about the future, ours and the nation's,' Pence continued. 'I'll keep you posted.'

Last week, Trump continued to tease a 2024 bid.

At a fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago club, he told attendees he would make an announcement about his political future 'very soon' and people would be 'very happy,' Politico reported.

Over the summer he told New York Magazine, 'In my own mind, I've already made that decision,' the most definitive statement to date.

To Kilmeade he said 'I'll probably decide in the not-too-distant future' whether to run.

The ex-president is headed to the red state of Texas this weekend to hold a large political rally, despite the area not hosting any competitive 2022 races.

Trump's former secretary of State and CIA director Mike Pompeo said in September that he's set up teams in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina - three early presidential primary states

Pence, at the same time, has been hosting donor retreats and building a political operation that he could use to launch his own 2024 bid.

After four years of governing side-by-side, Trump and Pence had a falling out when Pence refused to overturn the 2020 election when he presided over the joint session of Congress on January 6 to certify President Joe Biden's win.

Trump has since said that if he runs again he'd choose a different running mate.

Pompeo, Trump's former secretary of State and CIA director, lost weight after he left office - prompting 2024 rumors.

He's been more vocal about those ambitions as of late.

'We've got a team in Iowa, a team in New Hampshire and South Carolina. And that's not random. We are doing the things one would do to get ready,' he told 1,100 guests at the Navy Seal Foundation Midwest Evening event in Chicago in September, Politico reported.

Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina traditionally hold three of the earliest presidential primaries.

Haley also hinted at a presidential run at an event in July.

'No deal is better than a bad deal. And if this president signs any sort of deal, Ill make you a promise. The next president will shred it on her first day in office,' she said, in reference to a renewed Iranian nuclear deal, according to The Hill.

She then added, 'Just saying, sometimes it takes a woman.'

A number of other Republicans are also laying the groundwork to launch presidential bids.

Earlier this month, Politico reported on the efforts of Sens. Tom Cotton and Tim Scott.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez on Monday said he was also considering a bid.

Additionally, Arkansas' Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who's been critical of Trump, has indicated he's interested in running for the White House.
Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley will plead guilty to murder and terrorism charges, avoiding a trial

Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley will plead guilty to murder and terrorism charges, avoiding a trial.

He was not offered any form of plea deal, and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.

It's unclear if he has reached any form of plea deal that is incentivizing him to plead guilty.

Unlike Florida, where Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz narrowly avoided execution last week, Michigan does not have the death penalty.

Crumbley's parents have also been charged in the shooting he carried out at Oxford High School.

They have been charged for allowing him to have access to guns and failing to intervene, even on the day of the massacre.

Crumbley's mother Jennifer and his father James have also both been charged with allowing their son to have contact with

They'd been called into the school to discuss his sinister scribblings on workbooks, where he'd written about dark thoughts that 'just won't stop'.

Instead of taking him home that day, they left him in school and promised to seek counseling for the boy.

Instead, he opened fire on classmates, killing four of them. Sixteen-year-old Crumbley is due in court on Monday.
Military training is also underway for the conscripts called to the frontline under Putin's 'partial mobilisation'

They said they would be prepared to defend their country and families if it became necessary to do so

Adults not on the frontlines were called to training sessions in Russia's Rostov region to prepare for combat

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Bizarre new pictures have emerged of unassuming, middle-aged Russian civilians who have not yet been called on to fight on the frontlines in Putin's army posing with assault rifles and learning hand-to-hand combat.

The group were taking part in combat and weapons training sessions in Russia's Rostov region - which shares a 250 mile border with Ukraine - to ensure they're prepared to fight if they're needed.

But most of the participants appeared out of place and awkward as they learned how to load and fire Kalishnikov assault weapons.

They paired khaki helmets and padded vests with rigid blue jeans and freshly manicured nails - drawing a stark comparison to the pictures of sheer devastation coming out of war-torn Ukraine.

Participants said they would be prepared to defend their country if it became necessary to do so, and one instructor told Reuters many said they felt 'better protected' after the classes.

One Rostov resident who attended the training session, Anna, said: 'I have no husband. I live with my mum and my son so if anything happens I want to be ready to defend my family.'

Another said 'if there's an opportunity... you need to learn for whatever is coming, to be ready.

They paired khaki helmets and padded vests with rigid blue jeans and freshly manicured nails (left) - drawing a stark comparison to the pictures of sheer devastation coming out of war-torn Ukraine

Most of the participants appeared out of place and awkward as they learned how to load and fire Kalishnikov assault weapons

Bizarre new pictures have emerged of unassuming, middle-aged Russian civilians who have not yet been called on to fight on the frontlines in Putin's army posing with assault rifles and learning hand-to-hand combat

Participants said they would be prepared to defend their country if it became necessary to do so, and one instructor told Reuters many said they felt 'better protected' after the classes

The classes included basic combat tactics and handling of a variety of weapons, including Kalashnikov assault rifles

The classes included basic combat tactics and handling of a variety of weapons, including Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Meanwhile proper military training is also underway for more conscripts who have been called to the frontlines as part of President Vladimir Putin's 'partial mobilisation'.

In late September, Putin announced 300,000 people with previous combat experience or specialist skills would be conscripted to the frontlines in Ukraine to help with the war.

Photos released from training camps throughout Russia show these men operating heavy-duty machinery and loading bullets into rifles.

Reports from dissenting voices out of Russia revealed pensioners, men with disabilities, and people without any military training or combat experience were receiving the call-up to fight on the frontlines.

The classes included basic combat tactics and handling of a variety of weapons, including Kalashnikov assault rifles

The group were taking part in combat and weapons training sessions in Russia's Rostov region - which shares a 250 mile border with Ukraine - to ensure they're prepared to fight if they're needed

A woman assembles a rifle during a combat training session for civilians organised by local authorities at a range in Rostov Region

Russian cossacks train to disassemble and assemble Kalashnikov assault rifles at short-term courses, where everyone can be able to receive military skills during theoretical and practical training

Leaked complaints from new arrivals in Ukraine reveal the ailing Russian army is struggling to keep their men clothed, fed and armed.

Russian soldiers were filmed stealing a washing machine from a destroyed house in Ukraine on Friday - prompting jokes they were taking it back to the military camp.

Putin on Wednesday imposed martial law on four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine in response to battlefield reverses. He also placed several border regions including Belgorod on a 'medium alert' - bringing the war closer to home for millions of ordinary Russians.

The decree directed those regional administrations to carry out tasks including stepping up support for the military, and also gave them extra powers, including the ability to restrict freedom of movement.

In a statement on Telegram after a new regional task force meeting, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said it was recommending firms in the city of Belgorod and close to the border find ways to allow staff to work from home.

Pictured: A woman prepares to fire from a Kalashnikov assault rifle during one of the two-day civilian classes

Pictured: A man runs through overgrown grass at the training camp for civilians

There have been a number of attacks in recent weeks on power facilities and other infrastructure in the regional capital and near to the province's 400-km (250-mile) frontier with Ukraine, as well as on fuel and ammunition depots.

Belgorod's schools and colleges had already been told to close for two weeks. Gladkov said that, when they returned, those in the city and nine border regions should operate by distance learning until Dec. 1.

The regional administration would also support any residents of the city or border regions who wanted to leave the area temporarily.

'The Moscow region is already ready to accept 500 Belgorod residents at one of its sanatoriums,' he said, adding transport, food and accommodation would all be provided for free.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday night Putin's forces mined the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and planned to blow it up, in a bid to cover their retreat from the city of Kherson with a vast deluge of water.

Meanwhile proper military training is also underway for more conscripts who have been called to the frontlines as part of President Vladimir Putin's 'partial mobilisation'

Photos released from training camps throughout Russia show these men operating heavy-duty machinery and loading bullets into rifles

In late September, Putin announced 300,000 people with previous combat experience or specialist skills would be conscripted to the frontlines in Ukraine to help with the war

Hundreds of thousands of people living around the lower Dnipro River would be in danger of rapid flooding if the dam was destroyed, Zelensky said.

The potential damage caused by such a move 'can easily be compared to [an] atomic bomb explosion', environmental security expert Maksym Soroka warned.

'Everyone should understand that one cubic meter of water weighs a ton: imagine the amount of water in a meter-by-meter cube: that's one ton. Dams contain a huge mass of water, millions of tons,' Soroka told Rubryka, a Ukrainian news publication.

'Force is mass multiplied by acceleration, and when that mass accelerates, we have a force of thousands of kilotons, and these forces are enough to destroy concrete. The devastating consequences become catastrophic.'

So far, he said, Putin's forces 'have had the sense not to attack our strategic hydraulic structures.' Fears are rising that this could soon change.

Leaked complaints from new arrivals in Ukraine reveal the ailing Russian army is struggling to keep their men clothed, fed and armed

Russian conscripts attend a military training at a ground training range in the Rostov region on Friday

Leaked complaints from new arrivals in Ukraine reveal the ailing Russian army is struggling to keep their men clothed, fed and armed
A 14-year-old girl caused a stir at a north Florida middle school when she handed out more than $10,000 that she is accused of stealing from her grandmother, officials said.

Marion County deputies responded to Lake Weir Middle School in Summerfield on Thursday after reports that a student was giving classmates hundreds of dollars each, according to an arrest report. Summerfield is about 60 miles northwest of Orlando.

School officials conducted a search of the girl's backpack and found about $2,500, deputies said.

The girl said she had been given the money by an unknown former student who wanted the money disseminated.

Marion County deputies responded to Lake Weir Middle School in Summerfield on Thursday after reports that a student was giving classmates hundreds of dollars each, according to an arrest report

It was later determined that the girl had broken into her grandmother's home safe and stolen about $13,500 of the woman's life savings, investigators said.

The arrest report doesn't say why the girl allegedly took the money or why she gave it away to her classmates.

By Friday, officials had recovered about $700 of the money that had been given to other students.

That money and the $2,500 recovered from the girl's backpack were returned to the grandmother.

The girl is facing a grand theft charge.
Gruesome images of a California jewelry store owner being attacked during a robbery was captured via surveillance footage.

Margarita Pereda, owner of Gemma's Jewelers in Rancho Cucamonga, was hospitalized for several days after being pistol-whipped by a thief on October 15.

'He was ready to kill me,' Pereda said.

Two armed men, who were dressed as an Amazon delivery worker and a security guard, entered the store around 2.40pm. One robber immediately approached and confronted Pereda, who triggered the store's alarms before he hit her in the back of the head.

'He said, 'Hell no!' and he came in straight with the gun very close to my face, and I defended myself,' Pereda said.

'It's a miracle, he was ready to kill me.'

Margarita Pereda, owner of Gemma's Jewelers in Rancho Cucamonga, California, was pistol-whipped during a robbery on October 15

Pereda was approached by two thieves who entered the store dressed as an Amazon worker and security guard

One thief charged at Pereda, who attempted to defend herself as she triggered the store's alarms

Pereda was struck in the head by the man dressed as the security guard. She was hospitalized for several days after suffering an open wound to the back of her head

As the attack ensued, another thief dressed as an Amazon delivery worker stole thousands of dollars' worth of jewelry

Pereda was hospitalized after suffering an open wound to the back of her head.

'I was bleeding a lot,' she said. 'I was thinking I'm not going to make it because there was blood everywhere.'

The thieves left the injured Pereda on the ground with jewelry worth thousands of dollars, she told KTLA.

'The people don't have respect for other people no more,' Fabian Rodriguez, a jeweler at the store, said.

Despite the attack, Pereda said she was not affected enough to close her store's doors for a few days.

'I'm not gonna be afraid to close my doors,' she said. 'No, no, no, no, no.'

'He was ready to kill me,' Pereda said of the attack that left her hospitalized for several days

Despite the attack, Pereda said she was not affected enough to close her store's doors

Employees at a nearby Target told FOX LA that they were terrified as the 'clearly planned' robbery took place.

'I was just working and pulling some carts and I saw a bunch of policemen and the lady seemed hurt,' Leonardo Franco said.

'It does make you feel a little unsafe knowing stuff like that is happening. Even in the video, seeing that they are disguised (is scary). One of the suspects is in Amazon (jacket), and another looked like security. Clearly they planned this.'

'Actually seeing the video, that broke my heart,' Mia Spera said.

'Honestly when he got physical with her, that was really sad, because you can threaten someone and not even touch them, but the fact that he actually started hitting her, that was like, 'Oh my gosh, that's really sad.''

Local police are currently searching for the two thieves.

Anyone with information regarding the robbery is urged to contact Candace Sanchez of the Rancho Cucamonga Station. Anonymous tips can be submitted to the WE-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME, or online at wetip.com.
Russia's defense minister and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held their first calls since May on Friday in a sign Moscow and Washington have restored lines of communication as Vladimir Putin ups his attacks on civilians.

But Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned there was no signs that Moscow is prepared to end the war in Ukraine as pro-Kremlin officials said they were turning Ukraine's southern city of Kherson into a 'fortress' in the face of Kyiv's advance.

Few details emerged of the conversation between Russia's Sergei Shoigu and Austin but both sides confirmed they had discussed Ukraine.

Fears Putin could turn to tactical nuclear weapons have been rising since the annexation of four regions in Ukraine and Washington has said Iranians are on the ground helping Russian forces and still selling Moscow drones.

'Topical issues of international security - including the situation in Ukraine - were discussed,' said Russia's defense ministry.

'Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine,' said a Washington spokesman.

It was only the second call between the ministers since Moscow invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Back in May, Austin had urged Moscow to implement an 'immediate ceasefire'.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (left) spoke with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu (right) on Friday, marking only the second call between the ministers since Moscow invaded Ukraine on February 24

Ukraine has denounced the evacuations from Kherson by pro-Kremlin officials as 'deportations'

Kyiv says Russia plans to destroy the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in Kherson region

At the time, Russia's invading force had been beaten back from the capital Kyiv but were making steady gains in the eastern Donbas and Kharkiv regions and had consolidated their position in the south.

Six months on, however, Ukraine's forces have pushed back.

Kyiv's forces in recent weeks - aided by Western weapons - have been advancing along the west bank of the Dnieper river towards the region's main city, also called Kherson.

The first major city to fall to Moscow's troops, retaking it would be a major prize in Ukraine's counter-offensive.

Kyiv said Friday it had retaken a total of 88 towns and villages in the region since launching its offensive to retake Kherson in the late summer while President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the capture of Russian arms by his forces in the region.

Moscow-installed authorities in the region on Friday accused Kyiv's forces of attacking a bridge being used by civilians.

'Four people were killed,' pro-Moscow official Kirill Stremousov said on Telegram. 'The city of Kherson, like a fortress, is preparing for its defence.'

Russian investigators said later two of the dead were journalists and that 13 people had been wounded.

A Ukrainian military spokeswoman Nataliya Gumenyuk denied Kyiv's forces were responsible, saying they did not target local populations.

Electricity production in Ukraine

Kyiv has denounced the organised movement of Kherson residents to Russia and other Moscow-controlled regions as 'deportations' of Ukrainian citizens.

Zelensky told European leaders Thursday that Russian forces had mined the nearby Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant with the intent of blowing it up.

Its destruction could cause flash-flooding for hundreds of thousands of people, he warned.

On Friday, Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmygal called for an international monitoring mission to deploy at the dam.

Cutting water supplies to the south could also hit the cooling systems of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, he added.

Both sides have accused the other of repeatedly shelling the facility, endangering operations.

Ukraine's push in the south comes after a sweeping counter-offensive in the northeast Kharkiv region that has badly impaired Russia's supply routes and logistics corridors in the eastern Donbas region.

But Russian forces have continued shelling the region's largest city, Kharkiv, and the presidency said six people were wounded Friday when 'industrial infrastructure' was hit in the city.

The Sviatohirsk Cave Orthodox monastery has partially been damaged in the Donetsk region of Ukraine

Also Friday, the Ukraine presidency said Russian forces were shelling sections along the entire front line of Donbas and that two had been killed in the Donetsk region.

And later Friday, Zelensky accused Russia of 'deliberately delaying the passage of ships' exporting grain from Ukrainian ports bound for countries in Africa and Asia.

'Russia is doing everything to ensure that at least hundreds of thousands of these people become forced migrants, who will seek asylum... or die of hunger,' he said in his nightly video address.

More than 150 ships had been affected, he said, listing Algeria, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia as among the countries hit by the delays.

In late July, Turkey and the United Nations brokered a landmark deal with Moscow and Kyiv that designated three Black Sea ports for Ukraine to send much-needed grain supplies through a Russian blockade.

Russia has complained its own exports have suffered and contended that most deliveries were arriving to Europe, rather than poor countries where grain is most needed.
Jurors have been told they can consider if a woman cut off her vulnerable friend's head and disposed of the body, but had not meant to kill her.

Jemma Mitchell, 38, is accused of murdering 67-year-old Mee Kuen Chong at her home in Wembley, north London, before wheeling her body away in a large suitcase on June 11 last year.

Fifteen days later, Mitchell allegedly dumped Ms Chong's headless corpse more than 200 miles away in woodland near Salcombe, Devon.

Prosecutors allege Mitchell was motivated by money and had faked devout Christian Ms Chong's will to pay for repairs to her dilapidated home in Willesden, north-west London.

Mitchell has denied murdering Ms Chong, who was known as Deborah, but declined to give evidence in her defence.

On Friday, Judge Richard Marks told jurors they could consider a lesser charge of manslaughter.

Jemma Mitchell, 38, is accused of murdering 67-year-old Mee Kuen Chong at her home in Wembley, north London

Mee Kuen Chong's headless body was found in Devon - 200 miles away from her London home

He said: 'It is not the case for either the prosecution or the defence that the defendant is guilty of manslaughter as opposed to murder.

'The prosecution say this is a case of premeditated murder and that is the reason why the defendant took the suitcase with her to the house on June 11 - ie for the purpose of removing the body.

'The defence on the other hand say that the prosecution have failed to prove that Deborah Chong was unlawfully killed and then, even if you conclude that she was, they have failed to prove that she was unlawfully killed by the defendant.'

The judge raised the evidence of the pathologist Dr Deborah Cook and what the jury could conclude from possible explanations for Ms Chong's head fracture.

The pathologist had said Ms Chong's head injury could have been caused by a blow with a weapon or a violent push.

In either event, the jury could consider Mitchell guilty of manslaughter if she killed Ms Chong but did not intend to cause her really serious harm.

The judge added: 'That would be the case even if she subsequently cut off Deborah Chong's head and then disposed of the body.'

It is alleged Mitchell dumped Ms Chong's body in this area of Salcombe, Devon last year

He told jurors it was a circumstantial case with no witnesses to Ms Chong's death. Circumstantial evidence could be 'powerful' but needed to be examined with care, and speculation played no part in the process, he said.

Jurors could consider that Mitchell told various lies but they should not assume they meant she 'must be guilty', the judge said.

Examples allegedly included providing a false name and address to a taxi firm and lying about how she injured her finger on June 11 last year.

The judge said defendants sometimes told lies out of 'panic or fear or because they think that their genuine explanation may not be believed'.

On Mitchell's failure to go into the witness box, Judge Marks said: 'You must not jump to the conclusion that her silence proved the case against her.

It does not.' But he added: 'It is open to you to conclude that the reason why the defendant remained silent is that in truth that she had no answer to the prosecution case or none that she thought would stand up in cross-examination.'

The trial at the Old Bailey was adjourned until Monday.
President Yoon Suk-yeol delivers a congratulatory speech at a ceremony to mark the 77th Police Day at a convention center in Incheon, west of Seoul, on Oct. 21. Yonhap



President Yoon Suk-yeol plans to give a budget speech at the National Assembly next week, outlining his government's spending plan for next year, the presidential office said Friday.



In the address set for next Tuesday, Yoon is expected to ask for bipartisan support for the 2023 budget plan, according to Yoon's office.



It would be Yoon's second budget speech. On May 16, or just six days after since his inauguration, Yoon made a speech at the National Assembly on an extra budget.



Next week's speech comes amid worsening political conditions, as Lee Jae-myung, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) called for an independent counsel investigation into a corruption scandal that led to an arrest warrant request for one of his closest aides.



Lee urged Yoon and the ruling People Power Party to agree to a special prosecutor investigation into the development corruption scandal in Seongnam, including allegations of irregularities involving Yoon.



In an inteview with CBS radio, Rep. Jin Sung-joon, the DP's vice floor leader, indicated that the main opposition party may consider boycotting Yoon's speech.



An official at the presidential office declined to comment on Jin's remarks, while calling for the National Assembly's support for a recovery of people's livelihoods and the economy. (Yonhap)


The second time the would-be kidnapping occurred a witness intervened and told the child to run - she reported the incident to staff at her school

When the child refused to get into the stranger's vehicle, he exited the car and attempted to place her inside

A middle school student was nearly kidnapped twice in one week by a man who approached her in a van and offered her candy

A 10-year-old girl in Florida has been left rattled after she encountered a stranger who apparently tried to kidnap her in her Fort Lauderdale neighborhood twice in one week.

Authorities are now searching for a man who attempted to lure the child into his vehicle by offering her candy on her way to school Wednesday morning.

A surveillance video of the incident shows the child sprinting away from her potential abductor.

Video also captured the man dressed in all black walking near the scene on October 19, shortly after the incident took place between 7:30-8:00am at 1500 NE 17th Way.

When the child refused to get into the man's black cargo van, he got out of his vehicle and tried to pull her in.

A struggle ensued and the girl was able to get away, but she dropped her lanyard as she fled, which she says she saw the man pick up and take.

The kidnapping suspect was caught on surveillance camera near where a potential kidnapping took place. The unidentified subject attempted to lure the 10-year-old girl twice in one week

The visibly shaken girl sprinted down the block away from her would-be kidnapper after a witness intervened and told the child to run away

The 10-year-old sprinted down the block to a nearby elementary school and reported the incident to the staff who called the police

The 10-year-old did not report the incident until the same thing happened to her again the next day at 7:40am.

The second time, a witness saw what was happening and intervened.

Fort Lauderdale Police detective Ali Adamson said a 'witness in the area approaches them, and asks the 10-year-old if she knows this man.'

'She says no. At the same time she's saying no, the suspect says, yes, they do know each other and that he is her grandfather.

'The witness, realizing that something's not right, instructs the 10-year-old to run.

'She runs to Bendle Elementary where she reports it to the staff,' said Adamson.

School staff then called the police.

The mother of the child expressed her horror at what had happened: 'You drop your daughter at school and a few hours later you get this call,' she said.

'I'm just happy she's ok. I'm just happy that she made a good conscious decision to run and go seek help.'

The man, described as a 25-to-40-year-old white man with short brown hair, has yet to be apprehended.

The 10-year-old (pictured here running away) did not report the incident until the same thing happened to her again on Thursday morning

The second time, a witness saw what was happening and intervened and told the girl to run

Sunrise Middle School sent a message to parents following the incident: 'This serves a perfect alignment to talk to your child about stranger danger and staying safe while walking to or from school.'

Local mother Anika Prescia told News 7 Miami that is 'breaks my heart to hear that other people want to do that to kids.'

'They are kids, they are babies,' she said.

She tells her own children that they absolutely must hear from her before leaving school with anyone who isn't her.

'If you don't hear from me, you're not going with no one. You have to hear from me first. That is what I tell my kids every day,' she said.

Resident Keith Bernek said as police canvassed the neighborhood, 'I don't know what goes through people's mind. I really don't. It's insane.'
It comes as Penny Mordaunt became the first candidate to officially enter the race for the Tory leadership

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke pledged allegiance to the former PM

Six Cabinet ministers are backing former Prime Minister Boris Johnson to become the next Tory party leader

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Support for a Boris Johnson comeback surged yesterday as six Cabinet ministers threw their weight behind the former prime minister.

Writing in today's Daily Mail, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said Mr Johnson was the 'standout star' to replace Liz Truss after she resigned.

It came after Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said yesterday he was also 'leaning towards' backing Mr Johnson.

Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke and Cop26 president Alok Sharma also pledged their votes for the ex-PM.

Six Cabinet ministers have announced their support for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson to become the next leader of the Conservative Party, following Liz Truss's resignation on Thursday. Mr Johnson began calling MPs yesterday from the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean where he had been on holiday

Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan also backed a comeback.

She tweeted last night: 'I have worked closely with Boris Johnson for many years. He can continue to deliver for the country and already has a mandate.'

She added that it was 'time to bring back Boris'.

Mr Johnson went on a charm offensive yesterday, phoning MPs from the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean, where he has been on holiday, to shore up support for a leadership bid. He accepted mistakes had been made during his previous stint in No 10 and pledged 'a different culture' if he wins back the keys.

He was due to fly back to London overnight before weighing up whether to throw his hat in the ring for the Tory leadership.

Mr Heaton-Harris, Mr Johnson's former chief whip, writes in the Mail today that 'there is no politician more able to rise up to whatever challenge he faces'.

He added: 'I would be the first to admit that my party has been through a turbulent time recently, but if he gets the call, I know Boris will finish the job he started and deliver on the promises he made to you in 2019.

'At a time of economic and international uncertainty, we need a leader with a track record of delivering for the British people.

'A leader who has the mandate of not only the Conservative Party membership, but also the country.

Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan backed a Johnson comeback. She Tweeted last night: 'I have worked closely with Boris Johnson for many years. He can continue to deliver for the country and already has a mandate'

Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg Tweeted a graphic that read 'I'm backing Boris' alongside a 'Boris or bust' logo.

Cop26 president Alok Sharma is among Tory Cabinet ministers backing Boris Johnson

A leader Labour fear the most because of his ability to win.'

Mr Wallace said he was minded to support Mr Johnson because he would be the only candidate with a clear mandate from the public, having won the 2019 general election. He added: 'This will be potentially our third prime minister since the general election of 2019.

'That means we have to think about that legitimacy question that the public will be asking themselves, and also about who could win the next election  that's obviously important for any political party at the time. So at the moment, I would lean towards Boris Johnson.'

In a joint statement with Ben Houchen, the Tory mayor of Tees Valley, Mr Clarke said: 'Boris is the person we need to lead our country and our party.

'He won the greatest election victory for years on a mandate to unite and level up the UK, and inspired millions of people who had never voted Conservative before to get behind a generous, optimistic vision of what Britain can be.

'People who have felt left behind from governments of both colours want their prime minister to make a success of Brexit, control illegal immigration and invest in our communities.

'That's what Boris would do and it's why he is so popular right across the Red Wall seats that will decide the next election.'

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris Mr Johnson's former chief whip, writes in the Mail today that 'there is no politician more able to rise up to whatever challenge he faces'

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he would be supporting Johnson because he would be the only candidate with a clear mandate from the public, having won the 2019 general election

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Simon Clarke also pledged his allegiance to the former Prime Minister

Mr Rees-Mogg reposted a graphic on Twitter saying 'I'm backing Boris' alongside a 'Boris or bust' logo.

Meanwhile, Mr Sharma tweeted: 'I am backing Boris Johnson  he won a mandate from the electorate in 2019.

'We need to get back to delivering on the Conservative manifesto we were elected on.'

It means the contest for the leadership is looking increasingly like a two-horse race between Mr Johnson and his former chancellor Rishi Sunak.

One tally yesterday afternoon had Mr Sunak on 80 MPs backing him, with Mr Johnson on 50 and Penny Mordaunt  the only Tory to announce officially that they are running so far  on 21.

Candidates must secure the backing of 100 MPs by Monday afternoon to make it on to the ballot paper.

But a YouGov poll yesterday found more than half of Britons (52 per cent) would be unhappy to see Mr Johnson return. Only 27 per cent would be happy to see a comeback.

Boris tells friends 'I'm up for it' as he prepares to end holiday and jet into race to regain No10  as senior Tories urge Rishi Sunak to bury the hatchet and meet Johnson to agree 'dream ticket' that would end the contest NOW

By Jason Groves, Political Editor for the Daily Mail

Senior Tories are trying to broker a face-to-face meeting between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak in a bid to end the bloodletting engulfing the party.

Mr Johnson is understood to be willing to meet his estranged former chancellor in the hope of burying the hatchet and thrashing out a deal to govern together.

With the battle to succeed Liz Truss fast becoming a two-horse race, a deal between the pair could end the contest immediately, and may offer the best hope of healing the bitter divisions in Tory ranks.

A senior Tory source said: 'It is something that has got to be tried. The party as it stands is fractured  it is incumbent on the two greatest talents in the party to see if it can be healed.'

The source added: 'The question the Conservative Party needs to ask itself is whether it wants to win another general election. If it does, then it needs to come together now.'

Senior Tory members are urging the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson to meet face-to-face with estranged former Chancellor Rishi Sunak to join forces to win the leadership contest and 'heal' the party

The most recent poll revealing the number of declared backers for the Tory leadership contest shows Rishi Sunak in the lead with 74, followed by Mr Johnson and Penny Mourdant

Mr Johnson (pictured) is said to be willing to meet Sunak in the hope of burying the hatchet and thrashing out a deal to govern together

One senior Tory source, said regarding the reunion of Johnson and Sunak: 'It is something that has got to be tried. The party as it stands is fractured  it is incumbent on the two greatest talents in the party to see if it can be healed'

A source close to bookies' favourite Mr Sunak last night played down the prospect of peace talks, saying that although he was 'willing to talk to all colleagues', there were 'no plans' for a meeting with Mr Johnson.

But another senior Tory said there were signs that both camps were eager to heal the rift that otherwise threatens to undermine whoever succeeds Miss Truss. 'On balance, I think it [a meeting] will happen,' the source said.

It came as:

Penny Mordaunt became the first candidate to officially enter the race;

Mr Sunak was targeting a knockout blow in the contest by gathering so many supporters that rivals have to drop out;

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will warn Britain's new prime minister that they need to squeeze defence spending and axe a prison building programme to help balance the books;

Bitter opponents of Mr Johnson warned they could resign the Tory whip and force by-elections if he wins, plunging the party into more chaos;

Former Tory leader William Hague said bringing back Mr Johnson was the worst idea he'd heard in 46 years as a party member;

Allies of Mr Johnson said Tory MPs could cancel Parliament's controversial Partygate probe into his conduct if he returns as prime minister;

Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and former home secretary Suella Braverman were under pressure to pull out of the race after receiving no public nominations;

A new poll put support for the Conservatives on a record low of 14 per cent  39 points behind Labour;

In a sign of the rancour in the party, veteran MP Sir Christopher Chope branded colleagues who forced out Miss Truss 'hyenas'.

Influential Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, who was a key Sunak backer in the last leadership race, said he now wanted to see Mr Johnson as PM with Mr Sunak alongside him again as chancellor.

Outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss was seen leaving Downing Street today following her resignation yesterday

On Friday current Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt (pictured) became the first candidate to officially enter the race to become the Conservative Party Leader

Both men enjoyed a surge in support yesterday that threatened to make it impossible for rival candidates to get enough nominations to get on the ballot paper.

In a significant intervention, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he was setting aside his own leadership chances  and suggested he would back Mr Johnson. He said it was important to think about 'who could win the next election' for the Conservatives.

Mr Johnson also received endorsements from five other Cabinet ministers, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke and Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

Writing in the Daily Mail today, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris describes Mr Johnson as the party's 'standout star' who is best placed to 'finish the job he started'.

Last night, Mr Johnson had the declared support of 43 MPs, although sources are confident he will get well over the 100 nominations needed to make the ballot paper on Monday.

Mr Sunak was out in front with backing from 83 MPs, including former chancellor Sajid Javid, who said it was 'abundantly clear' that he had the 'values our party needs' to 'move on from the mistakes of the past'.

Mr Johnson is due to arrive back in the UK today following a holiday in the Caribbean. Although he has not formally confirmed his candidacy, former minister Sir James Duddridge revealed he had told him he was 'up for it'.

Sir James said: 'I've been in contact with the boss via WhatsApp. He's going to fly back. He said, 'I'm flying back, Dudders, we are going to do this. I'm up for it'.'

Allies of Mr Johnson suggested he would be willing to meet Mr Sunak as soon as this afternoon if the former chancellor agrees. The two men have not spoken since Mr Sunak quit the Cabinet in July, triggering Mr Johnson's exit a few days later. The 'backstabber' narrative dogged Mr Sunak throughout the summer leadership campaign and is seen as one of the main reasons Tory members rejected him in favour of Miss Truss.

MPs on both sides of the Tory divide fear that neither man will be able to heal the deep divisions without the support of the other. Peterborough MP Paul Bristow said it was time to 'put the band back together'.

He told the BBC: 'Boris Johnson has a mandate from the members of the party and from the electorate. I'm sure my colleagues will reflect on that when they vote, and we can avoid a general election, we can go out and put this band back together, we can have political heavyweights around that Cabinet table and we can go on and win the next general election. I'm convinced of that.'

It remains unclear how any deal between the two leading contenders could work. Mr Sunak quit as chancellor in part because of differences over economic policy and it is difficult to see how he could take the role again.

Allies of Mr Johnson dismissed the suggestion he would consider a senior role such as home secretary in a Sunak administration.

Miss Truss's abrupt resignation on Wednesday has triggered a breakneck race to succeed her.

Candidate need 100 nominations from Tory MPs by 2pm on Monday to make the ballot paper.

Tory MPs will vote that night to whittle down the field to two if necessary. If two candidates remain, Conservative Party members will be asked to decide the contest in an online vote, with the result revealed on Friday.

Miss Truss will stay in post as caretaker leader in the meantime, and could take part in a final session of Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

LORD CRUDDAS: Party members are no fools. They know a winner when they see one

Comment by Lord Cruddas

There is a simple solution to all this chaos.

We already have a democratically elected leader for the Government, the party and the country. Arguably, the Tories dont even need another leadership election.

For Boris Johnson was decisively chosen in 2019 by the Conservative membership and subsequently backed by voters in a thundering landslide at the last general election.

Why bother putting the British public through the wringer one more time? Just let Boris get back to the job.

When his parliamentary colleagues turned against him earlier this year and forced him out of office, I led the calls to let him stand again.

The rules of the 1922 Committee barred Boris from immediately running for re-election, but I, like many others, believed he nonetheless deserved to be on the ballot.

I even organised a petition  and more than 25,000 party members signed it.

To my immense frustration, we were ignored. And in the subsequent ballot between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, I refused to vote; I didnt recognise the contest as legitimate.

The party members are no fools. They know a winner when they see one. And Boris is the best hope the Tories have of seeing off Keir Starmer and leading the party to another election victory.

We must also analyse the offences of which Boris was supposedly guilty.

A birthday cake he didnt eat. A glass of warm prosecco he didnt drink. A minor scandal involving a drunken MP whose name is already forgotten.

Compared to Miss Trusss fumbling attempts at fiscal reform which nearly plunged the economy into a crisis more severe than Labours disaster of 2008, these Westminster-bubble issues are an irrelevance.

In truth, Boris was ousted in a fit of inexplicable hysteria. If the current crisis demands anything, it is that petty politicking be put aside  not just to ensure party unity, but for the sake of the country.

We are suffering a surge in the cost of living, with sky-high bills and spiralling food prices.

Thats what ordinary families talk about every day  and thats what Parliament should be focused on.

Boris is the only one who has the charisma and the political vision to connect with ordinary people all over the country and lead us out of this mess. He has already proved his cross-party appeal by winning over huge swathes of voters in traditional Labour regions and turning the Red Wall blue.

Call it levelling-up, call it boosterism, but Boris inspired a deep belief that we could genuinely make Britain better for everyone.

The House of Commons has allowed itself to be utterly distracted  and all at a time when world peace is at its most imperilled since the Second World War.

From his oversized desk in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin must be delighted to see the turmoil in Westminster.

Tory MPs must now get a grip. This is their moment to stand back  and let Boris take the lead again.

Lord Cruddas of Shoreditch is a former Conservative Party treasurer

CHRIS HEATON-HARRIS: We need him. He's the standout political star of his generation

Comment by Chris Heaton-Harris

I've been in politics for a long time. I served as a Member of the European Parliament for ten years and have been a MP since 2010, and in my 22 years of elected politics I have met some of the best in the business.

In that crowded field there has been one standout star  Boris Johnson.

Whether its stranded on a zip wire, delivering Brexit, supporting our country through Covid or leading the international effort to support Ukraine, there is no politician more able to rise up to whatever challenge he faces.

As his former chief whip I saw this star quality day in and day out. His presence fills the room and he is resilient, driven, and determined to deliver.

I would be the first to admit that my party has been through a turbulent time recently, but if he gets the call I know Boris will finish the job he started and deliver on the promises he made to you in 2019.

At a time of economic and international uncertainty, we need a leader with a track record of delivering for the British people. A leader who has the mandate of not only the Conservative Party membership, but also the country.

A leader Labour fear the most because of his ability to win. And no wonder they fear him  he took a bulldozer to their Red Wall in 2019, winning an 80-seat majority. The next leader of the Conservative Party needs to be able to take the fight to Sir Keir Starmer in 2024. I know Boris Johnson can absolutely do that.

These are some of the reasons why I would like Boris to put his name forward and why I am urging my colleagues and Conservative Party members up and down the country to get Boris to stand.

Boriss hero Winston Churchill made a successful comeback having been completely written off by politicians and pundits alike. Maybe now is the time for Boris to follow in those great footprints...

Chris Heaton-Harris is the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
A source revealed to one news outlet that an initial investigation revealed that she may have died from an overdose

Police have also tentatively identified her and are reaching out to next of kin

One neighbor said that they believe the woman lived in the area

The tenant was believed to be home at the time and is being questioned by police

The landlord of the home where the body was found says that he has surveillance footage of a tenant's friend dumping the body

Police were called to the scene just before 6am when the woman was found discovered in a trash bin in the 240 block of Heberton Avenue

The body of a partially-clothed, unidentified woman was discovered Friday afternoon on Staten Island

The body of a partially-clothed, unidentified woman was discovered Friday morning in a trash bin on Staten Island, authorities said.

According to NBC 4 New York, the woman, believed to be in her 30s, was discovered in a bin in the 240 block of Heberton Avenue in Port Richmond just before 6am.

The landlord of the residence told the local news outlet that he has surveillance footage of the incident but that he doesn't recognize the woman who was found.

As of Friday afternoon, the woman, found dressed only from the waist up, has yet to be publicly identified. She had been wrapped in a blanked, officials said.

A source within the NYPD told the New York Daily News Friday afternoon that they believe the woman may have died from a drug overdose.

The person also told the outlet that investigators believe her body may have been dumped in the trash by individuals who didn't know what to do with her after she had overdosed.

Those details have not been confirmed or shared widely, however.

The woman was found partially naked Friday morning by law enforcement. Photos from the scene show the body covered by blankets

Officials discovered the body right next to a red pick-up truck in the driveway of the home

The scene was closed off for several hours as police and investigators worked to collect evidence and remove the body from where it was found

The body was wheeled away Friday afternoon from the scene and taken to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy

Police said Friday afternoon that they have tentatively identified the woman found and that they are working to contact her loved ones at this time.

The landlord also spoke with the New York Daily News on scene after the body was discovered. The man, who asked to be identified as 'Joe,' said he saw the situation play out on his cameras.

The footage allegedly captured one man dragging the woman out of an apartment inside the home, then leaving her in the driveway after he spotted a person walking.

'My cameras picked up everything,' Joe said.

'He put her in the blue (bin) then covered her with blankets and dragged her outside and left her laying over there,' the building owner continued.

'I saw something pop out from the blankets,' he said. 'I believe it was her hand.'

After heading back into the apartment, the man later can be seen walking away as though nothing had happened, Joe said. He believes that the man in the video is a friend of the current tenant, who was also home at the time.

Evidence markers could be seen surrounding the body. The blue bin that officials believe was used to transport the woman was also seen right next to her body

The New York Police Department's Crime Scene Unit was called in immediately to investigate and collect evidence from where the unidentified woman's body was dumped

While speaking with NBC4, Joe said that he has been attempting to evict the tenant over activity at the home.

He also said that the tenant is under investigation and is being questioned by police.

One source told NBC 4 that officers on scene found 'no indication of trauma' otherwise to the woman's body.

The local news source also spoke to one neighbor at the scene who said that her husband saw the body and appeared to recognize the woman as someone who lives in the area.

She also said that she was forced to cover her children's' faces while they were walking so that the kids wouldn't see the body or the scene.

One neighbor told FreedomNews.TV that she was forced to cover her children's eyes as they walked by the scene Friday morning in an attempt to shield them from the body

Joe also told the New York Daily News Friday afternoon that the cameras were ordered after receiving calls and complaints from neighbors about unknown individuals coming and going at all hours of the day and night.

He has cameras both inside and outside of the property, reportedly.

The crime scene tape was still up well into the afternoon hours Friday as officials worked to comb through the inside and outside of the property

Investigators spent hours at the scene attempting to figure out what had happened to the woman whose body was discovered abandoned

'I've owned this building since 1999,' Joe told the outlet. 'I've had tenants pass away in there, but it's never been a crime scene.'

He also said that after finding the footage of the incident, he immediately decided to change the locks, just in case the person in the video attempts to come back.

An autopsy has been scheduled and will be conducted to find a conclusive cause of death, authorities said Friday.
The judge presiding over Danny Masterson's rape trial rebuked his defense attorney for being 'incredibly condescending' toward one of the TV star's alleged victims during her testimony in the witness box.

'I would ask that you bring down your tone,' Judge Charlaine Olmedo told Philip Cohen Friday after the lawyer appeared to look exasperated at some of Jane Doe 1's answers during his cross examination of her.

'Things seem to be a little bit heated or emotional between the witness and Mr. Cohen,' she told the court after temporary excusing the jury.

The judge admonished Cohen for 'getting into an argument with her (Jane Doe 1) over his knowledge of the case.'

And she accused him of behavior 'bordering on argumentative and incredibly condescending.'

Judge Charlaine Olmedo told Danny Masterson's attorney Philip Cohen to 'bring down your tone' today at the actor's rape trial

Judge Olmedo rebuked Cohen for being 'incredibly condescending' toward one of the TV star's alleged victims during her testimony in the witness box

On Wednesday Jane Doe 1 told the court that Masterson had grabbed her throat and 'squeezed real hard' during an alleged rape in 2003.

'I thought I was going to die, that he was going to kill me,' she said

The woman, now 48, broke down sobbing in the witness box as she recounted her harrowing story and Judge Olmedo called a 10-minute recess for her to regain her composure.

The judge admonished Cohen for 'getting into an argument with her (Jane Doe 1) over his knowledge of the case'

In the second encounter at the actor's house, Masterson handed her a 'really sweet, fruity' drink with vodka in it, she said. And later he grabbed her wrists and told her she was going in his jacuzzi.

She said no, and tried to resist, but, after drinking half the cocktail, she added, 'I felt weak. I had no strength.'

He got her out to the yard and threw her partially clothed into the jacuzzi, where, she told the court. 'I did not feel good  I felt like I could fall asleep and slip under the jacuzzi water,' she said.

'My breathing was shallow. Something was wrong. I couldn't see. I couldn't open my eyes.'

Feeling nauseous and wanting to be sick, she managed to get out of the hot tub and Masterson carried her upstairs to his bathroom where he stuck his fingers down her throat to make her vomit, the court heard.

She passed out, she said, but awoke to the sound of Masterson's voice saying 'You're f***ing disgusting. You just vomited all over your hair. You have to go in the shower. He dragged me into the shower.

'In the shower I came to. I was on the floor and he was stroking my breast with his hand.'

Masterson picked her up, told her to his bedroom and 'threw me on the bed,' she added. 'I passed out.

'When I woke up he was on top of me and his penis was inside me. I had no clothes on.'

Danny Masterson is seen arriving to court on Friday for his rape trial with his wife Bijou Phillips on his arm

The alleged victim admitted to the jury that by the time she was interviewed in 2018, she had 'changed her view' and she now believed her sex with Masterson in September 2002 was 'not consensual'

She told the jury that she told Masterson to stop, grabbing a pillow and pushing it into his face to push him away.

'But he shoved it back into my face harder. I was smothered. I could not breathe. I went unconscious.

'When I came to, he was still on top of me...I grabbed his throat.

The court heard how Masterson threatened one of his rape accusers with a gun if she told fellow Scientologist Lisa Marie Presley about the alleged abuse

'He grabbed my throat and squeezed real hard. I thought I was going to die, that he was going to kill me. I could not breathe.

He said to me, 'You like this. You're not going to f***ing tell Lisa. You're not going to f***ing tell Paige.'

Asked by Deputy DA Mueller to clarify, Jane Doe #1 said Masterson was referring to her Scientologist friends, Lisa Marie Presley and another friend, Paige.

At this point in the incident, there was a commotion outside the bedroom with knocking on the door and a man's voice yelling, she went on.

Masterson pulled a gun from his bedside table and while he was holding it, she said, he said to me, 'Shut the f**k up'.'Don't f***ing move. Don't f***ing move.'

She passed out again, she said, and when she woke up, seeing that Masterson was gone, she crawled off the bed and into a closet where she, curled up into a fetal position and went to sleep.'

Explaining why she waited so long to report Masterson, she told the jury, 'If I reported another Scientologist, I would be guilty of a high crime (in Scientology doctrine).'

That would mean being declared a 'suppressive person' and 'permanent expulsion' from the church, she added.

'My life would be over. My parents (both Scientologists) would have to disconnect with me. My daughter, (who was seven or eight at the time) would have to come out of school. I would have nowhere to go.

'And if my parents did stay in contact with me, they would be declared suppressive.'

For the second time in two days, Judge Olmedo had to call a brief recess after Jane Doe #1 broke down in tears, this time as she recounted - sometimes with confusing answers that seemed to contradict one another - the aftermath of the alleged rape and a phone call with Masterson in which he described their sexual encounter as 'a good time.'

The day after the alleged incident at Masterson's house on April 25 2003, she flew to Florida for a vacation with her family and during cross examination from defense attorney Philip Cohen she said that while she 'didn't really remember' the night before, on the plane she kept getting 'flashes' or 'flash memories' of what happened.

'Did you have a flash memory of Masterson having sex with you against your will?' asked Cohen. 'Yes,' she replied.

'Did you have a flash memory of Masterson being silent and physical with you?' Cohen then asked. Again, her answer was 'Yes'.

Masterson is facing a sentence of 45 years to life in prison if he's found guilty. He's seen with wife Bijou Phillips

Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller arrives at the courthouse on Thursday

Despite these answers, she said today that when she spoke to Masterson on the phone while she was still in Florida she told him she didn't remember and when she asked him, 'What happened?' he said 'We had a good time.'

She burst into tears in the witness box, sobbing that when Masterson told her they had sex that night, her reaction was, 'No, no, you're lying. It's not true.'

'I didn't want to believe it,' she said.

She also said she 'didn't want to believe' that the bruising and other injuries she was suffering in Florida were the result of the alleged rape on April 25.

'I just wanted to believe it didn't happen,' said Jane Doe 1 who described her injuries as pain in her anus on 'a scale of 10 out of 10, 'bruising all over,' red dots on her neck from allegedly being choked by Masterson and for three days she 'felt like somebody had punched me in the vagina.'

She told the court that photos of her taken in Florida which showed the bruising, were 'shocking' to her parents.

But Cohen challenged the severity of her injuries, showing the jury two blown up photos of Jane Doe1 during her Florida trip in which she's posing in a bikini, smiling - in one with a waiter and the other with her cousin Rachel.

'Where is the shocking picture?' asked Cohen.

Deputy DA Mueller objected to the question and the judge sustained his objection.

Mastersons alleged rape victim, Jane Doe #1, told the court Friday that police investigating the rape charges asked her to record conversations with other Scientologists.

When Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller asked her if a detective told her to communicate with other alleged victims, she replied Yes.

She told the court that the police proved her with a special phone number to record calls.

Did you record certain calls, asked Mueller. Yes, she said.

Jane Doe #1, also revealed Friday that it was a change in her views about Scientology that made her start believing that a consensual sex encounter with the actor in September 2002, was in fact non-consensual.

She had previously told the court that when she went to Hollywood police in 2004 to report Masterson, she told Officer Alexander Schlegel that during the hook-up at Mastersons home in September 2002, she had consensual vaginal sex with him, followed by anal penetration that she did not consent to.

But when she was interviewed by DDA Mueller in 2018, she told him that the sex with Masterson in September 2002 was non-consensual, the court heard.

Masterson played wise-cracking Steven Hyde on That '70s Show from 1998 to 2006

Questioned about her change of mind, Mueller asked her Friday, Was there a difference for you in the vaginal penetration versus the anal penetration?

Yes, she answered adding that she felt the vaginal sex could be my fault but the other (anal sex) was certainly not my fault.

She said she was terrified because she had never had anal sex before and I believed our faith (Scientology) prohibited that.

When Mueller asked her, In 2018 what was it that made you change your mind about it being non-consensual? she responded , I had my first therapist..

Did your views of your religion (Scientology) change in 2018? he asked her. Yes,' she replied.

When Mueller asked why she was suing Masterson and the Church of Scientology in civil court, claiming shes been subjected to stalking and intimidation, she answered, Its the only the only way to stop them.

She told the court that her concern about possible harassment is not just for herself, Im concerned about my kids. She has three children.

Earlier Friday, under cross examination from defense attorney Philip Cohen, Jane Doe 1 told the court that she absolutely told Officer Schlegel (the first cop she reported the alleged rape to in 2004) that Masterson had a gun in their sex encounter April 2003.

Yet Schlegels report contains no mention of a gun and, said Jane Doe 1 when she was shown that 2004 police report she was very upset because it was marked as an injury report not a rape report'.

So you came to the conclusion that the 2004 report was incorrect in significant ways? asked Cohen.

Correct, she replied, adding that police later investigating the alleged rapes told her that that original report needed to be corrected.

Mastersons attorney, Philip Cohen, challenged Jane Doe #1 over a three-page report she wrote in June 2003 for a top Scientology official in which she recounted the alleged rape two months earlier but made no mention of the word rape nor the gun she testified that he pulled.

She explaIned that she was prohibited from writing about either.

In Scientology, she told the court Friday, You are not supposed to say the r word, youre not supposed to say rape.

Regarding the absence of a reference to a gun in the report, she added that she was told by the Scientology official that the gun does not exist so if I mentioned a gun, that would be a false report.

Cohen also pointed out another discrepancy between her court testimony and the June 2003 report she wrote for Scientology.

She testified that when she woke up the day after the alleged rape at his house in April 2003, Masterson was not at home.

Yet in her version of events in her June 2003 report to Scientology, said Cohen, You say you woke up at 3pm and Masterson was in bed next to you.

When Jane Doe 1 replied that it was almost 20 years ago and its hard to remember all the details, Cohen fired back, Its hard to remember anything that happened that day, right?

Masterson's defense team tried Friday to ban veteran entertainment attorney Marty Singer from being called as witness by the prosecution.

Singer was Mastersons attorney in September 2004 when Jane Doe #1 signed a settlement and non-disclosure agreement with the actor that paid her $400,000.

Mr. Singer has nothing relevant or admissible to say, argued Masterson lawyer Karen Goldstein.

But after hearing from Deputy District Attorney Mueller that he just wanted Singer to testify about how the proceedings were conducted, the agreement that was reached, his opinion about Jane Doe 1 waiting to have the mediation done., Judge Olmedo denied Goldsteins motion to exclude Singer and ruled that he can be called as a witness.

Masterson, 46, is accused of raping three women at his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003. He's pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The Scientologist actor is facing a sentence of 45 years to life in prison if he's convicted at the end of his trial where Elvis Presley's daughter, ex-Scientologist Lisa Marie Presley, is on the witness list.

Masterson - who has been free on $3.3 million bail since his arrest in June 2020 - showed up Friday in a dark blue suit, gray shirt and pink tie for the fourth day of his rape trial at criminal court in downtown Los Angeles.

His accusers - whom DailyMail.com is identifying only as Jane Does 1 through 3 - are all former Scientologists and are also suing the That '70s Show star and the Church of Scientology in civil court, claiming that they've been harassed and intimidated since reporting him to police.
The parents of a 12-year-old schoolgirl in France whose battered body was found last week in a suitcase outside her Paris home have urged politicians to stop exploiting her death for their own ends - after President Emmanuel Macron called her murder an act of 'extreme evil'.

A 24 year-old Algerian woman with a history of psychiatric disorders has been charged with the rape and murder of 12 year-old Lola Daviet. The woman was also investigated for torture.

The 12 year-old's parents called on right-wing groups to stop using their daughter's death for political purposes.

Investigators said the woman had overstayed a student visa and failed to comply with a notice issued in August to leave France within 30 days.

Conservative and far-right parties have used the case to accuse President Emmanuel Macron's government of failing to enforce immigration laws, arguing the strict application of deportation orders could have prevented the murder.

But her parents, who met with Macron earlier this week, on Friday pleaded with politicians to stop exploiting their daughter's murder, after her photo was displayed at a far-right demonstration in Paris the day before.

Lola Daviet's body was found in a suitcase outside her family home. An Algerian woman has been charged with her rape and murder

They called for an immediate end to 'any use of the name and image of their child for political ends' so they could 'honour the memory of their child in peace, respect and dignity'.

Photos and drawings of the girl have been posted widely across social media, with far-right activists using the case to berate the government over its record on illegal immigrants.

In his first public comments on the death of the girl Macron said the atrocity had shocked France.

'We are faced with extreme evil and we realize that this is possible in our society,' he told reporters at a European Union summit.

'I think above all of Lola's parents, her brother and her half-brother, the distress of this family which is incredibly dignified and united at this moment and I think that it needs first and foremost the respect and affection of the nation.'

President Macron called for 'respect' as he condemned the act of 'extreme evil'

A tribute to the slain girl was taking place on Friday evening in the northern town of Fouquereuil, where Lola's family is from and where they have retreated.

At a community centre, people, often moved to tears, were laying flowers and cards and signing a book of condolence in front of a giant portrait of Lola.

On Thursday, activists from far-right parties including Marine Le Pen's National Rally and Eric Zemmour's Reconquest took part in rallies in Paris in tribute to the victim, brandishing photos and portraits of her.

On Friday morning, worshippers at a mosque in Pessac, near Bordeaux in southwest France, discovered it had been defaced with slogans referring to the case and denouncing the government.

And police have opened an investigation after one of their officers, gave graphic details of the case in an interview with the television station BFMTV. The interview, filmed so as to conceal his identity, was broadcast Friday.

Dominique Sopo, president of anti-racism group SOS Racisme, has already denounced the 'crass indecency' of what he described as the political exploitation of the case.

Alexandre Silva, the lawyer for the woman charged, has called for an end to the 'misinformation' around the case.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Brussels summit on Friday, Macron said the family needed 'the nation's respect and affection'.

'Lola' is to be buried in the northern French town of Lillers on Monday.
Residents in four states have been warned to brace for flash flooding as a massive rain bomb smashes the east coast of Australia.

NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania will be battered by heavy downpours and thunderstorms as a slow moving low pressure system continues to wreak havoc.

Sky News Weather meteorologist Alison Osborne has warned the wild weather could become worse with the possibility of an east coast low forming over the weekend.

'So this is a serious forecast. And people are urged to remain alert,' she said.

More than 100 callouts have been made to the SES, a driver has been saved after their car was cut off by rising floodwaters, and hundreds of millimetres of rain has been dumped overnight.

Residents have been told to prepare for the worst with the heavy downpours expected to last through the weekend.

Residents have been told to prepare for the worst with the heavy downpours expected to last through the weekend (pictured, Sydneysider in the rain)

Residents in four states have been warned to brace for flash flooding as a monstrous rain bomb smashes the east coast of Australia

Sky News Weather meteorologist Alison Osborne has warned the wild weather could become worse with the possibility of an East Coast Low forming over the weekend (pictured, flooding in Echuca, Victoria, on Monday)

NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania will be battered by heavy downpours and thunderstorms as a slow moving low pressure system continues to wreak havoc

NSW

As of midday on Saturday, the Bureau of Meteorology issued 19 flood warnings across NSW, with nine major warning at locations including Lismore, Moree Tamworth, Moama, Condobolin, Gunnedah and Warren.

While the state's emergency services issued 98 flood warnings across NSW, including 15 'emergency' warnings and 47 'watch and act'.

Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke on Saturday said services were 'literally sandbagging the state'.

'We are quite literally sandbagging the state at present ... There is not a single part of New South Wales that I am not concerned about. It is important everyone stays on alert,' Ms Cooke said.

On Saturday afternoon the weather bureau said a low-pressure system was forecast to develop near the northern NSW coast on Sunday, which is predicted to move south during Monday.

The focus of the crisis in the state's far northeast and southeast, close to the Victorian border, binging moderate to heavy rain.

Ms Cooke explained the 'high-impact' rain event posed major risks for residents in Lismore with 'life-threatening flash flooding, trees coming down, landslips and potentially major flooding'.

In the north, emergency warnings were in place for Narrabri and the hamlet of Terry Hie Hie, while in the southern borderlands an emergency alert was in place for Moama, where hundreds of people have been ordered to evacuate.

Evacuation centres have been established in Tamworth as flooding in North Moree is expected to exceed March 2021 levels.

NSWs Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke (pictured) said emergency services were 'quite literally sandbagging the entire state' in anticipation for a 'high-impact' rain event

The Bureau said a developing area of focus for the next 48 hours would be the state's northeast as a trough and possible low-pressure system developed off the coast, bringing heavy rain to the Northern Rivers, including Lismore and Byron Bay.

'Exact rainfall amounts will depend on where this trough forms and how it moves and in particular whether the low-pressure system develops near the coast, or further offshore,' the Bureau said.

'Heavy rain may bring both a flash flooding and riverine flooding risk.'

A flood watch has been issued for the Lower Hunter, Hawkesbury-Nepean and the Colo Rivers.

Byron Bay is expected to receive between 60 to 80mm and Coffs Harbour up to 50mm on Sunday.

The Bureau forecast rain and storms on Saturday for eastern NSW, including Sydney, where it predicted a thunderstorm would bring heavy falls, causing flash flooding.

In Sydney, residents in the city's west were expected to bear the brunt of the weather.

Moderate flooding on the Hawkesbury-Nepean river, which has already experienced two major floods this year, is expected on Monday or Tuesday.

Resident in Forbes, NSW, after heavy rain led to flash flooding in the city on Monday

Victoria SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch warned river levels were rising at a rapid pace (pictured, Melbourne residents)

Victoria

The Bureau has warned of widespread flooding across the state with evacuation orders issued for Echuca and renewed fears flooded Shepparton could be hit again.

Victoria SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch warned river levels were rising at a rapid pace.

'We're currently seeing water levels around that 94.75m [mark] on the Murray River through to Echuca this morning,' he said.

'We are expecting the peak to occur from Sunday night into Monday, around that 95m mark.

'We're also keeping a very close eye on the Kerang community. Water levels are at 77.92 as it heads towards a peak of 78m.'

Residents in the northern Victorian town of Kerang are being told it's too late to leave but the community is standing strong in the face of rising floodwaters.

ADF personnel help to hand out sandbags in Shepparton on Monday as floods battered the region

Regional Victoria has been hit by widespread flooding with the worst felt in Shepparton

Heavy downpours over the past week has led to flooding across NSW including Forbes

A bridge connecting the town to the Murray Valley Highway has been closed since Wednesday night, prompting warnings from the State Emergency Service that people could no longer evacuate.

But Gannawarra Shire Mayor Charlie Gillingham said residents could still leave for Swan Hill or other northern towns via three separate routes.

Those major roads will slowly close over the next week as floodwaters rise but Mr Gillingham said many locals were still choosing to stay.

'I suppose about 500 have left but there's still probably 3,000 in town,' he said.

'There's certainly plenty of people walking up and down the street.'

The SES has already received 100 callouts for help from residents in Geelong.

hree people were rescued after driving through floodwaters and more than 85 millimetres of rain was recorded in nearby She Oaks.

'We can't emphasise enough - do not drive through flash floodwaters. It could be the last decision you make,' Mr Wiebusch said.

The SES has received more than 8,300 calls for help since the weather emergency began and more than 750 flood-related rescue requests.

Byron Bay is expected to receive between 60 to 80mm and Coffs Harbour up to 50mm on Sunday (pictured, Sydneysider braving the rain)

The flooded Lachlan River in NSW as downpours continue to smash the east coast of Australia

Queensland

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services have issued warnings for residents in the Brisbane City Council Area as possible severe thunderstorms and heavy rain is set to fall over the next 48 hours with 150mm of rain predicted.

Residents in Biggenden and Dallarnil, in the North Burnett Regional Council, are being told to prepare to evacuate should conditions worsen.

Locals in Gympie, Noosa and the Fraser Coast are being warned to secure their belongings and stay off the roads due to the risk of flash flooding in the next 24 hours.

A major flood warning remains in place for the Macintyre River as its major flood level is expected to reach more than 8.5m on Saturday evening in Goodiwindi.

Heavy downpours have already smashed the sunshine state with some parts of regional Queensland recording more than 100mm of rain overnight.

Some 243mm fell at Coops Corner on the Noosa River and 211mm in Tin Can Bay.

A driver was winched to safety after their car was swept off the causeway near the Bauple Drive-Bruce Highway exit on Friday.

The Bureau warned the wild weather will barrel towards the south east of the state over the coming days.

'The system is expected to drift gradually to the south, and it may affect South-East Queensland later on Saturday or during Sunday, though there is still a large amount of uncertainty in the forecast position and track of this system,' the Bureau said.

'Heavy rainfall, which may lead to flash flooding, is forecast for areas east of Seventeen Seventy, Biggenden, Jimna and Maroochydore.'

Hervey Bay is forecast to cop 40 to 70mm of rain on Saturday and another eight to 25mm on Sunday.

Brisbane will likely receive 35mm today before another 60 to 90mm is dumped on the city tomorrow.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said evacuation and community centres had been prepared and were ready to house residents if they needed to flee their homes.

'We have also distributed more than 55,000 bags since staging our three super sandbag weekends,' he said.

'Our new flood mapping is free and available so residents can learn the risks related to their property.'

Flooded rugby club at Forbes in NSW after heavy rain battered the state on Monday

Traffic sign close to Goulburn River at Shepparton, in Victoria, following flooding on Monday

Tasmania

The Bureau has cautioned residents 'lives could be at risk from flood waters' with flooding likely across the state between Friday and Saturday.

Watch and act alerts were issued overnight for regions including Liffey, Deloraine, Meander, Red Hills and Mole Creek.

Some 25mm is forecast to fall in Hobart on Saturday as heavy downpours fall elsewhere across the country.

The wild weather is set to ease on Sunday before picking up again on Monday.

Tasmania SES Acting Director Leon Smith revealed plenty of rain was still on its way.

'The low-pressure system causing this weather is continuing to develop into next week, and at this stage we expect Monday and Tuesday to be the wettest days,' he said.

He urged residents to take care and keep an ear out for the latest flood updates.

'With heavy rain, this means knowing your flood risk and understanding whether your street and home are prone to flooding. As always, SES crews are ready to assist if needed,' he said.

'Anyone in an area affected by rains is encouraged to be vigilant, never enter or drive through floodwaters, and when driving look out for debris on roads including fallen trees and power lines.'

Victoria SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch warned river levels were rising at a rapid pace (pictured, Goulburn River in Victoria)

Cars are submerged in floodwaters after heavy rain was dumped over Shepparton, in Victoria, on Monday
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James Corden has broken cover since declaring he 'didn't do anything wrong' after an New York City restaurant owner demanded the Late Late Show host apologize to his staff.

Corden, 44, was seen cruising around Los Angeles on Friday, donning a dark shirt and shades with a deep frown on his face.

He keep his visor down - which hid his face - during his first public outing since NYC restauranteur Keith McNally called him a 'tiny cretin of a man' and banned him from Balthazar for his behavior.

His downcast outing today comes after McNally challenged him to 'apologize to the young servers he abused' after the talk show host performed a U-turn and said he hadn't done anything wrong.

The British actor previously faced accusations that he was a terrible customer at the restaurant.

Corden apologized on Tuesday for being rude to two young servers after he was called out by the Balthazar owner on Instagram.

However, in an interview with a New York Times reporter on Friday, Corden broke his silence and said: 'I haven't done anything wrong, on any level.'

Responding to the interview, McNally wrote in a new Instagram post: 'I have no wish to kick a man when he's down, but I believe the best way for James Corden to retrieve some of the vast respect the public had for him before this incident is to own up to it and apologize to the young servers he abused.'

He added: 'Whatever Corden meant, his implication was clear: he didnt do it.'

The Balthazar owner said if Corden 'apologizes to the two servers he insulted, I'll let him eat free at Balthazar for the next 10 years.'

James Corden has broken cover since declaring he 'didn't do anything wrong' after NYC restaurant owner demands the Late Late Show host apology to his staff. Corden, 44, was seen cruising around Los Angeles on Friday, donning a dark shirt and shades with a deep frown on his face

His downcast behavior comes after Restauranteur Keith McNally challenged him to 'apologize to the young servers he abused' after the talk show host performed a U-turn and said he hadn't done anything wrong after McNally accused of him a being a terrible customer at his NYC establishment

He kept his visor down to hide his face as he drove through the celebrity-filled town

McNally appears to have responded to the interview in another Instagram post, writing: 'I have no wish to kick a man when he's down, but I believe the best way for James Corden to retrieve some of the vast respect the public had for him before this incident is to own up to it and apologize to the young servers he abused' and added that 'Whatever Corden meant, his implication was clear: he didnt do it'

Corden went on to say in The New York Times interview that speaking about the ordeal was 'beneath' the publication after the reporter appeared grateful Corden hadn't called off the chat altogether.

'I feel so zen about the whole thing. Because I think it's so silly. I just think it's beneath all of us. It's beneath you. It's certainly beneath your publication.'

Corden compared the media response to his bad behavior to a school principal helping classroom bullies.

'The principal makes the decision to stand up and say: 'I'd like all of those bullies to come up onto the stage and say, into the microphone, what they've just been saying in the hallway over there,' he told the publication.

DailyMail.com has reached out to McNally for further comment.

The interview was conducted on Thursday morning at another pricey restaurant on the Upper East Side. Itzkoff asked if the Tony award-winner, who earns $36million a year, was 'all right.'

'About what? What do you mean?' Corden responded coyly.

Corden was banned from the NYC restaurant on Monday after McNally revealed he berated staff at his restaurant - and a day later, he revoked that ban the Late Late Show house called him to apologize.

Restauranteur Keith McNally has challenged talk show host James Corden to 'apologize to the young servers he abused' after the host made a reversal and snapped at a New York Times reporter about the incident

Talk-show host James Corden has snapped once again, this time at a reporter for the New York Times who was interviewing about his latest project for Amazon

Corden says he believes the media has simply over-egged the story. James Corden and Julia Carey seen having lunch at Scott's restaurant in Mayfair on June 27, 2018 in London, England

As the interview about his latest project for Amazon Prime Video took place at the Mark Restaurant by Jean-Georges, a patron could be heard getting frosty with a server over her egg order.

'Happens every day. It's happening in 55,000 restaurants as we speak. It's always about eggs,' Corden said.

'Can you imagine now, if we just blasted her on Twitter? Would that be fair? This is my point. It's insane,' he continued.

When asked by Itzkoff if he was even aware of the conversations being printed about him as a result of McNally's Instagram posts, Corden appeared oblivious.

'I haven't really read anything. It's strange. It's strange when you were there. I think I'm probably going to have to talk about it on Monday's show.

'My feeling, often, is, never explain, never complain. But I'll probably have to talk about it,' he said to The New York Times. 'It feels like such a silly thing to talk about,' he added.

Corden says he believes the media has simply over-egged the story.

'Should we not all be a little grown-up about this?' he asked Itzkoff. 'I promise you, ask around this restaurant. They don't know about this. Maybe 15 percent of people.

'I've been here, been walking around New York, not one person's come up to me. We're dealing in two worlds here.'

DailyMail.com has contacted Corden's representatives.

Corden appeared to lash out at New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff over the omelet incident

Julia Carey wife of James Corden is pictured outside their home in Los Angeles on Thursday

James Corden's wife, Julia Carey, is spotted in LA outside the family home on Thursday while her husband conducted media interview for his new Amazon Prime Project

The saga began on Monday when McNally, who has a colorful history of booting out celebrities from his exclusive restaurants, claimed Corden behaved badly at his former restaurant, Cafe Luxembourg, on several occasions and left one server 'shaken.'

McNally then posted two separate examples of Corden's 'extremely nasty' behavior at Balthazar, the French brasserie.

The 71-year-old started his post by calling the funnyman a 'hugely gifted comedian', before laying into Corden.

The furious owner said that he '86'd' - banned - the star and claims Corden found a hair in his main course when dining there in June, before demanding free drinks for the mistake.

Restaurateur Keith McNally, 71, banned the Late Late Show host from his restaurants because of his 'extremely nasty' treatment of staff - only to rescind the ban hours later

The popular French eatery Balthazar, in New York's SoHo district, is pictured on Monday

Balthazar's owner, Keith McNally, regularly shares updates from his staff - including, on Monday, excoriating James Corden for his behavior

The restaurant, pictured on Monday, is a popular spot for celebrities, tourists and locals alike

Corden and his wife Julia Carey are accused of sending back an egg yolk omelette because it had a 'little bit of egg white' in it while dining at the plush restaurant

He said: 'After eating his main course, Corden showed the hair to Balthazar manager G. who was very apologetic.

'Corden was extremely nasty to G, and said: 'Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I write any nasty reviews in yelp or anything like that.''

In a second incident, McNally claims that Corden was dining with his wife, Julia Carey, at the eatery on October 9 for brunch.

He says that Corden asked for a table outside, and wife Carey ordered an egg yolk omelet with a salad.

The couple complained to the server that there was 'a little bit of egg white mixed with the egg yolk' and sent the dish back.

McNally added: 'The kitchen remade the dish but unfortunately sent it with home fries instead of salad.

'That's when James Corden began yelling like crazy to the server: 'You can't do your job! You can't do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelet myself!'

Tony-award winning Corden has risen to fame over the past ten years after moving across the pond, and becoming famed for his cheeky smile and stream of A-list pals

Balthazar in New York's Soho is a much loved celebrity haunt, but the British funnyman has now been banned from dining there

Balthazar: Fancy French brasserie-style diner in trendy Soho district Balthazar is a French brasserie-style restaurant housed in New York City's Soho neighborhood. The restaurant opened in 1997 in a building formerly used as a tannery, a place where animal hides are treated. It has since become one of owner Keith McNally's benchmark brasseries. The Michelin Guide describes the restaurant as being 'quintessentially SoHo.' The menu features pastries, seafood and other French-inspired delicacies. McNally has since other Balthazar locations across the globe, including in London, UK. His culinary empire also includes NYC hot spots Pastis and Minetta Tavern. Advertisement

'M.K (server) was very apologetic and brought G. (floor manager) over to the table.

'He returned the dish, and after that, everything was fine. He gave them promo Champagne glasses to smooth things out.

'G. said that Corden was pleasant to him but nasty to the server. M.K. was very shaken, but professional that she is, continued to finish her shift.'

Corden will not stay on at The Late Late Show after his current contract ends next year - a decision that was made earlier this year, long before the Balthazar saga.

Corden is well known for his provocative and at times strange behavior.

In 2017, as the Harvey Weinstein scandal was just being published, Corden joked and made fun of the rapist's victims.

'It has been weird this week watching Harvey Weinstein in hot water,' he told a gala in New York City.

'Ask any of the women who watched him take a bath, it's weird watching Harvey Weinstein in hot water.'

He later apologized, tweeting: 'To be clear, sexual assault is no laughing matter. I was not trying to make light of Harvey's inexcusable behavior, but to shame him, the abuser, not his victims. I am truly sorry for anyone offended, that was never my intention.'

At the end of 2019, he ridiculed the technical team behind the film Cats, in which he starred.

'I haven't seen it, I've heard it's terrible,' he told a British radio show, and then told the Oscars audience while presenting an award: 'As cast members of the motion picture Cats, nobody more than us understands the importance of good visual effects.'

In September 2021, while promoting his film Cinderella, he dressed as a mouse and danced in a road, thrusting his groin at bemused drivers.

Corden was accompanied by Camila Cabello, who plays the lead role, and Billy Porter, as a character called Fab G.

At one point Corden seemed to take a drag on what looked like a spliff, before dancing some more.

In July this year, he was knocked off his bicycle in London by a fellow cyclist, who swerved in front of him on busy Regent's Street, nearly pushing Corden into a car.

The comedian was furious, and loudly berated the young bike ride who cut him up.

Corden, in his mouse suit, is seen with Camila Cabello and Billy Porter in a street performance to promote his new film, on August 27, 2021

Corden gyrates at bemused motorists in Los Angeles, in August 2021, to promote his new film, Cinderella

The British comedian is pictured with Cabello, who plays Cinderella, and Billy Porter, whose character is called Fab G

Balthazar owner Keith McNally made a raunchy Instagram post detailing how a couple used the men's room at the swanky NYC restaurant as their private sexual oasis over the long Fourth of July weekend

McNally claims a couple had sex in the bathroom before scurrying off, leaving behind a wedding ring. The ring has since been placed in lost and found

McNally on Monday banned Corden from his restaurant but then later reversed it after saying he had spoken to the actor on the phone.

He had told how Corden had been rude to his staff several times - berating them over a hair in his food and demanding free drinks during the summer.

Meanwhile on October 9 he furiously reprimanded the waiters over an omelet he was unhappy with.

Four hours after announcing the ban to his 87,000 Instagram followers, McNally promptly reversed it, saying he had received a call from Corden apologizing.

The fiery restaurateur posted a new photo on Tuesday night captioned: 'Feeling strange about the James Corden thing. On the one hand, he was definitely abusive to my staff, on the other hand, I feel really sorry for him right now.

'Like most cowards I want it both ways.' He concluded: 'F*** it, I'm going to get drunk.'
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Senior Tories are trying to broker a face-to-face meeting between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak in a bid to end the bloodletting engulfing the party - as the former Prime Minister ended his holiday in the Dominican Republic and took an overnight flight back to London in the race for the keys to No10.

Were YOU on the flight? Email tips@dailymail.com or jessica.warren@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement

Mr Johnson is understood to be willing to meet his estranged former chancellor in the hope of burying the hatchet and thrashing out a deal to govern together.

With the battle to succeed Liz Truss fast becoming a two-horse race, a deal between the pair could end the contest immediately, and may offer the best hope of healing the bitter divisions in Tory ranks.

There is speculation among backers of the old Downing Street neighbours that they could strike a deal to stand together, but this seems unlikely given how far apart the two are on key issues and how much they both want the top job.

Outgoing Prime Minister Truss, backed by Johnson for the top job, is said to be preparing to support him in a return to Downing Street.

Kemi Badenoch is also reported to be moving to back Johnson, as is former Home Secretary Suella Braverman. An endorsement from both could help to solidify the support of the party's right wing behind him.

But there are concerns that some centrist MPs could resign the Tory whip or even defect in protest as they regard him as unacceptable to lead. That could open the door for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to force a snap election and trigger a Conservative wipeout.

A staggering poll today shows the Tories 39 points behind Labour, at their lowest ever rating.

Former Cabinet minister David Gauke suggested Sir Keir should offer not to run candidates against Tory MPs who are willing to join a no-confidence vote.

It comes as Rishi Sunak is believed to have become the first to secure the backing of 100 MPs, shoring up sufficient support to be on the ballot for Monday's leadership vote.

Latest figures from Conservative Home put Mr Sunak at 100 backers, Mr Johnson at 51 and Ms Mordaunt at 22.

There is speculation among backers of the old Downing Street neighbours that Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson could strike a deal to stand together, but this would need them both to bury a lot of rancour.

As Mr Johnson flew home from holiday in the Caribbean, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was among the senior figures lined up behind his shock return - just six weeks after he was ousted from power amid a flood of resignations over Partygate and sleaze.

A Boris Johnson-supporting MP said the former prime minister told him he is 'up for it' and would fly back to the UK from his Caribbean holiday to stand in the Tory leadership contest.

Sir James Duddridge said: 'I've been in contact with the boss via WhatsApp.

'He's going to fly back. He said, 'I'm flying back, Dudders, we are going to do this. I'm up for it'.

As Mr Johnson boarded a flight home, he was met with a 'mixed reaction' from passengers, with some booing the former PM, a Sky News reporter on the flight said.

As the race for the keys to No10 heats up:

Penny Mordaunt became the first candidate to officially enter the race;

Mr Sunak was targeting a knockout blow in the contest by gathering so many supporters that rivals have to drop out;

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will warn Britain's new prime minister that they need to squeeze defence spending and axe a prison building programme to help balance the books;

Bitter opponents of Mr Johnson warned they could resign the Tory whip and force by-elections if he wins, plunging the party into more chaos;

Former Tory leader William Hague said bringing back Mr Johnson was the worst idea he'd heard in 46 years as a party member;

Allies of Mr Johnson said Tory MPs could cancel Parliament's controversial Partygate probe into his conduct if he returns as prime minister;

Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and former home secretary Suella Braverman were under pressure to pull out of the race after receiving no public nominations;

A new poll put support for the Conservatives on a record low of 14 per cent  39 points behind Labour;

In a sign of the rancour in the party, veteran MP Sir Christopher Chope branded colleagues who forced out Miss Truss 'hyenas'.

Sky News photographed the ex-PM and wife Carrie Johnson on an overnight British Airways flight back from the Dominican Republic with their children

Dressed in a grey Worley Weingart t-shirt Mr Johnson, 58, smiled and posed with his trademark thumbs up, as he sat next to wife Carrie with a group of friends, including adviser Henry Newman (right) on holiday in Greece in August

Boris Johnson's BA flight from the Dominican Republic is due to land in Gatwick Airport on Saturday morning. It was the most tracked in the world at one point, with more the 4,000 people watching

Boris Johnson's plane took off from the Dominican Republic on Friday and stopped via Antigua (pictured) on its way to the UK

Mr Johnson (pictured) is said to be willing to meet Sunak in the hope of burying the hatchet and thrashing out a deal to govern together

Rishi Sunak is believed to have secured the backing of 100 MPs, shoring up support to be on the ballot. Pictured at his London home on Saturday morning

One senior Tory source, said regarding the reunion of Johnson and Sunak: 'It is something that has got to be tried. The party as it stands is fractured  it is incumbent on the two greatest talents in the party to see if it can be healed'

Outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss was seen leaving Downing Street today following her resignation yesterday

On Friday current Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt (pictured) became the first candidate to officially enter the race to become the Conservative Party Leader

Tory leadership race timeline Monday: Nominations for the race close, candidates making it through must have at least 100 Tory MPs backing them Monday 3.30 pm: First round of voting (if more than one candidate gets through) Monday 6pm: Result of first vote announced. If three make it through, the candidate with the fewest votes is be knocked out Monday 6.30pm: 'Indicative' ballot held if two candidates are left, one may drop out Tuesday-Friday: If two candidates make it through, Conservative Party members have the chance to vote online Friday: The final vote closes and Britain's new Prime Minister is announced Advertisement

The former PM, who was seen boarding a BA flight back to the UK with his wife Carrie, 34, plus children Wilfred, two and baby Romy, has told an ally that he will run in the leadership contest.

Sky News reporter Mark Stone said that passengers on the flight looked 'slightly bewildered' to see the former PM.

While they boarded the plane at Punta Cana International Airport separate from the public, the family sat in economy, the former PM in seat 34K.

'Mr Johnson is sitting in economy, quite near the back of the plane, with his wife and children - one of his children climbing on top of him,' Mr Stone said.

'He's in a suit, his head forward, deep in thought, but moments before that one of his children was climbing on top of him - a family coming back from their holidays.'

The former PM's plane landed at Gatwick Airport on Saturday at 10.18am from the Dominican Republic, following a planned stop in Antigua.

His was the most tracked in the world at one point, with more the 7,000 people watching for the former premier's arrival.

His travels follow two trips in August, when the then outgoing PM holidayed with Carrie for a belayed honeymoon in Slovenia, and then took a trip to Greece for a family holiday near Horto where his father Stanley has a house.

Following his resignation, Mr Johnson set up a company to channel millions in earnings that he could generate on the lucrative speaking circuit.

Earlier this month, he registered the company The Office of Boris Johnson Limited with Companies House.

The ex Premier, who stood down last month, had been predicted to earn around 5million a year after quitting Downing Street.

However Mr Johnson is said to have his eyes on No 10 again, as cabinet ministers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Simon Clarke also pledge their votes, while allies claimed MPs were 'in tears' in the Commons tea room as they realised his return is 'almost unstoppable'.

Mr Johnson has been personally calling to woo colleagues and assuring them he will definitely be a candidate, and allies have been offering assurances that Jeremy Hunt will not be sacked as Chancellor.

Meanwhile, Stanley Johnson said it could be his son's 'moment' to make a comeback in the wake of the humiliating resignation by Liz Truss.

Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and MP Andrew Stephenson said that Boris Johnson is 'a tried and tested leader' and it is time that the is back in power.

He told BBC Breakfast: 'It will be the challenge for whoever is leader of the party to unite the party. I think it is important that all MPs respect the result of this election and unite behind our new leader.

'I think what we have seen in the last few days is some of the MPs who resigned and called for Boris to go at the start of the summer have now said they would like to see him put himself forward. They've admitted they were wrong. I know that many others are waiting for him to make a decision before they go public.'

He told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I visited 80 different constituencies I attended all of the hustings, met thousands of party members, and a lot of them were saying to me "we want Boris on the ballot". Now, constitutionally that couldn't have happened, Boris had resigned, it was a contest between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. But there was a huge amount of support from party members still for Boris and they were quite upset that parliamentarians had got rid of him.

'I am one of a number of MPs urging him now to put his name forward to think about putting his name forward, because he's popular with party members, but also I think he's got the big judgment calls right.

'Not only did he deliver us that historic victory in the 2019 general election, but getting Brexit done, in delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, in standing shoulder to shoulder with our allies in Ukraine.'

Ms Johnson's supporters have been boasting he could end up with more than 140 nominations, easily passing the 100 threshold needed to make the ballot on Monday afternoon.

However, as infighting in the party intensified critics swiped that his fans are noisy rather than numerous, predicting he will fall short of the numbers - while Mr Sunak is already well on his way to cresting that total. A Rishi camp MP said there was 'limited scope' for Mr Johnson because the pool is 'mostly his old guard and Red Wall who are inexperienced and petrified'.

Another Sunakite suggested that Mr Johnson's campaign is stalling and he will not run if he only gets 105 nominations because he is 'thin-skinned' and 'only plays games he knows he can win'.

'He wants to be Frank Sinatra doing a comeback tour and all the theatres are sold out. He won't do it if they are half-empty,' the MP jibed.

Mr Johnson returning would be a 'Bobby in the shower moment', according to a Tory source horrified at the prospect. 'They are expecting the Tory Party to wake up and say Boris, thank God it was a dream.'

Former Tory leader William Hague, a supporter of Mr Sunak, claimed Mr Johnson returning as leader would send the Conservatives into a 'death spiral'.

'Him returning is the 'solution'?,' Lord Hague told Times Radio. 'That would be going round in circles and that could become a death spiral of the Conservative Party.

'And I think it's possibly the worst idea I've heard of in the 46 years I've been a member of the Conservative Party.'

Chris Bryant, a Labour MP for Rhondda and chairman of the Commons Committee on Standards, said that he believes the public want a general election to 'press the reset button.'

Mr Bryant was part of the cross-party Privileges Committee which is currently investigating whether Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament about the parties held in Number 10. However, he withdrew himself from the committee's inquiry as he had already publicly condemned Mr Johnson's behaviour.

When asked about his opinion of Mr Johnson returning to high office, he said: 'He's disgraced. I mean, look, I'm a Labour MP, I don't fancy any of the three of them. I think we've got to a stage now where the people of this country think the only way you can press the reset button is to have a general election.

'Penny Mordaunt voted in Cabinet or allowed in Cabinet, never said a word in Cabinet against the whole of the mini-budget that led to the economic crash that we've had.

'Rishi Sunak backs Boris Johnson all the way up until the very last moment, despite all the lies and of course was himself involved in 'partygate' and Boris Johnson is a disgraced prime minister. The biggest problem for Boris if he does get elected as leader, apart from I suspect that quite a few Conservative MPs will either cross the floor or abandon support for him.

Boris Johnson has been on holiday in the Dominican Republic but is returning ahead of the Conservative leadership contest

Dozens of Conservative MPs are backing Johnson's return to No 10 despite his resignation just weeks ago

Senior Tory members are urging the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson to meet face-to-face with estranged former Chancellor Rishi Sunak to join forces to win the leadership contest and 'heal' the party

'Frankly, as I think William Hague said, he's unfit for office. His biggest problem is, he will be spending probably the first two months of his of his second premiership, entirely focused on the privileges inquiry, and may, at the end of it, be found to have been in contempt of Parliament, suspended from the House of Commons and potentially facing a by-election in a seat which he would lose.'

Former Conservative foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said reinstating Boris Johnson as prime minister would be the 'worst example' of putting the Tory party's interest ahead of the public interest.

He added: 'Given that the vast majority of the public, including many Conservatives, are struggling with a cost-of-living increases that we're all seeing and the problems of the economy, the prime minister must be somebody who's economically coherent, who understands the economy, who has shown that he does understand it, and that he will be able to work closely with the chancellor in restoring our economic strength.

'Now, in the case of Johnson, I'm afraid it's not this. This is not a theoretical question. He was prime minister for two or three years, he showed no interest, never mind leadership on economic policy.'

He added that he is backing former chancellor Rishi Sunak because he is 'by far the best' of the contenders available.

The in-tray of agonies for the next PM The in-tray awaiting the next PM is loaded with problems  and whoever takes on the daunting task must do so while piecing together a bitterly divided party. Here, CHRIS BROOKE looks at the challenges ahead. TAX AND SPEND After racking up a 400billion bill during the pandemic and with rising interest rates sending borrowing costs even higher, the Government faces the nightmare task of trying to balance its books. How can the Tories raise sufficient tax revenue and control spending while boosting growth in the economy to show there is a road out of the debt quagmire the nations finances appear stuck in? ENERGY With warnings of winter blackouts, simply keeping the lights on will be an achievement. Even with government help, millions will struggle to pay their energy bills  and with the prospect of prices going even higher in April, the PM must work out what support to give when the energy price guarantee ends in spring. Energy costs are also putting a massive strain on businesses. NHS The health service appears stuck in a never-ending crisis. There are seven million people on waiting lists, constant difficulties seeing a GP, problems with ambulance response times and a crisis in maternity care. Many more doctors and nurses are needed and many believe major reform of the NHS is the only solution. But with two years until the next election there is no time to implement major structural change. UKRAINE With Vladimir Putin increasingly cornered, fears are growing that there could be a nuclear escalation in the Ukraine war. Helping Ukraine to victory requires ever-increasing support from the UK and its Nato allies at no little cost. IMMIGRATION The Tory faithful have long demanded a clampdown on the flood of cross-Channel illegal immigrants but so far no solution has been found and the Rwanda removals scheme remains stuck in the courts. At the same time, some sectors of the economy want more immigrants to stimulate growth, meaning the new PM faces another difficult balancing act. BREXIT & NORTHERN IRELAND Brexit might be done but making it work remains a big problem. Talks to find a compromise solution to the Northern Ireland protocol  designed to prevent a trade border with the Irish Republic by effectively keeping the Province in the EUs single market for goods  are at a delicate stage. A decision on whether to trigger Article 16 emergency measures that could start an EU trade war may need to be made. POLLS AND PARTY UNITY With the Tories trailing up to 39 points behind Labour in the polls, the new PM will be anxious to avoid being forced into an early General Election. That means the next premier must somehow hold together a party that is split apart by factions. Conservative unity has been an impossible goal since the Brexit referendum but must somehow be achieved to avoid an election wipeout in two years time. Advertisement

Mr Rees-Mogg's market prediction was contrary to that of some economists, with the head of currency strategy at Rabobank, Jane Foley, telling the Financial Times Mr Johnson's time in office had been characterised by 'a lack of leadership from a government very distracted by one scandal after another', and 'the chance that that could come back is not going to be welcomed by markets'.

Analysts at Berenberg Bank said there were greater market risks from a Johnson government, with FT reporting the bank told its clients: 'Given that a majority of Conservative MPs probably do not want Johnson as their leader, the prospects of mass resignations and a further descent into chaos would loom large.'

The trio of Mr Johnson, Mr Sunak and Ms Mordaunt look best-placed to hit the high threshold of 100 nominations from the 357 MPs needed to feature on the Tory leadership ballot. But it is possible only one or two will make the numbers by the Monday 2pm deadline.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Saturday morning, Dominic Raab said that he expects Mr Sunak to announce he is running 'shortly, soon'.

He said the case for Mr Sunak as PM has 'grown and strengthened', adding that 'he is best placed to restore confidence' and trust.

'Rishi had the right plan in the summer and I think it is the right plan now,' he said.

'I think he is the best placed candidate to provide some stability, to provide confidence for the millions of workers and businesses up and down the country - but I also think he is the right candidate to bring the party together with a government of all of the talents to just relentlessly deliver for the British people whether it is on the cost of living, crime, schools or NHS.'

He added that while he would love to see Mr Johnson return to 'front line politics', he said that the former premier would not be suited for PM in this leadership race.

Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'We cannot go backwards. We cant have another episode of the Groundhog Day, of the soap opera, of Partygate. We must get the country and the government moving forward.'

In an acknowledgment that she has ground to make up on the top two, Ms Mordaunt became the first to declare formally this evening - saying Conservatives had been telling her they want a 'fresh' start.

The latest tallies suggest Mr Sunak has 72 backers, while Mr Johnson is on 38 and Ms Mordaunt on 18. The former chancellor unveiled Sajid Javid, George Eustice, Chris Philp, Gavin Williamson and Liam Fox as his latest additions this afternoon.

Although Mr Johnson is still returning from the Dominican Republic, he has told allies he is definitely running.

Interest costs on the 2.4trillion debt mountain hit a September record, as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt scrambles to put together 40billion of spending cuts for a Halloween Budget.

Friends of Mr Johnson told MailOnline that Mr Hunt staying as Chancellor was 'coded in' if he becomes PM again. 'He'd be absolutely bonkers to change Hunt,' one said. 'He has gone down well. Any change, even if it was to somebody more competent would just generate confusion.'

A senior Tory source said: 'It is something that has got to be tried. The party as it stands is fractured  it is incumbent on the two greatest talents in the party to see if it can be healed.' They added: 'The question the Conservative Party needs to ask itself is whether it wants to win another general election. If it does, then it needs to come together now.'

A source close to bookies' favourite Mr Sunak last night played down the prospect of peace talks, saying that although he was 'willing to talk to all colleagues', there were 'no plans' for a meeting with Mr Johnson. But another senior Tory said there were signs that both camps were eager to heal the rift that otherwise threatens to undermine whoever succeeds Miss Truss. 'On balance, I think it [a meeting] will happen,' the source said.

It came as Sky News photographed the ex-PM and wife Carrie Johnson on an overnight British Airways flight back from the Dominican Republic with their children and said the MP received 'one or two boos' as he boarded.

Influential Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, who was a key Sunak backer in the last leadership race, said he now wanted to see Mr Johnson as PM with Mr Sunak alongside him again as chancellor.

Both men enjoyed a surge in support yesterday that threatened to make it impossible for rival candidates to get enough nominations to get on the ballot paper.

In a significant intervention, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he was setting aside his own leadership chances  and suggested he would back Mr Johnson. He said it was important to think about 'who could win the next election' for the Conservatives.

Mr Johnson also received endorsements from five other Cabinet ministers, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke and Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

Writing in the Daily Mail today, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris describes Mr Johnson as the party's 'standout star' who is best placed to 'finish the job he started'.

Last night, Mr Johnson had the declared support of 43 MPs, although sources are confident he will get well over the 100 nominations needed to make the ballot paper on Monday.

Mr Sunak was out in front with backing from 83 MPs, including former chancellor Sajid Javid, who said it was 'abundantly clear' that he had the 'values our party needs' to 'move on from the mistakes of the past'.

Mr Johnson is due to arrive back in the UK today following a holiday in the Caribbean. Although he has not formally confirmed his candidacy, former minister Sir James Duddridge revealed he had told him he was 'up for it'.

Sir James said: 'I've been in contact with the boss via WhatsApp. He's going to fly back. He said, 'I'm flying back, Dudders, we are going to do this. I'm up for it'.'

Allies of Mr Johnson suggested he would be willing to meet Mr Sunak as soon as this afternoon if the former chancellor agrees. The two men have not spoken since Mr Sunak quit the Cabinet in July, triggering Mr Johnson's exit a few days later. The 'backstabber' narrative dogged Mr Sunak throughout the summer leadership campaign and is seen as one of the main reasons Tory members rejected him in favour of Miss Truss.

MPs on both sides of the Tory divide fear that neither man will be able to heal the deep divisions without the support of the other. Peterborough MP Paul Bristow said it was time to 'put the band back together'.

He told the BBC: 'Boris Johnson has a mandate from the members of the party and from the electorate. I'm sure my colleagues will reflect on that when they vote, and we can avoid a general election, we can go out and put this band back together, we can have political heavyweights around that Cabinet table and we can go on and win the next general election. I'm convinced of that.'

It remains unclear how any deal between the two leading contenders could work. Mr Sunak quit as chancellor in part because of differences over economic policy and it is difficult to see how he could take the role again.

Allies of Mr Johnson dismissed the suggestion he would consider a senior role such as home secretary in a Sunak administration.

Miss Truss's abrupt resignation on Wednesday has triggered a breakneck race to succeed her.

Candidate need 100 nominations from Tory MPs by 2pm on Monday to make the ballot paper.

Tory MPs will vote that night to whittle down the field to two if necessary. If two candidates remain, Conservative Party members will be asked to decide the contest in an online vote, with the result revealed on Friday.

Miss Truss will stay in post as caretaker leader in the meantime, and could take part in a final session of Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

Now Tory big beasts line up to back Boris Johnson: Ex-Prime Minister sees dramatic surge in support with six Cabinet ministers leading clamour for a comeback

By Jason Groves, Political Editor for the Daily Mail

Support for a Boris Johnson comeback surged yesterday as six Cabinet ministers threw their weight behind the former prime minister.

Writing in today's Daily Mail, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said Mr Johnson was the 'standout star' to replace Liz Truss after she resigned.

It came after Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said yesterday he was also 'leaning towards' backing Mr Johnson.

Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke and Cop26 president Alok Sharma also pledged their votes for the ex-PM.

Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan also backed a comeback.

She tweeted last night: 'I have worked closely with Boris Johnson for many years. He can continue to deliver for the country and already has a mandate.'

She added that it was 'time to bring back Boris'.

Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan backed a Johnson comeback. She Tweeted last night: 'I have worked closely with Boris Johnson for many years. He can continue to deliver for the country and already has a mandate'

Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg Tweeted a graphic that read 'I'm backing Boris' alongside a 'Boris or bust' logo.

Cop26 president Alok Sharma is among Tory Cabinet ministers backing Boris Johnson

Mr Johnson went on a charm offensive yesterday, phoning MPs from the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean, where he has been on holiday, to shore up support for a leadership bid. He accepted mistakes had been made during his previous stint in No 10 and pledged 'a different culture' if he wins back the keys.

He was due to fly back to London overnight before weighing up whether to throw his hat in the ring for the Tory leadership.

Mr Heaton-Harris, Mr Johnson's former chief whip, writes in the Mail today that 'there is no politician more able to rise up to whatever challenge he faces'.

He added: 'I would be the first to admit that my party has been through a turbulent time recently, but if he gets the call, I know Boris will finish the job he started and deliver on the promises he made to you in 2019.

'At a time of economic and international uncertainty, we need a leader with a track record of delivering for the British people.

'A leader who has the mandate of not only the Conservative Party membership, but also the country.

A leader Labour fear the most because of his ability to win.'

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris Mr Johnson's former chief whip, writes in the Mail today that 'there is no politician more able to rise up to whatever challenge he faces'

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Simon Clarke also pledged his allegiance to the former Prime Minister

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris Mr Johnson's former chief whip, writes in the Mail today that 'there is no politician more able to rise up to whatever challenge he faces'

Mr Wallace said he was minded to support Mr Johnson because he would be the only candidate with a clear mandate from the public, having won the 2019 general election. He added: 'This will be potentially our third prime minister since the general election of 2019.

'That means we have to think about that legitimacy question that the public will be asking themselves, and also about who could win the next election  that's obviously important for any political party at the time. So at the moment, I would lean towards Boris Johnson.'

In a joint statement with Ben Houchen, the Tory mayor of Tees Valley, Mr Clarke said: 'Boris is the person we need to lead our country and our party.

'He won the greatest election victory for years on a mandate to unite and level up the UK, and inspired millions of people who had never voted Conservative before to get behind a generous, optimistic vision of what Britain can be.

'People who have felt left behind from governments of both colours want their prime minister to make a success of Brexit, control illegal immigration and invest in our communities.

'That's what Boris would do and it's why he is so popular right across the Red Wall seats that will decide the next election.'

Mr Rees-Mogg reposted a graphic on Twitter saying 'I'm backing Boris' alongside a 'Boris or bust' logo.

Meanwhile, Mr Sharma tweeted: 'I am backing Boris Johnson  he won a mandate from the electorate in 2019.

'We need to get back to delivering on the Conservative manifesto we were elected on.'

It means the contest for the leadership is looking increasingly like a two-horse race between Mr Johnson and his former chancellor Rishi Sunak.

One tally yesterday afternoon had Mr Sunak on 80 MPs backing him, with Mr Johnson on 50 and Penny Mordaunt  the only Tory to announce officially that they are running so far  on 21.

Candidates must secure the backing of 100 MPs by Monday afternoon to make it on to the ballot paper.

But a YouGov poll yesterday found more than half of Britons (52 per cent) would be unhappy to see Mr Johnson return. Only 27 per cent would be happy to see a comeback.
As an epic vision of inspiring heroism and regimental honour, the painting of the Royal Scots Greys charging at the Battle of Waterloo is hard to beat.

It's certainly difficult to imagine its modern equivalent  of the Yorkshire Regiment handing out Covid kits in a supermarket car park  inspiring any acts of bravery.

Apparently rejecting the idea that military art should depict fearlessness and gallantry, the painting shows troops from 4th Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment (4 Yorks) in a low-key, civic role.

It has caused considerable amusement in the regiment, in particular among its regular soldiers, as the painting was commissioned by their reservist colleagues.

The painting has caused considerable amusement in the regiment, in particular among its regular soldiers, as the painting was commissioned by their reservist colleagues

'It was hardly Helmand Province, was it?' joked one soldier, who spoke to the Daily Mail on condition of anonymity.

He added: 'There's nothing wrong with the quality of the painting and I wouldn't want the artist to feel bad about what's being produced.

'But we don't put sheltering under an awning as we manned a mobile testing unit in the same bracket as being in battle.

'So inevitably the blokes are taking the mickey out of it. It's even been christened "The Battle of York's shift"!'

The jokey title refers to the Battle of Rorke's Drift in 1879 during the Anglo-Zulu War, when 150 British and colonial troops were attacked at a mission station by up to 4,000 Zulu warriors, whom they repelled repeatedly.

The soldier added: 'It has been put in a gold frame, but I wouldn't want it in my office. You can even see the white lines painted on the ground of the supermarket car park  not exactly a war zone. Paintings should only be commissioned after a tour of duty or to recognise true valour.

'We are going to get slaughtered for this by other regiments. It is the reservists' fault. I guess it was more of a big deal for them.' Last night, even the artist sought to distance himself from the painting and asked not to be named.

His previous works accurately represented the courage of British soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq and have been well received.

As an epic vision of inspiring heroism and regimental honour, the painting of the Royal Scots Greys charging at the Battle of Waterloo is hard to beat

However, the subject matter on this occasion was rather more benign. In April 2020, the Ministry of Defence mobilised 3,000 reservists, including an estimated 100 troops from 4 Yorks, for an initial duration of six months to support the UK's Covid response.

The MoD said its Covid Support Force mission was 'the biggest peacetime operation ever'.

For the reservists this meant being stood down from their day jobs and  to reduce the risk to their families  being moved out of their homes and into their local Army Reserve centre. The troops then worked seven days a week to help administer thousands of Covid tests each day.

The Yorkshire Regiment can trace its lineage back to the 17th century, and its soldiers have received 38 Victoria Crosses  reflecting the sort of valour that inspired Lady Butler to paint the Royal Scots Greys charging into battle in 1815.

She created the painting, named Scotland Forever!, in 1881, and copies were given to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. It remains one of the most lauded depictions of British soldiers ever created.

The Mail understands the 4 Yorks painting was paid for from regimental funds. The Ministry of Defence declined to comment.
A baby bison has been born in the wild in the UK for the first time in more than 6,000 years.

Frolicking and gambolling in the forest, the female calf appears full of joy  quite unaware of her place in history.

The new arrival came just three months after bison were reintroduced to the woods as part of a rewilding project to woodland near Canterbury.

A baby bison has been born in the wild in the UK for the first time in more than 6,000 years

Frolicking and gambolling in the forest, the female calf appears full of joy  quite unaware of her place in history

The 'Aryan' animal loved by Nazis European bison suffered a huge blow when First World War German troops killed 600 in Poland for sport and meat, leaving just a few survivors.

The last wild bison was shot by poachers on the Poland-Belarus border in 1927.

But 50 remained in zoos, and eventually their offspring led to reintroductions in Poland, Germany and Romania.

Nazi air force chief Hermann Goering thought of bison as a noble Aryan animal. He had a small herd near Berlin.

Bison have a tendency to show homosexual behaviour. More than 55 per cent of mounting tends to be young males with the same gender. Advertisement

The birth was spotted by bison rangers carrying out checks in West Blean and Thornden Woods.

Bison roamed the UK until around 6,000 years ago, but it is thought they were hunted to extinction.

They were reintroduced in the woods to help nature thrive  but the new arrival was something of a surprise.

Forest rangers Tom Gibbs and Donovan Wright spotted the birth on September 9.

It had been unexpected as bison do not display obvious signs of pregnancy.

Mr Gibbs said: 'It is difficult to detect pregnancy in bison as they naturally conceal being in calf to avoid being hunted by predators, it is a survival mechanism.

'Though it was a surprise to see that the younger female bison had given birth, it was always a possibility, and we have created a care plan for the calf to ensure her needs are met.

'These animals are wild, so we want to remain as hands-off as possible, but their welfare is at the absolute heart of what we do.

'She is being observed by experts and we are constantly monitoring the whole herd to ensure their wellbeing.'

He added: 'We always hoped that the bison would breed, but it is fair to say we were not anticipating it quite so soon.

'We are also preparing for the arrival of a bull from Germany within the next few-months so we will be carefully planning how that introduction is made to ensure they bond well and act as a herd should.

The birth was spotted by bison rangers carrying out checks in West Blean and Thornden Woods

Forest rangers Tom Gibbs and Donovan Wright spotted the birth on September 9. It had been unexpected as bison do not display obvious signs of pregnancy

'This is now an incredibly important time for this family of eco-system engineers and we under-stand that people will want to catch a glimpse of this new addition, however we ask people to consider the impact they may have and ask that they are given the space and time they need to bond.'

The baby bison's birth was not announced at the time as Britain had entered a period of mourning following the death of Her Majesty the Queen, the previous day on Thursday September 8.

The Kent Wildlife Trust said: 'It was felt that, whilst the news was joyous, the right and respectful thing to do was to allow time for the nation to mourn.'

Bison are considered 'natural woodland managers'. As they roam they trample trees and shrubs, allowing light in through the woodland canopy creating space for other plants to grow, and transport seeds around the woods in their woolly coats.

Bison are considered 'natural woodland managers'. As they roam they trample trees and shrubs, allowing light in through the woodland canopy creating space for other plants to grow, and transport seeds around the woods in their woolly coats

Bison were reintroduced in the woods to help nature thrive  but the new arrival was something of a surprise

By breaking the woodland canopy, plants such as cow wheat can grow, a plant which the rare butterfly the heath fritillary, lays its eggs on.

Mark Habben, Director of Zoo Operations at the Wildwood Trust, said: 'When the bison took their first steps into the wild just weeks ago, it was hard to imagine that anything could come close to the elation we felt in that moment. But here we are celebrating the arrival of a bison calf.

'Ground breaking projects like this, by their nature, always carry an element of the unexpected but this addition to the herd has come as a significant surprise, albeit a very welcome one.

'Unlike domestic cattle, bison show very few signs of pregnancy and it is not uncommon for them to travel without impact to their welfare.

Paul Hadway, Director of Conservation of Kent Wildlife Trust said: 'This is an exciting devel-opment within a pioneering project. European Bison are an incredible species, which were on the brink of extinction after the first World War. To think that their numbers now swell beyond 9,000 is a true testament to the commitment and dedication of international breeding efforts and, as an organisation, Kent Wildlife Trust are privileged to now be part of that journey'

The bison reintroduction is the Wilder Blean initiative, a collaboration between the Kent Wildlife Trust and the Wildwood Trust charities

'When the herd arrived they were calm and settled quickly, a sign that the transportation process had not put them under significant duress.

'We are delighted that mother and calf are both doing well and look forward to watching the herd continue to grow and flourish in the coming months.'

Paul Hadway, Director of Conservation of Kent Wildlife Trust said: 'This is an exciting devel-opment within a pioneering project.

'European Bison are an incredible species, which were on the brink of extinction after the first World War. To think that their numbers now swell beyond 9,000 is a true testament to the commitment and dedication of international breeding efforts and, as an organisation, Kent Wildlife Trust are privileged to now be part of that journey.'

The bison reintroduction is the Wilder Blean initiative, a collaboration between the Kent Wildlife Trust and the Wildwood Trust charities.

Click here if you want to contribute to the project: https://www.justgiving.com/team/wilderbleanproject
Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon talks about his live-and-study-countryside program for Seoul students during an interview with The Korea Times. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education



Seoul education chief wants students to go to countryside, gain global worldview



By Ko Dong-hwan



Wrapping up his interview with The Korea Times on Tuesday, Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon asked the reporter a favor: he wanted his story published full-page with lots of pictures showing Seoul kids enjoying their time in rural villages of Jeolla provinces with new teachers, friends and neighborhoods that are naturally well-preserved. Cho has high hopes. Having introduced a live-and-study-countryside program for elementary and middle school students in Seoul two years ago, he wants it promoted not just within the country but also outside Korea.



Cho launched the program  his brainchild  in 2021 under a partnership with the Jeollanamdo Office of Education in South Jeolla Province. After a year, he expanded the program by signing an additional partnership with North Jeolla Province's education office. With the programs having proven popular, not only among students, but also with their parents, the superintendent is now in talks with education authorities in Gangwon and North Gyeongsang provinces to expand the six month-to-one-year program further.



"We are thinking of introducing some new themes to this program," Cho said. "Like a program for kids with atopic sensitivities to make them breathe cleaner air outside the city and possibly heal the allergy. Another program can attract students interested in taekwondo and send them to Muju County in North Jeolla Province, where the martial art is deep-rooted, and earn a first-dan black belt by the end of their stay there. In Namwon in North Jeolla Province, they can also learn gugak (traditional Korean music) in this city well-known for that field."



Cho believes the program is what students in the Korean capital need especially under the ever-increasing threat of climate crisis. By living close to nature, he believes the students will learn the importance of conservation and the urgency to prevent manmade problems from further intensifying the risks of natural disasters.





Students from Cheontae Elementary School in Hwasun County, South Jeolla Province, learn about insects during an outdoor activity in September 2021. The school had 16 students from Seoul enrolled for the second semester of 2022, 13 of whom extended their stay from six months to a year. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education



"Among those in their 60s and older who were born outside cities and moved to cities to get jobs, a rising number of people have recently retired and are moving back to the countryside," Cho said. "I guess it reflects a providence of human life that people seek a natural environment to start their last chapters. So maybe kids in cities these days also need a second hometown in the countryside to return to later."



The superintendent believes the program can also solve the country's chronic population imbalance between cities and countryside areas. While Seoul and its surrounding regions are becoming more crowded, countryside regions nationwide are facing the opposite fate with diminishing populations. By sending Seoul kids and their families to various countryside regions, their satisfaction in the program and willingness to stay there longer will hopefully lead to more urban families moving out of cities and resettling in rural regions, according to Cho. Earlier this month, a Japanese delegation from the education office in Tokyo, a city which has faced the same problem, visited Cho's office to discuss the matter.









"We need a new model to show how urban and rural communities can coexist," Cho said.



The program, under which Seoul students move to a countryside school with a total student body of less than 60 children, started with 81 students in the first semester in March of 2021. As of the second semester this year, the figure has jumped to 263. Over 70 percent of the students extended their countryside stay from six months to a year, and 20 percent of the students decided to stay for longer than one year  the cutoff point for a 600,000 won ($420) per month subsidy from the education offices of Seoul and Jeolla.





Two Cheontae Elementary School students from Seoul stroll along a paddy field in September 2021. Students from Seoul can either move to the region together with their family or come alone and join a local homestay-type program. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education



"A mother from Seongdong District in Seoul who moved to Jeolla started recording online how she traveled around the countryside to discover local eateries," said Cho, who was born in the rural city of Jeongeup in North Jeolla Province and later moved to bigger cities  Jeonju and Seoul. "Some urban families make the commitment to experience rural life for even a month. Wouldn't it be fun to do it for six months or longer?"



Going 'glocal' through online discussion



Another program that Cho introduced earlier this year is called International Common Lesson, in which students engage in an online discussion with their counterparts from different countries. Like the live-and-study-countryside program, the lessons offer students a chance to experience places and people they are totally unfamiliar with and eventually learn to break out of their old, isolated perspectives.



Since last March, the program has been joined by 190 elementary to high schools with roughly half in Seoul and the other half in Japan, India, New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the United States. Participating students can communicate via a real-time interpretation tool or a common language, like English. And what do the children talk about? Cho says that nowadays there are many common agendas and they can share ideas about things like the climate crisis, COVID-19 and even BTS.





The live-and-study-countryside program allows Seoul students to get familiar with the environment and learn reasons why they should preserve nature. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education
Trapped water within the clay could vaporise and cause the pot to explode

Experts are warning about a new 'dangerous' TikTok trend where people are creating homemade radiators from candles and terracotta plant pots.

Users are placing an upside down terracotta pot over a group of lit candles to create a miniature heater that will warm their homes.

Tutorials promote it as a 'cost of living hack' which will help people to save money on their heating bills.

However, experts from London Fire Brigade have warned that the trend is dangerous, as the outside of the pot will get very hot and creates a burn risk.

Moisture can also get trapped inside the clay after watering plants, which could quickly evaporate with the heat and cause the pot to explode.

The Brigade's Assistant Commissioner Charlie Pugsley said: 'Candles are one of the most common causes of fires in the home and they shouldn't be used for anything other than their intended purpose.

'Although life hacks can be handy, so many of them have the potential to be dangerous, and we would urge people not to follow videos online if they could put you or others in danger.'

Fire experts from London Fire Brigade have said that the trend is very dangerous, as the outside of the pot will get very hot and creates a burn risk

WHAT IS THE 'TERRACOTTA POT HEATER' TREND? TikTok users are placing an upside down terracotta pot over a group of lit candles, to create a miniature heater. Tutorials promote it as a 'cost of living hack' which will help people to save money on their heating bills. However, experts are slamming the hack as it creates a risk of fire and explosion. Advertisement

Videos explaining how to set up a terracotta pot heater began circulating on TikTok at the start of 2021, but have recently gained more attention as it starts to get colder.

The hashtag '#terracottapotheater' has been used on videos with over two million views in total.

With the cost of living going up in the UK and around the world, many people are frantically looking for any way to save on heating their homes.

But, according to the London Fire Brigade, this homemade heater is not the way to do it.

The fire and rescue service was forced to issue a warning back in 2013, after a YouTube video went viral that showed man heating his study using tea light candles and flower pots.

In the clip, the man claimed he can heat his study for only 8p a day.

Mr Pugsley said: 'We understand people are concerned about the cost of living and are looking for cheaper ways to heat their homes.

'But as firefighters, we do sadly see the devastating results of when things go wrong and we have to highlight the risks involved.'

Terracotta plant pots are made from a baked clay, which allows water to pass through it easily in order to prevent the plant's roots rotting.

However it also means that pockets of moisture can get trapped within the clay, which could remain, even if it looks to be dry.

If heated by candles, these pockets of water could quickly evaporate and the gases burst through the clay in a dangerous explosion

Pockets of moisture can get trapped within the clay pot, which could remain even if it looks to be dry. If heated by candles, these pockets of water could quickly evaporate and the gases burst through the clay in a dangerous explosion

With the cost of living going up in the UK and around the world, many people are frantically looking for any way to save on heating their homes

The candles themselves present their own fire risk, as if the pot gets knocked over or there is a small gust of wind any nearby flammable objects could catch alight.

They also produce soot, particularly when there is not a consistent flow of oxygen available as a result of the pot covering the flame.

When inhaled, soot settles deep in the lungs, and has a similar effect to passive smoking.

Paraffin wax candles also release small amounts of toxic chemicals such as toluene and benzene, which are known to increase the risk of lung cancer.

A single candle is unlikely to do any damage, but these chemicals could become a problem if the heater is used consistently or in a poorly ventilated room.

If you are to use a candle to help heat a room, it must always be supervised and should not have any coverings. A hot water bottle is a safer alternative.

Mr Pugsley added: 'We would always recommend people swap to using safer LED candles rather than flame ones, but if you are using them they should never be left unattended.

'It's also important people have working smoke alarms and know what to do in the event of the fire.

'For tips on how to keep safe from fire, take a look at the Brigade's Home Fire Safety Checker which will give you advice tailored for your home.

'If you're struggling to pay your energy bills, Citizens Advice can give you information on grants and benefits that can help you.'
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An image featuring small, connected gray squares appears to move right before your eyes, but the figures on the screen are actually static - you see them as shifting because your brain is being tricked by illusionary motion.

The image challenges viewers to look past the illusion and stop the moving squares for at least 10 seconds, but this seems to be a skill that not everyone can master.

This is because the optical illusion arranges the squares with luminance-based edges that artificially activate motion-detecting neurons in the visual pathways, which leads to our eyes reading the change in light as motion.

This optical illusion, along with others, have long captivated the world, but the deceptive pieces have been part of human history for 20,000 years when prehistoric artists used natural bulges of the rock to add illusory volume and depth in cave drawings of horses and bison.

This optical illusion using illusionary motion to trick your brain into thinking the squares are moving. This happens because of the luminesce edges, which your eyes perceive as motion

Professor of psychology at Japan's Ritsumeikan University Akiyoshi Kitaoka is a known master of optical illusions who has spent more than a decade creating a collection of moving optical illusions.

One of these mind-bending images shows how the brain is tricked into thinking a static black hole is expanding.

In tests conducted by Norways University of Oslo's Department of Psychology, 86 percent of volunteers perceived the central black hole to be expanding, as if moving into a dark environment like a tunnel or falling into a hole.

The image is so good at deceiving our brain that it prompts dilation of the pupils, just as it would happen if we were really moving into a dark area.

Professor of psychology at Japan's Ritsumeikan University Akiyoshi Kitaoka is a known master of optical illusions who has spent more than a decade creating a collection of moving optical illusions. Pictured is one of his famous mind-bending images known as 'Rotating snakes'

We precieve the circles as moving due to the white spaces in-between the yellow, blue and black shapes

Notice the white luminating the green circles? This is being perceived as motion by your eyes, which is activating motion-detecting neurons in your brain

The pink circles may seem to flow in a wave, but this is because their edges are shaded in a white color

Lead study author Bruno Laeng said in a statement: The circular smear or shadow gradient of the central black hole evokes a marked impression of optic flow, as if the observer were heading forward into a hole or tunnel.

The team also looked at Kitaokas Asahi brightness illusion, which has a central region that looks more luminous than its white background, even though it is the same white everywhere.

To test the effectiveness of the new image, the researchers recruited 50 people with healthy vision who were between the ages of 18 and 41 years.

All volunteers were shown the Asahi brightness illusion, as well as several variations of it with different colors, for a few seconds on a computer screen.

An infrared eye tracker recorded constrictions and dilations of the eye pupils as the different images were being presented and each participant was asked to rate subjectively how strongly they perceived the illusion.

As controls for the study, the participants were also shown 'scrambled' versions of the expanding hole images, with equal luminance and colors, but without any pattern.

Another mind-boggling image shows how the brain is tricked into thinking a static black hole is expanding

Here is the same optical illusion just designed with different colors. Does the center appear to grow right before your eyes?

Kitaokas Asahi brightness illusion has a central region that looks more luminous than its white background, even though it is the same white everywhere

The same cognitive effect happens with this artwork, the yellow seems to get bright toward the center of the swirl. However, it is the same shade throughout

What are optical illusions? Optical illusions arrange a series of patterns, images and colors or play with the way an object is lit in order to trick our brains into thinking something is there  when it is not. When light hits our retina, it takes about one-tenth of a second for our brain to translate that signal into perception, reports Discovery News. Evolutionary neurobiologist Mark Changizi says this neural delay makes our brains generate images of what it thinks the world will look like in one-tenth of a second. Advertisement

The team found that the illusion was most effective when the hole was black  just 14 percent of participants did not perceive the illusion in this instance.

Meanwhile, a slightly higher percentage did not see the hole if it was in color  20 percent for all colors, on average.

The study also revealed that black holes promoted strong reflex dilations of the participants' pupils, while colored holes prompted their pupils to constrict.

Kitaoka has created several that mimic the gray square illusion that seems to be moving around on the screen, but these appear as if the lines are bending.

For example, his regular squares illusions feature rows of black and white squares that appear to lean toward each other in the middle.

The concept was developed by German physicist Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz in 1886, which states a square appears wider when it is filled with vertical lines and higher when filled with horizontal lines.

One of Kitaokas illusions has also been done in a video, where he slides a gray-colored swatch across the gradient, as it mysteriously changes colors right before viewers' eyes.

Viewers might be inclined to believe that he doctored the video to hide that he used several different-colored swatches.

However, the swatches are all the same color.

There's also a simple scientific explanation for why the swatch appears to change colors as Kitaoka slides it across the gradient background.

The effect is a result of light perception, or the concept that our eyes perceive colors differently based on the shade of whatever object is in the background or foreground.

Put simply, if there is a bright background, objects in the foreground will appear darker.

Likewise, if the background is dark, objects in the foreground will appear lighter.

Other factors, such as the amount of light reflected by a surface, the orientation of the surface and whether or not it's 3D can produce similar effects.

Kitaoka has created several that mimic the gray square illusion that seems to be moving around on the screen, but these appear as if the lines are bending. For example, his regular squares illusions feature rows of black and white squares that appear to lean toward each other in the middle

Two University of Washington professors described this phenomenon in a 2014 research paper.

'Accurate perception of surface reflectance poses a significant computational problem for the visual system,' professors Maria Pereverzeva and Scott O. Murray, who authored the study, explained.

'The amount of light reflected by a surface is affected by a combination of factors including the surfaces reflectance properties and illumination conditions.

The latter are not limited by the strength of illuminant but also include the relative placement of the light illuminating the surface, the orientation of the surface and its 3d shape, all of which result in a pattern of luminance gradients across the surface,' reads the published paper.

Kitaoka replicated the same effect in a few other videos, including one that shows a pair of Mickey Mouse ears sliding across the gradient, instead of squares.

He also demonstrated it on a colored gradient.

In a mesmerizing video, a swatch appears orange when placed in front of a turquoise background, but as it slides across the screen, it suddenly turns turquoise when placed in front of a bright orange background.

Although many believe the prehistoric images found in caves could be optical illusions, it is not know if that is what the artist intended.

However, records provide evidence of purposely made images that date back to ancient Greece during the 5th century BC when philosopher Epicharmus first presented the explanation of this phenomenon.

Epicharmus believed that even if our mind knows and understands everything clearly, the sensory organs deceive us and present an optical illusion.

Another Greek philosopher, Protagoras, who lived around the same time period had a different opinion on this matter.

According to him, it was the environment that fools us and not the senses.


NASA has recruited the best of the best to unravel the mysteries of unexplained natural phenomena seen in the skies with the hopes of solving hundreds of sightings.

Astronaut Scott Kelly, who is famously known for spending nearly a year in space, is one of 16 team members who will comb through unclassified data of UFOs to help the space agency 'craft scientific conclusions' about what is actually occurring.

The independent study is set to launch Monday and will carry on for the next nine months - the team is expected to share their findings with the public in mid-2023.

The program, announced in June, follows the first US congressional hearings in 50 years that revealed videos showing 144 'unidentified aerial phenomena' seen by military personnel since 2004.

The UFO study will comb through declassified data of unexplained natural phenomena. Pictured is an image take from a video shown during the US congressional hearing about possible UFOs

The team, which includes scientists, data and artificial intelligence specialists and aerospace safety experts, will identify how data gathered by civilian government entities, commercial data, and data from other sources can potentially be analyzed to shed light on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP).

Experts may also review footage and data from previous missions to help investigate any anomalous encounters, a DailyMail.com source revealed in May..

Astronaut Scott Kelly, who is famously known for spending nearly a year in space, is one of 16 team members who will comb through unclassified data of UFOs

The NASA official responsible for orchestrating the study is Daniel Evans, the assistant deputy associate administrator for research at NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

As previously announced, the independent study team is chaired by David Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation.

'NASA has brought together some of the world's leading scientists, data and artificial intelligence practitioners, aerospace safety experts, all with a specific charge, which is to tell us how to apply the full focus of science and data to UAP,' said Evans in a statement.

'The findings will be released to the public in conjunction with NASA's principles of transparency, openness, and scientific integrity.'

NASA has previously confirmed that there is no current evidence the UAPs are extraterrestrial in origin, or any indication of alien life, but the limited number of observations makes it difficult to draw scientific conclusions.

Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said: 'NASA believes that the tools of scientific discovery are powerful and apply here also.

'We have access to a broad range of observations of Earth from space  and that is the lifeblood of scientific inquiry.

'We have the tools and team who can help us improve our understanding of the unknown. That's the very definition of what science is. That's what we do.'

The subject of UFOs has been a longtime fascination of sci-fi fans and telescope owners, but has recently piqued the attention of US congress.

The public congressional hearing on UAPs was held in May and a new law mandated a government UAP task force.

Last year, a US intelligence report was released that documented 144 sightings from the past two decades that it said could not be explained.

The program follows the congressional hearings in May hat revealed videos showing 144 'unidentified aerial phenomena' seen by military personnel since 2004. One clip was taken from a Navy cockpit in a training area and shows a spherical object floating by the aircraft

They suggested the events could be human generated 'airborne clutter', like escaped balloons or plastic bags, or the result of natural phenomena caused by ice crystals, moisture or heat.

The report admitted they had no evidence to either suggest or rule out alien origin.

It stated: 'UAP would also represent a national security challenge if they are foreign adversary collection platforms or provide evidence a potential adversary has developed either a breakthrough or disruptive technology.'

However, it also stated the observations 'could be the result of sensor errors, spoofing, or observer misperception and require additional rigorous analysis.'

Ronald Moultrie, the Pentagon's top intelligence official, and Scott Bray, the deputy director of naval intelligence, testified before the panel.

Moultrie said the Pentagon has not ruled out the possibility that these incidents could be connected to extraterrestrial life.

'There are elements of our government engaged in ... looking for extraterrestrial life,' Moultrie said. 'Our goal is not to potentially cover up something, it's to understand what's maybe out there.'

However, Bray said that officials have encountered no evidence to suggest the UAEs are of extra-terrestrial origin. 'We'll go wherever the data takes us,' he said.

'We have eliminated the stigma,' added Bray.

'We are all curious and we seek to understand the unknown. And as a lifelong intelligence professional, I'm impatient. I want immediate explanations for this as much as anyone else. However, understanding can take significant time and effort. It's why we've endeavored to concentrate on this data driven process to derive fact based results,' Bray said.

'We want to know what's out there as much as you do,' Moultrie said, adding that he was a fan of science fiction.

'Yes, I have followed science fiction. I have gone to conventions, I'll say it on the record. ... There's nothing wrong with that. Don't necessarily dress up.'
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A first look has been revealed at what will be the biggest cruise ship in the world when she debuts in 2024.

Royal Caribbean's mega-ship Icon of the Seas will be 1,198 feet long and weigh 250,800 gross tons, statistics that nudge her ahead of the current biggest cruise ship  Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas, which is 1,187ft long and weighs 236,857 gross tonnes.

What's more, Icon of the Seas will have features as eye-opening as her size, from the first suspended infinity pool at sea to a three-storey family suite. This room comes complete with its own white picket fence and mailbox.

Royal Caribbean's mega-ship Icon of the Seas (above) will be 1,198 feet long and weigh 250,800 gross tons

Icon of the Seas will debut in 2024. Pictured above is the incredible suspended infinity pool

Icon will have capacity for 7,600 guests, with other room options for them including the 'Surfside Family Suite', with alcoves for kids 'tucked away from the adults', 'Sunset Corner Suites' and 'Panoramic Ocean View' quarters.

Once they're out of bed, guests will find so many water features they may have trouble distinguishing the boat from the ocean.

For starters, Icon will feature the largest waterpark at sea  called 'Category 6' - containing six 'record-breaking' slides: 'Pressure Drop' and its 66-degree incline  'the industry's first open free-fall slide'; the 46ft-tall 'Frightening Bolt', the tallest drop slide at sea; 'Storm Surge' and 'Hurricane Hunter', the first family raft slides at sea  and 'Storm Chasers', which Royal Caribbean claims is 'cruising's first mat-racing duo'.

This image shows Icon's Royal Bay Pool, which Royal Caribbean claims is the largest pool at sea

Above is Royal Caribbean's first swim-up bar at sea - Swim & Tonic - which will be on Chill Island

This is Chill Island's infinity-edge Cove Pool, which features in-water loungers

This rendering shows the new AquaDome, which is perched at the top of Icon of the Seas and features an 'awe-inspiring waterfall'

Icon will sail year-round, seven-night eastern and western Caribbean vacations from Miami

The waterpark will be on Thrill Island, which Royal Caribbean trumpets as a 'lost island adventure where vacationers can test their limits and scale new heights'.

Icon will also debut the line's first swim-up bar at sea - called 'Swim & Tonic'  and 'Royal Bay Pool', the 'largest pool at sea'. Both of these features will be on 'Chill Island'.

The suspended infinity pool, meanwhile, will be in an area called The Hideaway and surrounded by a multilevel sun terrace with whirlpools.

Once guests have dried off they're sure to be lured to 'AquaDome', a 'transformational place unlike any other' that's perched at the top of the ship.

'With each new ship, we raise the bar in the travel industry while enhancing what our guests know and love,' said Jason Liberty, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group

Cloud 17 in the new Chill Island neighbourhood on Icon of the Seas is an adults-only retreat, 'complete with endless ocean views and a dedicated bar'

Icon will be Royal Caribbean's first ship with fuel cell technology and powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG)

This is the new 'Family Infinite Balcony' suite, which features a separate bunk alcove for kids decked out with TVs, beds and space to 'hang out'

The Panoramic Ocean View suites and rooms on Icon of the Seas are 'among the best seats in the house', says Royal Caribbean

ICON OF THE SEAS BY THE NUMBERS 20 decks 2,350 crew 2,805 staterooms 7,600 guest capacity 7 pools 9 whirlpools 6 waterslides 250,000 GT 1,198ft (365m) long Advertisement

Royal Caribbean describes it as a 'tranquil oasis by day', where guests can enjoy a bite or drink while soaking up wraparound ocean views and gazing at an 'awe-inspiring waterfall'.

By night, we're told, the venue becomes 'a vibrant place that's great for a night out, complete with restaurants, bars and aqua shows'.

Icon will be Royal Caribbean's first ship with fuel cell technology and powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the cleanest-burning marine fuel.

And thanks also to 'other proven applications' such as shore power connection and waste heat recovery systems, Icon, it's touted, will be Royal Caribbean's most sustainable ship to date.

'With each new ship, we raise the bar in the travel industry while enhancing what our guests know and love,' said Jason Liberty, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group.

'From the moment they step on board, every experience is specifically designed to give them the best vacation anywhere on land and at sea. With Icon of the Seas, we've taken this to a new level and made the ultimate family vacation.'

Icon will sail year-round, seven-night eastern and western Caribbean vacations from Miami. Every cruise will visit Royal Caribbean's top-rated private island destination, Perfect Day at CocoCay, The Bahamas.

Vacationers can book their 'iconic' adventure on Royal Caribbean's website on Tuesday, October 25.

'Crown & Anchor' loyalty members can look out for special access on Monday, October 24.

Vacationers will be able to swing 154 feet above the ocean at the 'Crowns Edge' ropes course

Vacationers can book their 'iconic' adventure on Royal Caribbean's website on Tuesday, October 25
EASTENDERS

In Eastenders trouble is on the horizon for Lola and Jay (pictured) after a trip to hospital whe Lola collapses with a seizure

You always know someones days are numbered when one of three things happens. One, someone says, No more secrets and lies before being caught out in a hitherto undisclosed whopper that brings the relationship tumbling down.

Two, a character heads for Walford East with a rucksack (theyre never coming back  for every 50 people who have ever gone up those steps, only one has ever come down). And three, a couple declare theyre going to be togevver forrevvver and nuffings gonna tear them apart again.

The latter is where Lola and Jay are, after their renewed declarations of love are brought to a standstill when Lola collapses with a seizure. Theres bad news at the hospital when a CT scan reveals she has a tumour that might be cancerous.

Made for each other Danielle Harold says her character Lola was always meant to be with Jay. They always come back together in the end, she says. Now, it looks as if The End is nigh. Literally. Advertisement

Well, it was too much to hope Jay might be given a storyline in which he got to smile more than once a year. Walford residents should start giving us tips on how they manage to get an ambulance to arrive in record time and then miraculously find an empty hospital bed, too.

Whitney is shocked to find Finlay and Felix there when she returns home, but she wastes no time in starting to flirt with Finlay. Run mate, this woman is the Hannibal Lecter of dating.

Once she gets her teeth into you, shell never let go and youll end up either dead or suicidal. Luckily, her affection is short-lived, for reasons you will discover, but its highly unusual.

Nothing short of a guy strangling a puppy would normally be enough to deter her.

The Panesars  a glorious addition to the Square  continue with their family wranglings, and Kheerat makes it clear he doesnt trust Nish. Kheerats day doesnt get any better when Stacey throws a drink over him for lying to Lily about Nugget having feelings for her.

He escaped lightly. If shed chucked one of Staceys Baps at him, he would have been out cold. They should use those things for clay pigeon shooting.

CORONATION STREET

Eileen (pictured) has a nasty fall after storming out her house with pumpkins when she catches Glenda treating her home like a carving workshop

How Daisys blossomed... During her two years on Corrie, the exquisite Charlotte Jordan has turned Daisy into such an enjoyable character. Having nearly devoured Daniels head whole during passionate kisses, now Daisy is moving in with him, but a mix-up sees the couple moving into number one with the Barlow clan (ensure you put your earplugs in, Ken). So how will Daisy and Tracy get on? Theyre going to clash 100 per cent, says Charlotte, but I think its going to be a very comedic relationship. Advertisement

Of all the things to fear as one approaches Halloween, tripping over a pumpkin in the street does not feature high on the fright list. That, however, is the fate that awaits Eileen, who is furious that Glenda is treating her home like a pumpkin carving workshop (its been worse, Eileen: a pumpkin carver is several rungs down from housing a serial killer).

Heading down the street with said pumpkins, she falls after colliding with Gail and knocks herself out. George and Sean are in for a shock when she comes round being strangely chilled and pleasant.

Her friendly demeanour becomes increasingly scary for George (and it must take a lot to scare an undertaker) after she declares that she caught a glimpse of heaven, complete with a bright light, a sweet smell and strange music.

At least that makes it a dead cert she hadnt inadvertently fallen into the Rovers. Whats the real reason for her strange demeanour, though?

On the anniversary of Sineads death, Daniel turns up at the Rovers and tells Daisy hed like to live together. But is Daisy ready for it, especially when Bertie calls her Mummy?

Hang on Bertie can say only one word? Maybe its because he hasnt been fed in two years; I just assumed hed been kidnapped and Daniel hadnt noticed.

EMMERDALE

Has Paddy smelled a rat? (Well, he is a vet!)

Paddy becomes suspicious of Chas (pictured) and begins to smell a rat in Emmerdale, despite her thinking she's covered her tracks

Youd think that one thing Chas might have done when holed up in the hotel spa a few weeks ago was get her hair done. But no.

Shes still walking around the village looking as if shes not only been dragged through a hedge backwards but brought half of Dalby Forest with her. If only the person who ironed her and Als bathrobes had been enlisted to work the same magic on her hair.

Having successfully manoeuvred Aaron into deciding to leave the village, Chas covers her tracks when Paddy expresses his sadness. Hes clearly starting to smell a rat, though  which, as a vet, he darn well should.

Al, meanwhile, is trying to slow down Kerrys enthusiasm in moving forward with their wedding plans.

Er, havent we been here before with Al, when both Priya and Debbie discovered he was cheating on them both? Change the record.

Hot on the hooves of the horse that carried Kim to her wedding come another two, this time carrying Liv and Faiths coffins. Talk about a show getting a good gallop for its money.

Mack, meanwhile, is worried news of his own hoofing around will emerge when he sees Chloe talking to Charity. Unaware that Chloes pregnant (when will these girls get birth control advice?), Kerry tries to stop her leaving  with a bombshell of her own.
John Stamos is still kicking himself years later for turning down future American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy.

The 59-year-old Full House star shared on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Show on Thursday that Murphy, 56, pitched a series in which he would star and play a male prostitute during a lunch meeting in the 1990s.

The actor said that he regretted not being more receptive to the idea, to the point that he even suggested playing a prostitute on a different show years later.

Big mistake: John Stamos said he regretted turning down Ryan Murphy's pitch about a show starring him as a male prostitute, he shared Thursday on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Show; seen in August in Santa Monica

John, who sported a thick beard for his virtual interview, said he met Ryan for lunch to discuss a potential role the producer had in mind.

'I remember going to lunch with him at The Ivy and we order, and I said, "So whats the show?" And hes like, 'Well" And this was again, like now if he offered me the show, Id do it in two seconds,' he said.

'But it was like, "Okay, you play a male hooker and you fix the  you sleep with the husband, sleep with the wife, and you kinda work on their marriage.'

Ryan envisioned the show being a trio of male sex workers, rather than just a star vehicle for the Fuller House star.

'And then he said, "And plus, you have a really cute Black guy and theres a cute blonde guy. Youre like Charlie's Angels, but youre hookers. Charlies Hookers."'

The pitch: 'It was like, "Okay, you play a male hooker and you fix the  you sleep with the husband, sleep with the wife, and you kinda work on their marriage,' Stamos remembered Murphy saying

There's more: 'And then he said, "And plus, you have a really cute Black guy and theres a cute blonde guy. Youre like Charlie's Angels, but youre hookers. Charlies Hookers"'; Murphy seen in 2019 in NYC

Although the show Murphy described would not be too controversial for most networks now, it might have seemed to risque at the close of the 20th century.

Notably, Stamos didn't specify why he turned down the show, but he knew as soon as he heard of it that he didn't want to sign on.

'And then the appetizer just sat down, you know, got sit. I was like, "Oh God, I gotta sit another hour with this guy with Charlies Hookers,"' he moaned theatrically.

However, he added, 'I should have done it though.'

At the time, Murphy would not have had much of a track record, as he had only created the WB series Popular, while his next big show Nip/Tuck wouldn't premiere until 2003.

Stamos added in the interview that Ryan later pitched him on Nip/Tuck, which he also turned down.

Missed out: 'I should have done it though,' he said, without specifying his original objections to the show, though it may have been too risque for the late 1990s or early 2000s

Two misses: Stamos added in the interview that Ryan later pitched him on Nip/Tuck, which he also turned down; stars Julian McMahon and Dylan Walsh on Nip/Tuck

They eventually worked together, with Stamos playing a recurring role on the short-lived The New Normal and Murphy's popular series Glee.

John also joined the main cast of Scream Queens for its second and final season, though he said he would be interested in a revival of the horror comedy.

Even though he initially didn't care for Ryan's show idea, the former Beach Boys associate later pitched a somewhat similar character while in discussions to make a guest appearance on Comedy Central's Reno 911.

'[The creators] said, "Well, what do you wanna do?" I said, "What if I play" Like, 'cause its Reno. And I was like, "What if I play like a male hooker whos paralyzed from the neck down? But he had a great tongue work. He could just, he did his use his tongue great,"' he shared. 'And theyre like, "Oh, okay."'

He added, 'Never happened.'

Consultation: In a 2015 interview with Details magazine (via The A.V. Club ), Stamos suggested that it was his then-wife Rebecca Romijn who urged him to turn down Murphy's Nip/Tuck offer, because she found it to be 'demeaning toward women'; seen together in 2004

In a 2015 interview with Details magazine (via The A.V. Club), Stamos suggested that it was his then-wife Rebecca Romijn who urged him to turn down Murphy's Nip/Tuck offer.

'Ryan wrote Nip/Tuck for me,' he said, 'but the person with whom I was in a relationship at the time read the script and said, "Thats demeaning toward women."'

He added, 'Im not with her anymore.'

Although the actor didn't mention Romijn by name, the two were married from 1998 to 2005, during the period when Nip/Tuck premiered.
She is one of Israel's most well-known models with a career spanning more than two decades.

And Bar Refaeli looked sensational as she showcased her jaw-dropping figure in a bold baby blue suit on Thursday for ELLE Magazine's Cancer Ball charity dinner in Madrid.

The beauty, 37, displayed her toned midriff as she donned a baby blue suit for the star-studded event.

Stunning: Bar Refaeli looked sensational as she showcased her jaw-dropping figure in a bold baby blue suit on Thursday for ELLE Magazine's Cancer Ball charity dinner in Madrid

The model also opted for wearing a barely-there black bralette underneath the suit to show off her toned abs and highlight her slender figure.

She also donned a pair of strappy black heels to match the black bralette and let her long blonde tresses flow freely down her shoulders.

The blonde beauty also decided to further accessorise her look by adding a pair of simple statement silver earrings.

Toned: The beauty, 37, displayed her toned midriff as she donned a baby blue suit for the star-studded event

Abs galore: And opted for wearing a barely there black bralet underneath the suit to show off her toned abs and highlight her slender figure

Blonde bombshell: She also donned a pair of strappy black heels to match the black bralet and let her long blonde tresses flow freely down her shoulders

And donned a natural glowy makeup look for the star-studded charity dinner.

The beauty also appeared to be in high spirits as adorned a huge grin on her face while she struck up a pose on the pink carpet.

Victoria Federica Marichalar Borbon, 22, also attended the highly anticipated event.

The brunette beauty was looking chic in an all-pink ensemble for the Cancer Ball charity dinner.

Glowing: And donned a natural glowy makeup look for the star-studded charity dinner

Glam: Victoria Federica Marichalar Borbon, 22, also attended the highly anticipated event. And The brunette beauty was looking chic in an all-pink ensemble for the Cancer Ball charity dinner

The stunner can be seen wearing a pink top with sequin details along with a classy satin hot pink maxi skirt.

The beauty appeared to be all smiles as well as she struck up a pose for the cameras on the carpet.

She also donned a natural makeup look and opted for a sleek bun updo for the occasion.

Pretty in pink: The stunner can be seen wearing a pink top with sequin details along with a classy satin hot pink maxi skirt. And appeared to be all smiles as she struck up a pose for the cameras on the carpet

Nicole Kimpel, 40, was also spotted at the bash looking typically chic wearing an orange number.

The blonde beauty can be seen striking up a pose while wearing a flowy orange maxi dress that featured a sweetheart neckline.

The stunner also opted for elevating her height with a pair of pink pumps and carried a pink clutch bag in her hands on the pink carpet.

Wow: Nicole Kimpel, 40, was also spotted at the bash looking typically chic wearing an orange flowy maxi dress that featured a sweetheart neckline

Nicole also adorned a glam makeup look and took up the chance to get a snap with her lookalike sister Barbara Kimpel.

Who donned a contrasting floral maxi dress, black stiletto pumps, and a black clutch bag.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and ELLE Magazine's Editor-in-Chief Nina Garcia recently partnered with AiRS (Alliance in Reconstructive Surgery) Foundation to speak about her own experience.

And Nina, who underwent a preventative double mastectomy last year, now serves as an ambassador for the non-profit organisation that financially supports women who have had mastectomies.
Georgia Steel looked nothing short of sensational as she arrived at the star studded Couture Club's 5th birthday party in Manchester on Thursday evening.

The former Love Island star, 24, dressed to impress in a figure hugging brown long sleeved minidress which she teamed with black leather knee high boots.

The reality star tucked a large black clutch under her arm and styled her brunette tresses in loose curls leaving her fringe to frame her face.

Stunning: Georgia Steel looked nothing short of sensational as she arrived at the star studded Couture Club's 5th birthday party in Manchester on Thursday evening

The beauty arrived at the Mnky Hse restaraunt holding hands with season one Love Islander Cally Jane-Beech.

Cally flashed her toned midriff in a black crop top with sheer sleeves and wide legged trousers.

Also at the event was twins Jess and Eve Gale who put on racy displays as they arrived with former co-star Sophie Piper.

Girls night! Also at the event was twins Jess (centre) and Eve Gale (right) who put on racy displays as they arrived with former co-star Sophie Piper (left)

Incredible: The former Love Island star, 24, dressed to impress in a figure hugging brown long sleeved minidress which she teamed with black leather knee high boots

Glamorous: The beauty arrived at the Mnky Hse restaraunt holding hands with season one Love Islander Cally Jane-Beech who flashed her midriff in a crop top and wide legged trousers

Jess flashed a black lace bra as she arrived in an open blazer and mesh panelled leggings.

She elevated her frame in clear towering heels and carried her belongings in a chic bag while her twin opted for an all black ensemble as well.

Eve showcased her slim physique in a black bodysuit and sheer patterned tights as she added a pop of colour to her outfit with a bold yellow bag.

Eye popping: Jess put on a busty display in a black lace bra and sheer panelled leggings while her twin Eve wowed in a figure hugging bodysuit and eye catching tights

All smiles: The Gale twins showcased their slim physique in their racy numbers as they posed with TOWIE's Roman Hackett who rocked an all white number with a flannel shirt

Meanwhile Sophie looked sensational in a busty leather corset and coordinated wide legged trousers which she teamed with a bold green bag.

The beauty styled her long tresses in luxurious waves which fell past her bust as she linked arms with the twins on arrival.

Also in attendance was ITV2 star Mary Bedford, who entered the Mallorca villa in Casa Amour in 2021.

Sensational: Meanwhile Sophie looked sensational in a busty leather corset and coordinated wide legged trousers which she teamed with a bold green bag

The blonde beauty showed off her toned legs in a black ruched mini dress which boasted short sleeves.

She teamed the chic one-piece with chunky black boots and styled her blonde tresses in a chic up do leave two strands in waves shaping her face.

Ellie Brown from Love Island season 4, cut a stylish figure in a ruched black midi dress which she added an oversized jacket too.

Stylish: Mary Bedford showed off her toned legs in a black ruched mini dress which boasted short sleeves and chunky matching lace up boots

Chic: Ellie Brown from Love Island season 4, cut a stylish figure in a ruched black midi dress which she added an oversized jacket too

The TV personality donned a pair of eye catching dark boots with the ensemble and accessorised with a large pair of silver hoop earrings.

Jacques O'Neill was all smiles at the party donning a crisp white oversized T-shirt with a pair of dark trousers and trainers.

Meanwhile Liam Reardon and Callum Jones looked coordinated in brown and grey ensembles teamed with white trainers as they posed for snaps together.

Smart: Jacques O'Neill was all smiles at the party donning a crisp white oversized T-shirt with a pair of dark trousers and trainers
Jesinta Franklin flaunted her abs during a beachside photo shoot in Coogee, Sydney, on Monday.

The model, 31, flashed her toned physique in a skimpy khaki bikini and cream linen pants at Wyllie's Baths.

She was primped and preened behind the scenes of the shoot, with a make up artist working on her torso, before she posed for the camera.

Jesinta Franklin, 31, flaunted her abs during a beachside photo shoot in Coogee, Sydney, on Monday

She also had a stylist help in adjusting and tying her trousers for a relaxed fit.

The former Miss Universe Australia had her newly-dyed red hair styled in a messy, ocean-swept look.

She accessorised with a gold chain necklace and several gold rings.

The model flashed her toned physique in a skimpy khaki bikini and cream linen pants at Wyllie's Baths

The former Miss Universe Australia had her newly-dyed red hair styled in a messy, ocean-swept look

She made the photoshoot look effortless as she posed for the camera, draping herself over the hand railing of the stairs.

Jesinta also offered a glimpse of her rarely seen tattoos, revealing the initials of her AFL star husband Lance 'Buddy' Franklin' on her right breast.

She received the tattoo in 2015 while she was dating her now-husband.

The design appears to resemble a heart or infinity symbol thanks to the positioning of the letters L and F.

Jesinta was primped and preened behind the scenes of the shoot, with a make up artist working on her torso, before she posed for the camera

She also had a stylist help in adjusting and tying her trousers for a relaxed fit

She made the photoshoot look effortless as she posed for the camera, draping herself over the hand railing of the stairs

Also visible during the shoot was a small star tattoo on the side of Jesinta's left breast, which she got in 2015 during a messy night out.

The former Miss Universe Australia confirmed on the Today show at the time she'd made the 'regrettable' decision to visit a tattoo parlour while drunk.

'I've woken up with a tattoo, which is probably not the best spending,' she admitted, adding: 'It was just a little star.'

Also visible during the shoot was a small star tattoo on the side of Jesinta's left breast, which she got in 2015 during a messy night out

The former Miss Universe Australia confirmed on the Today show at the time she'd made the 'regrettable' decision to visit a tattoo parlour while drunk

'I've woken up with a tattoo, which is probably not the best spending,' she admitted, adding: 'It was just a little star'

Jesinta looked right in her element during Monday's photo shoot as she modelled the bikini by swimwear brand Seafolly.

The mother of two proved she was in the best shape of her life and appeared to have a blast, occasionally chatting and laughing with the crew members on location.

Jesinta rose to fame in 2010 when she was crowned Miss Universe Australia.

She married Buddy of the Sydney Swans in 2016 after four years of dating.

Jesinta looked right in her element during Monday's photo shoot as she modelled the bikini by swimwear brand Seafolly

Jesinta rose to fame in 2010 when she was crowned Miss Universe Australia

The mother of two proved she was in the best shape of her life and appeared to have a blast, occasionally chatting and laughing with the crew members on location

They are parents to daughter Tullulah, two, and son Rocky, one.

The former beauty pageant queen-turned-fashion influencer recently qualified as an accredited AFL player agent.

Rumours had circulated for months that the Franklins would be moving to the Gold Coast so Jesinta could make her mark in the business world.

However, this speculation proved to be incorrect as Buddy re-signed with the Swans for another year before the AFL Grand Final last month.
The Banshees of Inisherin (15, 114 mins)

Verdict: Howlingly funny and sad

Rating: *****

My Policeman (15, 113 minutes)

Verdict: Not very arresting

Rating: **

My favourite film of the year so far, The Banshees Of Inisherin is just about a perfect example of cinematic storytelling, mostly because the narrative is driven entirely by the three sacred C-words: character, character and character.

As if to emphasise it, writer-director Martin McDonagh sets his sad, hilarious, touching and at times startling tale in a time and place rocked by violent tumult  Ireland in 1923, during the civil war  and then all but ignores it. All that anguish and turmoil is just part of the film's background detail. The message about war, insofar as there is one, is that everyday life goes on, oblivious and banal. The actual island of Inishmore, in Galway Bay, doubles as the fictional isle of Inisherin. McDonagh likes to include place names in his titles. His many stage plays include The Lieutenant of Inishmore and his most recent film was the terrific Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), while his debut feature was the wickedly funny black comedy In Bruges (2008), starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as Irish hitmen.

Brian Viner: My favourite film of the year so far, The Banshees Of Inisherin is just about a perfect example of cinematic storytelling, mostly because the narrative is driven entirely by the three sacred C-words: character, character and character

Brian Viner: It has come under some fire for fuelling certain Irish stereotypes, but it seems to me that McDonagh strikes the perfect balance between romanticism and authenticity

Brian Viner: In a sense, that's all there is to the story, the ramifications of Colm telling Padraic their friendship is over, stretched over almost two hours. But as a study of the human condition, it is powerful and profound

The pair reunite, triumphantly, in The Banshees of Inisherin. Farrell plays Padraic, a kindly if rather simple soul who lives on a remote smallholding with his much smarter sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon) and takes cheerfully for granted daily outings to the pub with his old friend Colm (Gleeson), for a pint and a chinwag.

Unfortunately for Padraic, Colm doesn't want to be friends any more. Colm is a melancholic, thoughtful fellow, assailed by 'a tremendous sense of life slipping away'. All he wants to do is compose and play his fiddle music, and Padraic's incessant chatter is a distraction he can bear no longer. He has nothing to show for all his time on earth, he says, except the conversations he's been forced to have 'with a limited man'. Padraic is inexpressibly hurt.

In a sense, that's all there is to the story, the ramifications of Colm telling Padraic their friendship is over, stretched over almost two hours. But as a study of the human condition, it is powerful and profound.

The dialogue is exquisitely crafted, while Ben Davis's cinematography is as glorious on the eye as Carter Burwell's score is on the ear. Add the utterly marvellous acting (Farrell was deservedly anointed Best Actor at last month's Venice Film Festival) and this film feels like a cherishable treat from start to finish, even when Colm takes decidedly gruesome steps to show that he means what he says.

Mind you, the pair shouldn't hog all the acting plaudits. Condon gives a lovely, sympathetic performance, and as Dominic, the perceived village idiot, Barry Keoghan very nearly pulls off the impossible by stealing the show from everyone. Even Padraic's beloved donkey plays a blinder.

I first saw The Banshees of Inisherin in Venice, where, extravagant even by film festival standards, it received an almost ten-minute standing ovation. I've seen it again since and, if anything, relished it even more.

It has come under some fire for fuelling certain Irish stereotypes, but it seems to me that McDonagh strikes the perfect balance between romanticism and authenticity.

Sure, there's a superstitious old crone and a brutal Garda officer, not to mention the craic and the fiddle. But why not? And in any case, for all its shamrock Irishness, the screenplay very thought-provokingly addresses universal themes: friendship, regrets, longing, loneliness.

If I must find fault, it's in the dentistry department. I imagine the smiles of the rural Irish 100 years ago were rather more peat-brown than pearly-white.

But never mind that. There's so much in this hugely enjoyable film to get your own teeth into, that you won't remotely care.

My Policeman is another period drama, also with a relationship between two men at its heart. It, too, boasts a fine cast: Rupert Everett, Gina McKee, Emma Corrin, Linus Roache. They're all class acts. But the attention Michael Grandage's film is getting, way out of proportion with its quality, is due to its male lead, the pop superstar Harry Styles.

Tom (Styles) is a copper, what used to be called a bobby, in 1950s Brighton. He marries his sweet teacher girlfriend Marion (Corrin) despite, yet also because of, his covert homosexuality. Marriage will both help his chances of promotion and deflect from his affair with museum curator Patrick (David Dawson), of which Marion, at first, is blissfully unaware.

Brian Viner: My Policeman is another period drama, also with a relationship between two men at its heart. It, too, boasts a fine cast: Rupert Everett, Gina McKee, Emma Corrin, Linus Roache

Brian Viner: This love triangle keeps switching between two time frames: 1957 and some 40 years later, when Marion (McKee) upsets Tom (Roache) by moving Patrick (Everett), who has suffered a serious stroke, into the marital home

Brian Viner: I saw My Policeman, which is adapted from the 2012 novel by Bethan Roberts, at the London Film Festival last week. It was received with lively audience mirth, although it isn't meant to be funny

This love triangle keeps switching between two time frames: 1957 and some 40 years later, when Marion (McKee) upsets Tom (Roache) by moving Patrick (Everett), who has suffered a serious stroke, into the marital home.

I saw My Policeman, which is adapted from the 2012 novel by Bethan Roberts, at the London Film Festival last week. It was received with lively audience mirth, although it isn't meant to be funny. But Styles' acting is so lumpen and the script by Ron Nyswaner, Oscar-nominated for Philadelphia (1993), so watery, to say nothing of the mysterious way in which Tom seems to have developed a northern accent growing up on the south coast, that laughter, at times, is really the only refuge.

Even The Rock can't lift superhero stinker

Black Adam

Verdict: Super-feeble

Rating: **

Over the years I've seen lots of movie stars arrive for premieres in Leicester Square, from Brad Pitt to Julia Roberts. There's always an excited crowd, but nothing like the ballyhoo that greeted Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson on Tuesday evening, for the unveiling of the big autumn blockbuster, Black Adam.

If only the film lived up to the razzmatazz. Regrettably, as with all the least interesting superhero movies, there are whizz-bang special effects where its heart should be, CGI battles making up for a lack of soul. That won't stop box office takings rolling in, but the so-called DC extended universe needed something better than this, after splurging $90 million on Batgirl, which  splat!  was then dumped before it reached the silver screen.

Johnson plays the title character, once a rebel slave leader in the ancient kingdom of Kahndaq, now resuscitated after several millennia in a tomb and the best hope for the modern-day Kahndaqis as they seek to overthrow their oppressors, the feebly-named Intergang.

Yet it seems Teth-Adam, to give him his slave name, is not necessarily a force for good, being so hell-bent on righting a 5,000-year wrong that he doesn't care how many thousands die by way of collateral damage. Enter the Justice Society, a posse of superhero vigilantes.

However, when the intrepid skateboarding son of a sexy archaeologist is seized by the bad guys, Adam and the Justice Society join forces. Incidentally, there are echoes throughout of Indiana Jones, indeed the film could hardly be more derivative.

During all this, The Rock's beefy on-screen charisma is strangely subdued, not least by a mediocre script, one that strains too hard for laughs and rarely gets them.

That said, there are a few virtues. I liked Pierce Brosnan as the most intriguing of the Justice Society, an extravagantly-coiffed professorial type called Doctor Fate who can see the future.

Whether that future will contain more Black Adam movies, even he can't tell us. But if there has to be a sequel, let's hope it's set during World War I and called Black Adam Goes Forth.

ALSO SHOWING

Early in The Good Nurse (****), Eddie Redmayne's character, Charlie, complains to Amy (Jessica Chastain), his new colleague at a New Jersey hospital, about his ex-wife.

'I picked a crazy,' he says, and she is duly sympathetic. She likes Charlie and they become close friends as well as co-workers. He is gentle and kind, and unfailingly supportive as she secretly battles a potentially fatal heart condition.

He also seems like a diligent and capable nurse. But a couple of unexplained deaths on the intensive care ward suggest that someone is deliberately administering deadly doses of insulin. Could it be Charlie? Is it in fact Amy who has ended up alongside a crazy?

The subsequent police investigation, and the reluctance of the hospital authorities to play ball, play out like something from the mind of a top-class thriller writer. But this is a true story, and of course, horribly topical given the ongoing trial in this country of Lucy Letby, the nurse accused of killing seven babies.
Parties should avoid head-on collisions



Political tensions are escalating as prosecutors gear up to investigate a "slush fund" allegedly spent on main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Jae-myung's presidential campaign. Prosecutors raided the DPK's headquarters Thursday to seize evidence of the illicit money, but to no avail due to fierce resistance from party members. The DPK threatened to quit the ongoing National Assembly audit of state affairs to protest the search attempt.



On Friday, prosecutors sought arrest warrants for Kim Yong, deputy head of the DPK's think tank, the Institute for Democracy, on charges of violating the election campaign fund act. Prosecutors suspect Kim illegally received 847 million won ($588,700) from lawyer Nam Wook and other companies in the Wirye and Daejang-dong land development projects in Seongnam city, Gyeonggi Province, to help Lee's presidential campaign.



In response, Lee called for the introduction of a special attorney for investigations into the Daejang-dong project. During a press conference on Friday, Lee cited the need for the future probes to cover alleged irregularities surrounding President Yoon Suk-yeol as well as the real estate development project. He said that the prosecution is engaging in political suppression to "annihilate the opposition party and refute its existence." Lee reiterated his earlier stance that he "didn't receive a penny." Despite Lee's denial, the prosecution believes that lawyer Nam gave the money to Kim between April and August last year, just ahead of the DPK's primary race.



Kim is regarded as one of the closest confidants of Lee. Given this, the bipartisan standoff is intensifying. The DPK is demanding that the prosecution stop its attempt to search the party's headquarters and for Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok to step down. It vowed to suspend the Assembly audit unless its demands are met. The prosecution, for its part, issued a statement to refute the DPK's assertion that it is carrying out a political vendetta. "It is infringing upon the law-based principle (for the DPK) to deter the implementation of properly issued arrest warrants."



The DPK will likely leave no stone unturned as it sees the prosecution's investigations as eventually targeting Lee and former President Moon Jae-in. The ruling People Power Party criticized the DPK for attempting to interrupt the Assembly audit. President Yoon Suk-yeol also denied the DPK's allegation that the investigation is politically motivated. "People should know well whether such a claim of political intention is justifiable or not," he told reporters on his way to work, Thursday.



Prosecutors should double down and dig up the truth to determine whether the fund was actually used in Lee's campaign and if he played a major role. The DPK should let the prosecutors get to the bottom of the various suspicions. But also, Yoon and the PPP should refrain from exploiting the probes as a chance to turn the political situation in their favor amid the president's dismal approval ratings.



Currently, the nation is facing grave security and economic challenges due to, for instance, North Korea's frequent military provocations, even indicating a possible seventh nuclear weapons test. Concerns are also growing over the possible advent of another financial crisis in light of increasing downside risks clouding the national economy. The political parties should not go too far to the extent of driving the nation into further hardship by pressing for life-or-death confrontations.




She's currently pregnant with her and husband John Legend's third child.

But Chrissy Teigen hasn't let that stop her from crafting products for her ever-growing Cravings empire.

On Thursday, the 36-year-old model announced that her new line of baking mixes inspired by her favorite Cravings recipes are now available for pre-order.

Chrissy at-home: On Thursday, Chrissy Teigen announced that her new line of baking mixes inspired by her favorite Cravings recipes are now available for pre-order

In a promo image, the wife of John Legend unsuccessfully juggled over a dozen baking mix boxes against a two-dimensional kitchen backdrop.

The pregnant star looked radiant in a peach tulle dress with ruched puff sleeves and a ruffled skirt.

Chrissy's growing baby bump was partially obscured by a box of Chrissy's Ultimate Banana Bread Mix that had fallen out of her clutches.

Her honey toned tresses cascaded down her back in her signature loose waves and her complexion looked particularly radiant.

Promo: In a promo image, the wife of John Legend unsuccessfully juggled over a dozen baking mix boxes against a two-dimensional kitchen backdrop

'Having a very emo day today - I can't believe these are finally out in the world! Let me tell you a bit about each of them!!' penned Chrissy in a lengthy message to her Instagram followers.

She went on to describe the inspiration behind all three of the baking mixes and how her fans are bound to enjoy them.

The Buttermilk Mochi Pancake and Waffle Mix came about after years of John's household-famous pancake sundays with the kids,' wrote the CEO, adding that her hubby 'is a NUT about what he considers a perfect pancake - thick, buttery, and high syrup-absorption levels a must.

'Mochi makes these pancakes perfectly crispy on the outside with a nice, springy texture inside and adds such an insanely drool worthy flavor of vanilla that you can smell even before cooking! These. Are. Heaven.'

Excitement: 'Having a very emo day today - I can't believe these are finally out in the world! Let me tell you a bit about each of them!!' penned Chrissy in a lengthy message to her Instagram followers

Treats galore! She went on to describe the inspiration behind all three of the baking mixes and how her fans are bound to enjoy them

Next Chrissy gushed over the Salted White Macadamia Nut Cookies which her crew is also a big fan of.

'The Salted White Macadamia Nut Cookies had our entire set losing our minds when we first shot them for our last cookbook,' wrote Chrissy.

'Ultra buttery and topped with flakey sea salt (included!) these bake and brown to perfection every single time. They are INCREDIBLY addicting!!'

'And finally, you all know my beloved chocolate chip banana bread that has captured the hearts of so many. I never would have thought that the saga for my search for brown bananas would lead to this insanely easy, moist and flavorful boxed edition but I'm so happy it lead us here.

Famous: 'And finally, you all know my beloved chocolate chip banana bread that has captured the hearts of so many. I never would have thought that the saga for my search for brown bananas would lead to this insanely easy, moist and flavorful boxed edition but I'm so happy it lead us here,' she wrote

'We did so many side by side tests and when I tell you nothing compares, I mean it,' she penned.

To close out the promo post, Chrissy thanked her fans and the Cravings team for their excitement over the brand's latest launch.

'Thank you so much for being just as excited about these as we are. And thank you to my entire entire @cravingsbychrissyteigen team for your passion and dedication to making this dream come true!!!' she concluded.

Chrissy's Cravings empire stems from a cookbook the model published in 2016. She has since expanded into cookwear, tablewear and even released a follow-up cookbook in 2018.

Empire: Chrissy's Cravings empire stems from a cookbook the model published in 2016; the star seen in 2016

Expanding: She has since expanded into cookwear, tablewear and even released a follow-up cookbook in 2018

Last year Macy's, Target, and Bloomingdale's all pulled Chrissy's Cravings cookwear from their shelves following backlash from her cyber-bullying of Courtney Stodden, Lindsay Lohan, and Farrah Abraham.

Chrissy had since worked hard to right her wrongs while continuing to devote herself to the Cravings brand and its growth. The businesswoman has also branched out into cleaning products, as well as the clothing industry via a collection of stylish robes.

Chrissy joyously announced back in August that she is pregnant with her and John's third child after undergoing IVF treatment earlier this year.

They already share daughter Luna, six, and son Miles, four.

Backlash: Last year Macy's, Target, and Bloomingdale's all pulled Chrissy's Cravings cookwear from their shelves following backlash from her cyber-bullying of Courtney Stodden, Lindsay Lohan, and Farrah Abraham; the star seen in 2021

The child will technically be the couple's fourth after aborting their son Jack, at 20 weeks gestation, when their doctor informed them that she and the baby would not survive otherwise.

Teigen previously stated that Jack died as a result of complications caused by a partial placental abruption, which is when the placenta detaches from the womb depriving the baby of oxygen and causing heavy bleeding in the mother.

She's been documenting her pregnancy on Instagram, having recently admitted to suffering from stomach issues.

Expecting: Chrissy joyously announced back in August that she is pregnant with her and John's third child after undergoing IVF treatment earlier this year

Family: They already share daughter Luna, six, and son Miles, four

In a post shared on October 12, the now sober star reflected on once being able to handle 'countless shots' and '5 second rule floor food.'

But now 'half of a single cherry tomato can take me down for 12 hours.'

Despite her digestion woes, pregnant Chrissy made it clear that she is 'still so happy to be your rental home, little baby!'
Model Emily Ratajkowski, 31, put on a leggy display in a plunging red dress as she attended the Kerastase Pop Party hotocall at Centre Pompidou in Paris on Thursday.

And the brunette beauty looked nothing short of sensational in a plunging red mini-wrap dress that showed off her toned and tanned pins.

The mini dress, in particular, also featured a daring low-cut V-neckline that flashed a hint of cleavage.

Event: Model Emily Ratajkowski, 31, put on a leggy display in a plunging red dress as she attended the Kerastase Pop Party hotocall at Centre Pompidou in Paris on Thursday

She also opted to further accessorise her look by wearing a layer of silver chain necklaces.

The model then decided to elevate her height with a pair of matching red heels that wrapped around her pins.

She also styled her brunette locks in loose bouncy waves for the much-anticipated event.

Chic: And the brunette beauty looked nothing short of sensational in a plunging red mini-wrap dress that showed off her toned and tanned pins

Daring: The mini dress, in particular, also featured a daring low-cut V-neckline that flashed a hint of cleavage

Beauty: She also opted to further accessorise her look by wearing a layer of silver chain necklaces

Long legs: The model then decided to elevate her height with a pair of matching red heels that wrapped around her pins

And to finish off the glam look the model also opted for a smokey eye palette completing it with a nude lip.

The model also appeared to be in high spirits and made sure to strike up a pose on the red carpet before the event.

The glamorous event comes after Emily recently shared a passionate kiss with DJ Orazio Rispo.

Stunning: She also styled her brunette locks in loose bouncy waves for the much-anticipated event

Glam: And to finish off the glam look the model also opted for a smokey eye palette completing it with a nude lip

Happy: The model also appeared to be in high spirits during the event, most likely thanks to her new budding romance

And on Tuesday, DailyMail.com found out the identity of Emily's new love.

And Like Emily's ex Sebastian, Orazio was also born and raised in New York.

He has worked as a DJ for two decades; he also owned and operated a record shop in Brooklyn, called Halcyon Record Shop, until it closed in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strike a pose: And made sure to strike up a pose on the red carpet

Long locks: And opted for showing off her luscious long locks for the famous brand

The model has since looked happier than ever in the wake of her marital breakdown as she packed on the PDA with Orazio last Friday evening.

The pair were seen giggling with one another, locking lips, staring into each other's eyes, and sharing a romantic embrace as they strolled through Manhattan, after enjoying an alfresco dinner date.

It's unclear how or when Emily and Orazio first met, but it appears that they've known each other for a while, as it was reported that they were seen grabbing dinner together during Milan Fashion Week last September.
Nicole Kimpel looked stunning as she stepped out to attend the Cancer Ball Charity Dinner presented by ELLE Magazine on Thursday.

The girlfriend of Antonio Banderas opted for a plunging orange gown complete with a dramatic tulle cape for the event at the Royal Theater in Madrid.

The investment banker, 40, was glowing in the floor length number that nipped in at her tiny waist.

Glowing: Nicole Kimpel, 40, looked stunning as she stepped out to attend the Cancer Ball Charity Dinner presented by ELLE Magazine on Thursday

Nicole, who met Antonio during the Cannes Film Festival in 2014, elevated her height with a bold pair of velvet heels as she joined her sister Barbara.

She wore her blonde locks in a sleek straightened style and opted for a subtle bronze eyeshadow to enhance her beauty.

To complete her look, she carried a Louis Vuitton clutch bag that coordinated perfectly her shoes and added a chunky gold bracelet.

Family: Nicole, who met Antonio during the Cannes Film Festival in 2014, elevated her height with a bold pair of velvet heels as she joined her sister Barbara for a photo

Last year, Nicole revealed Antonio's 'greatest' 60th birthday gift was recovering from coronavirus.

The actor contracted the respiratory disease last August, weeks before he reached the milestone birthday, and though Nicole ensured they marked the special day, it didn't feel right to do anything lavish.

Speaking to Hello! magazine, she said: 'We celebrated because every year of life is something to celebrate.

But this wasn't really the year for parties. The greatest gift was his quick recovery.'

Loved-up: Last year, Nicole revealed Antonio's 'greatest' 60th birthday gift was recovering from coronavirus (pictured in 2021)

Nicole admitted she was 'frightened' about how ill Antonio could have got with COVID-19 due to his age, and is perplexed as to why she managed to stay clear of the disease, despite being in close contact with her partner.

She said: 'We suffered the same doubts as everybody who caught the virus. At the start, you're frightened because you don't know how badly you'll be affected.

'In Antonio's case, his main symptoms were severe muscle aches and fatigue, and he bore up well He's a very strong man and he's in great physical shape.

'It's a difficult virus to decipher  you don't know why some people get it and not others. We were in close contact because I was caring for him, but I didn't catch it.'
Matthew Perry reveals he is looking for a 'self-supporting' partner, after previously getting 'burned a few times by women' that were just interested in his money.

As he strives to find love and build a family after getting sober following a more than 30-year battle with addiction, which nearly cost him his life, the 53-year-old Friends star told People he is no longer 'afraid of love.'

'The next person I really take seriously is somebody that Im going to be in love with and not be scared by the things that used to scare me,' the actor explained.

A romantic: Matthew Perry reveals he is looking for a 'self-supporting' partner, after previously getting 'burned a few times by women' that were just interested in his money; seen in 2017

When asked what he is looking for in his next relationship, Perry said he's looking for 'somebody whos self-supporting in every way, but monetarily, especially.'

'I got burned a few times by women who wanted my money, not really caring about me,' recalled Perry, who previously dated Julia Roberts, Yasmine Bleeth, and, most recently, literary manager Molly Hurwitz, who he was engaged to from November 2020 to June 2021.

The performer, who is releasing his new memoir, titled Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing on November 1, also revealed to the outlet he was given just a two per cent chance of survival after an opioid addiction caused his colon to burst at age 49.

Sad split: He was most recently romantically linked to literary manager Molly Hurwitz (seen above), who he was engaged to from November 2020 to June 2021

As he strives to find love and build a family after getting sober following a more than 30-year battle with addiction, which nearly cost him his life, the 53-year-old Friends star told People he is no longer 'afraid of love' (seen with ex Julia Roberts, who he dated throughout 1996)

High-profile romances: Perry and Heather Graham were rumored to have dated in 2003; pictured together in Hollywood, California

After suffering from a gastrointestinal perforation, he was in a coma for two weeks and had to use a colostomy bag for nine months.

He has had 14 surgeries on his stomach in total and been to rehab 15 times in a bid to get clean.

Now sober, the beloved actor, best known for playing hapless Chandler Bing has detailed his decades-long battle to rid himself of the disease of addiction.

When he was first admitted to the hospital, he said: 'the doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live. I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that's called a Hail Mary. No one survives that.'

Optimistic: As he strives to find love and build a family after getting sober following a more than 30-year battle with addiction, which nearly cost him his life, the 53-year-old Friends star told People he is no longer 'afraid of love' (seen in 2017)

He also told People: 'I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again.

'I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober  and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction  to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people.'

Talking about his starring role on Friends at aged 24, his alcohol addiction was starting to surface.

Smart move: When asked what he is looking for in his next relationship, Perry said he's looking for 'somebody whos self-supporting in every way, but monetarily, especially' (seen in 2017)

He said he could handle it but he was 'entrenched in a lot of trouble' by the time he was 34. He said there were years during that time in which he was sober and in fact, he was sober throughout the whole of season nine, the year he got nominated for Best Actor.

At one point during his Friends career, he admits he was taking 55 Vicodin a day and was down to 128 pounds but yet he 'didn't know how to stop.'

He said the disease has got worse and worse and progressive and he's got older and noted his Friends cast mates 'were understanding, and they were patient.'
Kate Hudson left little to the imagination during a photo shoot clip she posted to social media on Thursday.

The 43-year-old Almost Famous actress wore a brown and mustard gold dress with a plunging neckline that ended in the middle of her chest.

She added brown platform heels to the look, and she parted her sandy gold locks in the middle. Her hair fell straight down the sides of her face.

Gorgeous: Kate Hudson left little to the imagination during a photo shoot clip she posted to social media on Thursday

The Bride Wars star puckered up her lips and stuck her tongue out at the camera in the video which flashed to different parts of her fit physique.

She accessorized with a series of huge gold, glittering bracelets which hung off her slender wrists. She matched them to her small hoop earrings.

Hudson's social media post came just a day after she stunned at the Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery premiere in Spain.

Brown and gold: The 43-year-old actress wore a brown and mustard gold dress with a neckline that ended in the middle of her chest

Heels: She added brown platform heels to the look

Golden hair: she parted her sandy gold locks in the middle. Her hair fell straight down the sides of her face

Tongue out: The Almost Famous star puckered up her lips and stuck her tongue out at the camera in the video which flashed to different parts of her fit physique

Bracelets: She accessorized with a series of huge gold, glittering bracelets which hung off her slender wrists

The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days star looked incredible as she led the very glamorous cast down the red carpet on Wednesday.

The cast have been hot on the promotional trail for the next installment in the Knives Out series, as they arrived in Spain after premiering in London and Los Angeles.

Hollywood star Kate, 40, was joined on the red carpet by Janelle Monae, Daniel Craig and Edward Norton.

She cut a glamorous figure in a purple chiffon and gold sequin gown as she posed for cameras ahead of the screening.

The screen star flashed her toned midriff in the stunning ensemble, which boasted a hatler-neck style and a matching belt cinched around her waist.

Arm out: Hudson blocked her face from view in one snap

Glamour: She cut a glamorous figure in a purple chiffon and gold sequin gown as she posed for cameras ahead of the screening

Singing: She told The Edit: 'I thought music would be my route, the pop world, but I got into musicals at school and that was it' (pictured Oct. 19, 2022)

The Los Angeles wore her blonde locks swept back into a chic low ponytail and opted for a glamorous coat of make-up in bronze hues.

Kate previously revealed that she thought she'd have a singing career, rather than pursuing acting.

She told The Edit: 'I thought music would be my route, the pop world, but I got into musicals at school and that was it.'

Glass Onion will play in major US theater chains for one week only, from November 2329, and UK cinemas on November 25, before premiering on Netflix on December 23.
Gangs Of London

Rating:

DNA Journey

Rating:

How mad it all is. Over on Britain's mildest broadcaster, the Talking Pictures film channel, 'trigger warnings' precede forgotten black-and-white comedies to alert viewers to the dangers of watching scenes of an old-fashioned nature.

Switch across to Sky, though, and you'll see violence so graphic that in the opening sequence it was literally eye-popping  at least for the Turkish heroin smuggler who met a messy end in an Istanbul launderette. Gangs Of London (Sky Atlantic) is the bloodiest drama ever screened. Some images of evisceration would turn the stomach of Vlad the Impaler.

Warnings are superfluous. If the title doesn't tell you that this is not a show for delicate dispositions, the recap of the first series certainly would. It started with a blazing body, still alive, thrown screaming from a skyscraper . . . and became progressively more violent.

Sope Dirisu plays Elliot in Gangs of London

Notable moments during the next hour included a man getting impromptu brain surgery with a carving fork, a ghost dripping with gore and a central character plunging from a high balcony to explode on the pavement below.

If that appeals to you, Gangs Of London is unbeatable. The slaughter is exceptionally realistic. But compared to the brooding, emotional impact of Peaky Blinders, the BBC's own bloodthirsty gangland epic, the characters are shallow and uninteresting.

Sope Dirisu is Elliot, a former soldier turned hitman, who kills because his beloved old dad is being held hostage by a shadowy clique of billionaire puppet-masters. Elliot has an alcohol problem. By contrast, his urbane pal Alex (Paapa Essiedu) really loves his old dad but he has a sister, too. And his weakness is cocaine, not booze. Can you see the difference?

Amid a crowd of two-dimensional thugs, Waleed Zuaiter has no difficulty stealing the show as Koba, an enforcer sent to restore order between the warring tribes. With dyed blond curls and a taste for vintage Mercedes, he looks like a fashion designer whose latest collection is leisurewear for the recently dismembered.

Joker of the night: A superhero fan, trying to log on to a car auction in Bangers And Cash (Yesterday) to view a custom-built Batmobile, accidentally bid 25,000 . . . and won. He had to plead poverty. Holy bouncing cheques, Batman! Advertisement

Zuaiter exudes a flamboyant menace that stops just short of full-blown campery. He is much needed because, without him, Gangs Of London can become a series of tedious conversations between men in camel-hair overcoats. The show is hugely popular. When the first series aired, it drew one of Sky's biggest ever audiences. Blood is big business.Meanwhile, literature students have panic attacks when they discover that Othello kills Desdemona. Surely everyone can see the hypocrisy of this?

Crime in London a century ago was a more trivial affair. Comedian Tom Allen, on a DNA Journey (ITV) with friend Joel Dommett, was alarmed to learn that his great-grandfather Isaac was a professional villain.

Aged 17, shortly before World War I, Isaac was hauled up on a charge of stealing apples. The courts let him off with a warning, but he was back again within weeks, this time accused of forgery. Again, he was shown leniency. Did he reform? No, this hardened criminal went out and stole a saddle. Tom's ancestor was sentenced to five years.

Tom, whose father died suddenly just before Christmas, seemed so vulnerable throughout that I was glad when Joel laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. We expect to see celebrities get teary on these shows, but Tom was clearly not faking his emotion.

It didn't help, of course, that, far from being a criminal, a forebear of Joel's from WWI was a brilliant inventor and philanthropist. Sometimes those DNA results should come with a trigger warning.
Amy Schumer is sounding off on Kanye West in the wake of his anti-Semitic remarks over the past few weeks.

The comedian has joined the #RunAwayFromHate campaign, and the effort to hit West in his bottom line by asking massive companies like Adidas to stop doing business with the legendary rapper and entrepreneur.

'Join me and @adl national demanding @adidas #runawayfromhate and re-evaluate their deal with @kanyewest,' Schumer wrote in an Instagram Stories post, which ended with '#RunAwayFromHate', along with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) logo at the bottom.

Schumer is pals with the rapper's estranged wife Kim Kardashian and even appeared in the last season of The Kardashians. She gave reality star advice about her opening monologue ahead of her Saturday Night Live debut last year (although Kim mostly ignored her suggestions). The two often exchange texts and Amy has referred to Kim as being part of her 'support system'.

Taking a stand: Amy Schumer sounded off on Kanye West for his anti-Semitic remarks on social media posts in recent weeks

Pals: Amy considers Kim Kardashian a friend and even appeared on an episode of The Kardashians last season

'I think it's really important that we call it out,' Schumer, 41, who is Jewish, said during an interview with Extra while out promoting the premiere of Inside Amy Schumer.

'Kanye West is an anti-Semite, and hating Jewish people and spreading hate speech. These social media outlets, they need to embrace their own rules. They need to enforce their own rules. I found out 84 percent of hateful tweets they are just allowed to continue. They don't take them down We can't allow that, it's harmful.'

West, who became a billionaire in 2020, owns 100% of Yeezy; Adidas serves as a producer and distributor of his shoes, according to Forbes.

Offensive tweets: Among the offensive tweets, Kanye tweeted a threat that he would go 'death [sic] con 3' on Jewish people. He is pictured in LA on Thursday

Initially, the Can't Tell Me Nothing star launched his shoe brand in 2009 with Nike, and then transitioned to a deal with Adidas in 2013.

While he's been known to go on unpredictable outburst on social media, his rants have seemed to be more frequent this year, which includes the anti-Semitic remarks, although he typically deletes them after a short time.

Noa Tishby, an Israeli actress, writer, producer, and activist, makes the case for West being an anti-Semite in a post on Schumer's Instagram Stories.

Run Away From Hate: Schumer is asking fans and followers to join the campaign to get Adidas to 're-evaluate their deal with Kanye West'

Hitting Back: 'I think it's really important that we call it out,' Schumer, 41, who is Jewish, said during an interview with Extra while out promoting the premiere of Inside Amy Schumer

In the lengthy post, she describes the rapper as 'a genius, billionaire mogul- antisemite, while breaking down terms like 'antisemite' and 'semite'.

She also speaks to his comments about 'Jews controlling him, Hollywood and the media', and how some people hear his rhetoric and think he's speaking truth to power.'

They hear this and think wait, I have a jewish layer or doctor! There must be a cabal!

'The bottom line - Kanye West will not divide us. The Black and Jewish have been allies for generations and we will keep being allies. United we stand and United will keep standing against hate in any way it hits us. And Kanye - we've heard this record before. Try some original material.

Making her case: Noa Tishby, an Israeli actress, writer, producer, and activist, makes the case for West being an anti-Semite in a post on Schumer's Instagram Stories

'Kanye West will not divide us': Tishby spoke to West's comments about 'Jews controlling him, Hollywood and the media', and how some people hear his rhetoric and 'think he's speaking truth to power.'

Earlier this month, West tweeted a threat that he would go "death [sic] con 3" on Jewish people. He also posted a screenshot of a text exchange with Sean 'Diddy' Combs in which he suggested Combs was being controlled by Jews. He was promptly restricted on both platforms, but has access to his Twitter account again.

West also criticized what he called the 'Jewish underground media mafia' during an interview with Chris Cuomo on NewsNation earlier this month.

Plus, the Chicago native face major backlash after he wore a 'White Lives Matter' shirt at his fashion show during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France.

After wearing the the 'WLM' garb, Adidas announced West was under review, CEO of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt reported, but yet there still hasn't been any movement on the status of his contract.

Hitting his bottom line: The CEO of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt has written a letter to Adidas making the case for the company to end its deal with West

'At this point, what more do you need to review? We were particularly alarmed to see that the Adidas brand intends to release new products in the Yeezy line, including the Yeezy Boost 350, in the run-up to the anniversary of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre on Oct. 27  the most violent anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.' Greenblatt wrote in a letter to Adidas.

'Really, @adidas? You continue to partner w/ Ye as he spreads vile #antisemitism AND release his product as we approach the anniv. of the deadliest attack on Jewish people in US history. Are you really this ignorant? Or simply indifferent? #RunAwayFromHate, the CEO of the UDL agued on Twitter.

Before this effort went public in the last few weeks, West revealed to Bloomberg that he's planning to exit his corporate partnership contracts with Adidas and clothing retailer Gap once they expire.

His comments came a week after an Instagram rant where he accused the companies of copying his designs.

West is two years into a 10 year partnership deal with Gap to make the Yeezy Gap line, while his contract with Adidas AG goes until 2026.

The entrepreneur made it clear that it was time for him 'to go it alone' and 'to make the new industry, behind the concept of eliminating that stand between himself and his audience.
It's been warm and sunny in Los Angeles as of late.

And Kaia Gerber kept her cool with a skin-baring ensemble as she strolled through Los Feliz with a friend.

The catwalk queen, 21, displayed her svelte abs in a cropped white tank top as she grabbed a cool beverage with her pal.

Taking it easy: Kaia Gerber kept her cool with a skin-baring ensemble as she strolled through Los Feliz with a friend on Thursday

The beauty teamed the top with a pair of flowing black trousers which rested at her hips along with a stylish pair of sunnies.

She slung an emerald green leather purse over her shoulder whilst slipping her feet into a comfortable pair of boots.

Her hair was worn down, glossy and sleek with a chic center part.

The daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford has been making a name for herself in the world of fashion and now, acting.

Ab fab! Gerber flashed her svelte belly in a cropped white torso as she treated herself to a cold beverage

The star was recently cast with a recurring role as Mitzi in the upcoming Apple TV+ series called, Mrs. American Pie.

Alongside Kaia, other leading stars that are also involved in the project include Kristen Wiig, Ricky Martin, and Carol Burnett, reported Deadline.

The show is a period piece with the setting located in Palm Beach, and follows the premise of a 'woman reconstructing her identity in the 1960s after being dismissed by her husband and her entire social circle,' according to IMDB.

Walk this way: Gerber comfortably strolled through the neighborhood in boots

When talking to Vanity Fair, Kaia expressed her gratitude and excitement to be working with such a talented cast.

'Like Carol Burnett, I couldnt believe it. I grew up watching her. Shes so much of the reason that I wanted to act,' she gushed to the publication.

With the series currently in the production stages, a set release date has yet to be revealed.
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Jennifer Coolidge and co-star Aubrey Plaza led the glam arrivals at the premiere for The White Lotus season two in Los Angeles on Thursday night.

The Emmy Award winner, 61, looked ultra busty in a black lace nude illusion dress with a sweetheart neckline.

The sexy number clung tightly to her curvaceous figure as she posed for shutterbugs on the red carpet.

Glam: Jennifer Coolidge and co-star Aubrey Plaza led the glam arrivals at the premiere for The White Lotus season two in Los Angeles on Thursday night

Coolidge's shiny blonde hair was worn in a voluminous style that cascaded down her chest in loose curls.

The star - who plays heiress Tanya McQuaid - completed the look with a pair of strappy black heels.

Coolidge cheeks were dusted with a vibrant pink blush and shimmering bronze eyeshadow was swiped across her lids.

Back in September, Coolidge took home the Emmy Award for Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series for her work on the hit HBO show.

Dynamic duo! Both looking as glamorous as ever, Plaza and Coolidge took the opportunity to join forced on the red carpet

Wow! The sexy number clung tightly to her curvaceous figure as she posed for shutterbugs on the red carpet

Blonde bombshell: Coolidge's shiny blonde hair was worn in a voluminous style that cascaded down her chest in loose curls

Plaza looked red hot as she arrived to the event in a racy scarlet gown that flattered her fit figure.

The Parks And Rec alum's sizzling dress was a one-shoulder design with cut-out below one breast. Her toned legs and strappy red heals poked out from a daring thigh-slit.

Plaza is one of season two's new additions. She appeared in a trailer that debuted earlier this month as the newly married Harper.

Rachel and husband Ethan Spiller are vacationing at the resort with their friends Cameron (Theo James) and Daphne Babcock (Meghann Fahy)

Playful: Silly: The Dynamic duo got playful for the cameras with Plaza playing with her hair in one shot and Coolidge raising a celebratory hand in another

Red hot! Plaza looked red hot as she arrived to the event in a racy scarlet gown that flattered her fit figure

Racy: The Parks And Rec alum's sizzling dress was a one-shoulder design with cut-out below one breast

Stunning: Plaza oozed confidence during her time in front of the cameras

Graceful: Plaza looked graceful as she strolled the carpet in her striking gown

Both looking as glamorous as ever, Plaza and Coolidge took the opportunity to join forced on the red carpet.

The Dynamic duo got playful for the cameras with Plaza playing with her hair in one shot and Coolidge raising a celebratory hand in another.

After getting in her solo glam shots, Coolidge was seen cozying up to co-star Murray Abraham.

The Amadeus actor, 82, looked incredible for his age as he hit the red carpet in a blue satin bomber jacket and denim jeans.

He styled his jacket and jeans with a sky blue V-neck shirt and a pair of Adidas sneakers.

Mingling: After getting in her solo glam shots, Coolidge cozied up to co-star Murray Abraham

Plaza and Coolidge posed for a snap with the blonde stunner's onscreen love interest Jon Gries

Adorable! The pair beamed at one another

Sweet: Cries wrapped an arm around Coolidge while she rested her head on his shoulder in one shot

Sopranos star Michael Imperioli cut a stylish figure in a charcoal gray suit worn with a black button-up shirt and a black leather belt.

His salt-and-pepper hair was softly slicked to one side.

Imperioli plays the role of Dominic, who is the the son Bert Di Grasso (played by F. Murray Anderson). Dominic's own son, Albie, will be portrayed by actor Adam Di Marco.

Stylish: The Amadeus actor, 82, looked incredible for his age as he hit the red carpet in a blue satin bomber jacket and denim jeans. Sopranos star Michael Imperioli cut a stylish figure in a charcoal gray suit worn with a black button-up shirt and a black leather belt

Suave: His salt-and-pepper hair was softly slicked to one side

Maria Bakalova looked sweet in a quirky shift dress covered in pink and blue floral appliques.

The actress wore her wavy blonde hair down and kept her makeup minimal as to showcase her natural beauty.

Haley Lu Richardson - who plays Tanya McQuaid assistant Portia - brought some 60s flair in a colorful floral mini dress with a chest cut-out and blue feather cuffs.

Smile! Plaza seen posing with glam co-star Haley Lu Richardson

Three is NOT a crowd! Adam DiMarco joined Plaza and Richardson in the photo fun

Retro: Richardson brought some 60s flair in a colorful floral mini dress with a chest cut-out and blue feather cuffs

Hang loose! Richardson flashed the 'Hang Loose' sign with co-star Mike White

Finishing touches: The 27-year-old starlet styled her look with black Go-Go boots and she wore her cropped blonde hair straight

The 27-year-old starlet styled her look with black Go-Go boots and she wore her cropped blonde hair straight.

Sabrina Impacciatore took the plunge in an edgy black dress and matching leather gloves.

The Italian star gave her petite frame a boost in a pair of silver platform heels.

Meghann Fahy wowed in a backless black gown that highlighted her slender frame.

Floral shift: Maria Bakalova looked sweet in a quirky shift dress covered in pink and blue floral appliques. The actress wore her wavy blonde hair down and kept her makeup minimal as to showcase her natural beauty

Edgy: Sabrina Impacciatore took the plunge in an edgy black dress and matching leather gloves

Fashionistas: The Italian star gave her petite frame a boost in a pair of silver platform heels. Meghann Fahy wowed in a backless black gown that highlighted her slender frame

Her flowing golden hair was parted to one side and flowed down her back in voluminous waves.

Her porcelain complexion was given a peach flush and her lips were painted a flattering mauve shade.

Beatrice Granno cut a retro figure as she modeled a white tuxedo jacket with black velvet lapels and cuffs.

Velvet: Beatrice Granno cut a retro figure as she modeled a white tuxedo jacket with black velvet lapels and cuffs. The actress completed the look with a long silver neck scarf and flared velvet trousers

Plus one: Theo James looked dapper in relaxed charcoal toned suit while posing with wife Ruth Kearney. Kearney stunned in a classic black dress with a matching shrug

Reunited: Theo James seen posing with co-star Meghann Fahy

The actress completed the look with a long silver neck scarf and flared velvet trousers.

Theo James looked dapper in relaxed charcoal toned suit while posing with wife Ruth Kearney.

Kearney stunned in a classic black dress with a matching shrug.

Trendy: Lukas Gage showcased his trendy style while rocking off-white short sleeve button-up shirt covered in blue decals

Date night: Jon Gries and Solomon Hughes used the premiere as a perfect excuse for a date night with their significant others

The men: Michael Imperioli, Adam DiMarco, Theo James, F. Murray Abraham and David Bernad eagerly gathered for a guys-only shot during the premiere

Lukas Gage showcased his trendy style while rocking off-white short sleeve button-up shirt covered in blue decals.

Season two of The White Lotus is available on HBO from Sunday October 30.

The White Lotus is available on HBO from Sunday October 30

Preview: A trailer for season two dropped earlier this month and gave fans a first look at the show's newest additions

The first season of The White Lotus featured a standout ensemble cast that included Murray Bartlett, Natasha Rothwell, Connie Britton, Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Lacy, Brittany O'Grady and Sydney Sweeney.

Steve Zahn, Lukas Gage, Fred Hechinger and Kekoa Kekumano and Molly Shannon also appeared.

The show was the big winner at this year's Emmy Awards, taking home an incredible 10 gongs, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.

Fan-favorite: Coolidge returns as her fan-favorite character -- the wealthy heiress Tanya McQuaid
Her KIIS FM breakfast radio show was plunged into chaos on Friday morning when her co-host Kyle Sandilands decided to go home early after the station 'dumped' him during an interview with Alan Jones.

And Jackie 'O' Henderson looked somewhat frazzled as she arrived at the Crown in Sydney just hours later.

The media personality, 47, was seen having a very animated conversation with a group of female friends outside the hotel before they went inside.

Jackie 'O' Henderson looked frazzled as she arrived at Crown in Sydney on Friday afternoon just hours after her co-host Kyle Sandilands walked off their radio show when the station 'dumped' him during Alan Jones interview

Henderson made a glamourous arrival in a $4000 Gucci cape.

She paired the designer item with smart black trousers and a black long sleeved top.

She accessorised with black heels and clutched a black leather handbag.

The blonde's hair was tied back into a low ponytail with a middle part and was softly curled at the back, while her long front strands shaped her face.

The media personality, 47, was seen having a very animated conversation with a group of female friends outside the hotel before they went inside

Henderson made a glamourous arrival in a $4000 Gucci cape

On Friday morning, Sandilands shocked listeners when he left midway through the duo's radio show following an undisclosed incident.

Sandilands and Henderson were interviewing conservative pundit Alan Jones when the chat was suddenly 'dumped' from the air.

'Dumping' is radio terminology for when a live show is cut off because the broadcast delay (usually around 45 seconds) is insufficient to censor inappropriate content.

The blonde's hair was tied back into a low ponytail with a middle part and was softly curled at the back, while her long front strands shaped her face

Jackie paired her designer cape with a pair of smart black trousers and a black long sleeved top

She accessorised with black heels and clutched to a black leather handbag

It's unclear what caused the incident, but the KIIS FM show abruptly dropped the interview and launched into approximately nine minutes of ads before returning to the airwaves.

When they came back, a frustrated Sandilands explained that they were in the middle of a 'very big situation' and that he'd been advised by his lawyers to leave.

'The communication, when it breaks down internally, anything can happen,' he said.

On Friday morning, Sandilands shocked listeners when he left midway through the duo's radio show following an undisclosed incident

Sandilands and Henderson were interviewing conservative pundit Alan Jones when the chat was suddenly 'dumped' from the air

'So it's too dangerous for me. My lawyer said "pull yourself off the air until everyone is singing from the same hymn book".

'It's no good telling me and Jackie one thing and telling the staff...,' he continued before being censored by a string of bleeps.

After the bleeping, Henderson chimed in and said: 'How were we ever going to know? Communication is key in these situations.'

It's unclear what caused the incident, but Sandilands explained that he'd called his lawyers and was told that the situation was 'dangerous' for him

A frustrated Sandilands (pictured) explained that they were in the middle of a 'very big situation' and that he'd been advised by his lawyers to leave

Sandilands then said he was 'turning the microphone off' and calling it a day.

It's unclear what caused all the commotion, but right before the segment was dumped Sandilands and Jones were discussing how KIIS FM had poached some talent from Alan's former radio network 2GB.

Sandilands then said that one of the staffers they snagged, who now works as a panel operator on The Kyle and Jackie O Show, was caught watching YouTube compilation videos on YouTube of both Sandilands and Jones having 'meltdowns'.

'It's no good telling me and Jackie one thing and telling the staff...,' he continued before being censored by a string of bleeps

The segment was dumped abruptly after Jones (pictured) started to talk about being 'secretly recorded' during a prior meltdown from years ago

Jones then started to talk about how he had been 'secretly taped', causing Henderson to audibly gasp.

As he tried to tell the story, the segment was then 'dumped' from the air before a series of pre-recorded ads started to play for nine minutes and then Sandilands and Henderson returned without Jones.

Addressing the incident in a statement to Daily Mail Australia, ARN (Australian Radio Network) said: 'Kyle was upset about a segment that was dumped this morning and decided to give himself and the team an early mark. The guys are back Monday from 6am.'

Henderson (pictured) let out an audible gasp after Jones claimed he had been 'secretly recorded'

Jones hosted a popular breakfast show on 2GB for 18 years before leaving in 2020.

At the time, the millionaire Sydney broadcaster told listeners he was quitting due to ill health.

His departure came in the wake of controversy over comments he had made about New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Jones later apologised for his remarks after sponsors briefly boycotted the Macquarie Network, then owners of 2GB.

In 2021, Jones lost his spot on Sky News Australia when his contract wasn't renewed.

Jones hosted a popular breakfast show on 2GB for 18 years before leaving in 2020

Meanwhile, back in September, Sandilands unleashed on his own radio station in an eight-minute rant after what he perceived as a snub by the company's publicity team.

The 51-year-old was angry over the lack of press coverage of The Kyle and Jackie O Show's historic ratings triumph that week, which saw the KIIS 106.5 breakfast program record its biggest-ever audience in Sydney.

Media outlets glossed over this fact and instead focused on 2GB host Ben Fordham's market-leading audience share. This is because radio ratings are typically reported in terms of percentage share rather than overall audience numbers.

Sandilands said the PR department at KIIS FM's parent company ARN should have fired off a press release emphasising his show's ratings milestone, labelling them 'losers', 'flops' and 'absolute a**eholes' for the apparent oversight.

He took aim at an external public relations company hired by ARN to handle media relations, but Daily Mail Australia understands PR for survey results is actually handled internally by ARN.

Back in September, Sandilands unleashed on his own radio station in an eight-minute rant after what he perceived as a snub by the company's publicity team

Furthermore, The Kyle and Jackie O Show's ratings milestone was in fact highlighted in a press release put out by ARN after the latest GfK ratings survey.

The release included survey highlights for other ARN stations, including WSFM.

'I am sick and tired of working here,' Sandilands snapped live on air.

'Everyone is a loser, except for everyone on this show. Everyone else outside of this show is a massive loser. I am not joking.'

He added: 'They have got no idea. This whole station couldn't pull a root in a brothel with a wheelbarrow full of money and a grin. They wouldn't know, they wouldn't get laid. They are too dumb. Imbeciles.

'I am sick and tired of this joint hiring idiots to run things and then it takes them a year to find out that guy is a d**khead and he should be fired. Get rid of the flops. I should be running this whole joint.'
SPC Group chairman Heo Young-in bows in apology for the recent death of a young worker at a bread-making factory, during a news conference held at the group's headquarters in southern Seoul on Oct. 21. Yonhap



SPC Group chairman apologized Friday for the death of a young worker at a bread-making factory amid a boycott campaign against the Korean food and beverage giant.



The 23-year old employee was killed on Saturday after her upper body was caught in a sauce mixer at the factory affiliated with the group in Pyeongtaek, 65 kilometers south of Seoul.



"I would like to express my apology to the deceased and the bereaved family. We feel greatly responsible for the accident and will humbly take any criticism from the public," said chairman Heo Young-in at a news conference at the group's headquarters in southern Seoul.



"We also found out that staffers resumed work near where the accident occurred. This was not right, and an act that should not be justified for any reason," he said in regard to news reports that the group resumed operations at the factory a day after the incident.



The latest apology came four days after Heo issued a written one over the death of the worker.



The group, which also runs the Paris Baguette bakery chain and Shake Shack burger joints, vowed to invest 100 billion won ($69.7 million) over the next three years in automation of production, increasing safety facilities and enhancement of internal systems to prevent similar incidents from recurring.





People gather in front of the headquarters of food and beverage giant SPC Group in Seoul on Oct. 20, to pay their respects to a 23-year-old worker killed in an accident at a bread making factory of the group on Oct. 15. Yonhap
Abbie Chatfield looked angelic in white as she donned a stylish three-piece suit ($970) which barely contained her cleavage on Friday.

The radio host, 27, stepped out of a black car in Sydney as she showed off her ample cleavage in a vest with a perilously deep neckline.

Over the top she wore an oversized pinstriped suit jacket and slipped into a pair of matching, wide-legged slacks.

Abbie Chatfield, 27, (pictured) looked angelic dressed all in white as she donned a stylish three-piece suit ($970) which barely contained her cleavage on Friday

She enhanced the look with simple gold necklaces while keeping the hem of her trousers off the ground with a pair of strappy nude heels.

Abbie finished off the outfit by carrying a luxury French handbag by Jacquemus which retails at and eye-watering $1,125.

She twisted her brunette tresses into large curls and let them fall around her face, which she glammed up with a smoky eye and nude lip.

The radio host stepped out of a black car in Sydney as she showed off her ample cleavage in a vest with a perilously deep neckline

Abbie has recently been making headlines thanks to her multiple feuds with reality TV stars - the most recent being against Married At First Sight star Olivia Frazer.

On Wednesday, she claimed this year's MAFS contestants were 'jealous' of Domenica Calarco and the opportunities she's received including her new spin-off show.

Abbie said: 'I just want to stay something about the MAFS cast from this year quickly. So there was a post on Nine about Dom doing her new catch up show. Half the cast were in the comments giving her s**t and then I saw other comments of people defending her.'

Over the top she wore an oversized pinstriped suit jacket and slipped into a pair of matching, wide-legged slacks

She continued: 'I saw some comments claiming the whole cast hates Dom and there are things we haven't seen and to that I say no there's not.

'If there were big things that would have happened, those people would have told their stories.

'What people don't grasp is the level of jealousy when they are on the same show and they don't get the opportunities the other person gets.'

Abbie finished off the outfit by carrying a luxury French handbag by Jacquemus which retails at and eye-watering $1,125

'It's very transparent that people from MAFS are very jealous of Dom and the opportunities she's gotten,' Abbie finished.

Olivia clapped back in a Instagram video with 'Abbie has no idea what she is talking about. She wasn't a cast member on our show and she wasn't behind the scenes.

'She's no idea what she's talking about. I think uneducated people should probably stay in their lane.'
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Three-time Emmy nominee Elizabeth Banks brought the late eighties/early nineties glam to the Los Angeles premiere of Call Jane, which was held inside the Skirball Cultural Center on Thursday.

The Massachusetts-born 48-year-old looked elegant in a strapless black cocktail dress, featuring a thigh-high slit, with matching opera gloves and pumps selected by styling duo Wendi & Nicole Ferreira.

Banks (born Mitchell) finished off her retro look with side-parted blonde waves, disco ball-style earrings, and a bright red pout.

Turning heads: Three-time Emmy nominee Elizabeth Banks brought the late eighties/early nineties glam to the Los Angeles premiere of Call Jane, which was held inside the Skirball Cultural Center on Thursday

Elizabeth stars as 1968-era Chicago housewife Joy, whose life-saving abortion introduces her to an underground feminist group called the Jane Collective, in Call Jane - hitting US theaters October 28 and UK theaters November 4.

'I really hope that when people watch this film it opens up their sense of empathy for a road that they might never have to travel, but have a little less judgment for those who do,' the Press Your Luck host said on the red carpet.

'Because as long as there are pregnant people in the world, there will be people who don't want to be pregnant. And we need to make that journey for them safe and legal.'

In real life, Banks has two sons - Felix, 11; and Magnus, nearly 10 - from her 19-year marriage to producing partner Max Handelman, whom she met at the University of Pennsylvania in 1992.

Fierce after 40! The Massachusetts-born 48-year-old looked elegant in a strapless black cocktail dress, featuring a thigh-high slit, with matching opera gloves and pumps selected by styling duo Wendi & Nicole Ferreira

Sweetheart bodice: Banks (born Mitchell) finished off her retro look with side-parted blonde waves, disco ball-style earrings, and a bright red pout

Hitting US theaters October 28 and UK theaters November 4! Elizabeth stars as 1968-era Chicago housewife Joy, whose life-saving abortion introduces her to an underground feminist group called the Jane Collective, in Call Jane

The Press Your Luck host said on the red carpet: 'I really hope that when people watch this film it opens up their sense of empathy for a road that they might never have to travel, but have a little less judgment for those who do. Because as long as there are pregnant people in the world, there will be people who don't want to be pregnant. And we need to make that journey for them safe and legal'

'I am not embarrassed at all and I am very open with [my sons],' Elizabeth said of sex education on Friday's episode of The Graham Norton Show.

'I learned from my own mother that those conversations should happen as early and as often as possible. The only way to lower the abortion rate is by great sex education to empower women to understand about what's going on with their bodies and how to protect themselves and to learn that sex can be fun.'

The Shrill executive producer added: 'The film was written and made before Roe v Wade was reversed but now we feel a much deeper responsibility to put this story out.'

Banks made sure to pose for a picture with her Call Jane castmates as well as director Phyllis Nagy, who earned an Oscar nod for penning the screenplay for Todd Haynes' 2015 lesbian romance Carol.

August 28 family portrait :In real life, Banks has two sons - Felix, 11; and Magnus, nearly 10 - from her 19-year marriage to producing partner Max Handelman (M), whom she met at the University of Pennsylvania in 1992

Elizabeth said of sex education on Friday's episode of The Graham Norton Show: 'I am not embarrassed at all and I am very open with [my sons]. I learned from my own mother that those conversations should happen as early and as often as possible. The only way to lower the abortion rate is by great sex education to empower women to understand about what's going on with their bodies and how to protect themselves and to learn that sex can be fun'

The Shrill executive producer added: 'The film was written and made before Roe v Wade was reversed but now we feel a much deeper responsibility to put this story out'

Three-time Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver - who plays independent visionary Virginia - rocked a 'bans off our bodies' pin with her silky green pantsuit and patterned slingback kitten heels.

SAG Award nominee Wunmi Mosaku - who plays activist Gwen - wore the same 'bans off our bodies' pin with a caped red dress and elaborate updo.

Grace Edwards - who plays Charlotte - wore a b&w gingham short-sleeved top with a belted and bowed skirt and black-tipped white shoes.

At the helm! Banks made sure to pose for a picture with her Call Jane castmates as well as director Phyllis Nagy (M), who earned an Oscar nod for penning the screenplay for Todd Haynes' 2015 lesbian romance Carol

HBIC: Three-time Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver - who plays independent visionary Virginia - rocked a 'bans off our bodies' pin with her silky green pantsuit and patterned slingback kitten heels

Werrk! SAG Award nominee Wunmi Mosaku - who plays activist Gwen - wore the same 'bans off our bodies' pin with a caped red dress and elaborate updo

On the Rocks alum Evangeline Young - who plays Maeve - looked ready for autumn in an coral crushed-velvet dress beneath a black jacket and beige loafers.

Shameless alum Alison Jaye - who plays Sandra - wore a black coat over a matching mini-dress, fishnets, and pointy-toed booties.

Call Jane - also starring Chris Messina, Kate Mara, and Aida Turturro -currently has a 78% critic approval rating (out of 65 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes.

White after Labor Day: Grace Edwards - who plays Charlotte - wore a b&w gingham short-sleeved top with a belted and bowed skirt and black-tipped white shoes

Flame-haired songstress: On the Rocks alum Evangeline Young - who plays Maeve - looked ready for autumn in an coral crushed-velvet dress beneath a black jacket and beige loafers
Jay-Z is looking to sell a share of the upscale cognac brand D'Usse, and saying that Bacardi is trying to lowball him on the sale total.

The rapper, 52, has filed with the court a request to see Bacardi's figures on its D'Usse brand, TMZ reported after reviewing court docs in the case.

The partnership between the rapper and the liquor brand, which has been in place since 2012, is supposed to be set at 50 percent each.

Taking a stand: Jay-Z (seen in October 2021) is looking to sell a share of the upscale cognac brand D'Usse, and is saying that Bacardi is trying to lowball him on the sale total in new legal docs

Jay-Z, via his company SC Liquor, sought to exercise a buyout clause with Bacardi, which is contractually stipulated to 'negotiate in good faith' on the final total, his legal team said court docs.

Reps for Jay-Z's company said that the corporation linked with Bacardi, Empire Investments Inc., has been stalling and stonewalling the rapper's efforts to get accurate financial totals for D'Usse.

Jay-Z said through his legal team that he feels Bacardi has intentionally mismanaged aspects of its business in an effort to hinder profits ahead of a potential buyout.

While both of the valuations are redacted in legal docs, TMZ reported, Jay-Z said Bacardi's estimation was 'well below' a reasonable total.

Giant: The 52-year-old mogul has filed a lawsuit against Bacardi as he wants to know how much his alcohol line is making as they are 50/50 partners

The rapper is asking the court to force Bacardi to comprehensively reveal its finances in regards to the D'Usse, as he wants 'financial clarity' regarding his top-shelf cognac brand D'Usse.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained documents on Tuesday which show that his company SC liquor had demanded for financial clarity when it comes to D'Usse.

According to the site, Jay-Z's company is requesting for all the financial books and records in addition to the location of all the warehouses storing barrels, bottles, and accessories for the cognac brand.

They also want all the pertinent information regarding Bacardi's physical inventory as well as the inventory process.

It does remain unclear why Jay-Z and partners are pushing this process forward but it is obvious there is distrust in the business partnership.

Serving it up: TMZ Hip Hop obtained documents on Tuesday which show that his company SC liquor had demanded for financial clarity when it comes to D'Usse

The ROC: According to the site, Jay-Z's company is requesting for all the financial books and records in addition to the location of all the warehouses storing barrels, bottles, and accessories for the cognac brand, he is pictured with wife Beyonce in June 2021

TMZ notes that one of the statements in the legal documents is very interesting as it read that SC Liquor says that it needs to 'monitor the conduct of [Bacardi's] business to protect SC's rights as' a partner in the company.

Jay-Z and Bacardi have had a partnership on D'Usse since 2012.

He regularly name checks the brand in his songs and in 2014 even poured some of the cognac into one of his Grammys and drank it in order to promote it.

Shot: Jay-Z and Bacardi have had a partnership on D'Usse since 2011

Meanwhile earlier this month the 99 Problems rapper was featured in outtakes from wife Beyonce's Club Renaissance Paris celebration in partnership with Tiffany & Co. earlier this month.

The 41-year-old megastar stunned in a silver ensemble as she posed in an elevator with husband as she added a sporty oversize jacket.

The Break My Soul songstress wrote in the caption to her loyal legion of followers, 'CLUB RENAISSANCE Paris with partner @tiffanyandco.'

She then added hashtags, '#TiffanyAndCo #CLUBRENAISSANCE.'
Rob Mills has finally dished on his legendary fling with American heiress Paris Hilton in 2003.

The Australian Idol star, 40, revealed in his autobiography Putting On A Show that he hooked up with Hilton at a movie premiere and shared some wild experiences with her.

'We met at the Sydney Opera House at an afterparty for The Matrix Reloaded. I was with her when she watched her sex tape for the first time,' he wrote.

Rob Mills (pictured) has finally dished on his legendary fling with American heiress Paris Hilton in 2003

Her sex tape with then-boyfriend Rick Salomon got leaked in 2003.

After the sex tape leak, Paris went on to star alongside pal Nicole Richie in the hit reality show The Simple Life for four years until 2007.

However, the former Neighbours star was reluctant to put a label on the experiences they shared.

'My relationship with Paris was barely that. We spent the night together and fooled around afterwards,' he said.

Rob said although she returned to America soon afterwards their time together was very memorable.

Rob revealed in his autobiography Putting On A Show that he hooked up with Paris Hilton (pictured together in 2003) at a movie premiere and shared some wild experiences with her

It follows Rob admitting to having a threesome with drag queen Courtney Act and another woman, in addition to flings with some of his gay friends.

Rob and Courtney both shot to fame on the first season of Australian Idol in 2003, and ended up falling in bed together after taping a show one night.

'We had an awesome, drink-fuelled threesome with a woman,' he wrote in his book.

It follows Rob admitting to having a threesome with drag queen Courtney Act (pictured) and another woman, in addition to flings with some of his gay friends

After going out to a gay club together, the trio ended up back at Courtney's house.

'Me, Courtney and a woman; Ill call her Sam, we had a bit of an orgy,' he continued.

Rob's autobiography Putting On a Show was released nationwide on October 11.
Brian Cox has spoken about the challenges of Hollywood, describing it as a 'difficult place to live' and 'the worst place in the world to raise female children'.

The Succession star, 76, commented on the MeToo movement and how wealth can make you 'guilty' in the limelight in a new wide-ranging interview.

He said he believes Hollywood 'exacerbates' the many pressures already on young women as he described it as the 'worst place in the world to raise female children'.

Fame: Brian Cox has spoken about the challenges of Hollywood, describing it as a 'difficult place to live' and 'the worst place in the world to raise female children'

'[Hollywood is] a very difficult place to live, and [it] is the worst place in the world to raise female children,' he told The Telegraph.

'There are so many pressures on young women already, and it just exacerbates them.'

Brian shares his two eldest children - Alan, 52, and Margaret - with his ex-wife Caroline Burt, while he also has sons Orson, 20, and Torin, 18 with wife Nicole Ansari-Cox.

In the interview, Brian went on to say that there are pressures for women to look a certain way and can be 'sexualised' in Hollywood as he reflected on a MeToo meeting he attended.

Pressures: Brian (pictured with his daughter Margaret) said Hollywood 'exacerbates' pressures on women as he described it as the 'worst place in the world to raise female children'

He explained that he arrived late and stood in the back as 'intense Hollywood women' listened to journalist Ronan Farrow speaking about his expose of Harvey Weinstein and top US media figures.

After the meeting, which came soon after Brian won his Golden Globe in 2020, he said people immediately started filming him, asking him to tell them to 'f*** off' as his Succession character Logan Roy.

He said he questioned whether it was 'appropriate' to do so straight after a MeToo meeting as he criticised the 'tokenism' of Hollywood.

'This is the problem  that people do things on a tokenistic level, I find that questionable,' he added.

Hollywood: The Succession star, 76, (pictured with his wife Nicole) commented on MeToo and how wealth can make you 'guilty' in the limelight in a new wide-ranging interview

The Scottish star also spoke about finding success and wealth in Hollywood, saying that although he is a huge TV star, he is not 'one of them' or a 'multimillionaire'.

He said that although money makes people 'safe' it also makes them 'guilty', saying that everybody suffers from their exposure to money in some way.

Brian said he tends to 'fly publicly' and his vices are clothes as he spoke about what he does with his own money.

As for leaving his four children any inheritance money, Brian said he thinks his property will be divided up amongst his kids.

Wealth: Brian (pictured with his wife Nicole in 2022) also spoke about finding fame, saying although money makes people 'safe' it also makes them 'guilty'

Reflecting on his own upbringing, Brian said he grew up as the youngest of five children and had a 'happy' childhood until his father died suddenly when he was eight years old.

Soon after, his mother suffered a breakdown and Brian was raised by his older sisters and they discovered their father only had 10 after giving his money away.

Brian said he had a 'beautiful' life as a child even though they all lived in two bedrooms as he discussed how people don't have a sense of 'connection' or 'community' anymore.

Family: Brian shares kids Alan, 52, and Margaret with his ex-wife Caroline Burt, while he also has two sons - Orson, 20, and Torin, 18 (pictured in 2015) - with his wife Nicole Ansari-Cox

But he said he doesn't want any promise of inheritance to be too much of a 'safety net' for them and said he still wants them to get out and 'work their asses off'.

His latest comments come after Brian has returned to Succession for a fourth series, with a first look trailer giving a glimpse at the much-anticipated show.

Production on the series began this summer and while an official release date has yet to be revealed it is expected the show will air next year.

Not much is given away in the brief clip yet it's clear tension is still brewing within the Roy family as they continue to battle for control over Waystar Royco.

First look: His latest comments come after Brian has returned to Succession for a fourth series, with a first look trailer giving a glimpse at the much-anticipated show

At the end of last season, the series left off with ruthless Waystar CEO/family patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) withholding control from his children: Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kiernan Culkin), Conor (Alan Ruck) and Shiv (Sarah Snook).

It seems Logan has no intention in giving in to his children any time soon as the teaser sees him shouting 'This is not the end. We're killing the opposition.'

Logan - who is standing in a newsroom continues to shout - 'I am going to build something better, faster, leaner, wilder. I love it here! I f***ing love it!'

Oh dear: Not much is given away in the brief clip yet it's clear tension is still brewing within the Roy family as they continue to battle for control over Waystar Royco

The teaser clip comes after it was revealed the show will get a temporary reprieve from its usual location within the concrete jungle of Manhattan.

For season four, the Emmy-winning drama will move at least some of its deal-making and family backstabbing to the Scandinavian mountains of Norway, according to Variety.

The Norwegian setting will be the backdrop as the sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech mogul Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard) moves closer and members of the Roy family travel to Matsson's homeland.

Tense: Logan - who is standing in a newsroom shouts - 'I am going to build something better, faster, leaner, wilder. I love it here! I f***ing love it!'

Ouch: Season three saw Logan withhold control from children Kendall (Jeremy Strong), left, Roman (Kiernan Culkin), Conor (Alan Ruck), right, and Shiv (Sarah Snook)

An official synopsis for the upcoming series reads: 'In the 10-episode season four, the sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson moves ever closer.'

'The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is completed.'

The synopsis concluded: 'A power struggle ensues as the family weighs up a future where their cultural and political weight is severely curtailed.'

Additional cast members were also confirmed for the new season.

Location: The teaser clip comes after it was revealed the show will get a temporary reprieve from its usual location within the concrete jungle of Manhattan

They include Peter Friedman, David Rasche, Fisher Stevens, Hiam Abbass, Justine Lupe, Scott Nicholson, Zoe Winters and Jeannie Berlin.

There is also said to be more cast members that will be announced at a later date.

The show will once again be executive produced by its series creator Jesse Armstrong, alongside Adam McKay, Frank Rich, Kevin Messick, Jane Tranter, Mark Mylod, Tony Roche, Scott Ferguson, Jon Brown, Lucy Prebble, Will Tracy and Will Ferrell.

Succession has earned an impressive 23 Emmy nominations for its first two seasons, taking home nine wins.
The next series of The Crown is facing a backlash from royal circles.

Friends of King Charles have called for a boycott of the show over entirely made up scenes that they say smear the new monarch.

For their part, Netflix say it has always been presented as drama, and a fictionalised version of what MAY have happened behind closed doors.

In this video we break down some of the most contentious scenes.
Eva Longoria looked effortlessly chic as she arrived on set in Barcelona on Wednesday to film her new TV series Land of Women alongside a handsome male co-star.

The award winning actress, 47, stood out in a pair of eye-catching yellow trousers, teamed with a plunging cream jumper.

The Desperate Housewives star boosted her height in a pair of brown heels while carrying a black handbag.

Filming: Eva Longoria looked effortlessly chic as she arrived on set in Barcelona on Wednesday to film her new TV series Land of Women alongside a handsome male co-star

Eva opted for a bronzed makeup palette which accentuated her natural features, teamed with a pale pink lipstick.

Her long brunette tresses fell effortlessly to her shoulders as she casually strolled around the set.

Eva's male companion cut a casual figure in a grey jumper, black jeans and a pair of brown combat boots.

The pair appeared to be deep in conversation while sat at the side of the road before he helped her up.

Stylish: The award winning actress, 47, stood out in a pair of eye-catching yellow trousers, teamed with a plunging cream jumper

Stunning: The Desperate Housewives star boosted her height in a pair of brown heels while carrying a black handbag

Beauty: Eva opted for a bronzed makeup palette which accentuated her natural features, teamed with a pale pink lipstick

New: Apple TV+ are creating Land of Women, which is inspired by award-winning author Sandra Barnedas bestselling novel of the same name

Apple TV+ are creating Land of Women, which is inspired by award-winning author Sandra Barnedas bestselling novel of the same name.

The series announced that they will create six episodes and will be shot in both Spanish and English.

Eva will play Gala, a New York empty nester whose life is turned upside down when her husband implicates the family in financial improprieties, and she is forced to flee the city alongside her ageing mother and college-age daughter.

Low-key: Eva's male companion cut a casual figure in a grey jumper, black jeans and a pair of brown combat boots

Gorgeous: Her long brunette tresses fell effortlessly to her shoulders as she casually strolled around the set

Series: The series announced that they will create six episodes and will be shot in both Spanish and English

Character: Eva will play Gala, a New York empty nester whose life is turned upside down when her husband implicates the family in financial improprieties, and she is forced to flee the city alongside her ageing mother and college-age daughter

The three woman hide in a wine town in Spain, after her husband vanishes, as they escape the dangerous criminals Gala's husband has debt with.

The Spanish town where the family fled, Gala's mother previously had been their 50 years ago and vowed to never return.

Gossip starts to spread around the small town and the families secrets and truths start to unfold.

Chat: The pair appeared to be deep in conversation while sat at the side of the road before he helped her up
He's been spotted over the last few weeks enjoying a burgeoning new romance with Juliana Nalu.

And Kanye West, 45, appeared loved-up on Friday as he packed on the PDA with the Brazilian model, 24, on the set of a photoshoot in LA.

The rapper - who is currently embroiled in controversy for his repeated anti-Semitic rants - locked lips with the beauty in a passionate embrace in the carpark.

Close: Kanye West , 45, appeared loved-up on Friday as he packed on the PDA with his Brazilian model girlfriend Juliana Nalu, 24, on the set of a photoshoot in LA

Kanye's outing came after he sat down with Piers Morgan for two hours to pre-record an interview in which he branded President Biden 'f**king ret***ed' for not meeting Elon Musk and insisted he has no regrets regarding his anti-Semitic tirade.

Stepping out on Friday Juliana flashed some side boob in a tight black vest, leather trousers and chunky boots and wrapped a large jumper around her waist.

She had her dark tresses in her classic choppy bob style and opted for natural makeup to show off her pretty features as she stepped out.

Style: Stepping out on Friday Juliana flashed some side boob in a tight black vest, leather trousers and chunky boots and wrapped a large jumper around her waist

Meanwhile Kanye cut a casual figure in a black T-shirt, jacket and camoflage cap as he visited her on the photoshoot set.

The outing comes after Kanye branded President Joe Biden 'f**king ret***ed' for not meeting with world's richest man Elon Musk in a foul-mouthed rant.

The rapper, who was being interviewed by Piers Morgan, apologised for his bad language, but excused it by saying he has 'mental health' issues.

Love: The controversial rapper - who is currently embroiled in controversy for his repeated anti-Semitic rants - locked lips with the beauty in a passionate embrace in the carpark

Also in the interview, Kanye addressed the Jewish community after his anti-Semitic Twitter tirade, and doubled down on some of his antics.

Despite offering up a half-hearted apology, Kanye (now known as Ye), said he 'absolutely' does not regret his comments - which resulted in a huge backlash, with some of his social media accounts being suspended and sponsorships canned.

The apology came two hours into the interview in which West mocked Morgan by calling him a 'Karen', while offering him advice on how to become as rich as he is.

He also stormed out of the interview mid-way through, The Sun said.

Drama: Kanye's outing came after he sat down with Piers Morgan for two hours to pre-record an interview in which he branded President Biden 'f**king ret***ed' for not meeting Elon Musk and insisted he has no regrets regarding his anti-Semitic tirade

'You know, one percent of the world are placed in power, and ninety-nine percent of the world are the audience,' Kanye said. 'So that one percent of the world - this idea of a united nations - this is the world that needs to come together [...].

'Here's the obvious go-to: Biden doesn't listen to Elon Musk. The President of the United States does not have meetings with Elon Musk,' he said.

'That is f***ing,' Kanye said, before gesturing to the camera saying 'here, come, come, come get me,' in an apparent challenge, before saying: 'That's f***ing ret***ed.'

Model: She had her dark tresses in her classic choppy bob style and opted for natural makeup to show off her pretty features as she stepped out

The screen cut to interviewer Piers, who looked confounded by Kanye's comments and appeared to be holding back from responding.

'I know I'm not supposed say that Biden, but that's that's f***ing ret***ed Biden,' Kanye continued. 'And obviously because I've been deemed with mental health, all this, I have a right to use whatever words that I like to use.'

The clip did not show Kanye elaborating on why he thought Biden should be meeting with Musk. In April, senior officials within the Biden administration held a meeting with the Tesla CEO and other major leaders of America's car industry.

At another point in the interview, that will air fully on Friday, Piers challenged Kanye over his anti-Semetic comments on Twitter.

Chilled: Meanwhile Kanye cut a casual figure in a black T-shirt, jacket and camoflage cap as he visited her on the photoshoot set

'I will say I'm sorry for the people that I hurt with the 'death con' [comments],' Ye said on the show with the British talk show host.

'I feel like I caused hurt and confusion. And I'm sorry for the families of the people that had nothing to do with the trauma that I had been through, and that I used my platform where you say hurt people hurt people. I was hurt.'

The rapper and clothing designer said on 'Piers Morgan Uncensored' that he was only referencing certain Jewish people who he believes have screwed him over.

Stunning: Juliana hails from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and has been modelling since her teens

Less than two weeks ago, the rapper wrote in a tweet: 'I'm a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I'm going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.

Deafcon - also known as defense readiness condition - is an alert used by the US Armed Forces to indicate how quickly the military can be deployed during deadly emergencies and attacks.

Ye was pressed by Piers on whether his anti-Semitic remarks were racist, and he says they were, although at one point, the rapper says 'it's not racism' when asked about his comments.

'When you insult the Jewish people and say you're going 'death con 3' on the Jewish people, that is as racist as anything you say you've been through,' Morgan said. 'Racism is racism and you know that I think. Don't you.'

Career: She first told her mother she wanted to become a model at age six and was selected to be part of L'Oreal Brazil campaign when she was 18

Despite storming out of his interview, Kanye seemed in good spirits later in the evening as he enjoyed a romantic dinner with Juliana.

The duo have been romantically linked since early October after they were spotted on several dates in the LA area.

Earlier this month, the former husband of Kim Kardashian and the Brazilian beauty were captured checking into a hotel in Beverly Hills.

Two days later, they enjoyed a Saturday night dinner date at the celebrity hotspot Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica.

New love: The duo have been romantically linked since early October after they were spotted on several dates in the LA area

Nalu appears to have met West through his brand Yeezy; she previously shared a snap of herself rocking the Yeezy sunglasses and a Gap by Yeezy shirt, adding the caption: 'YZY SHDZ.'

A few weeks ago, the model posted a video showcasing her outfit to music by Kanye West; she had his song I Wonder, from his 2007 album Graduation.

Juliana hails from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and has been modelling since her teens.

Romance: Earlier this month, the former husband of Kim Kardashian and the Brazilian beauty were captured checking into a hotel in Beverly Hills

Admiration: A few weeks ago, the model posted a video showcasing her outfit to music by Kanye West; she had his song I Wonder, from his 2007 album Graduation

She first told her mother she wanted to become a model at age six and was selected to be part of L'Oreal Brazil campaign when she was 18.

The following year, she flew to Los Angeles and signed with top modelling agency Elite Models.

She has been building a profile for herself ever since and currently boasts 670,000 followers on Instagram and almost half a million on TikTok.

Kanye has had a string of short lived flings, including with Uncut Gems star Julia Fox and model Chaney Jones, since splitting from ex-wife Kim Kardashian last year.

Busy: Kanye has had a string of short lived flings, including with Uncut Gems star Julia Fox and model Chaney Jones, since splitting from ex-wife Kim Kardashian last year

The reality superstar filed for divorce in February 2021 just before what would have been the pair's seventh wedding anniversary.

Kanye and Kim share four children: North, nine, Saint, six, Chicago, four, and Psalm, three. The rapper previously stated that his ex-wife 'basically 80 percent of the time, raise[s] those children.'

The budding romance comes amid a swirl of controversy surrounding Kanye and his continued anti-Semitic rants, as well as his choice to debut a White Lives Matter tee at Paris Fashion Week earlier this month.

Speaking out: The outing came after he sat down with Piers Morgan to pre-record a two-hour interview in which he insisted he has no regrets regarding his anti-Semitic tirade

Shocking: Kanye branded President Joe Biden (left) 'f**king ret***ed' for not meeting with world's richest man Elon Musk (right) in a foul-mouthed rant last night

He also reignited tensions between himself and ex-wife Kim by airing out their custody issues and making claims about her in the media.

She has reportedly distanced herself from the rapper and 'isn't answering Kanye's calls,' according to TMZ.

Kim, who was represented by divorce attorney Laura Wasser, was declared legally single this past March while in the midst of a hot and heavy romance with SNL alum Pete Davidson.

Kanye attempted to oppose Kim's efforts to be declared legally single - however a judge granted her request.

Beginnings: Juliana first told her mother she wanted to become a model at age six and was selected to be part of L'Oreal Brazil campaign when she was 18

The Blast recently reported that Kanye is preparing to finally settle his divorce with Kardashian, over a year after she first filed paperwork to end their marriage.

It was claimed that Kanye's lawyer has filed a 'declaration of disclosure', a sign that their case is on the verge of coming to a close.

According to the documents, the rapper has turned over all of his financial information to his estranged wife's legal team, and has also reached an agreement with her on how to divide their finances and property.
Anna Heinrich has enjoyed a sunny day at the beach on Friday.

The former star of The Bachelor stripped down to a skimpy bikini as she took advantage of the good weather.

The 35-year-old posed for two photos shared to Instagram, flaunting her slender figure in ruffled yellow and black swimwear.

Anna Heinrich (pictured) has enjoyed a sunny day at the beach on Friday. The former star of The Bachelor stripped down to a skimpy bikini as she took advantage of the good weather

She had on minimal makeup for her swim and wore her blonde locks down around her face.

Anna wrote in her caption: 'WHEN THE SUN CAME OUT. Ducked across the road for a quick dip and photoshoot. Wearing my fave Aussie swimwear brand Seafolly'.

Last year, Anna hit back at trolls who slammed her for posing in a bikini just two weeks after she welcomed her baby girl, Elle.

Anna wrote in her caption: 'WHEN THE SUN CAME OUT. Ducked across the road for a quick dip and photoshoot. Wearing my fave Aussie swimwear brand Seafolly'

In November 2021, the same month she gave birth to her first child, the former Bachelor star enjoyed an early 34th birthday on board a yacht on Sydney Harbour with husband Tim Robards, 40, and their pals.

In photos shared to Instagram, the first-time mother looked nothing short of sensational in a black bandeau bikini top and matching high-waisted briefs - but she gained the negative attention of critics for sharing the images.

In an interview with Stellar's Body and Soul Magazine, Anna said of the photos: 'The intention behind the image wasn't to say, "look at me, look at my body, look how I've recovered." I put it up because I was having a great time.

Last year, Anna hit back at trolls who slammed her for posing in a bikini just two weeks after she welcomed her baby girl, Elle

'I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad, I'm just living my life. Instagram is a fraction of what I am.'

Anna went on to say that there is no right way to have a 'mum body' or recover from childbirth.

'There is no ideal. We're all unique, we're going down different paths and there's no right or wrong way. I don't understand why people criticise  it's a reflection on themselves,' she said.
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Amber Turner showed off her super toned figure on Tuesday as she headed to pal Liam Gatsby's birthday and farewell party - celebrating his move to LA from Essex.

Giving the outdoor party's All American theme her all, the TOWIE star, 29, opted for a plunging red bikini with a pair of light-washed, distressed hem denim hot pant shorts.

Co-stars Elma Pazar and Choe Meadows also looked incredible as they took to the bash, with Elma opting for a US flag bikini while Chloe donned a low-key ranch look.

A stateside soiree: TOWIE'S Amber Turner (left) flashed her ultra toned figure in a red bikini and denim hot pants on Tuesday as she joined bikini-clad beauties Elma Pazar (centre) and Chloe Meadows (right) for pal Liam Gatsby's All-American themed birthday bash

The pool party featured a US flag made out of red, white and blue balloons, flag bunting and a large collection o inflatables for the fun-filled day.

Amber added a pair of knee-high, heeled cowgirl boots to the look - brushing off the autumnal Essex weather with a glowing bronzed tan.

She had a white crossbody bag with a gold chain strap detail over her shoulder, accesorising with a collection of gold bracelets and rings, includng one with an A initial on it.

While the beauty's Californian blonde locks fell to her torso in a soft curl, as she opted for a glowing palette of makeup with a glossy pink lip.

Figure! Amber sported a plunging red bikini with a pair of light-washed, distressed hem denim hot pant shorts

Peace and pout: Amber added a pair of knee-high, heeled cowgirl boots to the look - brushing off the autumnal Essex weather with a glowing bronzed tan

Stunner: While Elma went for a skimpy string bikini with the stars and stripes from the US flag decorating the swimwear, paired with feathered-hem denim shorts

Heels: She elevated her height with a pair of canvas, lace-up wedges

While Elma went for a skimpy string bikini with the stars and stripes from the US flag decorating the swimwear, paired with feathered-hem denim shorts.

She left the shorts unbottoned while flashing her gorgeous figure, as they fell below her hips - elevating her height with a pair of canvas, lace-up wedges.

The reality star shielded her eyes with a pair of light-tinted sunglasses, leaving her brunette locks to fall in a naturally tousled style.

Tousled: Elma left her brunette locks to fall in a naturally tousled style

Chloe went for a more All American ranch look, donning a pair of light blue denim shorts with a navy crop top, as she added a paisley printed red neckerchief in her pocket.

She added a washed blue baseball cap over her lengthy blonde locks, finishing the look with a pair of low cowboy boots.

Joined by the rest of the TOWIE crew, the ladies had a laugh while filming the bash for the new season of the show - with Elma giving pal James Diags a playful push as she leaned against his shoulder.

High spirited: Joined by the rest of the TOWIE crew, the ladies had a laugh while filming the bash for the new season of the show - with Elma giving pal James Diags a playful push as she leaned against his shoulder

Beauty: Chloe went for a more All American ranch look, donning a pair of light blue denim shorts with a navy crop top, as she added a paisley printed red neckerchief in her pocket

Sunny day: She added a washed blue baseball cap over her lengthy blonde locks, finishing the look with a pair of low cowboy boots

Chloe Brockett also headed to the party, making an entrance in double denim as she donned light wash jeans and a plunging denim waistcoat with brown thread embroidery.

She added a red printed neckerchief and open-toed sandals to the look, with her chocolate brown locks flowing in a sleek blowdried style.

Embracing the double denim look too was Courtney Green, who sported a denim corset crop top and matching shorts.

She went full throttle western with a pair of cowboy boots and a complementing hat, beaming for snaps during the party.

Double denim: Chloe Brockett also headed to the party, making an entrance in double denim as she donned light wash jeans and a plunging denim waistcoat with brown thread embroidery

Giggles: She appeared in high spirits for the party, which was filmed for the show

Complete: She added a red printed neckerchief and open-toed sandals to the look, with her chocolate brown locks flowing in a sleek blowdried style

Western: Embracing the double denim look too was Courtney Green, who sported a denim corset crop top and matching shorts

Theme on point: She went full throttle western with a pair of cowboy boots and a complementing hat, beaming for snaps during the party

(L-R) Chloe Brockett, Elma Pazar, Chloe Meadows, Amber Turner and Courtney Green

Beauty: Mia Sully also turned up the heat for the bash in a cropped red and blue varsity jacket, paired with white denim shorts and a lace-up red bra

Short: She showed plenty of leg with the ultra-short denim hot pants,adding a bright red lip

Besties: She joined best pal Hannah Voyan - who opted for a white satin dress with a bandeau neckline

Mia Sully, Hannah Voyan and Saffron Lempriere also took to the party in blue, red and white ensembles - with Saffron rocking up in style in a convertible car.

Birthday boy Liam certainly stood out for his bash, sporting a bright yellow Lacoste polo shirt and rainbow striped swimming trunks.

While the boys had a ball jumping in and out of the pool, with Dan Edgar and Jordan Brooks joining in on the fun.

Colourful: Hannah added a matching silk neck tie to the look, adding a pop of colour pointed toe heels in electric blue

US: She finished the ook with a red bow in her chocolate locks, going full red, white and blue

Main man: Birthday boy Liam certainly stood out for his bash, sporting a bright yellow Lacoste polo shirt and rainbow striped swimming trunks

Grand entrance: Saffron arrived in style in a navy blue convertible car

On theme: The vintage car even matched the theme with red leather seats

Pool fun: While the boys had a ball jumping in and out of the pool, with Dan Edgar and Jordan Brooks joining in on the fun

The group enjoyed an array of activities during the day, including beer pong and water basketball - jumping in and out.

Despite Liam being an Essex native, his mum Nikki lives out in Los Angeles - with the young businessman reportedly 'worth millions'.

And it's no surprise that the bash was no expense spared, with the real estate broker often throwing events for the group.

Having a ball: The group enjoyed an array of activities during the day, including beer pong and water basketball - jumping in and out

VS: It was Chloe Brockett against Diags and Elma at one point as they took on a game of beer pong

Dream team: It appeared Diags and Elma were a dynamic duo as they even threw out some moves

Smart: Jordan Brooks opted for a pair of navy shorts and a white polo shirt for the day

Summer look: He kept covered from the sun with a pair of square aviator sunglasses

Hands full: Dan Edgar appeare in his element as he juggled watr inflatables
SPC Chairman Hur Young-in bows his head in apology for the death of an employee at the baked goods factory of company affiliate SPL in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, during a press conference held at SPC's headquarters in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap





By Kim Hyun-bin







SPC Chairman Hur Young-in bowed his head in apology on Friday over the death of an employee at the baked goods factory of company affiliate SPL in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province last weekend.







"I am deeply responsible for this accident and humbly accept the severe rebuke and criticism of the public. I sincerely apologize for not being able to consider them first," Hur said at a press conference at SPC's headquarters in Seoul. "The company is working on the investigation with the authorities, and we are working hard to find out the exact cause of the accident and take follow-up measures."







The chairman said the company will be reborn as a trusted company by not only strengthening safety management, but also establishing a culture of respect and consideration for its workers.







Following Hur's apology, SPC President Hwang Jae-bok announced measures to prevent a recurrence by investing a total of 100 billion won ($69.6 million) over three years to strengthen safety management.







"We will immediately conduct an occupational safety and health diagnosis for all workplaces through specialized institutions certified by the Ministry of Employment and Labor from today. We will expand, establish, and implement a comprehensive safety management improvement plan," Hwang said.







The proposed investment breaks down into 70 billion won to expand safety equipment and automated facilities, and 20 billion won to improve the working environment for employees. In the case of SPL, 50 percent of its operating profit, or 10 billion won, will be invested in improving industrial safety.







"We will form a safety management committee with outside experts and field employees to ensure that there are independent efforts to ensure occupational and health safety, and strengthen the implementation and supervision of necessary measures," Hwang added.







In addition, the company plans to expand and reorganize related organizations by increasing the number of personnel in charge of occupational safety and health.







On Oct. 15, a worker in her 20s died when her upper body was caught in a sauce mixer machine while working at the SPC-affiliated SPL bakery plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.







The chairman paid his condolences to the bereaved family the day after the accident and issued an apology on Oct. 17.







Meanwhile, a worker at SPC affiliate Shany lost his finger while working at the company's baking factory in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 23.







The 40-something worker was sorting out faulty products on a conveyer belt when his finger got caught in the machine. The worker is known to have undergone surgery at a hospital.







Police are looking into whether the SPC affiliate had adhered to safety regulations. SPC is also checking the specific cause of the accident.


Some of the UK's most famous faces have joked that they could be the next Prime Minister, after Liz Truss quit on Thursday after just 44 days in office.

Spice Girls star Emma Bunton, 46, took a cheeky dig at the outgoing leader, posting a picture of herself outside 10 Downing Street and joking, 'Baby for PM!'

This Morning star Alison Hammond also got in on the action, joking she's 'on it babes' underneath a picture of her slogan, 'There's Hope With Hammond'.

'Am I gonna have to sort this s**t out?!' Spice Girls' Emma Bunton joked on Friday that she could be the next Prime Minister while Alison Hammond told fans she's 'on it babes' in hilarious posts

Standing in a chic blue dress, Emma captioned her snap: 'Am I gonna have to sort this s**t out?!?! #BabyforPM'

'The UK would be a much better place,' one fan commented underneath

Standing in a chic blue dress, Emma captioned her snap: 'Am I gonna have to sort this s**t out?!?! #BabyforPM.'

'The UK would be a much better place,' one fan commented underneath.

Another added: 'I'd vote for you! xx.'

Having a laugh: This Morning presenter Alison shared a meme of herself from Love of Huns showing her standing in front of the door at Downing Street

Cheeky: Alison shared a cheeky post after the Prime Minister's resignation

Alison, 47, meanwhile shared a picture of her 'Hope for Hammond' slogan and hilariously captioned it: 'I'm on it babes!'

Alison Hammond, 47, meanwhile shared a picture of her 'Hope for Hammond' slogan and hilariously captioned it: 'I'm on it babes!'

The This Morning presenter also shared a meme of herself from Love of Huns showing her standing in front of the door at Downing Street.

Actress Nadia Sawalha, 57, shared a hilarious mock image of herself outside of Downing Street and talking on a podium, writing: 'Everyone else has had a go. Let's roll the dice. My turn.'

Shooting his shot! Ricky Gervais shared a Photoshopped picture of himself outside Downing Street

Actress Nadia Sawalha, 57, shared a hilarious mock image of herself outside of Downing Street and talking on a podium, writing: 'Everyone else has had a go. Let's roll the dice. My turn.'

Gone: Prime Minister Liz Truss quit on Thursday after just 44 days in office

'After all, it's just a game isn't it? Isn't it?' she added.

Radio and TV presenter Toby Anstis, 51, shared a picture of himself in a suit outside the famous door and wrote: 'Well these are ''extraordinary'' times.'

Liz Truss dramatically admitted defeat and announced she was quitting as PM on Thursday, with Westminster gearing up for Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to do 'battle for the soul' of the party.

There are claims that Boris - who was on holiday in the Caribbean - will bid for a shock return just six weeks after he left office.

Having a crack! Radio and TV presenter Toby Anstis, 51, shared a picture of himself in a suit outside the famous door and wrote: 'Well these are ''extraordinary'' times'

Piers Morgan joked, 'Time?'

Selfie: Susanna Reid shared a selfie with Larry the cat and joked that the Chief Mouser 'lasted longer' than the PM

Bombshell news: After just 44 disastrous days in No10, Liz took to a lectern outside the famous black door to confirm her departure, sealing her fate as the shortest-serving premier in modern political history

After just 44 disastrous days in No10, Liz took to a lectern outside the famous black door to confirm her departure, sealing her fate as the shortest-serving premier in modern political history.

Revealing she had informed the King of her decision, she said: 'I cannot deliver on the mandate.... I will remain as PM until a successor has been chosen.'

Liz - who insisted she was a 'fighter not a quitter' barely 24 before - said the Tory leadership contest will be completed over the next week.

The bombshell news followed a week of carnage that saw a bewildering array of U-turns on the mini-Budget, the Chancellor and Home Secretary quit, confusion over whether the Chief Whip had followed her out of the door, and MPs wrestling in Commons voting lobbies.
She recently shared a series of intimate snaps from her lavish '500,000' Italian wedding day with her husband Jeremy Parisi.

And Kelly Brook cut a casual figure as she stepped out with her beau for a low-key dog walk in north London on Friday.

The makeup-free model and radio presenter, 42, wore a black and white checked shirt coat for the outing.

Outing: Makeup-free Kelly Brook cut a casual figure on a dog walk with her husband Jeremy Parisi on Friday - after sharing snaps of their '500,000' Italian wedding in July

She completed her look with tight black leggings and chunky boots while holding her cute pooch's lead.

The star accessorised with an across-the-body black bag and wore her brunette tresses swept back while opting to go makeup free.

Meanwhile Jeremy looked happy and relaxed in a black jumper, jogging bottoms and comfortable trainers.

Mr and Mrs: It comes after earlier this week Kelly shared some more intimate snaps of her July nuptials

It comes after earlier this week Kelly shared some more intimate snaps of her July nuptials including the moment they sealed their vows with a kiss.

The pair were pictured looking elated on their rainy but special day with the Italian town of Civitavecchia as their backdrop, famed for its historic architecture.

In one of the new pictures shared to her 1.3million followers, the couple looked more loved up than ever as Jeremy looks at his beautiful bride lovingly.

Kelly looked at the camera with her eyes lit up after just tying the knot, holding her bouquet of white roses contrasting against her traditional ivory dress.

Mr Parisi looked dapper in a three-piece black and white suit, with a boutonniere tucked into his silk lapel and a white square in his pocket.

Another snap showed the two kissing after saying their vows at the end of the aisle as they are watched on by family and friends in the pews.

On the day in July, she was seen holding the floor-length hemline of her dress away from the rough terrain surrounding Torre di Cicero - the 19th century villa that served as their wedding venue.

The ceremony had originally been planned as an outdoor event in an area some 1,500 metres high, but an unexpected rainstorm prompted a last minute change of plans.

Out and about: The makeup-free model and radio presenter, 42, wore a black and white checked shirt coat for the outing

Consequently, the bride, groom and an assortment of friends and family members celebrated the ceremony within the walls of Torre di Cicero.

It's understood that Kelly pulled out all the stops for the day, with the bride-to-be paying for funfair rides and inviting A-list guest Kylie Minogue, according to The Sun.

The publication reported that the former Big Breakfast host has thrown 'the kitchen sink' at her wedding to give her and Jeremy the day to remember, with the plans turning into an 'extravagant affair'.

The model is said to have splashed out up to 500,000 for her big day.

A source told The Sun: 'Kelly has thrown the kitchen sink at her wedding and it's turning into quite an extravagant affair. She has booked the Villa Nota Pisani in central Italy for the ceremony and reception.'

The insider added that the villa is a 'beautiful location' and the couple 'fell in love with it' immediately after setting eyes on it.

They went on: 'Kelly has invited all her friends and stars like Kylie are on the guestlist. The ceremony is going to be really romantic but Kelly wants to give her family and pals a real party afterwards. She has been in talks with a company to put on a funfair for everyone  and the drinks will be flowing all night.'

After earning her fortune following a successful 25 year career as a model, actress and media personality, it appeared there was no expense spared when it came to making Kelly's wedding dream come true.
Motsi Mabuse has revealed her family haven't read her autobiography yet, despite it being released last month.

The Strictly Come Dancing judge appeared on The Graham Norton Show with Stormzy, Geena Davis and Stephen Graham when talk turned to her family.

In scenes that will air on Friday's show, the 41-year-old dancer discussed her book, Finding My Own Rhythm, and her time on the BBC show with her sister Oti.

'I'll give them a copy for Christmas': Motsi Mabuse appeared on The Graham Norton Show as she revealed her family still haven't read her autobiography

In her book, Motsi opened up about incidents she experienced as a child, such as the emotional and physical abuse she received from dance teachers in South Africa.

Asked if her family has read it and are okay with it, Motsi confessed: 'No they havent because I didnt ask them to. I will give it to them for Christmas.

'Everyone in my family has a view and opinion about everything in my life so I was like, "Let me do this on my own so I can put everything down as I saw it."'

Sister act: Talk then turned to her time on Strictly. She appeared on the show alongside younger sister Oti, who starred as a professional dancer (pictured with Kelvin Fletcher in 2019)

Talk then turned to her time on Strictly after she joined the BBC show as a judge in 2019.

She appeared on the show alongside younger sister Oti, who starred as a professional dancer from 2015 until 2021.

Asked what it is like remaining on the show without Oti, she revealed: 'Its different. I just feel like she is missing for me because I always used to look at her, but in some sort of way the family is more relaxed.

'My mother was very stressed out when we were both in the show and now she doesnt care, she is very relaxed.'

Line-up: The Strictly Come Dancing judge appeared on The Graham Norton Show with Stormzy, Geena Davis and Stephen Graham when talk turned to her family

Missing: Asked what it is like remaining on the show without Oti, she revealed, 'Its different. I just feel like she is missing for me because I always used to look at her' (pictured in 2020)

Elsewhere on the show, Stormzy spoke about his new album, saying: 'Its a different sound to some extent. From the beginning of my career I have been adventurous and like to explore melody and soul music. This album is from the soul, from a very personal place...

'I did a lot of self-reflection during the pandemic  the last three years has been a time of growth for me, which is reflected in the music.

'When you have success your age is locked in a bit and you are protected by teams of people and there is no room for growth. I actually had an epiphany that I didnt want to be a 29-year-old man-child, I want to be a real man.'

Talented: Elsewhere on the show, Stormzy spoke about his new album, saying, 'the last three years has been a time of growth for me, which is reflected in the music'

Meanwhile, Geena, talking about her memoir Dying of Politeness, and recalling her 'Insanely polite' upbringing, said: 'I was still completely self-effacing when I met Susan Sarandon.

'On the very first day my mind was blown when I heard her say what she was thinking. It sounds crazy but I was so un-used to seeing a woman be like that. I learnt so much from her.'

Revealing that she kept many big secrets from her parents, she added: 'It started with small things like they couldnt know I was living with a man or smoking. Everything was hidden and glossed over.

'There was so much they didnt know  like I didnt actually get my degree but I somehow tricked them into thinking that I did. Then all the press said I did because I lied in interviews too because they might read it. They died without finding out!'

Cheeky: Geena revealed that she kept many big secrets from her parents, saying. 'It started with small things like they couldnt know I was living with a man or smoking'

Oops: Stephen recalled a hilarious case of mistaken identity on the set of his powerful true crime drama The Walk-In

Stephen recalled a hilarious case of mistaken identity on the set of his powerful true crime drama The Walk-In.

He confessed: 'One of the supporting artists thought I was someone else and said, "You are doing really well for yourself." And I thought she was being really kind.

'But then she said, "I never thought it would happen to you after Big Brother"  she thought I was Craig!'

The Graham Norton Show airs Friday on BBC One at 10.40pm. It's also available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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She's rumoured to have secretly wed Malcolm McRae over the summer.

And Anya Taylor-Joy looked more loved-up than ever as she enjoyed a romantic lunch date with her partner at Mark And Vinny's spaghetti restaurant in Sydney on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old actress couldn't keep her hands off of the 28-year-old musician as they snuggled up for cuddles and kisses while waiting for their food to arrive.

It's Anya Taylor's Boy! Anya Taylor-Joy looked more loved-up than ever as she enjoyed a romantic lunch date with her partner Malcolm McRae at Mark And Vinny's spaghetti restaurant in Sydney on Tuesday

Anya looked sensational as she slipped into a vibrant scarlet dress that complemented her porcelain complexion and platinum blonde tresses.

The garment highlighted her lithe figure while a high-low offered a peek at her toned legs and eye-catching white mules that boasted a bold black print.

She completed the look with a pair of cat eye sunglasses and layered up with a navy oversized bomber jacket.

Gentleman: Malcolm was seen kissing his partner's hand as they sat together for a romantic meal

Cute: The 26-year-old actress couldn't keep her hands off of the 28-year-old musician as they snuggled up for cuddles and kisses while waiting for their food to arrive

Malcolm - who performs pop, folk, rockabilly, rock and musical theatre - looked effortlessly stylish as he paired black jeans with a plain white T-shirt and charcoal grey overshirt.

The couple have been making the most of their time abroad after Anya jetted to Australia in May to film upcoming blockbuster Mad Max: Furiosa, in which she plays the titular character.

During her time in the country, her personal life has made headlines as rumours have swirled she and boyfriend Malcolm secretly tied the knot.

She has been pictured on several occasions in Sydney wearing what appears to be a wedding ring, but has yet to comment on the speculation.

Fun in the sun: The couple have been making the most of their time abroad after Anya jetted to Australia in May to film upcoming blockbuster Mad Max: Furiosa, in which she plays the titular character

Wedding bells? During her time in the country, her personal life has made headlines as rumours have swirled she and boyfriend Malcolm secretly tied the knot

According to Page Six, the pair wed in July in a U.S. courthouse ceremony.

Anya refused to confirm or deny rumours she'd secretly married her musician boyfriend during an interview with this month's issue of Vogue Australia.

'I think when people want to say something, they say something,' she said cryptically.

The couple confirmed their relationship at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in late March, but are said to have been dating for over a year.

Put a ring on it: She has been pictured on several occasions in Sydney wearing what appears to be a wedding ring , but has yet to comment on the speculation

Coy: According to Page Six, the pair wed in July in a U.S. courthouse ceremony. Anya refused to confirm or deny rumours she'd secretly married her musician boyfriend during an interview with this month's issue of Vogue Australia

The Queen's Gambit star first sparked engagement rumours last month when she was seen sporting a dazzling diamond on her ring finger.

Prior to her Saturday Night Live hosting gig in 2021, Malcolm and Anya were spotted kissing in May of that year.

Malcolm, an Alabama native, has dabbled in acting, but his primary interest is playing guitar and piano in his rock duo More alongside bandmate Kane Ritchotte.

In July 2021, The Sun reported that Malcolm had 'practically moved into [Taylor-Joy's] Los Angeles home.'

Lady in red: Anya looked sensational as she slipped into a vibrant scarlet dress that complemented her porcelain complexion and platinum blonde tresses

Legs eleven: The garment highlighted her lithe figure while a high-low offered a peek at her toned legs and eye-catching white mules that boasted a bold black print

Anya has mostly stayed quiet about her relationship, but she offered a rare comment about him to British Vogue in March when she described some of their favorite activities at home.

'I said to my partner the other day that he was my hobby,' she said. 'I see reading as something that I have to do.

'He loved it because he's the same. I've finally found someone who will happily sit in silence with me reading. We're basically 80 years old and seven at the same time and it works really well.'

Making an entrance: The couple confirmed their relationship at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in late March, but are said to have been dating for over a year

She also noted that the occasionally long-distance nature of their relationship could be trying on her, though they seem to have made it work.

'Yes, it is [hard], but it's also kind of great because when you're together you're really valuing the time that you have.

'Everyday mundane activities are so full of joy. I love going to the petrol station with him and filling up the car and going to get breakfast,' she added.

The couple went Instagram official in October when Malcolm shared a sweet photo of the two to his Instagram account.

'Oof supremely happy,' he captioned a sweet photo of himself holding hands with Anya as they beamed in a reflection on a window.
She's the MasterChef Australia judge with a passion for food and fine dining.

But Melissa Leong has revealed that she also loves a bit of fast food - and in fact, will happily travel for a certain burger from McDonald's.

In her column for Escape, the television personality says she always stops into the takeaway chain when she's in Japan.

She's the MasterChef Australia judge with a passion for food and fine dining. But Melissa Leong (pictured) has revealed that she also loves a bit of fast food - and in fact, will happily travel for a certain burger from McDonald's

There, the 40-year-old picks up the McDonald's Ebi Burger, which is normally only available on Japanese menus at the chain.

'No trip to Japan is quite complete without an Ebi burger' she raved in her column this week.

'Filet-o-fish will always have my heart, but a deep-fried prawn burger is another thing entirely.'

In her column for Escape , the television personality says she always stops into the takeaway chain when she's in Japan to order the McDonald's Ebi Burger

The popular menu item includes a tempura-coated shrimp patty with Thousand Island sauce.

Housed in a sesame seed bun, the burger also includes crispy lettuce.

It comes after the television revealed her favourite restaurant back home in Sydney.

The popular menu item includes a tempura-coated shrimp patty with Thousand Island sauce. Housed in a sesame seed bun, the burger also includes crispy lettuce

Melissa said her 'heart was full' in a gushing post she shared on Instagram as she enjoyed platefuls of Italian food at Fratelli Paradiso in Potts Point.

'It's hard to find the right words to explain how I feel about this place,' she said.

She continued: 'Hospitality is a feeling, a natural instinct and a way of life. It is something that speaks to each of us, and when it's real, you know it.'

The food critic went onto explain how 'happy' she was to be out while sharing plates of prosciutto, calamari and pasta with her girlfriends.
Martine McCutcheon has reflected on the 'ups and downs' of her marriage to her husband Jack McManus - in her first interview since the tragic death of her brother.

The TV star, 46, said that they 'don't have the perfect relationship by any means' but that she does 'confide' in him when 'life gets tricky'.

It comes after last week Martine sadly revealed the passing of her brother LJ who died aged 31 without medical explanation.

Journey: Martine McCutcheon has reflected on the 'ups and downs' of her marriage to her husband Jack McManus - in her first interview since the tragic death of her brother

Martine and Jack have been together for 15 years and married 10 years ago. They share son Rafferty, seven, who they renewed their vows in front of last month.

She told The Sun of her relationship: 'Both Jack and I have always been honest we don't have the perfect relationship by any means.

'We've had our ups and downs, like everybody. We've had our challenges, but I think ultimately we're each other's best friend.

'When life gets tricky and isn't always as fabulous it's good you can have somebody you can talk too and confide in and be all of yourself with, and you know that's a safe space and they've got your back.'

Tragic: It comes after last week Martine sadly revealed the passing of her brother LJ (pictured together) who died aged 31 without medical explanation

Family: Martine and Jack have been together for 15 years and married 10 years ago. They share son Rafferty, seven, who they renewed their vows in front of last month

The actress added in the chat that she was keen to ensure their vow renewal was a private, with just their son in attendance.

They celebrated at the five-star Beaverbrook hotel 10 years after Martine and Jack got married in Lake Como, Italy.

It comes after earlier this month Martine shared an emotional tribute to her LJ after he suddenly died aged 31 without medical explanation.

The heartbroken TV star took to Instagram where she admitted her 'heart is forever broken' while revealing her only sibling Laurence John, aka LJ - who had a mild form of special needs - died two weeks ago.

'My heart is forever broken': It comes after earlier this month Martine shared an emotional tribute to her LJ after he suddenly died aged 31 without medical explanation

She said the website designer had been due to get married to his fiancee Jay Eaton, 49, in a month's time and Martine, who was going to be bridesmaid, had seen her brother just a few days before he had died.

Sharing a couple of photos of LJ, Martine wrote: 'My heart is forever broken, My baby brother, my gentle giant, sadly passed away, suddenly, 2 weeks ago. He was 31 years old.

'There is no medical explanation as to why we lost him so soon and whilst we investigate further, we are having to accept that nothing will bring our boy back to us.

Special bond: Martine shared this Instagram picture with her brother in 2013, writing about how much she loved him - she was just aged 15 when he was born

'L.J (Laurence John) was born when I was 15 years old and from the moment I first held him in my arms, I felt so proud and fiercely protective of him. He was such a character!

'He made us all laugh and loved nothing more than making a plan, having a great play list, bringing people together and generally having a giggle.

'He hated the thought of a party ending and so was always on to the next thing! LJ had a mild form of special needs and was very clever with gadgets & adored his cars!'

She continued: 'With unwavering love, support and a commitment to himself, he took hold of life with both hands and smashed through any expectation we had of him. He would genuinely blow us all away at times!

Memories: Martine also took to her stories to share the same image with her brother alongside the song Don't You Worry Child by Swedish House Mafia, which was LJ's favourite song

'He had a huge heart and adored Rafferty. He gave me so much, he was my anchor, my radar of what really mattered in life and whilst he was always so proud of me and would tell the world I was his sister - I always wanted to protect him from the limelight and the characters that could be drawn to him for the wrong reasons.

'He travelled the world, he had parents, sisters, a brother and friends that couldn't have loved him more! He could have you infuriated one minute and laughing the next with his dimples and soppy smile.

'LJ fell in love and was due to get married next month I was asked to be bridesmaid and the last time I saw him, was a few days before he passed.

'He, Jack and his future stepson had been to try on their wedding suits and then they came back to have dinner with his fiancee and the family to see our new home.

Grateful: The former EastEnders actress also shared a statement in which she thanked her fans for all their 'amazing messages of love and support' for her sibling

'He looked so tanned, tall and handsome. The best I've ever seen him Ironic really

'My heart aches for all who have lost him. But my heart breaks for our mum, his dad John & his Step parents.

'You should never outlive your children. I'm scared to live without you LJ but I know you will want us to truly live, laugh and love in your memory. I will try I promise.'

In 2021, LJ shared the same photo and wrote: 'This is a very special photo to me. I would like to thank my big sister for organising a summer birthday celebration last Saturday!

Love: LJ's Instagram bio described him as a 'proud brother to his sister @martinemccutcheon'

'Martine has been there though out my life and seen me grow into the person I am today. I have struggles with life with and my special needs but I've overcome the obstacles I have faced throughout my years.

'My sister has been inspirational to me. Martine made my 30th very special and I'm making a week of it! Love you so much @martinemccutcheon #30 #family #sibbings.' [sic]

Myleene Klass was among the first to offer her condolences to Martine.

She wrote: 'Martine. My heart is utterly broken for you. I am so very sorry.'

Claire Sweeney wrote: 'Darling im so sorry to hear this.'

Billie Shepherd penned: I am so sorry to hear this Martine. sending you and family lots of love and strength.'

'Oh I am so sorry Martine', commented Sheridan Smith.

'Oh darling I'm so so sorry to hear this. I send my heartfelt condolences and love to you and all the family. XXX' added Imelda May.

Former TOWIE star Shelby Tribble shared: 'So sorry for your loss.'

Sad loss: LJ pictured with his fiancee Jay Eaton on April 13. He had written: 'Can't wait to see you walk down the aisle on our wedding'

Coronation Street's Samia Longchambon wrote: 'so sorry for your loss Martine, sending love.'

With Clara Amfo adding: 'So sorry to learn this Martine, sending lots of love xxx.'

Martine also took to her stories to share the same image with her brother alongside the song Don't You Worry Child by Swedish House Mafia, which was LJ's favourite song.

She penned: One of your fave songs ever... we used to blare it full blast in the car and sing it out loud whilst dancing in our seats! It couldn't be more apt right now.

'I love you baby boy. Always have. Always will.

'I will honour your memory forever and try to grab life like you did! ALL of your family were and are so proud of you. Go and show all the angels how it's done.'

The former EastEnders actress also shared a statement in which she thanks her fans for all their 'amazing messages of love and support' for her sibling.

She went on to add that she wanted to put a 'true and fitting tribute' for her brother, adding that she and her whole family need time to grieve and heal.

Family: Martine pictured sharing a joke with her grandmother, mother and brother at her Behind The Scenes book launch at Claridge's on October 21, 2003

Following LJ's death, Martine's step-mother Elle McCutcheon remarked: 'We just need our privacy at the moment.'

When asked about the cause of LJ's death, she said: 'It's still being investigated and we have no further comment to make'.

LJ's Instagram bio reads: 'I'm LJ proud brother to my sister @martinemccutcheon. Founder of @mccutcheonwebsitedesigns and fiance to my beautiful wife to be my soulmate forever.'

Martine previously posted a birthday message to her brother on his 30th birthday last June.

She wrote at the time: 'Happy 30th Birthday to my little (big) brother LJ!

'I'm so proud of all you have achieved and who you have become - Against the odds. You arrived into my world when I was 15 and I adored you from the moment I first held you.

'You've battled at times with your special needs and have had your struggles but you were always determined to live a normal life, have a good job, fall in love and get married...

'The things so many take for granted were your biggest dreams and now it's all coming true for you! I'm so thrilled for you! Enjoy your day with Jay and Happy Birthday Darling, here's to your best year yet!'
Jennifer Coolidge has said she feels like she 'hasn't been given many chances' in Hollywood as she reflected on three decades in the showbusiness industry.

The actress, 61, cryptically said that there are 'lots of people that can really rain on your parade' as she struggled to be taken seriously in the acting world.

Jennifer made the revelations during a candid chat with DuJour magazine as she charted her success from worrying she would only ever be cast as an extra - to getting her first Emmy for The White Lotus.

Candid: Jennifer Coolidge has said she feels like she 'hasn't been given many chances' in Hollywood as she reflected on three decades in the showbusiness industry while stunning in a shoot for DuJour

On being in Hollywood for the last three decades she told the publication: 'I had grand thoughts. Massive. I thought I could come from my little town and have a lead in something like Pretty Woman.

'I remember seeing that movie, thinking, I want that for myself. I truly believe you have to have insane thoughts like that to do well in this business.

'But I worked with a lot of people and those beliefs got squashed, and I didn't try for anything bigger. There are a lot of people that can really rain on your parade sometimes, and I haven't been given a lot of chances.'

Reflective: The actress, 61, cryptically said that there are 'lots of people that can really rain on your parade' as she struggled to be taken seriously in the acting world

She added: 'I started to think, I'm really not going to be anything more than the third prostitute that gets turned down by the hideous cowboy at the brothel, which was one of my [early] parts. And I had to buy the airline ticket [to fly to set] in San Francisco myself.'

For the accompanying shoot she wowed in a busty black gown as she pulled an animated expression before donning a chic white dress for the cover shot.

In another image she put on a busty display in a white and black tight midi dress as she lounged on a sofa.

Honest: Jennifer made the revelations during a candid chat with DuJour magazine as she charted her success from worrying she would only ever be cast as an extra - to getting her first Emmy for The White Lotus

In September Jennifer won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her role in The White Lotus.

Speaking about how she felt afterwards she told the publication: 'I was in a state of shock, I couldn't remember my own name. I felt like I was having a full-on anxiety attack.

'It was embarrassing that I didn't whip out everyone's name, but I didn't expect to be up there. I was swelling up inside this dress, and I think I was having an allergic reaction.

Yay! In September Jennifer won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her role in The White Lotus

'For all these years of not thinking something like this would ever come, it was all one big inarticulate moment.'

'I've been around a long time, and I think my odds for this moment were pretty slim.'

'I thought there was no way that I was going to win the Emmy, even a second before it was announced.I didn't expect it at all. Maybe that's why I got it.'

On being cast in The White Lotus as heiress Tanya McQuaid, she then quipped: 'It's not like I asked Mike White for a big fat part that would change my life.'

Funny: On being cast in The White Lotus, she then quipped: 'It's not like I asked Mike White for a big fat part that would change my life'

The first season of The White Lotus featured a standout ensemble cast that included Murray Bartlett, Natasha Rothwell, Connie Britton, Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Lacy, Brittany O'Grady and Sydney Sweeney.

Steve Zahn, Lukas Gage, Fred Hechinger and Kekoa Kekumano and Molly Shannon also appeared.

The show was the big winner at this year's Emmy Awards, taking home an incredible 10 gongs, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.

Jennifer is best known for her roles as Jeanine 'Stifler's Mom' Stifler in the American Pie film series and as Paulette Bonafonte Parcelle in the Legally Blonde film series.
Ferne McCann cried uncontrollably as she was reunited with her daughter Sunday after completing Celeb SAS: Who Dares Wins in Jordan.

The former TOWIE star, 32, screamed, 'I missed you!' while embracing the four-year-old in a heartwarming video shared to her Instagram on Friday.

In her caption, she wrote: 'Being reunited with my girl after SAS & being in Jordan. I cant explain this feeling

'I missed you!' Ferne McCann cried uncontrollably as she was reunited with her daughter Sunday after completing Celeb SAS: Who Dares Wins in Jordan

Big hugs: The former TOWIE star, 32, screamed, 'I missed you!' while embracing the four-year-old in a heartwarming video shared to her Instagram on Friday

'When I was on the course everyday I was playing a game of tug of war in my mind about whether I should VW because I missed Sunday so much. Or to just keep going to make her proud.

'Ill never forgot 1 moment that spurred me to push through was when we were getting beasted & the DS wasnt going to stop until someone VWed.

'I had nothing left, physically and mentally. I was so drained. @billingham22b (who throughout the whole course gave me a really tough time haha he was on me!)

Loving moment: In her caption, she wrote: 'Being reunited with my girl after SAS & being in Jordan. I cant explain this feeling...'

'I was struggling so bad that I was on my hands and knees & Billy said to me "What day is it?" I was so delirious and was like HUH he repeated What day is it? Then it dawned on me SUNDAY! Its Sunday.

'That was the kindest most encouraging moment that I had experienced. Remembering and being reminded of my baby girl in the midst and depths of pain gave me the motivation to KEEP GOING!'

Ferne shares her daughter with her ex Arthur Collins who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being found guilty of carrying out a brutal acid attack in 2017. The star has raised Sunday as a single parent since.

Cuddles: Ferne shares her daughter with her ex Arthur Collins who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being found guilty of carrying out a brutal acid attack in 2017

Reunited: The star recently completed SAS: Who Dares Wins where she made it to the final alongside AJ Pritchard, Calum Best and Maisie Smith

The star recently completed SAS: Who Dares Wins where she made it to the final alongside AJ Pritchard, Calum Best and Maisie Smith.

In the series finale broadcast by Channel 4 on Sunday, Chief Instructor, Rudy Reyes announced the names of the celebrities who had passed this condensed SAS selection course, having started with fourteen recruits.

An emotional Maisie said on the show: 'I joined SAS because I've always struggled seeing my inner and outer strength, and I feel like I needed a boost of confidence.

Riding high! The star recently completed SAS: Who Dares Wins where she made it to the final alongside AJ Pritchard, Calum Best and Maisie Smith

'And I thought this would be the perfect challenge for me to just get completely out of my comfort zone and see what I'm really made of.

'I've learnt so much about myself, like obviously how strong I can be and also that it's okay to ask for help and it's made me more considerate of helping others.

'And I've never really worked as a team, so it's been such a nice journey, being amongst such a wonderful group of people, just pushing each other through it. And it was just wonderful.'

On Celebrity SAS, the winners had competed against Ashley Cain, Jennifer Ellison, Pete Wicks, Fatima Whitbread, Amber Gill, Curtis Pritchard, Dwain Chambers, Jade Jones, Shannon Courtenay and Jonathan Broom-Edwards MBE.

Falling out: Ferne has been embroiled in a feud with Sam Faiers, 31, after audio footage was leaked which allegedly saw Ferne brand her pal a 'fat c***' (pictured together in 2019)

Ferne reflected on taking part on the show on Instagram, writing: 'What a journey. Taking part in @sas_whodareswins was one of the most humbling and toughest things Ive ever done.

'I can honestly say its changed my life. The whole experience makes you look at every single part of yourself - your strengths, your weaknesses, your deepest fears.

'It taught me resilience, self acceptance and that every moment is an opportunity for change. Its given me the confidence to finally confront difficulties in my life, deal with them and move forward.

'I went in to the series to prove to myself I can be strong and I wanted to make Sunday proud. It was a major shock to the system!'

Ferne hit headlines last month after audio footage was posted from an Instagram account which allegedly saw her brand Sam Faiers a 'fat c***' and 'narcissistic b**ch'.

Sam and Ferne, who starred alongside one another on The Only Way Is Essex, were friends for over 20 years before the drama.

Social media friends: Sam has unfollowed Ferne on Instagram but Ferne is still following Sam

Ferne has reportedly been left devastated by the leaked notes and 'can't stop crying' as she has received backlash from fans online after the audios appeared to show her calling Sam a 'fat c***'.

'Her thighs are so big and I looked really skinny today,' the message continued - cutting to other clips where allegedly describing Sam, Ferne said: 'Sort of girl that she is, she's just a narcissistic b**ch, she honestly won't care.'

The Instagram account wrote alongside the clip: '@FerneMcCann what a jealous bitter woman talking about your so called best friend @SamanthaFaiers who you have known for 20 years.

'As a friend you should be supporting your friends not running to other friends and slating them.'

Voice clip: The voice messages were allegedly sent by Ferne on WhatsApp to a friend in June, just a month after Sam had given birth to her third baby, Edward (Sam pictured)

The voice messages were allegedly sent by Ferne on WhatsApp to a friend in June, just a month after Sam had given birth to her third baby, Edward.

But sharing that Ferne 'doesn't know what to do next', a source to her explained: 'She is in a living nightmare and wants this to stop. People dont know all the facts. All eyes are on what could come out next on this Instagram account.'

'If those voice notes were made by Ferne then it is incredibly damaging. She is being seen as a bit toxic at the moment. No one can believe she would say such things.'

Sam has unfollowed Ferne on Instagram amid the drama, with her sister Billie reportedly calling her former co-star to find out the situation.

According to The Sun, Ferne has now reached out to Essex Police to see if they can locate the anonymous person behind an Instagram account that has been sharing the shocking voice notes.

Protective: Sam's mum Suzie recently dismissed recent claims that Sam and Ferne were 'feuding' and said the past few days have been very 'hurtful' and 'upsetting' (Suzie pictured with daughters Sam and Billie)

A source said: 'Ferne was visited by the police on Thursday night after having her life turned upside down by a fake account that has launched a malicious smear campaign against her.

'Officers spent a few hours with her and gave reassurances that they are prioritising this case, tracking the parties responsible.

'Having taken statements, the police are currently in the process of tracking the fake account's whereabouts. The Online Safety Bill was discussed as they clamp down on cyber crime.'

The voice messages also allegedly show Ferne taking a swipe at Sam's sister Billie, saying it was 'weird' that Billie decided to call her son Arthur - the name of Ferne's ex Arthur Collins, who she shares daughter Sunday with.

The voice note says: 'It feels so weird saying 'Arthur', I can't believe, it's like me having a little boy and calling him Greg, anyway, whatever.'

However, many fans have flocked to Ferne's defence, insisting everyone makes comments 'behind closed doors' and arguing that the row should be sorted in private.

Taking to social media, one fan said: 'Always two sides to every story. You just never know what goes on behind closed doors. Fact.'

Another wrote: 'I really disagree with this, however can't it be sorted privately, I recon Ferne will be in a very bad place over this, as much as she has done wrong, two wrongs don't make a right.'
George Clooney has made some lifelong friendships during his extraordinary career.

The actor, 61, was on The Drew Barrymore Show Friday to promote his latest film, Ticket To Paradise, which co-stars longtime pal Julia Roberts. The pair star as a divorced couple who travel to Bali to try to prevent their daughter's hasty marriage.

While discussing other topics, Drew brought up ER, which George admitted 'changed my career.'

Friends: George Clooney said he is still close to his ER co-stars on The Drew Barrymore Show saying 'They're really good friends, and so I feel that was the job of a lifetime'

When referring to what made the Emmy winning drama so special, the Oscar winner answered thoughtfully, 'I guess it was the friendship I have with all of them and that I continue to have.

'I had (Anthony) Tony Edwards (and wife Mare Winningham) at the house in Italy a couple, three weeks ago.'

George starred on the medical drama for five years as Dr. Doug Ross.

'I'm still really close with Julianna (Margulies) and Noah (Wyle) and Eriq (La Salle.) They're really good friends, and so I feel that was the job of a lifetime.'

Special: When asked why the medical drama so special, George answered, 'I guess it was the friendship I have with all of them and that I continue to have'

Still close: The Oscar winner said he is still close to Juliana Margulies, Eriq La Salle, Anthony Edwards and Noah Wyle, seen with Sherri Stringfield

Medical drama: George played Dr. Doug Ross on the medical drama for five years

Drew also mentioned an embarrassing incident that took place when she and George were filming 2002's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, his directorial debut.

Speaking about his concern for the young actress, George recalled, 'We were in Montreal and we were all stuck up there together,' he recalled, 'and you had just gone through a divorce, remember, you had come up there and it was an emotional time for you. And so it felt like it was really incumbent on us to make sure that you were going to be okay and that was fun.'

The Good Night and Good Luck director is well-known for his generosity, once giving 14 of his friends $1 million in cash in 2013. It was his way of thanking them for helping him out when he was a struggling actor.

Fun: George worked with Drew on his directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Looking back, George recalled, 'it was an emotional time for you. And so it felt like it was really incumbent on us to make sure that you were going to be okay'

After one of his friends leaked the news, George explained why he wanted to give his friends the money in a 2020 interview with GQ.

'Ive slept on their couches when I was broke. They loaned me money when I was broke. They helped me when I needed help over the years. And Ive helped them over the years. We're all good friends. And I thought, you know, without them I don't have any of this. '

Ticket To Paradise opened in theaters Friday, October 21.
Charlamagne tha God has claimed Kanye West called him to scream over Pete Davidson's '10inch manhood' during the comedian's brief romance with Kim Kardashian.

Appearing on the Brilliant Idiots podcast, the radio host, 44, claimed Kanye, 45, wanted him to 's**t on' his friend Pete, 29, when he called him in November 2021 at the start of Pete and ex-wife Kim's romance.

He said: 'Hes like, "we got to save the new Marilyn Monroe" talking about Kim. Im like, "you know Pete is my friend, right?"'

Fury: Charlamagne tha God has claimed Kanye West called him to scream over Pete Davidson's '10inch manhood' during the comedian's brief romance with Kim Kardashian

Revealing the conversation then took a salacious turn, he claimed Kanye said: 'My wife is out here f*****g a white boy with a 10-inch penis and you won't help me?

'My wife is out here f*****g a white boy with a 10-inch penis, and you telling me that's your friend, but you're supposed to be culture.'

Charlamagne said: 'What am I supposed to do but laugh at that.'

He added that he was revealing the conversation after Kanye asked why he was commenting on Pete's manhood size on the radio, during an episode of Drink Champs

He said: 'The reason I keep bringing up Petes penis on the radio is because I know it f***s with you, and you said that to me, but he gets on the interview and acts like he doesnt know where that came from.

'The motherf****r is a master manipulator.'

Happier times: Appearing on the Brilliant Idiots podcast, the radio host, 44, claimed Kanye, 45, wanted him to 's**t on' his friend Pete, 29, when he called him in November 2021 at the start of Pete and ex-wife Kim's romance (Pete and Kim pictured in May)

Pete and Kim split in August after nine months together. The reality personality, 41, and Pete, 28, were first linked in October last year weeks after Kim made her hosting debut on Saturday Night Live, where the now ex-couple shared an on-screen kiss.

However after less than a year together, an insider told DailyMail.com that the pair have decided to just be friends - citing demanding schedules and the long distance as Pete works on a project in Australia while Kim is based in the U.S.

Pete has spent months filming his upcoming movie Wizards! in Australia, where Kim visited him in July for a romantic getaway in the Daintree Rainforest.

Kanye had launched social media attacks at the SNL star when his and Kim's relationship was revealed.

Kanye was criticized for decapitating and burying a Pete lookalike in a disturbing music video.

Oh dear: Revealing the conversation then took a salacious turn, he claimed Kanye said: 'My wife is out here f*****g a white boy with a 10-inch penis and you won't help me?'

The video was panned on social media for its implied threats.

In March Pete addressed Kanye's ongoing social media attacks in a text message exchange shared to comedian Dave Sirus' account on Sunday morning.

The SNL star, who has used Dave's account in the past  recently to share a few kind words following the death of comedian Bob Saget  demanded Kanye take his public battle somewhere else and meet him 'face to face' instead of airing dirty laundry online.

Pete began the text exchange referring to his disparaging nickname Skete before sharing that he was actually in bed with Kanye's estranged wife Kim as he shared a thumb's up selfie showing off his arsenal of tattoos while casually laying down.

Wow: Branding Kanye a 'master manipulator' Charlamagne said: 'What am I supposed to do but laugh at that.'

'Yo it's Skete, Can you please take a second and calm down. It's 8am and it don't gotta be like this,' Davidson wrote.

'Kim is literally the best mother I've ever met. What she does for those kids is amazing and you are so f***ing lucky that she's your kids mom.'

He added: 'I've decided I'm not gonna let you treat us this way anymore and I'm done being quiet. Grow the f*** up.'

Kanye quickly came back with: 'Oh you using profanity, Where are you right now?'

Davidson didn't miss a beat as he texted West: 'In bed with your wife.'

Trying to throw mental health issues around as if he didn't struggle with his own, Kanye wrote: 'Happy to see you're out the hospital and rehab.'

The comedian fought fire with fire as he responded: 'Same here. It's wonders what those places do when you go get help. You should try it.

He added: 'I'm in La for the day if you wanna stop being a little internet b**** boy and talk.'

Here we go! Back in March, Pete addressed Kanye 's never-ending social media attacks aimed at his girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, and her parenting choices in a text exchange shared to Dave Sirus' account

'You don't scare me bro. Your actions are so p**** and embarrassing. It's so sad to watch you ruin your legacy on the daily.'

Kanye wrote back: 'You're more than welcome to come to Sunday Service.'

'Why don't we meet after Sunday service and saints game ... I'll be at the BHH we can have food and talk it out in my room. Privately one on one. Man to man,' Davidson wrote.

'What you are doing to your family is dangerous and going to scar them for life. Please handle these matters privately bro I beg you.'

West's mind was one-tracked back to his gospel series and he wrote: 'You wanna see me, Come to Sunday Service.'

Talk about it: The comedian, who has used Dave's account in the past  recently to share a few kind words following the death of comedian Bob Saget  demanded Kanye take his public battle somewhere else and meet him 'face to face' instead of airing dirty laundry

'This isn't public dude. I'm not here for pictures and press. Which is obviously all you care about,' Pete continued. 'My offer stands. I wish you'd man up for once in your life.'

And then, despite all of Kanye's verbal attacks against his estranged wife and her boyfriend, Pete offered West a helping hand on a possible new journey toward mental wellness.

'Let me help you man. I struggle with mental stuff too. It's not an easy journey,' he wrote. 'You don't have to feel this way anymore. There's no shame in having a little help. You'll be so happy and at peace.'

Davidson wrote that Kanye had no idea what was going on behind scenes as Pete pleaded with his fellow comedians and even his employer to not make jabs at the rapper even though West continued to belittle Pete online.

'You have no idea how nice I've been to you despite your actions towards me,' he wrote. 'I've stopped SNL from talking about or making fun of you which they've wanted to do for months. 'I've stopped stand up comedians from doings bits about you cause I don't want the father of my girls kids to look bad out there.'

Davidson didn't miss a beat as he texted West: 'In bed with your wife'

'What you are doing to your family is dangerous and going to scar them for life,' Pete told Kanye. 'Please handle these matters privately bro I beg you'

'I have your back even though you treat me like s*** because I want everything to be smooth.'

'But if you continue to press me like you have for the past 6 months, I'm gonna stop being nice.'

This comes after WWD reported that Balenciaga had dropped the troubled rapper who has been on a tirade lately calling for death to Jews who have wronged him and also calling President Biden the 'r' word.

Parent company Kering said the French fashion house would no longer be working on projects with the rapper and fashion designer who has legally changed his name to Ye.

'This isn't public dude. I'm not here for pictures and press. Which is obviously all you care about,' Pete continued. 'My offer stands. I wish you'd man up for once in your life'

I've stopped stand up comedians from doings bits about you cause I don't want the father of my girls kids to look bad out there,' he wrote

Locked lips: They met just months before in October when she was hosting Saturday Night Live and even shared their first kiss in front of millions of viewers during an Aladdin and Jasmin-themed sketch

'Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,' Kering told WWD.

Earlier this month West made his surprise modelling debut at Paris Fashion Week.

The star opened Balenciaga's SS23 show, walking down a muddy catwalk.

Demna, creative director of the luxury fashion brand, explained that the mud is 'a metaphor for digging for truth and being down to earth'.

The Georgian fashion designer explained: 'Individualism in fashion is downgraded to pseudo trends dictated by a post in stories of some celebrity of the moment fashion in its best-case scenario should not need a story to be sold to someone let us let everyone be anyone.'
Chinese premier congratulates Kuwaiti PM on assuming office

Xinhua) 09:01, October 21, 2022

BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday sent a congratulatory message to Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on his taking office as Kuwait's prime minister.

In the message, Li noted that China and Kuwait enjoy a profound traditional friendship, and that Kuwait is the first Gulf Arab state establishing diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China.

Ever since the two countries established diplomatic ties 51 years ago, China-Kuwait relations have maintained sound and stable development, with mutual political trust being continuously consolidated and practical cooperation in various fields being constantly advanced, Li said.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of bilateral ties, and stands ready to work with the Kuwaiti side to promote new progress in the China-Kuwait strategic partnership, he added.

(Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Du Mingming)
France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit at the EU Council building in Brussels, Oct. 20. AP-Yonhap



European Union leaders struggled to find immediate practical solutions at their summit Thursday called to grapple with the energy crisis fueled by the war in Ukraine and maintain a united front in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin coercion.



After lengthy talks in Brussels dragged well into the night, the 27 EU leaders could not bridge divisions between some of the biggest member states and failed to impose a gas price cap to counter Russia's strategy to choke off gas supplies to the bloc at will.



They agreed, however, to keep working to find a compromise based on proposals unveiled earlier this week by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, which were discussed in depth and tweaked at the summit.



''Unity and solidarity prevail,'' said meeting host Charles Michel, the EU Council president. ''Agreed to work on measures to contain energy prices for households and businesses.''



Diplomats said the impact of the proposals should be properly assessed by experts before approval, and leaders insisted any deal would need to take into account their different energy mixes.





From left, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Latvia's Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins and Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz speak with the media as they arrives for an EU summit at the EU Council building in Brussels, Oct. 20. AP-Yonhap
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Alec Baldwin was spotted with his family at his Vermont hideaway on the first anniversary of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins' death - who was shot while working on the New Mexico set of Rust.

Baldwin could be seen playing with one of his seven children outside in the autumn sunshine on the grounds of his property in Arlington, near Manchester.

Earlier on Friday, the 64-year-old actor was slammed by fans after he shared a photo of late Hutchins with a camera with the caption: 'One year ago today' - with social media followers branding the star 'disgraceful' and calling for him to be 'held accountable.'

No one has been charged or even arrested in Hutchins' killing despite a year of legal back and forth, public feuding and lawsuits. Baldwin has maintained it was an accident but not one that he was responsible for.

Alec Baldwin is spotted in Arlington, Vermont. He was spotted pushing his one child around in a small pink car around his farm

Baldwin could be seen playing with his children on the front yard of their Vermont hideaway

Baldwin was dressed casually in a navy blue t-shirt and black jogging pants

Baldwin looked down at the ground appearing to have a lot on his mind and he pushed his kid

Baldwin was later seen unloading supplies that nannies had brought up from New York City

Baldwin schlepped big plastic boxes full of clothes inside his Vermont home while one of his kids climbed a tree

Meanwhile, friends of Hutchins gathered at her California gravesite during the day leaving flowers, candy and a photograph of the beloved cinematographer.

Fresh flowers were placed behind her headstone and a container of candy was left with the message 'Have something sweet in honor of Halyna' written on it.

The grace with which they held themselves made Baldwin's social media posting all the more crass, according to people online.

One follower wrote: 'You are f*****g posting something you should be ashamed of? It's like making your disgraceful reality a throwback just for Instagram. So desensitized!! I wonder how and with what.'

Loved ones gather at the graveside of cinematographer and married mother-of-one Halyna Hutchins, exactly one year after she was fatally shot by Alec Baldwin

Fresh flowers were laid behind her headstone and a container of candy was left with the message 'Have something sweet in honor of Halyna' written on it

The friends appeared to take time to sit and remember their friend as they unrolled a picnic blanket and drank coffee

Friends of the cinematographer gathered at the gravesite at the Hollywood Forever cemetery in Los Angeles

Post: Alec Baldwin has been slammed by fans after he shared a photo of late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Friday, one year after he fatally shot her on the set of Rust

Another wrote: 'One year ago you killed her..how brave to even post this' while another typed: 'This was your fault and not a freak accident. You should be held accountable.

One follower wrote: 'This isn't a slap in the face or anything', with another writing: 'Is this the woman you killed?', with a third adding: 'This feels really inappropriate since you're the one who shot and killed her.'

Others called Baldwin a 'bold one' for daring to post the image while another fan called for Baldwin to be put in jail.

In the tragic incident, which took place inside a small church, the gun Baldwin was holding fired, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

The prosecutor tasked with bringing charges in Baldwin's fatal shooting of Hutchins last year said on Friday she was 'committed' to pursuing justice for the victims and warned: 'No one is above the law'.

Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies on Friday told DailyMail.com in a statement that she is still waiting for the sheriff's report into the shooting.

Only when she has that can she make a decision, but she issued the ominous warning: 'No one is above the law.'

The actor, 64, posted a photo of Hutchins with a camera with the caption: 'One year ago today' - with social media followers branding the star 'disgraceful' and calling for him to be 'held accountable'. He is pictured in a shot from his Instagram from earlier this week

Posts: The post was hit by a social media backlash

'On the anniversary of the tragedy on the Rust film set in Santa Fe County, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweis remains committed to pursuing justice for the victims, and getting answers for the community.

'As soon as the District Attorney receives the full report from the Santa Fe County Sheriff, she and her team of professional attorneys and investigators will thoroughly review all the evidence and make a thoughtful decision about whether to bring charges against those involved.

'No one is above the law and every victim deserves justice.'

Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies on Friday told DailyMail.com in a statement that she is still waiting for the sheriff's report into the shooting and warned: 'No one is above the law'. Baldwin is shown, right, last week

Baldwin, who maintains it was an accident but not one that he was responsible for, has not commented.

He insists that he did not pull the trigger, claiming instead that the faulty gun was tragically loaded with live rounds instead of bullets and that it fired on its own.

The sheriff's department is yet to release its report, and it's unclear what the hold up is.

Halyna Hutchins, 42, was shot and killed last October 21 while working on the set of Rust

Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was 24 at the time and became a quick scapegoat, says she isn't to blame either.

Meanwhile Hutchins' widower, Matthew, has settled a lawsuit against Baldwin and the film's production.

He had sued them for wrongful death, but backed out of it after reaching a secret settlement.

While the terms of that settlement have not been made public, he will now serve as a producer on the movie once it resumes production.

None of the other parties have commented on the anniversary.

Baldwin and his wife Hilaria recently welcomed their seventh child - a baby girl.

Hilaria was seen leaving their Manhattan apartment with the youngest child.

After the shooting last year, they decamped to Vermont with their children. The family has since listed their Hamptons home for sale.

Hutchins' family in October agreed to a settlement with Baldwin and other producers on the film, with producers planning to restart the shooting of the film early next year.

Children: The actor was seen with wife Hilaria, 38, daughter Carmen, nine, and his sons at the Hamptons International Film Festival October 9

Hutchins' widower Matthew Hutchins said in a statement, 'We have reached a settlement, subject to court approval, for our wrongful death case against the producers of Rust including Alec Baldwin. As part of that settlement, our case will be dismissed.

'The filming of Rust, which I will now executive produce, will resume with all the original principal players on board, in January 2023.'

Baldwin addressed the settlement on Instagram, saying that 'throughout this difficult process, everyone has maintained the specific desire to do what is best for Halyna's son' Andros, nine.

He added: 'We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the resolution of this tragic and painful situation.'

The actor was seen after the fatal October 21, 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the filming of Rust in New Mexico

Authorities gathered on the set in the wake of the shooting at the Bonanza Creek Ranch last fall

A crew member who asked not to be identified told Variety Saturday of working on the film, 'I absolutely would want nothing to do with it. It was traumatizing across the board.'

Said another crew member, 'The whole thing is challenging and complicated and messy. A lot of people around me were really hurt by those events. There's just sort of a concern how I would emotionally respond to being in that space again. I don't know that I would do my job well.'

Baldwin was told the gun he brandished was 'cold' - not loaded - and on December 3, he told ABC News that he did not feel guilty for her death, because he didn't believe he was responsible.

'Watching him, I just felt so angry,' said Matt Hutchins, Halyna's husband of 16 years in an interview in February.

'I was just so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way and then to not accept any responsibility after having just described killing her.'

Matt, who described his romance with Halyna as love at first sight, also shared the heartbreaking moment he learned of her passing.

Comment: Baldwin on December 3 gave an emotional interview to ABC's George Stephanopoulos, in which he said he did not pull the trigger, and felt no guilt because he believed he had done nothing wrong.

'I remember the production team told me that Halyna had been shot, and my heart sank right away, completely inexplicable to me that it could have happened at that moment,' he recalled.

'When I got to the doctor and spoke with him and he detailed exactly what had happened and that she didn't survive, I mean, I was heartbroken. I knew that I had to tell my son right away when I saw him.'

Matt Hutchins said he knew he had to be 'very direct and blunt' with Andros about the incomprehensible loss of his mother. He recalled sitting him down and telling him she had died before the pair travelled to Santa Fe, where the movie was being filmed.

Family: Matthew and Halyna Hutchins are pictured with their son Andros, aged nine

'When I saw him, just had to be very direct and blunt, because going to pick him up and go to the airport and go to Santa Fe, I didn't want him to think we were going to be seeing her and having fun together and getting his hopes up,' he said.

'I told him sitting together that his mother had been shot and died. And of course he didn't believe it right away. He didn't want to believe it.'

Matt Hutchins added: 'I think that that kind of news you just have to say multiple times so that it can be believed. And so he believed it, and we cried together then, every holiday - Christmas, New Year's, our anniversary, my birthday, Valentine's Day - I mean, every holiday is difficult without her and for me and Andros.'

Matt and Halyna had a whirlwind romance that resulted in 16 years of marriage.
Her ex-husband Laurence Fox was slammed by fans after accusing her of using their sons as 'weapons,' in a Twitter rant on Thursday evening.

And in photographs obtained exclusively by MailOnline, Billie Piper, 40, rocked a leather mac and jet black hair while out in London, on Friday, just hours after Laurence, 44, took to social media to share a fuming post about her.

The actress - who shares Winston, 14, and Eugene, 10, with her ex - stepped out in thick black trousers, while opting for biker chic style leather boots to complete her monochrome look.

PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: Billie Piper, 40, rocked a leather mac and jet black hair while in London, on Friday, a day after her ex-husband Laurence Fox, 44, shared a fuming post about her

The doting mother-of-two carried her son's khaki jacket and black jumper in her arms, while toting her own belongings in a cross-body bag.

Billie styled her jet black tresses into a high ponytail, with chunky curtains framing her face, and thick eyeliner enhancing her features.

Billie's outing comes after fans slammed Laurence for using his children as 'weapons' by sharing a raging Twitter post on Thursday, where he accused his ex-wife Billie of doing the same thing.

But Twitter users were quick to hit back at the actor and angrily accused him of being a 'complete hypocrite' as they claimed he was doing exactly what he accused Billie of.

Edgy: The actress stepped out in thick black trousers, while opting for biker chic style leather boots to complete her monochrome look

Hot mama: The doting mother-of-two carried her son's khaki jacket and black jumper in her arms

Taking to Twitter, Laurence accused Billie of denying him access to their children, alleging that he had not been able to see or speak to his eldest son Winston on his 14th birthday.

He penned: 'It is [my son's] birthday tomorrow and his mother has denied him any access to see or speak with me, I am using my platform to highlight what child alienation does to families. Kids need both parents.

'Don't be the parent who refuses to let their sons speak to their dad, especially on their birthday. Don't be that parent. Put children first. Don't use them as weapons.

'It is so bad for kids. Child alienation needs to be talked about openly, along with all other child abuse.'

Stylish: She toted her own belongings in a cross-body bag

Beauty: Billie styled her jet black tresses into a high ponytail, with chunky curtains framing her face, and thick eyeliner enhancing her features

But Twitter users were quick to hit back at his allegations and accused him of using his children as 'weapons' - which he accused Billie of - by sharing the ranting post.

Billie's representatives declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.

Laurence and Billie divorced in 2016 after nine years of marriage on the grounds of Laurence's 'unreasonable behaviour'.

At the time of their split, they stated their intention to 'co-parent their children with the utmost mutual respect for each other'.

Anger: On Thursday, Laurence Fox accused Billie of denying him access to their kids, alleging that he had not been able to see or speak to his son Winston on his 14th birthday

Kids: The actor shared a fuming post to Twitter, where he claimed his ex-wife Billie has used his two sons as 'weapons' against him

Laurence said they agreed to share custody, continuing the arrangement when one was working away from home.

Between 2016 and 2017, Laurence and Billie then became embroiled in a lengthy custody dispute over access to their children.

The proceedings concluded in the Family Division of the High Court in December 2017 and Laurence previously claimed that they drained his finances.

Speaking in January 2018, he said: 'I was certainly in a very dark place at one point  at my lowest ebb. I almost felt like I couldn't go on. It all felt so hopeless.

'With divorce, you immediately lose half the time you'd spend with the kids. That in itself is a mental health crisis. But, like everything, these feelings pass and you start to feel stronger with every day.

Shocking: Just hours earlier, her ex-husband Laurence, 44, took to social media to share a fuming post about Billie

Accusations: Taking to Twitter, Laurence accused Billie of denying him access to their kids, alleging that he has not been able to see or speak to his eldest son Winston on his 14th birthday

'Men no longer feel comfortable talking about relationships, and for the men who bottle it, it can be disastrous  they end up throwing themselves off buildings.'

After his court proceedings, Laurence started campaigning to transform the family court system, which he described as 'unnecessarily adversarial'.

At the time, he said: 'Actually I feel really sad. The process didn't need to be so long, drawn-out and adversarial.

'And ours was quick, because we have cash. I feel the children have been robbed of their young lives. It's been half of Eugene's life.'

In 2020, he also revealed that he considered taking his own life after his and Billie's split in 2016, after nine years of marriage.

Criticism: But Twitter users were quick to hit back at Laurence and angrily accused him of being a 'complete hypocrite' as they claimed he was doing exactly what he accused Billie of

Speaking to The Sunday Times Magazine, Laurence blamed the family court system for assuming women 'are better nurturers and raisers of children' following a lengthy custody battle with Billie over their two children.

He said: 'Certain aspects of the family court system are difficult as a man. [It assumes women] are better nurturers and raisers of children when all of the facts are that children need both parents.

'It's "Believe the woman". It's like "No! Don't believe the woman. Provide the evidence. Provide this evidence. Try me as a f***ing criminal, man, and let's see how far you get." This is a poison in our culture and it's wrong.

'I imagine every single divorce is like it. There's loads of blokes top themselves because of this stuff.'

And when asked if he considered taking his own life, he added: 'I did. Not within the marriage. Afterwards.

'Not from the grief of the breakdown of the marriage, even though I did grieve the breakdown of the marriage, because you see it as a failure.

'But suddenly not being a family with your children every day was the bit that sent me over the edge, and I certainly, definitely had thoughts of what's the point in being alive?'

Last year, Billie also discussed the difficulties of co-parenting her children with her ex Laurence Fox over the Christmas period during the first years of their split.

The I Hate Suzie star described the time period as 'tricky' and admitted she has a lot of compassion for other couples who are in the same situation.

Talking to Grazia, Billie discussed her plans for Christmas 2021 and admitted that being a blended family over the festive period 'isn't easy'.

Split: Laurence and Billie (pictured in November 2013) divorced in 2016 after nine years of marriage on the grounds of Laurence's 'unreasonable behaviour'

She said: 'It's a weirdly emotional time of year anyway, so throw in any logistics or difficulties and it's just the first couple of years are tricky and I have a lot of compassion for people who are going through it.

'I'm quite far into that arrangement now, and you find your way with it. The upside for the kids is that you celebrate with a lot more people.'

Billie and Laurence wed after six months of dating on New Year's Eve, 2007, in Eastbourne, West Sussex, and Laurence has previously described their relationship as 'hedonistic'.

Billie had previously been married to Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, and was finalising her divorce when she met Laurence during rehearsals for West End play Treats.

If you have been affected by anything in this article and need support call the Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.
JoJo Siwa bid a tearful farewell to her girlfriend, Avery Cyrus Thursday in Los Angeles.

The 19-year-old was dressed casually in a yellow graphic T-shirt and pink and white joggers with sneakers for the airport drop off.

The dancer's short flaxen hair was brushed back as she kissed the TikTok star, 22, goodbye.

Drop off: JoJo Siwa, 19, looked comfortable as she dropped off her girlfriend, Avery Cyrus, 22 at the Los Angeles International Airport Thursday

Avery looked comfortable in a pink and yellow tie dye T-shirt and jeans.

The influencer's long brown hair was styled in loose waves and she appeared makeup free as she strolled into the terminal with her suitcase.

In a now deleted video in her Instagram stories, JoJo spoke about how she sobbed as Avery left for her trip.

Tearful: The dancer bid a tearful goodbye to her partner outside the terminal. In a now deleted Instagram stories post, JoJo said she was sobbing as they bid each other farewell

Inseparable: The pair, who have been seen publicly together since September, have been almost inseparable since becoming official

The couple have been almost inseparable since going public with their relationship on September 12 and appearing on the red carpet for the premier of the musical Jagged Little Pill in Los Angeles two days later.

Earlier this month, Avery asked her new love to officially be her girlfriend while on vacation to Disney World in Orlando.

The content creator shared highlights from the trip, which included JoJo's family, on social media.

Girlfriends: Avery officially asked JoJo to be her girlfriend during a trip to Disneyworld in Orlando in early October

Family affair: The trip to the Magic Kingdom was a family affair and included JoJo's parents and siblings

It was Avery who created her girlfriend's show new hairstyle, sharing the transformation in a TikTok video.

The Dance Mom's veteran has been upping her TV presence.

JoJo participated in the Camp Prom episode of High School Musical: The Series which aired September 7.
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Matthew Perry has been seen for the first time since revealing he nearly died from an opioid addiction.

The Friends star, 53, looked healthy as he played pickleball with friends in Los Angeles on Friday.

Matthew's sighting comes just one day after he detailed how his drug and alcohol addictions left him with a 2% survival after the opioids caused his colon to burst and left him in a two-week coma.

The latest: Matthew Perry has been seen for the first time since revealing he nearly died from an opioid addiction; seen on Friday in LA heading to a pickleball game

The TV star is set to sit down with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer for an exclusive broadcast interview, airing Friday, October 28 at 8 pm EST on ABC; It will be available the following day on Hulu.

Mathew was seen arriving with a pal to the court, rocking a black polo shirt and shorts, adding sunglasses and sneakers.

He headed to the court with his pals and was seen taking part in a friendly game together.

Mathew's drug addiction revelation was revealed on Thursday during his interview with People Magazine, while he was speaking about his upcoming memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.

Focused: The Friends star, 53, looked healthy as he played pickleball with friends in Los Angeles on Friday

Staying active: He headed to the court with his pals and was seen taking part in a friendly game together

Star: Mathew was seen arriving with a pal to the court, rocking a black polo shirt and shorts, adding sunglasses and sneakers

In the moment: Matthew was on the same team as a female pal as they played against another friend

The actor, who is best known for playing Chandler Bing on Friends, is now sober.

During his interview, he spoke about his decades long battle to rid himself of the disease of addiction.

Matthew had revealed that he to have 14 surgeries on is stomach and had to use a colostomy bag for nine months; he said his stomach has a number of scars from the multiple surgeries.

His therapist told him he may have to use a colostomy bag for the rest of his life if he takes drugs again, something that keeps him from relapsing.

The actor did not disclose when he got sober but said he is 'pretty healthy' now and choose to 'count each day.'

Out and about: The TV star is set to sit down with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer for an exclusive broadcast interview, airing Friday, October 28 at 8 pm EST on ABC; It will be available the following day on Hulu

Sport: Mathew's drug addiction revelation was revealed on Thursday during his interview with People Magazine, while he was speaking about his upcoming memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing

Well known: The actor, who is best known for playing Chandler Bing on Friends, is now sober

Pals: Matthew had revealed that he to have 14 surgeries on is stomach, use a colostomy bag for nine months

The actor also said he had to go to rehab 15 times in a bid to get clean; his first bout was in 1997 and then again in 2001 and in 2011.

During his interview, 'The doctors told my family that I had a two percent chance to live. I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that's called a Hail Mary. No one survives that.'

Adding: 'I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again.'

In sync: The actor also said he had to go to rehab 15 times in a bid to get clean

Recovery: During his interview, 'The doctors told my family that I had a two percent chance to live. I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that's called a Hail Mary. No one survives that'

Arrival: Adding: 'I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again'

Open book: Matthew spoke out his battle to People

'I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober - and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction - to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people,' Matthew said.

The actor said his alcohol addiction began when he was 24 while starring on Friends, adding that he was 'entrenched in a lot of trouble' by age 34.

Mathew revealed that at one time he was taking 55 Vicodin a day while on Friends, noting that he was down to 128 pounds but 'didn't know how to stop.'

He said that his co-stars on Friends 'were understanding' and 'patient.'

During season nine, Matthew was sober; that was the year he also was nominated for Best Actor.

He played Chandler from 1994 to 2004 on Friends alongside co-stars David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow.

The show aired for 10 seasons and made the stars household names.

They reunited in 2021 - the first time after 17 years since the show ended - for a reunion special.

Matthew's memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing is available on November 1.
Billie Lourd posted a touching Instagram tribute to her late mother Carrie Fisher on Friday in honor of what would've been the late star's 66th birthday.

The 30-year-old daughter of the legendary actress and writer penned a moving caption beneath a childhood photo of the pair.

Affectionately referring to Fisher as her 'Momby,' Lourd wrote about the grief she has experienced since her mother's sudden death from cardiac arrest in 2017 at the age of 60.

Touching tribute: Billie Lourd, 30, posted a touching Instagram tribute to her mother Carrie Fisher on Friday in honor of what would've been the late star's 66th birthday

'My Momby would have been 66 today,' began Lourd, whose Instagram handle is @praisethelourd. 'I woke up this morning feeling like I should write some long wise grief advice caption like I know what the f**k I'm talking about.'

But the Ticket to Paradise star shared that she has 'no formula or map' on what to do when the loss of her mother feels especially painful and that no one can be 'an expert in grief.'

Calling grief 'the ultimate shape shifter,' Billie told her 1.5 million followers that people who are grieving an immense loss will never feel like they know 'exactly what to do or feel.'

'And that's okay,' she added. 'Whatever you feel is okay.' The Booksmart star finished her caption by sending love to all the 'griefers' and declaring that they are 'not alone.'

You are not alone: The Booksmart star called grief 'the ultimate shape shifter' and finished her caption by sending love to all the 'griefers,' declaring that they are 'not alone'

Candid and wise: Billie affectionately referred to Fisher as her 'Momby' and wrote about the grief she has experienced since her mother's sudden death of cardiac arrest in 2017 at the age of 60

As the only child of Carrie Fisher, Billie grew up under the harsh glare of the Hollywood spotlight.

Her father is Bryan Lourd, 61, one of the most powerful agents in Hollywood, and her mother's death precluded the tragic passing of another star  Lourd's legendary grandmother Debbie Reynolds.

A multi-hyphenate from Hollywood's Golden Age, Reynolds suffered a severe stroke one day after her daughter's death and she subsequently died at the age of 84.

Billie has posted to Instagram in the past about losing both her mother and grandmother within one day of each other. In the years since their consecutive passings, Lourd has repeatedly honored the Star Wars icon and Singin' in the Rain legend.

Love and shadows: As the only child of Carrie Fisher, Billie grew up under the harsh glare of the Hollywood spotlight (pictured with Carrie in 2015)

In an interview with Town & Country in 2017, the Scream Queens star opened up about stepping out of the 'shadows' cast by her mother and grandmother's monumental careers.

'I've always kind of lived in their shadows,' said Lourd, 'and now is the first time in my life when I get to own my life and stand on my own.'

The mother of one recently announced that she is expecting her second child with husband Austen Rydell, 31. The couple wed in March of this year after welcoming their son Kingston Fisher Lourd Rydell in 2020.

Kingston's middle name of Fisher pays homage to his late grandmother Carrie. Perhaps the name of Lourd's second child will include a tribute to her own grandmother Debbie.

Hollywood dynasty: Lourd's legendary grandmother Debbie Reynolds (middle) was a multi-hyphenate superstar from Hollywood's Golden Age (pictured together in 2015)
BEIJING (AP) - As Chinas ruling Communist Party holds a congress this week, many Beijing residents are focused on an issue not on the formal agenda: Will the end of the meeting bring an easing of China's at times draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy?

It appears to be wishful thinking. As the world moves to a post-pandemic lifestyle, many across China have resigned themselves to lining up several times a week for COVID-19 tests, restrictions on their travels to other regions, and the ever-present possibility of a community lockdown.

"There is nothing we can do," Zhang Yiming, 51, said this week at a park in Beijing. "If we look at the situation abroad, like the United States where over 1 million people have died, right? In China, although it is true that some aspects of our life are not convenient, such as travel and economy, it seems that there is no good solution."

People are looking to the party congress, which ends Saturday, for two reasons. The meeting, which is held every five years and sets the national agenda for the next five, can send signals of possible changes in policy direction.

Secondly, authorities always tighten controls - COVID-19 and otherwise - before and during a major event to try to eliminate disruptions or distractions, so they could relax controls when the event ends.

Any hopes for an easing, though, appear to have been dashed before the congress. The Communist Partys newspaper, the Peoples Daily, published a series of opinion pieces on the effectiveness of Chinas "zero-COVID" approach, and health officials said last week China must stick with it.

Delegates wearing face masks sit before the opening session of the 20th National Congress of China's ruling Communist Party in Beijing, China, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

China's leader, Xi Jinping, praised the policy at the opening ceremony of the congress. He said it had prioritized and protected peoples health and safety and made a "tremendous achievement in striking the balance between epidemic response and economic and social development."

After an initial outbreak in early 2020 that killed more than 4,000 people and overflowed hospitals and morgues, China was largely successful in taming the virus while other countries were overwhelmed with it - a contrast trumpeted in Communist Party propaganda.

Then came omicron in late 2021. China had to employ ever more widespread restrictions to control the faster-spreading variant, locking down entire cites and starting regular testing of many if not most of the entire population of 1.4 billion people.

The measures have bred simmering discontent, fed by instances of harsh enforcement that in some cases had tragic consequences.

During a two-month lockdown of Shanghai last spring, videos widely shared on social media showed officials breaking down apartment doors to drag unwilling residents to quarantine facilities. Children were also separated from their parents, because one or the other was infected.

Instances of hospitals denying treatment because of pandemic rules sparked outrage, including a woman in labor who lost her baby after she wasn't allowed into a hospital during a lockdown of the city of Xi'an because she couldn't show a negative COVID-19 test result.

While public protests are relatively rare in China, some people took to the streets in Shanghai and the northeastern city of Dandong to protest harsh and prolonged lockdowns.

Last week, three days before the congress opened, banners were flung over an elevated roadway calling for Xis overthrow and an end to the "zero-COVID" policy. The incident spilled over into at least one other city, where photos shared on Twitter showed similar statements posted on a bus stop in Xian.

Andy Chen, senior analyst at Trivium China, a Beijing-headquartered policy consultancy, said restrictions beyond the party congress should come as no surprise.

"All the conditions that have forced the government to put zero-COVID in place havent really changed," he said, singling out the lack of an effective vaccine and the absence of sound home quarantine rules.

Even though vaccines are widely available, China's homegrown versions don't work as well as the Pfizer, Moderna and other shots developed elsewhere. China also has resisted vaccine mandates, keeping down vaccination rates. As of mid-October, 90% had received two shots, but only 57% had a booster shot.

Beijing authorities have doubled down on the hardline coronavirus policies during the congress.

Highway checkpoints into the city are heavily policed, with all entrants required to show a "green" code on a mobile phone app to prove they havent traveled to medium or high-risk areas.

Some express commuter bus lines between Beijing and neighboring Tianjin city and Hebei province have been suspended since Oct. 12.

Anyone who has been in a city, district, or neighborhood where even one case of coronavirus has been found within seven days is banned from entering the Chinese capital.

Within the city, the daily lives of residents are dictated by their health codes. They must use an app to scan the QR code of any facility they enter to show their status and log their whereabouts.

People are not allowed into office buildings, shopping malls, restaurants and other public places without a green code and a negative coronavirus test result within 72 hours, and sometimes less. The policy means most of Beijings 21 million-plus residents take a coronavirus test at least two to three times a week.

And there is always the risk of a sudden lockdown. Officials in hazmat suits guarded entries to gated communities this week in Fengtai district, where five neighborhoods have been categorized as high-risk. Residents were not allowed to leave their compounds, and some shops were forced to close.

While the party congress has not provided the watershed moment that some have been hoping for, it may turn out to be the point at which the government begins to lay the groundwork for a long process of loosening restrictions, said Dr. Yanzhong Huang, director of the Center for Global Health Studies at Seton Hall University and an expert on public health in China.

Some factors suggest the government will be in no rush to open up, including a broad acceptance of the policy among those who are inconvenienced but have not experienced prolonged or repeated lockdowns.

"The vast, vast majority of the population goes on with their lives, unaffected, and thats a much better policy from the government perspective to implement than, for example, forcing a vaccine mandate through the population," Chen said.

But Huang noted growing signs of social instability, especially among the middle class and urban residents.

"I think the question is whether it has reached a tipping point that people really find this is not acceptable anymore," he said. "We cannot tolerate that anymore. It remains to be seen even in the large cities, you know, how people are willing to tolerate draconian measures."

___

Ji reported from Bangkok. Associated Press video producers Olivia Zhang and Wayne Zhang contributed.

Commuters wearing face masks ride an escalator in a subway station in Beijing, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Visitors wearing face masks show their results on a health check smartphone app to guards as they enter a tourist shopping street in Beijing, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A worker wearing a protective suit waits to administer COVID-19 tests to a woman and girl at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A man has his throat swabbed for a COVID-19 test at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

People stand in line for COVID-19 tests at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A security officer wearing a face mask walks across an intersection in the central business district in Beijing, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Commuters wearing face masks ride bicycles along a street in the central business district in Beijing, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A man wearing a face mask walks past a construction site in the central business district in Beijing, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)




President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday accused Russia of planting mines at a hydroelectric dam in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, which is under the control of Moscow's forces.







"According to our information, the aggregate and dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant were mined by Russian terrorists," Zelenskyy said in his daily address published on social networks.







"If the dam is destroyed... the North Crimean canal will simply disappear", and this would be "a catastrophe on a grand scale", the Ukraine leader added.







Earlier Thursday Zelenskyy told the European Union that "Russia's leadership has given the order to turn the energy system itself into a battlefield."







Speaking via videolink he warned that would spur a new wave of Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Europe.







"The consequences of this are very dangerous, again for all of us in Europe," Zelenskyy told EU leaders meeting in Brussels for a summit.







The dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station is built on the Dnieper river, in an area currently under the control of the Russian army and not far from the line of contact with Ukrainian forces. (AFP)


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Complaining that turning off the music has been causing a loss of revenue as customers preferred music to unwind, the managements of several pubs and bars filed appeal petitions challenging the order. Some filed implead petitions before the single judge bench, which had given the order.  DC File Image

HYDERABAD: Upset by the recent order of the Telangana High Court against using loud music after 10 pm, pubs and bars have lined up at the High Court stating that it was affecting their business adversely. They said police were harassing them.

Complaining that turning off the music has been causing a loss of revenue as customers preferred music to unwind, the managements of several pubs and bars filed appeal petitions challenging the order. Some filed implead petitions before the single judge bench, which had given the order.

The Hyderabad Restro Lounges Association filed two appeals challenging the single judge orders. Others also ahve filed implead petitions before the single judge.

Senior counsel Bollam Chandrasen Reddy, representing the implead petitioners, submitted to the court that the owners had invested a lot of money, including for procuring licences and clearances from excise, fire, police, GHMC and others.

Though the renewal of police licence, grants permission to run the outlet up to 11 pm, the state revenue excise department has issued GO 339 (01.08.2018) granting permission to run bars till midnight from Sunday to Thursday and till 1 am from Friday to Saturday, Chandrasen Reddy said.

He argued that when rules clearly mentioned the level of noise during the day and at night, stopping music after 10 pm was a violation of Article 19.

After hearing the arguments, Justice Kanneganti Lalitha adjourned the hearing to October 27 because appeals challenging the restrictions are to be heard by the division bench of the High Court headed by Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan.
The system is likely to cause heavy rainfall across the east coast (PTI Photo/Representational)

KOLKATA: A low-pressure system over the Andaman Sea is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm and reach West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts on October 25, causing wind gusting to 110 km per hour, the IMD said on Friday.

Sanjib Bandopadhyay, the deputy director-general of Regional Met Centre in Kolkata, said that the system is likely to cause light to moderate rain in Gangetic West Bengal, with isolated heavy rain in the coastal districts of South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur.

He said that it is likely to cause light to moderate rain in Kolkata on October 24 and 25.

"Wind speed of 45 to 55 km gusting to 65 kmph will occur in the coastal districts of South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur on October 24, while on October 25, wind speed will reach 90 to 100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph," he told reporters here. Wind speed of 30 to 40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph will occur in Kolkata and adjoining districts of Howrah and Hooghly, he said.

"It will not be a super cyclone and further movement of the system will be updated by the IMD in due course," Bandopadhyay said.

Super cyclone Amphan, which ravaged the coastal districts of West Bengal in May 2020, had a wind speed of 185 kmph when it made landfall near Sundarban, officials said. The West Bengal government has begun the process of evacuating people from low-lying areas in Purba Medinipur and South 24 Parganas districts to safe shelters in the wake of the cyclone forecast, a senior official said.

"Leaves of all district magistrates, SPs and emergency department workers have been cancelled as a part of the preparedness for the possible cyclone," he said.

Tarpaulin, dry food and medicines have also been adequately stocked in these districts, the official said.

The Kolkata Police's disaster management team has been asked to work in tandem with Kolkata Municipal Corporation to address any emergency, he added.

Odisha's Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Pramila Mallick said all districts and coastal region authorities were directed to be prepared to deal with any eventuality.

The system is likely to trigger heavy rainfall when it crosses parallel to the state's coast on Monday.

Mallick said personnel of the fire service department, the ODRAF and NDRF are on standby for any emergency situation.

Odisha's Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena appealed to the people not to panic as the cyclone is likely to be 200 km away from the state's coast at Dhamra Port in Bhadrak district when it will head towards West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts.

"The Odisha government is in touch with the NDRF, Indian Navy and Coast Guard in view of the forecast. Odisha coast may experience maximum 50 to 60 kmph wind speed when the weather system crosses parallel to the state's coast," he said.

The IMD in its forecast said that the low-pressure area over Andaman Sea is likely to move west-northwestwards and concentrate into a depression, and deep depression thereafter on October 23.

The system is very likely to recurve northwards subsequently and intensify into a cyclonic storm over westcentral and adjoining eastcentral Bay of Bengal by October 24, the Met said.

"Thereafter, it is likely to move north-northeastwards and reach near West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts on October 25, skirting Odisha coast," the Met department said in its forecast.

The Northeast, including south Assam, east Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura, will receive rainfall on October 24, 25 and 26 under the impact of the system, it said.

Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea from October 23 until further notice.

The cyclonic storm is expected to be christened 'Sitrang', as suggested by Thailand.
Sensing that he could be beaten by the mob if he comes out of the shop on his own, the thief called the police for help. (Representational Image)

DHAKA: A thief in Bangladesh sought police help to save him from possible mob beating as he got stranded inside a shop in Barishal district after committing theft, officials said on Friday.

The 40-year-old thief who broke into a grocery shop at AR Market in Bandar area on Thursday night found himself trapped inside the store with crowds outside as the day broke.

Sensing that he could be beaten by the mob if he comes out of the shop on his own, the thief called the police using the national helpline number '999' to explain his situation and seek their help for his safer exit, police said.

The local police station responded immediately realising the danger.

"This is for the first time in my decade-long career that a thief called police after committing a crime," Bandar Police Station chief Asaduz Zaman told reporters.

Meanwhile, the shop's owner had no idea what was going on. As he came to open his shop on Friday morning, he saw police searching the outlet with curious onlookers waiting outside.

Police briefly barred me from entering my shop. After sometime, they came out with a person. It is then when I understood what was going on, Jhantu Mia told reporters.

Police said the burglar is a professional thief and arrested him on charges of attempted theft.
Just a year into her marriage, Manal became one of the tens of thousands of Iraqis every year who divorce in a deeply conservative nation where break-up rates have risen.

For Manal, like many other women, the reason was clear -- her husband's financial dependence on his family's business meant that "he couldn't take any decisions of his own".

The 33-year-old was divorced eight years ago from her ex-husband, who is also her cousin and who worked for his father's appliance shop.

Not only did he depend on his family for money, but the couple also cohabited with her in-laws.

"He wasn't financially independent, which caused family problems," she said.

Read | 'A time bomb': Anger rising in a hot spot of Iran protests

Her reasoning echoes that of tens of thousands of Iraqis, according to data published by the country's Supreme Judicial Council.

Iraqi authorities cite wider economic difficulties, early marriages and infidelity encouraged by new technologies as other key drivers of divorce rates.

More than 73,000 divorces were pronounced in 2021 by the courts in the country of 42 million people, largely the same as the number in 2018.

This is up from an average of just below 51,700 per year over the period 2004 to 2014, a decade that saw one in five marriages end in divorce, according to the council's website.

A study published by the Supreme Judicial Council on the causes of divorce cites "living with the spouse's family, leading in many cases to negative interference in the relationship", in tandem with "the spouse's financial dependence on his family".

It also cites difficulties finding employment and "infidelities due to the internet".

Premature -- often child -- marriages are also a driver of divorce. A total of 4,092 adolescent girls were divorced in the two years to the end of 2021.

Veteran feminist Hanaa Edwar also pointed to "financial pressure on families" as a cause.

"This creates a psychological burden and problems," she said.

And Iraq was not spared the surge in domestic violence that came with the coronavirus pandemic -- though Edwar salutes women for increasingly finding the courage to leave.

"There is an awareness among women that if violence persists in their lives and their children's lives, then it's better to divorce."

But in a deeply patriarchal society like Iraq, a divorced man and a divorced woman are not equal.

On top of the often arduous battle to gain custody over their children, women are frequently exposed to "sexual harassment" by men who believe they have the right to make sexual advances towards divorced women, Edwar lamented.

Some families even refuse to allow divorced women to work or go out freely, for fear of the "stigma" and what people will say.

"As for men -- socially, everything is acceptable. Today, he divorces, tomorrow he remarries."

But statistics show that this has left many women undeterred.

"Courts have registered a rise in divorces, particularly over the past decade," a magistrate was quoted as saying in 2019 on the judicial council's website.

A social worker who sifts through divorce cases filed in courts so as to try to re-establish common ground between couples likewise acknowledges that "divorce has become much more common".

Speaking on condition of anonymity at a Baghdad court, she said that "only in 10 percent of cases are we able to find a solution" and abandon the divorce proceedings.

Manal now lives back in her parents' home and works for a feminist organisation. Her nine-year-old son Adam sees his father from time to time.

Despite the letdown of her first marriage, she has not written off the possibility of remarrying, but says conditions must be met.

A future husband would have to accept her son, for one, but also her professional ambitions.

Her advice to younger generations of women about to embark on their matrimonial journey is simple: "guarantee your economic independence and don't get married too young.

"You should wait, marriage shouldn't be the sole ambition in life."
A thief in Bangladesh sought police help to save him from possible mob beating as he got stranded inside a shop in Barishal district after committing theft, officials said on Friday.

The 40-year-old thief who broke into a grocery shop at AR Market in Bandar area on Thursday night found himself trapped inside the store with crowds outside as the day broke.

Sensing that he could be beaten by the mob if he comes out of the shop on his own, the thief called the police using the national helpline number '999' to explain his situation and seek their help for his safer exit, police said.

The local police station responded immediately realising the danger.

"This is for the first time in my decade-long career that a thief called police after committing a crime," Bandar Police Station chief Asaduz Zaman told reporters.

Meanwhile, the shops owner had no idea what was going on. As he came to open his shop on Friday morning, he saw police searching the outlet with curious onlookers waiting outside.

Police briefly barred me from entering my shop. After sometime, they came out with a person. It is then when I understood what was going on, Jhantu Mia told reporters.

Police said the burglar is a professional thief and arrested him on charges of attempted theft.
In a rare instance of solidarity, three major political opponents of the All India Trinamool Congress in West Bengalthe Bharatiya Janata Party, the Left parties, and the Congresstook to the streets on Friday, albeit separately, to show support towards protesting jobseekers.

The separate political protests were triggered after the police initiated a midnight crackdown on agitated candidates in Salt Lake, near Kolkata.

The candidates were protesting since Mondayit later turned into a hunger strikeoutside the West Bengal Board of Primary Education office, seeking immediate appointments, as they had already cleared the teachers eligibility test.

The polices action came after repeated requests to the protesters. On Thursday, responding to a petition filed by the Board, the Calcutta High Court had directed the police to enforce Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure near the Boards office.

Consequent to the police action, Students Federation of India and Democratic Youth Federation of India staged an agitation in Salt Lake on Friday.

Also Read | TET candidates protest in Kolkata over recruitment; Section 144 imposed

The supporters, however, were removed as they squatted and held each other to avoid eviction. In a statement issued on Friday, Left Front chairman Biman Bose condemned the action and called for a protest on Saturday afternoon in the heart of the city.

BJPs youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, took a procession out from the partys head office. The leaders and supporters were detained after walking just a part of the intended route.

The Congress, led by Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, also took to the streets.

BJP MP Saumitra Khan wrote to Union minister for education Dharmendra Pradhan: The future builders of our West Bengal, brothers and sisters were on a hunger strike for the last 100 hours, but to suppress the voice of all these, the Bengal government has sent the policeand forcefully put these deserving candidates in jail.

Not only that, but the police also lathicharged these innocentsthose who fight for their right or for their deserving place, Khan stated.

In support, filmmaker Aparna Sen tweeted: The Trinamool govt is flouting the basic democratic rights of the hunger-strikers! Section 144 issued against a non-violent protest! Why? I strongly condemn the undemocratic and unethical action of the West Bengal govt!

The Trinamool govt is flouting the basic democratic rights of the hunger-strikers! Section 144 issued against a non-violent protest! Why? I strongly condemn the undemocratic and unethical action of the West Bengal govt!  Aparna Sen (@senaparna) October 21, 2022

However, Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that the issue was administrative. The government believes in democratic processes, and the chief minister herself has clarified that she approves justified protests, Ghosh said.
Though Pakistan has been taken off the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), India on Friday called upon the international community to keep pressing the South Asian Islamic Republic to continue to take actions to stop the flow of funds to terrorist organisations.

"It is in global interest that the world remains clear that Pakistan must continue to take credible, verifiable, irreversible and sustained action against terrorism and terrorist financing emanating from territories under its control," Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said in New Delhi.

Pakistan is no longer subject to the FATFs increased monitoring process, T Raja Kumar, the president of the intergovernmental organisation, earlier said in Paris, where the intergovernmental organisation held a plenary session from Monday to Friday.

Also Read | Pakistan taken off global watchdog's 'grey' list for terror financing; Myanmar in black list

The FATF had in 2018 put Pakistan on its "grey list"  officially a list of "jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in legal regime to check money laundering and terrorist financing".

The Government of Pakistan took four years to upgrade the nations legal mechanism to stop the flow of funds to terror organisations.

"The FATF welcomes Pakistans significant progress in improving its AML/CFT (anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism) regime," Raja Kumar said in Paris.

"Pakistan has strengthened the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime and addressed technical deficiencies to meet the commitments of its action plans regarding strategic deficiencies that the FATF identified in June 2018 and June 2021, the latter of which was completed in advance of the deadlines, encompassing 34 action items in total," he added.

Also Read | Pakistan sees 51% rise in terrorist attacks a year after Taliban take Afghanistan: Report

New Delhi took note of the FATFs decision and pointed out that the scrutiny by the intergovernmental organisation over the past four years forced Islamabad to take "some action against well-known terrorists, including those involved in the attacks against the entire international community in Mumbai on 26/11 (November 26-28, 2008 attacks),"

The Lashkar-e-Tayyiba founder Hafiz Saeed and its commander Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi were convicted in terror financing cases in 2020 and 2021 respectively. Both Saeed and Lakhvi had played key roles in organising the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai but had never been convicted by the courts in Pakistan for being involved in the attacks in India.

The FATF scrutiny forced Pakistans law-enforcement organisations to initiate legal proceedings against Saeed and Lakhvi, who were sentenced to imprisonment for 33 years and five years respectively.

"We understand that Pakistan will continue to work with the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) to further improve its Anti Money Laundering (AML) /Counter Terror Financing (CFT) system," the MEA spokesperson said in New Delhi.
Congress on Friday distanced itself from the remarks of senior leader Shivraj Patil that the concept of 'jihad' (holy war) in Bhagavad Gita too, saying it is "unacceptable" and the party believes that the text is a key foundational pillar of Indian civilisation.

Party General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said his senior colleague Patil has reportedly made some comments on Bhagavad Gita that is "unacceptable" and subsequently he has clarified.

"Congress' stand is clear. Bhagavad Gita is a key foundational pillar of Indian civilisation," he tweeted with an excerpt from Jawaharlal Nehru's Discovery of India where the country's first Prime Minister expressed his views on Bhagavad Gita.

My senior colleague Shivraj Patil reportedly made some comments on Bhagavad Gita thats unacceptable. Subsequently, he clarified. @INCIndias stand is clear. Bhagavad Gita is a key foundational pillar of Indian civilisation. Heres an excerpt from Nehrus Discovery of India(p110) pic.twitter.com/rarJub7xTy  Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) October 21, 2022

Nehru has said that the message of the Gita is "not sectarian or addressed to any particular school of thought". He also said it was universal in its approach for everyone, Brahmin or outcaste.

Also read | Let 'jobless' Congress carry out SayCM campaign: Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai

Earlier, BJP National Vice President Baijayant Panda tweeted, "This is a well-thought out ploy by the Congress to hurt Hindu belief and Sanatan dharma. What else would describe the brazen claim by former Home Minister Shivraj Patil that Lord Krishna taught jihad to Arjuna. Shameful hatred for Hindu tradition. I strongly condemn it."

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said in a tweet, "After AAP's Gopal Italia & Rajendra Pal, not to be outdone in Hindu hatred and votebank politics, Congress' Shivraj Patil says Shri Krishna taught 'Jihad' to Arjun! Congress coined Hindu/Saffron terror, opposed Ram Mandir, Questioned Ram-ji's existence, said Hindutva=ISIS."

Speaking at the launch of Congress veteran and former Union minister Mohsina Kidwai's biography, Patil claimed that it is said there is a lot of discussion of jihad in the religion of Islam. The concept comes to the fore when despite having the right intentions and doing the right thing, nobody understands or reciprocates, then it is said one can use force, he said.

"It is not just in Quran, but in Mahabharata also, the part in Gita, Shri Krishna also talks of jihad to Arjun and this thing is not just in Quran or Gita but also in Christianity," he claimed in his remarks in Hindi.

"If after explaining everything, people are not understanding, they are coming with weapons then you cannot run, you cannot call that jihad and you cannot call it wrong, this is what must be understood, there should not be this concept of making people understand with weapons in hand," the 87-year-old leader was quoted by PTI as saying.
Exactly 22 years after a hooch tragedy claimed 31 lives in Kerala, the key convict in the case was freed on Friday.

Chandran alias Manichan, hailing from Chiryankeezhu in the suburbs of Thiruvananthapuram, was arrested for the death of 31 people on October 21, 2000, who died Kalluvathukkal, in Kollam district, after drinking spurious liquor.

Manichan, who was kept at the open prison in Nettukaltheri near Thiruvananthapuram city, was among the 33 prisoners granted remission by the Kerala government a few months ago. However, his release reportedly made political leaders anxious, as they had faced allegations of accepting bribes for his release. It was reported that while in prison, he displayed good conduct and was engaged in agriculture work.

The one-time liquor barons freedom was ensured only after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of a petition moved by Manichans wife. Despite being up for remission of sentence and having spent two decades in prison, Manichan remained jailed because he couldnt pay the court-ordered fine of Rs 30.5 lakh.

Also Read | Kalluvathukkal hooch case convict walks out of prison after 22 years

His release was enabled only after the apex court gave relaxation in remitting the fine.

Manichan's son Pradeep had earlier told DH that while his father had many well-off friends during his good days, no one extended help when in trouble.

After Manichan was arrested in 2002, there were alleged reports that politicians had received payoffs from him. However, in the absence of evidence to corroborate the claims, the politicians went scott-free.

Manichan refused to comment to the media upon release.

Hailing from a financially weak family, Manichan started off as a porridge seller near a hospital. He then entered the liquor business by running a toddy shop, and slowly emerged to be a liquor baron. Following the 2000 liquor tragedy, the police found secret chambers in his house that were full of spirits used for making spurious liquor.
As India celebrates its 75 years of independence and democracy, it is important to study the role of bureaucracy in the sustenance of democracy. Recently, in a public meeting in Bihar, a senior IAS official sparked a controversy while responding to a question about providing sanitary napkins. She remarked: Today you are asking for sanitary napkins. Tomorrow you will ask for condoms. Even if the merits of the statement are left out of this debate, the statement affirms the general perception of bureaucracy as feudal, inaccessible and arrogant.

Once considered a formidable steel frame, the bureaucracy is now facing problems of credibility. Barack Obama in his autobiography comments on the Indian bureaucracy as parochial and resistant to change.

A lot has been written about the problems plaguing the civil services and their everyday operation of our democracy. This article attempts to provide ways to make bureaucracy accountable and functional for optimum democratic outcomes. The democratic outcomes of governance are enhanced when the permanent executive works in tandem with the political executive.

The effectiveness of civil services should be measured in terms of their contribution to the maintenance of democracy, as well as law and order, so that economic activities continue unimpeded. Civil servants also play a passive, but prominent, role in social empowerment

and change.

A reading of the constituent assembly debates reveals that the constitution makers had envisioned a reformatory role for bureaucrats in independent India. Sardar Patel, in an important intervention in the assembly, remarked: United India is not possible without a good all India service, which has the independence to speak out its mind; which has a sense of security that they will stand by their word.

Therefore, the reform in bureaucracy not only serves the purpose of unity but also lays the foundation for a progressive nation. Scholars Peter Evans and James Rauch further substantiate this claim in their study, Bureaucracy and Growth: A Cross-National Analysis of the Effects of Weberian State Structures on Economic Growth, that among 35 developing countries, those with more competent bureaucracies enjoy higher levels of economic growth and prosperity.

One way to reform the bureaucracy is to introduce the New Public Management (NPM) system; unlike the conventional public administration system, it breaks the hierarchy and rigidity through de-bureaucratisation and de-centralisation of decisions.

The NPM was introduced in a few countries, including Japan and UK in 1980. The functioning of the bureaucracy can be transformed radically by harnessing talents through appropriate and nuanced training during the service. The case study of the noon meal, or mid-day meal, programme is an example of how an intervention by bureaucracy results in radical social transformation. The programme, designed and implemented by senior bureaucrats, to incentivise school education has not only stood the test of time but also paved the way for an important policy change by the bureaucracy.

Another way to reform bureaucracy is to change the way public officials interact with people, which has witnessed a shift in the post-RTI (Right to information) era. The RTI Act created a certain level of transparency among public servants. Initially, citizens were unable to know the status of public services available to them and the reason for their failure to access them. The RTI Act has increased transparency of public offices. But transparency without accountability is a toothless tiger.

Therefore, an accountability law could be the way forward to make public officers accountable for their actions.

The right to accountability law envisages time-bound action over public grievances, while designating a general grievance officer from district to gram panchayat level for effective redressal.

In a participative democracy, the government and its functionaries are answerable to its people. In the current system, no effective enforcement mechanism exists to ensure time-bound and effective public service delivery by bureaucrats.

As Sardar Patel envisioned the role of the civil services in upholding the integrity and unity of the nation, it is important to initiate reforms in the Indian bureaucracy -- at the institutional level by changing the methods of training and harnessing diverse content; and at a systemic level by making statutory changes to ensure more accountability.

(The writers are senior advisors and co- convenors at Legal Aid and Awareness Committee, NLU Jodhpur.)
One important point that emerged during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-26) at Glasgow was that renewable energy resources such as solar, wind and hydropower cannot always be relied upon to supplement fossil fuel-generated energy as they are weather-dependent.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) noted that achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 will require doubling nuclear power worldwide. The most important reason for this is that nuclear power has inbuilt flexibility to address fluctuations in energy demand and supply and to maintain grid stability. Apart from generating electricity, nuclear plants can also produce hydrogen and help decarbonise other sectors of the economy. As a result, nuclear power is reemerging as an inevitable option for many countries.

Also Read | Nuclear belligerence: A history of close calls

China, for example, plans to build around 150 reactors over the next 15 years at a cost of about $440 billion. India is exploring many options to reduce its carbon emissions. All thermal power plants in the country are expected to be shut down by 2070. The government announced a target of tripling its annual nuclear power generation in the next 10 years.

NITI Aayog member and scientist V K Saraswat, in a recent interview with PTI, suggested that the government should focus on setting up small modular reactors as it would help meet Indias energy needs and can replace ageing thermal power plants.

Simpler design, better utility

The International Atomic Agency-Energy (IAEA) defines small nuclear reactors as those with power up to 300 MW-electric (MWe)about one-third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power plants. These reactors can be used for power generation, processing heat, desalination, or other industrial uses. SMRs mostly use low enriched uranium as fuel and may employ light water, gas, liquid metal or molten salt as coolants. The modular design permits the power plant to have as many modules as required. SMRs, in view of their lower power and modularity, are best-suited for both baseload and flexible mode of operations and thus are grid-friendly.

Small reactors are simpler in design, more robust than larger ones and easier to construct and operate. The most important feature is the inherent safety of the reactor. There is a paradigm shift in the level of safety in their design, with no large primary coolant pumping and piping systems used in large nuclear power plants.

SMRs use much smaller amounts of fuel compared to conventional power plants. In the event of off-normal situations, the reactor will safely shut down and cool itself without any operator action and external power source.

The conventional large nuclear power plants are mandated to prepare off-site emergency plans involving countermeasures like sheltering, distribution of iodine tablets and evacuation of people in the neighbourhood in the event of loss of coolant accidents resulting in huge releases of radioactivity to the environment. SMRs, on the other hand, with their high passive safety features, do not require any emergency countermeasures for the neighbourhood.

Small reactors are amenable to standardisation which decreases the capital cost and minimises the efforts required to meet the licensing requirements of the regulatory bodies. As SMRs are less expensive and their construction and licensing times are shorter than the same for large reactors, the financial risk of investing a large amount of money is considerably reduced.

SMRs are designed in such a way that they can be manufactured in an off-site factory, transported and assembled on the site. Simplicity in design also means easier automation, maintenance, equipment inspection and operator training. As the space required for SMRs is considerably less, they can be easily installed in brownfields (previously developed land that is not currently in use) replacing the retired coal-fired plants. With all these features, SMRs can support the economic, environmental and social basis for sustainable development better.

Many designs of SMRs

There are more than 70 SMR designs under investigation in 17 countries, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Several countries have already invested heavily in SMR technology. Recently United State Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the design of NuScale Power company for a plant of 600-MW capacity consisting of 12 modules of 50-MW SMRs. A few of them are expected to be commissioned before 2030.

In Russia, a floating pressurised water reactor-type power plant, named Akademik Lomonosov, having a capacity to produce 77 MW power, was commissioned in 2019. Rosatom of Russia is also building the SVBR-100 reactor, a Generation IV reactor based on heavy metal coolant with a 100 MW capacity. Recently China commissioned a high-temperature gas-cooled modular pebble bed (HTR-PM) demonstration SMR. Regarded as an industrial demonstration plant, it has two reactor units driving a single 200-MW turbine.

In the United Kingdom, Rolls Royce is establishing a centralised manufacturing facility to produce SMRs. In Canada, Global First Power (GFP) has applied for a licence to prepare a site for its 15-MW thermal Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) at Chalk River in Ontario. In Poland, one electricity utility, in collaboration with a USA company, has decided to install SMRs on its site after retiring the old coal-powered plants, making effective use of the available resources like grid connections, water supply, civil structures and skilled workers.

A roadmap for India

The Department of Atomic Energy has decades of experience in the design, construction and operation of both small research reactors and large nuclear power plants. It has also demonstrated its capability to build small compact reactors for nuclear submarines. Low enriched uranium needed for the SMRs can be imported under existing IAEA safeguard practices.

Like Poland, India can also think of installing the SMRs in the sites where coal plants are being retired. Scientists at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru have evaluated several such brownfield candidate sites for the location of SMRs, as part of a research project.

The objective of reducing carbon emission in the given timeframe can be met only if we can build SMRs involving private and public sectors in a time-bound manner, as deemed necessary. To achieve this, the government should change the power sector policies and the current regulatory review processes appropriately. These can ensure radiological and environmental safety and physical security of the nuclear facilities and will help secure the public acceptance of new reactors.

(The author is the former director (Radiological Safety), Atomic Energy Regulatory Board)
Released: October 21, 2022

Eligible U.S. citizens who intend to vote for the first time  or have previously voted but need to file a name change or address change to update their registration information  have until Mon., Oct. 24 to file a voter registration application to qualify to cast a ballot at the Nov. 8, 2022 General Election. Applications can be filed online or in person.

Voters who are already registered at their current address do not need to take further action. Voters can check their registration status on the PA Department of State website, accessible at delcopa.gov/regstatus.

To register to vote, voters must be a U.S. citizen who will be 18 or older on Nov. 8, 2022 and must have lived at their current address for at least 30 days before Election Day.

Voters can register:

Online with a PA Department of Transportation (PennDOT) ID or drivers license, accessible at delcopa.gov/register2vote, by 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 24.

In person at the Voter Service Center, located in the Government Center Building in Media, during the following hours:

Fri., Oct. 21, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Sat., Oct. 22, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon

Mon., Oct. 24, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Federal Postcard Applications (FPCAs) for absentee ballots from military and overseas voters must be received by the County by Mon., Oct. 24. FCPAs may be received by email at UOCAVA@co.delaware.pa.us or by fax at (610) 892-0641, as late as 11:59 p.m. Visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program website at www.fvap.gov details.

The deadline to file for a civilian Vote-by-Mail (mail-in or absentee) ballot is Tues., Nov. 1. Applications are available online or in person at the Delaware County Government Center. The Voter Service Center will be open Sat., Oct. 22 from 9:00 a.m. to noon, and weekdays next week from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Wednesday through 8:00 p.m.)

Questions? Call the Election Hotline at (610) 891-VOTE or visit delcopa.gov/vote.
Released: October 21, 2022

Children First, in partnership with the Delaware County Health Department, is hosting a panel discussion focused on lead poisoning on October 25 at 9:30 a.m. at Lathem Hall at Widener University, located at 1300 E. Potter Street in Chester.

Delaware County ranks fifth in the state for the highest number of children who are poisoned by lead. Lead poisoning can cause permanent brain damage to children and can cause learning, behavior, hearing and speech problems, sometimes requiring special education services, and is a risk factor for criminal behavior.

There is no cure for lead poisoning and the only way to protect children is by removing lead from homes.

An estimated 81% of homes in Delaware County have lead paint hazards so getting the lead out requires a collaborative strategy. Leading health experts, including Dr. Denise Johnson, Acting Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, and Melissa Lyons, Director of the Delaware County Health Department, are joining Children First to release a five-year plan of action that will help protect children in Delaware County from lead poisoning.

Residents are invited to join the discussion and learn more about lead poisoning prevention and ways to keep their families safe. Register for the free seminar here: www.childrenfirstpa.org/delcoleadforum

More information about lead poisoning and prevention can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/default.htm
In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. This Privacy Policy (Policy) sets out our data collection and processing practices and your options regarding the ways in which your personal information is used.

This Policy contains important information about your personal rights to privacy. Please read it carefully to understand how we use your personal data. We may update this Policy from time to time without notice to you, so please check it regularly.

The provision of your personal data to us is voluntary. However, without providing us with your personal data, you will be unable to (as appropriate): contact us; subscribe to our mailing list; subscribe to any of our publications; or receive information about In Defence of Marxism.

We collect information about you:

(1) When you give it to us DIRECTLY

You may give us your personal data in order to subscribe to a newsletter or publication, when you contact us by phone, email or post, when you sign a petition / statement, and/or when you donate money to us.

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Your information will also be provided to us when you follow us or otherwise interact with on or via Twitter, when you like and/or join our page on Facebook or interact with us in other ways on or via Facebook.

(3) When you give permission to OTHER ORGANISATIONS to share it or it is AVAILABLE PUBLICLY

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(4) When you visit our WEBSITE

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We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal data:

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Applicable law recognises certain categories of personal information as sensitive and therefore requiring more protection, including political opinions and trade union membership. In limited cases, we may collect sensitive personal data about you. We would only collect sensitive personal data if there is a clear reason for doing so; and will only do so with your explicit consent.

How and why will we use your personal data?

Personal data, however provided to us, will be used for the purposes specified in this Policy or in relevant parts of the website.

We may use your personal information to:

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(8) Deal with enquiries and complaints made by you relating to the website or us in general;

(9) Make petition submissions to third parties, where you have signed a petition and the third party is a target of the campaign to which the petition relates; and/or

(10) Audit and/or administer our accounts.

Supporter Analysis

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We may use some of your personal information to analyse our digital performance, for example to see how our website can be improved to help us achieve the purposes set out in section 9 below, to record how you are using our website or to assess the popularity of different articles / campaigns.

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We do not knowingly process data of any person under the age of 16. If we come to discover, or have reason to believe, that you are 15 and under and we are holding your personal information, we will delete that information within a reasonable period and withhold our services accordingly.

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We endeavour to ensure that there are appropriate and proportionate technical and organisational measures to prevent the loss, destruction, misuse, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or of access to your personal information.

Your information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff and volunteers.

We may also use agencies and/or suppliers to process data on our behalf. We may also merge or partner with other organisations and in so doing transfer and/or acquire personal data.

Please note that some countries outside of the EEA have a lower standard of protection for personal data, including lower security requirements and fewer rights for individuals. We may transfer and/or store personal data collected from you to and/or at a destination outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Such personal data may be processed by agencies and/or suppliers operating outside the EEA. If we transfer and/or store your personal data outside the EEA we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient implements appropriate measures to protect your personal data.

Otherwise than as set out in this Privacy Policy, we will only ever share your data with your informed consent.

Your rights

Where we rely on your consent to use your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This includes the right to ask us to stop using your personal information for direct marketing purposes or to be unsubscribed from our email list at any time. You also have the following rights:

(1) Right to be informed  you have the right to be told how your personal information will be used. This Policy and any other policies and statements used on our website and in our communications are intended to provide you with a clear and transparent description of how your personal information may be used.

(2) Right of access  you can write to us to ask for confirmation of what information we hold on you and to request a copy of that information. Provided we are satisfied that you are entitled to see the information requested and we have successfully confirmed your identity, we have 30 days to comply.

(3) Right of erasure  as from 25 May 2018, you can ask us for your personal information to be deleted from our records.

(4) Right of rectification  if you believe our records of your personal information are inaccurate, you have the right to ask for those records to be updated.

(5) Right to restrict processing  you have the right to ask for processing of your personal data to be restricted if there is disagreement about its accuracy or legitimate usage.

(6) Right to data portability  to the extent required by the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) where we are processing your personal information (i) under your consent, (ii) because such processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contact or (iii) by automated means, you may ask us to provide it to you  or another service provider  in a machine-readable format.

To exercise these rights, please send a description of the personal information in question using the contact details in section 15 below. You can also unsubscribe from our email list by sending a blank email to news-unsubscribe@marxist.com

Where we consider that the information with which you have provided us does not enable us to identify the personal information in question, we reserve the right to ask for (i) personal identification and/or (ii) further information.

Lawful processing

We are required to have one or more lawful grounds to process your personal information. Only 4 of these are relevant to us:

Personal information is processed on the basis of a persons consent Personal information is processed on the basis of a contractual relationship Personal information is processed on the basis of legal obligations Personal information is processed on the basis of legitimate interests

(1) Consent

We will ask for your consent to use your information to send you electronic communications such as newsletters and and fundraising emails, and if you ever share sensitive personal information with us.

(2) Contractual relationships

Most of our interactions with supporters are voluntary and not contractual. However, sometimes it will be necessary to process personal information so that we can enter contractual relationships with people. For example, if you subscribe to one of our publications, or purchase merchandise online.

(3) Legal obligations

Sometimes we will be obliged to process your personal information due to legal obligations which are binding on us. We will only ever do so when strictly necessary.

(4) Legitimate interests

Applicable law allows personal information to be collected and used if it is reasonably necessary for our legitimate activities (as long as its use is fair, balanced and does not unduly impact individuals rights).

We will rely on this ground to process your personal data when it is not practical or appropriate to ask for consent.

Achieving our purposes

These include (but are not limited to) promoting socialist policies

Governance

Internal and external audit for financial or regulatory compliance purposes

Statutory reporting

Publicity and income generation

Conventional direct marketing and other forms of marketing, publicity or advertisement

Unsolicited messages, including campaigns, newsletters, and fundraising appeals

Analysis, targeting and segmentation to develop and promote or strategy and improve communication efficiency

Personalisation used to tailor and enhance your experience of our communications

Operational Management

Maintenance of suppression files

Processing for historical, scientific or statistical purpose

Purely administrative purposes

Responding to enquiries

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Communications designed to administer existing services including subscriptions, administration of petitions and financial transactions

Thank you communications and receipts

Maintaining a supporter database and suppression lists

Financial Management and control

Processing financial transactions and maintaining financial controls

Prevention of fraud, misuse of services, or money laundering

Enforcement of legal claims

Reporting criminal acts and compliance with law enforcement agencies

When we use your personal information, we will consider if it is fair and balanced to do so and if it is within your reasonable expectations. We will balance your rights and our legitimate interests to ensure that we use your personal information in ways that are not unduly intrusive or unfair in other ways.

Data retention

The length of time each category of data will be retained will vary depending on how long we need to process it for, the reason it was collected, and in line with any statutory requirements. After this point the data will either be deleted, or we may retain a secure anonymised record for research and analytical purposes.

In the event that you ask us to stop sending you direct marketing/fundraising/other electronic communications, we will keep your name on our internal suppression list to ensure that you are not contacted again.

Policy amendments

We keep this Privacy Policy under regular review and reserve the right to update from time-to-time by posting an updated version on our website, not least because of changes in applicable law. We recommend that you check this Privacy Policy occasionally to ensure you remain happy with it. We may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by email.

Third party websites

We link our website directly to other sites. This Privacy Policy does not cover external websites and we are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any external websites you visit via links on our website.

Updating information

You can check the personal data we hold about you, and ask us to update it where necessary, by emailing us at webmaster@marxist.com

Contact

We are not required by law to have a Data Protection Officer  however we have a Data Protection Manager.

Please let us know if you have any queries or concerns whatsoever about the way in which your data is being processed by emailing the Data Protection Manager at webmaster@marxist.com
The Sales and Marketing Manager at Visit Derry has received a prestigious industry award for her work in helping to attract thousands of visitors from around the globe to the city.

Regarded as the Face of Derry, Karen Henderson received the Northern Ireland Tourism Special Achievement Award at the NI Travel News Awards 2022 which took place on Friday October 14 at the Slieve Donard Resort & Spa in Newcastle.



With a career spanning 30 years in the tourism industry, Karen brings a wealth of experience to her role with Visit Derry and judges highlighted her constant enthusiasm in showcasing the Walled City to potential clients.



The judges highlighted how Karen works with national and international tour operators to encourage them to include Derry within their tour itineraries when visiting the island of Ireland.



They said: She assists with devising suggested itineraries to include accommodation to make it easy for their clients and attends B2B workshops in the Republic of Ireland, Great Britain, and the Nordic and North America markets to meet with existing and new clients.



Karen is constantly on the go, providing regular sales visits for the travel trade and loves showcasing the city to potential clients. A true Derry Girl.



Visit Derry Chief Executive, Odhran Dunne described Karens work as a key reason why thousands of visitors from around the world include Derry in their holiday itineraries.

He said: I was delighted to see Karen win this award, it is fitting for someone who has contributed so much to the wider tourism industry here in Northern Ireland and of course to promoting Derry as a first-class destination for local and international visitors.



Originally from Armagh, Karen said she loves promoting Derry and paid tribute to the support she receives in her role from colleagues at Visit Derry.



Karen said: Im absolutely delighted to receive this award and its great to get special recognition for 30 years working in the tourism industry.



I work with a great team at Visit Derry, and we are all dedicated to showcasing the city and the North-West to visitors, it is something we all take great pride in.



Of course, this is a very busy period for everyone at Visit Derry as we prepare to welcome around 100,000 people from all round the world for Derry Halloween.



Im thrilled to see the festival back to full strength this year for the first time since the pandemic and we are looking forward to seeing the carnival and fireworks display returning.



It is working on events like Derry Halloween and seeing the reaction of visitors when they come to the city for the first time and experience that warm Derry welcome or sample the amazing food and drink in our vibrant bars and restaurants, that makes my job so worthwhile.
The work of emergency services in Northern Ireland who responded to the Creeslough tragedy has been praised by The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon Chris Heaton-Harris MP, and Health Minister Robin Swann MLA during a visit to Derry.

Teams from the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS), Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) and Air Ambulance travelled to County Donegal to assist Republic of Ireland colleagues at the scene.

The Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, along with the Health Minister met with NIFRS and NIAS first responders during a visit to Crescent Link Fire Station on Thursday.

The Secretary of State said: My thoughts remain with all of those directly affected by the tragic events in Creeslough and the families of the victims. Across these islands, we have all been deeply moved by the Creeslough communitys resolve and togetherness during a tremendously difficult period.

I want to pay tribute to all of the emergency responders, including the crews from Northern Ireland who assisted their colleagues in Donegal with great professionalism and selflessness. Such essential cross-border cooperation at an urgent time of need is to be welcomed, and I know was greatly appreciated by the Irish authorities and public.

It was humbling to meet with some of the ambulance and fire personnel from the north-west involved in the rescue operation in Creeslough, and hear first-hand their experiences and learn more about the vital assistance they provided. On behalf of the UK Government, I would like to thank them for their dedication and bravery.

Health Minister Robin Swann said: First and foremost, I want to again extend my deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in this unspeakable tragedy. My thoughts also remain with those who were injured in the incident and the wider Creeslough community at this most difficult time.

As the devastating events unfolded just under a fortnight ago, emergency crews and specialised units from both NIFRS and NIAS mobilised at speed to support their counterparts across the border. This co-operation has long been a daily reality and there are established protocols in place for mutual aid.

Working in partnership with Donegal Fire Service, NIFRS tasked its Specialist Rescue Team from Belfast, a Command Support Unit from Kilrea and supporting pump from Strabane along with officers from Western Area Command. Support was also provided by officers in the Command Room at NIFRS headquarters and by Regional Control Staff at NIFRS Regional Control Centre.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris MP, along with Health Minister Robin Swann MLA, meeting with emergency service personnel in Derry.

The Ambulance Service dispatched Rapid Response Paramedics, an Emergency Crew, Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART), a non-Emergency Crew and the Air Ambulance, with HEMS crew on board. Night crews were also dispatched from NIAS to release those who had responded during the afternoon, and they continued in the recovery effort through the night.

Minister Swann said: I want to pay tribute to our emergency crews and thank them for their outstanding bravery, commitment and dedication. The conditions which they encountered in Creeslough were challenging on many levels and I am very grateful to each and every one of them for their courageous service.

Support has been put in place by both NIFRS and NIAS for staff who responded to the incident.
A memorial bust of a former British Prime Minister is set to be unveiled in County Derry this weekend.

Andrew Bonar Law was British Prime Minister from 1922 to 1923, and has links to the Coleraine area, where the bust is set to go on display.

His father James Law was originally from the north coast town and became a Free Church of Scotland minister in New Brunswick.

James Law eventually retired to the north coast, where Bonar became a regular visitor, installing a memorial window for his parents at Ballywillan Presbyterian Church in Portrush.

Regarded by many as the 'saviour' of the Conservative Party and a founder of the Northern Ireland state, his son also took the title 'Lord Coleraine' on his elevation to the House of Lords in 1954.

The bust has been created by renowned sculptor Helen Runciman, and an unveiling ceremony is set to take place at Coleraine Town Hall on Saturday October 22.

Chairman of the Andrew Bonar Law Memorial Project, Cllr Aaron Callan, said he was delighted to see the plans come to fruition.

We are delighted that the Lord Lieutenant for County Londonderry Mrs. Alison Millar has agreed to conduct the official unveiling of the bust, he said.

We are also pleased that the Mayor for Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Cllr. Ivor Wallace along with the Chief Executive of the Ulster Scots Agency Mr. Ian Crozier will be attending the event.

Cllr Aaron Callan

We are also delighted that descendants of Bonar Law will also be in attendance for the event including our honorary patron, Charlotte Bonar Law.

100 years ago, this week Rt. Hon Andrew Bonar Law became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

We are delighted that he will be recognised in the town with which he has such strong family connections.

The group continue to fundraise towards their objective to encourage interest in Andrew Bonar Law. More information can be found on their website  www.andrewbonarlawmemorial.co.uk.
Political instability at Westminster is hindering efforts to restore powersharing in Northern Ireland, a DUP minister has warned.

Gordon Lyons said the flux at Downing Street following Liz Trusss resignation as Prime Minister was diverting government focus from resolving issues with Brexits Northern Ireland Protocol.

The DUP is refusing to engage with the devolved institutions in Belfast until decisive action is taken to remove the protocols economic barriers on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The partys stance means it has not been possible to form a ministerial executive at Stormont following Mays Assembly election.

A six-month legislative deadline to form an administration expires next Friday. If no executive is in place by that date the Government assumes a legal responsibility to call another election.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has made clear he will call a fresh poll if the deadline passes, with December 15 the likely date.

The Government has vowed to secure changes to the protocol, either by a negotiated compromise with the EU or through proposed domestic legislation (the NI Protocol Bill) which would empower ministers to scrap the arrangements without the approval of Brussels.

Relations between the UK and the EU appear to have improved in recent weeks and both sides have been talking up the potential for a deal through fresh negotiations.

However, the chances of an imminent breakthrough appear to have receded amid the Conservative Party turbulence at Westminster.

Mr Lyons said events in London were exacerbating the political problems in Northern Ireland.

Its a very difficult period of time, theres no doubt about that, for Northern Ireland, he told BBC Radio Ulster.

We have a problem here in Northern Ireland because of the protocol. Its making government impossible. Its taken away the political stability that we need.

We need the UK government to sort this out, either via negotiation with the EU or by taking through the protocol Bill.

Unfortunately, the lack of political stability in Westminster right now is preventing us from getting the political stability back in Stormont as well.

Weve been very clear about what we believe needs to happen but ultimately what we need first is for a government to be in place thats prepared to deal with these issues.

Thats why we need the Government to be operating in Westminster so that they can unblock the political instability here in Northern Ireland. Its the protocol that is the barrier to us getting back to Stormont and have a fully functioning executive again.

The other main Stormont parties continue to criticise the DUPs stance. They claim they are holding the electorate in Northern Ireland to ransom by blocking the formation of an executive that could take action to support people struggling in the cost-of-living crisis.

Speaking on Thursday, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill claimed the DUP was denying people democracy as she accused the party of failing to respect the result of Mays election, which Sinn Fein emerged from as the largest party.

She said it appeared that Northern Ireland was on course for another election.

Were being denied democracy by the DUP at this moment in time, she said.

Commenting on the Tory leadership contest, Mr Lyons said his party did not have a preferred candidate.

Regardless who is prime minister, the job remains the same  they need to deal with the issues that were facing around the protocol.

They need to deal with that either through negotiation with the European Union or putting through the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.

Personalities are not what Im interested in right now, its about getting someone in place thats prepared to deal with these issues.
Total Covid-19 infections in the UK have climbed above two million for the first time since July, though there are signs the rate of increase may be slowing, figures show.

Health experts said the trend was encouraging and the current wave of the virus may have already peaked, with Covid-19 hospital numbers appearing to have levelled off in recent days.

But there have been renewed calls for people to take up the offer of an autumn booster of Covid vaccine, with around four in 10 over-75s yet to receive a fresh jab.

Just over 2.0 million people in private households in the UK are likely to have tested positive for coronavirus in the week to October 10, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is up 15% from 1.7 million in the previous week and is the highest total since the week to July 26  though still some way below the peak of 3.8 million reached in early July, during the wave caused by the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants of the virus.

The jump of 15% is smaller than those seen in the past few weeks, and while infections have risen in England and Wales, the trend in Scotland and Northern Ireland is described by the ONS as uncertain.

Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious diseases at Edinburgh University, said it appears the current wave is peaking, and may already have peaked at a lower level than previous waves this year.

Sarah Crofts, ONS deputy director for the Covid-19 infection survey, cautioned it was too early to say whether the rise in infections was starting to slow, adding the figures show a mixed picture across regions and age groups.

The latest data from the #COVID19 Infection Survey shows in the most recent week:  infections continued to increase in England and Wales the trend was uncertain in Northern Ireland and Scotland  https://t.co/QJBA5eHO7L pic.twitter.com/u3zKFRwVvc  Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) October 21, 2022

In England, the number of people testing positive for coronavirus in the week to October 10 was 1.7 million, or around one in 30 people  up from 1.5 million, or one in 35, in the previous week.

Wales is also continuing to see a rise, where the latest estimate for infections is 117,600, or one in 25 people, up from 74,900, or one in 40.

The trend is less clear in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the ONS said.

In Scotland the number of people with Covid-19 in the latest survey was estimated at 144,400, or one in 35, compared with 109,700 in the previous survey, or one in 50.

For Northern Ireland the estimate is 44,200 infections, or one in 40 people, compared with 45,100, which is also one in 40.

Infection rates in England are highest among 50 to 69-year-olds, with 3.9% likely to have had Covid-19 in the week to October 10, or around one in 25.

This is up from 3.0%, or one in 35.

Rates are also estimated to have increased among 25 to 34-year-olds but have fallen among over-70s and children between school Year 7 and 11.

For all other age groups, the trend is uncertain.

Professor Woolhouse said it was encouraging that prevalence is starting to fall in the over-70s and this should be mirrored in hospitalisations in the next week or two.

He continued: Prevalence remains lowest in young and school-aged children, confirming that the return to school is not the driver of Covid-19 waves.

It is, however, difficult to know whether or when there will be further waves, not least because we cannot predict the appearance of new variants.

There is a lag in the reporting of the ONS infection data due to the time it takes for the survey to be compiled.

More recent figures suggest the recent rise in the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 might have levelled off.

A total of 10,387 patients testing positive for coronavirus were in hospital in England as October 19, according to NHS data.

This is down 2% from 10,608 a week earlier and is the first week-on-week fall for just over a month.

Patient numbers topped 14,000 in mid-July of this year at the peak of the BA.4/BA.5 wave.

Dr Mary Ramsay, director of public health programmes at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said the trend in hospital numbers means it is possible that were already seeing the benefits from so many people taking up their Covid-19 autumn booster.

Theres no room for complacency though, as cases could rise again at any point, and we need to be armed in readiness through vaccination of everyone whos eligible.

Please come forward for both Covid and flu vaccinations as soon as youre offered them.

All people aged 50 and over in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are now able to book an appointment for the Covid-19 autumn booster, providing they had their last jab at least three months ago.

In Scotland, all over-65s are currently eligible for a booster, with bookings opening next week for 50 to 64-year-olds.

Around six in 10 (60.8%) people aged 80 and over in England are now likely to have received an autumn booster, along with a similar proportion (61.9%) of 75 to 79-year-olds, the UKHSA said.
The Irish president has led tributes to the inspirational Baroness May Blood, who has died aged 84.

Politicians and trade unionists praised her community work in tackling unemployment in west Belfast, as well as promoting integrated education and striving for peace in Northern Ireland.

The Integrated Education Fund (IEF) said that it was that desire for peace that drove her to do exceptional things for so many people.

Remembering a visit the baroness paid to him in June last year, President of Ireland Michael D Higgins said she was a truly progressive force and her loss will be felt by so many.

The work she has done on the integrated education campaign, as well as her proud record of trade union activism and the bravest presentation of gender rights, have benefited all those committed to building a generation who will enjoy peace and a shared life together.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson paid tribute to the baroness as a fearless and tireless campaigner to make Northern Ireland a better and more peaceful place.

She was someone steeped in the community and focused entirely on making their lives better.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said she was a genuine servant of the people and someone who placed peace, prosperity and fairness at the heart of her politics.

She did a great deal of good in her life, was always willing to help others and her passing is a great loss to Northern Ireland.

Former UUP leader and MLA Mike Nesbitt called her a force of nature, determined to ensure her community was recognised, helped and assisted.

She was a role model as a community worker, trade unionist, activist for integrated education and promoter of the needs of the people. She was one of our finest and will be sorely missed.

May Blood grew up in a working class community in Belfast before leaving school at a young age to work in the Blackstaff Linen Mill in west of the city.

Although she enjoyed her time at the mill, she was exposed to hard working conditions which she would later work as a trade unionist to improve  fighting for shorter hours and more money for the Belfast mills mostly female workforce.

SDLP leader and MP Colum Eastwood said she would be remembered across the North, but particularly in west Belfast.

May Blood epitomised the ethos of the labour movement, starting out at the age of 14 as an ordinary worker who saw the problems and unfair treatment that existed, particularly for women, and used her skills and formidable nature to secure change.

ICTU General Secretary Owen Reidy recalled her years as a trade union activist, saying that her lifes mission was the advancement of working people, and challenging sectarianism.

May Blood learned her politics and her vocation in the vanished world of the mills of Belfast, a harsh environment of long hours and lives shortened by unsafe working conditions.

From her teenage years, she was active in the Transport and General Workers Union, challenging mill bosses on behalf of a largely female workforce for decency at work and winning more money, shorter hours and better lives.

She took risks for her neighbours, even being burned out of her home at the start of The Troubles, and later took risks for peace in supporting Labour causes, better housing, integrated education, womens rights and most of all the trade union movement.

May Blood went on to become a founder member of the Northern Ireland Womens Coalition, as well as a volunteer fundraiser for the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) in 2001, a fund she would continue to support for the next 22 years as its campaign chair.

The IEF said she helped to raise millions for the fund during that time.

She was also described as a woman whose Christian faith was important to her, and who carried these values throughout her life in her kindness and compassion.

Archbishop John McDowell said Baroness Blood was a quintessential Belfast woman who spoke directly and constructively from the depth of a kind heart.

I know that May has been an inspiration and an encouragement to many people, especially to women, and in that sense her influence lives on in the lives of others.
NEWS RELEASE Release Number: 2022-89 Date: October 21, 2022

California Labor Commissioners Office Reaches $2.2 Million Settlement Securing Unpaid Wage for Hundreds of Bay Area Restaurant Workers

Oakland - The Labor Commissioners Office has reached a $2.2 million settlement with the owners of three Saravanaa Bhavan restaurant franchises in Fremont, Milpitas and Sunnyvale. The settlement secures compensation to 317 employees at the three restaurant locations for unpaid minimum wage, overtime, meal premiums, split shift premiums, and inaccurate wage statements. The settlement also covers an allegation that the employers kept tips that had been left for employees by their customers. Each worker will receive, on average, approximately $7,000. As part of the settlement, the employers must make a personal apology to the employees.



Wage theft not only affects workers economically, but can also affect them psychologically, said California Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower. My office is working to provide restorative justice to those who have suffered harm. In this case, it includes ensuring workers are paid what they are owed and having their employers acknowledge their wrongdoing.



The settlement follows an investigation by the Labor Commissioners Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) Unit, which found Labor Code violations that affected the 317 employees including servers, bussers, hosts, kitchen staff and cooks who worked at the three restaurants between February 23, 2016 and September 8, 2019.



Based on its investigation, the PAGA Unit issued a citation for wages and penalties on October 18, 2019, for a total of $6,108,099.



The citation was issued to Spice Route, LLC, Southern Spice, LLC and Supreme Cuisine, LLC and managing partners Asker Junaid and P.K. Perumal.



The settlement was finalized on September 21, 2022, and in addition to the monetary settlement, it requires that the restaurants owners personally apologize to workers for the violations, allow a one-hour training about labor laws on paid time, and post a notice about employees rights regarding tips. The trainings will be interpreted into Tamil, Spanish and Nepali at the employers expense.



Because the Labor Commissioner does not have contact information for all workers owed money, it requests help in locating individuals who worked at the Saravanaa Bhavan locations at 3720 Mowry Ave., Fremont; 438 Barber Lane, Milpitas; or 1305 S Mary Ave., Sunnyvale between February 23, 2016 and September 8, 2019. Employees who worked at these restaurants during this time are asked to call Deputy John McDonald with the PAGA Unit at (510) 882-5214.



Under California law, tips are the sole property of those employees to or for whom they were paid, given, or left. Workers who believe they have not been paid properly, or who have questions about other labor laws, such as those that prohibit retaliation for making a wage claim, can call the Labor Commissioners Office at 833-LCO-INFO (833-526-4636).



When workers are paid less than minimum wage, they are entitled to liquidated damages that equal the amount of underpaid minimum wages plus interest. Waiting time penalties are imposed when the employer intentionally fails to pay all wages due to the employee at the time of separation. This penalty is calculated by taking the employees daily rate of pay and multiplying it by the number of days the employee was not paid, up to a maximum of 30 days.



Enforcement investigations typically include a payroll audit of the previous three years to determine minimum wage, overtime, and other labor law violations and calculate payments owed and penalties due. When workers are paid less than minimum wage, they are entitled to liquidated damages that equal the amount of underpaid wages plus interest.



The Department of Industrial Relations Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, also known as the California Labor Commissioners Office, combats wage theft and unfair competition by investigating allegations of illegal and unfair business practices.



The Labor Commissioners Office in 2020 launched an interdisciplinary outreach campaign, Reaching Every Californian. The campaign amplifies basic protections and builds pathways to affected populations so workers and employers understand legal protections, obligations and the Labor Commissioners enforcement procedures. Californians can follow the Labor Commissioner on Facebook and Twitte.



Media Contact: Communications@dir.ca.gov, (510) 286-1161



Employers with Questions on Requirements May Contact: MakeItFair@dir.ca.gov
Symetra

Ellis

McGarry

Cerrone

Symetra Life Insurance announced the promotion of Dayna Cerrone to vice president, channel head for the bank and wirehouse channels, a new role. Cerrone joins Kevin McGarry, vice president, independent broker-dealer channel, in leading Symetra's core distribution channels. The executives report to Andrew Farrell, senior vice president, retirement sales, distribution and marketing. Most recently vice president, Western Division, Cerrone joined Symetra in 2013 and is a veteran financial professional whose 30-year career encompasses roles as financial advisor, external wholesaler and corporate sales trainer at multiple financial institutions including Transamerica, AIG and American Express. In her new role, Cerrone assumes leadership for the Retirement Division's field sales teams and relationship management in the bank and wire distribution channel. McGarry joined Symetra in November 2021 following 10 years at Nationwide Financial where his most recent role was vice president and national sales manager for mutual fund distribution. Prior to Nationwide, he worked for MFS Investment Service Groups, Alliance Bernstein, and Travelers Insurance in roles that include divisional vice president, mutual fund wholesaler, and annuity wholesaler. Symetra also announced that Courtney Ellis, formerly vice president, internal sales, will take on an expanded role that now includes retirement product marketing, as VP, retirement marketing, internal sales and sales effectiveness. Ellis joined Symetra in 2012 as a product specialist in the Retirement Division before moving into internal wholesaling. She was promoted to assistant director, internal sales & distribution in 2016, and was named AVP, internal sales & distribution in 2019. She was promoted to vice president in 2022. Based in Bellevue, Symetra provides employee benefits, annuities and life insurance through a national network of benefit consultants, financial institutions, and independent financial professionals and insurance producers.




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Photo by Vulcan Real Estate [enlarge] The Pan Pacific part the 2200 Westlake development, which includes individual condos, parking garage, the Whole Foods and other retail.





The Pan Pacific Seattle hotel, at 2125 Terry Ave., sold yesterday for about $51.2 million, according to King County records. The topline price was $70 million, but with a very large personal property deduction for the furnishings, etc. That came to about $18.7 million.





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The EU deal on gas prices will not result in an immediate reduction in energy prices for householders, the Taoiseach has said.

But Micheal Martin said the revenue from a windfall tax on energy companies should give the Government firepower to be able to help people further with increased costs next year.

Mr Martin made the comments as he arrived in Brussels for the second day of a summit of EU leaders.

They agreed in the early hours of Friday morning to place a cap on the wholesale cost of gas in a bid to reduce energy prices.

Welcome #EUCO agreement on energy last night. Positive that Europe continues to work collectively on this energy crisis to create stability in the market and protect our citizens. pic.twitter.com/HdN324kayb  Micheal Martin (@MichealMartinTD) October 21, 2022

A stable gas market is good for everybody, Mr Martin told reporters on Friday.

It is good for Ireland. We export into the European market quite significantly.

We see this as progress.

Asked whether the agreement will result in lower energy prices, Mr Martin said: We import our gas from the UK.

Our prices are lower than some across Europe so there may not be an immediate impact other than to say that any stabilisation of the gas market ultimately benefits us.

Mr Martin said the aim of EU measures is to stabilise prices and avoid spikes.

He added that the price of gas had been on a downward trajectory since the high point in August, but that it is still much higher than it was before the start of the Ukraine war.

The Taoiseach said the income from the windfall taxes will be used by Government to help alleviate pressure on households next year.

Because of the way the economies are going across Europe, one has to ensure weve sufficient resources over the medium term, thats right throughout 2023, he said.

So we will have reserves and that revenue will add to those reserves to give us firepower to do things if we have to do it, he said.
Camile Thai Kitchen is celebrating its continued expansion with the official opening of its first restaurant in Co. Louth.

Customers in Drogheda will be the first to benefit from this exciting rollout, with the full range of signature dishes including the all-new limited edition Honey Crispy Chicken Bao created in partnership with Professional Rugby Player and OpenHive Beekeeper Jack McGrath, now available for dine in, delivery and collection on the Camile Thai App.

Leading the way in food innovation, technology and sustainability, working with local producers and chefs is at the heart of Camiles community-focused goals, offering authentic and healthy, cooked to order dishes that use only the freshest quality ingredients, a spokesperson for Camile said.

A firm favourite with Thai food enthusiasts and novices alike, the award-winning menu has something for everyone from vegans and vegetarians to those counting calories and carbon footprints.

Helmed by Gijo Peedikamala in partnership with seasoned Camile Thai franchisee Paul Abraham and supported by Camile Food Group CEO, Brody Sweeney, this latest addition brings the total number of Camile Thai restaurants across the island of Ireland to 37, creating 20 new jobs in the local area.

Commenting on the opening of the new outlet, which is located in the Southgate Shopping Centre, Camile Thai Kitchen Managing Director, Daniel Greene said: Were delighted to be expanding the Camile offering with the opening of our first kitchen in Co.Louth  making good mood Thai food available to more people across Ireland, whatever their lifestyle choices.

Weve observed a significant growth in demand from customers for the authentic flavours and quality of our dishes, but also for the diversity of choice available across our award-winning menu as well as our continued commitment to the development of sustainable communities, so were thrilled to be joining Droghedas developing restaurant scene.

Responsively developed by the award-winning restaurant group to deliver value and choice to customers impacted by the increased cost of living, a range of great value deals featuring a host of signature dishes including lunch combo deals for 9.50 and Camile app main course dish specials for as little as 6.99, will also be available.

Camile Thai Kitchen was the first takeaway food brand in Europe to deliver 100% compostable packaging, trialling takeaway food delivered by drone and along with nutritional information, the first in Ireland to display the Carbon Footprint of each dish on its menus and website.

With plans for further expansion over the coming months, developments in the area of technology are set to include automated robotic kitchen operations as the Group continues to invest in innovative solutions to drive positive change in local communities across Ireland.

Camile Thai Kitchen is now open in Unit 18, Southgate Shopping Centre, Drogheda, A92 C582 Download the Camile Thai App to view the menu and place your order or visit www.camile.ie.
Hairdressing visionary Paul Stafford, who started his distinguished career in Dundalk, has been honoured in Ireland for his decades-long international contribution to the hair industry.

On Sunday 9 October, Belfast-based Paul became only the second Northern Irish hairdresser to be admitted into the Hall of Fame at the Irish Hairdressers Federation, when a panel of Irelands top crimpers voted him an Icon of Irish Hairdressing.

Paul spoke to the Democrat about how he first stepped into the world of hairdressing in Dundalk from his training in FAS to his jobs in several salons in town where he learnt vital skills and his creativity was encouraged.

I wouldn't be hairdressing at this level if my family hadn't moved to Dundalk as there was a significant number of people at the beginning of my career who were not only instrumental in directing me into hairdressing but also supported me in the early years and encouraged my creativity, Paul said.

Pat Darcy in the Christian Brothers in Dundalk was my career guidance teacher and knew I had an interest in hairdressing, which he would have recognised as I was always running around with bleached hair or some style or other.

He was friends with Gerard Hoey in New Image and that is where I got my first job.

I just loved the buzz of the salon; it really gave me a taste for being part of this industry.

Paul said one of the significant breakthroughs in the early days of his career was going to work for Brendan McElarney.

Brendan gave me free reign to experiment.

I was doing all the kids hair at home in my kitchen and he encouraged me to bring them into the salon to do their hair there.

I was bringing in all these kids with flat tops and the back combs; the punks and the mods.

I was working with other great people like Hugh Cassidy and Paddy Bradley, they were all very encouraging.

Another figure in hairdressing during my early career who was instrumental was George Bernard.

He came from that Vidal Sassoon background and was a real hair cutter; he had that classical training, real discipline and complete awareness of the suitability of a hairstyle for a person, which taught me what a haircut says about somebody and that was the start of what became one of my trademarks which is great, structured, classic haircuts with a modern twist.

Also, Sonia McArdle, who had a great salon on the Castletown Road, decided I would be a great person to come along and teach her staff while I was working for George.

She really taught me great salon skills as she was brilliant with people and had that commercial eye and knew what people wanted and she gave it to them.

Paul also told how he was given a place to study hairdressing with FAS, which at the time was called AnCO, despite all the places being already filled.

Leo Mallon, who was the head of AnCO, very kindly squeezed me in - the course was actually filled but I think my enthusiasm and sheer determination persuaded him to give me an opportunity.

What I learnt there came in very useful during the last 40 years because when I am looking for new and fresh ideas I go back to those days and use those skills I learnt and reinvent them.

For me Dundalk at the beginning of my career was a real hot bed, hairdressing was important in the town.

It was a real vital energy in the high street and was a meeting point for people and a breeding school for great hairdressers.

I admired the industry locally and I felt very much part of the hair community in Dundalk.

For many years afterwards, I always kept an eye on what those guys were doing in Dundalk as I really admired them and respected their dedication and passion for what they were doing.

It is a huge part of my hair history. I had so many great experiences working in those fantastic salons.

I learnt amazing things with those people.

Paul also spoke about how his family has always been a great support and encouraged him throughout his career.

My mum Sue was so encouraging; when I told her when I was 15 years old I was going to work in a hairdressing salon her heart was swollen with absolute pride.

I remember her telling people before I ever even did a shampoo that I was a hairdresser.

My dad Stan, brother Michael and sisters Ann and Suzanne have always been so supportive too.

Over the years Paul has travelled extensively to educate others and promote British and Irish hairdressing around the world, as well as build a hugely successful brand in the capital.

His work has allowed him to transcend the border between north and south, taking him all over Ireland to educate and inspire.

So when the 600 members of the Irish Hairdressing Federation were asked earlier this summer to nominate individuals worthy of Irish Hairdressings most highly regarded accolade, they chose Paul.

And on Sunday October 9th Paul was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Irish Hairdressers Federation at a Gala event at the Lyrath Estate, Kilkenny.

Im deeply honoured to be recognised in Ireland for my craft and thank the hairdressers of Ireland for nominating me, said Paul, who is global ambassador for Italian colour house AlfaParf.

Im humbled to join the long list of greats from this island who have helped shape hairdressing on an international scale.

The struggle to stay ahead of the curve of fashion and business is constant and Ive almost not made it on a number of occasions, but the support of my team and the people of Northern Ireland has kept me going.

Despite being globally recognised as one of the most talented hairdressers of his generation, Paul lost almost everything in the 2008 financial crisis.

But he managed to claw his way to recovery and has since become a spokesman for better business management in the hair industry.

I thought just because I was good at hair and loved chatting to clients, Id be good at running a salon, but I had to learn the hard way, he said.

Now is not the time for complacency as we once again battle with a turbulent economy, but Im determined that my team will have a secure future with the Paul Stafford brand.
An Irish government minister has said he cannot guarantee that some Ukrainian refugees will not have to sleep on the streets.

He was speaking after his department said on Thursday night that the Citywest transit centre had reached capacity amid a severe constraint on suitable accommodation.

A group representing NGOs said that pregnant women and the elderly were sleeping on chairs and on the floor at the overcrowded Citywest facility.

Sinn Fein criticised the government for being far too slow to respond to the demand for accommodation and said it was another reflection of its failure on housing.

Housing Minister Darragh OBrien said it is an incredibly difficult situation that needs a whole of government approach, and that the issue would be discussed by ministers on Monday.

What we are making clear is were not in a position to guarantee everyone an offer of accommodation, Minister for Equality and Integration Roderic OGorman said on RTEs Morning Ireland programme.

So what we will do is we will prioritise vulnerable people, we will prioritise women and children in terms of the provision of accommodation.

When asked whether there was a danger that people would have to sleep on the streets, Mr OGorman said: I cant rule that out.

Thats why were speaking very clearly today and engaging with the Ukrainian embassy in terms of letting people know that there is a major constraint on capacity, particularly next week.

Thats why were letting people know that if they have an option  if theyre in another EU member state  to either stay there or look to other EU member states, that we cant guarantee State-provided accommodation into next week.

He said that from Monday there will be an overnight facility in Dublin Airport where refugees would stay if arriving into Ireland on a late flight before being transferred to Citywest the next day.

The Government warned in July that it was facing a severe shortage of accommodation for arriving Ukrainians, which resulted in asylum seekers having to stay in a Dublin Airport terminal overnight.

Ukrainian refugees were temporarily living in tents at the Gormanston military camp in Co Meath as other accommodation was sourced.

Gormanston doesnt remain open any more, Mr OGorman said on Friday. There are currently 300 people in tented accommodation across the country of the 50,000 that were accommodating.

So there is a small number of people in tented accommodation, but it is a small proportion  about half a percent  of the overall number.

Speaking to reporters in Lusk, Dublin, Mr OBrien said: Weve had 50,000 of our friends from Ukraine come here and weve a lot of other people seeking international protection. We want to look after them all and up to now weve managed to be able to do that, he said.

Look at whats happening in Ukraine right now. You have a dictator in Russia who is actually bombing civilian infrastructure, who has taken out 30% of the electricity generation in that country, who is threatening to bomb other infrastructure such as dams.

So we could very well have a situation where unfortunately this war is getting worse.

The Cabinet sub-committee on Ukraine is to meet on Monday, chaired by the Taoiseach Micheal Martin, to discuss the accommodation crisis.

He added that at next weeks meeting Government will try to do everything we can to alleviate the situation, which includes being faster at refurbishing older State properties.

We will look at other options we can potentially do to help, but its an incredibly difficult situation  no less so for the people who are fleeing this awful war in Ukraine, but were not the only country in Europe.

Theres been pressures right across the European system with regard to keeping up pace of accommodation for those seeking international protection and for those fleeing the brutal war in Ukraine.

Speaking at St Patricks Centre on a visit to Downpatrick, Co Down, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said this was entirely predictable and foreseeable.

The government had predicted huge numbers of refugees coming from Ukraine  in fact greater numbers than transpired thus far  and theyve failed to prepare. Its as simple as that.

The Irish Refugee Council presented a plan in respect of holiday homes, there are 60,000 of them across the State, and the government failed to act on that plan, for example.

Theyve been far too slow, far too slow and too disjointed in accessing vacant buildings and making those liveable and available for people.

I have to say that this is just another reflect of their more general failure in terms of housing policy and providing shelter and safe accommodation for our citizens.

Of the more than 58,000 refugees or asylum seekers Ireland is housing, around 42,000 are Ukrainian nationals and 16,000 are international protection applicants.

This figure compares with 7,250 at the same time last year.

The Department warned last night that access to suitable accommodation is severely constrained, and said that it had briefed the Ukrainian embassy on developments.

Mr OGorman said he had been speaking to his Scottish counterpart Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, Neil Gray, on Thursday about the continued invasion of Ukraine.

I think we all, and most European countries, understand that there will be a significant number of Ukrainian citizens living with us into the medium term.

The government is also considering whether to charge rent to refugees who have been granted full status and who are working full time, if they are still staying in direct provision centres.

The Ukraine Civil Society Forum (UCSF) expressed grave concern over Mr OGormans admission that some Ukrainian refugees could have to sleep on the streets.

The forum, which represents 60 Irish NGOs active in supporting Irelands emergency response to Ukrainian refugees, said this runs the very real risk that new arrivals will be left homeless.

UCSF national co-ordinator Emma Lane-Spollen said: The Government has finally recognised the severe capacity issues at the Citywest Transit Centre that have led to significant overcrowding and safety issues.

She said that on Thursday there were 1,050 people in the facility, which is designed for 300, sleeping on chairs and on the floor including pregnant women, young children and the elderly.

Ms Lane-Spollen said: The UCSF is deeply worried that a tragedy, like the death of a baby in an overflow centre in the Netherlands which sparked questions about the conditions in the centre and availability of medical care, could occur here.

She said people arriving in Ireland from Ukraine may have nowhere to go.

The Government informs us that this situation may last 10 days, she said.

For now we are told women and children will be accommodated but for how long can they do this with the current approach?

This crisis is not going to ease up. The war in Ukraine is not abating, winter is coming and 30% of Ukraine is without electricity. The increase in arrivals is not unexpected.

What is worrying is that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability and Youth had raised this likely scenario with the Senior Officials Group weeks ago, and yet here we are.

The forum has called on the Government to make some urgent big decisions and change its approach from crisis management to medium-long term planning, or else face having to say there is no room at the inn for new arrivals in the run-up to Christmas.
Two people have been arrested after gardai seized cocaine and heroin worth more than 1 million in south Dublin.

Gardai carried out a raid at a home in Sandyford shortly before 7.30pm on Thursday evening.

They uncovered 560,000 worth of heroin and cocaine valued at 490,000.

The search was conducted as part of Operation Tara, which aims to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks.

A man and a woman, both aged in their 50s, were arrested.

They are being questioned at Dundrum Garda station, where they can be held for up to a week.

Gardai said the investigation is ongoing, with further updates to follow.
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 UK is in the midst of an energy crisis that prompted now-former Prime Minister Liz Truss to lift a ban on fracking and expand oil and gas licensing in the North Sea.

But a clean energy expert has come forward with a way Britain can reduce energy costs without burning more fossil fuels: getting rid of daylight savings time.

By simply foregoing the winter Daylight Savings Time (DST) in October, we save energy because it is brighter in the evening during winter, so we reduce commercial and residential electrical demand as people leave work earlier, and go home earlier, meaning less lighting and heating is needed, professor Aoife Foley from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queens University, Belfast, said in a statement.

It's almost time for the clocks to go back, but would you like to see an end to #DaylightSavings?



Find out what our expert @AoifeMFoley has discovered: https://t.co/DldEbcmCEt@QUBMAE | @QubEps | #LoveQUB  Queen's University Belfast  (@QUBelfast) October 18, 2022

Foley calculated that households could save 1.20 a day and more than 400 a year if Daylight Savings Time were abolished. Currently, energy demand is at its highest in the winter in the evening between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., putting strain on the National Grid. Her calculations did not include gas savings or factor in commercial or industrial energy use, but she said that getting rid of daylight savings would benefit those sectors, too.

[T]ere would be even more significant energy, cost and emissions reductions for hard strapped businesses and the public, she said.

Daylight Savings Time was originally implemented to save energy during wartime, in this case during World War I. It was introduced in 1916 to extend early morning daylight hours. Today, most countries in the European Economic Area change the clocks the last Sundays of October and March.

Foleys proposal comes in the context of another war, this time Russias invasion of Ukraine that has reduced energy flow to Europe. In Ireland, EirGrid has said it was possible there could even be blackouts this winter, Independent.ie reported.

We are no longer in an energy crisis in Europe but an energy war and dependent on weather conditions this winter it is very likely we may need to start rationing energy very seriously to avoid bigger energy issues in December and January when gas reserves start to run low, Foley added. There is no doubt that by foregoing the daylight savings in winter we would save a lot of energy, reduce our bills and carbon emissions during this energy war, and especially during a cost of living crisis.

The continued relevance of turning clocks forwards in spring and backwards in fall has been debated in many countries. In the U.S., the Senate passed legislation ending the practice in March, but similar legislation has yet to be approved by the House, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the European Union, most citizens support an end to the time change, The Guardian reported. The European Parliament even passed legislation to that effect in 2019, but it has not yet been put in practice.

Because of Brexit, the EUs actions would no longer apply to the UK, which is where Foleys proposal comes in. However, one difficulty is Ireland, which could end up with two different time zones if either the Republic of Ireland or the UK, to which Northern Ireland belongs, decides to change and the other does not.

It would be great if the UK Government consulted with the Irish Government on an emergency proposal to abolish daylight savings this year, Foley suggested. Obviously in Ireland two different time zones would be impossible but Ireland would also make energy and emissions savings and enhance security of supply.
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.

Sweden has been considered a leader on climate issues, but that status is at risk with a new, right-wing government.

On Tuesday, the day he took office, the countrys Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson moved to jettison the Ministry of Environment. The country will still have a Minister of Climate and Environment but she will work under the Minister for Energy, Business and Industry.

It is impossible to describe more clearly how little this government values the environment and the climate, Swedish Greens leader Per Bolund said, as Euronews reported. This is a historic decision with devastating consequences for environmental issues.

Sweden has a reputation as a relatively green country. It was one of the first in the world to establish an Environmental Protection Agency in 1967, though it did not have a stand-alone environment ministry until 20 years later. It was also the first country to tax carbon and gets more than half of its energy from renewable sources, Green Matters pointed out. Further, it was ranked only after Denmark by the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI).

But none of that means it can afford to backslide. The CCPI noted that even its top-ranked countries do not have plans in line with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, which is why it left the top three spots on its index blank.

Even if all countries were as committed as the current frontrunners, it would still not be enough to prevent dangerous climate change, the group said.

However, Sweden may now cease to be a frontrunner. In Septembers elections, a coalition of right-wing parties won a narrow majority of 176 out of 349 seats in the countrys parliament, as The New York Times reported at the time. The victory was made possible by surging support for the far-right Sweden Democrats, who have tried to distance themselves in recent years from their Nazi roots. The party is anti-immigrant and opposes Swedens goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, according to Bloomberg.

Kristersson, who leads the Moderates, said on October 14 he would form a three-party minority government with the support of the Sweden Democrats, as Reuters reported at the time. Then, on Tuesday, he announced his new cabinet with 26-year-old Liberal Member of Parliament Romina Pourmokhtari as Minister of Climate and Environment under Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch as Minister for Energy, Business and Industry, as Euronews reported.

It is regrettable, but Im not surprised, as the governments plans indicate a dismantling of environmental policy, Uppsala University researcher Mikael Karlsson told newspaper Dagens Nyheter, as Bloomberg News reported. Their subsidies of high consumption of electricity and fossil fuels are at odds with the foundations of environmental policy that has been in place for the last 50 years.

The new government has promised to follow through with Swedens national and international climate commitments, according to Euronews. It is planning to do so partly by bolstering nuclear power both by making it harder to retire old plants and by funding new ones. It also promised to expand the charging network for electric vehicles.

However, other plans would see it reduce the amount of biofuels that need to be mixed in with gas in order to lower gas prices, Bloomberg reported. This could make it harder to meet a goal of cutting transportation emissions by 70 percent by 2030.

Sweden is the latest example of how the rise of populist right-wing parties has proved detrimental to climate action. An April study found that the influence of these types of parties could reduce a nations climate policy score by nearly 25 percent.




Vietnamese pangasius shipments to ASEAN nations increased



Exports of pangasius from Vietnam to ASEAN countries have increased, with shipments by the end of September 2022 estimated above US$152 million or 8% of all total Vietnamese pangasius exports, Fish Information & Services reported.

With recent breakthroughs and consistent growth, the proportion of exports to ASEAN in total Vietnam pangasius exports has been nearly equal to that of the EU. Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, and Singapore are some of ASEAN's largest markets.

3.6% of the value of Vietnam's pangasius exports are to Thailand. By the end of Q3/2022, Pangasius exports to this market had surpassed US$70 million, an increase of 81% from the corresponding period in 2021. Thailand received 165% more pangasius exports in September.

The Philippines market saw the largest increase in September, growing five times over the same period. Pangasius exports to this market increased by 92% to more than US$25 million by the end of the third quarter, making up 1.3% of all pangasius exports.

With over US$28 million in sales in the first nine months of 2022, an increase of 56% over the same period, Singapore is the second-largest ASEAN market for Vietnamese pangasius. Exports of pangasius, particularly to Singapore in September, more than tripled.

With an import turnover of more than US$26 million in the first nine months of 2022, an increase of 114%, Malaysia also contributes in the same proportion as the Philippines. Pangasius exports to this market rose significantly by 138% in September.

Despite making up a small portion, other ASEAN nations like Cambodia, Indonesia, and Laos all frequently increase their imports of Vietnam's pangasius, with growth rates ranging from three to 23 times higher than in the same period in 2021.

As the selling price of pangasius is not high compared to other seafoods, the rising transportation costs are a disadvantage for the pangasius export industry. To cut costs, Vietnamese pangasius exporters should encourage sales to markets with favourable geographic conditions, like the ASEAN nations.

With the current growth rate, ASEAN tends to represent a larger share of pangasius exports and may soon surpass the EU.

- Fish Information & Services




Malaysian government assures plenty of egg supply in the country





Malaysia's Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs said there is ample supply of chicken eggs in the country, following reports of shortages in several areas, The Edge reported.

Datuk Azman Mohd Yusof, the Ministry Secretary-General, said they work with several ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (Mafi), and continuously monitor the supply of chicken eggs on the market.

He added that there had been no complaints about traders or other parties hoarding chicken eggs up to that point, and that those responsible would face legal repercussions.

In order to guarantee that there is an adequate supply of eggs in the consumer market, he said he has also been in touch with the Mafi secretary-general, and their officers are having technical discussions with several ministries today.

Azman said that the scarcity of chicken eggs in some areas was likely brought on by issues with payment, remote locations, transportation, and logistics, which can easily cause delivery to be disrupted.

He also hopes that all business leaders will work with the interim administration to supply the market with enough food at fair prices, especially before Deepavali.

- The Edge
10 October 2022  Each of the 22 countries and territories in the Region has its own story of determination, diplomacy, creativity, optimism and success in working towards realizing our shared vision of Health for All by All. These stories are highlighted during this years Regional Committee.

In Afghanistan, where the health needs of the population grew ever more acute following the change of regime in August 2021, 40 million increasingly vulnerable people faced the prospect of a health system on the brink of collapse.

As the world focused on flights out of Afghanistan, WHO was working on how to fly essential medical supplies in. Two weeks after the change of regime, 12.5 million metric tonnes of supplies landed in Mazar-e-Sharif. Since then, 2122 metric tonnes of medicines, medical supplies and equipment have been flown in and distributed as WHO and donors spared no effort to keep vital health services operational.

In Bahrain, the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) had worked for more than a decade before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen capacity and public health emergency readiness, advocating for strengthening partnerships and the mobilization of resources, and fostering innovation.

When the pandemic hit, the laboratory network was able to quickly scale-up testing from 3000 tests per day to 25 000, while creative solutions allowed NPHL to increase its workforce from two to 250 technicians.

NPHLs strategy made widespread testing possible from the outset of the pandemic, protecting community health and well-being in Bahrain, while partnerships with other laboratories, government ministries and national and global bodies such as WHO amplified the effectiveness of all stakeholders.

Vaccination to save lives

In January 2022, two decades after Djibouti was declared polio-free, environmental samples tested positive for circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV). Within a month, Djibouti had launched a two-round campaign to administer novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to children aged under five. By the end of the second round, 153 189 out of 156 194 children targeted had been vaccinated, resulting in a 98% coverage.

During the second round, 378 multidisciplinary vaccination teams received additional training and daily refreshers to ensure they were using best practices, while camels with coolboxes were used to keep the vaccine at the required temperature while accessing remote areas.

Through training, collaboration and creativity, Djibouti provided the best possible protection against polio for its children.

In Egypt, more than 100 million citizens stand to benefit from a streamlined and responsive healthcare system thanks to the countrys embrace of digital transformation to advance towards universal health coverage.

The authorities have invested heavily in information technology (IT) which is automating key tasks and smoothing care pathways, with data on public health outcomes being analysed to inform decisions about health care planning and resource allocation.

The early months of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Islamic Republic of Iran hard. In 2020 it registered over 1.2 million cases and more than 55 000 deaths. But once vaccines were available, the country transformed the situation.

An enormously successful vaccination campaign, covering all the countrys 31 provinces, meant that by the end of 2021 more than 50 million people had been fully vaccinated, including more than 2.5 million Afghan nationals who had arrived in the Islamic Republic of Iran as refugees or undocumented individuals.

By January 2022, more than 75% of the eligible population had received two doses of the vaccine, exceeding WHOs global target of 70% population coverage by mid-2022.

Hospitalization and deaths due to COVID-19 fell significantly, demonstrating that a resilient health system can achieve ambitious goals fast in an emergency.
Tynwald approves 18.3M funding to clash waiting lists

Manx Care will receive 18.3 million of Government funding to continue its work to reduce the Islands Orthopaedic, Ophthalmology and General Surgery waiting lists.

This follows a Supplementary Vote tabled by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on Tuesday during the October sitting of Tynwald.

The funding will support the delivery of Phase Two of Manx Cares Restoration and Recovery of Elective Activity programme which is already underway in conjunction with clinicians from Synaptik, Manx Cares strategic partner in this activity.

The funding for this activity will be ring-fenced by the DHSC and will sit separately from Manx Cares annual budget.
Blood donors thanked following appeal

Manx Care held an additional blood donation session this week in response to the UKs current alert for low stocks of blood.

Manx Cares Pathology team put out an appeal for any existing O negative or O positive blood donors to come forward and donate on Wednesday.

They collected an amazing 47 units of blood, which will negate the need to buy in usual small percentage from the UK at this time.

All of the blood donated on Wednesday will be kept on the Island.
Google is facing another fine for allegedly misusing its control of Android to suppress competition. CNET reports India's Competition Commission has fined Google the equivalent of $161.9 million for supposedly giving its Android apps an edge using restrictive terms. The company imposes an "unfair condition" on phone makers by requiring that they preinstall Google apps as part of agreements, according to officials. That, in turn, is said to discourage companies from developing heavily modified Android variants that rely less on Google services.

The Commission also maintains that Google is wielding its "dominant position" to squeeze out competitors in search, app stores, web browsers and video services. Historically, Google has required that phones with the Play Store installed also include apps like Chrome and YouTube, often with prominent placement on the home screen. While you can always install alternatives like Firefox and Vimeo, they're not included out of the box. Brands can use the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) if they want more flexibility, but they lose access to the Play Store in the process.

The regulator has issued a cease and desist order barring Google from requiring a "bouquet" of preinstalled apps. Companies have to be given the choice of which apps they want. Google also isn't allowed to deny access to the Play Services framework, to include "anti-fragmentation" clauses that bar Android forks, or to offer incentives in return for exclusive search deals. Third-party app stores must be allowed to distribute through the Play Store. Users, meanwhile, must have the power to choose their search engine on setup and to uninstall Google apps they don't want.

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Google has declined to comment until it receives the official Commission order. The investigation began in 2019, but didn't determine that Google had abused its dominance until September 2021.

The fine is tiny for Google, which made about $257.6 billion in worldwide revenue last year. The order could force it to significantly alter its deals with Android manufacturers, however, and comes after South Korea, the European Union and others have demanded similar changes. And Google can't afford to ignore India  it's the second-largest smartphone market on Earth with about 606.6 million users. A forced withdrawal would significantly damage Google's bottom line, not to mention clout in the mobile industry.
Chinese hybrid rice technologies contribute to Philippines' agricultural development

10:04, October 21, 2022 By Zhao Yipu ( People's Daily

Philippine farmers plant hybrid rice in a paddy field with a rice transplanter. (Photo courtesy of the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology)

The Philippine-Sino Friendship Farm is located in Maluid Barangay of the municipality of Victoria, Tarlac province, the Philippines. Rice growing is a major business of the farm.

Villager Maniego, 94, who owns the six-hectare farm, often goes to the fields to check the growth of rice.

"I've been cooperating with the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology (PhilSCAT) over the past more than a decade. I have grown many varieties of hybrid rice developed by Chinese experts, which improved the yield per hectare to nearly 11 tons from three to four tons in the past," said Maniego.

"I raised the salary for my employees on the farm after the production was lifted," he told People's Daily.

The PhilSCAT was established in Nueva Ecija province, the Philippines in 2001. It focuses on the research, development and promotion of hybrid rice varieties.

The center has helped plant commercial hybrid rice on 514,400 hectares of paddy fields in the Philippines over the past 21 years, and set pilot demonstration programs of rice growing and seed production techniques in 29 Philippine provinces. It has benefited over 300,000 farming households and increased grain production by over 4.8 billion kilograms.

"We believe in China's hybrid rice technologies and Chinese experts," said Maniego.

A Chinese expert records rice growth in a hybrid rice planting demonstration site in the Philippines. (Photo courtesy of the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology)

Maniego spoke of his Chinese friend Ma Wendong, who offered technical guidance for his farm. "We used to check rice growth in the paddy fields together, wearing straw hats and barefooted," he told People's Daily.

Ma is a hybrid rice expert sent to the PhilSCAT by Yuan Longping High-tech Agriculture Co., Ltd. (Longping High-tech) which is named after Yuan Longping, known as the father of hybrid rice. Under Ma's guidance, all six hectares of Maniego's farmland are planted with hybrid rice.

Experts sent by Longping High-tech to the PhilSCAT have cultivated and introduced to the Philippines multiple high-quality hybrid rice varieties, including 18 that have been approved by the country's agricultural authorities and entered the local market.

At the completion ceremony of the PhilSCAT Technical Cooperation Program Phase III, then Philippine Secretary of Agriculture William D. Dar noted that China's hybrid rice technologies had steadily lifted rice production in his country, which was important for ensuring food security and improving farmers' livelihood.

Besides, the PhilSCAT has introduced 449 sets of equipment to the Philippines for training, production and scientific research.

The PhilSCAT Technical Cooperation Program Phase III is undertaken by Central Luzon State University. In 2019, its employee Efraim Saturno went to China to attend a training program on hybrid rice technologies.

"I saw efficient mechanized agricultural production in Ningxiang, central China's Hunan Province. All procedures were completed by machines, including seed production, sowing, growing and harvesting. It was very impressive," Saturno said.

So far, the PhilSCAT has trained 15,000 people and sent 11 batches of Philippine technicians to China for training. It also offers suggestions for the Philippines' Department of Agriculture and relevant institutions, promoting reforms on eight local mechanisms.

Hybrid rice seedlings are cultivated. (Photo courtesy of the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology)

Edgar Orden, president of Central Luzon State University told People's Daily that the university is a witness to the PhilSCAT's development over the past 21 years, which saw the contributions made by Chinese agricultural experts to Philippines-China agricultural cooperation.

He said the Chinese experts' contributions are important to the Philippines' agricultural development, and Philippines-China agricultural cooperation is conducive to ensuring the Philippines' food security.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Wu Chengliang)
Journalist Nupur Archarya has announced his departure from Bloomberg LP as Asia Equities Reporter. He joins the American financial services company Moody's corporation as Vice President, Communications for South Asia.



Acharya announced the news on LinkedIn: "I have news (well, what else would you expect from a career journalist right?) and its personal. After a long and fulfilling career as a newsman working in vibrant global newsrooms of Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal, I have decided to try something new and exciting at another great company - Moodys Corporation. You may see a new LinkedIn profile, a new email ID, and I will talk about new things. But trust me, for all of you, I will be the same person you have always known me as. Nupur Acharya. Wishing all the brilliant people here a very Happy Diwali. #teammoodys"



He was associated with Bloomberg LP since February 2015. In his last role at the company, Acharya was the Asia Equities Reporter, covering top stocks, fund managers, sell-side trends.



He has also worked for publications like The Wall Street Journal, CNBC TV18 and the Press Trust of India.

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
The Pound (GBP) strengthened against the US Dollar (USD) on Thursday, as Liz Truss announced her resignation as Prime Minister of the UK.

This saw the GBP/USD exchange rate jump to roughly US$1.1321, which was around a 1% increase from Thursdays opening rates.

Pound (GBP) Exchange Rates Rally as Truss Resigns

On Thursday, the Pound rallied against many of its peers after Liz Truss announced her resignation as Prime Minister of the UK.

Truss gave a resignation speech which stated: I recognise though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty The King to notify him that I am resigning as Leader of the Conservative Party. This morning I met the Chair of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady. We have agreed there will be a leadership election to be completed in the next week. I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen.

The news came as a surprise to investors, and followed a week of political turmoil which dented the Pound. Wednesday saw the suspension of Jason Stein, one of Truss key advisors, the resignation of Suella Braverman in the evening and finally a chaotic vote on fracking in the House of Commons.

Thursday has seen the market reacting to this instability, with GBP trading poorly during the start of the session, and bond yields spiking.

Immediately after her resignation, GBP and gilt yields rallied, prompting a recovery that buoyed the Pound throughout Thursdays session.

It remains to be seen if the tailwinds will continue as the Conservatives choose a new leader for the party and country, especially as many opposition parties and MPs have called for an immediate general election.

US Dollar (USD) Exchange Rates Falter amid Risk-On Market Mood

Thursdays session saw the US Dollar (USD) affected by headwinds prompted by a market mood shift. These headwinds prompted USD to weaken against most major peers.

This comes as the market sentiment shifted to risk-on, with currency investors exploring their options with riskier currencies, especially the currently volatile Pound (GBP). With the return on investment seeming more promising elsewhere, investors left USD behind.

Thursday saw the release of the previous weeks initial jobless claims, which demonstrated a fall in unemployment over the week. While investors have priced in strong rate hikes from the , the falling unemployment shows that the US economy is ticking upward. While this would normally predicate higher rate hikes, the risk-on nature of the market allowing short-term gains for investors outweighed the positive US data.

However, further losses were mitigated due to the aforementioned expectation of the rate hikes  with the Greenback still benefiting from the Feds hawkish rhetoric.

GBP/USD Exchange Rate Forecast: UK Politics in the Spotlight

The core catalyst of movement for the GBP/USD exchange rate is likely to remain UK political volatility. Now that Truss has resigned, the country and investors will await an entirely new Prime Minister and cabinet.

With this uncertainty, it remains to be seen what the next Prime Minister will bring to the table economically, with the current fiscal plan now up in the air. Any further turbulence may weigh heavily on the Pound.

For the US Dollar, the core catalyst of movement may be global affairs. With the global economic outlook remaining uncertain, investors may flock the safe-haven Greenback.
The city of Laurel and the Highway 212 bridge crossing the Yellowstone River (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).

Yellowstone County hasnt stopped the project.

The City of Laurel said it cant.

But a large gas-fired power generation plant being planned by NorthWestern Energy has begun moving ground, even pouring a foundation, according to a lawsuit filed by three groups on Monday, which accuse both Yellowstone County and the City of Laurel of allowing the plant to be built without any local review and without public input.

On Monday, several organizations, including Earthjustice, the Northern Plains Resource Council and the Montana Environmental Information Center took the county, City of Laurel and NorthWestern to a state district court, asking a judge to decide who controls the parcel outside-but-near the city limits. Those groups argue that the inaction has led to a situation where they have no means of appeals or review for the plans that they say will harm the environment and ruin property owners living nearby.

Both Yellowstone County and NorthWestern Energy told the Daily Montanan that they are reviewing the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the City of Laurel sent a legal opinion it issued to the mayor and city council in May that outlined why it could not exercise extra-territorial zoning on a parcel of land that sits close to city limits and nearby a Bureau of Land Management recreation area.

The plans calls for a 175-megawatt generation system of a natural gas-fired plant, consisting of 18 reciprocal internal combustion engines. The design calls for 18 exhaust stacks rising seven stories above the ground.

The reason neither Yellowstone County nor the City of Laurel has taken action rests upon a finer point of Montana law. State law gives cities the power to control land use outside, but nearby, city limits. Laurels jurisdictional area extends 4.5 miles beyond the limits, while properties within one mile may be required to follow city zoning code. However, state law says Montana cities can extend those zoning rules only if a county has not adopted a land-use planning document. In those cases, the role of zoning reverts to the county.

The City of Laurel says because the county has adopted a countywide land-use subdivision plan, it does not have the power to regulate the land where the new power plant is sited. The city sent the proposal to the county for study, but the county has not taken action or asserted jurisdiction, leaving half the parcel zoned heavy industrial, the other part, agricultural.

The lawsuit claims that NorthWestern Energy has taken advantage of the impasse and is already clearing land and laying a foundation.

The citys failure to exercise its jurisdiction to address or enforce current zoning designations on NorthWesterns parcel causes direct injury to plaintiffs ability to participate in the governmental decision-making process, the lawsuit argues. By rejecting the zoning jurisdiction over the plant site, the city and the county have effectively allowed NorthWestern to move forward on its building plans free from any local zoning regulation.

Reverse course?

As plans to build the plant were announced, it appeared the City of Laurel would exercise zoning authority. Until December 2021, city staff and the city council were tackling issue, as was NorthWestern, which applied to Laurel for a rezoning request so that all the land, which lies adjacent to the CHS refinery, would be rezoned to heavy industrial.

On Sept. 15, 2021 the joint city-county planning board forwarded NorthWesterns rezoning application to the City of Laurel with the recommendation to approve the request.

The city council originally tabled the request, but not before hearing from concerned residents during the course of several meetings.

On Nov. 23, the council sent the issue back to the city-county planning board for further investigation after a planner for the city said the records and findings were incomplete.

After that, the lawsuit claims the county has told the plaintiffs groups that the matter belongs to the City of Laurel while the Laurel city attorney has advised the council not to undertake any rezoning.

The citys sudden abandonment of its zoning authority opened the door for NorthWestern to build its heavy industrial plant in violation of current zoning designations and ordinances, which the city has explicitly refused to apply and enforce, the lawsuit said. NorthWestern has taken advantage of the lack of local government oversight over its properties and is swiftly moving forward with construction. The citys failure to recognize its zoning authority without any government process to participate in.

The lawsuit also accuses the city attorney of intentionally stifling conversations and threatening those opposed to the power plant.

The city attorney has communicated directly with members of the plaintiff organizations, asking them to cease and desist organizing constituents and to stop communicating with elected officials and staff over this matter, the suit contends.

In a letter attached as an exhibit, city attorney Michele Braukmann said, I also respectfully ask that these communications, moving forward, come through my office. Inundating Council Members that have a lot on their plate in respect to city business is not productive, and it further alienates parties/issues.

Laurel: No obligation to zone

In a legal analysis sent to city staff and the council, Braukmann advised the city not to act on the zoning request, saying that the county is the proper venue to decide the land-use.

In the present circumstances, Yellowstone County has indicated an intent, pursuant to its growth policy, zoning regulations and subdivision regulations to exercise jurisdictional control over county parcels and properties. While the county has not specifically included the extra-territorial one-mile radius around city limits, the county has not specifically declined to exercise jurisdiction over these properties, the memo said.

In that detailed analysis, Braukmann said the county has been silent on the issue of extraterritorial zoning, and it doesnt specify how the issues are to be handled, and what role the city-county planning board would play.

The City of Laurel has no legal obligation, by statute or case law in the State of Montana, to assume zoning authority over property outside its city limits, Braukmann wrote. And, in fact, because of the subdivision regulations that the county has enacted, exercise of such authority by the City of Laurel would be improper.

The standoff has left residents without a venue to challenge the plant.

A year ago, both NorthWestern and the City of Laurel clearly agreed that the city had zoning jurisdiction over the land in question, said Anne Hedges, policy director with the Montana Environmental Information Center. Since that time, theyve done a 180 and now pretend that no local government has zoning jurisdiction thereby shutting out community concerns over a large, loud, polluting plant on the banks of the Yellowstone River. The community deserves a voice in what happens in their neighborhood.

The post Groups take Laurel, Yellowstone County and NWE to court for methane power plant appeared first on Daily Montanan.
More than 800 farmers gathered at the British Farming Awards last night to honour the dedication and achievements of this years finalists.

Farmers from across the country gathered at The Vox in Birmingham for the event, which is sponsored by Morrisons and organised by Farmers Guardian.

There, more than 800 farmers and other industry professionals vied for the seventeen categories up for grabs.

Alongside core sectors including  dairy, beef, sheep, arable and machinery  there was also recognition for students, family farms, sustainable businesses, and new entrants.

The winner of this years 'Farming Hero; Flying the Flag for British Agriculture' award went to social media influencer and young dairy farmer, Tom Pemberton.

His videos depict life on his familys dairy farm, which have captured the attention of millions across the globe.

Tom Pemberton's Farm Life has secured a loyal following of consumers thanks to his endearing honesty and passion to promote the industry to the wider public.

His growing presence and big personality has proved to be a runaway success and he is part of a new wave of stereotype-smashing young farmers enjoying a public profile.

Tom has gone on to front BBC3s new tractor-racing series The Fast and the Farmer-ish after his YouTube channel was scouted by producers.

The Outstanding Contribution to British Agriculture was awarded to the chief executive of the National Sheep Association (NSA) Phil Stocker.

Having recently celebrated 10 years of leadership at the NSA, Phil has represented a sector who have experienced unprecedented times, including Brexit, coronavirus and the impact of the Ukrainian war.

Phil has also championed increased use of advanced breeding techniques to promote genetic improvement, more innovative use of cross-breeding and at lobbying the needs and demands of UK sheep farmers at a national and political level.

At the ceremony, the ever increasing sophistication and developments within agri-technology was also recognised, with the category welcoming a record number of entries.

The audience was praised for their innovation and commitment along as food producers, innovators and custodians of the countryside.

Sophie Throup, Morrisons head of agriculture said: The British Farming Awards are a welcome reminder of the dedication and hard work demonstrated by UK farmers all year round.

"At Morrisons, we have always valued British farming and the effort, innovation and skills which go into providing food farmed to the high standards that we all enjoy and is something we should be proud of.

For more information about the winners, finalists and awards evening, visit the British Farming Awards website.
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Warrenton, VA (20186)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low near 45F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low near 45F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
The exports of apparel from Cambodia increased by 23.09 per cent year-on-year to $7.174 billion during January-September 2022. This constituted 41.60 per cent of Cambodias total foreign income of $17.258 billion during the period under review, according to data from the general department of customs and excise under the ministry of economy and finance.

Cambodias exports of apparel and clothing accessories (knitted) earned $5.110 billion in the first nine months of this year, which was 21.1 per cent higher than the exports worth $4.220 billion during the corresponding period of last year. The countrys exports of apparel and clothing accessories (not knitted) rose by 28.4 per cent to $2.064 billion in the period under review. Last year, in this category, the country had exported apparel worth $1.608 billion.

The exports of apparel from Cambodia increased by 23.09 per cent year-on-year to $7.174 billion during January-September 2022. This constituted 41.60 per cent of Cambodia's total foreign income of $17.258 billion during the period under review, according to data from the general department of customs and excise under the ministry of economy and finance.

As for the imports, the countrys knitted or crocheted fabric imports during January-September 2022 were valued at $2.380 billion, which was 10 per cent higher than the imports worth $2.164 billion in the same period last year. Likewise, man-made fibre imports grew by 16.9 per cent to $916.897 million, against $784.628 million in January-September 2021. Cotton imports rose by 1.3 per cent to reach $392.064 million during the period under review, compared to $387.153 million in the same period of 2021.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
Trade between the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) has declined since Brexit, according to a new report from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), whose research shows a 16 per cent reduction in UK-to-EU goods trade and a 20 per cent fall in EU-to-UK trade relative to the pre-Brexit environment. Global exports of goods from the UK have been growing slowly.

This may have been partially a result of Brexit spillover effects on supply chains. ESRI noted. The impact of Brexit on EU-UK trade, therefore, does not appear as large if compared to UK trade with the rest of the world as it does when compared to the faster-growing performance of EU trade.

Trade between the United Kingdom and the EU has declined since Brexit, according to a new report from the Economic and Social Research Institute, whose research shows a 16 per cent reduction in UK-to-EU goods trade and a 20 per cent fall in EU-to-UK trade relative to the pre-Brexit environment. Global exports of goods from the UK have been growing slowly.

Though goods trade between the EU and UK recovered most of its previous level in value terms following the sharp fall in the early months of 2021, this recovery leaves it well below the levels that would have been expected if it had performed on a comparable level with other trade partners, ESRI said in a press note.

Exports from Ireland to the United Kingdom, on the other hand, continue to perform in line with those of other markets with no notable impact to date of Brexit on the total levels traded.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 20, 2022) - PORTOFINO RESOURCES INC. (TSXV: POR) (OTCQB: PFFOF) (FSE: POTA) ("Portofino" or the "Company") reports that pursuant to the Company's filing and request, an injunction has been granted by the Mining Court for the Province of Catamarca (the "Court") against Mr. Fabian Bertetto, the Optionor ("Bertetto") of the Yergo Project in Catamarca, Argentina (the "Yergo Project"). The Court ordered injunction (the "Injunction") has also been filed with the Provincial Ministry of Mining.

The granting of this Injunction by the Court is a positive step for the Company as the Injunction means:

prima facie, the Court's Judge considers that Portofino's arguments and claim have reasonable grounds under Argentine Law; and it legally prohibits Bertetto from entering into any form of alternative transaction regarding the Yergo Project.

David Tafel, the Company's CEO, commented: "The granting of this Injunction is a recognition by the provincial court that Portofino's stance regarding its adherence to terms of the Yergo Agreements has merit, Bertetto's Notice may be invalid, and he may have breached the terms of the Yergo Agreements. Our legal counsel in Buenos Aires and Catamarca, presented extensive evidence in the Injunction filing that Portofino worked diligently and in good faith to explore, finance and advance the Yergo Project with Bertetto's full support. We anticipate additional Court rulings in the near term and will continue to defend the interests of the Company and the significant investment of our shareholders."

Background

Pursuant to the news release September 22, 2022, the Company received a Notice of Termination (the "Notice") from Mr. Fabian Bertetto, regarding the April 2019 Binding Letter Option Agreement and the May 2021 Binding Letter Agreement Addendum (collectively the "Agreements").

The Notice purports to terminate the Agreements, however, Portofino has not breached the Agreements and as evidenced by the Injunction grant, is defending its legal rights vigorously. Bertetto is contractually and legally prohibited to initiate, solicit or entertain any expressions of interest or proposals from any person (or company) or take any action to facilitate the purchase or sale or option of all or any interest in the Yergo Project. In the event that such provision has been breached, the Company reserves the right to additionally pursue Bertetto and the counterparty, or counterparties, causing the contractual breach and will seek damages and cost recovery from Bertetto and all parties that induced, or attempted to induce, Bertetto to breach the Agreements.

Yergo Project Activity to Continue

In collaboration with our local civil works and drilling services teams in Catamarca, the Company is currently finalizing revisions to the drill permit application as requested recently by the Ministry. Assuming these revisions meet the requirements of the Ministry, and a drill permit is approved, the Company will proceed with site preparation for the planned drill program.

About Portofino Resources Inc.

Portofino is a Vancouver-based Canadian company focused on exploring and developing mineral resource projects in the Americas. Portofino has an opportunity to earn a majority interest in multiple lithium projects in Salta, Argentina and up to 100% of the Yergo Lithium property in Catamarca. The properties are situated in the heart of the world-renowned Argentine Lithium Triangle and in close proximity to multiple world-class lithium projects. The Company also has the right to earn 100% interest in three northwestern Ontario, Canada lithium projects: Allison Lake North, Greenheart Lake and McNamara Lake.

Portofino's South of Otter and Bruce Lake projects are in the historic gold mining district of Red Lake, Ontario, Canada proximal to the Dixie gold project discovered by Great Bear Resources and now owned by Kinross Gold Corp. In addition, Portofino holds three other northwestern Ontario gold projects; the Gold Creek property located immediately south of the historic Shebandowan mine, as well as the Sapawe West and Melema West properties located in the rapidly developing Atikokan gold mining camp.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"David G. Tafel"

Chief Executive Officer

For Further Information Contact:

David Tafel CEO,

Director 604-683-1991

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking statements. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: any potential outcome following granting of an injunction; the merits of the claims made in the Notice and the effectiveness of the Notice; the Company's connection to the matters under dispute; the Company's intention to defend itself with respect to the claims made in the Notice and the purported termination of the Agreements; the potential value of the project; the Company's intention to pursue parties in relation to the claims made in the Notice and the purported termination of the Agreements and to seek cost recovery and damages from such parties; the Company's intention to set a property payment in reserve until all issues have been resolved to the Company's satisfaction; the Company's intention to proceed with revisions to its drill permit application; the Company's intention to proceed with site preparation and planned drill program; and the Company's future business plans. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on certain assumptions and expected future events, namely: the Company's ability to effect a positive outcome following granting of an injunction; the ability of the Company to defend itself against the claims set out in the Notice; the Company's ability to challenge the purported termination of the Agreements; and the growth and development of the Company's business as currently anticipated. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: the potential for the claims set out in the Notice and the purported termination of the Agreements to have in an adverse material impact on the Company; the potential for damage to the Company's reputation or commercial relationships as a result of the claims set out in the Notice and the purported termination of the Agreements; and the uncertainty as to the outcome and timing of the claims set out in the Notice. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141371
IONIQ 5 outpaced a competitive field of 45 all-new or significantly redesigned SUVs

The all-electric SUV excelled in key criteria: safety, efficiency, value, advancement in design, engineering excellence and performance of intended function

MotorTrend judges praised the "smartly packaged crossover" for its "great range and quick-charging capability" as well as its "futuristic" styling

SEOUL, South Korea and LOS ANGELES, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MotorTrend announced today that Hyundai IONIQ 5 is the winner of its 'Golden Calipers' for SUV of the Year. IONIQ 5 outpaced a competitive field of 45 all-new or significantly redesigned SUVs, 25 of which were electrified. IONIQ 5 stood out from the strong competition with its sharp style, cohesion of details and user experience.





"IONIQ 5 winning MotorTrend's SUV of the Year recognizes Hyundai's relentless focus on world-class product development, design, engineering and manufacturing," said Jaehoon (Jay) Chang, President and CEO, Hyundai Motor Company. "This is one of the most prestigious accolades in the automotive industry and we are honored that IONIQ 5 is being rewarded for its excellent range, fast-charging capability, progressive design, practical interior space and advanced technology."

"For the first time in MotorTrend's 74-year history, the majority of contenders vying for MotorTrend SUV of the Year were electrified, with hybrid, plug-in hybrid or full battery-electric power," said Ed Loh, head of editorial, MotorTrend Group. "The sheer volume and capability of all contenders made it one of the most competitive SUV of the Year programs ever, which is great news for consumers looking for efficient, future-forward SUVs and crossovers."

IONIQ 5 won SUV of the Year by excelling against the MotorTrend of the Year award's six key criteria: safety, efficiency, value, advancement in design, engineering excellence and performance of intended function.

The MotorTrend accolade is the latest honor bestowed upon Hyundai's all-electric SUV. Previously, IONIQ 5 won the 2022 World Car of the Year, World Electric Vehicle of the Year and World Car Design of the Year as well as German Car of the Year, UK Car of the Year, Auto Express' Car of the Year and Auto Bild's Electric Car of the Year.

More information about Hyundai Motor and its products can be found at: http://worldwide.hyundai.com or http://globalpr.hyundai.com





















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SYDNEY, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hurun & PwC Australia 2022 Awards Gala was grandly held at Hordern Pavilion in Sydney to recognize the outstanding contributions and achievements of corporates and individuals in Australian community. AETOS Capital Group (AETOS) was invited to the gala as the winner of 2022 Hurun Australia's Business Excellence in Online Financial Service Provider award and has become the first and only Australian Forex and CFD online trading broker to win this heavyweight award since the official debut of Hurun Report in Australia in 2019.





Hurun Report Awards Gala, known as the "Oscars of Business", have attracted top business professionals in attendance since 2019. Hurun Report has grown into a networking platform uniting business, as well as cultural and philanthropic figures from the local mainstream and Chinese communities in Australia. Adhering to the principles of independence, fairness and objectivity, Hurun Report has brought professionals in their industries together to recognize the best of the best and rewards those who have made outstanding contributions in business and arts.

In recent years, AETOS has developed outstandingly despite in an era of global economic uncertainty caused by the covid-19 crisis. Its senior analyst team in Australia has built a highly valuable trading education system, integrating the trading support, which helps local investors learn financial knowledge, master trading skills, and access the broad financial derivatives market at any time.

AETOS has been committed to exploring the integration of finance and technology. Its technical team has conducted in-depth research on all aspects of the online trading and created innovative trading tools that has provided a one-stop trading experience for investors. After years of development, AETOS has expanded its global business and grew into a world leading online trading platform.

The Business Excellence in Online Financial Service Provider is the first and only award for Forex and CFD online brokers by Hurun Report. It proves the recognition of AETOS' contribution to the local and global financial markets, and the highly anticipated expectation of its future development. With 15 years' valuable experience and presence, AETOS will continue to provide more professional, transparent, and efficient industry-leading trading services for institutional and individual investors around the world.

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The U.S. Laser Cutting Machine Market is expected to hold more than 75% of the North American market by 2032. The Asia-Pacific region is one of the largest consumers of laser cutting machines. Germany is the most appealing market for laser cutting machines, expected to account for more than 25% of the market value.

NEWARK, Del., Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Future Market Insights analysis, the Global Laser Cutting Machine Market is expected to reach US$ 3,386.4 Mn in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 5.8% from 2022 to 2032.





Laser cutting has emerged as a versatile, cost-effective method that delivers extremely high precision as compared to conventional cutting methods for many applications. Laser cutting machines have applications in many industries, such as automotive, aerospace, ceramics, metal cutting, defense, semiconductors, glass, ceramics, paper, etc. This product helps to cut material without creating heat or any mechanical stress.

The accuracy, productivity, and efficiency of laser cutting machines are more preferable as compared to other cutting machines. Because they are so well suited to mass production processes, highly complex and specialized components are typically preferred for many industries. As it can cut items more quickly than a waterjet cutting machine, laser cutting is a more cost-effective choice. These are the driving forces behind the market's expansion, making it more stable in the years to come.

Get Access To Sample Now: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-15682

Key Takeaways of Laser Cutting Machine Market Study

The value of mechanized Laser Cutting Machine is projected to increase at a value CAGR of 5.8% to reach around US$ 5,974.1 Mn by the end of 2032.

by the end of 2032. In terms of End Use, Automotive and Transportation are anticipated to create an absolute dollar opportunity worth US$ 805.6 Mn .

. In the Global Laser Cutting Machine market, fiber based technology in Laser Cutting Machine is projected account for more than 60% share by the end of forecast period owing to its demand which is increasing in day to day applications

By Region, East Asia is anticipated to account for more than 25% of market share in terms of volume by the end of 2032 and is expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period.

"Adoption of technologies for improving machines and customer centric product offerings are the key trends paving the way for futuristic growth for the Laser Cutting Machine market." says Future Market insights analyst

Competitive Landscape

The market is fragmented among the market participants, accounting for market share ranging from 30% to 40% of market revenue in 2021. Prominent players in the market are aim to concentrate on diversifying their product lines with technologically advanced products in order to gain a prominent share in the market and offer significant efficiency and better output to their customers.

The TRUMPF, Bystronic DNE, Hans Laser, HSG Laser, Amada Co. Ltd., Coherent, Inc. are a few of the market's major participants.

Customization Report Before Buying, Visit: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-15682

More Insights into the Laser Cutting Machine Market Report

In its latest report, Future Market Insights offers an unbiased analysis of the Global Laser Cutting Machine market, providing historical data from 2017 to 2021 and forecast statistics for the period 2022-to 2032. To understand the global market potential, growth, and scope, the market is segmented based on by Technology, by mode of operation, by end use and by region.

Key Segments Covered in Laser Cutting Machine Industry Analysis

Laser Cutting Machine Market by Technology:

Gas Based

Solid State

Fiber Based

Laser Cutting Machine Market by Mode of Operation:

Mechanized

Manual

Laser Cutting Machine Market by End Use:

Automotive and Transportation

Consumer Electronics and Appliances

Electrical and Heavy Machinery

Metal Fabrication

Other Industrial

Laser Cutting Machine Market by Country:

North America

Latin America

Europe

East Asia

South Asia & Pacific

& Pacific Middle East and Africa (MEA)

Table of Content

1. Executive Summary

1.1. Global Market Outlook

1.2. Demand Side Trends

1.3. Supply Side Trends

1.4. Technology Roadmap

1.5. 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. Key Success Factors

4.1. Product Adoption / Usage Analysis

4.2. Product USPs / Features

4.3. Strategic Promotional Strategies

5. Global Laser Cutting Machine Market Demand Analysis 2017-2021 and Forecast, 2022-2032

5.1. Historical Market Volume (Units) Analysis, 2017-2021

5.2. Current and Future Market Volume (Units) Projections, 2022-2032

5.3. Y-o-Y Growth Trend Analysis

Request A Complete Toc: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-15682

About Future Market Insights - Industrial Automation

The Industrial Automation division of Future Market Insights offers a novel approach and innovative perspective in analyzing industrial automation market. Comprehensive coverage of capital, portable, process, construction, industrial and special purpose machinery across manufacturing sector and distinctive analysis about installed base, consumables, replacement, USP-feature-application matrix make us a pioneering voice in the industry.

We are preferred associates with established as well as budding industry stakeholders and channel partners when it comes to sustain, grow and identify new revenue prospects.

Explore Our Trending Reports of FMI's Industrial Automation Market Insights Landscape

Lead Acid Battery Market Size -North America is anticipated to be the largest market for lead acid due to the matured and developed automobile sector in the region. The presence of leading automobile companies, such as Toyota, Ford motor company, General Motors,

Solar Microinverter Market Size - Global demand for solar microinverter is expected to at a CAGR of 18.1% from 2022 to 2032, reaching a valuation of US$ 5,716.0 Mn by 2032

Biocomposites Market Size - According to Future Market Insights, the global demand for biocomposites is projected to increase at a prolific CAGR of 16% during the forecast period between 2022 and 2032.

Industrial Safety Footwear Market Size - The increasing rate of ergonomically designed safety shoes is one of the latest protective shoe market trends. Ergonomically designed footwear has a more significant influence on body weight and movement, which if not implemented can lead to several health issues accompanied by comfort and fitness issues.

Solar Inverter Market Size - In 2022, the solar inverter market in the U.S. is predicted to expand at a 5.2% CAGR. The development of new and innovative products by manufacturers operating in the U.S. will augment the growth in the market.

Powered Lawn Mowers Market Size - During the forecast period, a rapid growth rate in the market for powered lawn mowers in North America is anticipated with a market share of 34.0% in 2022.

About Future Market Insights, Inc.

Future Market Insights, Inc. is an ESOMAR-certified business consulting & market research firm, a member of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce and is headquartered in Delaware, USA. A recipient of Clutch Leaders Award 2022 on account of high client score (4.9/5), we have been collaborating with global enterprises in their business transformation journey and helping them deliver on their business ambitions. 80% of the largest Forbes 1000 enterprises are our clients. We serve global clients across all leading & niche market segments across all major industries.

Contact Us:

Future Market Insights, Inc

Christiana Corporate,

200 Continental Drive,

Suite 401, Newark,

Delaware - 19713, USA

T: +1-845-579-5705

For Sales Enquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com

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KELOWNA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 20, 2022 / Avant Brands Inc. (TSX:AVNT)(OTCQX:AVTBF)(FRA:1BU0) ("Avant" or the "Company") announced today that 1000343100 Ontario Inc. (the "DIP Lender"), an entity of which Avant owns 50% of the issued and outstanding shares, has executed a term sheet with The Flowr Corporation (FLWR; FLWPF) ("Flowr") and its subsidiaries, The Flowr Group (Okanagan) Inc. ("Flowr Okanagan"), The Flowr Canada Holdings ULC ("Flowr ULC") and Terrace Global Inc. ("Terrace" and collectively with the Company, Flowr Okanagan and Flowr ULC, the "Flowr Group") pursuant to which the DIP Lender will advance a debtor-in-possession ("DIP") loan in the amount of $2,000,000 (the "DIP Loan") in connection with the Flowr Group's application for protection from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) (the "Court") under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (the "CCAA").

The DIP Loan is conditional on, among other things, the approval from the Court. Avant will provide updates with respect to the CCAA in due course.

About Avant Brands Inc.

Avant is an innovative, market-leading premium cannabis company. Avant has multiple operational production facilities across Canada, which produce high-quality, handcrafted cannabis products, based on unique and exceptional cultivars. Avant's products are distributed via three complementary sales channels: recreational, medical and export.

Avant's recreational consumer brands include: BLKMKT, Tenzo, Cognoscente and Treehugger, all produced from rare and exceptional cultivars, and sold in British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Atlantic Canada, and the territories. The Company's medical cannabis brand, GreenTec, is distributed nationwide, directly to qualified patients through its GreenTec Medical portal, and through various medical cannabis partners.

Avant is a publicly traded corporation listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: AVNT), and cross-trades on the OTCQX Best Market (OTCQX: AVTBF) and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA: 1BU0). The Company is headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia and has operations in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.

To learn more about Avant, to access the investor presentation, or learn more about its consumer brands, please visit www.avantbrands.ca.

For additional information, please contact:

Investor Relations at Avant Brands Inc.

1-800-351-6358

ir@avantbrands.ca

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION:

This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" or similar expressions and includes information regarding: advances pursuant to the DIP Loan; and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Examples include statements that the Company will operate in a fiscally disciplined manner; that the Company will build long-term shareholder value and reduce operational expenses; or that the Company will increase its revenue and gross margins.

Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical fact but instead reflects management's expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of the Company. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information are the following: regulatory and licensing risks; changes in consumer demand and preferences; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; the global regulatory landscape and enforcement related to cannabis, including political risks and risks relating to regulatory change; compliance with extensive government regulation; public opinion and perception of the cannabis industry; and the risk factors set out in the Company's annual information form dated March 31, 2022, filed with Canadian securities regulators and available on the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE: Avant Brands Inc.

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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Billionaire and Tesla founder Elon Musk plans to eliminate about 75 percent of Twitter's staff once he has bought the social media company for $44 billion, the Washington Post reported citing interviews and documents. According to the report, Elon Musk told prospective investors that he plans to reduce Twitter's staff from about 7,5000 down to just over 2,000. The Job cuts are expected in the coming months no matter who owns the company. The report indicated that Twitter had already planned to reduce wages at the company by around $800 million by the end of next year and reduce workforce by around 25 percent. The company had also planned to make major cuts to its infrastructure, including data centers that keep the site functioning for more than 200 million users that log on each day. Earlier this month, Elon Musk took a U-turn and again proposed to Twitter to acquire the social media company for the originally agreed price of $54.20 per share. The news came as the two sides had been preparing to head to trial in two weeks over Musk's attempt to terminate of the $44 billion acquisition agreement, which Twitter had sued him to complete. In April, Twitter had agreed to sell the company to Musk. However, in July, Musk decided to call off the deal over allegations that the company had given false information about the number of fake and spam accounts on its social media handle. Following Musk's declaration, Twitter filed a case against Musk to go ahead with his side of the deal. 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.
TOKYO, Oct 21, 2022 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu Limited and Toyota Systems Corporation (hereinafter Toyota Systems) today announced the launch of a new automobile production instruction system at Toyota Motor Corporation's (1) Tsutsumi plant leveraging Fujitsu's Quantum-Inspired Digital Annealer technology (2).The Digital Annealer offers users access to powerful combinatorial optimization problem-solving capabilities for challenges that prove difficult for conventional hardware, and Toyota Systems and Fujitsu previously used the technology in 2020 in a project to optimize supply chain and logistics network operations essential to support automobile production. The latest project represents the first use case in Japan in which Fujitsu's Digital Annealer technology has been applied to streamline automobile production operations.The new system enables efficient and high-speed solution searching by utilizing constraint processing technology to express complex business constraints in equations and inequalities, a proprietary technology available since the third generation of the Digital Annealer--the processing technology was developed by Fujitsu Research based on its long-time expertise in the manufacturing industry.The new vehicle production instruction system will enable Toyota Motor Corporation to respond quickly to production fluctuations and also reduce the workload of its employees.Moving forward, Toyota Systems and Fujitsu plan to expand the system to Toyota Motor Corporation's other plants in Japan and, in the future, to Toyota Motor Corporation's overseas plants.From October 2022, Fujitsu will commercially launch its "Fujitsu Computing as a Service (below, CaaS)" service portfolio in Japan, which delivers advanced computing technologies such as the Digital Annealer and software technologies to regular commercial users, lowering the barrier to access high performance computing resources and technologies like AI. Fujitsu plans to roll-out the service globally to markets outside of Japan from fiscal 2023.Through the new technology developed for this project, Toyota Systems aims to realize a safe, secure and comfortable mobility society by supporting Toyota Motor Corporation's IT based business transformation.Fujitsu is committed to providing optimal IT environments and solutions that meet customers' diverse needs under its portfolio of global solutions to realize a sustainable world, "Fujitsu Uvance."(1) Toyota Motor Corporation:President and Representative Director: Akio Toyoda; Head Office: Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.(2) Quantum-inspired technology:A number of acceleration technologies inspired by quantum technology, but not quantum effects.About FujitsuFujitsu's purpose is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation. As the digital transformation partner of choice for customers in over 100 countries, our 124,000 employees work to resolve some of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Our range of services and solutions draw on five key technologies: Computing, Networks, AI, Data & Security, and Converging Technologies, which we bring together to deliver sustainability transformation. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.6 trillion yen (US$32 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 and remains the top digital services company in Japan by market share. Find out more: www.fujitsu.com.About Toyota SystemsToyota Systems is an IT solutions company established in Jan. 2019 by merging 3 different Toyota IT subsidiaries. The mission of the company is to support Toyota Motor Corporation and its group companies by developing innovative IT solutions and, by doing so, to contribute to develop the mobility society of the future. The number of the employees is approximately 3,000 and its support covers most of the Toyota's main business areas such as R&D, production, logistics, sales, administration etc... For more information, please see www.toyotasystems.com/en/.Source: Fujitsu LtdCopyright 2022 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
New South Wales, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 20, 2022) - Empresscapital.vc, an artificial intelligence venture capital fund launched by Yash Varma, has announced the appointment of David Baxby and Prabhat Sethi to its advisory board.





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David Baxby has been the Managing Director of Wesfarmers, Chairman of Frontier Digital Ventures and Co-CEO of Virgin. Prabhat Sethi was the former managing director of Murdoch Media and is the current CEO of Crown Acquisitions. Mr Sethi was previously a director of CoreLogic.

Empress Capital is a venture fund backing early stage Australian & New Zealand Artificial Intelligence Companies.

Yash Varma said, "The appointment of David Baxby and Prabhat Sethi takes Empress Capital to a new level, helping us find the very best AI Companies in Australia and New Zealand for our investors. It is beyond doubt that an increasing number of emerging enterprises will focus on artificial intelligence to increase automation and become cost-efficient and we are at the coal-face of a new wave of AI companies rising to dominance."

About Empress Capital

Empress Capital is a pioneer in artificial intelligence funding. The venture capital firm focuses on the Pre-Seed and Seed stage investments to help AI companies succeed beyond these necessary starting points, targeting 10x returns and payback of initial capital within a 10 year horizon.

Empress Capital will also be using profits from their funds to create Empress Foundation, a vehicle geared towards investing in non-profit organisations, equally providing them with the same commercial due diligence, access to funding and support to help them succeed. Philanthropy is central to Varma's vision, but not at the expense of investor success.

Website: https://www.empresscapital.vc/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashvarma/

Media Contact: Yash Varma, yash.varma@empresscapital.vc

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Evolva Holding SA / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

Evolva receives grant from US CDC in the amount of USD 540,000



21.10.2022 / 07:00 CET/CEST



Reinach, 21 October 2022 - Evolva (SIX:EVE) a pioneer in the field of natural molecules and industrial biotech, has received a grant of USD 540,000 from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the development of NootkaSHIELDTM for new formulations and applications in the area of tick bite prevention. The grant will be distributed in several payments over a period of 18 months, commencing on 30 September 2022. The grant is an important milestone in bringing NootkaSHIELDTM, a next-generation protection against vector-borne deseases spread by insects and ticks, to the US market. This follows initial US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration of nootkatone as an active ingredient for use in insecticides and insect repellents in August 2020. In the meantime, Evolva has worked on developing highly effective formulations for consumer, household and animal applications and has successfully commenced test launches in South East Asia. Initial revenues from those pilot sales in Singapore and Hong Kong are expected in 4Q 2022 and to continue in 2023. The grant now received by Evolva from CDC supports the further development of products based on NootkaSHIELDTM. Specifically, Evolva is to develop nature-based and effective products that people can easily use before and after outdoor activities in high-risk tick areas that will kill or repel ticks to reduce the number of tickborne disease cases. Lyle R. Petersen, MD, Director of CDC's Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, which led the research and development of nootkatone for use against insects and ticks, states: "Additional tools to help prevent tick bites are urgently needed to combat the increasing threat of tickborne diseases. Nootkatone provides a new, naturally-derived ingredient to help protect people and pets from tick bites. CDC supports this effort to accelerate development of products to make this promising new tool available." Astrid Schafer, Head of Innovation and R&D at Evolva, explains: "There are several methods to prevent tick bites, including use of personal repellents, wearing clothing to reduce tick access to exposed skin, frequent checking for and removing ticks or showering to wash off unattached ticks. Though helpful, these methods aren't sufficient to reduce tick-borne diseases. New methods must be easy to use and affordable in order to be readily accepted by consumers and integrated into a tick control and prevention routine. With the funding granted by CDC, Evolva is advancing the further development of NootkaSHIELDTM to address these specific consumer needs and applications." Christian Wichert, CEO of Evolva, commented: "We thank CDC for its financial support and trust in our ability to further advance our novel approach for the prevention of insect- and tick-transmitted diseases with NootkaSHIELDTM. The possibility to specifically develop everyday use applications for the US market together with CDC is very exciting. I am very proud of our R&D team that has again proven innovative in developing effective insect and tick protection based on natural ingredients that address consumer needs in the megatrend areas of wellness, health and sustainability. We at Evolva are convinced that NootkaSHIELDTM will become a new business for Evolva with substantial revenue and profitability potential following initial test sales in South East Asia and expected entry into the US market. With this exciting market opportunity, Evolva further has the potential for disruptive new business model extensions with business-to-business and direct-to-consumer approaches." Important dates 09 March 2023 Full-year 2022 results 18 April 2023 Annual General Meeting Contact Doris Rudischhauser Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications +41 79 410 81 88 dorisr@evolva.com

About NootkaSHIELDTM Nootkatone is an ingredient found in minute quantities in the bark of the Alaska yellow cedar (also known as the Nootka cypress) and in the skin of grapefruit. Nootkatone has been tested against a variety of biting pests, including the ticks that are responsible for spreading Lyme disease and the mosquitoes that spread Zika, chikungunya, dengue and West Nile viruses.

About Evolva Evolva is a Swiss biotech company focused on the research, development and commercialization of ingredients based on nature. We have leading businesses in Flavors and Fragrances, Health Ingredients and Health Protection. Evolva's employees, half of which are women, are dedicated to make the best products that can contribute to health, wellbeing and sensory enjoyment. Find out more at evolva.com and connect with us on LinkedIn. For Evolva multimedia content, please visit: evolva.com/multimedia-library. Disclaimer

This announcement is not an offer of securities into the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered, pledged, sold, delivered or otherwise transferred, directly or indirectly, in the United States, except pursuant to an exemption from, or transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. No public offering of securities is being made in the United States. Further, the securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the applicable securities laws of Canada, Australia or Japan or under the applicable securities laws of any other jurisdiction where to do so might constitute a violation of such laws.

This press release contains specific forward-looking statements, e.g. statements including terms like believe, assume, expect or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may result in a substantial divergence between the actual results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and those explicitly or implicitly presumed in these statements. Against the background of these uncertainties readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The company assumes no responsibility to update forward-looking statements or to adapt them to future events or developments.

End of Media Release


ROME (dpa-AFX) - Enel S.p.A. (ENLAY), a multinational power company on Thursday said it has signed, through Enel Grids S.r.l., an agreement to sell a 50 percent quota in its unit Gridspertise S.r.l. to private equity fund CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII. Enel Grids is the group's global business line dedicated to the management of the electricity distribution service worldwide. Gridspertise provides Distribution Grid Operators access to cutting-edge sustainable solutions for the digital transformation of electricity distribution networks in three main areas viz metering and grid edge digitalization, networks infrastructure digitalization and field operations digitalization. CVC would pay a consideration of about 300 million euros, equivalent to an enterprise value of 625 million euros, that could reach up to 1,000 million euros through potential deferred payments. The transaction is expected to add to Enel Group's EBITDA by approximately 500 million euros and the consolidated net debt of around 300 million euros. The transaction is scheduled to close by the end of 2022. Following the transaction, Enel and CVC would operate the company in a joint control regime. Shares of Enel SpA closed Thursday's trading at $4.06, down $0.057 or 1.38 percent from the previous close. 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.
Devon and Cornwall Police reveal ground-breaking use of geographic information system (GIS) technology for security planning, with MapInfo Pro playing an important role to unlock maximum context from geospatial data

Precisely, the global leader in data integrity, today announced that Devon and Cornwall Police leveraged its GIS software to enhance safety measures during the 2021 G7 Summit the annual gathering of policy leaders from seven of the world's major democracies. The local police force combined MapInfo Pro with third-party 3D visualizations to create a digital twin that enabled precise contingency planning based on a model that had an accuracy of up to five millimeters.

The innovative use of geospatial solutions, alongside cutting-edge 3D technology, has huge implications for security and event planning. Mounting geopolitical tension is increasing the likelihood of security threats, meaning that high profile events, such as Queen Elizabeth II's recent funeral procession, are requiring unprecedented levels of complex security protocol. The pandemic has also made contingency planning more challenging by limiting the ability to bring together large groups of people to do in-person planning.

"We had two major hurdles we had to cross during the planning phase for the G7 Summit," said Robert Goldsmith, GIS and Mapping Manager, Devon and Cornwall Police. "The first challenge was managing the sheer volume of security protocols needed for such a high-profile event, particularly given that the Summit was hosted in two locations. This meant that safety measures were required for different venues, as well as for each of the world leaders, as they travelled back and forth. The second was giving visibility to our security partners around the world, especially as the pandemic limited the ability for teams to travel to the site in the run up to the event."

The force's GIS team quickly recognized that mapping software could play an important role to easily bring together data from a variety of sources and data formats, providing critical context in the assessment of all safety protocols leading up to and throughout the Summit. As an existing Precisely customer, Devon and Cornwall Police leveraged MapInfo Pro, a powerful desktop mapping solution that unlocks location-based context from data, empowering confident decisions grounded in visualizations of data patterns that would otherwise be hidden.

Goldsmith and his team used MapInfo Pro to generate 2D gridded map books of the venues and enriched it with points of interest (POI) data, such as foot bridges, cell masts, bus stops, and officer and partner locations. External datasets from other GIS units were also fed into the solution to seamlessly connect different formats for maximum context.

The 2D mapping created in MapInfo Pro proved to be the ideal foundation for the team to create cutting edge 3D visualizations. Leveraging capabilities provided by third-party providers, the team used aerial drone footage to build out an initial model. This was further augmented with 360-degree visualizations, using video footage that was meticulously captured by scanning over 140,000 square meters of the Summit venues.

The result was a hyper-accurate virtual representation, or digital twin, of the entire area. This enabled Devon and Cornwall Police and their partners, to anticipate security issues and create contingency plans using virtual reality headsets to remotely access locations during the planning phase. This removed the need to have more individuals on the ground than necessary in the run up to the event, while still enabling highly accurate contingency planning to take place.

"The data was accessible by our partners who could view our venues from any phone, tablet, or laptop, anywhere in the country," said Goldsmith. "These insights benefitted a wide range of stakeholders such as our firearms, ops planning, and counter drone teams, and even external partners including the U.S. Secret Service, because they were able to understand the risks and opportunities different locations and routes presented."

The G7 Summit went off without security hitch, with the GIS technology widely credited as being central to its success.

"Location intelligence is a crucial element of data integrity, allowing customers to unlock essential context from their data," said Clarence Hempfield, Senior Vice President Product Management at Precisely. "Working with Devon and Cornwall police allowed us to see our solutions in action, alongside third-party technology, to help enhance security at an internationally renowned event involving some of the world's top leaders. We are incredibly proud to fuel organizations across the globe with the trusted data they need to confidently make critical decisions that better serve and protect their citizens."

Learn more about how Devon and Cornwall Police used location intelligence for the G7 Summit planning here

About Precisely

Precisely is the global leader in data integrity, providing accuracy, consistency, and context in data for 12,000 customers in more than 100 countries, including 99 of the Fortune 100. Precisely's data integration, data quality, data governance, location intelligence, and data enrichment products power better business decisions to create better outcomes. Learn more at www.precisely.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221020005054/en/

Contacts:

Ned Tadic (US)

Emma Forrest (Global)

press@precisely.com
Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LW) ("Lamb Weston" or the "Company") announced today it has entered into an agreement (the "Purchase Agreement") to purchase the remaining equity interests in its European joint venture with Meijer Frozen Foods B.V. for 700 million in cash and common stock of Lamb Weston.

"Lamb-Weston/Meijer was built over the last 28 years, and we're grateful to Meijer Frozen Foods for their longstanding partnership," said Tom Werner, President and CEO of Lamb Weston. "The joint venture has served as a strong platform to drive growth in Europe and the Middle East, as well as to support our global customer base across our key international markets. This transaction firmly aligns with Lamb Weston's long-term capital allocation and acquisition framework, and we believe it will strengthen our manufacturing footprint by leveraging a truly global supply chain to better serve our customers and position us to take advantage of growth opportunities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa."

"We're proud of the business we've built together to create a market leader in Europe," said Kees Meijer, CEO of Meijer Frozen Foods. "We remain confident in the long-term outlook for Lamb Weston and the global frozen potato category. By holding an investment in common stock of Lamb Weston after the transaction closes, we sustain our strong belief in a bright future for the business."

Upon completion of the transaction, Lamb Weston will own 100% of Lamb-Weston/Meijer v.o.f. ("Lamb-Weston/Meijer"), formerly operated as a 50/50 joint venture between a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lamb Weston and Meijer Frozen Foods. Lamb Weston will pay transaction consideration of 700 million, comprised of 525 million in cash and 175 million of Lamb Weston's common stock. The Company anticipates closing the transaction in the second half of fiscal 2023, subject to regulatory approvals. The Company expects to fund the cash portion of the acquisition with new borrowings and cash on hand. Lamb Weston's targeted long-term net leverage range1 of 3.5x to 4.0x remains unchanged.

Lamb-Weston/Meijer is one of the leading suppliers of frozen potato products in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with approximately 954 million in net sales in fiscal 2022 (including 114 million of net sales from its former joint venture in Russia). The transaction will give the Company ownership of an additional five manufacturing facilities worldwide, including four facilities in the Netherlands and one in the United Kingdom, as well as a sixth manufacturing facility through a 75% interest in a joint venture in Austria. These facilities produce nearly two billion pounds (910,000 MT) of finished frozen products annually. In addition, upon completion of the transaction, the former joint venture's approximately 1,500 employees will become employees of Lamb Weston.

As a 50% owner of Lamb-Weston/Meijer, the Company recorded its 50% portion of earnings in Equity Method Investment Earnings in its financial statements. As of the transaction closing, Lamb-Weston/Meijer will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and the Company will fully consolidate Lamb-Weston/Meijer's results in its financial statements.

Goldman Sachs is acting as financial advisor to Lamb Weston in connection with this transaction.

Webcast and Conference Call Information

Lamb Weston will hold a conference call to review the proposed transaction at 10:00 a.m. EDT today, October 20, 2022. Participants in the U.S. and Canada may access the conference call by dialing 888-204-4368 and participants outside the U.S. and Canada should dial +1-323-994-2082. The confirmation code is 8173889. The conference call and presentation also may be accessed live on the internet. Participants can register for the event at: https://globalmeet.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1578075&tp_key=f810adb575.

A rebroadcast of the conference call will be available beginning on Friday, October 21, 2022 after 2:00 p.m. ET at https://investors.lambweston.com/events-and-presentations.

About Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston is a leading supplier of frozen potato, sweet potato, appetizer and vegetable products to restaurants and retailers around the world. For more than 70 years, Lamb Weston has led the industry in innovation, introducing inventive products that simplify back-of-house management for its customers and make things more delicious for their customers. From the fields where Lamb Weston potatoes are grown to proactive customer partnerships, Lamb Weston always strives for more and never settles. Because, when we look at a potato, we see possibilities. Learn more about us at lambweston.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "believe," "will," "anticipate," "expect," "create," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's acquisition of Lamb-Weston/Meijer v.o.f., including the anticipated benefits of the transaction, the expected timing of the completion of the transaction, related financing and the ability of the parties to complete the transaction, as well as statements regarding the Company's business outlook and prospects. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances. Readers of this press release should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. Many factors could affect these forward-looking statements and the Company's actual financial results and cause them to vary materially from the expectations contained in the forward-looking statements, including those set forth in this press release. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things: the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Company's agreement to acquire the remaining equity interests in the Lamb-Weston/Meijer joint venture; the risk that the necessary regulatory approvals for the transaction may not be obtained or may be obtained subject to conditions that are not anticipated; the risk that the transaction will not be consummated in a timely manner or at all; risks that any of the closing conditions to the transaction may not be satisfied or may not be satisfied in a timely manner; risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the transaction; failure to realize the benefits expected from the transaction; and the effect of the announcement of the transaction on the Company's ability to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel, maintain relationships with suppliers and on its operating results and businesses generally; the availability and prices of raw materials; labor shortages and other operational challenges; disruptions in the global economy caused by the war in Ukraine and the possible related heightening of the Company's other known risks; impacts on the Company's business due to health pandemics or other contagious outbreaks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts on demand for its products, increased costs, disruption of supply, other constraints in the availability of key commodities and other necessary services or restrictions imposed by public health authorities or governments; levels of pension, labor and people-related expenses; the Company's ability to successfully execute its long-term value creation strategies; the Company's ability to execute on large capital projects, including construction of new production lines or facilities; the competitive environment and related conditions in the markets in which the Company and its joint ventures operate; political and economic conditions of the countries in which the Company and its joint ventures conduct business and other factors related to its international operations; disruption of the Company's access to export mechanisms; risks associated with possible acquisitions, including the Company's ability to complete acquisitions or integrate acquired businesses; its debt levels; changes in the Company's relationships with its growers or significant customers; the success of the Company's joint ventures; actions of governments and regulatory factors affecting the Company's businesses or joint ventures; the ultimate outcome of litigation or any product recalls; the Company's ability to pay regular quarterly cash dividends and the amounts and timing of any future dividends; and other risks described in the Company's reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements included in this press release, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no responsibility for updating these statements, except as required by law.

_________________________________

1The Company defines net leverage as the ratio of net debt to Adjusted EBITDA including unconsolidated joint ventures. Net debt, Adjusted EBITDA including unconsolidated joint ventures and the related net leverage ratio are non-GAAP financial measures. Please see the discussion of non-GAAP financial measures and the associated reconciliations of historical non-GAAP financial measures included in the investor presentation furnished with the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K on October 20, 2022 for more information. In addition, forward-looking non-GAAP measures related to the Company's acquisition of Lamb-Weston/Meijer, including net leverage ratio, are unable to be reconciled to relevant GAAP measures without unreasonable efforts because of items that may impact comparability, which may include, but are not limited to, items such as purchase accounting adjustments, integration costs, and the impact of commodity derivatives.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221020005239/en/

Contacts:

Investor Relations:

Dexter Congbalay

224-306-1535

Dexter.Congbalay@lambweston.com

Media:

Shelby Stoolman

208-424-5461

shelby.stoolman@lambweston.com
Regulatory News:

NAVYA (FR0013018041- Navya) (Paris:NAVYA), an autonomous mobility systems leader (the "Company" or "Navya"), today announces the issue of the 2nd tranche of convertible bonds into shares with warrants (OCABSA) for an amount of 1.25 million.

On July 21st, 2022, the Company announced the implementation of a new equity line with Negma, involving the provision of convertible bonds into shares with warrants in tranches of up to 2.5 million each, for a total amount of 36 million, subject to compliance with the conditions of issue, it being specified that neither the convertible bonds nor the warrants will be listed.

Using the delegation of powers granted by the Combined General Meeting of June 17th, 2022 in its 20th resolution, the Board of Directors has decided to issue 500 convertible bonds into shares with warrants, for a total gross amount of 1.25 million to Negma (the "investor"), to which are added 216 convertible bonds for the commitment fee relating to this 2nd tranche and to the following ones if any. This issue follows the 1st tranche of 2.5 million, i.e. 1,000 convertible bonds into shares with warrants, which was issued on July 21st, 2022.

The detailed characteristics of this financing program, structured in convertible bonds into shares with warrants tranches of up to 2.5 million each and a maximum total amount of 36 million, are described in the prospectus approved by the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) on September 30th, 2022 under number 22-403 and consisting of an offering memorandum and a Universal Registration Document approved by the AMF under number R.22-036.

As mentioned in the press release published on October 3rd, 2022, in the event of the issuance of shares resulting from the conversion of the convertible bonds, shareholders will see their stake in Navya's share capital diluted; this stake could also be diluted in the event of the issuance of shares resulting from the warrants: as an indication, the shareholding of a shareholder holding 1% of Navya's share capital would increase to 0.10% on a non-diluted basis (theoretical calculation of a maximum dilution scenario established on the basis of a share price value of 0.10/share) and to 0.12% on a non-diluted basis (theoretical calculation of a maximum dilution scenario established on the basis of a share price value equal to 94% of the share price of 0.13, i.e., 0.12).

As of September 29th, 2022, on the basis of a stock market price of 0.10/share, the full exercise of all the instruments giving access to the capital allocated and in circulation to date would generate a dilution equal to 90.4% on the basis of the non-diluted capital (impact of the convertible bonds into shares with warrants only). This dilution would be 20% only on the dilutive instruments excluding the convertible bonds into shares with warrants and 90.7% on the basis of fully diluted capital. The conversion of the convertible bonds and the exercise of the warrants will therefore reinforce the current dilution risk due to the other dilutive instruments already in existence (notably the ORNANE bonds).

On the basis of a stock market price equal to 94% of 0.13/share, i.e. 0.12, the full exercise of all the instruments giving access to the capital allocated and in circulation to date would generate a dilution equal to 88.5% on the basis of the non-diluted capital (impact of the convertible bonds into shares with warrants only). This dilution would be 20% only on the dilutive instruments excluding the convertible bonds into shares with warrants and 88.8% on the basis of fully diluted capital.

The issuance agreement provides that for the drawing of any new tranche of convertible bonds into shares with warrants, the stock market price must not be lower than 130% of the nominal value of the Navya share (which is currently 0.10). Should the share price fall below 130% of the nominal value over a period of 20 trading days, then the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company may decide to decrease the current nominal value by 0.10 in order for the Company to continue to issue convertible bonds into shares with warrants. The decrease in the nominal value of the share will have the effect of increasing the dilution linked to the issuance of the convertible bonds into shares with warrants.

The details of the new shares issued following the issue of the 1st tranche of convertible bonds into shares with warrants and of the commitment fee are presented in the attached table: https://www.navya-corp.com/images/PDF/cp/gb/Navya_PR_20102022_OCABSA_2022_EN_f905d.pdf

There have been no significant events concerning the results or the financial situation of the Company since the information presented in the prospectus approved on September 30th, 2022.

If the issue conditions allow Navya to issue the next 8 tranches of the convertible bonds into shares with warrants, it will be able to meet its cash requirements for the next 12 months.

About NAVYA

Created in 2014, NAVYA is a leading French name specialized in the supply of autonomous mobility systems and associated services. With 280 employees in France (Paris and Lyon), in the United States (Michigan) and in Singapore, NAVYA aims at becoming the leading player in Level 4 autonomous mobility systems for passenger and goods transport. Since 2015, NAVYA has been the first to market and put into service autonomous mobility solutions. The Autonom Shuttle, main development axis, is dedicated to passenger transport. Since its launch, more than 200 units have been sold in 25 countries as of 31 December 2021. The Autonom Tract is designed to goods transport. Engaged in an ambitious CSR approach, the Company has an active policy in this area, as illustrated by the obtaining of the ISO 9001 certification in September 2021. The Valeo and Keolis groups are among NAVYA's historical shareholders.

NAVYA is listed on the Euronext regulated market in Paris (ISIN code: FR0013018041- Navya).

Further details: www.navya.tech

*Subject to conditions: see prospectus approved by the AMF on 30/09/22

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221020005902/en/

Contacts:

NAVYA

Marketing Communication

Department

marketing@navya.tech

Chief Financial Officer

Pierre Guibert

finance@navya.tech

NewCap

Investor Relations

Thomas Grojean

Nicolas Fossiez

navya@newcap.eu

+33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

NewCap

Media Relations

Nicolas Merigeau

navya@newcap.eu

+33 (0)1 44 71 94 98


BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The pound dropped against its major counterparts in the European session on Friday, as the nation's retail sales fell more than expected in September and the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss triggered political instability.



Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales dropped 1.4 percent month-on-month, following a revised 1.7 percent decline in August. Economists had forecast sales to drop at a slower pace of 0.5 percent.



Excluding auto fuel, retail sales fell 1.5 percent after easing 1.7 percent in the previous month. Sales were forecast to ease 0.3 percent.



On a yearly basis, the decline in retail sales worsened to 6.9 percent in September from 5.6 percent in August. Economists had expected sales to fall 5.0 percent.



Excluding auto fuel, retail sales decreased 6.2 percent versus a 5.3 percent decline in the previous month. Sales were forecast to drop only 4.1 percent.



Truss resigned overnight following a rebellion in her political party, as an economic program fuelled concerns about financial stability.



The ruling Conservative Party is expected to select a successor by the end of next week.



The GBP/USD pair touched an 8-day low of 1.1147. The pound may locate support around the 1.10 level.



The GBP/JPY pair fell to 168.04, from a high of 168.75 seen at 3:25 am ET. If the pound falls further, it is likely to test support around the 160.00 region.



The pound reversed from its early highs of 1.1277 against the franc and 0.8702 against the euro, dropping to a 3-day low of 1.1220 and an 8-day low of 0.8766, respectively. Next key support for the currency is possibly seen around 1.08 against the franc and 0.89 against the euro.



Looking ahead, Canada retail sales for August, as well as new housing price index and wholesale sales and U.S. monthly budget statement, all for September, will be featured in the New York session.



At 10:00 am ET, Eurozone flash consumer sentiment index for October will be out.



Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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EQS-News: Linde plc / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

Linde Expands Agreement with Jindal Steel in India



21.10.2022 / 11:59 CET/CEST

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Linde Expands Agreement with Jindal Steel in India

Woking, UK, October 21, 2022 - Linde (NYSE:LIN; FWB:LIN) today announced it has expanded its existing long-term agreement for the supply of industrial gases with Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL), one of the largest stainless steel producers in India.

Linde already supplies oxygen, nitrogen and argon to JSL from its on-site Air Separation Unit (ASU) at the Kalinganagar Industrial Estate in Odisha, East India. Under the terms of the new agreement, Linde will build a second ASU, more than tripling the current total capacity of its plant at Kalinganagar. The additional supply will support the significant expansion of JSL's facility. The new ASU is expected to start up in the first half of 2024 and will be an additional supply source for the local merchant market.

"We are proud to develop our partnership with JSL as it embarks on a significant expansion of its stainless steel production facility at Kalinganagar," said Moloy Banerjee, President ASEAN & South Asia, Linde. "By building additional capacity to support JSL's growth, we will increase Linde's own network density in one of India's most important industrial regions."

About Linde

Linde is a leading global industrial gases and engineering company with 2021 sales of $31 billion (26 billion). We live our mission of making our world more productive every day by providing high-quality solutions, technologies and services which are making our customers more successful and helping to sustain and protect our planet.

The company serves a variety of end markets including chemicals & energy, food & beverage, electronics, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and mining. Linde's industrial gases are used in countless applications, from life-saving oxygen for hospitals to high-purity & specialty gases for electronics manufacturing, hydrogen for clean fuels and much more. Linde also delivers state-of-the-art gas processing solutions to support customer expansion, efficiency improvements and emissions reductions.

For more information about the company and its products and services, please visit www.linde.com



Contacts:



Investor Relations

Juan Pelaez

Phone: +1 203 837 2213

Email: juan.pelaez@linde.com

Media Relations

Anna Davies

Phone: +44 1483 244705

Email: anna.davies@linde.com



21.10.2022 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.eqs-news.com


VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 21, 2022 / Faraday Copper Corp. ("Faraday" or the "Company") (CSE:FDY)(OTCQX:CPPKF) is pleased to announce that it has received conditional approval to list its common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX").

Final approval of the listing is subject to the Company meeting certain customary requirements of the TSX, including receipt of all required documentation. The Company will issue a news release once the TSX confirms the date when trading of Faraday's common shares is expected to commence on the TSX. At that time, Faraday's common shares will be concurrently delisted from the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE").

Shareholders are not required to exchange their share certificates or take any other action in connection with the TSX listing, as there will be no change in the trading symbol or CUSIP for the common shares.

About Faraday Copper

Faraday Copper is a Canadian exploration company focused on advancing two copper projects in The United States of America. The Copper Creek project, located in Arizona, is one of the largest undeveloped copper projects in North America with open pit and bulk underground mining potential. The Contact Copper project, located in Nevada, provides potential for a low-cost open pit, heap leach, oxide project. The Company is well-funded to deliver on its key milestones and benefits from a management team and board of directors with senior mining company experience and expertise. Faraday trades on the CSE under the symbol "FDY".

For additional information please contact:

Stacey Pavlova, CFA

Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications

Faraday Copper Corp.

E-mail: info@faradaycopper.com

Website: www.faradaycopper.com

To receive news releases by e-mail, please register using the Faraday website at www.faradaycopper.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward Looking Statements

Some of the statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking statements" and are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Faraday to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information specifically include, but are not limited to, statements pertaining to listing its common shares on the TSX and delisting from the CSE.

Although Faraday believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way construed as guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include without limitation: market prices for metals; the conclusions of detailed feasibility and technical analyses; lower than expected grades and quantities of resources; receipt of regulatory approval; receipt of shareholder approval; mining rates and recovery rates; significant capital requirements; price volatility in the spot and forward markets for commodities; fluctuations in rates of exchange; taxation; controls, regulations and political or economic developments in the countries in which Faraday does or may carry on business; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, competition; loss of key employees; rising costs of labour, supplies, fuel and equipment; actual results of current exploration or reclamation activities; accidents; labour disputes; defective title to mineral claims or property or contests over claims to mineral properties; unexpected delays and costs inherent to consulting and accommodating rights of Indigenous peoples and other groups; risks, uncertainties and unanticipated delays associated with obtaining and maintaining necessary licenses, permits and authorizations and complying with permitting requirements, including those associated with the Copper Creek property; and uncertainties with respect to any future acquisitions by Faraday. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including environmental events and hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance to cover these risks as well as "Risk Factors" included in Faraday's disclosure documents filed on and available at www.sedar.com.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such an offer or solicitation in such jurisdiction. This news release is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, a prospectus, an offering memorandum, an advertisement or a public offering of securities in Faraday in Canada, the United States or any other jurisdiction. No securities commission or similar authority in Canada or in the United States has reviewed or in any way passed upon this news release, and any representation to the contrary is an offence.

SOURCE: Faraday Copper Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/721529/Faraday-Copper-Secures-Conditional-Approval-to-Graduate-to-the-Toronto-Stock-Exchange
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.


MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - A top US official in charge of national security stated that Iranian military personnel have visited the seized Ukrainian region of Crimea to help Russian forces in operating drones in attacking civilian targets in Ukraine.



At a teleconference with media persons, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said that in September, Russia transferred unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs that it had purchased from Iran into Crimea to use in its war against Ukraine.



Washington has been warning since July that Iran would be planning to sell UAVs to Russia.



'So today we can confirm that Russian military personnel that are based in Crimea have been piloting Iranian UAVs, using them to conduct strikes across Ukraine, including strikes against Kyiv in just recent days,' Kirby told reporters.



Washington's assessment is that Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea and assisted Russia in these operations, and Russia has received dozens of UAVs so far and will likely continue to receive additional shipments in the future.



Replying to a question, Kirby said Russian armed forces are not familiar using organically manufactured Iranian UAVs, and the Russians just don't have anything in their inventory. So, they would need a little training on how to pilot these things.



Kirby expressed concern that in light of its ongoing supply shortages, Russia may also seek to acquire advanced conventional weapons from Iran, such as surface-to-surface missiles that will almost certainly be used to support the war against Ukraine.



Russian forces have been launching Iran-made 'kamikaze' drones and missiles on civilian and energy infrastructure targets across Ukraine since October 7, killing dozens and leading to power and water shortages.



Hundreds of towns and villages in the country are in blackout as a result.



Iran denies supplying Russia with the small aerial weapons, which are destroyed after hitting the target.



'Iran and Russia, they can lie to the world, but they certainly can't hide the facts', according to the top US official.



Kirby accused Tehran of directly engaged on the ground and through the provision of weapons that are killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.



Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - Gowest Gold Ltd. (TSXV: GWA) ("Gowest" or the "Corporation") announces the resignation of Mr. Gilbert Lawson, P. Eng., as a director of the Corporation to take on the role of Interim General Manager at Kinross Gold's Tasiast Mine in northwestern Mauritania. The Corporation has commenced a search for Mr. Lawson's replacement.

C. Fraser Elliott, Chairman, commented: "I would like to thank Gil for his support and dedication as a member of our team as we continue in our efforts to develop the Bradshaw mine near Timmins, Ontario. He has been a valuable asset both to our technical team and to our Board of Directors and we wish him well in his future endeavours."

About Gowest

Gowest is a Canadian gold exploration and development company focused on the delineation and development of its 100% owned Bradshaw Gold Deposit (Bradshaw) on the Frankfield Property, part of the Company's North Timmins Gold Project (NTGP). Gowest is exploring additional gold targets on its +100-square-kilometre NTGP land package and continues to evaluate the area, which is part of the prolific Timmins, Ontario gold camp. Currently, Bradshaw contains a National Instrument 43-101 Indicated Resource estimated at 2.1 million tonnes ("t") grading 6.19 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) containing 422 thousand ounces (oz) Au and an Inferred Resource of 3.6 million t grading 6.47 g/t Au containing 755 thousand oz Au. Further, based on the Pre-Feasibility Study produced by Stantec Mining and announced on June 9, 2015, Bradshaw contains Mineral Reserves (Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves) in the probable category, using a 3 g/t Au cut-off and utilizing a gold price of US$1,200 / oz, totaling 1.8 million t grading 4.82 g/t Au for 277 thousand oz Au.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

For further information please contact:

Dan Gagnon

President & CEO

Tel: (416) 363-1210

Email: info@gowestgold.com

Greg Taylor

Investor Relations

Tel: (416) 605-5120

Email: gregt@gowestgold.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141394
Q3 2022 is the first period that includes full quarter results from Coinmama, which the Wellfield acquired at the end of May 2022. The Company expects gross margin in Q3 to be approximately breakeven, consistent with Q2 2022.





The Company's early initiatives to grow revenue, users, and engagement have been successful, and are expected to accelerate during Q4 with the launch of its mobile financial app.





Wellfield is on track to continue growing quarterly recurring revenue in Q4 and through the remainder of 2023 driven by organic and new paid user acquisition, enhanced monetization of its over 3.5 million registered users, the introduction of institutional products and services, and the launch of Wellfield's proprietary blockchain protocols to its consumer and institutional users.

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - Wellfield Technologies, Inc. (TSXV: WFLD) (FSE: K8D) (the "Company" or "Wellfield"), today announced Preliminary Unaudited Revenue of $19 million for the three-month period ended September 30, 2022. This compares to revenue of $5.7 million in Q2 2022 (includes one month of Coinmama results), and nil revenue in Q1 2022. The Company will release its full financial results for the third quarter during the final week of November. All figures in this press release are in Canadian Dollars ($)

Management Commentary

Levy Cohen, CEO of Wellfield commented, "The efforts of our global team and the strength of the Coinmama brand, translated into solid Q3 preliminary unaudited revenue against the backdrop of lower overall revenues across the crypto space. We have been persistently executing since closing this acquisition and fully expect Coinmama and the introduction of Wellfield Capital to drive significant revenue growth and accelerate our path to positive cash flow over the next several quarters."

Mr. Cohen continued, "Coinmama, our consumer brand, is one of the most enduring and trusted brands for global consumers, with one of the highest Trustpilot scores in our industry. Our global growth strategy to drive both short-term success and sustainable recurring revenues on this foundation is straightforward and achievable. The first phase is focused on user growth and retention, which will launch in Q4. The second phase is centred on the introduction of an enhanced feature set that will deliver new opportunities for our users to cut costs, earn more and maintain control of their digital assets. Users will be able to save, earn yield, trade crypto assets, make payments to merchants, transfer funds to each other, lend and borrow, all from one location, without giving up custody of their funds. We expect the next 12 months to be very active for our company and an exciting period of value realization for Wellfield shareholders."

About Wellfield Technologies (TSXV: WFLD) (FSE: K8D)

Wellfield builds advanced technology that uses blockchain to create and bridge to the next generation of financial solutions for institutions and consumers. The Company has strong academic and development expertise in the rapidly growing blockchain sector, building its branded applications and critical infrastructure solutions directly on public blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Join Wellfield's digital community on LinkedIn and Twitter, and for more details, visit wellfield.io

For further information contact:

Wellfield Technologies Inc.

Levy Cohen, CEO

levyc@wellfield.io

Jonathan Ross, Investor Relations

investors@wellfield.io

(416) 283-0178

For media enquiries, please contact Kieran Lawler:

kieran.lawler@loderockadvisors.com

(416) 303-0799

Cautionary Notice on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" ("forward-looking information") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that discusses 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 information. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the Company's success in launching the protocols and other technologies and utilities discussed herein, the integration, expansion and continued revenue generation of Coinmama, and the anticipated strategic, operational and competitive benefits of the Acquisition;. In disclosing the forward-looking information contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking information will prove to be correct. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: compliance with extensive government regulations; domestic and foreign laws and regulations adversely affecting the Company's and Coinmama's business and results of operations; the anticipated launch of products may not be realized as intended or at all; the strategic, operational and competitive benefits of the Acquisition may not be realized; the impact of COVID-19; the decentralized finance industry generally, in Canada and abroad; and general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive and readers are encouraged to review the disclosure documents accessible on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking information or otherwise.

The TSXV has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Wellfield Technologies Inc.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141411
EQS-News: Ameramex International

AmeraMex International Receives a $7.1 Million Rental Agreement from the US Military



21.10.2022 / 14:10 CET/CEST

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





AmeraMex International, Inc. (OTCQB: AMMX), a provider of heavy equipment for logistics companies, infrastructure construction and forestry conservation, announced that it has received a five- year rental agreement from the US military for $7.1 million.

CEO Lee Hamre commented," We have been providing rental equipment to the US military for several years. From a budget perspective, it is easier and faster for the department we work with to rent instead of purchase equipment. We like rental agreements as they generate steady cash flow and, after an agreement expires, we refurbish the equipment, if necessary, and sell back into the open market."

The five-year agreement is for six new Taylor Reach Stackers. This specific military base will use the reach stackers to off-load incoming containers of equipment and supplies from trucks and rail.

Taylor Reach Stacker

For more information and pricing of equipment for the logistics, construction, and forestry industries, or to book a demonstration of the First Green Company's Electric's 100 percent electric skid steer loaders, ASV Posti-Tract and Skid Steer Loaders, Menzi Muck Excavators, or a Magni Telescopic Handler, contact the AmeraMex/Hamre Equipment sales team at 530.895.8955.

About AmeraMex International

AmeraMex International sells, leases and rents heavy equipment to companies within multiple industries including construction, logistics, mining, and lumber. AmeraMex, with a US and international customer base, has over 30 years of experience in heavy equipment sales and service. Follow AmeraMex on Twitter @ammx_intl and visit the AmeraMex website, www.AMMX.net or www.hamreequipment.com for additional information and equipment videos.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "potential," "continue" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, and there are key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are encouraged to review the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects the Company's current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if added information becomes available in the future.

McCloud Communications LLC

Marty Tullio

+1 949-632-1900

marty@mccloudcommunications.com

https://www.ammx.net

21.10.2022 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.eqs-news.com


- The STPB continues to expand its engagement with the GBA and the international community at large to provide tourists with more diverse experiences and multi-destination travel itineraries featuring the Sanya Economic Circle

MACAU, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On Oct. 21, the Sanya Tourism Promotion Board ("STPB") held a promotional event in Macao SAR, showcasing the various attractions of Sanya and promoting its appeal as a global premium travel destination.

This is the first year that the STPB has organized such an event outside of the Chinese mainland. Albert Yip, director general of the STPB, said that the board has been working to promote the appeal of Sanya as an international travel destination through such promotional events. This event in Macao is part of the STPB's endeavors to enhance exchanges and collaboration in the tourism sector between the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the Greater Bay Area, the GBA) and the Hainan Free Trade Port (Hainan FTP).

Macao has long been a major source of inbound tourists to Sanya. According to STPB data, Sanya's hotels received 19.13 percent more Macao guests in August than in 2021. Looking at the demographics, the majority of Macao tourists visiting Sanya are either middle-aged or young, with sightseeing and leisure shopping being the most popular activities.

The STPB also promoted Sanya tourist attractions in response to the specific preferences of Macao tourists. A number of travel-related companies and service providers from the Sanya Economic Circle participated in the event, showcasing a variety of tourist attractions and services that Sanya has to offer to the people of Macao, covering sectors ranging from hotels and transportation to performing arts, wellness and leisure as well as customized travel. The Sanya Economic Circle, including Sanya and four nearby counties and cities - Lingshui, Baoting, Ledong, and Wuzhishan City - intends to pioneer a new economic growth model to boost inward tourism to Sanya and open up the multi-destination travel opportunities in the region.





Positioning Sanya as an open and diverse international destination, the STPB has been working to extend more possibilities to Sanya, leveraging the potential of the GBA and Hainan FTP deepening collaboration for growth. During the second Hainan Expo in July, three debut shows from Hong Kong boutiques and pioneering designer brands were featured at the Sanya Day event. The collaboration with the Hong Kong designers underlined Sanya's commitment to expanding mutual engagement with the GBA and the international community at large to provide tourists with more diverse experiences.

From a global perspective, the STPB has also been dedicated to the international market. Since being established in 2020, the STPB has continually diversified Sanya's tourism offerings and promoted the uniqueness of the city to the world. More than a modern and international city, Sanya also enjoys unique advantages for sustainable tourism thanks to its stunning scenery and wealth of natural resources.

The STPB recently started a campaign inviting bloggers from different countries to Sanya and encouraging them to discover the destination's unique and vibrant possibilities of food, culture, and more. One of the bloggers shared the beauty of the mountain trails and the cool fun of rafting in Wuzhishan with their global audience. Through her live streaming, the pristine vegetation, the lakes, and the diverse culture of the indigenous Li and Miao cultures were presented, unveiling Sanya's other side beyond its sunshine, beaches, and luxury hotels.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1926747/Sanya.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/sanya-promotes-tourist-attractions-in-macao-as-hainan-ftp-and-greater-bay-area-collaborate-for-growth-301655964.html
Milan, Italy--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - Growens S.p.A. (OTC: MSPAF), an integrated industrial group that creates technologies for predictive marketing, mobile messaging and content creation, will be participating in The ThinkEquity Conference, which will take place on October 26, 2022 at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York.

Nazzareno Gorni will be presenting on October 26th. Interested parties can register to attend here. Members of the Growens S.p.A. management will also be holding one-on-one investor meetings throughout the day.

The presentation will also be live-streamed at the following link.

About Growens S.p.A.

Growens is an integrated industrial group that creates technologies for predictive marketing, mobile messaging and content creation, meant for organizations wishing to communicate effectively with their customers. Italian design, global vision, attention to local communities - Growens is defined by its people's passion and competence, by scalability and profitability for its investors, and by innovation for its customers. It is admitted to trading on the Euronext Growth Milan (EGM) market of the Italian Stock Exchange, and operates worldwide with over 26,000 customers in more than 115 countries.

About The ThinkEquity Conference

The ThinkEquity Conference will gather industry insiders, investors and leading executives from around the world on October 26th in New York. Attendees can expect a full day of company presentations, panel discussions, one-on-one investor meetings and more.

Featured sectors include AI/Big data technology, Biotechnology, EV/EV Infrastructure, Metals & Mining and Oil & Gas.

To register to attend The ThinkEquity Conference, please follow this link.

For further information:

Micaela Capelli

Investor Relator

+393386592724

mcapelli@growens.io

Source: Growens S.p.A.
Tech Leader Disrupting Traditional Hiring Model to Provide Insights at Annual Conference

Turing, a technology company disrupting the traditional recruiting model for companies seeking to source the most deeply vetted developers and teams, matched by AI, announced today that its Co-Founder and CEO, Jonathan Siddharth has been chosen to speak at Web Summit 2022. The summit will be held in Lisbon, Portugal and runs from November 1-4.

Siddharth has four speaking engagements that will focus on the future of work; global integrated teams; and scalability. Engagements include:

Wednesday, November 2, 12:25 12:45

How to attract international talent

What are the key strategies for attracting top talent in the global economy? Businesses are increasingly embracing the remote work dynamic, and this has expanded the available workforce. While this allows businesses to tap into a global network of talent, it also leads to a stronger level of competition for hiring the top talent. Join us as we explore how organizations can differentiate themselves in their efforts to attract the top talent, and how to best retain your workforce.

Wednesday, November 2, 16:05 16:25

AI, but to unleash the world's untapped human potential

Over the past few years, we have seen a profound and permanent shift from traditional static work arrangements to a new culture of moveable work, with an opportunity radius that covers the entire planet. But what happens next? Turing CEO and co-founder, Jonathan Siddharth, will guide us through the challenges and opportunities associated with going 'boundaryless', and explain how we can unleash the world's untapped human potential via AI

Thursday, November 3, 10:00 10:45

Building without boundaries Hosted by Jonathan Siddharth, Turing

In the past, companies had no easy way to source great people from a global talent pool. They had limited ability to evaluate candidates without familiarity with foreign schools or companies, and they met severe challenges when matching people to opportunities on a massive scale. Managing boundary-less teams required infrastructure that didn't exist a decade ago, but does today. How can companies effectively hire, build, and scale their teams in a remote-first world? Turing co-founder and CEO Jonathan Siddharth takes your questions and shares experiences.

Friday, November 4, 11:25 11:45

Beyond the talent pool's horizon

The work landscape has forever changed post-Covid, and companies need to adapt with it to stay on top. But how do you shift your infrastructure if you want to avoid being confined by boundaries? Turing co-founder and CEO, Jonathan Siddharth, and Franzi Low, co-founder and CTO of Localyze, share their key insights.

Turing will also be announcing a new product at the summit, and please email john.ordona@turing.com if you are interested in connecting with Jonathan Siddharth and Turing.

About Turing

Turing is a technology company that is disrupting the traditional recruiting model for companies seeking to hire the most deeply vetted developers and teams, matched by AI. The company's software-driven Talent Cloud is an AI-powered platform that sources, vets, matches, and manages developers for some of the world's leading companies, including Amazon, Johnson Johnson, Pepsi, Disney, Reddit, Rivian, and OpenAI. Turing has received numerous awards including Forbes 2022 "One of America's Best Startup Employers," The Information's "Most Promising B2B Startup," and Fast Company's Annual List of the World's Most Innovative Companies. The company has raised more than $140 Million from investors including: WestBridge Capital, Foundation Capital, Stanford StartX and executives from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon. Turing's last round of funding was on a $4 Billion valuation cap. To learn more about Turing visit turing.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005099/en/

Contacts:

John Ordona

Global Head of Communications

john.ordona@turing.com
AMSTERDAM, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Li Jun, Vice President of China Telecom, delivered a video speech at the World Broadband Association (WBBA) Annual Event, held in Amsterdam on Oct 19, 2022. He shared his point of view about global broadband development, the practice of China Telecom regarding cloud and network convergence, and suggestions and expectations for WBBA. The event was hosted on the Network X exhibition. Telecom New Zealand, Huawei, Nokia and Informa Tech, together with ETSI and FTTH European Commission delivered speeches at the conference.

"The broadband network is an important component of digital information infrastructure, and also the key foundation for creating digital competitiveness." Summed up by Li Jun. He highlighted the essentially important role broadband connection played during the COVID-19 pandemic, and concluded three major features of broadband development: high-speed, cloud based and intelligence. He emphasised that it's time to expedite the construction of new infrastructures, such as broadband networks and data centres, to enable the global digital transformation.

He stressed that there are three major challenges obstructing the development of broadband. First, the digital divide exists in the world. Broadband construction is a heavy investment field with a long commercial return period. Therefore broadband penetration is insufficient. Second, the contents and services hardly meet the growing demand. It is of great need to deeply connect the industrial chain. Third, the intelligent level of the network is insufficient.

In response to these challenges, China Telecom upgrades ubiquitous infrastructure actively, and boasts a leading broadband network. By the end of June 2022, the number of China Telecom broadband users amounted to 177 million. The optical fibre covered 98% of administrative villages nationwide. For more than 300 cities and towns, the upgrading 10 GPON optical network had accessed 150 million residences.

"China Telecom is in a leading position of building a new information infrastructure with cloud network convergence features, enabling the digital economy. The E-Cloud sub-company ranks top No.1 among global operators' public cloud IaaS. China Telecom has built a hierarchical computing power service system with cloud, edge and terminals, the computing power scale has reached 3.1 EFLOPS, and has developed the distributed cloud system "Cloud OS4.0", providing strong power for the digital transformation of the whole society," said by Li Jun.

Li Jun emphasised that the broadband industry is seeing significant innovations in technology, services and business model, WBBA is born at the right time. China Telecom expects WBBA to play an important role in serving global broadband network operators, vendors, cloud service providers and other stakeholders, uniting the global industry chain and facilitating industry chain communications and exchanges between it, as well as enhancing technological cooperation and promoting the innovation and development of the global cloud and network information infrastructure, and achieving the prosperity of the cloud and broadband industry around the world. He concluded six resources and services that the members could obtain to effectively reduce their Capex/Opex, and access to high-quality development.

At last, Li Jun expressed China Telecom truly hopes that more and more stakeholders will join WBBA, in the endeavour to enhance the collaboration of the global broadband industry, join the journey to eliminate the digital divide, and bring the benefits of the digital economy to people around the world. China Telecom is looking forward to working closely with WBBA for a win-win for all of you, for a brighter future, for a better world.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/li-jun-vp-of-china-telecom-build-cloud-broadband-ecosystem-empower-digital-transformation-301656147.html
WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / October 21, 2022 / The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) recently published a report "Colombia's New President Gustavo Petro And The Dawn Of A New Era Of Opportunity For Iran In Latin America" by MEMRI Research Fellow Emmanuel Cadieux. The report is part of the Iran Threat Monitor Project (ITMP), an offshoot of the Iran Studies Project, that delivers vital information and translations related to the Iran threat from Farsi and Arabic, from Iran, its proxies, and its allies.

In the report, Cadieux details how "for the first time in its history, Colombia elected a leftist president, Gustavo Petro, and will now have a leftist government. This historic departure from Colombia's traditional right-leaning and U.S.-aligned foreign policy led many countries, among them Iran, to rejoice at the prospect of the opportunities presented by the new president."

This new report reviews and analyzes Iran's main Spanish-language media outlet, HispanTV, in the lead-up to and following Petro's election as Colombia's first leftist president. Cadieux notes how analysis of HispanTV's recent content "reveals that Iran is hoping for three main things under the new Colombian government: One, that President Petro will put an end to all military cooperation between Colombia and the U.S., which would allow Iran and its Lebanon proxy Hizbullah to continue their military buildup in Venezuela. Two, that there will be a restrengthening of Iran-Colombia diplomatic relations, which have been uninterrupted since 1975, and that under Petro's anticipated leadership in the region Iran will have free rein to continue spreading its Islamic revolutionary ideology in Latin America. Three, that Petro's agenda of a) restoring damaged diplomatic ties with its neighbor Venezuela, b) implementing the previously signed peace agreement with the Colombian guerilla organization FARC, and c) signing a new agreement with the Colombian guerilla organization ELN will all contribute to further facilitating Hizbullah's activity at the Colombia-Venezuelan border."

Moreover, the report examines Iran's three main expectations of Colombia's new leftist president, Gustavo Petro, and his government, as reflected in content published by Iran's Spanish-language HispanTV.

ABOUT THE IRAN THREAT MONITOR PROJECT (ITMP)

The ITMP provides, 24/7/365, information on a range of topics concerning the security of the U.S. and its forces and assets in the Middle East, particularly in the Gulf region. This information is derived from media in Farsi, Arabic, Urdu, and Turkish, and focuses on threats from Iran itself as well as from its proxies in the region. The project also analyzes statements by high-level Iranian political and military figures in order to identify potential and imminent threats.

This material is not provided by any other organization.

ABOUT THE IRAN STUDIES PROJECT

The Iran Threat Monitor Project (ITMP) is part of MEMRI's Iran Studies Project, which is headed by native-born Iranians and the only research project in the world that monitors and analyzes materials from the Iranian media on a day-to-day basis. It has produced hundreds of hours of translations from Iran's most important media outlets and websites, including over 40 newspapers and more than 30 TV channels. Also, it has published hundreds of original analyses on issues of vital importance, such as Iran's pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile capability and its expansion of its military; the increasing activity of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) within the country and the IRGC Qods Force outside its borders; political revolt in the country and its violent suppression by the regime; speeches and statements by military leaders; speeches by leaders including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi; sermons by senior religious figures; and more. The project also monitors reformists, including women's and human rights activists and others, in the country.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE IRAN THREAT MONITOR PROJECT (ITMP)

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Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today to the MEMRI Iran Threat Monitor Project, so that we can continue this vital work.

ABOUT MEMRI

Exploring the Middle East and South Asia through their media, MEMRI bridges the language gap between the West and the Middle East and South Asia, providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, Urdu-Pashtu, Dari, Turkish, Russian, and Chinese media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends.

Founded in February 1998 to inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East, MEMRI is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization. MEMRI's main office is located in Washington, DC, with branch offices in various world capitals. MEMRI research is translated into English, French, Polish, Japanese, Spanish, and Hebrew.

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CHICAGO, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Form Energy recently announced a USD 450 million Series E financing round, mainly led by TPG's global impact investing platform, TPG Rise. GIC and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) have joined this round, in addition to existing investors ArcelorMittal, Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), and Energy Impact Partners, among others.





Renewable energy is unreliable, as solar and wind power can be affected by diverse weather conditions, leading to disruptions in supply. An interminable and cost-efficient storage system is required to ensure the transition toward renewable energy happens faster. Form Energy's 100-hour iron-air battery can be deployed at utility scale and be used in power-grid infrastructure to serve as such energy storage system. The recent Series E funding expedites the company's ability to set up a globally competitive battery manufacturing supply chain-with this round, Form Energy is one step closer to offering its technology and competing alongside existing conventional battery variants in the market.

Compared to other popular battery configurations, such as lithium-ion, metal-air batteries are economical as the anode is made using low-cost metals (aluminum, iron, and zinc) and the cathode source (oxygen from the air) is abundant. An iron-air battery works on the principle of 'reversible oxidation of iron'-when discharging, a number of tiny iron pellets come in contact with the air, making them rust and turning the iron to iron oxide; while charging, the oxygen in this rust is removed, reverting it to iron.

Apart from iron-air batteries, zinc-air batteries have potential applications in small electronic devices, such as hearing aids and watches, and in stationary energy storage applications. The properties of metal-air batteries can create an opportunistic environment in key application areas, such as electric vehicles, portable electronics, and large-scale energy reserves.

Metal-air battery is an emerging battery technology that has high prospects in the near future. As per MarketsandMarkets' estimates, the metal-air battery market could be a remarkable opportunity-worth USD 993 million by 2027, at a CAGR of 14.8% from 2022 to 2027.

Iron-air batteries offer higher energy density than lithium-ion

Iron-air batteries are anticipated to have substantially higher energy densities than currently leading lithium-ion batteries. Moreover, their key constituent-iron-is present in abundance and, therefore, a low-cost material. Iron-air batteries are projected to have a theoretical energy density higher than 1,200 Wh/kg compared with lithium-ion batteries that currently offer around 600 Wh/kg.

Note: The theoretical energy density values given above are in approximate ranges as per various sources.

Source: Secondary Research, Company Websites, Press Releases, and MarketsandMarkets Analysis

In the case of volumetric energy density, iron-air batteries offer an even better performance of 9,700 Wh/l, almost five times that of lithium-ion batteries (2,000 Wh/l). Furthermore, rechargeable iron-air batteries are expected to supply 100 hours of energy at an operating cost comparable to conventional power stations and less than one-tenth of lithium-ion batteries, setting them up for remarkable growth in the coming years.

Post extensive research, MarketsandMarkets foresees iron-air batteries having considerable potential, especially in power and automotive applications, that are currently dominated by lithium-ion batteries.

Also, the significantly better RoI of iron-air batteries over lithium-ion batteries could result in massive opportunities for iron-air batteries in the power sector. Owing to several better ROI of iron-air batteries over Li-ion batteries, power sector could have massive opportunities for iron-air batteries. While iron-air batteries expected to fully scale in next few years, some of the key lithium-ion battery manufacturers that are eyeing utility scale storage as a customer group, such as BAK Power, CATL, and LithiumWerks, will be affected with the competition from iron-air battery manufacturers. As end users opt for more cost-effective and efficient energy storage option, such as iron-air batteries, lithium-ion battery companies are expected to corner lower business from these conventional batteries.

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

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Coprova, S.A.S., exclusive distributor of Habanos, S.A. for France , acted as master of ceremonies at the presentation of the Quai D'Orsay brand's new vitola.

HAVANA, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Habanos, S.A., together with its exclusive distributor in France, Coprova, S.A.S., presented last Thursday the new vitola Quai D'Orsay No. 52 (52 ring gauge x 156 mm length) in a magical evening held in one of the most emblematic places in Paris, the Hotel de La Marine, located in the central Place de la Concorde.





This building overlooks the square itself and has witnessed some of the most important historical episodes that have taken place in the French capital since it was built in the 18th century. It also has a view of iconic buildings such as the Eiffel Tower and the National Assembly and, of course, the famous Quai D'Orsay Avenue, which gives its name to the Habanos brand. Therefore, there could be no better place to welcome the new Quai D'Orsay No. 52.

The presentation of this new vitola took place at an exclusive gala dinner where Cuban tradition, elegance and refinement of the place, and French gastronomy were highlighted and accompanied by music of both countries. In addition, the 150 attendees were able to taste a unique vitola such as Quai D'Orsay Secreto Cubano (2016 Regional Edition for France) and, the protagonist of the night Quai D'Orsay No. 52, which they paired with rums of the highest quality.

In addition to Habanos aficionados and lovers, the dinner was attended by several personalities such as Cuba's Ambassador to France, H.E. Mr. Otto Vaillant Frias, who said a few words to those present. The representation of Habanos, S.A. at this magnificent event was headed by Co-President Luis Sanchez-Harguindey Pardo de Vera, who stressed "the importance of a market like France not only in terms of sales (one of the world's top markets), but also because of the knowledge and expertise that exists in France about this magnificent product, and because of its aficionados with exquisite taste and constant demand. For all these reasons, and because of its close relationship with the emergence of this brand, France is the perfect place to present the world premiere of the Quai D'Orsay No. 52."

"We are delighted that Habanos, S.A., has chosen Paris and French aficionados to present this new vitola of the Quai D'Orsay brand," said Antoine Bathie, Coprova's co-CEO. Enrique Babot, also Coprova's co-CEO, underlined that "Its undoubtedly elegance is what defines Quai D'Orsay and its new No. 52 vitola. It evolves in complexity in a balanced way. An ideal Habano to smoke in company and to end with a refined meal".

Tasting notes:

Quai D'Orsay No. 52

52 ring gauge x 156 mm length

Wrapper: smooth, semi-oily.

smooth, semi-oily. Draw: correct.

correct. Construction: excellent.

excellent. Combustion: excellent.

excellent. First third: balanced, aromatic balance, subtle and delicate expressions.

balanced, aromatic balance, subtle and delicate expressions. Second third: with a very uniform progress of marked aromatic balance.

with a very uniform progress of marked aromatic balance. Third third: enhancing the smoke and intensifying the aromatic character.

enhancing the smoke and intensifying the aromatic character. Strength: light.

Pairing proposal:

Martini cocktail or sparkling base cocktail.

Champagne or sparkling wine.

Lightly fermented coffee or tea.

Click here to download high resolution product images.

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (OTCQB: AAIRF) (the "Company" or "Aires") announces that further to its previous press releases of May 9, 2022, June 23, 2022, August 2, and 26, 2022, and September 21, 2022, the Company experienced delays associated with the completion of its annual audit due to difficulties in obtaining third-party shipping data from some of the Company's fulfillment centres. The Company is pleased to report its audit is substantially complete and it expects to be in a position to file its audited financial statements before the end of the month.

The Company has been working diligently with its auditors to conclude the audit process and, at the earliest possible time, will file its audited annual financial statements, management discussion and analysis and certificates of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (collectively, the "Annual Continuous Disclosure Documents") which were due to be filed on May 2, 2022, the interim financial statements, management discussion and analysis and certificates of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the period ended March 31, 2022, which were due to be filed on May 30, 2022, and the interim financial statements, management discussion and analysis and certificates of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the period ended June 30, 2022, which were due to be filed on August 29, 2022 (collectively, the "Interim Continuous Disclosure Documents" and together with the Annual Continuous Disclosure Documents, the "Continuous Disclosure Documents").

The Company anticipates that the Annual Continuous Disclosure Documents will be filed before the end of the month and the Interim Continuous Disclosure Documents will be filed shortly thereafter.

The Ontario Securities Commission (the "OSC") issued a failure to file cease trade order ("CTO") against the Company on May 6, 2022, which orders that general trading, whether direct or indirect, of the securities of the Company cease. A copy of the CTO has been posted to the OSC website.

Following the filing of the Continuous Disclosure Documents, the Company will file a revocation application to revoke the CTO. The Company will provide further updates as they become available.

About American Aires Inc.

American Aires Inc. is a Canadian-based nanotechnology company which has developed proprietary silicon-based microprocessors that reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). The technology was developed by a team of highly accredited scientists and confirmed by independent third-party validation including peer-reviewed studies and publications in scientific journals. Aires' Lifetune products specifically target EMR emitted by consumer electronic devices such as cellphones, computers, baby monitors, Wi-Fi radiation, including the rapidly expanding next-generation high-speed 5G networks. Aires is listed on the CSE under ticker 'WIFI' and on the OTCQB under the symbol 'AAIRF'. Learn more at www.airestech.com.

On behalf of the board of directors

Company Contact:

Dimitry Serov, CEO

Email: dimitry@airestech.com

Telephone: (905) 482-4667

Website: www.airestech.com

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. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. 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.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any common shares in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. We seek safe harbour.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Not intended 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 United States Securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141455
The Patient Reported Outcomes for Sarecycline Effectiveness and Safety (PROSES) study results show significant improvement in certain health-related quality of life measures for acne patients during 12-week treatment

Almirall, LLC, a global biopharmaceutical company focused on skin health, is excited to announce the release of its privately funded PROSES study at this year's Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 20-23, 2022. Over the course of the 12-week study, patients with moderate to severe non-nodular acne vulgaris showed a significant improvement in certain health-related quality of life measures during treatment with sarecycline.

"This important real-world study demonstrated not only the impact that acne has on a patient's mental health, but also that successful treatment can improve both a patient's acne and related quality of life outcomes," says Emmy Graber, MD, co-principal investigator of PROSES.

The study evaluated patient-reported outcomes (PROs), using two separate questionnaires (ASIS and EPQ*), investigator global assessment (IGA), and safety of sarecycline use among patients with moderate to severe non-nodular acne vulgaris.

Baseline results from PROs clearly reflect an impact of substantial burden on certain aspects of a patient's quality of life across four distinct domains within the ASIS tool. When asked about the impact of acne on measures specific to social or emotional attributes over the past seven days, patient's baseline response was recorded as all/most/some of the time in the following categories: 78.77% felt sad, 71.15% felt embarrassed, 76.68% felt self-conscious, and 35.57% chose not to be around others.1

"With the PROSES initiative, we are able to witness the emotional and physical suffering of individual acne patients and for the first time how treatment is able to make a difference for these patients," says Hilary Baldwin, MD, co-principal investigator of PROSES. "We're very excited to present PROSES results and look forward to publishing our findings in a peer-reviewed journal by the end of this year."

Overall, the change from baseline measures across all domains of the ASIS questionnaire reflected a significant improvement. Additionally, PROSES study results showed an overwhelming majority of physicians (88.1%) were satisfied/very satisfied with patient sarecycline treatment.1

Over the 12-week study period, EPQ responses displayed a significant increase in patients reporting no/least acne burden.2

"Almirall US is proud to have spearheaded this innovative real-world evidence study and we are looking forward to seeing the outcomes realized in how the dermatology community recognizes the importance of evaluating the patient beyond their skin," says Pablo Alvarez, PhD, President General Manager, Almirall, LLC.

General understanding of acne impact on patients and burden of the disease beyond the skin is still evolving. Assessing the impact of sarecycline treatment on patient-reported outcomes in real-world community practice settings highlights the improvement of certain health-related quality of life measures.

This study reinforces Almirall's vision for improving patient lives. "I know from personal experience the profound impact acne can have on a young adult's life. This is also compounded by social media and lack of understanding of these societal pressures. To this end, I am confident that the PROSES study will make a significant contribution to a deeper understanding of the true burden of acne and the potential impact novel therapies such as sarecycline can bring to patients," says Volker Koscielny, MD, Almirall's Chief Medical Officer.

*ASIS Acne Symptom and Impact Scale

EPQ Expert Panel Questionnaire

About Acne: Acne vulgaris affects up to 50 million Americans and is the most common skin condition in the United States (U.S).3 Acne has been shown to negatively affect quality of life, resulting in low self-esteem and increased social and emotional anxiety.4,5 Moderate to severe acne is classified by papules, pustules, nodules, or cysts on the face, shoulders, chest or back.

About PROSES

Study Design: PROSES was a 12-week, single-arm, prospective observational study conducted in 300 moderate to severe non-nodular acne patients 9 years who were prescribed sarecycline in 30 real-world community practices in the US. Two hundred fifty-three (253) patients had full data and were included in the analyses.

Study Limitations: This study may be subject to the typical limitations associated with real-world studies and single-arm, open-label studies including recall bias, reporting bias, and selection bias. In addition, concomitant acne medications were allowed in this study, as per usual care.

Study Endpoints: The Acne Symptom and Impact Scale (ASIS) questionnaire collected responses at baseline and at week 12 from subjects (12 years) and caregivers (for subjects 9-11 years). ASIS is a 17-item validated instrument that asks patients about symptoms and impacts associated with acne vulgaris.6

The Expert Panel Questionnaire (EPQ) is an exploratory tool created by a selected steering committee of medical experts. EPQ was developed using a three-step modified Delphi method, and established consensus on how acne impacts the patients' emotional and social functioning, activities of daily living, as well as the perspectives and concerns of parents and caregivers.7

Secondary outcome measures included both safety and clinical effectiveness by way of investigator global assessment (IGA), which was collected on a five-point adjectival response scale (score 0 [clear] 4 [severe]). IGA success was assessed as 2-grade improvement in IGA and a score 0 [clear] or 1 [almost clear] at week-12.

About SEYSARA

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

SEYSARA (sarecycline) tablet is indicated for the treatment of inflammatory lesions of non-nodular moderate to severe acne vulgaris in patients 9 years of age and older.8

Limitations of Use: Efficacy of SEYSARA beyond 12 weeks and safety beyond 12 months have not been established. SEYSARA has not been evaluated in the treatment of infections. To reduce the development of drug-resistant bacteria as well as to maintain the effectiveness of other antibacterial drugs, SEYSARA should be used only as indicated.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

CONTRAINDICATIONS

SEYSARA is contraindicated in persons who have shown hypersensitivity to any of the tetracyclines.

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Like other tetracyclines, SEYSARA can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. If SEYSARA is used during pregnancy , or if the patient becomes pregnant while taking SEYSARA, the patient should be informed of the potential hazard to the fetus and treatment should be stopped immediately.

, or if the patient becomes pregnant while taking SEYSARA, the patient should be informed of the potential hazard to the fetus and treatment should be stopped immediately. The use of SEYSARA during tooth development (second and third trimesters of pregnancy, infancy, and childhood up to the age of 8 years) may cause permanent discoloration of the teeth (yellow-gray-brown).

(second and third trimesters of pregnancy, infancy, and childhood up to the age of 8 years) may cause permanent discoloration of the teeth (yellow-gray-brown). Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea (CDAD) has been reported with nearly all antibacterial agents, and may range in severity from mild diarrhea to fatal colitis. If Clostridium difficile Associated Diarrhea (antibiotic associated colitis) occurs, discontinue SEYSARA.

(CDAD) has been reported with nearly all antibacterial agents, and may range in severity from mild diarrhea to fatal colitis. If Associated Diarrhea (antibiotic associated colitis) occurs, discontinue SEYSARA. Central nervous system side effects , including light-headedness, dizziness or vertigo, have been reported with tetracycline use. Patients who experience these symptoms should be cautioned about driving vehicles or using hazardous machinery. These symptoms may disappear during therapy and may disappear when the drug is discontinued.

, including light-headedness, dizziness or vertigo, have been reported with tetracycline use. Patients who experience these symptoms should be cautioned about driving vehicles or using hazardous machinery. These symptoms may disappear during therapy and may disappear when the drug is discontinued. Intracranial hypertension in adults and adolescents has been associated with the use of tetracyclines. Clinical manifestations include headache, blurred vision and papilledema. Although signs and symptoms of intracranial hypertension resolve after discontinuation of treatment, the possibility for sequelae such as visual loss that may be permanent or severe exists. Concomitant use of isotretinoin and SEYSARA should be avoided because isotretinoin, a systemic retinoid, is also known to cause intracranial hypertension.

in adults and adolescents has been associated with the use of tetracyclines. Clinical manifestations include headache, blurred vision and papilledema. Although signs and symptoms of intracranial hypertension resolve after discontinuation of treatment, the possibility for sequelae such as visual loss that may be permanent or severe exists. Concomitant use of isotretinoin and SEYSARA should be avoided because isotretinoin, a systemic retinoid, is also known to cause intracranial hypertension. Photosensitivity manifested by an exaggerated sunburn reaction has been observed in some individuals taking tetracyclines. Patients should minimize or avoid exposure to natural or artificial sunlight (tanning beds or UVA/B treatment) while using SEYSARA.

manifested by an exaggerated sunburn reaction has been observed in some individuals taking tetracyclines. Patients should minimize or avoid exposure to natural or artificial sunlight (tanning beds or UVA/B treatment) while using SEYSARA. Bacterial resistance to tetracyclines may develop in patients using SEYSARA. Because of the potential for drug-resistant bacteria to develop during the use of SEYSARA, it should only be used as indicated.

to tetracyclines may develop in patients using SEYSARA. Because of the potential for drug-resistant bacteria to develop during the use of SEYSARA, it should only be used as indicated. As with other antibiotic preparations, use of SEYSARA may result in overgrowth of non-susceptible organisms, including fungi. If superinfection occurs, SEYSARA should be discontinued and appropriate therapy instituted.

ADVERSE REACTIONS

Most common adverse reaction (incidence 1%) is nausea.

Please see full Prescribing Information.

About Almirall

Almirall is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on skin health. We collaborate with scientists and healthcare professionals to address patient's needs through science to improve their lives. Our Noble Purpose is at the core of our work: "Transform the patients' world by helping them realize their hopes and dreams for a healthy life." We invest in differentiated and ground-breaking medical dermatology products to bring our innovative solutions to patients in need.

The company, founded in 1943 and headquartered in Barcelona, is publicly traded on the Spanish Stock Exchange (ticker: ALM). Throughout its 79-year history, Almirall has retained a strong focus on the needs of patients. Currently, Almirall has a direct presence in 21 countries and strategic agreements in over 70, with about 1,800 employees. Total revenues in 2021 were 836.5 million euros.

For more information, please visit https://www.almirall.us/.

Legal warning

This document includes only summary information and is not intended to be exhaustive. The facts, figures and opinions contained in this document, in addition to the historical ones, are "forward-looking statements". These statements are based on the information currently available and the best estimates and assumptions that the Company considers reasonable. These statements involve risks and uncertainties beyond the control of the Company. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from those declared by such forward-looking statements. The Company expressly waives any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, goals or estimates contained in this document to reflect any changes in the assumptions, events, or circumstances on which such forward-looking statements are based, unless required by the applicable law.

References:

Graber E, Baldwin H, Harper J, et al. Patient reported outcomes and investigator global assessment of acne vulgaris among patients with moderate to severe non-nodular acne vulgaris administered sarecycline in real-world community practices across the U.S. SKIN The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine. Forthcoming, 2022 Fried R, Rieder, E, Alexis, A, et al. Impact of acne on social functioning, emotional functioning, and activities of daily living with moderate to severe non-nodular acne vulgaris administered sarecycline in real-world community practices across the U.S. SKIN The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine. Forthcoming, 2022 Bickers DR, Lim HW, Margolis D, et al. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2006; 55:490-500 Timms RM. Psychol Health Med. 2013; 18(3):310-320 Revol O, Milliez N, Gerard D. Br J Dermatol. 2015; 172(Suppl 1):52-58 Hudgens S, Harper JC, Daniels SR, et al. J Drugs Dermatol. 2015; 14(6):552-9 Baldwin H, Graber E, Fried R, et al. An expert panel questionnaire for assessing patient-reported and caregiver-reported outcomes in acne vulgaris. SKIN The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine. Forthcoming, 2022 SEYSARA [package insert]. Malvern, PA: Almirall, LLC, 2021

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005431/en/

Contacts:

Media contact

Almirall

Mar Ramirez Guirao

mar.ramirez@almirall.com

(+34) 659 614 173



Investor Relations contact

Almirall

Pablo Divasson del Fraile

pablo.divasson@almirall.com

(+34) 93 291 3087
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - DirectMed Parts & Service ("DirectMed"), a medical imaging parts, systems, and service company, and portfolio company NMS Capital ("NMS"), announces their acquisition of ScanMed, LLC ("ScanMed" or the "Company"), an expert in MRI coil design, manufacture, and repair. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Both ScanMed and DirectMed are certified and compliant with ISO 13485:2016, the quality management system that meets the most rigorous regulations for the medical device marketplace. The partnership between these companies was facilitated by Jahani and Associates, who served as ScanMed's sell-side advisor, and Greenberg Traurig, who provided legal advice to DirectMed concerning this partnership.

"For over 10 years, ScanMed has been our go-to vendor for the most complicated MRI coil repairs. All of us at DirectMed are delighted to partner with Dr. Jones and his highly capable staff. There will be no immediate changes to the ScanMed brand, the Omaha operation, or their commitment to their entire client base," Brad de Koning, President & CEO of DirectMed stated.

Under the leadership of Dr. Randall Jones, founder, and CEO of ScanMed, his team has been awarded 12 design patents and developed numerous trade secrets, enabling ScanMed to be the foremost MRI depot-level coil repair partner for healthcare networks, independent service organizations, and diagnostic imaging parts, suppliers.

"Combining DirectMed's leading parts inventory, financial resources, and global distribution with ScanMed's MRI coil products and repair services produces wins all around for our companies and clients. Our strategic plan included building ScanMed's MRI coil distribution and repair footprint in Europe. With DirectMed's Danish subsidiary, LBN Medical, that vision will now come true - thus bringing the best of the U.S. to Europe," Dr. Randall Jones stated.

Tanner LoRusso, VP of Sales for DirectMed, added, "Partnering with ScanMed greatly expands our MRI coil repair capabilities. Moreover, this partnership will materially expand our technical support capabilities for our customers. ScanMed directly supports our mission to extend the life of medical imaging equipment to improve access, reduce waste, and lower healthcare costs."

Reflecting on this new alliance, David Peterson, Managing Director at NMS, stated, "This partnership not only adds significant customer and geographic coverage but also depth in technical knowledge. Dr. Jones was one of the first individuals we reached out to following our investment in DirectMed, and we are very excited to be partnering with the ScanMed team. NMS and DirectMed look forward to continuing to pursue opportunistic partnerships to accelerate our growth."

Jahani and Associates served as ScanMed's sell side advisor.

About ScanMed

ScanMed was founded in 2004 by Dr. Randall Jones, an industry innovator with a doctorate in electrical engineering, and 30 years of experience in medical imaging. The company is based in Omaha, Nebraska. It's a comprehensive OEM-certified MRI coil company with a proven track record of designing and repairing thousands of different MRI coils for many large brands. The company's proprietary coils include the Procure prostate coil, pediatric blanket and brain coils, spine, vascular, and several extremity coils. For additional information on ScanMed, please visit the firm's website at scanmed.com.

About DirectMed

DirectMed Parts & Service is the largest independent diagnostic imaging parts supplier specializing in MRI and CT machines with over 60,000 parts in stock. An ISO 13485-certified company, DirectMed repairs, supports and sells parts to healthcare networks, imaging centers, and independent service organizations ("ISOs") around the world. For additional information on DirectMed, please visit the firm's website at directmedparts.com.

About NMS Capital

Founded in 2010, NMS Capital is an experienced private equity firm managing assets in excess of $1.4 billion. Since its inception, NMS has partnered with management teams in over 100 investments and follow-on acquisitions across defined investment themes within the Business Services and Healthcare Services industries. The firm's principal strategy is to create long-term value by providing strategic and operational resources to growth-oriented companies led by founders or experienced management teams. NMS has a track record of successfully building industry-leading lower middle market companies in defensible and scalable end markets by accelerating organic and acquisition-driven growth. For additional information on NMS, please visit the firm's website at nms-capital.com.

About Jahani and Associates

Jahani and Associates is an independent advisory firm that provides services exclusively for growth. It serves the middle and lower middle market and is a global leader in the cross border category. The firm has served hundreds of clients. The firm has offices in New York City, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. The firm is a global leader in cross border investment banking. For additional information on Jahani and Associates, please visit the firm's website at jahaniandassociates.com.

Media Contact

Contact Person: David Peterson (Managing Director)

Email: dpeterson@nms-capital.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141471
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - Pelangio Exploration Inc. (TSXV: PX) (OTC Pink: PGXPF) ("Pelangio" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of up to $600,000 (the "Offering"). The Offering will consist of the sale of units (the "Units") of the Company at a price of $0.03 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant ("Warrant"). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.05 for a period of three years from the initial closing date of the Offering. The Company intends to use the gross proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes, including land maintenance costs.

The Offering is subject to customary closing conditions including, but not limited to, receipt of applicable regulatory approvals, including approval of the TSX-V. The closing of the Offering may occur in one or more tranches, with the initial closing date of the Offering expected to occur on or around October 31, 2022 and is not subject to receipt of a minimum amount of gross proceeds. The Company may pay to certain introducing parties, in respect of the Offering, finder's fees of up to 7% cash and 7% warrants, subject to compliance with applicable securities legislation and TSX-V policies. The securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a four-month and one day hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws and TSX-V policies. Insiders intend to participate for approximately 15% of the Offering.

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 applicable 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.

About Pelangio

Pelangio acquires and explores prospective land packages located in world-class gold belts in Ghana, West Africa and Canada. In Ghana, the Company is focused on its two 100% owned camp-sized properties: the 100 km2 Manfo property, the site of eight near-surface gold discoveries, and the 284 km2 Obuasi property, located 4 km on strike and adjacent to AngloGold Ashanti's prolific high-grade Obuasi Mine, as well as the Dankran property located adjacent to its Obuasi property. In Canada, the Company is currently focused in Ontario at its newly acquired gold, silver, zinc polymetallic Kenogaming project, located 63 km southwest of Timmins, its Dome West property, situated some 800 meters from the Dome Mine in Timmins; and at its Gowan polymetallic project, located 16 km east of the Kidd Creek Mine. See www.pelangio.com for further detail on all Pelangio's properties.

For additional information, please visit our website at www.pelangio.com, or contact:

Ingrid Hibbard, President and CEO

T: 905-336-3828 / TF: 1-877-746-1632 / E: info@pelangio.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements herein may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements or information appear in a number of places and can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements and information include statements regarding the Offering generally, the proceeds that may be raised in connection with the Offering, the proposed use of proceeds and the Company's exploration plans. With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, we have made numerous assumptions, including assumptions about our ability to close additional tranches of the Offering in a timely manner, if at all, and the state of the equity markets. Such forward-looking statements and information are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Such risks include the ability of the Company to meet the conditions of closing, our ability to conduct our exploration programs as planned, changes in equity markets, share price volatility, volatility of global and local economic climate, gold price volatility, political developments in Ghana, increases in costs, exchange rate fluctuations, speculative nature of gold exploration and other risks involved in the gold exploration industry. See the Company's annual and quarterly financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to the forward-looking statement and information. There can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information referenced herein will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Also, many of the factors are beyond the control of the Company. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. We undertake no obligation to reissue or update any forward-looking statements or information except as required by law. All forward-looking statements and information herein are qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN CANADA ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141476
EQS Voting Rights Announcement: QIAGEN N.V.

QIAGEN N.V.: Release according to Article 40, Section 1 of the WpHG [the German Securities Trading Act] with the objective of Europe-wide distribution



21.10.2022 / 22:02 CET/CEST

Dissemination of a Voting Rights Announcement transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The AFM (the Netherlands Authority For the Financial Markets has informed us on October 19, 2022 that a notification related to our institution has been released by the AFM. The following notification has been disclosed in the relevant register on the AFM website: Date of transaction: 13 Oct 2022 Person obliged to notify: Goldman Sachs Group Inc., The Issuing institution: Qiagen N.V. Registration Chamber of Commerce: 12036979 Place of residence: VENLO Distribution in numbers Type of share Number of shares Number of voting rights Capital interest Voting rights Manner of disposal Settlement Ordinary share 37.693,00 37.693,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE Physical Delivery Swap 56.632,00 56.632,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC In cash Swap 72.507,00 72.507,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International In cash Call-option 375.000,00 375.000,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International Physical Delivery Ordinary share 19.876,00 19.876,00 Real Real Indirectly - Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE Physical Delivery Ordinary share 185.286,00 185.286,00 Real Real Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International Physical Delivery Ordinary share 41,00 41,00 Real Real Indirectly - Folio Investments, Inc. Physical Delivery Ordinary share 5.130,00 5.130,00 Real Real Indirectly - United Capital Financial Advisers, LLC Physical Delivery Ordinary share 6.924,00 6.924,00 Real Real Indirectly - The Goldman Sachs Trust Company of Delaware Physical Delivery Ordinary share 601.376,00 601.376,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC Physical Delivery Warrant 61.437,00 61.437,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE In cash Ordinary share 548.169,00 548.169,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International Physical Delivery Ordinary share 14.279,00 14.279,00 Real Real Indirectly - NN Investment Partners Holdings B.V. Physical Delivery Put option 90.000,00 90.000,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International Physical Delivery Convertible bond 508.222,00 508.222,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs International Physical Delivery Option 3.863.782,00 3.863.782,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC Physical Delivery Convertible bond 525.971,00 525.971,00 Potential Potential Indirectly - NN Investment Partners Holdings B.V. Physical Delivery Distribution in percentages Type Total holding Directly real Directly potential Indirectly real Indirectly potential Capital interest 3,02% 0,00% 0,00% 0,10% 2,92% Voting rights 3,02% 0,00% 0,00% 0,10% 2,92% QIAGEN N.V. is not responsible for the accuracy and correctness of the notification above. The content has been taken from the relevant register of the AFM: https://www.afm.nl/en/professionals/registers/meldingenregisters/substantiele-deelnemingen/details?id=132161

21.10.2022 CET/CEST The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.eqs-news.com


Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - Li3 Lithium Corp. (TSXV: LILI) (the "Company") announces a proposed non-brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $2,000,000 comprised of up to 20,000,000 units at a price of $0.10 per unit (each such unit being comprised of one (1) common share and one half of one (1/2) warrant) (the "Offering"). Each whole warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share for $0.20 at any time within 2 years after closing. All securities issued pursuant to this private placement will be subject to a four (4) month hold period. Completion of the Offering is subject to receipt of all required regulatory and TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") approvals.

Closing is expected to occur on or around November 4, 2022. The proceeds of the private placement will be used for general working capital and to assist in conducting due diligence of potential business opportunities.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons as defined under applicable United States securities laws unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

In Addition, the Company also announces that at the annual and special meeting of its shareholders on June 28, 2022 (the "Meeting"), shareholders approved the Company's stock option plan (the "Stock Option Plan"), as amended. The Stock Option Plan, as amended, is further described in the Company's information circular, a copy of which can be found on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

The Stock Option Plan is a "10% rolling" stock option plan. The maximum aggregate number of common shares that may be reserved for issuance under the Stock Option Plan at any point in time is 10% of the outstanding common shares in the capital of the Company at the time of the grant of an option.

On November 24, 2021, the TSX Venture Exchange adopted a new policy governing security-based compensation (the "New Policy 4.4"). In accordance with the New Policy 4.4, a number of amendments have been made to the Stock Option Plan. These changes include amendments allowing option holders to exercise options on a "cashless exercise" or "net exercise" basis, as now expressly permitted by the New Policy 4.4. "Cashless exercise" is a method of exercising stock options in which a securities dealer loans funds to the option holder or sells the same shares as those underlying the option, prior to or in conjunction with the exercise of options, to allow the option holder to fund the exercise of some or all of their options. "Net exercise" is a method of option exercise under which the option holder does not make any payment to the issuer for the exercise of their options and receives on exercise a number of shares equal to the intrinsic value (current market price less the exercise price) of the option valued at the current market price. Under the New Policy 4.4, the current market price must be the 5-day volume weighted average trading price prior to option exercise. "Net exercise" may not be utilized by persons performing investor relations services.

About Li3 Lithium Corp

Li3 Lithium Corp is a lithium focused exploration and project development company that recently acquired a 50% interest in Li3 Resources Inc. ("Li3"). Li3's corporate plan is to acquire an attractive portfolio of highly prospective lithium exploration projects worldwide of which the Mutare Lithium Project is the first. Li3's senior management team have successfully executed similar transactions in the past during their 30+ year history in the mining sector.

Zimbabwe - Mutare Lithium Project

The Mutare Lithium Project consists of 1,500 hectares of licences within the Mutare Greenstone Belt of Zimbabwe located close to the eastern border with Mozambique. The area was deemed prospective for LCT-type pegmatites based on prior target generation work.

Contact Information:

Li3 Lithium Corp

Stephen Dunn, CEO

Tel: 416-361-2827

Email: dunnsteve@protonmail.com

www.lithium3.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT:

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "would", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided, and is 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 information. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141487
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - Kenorland Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: KLD) (OTCQX: KLDCF) (FSE: 3WQ0) ("Kenorland" or "the Company") announces that its Board of Directors has accepted the resignation of Francis MacDonald as President of the Company. Mr. MacDonald has decided to pursue other opportunities and the Board wishes him well with his future endeavours. Mr. MacDonald will continue to support the Company through a lead technical advisory role. Zach Flood, CEO and director of the Company, will assume the role of President.

Zach Flood, President and CEO of Kenorland commented, "Francis, myself, and two other co-founders, Scott Smits, Vice President of Exploration, and Dave Stevenson, Chief Geoscientist, created Kenorland in 2016 with the vision to become one of the leading exploration companies in the business. Together, along with the rest of the Kenorland team and with strong support from our shareholders, we've accomplished that goal, and while there is still immense value for us to create through continued exploration and discovery, we support Francis' decision to pursue other opportunities. On behalf of Kenorland, we thank Francis for his significant contributions and wish him all the best on this next chapter of his career. At the same time, we look forward to his continued involvement in the Company as a lead technical advisor."

About Kenorland Minerals

Kenorland Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: KLD) is a mineral exploration Company incorporated under the laws of the Province of British Columbia and based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Kenorland's focus is early to advanced stage exploration in North America. The Company currently holds four projects in Quebec where work is being completed under joint venture and earn-in agreement from third parties. The Frotet Project is held under joint venture with Sumitomo, the Chicobi Project is optioned to Sumitomo, the Chebistuan Project is optioned to Newmont Corporation and the Hunter Project is held under option to Centerra Gold Inc. In Ontario, the Company holds the South Uchi Project under an earn-in agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corporation. In Alaska, the Company holds the advanced stage Tanacross porphyry Cu-Au-Mo project, optioned to Antofagasta, as well as a 70% interest in the Healy Project, held under joint venture with Newmont Corporation.

Further information can be found on the Company's website www.kenorlandminerals.com

Kenorland Minerals Ltd.

Zach Flood

President and CEO, Director

Tel: +1 604 363 1779

zach@kenorlandminerals.com

Kenorland Minerals Ltd.

Scott Smits

Vice President of Exploration

Tel: +1 250 686 8135

scott@kenorlandminerals.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans", "expects', "estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing these forward-looking statements are reasonable based upon the information currently available to management as of the date hereof, actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Readers are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed times frames or at all. Except where required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141188
Paolo Di Giorgio, Chief Executive Officer, Angelini Ventures

Angelini Industries, a Rome, Italy-based multi-sector Italian industrial group, announced the launch of Angelini Ventures, a corporate venture capital initiative, with a 300M capital commitment.

Angelini Ventures will build and invest in early-stage companies that develop innovative ideas and solutions in biotechnology, digital health and life sciences.

Led by Paolo Di Giorgio, Chief Executive Officer, Angelini Ventures has already made investments of 60m. The current investment portfolio includes Argobio, a Paris-based biotech venture studio; Angelini Lumira Biosciences Fund, a North American fund that invests in early-stage companies; and Pretzel Therapeutics, a Boston-based mitochondrial therapeutics company.

Led by Sergio Marullo di Condojanni, Chief Executive Officer, Angelini Industries is a multinational group with 5,800 employees, operating in 21 countries and generating annual revenues of 1.7 billion. It operates in the pharmaceutical, consumer goods, industrial technology, perfumes and dermo-cosmetics and wine businesses.

FinSMEs

21/10/2022
Ottr , a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a Web3 mobile app that holding crypto, raised $3.1m in Pre-Seed funding.

The round was led by Race Capital with participation from Circle Ventures, Slow Ventures, and Kamal Ravikant.

The company intends to use the funds to expand to over 100 countries.

Led by CEO Aleksei Zakharov, Ottr is a Solana-based self-custody crypto app. It enables users around the world to instantly send USDC for free without going through the complicated steps of setting up their self-custody wallet and storing seed phrases. As a next step, Ottr will offer sustainable yield products. In November, the company will release limited Ottr NFTs that users can display as their wallet profiles.

FinSMEs

21/10/2022


Pelion, a Glasgow, Scotland, UK-based Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity business, received an Equity funding from Scottish Equity Partners (SEP).

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

The company intends to use the funds to grow independently, and invest further in product development, sales and customer support.

Led by CEO David Weidner, Pelion has developed a global connectivity management platform enabling enterprise customers to connect end devices to applications through cellular connectivity. Its 500 customers span a wide range of sectors, including industrials, utilities, transport and logistics, and healthcare. Use cases supported by the platform include infrastructure monitoring, connected industrial equipment, vehicle telematics, remote building access and patient monitoring.

With presence in the UK and North America, Pelion is a partner to over 500 enterprise clients.

FinSMEs

21/10/2022
(Grand Hotel, Sudan, October 19, 2022)

Your Excellency Professor Abdul Galdir Mohamed Ahmed, Deputy Secretary-General of Sudan's Sovereignty Council,

Mr. Chen Runyun, Vice President of the Training Center of the Ministry of Commerce of China,

Mr.Tang Ning, Department of Commerce of Fujian Province,

Mr. Li Sheng, Director of Fujian Foreign Economic Cooperation Center,

Dear friends and colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning.It is such a pleasure to attend the opening session of the technical training course for the implementation and operation of the Sudans Presidential Palace project. Let me begin by extending, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Sudan, hearty congratulations on the successful opening of this training course and a warm welcome to 25 officials from the Sudanese Sovereign Council to the course. I would also like to thank the Training Center of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Fujian International Economic Cooperation Center for the thoughtful arrangements for the program.

The training course is a bilateral program tailor made for operational and management personnel at Sudans new Presidential Palace built with China's assistance. The China-funded new Presidential Palace is at the core of Sudans political arena, symbolizing national sovereignty and dignity. The complex integrates the traditional styles of buildings in Sudan and the artistic characteristics of Islamic and Arab architecture. As the embodiment of the half-century-long mutually-beneficial cooperation and friendship between our two peoples, the new Presidential Palace is the result of concerted efforts of our two nations, carrying our shared aspirations. It represents the Chinese governments strong support to the Sudanese government and attests to the profound friendship between the two peoples.

Dear friends and colleagues,

As a Chinese poem reads, Real friends value their promises to each other and will travel a thousand miles to be together. Since our two countries established diplomatic relations 63 years ago, we have reinforced our political mutual trust, achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation and maintained closer people-to-people exchanges. China-Sudan friendship has grown even stronger as a prime example of national friendship that transcends location, culture and systems.

China and Sudan are good friends treating each other with sincerity. Both sides always give each other firm support on issues concerning each others core interests and major concerns, with no strings attached. After the U.S. House Speaker Pelosi visited Chinas Taiwan region in early August, in disregard of Chinas strong opposition, Foreign Minister of Sudan Ali Al-Sadiq immediately stressed in a statement that Sudan supports the one-China principle and the efforts of China in defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Recently, at the 51st session of the Human Rights Council, Sudan sided with the Chinese side resolutely in defeating the attempt of the United States and other western countries to use Xinjiang-related issues as a tool to interfere in Chinas internal affairs. As one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, China always supports Sudans legitimate and reasonable requests at international events, speaks up for justice for Sudan, and opposes any illegal interference and sanctions targeting Sudan.

China and Sudan are good partners seeking win-win results. Bilateral cooperation in various fields under the Belt and Road Initiative and within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has delivered fruitful results. This year, the maternal and child health project successfully completed by the UNICEF with strong support of the Chinese government has created walls of protection to safeguard the health of over 70,000 local residents in the West Darfur State. The 34 export locomotives manufactured by CRRC Ziyang will be all delivered to Sudan by the end of this year, which will greatly enhance Sudans transport capacity and improve the wellbeing of local people. The Sudan-China express shipping service launched by Greenroad International Logistics gives a boost to our cooperation in trade and logistics, ensuring that the supply chain is unclogged. Whats more, steady progress has been made in many other cooperative projects, including the China-aid slaughter house project, the well-drilling project for rural areas, and the latest round of technical cooperation on the Presidential Palace office buildings.

China and Sudan are good brothers learning from each other. Both sides have been working actively to expand our cooperation in such fields as education, culture and youth, fostering a multi-faceted framework of people-to-people exchanges. As the worlds largest developing country, China has long been sharing its experience in development and practical techniques with Sudan and other developing countries through cooperation in human resources training and other means, so as to enhance their capabilities for independent development. Over the past two years, nearly 1,200 officials and technicians from the Sudanese side have been invited by the Chinese government under the framework of South-South Cooperation to various short-term training programs and degree programs organized by China, including seminars, symposiums and technical training sessions. Through capacity building, China and Sudan work together to pursue development.

Dear friends and colleagues,

There is an old saying in China, nothing, not even mountains or oceans, can separate those with a shared goal. That the training sessions will be carried out online shows that geographic distance cannot cut off the exchanges and ties between our two peoples, and that our friendship is always there. I hope that participants in this training program will use it as a good opportunity for mutual learning and apply what you have learned in your future work. I look forward to your greater contributions to keeping the new Presidential Palace function well and the China-Sudan friendship last long.

I welcome all trainees to China in the near future to see the development of China, experience the diversity of Chinese culture and feel the kindness and hospitality of the Chinese people in person.

Dear friends and colleagues,

To conclude, I wish the training course a full success!

Thank you all.
On October 19, 2022, Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Issue Zhai Jun met with Ambassador of Yemen to China Mohammed Al-Maitami. Maitami extended warm congratulations on the successful convening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. He expressed that the Congress is an important conference convened at a great historical juncture, and will chart the course for and inject new and strong impetus into China's development. Zhai Jun expressed gratitude for this.

The two sides also exchanged views on China-Yemen relations.
On September 24, 2022 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York.

Wang Yi said that China and Algeria enjoy a special and deep friendship, which has stood the tests of evolving international situation and further strengthened during the fight against the pandemic. The two countries are friends in need and friends in good faith. China is ready to work with Algeria to carry forward the traditional friendship, and advance side by side along the path of development and revitalization, to open up new prospects for bilateral relations.

Lamamra said that China and Algeria are good friends enjoying a high-level and strong comprehensive strategic partnership; the two sides follow the same set of principles in international affairs, and share the same goal of national revitalization. He thanked China for providing strong support to Algeria in implementing national strategies, and expressed readiness to further deepen and expand exchanges and cooperation with China in various fields. He noted that Algeria highly appreciates and actively supports the Global Development Initiative (GDI) proposed by President Xi Jinping, and has joined the Group of Friends of the GDI. Algeria looks forward to strengthening cooperation and expanding common understanding with China with a view to achieving common development and prosperity. Algeria appreciates the objective and just position China has held on the Ukraine issue, and is in favor of solving the issue through negotiation to restore peace and stability.

Wang Yi said that under the leadership of President Xi Jinping and President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, China and Algeria have cemented mutual trust, maintained frequent and close contacts, and deepened bilateral cooperation, which has fully reflected the high quality of China-Algeria comprehensive strategic partnership. Algeria is a major developing country and a representative of emerging economies. China appreciates that Algeria was one of the first countries to join the Group of Friends of the GDI and has been active in implementing the initiative. China is ready to work with Algeria to play a constructive role in promoting world peace and development.

The two sides agreed to accelerate the negotiation and conclusion of the five-year plan for China-Algeria comprehensive strategic cooperation, the plan for the Belt and Road cooperation, and the three-year plan for cooperation in major areas, among others, so as to inject new impetus into the expansion of practical cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides agreed to deepen cooperation between China and Arab states. China supports Algeria in playing its role as the rotating presidency of the League of Arab States and in holding a successful Arab League summit, and welcomes Algeria joining the BRICS family.

The two sides agreed to strengthen solidarity, jointly uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, jointly safeguard the principle of non-interference in others internal affairs, and jointly promote international fairness and justice.
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Xponential Fitness Signs Master Franchise Agreement in Kuwait

October 21, 2022 // Franchising.com // IRVINE, Calif. - Xponential Fitness, Inc. (NYSE: XPOF) announced today it has signed a Master Franchise Agreement in Kuwait for its brands Rumble, Club Pilates, StretchLab and CycleBar. The deal, signed with Kuwait Real Estate Company, Aqarat, will result in the opening of a minimum of eight studios early in the initial 10-year term of the agreement.

The Master Franchisee for Xponential in Kuwait is the publicly traded real estate development company, Aqarat, a prominent developer and manager of commercial, residential and hospitality properties in Kuwait and the Middle East, as well as Europe and the United States. Aqarat also has investments and joint venture agreements with the hospitality brands Yotel, Courtyard by Marriott, and IFA Hotels and Resorts.

The fitness centers are a mix of local, regional and international operators, with boutique fitness early in its lifecycle and poised for growth.

We are thrilled to be working with Aqarat to bring our world-class boutique fitness studios to Kuwait, said John Kersh, Chief International Development Officer of Xponential Fitness. Aqarats extensive real estate and hospitality experience is perfectly suited for our customer-focused brands, and they are well-equipped to deliver our immersive studio experiences to the Kuwaiti population.

Fitness in Kuwait is changing and growing fast, says Saad Al-Muneefi, Vice President, Asset Management and Investor Relations of Aqarat. We at Aquarat are invested in improving the lives of our community and are proud of this partnership with Xponential Fitness to realize our dream of bringing boutique fitness to the people of Kuwait in a very big way.

SOURCE Xponential Fitness, Inc.

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Two Corvallis nurses have been disciplined by the Oregon State Board of Nursing in October.

The board issued a fine against Karen Keunekes registered nursing license for practicing nursing without a current Oregon license. The board first issued her license in September 1982.

According to disciplinary documents, Keunekes license expired May 2, but she continued to practice nursing at a Corvallis senior living home. On Aug. 2, Keuneke discovered her license had expired, and she handed over her nursing duties to another registered nurse and stopped working, disciplinary documents said.

Keuneke reported herself to the board. She practiced nursing without a valid license a total of 59 days between May and August. As a result, the board imposed a civil penalty of $1,445.

Keuneke wasnt the only Corvallis nurse in trouble with the board.

The board suspended the registered nurse license of David Norton for failing to cooperate with the board during an investigation. The board first issued Nortons license in March 2003.

Disciplinary documents said on or around July 26, someone reported Norton to the board for allegedly slapping and flicking the hands of a resident. The board subsequently opened an investigation into the matter.

On Aug. 17, the board mailed a letter to Norton requesting an interview to discuss the allegations and asking Norton to send a written statement about the allegations as well as current work history. According to the disciplinary documents, Norton failed to follow the boards orders.

On Sept. 1, the board sent another letter to Norton saying he must contact the board within five business days to schedule an interview to discuss the allegations. Norton did not do so.

A few weeks later on Sept. 23, the board mailed a notice of proposed suspension to Norton and granted him 20 days to request a hearing. Norton did not request a hearing within the 20 days, thus resulting in the suspension of his license.

His license is suspended for at least two weeks and will continue to be suspended until he cooperates with the boards investigation, according to the Oregon State Board of Nursing.
Ukraine's central bank revises down economic contraction in 2022

Xinhua) 10:41, October 21, 2022

KIEV, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's economy is expected to contract by 32 percent this year, a shallower decline from 37.5 percent expected previously, the country's central bank said on Thursday.

In the second and the third quarters this year, the economic activity in Ukraine slowly recovered, with the "grain corridor" starting to operate under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the bank said in an outlook.

Among the factors holding back the economic recovery, the bank listed logistical problems, the loss of labor force and production facilities, and the decline in real incomes of the population caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The bank estimated that the Ukrainian economy would return to a 4-5 percent growth in the coming years.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Wu Chaolan)
Denzel Washington Begins Filming New Action Thriller

Photos show the beginning of filming on Denzel Washington's The Equalizer 3.

By Joshua Jones |

Denzel Washington and Director Antoine Fuqua are back for #TheEqualizer3, joined by Dakota Fanning and Gaia Scodellaro. Now in production on the Amalfi Coast, Italy. pic.twitter.com/FG1sdJ1XWg  The Equalizer (@TheEqualizer) October 19, 2022

Denzel Washington is back as the Equalizer. Filming for the second sequel in The Equalizer franchise has commenced, and we now have the first images from the set revealing Washington and co-star Dakota Fanning. The images are courtesy of the films official Twitter account and show Washington reuniting with his 2004s Man of Fire co-star.

The Equalizer 3 is directed by Antoine Fuqua, who helmed the first two installments. Denzel Washingtons Robert McCall finds himself on a dangerous mission in Europe. When discussing what to expect from the action sequel, Fuqua teased that audiences may hopefully learn more about the mysterious Robert McCall.

Fuqua also said hes wanted to take Denzel Washingtons character out of the U.S. and into a globe-trotting adventure for quite some time. The director said he plans to scout in Sardinia and hopefully find some small seaside villages. Just from the teases alone, it seems audiences are in for quite a different experience from the previous two entries.

As noted, The Equalizer 3 reunites Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning after the two worked together in 2004s Man on Fire. Fuqua came up with the casting idea during a phone call with Washington. The two were talking about the late Tony Scott when the conversation turned to Fanning. Fuqua thought it would be an awesome idea to reunite Washington and Fanning for the upcoming sequel.

Man on Fire centered on Denzel Washingtons John Creasy; a former CIA SAD/SOG officer turned bodyguard who goes on a revenge mission after his nine-year-old charge is abducted in Mexico City. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics when it came out. Over the years, it has been appreciated by film fans and is considered one of director Tony Scotts most underrated films.

2004s Man on Fire was actually an adaptation of the 1980 novel by A.J. Quinnell. Funny enough, Fuqua was almost once considered to direct the film, but the studio ultimately decided to hire Scott. The film earned Denzel Washington an NAACP Image Award nomination for Best Actor.

Details regarding Fannings character in The Equalizer 3 are being kept under wraps. The upcoming sequel comes after The Equalizer TV series on CBS premiered on February 7, 2021. Denzel Washington was not involved in the series, which starred Queen Latifah.

Denzel Washington in The Equalizer (2014)

The Equalizer has become quite a profitable franchise for Sony Pictures. The first Denzel Washington actioner grossed over $192 million worldwide against a production budget of $55-73 million. The second film made roughly the same amount of money.

Denzel Washington has worked with Antoine Fuqua on a few projects in his career. In addition to The Equalizer franchise, the two have collaborated in 2001s Training Day and 2016s The Magnificent Seven. Washingtons role in Training Day earned the actor an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Well see how the next Equalizer film pans out. The franchise has turned Denzel Washington into an action star. The same thing happened with Liam Neeson after he starred in the first Taken movie. If the studio manages to keep the budget down, The Equalizer 3 may be another successful win for Sony Pictures.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Sept. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Innovation Village hopes to prepare citizens for a knowledge-based economy, foster a new tech startup scene, host innovative organizations from around the world and deliver the country a non-oil economy "sandbox" that will provide local and global solutions.

In recent times, Guyana discovered one of the world's biggest oil and gas reserves. This discovery is a turning point for the beautiful country, rich with warm people and innumerable resources as the gaze of the world has gradually turned unto them with hope for better opportunities arising on the horizon.

The Guyana Innovation Group is poised to be the link connecting capabilities, cutting-edge technologies, incredible talent, and networks to visionary public and private Guyanese partners, thus forming the backbone for the growth of the non-oil economy. The Innovation Village in the heart of Silica City is a critical milestone for the country. Renowned organizations like Boston's MIT, DAR design and engineering firm, the Formula E ecosystem, including Brands Partner Group (BPG), Baptist Health, Florida International University (FIU), NV2A Group, OEC, DHL Global, Universal Music and Hotels, Alder Fuels, amongst others, are showing great interest in participating in the Innovation Village initiative.

The Silica City, located in the south of Georgetown, is the brainchild and legacy of the visionary leader, His Excellency President Irfaan Ali. The city is set to be a pioneer in all ramifications, beginning by using the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) that conforms to Guyana's commitment to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The Innovation Village will be the heart of Silica City leading the way to becoming a global laboratory.

The Innovation Village represents a new complementary urban model, giving rise to what people are calling "innovation districts." These districts, by definition, are geographic areas where leading-edge anchor institutions and companies cluster and connect with start-ups, business incubators and accelerators. Key enabling technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence and big data are used to develop unique innovative solutions.

Cofounder of the Guyana Innovation Group, Rodrigo Arboleda, could not conceal his excitement in being a part of this laudable feat. In his words, "The Innovation Village is a nation-building project that connects science, technology, and innovation with the wellbeing of society. Our goal is to bring to Guyana the right allies that will help the country evolve into a cutting-edge nation."

Luis Videgaray, head of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Policy for the World Project, spoke on the immense potential of the Innovation Village. He said, "We are very proud to contribute to the thinking and ideas that may result in a transformational project for society. MIT is moving towards creating the right mechanisms to participate around Artificial Intelligence that will deliver well-being to society." Business leaders, governments, investors, innovators, and the general public with an eye for discovering untapped opportunities are invited to witness a turning point in Guyana's history.

Media Contact

Company name: Guyana Innovation Group

Contact Person: Rachel Green

Email: pr@guyanainnovationgroup.com







Related Images











Image 1: Guyana Innovation Village





Guyana Innovation Village delegation with HE President Irfaan Ali and members of the Guyanese Government









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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Pune, Oct. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- "Outdoor Pizza Oven Market" size was valued at USD 301.0 million in 2021 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.94% during the forecast period, reaching USD 402.0 million by 2027. The Outdoor Pizza Oven Market research includes an in-depth analysis of report detailed information on factors influencing demand, growth, opportunities, challenges, and restraints, and Analysis of Pre & Post COVID-19 Market. The global Outdoor Pizza Oven Market size is projected to reach multi million by 2027, in comparison to 2022, with unexpected CAGR during the forecast period.

Outdoor Pizza Oven Market - Covid-19 Impact and Recovery Analysis:

We have been following the straight impact of COVID-19 on this market, as well as the indirect impact from other industries. This report analyses the impact of the pandemic on the Outdoor Pizza Oven market from a Global and Regional perspective. The report outlines the market size, market characteristics, and market growth for Outdoor Pizza Oven industry, categorized by type, application, and consumer sector. In addition, it provides a comprehensive analysis of aspects involved in market development before and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Report also conducted a PESTEL analysis in the industry to study key influencers and barriers to entry.

Final Report will add the analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on this industry.

TO KNOW HOW COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND RUSSIA UKRAINE WAR WILL IMPACT THIS MARKET - REQUEST SAMPLE

It also provides accurate information and cutting-edge analysis that is necessary to formulate an ideal business plan, and to define the right path for rapid growth for all involved industry players. With this information, stakeholders will be more capable of developing new strategies, which focus on market opportunities that will benefit them, making their business endeavours profitable in the process.

Who is the main manufacturer in the Global?

Bertello

Refrattari Valoriani

Alfa Forni

ilfornino

Forno Bravo

BrickWood Ovens

Californo

Gozney Roccbox

WPPO, LLC

Ooni

And More

Get a Sample Copy of the Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Report 2022

What are Industry Insights?

The Global Outdoor Pizza Oven market is expected to rise at a significant rate during the forecast period, between 2022 and 2027. In 2022, the market is increasing at a steady rate and with the rising adoption of tactics by key players, the market is expected to rise over the projected horizon.

The global Outdoor Pizza Oven market size was valued at USD 301.0 million in 2021 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.94% during the forecast period, reaching USD 402.0 million by 2027.



The report combines extensive quantitative analysis and exhaustive qualitative analysis, ranges from a macro overview of the total market size, industry chain, and market dynamics to micro details of segment markets by type, application and region, and, as a result, provides a holistic view of, as well as a deep insight into the Outdoor Pizza Oven market covering all its essential aspects.



For the competitive landscape, the report also introduces players in the industry from the perspective of the market share, concentration ratio, etc., and describes the leading companies in detail, with which the readers can get a better idea of their competitors and acquire an in-depth understanding of the competitive situation. Further, mergers & acquisitions, emerging market trends, the impact of COVID-19, and regional conflicts will all be considered.



In a nutshell, this report is a must-read for industry players, investors, researchers, consultants, business strategists, and all those who have any kind of stake or are planning to foray into the market in any manner.

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On the basis of product type this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into:

Wood

Charcoal

Gas

On the basis of the end users/applications this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, including:

Residential

Commercial

Outdoor Pizza Oven Market - Regional Analysis:

Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share and growth Rate of Outdoor Pizza Oven in these regions, from 2015 to 2027, covering

North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Turkey etc.)

Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam)

South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)

Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)

Some of the key questions answered in this report:

What is the global ( North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East & Africa ) sales value, production value, consumption value, import and export of Outdoor Pizza Oven?

) sales value, production value, consumption value, import and export of Outdoor Pizza Oven? Who are the global key manufacturers of the Outdoor Pizza Oven Industry? How is their operating situation (capacity, production, sales, price, cost, gross, and revenue)?

What are the Outdoor Pizza Oven market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the global Outdoor Pizza Oven Industry?

Which application/end-user or product type may seek incremental growth prospects? What is the market share of each type and application?

What focused approach and constraints are holding the Outdoor Pizza Oven market?

What are the different sales, marketing, and distribution channels in the global industry?

What are the upstream raw materials and manufacturing equipment of Outdoor Pizza Oven along with the manufacturing process of Outdoor Pizza Oven?

What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Outdoor Pizza Oven market?

Economic impact on the Outdoor Pizza Oven industry and development trend of the Outdoor Pizza Oven industry.

What are the market opportunities, market risk, and market overview of the Outdoor Pizza Oven market?

What are the key drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges of the Outdoor Pizza Oven market, and how they are expected to impact the market?

What is the Outdoor Pizza Oven market size at the regional and country-level?

Our research analysts will help you to get customized details for your report, which can be modified in terms of a specific region, application or any statistical details. In addition, we are always willing to comply with the study, which triangulated with your own data to make the market research more comprehensive in your perspective.

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Detailed TOC of Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Research Report 2022

1 Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Overview

1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Outdoor Pizza Oven

1.2 Outdoor Pizza Oven Segment by Type

1.2.1 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Size Growth Rate Analysis by Type 2022 VS 2027

1.3 Outdoor Pizza Oven Segment by Application

1.3.1 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Consumption Comparison by Application: 2022 VS 2027

1.4 Global Market Growth Prospects

1.4.1 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Revenue Estimates and Forecasts (2015-2027)

1.4.2 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Capacity Estimates and Forecasts (2015-2027)

1.4.3 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Estimates and Forecasts (2015-2027)

1.5 Global Market Size by Region

1.5.1 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Size Estimates and Forecasts by Region: 2015 VS 2021 VS 2027

1.5.2 North America Outdoor Pizza Oven Estimates and Forecasts (2015-2027)

1.5.3 Europe Outdoor Pizza Oven Estimates and Forecasts (2015-2027)

1.5.4 China Outdoor Pizza Oven Estimates and Forecasts (2015-2027)

1.5.5 Japan Outdoor Pizza Oven Estimates and Forecasts (2015-2027)

2 Market Competition by Manufacturers

2.1 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Capacity Market Share by Manufacturers (2015-2022)

2.2 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Revenue Market Share by Manufacturers (2015-2022)

2.3 Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Share by Company Type (Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3)

2.4 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Average Price by Manufacturers (2015-2022)

2.5 Manufacturers Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Sites, Area Served, Product Types

2.6 Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Competitive Situation and Trends

2.6.1 Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Concentration Rate

2.6.2 Global 5 and 10 Largest Outdoor Pizza Oven Players Market Share by Revenue

2.6.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion

3 Production Capacity by Region

3.1 Global Production Capacity of Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Share by Region (2015-2022)

3.2 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Revenue Market Share by Region (2015-2022)

3.3 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Capacity, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015-2022)

3.4 North America Outdoor Pizza Oven Production

3.4.1 North America Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Growth Rate (2015-2022)

3.4.2 North America Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Capacity, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015-2022)

3.5 Europe Outdoor Pizza Oven Production

3.5.1 Europe Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Growth Rate (2015-2022)

3.5.2 Europe Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Capacity, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015-2022)

3.6 China Outdoor Pizza Oven Production

3.6.1 China Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Growth Rate (2015-2022)

3.6.2 China Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Capacity, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015-2022)

3.7 Japan Outdoor Pizza Oven Production

3.7.1 Japan Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Growth Rate (2015-2022)

3.7.2 Japan Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Capacity, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015-2022)

4 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Consumption by Region

4.1 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Consumption by Region

4.1.1 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Consumption by Region

4.1.2 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Consumption Market Share by Region

4.2 North America

4.2.1 North America Outdoor Pizza Oven Consumption by Country

4.2.2 United States

4.2.3 Canada

4.3 Europe

4.3.1 Europe Outdoor Pizza Oven Consumption by Country

4.3.2 Germany

4.3.3 France

4.3.4 U.K.

4.3.5 Italy

4.3.6 Russia

4.4 Asia Pacific

4.4.1 Asia Pacific Outdoor Pizza Oven Consumption by Region

4.4.2 China

4.4.3 Japan

4.4.4 South Korea

4.4.5 China Taiwan

4.4.6 Southeast Asia

4.4.7 India

4.4.8 Australia

4.5 Latin America

4.5.1 Latin America Outdoor Pizza Oven Consumption by Country

4.5.2 Mexico

4.5.3 Brazil

Get a Sample Copy of the Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Report 2022

5 Segment by Type

5.1 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Market Share by Type (2015-2022)

5.2 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Revenue Market Share by Type (2015-2022)

5.3 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Price by Type (2015-2022)

6 Segment by Application

6.1 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Production Market Share by Application (2015-2022)

6.2 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Revenue Market Share by Application (2015-2022)

6.3 Global Outdoor Pizza Oven Price by Application (2015-2022)

7 Key Companies Profiled

7.1 Company

7.1.1 Outdoor Pizza Oven Corporation Information

7.1.2 Outdoor Pizza Oven Product Portfolio

7.1. COutdoor Pizza Oven Production Capacity, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015-2022)

7.1.4 Companys Main Business and Markets Served

7.1.5 Companys Recent Developments/Updates



8 Outdoor Pizza Oven Manufacturing Cost Analysis

8.1 Outdoor Pizza Oven Key Raw Materials Analysis

8.1.1 Key Raw Materials

8.1.2 Key Suppliers of Raw Materials

8.2 Proportion of Manufacturing Cost Structure

8.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Outdoor Pizza Oven

8.4 Outdoor Pizza Oven Industrial Chain Analysis

9 Marketing Channel, Distributors and Customers

9.1 Marketing Channel

9.2 Outdoor Pizza Oven Distributors List

9.3 Outdoor Pizza Oven Customers

10 Market Dynamics

10.1 Outdoor Pizza Oven Industry Trends

10.2 Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Drivers

10.3 Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Challenges

10.4 Outdoor Pizza Oven Market Restraints

11 Production and Supply Forecast

11.1 Global Forecasted Production of Outdoor Pizza Oven by Region (2023-2027)

11.2 North America Outdoor Pizza Oven Production, Revenue Forecast (2023-2027)

11.3 Europe Outdoor Pizza Oven Production, Revenue Forecast (2023-2027)

11.4 China Outdoor Pizza Oven Production, Revenue Forecast (2023-2027)

11.5 Japan Outdoor Pizza Oven Production, Revenue Forecast (2023-2027)

12 Consumption and Demand Forecast

12.1 Global Forecasted Demand Analysis of Outdoor Pizza Oven

12.2 North America Forecasted Consumption of Outdoor Pizza Oven by Country

12.3 Europe Market Forecasted Consumption of Outdoor Pizza Oven by Country

12.4 Asia Pacific Market Forecasted Consumption of Outdoor Pizza Oven by Region

12.5 Latin America Forecasted Consumption of Outdoor Pizza Oven by Country

13 Forecast by Type and by Application (2023-2027)

13.1 Global Production, Revenue and Price Forecast by Type (2023-2027)

13.1.1 Global Forecasted Production of Outdoor Pizza Oven by Type (2023-2027)

13.1.2 Global Forecasted Revenue of Outdoor Pizza Oven by Type (2023-2027)

13.1.3 Global Forecasted Price of Outdoor Pizza Oven by Type (2023-2027)

13.2 Global Forecasted Consumption of Outdoor Pizza Oven by Application (2023-2027)

13.2.1 Global Forecasted Production of Outdoor Pizza Oven by Application (2023-2027)

13.2.2 Global Forecasted Revenue of Outdoor Pizza Oven by Application (2023-2027)

13.2.3 Global Forecasted Price of Outdoor Pizza Oven by Application (2023-2027)

14 Research Finding and Conclusion

15 Methodology and Data Source

15.1 Methodology/Research Approach

15.1.1 Research Programs/Design

15.1.2 Market Size Estimation

15.1.3 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation

15.2 Data Source

15.2.1 Secondary Sources

15.2.2 Primary Sources

15.3 Author List

15.4 Disclaimer

Continued.

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BOLLORE

PRESS RELEASE





Financial information for Q3 2022





Q3 2022 revenue:

+16% at constant scope and exchange rates





Q3 2022 revenue: 6,112 million euros +16% at constant scope and exchange rates +20% on a reported basis



At September 30, 2022: 17,630 million euros +21% at constant scope and exchange rates +26% on a reported basis







R evenue for Q3 2022

At constant scope and exchange rates, the Group's revenue for the third quarter of 2022 was up 16% to 6,112 million euros. This growth is mainly attributable to:

Transport ation and logistics: +25% . Transport activities benefited from the increase in air freight and higher freight rates. In Africa, port terminals performed well and the recovery in logistics activities continued;





Transport activities benefited from the increase in air freight and higher freight rates. In Africa, port terminals performed well and the recovery in logistics activities continued; Oil logistics: +58% owing to the sharp rise in oil prices and a slight decline in volumes sold;





owing to the sharp rise in oil prices and a slight decline in volumes sold; Communication (Vivendi): +1% which reflects in particular the good performance at Havas Group (+3%) and Gameloft (+45%), and the slowdowns at Canal+ Group (-5%) and Editis (-8%);





which reflects in particular the good performance at Havas Group (+3%) and Gameloft (+45%), and the slowdowns at Canal+ Group (-5%) and Editis (-8%); Electricity storage and systems: -21% due to a decline in 12-meter bus and battery sales, despite the strong results in Systems activities (IER/AS and Polyconseil).





On a reported basis, revenue grew by 20% compared to the third quarter of 2021, given favorable foreign exchange (+135 million euros) and scope effects (+41 million euros).





Revenue at September 30, 2022

At constant scope and exchange rates, the Group's revenue as of September 30, 2022 was up 21% to 17,630 million euros.

On a reported basis, revenue for the first nine months of the year was up 26%, taking into account +213 million euros in changes in scope (mainly including the integration of Prisma Media) and +298 million euros in foreign exchange effects due to the overall depreciation of the euro against the Group's main currencies.

At constant scope and exchange rates, compared to the first nine months of 2021, the changes in the main sectors were as follows:





Transportation and Logistics, Oil Logistics:

Revenue from the transport and logistics business amounted to 7,325 million euros, up 37%. It benefited from the sharp increase in freight forwarding driven by higher freight rates and by the rise in air traffic volumes thanks to the vigorous activity posted by some of its customers (luxury and cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, aeronautics).

It also includes the growth of Bollore Africa Logistics' activity thanks to the strong results of port terminals (notably Congo Terminal, Abidjan Terminal in Ivory Coast, Owendo Container Terminal in Gabon, Freetown Terminal in Sierra Leone and Togo Terminal) and logistics and handling activities in Africa, driven in particular by the resumption of some oil and mining projects.

Oil logistics revenue was 2,570 million euros, up 47% because of the sharp rise in petroleum product prices arising from an international context marked by the war in Ukraine, despite a drop in volumes sold.





Communication:

Revenue totaled 7,448 million euros, up 3.7% at constant scope and exchange rates and up 8.5% on a reported basis compared to the same period in 2021. This increase was mainly due to the growth at Havas Group (+9%) and Gameloft (+16%), which was notably driven in the third quarter by the success of Disney Dreamlight Valley, the first game launched on platforms, consoles and PCs. The growth also includes Editis' revenue, which was down 8% in the wake of the dip in the French book market after a year of unprecedented growth in 2021. Compared to 2019, a benchmark year, Editis' revenue grew by 14%1. Finally, it takes into account the slowdown at the Canal+ Group (-0.2%), which was penalized in the third quarter by the postponement of certain Studiocanal film releases, despite continued growth in international activities.





Electricity Storage and Systems:

Revenue from industrial activities amounted to 279 million euros (electricity storage, plastic films, dedicated terminals and systems), up 6% compared to the first nine months of 2021.

This growth was driven by plastic films activities, which benefited from higher prices, and by the increase in dedicated terminals (IER/AS) thanks to the development of the pedestrian and passenger business. It also includes a slight drop in Bluebus sales.





Change in revenue by activity





(in millions of euros) Q3 9-months 2022 2021 Reported Organic 2022 2021 Reported Organic



growth growth growth growth Transportation and Logistics 2,507 1,901 +32% +25% 7,325 5,124 +43% +37% Oil Logistics 951 610 +56% +58% 2,570 1,775 +45% +47% Communications 2,578 2,474 +4% +1% 7,448 6,866 +8% +4% Electricity Storage and Systems 73 95 -23% -21% 279 268 +4% +6% Other (agricultural assets, Holdings) 3 3 -9% -9% 7 8 -9% -9% Total 6,112 5,082 +20% +16% 17,630 14,041 +26% +21%





Significant and recent events





Agreement with MSC Group for the sale of Bollore Africa Logistics

As a reminder, at the end of the exclusive negotiations announced on December 20, 2021 and following the favorable opinions issued by each of the employee representative bodies consulted, Bollore Group signed on March 31, 2022 the contract providing for the sale to the MSC Group of 100% of Bollore Africa Logistics Group, bringing together all of Bollore Group's transport and logistics activities in Africa, based on an enterprise value, net of minority interests, of 5.7 billion euros.

As indicated, this sale is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023 at the latest.





Share purchases

Since the beginning of 2022, Compagnie de l'Odet has acquired 103.0 million Bollore shares (3.5% of share capital) for 484.8 million euros. As part of its share buyback program, Bollore acquired 2.1 million of its own shares for 9.3 million euros.













Change in revenue per quarter









(in millions of euros) Q1 Q2 Q3 2022 2021 organic 2021 reported 2022 2021 organic 2021 reported 2022 2021 organic 2021 reported Transportation and Logistics 2,361 1,609 1,555 2,458 1,737 1,668 2,507 2,000 1,901 Oil Logistics 848 559 565 772 592 600 951 602 610 Communications 2,376 2,202 2,094 2,494 2,421 2,298 2,578 2,560 2,474 Electricity Storage and Systems 112 77 80 94 93 94 73 93 95 Other (agricultural assets, Holdings) 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 Total 5,698 4,449 4,296 5,820 4,845 4,662 6,112 5,258 5,082

The values shown are expressed in millions of euros and rounded to the nearest decimal place.

As a result, the sum of the rounded amounts may differ slightly from the reported total.

1Excluding high school guideline reforms in 2019

Attachment
Washington, D.C., Oct. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court today in support of a petition for writ of certiorari in Lenair Moses v. United States. Lenair Moses is challenging the lower courts application of Stinson deference to sentence him as a career offender based on language in interpretive commentary to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (USSG) that appears nowhere in the Guidelines themselves. NCLAs amicus brief urges the Supreme Court to grant Mr. Mosess petition and to put an end to the unconstitutional doctrine of Stinson deference once and for all. Alternatively, at the very least, NCLA argues that the Supreme Court must rule that Stinson deference is unconstitutional whenever it would result in an increased criminal sentence, as it did for Mr. Moses.

Following the Supreme Courts 1993 decision in Stinson v. United States, the courts of appeals began to give nearly dispositive weight to the U.S. Sentencing Commissions commentary to the Sentencing Guidelineseven over the plain text of the Guidelines. However, when the Court decided Kisor v. Wilkie in 2019, all nine Justices agreed on the need to reinforce and further develop limitations on the deference courts owe to an administrative agencys interpretation of its own rules.They concluded that courts may defer to an agencys interpretation only if a rule or regulation remains genuinely ambiguous after the court has applied all its traditional tools of statutory construction.

NCLA argues that Stinson deference raises serious constitutional concerns, as it commands judges to defer as a matter of course to the judgment of a litigant before themthe government litigantwhich denies the criminal defendant any semblance of due process. When Stinson deference is applied, the government litigant wins based on commentary even to Sentencing Guidelines that are unambiguous so long as the commentary is not plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the Guidelines. NCLAs brief points out that due process requires lenity in the interpretation of criminal statutes to preclude criminal punishment when Congress did not provide a fair warning through clear statutory language. Hence, ambiguous criminal laws must be interpreted in favor of the defendant. NCLA argues that lenity is a traditional tool of statutory construction that the courts must apply before resorting to deference.

The Third, Sixth, and D.C. Circuits have recognized that a strict reading of Stinson is inconsistent with the Supreme Courts modern administrative-law jurisprudence, the Sentencing Commissions legal authority, and the Constitution. A majority of circuits, however, continues to adhere to the outdated language in Stinson and refuses to reconsider circuit precedent in light of Kisor. Only the Supreme Court can resolve this dispute by clarifying that courts do not owe deference to Commission commentaryparticularly when it expands the Guidelines or increases a criminal defendants sentence.

This week, NCLA also submitted a Comment in response to the U.S. Sentencing Commissions Proposed 2022-2023 Priorities, specifically challenging the widespread practice of extending judicial deference to the U.S. Sentencing Commissions commentary to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

NCLA released the following statement:

Despite the fact that the Commissions commentary to the Sentencing Guidelines is merely advisory and not the law, Stinson deference commands courts to pay overwhelming deference to the Commission in its application of harsh criminal sentenceseven when the Commissions interpretation exceeds the Guidelines outer bounds. It is high time for the Supreme Court to intervene and make clear that the Commission cannot use its commentary to skirt congressional review, unilaterally expand the Guidelines, and impose draconian sentences on criminal defendants whose liberty will remain at risk across the nation until the Court ends this unconstitutional practice.

 Casey Norman, Attorney, NCLA

For more information about this issue visit here.

ABOUT NCLA

NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLAs public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans fundamental rights.

###
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE U.S.

CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acceleware Ltd. (Acceleware or the Company) (TSX-V: AXE), today announces the commencement of the heating well workover program at its commercial-scale RF XL pilot project at Marwayne, Alberta (the Pilot). The Company is also announcing a non-brokered private placement of units of the Company (the Units), at a price of $0.27 per unit, for gross proceeds of up to $2,000,000 (the Private Placement).

Pilot Update

As noted in Accelewares news release dated July 27, 2022, the Company is pleased with progress at the Pilot to date, and based on current observations, remains confident that RF XL will become viable as a critical technology in the effort to decarbonize heavy oil and oil sands production. As previously disclosed the fibre optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS) system in the heating well was damaged during a maintenance operation at the Pilot. Though not a core component of the RF XL technology itself, the DTS is important to data gathering and power regulation to ensure the system operates within specified parameters. The DTS will need to be removed from the well, inspected and repaired. In conjunction with repair of the DTS, the Company will take the opportunity to remove and inspect certain downhole components of the RF XL system, in order to gain valuable information regarding the initial performance of the RF power transmission system.

Acceleware has now commenced the workover, after developing a workover plan with review and input from industry partners, sourcing replacement parts, and securing service vendors. Upon completion of the workover, heating operations and further testing are expected to resume.

RF XL has demonstrated strong potential to become a low cost, low carbon development solution for all heavy oil and oil sands producers, regardless of their size and stage of development. RF XL would eliminate the need for high-cost steam generation, water treatment and water handling facilities, while also allowing producers to access a significant amount of stranded resource that is currently uneconomic to produce using conventional methods. More importantly, RF XL is expected to increase recovery factors for existing wells, which would materially enhance a producers reserve value and near term cash flow. When used in conjunction with clean electricity, RF XL would allow producers to develop their resource with near zero carbon emissions, which would lead to decades of emissions reductions and carbon tax savings for our customers.

CEO Geoff Clark says, We are pleased to have our DTS repair plan underway and remain hyper-focused on the RF XL Pilot success. We know that RF XL could be an industry game changer, so we are working as hard and as quickly as we can to get it back up and running at higher power levels as soon as possible.

The Pilot project team will move forward on furthering RF XL testing immediately after the workover. Learnings from the operation are expected to result in additional IP that could further refine RF XL and the CTI design, performance, and economics in the future.

Accelewares Marwayne Pilot is supported by government agencies including the Government of Alberta through Emissions Reduction Alberta and Alberta Innovates, Broadview Energy, as well as three major oil sands partners.

Details of the Private Placement

Each Unit will consist of (i) one common share; and (ii) one common share purchase warrant. Each common share purchase warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire one (1) common share of Acceleware at $0.36 for a 24-month period from the date of issuance. In the event that the common shares trade at a closing price at or greater than $0.81 per common share for a period of thirty (30) consecutive trading days, Acceleware may accelerate the expiry date of the common share purchase warrants by giving notice to the holders thereof, and in such case, the common share purchase warrants will expire on the 30th day after the date on which such notice is given by Acceleware.

Acceleware intends to use the net proceeds of the Private Placement to fund a portion of the Pilot workover and for general corporate purposes. In addition, the majority of the Companys funding partners have committed to or indicated they intend to support the workover operation with accelerated funding.

Purchasers of the Units will be subject to a four-month hold period in accordance with securities legislation.

Acceleware expects certain insiders to participate in the Private Placement, which will make the Private Placement a related party transaction within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. Acceleware intends to rely on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements in that instrument.

About Acceleware

Acceleware ( www.acceleware.com ) is an innovator of clean-tech decarbonization technologies comprised of two business units: Radio Frequency (RF) Heating Technology and Seismic Imaging Software.

Acceleware is piloting RF XL, its patented low-cost, low-carbon production technology for heavy oil and oil sands that is materially different from any heavy oil recovery technique used today. Acceleware's vision is that electrification of heavy oil and oil sands production can be made possible through RF XL, supporting a transition to much cleaner energy production that can quickly bend the emissions curve downward. Further, Accelewares RF XL technology could eliminate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with heavy oil and oil sands production. RF XL uses no water, requires no solvent, has a small physical footprint, can be redeployed from site to site, and can be applied to a multitude of reservoir types.

Acceleware has partnered with Saa Dene Group (co-founded by Jim Boucher) to create Acceleware | Kisastwew to raise the profile, adoption, and value of Acceleware technologies. The shared vision of the partnership is to improve the environmental and economic performance of the energy sector by supporting ideals that are important to Indigenous peoples, including respect for land, water, and clean air.

The Companys seismic imaging software solutions are state-of-the-art for high fidelity imaging, providing the most accurate and advanced imaging available for oil exploration in complex geologies. Acceleware is a public company listed on Canadas TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol AXE.

Disclaimers

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of securities legislation. Forward-looking information generally means information about an issuers business, capital, or operations that is prospective in nature, and includes disclosure about the issuers prospective financial performance or financial position.

The forward-looking information in this press release can be identified by the terms expects, intends, and derivatives thereof, and includes information about the benefits of RF XL, future operation of the Pilot, participation of insiders in the Private Placement, the proposed use of proceeds of the Private Placement and the intention of funding partners to support the workover project with accelerated funding.

Actual results may vary from the forward-looking information in this press release due to certain material risk factors. These risk factors are described in detail in Accelewares continuous disclosure documents, which are filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com .

Acceleware assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information in this press release unless it is required to do so under securities legislation.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information:

Geoff Clark, CEO

Tel: +1 (403) 249-9099

geoff.clark@acceleware.com

Acceleware Ltd.

435 10th Avenue SE

Calgary, AB, T2G 0W3 Canada

Tel: +1 (403) 249-9099

www.acceleware.com




BEIJING, Oct. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Bentonite Market Size accounted for USD 1,796 Million in 2021 and is estimated to achieve a market size of USD 3,592 Million by 2030 growing at a CAGR of 8.2% from 2022 to 2030.



Bentonite Market Statistics

Global bentonite market revenue was worth USD 1,796 million in 2021, with a 8.2% CAGR from 2022 to 2030

North America region was accounted 34% of bentonite market share in 2021

Asia-Pacific market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9% from 2022 to 2030

Based on product type, sodium capture over 60.2% of the overall market share in 2021

Increasing use in the construction industry, drives the bentonite market value





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Bentonite Market Report Coverage:

Market Bentonite Market Bentonite Market Size 2021 USD 1,796 Million Bentonite Market Forecast 2030 USD 3,592 Million Bentonite Market CAGR During 2022 - 2030 8.2% Bentonite Market Analysis Period 2018 - 2030 Bentonite Market Base Year 2021 Bentonite Market Forecast Data 2022 - 2030 Segments Covered By Product Type, By Application, And By Geography Bentonite Market Regional Scope North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa Key Companies Profiled Minerals Technologies Inc., Imerys S.A., Clariant International Ltd, Ashapura Group, Bentonite Performance Minerals, LLC (BPM), American Colloid Company, Canbensan Bentonite, and NCC. Report Coverage

Market Trends, Drivers, Restraints, Competitive Analysis, Player Profiling, Regulation Analysis

Bentonite Market Overview

Bentonite has the ability to be employed as an excellent absorbent in the treatment of wastewater due to its low price and ecologically acceptable qualities. When compared to other minerals researched in connection to the adsorption/desorption processes, bentonite gives more stability after some adjustments. Furthermore, bentonite is an excellent adsorbent for the elimination of a wide range of contaminants from wastewater. As a result of bentonite's considerable physical, chemical, nontoxic, and special adsorption capabilities as well as its high specific surface area & cation exchange capacity, it has become increasingly important for the treatment of wastewater, which has ultimately led to the expansion of the global market.

Bentonite Market Growth Factors

Increased use of bentonite in agriculture

Growing in popularity as adsorbents for wastewater treatment.

Increased use of bentonite in landscaping applications





COVID-19 Impact on the Global Bentonite Market

The COVID-19 epidemic emerged in Wuhan in December 2019, and it has since spread fast throughout the world. In terms of positive situations and reported incidents, China, Iran, Spain, Italy, and the Republic of Korea are some of the worst affected countries. Various countries' economies and sectors have been harmed as a result of stringent lockdowns, travel restrictions, and company shutdowns. Since China is a key manufacturing powerhouse and the world's largest source of raw materials, facility closures, supply chain challenges, and a worldwide economic slump have all impacted bentonite market trend. Furthermore, COVID-19 disease has spread to approximately 180 nations worldwide, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global health emergency. COVID-19's global repercussions are beginning to be felt, and they will have an important influence on the bentonite market over the next few years.

Check the detailed table of contents of the report @

https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/table-of-content/bentonite-market

Bentonite Market Segmentation

The global bentonite market has been segmented by Acumen Research and Consulting based on product type, and application. By product type, the segment is separated into calcium, sodium, and others. According to the bentonite market forecast, the sodium category is predicted to develop significantly in the next years.

In terms of application, the market is categorized into foundry sands, iron ore pelletizing, cat litter, drilling mud, civil engineering, refining, and others.

Bentonite Market Regional Overview

The global bentonite market is separated into several geographic regions: Asia-Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. According to a bentonite industry analysis, North America has consistently dominated the global market and is predicted to do so again throughout the forecast timeframe. According to the INIS analysis, one of the primary contributing factors to the regional market's growth is the presence of key companies in North America provinces. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Colloid Environmental Technologies Company, the American Colloid Company (ACC) is the single largest producer of bentonite and bentonite products in North America (CETCO). In addition, the region has a substantial supply of commercial bentonite compounds. Such elements have a favorable impact on the region's overall growth, which in turn adds to the expansion of the bentonite market.

Asia-Pacific, on the other hand, demonstrates an all-time high growth rate for the bentonite industry over the analyzed period. Japan has strengthened the iron pelletizing industry among Asia-Pacific provinces, which ultimately stimulates the expansion of the Asia-Pacific regional bentonite market. This is owing to the product's related benefits, which include enhanced mechanical and abrasive strength, faster reduction, as well as higher mineralization rates when compared to ore fines, all of which boost sponge iron production while using less energy. Because of the extensive use of technologically enhanced product offerings, along with better supply chain efficiency and demand, the Asia-Pacific bentonite market is mature. Moreover, with this region's rising construction industry, bentonite displays prospective expansion, contributing to total market growth.

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Bentonite Market Players

Some of the prominent bentonite market companies are Minerals Technologies Inc., Clariant International Ltd, Bentonite Performance Minerals, LLC (BPM), Canbensan Bentonite, Imerys S.A., American Colloid Company, Ashapura Group, and NCC.

Bentonite Market Strategies

Some of the key strategies in market:

In July 2021, Normerica Inc. ("Normerica"), a pioneer in the distribution of bentonite-based cat litter label pet care products to a large consumer base, has been acquired by Minerals Technologies Inc. The combination of these two enterprises is exceptionally complementary, both geographically and in terms of product portfolio and customer base.





Questions Answered By This Report

What was the market size of Bentonite Market in 2021?

What will be the CAGR of Bentonite Market during the forecast period from 2022 to 2030?

Who are the major players in Global Bentonite Market?

Which region held the largest share in Bentonite Market in 2021?

What are the key market drivers of Bentonite Market?

Who is the largest end user Bentonite Market?

What will be the Bentonite Market value in 2030?





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About Acumen Research and Consulting:

Acumen Research and Consulting is a global provider of market intelligence and consulting services to information technology, investment, telecommunication, manufacturing, and consumer technology markets. ARC helps investment communities, IT professionals, and business executives to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and develop firm growth strategies to sustain market competition. With the team size of 100+ Analysts and collective industry experience of more than 200 years, Acumen Research and Consulting assures to deliver a combination of industry knowledge along with global and country level expertise.

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Ad-hoc notice pursuant to Article 53 of the Listing Rules of the SIX Exchange Regulation

SIKA WITH STRONG PERFORMANCE IN DEMANDING MARKETS

Sales at CHF 7,998.5 million (+16.6% in CHF)

Sales up by 18.5% in local currencies

Operating profit (EBIT): CHF 1,231.5 million (+16.8%)

Acquisition of Sable Marco (Canada) and UGL (USA)

New plants opened in Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Bolivia, and in the USA

Outlook for 2022 fiscal year confirmed: Sales increase in local currencies of over 15%, surpassing CHF 10 billion for the first time Over-proportional increase in EBIT expected Confirmation of 2023 strategic targets for sustainable, profitable growth Closing of MBCC acquisition targeted for first half of 2023



Sika continued to perform well in a volatile economic environment and achieved another record result in the first nine months of fiscal year 2022. Sales increased noticeably to CHF 7,998.5 million (+16.6%), corresponding to growth of 18.5% in local currencies. The currency effect amounted to 1.9%. The acquisition effect was 3.4%, corresponding to organic growth of 15.1% in the reporting period.

Thomas Hasler, Chief Executive Officer: In the first nine months of the current fiscal year we achieved impressive results under continued demanding conditions. With our broad-based business model and global geographic presence, we have proven to be crisis-resistant and continued to grow strongly. It is our goal to reach sales of CHF 10 billion for the first time in 2022 and to increase our operating profit by an over-proportional amount.

HIGHER RAW MATERIAL COSTS, EBIT INCREASE OF 16.8%

Sharp rises in raw material costs led to a lower material margin of 49.3% in the first nine months (previous year: 52.6%). Thanks to the systematic use of price increases and by exploiting synergies and efficiency gains along the entire value chain, further economies of scale were achieved. The operating profit margin was maintained at a high level, at 15.4% (previous year: 15.4%). Operating profit (EBIT) thus amounts to CHF 1,231.5 million (previous year: CHF 1,054.0 million), corresponding to a year-on-year increase of 16.8%. EBIT includes a profit of CHF 168 million resulting from the divestment of the European industrial coatings business. It also contains expenses of CHF 39 million incurred in connection with the planned acquisition of MBCC. Net profit increased to CHF 885.9 million (previous year: CHF 765.1 million).

DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH IN ALL REGIONS

The global construction sector is characterized by the climate change megatrend as well as by increasing automation, digitalization, and easy-to-apply products, which are increasingly changing the construction industry. There is growing demand for solutions that increase climate efficiency, reduce CO 2 emissions, and use resources sparingly. With its broad product portfolio, Sika is ideally positioned to offer its customers technologies that allow them to reduce their CO 2 footprint, while at the same time enhancing longevity and minimizing the use of resources in construction. In addition, Sika is benefiting from broad-based, global, state-driven economic support programs.

The EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, Africa) reported a sales increase in local currencies of 10.5% for the first nine months (previous year: 17.6%). Sikas distribution business, which includes sales via home improvement stores, builders merchants, and online platforms, posted a decline in the last two quarters of the current fiscal year. By contrast, the project business, driven by economic support programs and new investments in the energy sector, is more robust and saw only a slight decline. Countries in Africa and the Middle East are continuing to benefit from strong double-digit growth.

Sika moved to a new site in the East African country of Tanzania in the first half of the year and is now producing mortars locally in addition to concrete admixtures. It also extended its facility in Western Africas Ivory Coast. This site is now double its previous size and enjoys not only additional manufacturing facilities but also new warehousing capacities, office space, and laboratories.

The Americas region recorded growth in local currencies of 31.9% (previous year: 19.3%). Sika generated most of this growth in US infrastructure projects, which in 2022 alone received state-funded investments amounting to the equivalent of CHF 200250 billion. Construction activity is focused on the modernization and expansion of subway lines, bridges, tunnels, and freeways. High demand also stems from investments in commercial construction projects, including stadiums, warehouses, and data centers. In the USA, large-scale investments are also being made related to the reimporting of industrial know-how from Asia.

The acquisition of Sable Marco in Canada and UGL in the USA means that Sika has acquired two companies which sell their high-performance products via established distribution channels. Also, a new mortar production plant was commissioned in Bolivia, and a production facility for concrete admixtures was opened near Washington D.C. in the USA.

Sales in the Asia/Pacific region increased by 17.6% in local currencies (previous year: 20.7%). In China, it was above all the distribution business that benefited from ongoing strong growth momentum, recording double-digit growth rates, whereas the project business was impacted by additional lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sika nevertheless achieved double-digit growth in China. Business in India continued to grow dynamically, and double-digit growth was achieved in challenging markets in the countries in Southeast Asia.

In the Global Business segment Sika achieved growth in local currencies of 22.0% (previous year: 9.9%), and therefore grew more strongly than the market as a whole. High demand for new vehicles and a normalization of supply chains have boosted business. Sika expects the automotive market to recover in the medium term with sustained growth momentum. This will be driven by the transformation of the automotive industry, with electromobility and alternative drive concepts playing a central role.

ACHIEVE FURTHER GROWTH THROUGH SUSTAINABILITY AND NET ZERO OBJECTIVES

Sustainability has been a core element in Sikas growth strategy for over a decade and will be embedded even more broadly going forward as part of Sikas net zero promise. With its powerful capacity for innovation, Sika develops sustainable solutions for the construction sector and for industrial applications, such as those in the automotive industry. The company is focused on innovating in a very targeted manner in order to achieve its net zero objectives. Sika's goal is to continue to grow sustainably and in doing so use its innovations to decouple the growth of the company from greenhouse gas emissions.



STRATEGIC FIT OF MBCC CONFIRMED  OUTLOOK FOR 2022

Sika confirms the strategic fit of the MBCC acquisition. Unconditional approval has been received from the authorities in most countries, among them Japan, China, Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Thailand. The acquisition is significantly value-enhancing and Sika confirms annual synergies of CHF 160180 million. A suitable buyer is being sought for part of the MBCC admixture business. The completion of this acquisition is targeted for the first half of 2023.

For fiscal year 2022, Sika expects sales in local currencies to increase by over 15%, with an over-proportional increase in EBIT.

KEY FIGURES FOR FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2022

In CHF mn 1.1.2021 -30.9.2021 1.1.2022 -30.9.2022 Difference in % Net sales 6,862.7 7,998.5 16.6 Gross result 3,608.8 3,941.8 9.2 Operating profit before depreciation (EBITDA) 1,327.5 1,521.4 14.6 Operating profit (EBIT) 1,054.0 1,231.5 16.8 Profit after taxes 765.1 885.9 15.8

NET SALES BY REGION

In CHF mn 1.1.2021 -30.9.2021 1.1.2022 -30.9.2022 Year-on-year change

(+/- in %) In CHF In local currencies1 Currency effect Acquisition effect2 Organic

growth3 By region EMEA 3,097.8 3,221.9 4.0 10.5 -6.5 -0.8 11.3 Americas 1,773.8 2,427.2 36.8 31.9 4.9 6.8 25.1 Asia/Pacific 1,493.3 1,750.9 17.3 17.6 -0.3 7.1 10.5 Global Business 497.8 598.5 20.2 22.0 -1.8 5.9 16.1 Net sales 6,862.7 7,998.5 16.6 18.5 -1.9 3.4 15.1 Products for construction industry 5,653.5 6,611.1 16.9 18.8 -1.9 2.1 16.7 Products for industrial manufacturing 1,209.2 1,387.4 14.7 16.9 -2.2 9.3 7.6 1 Growth in local currencies including acquisitions.

2 Sales contribution by acquired companies without considering the growth after business combination. Includes lost sales of discontinued operations. Sales growth of the acquired business since initial consolidation is included in organic growth.

3 Growth adjusted for acquisition, discontinued operations, and currency effect. Sales growth of the acquired business since initial consolidation is included in organic growth.



Webcast today, October 21, 2022 at 3 pm (CEST)



A webcast will take place today focusing on the results for the first nine months of the year. Please log in 5 minutes prior to the start of the event.



www.sika.com/9months-webcast



This link will allow you to participate in the webcast with Thomas Hasler (CEO), Adrian Widmer (CFO), and Dominik Slappnig (Head of Corporate Communications & IR).



You will also be able to find a recording of the webcast in the Investors section of the Sika website.





FINANCIAL CALENDAR Net sales 2022 Wednesday, January 11, 2023 Media conference / analyst presentation on full-year results 2022 Friday, February 17, 2023 55th Annual General Meeting Tuesday, March 28, 2023 Net sales first quarter 2023 Tuesday, April 18, 2023 Half-year report 2023 Friday, July 21, 2023 Results first nine months 2023 Friday, October 20, 2023

CONTACT

Dominik Slappnig

Corporate Communications &

Investor Relations

+41 58 436 68 21

slappnig.dominik@ch.sika.com

SIKA CORPORATE PROFILE

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 101 countries around the world and manufactures in over 300 factories. Its more than 27,000 employees generated annual sales of CHF 9.3 billion in 2021.

The media release can be downloaded from the following link:

Media Release

Shareholder Letter 9 Months 2022_EN
Pune, India, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global property management market Size was valued at USD 17.69 billion in 2021. The market is projected to grow from USD 19.33 billion in 2022 to USD 37.25 billion by 2029, exhibiting a CAGR of 9.8% during the forecast period. This information is provided by Fortune Business Insights, in its report titled, Property Management Market, 2022-2026.



KEY INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS:

March 2021  Planon partnered with AddOnn to combine AddOnns SaaS solution with Planons software platform for building & service digitization to offer end-to-end solutions to end-users across the globe.

April 2021 - Trimble, Inc. bolstered the availability of Trimble Quadri BIM collaboration software for civil projects, including roads, bridges, and railways.





Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/property-management-market-102805





Expanding Penetration of Artificial Intelligence to Usher in Innovation

The influence of the COVID-19 outbreak prompted companies to seek smart and artificial intelligence-based technologies across advanced and emerging economies. With employees resuming work from the office, building managers are grappling with challenges to designing plans that help keep up with tenants demands. It is worth noting that governments and other stakeholders have upped investments in real estate assets across emerging economies. Moreover, real estate demand could gain an uptick in the ensuing period. Savills India claims real estate demand to surge by 15-18 million square feet by 2025.

Report Scope & Segmentation

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2022 to 2029 Forecast Period 2022 to 2029 CAGR 9.8% 2029 Value Projection USD 37.25 Billion Base Year 2021 Property Management Market Size in 2021 USD 17.69 billion Historical Data for 2018 to 2020 No. of Pages 160 Segments covered Component, Deployment, Application, Geography Property Management Market Growth Drivers Rising Footfall of Software-as-a-Service Platform to Foster Growth Potentials Budget Constraints to Reflect Broader Range of Risk





Drivers and Restraints

Rising Footfall of Software-as-a-Service Platform to Foster Growth Potentials

The property management market share will observe a significant gain during the forecast period on the heels of the increasing footprint of subscription-based SaaS solutions. Major companies have increased their investments in SaaS component to help companies integrate advanced technologies. Besides, real estate organizations have upped investments in state-of-the-art property management solutions to integrate multi-vendor platforms into existing systems. It is worth mentioning that the trend for mobility management will bode well for the industry growth. Advanced solutions will be sought to keep track of properties.

Meanwhile, lack of funds could dent the prospect of bolstering the industry growth during the assessment period.





Click here to get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this Market:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/property-management-market-102805





Segments:

Software Component to Gain Uptick with Rising Demand for Cost-effective Solutions

In terms of component, the market is segmented into services and software. The software segment could contribute notably toward the global market in the wake of rising demand for increased efficiency. Moreover, landlords and property owners have also sought cost-effective solutions, auguring well for the industry growth.

Cloud-based Deployment Model to Remain Dominant Due to Improved Security

Based on deployment, the market is segregated into on-premises and cloud. The cloud component will account for a notable share of the global market in the wake of the demand for increased security across developing and developed countries. The software also leverages landlords and property managers to store all documents at a reduced cost in a single platform.

Residential Sector to Exhibit Profound Demand with Rising Need for Asset Management System

With respect to application, the market is fragmented into residential and commercial. The residential segment will expand at a significant CAGR owing to the rising footfall of asset management software. Demand for asset management systems will be pronounced to keep up with the increasing number of residential properties.

Property Managers to Boost Investment to Adopt Automated Software Solution

On the basis of the end-user, the market is segmented into housing associations, real estate agents, property managers, and others (property investors, third party agents). The property manager application will grow on the back of surging investments in automated software solutions to streamline operations.

On the geographical ground, the market covers Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.





Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts:

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Regional Insights:

North America held the maximum market share in 2021. The expansion of e-commerce in North America is predicted to offer property managers and real estate players several possibilities to invest in asset management software/services. External investment in the region's real estate market is likely to increase significantly in the coming years.

Asia Pacific is likely to perceive prompt growth during the forecast period owing to the rising cyber jeopardy in the region in comparison with North America and Europe.

Regional Analysis :

Flourishing E-Commerce Industry to Spur Market Opportunities in North America

The market in North America generated a revenue of USD 4.31 billion in 2018 and is predicted to grow rapidly during the forecast period owing to the surge in E-commerce. The rising investment by key players in Property Management will augment healthy growth of the market in the region. Asia Pacific is likely to grow significantly during the forecast period owing to the increasing middle-class population in China, India, and Indonesia. The booming logistics, retail and hotel industry will contribute positively to the growth of the market in the region. The growth in E-commerce and technological advancements will enable speedy growth of the market in Asia Pacific. Europe is predicted to witness steady growth during the forecast period. The growth in the region is attributed to the growing focus of regional players towards advanced software.



Competitive Landscape:



Launch of Payments Platform by ManageCasa to Create Business Opportunities

ManageCasa, leading software management company announced the partnership with Stripe, a global leader in online payment processing to launch a new digital payments solution for the property management industry. This software will enable landlords and property managers to automate rent payments, other income charges and expense payments, and enjoy a fully-automated bookkeeping experience from end to end. The introduction of the innovative software can be a vital factor in bolstering the healthy growth of the market owing to the timely automated payments and other reminders, aiding in fully-automated process for payments. Furthermore, the CEO of ManageCasa, said in a statement, Sending and receiving payments has always been a challenge in our industry, often requiring lots of time and effort on the part of both property managers and tenants to meet in person to get rent and bills paid, sending and receiving payments has always been a challenge in our industry, often requiring lots of time and effort on the part of both property managers and tenants to meet in person to get rent and bills paid. He further added, we're thrilled to provide an online solution that will allow payments to change hands securely in just a few clicks."





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List of the Key Companies Operating in the Property Management Market are:

AppFolio, Inc.

Archibus, Inc.

CORELOGIC

Entrata, Inc.

iOFFICE

ManageCasa

Table of Content

Introduction Definition, By Segment Research Methodology/Approach Data Sources

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Macro and Micro Economic Indicators Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities and Trends Impact of COVID-19 Short-term Impact Long-term Impact

Competition Landscape Business Strategies Adopted by Key Players Consolidated SWOT Analysis of Key Players Global Property Management Key Players Market Share Insights and Analysis, 2021

Global Property Management Market Size Estimates and Forecasts, By Segments, 2018-2029 Key Findings By Component (USD) Software Services Consulting Support and Maintenance By Deployment (USD) Cloud On-Premises By Application (USD) Residential Commercial Retail Government Construction and Real Estate Others By End-User (USD) Property Managers Housing Associations Real Estate Agents Others By Region (USD) North America Latin America Europe Middle East & Africa Asia Pacific



TOC Continued!





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Dublin, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Optical Character Recognition Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report by Type (Software, Services), by Vertical (BFSI, Transport & Logistics), by End Use (B2B, B2C), by Region, and Segment Forecasts, 2022-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global optical character recognition market size is expected to reach USD 33.44 billion by 2030. It is expected to expand at a CAGR of 15.4% from 2022 to 2030.

Digitalization plays a critical role in changing the way organizations operate, and it has helped companies improve the efficiency of their business processes. Enterprises invest large amounts in technologies that can help them digitalize their work processes and increase productivity.

Since data is a critical element for an organization, adopting technologies such as optical character recognition (OCR), which enables users to convert text data in different types of documents and images into editable or accessible formats, has increased. OCR solutions are integrated with various technologies such as robotic process automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance their capabilities.



The integration of artificial intelligence with optical character recognition has helped companies in leveraging technological capabilities of artificial intelligence such as deep learning and multi-level analysis for the more efficient processing of documents, texts, and other data in a way similar to that of humans. These advanced technologies also help to address inaccuracies that occur in OCR, thereby providing streamlined fault management.

This, in turn, helps reduce costs of processing documents and increase efficiency within the organization. Furthermore, increasing penetration of optical character recognition in banks and financial institutions has bolstered the market growth for B2B end users. For instance, Sinosecu Bank, a commercial bank in China, developed a Sinosecu bank Card, OCR SDK, an OCR recognition technology. It can meet the financial industry's mobile payment requirements. The bank card can be utilized in various ways, including mobile SDKs and deployments.



The OCR market can be described as a highly competitive market. The market vendors are pursuing various strategic initiatives to gain a competitive edge in the market. For instance, in January 2022, 6Sense, an AI-driven sales and marketing platform, acquired Saleswhale, a Singapore-based company. This acquisition would also help B2B organizations convert and manage their sales leads with the help of AI technologies like NLP, OCR ML, and other AI technologies. It would scale their business and enhance the products.



Optical Character Recognition Market Report Highlights

A significant increase in investment for the advancement of OCR in startup companies is expected to remain one of the key driving factors.

The emergence of new technologies such as computer vision, machine learning, and artificial intelligence is unfolding new opportunities for industry growth.

The integration of advanced technology in OCR technology has significantly contributed to enhancing data management and data capture. Further, continuous advancements in OCR technology are expected to positively contribute to the growth of the OCR market.

Factors including the rapid economic growth of countries, such as China and India, the rising adoption of smartphones, and the developing e-commerce sector are anticipated to further fuel the growth of the Asia Pacific market.

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1 Methodology and Scope



Chapter 2 Executive Summary



Chapter 3 Market Variables, Trends & Scope

3.1 Market Segmentation

3.2 Market Definition

3.3 Market Scope

3.4 Penetration & Growth Prospect Mapping, 2030

3.5 Optical Character Recognition-Software Ecosystem Analysis

3.6 Market Dynamics

3.6.1 Market Driver Analysis

3.6.1.1 Increasing Adoption Of OCR Across Diversified Verticals

3.6.1.2 Growing Adoption Of OCR Due To The Integration Of Advanced Capabilities

3.6.1.3 Increasing Investments In OCR Startup Companies

3.6.2 Market Restraint Analysis

3.6.2.1 Limitations in Delivering Accurate Output

3.7 Technology Overview

3.8 Industry Analysis-Porter's

3.8.1 Supplier Power: Low

3.8.2 Buyer Power: Moderate

3.8.3 Substitution Threat: Low

3.8.4 Threat From New Entrant: Moderate

3.8.5 Competitive Rivalry: High

3.9 Pestel Analysis

3.9.1 Political Landscape

3.9.2 Economic Landscape

3.9.3 Social Landscape

3.9.4 Technology Landscape

3.9.5 Legal Landscape

3.10 Major Deals & Strategic Alliances Analysis

3.10.1 Mergers & Acquisitions and Technology Collaborations

3.11 Vendor Landscape-OCR Market

3.12 COVID-19 Impact Analysis



Chapter 4 Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Market: Type Estimates & Trend Analysis

4.1 Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Market: Type Movement Analysis

4.2 OCR Trends, by Type, 2021

4.3 Software

4.3.1 Global Software OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

4.3.2 Desktop-Based OCR

4.3.2.1 Global Desktop-Based OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

4.3.3 Mobile-Based OCR

4.3.3.1 Global Mobile-Based OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

4.3.4 Cloud-Based OCR

4.3.4.1 Global Cloud-Based OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

4.3.4.2 Private Cloud-Based OCR

4.3.4.2.1 Global Private Cloud-Based OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

4.3.4.3 Public Cloud-Based OCR

4.3.4.3.1 Global Public Cloud-Based OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

4.3.5 Others OCR Software

4.3.5.1 Global Others OCR Software Market, by Region, 2017-2030

4.4 Services

4.4.1 Global Services OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

4.4.2 Consulting

4.4.2.1 Global Consulting Market, by Region, 2017-2030

4.4.3 Outsourcing

4.4.3.1 Global Outsourcing Market, by Region, 2017-2030

4.4.4 Implementation & Integration

4.4.4.1 Global Implementation & Integration Market, by Region, 2017-2030



Chapter 5 Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Market: Vertical Estimates & Trend Analysis

5.1 Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Market: Vertical Movement Analysis

5.2 OCR Trends, by Vertical, 2021

5.3 Retail

5.3.1 Global Retail OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

5.4 Bfsi

5.4.1 Global Bfsi OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

5.5 Government

5.5.1 Global Government OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

5.6 Education

5.6.1 Global Education OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

5.7 Transport and Logistics

5.7.1 Global Transport and Logistics OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

5.8 Healthcare

5.8.1 Global Healthcare OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

5.9 It & Telecom

5.9.1 Global It & Telecom OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

5.10 Manufacturing

5.10.1 Global Manufacturing OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

5.11 Others

5.11.1 Global Others OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030



Chapter 6 Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Market: End-use Estimates & Trend Analysis

6.1 Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Market: End-use Movement Analysis

6.2 OCR Trends, by End-use, 2021

6.3 B2B

6.3.1 Global B2B OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030

6.4 B2C

6.4.1 Global B2C OCR Market, by Region, 2017-2030



Chapter 7 Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Market: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis



Chapter 8 Competitive Landscape

8.1 ABBYY

8.1.1 Company Overview

8.1.2 Product Benchmarking

8.1.3 Strategic Initiatives

8.2 Adobe

8.2.1 Company Overview

8.2.2 Financial Performance

8.2.3 Product Benchmarking

8.2.4 Strategic Initiatives

8.3 Anyline GmbH

8.3.1 Company Overview

8.3.2 Product Benchmarking

8.3.3 Strategic Initiatives

8.4 ATAPY Software

8.4.1 Company Overview

8.4.2 Product Benchmarking

8.4.3 Strategic Initiatives

8.5 Captricity Inc.

8.5.1 Company Overview

8.5.2 Product Benchmarking

8.5.3 Strategic Initiatives

8.6 Creaceed S.P.R.L.

8.6.1 Company Overview

8.6.2 Product Benchmarking

8.6.3 Strategic Initiatives

8.7 CVISION Technologies, Inc.

8.7.1 Company Overview

8.7.2 Product Benchmarking

8.7.3 Strategic Initiatives

8.8 Exper-OCR, Inc.

8.8.1 Company Overview

8.8.2 Product Benchmarking

8.9 Google LLC

8.9.1 Company Overview

8.9.2 Financial Performance

8.9.3 Product Benchmarking

8.9.4 Strategic Initiatives

8.10 International Business Machines Corporation

8.10.1 Company Overview

8.10.2 Financial Performance

8.10.3 Product Benchmarking

8.10.4 Strategic Initiatives

8.11 IntSig Information Co., Ltd. Corporation

8.11.1 Company Overview

8.11.2 Product Benchmarking

8.11.3 Strategic Initiatives

8.12 IRIS S.A.

8.12.1 Company Overview

8.12.2 Product Benchmarking

8.12.3 Strategic Initiatives

8.13 LEAD Technologies, Inc.

8.13.1 Company Overview

8.13.2 Product Benchmarking

8.13.3 Strategic Initiatives

8.14 Microsoft

8.14.1 Company Overview

8.14.2 Financial Performance

8.14.3 Product Benchmarking

8.14.4 Strategic Initiatives

8.15 NAVER Corp.

8.15.1 Company Overview

8.15.2 Financial Performance

8.15.3 Product Benchmarking

8.15.4 Strategic Initiatives

8.16 Nuance Communications, Inc.

8.16.1 Company Overview

8.16.2 Financial Performance

8.16.3 Product Benchmarking

8.16.4 Strategic Initiatives

8.17 Open Text Corporation

8.17.1 Company Overview

8.17.2 Financial Performance

8.17.3 Product Benchmarking

8.17.4 Strategic Initiatives

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ut8nr5

Attachment
Dublin, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Circuit Protection Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report by Product (Circuit Breaker, Fuse, Inrush Current Limiter, Mobile Power Protection), by Channel, by Application, by Region, and Segment Forecasts, 2022-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global circuit protection market size is anticipated to reach USD 72.67 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2022 to 2030.

Increasing energy infrastructure development activities and the rising importance to upgrade the power transmission & distribution network, coupled with a focus towards establishing new energy connectivity, are the major factors contributing to the global market growth.

In addition, the demand for advanced circuit protection equipment from various industry verticals such as electronic, telecommunication, and automotive is increasing to safeguard the machinery from damage from short circuits and power fluctuation. This is expected to positively impact the global market growth in the coming years.



Rising demand for electricity from developing countries due to rapid urbanization, along with high investment by the government and private players in renewable power generation projects are major factors driving the market growth. Likewise, skyrocketing sales witnessed by the automotive sector worldwide and stringent government regulations, and consumers' focus on the high safety and security of passenger is expected to augment the target market growth.



Continued industrialization in developing countries, the flourishing electric vehicles market globally, and the proliferation of digitally connected devices are aspects rising demand for electricity which is anticipated to increase demand for circuit breaker products. Moreover, demand for air conditioners is increasing due to the rising temperature, this is expected to increase demand for fuse and current protection products which is positively impacting the growth of the global market.



The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the market. The government imposed lockdown restrictions, bringing the manufacturing of products to a halt in the first quarter of 2020. The lockdown restrictions also delayed the product supply creating supply chain disruption. However, the market is expected to witness growth in 2022, as the government has removed the workplace restriction and manufacturing facilities are fully operational. Likewise, high demand from the automotive sector will support the market growth.



Circuit Protection Market Report Highlights

The circuit breaker segment dominated the global market with more than 22.0% in 2021, this can be attributed to increasing energy infrastructure projects worldwide, resulting in demand for better quality fuses for the protection of electrical equipment. In addition, growing urbanization, along with increasing demand for uninterrupted energy supply is expected to support the target segment growth.

Asia Pacific is anticipated to grow at 7.8% CAGR over the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to increasing demand for energy from sectors such as Power Generation, Automotive, and Telecom.

Major players are focused on enhancing the business through acquisition and partnership.

In November 2021, Littelfuse, Inc., a technology manufacturing company announced the acquisition of Carling Technologies, Inc., a global provider of switching and circuit protection technologies. The acquisition is expected to help Littelfuse, Inc. to enhance its product portfolio and enhance its business presence. .

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1. Methodology and Scope



Chapter 2. Executive Summary



Chapter 3. Circuit Protection Market Variables, Trends & Scope

3.1. Market Size and Growth Prospects, 2018-2030

3.2. Industry Value Chain Analysis

3.3. Market Dynamics

3.3.1. Market Driver Analysis

3.3.2. Market Restraint/Challenge Analysis

3.3.3. Market Opportunity Analysis

3.4. Penetration & Growth Prospect Mapping (Key Opportunities Prioritized)

3.5. Business Environment Analysis Tools

3.5.1. Industry Analysis-Porter's Five Forces Analysis

3.5.2. PEST Analysis

3.5.3. COVID-19 Impact Analysis



Chapter 4. Circuit Protection Market Product Outlook

4.1. Circuit Protection Market Share by Product, 2021 & 2030 (USD Billion)

4.2. Circuit Breaker

4.2.1. Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.2.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.2.2.1. Low Current Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.2.2.2. High Current Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.3. Fuse

4.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.3.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.3.2.1. Fast Acting Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.3.2.2. Slow Blow Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.4. Inrush Current Limiter

4.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.4.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.5. Mobile Power Protection

4.5.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.5.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.5.2.1. Automatic Transfer Switch Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.5.2.2. Battery Control Center Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.5.2.3. Inverter Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.5.2.4. Load Center Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.6. Overvoltage Protection

4.6.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.6.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.6.2.1. Crowbar Devices Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.6.2.2. ESD Protector Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.6.2.3. Gas Discharge Tubes (GDT) Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.6.2.4. Metal Oxide Varistors (MOV) Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.6.2.5. Surge Protection Device (SPD) Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.6.2.6. Others Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.7. PTC Devices

4.7.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.7.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.7.2.1. Ceramic Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.7.2.2. Polymeric Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.8. Circuit Interrupter

4.8.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.8.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.8.2.1. GFCI Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

4.8.2.2. High Power Interrupters Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)



Chapter 5. Circuit Protection Market Application Outlook

5.1. Circuit Protection Market Share by Application, 2021 & 2030 (USD Billion)

5.2. Agriculture

5.2.1. Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.2.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.3. Automotive

5.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.3.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.4. Commercial & Residential Building

5.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.4.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.5. Household Appliances

5.5.1. Market Size Estimates and Forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.5.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.6. HVAC

5.6.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.6.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.7. Power Generation

5.7.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.7.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.8. Recreational Vehicle (RV)

5.8.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.8.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.9. Telecom

5.9.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.9.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.10. Others

5.10.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

5.10.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)



Chapter 6. Circuit Protection Market Channel Outlook

6.1. Circuit Protection Market Share by Channel, 2021 & 2030 (USD Billion)

6.2. OEM

6.2.1. Market estimates and forecasts, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

6.2.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

6.3. Retail

6.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

6.3.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

6.4. Wholesale

6.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)

6.4.2. Market estimates and forecast by region, 2018-2030 (USD Billion)



Chapter 7. Circuit Protection Market: Regional Outlook



Chapter 8. Competitive Landscape

8.1. ABB Ltd.

8.1.1. Company overview

8.1.2. Financial performance

8.1.3. Product benchmarking

8.1.4. Recent developments

8.2. Bel Fuse Inc

8.2.1. Company overview

8.2.2. Financial performance

8.2.3. Product benchmarking

8.2.4. Recent developments

8.3. Schneider Electric SE

8.3.1. Company overview

8.3.2. Financial performance

8.3.3. Product benchmarking

8.3.4. Recent developments

8.4. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

8.4.1. Company overview

8.4.2. Financial performance

8.4.3. Product benchmarking

8.4.4. Recent developments

8.5. Eaton Corporation plc

8.5.1. Company overview

8.5.2. Financial performance

8.5.3. Product benchmarking

8.5.4. Recent developments

8.6. General Electric Company.

8.6.1. Company overview

8.6.2. Financial performance

8.6.3. Product benchmarking

8.6.4. Recent developments

8.7. Siemens AG

8.7.1. Company overview

8.7.2. Financial performance

8.7.3. Product benchmarking

8.7.4. Recent developmentsDaiichi J

8.8. Rockwell Automation, Inc.

8.8.1. Company overview

8.8.2. Financial performance

8.8.3. Product benchmarking

8.8.4. Recent developments

8.9. Larsen & Toubro Limited

8.9.1. Company overview

8.9.2. Financial performance

8.9.3. Product benchmarking

8.9.4. Recent developments

8.10. NXP Semiconductors N.V.

8.10.1. Company overview

.10.2. Financial performance

8.10.3. Product benchmarking

8.10.4. Recent developments

8.11. SCHURTER Holding AG

8.11.1. Company overview

8.11.2. Financial performance

8.11.3. Product benchmarking

8.11.4. Recent developments

8.12. Sensata Technologies Holding plc

8.12.1. Company overview

8.12.2. Financial performance

8.12.3. Product benchmarking

8.12.4. Recent developments

8.13. Texas Instruments Incorporated

8.13.1. Company overview

8.13.2. Financial performance

8.13.3. Product benchmarking

8.13.4. Recent developments

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/xzxfjj

Attachment
English Finnish

Incap Corporation Press release 21 October 2022 at 2:00 p.m. EEST

Incap Corporation: Incap Estonia named Foreign Investor of The Year at the 2022 Entrepreneurship Awards in Estonia

Incap Electronics Estonia was named The Foreign Investor of The Year at the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (EAS) and the Confederation of Estonian Employers Annual Entrepreneurship Awards Ceremony. An Entrepreneurship Award is the highest national recognition for businesses in Estonia.

Greg Grace, Managing Director of Incap Electronics Estonia, stated that the company appreciates the acknowledgment. We are honoured to be recognised with the award and thank the judging panel. Despite a challenging global business environment and supply chain challenges, we have performed well and are upgrading our production facilities to respond to the growing market demand. I would like to thank our partners and the amazing team at Incap Estonia. We wouldnt have succeeded without you, he added.

Chairman of the jury and head of the joint institution of EAS and KredEx, Lauri Lugna, commented that one of the reasons why Incap won the foreign investor category was that the company is a leader and advocate of the entire sector. "Incap has made considerable investments in Estonia over the years and also continuously invested in young talents, in the development of the region and in innovation, green and digital revolution," said Lugna.

Kristi Tiivas, Chairman of The Supervisory Board at EAS added: This company is clearly looking into the future, but soon also to the Moon. Their priority is to contribute to green technology, for example they have a role in the production of light electric vehicles and solar cars. Besides all this, they contribute significantly to the local community as well as to the generation of young capable professionals.

Organised by the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency and the Confederation of Estonian Employers, the entrepreneurship competition with the longest history in Estonia took place for the 27th time this year. The competition recognised Estonian companies that, despite challenges, have achieved success through ingenuity and consistent work. The Foreign Investors category specifically recognises enterprises that have shares held by international investors, are active in Estonia, and have made an important investment in the last three years.

The Entrepreneurship Award followed a two-phase application process. In the first phase, candidates submitted their financial data and arguments for winning their selected category. After the first phase, a TOP 10 ranking was drawn up and visitations were arranged with the selected enterprises to specify their accomplishments according to the statute. On this basis, three nominees in each category were shortlisted and submitted to the Entrepreneurship Awards 2022 jury to select the winner of each category.

For more information about the Entrepreneurship Award, please visit https://eas.ee/ettevotluseauhind/en/

Photos of Greg Grace, Managing Director of Incap Estonia: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7h6P3vkjzpxdXZtu8

Photos of Incap Estonia factory: https://photos.app.goo.gl/As4ywa69uGUydux68

INCAP CORPORATION

For additional information, please contact:

Greg Grace, Managing Director of Incap Electronics Estonia, tel. +372 516364

Mr Otto Pukk, President and CEO of Incap Corporation, tel. +372 508 0798

INCAP IN BRIEF

Incap Corporation is a trusted partner and full-service provider in Electronics Manufacturing Services. As a global EMS company, Incap supports customers ranging from large multinationals and mid-sized companies to small start-ups in their complete manufacturing value chain. Incap offers state-of-the-art technology backed up by an entrepreneurial culture and highly qualified personnel. The company has operations in Finland, Estonia, India, Slovakia, the UK, and Hong Kong and employs approximately 2,500 people. Incaps share has been listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd stock exchange since 1997.
New York, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Transformer Oil Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2022-2027" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06353425/?utm_source=GNW

Such factors are majorly contributing to the growth of the global transformer oil market.

 The global transformer oil market volume is expected to reach 2,584.99 kilotons by 2027. Transformers oil or insulating oil, or dielectric fluid, is an oil that is stable at high temperatures with the best electrical insulating properties. This type of oil is used in wet transformers or oil-filled transformers, some high-voltage switches, circuit breakers, and high-voltage capacitors. The primary purpose of transformer oils is to insulate and maintain the temperature. Therefore, transformer oil must have the properties such as dielectric strength, chemical stability, thermal conductivity, and the ability to hold these properties for a longer duration.

 The electricity distributors and industrial manufacturers regularly perform maintenance activities to avoid any transformers malfunctioning or interrupting electricity distribution. In addition, the increasing global population and use of various appliances have increased the per capita demand for electricity. Therefore, the global transformer oil market is expected to increase significantly due to the abovementioned factors. Further, transformer oil market manufacturers have invested much capital in R&D to develop improved products to offer prolonged service life, oil purification, and low environmental impact.



MARKET DRIVERS & OPPORTUNITES



 Expansion in Cross-Border Electricity Trade



The cross-border electricity trade is increasing in Asia as the countries such as India, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Shri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore have established an electrical grid that helps in electricity trade. This trade can be bilateral unidirectional and bilateral bidirectional. The evolving electricity industry in India is expected to improve the demand for cross-border electricity trade in South Asia. Similarly, the various countries in this region have laid down some net zero emission policies projected to boost the demand for renewable power generation. This increase in renewable power generation is expected to increase the cross-border electricity trade. The existing cross-border electricity trade in south Asian countries such as India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Nepal has established a foundation that will build a good relationship that could result in easy electricity trade on a regional level.



 Expansion of Electric Grid in Emerging Economies



Industrialization drives economic growth in emerging economies. Emerging economies contribute almost 60% to the annual global growth as industrial development in China and India is high. In 2021, around 37 emerging countries accounted for 80% of the global population and approximately 70% of the worlds gross domestic product (GDP) growth generated through emerging economies, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Emerging economies, especially India, China, and Brazil, represent profitable opportunities for the electricity industry due to their large populations. Oil & gas, agriculture, automotive, and pharmaceutical industries are major demand generators in emerging economies. Therefore, the electrical grid is expanding in emerging economies to cater to the increasing electricity demand due to industrial development. This expansion in the electrical grid is projected to increase the use of various types of transformers for the transmission & distribution of electricity. Hence the demand for the transformer oil market is expected to grow significantly.



INDUSTRY RESTRAINTS



 Increasing Demand for Dry-Type Transformers



A dry-type transformer is a stationary solid-state device that requires minimal maintenance to function properly. There are no moving components in this transformer. Unlike liquid fill transformers, this transformer uses only high-temperature insulating technologies, which are extremely ecologically friendly. These transformers provide a safe and steady power supply that does not require fire-resistant vaults, poisonous gas emissions, or catch basins. These safety features will enable these transformers to be used in various applications where fire safety is necessary, such as schools, buildings, hospitals, factories, and chemical plants. This transformer does not employ a liquid-like silicone or oil to cool the core and coils. Therefore, the demand for dry transformers is expected to grow significantly due to the low cost of production and maintenance. Therefore, the need for oiled transformers is expected to decrease, likely negatively impacting the transformer oil market.



SEGMENTATION REVIEW



INSIGHTS BY END USER



Based on end users, the global transformer oil market is segmented into transmission & distribution, power generation, railways & metros, and others. Amond the end-user segment, the transmission & distribution is expected to be the largest segment in the industry with a market value of USD 1.10 billion in 2021. As a result, transformer oils are essential for keeping these transformers in good operating order. Transmission & distribution is one of the most critical industries for transformer oil, as numerous types of transformers are utilized in the transmission & distribution of power.



Segmentation by End User

 Transmission & Distribution

 Power Generation

 Railways & Metros

 Others



INSIGHTS BY Oil Type



Mineral oil is the largest segment amongst others in the transformer oil market. Mineral oil dominates the global industry as the ability to mix with a large number of additives. But in the future, the dominance of mineral oil in the transformer oil market is expected to decline due to the introduction of silicone-based and bio-based transformer oil. Also, developed countries such as the U.S., Germany, and Japan are concerned about the environmental impact of mineral oils; therefore, the respective government has laid down stringent regulations for transformer oils.



Segmentation by Oil Type

 Mineral Oil

 Silicone Oil

 Bio-based Oil



GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS

APAC is the largest global transformer oil market and is estimated to cross USD 1.4 billion by 2027. Asia Pacific region is the leading market because of its rapidly developing infrastructure, readily increasing population, and demand for various industries such as food & beverage, aerospace, automotive, power generation, and manufacturing. Furthermore, demand for power generation is expected to grow significantly as the APAC region population has grown tremendously in recent years.



South Asian countries are also engaging in cross-border electricity trade, which has boosted the transformer oil market demand. Even though APAC is a dominant industry in the world, many other countries with a high scope of development in transformer oil will challenge APACs dominance. Regions such as North America and Europe have the most developed countries comprising various well-established industries requiring significant electricity.



North America is the 3rd largest market for transformer oil, and it is expected to grow at a considerable rate of 5.70% during the forecasted period. The oil & gas industry is a significant contributor to economic development in North America as North America is the largest crude oil manufacturer in the world. In addition, North America is one of the major hubs for the manufacturing sector that contributes significantly to various industries such as automotive, oil & gas, chemicals, and others. The North American region is home to many industrial lubrication manufacturers due to the high production and processing of oil & gas. Companies such as ExxonMobil, Valvoline, and Petro Canada have headquarters in the North American region. The U.S. and Canada are contributing to North Americas high demand for transformer oil.



Segmentation by Geography



 APAC

o China

o India

o Japan

o Indonesia

o South Korea

o Rest of APAC

 North America

o U.S.

o Canada

 Europe

o Germany

o Russia

o Italy

o UK

o France

o Spain

o Rest of Europe

 Latin America

o Brazil

o Mexico

o Argentina

o Rest of Latin America

 Middle East & Africa

o Iran

o Saudi Arabia

o South Africa

o Rest of MEA



VENDOR LANDSCAPE



The key companies in the global transformer oil market have formed strategic partnerships with transmission and distribution service providers and the various industries that use oil transformers. This gives companies a competitive advantage that boosts their industry share. The key companies have undertaken different strategies to grow in the transformer oil market. Companies in the transformer oil industry compete strategically. The growth in sustainable processes and initiatives has challenged all companies globally. Investments in R&D, technological advancement, and environmental and economic challenges drive the demand for innovative and sustainable transformer oil products.



Some major players in the global transformer oil market include Chevron Corporation (U.S.), Shell (U.K.), Cargill (U.S.), DOW (U.S.), and Total Energies (France). These players have adopted strategies such as expansion, acquisitions, new product development, joint ventures, and others to increase their revenues in the transformer oil market. Furthermore, other prominent companies such as HPCL(India), BPCL(India), Phillips 66(US), APAR(India), Nyas AB(Sweden), Petro China (China), and others have invested significant capital in R&D to develop transformer oil products that will appeal to the customers. Therefore, these other prominent companies give tough competition to major companies in the industry.



Key Vendors

 Chevron Corporation

 Dow

 ExxonMobil

 Shell PLC

 TotalEnergies



Other Prominent Vendors

 APAR Industries

 Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited

 Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P.

 Cargill Incorporated

 Castrol Limited

 Engen Petroleum Limited

 Ergon Inc.

 Gandhar Oil

 Gulf Oil India Lubricants Limited

 Hydrodec Group PLC

 Indian Oil Corporation Limited

 Nynas AB

 Petro Canada Lubricants

 PetroChina

 Philips 66

 Repsol

 Sinopec

 Valvoline Inc.



KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED

1. What is the revenue from the global transformer oil market?

2. What is the projected market size of the global transformer oil market by 2027?

3. What is the growth rate of the transformer oil market?

4. Which region dominates the global transformer oil market?

5. What are the key driving factors in the transformer oil market?

6. Who are the key players in the global transformer oil market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06353425/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
Dublin, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Food Packaging Films Market by Type (Flexible, Rigid), Material (Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polyethylene Terephthalate), Application (Meat, Poultry & Seafood, Convenience Food, Bakery & Confectionary) and Region - Global Forecast to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The food packaging films market size was USD 49.8 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 72.3 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 6.4%. Food packaging films has been one of the fastest-growing segments of the packaging industry over the past few years. The key driver for the food packaging films market is the increase in the demand for convenience food items.

However, the growth of the market is restrained by issues related to the rising raw material prices. The basic raw material used for food packaging films is plastic, which is made from crude oil. As the supply of crude oil keeps fluctuating, plastic manufacturing is affected.

Meat, poultry & seafood segment to lead market growth

Meat, poultry & seafood is the leading application segment in terms of both value and volume. Growing disposable incomes have fueled the demand for convenience food items, which is, in turn, driving the food packaging films market. The increasing awareness regarding the nutritional value of meat products and changing eating habits are also boosting the demand for food packaging films. Packaging protects meat products during processing, storage, and distribution. The aim of any packaging system for fresh muscle foods is to prevent or delay undesirable changes in appearance, flavor, odor, and texture. Consumer rejection of the product is possible if the quality claims are not met.

The food packaging films market in the polypropylene segment is expected to be the second largest during the forecast period.

Polypropylene is the most preferred packaging material due to its low weight and cost. Polypropylene (PP) is a clear, glossy film with high strength and puncture resistance. It can be made translucent, opaque, or of a different color during the manufacturing process. PP generally has a high melting point, making it particularly suitable for food packaging products that are used in microwaves or cleaned in dishwashers.

Asia Pacific projected to be fastest-growing food packaging films market during forecast period

The market for food packaging films is observed to be growing in Asia Pacific, as a result of demographic changes and continuous industrialization. Emerging economies in the Asia Pacific region, such as India and China, provide immense opportunities in the food packaging films market. Growth in the food packaging films market is primarily driven by factors such as the rising consumption of packed food products, increasing demand from the food industry, rising disposable income, and manufacturer focus on developing low-cost packaging options.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Premium Insights

4.1 Attractive Opportunities in Food Packaging Films Market

4.2 Food Packaging Films Market, by Material

4.3 Food Packaging Films Market, by Application

4.4 Food Packaging Films Market, by Type

4.5 Food Packaging Films Market, Developed Vs. Emerging Countries

4.6 Asia-Pacific Food Packaging Films Market, by Application and Country

4.7 Asia-Pacific Food Packaging Films Market, by Country

5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.2.1 Drivers

5.2.1.1 Rising Global Population and Improving Economic Conditions of Emerging Countries

5.2.1.2 Growing Demand for Convenience Food Items

5.2.1.3 Innovative Packaging Solutions for Extended Shelf Life of Fresh Food Items

5.2.1.4 Rising Demand for Oriented Films

5.2.2 Restraints

5.2.2.1 Volatile Raw Material Costs

5.2.2.2 Stringent Government Rules and Regulations Regarding Raw Materials

5.2.3 Opportunities

5.2.3.1 Innovations in Eco-Friendly Packaging

5.2.4 Challenges

5.2.4.1 Manufacturers Concentrating on Downsizing Packaging

5.3 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.4 Macroeconomic Indicators

5.5 Ecosystem

5.5.1 Yc and Ycc Shift

5.6 Average Selling Price Analysis

5.7 Patent Analysis

5.7.1 Introduction

5.7.2 Methodology

5.7.3 Document Type

5.7.4 Insights

5.7.5 Jurisdiction Analysis

5.7.6 Top Applicants

5.8 Technology Analysis

5.8.1 Technologies for Food Packaging Film Structures

5.9 Trade Analysis

5.10 Value Chain Analysis

5.11 Case Study Analysis

5.12 Regulations

6 Food Packaging Films Market, by Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Flexible Packaging Films

6.2.1 Changing Lifestyles to Increase Demand for Flexible Packaging Films

6.3 Rigid Packaging Films

6.3.1 Preference for Convenience Foods to Drive Demand for Rigid Packaging Films

7 Food Packaging Films Market, by Material

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Polyethylene (Pe)

7.2.1 High Demand for Food Packaging Films Due to Favorable Properties

7.3 Polypropylene (Pp)

7.3.1 Extensive Use in Food Packaging Solutions

7.4 Polyethylene Terephthalate (Pet)

7.4.1 Offers Resistance to Heat, Oils, Solvents, and Acids

7.5 Polyamide (Pa)

7.5.1 Provides Protection from Scratches, Punctures, and Flex-Cracks

7.6 Others

8 Food Packaging Films Market, by Application

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Meat, Poultry & Seafood Products

8.2.1 Largest Application of Food Packaging Films

8.3 Convenience Foods

8.3.1 High Demand for Food Packaging Films Due to Changing Consumption Patterns

8.4 Bakery & Confectionery

8.4.1 Puncture-Resistant Packaging Films Provide Enhanced Protection

8.5 Fruits & Vegetables

8.5.1 Packaging Films Ensure Freshness of Fruits & Vegetables

8.6 Dairy Products

8.6.1 Trend for Pre-Packaged Cheese to Drive Food Packaging Films Market

8.7 Others

9 Food Packaging Films Market, by Region

10 Competitive Landscape

10.1 Overview

10.2 Company Evaluation Quadrant Matrix: Definitions and Methodology, 2021

10.2.1 Star

10.2.2 Emerging Leaders

10.2.3 Pervasive Players

10.2.4 Participants

10.3 Strength of Product Portfolio

10.4 Business Strategy Excellence

10.5 Revenue Analysis

10.5.1 Amcor plc

10.5.2 Coveris

10.5.3 Ds Smith plc

10.5.4 Berry Global

10.5.5 Charter Next Generation

10.6 Competitive Benchmarking

10.6.1 Market Evaluation Matrix

10.7 Market Ranking Analysis

10.8 Strategic Developments

10.8.1 New Product Launches

10.8.2 Deals

10.8.3 Other Developments

11 Company Profiles

11.1 Key Players

11.1.1 Berry Global

11.1.2 Innovia Films Ltd

11.1.3 Novolex

11.1.4 Dupont Teijin Films

11.1.5 Mondi Group

11.1.6 Ds Smith plc

11.1.7 Graphic Packaging Holding Company

11.1.8 Coveris

11.1.9 Georgia Pacific

11.1.10 Charter Next Generation

11.1.11 Amcor plc

11.1.12 Westrock Company

11.1.13 Sealed Air Corporation

11.2 Other Key Players

11.2.1 Jindal Poly Films

11.2.2 Rkw Se

11.2.3 Taghleef Industries

11.2.4 Wipak Group

11.2.5 Clearwater Paper Corp

11.2.6 Novamont

11.2.7 Constantia Flexibles

11.2.8 Plastipak

11.2.9 Tetra Pak

11.2.10 Printpack Inc.

11.2.11 Huhtamaki Oyj

12 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/knytod

Attachment
President Frank Ingriselli Will Present Update on Operations and Recently Completed New Discovery Well

JAKARTA, INDONESIA AND DANVILLE, CA, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Indonesia Energy Corporation (NYSE American: INDO) ("IEC"), an oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Indonesia, announced today its President, Frank Ingriselli, will be presenting at the LD Micro Main Event investor conference on Wednesday, October 26th at 1:30pm PDT. The event will be held in-person at the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel in Los Angeles and will be available to live stream virtually.

LD Micro Main Event  Indonesia Energy Investor Presentation

Date: Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Time: 1:30pm Pacific Time

Live Webcast https://me22.sequireevents.com

The presentation will also be available for replay at IECs website for 30 days at:

https://ir.indo-energy.com/events-and-presentations/

IEC announced yesterday that the Kruh 28 well on Kruh Block reached the final total depth at 3,475 feet depth on September 16, 2022. Approximately 135 feet of oil sands were encountered at Kruh 28 between the depths of 3,165 and 3,300 feet. This oil-bearing interval (meaning the top of the oil zone to the bottom of the oil zone) in the Kruh 28 well was 6 feet thicker and therefore larger than anticipated, meaning that the total reserve potential for Kruh 28 could be larger than anticipated. While drilling the K 28 well, two potential additional new oil formations were also discovered. In addition, as previously announced, IEC unexpectedly found evidence of a potential natural gas bearing reservoir between the 976 and 1,006 feet interval with 30 feet net thickness. This initial evidence was supported by both wireline logging and geologic logging data, and subsequent gas flaring.

Moreover, in an effort to maximize the potential of Kruh Block after several encouraging new oil discoveries made by IEC during 2021 and 2022, after production begins at Kruh 27 and Kruh 28, but before continuing with additional production drilling operations, IEC is planning to conduct significant new seismic operations across the entire Kruh Block. IEC believes that this new work, together with what has been learned from recent oil and gas discoveries, will greatly assist IEC in ascertaining the best locations to re-start a continuous drilling campaign at Kruh Block that will look to develop not only the one formation currently being targeted, but to look to develop what appears to be at least two potential additional oil formations that could contain significant commercial quantites of oil and natural gas. Completion and full interpretation of this seismic operations will take approximately 12 months, after which IEC plans to re-start its continuous drilling campaign at Kruh Block. IEC still plans on drilling a total of 18 new wells at Kruh Block, four of which have already been completed, but now by the end of 2025 rather than 2024 as previously announced.

Mr. Frank Ingriselli, IEC's President, commented "We look forward to returning to the LD Micro Conference so that we can discuss our recent discoveries and our future operational plans at Kruh Block. Our results at Kruh 28 reinforce our belief that Kruh Block is a world class asset that should contribute to the Companys strategic plan to maximize returns on our investments and grow shareholder value. Additionally, we will also be moving forward during 2023 with developmental activities at our potential billion-barrel equivalent natural gas 1,000,000-acre Citarum Block, where the previous operator drilled several natural gas discoveries.

About Indonesia Energy Corporation Limited

Indonesia Energy Corporation Limited (NYSE American: INDO) is a publicly traded energy company engaged in the acquisition and development of strategic, high growth energy projects in Indonesia. IECs principal assets are its Kruh Block (63,000 acres) located onshore on the Island of Sumatra in Indonesia and its Citarum Block (1,000,000 acres) located onshore on the Island of Java in Indonesia. IEC is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia and has a representative office in Danville, California. For more information on IEC, please visit www.indo-energy.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release and during the conference presentation referred to herein of Indonesia Energy Corporation Limited (IEC) and its representatives and partners that are not based on historical fact are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Acts). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "estimates," "believes," "hopes," "expects," "intends," on-track, "plans," "anticipates," or "may," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Acts and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Acts. Any statements made in this news release or the presentation referred to herein other than those of historical fact, about an action, event or development, are forward-looking statements. While management has based any forward-looking statements contained herein on its current expectations, the information on which such expectations were based may change. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are outside of the IEC's control, that could cause actual results (including, without limitation, the future prices for oil and the anticipated results of IECs drilling and production activities and the impact of such activities on IECs results of operations as described herein) to materially and adversely differ from such statements. Such risks, uncertainties, and other factors include, but are not necessarily limited to, those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Companys annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, filed on May 2, 2022, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Copies are of such documents are available on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. IEC undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law.

Company Contact :

Frank C. Ingriselli

President, Indonesia Energy Corporation Limited

Frank.Ingriselli@Indo-Energy.com
TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to The Ontario Health Coalition, the Ford government has ceased regular reporting on the spread of COVID-19. Public Health no longer publishes daily and weekly epidemiologic reports and it has become steadily more difficult to get accurate numbers. Not only are the government and Public Health not reporting much of the data previously available, they have also cut testing and abandoned trace and isolation measures. Regardless, there is some data available and infectious disease specialists have taken up the challenge of identifying transmission of the virus using wastewater, serology and other evidence. The Ontario Health Coalition released a report today in plain language to give the public a clearer idea of the risks. The data the Coalition found on long-term care and hospital outbreaks, hospitalizations, community spread and deaths should raise red flags. The abandonment of all public protections against the transmission of the virus is resulting in loss of health and death for a significant number of Ontarians.



On December 31, 2021, the Ontario government heavily restricted access to public PCR testing. This meant that a very small percent of the population could get access to PCR testing resulting in a significant underreporting of positive cases. The end of public testing has ushered in a new era of data suppression in which regular Ontarians had no way of knowing how prevalent and dangerous the spread of COVID-19 was in our communities.

From the week of Oct 2- Oct 8, there were only 66,177 tests done resulting in 8,929 confirmed cases . For context, there were 435,213 tests performed from the week of Dec 26, 2021-Jan 1 2022, the last week prior to the strict rationing of public testing.

Dr. Tara Moriarty of Moriarty Labs, an infectious diseases research laboratory studying blood borne pathogens, and a group of doctors and researchers created COVID-19 Resources Canada in order to provide more information to Canadians. They have used the best available data to calculate the spread of COVID-19 including wastewater surveillance, seroprevalence and in some provinces, self-reporting to give an accurate depiction of COVID-19 in our communities.

Their key findings include:

There were 68,910 new COVID-19 cases in Ontario on October 14, the most recent day reported. That is 68,910 new cases in one day. That is 44 percent of the new daily infections in Canada. (Note: Ontario has 39 percent of Canadas population but 44 percent of daily new infections on the most recent date reported.)

COVID-19 remains a serious and potentially fatal pathogen:

7,235 of those infected on October 14 will have significant symptoms that will last more than 4-weeks and will limit their daily activity.

389 Ontarians are predicted to have been hospitalized for COVID-19 on October 14.

As of October 14, 1 in 32 Canadians either have COVID-19 or are still suffering from symptoms of COVID-19 and 3.5% of Ontarians have COVID-19 or are still suffering from COVID-19 symptoms.

Long-Term Care COVID-19 Outbreaks Update

On October 12, the Ontario government COVID-19 website reported 152 active outbreaks with 1,526 active resident cases and 480 active staff cases. 11 long-term care residents died from COVID-19 on that date. There are 626 long-term care homes in Ontario, which means that approximately 1 in 4 homes are in outbreak.

Deaths in Ontarios LTC homes for the previous week:

October 12: 11 deaths

October 11: 1 death

October 10 1 death

October 9: missing data

October 8: 10 deaths

October 7: 4 deaths

October 6: 9 deaths

The Ministry of Long-Term Care statistics have always been lower than Public Health Ontario data (for which they recently stopped reporting detailed breakdowns). It is evident that they are still underreporting because on October 8, Public Health reported 161 active outbreaks compared to the 152 active outbreaks reported by the provincial government. This may be the last update with reliable information in LTC because as of October 14, the Ministry of Long-Term Care has issued new guidance limiting testing to symptomatic residents, removing the requirement for testing on admission, and changing the definition of an outbreak to two or more residents with a known epi-link. Staff infections will no longer contribute to an outbreak and homes are now going to be self-reporting their cases.

Large Outbreaks in Long-Term Care

Most Public Health Units are not listing the cases and deaths in LTC anymore. In our research we found that only Sarnia-Lambton, Chatham Kent, Southwestern, York, Huron-Perth, Waterloo, Windsor Essex, Peel and North Bay Parry Sound Public Health Units (PHUs) report the number of cases associated with outbreaks.

Sarnia-Lambton :

Marshall Gowland Manor: a 126-bed Long-Term Care home in Sarnia has 40 residents and <5 staff/visitors infected with COVID-19.

Southwestern PHU :

Caressant Care- Bonnie Place: a for-profit 116-bed Long-Term Care home in St Thomas has an active outbreak with 58 cases in their residents/staff.

Elgin Manor-St Thomas: a 90-bed home in St Thomas has an outbreak with 48 confirmed cases and 1 probable case in their residents and staff.

PeopleCare Tavistock: a 100-bed home in Tavistock has an outbreak with 46 confirmed cases in their residents and staff.

Huron Perth:

Queensway Nursing Home: a 60-bed home has an outbreak with 16 residents infected.

Greenwood Courts: a non-profit long-term care home with 48 beds has an outbreak with 15 residents and 4 staff members infected.

Windsor-Essex :

Chartwell Royal Oak: a 160-bed home has an outbreak with 20 cases associated

The Village of Aspen Lake: a 192-bed home has an outbreak with 19 cases associated.

Heron Terrace Long-Term Care: a 140-bed has an outbreak with 34 cases associated.

Berkshire Care Centre: a 231-bed home has an outbreak with 18 cases.

Peel:

Extendicare Brampton: a 150-bed home has an outbreak with 55 residents infected.

Waterloo :

Golden Year Long-Term Care: an 88-bed home, has an outbreak with 19 residents and 7 staff infected.

The Village at University Gates: a 192-bed home has an outbreak with 43 residents and 9 staff members infected.

Barnswallow Place: a 96-bed home has an outbreak with 50 residents and 6 staff infected.

Hospital Update

As of October 20, there are 121 active outbreaks in Ontarios 141 Hospitals according to the Ontario government. This includes multiple outbreaks in some hospitals.

Local Public Health Unit Updates

COVID-19 Cases in our Communities

Toronto - From October 11-18, there have been 1,683 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 16 deaths from COVID-19. 70 New cases have resulted in hospitalization.

Southwestern Ontario : As of October 12, there were 238 active confirmed COVID-19 cases, 18 of which have resulted in hospitalization in the Southwestern Public Health Unit

Niagara : As of October 17, there were 823 active confirmed cases in the Niagara Public Health Unit. There were 15 active outbreaks in Niagaras long-term care homes, retirement communities and hospitals.

Windsor-Essex : As of October 13, there were 307 new active confirmed cases and 3 COVID-19 deaths, 56 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 3 in ICU. There were 27 active outbreaks in long-term care, hospitals and retirement homes.

Sarnia-Lambton : From October 2- October 8, there have been 112 new cases of COVID-19 and there has been an average of 8 COVID-19 patients hospitalized per day. There were 9 active outbreaks in LTC homes, retirement homes and congregate living settings.

Chatham-Kent: From October 9- October 15 there were 76 new active confirmed cases and 3 active outbreaks in group homes and retirement homes.

Halton: As of October 12, there were 12 active outbreaks in Haltons hospitals, LTC homes and retirement homes. On average there are 27.7 new confirmed cases per day and 3 of those cases require hospitalization.

Wellington-Dufferin Guelph: As of October 19, there were 203 active confirmed COVID-19 cases, 23 patients were hospitalized and 3 are in ICU. There were 4 active outbreaks in the areas hospitals and retirement homes.

Waterloo: As of October 14, there were 275 active confirmed cases, with 49 hospitalizations, and there were 11 active outbreaks in Waterloos congregate care settings, hospitals and long-term care homes.

Huron Perth: As of October 12, there were 4 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. There are 2 active outbreaks in long-term care, 2 in congregate care settings and 5 active outbreaks in retirement homes in Huron Perth.

Haldimand-Norfolk : There are 10 active outbreaks in Haldimand-Norfolks long-term care homes, retirement homes, hospitals, congregate living settings and farms.

London-Middlesex: As of October 17, there were 757 active cases in London-Middlesex and between October 13 and October 17, 4 people have died of COVID-19. There were 18 active outbreaks in LTC homes, hospitals and retirement communities.

Hamilton: As of October 18, there were 141 active confirmed cases in Hamilton. As of October 10, there have been 2 cases requiring hospitalization per day on average and as of October 12, there have been on average 19 active outbreaks per day.

Ottawa: As of October 16, there were 873 active confirmed cases of COVID-19, 36 of which are currently getting treatment in a hospital. There are currently 68 active outbreaks.

Renfrew: As of October 13, there were 125 active confirmed cases with 10 hospitalizations. There are also 7 active outbreaks in Renfrews hospitals, long-term care homes and hospitals.

York: As of October 18, 93 people in York region were hospitalized with COVID-19. There were 20 active outbreaks in Yorks retirement homes, long-term care homes and hospitals.

Peterborough: As of October 5, there were 489 active confirmed cases in Peterborough, 33 of which are currently being hospitalized for COVID-19. There were 14 active outbreaks in Peterboroughs hospitals, long-term care homes and retirement homes.

Durham: From October 5- October 12, there were 343 new active confirmed COVID-19 cases, 5 patients were hospitalized, 1 patient ended up in ICU and there was 1 death from COVID-19. There were 21 ongoing outbreaks in Durhams long-term care homes, retirement homes, and hospitals.

Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District: Does not report case data, there are 5 active COVID-19 outbreaks in the areas congregate care settings, long-term care, retirement homes and hospitals.

Hastings Prince Edward: As of October 18, there were 189 active confirmed cases, 35 of whom are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 and 3 are in ICU. There are 14 active outbreaks in Hastings-Prince Edwards long-term care, hospitals and retirement homes.

Leeds, Grenville and Lanark : As of October 18, there were 226 new confirmed cases, 15 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, 5 were in ICU and 1 was on a ventilator. There are 15 active outbreaks with 242 cases associated with them in the areas hospitals, congregate care and community living facilities.

Kingston Frontenac Lennox & Addington: As of October 18, there were 415 active confirmed cases, 24 of whom were hospitalized with COVID-19 and 6 were in ICU. There were 11 active outbreaks in KFL&As hospitals, long-term care, retirement homes and group homes.

Eastern Ontario: As of October 18, there were 16 people hospitalized for COVID-19, 3 of whom were in ICU. There were 12 active outbreaks in Eastern Ontarios facilities.

Simcoe-Muskoka: As of October 13, there were 748 active cases of COVID-19, 23 of whom were hospitalized for COVID-19, and 8 people have died from COVID-19 in the last week. There were 30 outbreaks in the areas facilities.

Grey-Bruce: As of October 13, there were 89 active confirmed COVID-19 cases, 5 of whom are currently hospitalized with COVID-19.

Northwestern : There are 70 active confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4 active outbreaks in the Northwestern PHU.

Timiskaming: There are 78 active confirmed COVID-19 cases in Timiskaming, 12 of whom are currently hospitalized and 1 is in ICU. There are 4 active outbreaks in long-term care, retirement homes and hospitals.

North Bay Parry Sound : As of October 12, there were 182 active confirmed cases, 22 of which are currently hospitalized and 4 outbreaks in long-term care, hospitals and retirement homes. North Bay Regional Health Centre has an outbreak with 22 cases associated with it.

Algoma: In the last week there were 215 new active confirmed cases in Algoma, there are 45 people hospitalized with COVID and 5 of them are in the ICU. There are 14 active outbreaks in Algomas hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes.

Sudbury : As of October 17, there were 295 active confirmed cases in the Sudbury area, 55 patients are currently hospitalized and 1 is in ICU. There were 14 active outbreaks in Sudburys hospitals, retirement homes and long-term care homes.

Porcupine: As of October 12, there were 8 active outbreaks in the Porcupine PHUs long-term care, hospitals, congregate care and retirement homes.

Thunder Bay : As of October 13, there were 234 active confirmed COVID-19 cases in Thunder Bay, 57 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 and 1 was in the ICU. There were 10 active outbreaks in Thunder Bays long-term care, hospitals, retirement homes and congregate care settings.

Brant County: As of October 18, there were 92 active confirmed cases in Brant County, 7 of whom have been hospitalized. There are 6 active outbreaks in Brant Countys hospitals, retirement homes and long-term care homes.

Peel: From October 14- October 18, there were 195 new active confirmed cases in Peel. On October 18 there were 15 active outbreaks in Peels long-term care and retirement homes.

For more information: Natalie Mehra, Executive Director (416) 230-6402 (cell); Salah Shadir, Administration & Operations Manager (647) 648-5706 (cell)

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/901b9d76-7058-4179-8a62-e28a66eb302a
Nordea Bank Abp will delist all short instruments with Fingerprint as underlying asset. Clients will be able to sell back their holdings to Nordea until 31th of October 2022. If a client keeps their holdings longer than this date, the value of the position on delisting day will be paid out within 10 bank days from that date according to the Final Terms.

Last trading day: 31th October

Delisting day: 1th November
New York, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Internet of Everything Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report By Vertical, By Component, By Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2022  2028" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06352741/?utm_source=GNW

A web of interconnected networks between people and machines has been made possible by the Internet of Everything (IoE), improving the ability to remotely run infrastructure including smart grids, smart cities, smart homes, intelligent transportation, as well as others.



The Internet of Everything offers superior standards of security as well as other social and financial advantages. Businesses are implementing IoE to boost productivity and reduce costs, such as capital expenditures, energy, and labor. Mobile device use has made traveling easier and led to an increase in app creation. This enables IoT companies to create apps that act as an interface between embedded systems and other smart devices, enabling the interchange of data and analytics. Additionally, municipalities are increasingly using smart meters for electricity and water monitoring within commercial and residential properties to measure use and explore new ways to reduce costs. In the coming years, these aspects are anticipated to offer the industry profitable growth prospects.



IoE is characterized by four main components, including people, objects, data, and processes. In an IoE environment, users can access the internet via PCs, cellphones, tablets, and fitness trackers. Users interactions with various tools, websites, social networks, and applications produce data. Additionally, smart tattoos, skin sensors, and smart clothing also produce data that offer vitally important personal insights into the users. People thus serve as a node on the IoE-enabled network that aids enterprises in solving pressing problems or making decisions by having an awareness of human issues.



COVID-19 Impact Analysis



The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the economy across the world. A number of businesses were majorly demolished as a result of the outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic had an extremely significant effect on society and the economy. The COVID-19 pandemic also had a major impact on the IoE system supply chain. Professional services saw a delay, and many IoE projects had their implementation paused. In the initial period of the outbreak, operations within a number of companies were hauled, due to which, the utilization of connected devices declined. However, the pandemic also had a positive impact on the market in the second half of the year. The outbreak accelerated the adoption of numerous technologies since individuals are becoming more tech-savvy and adopting technology while working from home. Examples of these technologies include IoT, IoE, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and others.



Market Growth Factors



Increasing consumption of the internet by people across the world



A variety of significant services and materials that are necessary for daily life are available on the internet. People can advance in almost all aspects of their life by leveraging the internet. Because it is a universal computer network structure, it can connect people from all over the world and build communities. It is an excellent way to share and obtain knowledge, and it is accessible practically anywhere. It is a phenomenal way to exchange information around the world and save time because its quick, accessible, and affordable. The world has become smaller because people no longer need to waste time looking for information as it is now readily available on computer displays through the Internet. Therefore, the adoption of the Internet of Everything is also rising. This factor is propelling the growth of the market



An upsurge in the adoption of cloud-based solutions in companies



Small and medium-sized businesses and major corporations are among the user groups that have contributed to the expansion of the cloud industry by increasing the need for affordable data storage, backup, as well as protection. Utilizing the mobile workforce with convenient data collection, archiving, access, and recovery facilities improves corporate operations. The adoption of cloud-based IoT software and platforms all over the world rises as end-user enterprises switch to cloud computing technologies. For example, Sams West, Inc., a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., granted a contract to Salesforce.com in 2016 for the deployment of a customer success platform to transform its current business membership purchase and engagement process into a digital process to enhance membership experience across SAMs 650 clubs. Thus, this factor is augmenting the growth of the Internet of Everything market.



Market Restraining Factors



Prevalence of malware, including Distributed DoS Attacks, Botnets, and ThingBots



One of the major risks to connected devices is the threat of malware. When Mirai infected a significant number of IoT devices all over the world, including printers, routers, and real-time cameras, security vulnerabilities for IoTs were initially identified as an alarming concern. In order to overwhelm the servers and prevent users from accessing the website, the attackers connected and targeted a website using every device that was infected with the Mirai malware at once. The worst effect of a Mirai attack is that it can completely destroy any IoT device that has been improperly set up. As the IoE is an upgrade to IoT technology, it is also vulnerable to these threats. This factor is impeding the growth of the Internet of Everything market.



Component Outlook



On the basis of Component, the Internet of Everything (IoE) Market is segmented into Hardware, Software, and Services. In 2021, the hardware segment acquired the highest revenue share of the Internet of Things market. The market is growing as a result of a surge in smartphone adoption and the use of 3G and 4G networks. To meet the rising customer demand, major manufacturers are increasingly creating inexpensive sensors and other components. Moreover, a number of compact devices with a bulk of features are rapidly being introduced within the market. Therefore, this factor is estimated to majorly propel the growth of this segment of the market.



Vertical Outlook



By Vertical, the Internet of Everything (IoE) Market is segregated into Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail, BFSI, IT and Telecom, and Others. In 2021, the healthcare segment witnessed a substantial revenue share of the Internet of Everything market. The growth of the segment is significantly increasing due to improvements in medical technology, widespread use of healthcare-linked devices, and the requirement to track the whereabouts of medical equipment, patients, and staff. Moreover, healthcare wearable is a new trend in the modern era. These gadgets allow the user to monitor their health statistics through a wearable, such as a smartwatch or a smart ring. These factors are accelerating the growth of this segment of the market.



Regional Outlook



Region-Wise, the Internet of Everything (IoE) Market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. In 2021, North America recorded the biggest revenue share of the market. The regional IoE market is anticipated to grow during the forecast period due to an increase in government sector spending and technical developments in the telecom sector. Moreover, IoE is also anticipated to be used to support growth in the manufacturing sector, which includes asset monitoring, supply chain connectivity, workplace safety administration, and energy management.



The major strategies followed by the market participants are Partnerships. Based on the Analysis presented in the Cardinal matrix; Microsoft Corporation and Google LLC are the forerunners in the Internet of Everything (IoE) Market. Companies such as Amazon Web Services, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.), AT&T Intellectual Property and IBM Corporation are some of the key innovators in Internet of Everything (IoE) Market.



The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include Amazon Web Services, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.), AT&T Intellectual Property, Bosch.IO GmbH (Robert Bosch GmbH), Cisco Systems, Inc., Fujitsu Limited, Google LLC, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company, IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, and SAP SE.



Recent Strategies Deployed in Internet of Everything (IoE) Market



Partnerships, Collaborations and Agreements:



Aug-2022: Microsoft entered into a partnership with Larsen & Toubro, an Infotech. Under this partnership, the companies would focus on introducing high-value cloud solutions for enterprises. Moreover, LTI would also launch a dedicated Microsoft business unit to develop and distribute end-to-end digital transformation solutions.



Jun-2022: SAP partnered with Unilever, a British multinational consumer goods company. With this partnership, the companies aimed to pilot SAPs GreenToken in order to expand their transparency as well as traceability within the global palm oil supply chain of Unilever.



Jun-2022: Cisco collaborated with Telefonica, a Spanish multinational telecommunications company. Following this collaboration, the companies aimed to introduce new managed services across the globe, including integrated security and connectivity offers for both SMBs and large companies.



May-2022: Fujitsu Limited teamed up with Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon. This collaboration aimed to expedite the digital transformation of customers within the retail and financial industries. Moreover, the companies would also bring new services built on AWS, which would be deployed by Fujitsu In Japan as well as all over the world.



May-2022: SAP came into a partnership with Google Cloud, a suite of cloud computing services by Google. With this partnership, the companies aimed to enable their customers to link crucial SAP software designed for operating all mission-critical processes over the cloud.



May-2022: SAP joined hands with HCL, a leader in global technology. Under this collaboration, HCL would package relevant SAP software along with hardware and services that can expedite and streamline the complex and fragmented solution stack being encountered by businesses while driving Industry 4.0 transformations.



May-2022: Microsoft joined hands with STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader. Through this collaboration, the companies aimed to strengthen the security and safety of emerging IoT applications.



May-2022: Google came into a partnership with Asus IoT, a sub-brand of Asus. Through this partnership, the companies aimed to leverage Asus IoTs capabilities in order to expand the reach of its inferencing and AI capabilities to hardware. Moreover, this partnership would also allow Google to scale the manufacturing, distribution, as well as support for Coral.



May-2022: AT&T signed an agreement with DISH, an American television services provider. Following this collaboration, DISH would integrate AT&T Internet services within its offerings for existing as well as new DISH customers.



Mar-2022: Google came into a partnership with TELUS and NXN Digital. With this partnership, the company aimed to provide the next generation of efficient, secure, sustainable, and innovative IoT technologies that would strengthen communities, businesses, as well as residents via a broad ecosystem of people-first solutions.



Mar-2022: Google collaborated with IoTeX, a platform that connects IoT devices. Under this partnership, IoTeX would become the primary cloud provider of Google Cloud in order to expedite its global expansion strategy.



Feb-2022: HPE teamed up with Qualcomm Technologies, an American multinational corporation. Following this collaboration, the companies would provide advanced Qualcomm Technologies-powered 5G distributed units inline accelerator cards, namely the Qualcomm X100 5G RAN.



Feb-2022: IBM joined hands with SAP, a German multinational software company. With collaboration, the companies aimed to offer consulting and technology expertise in order to streamline customers to adopt a hybrid cloud approach to migrate their mission-critical workloads from SAP solutions to the cloud for non-regulated as well as regulated industries.



Jan-2022: AWS teamed up with Stellantis, a Dutch multinational automotive manufacturing corporation. Following this collaboration, the companies aimed to implement Amazons software and technology expertise throughout Stellantis organization, including building connected in-vehicle experiences, vehicle development, as well as training advanced automotive software engineers. Furthermore, the companies would also develop a range of software-based services and products.



Dec-2021: Microsoft partnered with Wartsila Voyage, a leader in maritime end-to-end onboard solutions. With this partnership, the companies aimed to reinforce its synergies throughout its end-to-end digital services offerings while also bringing its current and future products over a common platform.



Nov-2021: IBM collaborated with Infosys Finacle, a part of Infosyss EdgeVerve Systems. Following this collaboration, the companies aimed to introduce the Finacle Digital Banking Solution Suite over the Red Hat OpenShift as well as IBM Cloud for financial services



Sep-2021: Fujitsu teamed up with KDDI, a Japanese telecommunications operator. Under this collaboration, the companies aimed to develop new services that would accelerate the customer experience while also contributing to the resolution of social challenges by leveraging KDDIs au 5G technologies in integration with Fujitsus private 5G.



Aug-2021: AT&T entered into a partnership with Cisco, an American-based multinational technology conglomerate. With this partnership, the companies aimed to launch 5G network capabilities in order to bolster performance for IoT applications throughout the United States.



Jun-2021: Amazon Web Services partnered with Salesforce, an American cloud-based software company. This partnership aimed to streamline customers to leverage the full range of AWS as well as Salesforce capabilities in order to rapidly develop and deploy powerful new business applications intending to expedite digital transformation.



May-2021: Google partnered with SpaceX, an American spacecraft manufacturer. This partnership aimed to offer cloud services to aid in delivering internet via the latters Starlink satellites.



Feb-2021: Bosch joined hands with Microsoft, an American multinational technology corporation. With this collaboration, the companies aimed to develop a software platform with the aim of seamlessly connecting cars to the cloud. Moreover, it would also streamline and expedite the development and installation of vehicle software over the cars lifetime according to automotive quality standards.



Feb-2021: Microsoft collaborated with Intel, an American multinational corporation. Under this collaboration, the companies aimed to offer IoT services and products in order to help in lowering the complexity of solution development by integrating their software, hardware, processing edge, and cloud capabilities.



Oct-2020: AT&T teamed up with Cisco, an American-based multinational technology conglomerate. Under this collaboration, the companies aimed to manage IoT devices for enterprises with the launch of the Cisco-powered AT&T Control Center. Moreover, the new solution would offer near real-time visibility to businesses for all the devices over their network.



Aug-2020: Google came into a partnership with Best Buy, an American multinational consumer electronics retailer. Following this partnership, Google would offer its cloud services to Best Buys Enterprise Data Platform to empower a data-driven retail strategy. Moreover, it would deliver new and more customized shopping experiences for customers.



Jul-2020: Microsoft teamed up with Verizon, the Telecom giant. This collaboration aimed to aid developers along with service providers in creating and providing IoT solutions faster.



Product Launches and Product Expansions:



May-2022: AT&T unveiled a new managed wireless wide area network. The new solutions aimed to offer businesses untether assets, locations, and people with a solution monitored and managed by network experts.



Nov-2021: AWS rolled out the AWS IoT RoboRunner, a novel robotics service. The new solution would facilitate enterprises to develop and deploy applications with the capacity to aid fleets of robots to work unparalleled. In addition, the new solution would also enable users to connect work management systems and robots to allow them to orchestrate work across the operation through a single system view.



Acquisitions and Mergers:



Jul-2022: Fujitsu acquired Enable Professional Services, the largest independent ServiceNow specialist in Asia-Pacific. Through this acquisition, the company aimed to gain the market-leading capabilities and expertise of Enable in order to offer ServiceNow advisory, delivery services, and consulting to customers throughout the region.



Jul-2022: IBM took over Databand, a leader in data observability software. With this acquisition, the company aimed to strengthen its software portfolio through automation, data, and AI in order to address the full spectrum of observability.



Feb-2022: IBM completed its acquisition of Sentaca, a leading telco consulting services and solutions provider. This acquisition aimed to expedite the hybrid cloud consulting business of IBM with the addition of critical skills to aid CSPs and media giants in modernizing multiple cloud platforms.



Dec-2021: Bosch took over Climatec, a privately owned environmental engineering company. Through this acquisition, the company aimed to expand its presence throughout the world and strengthen its offerings.



Sep-2021: HPE took over Zerto, a leader in cloud data management and protection. Following this acquisition, the company aimed to expand its HPE GreenLake cloud data services by leveraging Zertos market-leading cloud data management and protection software.



Jun-2021: Microsoft acquired ReFirm Labs, an IoT security provider. Through this acquisition, the company aimed to strengthen its firmware security and analysis capabilities throughout devices that form the intelligent edge spanning from servers to IoT.



Aug-2020: Cisco acquired ThousandEyes, a network intelligence company. With this acquisition, the company aimed to leverage the internet and cloud intelligence platform of ThousandEyes in order to experience expanded insights and visibility into the digital delivery of services and applications throughout the cloud and the internet.



Geographical Expansions:



Jun-2020: HPE expanded its geographical footprint with the launch of an IoT experience center in Bengaluru. Through this geographical expansion, the company aimed to offer IoT solutions and service portfolios to its enterprise customers as well as partners across industries.



Scope of the Study



Market Segments covered in the Report:



By Vertical



 Manufacturing



 Retail



 IT & Telecom



 BFSI



 Healthcare



 Others



By Component



 Hardware



 Software



 Services



By Geography



 North America



o US



o Canada



o Mexico



o Rest of North America



 Europe



o Germany



o UK



o France



o Russia



o Spain



o Italy



o Rest of Europe



 Asia Pacific



o China



o Japan



o India



o South Korea



o Singapore



o Malaysia



o Rest of Asia Pacific



 LAMEA



o Brazil



o Argentina



o UAE



o Saudi Arabia



o South Africa



o Nigeria



o Rest of LAMEA



Companies Profiled



 Amazon Web Services, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)



 AT&T Intellectual Property



 Bosch.IO GmbH (Robert Bosch GmbH)



 Cisco Systems, Inc.



 Fujitsu Limited



 Google LLC



 Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company



 IBM Corporation



 Microsoft Corporation



 SAP SE



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 Exhaustive coverage



 Highest number of market tables and figures



 Subscription based model available



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 Assured post sales research support with 10% customization free

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06352741/?utm_source=GNW



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__________________________
SPRINGDALE, Ark., Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Explore Scientific, LLC has reached an agreement to become a non-exclusive distributor for Unistellar digital smart telescopes and related accessories.

With their proprietary live light accumulation technology and autonomous field detection capability that makes it easy to identify and track observing targets, Unistellar's smart eVscopes, the eQuinox and the eVscope 2, have emerged as game changers in the world of consumer telescopes. These pioneering telescopes, which are controlled by a smartphone app, produce stunning images full of detail and color even from light-polluted areas.

"These digital telescopes can bring about a profound experience for those living in suburban conditions that are new to astronomy by allowing them to experience deep sky objects in near real time with a level of depth and color that used to be reserved exclusively for dedicated and experienced astrophotographers," said Scott Roberts, Explore Scientific founder and president. "Unistellar's eVscope telescope line represents a masterful execution of cutting-edge electronically assisted astronomy technology. We at Explore Scientific are proud to be named as a distributor of the Unistellar line and are thrilled to add their exemplary products to our ever-increasing offerings of astronomy and science gear."

Consumers can visit Explore Scientific's website (www.explorescientific.com) to purchase select Unistellar products.

About Unistellar:

Founded in 2017 in Marseille, France, Unistellar is the company behind a new category of smart telescopes  the eVscopes. More than 10,000 of Unistellar's innovative eVscopes, which were launched at the end of 2019, are now operating in Europe, Japan and North America. Unistellar has received two CES awards: A CES 2022 Innovation Award in the Digital Imaging category for the Unistellar eVscope 2 and a CES Innovation Award in 2018 in the Tech for a Better World category for the Unistellar eVscope. Thanks to partnerships with renowned scientific organizations, like the SETI Institute, and, for the exoplanet's detection program, with NASA citizen science, these game-changing consumer telescopes even allow users to become citizen scientists enabling them to contribute to cutting-edge research on exoplanets, asteroids, comets, and much more. To learn more about Unistellar, please visit https://unistellaroptics.com/.

About Explore Scientific

Established in 2008, Explore Scientific, LLC, is a science and outdoor lifestyle company offering a broad range of optics, electronics, cameras, and specialized accessories for astronomy, biology, STEM education, and outdoor adventure. The company's brand offerings include Explore Scientific, Bresser, Alpen, Galileoscope, National Geographic, Discovery, Vixen and Unistellar. You can learn more about Explore Scientific at www.explorescientific.com.

Contact Information:

Scott Roberts

Explore Scientific Founder and President

s@explorescientific.com

(949) 637-9075



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NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) and Cargill are launching a new learning program to advance agricultural supply chain access for Black farmers. This collaboration advances the Black Farmer Equity Initiative and will help increase diverse suppliers for our corporate members in the food industry.

The first cohort of the program will include the owners of 10 emerging family-owned farms. Participants will complete an eight-week learning curriculum focused on growing their capacity to take on major national contracts with NMSDCs corporate members. Learning topics will include:

Getting certified as a minority business enterprise (MBE) and how it can open opportunities for Black farmers.

Accessing capital, getting capital ready, and leveraging micro-loans.

Addressing issues of growth specific to the farming industry such as storage, putting acreage into production, and equipment management.

Building negotiation skills.

Developing a plan for and managing growth.

Reviewing opportunities and challenges shared by corporate members.

At the conclusion of the learning program, participants will also receive valuable ongoing business support including:

Being connected through a customized online learning community so they can network and build relationships with each other.

Receiving assistance in completing the certification process with NMSDC, with certification fees covered by this program.

Having the opportunity to apply for growth-oriented micro-loans through a Business Consortium Fund opportunity specifically for farmers in the program.

Participating in four mentoring and matchmaking sessions with participating corporate members assisting to create direct relationship-building and contract opportunities. Mentoring will focus on navigating the procurement process and responding effectively to requests for proposals.

This program recognizes the importance Black farmers play in creating a resilient and sustainable food system in the United States. I am excited to see how this program will make the agricultural industry a more racially equitable space while contributing to NMSDCs audacious goal of achieving $1 trillion in annual revenue by NMSDC-certified MBEs, said NMSDC CEO and President Ying McGuire.

The first cohort of the program will begin in January 2023 and will culminate with program participants beginning NMSDC certification.

Cargill is working to address anti-Black racism. One tangible step we are taking is looking at our supply chains. We want to source from Black farmers and connect them with our customers, said Cargill Supplier Diversity Program Leader Natalie McGrady.

About NMSDC

Founded in 1972, NMSDC is the longest-operating business growth engine for the broadest group of systematically excluded communities of color (Asian-Indian, Asian-Pacific, Black, Hispanic, and Native American), and our impact goes far beyond the supply chain. Its about upward mobility for the emerging majority of Americans, an equal shot at participating in the American experiment of free-market capitalism and entrepreneurship. Our work is about correcting the unequal access to wealth-building opportunities. For more information, please visit nmsdc.org.

About Cargill

Cargill helps the worlds food system work for you. We connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients and families with daily essentials  from the foods they eat to the floors they walk on. Our 155,000 team members around the world innovate with purpose, empowering our partners and communities as we work to nourish the world in a safe, responsible, sustainable way.

From feed that reduces methane emissions to waste-based renewable fuels, the possibilities are boundless. But our values remain the same. We put people first. We reach higher. We do the right thing. Its how weve met the needs of the people we call neighbors and the planet we call home for 157 years  and how well do so for generations to come. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.
CHICAGO, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Il Mio is an Italian restaurant that has captured the hearts and appetites of the people of Clarendon Hills. Inspired by their Italian hometowns and family get-togethers this new fall menu is approachable and shareable including favorite family recipes. This upscale, family-owned business continues improving and bringing about new ideas.

As the leaves grow golden and the air becomes cool, new inspirations arise. Il Mio has been curating an enticing new fall menu, which launched at the beginning of October. Containing fall classics with an Il Mio flare, the people of Clarendon Hills should get ready to taste these brand-new dishes. The fall menu includes dishes such as the hefty Swiss Turkey Burger, Linguine and clams, and the cool, crisp Beet Goat Cheese Salad tossed with avocado and glazed pecans, and signature goat cheese and beets. Continuing the handcrafted, Il Mio quality, this delectable menu is undoubtedly something to fall for.

With the holidays around the corner, many will be searching for gifting options. Just in time for the holiday season, Il Mio will now be offering gift cards, which takes the hassle out of holiday cooking and more time to enjoy with family.

"Nothing brings me more joy than to bring families together to enjoy authentic Italian cooking with quality ingredients. These recipes have been crafted from hometown recipes and our special touch," says owner Gabriella Palumbo. "We are also thrilled to offer gift cards to our customers. Many are beginning to think about the perfect gift and being able to provide that convenience and great food is our main priority."

Dedicated to making meals and memories for the people of Clarendon Hills, Il Mio still has much more to come. The menu will be continuously updated to bring customers fresh and unique recipes. For additional information on Il Mio and their new gift cards and fall menu, please reach out to Tom Claxton at tom@helloinflux.com.

ABOUT IL MIO:

Il Mio is a family-owned, upscale restaurant based upon the Italian term of endearment, "mine." Dedicated to upholding the fresh and quality standard of their menu and bringing iconic Italian dishes to the perfect plate, owner Gabriella Palumbo seeks to utilize her own family's cherished memories to create more for Clarendon Hills residents. Il Mio's location has quality ingredients engrained in its history. Decades ago, this building was once home to Grocerland, which supplied Clarendon Hills citizens with quality groceries. Today, we honor that history through our fresh and local menu.

30 S. Prospect, Clarendon Hills, IL 60514, 630.526.4646

Contact Information:

Tom Claxton

tom@helloinflux.com

312-351-1446



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Il Mio's Linguini with Clams









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SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, Squeeze, the leading Sales Experience (SX) provider, was presented with an award from Utah Valley BusinessQ Magazine as it placed #17 in UV50's "Fastest-Growing Companies" category. This is the second year Squeeze has been selected for this award, moving up 10 places from last year.

Based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, Squeeze helps companies in industries such as tech, healthcare, mortgage, and financial services make the most of their marketing data and close more sales. Squeeze's goal is to "fill the gap between marketing and sales" and serve companies as they seek to increase profitability and grow revenue.

The UV50 awards offer recognition in three categories: Fastest-Growing Companies, Economic Engines, and Start-Ups to Watch. Squeeze was able to secure its place in the Fastest-Growing Companies category as it generated over 855,500 qualified sales opportunities, closed over 1,000 of those opportunities, and generated over $308 million in sales.

"It's exciting to see so much rapid growth within our company over the past year," said Jacob Thorpe, Squeeze's Vice President of Client Services, who accepted the award on behalf of Squeeze during the UV50 Gala. "We have so much more in the works and I'm confident we'll be here again next year!"

"Utah has such a vibrant and innovative business community, and we couldn't be more honored to rank next to some of the best that Utah has to offer," said Carson Poppenger, Founder and President of Squeeze. "The work we do is difficult and relentless, but we have the best team anyone could ask for. This award belongs to everyone on our team."

For more information, please contact pr@gosqueeze.com.

###

About Squeeze

Squeeze, the leading Sales Experience (SX) provider, empowers clients to maximize revenue and lead-generation efforts by filling the gap between most sales and marketing teams. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, the company currently has over 400 employees across multiple offices helping many of today's leading brands "squeeze" the greatest return on leads generated.

For additional information, please visit www.GoSqueeze.com.

Contact Information:

Jessica Saldo

Marketing Coordinator

jessicasaldo@gosqueeze.com

413-412-0431



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Belleville, Illinois, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced changes in Medicare coverage that will benefit seniors enrolling for the first time, according to Allsup, a nationwide provider of disability representation, health insurance benefits and return to work services. Beginning Jan. 1, 2023, Medicare Part B will start the first day of the month after an individual signs up anytime during the last three months of their seven-month initial enrollment period (IEP). This is a major benefit to seniors as it eliminates the two- to three-month waiting period that was in effect, said Bethany Cissell, Allsup Benefits Coordination account manager and healthcare benefits expert.

In the past, when a senior signed up for Medicare Part B during the last few months of their IEP, benefits did not begin right away, Cissell explained. That will change next year, and benefit coverage will be almost immediate.

If a senior does not sign up for Medicare during their IEP, they may do so during the general enrollment period (GEP) between January and March. Historically, Medicare benefits would not begin until July 1 following the GEP. This waiting period has also been lifted beginning in January 2023. Medicare coverage will begin the first day of the month following sign-up, Cissell explained.

Medicare Premium Cuts

These enhancements to Medicare coverage come on the heels of the SSA announcing an 8.7% increase in Social Security and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits in 2023. At the same time, the Medicare Part B monthly premium will decrease in 2023 to $164.90 from $170.10 in 2022. (This may be higher depending on income.) The annual deductible will also decrease in 2023 to $226.00 from $233.00.

These improvements to Medicare are another important reason for older workers to examine their health insurance options by comparing their employer health plan to Medicare, Cissell said. Increasingly, we see individuals looking for alternatives to reduce their healthcare costs and improve their financial footing leading up to retirement.

Allsup Benefits Coordination provides valuable services to employers and their employees who are transitioning from private group health insurance plans to other options, including Medicare, exchange plans or COBRA. Our trained and licensed healthcare benefit specialists are experts in the area of healthcare plan provisions, and complex federal and state regulations. We guide employees so they can make informed decisions based on their age, income, family size and other important factors. We help them select the best path for this stage of life, Cissell explained.

For more information about Allsup Benefits Coordination service, call (866) 521-7655 or email allsuphealthcare@allsup.com.

ABOUT ALLSUP

Allsup and its subsidiaries provide nationwide Social Security disability, veterans disability appeal, return to work, and healthcare benefits services for individuals, their employers and insurance carriers. Allsup professionals deliver specialized services supporting people with disabilities and seniors so they may lead lives that are as financially secure and as healthy as possible. Founded in 1984, the company is based in Belleville, Illinois, near St. Louis. Learn more at Allsupllc.com and @Allsup.

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MIAMI, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PennantPark Investment Corporation (the "Company") (NYSE: PNNT) announced that it will report results for the fourth fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2022 on Wednesday, November 16, 2022 after the close of the financial markets.



The Company will also host a conference call at 12:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Thursday, November 17, 2022 to discuss its financial results. All interested parties are welcome to participate. You can access the conference call by dialing toll-free (888) 254-3590 approximately 5-10 minutes prior to the call. International callers should dial (646) 828-8193. All callers should reference conference ID #1722510 or PennantPark Investment Corporation. An archived replay will also be available through December 1, 2022 on a webcast link located on the Home page of the Investor section of PennantParks website.

ABOUT PENNANTPARK INVESTMENT CORPORATION

PennantPark Investment Corporation is a business development company which principally invests in U.S. middle-market private companies in the form of first lien secured debt, second lien secured debt, subordinated debt and equity investments. PennantPark Investment Corporation is managed by PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC.

ABOUT PENNANTPARK INVESTMENT ADVISERS, LLC

PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC is a leading middle market credit platform, managing $6.0 billion of investable capital, including potential leverage. Since its inception in 2007, PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC has provided investors access to middle market credit by offering private equity firms and their portfolio companies as well as other middle-market borrowers a comprehensive range of creative and flexible financing solutions. PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC is headquartered in Miami and has offices in Chicago, Houston, New York and Los Angeles.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. PennantPark Investment Corporation undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. You should not place undue influence on such forward-looking statements as such statements speak only as of the date on which they are made.




Phoenix, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Phoenix, Arizona -

Phoenix, AZ based AZCO Properties is offering a full real estate brokerage service for both residential and commercial clients. Regardless of the extent and complexity of a clients needs, the companys influence and expertise across every branch of the industry enables them to deliver on virtually every front. Those interested in achieving their real estate goals with minimal hassle are welcome to learn more here: https://azcoproperties.com.

AZCO Properties has assisted clients in a broad spectrum of projects, and they have been operating since 2007. For instance, they seek to help homeowners maximize their property value as well as help buyers find great deals that they might otherwise have missed (or perhaps even found difficult to fit in their budget). The companys agents are active in nearly every aspect of the real estate industry, allowing them to pull from a broad knowledge base whenever an obstacle presents itself. This makes their team highly efficient at problem-solving, a fact their clientele greatly appreciate.

The company clarifies that their agents have experience with traditional, REO, probate, auction and short sales. To begin with, they provide clients with the tools to make the right decision on their next sale or purchase, and each transaction is facilitated by the most advanced systems available. This contributes to the efficiency of the overall experience, in turn, making it more enjoyable for clients to pursue their objectives.

AZCO Properties can be particularly helpful to those who wish to relocate anywhere in the country. Over the years, they have contacted and established professional relationships with 30,000 agents, each of whom are expected to be similarly committed to their clients. Moving can be incredibly stressful, particularly for families who have not had to do so before, but this stress can be all but negated by making use of the companys concierge service. AZCO Properties will take it upon themselves to locate and engage the specific services the client needs to ensure a stress-free move. This is true for residential and commercial clients alike, and the companys assistance is similarly valuable regardless of whether they are looking to purchase a home, condo, townhome or commercial space. AZCO Properties provides both the expertise and skill of licensed professionals for all their clients real estate needs.

Currently, the company is focusing on the Arcadia, Paradise Valley, Old Town Scottsdale and greater part of the city of Scottsdale and surrounding areas to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Interested parties are welcome to get in touch for a free Buyer's Guide. People can also search with advanced search capabilities all of the MLS listings directly on our website at: https://azcoproperties.com/mls-search.html.

The company holds a favorable reputation among their clientele, and they emphasize that this is largely due to the priority their team places on making sure everyone is completely satisfied with the service they receive. Since the company offers an all-inclusive service, they are able to walk any client through every stage of their real estate-related goals, and this leaves little room for error (as may be introduced when working with multiple third parties). Further, given that the brokerage invests much of their time in vetting the partners they work with, clients can expect a similarly high standard of service no matter which partner they ultimately choose to work with.

We hit it off immediately when Christian provided very detailed MLS data and comparable properties for our home we were trying to sell, says a glowing review on the companys Google profile. He was able to give us a degree of confidence that we would not only sell our home but also within the budget that we wanted. Backed up by a suite of custom realtor tools and several years of intimate knowledge in the Phoenix market, he was able to get our home sold within a very reasonable time frame, even with the challenges from COVID19. We were even able to close with an online notary, allowing for even more flexibility.

The review concludes, If you need a realtor that is willing to spend time with you and help to deeply understand the Phoenix market, then Christian is an excellent choice. 10/10, would recommend to a family member.

AZCO Properties encourages their community to reach out if they have any further inquiries. The company is accustomed to addressing complex problems on behalf of their clients. For more updates or to connect with AZCO Properties on social media can visit: https://www.facebook.com/azcoproperties.

###

For more information about AZCO Properties, contact the company here:



AZCO Properties

Christian Broadwell

602-603-5555

Info@azcoproperties.com

4012 E Thistle Landing Dr

Phoenix, AZ 85044
BANGOR, MAINE, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Husson University will be holding an Open House for interested high school students and their family members on Saturday, October 22, 2022. The Open House begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m.

This is an outstanding opportunity to learn more about Hussons academic programs, our faculty, facilities, life in the residence halls and campus life, said Michael J. Fox, the Universitys vice president of enrollment management. Open Houses are a great way for high school students to sample all that Husson has to offer.

Prospective students and their family members will be asked to check in at 8:30 a.m. in the Beardsley Meeting Houses Darling Atrium (also known as the lobby of the Gracie Theatre). At 9 a.m., event participants will move into the Gracie Theatre to hear some remarks from Fox.

Participants will also have the opportunity to hear from two Husson University students. Tyler Thompson is one of those students. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in exercise science. The other student is Carla Rodriguez, a double major in health sciences/pre-med and psychology.

At 10 a.m., high school students and their family member will have the opportunity to attend academic information sessions where they can learn about some of the majors available at Husson University. As part of these sessions, students will get to meet the friendly Husson faculty and staff who love teaching and helping students navigate campus life.

At the conclusion of these one-hour sessions, participants will be able to take a walking tour of campus and attend an informational fair in the G. Peirce Webber Campus Center. During the tours, high school students and their family members will get to see some of Hussons state-of-the-art technology and facilities.

Following these events, Open House attendees will be invited to a complimentary lunch in the Dickerman Dining Center. Unlike other colleges and universities that use food services, Husson University has its own dedicated chefs and staff who prepare meals for our students. Every day, Husson students can choose from a variety of entrees. Additional options include a cook-to-order charbroiled grill; vegetarian, pasta and allergen free alternatives; a stone hearth pizza; a salad bar; a custom-prepared sandwich bar and two different soups. At the conclusion of the meal, Open House attendees are welcome to sample some of the Universitys homemade desserts.

Additional campus tours and meetings with faculty members will be available following lunch from 1 p.m.  2 p.m. Husson University takes great pride in hiring faculty members who have both academic expertise and real-life professional experience in the subjects they teach. This provides our students with professional career insights that gives them an advantage over the competition, said Dr. Lynne Coy-Ogan, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. Our focus on hands-on, experiential learning also helps to make sure students are workplace ready upon graduation. A degree from Husson helps students get on a path toward lifelong career success.

A Husson education is a real value, said Dr. Robert A. Clark, president of the University. We provide a high-quality educational experience at an affordable price. Besides low tuition, our university offers financial aid that reduces the cost of education even further. Last year, Husson University provided our students with nearly $19 million in institutionally funded grants and scholarships.

If students and their families cannot attend the upcoming Open House on October 22, 2022, they are welcome to attend future Open Houses on November 12, 2022 and April 29, 2023. To register for a future Open House, visit https://www.husson.edu/about/visit-husson/open-house/.

Located in safe, rural Bangor, Maine, Husson University attracts students from over all over the world. This multi-ethnic, multi-national campus environment helps prepare students to work in the diverse, global economy of the future.

For more than 120 years, Husson University has shown its adaptability and strength in delivering educational programs that prepare future leaders to handle the challenges of tomorrow through innovative undergraduate and graduate degrees. With a commitment to delivering affordable classroom, online and experiential learning opportunities, Husson University has come to represent a superior value in higher education. The hallmarks of a Husson education include advanced knowledge delivered through quality educational programs in business; legal studies; health and education; pharmacy studies; science and humanities; as well as communication. According to an analysis of tuition and fees by U.S. News & World Report, Husson University is one of the most affordable private colleges in New England. For more information about educational opportunities that can lead to personal and professional success, visit Husson.edu.

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CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- High Arctic Energy Services Inc. (TSX: HWO) "High Arctic" or the "Corporation is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has approved a monthly dividend payment of $0.005 per share to holders of common shares. The dividend is payable on November 14, 2022 to holders of High Arctic common shares of record at the close of business on October 31, 2022. The dividend is designated as an eligible dividend for Canadian Income Tax purposes.

The Corporation also advises that High Arctic is progressing work preparing third-party owned Drilling Rig 103 in Papua New Guinea. Preparation work now includes an upgrade of the topdrive, increasing the torque capacity, improving the versatility of well designs that the rig can drill. The procurement is well advanced, and the delivery, installation and commissioning is expected to be completed in early Q1 2023, with drilling operations commencing shortly thereafter.

Mike Maguire, CEO of High Arctic, stated, This upgrade to Rig 103 enhances the rigs drilling capability, and gives High Arctic and our customer confidence of the Rigs ability to reliably and efficiently deliver the wells planned in the contract drilling campaign.

On August 1, 2022 High Arctic announced a three-year contract renewal for Drilling Rig 103 and High Arctics services related to the supply of personnel, camp accommodation and rental equipment to support the drilling operations, effective August 1, 2022 and including options to further extend the contracts on the same terms and conditions beyond July 31, 2025.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. When used in this document, the words may, would, could, will, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, seek, propose, estimate, expect, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the Corporations current views with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause the Corporations actual results, performance or achievements to vary from those described in this press release.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this press release as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Specific forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements pertaining to the following: installation and commissioning is expected to be completed in early Q1 2023.

The Corporations actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of the risk factors set forth above and elsewhere in this press release.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. These statements are given only as of the date of this press release. The Corporation does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise, except as required by law.

About High Arctic

High Arctic is an energy services provider. High Arctic is a market leader in Papua New Guinea providing drilling and specialized well completion services and supplies rental equipment including rig matting, camps, material handling and drilling support equipment. In western Canada High Arctic provides nitrogen services and pressure control equipment on a rental basis to exploration and production companies.

For further information, please contact:

Lance Mierendorf

Chief Financial Officer

1.587.318.2218

1.800.668.7143

High Arctic Energy Services Inc.

Suite 2350, 3305th Avenue SW

Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 0L4

website: www.haes.ca

Email: info@haes.ca


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BASF and the Catholic University of the North (UCN) in Antofagasta, Chile, have signed a collaboration agreement to promote research, development and innovation in mining. The aim of this collaboration is to strengthen the cooperation between academia, students and industry experts.

In addition to leveraging synergies in the development of innovative products and solutions, the collaboration is also expected to provide career entry opportunities for promising mining talent. As part of the venture, BASF established a technical service and development laboratory for flotation, hydrometallurgy and solid-liquid separation (SLS) at UCN.

This alliance offers us the opportunity to connect with a leading company on a global scale, so it is a mutually beneficial relationship. One of the largest chemical companies in the world has established itself at the Catholic University of the North with two areas of significant importance pertaining to the mining industry, such as solid-liquid separation and solvent extraction reagents. This partnership will provide students with employment opportunities, professional internships, reports, and access to BASF's laboratories that will be available to teach and explain the processes they carry out. Dr. Oscar Benavente Poblete, UCN Department of Metallurgical and Mining Engineering (DIMM)

We are constantly faced with the challenge of commercializing new innovative products that can make mining more sustainable, such as reducing water consumption or increasing metal recovery. Jorge Davo, Regional Manager of the BASF mining solutions business in South America

Ever-increasing demand for minerals and metals poses major challenges for the mining industry, especially when faced with depleting ore grades and more complex ore mineralogy. To meet these challenges in the copper industry, BASF Mining Solutions developed LixTRA Technology for Heap and Dump leach processes. LixTRA provides the industry an opportunity to increase metal recovery, reduce mining costs and extend the life of the mine in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner.





Source: BASF Mining Solutions

However, the launch of LixTRA requires extensive laboratory testing to demonstrate the benefits it can bring to a customers copper heap leach process. The hydrometallurgy laboratory at UCN is fully resourced to enable column leaching to be carried out on customers individual ores. This, coupled with state-of-the-art analytical techniques, allows BASF to accurately determine the increase in copper recovery and the reduction in processing costs associated with LixTRAs use.

Following the excellent results achieved during laboratory and industrial trials, BASF has secured its first commercial application in the region.
Canada-based Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NMG) and Panasonic Energy entered into a Framework Agreement establishing the terms of the commercial relationship between the parties to enable the next development steps of NMGs ore-to-battery-market integrated graphite project in Quebec, Canada.

The strategic transaction comprises a non-binding memorandum of understanding on an offtake by Panasonic Energy of a significant portion of NMGs green active anode material out of NMGs integrated Phase-2 Commercial production facilities over a multi-year term. While there can be no assurance that a final offtake agreement with Panasonic Energy will be completed, NMG and Panasonic Energy will work together in the upcoming months to establish a definitive offtake agreement.

NMG is also has entered into unsecured convertible note subscription agreements with each of Mitsui, Pallinghurst and Investissement Quebec pursuant to which NMG has agreed to issue to each holder an unsecured convertible note for aggregate gross proceeds of US$50 million. Mitsui will subscribe for US$25 million, while Pallinghurst and Investissement Quebec will each subscribe for US$12.5 million.

As part of the transaction, a Framework Agreement was signed by NMG, Mitsui and Panasonic Energy that defines the role and responsibilities of the parties in the coming months, including optimization of the feasibility study and other important project-related operational milestones. NMG plans to use the proceeds from the investment to support the finalization of the design, operation, marketing, and corporate parameters of the Phase-2 Matawinie Mine and Becancour Battery Material Plant.

The intention is to proceed with project financing and the final investment decision (FID) on both the Matawinie Mine and Becancour Battery Material Plant once that optimization phase is completed and all operational variables are well understood. Based on information available today, NMG anticipates a 28-month construction period following FID to bring its operations to commercial production.

The offtake and strategic partnership covers NMGs fully integrated operations with a special interest in the companys anode active material which has demonstrated industry-leading environmental footprint in a recent life cycle assessment. NMGs planned all-electric operations powered by renewable energy combined with clean processing technologies are set to generate advanced materials with an exceptionally low climate change impact, in line with global decarbonization efforts.
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Every year Samsung releases a fancier version of the Z Fold that is exclusive to China Telecom, e.g. last years Samsung W22. For the first time the company is also releasing a W Flip model, based (of course) on the Z Flip. Its like a modern version of those old W flip phones.

The hardware on the Samsung W23 is essentially the same as the Galaxy Z Fold4, except that this is a premium device and the company loaded it up with 16GB of RAM and 512GB storage (the Fold tops out at 12GB RAM).

This is all about the exterior, though, and the W phones traditionally come in black and gold. The back panel is black ceramic, while the aluminum hinge has decorative engraving. Even the S Pen (sold separately) has been given a new coat of paint (in black and gold) to match the phone.

The phone comes loaded with custom themes as well, the main one draws inspiration from porcelain from the Song Dynasty.

The Samsung W23 can be pre-booked on the companys online store in China, the final price is CNY 16,000 (the first CNY 1,000 of which you pay as a deposit to reserve a place in line). For comparison, a 12/512GB Galaxy Z Fold4 costs CNY 14,000.



Samsung W23 (a more premium incarnation of the Galaxy Z Fold4 for China Telecom)

The Samsung W23 Flip takes (most of) the Galaxy Z Flip4 hardware and applies the traditional W-series styling. Like its companion, the W Flip has more RAM than the Z Flip  12GB vs. 8GB  and comes with 512GB of storage.

The styling is the same, but this one opts for a cheaper glass back panel rather than ceramic. The hinge is still engraved though, so this isnt something you can recreate wit the Bespoke editor.

The Samsung W23 costs CNY 10,000 (again, you need to start with a CNY 1,000 deposit), you can find it on the Samsung China store. For comparison, an 8/512GB Galaxy Z Flip costs CNY 8,500 (China is not covered by the Bespoke customization program, by the way).



Samsung W23 Flip (a more premium incarnation of the Galaxy Z Flip4 for China Telecom)

In case you are not familiar with the W series, it is exclusive to China Telecom and will not be available globally. Deliveries for both the Samsung W23 and W23 Flip start on October 28.

Source 1 | Source 2 (in Chinese)
Lawmakers advanced legislation Friday to allow the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to create a fee schedule, charging for body transport, storage, death certificates and more.

Speaker Therese Terlajes Bill 248 was introduced at the request of the Commission on Postmortem Examinations. Revenue from fees is estimated at $80,000 to $100,000 a year and is meant to replace the outdated equipment at the medical examiners office and to help keep up with staff salaries.

Being able to offer an enticing salary for a chief medical examiner was especially important, the speaker said, as Guam has had no medical examiner since 2019.

The commission has noted that it has been difficult to fill the position because the salary and compensation package is not as competitive as in other jurisdictions. Hopefully this bill will give the commission another tool to assist in securing a full-time medical examiner, she said.

Arizonas Dr. Jeffrey Nine renewed his interest in working as chief medical examiner for Guam this month, after backing out of being hired in May. His previous salary offer was $310,000, at an office that Terlaje said received $423,000 a year.

The bill wont automatically put fees in place, as the postmortem commission had requested during a previous public hearing. It will require them to go through the lengthy Administrative Adjudication Act, hold multiple public hearings, and get final approval from the Legislature.

Sen. Frank Blas Jr. didnt object to the measure but expressed some discomfort with charging families of the deceased for postmortem services that were required by law.

This is now going to be an additional fee ... on top of what is already being paid for by tax dollars, Blas said.

He said that if the Postmortem Commission saw a need for fees, he hoped that it does not become over burdensome for many of our grieving families.

Terlaje said the bill would bring Guam in line with medical examiners offices around the country, and that the intent was for the office to only charge reasonable fees.

Some of the unofficial costs proposed by the postmortem commission include:

A one-time $45 processing fee for remains.

A $38.50 per day storage fee for remains, starting 24 hours after next of kin or a funeral home is notified.

A $175 transport fee for human remains, once the office is able to handle body pickups.

A $35 fee for copies of autopsy reports, with a free first copy provided to next of kin, law enforcement and other government agencies.

Financial literacy

Lawmakers also advanced Sen. Tony Adas Resolution 348, urging the Guam Department of Education to create a standalone high school financial literacy course, and to make it a graduation prerequisite.

While the Education Board has the authority to set its own policy, the resolution, if passed, would serve as an official request from the Legislature that Guams schools teach kids how to manage their money.

Ada said that Guam DOEs current financial literacy curriculum was limited to students who take two years of complex math.

Unfortunately, students who have not taken algebra I and geometry still need to learn how to open bank accounts, apply for credit cards and loans, buy a home or a car, balance a checkbook, or even the importance of a credit score as they get into the workforce, and how to fill out a W4, avoid overpaying on taxes, how to plan for retirement, how to save for the short- and long-term goals and how to pay income taxes, Ada said.

Sens. Telena Nelson, Joanne Brown, Chris Duenas, and Blas spoke in support of the resolution. Each said that they saw little use for algebra or geometry in adult life.

Ada added all 15 senators on as cosponsors of the measure, without objection.
Voters stream into the early voting satellite hosted at Okkodo High School in Dededo on Oct. 15, 2022. A satellite voting center is available 10 a.m.-3 p.m. today at Guam Community College for those who want to register to vote or cast their ballots in the general election.
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Jieqiong at 20th CPC National Congress | Foreign policy in focus

(People's Daily App) 13:41, October 21, 2022

The Press Center for the 20th CPC National Congress hosted a press conference on Thursday focusing on Chinas diplomacy.

Ma Zhaoxu, Vice Minister of Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that, over the last decade in the new era, the number of countries that established diplomatic ties with China increased from 172 to 181.

Regarding the goal of Chinas foreign policy, Ma said, it is to safeguard world peace, advance common development, and promote the building of a human community with a shared future.

Shen Beili, vice minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, further explained that the CPC will not point fingers at the internal affairs of political parties in other nations, nor will the Party seek to export the Chinese model or require other nations or parties to emulate its practice. In the same way, the CPC will never accept the condescending preaching by others, or simply copy the political system of other nations.

Along with this view, we can find more relevant statements in the work report.

Thats all for today and we will bring more updates. Stay tuned.

(Video produced by He Jieqiong, Wang Xiangyu, Di Jingyuan and Lin Yuan)

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Wu Chaolan)




Haiti - FLASH :The village of Noailles victim of the gang war at least 15 dead





Since October 12, 2022 the artistic village of Noailles (Commune of Croix-des-Bouquets) a unique place in the Caribbean, where the art of cut metal famous throughout the world was born at the beginning of the 20th century, has become the land where the men of the Vitelhomme Innocent and "400 mawozo" gangs clash, looting, burning houses and killing...



Exactly one year ago, on October 13th, 2021 , bandits broke into the sanctuary of Hougan and artist Jean Anderson Bellony and kill him https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34989-haiti-flash-the-renowned-sculptor-anderson-belony-assassinated-in-the-village-of-noailles.html



Over the past year, the escalating violence has caused many artists to flee the village.



The village of Noailles gathers 75 artists' workshops that provide a living for nearly 300 families by allowing them to have: employment, food, and schooling.



The future of the artistic village of Noailles is now threatened by the gangs of Vitelhomme and 400 Mawozo: nearly 12 houses have been burned in less than a week, putting more than 20 families in a disaster situation. There are already 200 displaced persans and the most tragic thing is that about 15 people were killed, 7 of them on the day of October 17 alone.



Reactions:

Ministry of Culture:

The Ministry of Culture is following with the greatest concern the armed conflict between rival gangs which has been holding the Noailles artistic village hostage for more than a week. It condemns the actions of armed groups which constitute a crime against the village of Noailles, classified since 2020: Intangible Cultural Heritage of Haiti and claims to work with the authorities involved in public security to promote the protection of the site, the artists and the residents as well as the safeguarding of an essential heritage.



Embassy of Spain:

The Spanish Embassy in Haiti strongly condemns the murderous attacks against the artists of the Village of Noailles, whose works are considered an intangible heritage of Haiti, and appeals to the principle of humanity which obliges everyone to respect the lives of innocent citizens.



See also :



https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-36160-icihaiti-iron-sculpture-triple-exhibitions-at-maison-dufort.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-35001-icihaiti-insecurity-the-minister-of-culture-condemns-acts-of-terror-in-the-village-of-noailles.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34989-haiti-flash-the-renowned-sculptor-anderson-belony-assassinated-in-the-village-of-noailles.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-27799-icihaiti-noailles-the-cut-metal-works-protected-by-the-law.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27787-haiti-flash-artisans-and-tourists-victims-of-racket-at-the-artistic-village-of-noailles.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12064-haiti-social-sculpting-to-combat-extreme-poverty.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-11545-haiti-tourism-$4-5m-for-development-of-the-village-of-noailles.html



HL/ HaitiLibre
























Haiti - FLASH : The Security Council will vote today on the resolution imposing sanctions





The UN Security Council has scheduled a vote this Friday, October 21, 2022 on the resolution imposing international sanctions on the Leader of the "G9" gang coalition Jimmy Cherizier alias "Barbecue" https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37919-haiti-un-barbecue-at-the-top-of-a-blacklist-vote-of-the-resolution-pending.html but also allowing registration on a blacklist (via a committee of the Security Council) other individuals [oligarchs, political elites, high level corrupt politicians, American citizens and others] who threaten the peace, security or stability of Haiti



The United States and Mexico, which drafted the 10-page resolution, had delayed the vote originally scheduled for Wednesday, October 19 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37927-haiti-flash-resolution-on-sanctions-vote-postponed-at-the-un.html and made several revisions in hopes of gaining more support from the 15-member council.



The final text, obtained by the Associated Press (AP) on Thursday, no longer contains the resolution's reference to an October 7 call by Haiti's Council of Ministers for the urgent dispatch of an international military force or mention of an Oct. 8 letter from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres outlining options to help the Haitian National Police (PNH) fight gangs.



A second resolution, which was still being drafted on Thursday evening, addresses the issue of combating violence in Haiti and would authorize an immediate (non-UN) armed intervention force urgently requested by Prime Minister a.i. Ariel Henry https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37866-icihaiti-request-for-armed-intervention-letter-from-prime-minister-to-the-un-secretary-general.html to support the Police Nationale d'Haiti (PNH) and ending gang violence and restoring order in Haiti.



Note that for a resolution to be adopted at the UN Security Council, 9 votes are required and no vetoes from the following countries: United States, Russia, Great Britain, China and France .



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37927-haiti-flash-resolution-on-sanctions-vote-postponed-at-the-un.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37919-haiti-un-barbecue-at-the-top-of-a-blacklist-vote-of-the-resolution-pending.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37904-icihaiti-insecurity-the-bahamas-could-join-a-multinational-rapid-intervention-force.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37903-haiti-flash-the-un-security-council-decides-today-on-the-aid-to-be-provided-to-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37891-haiti-politic-the-usa-ready-to-participate-in-a-multinational-rapid-action-force.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37882-icihaiti-un-the-security-council-discusses-intervention-options-for-haiti.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37866-icihaiti-request-for-armed-intervention-letter-from-prime-minister-to-the-un-secretary-general.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37863-haiti-usa-jo-biden-examines-haiti-s-request-for-armed-intervention.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37831-haiti-flash-towards-a-foreign-armed-intervention-in-haiti-to-eliminate-gangs.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37847-haiti-politic-the-senate-asks-the-pm-to-postpone-the-intervention-of-a-foreign-armed-force-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37843-haiti-security-rain-of-reactions-to-the-decision-of-an-international-armed-intervention-in-haiti.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37842-icihaiti-insecurity-the-oas-hopes-that-the-un-can-give-a-quick-response-to-haiti-s-request.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37825-haiti-politic-the-oas-asks-member-states-for-support-to-restore-security-in-haiti.html



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Crisis : The Dominican Republic will export 25,000 gallons of diesel to Haiti





The Dominican Republic through its Ministry of Industry and Commerce, has authorized the export of 25,000 gallons of diesel to Haiti by land, by the French multinational AFA Trading, to supply 3 hospitals and an industrial park.



This request approved by the Dominican Ministry of Industry and Commerce was formulated by the company AFA Trading in a letter addressed to the Dominican authorities on October 17th.



The information was published Thursday, October 20 by the Reuters agency, which claims to have had access to the letter of request from the company AFA Trading in which the Ministry of Industry and Commerce gave the green light to the request.



Let's recall that Haiti is suffering from a fuel shortage due to the blockade of the Varreux oil terminal located in the seaport where 70% of the country's fuel is stored, by the men of Jimmy Cherisier, alias "Barbecue", the Chief of the coalition of "G9" gangs. A blockade that has lasted for more than a month now affects the operation of health centers, factories, public transport, affects businesses and prevents the distribution of drinking water, at a time when Haiti is facing an epidemic of cholera.



S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





FLASH : Sanctions resolution adopted

This Friday, October 21, 2022, the Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution on an international sanctions regime against the Leader of the "G9" gang coalition Jimmy Cherizier alias "Barbecue" but which also allows registration on a blacklist (via a Security Council committee) other individuals [oligarchs, political elites, high level corrupt politicians, American citizens, criminal organizations etc...) who threaten the peace, security or stability of Haiti https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37927-haiti-flash-resolution-on-sanctions-vote-postponed-at-the-un.html



Closure of the maternity ward at Sainte-Therese Hospital

Dr. Donald Francois, Medical Director of Sainte-Therese de Miragoane Hospital informs that he is forced to close his maternity ward due to the shortage of fuel.



Fuel : Patients die every day at HUEH

Trade unionist Evelyne Fremont President of the Association of Employees of the Hospital of the State University of Haiti (HUEH), issues a cry of alarm over the almost total paralysis of the largest public hospital in the country due to the unavailability of fuel which causes the death of patients every day she underlines



Diaspora : tribute ceremony to "Mikaben"

The Consulate General of Haiti in Atlanta and the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia, in collaboration with the various organizations of the community invite you to participate in a tribute ceremony to Michael Benjamin alias "Mikaben" which will be held at the Parking of the Consulate on Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. For more information, contact 404-228-5373/ 404-809-2088

Streaming Live on @Consgenhaitiatl @Haitiondemand



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37934-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37920-icihaiti-vigilance-false-fundraising-for-mikaben.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37905-haiti-death-of-mikaben-rain-of-messages-of-sympathy-part-ii.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37895-haiti-flash-michael-benjamin-mikaben-dies-on-stage-in-front-of-20-000-fans-video.html



News from Badio Joseph FELIX

Badio Joseph FELIX, former official of the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) dismissed on May 17, 2021, suspect in the investigation into the assassination of President Jovenel Moise , on the run and under wanted notice, issued a legal summons against journalists and political commentators Garry Pierre Paul Charles, Luckner Desir and Esau Cesar as well as Pierre Esperance Executive Director of the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) for slanderous denunciations, defamation and false accusations.



Mona Island : End of the Rescue Mission

Thursday, October 20, 2022, USCG vessel Joseph Napier completed a two-day rescue operation to rescue 102 Haitians and 2 Dominican Republic nationals abandoned by smugglers on Isla de la Mona, Puerto Rico. .



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2022/10/20 | Source

New stills added for the upcoming Korean movie "Hit Man" (2022)

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People who moved to another location to study are also more likely to switch labor market regions later in life. This is shown for the first time in an ifo Institute study looking at graduates from Munichs suburbs. Designing good location policies, especially for rural regions, relies on understanding what leads highly skilled workers to relocate, says coauthor Valentin Lindlacher .

They contribute a large share of the German economys value added. Universities, meanwhile, are traditionally located in metropolitan areas. The success of regional economic policy depends to a large extent on finding a highly skilled workforce, says coauthor Thomas Fackler.

Lindlacher says: For Munich university graduates, the greater the distance between their secondary school and university, the more likely it is that they will subsequently move to another labor market region for their first job. Someone who graduated from high school 30 kilometers from the nearest university is nearly 30 percentage points more likely to relocate to study than someone who went to school only 15 kilometers from the university. Fackler adds: A few extra kilometers in someones initial move to attend university can increase workforce mobility later on in their careers. Conversely, offering discounted local transport tickets for students might not just attract high school graduates, but also reduce the rate at which local university graduates leave to start their careers elsewhere.

The data for the study comes from the Bavarian Graduate Panel, which conducts written surveys of university students across all fields of study. The surveys record characteristics such as course of study, first job, location of high school graduation, and other socioeconomic factors. The geographical data is recorded in the form of postal codes.

Article (in German only): How Can the Labor Market Mobility of University Graduates Be Increased? by Thomas A. Fackler and Valentin Lindlacher, in ifo Schnelldienst 10/2022

Available online here.

HT

Source: ifo Insititute
Currently a professor at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, Stubb on Wednesday published a video on social media in which he admits to being wrong to believe Russia could become a European democracy.

FORMER Finnish Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb has admitted to making mistakes in regards to Russia.

The basic idea was that if you start integrating economies, if you start integrating institutions and cultures, that will create a path dependence, which then makes rogue behaviour or illegal or aggressive behaviour impossible, he said, characterising the prevalent thinking in many parts of Europe. We were a little bit naive, to put it mildly, with Russia. Russia is a big power, its an imperialist power and it thinks like it.

The Baltics and Poland, he acknowledged, knew what they were dealing with and warned others about the imperialist tendencies and the futileness of attempting to integrate Russia with Europe.

A lot of it was about the legacy that these countries had as Soviet satellites, he commented. But a lot of it, really, was a profound understanding of the Russian psyche on foreign policy.

Finland made its share of mistakes by mixing idealism with realism in its foreign policy toward its eastern neighbour, as evidenced on the one hand by its pursuit of broad-based co-operation and, on the other, it maintaining a formidable defence, according to Stubb.

We still have one of the largest standing armies in Europe, he reminded. It was to a certain extent [because of] what Id call a healthy fear about Russia.

Germany, France and Italy were even more bright-eyed, though, in giving precedence to pragmatism over principles based on the assumption that they could wield their own power to deal with Russia.

Stubb estimated that he personally made four mistakes in office in regards to Russia.

The first, he said, was avidly supporting the visa-free regime with Russia, thinking that free travel would bring the countries closer. The second was Nord Stream, the underwater natural gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany.

I wasnt an advocate of the pipeline as such, and I did raise issues around security and criticise the bilateral deals that Russia and Germany had made, he said. But in office I spoke that it only has an environmental impact for Finland. I was wrong, it was much more than that. It shouldve never been allowed to be built.

I think the Baltic states were right. I think Poland was right. I think I was wrong.

The third mistake is the infamous nuclear power project with Rosatom, the Russian state-owned nuclear energy company. Was I an advocate or driver of it? Not necessarily. But was I prime minister at the time and therefore should Ive taken responsibility? Absolutely yes. It was a mistake.

Stubb also identified as a mistake his failure not to speak more ardently in favour of Nato membership. Although joining the defence alliance would have been difficult at the time given that only roughly one-fifth of the public supported it, not pursuing the membership more strongly was a mistake for someone in a position to do so.

Among the conclusions has drawn from the situation is that the ongoing war can only end on the battlefield, in a victory for Ukraine, and that the integration of other states with western institutions should continue through both the EU and Nato.

[Russian President] Vladimir Putin and Russia have to be defeated. Putin only understands power, and a total defeat is the only thing that will find a solution to the current war, he argued.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
The Government approved the proposal for amending the Climate Act on 20 October. The Climate Act was supplemented by an obligation concerning the municipalities. In future, the Act obliges them to draw up climate plans, either alone or together with other municipalities in the region. Provisions to clarify the procedure to be applied in requests for review were also included in the Act.

The Act sets emission reduction targets for 2030, 2040 and 2050. The target of a carbon-neutral Finland by 2035 at the latest is now for the first time laid down by law. The Act lays down provisions on climate policy plans and, by the reform, the Act was extended to apply to the land use sector. A target to strengthen carbon sinks was also included in the Act.

Now the new Climate Act is supplemented with provisions concerning the climate plans of municipalities and requests for review. The aim is to strengthen climate work in municipalities and improve the realisation of legal protection.

According to Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Maria Ohisalo, the climate plans of municipalities will significantly boost climate work in Finland as a whole.

"Many Finnish municipalities already have climate targets that are more ambitious than the national ones, and by this new Act all municipalities will join the effort to build a carbon-neutral Finland. The municipalities need not draw up climate plans on their own, and especially smaller municipalities should seek cooperation within the region in preparing the plans," Ohisalo says.

The climate plans of municipalities must at least set out a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the municipality and specify the measures by which the emissions will be reduced. Targets and measures related to adaptation and sinks can also be included in the plan.

Government grants would be awarded to the municipalities to fund the process to draw up the plans. In its spending limits discussion of spring 2022 the Government made a decision to allocate about EUR 2.6 million per year for the preparation of climate plans in municipalities.

The municipality must draw up a climate plan or update the plan at least once during each council term. The plan is approved by the local council.

Guide to support work in municipalities

Municipalities have a key role in climate change mitigation because they make significant decisions on e.g. land use, transport planning, energy production and procurement operations.

The Ministry of the Environment is drafting a practical guide to municipalities to support them in drawing up climate plans. The guide should be ready in spring 2023. The guide will help municipalities in drawing up plans that meet the minimum requirements laid down in the Act, but it will also give information on how the plans can be made even more ambitious.

Request for review concerning plans under Climate Act clarified

According to the government proposal, provisions to clarify the procedure concerning requests for review are to be included in the Act. Now the Climate Act does not contain provisions on the procedure for requests for review concerning decisions made under the Climate Act. This has led to an ambiguous legal situation in terms of whether reviews can be requested regarding climate policy plans and which parties would have the right to appeal by virtue of the Administrative Judicial Procedure Act.

According to the proposal, the right to request for review would apply e.g. to a party whose right, obligation or benefit may be specifically affected by the impacts of climate change or actions related to climate change mitigation or adaptation. Parties entitled to request for review concerning Government decisions on climate policy plans under the Climate Act could do this by way of appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court.

The Act is to enter into force on 1 January 2023.

HT

Source: Ministry of the Environment
The digital compass sets national targets for the effective use of digital systems so that Finland can succeed in the ongoing transformation. It strengthens the shared understanding of the benefits, concepts and direction of digitalisation and the data economy.

The Government session on 20 October discussed the report on Finlands digital compass. Finland's digital compass is a national strategic roadmap extending to 2030 that provides an overview of Finland's digital transformation and provides the direction for national development work.

Finlands digital compass sets an ambitious vision and clear targets that will strengthen our position among the worlds leading countries in digital development. I would like to thank our stakeholders for participating very actively in the preparation of the digital compass. However, the work is just beginning, and turning the targets of the digital compass into concrete achievements is one of the most important challenges for Finland's future success, says Minister of Local Government Sirpa Paatero.

Finland is well positioned to succeed in the digital transformation

The transformation caused by digitalisation and the data economy is changing Finland and the world. It will be reflected in new kinds of services, operating models, technologies and skills requirements in every sector of society. The digital green transition requires a comprehensive change, which also involves major opportunities for Finland.

Finland is well placed to succeed in the digital transformation, thanks to the countrys strong technological competence in many of the core areas of digitalisation and the data economy. Fast, high-quality and reliably operating communication networks and the digital data that flows seamlessly through them lay the foundation for the services and innovations of the current technological transformation.

However, challenges include a low amount of ICT investment aimed at increasing productivity, a shortage of skilled professionals, marginalisation and the changes in operating culture and paradigms required by digitalisation.

Finland must ensure that citizens develop diverse skills and, in particular, that small and medium-sized enterprises develop their digital capacity. To achieve this change, additional investments in skills, research, development, innovation and attracting investment are essential.

The Transport 12 plan outlines the targets and priorities for the transport system well into the 2030s. Similarly, the digital compass is a ten-year strategy that will result in people, communities and companies being better served by digitalisation and the data economy, says Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka.

Finland is one of the leading countries in Europe in digitalisation. New energy technologies will be a significant competitive advantage for Finnish companies in the future provided that we succeed in developing our expertise and putting it to use", says Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintila.

Finland's targets more ambitious than those of the EU

Finland's digital compass is based on the EUs Digital Compass, introduced in 2021, and the related programme proposal Path to the Digital Decade, which defines the requirements for national roadmaps. Finland aims to be the first Member State to draw up a national strategic roadmap.

Finlands digital compass implements the targets set in the EUs Digital Compass, but also includes national targets and themes that complement the EUs compass. Finlands compass revolves around four cardinal points: skills, secure and sustainable digital infrastructures, the digital transformation of businesses, and the digitalisation of public services.

Implementation of Finlands digital compass to be monitored annually

The measures to be taken to put Finlands digital compass into action, and the investments they require, will be defined for each government term and updated annually between now and 2030. Decisions on national funding will be made as part of budgetary processes, and opportunities for the use of EU funding will also be explored. The coordination group for digitalisation will be responsible for monitoring these measures and coordinating work between stakeholders.

The coordination group for digitalisation is a permanent interministerial working group tasked with strengthening interministerial cooperation, coordination and flow of information. The coordination group for digitalisation has also been responsible for preparing the digital compass under the guidance of the Ministerial working group on developing the digital transformation, the data economy and public administration.

HT

Source: Ministry of Transport and Communications
Today, the Rail Baltica joint venture of the Baltic States RB Rail AS announced signing additional cross-border Grant Agreement on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding for the Rail Baltica global project. The total budget under this agreement is 422,7 million euros, out of which the CEF contribution will be 353,9 million euros or maximum 85%, whereas the remaining financial contribution will be provided by the governments of the three Baltic States.

The agreement is signed between the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia, the Ministry of Transport of Latvia and the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Lithuania and Rail Baltica joint venture RB Rail AS.

Today we live in times of increased economic uncertainty resulting from geopolitical crisis, continuous price fluctuations and volatile construction material availability, and it is more important than ever to ensure tight cross-border cooperation between the partners in the three Baltic countries to deliver the Rail Baltica and maintain its position amongst the top priority high-speed infrastructure projects in the European Union. Rail Baltica is no longer a necessity, it is an obligation, and the additional financing granted will allow us to meet the critical targets and further advance with Rail Baltica construction and delivery as a united Baltic project, said Agnis Driksna, CEO and Chairperson of the Management Board at RB Rail AS.

The approved activities reflect the priority tasks to be started already next year, including:

Remaining Rail Baltica mainline designs in Lithuania, including for the mainline section "Poland/Lithuania border to Kaunas urban node", Kaunas urban node, design of mainline and regional connections on section between Kaunas urban node and Vilnius urban node, and design of Vilnius urban node. Supported funding also covers part of land expropriation compensations.

Start of construction works on Rail Baltica mainline on the priority section in Latvia near the Latvia/Lithuania border and development of detailed technical design for the construction base in Skulte infrastructure maintenance facility that is located on the North section in Latvia towards the Latvia/Estonia border.

Construction of substructure and associated elements on the Rail Baltica mainline in Estonia, including Ulemiste operational point and design works for capercaillie mitigation measures on section from Parnu to the Estonia/Latvia border.

Activities aimed to ensure cross-border dimension and technical interoperability, including Notified Body (NoBo) and Assessment Body (AsBo) assessment services for Design and Construction works, design author supervision of detailed technical design implementation during construction, supervision of construction works by Resident Engineer (FIDIC), as well as analyzing the relevant models for the cross-border section construction procurement. Also, an activity dedicated to climate proofing methodology development and screening proofing document, including verification process, is recommended for financing.

Additionally, the confirmed activities will ensure further continuation of the Rail Baltica coordination by RB Rail AS as a cross-border global project both in terms of technical solutions that allow interoperability, delivery approaches and quality, including ensuring that necessary sustainability and climate-neutral transport infrastructure and consistent with European Green Deal goals are met.

This is a Grant Agreement with a very significant budget and an impressive Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) support of almost 360 million euro, awarded for key work and design activities along the whole Rail Baltica alignment in the three Baltic States. It also shows the continued, strong EU support to the Rail Baltica global project. This is the eight CEF Action supporting the implementation of Rail Baltica and the first grant awarded to this important project in the 2021-2027 financing period. I wish the beneficiaries and the coordinator a smooth implementation and timely completion of the activities in this Grant Agreement, said Morten Jensen Head of Unit at CINEA.

The considerable amount of this financing recommended for the Rail Baltica global project will be added to the already available financing from the 2014-2021 financial period where more than 1,2 billion euros is available for Rail Baltica implementation, out of which 85% comes from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)).

The CEF Transport programme implements the European Unions transport infrastructure policy by supporting investments in building or upgrading transport infrastructure across Europe.

HT

Source: Rail Baltica
VOTER GUIDE: NC Senate District 48

The state Senate seat covering Henderson, Polk and Rutherford counties became open when incumbent Chuck Edwards chose to run for Congress.

Retired Army officer Jay Carey, a Democrat, and state Rep. Tim Moffitt, a Republican, are the two candidates in the Nov. 8 election.

A native of Rhode Island, Carey, 51, retired from the U.S. Army after serving from 1989 to 2012. He and his wife, Leslie, are the parents of four sons, ages 3 to 24. They live in the Davis Mountain area of Hendersonville.

Moffitt, 58, served two terms in the state House in a Buncombe County seat before winning the Henderson County-based District 117 seat in 2020. The owner of an international executive search management consulting company, Moffitt also operates a boutique real estate firm, a mountaintop vacation and events venue. Raised in Henderson County, Moffitt traces family roots in the mountains more than 10 generations. He and his wife, Dina, have five adult sons, two of whom are U.S. Air Force veterans. The couple lives in the Bearwallow community.

Why are you running for the N.C. Legislature?

Carey: I am running because every woman has the right to autonomy over her own body and I will preserve that right, and because its long past due that the state mandates a higher minimum wage for our workers. I am running because no one should lose their lives to a preventable medical issue because our Republican legislators are too concerned with their bank accounts to expand Medicaid.

Moffitt: I am running for the state Senate to improve the lives of the families who call North Carolina home. I will use my legislative experience from serving three terms in the House and my nearly four decades in business to pursue conservative common sense policies that enhance our economic freedom, our economic opportunities and our economic growth.

What priorities do you have if you are elected?

Moffitt: 1) Eliminate the state income tax; 2) Pursue an aggressive course of regulatory reform to lower consumer costs and free up capital for business; 3) Drive down home prices and increase the housing supply by removing barriers that unnecessarily block the development of new homes and hinder the approval process; 4) Increase the Medicaid pay rate for direct care workers and home health aides, including those at nursing homes, group homes and residential behavioral health facilities, and 5) Find alternative, non-taxpayer revenue sources to stabilize the funding stream for North Carolinas vast transportation infrastructure.

Carey: Preserving womens rights, expanding Medicaid, and fully funding our public school systems.

There is a lot of talk locally about preservation of farmland and natural open land. What if anything do you think the Legislature can do to protect such lands?

Carey: The Legislature can work with local governments and encourage them to preserve these lands. Using grants and other government funding resources, the state Legislature can help local governments to preserve these important resources that are quickly being lost to developers.

Moffitt: Over the last quarter century, North Carolina has seen an average of 500 farms per year lost to residential and commercial development. I am currently working on legislation to develop a self-sustaining, non-taxpayer funded program that will help protect North Carolinas family farms. By offering fair market value for a farms development rights to compete with commercial developers through a development rights acquisition fund we can limit non-agricultural uses in perpetuity while protecting private ownership and saving the land necessary for food production and security.

The Dobbs case overturning Roe v. Wade has opened the door for state legislatures to outlaw or impose restrictions on abortion. What changes to North Carolinas laws on abortion if any would you support?

Carey: Once a fetus is capable of self-sustained life, that should be the limit set for abortive procedures.

Moffitt: I do not anticipate any legislation moving forward next session that will fundamentally change North Carolinas laws on abortion. That said, I have a 100 percent pro-life voting record and have been proudly endorsed by the good folks at North Carolina Right to Life.

In 2021 the N.C. Senate passed the Government Transparency Act to improve the states Open Records Law in cases of terminations and/or demotions of public employees? Do you favor the act?

Moffitt: Absolutely. As they say, sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Carey: I do. Its important to understand why a public servant is either terminated or reduced in position and what impact that has on the public in general. Also, it helps to ensure that the employee was terminated or demoted for as legitimate reason and not being unfairly terminated due to a personality conflict or other unjustified reason.
VOTER GUIDE: NC House District 117

Henderson County has two open seats for the Legislature thanks to incumbents decisions to attempt a move up.

State Sen. Chuck Edwards created an opening when he filed to run for Congress, prompting state Rep. Tim Moffitt to file for the senior chamber of the General Assembly. That created an open state House District 117 seat. The candidates are Jennifer Capps Balkcom, who won a three-way primary in May to capture the Republican nomination, and Michael Greer OShea, a music producer and real estate agent from Mills River.

Balkcom, 43, is married with two boys. A seventh-generation native of Henderson County, she grew up on the family farm and has lived here all her life. She describes herself as the grateful daughter of Kathy Ward and Ronnie Capps and the lucky stepdaughter of Dickie King. A mortgage lender, she also manages the familys home building business. Balkcom has served on numerous community boards, including currently on the Henderson County Planning Board. The family lives in Naples and belongs to Hendersonville First Baptist Church.

OShea, 35, lives in his hometown of Mills River with his wife, Jennifer, and their two rescue cats. He has spent most of his career in the music and film industries as a producer and audio engineer, and also has a background in real estate as an investor and licensed real estate broker. OShea graduated from Western Carolina University in 2009.

Why are you running for the N.C. Legislature?

Balkcom: I want to be a responsive voice in the General Assembly for the citizens of Henderson County. I am inspired by our long legacy of effective representation in the both the State Legislature and on the Board of Commissioners, and I will rely on their wisdom and counsel if I am fortunate to be elected. For more than 20 years, Ive served in leadership positions, building partnerships and working closely with others to achieve positive outcomes for Henderson County. And I believe that my long record of community service and public policy experience will serve our community well in Raleigh.

OShea: I am running because we need representatives who will prioritize the needs of regular folks over corporate special interests. I believe in common sense solutions that work for working families. Im tired of politicians sowing division between neighbors and a General Assembly that passes extremist policies against the wishes of a majority of North Carolinians. We need representatives who will focus on pragmatic solutions to the problems we face and put people over parties.

There is a lot of talk locally about preservation of farmland and natural open land areas. What if anything do you think the Legislature can do to protect such lands?

OShea: Growing up in Henderson County Ive watched too many greenspaces and family farms turn into sprawling housing developments over the years. The General Assembly needs to use economic incentives to promote the conservation of greenspaces and create incentives and regulatory pathways for housing development that uses high-density best practices so we preserve our open spaces. I also believe it is time the state legalizes cannabis and does this in a way that prioritizes small growers for permits so that its cultivation is the new cash crop that saves North Carolinas many family farms instead of being another handout to big agriculture.

Balkcom: I know first-hand how important family farms are to our food production and our food security. Sadly, were losing too many of them to commercial, industrial, and residential over-development. Farmland preservation is very important to me. Rep. Tim Moffitt is working on an innovative solution that will address this problem by establishing a trust fund to purchase development rights without any cost to the taxpayer. This will maintain the land for agricultural purposes, free from the financial pressures to develop it. I support that effort and look forward to working with Tim Moffitt next year to pass it.

The Dobbs case overturning Roe v. Wade has opened the door for state legislatures to outlaw or impose restrictions on abortion. What changes to North Carolinas laws on abortion if any would you support?

Balkcom: I am pro-life and I will vote accordingly if I am elected.

OShea: I believe that your health decisions should be made by you and your doctor. There's just not room in your doctor's office for you, your doctor, and the N.C. General Assembly. The simple truth is that you cannot ban abortion  just safe abortion. No one wants to be faced with this extremely difficult decision but in many instances this is a life-saving medical procedure and if were serious about respecting personal liberty, politicians need to trust the people and their health care professionals to make health care decisions.

In 2021 the N.C. Senate passed the Government Transparency Act to improve the states Open Records Law in cases of terminations and/or demotions of public employees? Do you favor the act?

OShea: In general I believe that more transparency in government is good for democracy. The North Carolina Press Association and North Carolina Association of Broadcasters have voiced their support for this bill and I am inclined to follow their lead on this issue. Due to the potentially sensitive nature of the information that would be made public, we need to follow the issue and ensure that there are protections for employees and an appeals process is in place in case managers are using these disclosures slanderously.

Balkcom: Yes.
Urbandale, IA  Homemakers Furniture is hosting their annual free Trick or Treat event at Homemakers on Thursday, October 27, 4:00 - 7:00pm. It is a free public event that provides a warm and safe trick-or-treat experience.

We always enjoy hosting our Trick or Treat event for families in the Des Moines area to attend. Its a fun way for us to give back to the community and celebrate the holiday with a free family-friendly event, Dave Merschman, Homemakers president said.

This event will take place inside of Homemakers Urbandale showroom, where families can visit goodie stations throughout the store. Costumes are encouraged for attending families. Children must be accompanied by an adult and will be given a variety of treats.

Homemakers will also be hosting their annual Pictures with Santa Claus event November 12-13, 11:00am  3:00pm. Families in the community can come and receive a free digital photo of them with Santa.

Homemakers is partnering with the Blank Park Zoo, Iowa Cubs, Science Center of Iowa, Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids, Stuff A Buddy, and NFM who help make this event possible.
Press conference on building beautiful China held in Beijing

Xinhua) 14:24, October 21, 2022

Journalists attend a press conference via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosted the press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" on Friday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

A journalist asks a question during a press conference via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosted the press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" on Friday. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosts a press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. Zhai Qing, vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, attended the press conference. (Xinhua/Jia Haocheng)

The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosts a press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. Zhai Qing, vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, attended the press conference. (Xinhua/Jia Haocheng)

Zhai Qing, vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, speaks at a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosted the press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" on Friday. (Xinhua/Song Yanhua)

Journalists raise their hands to ask questions during a press conference via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosted the press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" on Friday. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Wu Chaolan)
Following the success of The Hoxton's arrival in Amsterdam in 2015, the brand will return to the city in spring 2023 with a second property in the Eastern Docklands district, an area that's seen exciting changes in the last 10 years and offers a mix of modern architecture, waterside views, green parks and boutique shopping streets such as Javastraat and Czaar Peterstraat. Ennismore Design Studio have collaborated with Nicemakers, a local design studio who visualised The Hoxton's original Amsterdam hotel, to transform the iconic Lloyd Hotel into a Hoxton. The building has been a landmark in Amsterdam since 1921 and holds a rich and layered history, which will be honoured and reflected throughout the design process. The transformation will breathe fresh life into the building, embracing and elevating its original and listed architectural details, such as the stained-glass windows, timber panelling, wooden floors and tile setting out inspired by German Brick Expressionism, marking an exciting new chapter for the landmark building. The hotel will boast 136 bedrooms including a handful of new 'Biggy Bunk Up' category rooms with bunk beds; a light and airy ground floor lobby and restaurant; a large outdoor terrace; and The Apartment meeting and events space. The Hoxton's second Amsterdam hotel will complement the original: stylistically bold and different but with the same much-loved Hoxton buzz. The hotel promises to be a new destination for locals and curious tourists, who are keen to explore a different corner of the city, whilst only being a 10-minute cycle from Centraal Station and 15-minutes from its sibling on the Herengracht.

Hotel website

The Hoxton, Amsterdam Lloyd

Oostelijke Handelskade 34

Amsterdam, 1019 BN

Netherlands, The +31 20 561 3636

Hotel Website
Wurzak Hotel Group ("WHG") announced today that Eric Davies has been promoted to President, effective immediately. Davies succeeds Jake Wurzak as President of Wurzak Hotel Group, the vertically integrated hospitality management company. Jake Wurzak will now serve as Co-CEO along with Chairman and CEO Howard Wurzak.

Davies is a lifelong hotelier and has been a valuable member of the Wurzak Hotel Group team for over twenty years. He has served as Chief Operating Officer for the past seven years. In his new role, Davies will oversee the company's day-to-day operations and overall strategic vision.

In addition, he will play an important role in WHG development and its construction projects while leading the purchasing and procurement division for WHG Supply LLC (an affiliate of the Wurzak Hotel Group). Davies will also focus on the continued growth of the management company including managing brand relationships with the company's hotel partners.

A proven leader not only within Wurzak Hotel Group but industrywide, Mr. Davies has served on many boards and committees throughout his thirty years in the hospitality industry. He is or has been a member of various Owners Advisory Councils for both Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International. Locally, he serves on the Executive Board of Directors for the King of Prussia Business Improvement District and the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from LaSalle University.
Stephen Collins is an Associate Director with HVSs London office. He joined the company in 2014 after graduating with an MSc in International Hotel Management from the University of Surrey and spending a year working in operations in one of Londons luxury hotels. He also holds a bachelors degree in Management and Organizational Studies specialising in Finance from the University of Western Ontario and has undertaken a large variety of feasibility studies and valuations across Europe.
Meeting in Madrid, the World Tourism Organizations (UNWTO) International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO) welcomed insights from more than 150 experts, with a focus on key topics including the shift towards a circular economy and reducing food waste across the sector. The global network of INSTO Observatories is pioneering and implementing, very often for the first time, catalytic activities designed to help the tourism sector implement sustainable development at the destination level. Together, they are leading the transformation of tourism by building on the principles of participatory approaches including all stakeholders to ensure an inclusive and resilient tourism development.

UNWTO Secretary- General Zurab Pololikashvili said: To ensure the sustainable transformation of the tourism sector, its development must be seen as a means to achieve the overall prosperity of a local community and the surrounding environment rather than a goal in itself. The Observatories are an excellent tool for guiding and accompany this change and ensure evidence-based decision- making.

Sustainable production and consumption

At the Global INSTO Meeting, destinations focussed on how a timely and evidence-based approach is helping stimulate circular economy processes that result in using resources such as water and energy more efficiently. In addition, challenges in the environmental and social dimensions and the need for indicators that allow for comparability among destinations were highlighted.

Another topic was the availability of data from a growing variety of data-sources, making it increasingly difficult to process them into useful information needed for an informed decision- and policy- making process. It was agreed that all of these issues will be addressed in the INSTO Network through webinars and technical discussions.

Network keeps growing

Within the framework of the meeting, the Center of Tourism Economics of the State of Sao Paolo in Brazil and the Biscay Tourism Intelligence System in Spain were officially welcomed as new members of the Network. Both destinations have based their commitment to sustainable tourism development on participatory approaches, evidence generation and transparency, all three important requirements for membership.

The meeting was also an opportunity to introduce the five members who have joined since 2021: Mallorca, Barcelona and Malaga from Spain, the Yukon from Canada and Bogota in Colombia.

RELATED LINKS

About The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency fostering tourism as a vehicle for equal, inclusive and sustainable development. Working with its Member States, international organizations and the private sector, UNWTO promotes safe and seamless travel for all. UNWTO also works to make tourism the foundation of trust and international cooperation and a central pillar of recovery. As part of the wider UN system, UNWTO is at the forefront of global efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including through its ability to create decent jobs, promote equality and preserve natural and cultural heritage.

Follow UNWTO on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin.

UNWTO Communications Department

+34 91 567 8100

UNWTO
NEW YORK - Just a couple of weeks before the start of the Caribbean Hotel Investment Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operations Summit (CHICOS)& Operations Summit (CHICOS), event Chairman Parris Jordan is enthusiastic about the upcoming 11th edition of the conference to be held at the Hilton La Romana All-Inclusive Resort in the Dominican Republic November 911, 2022. The Caribbean market is recovering strongly, as shown by the substantial increases to RevPAR thus far in 2022, says Jordan. This recovery is attracting a lot of equity investors and debt providers to the market, driving investment bolstered by leisure demand. The market continues to show resilience despite the challenges faced during the relatively active 2022 hurricane season, which bodes well for the region.

The theme of the 2022 event, Resiliency, Creating Opportunities out of Challenges, will gather over 300 hotel investors and operators to explore the challenges, winning strategies, and opportunities of the sector. Panel discussions led by industry leaders and executives will reflect on how the industry and Caribbean region are moving forward and identify key trends they are seeing for the future. Additionally, equity investors and debt providers will share their key takeaways for investment in the region. The panels will also discuss trends of luxury and branded residential products, the successful all-inclusive model, and changes to the Caribbean lodging market since the pandemic, among many other topics.

This is an exciting time to explore real opportunities for hospitality growth in the Caribbean. Playa Hotels & Resorts is thrilled to be hosting the event for the first time and looks forward to participating in lively discussions among our industry peers on how to drive this destination while being open to change, including the need for resiliency. We are honored to have our guests join us at the Hilton La Romana All-Inclusive Resort as an example of excellence in all-inclusive property management, which was able to re-open just weeks after a hurricane, said Bruce D. Wardinski, who serves as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Playa Hotels & Resorts. Stellar property management in the face of climate-related challenges is just one of the benefits of a branded, all-inclusive resort, and we are pleased to explore smart learnings with our hospitality peers at CHICOS.

About Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V.

Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V. is a leading owner, operator, and developer of all-inclusive resorts in prime beachfront locations in Mexico, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. Playa currently owns and/or manages a total portfolio consisting of 23 resorts (8,595 rooms) under the following brands: Hyatt Zilara, Hyatt Ziva, Hilton All-Inclusive, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, Wyndham Alltra, Jewel Resorts, and The Luxury Collection. Playa leverages years of all-inclusive resort operating expertise and relationships with globally recognized hospitality brands to provide a best-in-class experience and exceptional value to guests, all while building a direct relationship to improve customer acquisition cost and drive repeat business. For more information, please visit www.playaresorts.com.

The Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operations Summit (CHICOS) is the premier hospitality conference in the region. CHICOS brings together over 300 regional and international investors and operators, as well as the regions leading decision-makers. Also participating as attendees or speakers are governmental representatives, opinion leaders, developers, bankers and other lenders, tourism officials, investment fund representatives, hotel brand executives, tourism developers seeking investors, franchise and operations company delegates, public and private institution members, consultants, advisors, architects, and designers. Conference attendees will network and discuss the regions markets and possibilities while analyzing the most important trends that can affect their investment decisions. The 2022 event will take place November 911 at the Hilton La Romana, an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic. Further details, including registration, can be found on the conference website.

For conference news, updates, and comments, follow CHICOS on Twitter @CHICOS_HVS and on LinkedIn.

About HVS

HVS is the world's leading consulting and valuation services organization focused on the hotel, restaurant, shared ownership, gaming, and leisure industries. Established in 1980, the company performs more than 4,500 assignments per year for virtually every major industry participant. HVS principals are regarded as the leading professionals in their respective regions of the globe. Through a worldwide network of over 50 offices staffed by 300 experienced industry professionals, HVS provides an unparalleled range of complementary services for the hospitality industry. For further information regarding our expertise and specifics about our services, please visit www.hvs.com.

Nicole Roantree

HVS
David J. Sangree, MAI, CPA, ISHC and Adam Zarczynski, CHIA attended the World Waterpark Association annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada in October. In addition to presenting at the Waterpark Design, Development, and Expansion Workshop, they enjoyed seeing many familiar faces and meeting new people at the conference. Here are some key highlights from the conference:

The conference had record attendance, with over 1,500 attendees. This indicated a strong rebound from the pandemic in conference attendance and showed a continued interest in the waterpark industry.

The WWA awards Leading Edge Awards to individuals or parks for the development of new themes, facilities, programs, services, or operational concepts in water attractions; and to suppliers who have developed new concepts or products that benefit the water attractions industry and their parks and customers. Among the winners were several companies that H&LA has been privileged to work with, including Baha Mar Resorts, Aquatic Development Group, Wild Rivers Waterpark, ProSlide Technology, Water Technology, Inc, CSM Waterworks, and WhiteWater.

Surfing and surf parks continued to garner significant attention at the conference. With the growing popularity of surf machines and surf parks, investors and developers continue to be interested in this expanding segment. Several properties talked about the rise of nighttime programming at surf parks to help accommodate the growing demand in the evenings from patrons who may enjoy a drink or dinner while watching activity on the surf machine.

There is still wide-spread concern in the industry regarding the continued increase in wages and staffing issues that have hampered the hospitality and attractions industries over the past two years. These issues dont seem to be easing as many properties are still grappling with concerns about wage rates and finding enough staff.

Waterparks are working to better leverage social media to increase their presence on various sites. This strategy includes sharing videos and images on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok to generate interest in the park by advertising what the experience is like. Some parks have achieved this by offering tickets to social media influencers who capture their experience at the park on their personal social media accounts. These videos are garnering thousands, and in some cases, millions of views, resulting in significant advertising exposure in a cost-efficient way.

About Hotel & Leisure Advisors

Hotel & Leisure Advisors is a hospitality consulting firm specializing in appraisals, feasibility studies, economic impact studies, and litigation support for hotels, resorts, waterparks, and other leisure real estate.

Heidi Banak

+1 216 228 7000 ext 14

Hotel & Leisure Advisors
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About This Property Bright open spaces and modern finishes throughout this craftsman's home. Originally the Mt. Washington Tea House and transformed into a modern getaway, this house will make you feel right at home with its dramatic fieldstone fireplaces, open floor plan and updated amenities. Close to the New York border and an easy drive to charming Egremont - this property is the perfect Berkshire escape. Adjacent to the living room sits the stylish cook's kitchen, fully stocked with quartz countertops, a farm sink and beautiful cabinetry. Family and friends can enjoy quick meals at the delightful breakfast bar. A primary bedroom fit for a king or queen is outfitted with a stunning stone fireplace, large walk-in closet, and an en-suite bathroom you will never want to leave with its luxurious soaking tub



Land Details Community Details Acres Apx: 3.01

Parking Type: Off Street

Region: Berkshire - South

Elem School: Undermountain

Middle School: Mount Everett

High School: Mount Everett

Exterior Details Interior Details Color: Green

Style: Bungalow

Construction: Wood Frame

Exterior: Cement Board

Water: Well

Sewer: Private

Underground Oil Tank: Unk

Garage: None

Total Rooms: 11

Total Full Baths: 3

Fuel: Propane

Hot Water: On Demand,Propane

Electric: 200 Amp

Floor: Ceramic,Marble,Wood

Lead Paint: Unk

Heat/Cool: Boiler,Ductless Wall Unit A/C System,Hot Water,Radiant

Appliances Incl: Dishwasher,Dryer,Range/Stove,Refrigerator,Wall Oven,Washer

Accessibility: 1st Fl Bdrm,1st Flr Bdrm w/Bath,1st Flr Full Bath



Search More Properties With these Features Deck Exterior Lighting Fenced Yard Fenced-Partially Landscaped Alarm System Fireplace (s) High Speed Wiring Radiant Heat Radon Mitigation System Stone Countertop Sun Room Walk In Closet(s)
HONOR today announced the market availability of HONOR 70 5G the latest addition to its high-end and stylish N series. HONOR 70 5G features an impressive camera system as well as innovative vlogging capabilities, and will retail at Php 26,990 starting from Oct. 18, 2022.

Introducing Solo Cut Mode, the Industrys First Solo Cut Mode for Vlogging

Delivering exceptional videography innovations, the HONOR 70 introduces the industrys first Solo Cut Mode for vlogging, offering a ground-breaking solution that enables users to produce portrait vlogs that spotlight a specific person in a group video using Person Autofocus Tracking Technology.

With Dual Video Streaming, multiple videos can be produced simultaneously, including an individual video with a solo view of the subject being spotlighted alongside the main group video with full view, perfect for content creators who want to choose the hero of their story. With Seamless Focus Switch, users can change the focus of the video to spotlight a different subject at the tap of a finger, enabling users to freely and conveniently create vlogs in a variety of different formats.

Weve been hearing Seize the Moment, but the difference of HONOR 70 5G is that it can seize and capture moments twice at a time - an imperative feature that will help every Filipino present themselves digitally with ease. The device captures horizontal and vertical videos at the same time that answers the hassle of editing your videos for it to fit into todays social media reels and shorts. , HONORs Brand Marketing Manager, Joepy Libo-on stressed.

Debuting the Worlds First 1/1.49-inch IMX800 Sensor for Stunning Images

Delivering a best-in-class photography experience, the HONOR 70 comes with an outstanding Dual Main Camera featuring industry-leading Computational Photography powered by AI and HONORs proprietary imaging solution, HONOR Image Engine, delivering stunning, high-definition images and footage in a unique and consistent style.

Sample shot of HONOR 70 5G using the macro capability of the dual main camera

The Dual Main Camera features a 54MP IMX800 Super Sensing Main Camera with f/1.9 aperture, and debuts the worlds first flagship 1/1.49-inch IMX800 Sensor, improving image performance and enabling users to capture more light for brighter and more detailed pictures. Equipped with a 50MP Ultra-Wide & Macro Camera with f/2.2 aperture, the HONOR 70 enables users to capture wider angles or close-ups with exceptional image quality. On the front, the HONOR 70 is equipped with a 32MP Super Clear Selfie Camera, allowing users to capture gorgeous selfies with super clear details.

Aesthetic Design Inspired by Diamonds

Embodying a premium and unique aesthetic, the HONOR 70 has been designed with a symmetrical Super Dual-Curved Screen, boasting a thickness of just 7.91mm and a total weight of 178g, effortlessly fitting into small handbags and pockets.

Fusing fashion and technology, the HONOR 70 has been designed with advanced coating technologies, bringing users a striking visual interpretation of light radiating over diamonds, making it the perfect fashion statement to go perfectly with colorful and shining accessories.

Superb Performance with a Stellar Spec Sheet

Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Plus 5G 6nm SoC, the HONOR 70 delivers an enhanced performance and is capable of handling intensive and heavy-duty tasks, bringing smooth graphics, and real-time responses.

Supported by HONORs pioneering technology innovations, GPU Turbo X and OS Turbo X, the HONOR 70 delivers an enhanced performance and enhanced power designed for superior communication, gaming, and more. Packed with an Anti-aging Engine, the HONOR 70 can intelligently clean up system junk files to provide more storage space.

The screen of HONOR 70 supports 1.07 billion colors, 100% DCI-P3 and HDR 10+, bringing users vivid colors in sharp and crisp detail. It is also equipped with industry-leading Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Dimming technology of 1920Hz, providing ambient lighting for a comfortable viewing experience. With a dynamic refresh rate of 120Hz and a 300Hz touch sampling rate, the HONOR 70 brings users increased efficiency and a faster touch response speed, whether users are gaming or scrolling social media.

66W HONOR SuperCharge: 60% full in 20 minutes

HONOR SuperCharge Feature

The HONOR 70 is equipped with an ultra-large 4800mAh battery with 66W Wired HONOR SuperCharge technology to deliver a full day of uninterrupted use for general users. Users can juice up HONOR 70 to 60% from 3% in just 20 minutes using the included charger, ensuring users can rapidly power up their device.

The HONOR 70 is the first HONOR N Series smartphone to boast the latest HONOR Magic UI 6.1 based on Android 12, offering a range of enhanced, customized features to provide an original, smarter, and more personalized experience, delivering greater convenience and productivity for users to enjoy.

Pricing and Availability

Designed to meet todays stylish generation, the HONOR 70 5G is available in 2 splendid and fashionable color options including Midnight Black and Crystal Silver.

Starting from Oct. 18, 2022, the HONOR 70 5G will be available in Lazada and HONOR stores nationwide. Customers can get a free premium JBL Flip 5 Bluetooth Speaker worth Php 6,999 if they purchase from Oct. 18 to 28, 2022.

First 10 customers who will checkout in Lazada will get a Php 2000 voucher (with terms and conditions apply).

Home Credit also offers 0% interest up to 18 months, for as low as Php 1,082.07 / month.

On HONORs expansion and Strategic Partnership

HONOR also announced their partnership with Home Credit, Globe, Lazada, and dealers, marking its evident growth in just 1 month in the market.

Today, we are now in more than 400+ dealer stores nationwide! And our HONOR stores and Kiosks will be available in SM, Q4 of 2022. We also partnered with City Light Telcom as our official service center, located in: San Juan, Manila, Quezon City, Paranaque, Laoag, Pampanga, Rizal, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu City, Cagayan De Oro and Davao City to assure better customer satisfaction.

As part of strengthening our strategic partnerships, we are happy to announce that Filipinos can now enjoy 0% interest for up to 18 months with Home Credit.

We also would like to thank Globe, as HONOR will be available in Globe Postpaid, Q4 of 2022.

Coming to e-commerce and online availability, we are happy to announce that HONOR is now available is Lazada. It is not easy to bring our devices to different locations in the Philippines but we were able to do so because of Lazada., HONORs VP for Marketing Stephen Bryan Cheng highlighted in the HONOR 70 5G Grand Launch.
Being true to its goal of transforming non-coders into job-ready programmers, StackTrek has entered into an exclusive partnership with the countrys largest co-living space provider MyTown to offer a unique and exciting new way to learn programming.

Going beyond its flagship online training  Digital Coding Bootcamp, StackTreks partnership with MyTown has given birth to its innovative on-campus training  4-month Co-Living Bootcamp in which learners acquire job-ready programming skill while staying and enjoying the award-winning accommodation, amenities and free meals provided by MyTown. This Co-Living Bootcamp is being offered as a Study-First-Pay-Later program making it more accessible to more Filipinos.

The idea is to provide a distraction-free environment for learners to focus on their goal of graduating as a programmer and getting an IT job. Upon completion of the bootcamp, learners will be connected with companies for job opportunities with an average 390k php a year starting salary.

Last October 17, 2022, StackTrek and MyTown kicked off the first batch of learners and onboarded them at the StackTrek x MyTown Coding Campus located in Taguig City, Metro Manila. On their first day, the learners were welcomed by their trainers and people from StackTrek. They get to taste the difference between the co-living experience immediately. Their accommodation and food were ready when they arrived and discussions and orientation came after.

This game-changing bootcamp offers more than learning and coding knowledge to its participants but also an immersive experience in which they are able to interact with like-minded people who share the same goals and aspirations. This Co-Living Bootcamp is also a chance for learners to grow their network. As part of the program, different industry experts and visionaries will offer insights to the learners to help them see ahead of their future.

Between the fast-paced learning, there is a swimming pool, gym, karaoke and music rooms for learners to relax and unwind. As an added social experience, the Co-Living Bootcamp features weekend bbq nights, film showings, and other social activities to ensure that rapport is built among the learners.

Just like the Digital Bootcamp, the Co-Living Bootcamp offers its learners the knowledge of the modern software engineering stack which will enable them to be successful in the field of IT. Apply here: stacktrek.com/coliving.
The magazine provides a general overview of the options available to foreign firms to sell to the online India...
Due to "operational restrictions," SpiceJet, the only airline that operates daily flights to and from the greenfield airport in Pakyong, Sikkim, will stop operating there as of October 30.

A spokeswoman for the low-cost airline claimed that the decision has been taken due to certain operational constraints.



For feedback and suggestions, write to us at editorial@iifl.com
CHANDIGARH: With each passing day voices are now being raised against the so-called Khalistan movement in Canada and other western countries impressing upon the governments there to curb anti-India activities.

An Ottawa-based former Canadian Broadcasting Corporation journalist Terry Milewski has criticised the Khalistani activists holding a so-called referendum, and questioned them on whether they will go and live in the Indian state of Punjab leaving a prosperous country like Canada.

Referring to the truckers march in support of the referendum in Brampton in September, he said, putting a Khalistan flag on the $50,000 vehicle makes no sense as they are not going to leave their expensive truck and a prosperous life in Canada and go back to Punjab.

Some of these protesters, who were carried away, have been born in Canada, I dont see them going back to Punjab to live there, he added.

In a hard-hitting interview on Canadas Sawarjya TV, Terry Milewski said, the Khalistanis want to project themselves as tough guys. They do this by holding posters of Harjinder Pahra who killed 38 Hindus near Lalru in the Mohali district of Punjab and another 32 a week later.

He said there was a need to call out for their reverence for violenceif we do not then we are in for a big problem.

Yet another prominent voice in Canada narrated how the Narendra Modi government had done away with the blacklist of some Sikhs who were not allowed to enter India for over 20 years as they were considered extremists.

Surrey-based Maninder Gill, who is a broadcaster, in an interview with a radio channel covering the Alberta state of Canada said, I could not visit India for 19 years. I could not attend the last rites of my close relatives. It is only when PM Modi came to power and scrapped the blacklist that I could visit India.

Gill said, Under the leadership of Modi, the BJP is doing all that the Sikhs wanted. Dr. Manmohan Singh during his visit to Canada was also requested to scrap the blacklist but he refused point blank, Gill said recalling his meeting with the former Indian prime minister.

Strongly opposing the idea of Khalistan, Gill called upon the Sikhs who are settled in Canada to raise their voice against the misguided elements. If Khalistan is made, what will you do with the Hindu and Christian population of Punjab, he asked.

Criticising these misguided elements, he said they cannot stay united here in Canada where they are living and are yet talking about unity and a Khalistan 14,000 km away.

Gill also expressed the view that if the so-called referendum is leading to a souring of relations between the Indian and Canadian governments then the Trudeau government should take this factor into account and act accordingly.

He pointed out that these separatists even failed to stay united in the Gurdwara elections and the recent municipal polls in Vancouver. All the Sikh candidates who contested the municipal elections lost making space for the Whites.

He also said there was a need to speak up against the activities of the separatists and advised the Sikhs, especially youths, not to be misled by these elements.

Commenting on the recent emergence of another separatist Amritpal Singh in Punjab, Gill said, the kind of provocative statements being issued by Amritpal will only create problems for Sikhs settled in other parts of the country.
The sixth two-day Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) ended in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan on October 13. The CICA meeting witnessed the presence of 11 heads of state, including presidents of Azerbaijan, Belarus (observer), Iran, Kazakhstan (host), Kyrgyzstan, the State of Palestine, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan, as well as the Emir of Qatar. Vice-Presidents of China and Vietnam also participated in the summit. Overall, 50 delegations including several Ministers participated in the Summit. Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs represented India at the Summit.

Background

CICA is a multi-national forum for enhancing cooperation to promote peace, security and stability in Asia. It is a forum based on the recognition that there is a close link between peace, security and stability in Asia and in the rest of the world. The Member States, while affirming their commitment to the UN Charter, believe that peace and security in Asia can be achieved through dialogue and cooperation leading to a common indivisible area of security in Asia where all states co-exist peacefully and their peoples live in peace, freedom and prosperity. At present, CICA has 27 member states accounting for nearly 90 percent of the territory and population of Asia. Nine countries and five multi-national organizations, including the United Nations, have observer status. The procedure to accept Kuwait as a new member was kick-started at the Astana Summit.

The idea of convening CICA was first proposed by former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, on 5 October 1992, at the 47th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. The initiative was motivated by the aspiration to set up a structure for ensuring peace and security in Asia. This initiative was supported by a number of Asian countries who felt that such a structure was the need of the time.

The two founding documents of CICA are Declaration on the Principles Guiding Relations between the CICA Member States adopted at the First Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs held in Almaty on 14 September 1999 and the Almaty Act, charter of CICA, adopted at the First Summit held in Almaty on 4 June 2002.

Creating an environment of confidence among Member States is central to the basic objectives of CICA. The CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures describes various measures in this regard. Within this framework, CBMs are categorized under five broad domains: economic dimension, environmental dimension, human dimension, new challenges and threats, and military-political dimension.

The CICA Secretariat is headquartered in Astana, Kazakhstan. The Secretariat consists of the Executive Director (designation changed to Secretary-General at the recent Summit) nominated by the Chairing country. This position is currently occupied by the eminent and highly respected Kazakh diplomat Ambassador Kairat Sarybay.

The Summit

In his opening address, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for a fresh impetus to multilateral mechanisms and a return to open dialogue. He said the most important task now is to achieve stability in international relations in the face of great threats.

In his video address to the CICA summit, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated, I am grateful for our partnership in pursuit of our shared goals: advancing sustainable development. He further said that over the last 30 years, CICA has grown into a vital platform for dialogue between countries across Asia.

The most significant outcome of the Summit was the adoption of the Astana Declaration on CICA Transformation from a conference into a full-fledged organization at the plenary session on 13th October. According to Executive-Director/Secretary-General Sarybay: This means that a structured, inclusive, and open negotiation process of gradual and consensual transformation of CICA into a full-fledged regional international organization has begun. This milestone decision has been a key priority of Kazakhstans CICA chairpersonship in 2020-2022. The importance of this transformation was first emphasized by President Tokayev in October 2021 during his meeting with the CICA foreign ministers. He said back then that CICA possessed all the elements of an international organization, including fundamental documents, governing and working bodies, an operating budget, a permanent secretariat, and its transformation will emphasize Asias new role in global affairs.

The summit also adopted a draft statement on Cooperation in Security of and in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies, a document to establish the CICA Fund, and a Plan to Implement the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

Indias Participation

In her plenary Statement, Meenakshi Lekhi, MOS(EA) said that CICAs ethos is in consonance with Indias support for inclusive, consultative and cooperative multilateralism and our fundamental philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which means the world is one family. This guides Indias foreign policy in general and, in even greater measure, in relations with Asia. She added that this belief was evident during the Covid pandemic when while providing for our own people, India did not abdicate its responsibility towards the humanity at large and provided vaccines, medicines and medical supplies, as well as expertise to more than 150 nations.

Lekhi recounted Indias achievements in promoting the SDGs through its flagship initiatives such as International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI); digitalization among others. In addition, she conveyed Indias resolute position in the fight against terror.

Prior to Indias Statement, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accused India of committing atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming the onus was on New Delhi to engage with Pakistan in a result-oriented manner. Reacting strongly to Pakistans statement, Lekhi urged Islamabad to immediately end cross-border terrorism to create the conditions for dialogue. She arraigned Pakistan for once again using the CICA platform to promote false and malicious propaganda against India and to divert attention away from the groupings discussions. She charged that Sharifs remarks amounted to gross interference in Indias internal affairs, sovereignty and territorial integrity and were inconsistent with CICAs principles guiding relations between member states. She termed Pakistan as the global epicenter of terrorism and advised it to walk the talk by creating a conducive atmosphere, including by taking credible, verifiable and irreversible actions to not allow any territory under its control to be used for cross-border terrorism against India.

In her comprehensive Statement, Lekhi identified CICA as an important platform to promote multilateralism in diverse and multi-polar Asia. She recalled the statement of Indias then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his participation in the first CICA Summit in Almaty in 2002 that in our tendency to focus on the conflicts of the day, we should not forget or belittle our shared past.

Conclusion

In the 6th Summit held to mark the 30th anniversary of establishment of CICA, several far-reaching and significant decisions were taken, the most important being to  launch structured, inclusive and transparent negotiations for a process of gradual, incremental and consensus-based transformation of CICA into a full-fledged regional international organization. This transformation will enable CICA to play a more decisive and forceful role in promoting peace, security and stability in Asia than it has been able to do thus far. Several new names for this body have been suggested which would mark the metamorphosis of this platform from a Conference to a full-fledged global organization.

The Chairmans Conclusions on Achievements and Discussions of the Sixth Summit do not make a very impressive or pleasant reading. It unfortunately lacks focus and direction. It is a potpourri of disparate thoughts, positions and views of different countries on a variety of issues with little coherence. Possibly nothing different could have been expected because of the nature of the Organization that has existed till date. It can be hoped that going forward the new Organization will be able to make a useful contribution to promoting understanding and cooperation between countries in Asia.

CICA is senior, both in terms of the years that it has been in existence and also the membership of the body, as compared to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the other regional body active in the fields of security, economy, connectivity, counter-terror etc. It is evident that CICA has some catching up to do with its younger sibling. It is hoped that the changes mooted in the body at the Astana Summit will make it a more credible and effective Organization.

Going forward, it would need to be ensured that bilateral issues are kept strictly out of the remit of the body. It has been observed that Pakistan is a serial offender in this respect. It is absolutely imperative to rein in such tendencies by Pakistan or any other country. Actions like this speak ill of the integrity and reliability of the erring country, and also diminish the credibility and dignity of the platform on which they speak.

Notwithstanding the shortcomings cited above, the new organization is expected to be better suited to making a vital and critical contribution to ensuring peace, security, stability and prosperity in Asia and the world.

Also Read: Is Central Asia Distancing Itself from Russia?

(Ashok Sajjanhar is a former Ambassador of India to Kazakhstan, Sweden and Latvia. He is an Executive Council Member at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis and President, Institute of Global Studies. Views expressed are personal and exclusive to India Narrative)
Bigg Boss 16 seems to be getting more and more intriguing every day. With unexpected twists and turns, the reality show BB 16 has maintained the audience's interest.

Model-Politician Archana Gautam is one of the most talked-about contestants inside the Bigg Boss House.

Instagram

Archana, who never thinks twice before putting across her mind, has become everyone's favorite. While many mocked her on the show for her voice, Archana took it in her stride and didn't let the criticism bog her down.



Did you know Archana aims to win the trophy so that she can empower people in her community?

Before entering the Salman Khan-hosted popular reality show, Archana spoke to the Indian Express and shared her take on participating in the show.

rchanagautamm

When asked if being a bikini model has worked against her, Archana said,

Archana Gautam/Twitter

"When I entered politics, many said that the girl who doesnt know how to wear clothes could never be our leader. But what about the men who are criminals and yet given election tickets? Society needs to change its narrow beliefs; we will only progress."



Archana, who has had the maximum number of fights with her co-contestants inside the house, came with the agenda of winning the BB 16 trophy. Archana added,

Archana Gautam/Twitter

"I belong to the scheduled caste, and they arent given enough chances to do something in life. The trophy is very important as that will help me empower my people. Once I reach a position, I will inspire and also lead the way for others to take the path. I want people to understand the importance of teaching women."



Archana Gautam won the titles of Miss Uttar Pradesh in 2014 and Miss Bikini India in 2018. She has also worked in films like Haseena Parker and Great Grand Masti.

(To get the latest updates from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment)


On November 1, which also happens to be "Kannada Rajyotsava," the day the state was founded, the late Kannada cinema actor Puneeth Rajkumar will be posthumously awarded the "Karnataka Ratna," the state's highest civilian honor, in front of Vidhana Soudha.

web screen grab

The youngest of Dr. Rajkumar's five children and widely regarded as Kannada cinema's reigning leading man, Puneeth Rajkumar, passed away on October 29 of last year at the age of 46 after suffering a heart attack.



Following a meeting with senior ministers, officials, and the late actor's family members on Thursday, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that the award presentation ceremony would take place on the grand stairs of Vidhana Soudha (the location of the state legislature and secretariat) on November 1 at 5 o'clock.

"This award is given in recognition of the contribution of Puneeth Rajkumar to the Kannada film field, Kannada language, and culture. He is a real Karnataka Ratna as he has permanently remained in people's hearts through his achievements during his life," Bommai told reporters.

"He must always be the source of inspiration for youths, and for this purpose, this award will be given to him posthumously," he said, adding that after November 1, three more functions will be held in different parts of Bengaluru as part of a 10-day program dedicated to Puneeth.

Eminent personalities noted literary and film personalities, ministers, legislators, and achievers, among others, are likely to attend the event.

Instagram/Puneeth Rajkumar

The Chief Minister had made an announcement to confer the award on the late actor in November last year at the "Puneetha Namana", an event to pay homage to Puneeth Rajkumar, organized by the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), in association with Sandalwood film actors and technicians associations.



Puneeth Rajkumar will be the ninth recipient of the Karnataka Ratna, which was last awarded to Dr. Virendra Heggade for social service in 2009.

Instagram/Puneeth Rajkumar

It's interesting to note that poet Kuvempu and Dr. Rajkumar, the late father of Puneeth, were among the first people to receive the Karnataka Ratna award in 1992.



Other recipients of the award are S Nijalingappa (Politics), C N R Rao (Science), Bhimsen Joshi (Music), Shivakumara Swamiji (Social Service), and Dr. J Javaregowda (Education & Literature).

Puneeth, also referred to by his admirers as "Appu" and "Power Star," had his screen debut at the age of six months and later won a national award for best child actor for the movie "Bettada Hoovu." In 2002, he returned as a leading man and starred in 29 movies, including major blockbusters.

(With PTI inputs)

(To get the latest updates from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment)


Former Balaji Telefilms COO Zulfiqar Khan and another Indian national, Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai, went missing in mid-July after leaving a famous club in Westlands at 11.53 pm. Several hours later, two Indian nationals and their driver Nicodemus Mwania, were reported missing.

The trio has since been missing for over 70 days.



On Friday, producer Ekta Kapoor appealed to the Kenya Red Cross and the Indian government for support in locating Zulfikar Ahmad Khan, the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of her company, Balaji Telefilms.

According to a post shared by Kapoor, Khan has been untraceable for over 80 days.

Zulfikar has been missing since the third week of July

According to a story by The Hindu, Khan went missing in Nairobi during the third week of July. Ekta Kapoor posted a photograph of Zulfikar Ahmad Khan on Instagram with the caption,

"Our ex-COO of Balaji Telefilms Limited disappeared from Nairobi almost three months ago. I request the Ministry of External Affairs and Kenya Red Cross to kindly look into this."

Actor Karan Kundrra joined the bandwagon and took to Twitter to share his message. Kundra urged people to sign a petition to find the former Balaji COO.

@ zulfizak

"Ive known Zulfiqar since ages but worked closely with him during lockup, and hes a gem of a person with a child-like approach towards life which made us click instantly.. he would send me pictures of all the beautiful places that he travelled to.! Unfortunately #zulfiqarkhan.. has been missing since over 75 days and we are worried! I can only imagine what his loved ones must be going through I urge you to help sign this petition and spread the word.. we want Zulfi back (sic)," the actor wrote.



Last Communication with family:

A former journalist, Zulfikar Ahmad Khan, reportedly vanished in Nairobi in July, according to a report by The Hindu. He last communicated with his family 80 days ago, and they don't know where he is.

"Its been almost 80 days now, yet no one has any idea about his whereabouts. Local police in Kenya are clueless. They have been asked by the High Court of the land to produce Zulfi, but they have no idea where he is," said Khans family in a statement reported by the publication.

Zulfikar's family seeks urgent help:

The family has also urged the High Commission in Kenya and the Indian government to investigate the case and trace Zulfikar.

"We dont know if there is a serious search operation to find him. We dont know if the Indian government has demanded an explanation from the Kenyan government about their missing citizen. We dont know if our own High Commission in Kenya is helping in any way," the statement added.

Khan formerly worked for Star India, where he became Senior Vice-President of Advertising Sales. He did, however, quit Balaji last year. According to reports, Zulfikar Ahmad Khan enjoys traveling, which is why he visited Kenya last summer.

(To get the latest updates from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment)


In response to the recent floods, Zurich accelerated claims settling for property and motor, and has offered emergency and interim payments to ensure its general insurance customers receive immediate support. Its large supplier network is also prepared to deploy assessors and builders once access to affected areas is available.

Support is also available for flood-affected Zurich Life and OnePath Life customers, including those experiencing hardship directly because of flooding or volunteering or working with emergency response teams in flood-impacted regions.

Read more: Nature-based solutions could be crucial to energy transition  Zurich

Suzi Leung, chief claims officer for life and investments at Zurich Australia and New Zealand, said the insurance giant prioritises the community's safety. Therefore, anyone in flood-affected areas must follow the advice of local authorities and prioritise their safety.

As many continue to face the threat of flooding, others are now grappling with the aftermath. Zurich is here to ensure customers receive the immediate support they need as they begin to navigate the challenges ahead, Leung said.

Flood-affected customers experiencing hardship may contact their financial adviser, Zurich on 131 551, or OnePath on 133 667 when it is safe to discuss their options.
We are in an extreme situation in terms of not a lot of talent out there, but this is not really anything that is that unusual for our industry, he said. Generally, we are keeping it in a range bound by 2 to 3%.

Insurance carriers across the country employ an estimated 1.56 million staff, a decline of about 85,000 from 2020 figures, according to the biannual insurance labor market report.

This is not because insurance companies are not hiring people, Jacobson explained. They are trying to hire lots of people The reason why were down 85,000 jobs is because companies cannot hire fast enough to replace the workers that are leaving.

Read more: Insurers can't hire fast enough to replace the workers that are leaving

Jacobson also noted that while layoffs in the broader financial services industry have hit a 10-year low, the opposite was true in terms of the number of personnel quitting their jobs, which reached its highest in a decade.

Jeff Rieder, partner at Aon and head of its subsidiary Ward Inc., added that in the past 10 years, most insurance companies operated with about an 8% to 9% staff turnover rate, which included voluntary and involuntary exits. At present, however, many insurers are running at between the 12% and 15% range.

Both experts agreed that the majority of the 14% of firms who said they operated with reduced staff between July 2021 and July 2022 did so unintentionally.

Read more: A dive into talent recruitment and retention in insurance

What are the benefits of choosing a career in insurance?

According to the study, more than two-thirds, or 68%, of insurance carriers plan to increase their personnel count in the next 12 months  a jump of 12 percentage points from last year.

Insurers said that the rise is primarily because of the anticipated increases in business volume.

And with competition in the industry for the best available talent as fierce as ever, those looking to build a career in insurance can find no shortage of job opportunities.

Insurtech firm One Inc, which provides insurers with a digital payments platform, shared the top reasons why working in the insurance industry is a good option. These are:

A variety of opportunities: Apart from traditional roles such as agent, adjuster, and underwriter, insurance offers diverse professional opportunities, including those in the fields of accounting, customer service, marketing, IT, legal, sales, communication, research, data analytics, investigation, finance, actuary, management, and human resources.

Upward mobility: An insurance career leaves room for growth in practically every role, allowing professionals to continually develop new skills and progress in their careers.

Continuing education: Because of the ever-evolving nature of the industry, employees are encouraged to pursue educational opportunities to sharpen their knowledge and skills, with some companies offering financial assistance.

[Theres] never a dull moment: Insurance is a dynamic field, which presents a different challenge each day.

Flexibility: With the pandemic changing how everybody works, many insurers have also began offering staff flexible working arrangements, including remote work.

Job security: As long as people are investing in homes, driving vehicles, running businesses, seeking medical treatment, or in need of financial protection, insurance will always be in demand.

Work-life balance: Insurers are taking strides to ensure their employees can enjoy ample time to pursue interests outside work, which are proven to increase productivity in the workplace.

Earning potential & benefits: The insurance industry offers a good living wage with a high potential for growth.

Challenging & rewarding work: Insurance professionals are regularly faced with a supply of healthy challenges, providing opportunities to solve problems, and be innovative and creative, which can give them a sense of fulfillment at the end of the day.

[A chance to] make a difference: Insurance professionals are given the opportunity to help individuals, families, and communities to overcome hardship.

Read more: Revealed  10 best insurance companies to work for in 2022

What are the best-paying jobs in the US insurance sector?

According to the insurance labor market study, the insurance roles that are most difficult to fill in order are those in technology, actuarial, analytics, claims, and underwriting. Almost every company surveyed in the report said these positions are more challenging to fill now compared to a year ago, with the exception of those for executive roles.

Rieder noted that insurers are paying existing employees more to prevent salary compression and inequity.

This is causing more companies to have to make salary mid-year market adjustments as well, he said. While many companies probably budgeted for only a 3.5% to 4% increase in merit, the reality is year-over-year, the trend is about 5%.

To find out which insurance career pays the most, job-posting service website ZipRecruiter generated compensation estimates for each role, factoring in the job title and location, and the hiring company. The firm noted, however, that the figures reflect a base compensation range, and do not consider years of experience, benefits, bonuses, or other factors that may affect individual compensation rates.

Read more: Best jobs in America: Which insurance profession cracked the top 10?

Here are the top 10 highest-paying jobs in the insurance industry, according to the companys calculations.

1. Consulting actuary

Annual salary range: $93,000 to $173,000

A consulting actuary provides accounting and risk-assessment advice to clients. The role entails several years of experience in the actuarial field and skills related to performing financial audits and risk modeling. This type of professional can work as part of a large consulting agency or as a freelancer.

2. Life insurance actuary

Annual salary range: $67,000 to $150,000

Professionals in this line help determine pricing for life insurance policies to minimize cost and risk. Their duties include assessing client risks, performing financial analysis, and creating reports for salespeople and management. Those wanting to pursue a career as a life insurance actuary should have a bachelors degree in mathematics, actuarial science, or a related field, and a professional actuary certification.

3. Pricing actuary

Annual salary range: $99,500 to $149,500

A pricing actuary is a statistician who works in financial services, including insurance. They help determine the price of products by calculating risks and analyzing data, with the goal of ensuring the coverage of the companys expenses such as the cost of claims or employee retirement. Actuaries need strong analytical and computer skills. A bachelors degree in math, statistics, or actuarial science is required as well.

4. Actuary

Annual salary range: $111,500 to $142,500

Actuaries price insurance policies and advise corporations on how to meet regulatory standards and balance capital. Their duties also include maintaining daily correspondence with clients, and programming or implementing risk management software. The four actuary specializations, according to ZipRecruiter, are property and casualty (P&C), life, health, and pension.

5. Automotive finance manager

Annual salary range: $97,500 to $141,500

These professionals are responsible for overseeing the financing process for new and used vehicles, creating sales training programs, and ensuring that all transactions meet federal, state, and local regulations.

Read more: Bringing home the big bucks: The best places to be a broker

6. Underwriting manager

Annual salary range: $92,000 to $125,500

Underwriting managers oversee the daily operations and administrative tasks of the underwriting department. Their responsibilities include helping underwriters review applications, establishing appropriate screening protocols, and developing new methodologies and models to assess the financial risk of clients.

7. Casualty underwriter

Annual salary range: $87,500 to $121,000

A casualty underwriter assesses commercial and personal insurance policy applications. Their duties include analyzing property statistics and reviewing the applicants history, financial status, and employment to ensure premiums can be met. They are also responsible for monitoring and assessing existing policies.

8. Health actuary

Annual salary range: $75,500 to $116,000

Working for healthcare organizations and insurance companies, health actuaries analyze healthcare data and marketplace trends to determine future financial and strategic plans. They also prepare rate files, review plan reserves, interpret medical patterns for new risks and opportunities, and create reports from aggregate health plan data that is collected from national databases.

9. Claims director

Annual salary range: $75,000 to $115,500

These professionals manage the daily operations of an insurance claims department. Their duties include establishing uniform policies on insurance coverage and claims for a variety of situations. They also ensure that customers receive outstanding service.

10. General adjuster

Annual salary range: $43,000 to $114,000

General adjusters are responsible for analyzing incidents to determine the financial liability of the insurance company. Their duties focus on researching the property or physical damage related to insurance claims, including assessing the cause of the incident, extent of the damage, and cost of repairs. This job entails investigative research experience and interpersonal skills.
The Columbia Insurance Management program hosted a group of interns sponsored by Boys Hope Girls Hope (BHGH) and the Insurance Federation of New York (IFNY) this summer to teach them about disaster risk. During the one-day engagement, Chan and Columbia lecturer Ken Radigan used video and interactive activities to show the students how insurers anticipate and price for catastrophic exposures, and why capital is important to help avoid default.

Our goal was not just to teach them about the basics of insurance business, but also to share the different job opportunities and paths that they can explore in the industry, Chan shared.

Read more: Whats the answer to the insurance talent shortage?

During the summer internship, interns did week-long stints at the offices of various insurance organizations, such as Chubb, the Excess Line Association of New York (ELANY), the Life Insurance Council of New York. The internship introduced them to the wide range of opportunities in the global insurance, legal, and financial services sectors.

[The program] doesn't cost the children and their families anything. This is the way the insurance industry is giving back to the community, Chan said. BHGH is a charitable organization that provides educational opportunities and career resources to high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Chan was impressed by the eloquence, commitment, and professionalism of the young interns she interacted with during the program. They came prepared. They didn't just show up and take up space. Every single one of them had a one-minute elevator speech that was probably better than most of the elevator speeches I've heard, she shared.

The experience opened Chans eyes to the enormous pool of untapped talent for insurance. But the insurance world still has a long way to go when it comes to communicating with the incoming generation.

Our messaging needs to go beyond what people see in media, said Chan. What people need to understand is that insurance is not just about the car damaged in an accident, home lost to a hurricane, or the phone that you dropped in the pool.

Putting insurance into the context of the broader world was an idea that Chan made sure to impart with the interns. Everything we eat, use, and see in this world at some point involved insurance, and would not exist without insurance. It's a tool that the world uses to facilitate what we are producing, she continued.

Read more: How independent agencies can get a leg up in the war for talent

The old punchline that insurance is boring also needs to be expunged from the industrys narrative. Insurance can be very exciting, Chan said. I often say that exciting and insurance don't usually end up in the same sentence, but when you've worked in the industry long enough, and if you talk to the people who have been in it for a long time, youll know thats not true.

Changing the narrative of the insurance industry means professionals should take ownership of their stories. For Chan, small tweaks in how an employee explains what they do can make a huge difference.

Instead of I work for an insurance company, saying I work with renewable and alternative energy projects to help facilitate their financing, or I created an insurance product to help banks remove the risks from new technologies are more artful ways to speak to the power of insurance in society, and to entice ambitious and creative young people to the industry.

We need to talk about insurance the way we want to hear about it, Chan added. Some of the messages that we put out need to be conveyed better to build that attraction from the younger generation.
WTW has announced the appointment of Michael Machin as head of broking for FINEX North America, Corporate Risk & Broking.

In his new role, Machin will lead the FINEX North America team at WTW, implementing a cohesive strategy across all lines of financial business. This will include coordinating efforts across mergers and acquisitions and the carrier management business within CRB. Machin will also join the FINEX North America leadership team. He will be based in Massachusetts and will report to Jon Drummond, head of broking, CRB North America, and Ken Ross, head of FINEX North America.
It costs way more to replace a roof today than it did just three years ago, the governor said. So we need to do everything we can to push back on that and fight for a more competitive market where rates are incentivized to go down.

Politico reported that this is the second time this year that Florida legislators are being asked to tackle the states troubled property insurance market. The last special session was held in May, wherein the state agreed to create a $2 billion reinsurance fund for private insurers operating in the state. Lawmakers also agreed then to invest $150 million into a hurricane mitigation program which would improve the resilience of homes, while revising rules around insurance litigation  a measure meant to control the rampant insurance litigation in Florida.

Read more: Florida insurance commissioner named in lawsuit

There were some very positive reforms that were done, DeSantis said of the previous special session. But there also were things we wanted to do that the Legislature at that time was not willing to do. I think we will be able to do that in this special session.
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A federal court has dismissed claims that New Hampshires Hillsborough County, along with the nurses and outside medical providers for the countys Valley Street Jail, are liable in the death of an inmate who experienced alcohol withdrawal and later died.

The late Robert Martels wife alleged that the municipality, its prison employees and medical providers, individually and collectively, provided constitutionally inadequate medical care that resulted in her husbands death.

However, U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante has ruled that the allegations did not meet the standards required to find deliberate indifference or purposeful denial of adequate care.

The allegations at most show a disagreement as to Martels course of treatment, as opposed to purposeful denial of care, delayed care, lack of care intended to punish Martel, or care so inadequate that it amounts to a refusal of care. Disagreements over appropriate medical care, and misjudgment, even negligent misjudgment, are not deliberate indifference, Laplante wrote.

Further, since the plaintiffs unsupported legal conclusions and speculation failed to establish that the underlying care amounted to a constitutional violation, the municipal liability claims against the county, including for inadequate supervision, also fail.

On May 7, 2021, Martel was ordered to serve a 10-day sentence at Valley Street Jail in Manchester, where the county houses detainees and inmates and employs correctional officers, nurses, and other staff and had contracted with American Institutional Medical Group (AIMG) to provide medical care.

On May 10, Martel reported to Valley Street to serve his sentence and began experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms soon thereafter. After receiving medical treatment from the jails nursing staff, Martel was later found unresponsive in his cell and died unexpectedly.

An autopsy by the state medical examiner determined that Martel died as a result of hypertensive heart disease, with coronary artery disease and chronic ethanol abuse as significant contributory factors.

Martels estate filed suit against Hillsborough County, three county nurses who treated Martel during his incarceration, a correctional officer who briefly interacted with Martel, and the jails outside medical provider, AIMG.

The individual defendants moved to dismiss the plaintiffs complaint, arguing that the allegations did not support claims for deliberately indifferent  and thus constitutionally inadequate medical care. The county further argued that absent an underlying constitutional violation by one of its employees, the plaintiffs municipal liability claim was unsustainable.

As to the negligence claim, the nurses argued that they were immune under state law, while AIMG asked the court to decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the claims it faces.

The court noted that the defendants did not dispute that Martel had a serious medical need, which is one of the elements the deliberate indifference test requires.

However, the court continued, in order to prove deliberate indifference that violates constitutional rights, Martels estate was also required to show that the prison officials possessed a sufficiently capable state of mind that indicated they intended to deny care as a punishment or sought to provide care that was so clearly inadequate as to amount to a refusal to provide essential care.

Also, to prove a collective responsibility of the defendants, Judge Laplante wrote that the relevant inquiry was not whether the individuals were liable based on their collective actions. Rather, the question was whether each defendant, through his or her own individual actions, has violated the Constitution.

The court reviewed the factual allegations against each individual defendant against this standard and found that while there were some questions about what care to administer, all participants acted reasonably and none showed a deliberate indifference that violated the Constitution.

Disagreement as to the appropriateness of treatment cannot form the basis for a deliberate indifference claim, the opinion states.

In dismissing the federal claims, the court left the plaintiff the option to refile certain claims concerning the nurses and AMG under state law in the appropriate state court.

Topics New Hampshire
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During the height of the pandemic, New York workers compensation indemnity payments increased while medical payments decreased.

Thats according to a new report from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) that found that indemnity benefits per claim grew 10% for 2020 non-COVID-19 claims evaluated in 2021 after being mostly stable since 2015 in the state.

The same report also found that medical payments per claim decreased 5% in 2020/2021, following a rapid increase the previous year.

Both the increase in indemnity benefits and decrease in medical payments per claim in 2020/2021 likely reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on non-COVID-19 claims, according to WCRI.

Ramona Tanabe, WCRI executive vice president, said for claims at 12 months of experience, the average number of weeks of temporary disability increased about one week in 2020/2021, which she said may reflect economic conditions related to the pandemic. She said WCRI observed similar results in several states.

The study, Monitoring Trends in the New York Workers Compensation System, provides a look at how the pandemic impacted non-COVID-19 workers compensation claims in the early months of the pandemic. According to the research, the factors related to the pandemic that likely affected claims include the temporary suspension of non-emergency surgeries and the avoidance of certain types of medical care during the early part of the pandemic.

Additionally, prescription drug prices and utilization continued to decrease in 2020/2021, including the average prescription payment per claim and the percentage of claims with prescriptions. WCRI said these decreases likely reflect several factors, including efforts to address unnecessary opioid use, and, more recently, the drug formulary, which became effective for new prescriptions in December 2019.

Topics Claims Workers' Compensation New York COVID-19 Talent
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at SCOR UK, CFC Underwriting, and Allianz Trade.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

SCOR Taps AXA XLs Guest as Head of Crisis Management

SCOR announced the appointment of David Guest as head of Crisis Management for SCOR UK and the SCOR Syndicate. His remit includes Terrorism and Political Violence and is effective Oct. 24, 2022.

Based in London, Guest reports to Marie Biggas, chief underwriting officer of SCOR UK and active underwriter of the SCOR Syndicate.

Guest brings with him more than 26 years of industry experience, having led underwriting teams across the UK and Asia-Pacific re/insurance markets. He joins SCOR from his most recent position as global specialty regional leader, APAC & Middle East at AXA XL. Having begun his career as a marine underwriter at Hiscox in 1995, Guest has since held a number of senior roles at XL Catlin and AXA XL.

He was a long-standing member of the Lloyds Market Associations Terrorism and Political Violence Panel, where he also served as deputy chairman for three years. Since 2002, Guest has specialized in war, terrorism and political violence, having developed and underwritten policies for clients in more than 150 countries.

Guest holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Bristol and has an Advanced Diploma in Insurance from the Chartered Insurance Institute.

***

Former Beazley Exec Beattie Joins CFC as Head of Innovation

CFC, the specialist insurance provider, pioneer in emerging risk and market leader in cyber, announced today that it has appointed George Beattie as head of Innovation.

In this newly created role and leveraging CFCs cutting edge technology and data science, Beattie will lead a team focused on delivering industry first solutions and next generation insurance products designed for the emerging risks of tomorrow.

Beattie will be starting his new role in January 2023 and joins CFC from Beazley where he has led the incubation underwriting function for the past two years. He remains in his role as co-chair of the Product Launchpad at Lloyds.

***

Allianz Trade Appoints New CEO

Allianz Trade, the trade credit insurer, announced that Aylin Somersan Coqui, currently group chief risk officer of Allianz SE, will become CEO and chairperson of the Board of Management of Allianz Trade.

This change is subject to regulatory approval, and follows the departure of Clarisse Kopff, who has decided to pursue a new leadership role outside of Allianz as of Nov. 30, 2022.

Aylin Somersan Coqui (46) began her career as a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley in 1998, and then joined the Allianz Group in 2002. She served in various positions with Allianz Global Investors and PIMCO before holding multiple international leadership roles within the Group: chief financial officer (2013-2015) and chief executive officer (2016-2018) at Allianz Turkey, chief human resources officer at Allianz SE (2019) and board member and labor director at Allianz Deutschland AG (2019-2020). Since 2020, Somersan Coqui has been group chief risk officer at Allianz SE.

She will become CEO and Chairperson of the Board of Management of Allianz Trade, and her appointment is subject to the standard regulatory approval requirements.

Wed like to thank Clarisse for the excellent work she did for Allianz Trade and to wish her well in this new chapter of her career. We wish Aylin all the best in her new role, and are convinced that given her extensive background in both asset management and insurance as well as her technical expertise in risk, she is in an excellent position to oversee the continued momentum of Allianz Trade, said Chris Townsend, member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE.

Euler Hermes was rebranded as Allianz Trade in March 2022.

Topics InsurTech AXA XL Allianz
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A restoration contractor that had been assigned benefits by a policyholder cannot pursue a bad faith claim against an insurer because it was not a party to the insurance contract, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday in two separate cases.

This was the first time the high court addressed the question of whether bad faith claims filed by contractors working under an assigned-benefits contract are allowed under Nebraska law, said Omaha attorney Michael T. Gibbons, who represented the insurers in both lawsuits.

The high courts decision reaffirms Nebraskas conservative view of first-party bad faith by limiting such claims between the parties in contract with one another and by preventing the use of post-loss assignments to escalate claims beyond the rights and obligations in the contract between the insurer and the insured property owner, Gibbons said in an email. This decision will help to control premiums and benefit homeowners across the state.

Both cases involved claims made by Millard Roofing and Gutter, which had entered into assignment-of-benefit contracts with property owners who said they needed roof repairs after a 2013 hailstorm.

In one case, Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Co. appealed a decision by the Court of Appeals that found the trial court had prematurely dismissed its breach of contract and bad faith claims against the insurer. In the other case, the Supreme Court bypassed the Court of Appeals and decided to hear a similar lawsuit that Millard filed against Shelter Mutual Insurance Co. after the case was dismissed by the trial court.

Gibbons said during a telephone interview that bad-faith claims werent even recognized in Nebraska until 1991, when the Supreme Court ruled in Braesch v. Union Ins. Co. that a policyholder could bring an action against an insurer that unreasonably delayed resolution of a valid claim. The state did not recognize assignment-of-benefit claims until 2016, when it ruled on another case that also pitted Millard Roofing and Gutter against Farm Bureau.

Gibbons said assigned-benefit claims became more common after out-of-state contractors saw an opportunity after a series of hailstorms caused widespread property damage in the state.

Millard obtained assignments from numerous policyholders after the 2013 hailstorm. In April 2018, the company filed a lawsuit against Shelter Mutual in Douglas County District Court alleging breach of contract and bad faith. The complaint did not identify the location of the insured properties or the date of the alleged damage or when the assignments were made.

The district court ordered Millard to file a more definitive statement of damages in an amended complaint, with pertinent policy numbers and the assignments. The court also dismissed the bad faith complaint, interpreting Braesch to restrict such filings to actual policyholders.

The Supreme Court decided to review the trial courts decision after Millard filed an appeal, skipping the intermediate appellate court.

In the other case, Millard appealed the dismissal by another Douglas County judge of a separate breach-of-contract and bad faith lawsuit that Millard filed against Farm Bureau for failing to pay its assigned-benefit claims. The Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court had erred by dismissing the claims before holding a trial.

In the Shelter Mutual case, the Supreme Court ruled that District Court Judge Shelly R. Stratman made the right call about third-party bad-faith claims.

The implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing that Nebraska law imposes on insurers is dependent upon a contractual relationship between the [policyholder] and the insurer,' the court said in a unanimous decision. There is no contractual relationship between Shelter and Millard Gutter, and the postloss assignments did not create one.

In the Farm Bureau case, the Supreme Court said District Court Judge Kimberly Miller Pankonin made the right call about Millards bad-faith claims. Pankonin had abused her discretion, however, when she ordered Millard to amend its complaint to include more specifics, the high court said.

The court remanded the breach-of-contract claims back to the trial court for further proceedings.

Topics Claims Contractors Nebraska
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Cyber remains a top concern, but business leaders may be overconfident about their resilience against the threat, according to new research from Beazley.

Cyber was chosen as the No. 1 technology risk for 28% of UK and U.S. respondents in Beazleys 2022 risk and resilience study, but this is a noticeable decrease from 34% in 2021. Meanwhile, 41% of UK and U.S. business leaders said they feel very prepared to meet the cyber threat, down slightly from 44% in 2021.

We are detecting signs that business leaders may have become a little complacenteven overconfidentabout the cyber and technology risks faced by their businesses. Perhaps because of the overwhelming challenge that the current geopolitical environment poses today, they may be being blinded to the threat that cyber and technology risk may deliver tomorrow, said Patricia Kocsondy, head of U.S. cyber and technology, Beazley.

Among the studys findings:

Technology obsolescence is the No. 1 risk for 27% of UK and U.S. business leaders, displacing disruption in the ranking. At the same time, perceived resilience has also dropped, possibly as companies struggle with the cost and effort of updating or replacing legacy systems.

Intellectual property (IP) is still lowest on the list of concerns, but risk perception has dramatically increased, up 107% from last year, with 21% of respondents citing it as a top concern. IP disputes have become more frequent, so-called cyber-squatting has surged, and there has been an alarming growth in the number of filings by patent trolls, with U.S. businesses in particular alert to the risk of IP theft from companies in China.

While perceived resilience to cyber and technology risks generally remains relatively high, with 31% of UK firms and 43% of U.S. firms feeling very prepared across all four risks within this risk category, resilience perception has dropped across the board, down 9% on average.

Insurers are becoming more selective about which cyber risks they write. Cyber insureds need to do more than simply tick the box when it comes to cyber resilience and risk management, as they seek to protect intangible assets and ensure business continuity.

It can be easy for companies whove never experienced a cyber attack to underestimate their level of preparedness but the fact of the matter is that cyber risk isnt going away and companies are more dependent on technology than theyve ever been in the past, said Kocsondy.

Topics Cyber Leadership
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Jacksonville-based One Call, a care management firm for the workers compensation industry, announced that it has named Juan Perez chief financial officer.

Perez was previously CFO at WellPath, a health care company based in Tennessee. At One Call, he will oversee the companys financial strategy, operational performance and investor relationships, the firm said in a news release.

Perez is a certified public accountant who has led accounting and finance departments for other companies before joining WellPath.

He replaces interim CFO Paul Dascoli, who served One Call for the last nine months, the company said.
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Choice Financial Group, a regional insurance agency based in Virginia Beach, said it has acquired Georgia Pines Agency, expanding its footprint into Georgia, Florida and California.

GPA, headquartered in Kennesaw, Georgia, is a full-service agency with 12 offices and 65 employees. Co-founders Michael Heidelberger and Steven Roy will continue to oversee operations, Choice Financial said in a news release.

Bob Hilb, founder and former CEO of the Hilb Group, a major insurance broker, is CEO of Choice Financial. The acquisition is the 10th for Choice since it obtained capital support from Northlane Capital Partners, the company said. Choice now has offices in 11 states.

Hilb Buys Up Allegacy Benefits

In another transaction involving the rapidly expanding Hilb Group, the company has acquired Allegacy Benefit Solutions, a credit union service organization based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The move means that Allegacy Federal Credit Union is getting out of the employee benefits business, according to news reports. The unit has about 20 employees and most of those will transition to Hilb, the company said.

Hilb Group is a national property/casualty and benefits brokerage that has grown nationwide through multiple acquisitions in recent years. The company said in a news release that is has completed more than 140 acquisitions in 22 states.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Georgia
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A fact-checking publication known for its thorough examination of claims made by politicians has deemed Charlie Crists statement that he once reduced Florida property insurance rates by 10% to be mostly true.

Crist, the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, has run campaign ads recently that blamed incumbent Ron DeSantis for the states insurance crisis and soaring premiums. When I was your governor, we reduced insurance rates by 10%, Crist said, referring to his tenure as governor, from 2007 to 2011.

Politifact, created by the Tampa Bay Times and now part of the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit school for journalists, said this week that it had researched the 2007 changes that Crist was referring to. The organization found that its not quite as cut-and-dried as Crists ad claims.

Crists actions appear to be partially responsible for the 10-percent drop, though he likely attributed too much of an impact to his policies. With that clarification, we rate the claim Mostly True, Politifact noted in its website article posted Wednesday.

Florida House Bill 1A, which Crist supported and signed into law shortly after taking office in 2007, made a number of changes to the states insurance landscape, including:

The bill expanded the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund that allows insurers to purchase less-expensive reinsurance and pass those savings on to consumers.

Allowed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to compete with private insurers. It froze Citizens rates, repealed all 2007 rate increases and provided refunds for consumers who have already paid those increases.

Prevented insurance companies from raising rates without state approval, from dropping policyholders during hurricane season and from delaying payment of claims.

Provided the first step in eliminating a practice where insurance companies can sell only automobile insurance and not property insurance in the state.

Politifact noted that after the bill was enacted, Citizens premiums dropped about 13% in 2008 then rose slightly by 2010. But some insurance authorities noted that the effect on rates also had to do with changes made before Crist took office.

Some of the reduction had to do with 2006 revisions that allowed homeowners to get credits for wind mitigation improvements. Florida regulators in 2006 also barred insurers from imposing certain fees on policyholders, which helped reduce some premiums, Politifact reported.

The report also quoted industry experts who noted that Citizens statutory limit on rate increases, begun under Crist in 2009, have skewed the market. In the last year, the state-created insurer has ballooned to more than 1 million policies in force, while six private insurers have become insolvent and others have raised rates significantly.

Crist has said that under DeSantis administration, premiums have skyrocketed. Insurers and insurance attorneys have said the spikes are largely the result of Floridas attorney-fee statutes, which often grant plaintiffs lawyers their fees when they prevail in court. Those laws have encouraged fraudulent and exaggerated roof claims and excessive claims litigation, which have cost the insurance industry billions of dollars each year.

Lawmakers and DeSantis this year approved some changes to the law, including a ban on attorney fees in assignment-of-benefits cases. But some insurers have argued that more reforms are needed. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis this week called for an outright ban on AOBs. DeSantis has not commented publicly on that idea.
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Hotaling Insurance Services, a brokerage and risk management team, has merged with Akumen Insurance Advisors of south Florida. The deal becomes effective Jan. 1. Terms were not disclosed.

Akumen CEO Vince Castro will become regional president of Hotaling Insurance, and the Akumen brand will be known as Hotaling Insurance Services Doral, the companies said in a news release.

This deal has been many years in the making, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to finally work with Vince and the entire Akumen team, said Bobby Hotaling, founder of Hotaling Insurance Services.

Hotaling opened a Miami office in 2018. Both firms have offered commercial and personal lines of insurance.

Photo: From left to right, Vince Castro, Neil Verdeja, Gabby Dieppa.

Topics Florida
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Floridas besieged property insurance industry is hoping the second time will be the charm, after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he is working with lawmakers to schedule another special session to help stablilize the market.

The governors office did not provide details or a copy of an executive order calling the session, but at an event in hurricane-ravaged southwest Florida, the governor said lawmakers could convene after the Nov. 8 election and before the end of the year, according to news reports. House and Senate leaders and insurance industry activists indicated they are ready to tackle issues facing an insurance industry that has seen six insurers become insolvent this year while others have raised premiums significantly.

We support it. Were hoping to see more legal reforms, especially on one-way attorney fees, said Michael Carlson, lobbyist and president of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida, which represents a number of carriers.

A special session held in May approved two measures that aimed to reduce claims litigation, bar plaintiffs attorney fees in assignment-of-benefits claims, provide insurers with a layer of state-provided reinsurance, and allow policies to pay only for roof repairs, not full replacement, in many cases.

But insurance executives and advocates have said much more is needed to stabilize a market that appears to be overwhelmed with litigation and soaring reinsurance costs. DeSantis said Thursday that he wanted some further steps in Mayt that the Legislature as not willing to go along with, according to Politico, a news site.

Several ideas have been discussed in the industry for the upcoming special session, including:

AOBs . Revising state law to allow insurance policies that bar assignment of benefits agreements. Floridas chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, on Wednesday  the day before DeSantis announced the special session plans  proposed an outright ban on AOBs. But it wasnt clear Friday if DeSantis and legislative leaders are on board with that for a special session. Its also not clear if such a ban would stand court scrutiny, Carlson said, since Florida law has long allowed people to assign contracts.

. Revising state law to allow insurance policies that bar assignment of benefits agreements. Floridas chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, on Wednesday  the day before DeSantis announced the special session plans  proposed an outright ban on AOBs. But it wasnt clear Friday if DeSantis and legislative leaders are on board with that for a special session. Its also not clear if such a ban would stand court scrutiny, Carlson said, since Florida law has long allowed people to assign contracts. Cat fund. Lowering the retention level, or deductible, that Florida insured losses must reach before insurers can access the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. The state-created fund provides less-expensive reinsurance after major hurricanes, but accessing it sooner could save some carriers millions of dollars on their reinsurance tab, advocates of the idea have said. Providing another layer of state-backed reinsurance, at reduced premiums, also has been kicked around.

Lowering the retention level, or deductible, that Florida insured losses must reach before insurers can access the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. The state-created fund provides less-expensive reinsurance after major hurricanes, but accessing it sooner could save some carriers millions of dollars on their reinsurance tab, advocates of the idea have said. Providing another layer of state-backed reinsurance, at reduced premiums, also has been kicked around. Attorney fees. At the heart of Floridas insurance crisis, many insurers have said, are Florida statutes that allow claimants attorneys to win large fees when they prevail in litigation, even if fees are much more than the judgment award or settlement. The May special session banned plaintiffs attorney fees but only in AOB cases.

Industry insiders and company leaders have said waiting until the 2023 regular session of the Legislature to make reforms will be too late and would not give insurers relief before the reinsurance renewal deadlines next summer. Reinsurance prices spiked this year and are expected to rise again.

Whatever measures the Legislature considers to rescue the property insurance industry, those must be accompanied with some type of short-term relief for homeowners, many of whom have seen premiums double or triple in the last two years, some insurance advocates have said.

Carlson and others have said that Hurricane Ian, which raked across the state Sept. 28 and Sept. 29, may have provided the final straw needed to prompt state leaders to consider another session and take broader measures. Patronis, insurance agents and policyholders have reported that the hard-hit Fort Myers area has been flooded with public adjusters, plaintiff attorney advertisements, and contractors hoping to benefit from property owners filing insurance claims.

As of Thursday, Oct. 20, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation reported that 564,399 insurance claims had been filed from Hurricane Ian, with estimated insured losses so far reaching more than $6.6 billion.

The call for a special session also came a week after Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist blasted DeSantis for not fully addressing the crisis and allowing premiums to soar.

No one believes that Ron will finally do the right thing and fix his broken insurance market in his last month in office, Crist said in a press release, according to Politico.

Topics Florida
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Florida has seen an increase in cases of flesh-eating bacteria this year driven largely by a surge in the county hit hardest by Hurricane Ian.

The state Department of Health reports that as of Friday there have been 65 cases of vibrio vulnificus infections and 11 deaths in Florida this year. That compares with 34 cases and 10 deaths reported during all of 2021.

In Lee County, where Ian stormed ashore last month, the health department reports 29 cases this year and four deaths.

Health officials didnt give a breakdown of how many of the cases were before or after Ian struck.

Lee County health officials earlier this month warned people that the post-hurricane environment  including warm, standing water  could pose a danger from the potentially deadly bacteria.

Flood waters and standing waters following a hurricane pose many risks, including infectious diseases such as vibrio vulnificus, the county health department said in a news release Oct. 3 that urged the public to take precautions.

The advisory said that people with open wounds, cuts, or scratches can be exposed to the bacteria through contact with sea water or brackish water. People with open wounds should avoid such water and seek medical care immediately if an infection is apparent.

Photo: Sammie Clark, 11, left, and Nevaeh Curran, 11, explore a flooded mobile home community in Iona, an unincorporated community in Lee County near Fort Myers. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Florida Flood
Gas stoves in California homes are leaking cancer-causing benzene, researchers found in a new study published on Thursday, though they say more research is needed to understand how many homes have leaks.

In the study, published in Environmental Science and Technology on this week, researchers also estimated that over 4 tons of benzene per year are being leaked into the atmosphere from outdoor pipes that deliver the gas to buildings around California  the equivalent to the benzene emissions from nearly 60,000 vehicles. And those emissions are unaccounted for by the state.

The researchers collected samples of gas from 159 homes in different regions of California and measured to see what types of gases were being emitted into homes when stoves were off. They found that all of the samples they tested had hazardous air pollutants, like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX), all of which can have adverse health effects in humans with chronic exposure or acute exposure in larger amounts.

Of most concern to the researchers was benzene, a known carcinogen that can lead to leukemia and other cancers and blood disorders, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The finding could have major implications for indoor and outdoor air quality in California, which has the second highest level of residential natural gas use in the United States.

What our science shows is that people in California are exposed to potentially hazardous levels of benzene from the gas that is piped into their homes, said Drew Michanowicz, a study co-author and senior scientist at PSE Healthy Energy, an energy research and policy institute. We hope that policymakers will consider this data when they are making policy to ensure current and future policies are health-protective in light of this new research.

Homes in almost every region in the study  Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento and Fresno  had benzene levels that far exceed the limit determined to be safe by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessment. But the region with the highest benzene levels by far was the North San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

This finding in particular didnt surprise residents and health care workers in the region who spoke to The Associated Press about the study. Thats because many of them experienced the largest-known natural gas leak in the nation in Aliso Canyon in 2015.

Back then, 100,000 tons of methane and other gases, including benzene, leaked from a failed well operated by Southern California Gas Co. It took nearly four months to get the leak under control and resulted in headaches, nausea and nose bleeds.

Dr. Jeffrey Nordella was a physician at an urgent care in the region during this time and remembers being puzzled by the variety of symptoms patients were experiencing. I didnt have much to offer them, except to help them try to detox from the exposures, he said.

That was an acute exposure of a large amount of benzene, which is different from chronic exposure to smaller amounts, but remember what the World Health Organization said: theres no safe level of benzene, he said.

Kyoko Hibino was one of the residents exposed to toxic air pollution as a result of the Aliso Canyon gas leak. After the leak, she started having a persistent cough and nosebleeds and eventually was diagnosed with breast cancer, which has also been linked to benzene exposure. Her cats also started having nosebleeds and one recently passed away from leukemia.

Id say lets take this study really seriously and understand how bad (benzene exposure) is, she said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California
One person was killed Wednesday morning in a multi-vehicle crash in heavy fog on Interstate 5 in Oregon.

Crashes in the southbound lanes of the interstate north of Eugene involved about 60 vehicles including up to 20 semitrailers, Oregon State Police said.

Police told KOIN-TV one person was killed. The crashes spanned more than a mile and closed that part of the interstate.

The Department of Environmental Quality responded to address leaking fluids from six of the semitrailers, police said. School buses from Eugene were reportedly sent to take several dozen stranded motorists to a nearby truck stop.

Authorities believe heavy fog in the area led to the crash, police said.

Transportation officials said later the interstate closure in the area had expanded because of two more multi-vehicle crashes Wednesday afternoon.

BE PATIENT & SLOW DOWN, Transportation officials said in a tweet.

Traffic was being diverted to Highway 99E and drivers were urged to use other routes.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Oregon
A former member of the Irish Defence Forces has been given a 16-month suspended sentence for the possession of child abuse material.

Adrian Short (45) of Corbetstown, Killucan, Co. Westmeath, pleaded guilty to possession of seven images and 14 videos of child pornography at Griffeen Glen Drive, Lucan, Co. Dublin on March 29, 2021.

Passing sentence on Friday, Judge Melanie Greally said: The videos in particular contained extreme content of children as young as two years, which included sexual intercourse between children and adults.

Judge Greally said there was no other content stored on any other of Shorts devices and that he had been fully forthright, co-operative and attended his garda interview voluntary.

The judge said according to the probation report he is at low risk of re-offending and that the offence was in the mid-range of offending.

She also noted the mitigating factors include his early guilty plea, his high level of co-operation, the lack of previous convictions, his personal history and in particular, his past personal trauma. Other mitigating factors include the collateral damage of the break-up of his marriage and his now distant relationship with his children.

Short also has a very positive probation report and has expressed remorse and regret for his actions.

Judge Greally sentenced Short to 16 months in prison, suspended in full. Short must remain under the supervision of the probation services for 16 months and he must submit to further monitoring and risk assessments as directed by the probation services. He must also continue to attend counselling as directed.
WARNING: Some readers may find the following report upsetting

A "monster" who gave his daughter drugs and alcohol, sexually assaulted her repeatedly over a six-year period and raped her when she was 15 has had his five-year prison sentence almost doubled by the Court of Appeal.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had argued before the three-judge court that the sentence imposed on Michael ODonoghue (43) was unduly lenient given the gravity of the offences. The victim, Aimee Foley (20), cried when the original five-year sentence was imposed and her family complained that the sentence was not enough for what O'Donoghue had done.

Ms Foley was in court for Friday's hearing and sat flanked by her family while her father sat some four metres away in the dock. She cried as she left court and outside told the media that the new sentence will "never be enough for me and my family" but offers a "sliver of justice". She said sentencing for sexual offences in Ireland can be "appalling but today it has proven to work in my favour".

She said that this will be the beginning of a "new standard going forward" and that offenders like her father must be held accountable. "I will not stop until more is done," she added.

Today's ruling

Delivering the court's judgment, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said the sentence imposed by the Circuit Criminal Court was "simply too low" and amounted to an error in principle. She quashed the original sentence and replaced it with one of 10 years with the final six months suspended for a period of five years.

The sentence was backdated to April 14, 2021.

Tom OMalley SC, for the DPP, described ODonoghues conduct towards his daughter as egregious. The first offence took place, he said, on her 12th birthday when she was staying at his home for the weekend. Counsel said: He plied her with drink, including whiskey, gave her drugs, made her watch pornography and sexually assaulted her.

He groped her at a family wedding when she was 13 and threatened to rape her. When she was 15, he raped her. There were many further incidents of sexual assault until she was 18 years old, Mr OMalley said, and on one occasion he filmed the abuse on his mobile phone.

The sentencing judge had set the headline sentence for the rape offence at 12 years but reduced that to seven with the final two years suspended after taking into account ODonoghues early guilty plea, admissions he made to gardai and his genuine remorse.

Sentences of three and four years were imposed for the sexual assault counts, but each sentence was set to run concurrently. Mr OMalley said the 12-year headline could have been considered unduly lenient even if there had not been multiple sexual assaults. He said the error in principle made by the judge was that the sentence was not proportionate to the offences.

Michael Bowman SC, for the defence, said that the sentence fell within the range available to the sentencing judge who had identified and taken into account all the aggravating factors. The reduction from 12 to seven years, counsel said, was appropriate given the manner in which ODonoghue had faced the charges.

He pointed out that once ODonoghue knew gardai had been contacted, he went to a garda station and made full admissions. He entered guilty pleas at the earliest possible opportunity and has shown remorse and genuine insight. He is considered by the probation service to be at a low risk of reoffending, Mr Bowman said.

The Court of Appeal disagreed. Ms Justice Kennedy said O'Donoghue's conduct had humiliated and degraded his victim and that he had committed an "egregious breach of trust" in his home where she was entitled to feel safe and protected. His conduct was a "gross betrayal" and he had degraded his daughter for his own gratification, she said.

She said the fact he had shown her pornography, gave her alcohol and drugs and filmed the abuse were further aggravating factors.

Original sentencing

At a sentencing hearing in October last year, Ms Foley (20) waived her right to anonymity so her father could be identified. Addressing him directly, she said: You have ruined me. I hope you are happy knowing you broke your own child.

I've called you dad five times in this statement, and I hope every time you heard it, it struck you in your heart, she said. It's the last time you will ever hear me call you that.

You're not my dad. You're not my father. You are a monster, a paedophile, an animal

O'Donoghue, of Colmanstown, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, pleaded guilty to 31 counts of sexually assaulting Ms Foley, one count of raping her and one count of producing child pornography in various locations in Galway between April 2012 and April 2018. She was aged between 12 and 17 at the time of the abuse.

The court heard O'Donoghue plied his child with alcohol and drugs, including cannabis and cocaine, before abusing her. The court heard O'Donoghue had split up with Ms Foley's mother before she was born and the abuse took place when she had access visits to his home. The abuse often took place when O'Donoghue's wife and other children were present in the house.

The abuse came to light in 2020 when Ms Foley confided in college friends and then her mother. O'Donoghue then turned himself into gardai before they had interviewed Ms Foley telling them: I'll make it easy for you boys. I did it. I sexually assaulted my daughter and I recorded it on my mobile phone.

Sentencing the man last year, Mr Justice David Keane said O'Donoghue had engaged in the most serious breach of trust between a parent and a child.

Mr Justice Keane said:

He had gone to court to secure custody of his child, only to grotesquely betray his parental responsibilities by sexualising, demeaning and degrading Aimee Foley for his own gratification.

He noted O'Donoghue had emotionally manipulated his daughter as well as sexually abusing her, that he plied her with alcohol and drugs when she was a child and that on one occasion he recorded the abuse.

The judge said Ms Foley was an impressive witness who had outlined the psychological trauma she endured at the hands of her father. He wished her well in her continuing recovery.

Mr Justice Keane outlined a number of mitigating factors, including O'Donoghue's early and unusual admissions to gardai  made before they had got a statement from Ms Foley. The judge said these admissions meant Ms Foley did not have to go through a trial process.

He noted O'Donoghue has been receiving alcohol addiction and sexual offender counselling and is considered to be at a low risk of re-offending.

- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.
Paschal Donohoe has said it is in Irelands interest that the UK economy is stable in the wake of the departure of Liz Truss as British prime minister.

The Finance Minister said he hopes the Irish Government can build on the friendship that exists between the two countries with whomever is the next prime minister.

In recent days and weeks, ministers had emphasised how Ireland is closely linked to the UK economy and the need for stability ahead of what is expected to be a difficult winter.

The matter of who leads the Conservative party or who is the next Prime Minister is clearly a matter for those who are voting in it. Ill leave that to them, Mr Donohoe told Morning Ireland.

(PA Graphics)

The events of the last few days emphasise to me two things about Government and politics: consequence and cost.

He said it proves that it does matter who is making decisions and the decisions that are made have an effect on a country and on an economy.

It really matters to Ireland that the UK is doing well, that they are stable and their economy is growing, he said.

And we hope theres a prime minister in place and we expect there will be that we can resume close cooperation and build on the friendship thats there between our two countries.

Ms Truss resigned after just 44 days as UK Prime Minister (James Manning/PA)

Taoiseach Micheal Martin on Thursday called for a new British prime minister be selected quickly in order to bring about stability following Ms Trusss resignation.

Mr Martin told reporters in Brussels that we would like to see the UK system, within its capacity, to be in a position to have a successor selected as quickly as possible.

Simon Coveney expressed frustration on Thursday evening at being back to instability again, referring to tensions around the Northern Ireland Protocol and its impact on Northern Ireland.

Ms Trusss resignation has raised concerns about the progress that had been made on reaching a breakthrough on the protocol, and on closer relations between the British and Irish governments.
Go big or go home. This is the choice now facing a government whose self-doubt on its own housing policy is being publicly aired.

It is way behind the public that has been making its feelings known for some time on the subject.

Time is running out, or rather has run out, for Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, and the Green Party on this issue.

Far too many citizens are without a place to call their own. Virtually no one believes the Coalition parties are capable of solving this huge problem.

The latest move  a temporary eviction ban  moves the deck chairs around a little more. Isnt it all too reminiscent of those emergency health initiatives, a dime a dozen each winter?

Is there anything to be said for another winter task force, you might ask? How long before we send our homeless abroad to be housed, along with those getting medical treatment?

Why stop at the opening of a hospital in Spain to treat those waiting years here for procedures? Just swoop in and buy a brace of villas down south. Sounds absolutely mad, I know, but hey.

The homeless crisis has escalated.

Everyone knows this eviction ban, which will help vulnerable people over the next few months, will, in the longer term be about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike, if real changes are not made in the interim.

What we are left with  along with the despair of people trying to afford enormous rents and those who have almost zero chance of ever owning their own homes  is hollow squabbling over who is to blame.

Its not just like two bald men squabbling over a comb, but a whole host of them tussling, as Fine Gael and Fianna Fail start in on each other over who is responsible for the housing mess.

All the motions were gone through when the new vision Housing for All policy was launched in September 2021. But even then, it did not really feel worth the paper on which it was written.

Radical action is required here. But nothing close to that has been offered by the establishment parties. Were mired in levies on concrete blocks, foreign funds buying entire apartment blocks, planning issues, and state and semi state bodies refusing point blank to identify and transfer sites to the Land Development Agency for use.

So even government departments themselves failed significantly, when asked, to identify and place on the market land or property suitable for residential development. That is so damning in terms of a lack of drive behind solving this crisis.

Now the two bigger government parties are turning on each other a sure sign their policies are failing badly. Not only that, but the Tanaiste even attempted to drag in the Labour Party to take a share of the blame this week. A party that has not been in power since 2016. Even then, it was as the significantly smaller party in the coalition with Fine Gael. There is such a stench of desperation about it all.

Were told Fine Gael is getting ready to overhaul the approach to housing when Leo Varadkar gets back into the Taoiseachs chair in December.

I could bore you with the details of what they intend to do, but as a kindness will desist.

Its nothing you havent heard versions of previously.

You could head to the bookies right now to see what the odds are on all of this being just as impotent as what went before.

Fianna Fail is sore listening to this talk. Party backbenchers feel they had to pick up the pieces from the FG approach of the market will fix it when their own Darragh OBrien went into the Housing department in June 2020.

In response to this notion of a new FG approach, FF Kildare North TD James Lawless tweeted a sarcastic response. If only there was some kind of table where they could sit around and pitch in ideas? Or if they were in charge of the housing brief for say, 10 of the last 12 years?! Housing for All is working, but its hard to go 0-100 since 2020.

Some valid points in the former part of the tweet, but more latterly it lacks credible evidence. At any rate, which bit of public squabbling between the two parties makes for a good idea in trying to convince anyone that the plan is working? It clearly indicates government parties are panicking and looking to shift the blame.

As things stand, there is a grand delusion going on in Government Buildings or, looked at another way, they are attempting to perpetuate one.

There have been regular nationwide protests over housing in recent years, but the Coalition has failed to make a dent in the crisis. Picture: David Creedon

We are long past hoping for improvements as a result of a particular agency here, a tax break there, intentions to give local authorities a kick up the arse to get them moving, or yet more statements of intent.

The dismal performances of the two parties in opinion polls show the repeated insistence that its actually all going to be dandy and isnt worth a bucket of cow poo to a very large number of voters. The notion it will all actually add up to something they will be able to hail as a success at the next general election now borders on the deranged.

Fairness dictates that Covid and the war in Ukraine are mentioned. Not one, but two extraordinary things with which the Government has had to cope.

Both have sucked so many of our resources unexpectedly. Indeed, on both, the Government is to be lauded. Although it does remain to be seen how it performs through the cost of living and energy crisis this winter.

But as the reaction to the recent 11bn bonanza budget showed it is housing and its related failures that trump all. It does feel it is too late for the Government to turn things around now; that the sense of failure is set in some sort of political stone.

Its the notion they held their fire on what really needed to be done, for their own party-political reasons, for too long. All the while Sinn Fein has been gaining in stature on the back of this issue. It has delivered to that party the full riding-high-in-the-polls experience.

For all its mettle though, it must too be unnerving to think if Sinn Fein ends up in government soon there is an expectation the housing crisis will be solved almost immediately. Achieving a United Ireland might seem the less tough task.

Last month, at the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis Micheal Martin said, unusually, ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle in December, that Darragh OBrien would definitely be remaining in the Housing brief.

The speculation so far has surrounded which department Mr Martin would choose  Foreign Affairs or Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Yet we have a housing emergency, a real, live, worsening one, something that virtually eclipses everything else. Why wouldnt he signal he really means business by opting to become housing minister himself?

Wouldnt that be risky? You bet it would. But grand and brave gestures are all that is left to them now for any hope of shifting the dial. Otherwise, they just hang on in there until the inevitable end.
The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution demanding an immediate end to violence and criminal activity in Haiti, and imposed sanctions on a powerful gang leader.

The United States and Mexico, which drafted the 10-page resolution, delayed the vote from Wednesday so they could revise the text in hopes of gaining more support from council members  and they succeeded in getting approval from all 15 nations.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said immediately after the vote that the resolution was a first step to help the Haitian people and a second resolution was being prepared to help restore security to the crisis-wracked Caribbean nation.

A member of the armed forces on patrol (Odelyn Joseph/AP)

The final text eliminated a reference to an October 7 appeal by Haitis Council of Ministers for the urgent dispatch of an international military force to tackle the countrys violence and alleviate its humanitarian crisis.

Also dropped was mention of an October 8 letter from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres outlining options to help Haitis National Police combat high levels of gang violence.

A second resolution, which was still being worked on late on Thursday, would address the issue of combating Haitis violence. It would authorise an international force to help improve security in the country if approved.

Ms Thomas-Greenfields said on Monday that the non-UN mission would be limited in time and scope and would be led by unspecified partner country with a mandate to use military force if necessary.

The sanctions resolution named only a single Haitian  Jimmy Barbecue Cherizier, whose gang has blocked a key fuel terminal leading to severe shortages.

Cherizier, a former police officer who leads an alliance of gangs known as the G9 Family and Allies, would be hit with a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo if the resolution passes.

The resolution, however, would also establish a Security Council committee to impose sanctions on other Haitian individuals and groups whose actions threaten the peace, security or stability of the Western Hemispheres poorest nation.

Targeted actions would include criminal activity, violence and arms trafficking, human rights abuses and obstruction of aid deliveries.

Political instability has simmered in Haiti since last years still-unsolved assassination of President Jovenel Moise, who had faced opposition protests calling for his resignation over corruption charges and claims that his five-year term had expired.

Mr Moise dissolved Parliament in January 2020 after legislators failed to hold elections in 2019 amid political gridlock.

Daily life in Haiti began to spin out of control last month just hours after Prime Minister Ariel Henry said fuel subsidies would be eliminated, causing prices to double.

Cheriziers gang blocked the Varreux fuel terminal to demand Mr Henrys resignation and to protest over a spike in fuel prices.

Haiti already was gripped by inflation, causing rising prices that put food and fuel out of reach for many, and protests have brought society to the breaking point.

Violence is raging, making parents afraid to send their children to school. Hospitals, banks and grocery stores are struggling to stay open. Clean water is scarce and the country is trying to deal with a cholera outbreak.
Burma Bangladesh Credits Chinese Intervention With Stopping Myanmar Border Blasts

Myanmars security operation on the Bangladesh border in northern Rakhine State. / The Irrawaddy

DHAKA  Bangladeshs Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen says that Chinese intervention coincided with a reduction in explosions along the border with Myanmar.

We told Myanmars ambassador but he could not do anything. The bomb explosions reduced after the Chinese were informed, the minister told journalists on Thursday following a meeting with the Chinese ambassador Li Jiming.

The minister said he asked China to help relocate over 5,000 Rohingya Muslims trapped in no mans land to Myanmar.

We are always afraid about when they want to cross the border. This is a new assignment for [China]. Lets see what happens, Momen said. We are keeping them under pressure.

Dil Mohammad, a Rohingya leader in the border zone, told The Irrawaddy that the situation has improved in the last two weeks as shelling has ceased.

He called for the right to return home to Rakhine State.

We want protection for our people. Who will give us protection? We dont believe the assurances from Myanmar, Mohammad added.

In August and September, firing and shelling from Myanmar occurred near Naikhyangchhari in the hill district of Bandarban.

Bangladesh attempted diplomatic efforts, briefed foreign diplomats and summoned Myanmars ambassador Aung Kyaw Moe four times since August.

The intrusion of mortar shells, aerial firing and airspace violations from Myanmar is causing death and injuries to the people inside Bangladesh territory, the Dhaka government announced.

Sporadic firing and shelling along the border killed a Rohingya child on September 16.

The foreign minister said recently that relations with Myanmar were almost nonexistent but Bangladesh understood China had very good relations with the regime.

He said Myanmars junta informed Bangladesh that it would honor all of Bangladeshs agreements with Myanmar.

Momen told the media: They will take back the Rohingya. They are saying they will provide safety and security and create a conducive environment to settle Rohingya. But nothing has happened after several days.

He said logistical issues about the return of Rohingya were being discussed. Myanmar is busy with domestic issues, Momen added.
Burma Myanmar Junta Troops Torch Six Sagaing Villages in One Day

Thabyay Yin Village seen after junta arson attacks on October 19. / CJ

Junta troops torched six villages in Taze, Sagaing Region on Wednesday, according to locals. Some 60 houses were razed in junta attacks that also forced residents from at least 16 villages to flee.

They started torching houses in Thabyay Yin Village. They also torched a rice mill and some houses in Thit Yar Pin Village. We estimate that some 60 houses were torched in six villages, a Peoples Defense Force (PDF) fighter from Ye-U told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

Some 120 junta troops from Light Infantry Battalion 368 and junta-affiliated Pyu Saw Htee militias have been raiding western Taze since October 15.

It had been months since junta troops last attacked villages in the west of Taze. They had only been raiding villages in the north and east of the township. But they came to the west on October 15 to carry out sort of area clearance operations, said a PDF fighter from Taze.

Junta troops also killed a cow for food during Wednesdays raid, according to Taze News.

The PDF fighter from Ye-U said: Most of the houses torched had ties to PDF fighters. Junta troops torched those houses after being directed by informants who are local residents.

Villagers said they fled out of fear of being abducted, killed, or used as human shields  crimes junta troops have routinely committed in raids on villages.

One displaced villager from Ywa Thit Village said: Once they raid a nearby village, we must flee because they can also enter our village. We are currently taking shelter at other villages and monasteries. Host villagers and PDFs supply food for us. We will return to our village once junta troops leave.

One resident from Thabyay Yin said: We are staying in the forest for now. Other villagers have fled to their relatives and some into the forest. It is not okay for us to flee whenever they come.

Local resistance groups attacked a junta column on Wednesday with mines, triggering a firefight that lasted for over 30 minutes and reportedly left several regime soldiers dead. Resistance fighters also attacked a local police station, resulting in more casualties.

One Taze PDF fighter said: We clashed with them near Kan Kalay Kon village. Some eight junta soldiers were killed in the fighting. We also raided Kan Htoo Ma police station. Three constables were killed and the police station chief was also injured.

The Irrawaddy could not independently verify junta casualties.

Junta troops also killed a 26-year-old man from Wa Ya Nge Village in Taze on Monday. Locals said the victim was a civilian, not a PDF fighter.

Meanwhile a 72-year-old woman from Kayan Chan Village died of exhaustion while fleeing a junta raid. Regime troops remained at Kan Htoo Ma Village on Thursday.

As of October 10, there were nearly 1.4 million internally displaced people across Myanmar, most of whom (989,400) have been displaced since last years military coup. Sagaing Region has been hardest hit with more than 500,000 people fleeing the fighting, according to a recent report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Burma Myanmar Revolutionaries Condemn Insein Prison Bombing

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Revolutionary forces have condemned the bombing of Insein Prison in Yangon, which left eight people dead on Wednesday morning.

Those killed included three prison staff and five visiting relatives of political detainees. The blast injured 18 others, including five staff and 13 civilians, according to the junta.

The Special Task Agency of Burma, a guerilla resistance group based in Yangon, claimed responsibility for the bombing on Thursday. The group, however, blamed the subsequent shooting of junta troops for the civilian deaths. It added that it has no ties with any political organization.

The civilian National Unity Government (NUG) condemned the bombing and vowed to prosecute anyone found responsible.

Revolutionary forces and political prisoners also slammed the bombing and demanded that perpetrators be held accountable.

Ko Min Thway Thit

A former student leader of the All Burma Federation of Student Union

No group with a brain will target the parcel drop-off counter opened exclusively for political prisoners. Yangon underground resistance fighters would never do this to harm political prisoners relatives.

According to those who send parcels, the packages are thoroughly checked.

It cannot have been easy to get a bomb inside. No matter which group did it, it is an unhuman and brainless act. They must be punished and be made to pay.

Ko Nay Phone Latt

NUG information officer

I condemn this no matter who did it. Those who did it must take responsibility. This incident has helped the regime gain advantages. The relatives of political prisoners died and the regime was given a reason to ban deliveries. This means prisoners are completely cut off from the outside world and we also dont know what is happening.

Finally, the junta got an opportunity to discredit the revolution.

U Tun Kyi

Former political prisoner

Civilian casualties are totally unacceptable. No matter who did it, it is an act of terrorism. I strongly condemn it. It is totally unacceptable.

Maung Saung Kaung

Leader of the Bamar Peoples Liberation Army

It is important not to target public places. The shooting at the Golden Rock pagoda [in Mon State] led the enemy to open fire indiscriminately once attacked. It undermines public trust in the revolution.
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The National Transition Council (CNT), which acts as a legislative body during the political transition in Mali, Thursday unanimously approved the bill on the militarisation of the National Police and Civil Protection, an official source told PANA
Burma NUG Slams Election Body for Inviting Myanmar Junta to Summit

The Junta-appointed Union Election Commission chairman Thein Soe, who is a former major general, and member Aung Moe Myint leave for the Fifth General Assembly of the Association of World Election Bodies in South Africa on 16 October.

Myanmars civilian National Unity Governments (NUG) foreign minister Daw Zin Mar Aung has condemned the Association of World Election Bodies (A-web) for inviting the junta to its summit in South Africa.

The junta on Sunday announced that the regimes Union Election Commissions (UEC) chairman Thein Soe and member Aung Moe Myint will attend the fifth A-web general assembly in Cape Town from October 17 to 22 at the invitation of the South African election commission and A-web.

Daw Zin Mar Aung, an elected National League for Democracy MP, wrote that was disappointed by the invitation to the illegally constituted and junta-appointed UEC.

The NLD won landslide victories in the 2015 and 2020 general elections. Domestic and international monitoring groups said the poll was largely free and fair and widely representative of the will of the people.

However, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing seized power, using electoral fraud as an excuse and jailed State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint on an array of charges.

The regime has detained NLD ministers, and lawmakers and prosecuted original UEC members on a variety of charges.

The junta has since formed a new commission and appointed Thein Soe as its head to oversee an election planned for August 2023. The former major general oversaw the 2010 general election, which was widely criticized as a sham.

Daw Zin Mar Aung said A-webs website says it was founded to spread free, fair, transparent and well-attended elections.

But inviting the representatives of a regime which is responsible for atrocities makes a mockery of the organizations vision, the minister added. She demanded that the invitation be withdrawn.

The Facebook pages of A-web and the South African election commission were flooded with demands for the invitation to be withdrawn, prompting A-web to limit those who can comment on posts.

It said: We note the comments and the serious matters they raise.

A-web is a non-political and voluntary association of members.
Burma Resistance Besieges Karen Town; Myanmar Junta Counters With Airstrikes

Fierce fighting broke out between junta forces and resistance groups in Kawkareik Township on Friday.

Myanmar junta fighter jets have attacked Kawkareik in Karen State, killing at least two residents and injuring 16 others, including six children, according to the White Tiger Battalion.

Fierce fighting broke out between junta forces and resistance groups in Kawkareik Township on Friday morning. With troops on the ground losing control and suffering casualties, the junta conducted indiscriminate aerial bombing and artillery shelling.

A Kawkakeik man and woman were killed by bombs launched by the fighter jets from the Hmawbi air force base. The group said it expected the death toll to rise.

Pyar Pin, Kaung Hmu, Tada U, Kha Nain Munand Yan Kote villages in the township have all been hit.

The White Tiger Battalion, one of the armed groups fighting with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) against the junta in Kawkareik, said two fighters had been dropping bombs for hours.

We expected it and prepared before we attacked this week, the group announced.

Combined Karen revolutionary forces surrounded the militarys Infantry Battalion 97 stationed in the center of Karen States Kawkareik Township after launching simultaneous attacks. The junta sent two jet fighters and two helicopters were deployed after ground forces had lost heavily to the KNLA and its allies.

The resistance groups said on Friday they had surrounded Infantry Battalion 97 stationed in the center of the town and reportedly opened its prison.

Amid fierce fighting in Kawkareik, junta troops and Border Guard Forces in Myawaddy have been preparing for attacks, closing schools and regime offices early on Friday, according to residents.

The Lion Battalion Commando Special Force, another KNLA ally, stated that the attack is the start of a new form of urban warfare.
Burma UN Urges Myanmars Neighbors to Stop Forced Returns

An injured Myanmar refugee is put on a stretcher before being transported to a hospital in Mae Sam Lap, Thailand after crossing the Salween River from Myanmar while fleeing air strikes in Karen State following the February 2021 military coup. / AFP

GENEVAThe UN on Thursday urged Myanmars neighbors to stop the forced return of the countrys nationals, saying countless lives were being placed at risk.

The UNs refugee agency UNHCR said it was gravely concerned about multiple reports of refoulementthe forcible return of refugees and asylum seekerssince February 2021 from countries neighboring Myanmar.

The agency is urgently appealing to countries in the region to immediately stop forced returns of Myanmar nationals seeking safety from serious harm.

We repeat our call on states to continue offering protection to Myanmar nationals fleeing for safety. This also includes ending the practice of indefinite detention of asylum seekers and refugees from Myanmar, said Gillian Triggs, UNHCRs assistant high commissioner for protection.

The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since a military coup last year, with swathes of the country engulfed by fighting.

More than 2,300 people have been killed in the militarys crackdown on dissent since the coup, which rights groups say includes razing villages, mass extrajudicial killings and air strikes on civilians.

The junta blames anti-coup fighters for the deaths of almost 3,900 civilians.

Triggs said the violence was driving people to flee and that they should be allowed to seek asylum abroad and be protected against refoulement.
War Against the Junta Bloodied but Unbowed: Myanmars Wounded Resistance Fighters Vow to Uproot Junta

Resistance fighters Hein Htet, Raven (Kyee Kan) and Wild Boar.

Raven and the team were almost finished affixing the bombs to the drones in preparation for an attack on junta forces in Myanmars southern jungle when the accident occurred. A devastating series of explosions decimated the squad, leaving many dead or with life-altering injuries in the worst such disaster to hit any of Myanmars armed resistance groups so far this year.

Raven (Kyee Kan in Burmese) was just a short distance away when a shock was felt and then nearly two dozen bombs exploded, just five minutes before the drones were due to take off.

The first blast was so loud it deafened him, leaving him unable to hear the subsequent explosions. A huge orange ball of fire engulfed him and his young brother Hein Htet, another member of the team, the blasts knocking them spread-eagled to the ground.

Hein Htet was making a final check on a drone and was nearest the bombs when they exploded. Raven tried to reach to his brother but immediately collapsed to the ground as one of his legs was shredded, before losing consciousness.

When he came to, he learned that his brother had been killed on the spot and that his leg would have to be amputated.

Six of the team members were killed and five injured in the explosions.

Frontline attack unit

The drone attack unitwhich before the accident consisted of 13 members, mostly in their 20shad always been on the front lines, bravely fighting against the powerful regime with their drones in Karen State, where clashes are reported almost daily.

They used the aircraft to scout enemy positions, bomb and ambush junta bases and patrols, destroy regime forces heavy weapons, and help resistance fighters find advantageous positions and claim battlefield success against heavily armed junta soldiers.

Raven, a 29-year-old resistance fighter, said he had no regrets at all over the loss of his beloved brother and one of his legs, as he had prepared himself for any eventuality when he took up arms. In addition to having a leg amputated, he still has a piece of shrapnel in his head, and has required abdominal surgery and treatment for a burned arm.

We both knew that we could die any time, but made up our minds to fight, he said.

After the military seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021, toppling the civilian government, thousands of young people from across the country sought training from ethnic armed groups and took up arms to defeat the barbaric military regime. They are now known collectively as the Peoples Defense Force (PDF), the armed wing of the parallel civilian National Unity Government (NUG).

The armed resistance is still going strong and can claim considerable success after more than a year-and-a-half of combat, but the PDFs, fighting alongside allied ethnic groups in Myanmars various states and regions, are paying a heavy price for it. According to data from the NUGs Ministry of Defense, at least 1,500 resistance fighters have died in the clashes, and more than a thousand have been left with serious injuries they will carry for the rest of their lives.

Now, Raven and the other team members wounded in the accident are sheltering in a safehouse, undergoing surgery and receiving treatment for their injuries.

While their bodies are scarred and their movement has been affected by permanent injuries, their determination to uproot the military dictatorshipthe goal that their fallen comrades couldnt reachremains vividly apparent, and is matched by the sacrifices and determination of resilient resistance fighters nationwide who have willingly given up everything to fight for their country and for democracy.

Revolutionary brothers

Until last year, brothers Raven and Hein Htet, 25, were professional videographers with handsome incomes and promising careers.

Their interests were in videography, gadgets and production. And among those whom they captured on video are Myanmars now detained elected leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, other public figures, business elites and celebrities. Both also dutifully cast their ballots for Daw Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) in the 2020 general election, hoping for a better future.

But their life story dramatically changed when the military seized power, overthrew the democratically elected civilian government and arrested State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint.

The two left behind the career they loved and joined the resistance. At first, they took part in street protests, demonstrating peacefully. But after the military ignored the peoples voiceas it always hasand started cracking down on protesters with deadly force, they were among those members of the defense teams who stood at the front of the columns to defend their fellow protesters in Yangon with makeshift barricades, smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails.

Later, the pair decided to take up arms as the juntas killings of unarmed civilians and peaceful protesters mounted day by day.

Raven has a wife and two young daughters, while Hein Htet lived with and closely cared for their mother, who is sick with the last stages of liver cancer.

Vowing to topple the military dictatorship, the two left their homes in April 2021 and joined the earliest batch of young people who underwent military training with the Karen National Union in a jungle. After training, they became members of an urban guerrilla force in Yangon.

Raven recalled one occasion on which, as guerrilla fighters, they came close to being caught. Both were prepared to attack the junta forces with all the explosives they had and blow themselves up, rather than allow themselves to be arrested and killed. Only around 50 out of 200 trained fighters from their batch remain now; the others have all been arrested or killed, or gone missing.

In August 2021 the two, both tech savvy, returned to a jungle camp with the idea of using their knowledge of civilian drone technology in battle against the better-equipped junta troops.

Drones designed to support cameras are increasingly being adapted by PDFs amid reports of successful attacks on junta forces both inland and on water. But the testing and attaching of high-explosive bombs to drones carries great risks.

Raven said that when it comes to manufacturing weapons as well as adapting drones for warfare, while the military has established safety protocols, as well as research and production infrastructure, the PDFs have no such capacity, lacking experience, funds and materials.

Many [resistance fighters] are injured or killed by their own weapons, as we have to make them on our own, he added.

Their mother was informed of her sons fate on the day of the accident. She responded by expressing pride in the sacrifices made by her two brave sons for the revolution. Her single wish for them was: May the revolution succeed at the soonest.

Raven created a remembrance video collecting memories of times shared with his fallen brother Hein Htet.

Six months since the accident, the NUG has yet to issue a letter honoring the groups fallen heroes, including Hein Htet, although the team reported the accident and casualties, according to members.

Meanwhile, unbowed, Raven continues the fight against the junta in whatever way he can.

Never give up your dreams

Since he is still hospitalized, he has busied himself by doing work to help other drone teams, such as arranging to distribute instructional materials for equipment, and helping them to find funds.

He helps set up drones and solves technical problems for fighters on the ground in conflict areas.

Working with Wild Boar, another team member who also lost a leg in the accident, he also creates content including a food vlog and a line of food products under the name Sar Bal Gyi (Mr. Glutton) for Click to Donate, an online platform where anyone can click on links posted by them and make donations in aid of the revolution.

Repurposing his videography skills, Raven now shoots and edits the vlog Sar Bal Gyi hosted by Wild Boar in which the latter cooks, eats and talks with guests, posting the programs on the platform.

Raven said the aim of the program is to motivate people suffering daily atrocities under the military regime, showing that even those who have lost limbs can continue to pursue their dreams, remaining strong and supporting the revolution.

They also help to sell the Sar Bal Gyi line of food products to raise funds for armed resistance groups. The proceeds are used to fund the program, cover the rehabilitation costs of wounded fighters, and support resistance groups, he said.

Trying to support resistance fighters from behind the scenes doesnt fully satisfy Raven, however; he is eager to get back to the front when he is strong enough.

I dont want to bequeath this [military dictatorship] to my daughters; instead I want to leave only good for them, he added.

Resistance fighter-turned-food blogger

The 27-year-old Wild Boarthe nickname was given to him by his comradessuffered severe injuries to his leg, arm and face during the explosions on April 6, with his leg amputated at the hip.

He initially wanted to die, so bad was the pain of his wounds. But after seeing a resistance fighter who lost both legs and an arm, but who refused to dwell on his losses and kept smiling, he decided he had to move forward.

Eschewing crutches and hopping around on one leg inside the safehouse, which he shares with other wounded resistance fighters, Wild Boar now energetically cooks and hosts eating shows for the Sar Bal Gyi program, doing his part to support the frontline fighters.

Wild Boar talks about how he happened to start the Sar Bal Gyi program.

But unlike other food vloggers, sitting for long periods is hard for Wild Boar. He once suddenly lost his balance and fell on the floor while filming an eating segment for the show.

He refuses to let the loss of a limb get him down, however.

I take it as a badge of pride and whenever look at it [where his leg used to be], I want to prevent people from facing the same fate as me and grow more determined that they [the dictators] must be uprooted.

Our blood is not pink, its red

Before the coup, freestyle rapper Tikyi, 21, was only interested in rapping. American rapper J Cole is his idol. And in the 2020 general election, he exercised his right as a first-time voter, casting a ballot for Daw Aung San Suu Kyis party.

When the military annulled the election results following the coup, Tikyi felt it was unacceptable and joined the protests. In a crackdown on anti-coup protesters, he lost the person who was closest to him in the worldhis younger brotherat the hands of junta soldiers.

His brother, 18, who had just finished high school, was gunned down and killed by junta troops in Yangon in a brutal crackdown on an anti-coup protest shortly after the takeover.

They were warned by their parents of the danger of being shot, and even killed, before joining the protest, but Tikyi remembers his brother telling him that, while he was aware of the risks, My brother, our blood is not pink, its red. We wont give up.

Tikyis brother was in the defense line at the front of the protest column chanting democracy slogans when junta forces started firing on the protesters. A bullet pierced the makeshift shield with which he was covering his body. He picked up his blood-soaked younger brother and rushed him to an ambulance, but on the way to a hospital, the young man died.

Tikyi later underwent military training in Sagaing Region and became a guerrilla fighter operating underground for several months in Yangon and carrying out successful missions against junta targets. After several of his comrades were arrested, he returned to the jungle camps.

We dont want the next generation to suffer like us. If we dont win this time, they will have to live through abuses and oppression for their whole lives, Tikyi said, explaining his motivation for joining the armed resistance.

While on a mountainside undergoing training to become a commando, Tikyi fell and struck his waist on a rock. But it was only the next morning, when a superior struck him in the same area with a wooden rifle as punishment for having poor posture during drills, that he realized he was seriously injured.

Now receiving treatment in a safe place, he shared his determination to go back once he recovers to fight against the regime.

I will continue to fight them, he added. But Tikyi pointed out that in order for the revolution to succeed, the NUG leadership needs to bring the many different resistance groups together.

We have the people. We have spirit and belief. What we need is unity to overthrow them.

In his free time the rapper-turned-freedom fighter still composes and raps about the revolution and the feelings and emotions shared by himself and his comrades.

Food vendor-turned-determined fighter

Only if those demons are eradicated, will we be free, insisted Ko Aung Gyi, an ethnic Karen from Ayeyarwady Region.

Before the coup, he sold crispy fried pork lard in Yangon, making a good living out of it.

We enjoyed freedom and even received support from Amay Suu [Daw Aung San Suu Kyi]s government during the pandemic. But it was all destroyed by the coup, he said.

Those guys are really bad. Because of them, our people are in deep trouble, he continued.

Angered by the coup, which overthrew the civilian government for which he voted so that it could continue to rule for a second term in 2020, he took part in peaceful protests following the military takeover, and later joined the armed struggle to uproot the military dictatorship.

When we win, I want the [ousted] civilian government to return to power, he said.

On April 4 this year, he was hit in the head by shrapnel from heavy artillery shells fired by junta forces as his column was attempting to ambush a junta base in Karen State.

He went into a coma and lay in bed for nearly two months. His friends said he escaped death by sheer luck. But the injury still affects his nervous system, causing him difficulties with speaking and moving.

I will never surrender. I will fight them again once I recover, the 33-year-old ethnic Karen said, struggling to speak each word one by one.

Bago resistance fighter

Nway Oo, who was a member of the same team as Raven, dreams of being a chief minister in his native Bago Region and working for the people. He was a campaigner for NLD candidates in Bago ahead of the 2020 general election.

If not for the coup, Nway Oo would never have had reason to take up arms. He said he had to break up with his long-time girlfriend, who disagreed with his decision to join the armed resistance.

A close friend of fallen comrade Hein Htet, Nway Oo was among those injured in the April 6 accident. He was hit in the foot and lower waist by shrapnel from the explosion. Before the blast, he could walk for the whole day in the jungle. Now, he cant walk for longer than one hour.

Nway Oo now volunteers for radio programs, reporting on the fighting and the juntas atrocities in resistance strongholds.

He shared his comrades confidence that the junta will surely be defeated. And it will be quick if all play their roles dutifully, he added.

Hes not alone in believing the revolution will prevail, and that, sooner or later, the Myanmar people will have their stolen liberty, rights and everyday lives restored to them.

We will fight till we win and end this [military dictatorship] in our generation, Raven said.
War Against the Junta Heavy Fighting Between Myanmar Junta, Resistance Reported in Karens Kawkareik

Members of the KNU's armed wing, the KNLA, on parade / The Irrawaddy

Fierce fighting broke out between junta troops and combined forces of Karen revolutionary troops in Karen States Kawkareik Township on Friday.

Locals have reported aerial bombing by the regime. One civilian was killed and two others injured as mortar shells fired by the Myanmar militarys Infantry Battalion 97 (LB 97) struck residential areas, according to local sources.

The fighting broke out around 7 a.m. [Resistance forces] launched the attack, and people were hit when LB 97 responded. One was killed and two others injured. Buddhist monasteries and houses were also hit. A junta aircraft started bombing and firing at around 10 a.m. in some five locations. People in the town are trapped, said a Kawkareik resident.

One source close to the Karen National Union (KNU) said: We just saw a junta aircraft flying over us. I heard that it dropped bombs on the Asian Highway [a trade route linking Kawkareik and Myawaddy on the Thai border], as well as on Kawkareik town. It is Bo L Say Warrs group that launched the offensive. There were junta casualties. And I heard [Bo L Say Warrs group] also torched junta checkpoints.

Bo L Say Warr previously served in the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO), one of the armed wings of the KNU. He currently serves in the Kaw Thoo Lei Army (KTLA) led by Brigadier General Saw Nedah Mya, who split from the KNU. The KTLA was established in July.

On Friday morning troops led by Bo L Say Warr carried out a series of surprise attacks on junta targets including Ka Nein Mu Ward, the district police office near the towns toll gate, and an interdepartmental administrative office.

A senior officer from the KNU told The Irrawaddy: Three people including a policeman have died. KNU and Peoples Defense Force fighters as well as L Say Warrs troops from the KTLA are involved. The clash happened near the civil servants staff quarters on the outskirts of the town.

The Irrawaddy is still confirming details of the fighting and civilian casualties caused by the juntas air strikes.

In August, Karen National Liberation Army-led resistance forces attacked the district police office and the General Administration Department office in Kawkareik. Twelve junta personnel including a police major were killed and weapons were seized in the fighting, according to the KNU. Several civilians were injured as the regime fired around 50 rounds of artillery in the fighting.
War Against the Junta Nearly 20 Myanmar Regime Troops Killed in Three Days of Resistance Attacks

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Nearly 20 Myanmar junta troops were reportedly killed in the last three days as Peoples Defense Force groups (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) continued their attacks on regime targets across the country.

Meanwhile, indiscriminate attacks by regime forces including air strikes resulted in civilian casualties including a pregnant woman, and the destruction of civilian properties.

Incidents were reported in Chin, Kayah, Mon and Karen states and Mandalay, Sagaing, Magwe and Bago regions.

The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks by PDFs and EAOs, as well as the latest junta atrocities.

Three junta soldiers killed in ambush on helicopter in Kayah

Three regime forces were killed and six others injured in Shadaw Township, Kayah State on Wednesday afternoon when the Karenni Army (KA) and its ally the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) ambushed a junta helicopter transporting ammunition and food for the militarys Infantry Battalion 428 and a junta outpost in the township, the KA claimed.

The ethnic army said it attacked the helicopter from close range but didnt provide details of damage to the chopper.

A 15-year-old child and another 50-year-old resident were seriously injured by junta explosives in the shootout.

Two regime forces killed by PDF drone strikes in Karen

Two junta soldiers were confirmed killed in Myawaddy Township, Karen State on Wednesday night when the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)s Cobra Column and the allied Federal Wings Drone force used drones to bomb soldiers of the Myanmar militarys Infantry Battalion 207, which was attempting to occupy the Luukhoe area, according to Cobra Column.

Four regime forces reportedly killed in Chin

Four regime forces are believed to have been killed and many others injured in Kanpetlet Township, Chin State early Thursday morning when a fierce clash broke out between regime forces and PDF sentries from Chin Defense Force-Kanpetlet, the resistance group said.

After sustaining heavy casualties, the regime forces intentionally bombarded the town of Kanpetlet and villages nearby.

The resistance group has urged residents to dig bomb shelters due to the regimes indiscriminate attacks.

Three junta soldiers killed by land mines in Mandalay

Three regime troops were killed and 14 others injured in Madaya Township, Mandalay Region on Thursday morning when three combined PDF groups used land mines to ambush a military detachment of 70 troops in the east of the township, claimed Natsoe PDF, which was involved in the ambush.

Following the ambush, regime forces burned down houses in nearby Kyaukse Lay Village.

Three regime forces killed by PDF drone strikes in Mandalay

Regime forces being bombed by a drone in Natogyi Township on Wednesday. / Natogyi-PDF

Natogyi-PDF claimed on Thursday that three junta soldiers were killed when it conducted drone strikes on a military checkpoint and regime bases on the Natogyi-Taungtha road near Shwe Kyar Inn Village in the township.

PDF video shows a drone dropping bombs on regime targets.

Pregnant woman among three civilians killed in junta air strikes in Sagaing

At least three civilians including a woman who was six months pregnant were killed in Yinmabin Township, Sagaing Region on Wednesday morning when two Russian-made Mi-35 helicopter gunships attacked villages on the border of Yinmabin and Pale Townships while being rounded up by regime soldiers dropped off by two other choppers, said Myauk Yatmar PDF, a local resistance group.

In the air raid, 200 residents were arrested by regime forces. After releasing some villager detainees, the regime forces continued to detain many others to use as human shields in order to deter attacks by local resistance forces, the PDF group said.

Civilian houses destroyed by junta air strikes in Sagaing

Several houses were destroyed and burned down after being bombed by junta fighter jets following an intense clash between junta foot soldiers and combined Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and PDF forces near Awang Gone Village in Indaw Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday night, said Indaw Revolution (IR), the media wing of local PDF groups.

The clash broke out when the combined resistance group attacked 60 regime forces approaching the village in preparation to mount a raid. Junta jet fighters also continued to bombard three villages nearby.

In the air strike, a woman resident suffered minor injuries.

On Wednesday, a junta police officer was killed in the township when local resistance forces raided a military checkpoint in the township.

Military vehicles ambushed with land mines in Sagaing

The Peoples Army to Fight Dictatorship claimed that it and two other PDF groups jointly ambushed three military vehicles in Myinmu Township, Sagaing Region on Thursday night using a cluster of five land mines.

Before the ambush, the convoy from Military Division 33 was randomly opening fire while traveling from Sagaing to Monywa. Military casualties were unknown.

Regime forces ambushed in Sagaing

Many regime forces are believed to have been killed or injured on Tuesday when People Revolution Front (Wetlet) and other PDF groups ambushed regime forces torching farm huts outside Sakhantha Village in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region, the PDF groups said on Wednesday.

PDF fighters retreated from the clash without any casualties.

Police station and military checkpoint bombed in Sagaing

Six PDF groups jointly bombed a military checkpoint and police station in the town of Depayin in Sagaing Region on Wednesday, said Snake Eyes-PDF, which was involved in the attack.

The PDF fighters abandoned their attempt to attack regime forces chasing them in a civilian vehicle, to avoid harming the civilians. Military casualties in the bombing attacks were unknown.

Four regime soldiers killed in ambush, shootout in Mon State

Two junta soldiers were killed and another injured in Kyaikto Township, Mon State on Wednesday morning when a vehicle in a military convoy was hit in a mine ambush by local resistance forces on the Yangon-Mawlamyaing highway, said Kyaikhto Revolution and Information Network, the media wing of local PDF groups.

On that same morning, two soldiers were killed in the township when PDF groups attacked a military detachment outside Painnwegone Village. After the ambush, regime forces torched eight houses and three motorbikes in the village.

Two male villagers are missing after being detained by the detachment.

Regime forces attacked by PDF drones in Magwe

The PDF group Anonymous Special Task Force-Pauk said on Thursday that it attacked regime forces from a military detachment in Pauk Township, Magwe Region on Wednesday using two drones.

Starting on Oct. 12, the detachment burned houses and school buildings in two villages during a series of raids on eight villages and beheaded a teacher of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG).

In response to the atrocities, the PDF group said it bombed regime forces taking a rest at a pagoda compound as well as on a military base using M9 bombs and improvised bombs.

Military casualties were unknown. PDF videos show regime forces and a junta outpost being targeted by a drone dropping several bombs.

Regime forces raided in Bago

Some regime soldiers are believed to have been killed in Nyaunglaypin Township, Bago Region on Thursday night when PDF fighters of Kyaukgyi Urban Guerrilla unit raided junta forces stationed at the house of junta-appointed administrator U Tin Maung Than in Kaukkawe Village, said Bago Region-PDF.

In the shootout, PDF groups managed to hit targets using 40-mm explosives. The group said the raid was a part of Operation Nann Htike Aung aimed at regime targets.

On that afternoon, the PDF group assassinated U Nay Win, the junta-appointed administrator of Jaungta Village in the township.

Police outpost raided by PDF in Bago

Resistance fighters of Tharyarwaddy PDF Battalion 3802 raided the junta police outpost in Wine Village in Oakpho Township, Bago Region at 2 a.m. Thursday, Bago Region-PDF group said.

Some regime police officers were killed and injured during the shootout, but the exact numbers were unknown.
If you agree with any one of the following statements, you must vote No on Referendum Question 4:

- You live in Key Biscayne because of its character and small-town feel.

- You recognize that overdeveloping a barrier island is dangerous and against best practices for resiliency.

- Traffic is a problem on Key Biscayne.

- There is no room in our 1.3 square mile Village for additional infrastructure.

- Our zoning policy is what distinguishes us from the rest of South Florida and protects our quality of life and investments.

Key Biscayne Referendum Question 4  titled, Approval Required for Amendments to Land Development Regulations  is unnecessary and has the unintended consequence of eviscerating the character of our community.

Why? Because it removes the only protection we have against overdevelopment. In the South Florida landscape of aggressive developers, your voice and your vote as residents and electors is powerful. It has proven to be highly effective in protecting the character of the Village and managing growth as envisioned in the Key Biscayne Master and subsequent Comprehensive Plans.

Facts:

The Key Biscayne comprehensive development plan aims to prevent any new development. These policies exist for many good reasons including to protect taxpayer investments in infrastructure and to safeguard neighbors.

The Key Biscayne Master Plan and related documents establish the following:

- The Village is built out.

- Key Biscayne is a residential community.

- Development policies should protect its residential character.

- Future residential development shall be at the lowest densities consistent with protection of reasonable property rights.

- The Village anticipates no changes to densities or to the Future Land Use that currently exists.

- Commercial development is not likely to change in any significant way,

Click here to read Key Biscayne's 2018 Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) of the Comprehensive Plan.

Councils come and go. They are not experts in land use. You cannot control their make-up or their decisions. In 2006, the residents of Key Biscayne got burned and they took action.

My decision to volunteer for office in Key Biscayne was heavily influenced by watching a Council made up of mostly Realtors, who, despite existing land development policies that prioritized the small town residential character of our municipality, approved every site plan and variance that came before them without what I and many other residents deemed was the proper scrutiny on impacts.

I genuinely believe that the group was well intentioned but myopic. Fortunately, our community acted by championing and adopting the current version of Section 4.15 of the Village Charter.

So why is this protective section of our Village Charter being challenged? The truth is in plain sight. The electors/residents are either deemed unimportant, or they get in the way of some folks plans and they are being erased. The Resolution passed by the Village Council placing the proposed Charter Amendment on the November 8 ballot tracks the changes. It strikes the vote of the electors and adds a very consequential or. Never has an or been so important because it takes away the community/electors ability to help enforce Key Biscaynes land use policies.

Key Biscayne Referendum Question 4 turns our guiding principles for land use policies on their head by eliminating the only safeguard residents have against increased density and overdevelopment. The key to our success as a small, vibrant town has been our responsible approach to growth. Ironically, it has been the residents and their power as electors to approve amendments to density and intensity land development regulations that have kept overdevelopment at bay.

Charter Referendum Question 4 serves to weaken our growth rules to allow dense and inappropriate construction on our barrier island. Dont believe me? Take a look at the 2040 Vision Plan. It re-envisions our commercial district into a densely overbuilt concrete canyon and uses sustainability as a ruse for allowing significant additional residential and commercial overdevelopment. Vague promises are used to instill fear and make development more palatable, and open the flood gates to reckless development.

While some supporters claim that this Charter change will be limited to commercial redevelopment, this is an unrealistic and irresponsible assertion. Taking away the voter/resident approval on projects that increase density and intensity opens opportunities to aggressively redevelop the following commercial and residential areas: the entry block, Harbor Plaza, Ocean Lane Drive, Crandon Boulevard, Galen Drive, Sunrise, East Enid, Ocean Drive, Fernwood Road, Le Phare, Esplanade Mall, Seaview Road and Grapetree Road. Why? Because a vote by the residents/electors is a real challenge in an educated community that values its quality of life.

I served you for eight years and addressed many land use issues. The Councils that I served were not hampered or restricted from legislating responsibly because of the said Charter Amendment on density and intensity. We have continuously improved and changed the building code to match the needs of our community, and we have made needed adjustments for sustainability and resiliency. We approved the Oceana project and the 101 Sunrise project.

Please think before you vote. Do not give away your power to oppose bad developments on Key Biscayne. It happened before and, without the current safeguards afforded by our current Charter, it will happen again.

I will be voting No on Referendum Question 4, and I strongly urge you to vote No.

Mayra Pena Lindsay is a former Mayor of Key Biscayne (2014-2018)
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Martin Griffiths, Thursday expressed concern about the humanitarian situation in the country
The round, which brings the companys total funding to $US156 million since 2020, was led by global software investor Insight Partners with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, HarbourVest Partners, SE Ventures, PSP Growth and existing investors including Telstra Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures and others.

This investment will be used to accelerate the growth of the company's rebate management platform, which manufacturers, distributors, and retailers use to easily manage their rebate strategies and turn them into an engine for growth. In addition to the raise, Philine Huizing from Insight Partners will join Enables board of directors.

Enable helps manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to take control of their rebate programs and turn them into an engine for growth. Starting with nance and commercial teams, Enable helps them better manage rebate complexity and optimise sales and prot with automated real-time data and insights, accurate forecasting, and stronger cross-functional alignment.

This lets the teams  and everyone in the business  know exactly where they are with rebates internally and across the supply chain. Enable then creates a pathway for businesses to reach out externally to suppliers and customers, driving purchasing behaviour through one collaborative place to author, agree upon, execute on, and track the progress of deals.

"It's our goal to ensure rebate strategists, CFOs, and chief purchasing ocers have the key information they need at their ngertips in order to drive the next best decision for their business," said Andrew Butt, Co-founder & CEO of Enable.

"Until now, it's been nearly impossible to get accurate, up-to-date, granular data that lets you understand your true rebate returns, and that lets you accurately forecast and accrue for rebates. Enable's rebate management platform lets you do this while collaborating internally and across your supply chain on one trusted platform."

As market forces like ination, consolidation, direct-to-consumer eorts, and continually rising customer expectations shape and reshape supply chains like never before, Enables growth has been skyrocketing.

In this environment, ecient management of rebate complexity has become a critical challenge for manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. Rebates are key to driving behaviour and trust among supply chain partners, and they are also critical for rebuilding the loyalty and trust that has eroded due to market forces.

Rebate management in spreadsheets is untenable today as rebates have become more frequent, complex and critical to protability for millions of trusted trading relationships, said Philine Huizing, Principal at Insight Partners.

With Enables top-notch leadership team, tremendous growth, and scalable rebate product, the company is well-positioned to solve these challenges. Were thrilled to partner with Andrew and team on this exciting next chapter in Enables ScaleUp journey.

The funding comes at a time of rapid growth for Enable. The company is transcending its revenue goal and is on a trajectory to more than double its revenue by year end.

Along with surpassing key metrics, there has been a signicant team expansion, from 100 employees two years ago to over 400 employees today, and thousands of companies are using Enable across North America, Europe, and Australia. To accommodate this growth, Enable opened a facility in Toronto, Ontario last year and a fourth location in Sydney, Australia last month.

ABOUT ENABLE

Enable helps manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to take control of their rebate programs and turn them into an engine for growth. Starting with nance and commercial teams, Enable helps you better manage rebate complexity with automated real-time data and insights, accurate forecasting and stronger cross-functional alignment. This lets you  and everyone in your business  know exactly where you are with rebates. Then you can extend Enable externally to suppliers and customers, setting them up with one collaborative place to author, agree upon, execute on, and track the progress of deals.

ABOUT INSIGHT PARTNERS

Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet start-up and scale-up companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of June 30, 2022, the rm has over $80B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 700 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has oces in London, Tel Aviv, and Palo Alto. Insight's mission is to nd, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on software expertise to foster long-term success. Insight Partners meets great software leaders where they are in their growth journey, from their rst investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit w https://www.google.com/url?q=http://ww.insightpartners.com&source=gmail&ust=1666398163107000&usg=AOvVaw2BVhMl3Y2GFGR62mCKRGGl">ww.insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners.
JOIN BLUETTI ALL ENERGY 2022: BLUETTI, a global leader in clean energy storage industry, will debut its latest power stations, including EP600---the product of 2023, at All Energy 2022 which will take place in Melbourne, Australia from October 26 to October 27, 2022.

BLUETTI leverages the accumulated R&D strengths to offer a series of advanced energy storage products, like AC200MAX, AC300+B300, EB70, EB55 and solar panels. In particular, the following 3 latest releases highlight BLUETTI's groundbreaking innovation in solar energy solutions.

Its 100%modular. Its capacity can reach 18.432Wh by connecting with 6 expansion batteries. It can deliver a 5.000W pure sine wave output and will hit the AU market on September 1. Come and get your first-hand experience with the power.

This compact power station is light in weight(4.6kg) and large in capacity(268Wh). It features 330W fast charging that enables an 80% charge in 40min. Plus, it has 9 ports to satisfy all your basic needs during picnics or short travels.

BLUETTI will also show its latest power station with disruptive technology ---EP600, which can run most home appliances with ease and is expected to hit the market in 2023. It will be a milestone for the industry.

Dates: Oct 26 to Oct 27, 2022

Time: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Location: Booth No: J101, Area 18 MCEC, Melbourne, Australia

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With Australia in a fairly messy situation as far as network security is concerned, it is somewhat curious to note that the Australia Strategic Policy Institute is trying to lobby for the complete adoption of digital identity.

This is the equivalent of saying that one should digitise a confusing analog setup, in the hope that it would suddenly morph into something efficient.

What always happens when a confused set-up is digitised is that the mess is magnified. Computerisation is very good at that  no fault of the discipline, but that's just the way it is.

It is even more puzzling that the lobbying for digital identity comes from Fergus Hanson, director of the International Cyber Policy Centre at ASPI, who is touted as a cyber security expert by that august media organ, the Australian Financial Review.

Hanson makes reference to the somewhat half-arsed effort at digital ID by the government, which he says has not been used far and wide because it "was built to solve the problems of government departments, while the needs of the Australian public came second".

One is inclined to think that someone who has _any_ expertise in security would be advocating that people hold off on making the mess even worse.

Funding received by ASPI from private-sector organisations in 2020-21. Courtesy ASPI

Over the last month or so, Australia has been witness to seven major data breaches, starting with the telco Singtel Optus, followed by Telstra, G4S, Costa Group, Dialog, MyDeal and Medibank Group.

Given this, it should be obvious that some very big companies in this vast brown land have little or no idea about safeguarding digital information. Or perhaps they simply don't care.

It's not only Australian firms who are incompetent in this regard; last evening I filed a report about what is possibly the biggest B2B leak - due to Microsoft failing to secure an endpoint. And if any company has money to burn, then it is Microsoft. It has enough and more due to alleged tax minimisation.

In the existing situation, trying to enforce digital identity is simply silly. First, business has to get the basics right, and then move on to advanced matters. One does not put long pants on a baby right away; everyone starts with pampers.

The most important aspect of any form of ID is that it has to be secured properly. Companies are showing that they cannot do this and that is the most compelling reason to advocate against wide-scale adoption of digital identity. Once a digital identity is stolen, it is curtains, especially for the technologically-illiterate.

Funding received by ASPI from defence-related private-sector organisations in 2020-21. Courtesy ASPI

So why would this so-called cyber-security expert be trundling this barrow at this time?

Hanson works for an organisation which, despite proclaiming to world+dog that it is an independent, non-partisan think-tank, is actually a lobby group for big international defence and tech firms. I guess we all need our little delusions to get by.

The organisation gets $4 million every year from the Defence Department and a good bit more from various companies in the defence and tech sectors. Money for nothing, as Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits sang many years ago.

ASPI's own reports list the technology companies from which it draws sustenance and I'm willing to bet that many of those companies would definitely be interested in being involved in a digital ID initiative. That is, if they do not already have a paw in the current scheme which, as Hanson points out, is estimated to cost $600 million.

ASPI has been behind many bogus claims in the past, one being that Five Eyes countries spread no disinformation on Twitter. A second was that the US has never interfered in elections in other countries.

And then, of course, there was the famous effort by another so-called ASPI researcher, Elise Thomas, who tried to smear the Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor Huawei Technologies, but ended up getting several facts mixed up and cutting rather a sorry figure.

Given this rich history of spreading misinformation, anything emanating from the portals of this organisation about digital security and defence should be viewed with extreme suspicion.
The front of the Pad Air.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo has taken its first steps into the tablet market, announcing the launch of its Pad Air tablet  yes, the name does ring a bell  in the Australian market on Monday.

The company said in a statement the device  to be sold for $379 and available for purchase from 27 October  would round out its offerings which include smartphones, wearable and hearable devices.

It described the tablet as "extremely light", adding that it "features a gorgeous two-tone metal splicing design and comes equipped with the new ColorOS for Pad, improving the user experience with smart and smooth interactions".

Oppo Australia managing director Michael Tran said he believed the Pad Air was a natural expansion to the company's product portfolio.

As a business weve been working really hard to develop an ecosystem of products that our consumers would love," he said.

The rear view of the Oppo Pad Air. Supplied

"Our tablet has been in development for some time now, but we wanted to ensure the product was perfect before bringing it to market. Were confident weve achieved that.

Not only does the Pad Air look great, the performance, and in particular the ColorOS operating system, means consumers can enjoy a seamless user experience.

The Pad Air is built atop a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 Mobile Platform and the company said its eight-core architecture would allow users to multi-task with ease.

The 10.36-inch 2K HD display has passed TUV Rheinland's certification for eye care and also has low blue light eye protection to cut eye fatigue.

A view of the Pad Air being used. Supplied

The Pad Air has four big speakers and supports Dolby Atmos, with the company claiming it delivers "high-quality sound with clarity for an immersive listening experience".

The 7100 mAh battery is claimed to allow users to watch videos for up to 12 hours, attend video conferences for up to 15 hours, or read e-books for up to 16 hours.

The company said the Pad Air would be free to anyone who bought an Oppo Find X5 Pro ($1799) or Oppo Find X5 ($1399) between 27 October and 24 November. The Find X5 is Oppo's flagship line of smartphones.

One Oppo Smart Cover, valued at $79, will also come as a gift.

The device alone can be bought from the Oppo Australia Online Store.

The promotional offer will be available from JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Officeworks, Big W, The Good Guys, Bing Lee, Amazon, Kogan, Catch, MobileCiti, Woolworths Mobile, Yes Distribution, Telstra, Vodafone Australia and also the Oppo Australia Online Store.
Today

Partly cloudy. High 73F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph, becoming WSW and increasing to 10 to 20 mph.

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 52F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph.

Tomorrow

A mainly sunny sky. High 71F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Georgian journalist: China faces the world with an open attitude

People's Daily Online) 15:28, October 21, 2022

Photo shows Liana Jorjoliani, a journalist from Geoecohub, a news website in Georgia. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Liana Jorjoliani, a journalist from Geoecohub, a news website in Georgia, who attended the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Oct.16, 2022 in Beijing, said she was deeply impressed by anti-corruption and ecological conservation mentioned in the report delivered to the national congress.

"China shows zero tolerance in opposing corruption, which reflects the Chinese government's strong sense of responsibility for the 1.4 billion Chinese people," she said.

The Georgian, who also paid close attention to other topics in the report like building a Beautiful China, said that China has made a lot of efforts in upgrading and transforming industries, pollution prevention and control, and responding to climate change over the past several years. She believes that these measures will boost green and low-carbon development.

Photo taken by Liana Jorjoliani shows Qianmen Street, a landmark commercial street in Beijing. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

"It is the first time for me to report the CPC National Congress live and I feel so privileged," Jorjoliani said, adding "The organization work of the congress is excellent. The Chinese side invited a lot of foreign reporters, which shows China's open attitude and that the country is willing to share its successful experience and reform results with the world.

Coming to China for the first time in 2015, Jorjoliani has visited various places of the country. She thinks Beijing is a very special city and can be called a model for international cities. "Beijing is a perfect combination of modern architecture and cultural relics, and it boasts complete infrastructure facilities, transportation networks, as well as high green coverage rates," she said.

Jorjoliani believes that the 20th CPC National Congress is not only an event of great political significance for China but that it also has global significance. China is the world's factory and engine for the world's economy. China's stability and prosperity will exert an impact on the political and economic situation of the international community. The direction of China's development in the next five years and even in medium to long term detailed in the report is bound to influence the world.

China is pressing ahead with economic reform. Jorjoliani is confident that the plans outlined in the report will not only be implemented smoothly, but will exceed peoples expectations.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Wu Chengliang)
New York, US (PANA) - Protecting womens rights and promoting greater inclusion is a proven strategy for peace and stability, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told the Security Council on Thursday
Washington, US (PANA) - The United States has condemned the violence in Chad involving clashes between security forces and demonstrators protesting against the extension of Chads original 18-month transition period, which expired on Thursday
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





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A Gambian man on trial in Germany accused of belonging to a death squad that assassinated opponents of former dictator Yahya Jammeh, including an AFP journalist, on Thursday denied the charges.

"I did not participate in these acts," the defendant Bai Lowe's lawyer told the court in the northern town of Celle, reading a statement by the accused.

Lowe, 47, is charged with crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder, including the 2004 killing of AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara.

He entered the courtroom wearing a black cap, which he later removed to reveal a shaved head, and listened intently to the English translation of the declaration read out in German.

In it, Lowe said he had merely repeated in the past what other people had told him about the facts of the case.

Explaining previous statements in media interviews that appeared to incriminate him, Lowe told the court that he had intended to demonstrate to his fellow Gambians how cruel Jammeh's regime was.

Lowe, who went on trial in April, is accused of involvement in two murders and one attempted murder while working as a driver for the hit squad known as the Junglers between December 2003 and December 2006.

It is one of the first cases worldwide hearing accusations of serious human rights violations during the Jammeh era in Gambia, a former British colony.

- 'King for life' -

The proceedings are being held in Germany on the basis of universal jurisdiction, which allows a foreign country to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, regardless of where they were committed.

Hydara was an editor and co-founder of the independent daily The Point and a correspondent for AFP for more than 30 years.

The father-of-four also worked as a Gambia correspondent for the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) campaign group.

He was gunned down in his car on the outskirts of Banjul on December 16, 2004.

Lowe is accused of having helped stop Hydara's car before driving one of the killers in his own vehicle.

He told the court he had accepted an interview with a US-based Gambian radio station because the reporter had told him Jammeh intended to name himself "king for life" after the 2016 election, ushering in a dictatorship.

In the more than hour-long interview, which is still online, Lowe details his involvement in the crimes for which he is standing trial.

But on Thursday, he declared that the remarks were solely intended to inform the Gambian people about crimes committed in Jammeh's name so they would not vote for him.

In a statement sent to AFP, Hydara's son Baba said he rejected Lowe's account to the judges.

"As a victim and a plaintiff in this case I feel disappointed, insulted and cheated by (this) statement that betrays common sense," he said.

- 'Not credible' -

Hydara's lawyer, Patrick Kroker, added that "the statement of the accused seems made up and incomplete. Moreover, it has already been contradicted on several occasions by the evidence collected so far".

"It's a step backwards in the search for the truth for the victims of Yahya Jammeh," Kroker told AFP.

"We assume that the court will not give any credence to this statement."

Attorney Ida Jagne, who was in Hydara's car when he was killed, also dismissed Lowe's testimony.

"The statement is extremely not credible... because the accounts he gave in interviews were very detailed: who participated, what happened," Jagne's own lawyer Peer Stolle told reporters outside the courtroom.

Lowe arrived in Europe via Senegal in December 2012, saying he was seeking asylum as a political refugee who feared for his life under Jammeh.

He was detained on the charges in Germany in March 2021.

Jammeh ruled Gambia with an iron fist for 22 years but fled the country in January 2017 after losing a presidential election to relative unknown Adama Barrow.

He refused to acknowledge the results but was forced out by a popular uprising and fled to Equatorial Guinea.

Five former members of the intelligence service were sentenced to death by a Gambian court only in July this year for the murder of a political activist during Jammeh's rule.
Brazils election campaign has been an orgy of mudslinging, social media attacks and outright lies so outlandish theyre comical at times.

Heres a look from AFPs fact-checking team at some of the best disinformation techniques  none of them particularly high-tech  being used in the online proxy wars between supporters of far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and left-wing rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of the countrys presidential election on 30th of October.

 quotes taken out of context 

One of the main methods of the disinformation campaign on social media is to cut out the context from video footage to make it appear that the candidates are saying something they didnt say.

For example, a video of Bolsonaro supporters, including influential evangelical pastor Silas Malafaia, of Lula saying, I must be lying, was widely circulated on Wednesday. Politicians have to lie.

The veteran left uttered those words the night before  but mimicked Bolsonaro as he said it.

Bozo (his mocking nickname for the incumbent) is a compulsive liar, said Lula, 76, in a podcast interview. He literally says, I have to lie.'

Bolsonaro, 67, was also targeted with the tactic.

In one clip, he appears to be saying he will bring scandal-plagued ex-President Fernando Collor into his cabinet to seize pensioners pensions.

In reality, Bolsonaro spoke of a rumor swirling around the internet.

 Pink Menace 

Bolsonaro warns ex-President Lula (2003-2010) that he wants to impose communism on Brazil and often points to crises in other Latin American countries as examples of the dangers of left-wing rule.

Amid signs of a new pink tide emerging in the region  with leftists now in power in Argentina, Chile and Colombia, among others  the disinformation campaign has cast a wide, muckrakive net.

A viral post accused Colombian President Gustavo Petros leftist government of sanctioning pedophilia based on a measure that legalized marriage for minors over the age of 14.

But the measure was passed in 2021 under conservative ex-president Ivan Duque.

Starving locals are attacking poultry and pig farmers in Argentina, warns another apocalyptic message accompanying video of looting said to have taken place under leftist President Alberto Fernandez.

In reality, the images come from the Colombian city of Puerto Tejada during protests against Duques government last year.

Videos of violent protests in Chile in 2019 under conservative ex-president Sebastian Pinera have also been falsely portrayed as taking place under current President Gabriel Boric, who took office last March.

 Fake Polls 

Fake opinion polls that show a candidate by a large margin are another common tactic.

Sometimes the supposed surveys are completely fabricated. Other posts use editing software to change the numbers on TV news.

In fact, most real polls give Lula a small lead over Bolsonaro.

 proof of fraud 

Multiple allegations of fraud spread after the Oct. 2 first-round election, in which Lula received 48 percent of the vote to 43 percent for Bolsonaro.

According to a widely circulated list of cities, Lula is said to have had more votes than residents. But the numbers given are wrong, and some of the cities dont even exist.

Other viral posts claim the election night vote count followed an algorithm in which Lula gained a percentage point and Bolsonaro lost half for every 12 percent of polling stations that reported results.

But these numbers do not match the actual numbers.

 Fake Items 

Other posts copy the look of mainstream media to spread fake news.

The G1 news site of Globo, Brazils largest media group, is a frequent target.

In a screenshot of an alleged G1 article, Lula says he will confiscate Brazilians firearms if elected.
Iran, which carries out brutal repression at home and is said to be helping Russia in its war against Ukraine, is becoming an insurmountable challenge for Western powers keen to avoid a new nuclear power in the Middle East.

We are in a delicate situation and an apparent impasse, a French diplomat admitted ahead of Wednesdays UN Security Council meeting on the alleged use of Iranian drones by Russian forces.

Despite Tehrans renewed support for an increasingly isolated Moscow, the United States and European Union are still hoping for a resurgence of the 2015 deal aimed at curbing Irans nuclear program  even as the outlook dims.

Irans domestic suppression and aggression in Ukraine have increased political costs for the West and reduced appetite for lifting sanctions on Tehran, said International Crisis Group analyst Ali Vaez.

But the West has no good options, because the only thing worse than a repressive regime killing its own people is a nuclear-armed one doing it.

Iran has denied supplying Russia with cheap kamikaze drones that have been attacking Ukraine for weeks, despite European and American officials saying they have clear evidence, and on Thursday the European Union imposed fresh sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Experts say the West is walking a fine line, recognizing the need to punish Tehran but not wanting to allow tensions to escalate to the breaking point.

The Iranian government is denying the arms deliveries to limit the damage to the West, said Clement Therme of the Institute for Iranian Studies in Paris.

But he said officials had quietly confirmed the deliveries, noting comments by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday mocking those who questioned the existence of Iranian drones just a few years ago.

 New world order 

The 2015 agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), gave Iran sanctions in return for curbing its nuclear program.

It has been in shambles since then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from it in 2018, but talks to revive it have been ongoing since 2021.

Irans crackdown on the most intense anti-government protests in years, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody last month, further limits the Wests options.

The bloody repression and the rapprochement between Tehran and Moscow pose a serious problem for the West, said Farid Vahid of the Jean Jaures Foundation, a French think tank, stifling any hope of a new nuclear deal.

Today it is completely unimaginable that an American and an Iranian official would sign an agreement.

Despite decades of mutual distrust between Russia and Iran, both countries now see common interests in opposing the Western powers and their crippling sanctions.

The Islamic Republic is banking on a new world order and the end of Western dominance, said Vahid.

Its very ideological and doesnt correspond at all to the aspirations of Iranian society, but its the reality.

Vaez agreed that the Iran-Russia axis has transformed from a tactical partnership to a strategic relationship.

Tehran fears that Russias weakening in Ukraine will deprive Iran of the only major power it can rely on, he said, and would not allow that at any price.

 No Plan B 

Iran, which has also been accused of providing Russia with surface-to-surface missiles, could also see it as an opportunity to modernize its own military.

Several experts say Iran hopes to receive Russian Sukhoi SU-35 fighter jets and S-400 missile defense systems, which could boost its prospects of intervening in Middle East conflicts.

Washington and the EU see Irans arms delivery to Russia as a violation of the UN resolution approving the 2015 nuclear deal, but are reluctant to push Tehran any further from the negotiating table.

Iran has truly become a pariah and the Russians, who have access to its top leadership, are no longer interested in helping the Americans bring back the nuclear deal, Therme said.

Diplomacy is doomed to fail.

But for Vahid, thats a position Western nations cannot take.

If we accept that the JCPOA is dead, what do we do? he said.
Posted by Jay on at 08:16 AM CST

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Certainty must be found and a side chosen...but new enemies have arrived, and time is running out.32 PGS./Rated T $3.99On Sale: 1/11/2023RODNEY BARNES (W)  GEORGES JEANTY (A)  Cover by STEVE MCNIVENVariant Cover by TAURIN CLARKE  Variant Cover by JOSHUA SWAY SWABYCONCEPT ART VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLETHE RECKONING!An old contact extends an invitation for the Mandalorian to make peace with his enemies.40 PGS./Rated T $4.99On Sale: 1/11/2023GREG PAK (W)  LUKE ROSS (A)  Cover by RAHZZAHVARIANT COVER BY PHIL NOTOReturn of the Jedi 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by CHRIS SPROUSEALL HER SHADOWS!During their terrible battle at Padmes tomb on Naboo, the Queens most devoted handmaidens were no match for the fury of Darth Vader. So as they are about to face the Dark Lord again, the handmaidens have prepared. But so has Vader. Who will triumph in the rematch? And what dark price will that victory exact?32 PGS./Rated T $3.99On Sale: 1/18/2023ETHAN SACKS (W)  PAOLO VILLANELLI (A)Cover by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLIVariant Cover by MARC LAMINGReturn of the Jedi 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by CHRIS SPROUSECHAOS ON BESTINE VI! Tonga and her team of bounty hunters find themselves in the crosshairs of an old ally! But how will Valance react to learning the dark secret that has been kept from him? Can any of them survive the full might of a vindictive Empire?32 PGS./Rated T $3.9On Sale: 1/18/2023MARC GUGGENHEIM (W)  DAVID MESSINA (A)  Cover by PHIL NOTOVARIANT COVER BY TODD NAUCKGET IN THERE, YOU BIG, FURRY OAF! Whats inside the urn that Jabba the Hutt wants so badly? Hint: Its not ashes. Guest-starring Ugnaught Sava Korin Pers. This issue ties in directly to Revelations!32 PGS./Rated T $3.99On Sale: 1/25/2023ALYSSA WONG (W)  MINKYU JUNG (A)Cover by W. SCOTT FORBESReturn of the Jedi 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by CHRIS SPROUSECODE OF HONOR! 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Will Yoda abandon those who need him most in their hour of need?32 PGS./Rated T $3.99On Sale: 3/8/2023Written by JOHN JACKSON MILLER, DARKO MACAN & PAUL LEEPenciled by FEDERICO DALLOCCHIO, IVAN RODRIGUEZ, IBAN COELLO, DAVID DAZA, MARCO CASTIELLO, ANDREA CHELLA, RAMON F. BACHS, PAUL LEE & BRIAN HORTONCover by JOE QUINONESThe Old Republic draws to a stunning conclusion! As the Sith overtake the galaxy, a group of brave Jedi continue hit-and-run missions  but Jedi Knight Kerra Holts first mission goes horribly wrong. Now Kerra intends to liberate as many innocents as possible  and find the truth about her missing family in the process! But could she be the only hope to stop the Sith from completely crushing the Republic? Then, discover the origins of the Sith rule of two, one master and one apprentice, as Lord Hoths Army of Light faces the Brotherhood of Darkness in a bid to end the galactic conflict once and for all! 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NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)  WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds buyers of Twitter, Inc.s stock TWTR between August 3, 2020 and August 23, 2022, both dates inclusive (the Instruction Period), the important November 14, 2022 Deadline for Lead Plaintiff in the securities class action lawsuit initiated by the company.



SO WHAT: If you purchased Twitter Securities during the Class Period, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of expenses or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To participate in the Twitter class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=8303 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll free at 866-767-3653 or by email [email protected] or [email protected] for information about the Class Action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you want to appear as lead plaintiff, you must call the court by November 14, 2022 at the latest. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other group members in conducting the litigation.

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On Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously agreed on a regime of sanctions against the gangs terrorizing the population of Haiti  including the freezing of the assets of a powerful gang leader.

The council has been debating for two weeks how best to deal with a spreading health and safety crisis in Americas poorest country battling a fast-growing cholera outbreak.

After failing to reach a consensus on sending an international force to the crisis-hit country, members on Friday passed a resolution directly targeting the gangs who have taken control of the main port and blocked fuel shipments to have.

It includes a year-long freeze on all economic resources owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by Jimmy Cherizier, nicknamed Barbecue, leader of the G90 Family and Allies gang group blockading the main oil terminal in the poorest country in America.

The resolution called for an immediate end to violence, criminal activity and human rights abuses in Haiti, including kidnappings, sexual violence, human trafficking and the gang recruitment of children.

The council also called for a one-year travel ban on people suspected of being involved in gang activities in Haiti, as well as a ban on access to arms and ammunition.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned this week that the deterioration in Haitis security and health environment as gangs expand their control has resulted in an absolutely nightmarish situation.

Im talking about something that needs to be done on the basis of strict humanitarian criteria, regardless of the political dimensions of the problem, that needs to be solved by the Haitians themselves, Guterres said.

He warned that the gangs control of the port and the fuel blockade could worsen the cholera outbreak by preventing the distribution of water, since the most important treatment for cholera is hydration.

This resolution is a first response to the calls for help from the Haitian people, U.S. Envoy to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement welcoming its passage.

 Cholera cases almost 1,000 

Cherizier, a former police officer, is the only person connected to the gang named in the resolution.

Jimmy Cherizier has engaged in acts that threaten the peace, security and stability of Haiti and has planned, directed or committed acts that constitute gross human rights violations, the document said.

It listed a number of his alleged actions, including taking part  as an officer with the Haitian National Police  in a 2018 attack on civilians in the Port-au-Prince slum called La Saline, which left at least 71 people dead and 400 homes destroyed .

During that year and the next, he led his group in coordinated, brutal attacks in areas of the capital, it said.

And the resolution says Cherizier and his gang have been blocking supplies from Haitis largest fuel terminal since October 11 this year.

His actions have directly contributed to the economic paralysis and humanitarian crisis in Haiti, the resolution said.

Hundreds of suspected cholera cases have been registered in Haiti since the beginning of the month  raising fears of a devastating resurgence of the disease in the Caribbean nation.

Data from the Ministry of Health showed 964 suspected cases as of October 19.
After he surprised the public with his wedding announcement to actress Jin Ah Reum, Namgoong Min's proposal video circulated online. See how the actor actually proposed to his wife!

Celebrity Couple Namgoong Min & Jin Ah Reum Share Sneak Peek of Their Love Story

On October 17, Namgoong Min and Jin Ah Reum officially tied the knot in a private gathering in Seoul. The couple's family, friends, and colleagues from the industry were present and gave their blessings to the newlyweds.

Just days after their fairytale-like wedding, Namgoong Min's proposal video to Jin Ah Reum began to occupy the internet, and various online users who watched were in awe to witness "The Veil" actor's sincerity to his sweetheart.

The clip was shown during their wedding, and based on the recorded video, one of the attendees was the one who uploaded it.

How Did Namgoong Min Propose to Jin Ah Reum?

Based on the video, Namgoong Min and Ah Reum were enjoying a meal in a restaurant. The actor was casually talking to her and after just a slit of minutes, he kneeled in front of Ah Reum and got the ring in his pocket, and asked if she would marry him.

     pic.twitter.com/y5IrHNVd9m   (@d30v45) October 19, 2022

The model-actress was shocked by what he did and started to get emotional. In just a short clip, many fans showed their support for the celebrity couple.

In a Korean online site, public users expressed their sentiments about the couple in the video. One online user wrote that the scene looked straight out of a drama.

"I was touched when watching the video."

"Even when people are expecting to get proposed, they still cry, but she really doesn't seem to be expecting anything and got a proposal, I'm so envious, and Ah Reum is so pretty."

"Their life is a drama."

More comments were penned under the clip, and most of the users wished Namgoong Min and Jin Ah Reum to have a happy life as husband and wife. The female model shared some of their wedding photos on Instagram and many praised the couple for their genuine and warm love for each other.

Meanwhile, Namgoong Min will continue with his work and you can watch him every Friday and Saturday on SBS with his ongoing legal series "One Dollar Lawyer."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Namgoong Min's Wife Jin Ah Reum Shares Fascinating Wedding Photos With Heartfelt Message

What are your thoughts about Namgoong Min's marriage proposal to Jin Ah Reum? Share it with us in the replies/comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity updates, keep your tabs open here at KDramastars.

KDramastars owns this article.

Shai Collins wrote this.
"Beautiful Days" is one of director Lee Jang Soo's masterpieces which stars veteran actors Lee Byung Hun and Choi Ji Woo. Like "Stairways To Heaven" and "Tree of Heaven," the drama is now a cult classic.

Missing Lee Byung Hun and Choi Ji Woo? Here's where to see more of them this 2022! Read on to know more!

Lee Byung Hun

Lee Byung Hun recently appeared in the syndrome-level Netflix series "Squid Game" with Lee Jung Jae and Park Hae Soo.

He also reprised his role for the forthcoming sequel which is scheduled to be released in the first half of 2024.

Earlier this year, the actor transformed into a traveling businessman from Jeju Island in the highest rated series "Our Blues" along with the star-studded cast of Shin Min Ah, Lee Jung Eun, Cha Seung Won, Kim Woo Bin and more.

Lee Byung Hun also appeared in the blockbuster film "Emergency Declaration" with Song Kang Ho and Jeon Do Yeon, which tells the real life story of an aviation disaster.

At the moment, he is preparing for his forthcoming thriller film "Concrete Utopia" with Park Seo Joon and Park Bo Young. The film hasn't released its official premiere date so stay tuned for more updates!

Choi Ji Woo

The South Korean's drama gem Choi Ji Woo returned to the small screen as she joined the office romance comedy series "Shooting Stars" starring Lee Sung Kyung and Kim Young Dae in 2022.

Choi Ji Woo hasn't appeared in many dramas since her prime but she made special cameo appearances in popular works like "Crash Landing on You."

Fans from all over the world are more than excited for her return, certain that the K-Drama Queen will deliver an impactful performance in her future acting role.

Shin Min Ah

While she played the role of Lee Byung Hun's sister in "Beautiful Days," Shin Min Ah transformed into his love interest in the hit drama "Our Blues."

Shin Min Ah took on the role of a mother for the first time in the said series, and even raised awareness about depression through her character.

She is currently preparing for her forthcoming fantasy drama film "Our Season" which depicts the story of a dead mother who comes down from the sky to spend a three-day vacation with her daughter.

Kim Hae Sook, Kang Ki Young and Hwang Bo Ra are also part of the film. Produced by Showbox, the film is expected to be released some time in early 2023.

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Written by Elijah Mully.
Lee Se Hee was suspicious of Doh Kyungsoo for his connection to the Kangsan Law Firm in "Bad Prosecutor" episode 6.

'Bad Prosecutor' Episode 6: Jin Jung Almost Faces Death After Mysterious Guys Stabbed Him

Jin Jung struggled to find the culprit who stabbed him. Fortunately, Shin Ah Ri (Lee Se Hee) found the prosecutor who was wounded and headed to Park Jae Kyung's (Kim Sang Ho) house to give him treatment.

Thanks to Jang Soo (Kim Jung Young), Park Jae Kyung was able to donate his blood to the critical prosecutor, who shed blood due to the stabbing he got from a mysterious guy.

Meanwhile, Go Joong Do (Lee Si Eon), Baek Eun Ji (Joo Bo Young), and Lee Chul Ki (Yeon Jun Suk), regained stability after spending some time. They are ready again for revenge to save their friend, Jin Jung.

After he recovered from the attack, Jin Jung revisited the place where he was stabbed and found faint footprints of combat shoes with bloody soles. He began to investigate and was determined to punish the man behind the attack.

Shin Ah Ri Discovers Jin Jung's Connection to Kangsan Law Firm

Back in the prosecutor's office, Shin Ah Ri was suspicious when he found a record that Tae Hyung Wook, the chief of staff of Seo Hyun Kyu (Kim Chang Wan), purchased drugs a day before Lee Jang Won's death.

She went to meet Tae Hyung Wook, it was then she discovered that Jin Jung was connected to Kangsan, the best law firm.

Jin Jung was publicly wanted as a suspect in Lee Jang Won's murder, and Shin Ah Ri received a warning while protesting against Kim Tae Ho (Kim Tae Woo). In the meantime, Jin Jung, who was secretly tracking Oh Do Hwan (Ha Joon), was shocked when he found out that Kim Tae Ho has a secret agenda with Oh Do Hwan.

Jin Jung and Shin Ah Ri Shocked By Kim Tae Ho's Agenda

To look for more proof, Jin Jung went to Oh Do Hwan's place and checked the conversation between Do Hwan and Kim Tae Ho. He was convinced that the two were allies and had knowledge of Lee Jang Won's death. He showed the conversation to Ah Ri and asked for her help to catch Kim Tae Ho.

She was hesitant at first but managed to cooperate with Jin Jung. Shin Ah Ri went to confront Kim Tae Ho. Without him knowing, she had their conversation recorded for future reference.

Shin Ah Ri mentioned the documents from Seo Hyun Kyu's son Seo Ji Han and told him that the murder of Lee Jang Won was fabricated. Tae Ho was surprised by Shin Ah Ri's unexpected revelation about his secret agenda.

At that point, Kim Tae Ho's true color was revealed and Shin Ah Ri was disappointed in his boss. Jin Jung also confronted Kim Tae Ho and was broken for his dirty techniques.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 'Bad Prosecutor' Episode 5: Doh Kyungsoo Escapes From Interrogation

What are your thoughts about "Bad Prosecutor" episode 6? Tell us in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity updates, keep your tabs open here at KDramastars.

KDramastars owns this article.

Shai Collins wrote this.
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The Hoary Bat is one of 15 species of the flying mammals that live in the Okanagan. Most of the other species hibernate locally, but the Hoary Bat heads south like a snowbird for the winter.
One of two suspects sought for a mass shooting outside an Uptown Kenosha bar last month has been arrested in Georgia.

Kenosha Police officers responded shortly before 2 a.m. in the area outside of now-closed Las Margaritas, 2232 Roosevelt Road, for a call of four shooting victims on Sept. 18. Two were killed and two others were transported to a local hospital following the shooting.

On Thursday, Kenosha Police Lt. Joe Nosalik, the citys public information officer, identified Kendal Readus, 29, as the suspected shooter and James Murphy, 29, as the getaway driver.

Within hours of the shooting, our investigators had developed suspects, Nosalik said in a statement to the Kenosha News. Arrest warrants were quickly sought, knowing that the chances of apprehending suspects diminishes very quickly within the first two days. Although we are now more than a month out from the shooting we have not stopped our pursuit of these suspects.

Nosalik said Kenosha Police work with local, state and federal partners to apprehend suspects of violent crimes.

Knowing that the suspects had fled the state, Nosalik said local investigators immediately began working with the U.S. Marshals and the Great Lakes Fugitive Task Force.

However, in the case of Murphy, a citizen tip from Hogansville, Ga., led to his arrest Wednesday afternoon. The Hogansville Police Department received a tip that Murphy was at a home in its jurisdiction, Nosalik said. Police there formed a contact team and took Murphy into custody without incident.

Murphy is being held in Georgia at the Troup County Jail pending his extradition back to Kenosha County where he will face recommended charges of two counts of party to the crime of homicide.

We will find Kendal Readus. We will not stop until he is in the Kenosha County Jail, Nosalik stated. He also thanked Hogansville Police for their assistance with Wednesdays arrest.

Police identified the two deceased victims as 33-year-old Kenosha resident Houston R. Oliver and 35-year-old Racine resident James J. Alexander-Hood. The two additional gunshot victims who suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries have been released from area hospitals.

Police scene tape closed off a field in an alley behind 23rd Avenue and Roosevelt Road in the hours following the shooting. Public access from 24th Avenue to 22nd Avenue on Roosevelt was also closed for a time as investigators surveyed the area.

Late last month, the owner of Las Margaritas decided to close and has turned in the liquor license to the city.

The same area was also the scene of an Aug. 20 triple shooting. The three victims in that incident survived.

Police urge anyone with information to cooperate and speak with investigators by calling the Detective Bureau at (262) 605-5203 or Crime Stoppers at (262) 656-7333.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul received endorsements from Kenosha County Democrats and union leaders Thursday afternoon.

Kaul, the Democrat running against Republican Eric Toney, highlighted the endorsements in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse flanked by supporters.

The attorney general leads the Wisconsin Department of Justice and chief legal officer of the state. Kaul first took office in 2019 as the states 45th attorney general.

Kaul, who grew up in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac, had previously served as a federal prosecutor in Baltimore, Md., where he prosecuted violent criminals and drug traffickers. In 2014, Kaul moved back to Wisconsin and in 2018 defeated Republican incumbent Republican Brad Schimel.

Kaul was endorsed Thursday by Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley, State Rep. Tip McGuire, D-Kenosha, State Rep. Tod Ohnstad, D-Kenosha, and leadership of the Kenosha Professional Firefighters Local 414.

Its a privilege to be back in Kenosha, Kaul said. My top priority as attorney general always has been and always will be public safety. At the Wisconsin Department of Justice we investigate and prosecute some of the most serious offenses in the State of Wisconsin, everything from homicides to serial rape cases to drug-trafficking and other serious crimes. Were going to keep doing that as long as Im attorney general.

Kaul said its crucial to invest in the criminal justice system because its been underfunded in Wisconsin for decades.

We need to get our local law enforcement and other first responders and other people in the justice system the resources they need to fight crime and keep our communities safe as effectively as possible, Kaul said. We want to invest in officer recruitment, retention and wellness, community policing, violence prevention efforts, victim services and mental health crisis response, among other things. I also have called for an increase in shared revenue, so that more money is going from state government to local governments so that our local leaders can make critical investments in key public services including local law enforcement.

Antaramian said he strongly supports Kauls leadership and decision-making.

Kenosha went through a number of difficult times and when we were in need Josh came through, Antaramian said. He did the things he needed to do to give us support. That is so very, very important.

Antaramian said Kaul has integrity and will be there if elected to make sure the people in the State of Wisconsin are protected.

Graveley said he believes Kaul wont play politics in office. Graveley said he is endorsing from a nonpartisan place.

I say that comfortably because four years ago I endorsed Brad Schimel for re-election even though Im a Democratic elected official. I endorsed the Republican candidate, I believed him to be a professional prosecutor and Josh Kaul was brand new to me and my experience, Graveley said. Ive now had an opportunity to work with Attorney General Josh Kaul for four years. In working with him for four years I want to state it as simply as I can: Josh Kaul has been results-oriented in battling all the things that make our community less safe. His opponent is politics first. Josh Kaul is results first.

Ricardo Lebron, president of the firefighters union, said the they stand and endorse Josh Kaul as attorney general.

We trust Josh Kaul, and we trust him being on the front lines to know that hes always got out back and that he keeps public safety at the forefront to protect us so that we can do our jobs, Lebron said. He had our back in real life when we needed him the most.

The organizations vice-president, Joseph Sielski, expressed similar sentiments.

Josh Kaul is fighting to keep Wisconsin communities safe by investing in public safety, Sielski said. Attorney General Kaul has fought to hold big pharma accountable for the opioid crisis. Thanks to him, Wisconsin will see more than $400 million in settlement funds from companies like Purdue Pharma. These settlement funds will help first responders across the state respond to the opioid epidemic and save lives.

Sielski said Kaul is the only candidate running who will stand with the firefighters.
After a cold and challenging meat cutting competition on Thursday, local meat cutter Elias Gutierrez has advanced to the regional competition.

The competition is held nationwide by Texas Roadhouse in an effort to motivate the restaurant meat cutters to be there best and a cut above the rest.

At Thursdays qualifier competition at the Kenosha Ice Arena, 36 people from the Wisconsin, Minnesota and Chicagoland regions took part to see who would advance to the regional competition. Overall first place went to Connor Brienan of Green Bay. second went to Gutierrez and third went to Rodrigo Rodriguez of Tinley Park, Ill. Brienan and Gutierrez will advance to regional as Gutierrez placed first in the Rice market in the Chicago area. There is a possibility of other cutters with high scores receiving a wild card entrance to the regional round, but that will not be determined until late November when all the competitions are done across the country.

The day and location for the regional has yet to be finalized, but will take place sometime in late January or early February.

Gutierrez was no rookie in Thursdays competition. He has been with the restaurant chain for 16 years and has competed in the meat cutters competition for over a decade. In the past, Gutierrez has also made it to the second round of competition.

During Thursdays competition, contestants sliced their way through 30-40 pounds of sirloin, ribeye and filet in the 38 degree ice arena to determine who could cut the highest number of high-quality steaks in the shortest amount of time. Judging was based on Texas Roadhouse steak standards.
The sun is setting earlier, leaves are crunching under foot and the cold winds of autumn are blowing.

In other words, its Halloween season.

Area residents have been busy decking their houses and yards with all sorts of creepy creatures, and I am here for all of it. Anything to distract me from real-world worries is most welcome.

Look for these outstanding local Halloween displays, with more to come as readers keep sending in their suggestions:

The skeletons are back at 4037 Seventh Ave. Each year, a merry band of the bony creatures hangs out in the yard. The skeletons are often topical (2020s display had a COVID-19 theme, complete with Dr. Fauci), but this years display is a festive Oktoberfest scene. Theres even an interactive component: Stop and grab a photo at one of those place your head here billboards. Prost!

The Hansen family home at 6721 36th Ave. has been a neighborhood favorite for many years, Michelle Hansen said. The decorations include two towering, 12-foot skeletons made by my husband, she added.

TJ Leveque has a fun activity for trick-or-treaters on Halloween: Hes creating a haunted garage at his home, 1904 30th Ave. It will be open 4 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 31 as he hands out candy.

Petersons Pumpkin Patch will soon feature more than 100 jack-o-lanterns at 9210 63rd St. Dr. Kris Peterson, a local chiropractor, puts on the display each year for a different charity. He draws the designs on the pumpkins, and volunteers help him do all the carving. While we wait for the pumpkin display, however, the spooky yard is reason enough to stop by. Note: The expertly carved pumpkins will be on display nightly at dusk, starting Friday, Oct. 28, and running through Nov. 1. Donations are being collected to benefit the Kenosha County Food Bank.

While youre looking at the Petersons Pumpkin Patch handiwork, make sure to check out the other spooky homes on 63rd Street and 93rd Avenue.

Weve also heard from readers about Halloween displays at 4622 38th Ave. and 2124 24th St. and on several streets in Paddock Lake: on 63rd, 65th, 68th and 72nd streets, along with 247th, 248th and 250th avenues.

Head to 4610 88th Place after dark for Mary Taskes display, complete with lights and sound.

Near UW-Parkside, the Weathersby family at 1416 40th Ave.  whose house is always brightly decorated  has a whole lights-and-music coordinated show this year. Look for more decorations (including a giant skeleton) a few houses north of here, across the street. In this area, dont miss the front yard filled with cute inflatable characters on 39th Avenue just north of 15th Street.

If you see a freaky Halloween house (or you created one), send the information to Liz Snyder: esnyder@kenoshanews.com. Thanks ... and happy spooking!

Last call!

The folks at the Wisconsin Tourism Department have been monitoring the Fall Color Season using science and terms like photosynthesis to determine when different parts of the state will reach peak color levels.

According to travelwisconsin.com, this area is at its peak color NOW.

But if youve been outside lately, or glanced out a window, you already know that.

The weather this weekend, after a frigid week, is supposed to be mild and sunny. We suggest you get outside and hike, bike, stroll or drive through beautiful places and take in the scenery.

Too soon, the gray days of winter will settle in for a long stay.

Keep in mind our autumn mantra  it just gets browner from here  and dont miss the show.

You can find details on fall color throughout the state at travelwisconsin.com or by calling 800-432-8747.
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I just got this email from a physician: Hi, Pamela. I wonder if I could curb you on seeking mental health services as a physician. I am not suicidal or impaired but considering a consultation with a psychiatrist for medication. Any chance you would be able to chat with me for a short bit to discuss tips for seeking consultation while avoiding stigma and labeling?

Sadly, most medical professionals fear seeking mental health help due to the stigma and labeling that can follow a physician for a lifetime.

I run a suicide helpline for physicians. So, Ive got a unique vantage point. Ive spoken to thousands of medical students and doctors with anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts.

In fact, doctors seeking help may suffer a lack of confidentiality, board punishment, and license repercussions. Punishing physicians for occupationally induced or exacerbated mental health conditions is cruel and all too common in medicine.

I have 13 tips to help depressed doctors get confidential mental health care. So keep reading (and take notes).

Physicians have trouble asking for help. By the time doctors request help, theyre often in dire straits. By punishing the most vulnerable at their most significant moment of need, we increase the already-high suicide rate for doctors.

Even worse, when medical boards are involved, our private pain may be viewed publicly  in perpetuity  as one doctor shares:

Do you know what really hurts? The fact that anyone can look me up on the Internet and read my dirty laundry. Im publicly shamed [by my medical board], and punished for being ill. I will only know peace when I am gone.

So how can we prevent doctor suicides if we punish doctors who need help? How can medical professionals be assured their private suffering is not shared publicly?

My best advice comes from more than a decade of hearing worst-case scenarios from med students and physicians who have faced persecution when seeking help. Ive gleaned best workarounds and navigation strategies from victims  and their psychiatrists, many now adept at protecting physician patients.

13 tips for depressed doctors who need confidential mental health care

1. Avoid care through your educational institution. HIPAAs privacy rule does not apply to education records or treatment records at educational institutions under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). I know trainees sent to school psychiatrists who breach their perceived confidentiality by sharing medical charts with deans and program directors. FERPA health records are HIPAA-exempt, and courts have ruled students have no private right of action for a FERPA violation.

2. Beware of mandatory physician health program (PHP) referrals. Forced mental health care by an employer or medical board is never the best way to get confidential psychological support. Many medical institutions fund PHPs  a financial conflict of interest  plus PHPs charge medical professionals high fees not covered by health insurance. Doctors fear PHPs, and some are left destitute after seeking help.

3. Bypass employee assistance programs (EAPs). If you suffer work-related mental health problems, seeking help from an employer-funded counselor presents a conflict of interest and risks a confidentiality breach. A surgical resident shares: I struggled with lack of sleep in a program which eventually was put on probation for duty-hour violations, though we were bullied into lying about our hours. Any violations were our fault, not the programs. I was picked on by a more advanced resident, and the PD sent me to EAP because he thought I was the source of the problems. They sent me to a psychologist who diagnosed me with ADD. He sent me to a psychiatrist, who added bupropion and methylphenidate to my escitalopram. I ended up not having my contract renewed in the end.

4. Confirm that your sessions are confidential. Ask if your records and communications will be 100 percent confidential. Inquire about exceptions to your confidentiality. Health professionals may be mandatory reporters, legally bound by state laws to report abuse. HIPAA allows health professionals to breach your confidentiality if you are a threat to yourself or others.

5. Confirm that your private medical records are stored securely. Physicians personal medical records have been accessed to discredit them and discriminate against them for disability insurance, licensing hospital privileges, and medical liability cases (even during divorce and custody battles). Publicizing private medical records online is a form of extreme shaming and bullying. Some health professionals use biometric fingerprint safes to store handwritten paper charts with fake names to protect physicians. Psychiatrists may hospitalize docs under fake names and place VIPs (like high-profile athletes) in fake charts, never stored with other charts or in EMRs. An emergency doc reveals: I was sued. Overwhelmed with grief and fear, I took antidepressants and saw a psychiatrist. I paid cash and considered using a false name. I had already seen the board send a physician to 6 weeks of inpatient alcohol treatment due to a complaint without any proof he was drinking. That saved his license, but he owed an astronomical bill.

6. Avoid having your mental health documented in an EMR. From hackers and government agencies to the prying eyes of peers, you are forever at risk of a confidentiality breach with electronic records. One physician wrote: Psychiatry has been weaponized against physicians  with libelous entries placed into the EHR by psychiatry sucking up to admin after a physician reported misconduct [and patient safety issues] at that hospital, the EHR becomes a battleground for a false narrative against YOU. If you complain to the board or any other agency, the first thing they do is read your personal EHR, which is now ruined, falsely stating psychiatric diagnoses or substance abuse you dont have! Reputational harm can be severe and could cost you lots to defend yourself before a board, including hiring forensic psychiatrists to testify that youre not nuts.

7. Dont use your insurance. To keep the medical-regulatory complex out of your private matters, its best to avoid having psychiatric billing codes attached to you. A mental illness may be used against you by the board in a malpractice case  even grounds for denial of disability and life insurance policies. One psychiatrist reports: I deal with these issues all too often. Appalling that a patient should be afraid to utilize their expensive personal insurance to pay for mental health or be unable to fully divulge the extent of their suffering to allow me to best help.

8. Go out of town or go virtual. Doctors in small towns dont want to sit in a psychiatrists waiting room next to their own patients. High-profile physicians dont want to be locked up in inpatient psych at their own hospital. Many choose telehealth services or travel out of town to get confidential care. A physician friend shares: After reading an article about one womans journey through hell after being honest on those [medical board] application questions, I sought care an hour away. I drove an hour in another direction to nervously fill prescriptions for antidepressants. I required several meds to stop thinking of suicide every day. My suicidal thoughts were 100 percent work-related.

9. Consider pharmaceutical confidentiality. To avoid picking up psych meds at the local pharmacy, doctors may fill scripts out of town. Medical boards and government agencies can access state pharmacy records, so some doctors use Canadian mail-order pharmacies to avoid U.S. mental-health persecution. Heres one workaround a physician shares: I used samples of Paxil and had my spouse write me prescriptions for Lexapro, Buspar, Paxil, and sleeping pills over the years. I did not trust other doctors. I did not want any of this stuff in my records as I did not want to be seen as crazy (this is how many doctors refer to psychiatric patients).

10. Be familiar with your state board rules, statutes, and applications. Most board applications ask mental health questions and threaten license revocation for lying. A physician shares: Applications also ask about gaps in education, training, or employment. Essentially they are fishing for more information. Responses like leave of absence to get treatment for a chronic medical condition will be met with requests for medical records or other information. So even if you get past these first questions, applications are designed so youll have to disclose one way or another.

Then, in tiny-font print before the signature line, you will likely be waiving your HIPAA rights: The submission of an application to the board shall constitute and operate as an authorization by the applicant to each physician or health care practitioner whom the applicant has consulted or seen for diagnosis or treatmentas a waiver by the applicant of any privilege or right of confidentiality.

Physicians are terrified they may lose their livelihood  even if their job is killing them. One doctor reports: Ive been in practice for 20 years and have been on antidepressants and anxiolytics all of that time. I drive 300 miles to seek care and always pay cash. I am forced to lie on my state relicensing every year. There is no way in hell I would ever disclose this to the medical board  they are not our friends.

What happens when you declare your mental illness to the medical board?

Two doctors share their experiences: I was definitely subjected to discrimination, and it comes up every time I apply for a new job, license, or malpractice. All I had was run-of-the-mill outpatient managed depression, and I probably should have chosen to just lie about it like 95 percent of applicants must, but I didnt, and almost twenty years later, its still hanging over my head.

By checking the YES box: Have/are you treated for depression? I was required to sign a five-year consent agreement with a stringent quarterly regimen; each quarter, the following had to be submitted to the state board: evaluation letters from multiple colleagues to affirm my fitness for practice and appropriate interactions with staff and patients, scheduled meetings with an assigned psychiatrist for validation of my fitness for practice, and a meeting with a board subcommittee, all completed prior to that months board meeting. All because I did not hide having been depressed and was (am) still taking an antidepressant. Ive always wondered what wouldve happened if Id just lied and said Ive never been depressed.

Of course, even if you lie, the board has the power to subpoena medical records.

Curious about where your state medical board stands on mental health issues? My only peer-reviewed article ranks every state: Physician-Friendly States for Mental Health: A Review of Medical Boards.

11. Review hospital privilege and insurance applications. Many hospitals ask similar invasive mental health questions. Check the wording on applications for hospital staff, insurance credentialing, disability, and life insurance.

Ive seen good friends denied disability and life insurance policies tiered to the same as one-pack-per-day smokers because of a history of depression (even well controlled with meds). Coercive and unnecessary referrals to PHPs. Sometimes boards take away the physicians freedom, dignity, and even license. Agencies and some boards dont differentiate between illness and impairment. They apply policies of ADA and HIPAA differently to physicians in the name of protecting public safety. Licensing agencies and corporate medicine can mandate the release of information without any sign of impairment. Our physician ER colleague had to fight for ten years for her license due to disclosing feeling the baby blues at work. Discrimination should not and does not only apply to a few listed categories of race and gender. Discrimination due to ones profession is also a type of discrimination that is not addressed when it comes to physicians rights.

12. Beware of sharing your mental health with colleagues (especially market competitors). Sadly, physicians are highly competitive, and they are encouraged to rat each other out by medical boards and hospitals, as this woman explains:

The only time my physician fiance got into trouble with the boards of both Texas and Ohio was from a coworker. This other doctor believes that anybody and everybody who is medicated for mental illness is an immediate danger to his patients. So when he overheard my fiance talking about being on antidepressants (chronic depression since 18 due to abuse in his childhood  a fact he always spoke openly about during college, residency, and career), he reported him to the Ohio board. They put him on probation for five years, even though he never made a major mistake. Then the Texas board heard about it. He didnt have money or time to run to Texas for the hearings, so he voluntarily gave up his Texas license. That blackballed him with Medicaid and several pharmacies. No wonder doctors are killing themselves.

13. Consider curated and confidential peer support. Often the most impactful first-line intervention for depressed doctors is peer support. This is not with your coworkers or market competitors but with an intimate group of up to 10 physicians who meet regularly to heal from suicidal thoughts, childhood or residency abuse, isolation, divorce, business problems, and more. No records. Nothing to subpoena. Ive been curating physician peer support groups every Sunday for nearly ten years. A suicidal surgeon shared, Spending two hours with you all was more helpful than any therapist Ive seen, anything they did on inpatient psych, any help Ive gotten yet.

No matter whatalways seek the care you need.

Despite the physician mental health witch hunt, your life is precious.

Always choose your health firstno matter what the career repercussions  as this physician shares: Since being hospitalized with severe suicidal depression, I have lost my privileges, malpractice insurance, a current case (malpractice) now wishes to settle instead of defending my care (patient died of blood transfusion reaction not negligence on my part), my specialty society is failing to let me sit for MOC, and these events are all reported to the board so I will face an investigation soon. It breaks my heart that, as a society and community of physicians, we do not extend the same care and concern that we extend to our own patients. I tried hard to handle my mood disorder without the help I desperately needed because of the repercussions I knew I would face. Going to the hospital was the very best thing I have ever done for myself. I am facing a total loss of my career and livelihood, but I can now handle it and stay alive.

So back to you  the physician who wrote me tonight for a curbside consult on seeking tips to avoid stigma and labeling when consulting with a psychiatrist for medication.

You wanted to chat with me. I called you twice this evening and got no answer. Then I texted you. Since I couldnt reach you and I wouldnt have been able to summarize my best advice in a quick call, I wrote this article just for you.

Bottom line: You are unlikely to be guaranteed 100 percent confidentiality unless you see a psychiatrist who keeps locked-in-safe paper charts (with a fake name) and claims no idea who you are if subpoenaed by the board. Youll need to always pay cash and get meds filled at an out-of-state (or out-of-the-country) pharmacy. Youll need to keep your mental health completely separate from your employer, med board, hospital, insurance plan, and anyone else who you do not trust 100 percentand never agree to mandatory mental health care with preferred providers through your workplace or other medical institutions.

Pamela Wible pioneered the community-designed ideal medical clinic and blogs at Ideal Medical Care. She is the author of Physician Betrayal: How Our Heroes Become Villains, Human Rights Violations in Medicine: A-to-Z Action Guide, Physician Suicide Letters  Answered, and Pet Goats and Pap Smears. Watch her TEDx talk, How to Get Naked with Your Doctor. She hosts the physician retreat, Live Your Dream, to help her colleagues heal from grief and reclaim their lives and careers.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Talk to physicians in private medical practice today, and you will discover that they will affirm that their medical practice is financially satisfactory, stable, and doing well financially.

Private practicing physicians know that they have no measurable standard to use to verify what they just told you except for their profit and loss statements from their CPA. And even if they believed they could be in a much better position financially, they have no essential and reliable business knowledge about what to do about it  except to work harder and recruit more new patients (by marketing knowledge they have never been taught).

Ask why private medical practice is disappearing.

The obvious reason is that private practice physicians have had to battle with earning a large enough chunk of their gross income to implement some affordable means to attract more medical patients throughout the rest of their medical practice careers, not just intermittently.

Secondly, physicians already in private practice eventually recognize that they must first attain a level of effective medical practice management. Both marketing efforts and practice management must work togethereach by itself usually fails.

Thirdly, hundreds of private-practice physicians are being forced out of their practices for lack of enough income. Perhaps you havent heard about that tragedy that has been a challenge for private practice physicians for decades.

The guilt they feel about having done something wrong in their experiential management of their practices without ever discovering what the cause was, forces them to keep the problem secret from their peers, even their own family, and they learn to tolerate the consequences unnecessarily for their whole careers.

Of course, none of these unfortunate medical doctors lose their practices because of their mistakes. For decades, our medical schools have avoided explaining business educations benefits to medical students. Why? Medical schools only recently are starting to notice the truth about the need for all medical students (about 22,000 graduates annually) to receive a business education. Thus, one must ask, who is responsible for that neglect?

Why have medical school education administrators and scholars continued to deny responsibility for providing business education to

medical students?

Such responsible people, knowing that about 50 percent of medical school graduates will be starting private medical practice businesses, expect those new physicians to create their medical practice business systems for their new practices.

This century-old tragedy has persisted and has been allowed to continue without any academic business education being offered, provided, or recommended.

Under this egregious set of predictable consequences, physicians are expected to create, sustain, grow and successfully maintain their trial-and-error style of medical practice business profitability for the rest of their medical careers, intentionally obstructive as well as abusive to medical students and physicians.

Weeding out and replacing the causes and sources that have introduced large numbers of medical students to the myth that all physicians do not need a business education to practice medicine is an absolute requirement if private medical practice is to survive in our nation.

So, one must ask: Why is it that 274 accredited medical schools in the U.S. have never provided or even offered a business education for medical students for the last century? Why do medical education administrators hide this from all medical students?

The AAMC creates the curriculums for medical schools in the USA. It also rejects all challenges made to adding a business education curriculum to medical school education.

Medical practice is a serious business and functions under the same rules and standards applicable to all businesses in the world. All business owners across our nation who own and manage a successful business inherently understand the standards required for their business success. Any business success requires a solid knowledge of business management and marketing.

The reason that nearly all physicians today in private medical practice have been struggling with financial problems, incomes far lower than they had expected, and increasingly are subjected to burnout, loss of their private practices, incomplete retirement funding, inability to meet their family financial obligations such as their kids college educations and other practice disappointments is a direct result of the lack of business education.

Why isnt there a nationwide protest by new medical students for business education?

Likely, its because American college students are no longer applying to our medical schools. Did you know that?

Rejection of all efforts to implement business education curricula into medical schools is an outrageous and catastrophic disrespect for and failure of every physicians lack of reaching their ultimate potential in medical practice careers. The real-life symptoms of this neglect have spread nationwide among physicians, including employed physicians.

Oh, you never recognized that new medical doctors often leave a community within a year or so of arriving. This isnt because they were dumb and unliked physicians but because they were business ignorant. Add to that all the competent and well-liked physicians who have practiced for years in the community up and leave suddenly and without notice.

The astounding part is that the AAMC and its members see whats happening and refuse to do anything about correcting such an obvious medical career-destroying timebomb. This action strongly suggests to me that they are co-joined in our governments push for socialized medicine.

Its like that deep state of the medical profession and health care developing a secret plan to force all physicians into government-controlled medical facilities  at least, thats where about 50 percent of graduating medical students are headed.

Some attention must be given to the fact that it is known that the academic curriculum scheduling must be approved by our government, according to the AAMC. Yes, its just further proof that our government is also taking control of health care and the medical profession.

The aged medical education scholars making these decisions are quite likely to have never had a formal academic business education in their life yet feel that they are without error concerning the prevention of business education in medical school curriculums. Could there be a bit of cognitive dissonance happening here?

Curtis G. Graham is a physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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County moves forward on mooring field plan

ROB ONEAL/Keys Citizen Permits are being sought by Monroe County for a new mooring field to be installed to the west of Wisteria Island off Key West, opposite Key West harbor.

The Monroe County Commission agreed Wednesday to start the permitting process for placing 100 new moorings off Key West, which when complete will allow the implementation of a state law requiring boaters within a mile of Key West and not in a managed mooring field to move their vessels every 90 days.

The commission received a presentation on Wednesday from Ryan St. George of Metric Engineering of Miami, who was tasked with analyzing and ranking three areas off Key West as potential mooring fields. St. George reviewed the Wisteria Island/Frankfurt Bank area, Man of War Harbor and an area west of Garrison Bight.

Wisteria Island was the highest ranked area and will be the site the county will now move forward with for the permitting of the project. The county will seek permits from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The county will also need to obtain a sovereign submerged lease from the DEP, St. George said.

St. George called the permitting process rigorous and said a substantial amount of information will be needed for the permit, but he did not expect significant opposition from either the Sanctuary or the Navy, because of the environmental benefit from having a managed mooring field, he said.

County Commissioner Craig Cates, who has lobbied for the project, said he was excited and called the project important.

The county is working with the City of Key West on the project, as the city runs the shore-side services, such as bathrooms and dinghy docks.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 1432 in April, which modified a previous bill requiring boaters within a mile of Key West and not in a managed mooring field to move their vessels every 90 days in order to make sure the boats are not at risk of becoming derelict and sinking.

SB 1432 amended regulations the Florida Legislature passed last year that called for 300 new moorings. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission board member Robert Spottswood, a Key West developer, and Monroe County and City of Key West officials requested the number be reduced, as they all agreed 300 was too many and would have been too difficult to permit and place.

The state Legislature passed the law to enact the 90-day anchoring limit to combat the problem about vessels being lived on or stored indefinitely and becoming derelict and sinking off Key West, which has become a costly problem because the removal of many of the boats from Keys waters have not been paid by the owners.

In 2021, Monroe County facilitated the removal of 80 derelict vessels from public waters in the Florida Keys. In 2021, Monroe County received $313,639 in grant funding from the FWC Derelict Vessel Grant Program. The funds covered the removal costs of 49 of the 80 derelict vessels. Monroe Countys Boating Improvement Fund, funded by recreational vessel registration fees, provided $154,972 to remove the other 31 vessels. The total spent on removals in 2021 was $468,611.

Many live-board boaters around Key West opposed the legislation, arguing it was unnecessary, not an environmentally sound policy and would negatively impact the local affordable housing stock as live-aboard boats have become an important form of workforce housing on an island where a one-bedroom apartments costs more than $2,000 a month.

Live-aboard boaters said it is better for the environment and safer for the boaters to not pick up and move their larger, bulky anchors and ground tackle every 90 days. Some boaters also argued that 100 moorings is not enough to meet the need, and the state should have left the number of moorings at 300.

tohara@keysnews.com
Bank of Ireland, in partnership with Business to Arts, has announced the projects that will receive financial support from the Begin Together Arts Fund. Callan based Bridge Street Creepie Stools in Co. Kilkenny is among the 27 community projects awarded grants. Since 2020, the all-island Begin Together Arts Fund has allocated 1 million in arts funding to support artists and arts projects in communities across the island of Ireland.

Over 300,000 is being awarded in the third round of funding for projects taking place between October 2022 and December 2023.

Creepie Stools are traditional simple stools that every household in Ireland would have had tucked under the table. They had a handhold through the seat for ease of movement so they could be moved and used quickly when an unexpected guest arrived. Bridge Street Creepie Stools aim to to host a three-day carpentry workshop in Fennellys Courtyard with Woodworker Alan Smith so every residence on Bridge Street can make their own stool and then in a subsequent three day workshop the stools will be painted with Artist Paul Bokslag in the unique colour palette of the town.

For this round of the Begin Together Arts Fund, in partnership with Business to Arts, the projects supported aim to inspire and uplift their local communities. Arts Fund grant recipients will receive up to 15,000 to support the creation of new works in music, theatre, dance, traditional arts, and the visual arts, and the aim is for the projects to benefit a wide range of audiences.

Laura Lynch, Group Chief Marketing Officer, Bank of Ireland, said: Were delighted to support such a broad range of artists and local arts organisations around the island of Ireland through the Begin Together Arts Fund, in partnership with Business to Arts.

The arts and community projects like these each play a role in enhancing lives and connecting people, and so represent an important part of Bank of Irelands support for communities across Ireland through our Begin Together initiative.

Louise OReilly, Chief Executive, Business to Arts, said: Bank of Ireland is demonstrating an authentic engagement with their local communities through the Begin Together Arts Fund, by supporting a diverse range of artistic projects that seek to improve wellbeing. The response of the arts community itself has been overwhelmingly positive, knowing that a national institution has their back during difficult times.
Half of shared equity scheme grants have been used for homes in Dublin and Kildare in the first three months of the Governments housing measure.

The 400 million First Home Scheme was set up to help first-time buyers afford to buy a home amid high housing costs and strict borrowing constraints.

Under the scheme, contained in the Governments landmark Housing for All plan, the State and banks offer 30% of the cost of a first-time buyers new home in exchange for a stake in the house.

This can be bought back at a later date.

The first quarterly report of the scheme shows that a total of 508 buyers were approved since July.

Two thirds of those deemed eligible for the scheme were buyers in counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, with the remaining 34% spread across 19 counties.

The most approvals were granted in Co Kildare, where 132 buyers were deemed eligible, 26% of the total of those deemed eligible.

A further 203 applications are being processed, with most approvals expected to be issued shortly.

Some 823 individual buyers and 1,039 couples have registered their interest in the scheme, a total of 1,862 potential buyers.

Opposition parties have heavily criticised the measure as a benefit for big developers, while the ESRI think tank warned that it would most likely drive up house prices.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh OBrien said he was encouraged by the interest and the take-up of the scheme.

We are now seeing people buy and move into their new home as a result of the First Home Scheme and we will see thousands more over the coming years, he said.

Through this scheme we are making home ownership easier for those who are finding it just out of reach. We know that the overwhelming majority of renters would much rather own their own home and for most they would pay less in monthly repayments for the home than in rent.

This scheme helps those who are stuck in that rental trap, it gives them a helping hand towards homeownership. The fact that people already have keys to their new home proves this is working.
Irelands Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic OGorman, has said he cannot guarantee that some Ukrainian refugees will not have to sleep on the streets.

He was speaking after his department said on Thursday night that the Citywest transit centre had reached capacity amid a severe constraint on suitable accommodation.

What we are making clear is were not in a position to guarantee everyone an offer of accommodation, he said on RTEs Morning Ireland programme.

So what we will do is we will prioritise vulnerable people, we will prioritise women and children in terms of the provision of accommodation.

When asked whether there was a danger that people would have to sleep on the streets, Mr OGorman said: I cant rule that out.

Thats why were speaking very clearly today and engaging with the Ukrainian embassy in terms of letting people know that there is a major constraint on capacity, particularly next week.

Thats why were letting people know that if they have an option  if theyre in another EU member state  to either stay there or look to other EU member states, that we cant guarantee State-provided accommodation into next week.

He said that from Monday there will be an overnight facility in Dublin Airport where refugees would stay if arriving into Ireland on a late flight before being transferred to Citywest the next day.

The Government warned in July that it was facing a severe shortage of accommodation for arriving Ukrainians, which resulted in asylum seekers having to stay in a Dublin Airport terminal overnight.

Ukrainian refugees were temporarily living in tents at the Gormanston military camp in Co Meath as other accommodation was sourced.

Gormanston doesnt remain open any more, Mr OGorman said on Friday. There are currently 300 people in tented accommodation across the country of the 50,000 that were accommodating.

So there is a small number of people in tented accommodation, but it is a small proportion  about half a percent  of the overall number.

Ireland is now accommodating more than 58,000 refugees or asylum seekers  around 42,000 Ukrainian nationals and 16,000 international protection applicants.

This figure compares with 7,250 at the same time last year.

The Department warned last night that access to suitable accommodation is severely constrained, and said that it had briefed the Ukrainian embassy on developments.

Mr OGorman said he had been speaking to his Scottish counterpart Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, Neil Gray, on Thursday about the continued invasion of Ukraine.

I think we all, and most European countries, understand that there will be a significant number of Ukrainian citizens living with us into the medium term.

The government is also considering whether to charge rent to refugees who have been granted full status and who are working full time, if they are still staying in direct provision centres.

The Ukraine Civil Society Forum (UCSF) expressed grave concern over Mr OGormans admission that some Ukrainian refugees could have to sleep on the streets.

The forum, which represents 60 Irish NGOs active in supporting Irelands emergency response to Ukrainian refugees, said this runs the very real risk that new arrivals will be left homeless.

UCSF national co-ordinator Emma Lane-Spollen said: The Government has finally recognised the severe capacity issues at the Citywest Transit Centre that have led to significant overcrowding and safety issues.

She said that on Thursday there were 1,050 people in the facility, which is designed for 300, sleeping on chairs and on the floor including pregnant women, young children and the elderly.

Ms Lane-Spollen said: The UCSF is deeply worried that a tragedy, like the death of a baby in an overflow centre in the Netherlands which sparked questions about the conditions in the centre and availability of medical care, could occur here,

She said people arriving in Ireland from Ukraine may have nowhere to go.

The Government informs us that this situation may last 10 days, she said.

For now we are told women and children will be accommodated but for how long can they do this with the current approach?

This crisis is not going to ease up. The war in Ukraine is not abating, winter is coming and 30% of Ukraine is without electricity. The increase in arrivals is not unexpected.

What is worrying is that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability and Youth had raised this likely scenario with the Senior Officials Group weeks ago, and yet here we are.

The forum has called on the Government to make some urgent big decisions and change its approach from crisis management to medium-long term planning, or else face having to say there is no room at the inn for new arrivals in the run-up to Christmas.
There will be no return to direct rule from London if devolution collapses, the Sinn Fein president has warned the DUP.

Mary-Lou McDonald said that in the event of the powersharing government at Stormont collapsing completely, it will be replaced by a joint arrangement between the Irish and the British state.

There is just one week to form a Stormont Executive before Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris will be obliged by law to call a fresh Assembly election.

The DUP is refusing to nominate ministers to form a new Executive until the Westminster government takes decisive action on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

They argue the post-Brexit arrangements hamper trade and places a border in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

"I want to see fully functioning devolved government restored in Stormont but that can only happen when the Protocol is replaced by arrangements that unionists can support."@J_Donaldson_MP https://t.co/uSwJ3QQ0IJ  DUP (@duponline) October 21, 2022

Also speaking on Friday, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he wants to see fully functioning devolved government restored at Stormont but insisted that can only happen when the protocol is replaced by arrangements that unionists can support.

No unionist MLAs or MPs support the protocol. That, as I warned 18 months ago, is not compatible with a functioning Executive, he told party supporters in Lagan Valley.

The warnings come amid a backdrop of political chaos in London following the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss.

The next leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister is set to be announced next week.

Speaking to the media during a visit to Downpatrick, Co Down, on Friday, Ms McDonald said events in London have had a very negative impact in Ireland.

She also said the DUPs refusal to nominate ministers is indefensible.

The DUP surely realise that people here need government, they need decisions, people that are trying to keep their businesses going, people and families that are trying to make ends meet, people on hospital waiting lists, need those who were elected to be working on their behalf, and for the life of me I cannot understand how it is or why it is that the DUP persist in denying people the government that they need, she said.

The clock is now ticking, we are facing the deadline, its now decision time. Its now time for the DUP to act in the collective interest of everyone who lives here, irrespective of their political views, and get the Executive up and running.

There wont be a return to direct rule. If political unionism believes that by boycotting and wrecking the institutions of government here that there will be a return to direct rule they are sadly mistaken. The only alternative to the executive in Belfast working and powersharing working will be a joint arrangement between the Irish and the British state, she said.

There should be no doubt on that score.


file photo Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday offered prayers at Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district donning a tradition Himachali attire gifted to him by a Chamba woman. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday offered prayers at Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district donning a tradition Himachali attire gifted to him by a Chamba woman.



The Prime Minister was gifted the attire on his recent visit to Himachal Pradesh and he had promised her to wear it during a special occasion.



When the Prime Minister inaugurated the Kedarnath ropeway, entire temple premises reverberated with Lord Shiva's devotional songs.



Uttarakhand Governor Lt General (Retd) Gurmeet Singh, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, state Cabinet Minister Prem Chandra Agarwal, among others, were present on the occasion.



India's last village Mana is all set to welcome the Prime Minister. After offering prayers at Badrinath, he is scheduled to review the construction work underway under the Master Plan.



After inaugurating a ropeway for Hemkund Sahib, he will also lay foundation stone for double-laning of roads in Mana.



He will also address villagers of Mana,




South Africa: SCOPA refers Skills Fund report to SIU

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) has referred the forensic investigation report on the National Skills Fund (NSF) to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

This follows a briefing held on Thursday, where SCOPA received a briefing from the National Skills Fund on the independent forensic investigation on the NSF, which was commissioned at the request of SCOPA, following disclaimed audit outcomes of the NSF.

SCOPA did not accept the audit outcomes and ordered a forensic investigation, which was carried out by Nexus and released in March 2022.

Higher Education and Training Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, appointed a forensic investigation company to conduct a full-scale forensic investigation into the financial affairs of the NSF after amounts of just under R5 billion could not be properly accounted for over two financial years.

The Minister also appointed a Ministerial Task Team (MTT) to conduct a strategic review of the NSF, its general operations, and its efficiency and relevance concerning the national skills priorities of the country.

Both appointments were meant to ensure the NSF accounts for the resources allocated to it and deal with instances of maladministration and corruption at the NSF.

Committee chairperson, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, said the committee has been trying unsuccessfully to access the report for a while.

He said the committee received a letter from Nzimande, asking the committee to invoke Rule 189 of the National Assembly (NA) Rules requesting the report to be treated as confidential.

The initial reaction of the committee was to disagree with that request. Subsequently, however, the committee subjected its disagreement with that request to Parliaments Legal Services with the intention to get a concrete interpretation and how to apply [the] rule...

The legal opinion from Parliaments Legal Services confirmed SCOPAs position on the matter. Based on that confirmation, the chairperson of SCOPA informed the Minister of the Department of Higher Education and Training that SCOPA has not acceded to its request to treat the report as confidential, Hlengwa said.

He said the committee has noted certain limitations experienced by Nexus when conducting the forensic investigation.

This is why the committee welcomes the commitment from the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training on fostering a working relationship between the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on this matter.

SCOPA wishes to ensure consequence management is meted out and also appeals for the recovery of funds. Furthermore, the committee calls on State institutions to work together to fight corruption and maladministration, Hlengwa said.

The committee also welcomed the information that the NSF has been working with the Auditor-General to ensure that the fund meets audit requirements and that the results of this work will be available in the next audit report.

SCOPA has further noted three areas emanating from the NSF process, as it deals with the outcomes of the forensic report.

The first area is the disciplinary hearings that are taking place within the NSF. The second area is the Hawks-led criminal investigations that are underway. The third aspect, which must now take place, is the SIU-led process on civil litigations.

SCOPA also wishes to see a meeting between the department and the SIU taking place on this matter within the next 14 days to ensure that the third leg of this process unfolds. SCOPA will monitor the process by requesting quarterly reports from all the involved parties to ensure that work is being done, Mhlengwa said.

He said the committee will only submit its report on this matter to the National Assembly once it has received feedback from the meeting between the department and the SIU, within the next 14 days.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-10-21. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Saudi journalist proud to be present at opening session of 20th CPC National Congress

People's Daily Online) 15:35, October 21, 2022

Photo shows Eman Alshammry, a columnist from The Peninsula newspaper, Saudi Arabia. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

"The National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is an important event in China which is held every five years. Today, I became a part of this historic event, recording it and covering it here in Beijing. I think I'm the only woman from Saudi Arabia who was present at the grand event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing," wrote Eman Alshammry, a columnist from The Peninsula newspaper of Saudi Arabia, who attended the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the CPC on Oct. 16, 2022 in Beijing.

Alshammry said she has noticed that "change" was a buzzword in the report delivered to the 20th National Congress of the CPC by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, showing that these changes represent the achievements China has made, the changes in people's lives, and the commitments the CPC has made.

A picture taken by Eman Alshammry shows the face-changing technique in Sichuan Opera, a genre of opera culture in China. Eman Alshammry is very interested in traditional Chinese culture. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

"These changes are reflected through numbers and indexes. What's more, they can be seen through the improvement of people's wellbeing," she wrote.

"To be here in China is a valuable opportunity for me. My friends thought it was cool for me to come to China, as we know about the country but few of us have visited it," Alshammry told People's Daily Online. She came to China in the spring of 2022.

As a social affairs columnist, Alshammry has been given the Award of Media Excellence by the Ministry of Media of Saudi Arabia. After she came to China, Alshammry has the opportunity to present a vigorous and inclusive country to her readers through her unique perspective and writing.

Rural life in China through the mobile phone lens of Eman Alshammry. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Alshammry also visited many famous energy enterprises in China and learned about their carbon reduction efforts and promotion of the use of renewable energy resources. Later, she wrote an article explaining China's goal of carbon neutrality to readers in her country.

Alshammry pays a great deal of attention to poverty alleviation in China. Through interviews and lectures, she came to know about how China has managed to secure victory against poverty by developing industries and through relocation, education and training, over the past 10 years.

In an article she wrote titled "How China fights against poverty," Alshammry noted that the key to solving the problem lies in the country's adherence to a development-oriented path. Xi, who is also Chinese president, has said that poverty alleviation requires a change of attitude and discarding of the "poverty mentality," Alshammry wrote in her article.

Alshammry is interested in traditional Chinese culture. She shared a story with People's Daily Online about her encounter with Hanfu, the traditional clothing of the Han ethnic group in China, in a subway in Beijing, and asked about how she could buy a Hanfu costume.

A picture taken by Eman Alshammry shows the journalist documenting the camping craze in China. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Knowing that Chinese Generation Z-ers show great interest in Hanfu, Alshammry said that Hanfu represents the aesthetics of China and that it is good practice to show the beauty of tradition in everyday life.

She will continue sharing her observations on China. "I will write more about China's achievements," she wrote. This country is not at the mercy of fate; its fate is in its own hands."

(Web editor: Hongyu, Wu Chengliang)
Operational performance highlights:

 603,183 electricity network connections, up 1.7% on September 2021

 118,392 gas network connections, up 1.3% on September 2021

 More than 2 million advanced meters now installed across NZ and Australia

 Over half a million advanced meters now installed in Australian market

Commentary:

The three months ended 30 September 2022 have seen Aucklands growth continue, with network connection numbers growing across Vectors electricity and gas networks. In the year to 30 September 2022, total electricity connection numbers grew by 1.7%, with new electricity connections in the three months ended 30 September 2022 up 60.3% on the comparative period in the prior year. This is largely due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions in Auckland in the September 2021 quarter. Electricity distributed volume for the period was up 0.7% compared with the three months ended 30 September 2021. Residential volumes were down 1.3% while SME/I&C volumes were up 2.7%.

There has been a 1.3% increase in total connections on Aucklands gas distribution network over the 12 months to 30 September 2022. New gas connections in the three months to 30 September 2022 were up 9.8% on the comparative period in the prior year. Gas distribution volume for the three months to 30 September 2022 was up 2.6% compared with the three months to 30 September 2021, driven by lower consumption of gas and reduced activity from the industrial and commercial sectors given the COVID-19 restrictions in Auckland in the September 2021 quarter.

Vector has continued to grow its advanced metering business here and in Australia, with a total fleet of more than 2 million meters as at 30 September 2022. We have now installed more than half a million advanced meters in Australia.

BottleSwap has seen a 16.7% decrease in the number of 9kg bottles swapped in the three months to 30 September 2022 compared with the same period last year.

Natural gas volumes are down 6.7% on the September 2021 comparative period due to slightly lower wholesale sales. Liquigas LPG tolling volumes are up 15.3% on the September 2021 comparative period due to higher customer demand.

Total SAIDI minutes for the six months ended 30 September 2022 are marginally unfavourable compared to the same period last year. These results are preliminary and subject to audit.

3 months ended 30 September (2022, 2021, % change)

Electricity

Customers(1, 4) 603,183, 592,962, 1.7%

New connections 3,879, 2,420, 60.3%

Net movement in customers (2) 3,071, 2,163, 42.0%

Volume distributed (GWh) 2,355, 2,338, 0.7%

SAIDI (minutes)  6 months to 30 September(3)

Normal operations  unplanned 45.4, 46.4, (2.2%)

Normal operations - planned 23.5(4), 19.9, 18.1%

Major network events 8.1, 9.8, (17.3%)

Total 77.5, 76.1, 1.8%

Gas Distribution

Customers(1, 4) 118,392, 116,840, 1.3%

New connections 707, 644, 9.8%

Net movement in customers(2) 397, 368, 7.9%

Distribution volume (PJ) 4.0, 3.9, 2.6%

Gas Trading

Natural gas sales (PJ)(5) 1.4, 1.5, (6.7%)

LPG volumes (tonnes) 11,645, 14,714, (20.9%)

9kg LPG bottles swapped(6) 139,097, 166,897, (16.7%)

Liquigas LPG tolling (tonnes) 32,204, 27,941, 15.3%

Notes

(1) As at 30 September.

(2) Net number of customers added during the period, includes disconnected, reconnected and decommissioned ICPs.

(3) SAIDI (minutes) for the six months ended 30 September 2022 is an unaudited value and subject to change.

(4) Billable ICPs.

(5) Excludes gas sold as gas liquids.

(6) Number of 9kg LPG bottles swapped and sold during the year.

The Excel version can be found at: http://vector.co.nz/news

ENDS

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Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 43F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 32F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 43F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 34F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 21 (ANI/PRNewswire): ICOMM, a group company of Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL) and a market leader in developing and manufacturing Missile and Sub-systems, Communications and EW systems, Electro-optics, Shelters, Composites, as well as other systems technology such as drone and counter drones, signed a partnership agreement, following a previous Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) / agreement with CARACAL, a leading small arms manufacturer and entity within EDGE Group, UAE.

The agreement was signed during DEFEXPO 2022, the Land, Naval and Homeland Security Systems Exhibition, ongoing in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, until October 22, 2022.

Also Read | Apple To Reportedly Launch macOS for M2 iPad Pro.

In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative, ICOMM and CARACAL will partner and develop a complete portfolio of locally manufactured small arms for the Indian Defence forces and market for international export.

At the signing, ICOMM Chief Sumanth P said: "India's Defence industry is constantly evolving, inline with India's Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. ICOMM's MoU with Caracal (EDGE Group, UAE) is a step towards making the Defence sector in India self-sufficient and self-reliant in light of the geopolitical shifts taking place throughout the world. Under the ICOMM-Caracal cooperation, the complete line of small arms will be produced in ICOMM's world-class design, development and manufacturing centre in Hyderabad. Presently, ICOMM isone of the large companies in manufacturing Missile & Sub-Systems, Communications & EW System, Radars, Electro-Optics, Composites, Loitering Munitions, Shelters, Drone & Counter Drone System. Our entry into the small arms is a proud moment for us."

Also Read | Tihar 2022 Date in Nepali Calendar: From Rituals to Significance, Know About The Five Days of Yama Panchak Festival Celebrated As Diwali in Nepal & North East India.

Hamad Alameri, CEO of CARACAL, said: "Building partnerships and seeking valuable opportunities for collaboration in the Indian market is one of CARACAL's key objectives, and we look forward to exploring these opportunities further with ICOMM, whose experience as an industry leader providing turnkey solutions across multiple sectors, including engineering and defence, complements CARACAL's portfolio of advanced small arms. Through our agreement to form a partnership, we can benefit from greater knowledge sharing, and can utilise our individual strengths, and our synergies, to reinforce our support of the overall 'Make in India' strategy."

ICOMM is a group company of Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), which is one of the largest infrastructure companies in India, with an Annual Sales of over USD 3.0 Bn with over 35,000 employees and working on various projects and spread across 18 offices across the Globe. ICOMM Tele Limited, having state-of-the-art facilities spread across 110-acre facility with over 1,050,000 Sq.ft of built-up area, established in 1989 is a pioneer and a leader in the fields of product designing, engineering, and manufacturing in the following segments such as Defence & Aerospace, Power, Roads, Oil & Gas and Telecom.

Starting from a humble beginning of a company designing and manufacturing RF components, Antennas and Masts in 1989, ICOMM has been developing and manufacturing products for the Indian Defence Industry for over 25 Years in the areas of Missiles and Sub-Systems, Communications & EW, Composites, Drone & Counter-Drone Systems, Radar Systems, Electro-Optics, Shelters and Command Control Centre, UAV/Loitering Missile and Antennas. For more information, please visit https://icommtele.com

Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) is a major infrastructure company headquartered in Hyderabad, India. The company was established in 1989 as a small fabrication unit. In due course of time, the unit made a name for itself in the manufacturing and engineering sector. With the advent of the new millennium, MEIL had started taking up minor irrigation and drinking water projects in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

This forward integration move helped the company to emerge as a leading player in the infrastructure industry. In recent years, MEIL has employed its strengths in infra sectors like irrigation, water management, hydrocarbons, power, renewable energy, transportation, industrial infrastructure, etc. Currently, the operations of MEIL span across more than 15 Indian states.

MEIL is consistently able to provide quality infrastructure at the most cost-effective rates because of its strength in manufacturing. The company has developed a complete suite of solutions in the specialized area of surge protection in pipelines which includes its own analysis software and proprietary engineering solutions for actual pipeline installations. The company also caters to the development of large scale backward integration through the manufacture of spiral welded pipes, HDPE pipes, and GRP & GRE pipes. The company is also executing infrastructure projects in the countries of Bangladesh, Zambia, Tanzania and energy projects in the Gulf region.

On the strength of such overseas experience, MEIL is planning to explore more potential markets in the developing world. On the international front, MEIL has honed its project experience in countries like Bangladesh, Zambia, Tanzania, and the Gulf region (Kuwait) by exploring opportunities in the areas of water management, hydrocarbons and healthcare infrastructure. For more information, please visit https://meil.in

Established in 2007, CARACAL is a regional and international leader in high-performance small arms. The company designs, engineers, innovates and manufactures mission-proven firearms for law enforcement, security and military forces, with a production legacy spanning more than 15 years. CARACAL's product portfolio includes pistols, submachine guns, assault rifles and sniper rifles across a range of calibres.

CARACAL's experience reflects in the quality, performance and dependability of its growing range of weapons, incorporating the latest technological advances, developed to meet the evolving and challenging nature of warfare as well as the diverse mission requirements of customers in the UAE and abroad. CARACAL is part of the Missiles & Weapons cluster of EDGE Group, an advanced technology group that ranks among the top 25 military suppliers in the world.

For more information, please visit https://caracal.ae

Launched in November 2019, the UAE's EDGE is one of the world's leading advanced technology groups, established to develop agile, bold and disruptive solutions for defence and beyond, and to be a catalyst for change and transformation. It is dedicated to bringing breakthrough innovations, products, and services to market with greater speed and efficiency, to position the UAE as a leading global hub for future industries, and to creating clear paths within the sector for the next generation of highly-skilled talent to thrive.

With a focus on the adoption of 4IR technologies, EDGE is driving the development of sovereign capabilities for global export and for the preservation of national security, working with front-line operators, international partners, and adopting advanced technologies such as autonomous capabilities, cyber-physical systems, advanced propulsion systems, robotics and smart materials.

EDGE converges R&D, emerging technologies, digital transformation, and commercial market innovations with military capabilities to develop disruptive solutions tailored to the specific requirements of its customers.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, EDGE consolidates more than 20 entities into four core clusters: Platforms & Systems, Missiles & Weapons, Electronic Warfare & Cyber Technologies, and Trading & Mission Support.

For more information, visit edgegroup.ae

This story has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content in this article. (ANI/PRNewswire)

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IRTH from House of Titan- Manish Gupta, Chief Executive Office and VP, Fragrance and Fashion Accessories Division at Titan Company Limited and CK Venkataraman, Managing Director, Titan Company Limited

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 21 (ANI/NewsVoir): Titan Company, the undisputed leader in consumer categories announced the launch of its latest brand, IRTH.

IRTH from the House of Titan is a thoughtfully designed women's handbag brand.

Also Read | Assam: Four PFI Members, Including One Linkman Arrested in Kamrup.

Every woman carries a bag and owns multiple. However, to this huge potential market, the existing solutions today are largely catering to the vanity. Hence, Titan sees potential in organised styling as a space that is unoccupied by anyone. Also given the large loyal base of women consumers that Titan caters to, this is yet another endeavour to enhance her every day.

Bags thoughtfully designed for women of today to elevate their everyday. Designed with deeper understanding, delivering premium quality at an affordable price.

Also Read | Canadian Sikh Accused of Killing His Kids, Strangulating Wife in Montreal Charged With Murder.

IRTH the next big venture from Titan addresses its consumers' evolving ambitions by presenting a trusted, women's bag brand that responds to all their requirements.

Commenting on the launch, CK Venkataraman, Managing Director, Titan Company Limited said, "Titan has continuously pushed the boundaries to offer elevating experiences with our products. We saw a huge potential in the women's bags category and are delighted to explore the opportunity with the launch of IRTH. The brand IRTH represents the values and trust of Titan and our understanding of the women consumer and their evolving needs. We are proud to present a brand that is centred on design and functionality."

Sharing his thoughts on the launch, Manish Gupta, Chief Executive Office & VP, Fragrance and Fashion Accessories Division at Titan Company Limited said, "IRTH intends to create long meaningful relationships with its consumers, making their purchase process exciting and special. Suggestive of the brand's name, IRTH symbolises the care and attention applied to the product design and exemplifies the sense of wonder and emotion inherent in the brand."

IRTH has a product portfolio ranging from workbags, tall totes, shoulder bags, handhelds, slings, cross body, clutches and wallets. Delights and Organisers are the categories unique to IRTH.

Delights is a range of special bags. Many specific need based bags today are carrying solutions but are not the most stylish. Delights range is an evolving cluster starting with Mom Bags. Mom bags come with insulated milk bottle slots, changing mats, water repellent slots for soiled clothes, and can be hands free with detachable straps to be hooked on to the stroller. There many more little pockets to organise the little things of both mom and the baby.

Detachable Organisers cluster is here to make mobility styling organised. The launch pack comes in four different sizes, S, M, L & XL, basis the carrying needs.

The delight in IRTH bags are the little features: padded shoulders, key holders, wire organisers, detachable sanitiser pouch, detachable pouches etc. to keep your secret things secret and precious things safe.

These packed IRTH bags are priced economically to suit every pocket, Rs 2595 - Rs 5995/-

The Launch pack of IRTH has wide choice of 90 bags + 4 organisers in two colour ways to choose from.

IRTH bags from House of Titan, thoughtfully designed for women of today to elevate their everyday. Designed with deeper understanding, delivering premium quality at an affordable price. IRTH caters to women from every walk of life, who has a journey of her own, from here to anywhere and is seeking organised styling solution. IRTH bags come with 9 months warranty policy against manufacturing defects.

Titan Company Limited ("Titan"), a joint venture between the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), commenced its operations in 1987 under the name Titan Watches Limited. In 1994, Titan diversified into Jewellery (Tanishq) and subsequently into Eyewear.

Over the last three decades, Titan has expanded into underpenetrated markets and created lifestyle brands across different product categories including fragrances (SKINN), accessories and Indian dress wear (Taneira). Titan is widely known for transforming the watch and jewellery industry in India and for shaping India's retail market by pioneering experiential retail. Titan recorded a standalone income of around Rs 20,600 crore for the year ended 31st March 2021.

Learn more about Titan on: www.titancompany.in

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TitanCompanyLimited/

Twitter: twitter.com/TitanCompanyLtd

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/titan-industries

Instagram: www.instagram.com/titancompanyltd/

This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content in this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

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New Delhi [India], October 21 (ANI/PNN): Imarticus Learning, India's front-running professional education firm, is celebrating Diwali with a career day to be organized on October 28, 2022. The platform offers multiple offers, including a referral offer where you can refer a friend and win vouchers. Enrol in any of their job-guarantee programs before October 30 and enter the lucky draw to stand a chance to win exciting prizes like iPads, tablets, noise-cancellation headphones, and gold and silver coins.

They are also organizing a special Imarticus Learning Career Day. Walk in and win scholarships worth up to Rs. 1 crore (Terms & Conditions applicable) to be held on 28th October at their nationwide centres. Walk into any of the centres, attend a workshop, take an assessment test and stand a chance to win scholarships.

Also Read | Assam: Four PFI Members, Including One Linkman Arrested in Kamrup.

Nikhil Barshikar, Founder of Imarticus Learning, said, "We at Imarticus Learning believe that no gift can be greater than the gift of knowledge. This Diwali, we endeavour to reach out to the student community and offer them courses that would allow them to gain practical exposure and develop a strong theoretical base. This career day workshop is engineered to do this. We also aim to award deserving students and recognize their potential. We are looking forward to students participating in large numbers."

For all the details on the offers and other exciting deals, you can visit their website www.imarticus.org. Terms and conditions apply to all the offers mentioned above.

Also Read | Canadian Sikh Accused of Killing His Kids, Strangulating Wife in Montreal Charged With Murder.

Imarticus Learning is a major Edtech company in India, offering high-quality, industry-specific education via innovative technology, specialized training, career assistance, and mentorship from industry professionals. It has impacted over 10,00,000 careers within a decade through leading-edge curriculums, highly experienced faculty, and over 500 global partnerships with leading institutions and corporations. Imarticus Learning seeks to upskill existing and future workers to fulfil various industries' current and upcoming job market demands. Its objective is to provide learners with valuable learning experiences, educate them with industry-specific skills, and prepare them to take on multiple jobs in their sector.

Imarticus Learning is renowned for its unique teaching methodology, including immersive live lectures (online and offline), peer-to-peer discussions, hybrid learning modules, industry-focused seminars, capstone projects, guest lectures, soft skills training, etc. It offers courses that prepare learners for successful careers in data science, analytics, finance, banking, and technology.

This story has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content in this article. (ANI/PNN)

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Hamirpur (HP), Oct 21 (PTI) BJP leader Anurag Thakur on Friday appealed to Sujanpur voters to avenge the defeat of Prem Kumar Dhumal, his father and a former Himachal Chief Minister, who had lost the assembly election from the seat last time.

Addressing a gathering in Sujanpur, the Union minister made an emotional appeal to the people to vote for Captain Ranjit Singh.

Also Read | Dhanteras 2022: Five Things to Avoid Buying on This Auspicious Day.

He said that people were ruing not voting in favour of Dhumal Ji last time.

With the election preparations in full swing, Thakur exhorted people to rally behind the BJP and vote for the party for their own benefit, and to strengthen the nation further.

Also Read | Bihar: Hundreds Participate in Funeral Procession of Monkeys Who Died Due to Electrocution in Gaya.

Addressing party rallies in Hamirpur, Sujanpur, and Bhoranj on Friday, where he sought votes for the party nominees Narendra Thakur, Captain (Retd) Ranjit Singh, and Dr Anil Dhiman, Thakur said that the BJP was the sole benefactor of the people.

He said that the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party had no future and would be wiped out from the political scenario of India after the coming elections.

The Information and Broadcasting Minister detailed the activities of BJP's double-engine governments -- one that rules in the Centre and state -- and accused the Congress of making false accusations against it and its leaders.

He said that the Bharat Jodo yatra' of Rahul Gandhi was nothing but a way to introduce him to the people, as people had ignored him because of his "behaviour."

He said that through the yatra, Gandhi was trying to divide the nation on caste, creed, and communal lines and such things should be dealt with a strong hand.

Thakur said that the time had come to bring back the powerful and people-oriented government in the state that provided its people with various sorts of benefits and facilities during the last five years.

He said that it was the BJP-led double-engine governments that controlled the Corona epidemic with a strong hand, otherwise the situation would have been different.

Thakur appealed to the people to go to their polling stations in large numbers as each vote would matter in the elections.

Earlier, he took part in the nomination filing ceremonies of the party candidates in the three constituencies and had a chat with the party workers to gear up them for the elections.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Rudraprayag, October 21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning offered prayers at Uttarkhand's Kedarnath shrine, donning a 'Chola Dora' outfit gifted to him by women of Himachal Pradesh's Chamba.

The traditional pahadi outfit in white colour and sporting fine hand embroidery was gifted to the prime minister during his recent visit to Himachal. PM Modi, on receiving the gift had promised the women that he would wear it at the first instance during a visit to a cold region. Uttar Pradesh: Dengue Patient Transfused With Fruit Juice Instead of Platelets in Prayagraj, Dies; SRN Hospital Sealed (Watch Video).

By wearing the outfit at today's visit he fulfilled that promise.

Prime Minister Modi performed puja at Kedarnath Temple today. He was accompanied by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. PM also visited the Adi Guru Shankaracharya Samadhi Sthal at Kedarnath.

Watch PM Modi performs Puja at Kedarnath:

Prime Minister is on a visit to the Himalayan state to lay the foundation stone of projects worth over Rs 3,400 crore. Upon his arrival at the Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun and was received by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmeet Singh.

Glimpses of PM Narendra Modi's Visit to Kedarnath:

The prime minister also reviewed the progress of development works along Mandakini Asthapath and Saraswati Asthapath in Kedarnath during his visit. The PM will lay the foundation stone of the Kedarnath Ropeway Project.

From Kedarnath, Prime Minister reached Badrinath and performed pooja at the Shri Badrinath Temple.

Reviewing the progress of the development work of the riverfront, followed by laying the foundation stone of road and ropeway projects at Mana village and reviewing the progress of development work of arrival plaza and lakes are on the agenda of the prime minister.

The ropeway in Kedarnath will be around 9.7 Km long and will connect Gaurikund to Kedarnath, reducing the travel time between the two places from 6-7 hours at present, to only about 30 mins. The Hemkund ropeway will connect Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib. It will be around 12.4 km long and will reduce the travel time from more than a day to only about 45 mins. This ropeway will also connect Ghangaria, which is the gateway to Valley of Flowers National Park, said the PMO statement. PM Narendra Modi to Lay Foundation Stone of Ropeway Project in Kedarnath Today.

The ropeways, which will be developed at a cumulative cost of around Rs 2,430 crore, are an environmental friendly mode of transport that will provide a safe, secure and stable mode of transport. This major infrastructure development will give a boost to religious tourism, which will give a fillip to the economic development in the region and lead to creation of multiple employment opportunities as well.

Foundation stone of road widening projects worth around Rs 1000 crore will also be laid during the visit. The two road widening projects - from Mana to Mana Pass (NH07) and from Joshimath to Malari (NH107B) - shall be another step towards providing last-mile all-weather road connectivity to our border areas. Apart from boosting connectivity, these projects will also prove beneficial from a strategic point of view as well.

Kedarnath and Badrinath are among the most important Hindu shrines. The area is also known for one of the revered Sikh Pilgrim site - Hemkund Sahib. The connectivity projects are aimed to ease access and improve basic infrastructure in places of religious significance.

(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], October 21 (ANI): Reacting strongly to the controversial remarks of former Union Minister Shivraj Patil linking and comparing Lord Krishna's message (Gita) to Arjun with jihad, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Friday lashed out at Congress saying it reflected their deep-seated hatred for Hindus.

"Instead of apologising unconditionally Shivraj Patil is justifing and defending his statement linking Shri Krishna's message to Arjun with jihad. And within a few hours we see Udit Raj, another national spokesperson of Congress spewing venom against Hindu Aastha and faith and hurting sentiments of crores. This shows it isn't a (coincidence) sanyog but a vote bank ka prayog of Congress."

Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Pitches for 'Vocal for Local' at Badrinath's Mana Village Near India-China Border.

He said that there was a competition of appeasement between Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) before Gujarat to polarise a vote bank by abusing and insulting Hindus.

"Feeling that Gopal Italia, Rajendra Pal of AAP were getting ahead by abusing Hindus and Katha and Mandir now Congress leadership has instructed its leaders to abuse Hindus and Hindu faith"

Also Read | Apple Fitness+ Service Will Be Available to iPhone Users Starting October 24, 2022.

He said that Shivraj Patil was a Gandhi family loyalist who had earlier coined the Hindu-Saffron terror narrative. "This was not a misquotation as claimed by Shivraj Patil," he added.

Recounting how Congress had opposed Ram Mandir, doubted the existence of Shri Ram, linked Hindutva to ISIS and Boko Haram and even blamed 26/11 on Hindus, Poonawalla asked, "If these were misquotation as well?"

He spoke of how Rahul Gandhi has insulted Hindutva and had said that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was less dangerous than Hindu groups.

The BJP leader said that this pattern was not a coincidence but a strategy before Gujarat elections. "They call themselves as janeu-dhari (the one who wears Brahminical thread) but this is their real face, " he added.

He said that Sonia, Rahul and Mallikarjun Kharge must explain what these comments mean and take action.

"The fact that neither Shivraj Patil is apologising nor has the Congress condemned it - this shows that the statement was not suo-moto but made to be given by Congress party," Poonawalla added.

Earlier on Thursday, Patil claimed that the concept of 'jihad' finds mention not only in the Quran but in the Bhagwad Gita and in Christianity as well.

At a book launch event in the national capital, Patil said that Lord Krishna also taught lessons of jihad to Arjun in Gita in the Mahabharat.

"It's said there is a lot of discussion on Jihad in Islam religion... Even after all efforts, if someone doesn't understand clean ideas, then power can be used. It is not just in the Quran Sharif, but also in the Mahabharata of which Gita is a part," Patil said.

"Shri Krishna also talks to Arjuna about jihad. It is not like this is only in the Quran Sharif or the Gita but in Christianity also it is written...Christ has said that I have not come here to establish peace but I have come here with a sword," Patil said.

Speaking in Hindi, the Congress leader said that "if even after explaining everything, people do not understand and they are arriving with weapons then you cannot run, you cannot call that jihad and you cannot call it wrong, this is what must be understood, there should not be this concept of making people understand with weapons in hand."

Patil who was Union home minister from 2004 to 2008 and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996 was addressing the audience at a book launch of Congress leader and former Union Minister Mohsina Kidwai. (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, October 21: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday met with the new Congress president-elect Mallikarjun Kharge at the latter's residence.

"Today, meeting the newly elected President of Indian National Congress Shri Mallikarjun Kharge ji at his residence and conveyed his greetings and best wishes," tweeted Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Changes His Twitter Bio After Presidential Poll Victory.

The newly elected President of the Indian National Congress Mallikarjun Kharge will take charge of the post on October 26 at All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters. All Congress Working Committee members, MPs, Pradesh Congress Committee presidents, CLP leaders, former CMs, former State presidents and other AICC office bearers are invited to the programme.

The invitation has been sent to all the above stakeholders by the General Secretary organisation KC Venugopal.

Kharge beat his opponent Shashi Tharoor by a huge margin in the race to the party's top post, thus becoming the first non-Gandhi to take over the office after 24 years. Kharge got 7,897 votes in the presidential contest while his opponent Tharoor received 1,072 votes in the voting held on October 17.

Also, Kharge will visit poll-bound states like Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat soon.

Soon after his poll victory Kharge said that the party has presented an "example of strengthening the country's democracy by conducting organisational elections" at a time when "democracy is in danger" in the country. Addressing the media after his victory, Kharge said Congress has "continuously strengthened democracy" in the 75-year history of the country and protected the Constitution. Karnataka: Complaint Lodged Against Police Inspector for Arresting Elderly Lady in Absence of Lady Cops Over Property Issue in Bengaluru.

"Now when democracy is in danger and Constitution is being attacked, and every institution is being broken, Congress has presented an example of strengthening the country's democracy by conducting organisational elections at the national level. I thank everyone connected with the election," he said.

He also congratulated Tharoor and said that they discussed methods to take the party forward. Tharoor had visited Kharge's residence to congratulate him on his victory. "I want to congratulate my partner Shashi Tharoor as well. We were contesting the election as representatives. He met me and we discussed how to take the party forward," Kharge said.

Earlier yesterday, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reached Mallikarjun Kharge's residence and congratulated him on being elected as the new party president. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also extended wishes to Kharge and said that the post he has been elected to "represents a democratic vision of India".

(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], October 21 (ANI): Police's special cell team apprehended a Chinese national disguised as a Nepalese citizen from the national capital on Thursday, involved in an alleged anti-national activity, officials said.

The Chinese lady identified as Cai Ruo was arrested from Majnu Ka Tila, Delhi, following searches based on the information received, Delhi police said.

Also Read | INR vs USD: Congress Attacks Narendra Modi Govt, 'Says BJP Not Ready To Accept Reality on Rupee Depreciation'.

After further investigation, it was revealed that the arrested foreign national was residing in India with a fake Nepalese identity.

"The Chinese lady was detained on Monday at around 1 pm from Majnu Ka Tila, Delhi. During verification, one Nepalese citizenship certificate in the name of Dolma Lama, a resident of Kathmandu, Nepal was recovered from her possession," a police officer said.

Also Read | Rishi Sunak, Who Emerged As Bookmakers' Favourite for UK PM, Yet To Clear Whether He Will Run.

After contacting Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO), it was revealed that the arrested person is a Chinese citizen and had travelled to India back in 2019 as a Chinese national.

A case has been registered against her on October 17 under section 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security), and other relevant section of the Indian Penal Code and Foreigners Act.

The Chinese woman has been sent to police custody for 14 days.

Further information is underway, police 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], October 21 (ANI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor who lost to Mallikarjun Kharge in the recently concluded Congress presidential election, on Thursday, said that it was clear from the beginning that the party's establishment would rally behind his opponent.

"I'm not upset, it was clear from the beginning that the party's establishment would rally behind my opponent (M Kharge)," Tharoor said while speaking at the launch of Congress veteran and former Union minister Mohsina Kidwai's biography in the national capital.

Also Read | INR vs USD: Congress Attacks Narendra Modi Govt, 'Says BJP Not Ready To Accept Reality on Rupee Depreciation'.

He said that he spoke to Sonia Gandhi and she said "Look it's not surprising that most of the party members will back one of their own".

Kharge, who won the party presidential polls, changed his Twitter bio to "President: Indian National Congress" on Thursday.

Also Read | Rishi Sunak, Who Emerged As Bookmakers' Favourite for UK PM, Yet To Clear Whether He Will Run.

This comes a day after he beat his opponent Tharoor by a huge margin in the race to the party's top post, thus becoming the first non-Gandhi to take over the office after 24 years.Kharge got 7,897 votes in the presidential contest while his opponent Tharoor received 1,072 votes in the voting held on October 17.

The new Congress president will take charge of the post on October 26 at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters.

All Congress Working Committee members, MPs, Pradesh Congress Committee presidents, CLP leaders, former CMs, former State presidents and other AICC office bearers are invited to the programme.

The invitation has been sent to all the above stakeholders by the General Secretary organisation KC Venugopal.

Congress is expected to resolve the Rajasthan Congress crisis soon after Kharge assumes his position, added the sources.

Also, Kharge will visit poll-bound states like Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat soon.

Soon after his poll victory yesterday, Kharge said that the party has presented an "example of strengthening the country's democracy by conducting organisational elections" at a time when "democracy is in danger" in the country.

Addressing the media after his victory, Kharge said Congress has "continuously strengthened democracy" in the 75-year history of the country and protected the Constitution.

"Now when democracy is in danger and Constitution is being attacked, and every institution is being broken, Congress has presented an example of strengthening the country's democracy by conducting organisational elections at the national level. I thank everyone connected with the election," he said.

He also congratulated Tharoor and said that they discussed methods to take the party forward. Tharoor had visited Kharge's residence to congratulate him on his victory.

"I want to congratulate my partner Shashi Tharoor as well. We were contesting the election as representatives. He met me and we discussed how to take the party forward," Kharge said.

Earlier yesterday, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reached Mallikarjun Kharge's residence and congratulated him on being elected as the new party president.Rahul Gandhi also extended wishes to Kharge and said that the post he has been elected to "represents a democratic vision of India". (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kohima, Oct 21 (PTI) Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Friday said the demand for a separate state by the people of the eastern part of the state is "not wrong".

Eastern Nagaland comprises six districts  Mon, Tuensang, Kiphire, Longleng, Noklak and Shamator  which are inhabited by seven tribes of Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Sangtam, Tikhir and Yimkhiung.

Also Read | Madhya Pradesh Shocker: Man Arrested for Peeping Into Girls Hostel Washroom in Chhatarpur.

Nagas, we speak our mind and it is not wrong for them (Eastern Nagaland people) to say what their thinking and desire is but all these issues will be resolved," Rio said.

During a function here, the CM was asked by reporters that Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organisation (ENPO) has decided not to participate in the ensuing Hornbill Festival and also asked 20 legislators from the region to resign in support of their demand for the separate state.

Also Read | Boris Johnson Eyes Comeback As UK Conservatives Pick New PM After Liz Truss' Resignation.

We are talking with them and will give an appointment to ENPO during the union home minister's (proposed) visit to the state. If the prime minister also comes, we will request him to have a talk with them," Rio said.

The clamour for the separate state in eastern Nagaland has gained momentum ahead of the assembly polls due early next year, with the 20 MLAs from the region extending support to a call not to take part in any election until the demand is met.

The CM, however, said that the state government is yet to receive any final schedule for the proposed visit of the home minister or the PM.

On ENPO's decision not to participate in Hornbill Festival, Rio said it will be held as usual and every tribe should take part.

It is a responsibility of the state, and one cannot dishonour the state but all have to take responsibility to make it successful, Rio said.

The ENPO has been demanding 'Frontier Nagaland' since 2010, alleging "negligence" by the government in all aspects of development after 58 years of Nagaland statehood.

It has declared not to participate in any election, including the 2023 assembly poll, till their demand is fulfilled.

(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], October 21 (ANI): Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Thursday suspended its spokesperson and senior leader KS Radhakrishnan from its primary membership and other responsibilities.

On Thursday, Radhakrishnan tweeted a picture trolling Congress President-elect Mallikharjun Kharge and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Also Read | Bitcoins Worth Rs 7.12 Crore Seized by Enforcement Directorate in E-Nuggets Game Fraud Case.

Several Tamil Nadu Congress leaders condemned that and later the DMK took action against Radhakrishnan.

Kharg was elected as new Congress president on Wednesday.

Also Read | Apple's Upcoming iPhone SE 4 Could Come With 6.1-Inch Display.

Kharge got 7,897 votes in the presidential contest and his opponent Shashi Tharoor received 1,072 votes in the voting held on October 17.

Addressing the media after his victory, Kharge said Congress has "continuously strengthened democracy" in the 75-year history of the country and protected the Constitution.

"Now when democracy is in danger and Constitution is being attacked, and every institution is being broken, Congress has presented an example of strengthening the country's democracy by conducting organisational elections at the national level. I thank everyone connected with the election," he said.

Newly elected President will take charge of the post on October 26 at All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters.

All Congress Working Committee members, MPs, Pradesh Congress Committee presidents, CLP leaders, former CMs, former State presidents and other AICC office bearers are invited to the programme.

The invitation has been sent to all the above stakeholders by the General Secretary organisation KC Venugopal.

For the first time in 24 years, the party has got a chief who does not belong to the Nehru-Gandhi family. (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], October 21 (ANI): Former Union home minister and Congress veteran Shivraj Patil has stoked controversy with his recent claim that the concept of 'jihad' finds mention not only in the Quran but in the Bhagwad Gita and in Christianity as well.

At a book launch event in the national capital on Thursday, Patil said that Lord Krishna also taught lessons of jihad to Arjun in a part of Gita in the Mahabharat.

Also Read | Bitcoins Worth Rs 7.12 Crore Seized by Enforcement Directorate in E-Nuggets Game Fraud Case.

Patil's remarks have drawn flak from the BJP which has hit out at the Congress for "Hindu hatred" and "votebank politics."

"It's said there is a lot of discussion on Jihad in Islam religion... Even after all efforts, if someone doesn't understand clean ideas, then power can be used. It is not just in the Quran Sharif, but also in the Mahabharata of which Gita is a part," Patil said.

Also Read | Apple's Upcoming iPhone SE 4 Could Come With 6.1-Inch Display.

"Shri Krishna also talks to Arjuna about jihad. It is not like this is only in the Quran Sharif or the Gita but in Christianity also it is written...Christ has said that I have not come here to establish peace but I have come here with sword," Patil said.

Speaking in Hindi, the Congress leader said that "if even after explaining everything, people do not understand and they are arriving with weapons then you cannot run, you cannot call that jihad and you cannot call it wrong, this is what must be understood, there should not be this concept of making people understand with weapons in hand."

Patil who was Union home minister from 2004 to 2008 and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996 was addressing the audience at a book launch of Congress leader and former Union Minister Mohsina Kidwai. Among the other dignitaries present at the launch were Shashi Tharoor, Digvijaya Singh, Farooq Abdullah and Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Meanwhile, BJP has hit out at the "votebank politics" of the Congress.

"After AAP's Gopal Italia & Rajendra Pal, not to be outdone in Hindu hatred & votebank politics, Congress' Shivraj Patil says Shri Krishna taught "Jihad" to Arjun! Congress coined Hindu/Saffron terror, opposed Ram Mandir, Questioned Ram JI's existence, said Hindutva = ISIS," BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla tweeted. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Shahjahanpur (UP), Oct 21 (PTI) A court here directed police to register an FIR against a BJP MLA and two others on a complaint of harassment lodged by a daughter-in-law of a former legislator.

Pramod Tiwari, the advocate for Ruchi Verma, who is a daughter-in-law of former MLA Roshanlal Verma, told PTI on Friday that the MP-MLA Court ordered to lodge an FIR against Tilhar BJP MLA Salona Kushwaha; Danish, a clerk at the local tehsil office; and one Sarita Yadav.

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Sarita Yadav has claimed that she is the second wife of one of the former MLA's sons and wants a share in property. The former MLA's family has refused to accept her as their dead son's second wife.

In her complaint, Ruchi Verma alleged that Kushwaha has been harassing her family financially and socially over it. She alleged that Kushwaha took away a register from the tehsil office and included the name of Sarita Yadav as the wife of Roshanlal Verma's dead son Vinod Verma.

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Superintendent of Police S Anand said he has not yet received the copy of the order from the court. After receiving the order of the court, action will be taken as per rules, he said.

On the other hand, the BJP MLA claimed that the allegations against him have been levelled out of political malice.

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Kochi, Oct 21 (PTI) The Kerala High Court on Friday prevented Governor Arif Mohammed Khan from appointing new members to the senate of Kerala University to replace 15 Senate members removed by him in his capacity as the chancellor of universities two days ago.

Also Read | Assam: Four PFI Members, Including One Linkman Arrested in Kamrup.

Considering a plea filed by the ousted senate members challenging the Governor's action, the high court also sought explanation from the Raj Bhavan and directed it to produce all documents related to the matter.

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The court will consider the matter again on October 31.

In their plea, the ousted senate members sought to quash the notification issued by the Governor, as the chancellor of universities in the state, contending that it was an illegal order.

The notification was issued as his October 15 direction to the Vice Chancellor of Kerala University to immediately remove the Senate members had not been complied with.

The gazette notification had said that by a letter dated October 15, 2022, the order of the Chancellor withdrawing his pleasure, with effect from that day, in allowing the Senate members to continue was communicated.

"Now, therefore, in pursuance to this, the Chancellor is also pleased to notify the withdrawal of the above Senate members nominated as per the above provisions with effect from October 15, 2022," the notification had said.

Khan had ordered the removal of Senate members after his repeated directions to hold a senate meeting and provide a nominee of the Senate for the selection committee went unheeded, sources in Raj Bhavan had said.

The selection committee was to appoint a Vice-Chancellor, the sources had said.

Khan's October 15 decision was criticised by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who on Tuesday at a press conference here, had said that it was not according to law.

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Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], October 21 (ANI): Bhartiya Janta Party Mandal, Dharamshala on Thursday witnessed an En-masse resignation of over 150 party supporters and workers, upset over the party's decision to deny ticket of the BJP sitting MLA Vishal Nehria from Dharamshala constituency ahead of Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.

The BJP Central Election Committee on Wednesday released its first list of 62 candidates for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.

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The party pitted Rakesh Chaudhary from the Dharamshala constituency in the place of sitting BJP MLA Vishal Nehria, following which party supporters protested on Wednesday to change the candidature from the Dharamshala constituency.

However, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rakesh Chaudhary on Thursday filed his nomination to contest from the Dharamshala seat in the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls.

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Speaking to the mediapersons, Rakesh Chaudhary said he is delighted to be a part of the BJP since it is a "huge organization". He further talked about his schedule to discuss resolving some "internal issues".

Notably, Chaudhary has recently joined the BJP after quitting Aam Aadmi Party.

He had contested the by-polls of 2019 as an independent candidate.

The party recently released its first list of 62 candidates for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections on Wednesday, which was also approved by the Central Election Committee.

This list of 62 candidates also includes at least five women candidates who will be contesting the Himachal Pradesh assembly bypolls slated to be held on November 12.

On the day of the release of the first list, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur also filed his nomination from his traditional seat of Seraj in Mandi district for the assembly polls in the state.

After filing his nomination, Thakur sought the support of the people and said the residents of Seraj will again create history.

The Chief Minister had also expressed confidence that BJP will emerge victorious in the next month's assembly polls and asserted that the state has seen development in every sector over the past five years. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) International cooperation to combat global threats should be a two way street -- joint and reciprocal, CBI Director Subodh Jaiswal said at the concluding session of the Interpol's 90th General Assembly on Friday.

He also said that the world continues to be vulnerable on account of threats to the common people for which international cooperation is needed.

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"...international cooperation has to be order of the day but it has to be a two way street -- joint and reciprocal. The deliberations over that in last four days have indeed the same direction," said the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is the National Central Bureau of India to liaison with the Interpol.

The four-day general assembly hosted by India was attended by delegations of around 165 countries. This is the second time that the country has hosted the assembly in 25 years.

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During the jamboree of police chiefs, ministers and senior officials of national central bureaus, around 14 countries initiated bilateral meetings on issues related to fugitives, exchange of information and mutual assistance legal treaty, officials said.

The Indian delegation, which was led by a deputy inspector general rank officer from the CBI, engaged in bilateral meetings with 22 countries in which 14 were initiated by visiting members, they said.

The CBI gave a list of key fugitives to countries such as the US, the UK and the UAE, which exchanged information about the present status, the officials said, without giving details citing confidentiality.

Sources refused to give the names of the prominent fugitives which were handed over to these countries, but said three to four most-wanted names were given to them.

Some of the countries that had initiated bilateral meetings also gave their lists of fugitives who are believed to be in India.

Over 34 economic criminals from India have found refuge abroad besides 740 others against whom Red Notices have been issued by the Interpol, they said.

Among the countries with whom India held bilateral meetings were Australia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Austria, South Africa, New Zealand, Japan, Bhutan, Namibia, Bahrain, Russia, Canada, Oman, Serbia, Malaysia and Mongolia.

During the meetings issues such as improvement of criminal intelligence sharing, tracking location of fugitives, terror financing and online radicalisation besides mechanisms to coordinated prevention of cyber crimes and online child sexual exploitation also came up.

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Mumbai, Oct 21 (PTI) The Mumbai police have arrested a 38-year-old fraudster from Tamil Nadu for allegedly cheating a man of Rs 12 lakh by promising high returns on diamond trading investment, an official has said.

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The accused, a resident of Coimbatore, was arrested by a team of South Region Cyber Police Station of Mumbai Crime Branch, he said on Thursday.

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"During the probe, it came to light that the accused had cheated many people by promising high returns in diamond trading," he said.

The probe team froze at least five crypto wallets in which crypto currency worth lakhs of rupees was kept, the police official said, adding that 30 current bank accounts, which were used to park money, were also frozen.

Police have also seized 119 mobile phones used in the offence.

"The accused befriended the victim online and chatted with him on WhatsApp between April 5 and May 9 by posing as a woman. During the chats, the accused persuaded the complainant to invest in diamond trading and sent the link of a website, he said.

The victim then deposited Rs 12 lakh into various bank accounts, he said.

"The accused told the victim that he has earned dividend for his investment. But when the latter tried to redeem the dividend amount, he failed to get it," the official said.

The victim then realised that he has been duped, following which he approached the police and filed a complaint against the accused, he said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], October 21 (ANI): Ahead of the Diwali festival, a massive traffic snarl was witnessed on the Sarhaul border at the Delhi-Gurugram expressway.

Heavy traffic was visible at the expressway, with drivers honking at each other.

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This comes amid the ongoing festival season with Diwali around the corner.

With Dhanteras falling on Saturday, people thronged the shops in the national capital, which could be seen on the streets of Delhi and people returning to their homes for celebrations.

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Dhanteras is a significant Hindu festival that ushers in Diwali celebrations. The festival of wealth and prosperity known as Dhanteras will be celebrated on October 23 this year. Dhan represents riches, and Teras denotes the thirteenth day.

Dhan represents riches, and Teras denotes the thirteenth day. The five-day Diwali festival officially starts on this day, also known as Dhanatrayodashi. It is believed that the Goddess Lakshmi emerged from the ocean of milk on this day, during Samundra Manthan, or the churning of the sea.

People thronged the market of Lajpat Nagar ahead of the Diwali festival, which could be seen in the market.

Its effect could also be seen in the traffic across Delhi. (ANI)

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Champhai (Mizoram) [India], October 21 (ANI): Mizoram police on Thursday seized contraband drugs valuing crores in the international market, following an operation conducted in parts of the Champhai district, officials said.

Mizoram Police conducted searches within the Khankawn and Tuipui areas of the Champhai district within 24 hours and seized more than five kilograms of heroin.

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After further investigation, it was revealed that the seized drugs amount to around Rs 28 crore in the international market.

Further information is awaited.

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Earlier, in September in another operation, Mizoram Police recovered and seized contraband drugs worth more than Rs 84 crore in Mizoram's Champhai district.

Police of Champhai district recovered and seized 28.250 kg (2,52,500 tablets) of methamphetamine valued at Rs 84 crore in the international market in the last 48 hours, Mizoram police said.

A senior official of Mizoram police said, on further investigation and follow-up of the Champhai Police Station case (involving the seizure of 12.584 kg (1,11, 100 tablets) of methamphetamine from one vehicle (Truck) at Tuipui village in Champhai district around midnight day before yesterday, and sustained thorough interrogation of arrested accused persons with sister agencies, another 15.666 kg (1,41,400 tablets ) of the contraband, valued approximately Rs 47 crore in the international market was recovered yesterday from the seized vehicle.

The drugs were concealed in a specially designed concealment cavity/chamber fixed inside the cabin of the seized vehicle. (ANI)

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Noida, Oct 21 (PTI) Officials on Friday said they have received consent letters of more than 70 per cent of farmers -- the minimum required by law for government to proceed for land acquisition for the second phase of Noida International Airport.

Around 1,365 hectare of land is to be acquired for the second phase of the greenfield project from six villages -- Ranhera, Kureb, Dayanatpur, Karauli Bangar, Mundrah and Birampur -- the officials said.

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The first phase of the greenfield airport, billed to be India's largest upon completion and costing an estimated Rs 29,560 crore, is under development in the Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar in western Uttar Pradesh, some 75 km off Delhi.

MLA Jewar Dhirendra Singh said, "The consent for land acquisition crossed the 70 per cent mark today and reached nearly 73 per cent."

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Singh had been extensively touring the six villages for land owners' consent after several of them denied to give up their assets in lieu of compensation.

In a meeting with farmers in Lucknow, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on October 14 assured them an increased compensation of Rs 3,400 per sq metre (including the interest amount).

Deputy Collector (Jewar) Abhay Pratap Singh said, "With the consent level crossing the 70 per cent mark, the district administration can send proposal to the government for carrying out formalities under Section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act."

"Once the government's approval comes, survey for land and compensation will begin," Singh said.

According to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the consent of at least 70 per cent land owners is required for acquisition.

The law also mandates several other features, like rate of compensation, resettlement and rehabilitation facilities, for the government to proceed with land acquisition.

According to officials, the airport is being developed in four phases by the Switzerland-based concessionaire Zurich International Airport AG's special purpose vehicle Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL).

In the first phase, which is scheduled to be completed by 2024 end, operations will begin with one runway and a capacity of handling 1.20 crore passengers annually by then.

The first phase will be spread over 1,300 hectare, according to officials.

The airport is billed to be India's largest airport upon full completion in the 2040s. It will be spread over an area of 5,000 hectare, the officials added.

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Bhubaneswar, Oct 21 (PTI) The Odisha government on Friday decided to return over 200 acre of land, earlier acquired for an industrial park in Ganjam district, to farmers.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

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"In consideration of the public interest, the government has decided to return 206.685 acre of land remained unutilised for the last two decades," Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra said after the meeting.

The land was located at Kalipalli village and was acquired by the state-run IDCO for a project.

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In view of resentment among the local people over non-utilisation of the resources for around two decades, the government decided to return the land to farmers, which is considered to be first of its kind decision in the state, sources said.

"The land will be handed over to the original owners or to their legal heirs as per the provision of Rule 20 of Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition," the chief secretary said.

Though the land losers were compensated under the provision of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Compensation, Rehabilitation and Resettlement and Development Plan) Rules, 2015, the government has decided that the amount paid to the affected people would be waived.

The cabinet also approved a proposal to pay Rs 100.06 crore to Larsen & Toubro Ltd for "compliance of the arbitral award".

"Odisha has taken a decision for payment of decretal dues amounting to Rs 100.06 crore to Larsen & Toubro Ltd for compliance of the arbitral award dated 17.01.2002 of Arbitration Tribunal in a case of three agreements for the work strengthening & widening of Sambalpur-Rourkela road out of ADB Assistance," Mohapatra said.

The government also gave its nod to a proposal to amend Odisha Pani Panchayat Act for inclusion of mega lift irrigation projects and spouses of members of such panchayats for enhancing women participation.

The act was enacted to provide for farmers' participation in the management of irrigation systems by way of forming pani panchayats.

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New Delhi, Oct 21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh on the eve of Diwali on Sunday to have "darshan" and perform a "puja" at the Ram temple.

Modi will also inspect the construction site of a grand Ram temple and later, perform a symbolic coronation of Lord Ram, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Uttar Pradesh: Dengue Patient Transfused With Fruit Juice Instead of Platelets in Prayagraj, Dies; SRN Hospital Sealed (Watch Video).

At around 6.30 pm, the prime minister will witness the "aarti" on the banks of the Saryu river, which will be followed by the launch of the grand "Deepotsav" celebrations by him, the statement said. The sixth edition of Deepotsav is being held this year and it is for the first time that Modi will be participating in the celebrations. PM Narendra Modi Dons Chola Dora To Offer Prayers at Kedarnath Temple, Fulfils Promise to Chamba Women (See Pics and Video).

More than 15 lakh "diyas" (earthen lamps) will be lit on the occasion. Five animated tableaux and 11 Ramlila tableaux showcasing various dance forms from different states will also be prepared during Deepotsav. Modi will also witness a 3-D "holographic projection mapping show" at Ram Ki Paidi on the banks of the Saryu, along with a grand musical laser show, the PMO said.

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Aizawl, Oct 21 (PTI) President Droupadi Murmu will pay a two-day visit to Mizoram from November 3 and address the state Assembly, an official said on Friday.

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This will be Murmu's maiden visit to the state since assuming office in July.

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The president will attend the convocation of Mizoram University (MZU) and inaugurate certain facilities after her arrival on November 3, the official said.

She will address the state Assembly on November 4, he said.

Murmu will be the third president to address the state Assembly, its commissioneer and secretary H Lalrinawma said.

Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati has summoned a special session of the state assembly in view of the presidential visit.

The special session will begin at 9:30 am on November 4, Lalrinawma said.

Murmu will return to the national capital on November 4, the official said.

Former president late APJ Abdul Kalam had addressed the Mizoram assembly in 2005 and Murmu's predecessor Ram Nath Kovind in November 2017.

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Chandigarh, Oct 21 (PTI) The Punjab Cabinet on Friday gave its nod to amend rules to ensure only those candidates are appointed to the state government's Group C and D posts who have "in-depth knowledge" of the Punjabi language.

According to an official statement, the landmark decision is aimed at further cementing the ethos of Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiat in the state.

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The decision was taken at a meeting of the Punjab Cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann here.

"The cabinet gave nod for amending Rule 17 of Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of services) Rules, 1994 and Punjab State (Group D) Service Rules 1963 with an aim to ensure that only those candidates are appointed in the Punjab government who have in-depth knowledge of Punjabi language," it said.

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It said that in rule 17 of the Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994, the first proviso, for the words "Provided that where a person", has been replaced with "Provided that no person shall be appointed to any post in Group-'C' service unless he has passed a qualifying test of Punjabi language equivalent to matriculation standard with at least 50 per cent marks, to be conducted by respective recruitment agencies in addition to competitive examination."

The test of Punjabi language shall be a mandatory qualifying test and failure to secure a minimum of 50 per cent marks in Punjabi will disqualify the candidate for being considered in the final merit list of candidates to be selected irrespective of their scores or marks in other papers of the respective exam.

"Similarly as per amendment in clause (d) of the Rule 5, in the Punjab State (Group-D) Service Rules, 1963, the words 'provided that' has been replaced with 'Provided that no person shall be appointed to any post in any service by direct appointment unless he has passed a qualifying test of Punjabi language equivalent to middle standard with at least 50 per cent marks..," it said.

In another decision, to pay great reverence and respect to the sacred religious scriptures of every religion, the Punjab Cabinet gave its nod to exempt specially designed vehicles for carrying the "Parkash" of religious scriptures of different religions in the state from Motor Vehicle Taxes (MVT).

As per the official statement, there are around 25,000 such vehicles in the state which are being used for carrying the "Parkash" of religious scriptures for religious ceremonies or religious events.

The MVT under section 13 (3) of Punjab Motor Vehicle Taxation Act, 1924 of such vehicle is around Rs 10,000 per annum. However the state government has decided to exempt these vehicles from the tax.

The move is likely to cause a financial implication of about Rs 20 crore to Rs 25 crore to the government, it said.

In order to check illegal mining in the state, the Cabinet also gave green signal to amend a provision of the Punjab Minor Minerals Rules 2013, thereby enhancing the slab of penalty from existing Rs 5,000-Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh.

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Chandigarh [India], October 21 (ANI) Faced with several demands from government employees, the Punjab government on Friday took a decision to restore the Old Pension Scheme.

The state cabinet took the decision, Chief Minister Bhagwant Maan tweeted.

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"Today, in the Punjab cabinet meeting, a historic decision has been taken for its employees...your government is going to restore the old pension scheme...the cabinet has given in-principle approval to this decision...We stand by our employees...promised..delivered...What we say, we do," Mann tweeted.

Earlier, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand too went back to the Old Pension Scheme and quashed the new pension scheme.

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Under the old pension scheme, a government employee is entitled to a monthly pension after retirement. The monthly pension is typically half of the last drawn salary of the person.

Under the new pension scheme, employees contribute a portion of their salaries to the pension fund. Based on that, they are entitled to a one-time lump sum amount on superannuation.

For the record, the old pension scheme was discontinued in December 2003, and the new pension scheme came into effect on April 1, 2004. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) Fifty Union ministers will be handing over appointment letters to nearly 20,000 people at different locations across the country under the recruitment drive to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, officials said on Friday.

They said these ministers will be personally handing over the letters of appointment to some candidates, selected for different government jobs, at their designated locations as part of the 'Rozgar Mela'.

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The appointment letters for appointees other than those participating at the venue will be sent by email or post as well, the officials said.

They said the state governments concerned would also organise events on different dates to hand over appointment letters to some of the selected candidates as well.

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As many as 19,692 appointment letters will be given to the candidates by the Union ministers, the officials said citing an official list.

Prime Minister Modi will launch the Rozgar Mela', a drive to recruit 10 lakh people, on Saturday via video-conference and appointment letters will be given to 75,000 candidates during this ceremony, an official statement issued on Thursday said.

According to the list of Saturday's event, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will be in Jaipur to hand over appointment letters, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will be in Bhopal and Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur will be in Chandigarh.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar will be in Indore on Saturday, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in Mumbai, Port, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will be in Guwahati, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Bhubaneswar, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in Patiala and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be in Chennai, the officials said.

Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju will be handing over appointment letters to the candidates in Shillong and Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh in Delhi, they said.

In June this year, the prime minister had asked various government departments and ministries to undertake the recruitment of 10 lakh people on a "mission mode" in the next year and a half.

The new recruits, selected from across the country, will join 38 ministries or departments of the Government of India. The appointees will join the government at various levels in Group A and B (Gazetted), Group B (Non-Gazetted) and Group C.

The posts on which appointments are being made include the central armed force personnel, sub-inspectors, constables, LDC, steno, PA, income tax inspectors and MTS among others, according to Thursday's statement.

These recruitments are being done by ministries and departments either by themselves or through recruiting agencies such as UPSC, SSC and the Railway Recruitment Board. For expeditious recruitment, selection processes have been simplified and made tech-enabled, it had said.

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New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday modified its earlier verdict commuting the death sentence of a man who had sexually assaulted and killed a four-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh in April 2013, and said he would now be released after serving 20 years jail term for all the offences.

The apex court, in its April 19 verdict, had commuted the death penalty of convict Mohd Firoz into life imprisonment.

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However, it had confirmed the award of life imprisonment for offence of rape and under some provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and consequently, the convict would have remained in jail till last breath.

A bench comprising Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justices S R Bhat and Bela M Trivedi took note of an interim application of the convict and treated it as the review petition and modified its order making clear that he would be getting 20-year jail term for all the offences.

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"The upshot of this order would be that the appellant-petitioner shall undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 20 years for the offence under Sections 376(2)(i) and 376(2)(m) of IPC, and for a period of 20 years for the offence under Section 5 (i) and 5 (m) read with Section 6 of the POCSO Act. The judgment and order dated April 19, 2022 passed by this Court...stands corrected and modified to the aforesaid extent. The rest of the judgment shall remain unchanged. The review petition stands allowed accordingly, it ordered.

Writing the verdict, Justice Trivedi said if the sentence of life imprisonment, imposed by the sessions court and confirmed by the high court, is also affirmed by the top court for the offence of rape and under the POCSO Act then "the life imprisonment would mean imprisonment for the remainder of the petitioner's natural life, and in that case, the very purpose of the court in not imposing the sentence of life imprisonment for the remainder of petitioner's life for the offence under Section 376(A) of IPC, would be frustrated.

Earlier, the top court had commuted the death sentence by citing Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde's famous lines the only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.

"...one of the basic principles of restorative justice as developed by this court over the years also is to give an opportunity to the offender to repair the damage caused, and to become a socially useful individual, when he is released from the jail, it had then said.

The court had observed one of the most barbaric and ugly human faces has surfaced.

A tiny bud like girl was smothered by the appellant before she could blossom in this world. Any sympathy shown to the appellant would lead to miscarriage of justice. This court has not treated such cases as the rarest of rare, it had said.

The lower court had awarded death penalty to the convict.

Co-accused Rakesh Choudhary was handed down seven-year rigorous imprisonment. The high court had acquitted Choudhary but had confirmed Firoz's death sentence.

(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], October 21 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the appointment of MS Rajasree as Vice-Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.

A bench of justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar allowed the appeal filed by Professor Sreejith P.S. challenging the Kerala High Court order dated August 2, 2021.

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Professor Sreejith PS has filed an appeal in Supreme Court challenging order dated 02.08.2021 passed by the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam by which the Division Bench of the High Court has dismissed his appeal and the review petition preferred by the appellant herein and has confirmed the judgment and order passed by the learned Single Judge refusing to issue writ of quo warranto to declare the appointment of the respondent Rajasree as Vice Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram.

"The impugned judgment(s) and order(s) passed by the Division Bench of the High Court as well as that of the learned Single Judge dismissing the writ petition and refusing to issue the writ of quo warranto declaring the appointment of respondent No. 1 (Rajasree) as Vice Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram as bad in law and/or illegal and void ab initio are hereby quashed and set aside," the top court said.

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"The writ petition is allowed. There shall be a writ of quo warranto declaring the appointment of the respondent No. 1 (Rajasree) as Vice Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram as void ab initio and consequently, the appointment of respondent No. 1 as Vice Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram is quashed and set aside," the top court said.

The court noted that even as per Section 13(4) of the University Act, 2015, the Committee shall recommend unanimously a panel of not less than three suitable persons from amongst the eminent persons in the field of engineering sciences, which shall be placed before the Visitor/Chancellor.

The court observed that in the present case, admittedly the only name of respondent Rajasree was recommended to the Chancellor.

As per the UGC Regulations also, the Visitor/Chancellor shall appoint the Vice Chancellor out of the panel of names recommended by the Search Committee. Therefore, when only one name was recommended and the panel of names was not recommended, the Chancellor had no option to consider the names of the other candidates, the top court observed.

Therefore, the appointment of the respondent Rajasree can be said to be dehors and/or contrary to the provisions of the UGC Regulations as well as even to the University Act, 2015, the top court noted.

"Therefore, the appointment of respondent Rajasree on the basis of the recommendations made by the Search committee, which was not a duly constituted Search Committee as per the UGC Regulations and when only one name was recommended in spite of panel of suitable candidates (3-5 suitable persons as required under Section 13(4) of the University Act, 2015), the appointment of respondent can be said to be illegal and void ab initio, and, therefore, the writ of quo warranto was required to be issued," the top court said. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) Union Home minister Amit Shah on Friday said the security situation in the insurgency-hit areas of the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir as well as in the states affected by Naxal violence has improved over the last eight years of the Narendra Modi government.

Shah said this while addressing top police and paramilitary commanders at the National Police Memorial in the Chanakyapuri area here on the occasion of the National Police Commemoration Day.

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"In the northeast, we have removed the special powers given to the armed forces (under the AFSPA) and instead, given special powers to the youngsters there, resulting in a decline of violence in these areas by more than 70 per cent," he said.

The situation in Jammu and Kashmir is such that those who used to hurl stones at security personnel earlier have now become "panches" and "sarpanches", Shah added.

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In the states affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), the national anthem is being sung in Eklavya schools while the national flag flutters on these buildings, he added.

Shah said India is proceeding on the path of development due to the sacrifices made by the police and paramilitary personnel across the country.

Paying his tributes to these personnel, he said they played a leading role during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Police Commemoration Day is observed in the memory of 10 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who were killed on this day in 1959 in an ambush by Chinese troops in Ladakh's Hot Spring area.

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Hyderabad, Oct 21 (PTI) In a setback to the BJP in Telangana ahead of the Munugode Assembly bypoll, party leaders K Swamy Goud and Sravan Dasoju returned to the TRS on Friday.

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Goud and Dasoju joined TRS in the presence of its working president and State Minister K T Rama Rao.

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It was a 'ghar vapsi' (returning home) for both of them as they were in TRS earlier.

Goud, who served as chairman of State Legislative Council, joined the BJP in 2020 after quitting the TRS.

Dasoju joined BJP over two months ago after being in the Congress.

Before working in the Congress, Dasoju was in the TRS.

The BJP got a shot in the arm two days ago when former TRS MP Boora Narsaiah Goud, a leader from the backward classes, quit the TRS and joined the BJP.

However, Swamy Goud and Sravan Dasoju joining TRS, who also belong to the backward classes, may help the ruling party in the Munugode byelection scheduled for November 3.

The bypoll has been necessitated by the resignation of sitting Congress MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy who joined BJP to fight against the alleged family rule of TRS. Counting of votes would be taken up on November 6.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 21 (ANI): A private hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj has been sealed for allegedly transfusing fruit juice instead of blood platelets into a dengue patient who died later, according to an official.

A probe was ordered after the incident came to light in which, according to Additional Chief Medical Officer, Dr AK Tiwari, "some irregularities" were found.

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"CMO ordered a probe after the patient died. In the probe, some irregularities were found. It has been sealed till the probe is completed," the additional CMO said on Thursday.

"It is a matter of probe. The probe will take action. The complainant has filed an FIR."

Also Read | Shivraj Patils Comment on Bhagavad Gita, Jihad: BJP Says Another Attempt To 'Insult' Hindutva, Congress Calls It Unacceptable.

Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak assured strict action against the hospital if found guilty. He said that the platelets packet has been sent for testing.

"Taking cognizance of the viral video of Jhalwa-based Global Hospital offering 'Mossami' juice to a dengue patient in place of platelets in the district Prayagraj, the hospital has been immediately sealed and the platelets packet has been sent for testing. If found guilty, strict action will be taken against the hospital," Pathak tweeted in Hindi.

However, according to the owner of the hospital, Saurabh Mishra, the platelets were brought by the attendants of the patient.

"The attendants were given the slip to bring platelets. They brought 5 units of platelets in the evening. When 3 units were used, there was a reaction on the patient, we stopped the transfusion. The platelets that were brought by the attendants of the patient were transfused to the patient. It belonged to the SRN Blood Bank. The hospital has no responsibility for it," he said.

Stating that the hospital does not have the authority to test the platelets, he held the attendants responsible for bringing the platelets.

"We do not have the authority to test the platelets to verify their validity. We do not test the platelets that the attendants bring. How is the hospital responsible if the attendants fetch the wrong platelets? It should be the responsibility of the attendants to ascertain whether they are authentic," he said.

"We had referred the patient to the higher centre after the attendants requested following the deterioration in the patient's health. The patient had not died here, the death happened two days later in another hospital," Mishra added.

Further probe into the matter is underway. (ANI)

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Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], October 21 (ANI): In remarks that are likely to stoke controversy, Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit on Friday said that the post of Vice-Chancellor "was sold for Rs 40-50 crore in Tamil Nadu".

Purohit, who interacted with the media here, refuted allegations that he is interfering in the working of universities in Punjab and said he has a role in the appointments of vice chancellors.

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Purohit had earlier asked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to remove the Vice Chancellor of Ludhiana's Punjab Agriculture University Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, saying he has been "appointed illegally".

"I was Tamil Nadu Governor for four years. It was very bad there. In Tamil Nadu, the Vice-Chancellor post was sold for Rs 40-50 crores," Purohit alleged.

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"I appointed 27 VCs of universities in Tamil Nadu as per law when I was Governor there. They (Punjab government) should learn from me how work happens. I don't even know who is capable and not capable in Punjab. I see to it that education improves," he added.

He said the state government cannot interfere in the working of universities.

"Punjab government is saying Governor is interfering in working of universities; actually state government can't interfere in matters of universities. The government sent letter for VC's extension thrice. If Governor has no role in the appointment then how can he have role in giving an extension?" Purohit asked.

The Punjab Governor had on October 18 written to Mann stating that the appointment of Dr Satbir Singh as Vice Chancellor of PAU was illegal as it had not been done in accordance with the norms laid down by the UGC.

Purohit is the Chancellor of the state-run universities in Punjab.

Mann had written a letter accusing the Governor of interfering in the functioning of the government.

He had also written to the Governor explaining the decision of the government to appoint PAU Vice Chancellor.

Earlier today, the Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema met Punjab Agriculture University Vice Chancellor.

"The people of Punjab have elected Aam Aadmi party to power and the Governor should not obstruct our work. I appeal to the Governor to not work for BJP but fulfil the responsibilities of the Constitution," Cheema told ANI. (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], October 21 (ANI): "World today is looking at India with great confidence," said Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal while addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) third edition of the exports summit on Thursday.

Speaking at the CII event, Piyush Goyal said that World today is looking at India with great confidence. This trust has developed after 8 years of painstakingly building up India's story.

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Goyal noted that India's billion-plus population is a boon for the country as it attracts a lot of companies, and brings economies of scale and opportunities for the country. Goyal said India must make quality our brand and must strive to ensure that India is associated with High-Quality products.

The Minister said that Indian Missions abroad have been asked to provide support to our exporters and help them get new opportunities and new business into those countries. He asked them to start engaging with Indian missions and seek assistance if they face any difficulty. He said CII acts as a bridge between the government and exporters and provides a platform to understand each other better. He urged CII to flag the issues faced by the industry and share suggestions with the government to properly address these issues.

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Piyush Goyal also appealed to large industry players to support and handhold small players so that they can understand the benefits of Quality control orders and focus on meeting quality requirements. He further added that it is also economically prudent to provide good quality goods and services. Emphasizing that reciprocity is the way forward in international trade, Shri Goyal said India must strive for trade practices with other countries on an equal footing.

"Industry must draw learnings from the phenomenal success achieved by the IT Sector. This coupled with the Indian ecosystem which includes trust, rule of law, and a decisive, strong government will help capture larger markets. He said that Industry must not look for protectionism as it will not help it evolve to be able to meet the requirements of consumers. It must strive to focus on sectors where it has a competitive advantage. With the spirit of grasping the competitive advantage, we will be able to expand our businesses, scale up, and improve quality," the Minister added. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) The commerce minister on Friday said former head of CREDAI Jaxay Shah has been appointed as the chairman of Quality Council of India (QCI) for three years.

He succeeded Adil Zainulbhai, who served as the chairman from 2014 to 2022.

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Shah held the position of national chairman of CREDAI, the body of private real estate developers in India. In addition, he also holds the position of the chairman of the ASSOCHAM Western Region Development Council.

QCI was established in 1997. It is mandated to promote quality in the country through national accreditation of testing, inspection and certification bodies which is internationally recognised, driving third-party assessments across sectors.

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(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, Oct 21: The BJP on Friday stepped up its attack against the Congress over its leader Shivraj Patil's claim that Bhagavad Gita also spoke of jihad, saying that this is one more attempt to smear Hindutva by the opposition party, which disassociated itself from the remarks, terming them as "unacceptable".

The Congress also said the former governor and former Union home minister has clarified his comments and asserted that Bhagavad Gita is a key foundational pillar of Indian civilisation. Congress Distances Itself From Shivraj Patil's Comment on Bhagavad Gita, 'Jihad'.

Attacking the Congress, BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi demanded that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge or its leader Sonia Gandhi should respond to Patil's comments.

He noted that Mahatma Gandhi in his commentary on the Hindu epic had described it as a source of 'Anasakti Yoga' (selfless action) while Bal Gangadhar Tilak expounded his philosophy of 'Karma Yoga' through his study of Gita and added that Congress leaders now see jihad in it.

BJP national spokesperson Prem Shukla alleged that the Congress has long been involved in the conspiracy to "insult Hindu, Hindutva and Hindustan" and Patil's remarks are yet another chapter towards this. Congress leaders in the past have drawn a parallel between Hindutva with terror organisations like Boko Haram and Taliban, he alleged.

Former Union ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and P Chidambaram had spoken about "saffron terror", he said. Gita is the philosophy of humanity, Shukla asserted. The BJP also accused it of playing vote bank politics.

With the BJP seizing on Patil's remarks to corner it, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh took to Twitter to give the party's view.

"My senior colleague Shivraj Patil reportedly made some comments on Bhagavad Gita that's unacceptable. Subsequently, he clarified. The Congress's stand is clear. Bhagavad Gita is a key foundational pillar of Indian civilisation," he said. Assam: Four PFI Members, Including One Linkman Arrested in Kamrup.

He also shared on Twitter excerpts from Jawaharlal Nehru's book 'The Discovery of India', wherein the former prime minister wrote: "The message of the Gita is not sectarian or addressed to any particular school of thought. It is universal in its approach for everyone, Brahmin or outcaste. 'All paths lead to me,' it says. It is because of this universality that it has found favour with all classes and schools."

Patil on Thursday claimed that the concept of jihad was not just in Islam but also in Bhagavad Gita and Christianity. Speaking at the launch of Congress veteran and former Union minister Mohsina Kidwai's biography, Patil, also a former Lok Sabha Speaker, said it is said there is a lot of discussion of jihad in the religion of Islam.

The concept comes to the fore when despite having the right intentions and doing the right thing, nobody understands or reciprocates, then it is said one can use force, he said.

"It is not just in Quran, but in Mahabharata also, the part in Gita, Shri Krishna also talks of jihad to Arjun and this thing is not just in Quran or Gita but also in Christianity," he claimed in his remarks in Hindi.

Reacting to Patil's comments, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Thursday tweeted,"after AAP's Gopal Italia & Rajendra Pal, not to be outdone in Hindu hatred & vote bank politics, Congress' Shivraj Patil says Shri Krishna taught 'Jihad' to Arjun! "Congress coined Hindu/Saffron terror, opposed Ram Mandir, Questioned Ram JI's existence, said Hindutva=ISIS," Poonawalla tweeted.
London, Oct 22 (AP) Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson -- ousted by ethics scandals just three months ago -- has jockeyed to make a comeback as one of several contenders seeking to replace Liz Truss, whose rapid downfall threw the country's leadership into disarray at a time of severe economic challenges.

The governing Conservative Party has ordered a lightning-fast race that aims to finalise nominations on Monday and install a new prime minister, its third this year, within a week.

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Johnson has not publicly declared he is running, but a political ally who spoke with him told Sky News he is up for it and bookmakers have made him one of the favourites to win the contest.

A return by Johnson would be an astonishing recovery for a polarising figure forced out by a welter of ethics scandals. Opponents say giving him another chance would only lead to more controversy and disappointment.

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The leadership uncertainty comes at a time of weak economic growth and as millions struggle with higher borrowing costs and rising prices for groceries, fuel and other basics. A growing wave of strikes by train and postal workers, lawyers and others has revealed mounting discontent as a recession looms.

Truss quit on Thursday after a turbulent 45 days, conceding that she could not deliver on her tax-cutting economic package, which she was forced to abandon after it caused turmoil in financial markets.

House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt was the first candidate to publicly declare she is running to replace Truss, saying in a tweet on Friday that she represented a fresh start.

Mordaunt, a straight-talking 49-year-old Royal Navy reservist who briefly served as UK defence secretary in 2019, is bookies' third favourite. Outside of Conservative circles she is perhaps best known for appearing on the 2014 reality TV diving show Splash!

Leading the pack in lawmakers' support, though yet to publicly declare, is former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, who was previously runner-up to Truss.

Sunak, 42, had repeatedly warned Conservatives that Truss' tax-cutting plans would be disastrous  as proved to be the case. The former hedge-fund manager's supporters consider him a steady hand for an ailing economy.

Popular Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who was touted as a possible contender, ruled himself out on Friday.

The wild card is Johnson, who was forced from office in July and still faces an inquiry into whether he lied to Parliament while in office that could lead to his suspension as a lawmaker.

His allies in Parliament are working to gather support for an I'm Backing Boris campaign. One of them, lawmaker James Duddridge, told Sky News that the former prime minister would fly back from a Caribbean vacation to run in the leadership race and was up for it.

Johnson, 58, is still adored by some Conservatives as a vote winner with a rare common touch who led the party to a big election victory in 2019. He is more popular with the party's grassroots than with lawmakers  and he is reviled by some for the chaos and scandal that marred his term in office.

Having a winner in place is what the party needs to survive, Johnson ally Nadine Dorries told Sky News.

Johnson was able to shrug off lapses that would have sunk many politicians. He survived even after he was fined by police for attending one of a series of illegal parties in government buildings while the UK was under lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.

He finally resigned after one scandal too many. That incident involved his appointment of a politician who had been accused of sexual misconduct, sparking an exodus of dozens of members of his government.

Former Conservative leader Michael Howard implored the party not to return to the psychodrama of the Johnson era.

He's had his chance, and it didn't work," Howard said. Some Conservative legislators have even threatened to leave the party if Johnson returns as leader.

Rob Ford, professor of political science at the University of Manchester, said Conservatives who thought Johnson could solve their problems don't live in a reality-based community.

He warned that the electorate at large has not forgotten Johnson's many scandals  and he no longer has the appeal he once did.

We know the public don't like him, he can't govern, he definitely can't unify his party. It will be a disaster. It will fail, Ford said.

In order to be considered, candidates will need the signatures of at least 100 of the 357 Conservative lawmakers, meaning a maximum field of three. If three meet that threshold, lawmakers will vote to knock out one and then hold an indicative vote on the final two.

The party's 1,72,000 members will then get to decide between the two finalists in an online vote. The new leader is due to be selected by October 28.

By Friday evening Johnson had about half of the 100 supporters needed to run, according to several unofficial tallies from British media organisations. More than half of Conservative lawmakers have not publicly backed a candidate yet.

Truss quit after her brief, disastrous experiment in libertarian economics. Her proposal for aggressive tax cuts that would be paid for through government borrowing pummelled the value of the pound.

Investors showed little tolerance for her plan at a time when the British economy is still grappling with its exit from the European Union, the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Dubai, Oct 21 (AP) Ali Tehrani, a dissident cleric and brother-in-law of Iran's supreme leader, has died at age 96, local media reported.

Tehrani had been a critic of Iran's authoritarian ruler, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and of the Islamic leaders who toppled the shah in 1979.

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Tehrani advocated for a more liberal political system after the Islamic Revolution. He opposed clerics having a role in government and supported the freedom of activity of all political groups, including Marxist and secular factions.

The theologian died on Wednesday, and his death was reported on Thursday by the semi-official Tasnim news agency. Iranian state media did not mention his death.

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Tehrani had married Badri, a sister of the current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the 1950s.

In 1979, Tehrani opposed a decision by the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei, to appoint his brother-in-law to the important role of Friday prayer leader.

Tehrani supported the nation's first president, Abolhassan Banisadr, who went into exile in 1981 following a fight with hardliners.

Tehrani was imprisoned for several months in 1981, followed by house arrest, and fled to neighbouring Iraq in 1984. At the time, the two countries were at war. He continued his campaign against Iran's ruling system through radio broadcasts in Iraq.

Tehrani returned to Iran in 1995 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He served nine years and was mostly silent after his release in 2005. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mount Athos, Oct 21 (AP) A church bell sounds, the staccato thudding of mallet on plank summons monks to afternoon prayers, deep voices are raised in communal chant. And high in the great tower of Pantokrator Monastery, a metal library door swings open.

There, deep inside the medieval fortified monastery in the Mount Athos monastic Orthodox Christian community, researchers are for the first time tapping a virtually unknown treasure  thousands of Ottoman-era manuscripts that include the oldest of their kind in the world.

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The libraries of the self-governed community, established more than 1,000 years ago on northern Greece's Athos peninsula, are a repository of rare, centuries-old works in several languages including Greek, Russian and Romanian.

Many have been extensively studied, but not the Ottoman Turkish documents, products of an occupying bureaucracy that ruled northern Greece from the late 14th century  well before the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, fell to the Ottomans in 1453  until the early 20th when the area became Greek again.

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Byzantine scholar Jannis Niehoff-Panagiotidis says it's impossible to understand Mount Athos' economy and society under Ottoman rule without consulting these documents, which regulated the monks' dealings with secular authorities.

Ottoman was the official language of state, he told The Associated Press from the library of the Pantokrator Monastery, one of 20 on the heavily wooded peninsula.

Niehoff-Panagiotidis, a professor at the Free University of Berlin, said the oldest of the roughly 25,000 Ottoman works found in the monastic libraries dates to 1374, or 1371. That's older than any known in the world, he said, adding that in Istanbul, as the Ottomans renamed Constantinople when they made the city their own capital, the oldest archives only go back to the late 15th century.

The first documents that shed light (on the first period of Ottoman history) are saved here, on Mount Athos, he said, seated at a table piled with documents and books. Others, the more rare ones, are stored in large wooden drawers.

These include highly ornate Sultans' firmans  or decrees  deeds of ownership and court decisions.

The overwhelming majority are legal documents, said Anastasios Nikopoulos, a jurist and scientific collaborator of the Free University of Berlin who's been working with Niehoff-Panagiotidis on the project for the past few months.

And the manuscripts tell a story at odds with the traditional understanding in Greece of Ottoman depredations in the newly-conquered areas, through the confiscation of the Mount Athos monasteries' rich real estate holdings.

Instead, the new rulers took the community under their wing, preserved its autonomy and protected it from external interference.

The Sultans' firmans we saw in the tower ... and the Ottoman state's court decisions show that the monks' small democracy was able to gain the respect of all conquering powers, Nikopoulos said.

And that is because Mount Athos was seen as a cradle of peace, culture ... where peoples and civilizations coexisted peacefully.

Nikopoulos said that one of the first actions of Murad II, the Ottoman ruler who conquered Thessaloniki  the closest city to Mount Athos  was to draw up a legal document in 1430 protecting the community.

That says a lot. The Ottoman sultan himself ensured that the administrative system of Mount Athos was preserved and safeguarded, he said.

Even before that, Niehoff-Panagiotidis added, a sultan issued a mandate laying down strict punishment for intruders after a band of marauding soldiers engaged in minor thieving from one of the monasteries.

It's strange that the sultans kept Mount Athos, the last remnant of Byzantium, semi-independent and didn't touch it, he said.

They didn't even keep troops here. At the very most they would have a local representative who probably stayed at (the community's administrative centre, Karyes) and sipped tea.

Another unexpected revelation, Niehoff-Panagiotidis said, was that for roughly the first two centuries of Ottoman rule no effort was made to impose Islamic law on Mount Athos or nearby parts of northern Greece.

Mount Athos was something like a continuation of Byzantium, he said.

The community was first granted self-governance through a decree by Byzantine Emperor Basil II, in 883 AD. Throughout its history, women have been forbidden from entering, a ban that still stands. This rule is called avaton and the researchers believe that it concerns every form of external administrative or secular intervention that could affect Mount Athos.

Father Theophilos, a Pantokrator monk who is helping with the research, said the documents show the far-flung influence of Mount Athos.

Their study also illuminates examples of how people can live with each other, principles that are common to all humanity, the seeds of human rights and respect for them, democracy and the principles of social coexistence, he told The Associated Press.

The research project is expected to continue for several months, even years.

What could emerge in the long term I'll be able to say when we have catalogued and digitised all the documents, Niehoff-Panagiotidis said. Right now, nobody knows what's hidden here. Perhaps, even older documents. (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], October 21 (ANI): A high-level Sri Lankan delegation is on a visit to India for attending India's premier biennial global defence exhibition DefExpo 2022, the Sri Lankan High Commission of India informed on Friday through a press release.

A three-member delegation from Sri Lanka was led by the Sri Lankan defence Minister Premitha Bandara Tennakoon and comprised several Army and Navy officials.

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The exhibition was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 19.

"This is the second occasion in the past year during which a Minister from Sri Lanka is participating in an event inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi. It may be recalled that Ministers from Sri Lanka were a part of the inaugural international flight to Kushinagar airport in October 2021," the High Commission of India said.

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While speaking at DefExpo2022, State Minister Premitha Bandara Tennakoon hailed the partnership between India and Sri Lanka in the defence sphere. He highlighted the importance of the defence industrial base in augmenting security policy and noted that DefExpo 2022 provided a great avenue for a deeper understanding of the nature of transformation in modern warfare across five dimensions.

DefExpo2022 is the biggest-defence exhibition which showcases the growing prowess of India's defence industry to achieve the vision of 'Make in India, Make for the World' as well as self-reliance in the defence domain. Live demonstrations showcasing the equipment and skill sets of the Armed Forces, Defence Public Sector Units and industry were also organized, the release said.

The Sri Lankan dignitary met the Minister of State for Defence and Tourism of India Ajay Bhatt on October 17, along the sidelines of DefExpo2022. During the meeting, India's readiness to continue to support Sri Lanka in the defence sphere was reiterated. The Sri Lankan delegation also had cordial interactions with the Defence Minister, Defence Secretary, Chief of Defence Staff and all three Service Chiefs of India during the visit.

As per the release, bilateral engagement in defence is multi-dimensional in nature. High-level exchanges continued in both ways despite the challenges posed by COVID-19. SLINEX (Naval Exercise) and exercise MITRA SHAKTI (Army Exercise) are held every year alternatively in India and Sri Lanka. Both Armed Forces collaborate closely in dealing with common security challenges such as drug and human trafficking. The Colombo Security Conclave has emerged as a key security platform in recent times to address such issues at a regional level.

The first ever Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft from India to enhance the maritime surveillance capabilities of Sri Lanka was inducted into Sri Lanka Air Force Fleet on 15th August 2022 in the august presence of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Experience sharing and capacity building have been key pillars of India-Sri Lanka defence cooperation, which is marked by great camaraderie and mutual benefit in enhancing our shared security. Indian military establishments including NDC have been the preferred choice of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces for decades and have produced leaders of Sri Lankan Armed forces. Annually, 1500-1700 slots are allocated to Sri Lankan trainees which amounts to around INR 500-550 million (more than USD 6 million). Similarly, Indian Armed Forces officers are also hosted by the friendly Armed Forces of Sri Lanka, including for specialized training modules in various fields such as counter-insurgency, the release said.

Both sides cooperate also on humanitarian aspects such as averting large-scale environmental damages, expeditious supply of Liquid Medical Oxygen and other assistance materials, repatriation of around 700 Indian nationals back to their motherland with the assistance of Sri Lanka Armed Forces during COVID-19 etc.

The futuristic partnership between the two neighbours underscores India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy as well as the Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) doctrine. India will continue to strengthen its multi-dimensional cooperation with Sri Lanka for mutual benefit and also for enhancing regional peace, security and stability, the High Commission of India 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)
Colombo, Oct 21 (PTI) Sri Lankan lawmakers on Friday approved the much-anticipated 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, setting the stage for empowering the Parliament over the executive president.

An overwhelming 179 lawmakers in the 225-member assembly voted in favour of the amendment, thus breaching the barrier of 150 votes required for it to become a law.

Also Read | UK PM Race: Ben Wallace Rules Himself Out, To Back Boris Johnson As Next Prime Minister After Liz Truss' Resignation.

The voting culminated a two-day debate in the Sri Lankan Parliament on the constitutional amendment.

The draft bill on the 22nd Amendment was approved by the Cabinet and gazetted in August.

Also Read | Canadian Sikh Accused of Killing His Kids, Strangulating Wife in Montreal Charged With Murder.

The 22nd Amendment was originally named 21A and meant to replace the 20A.

The bill was introduced a couple of months back as a means to support stability in Sri Lanka and quell the unrest ignited by the nation's greatest financial crisis in decades.

The 22nd Amendment will have anti-corruption features, a key demand of the protesters.

It will restore powers of Parliament which were taken under the executive president by former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa through the 20th Amendment of 2020.

Rajapaksa had reversed the 19A which had empowered parliament over the presidency.

The 22nd Amendment seeks to empower independent commissions to depoliticise administration as part of the wide-ranging reforms required to the Constitution first adopted in 1978.

The adoption of the 22nd Amendment in Parliament is seen as a triumph for President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had pledged constitutional reforms to appease the demand from the street protesters.

However, the opposition parties maintain their support was based on the need to formulate reforms, a key requisite to ensure Sri Lanka gained international support in handling the worst economic crisis in decades.

Sri Lanka's main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) on Thursday said that it will support the 22nd Amendment provided that no underhand revisions are sneaked in at the committee stage.

Sri Lanka is facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, which has led to an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and fuel across the country.

The street protests had been triggered across the country over the poor handling of the economic crisis and the lack of accountability to it.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Sanaa (Yemen), Oct 22 (AP) Yemen's Iran-backed rebels said they targeted a cargo ship off an oil terminal in the war-wrecked Arab country's south to prevent their rivals, the pro-government forces, from using it for oil exports.

The statement on Friday was the first announced military action since a truce between the country's warring sides expired earlier this month.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: FATF Condemns Russian Invasion of Kyiv, Imposes Additional Restrictions on Moscow.

The Houthis said the attack in the port of Dabba, in Yemen's eastern province of Hadramawt province, was a warning strike. The territory is controlled by the country's internationally recognised government.

War has raged since 2014 in Yemen between the Houthi rebels and pro-government forces, backed by a coalition of Sunni Gulf Arab states.

Also Read | UK PM Race: Ben Wallace Rules Himself Out, To Back Boris Johnson As Next Prime Minister After Liz Truss' Resignation.

The government denounced the attack and said all options are open in dealing with this terrorist action," and warned it could negatively affect any further peace talks.

It also said Friday's strike was the third in recent days by Houthi drones on shipping in their territory, after another ship was targeted on Tuesday and Wednesday night in the port of Radoum, in the central part of Yemen's coast on the Gulf of Aden.

Hadramawt's governor, Mabkhout bin Madi, said Friday's attack involved two drone strikes  hours apart  very close to the vessel, which he said was Greek-owned. The ship and crew were unharmed and the vessel has since sailed to a safe location.

Bin Madi said there were plans for the ship to return to port to load its oil cargo.

The Iran-backed Houthis swept down from the mountains in 2014, occupied northern Yemen and the country's capital, Sanaa, and forced the internationally recognised government to flee into exile to Saudi Arabia.

Since then, more than 1,50,000 people have been killed in the violence and 3 million have been displaced. Two-thirds of the population receives food assistance.

The initial, two-month truce agreed to on April 2 by the government and the Houthis was extended twice, until October 2.

Since then, both the United States and the United Nations have blamed the Houthis for a breakdown in efforts to extend the cease-fire yet again.

One of the main obstacles to a truce is the use of Yemen's resources. The Houthis maintain that oil produced in Yemen should not be allowed to be exported by the cash-strapped government side. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bhubaneswar, October 21: Odisha is bracing for heavy rainfall early next week under the impact of a possible cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, which is likely to skirt the state and move towards West Bengal and Bangladesh, the IMD said on Friday.

The West Bengal government has initiated the process of evacuating people from low-lying areas in several districts, officials said. Cyclone Sitrang: Tropical Cyclone Likely to Form Over Bay of Bengal, Leaves of Government Employees Cancelled in Odisha From October 23 to 25.

The weather system, which is presently in the form of a low pressure area over the North Andaman sea and adjoining areas, is likely to take shape of a depression on Saturday and a deep depression on Sunday, before intensifying into a cyclonic storm on Monday, and move in north and north-east direction towards West Bengal and Bangladesh, the IMD said.

The cyclonic storm is expected to be christened Sitrang', as suggested by Thailand. Odisha's Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Pramila Mallick said that instructions have been issued to all the districts and coastal region authorities to deal with any eventuality. Cyclone Sitrang: Odisha Government Alerts Coastal Districts Over Forecast of Cyclonic Storm.

The system is likely to trigger heavy rainfall when it crosses parallel to the state's coast on Monday. Mallick said personnel of the fire service department, the ODRAF and NDRF are on standby for any emergency situation.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has begun the process of evacuating people from low-lying areas in Purba Medinipore, South 24 Parganas and Sundarbans to safe shelters in the wake of the cyclone forecast, a senior official said.

"Leaves of all district magistrates, SPs and emergency department workers have been cancelled as a part of the preparedness for the possible cyclone, he said. Tarapauline, dry food and medicines have also been adequately stocked in these districts, the official said.

The Kolkata Police's disaster management team has been asked to work in tandem with Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials to address any emergency-like situation, he added. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has convened an emergency meeting at state secretariat 'Nabanna' on Friday to take stock of the preparedness.
New Delhi, October 21: India successfully test fired the Agni Prime New Generation Ballistic Missile off the coast of Odisha on Friday, Defence officials said.

According to the officials, this ballistic missile was testfired at around 9.45 am today. During the test flight, the missile travelled its maximum range and all its test objectives were also met successfully. India Successfully Test Fires Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile off Odisha Coast.

"With this third consecutive successful flight test of the Agni Prime missile, the accuracy and reliability of the system has been established," they said. India Successfully Test-Fires New Generation Agni Prime Missile off Odisha Coast.

It further read that the performance of the system was validated by using the data obtained by a number of range instrumentation like Radar, Telemetry and Electro Optical Tracking systems deployed at different locations including the two down-range ships at a terminal point to cover the entire trajectory.
Badrinath, October 21: As part of the Vocal for Local initiative, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Uttarakhand on Friday appealed to people, particularly tourists, to spend money on purchasing locally made products.

"I appeal to all tourists in the country to spend at least 5 per cent of their travel budget on buying local products," Prime Minister Modi said at a public event held at Badrinath's Mana, the last village bordering China. PM Narendra Modi Offers Prayers at Badrinath Temple in Uttarakhand (Watch Video).

Earlier too, he had appealed to fellow Indians on various occasions to purchase indigenous products to sustain the local economy. Talking about villages situated near international borders and far-flung areas, the prime minister said every village located in the border areas will be now considered as the first village of India. PM Narendra Modi to Visit Kedarnath and Badrinath On October 21, Will Lay Foundation Stone of Connectivity Projects Worth Over Rs 3400 Crores.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone for road widening projects worth around Rs 1,000 crore. According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the two road widening projects - from Mana to Mana Pass (NH07) and from Joshimath to Malari (NH107B) - shall be another step towards providing last-mile all-weather road connectivity to our border areas. Apart from boosting connectivity, these projects will also prove beneficial from a strategic point of view as well.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of development work of the riverfront in Badrinath on Friday. Earlier in the day, the prime minister offered prayers at Badrinath and Kedarnath.

In Kedarnath, he laid the foundation stone for a ropeway project, which will be around 9.7 km long and will connect Gaurikund to Kedarnath, reducing the travel time between the two places from 6-7 hours at present to only about 30 minutes.The ropeway is estimated to cost Rs 2,430 crore.
Do you know about any festival synonymous with Deepawali? When some Hindus commence the Festival of Lights with Dhateras, people in Nepal and other Indian states like Darjeeling, parts of Sikkim, Kalimpong and a few regions of West Bengal commence the occasion as Tihar. The holy observance is also commemorated for five days in these regions, marked from the twelfth day of Kartik Krishna Paksha to the second day of Kartik Shukla Paksha as per the traditional Hindu calendar based on the Purnima system. It is also known as Yama Panchak or Deepavali. During Tihar, people not only pay reverence to Hindu Gods but also to animals and plants. Tihar 2022 will commence on Saturday, 22 October and end on Thursday, 27 October. Advance Diwali 2022 Wishes and HD Images: Share WhatsApp Messages, Greetings, Wallpapers, Quotes and SMS To Celebrate the Five-Day Festival of Lights.

Tihar: Significance Of All Five Days Of The Festival

Day 1: Kag Parva Or Kaag Tihar

The first day of Tihar is dedicated to crows and ravens who are believed to be the messengers of the death God, Yama. These birds are offered grains, seeds, and sweets to appease them and ward off death for the coming year.

Day 2: Kukur Tihar

The second day of Tihar festivities is devoted to performing pooja of dogs who share a special relationship with humans. Whether pets or street, all the canines are offered treats and worshipped by placing a vermillion tika on their forehead and garlands of marigolds around their necks.

Day 3: Gai Tihar And Lakshmi Puja

On the third day of Tihar, Nepali Hindu people worship cows, the Vahana of the Goddess of wealth and prosperity, Devi Lakshmi. This date is marked as Diwali Day, when folks welcome Maa Laxmi by decorating homes with garlands and Diyos.

Day 4: Bahar Puja And Mha Puja

The fourth day of the Tihar also generally coincides with the first day of the Nepal Sambat calendar. Thus, it is observed as Mha Puja by the Newar community, which commemorates their New Year. The date is also called Goru puja when folks worship and offer prayers to the ox.

Day 5: Bhai Tika

The fifth and last day of the festival is dedicated to the strong and unconditional relationship between brothers and sisters. This festival is known as Bhai Tika.

The festival has distinct essential differences compared to the Indian festival of Diwali. But the ultimate motive to celebrate the pious event remains the same, i.e. to celebrate the victory of good over evil and light over darkness.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 21, 2022 10:20 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
On Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah paid tributes to police personnel, who lost their lives in the line of duty, at National Police Memorial on the occasion of 'Police Commemoration Day'. Shah also took to Twitter and shared a video saying that on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day, the nation salutes the valour of our police personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty. "Their sacrifice for the motherland would always be remembered," he added. EAM S Jaishankar also said, "Their commitment and perseverance is recognized by a grateful country." Video: Cop Performs CPR, Saves Life Of Farmer Who Collapsed on Ground Due to Heart Attack During Maha Padayatra in Andhra Pradesh.

Amit Shah Pays Tributes to Police Personnel

Delhi | Union Home Minister Amit Shah pays tributes to police personnel, who lost their lives in the line of duty, at National Police Memorial on the occasion of 'Police Commemoration Day' pic.twitter.com/A2T36FJXjF  ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2022

Nation Salutes the Valour of Our Police Personnel

On Police Commemoration Day, Nation salutes the valour of our police personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty. Their sacrifice for the motherland would always be remembered. pic.twitter.com/6gkM6mprII  Amit Shah (@AmitShah) October 21, 2022

Secure Our Nation in So Many Ways

On Police Commemoration Day, salute those personnel who keep an eternal vigil on our borders and secure our nation in so many ways. Their commitment and perseverance is recognized by a grateful country.  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) October 21, 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.)
Republic of Austria looks forward to hosting the 91st Interpol General Assembly in Vienna next year. I congratulate India for hosting the General Assembly. It was a very well-organized event: Andreas Holzer, Director of Austrian Federal Police and Criminal Intelligence Service pic.twitter.com/llHInXMuRR ANI (@ANI) October 21, 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.)
Vasu Baras ki Hardik Shubhkamnayein! The much-awaited Diwali festival has begun with Govatsa Dwadashi 2022 being celebrated in Maharashtra, Gujarat and other western Indian states on October 21, Friday. On this day, people worship cows and the calves for their contribution is sustaining life on the earth. Cows are decorated on Vagh Baras when people refrain from consuming any dairy products. As you celebrate Govatsa Dwadashi, send Vasu Baras 2022 HD images in Marathi & Happy Diwali in Advance wishes to your friends and family. Share Vagh Baras & Govatsa Dwadashi wallpapers with your loved ones on this auspicious day.

Vasu Baras 2022 HD Images in Marathi & Happy Diwali in Advance Wishes

Vasu Baras Images in Marathi (File Image)

Vasu Baras Wishes in Marathi

Vasu Baras Images in Marathi (File Image)

Happy Vasu Baras 2022 Greetings

Vasu Baras Images in Marathi (File Image)

WhatsApp Messages to Send on Vagh Baras

Vasu Baras Images in Marathi (File Image)

Vasu Baras 2022 Quotes & Wallpapers

Vasu Baras Images in Marathi (File Image)

Happy Diwali in Advance Images

Happy Diwali in Advance (File Image)

Beautiful Message to Send Before Diwali 2022

Happy-Diwali images in Advance (Photo Credits: File Image)

Govatsa Dwadashi 2022: Date, Nandini Vrat Rituals, Shubh Muhurat Of Festival Devoted To Cows, Calves

(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.)
 Report: Damage caused by Russian attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure reaches $127 billion.



Damaged and destroyed housing has the largest share of total losses  $50.5 billion, as Russia has destroyed roughly 135,800 civilian buildings in Ukraine, according to the KSE. The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) October 21, 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.)
New Delhi, Oct 20: In a significant ruling, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday imposed a penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in the Android mobile device ecosystem, apart from issuing a cease and desist order against the tech giant.

Google has been given 30 days' time to submit the requisite financial details and supporting documents. Microsoft Layoffs: Tech Giant Fires Around 1,000 Employees Across Multiple Divisions.

The antitrust watchdog, which began investigating Google several years ago after receiving complaints from homegrown companies, also ordered the company not to offer any incentives to smartphone makers to exclusively carry its search services.

The Commission examined various practices of Google with regard to licensing of Android mobile operating system and various proprietary mobile applications of Google (Play Store, Google Search, Google Chrome, YouTube, etc).

During the course of inquiry, Google argued about the competitive constraints it faced from Apple.

"In relation to understanding the extent of competition between Google's Android ecosystem and Apple's iOS ecosystem, the Commission noted the differences in the two business models which affect the underlying incentives of business decisions," the CCI said in a statement.

Apple's business is primarily based on a vertically integrated smart device ecosystem which focuses on sale of high-end smart devices with state-of-the-art software components.

Whereas Google's business was found to be driven by the ultimate intent of increasing users on its platforms so that they interact with its revenue earning service, i.e., online search which directly affects sale of online advertising services by Google.

The Commission also noted that there might be some degree of competition between the two mobile ecosystems, i.e., Android and Apple, however, that too is also limited at the time of deciding as to which device to buy.

Google operates/manages the Android OS as well as licenses its other proprietary applications and OEMs use this OS and Google's apps in their smart mobile devices.

Google told IANS that they are yet to receive the order "and will not be able to comment until then".

The Commission also said that the markets should be allowed to compete on merits and the onus is on the dominant players (in the present case, Google) that its conduct does not impinge this competition on merits.

"Google has perpetuated its dominant position in the online search market, resulting in denial of market access to competing search apps in contravention of Section 4(2)(c) of the Act," said the CCI. 250 Million Monthly Active Devices Now Run Android Go, Says Google.

Apart from imposing monetary penalty, the Commission also issued cease and desist order against Google from indulging in anti-competitive practices that have been found to be in contravention of the provisions of Section 4 of the Act.

"Google shall not deny access to its Play Services APIs to disadvantage OEMs, app developers and its existing or potential competitors. This would ensure interoperability of apps between Android OS which complies with compatibility requirements of Google and Android Forks," it ruled.

Google will also not restrict uninstalling of its pre-installed apps by the users, it added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 21, 2022 08:31 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Warsaw, Oct 21: Two stories beneath a modern steel production plant on Warsaw's northern edge lies an untouched Cold War relic: a shelter containing gas masks, stretchers, first aid kits and other items meant to help civil defense leaders survive and guide rescue operations in case of nuclear attack or other disasters.

A map of Europe on a wall still shows the Soviet Union  and no independent Ukraine. Old boots and jackets give off a musty odour. A military field switchboard warns: Attention, your enemy is listening.

Until now, nobody had seriously considered that the rooms built in the 1950s  and now maintained as a historical curiosity by the ArcelorMittal Warszawa plant, according to spokeswoman Ewa Karpinska  might one day be used as a shelter again. Liz Truss Resigns As UK PM After Only 45 Days in Office, Rishi Sunak Gets Another Chance For Britain Prime Minister Post.

But as Russia pounds Ukraine, with shelling around a nuclear power plant and repeated Russian threats to use a nuclear weapon, the Polish government ordered an inventory this month of the 62,000 air raid shelters in the country.

The war has triggered fears across Europe, and these are especially felt in countries like Poland and Romania that border Ukraine and would be highly vulnerable in case of a radiological disaster.

After the Polish government order, firefighters visited the steel plant's shelter last week and listed it in their registry. Warsaw's leaders said the city's subway and other underground shelters could hold all its 1.8 million residents and more in the case of an attack with conventional weapons. The ArcelorMittal Warszawa plant's Karpinska is suddenly receiving inquiries about the shelter.

Following Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats to carry out a tactical nuclear attack, everyone is worried, she said.

I believe that he will not (stage a nuclear attack), that it would be completely crazy, but nobody really believed he would start this war. Amid fighting around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Poland also drew up a plan to give potassium iodide tablets to local fire stations, which would distribute them to the population if needed. There has been a rush elsewhere in Europe on potassium iodide  which protects the thyroid gland in the neck in case of radiation exposure  including in Finland where the government urged the population to buy them.

During the Cold War there were hundreds of thousands of shelters in Europe. Some dated from the buildup to World War II, while communist-era authorities also ordered that new residential and production facilities include underground shelters. Finland, which borders Russia, along with Sweden and Denmark, have maintained their shelters in order. Finland, for instance, maintains shelters in cities and other densely populated areas capable of accommodating around two-thirds of population. Russia-Ukraine War: Ukrainian Army Kills 28 Russian Soldiers, Destroys Two Russian Ammunition Depots and Checkpoint.

A few of them are designed to withstand detonation of a 100-kiloton nuclear bomb. While some countries still maintain their Cold War underground shelters, after the collapse of the Soviet Union some were transformed into museums  relics of an earlier age of nuclear fears that would offer no real protection today.

Bomb shelters were a key element in the former Yugoslavia's preparedness doctrine against a nuclear attack. The most famous of all, in a mountainous area 60 kilometers (35 miles) from Sarajevo in Bosnia, is a vast underground fortress built to protect military and political leaders. Known then only to the Yugoslav president, four generals and a handful of soldiers who guarded it, the Konjic site was turned in 2010 into a modern art gallery.

From the military-political and geopolitical standpoint, the global environment right now is unfortunately very similar to what it was like (during the Cold War), burdened by a very heavy sense of a looming war, said Selma Hadzihuseinovic, the representative of a government agency that manages the site. She said the bunker could be returned to service in a new war, but with nuclear weapons having become far more powerful it would not be as useful as it was meant to be when it was built".

In Romania, an enormous former salt mine, Salina Turda, now a tourist attraction, is on a government list of potential shelters.

Many urban dwellers also go past shelters every day without realising it while riding subways in cities like Warsaw, Prague and Budapest.

We measured how many people could fit in trains along the entire length of the metro, in metro stations and other underground spaces, said Michal Domaradzki, director of the security and crisis management for the city of Warsaw. There is enough space for the entire population.

Attila Gulyas, president of the Hungarian capital's Urban Transport Workers' Union, has been involved in regular drills of the city's metro lines. He was trained to shelter thousands of people as chief of the Astoria station at Budapest's metro line 2.

The system is still in place today, it works perfectly, it can be deployed in any emergency Gulyas said. Up to 220,000 people can be protected by the shelter system in the tunnels of metro lines 2 and 3.

But with Russia waging an energy war against Europe and power costs soaring, for many the chief worry is how to get through the winter.

Sorin Ionita, a commentator with the Expert Forum in Bucharest, Romania, said many consider a Russian nuclear strike improbable as it would not bring a big military advantage to the Russians".

Still, Putin's threats add to a general sense of anxiety in a world in tumult.

Just days after the Russian invasion began, Czechs bought potassium iodide pills as a precaution of sorts against a nuclear attack. Experts say these might help in a nuclear plant disaster but not against a nuclear weapon.

Dana Drabova, the head of the State Office for Nuclear Safety said that in such a case, the anti-radiation pills would be useless.
Mumbai, October 21: After UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned as the leader of the Conservative party, the race to who will replace her as the next PM of United Kingdom has gotten interesting. Truss, who took oath as UK's Prime Minister, resigned after being in office for about 45 days. After Truss' exit, former UK PM Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are among frontrunners for the UK PM post.

Speaking to the media, Truss said, "Given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party." While Truss continues to remain as the acting PM until a new leader is selected, the election to elect UK's next prime minister is all set to be held on October 28. Liz Truss Resigns As UK PM After Only 45 Days in Office, Rishi Sunak Gets Another Chance For Britain Prime Minister Post.

Rishi Sunak Emerges As Favourite:

Rishi Sunak odds-on to become the next Prime Minister. Chart updated live on The Spectator website https://t.co/5U3GqJ87fs pic.twitter.com/kwsYNcGmQz  Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) October 20, 2022

With Truss all set to step down, Indian-origin Rishi Sunak is speculated to be the frontrunner to lead UK. However, Sunak might face heathy competition from former PM Boris Johnson, who is also keen to come back as the country's PM. According to reports, the 58-year-old leader is planning to make a comeback as PM and has even sought Sunak's help, in whose favour the odds are.

Liz Truss Resigns As UK Prime Minister

Reportedly, after Truss' decision to step down as Conservative party leader, Johnson urged Conservative MPs including Rishi Sunak to back him to come as the country's PM once again. However, seems like Johnson might just need more than appeals and requests. Reports suggest that Tories have vowed to quit if Johnson is re-elected as the leader of the Conservative party. Reportedly, the Tories are not in favoir of Johnson as such, they might not back him in the elections too. Rishi Sunak or Penny Mordaunt or Boris Johnson: Who Can Be New UK PM After Liz Truss Exit?.

If Johnson wants to get re-elected as UK's next PM, he will require at least 100 Tory MPs. As per reports, after Truss' decision to step down, Johnson has backing of 50 MPs followed by Sunak who has support of 39 MPs. Meanwhile, another candidate in the race is Penny Mordaunt, former defence secretary who has support of 17 MPs.

If Johnson is re-elected as the leader of the Conservative party, he will create history by becoming the third prime minister to return for a second stint after leaving office. Before him, only Winston Churchill and Labour's Harold Wilson have managed to make a comeback.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 21, 2022 11:55 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Los Angeles, October 21: A boy in Nevada state of the US died after he was infected with Naegleria fowleri, a rare brain-eating amoeba, after exposing to the free-living ameba at Lake Mead, state health officials said.

According to a news release from the Southern Nevada Health District, the boy, described as a Clark County resident under the age of 18, possibly was exposed at Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir in the US, at the beginning of October and began to develop symptoms approximately a week later, Xinhua news agency reported. Israel: 36-Year-Old Man Dies From Rare Brain-Eating Amoeba.

In the press release, Fermin Leguen, District Health Officer for the Health District, noted that he wanted to reassure the public this type of infection is an extremely rare occurrence.

Naegleria fowleri is a single-celled living organism. It is so small that it can only be seen with a microscope, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. It is commonly found in warm freshwater, such as lakes and rivers, or more rarely, in inadequately chlorinated swimming pools or heated and contaminated tap water.

Infection with the amoeba causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a brain infection that initially includes headache, fever, nausea, or vomiting and progresses to stiff neck, seizures and coma that can lead to death. Hurricane Ian Aftermath: Florida Sees Rise in Flesh-Eating Bacteria.

Symptoms usually begin about five days after infection but can start within one to 12 days. Once symptoms start, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within about five days.

Last year, a seven-year-old boy in California died after he contracted the brain-eating amoeba likely while swimming in a lake in Northern California. Local public health authorities said only about 10 cases of PAM caused by Naegleria fowleri have been reported in California since 1971.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 21, 2022 08:07 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Thousands of people are at risk of losing their jobs at Twitter after Elon Musk told prospective investors that he plans to get rid of about 75% of the social media company's employees. This would be part of his plan to take over Twitter.

The Washington Post obtained several documents that revealed the billionaire's plans to get rid of three-quarters of the social media company's 7,500 workers. This would mean that he plans to fire around 5,500 workers, which leaves only around 2,000 employees still at the company.

Experts pointed out that this would not be enough to stamp down on misinformation that is prevailing across all social media platforms. Users would also feel the effects of the layoffs.

Edward Chen, who previously headed Twitter's spam and health metrics, stated that while he believed Twitter was overstaffed, Musk's plans to cut jobs was "unimaginable." He told the Washington Post that these cuts would "be a cascading effect where you'd have service going down and the people remaining not having the institutional knowledge to get them back up." Chen also said that the remaining workers would be "completely demoralized and wanting to leave themselves."

Another expert, corporate governance expert Neil Minow, thinks Musk is likely "just shopping ambitious plans to potential investors." However, the expert also pointed out that he will be having trouble in following through with those proposals.

"He's got to be able to show if he makes those cuts, what happens next?" asked Minow, and then followed it up by asking "What's he gonna replace it with, AI?"

READ NEXT: Elon Musk Gets Denied in Attempt to Delay Twitter Lawsuit Trial; Judge Says It 'Threatens Irreparable Harm'

Twitter Already Planning To Cut Jobs Before Elon Musk Took Over, but He Increased It

According to the Daily Mail, Twitter was already planning to cut several jobs prior to Musk's takeover, around one quarter or 25%. However, with Musk, the number of planned layoffs actually tripled, with experts noting that the effects of this would be massive.

Last year, Twitter spent around $1.5 billion on personnel. It was noted that the company wanted to reduce that amount by around $800 million. In addition, management also wanted to make major cuts to infrastructure by getting rid of several data centers that help keep the site running.

Yahoo! News reported that Twitter's human resources previously told employees that they were not planning for mass layoffs. However, company documents have shown that Twitter had plans to push out staff and cut down on infrastructure costs before Musk even announced plans to buy the company.

Elon Musk Admits He Paid Too Much To Buy Twitter

Musk admitted to investors that he had paid too much to obtain the company. It was pointed out that his $54.20 per share offer was around a third higher than the company's share price at the time he bought them.

Musk promised investors he would double revenue in three years, as well as triple the number of daily users that could view ads around that time period. However, many have pointed out that he is facing an uphill battle to save the social media company, as he has offered little information about how he would accomplish these goals.

READ NEXT: TikTok Spreading Misinformation? New Report Says Their Search Engine Shows Fake News

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Musk Says Hes Overpaying for Twitter - Bloomberg Markets and Finance
Two Texas men, twin brothers Michael and Mark Sheppard, opened fire at a group of migrants in the Texas desert, leaving one dead and another wounded. They have been charged with manslaughter, but the migrants they shot have now also been detained by ICE.

The Sheppard twins claimed that they mistook the migrants for wild hogs while they were out hunting, so they fired at them. However, the migrants told authorities they were only stopping to collect water from a reservoir when a pickup truck sped by and circled back to them.

The brothers then shouted profanities at the group before Michael fired off two rounds. The migrants claimed that the brothers shouted profanities at them in Spanish.

CBS Austin reported that the two men turned themselves in and are facing manslaughter and additional charges, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

According to the New York Daily News, Michael Sheppard was the warden at a privately-run prison while his twin brother worked as a maintenance worker for the sheriff's office. Michael had been accused of abuse as the warden of that prison.

Both brothers have now been released after paying a half-a-million dollars bail.

READ NEXT: Supreme Court Rejects Appeal by White Supremacist Mass Shooter Dylann Roof

Texas Twins Accused of Hate Crimes

Lawyers and advocates for the victims are decrying the case, as the migrants who were shot at were detained by ICE. They said that the migrants' detention violated a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement directive that gives a strong consideration for those crime victims cooperating with authorities in determining whether they should be released.

The Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center is now representing the migrant survivors, and their supervising attorney, Zoe Bowman, stated that this is a hate crime that happened after they crossed into the United States.

Bowman told the Associated Press that the migrant survivors are victims of a crime that happened on U.S. soil and that charges have already been brought against the two suspects. They can "provide a rare paper trail to protection under a visa for migrants who are crime victims in the U.S.," says their attorney.

Texas Migrants Remain in Detention

However, even with the 2021 ICE directive about releasing crime victims, the migrants remain in detention. Six of those who survived the shooting are being held at the El Paso Processing Center - an ICE detention facility. Meanwhile, the seventh survivor is being held by the U.S. marshals Service and is expected to be transferred to the West Texas Detention Facility, where the man who shot at them, Michael Sheppard, serves as the warden.

The man who died was identified as Mexican national Jesus Ivan Sepulveda, while the migrant who was injured by the twins was identified as Brenda Berenice Casias Carrillo, also a Mexican. She was struck in the stomach and seriously wounded.

After they were attacked, Casias Carillo was taken to a hospital while the other migrants were questioned by federal and immigration officials. The wounded survivor remains in stable condition and has some legal protection.

As for the other migrants, Bowman is seeking visas intended for migrants who are crime victims. However, she admitted that the case could take months to produce the necessary court documents.

READ NEXT: Latino and Black Police Officers Accuse Ohio Police Chief Of Racist Abuse

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Two Men Arrested, Charged With Manslaughter In Fatal Shooting Of Texas Migrant
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has warned the public about the SNAP benefits scam, with several fraudsters using EBT card skimming to try and steal their SNAP benefits.

Alabama News reported that the Agriculture Department has received numerous fraud reports on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, including thieves placing a device on retailers' card-swiping machines to illegally copy Electronic Benefits Transfer card information.

In August, the Department of Transitional Assistance in Massachusetts also issued a warning to residents on skimming SNAP benefits scams that have affected some of the DTA clients.

At the time, the DTA had advised its clients to ensure their EBT card before each scheduled benefit issuance date.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture encourages victims of card skimming to contact their local SNAP office, especially if they believe that their food stamps were stolen from their EBT card.

READ NEXT: Stimulus Check 2022: $300 Per Month Child Tax Credit Extension Fails in Senate Voting

SNAP Benefits Scam

The Agriculture Department announced that the agency is aware of numerous reports of fraudsters using phony text messages to obtain EBT card numbers and PINs to steal SNAP benefits.

These are known as phishing scams and are a type of fraud. The department advises the public not to provide their EBT card numbers or PINs by phone or text.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture also encourages SNAP participants to take certain cautionary measures to prevent card skimming such as the following:

Keep your PIN secret. The U.S. DA calls the public not to share their EBT card PIN with anyone outside their household. In addition, SNAP recipients should also cover the keypad when they are entering their PIN on a machine.

Check EBT account regularly for unauthorized charges. It is advised to change your PIN immediately once you notice any changes in your balance. It could stop the thief from making new purchases.

Check card machines before any transaction to ensure that there is nothing suspicious overlayed or attached to the card swiper or keypad. Agriculture Department noted that overlays can be difficult to detect, but they are often bigger than the original machine and may be hidden in parts of the machine

There are also some fraudsters using websites that mention food stamps and promise more monthly payments. These websites will take recipients to different websites, which may share your personal information in exchange for food stamps information.

There were also schemes where text messages were used for scams, referencing food stamps that offer work-at-home opportunities.

Agriculture Department warned that these are not just spam, but are likely scams.

EBT Card Skimming

The DA noted that EBT card skimming can occur to anyone who uses a credit, debit, or EBT card.

A spokesperson for the United Food Bank, Ginger John, said that to have those funds go missing "is terrible," adding that incomes are the same but all the expenses are higher, especially with the groceries.

A spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Economic Security, Tasya Peterson, also confirmed an increase in SNAP scams related to EBT card skimming, noting the case has also increased in Arizona, as reported by Arizona Family.

EBT card skimming incidents in Arizona are investigated by the DES Office of the Inspector General.

READ MORE: SNAP Benefits 2022 Update: $301.8 Million Texas Payments Confirmed for July 2022

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: EBT card scams on the rise in Chula Vista - from CBS 8 San Diego


When President Joe Biden announced his plans to forgive student loan debts, several Republican states, including Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Carolina, filed a lawsuit to challenge it. However, a federal judge rejected that lawsuit, which means Biden's student debt relief program can continue.

According to CNN, US District Judge Henry Edward Autrey stated in his ruling on Thursday that he was dismissing the case because the states had not overcome the procedural threshold known as standing. This requires plaintiffs to show that a policy is causing them direct and traceable harm.

As we previously reported, the Biden administration plans to cancel up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for most borrowers and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients.

Republican States Likely to Appeal Case

The Republican-led states argued that the Biden administration does not have the legal authority to grant such broad student loan forgiveness and that this program would hurt the states financially.

However, government lawyers argued that Congress gave the education secretary the power to discharge debt under HEROES Act of 2003. They also argued that the states did not have standing to ask for an injunction.

In his ruling, Judge Autry also stated that many of those harms were "merely speculative" and not imminent at the very least.

The Republican challenge was seen by experts as the most "serious and credible." However, Politico noted that the six Republican states would likely appeal that decision.

It was noted that the ruling was "a vindication of the Biden administration's legal strategy" and a big victory for the administration.

READ NEXT: Donald Trump Tried Undermining FDA by Pushing Discredited COVID-19 Treatment, House Panel Says

Supreme Court Rejects Wisconsin Group's Request to Block Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness Program

The Biden plan was not only challenged by the six GOP-led states, but also other groups, including a Wisconsin taxpayers' group that filed an emergency application to block the program. However, this move was denied by the Supreme Court itself.

According to CNBC, the one who denied this motion was Trump-appointed conservative justice Amy Coney Barrett. She is responsible for applications for cases filed in the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which includes Wisconsin, where the application was filed.

Brown County Taxpayers Association in Wisconsin were responsible for filing that application, as they filed a federal lawsuit in that state. A U.S. District Court judge dismissed the suit, saying that they lacked legal standing to stall the plan.

The group then appealed it in the 7th Circuit, which then led to them asking Justice Barrett to suspend its implementation. However, the conservative judge disagreed with them, dismissing their request completely.

The group admitted that they are disappointed with the ruling, but still argued that the program is unlawful.

U.S. Department of Education launched a beta test of the program, with over 8 million people already submitting applications for the program as of last weekend.

READ MORE: Trump Tax Fraud Case: Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg Pleads Guilty, Willing to Testify vs Trump

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Student loan forgiveness; SCOTUS rejects Wisconsin group's appeal | FOX6 News Milwaukee
A federal grand jury in Indiana charged an Indiana cop Tuesday with breaking a man's civil rights by using too much force when he was arrested last year.

On September 24, 2021, body camera footage showed Sgt. Eric Huxley stomping on Jermaine Vaughn's face while his hands were bound behind his back.

Yahoo says that Huxley's coworkers threw Vaughn to the ground when they tried to arrest him for being disorderly in the business district of the city.

Huxley, 44, has worked with the department for 15 years and is charged with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law.

READ NEXT: Texas Police to Pay Black Family $150,000 After Brutally Assaulting Mother and Her Kids

Jermaine Vaughn Was Arrested for Yelling

According to the affidavit, Vaughn was yelling and one of the police handcuffed him after he "refused to calm down."

Huxley was one of three officers who went to a downtown landmark after getting a disorderly conduct report.

Vaughn was handcuffed when told to "lean back" by an officer named Matthew Shores. Vaughn said he cannot, as the officer was clutching his belt. At that point, Shores pushed him up some stairs to get him on the sidewalk.

Huxley, a white Indiana cop, can be seen stomping once with his left foot on Vaughn's face as the officer held him to the ground by his collar. A few seconds later, Vaughn's mouth was filled with blood.

"Stop. You're done. "You're done," Huxley said.

Vaughn had previously been arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to News One. However, both charges were dismissed.

Vaughn was handcuffed at the time and did not pose a physical threat, but he was kicked in the face. Before the incident, Huxley had already been charged with local felony charges for official misconduct and battery that caused moderate harm.

Eric Huxley, an Indiana Cop, Is Facing Charges

In September 2022, two officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) accused the department of retaliation after an incident report about their sergeant.

Vaughn was handcuffed by one cop while the other seized his legs.

In the body camera footage, Huxley can be seen kicking Vaughn in the face as he was on the ground.

WTHR reported that Huxley is still on unpaid leave while the IMPD Civilian Police Merit Board decides if he should be fired or not.

The Civilian Police Merit Board looks at an officer's standing after the criminal case is over.

"This incident was unnecessary and should have never occurred. I would not tolerate this behavior from any community member; Sergeant Huxley is no exception," said IMPD Chief Randal Taylor.

"As law enforcement officers, we must understand that this behavior violates the community's trust. We have confidence the judicial system will bring justice to Mr. Vaughn and his family," Taylor added.

According to Indiana University criminal justice expert Stephanie Whitehead, there were video cameras and witness testimony in this case that proved what occurred, and the chief is taking it seriously represents a significant cultural shift.

READ MORE: Nevada: Rare Brain-Eating Amoeba Kills Boy, Lake Mead Seen as Potential Source

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: IMPD Sergeant Eric Huxley indicted by federal grand jury for civil rights violation - From WTHR
After the COVID-19 pandemic hit its tourism industry, Ecuador is trying to bounce back. One of the areas they see that would attract many tourists is the Galapagos Islands.

Known for its role in inspiring Charles Darwin to come up with the theory of evolution, the Galapagos Islands are home to thousands of species unique to the area. However, with tourists returning, the question remains of whether or not tourism might place these unique species in danger.

The Ecuadorian government is the caretaker of the islands, as well as its unique ecosystem. However, with the country opening up to tourists again, the government must do a balancing act to help the economy by profiting off tourists and ensuring the Galapagos ecosystems remain protected.

Ecuador Government Promoting Ecotourism in Galapagos Islands

According to the Harvard International Review, "the beauty of the islands was initially meant to be shared in small, environmentally friendly, doses." In order to do this, the Ecuadorian government and the people living on the islands worked together to implement ecotourism.

The practice promotes tourists visiting the island while also conserving natural land and species. Tours are heavily regulated by the Galapagos National Park Directorate (GNDP) and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Tourism.

These regulations include basic commitments to incorporate local residents and their products and minimize the pollution that tourists often cause.

The practices aim to limit the damage caused by humans to the Galapagos Islands' unique ecosystem. The Ecuadorian government also tried limiting mainland Ecuadorians from moving to the islands and profiting off tourists.

READ NEXT: Ecuador: 5 Dead, 17 Injured in Shooting and Explosion in Guayaquil

How Tourism Negatively Affects the Galapagos Islands

Tourists can explore Galapagos by land or by sea. According to The Travel, visitors can get to the islands via a flight from Quinto or Guayaquil.

There are two airports, Seymour Airport, located on Baltra Island, and the San Cristobal Airport, on San Cristobal Island. There are daily boat trips and cruises to explore the islands.

As the pandemic also begins to wane, several airlines are now scheduling more flights into the islands. According to Simple Flying, start-up airline Equair has doubled its flights into the Galapagos Islands to boost tourism.

However, many see this boost as having some negative effects as well. Harvard has pointed out that endangered Galapagos species are at high risk of extinction due to improper ecotourism practices.

Ships that are also not properly managed may also contaminate seawater if they have paint flecks, as well as leaking engine oil.

The negative effects can affect not just the iconic Galapagos Tortoises and Marine Iguanas but also endangered Galapagos penguins and the Galapagos shark.

Travelers can also introduce invasive species into the islands, such as rats and cats. These could wreak havoc in the ecosystem, as they can devastate entire species if left unchecked.

READ MORE: Colombian Serial Killer Pedro Alonso Lopez Disappeared; Is It Possible 'The Monster of the Andes' Still Doing His Horrific Acts?

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Explore the Galapagos Islands with Google Maps - From Google Maps
An Afghan couple, who is a part of the refugee group that evacuated from Afghanistan, filed a lawsuit against a U.S. Marine major after he allegedly abducted their baby shortly after they arrived in the U.S.

In a lawsuit filed last month in federal court, the Afghan couple, identified as Jane and John Doe, accused U.S. Marine Major Joshua Mast and his wife, Stephanie Mast, of engaging in a fraudulent scheme to unlawfully abduct their baby.

According to Business Insider, the couple accused the Masts of conspiracy, fraud, and false imprisonment related to what they described as the unlawful abduction of their baby.

The lawsuit noted that the "family" or the parents and five siblings of "Baby Doe" were killed in September 2019 when a U.S. special military operation happened in rural Afghanistan.

The two-month-old baby at the time was seriously injured but survived. Baby Doe was transported to a military hospital. Mast was stationed in Afghanistan at the time. According to the lawsuit, he "fraudulently obtained a custody order" for the child in Virginia court.

However, the U.S. government did not take action to release the baby to the Masts. An unnamed Department of State official told the Associated Press that they strongly felt the baby belonged to Afghanistan, not the U.S.

Under international humanitarian law, the official said they were required to try and find the baby's next of kin. After the baby's family was found, she was released to her first cousin, identified only in the suit as John Doe, and his wife, Jane Doe. They assumed legal guardianship of the baby.

READ NEXT: Pres. Joe Biden Will Resign Due to Limited Cognitive Abilities, Former White House Doctor Predicts

U.S. Marine Major Forcibly Taking Afghan Baby

The Afghan family was bound for the United States for medical treatment with the help of Mast. In August 2021, the Afghan family arrived at the airport in Washington, D.C.

Mast pulled them out of the international arrivals line and led them to an inspecting officer. They were then surprised when Mast showed an Afghan passport for the child, according to the Afghan couple.

NBC New York reported that the child's passport had Mast's last name printed on the document. Federal filings showed in letters, emails, and documents submitted that Mast used his status in the U.S. Armed Forces to adopt the baby without the couple's knowledge.

Mast even reportedly appealed to high-ranking Trump administration officials to allow his adoption. He took the baby away with custody papers in hand five days after the Afghan couple arrived in the U.S.

The Afghan woman then collapsed onto the floor and pleaded with Mast to give her baby back while her husband said Mast had called him "brother" for months, so he begged to act like one. However, the Afghan couple claimed in their lawsuit that Mast shoved the man and stomped his foot.

Afghan Couple and Baby Doe

The little girl is now three and a half months, and the Afghan couple has not seen her ever since. The Afghan woman said they took the child, and their tears "never stop," U.S. News reported.

The Afghan couple evacuated to the U.S. as refugees last year. In the lawsuit, the family asked the court to protect their identity out of concern for their relatives back in Afghanistan.

The baby's identity was also kept out of the public and only listed as "Baby L" or "Baby Doe." The American couple have denied the accusations and said their adoption of the baby was legal.

READ MORE: Joe Biden's Rating Further Sinks, With More Than Half of Americans Disapprove of the President's Performance

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: U.S. Marine Accused of Stealing Afghan Couple's Baby - From Marvelous Latins Anthem
A report from a United Nations agency said the number of Colombia's lands with coca plants from which cocaine is made was at its highest level in 20 years last year.

According to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 204,000 hectares or 500,000 acres of coca crops were grown in Colombia in 2021, which is 43% more than in 2020.

Al Jazeera reported that the agency said the amount of cocaine that could be made last year reached a new high of 1,400 tons, which is a 14% increase from 2020.

"This is the highest figure in our 22 years of monitoring," UNODC Andean and Southern Cone regional director Candice Welsh told reporters on Thursday.

Welsh asked Bogota to spend more on social programs and improve security for communities switching to legal crops. Cocaine is a highly addictive drug that is illegal in many countries.

Colombia has long been the world's top producer of it. The country has come under pressure to reduce production, particularly from the United States.

But the government is having difficulty getting farmers to stop growing illegal coca crops because of a lack of subsidies and other incentives. Many poor Colombians planting coca plants said they do not have any other choice.

READ NEXT: Cocaine Legalization in Colombia Gets Scrapped by Leftist Government

Colombia Cocaine: Coca Crops Threaten the Country's Biodiversity

The UNODC noted that the production of coca crops continues to put Colombia's biodiversity at risk, fueling deforestation. Roughly half of the coca crop plantations are in special land management zones, including forest reserves.

After a court decided that glyphosate, a widely used herbicide to get rid of crops, could cause cancer and pollute the environment, aerial spraying to remove the crops stopped in 2015, according to BBC.

President Gustavo Petro's predecessor Ivan Duque supported the U.S. war on drugs. Former President Donald Trump told Colombia in 2020 to resume aerial spraying.

However, during their meeting in Colombia earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Petro that they had "extensive common ground" on the coca problem.

"We strongly support the holistic approach the Petro administration is taking. On both the enforcement side but also on the comprehensive approach to the problem... I think that we're largely in sync," Blinken said.

Colombia Has Been Fighting Off Cocaine Production for Decades

Even though there have been laws against drugs for decades, Colombia is still the biggest producer of cocaine in the world. Gustavo Petro has proposed voluntary crop substitution schemes and drug regulations.

Along with getting more drug gang leaders arrested, the leftist president also wanted to increase social funding in production areas. Petro even considered granting amnesty to drug dealers who agreed to give up their business, DW reported.

The president thinks coca growers and pickers are victims of the current laws because thousands of them are in jail for drug trafficking while the state sprays pesticides on their land to remove illegal plantations.

"We had an increase in sown hectares and cocaine production that is without precedent in the history of the country," said Justice Minister Nestor Osuna.

Osuna went on to criticize the U.S., which is the biggest cocaine consumer in the world. He said the numbers clearly showed the "failure of the war on drugs." However, he noted that the legalization of cocaine in Colombia will not be considered for now.

READ MORE: Indiana: Indiana Cop Faces Federal Charges After Stomping on Handcuffed Black Man's Face

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Why Colombia's Cocaine Industry Is Thriving - From VICE News
Xi chairs 3rd meeting of 20th CPC National Congress presidium

Xinhua) 16:28, October 21, 2022

Xi Jinping presides over the third meeting of the presidium of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The presidium of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held its third meeting on Friday morning. Xi Jinping presided over the meeting.

Participants at the meeting approved the draft lists of candidates for members and alternate members of the 20th CPC Central Committee, as well as for members of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

The presidium meeting decided to submit the lists to delegations for deliberation.

The lists were generated through competitive preliminary elections conducted by delegations to the congress.

The preliminary elections were conducted under the supervision of ballot scrutineers in accordance with the election methods of the congress. Over 8 percent of the nominees were voted off in the preliminary elections.

The results of the preliminary elections are valid, according to the presidium.

The formal elections for the Party's new central committee and CCDI will be held on Saturday morning.

The presidium of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) holds its third meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng attended the meeting. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Wu Chaolan)
Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera is reportedly asking a court to have his life sentence overturned.

According to ABC7 Chicago, El Chapo is convincing the court that he was wronged by U.S. prosecutors in his racketeering conspiracy case. The Sinaloa cartel boss reportedly filed a new court request signed by himself, not an attorney, and asked to be freed or retried.

ABC7 legal analyst Gil Soffer, who has reviewed El Chapo's filing for the I-Team, said: "Presumably, he's got some advice behind the scenes. But yeah, on the face of it, he's applying for it himself."

In the habeas corpus petition filed by the Sinaloa cartel boss, Soffer noted that El Chapo criticized his lawyers and claimed unfair extradition by the U.S. as well as prosecutors' unlawful treatment.

Soffer, a former federal prosecutor, noted that El Chapo "lost his trial, [and] he lost on appeal." However, he said this was "a mechanism" for the Mexican drug lord "to say, despite all that, I'm still entitled to a reversal of my conviction and a new trial because my constitutional rights were violated."

According to Soffer, El Chapo must show that his constitutional rights were indeed violated, and the outcome of his trial would have been different if they had not been violated, which "is a very high hurdle to clear," Borderland Beat reported.

READ NEXT: Mexico: Government Hack Reveals How Mexican Military Sold Weapons, Information to Mexican Drug Cartels

Arrest of Sinaloa Cartel Boss El Chapo

El Chapo was sentenced to spend the rest of his days in the ADX Florence "supermax" prison in Colorado after being sentenced to life imprisonment in 2019 on multiple drug-related charges.

The infamous Sinaloa Cartel boss was first arrested in Guatemala in 1993 and extradited to Mexico, where he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder and drug trafficking.

But in 2001, the Mexican drug kingpin escaped from prison. He was arrested again in 2014 in Sinaloa and again escaped from prison through a tunnel the following year.

Mexican officials announced in January 2016 that El Chapo had been captured again. He was extradited to the U.S. the following year.

El Chapo is serving a life sentence in prison after being found guilty of all 10 federal charges he faced. He was accused of illegally importing millions of kilos of cocaine from Mexico to the U.S., along with significant quantities of heroin and marijuana.

In January, a federal appeals court in New York upheld the life sentence of El Chapo after his request for a new trial was dismissed.

In their decision, the three judges rejected some of El Chapo's arguments, including jury bias, "deplorable" jail conditions, and the U.S. government selectively targeting him for prosecution.

Sinaloa Cartel Boss El Chapo Complained About Mistreatment in Colorado Prison

El Chapo has complained about being mistreated in the Colorado prison he's currently being held in. In a seven-page letter he previously sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal, he said the treatment he received in the maximum-security prison was "cruel and unfair," and it was taking a toll on his health.

El Chapo wrote in English that due to the treatment at the prison, he now suffers from "headaches, memory loss, muscle cramps, stress, and depression."

He also made several demands, such as being able to communicate with other inmates verbally. El Chapo claimed that since arriving in the U.S., he had not been allowed to speak to his wife.

The long list of his complaints also includes being served little food, the "extremely hot" temperature that makes his blood pressure rise, and suffering from a fungal infection in his foot due to sharing nail clippers with other inmates.

The Sinaloa Cartel boss added that prison officials enter his cell "several times a week to do routine searches when they move and touch all my belongings." El Chapo then asked to be treated better and that the conditions in his cell be improved.

READ MORE: El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel Continues to Thrive Despite the Drug Lord's Absence: Report

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: El Chapo Making Desperate Play to Get out of Prison - From ABC 7 Chicago
A Washington woman faced a harrowing ordeal when her estranged husband tried to kill her and buried her alive. However, the 42-year-old Young An escaped her near-death situation after she dug herself out of the shallow grave where her husband buried her.

According to People, she managed to get some help by running to a nearby home and pounding on its door. The Lacey Police Department (LPD) said the Washington woman then asked the residents for help as her husband "was trying to kill her."

How the Washington Woman Buried Alive by Her Husband Escaped

Thurston County police responded to a call at around 1 a.m. on Tuesday and went to the home where the Washington woman asked residents for help. Young An was then transported to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The woman allegedly told LPD investigators that her husband kidnapped her from her home and drove her into the woods, where her husband stabbed her before he buried her alive.

According to NBC News, court documents filed Wednesday at the Thurston County Superior Court said that after she was put on the ground, her husband walked around the hole he had dug and piled dirt on top of her.

Young An believed she was inside the shallow grave for hours and managed to survive by wiggling her face around to create some air pockets.

She then waited for it to get dark before she tried to escape. She claimed she had to walk for about 20 to 30 minutes until she found help.

"She had duct tape still wrapped around her neck, lower face, and ankles... There was extensive bruising to her legs, arms, and head, and her clothing and hair were covered in dirt," according to the court document.

READ NEXT: Murder Files: 4 Most Notorious Serial Killers in South American History

Husband Arrested For Multiple Charges, No Bail Set

The LPD said that several hours after the Washington woman was rescued, her 53-year-old husband, Chae Kyong An, was arrested. A hiker spotted his 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan on a nearby trail.

According to Thurston County Correction Facility's inmate data, Kyong An was charged with first-degree attempted murder, domestic violence, kidnapping, assault, and felony harassment. He was booked into the said county jail on Tuesday.

According to The Olympian, Court Commissioner Nathan Kortokrax set no bail on Wednesday after finding probable cause for the alleged crimes. He also prohibited Chae An from contacting his wife and some witnesses.

It was Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Elizabeth McMullen who asked the court to set no bail. She said the suspect may commit a violent crime or even interfere with the case.

Chae An's public defense attorney Ahmed Jenkins said his client was a veteran who served for 30 years with no prior criminal convictions or a history of not appearing in court. Jenkins said it is highly likely that Chae An has some service-related mental health conditions.

The Washington State Patrol previously identified Young An in a widely shared missing person alert on Sunday. She was reported missing after police responded to her home Sunday afternoon after receiving a 911 call of a woman "screaming."

Young An later told detectives that she was attacked in her home after talking to Chae An about their ongoing divorce and money.

READ MORE: Brazil's Deadliest Serial Killer, Who Murdered Over 100, Including His Father, Is Freed | Where Is Pedro Rodrigues Filho Now?

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Washington Woman Buried Alive Escapes Shallow Grave - From NBC News
A refugee turned star hurler is among the guests of this week's (Oct 21) Late Late Show.

From life in a refugee camp in Iraq to hurling in Croke Park for Leitrim, Zak Moradi will speak to host Ryan Tubridy about the power of sport and the importance of community.

Hollywood actor Richard E. Grant will be live in studio to chat about his memoir A Pocketful of Happiness. Richard lost his wife of 34 years Joan to cancer and describes the sadness and rawness that a terminal illness brings to a family. It's a love story that spans the early days of their relationship when Richard was a waiter to the highs of being nominated for an Oscar.



Sing Street star Jack Reynor will chat to Ryan about being thrust into worldwide fame at just 21 years old, his new Prime Video show The Peripheral and why he will never swap beautiful Blessington for the Hollywood Hills.



Comedian and broadcaster PJ Gallagher will discuss his personal story of mental illness and why he wants to share his experience after a stay in hospital earlier this year saved his life.



Ryan will meet some of the remarkable children together with their mothers and fathers who communicate through Lamh, a manual sign language, and are taking part in a landmark children's television programme on RTEjr called Dizzy Deliveries.



The show will also have music from cutting-edge rapper Malaki performing his new single, while Susan ONeill returns with a song from her current EP.



And- calling all big kids! - a very special not-to-missed Late Late Toy Show update will be announced on Friday nights show.

The show will air on October 21st at 9.35pm.
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THE case of a man accused of assault causing harm in the Marian Hostel, High Street, Tullamore, was dismissed by Judge Andrew Cody at Tullamore District Court.

Before the court was Kosi Homavoo (47) who has been living in direct provision at the hostel for the past three years. Another resident Bekezela Kubane had accused Mr Homavoo of assaulting him.

In his evidence Garda Shannon said that on December 29, 2020, Bekezela Kubane reported he had been assaulted in his room at the hostel. There was blood around his mouth and a tooth was missing.

He went to Tullamore hospital the next day and he made a statement of complaint to Tullamore Garda Station. He also signed a statement giving gardai permission to get a medical report.

Gardai called to the Marian Hostel and the defendant Kosi Homavoo agreed to make a voluntary statement at Tullamore Garda Station. He also received a medical report from Tullamore hospital.

In his evidence the injured party, Bekezela Kubane, who is from Zimbabwe, said he came back to the hostel at 9.30 on that particular morning, having completed a night shift in Dublin where he works. He said the defendant accused him of making noise and he called him names.

He said Mr Homavoo punched him in the left eye and he had hit him back. There was a third person in the room who said he didn't see anything.

The defendant Mr Homavoo claimed that Bekezela Kubane, had started the fight. He admitted he didnt make any complaint to the gardai about being hit.

Taking the stand the injured party Bekezela Kubane said on the morning of the alleged assault, just as he got back into the room that he shared with the defendant and one other person, he received a phone call.

Mr Homavoo accused him of making noise. Mr Kubane told Mr Homavoo that he was always playing music himself, but he had never said anything to him. Mr Homavoo then said ''can you leave the room quickly before I do something to you.'' Mr Kubane said ''suddenly he grabbed me.''

The third person in the room woke up and asked what are you doing. To my thinking I didnt do anything, said Mr Kubane.

The third man told the receptionist, and afterwards I called my brother, said Mr Kubane. He said he went to the police station and they called an ambulance and he was taken to the hospital. He has since had his teeth repaired.

Solicitor Donal Farrelly put it to Mr Kubane that he had made a phone call and Mr Homavoo had asked him to go into another room to make the call, but he had continued talking on the phone.

Mr Farrelly suggested that it was the Mr Kubane himself that had thrown the first punch and the defendant had been acting in self defence.

Mr Farrelly said the defendant, who was from Togo, had been living in the hostel for three years. He was anxious to do well in this country and get ahead.

Judge Cody said there was a conflict as to what really happened. You had three people in a room all trying to better themselves. They didn't get along, the defendant played music and the third party was on the phone. He said with three people in a room it is inevitable there will be conflict. He said both appeared to be decent men and he admired that the injured party was working.

However, he said there was no independent witness and because of this he had a doubt and he dismissed the case.
It was a double for Laois at the the National Heritage Awards where Ricky Whelan from Mountmellick was on hand at the Royal College of Physicians Ireland to co-accept the Biodiversity Award.

The Awards honour those organisers who created the most engaging and inspiring events and projects for National Heritage Week 2022.

This Biodiversity award is presented to the event that successfully encouraged a greater appreciation of our natural world or a consideration of the variety of plant and animal life in the area, and/or conservation of native species and natural landscapes, and/or that considers a resilient and sustainable future for the environment.

Ricky was centrally involved in the BirdWatch Ireland project which was carried out, in association with Kildare Bat Group and Laois Heritage Office, Co Laois: Irish Wildlife Trust Laois Offaly Branch, BirdWatch Ireland and Kildare Bat Group. They organised Bats about Rooks, a walk for all ages through the Peoples Park in Portlaoise to hear all about its bird and bat life.

Birdwatch Ireland's Ricky Whelan led the information walk while Kildare Bat Group expert Anna Collins also gave a talk about bats, leading the audience after dark along the River Triogue bank.

The event on Friday, August 19 started at the rookery at the Downs beside the Park, one of the largest in Laois, and brought to life the antics of the Rooks and Jackdaws that call Portlaoise their home.

Portlaoise has not only has one of the fastest growing populations in Ireland, but it also has the largest roost of rooks in the county.

Ricky leads the way during the Heritage Week event.

The heritage site of The Downs, a glacial ridge covered in mature trees near the town centre, is now known to have the largest rook roost in Laois.

Anna Collins spoke about the bat life of the Park, showing adults and children alike how to use bat detectors to make the echolocation calls of the bats audible to human ears, and helping everyone to adjust the frequency on the detectors to actually identify the different bat species flying above the group, purely by the frequency of their calls.

One of the highlights of the event was when the group was treated to the sight of two Daubentons bats, possibly a mother and young, flying together low over the parks lake, feeding on the insect life of the lake.

Pairc an Phobail in Portlaoise, managed by Laois County Council, is an oasis for wildlife in the town, having recently been awarded the Green Flag for Parks. The original vision for Pairc an Phobail has evolved over the last 16 years with many new additions, designed to attract people of all ages back to using the Park to its full potential.

Some of the facilities in the Park are a natural play area, a woodland walk containing a bilingual Tree Trail, grassy areas managed for pollinators and a small man -made lake which is also managed for wildlife.

The Park provides an excellent location for nature trails and also gives schools and families the opportunity to observe local wildlife in a beautiful setting. The Park has successfully achieved a Green Flag Award each year since it first entered the scheme in 2016.

Ricky commented on winning the award.

"We are blessed to have such natural spectacles on our doorsteps and at the centre of our county town. To be able to see upwards of 4000 Rooks come to roost each winter evening is truly wonderful, its a privilege to observe their behaviours, politics and social structures right on our doorsteps. Add the wonder of echolocating and foraging bats to the equation and you have a truly special event, he said.



The National Heritage Awards honour those organisers who created the most engaging and inspiring events and projects for National Heritage Week 2022, as well as Irelands Heritage Hero. This year National Heritage Week celebrated the return of in-person events, while continuing to showcase digital projects, which proved popular over the last two years.

Portlaoise man Teddy Fennelly was presented with the Heritage Hero award at the event which was attended by big Laois contingent.

More than 1,800 events and projects took place around the country in August during National Heritage Week, as communities and individuals answered the Heritage Councils invitation to explore this years themes of sustainable heritage and biodiversity.

Entrants were also encouraged to use environmentally friendly practices to ensure the sustainability of their events and to share heritage with everyone in the community, including those who are new to heritage, those who do not have local roots or those who have additional accessibility needs.

Award winners chosen from entries under six heritage categories received their awards from Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD.
Irish Water said it is working in partnership with Kildare County Council to safeguard the water supply for homes and businesses in Athy with works to upgrade and improve the water supply due to begin next week.

The works are being delivered as part of Irish Waters national Leakage Reduction Programme which is facilitating significant benefits to local communities across Ireland including improved water quality, a more secure water supply and considerable water savings.

Essential water main upgrade works are scheduled to take place on Monday, 24 October at 10pm until Tuesday, 25 October at 6am. To reduce the impact on customers, the works are taking place during night-time hours and critical water users have been engaged with directly.

During these works, customers in Athy and surrounding areas may experience intermittent interruptions to their water supply to include low pressure and/or outages. These works will enable Irish Water to better manage water pressure issues in Athy and also reduce the frequency of bursts in the town.

Speaking about the works, Joe Carroll, Regional Delivery Lead at Irish Water said: Irish Water understands that this type of work can be inconvenient and working in partnership with Kildare County Council, we will make every effort to minimise the disruption that these necessary works may cause.

Joe added, Customers may experience some temporary discolouration of water following the works and occasionally issues such as internal airlocks may arise. For advice on clearing discoloration and airlocks, visit www.water.ie/water-supply/ supply-issues/following-an- outage.

Vulnerable customers who have registered with Irish Water will receive direct communications from us for planned and unplanned outages lasting more than four hours. Typically, it takes two to three hours following restoration time for normal supply to be fully restored to all areas.



Irish Water and Kildare County Council regret any inconvenience caused. The Irish Water customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and customers can also contact us on Twitter @IWCare with any queries. For updates, please visit the Water Supply Updates section of the Irish Water website.

The works are being carried out by Ward & Burke Construction Ltd on behalf of Irish Water.

Irish Water has invested over 500 million between 2017 and 2021 to reduce leakage and replace old pipes on the public water network. We are investing a further 250 million every year up to the end of 2030. Fixing leaks can be complicated but we are making progress. In 2018 the rate of leakage nationally was 46%, by the end of 2021 it was reduced to 38%. We are on track to achieve a national leakage rate of 25% by the end of 2030.

Irish Water is responsible for the delivery of all public water and wastewater services in Ireland. We are committed to continuously upgrading and developing critical infrastructure to support the growth needed in housing and across our economy, while protecting the environment and safeguarding water supplies.
Irelands Finance Minister has said it is in Irelands interest that the UK economy is stable in the wake of the departure of Liz Truss as Prime Minister.

Paschal Donohoe said he hopes the Irish Government can build on the friendship that exists between the two countries with whomever is the next prime minister.

In recent days and weeks, Irish ministers had emphasised how Ireland is closely linked to the UK economy and the need for stability ahead of what is expected to be a difficult winter.

The matter of who leads the Conservative party or who is the next Prime Minister is clearly a matter for those who are voting in it. Ill leave that to them, Mr Donohoe told Irish broadcaster RTE Radio 1s Morning Ireland programme.

The events of the last few days emphasise to me two things about Government and politics: consequence and cost.

He said it proves that it does matter who is making decisions and the decisions that are made have an effect on a country and on an economy.

It really matters to Ireland that the UK is doing well, that they are stable and their economy is growing, he said.

And we hope theres a prime minister in place and we expect there will be that we can resume close cooperation and build on the friendship thats there between our two countries.

Irish premier Micheal Martin on Thursday called for a new British prime minister be selected quickly in order to bring about stability following Ms Trusss resignation.

The Taoiseach told reporters in Brussels that we would like to see the UK system, within its capacity, to be in a position to have a successor selected as quickly as possible.

Irelands Foreign Minister Simon Coveney expressed frustration on Thursday evening at being back to instability again, referring to tensions around the Northern Ireland Protocol and its impact on Northern Ireland.

Ms Trusss resignation has raised concerns about the progress that had been made on reaching a breakthrough on the protocol, and on closer relations between the British and Irish governments.
Susan Kinane, a self-published author, was at the Arigna Mining Experience to deliver her memoir - The Folks On The Hill this week.

The cover of the book certainly captures the beauty of the area  Lough Allen, surrounded by Roscommon and Leitrim but what is the story all about and what brought a Dub all the way up here. We put this and other questions to Susan and she was happy to explain.

So, what did bring you all the way here?

Well , back in the early 80s as a young couple we lived in Blanchardstown, a suburb of Dublin, and we often spent weekends holidaying in the area. Staying in the likes of McGuires Rent-an-Irish-Cottage or with Paschal Mooneys mother in Drumshanbo.

We liked the outdoor life and we found the walking here was always good, regardless of the weather. After some time we stopped coming heading instead to the likes of Portugal for a bit of sun. But later on towards the late 90s we wanted to slow down a bit on the work front and we thought about a country cottage.



Our natural leaning was to return to Leitrim as we always liked it and it was within an easy drive to Dublin. So in 1999 we bought our lovely cottage in Crosshill and as far as we were concerned we had hit gold.

Had you any other connections with the area?

No, none at all. We are both Dubs through and through and the only rural blood in either of us is a small splash of Wexford and Tipperary blood.



But to be honest with you as soon as we arrived we felt very much at home and the neighbours and friends we made here could not do enough for us. With all the talk nowadays of people moving out of major cities and relocating to rural areas if our experience is anything to go by I would say  go for it.

So what made you decide to write a book about this?

I guess like a lot of people during Covid we were fairly restricted and had a lot of spare time. As Im retired now I spent a lot of Covid reading. I got to a stage where my poor brain was bursting with murder mysteries that I felt I could not read another line. So I stopped reading and started to remember people and incidents from our time with the cottage.



One memory borrowed another and on it went. I started to write them down and before I knew it I had collated enough for a small book. Its a humours look at ourselves and the 15 years we spent there but the biggest part of it is the welcome we received from everyone we met and the friendships we made.

Why did you leave and how did you feel about that?

There is no doubt but this was the hardest decision we had to make. When we bought the cottage we were in our early 40s, no children and in need of a project.



The cottage and the land around it was perfect for us. Gerry was exceptionally good with his hands and could turn them to most tasks in renovating and maintaining the cottage. We were still working full time in Dublin and as we were getting on a bit our time in the cottage was more about relaxing and some of the tasks were starting to take longer to do.



As we neared retirement we were considering dividing our time between Ireland and Portugal for the winter. So for about two years we debated the various options and reluctantly decided on Dublin/Portugal.



It was never going to be an easy decision as we loved Crosshill and our neighbours there but the cottage needed to be maintained during the winter and it would just not work.



There were a lot of tears when the decision was made and even now when we return to catch up with neighbours we feel like we left a part of us here.



I dont think I would ever get that same feeling in leaving Dublin.



Thank you Susan for the chat and we wish you and Gerry all the best and we hope the book goes well for you.

It would certainly make a great socking filler for anyone in the area or indeed for any local living abroad in the run up to Christmas.

The book can be purchased from Arigna Mining Experience, Mulvey's, The Reading Room and Trinity Rare books Carrick or from www.buythebook.ie.
The final regular episode of long-running topical comedy show Mock The Week is set to air as planned on Friday, amid the ongoing UK political chaos.

Show producers confirmed that the final episode, coming after 17 years and 21 series of the show, will not be re-recorded despite the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss on Thursday.

Irish comedian Dara OBriain and fan favourite Hugh Dennis will discuss the weeks fast-moving events with panelists Angela Barnes, Alasdair Beckett-King, Rhys James, Zoe Lyons and Ahir Shah.

Producers had hoped that the Government would provide a further content boost by installing the seventh prime minister of the shows run, though the departure of Ms Truss had not been confirmed at the time of recording.

It's understood that there was lively discussion at the top of the more than two-hour recording, about the fate of the PM and the possible future of UK politics.

Show-runners were very conscious that the political landscape was changing moment by moment.

We recorded the final Mock the Week last night. Jesus, she cant even get that right. https://t.co/d7JIBElBbU  Dara O Briain (@daraobriain) October 20, 2022

Ideally they would have liked to know (about Ms Trusss departure) but its part of the fun of the show, a source close to the show said.

Following the news about Ms Trusss exit from Downing Street, the shows official Twitter account tweeted: I know there are bigger ramifications to the Prime Minister resigning but that has really messed up Mock the Week this week.

Comedian Angela Barnes added: Liz Truss has done some terrible things, but resigning the day after we record the last ever episode of Mock The Week is up there.

Liz Truss has done some terrible things, but resigning the day after we record the last ever episode of Mock The Week is up there  Angela Barnes (@AngelaBarnes) October 20, 2022

Announcing the final show previously, OBriain acknowledged that news storylines were getting crazier and crazier with global pandemics, divorce from Europe (and) novelty short-term prime ministers.

The final regular show, airing on Friday, will be the 232nd episode, and be followed by two specials looking back over the history of Mock The Week, concluding the series officially on November 4.

Mock The Week first aired in June 2005, and over the years it has featured comedy stars including Chris Addison, Frankie Boyle, Rory Bremner and Russell Howard.
A CHRISTMAS deadline has been set to address concerns over the amount of office space required by the anchor tenant of the landmark Opera Square development in Limerick city centre.

Concerns were raised about the future of the project when the anchor tenant for the 14-storey office building at the site, the Revenue Commissioners, confirmed they would only need space for around half the number of staff they had originally planned.

As part of the 200m city centre development, the 14-storey tower at the heart of the new development has been earmarked to become the new home for Revenue Commissioners staff.

Originally, it was intended that in the region of 900 to 1,000 Revenue staff would work in the new building, however, the most recent estimates undertaken by Revenue show that the projected maximum footfall on any given day in the new site will be 500 staff approximately.

A spokesperson for Revenue told Limerick Live that they have reassessed their staffing requirement for occupancy within Opera Square since the pandemic.

They said the number of staff for the new office location are estimates and may change as blended working settles down and team work patterns evolve.

Limerick Twenty Thirty, who are overseeing the landmark project, are in ongoing discussions with the Revenue Commissioners and the Office of Public Works regarding the plans for the office space.

A spokesperson for the company said they were looking forward to progressing the project which will be a world-class home for the Revenue Commissioners and other public sector bodies.

Cllr John Sheahan, who sits on the board for the project, said he was very confident that the building would be going ahead as planned.

I think there are other options there (for the office space) and it needs a bit of broad thinking. It is going to be a wonderful project and it will transform that part of the city.

As well as the anchor 14-storey office building, the 550,000 square foot site will feature a new library, retail and hospitality space, an Apart hotel, apartments and more office space.

The main plaza will be the focal point of the project which will also include underground car parking with work expected to start on this basement parking structure soon.

Planning for the project was originally granted in 2020 with work expected to start on the 14-storey office building in the second half of next year. It is believed this will take two years to complete before being handed over to the OPW for Revenue and other public sector bodies to move into.

Limerick Twenty Thirty have also confirmed that they will be submitting an amended planning application for design changes to ensure the project meets the latest enhanced sustainability requirements, which were introduced since planning was secured for the wider Opera Square development.

Patrick O'Donovan, Minister of State for the Office of Public Works said the OPW were committed to finding a solution to this issue and that a number of options are being discussed with no official decision made as of yet.

The circumstances have changed, it is a very significant change. The onus now lies on Limerick Twenty Thirty and Revenue to work out a plan.

There is now only half the space required so that is something that has to be configured into the building.

Since the announcement that Revenue would not require as much office space as originally planned, calls had been made to turn the additional space into accommodation.

However, it is not expected that changes will be made to the initial plan for the building at this time.
AN HISTORIC Limerick building and protected structure that has suffered significant dereliction in the last 20 years has been listed as sale agreed.

The former St Marys Convent building, on Convent Street in Abbeyfeale, which covers 12, 713 square feet and is zoned as an education and community facility in the Local Area Plan was previously listed at an asking price of 95,000.

Mayor Francis Foley (FF) told a meeting of the Newcastle West Municipal District that the building is part of our history and heritage and that the people of the town have a strong affiliation with it.

The building, which was first constructed in 1878, is laid out over three floors, with the west side educational block containing two ground floor classrooms and three further classes on the first floor.

The east of the building contains a single-storey chapel, laid out in an L shape, which divides the nuns chapel operated by the Sisters of Mercy from the public chapel.

Externally, the main building sits on a regular shaped site, bounded by a school and partially bounded by a burial ground, with the latter portion not forming part of the property for sale.

Limerick councillors expressed their concern, lamenting that while the building would be cheap to sell it does not account for the millions that would need to be spent on refurbishment works.

It was one of the finest buildings in West Limerick of its generation but unfortunately, is not even safe enough to walk into these days due to parts falling down, Cllr Liam Galvin (FG) outlined.

He asked council management if the protection order could be removed from the external building, but not from the church inside, in the hope of reducing the cost.

He also asked that the council liaise with the current owners, the Limerick and Clare ETB, as to whether rumours that it could be demolished after being sold are true.

Cllr Galvin added that the building should be given back to the parish of Abbeyfeale for a new use.

Gordon Daly, Director of Community, Tourism and Culture with Limerick City and County Council stressed that the local authority currently has a derelict sites file open on the building.

The principal barrier isnt that it is a protected structure. Removing it wouldnt make it any cheaper. Nobody can invest and bring a building back into use, unless there is a purpose for it, he began.

He stated that he would not be in favour of its demolition and that he would take it up with the Limerick and Clare ETB as to what the status of its sale and future use would be when the sale is completed.
A COUNCILLOR has hit back at accusations that he unfairly targeted students after a video he made of cars parked on footpaths in an estate led to a number of hefty fines.

Following kickback on a two-minute video tweet highlighting illegal parking on footpaths in the area, Castletroy-based Cllr Sean Hartigan (GP) said "being a student isnt a valid defense."

He stressed that if students are old enough to drive a car, then they are also old enough to obey the law.

Eric Nelligan, Aontu representative for Castletroy, accused Cllr Hartigan of urging the gardai and council to punish students for parking on a footpath close to the University of Limerick.

The recent issuing of fines to dozens if not hundreds of UL students was a mean-spirited action that will serve to undermine confidence and rapport between students and local representatives, gardai and the council, Mr Nelligan told Limerick Live.

Mr Nelligan said that following the issuing of the 80 parking fines, several parents and students contacted him to express their disappointment at the situation.

One Donegal parent, John Hughes, told Limerick Live that his daughter, who lives in Oaklawns housing estate near UL, was issued a parking fine for parking outside her own house.

He stressed that his daughter, who lives in a house with four cars and only two parking spaces, needs to drive to college due to work on weekends and a lack of public transport infrastructure.

She pays for her own car and her own way through college. 80 is a non-trivial amount, he said.

Looking to set the record straight, Cllr Hartigan told Limerick Live that his two-minute video tweet on Oaklawns coincided with National Make Way Day, and that he wanted to highlight over 20 cars parked illegally on footpaths in Oaklawns.

He also wanted to clarify that the tweet, posted on October 6, was two weeks before parking enforcement officers issued the fines throughout the estate.

I have nothing against students. I have something against adults who can afford cars, that park with no regard for the elderly, children and those with disabilities, he said.

Cllr Hartigan also stated that most students who are in their 20s and are able-bodied and are capable of walking should consider parking in any of the nearby available legal parking spaces.

He also said that UL helped create the problem through multiple occupancy houses and a lack of available parking spaces. He has urged the university to address the issue on its 350-acre campus.

In response, UL said that it works closely with stakeholders in the community, including students living off-campus, residents associations, Limerick City and County Council and An Garda Siochana, to promote good relations between town and gown.

"UL has appointed a Student Community Engagement Liaison Officer (SCELO) who is engaging with students and residents about parking, particularly with consideration of safety concerns from the community for access of emergency services.

"There is ongoing discussions with residents and Limerick City and County Council to explore potential solutions," they said.

Referring to the students involved in the parking fine saga, Cllr Hartigan said: If you dont want to pay the fine, then dont do the crime.
MORE than 20 events are taking place over the coming days at Limericks ports as part of a major safety awareness drive.

The Shannon Foynes Port Company has joined with sister facilities across the country to host and promote the second annual Irish Port Safety Week.

Taking place from next Monday until Friday, the goal of the week is to highlight and enhance collective safety responsibility and awareness.

Shannon Foynes Port Company is hosting Five Days of Events for the Second Annual Irish Port Safety Week#IrishPortSafetyWeek



To view the national press release, please follow:https://t.co/fBErruDOEl pic.twitter.com/cwMvpG2uTV  Shannon Foynes Port (@ShannonFoynes) October 20, 2022

Events will take place in Foynes, the Ted Russell Docks in the city, as well as the Port Company's facility at Cappa in County Clare.

At 2pm on Monday a defibrillator awareness training event will take place hosted by O'Dwyer Safety Services, while at 3pm on Tuesday, Cappa will play host to a pyrotechnics exercise.

On Thursday, there will be an employee wellness lunchtime event in Foynes followed by an emergency response exercise which will simulate a 'man overboard' scenario.

Similar events will take place at the Ted Russell Docks in the city including an emergency response exercise on Friday which will see members of Limerick Fire and Rescue simulate the retrieval of casualties from a ship.

Commenting ahead of Port Safety Week, chair of the Irish Ports safety forum, JoAnn Salmon said: Its an opportunity to work collaboratively to improve safety and performance in the port sector, share experience and knowledge in order to drive continual improvement in eliminating accidents at work.
DOZENS of retained firefighters across Limerick are to be balloted for industrial action, Limerick Live can reveal.

The local authority has been informed by SIPTU, which represents retained firefighters, that its members are now in dispute with the council.

A letter, seen by this website, has been sent to Dr Pat Daly, CEO of Limerick City and County Council giving two weeks notice of the unions intention to ballot its members for industrial and strike action.

Any ballot will not take place until the end of next week at the earliest and there has been no indication as to when any action would take place.

Discussions between various parties, through the Fire Services National Oversight and Implementation group, have been ongoing at a national level for some time in an effort to address long-standing issues which have led to a recruitment and retention crisis in Limerick and across the country.

The key issues relate to the fixed incomes of retained firefighters and structured time off

We are now at a stage where despite having repeatedly sought to address this issue through the agreed channels, management have failed to table any meaningful proposals, despite making a commitment to do so, in order to address the recruitment and crisis affecting the Retained Fire Service, states the letter which was sent by a representative from SIPTUs Public, Administration and Community.

Limerick City and County Council has been contacted for comment.
A YOUNG Muslim woman has described how she "froze" when a boy pulled her hijab from her head while she was enjoying a coffee in Limerick city.

She says the incident which occurred by the river on Harveys Quay left her "shocked and frustrated."

The victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, was confronted by a group of six teenagers on October 2.

I was having my Starbucks, sitting alone on one of these wooden tables, and a bunch of boys came. They saw me sitting alone, and sat with me on the same table, she explained.

As she was feeling uncomfortable, she stood up to leave. Thats when, she says, one of the boys blocked her way with his leg.

I asked him to remove his leg and he said, 'why'? Then, they all got up and turned around me. To be honest, I was afraid they would snatch my phone or my bag, so I was holding on to my bag and my phone.

One of them came from behind me. I was wearing my scarf, my hijab, and on top of it my beanie. He pulled and snatched my beanie and my scarf, and in that moment, I didnt even fix my scarf to cover myself again, she explained.

I was just shocked. I was frozen, I didn't do anything. I stood up and yelled at them because I was so frustrated. I heard one of them saying, I think youre not supposed to do that.

After she told them she was going to call the gardai, the boys ran away. She reported the incident, but was told that because the individuals were underage, the gardai couldn't circulate the photos she managed to capture of her attackers.

This is not OK. You cannot do this, Muslim or not. You cannot touch anyone without their consent, no matter what they are, she stated.

Her friend, Rayene Larkeche, has seen similar incidents happen in the city. Rayene says she feels safer in Castletroy, where she is doing her PhD in Feminist and Trauma studies at the University of Limerick.

If I go to town, I always expect to be called out, or that teenagers would come after me. I remember I was once waiting at the bus station in town and someone was calling me a Muslim and stuff like that, she said.

The gardai noted any criminal offence perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, should be reported to them.

In Limerick, The Migrant Victim Support project, launched by Doras, aims to highlight the barriers that people face in the migrant community.

Jane Ridley, from The Migrant Victim Support, said: Often, migrants are not aware of their rights in Ireland, especially when it concerns being a victim of crime. They are often too afraid to report the crimes, and they go unnoticed. Our role is to help bridge that gap, overcome the barriers, and empower victims to report and know their rights.

Victims of crime are encouraged to reach out for support and can do so here.

We would accompany them to appointments if required. Similarly, when reporting to the police, we will assist them and ensure the complaints are taken seriously, added Ms. Ridley.

Recently, Councillor, Daniel Butler, took action after racist symbols were tagged onto a road sign.

He commented: I think we need to understand the significance of certain aspects of cultures, so we can understand why an act like this is so offensive and upsetting. It must be all our responsibilities to inform ourselves and challenge any racist activity we come across.
TO celebrate half a century of third-level education at the University of Limerick (UL), a special feature will be screened on RTE One television this Friday night.

To hear and learn about the history of the college, the Nationwide team visited the campus where they spoke to students about their college life.

The programme will also give an insight into what UL has to offer students including at the more than 70 clubs and societies.

Founded in 1972, the University of Limerick is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year with a series of events planned to mark the milestone.

Viewers of Nationwide will also learn of the development plans for ULs modern facility, which has been at the fore of education in the Mid-West for many years.

Nationwide airs on RTE One television and the RTE Player at 7pm this Friday.
AUTHORITIES have confirmed that a man has died after a medical emergency was declared on a flight diverted to Shannon Airport.

A spokesperson for the Shannon Airport Group has confirmed that a Turkish Airlines plane en route from Istanbul to Bogota, Colombia, diverted to Shannon Airport on Thursday afternoon, October 20, after the crew declared a medical emergency.

The aircraft landed safely at 1pm and was followed on the runway by the fire crew as it made its way to the terminal, where it was met by airport authorities and paramedics.

The Clare County Coroner was notified of the man's death shortly after landing , after which the man's body was taken to University Hospital Limerick by a local undertaker, where a post-mortem is due to take place.

A garda spokesperson confirmed to Limerick Live that "Shannon Gardai attended Shannon Airport in relation to the sudden death of a man that occurred on the 20th of October 2022."

Gardai are preparing a file for the Coroner following this incident, the spokesperson added.

The flight continued on its journey to Bogota, Colombia at approximately 3.35pm.
SHE ACHIEVED a lot in her time and was an absolute driving force, are the words of Conor OConnell spoken in warm tribute following the passing of Dr Mirette Hanley Corboy who spent decades dedicating her life to community work in Limerick.

Mr OConnell is the current chief executive of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) where Dr Hanley Corboy spent many years serving as the organisation's first female president.

A hard working woman, she was worked as managing director of Portland Estates, Limerick and was a former chairperson of Limerick Youth Service.

Dr Hanley Corboy was a member of UL's Governing Authority on two separate occasions (1981 - 1987 and 1997 - 2007) and upon hearing of her passing of the president of the University of Limerick Prof Kerstin Mey offered a warm tribute honouring the Limerick woman.

She was founding Chairperson of the Board of Plassey Campus Centre (PCC) and contributed to PCC over a 22-year period. She was also a Director of the University Concert Hall. Mirette is remembered as one of ULs most dedicated and engaged Governors who played a vital role in the development of our university. Our deepest sympathies go out to Mirettes children Nigel, Mirette and Melvyn, Prof Mey said.

During her time with the CIF, Mirette had a keen interest in community affairs and gave a lot of her time to work as chairperson of the board of Limerick Youth Service (LYS).

The LYS is involved in the training and caring for under-privileged, deprived and abused children.

Chairperson of the CIF Mid-West branch Michael Joyce offered condolences on behalf of his organisation.

I wish to express our deepest sympathies to the family of Dr Mirette Hanley Corboy. It is an honour to wear the same CIF Mid-West Branch Chairpersons chain as Mirette did with distinction for many years, Mr Joyce said.

Mirette served the CIF Mid-West branch tirelessly both locally and on the National Council becoming the first female president of the CIF in 1981. Mirettes company Portland Estates Limerick Limited built much of Limericks housing stock, and contributed to the establishment of the University of Limerick as she was on the Governing Body of the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick prior to it becoming a university, Mr Joyce added.

Dr Hanley Corboy's funeral Mass will take place at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Ennis Road, Limerick this Saturday at 11am with burial afterwards in Mount Saint Lawrence Cemetery Extension.
New Delhi: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and state-run REC Ltd on Friday signed an agreement for a loan worth 30,483 crore for nine upcoming metro lines.

In an event organized at Mumbai, REC Limited  A Maharatna CPSE under Ministry of Power, signed a loan agreement with Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for nine metro projects being developed in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR)," the company said in a release.

A major portion of the required funds, to the tune of 14,434 crore, is being extended by REC for electro mechanical works, the company said. Apart from this, REC has also in-principally agreed to loan 16,049 crore towards Non-EM works.

The signing was done in the presence of Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis after the MMRDAs board meeting.

The Maharashtra government has declared the projects as public vital infrastructure projects. The project will have many positive impacts like reduction in traffic congestion, saving in travel time, reduction in air and noise pollution and lesser consumption of fuel.

These will be catalyzing factors in the overall reduction of the carbon footprint of the Mumbai metropolitan.

The total route length of the nine lines funded by REC is 154 km. REC is committed to cater to the infrastructure and energy transition needs of the nation through its funding solutions and is poised to diversify its portfolio of financing", the company said in a statement.

REC in May had approved a loan of 30,483 crore for electrical and technical and related works. Today, the loan agreement was signed.

The Navratna company under the ministry of power, provides financial assistance to the power sector in all segments--generation, transmission and distribution.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres launched the Mission LiFE programme on Thursday
Diwali will be a public school holiday in New York City starting 2023, with Mayor Eric Adams saying this sends a message about the significance of the citys inclusiveness and this long overdue" step will encourage children to learn about the festival of lights.

Adams, joined by New York Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar, who had introduced the legislation to recognize Diwali and New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks, CNN reported.

He said that by declaring Diwali a holiday in New York City public schools, we wanted to send a loud and clear message to the countless number of people who acknowledge this period of time of celebration.

At the same time, this is an educational moment because when we acknowledge Diwali, we are going to encourage children to learn about Diwali. We're going to have them start talking about what it is to celebrate the festival of lights, and how to turn the light on within yourself," he said.

Legislators swapped out Anniversary Day, better known to old-timers as "Brooklyn-Queens Day," which is celebrated on the first Thursday in June, for Diwali in the public school calendar.

Anniversary Day has reportedly been on the books since 1829, with schools observing the holiday since the mid-1900s, New York Post reported.

Jenifer Rajkumar, the first South Asian-American woman ever to be elected to a state office in New York, said, "The time has come to recognize over 200,000 New Yorkers of the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain faiths who celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights."

She called Anniversary Day "an obscure and antiquated day," as compared to Diwali, which is celebrated by a "growing number of New Yorkers," reported CNN.

"People have said that there's simply not enough room in the New York City school calendar to have a Diwali school holiday," the assembly woman said. "Well, my legislation makes the room."

Rajkumar further added that the new school schedule will still have 180 days, as is required by the state's education laws.

During the conference, Adams called the decision a "long overdue" acknowledgment of Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist communities, according to CNN.

"We are going to encourage children to learn about what is Diwali," Adams said. "We're going to have them start talking about what it is to celebrate the Festival of Lights, and how do you turn a light on within yourself," he added.

"When we take this period to acknowledge Diwali, we're acknowledging the light that is within us, the light that clearly can push away darkness," the mayor said.

(With inputs from agencies)
Britain's third female Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has laid the foundation for the much talked about India-UK free trade agreement (FTA), will walk out of 10 Downing Street in London without cherishing it as a prize under her belt. Truss has always been extremely vocal about her support for India and while the FTA was still taking a shape, she had commented that the two countries are in a sweet spot of the trade dynamics that are building up". The question now rises, what will happen to the India-UK trade deal after she leaves office?

What is the India-UK trade deal?

An FTA deal reduces or eliminates import-export tariffs between two countries. If the deal works between India and the UK, it would significantly reduce customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them and also ease norms for promoting investments and services trade.

Truss had started working on the deal as international trade secretary and had already laid the groundwork for it back in January 2022.

We are looking at a comprehensive trade agreement that covers everything, from financial services to legal services to digital and data, as well as goods and agriculture. We think there is a strong possibility for us to get an early agreement, where we lower tariffs on both sides and start to see more goods flowing between our two countries," she had said soon after signing the ETP.

Both Truss and India Foreign Ministry hoped to crack a deal before Diwali.

How did the deal hit a roadblock?

The deal witnessed a setback when then UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman in an interview talked about "reservations" over the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India and linked it to illegal immigration.

The comments created tensions between the two countries. Following this, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) pointed out India and UK are interested to conclude the FTA at the earliest as intensive discussions are underway keeping in view that it proves to be a win-win situation for both sides. "Going forward, this will require mutual implementation of these understandings," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said.

What will happen to the bill after Truss is gone?

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal assured that free trade agreements with the UK are well on track and India will wait for the change in leadership before formulating a strategy vis a vis the UK.

"We will have to wait and see whether they have a quick change of leadership. Let's see who comes into the government and what their views are. It's only after that we'll be able to formulate a strategy vis a vis the UK," said Minister Goyal on the free trade deal with the UK after UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned.

However, the deal is unlikely to be signed before 2023.
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Over the past six weeks, Longford Viking Guide, Rachel Rafferty and her mother and past Girl Guide Melanie have been trawling through the Longford Leader archive microfiche, with the help of County Archivist Martin Morris, in search of Guiding history.

Rachel is not just a second, but third-generation Girl Guide, as her Granny, Fran Rhatigan established a further Brownie unit, when the existing ones were full, such was the demand for places.

Many current members are second and third generation  indeed looking through the photos in researching this article one would double-take a picture as to whether it was an old picture or current Guide, family resemblances are so clear.

Guiding in Longford started, appropriately, with 12 year old Helen Vaughan approaching Urban Councillor, Philo Kelly with a request to form a branch of Irish Girl Guides in Longford.

Helen highlighted to Philo the lack of recreational facilities for girls in the town as compared with those for boys and her enthusiasm was infectious. Philo Kelly began to research the possibility of bringing Guiding to Longford.

Taking this suggestion to a Longford Urban Council meeting, she emphasised the value of such organisations in training the youth.

A meeting in the Annaly Hotel in November 1971 saw over 100 young girls attend with many more indicating an interest in joining. Miss Kelly and Mrs Cahill of Lanesboro attended a training the following weekend in the Guide Cottage, Enniskerry. An advert in the Longford Leader, 3 December 1971 invited ladies interested in training Girl Guides to please attend at Courthouse, on Wednesday, December 8 at 7pm for a short meeting.

Intensive training followed and on February 26, 1971, only nine months after Helens initial approach to Miss Kelly, the first Irish Girl Guide Leaders in Longford were enrolled. The founding members were all well-known ladies in Longford and Lanesboro; Miss Philo Kelly, Mrs Florrie Vaughan, Miss Angela Davis, Mrs Ann Cumiskey, Dr Marie Fitzpatrick, Mrs Jean Farrell, Mrs Olive Cahill, Miss Ann Farrell, Mrs Winifred Kerr, Mrs Sieglinde Moller and Mrs Judy Pearse.

The adventures that these intrepid Leaders took the girls on certainly gave them the girls best experiences and they were a very well-travelled group. One of the first trips away was to Lissadell House, Co. Sligo: The setting for the Girl Guides Camp at Lissadell was delightful, right beside the sea, we had the whole beach to ourselves with swimming always under the supervision of a qualified Life Saver from Sligo.

On our visit to Lissadell House, Miss Gore-Booth showed us the home of her illustrious aunts, Eva Gore-Booth and her sister Countess Markievicz, telling us anecdotes of the many famous personalities, including WB Yeats, who frequently visited. (Longford Leader Guide Notes September 8, 1972).

Locally though, Guides were able to avail of many amenities no longer accessible. There were regular camping excursions to Carriglass Manor courtesy of Miss Lefroy. Having been a Guide herself Miss Lefroy knew that Guiding is essentially an outdoor movement and did her best to provide access for an appreciation of their environment. Guides would hike out and set up camp, practicing their cookouts, campcraft and pioneering skills, making friendships that would last a lifetime. Longford Guides cookout skills were such that many regional cookout competition trophies have Longford inscribed on them. The community support for the Guides and their activities were reflected in the life skills made available to them, including weekly swimming and lifesaving lessons in the old pool with Mr and Mrs Shiels.

Well established and supported so very quickly, the Leaders werent stopping at just the local and national events. International travel was the goal and following huge fundraising efforts by girls and Leaders they headed off to Our Chalet, Adelboden, Switzerland a World Guide Centre and destination for many international trips thereafter, with North Longford units visiting as recently as this year. So many Co Longford Guides have had their photo taken on the steps of the Chalet in the Swiss Alps.

Caption: Our Chalet, Switzerland

St Patricks Day in Longford is another annual event that saw many winning entries by Longford Girl Guides, colourful floats and marching girls, abiding memories of freezing in uniforms and layering up to brave the elements. Other memories include the Variety Shows  girls given the opportunity to perform on the Temperance Hall stage, weekends in Portlick, Mote Park, Petersburg.

Looking through the past articles and notes the fundamental programme of activities remains constant, with this description from another 1970s Longford Leader article: The Girl Guides movement provides an opportunity for a fantastic variety of extremely interesting activities for its members. These range from mountain climbing to learning how to install an electric plug. The best-known activities are camping and hiking, but others include cooking, first aid, international knowledge, nature study, lifesaving, music, needlework, photography and reading.

The aims of the Guides are to develop fully in accordance with spiritual and more values the character and ability of each one to foster a love of our country and its traditions and arts and to train in citizenship and homecrafts; to show the way to leadership and responsibility to find opportunities for service to others; to apply our campcraft and skills in practical ways to encourage friendship and goodwill among girls of all nations.

There are so many familiar names and experiences, we hope to collate this information and more for future generations of Guides to have access to.

Caption: Thinking Day 2018 - Longford Viking Guides, North Longford and Ardagh.

It is a proud reflection of Longford women that these values still hold strong, and volunteers are still giving of their time to ensure the Guiding tradition remains strong in Co. Longford, with Districts currently in Ardagh, Longford and North Longford why not get involved? Contact a unit near you  youre never too old to take up a Guiding Challenge.

* Longford District Girl Guides are celebrating this 50th Anniversary with the support of Longford County Council and Longford Live and Local with a Variety Show on October 23 in the Longford Temperance Hall. Longford Guides would like to invite all past Leaders to join them in this celebration and recognise their contribution to the girls and women of Longford, free tickets are available on Eventbrite.

To find out more about Longford Ladybirds, Brownies, Guides and Sr Branch email: LongfordGirlGuides@gmail.com or find us on Facebook @LongfordGirlGuides.
Governor Kathy Hochul has announced that the $80.1 million resurfacing project on the Long Island Expressway from the Nassau-Suffolk border to State Route 112 in Suffolk County is now complete. In April, the New York State Department of Transportation began work on this critical project, which was completed this morning, Thursday, October 20 - six months after initial work began and one month ahead of schedule. The Governor also announced that the major pavement renewal project on the Southern State Parkway in Nassau and Suffolk Counties is being completed this week. This year, more than 442 lane miles of state roads across Long Island have been repaved with new asphalt - totaling $121.6 million.

"Smoother roads are ahead with the ahead of schedule completion of this transformative repaving project for Long Islanders," Governor Hochul said. "We are putting historic infrastructure investments to work to repair our roads, pave our potholes, and deliver the quality, reliable infrastructure New Yorkers deserve."

In her inaugural State of the State Address this year, Governor Hochul made investing in New York's infrastructure and fighting the scourge of potholes across the state one of her highest priorities, allocating $1 billion over five years. Under a new program called Pave Our Potholes, $500 million was allocated for local roads and $500 million for state highways. The program, which was officially launched with the passage of the State Budget in April, has already allocated $111 million to pave more than 793 lane miles of state and local roads this fiscal year, with more requests for reimbursement still to come for work completed by localities across New York. This is in addition to other State programs, such as CHIPS, PAVE NY, State Touring Routes, and other programmed capital projects across the state.

Statewide from August 2021 through the end of 2022, more than 3,700 lane miles of roads have been or are expected to be resurfaced.

New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said, "In her years serving as both Lieutenant Governor and Governor, Kathy Hochul has driven thousands of miles of highways across the state, and she knows where every pothole is hiding. She also knows the value of investing in New York's critical infrastructure. Our state and contractor forces worked hard this year to fill as many potholes as they could through hundreds of resurfacing projects, including this large project on the Long Island Expressway that was completed early and under budget. While we have a lot to be proud of, we always have more work to do. With unwavering support from Governor Hochul, we'll be out there in force  maintaining our roads, completing our capital projects, and getting the infrastructure ready for New York's harsh winter months."

Long Island Expressway

Paving crews began in the eastbound direction of the Long Island Expressway on Tuesday, April 19 at the Nassau and Suffolk County line near Exit 48 and proceeded to mill away the old pavement and place new asphalt along the Long Island Expressway's three main travel lanes, the High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane, shoulders, and 62 on/off ramps. Work then began in the westbound lanes from State Route 112 at Exit 64 towards the Nassau County border, which was just completed on October 20, completing over 286 lane miles total. The new, smoother asphalt riding surface, which is expected to last at least ten years, also includes new highly reflective pavement markings and rumble strips on the shoulders.

Southern State Parkway

Governor Hochul also announced that Friday, October 21 will mark the completion of the third Southern State Parkway resurfacing project in the last two years, totaling over 121 lane miles. The two latest sections of the Southern State Parkway completed this yearGrand Avenue/Baldwin Road (Exit 20) to State Route 110 (Exit 32) in Nassau County and State Route 231 (Exit 39) and the Sagtikos State Parkway (Exit 41A) in Suffolk County  will provide South Shore motorists with a smoother ride for commuting and leisurely traveling across Long Island.

Other major projects across Long Island

In August, Governor Hochul announced that six of ten locations slated for resurfacing this spring had been renewed, many ahead of schedule. Since then, two other projects have finished, including a resurfacing project on State Route 111 between the Long Island Expressway and Suffolk Avenue in the Town of Islip, as well as shoulder rehabilitation work on the Meadowbrook State Parkway between Merrick Road and Ocean Parkway in the Town of Hempstead.

Two pavement projects totaling $26.4 million, which began this spring, are proceeding and set for completion in 2023. The first includes full depth concrete repairs on 55 Southern State Parkway entrance and exit ramps in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties while the second includes pavement resurfacing with sidewalk ramp safety enhancements on State Route 109 between the Nassau/Suffolk border and State Route 27A in the Town of Babylon.

Additionally, a $7.3 million concrete restoration and repair project is underway between State Route 112 and Yaphank Avenue/Suffolk County Route 21 (Exits 64 to 67) in the Town of Brookhaven. Scheduled for completion in the spring of 2024, the concrete riding surface will be renewed with diamond grinding the pavement to remove imperfections and replacing deteriorated sections of concrete where necessary.

And earlier this year, Governor Hochul announced the most transformative project on the Long Island Expressway in recent memory with the reconstruction of Exit 53 to add access ramps to Crooked Hill Road (Suffolk County Route 13), improving mobility for motorists while bolstering the local economy.

Assemblymember Taylor Darling said, "Driving over potholes and damaged roads are a costly, inconvenient experience everywhere but especially here on Long Island, where so many of us depend on our vehicles to go to provide for and take care of our families. For so many of my constituents, repairing tires and cars as a result of hitting a pothole can mean they will not have enough money to pay their mortgage, rent or even feed their families. I shared this massive concern with Governor Hochul several months ago  ironically while I was at a Firestone purchasing a new tire because I hit a pothole  and she already had the plan in motion to spend 1 billion dollars in a historic road replacement and repair initiative. Currently, over 400 lane miles of the LIE and Southern State have been replaced and repaired, and LONG ISLAND IS SO GRATEFUL. My constituents comment on the vast improvement in their driving experiences and the money in their pockets because they are not bombarded with the unforeseen costs that are associated with hitting a pothole. Thank you to our incredible men and women at the Department of Transportation who work so hard every day to ensure we have safe and reliable roads. Thank you Governor Hochul for your commitment and urgency to resolving our massive pothole issue."

Assemblymember Steve Stern said, "Completion of the Long Island Expressway Pavement Renewal Project is welcome news to all of us. Infrastructure investments and road repairs are critically important to both our local economy, the safety of our motorists and our quality of life. As Long Islanders know all too well, potholes are a dangerous and costly part of our daily commutes. I applaud Governor Hochul on the completion of this important project, on-time and under budget, which will go a long way toward preventing damages to our vehicles and easing the stress of our commutes on Long Island."

Motorists are urged to plan accordingly and drive responsibly in work zones. Fines are doubled for speeding in a work zone. Convictions of two or more speeding violations in a work zone could result in the suspension of an individual's driver license.

For up-to-date travel information, call 511, visit www.511NY.org or download the free 511NY mobile app.

Follow NYSDOT on Twitter at @NYSDOT and @NYSDOTLI. Find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/NYSDOT.
Governor Kathy Hochul and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone have announced the successful land transfer between New York State and Suffolk County to bring a National Offshore Wind Training Center to New York. The Governor also launched a $9 million competitive opportunity through the State's Offshore Wind Training Institute , led by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority in collaboration with the State University of New York Farmingdale State College and Stony Brook University, for expanded offshore wind workforce development and training initiatives to address workforce gaps and prepare New Yorkers for high-growth jobs in this growing industry. Today's announcements represent continued progress to establish New York State as the nation's primary hub for offshore wind and supports the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goal to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035.

"New York is leading the charge for the clean energy revolution," Governor Hochul said. "We are partnering with innovative, industry leading companies and spearheading billions in public and private investments to spur economic development and good-paying jobs for New Yorkers. The national Offshore Wind Training Center will enhance our efforts to prepare our workforce for the green jobs of the future, support the physical infrastructure needed for these clean energy projects, and solidify New York's role as a global leader in this powerhouse industry."

Suffolk County purchased the state-owned parcel located in Brentwood for $1.46 million for the creation of a community-centered space that expands access to family-sustaining job opportunities and educational advancement, particularly for high school and college-age New Yorkers entering the workforce. The site, which includes a 22-year license agreement with the County, will host a newly established National Offshore Wind Training Center (NOWTC) that will be funded by a $10 million investment by Sunrise Wind (a joint venture of rsted A/S and Eversource Energy), in partnership with the Long Island Federation of Labor-AFLCIO, the Nassau and Suffolk Building and Construction Trades, Suffolk County Community College, International Brotherhood of Electric Workers, the Utility Workers Union of America, BlueGreen Alliance and Minority Millennials. The NOWTC is expected to train and certify hundreds, if not thousands, of workers under Global Wind Organization (GWO) training standards for offshore wind. In addition, NOWTC will offer curriculum and support services for entryways into pre-apprenticeship training for the construction industry as well as manufacturing certifications that will benefit regional employment.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said, "Ensuring that every individual in every community in our region has the same opportunity for success is key to growing our economy. This community-centered hub is a place for education, government, industry and the community to come together to open doors to opportunity. The partnership with the National Offshore Wind Training Center will allow our residents to be at the center of the emerging offshore wind industry. I want to thank Governor Hochul for her commitment to workforce development and helping to usher in a new era of economic growth in our county."

To maximize benefits to New York's workforce, the NOWTC will collaborate closely with the State's Offshore Wind Training Institute (OWTI) to establish comprehensive and cross-cutting offshore wind and clean energy training and workforce development initiatives. The $20 million OWTI is advancing offshore wind training programs and the educational infrastructure needed to establish a skilled workforce that can support the emerging national offshore wind industry. In cultivating a statewide umbrella of industry, academic, trade and community partnerships, the OWTI will train 2,500 New York workers beginning this year through 2027 to support both offshore and onshore renewable energy projects.

Today, NYSERDA released the OWTI's second solicitation seeking proposals for new workforce development and training initiatives from technical/vocational high schools, community colleges, universities, unions, training and job placement intermediaries, community-based organizations and non-profit organizations. Grant funding will be provided for training initiatives and programs that focus on new or existing workers with preference given to projects that serve priority populations and individuals from underserved communities. NYSERDA will also prioritize projects that offer direct entry into the offshore wind workforce through partnerships with offshore wind original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), distributors, vendors, suppliers, developers, labor unions, and trade associations. Selected training institutions will begin training workers shortly after the awards which are expected starting in early 2023.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO and Climate Action Council Co-Chair Doreen M. Harris said, "Under Governor Hochul's leadership, New York continues to cement its path to nine gigawatts of offshore wind while ensuring we establish a diverse, well-trained, locally based talent pool who through family-sustaining careers will develop, manufacture, construct, and operate our clean energy economy. NYSERDA looks forward to the many partnerships that will be created as result of this opportunity to prepare and train New Yorkers to work on the state's nation-leading portfolio of offshore wind projects and beyond."

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner and Climate Action Council Co-Chair Basil Seggos said, "New York has established itself as a leader in offshore wind, and this training center will help to ensure that these good-paying jobs of the future will be available for all New Yorkers. With climate a priority of Governor Hochul's administration, our state is once again advancing efforts to support 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035 and achieve our ambitious Climate Act targets of 85 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and 100 percent zero-emission electricity by 2040 to protect our environment and combat climate change."

Public Service Chairman Rory M. Christian said, "The offshore wind projects being built are vital to meet the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act's nation-leading carbon reduction and clean-energy targets to combat climate change. I applaud Governor Hochul's leadership to ensure development of a workforce training program on Long Island. These offshore wind projects benefit all New Yorkers by reducing reliance on fossil fuels, boosting clean-energy investment, creating clean-energy jobs, and improving our environment."

rsted Offshore North America CEO David Hardy said, "rsted is committed to establishing a new U.S. workforce to build our projects, and that means making major investments in worker training and collaborating with local labor unions, workforce development organizations, and community partners. From the outset, the goal for the NOWTC has been to partner with industry, labor and academia to create a center of gravity for the emerging offshore wind industry in Suffolk County. The NOWTC leadership team is ideally suited to understand the requirements of the offshore wind sector industry and to design programming that supports the needs of both area workers and this growing industry. We thank Governor Hochul for her continued leadership to ensure New Yorkers have the skills they need to help us build these critical clean energy projects."

Eversource Energy Chief Executive Officer and President Joe Nolan said, "We are proud to support the creation of a National Offshore Wind Training Center that will provide crucial training and opportunity pathways for New Yorkers looking to enter this exciting industry. Thanks to Governor Hochul's leadership, New York is fostering the development of a new offshore wind workforce, and the NOWTC in Brentwood presents an ideal opportunity to foster strong community connections that provide awareness and access to the job opportunities in the emerging offshore wind industry."

The OWTI solicitation includes a two-step application process consisting of a required concept paper followed by an invite-only full proposal. Concept papers will be accepted on a rolling basis starting October 20, 2022 through March 23, 2023 and will be evaluated within four to six weeks of receipt. Upon favorable review, select applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal with the following due dates:
Man Arrested for Selling Fireworks in Hicksville Store

Local News, Crime

By Long Island Published: October 21 2022

An investigation at Maharaja Farmers Market located at 265 South Broadway. Detectives discovered several open bins of fireworks for sale at this location.

The Arson & Bomb Squad reports the arrest of a New Hyde Park man that occurred on Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 1:10 pm in Hicksville.

According to detectives, Senthil Lakshamanan of 1005 North 1st Street, was placed under arrest during an investigation at Maharaja Farmers Market located at 265 South Broadway. Detectives discovered several open bins of fireworks for sale at this location.

All fireworks were removed by the Arson & Bomb Squad and safely secured.

Defendant Senthil Lakshamanan is charged with Unlawful Selling of Fireworks, Unlawful Storage of Explosives and two (2) counts of Explosives-without Licenses and Certificates.
18th October 2022

Runtime 18:21





We were delighted to welcome John Wood, CEO at Harland & Wolff (HARL) to take questions on London South East.

As John said to us: "We are 2 and half years in and we've secured our first cruise vessel order, we've got the Queen Victoria in, we've shipbuilding starting in Belfast with the 20 barges which we are building there, we've got our first defence contract down in Appledore, so you know what, it's not too bad a place to be in. The fact we can still win multiple contracts with the economic times we have, we are actually quite buoyant to be fair."

The Harland & Wolff Group operate across 5 deliberately wide markets and have begun winning contracts in all these target markets. These are:

1. Oil & Gas

2. Cruise & Ferries

3. Renewables

4. Commercial/Maritime

5. Defence

Defence contracts take a very long time to win. The Fleet Solid Support contract is worth more than 1.6bn and has been in procurement for more than two years now. "We've got two positions in that contract, one with Navantia called 'Team Resolute' the other with Team UK. It's been all over the media that these are the two preferred bidders and whatever happens we will win a significant amount of work. There are two steps to this announcement, a preferred bidder announcement is due shortly, then the contract award which we expect to be next year. We have 52% of the manufacturing capability in the UK across our four yards and there really isn't enough trained labour in the UK, so using a blended UK/Spanish base gives us an edge over other UK shipyards we believe" said John.
PetroNeft Resources PLC - Ireland-based, Russian-focused oil and gas exploration and production company - Announces that Alastair McBain has resigned as non-executive chair of the board with immediate effect. Pavel Tetyakov, who has been an executive director and senior vice president of new business, will assume the role of chief executive officer. David Sturt, formerly chief executive officer, will assume the role of executive chair with immediate effect.

McBain was appointed to the PetroNeft board initially as non-executive director on January 31, 2021 and then assumed the role of chair on February 21, 2021.

Chair David Sturt says: "I want to thank Alastair for his leadership, vision & guidance, which was greatly appreciated. I wish him well in his future endeavours. I, together with the other members of the board, look forward to working with Pavel in leading the management of the Company through these most difficult times."

Current stock price: 0.83 pence, up 10% on Friday

12-month change: down 78%

By Holly Beveridge; hollybeveridge@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - Ireland's finance minister has said it is in Ireland's interest that the UK economy is stable in the wake of the departure of Liz Truss as prime minister.

Paschal Donohoe said he hopes the Irish government can build on the friendship that exists between the two countries, with whomever is the next prime minister.

In recent days and weeks, Irish ministers had emphasised how Ireland is closely linked to the UK economy and the need for stability ahead of what is expected to be a difficult winter.

"The matter of who leads the Conservative party or who is the next prime minister is clearly a matter for those who are voting in it. I'll leave that to them," Donohoe told Irish broadcaster RTE Radio 1's Morning Ireland programme.

"The events of the last few days emphasise to me two things about government and politics: consequence and cost."

He said it proves that it does matter who is making decisions and the decisions that are made have an effect on a country and on an economy.

"It really matters to Ireland that the UK is doing well, that they are stable, and their economy is growing," he said.

"And we hope there's a prime minister in place, and we expect there will be, that we can resume close cooperation and build on the friendship that's there between our two countries."

Irish premier Micheal Martin on Thursday called for a new British prime minister be selected quickly in order to bring about stability following Truss's resignation.

The Taoiseach told reporters in Brussels that "we would like to see the UK system, within its capacity, to be in a position to have a successor selected as quickly as possible".

Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney expressed frustration on Thursday evening at "being back to instability again", referring to tensions around the Northern Ireland Protocol and its impact on Northern Ireland.

Truss's resignation has raised concerns about the progress that had been made on reaching a breakthrough on the protocol, and on closer relations between the British and Irish governments.

source: PA

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Come and hear David Minchin, CEO at Helium One and Aldo Boitano, CEO at CleanTech Lithium present and take live Q&A on Tuesday 6th December. Two more guest speakers to be announced shortly. Please register here.
The British Ambassador to Spain, Hugh Elliott, on Friday not only provided an update on the UK driving licence situation in Spain - British residents can still not drive on a UK licence - but also issued a warning about certain scams which are taking place.

We know there are lots of questions and concerns about the ongoing negotiations on driving licence exchange and we have been made aware of some attempts to scam UK licence holders, with fraudulent offers of attaining a Spanish licence in exchange for cash.

Please be alert to these scams and report any suspicious, unsolicited offers to the local authorities, the embassy stated.

The Ambassador said that following a meeting this week with a group of British residents pushing for a swift solution, he is now more aware than ever of the harrowing problems the stalemate in negotiations is causing and the effect it is having on peoples physical and mental health.

He reiterated that the driving licence issue is very much top of his agenda and that he will again ask for interim measures should negotiations carry on longer than expected. But he admitted that any such steps have to be agreed to and taken by the Spanish and so far they have denied such requests.

We are making progress and I am determined to reach a swift and satisfactory solution. There are two outstanding matters which we need to agree on. With regard to long waiting lists in some areas for a Spanish driving test, unfortunately this is a Spanish matter which the UK government has no influence on. But we are fully committed to resolving the matter as quickly as possible, he stressed.
Spanish authorities moved a luxury yacht linked to the sanctioned head of Russian defence group Rostec after the shipyard where it was berthed stopped receiving payments for its repairs, a transport ministry source said.

The multi-million-dollar Valerie was transferred to a marina last month, the source and other officials said, highlighting the logistical challenges authorities have faced managing vessels being held across Europe because of sanctions imposed over Russia's military actions in Ukraine.

Spain ordered the ship "frozen" - meaning the vessel cannot be used or sold - in March, saying it was acting on European Union sanctions.

The yacht is tied to Sergei Chemezov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a police source and another source with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.

Chemezov, contacted twice through Rostec this month, did not respond to requests for comment. Payments for the ship's repairs at Barcelona's MB92 shipyard stopped soon after the freezing order, the transport ministry source said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

MB92 asked authorities to relocate the ship so its berth could be used, the source added. The Valerie is now moored in the nearby Marina Vela marina and its name has been changed to the Meridian A, Reuters documentation checks and pictures of the vessel show.

MB92 declined to give details about why the ship had been moved or to comment on its payments. Marina Vela did not respond to a request for comment. James Jaffa, a lawyer for British firm Jaffa & Co which specialises in yachts, said the owners of frozen boats "face a difficult question" when it comes to maintenance costs. "Do they pay for the upkeep of a boat which they have no control over, certainly no enjoyment, or just leave it and see what happens?," he said.

"I think most oligarchs would happily say 'Well I can't use, I am not paying for it, let's release it'," Jaffa added.

The yacht was moved on Sept. 20 by maritime authority officials and escorted by Spain's civil guard police, a spokesperson for that force said.

Chemezov has been under EU and U.S. sanctions since 2014 over Russia's annexation of Crimea. He was also named in sanctions imposed by Australia in March over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The 85-metre (279-foot) long yacht, that Spain has said it is worth $140 million, is formally owned by Chemezov's stepdaughter, Anastasia Ignatova, according to the European Union's sanctions list to which she was added in April.

Its immobilisation was unsuccessfully challenged in Spanish courts in March by Sulberg Services Limited, a company registered as the yacht's owner in the Equasis shipping database. Sulberg argued that Spanish authorities could not prove who owned the yacht and could therefore not freeze it.

A Madrid court rejected the claim in April. Ignatova, contacted through a Moscow university where she has lectured, did not respond to a request for comment.

A lawyer for Sulberg declined to comment. In Spain, where six vessels have been frozen following sanctions imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, the running costs of a frozen yacht remain the owner's responsibility.

Reuters revealed this week that other sanctioned Russians are paying for the upkeep of yachts frozen in France and Spain using a little-known European law adopted as domestic legislation that allows such payments.

It was not immediately clear who, if anyone, was paying for the vessel's upkeep in the new marina, or why it was renamed. The name Meridian A is now written on labels on its stern while the metal tags with its prior Valerie name are gone. The yacht first displayed its new name on Sept. 19, a day before it was relocated, according to analytics provider MarineTraffic. The yacht's crew declined to comment. Its UK-based manager did not respond to requests for comment.
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As Kanye West's spectacular decline continues, his allies seem to be dropping like flies. After a series of typically outspoken comments made by the rapper, Balenciaga has decided to cut all ties with him. His recent appearance on the Drink Champs podcast, after which he was accused of antisemitic and racists comments, has proved to be the final straw for the fashion label.

Kering, Balenciaga's parent company, recently published a statement communicating their decision: "Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist."

As a result, Kanye's fashion show has been cancelled at this coming spring's Paris Fashion Week and the section dedicated to his Yeezy Balenciaga collection has been removed from their website.

West's collaboration with the fashion giants dates back to almost 10 years ago, when in 2014 Yeezy Season 1 was launched.

That collaboration continued into the latest edition of Paris Fashion Week, when it was seriously put to the test after the rapper made a controversial cameo appearance as a model sporting a "white lives matter" shirt.

Kanye West's self-inflicted sabotage means his deal with Adidas is also now under review. With his bizarre and quite frankly concerning outbursts, 'Ye' is continues to significantly jeopardize his business ventures.
MATSAPHA  There is a high export demand for the production of high value crops (baby vegetables) and farmers should take advantage of the opportunity.

The National Agricultural Marketing Board (NamBoard) yesterday hosted the second horticulture innovation platform aimed at linking farmers with markets both internal and external. NamBoard said farmers should substitute imports with local production by focusing on priority commodities like cabbage, spinach and lettuce. Others include potatoes, onion and carrot. NamBoard Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bhekizwe Maziya said one of the challenges facing Smallholder Horticulture farmers was the inability to access both local and export markets. He said on the other hand, markets had a huge unsatisfied demand for sustainable supply of produce by local farmers and it was impossible for one farmer to sustainably satisfy this market gap.

It requires a well-coordinated collaborative effort by a number of committed farmers. Alternatively, if farmers are not able to aggregate among themselves to bridge this gap, it then presents another business opportunity for traders to aggregate the farmers produce to supply the markets.

It has always disheartened farmers to sell a cabbage head to NAMBoard at E8.00 and find their cabbage at the supermarkets selling for E15.00, he said.

Observations

The CEO added that it had been one of their observations that most of their farmers were producing on very small scales of less than 1ha. He said such small-scale farming deprives farmers of the benefits of economies of scale. As a result, their profit margins remain very low and any negative price adjustment renders their productivity non-profitable. The Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development (ESWADE) CEO Sam Sithole added that ESWADE, through the Smallholder Market-led Project (SMLP), was very particular and supportive of farmers markets. He said farmers markets were an important and valuable resource for their work.

I am quite encouraged by the saying which goes, The war on drugs brought in more drugs, and the war on terrorists created more terrorists, so maybe now it is time for a war on farmers markets, and who knows this could be our breakthrough to create more vegetables and fruits markets for our farmers, he said.Sithole also mentioned that with particular notice, deliberations were inclined to access to better prices for horticultural produce to balance the hikes in production costs. It goes without saying that the outcry was taken very seriously by some of the market players such that positive price improvements were realised and the Horticulture Input subsidy was conceived, added the CEO. He said in an effort to incentivise farmers to upscale production, they were quite encouraged when they learnt that NAMBoard increased the minimum farmer off-take prices just some two weeks post the last innovation platform.

Mentioned



The Minister of Agriculture, Jabulani Mabuza, mentioned that access to lucrative and reliable markets was one of the key factors that contribute to the success of smallholder farmers, especially those in remote rural areas. This meeting links very well with the governments mandate to achieve and maintain an efficient and sustainable agricultural sector that will ensure national and household food security, he said.Mabuza mentioned that market access was also very important to the strengthening of food and nutrition security because it boosted productivity and increased income which in turn contributed to the reduction of poverty and hunger.

He said the ministry supports and appreciates all initiatives that contribute towards improving the livelihoods of emaswati, in particular farmers.

The Ministry of Agriculture, in its 2018- 2023 Strategy plan, pledged to transform agriculture into a modernised, sustainable and export-oriented sector that contributes to improved food security and overall economic development (among other objectives). With agriculture as the mainstay of Eswatini economy, as well as the importance of the sector in addressing food security of the country, we cannot afford to rest while this critical sector suffers. As we deliberate today, I urge you to come up with new strategies.

We need to keep farming as a viable enterprise, therefore, let us all put on our thinking hats and devise new innovations that can be used to link local small-scale farmers with domestic and export markets, he added. Mabuza also mentioned that government adopted an economic recovery strategy whose pillars included strong private sector participation and promotion of export trade.
Condemning a certain act is good, its great actually because it shows that you are not aligned to whatever is being done. And that is exactly what our Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini did on Wednesday afternoon when reacting to the shooting of the two police officers in Manzini. The on-duty law enforcers were gunned down in broad day light, right in the hub of the country. I guess that is the scary part. I fathom to think of the last minutes of their lives.

According to an eyewitness account, the assassins approached the cops, led them towards their car and made them to lie down, with a gun aimed at them. They probably did a silent prayer and in a split second, the trigger was pulled and a bullet discharged, which hit one of the officers presumably around the head area. My body cringes when I think of what was going through the head of the other officer when he heard the thud of the gun. Im next.oh no.why us.please stop. And possibly many other thoughts.

Gone

Then the second bullet was discharged and hit the other cop. Thats how the story of their lives came to an end. They are no more, their families will never see them again. They are gone for good, their chapter has been closed. The big question is who closed this chapter and why. Sitting here at this very moment, I dont have the answers to these two pertinent questions, but one thing I know is that this is bad, very bad. Its evil, barbaric and quite disturbing. The BBC News in April issued out statistics of police officers who had been killed in the line of duty in 2021 in the US. I know the circumstances are not the same but these stats just show the level of intolerance for law enforcers and peddling of violence in revenge attacks the world over. An excerpt of the article reads that murders of police officers rose by nearly 60 per cent during 2021, according to FBI Director Christopher Wray, with 73 officers being killed in the line of duty last year. Mr Wray said violence against police was a phenomena that doesnt get enough attention.

Violence

He said it amounted to an officer killed every five days. Mr Wray said that some of the violence against police is tied to the violent crime problem as a whole. But, he said, authorities believe that an alarming percentage of the officers killed were targeted and killed through things like being ambushed or shot while out on patrol. Wearing the badge shouldnt make you a target, he added and I like the last part. It would seem Eswatini is now living the phenomena experienced in the United States (US). To date, we are counting five police officers who have been gunned down. This is outside other State security personnel who have fallen victim of this violence. Are we giving this new phenomena the attention it deserves and if yes, how? Are we raising our voices high enough to ring the alarm bells of this scourge? I will not apportion blame to anyone in particular but the country as a whole. Youve probably heard this cliche over and over again that Eswatini is a small knit community and we are all brothers and sisters.

Why then would you cause so much heartache to the next person? It would seem statements of condemnation and protests over incidents of violence are simply not enough, as noted by Brian Sokutu in his writing of SAs killing fields still growing which was published in The Citizen recently. I cannot overlook the mindset of many that these killings of officers, which had subsided for a while, have resurrected because nothing is being done in the political space. We all know that the kingdom is in a political debacle with strong calls for democratisation, which has now been coupled with a long wait for a national dialogue meant to map a forward on how we, as a nation, can we get ourselves out of this political abyss.

The void created by the political tensions may have seen some opportunists taking advantage of this space. This is because in my own analysis of the situation, its unclear if these killings are all politically motivated or there is a new element of criminality which requires the use of firearm. I wont be oblivious to the fact that there are many wrongs in this country which remain uncorrected and have since created this hatred for one another. This has given rise to various sectors demanding a voice, a voice that has, unfortunately not been solely done through spoken word but through killings.

Civilians were ambushed during the June political unrest and now, we are seeing daylight assassinations of law enforcers. We are emulating the Hitler era where killing a person was as simple as taking a sip of water. The reality though is that there two sides and from the interviews weve conducted, both sides are preaching the gospel of dialogue. Government claims to want government, but is waiting for the situation on the ground to be conducive for such.

Delaying

The progressives as well are all about dialogue and are of the view that there are delaying tactics in getting the ball rolling for such. One thing is for sure though, both camps are of the strong believe that a proper dialogue may bring an end to all this misery. If it is important to all concerned, why arent we having it then? There is no longer empathy in this country, infact the word itself has become somewhat overrated in the context of this kingdom if you ask me. To the pro-democracy groups, Richard Chemaly will tell you that ..in order to engage in democracy, you need to have a democracy that is engageable.

The jury is still out on who are behind these killings and I cannot for one minute apportion blame to those opposed to the current system. On the other hand, to government, the time is up for you to keep burying your head in the sand like an Ostrich. You need to deal with this and fast. You also need to engage. The news about the warder as carried in todays publication just make it even more pronounced that we need to talk, period. Let us practice having a virgin mind and see if we cannot fill up this jar what we want, as a collective.
Highlights of foreign congratulatory messages on 20th CPC National Congress (11)

Xinhua) 16:51, October 21, 2022

BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of foreign political parties and government officials worldwide have congratulated the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and General Secretary Xi Jinping of the committee on the convening of the 20th CPC National Congress.

China has made outstanding achievements in such areas as economic development, poverty reduction, and scientific and technological innovation, winning recognition and admiration from all over the world, said Guinea-Bissau's President Umaro Sissoco Embalo.

Gambian President Adama Barrow wished the 20th CPC National Congress a complete success and said he looks forward to continuing close cooperation with China to promote their political friendship and economic development.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele expressed confidence that the 20th CPC National Congress will lead China and the Chinese people to new and important achievements in the development, adding that his country and China will respect each other, conduct friendly cooperation and move forward hand in hand.

President of the People's Liberation Party of Timor-Leste and Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak said his country shares brotherly friendship with the CPC and the Chinese people, with good-neighborliness, mutual trust and mutual benefit being their common pursuit.

Ruak said he expects that the 20th CPC National Congress will lead China to achieve lasting prosperity and development.

"This country is its people; the people are the country," President of Vanuatu's Vanua'aku Pati party and Prime Minister Bob Loughman quoted Xi as saying.

His party highly appreciates the CPC's people-centered governance philosophy and is willing to lift the Vanuatu-China comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, he said.

The 20th CPC National Congress has attracted the attention of the whole world and will have an important impact on the development direction of China, Asia and the whole world, said Davorko Vidovic, president of Croatia's Social Democrats party and deputy speaker of the Croatian parliament. He also expressed his belief that the CPC will, as always, successfully cope with various challenges.

China's effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic has maintained and promoted stable economic development and made important contributions to world economic recovery, said Airlangga Hartarto, chairman of Indonesia's Golkar Party and coordinating minister for economic affairs, and Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus, secretary-general of Golkar Party and deputy speaker of the People's Representative Council of Indonesia.

The 20th CPC National Congress will inject impetus into realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and the policies to be formulated at the congress will not only serve the interests of the Chinese people, but also benefit the world, said KP Sharma Oli, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and former Nepali prime minister.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, under Xi's leadership, China has adopted a series of wise policies and promoted the Belt and Road cooperation with other countries and regions in the world, providing important support for countries around the world to cope with the current crises, said Saad Hariri, president of Lebanese Future Movement party and former prime minister of Lebanon.

Japan and China shoulder the important responsibility of maintaining regional and world peace and prosperity, said Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan, noting that the LDP is willing to strengthen exchanges with the CPC to promote the construction of stable and constructive Japan-China relations.

He hoped that the CPC and China would score even greater development achievements.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Wu Chaolan)
Sir,



For the past few weeks I have read with interest stories on corruption. One of the things that are glaringly obvious is the attitude of government when it comes to tackling corruption. Despite the lip-service and rhetoric we are accustomed to, there appears to be no political will to addressing this scourge. And as long as our attitudes are like that, we are not likely to see any meaningful change in our detection and controlling the level of corruption in the country. We all know that government has influence over the work of its departments, and as such, the notion that governments hands are tied in some matters must be rejected with the impunity it deserves.

Probe

Government is not being asked to directly probe those matters bordering on corruption, but it can facilitate their probing by the relevant anti-corruption agencies. In the absence of consistency in the application of rules to deal with corruption, this country cannot expect to put up a good fight against this scourge.

Moral

From a philosophical, theological and moral perspective, corruption is defined as the spiritual or moral impurity or deviation from an ideal. We actually do not need legislation or fancy codes of conducts that will never be put in place to tell us that a certain conduct is wrong. Even before the PAC came on board, we knew that bribery, extortion etc were wrong. Corruption is rampant in the country; and it makes one shudder when no action is taken. The country is besieged with corruption, and is now experiencing what is termed systemic or endemic corruption, where certain corrupt practices have formed part of our every day lives. This scourge requires decisive action and changed attitudes in dealing with it.

Transparency International publishes an annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI), it would be interesting for the countrys politicians to refer to this and see how we fare. I dismiss the notion and the unrealistic objective to have corruption eradicated because it will never be eradicated. Countries that mean business in dealing with it intensify their fights against it through improved detection, investigation and getting perpetrators or corruptors convicted. But paramount to this fight, are attitudes of people that must change from being abdicators to actors.
More than a year after the collapse of Kabul, Afghans who helped the U.S. during the war are still struggling to get special immigrant visas and only a small percentage have made it through the process, adding to the frustration of advocates who are trying to assist.

The State Department has granted only 18,000 of the visas to Afghans and their families since President Joe Biden took office -- a small fraction of the number applied for -- partly due to a short-staffed and dysfunctional system, according to a report by the agency's inspector general released this week. The slow pace continues despite major increases in applications for the special immigrant visas, or SIVs, in the months after the American military withdrawal.

Scores of veterans and Afghans have gathered at Capitol Hill and across the country in what they are calling a "fire watch" -- round-the-clock protests that are aimed at urging Congress to help Afghans who were evacuated to the U.S. under special immigration provisions, but are now facing uncertainty as time runs out on those protections.

Read Next: Troops Needing Abortions Will Get Travel Allowances and Leave, Pentagon Says

"This report doesn't say anything that we already didn't know," Matt Zeller, a U.S. Army veteran and Advisory Board Chair of the Association of Wartime Allies, told Military.com in an interview Thursday. "Veterans and people paying attention to this have been saying this for the better part of the last year -- not just the better part of a year but for the last decade."

"The SIV program is fundamentally broken," said Zeller, who's been traveling the country on the so-called fire watches, talking to politicians and communities about the problem.

Since the U.S. withdrawal in August 2021 and the militant Taliban takeover, Afghanistan has witnessed a breakneck economic crisis that has resulted in famine and political instability, all while the average Afghan ally worries about violent reprisals from the Taliban for helping the U.S. during the war.

For Afghans and their advocates, this famine and instability are an enormous source of fear, with Zeller adding that they are "going to do far more killing than the Taliban will ever be able to do in this time period."

Between October and May, the number of Afghan SIV principal applications more than doubled, according to the State Department watchdog report. At the same time, a Military.com analysis earlier this year showed that visa approvals dropped by a whopping 91% between fiscal quarters. There are an estimated 322,000 Afghans in the pipeline for a special immigrant visa, according to the inspector general.

The State Department watchdog looked into the agency's handling of the growing backlog of applications and found despite "minor" fixes to the application process, deficiencies remain, and the situation is not improving.

"These deficiencies have contributed to Afghan SIV applicant processing times exceeding the 9-month goal set by Congress and may have delayed vulnerable Afghan allies from reaching safety in the United States," according to the IG report, which was requested by Congress.

The department filled a long-vacant senior coordinating official position in the SIV processing office to remedy issues causing the backlog, but the official is "not sufficiently coordinating and monitoring" fixes to the program, the IG found.

Overall staffing for the program is also insufficient, the watchdog reported. In January, the Afghan SIV unit only had eight employees; by summer, it had increased that to 42 personnel.

"However, the increase was not sufficient to address the existing application backlog while absorbing additional new applications," the report said. Despite adding even more personnel, the National Visa Center estimated last year that it would need 263 staff members.

In May, the National Visa Center's Afghan SIV email account had more than 325,000 unread messages, according to the report. The IG evaluators noticed that staff were still opening unread emails from August 2021 -- the month of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

A State Department spokesperson, who spoke on background, told Military.com over email that the department "continues to demonstrate its commitment to the brave Afghans who stood side-by-side with the United States over the past two decades."

But the spokesperson also disputed the inspector general's findings, saying many were "premised on outdated information, failed to acknowledge prior efforts, employed incorrect legal conclusions, or mischaracterized ongoing efforts."

"Based on the department's comments, some of OIG's recommendations were resolved before the report was even finalized," the spokesperson said.

The State Department said it restarted SIV interviews and dramatically increased the number of staff dedicated to the program, including personnel responding to SIV inquiries and reviewing initial document submissions.

Military.com asked the State Department if it agreed with IG's estimate that 322,000 Afghans were seeking the special visas and for an updated number of Afghan SIV employees the department has hired, but did not receive a response by publication.

The combination of the backlog and the uncertainty has left Afghans -- and their veteran allies -- in a perpetual state of urgency that has been met with a wall of bureaucracy, making both groups exhausted.

"Physically, mentally and spiritually, our community is tired," Zeller said of veterans and Afghan allies. "We've suffered a profound moral injury over the course of the last year."

Zeller, who is also the co-founder of No One Left Behind, has been at the forefront of advocating for the Afghan Adjustment Act to pass in Congress -- a piece of legislation that would ensure some better footing for the thousands of Afghans evacuated to the U.S. after the fall of Kabul.

The bill took a hit last month when it was not included in a must-pass Congressional measure to prevent the government from shutting down. Advocates are now looking at revisiting the push in December, when two other must-pass bills will be on the table.

Zee, an Afghan who worked with U.S. Special Forces and is still trapped in the country, agreed to speak under a pseudonym for fear of retaliation by the Taliban. He told Military.com that his years-long effort to get an SIV does not look any more promising than when he first applied in 2018.

"The State Department should not play with our lives and evacuate us ASAP," he said, adding that efforts by the American supervisors he worked for in Afghanistan have been helping him maintain hope. "They are the ones who always help me."

Military.com verified Zee's work with the U.S. through documentation he has previously provided.

"I just breathe for a living and cannot stay in one place," he told Military.com over text message. "The Talibans [are still hostile] with the people who worked with U.S. forces."

Some Afghans who have made it stateside via the SIV program are still struggling to make progress for their families an ocean away.

"Having family members in Afghanistan and [them] getting threatened by the Taliban on a daily basis gives you much depression and concerns," Said Noor told Military.com in an interview. "But on the whole, your family's lives are in the hands of the State Department."

Noor successfully earned an SIV about a decade ago and joined the U.S. Army almost immediately after landing in the States, hoping to make a better life for his family members -- many of whom experienced the tumultuous withdrawal, including the suicide bombing of Kabul Airport's Abbey Gate, which killed 13 U.S. service members and an estimated 170 Afghans.

Some of his most vulnerable kin are still battling challenges in Afghanistan despite provisions afforded to him as a U.S. citizen. And other members of his family -- who did make it to the U.S. -- are still fighting the SIV system even after their arrival.

"It took them a year for the State Department to get their paperwork and get everything together," he said of his family's current situation in Houston. "Imagine if they were outside of the United States, where you have no contact with the State Department to push that paperwork forward."

Editor's Note: The reporter who wrote this article has made efforts to assist Afghans after the fall of Kabul, to include "Zee," who is quoted in this story. The reporter's efforts were made prior to Zee's statements in this story, which were not given under any quid pro quo agreement.

-- Drew F. Lawrence can be reached at drew.lawrence@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @df_lawrence.

Related: White House Pushes for Afghan Refugee Relief After Visas Drop by 91%
MBABANE  A Form V pupil of KaBoyce High School will write his Agriculture paper from his hospital bed today, after he was stabbed by members of a local gang.

This follows an invasion of gangsters in the school. The stabbing incident happened outside the school gate while the pupils were walking home. It is believed a junior learner met with his friends, who are not pupils and pointed out a Form V pupil who was attacked and assaulted by the gang before he was stabbed in front of other learners.

Incident

The schools Head teacher, Stephen Shabangu, stated that the incident followed a quarrel between the stabbed pupil and another Form II pupil.

Shabangu said the stabbed pupil had previously confronted the other and warned him over a relationship with his sister. This, he said, was not taken kindly by the Form II pupil who invited some members of the gang to attack the Form V learner. Shabangu stated that the younger pupil was turned back at the gate several times by the security guard before classes were over on Wednesday.

He said he was seen by the guard looking outside the gate like someone who was expecting to meet people. According to Shabangu, when their bell rang, indicating that the day was over, the children were released and the gates opened. He said the gang was already close by the school and the youngster met them outside the gate and when the Form V pupil approached with his friends, he was attacked. This was after the youngster identified him and his friends pounced on him, narrated Shabangu.

Shabangu stated that a fist fight ensued and learners from the school intervened by assisting their schoolmate, overpowering the gang and then one of them took out a knife and stabbed the learner. He said the Form V pupils fell on the ground and the gang member took advantage of this, stabbed him and fled the scene thereafter. Shabangu said after the gang fled, learners pounced on the Form II pupil and beat him until a teacher came to his rescue.

The head teacher stated that both pupils (Form V and II) were taken inside the school and police were called.

Meanwhile, the head teacher stated that the youngster was troublesome as he was once implicated in cellphones theft, where he invited his friends to the school to steal them. The friends came as though they wanted a ball that was kicked mistakenly into the school and took phones, which were hidden inside the toilet by the learner. Also, he stated that the same pupil was found smoking at a nearby shelter next to the school. Shabangu said the learner was arrested by the police and feared that when he returned at the school, he would be attacked by the irate learners. The head teacher further mentioned that the youngsters parents were approached and his mother told them that he was wayward and she was also failing to deal with him.

Shabangu said a meeting with the committee was slated for yesterday afternoon and they would determine when a parents/teachers meeting would be held as a matter of urgency. We will be involving parents in the matter to give us some comfort. Parents were already requesting for updates.

This is not the first incident to happen at the school as last week learners in Form V and III fought each other. The senior learners were of the view that the junior ones were not respecting them, hence the fight. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer, Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the matter. Vilakati said one person has been arrested in connection with the issue.
WATERBURY, Conn. -- A 19-year-old who died in a crash early Tuesday was a member of the Connecticut National Guard who was supposed to get married Friday, according to the adjutant general.

Spc. Josue Alicea-Tirado, of the 102nd Infantry, was identified Thursday as the person killed in the crash.

"The loss of this young man so close to what should have been the happiest day of his life makes this tragedy even harder to digest," Maj. Gen. Francis J. Evon Jr. said.

"His wake is going to be on what should have been his wedding night," Maj. David Pytlik added,

A Waterbury resident, Alicea-Tirado was a guardsman for two years, the military officials said. He is survived by three siblings, including his twin sister with whom he was close.

"We will close ranks to support his family and honor his memory," Evon wrote in a letter to military families.

Pytlik said Alicea-Tirado is from a large, extended family that stretches to Puerto Rico and includes many members of law enforcement.

"They're very proud of his military service," Pytlik said.

Alicea-Tirado's platoon sergeant described him as being "really diligent and really bright," he said.

A mechanic, Alicea-Tirado graduated in 2021 from Waterbury Career Academy, where he studied manufacturing engineering, according to his LinkedIn page.

Waterbury police said the two-car crash happened in the 800-block of Watertown Avenue about 5:20 a.m. Tuesday.

Alicea-Tirado was taken to the hospital, where he died. The driver of the other car was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, police said.

An unoccupied parked car also was heavily damaged in the crash, which remains under investigation by the Waterbury Police Department Crash Reconstruction Unit.

(c) 2022 The Middletown Press, Conn.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
NORFOLK, Va. -- Thirteen months ago, Petty Officer 2nd Class Myesha Harris said goodbye to her little French bulldog as she prepared to deploy on the USS Harry S. Truman.

When she returned to pick him up last Saturday from a foster home, the stocky pup with blond-colored fur ran to Harris, stood on his back legs and snuggled against her neck as she bent down to greet him.

"Nipsey, I missed you so much," said Harris, 29. "Look at you; you're so big."

The 2-year-old pup gained a few pounds since she last saw him in person, but he was in good hands while she was away. Harris found the foster home for Nipsey through a nonprofit organization named Guardian Angels for Soldier's Pets that connects active-duty service members, wounded warriors and veterans with temporary homes for their pets.

Harris, a California native, doesn't have family in Hampton Roads to rely on, so she inquired about options for boarding her dog while deployed through the Navy's Fleet and Family Support Center.

Guardian Angels, based in Texas, encourages service members and veterans not to give their animals away when deployed by providing an affordable long-term care option, said Marge Janiak, spokeswoman for the foster program.

"It's a blessing for people like me that love their pets but also want someone to take care of them like they would," said Harris, who works in the carrier's helicopter squadron.

The foster organization has about 10 to 15 pets being cared for across the country at any given time. Another dog is currently in a foster home in Williamsburg, Janiak said.

A team of coordinators screen pet owners and potential fosters before matching them up. Harris brought Nipsey to meet Deb Coon, a Virginia Beach resident and one of the organization's approved pet foster parents, before deciding to leave him with her last September.

"She liked him, so I liked her, too," Harris said.

The pet owner is usually responsible for all pet care-related expenses including food and vet visits. The foster contract is for the length of deployment, which can fluctuate.

The USS Harry S. Truman deployed in December and was scheduled to return in May. Its time at sea was extended due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Harris and around 5,000 other sailors finally returned to Norfolk on Sept. 12 after nine months.

Nipsey stayed with Coon, a former dog handler in the Navy, while Harris prepared for the ship's departure, during her deployment and until she was settled back into her apartment in Chesapeake, a month after returning.

"They work with you if you need to be out longer," Harris said. "I appreciated that."

Coon, 58, has a soft spot for dogs. She learned at an early age the importance of caring for them. Her mother worked as a veterinarian technician and then owned a pet-sitting business in her hometown in Ohio.

Coon served in the Navy for 24 years and is now working for a contractor. She owns a standard poodle named Clancy and has fostered more than a handful of pups through various volunteer programs.

Her experience with Nipsey was a success, she said. He made fast friends with Coon's dog and had an easygoing demeanor.

Sitting in her backyard with Harris and Nipsey last Saturday afternoon, Coon started to tear up talking about her last days with the pooch.

"You're such a good boy," she said. "I'm going to miss you."

 2022 The Virginian-Pilot.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Key

Sand, white to yellow with local gravel and clay. Locally stained red or orange brown by iron oxides and (or) cemented into large blocks of ironstone. Unweathered clay is typically dark gray, but commonly weathers white where interbedded with thin beds of ironstone. Unit is a complex of interfingering marine and nonmarine facies. Sand is typically medium grained and moderately sorted although it ranges from fine to very coarse grained and from poorly to well sorted. Sand consists of quartz and siliceous rock fragments. Some beds are locally micaceous, and in the Lakehurst area, Ocean County, some beds have high concentrations of "black" sand (pseudorutile) that was once extensively mined. In general, the sand is crossbedded, although the style of cross-bedding varies significantly with the paleoenvironment. Trough cross-bedding predominates, especially in the nonmarine channel fill deposits, and the scale of the crossbeds varies from small to large. In some areas, planar bedding is well developed in sections that have abundant marine burrows (mostly the clay-lined trace fossil Ophiomorpha nodosa). Such marine-influenced beds (largely foreshore deposits) occur on the central sheet west of Asbury Park, near Adelphia, Monmouth County, north of the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, Ocean County, and at Juliustown, Burlington County (Owens and Sohl, 1969), and on the southern sheet as far north as Salem, Salem County. Gravel beds occur locally, especially in updip areas such as near New Egypt, Ocean County, in the Atlantic Highlands and in the highlands west of Barnegat, Ocean County, in the southern part of the central sheet and in mixed marine and nonmarine facies in the northeastern part of the southern sheet where gravel occurs in well-defined channels. Most of the gravel is 1.3 to 2.5 cm (0.5-1.0 in) in diameter, but pieces as long as 10 cm (4 in) are present. The gravel is composed of quartz with small amounts of black chert and quartzite. Clay commonly occurs as discrete, thin, discontinuous beds, is dark gray where unweathered, white or red where weathered. Lesser, thin laminated clay strata also are present. Locally, as near Lakehurst, thick, dark-gray, very lignitic clay was uncovered during the mining of ilmenite and is informally called the Legler lignite (Rachele, 1976). An extensive, well-preserved leaf flora was collected from a thick clay lens in a pit near Millville, Cumberland County. The leaf flora was dominated by Alangium sp., a tree no longer growing in eastern North America (J.A. Wolfe, written commun., 1992). Maximum thickness in the map area is about 60 m (197 ft); however, thickness is difficult to determine because of the irregular basal contact and extensive post-depositional erosion. There is as much as 18 m (59 ft) of relief along the basal contact. The basal contact is sharp, undulatory, and directly overlain by a thin gravel bed. The Cohansey Formation unconformably overlies the Kirkwood Formation and is found in channels cut down into the Kirkwood. Where the Kirkwood consists of sandy, light-colored sediments, the basal contact of the Cohansey is drawn below crossbedded sediments. Where the Kirkwood consists of dark-colored silty beds, the basal contact is drawn between light-colored Cohansey sediments and the underlying dark-colored sediments. The Cohansey was markedly thinned because of erosion prior to deposition of overlying units in the western and southern parts of the southern sheet (Owens and Minard, 1975). The unit has been extensively eroded and stripped from large areas of the New Jersey Coastal Plain, particularly in the central sheet where outliers are common. In spite of its widespread nature, the Cohansey is poorly exposed because of its loose sandy composition, which causes it to erode easily (Newell and others, in press). Because of this same sandy nature, the Cohansey has been widely mined for sand, and manmade exposures are common in many areas. The age of the Cohansey is controversial because no calcareous microfauna or macrofauna have been found in this formation. The best indication of age comes from pollen and spores obtained from dark carbonaceous clay. Rachele (1976) analyzed the microflora from the Legler site and noted that the Cohansey had a rich and varied assemblage including several genera labeled "exotics" which no longer occur in the northeastern United States: Engelhardia, Pterocarya, Podocarpus, and Cyathea. Greller and Rachele (1984) estimated a middle Miocene age. Ager's (in Owens and others, 1988) analysis of the Cohansey from a corehole at Mays Landing also suggests a middle Miocene (Serravallian) age.

List of minerals for each chemical element

References

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Mine Safety and Health Administration [MSHA] (1979), List [11-23-79]. U.S. Bureau of Mines (1995), Minerals Availability System/Mineral Industry Location System (MAS/MILS), U.S. Bureau of Mines, file ID #0340150003. USGS (2005), Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS): U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, deposit ID #10074069 & 10150656. USGS MRDS ID #W020273. Mine Safety and Health Administration [MSHA], MSHA Inspection Report 2800810.

Other Databases

Link to USGS MRDS: 10150656

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Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.

A sand & gravel occurrence/pit operation located 7.0 km (4.3 miles) ESE of Mullica Hill, just W of the boundary point between the boroughs of Pitman and Glassboro, near the interchange between US highway 322 and New Jersey state highway 55, on private land. Owned by Anthony M. Brida, Inc. (1979). MRDS database stated accuracy for this location is 1,000 meters.Local rocks include the Middle Miocene, Serravallian Cohansey Formation.Workings include unspecified surface openings (presumably a pit operation).
Rich Hill revealed on The Bradfo Sho podcast earlier this week that hes had preliminary talks with the Red Sox about a return to Boston next season, saying that the two sides have mutual interest in a deal. Hill, 42, will be a free agent at the conclusion of the post-season.

Weve talked and had lunch with a few of the guys in the front office, and understand that theres a mutual interest there, Hill said. Being able to stay home would be great.

The Massachusetts native signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox last December, and turned in 124 1/3 innings of 4.27 ERA ball across 26 starts. Despite being the oldest active player in the majors, Hill didnt show any signs of decline in 2022, and advanced metrics were all largely in line with his past few years of work. His strikeout rate dipped slightly from 22.7% in 2021 to 20.7% in 2022, but there were no major changes to his velocity and the lefty walked fewer batters as well (7% in 22 down from 8.3% in 21). He did miss a month in July due to a knee strain, and while theres always some durability concern with a player entering their age-43 season, hes still made 57 starts in the past two seasons.

Given the state of the Red Sox rotation and the fact that Hill lives in the Boston area, its no surprise that the two sides are interested in getting a deal done. Nick Pivetta is the most reliable starter under contract for next year, while rookie Brayan Bello showed promise in his 11 starts, but beyond that theres a lot of uncertainty. Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Wacha combined for 43 starts in 2022, but they join Hill as pending free agents. Former ace Chris Sale is a lock to opt in to the remaining two years, $55MM on his contract (with a $20MM vesting option in 25), but hes made just 11 starts in the past three seasons and while hes expected to be fit for spring training, his injury history is a concern. The team turned to youngsters Garrett Whitlock, Kutter Crawford and Josh Winckowski for starts at points last season, but none is guaranteed to be a rotation option in 2023.

Ultimately, if the Red Sox are looking to compete in a crowded AL East theyll need to upgrade their rotation. While Hill going into his age-43 season is not the big splash Sox fans may be hoping for, the team will surely need more than one starting pitcher addition, so a reunion with the veteran would solidify the rotation and likely wouldnt come at a huge financial cost.
20.10.2022 LISTEN

A Deputy Trade and Industry Minister, Michael Okyere Baafi, has said government will suspend the ongoing invigilation by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) that has resulted in protests and the closure of businesses.

While the deputy Minister said the invigilation was really helping us as far as domestic revenue was concerned, Mr. Baafi said these would count as concessions for businesses.

Some GRA officers could be seen monitoring sales at some businesses and events, leading to some agitation from businesses because of the intensified revenue collection efforts.

They wanted us to suspend it over the last three days, so we have agreed to suspend it, so we believe that now, GUTA will go back and open their shops for us to continue the negotiations, he said.

Mr. Baafi was speaking during the grant contract signing ceremony of the sectoral expansion of the COVID-19 response grant programme.

With the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) currently locking up shops because of forex challenges, among others, the government also said it will maintain a fixed exchange rate at the ports for the next three months.

The GRA last week closed some shops for failing to integrate their value-added tax (VAT) invoices into the authority's newly deployed E-VAT Invoicing system as a measure to help it block revenue loopholes.

Fifty companies were selected to be linked to this E-VAT Invoicing system that will certify all invoices and give real-time reporting of sales.

Traders in Adum in the Ashanti Region also closed their shops to protest what they called the GRAs uneven vigilance and implementation of the VAT policies.

Traders mandated to charge VAT on their products felt they were losing out to retailers who were not in compliance.

By Citi Newsroom
London-listed ruby mining giant Gemfields said Thursday it has ceased operations at a mine in northern Mozambique's restive Cabo Delgado province following a jihadist attack at a neighbouring site.

The Thursday morning assault occurred at a facility belonging to India-headquartered Gemrock which neighbours Gemfields' Montepuez Ruby Mine (MRM).

Following the attack, Gemfields "has initiated the process of evacuating operational employees and contractors, and therefore mining operations at the site have ceased", it said in a statement.

No fatalities have been reported at the mine and "details of the attack are being verified", Gemfields added.

According to the precious gem miner, the military was being deployed to shore up police and mine security on the ground.

A deadly insurgency erupted in gas-rich northern Mozambique, near the Tanzanian border, five years ago -- concentrated mainly in and around coastal areas.

A regional military mission deployed last year had restored a sense of security, pushing militants from some of their traditional turf.

But the insurgent attacks are spilling inland.

Montepuez, which is situated inland, had largely been spared until recently.

A deadly March 2021 attack on the coastal city of Palma by fighters affiliated to the Islamic State group also put the brakes on a $20-billion gas project by French energy giant TotalEnergies.

The insurgency has claimed more than 4,300 lives and displaced some 820,000 people since the unrest erupted in October 2017.
21.10.2022 LISTEN

Adolescent girls in the Central Region have called on the government to scrap the 20 percent tax on sanitary pads which has become a disincentive to girl-child education.

According to them, many girls could not afford sanitary pads forcing them into having sex with older men and adolescent boys in exchange for money to buy sanitary towels.

Additionally, others were also compelled to use unhygienic materials such as pieces of cloth which could lead to infections if not properly sanitized.

Ms. Christabel Nti, a 16-year-old pupil of Assin-Amoabin D/A School appealed on behalf of teenage girls in the region at a forum to mark this years International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC) in Cape Coast on Tuesday.

The forum also formed part of the Safe Protective Environment for Adolescent Development (SPREAD), an advocacy campaign by the International Needs Ghana (INGH), a Non-Governmental Organization dedicated to transforming lives and changing communities.

Among others, the SPREAD initiative seeks to promote a safe environment for boys and girls to reduce adolescent pregnancy and abuse at the community level.

With support from UNICEF, the girls empowerment meeting was on the theme: Ending Adolescent Pregnancy, abuse, and Exploitation; a shared Responsibility.

Ms. Nti stated that the natural process for girls in the journey of monthly menstruation should not be misconstrued since it was a natural occurrence which a woman or girl did not have any control over.

Scrapping the tax will afford the girls the ability to purchase them. With the pads, they are comfortable and they are confident because they know that they are well protected so they can stay longer in school and class.

The government should do something about it, she noted.

Ms. Nti backed calls for victims and survivors of rape, defilement, and other forms of abuse should not to be made to pay before a medical report is issued for police to initiate action for justice.

To her, the current arrangement prevented many victims of abuse from going to the police since they were unable to pay to obtain a medical report.

She called for more education on menstrual hygiene to help demystify it so that girls would not feel ashamed to let others know that they were in their menses. Parents should ensure that they educated their young girls on menstruation before they started experiencing it to help minimize the discomfort that they would have to go through.

Furthermore, she also proposed that government invest in alternative local materials and support the local industries to produce affordable and easily accessible pads.

Mrs. Richlove Amamoo, the Central Regional Director of the Department of Gender received the petition and pledged to forward it to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection for policy intervention.

She lauded INGH for the holistic approach to girls development initiatives and implored the organization to keep up the good work.

Mr. Isaac Arthur, a Child Right Activist with INGH, said the SPREAD project was an intervention being implemented in 55 communities within 11 districts across three regions in Ghana.

The goal of the project was to contribute to the reduction of adolescent pregnancy, abuse, and exploitation at the community level by promoting a safe and protective environment for adolescent boys and girls.

With that, he committed the INGH to sustained awareness creation on the rights of the child as well as build the capacity of families and communities to protect children from violence and abuse as enshrined in the constitution.

Earlier, discussants drawn from the Ghana Police Service, Social Welfare, traditional leaders, and Child Right Activists among others took turns to address pertinent national issues affecting the development of young people particularly, the girl-child.
Togo's security forces on Thursday carried out a simulated jihadist attack in the capital Lome, training to counter a hostage-taking as the country faces increasing threats.

Togo and neighbouring West African coastal states like Ghana, Benin and Ivory Coast are preparing for growing spillover from Islamist militant conflicts across their northern borders in Niger and Burkina Faso.

On Thursday, a restaurant called "Noudoudou-a-gnon" in Lome's Adidogome district was attacked by a "commando" of police disguised as six heavily armed militants, who opened fire and took hostages.

Two instructors from the French National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) oversaw the exercise.

It was the first simulation exercise since Togo recorded the first in a series of attacks from November 2021, and at least four more since then in its far northern border region.

Togo's security forces are preparing for jihadist spillover from across their northern border. By Yanick Folly (AFP)

Togo's Security Minister General Damehame Yark said the exercise was part of "measures so that we can face this threat" in the region.

The exercise is part of a training course in "specialised intervention techniques". It also used a gendarme drone unit to help "neutralise" the militants and free the hostages.

The country was hit in mid-July by a bloody attack carried out by "unidentified armed individuals", according to the army, which reported "several dead and a few wounded".

The government last month extended a state of emergency for six months in its northern Savanes region, allowing more flexibility to conduct military operations there.

Togo's first deadly jihadist attack was in May 2022.

In neighbouring Benin, the first known fatal attack was last December, when two soldiers were killed near the border with Burkina Faso.

In Ivory Coast, four members of the security forces died in 2021, after 14 in 2020.
MBABANE  Members of Parliament (MPs) have warned government to make the junior security officers Phase II exercise implementation its first item on the list of priorities.

House of Assembly business yesterday was kicked off by a statement from the Prime Minister (PM) Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, which addressed the issue of salary restructuring for junior officers in the security forces. The PM said government was alive to the officers concerns, resulting in the manner in which an earlier restructuring exercise was implemented wherein he said the concerns were understandable and as government they realised that it had taken too long to have the matter resolved.

He shared through the statement that government has had a number of meetings with security forces chiefs and staff associations to discuss this matter in the past and apparently no amicable agreement has been reached yet, save to say engagements were still ongoing. Government wants to assure this House and all concerned that government is dealing with this matter with a view to finding a lasting solution, he submitted. However, MPs did not find the statement to be addressing the matter in any way as a majority of the legislators called on the PM to urgently make funds available to implement the Phase II salary restructuring exercise. Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo wondered who was setting the junior officers against their seniors by implementing the Phase I of the salary restructuring, which only the latter benefitted and the answer to that pointed to government.

Grievances

That was after he appreciated the junior officers for applying a high level of respect when marching to Cabinet to express their grievances.

Time for talking is up, government should do the right thing in this matter and the only thing is simply to give the junior officers what is due to them. When government says it is working on the matter, it should not be on paper but it should be practical and we should see the results, he submitted.

Khumalo shared that the current occurrences in the country were signs that we were failing as a country yet we are the face of peace and preach the same gospel.

The legislator also shared that funding for the Phase II restructuring was announced in Parliament and he wondered what happened to that funding which was at the tune of E65 million. Methula MP Derrick Masuku said it was not just the salary implementation that was a thorny issue to the junior officers as some stations did not have enough cars or none at all and sometimes they had to dig deep into their own pockets to refuel the cars and attend to emergencies due to shortage of fuel at government depots. He suggested that government should convene a meeting with the junior officers and give them specific timelines on when Phase II would be implemented to restore harmony among the security forces.

Manzini South MP Thandi Nxumalo emphasised that the PM should do the right thing as these were their relatives who had plenty responsibilities that needed money. We believe Cabinet (is made up of) people who have integrity and are loyal but they have a funny way of showing it. They will tell you that an issue is being addressed but after a long while, they will come back with the same feedback and one wonders what it is that they were doing to help the situation all along. It is simple, just pay the junior officers, she submitted. Ludzeludze MP Vusi Swali said this was an old issue that dates back to 2014 but it was boggling the mind that the high ranking officers had benefited from the exercise while the junior officers were sidelined.

Half of the police service members were part of those who petitioned the PM and that is a serious threat to national security. If anything, they should all have not benefitted from the exercise than having one party in the same service being prioritised while others are lamenting over the same issue, he said.

Swali shared that they were expecting the PM to engage the aggrieved officers because those were his children as the Minister of Police but he decried the manner in which the matter was handled. Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini said government should refrain from the approach of frightening people with apprehending them. He shared that in industrial relations, when people bring issues the wrong way, the relevant people should deal with the issue first then correct the wrong way the issue was brought, rather than totally ignoring the issue and throwing it out of the window.

The culture of putting arrests forward wont help any situation but people should be heard and treated with respect, that is the right and only remedy we need as a country right now, he said. In his response, the PM said as much as MPs felt government should make an instant payment to the junior officers, these issues were informed by the availability of funds and it entails that there should be engagements with relevant stakeholders to deal with issues decisively. On the issue of the E65 million that the MPs said was announced by the minister of Finance, the PM said this money was for appeals that were made during the 2016 salary review exercise and it was for all civil servants, not just the security forces.
ASA Savings and Loans Limited have extended a helping hand to Mother Care Orphanage and Welfare Home to keep it running.

The donation made on Thursday, October 20, was led by the ASA Savings and Loans Swedru Business Centre in the Central Region.

The aim of the donation is to support "Mother Care Orphanage & Welfare Home" to ensure that the less privileged children are catered for.

The Area Manager of ASA Savings and Loans Ltd in Swedru Mohammad Safiul Alam and the Branch Manager for the Swedru Business Centre Prince Nana Kwaku Gyasi led the donation today.

Some of the items donated to the Mother Care Orphanage and Welfare Home which cares for 58 students including two disabled persons include food items such as Rice, Cooking oil, Maize, Beans, Tin tomatoes, Gari, Sugar, as well as Spaghetti.

In addition to stationery items are exercise books, pens, and pencils. ASA Savings and Loans also supported the orphanage with Diapers, Sanitary pads, Detergents, and other toiletries.

The donation today is part of ASA Savings and Loans Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSRs).

Since the start of the year, several similar activities have been done by the company in addition to many health screening exercises organised in various communities where the Savings and Loans company operates.
The management of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) has made an appeal to individuals and organizations to support the hospital procure mammogram and radio therapy equipment to deal with breast cancer cases.

Mr. Musah Salifu, the Ag. Director of Nursing Services, made the plea at the hospital's Oncology Center during the launch of Breast Cancer Awareness Week, also known as "Pink October."

Mr. Musah Salifu said at the program that the hospital undertakes surgery and chemotherapy for the treatment of breast cancer. He bemoaned the lack of mammograms and pathologists at the hospital and argued that the absence of the equipment causes delays in the hospital's ability to fully diagnose and treat breast cancer. The five northern regions are under the supervision of a single pathologist, according to the data provided. Mr. Musah expressed gratitude to the health professionals who volunteer their time and work on breast cancer issues at the hospital.

The hospital's administration has also appealed to donor organizations for support to enable it expand its outreach programs to include all five northern regions. According to Dr. Amos Adapalala Bugri, the hospital screened 3,600 and 4,444 individuals in 2020 and 2021 respectively. He pointed out that the Hospital is now managing more than 100 breast cancer cases picked from the number they screened over the periods.

Additionally, it was disclosed that the Upper East and Upper West regions accounted for most of the hospital's oncological cases. These cases are mostly in advanced stages before being diagnosed. As a result, management seeks support so that the hospital can reach out to people in all five regions and provide early diagnosis and treatment.

Naana Akyaa Asante, the chairperson at the event and a breast cancer survivor, assured the public that breast cancer can be treated and that those who are diagnosed with the disease live better lifes after receiving treatment. "Breast cancer is not limited to women, men are also at risk", Madam Naana stressed. She encouraged both men and women to visit medical facilities for screenings. Naana Akyaa advised against seeking treatment from herbalists. According to her early detection and treatment at hospitals are the answer to breast cancer.

The Ya-Nas representative, Nyab Vo-Naa commended management and staff of the Tamale Teaching Hospital. He assured the people of the Ya-Nas and all the chiefs' commitment to raising awareness of breast cancer in the region. According to Nyab Vo-Naa, chiefs serve the people and must be interested in everything, including their health. "We shall drum heavily for our counterparts to follow", Vo-Naa added.

During the launch of "Pink October," more than six breast cancer survivors shared their experiences with the audience. They all encouraged routine screening of both males and women. Additionally, they cited the professionalism of the doctors and nurses as well as the assistance from family members as contributing factors to their survival.

The Tamale Teaching Hospital has launched breast cancer awareness week to raise awareness of the disease and provide free screenings to the public. The awareness campaign's theme for this year is "Living Beyond Breast Cancer; Together We Can."

Officials at the launch included the Director of Finance, Mr. Danlaadi Saaka, Deputy Director of Administration, Mr. Iddrisu Abdul Latif Tanko, and Ag. Director of Nursing Services, Mr. Musah Salifu. Other officers were Dr. Tia Salifu Alhassan, Director of Pharmacy, Mr. Kutuba Tido, Deputy Director, General Services and Mr. Misbao Mohammed, Deputy Director, Human Resource.
Logic. Emotion. The two mental impulses that trigger man's reactions. They excite and incite. Sometimes, they excite good; sometimes, they incite ruins. While logic actuates reality, emotion instigates hypocrisy. Depending on the direction in which a man drives his "mental motor".

Ace author, Mark Manson, in Chapter 2 of "Everything is F*cked", gave a telling analysis of man's thinking and feeling brain. Mark likened our thinking brain to the logical brain, and our feeling brain to the emotional brain. While the thinking brain tells a man what the reality is, the feeling brain only wants him to be emotional, and take decisions devoid of rationality. By contingence a man handles his mental steering to the thinking brain, he'll have a safe drive; but in case he does to the feeling brain, he'll likely have a mental accident - thus opting for sentiments instead of reality.

In the context of the Muslim/Muslim ticket, which has stirred opinions from all orifices of the country; rational Nigerians handled their mental steering to the thinking brain for logical analysis, while emotional ones took to their feeling brains to let out emotional outbursts at religious sentiments while shutting doors against the truth.

Historian John Dalberg Acton might have seen beyond his era when he documented, "History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul." For the illumination of emotional souls about the Muslim/Muslim ticket via historical fiats and present facts, this piece was unearthed. I hope you have a productive read, dear reader.

You see, a resurrection of primordial military eras when commanders and their second-in-commands shared similar religions could be attacked with cutting tongues from rigid souls who would rather lick a spit than consider admittance to truth. "No, those were autocratic eras when actions were dictated via decree. We now run a democratic, and not a military era", so they could say at the mention of Aguiyi Ironsi and Babademi Ogundipe, Yakubu Gowon and Admiral Wey, Muhammadu Buhari and IdiAgbon, whose regimes were those of Christian/Christian, Christian/Christian and Muslim/Muslim respectively. But like the biblical Elisha, who pretentiously listened to Gehazi's lies before telling him the truth about the gift the latter had exploited from General Naaman, this writer, like many other Nigerians, had also listened to the lies and emotions of resentful Nigerians about the Muslim/Muslim ticket, and was prepared to pinch them with the truth.

Previous democratic eras that could have served as a shield for aggrieved Nigerians about the Muslim/Muslim ticket were even marked with records of same religion tickets; the good old days when religion did not dictate who rules and who obeys. Then, patriotic Nigerians gave credence to competence over tribal or religious sentiments.

Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo, as the then Premier of the Western Region, was not blinded by religious sentiments when he appointed his fellow Christian, Samuel Ladoke Akintola, as deputy under the then Action Group. As if he would turn his decision into a lull, Awolowo's administration was also one dominated by his fellow Christians. Yet, Muslims then did not protest in a dissenting voice. Unbothered, Chief Awolowo would later choose another fellow Christian, Philip Umeadi, as his running mate in the 1979 presidential election. And the reaction? Muslim took to silence, again.

The celebrated "Zik", Nnamadi Azikwe, would have been considered "sick" by these aggrieved Nigerians, when he also chose his fellow Christian, Professor Ishaya Audu, as running mate in the same 1979 presidential election under the Nigerian People's Party. Guess what the reaction of the Muslims was? Well, your guess is as good as mine; they kept mum and displayed their tolerance, yet again.

The June 12, 1993 election that gave victory to Moshood Kashimawo Abiola and Kingigbe Gana was widely accepted as the most free and fair election in the history of Nigeria. Logical Nigerians had defied spiritual sentiments to cast their votes for MKO and Kingigbe, who were both Muslim faithful. Were it not annuled by General Ibrahim Babangida, only God knows if their administration would have delivered Nigeria from these storms currently ripping her apart.

The then logical Christians were tolerant of MKO's choice and voted for him, unlike some of the emotional ones of now, whose "negativity bias" had led to their "mental clutter", that they've been "hardwired to view situations more negatively than they're in reality", as authors S.J Scott and Barrie Davenport would write in their text, "Declutter Your Mind".

If at all, their emotions and religious sentiments would override logic, I guess it shouldn't be against two tolerant souls who had come together to right the wrongs of Nigeria. The first, Bola Tinubu, despite being a Muslim, has been tolerant with his wife, a pentecostal pastor. His children choose and practise the religions of their choices without any hassles. As a Muslim governor in Lagos state, he commendably returned missionary schools to the Christians, an action that was applauded by all, including the sentimental Christians. The same Tinubu revived the spirit of the New Year and Christmas celebration in Lagos state. After concerns spearheaded by Pastor Sam Ayedogbon of Realm of Glory International Church, Tinubu wouldn't later allow the destruction of a particular church that was marked for demolition. Laudably, countless men and women in his administration, including deputy, commissioners, permanent secretaries, and advisers, were Christians. Many of his political sons and scions are Christians, yet he has never denied them their political and human rights. He did not even look at religious differences when he paid for the exams of students in their thousands, or when he engages in his endless humanitarian services.

His deputy, Kashim Shettima, is "the best governor Borno has ever had in terms of relating with Christians" according to Reverend Jonah Hamidu Freeson, Borno state chairman of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria. Shettima did not only give christains easy access to him while he was Borno Governor, he rebuilt Christian schools and churches demolished by Boko Haram in Hawul, Askira-Uba and Chibok Local Government Areas, which are predominantly Christian communities - Borno Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Mohammed Naga, and other Borno Christians would not forget that in a jiffy. Shetimma would not only send Muslims to Hajj, but sent Christains to Jerusalem too. As if that was all, he sponsored an Igbo Christian, Paul Ojukwu's education till the latter attained two masters' degrees, with a PhD almost shuttering a shot. Despite Borno being a Muslim-dominated state, Shettima had many Christians in his administration too, as commissioners, special advisers, and permanent secretaries. He would also pay the Christians' personal visits while giving them special funds to ease their ordeals. A chef, Peter from Cross River, cooks his food and bakes his cakes. What more could have defined religious tolerance? How many Christian governors can strut their stuff and brag about doing the same towards their Muslim friends and followers?

Surprisingly, these excellent Tinubu and Shettima are the men on whom emotional Christians are venting their rage because they share the same faith. These are the two men resentful Nigerians are shooting lasers at because of their faith. These two definers of tolerance are the ones at the receiving end of sentimental spit and divisive display. I would rather lend the word of the lyrical maestro, Lil Grinch, to tell these biased minds that, "I guess we gotta fear God. Fear God. Fear God. Fear God. Fear God"

It behoves aggrieved Christians to know that no one, not even a president and his deputy, can "Islamize" a country without the amendment of Section 10 of the 1999 constitution, which can only be done with the approval of two-thirds of the National Assembly, which is currently even dominated by Christians. Or without the consent of the state governors, of which 19 are currently Christians and 17, Muslims. Does one even mention that the 21 deputies who are Christiansas opposed to the 15 Muslimswould not watch that happen?

Emotional Christians should also know, that what is sauce for the goose should equally be sauce for the gander. What is fair at the federal level should equally be fair at the state level, where there are many cases of Muslim/Muslim and Christian/Christian tickets. Today, the entire South East does not have a single Muslim as either a governor or deputy. In the South South, there are just two Muslim deputies and no single Muslim governor. I guess there are no Muslims at all in the two regions. If not, they'd have protested at marginalization. But their tolerant hands would refuse to beat the drum of hate.

Currently, the whole of the South West, despite having more Muslim habitants, is ruled by Christians, except Osun State, whose Governor, Gboyega Oyetola, has even lost the last gubernatorial election to a Christian/Christian ticket. Even, the newly-sworn Ekiti Governor, Biodun Oyebanji is also a Christian, adding to the tally in favour of Yoruba Christian governors. But the tolerant Muslims won't protest, thanks to the undying tolerance they currently uphold, and once upheld during the second republic (19791983) when the whole region in the South was also ruled by Christians, except Lagos state.

Today, the North, despite being a Muslim-dominated region, still has three Christian governors in Benue, Taraba, and Plateauwith Benue and Plateau both running on a Christian-Christian ticket, not to mention Christian deputies in states like Gombe, Kwara, Kogi, and Adamawaa contrary of which can't be found in the entire South East and South South.

Considering all these, Nigerian Christians who still protest against the Muslim/Muslim ticket would only be likened to the intolerant neighbours of Ezeulu in Chinua Achebe's 'Arrow of God' which he and his people accommodated but "wanted to turn a leper, allow him a handshake and he wants to embrace".

If the constitution is fine to have permitted the past and present Christian/Christian and Muslim/Muslim leaderships at both state and federal levels, it should equally be fine to permit both Tinubu and Shettima - two tolerant souls with a glimmer of hope. In the wiser part of this, the grievances of emotional Christians about Muslim/Muslim tickets should rather fuel their request for a Christian Chief Justice and Senate President, since the Nigerian government stands on a tripod.

Relatably, the Muslim/Muslim ticket could be a hard pill to swallow for the aggrieved Nigerian Christians, but its end result would be favourable like the Sukuk roads and Islamic banking projects which they once besmirched but now enjoy. Against tribal hate and religious sentiments, may Nigeria win.

Hashim Yussuf Amao tweets via @LegalBard

[email protected]
20.10.2022 LISTEN

The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has tagged former President John Dramani Mahama as the worst-performing President in terms of infrastructural development in the Ashanti Region.

The NPP at a press conference on Thursday October 20, 2022 at Kumasi described Mr Mahama as the most "wicked President for starving the Ashanti Region of development.

The Communications Director for the Ashanti Region, Dennis Kwakwa maintained that John Mahama should be solely held responsible for the recent outcry by some residents in the region over low infrastructural projects.

Touching on education, Dennis Kwakwa said the Akufo-Addo lead government has embarked on over 207 different school projects in the Ashanti Region.

"Putting the free Senior High School policy aside, the NPP's development drive in the education sector alone is unparalleled compared to the mediocre projects the NDC claimed to have done.

"Mr Mahama who claimed to have outperformed President Akufo-Addo could only manage just 29 school projects across the country which culminated in only 696 classrooms but the underperforming NPP government has constructed 69 three unit classroom blocks, 175 six unit classroom blocks, one eight unit classroom blocks, 193 twelve unit classroom blocks, 11 eighteen unit classroom blocks totaling 3744 classrooms for the Ashanti Region alone in just four years, and we believe the good people of the region are the better judges," he stated.

Mr Kwakwa however said this calculation is done without adding the ongoing works on the creative arts school at Kwadaso, J.A Kufuor Model School at Dabaa and other STEM schools in the Bosomtwe Constituency.

Let me add without equivocation that [the NDC is] the government that has proven to be the greatest political scam in the history of the 4th Republic as far as we the people in the Ashanti are concerned," he stressed.

He commended President Akufo-Addo for putting the Ashanti Region at heart by providing the needed infrastructure to enhance the livelihood of the people.
The Advocacy for Alleged Witches urges witch-suspecting and accusing Africans to apologize to family members. This directive follows a video message where a Nigerian expressed regret to his family members for branding them witches and blaming them for his problems. In the 2-minute video message, recorded in pidgin English, this young Nigerian who traveled abroad made it clear that traveling overseas opened his eyes to so many things. He called poverty a bastard and that living overseas had made him not to remember certain things. This young man noted that if one were in Nigeria, one would think that every neighbor was a witch. That one's relatives, uncles, and aunts who did nothing to harm someone were witches. He attributed witch belief to poverty. He explained that there was a point one could be poor, or one would live and languish in poverty and the miserable situation would destroy one's thoughts and mind.

To add to it, one could start attending one of these useless churches (yeye church) and the pastor would prophesy that the problems that one was encountering were from the family. Subsequently, one would begin to suspect any of the uncles and other relatives, especially the poor ones of witchcraft; that they were the people withholding the destinies. He further stated that since he traveled out of Nigeria, he realized that all those allegations and suspicions were false and baseless; that no one was withholding any person's progress. That it was poverty. This guy noted that he had stopped saying certain kinds of prayers. He only prayed to thank God for helping him see a new day. He had stopped praying against spirits from the father's compound. This young made it clear that there was no spirit anywhere; that we had accused innocent people for nothing. He used the video message to apologize to his uncles and aunts whom he had suspected of witchcraft or imagined to be withholding his progress every time he prayed in the church. He told those relatives that he was sorry and that it was not true that they were hampering his progress in any way. This guy went further to enjoin all Africans in Cameroon, Ghana, Gambia, and Togo who suspected their relatives of witchcraft or occult harm, to go and apologize to them. He declared: "Nobody is a witch; there are no witches, it is poverty". He noted that poverty and hunger could destroy people's thinking processes and could engender witchcraft fears and anxieties. He concluded the video message by urging those who watched it to share the video so that God would bless them so that they would travel and stop suspecting people of witchcraft.

AfAW commends this young man for the educative and enlightening video message that reiterates the position of AfAW. The Advocacy for Alleged Witches maintains that witches are imaginary beings and witchcraft is a form of superstition. AfAW is of the view that suspected witches are innocent people. More especially, AfAW welcomes the move to apologize to relatives suspected of witchcraft. Many Africans who realize their error in accusing and persecuting family members for witchcraft do not usually express remorse or regret. They simply keep mute. And this approach is wrong.

Unfortunately, many Africans who travel overseas have not realized their mistake in suspecting family members of witchcraft. To this end, some western anthropologists have attributed this trend to African witchcraft going global. Africans who live abroad actively suspect relatives of magically harming them or using occult means to undermine their progress. There have been cases where Africans who live in Europe or America suspect relatives back home of bewitching them and making it difficult or impossible for them to make progress. These suspected witches are family members who never traveled abroad. From overseas, they threaten or accuse these family members, abandon them or deny them support and assistance. They would hope and pray for them to die.

AfAW supports the process of African enlightenment going global. AfAW enjoins all Africans to emulate this young man and openly express remorse for witchcraft allegations. Africans should abandon witchcraft beliefs because witches do not exist. Africans should apologize to family and community members for suspecting or accusing them of witchcraft.

In addition, Africans do not need to travel overseas before realizing that witches do not exist. That witchcraft is a form of superstition. Look, it is not all Africans that have or will have the opportunity of traveling overseas. While traveling is helpful, it is not a necessary condition to overcome witchcraft fears and anxieties.

AfAW acknowledges the role of poverty and hunger in witchcraft accusations and witch persecutions. But witchcraft fears and anxieties are rooted more in poverty of the mind, and intellect, not of the pocket because rich Africans also believe in witchcraft and suspect family members of perpetrating magical harm. Rich Africans who live overseas entertain witchcraft fears and anxieties and are drivers of witch hunting and accusations of demon/spirit possessions in families. Many Africans attend witch-hunting churches in Europe and America where illiterate pastors and charlatans reinforce these beliefs. Witch-believing Africans who live overseas hire witch-hunters, and support witch-hunting in their communities. All witch-suspecting and witch-persecuting Africans should apologize to family members now. Like this young man, they should express remorse and regret from wherever they are, in Africa or overseas, for their misdeeds and for victimizing innocent family members.
The Atiku People United (APU) has urged Nigerians to take as a warning the commendation the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, gave to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai for taking Kaduna State from rotten to bad.

Slamming the disdainful manner the APC flag-bearer also referred to the poisoned Holy Communion while facing the Arewa Joint Committee in Kaduna, APU Coordinating Leader, Hon. Rahman Owokoniran, submitted that an earlier speech in which Tinubu told opposition persons to shut up reflected the despotic manner in which the former Governor controlled Lagos politics like an Emperor, without consideration for alternative arguments and without providing a level playing field.

According to APU, Tinubus rotten-to-bad remark must be seen in the same light as President Muhammadu Buhari, who lived up to his words of taking Nigeria from "top to bottom," with seven years of APC misgovernment that has left the country reeling from socio-economic degeneration, frightening insecurity and colossal debts.

The APU statement said: What Tinubu has said is that APC would turn Nigerias already rotten situation under his party into a worse one. It is now left for Nigerians to decide whether they want to have another four years of badness and suffering under APC. Simply put, under APC, there is no light at the end of this tunnel of despair and maladministration. Nigerians, be warned!

Nigerians must decide if they want to hand over their affairs to a party whose flag-bearer gives accolades to a Governor who took a state from rotten to bad. Nothing can be good about bad. For a party candidate to celebrate badness, therefore, is highly questionable.

The hollow damage control attempted by Tinubus handlers that he suffered a Freudian Slip does not fool anybody, it simply worsens matters. Then just the following moment he went to badmouth the Holy Communion in a rather insensitive manner annoying to Christians.

Should we submit the sensitive office of President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to such a man? For crying out loud, this is a 200 million-strong population, the largest Black nation on earth! Is this the best that Nigeria can produce with all our competent, erudite and world-class achievers?

Fortunately, Nigerians have a choice of voting for the truly nationalistic, progressive and excellent ticket of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Governor Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa, the true unifiers of Nigeria, with track records of selfless service.

Owokoniran, South-West Zonal Secretary PDP, said the fact that the APC Presidential Candidate celebrated El-Rufai was even more curious, considering the fact that the APC Governors tenure had been laden with crisis and scandals.

He said: Even more surprising is what the APC Presidential Candidate says is worthy of celebrating in Governor El-Rufais seven years of administering Kaduna. This is a Governor who upset the delicate balance of Kadunas ethno-religious makeup and imposed a Muslim-Muslim ticket. That insensitive Kaduna model must have been the motivation for Tinubus disrespectful and insensitive adoption of a Muslim-Muslim ticket in a pluralistic country like Nigeria.

El-Rufai is a Governor who described kidnapping and banditry as mere business and these evils can be seen flourishing in Kaduna and indeed all over Nigeria under APC.

The APC government in Kaduna State is overseeing the worst levels of insecurity with killings going on every day, so much so that today, it has become difficult to travel between Kaduna and neighbouring Abuja.

The APC chieftain said Nigerians must choose right.

Owokoniran submitted: To be forewarned is to be forearmed. With Tinubu, what you see is what you get. So dont expect anything different.

Honourable Rahman Owokoniran

Coordinator Leader, Atiku People United (APU)
African governments are meeting at the ADEA Triennale in Mauritius to discuss solutions as a new report shows that, while all children are born to learn, those in Africa are five times less likely to learn the basics than children elsewhere.

The ability of education systems in the continent to ensure even rudimentary literacy skills for their students has declined in 4 out of 10 African countries over the last three decades.

The findings are published in the first of a three-part series of Spotlight reports on foundational learning in Africa called Born to learn, published by the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report at UNESCO, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the African Union. The continental report draws from five accompanying country reports developed in partnership with ministries of education covering the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda and Senegal and a series of case studies from various African regions.

Africa has a complex past that has left parts of it with linguistic fragmentation, conflict, poverty and malnutrition that have weighed heavily on the education systems ability to ensure universal primary completion and foundational learning. Our partnership is shining a spotlight on this issue together with education ministries to help find solutions that work. The social and economic consequences of low learning outcomes are devastating for Africa. This reports findings give us the chance to find a new way forward, learning from each other, said Albert Nsengiyumva, the Executive Secretary of ADEA.

The report finds that, in addition to socioeconomic challenges, the limited availability of good quality textbooks, lack of proper teacher support, inadequate teacher training and provision of teacher guides, limited progress in the introduction of home languages in teaching and insufficient school feeding programmes, are key factors that have resulted in poor learning outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa.

Yet, recent interventions show that progress is possible if efforts are focused on classroom practices that are informed by evidence. These positive practices highlighted in the report and other experiences are to feed into a peer-learning mechanism on foundational learning hosted by the AU that has been launched alongside this report, the Leveraging Education Analysis for Results Network (LEARN), building on the Continental Education Strategy for Africa clusters.

Mohammed Belhocine, African Union Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation said: The COVID-19 pandemic has thwarted our efforts to ensure all children have fundamental skills in reading and mathematics. This is why a focus on basic education within our continental strategys policy dialogue platform is warranted. The work of the new LEARN network on basic education within the AU launched this week will draw from the experiences of countries t hat have taken part in the Spotlight report series

As noted by Manos Antoninis, Director of the GEM Report, Every child is born to learn, but they will not do so if they are hungry, if they dont have a textbook to learn from, if they dont understand the language they are being taught in and if their teachers are not supported appropriately. Every country needs to learn too, ideally from its peers. We hope this Spotlight report will guide ministries to make a clear plan to improve learning, setting a vision for change, working closely with teachers and school leaders, and making more effective use of external resources.

The report makes the following recommendations:

Give all children a textbook: Ensure all children have learning materials, which are research-based and locally developed. Each textbook is shared on average by 3 students and yet owning their textbook can increase childrens literacy scores by up to 20%. Senegals Lecture pour tous project ensured textbooks were high quality. Benin is celebrated for its system-wide curriculum and textbook reform that has provided more explicit and direct instruction for teachers, as well as making efforts to reduce the cost of textbooks to less than US$1. Teach all children in their home language: Give all children the opportunity to learn to read in the language they understand. Just one in five students are taught in their home language. Mozambiques recent expansion of bilingual education covers around a quarter of primary schools, with children learning under the new approach achieving outcomes 15% higher than those studying the monolingual curriculum. Provide all children with a school meal: Give all children the minimum conditions to learn: zero hungry pupils in school. Today, only one in three primary school students in Africa receive a school meal. Rwanda has committed to deliver school meals to all children from pre-primary to lower secondary education and offered to cover 40% of the cost. Make a clear plan to improve learning: Define learning standards, set targets and monitor outcomes to inform the national vision. There is no information on the learning levels of two-thirds of children across the region. This represents 140 million students. The Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project is working on a framework for learning accountability, which includes development of national standardized assessment tests at grades 2 and 4. Develop teacher capacity: Ensure all teachers use classroom time effectively through training and teacher guides. A recent study covering 13 countries, 8 of them in sub-Saharan Africa, found that projects with teacher guides significantly increased reading fluency. Prepare instructional leaders: Restructure support mechanisms offered to teachers and schools. The Lets read programme in Kenya, which combined school support and monitoring with effective leadership has seen improvements equivalent to one additional year of schooling for children. Learn from peers: Reinvigorate mechanisms for countries to share experiences on foundational literacy and numeracy. Focus aid on institution building: Shift from projects to provision of public goods that support foundational learning

The Report was launched along with a campaign #BorntoLearn with the support the First Lady of Malawi, H.E Monica Chakwera and the First Lady and Minister of Education of Uganda H.E Janet Kainembabazi Museveni, alongside six other ministers of education: Ghana, Rwanda, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Zanzibar.

Source: UNESCO
On the occasion of the United Nations Day, which falls on 24 October, the United Nations in Ghana and the Government of Ghana will sign the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023-2025.

The signing ceremony, which is expected to be attended by the Minister of Finance, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, the UN Resident Coordinator and Heads of UN agencies, funds and programmes and the diplomatic community, will take place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration on Tuesday, 25 October.

The Cooperation Framework, the most important instrument for planning and implementation of UN development activities in Ghana, is for a three-year period starting 2023 to 2025 and will deploy an estimated US$500m over the period. It outlines the UN development systems integrated contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) along with a commitment to leaving no one behind, to fundamental and a human rights-based approach, to Gender Equality and Womens Empowerment, to building resilience and sustainability, and to strengthening accountability.

The process of developing this framework has been deeply consultative, inclusive and intense, involving key government partners, the private sector, civil society and non-governmental organisations, youth groups and other key stakeholders. We are grateful to all these groups, and more importantly to the Government of Ghana for walking with us throughout the process and to help us align our priorities with those of the people of Ghana says the UN Resident Coordinator for Ghana, Mr. Charles Abani.

The signing ceremony will be followed immediately by the flag-raising ceremony which usually marks the UN Day, under the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.

Later that day, the United Nations in Ghana will launch the Cooperation Framework at an evening reception to be attended by high-level government officials and key stakeholders from the public and private sectors, civil society, the diplomatic community, development partners and media partners. The event will be live-streamed on the UN in Ghana Facebook and YouTube channels (@UNinGhana).

The signing and launch of the Cooperation Framework between the Government of Ghana and the United Nations will signal a new chapter of renewed and strengthened cooperation and partnership between the Government of Ghana and the United Nations.
21.10.2022 LISTEN

The National Labour Commission (NLC) has ordered striking members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to, with immediate effect, call off its ongoing strike.

This was arrived by the NLC after meeting with UTAG members on Thursday, October 20, 2022.

The Commission directed as follows: That the parties engage fitter on the Terms of Payment and other related matters.

That both parties should bring to the engagement table, people with mandate to take and/or make decisions.

That the engagement should be held in good faith

That UTAG should call off the strike immediately

That the parties are given two weeks to conclude their engagement on report.

UTAG is on strike together with the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) and Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA).

They had suspended an earlier strike threat after meeting with the National Labour Commission.

But following a meeting with the National Labour Commission, the unions say the government has not honoured its side of the bargain.

The strike by the four Unions according to their leadership is to compel the government to reverse its decision to pay the 2022 fuel ex-pump allowance instead of the 2021 price.

Among their key concerns are the payment of vehicle maintenance and off-campus allowances.

---citinewsroom
21.10.2022 LISTEN

The High Court in Nkawkaw on Thursday placed an injunction on the constituency elections of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Kwahu Afram Plains North constituency of the Eastern Region.

Accordingly, the court presided over by her ladyship Cynthia Martinson restrained the constituency executives from conducting the elections scheduled for October 22, 2022.

The plaintiffs were led by one Amos Mornyui the constituency vice chairman of the NDC and three (3) others namely: Kudjo Gaikpa Ernest, Eric Aziaklo and Domevie Ebenezer.

Counsel for the plaintiffs/ Applicants, Christian Akwasi Buame prayed the court for an interim injunction restraining the defendants (the executive of NDC Afram Plains North) from holding elections of a new constituency executive committee members per the grounds contained in the supporting affidavit and any other order that the honourable court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.

Speaking to the media after the court proceedings, lawyer for the plaintiffs, Christian Akwasi Buame said he is very grateful to the court for granting their request.

The constituency vice chairman of the NDC in the Afram Plains North Constituency, who is also the lead plaintiff, Amos Mornyui told the media after the court proceedings that they want to save the NDC party in the Kwahu Afram Plains North constituency the reason why they have secured an injunction on the constituency elections for the right thing to be done.

He said, the party executives of the Afram Plains North constituency did not follow the right procedure while conducting the branch elections of the party in the constituency.

''We followed the due processes of the party by petitioning the constituency, regional and national but did not get any result, that is why we are in court, he added.

He called on all members of the party in the Afram Plains North constituency to remain calm for they are not in court to destroy the party but want the right thing to be done especially at the grass root level to save the party, and they are ready to solve the issues amicably if the party executives call them to the negotiation table.

By Citi Newsroom
MATSAMO  Two children aged four and six witnessed an incident they may never forget  their father being shot dead.

This was the situation when William Shongwe, who was a soldier based at Nkoyoyo was allegedly gunned down on Wednesday evening while relaxing at his home near Matsamo at a place known as Madelezini under Timphisini Inkhundla in northern Hhohho. According to a relative, Shongwe was off duty on the day he was allegedly killed. He alleged that the attacker appeared to have been a young person who fled after the shooting.

It is alleged that on the day of the shooting, William was sitted outside his house with two of his younger children and his wife. However, his wife is said to have gone into the house to prepare some water for him to bath. While she was preparing the water, a youthful man is said to have entered the homestead and allegedly headed straight for Shongwe. It is alleged that the shooter fired three shots, two of which are said to have hit the deceased in the head.

Upon hearing the sounds, his wife is said to have gone out of the house, only to find her husband lying dead on the ground. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that a 48-year-old man was shot dead. This publication also gathered that Shongwe was also recently attacked by a group of people and the incident was reported to the Ludzibini umphakatsi. The matter is said to have been pending at the umphakatsi.

Noteworthy, William was also the son of a former Indvuna of the Kings regiments, Mbutfo Uyandzindza Shongwe. Mbutfo Uyandzindza was dismissed in 2016 over a song. This was confirmed by then Governor the late Timothy Mtetwa.
Indigenous Women Empowerment Network (IWEN Ghana), an indigenous women's right organisation has secured GHS100,000 funding support from KGL Foundation to promote sexual, maternal and newborn health (SMNH) in the Ada West District of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

The 12 months project: Improving Sexual, Maternal and Newborn Health through Social Accountability and Community Mobilization seeks to improve sexual, maternal and newborn health for at least 2,500 women of reproductive age in the District.

In a press release, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of IWEN Ghana, Celestina Maame Esi Andoh (Mrs) said the goal is to inform, empower and mobilize women and communities so that they are better prepared to manage pregnancy and childbirth, and to be able to actively seek quality SMNH services when needed.

The Executive Director said the intervention will ensure provision of essential SMNH care to women, new-born and children at all levels of services by adopting a public-community partnership approach.

According to her, when a mother chooses to deliver her baby outside of formal health facilities, she puts her own life and that of her new-born in jeopardy, particularly if complications arise.

IWEN Ghana support programs and Services, she noted aimed at reducing such preventable deaths through a high-impact, evidence-based child survival project that helps to increase access to quality maternal, neonatal sexual reproductive health services with change in behaviour and beliefs of community, pregnant women and their family members across the district.

Ada West is one of the most deprived districts in the Greater Accra region, bedevilled with many challenges including health care delivery. The district recorded the highest teenage pregnancy cases in the region according the Ghana Education Service report in 2021. The district has also performed poorly over the years in terms of its health indicators especially around Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Services (GHS Report, 2020)

Esi Andoh (Mrs) said the intervention will improve access to quality sexual, maternal, newborn and child health care services to help reduce newborn and maternal deaths in the district, accelerating progress towards SDG 3.

The Project Manager, Edward Ayabilah noted that maternal and child health is one focal area of SDG3 target 3.1 by reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births 2030.

And while target 3.2 ending preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births by 2030.

However, he said Ghanas MMR is four times as high as the global SDG target, currently 310 deaths per 100,000 live births.1 Improving access to skilled delivery care at the time of childbirth and in the event of a complication during childbirth is critical to avoid maternal deaths.

He said the project will ensure social accountability and mobilization approach to promote citizens awareness on maternal and child health rights through sensitization and advocacy, by building citizen capacity to monitor progress on addressing identified maternal health related challenges.

Mr Ayabilah noted that Community Accountability Committees (CAC) will be established in the beneficiary communities to monitor financial allocations and spending on maternal health, quality and effectiveness of service delivery.

He revealed that Annual District Health Accountability Summit (ADHAS) will also be organised to increase citizens' participation in health promotion in the District.
21.10.2022 LISTEN

In response to news reports that journalist Oredje Narcisse was shot and killed on Thursday in Chads capital NDjamena as he was on his way to work, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:

Chadian authorities must conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of Radio Cefod journalist Oredje Narcisse, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator, in New York. Authorities must also ensure the safety of journalists as the country grapples with antigovernment protests.

Oredje worked for the privately owned Radio Cefod and was shot outside his home by individuals wearing Chadian military uniforms as he was on his way to work, according to those reports and Leubnoudji Tah Nathan, the president of the Network of Chadian Journalists and Reporters (RJRT), who spoke to CPJ by phone and cited his conversations with eyewitnesses and Radio Cefod staff. Oredje died from the gunshot wound as he was taken to the hospital, Leubnoudji said.

The attack comes amid demonstrations in NDjamena demanding an end to the rule of transitional President Mahamat Deby, according to those sources. CPJ could not determine if Oredje had been covering the protest when he was shot.

Chadian journalist Evariste Djailoramdji was killed in February while covering community violence in the southern village of Sandana.
The flag of Togo was raised for the first time at the Commonwealth Headquarters in London, formally marking the countrys entry into the 56-member association.

Togo became the 56th member of the Commonwealth on 25 June 2022 following approval from Commonwealth leaders during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda.

As the tradition goes, a special flag-raising ceremony was held today in the presence of the Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General, Dr Arjoon Suddhoo, and the President of the Togolese Republic, H.E. Faure Gnassingbe. They were joined by guests including high commissioners, senior government officials, the Togolese diaspora, and the media.

Togos journey into the Commonwealth has been a long time in the making. We walked the journey for many years, as the Commonwealth provided guidance to Togos efforts and commitments to embody the values of the Commonwealth Charter.

Togo has shown commitment to meeting institutional and governance reforms. The Government of Togo has demonstrated clear action in developing its economy and infrastructure; in providing a conducive business climate and stability to attract tourism and investment.

Today, we welcome [Togo] into our family home, where we work every day to deepen our bonds and abilities to conquer the challenges we face  together. Welcome to a special group of nations which are committed to doing their best to uphold shared values and to help one another.

Long live Togo and Long Live the Commonwealth!

President Gnassingbe on his part said: It is my great pleasure to address this honourable audience on this highly symbolic occasion and to express the joy and pride of the people of Togo as we gather here today to raise our flag among those of the great Commonwealth of Nations family.

As we celebrate this remarkable milestone, I would like to solemnly ask each one of you to bear witness to Togos renewed pledge to the values of peace, democracy, and development, which are the core values of the family we are joining.

Our stepping into the Commonwealth family is an incredible booster towards progressing together and leaving no one behind.

It is my wish that the new dawn we are setting today will unveil an era of fruitful cooperation, economic growth, sustainable development as well as social and cultural fulfilment for all of us.

The flag of Togo was then ceremoniously raised on the roof of Marlborough House to the tune of Togos national anthem with guests looking on in awe.

By joining the Commonwealth, Togos Embassy in London now officially becomes a High Commission. To mark the occasion, a plaque commemorating the move was unveiled.

As an institution uniting 2.5 billion people from Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific, the Commonwealth is unique. Membership to the Commonwealth means joining a community of mutually supportive independent and sovereign states, aided by more than 80 accredited organisations such as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Commonwealth Education Trust, that bring their expertise and the strength of their networks to support all our member countries in their development and aspirational goals.

Members can also access a variety of training and technical assistance resources and benefit from more than 50 strategic partnerships with renowned organisations such as the United Nations, the African Development Bank, and the World Trade Organization, to create the conditions for people across the Commonwealth to flourish.

Togo will now also be able to take part in major Commonwealth summits and ministerials which bring together government leaders, from developed and developing nations, to help amplify collective action on global challenges.

Source: The Commonwealth
21.10.2022 LISTEN

The President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will spend some days in the Eastern Region this weekend.

Today, the President is starting a three-day tour of the region after a similar tour of the Ashanti Region in midweek.

I will be touring the Eastern Region from tomorrow to Sunday. Follow the live coverage of my working tour on major TV stations and Facebook. Join the conversation with #PresidentToursEasternRegion, the President announced on Thursday, October 20, 2022.

While in the Eastern Region, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will meet and have engagements with various traditional leaders.

He is also expected to inspect and commission a number of government projects throughout his three-day tour of the Eastern Region.
21.10.2022 LISTEN

We are going to have to begin these next chapters of the series from the 19th century. By that period, the Britishafter centuries of battles and quarrels with fellow Europeans like the Portuguese, the Dutch, Danes, and Swedeshad successfully laid full claim over the Gold Coast. The country was now theirs for the pillaging. A legacy of a governance of thievery immediately took root and took off. The group of differing tribes of people collectively arbitrarily called the Gold Coast by these foreigners, these groups having their own differing rulers and traditions were to find themselves slowly but surely morphed into one unit under one external power. And this foreign power asserted rule over the people, adhering strongly to their core intent and principle of stealing. You know what, one of these days, we are going to have to talk about this in much more detail: the fact that for the African, for the Ghanaian, the introduction of this modern concept of statehood and governance was made to us in the form of thievery and corruption.

The modern concept of political power, for the African, for the Ghanaian came first in the form of theft, not one where rulers orchestrated the course of nationhood for the common good. Political power and governance were never, in the books of the European, intended for the common good of the Ghanaian and Africanit was for the rulers bellies only.

So, isnt it funny then, that you and I are sitting here today trying to use the rule of law in the same sentence as colonialism? If really, we are to begin this piece with the 19th century, then we must be ready for a very uneventful articlebecause the rule of law, under colonialism, the Ghanaian, I daresay, had none of that. And it is not like these Europeans had never heard of this common sense called the rule of law before. I mean, Britain for instance, during this period had attained the position of grand master, if you will, in this concept. Having, as far back as the early 13th century, in 1215 to be precise, laid the foundation for the tenets of rule of law into its societytenets as encapsulated in its legal document, the Magna Carta; tenets that, among many others, suggested that the law was supreme, that all be equally made subject to it, and that the law must protect the fundamental human rights of the peoplethe European people had no excuse for the ills they dealt the continents and nations of people during their imperial era.

The Magna Carta  First Attempt at Good Law

It all came to a head when a young king lost some lands to another king. The man called John, who afore his becoming king was nicknamed Lacklandbecause being the last son of his father, no one expected that he would be inheriting any landsbecame King of England in 1199 through a series of lucky occurrences. For one, many of his seven other siblings (born of Henry II and his French Queen of a wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine) died before their father the King. So much so that at the time of Henry IIs death, the throne passed to his fourth child, Richard, a man who was so well-versed in and unfazed by warfare that he spent his very short rule as King of England in France, fighting and losing his life, all in the pursuit of lands and territories. So, this rejected stone, this very unexpected stone, John, became King of England.

During this period of English life and the periods preceding it, society was structured so: there were at the very bottom, engaged in the hard grind of farming and labouring, the serfs, the lowly folks of the land; above these peasants were the overlords called baronswealthy men, landholders who apportioned out lands to these ordinary folks to work on. And at the very helm of it all was the King. All lands in the kingdom were hisassignments and granting thereof were his prerogative. In this feudal system where all wealth was vested in one man by right, laws were dished out by this man to his subjects as parents would dish out rules to their children. He was above these laws; there were no checks and balances keeping him from turning tyrannical. He did as he pleasedbecause at his very right hand were the Pope and the Archbishop, bonded together in political alliance. In this very mundane alliance, these men of God were to give celestial validity to the reign of the monarch, saying it was God Herself who had appointed himto rule as he wanted, unchecked by laws and rules.

Infamously, he and his predecessors ruled with force and willvis et voluntas. They arbitrarily took executive and legislative decisions that adversely affected the lives and livelihoods of the people. It was the order of the day for properties of subjects, barons to boot, to be seized by the crown; taxes were imposed on the people at whim; subjects were made subject to barbarous acts of the King with no protection whatsoever. The people took these all in their stride for centuries, believing that God Himself willed it upon them.

But of course, if there is one thing that we constantly learn from history, it is that an entire group of people cannot be made subject to a con forever. Dont get me wrong, one may successfully fool a people at first, but midway through it all, there is always bound to be some eye openings, and then a resistance.

King John had given the people every reason for this resistance. His arbitrary and lawless rule, one heightened by the fact that, much like his father King Henry II, and then his elder brother, King Richard, he was unsatisfied with his territory in England; he wanted France too. But to their very discomfort, France did not come easy, it came at a cost. It was high-maintenance. It was a slippery territory. It had to be constantly fought for with sweat and blood, and when attained, in order to maintain it, it had to be fought for with this same sweat and blood still.

By 1215, King John was fighting a losing battlehe had lost almost all of his ancestral French territories. Wars are expensive. Who pays for them? Isnt it the lowly folks, sweating blood each day on the fields, engaged as principal tools for the driving of their societies economies? Also, there were these barons, who upon attaining their wealth from these poor folks, had to pay to the King, upon constant demands, huge sums of moneyjust so the King could fund his reckless wars. By 1215, the barons were rightfully tired of being taken advantage of. [Of course, they had under them, a vast number of people, the biggest chunk of the populace, who they were, in turn, also taking advantage of. But thats a topic for another day, no?].

Fearing an alliance brewing between these angry barons and the French monarch, Louis VIII, over his English territory, King John begrudgingly agreed to a peace talk with these barons. These nobles came with their demands, the Articles of the Barons it was then called. In it, the barons made and the King in turn assented to, among many others, these demands: protection from illegal imprisonments, the limitation of taxes (the wanton imposition of taxes), a regulation of the feudal system, womens rights (e.g., the safeguarding of the rights of widows in inheritance, the prohibition of their forceful remarriages, etc.), the regulation of what can only be called the banks of the era (i.e., by giving protection to debtorsno longer was a debtors land to be arbitrarily seized upon default, especially when found that there were clearly other means of paying the debt, children were not to pay interest on the debts they inherited while underage, etc.).

The Charter also provided on the establishment and administration of the nations court system. For instance, it enacted the establishment of a fixed law court, different from the system of the time, where the King himself was the court, so when he moved, the court of the land moved with him. It forbade the peddling of justice, its denial, or delay. Categorised into 63 clauses in all, this Charter touched expansively on the various aspects of English society. So expansive was its clauses that if they were adhered to, one could boldly henceforth say that England was no longer ruled arbitrarily by one ruler, but by law.

But of course, John had other plans. He was dissatisfied with the very treaty he had just signed, especially clause 61. In order to ensure that these 63 clauses did not end up hortatorymere white elephants, potent in their wording, but useless in actualityclause 61 gave power to an indicated number of barons (25 in all) to ensure the Kings compliance to the Charter. Empowered by this clause dubbed the security clause, these barons could, if found that the King had refused to conform to the Charter, proceed to seize the Kings castles and lands until the King made the needed amends.

The Charter was signed in June; by July, John was assembling the support of the church through the PopePope Innocent IIIso he may renege on this agreement. By August, the Popes declaration on the matter had arrived. not only [is it] shameful and demeaning but [it is] also illegal and unjust [since the King was] forced to accept it. [Hence it is] null and void of all validity forever. The Pope wrote of the Charter.

Of course, this was nothing but complete nonsense to the barons. They had had enough. Their next resort was in warin all fairness, King John himself had been anxious to meet them there. This refusal to grant a people some semblance of basic human rights culminated in the First Barons Warfought between John and his own barons. The King was to find allies in the Churchagain, through the Pope, while the barons found theirs again, in Louis VIIIa people very interested in laying claim to England. King John lost the war to his own demisehe fell ill and died during the war in October 1216 like an ordinary peasant. Devilishly tragic, isnt it? Rather than giving his subjects the fundamental benefits of human rights, equality, and freedoms, John was to go down the path against his own peoplethe barons and peasants alike, a path that culminated in him dying like a peasant, just a year after the signing of this agreement. Upon his death, the baronsa people whose principal beef had been with Johnfelt they no longer needed that alliance struck with Louis VIII. Henry III, a nine-year-old boy, had succeeded his father, John. And to the barons, an infant who was one of their very own was a better bet than a foreign King. So, they tried their luck with Henry that same year.

Second, Third, Fourth Time for the Law

With a certain William Marshall acting as the young Kings regent, Henry, in order to give these barons the assurance that their rights were indeed going to be upheld during his reign, reissued the Magna Cartathis time around removing some of its then-considered problematic clauses, famously Clause 61. Like its first issuance, this Charter failed at attaining fully, its objects. But this did not stop this instrument from being used constantly as bargaining tool, hence slowly giving it a legacy as pawn, as bait of a sort in getting failing Kings to act right. For instance, in 1223, Henrys government had begun slowly but surely overstepping their boundaries as stipulated in the Charter, especially when it came to the property rights of the citizens and taxes. The King, having signed the 1217 Charter as an infant, and being, by this time, 1223, still a minor, some people in his government were beginning to question the validity of the Charter using that same excuse of duressthe King had been forced to agree to them, they said. Henry III was quick to dismiss this assertion, reinforcing his commitment to the Charter.

By the years 1224 and 1225, Louis VIII of France was still at it, trying to lay claim to England. Here again we had the Charter, an instrument embodying the rule of law, used as bargaining instrumentthe barons were going to help fund the war against Louis, if the King reissued the Charter to meet their demands of rule of law. This time around they were sure to insert a clause that said the King had issued it on his own spontaneous and free will. Smart move.

In 1227, Henry, now of age to rule without a regent, was to pull his own bargaining with the Charter, threatening an overturn if the taxes promised by the barons were not paid. In 1253, Henry was at it again, reissuing the Charter in exchange for more moneytaxes.

By 1258, the Barons were once again tiredinsisting that the terms of the Magna Carta were not being adhered to by Henry. They attempted overthrowing him in a coup detat. Failing, these two factionsthe King and baronswere to attempt settling this matter in an arbitration; an arbitration which itself failed at arriving at peace, leading to the Second Barons War. Henrys son, Lord Edward won this battle; and in 1267, reissued the Magna Carta.

These are human rights we are talking about here. That basic decency, one that says if a person is to be born and made to commit the act of living, they must, at least, be given the benefit of peaceful and good living. Laws made to rule over a people must be fair, just, must treat all equally, must have no man or woman as reigning supremeabove these laws, free to infringe upon the rights of others as they please. These basic principles of humanity are what we find here being used, during this period of English history, to play chaskele. But heres the thing though, approximately three centuries later, these same people were at our doorstepsAfrica.

I am trying to write shorter articles. So, without warning, I am going to stop writing all of a sudden.

See you next week.

[Published in the Business & Financial Times (B&FT) - 21 October 2022]
Ministry of Education has described as unacceptable the posture of some teacher unions with regard to the appointment of Dr. Eric Nkansah as Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES).

Reacting to the claims by the teacher unions, the Public Relations Officer of the Education Ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng, said the stance of the teachers is disrespectful and must not be entertained.

It is not funny. It is very disrespectful to the number one person of the land [President Akufo-Addo] and we are very surprised, Mr. Kwarteng said.

We thought the union leaders should have known better, the spokesperson added.

Dr. Eric Nkansah replaced Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa as the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service.

The four teacher unions at a press conference on Thursday criticised the decision, arguing that the new Director General of the GES is not a professional teacher and as such not fit for the role.

He is a banking officer. He has not risen through the teaching ranks, President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu said to Citi News.

By Citi Newsroom
Hundreds of people gathered in Paris to observe a minute's silence to denounce the murder of a 12-year-old girl who's suspected killer is an illegal immigrant from Algeria.

Key personalities from the far-right of France's political spectrum  notably Eric Zemmour and Marion Marechal Le Pen  were present at a rally that took place at Denfert-Rochereau in the south of Paris, organised by the "Institute for Justice", an association reputedly close to Zemmour's Reconquete! movement.

Banners reading,"The state killed me" and "elected officials, you will be held accountable" were displayed around the gathering, with many in the crowd carrying placards bearing the face of the young girl with the inscription "Lola could have been our little sister".

"We want the death penalty reinstated for child murderers", chanted one of the participants through a megaphone, to applause.

Far-right blame government inaction on migration

The circumstances of Lola's death and the profile of the suspect, of Algerian nationality, provoked strong criticism from France's right and the far right, who blamed the government for its poor management of illegal immigration.

The rally began with a moment of silence, then several people took to the stage to talk about other crimes "that could have been avoided".

The far-right National Rally (RN), which was initially due to take part at the meeting, but decided to organise a minute's silence at the same time in front of the National Assembly "in homage to Lola and in support of her family and friends".

The leader of RN deputies in parliament, Marine Le Pen said: "The entire French nation was terribly shocked by this barbaric murder" and "we are witnessing one crime too many, one that now requires us to take effective action."

She also rejected accusations of using Lola's killing for political gain.

Rallies in Lyon, Metz

Meanwhile, in Lyon, more than 300 people gathered at around 7pm in front of the city's court house, where a large banner stating "Justice for Lola" was on display.

After a minute's silence, participants laid white flowers at the foot of the court gates.

In the north-eastern city of Metz nearly 100 people, including some from local far-right groups, gathered in the evening and laid flowers and candles in front of Lola's portrait at the foot of Saint-Etienne cathedral, following a minute's silence.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday, 20th October, attended the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) .

UCC was established by Ghanas first President Kwame Nkrumah.

Noted for its advances in education, business, agriculture and medicine, Mr Akufo-Addo said, the university has produced, in its relatively short existence, Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, High Commissioners and Ambassadors, and Heads of National and International Agencies.

He said he was reliably informed that most of the public Universities in Ghana, today, are headed by products of UCC.

My charge to the University is to remain pure and unadulterated in the provision of quality academic and intellectual discourse, and in finding solutions to complex and far-reaching problems across borders and disciplines, for there are fewer places better suited to do this than in universities such as UCC.

I want to continue to hear that products of the University are making a positive impact, and building a strong and distinctive work force in Ghana, Africa and across the world. The President wrote on Facebook after the event.

3news.com
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has vowed war in Tigray "will end and peace will prevail" ahead of expected talks next week aimed at ending nearly two years of bloodshed.

The government says it has been invited by the African Union to peace talks in South Africa on Monday, and it would participate in the effort to resolve the spiralling conflict.

The AU's Peace and Security Council convened Friday and was briefed by its Horn of Africa envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, who is expected to mediate the looming talks.

The session came ahead of an expected meeting Friday of the UN Security Council to discuss the escalating crisis.

International pressure for a ceasefire has mounted since the AU failed earlier this month to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table, and fighting has intensified in embattled Tigray.

Rebel leaders from the war-torn region have not commented directly on the new date for talks, but reiterated their commitment to the AU-led peace process.

Abiy, who sent troops into Tigray in November 2020, said Thursday the war "would end and peace will prevail."

"Ethiopia will be peaceful, we will not continue fighting indefinitely," he told an audience at the opening of a civil project outside Addis Ababa.

"Ethiopia will be peaceful, we will not continue fighting indefinitely. I hope the day when we will stand with our Tigrayan brothers to work together for development is near."

'Great concern'

Fighting resumed in August, shattering a truce and halting aid into Tigray, a region of six million that lacks food, medicine and other life-saving essentials.

Map of Ethiopia locating Tigray region.. By Aude GENET (AFP)

In recent weeks, combat has intensified as Ethiopian forces and their Eritrean allies have captured a string of towns in Tigray, sending civilians fleeing.

The government this week vowed to seize airports and other federal sites from rebel control.

A humanitarian source told AFP on Friday that heavy fighting was underway between the cities of Shire and Axum in northern Tigray.

The spiralling conflict has spurred alarm for civilians and aid workers trapped in the warzone, and global calls for a ceasefire.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the UNSC and AU meetings "demonstrate the international community's great concern about the situation" and the need for violence to stop.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he also renewed calls for a resumption of humanitarian aid to Tigray, and the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Ethiopia.

The 15-member Peace and Security Council's last meeting on Tigray was in early August before major combat resumed, said the AU-focused Amani Africa think on Friday.

The AU was "widely perceived as responding inadequately to this situation" but had been "working hard" to ensure the peace talks got underway next week, the think tank wrote in a briefing note.

The aborted talks earlier this month were to be mediated by Obasanjo and supported by South Africa's former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta.

Logistical problems were blamed for that meeting never taking place.

The conflict began nearly two years ago when Abiy accused the region's dissident ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), of attacking federal army camps.

The TPLF dominated Ethiopia's ruling political alliance for decades before Abiy took power in 2018 and sidelined the party.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says government will not renege on its commitment to providing quality education and equal opportunities for the youth.

He said in spite of the current economic difficulties the country faced, government would continue to intervene and provide free and quality basic and secondary education for the Ghanaian youth.

He opined that education must remain a right for all Ghanaian children and not a privilege and that investment in education yielded the greatest dividend.

Today's youth, running barefooted to school could be a future leader in the arts, business, industry or government. Education is the equaliser of opportunities, the President said.

I want every child to attend school not just for what they learn in books but for the life experiences they will gain.

President Akufo-Addo was addressing a grand durbar to climax the 60th Anniversary celebration of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) on Thursday.

The University launched its 60th Anniversary on Thursday, April 21, this year on the theme: 60 Years of Quality Higher Education, Expanding the Frontiers.

Established in October 1962, it had an initial intake 165 in two programmes of the Arts and Sciences.

Currently the university has a student population of more than 74,000 pursuing 425 programmes of study including Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing and Midwifery and Optometry.

The anniversary celebrated its achievements and impact on Ghana and the globe in its 60 years of existence and reflected on the setbacks to re-strategise for higher feat.

The six-month-long celebration was marked by a number of activities including professorial and memorial lectures, health walks, college days, media engagements, Chancellor's Day, games and sporting activities, alumni homecoming, awards and dinner night.

The colourful durbar, attended by hundreds of stakeholders including the ministers of state, Members of Parliament and delegations from partner universities, therefore, crowned the celebrations.

President Akufo-Addo acknowledged the increased enrolment at the tertiary level owing to the Free Senior High School Policy, which required urgent actions for expansion to accommodate the growing numbers.

He, therefore, assured the UCC of government's commitment to supporting it to expand its infrastructure to meet current demands.

Touting the achievement of the UCC, Professor Johnson Nyarko Boampong, the Vice-Chancellor, said for the second consecutive time the university had been adjudged the Best University in Ghana and in West Africa and the Fourth in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking.

He described the feat as unprecedented in the history of any university in Ghana, and a demonstration of its contribution to education and impact on research.

He said management had undertaken a raft of initiatives including the construction of various edifices to improve the quality of graduates produced.

Prof Boampong appealed to the President give the school clearance to recruit new academic staff to improve teaching and learning.

He observed that the Free SHS Policy had resulted in a significant increase in class sizes for which reason new staff were needed to lessen the burdened on the current overstretched staff.

GNA
MBABANE - Unknown men have killed yet another State security officer.

This time around, they kidnapped, assaulted and shot a warder, who was stationed at the Sidwashini Correctional Services facility.

Bheki Mike Mtsetfwa (44) of KaBhudla died while undergoing treatment at the Mbabane Government Hospital. It was gathered that Mtsetfwa joined the Correctional Services in 2018. The kidnapping and killing of the warder happed two days after the brutal murder of two police officers who were gunned down by unknown men while executing their duties in Manzini.

Statistics

Current statistics show that seven State security forces personnel had been killed since the start of the ongoing political unrest, which started last year.

Correctional officers said three men arrived at the Sidwashini Correctional Services facility in the company of a uniformed warder, who was also stationed at the same institution, at around 11:55pm on Wednesday. The warder, Wandile Gina, was off duty when he arrived with the unknown men at the Sidwashini facility. It was gathered that Gina, who was driving a white single cab van with the trio, approached his colleague at the guardhouse and claimed that he was at the institution to deliver a parcel from the countrys authorities to one of the superiors.

Missing

Gugulethu Dlamini, HMCS Public Relations Officer, shared that it was not clear as to what actually transpired after Gina had approached Mtsetfwa, who later went missing from his post. Dlamini stated that the men drove in and parked their motor vehicle at the parking lot. She said they were informed that the four men, including Gina, proceeded to the gate leading to the prison and requested to enter, claiming that he (Gina) was there to deliver a parcel to the superiors.

It has been independently gathered that the main prison gate leads to the armoury. It was noted that the men and the warder drove past two guardhouses before reaching the prison gate, where they were blocked by an officer. However, the second guardhouse was unoccupied at the time.

We were told that the officer at the gate doubted Gina, because of the time he brought the supposed parcel to the institution. We were told that the officer asked Gina how come he brought the parcel at night, considering the current situation in the country.

We learnt that the officer realised that Gina was in the company of three other men, who were wearing coats and had their faces covered with masks when he peeped through the spy window. The officer then climbed the steps to see what was really happening. It is believed that the men thought the officer was on his way to raise the alarm when they heard him climbing the steps, she said. Dlamini mentioned that the quartet quickly left the prison premises. She shared that the officer then called Mtsetfwa, whose cellphone rang unanswered, to ascertain what had happened. She stated that when other officers went to check on their colleague; they discovered that he was nowhere to be found.

Discovered

They discovered some cables at the guardhouse which created the impression that their colleague had been tied and kidnapped. Mtsetfwas cellphone was found on top of the register book. We then informed the police about the missing officer, she said. Dlamini stated that while searching for Mtsetfwa, they received information to the effect that he had been found by a security guard dumped at Ngwenya. She said Mtsetfwa was rushed to the Mbabane Government Hospital, where he died while undergoing treatment.

When asked what his abductors might have wanted from the Correctional Services facility, Dlamini said their intention was unknown. She said it would not be wise to speculate since the intentions were known to the people behind the act. However, she stated that the men took a service rifle from Mtsetfwa. Impeccable sources informed this publication that the intention might have been to steal guns at the armoury. During a visit to the Correctional Services facility, senior officers were found engaged in a meeting. The senior officers then inspected the premises, including the guardhouse. At the time, police officers had recorded statements and collected evidence.
Guinea's top prosecutor is calling for a crackdown on the organisers and participants of anti-junta protests while the opposition and justice minister said Friday three civilians were killed in the unrest.

Young protesters clashed on Thursday with security forces in the capital Conakry in demonstrations called by an outlawed group against the country's ruling junta.

Conakry's Prosecutor General Yamoussa Conte said six security forces personnel were wounded, five of whom were in serious condition, adding that two civilians were injured.

He called for action "against the organisers and all the participants of the said banned demonstration," according to a statement read on state television.

He named seven opposition leaders who allegedly called for the demonstration or supported it.

The National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC) had called for the protest to demand a quick return to a civilian led government and the release of all prisoners detained for political reasons.

In a statement released overnight Thursday to Friday, the FNDC called the ruling junta "dictatorial."

The group identified the three people killed as Thierno Bella Diallo, Boubacar Diallo and Thierno Moussa Barry. It said 20 people suffered gunshot wounds while many others were arrested.

Justice Minister Alphonse Charles Wright confirmed their deaths in a statement on Friday, but said the causes "remain to be clarified by autopsy".

He ordered prosecutions, without commenting on the alleged perpetrators.

Wright also stressed the authorities' determination to combat impunity.

'More severe sanctions'

Rights activists regularly accuse Guinean police and gendarmes of using excessive force, and the authorities of turning a blind eye in a country with a history of political violence.

The justice minister ordered the identification "without delay" of a member of the security forces whose image has gone viral on social networks. A video shows him firing a pistol at a target who is not visible in the footage.

The poor but mineral-rich West African state has been under military government since a September 2021 coup that ousted president Alpha Conde after more than 10 years in power.

An alliance of political parties, trade unions and civil groups, the FNDC spearheaded protests against Conde before his ouster.

It was officially dissolved in August by the junta-appointed government.

The coalition had called for peaceful demonstrations to take place in Conakry on Thursday, followed by nationwide protests on October 26.

West African leaders suspended Guinea from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and imposed sanctions last month on a number of individuals.

It gave the ruling junta one month to present a "reasonable and acceptable" timetable for the return of civilian rule, an ultimatum that theoretically expires this weekend.

If they fail to do so, ECOWAS has warned that it will adopt "more severe sanctions".
Staff of the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) have decided to embark on a strike over strange procedures in handling issues in contravention of their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

The TDC staff Union of the Public Services Workers Union (PSWU) at a meeting said if the Management did not go by their CBA, they would embark on a strike.

The meeting had about 120 members in attendance as well as representatives of the National Executives of the PSWU.

Mr John Nii Donu Sampah, Deputy General Secretary of the PSWU, told the Ghana News Agency, that the union had observed non-compliance with the existing provisions in the CBA and Human Resource policy on recruitment and placement of staff within the TDC

He said the PSWU had written letters to the Management to protest the use of 'strange procedures' for dealing with Staff Issues contrary to what was in the existing Collective Agreement signed between Management and PSWU.

The Management should withdraw some decisions, which have been made in contravention of the CBA to assure workers that they will not be victimized or intimidated in the course of their work. This will make workers feel free to work to increase productivity and help cement the organization's record as the best performing State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) in Ghana, Mr Sampah said.

He said some of the workers suspected that some persons within the TDC Management were ill-advising Ms Abena Ofori-Atta, the Managing Director to violate company policies and the Staff Collective Agreement in pursuit of their parochial interests.

Mr Sampah said the modalities and timing of the strike action will be communicated soon.

GNA
Ministry of Education has responded to teacher unions who have rejected the appointment of Dr Eric Nkansah as new Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES).

Public Relations Officer of the Education Ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng, said the argument that one needs to have teaching background in order to head the GES is not illogical but shameful.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday appointed Dr Nkansah as the new Director-General of the GES to replace Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwah. The appointment took effect on Wednesday October 19, 2022.

I take this opportunity to congratulate you formally on your appointment. Kindly indicate your acceptance or otherwise of this appointment within 14 days of receipt of this letter,  a statement signed by the Executive Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante said.

But the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) rejected the appointment.

The association said the new appointee is a banker who has no background in teaching. Therefore, they are unhappy with his appointment.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Thursday October 20, President of NAGRAT, Mr Angel Carbonou said teachers were hoping that a person who has background in education would be appointed in order to bring his or her expertise to bear.

This appointment is an indication that there are no qualified teaching professionals to man education in Ghana, he said.

Mr Carbonou indicated that they are annoyed and surprised by the appointment of Dr Nkansah.

He said What annoyed and surprised all of us was that a new Director General has been appointed to the Ghana Education Service.

The authority to appoint Director General of GES is the President of the land. Unfortunately, contrary to what the teacher unions indicated that we will want a Director General who is a professional teacher, who has passed through the mill, who can bring his knowledge, skills and influence to bear on the activities of teachers and non-teachers in the GES.

Contrary to that, the gentleman who was appointed yesterday is not a teacher, he is banking officer, who was a special assistant in the office of the Minister and has been appointed as the DG of the GES. We are not happy with this development, it is as of we don't have professionals and well-educated people who have gone through the mill in education in this country to run education.

But in a statement, the PRO for the Education Minister Mr Kwarteng said The logic that you've got to have had only a teaching career before you can manage the Ghana Education Service is not only illogical but shameful.

The role of a GES Boss goes beyond teaching. Alas! it is more administrative! Besides, not everyone within the GES space is a teacher (non-teaching staff). What happens to them assuming such logic is to be sustained? Our union leaders must come again!

---3news.com
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has issued a press release to react to the recent arrest of Onua TV morning show host, Godsbrain Smart aka Captain Smart.

On Wednesday, October 19, operatives of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) accosted Captain Smart on his way home from work and detained him.

His arrest follows his allegation that the President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is neck-deep in illegal mining [galamsey].

Describing the approach by the NIB to arrest Captain Smart as a Rambo-Style, the GJA says it condemns it in no uncertain terms.

It is the view of the umbrella body of journalists in the country that since Captain Smart was not a fugitive, the NIB operatives could have used civil means to invite him for questioning.

The GJA acknowledges the mandate of the NIB as enshrined in the 1992 constitution but is appalled by the Rambo style deployed by the NIB to arrest Captain Smart, assuming without admitting that Captain Smart erred on the side of the law. Repugnant actions such as the one exhibited by the NIB must stop as it exposes Ghana to international ridicule.

Additionally, the arrest of Captain Smart sends worrying signals, especially, to international media watchers who still regard Ghana as a reference point of press freedom and democracy in Africa and this will continue to affect our world Press Freedom ranking, a ranking which Ghana dipped massively and must, at this time be seen to be working hard to restore its place on the ranking. We must not, and dare not slide further but rise higher on the league table of free media systems on the continent and the world as a whole, the GJA release signed by its President Albert Kwabena Dwumfour has said.

The GJA is calling on local and international media partners, including the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), and Rapporteur San Frontier (Reporters Without Borders), as well as the diplomatic community in Ghana, to condemn the arrests and actions taken by state institutions to intimidate or gag journalists in the country.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Journalists Association has also admonished Captain Smart to eschew comments that disturb the peace of the country but be encouraged to discharge his duties professionally.
21.10.2022 LISTEN

Prophet Prince Osei Kofi, the Founder and General Overseer of the Power Embassy Church, has described those who booed President Akufo-Addo at the Global Citizen and recently during his tour of the Ashanti Region as wee smokers.

The man of God admitted the difficulty Ghanaians were facing.

He said it was disgraceful, unwarranted and unacceptable.

He said this while appearing on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fms Frontline.

Theyd smoked a wee. They were smokers. You would not boo your president if you had not smoked wee," he stated.

The host, Kwabena Agyapong, drew his attention to the fact that not all of them might be smokers, but the prophet insisted They would not have booed the president if they had not smoked. I admit that things are difficult, but should the president be disgraced at the event? You do not disgrace your husband in front of your guests or visitors if he is not taking care of you. We are going through a lot, but Ghanaians are unwilling to address their problems.

"As a country, we are not serious. We talk anyway. Instead of booing President Akufo-Addo, there were better ways to address the issue.

---Rainbowradioonline.com
21.10.2022 LISTEN

Sunyani Technical University (STU) and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in the U.S have signed an Articulation Agreement to provide an opportunity for the students from STUs Pharmacy Technician programme to pursue Doctor of Pharmacy, PharmD, level to fulfil their academic progression needs.

This agreement is in fulfilment of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two institutions in 2017 to provide avenues for academic partnership in joint academic programmes, student and staff exchange, joint research and many others.

Speaking after the signing ceremony held at Princess Ann, Salisbury, Maryland, Prof. Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah, the Vice-Chancellor of STU noted that this development has come at the right time as it will further provide an opportunity for academic progression for students.

Academic progression

Today, students from the Pharmacy Technician programme at STU can heave a sigh of relief as their major challenge of not having an opportunity for academic progression has been resolved through this articulation agreement.

He said the issue of HND Pharmacy Technician students in Ghana having to end their educational career as Pharmacy Technicians at the HND Level is a thing of the past, as they can now enroll at the Sunyani Technical University for one more year on our new Bachelor of Technology (BTech) programme and continue to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, UMES, to do a 3-year accelerated Dr. of Pharmacy, PharmD programme.

According to Prof. Adinkrah-Appiah, this would give the opportunity for the students to earn dual degrees of B-Tech Pharmacy Technician degree from STU and Doctor of Pharmacy, PharmD, degree from UMES.

While STU is going to serve as a pipeline to feed the UMES Doctor of Pharmacy programme, we believe that this agreement will deepen our relationship as sister institutions for a symbiotic relationship, he added.

STU @ 55

The Vice-Chancellor took the opportunity to inform management and staff of UMES of the ongoing 55th anniversary celebration STU.

He extended an official invitation to the President of UMES, Dr Heidi M. Anderson and his team to STUs next congregation scheduled for January next year as Special Guests of Honour as part of efforts to consolidate the relationship between our two institutions as equal partners.

Present at the ceremony were the President of UMES, Dr Heidi M. Anderson; Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Rondall Allen; the Acting Dean, School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Dr T. Sean Vasaitis; the Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr Victor Hsia; the Chair for the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration, Dr Mariam C. Purnell; Faculty and Staff of UMES.

Also present at the ceremony was the Registrar of Sunyani Technical University, Mr. Samuel Ankama Obour.
Africas leading Telecommunications company, Telecel Group, is set to roll out its flagship social accelerator and investment program, the Africa Start-up Initiative Program (ASIP) powered by Startup bootcamp AfriTech in Ghana beginning next week.

The ASIP/SBC/AfriTech scouting team will be in Accra on 27th October 2022 to scout for prospective start-ups for enrolment in the program after holding similar events in Abidjan, Lagos, Kampala, Addis Ababa, and Nairobi.

Applications for Cohort 3 of the ASIP Accelerator program which will be launched in February 2023, opened in August this year.

We usually encourage start-ups to attend the country FastTrack events to enable them to get real time feedback from our panel of experts. From our experience, about 20 percent of start-ups that attend the events usually make it to the final round. It is a fantastic opportunity to network with our investment team and get more information about the program, said Henry Ojuor, the Director of the Accelerator Program.

The Ghana FastTrack to be held at the Accra Digital Centre, coincides with Ghana Digital Innovation Week.

The Ghana Digital Centre (GDCL) is excited to host the Fasttrack event. It comes at a time when GDCL is intensifying collaborations with key stakeholders to identify and create opportunities that accelerate the growth of digital start-ups in line with its objective of fostering innovation and entrepreneurship through the provision of platforms for business incubation, business acceleration, digital research, and development programs, said Kwadwo Baah Agyemang, the Managing Director of the Ghana Digital Centre.

The Executive Deputy for Telecel Group and Director of ASIP, Eleanor Azar, said: The potential we see in Ghana is exponential and we look forward to welcoming more Ghanian Start-ups to ASIP. The support of the Accra Digital Center to pursue our goals in Ghana and launch the ASIP Initiative has been instrumental, and we look forward to more events like this.

The upcoming cohort will include businesses disrupting key industry verticals that include FinTech, InsureTech, AgriTech, Climate-tech, eCommerce, Digital Health, CleanTech, Mobility, Micro-leasing, and digitizing the informal economy.

Founded by Telecel Group CEO, Moh Damush, the Telecel Group ASIP is designed to develop new businesses across the continent by working with start-ups and early-stage companies to define their business strategy and secure funding. With the support of leading pan-African tech accelerator, Startuobootcam AfriTech, the program has since 2021 empowered 21 businesses with a combined valuation of over USD 80 million.
The Senior Pastor of the New Creation Chapel International, Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh has advised the Ghanaian youth against spending huge money on partners during dating.

According to him, making financial investments in a boyfriend or a girlfriend is not the best.

In his view, couples should only spend on themselves when they are officially married.

I have this strong view that before youre married, dont live your life as if you are married, and it covers every area.

I advise couples that, for instance, the guy would say come and cook for me. You are not married to the person; or I want to have sex with you and those things. Dont live as if you are married if you are not married. Its not advisable, Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh who is also the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission told Joy FM in an interview.

He further explained, If you are not married, dont live as if you are married. For me that is the starting point, the foundation. If you are dating, how you handle money matters is to be transparent, talk about it but dont live as husband and wife. So the woman should not expect that the guy will be taking care of her bills, her rentIt doesnt mean that the man shouldnt express his affection and support in very tangible ways, thats not what Im saying, Im just saying that it shouldnt be an obligation, that you have to do it, I dont have to do it because Im not married to you.

Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh noted that young people should be working to stand on their feet, therefore taking responsibility for partners should not come in at all.
Chad's military ruler Mahamat Idriss Deby on Friday visited a hospital and a protest-hit district of N'Djamena, his office said, after a day of unprecedented violence that left around 50 people dead in the capital and elsewhere.

Tensions eased on Friday after Chad's ruling junta announced an overnight curfew on Thursday, following fatal clashes eariler in the day between police and demonstrators protesting against the military's grip on power.

The violence came on the heels of a national forum organised by Deby that extended his military government's grip on power beyond Thursday's deadline.

Deby, a 38-year-old five-star general, has been in power since his father -- longtime military president Idriss Deby Itno -- was killed in an operation against rebels in April 2021. He took no journalists with him on his city tour on Friday.

Escorted by a dozen vehicles, Mahamat Deby visited the capital's southern seventh district, where there were violent clashes on Thursday, according to photos posted on the presidential palace's Facebook page.

Some photos showed him at the hospital bedside of people hurt in the clashes.

Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo put the official toll from the violence at around 50 dead and more than 300 injured. He said most fatalities had occurred in N'Djamena and the cities of Moundou and Koumra.

Kebzabo also announced the suspension of "all public activity" by major opposition groups, including the Transformers party and civil society coalition Wakit Tamma.

In southern districts of the capital, where most of the clashes took place, there was relative calm on Friday morning, although debris from burnt tyres and the remains of makeshift street barricades littered the streets.

Law enforcement officers, some of them hooded, were seen sitting in vehicles to deter further protests.

'Killing our people'

In the southern Chagoua district of the capital, women wearing high-viz jackets and carrying brooms and pickaxes cleaned the streets, while bus services gradually resumed.

Local resident Suzanne Chamnone, 50, who lives next to the headquarters of Kebzabo's party, the National Union for Development and Renewal (UNDR), said she saw people gathered outside the party building on Thursday.

"They threw stones and set fire to the premises," she said. "I went home out of fear, with my children."

The violence came on the heels of a national forum organised by Deby that extended his stay in power.

Deby took over in April 2021 after his iron-fisted father, in power for three decades, was killed during an operation against rebels.

The younger Deby has since angered many at home and embarrassed backers abroad by staying in power beyond his initially promised deadline, which would have expired on Thursday.

"They're firing on us. They are killing our people," Succes Masra, whose Transformers party was among groups that had called the protest, said on Twitter on Thursday.

The United Nations said it "deplored the lethal use of force" and called for an investigation into reports of human rights violations.

The African Union and the European Union have also condemned the repression of the protests.

"This was a declaration of war against our party. A group of about 100 people came with tyres and petrol. We were in the minority," argued UNDR activist Nestor Nahor, 40, who witnessed the looting at the party HQ.

Access to the internet was disrupted in the south of the city on Friday.

Deby's junta had originally declared it would restore civilian rule after 18 months in power and he initially promised not to take part in elections that would follow.

But as the 18-month deadline neared, the nationwide forum staged by Deby reset the clock. On October 1, it approved a new 24-month timeframe for holding elections.

It named Deby "transitional president" and declared he could be a candidate in the poll.
The President of Trinity Theological Seminary, Prof Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu has stressed that it is important for men of God to set up social intervention programmes to assist the less privileged people in their churches.

According to him, the church offering is not only for the pastor's pocket and must be used to support the poor as well.

Every church must have a social intervention program to assist the less privileged. The offering is not only for the pastor's pockets, Prof Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu shared in an interview on Joy FM.

The President of Trinity Theological Seminary shared these thoughts when speaking on the topic; Belief in money-doubling schemes; Greed or Faith.

The issue of money doubling has become topical in recent weeks after the Ghana Police Service arrested Patricia Asiedua, alias Nana Agradaa, following allegations of a money doubling scam levelled against her by some of her church members.

Making an input on the topic, Life Counselor and Solicitor, Pastor Kweku Paintsil admonished the clergy to educate church members to ensure they do not fall victim to self-styled preachers who are only interested in swindling people.

Practically, the church cannot give money to the members.

Churches should teach their members well so they can identify and avoid charlatans, Pastor Kweku Paintsil shared.
An Accra Circuit Court has remanded a hotel manager over alleged theft.

Daniel Deku, denied conspiring with two others currently at large to break into a vehicle and stealing an Apple Mac Laptop valued GHC5,000.00 as well as cash of GHC20,000.00 and USD5,000.

He will return to the Court on November 7, 2022.

The police are still looking for his accomplices  Michael Quarcoo, alias Ofori Quaye and Kofi Abdul Raman.

Police Chief Inspector Isaac Anquandah told the Court presided over by Mrs Susana Eduful that Dr Benjamin Sarkodie, 56, the complainant, was a medical practitioner and a resident of Ridge in Accra.

Deku, he said, was a hotel manager and a resident of Bortianor with Quaye and Raman.

The prosecution said on October 15, 2022, police intelligence led to the arrest of Deku from his hideout at Weija for his involvement in a stealing case that had occurred at the Palace Mall, Labone branch, and he mentioned Quaye and Raman as his accomplices.

Police investigations revealed that on October 11, 2022, Quaye on seeing the police managed to escape leaving his Honda Accord with registration number GE 9338-13 behind.

A search conducted in the car revealed 20 live 9mm ammunition and two sharp cutlasses.

The prosecution said investigations revealed that on October 11, 2022, the accused person and his accomplices were on a stealing spree and at about 1900 hours, they spotted the complainants black Land Cruiser vehicle parked at the Palace Mall Labone branch.

It said Quaye, at large, allegedly caused damaged to the passenger back side window and stole all the items and the money while Deku and Raman kept watch for the smooth operation.

The prosecution said during interrogation, Deku admitted the offence and stated that he got USD2,200.00 and GHC2,000.00 from the complainant's money but Quaye took the laptop away to sell so they could share the proceed.

GNA
Tigray's rebel authorities said Friday they would attend talks next week aimed at ending war in Ethiopia, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed vowed fighting "will end and peace will prevail".

The government has also said it will participate in the negotiations in South Africa on Monday, being organised by the African Union, as diplomatic pressure mounts for a settlement to almost two years of bloodshed.

"Our delegation will attend," Kindeya Gebrehiwot, a spokesman for the rebel authorities in Tigray, told AFP in a text message when asked if they would come to the table on October 24.

The news came ahead of a closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday to discuss the spiralling conflict in Africa's second-most populous country, and growing fears for civilians caught in the crossfire.

Ethiopia's government this week vowed to seize airports and other federal sites in Tigray from rebel control as its army and their Eritrean allies seized towns in the war-torn region, sending civilians fleeing.

Abiy, who sent troops into Tigray in November 2020 promising a quick victory over the northern region's dissident leaders, said the war "would end and peace will prevail."

"Ethiopia will be peaceful, we will not continue fighting indefinitely," the Nobel Peace Prize winner said Thursday at a project launch outside Addis Ababa.

"I hope the day when we will stand with our Tigrayan brothers to work together for development is near."

'Dramatic' violence

International calls for a ceasefire have grown since the AU failed earlier this month to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table, and fighting intensified in embattled Tigray.

The AU's Peace and Security Council, its foremost conflict resolution body, met for the first time Friday since fighting resumed in August, shattering a five-month-long truce.

In a communique, the 15-member council welcomed "the mutual commitments to genuinely participate in the peace process" and hoped for a "fruitful outcome".

The return to the battlefield in August halted desperately-needed aid into Tigray, a region of six million that lacks food, medicine and other life-saving essentials.

Map of Ethiopia locating Tigray region.. By Aude GENET (AFP)

A humanitarian source told AFP on Friday that heavy fighting was underway between the cities of Shire and Axum in northern Tigray, where combat has intensified in recent weeks.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned of a "dramatic escalation of violence".

"The number of casualties and the level of human suffering is staggering", he posted on Twitter on Friday.

Tigray has been under a communications blackout for over a year, and independent reporting from the region has heavily curtailed.

The International Crisis Group said that, while reliable data was scarce, it believed the fighting since August "may have involved more than half a million combatants and killed tens of thousands of people".

"According to most estimates, it is among the world's deadliest conflicts," the Brussels-based think tank said in a report published Friday.

'Great concern'

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the UNSC and AU meetings "demonstrate the international community's great concern about the situation" and the need for the violence to stop.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he also renewed calls for a resumption of humanitarian aid to Tigray, and the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Ethiopia.

Price said US special envoy Mike Hammer was in Addis Ababa and in "constant touch" with the participants in the peace talks, including Kenya and South Africa.

The AU's mediation team was to include Horn of Africa envoy Olusegun Obasanjo -- who briefed the peace council on Friday --South Africa's former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta.

Logistical problems were blamed for peace talks scheduled earlier this month never eventuating.

The AU was "widely perceived as responding inadequately to this situation" but had been trying to ensure talks got started next week as planned, the AU-focused Amani Africa think tank said Friday in a briefing note.

The conflict began nearly two years ago when Abiy accused the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the region's ruling party which resisted central authority, of attacking army camps.

The TPLF dominated Ethiopia's ruling political alliance for decades before Abiy took power in 2018 and sidelined the party.
The US embassy in Ghana has said the wait time for non-immigrant visa appointments has been reduced.

Applicants will now have to wait for less than six months for visa appointments.

Speaking in a video, posted on the embassys YouTube page, Friday, 21 October 2022, on updates on the visa processes, the US ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer explained: The current wait time for non-immigrant visa appointments at the US embassy is now less than six months.

Thats down from two and half years when I arrived earlier this year. Thats still too long but we are still taking steps to continue to reduce wait times, particularly for renewal, she said.

Touching on student visas, Ms Palmer, disclosed the embassy has worked to ensure that students got accelerated processing to facilitate their education before the start of classes.

She indicated that the embassy has processed 70 per cent more student visas compared to the embassys previous record.

We processed a record 7,000 student visa cases in the last 12 months alone. Thats nearly 70 per cent more than our previous record.

She also revealed that in the past year, the embassy has processed a total of 32,000 visa applications.

She assured that efforts are being made to reduce the backlog of visa applications.

You can be assured that reducing wait times for immigrant visas is very much on our minds, so well keep working to reduce the backlogs the US ambassador added.

Source: classfmonline.com
21.10.2022 LISTEN

President Nana Akufo-Addo has given a hint that very soon his government may consider a ban on small-scale mining in the country as part of the fight against illegal mining (galamsey).

According to him, the fight against galamsey should not be a fight for only the New Patriotic Party but a national one.

The President who made this known when speaking on Nkawkaw based Republic Fm, during a three day tour of the Eastern Region noted that if there is a need to ban small-scale mining to put a stop to galamsey, then it will be considered

The President expressed worry that Galamsey has been a menace in the country for several years and the fight against it seems to be failing since those involved do not see the harm it has on society.

In the course to fight galamsey, the president put his presidency on the line and according to him, his seats have suffered as a result.

The president emphasised that there has been a ban on the importation of changfang machines and he is determined to make galamsey cases a treason felony.

Fight

President Akufo-Addo further noted that the government's effort to fight the galamsey canker requires working hand-in-hand with all stakeholders.

He said the government will target the main businessmen and women behind illegal mining activities.

Galamsey is a national issue and we're targeting financiers of these illegal activities. We won't shield anyone irrespective of your party colour. President Akufo-Addo stated

He said its imperative government shows determination in the fight by exposing and prosecuting any individual or group that is a financier of illegal mining activities.

It's important Central government shows determination in the fight against Galamsey, adding that he is determined to make Galamsey cases a treason felony.

President Akufo-Addo indicated that, since he took office, on 7th January 2017, he has made it a central feature of his presidency to lead in the efforts to rid the country of the menace of Galamsey, with a firm commitment made in his inaugural speech on the matter.

Meanwhile, The Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners (GNASSM) has described recent calls by sections of the public for a ban on the small-scale mining as preposterous, insensitive and a lazy man's approach to addressing the pollution of rivers and water bodies and the destruction of the environment as a result of illegal mining activities in the country.

The General Secretary of GNASSM, Godwin Armah said even though the Association does not agree to calls for a total ban on all forms of small-scale mining, it is prepared to collaborate with stakeholders to minimize illegal mining in the country.

Nana Akufo-Addo began his three-day working visit to the Eastern Region of the country to inspect ongoing projects and commission completed projects after he toured the Ashanti Region.

The Eastern Region is the 9th region the president has visited so far.

---DGN online
The Builsa Traditional Council in the Builsa North Municipality of the Upper East Region has banned all forms of post Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) jamborees and get-togethers in the area.

The Council has explained that the decision was intended to avoid the many bad incidences that characterize these programmes, some of which include sexual activities that lead to teenage pregnancies, violent fights and injuries, theft and drug or substance abuse among others.

I wish to state unequivocally that there shall be no holding of get-togethers and jams within the Buluk Traditional Area this year 2022 or any after-party, Sandem Nab Azagsuk Azantilow, Paramount Chief of the area, said in a signed statement copied the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sandema.

Nab Azantilow, who is the President of the Council, called on Management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the Traditional Area to draw the attention of all Head Teachers of Basic Schools to the directive.

I also call on drinking spot operators to desist from attempting to carry out the activity in any form or shape they may intend to brand it, as this would not be tolerated within the Builsa Traditional Area any more.

It is my firm belief that together we all help keep safe our lovely young pupils from the danger that these events bring, the Paramount Chief said.

Nab Azantilow on behalf of the Chiefs and people of Buluk, wished the candidates success in the just ended BECE, saying It is our fervent hope and prayers that you would make yourselves, your parents and teachers and the Council proud, and that your hard work would pay off.

In a related development, the Rural Initiative for Self-Empowerment- Ghana (RISE-Ghana), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in a statement copied to the GNA, commended the Builsa Traditional Council for the initiative.

The statement, signed by its Executive Director, Mr Awal Ahmed Kariama said, the practice of organizing post-exam jamboree and parties had become an avenue for various forms of abuse including sexual exploitation, which needed proactive measures across all facets of society.

The NGO, a member of the Upper East Regional Child Protection Network and the Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health, said the initiative by the Council was a step worthy of praise and emulation.

It said the action by the Builsa Council was in line with Ghana's Children's Act 560 and the United Nations Conventions on the Right of the Child, which morally and legally obligated all stakeholders to promote the best interest of the child in all matters concerning children.

RISE-Ghana said It is our hope that, other Traditional Councils and mandated stakeholders will not only give the needed support but emulate such an innovative gesture.

GNA
On Wednesday, October 19, the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) picked up an outspoken broadcaster with Accra-based Onua TV/FM, Blessed Godsbrain Smart, popularly known as Captain Smart.

His arrest follows allegation that President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo is neck-deep in illegal mining popularly called galamsey.

Appearing on his Onua Maakye show after his release from the NIB custody, he said the arrest is an attempt to cow him into silence, claiming he once saved the President's life in 2006.

The controversial broadcaster noted that the President would have died like a chicken on a trip from his hometown, Kibi in the Eastern region to Accra.

The so-called security apparatus wants to scare journalists; me [they cant]. They should go and ask Kan-Dapaah, Addo Kufuor, J.A. Kufuor or even Nana Addo, who I saved his life in 2006; like he would have died like a chicken, ask him. Ask him that when he was taken to his hometown, Kibi, and we were returning to Accra, ask him what happened on our way. I saved Nana Addos life, you are all sick, ask Akufo-Addo, he will tell you, he said.

According to him, his decision to save Akufo-Addo was borne out of his belief that he (Akufo-Addo) would do better like President John Agyekum Kufuor when voted as President.

Ask Akufo-Addo who saved his life in 2006, when you meet him ask him. When we came to Accra he was asking what I wanted and I told him that I dont need anything. My responsibility is to make sure that you live because I believed in him from 2005, he emphasised.

Watch him speaking below:
The Ministry of Trade and Industry says government is distressed after discovering that, some powerful hands are behind illegal forex trade known as black market.

According to the Ministry, some big wigs in the country are the main architects behind the black market causing pressure on the local currency.

The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Hon Michael Okyere Baafi disclosed that powerful cartels are trading currencies with impunity contrary to the laws of the country.

Hon Baafi said this during an interview on the Kumasi-based OTEC 102.9 FM's morning show "Nyansapo" on Friday October 21, 2022.

He however disclosed that government is closed to clamping down some of the cartels to halt their activities.

"The Ministry has already teamed up with other state agencies including the Bank of Ghana to bring finality to this menace.

"This issue of black market has caused the country a lot. Part of Ghana's economic woes can be blamed on the illegal forex activities. That's why government has devised measures to deal with the situation," he told the host Captain Koda.

Forex Bureau laments

Meanwhile, some Forex Bureaux who are legally operating in the country are crying over the stiff competition they are facing with the black market activities.

The Association has warned that the activities of the black marketers pose serious challenges not only to them but to the country's economy as well, appealing to government to deal with the problem.

Government intervention

The Ghana Police Service in a joint operation with the Bank of Ghana in September 2022 apprehended some 76 suspected illegal black market operators in the Central Business District of Accra.

The suspected dealers of forex were arrested at various hotspots in the city.

The special operation was part of the government's measures to sanitize the foreign exchange market to ensure compliance with Ghana's foreign exchange laws and regulations.

Prosecution of suspects

Hon Baafi has however emphasized that government will prosecute anyone who will be apprehended in their next operations and called on the public to avoid patronizing the services of black market dealers.
In commemoration of the 2022 Breast Cancer Awareness Month, ASA Savings and Loans Limited has organised a free breast cancer screening exercise for its clients doing business with the Lapaz Business Centre.

The free breast cancer screening exercise was held on Friday, October 21, at the office premises of the Lapaz Business Centre.

All over the world, October has been set aside as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

It is marked annually to increase attention and support for awareness, early diagnosis, and treatment as well as palliative care for women with the disease.

Opening up on the rationale behind the decision to organise the free screening, Mrs. Cynthia Emefa Appiah, the Branch Manager of the ASA Savings and Loans Lapaz Business Centre said it forms part of the companys Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

It is all about breast cancer awareness month so we want to take the opportunity to screen our clients especially when our client base is women. It is part of our CSR activities and we are not only doing this for our clients but for members of the community as well, she indicated.

Mrs. Cynthia Emefa Appiah further stressed that ASA Savings and Loans wants to use the exercise to sensitise women to take screening very important.

On her part, Madam Zalia Alhassan, Area Manager for the Lapaz Business Centre said it was important for the company to put together the exercise especially when most of its clients are women.

You know this month is breast cancer awareness month. We are taking advantage of that to do a free breast cancer screening for our clients since 90% of our clients are women. We want them to be checked to be sure everything is okay for them, she indicated.

At the end of the exercise, over 150 people including clients and residents of Lapaz around the Abrante3 area benefited from the free screening.

Mrs. Patricia Sackey, a Nurse from the Breast Care/Oncology Unit of Korle Bu Hospital who was part of the team of medical officers who screened the beneficiaries advised women to make it a habit to always check for unusual changes in their breasts.

We are here to do the breast screening for their customers because early detection saves lives. We encourage women to do this often. We want women to learn the techniques for screening and at least a day in the month they should check their breast, she said.

Her colleague, Immaculate Botchway urged women 40 years and above to visit health facilities for a mammogram once every year to be sure everything is alright with their breasts.

They should make it a point, especially those who are 40 years. Every year they should do a mammogram and a day in a month they should do the self-check, she said while adding, If you see any changes you should report to a facility close to you.

Having received education on how to do a self-examination of the breast from the health officers, the beneficiaries expressed appreciation to ASA Savings and Loans Limited for always having them in mind.

Especially for the clients of the company who in the past have enjoyed various free health screening exercises, they said Fridays free breast cancer screening exercise attests to the fact that ASA Savings and Loans Limited is not only about making profits but prioritising the wellbeing of clients as well.
The Police have arrested two persons seen in a viral video, with one wearing a black attire with police insignia.

The person seen in the attire, Marcus Dankwah, is not a police officer and is currently in custody together with his accomplice, Pascal Nelson.

According to the police, a search conducted on them led to the recovery of the attire.

Preliminary investigation indicates that the said video footage, which originated from a TikTok account identified as the official page of Vzonetv and shared on various social media platforms, was taken on October 18, 2022.

The investigation by the police also revealed the suspects are social media content providers who produce videos for their online TV channel Vzonetv.

As the investigation continues to establish the source of the attire and prepare the suspects to face justice, we would like to caution the public against acts that tend to injure the reputation of the Ghana Police Service.

By Citi Newsroom
21.10.2022 LISTEN

The Federation of Universities Senior Staff Associations (FUSSAG) has joined the ongoing strike by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to push for better service conditions.

FUSSAG in a statement said, our members are also actively involved in the strike in whatever form, shape or direction it takes.

The strike by UTAG is to demand a reversal of the governments decision to pay the 2022 fuel ex-pump allowance instead of the 2021 price, and also the payment of vehicle maintenance and off-campus allowances.

Other worker unions embarking on the strike are the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) and Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA).

The Technical University Teachers' Association of Ghana (TUTAG) backed the strike.

It said its endorsement of the strike by UTAG is borne out of  mutual interest , and threatened to embark on a similar industrial action.

National Labour Commission (NLC) has instructed the striking unions to, with immediate effect, call off their ongoing strike.

This was arrived by the NLC after meeting with UTAG members on Thursday, October 20, 2022.

The Commission directed as follows: That the parties engage fitter on the Terms of Payment and other related matters.

That both parties should bring to the engagement table, people with mandate to take and/or make decisions.

That the engagement should be held in good faith.

That UTAG should call off the strike immediately.

That the parties are given two weeks to conclude their engagement on report.

---citinewsroom
His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Higher Committee for the Saudi Green Initiative, has announced the second editions of the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) Summit and the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) Forum.

They will be held under the theme From ambition to action and will take place next month in tandem with COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The MGI Summit will be held on November 7 and the SGI Forum will be held on November 11 and 12.

HRH the Crown Prince said: I would like to thank His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the Egyptian government for hosting the MGI Summit and SGI Forum in Egypt this year. We are holding them in tandem with COP27, an event bringing nations from around the world together under one roof, to advance global climate ambitions by inspiring joint activity at the local, regional, and international levels. Our partnership with Egypt reflects a shared belief in the importance of collaborative action to address the environmental and climate challenges facing the region and the world today.

Building on the success of the inaugural Summit, which was hosted in Riyadh last year, the second edition of the MGI Summit will be held in conjunction with the COP27 World Leaders Summit, in partnership with Egypt. During the event the Kingdom will shed light on the key climate challenges facing the Middle East and North Africa Region, ensuring regional priorities are placed on the global stage.

The MGI Summit is a strategic regional platform that promotes cross-border cooperation, knowledge exchange and discussion between Heads of State, relevant government ministers and policy makers. The first-of-its kind summit contributes to accelerating the transition towards a green economy and building a more sustainable future for future generations.

The second edition of the SGI Forum will convene an elite lineup of climate experts and thought leaders to discuss the progress that has been made towards achieving the climate targets announced by the Kingdom last year. The theme of this years forum, From ambition to action, reflects Saudi Arabias determination to turn these targets into reality by catalyzing collective action to confront climate challenges that impact the entire world, said a statement.

MGI and SGI were launched by HRH the Crown Prince in 2021 to enhance Saudi Arabias environmental action, in line with the Kingdoms Vision 2030. The initiatives demonstrate Saudis dedication to addressing environmental challenges facing the country and the region including high temperatures, low rainfall, dust storms and desertification. The launch of MGI and SGI also reflect the Kingdoms commitment to advancing public health and improving the standard of living for its citizens and residents, it said.

Under SGI, the Kingdom will plant 10 billion trees across the country and designate 30% of countrys land and sea territories as protected areas during the coming decades. In addition, Saudi Arabia has committed to reducing carbon emissions by 278 million tons annually by 2030.

The national goals contribute to achieving regional targets set out by the Kingdom at the MGI Summit. These focus on reducing regional carbon emissions by more than 10% of global contributions and planting 50 billion trees across the region as part of the worlds largest afforestation programme. -TradeArabia News Service
On October 21, commencing at 3:40 p.m. for approximately 15 minutes, Mr. YAMADA Kenji, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, received a courtesy call from His Excellency Judge Piotr Hofmanski, President of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The overview of the meeting is as follows.
ASX BNPL stock Sezzle [ASX:SZL] saw underlying merchant sales growth slow to 0.6% in 3Q22 to US$421.5 million. Sezzle did report that total income rose 4% QoQ to US$30.4 million. SZLs business update comes after BNPL rival Zip Co [ASX:Z1P] yesterday provided its results for the September quarter. Year to date, SZL shares are down  Read More

ASX BNPL stock Sezzle [ASX:SZL] saw underlying merchant sales growth slow to 0.6% in 3Q22 to US$421.5 million.

Sezzle did report that total income rose 4% QoQ to US$30.4 million.

SZLs business update comes after BNPL rival Zip Co [ASX:Z1P] yesterday provided its results for the September quarter.

Year to date, SZL shares are down 80%, while ZIP shares are down 85%:

Source: Tradingview.com

Sezzle presents Septembers business highlights

Sezzle gave a brief business update for the reporting period, which ended 30 September.

The BNPL will release a full set of numbers for 3Q22 on 31 October 2022.

Here are the key metrics Sezzle highlighted in Fridays update:

Underlying Merchant Sales (UMS) inched 0.6% higher QoQ to US$421.5 million

Total income rose 4.0% QoQ to US$30.4 million

Gap between total income less transaction-related costs and adjusted operating expenses narrowed significantly from the peak level of a negative US$24.5M in 4Q21 (average monthly US$8.2M) to only a negative US$3.5M in 3Q22

Sezzle also made known a variation of certain key initiatives throughout 2022 and expects these strategies to bring about US$60 million in annual revenue and cost savings.

These savings are most likely anticipated around the full rollout of the initiatives. However, these wont be until the first quarter of 2023.

An outline of the initiatives consisted of offboarding or renegotiating rates with merchants and network partners, workforce reductions, scaling back European and Brazilian business segments, pulling back from India, and reducing third-party spending.

The payments company stated it has already completed its workforce reductions and stopped processing payments in India.

While it has already finalised negotiated rates with merchants and partners, it will continue to keep an eye on these elements.

Sezzle has also launched its premium subscription product, with active subscribers already counted at 95,000 (as at 20 October).

The company has also now implemented convenience fees and adjusted merchant pricing in the hope of boosting revenue further.

SZLs Chairman and CEO, Charlie Youakim, commented:

Earlier this month, we announced our new US$100.0 million credit facility, which will provide us greater liquidity and capacity. Now, we are excited to update investors on the progress of our initiatives. We have clearly made great strides in the past year, as our burn in 3Q22 was a negative US$3.5 million compared to a negative US$13.0 million in 3Q21.

Top three exciting fintech stocks

While the fintech sector has been beaten down in 2022, the recent bounce from the likes of Tyro Payments [ASX:TYR] shows theres still interest in the sector.

Fintechs can still provide value opportunities  at the right price and with the right growth prospects.

Theres no doubt that in recent years many fintechs suffered from overconfidence in the growth-at-all-costs business model that caught them off guard when the markets turned.

You could argue Zip was a victim of this strategy and is now reprioritising profitability and positive cash flow.

Clearly, profitability is back as a priority for the sector.

With the right choices, some fintechs can grow into very sturdy, lucrative businesses.

Our market expert, Ryan Clarkson-Ledward, has done the necessary research required for discerning these.

Hes discovered three profitable fintech stocks flying under the radar. One of them, he says, is a start-up wrestling with the big banks  and winning.

Download Ryans free research report on three exciting fintechs here.

Regards,

Kiryll Prakapenka,

For Money Morning
Altair collaborates with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders

Mumbai, Oct 21 (UNI) Altair, a global leader in computational science and artificial intelligence (AI), signed an agreement with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. (MDL) to collaborate in multiple simulation areas.

MDL will utilise Altair solutions for simulation-driven design and validation, structural fidelity calculations, shock and vibration assessments, hydrodynamic loading, electromagnetic simulation, and more.

Altair solutions are used extensively in the marine and maritime industries. Altair helps naval architects address complex engineering challenges and mitigate environmental risks associated with seagoing loads including structural, hydro, dynamic, thermal, and fatigue, as well as above surface and underwater weapon threats for the military and homeland security.

Were thrilled to continue our work with MDL, said Panduranga Rao Chirala, senior vice president of strategic initiatives, Altair India. Further and more extensive collaboration between Altair and MDL will lead to breakthroughs in marine and defense technology that make vessels safer and more efficient for their crews.

UNI JS SY
London, Oct 20 (UNI) British PM Liz Truss announced her resignation on Thursday after six turbulent weeks in office, making her one of the shortest-serving prime ministers in British history.

The PM said her successor will be elected in a Tory leadership contest, to be completed in the next week, according to BBC.

Tory MPs urged Truss to go after her government was engulfed by political turmoil, following the ditching of most of her economic policies.

Truss was elected by the Tory membership in September, but she lost authority after a series of U-turns.

In a speech outside Downing Street, Truss said: "I recognise that I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party."

Truss said she would remain in post until a successor formally takes over as party leader and is appointed prime minister by King Charles III.

Truss - who took office 44 days ago - will become the shortest-serving PM in British history when she stands down.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called for an immediate general election following Ms Truss's resignation speech.

In her speech, Truss said she entered "office at a time of great economic and international instability", as war rages in Ukraine and living costs skyrocket.

But her resignation comes after a key minister, former home secretary Suella Braverman, quit and Tory MPs rebelled in a chaotic parliamentary vote.

UNI GNK
October 21, 2022 Ukraine Open Thread 2022-179 Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict. Please stick to the topic. The current open thread for other issues is here. Posted by b on October 21, 2022 at 15:35 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
Ankara, Oct 20 (UNI) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decree extending the mandate of national troops in the Russian-Turkish joint monitoring center in Azerbaijan has been submitted to the parliament, TV channel A Haber reported on Thursday.

The joint center for controlling the implementation of the ceasefire in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh was established in the Azerbaijani district of Agdam in accordance with the memorandum signed by the Russian and Turkish defense ministers on November 11, 2020.

The long-standing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh flared up in September 2020, marking the most serious escalation in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan in years. The hostilities ended with a Moscow-brokered trilateral declaration signed in November 2020. Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to completely cease fire and exchange prisoners. However, the situation in the region has remained tense, with intermittent clashes between the two countries.
Heyday AR Coffee in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste was once said to be a coffee shop offering the best roast in the world by Jose Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste. Taur Matan Ruak, Timor-Leste's Prime Minister, visits Heyday AR Coffee in Timor-Leste, Oct. 11, 2022. (People's Daily/Sun Guangyong/) The coffee shop has been visited by many foreign guests and local celebrities. Taur Matan Ruak, Timor-Leste's Prime Minister, is a customer of it. Coffee is the primary commercial crop and export of Timor-Leste. It accounts for 90 percent of the country's total agricultural exports. The government of Timor-Leste attaches high importance to the production and sales of coffee. Ramos-Horta and other leaders of the country often visit coffee plantations and shops for investigation. Timor-Leste has the world's best coffee, and its kopi luwak, gaining increasing popularity around the world, is well known on the internet, said Ruak. Over recent years, Timor-Leste's government has launched a number of technical training courses on the trimming and planting of coffee trees and has constantly upgraded its production devices. The Chinese Embassy in Timor-Leste made multiple donations to the Timor-Leste Coffee Association at the request of the latter, so as to support the sustainable development of the local coffee industry. On September 19, President Horta attended the donation ceremony of the Chinese Embassy and Yunnan Friendship Association to the Association Cafe Timor. Taur Matan Ruak, Timor-Leste's Prime Minister, visits Heyday AR Coffee in Timor-Leste, Oct. 11, 2022. (People's Daily/Sun Guangyong) The remote village of Quirilelo was designated by the association as one of the villages receiving the Chinese donation. The donation later helped improve both the production and quality of the village's coffee, increasing villagers' income. On a day in June this year, Costa, a major coffee grower in Quirilelo village, waited at the gate of the village early in the morning for the arrival of some Chinese guests. "We've been expecting your visit," he said when meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Timor-Leste Xiao Jianguo. He expressed his gratitude to the Chinese assistance, saying the donation had gained him and his fellow villagers tangible benefits. Quirilelo village is located in Aileu, a major coffee-producing area of Timor-Leste. Coffee growing is a primary source of income for 300 households in the village. However, their income was not very satisfying due to the aging coffee trees, outdated growing techniques and a lack of professional devices. With Chinese assistance, villagers trimmed old trees and cultivated new varieties. They also learned new planting and processing techniques, and upgraded their devices. As a result, sales channels have been expanded, and the coffee business in the village has been vitalized. Taur Matan Ruak, Timor-Leste's Prime Minister, and Chen Lisong, the owner of Heyday AR Coffee in Timor-Leste, hold posters of the coffee shop, Oct. 11, 2022.(People's Daily/Sun Guangyong) Today, some old coffee trees in the village have produced new leaves and some have begun fruiting. "The Timor-Leste Coffee Association has frequently sent experts to us since last year, who not only brought new devices, but also helped us trim and cultivate new seedlings. They taught us many planting and processing techniques," Costa said. "We used to have little communication with the outside. Thanks to China's assistance, we are able to better plant coffee, improve the quality of it and live a better life," said Augustinho, a senior villager who has been living in Quirilelo village his entire life. Evangelino, head of the Timor-Leste Coffee Association, told People's Daily that coffee dealers in Timor-Leste see China as a prioritized export destination. "The Chinese government helps us find business partners in China, so as to expand our market in the country," Evangelino added. According to him, companies in Timor-Leste have attended four sessions of the China International Import Expo, and more and more coffee products from his country are now hitting the Chinese market. Ruak said Timor-Leste's coffee export to China benefits farmers, processing plants and dealers. "The coffee, reinforcing the communication between the two peoples, is like a bridge that connects Timor-Leste and China," he said. President of Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta gives high evaluation on Heyday AR Coffee in Timor-Leste on social media.(People's Daily/Sun Guangyong) Domingos Lopes Antunes, deputy minister of Timor-Leste's Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry, noted that the huge Chinese market will create gigantic development opportunities for Timor-Leste's coffee industry, and China's assistance and support for Timor-Leste are of important significance for expanding Timor-Leste's pillar industries, developing the country's economy and improving the country's livelihood. At the gate of Quirilelo village, there is a signboard of a China-Timor-Leste coffee plantation co-established by the Timor-Leste Coffee Association and the villagers. Xiao noted that China will keep deepening its economic and industrial cooperation with Timor-Leste and keep supporting the latter's coffee industry development, so as to bring more benefits to the people of Timor-Leste. Photo shows villagers of Quirilelo, Timor-Leste picking coffee beans. Under the assistance from the Chinese Embassy in Timor-Leste, the village's coffee production has seen significant improvement.(People's Daily/Sun Guangyong)
Could an underwater microphone in Pacific Ocean hold the key to protecting whales?
The state reception on the occasion of the Day of the Independent Czechoslovak State took place on 18 October 2022 at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in London.

The reception was opened with the Czech and British national anthems and a speeches by Ambassador Maria Chatardova and UK's Secretary Minister at the Department of International Trade, The Rt Greg Hands, who delivered part of his speech in the Czech language. Mr Hands studied the Czech language at the University of Cambridge, he also graduated from the Summer School of the Czech Language at Charles University.

The annual event brought together over 250 guests from the ranks of diplomacy, politics, culture, business, as well as prominent figures from the ranks of compatriots. The event was accompanied by live music: Krystof Kohout played the violin and Luke Lally Maguire piano. Only dishes of traditional Czech cuisine were served, as well as traditional drinks, such as Budweiser Budvar beer and Moravian wines.

By the entrance to the Embassy, guests had the opportunity to view not only the new electric Skoda Enyaq electric, but also the historic model Skoda 422.
Heaviest Bony Fish Ever Measured Is a Wheel-Shaped Behemoth Scientific American

Dozens of ancient viruses are switched on in healthy cells throughout our bodies Live Science

Transition Theory Phenomenal World

Fed Really Having Trouble With This Whole Transparency Thing Dealbreaker

CAPE Ratios by Country (Global Shiller PE Ratios) Siblis Research (DG).

Climate

#COVID19

Estimating SARS-CoV-2 transmission in educational settings: A retrospective cohort study Influenza. From the Abstract: We analyzed transmission patterns associated with 976 SARS-CoV-2 exposure events, involving 460 positive individuals, as identified in early 2021 through routine surveillance and an extensive screening conducted on students, school personnel, and their household members in a small Italian municipality. In addition to population screenings and contact-tracing operations, reactive closures of class and schools were implemented. From the analysis of 152 clear infection episodes and 584 exposure events identified by epidemiological investigations, we estimated that approximately 50%, 21%, and 29% of SARS-CoV-2 transmission was associated with household, school, and community contacts, respectively. From the analysis of 152 clear infection episodes and 584 exposure events identified by epidemiological investigations, we estimated that approximately 50%, 21%, and 29% of SARS-CoV-2 transmission was associated with household, school, and community contacts, respectively. So much for parent influencer Emily Oster.

China?

Organized crime-linked group of 100 brawl at Tokyo skyscraper restaurant Japan Times

Dear Old Blighty

European Disunion

New Not-So-Cold War

The Caribbean

Biden Administration

Our Famously Free Press

Semafor Is The Problem Defector. Semafor is a media launch, not as cheesy as Grid. Reassuringly, they have a masthead: The Founder and CEO, Justin B. Smith, is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations. So there you have it!

Tech

Healthcare

CDC Advisors Endorse Adding COVID Shots to Vax Schedule MedPage Mayo Warns It Wont Take Most Medicare Advantage Plans MedPage Today. Medicare Advantage plans have been under increasing scrutiny and investigation because so many of them have been accused by federal agencies of denying care, exaggerating the severity of illnesses to pull billions more from Medicare, and delaying care with lengthy prior authorization requirements.

Imperial Collapse Watch

Class Warfare

End of the road (review) Times Literary Supplement. The Passenger, new from Cormac McCarthy.

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Turkiye has been cozying up to Russia far more than the US would like. One suspects the reason the US has only started trying to lower the boom on Turkiye is that the US is overbusy on other sanctions fronts, such as restricting high-end chips and related technical know-how export to China, figuring out how to hurt Saudi Arabia for daring to defy the US by cutting oil production, planning to punish Iran over drones supposedly sold to Russia,1 and working out the details on its barmy Russian oil price cap.

Mind you, what the US might view as Turkiye economic provocations come as the US has been favoring Greece in long-festering Greece-Turkiye hostilities. From Turkey protests US, Greece over violating non-military status of Aegean Greek islands in Al Monitor in September:

The US and Greek ambassadors to Turkey have been summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry in Ankara in a protest against the deployment of US-made armored military vehicles on two Aegean islands, in what Ankara describes as a violation of several international agreements. In a protest note delivered to the Greek ambassador today, Ankara demanded Athens stop these violations, Turkeys state-run Anadolu News Agency reported, citing the Turkish Foreign Ministry sources. Ankaras protest came after the Turkish militarys surveillance drones captured over the weekend Greeces military landing ships carrying the armored vehicles en route to the Greek islands of Lesbos and Samos  both less than 5 nautical miles off the Turkish coast. Citing security sources, Anadolu said some of the deployed armored vehicles were donated to the Greek army by the United States. Ankara argues that military buildups on the islands are in violation of the non-military status of the islands under international treaties Ankara sees deepening defense cooperation between the United States, Greece and Cyprus as Washingtons departure from its traditional policy to stay neutral in the territorial dispute between the three countries in favor of the Greece-Cyprus bloc. Washington, in turn, argues that its actions aim to counterbalance Russia in the region.

Turkiye recently entered into a wide-ranging economic pact with Russia, which included promoting tourism by having Turkiye banks accept Russias Mir card. Although the US put the kibosh on that particular element of cooperation, Turkiye and Russia are implementing alternate payment mechanisms that they expect to have ready to go by tourist season 2023.

The US escalation of threats against Turkiye is an evolving story but so far, Turkiye does not look very inclined to back down even after the Mir card incident. Despite the US view that a NATO member should not be consorting with an obvious yet undeclared NATO enemy, Turkiye continues to enter into more deals with Russia. The latest is agreeing to a Russian plan to locate a gas hub in Turkiye that would carry supplies from other gas producers and allow Turkiye to control the flows. It would also serve to disguise Russian origin gas, which would serve as a face saving device if Europe ever wakes up to the need to climb off its Russian energy sanctions cliff.

This week, the US got around to trying to put the screws on Turkiye. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that:

US officials have held talks with their Turkish counterparts regarding compliance with financial sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, the latest move by the West to pressure Ankara into taking a harder line against Moscow. A delegation led by Elizabeth Rosenberg, assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes at the US Treasury, met counterparts including officials from the Turkish Treasury and Finance Ministry and business groups during a trip to Ankara and Istanbul this week In a readout published after the visit, the US Treasury said Rosenberg covered a range of topics, including the sanctions and export controls imposed on Russia by a broad coalition of over 30 countries, energy security, anti-money laundering policy, and countering the financing of terrorism. It said these meetings affirmed the importance of close partnership between the United States and Turkey in addressing the risks caused by sanctions evasion and other illicit financial activities.

Note that there is no evidence that Turkiye agreed to do anything different than what it is doing now. That doesnt mean it wont. My suspicion is that this is the sort of meeting where the US lectured Turkiye over its obligations per the US and Turkiye officials mainly listened, noncomityally.

Notice the timing. The Treasury visit happened early this week since the Treasury statement was issued Wednesday (as in at the very latest, the meetings concluded Wednesday so the statement could be issued on Wednesday US time). Erdogan, presumably knowing where these Treasury meetings were going, chose to eye-poke the US on Wednesday by re-iterating his interest in the gas hub scheme, leading to a quick hissy from State. Per Greek Reporter:

The U.S. expressed on Wednesday its opposition to the agreement announced by Turkey for the creation of a natural gas hub in cooperation with Russia. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that he had agreed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to form a natural gas hub in Turkey The U.S. State Department fired back. We have worked closely with our allies and partners to impose severe and unprecedented costs on Russia, including through sanctions, export controls, visa restrictions. We have urged Turkey and all of our allies and partners that no one should have become a safe haven for illicit Russian assets or transactions, and we will continue to make that case, Vedant Patel, State Departments principal deputy spokesperson said. And as it relates to the energy conversation, we have continued to urge our allies to take steps to diversify their energy sources, to reduce energy reliance on Russia.. Last month, on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia summit in the Kazakh capital Astana, Erdogan held a closed-door meeting with Putin, who had proposed building a natural gas hub in Turkey. Putin has floated the idea of exporting more gas via the TurkStream gas pipeline running beneath the Black Sea to Turkey, touting the country as the best route for redirecting gas supplies to the European Union after the Nord Stream pipeline leaks. Erdogan previously said Russian and Turkish energy authorities would work together to designate the best location for the potential gas distribution center, adding that Turkeys Thrace region, bordering Greece and Bulgaria, appeared to be the best spot.

And after the two-pronged US effort to get Turkiye back into line, more news came out of Turkiyes defiance. First was a Bloomberg report that Turkiye has asked Russia to help Turkiye construct a new nuclear power plant, when the US, as the remarks from State show, the US is strong-arming its purported allies to buy less energy from Russia. From ekathimerini:

Turkey has asked Russia to construct a second nuclear plant on its territory, Bloomberg reported Thursday quoting anonymous sources. Bloomberg said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the request during talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last week in Kazakhstan. Russian state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom said Wednesday that talks are underway on a possible deal to build a new, four-reactor plant in the Black Sea town of Sinop. The company is already building Turkeys first nuclear plant at Akkuyu, in southern Turkey.

And recall as Lambert pointed out in Links yesterday, the EU is in the process of planning to impose much stronger oil price cap sanctions than the US intended. Early ideas were to sanction tankers and prohibit insurance. But insures and tanker operators complained they werent in a position to police the shipments. So the outline from Treasury had the buyers (who could be readily punished by being kicked off dollar payment services) being responsible for not buying Russian oil at prices higher than the cap, and the shippers and insurers being able to rely on representations from the buyers. But then:

ICYMI. Europes latest sanctions on Russia have a WILD provision. If ANY tanker moves a Russian cargo outside of the price cap (assuming Europe adopts it), that ship will be barred from ALL future access to EU services (including insurance). https://t.co/dynLf2qXSu via @markets  Oil Trading Europe (@AlaricN) October 19, 2022

Needless to say, Greek shipowners, who are the big kahunas in this business, are mighty upset so this provision may not survive.

But in the meantime, Turkiye looks to be ready to help Russia defy sanctions:

Turkey can buy and transport Russian oil without the need for Western financing or insurance-Turkish Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati  AZ  (@AZgeopolitics) October 21, 2022

And we had anticipated that Turkiye would support the Saudis (as in OPEC+) on the production cut dustup, although its not clear how forthcoming they have been about this view:

: Turkey disagrees with the US approach of threatening Saudi Arabia. The Turkish view is that global oil prices should be lowered through the removal of sanctions regimes.  Baron of the Taiga (@baronitaigas) October 21, 2022

Turkiyes location makes it the most important member of NATO, yet NATO and Europe regularly ignore legitimate Turkiye issues, and the EU has dissed Turkiye by rejecting its membership application (the Turkiye belief that it has to do with Turkiye being Muslim has merit).

Turkiye can also pressure Europe by dropping the ball on checking migrant movements. But on the other side of the ledger, the Turkiye economy is in an utter mess. But the US has been overplaying its hand on a lot of fronts. Assuming it can successfully browbeat Turkiye may prove to be a miscalculation.

____

1 Andrei Martyanov claims the Russian drones were made by a company in the Kalashnikov Concern; other contend the drones were developed independently and are similar due to having similar functional requirements.
(Natural News) So today, the ACIP panel voted unanimously 15-0 for the CDC to recommend that children get the COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. The decision from the agencys advisory committee (ACIP) also adds the Covid-19 shot to the public health agencys Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program. This allows them to do automatic purchasing, bypassing Congressional budgets.

(Article republished from RWMaloneMD.Substack.com)

The actual vote to add this experimental COVID-19 mRNA injection to the childhood vaccination schedule is tomorrow.

Important to recognize that this is a work-around because Congress is not funding more jabs into arms. If this product is put on the childhood schedule, Congress does not have a say in the funding. Furthermore, if the EUA vanishes, then the liability of the companies would continue under the childhood schedule. This is corruption.

I honestly didnt think the ACIP would go there. For one, this is still an unlicensed product. I am still not sure a EUA vaccine product can be added to the schedule. I dont believe it has ever been done before.

It is now predicted that CDC is now almost certain to add the COVID-19 shots to its Childhood Vaccines Schedule tomorrow. This means that public schools, who all use this schedule, will now be able to mandate vaccines in order for children to attend public school.

This is all being done last minute and basically behind the backs of the public, as this received virtually no media attention prior to the vote. I do not believe that this vote was announced to the public beforehand. Alternative media only figured it out due to the sharp eyes of Steve Kirsch.

The CDC very recently opened up its scheduled vote for public comment and received thousands of negative comments. You can read comments here. Please feel free to add your own comments.

ACIPs decision to add the COVID-19 shots is based on regulatory capture, budgetary issues, politics, and it is not based on scientific data.

We all know the adverse event profile. It is horrific. The small sample size in the clinical trials were poorly designed and inadequately powered.

We all know other countries have completely stopped vaccinating children with these products.

If they add these jabs to the childhood schedule tomorrow, it will completely break the trust of the American family in the CDC, as it should.

I am shocked by the malfeasance. I have no trust left at all in our public health. It is broken.

Read more at: RWMaloneMD.Substack.com
(Natural News) In 2020, global shutdowns were advertised, pushed and praised by government officials and multinational organizations around the world. Ultimately, as communist ideals and decrees seeped into the fabric of society, these lockdowns were rejected by the majority of the people.

However, in 2022, the SHUTDOWNS have been taking place discreetly, stealthily, as entire industries come under siege. Anti-carbon, anti-fertilizer, anti-oil and anti-meat policies have taken their toll. War time sanctions against Russia are creating serious economic blow back. Moreover, food manufacturing plants are being burned to the ground and driven into bankruptcy all around the world. Aluminum, copper, iron and steel producers are also being taken down at an alarming rate all around the world. (Related: As energy costs soar, steel production in Europe on verge of collapse which will have catastrophic ripple effects across global economy.)

Here is a list of some of the most recent take-downs of aluminum and copper smelters, iron and steel producers, and various mineral producers.

Reduced production and complete shutdowns are taking place globally for iron, steel, aluminum, copper, zinc, gold

UNIPROMKAP, the only aluminum smelter in Montenegro, was shut down permanently after failing to pay for the rising cost of electricity. The electricity provider could not provide an economical price for electricity, forcing the aluminum smelter to shut its doors for good.

MMG LTD LAS BAMBAS, a copper mine in Peru, went offline in February 2022. Activists blocked the road to the mine, shuttering its operations.

ARCELORMITTAL SA, a formerly large Ukrainian steel plant, shuttered its operations in March after several foreign companies buckled under pressure to Russias invasion  rendering the steel plant uneconomical.

Liberty Steels mill at Rotherham in the U.K. could not keep up with rising electricity costs and had no choice but to stop production entirely.

The SALZGITTERAG Steel Producer in Germany significantly reduced its smelting operations in March at their Peine plant, laying off many workers in the process.

The ARCELORMITTAL SAS SESTAO Steel Plant in Olaberria, Spain was forced to close back in March after enduring high electricity costs. Operations have been intermittent since.

High energy costs also forced the Celsa Group to cut back on steel production in Barcelona. Their furnaces operate intermittently, as the mill adapts to spikes in energy prices.

The Acerinox Steel Plant, the largest steel producer in Spain, went offline in March. The company has since shuttered its operation in Cadiz.

The Southern Copper Corps Cuajone Mine, the second largest copper producer in Peru, suspended operations after activists cut off the companys water and railroad access.

CODELCOS VENTANASC, a leading copper smelter in Chile, closed its Ventanas smelter, after the ecological controller reported multiple sicknesses in the workforce.

The ACCIAIERIE DITALIA Steel Mill from Italy shut down nearly all operations after production costs became insurmountable. The company has only one blast furnace still in operation.

NORSK HYDRO, a prominent aluminum smelter in Europe, shuttered its plant in Slovakia in August of 2022. Electricity prices continue to put pressure on aluminum smelters across Europe.

The Columbia Steel Casting Company from Portland, Oregon shut down it factory it October, putting an end to an operation that was more than a century old.

The Talum aluminum smelter is reducing its aluminum production by 20% due to the energy costs. Production is also dropping by double digits for several foundries, including Dundee Precious Metals from Bulgaria, Oz Minerals from Australia, BHP Group, an iron ore producer from Australia, Aura Minerals, a gold producer from Honduras, Vale SA from Brazil, Fortress Minerals from Malaysia, First Quantum Minerals from Canada, and Anglo-American copper smelting operations from South Africa, Cameroon, Brazil and Australia.

The repercussions of these climate shutdowns will be felt globally in 2023 and beyond.

Sources include:

NaturalNews.com

Intellinews.com

Bloomberg.com

GMK.center

Nasdaq.com
(Natural News) AOC suffered a nervous breakdown during a Town Hall in Queens on Wednesday night, after her own supporters began chanting AOC has got to go.

(Article by Sean Adl-Tabatabai republished from NewsPunch.com)

The far-left Democrat congresswoman was seen dancing like a maniac as the chants kept on coming.

Thegatewaypundit.com reports: At one point the lights were even shut off which resulted in the New York Representative running and hiding behind the stage.

Watch the entire ordeal here:

AOC has got to go! Sandy was humiliated again at a town hall in her backyard tonight pic.twitter.com/iVielmb58U  Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 20, 2022

She would then get heated after the crowd never settled down:

AOC is melting down at a town hall in Queens after protesters heckled her for half an hour. There are only two fking genders yelled one protester.pic.twitter.com/bj6s2MByDa  Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 20, 2022

This isnt the first time AOC has been at odds with crowds at her Town Halls, just last week a young man called out AOC for portraying herself as an outsider but in reality, shes just another establishment Democrat.

AOC humiliated at a Town Hall: You ran as an outsider yet you voted to start this war in Ukraine. Youre voting to start a nuclear war with Russia and China pic.twitter.com/dSldpyKVLT  Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 13, 2022

Republican Tina Forte is looking to dethrone AOC in New Yorks 14th congressional district and if these town halls are a reflection of what will happen, it looks like the progressive poster girl may finally be out of Congress.

AOC is having a Town Hall right now in the Bronx. Barely any supporters have shown up to hear from her. Most of the people in the room support me, not her. #FireAOC pic.twitter.com/pck9wGCYig  Tina Forte for Congress (@TinaForteUSA) October 12, 2022

Lets see if AOC still dances when shes voted out.

Read more at: NewsPunch.com
(Natural News) The Canadian Armed Forces intend to move forward with plans to discharge soldiers who choose to remain unvaccinated despite the COVID-19 mandates being dropped for most members of the military.

Canadian Defense Chief Wayne Eyre said the refusal to get vaccinated raises questions about your suitability to serve in uniform, adding that it is dangerous in the military to have legal orders disobeyed.

Its a very slippery slope, Eyre continued.

According to CTV News, vaccination requirements for new enlistees as well as the mandate for most current members of the Canadian military were dropped on Oct. 14, and the requirements will now only apply to those with specific roles, such as special forces and quick-response teams.

Despite the relaxed requirements, the military still plans on releasing members who failed to comply with the vaccine mandate.

We want members in the Armed Forces who will follow lawful orders and put the safety and security of others first, who will embrace that selfless service and the values that are inherent in wearing this uniform and serving our country, Eyre said.

The order includes a list of those who will still need two doses of a Health Canada-approved vaccine, with emphasis on quick-response units such as special forces and disaster assistance response teams.

There are also requirements based on deployments alongside specific allies or organizations, such as those working with NATO or the United Nations, as well as sailors on warships that are operating overseas.

Weve got to remember that a ship out in the middle of the ocean doesnt have access to intensive medical care, Eyre said, adding that some allies such as the United States and Japan require military members to be vaccinated.

Eyre said that his orders are interim policy, and has ordered a review of the militarys overall approach to vaccinations while reserving the right to implement it again in case the pandemic returns.

Moreover, Eyre noted that medical advice is continuing to evolve. What is the bare minimum thats required to protect the force, to protect operational output, while at the same time respecting the individual decisions that members want to make.

Various news sources say that 96 percent of the Canadian Armed forces have been vaccinated, but over 1,000 have resisted. It also lost around 100 soldiers who have quit over the vaccine requirements and plans to fire more than 400 additional members who refused to get the jab. More warnings have been issued to other non-compliant members.

Militarys hardline stance raises concern

Conservative MP James Bezan called out their militarys stance on the vaccines, saying that they are concerned that members are still being forced out of service despite dropping the mandates. He advocated for the military to take a less hardline approach to the situation to allow unvaccinated members to remain. (Related: Military members sue Defense Department over COVID-19 vaccine mandate because they already have natural immunity)

Bezan said they should look at imposing lesser administrative penalties for those who refused to get vaccinated, especially considering the cancellation of the mandate.

Further, most other federal mandates had already been suspended. And the end of vaccination requirements for international travelers prompted Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to call an end to what he said was a discriminatory and unscientific vaccine mandate.

Canadas Department of National Defense first reported that the mandate was being reexamined in June, and a draft copy of a revised vaccine policy suggested that vaccine requirements for military personnel be lifted.

However, this was not approved by Eyre. Officials also noted that there could be potential legal difficulties ahead in dealing with people who were kicked out because of the mandate, suggesting that they could be forced to apply for re-enrollment.

Eyre also defended the fact that the military is among the last to drop its blanket requirement, noting that it was among the first to take dramatic steps like suspending non-essential activities at the beginning of the pandemic to protect the force in case of emergencies.

So it would be the same on the far end as well. We would hold onto those measures a little bit longer, he said.

Visit Vaccines.news for more updates about mandates and other shots.

Watch the president of Vaccine Choice Canada speak about vaccines as a choice in the video below.

This video is from the Vaccine Choice Canada channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Scott Kesterson: Military COVID-19 vaccine mandate a ploy to get rid of soldiers who would disobey illegal orders  Brighteon.TV.

Canada expands COVID-19 vaccine mandate, violates basic human rights.

Trudeaus COVID-19 vaccine mandate violates Canadas Charter of Rights and Freedom, says charter signatory.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

CBC.ca

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that weapons shipments bound for Ukraine will end up in the hands of Iran.

On the question of weapons, theres always a possibility  and this has happened time and again  that weapons that we supplied in one battlefield end up in Iranian hands, used against us, he said during an interview with CNBC.

In the Golan Heights, where were trying to prevent Iran from creating a second Lebanon front  a second terrorist front against us  we encounter Israeli-made weapons.

The warning from Netanyahu, whose 15-year term as prime minister was the longest in Israel, came as a response to a request for military aid from Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Kuleba requested that the Jewish nation urgently provide Ukraine with anti-aircraft systems and to start high-quality cooperation in obtaining appropriate technologies.

Iran is a red line for Israel, and after Iran has directly, in fact, become complicit in the crime of aggression against Ukraine, I think anyone in Israel who still has any hesitation about whether or not to help Ukraine, he must dispel these hesitations, Kuleba said.

Today, without exaggeration, the same drones that destroy Ukraine are aimed at Israel. I think that this says it all, and I think that this should be the starting point for the development of Israeli policy.

The Ukrainian foreign minister found an ally in Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai. There is no longer any doubt where Israel should stand in this bloody conflict, Shai said.

The diaspora affairs ministers comments caused a stir in Russia, prompting Shai to respond to criticism.

The Russian bear is not angry at Turkey that provides drones to Ukraine, nor at other countries outside of Europe that help, he told Army Radio. But as soon as [incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid] issued a severe condemnation, then [it] woke up.

In spite of this, Shai reiterated that Ukrainian citizens are entitled to receive protection.

Humanitarian aid and asylum are enough, says Netanyahu

Netanyahu warned that such lines of thinking have created world wars in the past. The opposition leader in the Knesset  Israels parliament  added that he believes the Russia-Ukraine wars greatest danger is that it expands into a global conflict involving nuclear weapons. Thus, he called for cooler heads to avoid a World War III scenario.

I dont think it makes that much difference if its tactical nuclear weapons or strategic nuclear weapons; that threshold has not been crossed for 77 years, he said. I think what is required right now is a combination of firmness and prudence to make sure that this conflict ends and certainly doesnt spread.

The former Israeli leader said in the same interview that Jerusalems policy toward the Russia-Ukraine war was prudent, citing the countrys acceptance of refugees and the provision of humanitarian aid.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu blasted the current Lapid government back in July for its handling of diplomatic relations amid the conflict. He dubbed the situation a dangerous crisis in relations between Russia and Israel.

The opposition leader claimed that prior to Lapids government, Israel had been leading a considered, balanced and responsible relationship with Russia. Netanyahu attributed this to a combination of amateurism, irresponsibility and arrogance. He also urged Lapid and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz to stop the shouting.

Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president, warned that Israel providing weapons to Kyiv would be a very reckless move that would destroy government relations between Israel and Russia. (Related: Israel refuses to sell Pegasus cyberweapon to Ukraine and Estonia over concerns of harming relationship with Russia.)

Head over to WWIII.news for more stories about Israels role in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Watch documentary filmmaker Gonzalo Lira talk about Israel provoking Russia in the video below.

This video is from The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Corruption in the midst of war: Ukraine unlikely to receive the promised $65 billion in Western aid.

Ukraine aid scam: Only 30% of weapons shipped to besieged country have made it to the front lines.

Billions of dollars worth of American arms and aid disappear into a black hole once they enter Ukraine.

Whistleblowers reveal that weapons of active duty American military units are being taken away and sent to Ukraine.

Sources include:

BigLeaguePolitics.com

JPost.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The Tokyo Disney Resort (TDR) in Japan is turning into a kingdom of medical fascism, thanks to its plan to charge higher ticket fees to patrons not injected with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.

The theme park announced it will offer a 20 percent discount on entrance tickets  dubbed an event wakuwari discount  to patrons who show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Alternatively, patrons can show a negative PCR test result within three days of admission to avail of the lower ticket price. Unvaccinated customers, however, are not entitled to the event wakuwari discount.

While both domestic and international guests will be able to purchase park tickets online, TDR cast members will be checking patrons proof of vaccination. Those younger than 12 years old do not need to show proof of vaccination as long as they are accompanied by a fully vaccinated adult  which the theme park defined as having received three COVID-19 vaccine doses.

According to TDR, patrons who purchased the discounted tickets will not be able to enter the park without the required certificate.

DisneyFanatic.com, meanwhile, reported that the launch of the event wakuwari discount led to a crash on the Tokyo Disney Ticket website, and the site is still experiencing complications.

It appears that the Japanese location of The Walt Disney Companys theme park is not the only establishment offering discounts for vaccinated individuals. According to another report, Universal Studios Japan also has the same 20 percent event wakuwari discount for park tickets.

During the campaign period, an adult one-day ticket will see a 20 percent reduction in price. The discount is available on the condition of a third vaccination certificate or a negative COVID-19 test.

The discounts for vaccinated patrons offered by the two theme parks appear to be a program to encourage the younger generation to get their COVID-19 boosters. However, such an endeavor is problematic given that the vaccines do not protect against COVID-19 infection at all. Moreover, the shots do more harm than good, as evidenced by the plethora of serious adverse reactions linked to them.

Disney parks worldwide have turned into medical police kingdoms

T.K. Bosacki, writer and editor for DisneyFanatic.com, could not help but comment on the development.

It has been two years, but it appears that there is still a push by some to continue pandemic-era restrictions and policies, and make life more difficult for those who choose not to comply. One such example of this authoritarian endurance can be found at TDR.

ZeroHedges Tyler Durden appeared to agree with Bosacki.

In many parts of Asia, the fearmongering continues. Disney appears to be taking full advantage of the lingering [COVID-19] hype in Japan and is using it to impose their own politically motivated mandates, Durden wrote.

Even at home, the theme parks owned by the media conglomerate consistently promote compliance with COVID-19 measures such as mask mandates. In fact, the Disney World theme park in Orlando, Florida banned people from eating and drinking while walking  closing a possible loophole patrons can cite against compulsory face coverings.

A July 2020 Breitbart article expounded on this revised policy.

Face coverings are required for all guests ages two and up and cast members, the revised policy read. Please bring your own face coverings and wear them at all times, except when dining or swimming.

You may remove your face covering while actively eating or drinking, but you should be stationary and maintain appropriate physical distancing. (Related: Disney goes full authoritarian, demands mask obedience even while youre walking and eating.)

Moreover, visitors can take a break at certain relaxation stations where they can take their masks off. Once inside these stations, guests may remove their face covering and have a socially distanced sit-down, Walt Disney World News Today reported. Guests caught maskless will be asked to either put on a face covering or leave the premises.

MedicalFascism.news has more about Disneys discrimination of unvaccinated park guests.

Watch Disney cast member Nick Caturano talk about his fight against the companys medical fascism of unvaccinated employees on Lawfare with Tom Renz.

This video is from the BrighteonTV channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Ex-employees sue Disney for rejecting religious exemptions for COVID shots.

Cast members to sue Disney for its COVID-19 vaccinate or terminate mandate.

TWISTED: Walt Disney World has been digitally adding face masks over ride-goers faces.

Disney World employee talks about fighting vaccine mandates with Tom Renz  Brighteon.TV.

Magic Kingdom of TYRANNY: Disney now ARRESTING its own guests who refuse covid temperature checks.

Sources include:

ZeroHedge.com

TokyoDisneyResort.jp

DisneyFanatic.com

TDRExplorer.com

Breitbart.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The top performing students in the United States  who usually go on to be the future leaders in government and business sectors  are going to be subjected to radical indoctrination in favor of socialism and communism, according to College Board documents.

The private organization, which is responsible for Advanced Placement (AP) courses and the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) college entrance exams, has enormous influence over the United States education system and brings in about $1 billion each year.

A draft of the new AP African American Studies (APAAS) obtained by researcher Stanley Kurtz, showed that the curriculum clearly proselytizes for a socialist transformation of the United States. It also encourages political violence and hatred for Americas constitutional republican form of government.

This means that the course is a subversive program in the truest sense of the word, and is designed to subvert the American system by weaponizing young people for revolution under the guise of race-mongering and racial justice.

The topic descriptions sound neutral, but the readings almost uniformly consist of neo-Marxist agitation  pleas for a socialist transformation of America, Kurtz said.

Moreover, at least one of the writers of the new program is known to be a Marxist radical who clamors for the destruction of capitalism.

Kurtz, who also serves as a senior fellow at the conservative learning Ethics and Public Policy Center said one of the topics in the AP course even makes the case that treating individuals equally without regard to race, is actually racist. This new post-racial racism portrays western civilization as a racist evil to be destroyed.

The courses political bias is so egregious that the presence or absence of CRT [Critical Race Theory] laws is almost beside the point, Kurtz said, adding that authorities nationwide must reject extreme indoctrination and that APAAS is wrong for American schools. (Related: Leaked video shows LGBT indoctrination is occurring at Americas private schools, too.)

The College Board used to be ostensibly political, but the hate propaganda and indoctrination of students have grown more extreme in recent decades to the point that the SAT lost a major share of the college admissions testing market.

Stakes over APAAS higher than they first appear

The stakes in the battle over APAAS are also higher than they first appear. The College Board said APAAS faithfully represents the content of African American Studies Courses at the college level  which is a problem in itself.

University studies programs, such as African American studies, Latino studies, Asian American studies, Native American Studies, womens studies, gender studies and environmental studies, tend to function as ideological training camps instead of academic programs.

Kurtz noted that once AP African American Studies moves into use, the full array of AP studies courses will soon follow and will take students off American history and more conventional subject areas to politicize the K-12 curriculum.

Moreover, the College Boards monopoly over AP testing gives it the ability to act as an unelected national school board, which effectively nullifies the state and local control over course content, but imposes what amounts to a national curriculum.

Creating a series of AP ethnic- and gender-studies courses would be a way to introduce leftist identity politics to the states resisting such curricula.

Visit EducationSystem.news for more stories like this.

Watch the video below to hear one student expose critical race theory and liberal indoctrination in schools.

This video is from the Self-Government channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Full-blown race-baiting school indoctrination is underway as schools promote hate messaging against police.

Marxist indoctrination of U.S. schoolchildren now beginning in elementary school shocking investigation exposes schools as brainwashing factories.

WATCH: Mother who grew up in Maos China WARNS school board that CRT is the same kind of communist indoctrination.

Sources include:

TheNewAmerican.com

NationalReview.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) For the first time ever, the Bering Sea snow crab season in Alaska has been canceled due to massive population losses of the crustacean. And the mainstream medias excuse is that global warming is responsible for this.

Alaskan officials say an unprecedented decline in crab numbers has rendered the region unfit for the normal catch, delivering another blow to the food supply chain. (Related: Mississippi River barges are having a difficult time transporting food due to drought-induced water level drops.)

Were still trying to figure it out, but certainly theres very clear signs of the role of climate change in the collapse, alleges Michael Litzow, a shellfish assessment program manager at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which conducts an annual survey of snow crab numbers.

Over in Anchorage, Elizabeth Earl republished a story sourced from the Alaska Journal of Commerce also claiming that climate change is responsible for this massive decline in snow crab population numbers.

Theres no complete consensus about why the stock crashed in the first place, the article states. Increasingly, however, the models seem to indicate that its due to temperature increases linked to climate change.

Overfishing and predation, not climate change, responsible for declining snow crab numbers

Once again, the experts are relying on computer models, which are hypothetical, rather than actual data to make this claim. There is zero evidence to suggest that global warming or climate change are in any way responsible for this massive loss of snow crabs.

Most of the computer models being used to make this claim are inherently flawed, it turns out. They overestimate recorded temperatures and create a fictitious climate scenario that does not actually match reality.

Multiple factors, including predation, overfishing, and naturally warming waters, are all contributing to snow crab losses  not bovine flatulence and gas-powered vehicles like leftists are claiming.

Back in 2017 when it started to become more noticeable that snow crab populations were in decline, The New York Times blamed overfishing. At the time, it was noted that upwards of 90 percent of the worlds fisheries face collapse due to gross exploitation.

It was the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that made this assessment, by the way  not right-wingers pushing climate denialism like many greenies often claim.

Experts warned that Russian king crab fishermen in the west Bering Sea were contributing to snow crab declines, much like how Mexican ships poaching red snapper off the coast of Florida threaten the existence of that particular form of sea life.

Humans are damaging ocean animals, in other words, but not because they drive cars, heat their homes, and eat meat. Greed and total disregard for conservation are driving losses of sea crabs and other creatures, many of which are moving in the direction of extinction if something does not change very soon.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) agrees that illegal fishing is eliminating far too many snow crabs from the ocean. A WWF study found that crab populations in the Russian Far East are at risk of collapse due to overharvest from illegal fishing.

Hilariously, Earl was one such journalist who agreed, at least at that time, that overfishing is the primary culprit in the decline of snow crabs around Alaska. Now, though, she has shifted her view to the global warming narrative.

While so-called experts that have the ear of low-information journalists blame warmer water on climate change, that isnt true, reports Anthony Watts. Rather, an extended La Nina event has increased temperatures in the seas inhabited by snow crabs.

The latest news about the destruction of the food supply and supply chain can be found at Collapse.news.

Sources for this article include:

WattsUpWithThat.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The number of children checking in to Boston Childrens Hospital (BCH) in pursuit of a gender transition has skyrocketed, says Dr. Jeremi Carswell, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist and director of BCHs Gender Management Service (GeMS) program.

Carswell made these and other remarks back in 2020, actually, during the Advancing Excellence in Transgender Health (AETH) conference. A recently surfaced video shows Carswell and others celebrating this boon for their business, which is destroying the lives of children everywhere.

The recorded webinar is called Puberty Blockers and Hormone Therapy for Gender Diverse Youth and Adolescents and is available on the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Centers website  you can also watch a portion of the webinar below:

Heres Director Jeremi Carswell directly contradicting that statement and admitting puberty blockers can sterilize children. Which is it @BostonChildrens? Why are you deceiving patients? Do parents know they might be sterilizing their children when they agree to blockers? pic.twitter.com/eErMDGykTl  Spencer Lindquist ?? (@SpencerLndqst) October 15, 2022

In the clip, Carswell further reveals that puberty-blocking pharmaceutical drugs are now being handed out a lot like candy at BCH, which he says is great and helpful. He did add, though, that you need to have the conversation about fertility, the implication being that children who go trans will not be able to reproduce. (Related: Remember when a Biden regime attorney declared that calling out Boston Childrens Hospital for mutilating children is a hate crime?)

Puberty-blocking medication shuts down your estrogen or shuts down testosterone entirely, Carswell admits  but BCH website claims otherwise

On the official BCH Gender Affirming & LGBTQ Care website, the claim is made that puberty blockers are just temporary medicines that are completely reversible, and that do not cause any permanent changes.

Carswell, though, stated the exact opposite in the newly leaked clip, stating unequivocally that the medication shuts down your estrogen or shuts down testosterone entirely.

Carswell went on to state that puberty-blocking drugs stop the production of sperm or eggs.

In another leaked video, Carswell was caught stating that he believes many children can know that they are transgender from the minute they were born, practically.

Unless a child on puberty blockers follows up the drugging with even more drugging in the form of cross-sex hormones, it will never be able to produce sperm or eggs, Carswell went on to admit.

So, for my population, when we have like a 12- or 13-year-old testicle-bearing person who hasnt really had too much puberty, and were talking about, okay were going to put in a blocker, and then youre going to start on estrogen, guess what? the gender clinic director is further quoted as saying.

You dont have any sperm and youre not gonna get them unless we reverse everything. So, thats a big deal. And thats something that you must have the conversation about.

According to Manhattan Institute fellow Leor Sapir, who penned a piece for the City Journal, even BCHs claim that cross-sex hormones can salvage the body of a person damaged by puberty blockers, is false.

Sapir says that even when taken as a follow-up to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones still leave a person sterile, virtually guaranteed, since the organs responsible for producing sex gametes (ova and sperm) are not allowed to develop, he says.

Even so, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has recommended that children 16 years of age and older take cross-sex hormones. Updated guidance leaked from this past summer suggests that the new minimum age is actually now 14.

To keep up with the latest news about the transgender mutilation of children across America, visit Transhumanism.news.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) We now know that the laboratory at Boston University (BU) where a new alleged strain of covid with an 80 percent death rate was created did not receive approval from the federal government to conduct such research.

In case you missed it, the media reported this week that a new hybrid form of the Fauci Flu was supposedly engineered to kill eight out of 10 victims as opposed to the original strain, which was never isolated.

The story goes that a new form of Omicron, also known as the Moronic variant, was engineered using illegal gain of function (GoF) research to kill 80 percent of people who become infected with it. This allegedly occurred using a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is controlled by Tony Fauci.

A research grant from Faucis NIAID was used by the Boston team to tamper with more bat coronaviruses in search of a newer, deadlier strain of the disease. BUs level-3 National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory reportedly extracted the spike protein from the Moronic variant and attached it to the original strain that first appeared in Wuhan, China, back in late 2019.

After exposing this extraction to human cells in a petri dish, as well as to live mice, it was determined that the new designer hybrid strain of the Chinese Flu has an 80 percent kill rate, which is music to Faucis ears.

When the news leaked out that this had been done, critics blasted BU and its laboratory for playing with fire. There is simply no way this new designer strain of the Wuhan Flu could have come about if not for the use of GoF, which is illegal in the United States.

Both the NIAID and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are now taking plenty of heat  and deservedly so  for allowing this to happen under their watch. The two agencies claim they have no idea as to the nature of the research that was being conducted.

Dr. Emily Erbedling, who works within the NIH division that at least partially funded the research, insists that she had no clue about the specific nature of the BU research until she read about it in the news  and there are actually people out there who will believe her.

BU claims new designer covid strain is less dangerous than the original

A spokesperson from BU also responded to the allegations by claiming that what its researchers were doing was making the Chinese Virus less virulent, insisting that the original had a 100 percent kill rate.

By reducing this new strain down to just an 80 percent kill rate, the university insists, researchers have made the world a safer place when it comes to potentially interacting with Chinese Germs while out and about in everyday life.

In fact, this research made the virus less dangerous, BU claims.

Independent researchers are already challenging this claim by stating that the currently dominant Moronic strain of covid was already much milder than the new hybrid variant to come out of BU.

As for Dr. Erbelding, she says she wished the scientists at BU who worked on the new designer strain had first informed the NIAID about it. She told Stat News:

What we would have wanted to do is to talk about exactly what they wanted to do in advance  [and then] we could have put a package forward for review.

BU took a more defensive approach by stating that it never had an obligation to disclose this research, which is why a full disclosure never occurred.

NIAID funding was acknowledged as a courtesy because it was used to help develop the tools and platforms that were used in this research, the school says. They did not fund this research directly.

BU has been so open about the research without a care in the world, in fact, that it published everything as a new pre-print study in the bioRxiv journal. It has yet to be peer-reviewed by other scientists, but it is now out there in all its cringeworthy glory for everyone to see.

The stated goal of the research was to determine if mutations in covid spike proteins are responsible for the Moronic variants heightened ability to evade some peoples immune systems, or so we are told.

Dr. Richard Ebright, a microbiologist at Rutgers University, blasted BUs claims, calling them demonstrably false and deeply embarrassing. Clearly, he says, the new designer virus is much more dangerous than BA.1, the alleged-to-be currently dominant strain of the Fauci Flu circulating in the U.S.

The claims in BUs public statement that this research is not gain-of-function research  [and that it] made the virus replicate less are dangerous, Ebright is quoted as saying.

The novel lab-generated coronavirus exhibits the high immune escape of Omicron BA.1 and higher lethality than Omicron BA.1  albeit lower lethality than original Wuhan-1 SARS-CoV-2  in mice engineered to display human receptors for SARS-like coronaviruses.

Ebright would go on to state to the media that this type of research is concerning because it is the same kind that may have caused the pandemic that was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Donald Trump back in early 2020.

BUs response to this is that it never conducted any illegal GoF research, and that anyone claiming otherwise is making false and inaccurate statements.

Want to keep up with the latest news about the Chinese Virus? Be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The United Kingdoms Ministry of Defense (MOD) has discovered that the Chinese military force is headhunting ex-Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots for their skills and expertise. The U.K. government is now working to stop it.

We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes attempting to headhunt active-duty and former RAF pilots to train Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) personnel in the Peoples Republic of China, a MOD spokesperson told CNBC in a statement on Oct. 18.

According to a report by BBC News, around 30 former military pilots are thought to have gone to train members of Chinas PLA Air Force.

It is a lucrative package that is being offered to people, said one Western official, adding that money is a strong motivator. Some of the packages are thought to be as much as 237,911 ($270,000).

The MOD has assured that all serving and former personnel are already subject to the Official Secrets Act and they are now reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements.

The new National Security Bill will create additional tools to tackle contemporary security challenges  including this one, the spokesperson added.

The former British aviators may be used to help understand the way in which Western planes and pilots operate, which could contribute to Chinas strategies in the event of any conflict, such as the one against Taiwan.

They are a very attractive body of people to then pass on that knowledge, another Western official said. Its taking Western pilots of great experience to help develop Chinese military air force tactics and capabilities.

Meanwhile, U.K. Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said the U.K. must change the law to ensure pilots will not pass on intelligence to China in the future.

It certainly doesnt match my understanding of service of our nation  even in retirement  to then go and work with a foreign power, especially one that challenges the U.K. interest so keenly, Heappey told BBC Radio.

China will not hesitate to grab Taiwan by force

In its attempt to reunify with Taiwan, communist China could have been sourcing out more intelligent forces, especially from the British military. Analysts have observed that Chinas show of power over Taiwan was via air strikes, which commenced after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit to the island nation.

Moreover, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that he will not hesitate to use force to retake Taiwan during his opening speech at the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Xi also slammed the U.S. government and other Western forces for interfering in Chinas reunification efforts with Taiwan.

We have resolutely waged a major struggle against separatism and interference, demonstrating our strong determination and ability to safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity and oppose Taiwan independence, he said.

The Chinese leader emphasized that China will never commit to abandoning the use of force in its unification with Taiwan, which he called inevitable. China will accelerate putting up a world-class military and strengthen its ability to build a strategic deterrent capability, Xi announced. It was received with a warm round of applause by the CCP Congress delegates. (Related: China will not hesitate to use FORCE to retake Taiwan, warns Xi.)

Xi is expected to win a third term during the event, which would cement his place as the countrys most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong, the CCP chairman from the establishment of the PRC in 1949 until his death in 1976.

Visit WWIII.news for more news related to a possible war being planned by Communist China.

Watch the following video that talks about Taiwans response to Xis 20th Congress speech.

This video is from the Chinese taking down EVIL CCP channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Biden commits to sending American troops if China invades Taiwan.

Taiwan asserts its right to defend itself and to COUNTER-ATTACK if China invades.

Chinas latest war games a rehearsal of planned Taiwan invasion.

ANALYSIS: Why China LOSES any escalation involving Taiwan and the United States Navy.

Sources include:

CNBC.com

BBC.com

DailyMail.co.uk

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Once again, China is making serious military advances thanks to American taxpayers and U.S. technology.

As the Pentagon struggles to develop its own hypersonic missile capability, Chinas program is far more advanced  by years  and that is thanks in large part to the use of specialized technology obtained from firms funded by the Department of Defense, an explosive new report claims.

American firms funded by the Pentagon are selling their technology to Chinese companies involved in hypersonic missiles, according to a new analysis, reported the UKs Daily Mail. Under U.S. law, the sale of American products to China is banned if there is knowledge or even reasonable suspicion that they will be used for developing a missile.

However, the Washington Post, in a Monday report, noted that it had uncovered several examples of American firms supplying Chinese companies and operations with equipment and/or software, often through the use of middlemen.

The papers report notes:

Military research groups at the leading edge of Chinas hypersonics and missile programs  many on a U.S. export blacklist  are purchasing a range of specialized American technology, including products developed by firms that have received millions of dollars in grants and contracts from the Pentagon, a Washington Post investigation has found.

The advanced software products are acquired by these military organizations through private Chinese firms that sell them  despite U.S. export controls designed to prevent sales or resales to foreign entities deemed a threat to U.S. national security, the investigation shows.

Scientists who work in the sprawling network of Chinese military research academies and the companies that aid them said in interviews that American technology  such as highly specialized aeronautical engineering software  fills critical gaps in domestic technology and is key to advances in Chinese weaponry.

In this case, the American technology is superior  we cant do certain things without foreign technology, noted one Chinese scientist who is currently working in a lab at a research university where testing for hypersonic vehicles is conducted. There isnt the same technical foundation.

The Post went on to report that some U.S. companies whose products are being obtained by Chinese military researchers have also received taxpayer-funded grants from the Pentagon to design and produce cutting-edge tech, according to a federal grant program database. So in effect, the DoD is currently subsidizing Chinas military technology advances.

Its very disturbing because the bottom line is that technology that can be used for military hypersonics was funded by U.S. taxpayers, through the U.S. government, and ended up in China, Iain Boyd, director of the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado at Boulder, told the Post. His institution engages in computational research on hypersonic missiles.

The Post noted further that its reporters mapped more than 300 sales since 2019 of U.S.-origin technology to dozens of entities involved in Chinas hypersonics or missile programs by analyzing contract solicitation and award documents issued by the groups, as well as speaking to six Chinese scientists working in military labs and universities who described almost unfettered access to American technology with applications in the design and testing of missiles.

Designing and testing hypersonic weapons is expensive and time-consuming. Solving gravitational, flight and other issues require the means to figure out advanced physics problems related to missile flight. But by utilizing American software, the Chinese scientists said, Beijings military has managed to trim years off research and development. Not only that, but the U.S. technology China is obtaining related to hypersonics is also useful in other areas where the two countries compete, such as in commercial aerospace.

The Chinese have been stealing (or buying) U.S. military technology since the days Bill Clinton was roaming around the White House. Were it not for that, Beijings military would still be large, but only a fraction as capable as it now is.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

WashingtonPost.com
(Natural News) Shortly before the untimely end of the Trump administration, then-Attorney General William Barr assigned a federal prosecutor known to be fair and meticulous to investigate the origins of the phony Russiagate counterintelligence probe into the 2016 campaign of the former president.

Not long after he began, John Durham discovered enough evidence to warrant criminal charges, and as such, in the weeks before Barr also left office, he named Durham as a special counsel so the incoming Biden regime would have a harder time getting rid of him.

Joe Biden still could have ordered his politicized attorney general lackey, Merrick Garland, to fire Durham, but it is likely both he and Biden knew there was no need to do so because Durhams probe wasnt going to result in any serious charges against major players.

And it turns out, thats been the case.

Durham has managed to secure one guilty plea from a former FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, who admitted lying on an application to obtain a secret surveillance warrant from the FISA court to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Clinesmith changed the application to hide the fact that Page was a well-established CIA asset, not a risk to national security, just so the deep state could continue justifying its spying on Trumps campaign.

The result: Clinesmith got a slap on the wrist, did no jail time, and now has been given his law license back  because Washington, D.C., is a corrupt cesspool run by hyper-political Democrats who refuse to hold any of their own accountable.

Thats as close as Durham has gotten to any convictions, however. Two additional prosecutions  for lying to the FBI  have gotten nowhere because the Dem-friendly juries in D.C. refuse to do their duty and convict people who very clearly broke our laws, the latest being a Russian operative who provided nearly all of the false information contained in former British spy Christopher Steeles fake Trump-Russia dossier, Igor Danchenko.

Igor Danchenko, a key source of information in the discredited Steele Dossier, was found not guilty on all counts related to lying to the FBI about his relationship to Trump opposition research documents, Zero Hedge reported on Wednesday. Danchenkos information comprised around 80% of the information contained in the infamous dossier assembled by former British spy Christopher Steele.

And now that the investigation is effectively over without anyone in the corrupt FBI and Justice Dept. responsible for launching an investigation into a U.S. presidential campaign under false pretenses, the deep states operatives are moving to have Durhams final  and damning  report from being made public as well.

Matthew Miller, an Obama administration public affairs hack for the DoJ, said that Garland should make the decision not to release Durhams report  to effectively hide whats in it from the American people who fund the governments various agencies and institutions. At the same time, Miller attacked Durham, which is what the left-wing Marxists in the deep state always do.

I think Merrick Garland will be under a lot of pressure from Republicans to release that report, but I have to say, this circumstance is very different from the Mueller investigation, where, obviously, the attorney general, Bill Barr, did release that report, Miller told MSNBC.

Its different because in that case, the subject of that investigation could not be charged, and so it was appropriate for the department to make its findings public, so Congress could decide whether to impeach and convict the then-sitting president, he said. That is not the case here, so to release a report in this instance  given what we know about the way that Durham has behaved, some of his inappropriate public statements during this investigation, the poor judgments he has made in bringing these charges  to release a report publicly and let him have the final word I think probably unfairly tarnish some people at the FBI that we know he holds ill will to based on some of the things he said in this most recent trial.

The American people have zero control over or influence on their own government.

Sources include:

WashingtonExaminer.com

ZeroHedge.com
(Natural News) The entire country of France was shocked to its core last week after news spread of the vicious murder of a 12-year-old girl allegedly by four Algerian migrants.

According to reports, the tweener, identified only as Lola, was found bound and stuffed in a suitcase with a deep slash in her throat. Authorities determined that she had been raped.

Four suspects  all from the same Algerian village  were arrested for the crime, according to Remix News: Dahbia B., Amine K., Friha B., and Rachid N. One of them may also have been in the country illegally, the report stated, adding:

The body was found in a suitcase curled up, shackled, with a deep wound in her throat, and marked with inscriptions. According to the autopsy, carried out on Saturday, her death was due to asphyxiation. One of the suspects in the case have been charged with murder of a minor under the age of 15 in connection with a rape committed with acts of torture and barbarism, rape of a minor under the age of 15 with acts of torture and barbarism, and concealment of a corpse. Although there was no mention of sexual violence when the story first broke, the latest details from BMFTV allege the girl was also raped.

In addition, police have said that a device was utilized to imprint numbers one and zero on the girls body, but Remix News added that authorities did not provide any further details as to how the imprinting took place.

The girls father reported her missing on Friday after she failed to return from classes at Georges-Brassens College, which is located behind the building where she was discovered. Her mother went to a Paris police station to report her missing, said a police report. She also put a desperate message on social media asking others to be on the lookout for Lola, noting: Our daughter Lola was last seen at 3:20 p.m. in the company of a woman we do not know in our residence.

Police have also arrested two women, one of whom is 24 years old and apparently asked a local resident on Friday to help her carry a large trunk to her car. Authorities said that the two women taken into custody are sisters and that one of them is homeless.

Remix News adds: The Paris prosecutors office stated that the 24-year-old woman raped and murdered the suspect. Police say she spoke clearly to investigators, apparently divulging key evidence in the case, according to BFMTV. A second suspect, in his 40s, is suspected of having helped the younger perpetrator transport the body. A second male was also arrested.

A friend of the murdered girl told BFMTV: We were still laughing on Friday, I didnt realize what would happen.

? On rigolait encore vendredi, je ne realise pas Le temoignage dune amie proche de Lola, 12 ans, retrouvee morte dans une malle ? pic.twitter.com/pLrAvdV8Uj  BFMTV (@BFMTV) October 16, 2022

Lola, 12, brutally murdered in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. Four Algerians in custody. Our youth is being slaughtered while professional mourners chase imaginary Islamophobia, wrote Stephane Ravier, senator for Bouches-du-Rhone, on Twitter.

Lola, 12 ans, assassinee sauvagement dans le 19e arrondissement de Paris.

Quatre Algeriens en garde a vue. Notre jeunesse se fait massacrer pendant que les pleureuses professionnelles font la chasse a une islamophobie imaginaire.#Francocide #Lola pic.twitter.com/hm5pxxJ74g  Stephane Ravier (@Stephane_Ravier) October 16, 2022

National Rally parliamentary leader Marine Le Pen also noted: Once again, a terrible assassination. A little girl massacred in the middle of Paris. One day, it will be necessary to go to the end of the investigations to find, not only the direct culprits, but also to stop the crazy policies which make these crimes possible.

Une fois encore, un assassinat epouvantable. Une petite fille massacree en plein Paris. Un jour, il faudra aller au bout des enquetes pour trouver, non seulement les coupables directs, mais aussi, stopper les folles politiques qui rendent ces crimes possibles. https://t.co/icd2OvV2fd  Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) October 16, 2022

Sources include:

RMX.news

BFMTV.com
(Natural News) Over the past several years of COVID, how many times do you remember virologists saying they were NOT making chimeric SARS viruses more deadly? How many??? Despite calling out their weaponizations of viruses as a conspiracy theory, as the Daily Mail reports in this new story, a Boston University laboratory has just created a COVID virus with a 80% kill rate in humanized mice.

(Article by Stefan Stanford republished from AllNewsPipeline.com)

Just the latest proof that the so-called conspiracy theorists werent so crazy after-all, as the top-voted comment asked and pointed out on that DM story, Why is the government funding this nonsense? Pull their funding and take repayment from their endowment! Nonsense!

With several other comments on that story also pointing out the obvious, such as What will liberals think of next to kill all of us?, Gain of function should be banned this is how we kill off millions, this is the work of the WEF, The US government should instruct these pandoras box scientists to destroy all the viruses. Why oh why do they want to destroy all their fellow humans? and 80% Mortality rate? Well if it was up to me it would be 100% Mortality rate, for every single person who took part, as another commenter pointed out and asked, Sick nasty people. How about cure cancer or eradicate poverty?

Yet curing cancer or eradicating poverty would save lives and eventually end up increasing the population of the planet, instead of decreasing the population as the globalists believe in their insane minds they need to do to, and a virus weaponized with an 80% kill rate would go a long ways towards helping them accomplish that in this day and age were now living in. From this Daily Mail story.:

Boston University scientists were today condemned for playing with fire after it emerged they had created a lethal new Covid strain in a laboratory.

DailyMail.com revealed the team had made a hybrid virus  combining Omicron and the original Wuhan strain  that killed 80 per cent of mice in a study.

The revelation exposes how dangerous virus manipulation research continues to go on even in the US, despite fears similar practices may have started the pandemic.

Professor Shmuel Shapira, a leading scientist in the Israeli Government, said: This should be totally forbidden, its playing with fire.

Gain of function research  when viruses are purposefully manipulated to be more infectious or deadly  is thought to be at the center of Covids origin.

A Chinese laboratory located just miles from the first cluster of cases carried out similar research on bat coronaviruses.

But the practice has been largely restricted in the US since 2017.

Dr Richard Ebright, a chemist at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, told DailyMail.com that: The research is a clear example of gain of function research.

He added: If we are to avoid a next lab-generated pandemic, it is imperative that oversight of enhanced potential pandemic pathogen research be strengthened.

But while the practice was restricted in the US since 2017, we shouldnt be the least bit surprised the deep state had instead moved that practice to other locations, such as Ukraine, where Russia had claimed US was operating such labs illegally, weaponizing killer germs on Russias border.

And while the globalists mass media machine went to work immediately after Russia made those claims, attempting to debunk them, in this day and age of Boston University weaponizing COVID with an 80% kill rate and the globalists desperate to kill off a sizeable portion of the worlds population by the year 2025, who are we to believe?

Read more at: AllNewsPipeline.com
(Natural News) Europe is destined for blackouts this winter, and major media networks are already preparing emergency scripts in an attempt to keep the population calm and under control during uncertain times. Right now, the governments plan is to keep Europeans from panicking. A spokesperson for the BBC said, The government is confident that [blackouts] are not a scenario we will face this winter. Ministers have been going around to the public, reassuring businesses and homeowners that blackouts are unlikely.

However, the BBC Broadcasting House in London is preparing for reduced BBC radio service and has already designated an emergency broadcasting center in an anonymous, rural location. In the event of blackouts, the BBC would provide news updates every half hour on Radio 2, Radio 4 FM, and long wave frequencies, while providing special air time for government officials to make emergency announcements.

Rolling blackouts are being planned out in Europe this dark winter

The BBC has already prepared scripts in the event of a major loss of power where phone networks, internet, banking, and traffic lights all go down. According to the scripts, England, Wales and Scotland may be the first to see blackouts, as Europe tries to ration and re-distribute electricity in a manner that is best for the greater good.

The Guardian obtained many of these emergency blackout scripts, which map out a plan whereby corporations and government officials reassure the public that everything will be alright during a major power loss.

The emergency scripts advise the public to use car radios and battery-powered receivers to listen in for emergency broadcasts. One script warns of a two-day blackout that will put extreme pressure on first responders, police and hospitals. The emergency services are under extreme pressure. People are being advised not to contact them unless absolutely necessary.

The scripts refer to emergency coordination centres being set up in Wales. The scripts also try to calm the public with bulletins that read, Officials are saying there is no current risk to food supply and distribution. But theyre asking people to look out for vulnerable neighbours and relatives.

Another script explains that power will be restored within 36-48 hours, and that different parts of Britain will start to receive intermittent supplies before then. The scripts also provide special air time for a Cabinet Office minister to make a statement. (Related: German municipalities preparing for dark winter of blackouts, simulate 400 deaths in first 96 hours.)

European governments prepare for rolling blackouts in the evening hours

The overseer of electricity in Great Britain, the National Grid, is warning that power supplies are at risk, especially if Russia cuts off all gas supplies to Europe. The National Grid warned of potential blackouts that will be planned and carried out in three-hour intervals. National Grids chief executive, John Pettigrew, said the rolling blackouts will most likely be executed between 4PM and 7PM, when there is insufficient wind to power the turbines.

Under the civil contingencies plan, the UK government can declare a national emergency and use the broadcasting networks to send out emergency messages. Any UK government minister can take over the radio broadcast if the need arises. According to the civil contingencies plan, If it appears to any UK government minister that an emergency has arisen, that minister may request that the BBC broadcast or otherwise distribute any announcement or other programme. The Guardian did not uncover any official planned government proclamations, and they were unable to determine whether the leaked scripts were derived from government officials.

Find out the latest updates about Europes energy crisis by heading over to Rationing.news.

Sources include:

TheGuardian.com

NaturalNews.com

TheGuardian.com
(Natural News) Much of the conversation surrounding mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccines centers around their impact on humans, but how about all the animals that are being injected with it?

Believe it or not, cattle are reportedly now getting jabbed with the stuff, which in a recent mass vaccination campaign of an Australian herd resulted in 35 of the 200 animals dying immediately.

We are told that dairy farmers and others are now being forced to inject their animals for the Fauci Flu in order to remain in business, and that the animals are not responding well to it.

Just like in humans, the shots are causing such profound damage that many of the animals are succumbing to instant death, while the others are getting sick and dying over a longer period of time. (Related: mRNA spike proteins linger in the heart and brain long after injection.)

For the animals that survive, one wonders what is becoming of their milk, which gets passed on as food for other animals as well as humans. Is it safe to consume mRNA-tainted milk and cheese from a fully vaccinated dairy cow? The answer is probably not.

Dairy herd DNA is altered, one report explains. Milk is altered and you consume it! Butter constitution, yoghurt, and cheese is altered, meat is altered  will chicken and other meats be next?

Is there any evidence at all to suggest that animals catch covid?

What is mysteriously absent from the science behind forced mRNA injections for animals is any actual evidence that animals are getting sick from covid.

Sure, all mammals have lungs. And sure, those lungs can become infected with respiratory illnesses. But does this warrant administering experimental injections to animals that are killing them just the same as they are killing humans?

The government of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, where the first cattle herds we know of are being injected with mRNA, that the official excuse for the new mRNA push is that animal herds need protection against not just covid but also Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Lumpy Skin Disease. A deal was forged with a United States-based biotechnology company called Tiba BioTech that, just like Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna, is now raking in the dough.

The NSW Nationals in Government are taking the threat of FMD and Lumpy Skin Disease extremely seriously, and this milestone is another step forward in preparing for a potential outbreak, announced Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole.

I have now written to vaccine manufacturers to take up my challenge to develop both vaccines ready for use and manufacture in NSW by August 1 next year. COVID-19 demonstrated to us that all possible avenues in developing vaccines must be explored and we will leave no stone unturned.

In other words, covid and peoples engineered fear of it is once again being used to fast-track at warp speed all sorts of new mRNA injections for use in both animals and humans.

It is critical that we develop mRNA vaccines for FMD and Lumpy Skin as quickly as possible to protect our states livestock sector, added Minister for Agriculture Dugald Saunders, who admitted that Tiba Biotech has been given free rein to churn out as many mRNA injections as possible to supposedly protect Australias $28.7 billion livestock industry.

The threat of FMD is ongoing and there are concerns Lumpy Skin Disease could enter northern Australia this coming wet season, so its critical we continue to do what we can as quickly as we can, he added.

Current FMD vaccines use the virus itself, and there is yet to be an approved vaccine for use in Australia for Lumpy Skin Disease, so creating mRNA vaccines to combat either disease would be a game-changer for the industry. mRNA vaccines are cheaper and quicker to produce, highly effective and very safe.

Is Australian meat still safe to eat?

Saunders went on in a statement to claim that mRNA injections are actually safer than traditional injections because they are fully synthetic and do not require any animal or microbial products.

They do not carry with them the same risks as traditionally derived vaccines, he insists.

This is unfortunate news for folks who purchase Australian meat and other animal-derived products from Down Under, believing them to be clean and pristine. If mRNA shots for animals become the standard there, many will think twice before purchasing any more animal products from Australia.

This is well Beyond the Thunderdome  Mad Max and his enemies were otherwise healthy survivors of a holocaust, writes Peter Halligan about the issue on his Substack page.

In the Australian Vaxx-Nazi world, it looks like movement of people and their motile ability will become a thing of the past.

You can learn more about deadly mRNA injections and covid spike proteins at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

PeterHalligan.substack.com

Principia-Scientific.com

NaturalNews.com

NexusNewsfeed.com
(Natural News) An environmental investigation company discovered radioactive waste contamination at a Missouri elementary school located near an area where nuclear waste was discarded.

The report by the Boston Chemical Data Corp. (BCDC) confirmed fears about nuclear waste contamination at the Jana Elementary School in Florissant, Missouri. BCDC refused to divulge the entities that requested and paid for its analysis.

Its report was based on samples taken from the school in August 2022, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The company took samples from the schools library, kitchen, classrooms, fields and playgrounds and tested them in its laboratories for any signs of nuclear waste contamination. (Related: Japanese schools continue to be used as storage for post-Fukushima radioactive waste.)

According to BCDC, levels of radioactive toxins such as the isotope lead-210, polonium and radium were far in excess of what it had anticipated. It warned that inhaling or ingesting these radioactive materials can cause serious injury, adding that a significant remedial program will be required to bring conditions at the school in line with expectations.

An earlier study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) raised the issue of nuclear contamination at the school. While the USACEs report discovered contamination in the school, it reported much lower levels. Moreover, it did not take any samples within 300 feet of the school.

The USACE also downplayed the findings of the BCDC report. USACE program manager Phil Moser said the companys report is not consistent with our accepted evaluation techniques and must be thoroughly vetted to ensure accuracy, adding that any contamination posing a high risk or immediate threat would be made a priority for remediation.

Jana Elementary School lies in the flood plain of Coldwater Creek, which was contaminated by nuclear waste from weapons manufactured during World War II. The waste was dumped at locations near the St. Louis Lambert International Airport, next to the creek that flows into the Missouri River.

School to shift to virtual learning after nuclear waste discovery

The BCDCs independent report, which marked the first time samples were taken from inside the school, confirmed parents worst fears. It showed that radioactive levels were most probably posing an unacceptably high risk to the children.

Hazelwood School District, which is in charge of Jana Elementary School, said in a statement that it will consult with attorneys and experts to determine the next steps that it will take. Safety is absolutely our top priority for our staff and students, said school board president Betsy Rachel.

During an Oct. 18 school board meeting, the district told concerned parents that Jana Elementary School will shift to virtual learning from Oct. 24 and that the school premises would be closed. Students will also be distributed to other schools within the area after the Thanksgiving break, it added.

Parents, meanwhile, thanked board members in emotional speeches for taking steps to protect their children. They also directed their anger at the school district for its lack of transparency, citing the fact that they only learned about the nuclear waste contamination through Facebook posts.

I was heartbroken. It sounds so cliche, but it takes your breath from you, said Ashley Bernaugh, president of the Jana Elementary School Parent-Teacher Association, who has a son studying at the school.

Prior to the Oct. 18 meeting, she expressed hope that community members would give their support to the school board. We know our school district didnt make this waste, Bernaugh said, adding that she is blaming the USACE and the Department of Energy for not taking steps to test and clean up the school from radioactive contamination.

Visit Pollution.news for more news about radioactive waste being found in the environment.

Watch the video below to know how Japan is dumping one million tons of radioactive water into the ocean.

This video is from the High Hopes channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Radioactive waste containment location could be leaking into the Pacific Ocean, warns UN Secretary-General.

Florida crews race to drain radioactive wastewater reservoir on the brink of collapse.

Cold War era military nuclear material may contaminate the planet with radioactive waste if Greenlands ice melts.

Sources include:

NTD.com

NBCNews.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) For many decades, the United States and Taiwan have enjoyed a longstanding and vibrant trade relationship  and one that is absolutely critical for the economic viability of both nations.

High-end electronics and their components (i.e., microchips and semiconductors) that the United States relies on are often manufactured in Taiwan, usually at substantially higher quality than similar products made in nearby communist China.

Taiwans number-one export to the United States is computers, it turns out, which represent 12 percent of the countrys overall experts. This is followed by computer parts at 11 percent; computer chips at 6.8 percent; cell phones and parts at 6.1 percent; and digital storage devices at 4.6 percent.

For its own imports, Taiwan relies on the United States for semiconductor machinery and parts; computer chips; oil; aircraft and parts; and passenger vehicles. (Related: Billionaire electric car tycoon Elon Musk threw Taiwan under the bus recently, calling for China to seize its independence.)

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) remains the worlds largest producer of computer chips. The company manufactures chips on contract for companies that design said chips but that do not have their own fabrication foundries and equipment.

It is increasingly common for companies that design chips to close their own fabrication plants and outsource their production to TSMC or similar third parties, reports explain.

TSMCs most well-known customers are Apple, NVIDIA (graphics card maker and AI server manufacturer), and AMD (Intels rival in CPUs). Even Intel, who have their own foundries, are looking to TSMC to make chips for them.

If China consumes Taiwan, the U.S. could lose an important trade partner

In total for the month of June, Taiwans trade with the United States amounted to $10.87 billion, a change of 11.04 percent compared to the same month a year earlier.

This past June, Taiwan ranked as No. 10 among U.S. trade partners compared to No. 8 in June 2021.

The top three U.S. exports by value this past June were:

 Oil

 Semiconductor machinery, parts, and

 Computer chips

The top three U.S. imports from Taiwan in June, also by value, were:

 Computers

 Computer chips, and

 Computer parts

By tonnage, the top three U.S. exports overall were:

 Oil and liquid natural gas (LNG)

 Other petroleum gases, and

 Corn

The top three U.S. imports also by tonnage were:

 Screws, nuts, bolts, and washers

 Hydroxide or peroxide, and iron, and

 Steel pipes and tubing

The following more well-known chip companies that the PC industry in the U.S. relies on include:

 Asus, a leading manufacturer of personal computers, motherboards, graphics cards, and more

 Gigabyte, which produces similar items

 RealTek, which manufacturers the audio processing chips found in most PCs, as well as networking chips used in routers

 D-Link, a major manufacturer of internet routers

 AOC and BenQ, two major manufacturers of computer monitors

 VIA, a producer of chipsets for PC motherboards, which coordinate communications between the CPU, GPU, memory, storage, and other components found in a computer

 Thermaltake, Cooler Master, and Liam Li, which produce PC cases, GPU coolers, PC case fans, and various other PC components

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) are also a staple throughout Taiwan. These include names like Foxxconn, which makes products for Apple, Pegatron, and Wistron.

Taiwan relies on the U.S. more than the U.S. relies on Taiwan, based on the numbers. Right now, the U.S. is Taiwans No. 2 trading partner behind China. A whopping 28.2 percent of Taiwans total exports come from China while 14.7 percent come from the U.S., followed by Hong Kong at 14.1 percent; Japan at 6.5 percent; and Singapore at 5.8 percent.

The latest news about the China-Taiwan conflict can be found at CommunistChina.news.

Sources for this article include:

Trade.gov

Forbes.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) For her role in scamming the European public out of billions of dollars to purchase vast quantities of Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen must resign immediately, says Romanian MEP Cristian Terhes.

The lawmaker gave an impassioned speech this week demanding that von der Leyen step down right away from her post after the European Public Prosecutors Office (EPPO) confirmed that an investigation has been opened into the European Unions (EU) Fauci Flu shot purchases.

Terhes, who belongs to the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group, explained that since her actions are [being] criminally investigated by EU prosecutors, von der Leyen has absolutely no business remaining in her position. (Related: Remember when von der Leyen considered trying to force all EU residents to get injected with the jabs she conspired to purchase?)

Though von der Leyen was not specifically named in the EPPO announcement, it is widely believed based on the circumstances that she and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla communicated at the onset of Operation Warp Speed about purchasing billions of Chinese Virus injections for billions of dollars.

Several other EU watchdog groups had previously expressed concern about secret communications between von der Leyen and Bourla, who allegedly texted each other about the scheme. Those text messages have since disappeared and many want to know: where did they go?

Ursula @vonderleyen must resign, since her actions are criminally investigated by @EUProsecutor, Terhes tweeted about the matter.

She signed contracts to purchase 4.6 billion COVID vaccine doses worth 71, contracts that are still not fully released to the public and MEPs. #UrsulaMustResign #EUCorruption.

Ursula von der Leyen purchased 10 doses of covid shots for every single EU citizen

The way the contracts were formed and signed between von der Leyen and Bourla point to serious criminality, hence the launching of a full investigation by the EPPO.

Ursula von der Leyen must immediately and unconditionally resign from her position as president of the European Commission due to the fact that her actions are currently being criminally investigated by the European Public Prosecutors Office, Terhes added.

The EPPO just announced a few days ago that it is investigating the way the contracts were signed between the Commission and the producers of vaccines.

If you calculate out the number of jabs von der Leyen purchased from Bourla using EU tax dollars, it comes out to 10 doses of injection for every EU citizen. And this, according to Terhes, was done based on contracts that were never released to the public.

This is how the contracts that she signed with pharmaceutical companies were released to the public, Terhes stated during his speech before Parliament while holding up two heavily redacted pages of a procurement contract between the Commission and the vaccine manufacturer.

How is this possible in a European Union that is called to be transparent with the way it is using peoples money?

According to Emily OReilly, the European Ombudsman, the aforementioned procurement agreement between von der Leyen and Bourla points to the former as being guilty of maladministration, specifically because it was done via text messages that were improperly stored and thus unavailable for public scrutiny.

Said texts were not covered by EU law regarding the requirement to store all documents in accordance with policy, meaning von der Leyen committed a serious crime, it would appear.

And she has not disappeared yet? asked a Natural News commenter. Whats the hold up, Europe?

How have our lives become a hellish nightmare seemingly overnight? asked another.

The latest news about Fauci Flu shots can be found at BigPharmaNews.com.

Sources for this article include:

RMX.news

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Brandon Straka, a former Democrat and founder of the #Walkaway movement that began in the months before the 2018 election, explained this week why he left his former party and why other Americans are leaving in unprecedented numbers.

When people were feeling pushed away years ago, to the point where they were starting to walk away, there was more of a casual tone about it, the former liberal Democrat told The Epoch Times. People were beginning to feel the effects of leftist, communism, Marxism infiltration into our society, our culture, and our politics.

After making his personal decision to leave the Democratic Party, Straka founded the #Walkaway movement and invited other Democrats fed up or frustrated with the partys divisive, intolerant, far-left cultural ideology to join him. And since that time, thousands of former Democrats have made videos explaining that they, too, have left the party, choosing to walk away like Straka did.

At the time he founded his movement, Straka said that former fellow Dems were just beginning to see the big changes to their party. And while they could not always describe what they were seeing, they did know that it made them uncomfortable and no longer at home with the party, the activist noted further. So they just quietly left.

But now, its akin to cancer. Cancer doesnt stop growing and spreading just because people dont like it. And whats happening with the left is no different, Straka told the outlet. Particularly with them getting rid of Trump, installing Biden, and the Democrats taking full control of the government. This is a cancer thats rapidly growing and spreading now. And its becoming not just uncomfortable, but I think intolerable, for a lot of people.

He went on to tell the outlet that when comparing 2018 stories about why former Democrats left the party to those of today, things have gotten worse and far more extreme.

People are truly scared, and they should be. Im living proof that you might be sitting home, minding your own business, and the FBI might break your door down and take you to jail, he said, adding that he was scheduled to speak at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021.

When I got there, the doors to the Capitol were open, and I stood outside the building and shot a video for eight minutes, and then I published my video to Twitter. But while shooting the video, apparently, I had entered a restricted area, Straka explained.

And so the FBI raided my house in tactical gear, put me in handcuffs, took me to jail, and charged me with two felonies and a misdemeanor for occupying restricted grounds and for being a part of what they called impeding police officers in the line of duty, he explained.

Strakas update on his movement comes as another prominent figure, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, announced that she, too, has left the Democratic Party.

I can no longer remain in todays Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue and stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms, are hostile to people of faith and spirituality, demonize the police and protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, believe in open borders, weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents, and above all, dragging us ever closer to nuclear war, she said in a Twitter post.

I believe in a government that is of, by, and for the people. Unfortunately, todays Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government of, by, and for the powerful elite. Im calling on my fellow common sense, independent-minded Democrats to join me in leaving the Democratic Party. If you can no longer stomach the direction that so-called woke Democratic Party ideologues are taking our country, I invite you to join me, the former lawmaker and current U.S. Army Reserve officer added.

Sources include:

USAJournal.news

TheEpochTimes.com
It was previously believed that the Earth's transition zone was a dry sponge, but a recent study has revealed that there are water reserves there. More information about this region between the mantles can be found by looking at a Botswana diamond.

The transition zone (TZ) is the layer that separates the Earth's lower and upper mantle. It is between 255 to 410 miles below the surface.

Peridot and Ringwoodite

Around 70% of the Earth's upper mantle is made up of the olivine mineral, also known as peridot, which is olive-green in color. Under extreme pressure that can reach 23,000 bar in the TZ, olivine undergoes a crystalline structure change. It transforms into denser wadsleyite at a depth of about 410 kilometers, at the top portion of the transition zone, and into even denser ringwoodite at a depth of 520 kilometers.

Professor Frank Brenker from Frankfurt's Goethe University-Institute for Geosciences said that the movement of rock in the mantle is significantly hampered by these mineral transformations.

As an illustration, mantle plumes, which are rising columns of hot rock out from deep mantle, occasionally come to an abrupt stop just below the transition zone. Mass that is moving in the opposite direction also stops moving. According to Brenker, subducting plates frequently struggle to penetrate the whole transition zone. This means there is a sizable cemetery of subducting plates as a result in this area beneath Europe.

Piggybacking Into the Earth

However, up until this point, it was unclear what long-term effects the "sucking" of particles into the transition zone would have on its geochemical makeup and whether there would be more water present.

According to Brenker, the subducting slabs also piggyback deep-sea sediments into the Earth's interior. Large amounts of Carbon dioxide and water can be stored in these sediments, but it has been difficult to determine whether or not there is significant water storage in that region because it has been unclear exactly how much entered the transition zone in a more stable form like hydrous minerals and carbonates.

There is no doubt that the current situation favors this. The transition zone could theoretically absorb six times as much water as our oceans due to the thick minerals wadsleyite and ringwoodite's ability to hold large amounts of water, unlike peridot at lower depths. Brenker says that although the boundary layer has a huge capacity to hold water, it was unclear whether it actually did so.

Botswana Diamond, Ocean Inside the Earth

A recent international study that examined a Botswana diamond from Africa has revealed the solution. It was created at a depth of 660 kilometers, right at the boundary between the lower mantle and the transition zone, where ringwoodite is the dominant mineral.

Even among the incredibly rare diamonds of remarkably deep-earth origin, which make up just 1% of all diamonds on earth, diamonds originating from this location are extremely uncommon. Due to the abundance of ringwoodite inclusions, the studies determined that the stone carries a high water content. The research team was also able to determine the stone's chemical makeup.

It was nearly identical to every piece of mantle rock found in basalts throughout the world. This demonstrated that the diamond unquestionably originated from a typical component of the Earth's mantle.

According to Brenker, their study, published in Nature, has shown that the transition zone, TZ, is not a dry sponge but rather holds a significant amount of water. Additionally, it advances our understanding of Jules Verne's theory that the Earth contains an ocean. The deviation is that instead of an ocean, Brenker claimed that there is hydrous rock, which neither feels wet nor drips water.

Read also: Study Shows Earth's Inner Portion is Cooling Faster Than Previously Thought

Hydrous Rock Minerals

In a diamond originating from the transition zone, hydrous ringwoodite was discovered for the first time in 2014, according to Scientific American. In that investigation, Brenker also took part. However, due to the stone's small size, it was impossible to pinpoint its precise chemical makeup.

As a result, it was unclear how representative the initial study was of the mantle as a whole because the diamond's water content could have also been a product of an unusual chemical environment. Contrarily, the inclusions in the 1.5 cm Botswana diamond that the research team examined in the current study were sufficiently large for the precise chemical composition to be defined, and this provided definitive proof of the preliminary results from 2014.

The high water content of the transition zone has significant effects on the Earth's dynamic environment. Hot mantle plumes rising from below that become trapped in the transition zone are one example of what this results in. There, the water-rich transition zone is heated, which causes the emergence of new, smaller mantle plumes that then take up the water that has been stored in the transition zone.

The water in the mantle plumes is forced to release, which decreases the melting point of the emerging material if these narrower water-rich mantle plumes migrate further upward and cross the limit to the upper mantle.

As a result, it melts right away rather than just until it reaches the surface, as is typical. The mass movements are more dynamic as a result of the decreased overall toughness of the rock masses in this region of the Earth's mantle. The transition zone, which usually serves as a barrier to the dynamics in the area, unexpectedly becomes a major force in the circulation of materials around the world, Sci-Tech Daily reports.

Related article: Superionic Material Might Explain Mysterious Secrets of Earth's Inner Core


Israel Shipyards unveils its new corvette SAAR S-80 at Euronaval 2022, International Naval Defense Exhibition in Paris, France. The vessel is based on Israel Shipyards Ltd. (ISL) S-72 platform, from which several designs have been evolved, including the Israeli Navy Light Patrol Corvette the RESHEF Classan advanced multi-role vessel.

Artist drawing of new Israel Shipyards corvette SAAR S-80. (Picture source Israel Shipyards)

The new generation of the S-80 class features greater versatility and higher payload capacity, with increased weapon suite capacity and a wider spread of Electronic Warfare (EW) systems as part of the platform's offensive advantages.



The S80 length is 80m, she is powered by 4 diesel engines, two shaft lines, and equipped with a controllable pitch propellor system and the top speed exceeds 28 knots. The S80 will be equipped with a state-of-the-art ship control system, a health management system and she will be capable of being equipped with the combat systems made by the Israeli defense industries or and any equivalent systems according to the customer requirements.



The S-80 can be adjusted to accommodate Corvette or as an OPV version, depending on the operational requirements. The S-80 allows longer range and endurance for extended periods with reduced detection risks, making it ideal for diverse applications and missions. Similar to the current Naval vessels of Israel Shipyards, the new Corvette is also supporting unique possibilities of deploying Special Forces units.The ship is designed for stealth, agility, and ruling the seas with cutting edge capabilities required in future combat scenarios., says Mr. Eitan Zucker, the companys CEOThe S80 ship will enable navies to effectively protect their country's sovereignty, maintain their economic waters, and win naval battles in times of war. The S80 has the endurance to operate in the open sea, and also to control the littoral. All this with optimal cost-benefit ratio. 



Israel Shipyards provides advanced maritime solutions with One-Stop-Shop capabilities by providing customized vessels to meet the customers requirements to all needs in the Naval arena with the most complete and cost-effective defense and security solutions.



The S80 will be the flagship of the Israel Shipyards for the next decades and she will serve the Israeli Navy and many other navies around the world.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced on October 20 that the State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Japan of Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) Block I missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $450 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this sale.

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USS Navy Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) launches a RIM-174 Standard ERAM (Standard Missile-6, SM-6) during a live-fire test of the ship's Aegis weapons system in the Pacific Ocean. (Picture source: U.S. Navy/Wikipedia)



The Government of Japan has requested to buy up to thirty-two (32) Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) Block I missiles (in two tranches of 16). Also included are Mk 21 Vertical Launch System (VLS) canisters; obsolescence engineering, integration and test activity; canister handling equipment, spares, training and training equipment/aids; technical publications/data; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistical support services; and other related elements of logistical and program support. The estimated total program cost is $450 million.

The proposed sale will improve Japans air defense and ballistic missile defense capabilities against potential adversaries in the region. It will also provide the U.S.-Japan Security Alliance with the latest and most advanced capabilities, reducing Japan's reliance on U.S. Forces for the defense of Japan and further improving U.S.-Japan military interoperability.

The principal contractor will be Raytheon Missiles and Defense (RMD), Tucson, AZ. Implementation of this proposed sale will require U.S. Government and contractor personnel to visit Japan on a temporary basis in conjunction with program technical oversight and support requirements, including program and technical reviews, as well as to provide training and maintenance support in Japan.

The RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM), or Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), is a missile in current production for the U.S. Navy. It was designed for extended-range anti-air warfare (ER-AAW) purposes providing capability against fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-ship cruise missiles in flight, both over sea and land, and terminal ballistic missile defense. It can also be used as a high-speed anti-ship missile. The missile uses the airframe of the earlier SM-2ER Block IV (RIM-156A) missile, adding the active radar homing seeker from the AIM-120C AMRAAM in place of the semi-active seeker of the previous design. This will improve the capability of the Standard missile against highly agile targets, and targets beyond the effective range of the launching vessels' target illumination radars. The initial operating capability was planned for 2013 and was achieved on 27 November 2013. The SM-6 is not meant to replace the SM-2 series of missiles but will serve alongside and provide extended range and increased firepower. It was approved for export in January 2017.
Freeman Health System has around 8,000 connected medical devices in its 30 facilities in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Many of these devices have the potential to turn deadly at any moment. "Thats the doomsday scenario that everyone is afraid of," says Skip Rollins, the hospital chain's CIO and CISO.

Rollins would love to be able to scan the devices for vulnerabilities and install security software on them to ensure that they aren't being hacked. But he can't.

"The vendors in this space are very uncooperative," he says. "They all have proprietary operating systems and proprietary tools. We can't scan these devices. We can't put security software on these devices. We can't see anything they're doing. And the vendors intentionally deliver them that way."

The vendors claim that their systems are unhackable, he says. "And we say, Let's put that in the contract. And they won't."

That's probably because the devices could be rife with vulnerabilities. According to a report released earlier this year by healthcare cybersecurity firm Cynerio, 53% of medical devices have at least one critical vulnerability. For example, devices often come with default passwords and settings that attackers can easily find online, or are running old, unsupported versions of Windows.

And attackers aren't sleeping. According to Ponemon research released last fall, attacks on IoT or medical devices accounted for 21% of all healthcare breaches  the same percentage as phishing attacks.

Like other health care providers, Freeman Health Systems is trying to get device vendors to take security more seriously, but, so far, it hasn't been successful. "Our vendors won't work with us to solve the problem," Rollins says. "It's their proprietary business model."

As a result, there are devices sitting in areas accessible to the public, some with accessible USB ports, connected to networks, and with no way to directly address the security issues.

With budgets tight, hospitals can't threaten vendors that they'll get rid of their old devices and replace them with new ones, even if there are newer, more secure alternatives available. So, instead, Freeman Health uses network-based mitigation strategies and other workarounds to help reduce the risks.

"We monitor the traffic going in and out," says Rollins, using a traffic-monitoring tool from Ordr. Communications with suspicious locations can be blocked by firewalls, and lateral movement to other hospital systems is limited by network segmentation.

"But that doesn't mean that the device couldn't be compromised as it's taking care of the patient," he says.

To complicate matters further, blocking these devices from communicating with, say, other countries, can keep critical updates from being installed.

"It's not unusual at all for devices to be reaching out to China, South Korea, or even Russia because components are made in all those areas of the world," he says.

Rollins says that he's not aware of attempts to physically harm people by hacking their medical devices in real life. "At least today, most hackers are looking for a payday, not to hurt people," he says. But a nation-state attack similar to the SolarWinds cyberattack that targets medical devices instead, has the potential to do untold amounts of damage.

"Most medical devices are connected back to a central device, in a hub-and-spoke kind of network," he says. "If they compromised those networks, it would compromise the tools that we use to take care of our patients. Thats a real threat."

IoT visibility struggle

The first challenge of IoT security is identifying what devices are present in the enterprise environment. But devices are often installed by individual business units or employees, and they fall under the purview of operations, buildings and maintenance, and other departments.

Many companies don't have a single entity responsible for securing IoT devices. Appointing someone is the first step to getting the problem under control, says Doug Clifton, who leads OT and IT efforts for the Americas at Ernst & Young.

The second step is to actually find the devices.

According to Forrester analyst Paddy Harrington, several vendors offer network scans to help companies do that. Gear from Checkpoint, Palo Alto, and others can continuously run passive scans, and when new devices are detected, automatically apply security policies to them. "It won't solve everything," he says, "But it's a step in the right direction."

Still, some devices don't fall neatly into known categories and are hard to direct. "There's an 80-20 rule," says Clifton. "Eighty percent of devices can be collected by technology. For the other 20%, there needs to be some investigative work."

Companies that don't yet have an IoT scanning tool should start out by talking to the security vendors they're already working with, Harrington says. "See if they have an offering. It may not be best of breed, but it will help span the gap, and you won't have to have a ton of new infrastructure."

Enterprises typically use spreadsheets to keep track of IoT devices, says May Wang, Palo Alto's CTO for IOT security. Each area of the business might have its own list. "When we go to a hospital, we get a spreadsheet from the IT department, the facilities department, and the biomed devices department  and all three spreadsheets are different and show different devices," she says.

And when Palo Alto runs a scan of the environments, these lists typically fall short  sometimes by more than an order of magnitude. Many are older devices, Wang says, installed in the days before IoT devices were recognized as security threats. "Traditional network security doesn't see these devices," she says. "And traditional approaches to protecting these devices don't work."

But companies can't apply endpoint security or vulnerability-management policies to devices until they are all identified. Palo Alto now includes machine-learning-powered IoT device detection integrated in its next-generation firewall.

"We can tell you what kind of devices you have, what kind of hardware, software, operating systems, what protocols you're using," Wang says. The Palo Alto systems can't detect and get full information on every single device. "For some of them, it may not be as detailed, but we can get most information for most devices. That provides visibility for device discovery."

Depending on how the technology is deployed, Palo Alto can also pick up devices based on their internal, lateral communications, and either suggest or automatically implement security policies for newly discovered devices.

When IoT devices use cellular communications, this creates a bigger problem. "Lots of IoT devices are 5G, and it's going to become an even bigger issue," she says. "We have a division working on 5G security. It definitely provides more challenges."

Peering inside the IoT

Once IoT devices are reliably discovered and inventoried, they need to be managed and secured with the same rigor as other network devices. That requires configuration management, vulnerability scanning, traffic monitoring, and other capabilities.

Even a device that's not connected to an external network can become an intermediate staging point or a hiding place for a determined attacker moving laterally through the company.

Marcos Marrero, CISO at H.I.G. Capital, faced just this dilemma a year ago.

H.I.G. is a global investment firm with over $50 billion of equity capital under management and 26 offices on four continents. The firm has hundreds of devices on its networks, such as cameras, physical security devices, and sensors that monitor temperature, humidity, and power inside its computer rooms. IoT device security "is a huge problem," says Marrero. "And it's constantly evolving and getting larger."

As a financial firm, H.I.G. is extremely security conscious, with the security team having oversight of every device that's installed on its networks. "Knock on wood, we haven't come across any rogue IoT in our environment," says Marrero.

But being able to locate devices is just the start of the journey. "Then there's the visibility into vulnerabilities and configurations," he says.

About a year ago, Marrero ran a vulnerability scan on one of the room alert devices and found open ports requiring no authentication. The firm contacted the manufacturer and was able to get instructions on how to harden the device. "But we had to ask for it  it wasn't information that was given to us right off the bat," he says.

And the vulnerability scan the company ran only looked at the device from the outside, he says, finding open ports and type of operating system, but little else. "There are a whole host of vulnerabilities in the open-source software used in these devices," he says.

To address the problem, H.I.G. turned to a firmware scanning tool from Netrise.

"We did a proof of concept and uploaded one of the firmware images, and it gave back all this vulnerability data and other information," he says. "That is what sealed it for us."

Uploading the images was a manual process that took a couple of minutes per image. Since there were many duplicate devices of the same type, the company had to upload fewer than 20 images in total. As a result of the scans, the firm's inventory of vulnerabilities increased by 28%.

"We had no idea they existed in our environment," he says. "Yes, our vulnerability trending had a spike, but half the battle is even knowing you had those vulnerabilities in the first place."

After the vulnerabilities were discovered, H.I.G. contacted device vendors and took other mitigation steps. "It could be taking the device down if it's too dangerous and poses too much of a risk to our environment," he says, "or layering additional controls around it."

For example, some devices were segmented off on the network, with access control lists to limit what other systems and users could access that device. "For example, a security camera can only talk to technology assets that support that device," he says. "That limits the risk of any negative exploitation."

Then, any future firmware updates are run through the Netrise tool before they're deployed, in case the manufacturer introduced new vulnerabilities.

Other IoT management policies the company has in place include security screening during the initial purchase decisions.

"Before we procure any new assets, we ensure they have some level of logging that we can send to our centralized logging environment," he says, referring to the company's security information and event management (SIEM) system. "What our SIEM does is take all the different logs we send to it and correlate them to reduce the level of false alerts."

Occasionally, the company comes across devices that have very immature levels of logging, he says. "And I've had to say, 'We're not buying that.'"

Monitoring and oversight

Once all the devices are identified, categorized by risk, and, to the extent possible, patched and updated, the next step is to create a monitoring framework around the ones with the potential to do the most harm to the company.

In some cases, companies may be able to install endpoint protection software on the IoT devices themselves to protect them against malicious attacks, to monitor configuration settings, to ensure that they are fully patched, and to monitor for unusual activity. That may not be possible for some older devices or proprietary devices such as medical equipment.

When devices connect to an enterprise network, those communications can be monitored for suspicious activity.

For once, enterprises are catching a break in this aspect of IoT security. According to Palo Alto, 98% of IoT traffic is unencrypted. Plus, IoT devices typically do the same thing over and over again.

"Take a thermostat, for example," says Palo Alto's Wang. "It's only supposed to send the temperature and that's it. It's not supposed to talk to other servers. That's a good thing  it makes it easier for the AI models to build up a baseline of behavior."

IoT and the zero-trust future

As companies move to zero-trust architectures, it's important not to forget the connected devices.

Zero-trust principles and security-by-design should be used to harden devices and associated applications. That starts with protection controls, such as device identification and authentication, as well as trusted device updates with supply chain tamper-resistance, says Srinivas Kumar, vice president of IoT solutions at security vendor DigiCert. Communications need to be secure as well, he adds.

One of the industry organizations working on securing IoT devices by creating authentication and encryption standards is WI-SUN, founded about 10 years ago to specifically focus on devices used by utilities, smart cities, and agriculture.

The security measures built into the WI-SUN standards include certificates for authenticating devices as they connect to a network, encryption to ensure that all messages are private, and a message integrity check to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.

Rising geopolitical tensions mean that securing these meters  and other devices key to critical infrastructure operations  is more and more urgent. "If you have structural-integrity check sensors on a bridge or railroad track and someone comes along and jams all the sensors, you'd have to shut the city down, and it would cause a huge amount of mayhem," says WI-SUN president and CEO Phil Beecher.

And that's just the start, says David Nosibor, platform solutions lead and head of the SafeCyber project at UL Solutions, formerly UL. "From disruptions of supply chains to loss of food, water, or power, these impacts can extend well beyond the impacted organizations," he says.

Meanwhile, attackers are getting increasingly sophisticated, he says, and there's a shortage of cybersecurity expertise in the workforce. Plus, on top of all this, there's a wave of regulations coming as legislators wake up to the risks.

"These challenges are interconnected," Nosibor says. "And many organizations, unfortunately, struggle to keep pace with the complexity."
Reporter

Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey).
When is Willard going to get more flights? What's next for the Inman? Can we get a stoplight at Kirby and Crescent? Is Jet's ever going to reopen? And what are those signs about at Hessel Park?
Our County Editor

Dave Hinton is editor of The News-Gazette's Our County section and former editor of the Rantoul Press. He can be reached at dhinton@news-gazette.com.
A region of the brain called the amygdala is responsible for powerful emotions like fear. Now, researchers have found the amygdala may also be to blame for overeating. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Bo Li has discovered a group of neurons in the amygdala that drives mice to eat fatty or sugary foods-;even when they're not hungry. Therapeutics targeting these neurons could lead to new treatments for obesity with minimal side effects.

Like most people, mice also tend to find foods high in fat and sugar the tastiest. They may indulge in these treats for pleasure, rather than for survival. The neurons Li and his colleagues studied trigger this behavior, called hedonic eating. Li notes:

"Even if the animal is supposed to stop eating because they are already full, if those neurons are still active, it can still drive those animals to eat more."

Almost no one succeeds in long-term weight management when treating obesity, Li says. Metabolic processes in the body often reverse any progress that's made. Therapeutics can help increase the odds of successful treatment, but many drugs have unwanted side effects.

The medications currently available to aid weight management can cause significant side effects. So, a more targeted approach is needed. Identifying the brain circuitry that controls eating is important for developing better treatment options for people who struggle to control their weight." Bo Li, CSHL Professor

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When the team switched off the specific neurons, mice weren't drawn to the fatty, sugary foods that had tempted them before. "They just happily ate and stayed healthy," Li says. "They not only stopped gaining weight, but also seemed to be much healthier overall." Switching these neurons off reduced overeating and protected against obesity. It also boosted the animals' physical activity, leading to weight loss and better metabolic health.

Li and his team are exploring ways to manipulate the neurons that trigger hedonic eating. The next step, he says, is to map out how these neurons respond to different types of food and see what makes them so sensitive. He hopes this collaboration will lead to new strategies for effective anti-obesity therapeutics.

For this study, Li and CSHL Associate Professor Stephen Shea combined their neuroscience expertise with CSHL Professor Tobias Janowitz's expertise in metabolism and endocrinology. They also collaborated with CSHL Assistant Professor Semir Beyaz, an expert in gut and nutrition research. It's part of an ongoing, multidisciplinary initiative at CSHL to research the connections between the brain and the body.
In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, University of Arizona researchers assessed the relationship between antibody responses and analgesic usage after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination.

Study: No evidence that analgesic use after COVID-19 vaccination negatively impacts antibody responses. Image Credit: Natalia Dolgosheeva / Shutterstock

Background

COVID-19 vaccines have shown high efficacy against clinical disease elicited by the ancestor strain of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, emerging variants, like SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and its sublineages, largely evade neutralizing antibodies produced by vaccination. Therefore, bivalent messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) booster vaccinations have been updated to better neutralize the BA.4/5 lineages. However, the reactogenicity observed in response to these vaccines may have a detrimental effect on a patient's willingness to accept a booster shot.

However, COVID-19 animal models have shown that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) significantly reduce antiviral antibody responses, which serve as accurate correlates for protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection. These mild adverse events may be mitigated to some extent by over-the-counter analgesics. However, it is still uncertain if mRNA immunization causes the same inhibitory effects in humans.

About the study

In the present study, researchers surveyed COVID-19 vaccinees regarding their usage of analgesics and compared the results to SARS-CoV-2 spike (S)-specific antibody levels.

The team assessed the survey data related to analgesic usage between 15 March 2021 and 22 March 2022. The survey was answered by 2,354 COVID-19-vaccinated people included in a statewide antibody testing program performed by the University of Arizona. Self-reported vaccination history, analgesic usage within 48 hours following either two mRNA-1273 or BNT162b2 vaccine doses, and antibodies elicited against SARS-CoV-2 S-receptor binding domain (RBD) were examined. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was also carried out using the t-test statistic.

Results

Compared to individuals who took NSAIDs or acetaminophen, those who did not consume an analgesic had significantly lower levels of RBD-specific antibodies. Notably, the cohorts that use NSAID and acetaminophen did not differ statistically from one another. Interestingly, analgesic use was linked to increased levels of anti-Spike antibodies rather than lower ones.

RBD levels were statistically considerably higher in individuals who chose not to respond to the survey than in those who did. Fatigue, headaches, and muscular pains were the most typical vaccine-related adverse effects and were most prevalent in people receiving NSAIDs. After vaccination, 95% of subjects were seropositive, but a small proportion of persons fell below this cutoff. Compared to people who did not consume analgesics, seropositivity was higher among people who were taking NSAIDs and experiencing these three symptoms.

A significantly larger proportion of NSAID users and people who did not use analgesics reported exhaustion and muscle aches. Additionally, the team found that NSAID users experienced headaches at a greater rate than non-users and at a lower rate than acetaminophen users. Unfortunately, the observational design of this study prevented a direct assessment. However, the most reasonable interpretation for the increase in antibody levels was that inflammation and adverse events were related to antibody increase instead of analgesic usage.

Overall, the study findings showed no evidence that the use of analgesics following COVID-19 vaccination had a negative effect on antibody responses.

*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.
Stem cell-derived neurons from combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) react differently to a stress hormone than those from veterans without PTSD, a finding that could provide insights into how genetics can make someone more susceptible to developing PTSD following trauma exposure.

The study, published October 20 in Nature Neuroscience, is the first to use induced pluripotent stem cell models to study PTSD. It was conducted by a team of scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Yale School of Medicine and The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute (NYSCF).

Post-traumatic stress disorder can develop following severe trauma and is an enormous public health problem for both veterans and civilians. However, the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual clinical outcomes remains unknown. To bridge this information gap, the research team studied a cohort of 39 combat veterans with and without PTSD who were recruited from the James J Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Bronx. Veterans underwent skin biopsies and their skin cells were reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells.

Reprogramming cells into induced pluripotent stem cells is like virtually taking cells back in time to when they were embryonic and had the ability to generate all the cells of the body. These cells can then be differentiated into neurons with the same properties as that person's brain cells had before trauma occurred to change the way they function. The gene expression networks from these neurons reflect early gene activity resulting from genetic and very early developmental contributions, so they are a reflection of the 'pre-combat' or 'pre-trauma' gene expression state." Rachel Yehuda, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, and Neuroscience, at Icahn Mount Sinai, Director of Mental Health for the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Senior Author

"Two people can experience the same trauma, but they won't necessarily both develop PTSD," explained Kristen Brennand, PhD, Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and a NYSCF  Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Alumna, who co-led the study. "This type of modeling in brain cells from people with and without PTSD helps explain how genetics can make someone more susceptible to PTSD."

To mimic the stress response that triggers PTSD, the scientists exposed the induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons to the stress hormone hydrocortisone, a synthetic version of the body's own cortisol that is used as part of the "fight-or-flight" response.

"The addition of stress hormones to these cells simulates biological effects of combat, which allows us to determine how different gene networks mobilize in response to stress exposure in brain cells," explained Dr. Yehuda.

Using gene expression profiling and imaging, the scientists found that neurons from individuals with PTSD were hypersensitive to this pharmacological trigger. The scientists also were able to identify the specific gene networks that responded differently following exposure to the stress hormones.

Inside the cells of PTSD-affected individuals

Most similar studies of PTSD to date have used blood samples from patients, but since PTSD is rooted in the brain, scientists need a way to capture how the neurons of individuals prone to the disorder are affected by stress. Therefore, the team opted to use stem cells, as they are uniquely equipped to provide a patient-specific, non-invasive window into the brain.

"You can't easily reach into a living person's brain and pull out cells, so stem cells are our best way to examine how neurons are behaving in a patient," said Dr. Brennand.

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NYSCF scientists used their scalable, automated, robotic system-; The NYSCF Global Stem Cell Array-;to create stem cells and then glutamatergic neurons from patients with PTSD. Glutamatergic neurons help the brain send excitatory signals and have previously been implicated in PTSD.

"As this was the first study using stem cell models of PTSD, it was important to study a large number of individuals," said Daniel Paull, PhD, NYSCF Senior Vice President, Discovery & Platform Development, who co-led the study. "At the scale of this study, automation is essential. With the Array, we can make standardized cells that allow for meaningful comparisons between numerous individuals, pointing to key differences that could be critical for discovering new treatments."

Leveraging the hallmarks of stressed PTSD cells for new treatments

The team's gene expression analysis revealed a set of genes that were particularly active in PTSD-prone neurons following their exposure to stress hormones.

"Importantly, the gene signature we found in the neurons was also apparent in brain samples from deceased individuals with PTSD, which tells us that stem cell models are providing a pretty accurate reflection of what happens in the brains of living patients," noted Dr. Paull.

Moreover, the distinctions between how PTSD and non-PTSD cells responded to stress could be informative in predicting which individuals are at higher risk for PTSD.

"What's really exciting about our findings is the opportunities they offer for accelerating the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD," Dr. Paull continued. "Importantly, having a robust stem cell model provides an ideal avenue to drug screening 'in the dish,' even across diverse patient populations."

"We're working on finding already-approved drugs that could reverse the hypersensitivity we're seeing in neurons," added Dr. Brennand. "That way, any drugs we discover will have the fastest possible path to helping patients."

The researchers plan to continue leveraging their induced pluripotent stem cell models to further investigate the genetic risk factors pinpointed by this study and to study how PTSD affects other types of brain cells, helping to broaden opportunities for therapeutic discovery.

A study enabled by team science

"What's special about this study is that it could have only been done by this group," said Dr. Brennand. "It involved some of the best clinicians in this space, incredible stem cell biologists, and amazing psychiatric geneticists. Each group has unique expertise, and none of this could have been accomplished by any one team alone."

"This study is a true testament to the power of team science," added Dr. Paull. "When researchers combine forces, we are able to ask bigger questions, make bigger discoveries, and hopefully, make a bigger difference for patients."

"NYSCF is incredibly proud to have generated the first-ever induced pluripotent stem cell models from individuals with PTSD as part of this landmark study in partnership with world-class scientists," said NYSCF Interim CEO Derrick Rossi, PhD. "This collaborative work underscores the unique value of stem cell modeling for studying and demystifying challenging diseases, and for discovering innovative strategies that could lead to urgently needed treatments."

This work was supported by a grant to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs through the U.S Army Medical Research and Material Command for Extramural Medical Research Department of Defense (Award #: W81XWH-15-1-0706; Principal Investigator: Rachel Yehuda.)
Pediatric obesity is a serious disease and its prevalence has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many factors can contribute to excess weight gain in youth including genetics/biology, the obesogenic environment, stress and sleep routines. Shedding new light on these areas, top experts will speak about pediatric obesity at ObesityWeek 2022, The Obesity Society's (TOS) Annual Meeting, a hybrid event set for Nov. 14, in San Diego, Calif., and on www.obesityweek.org.

"Symposia and presentations offered at ObesityWeek are by many of the world's top leaders, who are pushing the most innovative science that advances research for children and adolescents who struggle with the disease of pediatric obesity," said Justin Ryder, PhD, chair of the TOS Pediatric Obesity Section, and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis.

A sample of pediatric obesity sessions to be held at the conference include:

TOS/CDC Joint Symposium: Connecting the CORD-;Child Obesity Research Demonstration 3.0

This two-part symposium will provide an overview of projects and highlight two examples of innovative approaches being used by sites to increase access to pediatric obesity treatment.

This two-part symposium will provide an overview of projects and highlight two examples of innovative approaches being used by sites to increase access to pediatric obesity treatment. TOS/AAP Joint Symposium: AAP Obesity Treatment Guidelines: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Drafting of a Clinical Practice Guide

Attend a joint symposium by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and The Obesity Society on the development of the highly anticipated new AAP Obesity Clinical Practice Guideline for children and adolescents with obesity. Speakers will include Sarah E. Hampl, MD; Ihouma Eneli, MD, MS; Sarah C. Armstrong, MD; and Sarah E. Barlow, MD, MPH. Session Co-chairs are Aaron S. Kelly, PhD, FTOS and Ania M. Jastreboff, MD, PhD.

Attend a joint symposium by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and The Obesity Society on the development of the highly anticipated new AAP Obesity Clinical Practice Guideline for children and adolescents with obesity. Speakers will include Sarah E. Hampl, MD; Ihouma Eneli, MD, MS; Sarah C. Armstrong, MD; and Sarah E. Barlow, MD, MPH. Session Co-chairs are Aaron S. Kelly, PhD, FTOS and Ania M. Jastreboff, MD, PhD. TOS/WOF/EASO/Obesity Canada Joint Symposium: International Innovations in Pediatric Obesity

Speakers from Canada, Australia and Ireland will discuss ongoing paradigm shifts in the prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity. Experts will include Mary Forhan, OT, PhD; Bradley C. Johnston, PhD; Louise A. Baur; Aaron S. Kelly, PhD, FTOS; Geoff Ball, PhD, RD, FTOS; Hiba Jebeile, PhD, APD; and Louise Tully, RNutr, PhD. This session was produced by The Obesity Society, World Obesity Federation, European Association for the Study of Obesity and Obesity Canada.

Speakers from Canada, Australia and Ireland will discuss ongoing paradigm shifts in the prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity. Experts will include Mary Forhan, OT, PhD; Bradley C. Johnston, PhD; Louise A. Baur; Aaron S. Kelly, PhD, FTOS; Geoff Ball, PhD, RD, FTOS; Hiba Jebeile, PhD, APD; and Louise Tully, RNutr, PhD. This session was produced by The Obesity Society, World Obesity Federation, European Association for the Study of Obesity and Obesity Canada. Oral 020- Once-Weekly Subcutaneous Semaglutide 2.4 mg in Adolescents with Overweight or Obesity with Extended Q&A

Top-line results will be presented from the first randomized-controlled trial of semaglutide 2.4 mg in adolescents with obesity. Following the presentation, join lead author Daniel Weghuber, MD, along with co-author Aaron Kelly, PhD, FTOS, and two experts not involved in the study (Claudia Fox, MD, MPH, and Sarah Armstrong, MD) for an extended discussion and clinical interpretation of the findings.

Top-line results will be presented from the first randomized-controlled trial of semaglutide 2.4 mg in adolescents with obesity. Following the presentation, join lead author Daniel Weghuber, MD, along with co-author Aaron Kelly, PhD, FTOS, and two experts not involved in the study (Claudia Fox, MD, MPH, and Sarah Armstrong, MD) for an extended discussion and clinical interpretation of the findings. Environmental Barriers to Primary Prevention of Childhood Obesity

Obesity is increasingly becoming a disease of low-income and minority populations in the United States and abroad, disproportionately impacting children of color. Listen to experts such as Session Chair Lara R. Dugas, PhD, MPH, FTOS, and speakers Lacey A. McCormack, PhD, MPH, RD; Angela Odoms-Young, PhD; and Simon Baquera, MD, PhD, MS, FTOS, regarding the impact of environmental factors on childhood obesity and solutions for moving forward to improve primary prevention in the populations most burdened.

Media representatives interested in covering the pediatric obesity sessions need to register for ObesityWeek 2022. Registration is free but members of the press need to request a code by sending an email to TOS Director of Communications/Media Relations Chanel Carrington at [email protected]
Although breast cancer is more common in women, during October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, experts from Cedars-Sinai Cancer are reminding men that they are at risk as well. One in every 100 breast cancers in the U.S. is diagnosed in a man, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cedars-Sinai Cancer experts caution that one in every 100 breast cancers in the US is diagnosed in a man. Image Credit: Getty.

Genetic predisposition is an important part of cancer risk and an important area of cancer care.

Some people have damage to their DNA-their hereditary genetic material-that makes them more likely to get cancer. As genetic sequencing of patients with cancer becomes more common, we are discovering an increasing number of patients with this hereditary genetic damage, so our genetic counselors are an important part of the Cedars-Sinai Cancer team." Dan Theodorescu, MD, PhD, Director, Cedars-Sinai Cancer and PHASE ONE Distinguished Chair.

Both men and women should be aware of their family history of breast cancer, said John Lee, associate director of the Genetic Counseling Program at Cedars-Sinai Cancer. And check both sides of the family, Lee said, because mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that increase risk for breast cancer can be passed from the mother or the father-or both.

Lee recently sat down with the Cedars-Sinai Newsroom to share additional breast cancer awareness tips for men in the hope of diagnosing more of these cancers at early stages, when they are most treatable.

Newsroom: What factors increase a mans risk of developing breast cancer?

Lee: The first is family history on either side. Theres a misconception that breast cancer can't be inherited from the fathers side. That's absolutely not true. You inherit half your genes from your mother, half your genes from your father, and for cancer-related genes, they are really quite equal.

Other risk factors include age-as most male breast cancers are diagnosed in those over age 60-as well as obesity and certain medical conditions. Those include liver disease and testicular disease.

Newsroom: When should males consider undergoing genetic testing?

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Lee: Any male with a personal or family history of male breast cancer, regardless of age of diagnosis, should consider undergoing genetic testing. Other clinical indications include personal history of metastatic, high- or very high-risk prostate cancer. Males should also consider genetic testing if they have a family history of early onset female breast cancer, multiple family members with female breast cancer, or Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.

Newsroom: Why do you think many of these men fail to come in for genetic testing?

Lee: First, they arent always referred for testing because a lot of healthcare providers hold an outdated view that family history of breast cancer only matters for women. Second, most people think genes like BRCA1 and BRCA2 only affect female risk. The risk of cancer for BRCA-positive females is much higher than the risk for BRCA-positive males, but the risk still exists. There is also a stigma surrounding testing for men. Even when providers refer high-risk male patients, many of those patients never schedule appointments, and among those who do come in for a consultation, some opt to forgo testing.

Newsroom: How does being BRCA1 or BRCA2 positive affect a mans risk of developing breast cancer?

Lee: Being BRCA2 positive raises a mans risk of developing breast cancer from 0.1% to approximately 7%. When you look at absolute numbers, I can see why some people dismiss it, because it isnt nearly as large an increase as the risk for women, which rises from 13% in the general population to as much as 70% for BRCA-positive women. But being BRCA positive also increases a mans risk for developing prostate and pancreatic cancer. Another factor is that BRCA-positive men can pass that gene on to their children. And I think that's important for them to know as well.

Newsroom: What are the breast cancer screening recommendations for BRCA-positive men?

Lee: We recommend annual clinical breast exams starting at age 35. We also recommend evaluation for gynecomastia, which often means a man has enough breast tissue to make routine mammograms feasible. We also recommend general breast self-awareness-being familiar with their breasts and watching for signs such as a lump or any sort of nipple discharge-for both men and women.
Biomedical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated the most effective treatment for pancreatic cancer ever recorded in mouse models. While most mouse trials consider simply halting growth a success, the new treatment completely eliminated tumors in 80% of mice across several model types, including those considered the most difficult to treat.

The approach combines traditional chemotherapy drugs with a new method for irradiating the tumor. Rather than delivering radiation from an external beam that travels through healthy tissue, the treatment implants radioactive iodine-131 directly into the tumor within a gel-like depot that protects healthy tissue and is absorbed by the body after the radiation fades away.

The results appear online October 19 in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

"We did a deep dive through over 1100 treatments across preclinical models and never found results where the tumors shrank away and disappeared like ours did," said Jeff Schaal, who conducted the research during his PhD in the laboratory of Ashutosh Chilkoti, the Alan L. Kaganov Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke. "When the rest of the literature is saying that what we're seeing doesn't happen, that's when we knew we had something extremely interesting."

Despite accounting for only 3.2% of all cancer cases, pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death. It is a very difficult to treat because its tumors tend to develop aggressive genetic mutations that make it resistant to many drugs, and it is typically diagnosed very late, when it has already spread to other sites in the body.

The current leading treatment combines chemotherapy, which keeps cells in a stage of reproduction vulnerable to radiation for longer periods of time, with a beam of radiation targeted at the tumor. This approach, however, is ineffective unless a certain threshold of radiation reaches the tumor. And despite recent advances in shaping and targeting radiation beams, that threshold is very difficult to reach without risking severe side effects.

Another method researchers have tried involves implanting a radioactive sample encased in titanium directly within the tumor. But because titanium blocks all radiation other than gamma rays, which travel far outside the tumor, it can only remain within the body for a short period of time before damage to surrounding tissue begins to defeat the purpose.

"There's just no good way to treat pancreatic cancer right now," said Schaal, who is now director of research at Cereius, Inc., a Durham, North Carolina biotechnology startup working to commercialize a targeted radionuclide therapy through a different technology scheme.

To skirt these issues, Schaal decided to try a similar implantation method using a substance made of elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs), which are synthetic chains of amino acids bonded together to form a gel-like substance with tailored properties. Because ELPs are a focus of the Chilkoti lab, he was able to work with colleagues to design a delivery system well suited for the task.

The ELPs exist in a liquid state at room temperature but form a stable gel-like substance within the warmer human body. When injected into a tumor along with a radioactive element, the ELPs form a small depot encasing radioactive atoms. In this case, the researchers decided to use iodine-131, a radioactive isotope of iodine, because doctors have used it widely in medical treatments for decades and its biological effects are well understood.

The ELP depot encases the iodine-131 and prevents it from leaking out into the body. The iodine-131 emits beta radiation, which penetrates the biogel and deposits almost all its energy into the tumor without reaching the surrounding tissue. Over time, the ELP depot degrades into its constituent amino acids and is absorbed by the body -; but not before the iodine-131 has decayed into a harmless form of xenon.

The beta radiation also improves the stability of the ELP biogel. That helps the depot last longer and only break down after the radiation is spent." Jeff Schaal, Director of Research at Cereius, Inc.

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In the new paper, Schaal and his collaborators in the Chilkoti laboratory tested the new treatment in concert with paclitaxel, a commonly used chemotherapy drug, to treat various mouse models of pancreatic cancer. They chose pancreatic cancer because of its infamy for being difficult to treat, hoping to show that their radioactive tumor implant creates synergistic effects with chemotherapy that relatively short-lived radiation beam therapy does not.

The researchers tested their approach on mice with cancers just under their skin created by several different mutations known to occur in pancreatic cancer. They also tested it on mice that had tumors within the pancreas, which is much more difficult to treat.

Overall, the tests saw a 100% response rate across all models, with the tumors being completely eliminated in three-quarters of the models about 80% of the time. The tests also revealed no immediately obvious side effects beyond what is caused by chemotherapy alone.

"We think the constant radiation allows the drugs to interact with its effects more strongly than external beam therapy allows," Schaal said. "That makes us think that this approach might actually work better than external beam therapy for many other cancers, too."

The approach, however, is still in its early preclinical stages and will not be available for human use anytime soon. The researchers say their next step is large animal trials, where they will need to show that the technique can be accurately done with the existing clinical tools and endoscopy techniques that doctors are already trained on. If successful, they look toward a Phase 1 clinical trial in humans.

"My lab has been working on developing new cancer treatments for close to 20 years, and this work is perhaps the most exciting we have done in terms of its potential impact, as late-stage pancreatic cancer is impossible to treat and is invariably fatal," Chilkoti said. "Pancreatic cancer patients deserve better treatment options than are currently available, and I am deeply committed to taking this all the way into the clinic."
In this interview, News Medical speaks to Isaac Chiu, Ph.D., and Daping Yang, Ph.D. of Harvard Medical School, about their latest research, revealing the surprising properties of pain. Thought Leaders Isaac Chiu, Ph.D. Daping Yang, Ph.D. Harvard Medical School In this interview, News Medical speaks to Isaac Chiu, Ph.D., and Daping Yang, Ph.D. of Harvard Medical School, about their latest research, revealing the surprising properties of pain.

Please can you introduce yourself and tell us about your background, as well as what inspired you to conduct your latest research?

Isaac Chiu, Ph.D. - I am an associate professor at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Immunology. I did my Ph.D. in immunology at Harvard University and my postdoctoral training in the neurobiology of pain at Boston Childrens Hospital. I am fascinated by how the nervous system crosstalks with the immune system and microbes in host defense, physiology, and disease.

Pain is a fundamental albeit unpleasant sensation that warns us of danger. It is increasingly clear that nerves can also have other functions, including signaling to epithelial cells that form the barrier of a tissue. We were inspired to see if pain fibers talk directly to epithelial cells in the gut to protect it from damage.

Dr. Yang and his co-author Dr. Jacobson discovered that the mucus lining of the gut was different when mice lacked pain fibers. This inspired the work that we carried out in this study. We wanted to really understand how pain regulates mucus levels and if this has consequences on gut tissue protection.

Daping Yang, Ph.D. - My Ph.D. training focused on Immunology, and I started my postdoctoral work in Chiu Lab three years ago. I am very interested in how the homeostasis of our gut mucosal barrier system is maintained and how this system senses and adapts itself to the ever-changing environment. As we all know, patients with inflammatory diseases usually suffer from visceral pain, which we also noticed in our mouse colitis model in the lab. However, whether pain, except for serving as an alert of danger, is involved in regulating gut barrier protection remains unknown.

Image Credit: Lightspring/Shutterstock

The presence of pain has been long recognized as an alert system, telling us to stop and pay attention to our bodies. Can you tell us more about pain itself, and how this alarm bell works to detect the potential presence of harm?

Pain is part of the bodys response to various noxious stimuli such as heat, chemical, or mechanical injuries. Pain is mediated by nociceptor neurons which have nerves present in the tissues. Nociceptor neurons express many receptors that allow them to quickly recognize and respond to those potentially damaging stimuli.

When the stimulation of nociceptor neurons goes above certain threshold, it will induce action potential that transduces the signal via the spinal cord to our brain, which makes us perceive pain and warns us about the presence of harm.

Your latest research suggests that on top of being an alert system, pain also plays a direct protective role in the gut, shielding it from damage. Can you tell us more about how you conducted your study?

To investigate the role of nociceptor neurons in the gut and host protection, we generated mice that lacked these pain-mediating neurons. As the mucus barrier is the first defense barrier of the gut mucosa, we first tried to measure the mucus layer thickness using immunostaining. We found that the mucus thickness was significantly decreased compared with that of the control group. With these results, we hypothesized that nociceptor neurons might be involved in mucus production. To confirm this, we also utilized a chemogenetic approach to activate the nociceptor neurons, which induced dramatically increased mucus thickness.

We next found the way neurons used a signal called CGRP to communicate with goblet cells, which are the cells that line our gut and produce mucus. This allows pain signaling to be coupled directly to mucus production. Gut microbes are one factor that causes neurons to produce CGRP and induce goblet cells to produce mucus. We also found that capsaicin, the ingredient in chili peppers found in spicy foods, also induced neurons to produce CGRP and induce mucus production by the gut. Finally, we also found that mice that lacked either nociceptor neurons or CGRP were more susceptible to colitis.

Image Credit: Explode/Shutterstock

Did the findings in mice match your expectations at the start of the study? What interesting results did you identify?

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We were pretty open-minded about expectations at the start of our study. We did go into the study hypothesizing that pain and the neurons involved must play a more active role in regulating our gut barrier system. The most interesting result is our finding shows that goblet cells, the mucus-producing cells, highly express the receptor Ramp1, which recognizes neuropeptide CGRP secreted by nociceptor neurons.

These results suggest that nociceptor neurons might regulate goblet cell production through CGRP they produced. It also means mucus production is intimately associated with the nervous system. Another quite interesting finding is that the gut microbiome can regulate this process by stimulating nerves to release CGRP.

Your research discovered that intestinal goblet cells release protective mucus if triggered by direct interaction with the pain-sensing neurons within the gut. Can you tell us more about goblet cells in relation to the findings of your research?

Goblet cells are the key types of cells that produce and secrete mucus in the gut. Since the gut is a mucosal tissue, mucus is a fundamental part of the gut. On the one hand, it coats the gut and protects it from injury. On the other hand, it maintains a healthy microbiome that can feed on mucus-associated sugars, and also, mucus keeps a distance between harmful microbes and the gut wall.

We found that pain fibers can directly signal to goblet cells to regulate their function. In mice that lacked these pain-sensing neurons, the mucus lining is thinner, and this leads to microbial dysbiosis, meaning the community of gut microbes is not normal. It also made the mice more susceptible to colitis, which is inflammation in the colon. It is, therefore, important to understand how goblet cells receive signals from neurons and how this regulates their survival and function.

Image Credit: Alpha Tauri 3D Graphics/Shutterstock

Your study also noted the possible downsides to suppressing pain. What are these downsides, and why is it so important to consider the possible consequences of blocking pain?

Because we found that pain protects the gut by mediating mucus production and maintaining a healthy microbiome, if we suppress pain, it could interfere with this protective property. There are people who have headaches and migraines who are currently taking drugs to block CGRP or its receptor RAMP1. Our findings suggest that blocking this pathway could lead to gut barrier problems, including mucus production and potentially also microbiome problems. It is already known that blocking CGRP can lead to constipation in the gut.

More broadly, beyond CGRP blockers, generally blocking pain signaling with opioids or other drugs could have unforeseen consequences on gut barrier function or mucus production that we should be cautious about.

What are the next steps for you to further your research?

We are very interested in further determining how neurons communicate with gut cells. We are, in particular, interested in how pain fibers talk to immune cells in the gut, which could have consequences on inflammation. Another very exciting question is defining how our microbiome affects pain fibers in the gut.

One of the implications of our research is that the microbiome signals, via these nerves, to regulate mucus levels. Therefore defining the products from microbes that act on pain fibers could be important.

Where can readers find more information?

Link to Chiu Lab: http://chiulab.med.harvard.edu

Link to the study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867422011965?dgcid=coauthor

About the Interviewees:

Isaac Chiu, Ph.D. - Isaac Chiu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Immunology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chius central research focus is neuro-immune interactions in pain, host defense and inflammation. He has found that nociceptor neurons directly detect bacteria and their mediators to produce pain. These neurons signal via neuropeptides to innate immune and epithelial cells in the skin and gut to mediate barrier immunity. Defining neuron-immune-microbe crosstalk could lead to new treatments for pain, infection, and inflammation.

Dr. Chiu received his Ph.D. in Immunology from Harvard Medical School in Mike Carrolls lab and then did his postdoctoral training on the neurobiology of pain in Clifford Woolfs lab at Boston Childrens Hospital. He started his independent faculty position at Harvard Medical School in 2014. Dr. Chiu has received the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award, NIH Directors New Innovator Award, and Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative Ben Barres Award.

Daping Yang, Ph.D. - Daping Yang obtained his Ph.D. majoring in Immunology from the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences of China, where he developed his research interest. He joined Professor Isaac Chiu's lab at Harvard Medical School as a postdoctoral student in 2020, aiming to understand the role of the gut-brain axis in gut mucosal barrier protection under homeostasis and inflammation. His current work focuses on how nociceptors and pain protect our gut health.
A recent study published in Acta Pharmacologica Sinica described the evidence, mechanisms, and therapies for endothelial dysfunction in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

COVID-19 has been a substantial public health emergency worldwide. Both pulmonary and extra-pulmonary systems are targeted by the causal agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The vascular endothelium provides a dynamic interface between blood and tissues/organs and maintains tissue homeostasis.

Numerous viruses can infect the endothelium and cause endothelial dysfunction. Accumulating evidence suggests that endothelial dysfunction is a key mechanism in COVID-19 pathogenesis. In the present study, researchers reviewed the contribution and tools of endothelial dysfunction in COVID-19 and its complications and biomarkers.

Endothelial functions and dysfunctions

Endothelial functions include maintenance of barrier integrity and anti-inflammatory, -oxidant, and -thrombotic interface and regulation of homeostasis, vascular tone, and cellular metabolism of amino acids, glucose, et cetera. The endothelium produces multiple vasoactive molecules that tightly regulate the balance between vasoconstrictory and vasodilatory, pro- and anti-thrombolytic, fibrinolytic and anti-fibrinolytic, pro- and anti-oxidant, and pro- and anti-inflammatory responses.

Nitric oxide (NO), produced by endothelial NO synthase (eNOS), is critical for endothelial homeostasis. Endothelial dysfunction is characterized by reduced bioavailability of NO and elevated levels of angiotensin II (Ang II), endothelin-1, etc. Reduced NO bioavailability is partially due to decreased NO synthesis and extensive reactive oxygen species (ROS) synthesis. ROS inactivates eNOS leading to eNOS uncoupling.

Endothelial dysfunction in COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 can cause systemic vascular damage through angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) binding. ACE2 is the receptor SARS-CoV-2 uses for entry into host cells, including endothelial cells. Analysis of autopsied tissues from COVID-19 patients showed high ACE2 expression in capillaries but low in venules and arterioles relative to SARS-CoV-2-naive subjects.

The major coronary arteries lack detectable ACE2 expression, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2-induced endothelitis occurs in tiny capillaries. Pulmonary endothelial cells have minimal ACE2 expression under normal conditions, but heterogeneous ACE2 levels and endothelial damage have been documented in autopsied tissues of COVID-19 patients.

Several histopathological analyses have provided evidence of direct infection of endothelial cells with SARS-CoV-2. Electron microscopic (EM) examination of kidney tissues showed evidence of endothelitis and viral particles in endothelial cells.

Mechanisms and markers of endothelial dysfunction in COVID-19

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COVID-19 may result in a severe cytokine storm caused by the excess production of inflammatory mediators in a subset of patients with severe disease. A study found endothelial inflammation-associated markers in lung tissues of COVID-19 patients. Further, it has been demonstrated in severe COVID-19 cases that exosomes activate caspase-1 and NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome and release interleukin (IL)-1-beta in endothelial cells.

Moreover, SARS-CoV-2 infection of brain microvascular endothelial cells indicated increased apoptosis of endothelial cells. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data showed elevated expression of markers associated with endothelial activation. Therefore, SARS-CoV-2-associated inflammasome activation and hyperinflammation may lead to endothelial cell injury and death.

Notably, cytokine storms could cause vascular leakage, particularly endothelial permeability. These cytokines can likely disrupt the integrity of junctional proteins, leading to the extravasation of immune and inflammatory cells. One study noted significantly elevated angiogenesis in lung tissues of COVID-19 patients.

Additionally, plasma profiling has shown increased circulating levels of angiogenesis markers, including vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), in COVID-19 patients. Increased VEGF-A levels promote infiltration of inflammatory cells and endothelial leakage.

Multiple studies have reported elevated secretion of different markers of endothelial activation or dysfunction in COVID-19 patients. These include D-dimers, von Willebrand factor (vWF), factor VIII, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM1), soluble thrombomodulin (sTM), angiopoietin-2, VEGF-A, IL-6, IL-8, lactate, and syndecan-1, among others.

Therapeutics for endothelial dysfunction

Statins exhibit lipid-lowering, anti-inflammatory, -oxidant, -thrombotic, and immunomodulatory effects. Thus, they could be used as adjunctive therapy for SARS-CoV-2-associated endothelial dysfunction. The pharmacological profile of metformin, the first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus, makes it a promising candidate for repurposing to control inflammation in COVID-19 patients with diabetes.

Several clinical trials suggested that dexamethasone, a glucocorticoid, benefits COVID-19 patients. Dexamethasone treatment in severe COVID-19 patients significantly decreased the levels of endothelial dysfunction-associated markers. Tocilizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody, is protective against endothelial dysfunction as it reduces oxidative stress and inflammation burden.

Concluding remarks

Endothelial dysfunction-induced endothelitis upon SARS-CoV-2 infection occurs due to several pathophysiological mechanisms, directly by SARS-CoV-2 disease or indirectly through paracrine effects of virus-infected cells. Although current therapies for COVID-19 are focused on inhibiting viral replication and limiting inflammasome activation or inflammation, novel therapeutic strategies for endothelial dysfunction may be promising for cardiovascular sequelae in convalescents.
When Congress failed to renew advance Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments last year, public health experts feared that the loss of this monthly federal pandemic relief benefit would push millions of families and children in America back into poverty and hunger.

Now, a new study led by researchers at Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) reveals that in the months after this policy ended, there was a substantial increase in the percentage of US households with children that could not afford enough food to eat in a seven-day period-;a situation known as food insufficiency.

Published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the study found that food insufficiency increased by approximately 25 percent among families with children from January 2022 to July 2022, after they stopped receiving monthly CTC payments on January 15, 2022. The monthly cash benefits were a cornerstone of the Biden administration's American Rescue Plan, providing an estimated 92 percent of US households up to $3,000 per child ages 6 to 17 and up to $3,600 per child under age 6 from July 2021 to December 2021, with half of the credit amount distributed as advance monthly payments.

The study is the first to measure the impact of the expired benefits on food insufficiency among households, and it follows the researchers' previous study in JAMA Network Open, which showed that the CTC expansion reduced food insufficiency by 26 percent in 2021, findings that President Biden cited during the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in late September.

This increase in food insufficiency is an urgent problem, particularly among households with children, as poor nutrition uniquely affects the health and well-being of growing children, the researchers say.

"This significant increase in food insufficiency among families with children is particularly concerning for child health equity, as child health, development, and educational outcomes are strongly linked to their family's ability to afford enough food," says study lead and corresponding author Allison Bovell-Ammon, director of policy and communications at Children's HealthWatch, headquartered at BMC. "Even brief periods of deprivation during childhood can have lasting impacts on a child."

As Congress negotiates a year-end tax relief package, the researchers urge lawmakers to pass a fully refundable and inclusive advance CTC that ensures that all families with children across the US are able to afford enough food to keep their children healthy.

The six short months of these Child Tax Credit advanced payments clearly made a big difference for American families, a permanent expansion would be a game-changer for reducing child poverty for good. There is more to do to make sure that very low-income families actually get the monthly payments, prompting efforts like GetCTC.org, but a permanent expansion allows resources and awareness to build around the policy in a way that short-term fixes don't." Paul Shafer, Study Senior Author, Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy & Management, BUSPH

For the study, the researchers examined nationally representative census data on demographic characteristics, employment, social supports, and food insufficiency among nearly 600,000 household families, from July 2021 to July 2022 (the period before and after expiration of the CTC monthly payments).

The findings also indicate that the expiration of the CTC exacerbates racial and economic inequities in consistent access to adequate and healthy food. The study showed that low-income households experienced the greatest increases in food insufficiency after the advance payments ended in January-;particularly in the spring, after many families likely depleted the second half of their CTC credits issued in a lump sum payment after tax filings. The analysis showed that single-adult, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic households-;groups that historically have faced greater hardships around food access-;also experienced greater food insufficiency after losing their advance CTC payments.

"Black, Latino, Indigenous, and immigrant families in the US consistently experience food insecurity-;a broader measure that assesses quantity, quality, and variety of food -;at higher rates than White families as a result of current and historical marginalization and systemic racism," Bovell-Ammon says.

The expanded CTC in 2021 reduced racial inequities by ensuring access to the credit for predominantly Black, Latino, and Indigenous children who were previously excluded from the full benefits of the CTC, she says.

Immigrant families also experienced significant barriers to CTC access, says study coauthor Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, research associate professor of health law, policy & management at BUSPH and executive director of Children's HealthWatch. "These barriers were due in part to specific eligibility exclusions, but they also occurred even when immigrant families were eligible. Following the expiration of the payments at the end of 2021, the gains in racial equity were eroded, potentially further exacerbating racial and health inequities and increasing distrust."

This study was also coauthored by Nicole C. McCann and Martha Mulugeta, PhD students in Health Services Research at BUSPH; and Julia Raifman, assistant professor of health law, policy & management at BUSPH.
The discovery of a genetic variant that is relatively common among people of Polynesian ancestry, but incredibly rare in most other populations, is giving clues to the genetic underpinnings of high cholesterol in all people, according to new research led by University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health geneticists in partnership with several other groups, including the University of Otago and the Samoan health research community.

The surprising finding, published this week in the journal Human Genetics and Genomics Advances, demonstrates the importance of ensuring diversity in genetic databases.

If we had only been looking in populations with European ancestry, we might have missed this finding entirely. It was through the generosity of thousands of Polynesian people that we were able to find this variant, which is a smoking gun that will spark new research into the biology underlying cholesterol." Jenna Carlson, Ph.D., Lead Author, Assistant Professor of Human Genetics and Biostatistics, Pitt Public Health

High cholesterol is a major cause of disease burden in countries of all income levels, is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, and is estimated to cause 2.6 million deaths annually worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Carlson and her team built their study to explore a signal that popped up in a large genome-wide survey looking for genes associated with lipids, or fats, in the body. It suggested that a gene variant on chromosome 5 could be associated with cholesterol. The team set out to "fine map" the region using genetic data from 2,851 Samoan adults from the Obesity, Lifestyle, And Genetic Adaptations (OLAGA, which means "life" in Samoan) Study Group who had also provided health information, including lipid panels. To double-check the finding, the team looked for the association in 3,276 other Polynesian people from Samoa, American Samoa and Aotearoa New Zealand, and the same connection between the variant and cholesterol was seen in them.

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Using data from the western Polynesian Samoan participants, the team was able to fill in the missing information around the region they were interested in on chromosome 5. This led them to BTNL9  a gene that directs the production of the BTNL9 protein. Proteins typically signal to cells to perform actions, though scientists still haven't characterized the precise role of the BTNL9 protein.

It turned out that Polynesian people with low levels of HDL "good" cholesterol and high levels of triglycerides had a "stop-gain" variant in BTNL9, which means the gene was being directed to stop doing its protein-production job, a strong hint that the BTNL9 protein is involved in helping cells maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

"We don't know a lot about this variant because it's not seen in published genome references, which overrepresent European ancestry individuals  it's virtually nonexistent in European ancestry populations, has very low frequency in South Asians and isn't even particularly common in eastern Polynesian people, such as Maori living in Aotearoa New Zealand," Carlson said. "But the way it's linked to lipid panels in Samoan people tells us that this gene is important to cholesterol, something we didn't know before. By further exploring BTNL9, we might someday discover new ways to help everyone maintain healthy cholesterol levels."
One is an illegal drug found in marijuana while the other is marketed as a safe herbal alternative. But the claimed differences between them aren't backed by science, a group of UConn researchers report on Nov. 1 in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the psychoactive compound produced by cannabis plants. The federal government lists 9 -THC (pronounced delta-9-THC) on the Schedule 1 list of dangerous drugs with no accepted medical use. But other versions of THC that differ only by the location of a double bond, such as 8-THC, remain quietly quasi-legal on the federal level.

The legality differences between the various versions of THC are causing conflict between the hemp and cannabis industries. There is also potential for harm to consumers. Although 8-THC is viewed as an herbal extract of hemp, many manufacturers use solvents and chemical processes that can leave harmful residues in the product, and there are no standards for purity or safety.

Because there are no limits, some products contain ridiculously high levels of 8 and other THC variants that could potentially cause harm due to the sheer dosage. And states do not agree on its safety or legality. Some states, such as Connecticut, have made 8-THC as controlled as 9-THC, while in others it remains legal. Cannabis producers allege the distinction is giving rise to unfair competition between the hemp and marijuana markets.

If regulating 9-THC as an illegal drug is based on the fact that it has physical and psychoactive effects, then the first step to rational regulation of 8-THC would look at whether it, too, has those effects. And people who have experience with both say it does; most agree the effects of 8 are similar to 9.

UConn School of Nursing professor and Center for Advancement in Managing Pain director Steve Kinsey, graduate student Olivia Vanegas, and their colleagues in UConn Chemistry and local startup 3BC Inc decided to test that in mice. Research done in Japan in the 1980s had shown that 8-THC produced the same effects in mice as 9-THC. Kinsey and Vanegas reproduced that work and found it to be true: the mice given 8 became lethargic, their body temperature dropped, and they became cataleptic, meaning the researchers could put the mice in unusual positions and they'd stay like that for several seconds, which is common in THC-treated mice, but not normal mice.

Then the researchers took it a step farther, blocking the mice's THC receptors. Blocked mice had no reaction to 8-THC, making it clear that 8 interacts with the same receptors as 9-THC.

Then the researchers took a group of mice and gave them 8-THC twice a day for five days. Over time, the mice became desensitized to it. And when they were then given the THC blocker, the mice acted like they were in withdrawal.

Finally collaborators at RTI International ran an experiment "asking" the mice how the drug felt. First they trained the mice to go to a specific spot for a reward if they were dosed with 9-THC. After the training, the mice were dosed with 8-THC. Unsurprisingly, they went to the same reward spot as when they were dosed with 9.

So they're telling us the same thing people buying the stuff in gas stations tell us: 8 feels like THC." Steve Kinsey, Professor, UConn School of Nursing

Chemically, it's unsurprising. Molecules as similar as 8- and 9-THC usually (though not always) act the same in the body. But legally it causes a lot of complications.

The distinction between 8- and 9- originally came about from the congressional Farm Bill covering hemp growing and sales. Hemp is defined as a cannabis plant that has less than 0.3% 9-THC by dry weight. Anything that has more concentrated 9-THC than that is considered marijuana. Additionally, the Farm Bill said anything else naturally present in the hemp plant is legal. That includes 8-THC.

"It's creating a fight between marijuana and hemp" growers, says John Harloe, an attorney on Colorado's THC taskforce. Products classified as marijuana "must be sold through dispensaries and pay high taxes, while hemp producers can sell essentially the same product but without the same regulations, due to the ambiguity in the Farm Bill," Harloe says.

Harloe is bringing Kinsey and Vanegas's paper to the Colorado taskforce to inform the discussion. The taskforce is trying to create appropriate regulation that will address the different chemical variations of THC and guard public safety without crippling the hemp industry. The paper is particularly valuable because there is so little research done on THC and its intoxicating effects, due to federal rules.

"Any bit of science is going to be influential," Harloe says.
Sarcoidosis is a systemic inflammatory disease that is difficult to diagnose and treat, partly because its cause and mechanism remain unclear. It is characterized by the formation of immune cell clusters called granulomas, primarily in the lungs. Given the involvement of this immune response, sarcoidosis may be caused by an infectious pathogen.

It was long assumed that the lower airways were sterile, but it has now been established that the airways have their own "microbiome". This is a collective term for the microbes that are present in the airways at all times.

The MicroILD study investigated 35 sarcoidosis patients and 35 healthy controls. Compared with healthy controls, patients with sarcoidosis had a different microbiome in their lungs. In particular, there was an excess of the fungal species Aspergillus in the lower airways and lower levels of antimicrobial peptides in sarcoidosis patients compared to healthy controls.

The study indicates a possible connection between the microbiome in the lower airways and disease development in sarcoidosis.

- This is one of few studies that shows a changed microbiome in the lower airways for sarcoidosis-patients, explains PhD-candidate at the University of Bergen, Kristel Knudsen.
University of Tubingen, a leading member of Cyber Valley, Europes largest Artificial Intelligence (AI) research consortium and Boehringer Ingelheim launch an AI and data science fellowship program for top talents from around the world. Three to five fellowships will be awarded per year for up to three years with a target of nine to fifteen fellows in the program after five years.

Jan Nygaard Jensen, Global Head of Computational Biology and Digital Sciences at Boehringer Ingelheim. Image Credit: Boehringer Ingelheim

The partners will define cutting-edge research topics at the intersection of health and applications of AI, which will be selected by a joint steering committee. First fellowships have been published here and interested post-doctoral candidates are invited to submit their applications.

The partnership is founded in Boehringer Ingelheims and the University of Tubingens joint vision to harness the power of AI and data science to improve human and animal health. The aim is to transform patients lives through the discovery of new medical breakthroughs, by accelerating timelines, improving scientific and clinical success and further elevating patient centricity. Application areas will reach across the whole biopharmaceutical value chain, from research and development via production and supply chain management to marketing and sales.

The partnership with University of Tubingen, will boost our AI and data science research and give us the opportunity to develop and recruit the next generation of AI and data scientists. These talents will be key in achieving our goal to accelerate development of novel treatments and transform the lives of millions of humans and animals. Jan Nygaard Jensen, Global Head of Computational Biology and Digital Sciences, Boehringer Ingelheim

"Only if we leverage the potential of new digital technologies will we achieve our goal of bringing the future of healthcare to people around the globe. This is why digital innovation transcends all areas at Boehringer Ingelheim under one consistent strategy to maximize this opportunity. We are very excited to work with the fellows to extend our leadership in the development of next-gen AI and data science solutions, added Brigitte Fuhr, Head of Central Data Science at Boehringer Ingelheim.

This collaboration with a research-driven biopharmaceutical company like Boehringer-Ingelheim is a partnership of mutual interest and could pave the way for further initiatives. The University establishes yet another interface between basic research and practical application here. It also sharpens its profile in a research area of increasing importance: the use of AI in medicine and the life sciences." Professor Dr. Peter Grathwohl, Vice-president for Research and Innovation, University of Tubingen

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"Particularly in the combination of AI with relevant healthcare and pharmaceutical data, there is great potential to noticeably improve the wellbeing of many people," says Nico Pfeifer, professor of Methods in Medical Informatics at the University of Tubingen and project director. "Methods research is able to identify problems in the healthcare sector which require new AI approaches and can develop tailored solutions for them.

Fellows will do their research onsite at University of Tubingen. They will benefit from the Universitys extensive expertise, rapid growth in AI and data science and highly reputed medical research. In addition, they will have the opportunity to work closely with scientists, domain experts, and executives from Boehringer Ingelheim globally and locally. Furthermore, it is planned that fellows will be invited to participate in visits at the companys sites, networking events and annual symposia.

The University of Tubingen is committed to the transfer of innovations and research results to application and to maintaining a continuous exchange with industry and society. In the field of AI, it is a founding member of the Cyber Valley research network and conducts applied basic research in a wide range of collaborations. It focuses on applications for science itself - for example in the Cluster of Excellence "Machine Learning: New Perspectives for Science" -, life sciences and medicine, but also ethical aspects.

Boehringer Ingelheims digital strategy aims to establish a leading data science ecosystem by collaborating with top-notch academic research institutions in the field, by nourishing and developing future talent and by partnering with data initiatives globally to build a comprehensive global data base of genomic and patient data. The company is collaborating with innovative digital startups across the whole value chain and is investing in early digital entrepreneurs via the companys venture fund BIVF.

With the newly established collaboration with the University of Tubingen Boehringer Ingelheim continues to foster AI and data science partnerships in multiple innovation spots in Europe, the USA and Asia. Last year a similar fellowship program was established with Yale University together with Boehringer Ingelheims Ridgefield R&D site.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan will depart for a visit to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia tomorrow.

The visit seeks to strengthen the financial and commercial ties and co-operation between Hong Kong and the Middle East, and promote Hong Kongs latest economic and financial developments to the Middle East markets, thus telling the good stories of the city and exploring potential business opportunities.

Mr Chan will visit Bahrain on October 23 and 24 where he will call on senior government officials and business leaders to explain the vast potential of Hong Kong's economy and the Greater Bay Area market with a view to forging closer bilateral trade and investment ties.

The finance chief will be in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from October 25 to 27 to attend the sixth edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) and is scheduled to speak at a plenary session and share views on the political and economic outlooks as well as elaborate on Hong Kong's status and edge as a leading global financial centre.

During his stay in Riyadh, Mr Chan will attend and give a keynote address at a breakfast meeting co-organised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing and Investcorp, an alternative investment management company in the Middle East.

He will take the opportunity to promote Hong Kong's pre-eminent role as the financial gateway to the Mainland, explaining how the city can help them tap the vast business opportunities brought by the Mainland's development.

Mr Chan said: The Chief Executive has emphasised in his Policy Address that we need to tell the world the good stories of Hong Kong. Principal Officials will make visits overseas, including emerging markets, to showcase the strengths of Hong Kong.

He anticipates that this visit will help Hong Kong extend its economic and trade ties with the Middle East and help rebuild the city's image and branding.

Mr Chan will return to Hong Kong on October 28. During his absence, Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong will act as Financial Secretary.
Secretary of the Army Christine E. Wormuth discusses the Armys quality of life upgrades including investing $1.5 billion in Army-owned housing. (Screenshot image)
KUNMING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Li Ruxiu, 60, walks the runway wearing a cockscomb-shaped hat and black, red, yellow and green clothing, displaying traditional Yi ethnic costumes to tourists. The woman is from the Yi ethnic group and has been showcasing traditional Yi costumes featuring handmade embroidery for more than half a century in Yongren County of Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. "I have been obsessed with embroidery since I was a little girl," Li said. She learned to do embroidery work at the age of eight and could make her own costumes at 12. "Yi girls here who can hold a needle can embroider. Embroidery is a skill in our genes," she said. Yunnan is home to about 5 million Yi people. With ancestral embroidery skills, Yi people needle nature designs onto their costumes, such as flowers, butterflies, birds, tigers and cats, as well as the sun, moon and stars. For more than 1,300 years, Yi people have been passing on their embroidery traditions, a form of intangible cultural heritage. However, steep mountains used to cut off the unique culture from the outside world. For a long time, the Yi embroidery art remained a mystery. Local authorities have thus taken a series of measures, including training embroiderers, holding fashion shows, and promoting Yi costumes in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Li's daughter Yu Kunyao opened a Yi embroidery studio in the county after her graduation from college, incorporating new fashion elements and winning the hearts of young consumers. "Life is like embroidery. It is in need of patience and dexterity," Li said. "Yi embroidery is amazing. People like it but have no idea how to apply it to modern life," said Fan Zhiyong, vice president of the Yi embroidery association of the Chuxiong prefecture. She has devoted herself to returning Yi embroidery to something more than just art hanging in a museum. After graduating in 2007, Fan returned to her hometown to establish the Yunnan Naxi Cultural Creative Development Co., Ltd. and registered the brand "Nasu," leading more than 300 embroiderers to participate in Yi embroidery. Concerted efforts have yielded promising results. There are now 56 Yi embroidery associations and cooperatives as well as 538 embroidery workshops in the prefecture, including 12 enterprises each with an annual output value of more than 5 million yuan (about 703,300 U.S. dollars). Yunnan has invested more than 30 million yuan to promote the Yi cultural industry, whose output value increased from 20 million yuan in 2012 to 200 million yuan in 2021. Among the 57,000 female embroiderers in Chuxiong prefecture, Li Guoxiu earns more than 6,000 yuan monthly from working at the Colorful Yi Embroidery Culture Co., Ltd. in Nanhua County. Ding Lanying, head of the company and mother to two daughters, has been dedicated to helping rural mothers work near home, enabling them to take care of their children. As a provincial inheritor of intangible cultural heritage in Yunnan, Ding has mastered over 70 Yi embroidery techniques. Last year, her company developed more than 1,000 products across over 300 categories, such as handbags and shawls, with an annual income of 15 million yuan. Now, her elder daughter has also become a county-level inheritor of Yi embroidery. "Yi embroidery is our life, and we have worked hard to make the old art brand-new," Ding said.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter

Both citizens and residents of Bahrain are urging the authorities to clamp down on robbery and other criminal activities allegedly carried out by nationals of African countries after many videos showing their frightening behaviour went viral on all social media platforms.

Many videos showing nationals of African countries going berserk across various streets have been causing panic among the public though the Ministry of Interior hasnt confirmed that these videos have originated from the Kingdom.

However, there were media reports about robbery bids, unruly behaviour and beggary by the nationals of African countries. Among them was a horrible attack on a taxi driver, who had a narrow escape at the hands of robbers.

Speaking to The Daily Tribune, Ali Jamsheed, a Bahrain resident, said the authorities must take immediate action to arrest the fears about possible attacks by these gangs.

There is panic among the public, whether a threat exists or not. Strict action from the part of authorities will only address the issue. Bahrain Police have always successfully dealt with such social security threats and we are confident that this will also be handled well, if at all such a threat exists, said Jamsheed.

Another Bahrain resident said such incidents are adversely affecting the image of many African nationals, who have been residing in the Kingdom, strictly adhering to the laws of the land.

African expatriates have a long history in the Kingdom and they are a major contributor. I have many Kenyan and Ethiopian friends. But these recent incidents are tarnishing their image too in the country, which is not at all a good thing.

The Daily Tribune earlier reported about the entry of African nationals into the Kingdom in search of better opportunities and jobs. It is learnt that on the pretext of providing jobs in the Kingdom hundreds of youths from West African nations such as Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon have been duped by the fraudsters by handing over three-month multiple entry visit visas after taking amounts ranging between BD1,200 and BD1,500.

I paid 1.5 million Nigerian Naira (BD1,350) to an agent in Lagos to reach here. He said upon reaching here I would be offered jobs with salaries ranging between BD400 and BD500. It has been a month now and everyday I walk at least 10 to 20 kms in the hot sun, searching for jobs, a 23-year-old Nigerian national, a desperate jobseeker in the Kingdom, earlier told The Daily Tribune.

I dont have money to survive here, neither can I return home without success. I really dont know what the future holds for me. Social workers say that visa fraudsters are preying on not only jobseekers from Africa but also from South Asian countries including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

During the past few weeks, the Kingdoms authorities have stepped up measures to tackle the functioning of human trafficking chains who bring in jobseekers in the guise of tourists. The Kingdom now provides tourist visas, which can be obtained online by presenting a bank statement with a minimum account balance of BD300.

The visitor should also present return tickets as well as documents of hotel booking. And people visiting their family members must present a copy of the residents CPR along with copies of power/water bills.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter

The Civil Court of Appeal yesterday rejected an appeal filed by former councillor Muhammad Al Sinan, who had filed his nomination from the Second Constituency in Muharraq Governorate.

Earlier, lawmaker Ibrahim Al Nafii filed a complaint against Mr Al Sinans candidature with the electoral supervisory committee, which led to the cancellation of his nomination papers. Mr Al Sinan served as a counsellor at the Muharraq Municipality between the years 2014 and 2018.

The Civil Court of Appeal also rejected the appeal made by Saeed Al Sammak, whose candidature from the Sixth District in the Capital Governorate was earlier dismissed by the electoral supervisory committee.

Meanwhile, the court did not entertain the complaint filed by candidate Muhammad Al Aradi against the opponent Mamdouh Al Saleh. Both had filed nominations from the Third Constituency in the Capital Governorate.

The High Civil Court of Appeal on Wednesday rejected the appeal filed by four-time lawmaker Adel Al Asoomi against the decision of the electoral supervisory committee, which had earlier dismissed his nomination.

Mr Al Asoomis candidature was rejected by the electoral committee after accepting the claims in the complaint filed by his opposing candidate Murad Ali Murad regarding discrepancies over residency.

With the removal of Mr Asoomi from the list of candidates, the number of candidates contesting in the First Constituent Seat of the Capital Governorate has been reduced to two. Murad Ali and Muhammad Janahi are the existing two candidates.

Mr Al Asoomi, an incumbent lawmaker, has been an active member of the parliament and he has raised and highlighted many issues of public concern. Well-known across the Arab world, Adel Al Asoomi was re-elected as Arab Parliament Speaker a few days ago becoming the first Bahraini to hold the post for two years.

Three other appeals were as well rejected by the court. The appellants are Dr Sharaf Al Mazal, former lawmaker Ali Shamout and lawyer Muhammad Al Othman. Earlier, Dr Sharaf had filed nominations for contesting from the Fourth Electoral Constituency in the Northern Governorate while Mr Muhammed filed his papers for the poll battle from Fourth Electoral Constituency in Muharraq Governorate.

Mr Ali was a potential candidate from the Sixth Electoral Constituency in the Capital Governorate. The final list of candidates will be announced on October 26. The Kingdom will head to the polls on November 12 with a run-off fixed on November 19.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

In a swift police action, Bahraini cops arrested yesterday two men who were on the run after stealing BD 12,260 from a money transfer company employee within hours of committing the crime.

The Capital Governorate Police Directorate said they caught the suspects within four hours of receiving a complaint. Police said they also retrieved the lost amount from the suspects, who are aged 58 and 59 years.

As per case files, the suspects stole the money from the employee while he was completing procedures to deposit the days collection in a bank. Citing an opportunity, one of the suspects first approached the employee under the pretext of seeking help.

He then turned his attention away from the bag by asking him to pick up something that had just fallen from him. Making full use of the decoy, the second suspect took the money inside the bag and quietly left the place.

The victim managed to recognise the trap only after some time. Despite panicking, the man quickly informed the police, who assigned a team to find the suspects. Capital Police said they took necessary legal measures to refer the suspects to Public Prosecution.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain authorities have lifted a ban on Mohanlal starer Monster after its makers trimmed 13 minutes of the film. The movie hit a roadblock when the Gulf countries, except UAE, banned the film over its content.

Following this, the makers reportedly submitted the film to Censor Board for re-evaluation. Latest reports say the movie will start screening in theatres here today.

#Monster ban lifted in ##Bahrain after 13 minutes are cut! Local news dailies quoting Trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai said. Reports say Mohanlal, who enjoys fandom pan-India, is in the role of a mystery man named Lucky Singh in this investigative thriller.

The film also marks Mohanlals reunion with the Pulimurugan writer-director duo Vysakh-Udaykrishna. The movie also stars Lakshmi Manchu, Siddique, Lena, Honey Rose, Sudev Nair, KB Ganesh Kumar and Johny Antony.
, Oct 20 ( NHK ) - The Japanese government launched a nationwide discount campaign last week to kick-start domestic tourism.

However, some people have said on social media that accommodation operators could be price gouging by ramping up their room rates.

The government says it will advise operators not to introduce unreasonable price hikes.

Japanese tourism minister Saito Tetsuo said on Tuesday no such cases had been reported yet.

He said not all price increases are necessarily inappropriate. He said there are instances in which prices have to rise to pay for the staff needed. ...continue reading
, Oct 21 ( Spotlight on China ) - Chinese buyers have become interested in farmland in Japan, and policymakers in the country are uncomfortable with this.

According to Nikkei Asia, the Japanese government was aware of the sale of land in Hokkaido to an unnamed firm with financial links to China. The land is around 35 km (21 miles) from a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force radar site.
ST. JOHN'S, NL, Oct. 21, 2022 /CNW/ - Across the country, Canadians are calling for ambitious climate action that keeps our air clean while building a strong, local economy. Through initiatives like the Low Carbon Economy Fund, the Government of Canada continues to work with partners across the country to cut pollution and foster stronger, more resilient communities, while creating good jobs and growing a sustainable, clean economy.

Today, the Honourable Seamus O'Regan Jr., Minister of Labour and the Member of Parliament for St. John's SouthMount Pearl, on behalf of the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced an investment of up to $37,000 from the Low Carbon Economy Fund to support Sea-Force Hyperbaric Inc. with a fuel-switching project. The provincial government is also contributing up to $37,000, with Sea-Force Hyperbaric Inc. contributing approximately $74,000 toward the project.

This project will reduce emissions by replacing three oil furnaces with air-to-water heat pumps at the Sea-Force Hyperbaric Inc. Reception Facility.

The federal funding comes from the Low Carbon Economy Fund, which invests in projects that reduce carbon pollution and supports a broad range of recipients to put in place clean technologies that will help them be more efficient and innovative.

This project is a good example of the climate leadership that will be supported under the expanded Low Carbon Economy Fund, which in Canada's 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan received a $2.2 billion commitment over seven years. Investments in climate action initiatives like this are part of the Government of Canada's commitment to fight climate change, create good jobs, and build a strong, clean economy for everyone.

Quotes

"The transition to a clean, sustainable economy is an enormous opportunity that requires investment, adaptation, and new ways of doing business. It means reducing carbon wherever and whenever we have the opportunity. Working with organizations like Sea-Force Hyperbaric to replace oil furnaces with air-to-water heat pumps lowers carbon, reduces costs, and makes them more competitive."

 The Honourable Seamus O'Regan Jr., Minister of Labour and Member of Parliament for St. John's SouthMount Pearl

"The more we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, the closer we get to achieving our target of net zero by 2050. Our government is pleased to support Sea-Force Hyperbaric with their fuel-switching project as they work to improve the facility's energy efficiency and energy consumption."

 The Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Quick facts

The Low Carbon Economy Fund is an important part of Canada's climate action plans, helping to put Canada on a path to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

climate action plans, helping to put on a path to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The Government of Canada has committed an additional $2.2 billion to the Low Carbon Economy Fund in Budget 2022, which was also noted in Canada's 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan.

has committed an additional to the Low Carbon Economy Fund in Budget 2022, which was also noted in 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan. The advanced and enhanced Low Carbon Economy Fund will support climate action by Indigenous peoples with a new $180 million Indigenous Leadership Fund. This will support clean energy and energy efficiency projects led by First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities and organizations.

Associated links

Environment and Climate Change Canada's Twitter page

Environment and Climate Change Canada's Facebook page

SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada

For further information: Kaitlin Power, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, 819-230-1557, [email protected]; Media Relations, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll-free), [email protected]
HelloFresh is haunting the streets of Toronto with the launch of its Food Waste Graveyard

TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2022 /CNW/ - www.hellofresh.ca HelloFresh is mourning the loss of food items that were gone too soon with the launch of its food waste graveyard. The pop-up activation located in Lawrence Park (55 Glengowan Road) symbolizes all of the wasted food "laid to rest".

GHASTLY FACTS ABOUT FOOD WASTE:



The average Canadian household generates 372 pounds of avoidable food waste each year. That's the equivalent of 31 (12 lbs) pumpkins per year.



In Canada , almost 2.2 million tonnes of edible food is wasted each year.

A FOOD WASTE GRAVEYARD

This local Toronto home will be the set of the graveyard, with tombstones that share relatable, spooky truths that are easy to digest. The Food Waste Graveyard will be open to the public from Friday, October 21st to Monday, October 31st.

Not scared yet? Canada's annual cost of food loss and waste is more than $1,700 per household. That's equivalent to that all-inclusive trip you've had your eyes on, or the laptop your child needs for school.

"We've all tried a new recipe that calls for  cup of fresh cilantro. You buy it fresh, cook the dish and then are left with an almost full bunch of leftover cilantro that will likely end up unused and in the trash in a matter of days," says HelloFresh Corby-Sue Neumann, Director of Culinary for HelloFresh Canada.

THE FACTS ARE FRIGHTENING

One bunch of herbs may not seem like a lot, but it adds up. A recent study found that food waste across the country is costing Canadians in excess of $20 billion.1

"With pre-portioned fresh ingredients and easy recipes delivered straight to your door, HelloFresh offers Canadians tangible mealtime solutions that save 36% less food waste compared to the traditional way of shopping and cooking for dinner. Canadians that cook with HelloFresh not only do their part in reducing food waste, but they also save money in the process," adds Corby-Sue.

A recent survey , conducted by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab, found that 40% of Canadians said they're trying to waste less food now compared to 12 months ago. The study also found that food waste reduction is the number one thing consumers are doing to cut costs.

_________________________

1 https://lovefoodhatewaste.ca/about/food-waste/#:~:text=In%202022%20the%20National%20Zero,more%20than%20%241%2C300%20per%20year

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS?

When wasted food ends up in local landfills, or in our case, graveyards, the rotten scraps produce methane - a greenhouse gas that is even stronger than carbon dioxide. HelloFresh produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions after a meal is finished. HelloFresh meal leftovers generate 29% fewer emissions as compared to a meal prepared without Hellofresh. This is due to the accurately portioned ingredients as well as the vegetarian meal options, which give customers the opportunity to further reduce their carbon footprint.

To learn more about how HelloFresh helps Canadians reduce their household food waste, please visit https://www.hellofresh.ca/foodwasteisscary

For more information, visit HelloFresh.ca

About HelloFresh Canada

HelloFresh Canada was founded in February 2016. HelloFresh delivers 'cook from scratch' meal plans straight to your door with carefully curated, easy-to-follow recipe cards and locally sourced pre-portioned fresh ingredients in just the right quantities. HelloFresh helps reduce food waste and takes care of the meal planning, shopping, measuring and delivering, leaving time for you to do the fun parts: cooking and eating. HelloFresh caters to a variety of needs by offering Pronto, Family, and Veggie boxes. HelloFresh delivers all across Canada. In the three-month period between October 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020, HelloFresh delivered 179 million meals to 5.29 million active customers worldwide.

SOURCE HelloFresh Canada

For further information: Press contacts: Kate Carnegie, KC Media, Owner, (905) 650-7622, [email protected]
FedDev Ontario investment to support over 30 companies, create and maintain 160 jobs, and develop eight new products, services or processes, and over 32 new patents

TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2022 /CNW/ - Research in genomics and engineering biology has led to the development of cutting-edge technologies and innovations in a number of important sectors, including public health, food, and the environment. By examining the genetic and environmental factors impacting the health of Canadians and understanding environmental changes, we can develop technologies and tools to address world challenges like disease and climate change, as well as to improve the health and well-being of Canadians.

Today, the Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), announced an investment of over $5.6 million for Ontario Genomicshttps://martellotech.com/ to deliver the BioCreate program. The program will provide seed funding and support to help genomics SMEs in the health, food and agriculture, and cleantech sectors to bring new products and technologies to market.

Southern Ontario is recognized as a world leader in genomics and engineering biology research, but innovators often encounter challenges that prevent promising start-ups from scaling up and moving from research to commercialization. Through the BioCreate program, Ontario Genomics, in partnership with Velocity (Waterloo), McMaster Innovation Park/Synapse Life Sciences Consortium (Hamilton), Toronto Metropolitan University Science Discovery Zone (Toronto), and Cleantech Commons (Peterborough), will provide over 30 successful applicants with access to critical infrastructure including lab space, business support tools, mentoring, and tech development guidance.

Participating businesses are expected to create and maintain up to 160 highly skilled jobs, as well as create eight new products, services, or processes and more than 30 new patents. As well, approximately 25 percent of the firms participating in the program will be directed to an investment fund (the Firehood) that focuses on connecting women founders with mentors, partners and/or customers to help develop their business.

Additional details related to BioCreate and the application process can be found here.

The Government of Canada is committed to supporting innovation in this important sector to help SMEs grow and commercialize technologies and improve the well-being of Canadians, create quality jobs, and boost Canada's economy.

Quotes

"Supporting Canadian innovators is a priority for the Government of Canada and today's investment in Ontario Genomics and the BioCreate Program will provide Canadian genomics companies within the health, food and agriculture and cleantech sectors with access to the tools, mentorship and lab space they need for growth and success. This program will create 160 highly skilled jobs across Southern Ontario and help secure Canada's place as a global leader in research and innovation."

- The Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

"Ontario Genomics is helping to further develop a network in leading-edge innovation. This project will support the development of a healthy pipeline of high-potential start-up companies in health, agri-food and cleantech sectors, and create and maintain up to 160 highly skilled jobs across southern Ontario."

- Bettina Hamelin, President and CEO Ontario Genomics

Quick Facts

Genomics is the study of all the genetic information of an organism's genes.

Engineering (or synthetic) biology is a convergence of genomics and molecular biosciences with computing, automation, miniaturization, artificial intelligence (AI), and the application of engineering principles to biological systems.

Established in 2000, Ontario Genomics is a Toronto -based not-for-profit organization leading the application of genomics-based solutions across key sectors of the economy to drive economic growth, improved quality of life, and global leadership for Ontario .

-based not-for-profit organization leading the application of genomics-based solutions across key sectors of the economy to drive economic growth, improved quality of life, and global leadership for . Ontario Genomics has raised more than $1.27 billion for genomics research in Ontario and directly supported more than 9,100 jobs since 2000.

for genomics research in and directly supported more than 9,100 jobs since 2000. In 2021, the Government of Canada announced the development of at $400-million Pan-Canadian Genomics Strategy.

announced the development of at Pan-Canadian Genomics Strategy. The Regional Innovation Ecosystem initiative, delivered by FedDev Ontario, aims to create, grow, and develop strong and inclusive regional ecosystems that support business growth and innovation, as well as the entrepreneurial environment necessary to foster more innovative regional economies and increase the competitiveness of SMEs.

Since November 2015 , and throughout the pandemic, FedDev Ontario has invested more than $2.2 billion to support over 3,000 projects across southern Ontario , helping to create or maintain more than 180,000 jobs, and leveraging over $3.1 billion in additional investment in the region.

Associated Links

FedDev Ontario

Ontario Genomics

Stay Connected

Website: www.FedDevOntario.gc.ca

Subscribe to FedDev Ontario's Southern Ontario Spotlight newsletter, featuring economic development news and updates from across the region.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn for more information on how we are growing businesses, cultivating partnerships and building strong communities in southern Ontario.

SOURCE Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

For further information: Edward Hutchinson, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, [email protected]; FedDev Ontario Media Relations, [email protected]
OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 20, 2022 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that our criminal justice system keeps communities safe, supports victims, and holds offenders to account, while respecting Charter rights.

As promised during the International AIDS conference in July, the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the launch of a public consultation on reforming the criminal law regarding HIV non-disclosure.

"HIV non-disclosure" refers to criminal cases where a person living with HIV, who is aware of their status and knows they are infectious, does not disclose their HIV status before sexual activity that poses a realistic possibility of transmission. The consultation will seek input from stakeholders, persons with lived experiences, and the public on possible criminal law reforms related to HIV non-disclosure. Participants are invited to share their views until January 13, 2023.

Right now, persons living with HIV who do not disclose their status prior to otherwise consensual sexual activity can be charged with different offences. This includes aggravated sexual assault, which is the most serious sexual assault offence in the Criminal Code. This is because, in certain circumstances, the non-disclosure of one's HIV status can invalidate another person's consent to engage in sexual activity. However, criminalization can lead to the stigmatization of people living with HIV, which can often discourage individuals from being tested or seeking treatment.

There has been considerable progress in terms of HIV treatment and scientific evidence on rates of transmissibility. For these reasons, holding consultations is key to creating a path forward that follows science and protects victims while reducing the stigma of those living with HIV.

This consultation is one of the commitments made by the federal government in Canada's first Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan, launched in August. Reforming the criminal law regarding HIV non-disclosure is an essential step in ensuring that Canadian justice policy advances the dignity and equality of 2SLGBTQI+ people.

Quotes

"HIV is first and foremost a public health matter and non-disclosure of HIV status is a complex issue. Our government recognizes that the criminalization of people living with HIV can lead to stigmatization and significant hardships. This is why we are consulting Canadians on the best approach to reform the criminal law regarding HIV non-disclosure. It will help us find solutions, and will lead to better outcomes for affected populations."

The Honourable David Lametti, P.C., Q.C., M.P.

Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Quick Facts

An estimated 63,000 people are living with HIV in Canada . Of these people, an estimated 1 in 10 are unaware of their status. In 2020, 1,639 newly diagnosed cases of HIV were reported in Canada . The majority of people diagnosed with HIV are receiving appropriate treatment.





. Of these people, an estimated 1 in 10 are unaware of their status. In 2020, 1,639 newly diagnosed cases of HIV were reported in . The majority of people diagnosed with HIV are receiving appropriate treatment. Current criminal law applies to persons living with HIV who know their status and that they are infectious, if they fail to disclose, or misrepresent, their HIV status prior to sexual activity that poses a realistic possibility of HIV transmission.





On December 1, 2017 , the Department of Justice Canada released the Criminal Justice System's Response to Non-Disclosure of HIV , a report that included a summary of the scientific evidence on sexual transmission of HIV produced by the Public Health Agency of Canada .





, the Department of released the , a report that included a summary of the scientific evidence on sexual transmission of HIV produced by the Public Health Agency of . On December 8, 2018 , the Attorney General of Canada issued a Directive related to the prosecution of HIV non-disclosure cases under federal jurisdiction. The Directive specifies, among other things, that prosecutions should not occur when an individual takes appropriate measures to prevent transmission of HIV (such as taking appropriate treatment to maintain a suppressed viral load), and that prosecutors must consider whether criminal charges are in the public interest.





suppressed Canada was the first country to publicly endorse the Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) campaign in 2018. U=U helps people live longer by stopping the spread of HIV through prevention, testing and treatment.





Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) The Government of Canada supports a comprehensive approach to addressing HIV and other Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections (STBBI ) in Canada . Through its Five-year Action Plan on STBBI , the Government of Canada has made progress on its commitments to reduce the impact of STBBI in Canada by 2030.





supports a comprehensive approach to addressing HIV and other Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections (STBBI Five-year Action Plan on STBBI has made progress STBBI The Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan was developed with community leaders, researchers, and organizations. It speaks to the concerns of diverse members of 2SLGBTQI+ communities across the country and uses an intersectional, holistic, and long-term approach to breaking down barriers and fighting the discrimination and oppression of 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians.

Associated Links

Stay Connected

Follow the Department of Justice Canada on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Follow Minister Lametti on Twitter: @MinJusticeEn.

Subscribe to receive our news releases and more via RSS feeds. For more information or to subscribe, visit https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/news-nouv/rss.html.

SOURCE Department of Justice Canada

For further information: For more information, media may contact: Chantalle Aubertin, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Justice, 343-575-3279, [email protected]; Media Relations: Department of Justice Canada, 613-957-4207, [email protected]
TSX: DIAM

SASKATOON, SK, Oct. 21, 2022 /CNW/ - Star Diamond Corporation ("Star Diamond") announces that Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. ("Rio Tinto Canada") recently provided a community update to stakeholders of the Fort a la Corne joint venture (the "Project"). In this communication, Rio Tinto Canada stated that, "The site continues to be in care and maintenance as we explore our commercial options for the project, however, we are actively looking to minimize our costs." Rio Tinto Canada also stated that it intends to fully de-mobilize the leased on-site camp in early 2023, and that it continues with site care and maintenance activities to fulfill its existing obligations, including certain progressive site cleanup and remediation programs.

As previously disclosed by Star Diamond, Rio Tinto Canada exercised its voting power in June 2022 to place the Project on care and maintenance through December 31, 2022. At that time, Rio Tinto Canada also advised that, subject to fulfilling its existing obligations, it did not intend to commit additional capital to the Project during 2022 beyond what is necessary for care and maintenance. As well, Rio Tinto Canada advised that it intended to conduct a near-term review of its alternatives regarding the Project, including its potential exit.

Star Diamond continues to work with Rio Tinto Canada in assessing alternatives regarding the Project. These discussions remain at an early stage and there is no certainty that any agreement will be reached between Star Diamond and Rio Tinto Canada regarding any such potential arrangements.

About Star Diamond Corporation

Star Diamond is a Canadian-based corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties. Shares of Star Diamond trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "DIAM". Star Diamond's most significant asset is its interest in the Fort a la Corne property in central Saskatchewan. These kimberlites are located in close proximity to established infrastructure, including paved highways and the electrical power grid, which provide significant advantages for future mine development.

Caution Regarding Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" and/or "forward-looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to Rio Tinto Canada's intentions with respect to funding the Project, Rio Tinto Canada's review of alternatives with respect to the Project and the terms of any possible future agreement that may be reached between Star Diamond and Rio Tinto Canada regarding the Project.

These forward-looking statements are based on Star Diamond's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Star Diamond and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific. Risks exist that forward-looking statements will not be achieved due to a number of factors including, but not limited to, developments in world diamond markets, changes in diamond prices, risks relating to fluctuations in the Canadian dollar and other currencies relative to the US dollar, changes in exploration, development or mining plans due to exploration results and changing budget priorities of Rio Tinto Canada or Star Diamond, the impact of changes in the laws and regulations regulating mining exploration, development, closure, judicial or regulatory judgments and legal proceedings, operational and infrastructure risks and the additional risks described in Star Diamond's most recently filed Annual Information Form, annual and interim MD&A.

SOURCE Star Diamond Corporation

For further information: [email protected] or (306) 664-2202
Customers can get their flu shots and COVID-19 vaccines

Invited to join Wellness Day on Oct. 22

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Oct. 21, 2022 /CNW/ - Walmart Canada is prioritizing the health and well-being of Canadians with its one-stop health shop by enhancing access to affordable healthcare and merchandise assortment to help customers save money and live better.

The majority of Canadians live within 10 minutes of one of Walmart's more than 400 stores, which serve more than 1 million customers daily.

Walmart Canada is prioritizing the health and well-being of Canadians with its one-stop health shop.

In anticipation of a strong flu season, Walmart Pharmacies are ready to do their 'immunity service' and help Canadians fight the flu. With Walmart's digital scheduler, customers can book an appointment at one of more than 400 pharmacies from coast-to-coast to get their shot for a fast and efficient visit. Customers can also easily book their COVID-19 boosters, too.

"A very important part of our mission is our "live better" promise," said Alex Hurd, Vice President, Health Services at Walmart Canada. "Walmart is a destination for all your healthcare needs to protect yourself, your family, your workplace and your community. We're proud of our role in helping Canadians live better, stay well and live healthier lives."

Wellness Day

Walmart Canada is also hosting its fall Wellness Day on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. In partnership with Diabetes Canada, the retailer will be providing free type 2 diabetes screening and consultations, including blood sugar and blood pressure screenings at all Walmart Pharmacies (excluding Acces pharma Quebec pharmacies). At Vision Centres (in select locations), Walmart opticians will be providing self-assessments for general eye health and diabetic retinopathy and assisting with scheduling routine eye exams as needed.

To stay well, customers can also leverage Walmart's merchandise offering of nutritious fresh food options to fitness apparel, sporting equipment, smart technology, which all help promote good health.

Walmart healthcare facts

With 60 per cent of all households in Canada living within a 10-minute drive of a Walmart store, Walmart pharmacists and opticians can be some of the most accessible healthcare providers, offering expert advice and compassion on healthcare issues.

living within a 10-minute drive of a Walmart store, Walmart pharmacists and opticians can be some of the most accessible healthcare providers, offering expert advice and compassion on healthcare issues. Walmart's 1,400 certified pharmacists and affiliated pharmacists to Acces pharma are available seven days a week to help Canadians get the professional advice they need. Many Walmart pharmacists are Certified Diabetes Educators who have completed extra education in diabetes management.

Walmart Pharmacies have administered more than 1 million COVID-19 vaccines to date.

Walmart Vision Centre teams have provided more than 92,000 free eyeglasses frame adjustments and repairs since the program launched in November 2021 .

. Walmart Canada announced 11 new in-store medical clinics this year, bringing their total to 80 clinics across the country.

Walmart Canada is also looking to expand its team of healthcare professionals. Interested individuals can apply here.

About Walmart Canada

Walmart Canada operates a chain of more than 400 stores nationwide serving 1.5 million customers each day. Walmart Canada's flagship online store, Walmart.ca, is visited by more than 1.5 million customers daily. With more than 100,000 associates, Walmart is one of Canada's largest employers, a top diversity employer and is ranked one of the country's top 10 most influential brands. Walmart Canada was recently recognized as a LinkedIn Top Company of 2021 and was also named one of Canada's most popular brands (based on Google searches). Walmart Canada has made a commitment to regeneration  focusing on equitable opportunity, sustainability, community, ethics and integrity. Since 1994, Walmart Canada has raised over $500 million to support communities across Canada. Additional information can be found at walmartcanada.ca and on Walmart Canada's social media pages  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Walmart Canada Corp.

For further information: Felicia Fefer, Walmart Canada, [email protected]
The President, Muhammadu Buhari, is attending an event to award former president Goodluck Jonathan and 43 other prominent Nigerians. ...

The President, Muhammadu Buhari, is attending an event to award former president Goodluck Jonathan and 43 other prominent Nigerians.

The ongoing event is taking place in the Conference room of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The awards will also see 16 state governors, including Nyesom Wike of Rivers State; Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and service chiefs honoured with various awards for their services.

Nigeria Excellence Award in Public Service was set up to recognise distinguished public service to Nigeria, either contributions to individuals, state or local community, or the public through excellence in leadership, service, or humanitarianism.

To be eligible, the recipient must be a living Public Official or a private citizen excelling consistently in a given sphere of influence, in good character standing, and must also be at the forefront of service and innovation.

Details later
Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives, says the legislature is working to ensure that Nigeria does not keep losing me...

Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives, says the legislature is working to ensure that Nigeria does not keep losing medical doctors to other countries.

Gbajabiamila spoke on Thursday when some members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) led by Emeka Orji, the president, paid him a visit at the national assembly.

The speaker said the number of doctors leaving the country is very scary, adding that definitely something must be wrong.

You have identified that to be the issue of emoluments and salaries, thats always a very important issue. If you work, you must get paid, and you must get paid a good salary, he said.

Gbajabiamila, however, said while it is important to provide better welfare for doctors, the country is facing a revenue shortfall.

This is a worldwide phenomenon, right now everything is going down. Countries are not making as much revenue as they should. And Im sure a lot of doctors that leave the shores of Nigeria in search of greener pastures, many of them will be happy, many of them will also realise its not so easy on the other side either, he said.

What I would like to encourage you to do is to tarry a while, be a little bit more patient, and stay. As long as you have our ears here as your legislature, we will always, as best as possible, come to your aid.

So, lets put a stop to this brain drain as best as we can whilst we, on this side, try to make the environment a lot easier for you.

HEALTH SECTOR TO BE PRIORITISED IN 2023 BUDGET

The speaker added that health will receive priority as lawmakers consider the 2023 budget.

Well have a look at what percentage we have in this years budget for the health sector. We got the budget about a week ago, Im still going through it, but I will zero in on health to find out what the percentage is, and how far away we are from the Abuja declaration, he said.

I cannot promise that here. If we have fallen short, we will augment it, I cannot make that promise because it depends on a whole host of other things, but we will try our best to at least, come close. We will try our best to look at it objectively within the context of the revenue that is available to the country.

There are so many things going on right now. Thats where the sacrifice comes in. Oil theft, dwindling revenue, the Ukraine war, and so many other things and everybodys competing for the lean revenue, but we know our priority areas, education, and health, are priority areas. Well do everything we can to make sure that as best as we can, we come as close to the Abuja declaration, as we can.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the underbelly of our health sector, so we must not be caught napping again, and whatever we need to do, we must do.

In his remarks, Orji called for improved working conditions for resident doctors and adequate funding for residency training.

He also called for the restoration of the overseas exchange programme, an upward review of the salary structure for resident doctors, and stressed the need to amend the Medical Registration Act.
Sampson Orji, who was a governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia, has declared his support for Peter Obi, presi...

Sampson Orji, who was a governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia, has declared his support for Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP).

Speaking on Thursday, Orji said his preference for Obi is based on the latters competence.

He said he would mobilise support for Obi not because he is his fellow Igbo man but for his antecedent.

Im a PDP man till tomorrow, but I will support Obi  not because he is Igbo but because of what he represents. Obi is a movement. My family and friends will vote for him, he said.

Atiku is my friend but Obi is a better candidate. Aside from competence, equity also favours Obis candidacy. South-east is the only zone in southern Nigeria yet to take its turn at the presidency.

Why cant Atiku support Obi, who was his running mate in 2019? I must speak the truth. What are we gaining in PDP that for 16 years it was in power, the Aba-Port Harcourt expressway is not passable?

You cannot drive from Umuahia to Ikot Ekpene or Owerri to Umuahia on a good road. So, it is blindness to tell me to support Atiku, when we have Obi who has shown competence and capacity to take Nigeria out of the woods.

In a related development, Orji also expressed his support for the candidacy of Eyinnaya Abaribe, senator representing Abia south.

Abaribe is seeking to represent his constituency in the senate for the fifth time.

The senator, who contested the PDP governorship ticket, resigned his membership of the party and defected to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in May.

He is being challenged by Okezie Ikpeazu, governor of Abia, who is also gunning for the seat.

Orji said Abaribe has proved his mettle in the senate, considering his antecedent and pedigree as an experienced lawmaker.

He, therefore, advised Ikpeazu to step down for Abaribe, adding that it would be a great disservice to Abia south to replace Abaribe.

Asking me to choose between Ikpeazu and Abaribe is like asking one to choose between experience and the lack of it, he said.

Abaribe is too experienced to be replaced with a greenhorn, who would only go there to begin to learn the ropes.

Abaribe has performed well in the senate. At a time, he was the only voice not just for PDP or Ndigbo but Nigeria. He stood against injustice in the senate.

If I have the opportunity, I will tell Ikpeazu to step down for him. It is not a must that every governor will retire to the senate.
Electricity Generation Companies (GenCos), Thursday, attributed the incessant collapse of national power grip due to excessive volatile lo...

Electricity Generation Companies (GenCos), Thursday, attributed the incessant collapse of national power grip due to excessive volatile load by steel mills, weak and old infrastructure by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the unavailability of most transmission lines.

The executive secretary of association of power generation companies, Barr. Joy Ogaji, Thursday marshaled out the reasons at an investigative hearing of the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee set to check the recurring national grid collapse in the country.

She said: The grid collapse is reducing because Gencos machines are now being used to manage the grid contrary to the grid code provision and you will see that 97% of the time, the grid is on a very high frequency; 51 point something hertz and I have the evidence for anybody that wants to see, I have been tracking it since 2015.

Why a grid collapse, one of the reasons we have found is, is there is excessive volatile load mostly through steel mills. The Nigerian network has over 50 steel mills connected to the grid with heavy load from 3 to 35 megawatts going from minimum to maximum; minimum in a continuous circuit of 6 -10 minutes.

Service interruption due to inability of Discos to take note, weak grid conditions forcing apparatus disruption, TCN radial lines, most of TCN lines are radial not double circuit, thereby limiting the redundancy in the system which increases system instability.

Inadequate and old infrastructure to meet demands, transmission and distribution manned by insufficient engineers and technicians, poor communication and coordination of activities between TCN and Discos.

But in his presentation earlier, the Minister of State for Power, Godwin Jeddy- Agba refuted the claims of grip collapse, saying that none has occurred this year.

He would rather call it system disruptions which he said had human elements or politically motivated.

He said: So, please let us understand that we have not had any collapse this year, we have had disruptions and disruptions could lead to blackouts, a black out is not a collapse. These ones we have had this year, in fact four of them but they have not been collapse, it is disruption. And disruptions have been as a result of the human factors, they could be increment factors, they could be political factors, it could be other factors.

For instance, sometimes last month we had a black out for a short while, it was due to, and we saw on social media some young men switching off the system, that is not a collapse. That is deliberate vandalisation, in fact, it is a sabotage if you ask of my opinion. How can young men go and switch system, putting the nation in back out just because of some grudges which by the grace of God is a union matter and I am handling that and I assure you Mr Speaker that that matter is being brought to book and at the end of this week, our report will be submitted and union and us will agree on something and it will never happen again by His grace.

So having made it clear to us that we have not had system collapse, let us take it from the point of disruptions that I have told you, one is from the union, second is from the communities could also like what happened in Akwa-Ibom, the communities disrupted something last year, somewhat early this year we have black out towards South-south part of the country.

Thirdly, we have had problems with gas. The gas supply is too high to our power generating stations. Gas supply has been a problem but we are tackling that already because we are discussing with NNPC and Nigerian Gas Corporation, we are coming to an agreement and gas is flowing systematically now to the generating companies and we are seeing a steady increment in generation. Dont you agree with me that power has improved of late? We are enjoying power improvement and we are assure you that it is continuous. And you see when there is a disruption in the power system, the mechanisms made that the system automatically shut down. The system is made to shut down to cause us less damage so it will go down if that happens.

Also speaking at the hearing, the managing director of Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN Sule Abdulaziz said there had been four system collapses and two partial collapses just as he stated that the transmission capacity of the company was about 8,100 megawatts.

We have four system collapse, then we have two partial collapse and this what we submitted. On transmission capacity, we have the capacity of 8,100 megawatts. There is no day when generation company will say we have generated so much megawatts and TCN is unable to evacuate it. We are challenging generation companies to come out if theres any day that we can not evacuate it, he said.
Watertown, NY (13601)

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Cloudy skies with periods of rain this afternoon. High around 50F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

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Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 34F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
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Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Generally cloudy. A few flurries or snow showers possible. High 38F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low near 25F. Winds light and variable.
Actor and choreographer Kenneth "Kynt" Bryan leads a flash mob in front of City Hall with students from Crocker College Prep, ARISE Academy, the Plessy School, and Schaumburg Elementary as they dance to the Michael Jackson Halloween themed song "Thriller" in New Orleans, La. Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019. The flash mob hosted by the New Orleans Recreation Development (NORD) Commission and Fit NOLA was presented for the 8th Halloween.
The Chalmette tract where Americans beat the British in the Battle of New Orleans is open and grassy, leaving no hint that the St. Bernard Parish acreage once contained a village called Fazendeville that was established after the Civil War for freed slaves.

The community included houses, a grocery, a church and bars, and existed until the mid-1960s, when the federal government  exercising the right of eminent domain  obliterated Fazendeville to expand the battlefield park.

I grew up in St. Bernard, and I never knew that this community existed, said Jim Dotson, 62. I had been on umpteen field trips to the battlefield, and nobody said a community used to be here until we wiped it off the map.

+6 Louisiana iris, African lilies may mark Black community razed in Chalmette Battlefield expansion Almost 60 years ago, a historic Black community founded as a home for newly freed slaves was demolished to expand the national park commemorat

Dotson is the general manager of WLAE-TV, which is presenting Battlegrounds: The Lost Community of Fazendeville, a documentary about the vanished village at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Oct. 30. He is an executive producer of the program, which was sponsored by the Meraux Foundation.

Eager for self-sufficiency

Dotson had wanted to create the documentary for about seven years. The idea came from Woody Keim, the great-great-grandson of Jean Pierre Fazende, a free man of color who, after the Civil War, divided the land into 40 sections and sold the tracts to freed slaves.

'Battlegrounds: The Lost Community of Fazendeville' WHEN: 7 and 9 p.m. Oct. 30 WHERE: WLAE-TV, Ch. 32

The concept was attractive because, after serving generations in bondage, these emancipated men and women were eager to be self-sufficient, and one way to do that was to own property, said Joyce Jackson, LSUs Department of Geography and Anthology, who appears frequently in the film.

Over the decades, a strong community developed on a strip of land with an unpaved road down the middle, running from St. Bernard Highway to the Mississippi River levee.

Fazendeville was actually all of our social life, Elois Cager Brooks said in an interview. It was where we went for church, for school, for any kind of parties or activities because all of my mothers family and all of my fathers family lived in Fazendeville.

It was our social life, it was our educational life, it was our spiritual life. It was everything to us.

The film is dedicated to her parents, Rose Cager and Henry Cager.

Pictures lost over time

To get a sense of the community, Dotson met with people who had lived in Fazendeville and their descendants because, he said, I wanted them to tell their stories.

The documentary is narrated by displaced Black residents, historians and park service officials.

The WLAE team wound up with plenty of talking heads, but no visuals, which meant there was nothing that could be put on television. The interviewees said pictures had been lost over time or destroyed when Hurricanes Betsy and Katrina roared through.

So there things sat until one day in 2017 when, like something out of a movie, a CD labeled Fazendeville pics mysteriously showed up at Dotsons office, with no courier in sight. He put it in his computer, and  voila!  images of Fazendeville appeared, just the way the village had been described in all those sessions.

It was a game-changer, Dotson said. It was almost like an Indiana Jones thing. I was running through the halls yelling, We got the pictures! I was beyond thrilled because now we had something more than just interviews.



'Bring your scanner'

What Dotson had gotten were pictures of pictures. But because he had a sense that the National Park Service would have documented the community before razing it, he filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to see what the agency had, hoping that hed get the original photos.

This, he said, was the reply he got: Come on over and bring your scanner.

The photographs show the life of the village, augmented by movie footage of such rituals as baptisms in the treacherous Mississippi River. Hordes stand on the bank as a minister leads people into the water for full-immersion baptisms.

None of the men could swim, Brooks says wryly in voice-over footage, but they never lost a soul.

A 'speed bump'

The visuals and interviews combine to create a sense of community, with Battleground Baptist Church as its core. Even though segregation was still the policy, the documentary establishes a sense of self-sufficiency, with overhead shots showing Fazendeville as a sliver of land running across what had been the site of the Battle of New Orleans.

In the early 1960s, preservationists began to talk about expanding the battlefield, which meant eradicating the village. Fazendeville was a speed bump that got in the way, said Ron Chapman, a history professor at Nunez Community College who is quoted in the film.

This part of the documentary tells the story without being strident. However, there is an inescapable feeling of loss.

Irene Aletha Bush-Simmons, a Fazendeville resident, said in the film that individual buyouts amounted to about $4,000, while land elsewhere in St. Bernard Parish was going for nearly five times that amount.

The reason for the disparity, she said, was that Fazendeville was believed to be a shantytown, but (appraisers) never came down to see people living in their homes.

Irises bloom

In the nearly six decades since Fazendevilles demolition, attitudes on race have changed, and the park services policies have changed. Even though the park service isnt going to rebuild the homes, it has erected a plaque explaining Fazendeville, and interpretive planning is in the works to let park visitors will know what was there, National Park Service spokeswoman Meredith D. Hardy said in an interview.

Our emphasis is to tell the stories of all the people who lived on park land, she said. Our emphasis is to be inclusive.

While Fazendevilles residents have gone, the purple hybrid irises they planted live on. Kim Acker, a park ranger interviewed in the film, said this was a happy accident because the COVID pandemic interrupted the mowing schedule.

We understand the importance of those irises, Hardy said. We wont be mowing over them when theyre in bloom.

Keim calls them nothing less than a defiant symbol of Fazendeville in the battlefield.

With all those irises, Acker said, we still have ways to connect to the past, even if its not really a way we thought about before.
A federal court in Brazil allegedly banned a major TV and radio network Jovem Pan from saying certain things about the countrys left leaning presidential candidate. Jovem Pan is Brazils largest conservative station and reportedly the largest radio network in the entire Southern Hemisphere.

Rodrigo Constantino, a Brazilian economist and political commentator living in Fla., tells NTD that the alleged court ruling doesnt make any sense.
Community Healthcare System will host Heart & Vascular Symposium to address the leading cause of death in the United States.

Cardiovascular disease kills one person every 34 seconds in the United States.

Community Healthcare System hopes to equip Region residents with potentially live-saving-knowledge at the upcoming Heart & Vascular Symposium. The free event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 10 at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts at 1040 Ridge Road in Munster.

Cardiology experts and doctors specializing in cardiovascular care will talk about heart health, treatments and interventions. Cardiologists David Stewart, Pratik Patel, Omar Husseini, Anas Safadi and Navdeep Bhatti will discuss subjects like Peripheral Vascular Disease, Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation, New Therapies in Hyperlipidemia, Venous Disease: New Treatment & Technology, Women & Heart Disease and TAVR: Minimally Invasive Valve Replacement.

Community Healthcare System also will offer screenings, complimentary refreshments and a vendor fair at the event, which is free and open to the public.

People are encouraged to register in advance by calling 219-836-3477.

For more information, visit COMHS.org/heart.

Volunteers neededCommunity Healthcare System also needs volunteers at St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart.

The hospital, at 1500 S. Lake Park Ave. on the west side of town, needs volunteers 16 and older with a passion for helping others to greet, escort and transport patients around the hospital.

Volunteers must commit to one four-hour shift a week, which could include weekend shifts. They must be willing to work in a team and will get training on-site.

Anyone whos interested can call the Department of Volunteer Services at 219-947-6011.
Northwest HealthLaPorte honored a caregiver who impressed a patient as an extremely hard worker.

The hospital honored Jayme Mahlka, a certified nursing assistant who provides care in the hospitals intermediate care unit. She won the PETALS award for outstanding support professionals.

A patient nominated her for the award, describing her as very competent, professional, kind, patient and caring.

The world needs people like Jayme, the patient wrote in the nomination. She is truly a beautiful butterfly in sunlight.

She credited Mahlka with making her feel safer and less anxious when staying at the hospital.

Wanting to show his appreciation as well, the patients husband also felt compelled to nominate Mahlka, stating that this was a very hard time for his wife and that the care Mahlka provided was beyond excellent, Northwest Health said in a news release. He noted that her responsiveness and attentiveness were fantastic; then added that he was so thankful that his wife had Mahlka by her side.

Northwest Health bestows PETALS awards on non-nursing professionals who provide excellent services to patients. Patients, visitors and employees can nominate them for the distinction.

At Northwest Health, nursing assistants are an important member of the caregiving teams, the healthcare system said in the news release. They assist the nursing staff to implement each patients individualized care plan. They help respond to patients requests and help patients get timely answers to their questions.
Walter E. Smithe Jr., who built a furniture store empire that includes a big-box store on U.S. 30 near the Southlake Mall, died Oct. 9 of natural causes at the age of 86.

Smithe founded Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design, an Itasca-based customer-order furniture retailer that has 10 locations across Chicagoland, including at 4 81st Ave. in Merrillville.

The Smithe family opened the long-running big-box store in Merrillville in 1994. Specializing in leather furniture and custom-made upholstery, it offered more than 1,700 frame styles and 3,000 fabrics.

It was originally located at Hobart at the Crossings and has long been one of the anchors of furniture row, the strip of furniture retailers that includes Ashley Furniture, Bob's Discount Furniture, Value City Furniture, The RoomPlace, The Great Escape, American Freight Furniture, Furniture Center and Five Star Furniture.

Smithe was born in Chicago in 1936. He was raised in Chicago, went to Catholic schools, graduated from Notre Dame and earned a master's degree at Loyola University.

After marrying his neighborhood sweetheart Flo, he served in the U.S. Army at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis and then worked in the then-fledgling field of computers for companies like IBM and General Electric before joining the family appliance business in 1967.

"Walt soon pioneered the concept of custom-order furniture in Chicagoland. This was the foundation of Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design," the company said in an obituary. "Walts vision and leadership provided the roadmap to success still used by the firm to this day."

He expanded the business into custom-order furniture and grew it into a chain known throughout Chicagoland, partly because of its television ads.

Smithe's children and grandchildren are now running the business. He was active in many causes like Habitat for Humanity, even hosting fundraisers for breast cancer research at the Merrillville store. He enjoyed singing folk songs, pursuing his interest in archeology and spending time with family in Ireland.

"Walt is remembered as the ultimate connector. His gregariousness and natural ability to find a common bond with others nourished him and created an enormous community of friends and colleagues," the company said in an obituary. "Until recently, he spent weekends at the Smithe showrooms, engaging with associates and clients."

A funeral will take place Saturday at St. Paul of the Cross Church in Park Ridge, Ill.
Frankfort officials are determined to close that one-mile gap along the Sauk Trail.

The project has been the works for years, and the village has swung and missed in the past to try to get some grant money. But they are crossing their fingers that this time they can get it done.

Plans were discussed with the public at an open house at village hall in September. But be warned  even if everything goes as smoothly as possible, the project will not be complete until 2025 or 2026.

It takes that long to get through the process with (The Illinois Department of Transportation), said Van Calombaris, vice president of Robinson Engineers, the villages consultant on the project. Its a nightmare.

Michael Schwarz, the villages director of community and economic development, said it would be a bike and walking path built between Pfeiffer Road and 80th Avenue.

It would connect to other areas of town including the Old Plank Road Trail and the downtown area.

Its connecting neighborhoods. Its connecting schools. It's connecting churches and religious institutions, Schwarz said. This is in lieu of sidewalks.

If you think about it, its not only about bicycles. Its about people walking and having a safe route to the schools.

Calombaris said $1.1 million of the $1.4 million project could be funded by a grant from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement program. If the village gets the grant, it could be on the hook for close to $300,000.

Schwarz said the state has $25 million to give out to projects, with no grant can be greater than $3 million.

The village has tried for grants in the past for the same section, he said. The village is committed to try to get this project funded if we can.

Frankfort applied for the grant at the end of the month, pointing out some of the benefits of having this gap closed.

The goal of the grant is to try to get people to stop driving and to walk, run or use a bike, Calombaris said. This seems to check a lot of the boxes on the application. We think we have a good chance with the grant.

It will likely be March before the village finds out whether it got the money.

If all goes well, Calombaris promises to get more public input.

The goal is to get the grant, and if we get the grant, well sit down with anyone who could be affected and have discussions about the concerns and what needs to be done, he said. I could tell you thats something the village would certainly want to do.

Other trail work is going on in town with the Old Plank Road Trail from Harlem Avenue to LaGrange Road closed for resurfacing in a Forest Preserve of Will County project.
There was a time in Ralph Macchios life where he couldnt imagine playing  Karate Kid  protagonist Daniel LaRusso ever again. After three films, Macchio didnt think there was more to add to the story, and he wanted to flex his acting chops with other roles.

People think I live in Newark, New Jersey, and my mom drives a green station wagon, and I have this Japanese American guy who fixes the faucet when I need him," said the actor, who has a new book out called Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me, about his experience making Karate Kid and how time helped him embrace the character.

Macchio's feelings were only reinforced in 2005 when Pat Morita, who played his mentor and father figure, Mr. Miyagi, passed away.

It just seemed, why dance a solo without my partner? Its like, you know Abbott without Costello... He and I had something special from the moment he started reading Mr. Miyagi and I would answer back as Daniel. That chemistry was unique and effortless."

Over time, it was William Zabka, who played Macchio's Karate Kid nemesis Johnny Lawrence, who felt there was more story to tell.

He was always like, 'I wonder if theres a way to bring these two together," said Macchio.

Macchio was surprisingly intrigued when Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg pitched the idea of  Cobra Kai, a continuation series of these characters some 30 years later. After two seasons on YouTube, it was picked up by Netflix where it was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding comedy series. Season five is now streaming.

They just saw how you could open up this world and take the black and white of Karate Kid and add all these gray shades of these characters where not everyone is good or bad all the time and your allegiance may change as you learn (character's) back stories, and thats really a lesson on how to do it and how to do it right. And then we have this great young cast as well. Theyre just incredible. Theyre becoming big stars."

With his book, Macchio is forthcoming about some things he would go back and do differently if he could. When Elisabeth Shue was written out of the sequel after the first Karate Kid, he says he should've contacted her.

I was doing a movie called Teachers at the time, and then I had Crossroads and Karate Kid II lined up, and I didnt stop to think of what that might have felt like for her. So then years later, I look back and I think I would have probably picked up the phone at that point."

Macchio says he's always had an appreciation for the impact of Karate Kid but writing Waxing On amplified that.

It was even deeper and more poignant as I was writing.
CROWN POINT  A Hobart man was ordered Thursday to serve a year in an alternative placement program and 3 1/2 years on probation for shooting his 9-year-old daughter to death while talking to her two brothers about gun safety.

Eric S. Hummel, 38, admitted in a plea agreement he was in a bedroom with his two sons at his Hobart home June 10, 2017, when he pointed an unloaded handgun at the boys and pulled the trigger.

The gun did not expel a projectile at that point, but pulling the trigger caused the firing pin to become engaged.

When 9-year-old Olivia Hummel joined her siblings and father in the bedroom, Hummel pointed the now-loaded gun at her and pulled the trigger. Olivia died from a gunshot wound to her head.

Lake Criminal Court Judge Natalie Bokota accepted Hummel's pleas to reckless homicide and neglect of a dependent, level 5 and 6 felonies, respectively.

She ordered him to serve a year the Lake County Community Corrections program, where he will be permitted to live at home and report in daily, followed by 3 1/2 years on probation.

Bokota said she agreed with Hummel's attorneys, Paul Stracci and Michael Woods, that any incarceration of Hummel would result in further trauma to his boys.

Hummel had full custody of his three children when he killed his daughter in 2017, according to testimony. His parents have since taken guardianship of them.

Bokota said Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Arturo Balcazar, who asked for an 8 1/2-year prison sentence, seemed to forget that "no one else is suffering in the same way as Mr. Hummel."

"I have never seen in my 31 years of involvement in criminal law anyone as devastated by his own actions as Mr. Hummel," Bokota said.

While the trauma to the families may have been significant, nothing compares to the death of a child, she said.

Olivia's grandmother, Shelly Zormier, said her family's visits with Olivia and her brothers were few, because of Hummel's "controlling behavior."

The family misses Olivia very much, she said.

"Every time our grandchildren leave to go home, I always say, 'See you later," she said. "Never, 'Goodbye.'"

She said those who wrote letters to the court on Hummel's behalf likely haven't seen the side of him her family has come to know.

"He never takes responsibility for his actions," Zormier said.

The pain of Olivia's death has gotten worse over the years, she said.

"I hope today he will be held accountable," she said. "Please give us a sense of justice for this tragedy."

Hummel's mother, Maryann Hummel, testified caring for the boys has placed a strain on her relationship with her husband and caused them financial hardship. She counts on Hummel, who works for U.S. Steel, to provide for the boys, she said.

Eric Hummel received full custody of the children in 2013, and Maryann Hummel and her husband have shared parenting duties with him since then, she said.

The boys have struggled since witnessing their sister's death, she said. One has repeatedly sneaked out of her home at night, and the other has become withdrawn, she said.

Balcazar said the circumstances of the shooting were so unconscionable, they warranted a longer sentence, he said.

Hummel could have paused to consider the seriousness of his actions after pointing the gun at his boys and pulling the trigger, but instead he engaged in the same behavior moments later and killed his daughter, Balcazar said.

The state agreed to Hummel's plea agreement to spare the boys the trauma of having to relive their sister's homicide and testify against their father, he said.

The deputy prosecutor said whatever sentence Hummel received, he would not be away from his boys for long.

"Whatever consequences come from this, they will be a direct result of Mr. Hummel's actions alone," Balcazar said.

He said Hummel wasn't a good candidate for probation, because he failed during a term of probation after a 2007 conviction for misdemeanor operating while intoxicated.

Bokota said the conviction was so long ago, she would not count it against Hummel.

Hummel told the judge his actions caused an "indescribable nightmare."

"I cannot imagine what it has done to my boys and for everyone else as well," he said.

He words became unintelligible several times as he broke down in tears.

"I've always loved my kids. I've always done everything I ever could for them," he said. "I never meant to do any harm to them."

Stracci told Bokota whatever sentence she pronounced would pale in comparison to the lifetime of pain Hummel already is facing.

Hummel is "punished" every day with the knowledge that he's caused his parents stress and financial hardship in what should have been their retirement years, Stracci said.

He's also haunted by the "darkest memory" of Olivia's last few moments, the defense attorney said.

"He knows that all that falls upon him as a result of his actions," Stracci said.

When Stracci said a 2013 custody order noted the children's mother didn't appear in court, a member of the Zormier family said, "Bull(expletive)." Oliva's mother, Mandy Zormier, walked out of the courtroom.

Outside court, Mandy Zormier said she was angry about Hummel's sentence.

"The respect for (Olivia's) life is nothing," she said. "What a joke."

Shelly Zormier said Oliva was a funny, spunky girl with a beautiful soul. Family members said they doubted the Hummel family's claims of financial hardship.

Olivia's cousin, Laura Abner, said she was raised by Shelly Zormier and witnessed the relationship between Mandy Zormier and Eric Hummel.

"It's been nothing but torture for the mom to go through," Abner said. "She was fighting to see the kids, and somehow money always came out on the other side."
LAPORTE  Two members of the LaPorte County Sheriff's Department are in the running to succeed Sheriff John Boyd, whose maximum two terms will expire at the year's end.

Republican Ron Heeg is facing off against Democrat Andrew "Andy" Hynek.

Heeg, who is endorsed by fellow Republican Boyd, is 45, from Michigan City and serves as chief deputy in the department.

"I'm running for sheriff, as I have a belief that if something is given to you, you return it in better condition than it was given to you," he said. "When my time is done at the LaPorte County Sheriff's Office, I want to turn it over to the next generation in better shape."

He has never held elected office.

Hynek, 43, from Rolling Prairie, has been endorsed by Laborers' Local 81, Michigan City Fire Union 475 and the Indiana Fraternal Order of Police. He serves as captain/shift commander and said he has been with the sheriff's department for 22 years.

He also has never held elected office but has wanted to be sheriff.

"It has been a goal my entire career," Hynek said. "I believe the timing is right in my professional and personal life, and I believe I have a platform that will carry our agency into the future."

Heeg said he believes he is qualified for the post as a 25-year veteran of the sheriff's office, which began as a jailer.

"I rose through the ranks as a patrolman, detective, patrol sergeant, assistant chief of detectives and to my current role as chief deputy," he said.

"I spent 15 years on the Emergency Response team, the last four as team commander, 15 years on the scuba team as a certified diver and was a field training officer."

Hynek said he is the only candidate to have worked within every division at the department, including jail, patrol, warrants, U.S. Marshals Task Force, Drug Task Force commander and patrol commander.

"As the Drug Task Force commander I oversaw the budget and grant that funded the unit," he said.

Heeg's goals as sheriff include public safety, personnel investment and community investment.

Hynek's goals include reducing recidivism among inmates and focusing on the mental health needs of offenders and department employees.

"We need to ensure we have the right programs in place to take care of those that take care of us," he said.

Hynek said he also intends to implement an educational approach to combating heroin use by having former addicts share their stories as a deterrent to others.

Heeg said he is active in the community, serving as board president for Grand Heritage Federal Credit Union and Stepping Stone Shelter for Women, and as vice president of the board at LaPorte County Triad.

He and his wife, Heather, have two daughters, Olivia and Allison.

Hynek said he serves on boards for the LaPorte County Boys & Girls Club, the LaPorte County Small Animal Shelter and LaPorte County Community Corrections.

He has two children, Tyler, 16, and Kenny, 8, and served in the U.S. Army/National Guard.
CROWN POINT  A fifth-grade teacher accused of telling a student at an East Chicago Catholic school she had a "kill list" made an initial appearance Friday in Lake Criminal Court.

Angelica C. Carrasquillo-Torres, 25, was booked into the Lake County Jail on Thursday after an emergency detention order obtained by East Chicago police expired, Police Chief Jose Rivera said.

According to Indiana law, an individual can be held for up to 72 hours in a facility if they are found to be mentally ill, dangerous or gravely disabled and in need of immediate restraint.

A Lake Criminal Court magistrate entered a not guilty plea on Carrasquillo-Torres' behalf to one count of intimidation, a level 6 felony.

Carrasquillo-Torres hired the Alvarez Law Office to represent her, online court records show. Her bail was set at $20,000 surety or $2,000 cash, which aligns with a bail schedule set by the felony court judges.

A counselor was escorting two 12-year-old students to a classroom for recess detention at St. Stanislaus Catholic School, 4930 Indianapolis Blvd., about 12:45 p.m. Oct. 12 when one of the students said Carrasquillo-Torres wanted to kill herself and had a list, court records state.

The counselor told an assistant principal about the student's statement, and Carrasquillo-Torres was immediately separated from students and brought to the principal's office, documents state.

The counselor and assistant principal spoke with both of the students, who said Carrasquillo-Torres told one of them she wanted to kill herself and had a "kill list" but that he was at the bottom of the list, records state. The second student overheard the conversation.

During an interview with the assistant principal, Carrasquillo-Torres allegedly said, "I want to kill myself, staff and students, and I did also make a kill list."

When asked why she felt that way, Carrasquillo-Torres said, "I'm having trouble with my mental health and sometimes the kids do not listen in the classroom," court records allege.

Carrasquillo-Torres also told the assistant principal she was dealing with trauma caused when she attended high school, according to charging documents.

During a separate interview with a principal, Carrasquillo-Torres again admitted to having a kill list, records state. Toward the end of that interview, she said she "was only joking about it all."

The principal told Carrasquillo-Torres not to return to the school and that an investigation would likely lead to her termination, records state.

Carrasquillo-Torres named only one student on the alleged list during her interview with the principal, but she never showed the list to either administrator, documents state.

Parents and students gathered Wednesday to protest the school administration's response to the situation.

East Chicago police were not called to the school until 4:45 p.m., about four hours after educators first became aware of Carrasquillo-Torres' alleged statements and only after she had been permitted to leave the building.

Parents told The Times the school has refused requests to convene a meeting to discuss the situation. Parents also raised concerns about previous reports of alleged aggressive or threatening behavior by Carrasquillo-Torres that apparently went unaddressed.

In a statement issued Oct. 12, the Diocese of Gary said, "The school is working closely with local authorities and the Diocese of Garys Schools Office to ensure that St. Stanislaus students continue to have a safe and supportive environment in which they can learn, grow and prosper."

A post on the school's Facebook page Wednesday said the school has changed the exterior locks, increased security at the entrance of the school, moved recess indoors, expanded counseling services to families, students and staff, and hired an outside firm specializing in school security to review security protocols.

Times Staff Writer Lizzie Kaboski contributed to this report.
EAST CHICAGO  The City Council has adopted an ordinance that would give police and fire personnel raises in 2023.

Councilman Robert Garcia, D-5th, who serves as chairman of the finance committee, said 12% raises are being given to first-class firefighters and patrolmen, but the result of the ordinance would be that all firefighters and police will receive a raise of $7,200 in 2023.

"It's well-deserved," Garcia said. "A long time coming."

Councilwoman Gilda Orange, D-6th, questioned why the police and fire salary ordinance was being considered before the council adopted the 2023 civil city budget. She said police and fire should receive a 5% raise that is standard across the county.

Council President Monica Gonzalez, D-1st, said the ordinance would make East Chicago competitive with other cities for what it pays its public safety workers.

Some stay with the city for a short time because they have been able to find better salaries elsewhere. "We're hoping that this will help retain our people," Gonzalez said. "We've lost too many."

The ordinance passed 7-0-1, with Orange abstaining. Councilwoman Stacy Winfield, D-4th, was not at the meeting.

During a public hearing on the 2023 city budgets that preceded the vote, Jim Bennett, who serves as financial adviser to the city, cautioned against giving raises instead of bonuses.

He said continuing to do so will mean the city won't be able to fund the number of officers it does.

Bennett said the city has had a balanced budget for years and the current administration will continue to see that happen.

Garcia took exception to Bennett's criticism, saying there is a lot of unnecessary spending, including for city events.

"We showed in my public finance meetings that there's more than enough money," he said.

The council also approved ordinances 8-0 for appropriations and tax rates for the sanitary district and civil city in 2023. Both must still pass on third reading.

The sanitary district ordinance includes a general fund budget of $12,950,000, while the civil city ordinance contains a general fund budget of $35,775,000.

The council also unanimously passed on second reading a salary ordinance for city employees other than police and fire that Garcia said would provide a 5% raise across the board in 2023.
Semiconductors are among the most intricate tools that human beings have ever invented. They are also among the most expensive to make.

The latest chips  the sort that power supercomputers and high-end smartphones  are densely packed with transistors so small theyre measured in nanometers. Perhaps the only things more ingenious than the chips themselves are the machines that are used to build them. These devices are capable of working on almost unimaginably tiny scales, a fraction of the size of most viruses. Some of the chip-building machines take years to build and cost hundreds of millions of dollars each; the Dutch company ASML, which makes the worlds only lithography machines capable of inscribing designs for the fastest chips, has produced just 140 such devices over the past decade.

Which brings us to another amazing detail about microchips: They are a triumph not just of technology but also of global trade and cooperation. In the recently published Chip War: The Fight for the Worlds Most Critical Technology, Chris Miller, a history professor at Tufts University, describes the geographic sprawl of the semiconductor supply chain:

A typical chip might be designed with blueprints from the Japanese-owned, U.K.-based company called Arm, by a team of engineers in California and Israel, using design software from the United States. When a design is complete, its sent to a facility in Taiwan, which buys ultrapure silicon wafers and specialized gases from Japan. The design is carved into silicon using some of the worlds most precise machinery, which can etch, deposit and measure layers of materials a few atoms thick. These tools are produced primarily by five companies, one Dutch, one Japanese and three Californian, without which advanced chips are basically impossible to make. Then the chip is packaged and tested, often in Southeast Asia, before being sent to China for assembly into a phone or computer.

The fragility of this convoluted process became apparent in last years Covid-induced chip shortage, which the White House has estimated cost the United States a full percentage point of economic output, or hundreds of billions of dollars. But there is also something elegant and even comforting about the global diversity of the chip business. As with oil or aircraft carriers or nuclear weapons, the question of who controls the semiconductor industry carries geopolitical significance. Chips are crucial ingredients not just in smartphones and laptops but in just about everything in the modern world  including, importantly, weapons, surveillance technology and artificial intelligence systems. Dominance of the industry in the wrong hands could be disastrous.
IN THE FOREWORD to the 2004 Vintage edition of Jazz (1992), Toni Morrison writes that it was her body that started the book  that the first lines, like so much of the best music, were born of a physical expression of frustration. Shed already picked a time period and mapped out a plot, read issues of every Colored newspaper I could for the year 1926 and knew each character as well as an old tattoo, but she couldnt locate the voice, or position the eye. How could the narrator elude her when the story was so clear? I know this woman! she kept thinking. Angered by my inability to summon suitable language, she writes, I threw my pencil on the floor, sucked my teeth in disgust. Sth.

So thats what I wrote she says, and it became the novels first line:

Sth, I know that woman.

From there, she thought it, breathed it and then wrote it, effortlessly without pause, playing, just playing along with the voice, not even considering who the I was until it seemed natural, inevitable. It probably was inevitable that a sound would open this book, that Sth would be the note at the start of the storys score.

She used to live with a flock of birds on Lenox Avenue. Know her husband, too. He fell for an eighteen-year-old girl with one of those deepdown, spooky loves that made him so sad and happy he shot her just to keep the feeling going.

Released from the constraints of traditional narration, as if having caught her breath, Morrison became her own instrument, letting the story tumble from her. Letting the eye choose its own gaze.

When the woman, her name is Violet, went to the funeral to see the girl and to cut her dead face they threw her to the floor and out of the church.

Maybe thats what makes the first paragraph of Jazz one of the most gorgeous and compelling in American literature. The fact that it wasnt written or crafted so much as it escaped from its author, like breath from lungs.
Among the most thrilling and jarring gambits in modern theater, up there with the nattering woman half-buried in sand at the top of Becketts Happy Days, is the scene that opens Suzan-Lori Parkss Topdog/Underdog with a bang. In a seedy rooming house apartment, as one man rehearses his three-card monte spiel  watch me close, watch me close now  Abraham Lincoln arrives with Chinese takeout.

But watch Parks, too. Her skittering silverfish of a play, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 2002, glints with meaning that refuses to stay put. Though this Lincoln, like the one hes named for, wears the requisite frock coat and stovepipe hat, we see at once that hes a Black man in whiteface, and soon learn that he earns $314 a week for letting customers at an arcade pretend to shoot him. The spieler is his brother, Booth, whose vocation seems to be shoplifting. (I stole and I stole generously, he crows.) They are bonded by familiarity, mistrust and, as their names suggest, a history beyond their own.

How wonderful to experience again, in the hilarious, harrowing and superbly acted Broadway revival that opened on Thursday at the Golden Theater, Parkss fearlessness. Rejecting fixed meanings, as well as the limitations and cliches of correctness, she generates themes that her play will not so much corral as set free. Theres fraternal competition, as old and awful as Jacob and Esau. Race as fate but also performance. The endlessly sorrowful loop of American violence. And of course, sleight of hand: Before a minute goes by, Parks has her fingerprints all over your feelings.

Not that you can name those feelings; you dont have time. Like three-card monte, or jazz, the play  and, at its best, Kenny Leons direction of it  moves too fast for analysis. The front story is clear about where its going, but youre in the dark. The back story arrives indirectly, and just on a need-to-know basis.
Ellison, 59, served six terms in Congress and rose to become a deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee. Before leaving Washington and winning his current office in 2018  by only four percentage points  he was a rising star of the partys progressive wing.

As one of the most prominent Democratic attorneys general of the Trump era, he has sued oil companies for what he called a a campaign of deception on climate change and has gone after pharmaceutical companies for promoting opioids.

But the politics of crime and criminal justice have shifted since Floyds killing, and not necessarily to Ellisons advantage. In a recent poll of Minnesota voters, 20 percent listed crime as the most important issue facing the state, above even inflation.

Maneuvering on abortion rights

Democrats would prefer to talk about Schultzs view on abortion. They point to his former position on the board of the Human Life Alliance, a conservative group that opposes abortion rights and falsely suggests that abortion can increase the risk of breast cancer, as evidence that his real agenda is an attempt to chip away at abortion access until it can be banned outright, as Ken Martin, the chair of the Minnesota Democratic Party, put it. Democratic operatives told me that in their door-knocking forays, abortion was the topic most on voters minds  even among independents and moderate voters.

So Ellison has been talking up his plans to defend abortion rights and warning that Schultz would do the opposite.

We will fight extradition if they come from another state, and well go to court to fight for peoples right to travel and to do what is legal to do in the state of Minnesota, Ellison said at a recent campaign stop. Schultz, he argued, will use the office to interfere and undermine peoples right to make their own choices about reproductive health.

Schultz denies having an aggressive anti-abortion agenda. Although he said he was pro-life and described himself as a person of faith  he is a practicing Catholic  he told me he hadnt gotten into this to drive abortion policy. Abortion, he said, was a peripheral issue to the attorney generals office he hopes to lead, and he pointed out that the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled the practice legal in 1995.
You could, for instance, ask how many people out of 100 with your condition who get this surgery typically feel better afterward or how much the surgery typically reduces the risk of future health problems or death. Some surgeries arent even needed and may not be helpful: In a 2017 survey of more than 2,000 U.S. physicians, doctors estimated that an average of 11 percent of medical procedures, including surgeries, are unnecessary.

Its crucial to get a sense for the potential risks, too, Dr. Pitt said  and ask for clarification if what your doctor says sounds vague. (For complicated surgical decisions, you could ask the hospital if it has patient advocates or nurse navigators, both of whom can come to appointments and help make sense of what youre being told, she added.)

Ask, too, about what your recovery from surgery could be like. How long might it last? What will you be able (and not able) to do? How many people never fully recover? Thats vital information to understand, Dr. Krumholz said. Ask what costs youll be expected to shoulder, too. Many people dont realize that theyre going to have a big bill, he said, even if they are covered by health insurance.

Consider getting a second opinion.

It may also help to get a second opinion from a different doctor, said Dr. Glyn Elwyn, an expert on shared decision-making at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice  especially if the first doctor didnt suggest any alternatives to surgery. He recommended getting that opinion from a general practitioner, such as an internist, who might be more knowledgeable about nonsurgical treatment options. When my family members doctor didnt mention any alternatives to surgery, he sought a second opinion from a different surgeon who pointed out that there were, in fact, several nonsurgical options.

Dr. Krumholz agreed. Its your body, and you have a right to be able to hear what other people have to say, he said.

Pick a surgeon you trust.

If you choose to move forward with surgery, your next big decision is who should do the operation. One guiding principle is that the more surgeries doctors do per year, the better their patients tend to do, Dr. Krumholz said. He suggested asking doctors how many of this particular kind of surgery they have done in the past year and over the course of their careers  and how that rate compares to the threshold that is associated with good outcomes in their field. If the doctor says, I dont know, thats revealing, Dr. Krumholz said, and you may want to find another doctor.

You can also ask how the doctors surgical outcomes  rates of efficacy and complications for this kind of surgery  compare with those of other surgeons. Surgeons should know where they sit compared to the national average, Dr. Pitt said.
Russian authorities appeared to be preparing the public for a possible retreat from parts of the Kherson region, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a research group based in Washington. American officials said last month that Russian commanders had recommended retreating across the Dnipro, but that President Vladimir V. Putin had refused to allow it.

A British intelligence report on Thursday said that there was evidence that the Russian authorities were considering a withdrawal from the western bank of the Dnipro, a view supported by U.S. intelligence analysts.

But at the same time, Russia is increasing its military presence in Belarus, north of Ukraine, raising the specter of a new offensive from that direction, the Ukrainian military warned on Thursday. When Russia invaded on Feb. 24, it sent forces southward from Belarus hoping to swiftly capture Kyiv, but the offensive failed and the Russians withdrew from that part of the country.

Assessments by U.S. intelligence agencies suggest that as long as the fall weather remains mild, Ukraine has a good chance to continue retaking territory in the south and east that it lost to Russia early in the war. But the agencies cautioned against expecting outright Russian defeat, or even the kind of headlong retreat seen last month in the Kharkiv region in the east.

There were confused reports on Thursday about the status of another site under Russian occupation, the town of Enerhodar, next to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on the east bank of the Dnipro. Ukrainian officials said that Russian forces were leaving, but The Times could not confirm that, nor was it clear whether such a departure would indicate withdrawal or simply a routine rotation of troops.
On October 20, a multidisciplinary expert group from Anhui Agricultural University and Anhui Academy of Forestry Sciences gathered in Huangshan Mountain. On a temporary work platform built for comprehensive "health checkup" of the Guest-Greeting Pine, they inspected and evaluated its growth status.

Huangshan Guest-Greeting Pine is currently undergoing its fifth comprehensive "physical examination." Experts will carry out growth evaluation, anticorrosion and restoration, support and reinforcement work.

It is reported that the comprehensive "physical examination" of the Guest-Greeting Pine will last until the end of October.





Reported by Fan Chengzhu

Photo by Cai Ji'an

Translated by Zheng Chen
This article is part of our Fine Arts & Exhibits special section on how museums, galleries and auction houses are embracing new artists, new concepts and new traditions.

PARIS  I like things on things, Ann Getty once said. Her husband, Gordon, by contrast, she observed, was totally indifferent to things.

Two years after Mrs. Getty died at age 79 after a heart attack during a family dinner, nearly 1,500 of her things are going on sale at an auction of what Christies calls one of the most important collections of decorative and fine arts in the last half century.

Theres no reason to me having all that stuff, Mr. Getty, now 88, said in an interview with ABC7 News in San Francisco in May. About everything sellable is going to be sold. I dont think I reserved a darn thing for sentimental reasons.

Much of this auction is about staging, so Christies sent bits of the auction on a global tour  to Shanghai, London, Los Angeles and Paris  before the final stop in New York. The items will be disposed of in an online and in-person sale from Oct. 10-25 that will evoke the Getty home at the Christies auction house in Rockefeller Center.
This article is part of our Fine Arts & Exhibits special section on how museums, galleries and auction houses are embracing new artists, new concepts and new traditions.

The candlestick from the 1920s shaped like a Roman column is a rare find. Theres a candy dish from the 40s and a hummingbird from the 90s. The glass artist Amber Cowan touches each element of the sculpture as she lists its provenance.

Its funny, she said, because even other glass blowers get confused about what I make and what I find.

Ms. Cowans art is instantly recognizable: lush, collaged tableaus in pastel colors, the glass frozen mid twist and mid drip, perpetually in motion.

If it calls to mind your grandmothers milk glass, its because it is. From the dishes and figurines to the sculpted flora engulfing them, its all vintage glass.
This article is part of our Fine Arts & Exhibits special section on how museums, galleries and auction houses are embracing new artists, new concepts and new traditions.

The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston has bold ambitions for To Begin Again: Artists and Childhood, its thematic group exhibition that explores how visual artists have been inspired and influenced by children and childhood, on view through Feb. 26.

Children and childhood, their role in society, said Jill Medvedow, the institutes director, their visibility or invisibility, their creativity, their resilience, and their plight, have for a long, long time  decades, centuries  been a source of interest, engagement and concern for artists.

Combined with the sense of urgency that we collectively feel about children  from education equality and immigration to the impact of the pandemic  Ms. Medvedow said, this show gives us the opportunity to shine a spotlight on children anew.
This article is part of our Fine Arts & Exhibits special section on how museums, galleries and auction houses are embracing new artists, new concepts and new traditions.

Food  a subject of universal appeal  is a big deal in many cities and especially in New York. There are delis, lots of them, and the city has a long history with the oyster.

Food in New York: Bigger Than the Plate is among the many food-related exhibitions on display around the country, while others  on food-related artwork from the collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer and the rise of Jewish delicatessens across the United States  are traveling to various institutions.

The New York show, which opened last month at the Museum of the City of New York and is on display through Sept. 30, 2023, was inspired by a 2019 exhibition with a similar name at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London that explored current experiments at every stage of the food system, from compost to table.

Not surprisingly, the exhibition is New York-centric, adapted, the museum says, to focus on eating and food systems in the Big Apple  anchored around issues of sustainability and resiliency, labor justice and equitable access to food.
This article is part of our Fine Arts & Exhibits special section on how museums, galleries and auction houses are embracing new artists, new concepts and new traditions.

Prints used to be the Cinderellas of the art world. Viewed as serviceable, unglamorous and lacking in distinction, they were not considered elegant enough to keep company with royalty like paintings.

Not anymore. Now regarded as integral to many esteemed artists practices, prints  which comprise etchings, lithographs, woodcuts and many other art forms  have come to be appreciated for their ability to cross disciplines, create unusual effects and deliver messages in ways that other artworks often cannot.

Jenny Gibbs, executive director of the International Fine Print Dealers Association, recalled how the Museum of Modern Art heralded the mediums new status by mixing prints and paintings within the museums galleries at its post-expansion reopening in 2019.

It seemed revolutionary to be hanging editioned works alongside paintings, said Ms. Gibbs, whose organizations annual print exposition, the I.F.P.D.A. Fair, is Oct. 27-30 during what is known as Print Week. And its sort of blurred the boundaries.
This article is part of our Fine Arts & Exhibits special section on how museums, galleries and auction houses are embracing new artists, new concepts and new traditions.

For the last several years, Elizabeth Cleland and Adam Eaker have faced the same challenges as a certain man in Britain who just got a new job: presenting the monarchy in a new and more imaginative way and trying to make it relevant to 21st-century audiences.

The man in Britain is, of course, King Charles III. Dr. Cleland and Dr. Eaker are the curators of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts exhibition The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England, which relies on more than 100 objects to argue that the Tudors made themselves relevant and powerful with paintings, tapestries and even clothes.

This is the first American exhibition about the Tudors and their artistic legacy, not their political heritage. Covering their century-plus reign  118 years, from the ascent of Henry VII in 1485 to the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603  it will run through Jan. 8. Organized by the Met and the Cleveland Museum of Art in collaboration with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, it draws on works from museums across Europe and in this country, along with the Mets own holdings.

Dr. Eaker said he and Dr. Cleland began laying groundwork for the show a few months before the Brexit referendum in 2016. They installed it a couple of weeks ago, not long after Queen Elizabeth IIs death.
Lenny Lipton, who as a college freshman wrote the lyrics to the classic folk tune Puff the Magic Dragon, and then used the songs bountiful royalties to fund years of pioneering research in 3-D filmmaking, died on Oct. 5 in Los Angeles. He was 82.

His wife, Julia Lipton, said the cause was brain cancer.

Few people leave much of a mark on popular culture; Mr. Lipton was among the few who got to leave two, and in such wildly divergent corners as folk music and cinema technology.

He was a 19-year-old student at Cornell when he sat down at the typewriter of his friend and fellow physics major Peter Yarrow. He had just read a 1936 poem by Ogden Nash titled The Tale of Custard the Dragon and felt inspired to write his own.

Some time later, Mr. Yarrow found the poem, still in his typewriter, and felt a similar inspiration. He put the poem to music, and in 1963 he and his folk trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, released it as Puff the Magic Dragon. It begins: Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea / And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.
The legendary John Cale  whose crucial contributions to the development of the Velvet Undergrounds sound Todd Haynes refreshingly reasserted last year in his documentary about the band  has long been a generous collaborator with younger artists at this later stage in his career. His forthcoming album Mercy, his first collection of new songs in a decade, continues that pattern, featuring contributions from Animal Collective, Sylvan Esso and Laurel Halo. The haunting Story of Blood, the first offering from Mercy, features bewitching vocals from the indie luminary Natalie Mering, who records as Weyes Blood. Across a patiently paced seven-minute reverie of synth chords and skittish electronic beats, their voices entwine balletically, as if locked in some kind of otherworldly dance. ZOLADZ

NxWorries featuring H.E.R., Where I Go
The Easter eggs have been thoroughly examined for clues. The marbled vinyl has been pressed and sorted into collectible variants. The fan hashtags are cued up.

It is time for a new Taylor Swift album.

Midnights, Swifts 10th studio LP, was released at midnight on Friday, the latest chapter in what has been an extraordinarily productive couple of years for Swift, who at 32 remains one of the most potent creative forces in music. She announced the 13-track Midnights two months ago, calling it the story of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, and a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. (True Swifties  or, really, anybody who has paid moderate attention to Swifts public presentation over the years  knows her fascination with the number 13.)

It is Swifts fifth album in just over two years, following her quarantine-era, indie-folk-style Folklore and Evermore, and then Fearless (Taylors Version) and Red (Taylors Version), the first two rerecordings of her early albums, a project she undertook after her former record label was sold without her participation. Folklore won album of the year at the Grammys in 2021.
The best thing about SOMETIMES PEOPLE DIE (Hanover Square, 362 pp., $27.99) isnt the slow-burning investigation into a spate of unexplained deaths at an underfunded London hospital, but the authoritative, unsparing account of what its like to work in such a place. The author, Simon Stephenson, knows what hes talking about: Before he became a writer (and a screenwriter), he worked as a doctor himself.

His unnamed main character  in not-great shape  has arrived at St. Lukes, a crumbling Victorian relic, after a bout of opioid addiction. Soon, people are dying even more than usual  a seemingly healthy woman, a kind elderly man, even the narrators generous-hearted roommate, who seems to have killed himself. (Or maybe not.) What is going on, and what are the dim detectives assigned to the case turning up?

Luckily, the narrator and his colleagues, being doctors at a hospital whose daily routine is akin to whirling chaos, as Stephenson puts it, have deliciously wry senses of humor. Soon, theres a running list of suspects on the whiteboard in the staff room, along with mordant commentary. People joked that the only reason Louise was not the front-runner, Stephenson writes, was that if she had actually murdered somebody she would not have been able to resist giving a presentation about her accomplishment.

The author expertly balances this tone with his grim story, peppered with pungent details about medical murderers from the past. Whoever is knocking off the patients at St. Lukes turns out to be part of a long, ignoble historical tradition.
Its not every day you come across an octogenarians literary debut, and its not every day  or every year  that you encounter a debut as fresh, assured and fun as Jane Campbells CAT BRUSHING: And Other Stories (Grove, 245 pp., $26) from a writer of any age. Though her stories are frequently explicit enough to bring color to your cheeks, Campbell maintains a cool, commanding tone that enhances the effect of her limpid prose.

The stories are varied in approach without being showy about it, and consistently draw novel insight from a few major themes: aging, sexuality, memory, loneliness. Her work merits comparison with that of Edna OBrien or Muriel Spark, while an uncanny streak running through several of the pieces (Lacrimae Rerum, 183 Minutes, The Kiskadee) might bring Daphne du Maurier to mind.

The narrator of the title story notes that these days I have to hold onto the edge of the counter to get to my feet but I tell myself it is good exercise for my thighs. And then, inevitably, the other exercises my thighs once got involved in come to mind. A little later she offers up what might be taken for the books motto: I own nothing now, except, I suppose, my body and my mind, such as they are after so many decades of use. Ill-use, sometimes. But at least, thank God, they have been used and I did not waste them. It cuts directly against the spirit of this excellent, pathbreaking collection to reduce an elder to a vending machine for wisdom, but with apologies to Campbell, these strike me as words to live by.

Andrea Barretts NATURAL HISTORY: Stories (Norton, 192 pp., $26.95), a confident, quiet, richly imagined collection from the National Book Award-winning author of Ship Fever, contains six stories featuring characters who will be familiar to readers of that book, as well as her collections Servants of the Map and Archangel. As a first-time Barrett reader myself, let me say that I felt entirely comfortable in the world of her fiction despite my belated entry. (A family tree in the endnotes helped get me oriented  and piqued my interest in the other books.)
The Biden administration will use federal courts and health programs to expand the use of medication to treat substance use disorders in pregnant women, according to a report by the White House released Friday. The plan is part of the administrations broader effort to combat a drug crisis that now kills more than 100,000 Americans annually.

Under the new initiative, the Justice Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service will be responsible for improving womens access to medicines like buprenorphine and methadone. These treatments have been controversial, but are increasingly being embraced as a scientifically proven way to reduce dependency and save lives.

Opioid use disorder among pregnant women has more than quadrupled in recent years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is associated with low birth weight, preterm labor and miscarriage. Pregnant women are more likely to die of a drug overdose than the average woman of childbearing age, but less likely to be accepted for appointments with buprenorphine providers.

This is a bold statement, a big moment, coming from the president and the vice president, to show that pregnancy is the golden opportunity to help women get into recovery, said Dr. Anna Lembke, the medical director of addiction medicine at Stanford, who was not involved in the plans design.
Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.

Ive knocked on a few doors in my decade as a reporter covering the technology industry and Silicon Valley. Typically, Ive done it to get an evasive executive or skittish tech employee to comment on an article. More often than not, the doors are dead ends.

Door knocks, as theyre known in journalism, are far from the most glamorous part of the job. Sometimes the person has moved. Other times, nobody answers. Occasionally youll get a door slammed in your face.

So I wasnt expecting much when, in September, I knocked on  well, buzzed the dilapidated intercom system of  a weathered sandstone apartment building in Valletta, the capital of Malta. I had flown some 6,700 miles from my home in Los Angeles to chase a tip about Peter Thiel, a tech billionaire and an influential U.S. political patron; I had been told he was applying for citizenship in Malta, the quaint Mediterranean nation that is known to sell golden passports to wealthy foreigners. After two days of fruitless meetings with immigration lawyers, Maltese bureaucrats and politicians, paying a visit to the apartment, which I believed was tied to Mr. Thiel through documents I had seen, was my last throw of the dice.

I didnt expect a man worth an estimated $4.2 billion to actually be spending time in a two-bedroom apartment in a slightly run-down structure surrounded by discarded beer cans and construction debris. So my heart skipped a beat when I was buzzed in. I cautiously pushed the door open and walked up three flights of stairs, only to come face-to-face with a confused British woman on holiday.
What do you know about the Russia-Ukraine war? Have you been following the news since Russias invasion of the smaller Eastern European country last February?

The threat of nuclear war has hummed in the background of the conflict for over seven months now. Now, its impossible to ignore. In a recent televised speech, President Vladimir Putin warned that should Western forces endanger the integrity of Russian territory  which, as Putin defines it, may now include the four regions of Ukraine that he illegally annexed  we will certainly use all the means at our disposal. He added, This is not a bluff.

In response, President Biden warned that Mr. Putins threats could devolve into a nuclear conflict, saying: We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis.

In In Dealing With Putin Threat, Biden Turns to Lessons of Cuban Missile Crisis, David Sanger writes:

President Bidens declaration on Thursday night that the world may be facing the prospect of Armageddon if President Vladimir V. Putin uses a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine included a revealing side note: that Mr. Biden has been looking to help the Russian president find an off-ramp that might avert the worst outcome. His logic came right out of the Cuban Missile Crisis, to which Mr. Biden referred twice in his comments at a Democratic fund-raiser in New York, a good indication of what is on his mind. In that famous case  the closest the world came to a full nuclear exchange, 60 years ago this month  President John F. Kennedy struck a secret bargain with Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet premier, to remove American missiles from Turkey. With that deal, which came to light only later, a disaster that could have killed tens of millions of Americans and untold numbers of Soviet citizens was averted. For weeks now, Mr. Bidens aides have been debating whether there might be an analogous understanding, a way for the wounded Russian leader to find an out. They have offered no details, knowing that secrecy may be the key to seeking any successful exit and avoiding the conditions in which a cornered Mr. Putin reaches for his battlefield nuclear weapons. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, reiterated on Friday that Mr. Biden had no new intelligence about nuclear weapons use and said she saw no indications the Russians were preparing to use them.

In the guest essay Ive Studied 13 Days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This Is What I See When I Look at Putin, Michael Dobbs, a historian and former foreign correspondent, looks at the parallels between the current conflict in Ukraine and the one in Cuba 60 years ago:

Two nuclear-armed states on a collision course with no obvious exit ramp. An erratic Russian leader using apocalyptic language  if you want us to all meet in hell, its up to you. Showdowns at the United Nations, with each side accusing the other of essentially gambling with Armageddon. For six decades, the Cuban missile crisis has been viewed as the defining confrontation of the modern age, the worlds closest brush with nuclear annihilation. The war in Ukraine presents perils of at least equal magnitude, particularly now that Vladimir Putin has backed himself into a corner by declaring large chunks of neighboring Ukraine as belonging to Russia forever. As two countries proceed up an escalatory ladder, mistakes become increasingly likely  as the Cuban missile crisis made clear. In a conventional war, it is possible for political leaders to make significant mistakes and for the human race to survive, battered but intact. In a nuclear standoff, even a minor misunderstanding or miscommunication can have catastrophic consequences. In October 1962, it was President John Kennedy who declared a naval blockade, or quarantine, of Cuba to prevent reinforcement of the Soviet military position on the island. This put the onus on his Kremlin counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, to either accept the clearly signaled American condition for ending the crisis (a full withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba) or risk nuclear war. This time, the roles are reversed: Mr. Putin is seeking to enforce a red line by insisting he will use all available means, including his nuclear arsenal, to defend the newly, unilaterally expanded borders of Mother Russia. President Biden has promised to support Ukraines attempts to defend itself. It is unclear how Mr. Putin will react to his red line being ignored.

Read one or both of the above articles. Then, in writing or discussion with a partner, respond to these prompts:

Whats your reaction to Mr. Putins threats? What do you think of Mr. Bidens warning about the prospect of Armageddon?

How worried should we be about the use of nuclear weapons in the Russia-Ukraine war?

Compare the two crises: How are they similar and different? Compare the leaders, then and now, Mr. Biden and Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Khrushchev and Mr. Putin. How are their personalities, experiences and ambitions similar and different?

How is the Times reporting similar or different, then and now? Do you think we are getting all of the information from the press, or do you think, as with the Cuban missile crisis, there is behind-the-scenes diplomacy we do not know of? Do you think there are perspectives and viewpoints we are not being exposed to?

Going Further Activity

Imagine you are an adviser to President Biden: What approach would you recommend he take with Mr. Putin and his war in Ukraine? Based on your understanding of the Cuban missile crisis, what advice would you give?

Consider the following questions as a guide:

What are the lessons of the Cuban missile crisis? What did the leaders get right? What did they get wrong? Which of these lessons are applicable to today?

Should Mr. Biden be seeking to find an off-ramp for Mr. Putin to avert nuclear war? What might one look like?

If Mr. Putin uses nuclear weapons in his war with Ukraine, how should the United States respond  or not respond?

What do you think Mr. Kennedy would do if he were president today?

To help you formulate your recommendations to Mr. Biden, you might consider these additional articles and essays from The Times:

Or, these further resources beyond The Times:
Though I expect the film will be nominated in several categories at the Oscars, including best picture, it hasnt taken a traditional path toward that goal. Instead of debuting at a prestigious fall film festival, Everything Everywhere chose a raucous spring premiere at South by Southwest, and it was released in theaters on March 25, a time when awards attention was trained exclusively on the Oscar ceremony held that weekend.

The film will also have to win over older voters, who may prove more resistant to its wacky charms, since Everything Everywhere is laden with sight gags and traffics heavily in down-market genres like sci-fi, action and gross-out comedy. Could it surmount all of those hurdles and become the first significant Oscar contender to feature a dildo fight scene? (If Frost/Nixon happened to have one, please write in to remind me.)

I full-on thought it was a joke when this was coming out and they said, What if its awards-y? Scheinert said. It was an ode to Jackass and Stephen Chow movies!

Still, there is a potent emotional core to the film that has moved audiences: As Yeohs Evelyn explores the multiverse, she comes to better understand the people who used to get on her nerves, including her husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu), and even her tax auditor, Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis). And that empathy extends off the screen, to the movies stars: Quan, the first actor to show up at the party, was mobbed by well-wishers eager to praise his sensitive performance. I was so famished for a role like this, the 51-year-old Quan told me. Famished!
Natchathiram Nagargiradhu

Stream it on Netflix.

After a series of action blockbusters that effortlessly blend politics with swaggering style (see Kaala and Sarpatta Parambarai, streaming on Amazon), the visionary Tamil filmmaker Pa. Ranjith has returned with an altogether different genre of film: a talky, postmodern romantic comedy about a troupe of diverse Indian youngsters putting on a play. Yet, if Natchathiram Nagargiradhu is more modest in scope than Ranjiths recent masala epics, the stakes are no lower. As the group decides to stage a production about honor killings  filicides of lovers who dare cross caste and religious lines  creative differences become political battles, and romantic tiffs become ideological impasses.

At the heart of this eye-popping, neon-lit film is Rene (Dushara Vijayan), a magnetic, strong-willed actress who wears her Dalit (the so-called untouchable caste) identity proudly on her sleeve. Around her swirl a bevy of equally complex, serrated characters, including her boyfriend, Iniyan, a cosmopolitan liberal who nevertheless lets a slur slip in the middle of a heated argument; the crude, macho newbie Arjun, who undergoes a reckoning as his bigotries are challenged; and the queer couple Diana and Praveen, who wrestle with loving openly in defiance of their parents. Audaciously intercutting scenes of performance and the characters personal lives, Ranjith crafts a drama that pulsates with rage, humor, grief and magic, while daringly interrogating the very possibility of making political art.

Song Lang

Stream it on Tubi.
Martine Symss The African Desperate begins on the last day of art school for a Master of Fine Arts student named Palace. Shes facing the final critique from a committee of four instructors who sit in her studio, lobbing comments about her work  some earnest, some passive-aggressive, altogether a bit bewildering.

Its been interesting having you in the sculpture department. Where are you going to go with this? Youre afraid of your own appetite. Its all a bit polite, isnt it? Whered you grow up? West Side Chicago?

Palace  played by the artist Diamond Stingily, with bright orange hair and a deadly deadpan  holds her own. She calls out problematic questions, quoting Saidiya Hartman and others. Then, at a seemingly arbitrary moment, its all over: She passed.

Thats it? Palace asks quietly. Youre free, one examiner says, meaning well. But the comment also implies that art school wasnt always liberating.
They didnt plan this.

Sofia Wylie, 18, who plays the good-at-heart, if witchily named, Agatha in the new Netflix fantasy film The School for Good and Evil, pops onto the Zoom call swaddled in a tan-and-white blanket, a cheery, sunlit room with white walls and a gray couch in her Salt Lake City home behind her.

A moment later, Sophia Anne Caruso, 21, who plays her best friend Sophie, a fairtyale-obsessed girly girl with a dark side, materializes, her short black fringe blending in with the dark black background of her Upper West Side apartment. All the lights are out.

Oh, I want a blanket too, Caruso says, grabbing one from offscreen and wrapping it around her shoulders. I thought we had to hide!

Both actresses (yes, both named So-fee-uh  no bias to either spelling) are making their debuts as leads in a feature film in The School for Good and Evil, which began streaming on Netflix on Wednesday. Based on the young adult book series by Soman Chainani about a magical school for storybook heroes and villains, the film follows the adventures of Sophie and Agatha, who are kidnapped and taken to the titular school and must find a way to return home. (The starry cast also includes Kerry Washington, Charlize Theron, Michelle Yeoh and Laurence Fishburne.)
A federal judge temporarily blocked part of a new New York State gun law that prohibited firearms in churches and other places of worship, another blow to the law after a judge threw large portions of the measure into doubt this month.

The challenge to the law by two religious leaders in Buffalo, who were joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Second Amendment Foundation, was based on a provision in the new state measure that prohibits firearms in sensitive locations, including places of worship or religious observance.

In a 40-page decision released Thursday, Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. of the Western District of New York said that the restriction was inconsistent with the nations historical traditions, impermissibly infringing on the right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense.

The ruling this week is the latest in a series of tests for the measure, which went into effect in September in response to a Supreme Court decision in June that struck down a century-old state law that had strictly limited the ability to carry handguns in public. Several other suits against the law continue to progress through the courts, including other challenges to the ban on carrying firearms in places of worship.
Peter Schjeldahl, a critic whose elegant reviews in The New Yorker and, before that, The Village Voice, made him an indispensable guide to contemporary art, died on Friday at his home in Bovina, N.Y. He was 80.

His wife, Brooke Alderson, confirmed his death. Mr. Schjeldahl was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in August 2019 and had undergone unexpectedly successful immunotherapy but never recovered entirely, she said.

Few critics could match Mr. Schjeldahl (pronounced SHELL-doll) for his intimate knowledge of New Yorks art world, which he wrote about with undiminished enthusiasm for more than half a century. Even fewer could rival him for sheer eloquence. A poet by vocation in his earlier years, he brought an exquisite word sense to his polished essays, which managed to translate visual subtleties into lapidary prose.

With a deft flick, he wrote of Ingress glassy, scintillating precision; of Caspar David Friedrichs twilight that sears; and of the adagio loops and wristy flares in Willem de Koonings later paintings. He had a gift for the neat apercu. Dadaism was an ancestral vein of cool, he once wrote in The New Yorker. Those who wondered what it meant could never know.
LONDON  Until very recently the British Conservative Party was able to claim, with a great deal of credibility, that it was the most successful political party in the Western world.

The party of Benjamin Disraeli, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher has governed Britain for most of the last 200 years. Through much of that time the Conservatives have been synonymous with good sense, financial sobriety and cautious pragmatism. Despised by progressive elites, allergic to ideology, provincial rather than metropolitan, the Conservative Party rejoiced in being the stolid party of the boring middle ground.

Not anymore. Today, the Conservatives are synonymous with chaos.

Liz Truss, the latest Tory prime minister to crash and burn, must bear her share of the blame. There are sound reasons for why she was forced to resign after just 44 days, the shortest term in history. It was a foolish notion to suppose that she could sack the most senior Treasury official, reinvent the laws of economic management and defy the collective wisdom of the financial markets. There was going to be only one result.

But the bigger truth is that the hapless Ms. Truss is a symptom rather than the cause of Britains chronic crisis of governance, which has reduced the country  once respected around the world  to a global laughingstock. The Conservative Party chose her, remember, even though she was obviously not up to the job. You didnt need the foresight of Nostradamus to know she would fail. For the fiasco of her premiership and the disastrous state of the country, the Conservative Party must collectively take responsibility.
There was, however, a majority vote to protect the rights of voters in the South. But that vote  the vote to pass the 1890 Federal Elections Bill, which would have empowered the national government to supervise elections in the former Confederate states  failed to overcome a Senate filibuster.

We cannot know how American history would have unfolded in the absence of our counter-majoritarian institutions. But the example of Reconstruction and its aftermath suggests that if majorities had been able to act, unimpeded, to protect the rights of Black Americans, it might have been a little less tragic than what we experienced instead.

It is an insight we can apply to the present. Its not the national majority that threatens the right to vote or the right to bodily autonomy or that wants to strip transgender Americans of their right to exist in civil society (on that last point, 64 percent of Americans, according to the Pew Research Center, support laws or policies that would protect transgender people from discrimination in jobs, housing and public spaces). If it were up to majorities of Americans  and if, more important, the American political system more easily allowed majorities to express their will  then Congress would have already strengthened the Voting Rights Act, codified abortion rights into law and protected the civil rights of L.G.B.T.Q. Americans. Even the legislative victories most Americans rightfully admire  like the Civil Rights Act of 1964  were possible only with a supermajority of lawmakers assembled in the wake of a presidential assassination.

If it were up to the national majority, American democracy would most likely be in a stronger place, not the least because Donald Trump might not have become president. Our folk beliefs about American government notwithstanding, the much-vaunted guardrails and endlessly invoked norms of our political system have not secured our democracy as much as theyve facilitated the efforts of those who would degrade and undermine it.

Majority rule is not perfect but rule by a narrow, reactionary minority  what we face in the absence of serious political reform  is far worse. And much of our fear of majorities, the legacy of a founding generation that sought to restrain the power of ordinary people, is unfounded. It is not just that rule of the majority is, as Abraham Lincoln said, the only true sovereign of a free people; it is also the only sovereign that has reliably worked to protect those people from the deprivations of hierarchy and exploitation.

If majoritarian democracy, even at its most shackled, is a better safeguard against tyranny and abuse than our minoritarian institutions, then imagine how we might fare if we let majoritarian democracy actually take root in this country. The liberty of would-be masters might suffer. The liberty of ordinary people, on the other hand, might flourish.
The hard-right turn of rural America has become a key factor in our nations troubled politics. Rural voters are a declining share of the electorate, but their turn to the MAGAfied Republican Party has been so sharp that, combined with the way our political system underweights urban voters, the radicalization of small towns and the countryside may determine the future course of American democracy  indeed, may lead to its demise.

And yes, I mean radicalization. We arent just talking about an ordinary shift in voting behavior. Much of rural America seems to be turning into a one-party region in which people are actually afraid to express dissent from their Biden-hating neighbors.

Whats causing this radicalization? Political scientists have found that rural Americans believe that they arent receiving their fair share of resources, that they are neglected by politicians and that they dont receive enough respect. So it seems worth noting that the first two beliefs are demonstrably false  although Im sure that anyone pointing this out will be denounced as another sneering member of the urban elite.
Theres something odd about this rarity, given how dramatically juicy struggles over sex, race and power can be. Sure, there are films like She Said, the Hollywood version of The New York Timess investigation of Harvey Weinsteins abuse, which recently debuted at the New York Film Festival and opens next month. But that movie, while a captivating procedural, is morally simple. What weve been lacking are narratives that draw human complexity out of our combustible political debates.

Perhaps thats because its really hard to do well. Reports of absurdly overzealous sensitivity reads suggest that publishers and producers fear backlash. There have been a couple of comedies that have taken on the idea of cancellation, but theyve stacked the deck by making the person who gets canceled either totally innocent, as in the 2021 TV series The Chair, or absurdly guilty, as in the satire Not Okay. Stand-up comedians, for whom attempted cancellation is monetizable, have been less cautious. But a dramatic work that asks you to empathize  if not sympathize  with a tragic figure who has done a lot of harm is more difficult to pull off. (Apparently there was a clunky attempt in The Morning Show, which I havent seen.)

Tar itself stacks the deck in one important way  by making its protagonist a woman. A swaggering, magnetic figure in bespoke suits who worships high culture and seems to delight in tweaking social justice assumptions, shed be insufferable as a man. (She might be insufferable as anyone not played by the wildly charismatic Blanchett.)

Early on, a young conducting student tells her that as a BIPOC pangender person, they are not into Bach because of his misogyny. Tar, a self-described U-Haul lesbian, humiliates the student before making an impassioned case for artistic universalism. You want to dance the masque, you must service the composer, she says fiercely. Youve got to sublimate yourself, your ego. And yes, your identity.

The New Yorker critic Richard Brody, who dissented from the largely rapturous reception Tar has received, mentioned this scene while arguing that the film is bitter and reactionary. I saw it differently. Though a misleadingly edited version of the exchange appears later in the film, it has little to do with Tars downfall; this is not a movie complaining that you cant say anything anymore.
This is no small task. When Project Red TX started looking around for candidates to help in South Texas, recalls Mr. Hamilton, the first thing I found out was we didnt have any. The importance of local races had been paid the usual lip service, he says, but there wasnt a real organizational effort in place.

So he brought in one of his buddies  a party operative from the East Coast, no less  to start identifying potential candidates. In 2018, Project Red TX wound up with 54 Republican general election contenders in 28 counties across the targeted region, 17 of whom won. It was modest progress, but enough to convince Mr. Hamilton and others that the project should be expanded.

This cycle, Mr. Hamiltons group is backing 114 general election candidates  some running unopposed  in 24 counties across South Texas and the border region. In areas so deeply and historically blue, this is a notable achievement.

Project Red TX has high-level support for its mission. The governor has made clear that local races should be a priority for the state party. He grasps the symbiotic relationship between candidates up and down the ballot, says David Carney, Mr. Abbotts chief political strategist. The speaker of the Texas House, Dade Phelan, talks to his donors and beats his members up to support the cause, jokes Mr. Hamilton. Prominent Republican players frequently appear at fund-raisers and other events with South Texas candidates. We help them get a couple or 300 people in the room, says Mr. Carney.

The Republicans ground game is astronomical, especially in the border communities, says Sylvia Gonzalez-Gorman, a political scientist at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. They understand that if they can turn some of these seats Republican at the local level, that kind of trickles up.

This support system can make the difference in a campaigns survival, especially for first-time candidates running in deep-blue areas where there is little local G.O.P. infrastructure. Maria Yvette Hernandez is the Republican nominee for county judge in Starr County. Aside from a few thousand dollars, most of her support has come from nonlocal sources, including in-kind contributions from Project Red TX. This proved crucial when her opponent filed a court claim that she didnt meet residency requirements. Legal fees quickly drained her campaign coffers, she says. Without the group, which helped find and fund her legal counsel, her candidacy would have collapsed.
Using E.S.S.M., Dr. Michael Werner, a urologist specializing in sexual and reproductive health, was able to find and freeze more than 200 of Claires viable sperm. Her procedure was the first known time that doctors had been able to retrieve viable sperm in a transgender woman after more than two years of hormone treatments.

Dr. Arie Berkovitz, an obstetrician and gynecologist and a male fertility expert at Assuta Hospital in Rishon LeZion, Israel, created the E.S.S.M. technique in 2017 as a treatment for men with low sperm counts.

Sperm production requires consistent testosterone production in the testicles  40 million total per ejaculate is considered normal. E.S.S.M. does not increase sperm production. With E.S.S.M., doctors are able to find and freeze small amounts of sperm from the ejaculate without side effects; finding such samples can otherwise be difficult in people who have undergone extended hormone therapy. Previously, patients with low sperm counts or those thoughts to have no sperm at all had to undergo an invasive surgery in which sperm was removed through a needle inserted into the testicle. The process can be painful and can damage the testes.

I was doing it for peace of mind so that I could be confident that I had tried everything, Claire said of the procedure. When I received the call that not only were there sperm but that there were so many, it was both astonishing and overwhelming.
If you were to place an order this week at a restaurant that exclusively served viral foods, heres what youd be eating: a salad tossed in a special dressing made by Olivia Wilde; an omelet made with only egg yolks; and a Negroni Sbagliato to wash it all down.

Lets begin with the salad.

If you have finally stopped thinking about Olivia Wilde and the drama surrounding her film Dont Worry Darling, its time to reset the days-without-incident clock in your mind. Ms. Wilde was recently the subject of a Daily Mail story about her split from the actor Jason Sudeikis and a rumored on-set affair with Harry Styles, who stars in the film. In the article, a former nanny for the couples two children lobbed a series of accusations, including a small detail about a salad dressing.

The nanny claimed Mr. Sudeikis lay down in front of a car to stop Ms. Wilde from leaving to bring Mr. Styles a salad made with Ms. Wildes special dressing.

Ms. Wilde and Mr. Sudeikis issued a statement that said, in part: As parents, it is incredibly upsetting to learn that a former nanny of our two young children would choose to make such false and scurrilous accusations about us publicly.
Katherine Bonneau had grown tired of dating Peter Pan-type guys over the years, she said, so on her first date with Mikhail Kosyan, she asked him about his plans for the future  specifically whether he was ready to have children.

He wasnt scared off by my directness, said Ms. Bonneau, 32, adding that she didnt want to waste her time on someone not ready for this next step.

I had the nicknames for three children ready to go, said Mr. Kosyan, 35. Gator, Rowdy and Boss.

The two met on the dating app Hinge in April 2021. After weeks of messaging, Mr. Kosyan invited Ms. Bonneau to dinner at Bistro Vendome in downtown Denver the following month.

For their second date, about a week later, he took her to Grandmas House, a brewery also in Denver, where they painted gnomes. He drew a heart on his figurine and wrote Ms. Bonneaus initials inside.
Steven Nicholas Romo and Stephen Robert Morgan have a lot in common. They have the same first names. Theyre both reporters. They were both raised in religious homes that eschewed homosexuality. And they both had the same fear: that being gay would mean there could be no happily ever after for them.

One of those similarities was the very reason they met. The competing television stations for which they worked in Houston had sent them each to cover a primary watch party on March 6, 2018 for Kathaleen Wall, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for a seat in Texass second congressional district. They exchanged pleasantries.

We were mostly focused on the assignment, said Mr. Romo, 38. But we did follow each other on Instagram later. For a while, the two liked one anothers photos and left innocuous comments.

I was in a relationship, said Mr. Morgan, 33. And I wasnt publicly out. Two years went by where nothing happened between us. Mr. Romo was also in a relationship, and in the closet publicly. We were out to our families, co-workers and friends, but hadnt made any overt coming out public statements, Mr. Romo said.
In Silicon Valley, crypto and the metaverse are out. Generative A.I. is in.

That much became clear Monday night at the San Francisco Exploratorium, where Stability AI, the start-up behind the popular Stable Diffusion image-generating algorithm, gave a party that felt a lot like a return to prepandemic exuberance.

The event  which lured tech luminaries including the Google co-founder Sergey Brin, the AngelList founder Naval Ravikant and the venture capitalist Ron Conway out of their Zoom rooms  was billed as a launch party for Stability AI and a celebration of the companys recent $101 million fund-raising round, which reportedly valued the company at $1 billion.

But it doubled as a coming-out bash for the entire field of generative A.I.  the wonky umbrella term for A.I. that doesnt just analyze existing data but creates new text, images, videos, code snippets and more.

Its been a banner year, in particular, for generative A.I. apps that turn text prompts into images  which, unlike NFTs or virtual reality metaverses, actually have the numbers to justify the hype theyve received. DALL-E 2, the image generator that OpenAI released this spring, has more than 1.5 million users creating more than two million images every day, according to the company. Midjourney, another popular A.I. image generator released this year, has more than three million users in its official Discord server. (Google and Meta have built their own image generators but have not released them to the public.)
TikTok failed to catch 90 percent of ads featuring false and misleading messages about elections, while YouTube and Facebook identified and blocked most of them, according to an experiment run by misinformation researchers, the results of which were released on Friday.

The test, run by the watchdog group Global Witness and the Cybersecurity for Democracy team at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, used dummy accounts to submit 10 ads in English and 10 in Spanish to the social media services. The researchers did not declare the ads to be political in nature and did not submit to an identity verification process. They deleted the accepted ads before they were published.

Each ad, which included details like an incorrect election date or information designed to delegitimize the voting process, violated policies established by Facebooks parent company, Meta; YouTubes owner, Google; and TikTok, the researchers said. In one ad, researchers wrote: Already voted in the primary? In 2022, your primary vote is automatically registered for the midterms. You can stay home.

TikTok rejected only one ad in English and one in Spanish, in what the researchers called a major failure. TikTok banned political advertising in 2019.
We do not have any confirmation of the buyers plans following close and recommend not following rumors or leaked documents but rather wait for facts from us and the buyer directly, he wrote. The memo was reported earlier by Bloomberg.

Whatever Twitter does to reassure its employees may not be enough. Once Mr. Musk  a famously mercurial entrepreneur  completes the deal for the company, he can do almost anything he likes with the firm. And he has indicated that he plans to make big changes.

Mr. Musk has said that he wants more free speech on the platform and that he will allow former President Donald J. Trump, who was barred from the service, to return to tweeting. Mr. Musk, who has publicly criticized Twitters executives, has also said he plans to add more subscription services to Twitter and cut some jobs while attracting more users to the service.

As of Friday, the deal appeared to be hurtling toward the finish line. The investment banks that have committed $12.5 billion to finance Mr. Musks takeover of Twitter continue to work on finalizing those commitments ahead of the Oct. 28 deadline, said a person with knowledge of the situation. Mr. Musks advisers are also sharing their financial analysis of the company with investors, the person said.

Once the deal is closed, Mr. Musk is expected to run Twitter on a lean budget. The billionaire, who also oversees the electric automaker Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX, is taking out more than $12 billion in loans to finance the Twitter acquisition, which puts him on the hook for expensive repayments. Investors who are contributing more than $7 billion in equity to the purchase will also eventually expect returns.
The 2018 election illustrates Ms. Hobbs narrow path to victory in a ticket-splitting swing state that has backed Democrats in recent national races, but returns Republicans to power in the State Capitol year after year.

Ms. Hobbs, who describes the race as sanity versus chaos, has been the target of death threats since she defended Arizonas election system against false charges of fraud in the 2020 presidential race. Ms. Hobbs said Ms. Lake has called for her to be arrested, a call that Ms. Hobbs has suggested could lead to vigilantism. Her campaign, concerned about her safety, coordinates her moves with the police and security guards.

The race appears to reflect a broader midterm trend that has seen politicians cut back on debates and carefully curate their public appearances to avoid the possibility of hostile questions or encounters with opponents. But in the bare-knuckle brawl for control of Arizona, a state that could be pivotal in the 2024 presidential election, even her supporters say they want to see Ms. Hobbs show more fight.

With early voting already underway in the state, some of Ms. Hobbss supporters are worried that the attacks on her visibility are resonating. In interviews, they said they thought Ms. Hobbs might be being drowned out by an opponent who supports an outright abortion ban and has vowed to militarize the Southern border.

I really like what she stands for, and many qualities she has and what shes done already, but Im concerned, Gloria Solorio, a City Council member in the Phoenix suburb of Avondale who supports Ms. Hobbs. Were not seeing a debate. Were not seeing that side of the story. Were seeing the other candidate place herself in the spotlight.

Ms. Solorio said she was worried that some of her co-workers at the hotel where she oversees housekeeping were drifting toward Ms. Lake. Karis really hungry for it, she said. You can tell.

Brent J. Kleinman, who teaches business classes at Glendale Community College and supports Ms. Hobbs, said he thought she might be playing it too safe by appearing with abortion rights supporters or union members instead of seeking out audiences of Republicans and independent voters.
But former employees of the school he oversaw said in interviews that he was a vindictive man who wields his clout for economic gain, and who uses his faith as a shield when questioned about his suspicious actions. When confronted, the former employees say, he would often clap back: Would a man of faith do such a thing?

Theada Thompson, a former employee of Edgar P. Harney Elementary School, which was under the purview of Mr. Southall in 2018 when he was the president of the board of directors overseeing the charter school, said in a phone interview on Thursday night that Mr. Southall was the economic hit man of the African American community.

Ashonta Wyatt, a former principal of Harney Elementary, said that he had been exalted in New Orleans as this pillar, a man of God  an untouchable being.

Ms. Wyatt, who raised concerns about Mr. Southalls financial management of the school before she was fired in November 2018, said it was her questioning of his financial stewardship that led to her firing.

A range of people were affected by Mr. Southalls schemes from about 2013 to 2020, prosecutors say: He diverted one parishioners $10,000 tithe in 2019 to his own use; he solicited multiple donations from another parishioner, promising that it would be used to improve the New Orleans church building, and pocketed more than $106,000 from that parishioners donations.

Mr. Southall also profited from rental properties owned by the church, diverting about $150,000 in rental payments to his personal accounts and also placing more than a half-million dollars from sold properties in his accounts, the Justice Department said.

In 2013, Mr. Southall, a board member of the Spirit of Excellence Academy, secured funding to create a new charter school in Baton Rouge, but the school never opened, prosecutors say. Still, he had hired a person, who is not named in court records, and paid them about $220,600, all of which was placed in an account that Mr. Southall and the individual controlled, the Justice Department said. Louisiana law prohibits board members from receiving compensation for providing services, unless it is for reimbursement of actual expenses, the Justice Department said.
The prosecution of the suspects parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, is also a rare instance in which parents stand accused of acts that led to a school shooting. In addition to helping him obtain a gun, prosecutors say that the parents ignored troubling warning signs, including a disturbing drawing he made containing violent images and a plea for help just hours before the shooting. The parents have pleaded not guilty.

In a statement on Friday, David Williams, the chief assistant prosecutor for Oakland County, confirmed that Ethan Crumbley was expected to plead guilty to all 24 charges against him. He faces possible life in prison.

Michigan does not have a death penalty, and imprisoning a juvenile for life is unusual.

But Mr. Williams said that there had been no plea bargaining with Mr. Crumbley.

There are no deals whatsoever. No reductions, no sentence agreements, nothing, he said in a statement released by his office.

Lawyers for Mr. Crumbley could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Ven Johnson, a lawyer representing several Oxford High School families, including the survivors of two deceased students, said the families would not be commenting until Monday.
Mr. Bannon, a rapid-talking provocateur who has used his daily internet radio show to skewer the government for prosecuting him, approached his sentencing with defiance. He told reporters that he viewed President Biden as illegitimate as he entered the court, flanked by his lawyers.

He went on to claim that Democrats would face their judgment day in the coming midterm elections and urged all within earshot to oppose the Chinese Communist Party.

The sentencing came a year after Mr. Bannon was held in contempt by the House. The government had accused Mr. Bannon, the onetime editor of the right-wing news outlet Breitbart, of having pursued a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt from the moment he received the subpoena seeking information about his knowledge of Mr. Trumps efforts to reverse his electoral defeat.

The government argued for the maximum penalty of six months and a fine of $200,000. J.P. Cooney, the lead prosecutor, said Mr. Bannon had thumbed his nose at American democracy  and flouted the basic responsibilities incurred by witnesses who appeared at the courthouse every day.

He showed his contempt for the criminal justice system, his contempt for the law and his contempt for Congress, Mr. Cooney said, accusing Mr. Bannon of never lifting a finger to comply with his legal obligations to produce evidence  or simply show up when summoned to assert his right not to testify.

Mr. Bannons lead lawyer, David I. Schoen, who represented Mr. Trump during his second impeachment trial, reiterated many of the same themes he had raised then. He cast Mr. Bannon as a courageous defender of executive authority rather than someone who simply did not want to obey a lawful legislative summons.

Never at any time did Mr. Bannon believe in any way, shape or form that he was acting in any way that was unlawful or against the law, Mr. Schoen said in a rambling hourlong speech in which he invoked the writings of James Madison, then veered off to slam a former Trump lawyer as a thug who had ripped him off.
But the timing of the subpoena, which comes little more than two months before the committee shuts down and just as it is meant to be producing a voluminous report laying out its findings, raised questions about what the panel expected to get out of Mr. Trump.

Committee members have said they wanted to build up as much evidence as possible about the former presidents actions before attempting to question him. But the chances of securing his testimony remain slim. Legal experts doubted that any lawyer representing the former president would allow him to testify, for fear that he would perjure himself and place himself in legal jeopardy.

Mr. Trump has a penchant for stating falsehoods, and it is a federal felony to do so before Congress. It was revealed by a federal judge on Wednesday that the former president had signed a document swearing under oath that information in a Georgia lawsuit he filed challenging the results of the 2020 election was true, even though his own legal team made him aware it was false.

There are risks for the committee as well. Mr. Trumps letter last week was the latest reminder that he would be likely to use any unfettered opportunity for live, public testimony to continue to perpetuate the same lies about the 2020 election that fueled the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021; and there is no guarantee that he would answer any substantive questions.

Despite repeatedly claiming in public that he would, Mr. Trump did not testify during either of his two impeachment trials, nor did he sit down with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who was investigating whether he obstructed justice and his campaigns ties to Russia. Mr. Trump ultimately provided Mr. Mueller with written answers in response to questions.

After interviewing more than 1,000 witnesses and obtaining millions of pages of documents, the Jan. 6 committee built a sweeping case placing Mr. Trump at the center of a calculated effort to overturn the vote that began even before Election Day. At a hearing last week to sum up its work, the panel voted unanimously to issue a subpoena to Mr. Trump, and staff members worked for several days preparing the demand.

Mr. Trump and his allies are the focus of several criminal investigations, including into the events that led to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The Justice Department is conducting its own sprawling inquiry into the roles Mr. Trump and some of his allies played in seeking to subvert the 2020 election. In addition, Fani T. Willis, the Atlanta-area district attorney, has been leading a wide-ranging criminal investigation into the efforts to overturn Mr. Trumps 2020 election loss in Georgia.
The water superintendent for Richmond, Vt., resigned this week after admitting that he had been lowering the fluoride levels in the towns water below state guidelines for more than a decade.

In a five-page resignation letter dated Oct. 17, the superintendent, Kendall Chamberlin, said he had lowered the fluoride level to 0.3 parts per million. The state recommends a level of 0.7 parts per million to protect residents dental health.

Josh Arneson, the town manager, said in an email that he was first made aware of the fluoridation issue when the states health department reached out to him in June. The department informed him that the towns water supply, which services 1,000 people, had not reached optimal fluoridation in more than three years. Mr. Arneson then followed up with the agency in September. Mr. Chamberlin  who was the water superintendent for over 30 years  later confessed in his resignation letter that the towns water had not met the states recommended fluoride level since 2011, by his design.

At a Richmond Water and Sewer Commission meeting on Sept. 19, Mr. Chamberlin said that he had spoken with some Richmond residents who supported lower fluoride levels. But others were shocked to learn about his actions, which were first reported by the local news outlet Seven Days.
Two adults and four children were killed in an early morning fire on Friday in a four-family apartment building in a suburb of Milwaukee, the authorities said.

Shortly after 5 a.m., the authorities received reports of a fire in the village of Hartland, Wis., Chief Torin J. Misko of the Hartland Police Department said at a news conference. Hartland has about 9,500 residents and is about 27 miles west of Milwaukee.

This is an active criminal investigation by the Hartland Police Department, Chief Misko said. It was not clear what had caused the fire or where it had originated in the building. Chief Misko did not give any indication that the fire was deliberately set.

Any type of fire, when theres fatalities involved, we want to be very careful with determining the cause, he said at a later news conference. The police initially reported that seven people had died in the fire, based on reports from first responders.
They made it clear that many issues can get in the way of good sex: past trauma, shame, body image, gender identity concerns, as well as broader relationship problems that can hinder someones ability to connect sexually.

I always remind people that sex therapists have heard it all, said Dr. Elisabeth Gordon, a New York City-based psychiatrist and sex therapist.

What is sex therapy and who is it for?

It is really important to understand what sex therapy is and what sex therapy is not, Dr. Gordon said. Sex therapy is not requiring you to have sex in front of your therapist. Sex therapy is talk therapy.

Certified sex therapists are licensed mental health professionals  usually psychiatrists, psychologists or clinical social workers  who do additional coursework in sexual health, sexuality and sexual pleasure. The most well-known certifying body is the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, or AASECT, which currently has just over 1,000 certified sex therapists across the United States.

Sex therapists work with adults of any sexual orientation, and see people in relationships (with or without their partner or partners) as well as single people. Ian Kerner, a sex therapist based in New York City, said more often than not, people seek out sex therapy because they have a specific problem they are looking to fix. He regularly treats patients with low or mismatched sexual desire, erectile unpredictability and early ejaculation, sexual anxiety, problems with orgasm and people looking to get out of a sexual rut  whatever that means to them.

In recent years, he has also seen an uptick in patients who dont have a problem per se, but are simply looking for a greater sense of sexual adventure in their lives, or are looking for guidance as they explore the possibility of an open relationship; others are in new relationships and simply want to establish a happy, satisfying sex life early on.

Rachel Wright, a licensed marriage and family therapist and host of The Wright Conversations, a podcast about sex, relationships and mental health, offers this rule of thumb: If there is something about your sex life that youd like to change, a sex therapist can probably help.
Security forces in the Central African country of Chad shot and killed dozens of people during protests that came in response to a decision by the junta to tear up its promises of a transition to democracy and extend its stay in power by at least two years.

Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo put the death toll at 50 on Thursday, but members of the opposition said the figure was closer to 70, and with hundreds more wounded, the toll was expected to rise.

The violent suppression of protests in the capital, Ndjamena, and the countrys second-largest city, Moundou, came amid a trend toward military rule in the region, where coups are a regular occurrence across the wide belt of Africa known as the Sahel and their plotters tend to announce long transitions.

Footage shared on social media showed hundreds of protesters  mostly young men  whooping, chanting and blowing whistles as they ran through the streets of Ndjamena to protest the Oct. 1 announcement that elections would be delayed.
The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email.

It seems like were seeing a cyberattack on a major Australian company every week. After the Optus breach  the biggest in Australian history, with the personal information of 9.8 million customers compromised  a Woolworths subsidiary reported that 2.2 million customers data had been exposed in a cyberattack. The online wine retailer Vinomofo announced a breach. And Medibank is contending with extortion threats after a cyberattack last week that saw customer data, including sensitive medical information, exposed.

Were living in a dangerous new era, according to Clare ONeil, the cybersecurity minister, and these kinds of cyberattacks will become only more common.

What weve seen in the last month shows that were behind the eight-ball, she said today. We need to really step up our game in Australia in terms of policy, in terms of citizens and in terms of how we think about this problem.

So how did we fall behind? And what can we do now? I talked to two experts, Brendan Walker-Munro, a senior research fellow with the University of Queenslands Law and the Future of War research group, and Tony Song, a University of New South Wales law and justice research fellow, to find out.
Under election rules laid out by the party on Thursday, candidates need 100 nominations from lawmakers to appear on the ballot next week. Setting that threshold was intended to winnow the field to a handful of candidates and keep the race brief, thus avoiding the drawn-out, divisive campaign that was won by Ms. Truss. Given that there are only 357 Conservative lawmakers, there can be, at most, three names.

There is a lively debate in political circles about whether Mr. Johnson can clear that hurdle, but with several more lawmakers coming out in his favor on Friday, it no longer seems implausible. Asked who was likely to be the next prime minister, a member of the government texted in reply, Boris?

Andrew Gimson, who wrote a biography of Mr. Johnson, said, I think hes got a very good chance of coming back. Hes got real momentum. For a demoralized party trailing in the polls, Mr. Gimson said, It would be a much better story if Boris came back. There would be a sense of incredulity  the sheer spectacle of it.

In contrast, Mr. Sunaks supporters are presenting him as the safe pair of hands, the man who can restore stability following the crisis precipitated by Ms. Trusss government when it announced unfunded tax cuts last month, sending financial markets into a tailspin. During the summer leadership contest that he lost to Ms. Truss, he gave a prophetic warning of the risks of her economic program, including the tax cuts that ended up rattling the markets.

So the appointment of Mr. Sunak, an experienced former chancellor of the Exchequer, might reassure financial markets enough to give a new government more leeway when it devises a new budget plan.

Ms. Mordaunt, who finished third in the summer leadership contest, has good communication skills and has raised her profile in recent weeks, including this week when she appeared in Parliament to defend the government. Her supporters argue that she might be the best placed of the possible contenders to manage a fractured Conservative Party.

Penny is the best candidate to unite our party and lead our great nation, said Bob Seely, one of her supporters and a member of Parliament.
STOCKHOLM  The thieves strike along roads in rural Sweden, usually between midnight and 3 a.m. They employ blunt force, sometimes using a saw or driving over the cabinets that hold their targets: high-technology speed cameras.

After briefly stopping in September, the thefts have resumed, with the police investigating 160 cases in all. It can cost more than $22,000 to replace each camera and repair the damage.

The motivation for the thefts is a mystery. Could it be high-tech thieves grabbing high-hanging fruit? Or speedsters fed up with Big Brother nabbing them amid the solitude of country roads?

Perhaps the most intriguing theory has circulated in local news reports: that the cameras could be used in drones by Russias equipment-strapped military in its war on Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces, armed by the United States and others, have been on the offensive since early September, retaking ground the Russians had seized early in the war. Within the NATO alliance, which has closely monitored the ebb and flow of Moscows forces, many officials doubt that President Vladimir V. Putins military, battered and demoralized by nearly eight months of war, has the will or the means to open a new front.

On Friday there was heavy fighting in Luhansk Province in the east, and there have been signs that the Kremlin may abandon parts of Kherson Province in the south, which would mean the surrender of territory seized at the start of the war and which Mr. Putin last week declared part of the Russian Federation.

Also on Friday, the U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei K. Shoigu, spoke with each other by phone for the first time since May and only the second time since the war began. Their respective offices confirmed in statements that the call took place and dealt with Ukraine, but did not offer any specifics or say whether Belarus was discussed.

Mr. Lukashenko, Belaruss increasingly Moscow-dependent president, announced last week that his country and Russia were forming a new joint military force, with 70,000 Belarusian troops and up to 15,000 Russians, putatively to guard against NATO.

A Ukrainian general, Oleksiy Gromov, said on Thursday that the threat of a possible invasion from Belarus was growing. But Ukraines military intelligence agency does not see an immediate danger, a spokesman, Vadym Skibitsky, said in an interview on Friday.

Several thousand newly mobilized Russian soldiers are deployed in Belarus at training sites, Mr. Skibitsky said, but they are not accompanied by the tanks, artillery or fuel trucks and other logistical support they would need to invade and face Ukraines battle-hardened troops.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has accused Russia of deliberately slowing down grain exports to create a food crisis, undermining a deal the United Nations brokered earlier this year that freed millions of tons of food trapped in Ukraines ports by the war.

Mr. Zelensky, in his nightly address to the nation on Friday, said there was a backlog of 150 ships waiting to fulfill contracts to transport Ukrainian wheat, corn, sunflower oil and other products.

This is an artificial queue, he said. It arose only because Russia is deliberately delaying the passage of ships. He said the slowdowns had resulted in Ukraine exporting three million tons less of its agricultural products than it would have.

The enemy is doing everything to slow down our food exports, he said. I believe that with these actions, Russia is deliberately inciting the food crisis so that it becomes as acute at it was in the first half of the year.
On the morning of Saturday, Oct. 15, Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani drove up the mountain road to the grim prison in northern Tehran where he is serving a 10-year sentence for financial corruption. He was returning after a brief furlough.

Swarms of anti-riot security forces, holding batons and guns, had taken position in the leafy area outside Evin Prison, a feared institution that has been a watchword for the torment and execution of those who have displeased the Islamic Republics rulers.

Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani, the son of a former president, was stunned when prison authorities told him to return home until further notice, according to family members. The authorities told him they could not guarantee his safety in the section where he was being kept, Ward 7.

The clashes that day in Ward 7, coming against a backdrop of nationwide antigovernment protests, started in the afternoon, became more intense at dusk and then spread to other wards.
LONDON  The rapid political collapse of Liz Truss ended as she announced her resignation on Thursday, a little more than six weeks after she became Britains leader. Her agenda had floundered, her own party had turned on her and commentators widely speculated on whether she could outlast a head of lettuce. She couldnt.

She had pledged to shoulder through the turmoil despite widespread calls for her resignation. But minute by minute the heat on her grew until there was no path out.

If you need to get caught up, here is a guide to the basics.

Who is Liz Truss and how did she become prime minister?

Ms. Truss was anointed on Sept. 6 to replace Boris Johnson, who was elected by voters in 2019 but who flamed out in spectacular fashion after a series of scandals, forcing him to step down in July.

The general public did not elect Ms. Truss  instead, she won a leadership contest among members of her Conservative Party. To replace Mr. Johnson, the partys members of Parliament narrowed a field of candidates to two, who were then put up to a vote by about 160,000 dues-paying party members. (Theyre an unrepresentative group of the nations 67 million residents, far more likely to be male, older, middle-class and white.)
New York Women in Communications will present the 2022 Matrix Awards on October 26 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan. The ceremony, which will be emceed by Katie Couric, celebrates and recognizes outstanding women leaders. Among the honorees are Ogilvy global CEO Devika Bulchandani; Sony Music Group EVP, chief diversity & inclusion officer Tiffany R. Warren; American Express chief marketing officer Elizabeth Rutledge; and PBS NewsHour anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff. In addition to the Matrix honorees, NYWICIs 2022 college scholarship recipients will also be honored at the event. To date, NYWICI has awarded more than $1.7 million in scholarships to support young women and their academic and professional pursuits.

The Public Relations Student Society of America, PRSAs organization for students interested in public relations and communications, is teaming with the News Literacy Project on the 2023 Bateman Case Study Competition. This years competition will challenge students to research, plan, implement and evaluate a public relations campaign centered on raising awareness around the importance of knowing how to separate fact from fiction and creating better informed, engaged and empowered individuals. Entrants in the competition will execute their campaigns in early 2023. Three finalists will present their work to a panel of judges in May, and the winning teams will be recognized during an awards ceremony at PRSSAs 2023 conference. Through this competition, our students will get the chance to educate themselves, as well as inform others, about the vital importance of the News Literacy Projects mission, said PRSA senior vice president, programs, Jeneen Garcia.

The Best PR Leader Regional Awards for 2022 have been launched by the World Communications Forum Association (WCFA). ODwyers and PR Newswire are partners of the awards, which aim to recognize public relations professionals who have shown outstanding performance, made a significant contribution to the industry, their organizations and can prove their campaigns have had a measurable effect. A winner will be named in each of six global regions: Africa, Asia-Pacific (incl. Australia), Europe (incl. the United Kingdom), the Middle East, North America and South America. The winners and finalists will be announced during a virtual ceremony and will receive a special trophy and a professional certificate by the World Communications Forum Association, signed by the WCFA President Maxim Behar. Entries can be submitted until Nov. 30 at www.davosawards.com.

Washington Women in Public Relations announces the three finalists for its 33rd annual Washington PR Woman of the Year Award: Gemma Puglisi, assistant professor of public communication, American University; Gloria Rodriguez, president and CEO, RF Comunicad; EVP, Ruder Finn Group; and Anne Woodbury, CEO and Founder, CURA Strategies. The award will be presented at an 11:30 a.m. ceremony on Friday, Nov. 4the organization's first in-person celebration since 2019. We received an impressive group of nominees this year of women who have made exceptional contributions across their industry and in the D.C. communications community making for an incredibly tough decision for our judges," said Jacqueline Wilson, WWPR President. Registration for the event is open through Oct. 31 at 12 p.m.
GARDA CCTV systems to assist in policing rural towns across North Tipperary are awaiting approval from the Garda Commissioner, while some questions still surround how the camera systems will be funded in some areas.

The October meeting of the Tipperary Joint Policing Committee (JPC) on Friday last heard the Borrisokane, Fethard, and Littleton CCTV schemes have received approval following a meeting in Dublin earlier this month and now await official approval from Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, before they can proceed to the installation stage.

However, how the Roscrea system's installation and maintenance will be paid for has yet to be confirmed, despite steady progress over the year on choosing the most suitable type of data storage equipment and camera locations for Roscrea's needs.

This comes against the backdrop of major progress on Clonmel's camera system, which will now incorporate 86 cameras dotted around the county's capital town, made up of 52 new cameras and the town centre's 34 existing cameras.

The Clonmel system will be partially funded by the Municipal Council for the area - which it is hoped can be replicated in Roscrea and see the camera system's ongoing maintenance be part funded by the Thurles/Roscrea/Templemore Municipal District.

Councillor Noel Coonan raised the question at the monthly meeting of the Municipal Council on Monday and said he hopes a "policy block" won't prevent the Roscrea system from proceeding.

Cllr. Coonan is also Cathaoirleach of the Tipperary JPC and said that people in Roscrea are eager to see some progress on the issue after regaining momentum from several setbacks stemming from changes in data protection laws and planning issues over camera locations.

Cllr. Coonan said the committee in Roscrea has been told "there is no money to fund it from this District", while Nenagh and Clonmel will benefit from District funding for their systems. "Under the new setup Roscrea will not be allowed to proceed with the cameras until secure funding is in place", he pointed out.

He told the meeting in Roscrea the plan is to proceed with an iCloud based system, which is less costly to install than alternative recording systems, but more costly to maintain. These costs could be in the region of 20k to 25k per annum, he said, adding that he wants a commitment from the Municipal Council to assist with the ongoing maintenance costs.

District Manager, Eamonn Lonergan, was reluctant to commit to funding and said the Municipal Council will "look at our own budget for next year and whether it's through our development levies or government funding".

He said the issue will be examined at the local authority workshop in November and pointed out that installation costs for the Roscrea system are also significant and that exact costs need to be established before a decision can be made.

"It's expensive and we don't want it to impact on our project delivery and we will have to make a decision on which projects we are going to go ahead with next year", Mr. Lonergan said.

Meanwhile, news that Borrisokane's CCTV system has advanced to the next stages was warmly welcomed by Cllr. Ger Darcy at the JPC meeting. Cllr. Darcy had previously raised the mounting frustration among the community and the hard working committee in the town and their frustration at the lack of progress over the year.

Cllr. Darcy thanked Cathaoirleach Noel Coonan and Pat Slattery and Eddie Golden from Tipperary County Council and said that Peter Donovan and the Borrisokane committee are "delighted with the progress".

"I know we're not there yet - but it will be a massive asset to the community and the local Gardai when it's finally up and running", Cllr. Darcy said.
The guests have been revealed for tonight's Late Late Show on RTE One.

Hollywood actor Richard E. Grant will be live in studio to chat about his memoir A Pocketful of Happiness. Richard lost his wife of 34 years Joan to cancer and describes the sadness and rawness that a terminal illness brings to a family. It's a love story that spans the early days of their relationship when Richard was a waiter to the highs of being nominated for an Oscar.



Sing Street star Jack Reynor on being thrust into worldwide fame at just 21 years old, his new Prime Video show The Peripheral and why he will never swap beautiful Blessington for the Hollywood Hills.



Comedian and broadcaster PJ Gallagher will discuss his personal story of mental illness and why he wants to share his experience after a stay in hospital earlier this year saved his life.



From life in a refugee camp in Iraq to hurling in Croke Park for Leitrim, Zak Moradi will discuss the power of sport and the importance of community.



Ryan will meet some of the remarkable children together with their mothers and fathers who communicate through Lamh, a manual sign language, and are taking part in a landmark children's television programme on RTEjr called Dizzy Deliveries.



We will have music from cutting-edge rapper Malaki performing his new single while Susan ONeill returns with a song from her current EP.



And, on your marks, get setcalling all big kids, a very special not-to-missed Late Late Toy Show update will be announced on Friday nights show.



The Late Late Show is on RTE One on Friday, October 21 at 9:35 pm
A campaign to raise awareness of the issues faced by those who stutter is being organised by the members of the Stuttering Awareness Mental Wellbeing Group.

Deputy Michael Lowry hosted members of the group, including Templemore man, Michael Ryan, and fellow members Michael O'Shea and Jamie Googan in Leinster House on Thursday.



The Group says that each of them have been and continue to be challenged by stuttering. With the support of Educator, Con Hurley, we have come together and are determined to not only raise awareness in Ireland on the Mental Health challenges faced by those who stutter, but to also improve the quality of life for young people who stutter, in order that their experiences, in a world where verbal fluency is the norm, are better than ours.

"Our Campaign is a world first for the stuttering community, in that we have grown our Campaign organically and without the imprimatur of any national organisation.

"To date we have helped over sixty individuals and their families, but we estimate that there are 50,000 individuals who stutter in Ireland", they say.
Any return to direct rule in Northern Ireland would potentially involve an authority role for the Irish government, the leader of the Alliance Party has said.

Naomi Long said she did not believe a majority of people in the region would accept control solely being exerted from Westminster if it proved impossible to resurrect devolution at Stormont.

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie also predicted the possible joint authority scenario if powersharing in Northern Ireland was to crash on a long term basis  he said that would be bad for unionism.

The politicians were asked about the issue as they spoke to reporters following a meeting with the head of the NI Civil Service Jayne Brady at Stormont Castle in Belfast on Thursday.

Im not sure direct rule is the next stage after the collapse of devolution, because Im not sure direct rule would be acceptable to a majority of people in Northern Ireland, said Ms Long.

Im not sure it fits in with the Anglo Irish Agreement, with the Good Friday Agreement and everything that has happened subsequently.

So, I think we will be talking about a form of direct rule that would involve Irish participation and not just directly from Westminster.

She added: Given the chaos in Westminster we would be going from the frying pan into the fire. Its not as though we suddenly have this stable government (in London).

Weve often been allowed to behave like naughty children here, squabbling and fighting amongst ourselves because weve had the parents in Westminster and in Dublin able to kind of guide things through.

But its actually Westminster thats now losing its mind. So, we havent got the luxury of being able to look to across the water for help on stability and support  they are in chaos.

Asked about the potential for a joint authority arrangement in the future, Mr Beattie said: Im really concerned.

If we look at the New Decade, New Approach document that got this government, the executive up and running again, that was a document which was penned by London and Dublin. So, they had equal say in getting this government up again.

If were going to do this again, if people think theres a utopia out there, that its just going to be a direct route from London, then theyre mistaken, theyre politically illiterate.

The reality is that if we do not get a government here, if we dont get up and running here, we are going to have influence coming from all different directions and thats not going to be good for unionism.

And the one thing that you find with people is this  if they look for government and there isnt one there, they will look to the nearest government to give them support, and that might well be looking towards Dublin, and that would be bad for unionism.

And Ive said this before, the one thing that really helps unionism, helps us maintain our place in the union and helps us build a Northern Ireland that we all want to live in, is by having stable government.

DUP MLA Paul Givan said his party was committed to trying to make the powersharing arrangements at Stormont work.

He said direct rule in any shape or form would be bad to the region.

I think if devolution ultimately isnt here, we should all be concerned about what that means for Northern Ireland, he said.

Because we know that its through these institutions that people have a political voice, they can take their issues forward, they can be heard. And in the absence of that, I dont think direct rule is good for the people of Northern Ireland in any shape or form.

So, I think everybody should be concerned about the prospect of direct rule.
The chief of the UK Civil Aviation Authority will stand now next year after a rocky few years of pandemic transport chaos and strike action drama. Richard Moriarty has worked for the organisation for more than ten years, in senior roles including Director of Competition and Economic Regulation, Director of Consumers and Markets, Deputy Chief Executive [...]
A judge has ruled that a class action lawsuit alleging Veteran Affairs Canada failed to inform former Canadian Armed Forces members of benefits to which they were entitled can proceed.
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The occupant of 10 Downing Street is packing her bags and looking for a break.It didn't take long for trolling to begin.Travel companies were quick to cash in on the quick departure of Liz Truss from the Prime Minister's Downing...
The White House has said Iranian troops are directly engaged on the ground in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraines power stations and other key infrastructure.
A Michigan cannibal has been found guilty by a judge of first-degree murder for the killing and mutilation of a man named Kevin Bacon.
The White House says the U.S. has evidence that Iranian troops are "directly engaged on the ground" in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure and civilian population.



#ukraine #ground #droneattacks #russian #crimea #thewhitehouse #troops #iranian
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Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Two police officers from the Mizdah Security Directorate, about 150 km south of Tripoli, were injured when a detainee died after blowing himself up with a grenade at the security checkpoint in the city of al-Chaguiga, while being transferred to Gharyan prison, 80 km south of Tripoli, a medical source said
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Waste management company, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies (JGC) has announced a $100,000 package to support school children to learn more about sanitation and the need to protect the environment.



The Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies (JGC), Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, who made the announcement, indicated that Zoomlion was also sensitising school children more through its Zoomkids.



"The whole idea of Zoomkids is to catch the kids young and educate them on good sanitation practices and hygiene," he explained.



The Executive Chairman of JGC made the announcement at the launch of Waste Water Education organised by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) in Accra on Thursday, October 20, 2022.



According to him, through Zoomkids, Zoomlion inculcates the culture of sanitation and hygiene into children.



He said since its inception in 2008, Zoomlion Foundation can boast of about 526 Zoomkids in various schools in the country.



In 2016, he said, Zoomkids organised a quiz competition where a young girl emerged as the winner and was sponsored to Dubai to continue her education.



"The 2022 winner will be sent to Hungary for further studies," he disclosed.



Dr. Siaw Agyepong gave a firm assurance that Zoomlion will also continue to sponsor schools that have Zoomkids with facilities that to aid them in learning as well.



The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Mrs. Cecilia Abena Dapaah, cautioned farmers who farm on the banks of water bodies in the country to put an end to such practice.



She said stopping such a practice will contribute to polluting water bodies.



She reinforced that the fight against illegal mining (popularly known as galamsey) was a collective commitment, hence urged Ghanaians to support President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on that front.



"We should all help fight against the few selfish people who want to destroy our water bodies and lands," she charged.

The galamsey war, she asserted, cannot be won without the support of Ghanaians.



According to Mrs. Dapaah, President Akufo-Addo has shown massive commitment in tackling sanitation, stating that the evidence was obvious for all to see, especially as the country has been recording zero cases of cholera and other sickness relating to sanitation, for some time now.



Further, she maintained that her ministry was equally not relenting on its efforts to bring an end to irresponsible mining across the country.



She stressed that it was crucial that "we start inculcating good sanitation practices and protection of our water bodies and environment into our children."



This, she pointed out, will sink deep into the minds of children to consciously and always protect the environment.

For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Pureco Group, Mr. Balint Horvath, stated that it was important for such programmes to be organised to protect Ghana's environment.



He lamented the damage galamsey was causing to Ghana's environment and water bodies.



Pureco Group seeks to let children know the importance of sanitation and hygiene through games," he said.



"We want to bring a new way or alternative way of teaching in Ghanaian classrooms on sanitation and hygiene," he further added.



Mr. Balint Horvath indicated that his outfit was in collaboration with Zoomlion to organise other projects aimed at helping the country to safeguard its environment.

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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The Trade Ministry is earnestly pleading with the members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) to call off their strike.



The traders days ago closed their shops to protest the economic challenges bedeviling their business.



They raise concerns about the cedi depreciation and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) positioning their officials in their shops to take inventory of their commodities plus other situational effects of their trade.



The traders have refused to open their shops until government addresses their grievances.



However, the Public Relations Officer of the Trade Ministry, Prince Boakye Boateng, in an interview on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo", says the Ministry has had talks with the leadership of GUTA and agreed on a win-win situation.



He believed the traders will call off their strike by next week Monday and hoped they implement the measures they agreed on.



Mr. Prince Boakye was however unhappy the traders embarked on a strike action stating the strike hasn't benefited the traders themselves.



He complained of losses that they have made due to the rush to close their shops vis-a-vis other adverse effects the strike has visited upon GRA and the Ministry.



To him, GUTA didn't show respect to the Trade Minister, Alan Kyerematen who he said was physically present at the negotiation table with the Association.



"I would understand if we had closed our doors and are unwilling to listen to them and they had decided to do what they are doing now. But if after reaching an agreement with them and asking them to implement the things we all agreed on during our meeting, you go and declare strike; although they may be genuine concerns but if they do this, then they didn't accord respect to our leaders because they didn't meet with kids. They came to meet Hon. Alan Kyerematen, Hon. Abena Osei Asare and other leaders; it wasn't some children that they met with . . . So, I am sad but I will plead with them to calm down," he said.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Police fired several rounds of tear gas at demonstrators marching at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos on Thursday to mark the second anniversary of peaceful protests against police brutality that ended in a hail of gunfire.



Reuters witnesses saw police fire five rounds of tear gas to disperse around 200 people marching at the gate, some waving Nigerian flags and singing "solidarity forever." Police also arrested two people, according to a Reuters witness.



Neither a Lagos state spokesman or a police spokesman immediately responded to requests for comment.



"We refuse to allow the government to forget," demonstrator Yemi Adamolekun told Reuters. "People were killed...Nigerians will not let them forget."



By early afternoon, most protesters had left the scene.



On Oct. 20, 2020 security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters demanding an end to what they said was endemic police brutality, particularly from a unit called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), according to a judicial panel investigating the incident and set up by the Lagos state government.



The panel said 11 were killed, four missing and presumed dead and multiple others had suffered gunshot wounds. It added that nearly 100 other unidentified corpses in Lagos state could be linked to the incident.



The army and police both denied using live rounds, and the Lagos state and federal governments rejected the judicial report, saying it was strewn with errors and its conclusions were not backed up by evidence.



The SARS unit - which rights groups had long accused of extortion, harassment, torture and murder - was disbanded on Oct. 11, 2020 in response to the protests.



The shootings triggered the worst street unrest since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999.



After the shootings, some protesters depicted a pattern of intimidation, detentions and even asset freezes.



Amnesty International said that more than 40 protesters were still in prisons nationwide following the 2020 demonstrations. Neither the police nor Nigeria's attorney general immediately commented on the figure.

Source: Reuters









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A number of walls built to secure plots of land along water courses at the Ramsar site at Klagon in the Tema West municipality have been pulled down in an exercise carried out by the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council (GARCC).

The exercise, undertaken in partnership with the Tema West Municipal Assembly and the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), saw some structures that were under development up to the lintel level also being demolished as part of an exercise officials claimed was aimed at protecting the remaining land space within the Ramsar site.



Contrary to earlier reports that all buildings identified to be on the encroached land were going to be demolished, no completed property was touched.



The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, who led the exercise, as the head of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), explained that the exercise was being undertaken in phases.



We are working in phases and today's focus is on fence walls on plots of land which are yet to be developed, and this we want to do to protect water bodies," he said.



He explained that the demolition was required because it would allow water from the wetland to flow into the Sakumono Lagoon to avert flooding when it rained.



Encroachment



Ramsar sites are internationally recognised lands that collect and store water from nearby sources and so encroaching on them by building houses on such reserved lands causes flooding in the catchment area.



The Forestry Commission estimates the Sakumo Ramsar site to be a 4,200-acre plot of purchased by the government. However, there has been extensive encroachment by individuals and real estate developers who have erected homes on various parts of the site that makes up the sites buffer and transition area.



Hundreds of acres of the once vibrant wetland have disappeared, to be replaced by endless rows of completed and uncompleted structures.



Exercise



When the Daily Graphic arrived at the scene of the exercise at 7 a.m. yesterday, it observed that heavy duty equipment, mainly excavators and other machinery, had already been deployed at the area, along with a heavy police and military presence



The heavy security presence curtailed the usual drama associated with such demolition exercises, as policemen and military men were seen walking off property owners who had come to the site to witness the exercise.



There was a near two-hour suspension of the exercise when some people alleged that there had been telephone calls from some higher authorities who had asked for the exercise to be suspended owing to the status of some of the people who owned property in the affected area.



However, Mr Quartey debunked the claims, saying: "I don't know of any order from above.



He said the exercise would be carried out in phases, and that once further assessment had been done, the next phases would be carried out.



He stressed that once the walls were brought down, there would be another critical assessment, during which the Forestry Commission would identify buildings that were still on water courses and mark them for the next phase of the demolition.



While some of the affected people shed tears as they watched their structures being razed to the ground, others were in groups observing and discussing the demolition.



The Tema West Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwasi Opoku Bosompem, was at the site, following complaints said he had received from some of the constituents about their structures being pulled down.



Saving the site



In an interaction with the media, Mr Quartey said the main objective of the exercise was to save the Ramsar site and the nation as a whole, given the impact of human activity through encroachment.



He intimated that already the Ashaiman under-bridge linking Ashaiman to Lashibi and Sakumono was experiencing the effects of flooding each time there were rains.



"If we don't deal with this issue now, in the next two or three years we will be dealing with much bigger disasters than we witnessed at Weija and other areas.



"The area, which was acquired by Dr Kwame Nkrumah, with the head lease under the Tema Development Corporation (TDC)and some parts of the acquisition being ceded for a Ramsar, has seen more than half of its acreage gone.



We are undertaking the exercise, which will be in three phases, to protect what is left and also avert future disasters like we saw recently at Weija where homes were submerged in water," he stressed.



He debunked any suggestions that the exercise was politically linked, aimed at victimising people.



"The exercise is not in any shape or form to victimise people; rather, it is targeted at removing walls that have been erected in the core areas by people wishing to develop the apportionments into homes," he said.



Regularisation



Mr Quartey hinted that the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and his team were putting in place measures to ensure that those who had already encroached on the land would go through proper processes to ensure that their properties were regularised.



"The minister will speak to that once they are able to outline the modalities for any such processes," he said.



Previous efforts



Since 2018, the Forestry Commission has tried to pull down illegal structures at the Ramsar site to protect it, but it has not succeeded in its bid due to interference and court injunctions.



In the past, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) also tried to seek legal backing to demolish structures on water courses to avert flooding in urban areas but it was not successful.









Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, has said about GH350 million is to be expended to modernise tourist attractions across the country.

The government, he said, with support from the World Bank, was providing funding for the project, in line with its commitment to make the sector a veritable tool for economic transformation by 2023.



It will contribute to job creation and wealth for the people. According to the World Bank, two out of every 10 jobs are created by the tourism sector, Dr Awal said.



The minister, who was addressing the media in Accra yesterday, added that so far GH1.5m of the funds had been spent on rehabilitating the National Museum.



Present at the press conference were the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mark Okraku-Mantey; the Project Coordinator, Ghana Tourism Development Project (GTDP), Nana Sarfo Kantanka; the Chief Director of the Ministry, John Yao Agbeko; the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Commission on Culture (NCC), Edna Nyame; the Executive Director of the National Theatre, Amy Frimpong; the CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyeman, and the CEO of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB), Kingsley Ofosu Ntiamoah.



Beneficiaries



Some of the sites to benefit from the modernisation project are the Pikworo Heritage and Slave Camp, the Bonwire Kente Museum, the Yaa Asantewaa Museum in Ejisu, the National Museum and the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park.



Others are the Elmina Castle, the Kakum, the Shai Hills and the Mole National parks; the W.E.B. Du Bois Centre and the construction of five multipurpose domes or amphitheatres for performances within the creative arts space.



Significance



According to Dr Awal, the country had a comparative advantage in the tourism and hospitality industry in West Africa, hence investing and giving the sector a facelift was necessary.



About 65 per cent of all edifices used during the slave trade are located in the country and being used to boost heritage tourism.



Ghana is also a host to the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which positions the country as a venue for meetings, conferences and events," he said.



The minister added that the country was not only at the centre of the world but was also politically stable and an attractive investment destination.



He further said his outfit was determined to be the number one contributor to the countrys gross domestic product (GDP), for which reason we are building capacity in customer care, domestic and international tourism drive and product development.



According to him, there were 534,711 domestic tourism visitations from January to September 2022, compared to 334,921 visitations in the same period in 2021, saying our projection is to achieve one million domestic tourists by the end of 2022.



Dr Awal also said some policies would be reviewed to serve the industry better.



He further said the ministry was working towards making the country a hub of enjoyment in December this year.

Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosts a press conference on the topic "Under the Guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, Forge Ahead and Strive to Break New Ground for Major-Country Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics" in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 20, 2022. Shen Beili, vice minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, and Ma Zhaoxu, vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended the press conference. (Xinhua/Chen Jianli)

BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China, up from 172 ten years ago, Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said here on Thursday, as he hailed the country's diplomatic services over the past decade.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the ongoing 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Ma said the number of partnerships China has so far established with countries and regional organizations across the world also increased from 41 a decade ago to 113.

Ma said the country had advanced the building of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era, proposed the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation for China-U.S. relations, and advocated the China-EU partnership for peace, growth, reform and civilization.

It has also consolidated strategic support from neighboring countries, and embraced unity and closer cooperation with other developing countries.

China's national sovereignty, security and development interests have been vigorously protected in the process, Ma said, adding that China has now established diplomatic relations with nine countries that formerly had so-called "diplomatic ties" with the country's Taiwan region.

Over the past ten years, China's diplomatic efforts have consolidated international support for the one-China policy, stemmed external forces' intervention in Hong Kong's affairs, foiled anti-China forces' attacks and defamation against China, and safeguarded the country's national interests and dignity, he said.
Political Parties Outside Parliament (PPOP), a coalition of parties without representation in the legislature, has urged the public to desist from attacks on the Electoral Commission (EC).

It called on the citizenry to exercise decorum in addressing issues relating to the EC.



In a statement issued and signed by the Convener of the group, Jerry Owusu Appauh, who is also the General Secretary of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), it expressed regret over the rate at which the work of the EC and its chairpersons had been undermined over the years.



Unfortunately, within our own country, we continue to drag them through the mud by levelling all sorts of unfounded allegations and suspicions that cause mistrust and go a long way not only to affect the cost of our elections but also its credibility in the minds of the people, it said.



PPOP



The political parties that form the PPOP are the LPG, Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), National Democratic Party (NDP), Peoples National Convention (PNC), United Progressive Party (UPP), Power Unity Party (PUP) and Ghana Freedom Party (GFP).



The others are Yes People's Party (YPP), Democratic People's Party (DPP), New Vision Party (NVP), Reformed Patriotic Democrats (RPD) and United Renaissance Party (URP).



Education by the media



Underscoring the need to protect the nations democracy and the freedom of speech, the coalition emphasised that insensitive and inflammatory comments and opinions by some people, including political leaders, should be censured and discouraged.



It further urged the media to lead efforts in sensitising the electorate to ways to ensure that the long-standing democracy of the nation was not undermined by self-interest and ill-informed opinions.



We encourage the media to play a critical role by checking political interest groups to conform with the norm and reality, and to do away with self-centred positions that could destroy this country on the altar of winning political power, it said.



NDC and GUM



The POPP also pointed accusing fingers at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the leader of the Ghana Union Movement (GUM), Christian Kwabena Andrews,popularly known as Osofo Kyiri Abosom, for deliberately sabotaging the efforts of the EC.



It alleged that the NDC was peddling false information about the ECs proposed use of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) card for voter registration.



It is sad that our brothers from the NDC who abandoned their duty to participate at IPAC have taken a contrary stance on the new Constitutional Instrument (CI). Unfortunately, ever since this information by the EC came out, there have been a lot of allegations and even honourable members of Parliament who can easily read this new CI joined as the source of falsity just to score cheap political points, it said.









Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A 17-year-old Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidate, who was rushed to the labour ward moments after she entered the examination hall last Tuesday has given birth to a baby girl.

The candidate went into labour in the examination room while taking the ongoing BECE at Kechiebi R/C Centre in the Nkwanta South Municipality of the Oti Region.



Mavis Nabin was said to have begun contractions at the examination centre on Tuesday morning, a few moments after arriving for the Mathematics paper.



She was rushed to the Kechiebi Community-Based Health Planning System (CHPS) Compound, where she managed to complete the paper under supervision by midwives.



Mr. Lawrence Antwi, the exams supervisor, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said Mavis was delivered of the baby on Tuesday in the evening.



He said the mother and the baby were doing well according to reports from the clinic.



The supervisor said Mavis would write the English and Religious and Moral Education from the clinic.



Mavis was provided with one invigilator for the first and second parts of the exams to ensure she followed all examination requirements.



Mr. Antwi added that three other pregnant candidates and five nursing mothers were candidates for this years BECE at Kechiebi centre.



Meanwhile, the midwife at the facility disclosed to the GNA that the candidate is in a stable condition, and they are anticipating her discharge anytime soon.

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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One of the conveners of #FixTheCountry movement, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has stated that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo does not deserve to finish his current term as president.



His comment comes on the back of the arrest of the morning show host on Onua TV, Captain Smart by officials of the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) yesterday October 19 when he was on his way home from work.



In a Facebook post, Barker-Vormawor said the arrest of the journalist indicated that the president was begging to be overthrown.



He later clarified that President Akufo-Addo must be forced to exit office either through street protests or through impeachment by Parliament and not a coup detat.



Captain Smart arrested violently by National Security over broadcast pointing the finger at the President for his involvement in and indulgence of Galamsey. This short man is just begging to be overthrown at this point, Barker-Vormawor wrote on his page on October 19.



Because this issue keeps coming up every now and then, I want to be as clear as possible. I have no desire for Akufo-Addo to be kicked out through a coup detat! That will be ending our makeshift democracy. He is not worth the price.



But he doesnt deserve to end his term too. So What I want is for him to either be forced to resign through street protests and agitations; or impeached by Parliament. These are things that affirm our democracy not destroy it. Democracy is important to me! And it will be a huge coup to force him out of office that way, he added in clarification of his earlier post.



Barker-Vormawor is currently before the courts over a post claiming he will stage a coup if the E-Levy was passed.



Meanwhile, Captain Smart has been released by the NIB, his employers have confirmed. It is alleged that he was arrested for claiming that President Akufo-Addo was involved in galamsey  a statement the Ministry of Information has debunked.

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 internal elections of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is gathering momentum with a total of 11, 825 candidates filing to compete for constituency executive positions on Saturday and Sunday.



Today and tomorrow, stalwarts of the party will also file their nomination to contest for national executive positions which promises to be hotly contested.



Already, the incumbent National Chairman of the party, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo and the incumbent General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia have disclosed their intention to contest for the chairmanship position.



Another position of keen interest is that of the General Secretary which has already seen four contestants eyeing the slot. They are the partys Director of Elections, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, a former Minister of State, Fifi Kwetey, a deputy General Secretary, Dr Peter Boamah Otokunor and Abdullah Ishaq Farrakhan.



Regional elections



Already, nominations for the regional elections of the party have closed and vetting of candidates has also concluded.



The party will however open a limited room for appeals to pave the way for the regional elections.



Constituency elections



The candidates, who have already been vetted for the constituency elections, will be slugging it out for 7,728 positions in 276 constituencies, including the Santrokofi Akpafu Likpe and Lolobi (SALL) Constituency which does not have a representation in parliament yet.



Each constituency has 28 slots for the executive positions.



National elections



Nominations have opened exclusively online today (Thursday, October 20) and tomorrow (Friday, October 21) for aspiring candidates contesting national executive positions in the party to officially declare their intentions.



Aspirants for the various national positions of the party are expected to file their nomination on November 5 and 6 2022.



Successful candidates will be vetted on November 9-10, 2022, while November 12 and 13 will be set aside for appeals ahead of the Women and Youth Conference on December 10 and a National Conference on December 17, this year.



Press briefing



Speaking at a press briefing in Accra today, Mr Asiedu Nketia said the constituency elections would be conducted across the country on October 22 and 23, 2022 to produce the next batch of NDCs constituency executives.



He said branch executives and former government appointees of the party would be eligible to vote in the elections.



Mr Asiedu Nketia said the eligible voters would however be required to have paid their party dues in full before they would be allowed to cast their votes.



Dues payment status of delegates who are branch executives would be checked. And if you are a former government appointee, your dues payment status would be checked too because you have to be in good standing and your position as a former appointee alone would not be enough, he said.



The constituency election, follows the completion of branch elections, the base of the partys structure which saw the election of officers across all 29,000 branches of the party in the country.



Mr Asiedu Nketia said already, the party had settled all appeal cases concerning the constituency elections and urged aggrieved persons who might still have concerns to direct their grievances to the appropriate quarters for redress. He also urged all candidates to abide by the rules of engagement, adding that candidates who do not win the election should wait and take advantage of future appeal processes.



Venue selection



Mr Asiedu Nketia said although the partys constitution empowered the constituency chairperson to select a venue for the election, he or she was expected by the same constitution to do so in consultation with other executives in the constituency



He said the venue, per the partys constitution, must be located in the constituency.



He said any chairperson who chose a venue without consulting other executives in the constituency would be held solely responsible for any unfortunate incident that might arise during the elections.



In some cases when a chairman is contesting again, that person may want to choose a venue in some bush hoping that maybe they can bring some macho men to help them win. Some of the places may not even have phone reception. If you do that and there is violence, you would be held solely responsible as chairman, he said.



The NDC General Secretary also mentioned that the decision to postpone the constituency elections in the Eastern Region to a later date had been rescinded.



He said the party earlier took the decision to conduct the constituency election at a later date because its branch elections were delayed, but upon further consultations, the National Executives of the party had decided to allow the elections to proceed as scheduled.

Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Henry Selick, second from left, co-writer and director of the stop-motion animated film "Wendell & Wild," poses for a portrait with voice cast members Keegan-Michael Key, left, and Lyric Ross, second from right, and co-writer/co-producer/cast member Jordan Peele during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022, at the Shangri-La Hotel in Toronto. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Marijuana is pictured in this file photo by The Canadian Press which The Herald is using for illustration with the accompanied story. This photo was not taken in Oliver.
Murray Sinclair appears before the Senate committee on Aboriginal Peoples in Ottawa on Tuesday May 28, 2019. The former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission says Liberal legislation to remove some mandatory minimum penalties from the Criminal Code doesn't go far enough.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand
Vancouver police officers are seen near a homeless man's tent where a female member of the RCMP was stabbed to death in Burnaby, B.C. Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022. Police have become de facto social workers for people who lack support services while struggling with homelessness, mental illness and substance use, a spokesman for the Vancouver Police Department says. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
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The appearance of Kash Patel before a federal grand jury investigating Trumps theft of government documents shows that the DOJ moving on a potential indictment.

CNN reported:

Patel spent several hours throughout the morning of October 13 before a grand jury at the US courthouse in Washington, DC. But its not clear if Patel answered the grand jurys questions or declined to respond citing his Fifth Amendment protections, which is within his rights.

.

The latest activity behind closed doors reveals how the Justice Department continues to pursue a possible indictment in the Mar-a-Lago matter. The Patel grand jury appearance, especially, is indicative of how aggressive prosecutors are being as they continue to gather information about what has happened up to this point.

The DOJ investigation hasnt stopped. In fact, it seems to be moving fairly quickly for a federal probe. Patel hasnt been charged with a crime, but he is Trumps primary alibi. Patel claims to be a witness to Trump verbally declassifying documents, even though that is not the legal process for document classification.

The Justice Department is not fooling around. People might have thought that Trumps escapades with Judge Cannon had stopped the investigation, but there is a grand jury investigation while Trump tries to buy more time in court.

One day soon, America might be told that Trump and his associates have been indicted for mishandling government documents.
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The House January 6th Committee subpoenaed Donald J Trump for his deliberate, orchestrated effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and block the transfer of presidential power on Friday, October 21  the same date as Steve Bannon became the first person in history to be sent to prison for contempt of Congress.

In short, you were at the center of the first and only effort by any U.S. President to overturn an election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power, ultimately culminating in a bloody attack on our own Capitol and on the Congress itself, the Committee wrote in their letter.

Trump has until November 4 to produce the requested documents and must appear for his deposition testimony beginning on or about November 14.

After a unanimous vote of the Select Committee, Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) announced the committee had issued a subpoena to former President Donald Trump for testimony under oath and records relevant to the Select Committees investigation into the attack on the January 6th on the United States Capitol and its causes, the Committee shared above their letter to Trump.

Chairman Thompson and Vice Chair Cheney cited Trumps personal involvement in orchestrating and overseeing the effort to overturn the 2020 election:

As demonstrated in our hearings, we have assembled overwhelming evidence, including from dozens of your former appointees and staff, that you personally orchestrated and oversaw a multi-part effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election and to obstruct the peaceful transition of power.

Trump did this even though, as the Committee proved throughout its hearings, he was unable to substantiate his claims of fraud in the courts and the DOJ, his own campaign staff and senior advisors told him he lost the election.

You took all of these actions despite the rulings of more than 60 courts rejecting your election fraud claims and other challenges to the legality of the 2020 presidential election, despite having specific and detailed information from the Justice Department and your senior campaign staff informing you that your election claims were false, and despite your obligation as President to ensure that the laws of our nation are faithfully executed. In short, you were at the center of the first and only effort by any U.S. President to overturn an election and obstruct the peaceful transition of power, ultimately culminating in a bloody attack on our own Capitol and on the Congress itself.

Knowing that Trump deems himself above the law and above having to comply with requirements others are expected to meet, they added that many other presidents have had to testify before Congress after they left office, because as President Roosevelt said, an ex-President is merely a citizen of the United States, like any other citizen, and it is his plain duty to try to help this committee or respond to its invitation.

Former Presidents John Quincy Adams, John Tyler, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, and Gerald Ford each testified before Congress after they left office. President Roosevelt explained during his congressional testimony, an ex-President is merely a citizen of the United States, like any other citizen, and it is his plain duty to try to help this committee or respond to its invitation. Even sitting Presidents, including Abraham Lincoln and Gerald Ford, also testified before Congress. Further, both former and sitting presidents including Presidents Nixon, Tyler, and Quincy Adams, have provided evidence in response to congressional subpoenas.

Donald Trump is the first and only president to refuse to accept the rejection of the voters. He chose to incite a terrorist attack upon his own country by seizing power through violence in an attempted self-coup.

Donald Trump behaved like a dictator. His choices to lie and deceive his followers into committing violence on his behalf and giving him money under false pretenses speak to his criminally-minded character, and the fact that throughout his entire life, Donald Trump has been Teflon Don.

Becoming president, however, might have been the worst thing that ever happened to Trump because he continued to behave as he always has, except he was under the microscope of the presidency. One thing is for sure, his presidency was definitely the worst thing that has happened to the United States from within the White House.

A double-barreled shot of justice was delivered on Friday as Steve Bannon was sentenced to prison, and Donald Trump was subpoenaed by the 1/6 Committee.
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Former President Barack Obama has done a series of radio and digital ads supporting U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman in Pennsylvania.

The ad:

When the fate of our democracy and a womans right to choose are on the line, I know John will fight for Pennsylvanians. Honored to have President Obama on this team  pic.twitter.com/npSw6hXcxG  John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) October 21, 2022

Obama said in the digital ad:

In Pennsylvania, youve got some important choices to make this year, including who represents you in the U.S. Senate.

Thats why Im asking you to vote for John Fetterman this election day, November 8th.

So when the fate of our democracy and a womans right to choose are on the line, I know John will fight for Pennsylvanians.

You can count on John Fetterman. Make sure he can count on you.

Vote Democrat on November 8th.

Obama has also done radio ads for Fetterman:

John has always cared about making our communities stronger. As mayor he worked to stop gun violence which helped lead to five years of zero gun deaths.

As Lieutenant Governor, John chairs the Board of Pardons and has helped people who were wrongfully convicted.

Hes fought to increase access to health care, bring jobs to Pennsylvania, and improve our classrooms.

So when the fate of our democracy and a womans right to choose are on the line, I know John will fight for Pennsylvanians, just like he always has.

Former President Obama won Pennsylvania twice and remains popular in the state. Republicans have no equivalent for their party who can make a pitch to Pennsylvania voters for Dr. Oz. If Republicans tried to feature Trump in a series of ads for Oz, the Republican candidate might actually lose votes.

The Fetterman campaign is deploying Obama at the right time. Pennsylvanians are mailing in their ballots right now. If the 2022 midterm is anything like 2020, more than one-third of Pennsylvanias voters are voting right now.

Fetterman continues to lead in every poll but the last few weeks of the campaign are a critical time, and Barack Obama has arrived to try to help close the deal for Fetterman in Pennsylvania.
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President Biden called out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Sen. Ted Cruz for their student loan forgiveness hypocrisy and said, Who in the hell do they think they are?

Video:

Biden said:

I dont want to hear it from MAGA Republicans, officials who had hundreds of thousands of dollars of debts, even millions of dollars in pandemic relief loans forgiven. And who now are attacking me for helping working-class and middle-class Americans. My team at the white house posted a video of this, folks, online. You should check it out.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, she and her husband got over $180,000 in business loans forgiven from the PPP loan. She said, Its completely unfair for us to forgive student loans for working and middle-class Americans.

Representative Vern Buchanan of Florida said our plan was reckless. Guess how much he got in that program forgiven? $2,300,000. This is not a joke. You cant make this stuff up.

Republican governors wrote me a letter saying this relief only helps the elite few. You all know who are the elite few. I knew you were really especially but youre the elite few. Im serious.

Ted Cruz, the great senator from Texas, he said its for slackers, quote slackers who dont deserve relief. Who in the hell do they think they are?

President Biden isnt taking anything from people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ted Cruz. Biden has the worlds biggest bully pulpit and he is using it.

If people like Rep. Greene think that they are going to get an easy ride if Republicans take back the House, they are mistaken.

President Biden is giving Greene, Cruz, and others a taste of what they can expect if Republicans take control of all or part of Congress.
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On Friday, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked Clarence Thomas to help him out after a lower court ordered him to testify before a special grand jury in Georgia, investigating Donald Trump and other Republicans possible illegal interference with the 2020 election.

Grahams attorney, former White House counsel Don McGahn, sent Thomas a 33 page application asking for an emergency stay.

Thomas takes emergency requests regarding the 11th Circuit. The South Carolina Republican has every reason to hope Thomas, whose wife Ginny Thomas was a part of Trumps attempt to steal the election from the voters, will assist him in his attempt to dodge the law. Thomas wife Ginni recently repeated the false Trump claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him during testimony to the January 6th Committee on September 29, 2022.

The conservative-activist Supreme Court has been deeply harmed by Justice Thomas and his wifes actions and activism on behalf of various conservative causes, including Ginnis alleged participation in the plot to steal the election and Thomas refusal to recuse on matters in which his wife appears to be deeply involved.

Just yesterday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Grahams defense that the two phone calls he made which appeared to be election interference for Trump was protected congressional speech and ordered him to testify in the Georgia criminal investigation of Trump, because As the court determined, there is significant dispute about whether his phone calls with Georgia election officials were legislative investigations at all.

As we pointed out in these pages yesterday, Sen. Graham is a senator in the minority power with no power to direct or lead a committee that would investigate the 2020 election, his claim of legislatively protected speech was always flimsy at best.

Additionally, according to the Georgia Republican Secretary of State, Graham called to ask him if he had the power to toss out ballots based on the states signature matching requirement.

Will Clarence Thomas lower himself even further to help a member of his wifes criminally-minded election theft mob? It remains to be seen, but no matter what, its been a bad week for Trumps election theft mob.
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Even though Steve Bannons sentence of four months in jail was stayed while he appeals, Bannon is the first person in history to get prison time for contempt of Congress.

Video:

Steve Bannon gets 4 months in prison and a $6,500 fine. Bannon's sentence has been stayed while he appeals. pic.twitter.com/AgkdGfGG2x  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) October 21, 2022

MSNBC reported:

The judge has sentenced Steve Bannon to four months in prison and a $6,500 fine. But he has stayed that sentence while Steve Bannon appeals his decisions about what evidence to allow in the trial. Steve Bannon will not be going to prison any time soon.



Those appeals processes could take months to a year. Four months in prison is the sentence. That is less than what the prosecution asked for. They wanted six months. They said they wanted the maximum under the guidelines. They asked for a $200,000 fine and they got $6,500. A significant sentence and the first time in history that someone has been sentenced after being convicted of contempt of congress. Thats the sentence here today. Four months for Steve Bannon.

The 1/6 Committee has demonstrated how to handle Trump and his associates. Since Democrats dont defy congressional subpoenas, the Committee has shown the roadmap for how to handle the above-the-law behavior of the former president and his associates.

Steve Bannon will not win his appeals, and once they are exhausted, he will be spending four months behind bars in a sentence that is a victory for the rule of law, oversight, and accountability.
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Steve Bannon responded to being sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress with a meltdown while a baby cried in the background.

Video:

Bannon said:

Today was my judgment day by the judge. And he stayed for the appeal, and well have a vigorous appeals process, I have a great legal team and multiple areas of appeal. But as that sign said right there, could we have the vote sign. On November 8th, on November 8th, on November 8th. There is going to have judgment on the illegitimate Biden regime and quite frankly, and quite frankly, Nancy Pelosi and the entire committee. And we know which way that is going.

Either theyve already been turfed out like Liz Cheney or quit like Kinzinger and other Democrats or theyre about to be beaten like Luria and others. Or they will lose their power and become a minority and Nancy Pelosi and Tom  is all of it. This is a  this is a  this is democracy. This is democracy.

The American people are weigh in measuring what went on with the Justice Department and how they comported themselves. Theyre weighing and measuring that right now and they will vote on November 8th.

Bannons little meltdown was framed by a backdrop of a crying baby which perfectly fit a scene where he, like Trump, thinks that there is going to be some massive public uprising of outrage because he was sentenced to four months in the slammer for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena.

There was nothing unjust done to Steve Bannon. Mr. Bannon chose to ignore a legal subpoena, and he is facing time behind bars for his decision. Bannon is now facing the consequences of his own choices.

His rhetoric rings hollow, and the odds are that Republicans will not flock to the polls to avenge his name.
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After the story about Trump stealing classified secrets about China broke, Trump became incoherent on his social media platform.

Trump posted on Truth Social:

The FBI and the Department of Justice, which paid a man $200,000 to spy on me, and offered a $1 million bounty to try and prove a totally made up and fake dossier about me (they went down in flames!), are now leaking nonstop on the Document Hoax to the Fake News.

Who could ever trust corrupt, weaponized agencies, and that includes NARA, who disrespects our Constitution and Bill of Rights, to keep and safeguard any records, especially since theyve lost millions and millions of pages of information from previous Presidents. Also, who knows what NARA and the FBI plant into documents, or subtract from documentswe will never know, will we?

Trump is incoherently throwing conspiracy theories together in the hope that something will stick. Although the idea of the National Archives disrespecting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights coming from a guy who has likely never read either document is pretty hilarious.

Trumps social media posts have always been useful for determining what he is most worried about. The fact that the DOJ has a criminal grand jury going that is investigating his mishandling of government documents clearly has Trump rattled.

The failed former president never denied the report that the documents that he stole are related to China and Iran. Instead, he tried to link documents case back to the Russia scandal.

Trump reminding people of his behavior toward Putin and Russia isnt such a hot idea either,

Through their willingness to hold him accountable, Attorney General Garland and the DOJ appear to have broken Trump.
A salvo of missiles struck the recently liberated city of Kherson for the second day Friday in a marked escalation of attacks since Russia withdrew from the city two weeks ago following an eight-month occupation. It comes as Russia has stepped up bombardment of Ukraine's power grid and other critical civilian infrastructure in a bid to tighten the screw on Kyiv. Officials estimate that around 50 percent of Ukraine's energy facilities have been damaged in the recent strikes. Read moreRussia steps up missile barrage of recaptured Ukrainian city
Passenger levels dropped again in September at Charleston International as family vacations ended and Hurricane Ian curbed late-month travel, but the airport has already seen almost as much traffic in nine months than in all of last year.

Through September, the figure had climbed to nearly 4 million passengers, or 1 million more than the same period last year and nearly 322,000 more than the first nine months of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global air travel in 2020.

For all of 2021, CHS reported 4.18 million passengers.

Last month, airlines carried nearly 435,000 travelers to and from Charleston, matching the number in March when the spring tourist season kicked in, according to data from the Charleston County Aviation Authority.

The two-month decline in September and August comes after the airport posted more than 500,000 ticketholders each month from May through July, all setting records.

Charleston airport CEO Elliott Summey attributed some of the increased passenger levels to a return of business travelers.

"We are seeing people who moved here during the pandemic travel back and forth to New York and other places a couple of times a week," Summey said. "That's created a new market for us."

Summey also pointed to legacy carriers moving to larger aircraft and the addition of new routes as two other growth factors.

He's also confident the airport will set a new record this year with more than 5 million passengers.

With three months to go, it's within reach.

CHS has been averaging just under 438,000 travelers a month, a pace that would put it at around 5.25 million by Dec. 31.

"I've talked with our airlines and our seat count is looking strong for the rest of the year," Summey said.
YONGES ISLAND  Family-owned Stevens Towing this week joined a small handful of global maritime companies with a mobile hoist capable of lifting ships that weigh up to 820 metric tons, giving it the capability to move barges and other large vessels at the Port of Charleston and throughout the Southeast.

The company, in a ceremony on Oct. 20, christened the "Susan G" made by Marine Travelift in honor of company vice president Susan G. Stevens, a third-generation family member in the business that's been a mainstay in this rural part of Charleston County for more than a century.

The equipment stands 70 feet tall and is 87 feet wide  one of just eight 820-ton lifters worldwide, and only the second that can hoist a 60-foot-wide barge. Its lift capacity of roughly 1.8 million pounds is more than 10 times that of the giant ship-to-shore cranes that load and offload containers at the Port of Charleston.

"This American-made travel lift can lift a 60-foot-wide barge  there are only two in the world that can do that and one of them is here in Yonges Island," said Johnson Stevens, the family company's fourth-generation president. "With the Susan G, we can serve our fleet as well as bigger vessels in a more efficient way. That will keep commerce moving and the supply chain flowing."

The device is also large enough to lift tall mega-yachts, long cargo vessels and large tugs, and it will allow Stevens Towing to modernize the type of work it does in its new zero-emissions shipyard.

The company, founded in 1913, received a nearly $1.4 million in 2021 from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help pay for the travel lift. Stevens Towing was the only South Carolina company to receive one of the federal grants, which are meant to strengthen the nation's small shipyards. The total cost of the crane was about $5 million.

"I've been hanging around Yonges Island almost my whole life, since I was a very small child, and I've seen a lot of impressive equipment and a lot of impressive vessels come and go, but this one right here takes the cake," said Lem Boykin, the company's dockmaster and operator of the new lift.

In addition to hauling cargo and repairing ships, Stevens Towing operates 13 towboats and does contract work with the U.S. military.

The company, which also has locations at the former Navy Base in North Charleston and in Edenton, N.C., employs more than 200 workers and operates a youth apprenticeship program that has taught welding skills to 22 students from Charleston-area schools.

Stevens Towing also participates in a range of environmental initiatives, most recently deploying 3,000 tons of concrete culvert off the North Carolina coast to create an artificial reef.

Stevens called the new vessel lift "a huge accomplishment for our business," adding it "will help us continue our legacy of providing good jobs and supporting the maritime industry here in Charleston."
Charleston International's passenger growth has airport officials looking to accelerate plans to add more parking and more gates.

The airport unveiled a 20-year plan Oct. 20 that calls for two new concourses, another parking garage, a new surface vehicle lot, more spaces for overnight aircraft parking and the redesign of International Boulevard.

The more pressing needs are additional parking and more gates for the terminal that's expected to surpass 5 million passengers this year for the first time.

The state's busiest airport is projected to have a deficit of up to 2,500 parking spaces by 2026 and as many as 6,200 by 2041, according to Hernan Pena, deputy director and chief operating officer.

Based on an analyst's estimates, Pena recommended a larger multi-level parking deck to be constructed next to the recently completed 3,005-space, five-tier garage that opened two years ago.

Before that can happen, the airport will have to construct a surface lot with as many as 2,000 spots between the FedEx cargo facility and the police department. It will replace the existing lot, where the new deck is planned.

The terminal also will need nine more boarding gates over the next two decades. Airport officials plan to build 11.

To handle expected passenger loads over the next five years, Pena called for a new "East Concourse" with five gates on the current site of an employee parking lot. The planned expansion also will create more curbside space for dropoffs and pickups, he said.

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The new concourse will be attached to the planned expansion of the airline ticketing stations.

"Phase 1 has to be addressed in the next five years," Pena said.

The second stage would add Concourse C with seven gates on the west side of the terminal. The expansion will result in Concourse B losing one gate.

The second phase of construction also would expand restaurant space on the terminal's airfield side and reconfigure the airport loop road by tying it into Porsche Boulevard. The federal inspection station, used for international flights, also will be moved into the new Concourse C.

When the first two phases are completed, the airport will have 7,000 new parking spaces. It currently has about 5,500, according to spokesman Spencer Pryor.

The estimated costs of the proposed projects has not been determined, airport CEO Elliot Summey said.

He also pointed out the process takes time to win approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and then design the structures, but he hopes he can fast-track the five-year plan.

"I want to cut the ribbon on the new garage in 24 to 36 months," Summey said. "And I want to cut the ribbon on the East Concourse in 36 to 48 months."
John Pendarvis stands in a hemp field on his farm in Harleyville on Oct. 1, 2019. Authorities mowed down 10 of his 20 acres of hemp after he was accused of violating the 2019 Hemp Farming Act due to a mapping error. File/Staff
GREENVILLE  In the seven months since chef Joe Cash first revealed he would be bringing his French Brasserie concept Scoundrel to the heart of downtown Greenville's Main Street, the mystique has built.

There are words Cash has used to describe it: Edgy. Relaxed. Sexy. Boisterous but unassuming.

Above all, the Greenville native who has worked in some of the finest kitchens on either side of the Atlantic believes he's bringing this town with an emerging culinary scene something of a worldly scale it hasn't seen.

Now, the time to reveal Scoundrel and its unique menu and vibe has arrived. Cash officially opens the doors Oct. 21.

It might take some work and some patience to get a table. On the day before opening, the restaurant's online reservations for opening weekend were booked within 15 minutes.

"It's not slowing down any time soon, I guess," Cash told The Post and Courier on the eve of opening. "It's exciting."

The essence of the restaurant is found in its name: a scoundrel, a mischievous but lovable character throughout literature and theater who is rough around the edges but loves the finer things in life.

It's why, two days before the opening, Cash enlisted the services of a burlesque dancer to entertain during an invite-only cocktail bash  which prompted a finger-wagging text message the following morning questioning the choice.

It elicited the intended response.

"It's like 'c'mon lady, we're just having fun,'" Cash said. "What's it matter?"

Make no mistake, though, about the restaurant's focus. The term "impeccable cuisine" is circulated to speak to the precision and elegance behind the concept.

After graduating from Eastside High School and attending Greenville Technical College's culinary school, Cash on a whim crashed New York City in 2010 and landed at three-Michelin star restaurant Per Se.

From there, he spent a year in Denmark at the renowned Noma restaurant, which famously held the position of the world's best restaurant for multiple years.

In 2014, Cash returned to New York and became executive sous chef at Major Food Group's Torrisi Italian Specialties. When the group was tasked with infusing new life into Midtown Manhattan skyscraper The Seagram Building, Cash specialized in seafood with a modern French flair at The Pool.

Cash's return to Greenville  at least in the food sense  came in 2019 when he was invited to participate in the annual Euphoria culinary festival as the guest chef for Stella's Southern Brasserie.

The homecoming to Greenville comes just as Cash and his wife, Jocelyn, adjust to life as newly minted parents to their son, Thor.

Not the life of a scoundrel.

That role is left to the restaurant.

The space  formerly home to Handi Indian Cuisine at 18 N. Main St. across from ONE city plaza  has been meticulously renovated to accentuate the brick and wood floors. Lights hang low from the exposed ceilings.

The dining area is separated from the bar and lounge by curtains. Semi-circle booths resemble a setting where a New York City mobster might pass cash to a hitman. It's part of a decor that blends a sense of Old World with 1970s sleekness.

Hanging on the brick walls throughout are a series of specially drawn depictions of a cartoon "scoundrel," which aims to tell the story of the restaurant's thematic inspiration.

Then, being a restaurant and all, there's the food.

The menu features a healthy dose of French culinary terms that, without taking at least one high school class in the language, may be difficult to articulate to a server  or as they're called at Scoundrel, a captain.

But that's OK. The menu itself is designed to bring the sophistication that comes with a worldly culinary experience with approachable dishes that in many ways find inspiration from Cash's dining experiences in Greenville growing up.

Think S&S Cafeteria, Taco Casa and The Clock.

The Crispy Half Chicken entree, with its grilled juices, button mushrooms and Iberico lardo, is, in another context, an accessible version of southern barbecue chicken.

To be sure, the dishes are careful, precise and refined.

There's the requisite Golden Ossetra Caviar with duck fat potatoes, creme fraiche and chives. Deviled Blue Crab with chilis, bay leaf and sweet cream is served on a bed of crushed ice. Clams Thornton  a nod to Cash's given first name  are made with twice-smoked bacon and Fresno chilies.

There's quite a flex if you need it  a $165 Tomahawk Ribeye 30-ounce steak. The Dirty Rotten Scoundrel features two dry-aged beef patties with cheddar, lettuce, onion and "Scoundrel sauce." Ask your captain for what the fish for two of the night is, or if you want to sound fancy, "poisson pour deux."

The bar features standby cocktails with an arsenal of spirits to cater to specific requests. The wine list ranges from approachable to the pricey.

The restaurant will be open at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For the first few weeks it will operate at about half capacity as it hones its service.

On the cusp of owning his own vision and restaurant in his hometown, Cash accesses a particular part of the palette: the moment just before conception becomes reality.

"It's kind of unreal," he said on the eve of opening. "It's one of those things that you've dreamed about so long, and now that it's in front of you, you feel it's still just a thought. Seeing it is great."
Randal Seyler is the editor of the Georgetown Times and the Myrtle Beach Post and Courier.
State regulators will investigate bail bondsmen who fail to report defendants who don't comply with court-ordered conditions, Gov. Henry McMaster announced Oct. 21.

The investigations, which will be carried out by the state Department of Insurance, are aimed at cracking down on a system critics have called a revolving door for people accused of violent crimes.

The department will set up a system for prosecutors to file complaints about bail bondsmen then determine whether it should impact a bondsman's license or be referred to criminal investigators.

"Any comprehensive effort to close the revolving door of repeat offenders and violent criminals must hold bad actors in the bail-bond industry accountable for refusing to do their job," McMaster said in a press release. "From now on if a bondsmen is caught coddling a criminal they will lose their license to operate in South Carolina."

The order requires bail bondsmen to notify a court if a defendant isn't complying with the conditions of their bail, including in cases where a GPS monitor shows the defendant violating house arrest.

The order says some bondsmen have claimed they aren't responsible for tracking GPS monitors.

Ricky Hill, president of the South Carolina Bail Agents Association, said members of his group aren't totally against the new measures. But bondmen shouldn't be made scapegoats in the situation. He said in some situations, bondsmen aren't aware of violations of GPS monitoring. Others in his group who do track GPS monitors say they routinely report violations to prosecutors and defense attorneys and almost never receive a reply, he said.

"I think we have some areas that need to be cleaned up," Hill said. "(But) its not all bondsmen's fault that people are getting out multiple times. We dont set the bonds. The judge sets the bonds. ... I dont want to blame nobody, I just think maybe there should be better rules in place."

Hill said his group is ready for a larger conversation about how to improve the entire system.

In South Carolina, offenders are entitled to bond unless they are accused of committing a serious or violent crime. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said the problem is some offenders are getting out of jail too easily after a low bond set by a magistrate judge or a low deposit by a bondsman.

Lott said some pay $25 to get out of jail.

A Richland County deputy remained in the hospital for injuries sustained during a high-speed chase longer than the man who recently led a chase from officers. The man was out on bond from a 2018 murder charge and had a pound of marijuana in his car at the time.

Lott joined a pair of state lawmakers earlier this month in a press conference to call for statewide reforms.

Charleston police arrested Shamar Stanley twice while he was supposed to be under house arrest awaiting trial on two murder charges.

Stanley posted bail April 1, 2020. He was fitted for an ankle monitor by his bail company, Bad Boyz Bail Bonds, and told authorities he would live at a North Charleston residence.

Police officers detained Stanley an hour later on Charlestons East Side. He was arrested again carrying a weapon on King Street in Charleston after being released on house arrest once more.

This case is just one example of how the system seems to favor violent offenders, Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds said at the time. Im tired of it. The community is tired of it. Were all tired of it.

McMaster has also called for state legislators to pass a package of legislation next session aimed at reforming how the state deals with dangerous offenders and adding more state-level oversight over bail bondsmen. About one-in-five inmates is convicted of a crime within 3 years of being released from prison, according to the S.C. Department of Corrections.

Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, who has advocated for bond reform, said bail bondmen are a critical piece of the puzzle, but not all of them have held up their end of the bargain.

"Unfortunately, grifters and other opportunists have infiltrated the bail bond business and their profiteering continues to threaten our safety," Wilson said in a press release. "The governors order will help weed out unsavory bondsmen who aid and abet violent criminals who continually wreak havoc in neighborhoods across our great state."
SAVANNAH  A Hilton Head engineer will spend nearly seven years in prison for leading a conspiracy to steal trade secrets from aircraft manufacturers.

Gilbert Basaldua was sentenced Oct. 18 to 80 months in prison, or more than 6 years, after pleading guilty last year in federal court.

From October 2016 through November 2018, the numerical control engineer and several co-conspirators stole wing designs and anti-icing technology from various plane makers, including the company where Basaldua worked, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of Georgia.

They intended to use the stolen information to fast-track certification from the Federal Aviation Administration for another companys product, avoiding the millions of dollars and years of research needed to be able to sell it. They agreed to share the profits.

Basaldua invested $100,000 in the company he intended to sell the secrets to, and did not disclose his connection when contacted by competitors, according to court documents.

None of the manufacturers were named in court records.

Theft is theft, whether its a bag full of cash or a digital file holding specialized design information, Georgia's U.S. Attorney David H. Estes said in a statement.

The 66-year-old admitted guilt during the second day of trial in September 2021, according to federal prosecutors. He pleaded to the conspiracy charge, as well as interstate transportation of stolen property.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer G. Solari.
The idea of creating housing villages for young teachers came to South Carolina 15 years ago, when then-S.C. Education Superintendent Jim Rex talked it up as a way to provide community for new teachers moving to rural communities, where they might otherwise feel isolated. A few districts loo Read moreEditorial: Pursue teacher housing plan  in the open, with attention to details
Former governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley will turn her attention back to South Carolina next week campaigning for Ellen Weaver, the GOP nominee for state superintendent of education.

Billed as a "grassroots rally," the Oct. 24 gathering will take place at Halls Signature Events, an upscale private dining and event space at 5 Faber St. in downtown Charleston.

Details were announced Oct. 21 by the Weaver campaign, which also promised a "special announcement" will be made by Haley and Weaver.

"We both agree that education reform is one of the key issues in the 2022 elections, and now more than ever we need a conservative superintendent of education in South Carolina who will stand up for students, teachers and parents," Weaver said.

Weaver, executive director of the conservative think-tank Palmetto Promise Institute, faces Democrat Lisa Ellis and Green Party candidate Patricia Mickel for the schools chief job.

Haley was the first female governor in South Carolina history, serving from 2011-17 before then-President Donald Trump nominated her as U.N. ambassador.

She has become a sought-after national GOP surrogate this election cycle, traveling around the country to boost electoral odds for Republicans in this year's midterm elections. Much of her attention this cycle has been on other top-of-the-ticket contests, chiefly federal races for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House, along with governor and state attorneys general.

So far in South Carolina, Haley has endorsed Republicans U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace in their respective reelection bids and a spokesman said she is supporting all the GOP members in the delegation. Last month, she also headlined an event for Gov. Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette.

The Ellis campaign characterized Haley's forthcoming visit as a sign that Weaver and Haley are more focused on advancing their political ambitions than representing South Carolina's students and families.

"While Lisas opponent and former Gov. Haley may have their eyes set on bigger ambitions, Lisa's focus in this campaign continues to be the students and families of South Carolina," said Leesa Danzek, an Ellis campaign spokesperson. "Lisa will continue spending her time on educational issues that matter to voters, while her opponent meets with potential presidential hopefuls."

Often mentioned as a possible 2024 Republican presidential candidate, Haley has been making connections across the country, where she is testing her own political influence in battleground races this year. Those travels have taken her to influential early presidential nominating states, like Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as swing states including Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

This summer, Haley waded into the hotly contested Republican primary for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, throwing her weight behind Mace over Katie Arrington, the former state lawmaker who had the support of Haley's old boss, former President Donald Trump.

While governor, Haley urged state lawmakers in 2016 to make the state's top education post an appointed cabinet position.
BOILING SPRINGS  A stationary coffee trailer serving up espresso-based and Lotus Energy drinks has opened on Parris Bridge Road in Boiling Springs.

Voltage Coffee & Drinks officially opened Oct. 10 and offers customers drive-thru, walk-up and outdoor seating options.

I'm coming up with more drinks almost every day, said Lee Agee, co-owner of Voltage Coffee & Drinks. Im just trying to put flavors together that taste like something else, or maybe bring you to your childhood.

The coffee trailer offers a mix of hot and cold drink options. Agee said he gets coffee beans from Bean Werks Coffee & Tea in Asheville. Customers can get an Americano, latte, hot chocolate, cold brew, breve or cappuccino.

Voltage Coffee & Drinks has Lotus Energy drinks which a blend of green coffee beans, antioxidants, vitamin B and super fruits.

Agee moved to Boiling Springs a little over a year ago from southern Oregon. He and his wife, Emily, wanted to bring more quality coffee options to the area, so they opened their coffee trailer.

Voltage Coffee & Drinks is a business concept that was created between four partners. Agee said that his business partners have plans to open up a Voltage Coffee & Drinks in Tennessee and North Carolina.

If we can make somebody's day better, even though we only see them for two to five minutes at the beginning of the day, then our jobs have been done, Agee said. Its about coffee, but it's also about community and just being a light in the beginning of the day.

Agee said his business will soon start serving holiday-themed drinks with gingerbread, eggnog, peppermint bark and mint chocolate flavors.

Voltage Coffee & Drinks is open Monday through Saturday at 5617 Parris Bridge Road from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
These are hard times to be a Democrat. With polls sliding inexorably toward the Republicans, who will be spared? Not media darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She has been doing town halls in her district, portions of the Bronx and Queens, and they have not gone well.

Here, she is assailed from the right. A sign says to vote for Tina Forte, Ocasio-Cortezs Republican opponent. I dont know whether a specific issue had been raised, but the crowds message is clear:

"AOC has got to go!" Sandy was humiliated again at a town hall in her backyard tonightpic.twitter.com/iVielmb58U  Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 20, 2022



In another town hall, she was denounced from the left as a warmonger. It is striking how many people take the possibility of nuclear war seriously. And the comparison a constituent draws between Ocasio-Cortez and Tulsi Gabbard must be especially galling:

AOC humiliated at a Town Hall: "You ran as an outsider yet you voted to start this war in Ukraine. You're voting to start a nuclear war with Russia and China" pic.twitter.com/dSldpyKVLT  Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 13, 2022



Might Ocasio-Cortez actually lose in November? I dont suppose so. But, as I said, this is a tough time to be running as a Democrat.
John Fettermans stroke has badly impaired his functioning. He cant understand what is said to him and he cant communicate what he wants to say. Fetterman himself admits the former and one can observe the latter in his (sparse) public comments.

Fetterman has now released a doctors note by Dr. Clifford Chen to reassure Pennsylvania voters that he has it together. Chen describes himself as a physician who established care with [Fetterman] in May. Dr. Chen doesnt mention that he is a generous Democrat donor and Fetterman supporter. Unlike Dr. Chen, the Washington Free Beacons Chuck Ross linked to the relevant records in his diagnosis of Dr. Chen. Chen, of course, did not respond to a request for comment. Fettermans medical records remain under lock and key.

One doesnt need the diagnosis of Dr. Chen as a rabid Democrat to infer that he is not exactly on the up and up. Dr. Chens report states that Fetterman spoke intelligently without cognitive deficits and his speech is normal. This is a classic case of who ya gonna believe  him or your own eyes? Im going to believe my own eyes.

News: @JohnFetterman releases an updated medical report after a visit with his primary care doctor. Letter via his campaign  pic.twitter.com/i75J7utrR0  Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 19, 2022

In other words, it would be a mistake to take Dr. Chens note at face value  as the Oz campaign observed in its own way. And by the way, what does Fettermans neurologist say?

Oz senior comms adviser Rachel Tripp responds: That's good news that John Fetterman's doctor gave him a clean bill of healthnow that he apparently is healthy, he can debate for 90 minutes, start taking live questions from voters and reporters, and do a second debate now too.  Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 19, 2022

I have been looking for tea leaves to scope out the competitive races in battleground states. One such was President Bidens appearances with Fetterman at a public event in Pittsburgh and a private fundraiser in Philadelphia yesterday. I take that as a sign that Fetterman believes he needs help.

However, Biden himself is not exactly a popular figure. In Ohio, for example, Democrat senatorial candidate Tim Ryan would prefer to avoid even appearing in the same sentence with Biden. At the Pittsburgh event we could observe Bidens resolution of the conflicting forces in action:

President Joe Biden spoke about infrastructure policies in Pittsburgh on Thursday, and while Senate candidate John Fetterman was in attendance, surprisingly, he didnt take the stage and the president did not urge Pennsylvanians to vote for him.

Biden himself has visible cognitive issues, so it is difficult to interpret his comment that

Mrs. Fetterman is going to be a great, great lady in the Senate. I interpret that as a tea leaf that they anticipate the election of Democrat Josh Shapiro as governor and the appointment of Mrs. Fetterman to succeed her husband in office.

Biden to John Fetterman's wife: "Gisele, youre going to be a great, great lady in the Senate." pic.twitter.com/bFu8PxXNVT  Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) October 20, 2022

As I say, we can all see that Biden has his own cognitive issues. He demonstrated it again as he sought to navigate his exit from the stage in Pittsburgh.

Joe Biden got lost again.

pic.twitter.com/zpIZLPoiYa  Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 20, 2022

Even when he was of sound mind  I mean pre-stroke, assuming he was ever of sound mind  Fetterman must have been the worst Senate candidate in the country. His present act is a joke. David Marcus gives us a fitting Laughter Is the Best Medicine take.
Ammo Grrrll has more LESSONS FOR LIFE  FROM STANDUP (The Next Five). I wish she had shared them with me before I reached retirement age. She writes:

IN COMEDY OR IN LIFE, YOU CANNOT PLEASE EVERYONE

My whole life I have been astonished, flabbergasted, yes, and even gobsmacked by how intimidated people are by what others think of them. And how far they will go, how much they will grovel, how thoroughly they will adjust their opinions in order not to be disapproved of.

Dont get me wrong. I dont think its cute to go through life as an obnoxious, pointlessly contrarian jerk. But why the absolute terror of being unfriended on Facebook or hounded on Twitter? I have come to believe that lacking a solid grounding of love in the early family life is one factor. Though definitely not true for me, nobody seems to crave love like comedians. Joan Rivers said  it almost made me cry  that she only felt love when she was onstage.

Once early in my career I performed for a group of Home Health Agencies. The client shared with me copies of the eval sheets before I left the resort. There were 200 eval sheets. One hundred ninety-five rated me a 5. Four people were not quite willing to give me the highest rating and gave me 4s, and ONE person rated me a 1. At first I felt sure the lady must mistakenly think 1 was the best. But, no. She had added her own review: I do not care for this type of humor. My God, somebody absolutely HATED me!

I cried half of the way home from Brainerd! Where I got a severe talking-to from my husband. You got 195 5s? Good grief, woman! If you cant stand this little bit of heat, you need to get out of the kitchen! Uh, point taken! I got over it and many worse blows. Many! (And, just by the by, he was always very supportive. He just felt at that particular moment I needed my tush kicked. He was not wrong.)

It is simply impossible to appeal to everybody no matter what endeavor you undertake. I know a decorator who did a beautiful job painting and papering a house to the wealthy womans exact specifications and she hated her original ideas and made him do it all over again. At least he got paid twice! Looking at the absolute HATE that politicians draw convinces me that I could never run for anything. I was acquainted with several of the Twin Cities TV peeps and all the women said they received relentless criticism from viewers on their appearance.

NO MATTER HOW GLAMOROUS A JOB LOOKS, ITS NOT ALL BEER AND SKITTLES

This of course, could be an entire separate column. When you are in some rowdy bar in Wisconsin, putting on your makeup in a broom closet, entertaining drunks while the blender is making drinks with names like Sex on the Beach, its easy to romanticize your old night typesetting job.

When a private client who has hired you to entertain his sales staff introduces you like this: Ive never heard of this gal. But her agent says shes funny; her husband says shes funny; and here she is  Sharon Boss! you may question some life decisions.

When you are working in the dimly lit BASEMENT of the Anderson House in Wabasha, MN, standing on a folding chair, using a Mr. Microphone to entertain pheasant hunters, you do a mental inventory of the reasons you left a stable union job to try standup. But, oh well, that folding chair will look darn good to you when you are up North in a resort and the client has ignored your contract clause that requests an 18 riser. In a fit of pique at the prima donna who unreasonably wishes to be taller than the seated audience, the client puts you on an end table he found in a storage closet. Only after the show do you notice that it was on wheels.

When you are working the Small Room at the Carlton and Tom Arnold is emceeing and introduces you as our next comic is the funniest lesbian working todayhaha, I kid Susan Shes NOT the funniest, your audience is now thoroughly confused when you talk about your husband and kids.

But one of the most inadvertently hilarious events was for a Lutheran Nursing Homes mostly deaf codgers. Terrible microphone. Terrible acoustics. A handful of inattentive Scandinavian geezers in wheelchairs, waiting for their afternoon tapioca pudding. Dead silence for 20 minutes. After the show, a sweet old gentleman comes up to me and says the following: Dat vuss so funny, I vuss afraid I vuss going to laugh and embarrass you! Oy.

WHO IS WISE? WHO LEARNS FROM EVERYONE

I referred in a past column to my sorrow at an interview I watched with a sweet young black woman comic who bemoaned the fact that I wish there were more comics who looked like me. Why? That question is never asked. Its just ASSUMED to be important that only someone who looks like us can be a mentor. False! Our Talmud asks: Who is wise? And answers: Who learns from everyone.

My biggest influences for timing were Bob Newhart and Jack Benny. For good-natured, down-to-earth, clean comedy: Louie Anderson, Minnie Pearl and The Smothers Brothers. For absolute fearlessness onstage: Joan Rivers and Norm MacDonald. And for my first 100 shows at Dudley Riggs I was virtually an apprentice to five young men about a decade younger who taught me a great deal of what I know despite their best efforts to avoid helping me! And not a single one of those reluctant or unaware role models looked like me, although arguably, the late, great Minnie Pearl came closest, her wardrobe in particular.

THERE WILL BE HIGHS AND LOWS

In life there are abrupt ups and downs. In comedy there are awesome shows, good shows, blah shows and horrible shows, sometimes all in one weekend! You need to learn to roll with it. The first time I was on Prairie Home Companion was a real emotional high. That Thursday, I had a benefit at a beautiful vintage theater in Duluth and got my first standing ovation. Then on Sunday, fresh from those two triumphs, I was booed off the stage at an outdoor music festival at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Sometimes, God needs to keep you humble.

THERE ARE GOOD AND BAD PEOPLE. ASSOCIATE WITH THE GOOD!

Show Biz, like many other worlds, is rife with massive egos, jealousy, backstabbing, false friends, and, oh yeah, drugs. Forty years ago when I was getting started, it was a snake pit and it has only gotten much much worse. As Fred Allen quipped: You can take all the sincerity in Hollywood, place it in the navel of a fruit fly and still have room enough for three caraway seeds and an agents heart.

One mentally ill guy from Minnesota who did not ever make it in Los Angeles to the level he thought he deserved, was a pretty decent impressionist. Jay Leno himself told me (on a chance flight from New York to Pittsburgh in which we found ourselves seatmates on the plane  how cool was THAT?) that this person used to call Johnny Carsons answering machine and leave obscene and unflattering messages in Jays voice! People who were roommates sometimes stole their roomies audition requests and erased the answering machine tapes.

On the other hand, in that chance encounter with Jay, he greeted and autographed and took photos with every single person who wandered down the aisle to approach him, including the Captain! That impressed me but not as much as the following: A great comic, devout Christian, and good friend, Bill Arnold, stepped up when another comic friend named Scott was going through a year of chemo for bone cancer. He took all of Scotts corporate bookings, did the shows, and gave Scott  married father of three  the money! That must have been at least 25 to 30 years ago. And I am happy to report that Scott is still alive and doing well, still performing. Knowing one guy like Bill makes up for a whole lot of jerks.
Polaris Bank has named a new board and management a day after the Central Bank of Nigeria announced the sale of the lender to Strategic Capital Investment Limited.

The new board will be led by the existing chairman M K Ahmad, who will be joined on the board by six non-executive directors and three executive directors, it said in a statement Friday.

AdekunIe Sonola, a former executive director at Union Bank, is the managing director and chief executive officer of the bank.

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Friday announced the sale of Polaris Bank to SCIL, four years after the government took over the distressed Skye Bank, renamed it before injecting over N1 trillion of public funds to recapitalise the bank.

Strategic Capital Investment Limited emerged the preferred bidder for the lender, the CBN said in a statement late Thursday. The sale decision was jointly taken with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the governments bad debt buyer, which took over Skye Bank after the CBN withdrew its licence in 2018 before setting up Polaris as a bridge bank.

The new owner, SCIL, paid N50 billion and has agreed to refund N1.3 trillion injected into the bank, CBN said.

Members of the new board are:

 MK Ahmad (Chairman)

 Abubakar Danlami Suleiman (Non-Executive Director)

 Salma Mohammed (Non-Executive Director)

 Adeleke Alex Adedipe (Non-Executive Director)

 Ahmed Almustapha (Non-Executive Director)

 Francesco Cuzzocrea (Non-Executive Director)

 Olabisi Olubunmi Odunowo (Non-Executive Director)

 AdekunIe Sonola (Executive  M D/CEO)

 Abdullahi S Mohammed (Executive Director)

 Segun Opeke (Executive Director)

Commenting on the acquisition and board transition, the chairman, Mr Ahmad said: I would like to thank the outgoing board members profusely for their hard work and dedication over the last four years as we have established a strong governance structure and stabilised the bank. I am very pleased with the progress we have been able to make, and that we have delivered on our mandate to prepare the bank for a return to private ownership. I am personally proud to have been asked to lead the bank into an exciting new future and I look forward to working with the new board and our core investors to build on the platform we have created.

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Speaking on behalf of SCIL, the new core investor, Adekunle Sonola, the incoming MD/CEO said: We are excited to participate in the next phase of growth for Polaris Bank and to have been able to recruit such an experienced and diverse Board of Directors we are confident can lead Polaris Bank into a new era of sustainable growth. This is an exciting time for the Nigerian financial services industry and we are committed to building on the strong foundations that have been established by the departing board. We would like to express our thanks for their service and wish them well.

We have mandated the incoming management to develop an innovative, but sustainable growth strategy that prioritises the needs and aspirations of our current customers.

Profiles of Board Members

M K Ahmad (Chairman)

With more than 37years experience leading and working across the private and public sectors MK has extensive knowledge of the financial services, telecoms and FMCG sectors. He has been the Chairman of Polaris Bank since 2018, overseeing the stabilisation of the bank and the introduction of best practice corporate governance. MK currently serves as the Chairman of the Interim Management Board of International Energy Assurance as well as Chairman of the Technical Committee of the National Council on Privatisation. He is also a Board Director of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and FBN Holdco. Prior to this MK served as the pioneer Director General of PENCOM.

Abubakar Danlami Suleiman (Non-Executive)

Mr Suleiman has more than 30 years of experience in the banking sector, having worked at the Central Bank of Nigeria, GT Bank, Continental Trust Bank, UBA Plc, NAL Bank Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc (Executive Director), Sterling Bank Plc (Executive Director), Standard Chartered Bank (Managing Principal) and most recently as Deputy Managing Director/Acting Group Managing Director of Keystone Bank between 2017 and 2019. He has vast technical experience in the Financial Service sector, and very strong management and leadership qualities.

He is an alumnus of the Wharton Business School (Pennsylvania, USA) and the INSEAD (France).

Salma Mohammed (Non-Executive)

Ms. Mohammed has over 25 years experience as a banker and a Human Resource Management professional having worked in operational and strategic human resource leadership positions across a range of financial institutions. She is Co Founder/Chief Operating Officer of New Frontier Development Limited, an investment company focused on financial advisory, hospitality, real estate and proprietary investments in start-ups and challenged companies in the SME space.

She was previously the MD/CEO of Centrum Finance Company Limited, a CBN-licensed finance company and brings a strong combination of sector expertise and human capital management experience to the Polaris Bank board.

Adeleke Alex Adedipe (Non-Executive)

Mr Adedipe is the Managing Partner at Duale, Ovia and Alex-Adedipe, where he leads the technology, media and communications practice as well as the M&A and Banking and Finance practice areas. His combination of expertise brings an important perspective to the board as a new strategy focused on innovation is developed and implemented.

Ahmed Almustapha OFR (Non-Executive)

Mr Almustapha is a lawyer and experienced technocrat who served as the Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) from 2001 to 2009 during which he is widely acknowledged to have transformed the CAC into a modern IT driven organisation. He has also served on the board of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and is respected as one of Nigerias leading authorities on corporate governance.

Francesco Cuzzocrea (Non-Executive)

Mr Cuzzocrea is a banker with more than 35 years experience in the international financial services sector. He has extensive board level , including in Nigeria where he served on the boards of Heritage Ban k (until August 2016) and Oando Plc (until February 2016).

Olabisi Otubunmi Odunowo (Non-Executive Director)

Mrs Odunowo has more than 25 years experience in the Nigerian banking sector having held operations leadership positions across a range of financial institutions including Coronation Merchant Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank. She currently applies her extensive operational and customer service experience by advising and capacitating small and medium sized businesses across a range of industries.

Adekunle Sonola (Executive  MD/CEO)

Mr Sonola has more than 33 years of experience in the African financial services sector, most recently as Executive Director Commercial Banking at Union Bank Plc, prior to which he was the pioneer Regional Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank East Africa and the Director of Investment Banking at Standard Bank in South Africa. Adekunle has also served on the boards of First Bank of Nigeria Plc where he chaired the Boards Risk Management Committee, and Airtel Nigeria Plc.

Abdultahi S Mohammed (Executive Director)

Mr Mohammed has worked in the Nigerian Financial Services and public sectors for more than 20 years, having begun his financial services career with Century Merchant Bank and Kakawa Discount House before being appointed as the Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport in Kano State. He returned to Kakawa Discount House in 2003, before joining First Bank and ultimately moving to his current position at Polaris Bank.

Segun Opeke (Executive Director)

Mr Opeke has more than 26 years of experience in the Nigerian financial services sector with more than 15 years spent in Senior and Executive Management positions. Segun began his career with Chartered Bank before joining FSB Merchant Bank and then Prudent Bank before joining the then Skye Bank in 2006, rising to become Executive Director of the now Polaris Bank, with more than 15 years experience in the institution.

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President Muhammadu Buhari has said Nigeria is safer in the hands of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He stated this on Friday while inaugurating the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) and unveiling the manifesto of its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, in Abuja.

The 80-page action plan titled; Renewed Hope 2023  Action Plan for a Better Nigeria will focus on national security, economy, agriculture, Power, oil and gas, transportation and education.

Other areas include; healthcare, digital economy, women empowerment, judicial reform, federalism/decentralisation of power and foreign policy.

While charging members of the ruling party to ensure the victory of the APC in 2023, Mr Buhari said We must record a sound victory in all elections, the future of this country is safer in the hands of the APC.

The president added that the transition to another APC government is as vital as the 2015 election that ushered the party into power.

He also commended the other presidential aspirants that contested the presidential primary election against Mr Tinubu in June.

I would like to congratulate the other contestants. I am glad that most of our aspirants transferred their structures, including campaign offices to our partys candidate after the primaries, he said.

In his speech, Mr Tinubu said his manifesto is a promise that can be banked on.

He assured Mr Buhari that he would be proud of the work to be done after him.

He stated that his administration will ensure the construction of the Trans-Sahara pipeline to Europe and compete with Russia for the European market.

We are sure that we can make realisable the Cross-Sahara pipeline to bring our gas to Europe and compete with Russia and be better, he said.

Mr Tinubu dismissed the concerns on the borrowing by this administration, stating that if borrowing were to be a crime, the United States would be in jail.

I stand before you noting that those who are afraid of the budget theytalk of borrowing, if borrowing were to be a crime, the entire America should be in jail.

If borrowing is a crime, stop using Mercedes Benz and Lexus. General Buhari, we are with you. You are leading the way and charting the course. We are saying that the renewed hope of this country will be for real. You will look back and be proud of what you built and left behind you, he said.

The Director General of the PCC, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, said the time of some persons staying in Abuja and leaving work undone at the grassroots is over.

He said PCC will use the record of results to allocate rewards for members.

We can easily track the record played by each member in the campaign process and at the end of the day, we can conveniently address any challenges and even reward excellence while harvesting maximum votes.

For the PCC, the days of the people flying letters in Abuja while work suffers at the grassroots is over. We are all aware of the enormous task before us in ensuring that Asiwaju becomes the next president. The PCC will not take anything to chance, he said.

With the unveiling of the manifesto, the party is expected to commence campaigns across the country.

Among those at the event were the APC vice presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima, the National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, governors led by their chairman, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, members of the PCC and NWC.

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The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on Friday sent his sympathies to the government and citizens of Nigeria over the floods that have afflicted the country.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, Mr Guterres said he was saddened to learn about the recent floods in Africas most populous country.

The Nigerian government had announced that over 500 people have died in the floods that have affected more than half of the countrys 36 states.

While expressing his deepest condolences to the government of Nigeria and the affected families, the UN chief reiterated the United Nations continued commitment to supporting Nigeria in this challenging time.

Nigerian authorities have described the current floods as the worst in a decade. Over 1.3 million people have been displaced and more than 2.8 million people have been impacted by the floods.

Nigerias minister of humanitarian affairs, Sadiya Farouk, said the floods have destroyed 108,392 hectares of farmland, and completely damaged 82,053 homes.

These widespread cases are in 27 out of 36 states and the FCT.

Nigerias meteorological agency, NiMET, has also warned that states like Anambra, Delta, Cross River, Rivers, and Bayelsa are still at risk of experiencing floods up till the end of November.

The submergence of farmlands has sparked fears of increased food insecurity and higher prices in the country.

But the humanitarian affairs ministry said the federal government is committed to providing relief to all communities.

We are taking all the necessary actions to bring relief to the people affected by the flood. All relevant agencies have renewed their commitment to strengthen their efforts in reaching out to the victims and bringing relief to them, Ms Farouk said.

The Nigerian government had earlier announced the distribution of 12,000 metric tons of food and non-food items to states affected by the floods.

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The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice has filed an appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, freeing Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Ifeanyi Ejiofor, a lawyer to Mr Kanu confirmed receipt of court filings concerning the appeal.

Mr Ejiofor in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday said Mr Kanus lead counsel, Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), received a copy of the court documents on the appeal at 5 p.m on Wednesday.

It was learnt that the government contended in its notice of appeal that the Court of Appeal was wrong to have faulted Mr Kanus extraordinary rendition to Nigeria and gone ahead to strike out the charges against him on that basis.

It also argued the court erred when it struck out the pending terrorism charge against the IPOB leader.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja, had on 13 October, struck out the terrorism charges filed against Mr Kanu by the government.

It held that the IPOB leader was extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria in flagrant violation of the countrys extradition treaty and Mr Kanus fundamental human rights.

The court ordered the release of Mr Kanu from the custody of the State Security Service (SSS), where he has been detained since he was brought back to Nigeria in June last year.

But the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and his counterpart at the Ministry of Police Affairs, Muhammad Dingyadi, argued the Court of Appeal only discharged Mr Kanu and did not acquit him.

Let it be made clear to the general public that other issues that predate rendition on the basis of which Kanu jumped bail remain valid issues for judicial determination.

The Federal Government will consider all available options open to us on judgment on rendition while pursuing determination of pre-rendition issues, Mr Malami had said

The claims by the minister have been faulted by lawyers as a hollow basis for continuing to detain a suspect whose charges have been struck out.

Govt asks Supreme Court to stay execution of Appeal Court judgement

In addition to appealing against the Court of Appeals decision, the government has applied to the Supreme Court for an order staying execution of the powers judgement.

The AGFs office filed the request for stay of execution on Thursday.

Mr Kanu was first arrested in 2015 and charged with various offences including treasonable felony over his separatist activities championing the secession of South-east and some parts of the South-south as an independent Biafra nation.

He was granted bail and released in 2017.

But he subsequently fled the country in September the same year after soldiers invaded his home in Afara-Ukwu near Umuahia, Abia State.

That same month, the government obtained an order of the Federal High Court in Abuja proscribing IPOB and designating it as a terrorist organisation.

Mr Kanu, a dual citizen of Nigeria and the United Kingdom (UK), is believed to have settled down in the UK after leaving Nigeria.

But he was arrested in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria in June last year.

The government then raised the charges against him from seven to 15 to include terrorism offences he allegedly committed by inciting violence through social media posts.

But in a ruling delivered on 8 April, on an application by by Mr Kanus legal team, the trial judge, Binta Nyako, of the Federal High Court in Abuja, struck out eight of the 15 counts.

Mrs Nyako threw out counts 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12,13 and 14 which she ruled were repetitive and invalid.

Displeased that the judge did not strike out the entire charges, Mr Kanu further appealed to the Court of Appeal.

In its judgement on 13 October, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Oludotun Adefope-Okojie struck out the remaining seven terrorism charges, on the grounds that the government breached both local and international laws in Mr Kanus forcible rendition to Nigeria.

It held that the trial court, the Federal High Court, lacked jurisdiction to continue Mr Kanus trial as a result of the breach of his fundamental rights by state agents.

By the illegal abduction and extra-ordinary rendition of the appellant, there was a clear violation, by the respondent (Fed Govt) of international treaties, conventions, as well as the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right, Mr Adefope-Okojie said.

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About 50 people were killed and nearly 300 injured in violence that broke out in Chad on Thursday as hundreds took to the streets to demand a quicker transition to democratic rule.

Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo, who gave the death toll at a news conference, said the government was still compiling casualties from what he described as an armed insurrection.

But human rights groups said that unarmed civilians were massacred as security forces brutally cracked down on demonstrations in the capital, NDjamena, and several other cities.

The vast, military-run Central African nation has been in crisis since the April 2021 death of President Idriss Deby, who ruled with an iron fist for three decades.

His son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, seized power in the immediate aftermath and initially promised an 18-month transition to elections, but on Oct. 1 he announced they would be pushed back by two years

Opposition and civil society groups called for the protests on Thursday, which would have marked the end of an initially agreed-upon 18-month transition period.

The government banned them, citing security reasons.

But demonstrators showed up early in the morning, barricaded roads, and torched the party headquarters of the new prime minister.

What happened today is an armed popular uprising to seize power by force, and those responsible for this violence will face justice, said Kebzabo, an opponent of Debys regime who was named prime minister of a new unity government last week.

The demonstrators had firearms and they are considered rebels.

The security forces responded only in self-defense, Kebzabo said.

The International Federation for Human Rights and its partner organizations in Chad said the protests were violently repressed by security forces and that cases of live gunfire, torture and arbitrary arrests had been reported.

Amnesty International researcher Abdoulaye Diarra said security forces used live rounds on protesters, based on witness accounts and analysis of photos and video from the day.

Chadian journalist Oredje Narcisse, who had worked with Reuters in the past, was among the dead, his brother said.

Other confirmed victims included a policeman who was fatally wounded in clashes, a 28-year-old protester who was shot in the neck, and Chadian musician Rays Kim, who died in a hospital.

Its clear that an impartial investigation is needed to determine if protesters resorted to looting and violence and if security forces unlawfully resorted to lethal force across the country, said Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Riots have been intermittent in Chad since Deby seized power last year, but Thursdays appeared to be the bloodiest.

The government declared a state of emergency and a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., although the president had already declared a state of emergency on Wednesday because of catastrophic floods.

I firmly condemn the repression of demonstrations that led to deaths in Chad, African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat, who is a former prime minister of Chad, tweeted, calling for a peaceful solution to the crisis.

We are concerned about the violence in the context of demonstrations in Chad today, which has reportedly led to the loss of lives and injuries, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

He called on authorities to ensure the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly for all Chadians, and for all parties to refrain from excessive use of force and violence. (Reuters/NAN)

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The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed Sheriff Oborevwori as the governorship candidate of the PDP in Delta States 2023 election.

Delivering judgement in an appeal filed by David Edevbie challenging Mr Oborevworis candidacy, a five-member panel of the apex court led by Amina Augie held that there was no merit in the suit.

In the lead judgement delivered by Tijjani Abubakar, the Supreme Court upheld the legal reasoning of the Court of Appeal that the suit ought not to have been commenced by originating summons.

Mr Abubakar said issues bordering on serious allegations of fraud cannot be commenced by originating summons as mere affidavits are not enough to address the issues.

Sundry allegations of fraud by Mr Edevbie against Mr Oborevwori required calling of witnesses and oral testimony, Mr Abubakar said.

I find no merit in this appeal and it is hereby dismissed. The decision of the Court of Appeal delivered on 29 August is hereby affirmed, the Supreme Court held.

The apex court held that the Federal High Court erred when it nullified Mr Oborevworis nomination as PDPs candidate for next years governorship election in Delta State.

Background

David Edevbie, a former Commissioner of Finance in the former Governor James Ibori administration was locked in a battle with Sherrif Oborevwori, Delta State House of Assembly speaker over PDPs governorship ticket for the states governorship election in 2023.

Mr Edevbie is alleging inconsistencies in the names on the academic certificates submitted by Mr Oborevwori to INEC.

According to Mr Edevbie, Mr Oborevwori used the names: Oborevwori, Sheriff, Francis and Orohwedor interchangeably in his certificates submitted to INEC in violation of the Nigerian constitution and the Electoral Act.

He contended that Mr Oborevwori was not eligible to participate in the primary election on the grounds of the alleged discrepancies in his academic qualifications.

The Federal High Court in Abuja in July nullified Mr Oborevworis candidacy while the Court of Appeal in Abuja restored his victory at the PDP primary.

Delivering judgement in the suit Taiwo Taiwo, the judge at the Federal High Court held that Mr Edevbies suit was meritorious as Mr Oborevwori failed to provide contrary evidence to contradict the claims in the suit.

But, Mr Taiwo, held that it was premature to declare Mr Edevbie as the candidate of the party since no nomination has been officially made to INEC.

The judge also did not declare a fresh primary election to be conducted, saying he did not want to preempt the decision of the party.

However, the Court of Appeal voided and set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court which had, on 7 July 2022, nullified Mr Oborevworis nomination on grounds of certificate forgery and perjury.

Peter Ige who led the Court of Appeal three-member panel held that Mr Taiwos judgment, which upheld certificate forgery against the Speaker, was a miscarriage of justice because the criminal allegations were not established as required by law.

Mt Ige held that claims against the Speaker were criminal in nature and must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

The appellate court also held that Mr Edevbie, who filed the suit at the Federal High Court, ought to have approached the court via Writ of Summons to enable the resolution of disputes and not by originating summons where only affidavit evidence is required.

The judge said the allegations of certificate forgery and faking of documents against the Speaker were such that required witnesses from those who issued the certificates and the alleged fake documents.

The court, therefore, upheld the victory of the Speaker at the 25 May 25 primary election where he polled 590 votes to defeat Mr Edevbie who polled only 113 votes to come second.

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A United States court has set 28 October for the sentencing of Ebony Mayfield, a co-conspirator in an alleged $20 million fraud involving the founder of Air Peace, Allen Onyema.

Ms Mayfield, accused of helping Mr Onyema to sign fake documents to facilitate a fraudulent $20 million loan, had earlier pleaded guilty to the charge on 29 June.

The trial judge, Eleanor Ross, of the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, in Atlanta, has now fixed 28 October for her sentencing, a court notice obtained by PREMIUM TIMES shows.

The fraud allegedly spearheaded by Mr Onyema was allegedly perpetrated under the guise of obtaining credit to buy aircraft for Air Peace, a frontline Nigerian airline, in the U.S.

Ms Mayfield was accused of helping Mr Onyema to facilitate the $20 million bank fraud between May 2016 and February 2018 when she worked as the manager for Springfield Aviation Company LLC, owned by the Air Peace founder.

U.S. prosecutors accused her of signing and submitting false documents used by Mr Onyema to perpetrate the bank fraud in the U.S.

Mr Onyema and Air Peace Limiteds Head of Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, also face 36 charges at the U.S. court in connection with the alleged fraudulent scheme.

But they have yet to show up or send a lawyer to represent them in court.

Trial

Ms Mayfield, who was arrested on 7 June 2019, for her alleged roles in the alleged scheme, had previously pleaded not guilty to all eight charges filed against her in December 2019.

Her trial was, in March this year, rescheduled to start on August 8.

But weeks before the trial date, she changed her plea from not guilty to guilty when she appeared before the trial judge on 29 June to plead guilty.

Ms Mayfield pleaded guilty to one of the eight counts filed against her by the U.S. government.

A copy of the plea agreement she and her lawyer signed with U.S. prosecutors shows she specifically pleaded guilty to Count 5, which is a conspiracy to commit credit application fraud.

5-year jail term and other penalties

She risks up to five years of jail term based on the plea agreement.

Five years imprisonment is the maximum jail term provided for in Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, under which she was charged with the offence in Count 5.

Aside from the risk of a maximum five years jail term she faces, the plea agreement also recommends she be fined $250,000, or twice the gain or twice the loss whichever is greatest. The fine is due and payable immediately.

She will also make full restitution due and payable immediately to all victims of the offence(s) and relevant conduct.

The plea agreement also recommends the forfeiture of any and all proceeds from the commission of the offence and any and all property used or intended to be used to facilitate the offence.

She will be subjected to a mandatory special assessment of $100, due and payable immediately.

She also, by pleading guilty, gave up the right to plead not guilty, the right to be tried by a jury, and the right to appeal against her conviction.

If she is not a U.S. citizen, she stands the risk of being expelled from the country after completing her jail term.

Alleged fraud

Between November 2016 and October 2017, prosecutors said, Mr Onyema applied for export letters of credit to causing the transfer of funds from a Nigerian bank account for Air Peace to Springfield Aviations bank account, purportedly to fund the purchase of aircraft by Air Peace from Springfield Aviation.

Both the Air Peace purportedly seeking to buy the aircraft and the Springfield Aviation, the purported seller, belong to Mr Onyema.

Springfield Aviation, according to court documents, was established by Mr Onyema in the U.S. State of Georgia in April 2016 purportedly to specialise in the wholesaling, trading/ and sale of commercial aircraft and parts.

The US government says Ms Mayfield was recruited as a manager of Springfield Aviation with the role of entering into aviation-related contracts on behalf of the firm, despite her lack of education, training, or licensing in the review and valuation of aircraft, including aircraft components.

The charge against the defendants says the aircraft that was referenced in each of the export letters of credit provided to obtain the $ 20 million credit from a Nigerian bank, was never owned or sold by Springfield Aviation.

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The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, says he will work with the National Assembly to pass a law to increase womens participation in government to at least 35 per cent, if elected.

Mr Tinubu, in his 80-page manifesto document titled Renewed Hope 2023  Action Plan for a Better Nigeria said the law will seek employment of female in all government offices.

According to the manifesto, members of the Federal Executive Council are to reserve certain senior positions for women while the private sector will be encouraged to do same.

Working with the National Assembly, we will aim to pass legislation promoting female employment in all government offices, ministries, and agencies. The goal will be to increase womens participation in government to at least 35 percent of all governmental positions.

This legislation shall also mandate the federal executive (particularly the cabinet and core senior advisers) to reserve a minimum number of senior positions for women. Private institutions shall be strongly encouraged to do likewise, he said.

It is unclear how Mr Tinubu plans to encourage the members of the National Assembly to support gender legislation.

Early this year, the lawmakers rejected five gender bills, prompting protests by women at the entrance of the National Assembly in Abuja. For days, the women besieged the entrance of the National Assembly and demanded the reversal of the bills.

Following the protests, the House of Representatives rescinded its decisions on three out of the five bills.

The House rescinded its decision on the bill that seeks to amend section 26 (2a) of the 1999 constitution by opening citizenship registration to males and females.

This means that if the bill is passed, foreigners married to Nigerian women can apply for Nigerian citizenship.

Similarly, the other bill seeks to alter Sections 31 and 318(1) (the Interpretation Section) of the 1999 Constitution to allow a woman to become an indigene of her husbands state after at least six years of marriage.

Also, another seeks to amend Section 223 of the 1999 Constitution to provide 35 per cent affirmative action to ensure women occupy at least 35 per cent in political party administration.

But the bills that sought to create extra seats for women in legislative Houses and the 20 per cent quota for women for appointment into federal and states cabinets were not considered.

So far, aside from the rescission, the bills have not been listed for consideration by the committee of the whole.

Three cabinet positions for under 40, six for under 50

Mr Tinubu said, if elected, his administration will reserve minimum of three cabinet positions for Nigerians under the age of 40, while six cabinet positions will be reserved for under 50.

In addition, Mr Tinubu said 20 per cent of political appointments at Ministries, Departments and Agencies are going to be reserved for qualified people under the age of 40.

Reserve at least three cabinet positions for persons under the age of 40 and six more positions for members under the age of 50.

We shall also pass a presidential directive requiring that at least 20 per cent of political appointments to MDAs be reserved for qualified people under the age of forty, the document reads in part.

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An Ikeja Special Offences Court on Friday fixed 6th December for the trial of the former Attorney-General of Lagos State, Olasupo Shasore, charged with corrupt offers to public officers.

Mr Shasore, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, served as the Attorney-General of Lagos State and the Commissioner for Justice during the tenure of Babatunde Fashola as the governor.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged the embattled senior lawyer with a two-count charge bordering on corrupt offers to public officers.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Following his not-guilty plea, the EFCC Counsel, Bala Sanga, SAN, requested a trial date to prove the allegation against the defendant.

The judge, Mojisola Dada, granted the defendant bail by releasing him to his counsel with a promise to undertake to present him at the next adjourned date.

Mrs Dada adjourned the case until 6 December for the commencement of trial.

Earlier, the prosecution alleged the defendant corruptly gave the sum of $100,000 to one Olufolakemi Adelore, the Director Legal, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources on account of the role she played in the arbitral proceedings instituted by Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) against the ministry.

It was also alleged that the defendant corruptly gave the sum of $100,000 to one Ikechukwu Oguine, Secretary to the Cooperation and Coordinator, (NNPC) on account of the role he played in the arbitral proceedings instituted by P&ID against the ministry.

The defence counsel, led by Yemi Candide-Johnson (SAN), applied for his bail on liberal terms or self-recognizance, arguing that the defendant was not a flight risk and that the alleged offences were bailable.

The prosecution did not object to the bail application.

According to the prosecution, the offence contravenes the provisions of Section 9(1)(a)(b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2020.

(NAN)

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The federal government has allocated N2.1 billion to David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, Ebonyi State for the 2023 fiscal year.

The amount was contained in the 2023 budget of N20.1 trillion presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to a joint session of the National Assembly on 7 October.

Commissioned by Mr Buhari in May, the new university was built by Governor Dave Umahis administration in Ebonyi.

The federal government would later take over the university on 6 September, about four months after the president commissioned the new institution.

The takeover of the university by the government followed Mr Umahis appeal to Mr Buhari during the commissioning ceremony.

The university was initially named King David Nweze Umahi University of Medical Sciences Uburu by the state government but was later renamed David Nweze Umahi University of Medical Sciences Uburu, by the federal government after the takeover.

Governor Umahi, during a ceremony to mark the handover of the university to the federal government in Abuja, said the idea of the university was borne out of the desire to save peoples lives and prevent medical tourism.

Apart from the huge revenue we would save from our people travelling abroad, we would be bringing world-class medical services home. That way, we are saving the lives of our people and earning foreign exchange from the foreigners coming for treatment, the governor was quoted as saying in the local media.

Details in the budgetary allocation indicate that N1,518,418,097 was budgeted for personnel, N257,411,089 for overhead and N325,481,481 as take-off capital of the university.

A total of 54 students, drawn from three faculties  Natural Sciences, Basic Sciences and Technology  participated in the institutions matriculation ceremony which was held in June.

Teaching institution to get N2.44 billion

Beyond the university, the Nigerian government also budgeted N2,044,736,844 for David Umahi Federal University Teaching Hospital.

Details in the budgetary allocation indicate that N1,594,736,844 was budgeted for personnel, N200 million for overhead and N250 million as take-off capital for the teaching hospital.

A further breakdown showed that N100 million was budgeted for the renovation of the hospital complex building, N80 million for the purchase of clinical and hospital equipment, N20 million for rehabilitation and installation of street lights at the hospital, while N50 million was allocated for the purchase of utility vehicle for the hospital activities.

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Tunde Mark, the son of former President of the Senate, David Mark, died in a London hospital on Friday morning, an official has said.

This is contained in a statement issued by Paul Mumeh, Special Adviser on Media to the former senate president on Friday in Minna.

The statement said that Tunde, the first son of Mr Mark, was born on 13 October, 1971.

Tunde attended Yaba Military School, located in Yaba, Lagos where he obtained his first school leaving certificate.

He later proceeded to Bradfield College, Berkshire, UK, where he attended secondary school.

He is a biochemist who obtained a B.Sc degree from Kings College, London.

He studied Immunology alongside Biochemistry and later Biological Sciences in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

He was married and had a daughter.

Funeral arrangements will be communicated in due course, the statement said.

PDP consoles Mark

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed its sadness over the news of the death of Tunde.

The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in Abuja on Friday described Tundes death as a great loss to Marks family, the PDP and the nation.

The party said the deceased was a very bright and energetic young Nigerian, adding that his death was a blow to his family, the party and the nation.

Our party is overwhelmed by this great loss to a very patriotic Nigerian leader; a man of immense humility, who continues to demonstrate an exceptional commitment to the unity, stability and development of our country.

The PDP stands with the family of David Mark, the people of Benue State and the nation at large at this moment of grief, especially given the pains of losing a dear son.

We are heartbroken but as the Bible teaches; in all things, we give thanks to the Almighty God in whose presence we obtain grace and strength in times like this.

We draw solace in faith that Tunde is received in the bosom of the Lord according to the promises of God, it said.

The party prayed that God should grant the deceased peaceful repose and also grant Mr Mark and the entire family the fortitude to bear the loss.

Atiku too

The presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, on Friday also consoled Mr Mark over the death.

Atiku, in a statement issued by his Media Office in Abuja, said he was shocked and saddened by the news of Tundes demise.

It is with a heavy heart that I condole with David Marks family over this loss. I share in your grief because Tunde and I had a special relationship of which I took him as a son.

It is my prayer that God, who is the decider of all affairs, will heal all hearts that are hurt by this grief and accept the repose of his soul, Atiku said.

Kalu commiserates with Mark

Also, the Senate Chief Whip, Orji Kalu, has commiserated with the former senate president over the death.

Mr Kalu, in a condolence message issued in Abuja, described Tundes death as shocking and devastating.

He said it was unfortunate that the deceased died in his prime, adding that his good deeds would continue to speak for him.

The former governor of Abia State prayed to God to grant the deceased eternal rest and give the former President of the Senate and his family members the fortitude to bear the loss.

I convey my heartfelt condolences to the former President of the Senate, Sen. David Mark over the demise of his son, Tunde.

It is shocking and devastating.

Our prayers and thoughts are with the Mark family at this period of grief, Mr Kalu said.

(NAN)

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The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu, says the party is intact, refuting claims that some aspirants who lost at the presidential primaries have left.

Mr Adamu said this when he spoke with journalists on Thursday in Abuja.

The ruling party conducted its presidential primary at a special national convention in Abuja in June.

A former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, beat 13 other aspirants including former Rivers governor, Rotimi Amaechi, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to emerge winner.

Some of the aspirants stepped down for Mr Tinubu.

To the best of our knowledge they are keying into our 2023 presidential project.

Each of the aspirants to the presidency of this country that presented himself during our June convention is still alive and still in the party.

As for reconciliation, it is a work in progress, we have been doing it and have been talking to them individually and we will continue doing that, he said.

The APC national chairman said that the party needed the support and collaboration of the media in its quest to achieve an overwhelming victory in the 2023 general election.

Mr Adamu said also that no any party has equalled APCs achievements in the area of youth inclusiveness.

He said the APC stood out among other political parties in ensuring youths inclusiveness in governance and politics.

Mr Adamu said the party has done everything possible to ensure that youth participated in politics effectively.

This, he said, was done through the reduction in the cost of expression of interest and nomination forms for youth to encourage and prepare them for political contest.

We are working to empower youths and part of our desire is to prepare them for political participation and that we had been doing, empowering and ensuring they have a level playing ground.

We realised their limitation on finance and we tried to ease it, but we cant ensure electoral victory for them, they have to work for it, he said.

He dismissed claims that the he sacked some directors at the APC Secretariat in Abuja on his assumption of office.

(NAN)

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Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has resumed export operations at the Forcados Oil Export Terminal, where repair works on the pipeline went in for weeks.

The SPDCs media relations manager, Abimbola Essien-Nelson, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

SPDC had said that the Forcados Oil Terminal would resume export operations by the end of October, when the repairs would have been completed.

The Forcados Export pipeline which has a capacity to export over 400,000 barrels of crude per day was vandalised by crude oil thieves.

The vandalism has hampered the functionality of the pipeline, thereby hindering the transportation of crude oil through the pipeline to the export terminal

The Forcados Oil Pipeline System is the second largest network in the Niger Delta, and transports oil, water and associated gas from fields in the western Delta to the Forcados oil terminal.

The Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP) is the major trunk line, into which feed multiple branches from onshore fields.

At the Forcados River manifold, its capacity is 850,000 per day. Until 2012, the pipeline was operated by Shell.

According to Mrs Essien-Nelson, the active illegal connections to SPDC joint ventures production lines and facilities in western Niger Delta and the inactive illegal connection to the onshore section of the 48 Forcados Export Line are in the companys ongoing programme.

She noted that the programme was to remove illegal connections on the pipelines that feed the terminal.(NAN)

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Kogi says has it has received its first oil 13 per cent derivation allocation from the federation account.

Kingsley Fanwo, the states information commissioner, disclosed this after the State Executive Council Meeting at Government House, Kogi on Thursday.

Most of Nigerias crude oil and gas come from the Niger Delta. But in 2021, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) recognised Kogi State as the owner of the Oda River-1 oil well, making the North-central state eligible for the 13 percent derivation fund.

It is not clear how much the state received. Mr Fanwo said that Gov Yahaya Bello, who announced news during the meeting, assured residents of his administrations determination to continue to record more wins for the state.

Its on record that this administration has recorded many giant strides in various sectors covering the thematic areas of our governors New Direction Blueprint, he said.

This new breakthrough in the derivation allocation will no doubt make us do more for our people.

On breaking the news, our governor said he was so elated to announce to the good people of Kogi State that the administration has received our first derivation allocation as an Oil Producing State.

This announcement is in line with the administrations commitment to transparency and accountability, for which we have received many awards.

We worked hard to make this history. But we wouldnt have achieved it without the support of our people, who stood resolutely with us to make this see the light of the day.

We also wish to express our gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for his leadership roles as well as the RMAFC for making this a reality,  he stated.

The Commissioner further said that Mr Bello restated his promise to the people that he would ensure that the resources worked for them.

We will build more schools, hospitals and construct more roads. We will empower our youth and women. Under my watch, we will ensure security.

While noting that the allocation came at a time the State Government was building legacy projects across the state, the governor pledged to ensure judicious use of the derivation allocation.

Our governor has once again proved that he is a goal getter with the tenacious manner he defended the interest of the state to be listed as an Oil Producing State, the Commissioner said. (NAN)

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PARIS, France  A witness claiming to be a child soldier with Kunti Kamara has confirmed testimonies of over a dozen witnesses of forced labor by Kamaraone of the charges the former commander of the United Liberation Movement for Democracy faces at his war crimes trial here in Paris, France.

The issue has been critical in the trial, but the former ulimo battlefront commander has repeatedly denied the allegations accusing the witnesses of plotting against him to seek asylums in Europeallegations their lawyer denies.

The witness said, We used civilians because ULIMO was a poor organisation. Civilians were only transporting the goods in the car,comments that corroborate the testimonies of other witnesses at the trial.

The witness named the items allegedly looted by ulimo soldiers under Kamaras watch as oil, banana and electrical generators,.

I saw them move small generators for ulimo. We didnt have technicians, so we didnt transport big generators, he said.

The witness claimed the civilians carried the looted items to the town of Solomba along the Liberian-Guinean border by shifts.

We didnt have cars everywhere. So, we used human labor, and some areas were not accessible to cars to reach Solomba the witness said. I cant tell you the distance we used to walk. So, it could be 6, 7 hours, he said, further confirming the testimonies of other witnesses about the suffering they allegedly experienced under ulimo.

Although like other witnesses, he admitted seeing human heads and other body parts, Thursdays witness denied the alleged killings were done by Kamara and ulimo.

He claimed those killed were opponents. I want to make it clear. They were not civilians. They were NPFL forces, as his statement to Swiss prosecutors in 2019 was read in court on Thursday. The witness couldnt testify in-person because Swiss authorities would not allow him travel to France to testify in Kamaras trial.

Hes currently in detention in Switzerland, as his claim for an asylum in Alieu Kosiahs war crimes trial is under review.

The witness testimony in that trial, that he was a child soldier to Kosiah turned the case on its head, with legal analysts suggesting it was key to convict and sentence Kosiah, 47, to 20 years in jail for war crimes in Liberia.

The case is, however, up for appeal in January 2023. The witness did also say in his statement that he was with Kosiah and Kamara during ulimo occupation of Foya. He claimed he also had a relationship with Kamara. Kundi was my friend.

All the big men in Lofa had small men. All the ULIMO soldiers had small soldiers with them, he said as he responded to a question from Swiss prosecutors about the recruitment of child soldiers by ulimo.

The witness said both men had the same rank. Kundi was a captain and Alieu Kosiah also. So, he cant be the bodyguard to Alieu Kosiah. Recruitment of child soldiers was common during Liberias civil wars, with all warring factionsincluding ULIMO and Charles Taylors National Patriotic Front of Liberia accused of the act.

Legal analysts say the witness testimony about Kamara are likely to sink his case just as it did in Kosiahs trial. Kosiah will testify on Kamaras behalf on Friday, a testimony court observers say could be key in deciding Kamaras fate.

Earlier in the day the court heard from the eighth of nine plaintiffs in the trial, another man from Foya who gave his age as approximately 50. The plaintiff identified Kamara as the Co Kundi that terrorised his community of Lofa during the four months in 1993.

This is Co Kundi, he said, looking at the defendant in his glass security enclosure. That man is this.

The plaintiff echoed many of the claims of earlier plaintiffs adding to the portrait of extensive crimes against humanity and terror during Kamara and Ulimos four-month occupation of Lofa.

He said Kamara committed multiple atrocities to him and others in his presence. In one instance, he said, Kamara hit him in the side of the head with a gun and gave him a bloody wound.

The man also said he was one of the young men forced to carry parts of the generator that had run the Burma Hospital before it was destroyed by Ulimo allegedly under Kamaras command.

The plaintiff said most young men had hidden in the bush by day to avoid being caught by Kamara and his troops including Ugly Boy, Mami Water, Fofana and Deku. He saw the bodies of two who had been caught and killed.

The bodies had holes in their stomachs he said, from where internal organs had been removed.

The plaintiff told the court he was eventually caught and forced on two marches to the border at Kamaras direction. He repeated the story told by a plaintiff yesterday of being forced to push a truck carrying the parts of the generator 23km to Solamba on the border with Guinea.

When they arrived, the plaintiff alleged, Kamara called people from the Guinea side who bought the generator parts. They loaded the heavy parts into canoes to get them across the border.

At the border Kamaras troops bought rice which the men then had to carry back to Foya.

Kamara ordered the plaintiff to carry the heaviest parts of the machine. When he faltered, he said, Kamara beat him.

Co Kundi was beating me, kicking me, the plaintiff said. Kamara, he said, told him I will kill you and eat your heart if you refuse to carry the machine.

The plaintiff said Kamara beat him all the way to the border and refused to give him water to drink.

The plaintiff echoed a theme that has been heard from all the plaintiffs from Foya, all members of the Kissi ethnic group. They have claimed that there was anger between the Mandingo and Kissi groups before the war, including a land dispute.

They have all claimed that Ulimo, made up of members of the Mandingo tribe, were using the war as an excuse to beat an old foe.

For his part Kamara has said he believes the people of Foya were sympathetic to Charles Taylors NPFL which Ulimo had expelled from the district at the start of their 1993 Foya invasion. He told the court his evidence was that the district had allegedly voted for Taylor in the 1997 presidential election.

The plaintiff also told of rampant sexual violence. Ulimo rebels took all the beautiful wives for themselves he said. Every morning they would have sex with two or three women.

God bless my wife is ugly so they didnt take her, the plaintiff said eliciting a rare laugh from the usually tense courtroom.

A friend of the plaintiff named Joseph had challenged Ugly Boy after he took the friends sister as a sexual slave.

The man was trying to defend his sister, the plaintiff said. He called the man. They get the man. They kill him.

He ended with a plea to the jurors:

Please that thing that happened in Liberia. You must stop it so it doesnt happen again.

The trial continues Friday with the testimony, in person, of Alieu Kosiah, Kamaras Ulimo ally who was convicted in his own war crimes trial in Switzerland in 2021. He is appealing that conviction. Kosiah will testify on behalf of Kamara.

This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project.

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The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Umana, has dismissed as false and totally baseless, a series of allegations made against him, including an imaginary and libelous claim of N480 billion fraud.

Mr Umana, in a statement on Friday from his media aide, Iboro Otongaran, said the recent allegations, including fraud allegation, against him to the National Assembly were from professional petition writers.

The minister said no fraud has been committed under his watch in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, and that no money has been released or expended on the projects cited in the petition.

He said that, in line with his directive at the last meeting of the National Council, adjustments had been made in the 2022 budget proposals of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to accommodate core regional infrastructure projects based on a new template for the development of the Niger Delta region.

It is senseless for the petitioners to allege that the compilation of projects to include in the budget proposals of NDDC for 2022 for transmission to the National Assembly is a crime.

Everything is at the proposal stage; no contracts have been awarded and no money has been disbursed or expended, he said.

Anything to the contrary is false and should be dismissed in its entirety, he added.

Mr Umana also refuted another allegation in the petition that he sacked 700 workers in the NDDC on assumption of duty as minister.

He said on his assumption of duty as minister, he was briefed by both the ministry and the NDDC, whose interim administrator at the time, Effiong Akwa, complained of a bloated staff strength, which made him (the minister) to ask what the interim administrator had done about it.

The minister said after the inaugural briefing, the interim administrator of the NDDC never came back to him on any action he had taken or planned to take on the issue, and that whatever he did about the bloated staff strength he had complained of had no ministerial approval.

The allegation of non-performance peddled in the same petition is also baseless.

The Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs reports to the President, and not to hired petition writers. It is the President that assesses the performance of his ministers, the statement said.

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The Labour Party (LP) has suspended its National Youth Leader, Anslem Eragbe, over allegations of forgery and insubordination to the party leadership.

Mr Eragbes suspension was disclosed in a letter released by the party leadership across its social platforms on Friday, even though it was dated 18 October.

His deputy, Kennedy Ahanotu, has been appointed to act in an interim capacity.

In the letter signed by the LP National Secretary, Umar Ibrahim, the party said Mr Eragbe was found culpable following the report submitted by a disciplinary committee and has been suspended for six months.

The party did not indicate in the letter when and how long the committee met and whether the youth leader was invited to face the disciplinary team.

Other than a lone reference to allegations of misconduct which was noted as a breach of the partys 2019 constitution, the LP leadership did not pinpoint the exact section(s) of the document the youth leader flouted.

The letter said Mr Eragbe, however, has been suspended for six months as relevant organs of the party will within the period, meet to ratify the full recommendations of the disciplinary committee.

You may wish to recall that on the 14th of October, 2022, the National Working Committee of the party met and has among other matters deliberated on the allegations of misconduct labelled against you as the National Youth Leader of the Labour Party. A disciplinary committee was constituted to look into your matter and report to the National Chairman.

Consequently, the committee has submitted its reports to the National Chairman with its recommendations in accordance with the partys constitution as Amended (2019).

In compliance with the partys constitution, as Amended, (2019) and the committees recommendations, you are hereby suspended from your duties as the National Youth Leader of the Labour Party for a period of 6 (six) months, with effect from 18th October 2022. The relevant organs of the party will within the period, meet to ratify the full recommendations of the disciplinary committee, the party said.

The party also advised Mr Eragbe to surrender all its properties in his care.

Calls to both Mr Ibrahim and the LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, for comments, were not answered as of the time of filing this report.

While Article 20 (2B) of the LP constitution established suspension of members for a specified period as part of its disciplinary actions, sub-section D of the same Article also placed importance on the need for fair hearing in all matters that affect him/her with regard to discipline, and the right of appeal against the disposal of his/her ease.

Partys action illegal  Eragbe

In reaction to his suspension, Mr Eragbe, in a report explained why the decision of the party leadership is not binding on a ranking member like him.

He quoted Article 17 (iii) of the LP constitution to back his position.

I will like to make reference to Article 17 (iii) page 31 of the Labour Party Constitutional provision on how a ranking National Working Committee member like me as the National Youth Leader can be removed from office, rather than the shame that Barr. Julius Abure has brought upon Mr Peter Obi and Yusuf Datti and LP generally, he reportedly said.

This newspaper can report that a copy of the partys constitution available on INEC website did not speak to the issue at hand as suggested by Mr Eragbe.

Article 18 of the party, however, says that any other Officer of the Party may be removed by two-thirds (2/3) of majority of votes cast by members of the National Executive Council or Congress of a State -LGA or Ward Executive Council as the case may be.

Hinging his non-compliance on the above section, Mr Eragbe said he is being witch-hunted by Mr Abure.

Fellow Nigerians, let it be noted that the National Executive Council of Labour Party is Not Aware of any report of the disciplinary committee that Barr. Julius Abure illegally acted upon, and neither was 2/3 majority of votes cast by NEC members nor was I, as National Youth Leader in attendance in such an NEC meeting that was not called.

I definitely will not allow myself to be used as an instrument of distraction and destruction at this critical juncture in our nations history.

Relevant authorities and security agencies in Nigeria shall hold Barr Julius Abure liable for whatever crisis that shall precipitate from this his illegal action against me going forward, he said.

He called on EFCC and other relevant financial institutions in the country to freeze all the LPs bank accounts for immediate investigation.

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Gunmen who allegedly attacked the convoy of Nigerian Senator, Ifeanyi Ubah, have been arrested, Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State, said on Friday.

Mr Ubah represents Anambra South District.

His convoy was, last month, attacked by gunmen in Enugwu-Ukwu, a community in Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.

The gunmen had ambushed and opened fire on his convoy, killing five persons, including two police officers.

Two of the senators aides, Obum Ikechukwu and Goodness Mathias, who were killed in the attack, have been buried.

Mr Soludo was in Enugwu-Ukwu, the community where the attack on the senator occurred.

He visited to condole with a member of the State House of Assembly, Dozie Nwankwo, who buried his father on Friday.

Speaking, during the condolence visit, the governor announced that some suspected attackers of the senators convoy have been arrested.

Three weeks ago, it was in this community that some elements chose to attack Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, he began.

I want to tell you that we have arrested a number of those involved in that attack, the governor said, without giving the exact number.

We are still on the trail of the remaining people. We will not let people like that define who we are. This is Anambra State and we are peaceful people, he added.

Mr Soludo said he has successfully chased bad elements out of the state, saying the pockets of attacks still occurring are a small number of the hoodlums yet to leave.

They will not disappear in one night. Even in civilized places, there are still few bad elements, he said.

Worsening attacks

The security situation in South-east Nigeria has continued to deteriorate, with armed men carrying out frequent attacks on government officials, security officials and their facilities.

In September, gunmen killed five soldiers in Umunze, a community in Orumba South Local Government Area of the state.

Earlier this month, gunmen killed three members of the Anambra Vigilante Group in Igbo-Ukwu, a community in Aguata Local Government Area of the state.

The Nigerian government has accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied their involvement in the attacks.

The separatist group is leading agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south.

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The Young Progressives Party (YPP) flagged-off its 2023 presidential campaign in Abuja on Friday where it announced a strategy to revive and restore Nigerias economy.

Its presidential candidate, Malik Ado-Ibrahim, listed his campaign cardinal agenda as the economy, power and security.

My four-point economic plan for the new dawn economy is exchange rate regularisation, economic diversification, revenue boosting and ease of doing business.

My administrative power resolution is based on a tripod of grid expansion, energy mix solution and rethinking power generation and distribution.

In my quest to address insecurity, my administration will provide a holistic approach by revamping and reassessing associated economic issues that could improve the security architecture of the country.

My administration will also elevate the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to a National Guard and I will retool, reorient and reposition the army to achieve its mandates, he said.

Mr Ado-Ibrahim added that his administration would also establish a Coast Guard in line with internationally-recognised procedures and that it would rely on the use of modern equipment.

He said that the goal was to evolve a renewed Nigeria where young men and women would thrive.

He said he would tour the country alongside his running mate in the next four months to share his vision and mission with Nigerians on the need to reset Nigeria for a new beginning.

Mr Ado-Ibrahim charged Nigerians to hold him accountable to his promises after electing him into office.

In his remarks, Mr Ado-Ibrahims running mate, Micheal Kasarachi, urged YPP supporters, members and Nigerians to support him and his principal on the mission to reset Nigeria.

Mr Kasarachi said his principal remained the most credible alternative with an evidential working manifesto that could be adopted and implemented immediately he emerged winner at the presidential election.

Mr Ado-Ibrahim is not in the 2023 presidential race because of money or idleness, but because of empathy for Nigeria and for Nigerians.

I am privileged to accompany him to achieve this dream of restoring Nigeria.

He is experienced with vast knowledge and is an expert in the most critical sectors that burden our country, Mr Kasarachi said.

The YPP National Chairman, Bishop Amakiri, represented by YPP National Secretary, Vidiyeno Bamaiyi, called for relentless support for the party and its presidential candidate.

He said that there was a need for strong internal party synergy amongst members and stakeholders, with the support of the general public to emerge victorious at the polls.

The partys National Women Leader, Anita Zugwai, urged women across the country to support a young and vibrant presidential candidate with evidence-based manifesto.

She promised to sensitise women and young girls across the country on YPPs workable and doable manifestos and the need to support its candidate.

Meanwhile, the National Youth Leader, Chigozie Odogwu, promised to mobilise and sensitise youths on the reset Nigeria initiative for their collective benefits.

(NAN)

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I sincerely hope and pray that as we move into the elections period with all the possibilities of change that it offers, peoples minds will open up properly to the stark realities around them, and they will act in manners that counter the herd determinations aptly revealed in the Standford research.

Our opinions, our acumen  all of it, are the result of years of selectively choosing to pay attention to that information only, which confirms what our limited minds already accept as the truth. Ina Catrinescu

An annual ranking of universities worldwide places Stanford University in the top five. In terms of research, it is among the best. The university has made several intriguing discoveries regarding the human mind and its limitations to reason, as well as how well-established facts do not always cause individuals to change their beliefs, in one of its research wroks on human psychology.

One example, out of thousands since the 70s, was the recruitment of some students for a psychology study. For this experiment, researchers engaged with a group having opposing opinions about capital punishment. Half of the students were in favour of this form of discipline and thought that it deterred crime; the other half were against it and thought that it had no effect on crime.

The students were asked to respond to two studies. One provided data in support of the deterrence argument, and the other provided data that called it into question. Incidentally, both studies were made up of and designed to present what were, objectively speaking, equally compelling statistics. Students who had previously supported the death penalty gave the evidence in favour of deterrence a high level of credibility, while finding the evidence against it unpersuasive.

The students were again questioned about their opinions after the experiment. Those who had first supported the death penalty were now much more in favour of it, while those who had previously opposed it were even more hostile. Even after the evidence supporting their views has been contradicted, the researchers observed that people refused to make appropriate changes in their beliefs.

The Stanford research became famous in psychology studies. These results have been validated and expanded upon by thousands of additional studies thereafter.

Emotions feeds our confirmation biases  the tendency people have to embrace information that supports their beliefs and to reject information that contradicts them. Neurologically, people experience a dopamine rush when processing information that supports their beliefs. It leads them to dismiss other levels of evidence. When presented with another persons argument, we are adept at spotting only its weaknesses, and blind to its strengths.

I found these series of research interesting as we have upcoming elections in 2023, and all the facts supported by reliable data are available to support rational decision-making of our next political choices. The problem is that facts do not seem to positively influence our minds in electing leaders.

Four months to the elections, minds have been made up on the basis of certain arguments, instead of logical thinking. Ego dominates the space. Just like the study above, there is nothing this set of politicians contesting for office have not told us before. Most of their promises have been fictional, as revealed in their past performances. Most aspirants at the national and sub-national levels have been in positions of authority prior to the present time, as such there is a basis for comparison. There is little evidence to indicate that they possess the competence, character and capacity to execute anything meaningful, as they now claim. Yet, we have almost all made up our minds on whom to vote for without thinking about whether we even understand what they are saying; assuming that they are really saying anything.

Ironically, several similar studies have demonstrated that seemingly reasonable people could also be totally irrational. And that the habits of the mind which seem weird from an intellectualist point of view, differ when seen from a social interactionist perspective. This is probably why most geniuses and reformers are often seen as mad by the majority. And this becomes more intriguing in a complex democracy like ours, in which the majority determines the chosen trajectory. We are driven by herd mentality through which emotions trump rationality.

Emotions feeds our confirmation biases  the tendency people have to embrace information that supports their beliefs and to reject information that contradicts them. Neurologically, people experience a dopamine rush when processing information that supports their beliefs. It leads them to dismiss other levels of evidence. When presented with another persons argument, we are adept at spotting only its weaknesses, and blind to its strengths.

We may continue to misunderstand or ignore facts, but the fact is that Nigeria is presently bleeding badly. And we are at a point where we can change the trajectory, for our survival. Billions of naira are going into security, but we are not getting value for this money. Our total revenue is going into the servicing of debt; and we are even borrowing to service these debts. Due to politics, we have refused to restructure the country for stability and prosperity. We have a stinking rent-seeking problem in which those on the corridors of power shamelessly flaunt wealth, with no known activity that generated this.

Our problems are well documented but providing the electorate with accurate information doesnt seem to help; they discount it because they choose not to understand it or they simply deny it. Khalifa Sanusi was at the last Kaduna Investment event churning out statistics that should make one cringe about the parlour state of our national affairs and the deeply disturbing fiscal cliff Nigeria is on. Yet, rather than great worry, people were clapping!

The political will to implement the Oronsanye Report on the restructuring of institutions of governance is low. Instead, we are creating more departmenst and agencies of government and pumping billions of naira into them to keep ballooning our national recurrent expenditure. We are supposed to have a foreign exchange crisis in the country, but most people think its only a CBN problem. Instead of focusing on its primary function of regulating monetary policy and price stability, the Bank has digressed into agriculture, humanitarian, and many other functions  which are not part of its core mandate  that other public officials are supposed to be in charge of.

We have evolved from impunity to outright shamelessness in Nigeria. National awards are now majorly for political appointees and not performers and innovators. Alarms raised by civil society organisations and the media have had little impact on this misnomer. The Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK was recently relieved of his duty over an economic stunt that briefly caused the value of the British pound sterling to fall very badly. Ours has been nose-diving since forever. Yet, the public officials supposed to be managing the currency and preventing its attrition are still around, serving on their jobs without any worry. Just think of the massive failures of government in our country and the ministers who ought to be in charge that have been around for the past seven years and contextualise their inactions as against the fate of Chancellor Kwame Kwarteng, who was only in office for 38 days, and you will understand the notion of accountability in governance.

Our problems are well documented but providing the electorate with accurate information doesnt seem to help; they discount it because they choose not to understand it or they simply deny it. Khalifa Sanusi was at the last Kaduna Investment event churning out statistics that should make one cringe about the parlour state of our national affairs and the deeply disturbing fiscal cliff Nigeria is on. Yet, rather than great worry, people were clapping! Our bane is that most candidates for public office do not even provide proper information on the situations they intend to work on. Instead, they appeal to emotions via ethnic and religious sentiments, which unfortunately, in Nigeria, works all the time! In the last few months, all the major aspirants have deployed this weapon. I sincerely hope and pray that as we move into the elections period with all the possibilities of change that it offers, peoples minds will open up properly to the stark realities around them, and they will act in manners that counter the herd determinations aptly revealed in the Standford research.

Umar Yakubu is with the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch. Twitter @umaryakubu

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Dear Mr Bola Tinubu

I am writing you regarding your recent comment about church rats and our penchants for eating poisoned Holy Communion.

Usually, we, the congregation of active, reformed, and retired church rats ignore humans like you when you slander us to feel good about your miserable lives. I make an exception today because, as our elders said, any gesture of greeting that surpasses the elbow has become something else.

Your statement about the poverty of church rats hurt us so deeply. If not for our parents, who bred us properly to be polite to others, we would have shouted at you to shut your mouth. But we are too civilised for that kind of gutter language.

You alleged that we were lazy and incapable of using our six senses. By extension, you made us all look like lunatics who eat poisoned Holy Communion because we are hungry. We consider your statement malicious, defamatory, and unfounded. You have intentionally damaged our hard-earned reputation.

I am writing to correct the unintelligent perception that poorly educated giants like you have been carrying around in your big-for-nothing empty heads for so long. We, the church rats, are not as dumb as we appear. Alright? We may have little vision, superstition, and conceptualisation challenges, but who doesnt? That we do not step out of the church and go to the house next door to look for food does not mean we are stupid.

Like everyone else, we start smelling the jollof rice, while the chef is mixing the rice with the stew, and we perceive the aroma of moi moi boiling under the firewood. That we look up to the cross and the mystery of filling our stomach with unleavened bread is a testament to our trust in our faith and our faithfulness to our creed, which required us to do this in remembrance of me.

Unlike you, we are not greedy. We are contented with giving our bodies the exact amount of nourishment they deserve. We are not in the business of acquiring loads of stuff to be transported via a bullion van and stored in floors of hidden basements under our house and at offshore tax heavens for our children and our childrens children. Maybe they did not teach you this in your mosque, but we take that core prayer seriously  to seek just our daily bread, as in give us this day, our daily bread.

Secondly, you may need to update your knowledge of the state of the church. The English people who first came up with that silly expression as poor as a church rat have stopped using it. They now call it a cliche, meaning it has outlived its usefulness. I know you have not been to a church in a while. If you have, you will notice that churches now serve breakfast made of bagels, coffee, donuts, and akara. And on some special Sundays, more varieties of food are served. Your favourite, agbado, corn, and cassava, are standard on the lunch table of many churches these days. It is one sure way to attract hungry humans like you to church. What it means is that there are leftovers for us after church services. Also, after presiding over funeral rites, large coolers of scrumptious Semovita, ogbono soup, rice, and stew are brought to the parsonage. They guarantee a delicious feast at midnight when the pastor and his household are asleep. So, we are not that poor anymore.

Because of your blatantly false statement, you have retraumatised some of us who have been reformed. Your statement triggered even our members who have retired. You once again exposed us to abuse by mean-spirited individuals who take delight in crushing the underprivileged among them. By your words, you have created an unsafe environment for us to live our lives in peace and harmony with other members of the animal kingdom, of which you are one.

Time has shown us that you are not smart like that. The Lagos that you brag about is the least livable mega city in the world. It is unlivable for us, and if you are honest with yourself, unlivable for you and your folks, too. That tells you all that you want to know. Go to New York, London, and Paris, and you will see that we thrive in those cities but not in your Lagos. Lagos State, with a population of 15.3 million, has a GDP of about $33.67 billion. It is equivalent to Rwanda, with a population of about 12.9 million and a GDP of $18.2 billion, plus Botswana, with a population of 2.35 million and a GDP of $16.9 billion. But the quality of life in Rwanda and Botswana is ten folds better than that of Lagos State. It begs the question, what have you done with the internally generated revenue?

You have always said that you were the brightest crayon in the box. We chuckled when you suggested that grandstanding is your solution to dealing with the West on climate change. What was going on in your head when you said this about the West? If you dont guarantee our finances and work up with us to stop this, we are not going to comply with your climate change.

Whose climate change is it?

You complained that the West wants you to plant trees. Who are you planting trees for, eh? Is it for the West or your grandchildren? I bet you do not know that the desert encroachment fueling all your social and political conflicts has something to do with the lack of trees. Maybe you are just like your forerunner, Buhari, who thinks that the unending migration of armed herders from North to South is in search of some ancient grazing routes.

You complained that you are being advised not to keep burning firewood. Are you not ashamed that your folks still use firewood for cooking in the 21st century? Have you looked for firewood recently? Have you noticed that as forests disappear, firewood is becoming so scarce? Have you ever wondered who owns the trees cut down to make firewood? Do the trees belong to the West?

I am just an ordinary rat. I do not know the answers to these questions. The world will forgive me because I did not attend a fancy Chicago school. All I know is that you people have serious problems and you need serious minded-people with up-to-date information to solve them. How did Albert Einstein put it? We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.

You, Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu, are still wallowing in the same level of thinking that created your problems.

Whatever you do, please cease and desist from using church rats as a cover to mask your lack of understanding of the contemporary world and the thinking that drives it.

We, the church rats, do not eat poisoned Holy Communion because we are hungry. We eat it because we are still mesmerised by the mandate, our mandate, your mandate. The mystery of the mandate is so powerful that it makes emi lokan sound like it is our turn.

Yours truly,

Rudolf Okonkwo

This reformed and retired church rat writes from St. Simons personage.

Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo teaches Post-Colonial African History at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is also the host of Dr. Damages Show. His books include This American Life Sef, Children of a Retired God, among others.

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Congress inspires intercity commuters to envision even more convenient life Sitting in the waiting room of a railway station in Hebei province on Sunday morning, Li Xin looked down at his smartphone and read news about the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, looking forward to watching its opening later. Li, 51, is a resident of Zhuozhou city in Hebei, which is about 60 kilometers southwest of downtown Beijing. He works in the capital and commutes on workdays by high-speed train. He was excited to see what new policies the congress would roll out regarding the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, which had made his life easier since it was initiated in 2014. As usual, Li arrived at the Zhuozhou East Railway Station around 7:30 am on Sunday and would later take a high-speed train to Beijing. The route, which costs less than 30 yuan ($4.20) for a single journey, arrives at Beijing West Railway Station in no more than half an hour. "It's very convenient for intercity commuters like me," said Li, who has worked as an accountant at a company in Beijing's Chaoyang district for seven years. Before the special high-speed train opened in July this year  customized for intercity commuters in Zhuozhou and Beijing  Li went to work mainly by bus. "I needed to get up early at 5 am and spent more than two hours on the way to work," he said. But with the high-speed commuter train, he could save more than an hour for a one-way journey. "I am just enjoying the fruits of the coordinated regional development," Li said. According to Zhuozhou's development and reform bureau, the city houses more than 7,000 commuters working in the capital. And the train is one among many moves that were designed to coordinate the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. "Maybe in the future, I can go to Beijing from Zhuozhou by subway or light rail, which will be more convenient," he said. Li's expectations about the future have been given a confidence boost from the congress. "China will thoroughly implement the coordinated regional development strategy, major regional strategies, the functional zoning strategy and the new urbanization strategy," according to a report submitted to the 20th CPC National Congress on Sunday. It also said the country will promote coordinated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Such plans also impressed 38-year-old Li Xu, who went back home to Beijing via the high-speed train on Sunday afternoon. He works in Zhuozhou and commutes between the two cities every day. At around 6:30 pm on Sunday, Li Xu read about the report on his phone while awaiting his train heading for Beijing at Zhuozhou East Railway Station. "It's very exciting and inspiring for me. I can see an even greater future for our country and my own life," Li said. He runs a training company in Zhuozhou, which he said can provide a lower cost for running an enterprise than in Beijing. "Besides, Zhuozhou is close to the capital, and the transport is more and more convenient," he said. Twelve employees at his company live in Beijing and need intercity travel every day. In the past, most of them commuted by car, which usually required more than one hour for a one-way journey. "If we encountered traffic jams, it would be more time-consuming, which occurred frequently," Li Xu said. "Now we take the train together and can chat on the way. How convenient!" he said. "I believe that in the future, cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will be much closer to each other," Li Xu said after hearing the report.


Retail Supermarket Nigeria Ltd (RSNL), owners of Shoprite in Nigeria, has announced the resumption of commercial activities at its store in Circle Mall, Jakande, Lekki area, after a 24-month-long closure.

The Chief Executive Officer, RSNL, Hubertus Rick, made the disclosure at the Circle Mall reopening ceremony on Friday in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that economic activities at the mall were brought to a halt following a series of looting which occurred on the heels of the nationwide #EndSARS protests in 2020.

The Circle Mall store, one of 24 nationwide outlets currently bridging the gap between local businesses and consumers before the protests, accommodated close to 50 businesses.

Mr Rick said the malls reopening was in line with the RSNLs quest to make formal retail formats accessible to more Nigerians while rebuilding the economy.

This, he explained, was in view of the fact that over the years, Shoprite Nigeria had made significant contributions to the nations economy.

He noted that the company currently boasts of 10,000 staff; directly and indirectly, employed with a supply chain of more than 300 leading Nigerian suppliers, and partnerships with many small businesses, farmers, and suppliers of an assortment of local brands.

Two years ago, we made a tough decision to shut down operations at the Shoprite Circle Mall in response to the insecurity situation.

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The closure was in the interest of our customers as well as our staff as we had to prioritise the safety of lives and properties ahead of other interests.

Today, were happy to commence operations again as we have put measures in place to ensure the safety of all who will walk through our doors.

We are aware of the impact that the closure has had on our supply chain as well as the business at large.

As we reopen this store and other outlets in subsequent months, we are prioritising ensuring a safe shopping environment for our customers while expanding our retail network, he said.

Mr Rick also announced that the company, within the next six months, would open up its malls in Benin, Kaduna, and Port Harcourt.

He reiterated the companys commitment to the safety and freshness of all consumables, agricultural and butchery products via its full integration from the farming, slaughtering to preparing for its customers.

Olurotimi Bajomo, Centre Manager, Circle Mall, said the company went through several insurance and other processes to restart its operations.

Mr Bajomo, assuring its customers of a rejigged security architecture, said the management had introduced several physical reenactments on the premises to avert any form of mishappening.

The management of the mall has introduced physical reenactments such as roller shutter doors, and engaged the services of the Nigeria Police and military officials as well as other security outfits to guarantee the safety of investments, people and properties.

The management has also begun community liaison to engage the community better to protect against a repeat of any negative occurrences.

The company is ready to provide bigger and better services to all its customers, he said.

(NAN)

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BEIJING, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After over seven decades of arduous exploration and experimentation, China has gradually formed and adopted a complete set of socialist democratic political systems that are appropriate and effective for itself.

At the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Sunday, Xi Jinping pointed out that whole-process people's democracy is the defining feature of socialist democracy and that it is also democracy in its broadest, most genuine and most effective form.

Xi said China will encourage the people's orderly participation in political affairs and guarantee their ability to engage in democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management and oversight in accordance with the law.

"We will improve the system of institutions through which the people run the country," Xi said.

Power to the people

Whole-process people's democracy is a hallmark of socialist democracy that distinguishes it from capitalist democratic systems, according to Wang Chen, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

Unlike the multi-party electoral politics in Western countries, where parties often make promises to voters and accusations at oppositions to win elections, China's socialist democracy runs through all processes, including elections, decision-making, management and supervision.

The NPC, which is China's top legislature, plays a key role in the implementation of whole-process people's democracy.

As the highest organ of State power, the current 13th NPC comprises over 2,900 deputies democratically elected from a wide range of professions and backgrounds, from lawyers and university professors to farmers and factory workers.

During their five-year term, these deputies have voted on a slew of decisions and policies with far-reaching implications. They elected the president of the People's Republic of China, adopted the country's first-ever Civil Code, and approved the 14th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint that charts the course of the country's development during 2021-2025.

At the end of 2020, 2.62 million people were serving as deputies to people's congresses at all levels nationwide, according to official statistics. Among them, those at county and township levels accounted for roughly 95 percent. Regardless of their sex, age, ethnicity and profession, each deputy casts a vote of equal weight.

Meanwhile, as advisory bodies, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) serves as a platform for parties to achieve multi-party cooperation and ensure good governance for the sake of the Chinese nation rather than being arenas for parties to gain interest for their own sake.

With the unity of the Party's leadership, the CPC gives play to the important role of socialist consultative democracy through a coordinated approach, which not only guarantees the efficient operation of Party committees, people's congresses, government departments, people's courts and other administrative bodies, but also guarantees broad participation of different parties.

Recognized by the world

"My understanding of this 'whole-process people's democracy' is that it is an inner party democratic process whereby you identify, on the basis of meritocracy, which are the most qualified people for the job and who are the [best] servants to the common good," said Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and president of the Schiller Institute, in an interview with CGTN.

Brazilian law professor Evandro Menezes de Carvalho thinks China's democracy centers on two main questions: What do the people want? What does the government need to do?

He said compared to many Western countries, China's democracy allows a wider range of people to participate and comes closer to the real needs and interests of the people.

Whole-process people's democracy "is a unique model of governance," said Mustafa Hyder Sayed, executive director of the Pakistan-China Institute. "When you talk about China, we see that whole-process people's democracy has delivered."

Wilson Lee Flores, an economic-political analyst and honorary chairman of the Anvil Business Club in Manila, Philippines, describes China's progressive governance system as a "people's democracy with Chinese characteristics" as it is a system that aims to support economic and political policies by placing people at the center.

Flores said the system "directly consults with and truly represents the needs, voices and aspirations of the people," and it is "Confucian in moral values."

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-10-19/Whole-process-people-s-democracy-guarantees-people-as-the-master--1eg6y5qPBLy/index.html

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X44TtFsi5zY

SOURCE CGTN
LONDON, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CLVT), a global leader in providing trusted information and insights to accelerate the pace of innovation, today released an in-depth look at formal regional research assessment, co-authored by the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate, together with esteemed industry partners: Kate Williams, University of Melbourne; Jonathan Grant, Different Angles; Lutz Bornmann, Max Planck Institute and Martin Szomszor, Electric Data Solutions.

Research assessment: origins, evolution, outcomes examines the origins of research assessment, and how it works in different regions via the approaches of Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. It also considers the future of research assessment exercises and examines the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to replace traditional peer review.

Despite the differences in their approaches to research assessment, variation in their links to funding incentives and disparity in timing between similar systems, all the regions examined improved in comparative research performance, as measured by bibliometric performance. There is, however, no clear universal verdict on whether research assessment is a necessary or facilitating agent.

Jonathan Adams, Chief Scientist at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate explains: "Research assessment has had major effects on institutional structures. It has unquestionably had pervasive effects on researcher behavior: demonstrable in the U.K. and widely reported elsewhere. The most important feature of any assessment system should arguably be the extent to which it attracts and retains the confidence of the researchers."

The Global Research Report, "Research assessment: origins, evolution, outcomes" finds that:

Australia has a comprehensive research assessment, seeking to measure both academic impact and wider societal benefit. Australian methodology distinguishes engagement from impact, in contrast to other research impact evaluations throughout the world such as the United Kingdom's REF, but it does not influence direct research funding and may be unconnected to citation-indexed research performance. ( Kate Williams , University of Melbourne ).

has a comprehensive research assessment, seeking to measure both academic impact and wider societal benefit. Australian methodology distinguishes engagement from impact, in contrast to other research impact evaluations throughout the world such as the REF, but it does not influence direct research funding and may be unconnected to citation-indexed research performance. ( Canada has a long history and culture of integrating knowledge mobilization and evaluation across the research life cycle and focuses on "knowledge mobilization" in specific research areas rather than assessing general research outcomes. ( Jonathan Grant , Different Angles).

has a long history and culture of integrating knowledge mobilization and evaluation across the research life cycle and focuses on "knowledge mobilization" in specific research areas rather than assessing general research outcomes. ( Germany has promoted its research status using 'Excellence Initiative' block funding to research organizations without regular nationwide evaluations. ( Lutz Bornmann , Max Planck Institute).

has promoted its research status using 'Excellence Initiative' block funding to research organizations without regular nationwide evaluations. ( While Hong Kong's research assessment system is similar to the U.K. model, it draws on a distinctive conception of scholarship and on socio-economic benefit as well as excellence.

research assessment system is similar to the U.K. model, it draws on a distinctive conception of scholarship and on socio-economic benefit as well as excellence. The introduction of New Zealand's Performance-Based Research Fund can be associated with a marked improvement in its internationally comparative research performance.

Performance-Based Research Fund can be associated with a marked improvement in its internationally comparative research performance. The United Kingdom set the first model for regular research assessment, which has had pervasive effects on institutional management and on researcher behavior.

There have always been demands for technical solutions to reduce perceived assessment bureaucracy and the report acknowledges that Artificial Intelligence has a profound impact on research but machine learning solutions to assessment burdens may propagate existing biases. Models of assessment outcomes reveal that apparently important predictors may link to factors unrelated to research impact.

Martin Szomszor, Founder Electric Data Solutions: "What this debate has made clear is that both the research system and the data we collect about it capture many forms of prejudice relating to gender, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, age and more. Without proper consideration of these, machine learning solutions will only propagate these existing biases. This is a problem that is already familiar to those who make use of bibliometric indicators and an issue that has been at the forefront of the responsible metrics agenda."

Jonathan Adams concludes, "Our report demonstrates there are many challenges, common to many regions. Research is a very long game, so assessment stability has great merit and, whatever the criticisms, the RAE/REF remains much as it did thirty years ago, with impact case studies added on."

Notes to editors:

Our Global Research Reports from the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate draw on our unique industry insights to offer analysis, ideas and commentary to enlighten and stimulate debate. Each one demonstrates the huge potential of research data to inform management issues in research assessment and research policy and to accelerate development of the global research base.

https://clarivate.com/the-institute-for-scientific-information/isi-reports/

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.

Media Contact

Rebecca Krahenbuhl, External Communications Manager, Academia & Government

[email protected]

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1159266/Clarivate_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Clarivate Plc
DUBLIN, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Serum-Free Media Market: Focus on Media Type, End User, and Region - Analysis and Forecast, 2022-2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global market for serum-free media was valued at $1,022.4 million in 2021 and is expected to reach $3,920.5 million by 2032, registering a CAGR of 12.73% during the forecast period 2022-2032.

The growth in the global serum-free media market is expected to be driven by factors such as the low risk of contamination in the media, rising awareness of media-based diagnostic testing, and significant number of funding for executing research and development.

Market Lifecycle Stage

The global serum-free media market is progressing rapidly with a significant increase in research and development activities pertaining to a wide range of animal component-free products for disease detection, accentuating their criticality in healthcare. Serum-free media has a critical role in the cellular diagnostics approach, as it ensures the safe and effective application for improved cell culture and cell therapy-based methods.

Increasing investments in R&D for cell-based diagnostics is one of the major opportunities in the serum-free media market. Several clinical organizations and biopharmaceutical companies are working collaboratively on molecular biology applications, cell biology, cancer research, metagenomics, and plant research using serum-free media as a therapeutic means for applications in several disease indications in order to enable efficient diagnosis, treatment selection, dosage selection, and treatment monitoring.

Impact

Several techniques are employed in the development of serum-free media utilization for the process of removing cells, tissues, or organs from an animal or plant and putting them into a setting that will help them survive and/or proliferate. The selection of an adequate growth medium for in vitro cultivation is the most significant and important phase in cell culture. A growth medium, also known as a culture media, is a solution, gel, or powder that promotes the development of cells, small plants, or microorganisms. This serum-free medium market space has been segmented into different media types that include common serum-free, xeno-free, chemically-defined, animal component-free, and protein-free. Some of these media types are described in brief as follows:

Common serum-free media: In common serum-free media, the composition is precisely defined, ensuring lot-to-lot consistency and eliminating the need to screen new lots of serum. In addition to facilitating the growth of numerous cell types for study, serum-free media also provide the advantage of removing the threat of infectious pathogens. The common serum-free media does not include human or animal serum or plasma in its direct or basic constituents.

Chemically-defined media: Chemically-defined media is beneficial for a range of physiological research as well as for examining the minimal needs of microorganisms. Chemically-defined media are known to increase productivity and reduce costs in cell culture applications. A specified medium will enhance reproducibility and enable a more precise prediction of the final yield from a certain procedure.

Animal component-free media: Animal-free media, also known as animal component-free and animal origin-free cell culture media, can offer the essential components required for cell growth and performance similar to the media, including serum, but without the drawbacks associated with using the serum. Animal component-free media not only mitigates the risk of prions and other viral contaminants but also improves regulatory approvals and speed-to-market.

Protein-free media: The protein-free media are ideal for producing proteins as they promote healthy cell development and excellent protein yield. The proteins in the protein-free medium can be substituted with low-molecular-weight components such as peptides, hormones, and inorganic ions. However, protein-free designated commercially available media frequently contain just trace amounts of recombinant proteins.

Impact of COVID-19

The current global serum-free media market comprises different media types. The unexpected crisis of the pandemic has surged the demand for essentials and thus, increased the demand for serum-free media. There was increased demand for serum-free media from biopharmaceutical companies.

Overall, the impact of COVID-19 on the global serum-free media market size has been low-moderate. Some of the market players have reported a slight decline in sales. However, it is worth mentioning that with the ease of restrictions after Q2 2021, the market for serum-free media gained significant momentum and is anticipated to grow during the forecast period 2022-2032. As a result of the pandemic and reduced output at manufacturing facilities, the pandemic caused a short-term drop in manufacturing and sales of serum-free media.

The global serum-free media market will eventually return to its usual growth trajectory over time. With many people impacted by COVID-19 all around the world, pharmaceutical companies are ramping up manufacturing to create vaccinations. Such trends are generating revenue potential for serum-free media market participants. Lonza Group AG, a Swiss multinational chemicals and biotechnology firm, is earning notoriety for its non-animal ProVeroTM1 Serum-free Medium, which aids in vaccine manufacture.

Recent Developments in the Global Serum-Free Media Market

In August 2022 , Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. expanded the cell culture media manufacturing facility in Grand Island, New York , to support the production of new vaccines and biologics. This expansion would support the worldwide media supply and increase the capacity to create high-quality technologies.

, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. expanded the cell culture media manufacturing facility in , to support the production of new vaccines and biologics. This expansion would support the worldwide media supply and increase the capacity to create high-quality technologies. In May 2022 , FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific completed its new bioprocessing innovation and collaboration center in China . The new center would enable local resources and expertise required to optimize cell culture media and workflows to aid the production of vaccines, advanced therapies, and biotherapeutic drug development in China .

, FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific completed its new bioprocessing innovation and collaboration center in . The new center would enable local resources and expertise required to optimize cell culture media and workflows to aid the production of vaccines, advanced therapies, and biotherapeutic drug development in . In September 2021 , Bio-Techne Corporation developed a new medium ExCellerate IpsC expansion medium, for IpsC research in regenerative medicine.

, Bio-Techne Corporation developed a new medium ExCellerate IpsC expansion medium, for IpsC research in regenerative medicine. In April 2021 , PromoCell GmbH launched an upgrade to its Keratinocyte Cell Culture Portfolio. The company expanded its improved animal-extract-free Keratinocyte Growth Medium 3 for the standardized isolation and development of juvenile and adult Normal Human Keratinocytes.

, PromoCell GmbH launched an upgrade to its Keratinocyte Cell Culture Portfolio. The company expanded its improved animal-extract-free Keratinocyte Growth Medium 3 for the standardized isolation and development of juvenile and adult Normal Human Keratinocytes. In March 2021 , the company also launched its improved third-generation Melanocyte Cell Culture Portfolio. Melanocyte Growth Medium M3 is a serum-free, bovine pituitary extract (BPE)-free, and phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-free media formulation.

Demand - Drivers and Limitations

Following are the demand drivers for the global serum-free media market:

Low Risk of Contamination as a Demand Driver

Launch of innovative products in Serum-Free Media Ecosystem

Low reception cost involving small and medium enterprises in comparison to animal derived media

The market is expected to face some limitations too due to the following challenges:

Slow Growth Rate in Comparison to Serum-Supplemented Media

Requirement of Diverse Cell-Type for Specific Media Formulation

Key Market Players and Competition Synopsis

The companies that are profiled have been selected based on inputs gathered from primary experts and analyzing company coverage, product portfolio, and market penetration.

Some of the prominent names established in this market are:

Company Type 1: Serum-Free Media Private Industry

MP BIOMEDICALS.

HiMedia Laboratories

R&D Systems, Inc.

Sino Biological, Inc.

PAN-Biotech.

PromoCell GmbH

Athena Environmental Sciences, Inc.

STEMCELL Technologies Inc.

Company Type 2: Serum-Free Media Public Industry

Corning Incorporated

Lonza Group AG

Merck KgaA

Sartorius AG

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation

Danaher.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Market Overview

2 Global Serum-Free Media: Market Dynamics

2.1 Overview

2.2 Impact Analysis

2.2.1 Drivers

2.2.1.1 Low Risk of Contamination as a Demand Driver

2.2.1.2 Launch of innovative products in Serum-Free Media Ecosystem

2.2.1.3 Low reception cost involving small and medium enterprises in comparison to animal derived media

2.2.2 Restraints

2.2.2.1 Slow Growth Rate in Comparison to Serum-Supplemented Media

2.2.2.2 Requirement of Diverse Cell-Type for Specific Media Formulation

2.2.3 Opportunities

2.2.3.1 Regulatory Bodies Across the Globe Encourage the Use of Animal-Free Media in Biological Products

2.2.3.2 Extensive Adoption of Serum-Free Media in Biopharmaceutical Companies

3 Global Serum-Free Media (by Media Type), $Mn, 2021-2032

3.1 Overview

3.2 Common Serum-Free

3.3 Xeno-Free

3.4 Chemically-Defined

3.5 Animal Component-Free

3.6 Protein-Free

4 Global Serum-Free Media (by End User), $Million, 2021-2032

4.1 Overview

4.2 Biopharmaceutical Companies

4.2.1 Biopharmaceutical Companies, by Media Type

4.3 Academic and Research Organizations

4.3.1 Academic and Research Organizations, by Media Type

4.4 Clinical Research Organizations

4.4.1 Clinical Research Organizations, by Media Type

4.5 Others

4.5.1 Others, by Media Type

5 Global Serum-Free Media Market (by Region), $Million, 2021-2032

6 Competitive Landscape

6.1 Overview

6.2 Key Developments and Strategies

6.2.1 Business Expansions

6.2.2 Product Launches and Developments

6.2.3 Mergers and Acquisitions

6.2.4 Others

6.3 Market Share Analysis (by Company)

6.4 Growth-Share Analysis (by Company)

7 Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/sk4jq1

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
LUND, Sweden, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AlixLabs from Lund, Sweden, has developed a new, innovative method for manufacturing semiconductor components with a high degree of packing, eliminating several steps in the semiconductor manufacturing process - Atomic Layer Etch Pitch Splitting (APS)*. The method makes the components cheaper and less resource-intensive to manufacture and can open up a new path for a more sustainable mass production of electronic products. The method also makes it possible to manufacture tiny semiconductor components accurately and efficiently with manageable wafer fab equipment investments.

The company is now pleased to announce that the European Patent Office (EPO) has issued a notice of Intention to Grant their first European Patent. Europe is one of the most important markets for leading-edge semiconductor products due to the size of the EU inner market for electronic goods like smartphones, PC/laptops, tablets, automotive and internet servers, and hence crucial for AlixLabs to protect its innovative APS process here by IP.

In a statement from Dr. Dmitry Suyatin, CTO and Co-founder of AlixLabs on the origin of the invention and R&D activities in Lund, he said, "Our key technology is based on a surprising discovery that sidewalls act as a topographical mask in Atomic Layer Etch Processes. This technology has been proven for such different materials as Gallium Phosphide (GaP), Silicon (Si) and Tantalum Nitride (TaN)  all being critical materials to the semiconductor and optoelectronic industry. Besides already having secured a granted two US and one Taiwan patent, we are now delighted to announce that our European patent will also be granted and that we have more patent applications in the pipeline. A process of validating the patent in key countries in Europe is in process."

Dr. Jonas Sundqvist, CEO and Co-founder said, "The APS method is complementary for single exposure Immersion and Extreme UV (EUV) Lithography and corresponding multiple patterning technologies like self-aligned double and quadruple patterning (SADP resp. SAQP) as well as multiple exposure lithography-etch and directed self-assembly (DSA). However, APS can reduce complexity, capital expenditure and the environmental foot print for wafer manufacturing considerably. Besides that EU is one of the biggest markets for semiconductor components, the recent announcements of 300 mm wafer fab expansions and leading automotive sector means that it is more important than ever to have European IP".

AlixLabs: Dr. Dmitry Suyatin, Dr. Amin Karimi and Dr. Reza Jafari Jam discussing 300 mm wafer strategies in the Lund Nanolab cleanroom.

* Atomic Layer Etch Pitch Splitting (APS). As previously reported (April 30, 2021), The US Patent Office has approved AlixLabs's patent application for nanofabrication by ALE Pitch Splitting (APS). The US Patent Office has issued a patent (US10930515) on February 23, 2021 and recently the second patent (US11424130) on August 23, 2022. The patents covers methods to split nanostructures in half by a single process step using Atomic Layer Etching (ALE). The method can have a significant impact on the semiconductor industry by enabling sustainable scaling of electronic components and shrink chip designs further in a cost-effective way. The method is complementary for single exposure Immersion and Extreme UV (EUV) Lithography and corresponding multiple patterning technologies like self-aligned double and quadruple patterning (SADP resp. SAQP) as well as multiple exposure lithography-etch and directed self-assembly (DSA).

Contact:

Jonas Sundqvist, CEO of AlixLabs, phone +46 767 63 94 67, email [email protected]

The following files are available for download:

https://news.cision.com/alixlabs-ab/i/05-alixlabs-labb-211116,c3104153 05 AlixLabs labb 211116

SOURCE AlixLabs AB
The annual report highlights the company's enterprise-wide commitment to caring for people, the planet and communities

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- For the sixth consecutive year, Hallmark Cards, Inc. shared the results of its enterprise-wide corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts with the release of the Caring in Action report. The report focuses on the company's impact in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion; community; and sustainability during 2021.

Hallmark released its annual Caring in Action report, which focuses on the companys impact in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion; community; and sustainability during 2021.

The Caring in Action report features stories from Hallmark's portfolio of businesses  including Hallmark Global, Crayola and Hallmark Media  and reflects three core commitments: Care for our People, Care for our Community and Care for our Planet.

"Responding to the growing, universal need for caring is central to the purpose and promises of our brands," said Mike Perry, President and CEO of Hallmark Cards, Inc. "While our work is never done, we're energized by the momentum we've gained as we work toward our goals and help people live more caring, connected lives full of meaningful moments."

As part of Hallmark's CSR strategy, the company currently aligns with five United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Quality Education; Gender Equality; Sustainable Cities and Communities; Responsible Consumption and Production; and Life on Land. Hallmark also has two key goals that are unique to its corporate culture: Arts and Culture, and Family and Kids.

A few highlights from the report include:

Employees across all of Hallmark's businesses donated 265,000 meals and accumulated more than 30,000 volunteer hours.

Enterprise-wide, the company reduced CO2 emissions by 130,000 metric tons, decreased water use by 69 million gallons and diverted 35 million pounds of waste from landfills.

The company received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign's 2021 Corporate Equality Index and earned the designation as one of the "Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality," in addition to being recognized by Forbes and Statista as one of "America's Best Employers for Women."

Hallmark is proud of the progress made in 2021 and will continue to use its culture of caring to create meaningful action for employees, communities and the planet. In the coming months, additional stories showcasing Hallmark's efforts will become available as part of the always-on digital Caring in Action report.

About Hallmark

For more than 100 years, family-owned Hallmark Cards, Inc. has been dedicated to creating a more emotionally connected world. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri and employing more than 20,000 worldwide, the approximately $3.8 billion company operates a diversified portfolio of businesses. The Hallmark Global business sells greeting cards, gift wrap and related products in more than 30 languages with distribution in nearly 100 countries and 100,000 rooftops worldwide, including a network of company-owned and independently-owned Hallmark Gold Crown stores in five countries. Crayola offers a wide range of art materials and creative play toys designed to spark children's creativity around the globe. Hallmark Media operates three linear cable channels, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama, and Hallmark Movies Now, a subscription video on-demand streaming service. The company also features Hallmark Publishing, a leading publisher of uplifting eBooks, audiobooks, and print editions. Crown Center is a real estate development company that manages the 85-acre hotel, office, entertainment and residential campus surrounding Hallmark's headquarters. For more information, visit Hallmark.com. Connect on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Twitter.

SOURCE Hallmark Cards, Inc.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) announced that the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) has selected CFS to support work on the magnetic confinement system for the UKAEA's Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP). CFS was chosen in a competitive tender process based on its expertise in designing and building high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets.

"This award demonstrates global recognition from one of the world's leading fusion authorities that CFS is a leader in designing and building HTS magnets," said CFS CEO Bob Mumgaard. "These magnets represent groundbreaking technology for commercial fusion systems but could also be utilized to revolutionize an array of applications."

"The path to commercially viable fusion energy is untrodden. We are spawning an entirely new global industry," said Paul Methven, Director of STEP. "We believe superconducting magnets are a key part of putting fusion electricity on the grid, both economically and reliably."

CFS was selected as the winning bidder for three separate contract lots related to the analysis and design of STEP's magnetic confinement system: magnet design development, magnet validation testing, and magnet conductor specification. CFS in collaboration with MIT demonstrated a record-breaking 20 tesla HTS magnet in September of 2021.

The announcement follows the commencement of a separate five-year collaborative agreement between CFS and UKAEA to support the development of fusion energy and related technologies.

About CFS

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is collaborating with MIT to leverage decades of research combined with new groundbreaking high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet technology. The mission is to deploy fusion power plants to meet global decarbonization goals as fast as possible. CFS has raised more than $2 billion in funding since it was founded in 2018 and assembled a team of leaders in tough tech, fusion science, and manufacturing with a track record of rapid execution. Supported by the world's leading investors, CFS is uniquely positioned to deliver limitless, clean, fusion power to combat climate change.

More information: http://cfs.energy/ . Social Media: @cfs_energy

About UKAEA

UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) carries out fusion energy research on behalf of the UK Government. We believe fusion will be part of the world's future energy mix, and achieving this involves working at the forefront of science, engineering, and technology.

We oversee the UK's fusion programme, headed by the MAST Upgrade (Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak) experiment. We also host the world's largest fusion research facility, JET (Joint European Torus), operated for scientists from around Europe.

More information: https://www.gov.uk/ukaea . Social Media: @UKAEAofficial

Contact: Kristen Cullen

[email protected]

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1172159/CFS_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Commonwealth Fusion Systems
Data Include Provider-Reported Best Overall Response (BOR), Progression-Free Survival

and Overall Survival in U.S. Patients

NUTLEY, N.J., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Eisai today announced final results from a real-world data (RWD) study assessing the clinical effectiveness of LENVIMA (lenvatinib) as a first-line therapy for patients with radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (RAI-refractory DTC). The poster summarizing the findings from the RWD study was presented at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association (ATA), being held in Montreal, Quebec on October 19-23, 2022.

The study included 308 patients who received lenvatinib monotherapy for RAI-refractory DTC in the first-line setting. The median age was 60 years at the time of treatment initiation with 44.8% of patients diagnosed with stage III or IV disease, and 89.6% of patients exhibiting metastases. By the end of follow-up, 32.1% of patients had discontinued lenvatinib treatment, while 67.9% were still on therapy. Median duration of lenvatinib treatment was 17.5 months overall, 9.0 months in those discontinued, and 20.2 months in those still on therapy. Median time to discontinuation of lenvatinib was 49.0 months (95% CI: 38.5-54.2) by Kaplan-Meier analyses. Among the 99 patients who discontinued lenvatinib treatment, the most common reasons were disease progression (36.4%) and death (32.3%)

Final analyses of the RWD study showed that 72.4% of patients treated with LENVIMA had Best Overall Response (BOR) reported as a complete (26.9%) or partial (45.5%) response. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 49.0 months (95% CI: 37.0-54.2) with an estimated PFS rate of 68.2% at 24 months and 54.2% at 48 months. The median overall survival (OS) was not reached at the data cut-off. The estimated OS rate at 24 months was 78.4% and 57.0% at 72 months.

"The evidence supporting the clinical effectiveness of LENVIMA in real-world clinical practice from the RWD study are encouraging for oncologists and people living with RAI-refractory DTC, a challenging condition in which cancer persists or recurs despite treatment with RAI," said Dr. Takashi Owa, Chief Scientific Officer, Senior Vice President, Eisai Co., Ltd. "Locally recurrent or metastatic, progressive, radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer was our first approved indication for LENVIMA and we remain committed to addressing the needs and improving the lives of this patient population as part of our human health care (hhc) mission."

"Our primary objective for generating robust scientific evidence using real-world data is to inform the healthcare community about the performance of therapies in actual clinical practice," said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Vice President, Head of Worldwide Real-World Evidence, Eisai Inc. "We plan to continue to generate quality real world evidence across different cancers in order to support public health."

The real-world evidence poster presented at ATA was based on data from a retrospective patient chart review study that assessed clinical outcomes, including provider-reported BOR, PFS and OS. Patient data were extracted by prescribing physicians from individual patients' electronic health records and captured via an electronic case report form. The study cohort included RAI-refractory DTC patients in the U.S. treated with first-line LENVIMA therapy between February 13, 2015, and September 30, 2020. All patient data were de-identified prior to analyses. The time-to-event endpoints were assessed using Kaplan-Meier methods.

The RWD study is subject to a few limitations. There could have been potential provider and patient selection bias. Efforts were made to minimize the bias by recruiting a physician sample across all regions in the U.S., limiting the maximum number of participating physicians per oncology practice, and by allowing each physician to provide data for approximately 5 randomly selected patients. Differences in clinical outcome assessment schedules and criteria used among participating oncologists were expected in real world clinical practice.

LENVIMA was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February 2015 for the treatment of patients with locally recurrent or metastatic, progressive, RAI-refractory DTC.

About Thyroid Cancer

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy and global figures show that its incidence is on the rise. In 2022, it is estimated that there will be 43,800 new cases of thyroid cancer in the U.S. and that women are three times more likely to develop thyroid cancer than men. The most common types of thyroid cancer, papillary and follicular (including Hurthle cell), are classified as DTC and account for approximately 90% of all cases. While most cases of DTC are curable with surgery and radioactive iodine treatment, the prognosis for those patients whose cancers persist or recur is poor.

About LENVIMA (lenvatinib); available as 10 mg and 4 mg capsules

LENVIMA, discovered and developed by Eisai, is a multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor that inhibits the kinase activities of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors VEGFR1 (FLT1), VEGFR2 (KDR), and VEGFR3 (FLT4). LENVIMA inhibits other kinases that have been implicated in pathogenic angiogenesis, tumor growth, and cancer progression in addition to their normal cellular functions, including fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors FGFR1-4, the platelet derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFR), KIT, and RET. The combination of LENVIMA and everolimus showed increased anti-angiogenic and anti-tumor activity as demonstrated by decreased human endothelial cell proliferation, tube formation, and VEGF signaling in vitro and tumor volume in mouse xenograft models of human renal cell cancer greater than each drug alone. In syngeneic mouse tumor models, the combination of lenvatinib with an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody decreased tumor-associated macrophages, increased activated cytotoxic T cells, and demonstrated greater antitumor activity compared to either treatment alone.

LENVIMA (lenvatinib) Indications in the U.S.

For the treatment of patients with locally recurrent or metastatic, progressive, radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC)

In combination with pembrolizumab, for the first-line treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC)

In combination with everolimus for the treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following one prior anti-angiogenic therapy (RCC)

For the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

In combination with pembrolizumab, for the treatment of patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma (EC) that is mismatch repair proficient (pMMR), as determined by an FDA-approved test, or not microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H), who have disease progression following prior systemic therapy in any setting and are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation.

Important Safety Information

Warnings and Precautions

Hypertension. In DTC (differentiated thyroid cancer), hypertension occurred in 73% of patients on LENVIMA (44% grade 3-4). In RCC (renal cell carcinoma), hypertension occurred in 42% of patients on LENVIMA + everolimus (13% grade 3). Systolic blood pressure 160 mmHg occurred in 29% of patients, and 21% had diastolic blood pressure 100 mmHg. In HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma), hypertension occurred in 45% of LENVIMA-treated patients (24% grade 3). Grade 4 hypertension was not reported in HCC.

Serious complications of poorly controlled hypertension have been reported. Control blood pressure prior to initiation. Monitor blood pressure after 1 week, then every 2 weeks for the first 2 months, and then at least monthly thereafter during treatment. Withhold and resume at reduced dose when hypertension is controlled or permanently discontinue based on severity.

Cardiac Dysfunction. Serious and fatal cardiac dysfunction can occur with LENVIMA. Across clinical trials in 799 patients with DTC, RCC, and HCC, grade 3 or higher cardiac dysfunction occurred in 3% of LENVIMA-treated patients. Monitor for clinical symptoms or signs of cardiac dysfunction. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity.

Arterial Thromboembolic Events. Among patients receiving LENVIMA or LENVIMA + everolimus, arterial thromboembolic events of any severity occurred in 2% of patients in RCC and HCC and 5% in DTC. Grade 3-5 arterial thromboembolic events ranged from 2% to 3% across all clinical trials.

Among patients receiving LENVIMA with pembrolizumab, arterial thrombotic events of any severity occurred in 5% of patients in CLEAR, including myocardial infarction (3.4%) and cerebrovascular accident (2.3%).

Permanently discontinue following an arterial thrombotic event. The safety of resuming after an arterial thromboembolic event has not been established, and LENVIMA has not been studied in patients who have had an arterial thromboembolic event within the previous 6 months.

Hepatotoxicity. Across clinical studies enrolling 1327 LENVIMA-treated patients with malignancies other than HCC, serious hepatic adverse reactions occurred in 1.4% of patients. Fatal events, including hepatic failure, acute hepatitis and hepatorenal syndrome, occurred in 0.5% of patients. In HCC, hepatic encephalopathy occurred in 8% of LENVIMA-treated patients (5% grade 3-5). Grade 3-5 hepatic failure occurred in 3% of LENVIMA-treated patients; 2% of patients discontinued LENVIMA due to hepatic encephalopathy, and 1% discontinued due to hepatic failure.

Monitor liver function prior to initiation, then every 2 weeks for the first 2 months, and at least monthly thereafter during treatment. Monitor patients with HCC closely for signs of hepatic failure, including hepatic encephalopathy. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity.

Renal Failure or Impairment. Serious including fatal renal failure or impairment can occur with LENVIMA. Renal impairment was reported in 14% and 7% of LENVIMA-treated patients in DTC and HCC, respectively. Grade 3-5 renal failure or impairment occurred in 3% of patients with DTC and 2% of patients with HCC, including 1 fatal event in each study. In RCC, renal impairment or renal failure was reported in 18% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients (10% grade 3).

Initiate prompt management of diarrhea or dehydration/hypovolemia. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue for renal failure or impairment based on severity.

Proteinuria. In DTC and HCC, proteinuria was reported in 34% and 26% of LENVIMA-treated patients, respectively. Grade 3 proteinuria occurred in 11% and 6% in DTC and HCC, respectively. In RCC, proteinuria occurred in 31% of patients receiving LENVIMA + everolimus (8% grade 3). Monitor for proteinuria prior to initiation and periodically during treatment. If urine dipstick proteinuria 2+ is detected, obtain a 24-hour urine protein. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity.

Diarrhea. Of the 737 LENVIMA-treated patients in DTC and HCC, diarrhea occurred in 49% (6% grade 3). In RCC, diarrhea occurred in 81% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients (19% grade 3). Diarrhea was the most frequent cause of dose interruption/reduction, and diarrhea recurred despite dose reduction. Promptly initiate management of diarrhea. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity.

Fistula Formation and Gastrointestinal Perforation. Of the 799 patients treated with LENVIMA or LENVIMA + everolimus in DTC, RCC, and HCC, fistula or gastrointestinal perforation occurred in 2%. Permanently discontinue in patients who develop gastrointestinal perforation of any severity or grade 3-4 fistula.

QT Interval Prolongation. In DTC, QT/QTc interval prolongation occurred in 9% of LENVIMA-treated patients and QT interval prolongation of >500 ms occurred in 2%. In RCC, QTc interval increases of >60 ms occurred in 11% of patients receiving LENVIMA + everolimus and QTc interval >500 ms occurred in 6%. In HCC, QTc interval increases of >60 ms occurred in 8% of LENVIMA-treated patients and QTc interval >500 ms occurred in 2%.

Monitor and correct electrolyte abnormalities at baseline and periodically during treatment. Monitor electrocardiograms in patients with congenital long QT syndrome, congestive heart failure, bradyarrhythmias, or those who are taking drugs known to prolong the QT interval, including Class Ia and III antiarrhythmics. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery based on severity.

Hypocalcemia. In DTC, grade 3-4 hypocalcemia occurred in 9% of LENVIMA-treated patients. In 65% of cases, hypocalcemia improved or resolved following calcium supplementation with or without dose interruption or dose reduction. In RCC, grade 3-4 hypocalcemia occurred in 6% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients. In HCC, grade 3 hypocalcemia occurred in 0.8% of LENVIMA-treated patients. Monitor blood calcium levels at least monthly and replace calcium as necessary during treatment. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue depending on severity.

Reversible Posterior Leukoencephalopathy Syndrome (RPLS). Across clinical studies of 1823 patients who received LENVIMA as a single agent, RPLS occurred in 0.3%. Confirm diagnosis of RPLS with MRI. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue depending on severity and persistence of neurologic symptoms.

Hemorrhagic Events. Serious including fatal hemorrhagic events can occur with LENVIMA. In DTC, RCC, and HCC clinical trials, hemorrhagic events, of any grade, occurred in 29% of the 799 patients treated with LENVIMA as a single agent or in combination with everolimus. The most frequently reported hemorrhagic events (all grades and occurring in at least 5% of patients) were epistaxis and hematuria. In DTC, grade 3-5 hemorrhage occurred in 2% of LENVIMA-treated patients, including 1 fatal intracranial hemorrhage among 16 patients who received LENVIMA and had CNS metastases at baseline. In RCC, grade 3-5 hemorrhage occurred in 8% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients, including 1 fatal cerebral hemorrhage. In HCC, grade 3-5 hemorrhage occurred in 5% of LENVIMA-treated patients, including 7 fatal hemorrhagic events. Serious tumor-related bleeds, including fatal hemorrhagic events, occurred in LENVIMA-treated patients in clinical trials and in the postmarketing setting. In postmarketing surveillance, serious and fatal carotid artery hemorrhages were seen more frequently in patients with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) than other tumors. Safety and effectiveness of LENVIMA in patients with ATC have not been demonstrated in clinical trials.

Consider the risk of severe or fatal hemorrhage associated with tumor invasion or infiltration of major blood vessels (eg, carotid artery). Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity.

Impairment of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Suppression/Thyroid Dysfunction. LENVIMA impairs exogenous thyroid suppression. In DTC, 88% of patients had baseline thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level 0.5 mU/L. In patients with normal TSH at baseline, elevation of TSH level >0.5 mU/L was observed post baseline in 57% of LENVIMA-treated patients. In RCC and HCC, grade 1 or 2 hypothyroidism occurred in 24% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients and 21% of LENVIMA-treated patients, respectively. In patients with normal or low TSH at baseline, elevation of TSH was observed post baseline in 70% of LENVIMA-treated patients in HCC and 60% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients in RCC.

Monitor thyroid function prior to initiation and at least monthly during treatment. Treat hypothyroidism according to standard medical practice.

Impaired Wound Healing. Impaired wound healing has been reported in patients who received LENVIMA. Withhold LENVIMA for at least 1 week prior to elective surgery. Do not administer for at least 2 weeks following major surgery and until adequate wound healing. The safety of resumption of LENVIMA after resolution of wound healing complications has not been established.

Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (ONJ). ONJ has been reported in patients receiving LENVIMA. Concomitant exposure to other risk factors, such as bisphosphonates, denosumab, dental disease, or invasive dental procedures, may increase the risk of ONJ.

Perform an oral examination prior to treatment with LENVIMA and periodically during LENVIMA treatment. Advise patients regarding good oral hygiene practices and to consider having preventive dentistry performed prior to treatment with LENVIMA and throughout treatment with LENVIMA.

Avoid invasive dental procedures, if possible, while on LENVIMA treatment, particularly in patients at higher risk. Withhold LENVIMA for at least 1 week prior to scheduled dental surgery or invasive dental procedures, if possible. For patients requiring invasive dental procedures, discontinuation of bisphosphonate treatment may reduce the risk of ONJ.

Withhold LENVIMA if ONJ develops and restart based on clinical judgement of adequate resolution.

EmbryoFetal Toxicity. Based on its mechanism of action and data from animal reproduction studies, LENVIMA can cause fetal harm when administered to pregnant women. In animal reproduction studies, oral administration of lenvatinib during organogenesis at doses below the recommended clinical doses resulted in embryotoxicity, fetotoxicity, and teratogenicity in rats and rabbits. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus and advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with LENVIMA and for at least 30 days after the last dose.

Adverse Reactions

In DTC, the most common adverse reactions (30%) observed in LENVIMA-treated patients were hypertension (73%), fatigue (67%), diarrhea (67%), arthralgia/myalgia (62%), decreased appetite (54%), decreased weight (51%), nausea (47%), stomatitis (41%), headache (38%), vomiting (36%), proteinuria (34%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (32%), abdominal pain (31%), and dysphonia (31%). The most common serious adverse reactions (2%) were pneumonia (4%), hypertension (3%), and dehydration (3%). Adverse reactions led to dose reductions in 68% of LENVIMA-treated patients; 18% discontinued LENVIMA. The most common adverse reactions (10%) resulting in dose reductions were hypertension (13%), proteinuria (11%), decreased appetite (10%), and diarrhea (10%); the most common adverse reactions (1%) resulting in discontinuation of LENVIMA were hypertension (1%) and asthenia (1%).

In RCC, the most common adverse reactions (20%) observed in LENVIMA + pembrolizumab-treated patients were fatigue (63%), diarrhea (62%), musculoskeletal pain (58%), hypothyroidism (57%), hypertension (56%), stomatitis (43%), decreased appetite (41%), rash (37%), nausea (36%), decreased weight (30%), dysphonia (30%), proteinuria (30%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (29%), abdominal pain (27%), hemorrhagic events (27%), vomiting (26%), constipation (25%), hepatotoxicity (25%), headache (23%), and acute kidney injury (21%). The most common serious adverse reactions (2%) were hemorrhagic events (5%), diarrhea (4%), hypertension (3%), myocardial infarction (3%), pneumonitis (3%), vomiting (3%), acute kidney injury (2%), adrenal insufficiency (2%), dyspnea (2%), and pneumonia (2%). Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 4.3% of patients receiving LENVIMA in combination with pembrolizumab, including cardio-respiratory arrest (0.9%), sepsis (0.9%), and one case (0.3%) each of arrhythmia, autoimmune hepatitis, dyspnea, hypertensive crisis, increased blood creatinine, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, myasthenic syndrome, myocarditis, nephritis, pneumonitis, ruptured aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 51% of patients receiving LENVIMA and pembrolizumab. Serious adverse reactions in 2% of patients were hemorrhagic events (5%), diarrhea (4%), hypertension (3%), myocardial infarction (3%), pneumonitis (3%), vomiting (3%), acute kidney injury (2%), adrenal insufficiency (2%), dyspnea (2%), and pneumonia (2%). Permanent discontinuation of LENVIMA, pembrolizumab, or both due to an adverse reaction occurred in 37% of patients; 26% LENVIMA only, 29% pembrolizumab only, and 13% both drugs. The most common adverse reactions (2%) leading to permanent discontinuation of LENVIMA, pembrolizumab, or both were pneumonitis (3%), myocardial infarction (3%), hepatotoxicity (3%), acute kidney injury (3%), rash (3%), and diarrhea (2%). Dose interruptions of LENVIMA, pembrolizumab, or both due to an adverse reaction occurred in 78% of patients receiving LENVIMA in combination with pembrolizumab. LENVIMA was interrupted in 73% of patients and both drugs were interrupted in 39% of patients. LENVIMA was dose reduced in 69% of patients. The most common adverse reactions (5%) resulting in dose reduction or interruption of LENVIMA were diarrhea (26%), fatigue (18%), hypertension (17%), proteinuria (13%), decreased appetite (12%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (11%), nausea (9%), stomatitis (9%), musculoskeletal pain (8%), rash (8%), increased lipase (7%), abdominal pain (6%), and vomiting (6%), increased ALT (5%), and increased amylase (5%).

In RCC, the most common adverse reactions (30%) observed in LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients were diarrhea (81%), fatigue (73%), arthralgia/myalgia (55%), decreased appetite (53%), vomiting (48%), nausea (45%), stomatitis (44%), hypertension (42%), peripheral edema (42%), cough (37%), abdominal pain (37%), dyspnea (35%), rash (35%), decreased weight (34%), hemorrhagic events (32%), and proteinuria (31%). The most common serious adverse reactions (5%) were renal failure (11%), dehydration (10%), anemia (6%), thrombocytopenia (5%), diarrhea (5%), vomiting (5%), and dyspnea (5%). Adverse reactions led to dose reductions or interruption in 89% of patients. The most common adverse reactions (5%) resulting in dose reductions were diarrhea (21%), fatigue (8%), thrombocytopenia (6%), vomiting (6%), nausea (5%), and proteinuria (5%). Treatment discontinuation due to an adverse reaction occurred in 29% of patients.

In HCC, the most common adverse reactions (20%) observed in LENVIMA-treated patients were hypertension (45%), fatigue (44%), diarrhea (39%), decreased appetite (34%), arthralgia/myalgia (31%), decreased weight (31%), abdominal pain (30%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (27%), proteinuria (26%), dysphonia (24%), hemorrhagic events (23%), hypothyroidism (21%), and nausea (20%). The most common serious adverse reactions (2%) were hepatic encephalopathy (5%), hepatic failure (3%), ascites (3%), and decreased appetite (2%). Adverse reactions led to dose reductions or interruption in 62% of patients. The most common adverse reactions (5%) resulting in dose reductions were fatigue (9%), decreased appetite (8%), diarrhea (8%), proteinuria (7%), hypertension (6%), and palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (5%). Treatment discontinuation due to an adverse reaction occurred in 20% of patients. The most common adverse reactions (1%) resulting in discontinuation of LENVIMA were fatigue (1%), hepatic encephalopathy (2%), hyperbilirubinemia (1%), and hepatic failure (1%).

In EC, the most common adverse reactions (20%) observed in LENVIMA + pembrolizumab-treated patients were hypothyroidism (67%), hypertension (67%), fatigue (58%), diarrhea (55%), musculoskeletal disorders (53%), nausea (49%), decreased appetite (44%), vomiting (37%), stomatitis (35%), decreased weight (34%), abdominal pain (34%), urinary tract infection (31%), proteinuria (29%), constipation (27%), headache (26%), hemorrhagic events (25%), palmarplantar erythrodysesthesia (23%), dysphonia (22%), and rash (20%). Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 4.7% of those treated with LENVIMA and pembrolizumab, including 2 cases of pneumonia, and 1 case of the following: acute kidney injury, acute myocardial infarction, colitis, decreased appetite, intestinal perforation, lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage, malignant gastrointestinal obstruction, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, myelodysplastic syndrome, pulmonary embolism, and right ventricular dysfunction. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 50% of patients receiving LENVIMA and pembrolizumab. Serious adverse reactions with frequency 3% were hypertension (4.4%), and urinary tract infection (3.2%). Discontinuation of LENVIMA due to an adverse reaction occurred in 26% of patients. The most common (1%) adverse reactions leading to discontinuation of LENVIMA were hypertension (2%), asthenia (1.8%), diarrhea (1.2%), decreased appetite (1.2%), proteinuria (1.2%), and vomiting (1.2%). Dose reductions of LENVIMA due to adverse reactions occurred in 67% of patients. The most common (5%) adverse reactions resulting in dose reduction of LENVIMA were hypertension (18%), diarrhea (11%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (9%), proteinuria (7%), fatigue (7%), decreased appetite (6%), asthenia (5%), and weight decreased (5%). Dose interruptions of LENVIMA due to an adverse reaction occurred in 58% of these patients. The most common (2%) adverse reactions leading to interruption of LENVIMA were hypertension (11%), diarrhea (11%), proteinuria (6%), decreased appetite (5%), vomiting (5%), increased alanine aminotransferase (3.5%), fatigue (3.5%), nausea (3.5%), abdominal pain (2.9%), weight decreased (2.6%), urinary tract infection (2.6%), increased aspartate aminotransferase (2.3%), asthenia (2.3%), and palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (2%).

Use in Specific Populations

Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in breastfed infants, advise women to discontinue breastfeeding during treatment and for at least 1 week after the last dose. LENVIMA may impair fertility in males and females of reproductive potential.

No dose adjustment is recommended for patients with mild (CLcr 60-89 mL/min) or moderate (CLcr 30-59 mL/min) renal impairment. LENVIMA concentrations may increase in patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and severe (CLcr 15-29 mL/min) renal impairment. Reduce the dose for patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and severe renal impairment. There is no recommended dose for patients with HCC and severe renal impairment. LENVIMA has not been studied in patients with end-stage renal disease.

No dose adjustment is recommended for patients with HCC and mild hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh A). There is no recommended dose for patients with HCC with moderate (Child-Pugh B) or severe (Child-Pugh C) hepatic impairment. No dose adjustment is recommended for patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and mild or moderate hepatic impairment. LENVIMA concentrations may increase in patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and severe hepatic impairment. Reduce the dose for patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and severe hepatic impairment.

Please see Prescribing Information for LENVIMA (lenvatinib) at http://www.lenvima.com/pdfs/prescribing-information.pdf.

About Eisai

Eisai's Corporate Concept is "to give first thought to patients and people in the daily living domain, and to increase the benefits that health care provides." Under this Concept [also known as our human health care (hhc) Concept], we aim to effectively achieve social good in the form of relieving anxiety over health and reducing health disparities. With a global network of R&D facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, we strive to create and deliver innovative products to target diseases with high unmet medical needs, with a particular focus in our strategic areas of Neurology and Oncology.

In addition, our continued commitment to the elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which is a target (3.3) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is demonstrated by our work on various activities together with global partners.

For more information about Eisai, please visit www.eisai.com (for global headquarters: Eisai Co., Ltd.), us.eisai.com (for U.S. headquarters: Eisai, Inc.) or www.eisai.eu (for Europe, Middle East, Africa, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand headquarters: Eisai Europe Ltd.), and connect with us on Twitter (U.S. and global) and LinkedIn (for U.S. and EMEA).

LENVIMA is a registered trademark used by Eisai Inc. under license from Eisai R&D Management Co., Ltd.

SOURCE Eisai Inc.
The U.S. Laser Cutting Machine Market is expected to hold more than 75% of the North American market by 2032. The Asia-Pacific region is one of the largest consumers of laser cutting machines. Germany is the most appealing market for laser cutting machines, expected to account for more than 25% of the market value.

NEWARK, Del., Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Future Market Insights analysis, the Global Laser Cutting Machine Market is expected to reach US$ 3,386.4 Mn in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 5.8% from 2022 to 2032.

Laser cutting has emerged as a versatile, cost-effective method that delivers extremely high precision as compared to conventional cutting methods for many applications. Laser cutting machines have applications in many industries, such as automotive, aerospace, ceramics, metal cutting, defense, semiconductors, glass, ceramics, paper, etc. This product helps to cut material without creating heat or any mechanical stress.

The accuracy, productivity, and efficiency of laser cutting machines are more preferable as compared to other cutting machines. Because they are so well suited to mass production processes, highly complex and specialized components are typically preferred for many industries. As it can cut items more quickly than a waterjet cutting machine, laser cutting is a more cost-effective choice. These are the driving forces behind the market's expansion, making it more stable in the years to come.

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Key Takeaways of Laser Cutting Machine Market Study

The value of mechanized Laser Cutting Machine is projected to increase at a value CAGR of 5.8% to reach around US$ 5,974.1 Mn by the end of 2032.

by the end of 2032. In terms of End Use, Automotive and Transportation are anticipated to create an absolute dollar opportunity worth US$ 805.6 Mn .

. In the Global Laser Cutting Machine market, fiber based technology in Laser Cutting Machine is projected account for more than 60% share by the end of forecast period owing to its demand which is increasing in day to day applications

By Region, East Asia is anticipated to account for more than 25% of market share in terms of volume by the end of 2032 and is expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period.

"Adoption of technologies for improving machines and customer centric product offerings are the key trends paving the way for futuristic growth for the Laser Cutting Machine market." says Future Market insights analyst

Competitive Landscape

The market is fragmented among the market participants, accounting for market share ranging from 30% to 40% of market revenue in 2021. Prominent players in the market are aim to concentrate on diversifying their product lines with technologically advanced products in order to gain a prominent share in the market and offer significant efficiency and better output to their customers.

The TRUMPF, Bystronic DNE, Hans Laser, HSG Laser, Amada Co. Ltd., Coherent, Inc. are a few of the market's major participants.

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More Insights into the Laser Cutting Machine Market Report

In its latest report, Future Market Insights offers an unbiased analysis of the Global Laser Cutting Machine market, providing historical data from 2017 to 2021 and forecast statistics for the period 2022-to 2032. To understand the global market potential, growth, and scope, the market is segmented based on by Technology, by mode of operation, by end use and by region.

Key Segments Covered in Laser Cutting Machine Industry Analysis

Laser Cutting Machine Market by Technology:

Gas Based

Solid State

Fiber Based

Laser Cutting Machine Market by Mode of Operation:

Mechanized

Manual

Laser Cutting Machine Market by End Use:

Automotive and Transportation

Consumer Electronics and Appliances

Electrical and Heavy Machinery

Metal Fabrication

Other Industrial

Laser Cutting Machine Market by Country:

North America

Latin America

Europe

East Asia

South Asia & Pacific

& Pacific Middle East and Africa (MEA)

Table of Content

1. Executive Summary

1.1. Global Market Outlook

1.2. Demand Side Trends

1.3. Supply Side Trends

1.4. Technology Roadmap

1.5. 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. Key Success Factors

4.1. Product Adoption / Usage Analysis

4.2. Product USPs / Features

4.3. Strategic Promotional Strategies

5. Global Laser Cutting Machine Market Demand Analysis 20172021 and Forecast, 20222032

5.1. Historical Market Volume (Units) Analysis, 20172021

5.2. Current and Future Market Volume (Units) Projections, 20222032

5.3. Y-o-Y Growth Trend Analysis

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About Future Market Insights  Industrial Automation

The Industrial Automation division of Future Market Insights offers a novel approach and innovative perspective in analyzing industrial automation market. Comprehensive coverage of capital, portable, process, construction, industrial and special purpose machinery across manufacturing sector and distinctive analysis about installed base, consumables, replacement, USP-feature-application matrix make us a pioneering voice in the industry.

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Powered Lawn Mowers Market Size - During the forecast period, a rapid growth rate in the market for powered lawn mowers in North America is anticipated with a market share of 34.0% in 2022.

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BEIJING, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- China's determination to safeguard national sovereignty, territorial integrity and fundamental interests of the Chinese nation is unshakable and rock solid, and on the new journey in the future, China's diplomacy will continue to carry forward the fighting spirit and improve the ability to fight, said a senior Chinese diplomat at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Thursday.

The press center for the 20th CPC National Congress held a press conference on the topic "Under the Guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, Forge Ahead and Strive to Break New Ground for Major-Country Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics" in Beijing, with Shen Beili, vice minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, and Ma Zhaoxu, vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both in attendance.

Chinese analysts said strengthening China's ability to fight on the diplomatic front means it understands the country faces an unprecedented threat from the outside world

Guiding thought

Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy is an important part of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the latest theoretical outcome of the Marxism of contemporary China in foreign-related work. It embodies the best of the Chinese culture and ethos in our times. It is a fundamental philosophy and guide to action for China's diplomacy in the new era, Ma said.

In the past ten years, Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy has guided China's diplomacy to new success. China has taken historic strides in its relations with the world and made historic contributions to the international community, Ma remarked.

Shen outlined the CPC's international exchanges and communications with other countries' political parties and civil organizations. The CPC will not point fingers at the internal affairs of political parties in other nations, nor will the Party seek to export the Chinese model or require other nations or parties to emulate its practice, Shen noted, stressing that "the CPC will not accept the sanctimonious preaching or blindly borrow the political systems of other nations."

Shen noted that it is important for political parties of different nations to seek common ground while reserving their differences and step up mutual learning, which is instrumental to promoting progress in human civilization.

Shen said political parties, whether they are the ruling party or not, should treat each other as equals, respect each other and refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs, regardless of their history, number of members or strength.

Fighting spirit

Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi at its core, we maintain the strategic focus and carry forward the fighting spirit, safeguarding the country's dignity and core interests and taking the initiative in taking the right of development and security of our country in our hands, Ma said.

We have also exposed lies through presenting the truth and thwarted some political attempts to contain China by using Xinjiang affairs and we have steadily advanced the negotiation on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea in safeguarding the overall stability of the region.

Ma said that over the past 10 years, the number of countries that had established diplomatic relations with China has increased from 172 to 181, while 149 countries and 32 international organizations have decided to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

China, in the past decade, has established diplomatic ties with nine countries that used to be so-called "diplomatic allies" of the Taiwan authority, he said.

While answering a question from the Global Times at the press conference on Thursday about how Chinese diplomacy will reflect "fighting spirit", a term that has been frequently seen in recent key documents on Chinese diplomacy, in the future, Ma said, "Having the courage and ability to carry on the fight is a fine tradition and distinct characteristic of Chinese diplomacy," and China "opposes any type of hegemony and power politics. We have unshakable and rock-solid determination to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, and the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation."

Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Thursday that with China getting closer or entering the center of the international arena in the past 10 years, the "counter-acting force" released by the hegemony that resists such change will increase, and this is why the fighting spirit is becoming increasingly important for China's foreign affairs.

Biggest threat

Ma said, "In the new journey, Chinese diplomacy will keep carrying forward its fighting spirit and improve the ability to carry on the fight, and will always stand at the forefront of safeguarding the national interests and dignity."

Wang said, in the future, Chinese diplomacy will be more proactive and take more decisive actions to shape the international environment and unite countries worldwide as much as possible to oppose hegemony. The international community, especially the developing countries, is also expecting the international order to be fairer and have more justice, and this is also the will of the Chinese people."

Responding to a question about the upcoming G20 summit in Bali from an Indonesian journalist at the press conference, Ma reaffirmed China's support for Indonesia in holding such a significant international event, and with regard to whether Chinese leaders will attend the summit, Ma said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will release the information in due course.

SOURCE Global Times
BEIJING, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In the current world increasingly perplexed by uncertainty, division and confrontation, the great striving of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is of significance not only for China, but also for the entire world more than ever. China, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, has realized numerous historic achievements including eradication of absolute poverty and completion of building China into a moderately prosperous society in all respects in the past decade. How should we view China's development in the past decade? How will the CPC's governance present inspiration to other countries? The following is an abstract of views of seven foreign dignitaries, based on the interviews the Global Times has conducted with them.



Kiribati President and Foreign Minister Taneti Maamau:



The milestone 20th National Congress of the CPC will produce outcomes that further propel China toward its second centenary goal.



I send the warmest congratulations and best wishes to President Xi and the CPC.



"Amazement" is the right word to describe China's development achievements in the last 10 years. The enduring strength and vitality of the Chinese people have resulted in China's great accomplishments as a nation. I have every confidence that the chapter ahead will add color and excitement to the great story for your people and country.



My first trip to China [in 2020] was an eye-opener to see the high standard of living that people in China are now enjoying. This is a great achievement and a feat that I don't think any other country can match. This again shows that China's focus on development is not to make the rich richer but to uplift those who have continued to face hardships. That is a very people-centric development vision.



Guyana's former president Donald Ramotar:



The 20th National Congress of the CPC is convening at a very important juncture in world history.



That is why the eyes of the world will be on China at this time of the CPC's 20th National Congress.



The CPC and the Chinese government have demonstrated their passion for peace and progress not only within its borders, but also for the whole world.



China's "win-win" policy and its relations with poor countries are promoting prosperity and therefore strengthening the sovereignty of these developing countries.



Argentine Ambassador to China Sabino Vaca Narvaja:



President Xi's opening speech at the 20th National Congress of the CPC was a hopeful message in a world beset by many complexities and challenges. Under the wise leadership of CPC, the imbalances generated by unprecedented growth were reduced, and China is seeking harmonious development that is a source of well-being for the entire Chinese population.



Undoubtedly, this 20th CPC National Congress is one of the most important events for China and the world since China today represents one of the most dynamic countries in the world and has established itself internationally as a relevant and responsible actor. This has been demonstrated in concrete practice, such as the unprecedented solidarity displayed with the neediest countries within the framework of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.



President Xi, in all these years, has been able to build his leadership based on understanding the needs and interests of the people and has adopted political decisions in accordance with the challenges of each moment. One of the elements that seemed to me to be a priority for this new era of socialist modernization is the one that refers to the policy of revitalizing rural areas. This program has been vital for the eradication of structural poverty, which was achieved in 2021.



Cuban Ambassador to China Carlos Miguel Pereira:



It is appropriate to emphasize that the leadership of the CPC and Xi have been a decisive factor in the realization of strategic goals, so the legitimacy, prestige, trust, and moral authority of the CPC and its leaders will continue to be strengthened and to guide the Chinese people.



China has risen to international prominence as an emerging power and major contributor to development, providing real solutions to global challenges through an unprecedented inclusive, cross-cutting, and harmonious vision.



We have no doubt that China will assume the historic legacy of continuing to work for the preservation of world peace and to assist developing countries in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.



For developing countries, China represents the political will and commitment to promote relations of a new kind, based on mutual respect, sovereign equality of states, preservation of peace, and mutually beneficial international cooperation. It is also a symbol of the transition to a new international order that is more just, democratic, and humanistic, where consultation and understanding among states replaces coercion, confrontation, and zero-sum geopolitical games.



Kiribati Ambassador to China David Teaabo:



The 20th National Congress of the CPC endorses philosophies and policies that maintain the unity, trust and advancement of the CPC, and is expected to further guard and advance socialism with Chinese characteristics in this new era.



The CPC and the Chinese government will continue building deeper win-win partnership with the Pacific Island countries, and achieve common development through the effective implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).



Kiribati and the world have witnessed China's outstanding achievements in numerous areas, and it deserves huge recognition and acknowledgment.



I read the fourth volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, and was impressed by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.



The key idea that impressed me most is the philosophy of "adaptation!" That is, to "adapt Marxism to China's realities and keep it up-to-date!" I think this is fundamental to the unity and advancement of the CPC and the strong trust of the Chinese people in their leaders, and for the peaceful social development and economic growth of the China!



Serbian Ambassador to China Maja Stefanovic:



I congratulate the CPC and the Chinese leaders on the great achievements that have been made in all fields as the 20th CPC National Congress is in progress. Serbia is confident that the ongoing CPC National Congress will bring new guideline for the further development of China, with a great positive impact on the world.



China has achieved outstanding results in all fields of development and has become a leader and an engine of global development in recent years.



We congratulate the Chinese people on achieving the first centennial goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.



We admire the great success of China in eradicating absolute poverty within its territory, which has a great positive impact on the global level and is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.



We are also confident that China will continue its growth on the basis of what's been outlined in Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, safeguarding its sovereignty on its path to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.



Syrian Ambassador to China Mhd. Hasanein Khaddam:



The 20th National Congress of the CPC has begun laying out the Party's grand vision for the future, and these road maps not only shed a light on how China thinks and plans its future to meet the aspirations of its people, but also forecast how the world could be, given China's gargantuan economy and its influence on the global economic, political, cultural, and social scenes.



The congress and its agenda are being observed with great expectations by most of the world, especially developing countries. Syrian people wish great success to the congress.



This congress is especially important, as a step to fulfilling the envisioned second centenary goal of building a modern socialist country. The unprecedented changes and challenges the world is undergoing add to its importance.



The disciplinary process the CPC implemented at the individual and organizational levels gave a new impetus to its performance and in achieving results.

SOURCE Global Times
Family Bonds and Sibling Rivalries on Display in New Creative

"Tied With Tucson" Spotlights Tucson Stylish Design and Multiple Powertrain Options

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Motor America and its African American marketing agency of record, Culture Brands, launched their new multicultural campaign featuring the 2023 Tucson. The latest addition to the popular OKAY Hyundai series, the campaign, titled "Tied With Tucson," spotlights the vehicle's stylish design fueled by human-centric technology integration and three powertrain options to fit every lifestyle.

Hyundai Motor America and its African American marketing agency of record, Culture Brands, launched their new multicultural campaign featuring the 2023 Tucson. Hyundai Motor America and its African American marketing agency of record, Culture Brands, launched their new multicultural campaign featuring the 2023 Tucson. Hyundai Motor America and its African American marketing agency of record, Culture Brands, launched their new multicultural campaign featuring the 2023 Tucson. Hyundai Motor America and its African American marketing agency of record, Culture Brands, launched their new multicultural campaign featuring the 2023 Tucson.

"One of the 'stamps of approval' for any new vehicle is the reaction from family and friends when you roll up for a big event like a family reunion or Thanksgiving," said Angela Zepeda, CMO, Hyundai Motor America. "Spotlighting multiple powertrain options and vehicle trims, our three siblings realize they have a lot more in common than they originally thought."

Hyundai's 2023 Tucson lineup of N-Line, Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid models is high-performance, packaged in sleek and stylish design. Showcasing advanced HEV and PHEV powertrains, along with the N-Line's 2.5L engine and sporty trim, the spot subtly underscores the vehicle's evocative design and bold presence. These options are complemented by more connectivity and customization than ever before, making the 2023 Tucson the right-sized SUV to power every lifestyle.

Designed to strengthen the connection between Hyundai and the African American community through the embedding of cultural references and nuances in the creative messaging, the OKAY Hyundai marketing theme was first launched in Fall 2021. Bringing the same approach, "Tied with Tucson" showcases that connection through friendly competition displayed at family gatherings.

"Nothing says sibling rivalry like trying to upstage another sibling at a family gathering," said Erik Thomas, senior group manager, experiential & multicultural marketing, Hyundai Motor America. "A nuanced extension of our OKAY Hyundai theme, in this instance, few things matter more than who you bring, what you bring and how you're bringing it. While their familial 'competition' is genuine, it's an unquestionable tie when the siblings step out in their respective vehicles."

The "Tied with Tucson" campaign was developed by Culture Brands under the leadership of Eunique Jones Gibson, founder and chief creative officer. Following a successful collaboration on their last campaign, for the spot, the agency partnered once again with director Nate Edwards and production house Invisible Collective.

"This spot is the epitome of iron sharpens iron, especially when it comes to vehicles," said Jones Gibson. "Putting the spotlight on three different women and three different lifestyles, through the eyes of their respective vehicles this creative supports our nonnegotiable goal to authentically celebrate African Americans in media, while serving as the latest reflection of our successful partnering with Hyundai."

The 2023 Tucson campaign includes video, digital and influencer executions, and will use a variety of media platforms to amplify the messaging and vehicle features such as its multiple powertrains, quality craftsmanship, fuel efficiency and innovative technology. There are 15- and -30-second versions of the spot available for broadcast and digital channels.

Culture Brands

Culture Brands is an independent, minority and female-owned agency that exists to authentically celebrate, reflect and represent African Americans in media. Founded in 2017, by 15-year advertising veteran Eunique Jones Gibson, we create culturally relevant and affirming campaigns and content that inspire African American audiences by ensuring they feel seen, heard and valued. At Culture Brands, we are constantly engaged in a two-way conversation with the African American community through our owned and operated media platforms and consumer brands such as the award-winning Because of Them We Can, Because of Them We Can Box (Just For Kids), #CultureTags and Dream Village. Culture Brands is headquartered right outside of the nation's capital in Hyattsville, MD. www.culturebrands.co

Hyundai Motor America

Hyundai Motor America focuses on 'Progress for Humanity' and smart mobility solutions. Hyundai offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles. Our 820 dealers sold more than 738,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2021, and nearly half were built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. For more information, visit www.HyundaiNews.com

Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

SOURCE Hyundai Motor America
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --"I wanted to create a new stuffed doll that would make a great comfort object for children," said an inventor, from Brooklyn, N.Y., "so I invented ZOODLES. My huggable design would be safe to handle and hold and it would not pose a choking hazard."

The invention provides a unique line of dolls for children. In doing so, it could help to comfort and soothe a child. It also could spark fun, activity and imaginative play. The invention features a unique design that is safe to play with and enjoy so it is ideal for children, especially those with sensory processing issues/sensitivities and special needs. Additionally, it is producible in design variations and a prototype is available.

The original design was submitted to the New Jersey sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 21-LDJ-192, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp
DALLAS, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) is marking the 150th anniversary of the company's first product sold and celebrating its ongoing leadership in category defining innovation that led the company to create five of the categories it competes in, and introduce products and technologies that make a difference in the lives of billions of people each day.

Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9037451-kimberly-clark-celebrates-150-years/

Employees at our manufacturing facility in Beech Island, South Carolina reflect on Kimberly-Clark's 150th anniversary and their hopes for the future - and share how they are delivering on our purpose of Better Care for a Better World. In 1872, John A. Kimberly (far left), Charles Clark (standing left), Havilah Babcock (standing right) and Frank Shattuck (far right), formed a paper company in Neenah, Wisconsin, which they named Kimberly, Clark & Co., initially specializing in top-quality newsprint. Today, Kimberly-Clark and its well-known global brands, including Andrex, Cottonelle, Depend, Huggies, Kleenex, Plenitude, Poise, Scott and Kotex, are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries.

"For 150 years, our team has transformed insights into new categories and products that have made a difference in the lives of billions of people around the world," said Mike Hsu, Chairman and CEO of Kimberly-Clark. "Our commitment to help people with their most essential needs remains core to how we deliver meaningful innovation and bring to life our purpose of Better Care for a Better World."

The company's first sale was a stack of writing paper produced from recycled rags and linens at its newly opened Globe Mill in Neenah, Wisconsin on October 22, 1872. By the early 1900's, Kimberly-Clark began to evolve its operations from a pulp and paper company to a personal care company as it introduced trusted brands such as Kotex, Kleenex, Huggies and Depend that are now an essential part of daily life for billions around the world.

The launch of the Kotex brand in 1920 was a pivotal moment, as Kimberly-Clark launched the modern feminine hygiene category with new-to-the-world products that also brought the promise of new opportunities for women. However, the subject of menstruation led publications to refuse advertising for the brand, and drug stores would stock Kotex pads out of sight. Today, the brand continues to work around the world to promote menstrual hygiene education, tackle social stigmas, and improve access to these essential products.

These challenges represent some of the unmet societal needs that Kimberly-Clark and its brands are working to address as part of a 10-year commitment to advance the well-being of 1 billion people in vulnerable and underserved communities by 2030.

In honor of the company's 150th anniversary, Kimberly-Clark and the Kimberly-Clark Foundation announced three $150,000 grants to nonprofit organizations that work to improve the well-being of people around the world. Since its inception in 1952, the Foundation has provided over $440 million in financial support to targeted causes that align with the company's social impact goals. In addition, Kimberly-Clark's North American team donated a $150,000 grant to the Neenah Joint School District to be used to further STEM educational opportunities throughout the district.

As Kimberly-Clark looks ahead to future innovation and growth, it is working to find new ways to give consumers the essentials they need while safeguarding natural systems and the life they support. These ambitions are at the forefront of continued strategic investments in global research and the development of sustainable raw materials, alternative fibers, nonwovens materials science, intelligent washroom technologies and other benefit areas.

Innovation and advantaged technology have allowed Kimberly-Clark to bring more sustainable products to market, including 100% biodegradable baby wipes made with plant derived fibers, bath tissue made with 100% bamboo fiber and wrapped in recycled paper packaging, and reusables including new swim pants and period undies.

While consumer needs are at the center of Kimberly-Clark's current efforts, it's humanity-centric innovation that provides the inspiration for its global research and development teams to think about where the company might be in the next 150 years.

With a focus on affordability, accessibility, availability, and acceptability for a diverse array of people, Kimberly-Clark is working to create long-term, sustainable change and deliver on its purpose to create a better future for people around the world.

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 No. 1 or No. 2 share positions in approximately 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build strong 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.

About Kimberly-Clark's 2030 ESG Ambitions

With the UN Sustainable Development Goals as our roadmap, Kimberly-Clark is putting its brands and supply chain to work to solve some of today's most pressing challenges while lifting up 1 billion people in vulnerable and underserved communities around the world. Kimberly-Clark's 2030 ambitions and targets for social impact and the environment are positioned to support the UN goals for Good Health and Well-Being (SDG 3), Gender Equality (SDG 5), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Climate Action (SDG 13), Life Below Water (SDG 14) and Life on Land (SDG 15). Learn more about our journey to 2030 at kimberly-clark.com/esg.

[KMB-C]

SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Corporation
STOCKHOLM, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ) will be showcasing the latest oncology software innovations at ASTRO 2022, to be held in San Antonio, October 23-25. Attendees can book demonstrations of RayStation* treatment planning system, RayCare* oncology information system, and RayIntelligence, the cloud-based oncology analytics system, in RaySearch's booth 3785 during the congress.

The latest versions of RayStation (12A) RayCare (6A) and RayIntelligence (2A) were released in June 2022.

RayStation 12A** brings deep learning segmentation for all users, brachytherapy planning for Elekta afterloaders, as well as numerous enhancements throughout the system, including CyberKnife planning improvements.

RayCare 6A brings multiple improvements to task management, treatment management, and the patient chart, including usability and efficiency upgrades such as user configured templates for selected workspaces. Version 6A also offers improved connectivity with other hospital information systems, allowing users to access information regarding delivered treatment fractions in their preferred system.

RayIntelligence is an innovative cloud-based oncology analytics system which empowers cancer centers to reach new levels of personalized care through insights based on clinical data. The latest version, (2A) provides support for importing DICOM data from other systems, which allows the clinics to pool and analyze data from different sources alongside RayStation data.

Johan Lof, founder and CEO, RaySearch, says: "We are excited to being back on site at ASTRO to meet partners and existing and new customers to showcase the latest innovations with our products. Among other things, we are proud to highlight promising innovations within online adaptive together with our partner Accuray, as well as presenting our new partnerships with Leo Cancer Care and GE HealthCare."

Partnerships

Accuray

ARTemis1, RaySearch's and Accuray's latest joint innovation project within online adaptive, will leverage RayStation's capability for automated adaptive replanning, RayCare's powerful clinical workflow management tools and the Accuray ClearRT imaging to facilitate the development of an optimized solution for online adaptive therapy. A joint preview of ARTemis will be showcased by RaySearch and Accuray.

Leo Cancer Care

Together, the combination of RayCare, RayStation and Leo Cancer Care's solutions will provide a safe, efficient, and fully integrated platform for upright radiation treatments. The technology seeks to improve patient and clinician experience, which will be further solidified by the addition of the well adopted treatment planning solution from RaySearch. Visit the RaySearch (3785) and Leo Cancer Care (4570) booths for more information.

GE HealthCare

GE HealthCare and RaySearch aim to combine RaySearch's advanced treatment planning system RayStation with GE HealthCare's leading multi-modality (CT/MR/molecular imaging) simulator systems to make cancer treatment faster and more precise.

Several key advances have also been made together with RaySearch partners IBA, Mevion Medical Systems, Canon Medical Systems, as well as other collaboration partners. Visit the RaySearch booth 3785 to find out more!

RaySearch's scientific contribution at ASTRO 2022

Poster Presentation: ePoster, number 3294

Session: Poster Q&A 10 - Physics

Title: Implications of Including Tumor Presence Probabilities as Weights in Radiotherapy Optimization

Collaboration: Royal Institute of Technology, KTH

Presenter: Ivar Bengtsson, RaySearch Laboratories (contact person)

Co-author: Albin Fredriksson, RaySearch Laboratories

CONTACT:

For more information, please contact:

Johan Lof, founder and CEO, RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ)

Telephone: +46 (0) 8 510 530 00

[email protected]

Bjorn Hardemark, interim CFO, RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ)

Telephone: +46 (0) 709 564 217

[email protected]

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/1102/3650711/1640908.pdf RaySearch Press Release October 21, 2022 https://news.cision.com/raysearch-laboratories/i/astro-2022-pr,c3102709 ASTRO-2022-PR

SOURCE RaySearch Laboratories
Capture memorable moments from the festival of lights with OPPO's Reno8 Pro 5G

Designed to be a Portrait Expert, the Reno8 Pro 5G redefines the realms of imaging capabilities with an advanced camera system powered by MariSilicon X

Users can experience crystal clear nights in vivid colours with 4K Ultra Night Video

DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bask in the festive spirit and capture joyful moments with loved ones this Diwali with OPPO's newly launched Reno8 Pro 5G, preserving vibrant colours and details in each frame that look true to life ensuring those special memories last a lifetime.

Made so memories can be captured seamlessly ensuring more time enjoying festive celebrations, OPPO's Reno8 Pro 5G brings ultra-clear portrait photos and videos to all-new heights, powered by OPPO's first self-developed imaging NPU, MariSilicon X, and the Dual Sony Flagship Sensors.

OPPO Diwali Festival

With most Diwali celebrations beginning after the sun goes down surrounded by twinkling lights, OPPO's Reno8 Pro 5G makes capturing moments so much easier through revolutionary night imaging capabilities.

With 4K Ultra Night Video, users can capture ultra-clear portrait videos at night, while 4K Ultra HDR Video optimizes portrait videos taken in the presence of strong backlight. Both features can significantly improve image quality and colour expression in pictures, avoiding over-exposure in bright areas while retaining the maximum amount of detail in dark areas allowing users to capture the streets lit with diyas and magnificent firework displays illuminating the evening sky.

For users looking to go the extra mile and add movie-quality effects to their photos and videos, the Reno8 Pro 5G also offers features like Portrait Mode, Hyperlapse, and 960fps AI Slow-motion.

With OPPO's incredible self-developed 80W SUPERVOOC TM flash charge, users never have to worry about missing a moment of festive celebrations and are able to record high-quality footage all night long as the Reno8 Pro 5G offers a full charge in only 31 minutes.

About OPPO

OPPO is a leading global technology brand since 2004, dedicated to providing products that seamlessly combines art and innovative technology.

OPPO is on a mission to building a multiple-access smart device ecosystem for the era of intelligent connectivity. The smartphone devices have simply been a gateway for OPPO to deliver a diverse portfolio of smart and frontier technologies in hardware, software and system. In 2019, OPPO launched a $7 Billion US Dollar three-year investment plan in R&D to develop core technologies furthering design through technology.

OPPO is firmly pursuing the creation of the best technology products and technological artistry for global users. Based on the brand elements of leading, young and beautiful, OPPO dedicates to the mission of letting the extraordinary users enjoy the beauty of technology.

For the last 10 years, OPPO has focused on manufacturing smartphones with camera capabilities that are second to none. OPPO launched the first mobile phone, the Smile Phone, in 2008, which marked the launch of the brand's epic journey in exploring and pioneering extraordinary technology. Over the years, OPPO has built a tradition of being number one, which became a reality through inventing the world's first rotating camera smartphone way back in 2013, launching the world's then thinnest smartphone in 2014, being the first to introduce 5X Zoom 'Periscope' camera technology and developing the first 5G commercial smartphone in Europe.

Today, OPPO was ranked as the number four smartphone brand globally. OPPO brings the aesthetics of technology of global consumers through the ColorOS system Experience, and Internet service like OPPO Cloud and OPPO+.

OPPO's business covers 60 countries operated by more than 40,000 dedicated employees, with over six research institutes and five R&D centers across the world, from San Francisco to Shenzhen. OPPO also opened an International Design Centre headquartered in London, driving cutting edge technology that will shape the future not only for smartphones but for intelligent connectivity.

About OPPO MEA

OPPO started its journey in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region in 2015 after setting up its regional office in Egypt. Following the immense success of the brand's sales centre in Cairo in the first year, OPPO accelerated its expansion plan across the MEA region and inaugurated its country operations in the UAE in 2019. Now OPPO is physically present in more than 14 markets across the region, including Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and the Levant.

To empower its presence in the region in line with its product localisation strategy, OPPO further invested in MENA and set up its very own factory in Algeria in 2017, thus, becoming the first Chinese brand to build a manufacturing premises in North Africa. Based on insights of local consumers in each country, OPPO has evolved the progress of product localisation, taking into consideration several perspectives towards each market, including product localisation, to further meet the core needs of users; marketing localisation, to better communicate with local young customers; and talent localisation, to understand local consumers further and provide an optimum customer service.

Within the last year, OPPO has started to adjust its product line in the Middle East region specifically. This has included the launch of its flagship OPPO Find X Series and the introduction of the OPPO Reno Series. OPPO will continue to evolve its local product line to offer more premium series to consumers in the region.

A forward-thinking international technology company, OPPO strives to be a sustainable company that contributes to a better world and have enacted positive change in every way possible through activating local community initiatives and humanitarian, charity campaigns.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1926688/OPPO_Diwali_Festival.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1451542/OPPO_Logo.jpg

SOURCE OPPO
 16 Oz Resealable Cans Designed for Multiple Servings Come in 4 Top Jones Soda Flavors 

SEATTLE, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In a buzzy new product introduction slated for California this month, Jones Soda Co. (CSE: JSDA, OTCQB: JSDA) is set to expand its Mary Jones brand of cannabis-infused sodas with a new 100mg THC product that will come in the same four Jones fan-favorite flavors as the popular 10mg THC sodas that launched the line this summer. The new cannabis beverage will be packaged in 16 oz resealable, child-resistant, multi-serve cans designed for consumers to pace their consumption as they wish and to share with friends.

Mary Jones Expands Cannabis-Infused Soda Line with New 100mg Product

These boldly packaged 'tallboy' cans will deliver THC-infused versions of Jones' Root Beer, Berry Lemonade, Green Apple and Orange & Cream sodas that have been among the company's top sellers for 25 years. Each flavor tastes exactly like its mainline Jones Soda counterpart, thanks to award-winning Jones flavor scientists who have customized Jones' signature craft soda recipes to accommodate the addition of THC emulsions.

This new 100mg product introduction follows the successful California launch of the Mary Jones brand with 10mg cannabis-infused sodas in June. The line has surpassed market forecasts with rapid placement in more than 150 dispensaries, including MedMen locations scheduled to begin carrying Mary Jones 10mg and 100mg products this month.

"The launch of Mary Jones 10mg bottles was one of the most successful brand launches we've seen at KSS, with deliveries to more than 120 retailers in the first 60 days," said Brooks Jorgensen, President at Kiva Sales & Service. "We're excited to build on this success with the upcoming launch of Mary Jones 100mg cans, which will meet the demand from consumers looking for higher-dose sodas that taste great."

"Our strong Mary Jones launch validates the strategic decision we made to enter the cannabis industry in order to leverage our brand equity, diversify our portfolio, and move into a profitable high-growth category to drive the company's future," said Mark Murray, President and CEO of Jones Soda Company. "Building on our initial success, this new higher-potency 100 mg product unlocks a valuable category with a higher value product aimed at a more mature cannabis consumer. With our ambitious product roadmap and new partnerships enabling us to expand to other states, I'm confident that our Cannabis Division will be instrumental in our growth in 2023 and beyond."

About Jones Soda Co.

Jones Soda Co. (CSE: JSDA, OTCQB: JSDA) is a leading craft soda manufacturer with a subsidiary dedicated to cannabis products. The company markets and distributes premium craft sodas under the Jones Soda and Lemoncocco brands, and a variety of cannabis products under the Mary Jones brand. Jones' mainstream soda line is sold across North America in glass bottles, cans and on fountain through traditional beverage outlets, restaurants and alternative accounts. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. For more information, visit www.jonessoda.com , www.myjones.com , www.drinklemoncocco.com or https://gomaryjones.com

SOURCE Mary Jones
Montelobos Mezcal to donate $30K to organization in support of protecting and preserving Wolves in North America

NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of National Wolf Awareness Week, Montelobos Mezcal is excited to announce its newest partnership with the Wolf Conservation Center, a non-profit environmental organization working to protect and preserve wolves in North America. As part of the partnership and in support of spreading awareness and education around the protection of wolves, Montelobos has pledged a minimum of $30,000 to the organization during the first year.

Wolf Conservation Center

Montelobos is distilled from 100% organic agave espadin grown in the shadows of Oaxaca's Mountain of Wolves, from where the brand derives its name. Indigenous to this region is the Mexican gray wolf, a pillar of the brand's heritage, which was last spotted in this area nearly 100 years ago. Now an endangered species, the Mexican gray wolf no longer roams wild in the Mountain of Wolves and most remaining wolves are currently in captivity.

"We are honored to partner with the Wolf Conservation Center, given how intrinsically linked the Montelobos brand is to wolves, in terms of both physical origins and iconography," said Ivan Saldana the Founder of Montelobos Mezcal. "We're honored to support such an important cause as protecting our namesake species."

To ensure the protection of the Mexican gray wolves, as well as red wolves, the Wolf Conservation Center proudly participates in the federal Species Survival Plan / SAFE (SSP). This program allows these precious wolves to live off-exhibit, outside of the Center and separated from humans, to keep them feeling safe and help make sure that they retain their natural behaviors.

"Working together with Montelobos is such an organic partnership as the Mexican gray wolf is so ingrained in the brand's heritage. Our center has been working for over 20 years to maintain the safety and preservation of this wonderful species," said Maggie Howell, the Executive Director at the Wolf Conservation Center. "We are so excited about this partnership and look forward to maintaining more Mexican gray wolves with the support of Montelobos in the future."

In honor of the partnership between Montelobos and the Wolf Conservation Center, a digital program has been launched on Caskers.com during October's National Wolf Awareness week (October 16  October 22) . The program raises awareness about the importance of wolf preservation in North America and drives consumers to get involved and donate on the Wolf Conservation Center's website. The program also includes an additional $5K donation from Montelobos to Wolf Conservation Center during this very special week.

For more information about Montelobos Mezcal, visit montelobos.com , and for more information on the Wolf Conservation Center and how to donate, visit nywolf.org .

Enjoy your next Montelobos responsibly.

About Montelobos Mezcal

Montelobos is an artisanal mezcal that explores the abundant flavors of the agave through a process of collaboration, respect for tradition, and a desire for experimentation. Born in the city of Oaxaca, Montelobos has transformed the best organic agave into a perfectly balanced mezcal.

Montelobos Mezcal was created by master distiller and mezcal expert Ivan Saldana, PhD and fifth-generation mezcal producer Don Abel Lopez Mateos, who worked with obsessive dedication to produce a unique spirit that pays homage to Mexico's culture and heritage. The result of centuries of ancient mezacalero craft and enlightened by the methodical pursuit of perfection, Montelobos Espadin, Montelobos Pechuga, Montelobos Tobala and Montelobos Ensamble each spotlight a tribute to the home of Oaxaca, and tell the story of the land and the environment of which Montelobos came to be.

Montelobos has been committed to sustainable farming practices since 2011 to build better and fairer social and economic standards in the mezcal industry. Montelobos only uses cultivated agave to produce their mezcals, and has established partnerships to grow tobala and cupreata agave varieties, typically considered impossible to farm as a responsible practice to avoid the deforestation of these agaves from nature. For more information about Montelobos Mezcal, visit montelobos.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 CPRIM), have been listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since 2001.

About Wolf Conservation Center

The Wolf Conservation Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit environmental organization located in South Salem, New York. Founded by concert pianist Helene Grimaud, the WCC has worked since 1999 to protect and preserve North America's most endangered wolves. Through education, advocacy, and species recovery, their mission is to teach the public about wolves, their relationship to the environment, and the human role in protecting their future.

SOURCE Montelobos Mezcal
Gross revenue grew 23.9% YoY in Q2 2023

BENGALURU, India, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mphasis Limited (BSE - 526299; NSE - MPHASIS), an Information Technology (IT) solutions provider specializing in cloud and cognitive services, today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended 30th September 2022.

Quarter ended 30th September 2022

Gross revenue grew 23.9% YoY in Q2 2023 Tweet this

Gross Revenue grew 4.0% QoQ and 23.9% YoY on a reported basis. In Constant Currency, growth was 1.8% QoQ and 16.8% YoY

New TCV wins of USD 302 million in Q2 FY23 in Direct, of which 81% is in new generation services

in Q2 FY23 in Direct, of which 81% is in new generation services Two large deal wins in Q2 FY23 totaling to USD 110 million ; TCV wins of H1'FY23 USD 604 million

; TCV wins of H1'FY23 Direct revenue grew 4.2% QoQ and 26.6% YoY on a reported basis. In Constant Currency, revenue grew 2.0% QoQ and 19.2% YoY

Net profit grew 4.1% QoQ and 22.6% YoY to  4,185 million in Q2 FY23

EPS grew 4.0% QoQ and 22.0% YoY to  22.2 in Q2 FY23.

"Our consistent performance is proof of our timely and continued investment in the right growth areas, while executing on our fundamental strengths. We have institutionalized a strong deal archetype playbook by account, for protecting the core, repeatable growth in capability-led transformation and accelerating from 'Run' to 'Change', at the speed of our clients," said Nitin Rakesh, Chief Executive Officer, and Managing Director, Mphasis.

Deal Wins:

A leading US Bank has engaged Mphasis for cloud adoption and modernization of their retail banking applications, optimizing the cost of operations over time

Mphasis has partnered with a leading logistics provider to develop their architecture processes, playbooks, best practices, and guidelines to account for Architecture assurance

Awards and Recognitions:

Recognized as one of the Best Tech Brands 2022 by The Economic Times

Ranked #2 out of 27 EMEA companies and #34 out of 130 North American companies in the 2022 Global Talent Board CandE Benchmark Research Program

Named a 'finalist' in the Wells Fargo Innovation Challenge 2022  'Designing the Multi-X Future'

Won Silver at the prestigious Brandon Hall awards 2022 for excellence in Talent Acquisition

awards 2022 for excellence in Talent Acquisition Won the ISG Provider Lens Award 2022 for Public Cloud - Services & Solutions.

Analyst Positioning:

Recognized as Major Contender in Everest Group's Financial Crime and Compliance Operations Services PEAK Matrix Assessment 2022

Identified as 'Cool Vendors in Quantum Computing' by Gartner

Ranked in Top 10 by HFS for HCP Service Providers, 2022

Positioned as a "Major Contender" in Everest Group's PEAK Matrix Assessment 2022 for Connected Medical Device Services

Ranked in Top 10 by HFS for Cybersecurity Service Providers, 2022

Ranked in HFS Top 10: Capital Markets Services, 2022Formidable Challengers

Featured in 'The Breakthrough 15' in the 79 th ISG Index Q2 2022

ISG Index Q2 2022 Recognized as Major Contender in Everest Group's Data and Analytics D&A Services PEAK Matrix Assessment 2022

Recognized as Major Contender in Everest Group's IT Security Services PEAK Matrix Assessment 2022

North America

Recognized as Major Contender in Everest Group's System Integration (SI) Capabilities on Microsoft Azure Services PEAK Matrix Assessment 2022

Recognized as Major Contender in Everest Group's System Integration (SI) Capabilities on Amazon Web Services (AWS) PEAK Matrix Assessment 2022

Positioned as a Major Contender in Everest Group's Multi-Cloud Application Development Services PEAK Matrix Assessment 2022

About Mphasis

Mphasis (BSE: 526299; NSE: MPHASIS) applies next-generation technology to help enterprises transform businesses globally. Customer centricity is foundational to Mphasis and is reflected in the Mphasis' Front2Back  Transformation approach. Front2Back uses the exponential power of cloud and cognitive to provide hyper-personalized (C=X2C2 TM=1) digital experience to clients and their end customers. Mphasis' Service Transformation approach helps 'shrink the core' through the application of digital technologies across legacy environments within an enterprise, enabling businesses to stay ahead in a changing world. Mphasis' core reference architectures and tools, speed and innovation with domain expertise and specialization are key to building strong relationships with marquee clients. Click here to know more.

Safe Harbor:

Certain statements mentioned in this presentation concerning our future growth prospects are forward looking statements (the "Forward Statements") and are based on reasonable expectations of the management, which involves a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such Forward Statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these Forward Statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense competition in IT services, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price and fixed-time frame contracts, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, our revenues being highly dependent on clients in the United States of America, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, adverse impact of global pandemics (including COVID-19 impact), war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies, unauthorized use of our intellectual property(ies) and general economic conditions affecting our businesses and industry. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral Forward Statements. We do not undertake to update any Forward Statements that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf, unless required under the law.

For further information please contact:

Corporate Communications Deepa Nagraj

Mphasis Limited

Phone: + 91 080 4004 1091; Mobile: +91 98452 56283

Email:[email protected]; [email protected];

Investor Relations Suraj Digawalekar CDR India

Phone: +91 22 6645 1219

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Mphasis
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Oct. 25, to discuss the latest findings of the agency's Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT), including a new, unanticipated capability which will help better understand impacts of climate change.

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live on NASA's website.

EMIT was installed on the International Space Station in July. Its primary mission is to map the prevalence of key minerals in the planet's deserts in order to advance understanding of airborne dust's effects on climate. However, the imaging spectrometer, which was designed and built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, has also demonstrated a new crucial ability which the following teleconference participants will discuss:

Karen St. Germain , Earth Science Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington

, Earth Science Division director at NASA Headquarters in Robert Green , EMIT principal investigator, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Southern California

, EMIT principal investigator, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Andrew Thorpe , research technologist, JPL

, research technologist, JPL Kirt Costello , chief scientist, NASA's International Space Station Program

Media interested in participating should request the dial in-details at least two hours prior to the start of the call by sending their full name, media affiliation, email address, and phone number to Rexana Vizza at [email protected] on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

For more information about EMIT, visit:

https://earth.jpl.nasa.gov/emit/

SOURCE NASA
HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ( "Ping An" or the "Group", HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) announced that subsidiary Ping An Bank (the "Bank", SHE:000001) has released its 2021 Environmental Information Disclosure Report. This first report provides disclosures on environmental performance, governance structure, policies and systems, risk management, impacts on business activities and other dimensions.

In 2021, Ping An Group announced its green finance development goals, including an investment and credit target of RMB400 billion and a total green insurance premium target of RMB250 billion by 2025. Under the Group's sustainability guidance, Ping An Bank has integrated green finance into its long-term strategy and strengthened support for green, low-carbon and circular economies. The Bank manages environmental, social, and governance risks, and has improved its ESG performance to support the green transition of the economy and society.

Boosting green finance business

Ping An Bank has prioritized support for 15 sub-industries in six sectors, including clean energy, environmental protection, transforming carbon-intensive industries, green transportation, green buildings, and green services. The Bank has created tailored credit policies, using the advantages of the Group's integrated finance business model. As of December 31, 2021, the total balance of green finance business increased 199.6% year-on-year to RMB113.727 billion. That included soaring growth in the green credit balance of 204.6% year-on-year, to RMB69.135 billion. The percentage of green loans in the Bank's credit balance rose from 0.84% at the beginning of the year to 2.23% at the end of the year. As of December 31, 2021, Ping An Bank granted a total amount of RMB41.607 billion green credits to infrastructure upgrading, RMB12.041 billion to clean energy, RMB9.533 billion to energy conservation and environmental protection, RMB4.582 billion to clean production and RMB1.373 billion to ecological environment initiatives.

Ping An Bank calculated the environmental benefits generated by green credit projects in accordance with China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission guidelines: annual savings of standard coal could reach 474,200 tonnes, annual emission reductions of carbon dioxide could reach 1,038,600 tonnes, and annual water savings could reach 140,833,00 tonnes.

By December 31, 2021, Ping An Bank's credit balance of industries with high pollution and high emissions was RMB24.998 billion, or 0.82% of its total credit balance, down 0.1% from the end of last year. In addition, Ping An Bank is actively promoting the development of green bond issuance, underwriting, and investment. In 2021, the Bank underwrote green bonds totaling RMB5.2 billion. By the end of 2021, the balance of investment in carbon neutrality and green development-related industries reached RMB5.225 billion.

Improving governance structure and policies

The Bank has elevated green finance to a strategic level. The board of directors is directly responsible for planning green finance business, promoting economical, low-carbon environmental protection and sustainable development, and monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the Bank's green credit development strategies. In 2021, the Bank established a Green Finance Business Department to lead the planning, promotion, and coordination of the Bank's green finance activities, analyze potential market opportunities and risks, and promote the Bank's innovative green finance and green industry services. To continuously improve relevant management norms, the Bank has adopted strict list-based management to control credit to industries with high energy consumption, high pollution and overcapacity. The Bank also issued implemented measures for corporate credit approval to fast-track eligible green credit projects to support green industries.

Ping An Bank said it will continue to lead in green financial services, develop innovative green financial products, and enhance support to the real economy, particularly to the green, low-carbon, and circular economies. The Bank will leverage its financial resources to contribute to China's goals of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

The report was prepared in accordance with the Guidelines for Financial Institutions Environmental Information Disclosure issued by the People's Bank of China and the Regulations of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on Green Finance. The report also refers to recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Click here for the Ping An Bank 2021 Environmental Information Disclosure Report.

About Ping An Group

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An") strives to become a world-leading retail financial services group. With over 225 million retail customers and nearly 668 million internet users, Ping An is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Ping An advances intelligent digital transformation, and employs technologies to improve the quality and efficiency of its financial businesses and enhance risk management. The Company believes "Expertise Creates Value" and "Expertise makes life simple". Ping An develops the "integrated finance + healthcare" service system and builds the "finance + elderlycare" and "finance + healthcare" industry ecosystems to provide professional "financial advisory, family doctor, and elderlycare concierge" services. As China's first joint stock insurance company, Ping An is committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate reporting and corporate governance. The Group is listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Ping An ranked 17th in the Forbes Global 2000 list in 2022 and ranked 25th in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2022.

For more information, please visit www.group.pingan.com and follow us on LinkedIn - PING AN.

SOURCE Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.
LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Prelude Corporation (PreludeDxa), a leader in molecular diagnostics and precision medicine for early-stage breast cancer, announced today that its prospective data of 926 patients demonstrating the clinical utility of DCISionRT and its Residual Risk Subtype (RRt) was selected for a scientific session oral presentation at the 64th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, to be held on October 23  26, 2022 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, TX.

"We are pleased to have our recent clinical utility and validation data on DCISionRT selected for oral presentation, at the prestigious ASTRO Annual Meeting," said Dan Forche, President and CEO of PreludeDx. "This new data is paradigm-changing and further enhances treatment decision making for radiation oncologists and their DCIS patients regarding personal radiation benefit."

Oral Presentation

Title: Number 176: Re-Thinking Clinicopathologic Risk Assessment in DCIS: Pooled Data from Validation Studies Comparing a 7-gene DCIS Assay to Clinicopathologic Features Alone

Presenter: Chirag S. Shah, MD, Director of Breast Radiation Oncology, Department of Radiation Oncology, Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH

Date: Monday, October 24, 5:40 PM CT

Additional PreludeDx ASTRO Poster Will Be Presented

Title: Number 2028: The PREDICT Registry Australia: A Prospective Registry to Evaluate the Clinical Utility of a Biomarker Assay on Treatment Decisions in Patients with DCIS Following Breast Conserving Surgery

Presenter: Yvonne Zissiadis Jr, MBBS, Radiation Oncologist, GenesisCare, Perth, Australia

Date: Monday, October 24, 3:00 PM CT

About DCISionRT for Breast DCIS

DCISionRT is the only risk assessment test for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) that predicts radiation therapy benefit. Patients with DCIS have cancerous cells lining the milk ducts of the breast, but they have not spread into surrounding breast tissue. In the US, over 60,000 women are newly diagnosed with DCIS each year. DCISionRT, developed by PreludeDx on technology licensed from the University of California San Francisco, and built on research that began with funding from the National Cancer Institute, enables physicians to better understand the biology of DCIS. DCISionRT combines the latest innovations in molecular biology with risk-based assessment scores to assess a woman's individual tumor biology along with other pathologic risk factors and provide a personalized recurrence risk. The test provides a Decision Score that identifies a woman's risk as low or elevated. Unlike other risk assessment tools, the DCISionRT test combines protein expression from seven biomarkers and four clinicopathologic factors, using a non-linear algorithm to account for multiple interactions between individual factors in order to better interpret complex biological information. DCISionRT's intelligent reporting provides a woman's recurrence risk after breast conserving surgery alone and with the addition of radiation therapy. In turn, this new information may help patients and their physicians to make more informed treatment decisions.

About PreludeDx

PreludeDx is a leading personalized breast cancer diagnostics company dedicated to serving breast cancer patients and physicians worldwide. Founded in 2009 with technology licensed from University of California San Francisco, PreludeDx has focused on developing precision breast cancer tools that will impact a patient's treatment decision. Our mission is to provide patients and physicians with innovative technologies that improve patient outcomes and reduce the overall cost burden to the healthcare system. Before making a treatment decision, Know Your Risk. PreludeDx is a Fjord Ventures portfolio company.

For more information on how PreludeDx is making a difference for patients, please visit the Company's website: https://preludedx.com and follow us on Twitter @PreludeDx, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

PreludeDx, the PreludeDx logo, DCISionRT, the DCISionRT logo, DecisionTree, Decision Score, The DCIS Test, Know Your Risk and Your Biology, Your Decision are trademarks of Prelude Corporation or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the United States and foreign countries.

Media Contact Investor Contact

Cory Dunn Andrew Wade

760.705.7464 949.600.8925

[email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE PreludeDx
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Democratic Party convenes its 3rd Annual Independence Dinner on Friday, October 28, 2022, hosted by Chairman Sharif Street.

The Independence Dinner will rally and mobilize supporters as we approach one of the most critical elections of our time. Speakers will include President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro, candidate for lieutenant governor, Austin Davis, our candidate for the U.S. Senate representing Pennsylvania, John Fetterman, and many more.

The Independence Dinner will be held on October 28, 2022, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1201 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Doors open at 5 pm.

Tickets are available at padems.com

WHEN: Friday, October 28, 2022

TIME: Doors open at 5:00pm ET

WHERE: Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1201 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

WHO: President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Governor Tom Wolf, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Chairman Sharif Street, State Representative Austin Davis, and many more special guest appearances and performances.

About the Pennsylvania Democratic Party:

The Democratic Party in Pennsylvania is the largest political party in the state. The key issues for the party include affordable healthcare, jobs and wages, support for workers and unions, fairer taxes, strong public education, retirement security, civil rights, environmental protection, marijuana legalization, and criminal justice reform. History was made on Saturday, June 18, 2022, when the Democrat Pennsylvania State Committee voted to elect Pennsylvania Senator Sharif Street, who served as the Vice-Chair for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party for four years  as the first African American Chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

MEDIA CONTACT

Teresa M. Lundy

TML Communications

O: (215) 500-8749

[email protected]

SOURCE The Pennsylvania Democratic Party
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Regan Zambri Long PLLC is pleased to announce that Partner Jacqueline Colclough was a featured panelist at a recent Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia event.

The panel discussion, entitled "Becoming an Expert at Expert Depositions," discussed how to prepare for an expert deposition and what you can do if the deposition doesn't go as planned. Participants had the opportunity to workshop scenarios and received advice on how to turn around a difficult situation with an expert deposition.

Regan Zambri Long Partner Jacqueline Colclough

Colclough was joined by Attorneys Kristen Wilkerson, Deputy Director, Torts Branch, of the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, and Deborah Foster, a Partner at Edgeworth Economics LLC.

Colclough handles complex personal injury claims that feature complicated medical issues. She was a registered nurse in northern Virginia for several years before joining Regan Zambri Long in 2005 as a personal injury lawyer. She combines her experience as a nurse and as a lawyer in cases involving medical malpractice, car accidents, and other personal injury matters. Her work has resulted in multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements for injury victims.

She graduated magna cum laude from St. Anselm College, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. She obtained her license as a Registered Nurse that same year and proceeded directly to the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America.

About Regan Zambri Long PLLC

Washington, DC personal injury law firm Regan Zambri Long PLLC strives to provide legal representation of the highest caliber to our clients. Focusing primarily on personal injury law, we passionately advocate for those who have been negligently injured. For more information, visit rhllaw.com .

Media Contact:

Wendy Lindars

570-417-9305

[email protected]

SOURCE Regan Zambri Long PLLC
Seasons at Broadmoor Heights takes home a total of seven awards

RIO RANCHO, N.M., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Richmond American Homes of New Mexico, Inc., a subsidiary of M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MDC), is pleased to announce that Seasons at Broadmoor Heights (RichmondAmerican.com/BroadmoorHeights) won seven awards in this year's Fall Parade of Homes, presented by the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico. The community's Sapphire model home received the most attention, with honors in the Best Kitchen, Best Interior Decorating, Best Bath and Best Outdoor Living Space categories, as well as a Premier award. The Moonstone model also earned Best Outdoor Living Space and Best Interior Decorating.

The Sapphire floor plan from Richmond American won the Best Kitchen award in the Fall Parade of Homes, presented by the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico.

Located in Rio Rancho, this notable neighborhood is the builder's debut community in the Albuquerque area and features an exceptional collection of ranch and two-story homes, each with the designer details today's homebuyers are seeking.

More about Seasons at Broadmoor Heights:

New Seasons Collection homes from the $300s

Five inspired floor plans

3 to 6 bedrooms, approx. 1,610 to 2,630 sq. ft.

Airy 9' main-floor ceilings and granite countertops included

3-car garages available

Community parks, playgrounds and trails

Easy access to Unser Boulevard and Highway 528

Hundreds of design options

Homebuyers who choose to build a new home from the ground up at this impressive community will have the opportunity to work with professional design consultants to select flooring, finishes and fixtures for their homea complimentary service!

Seasons at Broadmoor Heights is located at 2394 Sandra Loop NE in Rio Rancho. Call 505.510.6600 or visit RichmondAmerican.com for more information.

About M.D.C. Holdings, Inc.

Operating under the name Richmond American Homes, MDC's homebuilding subsidiaries have built more than 230,000 homes since 1977. Among the nation's largest homebuilders, MDC's subsidiary companies have operations in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington. Mortgage lending, plus insurance and title services are offered by the following MDC subsidiaries, respectively: HomeAmerican Mortgage Corporation, American Home Insurance Agency, Inc. and American Home Title and Escrow Company. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MDC." For more information, visit MDCHoldings.com.

SOURCE M.D.C. Holdings, Inc.
Growing Movement Partners with Creator Karen X. Cheng on Augmented Reality Filter to Deliver an Urgent Message from the 16th President on the $5 Bill

NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Starts With Us , a rapidly growing movement to overcome extreme cultural and political divisions in America, today unleashed 87 Abraham Lincolns on Times Square with a timely message for our nation to resist the urge to get caught up in divisiveness this election season. The Lincolns represent the 87% of Americans who are tired of how divided we are politically. These Americans overwhelmingly feel we need to make a change in our politics to preserve our democracy according to a new poll fielded by Starts With Us in partnership with YouGov.1

Invoking the legacy of Lincoln, who is known for preserving our democracy through a period of existential division and Civil War, the 87 Lincolns will inspire citizens to choose connection and cooperation for the common good, regardless of opposing political views and social stances.

"Every day, the discourse in our country gets more polarized and extreme, especially within the media and politics. We are increasingly closed off to ideas that challenge our own, and this has only become more pronounced as the midterms approach," says Tom Fishman, CEO of Starts With Us. "Through this initiative, Starts With Us will remind those exhausted by our political and social climate that together we can make a change despite the divisive forces working against us."

The 87 Lincolns campaign is being amplified globally through an augmented reality (AR) camera effect in partnership with director Karen X. Cheng . Individuals may access the filter on Instagram by visiting www.startswith.us/moneytalks . By pointing the camera toward a five-dollar bill or an image of one, users can unlock the following message from the country's 16th President: "Our country has become so polarized, so crazed, when really it's compassion and cooperation we crave. Whichever way you lean, we can all agree, it starts with us to make the vibes less extreme."

"I've realized over the last few years - so much of social media is designed to divide us. America has gotten so polarized, and social media has contributed to that. The algorithms are designed to reward anger," says creator Karen X. Cheng. "I wanted to design a filter that does the opposite. One that carries a message of compassion and unity, rather than anger and division."

Another Starts With Us poll found that more than two-thirds of U.S. adults share the concern that this year's midterms will further divide America.2 The same survey uncovered that more than three-quarters of adults are open to being a part of the solution to overcome our divided culture leading into the election. To learn more about Starts With Us and join more than three-quarters of a million fellow citizens in depolarizing America through everyday actions, visit www.startswith.us and follow @startswithus on Instagram. To try the "Money Talks" filter and share with your friends, visit www.startswith.us/moneytalks .

About Starts With Us

Starts With Us is a growing movement to overcome cultural and political divisions in America by leveraging media and technology to foster independent thinking and constructive communication across lines of difference. Founded by KIND Snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky in partnership with more than 200 cross-industry leaders, Starts With Us invites Americans from the left, right, and everywhere in between to have a seat at the table  and stay there  by practicing curiosity, compassion, and courage as catalysts for change. Learn more at www.startswith.us .

1 Starts With Us commissioned YouGov to field this survey based on 1,005 interviews conducted by YouGov on the internet of U.S. adults October 5 to 10, 2022. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, and U.S. Census region based on voter registration lists, the U.S. Census American Community Survey, and the U.S. Census Current Population Survey, as well as 2020 Presidential vote. In addition, respondents were selected from YouGov to be nationally representative. The weights range from 0.17 to 6.01, with a mean of 1 and a standard deviation of 0.61. The margin of error is 3.6%.

2 Poll conducted by Morning Consult and Starts With Us August 22 to 23, 2022, among 2,210 adults.

SOURCE Starts With Us
SPRINGFIELD, Mo., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- State Farm Insurance has donated $125,000 to assist disaster relief org, Convoy of Hope, in its response to Hurricane Ian. To date, Convoy of Hope has served more than 80,000 people in the wake of Hurricane Ian. More than 1,200 volunteers mobilized to help Convoy serve 21 communities in the most affected parts of Florida.

Hurricane Ian hit Florida as a Category 4 storm, with sustained winds of 155 mph. It is the third-deadliest storm to hit the U.S., eclipsed only by hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Experts estimate it will take years for certain areas to recover.

"This generous donation helps Convoy distribute more food, water and supplies to Floridians who were impacted by Hurricane Ian," said Convoy of Hope's Jamie Bilton. "We are very grateful for State Farm's support, and it is our privilege to serve alongside a company that excels at helping people recover from the unexpected."

"State Farm is pleased to support Convoy of Hope efforts to help our communities impacted by Hurricane Ian," said State Farm corporate responsibility director, Apsara Sorensen. "Part of our mission is to help people recover from the unexpected. We hope this grant goes a long way in helping our community recover from the hurricane."

Convoy of Hope has already responded to more than 50 natural disasters this year, both in the U.S. and around the world.

About Convoy of Hope

Convoy of Hope is a faith-based organization with a driving passion to feed the world. With a long history as an early responder in times of natural disasters, Convoy of Hope has been a Four Star Charity as recognized by Charity Navigator every year since 2002. Convoy of Hope has served more than 200 million people since it was founded in 1994. For more information, please visit convoyofhope.org .

About State Farm

For 100 years, the mission of State Farm has been and continues to be to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto and home insurance in the United States. Its more than 19,400 agents and approximately 53,400 employees serve over 87 million policies and accounts  which includes auto, fire, life, health, commercial policies and financial services accounts. Commercial auto insurance , along with coverage for renters , business owners , boats and motorcycles , is available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 42 on the 2022 Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com .

Contact

Ethan Forhetz

Vice President of Public Engagement & National Spokesperson

(417) 848-8123

[email protected]

SOURCE Convoy of Hope
Hall of States, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.

October 26  November 20, 2022

Free & Open to the Public Daily 10:00am  12 midnight

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in conjunction with its presentation in November of Monaco's national ballet company, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, will showcase 32 poignant images that have competed for the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation's Environmental Photography Award 2021, focusing on the theme 'Humanity & Wildlife: Crossed Destinies, Shared Territories.'

This exhibition, supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation-USA and the Embassy of Monaco, will coincide with the launch of the third edition of the Foundation's award, which will reflect on human's relationship with nature and the relationship between human health and planetary health. Registration for the 2023 awards will open on November 2, 2022 (through January 15, 2023) on Photocrowd.com/fpa2.photoaward.

"I am honored that photographs from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation's Environmental Photography Award are displayed in this major international artistic institution, The Kennedy Center, within the framework of the Monegasque cultural program organized by the Embassy of Monaco in Washington, D.C. I hope this photographic journey will contribute to raising public awareness on the main environmental challenges we face and the actions taken by the Foundation to address them, on land and at sea," said Olivier Wenden, Vice-President and CEO of the Foundation.

Entries from past exhibitions have showcased images captured on every continent by professional and amateur photographers. One of the featured images in this exhibition is 'Gorilla By The Water' by Maryland- based photographer, Kathleen Ricker, whose portrait was taken in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Southwestern Uganda. Ms. Ricker's first-prize winning entry was one of nearly 6000 submitted in 2021. For the 2022 awards, nearly 8000 entries were received. The complete virtual exhibition and the 2022 edition are available at www.exposition.fpa2.org

WHAT: The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Environmental Photography Award Exhibition, 32 images on the theme 'Humanity & Wildlife: Crossed Destinies, Shared Territories'.

WHERE: Hall of States, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.

WHEN: October 26  November 20, 2022 Free & Open to the Public Daily, 10:00am  12 midnight

INFO: www.MonacoEventsUSA.com OR www.exposition.fpa2.org/exhibition

About the Environmental Photography Award

The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Environmental Photography Award was launched in 2021, to mark the Foundation's 15th anniversary. This annual award was created to reward photographers who put their creativity to good use in raising awareness for the Earth's protection. The Award celebrates the incredible beauty of our planet and highlights the environmental challenges we face, encompassing both impacts and solutions. The photographs are selected by an international jury of renowned professional photographers for their technical and aesthetic excellence but also for the relevance and strength of their message.

Photographic art reinforces the process of awareness of major environmental issues, such as biodiversity, climate and the ocean. www.photocrowd.com/fpa2.photoaward Instagram : fpa2.photoaward

About the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation

Founded by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2006, the eponymous Foundation is a global non-profit organization, committed to progressing planetary health for present and future generations by co-creating initiatives and supporting hundreds of projects across our planet. The Foundation focuses its efforts on three main actions: climate change, biodiversity and water resources, in the following main geographical regions: the Mediterranean Basin, the Polar Regions and the Least Developed Countries. The Foundation has granted + 92 million euros to fund more than +720 projects that focus on limiting the effects of climate change, promoting renewable energies, protecting the ocean, preserving biodiversity, managing water resources and combating deforestation. The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation has 10 international branches including in the United States since 2008, chaired by Mr. John B. Kelly, President, with Monaco's Ambassador to the Unites States, Maguy Maccario Doyle, as Vice-President. www.fpa2.org

SOURCE Embassy of Monaco
Traumatic injuries seen in Ukraine, and the scale of attacks on civilians and hospitals, are distinct compared with wars of recent decades

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Six surgeons directly involved in caring for injured patients during the war in Ukraine shared their experiences Wednesday, October 19, during the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2022 in San Diego. Among the panelists was Hnat Herych, MD, PhD, a Ukrainian surgeon who is chief of surgery department, Multidisciplinary Clinical Hospital of Emergency and Intensive Care, Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Ukraine. Appearing alongside Dr. Herych were several surgeons who have all traveled from the U.S. to Ukraine to assist with surgical care on the ground.

Surgeons who have cared for injured patients in Ukraine shared lessons learned at a recent news briefing.

During a scientific panel session and a news briefing that followed, Dr. Herych emphasized the needs of Ukrainian surgeons and the difficulties they are facing since the start of the war.

"You need to understand that the war is still going in Ukraine. Doctors and surgeons of Ukraine are fighting for the lives of the people," said Dr. Herych. "Before the war, we did modern operations. But the war changed everything."

"We know a lot about what happened for the 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Ukraine is a very different story. The nature of the injuries that are being sustained, the targeting of civilians, the bombing of hospitals, all of which make it a very different war," said M. Margaret "Peggy" Knudson, MD, FACS, Medical Director, Military Health System Strategic Partnership American College of Surgeons (MHSSPACS), who moderated the panel session.

The use of whole blood

John B. Holcomb, MD FACS, professor in the division of trauma and acute care surgery, department of surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, described the use of whole blood transfusions in Ukraine and how it is helping improve survival. "In the civilian world, it takes about 18 months to change over to whole blood. Dr. Herych and his colleagues, in a time of war, did it in two weeks," he said.

Whole blood contains all the components of blood and is often used to treat patients with traumatic injuries who have sustained significant blood loss.*

Dr. Holcomb also noted that patients are being transported by train from eastern to western Ukraine. "We haven't seen this kind of transport by trains since World War II. It's a very different experience for these patients as they take two-to-three days to get across this large country."

Coordinating surgical efforts in Ukraine

Aaron Epstein, MD, a general surgery resident at the University at Buffalo has coordinated efforts to help Ukraine through the non-governmental organization he created, the Global Surgical Medical Support Group (GSMSG). He shared his experiences in Ukraine and the information that has been gathered. "One of the things we've gotten out of this is really interesting data. The injury patterns that we've seen are very different than what was seen over the last few decades in the global war on terror. As opposed to a single IED going off, now you have artillery and rocket barrages," he said.

"We are working with everybody, whether it was administration, nursing, medical students, residents, faculty, whoever would listen to us and whoever wanted to sit down and talk, we would take those opportunities," said Warren C. Dorlac, MD, FACS, medical director, trauma and acute care surgery, UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies, Loveland, Colorado.

Future needs in Ukraine

Dr. Herych emphasized the dire need for rehabilitation services in Ukraine. He said his hospital has taken in more surgical patients than ever before, but the availability of rehabilitation services is lacking.

"Our dream and our first need that we want to do is to build a rehabilitation center in Ukraine. We have thousands of patients who need rehabilitation in Ukraine," he said.

The panelists noted that many basic supplies required for patient care are now lacking in Ukraine. Dr. Herych emphasized that his hospital was functioning at a very high level before the war, but the basic supplies needed to perform necessary operations have become increasingly scarce in the country.

Although the current war in Ukraine is ongoing, the panelists talked about the valuable lessons they have learned, which can bolster future efforts.

"It is these shared experiences of learning from each other that makes us better prepared to manage these wounds moving forward," said Jeffrey D. Kerby, MD, PhD, FACS, Chair of the ACS Committee on Trauma and a co-moderator of the panel session.

"We're not done improving medical and surgical care and burns until there are no deaths, no scars, and no pain. We're not there yet. We cannot be satisfied with the status quo," said Steven E. Wolf, MD, FACS, professor and chief, division of burn and trauma surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

These surgeons and others continue to help Ukraine in many ways to enhance medical care and save lives during the conflict. Surgeons have traveled to Ukraine to teach courses such as Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), STOP THE BLEED, and others. Additionally, modules from a program developed by the ACS called the Military Clinical Readiness Curriculumdesigned as a tool to ensure clinical readiness for surgeons in areas of conflict or disasterhave been translated into Ukrainian to help surgeons on the ground in Ukraine save lives.

View a recording of the news briefing on the ACS YouTube channel.

*Blood Components. American Red Cross. Accessed October 20, 2022. Available at: https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/types-of-blood-donations/blood-components.html.

About the American College of Surgeons

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 84,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. "FACS" designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

SOURCE American College of Surgeons
- The Iconic MetaSkull collection by Jacky Tsai is a limited edition NFT collectible for Halloween 2022

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- London-based contemporary artist Jacky Tsai and his fashion-forward MetaSkull Collection become the designer's first foray into the metaverse debuting in Upland , the largest open metaverse mapped to the real world. Fans of the Shanghai-born designer around the world and the Upland community will have the unique opportunity to collect and trade three different rarities of the iconic MetaSkull in the form of digital collectibles, Upland's coveted Block Explorers, and structural decor used to decorate metaverse neighborhoods in time for Halloween.

Jacky Tsai and his fashion-forward MetaSkull NFTs launch in Upland the largest open metaverse mapped to the real world. Tweet this Upland Brings Fashion and Fine Art to the Metaverse with Iconic Jacky Tsai MetaSkull Collection

In collaboration with Froyo Games, Jacky Tsai will be launching his first NFT collection in Upland, the largest property-trading metaverse, with over 3 million registered users and the highest number of virtual property owners. Just in time for the popular season of Halloween, the Upland community will have a new opportunity to decorate their property structures with limited edition and seasonal fine art, creating a unique, immersive metaverse experience. Fans of the former Alexander McQueen designer will be introduced to a web3 experience in Upland where they can contribute and benefit from the utility of Tsai's unique NFT collection.

Tsai's dynamic art has been featured in some of the top galleries and museums globally, including Unit London and Richard Taittinger Gallery with realized prices ranging from 48,000 USD to 302,000 USD. The artist's iconic skull motifs first gained international recognition in 2008, when it was used in Alexander McQueen's Spring/Summer menswear collection.

"I am thrilled to bring the MetaSkull collection to Upland's global audience that is eager to support quality digital art. Upland's unique building landscape allows for boundless artistic growth and expression, which is key to bridging the gap between the artistic world and the ever expanding metaverse," says Jacky Tsai. "My vision for the collection is to inspire the next generation of gamers with bold and thought provoking designs."

Tsai's vision with the MetaSkull launch is to dispel the notion of fear and negative attitudes towards death amongst Chinese communities. His art often combines traditional Eastern art techniques and Western pop art references that serve as the perfect way to express this message and create truly unique art pieces that establish harmony between the cultural extremes.

"We are excited to elevate the visual aesthetic in Upland with an artist as talented as Jacky Tsai and introduce this unique MetaSkull collection to the Upland community," says Dirk Lueth, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Upland. "With this collection, every structure in Upland will be decorated with iconic visuals as more property owners bring their personal style into the metaverse."

The Jacky Tsai MetaSkull Collection will be revealed to the Upland community on Friday, October 21. Upland is available to download for free on iOS, Android and the web, and can be played from anywhere in the world.

ABOUT UPLAND ME, Inc.

Upland ( https://upland.me/ ) is an open web3 platform for the metaverse mapped to the real world. The company's mission is to build one of the leading and most dynamic maker-communities through a strong entrepreneur economy that allows players, creators, developers, and brands to manufacture goods and experiences, monetize assets, and provide utility and fun to other players. Headquartered in Silicon Valley with hubs in Las Vegas, Ukraine, and Brazil, Upland was named among Fast Company's "Next Big Things in Tech'' in 2021 and one of "22 San Francisco Startups To Watch in 2022" by Built In SF. Upland is committed to becoming carbon negative and is a proud partner of Carbonfuture. For more information about our sustainability commitment visit https://www.upland.me/sustainability . Upland is available on iOS, Android and the Web, and can be played from anywhere in the world.

About Jacky Tsai

Jacky Tsai is a Shanghai-born and London-based Chinese Asian Modern & Contemporary artist. Jacky Tsai basked in the limelight in 2008 when British fashion designer Alexander McQueen adopted his floral skull creation for its 2008 Spring/Summer Menswear Collection, and since then, he has used the floral skull in many of his artworks. The floral skull represents life and death, the beauty in decay, and rebirth.

Over the years, Jacky's talent and creativity have expanded. Apart from painting and sculpting, his creation also incorporates a wide range of other media, including what others consider dying crafts, traditional lacquer carving, silk embroidery, and hand-painted porcelain. In addition, Jacky Tsai is well-known for his unique style of merging traditional Chinese painting techniques and references with Western Pop Art. Jacky's dynamic art and constantly evolving creativity have landed him opportunities to collaborate with many big names in the fashion industry, such as Bvlgari & Shanghai Tang. He even earned the affection of pop star Jay Chou.

About Froyo Games

Froyo Games has collaborated with Jacky Tsai to launch an NFT series called "MetaSkull", to be announced later in October.

Froyo Games is a Web3 gaming publishing platform enabling gamers to interact with blockchain games and NFTs on a single integrated platform in a seamless and hassle-free manner. Froyo Games is backed by its strategic investors that include Animoca Games, GBV, Spartan etc. Froyo Games' main strategic partner is iCandy Interactive - the largest game development company in the Southeast Asia region, that has extensive experience making AAA and casual games globally.

Media contact: Lindsay Aamodt, [email protected]

SOURCE Upland
DUBLIN, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Medium Voltage Cables Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global medium voltage cables market size reached US$ 51.74 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 72.78 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.85% 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 industries. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.

Medium voltage cables are power cables comprising three layers, such as conductor and insulation screen, and insulation material. They are highly flexible and durable and offer protection against abrasion, tearing and wearing, and environmental impacts. They are safer and cost-effective as medium voltage cables are laid underground with less operation and maintenance costs.

In addition, they provide a reliable power source during unpredictable power outage situations by efficiently distributing power to isolated areas. Apart from this, they are easy to install, offer a long shelf-life, and improve resistance to pulling, twisting, and tension. As a result, they find extensive applications in oil and gas, mining, chemical, and electrical industries across the globe.

Due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, there is a rise in the demand for efficient power generation, transmission, and distribution across the globe. This, along with various innovations in the design of medium voltage cables, represents one of the key factors driving the market.

Besides this, key market players are extensively investing in research and development (R&D) activities to introduce high-performance insulating system technology (HPTE) for replacing medium voltage cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulated cables. They are also focusing on various marketing strategies to expand their customer base, which is contributing to the growth of the market.

In addition, the growing demand for renewable energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution is positively influencing the market. Moreover, the increasing demand for underground cables on account of the lesser number of annual faults compared to overhead cables is offering lucrative growth opportunities to industry investors. Apart from this, the rising utilization of medium voltage cables in the mining industry to supply power to drills, shovels, and haulers is bolstering the growth of the market.

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being ABB Ltd, Brugg Cables (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eland Cables, Hellenic Cables S.A., LS Cable & System (LS Group), Nexans S.A., NKT A/S, Prysmian S.p.A., Riyadh Cables, Southwire Company LLC, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., Synergy Cables and TPC Wire & Cable.

Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global medium voltage cables market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global medium voltage cables market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the voltage?

What is the breakup of the market based on the product?

What is the breakup of the market based on the installation?

What is the breakup of the market based on the end user?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global medium voltage cables 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 Medium Voltage Cables Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Voltage

6.1 Up to 25kV

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 26kV-50kV

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 51kV-75kV

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 76kV-100kV

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Product

7.1 Termination Cables

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Joints

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 XLPE Cables

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 Installation

8.1 Underground

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Submarine

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Overhead

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by End User

9.1 Industrial

9.1.1 Market Trends

9.1.2 Market Forecast

9.2 Commercial

9.2.1 Market Trends

9.2.2 Market Forecast

9.3 Utility

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



15 Competitive Landscape

15.1 Market Structure

15.2 Key Players

15.3 Profiles of Key Players

15.3.1 ABB Ltd

15.3.1.1 Company Overview

15.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.2 Brugg Cables (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.

15.3.2.1 Company Overview

15.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.3 Eland Cables

15.3.3.1 Company Overview

15.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.4 Hellenic Cables S.A.

15.3.4.1 Company Overview

15.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.5 LS Cable & System (LS Group)

15.3.5.1 Company Overview

15.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.6 Nexans S.A.

15.3.6.1 Company Overview

15.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.6.3 Financials

15.3.6.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.7 NKT A/S

15.3.7.1 Company Overview

15.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.7.3 Financials

15.3.8 Prysmian S.p.A.

15.3.8.1 Company Overview

15.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.8.3 Financials

15.3.8.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.9 Riyadh Cables

15.3.9.1 Company Overview

15.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.10 Southwire Company LLC

15.3.10.1 Company Overview

15.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.10.3 SWOT Analysis

15.3.11 Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd.

15.3.11.1 Company Overview

15.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.11.3 Financials

15.3.11.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.12 Synergy Cables

15.3.12.1 Company Overview

15.3.12.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.13 TPC Wire & Cable

15.3.13.1 Company Overview

15.3.13.2 Product Portfolio

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/hsihsp

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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SOURCE Research and Markets
ADVASA Co., Ltd. (HQ: Tokyo, CEO: Asamitsu Kosugi) will exhibit at Money20/20, the world's largest FinTech conference, in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 23-26, 2022, to accelerate its expansion into the US market, where digital payroll and instant payroll access services are rapidly growing.

TOKYO, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ADVASA is a pioneer in "Earned Wage Access" (EWA), a technology that allows for instant payroll access to employees compared to a biweekly or monthly payroll. Almost all EWA services use Pay In-Advance technology, and ADVASA holds extensive and strong foundational patents for Pay In-Advance technology in the US, Japan, and other countries, enabling complete compliance protection for companies that provide EWA services globally.

With ADVASAs US-based partner IPwe, whose platform basis adopt on Casper blockchain technology, ADVASA will formally launch its ground-breaking EWA technology with the blockchain that is without sacrificing the essential components of usability, cost, decentralization, or security on the US market at Money2020.

EWA infrastructure is commonly used in the US logistics industry to pay delivery drivers instantly once a delivery is successfully completed. According to the Center for Responsible Learning, the EWA market has nearly tripled from 2018 to 2020, growing from $3.2 billion to $9.5 billion[1]. ADVASA is expanding globally as EWA technology can reduce employee turnover costsestimated to cost employers in the US and the UK $300 billion[2] annuallyby providing employees with an incentive to stay at the company and complete more deliveries or shifts.

Despite substantial workplace innovation over the past few years, there has been a lack of innovation in payroll, particularly in Europe and the US, where employers often process payroll on a predetermined cycle. The typical 2-week payroll cycle can negatively affect workers who have their own bill payments that work on a different cycle. Businesses can now develop a payment protocol that enhances their workers' financial security and the company's corporate brand by distinguishing themselves as an advanced employer in their industry. In a poll conducted by EY 2020, 80% of participants[3] indicated that they would be open to using EWA for payment processes, which already has been widely implemented in US companies like Walmart, Uber, McDonald's, Burger King, Domino's, Chili's, and other large service providers.

With ADVASA's US-based partner IPwe, whose platform basis adopt on Casper blockchain technology, ADVASA will formally launch its ground-breaking EWA technology with the blockchain that is without sacrificing the essential components of usability, cost, decentralization, or security on the US market at Money2020. To boost the use of EWA technologies in the US and position ADVASA as a pioneer in payroll access technology, ADVASA has partnered with IPwe to make its essential EWA patent portfolio accessible for license to US companies. With streamlined payments that are quickly transferred into any bank account, card, or e-wallet at the summary of each workday or shift, ADVASA and IPwe predict that EWA will replace traditional payroll procedures because it provides employees with instant payroll access without affecting the employer's cash flow. EWA's further entrance to the US market will significantly lessen the burden on employees and improve employers' ability to attract top talent in a competitive labor market.

To meet the ADVASA and IPwe's President, Leann M. Pinto, at Money2020, please visit booth #3606.

Leann M. Pinto

Leann Pinto is an expert in patent monetization, having personally generated over $150 million in revenue during her tenure at IBM as a top decision-maker in IBM's patent business group, most recently acting as the Director of Patent Licensing. Leann's introduction to patents and monetization started in the pharmaceutical industry, where she represented both generic and brand pharma companies, including as a patent litigator achieving notable victories for numerous international brand pharma companies. Leann earned her undergraduate degree in pharmacy and later obtained a law degree. Before IBM, she held executive positions with startup pharma companies in business development and regulatory affairs. As IPwe President, she oversees growth of the company's operations and forging new enterprise partnerships.

ADVASA Co., Ltd.

ADVASA provides a payment service called "FUKUPE," an EWA platform that offers employees immediate access to their payroll with cashless receipts and settlements across any wallet, card, or bank account. Accordingly, ADVASA is further developing its EWA platform by utilizing blockchain technology that pays employees using cryptocurrencies, the subsequent development in financial inclusion, and workplace innovation.

ADVASA currently provides original equipment manufacturer services to financial institutions and licenses its EWA technology portfolio.

For Media Enquiries:

Itaru Inaho

[email protected]

+81-3-6868-5538

[1] https://www.responsiblelending.org/sites/default/files/nodes/files/research-publication/crl-earned-wage-access-8feb2022.pdf [2] Resource: ONS, U.S. Labor Bureau; EY Analysis, 2020 [3] *3 Resource: On-Demand Pay: payroll that works for all; EY 2020

SOURCE ADVASA Co., Ltd.
CHICAGO, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aircraft flight control systems market size is projected to grow from USD 14.5 Billion in 2022 to USD 21.5 Billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 8.2 % from 2022 to 2027 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Market expansion is being driven by the anticipated increase in demand for commercial aircraft as well as the growing adoption of more electric concepts.

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=117067292

Browse in-depth TOC on "Aircraft Flight Control Systems Market"

238  Tables

59  Figures

249  Pages

Flight Control Computers is expected to account for the largest share in 2022

Based on Component, flight control computers segment is projected to lead the aircraft flight control systems market during the forecast period. Manufacturers of aircraft flight control systems are developing advanced components that will lower an aircrafts total weight while enhancing its overall efficiency, influencing the growth of the aircraft flight control computers market. With major airlines increasing the size of their aircraft fleet in the last five years, the demand for technologically sophisticated flight control computers will increase. This will enhance the aircrafts efficiency and safety while lowering direct operating expenditures.

The linefit segment is projected to dominate market share in the system segment during the forecast period

Based on Fit, the linefit segment is projected to dominate the market share during the forecast period. The rapidly increasing passenger traffic and the increasing number of deliveries made to meet demand have an influence on demand. Additionally, the increasing emphasis of aircraft OEMs on producing high-performance aircraft with a low-weight profile for new generation aircraft will drive the expansion of the linefit segment market.

The Digital Fly-by-Wire segment is projected to dominate market share in the system segment during the forecast period

Based on Technology, the digital fly-by-wire segment is projected to dominate the market share during the forecast period. The demand for digital fly-by-wire flight controls is being generated majorly from the commercial and military aviation sectors. However, the penetration of the technology is limited in the general aviation sector. Nevertheless, fly-by-wire flight control system integration is gradually becoming standard even in new types of flight aircraft that previously employed traditional hydro-mechanical controls. Fly-by-wire systems are lighter and less bulky than mechanical counterparts, allowing for greater design freedom and improving the performance curve of light aircraft.

The Commercial Aviation segment projected to lead aircraft flight control systems market during the forecast period

Based on Platform, the commercial aviation segment is projected to lead the aircraft flight control systems market during the forecast period. The rising aircraft fleet, the companys inclination for fuel-efficient aircraft, and an increase in airline passenger footprint all contribute to the commercial aircraft market.

Fixed-wing Aircraft is expected to account for the largest share in 2022

Based on Aircraft Type, the fixed-wing aircraft segment is projected to lead the aircraft flight control systems market during the forecast period. The rapidly rising global passenger traffic, is expected to enhance demand for fixed-wing aircraft in the commercial and general aviation sectors. Demand for aircraft flight control systems is directly proportional to the demand for fixed-wing aircraft.

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North America is expected to account for the largest share in 2022

The aircraft flight control systems market industry has been studied in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. North America accounted for the largest market share in 2022, and Asia Pacific is projected to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast period. It is anticipated that demand for commercial and general aviation will rise as the regions need for air travel rises. In addition, the major aircraft manufacturer players are investing in electric aircraft, which will influence the market growth.

Major players operating in the aircraft flight control systems market include Honeywell International Inc. (US), Moog Inc. (US), Raytheon Technologies Corporation (US), Safran SA (France), Thales (France), Parker Hannifin Corporation (US), Curtiss-Wright Corporation (US), and BAE Systems PLC (UK) are some of the market players.

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Browse Adjacent Market: Aerospace and Defence Market Research Reports &Consulting

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
PARIS, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On 17 October 2022, Bruno Le Maire  Minister of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty  was interviewed by BFM Crypto on the topic of crypto-assets.

Artmarket.com carefully notes the declaration by the top of the State of the economic potential of the crypto-asset ecosystem, and above all of wanting to make France "the European hub of the crypto-asset ecosystem". Bruno Le Maire declares: "And we want France to be the European hub of the crypto-asset ecosystem."

He also said: "Today, France has some of the most innovative DASPs in the world and can draw on an exceptional concentration of crypto skills, whether scientific, IT, financial, legal or commercial."

Artmarket.com is fully prepared to contribute to making France a Leader in crypto-assets in Europe and also in the world, in the specific field of Art NFTs, adopted by all historical players in the Art Market.

As World Leader in Art Market Information and a pioneer on the Internet since 1987 with Group Serveur, Artprice by Artmarket (twice designated an "innovative company" by BPI France) has all the advantages, technological know-how, and expertise to give France a place as an international leader in the field of crypto art.

Artmarket.com already has a permanent information feed on daily NFT news in 119 countries, as the world's leading press agency dedicated to the Art Market, NFTs, and Metaverse:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/artmarketcom-artprice-and-cision-extend-their-alliance-to-119-countries-to-become-the-worlds-leading-press-agency-dedicated-to-the-art-market-nfts-and-the-metaverse-301431845.html

Artprice by Artmarket.com confirms that during the first half of 2022, the Art NFT phenomenon (Jeton Non Fongible in French) became a durable segment of the art market on all continents with acceleration in sales and volumes in the second half of 2022. This acceleration has been triggered primarily by a) the purge of cryptocurrencies and b) the introduction of much more favorable legislation in the USA. Meanwhile, Europe has introduced a regulatory framework that supervises and controls the cryptocurrency environment, thereby giving greater confidence to consumers, investors, and operators.

This regulation is the subject of studies, colloquia, and proposals to major French and European government bodies by the Art & Law Institute, where Artprice by Artmarket has been heavily involved as a long-standing member since 1997.

thierry Ehrmann, founder of Artprice and CEO of Artmarket.com remarks: "in our various annual art market reports and our communications with investors, we have always included NFTs in our studies. And we have always said that one cannot understand this market with exponential growth without understanding the vital importance of Blockchains, cryptocurrencies, and their cultural origin within the Cypherpunk milieu (period of PGP-type data encryption in the early 1990s)."

Indeed, OpenSea USA, the leading NFT platform, itself declares that 80% of the primary issues of Art NFTs are likely to impact the intellectual property rights of third parties. Faced with this observation, Opensea has announced that it is considering solutions to counter this scourge and protect sellers and buyers. There is only one viable solution to this problem: the certification of the primary Art-NFT market by Artprice through its blockchain and its smart contracts.

It is precisely in the primary issue of Art NFTs that Artprice by Artmarket.com is the only one on the world market, taking into account all the underlying parameters and data, to be able to truly meet the certification of primary issues of Art NFTs.

This ability to certify primary issues of Art NFTs is based on the fact that Artprice by Artmarket.com is the World Leader in Art Market Information and author for 25 years of its authoritative databases. These in turn contain the largest documentary collection in the world of notes, manuscripts, and catalogs of auction sales since 1700, guaranteeing in return the authenticity and the historical proof of its databases.

Artprice by Artmarket.com aims to be the most successful and highly competitive Art NFTs platform through its Metaverse, which is the ultimate and inevitable outcome of the NFT revolution.

This Metaverse is the assurance of exponential and continuous growth of the Art Market by NFTs. It will be accompanied by its Blockchain and its smart contracts to allow fair remuneration for artists, with copyright societies such as ADAGP, of which Artprice has long been one of the main contributors, under the legal provisions of reproduction, for the support of artists.

The Minister of the Economy adds "In the immediate future, I am delighted with the transition from Ethereum to proof of stake, which consumes much less energy. "

This is in line with Artprice by Artmarket.com's Blockchain, which will mainly use Ethereum for its smart contracts, as announced in its recent press release, following the transition from "Proof of Work" (PoW) to "Proof of Stake" of Ethereum 2.0 on September 15, 2022:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/artmarketcom-with-a-99-95-reduction-in-energy-consumption-the-merge-is-a-historic-and-ecological-success-for-ethereum-the-reference-cryptocurrency-for-artprice-and-for-the-art-nft-market-301625211.html

Indeed, Artmarket.com has been following very closely for the last 3 years the transition to "The Merge" for the decarbonized Blockchain Ethereum 2.0, in the context of the global energy crisis, which is only just beginning. According to its Founder Vitalik Buterin, thanks to "The Merge", after 7 years of development and successful beta tests), the electricity consumption of the Blockchain ETH collapses by more than 99.95%, going from "Proof of Work" (PoW) to the "Proof of Stake" (PoS).

The fact that Artprice anticipated three years earlier the Blockchain Ethereum and its smart contract as the reference in the Art Market for NFTs, is further reinforced by the official dispatch from Christie's on September 27, 2022, with the launch announced of Christie's 3.0 which is based on the Blockchain Ethereum.

According to an Artprice study:

"All Market Makers in the Art Market and in particular the majority of Auction Houses worldwide now have an NFT department for cataloged and online sales throughout the year. Similarly, all the major structures in the museum industry and art galleries are starting to publish their own NFTs.

Digital Art created in the 1980s is finally making its real revolution by impacting nearly half a billion Art NFT enthusiasts, at purchasing costs that are now very accessible.

There are already more than 54,000 artists identified by Artprice who directly produce their NFTs for their buying public and this is only the very beginning of this paradigm shift.

It is a major event that definitively modifies the structure of the Art Market and its actors, as known since 1950 according to sociologists, art historians, and analysts. This is also confirmed by the various departments of Artprice, particularly concerning the figures."

https://www.actusnews.com/fr/artmarket/cp/2022/09/29/artmarket_com-rapport-financier-s1-2022-les-capitaux-propres-depassent-les-30m-eur-rn-en-progression-record-ca-s1-mise-en-place

Artmarket.com will contribute to giving France and Europe a chance to counterbalance the Anglo-Saxon hegemony in the field of crypto-assets. It will expose to the Minister of Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital sovereignty, the unique capabilities of Artprice by Artmarket.com, the World leader in Art Market information for 25 years, in certification of primary issuance in the field of Art NFTs and crypto Art more generally.

Copyright 1987-2022 thierry Ehrmann www.artprice.com - www.artmarket.com

Don't hesitate to c ontact our E conometrics Department for your requirements regarding statistics and personalized studies: [email protected]

for your requirements regarding statistics and personalized studies: Try our services (free demo): https://www.artprice.com/demo

(free demo): https://www.artprice.com/demo Subscribe to our services: https://www.artprice.com/subscription

About Artmarket:

Artmarket.com is listed on Eurolist by Euronext Paris, SRD long only and Euroclear: 7478 - Bloomberg: PRC - Reuters: ARTF.

Discover Artmarket and its Artprice department on video: www.artprice.com/video

Artmarket and its Artprice department was founded in 1997 by its CEO, thierry Ehrmann. Artmarket and its Artprice department is controlled by Groupe Serveur, created in 1987.

See certified biography in Who's who :

Biographie_thierry_Ehrmann_2022_WhosWhoInFrance.pdf

Artmarket is a global player in the Art Market with, among other structures, its Artprice department, world leader in the accumulation, management and exploitation of historical and current art market information in databanks containing over 30 million indices and auction results, covering more than 793,000 artists.

Artprice by Artmarket, the world leader in information on the art market, has set itself the ambition through its Global Standardized Marketplace to be the world's leading Fine Art NFT platform.

Artprice Images allows unlimited access to the largest Art Market image bank in the world: no less than 180 million digital images of photographs or engraved reproductions of artworks from 1700 to the present day, commented by our art historians.

Artmarket with its Artprice department accumulates data on a permanent basis from 6300 Auction Houses and produces key Art Market information for the main press and media agencies (7,200 publications). Its 5.4 million ('members log in'+social media) users have access to ads posted by other members, a network that today represents the leading Global Standardized Marketplace to buy and sell artworks at a fixed or bid price (auctions regulated by paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article L 321.3 of France's Commercial Code).

Artmarket with its Artprice department, has been awarded the State label "Innovative Company" by the Public Investment Bank (BPI) (for the second time in November 2018 for a new period of 3 years) which is supporting the company in its project to consolidate its position as a global player in the market art.

Artprice releases its 2022 Ultra-Contemporary Art Market Report:

https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-contemporary-art-market-report-2022

The Artprice 2022 half-year report: the art market returns to strong growth in the West:

https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/global-art-market-in-h1-2022-by-artprice-com

Artprice by Artmarket's 2020 Global Art Market Report published in March 2022:

https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-art-market-in-2021

Artprice's 2020/21 Contemporary Art Market Report by Artmarket.com:

https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-contemporary-art-market-report-2021

Index of press releases posted by Artmarket with its Artprice department:

serveur.serveur.com/Press_Release/pressreleaseEN.htm

Follow all the Art Market news in real time with Artmarket and its Artprice department on Facebook and Twitter:

www.facebook.com/artpricedotcom/ (over 5.9 million followers)

twitter.com/artmarketdotcom

twitter.com/artpricedotcom

Discover the alchemy and universe of Artmarket and its artprice department https://www.artprice.com/video headquartered at the famous Organe Contemporary Art Museum "The Abode of Chaos" (dixit The New York Times): https://issuu.com/demeureduchaos/docs/demeureduchaos-abodeofchaos-opus-ix-1999-2013

L'Obs - The Museum of the Future: https://youtu.be/29LXBPJrs-o

www.facebook.com/la.demeure.du.chaos.theabodeofchaos999 (over 4 million followers)

https://vimeo.com/124643720

Contact Artmarket.com and its Artprice department - Contact: Thierry Ehrmann, [email protected]

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SOURCE Artmarket.com
NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Technavio has been monitoring the automotive remote keyless entry system market, operating under the consumer discretionary industry. The report estimates the market to register an incremental growth of USD 1.13 billion, at a CAGR of 12.6% during the forecast period. The major growth will originate from North America by 32%.

Automotive Remote Keyless Entry System Market: Vendor Analysis

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Automotive Remote Keyless Entry System Market 2022-2026

The market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying various organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. The report analyzes the market's competitive landscape and offers information on several market vendors, including:

Alps Alpine Co. Ltd: The company offers mobile devices, consumer electronics, and automobiles, as well as healthcare and energy-related devices.

The company offers mobile devices, consumer electronics, and automobiles, as well as healthcare and energy-related devices. Continental AG: The company offers automotive remote keyless systems such as immobilizers, start-stop buttons, and multiview professional 12.

The company offers automotive remote keyless systems such as immobilizers, start-stop buttons, and multiview professional 12. Denso Corp.: The company offers automotive remote keyless systems such as immobilizers.

The company offers automotive remote keyless systems such as immobilizers. HELLA GmbH & Co. KG: The company offers automotive remote keyless systems such as immobilizers and tire pressure monitoring.

The company offers automotive remote keyless systems such as immobilizers and tire pressure monitoring. Hyundai Motor Group: The company offers autonomous driving system sensors, key parts, and eco-friendly parts.

To know additional highlights and critical points on various market segments and their impact in coming years, Download Free Sample Report.

Automotive Remote Keyless Entry System Market: Segmentation Analysis by Vehicle Type

The report extensively covers the automotive remote keyless entry system market segmentation by

Vehicle type (passenger cars and commercial vehicles)

End-user (OEMs and aftermarket)

Geography ( North America , Europe , APAC, the Middle East and Africa , and South America )

The global automotive remote keyless entry system market is anticipated to expand over the course of the projected period due to a rise in vehicle sales. As more cars become technologically advanced, rising demand for passenger vehicles will fuel the growth of the worldwide automotive remote keyless entry market during the forecast period.

Additionally, E-commerce and the growing use of commercial vehicles for transportation both have a significant impact on the expansion of the commercial vehicle industry. Infrastructure development, e-mobility acceptance in business sectors, and rising industrialization all assist the growth of the automotive industry and contribute to rising commercial vehicle demand. Buy Sample Report.

Automotive Remote Keyless Entry System Market: Regional Analysis

The demand for vehicle security systems in North America has been driven by an increase in concern over auto theft. The manufacturing of passenger cars directly affects the market for passenger cars since automotive remote keyless entry systems are a standard feature in all passenger automobiles. The need for security systems that cannot be hot-wired has increased as trucks and LCVs become more electronic-intensive.

Recent years have seen a slight decline in vehicle theft in North America due to the adoption of security systems like strong vehicle tracking systems, remote and passive keyless entry systems, and anti-theft alarm systems. To further lessen the likelihood of theft in the area, consumers and regulatory organizations have consistently urged the deployment of car security systems. Request Free Sample Report.

Automotive Remote Keyless Entry System Market: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period

Detailed information on factors that will assist automotive remote keyless entry system market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the automotive remote keyless entry system market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the automotive remote keyless entry system market

Get lifetime access to our Technavio Insights! Subscribe to our "Basic Plan" billed annually at USD 5000.

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Automotive Remote Keyless Entry System Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 12.6% Market growth 2022-2026 $1.13 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 12.2 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East and Africa, and South America Performing market contribution North America at 32% Key consumer countries US, Canada, China, India, Germany, and Italy Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Alps Alpine Co. Ltd, ARCO Lock and Security ENTERN LLC, CK Holdings Co. Ltd., Continental AG, Denso Corp., HELLA GmbH and Co. KG, Hyundai Motor Group, Marquardt GmbH, Microchip Technology Inc., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., NXP Semiconductors NV, Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, Texas Instruments Inc., Tokai Rika Co. Ltd, Valeo SA, VOXX International Corp., and ZEPPELIN 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, and market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Table of Contents:

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Vehicle Type



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 09: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 10: Parent market



Exhibit 11: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 12: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 13: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 14: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 16: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 17: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 18: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 19: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 20: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 21: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 22: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 23: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 24: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by Vehicle Type

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 25: Chart on Vehicle Type - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 26: Data Table on Vehicle Type - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by Vehicle Type

Exhibit 27: Chart on Comparison by Vehicle Type



Exhibit 28: Data Table on Comparison by Vehicle Type

5.3 Passenger cars - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 29: Chart on Passenger cars - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: Data Table on Passenger cars - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 31: Chart on Passenger cars - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 32: Data Table on Passenger cars - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 Commercial vehicles - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 33: Chart on Commercial vehicles - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: Data Table on Commercial vehicles - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 35: Chart on Commercial vehicles - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 36: Data Table on Commercial vehicles - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Market opportunity by Vehicle Type

Exhibit 37: Market opportunity by Vehicle Type ($ million)

6 Market Segmentation by End-user

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 38: Chart on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

6.2 Comparison by End-user

Exhibit 40: Chart on Comparison by End-user



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Comparison by End-user

6.3 OEMs - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 42: Chart on OEMs - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 43: Data Table on OEMs - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 44: Chart on OEMs - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 45: Data Table on OEMs - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

6.4 Aftermarket - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 46: Chart on Aftermarket - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 47: Data Table on Aftermarket - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 48: Chart on Aftermarket - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 49: Data Table on Aftermarket - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

6.5 Market opportunity by End-user

Exhibit 50: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million)

7 Customer Landscape

7.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 51: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

8 Geographic Landscape

8.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 52: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 53: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

8.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 54: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 55: Data Table on Geographic comparison

8.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 56: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 57: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 58: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 59: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 60: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 61: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 62: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 63: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 64: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 65: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 66: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 67: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.6 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 68: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 70: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 71: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.7 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 72: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 73: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 74: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 75: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.8 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 76: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 77: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 78: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 79: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.9 China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 80: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 81: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 82: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 83: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.10 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 84: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 85: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 86: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 87: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.11 Italy - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 88: Chart on Italy - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 89: Data Table on Italy - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 90: Chart on Italy - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 91: Data Table on Italy - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.12 Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 92: Chart on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 93: Data Table on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 94: Chart on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 95: Data Table on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.13 India - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 96: Chart on India - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 97: Data Table on India - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 98: Chart on India - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 99: Data Table on India - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.14 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 100: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

9.1 Market drivers

9.2 Market challenges

9.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 101: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

9.4 Market trends

10 Vendor Landscape

10.1 Overview

10.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 102: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

10.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 103: Overview on factors of disruption

10.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 104: Impact of key risks on business

11 Vendor Analysis

11.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 105: Vendors covered

11.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 106: Matrix on vendor position and classification

11.3 Alps Alpine Co. Ltd

Exhibit 107: Alps Alpine Co. Ltd - Overview



Exhibit 108: Alps Alpine Co. Ltd - Business segments



Exhibit 109: Alps Alpine Co. Ltd - Key news



Exhibit 110: Alps Alpine Co. Ltd - Key offerings



Exhibit 111: Alps Alpine Co. Ltd - Segment focus

11.4 Continental AG

Exhibit 112: Continental AG - Overview



Exhibit 113: Continental AG - Business segments



Exhibit 114: Continental AG - Key news



Exhibit 115: Continental AG - Key offerings



Exhibit 116: Continental AG - Segment focus

11.5 Denso Corp.

Exhibit 117: Denso Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 118: Denso Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 119: Denso Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 120: Denso Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 121: Denso Corp. - Segment focus

11.6 HELLA GmbH and Co. KG

Exhibit 122: HELLA GmbH and Co. KG - Overview



Exhibit 123: HELLA GmbH and Co. KG - Business segments



Exhibit 124: HELLA GmbH and Co. KG - Key offerings



Exhibit 125: HELLA GmbH and Co. KG - Segment focus

11.7 Microchip Technology Inc.

Exhibit 126: Microchip Technology Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 127: Microchip Technology Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 128: Microchip Technology Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 129: Microchip Technology Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 130: Microchip Technology Inc. - Segment focus

11.8 Mitsubishi Electric Corp.

Exhibit 131: Mitsubishi Electric Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 132: Mitsubishi Electric Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 133: Mitsubishi Electric Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 134: Mitsubishi Electric Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 135: Mitsubishi Electric Corp. - Segment focus

11.9 NXP Semiconductors NV

Exhibit 136: NXP Semiconductors NV - Overview



Exhibit 137: NXP Semiconductors NV - Product / Service



Exhibit 138: NXP Semiconductors NV - Key news



Exhibit 139: NXP Semiconductors NV - Key offerings

11.10 Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH

Exhibit 140: Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 141: Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH - Product / Service



Exhibit 142: Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH - Key offerings

11.11 Tokai Rika Co. Ltd

Exhibit 143: Tokai Rika Co. Ltd - Overview



Exhibit 144: Tokai Rika Co. Ltd - Product / Service



Exhibit 145: Tokai Rika Co. Ltd - Key offerings

11.12 Valeo SA

Exhibit 146: Valeo SA - Overview



Exhibit 147: Valeo SA - Business segments



Exhibit 148: Valeo SA - Key news



Exhibit 149: Valeo SA - Key offerings



Exhibit 150: Valeo SA - Segment focus

12 Appendix

12.1 Scope of the report

12.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 151: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 152: Exclusions checklist

12.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 153: Currency conversion rates for US$

12.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 154: Research methodology



Exhibit 155: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 156: Information sources

12.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 157: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
Ascend Scranton opens first cannabis dispensary "outlet" in Keystone State

NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. ("AWH" or the "Company") (CSE: AAWH.U) (OTCQX: AAWH), a multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis operator focused on bettering lives through cannabis, has announced the opening of its Scranton, Pennsylvania dispensary for medical patients only. Ascend Scranton is located at 605 Davis Street.

Opening officially on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, the new dispensary will take a similar approach to outlet stores across industries and will cater to patients by offering quality products at everyday low prices. Ascend Scranton is the first of six expected Ascend dispensaries to come online in Pennsylvania over the next few years. As of May 2022, Pennsylvania has more than 700,000 medical cannabis patients registered, with Scranton being the sixth most populous city in the state.

"Ascend is thrilled to open dispensary doors in Pennsylvania, an exciting emerging market in medical cannabis," said Frank Perullo, interim co-CEO, president and co-founder of Ascend Wellness Holdings. "With its bustling commerce and strategic location in the northeast, Scranton is the perfect city to establish our roots in the Keystone State. Our team is honored by the support of the people of Scranton and is eager to begin to serve the medical patients of the area."

"Pennsylvania's medical cannabis space is a burgeoning market, projected to exceed $1 billion in sales in 2023," said Daniel Neville, interim co-CEO and Chief Financial Officer. "From our premium flower to our top vape selection, Ascend Scranton will provide the finest products at accessible prices to patients. The Ascend team is proud to join the Pennsylvania cannabis community as we ramp up operations in the Electric City."

The Ascend Scranton location features 3,000 square feet of dispensary floor space and abundant parking for all visitors. The dispensary's six registers allow for easy and efficient checkout, with knowledgeable and friendly budtenders available to serve all patient needs. The location also has one consultation room for private patient appointments.

About AWH:

AWH is a vertically integrated operator with assets in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. AWH owns and operates state-of-the-art cultivation facilities, growing award-winning strains and producing a curated selection of products. AWH produces and distributes its in-house Ozone, Ozone Reserve, and Simply Herb branded products. For more information, visit www.awholdings.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking information and statements, which may include, but are not limited to, information and statements regarding the plans, intentions, expectations, estimates, and beliefs of the Company. 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, and on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of 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. Such factors include, among others: the risks and uncertainties identified in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, and in the Company's other reports and filings with the applicable Canadian securities regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release.

SOURCE Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc.
Investor Presentation to be held at 2:55 p.m. Central Time

FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AZZ Inc. (NYSE: AZZ), the largest independent provider of hot-dip galvanizing and coil coating solutions, announced today that Tom Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer and Philip Schlom, Chief Financial Officer, will present at the Baird 2022 Global Industrial Conference at 2:55 p.m. CT on Wednesday, November 9, 2022. The conference is being held in The Ritz-Carlton in Chicago, IL.

Baird presents its 52nd annual Industrial Conference to be held Tuesday, November 8, 2022 through Thursday, November 10, 2022. This conference will provide a unique opportunity to connect with senior executives from over 250 leading public and private corporations representing moderate- to large-capitalization companies. Represented sectors will include Advanced Industrial Equipment, Aerospace & Defense, Airlines, Building Products & General Industrial, Chemicals, Energy Technology & Resource Management, Global Auto & Truck Markets, Industrial Distribution & Services, Industrial Services, Machinery & Diversified Manufacturing, Metals & Mining, Packaging & Coatings, Process Controls and Transportation & Logistics. Baird conferences are by invitation only; reach out to your Baird Representative for additional details.

Management will conduct one-on-one meetings on Wednesday, November 9, 2022. Investors interested in arranging one-on-one meetings should contact your Baird conference representative. Conversely, you may also call or email Lytham Partners at 602-889-9700, or [email protected] .

About AZZ Inc.

AZZ Inc. is the largest independent provider of hot-dip galvanizing and coil coating solutions to a broad range of end-markets. Collectively, our business segments provide sustainable, unmatched metal coating solutions that enhance the longevity and appearance of buildings, products and infrastructure that are essential to everyday life.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements herein about our expectations of future events or results constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "continue," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and management's views and assumptions regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and investors must recognize that actual results may differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Certain factors could affect the outcome of the matters described herein. This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, changes in customer demand for our products and services, including demand by the power generation markets, electrical transmission and distribution markets, the industrial markets, and the metal coatings markets. In addition, within each of the markets we serve, our customers and our operations could potentially continue to be adversely impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including governmental issued mandates regarding the same. We could also experience additional increases in labor costs, components and raw materials, including zinc and natural gas, which are used in our hot-dip galvanizing process; supply-chain vendor delays; customer requested delays of our products or services; delays in additional acquisition or disposition opportunities; currency exchange rates; availability of experienced management and employees to implement AZZ's growth strategy; a downturn in market conditions in any industry relating to the products we inventory or sell or the services that we provide; economic volatility or changes in the political stability in the United States and other foreign markets in which we operate; acts of war or terrorism inside the United States or abroad; and other changes in economic and financial conditions. AZZ has provided additional information regarding risks associated with the business in AZZ's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 28, 2022 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), available for viewing on AZZ's website at www.azz.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. You are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements herein and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. These statements are based on information as of the date hereof and AZZ assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Company Contact:

David Nark, Vice President of Marketing and Communications and Investor Relations

AZZ Inc.

(817) 810-0095

www.azz.com

Investor Contact:

Joe Dorame, Managing Partner

Lytham Partners

(602) 889-9700

www.lythampartners.com

####

SOURCE AZZ Inc.
NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Bank of Montreal (TSX: BMO) (NYSE: BMO) today announced that it will implement a reverse split of the ETNs listed in the table below, expected to be effective as of October 31, 2022.

The table below indicates the ETNs that will be subject to the reverse split, their respective trading symbols, the applicable reverse split ratio, their current CUSIP numbers, and the CUSIP numbers that they will receive after giving effect to the reverse split:

The reverse splits will be effective at the open of trading on October 31, 2022. Each ETN will begin trading on the NYSE Arca on a reverse split-adjusted basis on that date. Holders of an ETN who purchased that ETN prior to October 31, 2022 will receive one reverse split-adjusted ETN for every 10 pre-reverse split ETNs.

In addition, investors that hold a number of ETNs that are not evenly divisible by the applicable number will receive a cash payment for any fractional ETNs remaining (the "partials"). The cash amount due on any partials will be determined on November 15, 2022 and will equal, for each remaining ETN, its closing indicative value on that date. Bank of Montreal will pay these amounts on or about November 18, 2022.

The closing indicative value of each ETN on October 28, 2022 will be multiplied by 10 to determine the reverse split-adjusted closing indicative value. Following the reverse split, each ETNs will have a new CUSIP, as set forth above, but will continue to trade under their current respective ticker symbols.

The reverse splits will affect the trading denominations of each of the ETNs, but it will not have any effect on the aggregate principal amount of the ETNs, except that the aggregate principal amount will be reduced by the corresponding aggregate amount of any cash payments for the "partials."

Illustrations of a Reverse Split

The following table shows the effect of the 1-for-10 reverse split on the hypothetical closing indicative value of the ETNs. The closing indicative value of an ETN is not the same as its principal amount or the trading price of that ETN.





Number of

ETNs

Hypothetical

Closing Indicative

Value

Aggregate Closing

Indicative Value













Pre-Reverse Split

100,000

$10.00

$1,000,000













1-for-10 Post-Reverse Split

10,000

$100.00

$1,000,000















None of the other exchange traded notes issued by Bank of Montreal are affected by this announcement.

The ETNs are senior, unsecured obligations of Bank of Montreal.

Investment suitability must be determined individually for each investor, and the ETNs may not be suitable for all investors. This information is not intended to provide and should not be relied upon as providing accounting, legal, regulatory or tax advice. Investors should consult with their own financial advisors as to these matters.

The leveraged ETNs discussed in this press release are intended to be daily trading tools for sophisticated investors to manage daily trading risks as part of an overall diversified portfolio. They are designed to achieve their stated investment objectives on a daily basis. The returns on the ETNs over longer periods of time can, and most likely will, differ significantly from the return on a direct short investment in the index underlying those ETNs.

Bank of Montreal, the issuer of the ETNs, has filed a registration statement (including a pricing supplement, prospectus supplement and prospectus) with the SEC regarding the ETNs discussed in this press release. Please read those documents and the other documents relating to the ETNs that Bank of Montreal has filed with the SEC for more complete information about Bank of Montreal and the ETNs. These documents may be obtained without cost by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, Bank of Montreal, and any agent or dealer that participated in the offerings of the ETNs, will arrange to send the applicable pricing supplement, product supplement (if applicable), prospectus supplement and the prospectus if so requested by calling toll-free at 1-877-369-5412.

About REX Shares

Founded in 2015, REX Shares ("REX") is an independent provider of ETPs based in Miami, Florida. As ETP architects, the REX team creates investment vehicles that solve for a range of specific challenges in investor portfolios. The firm is rooted in decades of structuring and building inventive exchange-traded product solutions.

For more information, please visit www.rexshares.com or www.microsectors.com.

Twitter: @REXShares and @MSectors

About BMO Financial Group

Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly diversified financial services provider - the 8th largest bank, by assets, in North America. With total assets of $1.07 trillion as of July 31, 2022, and a team of diverse and highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

SOURCE BMO Financial Group
NEW HAVEN, Conn., Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Biohaven Ltd. (NYSE: BHVN) ("Biohaven") announced today the pricing of the public offering of 25,000,000 of its common shares, at a public offering price of $10.50 per common share. Biohaven has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,750,000 common shares. The offering is expected to close on October 25, 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Biohaven intends to use the net proceeds received from the offering for general corporate purposes.

J.P. Morgan, Cowen, SVB Securities and Piper Sandler are acting as joint book-running managers of the offering. Cantor and BTIG are acting as co-managers.

The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. A copy of the prospectus relating to this offering, when available, may be obtained from the following sources: J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at (866) 803-9204, or by email at [email protected]; Cowen and Company, LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, Attention: Prospectus Department, by telephone at (833) 297-2926 or by email at [email protected]; SVB Securities LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, 53 State Street, 40th Floor, Boston, MA 02109, or by telephone at (800) 808-7525, ext. 6105, or by email at [email protected]; Piper Sandler & Co., Attention: Prospectus Department, 800 Nicollet Mall, J12S03, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402, or by telephone at (800) 747-3924, or by email at [email protected]; or by accessing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov.

A registration statement on Form S-1 relating to the securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and was declared effective by the SEC on October 20, 2022. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the applicable securities laws of such state or jurisdiction.

About Biohaven

Biohaven is a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of life-changing therapies for people with debilitating neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases, including rare disorders. The company is advancing a pipeline of best-in-class therapies for diseases with little or no treatment options, leveraging its proven drug development capabilities and proprietary platforms, including Kv7 ion channel modulation for epilepsy and neuronal hyperexcitability; glutamate modulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder and spinocerebellar ataxia and myostatin inhibition for neuromuscular diseases. Biohaven's portfolio of early- and late-stage product candidates also includes discovery research programs focused on TRPM3 channel activation for neuropathic pain and CD-38 antibody recruiting, bispecific molecules for multiple myeloma.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The use of certain words, including "continue", "plan", "will", "believe", "may", "expect", "anticipate" and similar expressions, is intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the future development, timing and potential marketing approval and commercialization of development candidates are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Actual results, developments and events may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including: Biohaven's ability to complete the offering of its common shares on the proposed terms, or at all, and Biohaven's expectations related to the use of proceeds from the offering of its common shares. Additional important factors to be considered in connection with forward-looking statements are described in Biohaven's Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the SEC and the preliminary prospectus included therein, including within the sections titled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations". The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this new release, and Biohaven does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Investor Contact:

Jennifer Porcelli

Vice-President, Investor Relations

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Mike Beyer

Sam Brown Inc.

[email protected]

312-961-2502

SOURCE BIOHAVEN LTD
Bogota and New York launch a 24-hour city network, through Mastercard's City Possible platform, to ensure that the economies of global cities are dynamic both day and night.

and launch a 24-hour city network, through Mastercard's City Possible platform, to ensure that the economies of global cities are dynamic both day and night. The 24-Hour Cities network will meet quarterly and the results of these meetings will be published as guidelines, recommendations and a series of studies that focus on improving the city's 24-hour operation.

BOGOTA, Colombia, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mayor's Office of Bogota (Colombia) and the Mayor's Office of New York City, (USA), jointly announced the launch of the 24-hour city network in collaboration with City Possible, an initiative of Mastercard. The global network will enable city leaders, and anyone interested to come together and share their experiences to promote innovative solutions that address the challenges cities face at night, and ensure that the economies of the world's cities aim for 24-hour operation.

Alfredo Bateman, Secretary of Economic Development of Bogota, indicated that "Bogota's participation represents an opportunity to strengthen strategies and actions aimed at the internationalization, positioning, promotion and cooperation of the city". He also pointed out that "the fact that a city has economic activity 24 hours a day translates into an increase in productivity that boosts the economy and, in the long term, will generate enormous benefits for everyone".

"There is no a single solution that addresses the economic, security and community challenges in New York City's diverse boroughs. Every district requires innovative, responsive and culturally competent policies to thrive," said Oscar J. Romero Jr. Director of Inclusive Innovation and International Cooperation for the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation. He added that "the 24-hour cities network will create opportunities for local, state and federal government officials from around the world to collaborate, share their practical experience and ultimately create the conditions for our most vulnerable communities to enjoy their neighborhoods fairly and safely at night."

City Possible has grown from 16 founding members since its launch in 2018, to more than 330 global cities and continues to grow. Recently has welcomed new members such as Prague, Czech Republic; Birmingham, United States; and Londrina in Brazil; as well as several industry partners and multilateral players, including Honeywell and Motorola, among others.

How will the 24-hour City Network work?

It is important to integrate all stages of urban life for successful 24-hour city development. the network (led by Bogota and New York City) will focus on aspects such as transit, infrastructure, safety, mobility, racial equity, nightlife and economic activity.

The Network, which is comprised of more than 35 cities from around the world such as New York, London, Sydney, Sydney, New York City, New York City London, Sydney, Mexico City, Mexico City, Tegucigalpa, Singapore, will meet quarterly through a series of virtual meetings and workshops organized by City Possible.

The results of these meetings will be published in the form of guidelines, recommendations and a series of studies that will focus on improving the city's 24-hour operation, which will be available through a full report to be published by the end of 2022.

In its leadership role, Bogota has been a key player in the formation of the international working group, defining not only the topics to be addressed at each of the roundtables, but also in the guests that accompany each of the activities.

SOURCE INVEST IN BOGOTA
FAIRPORT, N.Y., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Manning & Napier, Inc. (NYSE: MN), ("Manning & Napier" or "the Company") today announced the completion of its process to go private and be acquired by Callodine Group LLC ("Callodine"), a Boston-based asset management firm. The transaction was announced on April 1, 2022 and received shareholder approval on August 3, 2022.

Under the terms of the go-private transaction, Manning & Napier stockholders will receive $12.85 per share in cash. With the completion of the acquisition, Manning & Napier's common stock has ceased trading and will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

"We are excited to complete the acquisition of Manning & Napier and look forward to building upon the Company's longstanding tradition of providing both a strong investment culture and customized advisory solutions to clients," said James Morrow, Founder and CEO of Callodine. "Our teams have already begun to collaborate on finding new ways to continue to enhance the overall client experience, and I look forward to seeing what we will achieve together as partners."

"The completion of this going private process marks the beginning of the next chapter for our 50+ year-old firm," said Marc Mayer, CEO of Manning & Napier who will continue in this role following the closing. "Thank you to our clients, shareholders, employees and the Callodine team for their unwavering support and dedication over the past several months as we worked tirelessly towards this end. We believe this partnership will strengthen our ability to drive superior results and advice for our clients in the decades to come."

PJT Partners served as financial advisor and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP served as legal counsel to Manning & Napier. Manning & Napier's management team was represented by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC served as lead financial advisor to Callodine. Aviditi Advisors and MSI Capital Management, LLC also served as advisors and Sidley Austin LLP served as legal counsel to Callodine.

About Callodine Group

Callodine Group is an asset management platform with approximately $20 billion in assets under management. Callodine's asset management subsidiaries target investment strategies across public equities, private credit, real estate and fixed income on behalf of their individual and institutional investor clients. The firm's subsidiaries have the ability to invest across the capital structure and pursue predominantly income-oriented investments with high cash yields and the potential for equity-like returns. For additional information about the firm, please visit Callodine's website at www.callodine.com.

About Manning & Napier, Inc.

Manning & Napier (NYSE: MN) provides a broad range of investment solutions through separately managed accounts, mutual funds, and collective investment trust funds, as well as a variety of consultative services that complement our investment process. Founded in 1970, we offer equity, fixed income and alternative strategies, as well as a range of blended asset portfolios, including life cycle funds. We serve a diversified client base of high-net-worth individuals and institutions, including 401(k) plans, pension plans, Taft-Hartley plans, endowments and foundations. For many of these clients, our relationship goes beyond investment management and includes customized solutions that address key issues and solve client-specific problems. We are headquartered in Fairport, NY and had 276 employees as of September 30, 2022.

Forward Looking Statement

This communication includes statements that are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding the acquisition of the Company and any other statements regarding the Company's future expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, financial conditions, assumptions or future events or performance that are not historical facts. This information may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements.

All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding guidance, industry prospects, future results of operations or financial position, expected sources of incremental margin, strategy, financing needs, future capital expenditures and the outcome or effect of ongoing litigation, should be considered forward looking statements made in good faith by the Company, as applicable, and are intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this communication, or any other documents, words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "objective," "plan," "project," "seek," "strategy," "target," "will" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of management at the time that these statements were prepared and are inherently uncertain. Such forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward looking statements. These risks and uncertainties, as well as other risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward looking statements, are described in greater detail under the heading "Item 1A. Risk Factors" on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and in any other SEC filings made by the Company. The Company cautions that these risks and factors are not exclusive. Management cautions against putting undue reliance on forward-looking statements or projecting any future results based on such statements or present or prior earnings levels. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this communication, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information, future events, changes in its expectations or other circumstances that exist after the date as of which the forward-looking statements were made.

Contacts

Investor Relations Contact

Alex Jorgensen

Prosek Partners

646-818-9059

[email protected]

Public Relations Contacts

Nicole Kingsley Brunner

Manning & Napier

585-325-6880

[email protected]

Tyler Bak

Callodine Group

617-880-7491

[email protected]

SOURCE Manning & Napier, Inc.
BEIJING, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- China will first and foremost pursue high-quality development to build Chinese modernization, and its economy is expected to gain new strong growth impetus from the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), according to the CPC congress.

Some Western media outlets have made false accusations against the Chinese economy, from running reports about foreign capital leaving China, claiming that the country's economic growth slowed sharply, to blaming it for rattling the global supply chain.

The reality is that the Chinese economy has transformed from quantitative to qualitative growth. It has seen a historic rise in economic strength and made great contributions to the world economy. It will be devoted to building a modernized and higher-standard open economy in the next five years.

From quantity to quality

China has promoted a new development pattern which is an open dual circulation involving both domestic and foreign markets, and it has implemented the innovation-driven development strategy and boosted emerging strategic industries.

The country has made breakthroughs in some core technologies in key fields, including manned spaceflight, lunar and Martian exploration, deep sea and deep earth probes, supercomputers, satellite navigation, quantum information, nuclear power technology, aircraft manufacturing, and bio-medicine.

China has joined the ranks of the world's innovators. For example, it has invented the world's first "hand-ripped" steel that is as thin as 0.02mm, making outstanding contributions to the upgrading of high-end manufacturing. It is widely used in foldable mobile phones, flexible displays and batteries.

It has also developed two international standards for high-speed railway infrastructure design and power supply, which has been published by the International Union of Railways. The two standards have demonstrated China's contribution to promoting the internationalization of high-speed railway standards.

The country has made the world's largest tunnel boring machine (TBM), which can be used in building transportation mega projects. China-made TBMs have been exported to over 30 countries and regions, with the value of newly signed contracts increasing 58 percent year-on-year in the first six months.

China's production and sales of new energy vehicles (NEV) have topped global sales for seven consecutive years since 2015. Chinese brands occupied six of the global top 10 best-selling NEV models in 2021. Among the top 10 companies in terms of power battery shipments, six are Chinese enterprises.

The country also has the largest 5G network in the world, and its 5G users account for more than 80 percent of the world's total. In 2021, the country's industrial robots increased 44.9 percent year on year.

Historic rise in economic strength

Economic data showed that the Chinese economy has secured positive growth with great potential and proven resilience over the past decade, which is still attractive to foreign capital, and that it has been a leading stabilizer of the global supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic.

China's GDP has grown from 54 trillion yuan ($7.5 trillion) in 2012 to 114 trillion yuan (about $15.8 trillion) in 2021 with a global share of 18.5 percent, up 7.2 percentage points. The country has remained the world's second largest economy. Over the past decade, its average contribution to global economic growth exceeded 30 percent, ranking first across the world.

Consumption has become the main driver of the country's economic growth, contributing 65.4 percent to its economic growth in 2021, 10 percentage points higher than in 2012. It has become the world's largest online retail market for nine consecutive years, with a population of more than 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of about 400 million.

The country's manufacturing value-added output has grown from 16.98 trillion yuan ($2.4 trillion) in 2012 to 31.4 trillion yuan ($4.4 trillion) in 2021, with its global share up from 22.5 percent to nearly 30 percent. Its manufacturing sector has been the largest in the world for 12 consecutive years, and has been upgraded with the proportion of high-tech manufacturing up from 9.4 percent to 15.1 percent.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China has expanded from $111.7 billion in 2012 to $173.5 billion in 2021. Foreign investors have grasped new opportunities from China's industrial and consumption upgrade, with FDI inflow into the service industry and high-tech industries up 8.7 percent and 33.6 percent respectively in the first eight months this year.

"China has the world's largest middle-income group, a comprehensive industrial system, a sound industrial chain and increasingly modern infrastructure, offering abundant market space for companies," Zhao Chenxin, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission said during the CPC congress.

With solid industrial foundation and a series of policies to ensure supply, China's foreign trade has maintained a relatively high growth, which has effectively alleviated the pressure on the global supply chain arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The country's foreign trade of goods went up 10.1 percent in the first eight months of this year.

Tasks for next five years

The next five years will be crucial for a good start of China's modernization drive, and the CPC congress has set the main tasks: China will make breakthroughs in promoting high-quality economic development, and achieve greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, with innovation at the heart of the drive.

The industrial system will be modernized, with measures to advance new industrialization, and boost China's strength in manufacturing, product quality, aerospace, transportation, cyberspace, and digital development, according to the CPC congress. China will also make new strides in reform and opening up, and put in place new systems for a higher-standard open economy.

The CPC aims to basically realize socialist modernization from 2020 through 2035 and build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful from 2035 through the middle of this century.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-10-20/High-quality-development-is-priority-of-Chinese-modernization-1ei0CzJzpMA/index.html

SOURCE CGTN
BEIJING, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The report delivered by Xi Jinping on Sunday at the opening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing came at a pivotal point with China embarking on a new journey to build a modern socialist country in all respects.

Unveiling the blueprint for building a modern socialist China in all respects, Xi devoted an entire division of his report to highlighting the importance of "One Country, Two Systems."

"This policy must be adhered to over the long term," he vowed, eliminating doubts and misunderstandings about the future of "One Country, Two Systems."

'Best institutional arrangement'

The past decade has witnessed historic progress and changes in China's drive to materialize the vision of "One Country, Two Systems" in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Macao Special Administrative Region.

The SARs' legal systems and enforcement mechanisms for safeguarding national security have been established. The law on safeguarding national security in the HKSAR was enacted, while the region's electoral system was also refined. Macao also started proceedings to amend its law on safeguarding national security.

In his report, Xi applauded "One Country, Two Systems" as great innovation of socialism with Chinese characteristics. "It has proven to be the best institutional arrangement for ensuring sustained prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao after their return to the motherland."

He affirmed the principle of "the people of Hong Kong administering Hong Kong and the people of Macao administering Macao" and a high level of autonomy for the two SARs.

Stressing Xi's report served as a guideline for future actions of the SARs, John Lee, chief executive of the HKSAR, said he was encouraged by the report's rich content on "One Country, Two Systems," Hong Kong and Macao affairs as it reveals the great importance that the central government attaches to work related to the SARs and "One Country, Two Systems."

Lee said the country has always been the strongest backing for the HKSAR in the past five years when the city has gone through the most severe test since its return to the motherland.

Chief Executive of the Macao SAR Ho Iat Seng also hailed that Xi's report has given a clear direction to Macao for the successful practice of "One Country, Two Systems."

He noted the report "illustrated that the central government places great importance in, and is cordial regarding its care for 'One Country, Two Systems,'" and greatly bolstered Macao residents' confidence in the city's development.

Integrating into national development

In his report, Xi pledged to help the two regions resolve the deep-rooted and conflictual problems encountered in the course of their development, stressing efforts will be made to support Hong Kong and Macao in better integrating themselves into national overall development.

A key step for advancing "One Country, Two Systems" as well as a vital entry point for the two SARs to integrate themselves into the country's overall development has been the development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), which was planned and advanced by Xi himself.

The GBA is comprised of the two SARs, and nine cities in neighboring Guangdong Province. The total area is around 56,000 square kilometers, and covers around 6 percent of the Chinese population.

Over the past years, the GBA has swiftly turned plans into actions. A one-hour living circle has been basically formed within the GBA with the construction and operation of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, and other cross-river channels connecting the Pearl (Zhujiang) River estuary's eastern and western banks. The total mileage of rail lines in service in the GBA has reached nearly 2,500 kilometers.

In 2021, the number of GBA companies on the Fortune Global 500 list amounted to 25, compared with 17 in 2017, which also surpassed the New York Bay Area for the first time.

The GBA's GDP hit 12.6 trillion yuan ($1.97 trillion) last year, 2.4 trillion yuan more than in 2017. With less than 1 percent of the country's land mass, the GBA created 12 percent of the national GDP.

Zhao Chenxin, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, on Monday told a news conference on the sidelines of the ongoing 20th CPC National Congress that China will ramp up efforts to make the GBA an exemplary model for high-quality development, focusing on promoting technological innovation, boosting coordinated industrial development, and improving people's livelihoods.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-10-21/How-does-China-set-tone-for-future-of-One-Country-Two-Systems--1ejG7iY1ne8/index.html

SOURCE CGTN
TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent report published by 4AutoInsuranceQuote.com revealed that most drivers won't successfully negotiate with their local municipality for coverage of damage caused by potholes. But residents in Chicago have a chance.

Chicago residents who receive damage to their vehicle after going through a pothole within city limits may be entitled to compensation if they produce the following documents:

Completed and signed Damage to Vehicle Claim Form

Copy of paid receipt for the repairs performed to the car, OR two written estimates for the cost of repairing the damage

Copy of a police report for the incident that resulted in the damage

While the City of Chicago will likely not assume 100% responsibility for the damage as some fault lies with the driver, they may reimburse up to $2,000 for the damage repairs.

For comparison, Virginia also has a plan to address pothole damage. In addition to the standard requirements of proof of the damage and a police report, Virginia adds the following stipulations for reimbursement:

Pothole previously reported

Transportation agency aware that it needed to be filled

Repair crews have enough time to repair it?

Colorado Springs, Colorado, has similar requirements as Virginia, and they reimburse only about 2% of pothole claims.

In addition, to require a police report and damage estimates, Colorado Springs requires that the pothole had been previously reported and that the city had ample time to repair the roadway.

Even if a driver's claim against a municipality is approved, reimbursement will almost always take months.

Melanie Musson, a nationally recognized insurance expert with 4AutoInsuranceQuote.com, reminds drivers, "While you may not have success getting reimbursement from your local municipality, you can file an insurance claim if you have the appropriate coverage."

For pothole damage to be covered, drivers must have collision insurance. While it's not required by state law, if a vehicle owner has a loan, the lender will require the owner to carry collision coverage. When a vehicle owner doesn't have a loan or lease, they can choose to carry collision coverage or not. But only collision coverage will reimburse pothole claims.

For both insurance and government reimbursement, drivers must start by filing a police report for pothole damage.

Read the entire report here: Will your city pay your pothole claim?

SOURCE 4AutoInsuranceQuote.com
BERKELEY, Calif., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier this month, the 7th Berkeley China Summit (BCS) was successfully held at the University of California, Berkeley. A group of world-renowned scholars and professionals including the 2014 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry William E. Moerner and the Consulate General of China in San Francisco Jianmin Zhang joined as speakers. "Venturing amid Uncertainties, Collaboration for Prosperity", the primary theme of the summit was how to solve problems as a collective whole. The event also invited more than 20 industry professionals, scholars, entrepreneurs, and investors to join the panel discussions on entrepreneurship, Web3.0, ESG, Carbon Neuture, and Climate Change.

The president of the Cal Alumni Association Alfonso Salazar and the board representative of the Berkeley China Summit Victor Chan delivered the welcome speech at the opening ceremony.

Oct. 1 this year was the 73rd birthday of the People's Republic of China, the Consul General of the People's Republic of China in San Francisco Zhang Jianmin delivered the first keynote speech after the opening ceremony. Zhang mentioned that the country has made an extraordinary journey, thanks to its strong leadership, the hard work of the entire Chinese population, and the support and cooperation of the international community. "2022 is a very special year for China-US relations, which marks the 50th anniversary of President Nixon's historic ice-breaking visit to China in 1972." Zhang said, "the reopening and growth of China-US relations was the most important event in international relations over the past 50 years, which has benefited the two countries and the whole world." One example of such cooperation is in the field of education. The number of Chinese students in American universities has since kept rising, exceeding 400,000 before the pandemic. Consul General Zhang Jianmin finally called on three "R"s - respectful, reasonable, and responsible - to work together to improve and grow the US-China relationship.

The 2014 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry and a professor of chemistry at Stanford University William Moerner shared the latest scientific research and his personal research journey with the audience in the second keynote speech. Professor Moerner encouraged students to be driven by their passion, trust science, and help combat misinformation. Professor Moerner was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize "for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy," the ground-breaking work has brought optical microscopy into nanodimension.

The Summit also featured panel discussions including topics on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Web 3.0, Carbon Neutrality, ESG, and Climate Change. Panelists including Managing Partner of ZhenFund Yusen Dai and several investors and entrepreneurs discussing the Development of Startups From 0 to 1, VP of Data at Coinbase Michael Li discussing The Metaverse and the New Era of Web 3.0, and Associate Co-Director and Founding Principal Investigator at Tsinghua Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI) Slav Hermanowicz discussing the international collaboration on Climate Change, Carbon Neuture, and ESG. Panelists promote the need for cooperation among different entities and countries worldwide to foster good relations and promote trade and commerce.

Ziyuan (Roger) Ying, the co-president representative of the 7th Berkeley China Summit delivered the closing remarks to the audience, Ying said the summit will continue to encourage bilateral discussion and collaboration between the US and China. As the first post-pandemic in-person event in three years, 300 people participated in person at Berkeley and nearly 1000 people joined online.

Berkeley China Summit features high-level discussions about the latest discoveries, trends, and cross-border opportunities. Over the past 6 years, BCS has invited over 150 high-profile speakers, including Nobel Laureates Eric Betzig, Randy Schekman, and William Moerner, and Turing Award Winners Richard Karp, David Patterson, and John Hennessy.

SOURCE Berkeley China Summit
NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global compression wear and shapewear market size is expected to grow by USD 697.13 million, accelerating at a CAGR of 2.54% between 2021 and 2026, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. The report identifies North America as the key market and the region is expected to account for 35% of the global market share over the forecast period. The increasing consumer spending on superior-quality compression wear and shapewear is creating significant growth opportunities for vendors operating in the region. Explore growth opportunities across other regions and make informed decisions. Buy Full Report Here

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Compression Wear and Shapewear Market 2022-2026

The global compression wear and shapewear market is fragmented due to the presence of a few established players and many new players. Vendors in the market are selling their products through third-party online retailers. With the growing e-commerce industry and online compression wear and shapewear market, many new private brands largely or solely sell their products online. This is enabling them to strengthen their position in the online compression wear and shapewear market. However, third-party, multibrand, pure-play e-retailers generate the highest sales of compression wear and shapewear online. Therefore, the competition in the market is intense.

The growing demand for plus-size clothing is creating significant growth opportunities for vendors in the market. However, the availability of counterfeit apparel products might hamper the market growth. Competitors have to focus on differentiating their product offerings with unique value propositions to strengthen their foothold in the market. Technavio identifies adidas AG, Hanesbrands Inc., Jockey International Inc., Nike Inc., Nordstrom Inc., PVH Corp., Spanx Inc., Triumph International Pvt. Ltd., Under Armour Inc., and Wacoal Holdings Corp. are among some of the major market participants. Understand how the purchase of the report can have a direct impact on your revenue. Request Sample Report Now

Compression Wear and Shapewear Market 2021-2026: Segmentation

The global compression wear and shapewear market is segmented as below:

Product

Compression Wear



Shapewear

The market will observe increased demand for compression wear from end-users during the forecast period. Compression wear helps in improving fitness and increasing muscular performance. It also cuts down the muscle vibrations when a person is exercising or engaging in any type of physical activity. Many such benefits are fostering the growth of the segment.

Distribution Channel

Offline



Online

The offline distribution channel accounts for the maximum sales in the market. Department stores and specialty stores are the largest contributors in terms of revenue in the segment. However, during the forecast period, the demand for compression wear and shapewear is expected to increase in online distribution channels with rising internet and smartphone penetration and changing consumers' buying behavior.

Geography

North America



Europe



APAC



South America



MEA

North America is currently the major market for compression wear and shapewear. The high adoption of smartphones and the increased penetration of social media are some of the major factors driving the growth of the regional market. In addition, the increasing consumer demand for innovative products that could offer extreme comfort and support is contributing to the growth of the compression wear and shapewear market in North America.

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The compression wear and shapewear market report covers the following areas:

Compression Wear and Shapewear Market 2021-2026: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2021-2026

Detailed information on factors that will assist compression wear and shapewear market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the compression wear and shapewear market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the compression wear and shapewear market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of compression wear and shapewear market vendors

Technavio's library includes over 17,000+ reports covering more than 2,000 emerging technologies. Subscribe to our "Basic Plan" at just USD 5,000 and get lifetime access to our Technavio Insights.

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Compression Wear and Shapewear Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 2.54% Market growth 2021-2026 USD 697.13 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) -1.87 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution North America at 35% Key consumer countries US, UK, Germany, China, and Japan Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled adidas AG, Hanesbrands Inc., Jockey International Inc., Nike Inc., Nordstrom Inc., PVH Corp., Spanx Inc., Triumph International Pvt. Ltd., Under Armour Inc., and Wacoal Holdings Corp. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, and market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Table of Contents:

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market ecosystem

Value chain analysis

Market Sizing

Market definition

Market segment analysis

Market size 2021

Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Five Forces Analysis

Five Forces Summary

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

Market Segmentation by Product

Market segments

Comparison by Product

Compression wear - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Shapewear - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Market opportunity by Product

Market Segmentation by Distribution channel

Market segments

Comparison by Distribution channel

Offline - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Online - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Market opportunity by Distribution channel

Customer landscape

Geographic Landscape

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 MEA - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Key leading countries

Market opportunity by geography

Market drivers  Demand led growth

Market challenges

Market trends

Vendor Landscape

Overview

Vendor landscape

Landscape disruption

Vendor Analysis

Vendors covered

Market positioning of vendors

adidas AG

Hanesbrands Inc.

Jockey International Inc.

Nike Inc.

Nordstrom Inc.

PVH Corp.

Spanx Inc.

Triumph International Pvt. Ltd.

Under Armour Inc.

Wacoal Holdings Corp.

Appendix

Scope of the report

Currency conversion rates for US$

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The credit card payments market is expected to grow by USD 147.16 billion during 2021-2026, at a CAGR of 7.66% during the forecast period. The market is driven by the rising number of online transactions. Countries such as the US, Canada, China, India, and the UK are expected to emerge as prominent markets for Credit Card Payments Market during the forecast period. Request Free Sample Report.

Credit Card Payments Market: Regional Analysis

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Credit Card Payments Market 2022-2026

Based on geography the market is segmented by North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and the Middle East and Africa.

During the projection period, North America will account for 44% of market growth. The region's credit card payments market is anticipated to have the biggest development potential, mainly as a result of the rising popularity of smartphones. Additionally, the growing demand for mobility, cloud solutions, and increasing integration with social apps is resulting in a co-dependent and intelligent economy in the region. In the current market environment, a notable rise in the number of youthful and socially engaged users has been observed, positively impacting the North American credit card payments market as a whole. Buy Sample Report.

Credit Card Payments Market: Vendor Offerings

The market is fragmented, and the vendors are deploying various organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. The report analyzes the market's competitive landscape and offers information on several market vendors, including:

American Express Co.: The company offers a wide range of credit cards such as the American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card and SmartEarn Credit Card.

The company offers a wide range of credit cards such as the American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card and SmartEarn Credit Card. Bank of America Corp.: The company offers small business credit cards such as the Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards credit card and Business Advantage Travel Rewards credit card.

The company offers small business credit cards such as the Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards credit card and Business Advantage Travel Rewards credit card. Capital One Financial Corp.: The company offers credit cards such as Barclaycard Avios Plus and Barclaycard Rewards card.

The company offers credit cards such as Barclaycard Avios Plus and Barclaycard Rewards card. Citigroup Inc.: The company offers a wide range of credit cards such as Platinum Mastercard and QuicksilverOne Rewards.

The company offers a wide range of credit cards such as Platinum Mastercard and QuicksilverOne Rewards. Credicard SA: The company offers a wide range of credit cards such as Double Cash Credit Card and Diamond Preferred Credit Card.

Credit Card Payments Market: Driver Analysis

One of the main factors promoting the expansion of the credit card payments business is the increase in online transactions. For sectors like finance and e-commerce, advanced and sophisticated threats that target devices, people, and networks present a serious issue. Advanced methods of data theft are on the rise as a result of the IT infrastructure's quick modifications. Additionally, the creation of mobile banking and payment websites has made it simple for thieves and hackers to steal information from unprotected consumers.

As a result, several market suppliers are offering mobile payment security software to stop fraudulent activities and increase the security of online transactions. During the forecast period, these factors will have a favorable effect on the expansion of the worldwide credit card payments market. Download Free Sample Report.

Credit Card Payments Market: Challenges Analysis

One of the things hindering the expansion of the credit card payments sector is the lack of awareness of online payments in developing economies. The crucial telecom infrastructure required to facilitate mobile payments is absent in a number of poor nations worldwide. In these Asian nations, LTE technology is still in its infancy, and adoption there has been rather slow. To guarantee uninterrupted and error-free telecom services, these technologies are a crucial part of the network architecture. Therefore, the lack of these mobile payment options may make it more difficult for these nations to adopt credit card payments.

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Credit Card Payments Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 7.66% Market growth 2022-2026 $147.16 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 7.36 Regional analysis North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 44% Key consumer countries US, Canada, China, India, and UK Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled American Express Co., Bajaj Finserv Ltd., Bank of America Corp., Bank of Montreal, Capital One Financial Corp., Citigroup Inc., Credicard SA, Credit One Bank N.A., HDFC Bank Ltd., JCB Co. Ltd., JPMorgan Chase and Co., Malayan Banking Berhad, Mastercard Inc., Royal Bank of Canada, Standard Chartered PLC, SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL, The PNC Financial Services Group Inc., USAA, Visa Inc., and Barclays Bank Plc Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, and market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market Overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 09: Parent market



Exhibit 10: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 11: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 12: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 13: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)



Exhibit 14: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)



Exhibit 15: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 16: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 17: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 18: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 19: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 20: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 21: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 22: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 23: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by End-user

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 24: Chart on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 25: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by End-user

Exhibit 26: Chart on Comparison by End-user



Exhibit 27: Data Table on Comparison by End-user

5.3 Consumer or Individual - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 28: Chart on Consumer or Individual - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)



Exhibit 29: Data Table on Consumer or Individual - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)



Exhibit 30: Chart on Consumer or Individual - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Consumer or Individual - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 Commercial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 32: Chart on Commercial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Commercial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)



Exhibit 34: Chart on Commercial - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Commercial - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Market opportunity by End-user

Exhibit 36: Market opportunity by End-user ($ billion)

6 Customer Landscape

6.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 37: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 38: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 40: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Geographic comparison

7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 42: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 43: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 44: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 45: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.4 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 46: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)



Exhibit 47: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)



Exhibit 48: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 49: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.5 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 50: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 51: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 52: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 53: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 54: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 55: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 56: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 57: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 58: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 59: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 60: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 61: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.8 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 62: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)



Exhibit 63: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)



Exhibit 64: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 65: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.9 China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 66: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 67: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 68: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.10 UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 70: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)



Exhibit 71: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)



Exhibit 72: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 73: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.11 Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 74: Chart on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 75: Data Table on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 76: Chart on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 77: Data Table on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.12 India - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 78: Chart on India - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 79: Data Table on India - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion)

Exhibit 80: Chart on India - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 81: Data Table on India - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 82: Market opportunity by geography ($ billion)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 83: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

8.4 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 84: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 85: Overview on factors of disruption

9.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 86: Impact of key risks on business

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 87: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 88: Matrix on vendor position and classification

10.3 American Express Co.

Exhibit 89: American Express Co. - Overview



Exhibit 90: American Express Co. - Business segments



Exhibit 91: American Express Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 92: American Express Co. - Segment focus

10.4 Bank of America Corp.

Exhibit 93: Bank of America Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 94: Bank of America Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 95: Bank of America Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 96: Bank of America Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 97: Bank of America Corp. - Segment focus

10.5 Barclays Bank Plc

Exhibit 98: Barclays Bank Plc - Overview



Exhibit 99: Barclays Bank Plc - Business segments



Exhibit 100: Barclays Bank Plc - Key offerings



Exhibit 101: Barclays Bank Plc - Segment focus

10.6 Capital One Financial Corp.

Exhibit 102: Capital One Financial Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 103: Capital One Financial Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 104: Capital One Financial Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 105: Capital One Financial Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 106: Capital One Financial Corp. - Segment focus

10.7 Citigroup Inc.

Exhibit 107: Citigroup Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 108: Citigroup Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 109: Citigroup Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 110: Citigroup Inc. - Segment focus

10.8 JPMorgan Chase and Co.

Exhibit 111: JPMorgan Chase and Co. - Overview



Exhibit 112: JPMorgan Chase and Co. - Business segments



Exhibit 113: JPMorgan Chase and Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 114: JPMorgan Chase and Co. - Segment focus

10.9 Mastercard Inc.

Exhibit 115: Mastercard Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 116: Mastercard Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 117: Mastercard Inc. - Key offerings

10.10 SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL

Exhibit 118: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL - Overview



Exhibit 119: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL - Product / Service



Exhibit 120: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL - Key offerings

10.11 The PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

Exhibit 121: The PNC Financial Services Group Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 122: The PNC Financial Services Group Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 123: The PNC Financial Services Group Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 124: The PNC Financial Services Group Inc. - Segment focus

10.12 USAA

Exhibit 125: USAA - Overview



Exhibit 126: USAA - Product / Service



Exhibit 127: USAA - Key offerings

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 128: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 129: Exclusions checklist

11.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 130: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 131: Research methodology



Exhibit 132: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 133: Information sources

11.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 134: List of abbreviations

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contacts

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
The Survey of Sentiment Among Financial Advisors on Crystal's Alts Platform may Underscore the Importance of Analytical Tools as Demand for Alternatives Rises



MIAMI, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Crystal Capital Partners, a turn-key alternative investments platform for financial advisors, today announced the results of its inaugural Alts Survey to FAs. The new survey highlights key concerns and priorities among financial advisors related to alternative assets analytics.

In this inaugural survey, the results indicate a surge of demand for advanced alts analytics to help financial advisors serve their clients more effectively. The survey, which was conducted on an invitation-only basis was sent to the financial advisors that utilize Crystal's platform to help better understand the effectiveness of the firm's analytical tool suite.

The results of the survey showed that 37% of respondents found the firm's analytics to be more helpful and robust compared to other platforms FAs work with; with 60% finding them equally as helpful, and only 3% responding that they were not as helpful.

Crystal Capital Partners currently serves a variety of financial advisers overseeing more than $100 billion in client assets. Independent RIAs, private banks, broker-dealers, and multi-family offices are among the top users of the firm's analytical tool suite  benchmarking top-tier private equity, private credit, and hedge funds. Analytics play a crucial part in an advisor's alts due diligence process, and the robustness of Crystal's analytics are designed to help support users of all types.

Of the advisers who responded to Crystal's survey, 15% said they used the tools weekly, 37% used the tools monthly, and 40% used the tools at least quarterly. Only 6% of respondents noted that they have not yet had the chance to utilize Crystal's analytics.

Portfolio Building Technology

The survey results also gave respondents the ability to provide additional commentary on the use of Crystal's platform and the perceived strategic value of Crystal Capital's portfolio-building technology. Crystal's proprietary portfolio builder allows advisors to plug in current holdings to evaluate the effects of alternatives in the overall portfolio. Through the builder, advisors are able to allocate to specific sectors or strategies and complement existing traditional investments for their clients.

Steven Brod, CEO, and CIO of Crystal Capital Partners said, "All too frequently, alternative investment platforms that serve financial intermediaries provide limited to zero support beyond the point of sale. We believe a differentiator on our platform is the ability to support the full life cycle of alternative investments for financial advisors and their clients."

Mr. Brod continued, "Among the many features of our platform, we deliver intuitive, advanced analytical tools which save financial advisors countless hours and resolve the multiple complexities that are involved with alts investing. Our analytical tools make it simple for financial advisors to seamlessly perform functions like rebalancing portfolios, managing liquidity requirements, capital calls, and distributions for multiple clients, to name a few."

Andrew Jensen, Senior Wealth Advisor & Director of Alternative Investments at Zermatt Wealth Partners has been a "Power User" of Crystal's platform. He said, "Crystal's platform enabled our firm to instantly expose suitable clients to what we believe to be are best of breed private equity and hedge funds in a scalable, bespoke, and intelligently diversified fashion. The complementary suite of analytics provides us with the necessary quantitative and qualitative screening tools to ensure that we are building and managing appropriate portfolios for clients in accordance with their specific needs and objectives. This is very important to us as it relates to our role as a fiduciary, while working to drive investment performance.

The system also allows us to specifically design and manage portfolios of alternatives to solve for specific potential weaknesses within our broader investment portfolios, such as attempting to lower correlation to equities or bonds or by reducing overall volatility. This has been valuable in preparing for and navigating the current dual stock and bond bear market. In other words, the Crystal platform gives our boutique wealth management firm many of the same resources and capabilities as sophisticated consultants that advise large institutional investors but at the high net-worth investor level and without having to staff a dedicated alternative investment team or pay for third-party analytics.

Also, and I believe this is equally important, there is a tremendous amount of misinformation about private alternative investments, particularly as it relates to hedge funds. To that end, we have been successfully utilizing the Crystal Capital analytical suite as an effective educational tool for clients and prospects. At Zermatt Wealth, we prefer math & data over media and news. The Crystal system allows us to cut through the noise and illustrate the empirical benefits of this specialized asset class at the individual fund or portfolio level. Client education is crucial towards long-term investment success."

Media Contacts:



Crystal Capital Partners

Joseph Kuo/Michael Dugan

Haven Tower Group

424.317.4851 or 424.317.4852

[email protected] or [email protected]

About Crystal Capital Partners

Crystal Capital Partners is a turn-key alternative investment platform, empowering financial advisors with exposure to third-party institutional private market and hedge funds for their clients' portfolios. Crystal's clients include independent advisors, regional banks, IBDs, and multi-family offices. Crystal is a Registered Investment Advisor headquartered in Miami, Florida.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE

SOURCE Crystal Capital Partners
WUHAN, China, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cubic Sensor and Instrument Co., Ltd. ("Cubic"), a global leading manufacturer of smart gas sensors and advanced gas analyzers, held the prestigious Jaguar Land Rover Quality (JLRQ) award ceremony this month at its Wuhan, China headquarters.

Mr. Garrick Wang, Jaguar Land Rover supplier technical assistance vice president, granted the JLRQ award to Dr. Youhui Xiong, chairman and founder of Cubic.

Cubic Receives the Jaguar Land Rover Quality Award, Signifying Improved Performance in Automotive Sector

JLRQ is a supplier performance management and evaluation system developed by Jaguar Land Rover. It concentrates on the continuous performance assessment of suppliers through the aspects of capability system, continuous performance and manufacturing site evaluation.

Since 2018, Jaguar Land Rover has strengthened cooperation with Cubic in the field of automotive cabin air quality monitoring and improvements, covering PM2.5 sensors, PM2.5 and CO2 integrated gas sensors and fragrance diffusers. The JLRQ award is a strong endorsement of Cubic's outstanding performance on in-vehicle products and long-term high-quality service in the global automotive industry. It means that Cubic is now a Jaguar Land Rover preferred and accredited supplier worldwide.

As a leading manufacturer of automotive gas sensors, Cubic acquired the IATF16949:2016 certification in 2017 and has been a tier-one supplier for many automotive OEMs for several years.

Cubic's continuous technological innovation and strict quality management system have helped the company to substantially expand the business in the automotive sector.

Cubic's automotive business covers automotive air quality gas sensors, cabin air quality improvement devices and automotive powertrain system sensor solutions. Automotive air quality sensors include NDIR based CO2 sensors, laser based PM 2.5 sensors, and MOX based AQM air quality sensors; cabin air quality improvement devices include negative and plasma generators, and fragrance diffusers; and automotive powertrain system sensors include ceramic based O2 and NOx sensors for vehicle engine emissions and thermal runaway earlier detection gas sensors for electric vehicle power batteries.

By leveraging on its comprehensive technology platform and product portfolio, Cubic has established core competitive advantages from its strong R&D capability, complete product lineups, lean-agile manufacturing and international-oriented customer resources.

2022 has been a very successful year for Cubic for the winning of business for numerous automotive OEMs both China and abroad. As of August, nominated automotive air quality projects in 2022 were estimated to deliver up to 16 million gas sensors and in September Cubic also successfully secured the contracts with a famous European automotive OEM for fragrance diffusers. With the continued business growth, Cubic's interim report shows that in the first half of 2022, the company's sales revenue from automotive gas sensors has increased 179.85 percent year-on-year, reflecting a strong overall performance.

With an unremitting pursuit of quality, product innovation and customer-centric services, Cubic is dedicated to empowering the automotive industry and establishing itself as a global leader in the gas sensor market.

For more information on the company's products, please visit https://en.gassensor.com.cn/ or email to [email protected].

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1926547/Cubic_Receives_the_Jaguar_Land_Rover_Quality_Award.jpg

SOURCE Cubic Sensor and Instrument Co.,Ltd.
TSX.V: DME

U.S. OTC: DMEHF

Frankfurt: QM01

VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - DESERT MOUNTAIN ENERGY CORP. (the "Company") (TSXV: DME) (OTC: DMEHF) (Frankfurt: QM01) From the President of the Company.

Desert Mountain Energy Corp. ("DME" or the "Company") has granted a total of 815,000 incentive stock options at an exercise price of $2.35 per share to its directors, officers, employees, and consultants. The options will be issued to newly appointed directors, officers, and the accounting and legal teams. The options will be subject to the Company's vesting plan. The options will be exercisable for a period of 5 years.

The Company also advises that further to its previous news release of September 13, 2022, the Company raised gross proceeds of CAD $5.588 million and issued 2,149,461 Units (previously reported incorrectly as $6.1 million and 2,342,462 Units). All other terms remain unchanged.

ABOUT DESERT MOUNTAIN ENERGY

Desert Mountain Energy Corp. is a publicly traded resource company primarily focused on exploration, development and production of helium, hydrogen and noble gases. The Company is primarily looking for elements deemed critical to the renewable energy and high technology industries.

We seek safe harbor

"Robert Rohlfing"

Robert Rohlfing

Exec Chairman & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in polices of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The statements made in this press release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ from the Company's expectations.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward looking statements and information herein include but are not limited to statements regarding the Company's anticipated performance in the future the planned exploration activities, receipt of positive results from drilling, the completion of further drilling and exploration work, and the timing and results of various activities.

Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company and its operations to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such factors include, among others, changes in national and local governments, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada and the United States; financial risks due to helium prices, operating or technical difficulties in exploration and development activities; risks and hazards and the speculative nature of resource exploration and related development; risks in obtaining necessary licenses and permits, and challenges to the Company's title to properties.

Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including but not limited to the continued operation of the Company's exploration operations, no material adverse change in the market price of commodities, and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or information, there may be other factors that cause results to be materially different from those anticipated, described, estimated, assessed or intended. There can be no assurance that any forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company does not intend to, and nor does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking statements or information, other than as required by applicable law.

SOURCE Desert Mountain Energy Corp.
Award-winning solution uses machine learning and Adaptive Behavioral Analytics to help financial institutions combat fraud and financial crime

CAMBRIDGE, England and HUDSON, Ohio, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE: DBD), a world leader in automating, digitizing and transforming the way people bank and shop, and Featurespace, a world leader in enterprise financial crime prevention, today announced that the companies are partnering to integrate its highly specialized, fraud prevention technology into Diebold Nixdorf's Vynamic Payments platform.

Diebold Nixdorf Partners with Featurespace to Provide Fraud Prevention Technology

By partnering with Featurespace, Diebold Nixdorf can provide financial institutions a fully integrated payments solution with proven real-time fraud detection and prevention capabilities without the concern of managing multiple vendors. Vynamic Payments is a cloud-native payments platform that allows the reuse of services across acquiring, processing and issuing domains, and has been proven with leading financial institutions around the globe. The software's microservice architecture enables business agility and consumer experiences that seamlessly bridge any channel, integration point, payment type or authentication method.

Featurespace's solutions are uniquely suited for deployment into payments platforms thanks to their world-leading, real-time accuracy even at huge scale: the unique approach of its real-time machine learning is to leverage only the necessary data from the authorization stream to deliver improved results without latency, or large data integration projects and workloads. Its ARIC Risk Hub, available for integration with Vynamic Payments using open APIs, delivers the best performing models in the cards and payments world and supports customers to achieve the lowest false positive ratios alongside industry-leading fraud catch rates, reducing a bank's total cost of fraud. The platform's Adaptive Behavioral Analytics and Automated Deep Behavioral Networks automatically detect and prevent even the most sophisticated types of fraud and financial crime.

Martina King, CEO, at Featurespace said: "Featurespace is on a mission to make the world a safer place to transact, and this new partnership with Diebold Nixdorf is an important milestone on this journey. Fraud prevention is a crucial element in any payment's modernization program. Through this partnership, financial institutions can protect every customer and transaction with ARIC Risk Hub integrated into their transaction monitoring and processing."

Joe Myers, executive vice president, Global Banking, at Diebold Nixdorf said: "We are excited to begin this partnership with Featurespace as the technology and product features of ARIC Risk Hub perfectly align with Diebold Nixdorf's payments transaction processing. Fraud management is a critical part of the payment's ecosystem. By integrating the holistic solution into our Vynamic Payments platform, we can provide financial institutions with the most powerful and open technology to combat fraud and financial crime."

Meet with Featurespace in Las Vegas at Money20/20 USA on booth 2521 or catch Featurespace experts in discussion at the show.

About Featurespace

Featurespace is the world leader in enterprise grade technology that prevents fraud and financial crime. With a mission to make the world a safer place to transact, Featurespace helps banks and financial institutions protect customers, and reduce risk and business operating costs by providing industry-leading machine learning, financial crime prevention solutions. Featurespace invented Adaptive Behavioral Analytics and Automated Deep Behavioral Networks and is the first to profile both genuine and fraudulent behavior to identify and block criminal activity in real time. Both are patent pending technologies that are central to Featurespace's award winning ARIC Risk Hub. Over 70 direct customers and 100,000 financial institutions have put their trust in Featurespace's technology including HSBC, NatWest, TSYS, Worldpay, Marqeta, Contis, Danske Bank, Akbank, Edenred and Permanent TSB. Founded in 2008, and headquartered in Cambridge, UK Featurespace has a team of over 400, operating globally from seven locations.

About Diebold Nixdorf

Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated (NYSE: DBD) is a world leader in enabling connected commerce. We automate, digitize and transform the way people bank and shop. As a partner to the majority of the world's top 100 financial institutions and top 25 global retailers, our integrated solutions connect digital and physical channels conveniently, securely and efficiently for millions of consumers each day. The company has a presence in more than 100 countries with approximately 22,000 employees worldwide. Visit www.DieboldNixdorf.com for more information.

Twitter: @DieboldNixdorf

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DN-B

SOURCE Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated
Inaugural List Highlights Five Carriers for Exceptional Execution on Four Criteria:

On-Time Delivery, Low Cancellation, Electronic Tracking, and Overall Service

CHICAGO, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Echo Global Logistics, Inc. ("Echo"), a leading provider of technology-enabled transportation and supply chain management services, today announced the launch of a new program, Truckload Carriers of the Quarter, which Echo developed to recognize outstanding carrier performance. Carriers earn recognition via exceptional execution on four criteria: on-time delivery, low cancellation, electronic tracking and overall service. Echo will honor carriers who go above and beyond each quarter.

The program includes five categories to recognize different carrier types, i.e., owner operators, small fleets, mid/large fleets, digital carriers, and contractual carriers. Echo's inaugural Truckload Carriers of the Quarter list recognizes the following outstanding carriers for the third quarter of 2022:

VVMJ Trucking LLC, Elizabeth, NJ  Owner Operator

 Owner Operator Vision Transportation LLC, Hammond, IN  Small Fleet

 Small Fleet Riverside Transport, Inc., Riverside , MO  Mid/Large Fleet

, MO  Mid/Large Fleet Unlimited Carrier Inc., Bolingbrook, IL  Digital Carrier

 Digital Carrier Erick Berscheid Trucking, Kimball, MN  Contractual Carrier

"Truckload carriers play such an essential role in safely moving goods and delivering the products people need, no matter how challenging the conditions," said Doug Waggoner, Chief Executive Officer at Echo. "We created this program to honor excellence in the truckload carrier sector and to call attention to efforts that are often overlooked. At Echo, we are proud to partner with these companies, and I congratulate them for being the inaugural recipients of Echo Global Logistics' Truckload Carriers of the Quarter award."

The program was inspired in part by Echo's participation in National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, which the company observed with a $5,000 donation to the St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund. As an extension of its appreciation for individual truck drivers, the company created the new program to recognize the vital support of trucking companies, which are also critical to the global supply chain.

"Our strong partnerships with carriers enable Echo to provide the terrific service shippers expect, and the Truckload Carriers of the Quarter list is a great way to express our appreciation for our carrier partners," said Dave Menzel, President and Chief Operating Officer at Echo. "Innovation is essential to improving supply chain efficiency, and technology like our EchoDrive web portal and mobile app gives carriers greater control over shipment management, leading to outstanding performance."

EchoDrive gives carriers real-time access to search, bid, book, manage, track and get reimbursement on the freight carriers haul for Echo. With an effective load management tool and document upload capabilities, EchoDrive helps keep dispatchers organized while enabling drivers to return to the road more quickly. Committed to innovation, Echo continuously invests in data science-driven development, setting the industry standard for logistics technology. Learn more about Echo at www.echo.com.

About Echo Global Logistics

Echo Global Logistics, Inc. is a leading Fortune 1000 provider of technology-enabled transportation and supply chain management services. Headquartered in Chicago with more than 30 offices around the country, Echo offers freight brokerage and Managed Transportation solutions for all major modes, including truckload, partial truckload, LTL, intermodal, and expedited. Echo maintains a proprietary, web-based technology platform that compiles and analyzes data from its network of over 50,000 transportation providers to serve 35,000 clients across a wide range of industries and simplify the critical tasks involved in transportation management. For more information on Echo Global Logistics, visit: www.echo.com.

ECHO: Corporate

MEDIA CONTACT:

Christopher Clemmensen

SVP of Marketing

Echo Global Logistics

312-784-2132

SOURCE Echo Global Logistics, Inc.
SANTO DOMINGO, The Dominican Republic, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Recently, Energyear Caribe convened for its third time in the Dominican Republic. Sungrow, the summit's dedicated sponsor, shared insights on technical innovations applied to PV plants, offering a multiple of opportunities and approaches for Caribbean decarbonization.

Sungrow spokesperson at Energyear Caribe 2022

Deep decarbonization to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions is one of the Caribbean region's major ambitions as this could have large economic, environmental, and social benefits. As a leader in Caribbean energy growth, the Dominican Republic commits to a 27% greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction by 2030. As a key industry player, what does Sungrow contribute to the carbon neutral goal in the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries?

Gonzalo Feito, Sungrow's Andean and Caribbean Regional Director, introduced some key PV inverter technologies which maximize the return on investments for stakeholders and presented a speech titled, "New Technologies Applied to Photovoltaic Plant Development and Performance," illustrating Sungrow's competitiveness in the PV sector.

"An experienced supplier like Sungrow, with 269 GW installations globally can offer customers reliable and resilient inverter solutions, delivering higher availability and lower LCOE," said Feito. Among its latest inverter portfolio, the 1+X Modular Inverter is the most innovative as it redefines both the "string" and "central" inverter with its modular design -- the product features a 1.1 MW single unit as the minimum, and the maximum capacity can be expanded to 8.8 MW by combining eight units. Customers can choose from 1.1 MW to 8.8 MW based on their specific project requirements. In addition, operation and maintenance (O&M) duration and costs are significantly decreased due to this modular design.

Most of the Caribbean countries are isolated regions, which often have a weak grid infrastructure. Sungrow's 1+X Modular Inverter provides strongly enhanced grid support technologies and can operate stably even if the SCR is as low as 1.018.

In addition, the product features an IP65 ingress protection degree and a safe high-level anti-corrosion design of C5, making it durable in island countries, which are vulnerable to harsh conditions like high humidity, earthquakes, and hurricanes.

Although energy storage development in the Caribbean is still nascent, the market displays that the use of energy storage co-located with PV will increase in the years ahead to integrate variable renewable generation. The 1+X Modular Inverter comes with the DC energy storage interface built into this solution. This supports connecting to the energy storage system; thus, enabling customers to enjoy the storage function for future energy use.

The Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries are focusing on improving their clean energy policies, regulations, and incentives in order to create clear rules for market players. Sungrow is poised to tap the potential of these emerging solar markets with best-in-class inverter solutions and services offered by a professional and dedicated local team. It's reported that the Company already secured orders in the Dominican Republic, and the projects are currently under construction.

About Sungrow

Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. is the most bankable inverter brand with over 269 GW installed worldwide as of June 2022. Founded in 1997 by Professor Cao Renxian, Sungrow is a leader in the research and development of solar inverters with the largest dedicated R&D team in the industry and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter solutions and energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial & industrial, and residential applications, as well as floating PV plant solutions, NEV driving solutions, EV charging solutions and renewable hydrogen production systems. With a strong 25-year track record in the PV space, Sungrow products power over 150 countries worldwide. Learn more here: www.sungrowpower.com.

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SOURCE Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd.
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Frost & Sullivan Institute's Enlightened Growth Leadership Best Practices Recognition honors corporations that are committed to lead the world in the right direction, not just through their products and services, but also by demonstrating sustainable growth. The recipients of the Enlightened Growth Leadership Recognition are the top 1% of the global companies that are making significant efforts toward 'Innovating to Zero.'

Congratulations to all recipients of the Enlightened Growth Leadership Best Practices Recognition.

"The Enlightened Growth Leadership Award recognizes companies that are making a difference through ESG goals and Innovating to zero. The recipients are industry leaders and a catalyst in inspiring other businesses to contribute towards addressing the global priorities," said Aroop Zutshi, Director, Frost & Sullivan Institute.

Frost & Sullivan Institute follows its proprietary, 8-step, measurement-based methodology, combined with extensive research, in-depth analyses, and benchmarking, to shortlist recipients. Our Global think tank does a detailed review of all perspectives on where and how companies are improving the future of the planet. By combining business sense with a moral imperative, these companies demonstrate aspirational ideas beyond the simple goal of generating profits. In this context, this recognition holds an even greater significance in reaffirming an organization's commitment to responsible consumerism.

Frost & Sullivan Institute congratulates all recipients of the Enlightened Growth Leadership Best Practices Recognition. Join us as we recognize and celebrate the 2022 recipients at our Virtual Awards Banquet in November.

Recipients:

Kazatomprom

Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd.

NMDC

OZ Minerals Ltd

Pacific Industrial Co. Ltd.

PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited

Rakuten Group, Inc.

Ramsay Health Care

Rio Tinto

Santos Limited

SeAH Steel Holdings

Showa Denko

SIIC ENVIRONMENT HOLDINGS LTD

SoftBank Corp.

Sonic Healthcare Limited

SRF Limited

SEMES Co. Ltd.

Takeda

PT Timah Tbk

Tokyo Electron

Wacom Co, Ltd.

WONIK IPS

Woodside Petroleum Ltd

YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LTD

ZOZO, Inc.

A2A S.p.A.

Ignitis Grupe

Acea S.p.A.

Adevinta ASA

AF Gruppen

AFRY

Aker BP

Allegro

ALTEN

Ambea

Amplifon

ams OSRAM

Anglo American

AO World Plc

ASMI

ASML

ASOS

Asseco

AstraZeneca

AT&S

Atea

Aurubis

AUTO1 Group

AVEVA

Bechtle

Beijer Ref

bioMerieux

BioNTech

BKW

Breedon

Cablevision Holding

Capgemini

Carl Zeiss Meditec

About Frost & Sullivan Institute

The Frost & Sullivan Institute (FSI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to utilizing business practices to address global priorities. The genesis of the institute goes back to the vision of either creating, or becoming part of, a solution that addresses threats to humanity. The Institute has identified strategic imperatives for transformation and believes that we can truly accelerate innovation to zero. To learn more about FSI, visit www.frostandsullivaninstitute.org

About Frost & Sullivan

For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Media Contact:

Prerna Mohan

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

Related Links

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SOURCE Frost & Sullivan
CHICAGO, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fire protection system market size is projected to grow from USD 66.8 billion in 2022 to USD 92.1 billion by 2027 at CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Presently, the construction industry is focused on connected construction technology which is defined as an ecosystem of connected job sites, workers, and machines that promote the operational effectiveness and safety of related assets, property, and workplace workers. In this connected construction technology, safety sensors and detectors link with job sites, machines, and workers, providing real-time safety and security visibility to managers. Thus, with technological developments in this industry, the demand for smart fire detection systems is expected to increase.

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Browse in-depth TOC on "Fire Protection System Market"

179  Tables

65  Figures

268  Pages

The market for fire sprinkler is expected to grow at a significant CAGR during the forecast period

Fire sprinkler systems are effective in controlling or suppressing fire. Sprinkler systems comprise a network of pipes in the walls and ceilings with sprinkler heads, providing protection to hallways, rooms, stairways, and other building areas. Although fire sprinkler systems are mostly used in commercial and industrial buildings, they are also increasingly used in smart buildings and homes. A fire sprinkler system is a fire protection system consisting of fire sprinkler heads, alarm test valves, alarm valves, stop valves, and motorized alarm bells. Fire sprinkler systems provide significant protection from fire-related hazards. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), fire sprinklers help to reduce the impact of fires. When fires were reported in properties with no automatic extinguishing systems (AES), the loss was comparatively low when sprinklers were present.

The retail segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2022 to 2027

The commercial vertical has been segmented into healthcare, academia & institutional, hospitality, retail, and BFSI. Among these, the retail segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2022 to 2027, owing to the increasing awareness about fire protection systems. The retail segment covers shopping malls, grocery stores, department stores, multi-location drug and specialty stores, convenience stores, etc. Retail stores require fire protection systems that include fire suppression systems, fire sprinklers, fire and smoke detectors, fire pumps, water storage tanks, fire extinguishers, and hood suppression systems. The number of retail shops and malls in urban areas has increased drastically over the last few years.

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North America is expected to hold a substantial share of the global fire protection market during the forecast period

North America is expected to hold a substantial share of the global fire protection market during the forecast period. Increased awareness about fire safety systems and regulations laid down by governments are among the significant factors driving North Americas market. The North American fire protection system market is dominated by the US and Canada. These countries have witnessed significant infrastructural developments owing to the high population growth rate, due to which the demand for fire protection systems is also increasing. In the US, the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program provides funding directly to fire departments. In addition, the national, state, tribal or local organizations representing the interests of firefighters are ready voluntarily to assist them in increasing the count of firefighters to help the fire department.

The major players include Carrier Global Corporation (US), Honeywell International Inc. (US), Johnson Controls (Ireland), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), and Siemens (Germany).

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Browse Adjacent Market: Semiconductor and Electronics Market Research Reports &Consulting

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Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model  GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

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DUBLIN, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) Global Market Report 2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global styrene butadiene rubber (sbr) market is expected to grow from $33.52 billion in 2021 to $35.59 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2%. The market is expected to grow to $44.31 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 5.6%.

Major players in the styrene-butadiene rubber market are Asahi Kasei, Lanxess, Bridgestone, Michelin, China Petroleum & Chemical, Jsr, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Sinopec, Eastman, and SIBUR.



Asia Pacific was the largest region in the styrene-butadiene rubber market in 2021. Western Europe was the second-largest region in the styrene-butadiene rubber market. The regions covered in the styrene-butadiene rubber report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, and Africa.



Increased use of Styrene-butadiene rubber in tire manufacturing contributed to the growth of the SBR market. Styrene-butadiene rubber is one of the key elements in tire manufacturing. SBR is a combination of styrene and butadiene monomers, together they possess natural rubber-like characteristics.

Along with that, they have unique characteristics such as abrasion resistance, perfect impact strength, good resilience, high tensile strength, which are permitting them to suitable for high-end tire manufacturing. Growing sales of automobiles in recent years have led to increased use of SBR by the automobile industry.

According to TrueCar Inc., an automotive pricing and information website for new and used car buyers, indicated that in September 2020 sales of new vehicles reached 1,221,092 units. This has led to an increased demand for SBR from the end-use industry, thus driving the market.



Safety hazards have always been a major challenge in the styrene-butadiene rubber industry. Due to its potential hazards butadiene is not sold to customers directly, but it is used in the manufacture of polymers and elastomers. Butadiene is highly volatile and low-water soluble. Long-term exposure to butadiene is detrimental to human health.

Exposure to high concentrations can result in damage to the central nervous system, blurred vision, nausea, headache, fatigue, decreased blood pressure, and coma. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer 1, 3-Butadiene has been listed as a possible carcinogen.



Major companies in the styrene-butadiene rubber industry are increasingly investing in artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance decisions making abilities and thus drive profits. The companies in this industry gather huge amounts of raw data relating to the working of plants and other infrastructure through a large number of sensors placed across the production site.

Using big data analytics the companies can detect sensible patterns which can allow them to quickly react to unwanted changes or potential defects, thus saving costs. AI allows companies to take better operational decisions. Companies such as Zhongce Rubber Group and Yokohama Rubber have been increasingly investing in AI technology to have a centralized method of data management and support data integration across multiple applications.



In January 2019, Saudi Aramco, a Saudi Arabia-based energy and chemical company acquired Arlanxeo from LANXESS AG for $1.67 billion. The acquisition is expected to help Saudi Aramco in improving the fuel efficiency-related to tire performance. Arlanxeo is a Netherlands-based synthetic rubber company that specializes in manufacturing synthetic rubbers and elastomer plastics such as polybutadiene/butadiene rubber (BR) that are supplied to tire manufacturers and automotive parts globally.



The styrene-butadiene rubber market consists of sales of styrene-butadiene rubber and related services. Styrene-butadiene rubber is synthetic rubber derived from the co-polymers styrene and butadiene. These materials have good abrasion resistance and good aging stability when protected by additives.



The main product types of styrene-butadiene rubber are emulsion type, solution type. Emulsions are mixtures composed of two or more liquid types, where one is like droplets, of tiny or even ultramicroscopic size, distributed to each other. The various applications involved are automotive tires, footwear, polymer modification, adhesives, and other applications. The distribution channels are direct/institutional sales, retail sales, and other channel sales.

Major Players

Asahi Kasei

Lanxess

Bridgestone

Michelin

China Petroleum & Chemical

Jsr

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber

Sinopec

Eastman

SIBUR

LG Chemicals

Kumho Petrochemical

LCY Chemicals

Versalis

Trinseo

Synthos

Zeon

Shenhua Chemical

Dynasol Elastomer

China national Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)

national Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Bridgestone Corporation

Reliance Industries Limited

Lion Elastomers

TSRC Corporation

Sumitomo Chemicals

Tianjin Lugang Petroleum Rubber Co.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Styrene Butadiene Rubber Market Characteristics



3. Styrene Butadiene Rubber Market Trends And Strategies



4. Impact Of COVID-19 On Styrene Butadiene Rubber



5. Styrene Butadiene Rubber Market Size And Growth

5.1. Global Styrene Butadiene Rubber Historic Market, 2016-2021, $ Billion

5.1.1. Drivers Of The Market

5.1.2. Restraints On The Market

5.2. Global Styrene Butadiene Rubber Forecast Market, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

5.2.1. Drivers Of The Market

5.2.2. Restraints On the Market



6. Styrene Butadiene Rubber Market Segmentation

6.1. Global Styrene Butadiene Rubber Market, Segmentation By Product Type, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Emulsion Type

Solution Type

6.2. Global Styrene Butadiene Rubber Market, Segmentation By Application, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Automotive Tire

Footwear

Polymer Modification

Adhesives

Other Applications

6.3. Global Styrene Butadiene Rubber Market, Segmentation By Distribution Channel, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Direct/Institutional Sales

Retail Sales

Other Channel Sales

7. Styrene Butadiene Rubber Market Regional And Country Analysis

7.1. Global Styrene Butadiene Rubber Market, Split By Region, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

7.2. Global Styrene Butadiene Rubber Market, Split By Country, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/69b57b

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DUBLIN, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Zero Trust Security Market by Solution Type (Data Security, Endpoint Security, API Security, Security Analytics and Security Policy Management), Deployment Mode, Authentication Type, Organization Size, Vertical, and Region - Forecast to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global Zero trust security market size is expected to grow from an estimated value of USD 27.4 Billion in 2022 to USD 60.7 Billion by 2027, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17.3% from 2022 to 2027. Some of the factors that are driving the market growth includes an increase in the frequency of target-based cyber-attacks. However, design and implementation challenges to deploying zero trust security solutions is expected to hinder the market growth.

By deployment mode, cloud-based zero trust security solutions to account for a higher market share during the forecast period

cloud-based zero trust security solutions provide a cost-effective approach for enterprises across verticals to enhance security. Pricing is a major differentiating factor encouraging the adoption of cloud-based security solutions over on-premises security solutions. The growing virtualization across industries and increasing adoption of cloud computing solutions are the major factors leading to the rise in demand for cloud-based zero trust security solutions in various countries. Moreover, the cloud-based deployment of zero trust security solutions can help organizations reduce the costs associated with expensive hardware equipment required for storage, power, and cooling. Apart from operational benefits, cloud-based security solutions offer technical expertise, eliminating the cost incurred for IT maintenance by any organization. Cloud deployments are suitable for SMEs that usually have a limited budget for securing critical assets from cyberattacks. Furthermore, deploying security solutions in the cloud can help businesses focus on their core operational functionalities rather than increasingly investing in capital infrastructure for IT security. Cloud-based zero trust security solutions help secure access control management (ACM) in a physical and virtualized cloud data center environment. Enterprises that have completely migrated their IT capabilities to the cloud are increasingly deploying cloud-based zero-trust security solutions, driving market growth.

By vertical, healthcare and social assistance to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period

The healthcare vertical is becoming a prime target for cybercriminals. Healthcare enterprises have a large repository of patient information, such as names, phone numbers, social security numbers, insurance details, biometric data, email addresses, and medical records. Furthermore, healthcare firms also store the payment data of customers, which also becomes a target for hackers to exploit. According to the Protected Health Information Data Breach Report (PHIDBR) conducted by Verizon in 2018, the prime focus of data breaches in the healthcare vertical was healthcare medical records comprising patient identities and medical history. PHIDBR also revealed that 70% of the incidents were ransomware attacks with malicious code, and 58% of the security incidents involved insiders leaving sensitive data open for misuse. Moreover, these types of security breaches and unauthorized access to the personal information of patients result in various fraudulent attacks. Healthcare firms are shifting toward digitally driven processes and rapidly adopting zero trust security solutions for the digital security of internal and external endpoints.

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Increase in the Frequency of Target-Based Cyberattacks

Growth in Regulations for Data Protection and Information Security

Greater Need to Reduce Business and Organizational Risks

Restraints

Budgetary Constraints Among Small and Emerging Startups in Developing Countries

Need for Continuous Administration to Ensure Enduring Protection

Opportunities

High Demand for Improved Visibility due to the Rise in IoT Traffic Among Enterprises

Increase in Need for Cloud-Based Zero Trust Security Solutions Among Smes

Challenges

Design and Implementation Challenges to Deploying Zero Trust Security Solutions

Lack of Cybersecurity Professionals to Handle the Critical Infrastructure

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Premium Insights



5 Market Overview and Industry Trends



6 Zero Trust Security Market, by Solution Type



7 Zero Trust Security Market, by Deployment Mode



8 Zero Trust Security Market, by Authentication Type



9 Zero Trust Security Market, by Organization Size



10 Zero Trust Security Market, by Vertical



11 Zero Trust Security Market, by Region



12 Competitive Landscape



13 Company Profiles



14 Adjacent Markets



15 Appendix

Companies Mentioned

Akamai

Broadcom

Centrify

Check Point

Cisco

Cloudflare

Cyxtera Technologies

Forcepoint

Fortinet

Google

Ibm

Illumio

Microsoft

Okta

On2It

Palo Alto Networks

Pulse Secure

Qnext Corporation

Rsa

Sonicwall

Sophos

Trellix

Trend Micro

Varonis

Vmware

Zscaler

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SOURCE Research and Markets
CHARLESTON, S.C., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GlycoPath's proprietary GlycoTyper immunoaffinity technology was used to distinguish between Lyme disease infection states and track treatment response through a collaboration with Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Mary Ann Comunale identified glycosylation changes that differentiate acute Lyme disease and track with treatment and partnered with GlycoPath to confirm her labs findings. The study, published in the Frontiers of Immunology peer-reviewed journal by Benjamin Haslund-Gourley, et. al. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9389449/), reveals a new research avenue of immune dysregulation associated with the disease that is expected to contribute to the accurate and prompt treatment of Lyme disease patients.

Lyme Disease is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in the United States, with an estimated 476,000 annual cases. Current diagnostics for this disease and complicated and rely on indirect methods that suffer from low sensitivity and high false-positive rates. Furthermore, they are unable to distinguish between newly infected patients and patients that have received prior treatment. This makes it impossible to determine treatment efficacy, track disease resolution or diagnose subsequent infections. By utilizing the GlycoTyper methodology on a small cohort of patients, researchers were able to distinguish between control, acute and treated patients with a specificity of 94.7-100%.

Prior to this study, the proprietary GlycoTyper methodology had only been applied to liver diseases. Earlier this year, results from the first GlycoFibroTyper study were published, showing that the GlycoFibroTyper assay was able to detect liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, the pre-malignant pre-cursor to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with a higher sensitivity and specificity and overall accuracy than current standard of care. Furthermore, this assay is significantly less invasive, suitable for continuous monitoring, and provides a measurement of the overall health status of the liver. Learn more about the GlycoFibroTyper here: https://glycopath.com/glycotyper. Additionally, in March, GlycoPath received STTR grant funding from the National Cancer Institute to utilize this technology for the development of a biomarker panel for HCC, a major cancer in the USA and rest of the world.

SOURCE GlycoPath, Inc
Coprova, S.A.S., exclusive distributor of Habanos, S.A. for France , acted as master of ceremonies at the presentation of the Quai D'Orsay brand's new vitola.

HAVANA, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Habanos, S.A., together with its exclusive distributor in France, Coprova, S.A.S., presented last Thursday the new vitola Quai D'Orsay No. 52 (52 ring gauge x 156 mm length) in a magical evening held in one of the most emblematic places in Paris, the Hotel de La Marine, located in the central Place de la Concorde.

Quai D'Orsay No. 52 (Habanos, S.A.)

This building overlooks the square itself and has witnessed some of the most important historical episodes that have taken place in the French capital since it was built in the 18th century. It also has a view of iconic buildings such as the Eiffel Tower and the National Assembly and, of course, the famous Quai D'Orsay Avenue, which gives its name to the Habanos brand. Therefore, there could be no better place to welcome the new Quai D'Orsay No. 52.

The presentation of this new vitola took place at an exclusive gala dinner where Cuban tradition, elegance and refinement of the place, and French gastronomy were highlighted and accompanied by music of both countries. In addition, the 150 attendees were able to taste a unique vitola such as Quai D'Orsay Secreto Cubano (2016 Regional Edition for France) and, the protagonist of the night Quai D'Orsay No. 52, which they paired with rums of the highest quality.

In addition to Habanos aficionados and lovers, the dinner was attended by several personalities such as Cuba's Ambassador to France, H.E. Mr. Otto Vaillant Frias, who said a few words to those present. The representation of Habanos, S.A. at this magnificent event was headed by Co-President Luis Sanchez-Harguindey Pardo de Vera, who stressed "the importance of a market like France not only in terms of sales (one of the world's top markets), but also because of the knowledge and expertise that exists in France about this magnificent product, and because of its aficionados with exquisite taste and constant demand. For all these reasons, and because of its close relationship with the emergence of this brand, France is the perfect place to present the world premiere of the Quai D'Orsay No. 52."

"We are delighted that Habanos, S.A., has chosen Paris and French aficionados to present this new vitola of the Quai D'Orsay brand," said Antoine Bathie, Coprova's co-CEO. Enrique Babot, also Coprova's co-CEO, underlined that "Its undoubtedly elegance is what defines Quai D'Orsay and its new No. 52 vitola. It evolves in complexity in a balanced way. An ideal Habano to smoke in company and to end with a refined meal".

Tasting notes:

Quai D'Orsay No. 52

52 ring gauge x 156 mm length

Wrapper: smooth, semi-oily.

smooth, semi-oily. Draw: correct.

correct. Construction: excellent.

excellent. Combustion: excellent.

excellent. First third: balanced, aromatic balance, subtle and delicate expressions.

balanced, aromatic balance, subtle and delicate expressions. Second third: with a very uniform progress of marked aromatic balance.

with a very uniform progress of marked aromatic balance. Third third: enhancing the smoke and intensifying the aromatic character.

enhancing the smoke and intensifying the aromatic character. Strength: light.

Pairing proposal:

Martini cocktail or sparkling base cocktail.

Champagne or sparkling wine.

Lightly fermented coffee or tea.

Click here to download high resolution product images.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1926330/QUAI_D_ORSAY_No_52.jpg

SOURCE Habanos, S.A.
Newly appointed Medical Director, Bruce Spiess , MD, FAHA to moderate the educational session "Listening to the Blood: An Update on the Quantra System, the Latest Technology in the Management of Critical Bleeding"

, MD, FAHA to moderate the educational session "Listening to the Blood: An Update on the Quantra System, the Latest Technology in the Management of Critical Bleeding" Clinical tools on display to provide actionable information to guide the management of critical bleeding enabling clinicians to choose the right treatment in the right time frame

DURHAM, N.C., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- (Booth #3518)  HemoSonics, LLC, a leading medical device company and innovator delivering diagnostic solutions for Patient Blood Management (PBM), will exhibit solutions designed to provide fast, easy-to-interpret results that can improve individualized goal-directed therapy at ANESTHESIOLOGY, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) annual meeting to be held October 21-25, 2022 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Bruce Spiess, MD, FAHA, Medical Director of HemoSonics. Quantra QPlus System

HemoSonics is also pleased to announce that Bruce Spiess, MD, FAHA, has joined the company as Medical Director. Dr. Spiess will moderate an educational session entitled "Listening to the Blood: An Update on the Quantra System, the Latest Technology in the Management of Critical Bleeding" at ANESTHESIOLOGY on Saturday, October 22 from 11:00  11:30 AM at the Exhibit Hall's Center Stage Theater. The presentation will focus on approaches to optimize patient blood management strategies when bleeding is critical. It will explore new technologies, clinical and economic evidence, and interventions to deliver effective care including teamwork, communication, speed, and actionable, interpretable data.

"It is a great honor to be affiliated with an innovative company, that is transforming the way anesthesiologists manage hemostatic abnormalities coagulation dysfunctions by providing comprehensive, timely information on coagulation status at the point of care," said Bruce Spiess, MD, FAHA, Medical Director of HemoSonics.

With over 40 years of medical experience, Dr. Spiess had an exemplary career as a clinician educator as well as a globally recognized researcher. He has managed the medical care of more than 20,000 patients undergoing operations, the majority being complex cardiothoracic surgeries, notably more than 500 liver transplants, hundreds of lung transplants as well as heart transplants. Dr. Spiess is a recognized educator and lecturer with over 200 publications and hundreds of speaking engagements. He received his medical degree from Rush University in Chicago and completed his residency at the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Spiess is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology, and the National Board of Medical Examiners, and a Fellow of the American Heart Association.

"Dr. Spiess brings to HemoSonics extensive clinical experience as a practicing physician and a successful record of introducing new and innovative technologies that transform patient care," said Robert Roda, President and Chief Executive Officer of HemoSonics. "Dr. Spiess will help to accelerate HemoSonics' patient-centric and evidence-based approach to ensure that the Quantra technology is accessible to more anesthesiologists and other care providers."

The following HemoSonics solutions will be available for demonstration at booth #3518:

Quantra Hemostasis Analyzer HemoSonics' flagship product is designed to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs by providing optimized coagulation information. The Quantra System's speed and easy interpretation of results enables simple, more efficient point-of-care bleeding management. It is based on a patented medical ultrasound technology called SEER (Sonic Estimation of Elasticity via Resonance) Sonorheometry. SEER measures clot stiffness (shear modulus of elasticity) over time using ultrasound-induced resonance.

HemoSonics' flagship product is designed to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs by providing optimized coagulation information. The Quantra System's speed and easy interpretation of results enables simple, more efficient point-of-care bleeding management. It is based on a patented medical ultrasound technology called SEER (Sonic Estimation of Elasticity via Resonance) Sonorheometry. SEER measures clot stiffness (shear modulus of elasticity) over time using ultrasound-induced resonance. QPlus Cartridge - A multi-channel cartridge for use with the Quantra Hemostasis Analyzer, indicated for Cardiovascular Surgery and Major Orthopedic Surgery. The room-temperature stable, fully sealed cartridges perform multiple tests simultaneously.

- A multi-channel cartridge for use with the Quantra Hemostasis Analyzer, indicated for Cardiovascular Surgery and Major Orthopedic Surgery. The room-temperature stable, fully sealed cartridges perform multiple tests simultaneously. Quanta Quality Controls  The Quantra Hemostasis Analyzer's comprehensive internal QC ensures reliable results. In addition, two levels of external Quantra Quality Controls are offered for use with QPlus Cartridges.

 The Quantra Hemostasis Analyzer's comprehensive internal QC ensures reliable results. In addition, two levels of external Quantra Quality Controls are offered for use with QPlus Cartridges. Quantra Desktop Remote Viewer - (QDRV) - A PC application that allows users to view, print, and download live and historical test results from any Quantra analyzer on the secure network.

- (QDRV) - A PC application that allows users to view, print, and download live and historical test results from any Quantra analyzer on the secure network. Connectivity  The Quantra System connects through middleware to existing laboratory information systems (LIS) and electronic medical records (EMR) systems.

For more information, please visit HemoSonics (Booth #3518) at ANESTHESIOLOGY or https://hemosonics.com/anes22.

About HemoSonics

HemoSonics, LLC is a medical device company with the primary mission to deliver clinical tools that provide actionable information in critical care settings, resulting in better care for patients and lower overall medical costs. The Quantra Hemostasis Analyzer, HemoSonics' flagship product, is designed to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs by providing optimized coagulation information. The Quantra System's easy and fast interpretation enables simple, more efficient point-of-care bleeding management. HemoSonics is part of the Stago group, a leading company in the in vitro diagnostics industry dedicated to exploring thrombosis and hemostasis. HemoSonics' manufacturing, R&D, and Headquarters are based out of Durham, North Carolina.

Contact

John Friedl

HemoSonics, LLC

949-485-0465

[email protected]

SOURCE HemoSonics, LLC
Prospera celebrates successful entrepreneurship among top stakeholders

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Prospera hosted its traditional event to celebrate Hispanic entrepreneurship on Thursday, October 20 at Armature Works in Tampa. The event, presented by Duke Energy, brought together the nonprofit's top supportersfunders, clients, volunteers, and partnersto recognize local small business owners who have demonstrated success and business growth since receiving Prospera's assistance.

Five success stories were highlighted, showing how the entrepreneurs are stronger than before the pandemic:

2022 Prospera Success Stories clients honored in the West Coast of Florida with volunteers and staff

The 2022 Prospera Success Stories event in the West Coast of Florida was led by Prospera Regional Vice President Fabian Yepez. The videos of the five honorees can be viewed online. In addition to the clients recognized, the program showcased donors, volunteers, and partners in a celebration of local entrepreneurial success and community collaboration to foster economic development.

"For several years, Duke Energy Florida has supported Prospera in its efforts to empower Hispanic entrepreneurs through training, tools and resources so their businesses can grow and prosper," said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida State President. "With another fruitful event behind us thanks to Prospera's Success Stories event, we look forward to exploring more opportunities to support and recognize local small businesses that improve the lives of customers and the communities we serve."

"Our organization has generated $4.9 billion in economic impact since it was established in Tampa in 1991, 1.2 billion of which was generated in our West Coast region. We have also marketed locally more than $66 million in loans for small business clients, and generated $27.6 million in direct state and local tax revenues," said Prospera Regional Vice President Fabian Yepez.

Alongside Duke Energy, the event was carried out with the support of the following sponsors:

Hosts : CITY Furniture, TECO, Visit Tampa Bay, Truist, and Wells Fargo

: CITY Furniture, TECO, Visit Tampa Bay, Truist, and Wells Fargo Champions : Hill Ward Henderson, JPMorgan Chase, Nielsen, and Suncoast Credit Union

: Hill Ward Henderson, JPMorgan Chase, Nielsen, and Suncoast Credit Union Leaders: Bank of America, GTE Financial, Tampa Bay Rays & Rowdies, and TD Bank

Prospera is an economic development, nonprofit organization that since 1991 specializes in bilingual assistance to Hispanic entrepreneurs who want to start, sustain, and grow their business. In the last five years, Prospera has facilitated over $61 million in loans, trained over 18,000 entrepreneurs, and helped consulting clients create or retain over 16,000 jobs. It serves Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia. For more information, visit prosperausa.org.

Media Contact: Fabian Yepez, 813-230-0059, [email protected]

Photos available upon request

SOURCE Prospera
Increase in residential, and commercial construction, rise in population, and surge in demand for roads, highways, bridges, and tunnels drive the growth of the global hydraulic hammer market.

PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Global Hydraulic Hammer Market by Product Type (Light Duty (upto 10 ton), Medium Duty (11-30ton), Heavy Duty (More than 31 ton)), by Business (OEM, Aftermarket), by End User Industry (Mining, Construction, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031". According to the report, the global hydraulic hammer industry generated $2.0 billion in 2021, and is anticipated to generate $3.4 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 5.6% from 2022 to 2031.

Download Free Sample Report (240 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, Figures): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/3241

Prime determinants of growth

Increase in residential, and commercial construction, rise in population, and surge in demand for roads, highways, bridges, and tunnels drive the growth of the global hydraulic hammer market. However, lack of skilled and qualified operators restricts the market growth. Moreover, rise in government investments in infrastructure projects and mining sectors presents new opportunities in the coming years.

Covid-19 Scenario

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the global hydraulic hammer market, owing to temporary closure of production of many products in the hydraulic hammer market during the global lockdown.

Furthermore, the number of COVID-19 cases reduced with the introduction of vaccines for COVID-19. This has led to the reopening of hydraulic hammer companies at their full-scale capacities, which is expected to help the market recover by the end of 2022.

In the post-pandemic period, hydraulic hammer manufacturers must focus on protecting their staff, operations, and supply networks to respond to urgent emergencies and establish new methods of working.

The heavy-duty (more than 31 tons) segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on product type, the heavy-duty (more than 31 tons) segment held the highest market share in 2021, accounting for more than two-thirds of the global hydraulic hammer market, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. The sustainable manufacturing process and increased technology implementation in heavy construction equipment are the factors driving the growth of the segment. However, the light duty (up to 10 ton) segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 7.6% from 2022 to 2031, as different light-duty hydraulic hammer equipment is highly adopted for construction and demolishment applications.

Buy this Research Report @ https://bit.ly/3EX5YwD

The aftermarket segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on business, the aftermarket segment held the highest market share in 2021, accounting for around three-fifths of the global hydraulic hammer market, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. Moreover, the same segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 6.0% from 2022 to 2031. The limited warranty period of parts & components and increase in the number of failures of machine operations & accidents are anticipated to fuel the growth of the hydraulic hammer aftermarket.

The mining segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period

Based on end use industry, the mining segment accounted for the largest share in 2021, contributing to more than two-thirds of the global hydraulic hammer market, and is projected to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. This is owing to the fact that hydraulic hammers find extensive use in mining of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth. However, the construction segment is expected to portray the largest CAGR of 7.7% from 2022 to 2031. Rapid industrialization and urbanization in developing countries has led to the construction of new and luxurious offices and residential spaces in major cities of India and China. Such factors are fueling the segment growth.

Asia-Pacific to maintain its dominance by 2031

Based on region, Asia-Pacific held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2021, accounting for nearly half of the global hydraulic hammer market, and is likely to dominate the market during the forecast period. Moreover, the same region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 6.6% from 2022 to 2031. Increase in spending capabilities, owing to ongoing mining and construction development in China, Japan and India. Furthermore, factors such as availability of workforce and low-cost manufacturing has fueled the manufacturing sector in the region. Other regions included in the report are North America, Europe, and LAMEA.



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Leading Market Players: -

Atlas Copco

Breaker Technology Inc.

Caterpillar,

Everdigm,

Furukawa,

Indeco,

John Deere,

Miller UK,

MKB(KONAN),

Montabert,

MSB,

Sandvik,

Soosan heavy industries,

Stanley Hydraulics,

Volvo,

Nuosen Machinery,

Rammer

The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players of the global hydraulic hammer market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.

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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.

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SOURCE Allied Market Research
DUBLIN, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Industrial Vending Machine Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report by Type (Carousel, Coil), by Product (MRO Tools, PPE), by End-use (Manufacturing), by Region, and Segment Forecast, 2022-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global industrial vending machine market size is expected to reach USD 5.8 billion by 2030, according to this report. expanding at a CAGR of 9.7% from 2022 to 2030. Technological advancements in vending machines have enabled companies to improve inventory management efficiency and monitor inventory consumption with real-time data analysis, thereby driving the market growth.

The adoption of industrial vending machines is expected to increase during the coming years due to cost efficiency, which would enable businesses to generate higher revenues. Moreover, a growing emphasis on employee safety drives the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), subsequently resulting in increased adoption of industrial vending machines for PPE.

Key industry sectors such as automotive, construction, aviation, manufacturing, and oil and gas are the prominent end-use industries that are highly dependent on the use of MRO tools, personal protective equipment, and other consumables and durables. The increasing expansion of these industries due to rising industrialization and globalization is expected to drive the demand for industrial vending machines.

The ongoing technological revolution in the vending industry is expected to have a positive impact on market growth. The implementation of RFID and cloud infrastructure in vending systems have enabled the tracking and monitoring of inventory for the prevention of fraudulent activities such as misuse and theft, which is expected to drive market expansion.

Industrial vending machines help save costs by saving employee job hours. Efficient inventory management enables employees to work productively within fixed hours, thereby preventing the wastage of employee work hours. Moreover, industrial vending machines enable the lowering of freight costs and stock outages, which is anticipated to drive demand for these machines and subsequently aid market growth.

Manufacturers of the product adopt several strategies, including acquisitions, mergers, and joint ventures to enhance their market penetration. For instance, in April 2020, Fastenal Company bought a stake in Apex Industrial Technologies. It is expected to boost the company's reach and build a stronger portfolio over the coming years.

Industrial Vending Machine Market Report Highlights

The coil vending machine segment accounted for 37.9% of the global revenue share in 2021, owing to its higher penetration across various end-use industries such as construction, manufacturing, and oil & gas

The PPE segment accounted for the largest share of 41.4% in 2021 owing to factors such as increased use of protective items, including hard hats, safety goggles, and safety gloves across various industries

The manufacturing industry is expected to witness growth at a rate of 9.8% during the forecast period. This is credited to the strong growth in the manufacturing sector worldwide, especially in emerging economies

North America region accounted for the largest share of 35.0% in 2021, owing to the strong presence of the key players and distributors, along with high awareness about these machines across various industries

region accounted for the largest share of 35.0% in 2021, owing to the strong presence of the key players and distributors, along with high awareness about these machines across various industries Key players are opting for various strategies, including product development, expansion to new geographic locations, and joint ventures, in order to increase sales and improve market share

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1. Methodology and Scope



Chapter 2. Executive Summary



Chapter 3. Market Variables, Trends, and Scope



Chapter 4. Industrial Vending Machine Market: Type Estimates & Trend Analysis



Chapter 5. Industrial Vending Machine Market: Product Estimates & Trend Analysis



Chapter 6. Industrial Vending Machine Market: End-use Estimates & Trend Analysis



Chapter 7. Industrial Vending Machine Market: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis



Chapter 8. Competitive Landscape



Chapter 9. Company Profiles



Companies Mentioned

Apex Industrial Technologies, LLC

AutoCrib, Inc.

Brammer

IMC Group

SecuraStock

CribMaster

Fastenal Company

Airgas Inc.

IVM Ltd.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/m3k461

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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SOURCE Research and Markets
Diwali is the festival of light, signifying the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil. Deepavali means " row of lights " in an ancient language of India, Sanskrit. The five-day festival of light is one of the biggest and most popular festivals in India with over 1 billion Hindus observing Diwali worldwide. People celebrate by dressing in colorful traditional attire, lighting the inside and outside of homes with lamps or other lights, gathering with friends and family, enjoying a large traditional feast and exchanging gifts.

Integrity's Diwali celebration consisted of many traditional Indian food dishes, dance performances and the lighting of the candles. Integrity's focus on celebrating diversity and culture deeply connects employees from various departments and fosters understanding.

"Bringing the Integrity employee family together today to celebrate Diwali strengthens our connection as a community and reminds us of the importance of bringing light to the lives of others," said Integrity Co-Founder and CEO Bryan W. Adams, who was recently recognized as a "Best CEO for Diversity." "Celebrating diversity is an important part of our Integrity company values. We all bring unique perspectives and cultural differences that add value to our relationships."

Texas is home to the second-largest American-Indian population , by state and Integrity is proud that 25% of their Dallas-based employees are of Indian heritage.

"Our annual Diwali celebration at Integrity today was very emotional for me as it reminded me of the treasured traditions I celebrated growing up in India," explained CTO Harsh Singla. "Being able to celebrate such an important holiday in Dallas with my Integrity family shows how much our leadership team respects and values our culture. Celebrating Diwali together deeply connects our co-workers from various departments and fosters understanding. It is amazing to work for a company that not only supports diversity, but embraces it completely," he added.

For b-roll of the event, click here: Integrity 2022 Diwali B-roll

For photos from the event, click here: Integrity 2022 Diwali Photos

For more information about Integrity, visit www.integritymarketing.com .

About Integrity Marketing Group

Integrity, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of innovative solutions for wealth management and retirement planning. Through its partner network, Integrity helps millions of Americans protect their life, health and wealth with a commitment to meet them wherever they are  in person, over the phone and online. Integrity's cutting-edge technology helps streamline the insurance and financial planning experience for all stakeholders. In addition, Integrity develops products with carrier partners and markets them through its nationwide distribution network. Integrity's nearly 6,000 employees work with approximately 500,000 agents and advisors who serve more than 11 million clients annually. In 2022, Integrity will help carriers place almost $20 billion in new sales and oversee more than $30 billion of assets under management and advisement through its RIA and broker-dealer platforms. For more information, visit www.integritymarketing.com .

SOURCE Integrity Marketing Group, LLC
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KOP), an integrated global provider of treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals, and carbon compounds, today announced that it plans to release its financial results for the third quarter of 2022 before the market opens on Friday, November 4, 2022, and discuss its outlook on a conference call later that day at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Presentation materials will be available at least 15 minutes before the call on www.koppers.com in the Investor Relations section of the company's website.

Interested parties may access the live audio broadcast toll free by dialing 833-366-1128 in the United States and Canada, or 412-902-6774 for international, Conference ID number 10172445. Participants are requested to access the call at least five minutes before the scheduled start time to complete a brief registration. The conference call will be broadcast live on www.koppers.com and can also be accessed here.

An audio replay will be available approximately two hours after the completion of the call at 877-344-7529 for U.S. toll free, 855-669-9658 for Canada toll free, or 412-317-0088 for international, using replay access code 4463139. The recording will be available for replay through February 4, 2023.

About Koppers

Koppers, with corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an integrated global provider of treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals, and carbon compounds. Our products and services are used in a variety of niche applications in a diverse range of end markets, including the railroad, specialty chemical, utility, residential lumber, agriculture, aluminum, steel, rubber, and construction industries. We serve our customers through a comprehensive global manufacturing and distribution network, with facilities located in North America, South America, Australasia, and Europe. The stock of Koppers Holdings Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "KOP."

For more information, visit: www.koppers.com. Inquiries from the media should be directed to Ms. Jessica Franklin Black at [email protected] or 412-227-2025. Inquiries from the investment community should be directed to Ms. Quynh McGuire at [email protected] or 412-227-2049.

For Information: Quynh McGuire, Vice President, Investor Relations

412 227 2049

[email protected]

SOURCE Koppers
NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kushner (together with its affiliates, "Kushner"), a seasoned real estate owner and operator and one of the largest shareholders of Veris Residential (NYSE: VRE) ("Veris"), today sent the following letter to Veris' Board of Directors:

Kushner-Letter-to-Veris-Residential-Board-of-Directors-10.20.22.pdf

The full text of the letter follows:

October 20, 2022

Board of Directors

Veris Residential, Inc.

210 Hudson Street, Suite 400

Jersey City, NJ 07311

Dear Members of the Board,

This letter is an open response to the letters we received from Tammy Jones, Veris' Board Chair, on October 4, 2022 and October 16, 2022. We are writing in light of the fact that our attempts at fruitful engagement with the Board and management over the last several months have effectively been ignored, despite the serious ongoing operational issues at Veris Residential, Inc.

Upon review of publicly reported investor holdings, Kushner is one of the six largest shareholders of Veris. Kushner is a long term focused, multigenerational real estate investor, not a short-term hedge fund or activist. We have amassed a stake of 4.5 million shares in Veris over the past five months in the belief that Veris owns a high-quality real estate portfolio with substantial long-term potential which is, unfortunately, being mismanaged.

As we presented to the Board in September 2022, it is our belief that the intrinsic value of Veris' portfolio of real estate assets has been appreciably damaged over the last several years to the tune of several hundred million dollars of shareholder value. Despite being a relatively small, geographically concentrated, regional REIT, Veris' management team ran up $57 million of G&A costs in 2021, which is 10X the average G&A per unit of Veris' peer group. The CEO of this small residential REIT lives in the UK. His previous experience, along with that of the COO, was oversight of an investment vehicle for European office buildings. Veris' senior management team, along with the vast majority of the Board, frankly, has no operators, no developers, not even anyone with any recent management experience in multi-family residential.

Since the initial Bow Street proxy contest was filed in May 2019, Veris has lost 46% of its value, declining from $22.72 (05/01/19) to $12.32 (10/19/22). Even after the installation of a new Board of Directors in June 2020 and a new management team in March 2021, Veris continues to be one of the worst-performing REITs in the country. We note that year-to-date in 2022, Veris' stock is down over 34%, from $18.74 (01/03/22) to $12.32 (10/19/22) a destruction of aggregate shareholder value of nearly $600 million. Veris has not made a distribution to its shareholders in over 27 months. In the past 12 months, after adjusting for distributions and dividends, Veris has performed worse than even underperforming externally managed REITs. Of the peer group of residential REITs, both externally and internally managed, Veris is the only REIT with a negative 2023 EBITDA growth estimate and has the second lowest trailing twelve month return profile.

In her letters, Ms. Jones references advice received from financial advisors as to why the Board has thus far refused to truly engage in good faith discussions with Kushner about its proposals to enhance shareholder value. The substance of that advice has not been shared with us or with any other shareholder that is not represented on the Board as far as we can tell.

The bulk of Veris' core assets are in New Jersey. As has been presented to the Veris Board, Kushner, unlike Veris' management team and Board, are born and bred New Jersey multifamily real estate operators and developers. We have nearly 40 years of experience investing, managing, and developing in this competitive arena, generating billions of dollars in profits for our stakeholders. Kushner currently operates 20,000 multifamily apartments, 10,000 units under development, and a substantial commercial portfolio, on behalf of a diverse group of investors. We have spent decades building an organization led by talented on-the-ground executives who have successfully created value for investors in Veris' core markets for decades.

As a major shareholder, we approached the Veris Board over three months ago about working with the Board and management to help Veris address many of the strategic and operational issues at the company. In September we presented to the Board a detailed study of Veris' bloated cost structure and functional issues. Among other things, Kushner executives "blind shopped" each Veris residential asset during August of 2022 and found obvious shortcomings in leasing and management efforts. Leasing offices were closed or short-staffed, phone calls and messages went unreturned, Roseland branding remained throughout, and technological capabilities fell far short of current best practices. None of this is addressed in either letter from Ms. Jones.

At our meeting with the Board in September, we proposed a way to address many of Veris' issues, including a way to almost immediately reduce Veris' $57 million of annual G&A to close to $10 million annually. Our proposal included strict controls and oversight to ensure proper governance and transparency. Instead of engaging in good faith discussions about our proposal we received what amounts to form letter responses rejecting our proposal out of hand. Most recently, Veris announced the sale of three properties at substantial discounts. The lengthy endeavor to sell these properties stretched into the worst investment sales environment in decades and culminated in a low contract price for H1/H2/H3. Similarly, Veris allowed the buyer of 101 Hudson to string them out for a year, giving away tens of millions to close the deal. Previously, Veris sold valuable land such as Urby Harborside cheaply, and exchanged those proceeds into an average property, in an average location, at the top of the market.

Kushner, as one of the largest Veris shareholders, has offered its robust operating platform to the company at cost to drastically (a) reduce G&A expense and (b) upgrade the quality, capability, and depth of Veris' management capabilities. Kushner is willing to forgo typical management fees to immediately cut G&A expense. Kushner has undertaken a zero-base G&A budget and believes it can reduce the $57 million of G&A in 2021 to just under $10 million immediately. In our proposal to the Board in September, we made clear that Kushner would only get paid for our efforts if we are successful in substantially growing the equity value of the company for all shareholders.

As a major shareholder with unique experience in Veris' core markets we have tried to engage directly and privately with Veris' Board and management. Unfortunately, to date, our attempts at fruitful good faith engagement have not been reciprocated. That forces us to make our concerns and proposals clear to all Veris shareholders so they can understand for themselves why we believe Veris has performed so poorly over the last several years and what we are proposing as alternatives.

Kushner is prepared to engage directly and seriously in good faith negotiations for a joint venture arrangement whereby Veris would retain internal management, but Kushner would help bring down Veris' market-high operating expenses immediately and reposition Veris' core assets so that they can start generating distributable income for all Veris shareholders. As stated many times to the Veris Board, Kushner would only receive compensation for such efforts when Kushner achieves material shareholder value for all Veris shareholders. Moreover, to the extent that Veris has any concern regarding potential conflicts of interest between Kushner properties and Veris properties, we are prepared to implement robust procedures to address any potential conflict.

In the alternative, Kushner is prepared to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Veris at a price of $16 per share. This price represents a 30% premium to Veris' last closing price, which we believe has been temporarily inflated by recent insider purchases of Veris stock. This also represents a 33.8% premium to Veris' 30-day trailing VWAP of $11.96 per share. Based upon discussions with financing sources, Kushner has access to all financing necessary to consummate this transaction. Obviously, any transaction would be subject to due diligence and proper documentation.

We would have preferred to engage in these discussions privately and directly with the Board but to date the Board has not shown a good faith willingness to discuss alternatives to the plan it has been attempting to execute for the last several years resulting in equity destruction of almost 46%.

Therefore, we have no choice but to make our proposals public so that we can make all Veris shareholders aware that there are more viable alternatives to the current and continuing path Veris is on. The Board can choose to help its shareholders achieve an immediate return on their investment at $16 per share, a price not likely to be seen again any time soon based on the current trajectory of Veris operations, or the Board can try to engage with a major shareholder and best-in-class operator in Veris' core markets to finally turn things around and create real tangible value for Veris shareholders over the longer term.

The status quo is unacceptable. Veris cannot continue to be operated from Europe with the highest G&A costs in its peer group and a Board with no operating experience in Northeastern US residential multi-family assets. The Company is too small to permanently attract and support a competent internal management team. We propose that it partner with, or be sold to, a best-in-class operator with a proven track record of producing significant returns for its stakeholders in Veris' core markets.

We are hopeful for all Veris shareholders that by going public with this proposal the Veris Board will choose engagement rather than further intransigence.

About Kushner

Founded in New Jersey in 1985, Kushner is a diversified real estate organization responsible for the ownership, management, development, and redevelopment of properties through the country. Kushner currently owns and operates over 21,000 units across the country, with a strong presence in New Jersey, and has a multifamily development pipeline of over 9,300 units.

For all media inquiries, please reach out to [email protected]

Investor Contact:

Bruce Goldfarb / Pat McHugh

Okapi Partners LLC

(212) 297-0720

[email protected]

SOURCE Kushner
--Approval Allows Site to Rapidly Expand Liquid Drug Manufacturing--

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSE: LCI) today announced that it has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to manufacture Numbrino, the company's branded topical anesthetic product, at its main plant in Seymour, Indiana. The company previously manufactured Numbrino and other liquid drug products at its Carmel, New York plant, which it sold in March of this year as part of a restructuring and cost reduction plan.

"We completed the liquid drug build-out at our Seymour plant and received this FDA approval well ahead of schedule, demonstrating our team's capabilities, dedication and focus," said Tim Crew, chief executive officer of Lannett. "Moreover, the approval indicates that we can continue transferring our liquid drug products with confidence, and it opens the door for expansion of our contract development and manufacturing efforts we market to other companies into the solution and suspension categories. We also expect our overall manufacturing efficiencies will be enhanced as production ramps up of Numbrino and other liquid and suspension drug products at the Seymour plant."

Crew noted that at the time of the sale of the Carmel plant the company said the buyer would support production of certain Lannett products for a period of up to 18 months. Now, our team will only need such production support for less than 10 months - a remarkably expeditious time frame by prevailing industry standards.

About Lannett Company, Inc.:

Lannett Company, founded in 1942, develops, manufactures, packages, markets and distributes generic pharmaceutical products for a wide range of medical indications. For more information, visit the company's website at www.lannett.com.

This news release contains certain statements of a forward-looking nature relating to future events or future business performance. Any such statement, including, but not limited to, achieving enhanced efficiencies related liquid drug manufacturing and contract manufacturing at its Seymour plant, successfully manufacturing Numbrino, and completing the transfer and production of other liquid drug products at the Seymour plant, whether expressed or implied, is subject to market and other conditions, and subject to risks and uncertainties which can cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors which include, but are not limited to, the risk factors discussed in the Company's Form 10-K and other documents filed with the SEC from time to time, including the prospectus supplement related to the proposed offering to be filed with the SEC. These forward-looking statements represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Contact:

Robert Jaffe

Robert Jaffe Co., LLC

(424) 288-4098

SOURCE Lannett Company, Inc.
LAS VEGAS , Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Out & Equal announced the recipients of its 2022 Outie Awards. With a more than 20-year history, the Outies offer prestigious recognition for individuals and organizations who are role models in advancing equality for LGBTQ+ people in workplaces globally.

"At a time when the rights of the LGBTQ+ community are at risk, employers have an important role in safeguarding our community," said Erin Uritus, CEO of Out & Equal. "We are grateful to this year's Outie Award winners for their exemplary leadership in creating inclusive workplaces where everyone belongs."

2022 Out & Equal Outie Award Winners:

The Workplace Excellence Outie was awarded to Dell Technologies in recognition of their policies that advance LGBTQ+ inclusion both within the company and in communities where their team members live and work. Dell Technologies prioritizes cultivating a work environment where everyone can be their true selves. By working with the company's Pride Employee Resource Group (ERG), Dell continues to foster a sense of belonging both in and out of the workplace.

Employee Resource Group of the Year Outie was awarded to GLAD, Dow's LGBTQ+ and allies employee resource group (ERG). GLAD continues to transform Dow through initiatives that create meaningful change in the workplace and globally. GLAD led Dow's efforts to create transgender internship programs in Brazil and Argentina to help connect trans and nonbinary talent to the company. The ERG has an ongoing partnership with Dow's Government and Public Affairs team in several countries, including Brazil, Thailand, and Taiwan, to give employees tools to lobby and speak out against anti-LGBTQ+ public policy.

New Employee Resource Group of the Year Outie was awarded to Medtronic's PRIDE Global Network. Despite the setbacks of launching an ERG in the beginning of the pandemic, Medtronic's PRIDE Global Network established 21 ERG chapter locations reaching over 8,000 active members in over 50 countries. In Chile, PRIDE Global Network co-founded a large companies that joined together to advocate for marriage equality in the country. In 2022, thanks to massive corporate advocacy, marriage equality became law in Chile.

The LGBTQ+ Corporate Advocate of the Year Outie was awarded to Commander Emily Shilling, the Naval Mission Planning System Military Deputy Program Manager who is the senior-most out, trans identifying line officer in the United States Navy. Commander Shilling actively works with transgender personnel, Congress, high level military leaders, and the Defense Health Agency, to provide mentorship, advocate for inclusive military service, improve access to medical care, and create a safe environment in which transgender individuals not only serve, but thrive.

The Ally Changemaker Outie was awarded to Mukesh Batra, a Senior Vice President at Bank of America. In 2018, Mukesh launched the Global Business Services (GBS) LGBTQ+ chapter in India. Under Batra's leadership, the network has grown to over 4,000 members. He has created a more inclusive workplace for LGBTQ+ employees by leading the implementation of gender neutral restrooms, same-sex partner benefits, gender transition guidelines, and LGBTQ+ training sessions for employees. Mukesh works to dismantle discrimination based on religion, caste, gender identity, sexual orientation, and more by using his position as a leader and LGBTQ+ ally to create a culture of belonging from the top down.

The Belonging & Equity Visionary Outie was awarded to Indeed. The company centers inclusion as a core business value and strategy throughout the company. Over half of Indeed's global employees are active members of at least one of the company's Inclusion Resource Groups (IRGs). In 2022, the groups have already hosted more than 250 events to broaden awareness and implement change for diverse communities. In response to the tragic murder of George Floyd, Indeed intentionally shifted their stance from "quiet advocacy" to being more vocal about the need for systemic change across marginalized communities.





Global LBGTQ+ Corporate Advocate Outie was awarded to Javier Constante, President of Dow Latin America. Constante is an active board member of Forum de Empresas e Direitos LGBTQ+, one of the leading LGBTQ+ public policy and advocacy organizations in Brazil. Javier is one of the most senior, openly LGBTQ+ executives in Latin America and takes his responsibility as a role model and advocate very seriously. He uses his position to advocate at higher levels of the company, which helps open doors, challenges the status quo, and fights prejudice to create a more inclusive environment for all people.

The 2022 Outie Awards were presented at Out & Equal's annual Workplace Summit, a multi-day hybrid event that brought together more than 3,500 individuals in-person in Las Vegas and thousands more participating remotely from all over the globe, and featured keynotes, speeches, best practices, workshops, and celebrity guests.

Learn more about 2022 winners and finalists here.

About Out & Equal

Out & Equal is the premier global nonprofit organization working exclusively on LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Through their worldwide programs, strategic corporate partnerships, and sought-after events, Out & Equal helps LGBTQ+ individuals realize their fullest, most authentic potential, while supporting organizations in creating cultures of belonging for all.

SOURCE Out & Equal
AMSTERDAM, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Li Jun, Vice President of China Telecom, delivered a video speech at the World Broadband Association (WBBA) Annual Event, held in Amsterdam on Oct 19, 2022. He shared his point of view about global broadband development, the practice of China Telecom regarding cloud and network convergence, and suggestions and expectations for WBBA. The event was hosted on the Network X exhibition. Telecom New Zealand, Huawei, Nokia and Informa Tech, together with ETSI and FTTH European Commission delivered speeches at the conference.

"The broadband network is an important component of digital information infrastructure, and also the key foundation for creating digital competitiveness." Summed up by Li Jun. He highlighted the essentially important role broadband connection played during the COVID-19 pandemic, and concluded three major features of broadband development: high-speed, cloud based and intelligence. He emphasised that it's time to expedite the construction of new infrastructures, such as broadband networks and data centres, to enable the global digital transformation.

He stressed that there are three major challenges obstructing the development of broadband. First, the digital divide exists in the world. Broadband construction is a heavy investment field with a long commercial return period. Therefore broadband penetration is insufficient. Second, the contents and services hardly meet the growing demand. It is of great need to deeply connect the industrial chain. Third, the intelligent level of the network is insufficient.

In response to these challenges, China Telecom upgrades ubiquitous infrastructure actively, and boasts a leading broadband network. By the end of June 2022, the number of China Telecom broadband users amounted to 177 million. The optical fibre covered 98% of administrative villages nationwide. For more than 300 cities and towns, the upgrading 10 GPON optical network had accessed 150 million residences.

"China Telecom is in a leading position of building a new information infrastructure with cloud network convergence features, enabling the digital economy. The E-Cloud sub-company ranks top No.1 among global operators' public cloud IaaS. China Telecom has built a hierarchical computing power service system with cloud, edge and terminals, the computing power scale has reached 3.1 EFLOPS, and has developed the distributed cloud system "Cloud OS4.0", providing strong power for the digital transformation of the whole society," said by Li Jun.

Li Jun emphasised that the broadband industry is seeing significant innovations in technology, services and business model, WBBA is born at the right time. China Telecom expects WBBA to play an important role in serving global broadband network operators, vendors, cloud service providers and other stakeholders, uniting the global industry chain and facilitating industry chain communications and exchanges between it, as well as enhancing technological cooperation and promoting the innovation and development of the global cloud and network information infrastructure, and achieving the prosperity of the cloud and broadband industry around the world. He concluded six resources and services that the members could obtain to effectively reduce their Capex/Opex, and access to high-quality development.

At last, Li Jun expressed China Telecom truly hopes that more and more stakeholders will join WBBA, in the endeavour to enhance the collaboration of the global broadband industry, join the journey to eliminate the digital divide, and bring the benefits of the digital economy to people around the world. China Telecom is looking forward to working closely with WBBA for a win-win for all of you, for a brighter future, for a better world.

SOURCE China Telecom
ATLANTA, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- At its annual life settlement conference in October, LISA announced that its annual leadership award will be named the Alan H. Buerger Leadership Award. Last year, Mr. Buerger received the inaugural leadership award.

Mr. Buerger co-founded Coventry in 1982 with Constance Buerger and is currently its Executive Chairman. Under Mr. Buerger's visionary leadership, Coventry created the secondary market for life insurance, giving life insurance a fair market value, and coined the term "life settlement." In creating a secondary market for life insurance, Coventry, as market leader, has changed the face of financial services by making insurance more powerful, more flexible, and more valuable. In 2015, the company launched Coventry Direct to expand Coventry's educational initiatives to policyowners and their families.

"I could not think of a more appropriate way to acknowledge your leadership and your efforts to grow this industry," said Bryan Nicholson, Executive Director of LISA.

About LISA:

The Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) is the nation's oldest and largest organization representing participants in the life settlement Industry, with a current membership of more than fifty companies doing business in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. LISA's mission is to promote the development, integrity, and reputation of the life settlement industry, to advance the highest standards of practice and professional development for the industry, and to educate consumers and advisors about a life settlement as an alternative to lapse or surrender of a life insurance policy.

For more information, please visit www.lisa.org.

Media Contact:

Bryan Nicholson

[email protected]

202.580-6188

SOURCE Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA)
Company reveals new industry innovations powered by the Lytx Vision Platform ahead of ATA MCE 2022 trucking conference

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lytx Inc., a global leader in video telematics solutions, has announced a first-ever OEM integration collaboration with Daimler Truck North America using Lytx's industry-leading video telematics system and all-new camera solution integrated into select Freightliner and Western Star models. The company also revealed an all-new parked vehicle trigger that helps fleets avoid potentially risky parking on the side of a highway or on/off ramp, filling a much-needed void in the marketplace and addressing a rising concern for drivers and fleet managers.

Lytx Unveils Safety Solution for Parked Commercial Vehicles Lytx OEM Integration with Daimler Truck North America

Lytx will be on-hand to discuss these announcements and "The Future of Safety" at the American Trucking Association's 2022 Management Conference & Exhibition (MCE) from October 22-25, 2022 in San Diego, CA.

Integration with Daimler Truck North America

Lytx also announced at this year's ATA a collaboration with Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) to launch a new vehicle telematics gateway and camera solution that can be ordered directly from the factory on select Freightliner and Western Star models. The solution will leverage Lytx's state-of-the-art and highly configurable Lytx DriveCam components, which will be integrated in the vehicle during the production of those models. Customers can begin placing orders later this fall, with the first Lytx-equipped trucks to be built in early 2023 for the Freightliner Cascadia and Western Star X-Series line of 47X, 49X, and 57X models.

This unique OEM solution is powered by the Lytx Vision Platform, which provides OEM partners and clients with the ability to leverage our expertise in video, big data, and artificial intelligence to build custom solutions.

"Combining our business strategy of offering customer-first solutions with the configuration options within the Lytx Vision Platform, we are grateful for the opportunity to work with the team at Daimler Truck North America to deliver our customizable safety solutions in an innovative new way," said Brandon Nixon, Chairman and CEO of Lytx. "This integration partnership highlights our passion for leveraging our technology and expertise to provide companies with custom solutions to fit their needs."

Parked Feature

One of the lesser-known safety hazards that commercial drivers face is the challenge of locating a safe place to pull their rigs over. Drivers are often forced to park on the shoulders of interstates/highways or on/off ramps if no other options appear available. This type of risky parking can increase the chances of devastating collisions, serious injuries, and financial liability risk for companies. The safety issue has received increased attention recently due to an announcement by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg that over $37 million in federal funding has been awarded to expand safe truck parking in Florida and Tennessee.

To help mitigate this rising risk, in the coming weeks, Lytx will provide an all-new feature for fleet managers looking to increase their vehicle parking visibility, as well as improve their operational efficiency and driver safety. The feature, called Parked-Highway/Ramp, triggers when the Lytx DriveCam event recorder identifies a stopped vehicle (for 10 minutes or more) and assesses if it is located on the shoulder of an interstate or highway or on an off/on ramp where other vehicles may be passing by. When a Parked-Highway/Ramp event occurs, the fleet manager is notified so that they can quickly intervene by sending nearby safe parking locations via GPS directly to their driver.

Development of the Parked feature was initiated through a close collaboration with customers within Lytx Lab, an idea incubator and a way for Lytx engineers and safety experts to work directly with customers to address market needs.

"The primary mission of Lytx Lab is to work closely with our clients during the research and development process in order to get a better understanding of what the market needs, enabling us to accelerate innovation and quickly deliver new tools powered by the Lytx Vision Platform that companies can use to improve their safety programs and operations," said Rajesh Rudraradhya, Lytx's Chief Technology Officer. "With the incredibly insightful feedback we received from customers using the feature in its early stages, we were better able to iterate and refine the final version of Parked-Highway/Ramp, the first official experiment to originate from Lytx Lab and be publicly released."

ATA Management Conference & Exhibition 2022

Lytx is an official sponsor and will be exhibiting at MCE 2022 (Booth #13071, San Diego Convention Center) from October 22-25. For those attending in person, a panel discussion titled "The Future of Safety: Preparing Your Fleets for Emerging Risks" is being hosted by Lytx on October 24 from 2:45pm PDT to 4:00pm PDT. For additional panel details, including the list of industry experts who will participate in the session, please go here.

About Lytx Vision Platform

Faced with the need to digitally transform to compete against industry disruptors while lowering overall expense and exposure, our clients and strategic partners demand tools to help them position their organizations for greater growth and profitability. With our decades of experience helping industry leaders transform their fleet and driver operations, Lytx is uniquely positioned to help them do just that. The Lytx Vision Platform further leverages the power of our expertise in video services, big data, and AI to give companies powerful, scalable, and configurable technology and tools they can use to integrate with other applications and to create their own custom solutions.

About Lytx

Lytx is the global leader in video safety and telematics. Our solutions harness the power of video to empower drivers and fleets to be safer and more efficient, productive, and profitable so they can thrive in today's competitive environment. Through the Lytx platform, direct and reseller clients access our customizable services and programs spanning driver safety , risk detection , fleet tracking , ELD compliance , preventative maintenance , and fuel management . Using the world's largest driving database of its kind, along with proprietary machine vision and artificial intelligence technology, we help protect and connect thousands of fleets and 1.6 million drivers in more than 60 countries worldwide. Lytx's Surfsight solution for resellers was built from the ground up as a premium product offered at a competitive price to help fleet managers with their day-to-day operational challenges. For more information about Lytx, visit www.lytx.com , @lytx on Twitter, LinkedIn , our Facebook page, or our YouTube channel.

Contact:

Jason Andersen

[email protected]

SOURCE Lytx, Inc.
BEIJING, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from Beijing Review:

China first started pushing toward modernization when the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) began crumbling in the mid-19th century. Today, the long-anticipated goal is firmly in sight.

A resident tries to feed his wife, who is a bit camera shy, at a canteen for senior locals in Lichang Village of Zuoquan County, Shanxi Province, on September 18, 2022. The canteen offers free meals to villagers aged 65 and above (WEI YAO)

"From this day forward, the central task of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will be to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a concerted effort to realize the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization," Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said in a report to the 20th CPC National Congress on October 16.

The world's most populous country now stands ready to embrace a modernization model with its own characteristics.

Chinese modernization is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature and of peaceful development, Xi elaborated.

The model contains elements common to the modernization processes of all countries, but it is more characterized with features unique to the Chinese context, Xi said.

With over 1.4 billion people, nearly 18 percent of the world population, China is home to more people than the existing countries that have achieved modernization combined. China's modernization benefits everyone in the country. Its success in eradicating absolute poverty over the past years is a major step toward attaining a key goal of Chinese modernization: common prosperity.

In the meantime, ecological conservation features high on the modernization agenda. "Respecting, adapting to and protecting nature is essential to building China into a modern socialist country in all respects We must remember to maintain harmony between humanity and nature when planning our development," Xi said.

China has been active in participating in global environmental governance and international cooperation to address climate change and is working to peak its carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

China adheres to the path of peaceful development while pursuing its modernization. Adham Sayed, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lebanon, said that as today's world is going through a phase of transformation and the global order is undergoing fundamental changes, humanity needs a clear plan, and an alternative world order based on addressing the world's crises.

"China's messages give hope to the people of the world that the future will be better, and that a strong China means a better world," Sayed told Beijing Review.

The CPC aims to realize modernization in China to a large extent from 2020 through 2035; and build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful from 2035 through the middle of this century.

The CPC National Congress and the Central Committee it elects are the highest leading bodies of the Party.

Some 2,300 elected delegates attended the congress this year, including Party and government leaders, military officers and Party members from the primary level such as farmers, teachers and medical workers. Together, they represent more than 96 million CPC members and over 4.9 million primary-level Party organizations.

"We will encourage the people's orderly participation in political affairs and guarantee their ability to engage in democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight in accordance with the law," the report to the 20th CPC National Congress stated.

SOURCE Beijing Review
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The national finalists for the official Best Places to Work Multifamily will be honored during the upcoming Multifamily Innovation Summit on December 7-8, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona.

At the Summit, each company will learn how they ranked nationally amongst the other participants and will be recognized on stage for their incredible achievement.

Get your tickets to the Summit today.

An exciting new development with the awards this year is the addition of categories.

68 of the finalists are Multifamily Management/Owners. 24 of those finalists were ranked in the 1- 4,999 units category. 37 were ranked in the 5,000 - 19,999 units category and 7 were ranked in the 20,000+ units category.

As a separate category, 15 Multifamily Suppliers/Vendor finalists will learn how they rank nationally.

And finally, 58 of the finalists will find out how they rank on the Best Places to Work Multifamily for Women list.

In its 8th year, the Best Places to Work Multifamily program continues to fulfill its mission to advance leadership and innovation for multifamily professionals by recognizing those organizations who own, manage, and support apartment communities nationwide and who are making an impact in the world through employee engagement.

"This is our opportunity to showcase the hard work, loyalty, and dedication of everyone who helps make the multifamily industry what it is today. We love recognizing the people within these incredible companies every year and showcasing what they're doing in order to receive this honored distinction within the multifamily industry. These are the best of the best building healthy organizations from the ground up," stated Carrie Antrim, CO-Founder of Multifamily Women.

Patrick Antrim, CEO of Multifamily Leadership explained, "Next generation leaders want to know their company is making a positive impact in the world. Companies have been measuring resident satisfaction for years and the leading indicator for organizational success is the link between employee engagement and the resident experience. Employees are presented with hundreds of opportunities each day to be their best, but it's the behavior that drives a successful organization, not satisfaction or size. The Best Places to Work Multifamily companies have stepped up to play that role and will have a much bigger voice in the future."

The national research and benchmarking program demonstrates the industry's focus on people, while illustrating its overall potential as it annually contributes more than 3.4 trillion-dollars to the U.S. economy and supports more than 17.5 million jobs.

Leaders who are looking to drive their teams forward are encouraged to register and attend the upcoming Multifamily Innovation Summit on December 7-8, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona, regardless if they're participating in the Best Places to Work Multifamily Program.

Sponsorship opportunities are available and can be secured here as well for those who want to get their brands in front of these top CEOs and decision-makers not only at the Summit but across all of Multifamily Leadership's social media platforms, broadcast emails, and website.

So, without further ado, the 2023 Best Places to Work Multifamily finalists arranged alphabetically are:

Alco Management, Inc.

Apartment Dynamics, LLC

APARTMENT SEO, LLC

ApartmentGeofencing.com

Ashford Communities

Avanti Residential

Baron Properties

Berger Rental Communities

BSR REIT

Carter-Haston Real Estate Services, Inc.

CHARLESGATE

Chestnut Hill Realty

City Heights Asset Management LLC

Confluence Communities

Continental Properties

Croatan Investments

DASMEN Residential

Decron Properties

Domuso

Eenhoorn, LLC

FCI Residential

Fogelman Properties

Frankforter Group

Gables Residential

Ginsburg Development Companies, LLC

GoldOller Real Estate Investments

GrayCo Properties, LLC

Hankin Apartments

IMT Residential

Indus Communities

ITEX

JVM Realty

Keener Management

Knock CRM

Lantower Residential

Laramar Group

Lawson

Leonardo247, Inc.

LoanBoss

LURIN Property Management

Marquis Asset Management

Mission Rock Residential, LLC

Morgan Properties

MRI Software

Northland Investment Corporation

NorthPoint Management

O'Brien Realty Group

Passco Companies

Peak Properties

Peg Property Management Group

Perennial Properties

Picerne Real Estate Group

PLK Communities

Poole & Poole Architecture, LLC

Portico Property Management

Presidium

RealSource Properties

Redwood Property Investors, LLC

RentDebt Automated Collections

Rently

REPLI

Respage

ResProp Management

Scully Company

Security Properties Residential LLC

Stoa Group

StoneRiver Company

SYNC Residential

The Bascom Group

The Franklin Johnston Group

The Garrett Companies

The KSC Group

The Life Properties

The Prime Company

The RADCO Companies

The REMM Group

The Westover Companies

Valiant Residential

WeDoTrash

Weller Management

WRH REALTY SERVICES, INC.

Zego

Zocalo Community Development

PRESS CONTACT:

Patrick Antrim

[email protected]

480-719-4409 x101

multifamilyleadership.com

SOURCE Multifamily Leadership
PROVIDENCE, R.I., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In whitepapers posted to the company's website this week, Nabsys has provided new details into its next generation HD-Mapping platform. The platform provides a high-resolution electronic mapping instrument complete with solid-state nanochannel-based detectors and improved labelling chemistry with Hitachi High-Tech's Human Chromosome Explorer (HCE) software as an analysis pipeline. The resulting platform provides a solution for high resolution human genome structural variation (SV) analysis with applications in disease research, clinical diagnostics, and pharmaceutical development, all while reducing complexity, consumable requirements, and associated costs.

Nabsys white papers

A simple workflow is described that includes a sample preparation step to label long strands of DNA isolated from a human genome sample and use of a compact instrument the size of a desktop computer equipped with an electronic detection mechanism for reading solid-state nanochannels. The labeled DNA is passed through the nanochannels and changes in electrical resistance are detected at each label. The resultant reads contain information about the location of these labels on very long DNA molecules. Using Hitachi's HCE analysis pipeline, reads are ultimately assembled and aligned in silico to a reference genome and any changes in alignment are called and reported as SVs.

The papers go on to claim that the combination of electronic detection, solid-state nanochannels, and optimized labelling protocols provide high signal-to-noise ratios and nearly eliminate crosstalk. The high resolution associated with electronic detection allows for the reliable detection of variants in the 300-1000bp range, as well as much larger structural variants.

"Every time I see the data, I get excited. I'm not aware of any other single-molecule bioanalytical system that achieves such a high signal-to-noise ratio, especially given the speed at which the molecules are moving through the nanochannels." stated Nabsys CTO, John Oliver. "The accuracy and overall cost in using the platform represent a step change improvement to whole-genome mapping and provides a solution for researchers, clinical diagnostic test developers, and pharmaceutical scientists studying SVs within the human genome."

Developed by Hitachi High-Tech, HCE is a whole-genome assembly and SV analysis pipeline that runs on Google Cloud. Results are visualized and reported through a browser-based interface. When combined with HD-Mapping, it creates a system that detects and visualizes SV small enough to be complementary to short-read sequencing and those large enough to constitute chromosomal rearrangements.

"HD-Mapping's use of electronic detection eliminates the challenges of optical diffraction and allows for the detection of labels in closer proximity to one another. The higher resolution data is used by HCE to decrease the limit of detection for variants to the 300bp range while the long reads assemble nicely in HCE to elucidate large SV and repeats.", stated Hitachi R&D lead, Tateo Nagai.

Hitachi will feature Nabsys at booth #833 during ASHG 2022 where Nabsys will showcase the HD-Mapping platform.

About Nabsys 2.0:

The Nabsys mission is to advance the understanding of disease, increase diagnostic yield, and improve patient outcomes by enabling routine, accurate, cost-effective analysis of genomic structural variation. Located in Providence, RI, Nabsys employs a growing interdisciplinary group of dedicated scientists, engineers, and other professionals committed to the advancement of genomic analysis.

About Hitachi:

Hitachi High-Tech Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is engaged in activities in a broad range of business fields, including manufacture and sales of analytical systems, electron microscopes, in vitro diagnostic systems, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and providing high value-added solutions in fields of social & industrial infrastructures and mobility, etc.

Contact:

Nabsys 2.0

[email protected]

SOURCE Nabsys 2.0 LLC
NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nanopatterning Market is segmented into three categories based on the end-user (foundry and IDM), type (nanoimprint, e-beam lithography, and others), and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and South America). The market share is expected to increase by USD 3.3 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 17.74%.

For further insights on market overview and dynamic analysis, View our FREE PDF Sample Report

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Nanopatterning Market 2022-2026

Parent Market Analysis

Technavio has categorized the global nanopatterning market as a part of the global semiconductor market within the overall global semiconductors and semiconductor equipment market. External factors that are expected to influence the parent market's growth potential in the coming years have been investigated thoroughly in our research analysis.

Get lifetime access to our Technavio Insights! Subscribe to our "Basic Plan" billed annually at USD 5000

Nanopatterning Value Chain Analysis

The end-to-end understanding of the value chain is important in profit margin optimization and evaluation of business strategies. The data available in our value chain analysis segment can help vendors drive costs and enhance customer services during the forecast period.

To unlock information about vendor drive costs and customer service, Download FREE PDF Sample Report

Vendor Insights

The nanopatterning market is fragmented. Vendors are deploying organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. Market vendors should focus more on the fast-growing segment's growth prospects while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments to make the best of the opportunity.

We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the nanopatterning market, including some of the vendors such as AMO GmbH, EV Group, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Institute for Microelectronics Stuttgart, Meta Materials Inc., micro resist technology GmbH, Nanonex Corp., Nanoscribe GmbH & Co. KG, NIL TECHNOLOGY, Nanotypos, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Raith GmbH, Obducat AB, SET Corp. SA, SUSS MICROTEC SE, SVG Optronics Co. Ltd., Toppan Printing Co. Ltd, Transfer Devices Inc., Upper Austrian Research GmbH, and Vistec Electron Beam GmbH.

Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the nanopatterning market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile, and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

This report provides a full list of key vendors, their latest developments, and strategies. Buy Now to gain access to exclusive vendor information

Product Insights and News

AMO GmbH - The company offers nanopatterning such as 2D EPL multi-project wafer run NR 1 and Amonil.

The company offers nanopatterning such as 2D EPL multi-project wafer run NR 1 and Amonil. EV Group - The company offers nanopatterning such as nanoimprint lithography.

The company offers nanopatterning such as nanoimprint lithography. Fraunhofer Gesellschaft - The company offers nanopatterning such as E-beam lithography.

The nanopatterning market forecast report offers in-depth insights into key vendor profiles and offerings. Download a FREE PDF Sample Report

Key Market Dynamics

Nanopatterning Market Key Drivers:

The emergence of advanced consumer products

There have been significant changes in the consumer electronics market in the last five years. Manufacturers and application developers are focusing on smart homes. These homes are controlled by applications installed on smartphones. Manufacturers are focusing on offering consumer products with advanced functionalities. This requires constant upgrades of consumer electronic products in terms of processing power, design, power consumption, and user interface to capture a bigger market share. Hence, the emergence of advanced consumer electronic products will fuel the growth of the global nanopatterning market during the forecast period.

For highlights on market drivers and trends impacting the nanopatterning market, Download a FREE PDF Sample Report

Customize Your Report

Do not miss out on the opportunity to speak to our analyst and get more insights into this market report. Technavio can also help you customize this report according to your needs. Our analysts and industry experts will work directly with you to understand your requirements and provide you with customized data in a short amount of time.

Related Reports

Nano Positioning Systems Market by Application and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026: This report extensively covers segmentation by application (optics, automotive, industrial, and others) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, the Middle East and Africa, and South America). 41% of the market's growth will originate from North America during the forecast period. The market share growth by the optics segment will be significant.

Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (NEMS) Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026: This market research report extensively covers segmentation by product (switches and cantilevers) and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America). 48% of the market's growth will originate from APAC during the forecast period. The market share growth by the switches segment will be significant.

Nanopatterning Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 17.74% Market growth 2022-2026 USD 3.3 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 16.44 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 77% Key consumer countries US, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Germany Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled AMO GmbH, EV Group, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Institute for Microelectronics Stuttgart, Meta Materials Inc., Micro resist technology GmbH, Nanonex Corp., Nanoscribe GmbH and Co. KG, Nanotypos, NIL TECHNOLOGY, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Obducat AB, Raith GmbH, SET Corp. SA, SUSS MICROTEC SE, SVG Optronics Co. Ltd., Toppan Printing Co. Ltd, Transfer Devices Inc., Upper Austrian Research GmbH, and Vistec Electron Beam GmbH Market dynamics Parent market analysis, market growth inducers and obstacles, fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

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Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Product Type



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 09: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 10: Parent market



Exhibit 11: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 12: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 13: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 14: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 16: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 17: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 18: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 19: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 20: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 21: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 22: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 23: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 24: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by End-user

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 25: Chart on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 26: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by End-user

Exhibit 27: Chart on Comparison by End-user



Exhibit 28: Data Table on Comparison by End-user

5.3 Foundry - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 29: Chart on Foundry - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: Data Table on Foundry - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 31: Chart on Foundry - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 32: Data Table on Foundry - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 IDM - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 33: Chart on IDM - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: Data Table on IDM - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 35: Chart on IDM - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 36: Data Table on IDM - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Market opportunity by End-user

Exhibit 37: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million)

6 Market Segmentation by Product Type

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 38: Chart on Product Type - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Product Type - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

6.2 Comparison by Product Type

Exhibit 40: Chart on Comparison by Product Type



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Comparison by Product Type

6.3 Nanoimprint - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 42: Chart on Nanoimprint - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 43: Data Table on Nanoimprint - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 44: Chart on Nanoimprint - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 45: Data Table on Nanoimprint - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

6.4 E-beam lithography - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 46: Chart on E-beam lithography - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 47: Data Table on E-beam lithography - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 48: Chart on E-beam lithography - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 49: Data Table on E-beam lithography - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

6.5 Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 50: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 51: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 52: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 53: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

6.6 Market opportunity by Product Type

Exhibit 54: Market opportunity by Product Type ($ million)

7 Customer Landscape

7.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 55: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

8 Geographic Landscape

8.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 56: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 57: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

8.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 58: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 59: Data Table on Geographic comparison

8.3 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 60: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 61: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 62: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 63: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.4 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 64: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 65: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 66: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 67: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.5 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 68: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 70: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 71: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.6 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 72: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 73: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 74: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 75: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.7 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 76: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 77: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 78: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 79: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.8 China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 80: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 81: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 82: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 83: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.9 Taiwan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 84: Chart on Taiwan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 85: Data Table on Taiwan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 86: Chart on Taiwan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 87: Data Table on Taiwan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.10 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 88: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 89: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 90: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 91: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.11 Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 92: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 93: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 94: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 95: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.12 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 96: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 97: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 98: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 99: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 100: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

9.1 Market drivers

9.2 Market challenges

9.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 101: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

9.4 Market trends

10 Vendor Landscape

10.1 Overview

10.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 102: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

10.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 103: Overview on factors of disruption

10.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 104: Impact of key risks on business

11 Vendor Analysis

11.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 105: Vendors covered

11.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 106: Matrix on vendor position and classification

11.3 AMO GmbH

Exhibit 107: AMO GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 108: AMO GmbH - Product / Service



Exhibit 109: AMO GmbH - Key offerings

11.4 EV Group

Exhibit 110: EV Group - Overview



Exhibit 111: EV Group - Product / Service



Exhibit 112: EV Group - Key offerings

11.5 Fraunhofer Gesellschaft

Exhibit 113: Fraunhofer Gesellschaft - Overview



Exhibit 114: Fraunhofer Gesellschaft - Product / Service



Exhibit 115: Fraunhofer Gesellschaft - Key news



Exhibit 116: Fraunhofer Gesellschaft - Key offerings

11.6 Institute for Microelectronics Stuttgart

Exhibit 117: Institute for Microelectronics Stuttgart - Overview



Exhibit 118: Institute for Microelectronics Stuttgart - Product / Service



Exhibit 119: Institute for Microelectronics Stuttgart - Key news



Exhibit 120: Institute for Microelectronics Stuttgart - Key offerings

11.7 Micro resist technology GmbH

Exhibit 121: Micro resist technology GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 122: Micro resist technology GmbH - Product / Service



Exhibit 123: Micro resist technology GmbH - Key offerings

11.8 Nanonex Corp.

Exhibit 124: Nanonex Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 125: Nanonex Corp. - Product / Service



Exhibit 126: Nanonex Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 127: Nanonex Corp. - Key offerings

11.9 NIL TECHNOLOGY

Exhibit 128: NIL TECHNOLOGY - Overview



Exhibit 129: NIL TECHNOLOGY - Product / Service



Exhibit 130: NIL TECHNOLOGY - Key offerings

11.10 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.

Exhibit 131: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 132: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 133: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 134: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. - Segment focus

11.11 SUSS MICROTEC SE

Exhibit 135: SUSS MICROTEC SE - Overview



Exhibit 136: SUSS MICROTEC SE - Business segments



Exhibit 137: SUSS MICROTEC SE - Key news



Exhibit 138: SUSS MICROTEC SE - Key offerings



Exhibit 139: SUSS MICROTEC SE - Segment focus

11.12 SVG Optronics Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 140: SVG Optronics Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 141: SVG Optronics Co. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 142: SVG Optronics Co. Ltd. - Key offerings

12 Appendix

12.1 Scope of the report

12.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 143: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 144: Exclusions checklist

12.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 145: Currency conversion rates for US$

12.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 146: Research methodology



Exhibit 147: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 148: Information sources

12.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 149: List of abbreviations

About Us:

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nation's longest home price boom has ended after a run-up lasting 10 years. Since prices peaked in June, we have had Month-on-Month declines of 0.5%, 0.4%, & 0.2% in September, August, & July respectively, according to data from the American Enterprise Institute's Housing Center.

Out of the 60 largest metros, 51 have had a decline from their respective peak home price levels, and only 2 are still growing. San Jose, San Francisco, & Seattle had the biggest declines from their peaks at -10.7%, -8.5%, and -8.2% respectively (see #1 in graphic).

The Nation's longest home price boom has ended after a run-up lasting 10 years. Tweet this (1) Map of Month-on-Month HPA displaying change from peak prices. (2) Map of Year-on-Year HPA. (3) Month's supply by price tier.

September's Year-on-Year HPA was 10.3%, down from 11.6% a month ago, a YoY peak of 17.2% in March 2022 and 15.8% a year ago. Based on Optimal Blue rate lock data, YoY HPA is projected to decline to further 9.2% in October 2022 and 7.4% in November and YoY HPA is expected to slow to 4%-6% for December 2022.

YoY HPA varied significantly among the 60 largest metros. It ranged from 2.6% and 3.4% in San Francisco and San Jose to 21.2% and 20.6% in Cape Coral and North Port (see #2 in graphic).

Historically, HPA in the low price tier outpaced HPA in the upper price tiers. This trend continues to hold true. Although home prices were down across all four price tiers, the high end and low end of the market were hit differently. In September, high price tier was down 3.7% from its peak in May 2022, while low price tier was down 0.5% from its peak in July.

September months' supply & active listings both increased above seasonal trends, but remain at historically low levels. Months' supply stood at 1.9 months in September 2022, down from 2.8 months in September 2019, but up from 1.7 months in August 2022, and 0.7 months in April 2022 (see #3 in graphic).

Link to National Home Price Appreciation (HPA) Index  September 2022

Media Contact Details:

Arthur Gailes

American Enterprise Institute Housing Center

Washington, DC

aei.org/california-housing-conference

[email protected]

804-662-0874

SOURCE AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH
The Journey will make stops in Carson City, Reno, and Las Vegas, NV, from October 22 to November 18. Please see the locations and timing below.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The All of Us Research Program's Journey mobile exhibit is traveling across the country to engage communities that have been historically underrepresented in medical research. All of Us is inviting one million or more people to help build one of the most diverse health databases of its kind and advance precision medicine.

Since the program launched in 2018, the mobile exhibit has visited more than 100 cities in over 40 states. In Nevada, the Journey will be available to educate and register new participants for the program. Participants will be able to take health surveys and provide biosamples, such as a blood sample, as part of joining the program. With more enrollment and representation from area residents, researchers can help better address health issues that are prevalent in the community.

LOCATIONS:

Reno, NV

FIRST STOP: Neil Road Recreation Center (3925 Neil Rd, Reno, NV 89502) on Saturday, 10/22, 9:00 a.m.  1:00 p.m PT

SECOND STOP: Truckee Community College (7000 Dandini Blvd, Reno, NV 89512) on Thursday, 10/27, and Tuesday, 11/1, 10:00 a.m.  4:00 p.m. PT

THIRD STOP: University of Nevada Reno (1664 N Virginia St, Reno, NV 89557) from Wednesday, 11/2, to Friday, 11/4, 10:00 a.m.  4:00 p.m. PT

Carson City, NV

Nevada Health Center (3325 Research Way, Carson City, NV 89706) on Tuesday, 10/25, and Wednesday, 10/26, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. PT

Las Vegas, NV

FIRST STOP: Consulate of Mexico (823 S 6th St, Las Vegas, NV 89101) from Monday, 11/7 to Thursday, 11/10, 8:00 a.m.  3:00 p.m PT

SECOND STOP: Pearson Community Center (1625 W Carey Ave, North Las Vegas, NV 89032) on Wednesday, 11/16, and Thursday, 11/17, 10:00 a.m.  3:00 p.m. PT

THIRD STOP: City of Las Vegas Municipal Impact Summit ( Las Vegas City Hall, 495 South Main Street Las Vegas, NV 89101) on Friday, 11/18, 8:00 a.m.  4:00 p.m. PT

EVENT DETAILS:

All of Us tour managers will be available for interviews at the event or before the event via Zoom or phone.

tour managers will be available for interviews at the event or before the event via Zoom or phone. Journalists are welcome to shoot B-roll and take photos at the event.

The mobile exhibit features hands-on activities to learn more about the program, including a digital gaming hub, an augmented reality experience, and more.

COVID-19 safety guidelines:

All staff are vaccinated against COVID-19.



Staff and attendees are required to wear masks only when mandated by local guidelines.

to wear masks when mandated by local guidelines.

All surfaces are cleaned pre, during, and post-event to reduce any possible contamination.

ABOUT ALL OF US:

More than 320,000 people nationwide have enrolled and completed the initial steps to participate in the research program, and over 80% of these participants belong to communities that have been historically underrepresented in biomedical research, including 50% from racial and ethnic minority groups. Researchers will use the data that participants contribute to learn how biology, lifestyle, and environment affect health. This may one day help them find more tailored ways to treat and prevent disease.

For more information, visit allofus.nih.gov . | To sign up, visit joinallofus.org .

SOURCE All of Us Journey
NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NorthStar Healthcare Income, Inc. (the "Company") announced today that it and its external advisor, CNI NSHC Advisors, LLC (the "Advisor"), have entered into a definitive agreement (the "Termination Agreement") to terminate the advisory agreement between the Company and the Advisor (the "Advisory Agreement"), effective as of October 21, 2022. As a result, the Company has internalized its management and operating functions. The Company has also executed a short-term transition services agreement with the Advisor to facilitate an orderly transition and seamless continuation of the Company's operations.

Contemporaneously, the Company announced that Kendall Young has joined the Company as Chief Executive Officer, President and a member of the Board of Directors. Additionally, Nicholas R. Balzo, who was previously employed by the Advisor and served as the Advisor's Chief Accounting Officer, has assumed the position of Chief Financial Officer.

This internalization transaction is the result of a strategic review process undertaken by the special committee of the Board of Directors, consisting exclusively of independent and disinterested directors of the Company (the "Special Committee") to review the Company's alternatives to strengthen its capital position and to best position the Company to maximize stockholder value. The Special Committee and the Company's management team are confident that this internalization transaction will enhance the Company's positioning and produce meaningful benefits for all stockholders, including:

Cost Savings . The transition to a self-managed structure is expected to be accretive to earnings by reducing the Company's general and administrative expenses by approximately $7 million in 2023.





. The transition to a self-managed structure is expected to be accretive to earnings by reducing the Company's general and administrative expenses by approximately in 2023. Management Expertise and Continuity . Kendall Young , a seasoned healthcare REIT executive with nearly 40 years of experience in real estate, including the past 12 years in senior housing, will lead the Company as its new CEO and President. Additionally, a group of former employees of the Advisor that have contributed substantially to the Company's investment and portfolio management and operations, are now employees of the internalized Company, including Nicholas Balzo who has been appointed as the CFO of the Company.





. , a seasoned healthcare REIT executive with nearly 40 years of experience in real estate, including the past 12 years in senior housing, will lead the Company as its new CEO and President. Additionally, a group of former employees of the Advisor that have contributed substantially to the Company's investment and portfolio management and operations, are now employees of the internalized Company, including who has been appointed as the CFO of the Company. Dedicated Management Team . The internalized management team will be wholly focused on managing the Company's investments and furthering the Company's strategic objectives.





. The internalized management team will be wholly focused on managing the Company's investments and furthering the Company's strategic objectives. Strengthened Alignment between Management, the Board of Directors and the Stockholders . The internalized structure will result in a more transparent and simplified organizational model, including a more efficient implementation of the Company's strategy. This new structure will also more directly align the interests of the management team with those of the Company and all of its stockholders.





. The internalized structure will result in a more transparent and simplified organizational model, including a more efficient implementation of the Company's strategy. This new structure will also more directly align the interests of the management team with those of the Company and all of its stockholders. Alignment of Compensation and Performance. The Company's executive compensation programs in the internalized structure will be better aligned with the value returned to stockholders.

"After thoroughly and extensively evaluating various alternatives, the Special Committee believes that transforming NorthStar Healthcare to an internally managed structure best positions the Company to execute its strategy and to maximize value for its stockholders" said Andy Smith, Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors. "I am also very pleased that Kendall has agreed to join NorthStar Healthcare as its CEO and President and a member of the Board of Directors. I have had many opportunities to work closely with Kendall and I am confident that he brings strong leadership skills, deep industry knowledge and experience, and relationships that will serve NorthStar Healthcare well in the future. We are also fortunate to have Nicholas Balzo step into the CFO role, which will provide continuity for the Company at a senior level."

"I am very pleased to have the opportunity to lead NorthStar Healthcare and am excited about joining the Company" said Kendall. "I have had the benefit of working closely with both the internalized team and the Special Committee over the past few months and am confident we are well-positioned to execute NorthStar Healthcare's strategy and create stockholder value."

Pursuant to the terms of the Termination Agreement, the Company will pay any unpaid management fees and reimbursable costs accrued in accordance with the advisory agreement to date, but will no longer pay any management fees to the Advisor for any future periods. The Company is not paying the Advisor a separate termination fee.

The internalization transaction was negotiated and unanimously approved by the Special Committee. CS Capital Advisors, LLC served as the financial advisor to the Special Committee, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Alston & Bird served as its legal counsel. The Special Committee also engaged consulting firm B. Riley to assist in its evaluation of, and preparation for, the internalization of management.

Additional details regarding the internalization and related matters will be contained in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as in an investor presentation that will be made available under "Investor Communications" in the "Investor Relations" section of the Company's website.

About NorthStar Healthcare Income, Inc.

NorthStar Healthcare Income, Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries, was formed to acquire, originate and asset manage a diversified portfolio of equity, debt and securities investments in healthcare real estate, directly or through joint ventures, with a focus on the mid-acuity senior housing sector, which the Company defines as assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, independent living facilities and continuing care retirement communities. The Company also invests in other healthcare property types, including medical office buildings, hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and ancillary healthcare services businesses. The Company's investments are predominantly in the United States, but it also selectively makes international investments. The Company was formed in October 2010 as a Maryland corporation and commenced operations in February 2013. The Company elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2013. The Company conducts its operations so as to continue to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," or "potential" or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases which are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and contingencies, many of which are beyond we control, and may cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Among others, the following uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: the Company's ability to successfully manage the transition to self-management and to retain its senior executives; operating costs and business disruption may be greater than expected; the ability to realize substantial efficiencies as well as anticipated strategic and financial benefits of the internalization; the operating performance of its investments, its financing needs, the effects of its current strategies and investment activities and its ability to effectively deploy capital.. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Additional information about these and other factors can be found in in Part I, Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 as well as in the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").

The Company cautions investors not to unduly rely on any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company is under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this press release, nor to conform prior statements to actual results or revised expectations, and the Company does not intend to do so.

References to "we", "us", "our" the "Company" or "NorthStar Healthcare" refer to NorthStar Healthcare Income, Inc. and its subsidiaries unless the context specifically requires otherwise.

SOURCE NorthStar Healthcare Income, Inc.
NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global outdoor kitchen cabinets market is forecasted to grow by USD 913.09 million, accelerating at a CAGR of 4.75% between 2021 and 2026. Technavio segments the market by end-user (residential and commercial) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and the Middle East and Africa). The report provides a comprehensive analysis of recent developments, new product launches, major revenue-generating segments, and market behavior across geographies.

Key points covered in the outdoor kitchen cabinets market study:

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Outdoor Kitchen Cabinets Market 2022-2026

Market estimates and forecast 2022-2026

Key drivers, trends, and challenges impacting market growth

Segment-wise, region-wise, and country-wide analysis

Analysis of market share by vendors

Key product launches and regulatory climate

Post-COVID-19 impact on the market landscape. Download FREE PDF Report Sample

The market is primarily driven by the growing influence of different retailing channels. The popularity of online and offline retailing channels is rising globally. Offline retailers include organized retailers such as manufacturer-branded stores, traditional stores, rental stores, discount stores, warehouse clubs, and designer stores. The number of organized retailers has increased globally. Moreover, e-commerce-based shopping and online retailing have increased with rapid internet penetration. Many major players have launched furniture-specialist online stores or e-commerce-based outlets. Some of the players are also focusing on selling products through other channels such as mobile apps. Thus, the growing influence of different retailing channels will support market growth during the forecast period.

The full report provides information on other drivers, trends, and challenges that are impacting the growth of the market. Request a FREE Sample PDF Report

Some of the key players in the outdoor kitchen cabinets market include AGA Rangemaster Ltd., Brown Jordan International Inc., Bull Outdoor Products Inc., Coyote Outdoor Living Inc., Danver Stainless Outdoor Kitchens, Ideal Cabinetry LLC, JW Outdoor Cabinets, Lynx Grills Inc., Naturekast Products Inc., Premier Custom Built Inc., Schrapper Fine Cabinetry Inc., Stoll Industries Inc., Trex Co. Inc., TuClad Outdoor Kitchens, Ultimate Outdoor Cabinets, American Outdoor Cabinets LLC, Grillinetics Outdoor Cabinetry, Werever Products Inc., and NewAge Products Inc. among others. The key offerings of some of these vendors are listed below:

Brown Jordan International Inc. - The company offers outdoor kitchen cabinet products such as base cabinets and grill cabinets.

The company offers outdoor kitchen cabinet products such as base cabinets and grill cabinets. Bull Outdoor Products Inc. - The company offers outdoor kitchen cabinets such as appliance cabinets and base cabinets.

The company offers outdoor kitchen cabinets such as appliance cabinets and base cabinets. Coyote Outdoor Living Inc. - The company offers outdoor kitchen cabinets such as BBQ outdoor kitchen and Grill.

This report provides a full list of key vendors, their strategies, and the latest developments. Buy Now to gain access to exclusive vendor information

The residential segment will generate maximum revenue in the outdoor kitchen cabinets market and is the leading end-user segment. This growth is attributed to factors such as the rise in home remodeling projects globally and an increase in spending on outdoor living spaces and products such as kitchen cabinets.

North America is expected to dominate the outdoor kitchen cabinets market with a 37% share during the forecast period. Factors such as the growing influence of different retailing channels are driving the growth of the regional market. However, market growth in this region will be slower than the growth of the market in other regions. The US and Canada are the key countries for the outdoor kitchen cabinets market in North America.

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Technavio has categorizes the global outdoor kitchen cabinets market as a part of the global home furnishings market within the global household durables industry. The parent market, the global home furnishings market, covers products and companies engaged in the manufacturing/marketing of home textiles, furniture, floor coverings, and decorative products.

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The outdoor kitchen cabinets market is fragmented due to the presence of a significant number of global, regional, and local players. The vendors are deploying organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. Product innovation is expected to be a key trend in the market. Vendors compete on various factors, including quality, price, innovation, brand, and variety.

Didn't find what you are looking for? Our analysts can help you customize this report based on your business requirements. The industry experts at Technavio will work directly with you to understand your needs and provide you with customized data in a short time. Speak to our Analyst Now

Related Reports

Outdoor Furniture Market in US Growth, Size, Trends, Analysis Report by Type, Application, Region, and Segment Forecast 2021-2025: This report extensively covers the outdoor furniture market in the US segmentation by product (outdoor furniture and accessories, outdoor grills and accessories, and patio heating products) and end-user (residential and commercial). The outdoor furniture market share in the US growth by the outdoor furniture and accessories will be significant during the forecast period.

Modular Kitchen Market Growth, Size, Trends, Analysis Report by Type, Application, Region, and Segment Forecast 2021-2025: This report extensively covers modular kitchen market segmentation by geography (Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and MEA) and product (floor cabinets, wall cabinets, and tall storage). 31% of the market's growth will originate from Europe during the forecast period. The market share growth by the floor cabinets segment will be significant.

Outdoor Kitchen Cabinets Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.75% Market growth 2022-2026 USD 913.09 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 3.67 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and the Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 37% Key consumer countries US, Canada, Japan, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive Strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled AGA Rangemaster Ltd., Brown Jordan International Inc., Bull Outdoor Products Inc., Coyote Outdoor Living Inc., Danver Stainless Outdoor Kitchens, Ideal Cabinetry LLC, JW Outdoor Cabinets, Lynx Grills Inc., Naturekast Products Inc., Premier Custom Built Inc., Schrapper Fine Cabinetry Inc., Stoll Industries Inc., Trex Co. Inc., TuClad Outdoor Kitchens, Ultimate Outdoor Cabinets, American Outdoor Cabinets LLC, Grillinetics Outdoor Cabinetry, Werever Products Inc., and NewAge Products Inc. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, market growth inducers and obstacles, fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Browse Consumer Discretionary Market Reports

Table Of Contents

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 09: Parent market



Exhibit 10: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 11: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 12: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 13: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 14: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 16: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 17: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 18: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 19: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 20: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 21: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 22: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 23: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by End-user

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 24: Chart on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 25: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by End-user

Exhibit 26: Chart on Comparison by End-user



Exhibit 27: Data Table on Comparison by End-user

5.3 Residential - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 28: Chart on Residential - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 29: Data Table on Residential - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: Chart on Residential - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Residential - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 Commercial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 32: Chart on Commercial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Commercial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: Chart on Commercial - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Commercial - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Market opportunity by End-user

Exhibit 36: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million)

6 Customer Landscape

6.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 37: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 38: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 40: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Geographic comparison

7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 42: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 43: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 44: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 45: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 46: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 47: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 48: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 49: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 50: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 51: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 52: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 53: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 54: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 55: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 56: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 57: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 58: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 59: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 60: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 61: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.8 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 62: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 63: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 64: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 65: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.9 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 66: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 67: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 68: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.10 Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 70: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 71: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 72: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 73: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.11 Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 74: Chart on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 75: Data Table on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 76: Chart on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 77: Data Table on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.12 UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 78: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 79: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 80: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 81: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 82: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 83: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

8.4 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 84: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 85: Overview on factors of disruption

9.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 86: Impact of key risks on business

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 87: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 88: Matrix on vendor position and classification

10.3 American Outdoor Cabinets LLC

Exhibit 89: American Outdoor Cabinets LLC - Overview



Exhibit 90: American Outdoor Cabinets LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 91: American Outdoor Cabinets LLC - Key offerings

10.4 Brown Jordan International Inc.

Exhibit 92: Brown Jordan International Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 93: Brown Jordan International Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 94: Brown Jordan International Inc. - Key offerings

10.5 Bull Outdoor Products Inc.

Exhibit 95: Bull Outdoor Products Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 96: Bull Outdoor Products Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 97: Bull Outdoor Products Inc. - Key offerings

10.6 Danver Stainless Outdoor Kitchens

Exhibit 98: Danver Stainless Outdoor Kitchens - Overview



Exhibit 99: Danver Stainless Outdoor Kitchens - Product / Service



Exhibit 100: Danver Stainless Outdoor Kitchens - Key offerings

10.7 Grillinetics Outdoor Cabinetry

Exhibit 101: Grillinetics Outdoor Cabinetry - Overview



Exhibit 102: Grillinetics Outdoor Cabinetry - Product / Service



Exhibit 103: Grillinetics Outdoor Cabinetry - Key offerings

10.8 Naturekast Products Inc.

Exhibit 104: Naturekast Products Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 105: Naturekast Products Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 106: Naturekast Products Inc. - Key offerings

10.9 NewAge Products Inc.

Exhibit 107: NewAge Products Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 108: NewAge Products Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 109: NewAge Products Inc. - Key offerings

10.10 Premier Custom Built Inc.

Exhibit 110: Premier Custom Built Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 111: Premier Custom Built Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 112: Premier Custom Built Inc. - Key offerings

10.11 Trex Co. Inc.

Exhibit 113: Trex Co. Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 114: Trex Co. Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 115: Trex Co. Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 116: Trex Co. Inc. - Segment focus

10.12 Werever Products Inc.

Exhibit 117: Werever Products Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 118: Werever Products Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 119: Werever Products Inc. - Key offerings

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 120: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 121: Exclusions checklist

11.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 122: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 123: Research methodology



Exhibit 124: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 125: Information sources

11.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 126: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

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Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Insight Partners published latest research study on " Overactive Bladder Treatment Market Size, Share, Revenue, Growth Strategy, Industry Trends and Forecast to 2028  COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis  by Pharmacotherapy, Disease Type, and Geography," the global overactive bladder treatment market size was valued at USD 4,295.93 million in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 5,333.92 million by 2028; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.1% from 2022 to 2028.

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Global Overactive Bladder Treatment Market Report Scope, Segmentations, Regional & Country Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Size Value in USD 4,295.93 Million in 2021 Market Size Value by USD 5,333.92 Million by 2028 Growth rate CAGR of 3.1% from 2022 to 2028 Forecast Period 2022-2028 Base Year 2021 No. of Pages 209 No. of Tables 110 No. of Charts & Figures 80 Historical data available Yes Segments covered Pharmacotherapy and Disease Type 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 Companies Covered Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited; Astellas Pharma Inc; Pfizer Inc.; AbbVie Inc; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd; Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co. Inc; Medtronic Plc; Allergan; Colorado Urology Associates, PLLC Key Research Capabilities Global Market Assessment, Business Development Strategies, Competitive Landscape, Opportunity Analysis, Regional and Country Level Market Analysis, Market Entry Strategies, Market Dynamics, Risk and Return Assessments, Pricing Analysis, Market Size and Forecasting, Company Profiling, Value Chain Analysis, Expansion Strategies, SWOT Analysis, New Product Development Global Overactive Bladder Treatment Market Forecast to 2028 - Latest COVID-19 Analysis https://www.theinsightpartners.com/covid-analysis-sample/TIPRE00004082/

Browse key market insights spread across 209 pages with 110 list of tables & 80 list of figures from the report, "Overactive Bladder Treatment Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Pharmacotherapy (Anticholinergics, Mirabegron, Botox, Neurostimulation, and Intravesical Instillation) and Disease Type (Idiopathic Overactive Bladder and Neurogenic Bladder)" in detail along with the table of contents: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/overactive-bladder-treatment-market

Global Overactive Bladder Treatment Market: Competitive Landscape and Key Developments

Key players operating in the overactive bladder treatment market include Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited; Astellas Pharma Inc; Pfizer Inc.; AbbVie Inc; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd; Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co., Inc; Medtronic Plc; Allergan; and Colorado Urology Associates, PLLC. These players are focusing on expanding, diversifying their market presence, and acquiring a novel customer base, thereby tapping into prevailing business opportunities.

In February 2022, Alembic Pharmaceuticals received approval from the US health regulator for its generic version of fesoterodine fumarate extended-release tablets, used for overactive bladder in adults with symptoms of urinary incontinence, urgency, and frequency. The US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) approved strengths of 4 mg and 8 mg of fesoterodine fumarate extended-release tablets for the Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA).

In February 2022, AbbVie announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved BOTOX for the treatment of detrusor (bladder muscle) overactivity associated with a neurologic condition in pediatric patients five years of age and older who have an inadequate response to or are intolerant of anticholinergic medication.

In April 2021, Medtronic plc announced approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to proceed with an investigational device exemption (IDE) trial to evaluate its internally developed implantable tibial neuromodulation (TNM) devicea therapy designed to provide relief from symptoms of bladder incontinence.

In July 2020, Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co., Inc. announced the approval of manufacturing and marketing for OABLOK PATCH in Thailand. The product is a systemic transdermal formulation developed using Hisamitsu's TDDS (Transdermal Drug Delivery System) technology for treating overactive bladder with symptoms such as urinary urgency and frequent urination.

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Increasing Prevalence of Overactive Bladder in Geriatric Population:

The report highlights the key factors driving the global overactive bladder treatment market and prominent players' developments. The growth of the global overactive bladder treatment market is primarily attributed to the increasing prevalence of urinary incontinence and the growing incidence of urinary tract infections. However, the recalls of therapeutic drugs hamper the market growth.

In 2021, North America held the largest share of the overactive bladder treatment market. The growing prevalence of overactive bladder in the geriatric population and the increasing incidence of neurological diseases are propelling the growth of the overactive bladder treatment market in North America. Also, the suitable reimbursement scenarios for the treatment of overactive bladder and the increase in research activities fuel the growth of the North America market. According to Cleveland Clinic Organization, ~33 million adults in the US are affected by an overactive bladder. Further, an article by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. stated that about 17% of the US population suffers from this condition.

According to Parkinson's Foundation, about 1 million people in the US are living with Parkinson's Disease, which is about to rise to 1.2 million by 2030. Neurological diseases like Parkinson's disease cause overactive bladder due to disruption in the bladder and brain. Hence, the rising prevalence of neurological disorders in North America is driving the overactive bladder market in this region. Although most public payers across Canada restrict or do not fund newer costly treatments, they fund the basic treatment necessary for the overactive bladder. For instance, the treatment for overactive bladder in Ontario is funded by Ontario Public Drug Programs (OPDP). Thus, the suitable reimbursement options available for treating the condition are propelling the market growth in the country.

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Increasing Number of Mergers and Acquisitions Creating Opportunities for Global Overactive Bladder Treatment Market:

Through mergers and acquisitions (M&A), companies can gain a competitive edge by entering new markets and acquiring new technologies. The mergers and acquisitions in the overactive bladder treatment market are creating growth opportunities for the companies. In November 2020, Coloplast, a Danish medical device company, acquired Nine Continents Medical, which has developed implantable tibial nerve stimulation (ITNS) treatment for overactive bladder. With this acquisition, Coloplast aims to expand its Interventional Urology business segment to be able to cater to the large patient population worldwide. In July 2021, Uro Medical strengthened its urology portfolio with the acquisition of Micron Medical, which offers wirelessly powered, injectable, microtechnology neurostimulators focused on treating overactive bladder. These neurostimulators, which can be easily incorporated into patients' daily lives, offer a convenient, safe, minimally invasive, and cost-effective urological treatment option.

In February 2021, Axonics Modulation Technologies, Inc., a medical technology company, acquired Contura Ltd. and its proprietary product, Bulkamid, which is a urethral bulking agent for women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Axonics produces and markets novel implantable sacral neuromodulation (SNM) devices for treating urinary and bowel dysfunction. The acquisition of Contura Ltd. provides it an opportunity to expand its SNM business worldwide and serve the large, highly underpenetrated SUI market. As per Axonics, ~20 million women suffer from SUI in the US alone. The company plans to offer urogynecologists and urologists a complete suite of clinically differentiated incontinence solutions to treat their patients.

Global Overactive Bladder Treatment Market: Segmental Overview

Based on pharmacotherapy, the global overactive bladder treatment market is segmented into mirabegron, botox, neurostimulation, anticholinergics, and intravesical instillation. The mirabegron segment held the largest market share in 2021. However, the neurostimulation segment is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

Based on disease type, the global overactive bladder treatment market is bifurcated into idiopathic overactive bladder and neurogenic overactive bladder. The idiopathic overactive bladder segment held a larger market share in 2021. Moreover, the market for this segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period.

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The global overactive bladder treatment market witnessed growth due to increasing overactive bladder symptoms observed in COVID-19-recovered patients. COVID-19 virus not only affected the respiratory tract of the body, but it also affected the bladder of the patient. Further, the COVID-19 infection resulted in urine cytokine elevation that increased the frequency of urination, leading to overactive bladder disorder among COVID-19 patients. An overactive bladder, cystitis, and other bladder dysfunctions resulting in bladder inflammation are expected to occur after a COVID-19 infection. Thus, the increasing overactive bladder symptoms in COVID-19 patients propelled the global overactive bladder treatment market growth during the pandemic.

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Pawtocol To Make First Cryptocurrency Donations to A Forever Home Animal Rescue, Houndhaven, Inc. and Husky Haven of Florida

AVENTURA, FL, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Pawtocol , creator of blockchain-powered solutions that improve the lives of pets and pet owners, today announced the expansion of their Pawtocol Pet Fund, the world's first blockchain-powered fund exclusively dedicated to helping animal rescues and shelters. Pawtocol has added A Forever Home Animal Rescue, Houndhaven Inc. and Husky Haven of Florida. As with all new partners, the Pawtocol Pet Fund will deliver the first cryptocurrency donation in these organizations' history.

"I cannot say enough about our team and the amazing efforts that have been made on a daily basis to continue to find ways to help animals all across this country, specifically those that are taken in by shelters and rescues," said Colin Jordan, CEO of Pawtocol. "By continuing our expansion and partnering with multiple rescues in Florida, Pawtocol is truly helping animals from coast-to-coast. We believe there will be a day that The Pawtocol Pet Fund can help hundreds, if not thousands, of rescues all over the world."

These three Florida rescues bring Pawtocol to a total of 8 rescue partners, all of which receive an initial $1,000 donation from the Pawtocol Pet Fund.

"We have been rescuing dogs since 2000 and have been able to do so only because of support from the community" said Linda Coletta, founder of Houndhaven, Inc. "The Pawtocol Pet Fund is a new and exciting way to help us help our rescue dogs, and we are grateful to Pawtocol for this opportunity."

"We are so grateful for every donation that we get, but when Pawtocol reached out they were not only offering a donation but they were also looking to really partner with us and help raise awareness about our cause on a much larger scale," said Francia Vogini, president of Husky Haven of Florida. "We are thrilled to start this journey with Pawtocol and continue our mission of helping animals in need."

When Pawtocol launches their all-new KINGDOM platform on October 26th and their Smart Pet Tag later in Q4, they will be donating 10% of all of their profits to the Pawtocol Pet Fund which will then be distributed evenly amongst their rescue partners.

If you are registered 501c and would like to learn more about becoming a Pawtocol Pet Fund partner, please visit their website.

Pawtocol Holding Corp. ("Pawtocol"), is a wholly owned subsidiary of New Wave Holding Corp. ("New Wave") (CSE: SPOR) (FWB: 0XM2) (OTCPK: TRMNK).

About Pawtocol

Pawtocol is an ecosystem of blockchain-powered solutions that make a positive impact on the lives of pets and pet owners all over the world. Utilizing blockchain technology provides continuity, transparency, and data ownership opportunities that have never been seen before in the pet industry. Pawtocol's goal is to deliver a new level of value to each and every member of our community, including the rescues and shelters that desperately need our support in their efforts to lower the homeless pet population and end kill shelters in America.

About New Wave Holdings Corp.

New Wave Holdings Corp. (CSE: SPOR) (FWB: 0XM2) (OTCPK: TRMNF) is an investment issuer that has been focused on supporting innovative and fast-growing companies within the esports, NFT, Metaverse, Blockchain, and Web3 sectors.

Investors interested in connecting with New Wave Holdings can learn more about the company and contact the team at http://newwavecorp.com.

SOURCE Pawtocol
Company continues proactively notifying customers of tips, tools and available assistance to help manage bills.

Piedmont estimates that its average residential customer's monthly natural gas bill will increase by approximately $30 to $35 per month over the upcoming winter period.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With seasonal cold weather on the horizon, Piedmont Natural Gas is reminding customers of tips, tools and assistance programs available to help customers prepare for higher winter bills.

"Outside factors like the rising cost of natural gas and colder temperatures are driving up energy bills this winter, and we are here to help," said Sasha Weintraub, senior vice president and president of Piedmont Natural Gas. "We are continually working to ease any price increases and keep costs low, and we are reminding customers of tips, tools and programs that can help lower their natural gas bills."

The Energy Information Administration recently reported in its Winter Fuels Outlook, the average household expenditures for home heating fuels will increase this winter because of both higher expected fuel costs and higher energy consumption due to colder temperatures. Piedmont estimates that its average residential customer's monthly natural gas bill will increase by approximately $30 to $35 per month during the upcoming winter period.

As a natural gas distributor, Piedmont purchases natural gas at the best possible price, which is the same price it charges customers. The company closely monitors the cost of natural gas and requests adjustments to its rates throughout the year based on changing market conditions and other factors.

Low- to no-cost energy-saving tips and projects

Natural gas use typically spikes in the winter as customers combat low temperatures to stay warm. Below are tips to help manage your energy use when temperatures decline. B-roll of energy-efficiency measures available here.

Learn how to reduce energy use. The first step to reduce energy use in your home is to identify and prioritize energy-saving improvements. This can be accomplished through a certified auditor or by performing your own energy audit.



Seal air ducts. Make sure the air ducts from your home's furnace and central air conditioner are properly sealed. Ducts that leak into the attic or crawl space can substantially increase your heating and cooling bills.



Seal your home. One of the quickest energy-saving tasks you can do is caulk, seal and weatherstrip all seams, cracks and openings to the outside. This can save 10% to 20% on your heating and cooling bills.



Install smart thermostats. Installing a "smart" or programmable thermostat will reduce your energy use while you are asleep or away. Set your thermostat to the lowest comfortable setting to help save.



Manage water heating. Set your water heater temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or consider installing an on-demand or tankless water heater that only heats water when you need it.



Consider insulation. Consider whether you need to add insulation to your ceilings, floors and walls. Insulation between the indoors and outdoors reduces energy demand, saving you money while improving the comfort of your home.

Level out your bill with the Equal Payment Plan (EPP) program

This free service helps customers manage their budgets by eliminating high winter bills. The EPP program levels out a customer's natural gas bills, allowing them to pay a predictable, equal monthly amount to help avoid billing surprises. Piedmont determines this payment by adding up a customer's annual natural gas usage and then dividing it into the same payment amount each month. Learn more here.

"We remain committed to helping our most vulnerable customers keep the heat on, whether that's being a resource for steps to take to lower their natural gas bill, or taking advantage of available assistance options," Weintraub added.

Assistance for customers in need

Piedmont is reaching out to customers whose bills are past due through email and/or text with information about utility assistance administered by agencies in their state and local communities.

Share the Warmth provides funds to local agencies to assist families with their utility bills, no matter the source of energy they use.

The Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) provides winter heating assistance to pay for natural gas, electric and other methods customers use to heat their homes. There are many customers who are eligible but do not apply for this annual federal benefit that can reduce winter heating costs for low-income families. Information on how to apply locally: https://thda.org/business-partners/liheap

Piedmont says anyone in need should apply for this and other newly available programs to see if they qualify. For detailed federal and state-specific information, go to piedmontng.com/WinterBills and click on your state.

Energy-saving tools

Piedmont Natural Gas also offers a variety of energy-saving tools to help customers and our communities identify ways to save money and energy all year long. These programs and tools help customers understand what factors are impacting their natural gas bills and emphasize specific actions they can take to reduce the impacts of high winter usage.

Piedmont Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, distributes natural gas to more than 1.1 million residential, commercial, industrial and power generation customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Piedmont is routinely recognized by J.D. Power for excellent customer satisfaction, and has been named by Cogent Reports as one of the most trusted utility brands in the U.S. More information: piedmontng.com. Follow Piedmont Natural Gas: Twitter, Facebook.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 28,000 people.

Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company has interim carbon emission targets of at least 50% reduction from electric generation by 2030, 50% for Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 upstream and downstream emissions by 2035, and 80% from electric generation by 2040. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2022 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' "World's Best Employers" list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Media contact: Jason Wheatley

Media Line: 877.348.3612

[email protected]

SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas
BROOKLYN, N.Y., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Breaking new ground, both literally and figuratively, the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union continues to expand its footprint in the Midwest region. On a crisp and windy Saturday afternoon of October 15, the Brooklyn-based PSFCU broke ground for the planned branch in Algonquin, IL, in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago. When completed, this will be the credit union's first branch in Kane County, seventh in Chicagoland, and the twenty second PSFCU branch overall.

Polish & Slavic FCU continues to break new grounds in the Mid-West. New branch to open on June 1, 2023 in Algonquin, IL Tweet this Polish & Slavic FCU President/CEO Bogdan Chmielewski, Village of Algonquin President Debby Sosine and Laura Schock, District Director for House of Representatives Member Sean Casten, together with members of the PSFCU Board of Directors and Supervisory Committee break ground at the site of the future PSFCU branch in Algonquin, IL PSFCU President/CEO Bogdan Chmielewski addresses invited guests during the groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the future PSFCU branch in Algonquin, IL

In expanding further away from the city of Chicago, the nation's largest ethnic credit union is determined to bring its successful formula to targeted areas that hold great promise for increased membership. "We will go where we are needed, and where we can work together with the Polish-American communities to achieve financial success. After over twelve years of our presence in the Midwest region, we now have over thirty two thousand members in Chicagoland, with over $400 million in deposits there."

Debby Sosine, President of the Village of Algonquin, welcomed the $2.5 billion PSFCU to the area. She thanked the Credit Union for becoming a new member of the community and looked forward to successful cooperation in the future. In turn, Laura Schock, District Director for House Representative Sean Casten of the 6th Congressional District read the congressman's proclamation in which he congratulated PSFCU on opening a new location and commended the Credit Union for its dedication to the community it serves.

The future branch of the Polish & Slavic FCU will be located at 2371 County Line Road in Algonquin, IL. It will be built on a lot purchased by the PSFCU and is scheduled to open on June 1, 2023.

About the PSFCU

Founded in 1976 by a group of Polish immigrants to help other ethnic Poles obtain mortgages, the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union now has 21 branches in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois, Pennsylvania, an operations center in Fairfield, NJ and a mortgage center in New Britain, CT. In addition, PSFCU offers mortgage loans on properties located in Florida. Credit union members can access its services through the Online Banking, accessible via the www.psfcu.com website, or through the PSFCU mobile app, or utilize a Mobile Branch, a specially equipped vehicle used during special events, providing all services available at a traditional brick-and-mortar location. Through its scholarship program, PSFCU has thus far granted over six million dollars to over 5,100 students. The 46-year-old credit union has over $2.5 billion in assets and serves nearly 112,000 members.

SOURCE Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union
Quaker Houghton Showcases this November its Tube & Pipe, Metal Surface Finishing and Metal Forming Expertise at FABTECH 2022.

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR), a global leader in process fluid solutions, will be exhibiting its wide range of industrial products at FABTECH 2022, Booth B5159. For the first time, the Fluid Intelligence Services and equipment participating at Fabtech will demonstrate it's capabilities. The booth will also feature pre-treatment and surface finishing products and the expertise of subsidiary company SIFCO ASC.

Engineers checking steel tubes in engineering factory

Visitors to the Quaker Houghton booth will experience a live demonstration of the SIFCO Process, SIFCO ASC's world-leading selective electroplating solution under the show's FAB to FINISH Production Experience. This live workshop allows attendees to observe parts production, from fabrication through to the finishing process  all on the show floor.

Quaker Houghton will also feature key technologies from its comprehensive process fluid portfolio, including:

Surface Finishing: Pre-treatment chemicals for cleaning, stripping, conversion coating, and final rinses to prepare substrates for the efficient and effective application of coatings. Quaker Houghton's range of pre-treatment chemicals enhance paint adhesion, improve corrosion protection, and increase the finished component's durability.

Tube & Pipe: The "Front-to-Back" approach to process fluids and coatings featuring QUAKERCOOL series coolants and QUAKERCOAT protective coatings available in UV-cured, water-based, and solvent-based options.

Metal Forming: Lubrication, cooling, and corrosion protection fluids for metal drawing and stamping operations, including HOUGHTO-DRAW and QUAKERDRAW. Visitors to booth B5159 will be able to meet our dedicated team of technical experts who will share their knowledge and experience to help customers overcome the process and operations challenges they're facing. We take a solution-driven approach comprised of world-class products, equipment, and services to reduce operating costs, improve productivity, increase product quality, and strengthen our customers' competitive advantage.

Fluid Intelligence: We bring differentiated value to our customers so they can operate safely, sustainably and at the lowest total cost of ownership. Our comprehensive process fluid portfolio together with our QH EQUIPMENT and sensor technology, QH FLUIDTREND software, and expert engineering services delivers the ultimate fluid optimization solution for Industry 4.0, QH FLUID INTELLIGENCE.

FABTECH, North America's largest metal forming, fabricating, finishing and welding tradeshow, will be held at Georgia World Congress Centre in Atlanta, Georgia, November 8-10, 2022.

For more about Quaker Houghton, please visit www.quakerhoughton.com

About Quaker Houghton:

Quaker Houghton is the global leader in industrial process fluids. With a presence around the world, including operations in over 25 countries, our customers include thousands of the world's most advanced and specialized steel, aluminum, automotive, aerospace, offshore, can, mining, and metalworking companies. Our high-performing, innovative and sustainable solutions are backed by best-in-class technology, deep process knowledge and customized services. With approximately 4,700 employees, including chemists, engineers and industry experts, we partner with our customers to improve their operations so they can run even more efficiently, even more effectively, whatever comes next. Quaker Houghton is headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, located near Philadelphia in the United States. Visit quakerhoughton.com to learn more.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/quakerhoughton

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/sifcoasc

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/EPMARCorp

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/quakerhoughton/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sifco-applied-surface-concepts/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/epmar-corporation/

SOURCE Quaker Houghton
VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (TSXV: RCK) (OTCQX: RCKTF) (FWB: RJIB) (WKN: A1XF0V) ("Rock Tech" or the "Company") announces that it has granted an aggregate of 300,000 stock options to certain directors of the Company.

The Company has granted an aggregate of 300,000 stock options to certain directors of the Company. The stock options were granted effective October 17, 2022 and have a term of five years from the date of grant, with 30% vesting immediately and 70% vesting in equal monthly installments over a 24 month period following the date of grant. The stock options may be exercised at a price of $2.77 per share, being the closing price of the Company's common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange on October 14, 2022.

The stock options were granted pursuant to the stock option plan of the Company dated April 9, 2020, as most recently approved by the shareholders of the Company on June 30, 2022.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Dirk Harbecke

Chairman

ABOUT ROCK TECH INC.

Rock Tech is a cleantech company on a mission to produce lithium hydroxide for EV batteries. The Company plans to build lithium converters at the door-step of its customers, to guarantee supply-chain transparency and just-in-time delivery. To close the most pressing gap in the clean mobility story, Rock Tech has gathered one of the strongest teams in the industry. The Company has adopted strict ESG standards and is developing a proprietary refining process aimed at further increasing efficiency and sustainability. Rock Tech plans to source raw material from its own mineral project in Canada as well as procuring it from other responsibly producing mines. In the years to come, the Company expects to also source raw material from discarded batteries. Rock Tech's goal: to create a closed-loop lithium production system. www.rocktechlithium.com.

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.

CAUTIONARY NOTE CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

The following cautionary statements are in addition to all other cautionary statements and disclaimers contained elsewhere in, or referenced by, this press release. Certain information set forth in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, which information is based on Rock Tech's current expectations, estimates, and assumptions in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends. All statements other than statements of historical facts may constitute forward-looking information. Often, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words or phrases such as "estimate", "project", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "believe", "hope", "may" and similar expressions, as well as "will", "shall" and all other indications of future tense. All forward-looking information set forth in this press release is expressly qualified in its entirety by the cautionary statements referred to in this section.

In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to: the Company's proposed lithium converters, including the Company's intentions with respect to the development and timing thereof; statements regarding Rock Tech's future plans and expectations, including the anticipated production of lithium hydroxide and its sustainability objectives; Rock Tech's opinions, beliefs and expectations regarding the Company's business strategy, development and exploration opportunities and projects; and plans and objectives of management for the Company's operations and properties.

Forward-looking information contained in this press release is based on certain assumptions, estimates, expectations, analysis and opinions of the Company and in certain cases, third party experts, that are believed by management of Rock Tech to be reasonable at the time they were made. Such assumptions, estimates and other factors include, among other things: that the Company's converter projects will be developed on-time and on budget in accordance with current expectations; the supply and demand for, deliveries of, and the level and volatility of prices of, feedstock and intermediate and final lithium products; expected growth, performance and business operations; future commodity prices and exchange rates; prospects, growth opportunities and financing available to the Company; general business and economic conditions; the costs and results of development and exploration activities; and Rock Tech's ability to procure spodumene concentrate, supplies and other equipment necessary for its business. The foregoing list is not exhaustive of all assumptions which may have been used in developing the forward-looking information. While Rock Tech considers these assumptions, estimates and factors to be reasonable based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking information should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results.

In addition, forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond Rock Tech's control, that may cause actual events, results, performance and/or achievements to be materially different from that which is expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results, performance and/or achievements to vary materially include: the Company's ability to access funding required to invest in available opportunities and projects and on satisfactory terms; the current and potential adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing geopolitical hostilities; the risk that Rock Tech will not be able to meet its financial obligations as they fall due; changes in commodity and other prices; Rock Tech's ability to attract and retain skilled staff and to secure feedstock from third party suppliers; unanticipated events and other difficulties related to the construction, development and operation of the Company's proposed lithium hydroxide converters; the cost of compliance with current and future environmental and other laws and regulations; title defects; competition from existing and new competitors; changes in currency and/or exchange rates and the market prices of Rock Tech's securities; Rock Tech's history of losses; adverse impacts of climate change; and other risks and uncertainties described from time to time in Rock Tech's public disclosure documents available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com, including those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Rock Tech's most recently filed Management Discussion and Analysis and Annual Information Form, respectively. Such risks and uncertainties do not represent an exhaustive list of all risk factors that could cause actual events, results, performance and/or achievements to vary materially from the forward-looking information.

No assurance is provided that actual events, results, performance and/or achievements will be consistent with the forward-looking information and management's assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking information reflects Rock Tech management's views as at the date the information is created. Except as may be required by law, Rock Tech undertakes no obligation and expressly disclaims any responsibility, obligation or undertaking to update or to revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, to reflect any change in Rock Tech's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such information is based. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to rely on the forward-looking information set forth in this press release.

SOURCE Rock Tech Lithium Inc.
SHANGHAI, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) and its subsidiary Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) released trading volume statistics for the third quarter of 2022.

Highlights:

Total trading volume for SHFE reached 528,014 thousand lots in the third quarter of 2022, a decrease of 5.19% compared to the prior-year period, with the average daily open interest of 9,029 thousand lots. Total trading days stood at 65.

- Copper Q3 total trading volume stood at 16,393 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 414 thousand lots

- Aluminum Q3 total trading volume stood at 26,798 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 399 thousand lots

- Nickel Q3 total trading volume stood at 12,025 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 123 thousand lots

- Silver Q3 total trading volume stood at 48,741 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 846 thousand lots

- Steel rebar Q3 total trading volume stood at 155,173 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 2,911 thousand lots

- Fuel oil Q3 total trading volume stood at 72,018 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 579 thousand lots

- Paper pulp Q3 total trading volume stood at 22,855 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 372 thousand lots

- Copper Options Q3 total trading volume stood at 3,915 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 68 thousand lots

- Gold Options Q3 total trading volume stood at 1,153 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 42 thousand lots

For more detailed data, please visit: http://www.shfe.com.cn/en/MarketData/

Total trading volume for INE reached 37,517 thousand lots in the third quarter of 2022, a year-on-year rise of 115.05%, with the average daily open interest of 346 thousand lots. Total trading days stood at 65.

- Copper Q3 total trading volume stood at 1,776 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 22 thousand lots

- Crude oil Q3 total trading volume stood at 15,267 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 76 thousand lots

- LSFO Q3 total trading volume stood at 14,557 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 127 thousand lots

- TSR 20 Q3 total trading volume stood at 3,867 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 94 thousand lots

- Crude oil options Q3 total trading volume stood at 2,051 thousand lots, while the average daily open interest reached 27 thousand lots

For more detailed data, please visit: http://www.ine.cn/en/statements/

About SHFE

With the ultimate goal of serving the real economy, Shanghai Futures Exchange ("SHFE") is under the uniform regulation of China Securities Regulatory Commission ("CSRC") and organizes the futures trading approved by CSRC in accordance with the principles of openness, impartiality, fairness and integrity. Currently there are 20 futures contracts and 6 commodity options available for trading on SHFE.

About INE

Registered in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in 2013, Shanghai International Energy Exchange ("INE") operates the listing, clearing, settlement and delivery of futures, options and other derivatives, formulates business rules, implements self-regulation, publishes market information, and provides technology, venue and facility services.

SOURCE Shanghai Futures Exchange
Established Company Executive Will Now Also Oversee RE/MAX Commercial in her Elevated Role

DENVER, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- RE/MAX, LLC, one of the world's leading franchisors of real estate brokerage services, announced the promotion of Shawna Gilbert to Senior Vice President of Global Development.

Gilbert's strategic leadership and guidance supports RE/MAX affiliates located outside the U.S. and Canada as they build their businesses with RE/MAX. In her elevated role, Gilbert and her team will continue to deliver world-class service and leadership to RE/MAX global region owners. Additionally, due to its growth in global markets, Gilbert will also begin overseeing RE/MAX Commercial, the specialty brand with 11,000 brokers and a presence in more than 80 countries and territories. In 2021, brokers in the RE/MAX Commercial network closed over 50,000 commercial transactions and $19 billion in commercial volume.

"There's a real sense of community among the nearly 60,000 global region owners, broker/owners and sales associates outside the U.S. and Canada. We see an incredible amount of collaboration and sharing in the group, and it elevates the performance of everyone involved. It's an amazing thing to be part of," Gilbert said. "The global RE/MAX network has grown into a massive presence, but it truly feels like we're just getting started  as though even bigger things are still to come. The team and I are committed to fostering that same environment with RE/MAX Commercial."

Gilbert will continue to report to Mike Reagan, Senior Vice President of Industry Relations and Global Growth & Development.

"Region owners across the globe have tremendous respect for Shawna and the entire Global Development team as they continue to deliver innovations, training and education to build sustainable regions around the world," said Reagan. "She is a tremendous asset to the RE/MAX leadership team, and we look forward to seeing what's to come."

Gilbert joined RE/MAX in 2010 as a Region Development Consultant and was promoted to Vice President, Global Development in 2017.

About the RE/MAX Network

As one of the leading global real estate franchisors, RE/MAX, LLC is a subsidiary of RE/MAX Holdings (NYSE: RMAX) with more than 140,000 agents in almost 9,000 offices and a presence in more than 110 countries and territories. Nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX, as measured by residential transaction sides. RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, with an innovative, entrepreneurial culture affording its agents and franchisees the flexibility to operate their businesses with great independence. RE/MAX agents have lived, worked and served in their local communities for decades, raising millions of dollars every year for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and other charities. To learn more about RE/MAX, to search home listings or find an agent in your community, please visit www.remax.com. For the latest news about RE/MAX, please visit news.remax.com.

SOURCE RE/MAX, LLC
TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Concept Medical Inc. announces the successful completion of the SIRONA - World's first and the largest head-to-head RCT investigating the use of Sirolimus Drug Coated Balloon (DCB) (Magic Touch PTA  Concept Medical Inc.) V/S Paclitaxel DCB angioplasty for the treatment of peripheral artery disease in the femoropopliteal vessel segment.

SIRONA completes enrollment

The prospective, multi-center, head-to-head, corelab adjudicated RCT enrolled a total of 480 patients across 28 sites in Germany and Austria. The target patient was enrolled on September 23, at Hanusch Hospital Vienna by PI Prof. Martin Werner and team.

Prof. Dr. Ulf Teichgraber states, "As coordinating PI I am thrilled to work with 28 highly dedicated and motivated study sites that have managed to complete enrollment much earlier than expected. SIRONA represents a breakthrough head-to-head RCT with the potential to usher in a new era of Sirolimus DCB in PAD to replace an old technology."

Plain Old Balloon Angioplasty (POBA) has been the go-to treatment option, followed by Paclitaxel DCB - with discouraging success due to FDA concerns and controversies over safety of Paclitaxel. Sirolimus DCB treatment is well established as a safe and effective option in both coronary and peripheral artery disease segments. Concept Medical's Magic Touch PTA Sirolimus Coated Balloon has been tested with good success in both safety and efficacy criteria in lower extremity diseases across multiple studies. Furthermore, the device is also being compared directly against POBA in other RCT, but what was required was a head on RCT against paclitaxel, to add weight to it being the better option.

SIRONA will be a game changer trial, considering its bold design and the direct comparison against paclitaxel. The trial enrolled all patients with a disease in the SFA segment, whether de-novo or restenotic, falling into Rutherford classes 2-4, and experiencing intermittent claudication to Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI). The 12 months result will feature patency (defined as the absence of TLR or restenosis), and primary safety endpoint is assessed as the composite of freedom from device or procedure-related death at 12 months as well as major target limb amputation. The complete credit extends to all the site investigators, operators, technicians and CRO for a swift and seamless enrollment and the results are much awaited.

The University Heart Center - Bad Krozingen topped the enrollment under the lead of Prof. Thomas Zeller.

"It is exciting that enrollment into the first head-to-head comparative study between a sirolimus coated DCB and a variety of marketed paclitaxel coated DCB for femoropopliteal indication could be finished in such a short time. The study has sufficient size and the power to demonstrate if there is at least equivalent performance between the Magic Touch DCB and a range of paclitaxel coated DCB and if so, if there are potential lesions which may even benefit from the use of a sirolimus coated DCB," adds Prof. Thomas Zeller on this achievement.

Magic Touch PTA has already been granted a breakthrough device designation by the US FDA for BTK indication and has a head-to-head RCT ongoing as well against paclitaxel. The results from SIRONA, will surely play a significant role in shifting the scale towards Sirolimus and a perspective and opinion shift for the fraternity, if not less.

About Magic Touch PTA:

Magic Touch PTA is a CE approved and commercially marketed sirolimus DCB, developed using proprietary Nanolute Technology  the drug delivery technology platform of Magic Touch PTA balloon, is designed to deliver sub-micron particles of sirolimus to reach the deepest layers of the vessel walls.

About Concept Medical Inc (CMI):

CMI is headquartered in Tampa, Florida and has operational offices in The Netherlands, Singapore and Brazil and manufacturing units in India. CMI specializes in developing drug-delivery systems and has unique and patented technology platforms that can be deployed to deliver any drug/pharmaceutical agent across the luminal surfaces of blood vessels.

www.conceptmedical.com

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1926791/SIRONA_Enrollment.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1926812/Concept_Medical_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Concept Medical Inc.
Federal Government of Somalia approves Coastline's Production Sharing Agreements

President of Somalia supports Coastline's Production Sharing Agreements with the Federal Government and declares the country open for business with international companies;

Coastline received full Government support for its agreements at high-level meetings in Mogadishu with the President, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy & Minerals, Chairman of the Somali Petroleum Authority and Attorney General of Somalia ;

Coastline pays US$7 million signature bonus to the Somali Central Bank for its 7 Production Sharing Agreements; and

Coastline will now move forward with its exploration programme.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of Somalia, said: "This agreement highlights that Somalia is open for business and international investment after the conflict that has blighted the country for so many years. I would like to thank Coastline for its commitment to Somalia, as it has fulfilled its promise of investing here, unlike so many other companies. Coastline clearly sees significant opportunity in Somalia and we share its vision. The Federal Government will do all it can to support this project and we want the first exploration well to start as soon as possible. Today marks a major step forward for Somalia as we look to develop our energy industry which should deliver material benefits for all Somalis. Energy independence, new tax revenues and further foreign investment in Somalia now beckons."

HOUSTON, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Coastline Exploration Limited ("Coastline"), an upstream oil and gas company focused on East Africa, announces that further to its statement on February 19th regarding the signing of seven Production Sharing Agreements ("PSAs") covering offshore, deep-water blocks of the Federal Republic of Somalia, it confirms it has received final authorisation for it to proceed with its exploration programme from the competent authorities within the Federal Government of Somalia ("FGS"). As a result, in line with the terms of the PSAs, Coastline has paid the agreed US$7 million signature bonus to the Somali Central Bank.

Authorisation was granted following conclusion of an in-depth review conducted by the FGS into the process followed by Coastline and by the relevant Somali Ministries and related advisory groups with respect to the signing of the seven PSAs in February of this year.

Coastline estimates that approximately 100,000 barrels of oil a day will flow from each discovered field, and in the success case Coastline hopes to discover multiple offshore oil fields.

Yesterday Coastline held meetings with the following Somali government officials:

- H.E Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (President of Somalia)

- H.E Salah Ahmed Jama (Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia)

- H.E. Abdirizak Mohamed (Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources)

- H.E. Mohamoud Ahmed Mohamoud (State Minister of Petroleum)

- H.E. Abshir Omar Jama (Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation)

- Mr. Abdulkadir Aden Mohamud (CEO and Chairman of the Somali Petroleum Authority)

- Mr. Osman Elmi Guled (Attorney General)

- Mr. Khadar Abdirahman Mohamed (Special Envoy for International Trade and Investment)

- Mr. Sackag Omar Mohamed (Member of Parliament)

Coastline has invested over US$50 million in Somalia and is committed for the long-term and has been engaged with multiple stakeholders in Somalia since 2018 in respect of its PSAs and plans for the development of the country's offshore energy industry. Coastline's PSAs will enable the Company to proceed with plans to explore for oil and gas on the many prospects and leads identified in the waters offshore Somalia.

Coastline is proud of the work it has done in Somalia to help develop the energy industry and to enhance the future prosperity of the Somali people. Likewise, it is proud of the strong relationships it has built with the Federal Government during the long period of time it has been active in the country.

His Excellency Abdirizak Mohamed, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, said: "Having seen how transformational new domestic energy sources have been for other countries in Africa, we are very excited by the potential of these offshore oil fields. Today's announcement really kick starts the energy industry in Somalia and is a turning point for the development of what is a critical revenue-generating area for the country."

W. Richard Anderson, Chief Executive of Coastline, commented: "Receiving the clearance authorisation means that we are now able to start our exploration programme. Revenues from the discovery of commercial quantities of oil will be transformative for Somalia from which the government could finance investments in education, infrastructure, healthcare and other vital services, which will benefit all of the people of Somalia, delivering continued economic growth and improving the standard of living."

Jacob Ulrich, non-Executive Chairman of Coastline, said: "We are delighted to have been given the go-ahead with the PSAs and we feel confident that we will discover major energy reserves which will have a materially positive impact on all Somalis. With the right partners in place and a supportive government, Somalia's nascent energy industry can look to the future with confidence now that there is a clear road map to potentially securing a sustained domestic oil and gas supply."

About Coastline Exploration

Coastline Exploration, the US based upstream oil and gas company focused on East Africa, was established to help develop the hydrocarbon industry. The Company believes there is huge potential for further significant oil and gas discoveries across offshore East Africa including offshore Somalia.

www.coastlineexploration.com

Enquiries

J&H Communications Tel. +44 (0)20 3950 7822 [email protected]

James Henderson / George Hudson

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1926345/Coastline_Exploration_Ltd_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Coastline Exploration Ltd
ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) Chief Medical Officer Marcus Plescia, MD, MPH, issued the following statement today following two separate votes this week by CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

"Earlier today, ACIP unanimously approved the 2023 immunization schedules for children, adolescents, and adults, which will now include COVID-19 vaccines. The schedules assist healthcare providers with specifics on how and when to administer vaccines. ACIP meets every year to review and make changes to the childhood and adult immunization schedule.

"The recommendations of ACIP are used to inform state and territorial policy decisions about vaccines. Ultimately, it is up to state and local jurisdictions to decide which vaccines, including COVID-19, will be part of their school vaccination requirements.

"ACIP also voted to include the COVID-19 vaccine to the Vaccine for Children program. Including this vaccine in the program will help make the vaccine available at no cost to low-income families when the COVID-19 vaccines transition to a commercial market, helping families have the choice to vaccinate their children."

SOURCE Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Theres a very interesting story about an Italian helicopter and the China International Import Expo (CIIE). Visitors pose for pictures at the fourth China International Import Expo, Nov. 9, 2021. (Peoples Daily Online/Yan Xin) The AW139, a helicopter model for emergency medical rescue manufactured by Italys Leonardo Group, was a big name at the first CIIE, which kicked off on Nov. 5, 2018. It made the biggest transaction on the very first day of the exhibition, which totaled $200 million. Later, the Leonardo Group joined hands with a Chinese company and launched a 12.8-billion-yuan ($1.78 billion) helicopter production program in Pinghu, east Chinas Zhejiang province. Two years later, the first AW139 helicopter assembled in Pinghu completed its test flight and returned to the 3rd CIIE. This foreign investment program is expected to build Pinghu into a world-level helicopter production base. CIIE, as a global trade exhibition, has become an international public product shared by the whole world. It presents to the world Chinas firm determination to expand opening up. AW139, a helicopter model for emergency medical rescue manufactured by Italys Leonardo Group is exhibited at the first China International Import Expo, Nov. 7, 2018. (Peoples Daily Online/Ji Haixin) The utilization of foreign investment contributes to the building of a new development paradigm and a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Foreign investors generally value Chinas development opportunities that come from the countrys deepening reform, as well as the business environment thats built better and better as the country advances law-based governance. Many exhibitors joining the CIIE have turned into investors, which mirrors how the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, deepening reform and advancing law-based governance reinforce each other. Reform and opening up is the most distinctive feature of modern China. Peoples wellbeing is attached with more importance as reform is deepened in the new era. A series of policies and measures to benefit the people have been implemented, including the centralized bulk-buying of drugs on a regular and institutionalized basis, and the discounts on individual income tax. A fully loaded container vessel leaves a terminal of the Yangshan Deep-Water Port, Shanghai, Sept. 11, 2022.(Peoples Daily Online/Ji Haixin) Institutional construction is more important for deepening reform in the new era. The country has worked to streamline the government, delegate power, and improve government services, implemented the most strict environmental protection regulations, and launched a number of other policies to eliminate impediments. Besides, interconnectivity and synergy between reforms are increased. China has comprehensively deepened reforms in economy, politics, culture, society, and ecological progress. Over 2,000 reform plans have been issued successively and promoted in a synergetic manner. Over the past 10 years, China has gone from laying foundations and defining initial structures, to making overall progress and building momentum, to achieving systematic integration and efficient coordination. It has seen basic institutional frameworks put in place in various areas, and witnessed historic, systemic, and holistic transformation in multiple fields. China will not close its door to the world, and it will only become more and more open. Overcoming the impacts from COVID-19, the country has held high-quality sessions of major exhibitions, such as the CIIE, the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the China Import and Export Fair and the China International Consumer Products Expo. Between 2013 and 2021, the average annual growth of Chinas exports of high-tech products reached 5.1 percent. The country has set up 21 pilot free trade zones, and they have seen their successful practice in 278 cases of innovation in institutional reform promoted at the national level. Tourists visit the Bund in Shanghai, Sept. 10, 2022. (Peoples Daily Online/Yan Daming) Over the past 10 years, China has firmly advanced high-level opening up. It has expanded opening up based on flows of goods, services, capital, personnel and other factors of production, and promoted institutional construction on rules, management and standards, to build an open economy that promotes mutual benefit and is diversified, balanced, secure and efficient. Both the scope and depth of opening up have been expanded. A model of all-round, multi-level, and wide-ranging opening-up has gradually taken shape. China has not only achieved its own development, but also benefited the rest of the world. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 16. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered to the Congress a report on behalf of the 19th CPC Central Committee. Tourists visit the Bund in Shanghai, Sept. 21, 2022. (Peoples Daily Online/Wang Gang) He said China will stay committed to the basic state policy of opening up and unwaveringly follow a win-win strategy of opening up, to provide new opportunities to the rest of the world through Chinas development, promote the building of an open world economy and bring more benefits to the people around the world. Opening up is a basic state policy and a distinctive feature of China. The country will not change its resolve to open wider at a high standard; it will not change its determination to share development opportunities with the rest of the world; and it will not change its commitment to an economic globalization that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all. A fully loaded container vessel leaves a terminal of the Yangshan Deep-Water Port, Shanghai, Sept. 11, 2022.(Peoples Daily Online/Ji Haixin)
The biorepository enhances the study of human tissue and cancer research, leading to laboratory discoveries and new patient treatments.

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tampa General Hospital (TGH) and USF Health is announcing the opening of the TGH | USF Health Precision Medicine Biorepository. The Health Precision Medicine Biorepository is a secure facility that collects, catalogs and stores samples of biological material for medical research.

Tampa General Hospital and USF Health is announcing the opening of the TGH | USF Health Precision Medicine Biorepository. A biorepository is like a high-tech library where researchers, physicians and scientists can access donated samples and correlating data for scientific study. (PRNewsfoto/Tampa General Hospital)

"The biorepository will drive leading-edge scientific collaboration with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine that offers new advanced technology and innovative care to our patients. The addition of the biorepository further elevates our cancer institute program as a key anchor in the Tampa Medical and Research District that will continue to attract renowned physicians and tech partners," said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. Spanning the Tampa metro area, the medical and research district empowers future-thinking institutions to originate, grow and improve the overall health and health equity of the Tampa Bay region and the entire state.

A biorepository is like a high-tech library where researchers, physicians and scientists can access donated samples and correlating data for scientific study. Patients give permission for broad investigational use of their donated specimens and, to protect patient confidentiality, all genomic data is securely stored and only shared with other secure systems.

"USF Health and Tampa General continue to expand our alliance to provide cutting-edge health care and innovative research for the Tampa Bay region and beyond," said Dr. Charles Lockwood, executive vice president for USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. "Our work through the biorepository allows for enhanced collaboration among researchers and clinical teams, to facilitate clinical and translational research projects." The goal of translational research is to move basic science discoveries more quickly and effectively into practice.

"The biorepository bridges lab-based surgical research investigators at USF and elsewhere to active clinical programs at the TGH Cancer Institute to learn how genetics, lifestyle and the environment affect health to improve our treatments and prevent diseases," said Dr. Matthew Anderson, professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and associate director for shared resources, TGH Cancer Institute.

Biorepositories advance scientific research in many ways including through the sharing of data for cancer tumor sequencing  learning the exact order of chemical building blocks that make up a tumor's DNA and result in the formation of tumors.

"The TGH-USF Health Precision Medicine Biorepository is a key facet of the infrastructure that powers major academic medical centers like Tampa General and USF Health," said Dr. Eduardo M. Sotomayor, director of the TGH Cancer Institute. "It enables scanning, tracking and management of individual specimens as they move in and out of the biorepository facility, creating a robust inventory management system for the entire TGH Cancer Institute team and USF cancer surgical researchers."

In addition to sequencing, the TGH-USF Health Precision Medicine Biorepository allows for investigational work in the field of precision medicine or pharmacogenomics. Precision medicine uses information specific to a patient's genes or proteins to prevent, diagnose or treat disease. Pharmacogenomics is the study of how gene mutations and patient DNA can affect the way a patient responds to medications, including cancer therapies.

"DNA sequencing and pharmacogenomics (how genes affect a patient's response to drugs) are two expanding fields of cancer research," said Dr. Abraham Schwarzberg, senior vice president and chief of TGH Cancer Institute. "Sequencing provides us the keys to unlock cancer tumor genomics or DNA. Pharmacogenomics helps us tailor more effective, safer cancer treatments for our patients."

Specimens are stored in an ultra-cold cryogenic repository that was specifically developed for the biorepository. It is accessed by researchers conducting a variety of scientific projects across multiple medical specialties, notably those at TGH Cancer Institute and USF Health who are working to advance cancer treatments and care.

The biorepository is located at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute, 560 Channelside Drive in downtown Tampa. The building also features a TGH urgent care center and USF Health, as well as an executive wellness program in collaboration with USF Health.

The biorepository was made possible in part by a grant from the TGH Foundation's Bruemmer Women's Leadership Circle (BLC). The philanthropy group supports various hospital programs and initiatives throughout the year and is enthusiastic about supporting health care and the community.

For more information about the TGH Cancer Institute, visit www.tgh.org/cancer.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL

Tampa General Hospital, a 1,040-bed, not-for-profit, academic medical center, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2022-23 Best Hospitals, and is tied as the third highest-ranked hospital in Florida, with seven specialties ranking among the best programs in the United States. Tampa General Hospital has been designated as a model of excellence by the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals list. The academic medical center's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by two prestigious Forbes magazine rankings  first nationally in the 2022 America's Best Employers for Women and sixth out of 100 Florida companies in the 2022 America's Best Employers by State. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal year 2021, provided a net community benefit worth more than $224.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education, and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With six medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center, and its 32-bed Neuroscience, Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Brandon Healthplex, TGH Virtual Health, and 21 TGH Imaging powered by Tower outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics, and they can even receive home visits in select areas through TGH Urgent Care at Home, powered by Fast Track. As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is the first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that provides real-time situational awareness to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.

ABOUT USF HEALTH

USF Health's mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the Taneja College of Pharmacy, the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, the Biomedical Sciences Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs, and USF Health's multispecialty physicians' group. The University of South Florida is a high-impact global research university dedicated to student success. Over the past 10 years, no other public university in the country has risen faster in U.S. News & World Report's national university rankings than USF. For more information, visit health.usf.edu.

TGH Media Contact: Beth Hardy, APR Senior Communications Specialist (813) 844-8725 (direct) [email protected] USF Health Media Contact: Sarah Worth Director of Communications (813) 928-0861 [email protected]

SOURCE Tampa General Hospital
New Master Agreement Protects 18,000 Costco Workers Coast-to-Coast

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters made history today, securing a new master agreement protecting more than 18,000 workers at Costco nationwide. Ballots were counted at 5 p.m. ET before an independent observer in Portland, Ore., and the agreement was overwhelmingly ratified by a vote of 72 percent with record-high voter turnout from the membership.

"Don't let anyone tell you the days of achieving national master agreements are over. Unions can protect American workers on a national scale  the Teamsters just proved it at Costco," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien. "The Teamsters Union pulled off something that anti-labor activists would have you believe is impossible. Our massive network of local unions and army of organizers makes us the most powerful union in the world and the most equipped to protect as many workers as possible.

"This is an earth-shaking win for Costco workers and the American labor movement. Corporations like Sysco, UPS, and Amazon remain on notice."

The national agreement provides members with significant wage improvements over the next three years and a substantial increase in pension contributions by the employer. The contract will also provide members with higher semi-annual bonuses and a more flexible attendance policy, among other workplace improvements.

In May, the Teamsters Costco National Negotiating Committee unanimously recommended a "no" vote against the company's initial contract offer. On June 21, Costco Teamsters rejected the offer by an overwhelming vote of 93 percent, paving the way for today's national contract victory.

"This deal wouldn't have been possible without the participation of members across the country. Workers were united from the start, letting the company know we deserved more and that we weren't afraid to fight to get it," said Henry Chavez, a shop steward at Local 986 in Los Angeles, who participated in negotiations. "This is truly a historic day for Costco Teamsters. We are now part of a national master agreement that will protect workers for years to come."

Throughout negotiations, rank-and-file members like Chavez played an instrumental role in the bargaining process, attending talks and providing feedback for the national negotiating committee.

"This national agreement wouldn't have been possible without the engagement and activism of our members. Their refusal to accept anything less than what they deserved was the key to our success," said Tom Erickson, Director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division. "When workers pushed back on Costco's first offer, it gave the bargaining committee the power and leverage necessary to make enormous gains at the table while simultaneously solidifying the national agreement."

"Our members at Costco stood up for their rights and won big," said Mike Bergen, Local 166 Secretary-Treasurer and Chair of the Teamsters Costco National Negotiating Committee. "They weren't afraid to strike if necessary, and the company knew they weren't bluffing. Today's victory was for the workers, by the workers."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:

Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971

[email protected]

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters
RYE BROOK, N.Y., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Eastern PA-Delaware Region of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and Wawa and The Wawa Foundation have joined forces to end blood cancer, a disease diagnosed every 180 seconds in the U.S. As official sponsors of LLS's Eastern PA-Delaware Region Light the Night, Wawa and The Wawa Foundation will help bring communities together at the Philadelphia Light The Night, an annual event to share hope and light taking place on Saturday, October 22 at Philadelphia Museum of Art on 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia.

As Leading Light Sponsor, Wawa and The Wawa Foundation will have a strong presence at the event to offer comfort and support to the community impacted from blood cancer; which includes The Wawa Coffee & Care Truck with an estimated distribution of up to 5,000 cups of hot coffee and chocolate, team of associate volunteers distributing bottled water, pretzels, apple snack packs and more and an appearance by mascot Wally Goose!

Culminating in over 100 evening events each fall, communities across North America converge at Light The Night carrying illuminated lanterns to take steps to end cancer  white for survivors, red for supporters, and gold in memory of loved ones lost to cancer.

"Wawa and The Wawa Foundation are committed to building stronger communities and are proud to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at Light The Night to help end blood cancer," said Jay Culotta, President, The Wawa Foundation. "There's no better feeling for our associates than volunteering their time to brighten the days of friends and neighbors in our community. We're with you each step of the way!"

The funds raised through Light The Night are used to support LLS's mission priorities: Research, Education & Support and Policy & Advocacy. Through campaigns like Light The Night, LLS has invested more than $1.5 billion since its inception in research to advance breakthrough therapies.

"Creating a world without blood cancer takes all of us, and LLS proudly and gratefully acknowledges the generosity of our supporters at Wawa and The Wawa Foundation," said, Lauren Iannucci, Executive Director at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Eastern PA-Delaware Region. "Together, we're delivering hope in a time of despair, a community in place of loneliness, and lifesaving research and support for cancer patients and their families."

Despite the progress, more than a third of blood cancer patients still do not survive five years after their diagnosis.

To form a Light The Night team, visit https://www.lls.org/event/philadelphia-2022

Blood cancer patients and their families in Pennsylvania and across the U.S. can contact the LLS Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., ET.

About Wawa, Inc.

Wawa, Inc., a privately held company, began in 1803 as an iron foundry in New Jersey. Toward the end of the 19th Century, owner George Wood took an interest in dairy farming and the family began a small processing plant in Wawa, PA in 1902. The milk business was a huge success, due to its quality, cleanliness and "certified" process. As home delivery of milk declined in the early 1960s, Grahame Wood, George's grandson, opened the first Wawa Food Market in 1964 as an outlet for dairy products. Today, Wawa is your all day, every day stop for freshly prepared foods, beverages, coffee, fuel services and surcharge-free ATMs. Wawa stores are located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C. The stores offer a large fresh foodservice selection, including Wawa brands such as custom prepared hoagies, freshly-brewed coffee, hot breakfast sandwiches, specialty beverages and an assortment of soups, sides and snacks. Forbes.com Ranks Wawa as #23 of America's Largest Private Companies in 2020. For more information, visit us on www.wawa.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram at @wawa.

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.

CONTACT:

Kristin Hoose

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

914-821-8973

[email protected]

SOURCE The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)
A roundup of the most newsworthy press releases from Cision Distribution this week

TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2022 /CNW/ - With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on Cision. To help journalists and consumers stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a recap of some major stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

Cision Canada - The Weekly Round-Up

Read more of the latest releases from Cision, see our resources for journalists, and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @cnwnews.

About Cision Canada

Cision is a comprehensive communications platform enabling more than 100,000 public relations and marketing professionals around the world to understand, influence and amplify their stories. As the market leader, Cision enables the next generation of communication professionals to strategically operate in the modern media landscape where company success is directly impacted by public opinion. Cision has offices in 24 countries through the Americas, EMEA and APAC, and offers a suite of best-in-class solutions, including Newswire, Brandwatch, Cision Communications Cloudand Cision Insights. To learn more, visit www.cision.ca and follow @CisionCA on Twitter.

SOURCE Cision Canada
DUBLIN, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Microwave Oven Market By Structure, By Production, By Type: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2031" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global microwave oven market was valued at $8,547.20 million in 2020, and is projected to reach $15,587.10 million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 4.6% from 2022 to 2031.

Today, microwave ovens form an integral part of kitchen appliances. Microwave oven functions on thermal energy by heating the polar molecules in food, a process also known as dialectic heating. The microwave radiations emitted from microwave ovens are of shorter wavelength, but possess enormous amount of energy which facilitate faster cooking. Microwave ovens, depending on their power output, can alternatively use for roasting, baking and grilling.

Microwave ovens are manufactured with varied features, include, touch display panels, heating chamber, vents and a glass turntable. North America is a major revenue contributing region to the global microwave oven market. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness an impressive growth in the microwave oven market. A significant increase in disposable income and growing working class segment would foster the growth of the Asia-Pacific microwave oven market.

Increasing propensity of consumers to spend on appliances which assist them in kitchen chores has generated an increasing demand for microwave ovens. In addition, changing lifestyle has encouraged the individuals for opting stylish and convenient appliances which complement their living standards. However, prominent use of traditional cooking equipment in developing regions limits the growth of microwave oven market. Moreover, need of energy efficient kitchen appliances and growing demand for smart appliances are factors that would drive the growth of the microwave oven market.



However, in many regions, people still use traditional cooking equipment for cooking purposes. In many developing economies, majority of the population live in the rural areas, where use of traditional cooking equipment is still prevalent. For people in these areas traditional cooking equipment are more convenient than microwave oven due to tow key factors - lack of education/awareness and shortage of power/electricity, thus restricting the growth of the market.



In addition, increased disposable income has changed the consumption patterns of consumers and has influenced them to spend more on premium products. Market players are continuously launching energy efficient appliances at affordable prices, thus; increasing the popularity of these products among the consumers. Rising cost of electricity has also enforced consumers to opt for energy-efficient appliances.



Top players are adopting various strategies in the market in order to acquire a bigger market share in the microwave oven market. Their key development strategies include product launch and acquisition & expansion. In addition, the major key players included in the microwave oven market analysis are LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Alto-Shaam Inc., AB Electrolux, Sharp Corporation, Hoover Limited, Illinois Tool Works Inc., Galanz Enterprise Group, Whirlpool Corporation and Panasonic Corporation.



The global microwave oven market is segmented on the basis of type, production, structure and region. Three types of microwave oven are covered in this report such as convection, grill and solo. The convection microwave oven accounts for the largest market share within the global microwave oven market. Owing to its high functionality feature, convection microwave oven is witnessing a rapid growth.

The report is also analyzed from the perspective of application of microwave oven. Household application of microwave oven accounts for a higher share than the commercial application. The product structure segment comprises built-in and counter top. Built-in microwave oven is expensive and involves installation charges, whereas counter top microwave ovens do not have any installation cost and can be placed conveniently in the kitchen. The report covers an in-depth analysis of the microwave oven market across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and LAMEA.



Key Benefits:

A thorough analysis of current and future trends in Global Microwave Oven market elucidates the imminent investment pockets in this region.

The report provides information regarding key drivers, restraints and opportunities with impact analysis- Porter's five forces model and a SWOT analysis of the industry illustrates the potency of the buyers & suppliers participating in the market

Quantitative analysis of the current market and estimations through 2020-2031 are provided to showcase the financial appetency of the market

The report provides detailed analysis of Global Microwave Oven market with respect to type of microwave oven, types of application, product structure and region to enable stakeholders take precise investment decisions

Value chain analysis in the report provides a clear understanding on the roles of stakeholders involved in the value chain

Key Topics Covered:



CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION



CHAPTER 2: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



CHAPTER 3: MARKET OVERVIEW

3.1. Market definition and scope

3.2. Key findings

3.2.1. Top investment pockets

3.3. Porter's five forces analysis

3.4. Top player positioning

3.5. Market dynamics

3.5.1. Drivers

3.5.2. Restraints

3.5.3. Opportunities

3.6. COVID-19 Impact Analysis on the market

3.7. Market Share Analysis



CHAPTER 4: MICROWAVE OVEN MARKET, BY STRUCTURE

4.1 Overview

4.1.1 Market size and forecast

4.2 Built In

4.2.1 Key market trends, growth factors and opportunities

4.2.2 Market size and forecast, by region

4.2.3 Market analysis by country

4.3 Counter Top

4.3.1 Key market trends, growth factors and opportunities

4.3.2 Market size and forecast, by region

4.3.3 Market analysis by country



CHAPTER 5: MICROWAVE OVEN MARKET, BY PRODUCTION

5.1 Overview

5.1.1 Market size and forecast

5.2 Commercial

5.2.1 Key market trends, growth factors and opportunities

5.2.2 Market size and forecast, by region

5.2.3 Market analysis by country

5.3 Household

5.3.1 Key market trends, growth factors and opportunities

5.3.2 Market size and forecast, by region

5.3.3 Market analysis by country



CHAPTER 6: MICROWAVE OVEN MARKET, BY TYPE

6.1 Overview

6.1.1 Market size and forecast

6.2 Convection

6.2.1 Key market trends, growth factors and opportunities

6.2.2 Market size and forecast, by region

6.2.3 Market analysis by country

6.3 Grill

6.3.1 Key market trends, growth factors and opportunities

6.3.2 Market size and forecast, by region

6.3.3 Market analysis by country

6.4 Solo

6.4.1 Key market trends, growth factors and opportunities

6.4.2 Market size and forecast, by region

6.4.3 Market analysis by country



CHAPTER 7: MICROWAVE OVEN MARKET, BY REGION



CHAPTER 8: COMPANY LANDSCAPE

8.1. Introduction

8.2. Top winning strategies

8.3. Product Mapping of Top 10 Player

8.4. Competitive Dashboard

8.5. Competitive Heatmap

8.6. Key developments



CHAPTER 9: COMPANY PROFILES

9.1 Hoover Limited

9.1.1 Company overview

9.1.2 Company snapshot

9.1.3 Operating business segments

9.1.4 Product portfolio

9.1.5 Business performance

9.1.6 Key strategic moves and developments

9.2 Alto-Shaam Inc.

9.2.1 Company overview

9.2.2 Company snapshot

9.2.3 Operating business segments

9.2.4 Product portfolio

9.2.5 Business performance

9.2.6 Key strategic moves and developments

9.3 Illinois Tool Works Inc.

9.3.1 Company overview

9.3.2 Company snapshot

9.3.3 Operating business segments

9.3.4 Product portfolio

9.3.5 Business performance

9.3.6 Key strategic moves and developments

9.4 LG Electronics

9.4.1 Company overview

9.4.2 Company snapshot

9.4.3 Operating business segments

9.4.4 Product portfolio

9.4.5 Business performance

9.4.6 Key strategic moves and developments

9.5 Samsung Electronics

9.5.1 Company overview

9.5.2 Company snapshot

9.5.3 Operating business segments

9.5.4 Product portfolio

9.5.5 Business performance

9.5.6 Key strategic moves and developments

9.6 Galanz Enterprise Group

9.6.1 Company overview

9.6.2 Company snapshot

9.6.3 Operating business segments

9.6.4 Product portfolio

9.6.5 Business performance

9.6.6 Key strategic moves and developments

9.7 AB Electrolux

9.7.1 Company overview

9.7.2 Company snapshot

9.7.3 Operating business segments

9.7.4 Product portfolio

9.7.5 Business performance

9.7.6 Key strategic moves and developments

9.8 Sharp Corporation

9.8.1 Company overview

9.8.2 Company snapshot

9.8.3 Operating business segments

9.8.4 Product portfolio

9.8.5 Business performance

9.8.6 Key strategic moves and developments

9.9 Whirlpool Corporation

9.9.1 Company overview

9.9.2 Company snapshot

9.9.3 Operating business segments

9.9.4 Product portfolio

9.9.5 Business performance

9.9.6 Key strategic moves and developments

9.10 Panasonic Corporation

9.10.1 Company overview

9.10.2 Company snapshot

9.10.3 Operating business segments

9.10.4 Product portfolio

9.10.5 Business performance

9.10.6 Key strategic moves and developments



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/umggxh

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, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global MS Polymer Adhesives Market by Type (Adhesives, Sealants), End-use Industry (Building & Construction, Automotive & Transportation, Industrial Assembly) and Region (Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, Middle East & Africa) - Forecast to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global MS polymer adhesives market is expected to grow from USD 5.2 billion in 2021 to USD 7.5 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 6.1% during the forecast period.

The global adhesives market is witnessing a shift from the consumption of conventional resin adhesives to that of MS polymer adhesives. Hybrid adhesives and sealants are mainly silylated urethane and silylated polyether (MS polymer)-based products. They have been developed to extend the property range of conventional polyurethane adhesives & sealants. Silylated polyether-based hybrids provide low viscosity, low glass transition temperature, flexibility over a wide temperature range, and low odor.

Use in automobiles and aerospace applications to drive the market

The MS polymer adhesives market for the aerospace end-use industry is entirely dependent on developing new aircraft and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO). The commercial aerospace market has witnessed high demand in the past few years owing to the rise in demand for advanced aircraft, which is largely influenced by the entry of new airlines and the expansion of existing airlines.

An increase in air traffic, demand for fuel-efficient aircraft, replacement of obsolete aircraft, and economic growth in the emerging markets are likely to drive the demand for MS polymer adhesives in this end-use industry segment during the forecast period. The growing middle-class population and their rising income in emerging countries are contributing to the demand for air travel, thereby driving the demand for new commercial aircraft. Such developments will play an important role in fueling the growth of the MS polymer adhesives market.

Europe projected to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period

The demand for MS polymer adhesives in Europe is mainly driven by Western European countries, such as Germany, UK, and France. The automotive industry is one of the biggest in Europe, and many global automotive manufacturing leaders are established in the region.

According to ACEA (Association des Constructeurs Europeens d'Automobiles), vehicle manufacturing is a strategic industry in Europe, where 19.2 million cars, vans, trucks, and buses are manufactured annually. Automobile manufacturers operate 309 vehicle assembly and production plants in 27 countries across Europe.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Premium Insights

4.1 Significant Opportunities in MS Polymer Adhesives Market

4.2 MS Polymer Adhesives Market, by End-use Industry

4.3 Asia-Pacific: MS Polymer Adhesives Market, by End-use Industry and Country, 2021

4.4 MS Polymer Adhesives Market, Developed vs. Emerging Countries

4.5 MS Polymer Adhesives Market: Growing Demand from Asia-Pacific

4.6 MS Polymer Adhesives Market, by Key Countries

5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Overview of Expanded Polystyrene Market

5.2.1 Expanded Polystyrene Foam Adoption in Product Markets

5.4 Value Chain Overview

5.4.1 Value Chain Analysis

5.5 Market Dynamics

5.3.1 Drivers

5.3.1.1 Growing Demand for Hybrid Resins in Manufacturing

5.3.1.2 Unavailability of New Polymeric Materials

5.3.1.3 Environmental Regulations in North America and Europe

5.3.2 Restraints

5.3.2.1 Lack of Acceptance from End-users

5.3.3 Opportunities

5.3.3.1 Growing Demand for Non-Hazardous, Green, and Sustainable Adhesives and Sealants

5.3.4 Challenges

5.3.4.1 Limited Market Opportunities in Developed Countries

5.6 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.6.1 Threat of New Entrants

5.6.2 Threat of Substitutes

5.6.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

5.6.4 Bargaining Power of Buyers

5.6.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry

5.7 Key Stakeholders & Buying Criteria

5.7.1 Key Stakeholders in Buying Process

5.7.2 Buying Criteria

5.8 Macroeconomic Indicators

5.8.1 Introduction

5.8.2 GDP Trends and Forecast

5.9 Technology Overview

5.10 Case Studies

5.11 Average Selling Price Trend

5.12 Export-Import Trade Statistics

5.13 Supply Chain Crises Since Pandemic

5.14 Global Scenarios

5.14.1 China

5.14.1.1 Debt Issues

5.14.1.2 Australia-China Trade War

5.14.1.3 Environmental Commitments

5.14.2 Europe

5.14.2.1 Political Instability in Germany

5.14.2.2 Energy Crisis in Europe

5.15 Ecosystem Map

5.16 Trends/Disruptions Impacting Customer Businesses

5.17 Global Regulatory Framework and Impact on MS Polymer Adhesives Market

5.17.1 Regulatory Bodies, Government Agencies, and Other Organizations

5.17.2 Tariffs and Regulations

5.18 Patent Analysis

5.18.1 Methodology

5.18.2 Publication Trends

5.18.3 Insights

5.18.4 Jurisdiction Analysis

5.18.5 Top Applicants

5.19 COVID-19 Impact Analysis

5.19.1 COVID-19 Economic Assessment

5.19.2 Economic Impact of COVID-19: Scenario Assessment

5.2 Key Conferences and Events in 2022-2023

6 MS Polymer Adhesives Market, by Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Adhesives

6.3 Sealants

7 MS Polymer Adhesives Market, by End-use Industry

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Building & Construction

7.2.1 Use in Bonding, Renovation, and Maintenance & Repair of Buildings

7.3 Automotive & Transportation

7.3.1 Use in Automobiles and Aerospace

7.3 Industrial Assembly

7.3.1 Increasing Need for Marine and Wind Energy

7.4 Others

8 MS Polymer Adhesives Market, by Region

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Asia-Pacific

8.2.1 China

8.2.1.1 Development of New Manufacturing Facilities

8.2.2 South Korea

8.2.2.1 Growth in Automotive Industry

8.2.3 India

8.2.3.1 Government Initiatives to Help Growth of End-use Industries

8.2.4 Japan

8.2.4.1 Dominance in Automotive Industry Challenged by Emerging Countries

8.2.5 Thailand

8.2.5.1 Growing Aviation Industry

8.2.6 Indonesia

8.2.6.1 Availability of Cheap Labor and Raw Materials

8.2.7 Malaysia

8.2.7.1 Auto Manufacturing Hub

8.2.8 Rest of Asia-Pacific

8.4 North America

8.4.1 US

8.4.1.1 Largest Market Share in Region

8.4.2 Canada

8.4.2.1 Growing End-use Industries

8.4.3 Mexico

8.4.3.1 Low-Cost Manufacturing

8.3 Europe

8.3.1 Germany

8.3.1.1 Largest Producer in Europe

8.3.3 Russia

8.3.3.1 Currency Devaluation

8.3.4 Italy

8.3.4.1 Increasing Automobile Production and Exports

8.3.5 Turkey

8.3.5.1 Infrastructure Investment by Government

8.3.6 France

8.3.6.1 Moderate Growth in End-use Industries

8.3.7 Spain

8.3.7.1 Automotive Sector to Positively Influence Market Growth

8.3.9 UK

8.3.9.1 Severely Impacted by COVID-19

8.3.10 Rest of Europe

8.6 South America

8.6.1 Brazil

8.6.1.1 Emerging Economy and Automotive Industry

8.6.2 Argentina

8.6.2.1 Increasing Population and Improved Economic Conditions

8.6.4 Rest of South America

8.5 Middle East & Africa

8.5.2 Africa

8.5.2.1 Higher Share of Automotive Industry

8.5.4 UAE

8.5.4.1 Growing Aircraft Manufacturing Activities

8.5.5 Rest of Middle East

9 Competitive Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Market Share Analysis

9.2.1 Market Ranking Analysis

9.3 Key Player Strategies/Right to Win

9.4 Company Revenue Analysis

9.5 Competitive Leadership Mapping, 2021

9.5.1 Stars

9.5.2 Emerging Leaders

9.5.3 Pervasive Players

9.5.4 Participants

9.6 SME Matrix, 2021

9.6.1 Progressive Companies

9.6.2 Dynamic Companies

9.6.3 Starting Blocks

9.6.4 Responsive Companies

9.7 Strength of Product Portfolio

9.8 Business Strategy Excellence

9.9 Competitive Benchmarking

9.10 Competitive Scenario

9.10.1 Market Evaluation Framework

9.10.2 Market Evaluation Matrix

9.11 Strategic Developments

9.11.1 New Product Developments

10 Company Profiles

10.1 Henkel AG

10.1.1 Business Overview

10.1.2 Products Offered

10.1.3 Analyst's View

10.2 Sika AG

10.2.1 Business Overview

10.2.2 Products Offered

10.2.3 Recent Developments

10.2.4 Analyst's View

10.3 Arkema (Bostik)

10.3.1 Business Overview

10.3.2 Products Offered

10.3.3 Recent Developments

10.3.4 Analyst's View

10.4 3M Company

10.4.1 Business Overview

10.4.2 Products Offered

10.4.3 Recent Developments

10.4.4 Analyst's View

10.5 Wacker Chemie AG

10.5.1 Business Overview

10.5.2 Products Offered

10.5.3 Analyst's View

10.6 H.B. Fuller

10.6.1 Business Overview

10.6.2 Products Offered

10.6.3 Analyst's View

10.7 Tremco Illbruck GmbH & Co. KG

10.7.1 Business Overview

10.7.2 Products Offered

10.7.3 Recent Developments

10.7.4 Analyst's View

10.8 Hermann Otto GmbH

10.8.1 Business Overview

10.8.2 Products Offered

10.9 Soudal Group

10.9.1 Business Overview

10.9.2 Products Offered

10.10 Mapei S.p.A.

10.10.1 Business Overview

10.10.2 Products Offered

10.11 Novachem Corporation Ltd.

10.11.1 Business Overview

10.11.2 Products Offered

10.12 Permabond LLC

10.12.1 Business Overview

10.12.2 Products Offered

10.13 Kisling AG

10.13.1 Business Overview

10.13.2 Products Offered

10.14 Weicon GmbH & Co. KG

10.14.1 Business Overview

10.14.2 Products Offered

10.14.3 Recent Developments

10.15 Merz+Benteli AG

10.15.1 Business Overview

10.15.2 Products Offered

10.15.3 Recent Developments

10.16 American Sealants, Inc.

10.16.1 Business Overview

10.16.2 Products Offered

10.17 Forgeway Limited

10.17.1 Business Overview

10.17.2 Products Offered

10.18 Weiss Chemie + Technik GmbH & Co. KG

10.18.1 Business Overview

10.18.2 Products Offered

10.19 DL Chemicals

10.19.1 Business Overview

10.19.2 Products Offered

10.20 Tech-Masters

10.20.1 Business Overview

10.20.2 Products Offered

11 Adjacent/Related Markets

12 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ofgpb5

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
The virtual event boasted appearances by United States Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona among top state legislators, education leaders, Think Together alumni, parents, students and staff.

SANTA ANA, Calif., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Think Together, California's leading nonprofit provider of afterschool, expanded learning and school improvement programs, held its annual Lights on Afterschool event themed Shining a Light for 25 Years on Thursday, October 20 on Think Together's YouTube.

The live virtual event drew nearly 200 viewers and has received over 500 views since the broadcast aired. The event featured testimonials from educators, Think Together alumni, parents, students and Think Together staff alongside legislative appearances from:

Think Together, Californias leading nonprofit provider of afterschool, expanded learning and school improvement programs, held its annual Lights on Afterschool event themed Shining a Light for 25 Years on Thursday, October 20 virtually on Think Togethers YouTube, as well as in-person across nearly 400 school sites.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona

Lieutenant Governor of California Eleni Kounalakis (D- Sacramento )

) Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D- Lakewood )

(D- ) State Senator Connie Leyva (D- San Bernardino )

(D- ) State Senator John Laird (D- Monterey )

(D- ) Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D- Sacramento )

(D- ) Assemblymember Chis Holden (D- Pasadena )

In addition to the live virtual broadcast, Think Together hosted 392 school site events during the week of Lights On Afterschool to celebrate the positive impact afterschool and expanded learning programs make in the lives of students every day. From Compton to San Jose, Temecula to Orange, students took part in Lights On Afterschool through educational enrichment including engineering, agriculture, healthy living, arts, and painting activities.

"We're proud to have such incredible support from our state and federal lawmakers who have shown time and time again that afterschool and expanded learning programs can change the trajectory of a student's life," said Think Together Founder and CEO Randy Barth. "Our mission at Think Together is to work with schools to change the odds for kids, and their support, along with the support of our school partners and our donors, helps us carry out our mission every day."

Lights On Afterschool is a national campaign organized by the Afterschool Alliance to underscore the need for sustainable federal, state and private investment for afterschool programs, which provide hands-on enrichment opportunities designed to help youth forge successful futures.

In addition to Think Together program showcases, national landmarks from Alaska to Alabama were illuminated to commemorate Lights On Afterschool. In total, nearly 5,000 afterschool and expanded learning program providers held celebrations in support of their programs and the impact they make on our communities, including Think Together.

Research commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance shows that some 24.7 million U.S. children not in an afterschool program would be enrolled if a program were available to them. These numbers gathered from a survey of 1,500 parents between May and June of 2022, are the highest ever recorded. In response, legislators on the state and national levels are responding with a renewed resolve to ensure the increased demand for afterschool programs is met.

In the past year, advocates in California legislature like those in attendance at Think Together's live Lights On Afterschool event drove the passing of the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program grant and Universal Pre-Kindergarten. These two programs, along with the Engage Every Student initiative at the national level, lay a foundation for the tremendous growth of expanded learning and afterschool programs like Think Together.

"We stand at a real transformational moment in education. One in which students who have been traditionally underserved will be given the resources needed to narrow the opportunity gap once and for all," added Barth. "As we continue to face the pandemic's enduring impacts, we stand ready to serve these students who need high quality support systems to succeed in school, college and career."

About Think Together

Think Together partners with schools and communities to pursue educational equity and excellence for all kids. As a nonprofit organization, Think Together innovates, implements and scales academic solutions that change the odds for hundreds of thousands of California students. Think Together's program areas include early learning, afterschool, school support services and leadership development for teachers and school administrators. For more information, call (888) 485-THINK or visit www.thinktogether.org.

SOURCE Think Together
A roundup of the week's most newsworthy financial industry press releases from PR Newswire

NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering the finance industry stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

Read more of the latest finance-related releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNfinance on Twitter.

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For questions, contact the team at [email protected].

SOURCE PR Newswire
Texas's Largest Personal Injury Firm Offering Competitive Salaries, Up To $100K in Sign-On Bonuses to Qualified Legal Candidates*

SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Thomas J. Henry Law, the largest personal injury plaintiff's firm in Texas, has announced a new compensation package for qualified attorneys as it seeks to attract the best legal talent for its offices in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Houston, and Corpus Christi.

Attorneys will benefit from a generous base salary, additional performance-based commissions, and a six-figure sign-on bonus for qualified candidates. *

Truly experienced litigation attorneys can look forward to a $250,000 base salary supported by a guaranteed commission after achieving the performance goal and in addition, a sign-on bonus for qualified candidates worth up-to $100,000.

Top performers will have the ability to earn an income of seven figures annually.

Litigation attorneys with 3 plus years' experience are eligible for a base salary of $120,000 with a guaranteed commission after achieving the performance goal plus a $25,000 sign-on bonus being offered to qualified candidates.

In addition to growing its workforce by 20% year to date, Thomas J. Henry Law continues to attract high-value personal injury cases and is looking for experienced attorneys who are ready to secure multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements. This includes cases with $1 Million or more in insurance coverage.

Attorneys also benefit from an industry-leading benefits package plus a premier 401(k) retirement package with contribution matching on the first 4% of eligible pay contributed. Contributions are automatically and immediately 100% vested.

For the past 30 years, Thomas J. Henry Law has continued to experience sustained and substantial annual growth, regardless of that state of the national economy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Thomas J. Henry Law continued to not only function at full capacity with no cuts to staff, compensation, or benefits, but, in fact, expanded the law firm's overall size and scope during this time.

Thomas J. Henry Law's methodologies continue to attract clients and legal talent, year after year, no matter the current economic climate. With an attorney count today exceeding 250, Attorney/Founder Thomas J. Henry states "With the size and scope of the law firm, success isn't possible without the collaboration of many great professionals that have internalized our approach to the zealous representation of our clients. We have established ourselves through the meticulous and methodical way we develop each and every case. This approach has allowed us to achieve record breaking results year after year.

These results, combined with our industry leading compensation packages garner a high level of attention from the legal community across the country. Our commitment is to continue to be selective so that we hire the best and brightest legal talent to best serve our clients."

Learn more about becoming a trial attorney at Thomas J Henry Law:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VT811Ov6Zo&t=91s

And learn more about open positions here:

https://thomasjhenrylaw.com/about/careers/

*Sign-on Bonus for qualified applicants to be paid out in 3 equal installments over an 18 month period.

About Thomas J. Henry

Thomas J. Henry Law, PLLC is one of the nation's leading personal injury firms. Since 1993, the firm has fought to secure justice and compensation for individuals who have lost loved ones due to the negligence of others and to prevent similar instances of wrongful death from occurring again. Over that time, Thomas J. Henry and his firm have been the recipients of numerous awards and recognitions.

In 2022, Thomas J. Henry was recognized as an Attorney of the Year by Top 100 Lawyers (Top 100 Registry, Inc.) for Outstanding Achievement in Personal Injury and Mass Tort. He was also named a Top 10 Trucking Trial Lawyer by The National Trial Lawyers and a Legal Superstar of 2022 by Newsweek.com.

In 2021, Thomas J. Henry Law, PLLC was named "Law Firm of the Year" by the American Institute of Legal Professionals, and Thomas J. Henry secured one of the Top 50 Verdicts in Texas as determined by TopVerdict.com. TopVerdict.com also recognized Thomas J. Henry Law, PLLC for securing one of the Top 10 Personal Injury Verdicts in Florida for 2021.

In 2020, firm founder Thomas J. Henry was named one of SA Scene Magazine's Best San Antonio Lawyers. Thomas J. Henry was also recognized in Texas Lawyer's (an ALM Company) Southwest Top Verdicts and Settlements of 2020 for securing the #1 Gross Negligence Verdict for the year.

In 2019, Thomas J. Henry Law, PLLC was recognized as one of the nation's Premier Law Firms by Newsweek.com. That same year, Bloomberg Businessweek published a feature on Thomas J. Henry, highlighting his firm's "clear commitment to client satisfaction." Thomas J. Henry was also named the Best Attorney of San Antonio by the SA Current.

In 2018, Thomas J. Henry was named a Distinguished Lawyer by Lawyers of Distinction and was also recognized as one of the Best Personal Injury Attorneys in the nation by Newsweek.com. In 2017, Thomas J. Henry achieved one of the 10 largest verdicts recorded in Texas for the year (awarded to Thomas J. Henry by Texas Lawyer, an ALM company) as well as the #1 Texas Car Accident, Bus Accident, and Negligent Supervision Verdicts for the year (awarded to Thomas J. Henry by TopVerdict.com).

Other recent results include:

$50 Million for a Trucking Accident Resulting in Wrongful Death (Expenses: $1,126,381 | Attorney's Fees: $21,000,000 | Net to Client: $27,000,000 )

(Expenses: | Attorney's Fees: | Net to Client: ) $35 Million for a Trucking Accident Resulting in Wrongful Death (Expenses: $100,000.00 | Attorney's Fees: $12,750,000.00 | Net to Client: $22,150,000.00 )

(Expenses: | Attorney's Fees: | Net to Client: ) $30.2 Million for an Accident Involving a Recalled Vehicle Resulting in Spinal Cord and Back Injuries (Expenses: $39,576.15 | Attorney's Fees: $10,060,980.00 | Net to Client: $20,121,960.57 )

(Expenses: | Attorney's Fees: | Net to Client: ) $12.7 Million for a Medical Malpractice Resulting in Spinal Cord and Back Injuries (Expenses: $300.000.00 | Attorney's Fees: $2,000,000.00 | Net to Client: $10.4 Million - Purchase of Lifetime Annuity)

(Expenses: | Attorney's Fees: | Net to Client: - Purchase of Lifetime Annuity) $10.9 Million for Medical Malpractice Resulting in Spinal Cord and Back Injuries (Expenses: $300,000.00 | Attorney's Fees: $3,200,000.00 | Net to Client: $4,029,762.00 - Purchase of Lifetime Annuity)

(Expenses: | Attorney's Fees: | Net to Client: - Purchase of Lifetime Annuity) $10 Million for a Company Vehicle Accident Resulting in Spinal Cord and Back Injuries (Expenses: $125,000.00 | Attorney's Fees: $4,250,000.00 | Net to Client: $5,625,000.00 )

In 2016, Forbes Magazine named Thomas J. Henry a "Texas Leader in Law," noting his ability to secure large financial awards, a positive reputation among professional peers, and a dedication to philanthropy at the local, national, and global levels.

Thomas J. Henry is also a lifetime member of both the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum and of Rue Ratings' "Best Attorneys of America."

Outside of the courtroom, the firm is known for its many philanthropic endeavors and generous contributions to local and global communities.

The firm has an active philanthropy program that supports causes related to poverty, veterans, national disaster relief, education, animals, and the arts.

CONTACT: Norah Lawlor, [email protected]

SOURCE Thomas J. Henry Law
Led By StepStone Group and Schroders Capital with Additional Commitments from New and Existing Investors

DALLAS, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Trinity Hunt Partners, a growth-oriented private equity firm, today announced the closing of its first Continuation Fund, raising capital to support the acquisitions of Argano and Improving, two premier technology services companies, from Trinity Hunt Partners V, L.P. The Continuation Fund closed on $618 million in commitments, which includes a substantial pool of capital for follow-on investments to support the continued growth of the companies.

Adam Johnston, Partner at StepStone said, "We seek to partner with best-in-class sponsors to create solutions for their highest quality assets, and this transaction is a great example of both. We're excited to build on our partnership with Trinity Hunt in a transaction that will support these two companies in their continued value creation."

Trinity Hunt Partners, a growth-oriented private equity firm, announces the closing of its first Continuation Fund. Tweet this

During its ownership period in Improving and Argano, Trinity Hunt has worked to rapidly grow each business through an intense focus on organic growth, add-on acquisitions, and investments in people and culture. With additional capital support, Trinity Hunt will continue to seek to execute on this growth strategy.

"The closing of our first continuation fund is an important milestone for Trinity Hunt," said Blake Apel, Managing Partner. "We are extremely proud of the success that these two leading companies have achieved thus far in our partnerships together, and the attractive returns we have been able to provide to our existing investors. We believe there is additional value at these companies that can be unlocked with additional time and capital."

"We are very excited to expand our partnership with Trinity Hunt and these two exceptional companies," added David Guryn, Senior Investment Director at Schroders Capital.

Credit Suisse served as financial advisor, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Trinity Hunt. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP provided legal counsel to StepStone, while Proskauer provided legal counsel to Schroders Capital. Terms were not disclosed.

About Argano

Argano is a leading digital consultancy focused on optimizing client operations by modernizing, integrating and automating their Digital Foundations, with capabilities including commerce, billing, enterprise resource planning, supply chain, human capital, analytics, reporting and performance management. Argano serves over 1,500 clients across industries with a talent pool spanning 38 countries. For more information, visit argano.com.

About Improving

Improving is a modern digital services organization focused on delivering impactful business solutions using the latest technologies. The company has an international presence with 16 offices across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. To learn more about Improving, visit improving.com.

About Trinity Hunt Partners

Trinity Hunt Partners is a growth-oriented middle market private equity firm with over $1.5 billion of assets under management focused on building leading business, healthcare, and consumer services companies. Trinity Hunt has earned a reputation for providing the strategic, operational, and financial capabilities needed to take entrepreneurial services companies to the next level. For more information, visit www.trinityhunt.com .

About StepStone Group

StepStone Group Inc. is a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions and advisory, data and administrative services to its clients. As of June 30, 2022, StepStone oversaw approximately $588 billion of private markets allocations, including approximately $137 billion of assets under management. StepStone partners with its clients to develop and build private markets portfolios designed to meet their specific objectives across the private equity, infrastructure, private debt and real estate asset classes. For more information, visit www.stepstonegroup.com.

About Schroders Capital

Schroders Capital provides investors with access to a broad range of private asset investment opportunities, portfolio building blocks and customized private asset strategies. With approximately $88 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2022, Schroders Capital focuses on delivering best-in-class, risk-adjusted returns and executing investments through a combination of direct investment capabilities and broader solutions in all private market asset classes, through comingled funds and customized private asset mandates. For more information, visit www.schroderscapital.com.

Media Contact

Blake Apel

Managing Partner

Trinity Hunt Partners

[email protected]

(214) 777-6615

SOURCE Trinity Hunt Partners
Hosted by Lisa Ling, the event provided over $1M in grants and wraparound support for nonprofits creating innovative solutions for women and BIPOC small businesses owners

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Truist Foundation today announced Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative as the top recipient of the inaugural Inspire Awards grant, a program inviting nonprofits that support Black-, Indigenous-, and people of color- (BIPOC) and women-owned small businesses across the country to submit innovative solutions to address the complex challenges facing small businesses. The inaugural event was hosted by TV personality and author Lisa Ling.

Lisa Ling, Inspire Awards host, TV personality and author; Lynette Bell, president, Truist Foundation; Jason Hudgins, director of Strategic Programs, Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative; and Bill Rogers, chairman and chief executive officer, Truist, and chairman of Truist Foundation board, celebrate the inaugural Truist Foundation Inspire Awards in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022, where Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative took home the top award. At the inaugural Truist Foundation Inspire Awards on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022, in Charlotte, N.C., Lisa Ling, Inspire Awards host, TV personality and author (left), and Lynette Bell, president of Truist Foundation (second from right), presented Jason Hudgins, director of Strategic Programs at Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative (far right), the top award and Aarti Sahgal, founder of Synergies Work (second from left), second place and audience favorite awards.

After each nonprofit finalist pitched their solutions to a panel of expert judges, Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative was named the recipient of a $250,000 grant to bring its project to life. Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative is addressing Atlanta's racial wealth divide with a solution focused on bolstering Black businesses through research and data, growth and scale, workforce development and retention, and anti-displacement.

"It's an honor to accept the inaugural Truist Foundation Inspire Award on behalf of the entire Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative community," said Jason Hudgins, director of Strategic Programs for Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative. "This initiative is not just about business solutions. It really is about looking down the street and seeing Black business owners  and the children they are raising  and understanding how one investment changes that family, the next generation and a community for generations to come."

"Our first Inspire Awards has been an intensive but incredibly rewarding experience. Reviewing submissions from over 127 nonprofits has shown us the breadth of good being done by organizations to address the key issue of systemic barriers facing small business owners," said Lynette Bell, president of Truist Foundation. "Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative is a truly inspiring and deserving grant recipient, and we are so excited to see the change that will be made possible by this capacity-building funding."

Truist Foundation partnered with Solve, an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to help identify nonprofits with the most innovative ideas to help support, grow and develop small businesses in underserviced communities and create lasting change.

A second-place grant of $150,000 was awarded to Synergies Work, which developed a solution that aims to bridge the gap between entrepreneurs with disabilities and the business community to foster growth through a long-term commitment to success. Synergies Work also was selected as the Audience Favorite by attendees of the event, earning another $75,000 grant.

"Leaving the Truist Foundation Inspire Awards with both second place and the audience favorite awards means the world to Synergies Work because of the light it is shining on the disability community," said Aarti Sahgal, founder of Synergies Work. "We are confident that the work we are doing makes a difference for entrepreneurs with disabilities. For us to now have Truist Foundation and MIT Solve as part of our support system is huge we are so grateful for the avenues this experience and this funding will open for our community."

Beautiful Ventures, Black Wall Street AVL, Change Labs, Democracy at Work Institute and Quality Care for Children also received $25,000 grants to support their projects. Additionally, all finalists participated in a wraparound support program over the past several months and will have the opportunity to attend a capacity-building retreat at the Truist Leadership Institute in 2023.

To learn more about the Inspire Awards, visit Truist.com/InspireAwards.

About Truist Foundation

The Truist Foundation is committed to Truist Financial Corporation's (NYSE: TFC) purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities. Established in 2020, the foundation makes strategic investments in nonprofit organizations to help ensure the communities it serves have more opportunities for a better quality of life. The Truist Foundation's grants and activities focus on building career pathways to economic mobility and strengthening small businesses. Learn more at Truist.com/Foundation.

About MIT Solve

Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a mission to drive innovation to solve world challenges. Solve is a marketplace for social impact innovation. Through open innovation challenges, Solve finds incredible tech-based social entrepreneurs all around the world. Solve then brings together MIT's innovation ecosystem and a community of members to fund and support these entrepreneurs to help them drive lasting transformational impact. Solve has catalyzed over $50 million in commitments for Solver teams and entrepreneurs to date. Join Solve on this journey at solve.mit.edu.

SOURCE Truist Foundation
BANGKOK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- From October 27 to 28 this year, the 8th Ultra-Broadband Forum (UBBF) co-hosted by the UN Broadband Commission and Huawei will be held in Bangkok, Thailand. This forum will bring together global leading operators, industry leaders, regulators, standards organizations, industry alliances, and more, and focus on the theme of "Stride to Ultra-Broadband 5.5G". It will thoroughly analyze the business opportunities that ultra-broadband networks bring to the digital development of homes and industries, and explore the evolution and innovation development directions of the fixed network industry for the next 5 to 10 years.

New Milestones in the Ultra-Broadband Industry

Currently, major 5G deployments can be seen in all industries, and applications such as smart home, smart campus, and smart factory are profoundly changing people's work and life. As the most important digital infrastructure, ultra-broadband connections are vital to the digital development of homes and industries. Moreover, industries are now moving from 5G to 5.5G, and new digital applications have surging demands on connectivity, such as ubiquitous ultra-broadband, multiple clouds and diversified computing power, and high quality, driving home and enterprise connections to the 10G era. To achieve ultra-broadband 5.5G, network capabilities will be upgraded from carrier grade to industrial grade, more enterprises will move to the cloud and intelligently connect to multiple clouds, and service boundaries will extend beyond connectivity to sensing. The ultra-broadband 5.5G will achieve new milestones of the ultra-broadband industry, create business opportunities, and accelerate the journey to an intelligent world.

At UBBF 2022, Huawei will work with global industry partners to define the generations of the fixed network industry, analyze the DNA of business success, and boost further industry development.

Industry Leaders Gather for In-Depth Discussions on Ultra-Broadband 5.5G

During the two-day forum, more than 30 industry leaders from standards organizations, regulators, analyst organizations, and leading operators will gather in Bangkok, Thailand to delve deep into the development and business practices of the ultra-broadband industry.

During two keynote speeches, focusing on industry and business respectively, as well as three industry summits, all participants will come together to discuss and define the evolution directions and key technical standards of F5.5G and Net5.5G, and share insights into the huge market space and success stories brought by home and industry digitalization. They will also talk about the latest industry viewpoints, such as Green All-Optical Network, Intelligent Cloud-Network, and autonomous driving network (ADN). And that's not all: five industry white papers will also be released to offer in-depth insights into the industry trends and strategic development directions of the ultra-broadband industry over the next 5 to 10 years.

Experience First-Hand the Latest Solutions and Successful Business Practices

UBBF 2022 will have three exhibition areas in the digital exhibition hall covering over 1000 m2  Solution Exhibition Hall, Future Zone, and Ecosystem Zone  to present the latest technological innovations and solutions to participants, covering FTTR all-optical home, slice-based industry private line, best-experience 5.5G integrated IP bearer network, 400G, next-generation GPON evolution direction 50G PON, and L3 ADN. In addition, these exhibition areas demonstrate operators' successful practices in multi-cloud connection, gigabit broadband, industrial Internet, and fast network construction for homes and enterprises, as well as systematically present the latest development trend, standards, and progress of the industry.

At this year's UBBF, Huawei will work with leading operators in Thailand to share success cases in the actual deployment of all-optical networks and Intelligent Cloud-Network 2.0. Participants can experience the latest and real FTTR all-optical home, OTN premium private line, Cloud-Network Express, Qiankun Cloud-Network Express, and all-wireless campus office services onsite.

SOURCE Huawei
The first Cast retail location marks a milestone for the jewelry industry and supports the brand's mission of reimagining the centuries-old category.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cast launched in 2021 with the bold mission to make shopping for fine jewelry as joyful as wearing it. The San Francisco-based brand is marking its one-year anniversary with the grand opening of its first brick-and-mortar location. The store concept is designed to evoke that magical "kid in a candy store" feeling which translates more literally to a wonderland of everchanging fine jewelry collections to explore, touch, and try-on. The overall store aesthetic is chic meets whimsical; it's a destination meant to surprise and delight for the ultimate treasure hunt.

Cast Store Hero Cast Store 2

"I can't remember a time when I walked into a fine jewelry store without feeling intimidated and out of place." shares Cast Co-Founder Rachel Skelly. "That's why we created Cast. We're here to inspire curiosity and discovery, with exclusive collections created in collaboration with some of our favorite designers and artists."

The Cast boutique will open at The Village at Corte Madera in Marin County, CA in October 2022. This is the first of several planned boutiques, with an ultimate vision of over 100 boutiques in North America alone.

Rachel Skelly, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer and Eric Ryan, co-founder and CEO, have reimagined the traditional jewelry shopping space and created a multisensory experience. Successful entrepreneurs, they have repeatedly brought optimism and joy to stuffy and dusty categories including cleaning, health and nutrition with the introduction of method, OLLY, Welly and Plum Organics. There's no team better suited to tackling the dated coldness of established jewelry retail. And no better location than beloved San Francisco where beautiful art and design meet innovation.

"We set out to change the experience of shopping for fine jewelry by shifting the experience to focus on the person wearing the jewelry." notes Ryan.

Upon entering the 500 sq ft. boutique, guests will experience a world of wonder to explore that uniquely celebrates the exclusive and ever-evolving collection of Cast's fine jewelry designs. There's always something new to discover. The chic boutique engages all senses, where guests are welcomed with a beverage and product menu revealing detail and pricing about every piece without any need to guess. A signature Cast scent created by female-founded, 12.29 hovers in the air. Custom vignette displays and the capsule centerpiece inspire curiosity and invite interaction. Designed by Grow, an independent women-owned and run agency based in San Francisco, the space radiates a wonder-filled joyful experience for both experienced jewelry lovers as well as novices who are just graduating from costume and vermeil into fine. Cast is created for those who are looking for heirloom-quality designs and craftsmanship to treasure for years to come.

ABOUT CAST

Cast is a place to discover unexpected wonder-filled fine jewelry. Founded in San Francisco and launched in 2021, Cast was created by two friends who wanted to make the experience of shopping for fine jewelry as joyful as wearing it. With Co-Founder Rachel Skelly at the design helm as Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder and CEO Eric Ryan guiding the path forward, Cast brings to life a new vision for fine jewelry. The Cast story includes many voicesfrom the exclusive Cast-made collaborations they create to the select guest artists and distinctive pieces they showcase. Skelly and Ryan are on a mission to turn the jewelry curious into jewelry lovers and collectors with an experience that inspires wonder. Welcome to Cast. Let your treasure hunt begin.

ABOUT GROW

Grow is an independent women-owned and run agency based in San Francisco who has created award-winning experiences for F500 brands around the globe. Known for our design aesthetic, brands have turned to us when they want to create standout moments rooted in elevated and distinctive design, from Barbie's Malibu Dreamhouse on Airbnb to the launch of Google Home to consumers via a tiny neighborhood. Grow's leaders come from the client side of retail and know first-hand the importance of a differentiated retail experience and the power of a compelling space to move hearts and minds. We're thrilled to partner with long-time friend and fellow Bay Area entrepreneurs, Eric Ryan and Rachel Skelly, to tackle the challenge of reimagining the jewelry retail experience.

ABOUT 12.29

Modern brand storytelling is not complete without emotional engagement which is a natural and acute byproduct of a scented experience. At 12.29, we engage the visceral language of scent to define, shape, and communicate brand identity. Symbolic and visceral, smell is a powerful brand language that communicates identity and differentiation. The scent creates an emotional space around a brand's audience, building and nurturing a brand community around shared feelings and powerful bonds. 12.29 global capabilities provide an end-to-end service delivery model for client locations around the world while ensuring consistency and reliability.

SOURCE Cast
SHANGHAI, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- VETRESKA FUTURE PET FOOD, the Singapore-based subsidiary of leading Chinese pet lifestyle brand VETRESKA, recently received a US$50 million strategic investment from Quest FoF, the VCC of a major Pan-Asian Agri-Food conglomerate. Earlier this year, the parent company of VETRESKA also announced that it had completed three rounds of funding, raising an undisclosed eight-figure USD sum over a two-year period. The strategic investment allows the creative and branding nous of VETRESKA to now be complemented by the upstream foundation of its new investor.

Photo: VETRESKA Oasis Cactus Pet Supplies

VETRESKA co-founder and CEO Donald Kng said, "We are very excited to receive this level of recognition from our experienced investment partners. Since our inception in 2017, VETRESKA has achieved strong growth worldwide. Today as we stand on the precipice of the next step forward as a company, we believe that this new joint venture will not only serve as a catalyst on which we propel ourselves forward, but also the ideal vehicle with which we effectively solve our past upstream deficiencies. Our pet supplies and pet food businesses will be spun off into two separate entities and teams, each of which will be led by a more focused and professional team, enabling us to have greater operational dynamism as we look towards the next five years."

Tandip Singh, advisor to Quest FoF, said, "After a thorough analysis of the global high-end pet food and supplies industry, VETRESKA stood out from a number of pet brands with its forward-thinking product concept alongside precise insights into and understanding of the industry's major trends. This collaborative partnership between VETRESKA, the branding and marketing savant of the pet industry, and Quest FoF, with its resounding affiliation to the leading, Pan-Asian, industrial agri-food company dedicated to upstream feed production and breeding farms across all essential proteins, will bring a new dimension to the pet industry throughout the Asia-Pacific region."

Across-the-board Upgrade of Industrial Chains

Upon completion of this strategic investment, VETRESKA's pet supplies and pet food divisions will be spun-out as two stand-alone businesses. In line with the group's roadmap for the next stage of growth, the new Singapore subsidiary, VETRESKA FUTURE PET FOOD, will fully manage the pet food business as part of the company's multi-brand portfolio. Through this new business and organizational restructuring, the group is able to make its management more efficient, brand and product distribution more targeted, and the range of pet foods and supplies made available to consumers worldwide more comprehensive and professional.

In addition, VETRESKA will leverage the rich resources of its strategic partners in procurement, production and processing of global food raw materials, to build a high-quality overseas pet food supply chain system, as well as boost R&D through collaborative efforts with well-known research and academic institutions, including professional veterinary channels in Singapore and veterinary institutions of top universities worldwide. Combining new trends in the pet food industry and the latest research results in animal nutrition and animal behavior, the company is on track to develop a more comprehensive product matrix, meeting the feeding needs of global consumers.

Rapid Global Business Expansion

The previous three financing rounds earlier this year fueled VETRESKA's rapid expansion and growth in the global markets. In August of this year, VETRESKA established an Overseas Headquarters in Singapore, building a strong team specializing in business development, direct-to-consumer (DTC) operations, branding and marketing, in a move to connect its core business and supply chain capabilities in China to its brand expansion plans globally. In the same month, VETRESKA opened its New York office and took part in SUPERZOO, the largest pet tradeshow in the US.

In 2022, VETRESKA's online business, including its website for North American markets and its flagship store on Amazon, has been growing rapidly. The firm has partnered with major retail chains and department stores in many countries and regions, most notably in North America, Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea, paving the way for the company's next stage of overseas business expansion.

For more information, please visit https://vetreskanyc.com/

About VETRESKA

Founded in 2017, VETRESKA is a fast-growing pet lifestyle brand in China. Drawing inspiration in everything that has been invented to make life for mankind more enjoyable and comfortable, VETRESKA strives to present pet lovers with products that incorporate a fun yet functional design, empowers them to share the delight of life and living with their pets.

Since inception, the brand has developed a line-up of popular products, many of which have become bestsellers, including Soil-free Cat Grass, Oasis Cactus Cat Tree, Watermelon Kitty Kove, and Bubble Pet Carrier.

From 2021 to June 2022, VETRESKA closed three financing rounds, of which, Series B3 was led by Altrui Investment, with significant investment from BOJIA Capital. Series B2 was fully subscribed by existing shareholder Clearvue Partners, and Series B+ was exclusively invested by existing shareholder BOJIA Capital. In 2020, VETRESKA raised US$20 million in two financing rounds, of which, Series B was led by private equity firm Clearvue Partners, while Series A2 at the beginning of the year was led by China Growth Capital and followed by SIG China, which had oversubscribed in the Series A+ financing round. Earlier investors include Galileo Venture, IDG Capital and Hejun Capital.

SOURCE VETRESKA
SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- VisualCamp (CEO Suk Yun-chan) , a member of the Born2Global Centre, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based eye-tracking technology startup, announced on October 19 that it won the Future Innovators Award at the Innovation Cup of GITEX 2022 held at the Dubai World Trade Center in Dubai, UAE, for three days October 10. This achievement proves the excellence of the company's technology on the global stage once again. The event is an exhibition created to support the growth of startups at GITEX Global, the 42nd largest information and communication exhibition in the Middle East and Africa.

Innovation Cup Sponsor AHOY CEO Jamil Shinawi (left), VisualCamp Director Lee Seung-woo (center)

This year's Innovation Cup is worth USD 175,000 in total prize money, and a total of 17 companies that passed the preliminary round were selected from among thousands of startups from all around the world. VisualCamp won the second-ranked Future Innovators Award and received USD 50,000 in credit. In addition, award-winning companies will receive various benefits such as Azure Credit of $1,500, support for participation in GITEX events, support for investment strategy consulting, marketing and SEO services, mentoring and investment networking opportunities, and media promotion. In this year's event, a Korean startup won first place, and a Spanish startup won third place.

At the Innovation Cup, VisualCamp introduced "SeeSo," an AI-based eye-tracking software solution that does not require separate hardware. This is an eye-tracking technology that anyone can easily experience through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets anytime, anywhere and that overcomes the limitations of existing eye-tracking hardware devices. In addition to winning the Innovation Cup, VisualCamp's eye-tracking technology has already been recognized worldwide with wins at the CES Innovation Awards and MWC Global Mobile Awards.

VisualCamp CEO Suk Yun-chan said, "I am happy that the eye-tracking technology developed by VisualCamp will once again be recognized at global exhibitions such as GITEX. We will use this award as a stepping stone to accelerate our entry into the Middle East and Africa markets.

About Born2Global Centre

The Born2Global Centre, operated by Born2Global, is a full-cycle service platform that supports the global expansion of promising companies. Established in 2013 under the Ministry of Science and ICT, Born2Global has been setting the standards for a successful startup ecosystem in Korea and continues to expand and transform startups so that they are engaged, well equipped, and connected with the global market.

born2global.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1925929/image_1.jpg

SOURCE Born2Global Centre
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- John Moran is pleased to present major works by Judy Chicago, Marcos Grigorian, Rosangela Renno, Jenny Holzer, Josh Smith, Doug Aitken, Jean-Michel Othoniel, and the Father of the Space and Light Movement, James Turrell with his important work, Hologram #10 at Moran's Autumn Modern & Contemporary Art sale. On the heels of Moran's three World-Auction Records in their September Modern & Contemporary Art sale, this selection of rare-to-market works by blue-chip artists on Tuesday, November 1st will certainly be an auction the art world will be closely watching.

Works by James Turrell and Judy Chicago Highlight John Moran Auctioneers Autumn Modern & Contemporary Fine Art Sale Tweet this Lot #64 Judy Chicago, "Transformation Painting," 1973, Estimate: $80,000 - $120,000, image courtesy of John Moran Auctioneers, www.johnmoran.com

Moran's is honored to be presenting the fresh-to-market work, Transformation Painting, 1973, by the feminist artist and educator, Judy Chicago. This work represents a pivotal moment in her career It marks the transition of her artistic practice moving away from the light and space movement and toward more socially conscious works, particularly in relation to gender and sexual identity. Chicago helped pioneer the feminist art movement in the 1960s and 70s and this is a strong example of artwork from that time. Transformation Painting, is a part of feminist history and history at large: the work was exhibited at the landmark 1973 exhibition "Womanhouse" in Los Angeles, the first ever feminist exhibition to gain national attention. The abstract imagery of Transformation Painting alludes to the feminine and the captions give insight into the artist's innermost thoughts and vulnerabilities (i.e., commentary about a dinner party in which she was excluded). It also led her to creating a body of work that is now part of the Brooklyn Museum's permanent collection thanks to the support of a collector, Elizabeth Sackler. Judy Chicago has entered the historical canon and artworks like this show her to not only be on the right side of history, but to have forged the path. Transformation Painting, estimated at $80,000-120,000, is a highlight of the sale and is one of few works by Chicago to have appeared at auction.

Included in this sale are several works previously held in an important New York Corporate Collection, the same collection that housed Moran's recent World-Auction Record-breaking, Alice Baber. This over fifty-year-old collection features work by Robert Natkin and Robert Sterling Neuman. There will also be a variety of photography from contemporary artists such as Lawrence Schiller, Robert Weingarten Jean Pigozzi, Yuka V., Mike Figgis, Douglas Kirkland, and Melanie Pullen.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE John Moran Auctioneers
WyattWear is a small Black-owned, Maryland-based business.

SILVER SPRING, Md., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- WyattWear LLC, creators of a fashion-forward bib collection for adolescents and adults who drool, will run a holiday sale starting on October 24th. All bibs, including the newest additions, will be 25% off. The sale will last until November 18th, 2022.

WyattWear LLC, a Black-owned business, will release over ten designs this winter, including rich, vibrant colors and a floral collection by Debbie Beaves. The line now includes bibs with shoulder coverage. All designs are lined with a lightweight, high-end absorbent material uniquely engineered to capture and distribute moisture with superior holding capacity. The company continues its mission to "Recast the Image of the Bib."

WyattWear LLC Launches Holiday Sale on October 24th Tweet this

WyattWear LLC is a niche brand in the retail bib industry because of its bold decision to select high-end, unconventional fabrics for its unique customers who drool. Their inaugural line used faux leather, microsuede, sequins, and velvet. See the collection at www.wyattwear.com.

"It's our mission to protect clothing from drool fashionably. We are combining fabrics that aren't usually paired together on bibs and designing them to be accessories to fashion-forward outfits. We aspire to become a designer brand within the bib industry," said Robin Williams Evans, co-owner of WyattWear LLC.

END

SOURCE WyattWear
VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Xander Resources Inc. ("Xander" or the "Company") (TSXV: XND) (OTCQB: XNDRF) (FSX: 1XI) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an option agreement (the "Option") to acquire (the "Acquisition") 100% interest in certain 100 mineral claims (the "Claims" and the "Property") located in Timmins, Ontario.

Figure 1 - Location of Xander's Claims in the Timmins Camp (CNW Group/Xander Resources Inc.)

The property consists of 100 separate mineral claim blocks comprising over 21 square kilometres that are located contiguous to the west of the Company's existing Timmins North claims. Historical work at the property includes airborne geophysical survey work (Geotech's helicopter-borne VTEM (versatile time domain electromagnetic)) which has delineated six (6) drill targets in line with the existing high-priority electromagnetic anomalies within the property (often indicative of sulphide mineralization) and numerous major and minor structures.

With the acquisition of these claims, the Company's Timmins North Block now consists of 336 claims that are not only near Canada Nickel Company's (CNC) Crawford Project, where CNC has completed a preliminary economic assessment only 20 months after the commencement of exploration drilling that indicates 25-year mine with an after-tax NPV 8% of $1.2 billion, but also adjacent and along trend with CNC's recently identified Reid Discovery which has already through early exploration delineated a mineralized footprint 90% as large as Crawford.

The company's plan over the coming months is to build on the geophysical work completed through further geophysical mapping and interpretation, sampling, and other techniques in order to launch a comprehensive drill program following its upcoming near-term drill program on the prior optioned claims comprising the North Block.

Deepak Varshney, Xander CEO, said, "We are very pleased to have been able to add these claims to our portfolio. Our goal is to build a significant nickel footprint in this district and acquiring these claims, particularly in light of the recent large-scale discovery by CNC at its Reid property, will help us successfully move forward with that objective."

The Transaction

Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company will grant to the Vendors a 3% net smelter returns royalty and will provide the following commitments to the Vendors, or its assigns to earn an undivided 100% interest in the Property:

$50,000 cash to the Vendor upon the execution date of the Agreement or as soon as practicable thereafter; 9,000,000 common shares of the Company (the "Shares") to be issued to the Vendors at a deemed price of $0.035 per Share within five days of Exchange approval to the transaction; A further $100,000 to the Vendor or its assigns on or before 6 months from the execution date of the Agreement, in cash and/or Shares, at the election of the Company, at a deemed value according to the greater of the 10-day volume-weighted average price ("VWAP") or discounted market; A further $100,000 to the Vendor or its assigns on or before 12 months from the execution date of the Agreement, in cash and/or Shares, at the election of the Company, at a deemed value according to the greater of 10-day VWAP or discounted market price; A further $100,000 to the Vendor or its assigns on or before 18 months from the execution date of the Agreement, in cash and/or Shares, at the election of the Company, at a deemed value according to the greater of 10-day VWAP or discounted market price; A further $100,000 to the Vendor or its assigns on or before 24 months from the execution date of the Agreement, in cash and/or Shares, at the election of the Company, at a deemed value according to the greater of 10-day VWAP or discounted market price.

The Company has agreed to incur not less than $500,000 of qualified exploration expenditures, including 1,500 metres of diamond drilling on the Property within two (2) years of the Closing Date, of which not less than $50,000 will be incurred within one (1) year following the Closing Date. Up to a maximum of $400,000 of exploration expenditures may be satisfied through payments of cash or stock at the election of the Company.

The Acquisition and transactions contemplated, including the issuance of the Shares, are subject to the final approval of the Exchange. The Shares will be subject to the applicable hold periods in accordance with securities laws in Canada and the Exchange policies.

Qualified Person

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Andrew Tims, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

About Xander Resources Inc.

Xander Resources Inc. is a Canadian mineral acquisition and exploration company based in Vancouver, BC, Canada focused on developing accretive gold and battery metal properties within Canada. The company currently has a focus on projects located within the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

Xander is exploring for commercially exploitable mineral deposits and is currently focused on deposits located in Val-d'Or, Quebec, including the Senneville Claim Group which comprises over 100 sq. km and is contiguous in the south to Probe Metals' new discovery, and contiguous in the north to Monarch Mining, in close proximity to Eldorado Gold's (formerly QMX Gold) projects, and east of the North American Lithium Deposit, Great Thunder Gold's Chubb Lithium property and East of the Sayona Quebec's Authier Lithium Deposit, all in the Val-d'Or Mining Camp, plus its newly acquired nickel-sulphide project in Timmins, Ontario near Canada Nickel's MacDiarmid and Crawford Projects.

We seek Safe Harbor

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Deepak Varshney, P.Geo., President and CEO

For more information, please email [email protected] , or visit www.xanderresources.ca .

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.

Forward-looking statements:

This news release may include "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and are based on a number of estimates and/or assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking information are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, uncertain and volatile equity and capital markets, lack of available capital, actual results of exploration activities, environmental risks, future prices of base and other metals, operating risks, accidents, labour issues, delays in obtaining governmental approvals and permits, and other risks in the mining industry.

The Company is presently an exploration stage company. Exploration is highly speculative in nature, involves many risks, requires substantial expenditures, and may not result in the discovery of mineral deposits that can be mined profitably. Furthermore, the Company currently has no reserves on any of its properties. As a result, there can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

SOURCE Xander Resources Inc.
Moscow, Oct 21 : Russian President Vladimir Putin inspected the training of the newly drafted personnel who will participate in the special military operation in Ukraine, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Military units and the newly mobilised forces were conducting joint combat training in preparation for missions during the special military operation, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the statement.

Putin watched practical exercises of the trainees to sharpen their tactical, firing, engineering and medical skills at the Western Military District training ground in the Ryazan region, the statement said.

On September 21, Putin signed a decree on a partial mobilisation in the country.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Los Angeles, Oct 21 : A boy in Nevada state of the US died after he was infected with Naegleria fowleri, a rare brain-eating amoeba, after exposing to the free-living ameba at Lake Mead, state health officials said.

According to a news release from the Southern Nevada Health District, the boy, described as a Clark County resident under the age of 18, possibly was exposed at Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir in the US, at the beginning of October and began to develop symptoms approximately a week later, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the press release, Fermin Leguen, District Health Officer for the Health District, noted that he wanted to reassure the public this type of infection is an extremely rare occurrence.

Naegleria fowleri is a single-celled living organism. It is so small that it can only be seen with a microscope, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. It is commonly found in warm freshwater, such as lakes and rivers, or more rarely, in inadequately chlorinated swimming pools or heated and contaminated tap water.

Infection with the amoeba causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a brain infection that initially includes headache, fever, nausea, or vomiting and progresses to stiff neck, seizures and coma that can lead to death.

Symptoms usually begin about five days after infection but can start within one to 12 days. Once symptoms start, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within about five days.

Last year, a seven-year-old boy in California died after he contracted the brain-eating amoeba likely while swimming in a lake in Northern California. Local public health authorities said only about 10 cases of PAM caused by Naegleria fowleri have been reported in California since 1971.
Dublin, Oct 21 : Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin called on the British government to work together to support peace and stability in Northern Ireland (NI).

Martin made the remarks on Thursday after the announcement of British Prime Minister Liz Truss's resignation earlier in the day, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Working together to protect the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and to support peace and stability in Northern Ireland continue to be vital responsibilities for the British and Irish governments, particularly now in the absence of a functioning Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly," said Martin.

"The UK is Ireland's closest neighbour and a relationship of partnership between the British and Irish governments is vital for peace and prosperity on these islands," he noted.

Martin also called on the UK to make "substantive" engagement with the European Union (EU) on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Truss resigned after just over six weeks in office, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in UK history.
Lucknow, Oct 21 : Over 7,000 unrecognised madrasas have been identified in Uttar Pradesh in a recent survey carried out by the state government. The survey is being done to provide recognition to unrecognised madrasas once they meet the government mandated requirements.

The final list of unrecognised madrasas will be released only after the district magistrates submit their reports by November 15.

Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, Chairman, Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrassa Education said that the process to identify the actual numbers will still take time, but we have estimated around 7,500 such madrassas which were surveyed by teams in 75 districts by Thursday evening.

"In Uttar Pradesh, there are 16,513 recognised madrassas, out of which 560 are given government grants (salary to employees, including teaching and non-teaching ones). There are 350 madrassas with less than 15 students. The teaching staff of 560 madrassas have pay scales similar to those in central government-run secondary schools...," he said.

Under the madrasa modernisation scheme, 744 madrassas are given grants for shiksha mitra, and a scholarship is given to meritorious students of all registered madrasas.

The unrecognised madrasas will now be recognised by the Board of Madrassa Education once they meet government mandated requirements such as providing basic facilities for running madrassas, such as a classroom, table, bench, chairs for students, proper lights fans, toilets, and others.

Further, they can also apply for wages for teaching and non-teaching employees.

According to a government spokesman, there are 150 unofficial madrassas in Gorakhpur, 100 in Lucknow, Azamgarh, Varanasi, and Mau, while Aligarh has 90, Kanpur (85), Prayagraj (70), and Agra (35).
New York, Oct 21 : Diwali will be a public school holiday in New York City starting next year, Mayor Eric Adams announced at a press conference on Thursday with state assembly woman Jenifer Rajkumar.

They were joined by Department of Education chancellor David Banks.

The announcement comes two days before the festival of lights, which falls on October 24.

"We are going to encourage children to learn about what is Diwali," he added. "We're going to have them start talking about what it is to celebrate the Festival of Lights, and how do you turn a light on within yourself," Adams said.

The festival is celebrated by more than a billion people around the world, and signifies victory of light over darkness and good over evil.

"The time has come to recognise over 200,000 New Yorkers of the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain faiths who celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights," Rajkumar, who introduced legislation to recognise Diwali, said in the press conference.

For over two decades, South Asians and Indo-Caribbeans in New York have been fighting for a school holiday on Diwali.

"People have said that there's simply not enough room in the New York City school calendar to have a Diwali school holiday," the assemblywoman said. "Well, my legislation makes the room," said Rajkumar, the first South Asian American woman elected to state-level office in New York.

The new school schedule will still have 180 school days, as is required by the state's education laws, Rajkumar added.

Adding Diwali to the school calendar replaces the little-known Brooklyn-Queens Day -- which originated as a Protestant holiday celebrated in the 1800s.

Latest updates on Diwali Festival 2022

-- Syndicated from IANS
Lucknow, Oct 21 : The sting of dengue is getting worse in Lucknow with 41 new cases being reported on Thursday, taking the total number of cases to 687.

The condition of four new patients is said to be serious and they are being treated at Lokbandhu hospital.

Dr Ajay Sankar Tripathi, Chief Medical Superintendent, Lokbandhu hospital, said, "Although the platelet count of four people who are admitted is low, there is no need for transfusion as of now. We are monitoring their condition closely. Others are stable and recuperating in their homes." Among the cases, the highest 10 were reported from Chander Nagar, followed by Sarojini Nagar (5), while four cases came from Indira Nagar, N.K. Road, and Turiyaganj area.

Rest of the cases were reported from Aishbagh, Mohanlalganj among other areas.

"Anti-larvae sprinkling has been done in localities from where cases were reported. We are monitoring the condition of all patients. Larvae of dengue vector mosquitoes were found at 28 sites after scanning 2,098 houses in different localities," said Yogesh Raghuvanshi, spokesperson, CMO.

Divisional Commissioner Roshan Jacob has directed CMOs of Lucknow division to conduct regular anti-larvae sprinkling in dengue affected areas in view of rising cases.

She said, "Doctors should be active in the field and do door-to-door surveys, making people aware about the disease and its prevention."
Addis Ababa, Oct 21 : The African Union (AU)-led peace talks between the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) will officially start next week, an official announced here.

"The African Union Commission (AUC) has informed us that peace talks are set for October 24, to be held in South Africa. We have reconfirmed our commitment to peace," Xinhua news agency Redwan Hussien, the national security advisor to the Prime Minister, said in a tweet on Thursday.

Hussien further accused unspecified parties of intending to pre-empt the peace talks and spreading false allegations against the "defensive measures" the government is undertaking in the country's conflict-hit northern Tigray region.

The peace talks were previously planned for October 8, but they were postponed reportedly for "logistical and technical reasons".

While the AU is yet to officially confirm the new date for the proposed peace talks, the TPLF is also yet to reply.

Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation, has seen a devastating conflict between government-allied troops and forces loyal to the TPLF since November 2020, which has left millions in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

Humanitarian aid had been heading to the Tigray region after the government and the rebel forces agreed to a conditional cessation of hostilities and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid into the region in late March.

Conflict resumed in August as the government and TPLF accused each other of resuming fighting.

The resumption of fighting has led to the halting of humanitarian aid flowing into the Tigray region.
Lucknow, Oct 21 : The Uttar Pradesh government will be launching a 45-day campaign from November 1 to inculcate reading habits among children.

The department of basic education has issued directives to education officers across 75 districts for the campaign, which aims to promote a joyful reading culture for children by ensuring availability of age-appropriate reading books in local and regional languages.

Director General, school education, Vijay Kiran Anand has asked all officers to make available the learning material including infographics and activity calendars in schools to encourage students to read.

The campaign is an effort by the state government to improve the reading skills among children.

Earlier in January, the Central government, through the department of literacy and school education, had launched a nationwide 100-day reading campaign, 'Padhe Bharat' to inculcate the culture of reading among the young generation.

Foundational learning is the basis of all future learning, officials said. Lack of achieving foundational skills -- reading comprehension, writing and doing basic numeracy -- leaves the child unprepared to deal with the complexities of the curriculum beyond grade 3.

Various researches including the National Achievement Survey (NAS) have pointed out that a large number of students are unable to read a simple grade appropriate passage.

The curriculum and textbooks are designed with the expectation that children have acquired grade-level skills and can progress onwards.

"The campaign, therefore, is initiated so that each child learns to read and thereafter, can read to learn," said Anand.
Nicosia, Oct 21 : The number of asylum seekers arriving in Cyprus has doubled so far this year, compared to the same period in 2021, official figures showed.

The number has increased to 17,000 this year, an official from the Ministry of the Interior said on Thursday.

Arrivals of unaccompanied children in Cyprus has also trebled this year, Xinhua news agency quoted Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Costas Constantinou as saying to a parliamentary committee.

Cyprus is one of the so-called front-line Mediterranean European Union (EU) countries (MED5 group), which receive the largest numbers of irregular immigrants in relation to their populations.

Interior Minister Nicos Nouris told a ministerial conference of the MED5 group in Cyprus earlier this month that asylum seekers make up over 4 per cent of the country's population.
United Nations, Oct 21 : Amid growing pressure for reforming the UN Security Council to reflect the 21st century world, General Assembly President Csaba Korosi has appointed two diplomats to head the renewed negotiations process.

Permanent Representatives Tareq M.A.M. Albanai of Kuwait and Michal Mlynar of Slovakia will take over as the co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) as the reform process is known, Korosi's spokesperson Paulina Kubiak said on Thursday.

When he took over as the Assembly president last month, Korosi vowed: "I'll do my best to forward this process." A small group of countries have so far blocked the reform process by preventing the adoption of a negotiating text which has meant that the IGN functions without a proper agenda or a record of the negotiations.

Korosi said that a negotiating text was "long overdue" and the new heads of the IGN will be requested to produce a "concrete" one.

He said that he will ask the co-chairs "to be as impact-oriented as possible, to start negotiations on concrete proposals, concrete text".

Four of the five permanent members of the Security Council, except for China, have backed the reform by expanding its permanent membership to include India.

The call for reforms echoed often in the General Assembly chamber during the high-level meeting last month as leader after leader, from US President Joe Biden to Marshall Islands President David Kabua, spoke of the need to bring the Council to face contemporary realities.

African nations are spearheading the push for reforming the Security Council as most of its mandates relate to that continent, which does not have a permanent slot.

At a meeting of the Security Council last week dealing with Africa, representatives of nations from there were joined by several others, including India, in stressing the need to rectify this anomaly.

South Africa's Permanent Representative Mathu Joyni said that with its current structure the Council did not reflect the realities.

French Permanent Representative Nicolas de Rivere urged text-based negotiations to enable reforms for better representation of Africa at the Council and to give it permanent sets.

India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj said: "Africa's continuing denial of representation in the permanent category of membership in this Council in an historical injustice that needs to be corrected sooner than later." In June, the General Assembly rolled over the deadlocked negotiations to the current session in what has become an annual ritual.

Albanai and Mlynar will be inheriting from their predecessors, Permanent Representatives Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani of Qatar and Martin Bille Hermann of Denmark, one small advance in the IGN process.

The are bequeathing a revised version of what is known as "Elements Paper on Convergences and Divergences" outlining views on Council reforms that was created in hopes of breaking the endless cycle of repetitive discussions.

While it is not a negotiating text, it is at least a record that could be the building block for one.

A group of 13 countries known as Uniting for Consensus (UfC), which is led by Italy and includes Pakistan and Canada, has prevented the adoption of the negotiating text.

Frustrated with the decades-long delay in the negotiating process, India's Deputy Permanent Representative R. Ravindra has warned that if the negotiations proved ineffective, it may be time to look for alternatives.

He said in June" "For those of us who truly wish to fulfil our leaders' commitment to early and comprehensive Security Council reforms, looking beyond the IGN may now provide the only viable pathway." The basic architecture of the Security Council reflects the post-World War II scenario with the permanent membership limited to the five countries that were on the war's winning side.

The reform was 57 years ago when four non-permanent members were added, bringing their number to ten.

At that time the UN membership was 113 but it has increased now to 193.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)
New Delhi, Oct 21 : Menopause is the natural biological process characterized by the cessation or stopping of a woman's menstrual cycle, marking the end of fertility. The general onset is observed in middle-aged women, i.e., between 40 to 50 years of age. As aging advances, the reproductive cycle slows down and prepares to stop. Ovaries begin to age and produce fewer reproductive hormones altering the menstrual cycle. The body undergoes several associated changes in response to fluctuating levels of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH). These hormonal disturbances stimulate several physical, psychological and emotional changes having varied outcomes as the body adapts to the changing hormonal environment.

Physical Changes:

Irregular Menstruation

Weight gain

Hot flashes and night sweats

Urinary incontinence

Drier and thinner skin and hair

Emotional Changes :

Mood swings

Anxiety and depression

Stress and tension.

Anger and irritability.

A lack of motivation and difficulty concentrating.

Other Associated Changes Worsening of premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

Changes in libido (sex drive)

A loss of energy and insomnia.

Memory lapses

Headaches

Sexual Well-being during and after menopause

All women experience menopause differently, and many women experience changes in their sex life as they go through menopause. The loss of estrogen and testosterone following menopause induces multiple changes in a woman's body and influences sexual function. Also, lower levels of estrogen can cause a drop in blood supply to the vagina, which can affect vaginal lubrication, causing the vagina to be too dry for comfortable sex. Moreover, other menopausal symptoms like bladder control problems, sleep disturbances, depression or anxiety, stress, medications, and other health concerns also affect the sexual well-being of the women experiencing menopause.

While the hormonal alteration of menopause may modify the physical and emotional aspects of sexual well-being, specific measures can assist in overcoming adversities and improving sex life. These include:

Raising libido

Changing your attitude towards sex along with talking to your partner about the same is a good way to start. A welcoming attitude towards conversations around sex especially after a certain age is looked at as taboo. So it's important to change that mindset for yourself and well as for your partner.

Good foreplay- helps increase lubrication

Frequent vaginal intercourse- helps maintain blood supply

Find alternative methods of to increase intimacy

Besides the suggestions mentioned above below suggestions will also aid you to ensure your sexual wellness stays intact -

Manage your depression. Depression is increasingly common in midlife and may notoriously dampen desire. Seek medical help if you notice any symptoms of depression.

Opt for alternate medication. Certain drugs used for treating old-age ailments like diabetes and hypertension may also adversely affect sexual well-being. Ask your physician to help find an alternative medicine if your medication lowers your libido.

Stay healthy. It is essential to stay fit and healthy through regular exercise and healthy eating as it improves your overall health, which boosts your sexual well-being.

Relieve your stress and anxiety. Job pressures, family responsibilities, lack of privacy, and worries about children or aging parents build stress, negatively affecting overall well-being.

Limit Alcohol. Although a glass of wine might enhance your libido, heavy drinking may act reversely on your sexual health.

Keep a check on your health conditions. Diseases affecting blood flow and nerve function, like diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, and multiple sclerosis, may reduce sexual responsiveness. Thus it is important to seek timely medical assistance.

Quit smoking

Dealing with pain

Treat vaginal atrophy. Your physician may advise water-based and longer-lasting silicone-based lubricants to make penetration less painful. Topical estrogen in the form of a cream, a suppository, or a ring can be used to treat vaginal atrophy as it releases the hormone to help plump vaginal tissues and aid lubrication.

Get physical therapy. Physical therapy in the form of exercises and massage may help relax and stretch tissues in the pelvic area and reduce the pain.

Orthopedic problems may cause pain and limit your sexual activities- changes in positions may help.

Although sexual problems can be hard to discuss, it is always good to to consult your doctor. Your doctor may refer you and your partner to a health professional specializing in sexual dysfunction. The therapist may advise sexual counselling individually, with your partner, Collaborative measures involving medical aids, professional guidance, and counseling can help deal with these biological changes and enhance the quality of life. So, even though there may be some physical and mental hardships during menopause, a woman can still enjoy satisfactory sex life.

(Dr. Ameya Kanakiya Kulkarni, Co-Founder & Gyneacologist, Elda Health)

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

-- Syndicated from IANS
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 21 : After remaining in hiding for 12 days, Congress legislator Eldhose Kunnappilly on Friday told the media that he was "never in hiding and was under the eyes of the legal system".

On Thursday, he got a big relief when a lower court in the Kerala capital city granted him anticipatory bail in a rape and attempt to murder case.

Kunnappilly was on the run since the day a woman lodged a police complaint against him.

"I have done no wrong at all and I am quite confident of proving it before the court of law. I was never in hiding as I was under the eyes of the legal system. I will abide by all the directives of the court which gave me bail," said Kunnappilly to the media at his residence in Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district.

In reply to a question on if he knew the complainant well, he said, "I do not wish to disclose any such thing before the media and I will do it at the appropriate place." When asked about whether he expects any disciplinary action from his party, he said, "There have been similar allegations that have come up against other leaders also." As per the directions of the court he said he will present himself before the probe official in the state capital city on Saturday.

In her first complaint to the police, the complainant woman had not accused the legislator of rape, but after a few days, she levelled rape charges, and then again after a few days, she told the police that he tried to push her down from a so-called suicide point at the famed beach destination, Kovalam, here.

The woman had claimed that Kunnappilly had taken her to several places, physically abused her and promised to marry her.

The two-time MLA is married and represents Perumbavur, the Assembly constituency that he has been winning since 2016.
Kolkata, Oct 21 : The Detective Department (DD) of Kolkata Police on Friday arrested Sailesh Pande, the prime accused in the loan-cum-forex embezzlement scam in the city, as well as three others from Odisha and Gujarat.

Of the three other persons, two are Sailish Pande's brothers Arvind and Rohit, who were earlier absconding A city police source said that the legal process has started to bring them back to Kolkata in transit remand and in all probability, they will be here by Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also started a parallel probe in the scam especially on the foreign exchange angle involved in the matter.

Earlier this week, the Kolkata Police conducted raid and search operations at the residences of Sailesh and Arvind Pande in Shipbur and seized cash worth around Rs 8 crore along with a huge amount of gold and diamond jewellery.

At the same time, the city police also froze deposits worth Rs 20 crore from two bank accounts held by Sailesh Pande.

Sailesh Pande, who claimed to be a chartered accountant, was involved in defrauding people by promising them to clear loan proposals.
Rajkot : , Oct 21 (IANS) Five students have been booked for sexually harassing another student in a university here, police said on Friday.

The 19-year-old victim was subjected to unnatural sex, blackmailed and threatened several times in the last one month by his co-students. The victim student has been admitted to a hospital.

According to the complaint filed with the Kuvadva police station, the student was sodomised by five students from September 28 to October 19, because of which he suffered mental trauma and physical pain.

The student alleged that five students used to illegally confine him in a hostel room, video record him naked and then blackmail him. They threatened him with making his video viral and forced him into unnatural sex. They forcibly also inserted external objects in his rectum, the complaint said.

In one video clip, the accused are heard giving three options to the victim -- "either you chop off your private parts, you die or jump to death from the hostel".

A police station officer told IANS that the complaint was filed against five students, three of whom were being questioned. The complaint was lodged for unnatural offence, wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation and various sections of Information and Technology Act.
Rudraprayag, Oct 21 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday offered prayers at Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district donning a tradition Himachali attire gifted to him by a Chamba woman.

The Prime Minister was gifted the attire on his recent visit to Himachal Pradesh and he had promised her to wear it during a special occasion.

When the Prime Minister inaugurated the Kedarnath ropeway, entire temple premises reverberated with Lord Shiva's devotional songs.

Uttarakhand Governor Lt General (Retd) Gurmeet Singh, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, state Cabinet Minister Prem Chandra Agarwal, among others, were present on the occasion.

India's last village Mana is all set to welcome the Prime Minister. After offering prayers at Badrinath, he is scheduled to review the construction work underway under the Master Plan.

After inaugurating a ropeway for Hemkund Sahib, he will also lay foundation stone for double-laning of roads in Mana.

He will also address villagers of Mana,

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Bengaluru, Oct 21 : The Karnataka court has awarded life imprisonment to a police constable for abetting the suicide of a minor girl.

The constable had befriended the girl through Facebook. He blackmailed her after luring her into dirty talks and then pushed her to end her life in Dakshina Kannada district.

The culprit was identified as 35-year-old Praveen Salyan, attached to the District Reserve Force (DRF) and a resident of Siddharthnagar in Bajpe.

Salyan got introduced to the 17-year-old girl through Facebook on February 16, 2015. He pretended that he was in love with the girl, and contacted her frequently through mobile phone and social media accounts.

The investigation showed that he had lured the girl into dirty chats on social media accounts. Police investigations also proved that the accused had sent pictures of his private parts to the minor girl.

Later, he demanded Rs 1 lakh in cash or gold articles from the victim and blackmailed her. Unable to bear the torture, the girl ended her life by hanging at her residence. The constable was suspended immediately after the incident came to light.

The girl had left a suicide note saying Salyan was responsible for her death. Ullal police filed a charge sheet against him after conducting investigation into the case. The case was registered on June 10, 2015. Public Prosecutor Sahana Devi represented the prosecution. The Additional District and Sessions' Judge at Mangaluru, Manjula Itty pronounced the verdict on Thursday.
Ottawa, Oct 21 : An Indo-Canadian Sikh has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after two of his children were killed in the family home north of Montreal, local media reported.

Kamaljit Arora, 45, has been accused of killing his son and daughter, aged 11 and 13 respectively, on October 17.

He is also charged with one count of assault by strangulation of his wife, according to prosecutors.

Arora was due to make a court appearance on October 19, but prosecutors said he was not physically well enough to attend, and the hearing has been postponed.

Distraught and shocked neighbours said they were still trying to come to terms with what happened in their locality.

"I wasn't able to process it in my head... How could someone do that to their own children... Nobody should go through a situation like this," Parm Kamal Singh, a distant relative of the victims, told a Brampton-based TV channel.

Police were called to a home in Laval's Ste-Dorothee sector, where they discovered two children, identified in court documents as A.A., in critical condition. The children were transported to hospital and were pronounced dead, CTV News reported.

Arora was also transported to hospital due to breathing difficulties, and remains under police custody.

According to Le Devoir, it was Arora's oldest daughter, 18, who alerted a neighbour about the tragic incident.

Laval Mayor Stephane Boyer offered his condolences to the victims' loved ones in a Twitter post on Monday night. "All of Laval is in mourning," he wrote.

Police have yet to publicly release the causes of death or details about events surrounding the murders.

Laval police Constable Erika Landry said investigators were working on the hypothesis that the kids' deaths were a result of domestic violence, but she did not give details, the Toronto Star reported.
Islamabad, Oct 21 : The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to announce its verdict on Friday in the Toshakhana (gift depository) reference, seeking the disqualification of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The election supervisor has issued notices to all the parties for this purpose to be present at its secretariat in Islamabad either personally or through their lawyers, The Express Tribune reported.

The main question in the matter is whether a lawmaker could be disqualified on account of concealment of assets in his annual return.

The Commission also sought "foolproof security" from the district administration, asking it to deploy police inside and outside its premises for the full day to "avoid any untoward incident".

The ECP had reserved the verdict in the case on September 19.

Toshakhana, a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division, stores precious gifts given to the head of states, MPs, bureaucrats and officials by heads of other governments, states and foreign dignitaries, The Express Tribune reported.

According to Toshakhana rules, gifts and other such material received by persons to whom these rules apply shall be reported to the Cabinet Division.

The reference had been moved by the Pakistan Democratic Movement against the PTI chief on August 4 for not "sharing the details" of the Toshakhana gifts and proceeds from their alleged sale.

Despite the Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) ordering it to do so, the PTI, while in government, had been reluctant to disclose the details of the gifts presented to Khan since he took office in 2018.

It claimed that it would jeopardise international relations.
Hyderabad, Oct 21 : In a jolt to the BJP in Telangana, senior leader Dasoju Sravan on Friday quit the party in protest against the distribution of money, meat and liquor among voters in Munugode Assembly constituency.

His resignation came less than three months after he quit the Congress party and joined the saffron party.

Sravan, a former national spokesman of Congress party, is likely to join Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) later in the day.

In a letter to BJP's Telangana unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Sravan conveyed his decision to resign from primary membership of the party. He alleged that the BJP is distributing money, meat and liquor among voters in Munugode Assembly constituency, where by-election is scheduled on November 3.

Sravan wrote that he had joined the BJP with the least expectations but was disappointed over the directionless politics pursued by the party. He said BJP promised to do alternative politics but its approach in the Munugode by-election was disgusting.

He alleged that BJP with no social responsibility was resorting to distribution of money bags, encouraging big contractors and pursuing investment politics. "In such a situation it has become evident that there is no room for a leader like me coming from a weaker section of the society," he said.

It was on August 5 that Sravan had resigned from the Congress party. Alleging that there is total disorder in the party under the leadership of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy, he had said that he was not ready to live like a slave in the organisation and hence decided to resign.

He recalled that he joined the Congress party in 2014 as out of gratitude to Sonia Gandhi for carving out Telangana state and after being impressed by Rahul Gandhi's speech at Jaipur chintan shivir.

Sravan said he strived hard to reach the position of party's national spokesperson. He alleged that after Revant Reddy became PCC president, the party started giving priority to leaders on the basis of caste and money power.

He later joined the BJP at a programme in New Delhi in the presence of BJP general secretary in-charge of Telangana Tarun Chugh. He had claimed that only BJP can provide an alternative to the TRS.
Jamshedpur, Oct 21 : Ritu Mukhi, a student who committed self-immolation after being forced to undress on suspicion of cheating during her school's terminal examination, passed away on Thursday night. The victim, a class IX student of Jamshedpur's Saradamoni Girls' School had set herself ablaze after pouring kerosene after returning home on October 14.

She was being treated at Tata Main Hospital (TMH) in Jamshedpur. Locals are furious over the death of the student. Acknowledging the tension, the district administration has deployed security forces from the hospital to the cremation ground. The last rites will be held on Friday afternoon.

Jamshedpur Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Jadhav reached TMH after receiving the news of the student's death. A medical board was formed and the deceased's post-mortem was conducted in the night itself.

Taking cognizance of the incident, Chief Minister Hemant Soren had directed the Deputy Commissioner to provide all possible help to the victim's family and provide better treatment to the girl.

The police has arrested Chandra Das, the teacher who got the girl's clothes taken off to check for hidden notes allegedly used for copying in the exam. School principal Geeta Rani Mahato has been suspended.

According to the victim's statement, the teacher accused her of cheating during the terminal examination and slapped her in front of everyone. Despite her protests, she searched her by forcing her to take off her clothes in front of everyone.

No notes were found on her, but she was taken to the principal's office. She felt humiliated and embarrassed by this incident, due to which she sent her sisters to a neighbour's house and set herself on fire after reaching home in the evening.

Hearing her screams, the family and the neighbours reached the spot. The fire was doused by pouring water, following which she was admitted to TMH in a critical condition.
Los Angeles, Oct 21 : A New York jury has sided with actor Kevin Spacey in a $40 million civil lawsuit, finding that the Oscar-winner did not molest Anthony Rapp when he was a teenager and is not liable for battery.

After roughly 80 minutes of deliberations, jurors reached a unanimous decision that Rapp's lawyers had failed to prove that Spacey 'touched a sexual or intimate part' of Rapp, reports Variety.

Rapp looked impassive as Judge Lewis Kaplan formally dismissed the case, and Spacey dropped his head briefly. He later stood up and hugged Chase Scolnick, a member of his legal team.

In a statement on social media, Rapp made no direct mention of the verdict, but thanked the jury for hearing the case. "Bringing this lawsuit was always about shining a light, as part of the larger movement to stand up against all forms of sexual violence," he wrote.

"I pledge to keep on advocating for efforts to ensure that we can live and work in a world that is free from sexual violence of any kind. I sincerely hope that survivors continue to tell their stories and fight for accountability." Rapp first made his claims in a 2017 BuzzFeed article, in which he said that Spacey lifted him up, placed him on his bed, and pinned Rapp down in a sexually aggressive manner.

The alleged assault took place after a party at Spacey's New York City apartment in 1986.

Rapp was 14 years old at the time and Spacey was 26. The two met while appearing in Broadway productions - Rapp in "Precious Sons" with Ed Harris, Spacey in a Jack Lemmon-led revival of "Long Days Journey Into Night." In court, Rapp called the event one of the "most traumatic" of his life.

But Spacey's lawyers seized on inconsistencies in Rapp's testimony. They noted, for instance, that Rapp described Spacey as having a separate bedroom, when a floor plan that they produced showed that the actor lived in a studio apartment with once central room.

"The star witness of our case was the floor plan," Jennifer Keller, an attorney for Spacey, said in her closing statements on Thursday.

They also argued that Rapp was upset that Spacey was not openly gay and that he was consumed with jealousy over the actor's superior Hollywood career.

Rapp starred in the original Broadway production of "Rent" and appears on "Star Trek: Discovery." Spacey appeared in hit films such as "American Beauty" and "L.A. Confidential," as well as the Netflix series "House of Cards." Outside the courthouse after the verdict was read, Keller praised the decision. "We're very grateful to the jury for seeing through these false allegations," she said.

In their closing arguments, Rapp's side argued that Spacey was a sexual predator who had taken advantage of a child. "(Kevin Spacey) cannot control his sexual urges when they come up," Richard Steigman, one of the lawyers on Rapp's team, said.

Rapp was dealt a blow earlier this week when Judge Kaplan ordered that an emotional distress claim be dropped from the case, declaring it redundant.

Even though Spacey scored a victory against Rapp, he still faces legal challenges. He has been ordered to pay MRC, the producer of "House of Cards," $31 million in damages after the political thriller had its episode-order cut in the wake of abuse allegations against the star.

Spacey also faces charges in the U.K. for sexually assaulting three men when he was living in London as the artistic director of the Old Vic theater. He has pled not guilty.

When Rapp first went publicly with his claims in 2017, Spacey was contrite, offering, "the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour." In court, Spacey said that he was pressured by his publicist to make that statement.

"I was being encouraged to apologise and I've learned a lesson, which is never apologise for something that you didn't do," Spacey testified. "I regret my entire statement."
Chennai, Oct 21 : The unit of director Venkat Prabhu's upcoming film, tentatively being referred to as 'NC 22' and featuring Telugu star Akkineni Naga Chaitanya in the lead, has just completed an important shooting schedule of the film.

Sources say that during this schedule, key scenes involving Naga Chaitanya were shot. The team completed this schedule in the picturesque locations of Mysuru.

Naga Chaitanya will be seen in a completely different avatar in the movie, believed to be the most expensive film in the career of Akkineni.

Actress Krithi Shetty plays the female lead in this film which has already triggered a huge amount of interest in fans and film buffs for a number of reasons including the fact that this will be Chaitanya's first Telugu-Tamil bilingual flick.

The film is also being watched by critics with keen interest as it is director Venkat Prabhu's first Telugu directorial.

Apart from Naga Chaitanya and Krithi Shetty, the film will also feature well known Telugu comedian Vennela Kishore and Venkat Prabhu's brother and Tamil comedian Premgi Amaren.

The film is to have stunts by Hollywood stuntman Yannick Ben, known for his phenomenal work in Hollywood films such as 'Transporter 3', 'Dunkirk', 'Inception' and 'City Hunter'.

Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja and his younger son Yuvan Shankar Raja are to compose the music for the film.

Cinematography for the film will be by SR Kathir and editing will be by Venkat Raajen.

Srinivasaa Chitturi is producing the film for the Srinivasaa Silver Screen banner. Pavan Kumar will be presenting this ambitious project. Abburi Ravi is penning the dialogues and SR Kathir is handling the cinematography.
Chennai, Oct 21 : A fisherman from Tamil Nadu was injured after he was reportedly fired at by a patrolling team of the Indian Navy in the Palk Bay on Friday, sources said.

K. Veeravel, the 30-year-old fisherman from Vanagiri in Mayiladuthurai district, has been hospitalised.

According to the sources, the incident occurred when the patrolling team from a station in Uchipuli opened fire at a fishing boat with 10 persons on board, after it did not heed to their signal to halt.

Veeravel received bullet injuries on his thigh and stomach.

In a statement, the Navy said: "The Indian Navy maintains a continuous vigil over the crucial waters of Palk Bay, which separates India and Sri Lanka.

"During the early hours of October 21, 2022, a suspicious boat was observed by an Indian Navy ship on patrol in Palk Bay near the India-Sri Lanka International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). Despite repeated warnings, the boat did not stop. The ship, as per standard operating procedures, fired warning shots to stop the boat.

"One of the crew onboard the suspicious boat is reported to have sustained an injury. The injured person was administered first aid by the ship and evacuated by an Indian Navy Chetak helicopter to INS Parandu at Ramnad and was shifted to the Government Hospital, Ramanathapuram for further medical management. His condition is reported to be stable."
New Delhi, Oct 21 : The Supreme Court on Friday junked a plea seeking a direction for a "fact-finding inquiry" into Taj Mahal's history and also a direction for the "opening of 22 rooms" on the monument's premises. The monument is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

A bench comprising Justices M.R. Shah and M.M. Sundresh said the high court was not in error in dismissing the petition. Terming it a 'publicity interest litigation', the top court dismissed the plea.

In May this year, the Allahabad High Court declined to entertain a plea by one Rajneesh Singh, who claimed to be the media in-charge of the BJP's Ayodhya unit. The high court noted that the petitioner failed to establish which of his legal or constitutional rights were being infringed.

The petitioner had argued before the high court that many Hindu groups have claimed that Taj Mahal is an old Shiva Temple which was known as Tejo Mahalaya. He contended that this theory was supported by many historians as well.

The high court pulled up the petitioner for filing a plea in a casual manner and said it cannot pass an order under Article 226 of the Constitution in the matter.

The petitioner had contended that the controversy should be put to rest and argued that 22 rooms were situated in the upper and lower portion of the four-storied building of the Taj Mahal, which were permanently locked.

Citing historians and Hindu worshippers, the petitioner claimed it is believed that a Shiva temple lies in those rooms. However, the high court declined to entertain the plea.
New Delhi, Oct 21 : The Congress has distanced itself from former Home Minister Shivraj Patil's alleged comments about Lord Krishna "talking about jihad" in the Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita.

Party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh while citing Nehru said that the comments by Patil were unacceptable.

"My senior colleague Shivraj Patil reportedly made some comments on Bhagavad Gita that's unacceptable. Subsequently, he clarified. @INCIndia's stand is clear. Bhagavad Gita is a key foundational pillar of Indian civilisation", said Ramesh on Thursday after the BJP slammed Patil and the Congress for doing partisan politics.

Shivraj Patil was speaking at a book release function event on Thursday. "Not just in Quran, but in Mahabharata also, the part in Gita, Shri Krishna also talks of 'jihad' to Arjun and this thing is not just in Quran or Gita but also in other religion like Christianity," Patil said in Hindi.

Ramesh, while clarifying his party's stand, quoted excerpts from Nehru's 'Discovery of India'. He said, "The message of the Gita is not sectarian or addressed to any particular school of thought. It is universal in its approach for everyone, Brahmin or outcaste: 'All paths lead to Me', it says. It is because of this universality that it has found favour with all classes and schools.

"There is something in it which seems to be capable of being constantly renewed, which does not become out of date with the passing of time ... an inner quality of earnest inquiry and search, of contemplation and action, of balance and equilibrium in spite of conflict and contradiction. There is a poise in it and a unity in the midst of disparity, and its temper is one of supremacy over the changing environment, not by seeking escape from it but fitting in with it.

"During the 2,500 years since it was written, Indian humanity has gone repeatedly through the processes of change and development and decay; experience has succeeded experience, thought has followed thought, but it has always found something living in the Gita, something that fitted into the developing thought and had a freshness and applicability to the spiritual problems that afflict the mind," Ramesh quoted from Nehru's book.
Hyderabad, Oct 21 : Telangana Home Minister Mohammed Mehmood Ali on Friday said that the police force in the state remains on alert to foil any attempts by the extremists and terrorists to revive their activities.

He said police force was working hard to stop any activity by extremists, terrorists, anti-social elements, communal forces and "white-collar" criminals.

The home minister was addressing the police flag day parade (commemoration parade) at Police Martyrs' Memorial in Hyderabad. He along with Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy and other top officials paid tributes to policemen who laid down their lives in the line of duty during the last one year.

Mehmood Ali said a country or a state can progress if the law and order is maintained. If there is no peace, this gives rise to the sense of insecurity among people and hampers the development, affects investment and ultimately leads to increase in poverty.

The minister claimed that during the last eight years, the Telangana government ensured communal harmony in Hyderabad by preventing any communal tensions. He praised the manner in which police handled the recent Ganesh immersion, Bonalu and Bathukamma festivals.

He assured the police that the government will provide more facilities to them to help discharge their duties effectively and efficiently.

The DGP claimed that Telangana police is in the forefront in use of technology to maintain peace and law and order.

He said with the slogan of one state, one service, the state police were serving with accountability and transparency in a friendly environment.

He said the police were working with the aim to have 15 lakh CCTV cameras across the state. To check cyber crime, the police is implementing CCTNS 2.0 based on futuristic technologies besides setting up of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).

An integrated command and control centre built at a cost of Rs 600 crore for effective maintenance of peace and law and order was recently inaugurated by the chief minister.

Earlier, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, in his message, said that the sacrifices of the police martyrs who laid down their lives for the safety of citizens, prevention of crime and maintenance of law and order is immortal.

On the occasion of Police Martyrs Memorial Day, he paid tributes to the police martyrs.

Chief Minister KCR said that the role of police is immense in promoting Telangana as a peaceful state.

He noted that the peaceful atmosphere in the state is playing a vital role in the development of Telangana.

The Chief Minister said that the State Government constructed the prestigious Command Control Centre for maintaining peace and security as well as coordination between all government departments by sharing information. The Command Control stood a role model in India.

KCR said the state-of-the-art technology adopted in the command centre is helping the state police to excel and emerge as the best police in the country.
Kochi, Oct 21 : The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed a plea by the three accused in the human sacrifice case, challenging the order of a lower court that had granted police their custody for 12 days.

The court agreed with the prosecution's stand that the accused cannot dictate the manner of investigation and moreover, the lower court had considered all relevant aspects before sending them to police custody.

It was on October 13, a lower court near here had sent the accused, Muhammed Shafi (alias Rashid), Bhagaval Singh, and Laila Bhagawal Singh, to 12 days police custody.

Just a day prior, the same court had remanded them to 14 days judicial custody.

The period of police custody will end on October 24.

However, the High Court ordered that the lawyers for the accused be allowed to meet for 15 minutes every other day.

The plea of the accused was that the entire prosecution case is false and built on wrong information, bolstered by inadmissible evidence that would not stand up to scrutiny.

The petitioners alleged that the police have been leaking information to the media even after the FIR was forwarded to the magistrate, thereby breaking rules of conduct and putting undue pressure on the trial court.

The news of human sacrifice came to light in the state when the dismembered bodies of two women were recovered early this month from the property of accused couple, who run a siddha (traditional treatment) centre at their house in Pathanamthitta district.

It was an investigation into two missing women that led State police to a human sacrifice ring.

The two women were lottery ticket sellers in Ernakulam and they went missing in June and September this year.

The police allegations stated that Shafi had lured the women under the pretext of offering them lump sums in cash for doing sex work and acting in some porn films.

Shafi had allegedly contacted the Singhs on social media and a plan to commit human sacrifice, supposedly for financial prosperity, was hatched. The women were then taken to the Singhs' home where they were allegedly murdered in a gruesome manner, dismembered, and buried in the house compound.

Meanwhile, on Friday, all the three accused were brought to the house as part of further evidence collection.
Chennai, Oct 21 : Director Karthik Kumar's comedy-drama 'Super Senior Heroes' released on the OTT platform Netflix on Friday.

The Karthik Kumar-helmed family entertainer was released worldwide on the Tamil regional channel, Sun TV, on October 16.

Super Senior Heroes, which is Yoodlee Films' third association with Kollywood after successful projects like 'Abhiyum Anuvum' and the critically acclaimed, 'K.D', features veteran actors from the Tamil film industry including ace director-actor-screenplay writer K. Baghyaraj, Ambika and Pandiarajan.

Saregama India Senior Vice President (Films & Events) Siddharth Anand Kumar said: "I have always been impressed with the unique content regional cinemas make. This is a one-of-a-kind film that redefines the concept of superheroes with a refreshing twist.

"Unlike the young and energetic superheroes with supernatural powers, this movie shows senior citizens posing as superheroes unfettered by their physical ailments. It also conveys the message of how it is the inner strength and determination that matters more than physical stability.

"This comedy-drama will get a wider reach through its release on Netflix and this will be a perfect Deepavali watch for children," he added.

Apart from K. Baghyaraj, Ambika and Pandiarajan, 'Super Senior Heroes' also features Chinni Jayanth, Manobala and Kavithalaya Krishnan.

Bhagyaraj, the protagonist of the movie, plays the character of a widower finding no joy in his mundane life. The arrival of his seven-year-old grandson gives him a breath of fresh air and the story further takes an interesting angle. The trailer and the movie have already created a buzz among the family audience.

It is the debut project of Karthik Kumar, who is also the founder of one of the leading theatre entrepreneurship in India, Evam. Karthik said: "Yoodlee films are very particular about the content they choose and I am happy and equally privileged that they chose to support 'Super Senior Heroes', providing a wider platform for a debutant director like me." "I grew up watching films of veterans like Bhagyaraj sir and Ambika ma'am and was always inspired by their acting and dedication to art. Even after so many years, they have the same energy and enthusiasm for acting and that is reflected on the screen as well. After the initial premiere on Sun TV, I have received many positive responses from the audience and I hope more people will enjoy it when it is released on Netflix."
New Delhi, Oct 21 : To ensure timely facilitation of consular needs for its students in China, the Indian Embassy in Beijing has provided an official registration link to the students who have just returned to the Asian country or are already studying there.

"With concerted efforts, Indian medical students have started returning to mainland China to re-join their respective universities. In order to ensure timely facilitation of their consular needs, Indian students in China are requested to fill in the registration form," a notification on the Embassy's website stated on Friday.

It has also provided the contact details of the Embassy of India in Beijing as well as Indian consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

One needs to fill details like name, passport number, university name and registration number, batch, expected date of completion of degree, date of entry or return, the state of residence in India, contact details etc. on the registration form (https://www.eoibeijing.gov.in/student_registration).

In a tweet, the Embassy also asked students to note that the "University registration number" is the same as the roll number of the student in the respective university.

Over 23,000 Indian students are currently enrolled in various Chinese universities, a vast majority of them being medical students.

After two years of pandemic chaos, China has finally opened its borders to Indian students pursuing higher education courses in its universities.

Earlier this month, over 1,300 Indian students have received visas to return to China to resume their studies.

According to local reports, Indian students are now having a tough time finding direct flights to China. They are now chalking out different routes on their own via Sri Lanka, Dubai, Hong Kong and Myanmar.

Direct passenger flight services between India and China are unlikely to resume in the near future unless Beijing modifies its Zero Covid policy.
New Delhi, Oct 21 : Pakistan has launched a new terrorist game face weaponising social media tools to spread terror psychosis in India and prompt the Indian government to go on high alert during the coming festival season.

Early in August this year, a WhatsApp message was received by Indian security agencies from Pakistan warning of a Mumbai attack repeat this year. Although the Mumbai police went on high alert, the government made all efforts to stem panic from spreading.

The Mumbai attacks that took place in November 2008 had caused extreme alarm across the world. The attack was carried out by 10 terrorists from Pakistan who were trained and masterminded by agents of Pakistan Army. Several ISI and army officials were involved in planning and executing the attack, which resulted in the death of close to 170 persons, including foreigners.

Since then, there has always been an apprehension of Pakistan carrying out a similar attack despite global scrutiny and sanction. Although Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a known global terrorist outfit closely linked to Pakistan Army, was found to be involved in the attack, none of its leaders or cadres have been tried or prosecuted for the Mumbai attacks. There had been no sanction of Pakistan Army and ISI despite credible evidence of their involvement in the attacks.

The latest message, therefore, sparked considerable concern among security agencies which have apparently traced the WhatsApp message to an office in Lahore. The WhatsApp account was created for a few days to send out the threat. It is believed that the account was operated by a person known to be close to the ISI. It is said that this could be the beginning of a new kind of threat from Pakistan against India.

A 2012 UN document had pointed out that "explicit threats of violence, including in relation to the use of weapons" using the internet could induce anxiety, fear or panic in a population or subset of the population.

In 2019, a well-known US expert on terror and internal security, Peter Chalk, had warned of ISI leveraging encrypted social media sites, secure telecommunication platforms and online mapping technology to carry out or monitor terrorist attacks.

Till now, social media tools like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and others have been widely used to recruit and generate funds for terrorist activities. Using social media outlets to create terror panic could perhaps be one of the first attempts by a sponsoring agency like the ISI.

The notorious agency has been using several thousand fake Twitter and Facebook accounts to spread disinformation about India. But using the same tools to create terror is a copycat adoption of what global terrorist groups have been doing.

Several global terrorist entities like Al-Qaeda and ISIS have used social media tools to broadcast gory videos and messages of beheadings to cause terror and panic among general public as well as governments.

Such social media attacks should be considered equivalent to terrorist offence and be sanctioned by the United Nations. The global anti-terrorist financing agency, FATF, which is considering de-listing Pakistan from its grey list, should review its decision in view of this new terrorist threat strategy.
Islamabad, Oct 21 : Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday said he would not be seeking another extension in his tenure, which ends on November 29, asserting that the army had decided to distance itself from the country's politics, the media reported.

He made these remarks while addressing a security workshop in Islamabad. According to journalists who attended the workshop, the army chief said the military had decided to remain "apolitical", Dawn reported.

Gen Bajwa's statement comes on the same day the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified former premier and PTI Chairman Imran Khan from being a member of parliament, finding him guilty of mis-declaration in the Toshakhana reference.

This is not the first time Gen Bajwa has addressed the matter of his extension and the army's intent to distance itself from politics. Earlier this month during a visit to the US, he had confirmed he would not be seeking another extension to his tenure while speaking at a lunch at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington.

During that gathering, Gen Bajwa had also said the armed forces had distanced themselves from politics and wanted to remain so, Dawn reported.

Earlier in April, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Babar Iftikhar had also made it clear that Gen Bajwa was neither seeking an extension nor would he accept it.

The statement by ISPR had come during a press conference days after Imran Khan's ouster as prime minister through a vote of no-confidence. During that presser, the head of the military's media wing had also claimed that the military was "apolitical".

These statements from the army's top brass come amid accusations that the military meddles in the country's politics, often favouring one political party or the other.

The next army chief's appointment is also at times mentioned as one of the major sub-plots in the ongoing political crisis engulfing the country which began earlier this year following the tabling of a no-trust motion against then premier Imran Khan, Dawn reported.

It is widely believed that relations between the army and Imran's party had soured in the months leading up to the no-confidence motion, reportedly over the appointment of the new chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

In the months after his ouster, Imran has openly criticised the army leadership during his political rallies for meddling in the country's politics and called on them to remain "neutral".

Imran maintained that his criticism of the army was "constructive and for its own improvement", Dawn reported.

However, the army had expressed its displeasure over the PTI chief's remarks in September, saying that it was "aghast at the defamatory and uncalled for" statements about its senior leadership.
Accession Day, October 26, 1947, is celebrated with fervor and graciousness in Jammu and Kashmir, when Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession at Amar Palace in Jammu, India. The agreement made the former independent princely state of J&K join the Union of India. Maharaja had decided, in April 1947 that he would accede to India if it was not possible to stay independent.

Kashmir was and is a paradise where people of all religions live in harmony and that tradition continues. Pakistan's actions divided the state into Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and Jammu and Kashmir, a scenario that continues till date.

Kashmiris remember October 22, 1947, as the day of the commencement of hell, till Indian soldiers landed to protect them. October 22, 1947, was when six to seven thousand Pakistani raiders, backed by the Pakistan army, which had embedded some of its soldiers within the raiders, crossed the Neelam River and began looting, plundering, raping, kidnapping and killing thousands of innocents, all with the intention of capturing Kashmir under the code name of Operation Gulmarg. Pakistan's 7 Infantry Division was located close by seeking to exploit the success achieved by its raiders. The target was to capture all territory up to the Banihal Pass.

By the end of the war, over 35,000 Kashmiris from all religions were killed, and thousands were kidnapped and taken to western Pakistan to be sold as slaves.

Pakistan continues to breed terrorist groups which claim innocent lives in Kashmir, and pretext that Kashmiris desire to be a part of Pakistan. It hired anti-national elements with illicit funds to incite violence and turned religion into a dividing factor. But always eat humble pie. Like in Bangladesh in 1971 Pakistan failed miserably and was compelled to surrender before the Indian Army. Pakistan's repeated attempts to secede from Kashmir proved futile exercise because the people of the region understood Pakistan's dirty games.

After accession, the Indian part of J&K followed the democratic path of the Indian constitution while the area under Pakistani occupation was bifurcated into two - PoK and the 'Northern Areas,' known as Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) is that part of Jammu and Kashmir (India) which was invaded by Pakistan in 1947.

Since 1947 PoK has been governed under the Pok Interim Constitution Act passed in 1974. PoK claims to have a self-governing legislative assembly though it is a known fact that it is under the control of Pakistan.

The leaders of PoK surrendered the Northern Areas to Pakistan under the Karachi Agreement of 1949. The Karachi Agreement, which governs the rule of Pakistan over Gilgit-Baltistan, was signed between the president of PoK, the Muslim Conference, and a minister without portfolio from Pakistan, Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani.

On 22 October 1947, Pakistan's Pashtun tribal militias crossed the border of the state. It was called Operation Gulmarg and launched on the intervening night of 21-22 October 1947. Over 2,000 Pathan tribesmen first captured the bridge spanning the Kishanganga (Neelam) River on the Hazara Trunk Road linking Muzaffarabad with Abbottabad without a fight. By morning, the first major J&K border town of Muzaffarabad was captured. The horrors that have been unfolded by Pakistani journalist from Muzaffarabad, Zahid Chaudhry, in his book has described three days of havoc and the way invaders indulged in killing non-Muslims, looting, plundering, and burning their houses at the behest officer-in-charge of the attack, Major Khurshid Anwar. Writers and commentators have estimated the number of the Hindus and Sikhs massacred during these three days in Muzaffarabad to be 4500 to 5000, and the number of kidnapped women to be more than 1600.

These local tribal militias and irregular Pakistani forces advanced to take the capital city of Srinagar. But on reaching Baramulla, they again started looting. They were challenged initially by the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces and by militias. It was the daring deed of a 19-year-old boy Mohd Maqbool Sherwani who single-handedly frustrated the advance of thousands of raiders (Kabailis) from Baramulla, thus giving valuable time to the Indian Army to land in Srinagar and push back raiders. The raiders put him on a wooden cross, nailed him, and fired upon 10-15 times. He remained like that for two to three days. His body was brought down only when the Army reached the place." Indian troops landed in Srinagar on October 27, 1947 and defended the summer capital in the decisive battle of Shalteng on the outskirts of Srinagar on 7-8 November 1947. On the 8th of November, 1947 raiders were driven out of Baramulla. One of the first acts of the freed people was to reclaim the dead body of Sherwani and to bury it in the graveyard of Juma Masjid of the town with full military honours. A Memorial hall in the name of Maqbool Sherwani has been constructed by the army. In the next few months, the Indian army drove out the Pakistani intruders from most parts of J&K, barring the portion that today constitutes PoK.

The invasion of J&K by Pakistan and its proxy tribal raiders in 1947 has left deep scars that impacted the psyche of the people of POK, and it marked the first and most critical step in the erosion of the Kashmiri identity with the State and its people being torn apart by an UN-drawn LoC that divides the erstwhile Princely State and its inhabitants.
RRR' star Ram Charan hits it off with school kids in Japan Image Source: IANS News

RRR' star Ram Charan hits it off with school kids in Japan Image Source: IANS News

RRR' star Ram Charan hits it off with school kids in Japan Image Source: IANS News

Hyderabad, Oct 21 : Telugu star Ram Charan is now busy promoting S.S. Rajamouli's blockbuster film 'RRR' in Japan.

Ahead of the movie's theatrical release, Ram Charan, who plays the central role in the film along with Junior NTR, has been busy meeting up with his fans and admirers over there. Rajamouli and Junior NTR are also in Japan for the promotional trip.

As part of his promotional activities, Ram Charan and his wife Upasna visited the India International School, Tokyo, where he was warmly welcomed by the students.

The enthusiastic fans spent quality time with him and also gave him soft toys that resembled his pet, Rhyme, as a loving gesture.

The movie, which has been the No. 2 grosser of 2022, is releasing on Friday in Japan.
Guwahati, Oct 21 : At least three members of the banned organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) along with a linkman were arrested in Assam's Kamrup district on Friday, officials said.

A police officer said that based on a specific input, the police had launched a search operation at several places in the Nagarbera area of the district.

Following the operation, the police team arrested four people.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Nazrul Islam, Hafizur Rahman, Rafiqul Islam, and Mominur Islam.

Mominur Islam is allegedly a linkman of the PFI. He hails from the Chaygaon area of the district while the rest are residents of the Nagarbera region.

Kamrup Superintendent of Police, Hitesh Ch. Ray said that the arrested persons have been questioned by the police.

Last month, Assam Police arrested 25 Popular Front of India (PFI) leaders and activists from eight districts.
Mumbai, Oct 21 : Popular television actor Yash Tonk is all set to comeback on the small screen with 'Swaran Ghar'.

The actor is ready to introduce a turn of events in 'Swaran Ghar'. He will appear as Kanwaljeet Singh Bedi's step-brother, Baljit also known as Balli, a crude opportunist waiting to usurp Bedis' family money and take control of 'Swaran Ghar'. It will be worth watching what Baljit's entry means for the 'Swaran Ghar' household.

Yash said: "The viewers have showered love in abundance on 'Swaran Ghar' and I'm excited to join this amazing team. I will essay the role of Baljit, a crook and a gold digger." He added: "It's a very different character from the negative roles that I have played in the past. His entry is expected to stir the plot and bring twists to the show. This show marks a new journey for me as an actor and I can't wait to begin shooting for it in Chandigarh." 'Swaran Ghar' airs on Colors.
Chennai, Oct 21 : Director Sudhanshu Saria's upcoming film 'Sanaa' starring Radhika Madan has been invited to have its world premiere at the 26th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

The annual festival, one of the largest in Northern Europe, will be held from November 11 to November 27, 2022 in the capital city of Tallinn, Estonia.

Incidentally, 'Sanaa' is the only Indian film competing for The Grand Prix for Best Film award at the festival this year.

The film is a relationship drama about a headstrong and ambitious woman (Radhika) who is fighting an internal battle due to unresolved trauma.

It also stars Pooja Bhatt, Sohum Shah, Shikha Talsania, Nikhil Khurana and Navneet Nishan in pivotal roles.

Sudhanshu has shared a special relationship with the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival over the years. His directorial debut, the Indie road romantic drama 'Loev' (2015), premiered there in the First Feature competition.

His psychological thriller short film 'Knock Knock Knock' had its Europen premiere at Tallinn in 2019 in their Homecoming section.

Sudhanshu also served on the juries for the First Features and the Estonian Film competition sections of the 20th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

Held since 1997, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival or POFF is the only festival in Northern Europe or the Baltic region with a FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Association) accreditation for holding an International Competitive Feature Film Program, which places it alongside 14 other non-specialised competitive world festivals including Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Karlovy Vary, Warsaw, and San Sebastian.

In the past, Indian films like 'Loev' (2015), 'Gangs of Wasseypur' (2012), 'Margarita With A Straw' (2014), 'Tumbbad' (2018) and others have been screened at POFF.

Sudhanshu Saria said: "Going to Tallinn is like going back home. It's the place where 'Loev', my debut feature, took its first steps into the world and where 'Knock Knock Knock' had its European premiere. I'm grateful to the Festival for inviting 'Sanaa' into the Main Competition this time, a category that has previously screened so many auteurs I admire. I can't wait to see how European audiences react to our modern, quintessentially Indian film and to Radhika Madan in particular who has turned in a performance for the ages in the lead part." Sudhanshu Saria was recently announced as the director of the female-led espionage drama titled Ulajh, with Junglee Pictures. He is also writing, co-directing and show-running a young-Adult show for Amazon Prime, and is co-producing and writing 'Delhi Crime Season 3' for Netflix.
Thane, Oct 21 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's hometown Thane was rocked by two shooting incidents which left two persons injured, including one critically, police said here on Friday.

In the first incident, property dealer Ashwin Gamle was shot at and sustained bullet injuries at Ghantali Road around 5.30 a.m.

Heavily bleeding with at least one bullet piercing through his body, Gamle was rushed to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa while the Naupada police are probing the matter.

The second shootout took place near the Mama Bhanja hills locality of Vartak Nagar around dawn, in which local ruffian Kala Ganya was injured.

At least one bullet found its mark on Ganya's chest and he has been rushed to the Vedanta Hospital where his condition is described as "critical". The Vartak Nagar police has launched a probe.

Taking serious note, the Thane police and Crime Branch have formed multiple teams to investigate and track the shooters involved in both the incidents, said top officials.

Though the exact motives are being ascertained, preliminary enquiries point to business rivalries or previous enmities culminating in the firing incidents in open public places in Thane city, where Shinde's private residence is located and is also his political stronghold.
Chandigarh, Oct 21 : The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has played a fraud with the constitutional head of the state, Athe Governor, as well as Punjabis by sending a letter to the Governor in English but releasing its forged and fabricated version in Punjabi on social media.

In a statement here, former minister Daljit Singh Cheema said the fraud had been perpetrated in the name of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann along with the latter's signature.

"The Chief Minister should disclose whether he was party to this act and whether it had his acquiescence. If not then the Chief Minister should get an FIR registered in the case and institute a high-level probe into the entire matter.

"Since the issue is also one of constitutional propriety, the SAD also urges the Governor to direct the Chief Minister to order an independent inquiry into the issue and ensure exemplary punishment for those guilty of forging documents as well as their dissemination." Cheema said the fact that neither the Chief Minister nor the AAP government had issued a clarification on the issue despite the matter being pointed out by the Governor himself indicated AAP was playing politics on the issue.

"AAP is a master in the art of deception, but it was not expected that the party would indulge in this practice while communicating with the Governor... such subterfuge is not becoming of the office of the Chief Minister." The SAD leader also questioned the AAP government as to how Punjabis could have faith in their announcements when the government had deceived the constitutional head who had sworn it to power.

Referring to the announcement about the old pension scheme being reintroduced in the state, Cheema said "it seems this has been done to woo government employees in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. If this was not the case the AAP government, which presented its budget in June, would have kept provision for this scheme in the current financial year".

He also asked the Chief Minister to explain how he would implement the old pension scheme while asserting that it had not been implemented in Delhi also.
Mumbai, Oct 21 : In a booster ahead of the upcoming civic polls in the state, the Marathi Muslims Seva Sangh (MMSS) on Friday threw its full weight behind former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

A delegation of prominent Marathi Muslims and NGOs called on Thackeray and extended their full support to the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray.

The delegation comprised MMSS President Faquir M. Thakur, Nuruddin Naik, Ismail Samdule, Dr A.R. Khan, Capt. Akbar Khalfe and other key members from all over the state.

"We expressed our deep sense of hurt at the manner in which Uddhav Thackeray ji was forced out as the CM in June and the attempts made by the group of selfish rebel leaders out to destroy the teachings of the late Balasaheb Thackeray," Thakur said after the meeting.

After holding discussions among all its members and other affiliated organisations, the MMSS decided to meet and express unconditional support to Thackeray for all his initiatives in the interest of the state's pride, unity and politics of development and progress, he added.

Thackeray accorded a warm welcome to the MMSS delegation, interacted with them and conveyed his gratitude for the gesture of support.

The MMSS leaders also said they are confident that in the upcoming civic elections, the people will give their full support to the Shiv Sena-UBT and its allies in the interest of defeating the communal politics being played in the state and country, said Thakur.

Founded in 2014, the MMSS has around 80 big and small NGOs under its banner with many social-cultural-educational initiatives involving thousands of members of the minority community including women and youth, across Mumbai, Konkan, western and northern Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidarbha and major cities.
New Delhi, Oct 21 : Amid a controversy and protest by doctors associations, the All India Institute of Medical Science on Friday withdrawn the SOP issued for the medical care treatment of members of parliament at the premier health institution.

In a letter to the Joint Secretary, Lok Sabha Secretariat, the AIIMS said that the letter issued should be treated as withdrawn. "Letter dated 17 Oct 2022 on the subject may be treated as withdrawn with immediate effect," said the letter, signed by Chief Administrative Officer Deo Nath Sah.

According to the order issued by AIIMS Director Dr M Srinivas on October 17, the Duty Officers, who are qualified medical professionals, from the Department of Hospital Administration, will have to be available in the control room round the clock for OPD and emergency consultation and inpatient hospitalisation of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members. It had also said all other patients who are referred to AIIMS for consultation or treatment by the MPs will also be provided due assistance by its Media & Protocol Division.

"The duty officer will be the Nodal Officer to coordinate and facilitate requisite medical care arrangements for hon'ble sitting MPs," said the order adding those on shift will ensure their hassle-free admission.

Dr Manish Jangra, of the Federation of All India Medical Associations, said: "We welcome this... we will always fight against VIP culture and will never compromise on this matter. We are against VIP culture since beginning."
Bhubaneswar, Oct 21 : The southwest monsoon has withdrawn from entire Odisha on Friday, the IMD's Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre said.

The southwest monsoon, which had withdrawn from 19 districts on Thursday, has withdrawn from remaining parts of the state on Friday.

The monsoon arrived in Odisha on June 16 this year.

About the anticipated cyclone over Bay of Bengal, the IMD said that the low pressure area, formed over north Andaman Sea and adjoining areas of south Andaman Sea and southeast Bay of Bengal, still persisted over the same region.

It is very likely to move west-northwestwards and concentrate into a depression over southeast and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal on Saturday, and then moving northwestwards, intensify further into a deep depression over east-central and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal on October 23, the Met department said.

Subsequently, the system is very likely to recurve gradually northwards and intensify into a cyclonic storm over west-central and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal by October 24.

Thereafter, it is likely to move north-northeastwards and reach near West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts on October 25, skirting the Odisha coast, it said.

Briefing media persons, Special Relief Commissioner P.K. Jena said the cyclone is likely to pass about 200 km away from Dhamara in Bhadrak district. Under its impact, coastal areas of Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak and Balasore districts may witness a wind speed upto 50 to 60 kmph while the wind speed will be 30 to 40 kmph in some interior pockets of the coast, he said.

Heavy rainfall would occur in some pockets in coastal Odisha on October 24. However, he said, there is no need to panic. The state government has asked all coastal districts to remain on alert, the SRC said.

In the precautionary measure, teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and fire service will be deployed in strategic locations so that they can do the needful in case of any eventuality, Jena said.
Kolkata, Oct 21 : Normal life in parts of Kolkata and Salt Lake collapsed in phases on Friday following waves of protests over the late-night police action to remove protesters agitating in front of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) office against the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers in the state.

The protesters, who were removed following the late-night operations, started returning to the protest venues on Friday, but to avoid violation of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, they came in small groups of three.

The tension started mounting after a group of activists of CPI(M)'s youth wing, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), led by DYFI state president Minakshi Mukherjee, reached the protest venue in Salt Lake.

After the police started removing them from the sport, they sat on the streets and started protesting. Finally, like Thursday midnight, the police dragged the protesters into prison vans and took them to a local police station. But by that time the traffic had come to a standstill while normal operations totally collapsed in the area.

Tension mounted again after CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty reached the local police station demanding immediate release of those detained, leading to heated exchange of words between the police and the CPI(M) activists led by Chakraborty.

Meanwhile, at Esplanade in Kolkata, BJP supporters led by the party MLA Agnimitra Paul, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) councilor Sajal Ghosh and other senior party leaders staged a sit-in demonstration after the police stopped them from carrying out a protest rally there.

Scuffle between police personnel and BJP supporters broke out after the latter tried to move ahead breaking through the police barricades. Several leaders and supporters of BJP, including Paul, were arrested. Traffic came to a total standstill in the busy hours on Friday afternoon following this development.

Elsewhere, Congress took out a rally from near Moulali to Mayo Road protesting against the late-night police action. The rally was led by the state Congress president and Lok Sabha member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who walked all the way sporting a black ribbon. However, the rally was more and less peaceful and no report of scuffle came from there.
New Delhi, Oct 21 : A Delhi court on Friday sent a 50-year-old Chinese woman arrested on suspicion of being a spy, and alleged involvement in anti-India activities, to 14-day judicial custody, an official said on Friday.

Cai Ruo, who claimed to be a 'Buddhist monk', was arrested on Thursday by the Special Cell of Delhi Police.

A source has told IANS that Cai Ruo is a "well-trained and cunning individual who tried to mislead the investigators by claiming that Chinese Communist leaders wanted to kill her and therefore, she fled to India".

Her records are currently being scanned and cross-checked, an official said.

She was questioned by the IB, RAW and NIA officials along with the Delhi Police officers to gather information on her "future plans".

Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora was also briefed by a senior official about her questioning.

A few digital devices were recovered from her.

The investigation agencies also wanted to know whether she was in touch with the banned organisation PFI.

According to sources, no connection with the PFI has been found yet but it has been learnt that she was "trying to create unrest".

Ruo had requested the court that she be allowed to wear the attire of a Buddhist nun.

She is currently lodged at Tihar Jail.

Sources said a file was prepared about her arrest and since the matter pertains to spying, it was sent to the Police Commissioner's Office and the Home Ministry.

"China has been spying on the Dalai Lama. She was also staying in North Delhi's Majnu ka Tilla. We will now try to know whether she was trying to meet the Dalai Lama. We are also checking who were funding her. We are also trying to identify her aides who were helping her in Delhi. MHA also wants all of this. NIA and IB officials are also trying to gather information on this matter," an official said.
New Delhi, Oct 21 : The Delhi government on Friday announced the 'Red Light On Gaadi Off' campaign, under which public representatives and officials will motivate commuters to turn their vehicles off at traffic lights in a bid to curb vehicular pollution in the national capital.

Environment Minister Gopal Rai said: "First phase of 'Red Light On Gaadi Off' campaign will run from October 28 to November 28. We will make commuters aware about vehicular pollution through various means. The campaign will be run mainly on 100 crowded intersections".

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also given his approval to rope in 2,500 Civil Defence volunteers to be roped in to implement the campaign on the ground. Awareness campaign will run in two shifts from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., Rai told the media here.

"We will take future decisions after reviewing its effectiveness. 2,500 Civil Defence volunteers will be deployed for the running of the campaign. These volunteers will raise awareness in every part of Delhi, including 100 major four-ways." "Moreover, Traffic Police will run this campaign by focusing on 10 major four-ways of Delhi which face high traffic. Instead of 10, 20 Civil Defence volunteers will be deployed in each shift on such four-ways. These Civil Defence volunteers will raise awareness in people through placards, and banners. Last year, we observed that there are a lot of drivers who do not switch off their engines at red lights. We will present them with flowers and request them through Gandhigiri to switch-off their engines. Paryavaran Mitra, RWAs, Market Associations, Eco-clubs, NGOs will also be made a part of this campaign so that they can visit every doorstep and make people aware of switching-off engines at red lights." "The success of the entire campaign will depend on our mindset and attitude. I am requesting the people of Delhi to become a part of this entire campaign along with ministers, MLAs, officers, RWAs and NGOs of Delhi. You can make your contribution by avoiding unnecessary burning of fuel. The way we are conducting the anti-dust campaign in Delhi, we are using bio-decomposer to decompose stubble, the manner in which we have implemented the GRAP system and people of Delhi have shown keen interest in purchasing electric vehicles, it is a clear indicator that we can control the rise in pollution after Diwali through collective efforts. Now, preparations to kick-start the aRed light on, Vehicle off' campaign on October 28th are going at full-swing," he said.
Chandigarh, Oct 21 : Six super seeder machines were provided to farmers at Punjab's Chappar Chiri Khurd village near here on Friday to help them checking stubble burning that helps controlling the air pollution.

The machines were handed over to farmers by Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh. Deputy Commissioner Amit Talwar was also present on the occasion.

Pinak Moudgil, Senior Vice President, Max Hospital, which provided the super seeder, said: "We have taken this initiative to help farmers checking stubble burning." Eleven more super seeder machines will also be handed over by Max to farmers through the district administration, he said.

Kulwant Singh said due contribution is being made by environmentalists and humanitarian organisations to protect the environment from pollution.

The six super seeder machines were handed over to multipurpose agricultural cooperative societies of Gharuan, Bhago Majra, Dappar, Kurli, Hulka, and Manakpurpur Sarid.

A single machine is enough to manage the crop residue of 30-35 acre of land per day subject to availability of tractor and driver, field condition, etc.
Chandigarh, Oct 21 : Hundreds of Congress workers, led by Punjab unit President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Leader of the Opposition, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Friday staged a protest dharna in front of the memorial of revolutionary Bhagat Singh in Kharak Kalan, demanding dismissal and arrest of Minister Fauja Singh Sarari on corruption charges.

Addressing the dharna, Warring said that if the government did not take any action against Sarari, the party would intensify its agitation across the state.

He said Friday's dharna was only symbolic to serve an ultimatum to the government that it cannot have double standards. "On one hand, Congress leaders are booked and jailed without any evidence, on the other hand the minister against whom there is case was roaming scot-free," he said.

He also announced that the Congress will stage a protest demonstration at Mohali on November 1 to protest against the intimidation and victimisation of the Congress workers at the grassroots level.

Warring exhorted the Congress workers to remain strong, united and firm in their resolve to fight against the excesses and high handedness of the Aam Aadmi Party government.

"Nothing is permanent here and it is matter of some time more," he said, while expressing confidence that the Congress will bounce back stronger.

Bajwa criticised Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's double standards on Sarari, alleging that he was deliberately protecting him.

He said the Sarari incident had completely exposed Mann and warned that the Congress party will not rest till the minister was not removed.

Condemning AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal for "shamefully" equating Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh with "tainted" ministers like Satyender Jain and Manish Sisodia, he said while Bhagat Singh had sacrificed his life for the freedom of the country at such a young age, "the two tainted ministers with whom Kejriwal was trying to compare the great martyr were neck deep in corruption".

Bajwa said that Jain and Sisodia were facing serious charges and investigations by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation with offshore accounts and assets worth crores of rupees.
Itanagar, Oct 21 : An Advanced Light Combat helicopter of the Indian Army crashed in Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Siang district on Friday, and bodies of four of the five people on board have been recovered so far, officials.

A search is on to locate the remaining missing soldier.

A defence spokesman said that the cause of the crash at this stage is not known, and details are being ascertained.

"A joint search and rescue operation of Army and Air Force was launched immediately. One MI-17, two Advanced Light Helicopters and three columns of the Indian Army were deployed in the search operations," the spokesman said.

"There were five people on board. There is very little chance of survival of the missing soldier," a senior district official told IANS over phone from district headquarters Yingkiong.

The crash took place on Friday morning in Migging village, around 25 km from the district headquarters. The helicopter, which took off from Lekabali, was on a regular sortie.

Since the site of the crash is not connected by road, more details are still awaited.

Upper Siang's Superintendent of Police, Jummar Basar, said the crash site is a mountainous region, and it would take time to complete the search operation.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu tweeted: "Shocked to hear about the news of Advanced Light Combat Helicopter crash near Tuting area in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The State Government has rushed the rescue team to the accident site and providing all assistance." "Received very disturbing news about Indian Army's Advanced Light Helicopter crash in Upper Siang District in Arunachal Pradesh. My deepest prayers," tweeted Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh.

This was the second incident of an Army chopper accident in the state this month. On October 5, a pilot was killed after a Cheetah helicopter crashed during a routine sortie in the forward areas near Tawang.
Beijing/New Delhi, Oct 21 : The international community's response to President Xi Jinping's address to the 20th Party Congress in Beijing is lukewarm, with the general refrain being that the Chinese strong man failed to move beyond rhetoric while addressing his national and international concerns.

If the world expected more from Xi, it felt disappointed, but China watchers insist the Congress was just an occasion for the president to consolidate his power and his role in the party and the country, and nothing more.

His speech, which was much shorter than his address to the 19th Party Congress is being deconstructed para by para and will shortly be a subject to academic research to expose any hidden meanings. But there are none.

One of his opening remarks go starkly against the reality of impaired Chinese economy and people's general unrest, which was reflected in the rare exposition of protest banners that came up in Beijing.

"The Party's new theory for the new era has been embraced by the people, the core socialist values are resonating with the public, fine traditional Chinese culture is undergoing creative transformation and development, cultural programs are flourishing, and the online environment has seen continuous improvement. All this has brought overarching and fundamental changes in China's ideological landscape." Xi literally hides one of the country's biggest problems deep inside his speech. The twin problem areas are the slowing down population along with rising population of the old and infirm, and the fact that the young Chinese are simply not taking up on the government's relaxation of the policy on having children to boost population growth. He dismisses it in a small paragraph: "... 1.04 billion people under the coverage of basic old-age insurance, and ensure basic medical insurance for 95 per cent of the population. Timely adjustments have been made to the childbirth policy." The president also tries to take global attention away from the utter failure of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project that has nearly crippled the financial position of many Chinese banks because of bad lendings. He tries to paint a positive picture of the project: "As a collaborative endeavor, the Belt and Road Initiative has been welcomed by the international community both as a public good and a cooperation platform. China has become a major trading partner for more than 140 countries and regions, it leads the world in total volume of trade in goods, and it is a major destination for global investment and a leading country in outbound investment." There is no reference to the fact that China has on-going disputes, all of them started by it, with all countries it has land or sea borders with, including India. Instead, Xi says something that nobody believes: "China respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. It stays true to the principle of equality of all countries big or small, strong or weak, and rich or poor, and it respects the development paths and social systems independently chosen by all the world's peoples." He is equally reticent on the forced Sinicization of Uyghur Muslims and other religious minorities. "We have effectively contained ethnic separatists, religious extremists, and violent terrorists and secured important progress in the campaigns to combat and root out organized crime. We have responded effectively to major natural disasters. The Peaceful China Initiative has entered a new stage." The president makes a weak attempt to ingratiate China with the international community, seeking its place on the high table of global relationships, but once again, finds no takers for his argument.

"We have demonstrated China's sense of duty as a responsible major country, actively participating in the reform and development of the global governance system and engaging in all-around international cooperation in the fight against Covid-19. All this has seen us win widespread international recognition. China's international influence, appeal, and power to shape have risen markedly." On the monetary policy of China, Xi talks about trading on his national currency, which is already well-known.

"We will promote the internationalization of the RMB in an orderly way, deeply involve ourselves in the global industrial division of labor and cooperation, and endeavor to preserve the diversity and stability of the international economic landscape and economic and trade relations." The only time the Chinese President showed his steely determination to get his way was when referring to Taiwan and the American backing of the island nation that refuses to be part of mainland China.

"Taiwan is China's Taiwan. Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese, a matter that must be resolved by the Chinese. We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary. This is directed solely at interference by outside forces and the few separatists seeking 'Taiwan independence' and their separatist activities; it is by no means targeted at our Taiwan compatriots."
New Delhi, Oct 21 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed the concluding session of the Interpols 90th General Assembly at the Pragati Maidan on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, Shah indirectly took many digs at Pakistan, stating that "good" terrorism or "bad" terrorism, or "small" terrorist attack or "big" terrorist attack -- these two narratives cannot go hand in hand.

Stating that terrorism is a global problem, Shah said the first goal that Interpol has set for 2020-25 is to tackle the menace of terrorism.

He added that terrorism is the biggest violation of human rights, and Interpol is the best platform for the coordination of all the countries, which is very important for the fight against cross-border terrorism.

The Home Minister added that all countries have to agree on the definitions of terrorist and terrorism, without which global terrorism cannot be tackled.

It is also necessary to build consensus on the challenge of ideology of terrorism being spread from across the border, especially by online radicalisation, which cannot be considered as a political problem.

Shah also suggested that Interpol should introduce a permanent mechanism to establish a real-time information exchange line between counter-terrorism and anti-narcotics agencies of all the member countries.

Interpol should also prepare a future plan for the next 50 years on the basis of its experiences and achievements of the last 100 years, Shah suggested.

He added that India is committed to cooperate with Interpol in setting up a dedicated centre or convention and communication network for counter-terrorism and anti-narcotics agencies around the world.

The nation stands ready to cooperate with Interpol to combat terrorism in all its forms -- narco terror, radicalisation, organised syndicate and money laundering.
New Delhi, Oct 21 : The purchases in Diwali season this year will be more than Rs 1,50,000 crore across the country in comparison to 2019 when this figure was about Rs 90,000 crore, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Friday, terming the growth of Rs 60,000 crore in business "very satisfactory" and "encouraging".

The buying season of Diwali is considered to start from the first Navratri and last till Tulsi Vivah, to be marked on November 5 this year.

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign of Vocal for Local and Atmnirbhar Bharat has had a huge impact on consumers across the country, and that customers now demand only Indian products in the markets.

He said that Diwali-related items made from China are almost absent in the markets across the country. The Indian importers did not import any items related to Diwali from China this year, due to which China has suffered a direct loss of business worth about Rs 75,000 crore, he said.

Khandelwal said that after China's invasion of Galwan Valley in 2020, traders across the country took a pledge to boycott Chinese goods and this has shown unprecedented results.

He said that the CAIT has called upon the traders across the country to celebrate this Diwali as "Apni Diwali Bhartiya Diwali" for festival purchases, the major thrust of the consumers has been on home decor items, Diwali puja items including earthen lamps, deities, wall hangings, handicraft items, Shubh-Labh, traditional good luck charms like Om symbols, items for worship of Goddess Lakshmi and Shri Ganesh ji, home decor items which will give big trade to the items made by local artisans, craftsmen and skilled artists in the markets across the country!

Latest updates on Diwali Festival 2022
New Delhi, Oct 21 : Promoting India-Australian bilateral trade and investments, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari emphasised on the investing opportunities in India including the transport infrastructure sector.

Among various meetings in New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Gadkari had a fruitful interaction with Australian Senator Tim Ayres, Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing.

Gadkari and Ayres discussed the "excellent investment opportunities" for Australian Investors in the Roads and Transport sector in India.

The Minister said the trade relations between the two nations are upbeat and win-win for both the countries with technology and innovation being the key drivers for future growth.

Gadkari visited the Research Centre for Integrated Transportation Innovation (rCITI) at University of New South Wales, Sydney.

rCITI in collaboration with IAHE and Indian Mobility Industries will work together to build the Centre for Advanced Transportation Technology and Systems (CATTS) in India.

A testimony of the Indo-Australian Partnership, CATTS will serve as the Centre of Excellence to build capacities in the fields of smart transport systems.

The Minister had a meeting with the Team of Australia-India Infrastructure Forum (AIIF) in Sydney, hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Gadkari had a meeting with John Hopkins, CEO of Export Finance Australia.

Discussions pertained to effects of India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) on trade and bilateral investments between the two countries.

The Minister said India's export of goods and services to Australia will increase in the coming years with the fostering of a strong India-Australia Partnership.
Bihar: 2 langurs died due to electrocution, hundreds of people participated in the funeral procession, funeral in Hindu rituals. Image Source: IANS News

Bihar: 2 langurs died due to electrocution, hundreds of people participated in the funeral procession, funeral in Hindu rituals. Image Source: IANS News

Gaya, Oct 21 : A case of man's love for animals was seen on the Tekari Road locality in Gaya, where hundreds of people gathered near the Hanuman temple upon hearing the news of the death of two langurs on Wednesday.

The two langurs, who were electrocuted to death, were cremated following Hindu customs.

According to the locals, the langurs died after being hit by a high-tension wire near the temple on Wednesday evening.

Local resident Bimlendu Chaitanya said that langurs have been dying in the locality in the month of October for the past five years.

Three langurs had come under the grip of the electric wire, two of which died, while the third was injured.

These incidents are happening because of the negligence of the concerned department, Chaitanya added.

Another local, Vipin Kumar Kejriwal, said that on Thursday, the funeral procession of the langurs was taken out from the temple following several Hindu rituals, amid the beating of drums. The community decided to cremate them according to Hindu customs as soldiers of Lord Ram's army.

Several social workers of the city took part in the funeral procession, setting an example of kindness and humanity. The entire locality resonated with chants of 'Jai Shri Ram'.

After passing through different localities, the langurs were cremated at the Bahadurgarh crematorium on the banks of Falgu river.
Jaipur, Oct 21 : Jaipur is all set to host the national convention of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) after a gap of 18 years from November 24 to 27, ABVP officials confirmed.

The last time Rajasthan hosted the national convention of ABVP was way back in 2004.

The activities of the convention will start from November 21 itself, which will include organising exhibitions, sessions, distributing Yashwant Rao Yuva award, taking out processions in Jaipur, which will pass through different areas before concluding at the Albert Hall on November 26. The convention will conclude on November 27, ABVP officials told IANS.

During the four-month convention, the student leaders of ABVP will reflect on the current education system of the country and discuss issues like appeasement etc.

The Rajasthan unit of ABVP has already started preparations for the convention. Officials and workers associated with the ABVP from all over the country will gather at the national convention.
Kolkata, Oct 21 : Sehgal Hossain -- the bodyguard of Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal -- arrested in connection with the cattle smuggling scam was taken to Delhi from West Bengal on Friday. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the matter, had sought Hossain's custody which was approved by the court.

Hossain, escorted by a police team led by a Sub Inspector, was brought out at around 3 p.m. from the Asansol Special Correctional Home in West Burdwan district of West Bengal.

All the six constables escorting him were armed with sophisticated weapons like AK-47 and Insas Rifles.

ED sources said even as the agency got the approval from the Supreme Court to take Hossain into custody in Delhi, a lower court in the national capital will decide the number of days that the agency can keep him in its custody.

"So, he will be presented at the court after he reaches Delhi. Our plan is to seek an initial seven-day custody for Hossain and if necessary, a further appeal can be made at a later stage for extension," an ED source said.

Getting the court permission to take Sehgal Hossain to Delhi was not that easy for ED.

After failing to get permission from the Calcutta High Court, the central agency approached a special court of PMLA at Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi, which on October 17 approved the plea.

However, Hossain's counsel challenged that order of the special court of PMLA at Delhi High Court which too cleared the ED approval.

Finally, the matter reached the Supreme Court that also gave a go ahead to ED on this count.
Patna, Oct 21 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday gave the benefit of doubt to DGP S.K. Singhal in the fake phone call case of suspended IPS officer Aditya Kumar and his conman friend Abhishek Agrawal, who impersonated the Patna High Court Chief Justice, in a bid to get the former off the hook.

"As soon as we learnt about someone making a fake phone call to the DGP, investigation took place and the caller appeared to be a fraudster. The DGP realised the mistake had been made from his side. So, don't make it an issue. He will retire from his service in the next two months," he said.

The statement of Bihar Chief Minister came at a time when opposition leader Sushil Kumar Modi demanded a CBI inquiry in this matter.

"The caller was in contact with DGP S.K. Singhal since August this year. He made dozens of calls to him but he (the DGP) did not investigate the identity of the caller.. whether he is genuine or fake. The role of Bihar DGP is under a question mark and only the CBI can unearth the truth behind it," Modi said.

"The role of the DGP in the matter to save a SSP rank officer is suspicious. The investigation is currently underway under the Economic Offence Unit (EOU) which comes under the DGP. Hence, fair investigation cannot be possible," he claimed.

The DGP, in his first reaction on the issue, said: "This is a very serious issue and its investigation is currently underway. I want to suggest that everyone avoid going on speculation. Let investigation take place, we will share all information at the right time." Aditya Kumar, a 2011 batch IPS officer, allegedly planned with Agrawal to apply pressure on Singhal to get a clean chit in a case registered against him in Gaya's Kalyanpur police station.

He was the SSP of Gaya when he was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including for assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty, putting person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion, cheating, impersonation, forgery and more in Fatehpur police station having case number 312/2022 on the direction of Chief Minister himself. Besides him, SHO, Fatehpur, Sanjay Kumar was also a co-accused.

Agrawal, impersonating Chief Justice of Patna High Court Sanjay Karol, made more than 30 calls to Singhal, applying pressure to remove the name of Aditya Kumar from the FIR. Singhal eventually submitted the report in court wherein he had mentioned "mistake of facts" in that case and given a clean chit to him.

Following that, Aditya Kumar rejoined duty as AIG in the police headquarters here.

After the clean chit to Aditya Kumar, the case file reached the Chief Minister's Secretariat but officials found something fishy in it and transferred it to EOU for the thorough investigation.

The EOU officials used cyber cell officials to scan the phone numbers which were used to call senior police officials who have prepared the report including the DGP.

During the investigation, two numbers - 9709303397 and 9431602303, both having a photo of Chief Justice Karol as the display picture - were found to be used by Agrawal to call the DGP, and several times, the DGP had called him on this number. Sometimes, Agrawal sent messages to him and said that he was busy. The DGP also made an appointment on Whatsapp to talk to him over phone.

During investigation, it was also found that Aditya Kumar met Agrawal in a Patna restaurant to prepare the plan for the latter to pretend to be the Chief Justice.

The EOU, in its investigation, found that the phone numbers used to call the DGP did not belong to Chief Justice, put them under surveillance, and then managed to nab Agrawal.

During interrogation, Agrawal confessed that he was having close links with Aditya Kumar for the last four years, and they had connived to get the police officer a clean chit.
New Delhi, Oct 21 : Two cyber fraudsters, who used to dupe people on the pretext of bank customer care support, have been arrested by Delhi Police from Shahdara district.

The accused have been identified as Gaurav Kumar, 29, a resident of Dabri Extension and the mastermind of the racket, and his associate Ajay Kishan Yadav (27), a resident of Dashrathpuri.

The police said that Gaurav used to arrange fake bank accounts and SIM cards for cheating, while Ajay, a second year B.Com student, used to arrange the calling data.

According to R. Sathiyasundaram, DCP, Shahdara, a complaint was received from a man, who alleged that he received his new Axis Bank credit card on September 16, and the next day he received a call from one person who impersonated as an employee of Axis Bank's credit card department.

"They sent him a link to activate his new credit card. As per their direction, he clicked on the said link and filled his credit card details. In a flash, Rs 39,999 was deducted from his account. When the victim called on the mobile number, it was switched off," said the DCP.

"A case was registered under the relevant sections of law at the Shahdara cyber cell police station and investigation was taken up," said the DCP.

"During investigation, it was found that the cheated amount was transferred to a fake Yes Bank account using the Cred app. All the IMEI numbers were sent for tracing along with the mobile numbers linked to the bank accounts," the DCP said.

"After analysing the account details, the police managed to nab Gaurav and Ajay, who were running a call centre from their home," said the DCP.

"Interrogation revealed that Gaurav arranged fake bank accounts from one person, identified as Azam, on commission basis and hired a woman caller on salary basis," said the DCP.

"Ajay arranged the calling data from a man identified as Sahil, who provided them the details of people applying for new credit card," said the DCP.

"On the basis of that data, Gaurav and Ajay with the help of the woman caller used to contact the card holders and cheated on the pretext of increasing the credit limit," said the officer.
Bhopal, Oct 21 : A man was arrested for allegedly peeping into the washroom of a government-run girls hostel in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur, police said on Friday.

In their complaint, the female students have complained that they noticed such incidents in the past also, but could not identify the persons.

Chhatarpur's Additional Superintendent of Police Vikram Singh said that a group of girls of the senior girls hostel had come to the police station to lodge a complaint against a person who used to peep in their washroom.

In the latest case, the person was identified through a CCTV camera installed at a local grocery shop located adjacent to the hostel.

On the basis of the complaint, local police lodged an FIR and started searching for the suspect, who was traced and arrested. Police identified him as Nitesh Karosia, and he has been booked under Indian Penal Code's Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty).

Last month, an SMS of a girl student in Chandigarh had gone viral on social media, which had sparked a public outrage, and a similar incident was also reported in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur where the girl students had complained that some persons peep into the washroom of their hostel.
Guwahati, Oct 21 : The Assam police on Friday arrested at least eight persons including six engineers of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) and a retired Assam civil service official for alleged irregularities in the execution of de-siltation work in Guwahati, officials said.

Along with the government officials, the director of a private firm that was engaged in hiring vehicles was also arrested.

The police claimed that this private firm had allegedly submitted bills of crores of rupees with forged documents and withdrew government funds.

It has been alleged that the firm also allegedly submitted bills to GMC showing the supply of vehicles and machinery at an inflated rate.

Police said that the officers of GMC conspired with the firm, and did not implement government works as per norms laid down in the tender documents.

Based on a complaint following an inquiry by the Chief Minister's Special Vigilance Cell, police nabbed the accused eight persons.
Thane, Oct 21 : Moving swiftly, the Thane police's Crime Branch nabbed two persons and detained one in connection with the double shooting in Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's hometown, leaving two persons injured, including one critically, police said on Friday.

Launching a manhunt with multiple teams, the Thane police said late in the evening that they had nabbed two shooters - Bipin Mishra and Surav Shinde, and detained another associate.

The police have also recovered one pistol used in the shooting that left Thane is shudders this morning.

In the first incident, property dealer Ashwin Gamle was shot and injured at Ghantali Road around 5.30 a.m.

Heavily bleeding with at least one bullet piercing through his body, Gamle was rushed to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa while the Naupada police began probing the matter.

The second shootout took place near the Mama Bhanja hills locality of Vartak Nagar around dawn, in which local ruffian Kala Ganya was injured.

At least one bullet found its mark on Ganya's chest and he was rushed to the Vedanta Hospital where his condition is described as "critical" as the Vartak Nagar police launched a probe.

The Thane police and Crime Branch set up multiple teams to investigate and track the shooters who were traced to Mulund in Mumbai and attested.

The motives behind the gunfiring spree is said to be extortion and business rivalries culminating in the firing incidents in open public places in the Thane city.

CM Shinde's private residence is located in the city adjacent to Mumbai and it is also his political stronghold.
Patna, Oct 21 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday hit back at his former JD(U) colleague and ace poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who recently said that the Bihar CM's ties with the BJP are not just over yet.

"Nitish Kumar has kept a line open with the BJP. He is in touch with the BJP through his party MP and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Harivansh ji," Kishor, who is on a state-wide padyatra, said on Wednesday.

When his reaction to Kishor's comment was sought on Friday, Nitish Kumar said: "Don't take his (Kishore's) name in front of me in the future. I gave him respect when he was with me. Now he is making statements against me. He speaks for his own publicity and can say whatever he wants. I don't want to comment on his statements." On Thursday, Rural Development Minister Sharawan Kumar had lashed out at Kishor, saying: "Who is PK, is he a forecaster? He should think about himself before commenting on others.

"I believe he is a confused person who does not know what to do with his life. He only works for those who hire him. It is well known that he is working for the BJP. Hence, he is trying to create confusion among the alliance partners of the Mahagathbandhan. He should think about himself first." Sharawan Kumar added: "Our CM Nitish Kumar announced from the open platform that he will not go with the BJP again. His decision was well appreciated by all sections of society, especially the opposition leaders in the country. Still, people like Kishor are trying every possible method to create differences among the alliance partners."
Bhopal, Oct 21 : A day after the Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta issued notice to 15 officials, including three IAS officers, for alleged corruption in the construction of the Mahakal Lok corridor, the extended part of Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar temple, former Chief Minister and state Congress chief Kamal Nath on Friday slammed the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government over the charges.

Kamal Nath termed the allegations as serious, and demanded an impartial and high-level inquiry into the matter.

Attacking Chouhan over rampant 'corruption' in the state, Kamal Nath accused the BJP government of making false promises and investing public money in its image making events.

"News of corruption in the construction work of Mahakal Lok is worrying. The sentiments of crores of people have been hurt by this news. There should be an impartial, high-level inquiry. Whoever is guilty should not be spared," Kamal Nath tweeted.

The notices were issued to the 15 officials, including the Ujjain district collector, based on a complaint filed by Mahesh Parmar, the Congress MLA from Tarana Assembly constituency in Ujjain district.

The Congress legislator claimed to have filed the complaint in May this year.

The other two IAS officers are the director of the Ujjain smart city project, Kshij Singh, and Ujjain Municipal Commissioner Anshul Gupta. Notably, Anshul Gupta was transferred from Ujjain five days before the Mahakal Lok was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 11.

"A tender was floated for the development of a parking lot, but it was cancelled without any information and a new tender was floated with five times increased money. The tendering process was completely biased as rules were not followed. And it was done by a nexus of senior officials and contractors. I had lodged a complaint in this regard with the Lokayukta department in Bhopal in May this year. I am thankful to the department for taking action in this serious matter," Parmar told IANS on Friday.

The Congress MLA also claimed that murals and statues of Lord Shiva, which have been installed in the newly-constructed Mahakal Lok corridor, were purchased for more than eight times the actual market price.

"The BJP government claimed it has invested over Rs 300 crore in the project, but around 30 per cent of that amount was spent for marketing and advertising," Parmar added.

Sources privy to the development told IANS that the Lokayukta has asked all the 15 officials to submit their reply October 28.
Bengaluru, Oct 21 : The Karnataka High Court on Friday quashed cases against two Congress leaders in connection with the 'PayCM campaign' launched by the grand old party to target the BJP-led government in the state.

J.S. Narayana Gowda, a youth Congress leader in Nelamangala assembly constituency near Bengaluru, and V. Ramakrishna, Congress Legal Cell president had filed a petition at the court to quash cases against them lodged in connection with PayCM campaign against the ruling BJP.

Narayana Gowda and Ramakrishna were booked by the police for giving a call to take up PayCM campaign. The single bench headed by Justice M. Nagaprasanna has quashed the criminal case filed against them in this regard.

It was further alleged that the accused persons called up the people on mobile phones and gave them instructions to put up posters.

The bench opined that it cannot be assumed that the petitioners have committed crime under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and the Prevention of Defacement of Property Act.

They have not committed any offence which are punishable under these acts, the bench added.

The bench also stated that the order is limited to the proceedings against the petitioners only and it will not apply to other accused persons.

The Nelamangala police had booked a FIR against the petitioners that they got the posters containing the photograph of the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and QR code.

The campaign has been launched by the Congress party to attack the ruling BJP over "40 per cent commission" allegations.

However, ruling BJP took drastic measures in connection with the campaign. It maintained that it is an insult to the state that a CM's photo is used for political gains.

Many arrests were made across the state during the Bharat Jodo Yatra for wearing T Shirts having the posters of the PayCM Campaign.

Slamming the BJP, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and Congress' Karnataka unit president D.K. Shivakumar have participated in the campaign and pasted the posters.

Currently, the Congress has taken up a new "SayCM Campaign" against BJP in Karnataka, through which attacks are launched against the saffron party.
New Delhi, Oct 21 : The students of Delhi University's Faculty of Law on Friday staged a protest claiming over 400 students have been allotted Zero out of 100 marks in "an attempt" to fail them in exams.

The protest was organised by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). A large number of students had gathered and demonstrated outside the Faculty of Law.

According to students, the Faculty of Law, however, admitted that "there have been some lapses", and assured them of taking the correctional steps.

The ABVP claimed that in the result published few days ago, the students were either allotted zero mark or shown "absent".

Meanwhile, the students have submitted that they were told fresh announcement of results would be done soon.
New Delhi, Oct 22 : The Delhi Police's Special Cell has arrested most wanted petroleum product smuggler and member of the notorious Kala Jathedi-Lawrence Bishnoi-Goldy Brar gang in the national capital, officials said.

The accused, identified as Sunil alias Banda, had jumped the interim bail in September 2020 and was wanted in 19 cases.

According to a senior police officer, a team of special cell unit was already working to apprehend the wanted and desperate criminals of the notorious Kala Jathedi-Lawrence Bishnoi-Goldy Brar gang since last few months and on October 6, a desperate shooter of the gang, Rakesh Raka, was arrested.

"The name of Sunil Banda was revealed during the interrogation of Raka, who used to help the accused financially and was also involved in an extortion case of Karol Bagh in which the accused persons had demanded Rs 5 crores from the victim," said the officer.

"On October 17, specific inputs were received that Sunil Banda would be coming to Burari area in the evening to meet one of his associates. Accordingly, a team was constituted and deployed there and the accused was nabbed," said the officer.

"Banda has a long criminal history and had also served a jail term of five years at Tihar prison. In the year 2016, when he was in Jhajjar Jail, he met other criminals and gradually started managing the whole syndicate of oil theft," said the officer.

His associate Deepak Rathi would procure all the information about the location of oil pipelines through one Nepali Pipli and another Harish used to do work of welding in the pipeline for fitting the valve.

The responsibility of selling oil was with Sunil Banda and Dinesh Rathi. After selling the oil, Sunil Banda along with his associates Dinesh Rathi and Harish used to give a certain sum of money to the other team members for each 20,000 liter theft and the remaining proceeds from sale was distributed among the three.
Ankara, Oct 22 : Turkey has called for lifting Western sanctions on Iran and Venezuela and slammed the US for pressuring Saudi Arabia over the OPEC+ decision to cut oil production.

Trying to weaponise energy has become a factor impacting global energy prices, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a press conference in Turkish southern Mersin province, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We see that a country is threatening Saudi Arabia, and this bullying is not correct," he said.

US President Joe Biden last week vowed "consequences" for Saudi Arabia after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, decided to cut production.

"We don't think it's right for the US to use it this way, as an element of pressure on Saudi Arabia or any other country," Cavusoglu said.

He also said that the world needs Venezuela's oil and natural gas. "They have only just begun to loosen embargoes on Venezuela. On the other side, there have been embargoes on the Iranian oil," the minister added.

The sanctions must be lifted on supplier countries if the world wants the prices to decrease, he said, noting "you can't solve this problem just by threatening one country." The OPEC+ announced on October 5 that the group would cut production by 2 million barrels per day from November.
Noida, Oct 22 : The Noida police, with arrest of four persons, have busted a gang involved in blackmailing couples after secretly making their obscene videos.

The gang allegedly used to set up hidden cameras in OYO hotel rooms and record private moments of couples who visit there. After this, they used to blackmail couples and ask them for money. If any couple refuses to pay, they threaten them of circulating their video online.

The gang had even established a call center for it.

ADCP (Central) Saad Miya Khan said that the police have arrested four people, identified as Abdul Wahav of Khoda, Vishnu Singh (Garhi Chaukhandi), Pankaj Kumar (Noida) and Anurag Kumar, resident of Vijay Nagar in Ghaziabad.

They recently blackmailed a couple after making their obscene video.

The probe into the case led police to two accused - Abdul and Vishnu, who revealed that they had a gang which in a similar manner extorted money from people.

Based on the interrogation, the police tracked and apprehended Pankaj and Anurag.

Accused Pankaj used to supply SIM cards to people involved in illegal businesses while accused Anurag used to run an unauthorised call centre.

According to the ADCP, both Abdul and Vishnu stayed at an OYO hotel in Phase-3 police station area a few days ago. There they set up hidden cameras. A few days later a couple stayed at the hotel and the accused using the hidden cameras recorded a video of their private moments.

The accused started blackmailing the couple over phone and threaten them of circulating their video online.

Abdul and Vishnu contacted Pankaj and his accomplice Saurabh of another gang for getting the extortion money deposited in bank account. Pankaj took Rs 15,000 from them and gave them a "kit", which comprises a fake bank account, a sim for extortion and an ATM.
Helsinki, Oct 22 : The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has reported an increase in the presence of Covid-19 in its wastewater sampling.

The country's current Covid-19 situation is about as bleak as it was at the beginning of 2022, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the THL's monitoring report.

THL leading expert Tarja Pitkanen told national broadcaster Yle that the country is currently on the crest of a wave caused by the Omicron variant of the virus.

Omicron was first detected in Finland in early 2022. The number of confirmed cases was relatively low in August, but the trend appears to be reversed now, she said.

The coming weeks will show whether the levels of Covid-19 detected in wastewater will exceed those recorded at the beginning of this year, she said.

She added that the Omicron subvariant BA.5 has become the dominant strain of the virus in Finland, with subvariants BA.2 and BA.4 also detected in certain parts of the country.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) regional data showed that Europe recorded a rise in Covid-19 cases in the first week of October.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has warned that the coronavirus pandemic is not over yet, although the overall situation is better than it was last autumn.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
By Guo Xiaobing

The world has been in serious nuclear tension since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out. Will nuclear weapons be used? Will the conflict escalate into a nuclear war? The world is watching nervously.

Different parties have proposed their plans for coping with the looming risk of a nuclear war. Some are sending a stronger signal of nuclear deterrence: as NATO held the Steadfast Noon nuclear deterrence exercise, Russia responded tit-for-tat by organizing the Grom nuclear exercise. Some are trying to reinforce their nuclear umbrella: Japan is discussing nuclear sharing, and ROK is seriously considering re-introducing tactical nuclear weapons. In face of the dangerous situation and expectations of the international community, China has offered its own plan.

Li Song, the Chinese Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs, made a statement on nuclear disarmament at the Thematic Discussion on Nuclear Weapons of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee. He called upon the five nuclear weapon states to conclude a treaty on mutual no-first use of nuclear weapons and called on the Conference on Disarmament to negotiate and conclude an international legally binding instrument on negative security assurances for non-nuclear weapon states. This is to say that nuclear weapon states commit to not using or threatening to use nuclear weapons at non-nuclear weapon states under any or certain circumstances.

Ambassador Lis proposal was not a new measure just brought up as an expedient. China is the only one of the five nuclear weapon states recognized by the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) that has consistently adhered to the non-first use principle. It made the solemn commitment to never use nuclear weapons first after its first nuclear test in 1964. At the 49th UNGA in 1994, it called upon all nuclear weapon states to declare unconditional non-first use, and to immediately negotiate and sign a treaty on not using nuclear weapons against each other first, or using them or threatening to use them against any non-nuclear weapon states or regions. China has been reiterating this position repeatedly ever since, but its initiatives havent seen any substantial progress because of the respective concerns of other nuclear weapon states.

Raising this topic now is of special and great importance. First, it accommodates the concerns of all parties and can defuse the imminent risk of nuclear warfare. No nuclear weapon state wants to see a nuclear war, but is afraid of the rival using nuclear weapons first. Signing an official treaty that commits every party to non-first use would put everyone at ease. It is the fairest way to effectively mitigate the tension surrounding a nuclear-related decision.

Second, it will be an implementation of the five nuclear weapon states joint statement released on January 3 emphasizing that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The release of this statement was seen as a milestone in preventing nuclear warfare, but it hasnt stopped the cloud of nuclear war from hovering over the world again. A treaty on non-first use would provide the fundamental guarantee for the implementation of the statement.

Third, it can curb the risk of nuclear proliferation. Both the efforts to intensify nuclear sharing and reintroduce tactical nuclear weapons will expand the scope of nuclear weapon deployment and increase the risk of their use. If the five nuclear weapon states take the lead in signing a non-first use treaty, promising not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states under any condition, and if such a treaty is promoted to bring certain nuclear weapon states that are not bound by the NPT to make the same commitment, there would be no need to worry about a nuclear umbrella.

Fourth, it can create favorable conditions for future nuclear disarmament. A non-first-use commitment by nuclear weapon states removes the necessity to stockpile nuclear weapons in order to take preemptive steps and destroy the rivals nuclear arsenal. This will help reduce the excessive amount of nuclear warheads stored in the two nuclear superpowers of the US and Russia.

Things are in constant change  good things may turn bad and vice versa. The Russia-Ukraine conflict aggravates the risk of nuclear warfare, but it gives a wake-up call to those habitually turning a blind eye to the threat of nuclear weapons. The question is what the international community will do to seize this opportunity and put the right assertion that China has been upholding and advocating earnestly into practice.

(The author is the director of the Institute of Arms Control and Security Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations)

Editor's note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
Tampa Accident Injury Attorney Martin J. Hernandez, Esq. The only thing that has changed is the name, phone number and now we completely focus on personal injury law, said Hernandez. I have been able to retain all of my experienced and compassionate staff and will be able to make this transition seamlessly.

Attorney Martin J. Hernandez announces his new law firm. The new firm, at the same location, has the same dedicated paralegals, case managers, and support staff and is completely dedicated to serving personal injury victims in the Tampa Bay Area.

Hernandez has been practicing law since 2001 and is one of the few attorneys in Florida to have tried over 100 jury trials. With a focus on auto accidents and other negligence claims, his career started by joining the Office of State Attorney for the Thirteenth Judicial District in Hillsborough County as an Assistant State Attorney. He was then promoted to the position of a lead trial attorney in the narcotics division and tried numerous high-profile, complicated cases. He went into private practice in 2004 to further help those in need and after an 18-year successful partnership, Martin decided to pursue a practice in helping victims.

The only thing that has changed is the name, and phone number and now we completely focus on personal injury law, said Hernandez. I have been able to retain all of my experienced and compassionate staff and will be able to make this transition seamlessly.

Hernandez primarily handles cases that arise from auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, premises liability, slips or trips, falls, and negligent security. In addition, he is currently an Eagle member of the Florida Justice Association, regarded as the premier trial lawyer organization for the State of Florida; Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers Association; Latin Chamber of Commerce, Ybor City Rotary Club; Trustee for Boys and Girls Club; Knights of SantYago; and involved in the Boy Scouts of America (Eagle Scout, former Cubmaster, and currently an Assistant Scoutmaster).

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About Martin Hernandez Law Office. The Office is located at 3002 W. Kennedy Blvd., in Tampa, Florida. Mr. Hernandez also has achieved numerous verdicts, judgments, and settlements well above the defendants policy limits. In one case he handled, the insurance company paid $1.2 million to his client when the defendants policy limit was only $25,000. Additionally, he settled many other cases that resolved for 10 to 50 times the policy limits of the defendant. Very few attorneys have the knowledge, skill, or fortitude to try to resolve a case for more than the policy limits.
with our innovative deep learning technology, we will strive to lead the digitalization of medical care

Deep Bio, a pioneer in medical AI for digital pathology and cancer diagnostics support software, announced that it has been selected as one of the promising AI startups in the Korea AI Startup 100 list for the second time in a row.

Korea AI Startup 100, an annual accelerator project cohosted by the Korea Economic Daily and AI One Team, an Industry-University-Research Council, discovers promising Korean AI startups. The project aims to support companies to strengthen their market presence and build their capability, thus enhancing national AI competitiveness in the global market as well as boosting the establishment of the startup ecosystem.

To choose the most notable 100 startups, a committee made up of AI experts evaluated candidates based on criteria that the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and KT Economics & Management Research Institute developed. The applicants were assessed on both quantitative factors such as market growth potential, corporate value, competitiveness in the AI technology space, and qualitative aspects including corporate sustainability.

After three rounds of evaluation, Deep Bio was selected as one of the finalists of the Korea AI Startup 100 in the healthcare industry. It is a great honor to be designated as a promising startup that represents Korea. This opportunity once again becomes motivation for our company to advance our AI capability that can contribute to the society, said Sun Woo Kim, the CEO of Deep Bio. He also added, with our innovative deep learning technology, we will strive to lead the digitalization of medical care.

Deep Bio, which initiated AI-based pathology image analysis and cancer diagnosis research in Korea, is leading the digital transformation in pathology with Koreas first approved AI-based cancer diagnostic support software DeepDx-Prostate and AI-based prostate cancer severity-grading software DeepDx-Prostate Pro. More importantly, the company plans to execute l purchase agreements with five Korean hospitals for DeepDx-Prostate Pro, through the Public Procurement Marketplace program run by the Korean Public Procurement Service (PPS).

Deep Bio also continues to build its global presence through overseas partnerships with digital pathology platform providers in the US, Europe, and India, as well as conduct research cooperation with Stanford Medical School, Harvard Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and other top research institutions in the US. The company also has been presenting its novel research results in prestigious science and technology journals including the Cancers Journal, npj Digital Medicine, among others.

About Deep Bio

Deep Bio Inc. is an AI healthcare company with in-house expertise in deep learning and cancer pathology. Our vision is to radically improve efficiency and accuracy of pathologic cancer diagnosis and prognosis, by equipping pathologists with deep learning-based IVD SaMDs (In Vitro Diagnostics Software as a Medical Device), for optimal cancer treatment decisions. To learn more, visit http://www.deepbio.co.kr.

DeepDx Prostate is a clinically-validated AI for prostate core needle biopsy tissue image analysis. Whole-slide images (WSIs) of H&E-stained biopsy tissue specimens are analyzed for prostate cancer, Gleason scores and grade groups. Extensively tested at 4 US CLIA labs (700k+ cores from 2019 to 2021), DeepDx Prostate can alleviate the shortage of pathologists and the resultant increase in workload, while reducing diagnostic subjectivity and variability. To learn more, visit http://www.deepbio.co.kr
Tergus Pharma, a commercial scale Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) of semi-solid and liquid dosage forms, announced today that Michael Kane has been appointed as the Companys new Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Vijendra Nalamothu, Tergus founder who has served as Chairman & CEO since 2012, will assume the role of Executive Chairman & Chief Scientific Officer.

We are thrilled to welcome Michael Kane as the new CEO of Tergus and I am confident that he will continue the scientific excellence and transformation at Tergus. As Executive Chairman I will be able to focus more on our growth strategy and related scientific efforts, while Kane will be empowered as CEO to manage overall corporate operations. I look forward to working closely with Michael in my role as Executive Chairman & Chief Scientific Officer to help write Tergus Pharmas next chapter, said Dr. Nalamothu.

Mr. Kane joins Tergus with over thirty years of manufacturing experience and commercial scale operations. Prior to joining Tergus, Mr. Kane was in company leadership roles as the CEO and COO on middle market pharmaceutical and healthcare product companies that developed and manufactured topical, solid, soft gel, oral liquid and powder dosage forms across branded Rx, generic, OTC and medical nutrition segments. He was also an Operating Partner and board director at Blue Point Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Kanes prior experience also includes operational leadership positions at Novartis and Abbott Laboratories.

Mr. Kane stated, I am pleased to join the Tergus management team at an important inflection point in the company history. I was attracted to the role at Tergus because of their deep scientific expertise, their excellent facility, and impressive roster of clients that have developed over the past ten years. It is clear the future is very bright for the organization, and I look forward to working with employees and customers to build a leading topical CDMO.

About Tergus Pharma

Tergus is an end-to-end contract service provider for topical pharmaceutical products supporting early phase research and formulation, drug development, testing, and both clinical and commercial manufacturing at our new 100,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility in Durham, North Carolina. Tergus has developed a reputation for delivering quality results to clients for topical semi-solids and liquids for skin, otic, nasal, ophthalmic, vaginal, and rectal routes of administration. With industry-recognized leadership and expertise in method development, such as IVRT and IVPT, for topical pharmaceuticals, Tergus also provides clients with peace of mind and helps them to de-risk their product development, tech transfer, and manufacturing activities. Exclusively focused on topical development and manufacturing, Tergus brings the scientific expertise that helps our clients achieve the right balance of scientific knowhow, speed of results, and quality. For more information, please visit https://www.TergusPharma.com/
MAK ONE: One World Multi-Domain Simulation Environment

MAK Technologies (MAK), a company of ST Engineering North America, today announced that the MAK ONE suite of simulation software, including VR-Forces, has been selected for use in Pakistan Air Forces (PAF) simulators for tactical training. VR-Forces will provide the Computer-Generated Forces (CGF) platform to generate Air, Land, Surface, and Sub-surface forces in PAFs Project Visions large-scale synthetic battlefield environment, as part of its Composite Simulation Centre.

The Operations Research, Modelling and Simulations Department of Project Vision is responsible for the development of virtual and constructive simulators, including simulators for PAF fighter aircraft, surface to air missiles, radars, Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) systems, Command & Control (C2) systems, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR), Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC), and Air Traffic Control (ATC) systems. These simulators are fully interoperable over DIS protocol.

The Composite Simulation Centre is Project Visions most recent effort to integrate these simulators and build a large-scale battlefield simulation environment. VR-Forces provides the tools for scenario generation in the simulated battlefield environment and is extendible through software development kits for customization and further development of user-required features.

MAK ONEs modular, open-systems architecture also allows flexibility in system design that will enable PAF to build on top of the MAK software to meet future or evolving requirements.

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ST Engineering North America is the U.S. headquarters of ST Engineering, a global technology, defense and engineering group with a diverse portfolio of businesses across the aerospace, smart city, defense and public security segments. Based in Alexandria, VA, it has major operations across 16 cities in 12 states and employs about 5,000 people providing innovative products and solutions to commercial and government customers across diverse market segments.

MAK Technologies builds solutions to your unique training challenges, built upon the strength and flexibility of the MAK ONE simulation platform. We have been delivering military simulation and training technology for more than 30 years, and the MAK ONE platform is the core of training simulations for the US Department of Defense and customers worldwide. Our end-user training systems are portable, easy to use and maintain, visually appealing, and able to meet individual and collective training requirements  including multi-domain operations. MAK Technologies is a company of ST Engineering North America. Please visit http://www.mak.com for more information.
VitalSpace Estate Agents - Best UK Sales Agent The Best UK Sales Agent

VitalSpace Estate Agents are delighted to announce they have been recognised for outstanding customer service, marketing and results at the EA Masters 2022. These awards are recognised as the most prestigious within the UK property sector, held at the Evolution, Battersea Park in London.

Every year, The Property Academy carries out the biggest performance assessment in the estate agency industry to identify the best agencies in the country.

There are 15,0000 estate agency brands in the UK. The Property Academy judges all agents in an industry-wide mystery shopping exercise based on a fixed criteria in order to establish the best agents in the UK.

The top 20% of performers are then put through a practical assessment with mystery shoppers at every stage of the sales and lettings processes. Agencies are then scored and reviewed based on their response times, response quality and overall delivery of service. VitalSpace excelled in all these areas.

VitalSpace Estate Agents took 8 staff from both the sales and lettings departments to London to enjoy the EA Masters Awards, sponsored by OnTheMarket, one of the UKs leading property portal websites.

From the 15,000 audited agents, just 750 companies are rated exceptional, and from these exceptional agents, highly coveted trophies are presented to 3 agents in the following categories:



Best UK Lettings Agent

Best UK Sales Agent

Estate Agency of the Year

As an independently owned and managed estate agent, covering the south Manchester area, VitalSpace will now be listed alongside the countrys very best agents in The Best Estate Agent Guide 2023. Not only will they be listed in the guide but also won awards during the ceremony for: The Best UK Sales Agent and Best Single Sales Branch

Not only were they voted the Best Single Sales Branch but also one of the most prestigious awards you can win in Estate Agency, the Best UK Sales Agent.

Director  Richard Antrobus comments- Its an incredibly proud moment for myself and the team to know that after being judged against all other agents, our dedicated customer focussed approach is recognised against the very best. Being crowned with the Best UK Sales Agent further affirms our mission to creating an agency with unparalleled customer service at its heart.

For anyone looking to sell or let their property in the Urmston and Stretford area, you can be confident that you are dealing with one of the UKs very best Estate Agents in the country when using VitalSpace Estate Agents.
Wolfram Innovator Award Winners with Stephen Wolfram

Wolfram technologies have long been a major force in many areas of industry and research. Leaders in many top organizations and institutions have played a major role in using computational intelligence and pushing the boundaries of how the Wolfram technology stack is leveraged for innovation across fields and disciplines.

Wednesday, October 19th was the Innovator Award ceremony and keynote dinner, where Stephen Wolfram recognized eight exceptional individuals and teams from across fields, disciplines and the world for their work in applying computational excellence in innovative and exciting ways.

We are pleased to introduce and congratulate the 2022 Wolfram Innovator Award winners:

Paul R. Garvey

Distinguished Chief Engineer/Scientist, the MITRE Corporation

Math Department Faculty, Boston College

Paul R. Garvey is a distinguished chief engineer/scientist at the MITRE Corporation, a not-for-profit organization operating federally funded research and development centers for the US government. He has decades of experience in systems operations research, network modeling, mission systems risk analyses and the application of risk-decision analytics across a variety of problems in the federal government. His current work involves modeling the network structure of the US food supply chain, which is being done in collaboration with datasets and published studies by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) research team led by Professor Megan Konar.

Garvey has authored textbooks, written several papers, holds a US patent and continues to contribute his expertise and extensive Wolfram Language abilities to tackle big problems. One example is his work US Food Supply Chain Security: A Network Analysis, in conjunction with UIUC. Utilizing Mathematicas network science capabilities, they were able to model 2,817 US counties (nodes) defining the meat supply chain and 30,670 origin-to-destination links (edges) that exist between these counties.

Compute-to-Learn Project, the Geva Research Group

University of Michigan Ann Arbor

Accepted by: Ellen Mulvihill

The Compute-to-Learn project provides students with the opportunity to engage in creative forms of active learning. Compute-to-Learn activities stem from evidence-based, student-centered learning approaches, such as emphasis on real-world applications to promote students integration of new ideas, as well as authentic, collaborative environments that apprentice students as members of a scientific discipline (via practices such as explanatory writing and peer review). Students participate in tutorials and training related to Mathematica; research and propose an original Demonstration idea; workshop the idea during design and production stages; and, finally, submit the final product to external review prior to publication and dissemination on the Wolfram Demonstrations Project website. The Compute-to-Learn pedagogy is implemented within a peer-led honors studio environment. It has been offered in the University of Michigan chemistry department since 2015.

Tetsuo Ida

Professor Emeritus, University of Tsukuba

Tetsuo Ida is a professor emeritus in the department of computer science and faculty of engineering, informatics and systems for the University of Tsukuba.

Ida contributed greatly to expanding the use of computation in art, and is a pioneer of computational origami in particular. He and his team treat origami as a subject of art and a science and technology of shapes. They developed a software system called Eos (E-origami system) to reason about origami computationally. Eos is written in Wolfram Language and is available as a package for Mathematica.

Ricardo Martinez-Lagunes

Consultant, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank

Ricardo Martinez-Lagunes is a consultant for both the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. His main professional activities currently focus on water resources policy, information systems for water resource management and environmental economic accounts and assessments.

Martinez-Lagunes is using Wolfram technologies to develop the next generation of computational water policy analytical tools to better understand and tackle challenges such as improving water utilities. In addition, he has demonstrated the ability to ingest large and disconnected datasets, compute and visualize that information more efficiently and create computationally dynamic dashboards for decision makers for policy design for investment/funding initiatives.

William A. Sethares

Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of WisconsinMadison

Bill Sethares is a researcher and professor of electrical and computer engineering at the College of Engineering at the University of WisconsinMadison, focusing on signal processing with applications in acoustics, image processing, communications and optimization.

At the University of WisconsinMadison, Sethares attracts students from majors beyond engineering with his computationally rich image processing course material and project-based learning (all Wolfram Languagebased, of course!). Sethares is a founding member of the LEOcode project and brings computation to art historians in the form of applications used to find patterns in watermarks and canvases. These can help to identify and date historical papers and paintings.

Laurent Simon

Professor of Chemical Engineering and Vice Provost for Undergrad Studies

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Laurent Simon is a professor of chemical engineering and the vice provost for undergraduate studies at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Simons current research focuses on transdermal drug delivery, protein purification, process modeling and control; these projects involve writing Wolfram Language code that is instrumental in building population pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic models and designing transdermal drug-delivery systems. These same research tools, deployed with webMathematica, are now used to enhance chemical engineering curricula with applications in biological engineering.

Daniel Sze

Research Fellow, Georgia Pacific Innovation Center

Daniel Sze is a research fellow at the Georgia Pacific Innovation Center, working with dynamic system modeling to realize a new way to conduct research, tests and exploration in a much more cost-effective and timely way.

Szes work focuses on quickly building interactive design tools and dynamic system modeling of some of Georgia Pacifics largest papermaking systems. Dan is currently supporting an initiative to model large papermaking machines using Wolfram System Modeler, producing a GUI to easily change parameters related to friction, torque, speed and other variables to better understand the way large papermaking machines function under those circumstances.

Telconet

Award Accepted by: Igor Krochin, Director

Igor Krochin is the managing director of Telconet, the largest telecom company in Ecuador. They own some of the first certified cloud and data centers in Latin America, along with the first fiber-optic cable factory in the region.

Tomislav Topic and Krochin lead Telconet in implementing Wolfram Language solutions in a wide variety of areas, including events log correlations, route analysis and optimization, big data analysis and failure correlation, resulting in better planning and scalability. Telconet continues to build infrastructure and deploy services, including internet connectivity, that help students and educators in the region become empowered with Wolfram technologies, such as the Spanish version of Wolfram|Alpha, by accessing powerful and sophisticated computation from anywhere.

Please join us in congratulating these winners for their exceptional contributions in applying computational intelligence.
Linzee Werkmeister, Vice President of Business Development and Kaitlin Weigelt, Marketing and Brand Coordinator Due to the complexities of the brand and our industry, we knew finding a suitable replacement who could continue to deliver similarly impressive results would be a challenge... This will allow us to have another resource in the field to directly support our shops...

Engel & Volkers Florida today announced the dual internal promotion of two employees to further support the company's rapid expansion. Kaitlin Weigelt will become the Marketing and Brand Coordinator, as the replacement for Linzee Werkmeister, who is moving up to Vice President of Business Development.

Linzees contributions to the organization over the last six years have been invaluable, said Peter Giese, CEO of Engel & Volkers Florida. Her efforts undoubtedly fueled our explosive growth through the State of Florida. Due to the complexities of the brand and our industry, we knew finding a suitable replacement who could continue to deliver similarly impressive results would be a challenge; which is why we ultimately chose Kait, as she had been on Linzees team for the last year. This will allow us to have another resource in the field to directly support our shops recruiting efforts and the professional development of our advisors.

Werkmeister has held multiple positions with the company over the last six years, ranging from client support and relationship management to marketing and public relations. Weigelt joined Engel & Volkers in July 2021. She will now assume all of Werkmeister's marketing and brand management responsibilities.

Engel & Volkers Florida has reached a pivotal point, said Werkmeister. What Ive put in place on the franchise expansion side is now a well-oiled machine. In essence, this autopilot process enables us to continue successfully partnering with real estate professionals to open brokerages in new markets. Now, my focus can shift to supporting our existing franchisees to expand their businesses and capture more market share.

Engel & Volkers Florida currently has 41 shops throughout the State of Florida, with 14 new locations in progress. Since Gieses arrival in 2019, the company has quadrupled in size and is on pace to close over $5 billion in real estate sales this year.

I am grateful for the opportunity to continue my career with Engel & Volkers Florida, said Weigelt. Linzee has fed me incredible knowledge and new skills during the past year, in order to prepare me for this opportunity. With my strong background in graphic design, I will continue to provide original marketing material to further our expansion goals.

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Press contact:

Linzee Werkmeister, Junior Vice President, Marketing & Franchise Support

Email: Linzee.Werkmeister(at)evrealestate.com

Tel: (239) 348-9000

About Engel & Volkers:

Engel & Volkers is a global luxury real estate brand. Founded in Hamburg, Germany in 1977, Engel & Volkers draws on its rich European history to deliver a fresh approach to luxury real estate in the Americas with a focus on creating a personalized client experience at every stage of the home buying or selling process for today's savvy homeowner. Engel & Volkers currently operates approximately 272 shop locations with 6,100 real estate advisors in the Americas, contributing to the brand's global network of over 16,000 real estate professionals in more than 30 countries, offering both private and institutional clients a professionally tailored range of luxury services, including real estate, yachting and aviation. Committed to exceptional service, Engel & Volkers supports its advisors with an array of premium quality business services; marketing programs and platforms; as well as access to its global network of real estate professionals, property listings and market data. Each brokerage is independently owned and operated. For more information, visit http://www.evrealestate.com.

About Engel & Volkers Florida:

Engel & Volkers Florida is the Master License Partner of the global luxury real estate brand Engel & Volkers in the state of Florida. Recognized for uniquely recruiting, training and equipping some of the top professionals in the real estate industry, Engel & Volkers Floridas exclusive business model positions its franchisees at the top of the premium market to gain market share and support their bottom line. The company represents franchise locations in 42 markets: 30A Beaches, Amelia Island, Belleair, Boca Raton, Bonita Springs-Estero, Cape Coral, Clermont, Delray Beach, Destin, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers Downtown, Gainesville, Islamorada, Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, Jupiter, Madeira Beach, Marco Island, Melbourne Beachside, Melbourne Central, Melbourne Downtown, Miami Coconut Grove, Neptune Beach, Ocala, Olde Naples, Palm Beach, Palm Coast, Pompano Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach, San Marco, Sarasota, South Tampa, St. Augustine, St. Pete, St. Pete Beach, Stuart, Tampa Downtown, Venice Downtown, Vero Beach, Wellington, and Windermere.

Engel & Volkers Florida is continuing to strategically strengthen and expand its presence in premium real estate markets across the state of Florida. If you would like to know more about the Engel & Volkers brand or how to join its global networkwhich is known for demonstrating competence, exclusivity and passion, feel free to call our corporate office, located at 633 Tamiami Trl N, Suite 201, Naples, FL 34102 USA. Tel: +1 239-348-9000.

For more information about Engel & Volkers Florida, please visit http://www.florida.evrealestate.com
CGTN America releases Chinese Modernization: Socialist Modernization Pursued under CPC Leadership

When he delivered the report at the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 16, Xi Jinping underscored the unique features and essential requirements of Chinese modernization.

Noting that Chinese modernization is socialist modernization pursued under the leadership of the CPC, Xi said that "it contains elements that are common to the modernization processes of all countries, but it is more characterized by features that are unique to the Chinese context."

Chinese modernization is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature and of peaceful development, Xi said.

As for the essential requirements, Xi said they are "upholding the leadership of the CPC and socialism with Chinese characteristics, pursuing high-quality development, developing whole-process people's democracy, enriching the people's cultural lives, achieving common prosperity for all, promoting harmony between humanity and nature, building a human community with a shared future, and creating a new form of human advancement."

Xi also highlighted the importance of Chinese modernization in accomplishing the central task of the CPC. "From this day forward, the central task of the CPC will be to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a concerted effort to realize the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization," he said.

Chinese modernization adheres to the concept of people-centered development, emphasizes the harmonious development of man and nature, and prioritizes win-win cooperation, said an article titled Chinese Modernization Offers Humanity New Choice for Achieving Modernization, published by Guoji Ruiping (International Review), a popular news social media account in China.

Chinese modernization emphasizes pursuing the path of peaceful development and advocates exchanges and mutual inspiration among civilizations, the article added.

(This material is distributed by MediaLinks TV, LLC on behalf of CCTV. Additional information is available at the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.)
"As learning needs for your workplace evolve, the tools you rely on to create online learning need to evolve, too. Articulate is continually improving our products to deliver powerful creator tools that are easy to use and ready to scale," Tom Kuhlmann, Chief Learning Architect of Articulate

Articulate Global, LLC, the worlds leading creator platform for online workplace learning, today announced it will participate in DevLearn 2022, October 26  28, in Las Vegas, Nevada, with comprehensive activities, including an interactive booth presence (Booth #301) on the show floor, four learning stage speaking events, and a user conference to inspire both new and seasoned e-learning professionals. Articulate experts in e-learning design will share how to effectively grow employee skills, boost retention, train new hires, and support organizational agility through impactful online learning. For information and to register, visit DevLearn 2022.

According to a recent Gartner survey, building critical skills and competencies for the organization is a top priority for 59% of human resources leaders, while 40% say they cant build skill development solutions fast enough to meet evolving skill needs. Articulate is continually evolving its creator platform with todays new world of work in mind, making it possible for learning and development (L&D) professionals to keep pace with the growing demand for online workplace learning.

We know that whether youre a seasoned course author or brand-new to training development, youve been tasked with the seemingly impossibleto create magic at your organization through transformative learning experiences, said Tom Kuhlmann, Chief Learning Architect of Articulate. As learning needs for your workplace evolve, the tools you rely on to create online learning need to evolve, too. Articulate is continually improving our products to deliver powerful creator tools that are easy to use and ready to scale, helping e-learning developers author scroll-stopping, eye-catching, media-rich storytelling that keeps learners engaged and excited.

A Platform for Creating Transformative Learning Experiences

Articulate helps L&D teams keep pace with the growing demand for organizational learning with powerful creator tools that make it easy to author courses that keep learners engaged and excited#_msocom_1 [[1] __title__ null] . Course creators of all skill levels can design stunning learning content using millions of stock assets and templates. The platform includes interactive courses and lessons that are expertly researched, written, and designed by an award-winning team. This prebuilt content can be published as is or fully customized with an organizations proprietary content, making it easy for L&D professionals to develop learning content for their teams quickly.

Throughout DevLearn 2022, Articulate will showcase the cutting-edge tools and content that help overloaded L&D professionals around the world meet their organizations growing learning needs while saving time and improving learning outcomes. Attendees can experience the platforms powerful functionality and intuitive interface during a series of Learning Stage Sessions led by expert e-learning developers. Sessions include:

How to easily create practice sessions with Articulate 360 on October 26, at 11:10 a.m. PT

How to create beautiful e-learning templates using Storyline 360 on October 26, at 2:25 p.m. PT

Building better e-learning: How to get started on October 27, at 11:10 a.m. PT

Whats new in Articulate 360 on October 27, at 12:15 p.m. PT

Articulate is committed to changing how learning is created, together with its customers and community. With more than 1 million members, Articulates E-Learning Heroes community (http://www.elearningheroes.com) helps L&D professionals find examples of engaging courses, search for the latest in e-learning trends, and have their Articulate product questions answered by industry experts.

Preceding DevLearn 2022, the Articulate User Conference, hosted by the Learning Guild, will take place on October 25. The conference is a one-day event where well-known E-Learning Heroes and in-house Articulate experts will share with attendees ways to create and deliver engaging courses that will have a lasting business impact. For more information and to register for the event, visit Articulate User Conference.

###

About Articulate

Articulate Global, LLC, offers the leading creator platform for online workplace learning. More than 122 million learners in 167 countries have learned new skills, gained new insight, and received career-boosting learning made possible by Articulates creator tools for online learning.

More than 115,000 organizations worldwide, including all 100 of the Fortune 100, have created millions of courses using Articulates creator tools. Articulates creator platform makes online learning easy to create, enjoyable to take, and simple to manage. Articulates E-Learning Heroes Community has more than 1 million members and is the largest and fastest-growing community in the e-learning industry.
Having concrete information from the real people who are navigating our region as members of a marginalized and often legally unprotected community will help us find solutions, impact their quality of life, and seek protections so that everyone living here feels safe and supported.

The Southwest Alabama Inclusion Project is a collaborative project of community organizations for the purpose of better understanding the lived experiences of the LGBTQ+ community. The coalitions first initiative is to conduct a needs assessment for those in the LGBTQ+ community living in southwest Alabama.

Spearheaded by Prism United, the project plans to use data collected in the assessment to determine how it can inform city, county, and state policy decisions; help set community actions and priorities; and establish goals to form a more inclusive, compassionate, and safe community. Members also seek to better understand where funding is most needed and would make the most impact.

Our southwest Alabama community has never collected data to identify the situations, needs, and experiences of LGBTQ+ people living here, Dan Van Nostrand of Prism United said. The data we have has been extrapolated from national data and is based on estimations. Having concrete information from the real people who are navigating our region as members of a marginalized and often legally unprotected community will help us find solutions, impact their quality of life, and seek protections so that everyone living here feels safe and supported.

The needs assessment will address the following data as it relates to the LGBTQ+ community:



Demographics: Who are we? Where do we live? What are our ages, races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic statuses?

What are our healthcare needs? Service needs? Programming needs?

What services can we access? What services do we have difficulties accessing?

What features of our community are present to create a safe, supportive and inclusive space for LGBTQ+ people in southwest Alabama? What features are NOT present?

The Southwest Alabama Inclusion Project is looking for those who identify as LGBTQ+ who either currently live in southwest Alabama or have lived here and moved out of the area. Data gathered will represent people in 10 counties including Mobile, Baldwin, Escambia, Conecuh, Monroe, Clarke, Washington, Wilcox, Marengo, and Choctaw.

The Southwest Alabama Inclusion Project is a collaborative project of Prism United, AIDS Alabama South, Lifelines Counseling, Door to Serenity, MedPride and Allies, Center for Fair Housing, LGBTQ+ Liaisons to the City of Mobile, Rainbow Pride of Mobile, Trans Pride of Mobile, Safe2BU, Southern Transgender Alliance, Spectrum USA, Order of Pan, Order of Osiris, FemmSouth, Independent Living Center of Mobile, Black Belt Community Foundation, B-Bobs, Herz, Flip Side Bar and Patio, Gabriels Downtown, Ambitiously Him & Her King Foundation, Black Empowerment Team, Prime Timers, The Bevy, Krewe of Phoenix, Citrus & Cane and We the Change.

Corporate sponsors include AIDS AL South, Order of Osiris, Alabama Power Foundation, and Poarch Band of Creek Indians

Anyone interested in participating in the needs assessment or volunteering for the project can reach out at info@lgbtq-community-needs-assessment.org or learn more at https://alabamainclusionproject.org.
Jolene Kremers, who resides in Minnesota, has completed her new book Aurora: The Supernatural Universe: Book I: a gripping and potent fantasy novel that follows Aurora as she adjusts to her banishment on Earth.

Aurora finds herself in the world of the Death Givers, a superhero organization tasked with stopping the dreaded Disappearances, or kidnappings, from overwhelming the nation of Blood Dawn (formerly known as North America).

While helping the Death Givers stop the Disappearances, Aurora struggles with keeping her true identity as a vampire from Earths humans. She has difficulty deciding where exactly a romance with one of the Death Givers fits into her new life.

Author Jolene Kremers writes, I speed walk through the halls, clutching the books to my chest. In a while, I will have to pretend to sleep. I hate doing that, but I have no choice. I have to blend in here. Aliens have the ability to sleep. If I dont play my part, the others will start to think twice about what I am. They cannot know what I truly am. They cannot.

Published by Page Publishing, Jolene Kremerss engrossing tale invites readers to discover whether Aurora will fall victim to a sacrifice curse that will cost her everything, including her worthiness and her life. Will Aurora return home and regain her sword and her Special Power, the ability to control fire, after her reckless actions ignite a deadly war?

Readers who wish to experience this spellbinding work can purchase Aurora: The Supernatural Universe: Book I at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against Redwood Toxicology Laboratory, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The San Francisco employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action lawsuit against Redwood Toxicology Laboratory, Inc. alleging the company violated the California Labor Code. The lawsuit against Redwood Toxicology Laboratory is currently pending in the Sonoma County Superior Court, Case No. SCV-271680. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

According to the lawsuit filed, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory, Inc. allegedly (a) failed to pay minimum wages, (b) failed to pay overtime wages, (c) failed to provide legally required meal and rest periods, (d) failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements, (e) failed to reimburse employees for required expenses, (f) failed to pay sick pay wages, and (g) failed to provide wages when due, all in violation of the applicable Labor Code sections listed in California Labor Code Sections  201-204, 226, 226.7, 233, 246, 510, 512, 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 2802, and the applicable Wage Order(s), and thereby gives rise to civil penalties as a result of such alleged conduct.

The complaint alleges Redwood Toxicology Laboratory, Inc. failed to pay employees for all the time they were under the employer's control. This, allegedly, includes the time Plaintiff and other California Class Members had to submit to mandatory COVID-19 questionnaires and temperature checks prior to clocking in for the day. To the extent that the time worked off, the clock did not qualify for overtime premium payment, Defendant allegedly failed to pay minimum and overtime wages for the time worked off-the-clock.

For more information about the class action lawsuit against Redwood Toxicology Laboratory, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is a labor law firm with law offices located in San Diego County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, Santa Clara County, Orange County, and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, and other types of illegal workplace conduct.

***THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT***
The 2022 Chevrolet Equinox is available with 1.9% APR financing at Carl Black Orlando

Carl Black Orlando is offering low APR financing, as low as 1.9% APR, on the 2022 Chevrolet Equinox this month. Drivers in the Orlando, Florida, area are encouraged to take advantage of this temporary offer. Carl Black Orlando is a Chevrolet, Buick and GMC dealership in Orlando.

The 2022 Chevrolet Equinox is available for 1.9% APR financing or with a $1,200 cash allowance. The length of the contract with that financing rate is limited. Drivers must finance their new Equinox through GM Financial in order to qualify for the special rate. The offer is not available with some other offers. For the special APR financing or the cash allowance, drivers must make their purchase before the end of the month, and new retail delivery must be made by October 31, 2022.

Drivers who are interested in this special offer can learn more on the Carl Black Orlando website, carlblackoforlando.com. A full inventory is available on the website, along with financing information, vehicle information, special offers and more. Drivers who would like to take advantage of this offer are encouraged to move fast to make an appointment with the dealership. Contact information and business hours are also available on the website.
CSG is proud to partner with Connecticut in this important system modernization effort, says Tim Lenning, Director of CSGs Child Welfare Practice.

CSG Government Solutions, a national leader in government program modernization, today announced that it has been selected to provide Project Management Office and Organizational Change Management services for the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS) implementation.

DCF is replacing its legacy child welfare information system, LINK, with CT-KIND (Kids Information Network Database) to upgrade to modern technologies to support staff and community partners in service to children and families across the state. CSGs program experience and PMO processes serve as a central hub for project management activities and documentation. CSG is also providing organizational change management services to support DCF staff in their transition to the new system.

CSG is proud to partner with Connecticut in this important system modernization effort, says Tim Lenning, Director of CSGs Child Welfare Practice. Our teams PMO and OCM experience, along with CSGs proven project management methodologies, support DCF in implementing a system that effectively supports the needs of Connecticuts children and families.

Contact:

Tim Lenning

Director, Child Welfare Practice

CSG Government Solutions

180 N. Stetson

Suite 3200

Chicago, IL 60601

312.444.2760 Fax: 312.938.2191

tlenning@csgdelivers.com

About CSG Government Solutions:

CSG Government Solutions is a leading government operations consulting firm helping states modernize critical program enterprises. We help governments leverage innovative technology and processes to meet the challenges of administering complex programs. Founded in 1997, CSG clients include 47 state and territory governments, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, and large municipal governments. For more information, visit http://www.csgdelivers.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.


The Greatest Of These: What It Means to Become a Friend of God: a heartwarming discussion of the fulfillment one can find in being a friend of God. The Greatest Of These: What It Means to Become a Friend of God is the creation of published author Curtis Wilson, a dedicated husband and father of two who retired from a successful business career to work in apostolic ministry for over twenty years.

Wilson shares, One of the most unique aspects of Christianity is that the Creator of the universe draws us, the created, into a place of close relationship with himself. If you and I stopped at this point, it is quite certain that God has done more than we deserve. But God does not leave us to ourselves, even at the early stages of our born-again experience. He beckons each of us to live an existence that not only includes him but encompasses the kingdom through every part of our being.

This is the place of close relationship that Jesus told his disciples they would experience. It is the place of moving past just working for God and becoming a friend of God. This book will give you tools to understand the process, steps for you to get there, and how to live it out each day.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Curtis Wilsons new book will challenge readers in their spiritual understanding as they are motivated to seek a stronger connection with God.

Wilson shares an encouraging study of ones connection with God in a manner that will resonate with many seeking spiritual guidance.

Consumers can purchase The Greatest Of These: What It Means to Become a Friend of God at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about The Greatest Of These: What It Means to Become a Friend of God, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Dr. Robert E. Ayer

Robert Ayer, MD, FAANS is a board-certified neurosurgeon and partner at Polaris Spine and Neurosurgery Center, which serves the Atlanta metropolitan area. Dr. Ayer has been reviewed and approved based on merit by GA Top Docs for 2022.

Dr. Ayer attended Boston University for both his undergraduate and medical degrees, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. Loma Linda University Medical Center, in southern California, is where Dr. Ayer completed his neurosurgical residency training. During his time at Loma Linda, he contributed to the publication of over 20 peer reviewed articles in neuroscience, and the University nominated him to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

As part of his training, Dr. Ayer completed a complex and minimally invasive spinal surgery fellowship at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle, Washington. Prior to moving to Atlanta, Dr. Ayer was junior faculty at the University of California Irvine Medical Center (UC Irvine).

Dr. Ayer has practiced in the Atlanta area for several years prior to joining Polaris Spine and Neurosurgery Center. During his time in Atlanta, he has developed an excellent reputation for bedside manner as well as technical skill.

To learn more about GA Top Doc, Dr. Robert E. Ayer, please visit: https://gatopdocs.com/doctors/drrobertayer/

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About Us

GA Top Docs is a comprehensive, trusted and exclusive healthcare resource featuring reviewed and approved Top Doctors and Dentists in Georgia online in an easy to use format. GA Top Docs only reviews and approves providers based on merit after they have been extensively vetted.

GA Top Docs is a division of USA Top Docs which allows patients to meet providers online before making their appointment.

For more information, e-mail us at info@GATopDocs.com and/or visit http://www.GATopDocs.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.
Que Buena Los Angeles (KBUE 105.5/94.3 FM), the influential Spanish-language Regional Mexican music radio station owned by Estrella Media. Steve Mandala, Chief Revenue and Local Media Officer at Estrella Media, "....Que Buena Los Angeles, one of the most important radio stations in Spanish-language media, is energizing the market and the music community."

Que Buena Los Angeles (KBUE 105.5/94.3 FM), the influential Spanish-language Regional Mexican music radio station owned by Estrella Media, has grown its September quarter hour audience Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. by +29% year-to-date with Hispanic Adults 18-49. The growth also boosted Estrella Medias Los Angeles total radio combo cume by +10% Year-Over-Year (KBUE, KWIZ, KRQB), making Estrella Media the only top Spanish language radio group in Los Angeles to increase its cume September 2021 vs. September 2022. In addition, the station had double-digit average quarter hour growth across key demos  Hispanic Adults 18+, 18-49, and 25-54  Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. for September.

The September radio growth is a powerful statement on the connection of Estrella Medias music programming and talent with the Southern California audience," said Steve Mandala, Chief Revenue and Local Media Officer at Estrella Media. "In May, we launched a Que Buena station rebrand and music refresh, which has delivered and driven fans to our stations in Los Angeles and Riverside/Inland Empire. Refocusing the content and music strategy has paid and will continue to pay dividends. In addition, Que Buena Los Angeles, one of the most important radio stations in Spanish-language media, is energizing the market and the music community."

The Regional Mexican music station dominated the genre's morning drive through its popular nationally syndicated morning radio show, Don Cheto Al Aire (Don Cheto; M-F, 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.), hosted by Don Cheto with Chino, Giselle Bravo, and Said Garcia. Originating out of the Que Buena Los Angeles studios, the Don Cheto Al Aire show was #2 Spanish in Los Angeles with Hispanic Adults 25-54.

Don Cheto earned the #2 position in Spanish-language radio with Hispanic Adults 25-54, Men 18-49, Men 25-54, Women 18-49, and Women 25-54 (M-F 6-10 a.m., Spanish rank) and ranked #4 in the L.A. Metro total market, all stations regardless of language, with Adults 25-54. The show also placed number one in Riverside/Inland Empire on KRQB 96.1 FM with Hispanic Adults 18-49 and 25-54 among all local Inland Empire stations regardless of language.

Que Buena Los Angeles also saw morning, mid-day, and p.m. drive year-to-date quarter hour gains with Men 25-54 in high double digits. Morning gains were attributed to Don Cheto, up by 55%; midday gains were attributed to DJ Marlene Quinto, up by 79%; and p.m. drive gains were attributed to DJ Compa Radio, up 57%.

With a new logo and recognizable tagline, Somos LA, Aqui Suenan las que Pegan, the new campaign for the station reflects and represents the unity and inspiration of Latinos through Regional Mexican music. Que Buena Los Angeles KBUE and its sister station KRQB in Riverside both have influential voices in the market.

The creative for the campaign centered on some of the legends and current icons of Regional Mexican music. Artists featured in the stations year-long campaign include legendary artists Jenni Rivera, Vicente Fernandez, and Chalino Sanchez, and current icons like Grupo Firme, Banda MS, Christian Nodal, Angela Aguilar, Carin Leon, Gerardo Ortiz, El Fantasma, Julion Alvarez, Eden Munoz and Dos Carnales, with more added to the campaign this fall. Click here to watch the Que Buena Los Angeles "Hall of Fame" video.

*Source: Nielsen Audio, Los Angeles Metro, Riverside/San Bernardino Metro, September 2022. Year-over-year trends: September 2021 vs. September 2022. Year-to-date trends: January 2022 vs. September 2022. Cume: Persons 6+, Ratings/ranking: Average Quarter Hour Persons (AQH).

About Estrella Media, Inc.

Estrella Media is a leading Spanish-language media company and one of the largest U.S. producers of Spanish-language video and audio content for multiplatform distribution worldwide, with a library of over 20,000 hours of original video content.

Estrella Media's content studio feeds all its digital and linear media platforms, including EstrellaTV, its national broadcast television network that is seen in over 60 million U.S. households on 16 owned or operated stations and over 33 affiliated stations, as well as through cable and satellite providers and digital streaming platforms; Estrella News, the first 24/7 Spanish-language multiplatform digital news network in the U.S.; and Estrella Games, the first 24/7 curated Spanish-language game show channel in the U.S. In 2021, Estrella Media's digital content surpassed one billion viewership minutes.

Estrella Media also owns and operates 14 radio stations and the Don Cheto Radio Network, airing on 33 affiliated stations throughout the U.S., featuring one of the nation's most popular radio talents, Don Cheto. Estrella Media also produces large-scale music festivals, concerts, and special events throughout the U.S.

To learn more about Estrella Media and see company updates, please visit Estrella Media at estrellamedia.com, and follow us on Twitter @Estrellamedia_, Facebook @Estrellamediainc, and LinkedIn @Estrella Media, Inc.

Contacts for Estrella Media:

Hanna Bolte, HBolte@EstrellaMedia.com, 310-497-5586

Dina White, DWhite@EstrellaMedia.com, 917-226-8366
So We Can Rock: a pleasant read that brings a lighthearted and appreciative reflection on the lives that have crossed the authors path. So We Can Rock is the creation of published author Eugenia S. Hunt, who was born in Anderson County, South Carolina, and grew up in the small town of Pendleton. She is a retired Credit Manager and Accountant. Hunt and her husband have raised two sons and three daughters, as well as numerous foster children. They have three granddaughters and seven grandsons.

Hunt shares, As I tried to fall asleep that night, my thoughts kept returning to the words I had shared with the little girl. All of a sudden, I remembered Norma Jean and the story she had told me two and a half years before. Oh, my, could it be possible both of them had been telling me of the same little boy? I knew then God was trying to tell me something. Why else would he have placed these two people in my path more than two years apart. There had to be a reason I was there with Jan now.

So many lives have touched mine and their stories are waiting to be heard. Within these pages are the joys, the pain, the understanding, the love, the laughter and Gods plan in each circumstance. Each word is a glimpse into the inner being behind the face, through the eyes, which watch the world around me.

You just never know where God will lead you and you never know what God is leading you to. But you can rest in the knowledge He has a plan and a reason for you to be where He places you each and every day of your life.

Keep your eyes open because it is always there in wait for you to recognize and graspGods outstretched, guiding hand.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Eugenia S. Hunts new book will entertain and inspire as readers take time to reminisce alongside the author.

Hunt shares in honor of the longstanding tradition of sharing family stories between one generation to the next.

Consumers can purchase So We Can Rock at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about So We Can Rock, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
The ArcGIS System Ready Specialty demonstrates that INCATech takes a proactive approach of integrating new technology into our services, while simultaneously maintaining a staff of geospatial experts with the technical acumen to optimize the value of the ArcGIS Platform -Tom Moran, GIS Practice Lead

INCATech is pleased to announce the renewal of our ArcGIS System Ready Specialty certification! This Specialty recognizes industry partners who continually adopt and integrate new ArcGIS software releases into their solutions, services, or content. Our renewal demonstrates our aptitude working across the ArcGIS System, our close relationship as both a partner and implementer of Esri technology, and a continued commitment to delivering exceptional geospatial services to our customers.

From ArcGIS Hub, ArcGIS Enterprise, and ArcGIS Online to the ArcGIS Pro environments, INCATech leverages the ArcGIS Platform in multiple ways! INCATech leverages the platform to deliver integrated geospatial solutions across geospatial domains that range from GIS Systems Integration, Application Development, GIS Data Development, GIS Enterprise Engineering, Spatial Analytics, and Data Science. INCATech delivers decades of experience shaping geospatial solutions, in tandem with a commitment to emerging innovative geospatial technology to help you achieve practical and innovative geospatial capabilities. Whether you are interested in building geospatial capabilities that improve organizational insights and operations, or test driving the latest ArcGIS Server or analytical products, reach out to our team to learn more about how you can successfully leverage all the latest technology on the ArcGIS platform!

About INCATech

INCATech is an SBA certified 100% Woman Owned Small Business that has provided innovative technology to U.S. government and commercial customers for more than a decade. Our expert teams apply Agile methodologies and use state-of-the-art products to achieve your mission goals and deliver breakthrough results. https://incatech-corp.com
Many people have busy lives and with Viori Dry Shampoo, keeping hair looking its best just got easier.

Vioris new Dry Shampoo is made from the same Longsheng rice water found in Viori haircare bars which are inspired by the ancient rituals of the Red Yao Tribe in Longsheng, China.

The women of the Red Yao are famous for their incredibly long, strong, healthy hair. They attribute this to washing it daily with naturally grown Longsheng rice water. Viori uses that same Longsheng rice in all of its hair care productsincluding its new dry shampoo, made to keep hair fresh and full between washings. Its 100% natural, vegan, sulfate-free, paraben-free, cruelty-free, and plastic-free.

Just add a few shakes of Viori Dry Shampoo to roots to absorb oil and add texture and volume. Blend well with fingertips. Apply at bedtime for best absorption. In addition to adding body to flat hair, Viori Dry Shampoo extends the life of a blowout, and makes hair smell great.

We love the feedback we get from our customers, and this is something they wanted, said Himmie Lau, Executive Marketing Director of Viori. Many people have busy lives and with Viori Dry Shampoo, keeping hair looking its best just got easier.

Viori Dry Shampoo Benefits:



Fast-Absorbing

Neutralizes Odor

Long-Lasting

Natural Fragrance

Talc-Free

Leaves No Residue

Rice Starch for Volume

Nourishes Hair

To order the new Viori Dry Shampoo visit https://viori.com/

About Viori: Viori has partnered with the Red Yao on projects they believe will help their communities thrive. Viori works with the Red Yao directly to initiate projects to bring about economic prosperity, ecological harmony, cultural preservation, and community wellbeing for their tribe. To learn more about Vioris mission click here.
Oh How a Mother Worries: an uplifting and encouraging guide to a happy, healthy, and faith-based life. Oh How a Mother Worries is the creation of published author Laura Kenda, who grew up in New York State and later moved to New England, where she earned her bachelors degree in elementary education. Kenda worked in the business field before later going back to teaching in 2001. She then joined the Peace Corps as a volunteer in Bulgaria, teaching English as a foreign language. After her two years of service, she returned to the United States and earned her nursing degree in Maryland where she has been an oncology nurse since 2007. She has also served as lector, eucharistic minister, and religious education teacher for several years.

Kenda shares, My father died when I was just ten years old, so I always thought I would not be on the planet for a long time. Working as a nurse during COVID-19, I was even more anxious about my life expectancy and the safety of my daughter.

I know God doesnt want me to worry, yet ever since I became a mother, that just seems to come with the territory. Ive only been a mother for twelve years, and I havent slept well since!

This book was written for her as a guidebook to remind her of all the things Ive been telling her about being safe, healthy, and happy but not quite sure she was listening! In fact, she even admits to only hearing a portion of what I say.

The stories are meant to instill joy in knowing that we are not alone, which I thought of naming this book but figured surely that title was already taken.

God wants us to be happy, but we may have some difficult lessons along the way, but He has a plan for us. We will have ups and downs, but if we keep the faith and make positive choices, then we will have everything we need. We may even have a few things we want.

God is ever present, and for that, we are blessed.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Laura Kendas new book is a celebration of the joys that await in a fulfilled life.

Kenda presents an encouraging message that acknowledges the highs and lows of life, along with some helpful guidance to help navigate the more challenging moments.

Consumers can purchase Oh How a Mother Worries at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Oh How a Mother Worries, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
The Image: a gripping autobiographical work. The Image is the creation of published author Mike Kurtz, a police detective veteran who specialized in the investigation of murder and sex cases. Kurtz is married to Heather and has two children, Sabrina and Harley. They live in a rural town near St. Louis, Missouri.

Kurtz shares, Mike Kurtz, a retired Christian police detective of thirty years, had embarked on a forty-year journey to understand why his mother, Kathy, murdered his father who was a St. Louis County police detective. Through the years, he began to understand how she also contributed to the death of his two little sisters, Lisa and Michelle.

Through years of research and conversations with his mother, Kathy, the truth was slowly revealed. Lies and deceit from his mother only encouraged him to be more inquisitive. It took forty years of soul-shaking talks and nightmares before the truth would finally make itself known. On his mothers deathbed, she finally admitted what Mike had already known.

This a true story about the betrayal and loss of a secure life that every child deserves. Times of happiness and adventure are described only to be overtaken by the well-planned murder of his father and the negligent death of his two sisters.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Mike Kurtzs new book will paint a vivid and heart-stopping story of loss, growth, and unexpected revelations.

Kurtz shares an impactful memoir filled with betrayal and murder that will shock readers from the start.

Consumers can purchase The Image at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about The Image, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
3139 Cliff Drive in Santa Barbara, California "Hendry's Beach is known as the beach locals go to to walk, run their dogs and watch the sunset. The buyers of this home can enjoy it all from their back yard, 365 days a year." said Houghton Hyatt.

Sotheby's International Realty presents a new listing from Houghton Hyatt and Maureen McDermut. Perched on the Santa Barbara coastline, welcome to this enchanting 1949 single story Spanish adobe, adorned with the Pacific Ocean as its backyard. Highly sought-after unobstructed ocean frontage (100 +/- feet) and island views make this bluff-top home dazzle. Situated on 1.46 +/- acres the three-bedroom, two bath home features a chef's kitchen, laundry room, two car garage with additional ample parking, and French doors throughout: leading to sprawling grounds and ocean vistas.

The natural light warms this south-facing home, immersing the vaulted ceilings. Accommodations in the detached guest quarters equipped with a full bathroom provide separate space for hosting family and guests. Finish the day with a breathtaking sunset and the fresh air of the sea breeze from your own backyard. If preferred, take the shared private path directly to the beach and watch the sun disappear. Welcome to California Coastal living at its finest.

For more details visit https://www.3139cliffdrive.com.

For questions regarding this home or the Santa Barbara, Montecito and Hope Ranch real estate markets contact Maureen or Houghton.

Houghton Hyatt

Sotheby's International Realty | DRE#: 1992372

http://www.houghtonhyatt.com

Houghton has a wealth of knowledge about Santa Barbara, Montecito, and the surrounding areas. Her first-hand experience as a parent, now with two school-age children, and the opportunities this market has to offer is perhaps the distinction she holds most personal. Houghtons extensive local connectivity is both deep and wide and she is enthusiastic in sharing her passion for the area with others.

Maureen McDermut

Sotheby's International Realty | DRE#: 1175027

http://www.maureenmcdermut.com

Ranked consistently among the Top 1% of Agents in Santa Barbara, Maureen has 20+ years of experience specializing in residential and commercial real estate. Her business is based on three core values and ethics: integrity, honesty, and great communication. These qualities enhanced by a tenured background in private banking, in-depth community and market knowledge, providing cutting-edge marketing, and effective negotiation, is a critical skill set establishing Maureen as a top real estate professional.
ResumeBuilder.com, the premier resource for free and professional resume templates, has published a recent survey report that examines the level of engagement among union workers. This report also highlights leading factors that influence job performance. The study generated responses from 1,000 American union workers.

Survey results indicate that 4 in 10 union workers identify as quiet quitters, a 36 percent of respondents say they only do the required work. Additionally, 6 percent of workers say they do less than what is required on the job. More than 60 percent of workers, who are quiet quitting, say they do just what they are paid to do or are 'acting their wage.' Respondents also cite additional reasons, such as lack of personal benefits and disruption of work-life balance.

The study also shows that the majority of union workers, 86 percent, believe coworkers do not exceed expectations at work because the union provides added job security. Most union workers who underperform or just meet expectations are concerned about losing their jobs. Seven percent of respondents from this group say they are extremely fearful of losing their jobs, and 31 percent are somewhat fearful.

According to the report, 89 percent of union workers are job searching. Sixty-four percent of respondents say they want better benefits, and 59 percent want more money. Similarly, 43 percent of employees would like to work for companies with more reasonable expectations. Although most union employees are dissatisfied with their current roles, 96 percent say union membership is essential. Ninety-two percent of respondents also say they care a lot about their work, and 89 percent desire to advance in the company.

ResumeBuilder.com commissioned and conducted this study via the online platform Pollfish. The survey was distributed on September 14, 2022. All data found within this report derives from the survey, and appropriate respondents were found via Pollfish's screening tools. Respondents were asked to answer all questions truthfully and to the best of their abilities. To view the complete report, please visit https://www.resumebuilder.com/4-in-10-union-workers-identify-as-quiet-quitters/.
Jennie Block Jennie Block brings both industry and community expertise with a concentration on North Dallas-Fort Worth and relocation. She has a long-standing reputation for professionalism and superior care that has created clients for life, - Jennifer Redman, Vice President of Sales, Plano and Frisco

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty Texas, a division of one of the countrys fastest-growing real estate brokerages, PenFed Realty - with more than 2,000 REALTORS and over $8 billion in annual sales volume - is pleased to welcome Jennie Block to its Plano, Texas office.

Jennie Block brings both industry and community expertise with a concentration on North Dallas-Fort Worth and relocation. She has a long-standing reputation for professionalism and superior care that has created clients for life, shares Jennifer Redman, Vice President of Sales for the firms Plano and Frisco offices. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty is thrilled to share our resources and micro-support teams to assist Jennie in this next chapter.

After founding a successful, high-end childrens accessory line, Jennie turned her attention to real estate and quickly became known for her creative, relatable, and authentic approach, earning accolades as one of the Top 20 Frisco Realtors. Jennie said, the mission of my real estate business is to build long-lasting relationships with my clients and to deliver results to exceed their expectations. It is important to me to make their real estate experience as fun, easy, and stress-free as possible. I joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty Texas because of the culture, resources, support, and reputation. I love being part of a boutique brokerage with so many incredible benefits that I can offer to my clients.

Jennie has a strong partnership with top-performing agent Dana Gaswirth, who also joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty Texas in October. Jennie shared, together, Dana and I offer tailored marketing plans, complimentary design consultations, and work to connect clients to the community, social outlets, and schools, all while coming up with creative solutions to ensure the entire process is smooth. Were excited at how perfectly Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty Texas compliments and can enhance what we always strive to achieve for our clients.

Jennie lives in Frisco with her three children and two dogs, Lily and Charli. Jennie can be reached at Jennie.block@weknowtx.com and 972-571-5585.

About Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty Texas

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty Texas (http://www.weknowtx.com) is a full-service real estate company with an annual sales volume of just under $2.2 billion. A branch of PenFed Realty which is headquartered in Alexandria, Va., the company has over 2,000 agents and nearly 60 offices, providing complete real estate services nationwide and helping over 20,000 clients with their real estate needs each year. PenFed Realty is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PenFed Credit Union and is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brokerage network, operated by HSF Affiliates LLC. We are proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer. Equal Housing Opportunity.
The Wind-Baffles by Jerry van Eyck (2022), The Parks at 5M, between Natoma and Minna streets. Photo courtesy of 5M. This holiday season Illuminate SF will be even bigger and brighter. And in keeping with San Franciscos ethos of inclusivity and accessibility, nearly 80% of the light art installations are free for visitors and residents to enjoy.

San Franciscos neighborhoods will transform into a luminous gallery of art at night during the holiday season for the 10th annual Illuminate SF Festival of Light. Presented by San Francisco Travel Association and 5M in collaboration with local civic, arts and cultural partners, the 2022/2023 Illuminate SF festival runs from Nov. 9 through the end of January and celebrates San Franciscos vibrant art scene.

Inspired by the debut of Leo Villareal's The Bay Lights, San Francisco Travel launched the festival in 2013 to brighten the longest nights of the year. Illuminate SF has grown since its inception from six to 62 temporary and permanent eco-friendly light art installations created by a diverse array of acclaimed international and local artists, including Olafur Eliasson, Jenny Holzer, Daniel Libeskind, Jorge Pardo and Jerry van Eyck, along with San Francisco Bay-based Jim Campbell, Johanna Grawunder, Dorka Keehn and Brian Goggins.

Illuminate SF light art installations can be experienced across the city from the Embarcadero to the Inner Sunset, North Beach to Bayview, and while flying in or out of San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The works come to life at dusk, turning evenings into an illuminating adventure, especially when combined with exploring San Franciscos world-class restaurants, nightlife, cultural events and holiday activations.

There is nothing like celebrating the festive season in San Franciscos captivating glow, said San Francisco Travel President and CEO Joe DAlessandro. The city has one of the country's most extensive collections of light art, and this holiday season Illuminate SF will be even bigger and brighter. And in keeping with San Franciscos ethos of inclusivity and accessibility, nearly 80% of the light art installations are free for visitors and residents to enjoy.

We are thrilled to be the presenting sponsor for this years Illuminate SF and to showcase our majestic wind baffles that light The Parks at 5M, said Christie Donnelly, Director of Development for Brookfield Properties. The Illuminate SF lighted art tour starts at 5M and is quintessentially San Francisco, uniting community through arts, culture and experience.

Spectacular New Additions to the Illuminate SF Festival of Light

The Wind-Baffles: The iconic wind baffle structures that anchor The Parks at 5M, a new, vibrant community connected to the surrounding fabric of San Franciscos SOMA District by a cohesive network of public spaces, are the brainchild of Jerry van Eyck, founder of !melk, an award-winning urban design and landscape architecture firm. Built to mitigate wind, the baffles or wind breakers are artfully illuminated from the outside and complemented with a soft glow that radiates through the perforations in the upper zones. Though made from steel, a material associated with heaviness and industry, the baffles are often referred to as flowers for their stem and leaf-like design elements. Come nightfall they transform into breathtaking sculptures and suddenly seem to float.

Helical Trace: A permanent installation inside the new LUMA Hotel in Mission Bay, Helical Trace is local artist Jim Campbells newest contribution to San Franciscos Light Art Trail. The dynamic light installation can be seen from the street through the lobbys floor-to-ceiling three-story windows. The prolific artist who installed Day for Night atop the Salesforce Tower created this striking installation that looks different from every angle and uses the reflection of the windows to amplify its movement. At a distance, the helix form gives the illusion of water across light. The figures within climb an infinite stretch of waterfall, allowing Campbell to create delight out of physical struggle.

Franchise Freedom: Immersive Arts Alliance will bring the acclaimed aerial light performance Franchise Freedom to San Francisco for five nights beginning Jan. 12. Created by internationally renowned Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta of DRIFT, Franchise Freedom is comprised of 600 illuminated drones that will fly from Treasure Island over the San Francisco Bay towards the Embarcadero, allowing visibility along the shorelines in San Francisco, Sausalito, Emeryville and Berkeley. Based on a biological algorithm from over 10 years of research into starlings flight behavior, Franchise Freedom stretches boundaries between nature and technology and generates an impactful social connection.

Lucy in the Sky: One of two new light art installations joining the Citys extensive Civic Arts Collection, Erwin Redls Lucy in the Sky is a landmark artwork in the citys new Central Subway (first opening for weekend service on Nov. 19). Located in the Union Square/Market Street Station, the immersive installation is comprised of over 500 translucent 10 x 10-inch light panels, each containing an array of color LEDs. The panels are suspended along the entire length of the concourse levels ceiling, spanning nearly 670 feet. Installed in a diamond-shaped pattern, the light panels are computer programmed to slowly change color and display simple patterns, creating a kaleidoscopic experience.

Untitled: Along the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit (VN-BRT) Geary Street Stations north and southbound boarding platforms, Jorge Pardos lighting sculpture brings a pop of whimsical light and color. Comprised of painted steel, fiberglass, acrylic and LED light fixtures, Untitled is playful and sophisticated with engaging use of color, form, movement, space and light.

Peace in the Middle East: Taravat Talepasands Peace in the Middle East returns as a permanent installation in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Grand Lobby. Hung from the ceiling, this intricate neon artwork (featuring the word peace in Farsi ) explores the cultural taboos that reflect on gender and political authority through Talepasands lens as an Iranian-American woman.

Lantern Stories: San Francisco: This public art installation of 29 illustrated lanterns by award-winning interdisciplinary artist Yu-Wen Wu illuminates San Francisco Chinatowns history, culture and community. Creating a luminous canopy on the 600 block of Grant Avenue, the lanterns relate the long and fraught history and legacy of Chinese immigration in the U.S. They feature images of Bruce Lee, Amy Tan, journalist Helen Zia, pioneer restaurateur Cecilia Chang and others. Many highlight the arts, calligraphy, music and performance, as well as the communitys strong commitment to education, entrepreneurship and social justice.

GLOW: Discover the Art of Light: The Exploratorium is bringing back its popular  GLOW: Discover the Art of Light from Nov. 17 through Jan. 29, 2023, with six artists illuminating Pier 15 with light sculptures big and small. In Gallery 3, Jen Lewins The Last Ocean is an expansive landscape of interactive platforms that illuminate to resemble a glowing ice field. Created from reclaimed ocean plastic, the platforms five-sided pieces form a beautiful geometric tessellation  a repeating pattern of flat shapes with no gaps.

In the Black Box, Anila Quayyam Aghas All the Flowers are For Me is inspired by Islamic textiles, architecture, and floral motifs. A single beacon of light glows from within a suspended steel cube, producing immersive patterns that ripple and change as visitors move through the space. Similarly, Aghas Teardrop (after Robert Irwin) interweaves delicate, traditional Islamic decorative geometric patterns and architecture with modern materials. The work is inspired by jaalis (intricate, carved screens), which cast moving shadows as the sun rises and falls.

Entangled Attraction and Raylights, a pair of installations by Resonance Studio artists Sally Weber and Craig Newswanger, immerse visitors in trails of light in motion. Entangled Attraction features 100 pinpoints of light that appear to orbit around each other when viewed from afar, while Raylights produces ever-changing, mandala-like light patterns synchronized to ambient sounds.

Lets Glow SF: Downtown San Francisco will again boast the largest holiday projecting mapping event in the U.S. with the return of Lets Glow SF. Running Dec. 2 to 11, the nightly journey of light and color will feature stunning whimsical, abstract, and naturalistic winter-themed works by local and international artists projected onto four iconic buildings.

Click here for a complete list of 2022/2023 Illuminate SF Light Art Installations.

Find detailed information on the #IlluminateSF festival, installations and artists, plus downloadable light art maps at http://www.illuminatesf.com.

5M

5M is a new, vibrant mixed-use destination in the heart of San Francisco located at the intersection of 5th and Mission streets. Developed by Brookfield Properties, named Developer of the Year by the San Francisco Business Times in 2021, the four-acre parcel was previously home to parking lots and underutilized buildings. Now, it has been transformed into a lively community for locals and visitors alike.

Connected to the surrounding fabric of the SOMA District by a cohesive network of public spaces, 5M is anchored by a vibrant and dynamic urban park designed by !melk, an award-winning urban design and landscape architecture firm. The park offers outdoor performance space with year-round programming and special events centered around celebrating the arts, neighborhood culture and youth. The buildings located at 5M include The George, a 20-story sustainably designed luxury apartment building and 415 Natoma, a 25-story state-of-the-art office tower offering sweeping views of the city. Additionally, two historic buildings were restored; the Camelline Building that is earmarked for retail and nonprofit uses and the Dempster Building, which Brookfield Properties donated to CAST (Community Arts Stabilization Trust) for arts and cultural uses.

SAN FRANCISCO TRAVEL ASSOCIATION

The San Francisco Travel Association is the official destination marketing organization for the City and County of San Francisco. Tourism is San Francisco's largest industry. More than 26 million people visited the destination in 2019, spending $9.6 billion. More than 86,000 jobs are supported by tourism in San Francisco.

For information on reservations, activities and more, visit w http://www.sftravel.com. Follow SF Travel on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Please use hashtags #sftravel and #AlwaysSF.

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

SFO is excited to welcome travelers back to the skies with an airport experience featuring seamless access, thoughtful amenities, sustainable design and inspiring artwork and exhibits.

For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, dining, cultural exhibitions, ground transportation, masks and COVID-related protocols and more, visit https://www.flysfo.com/. Follow us on twitter.com/flysfo and facebook.com/flysfo.

United Airlines is the preferred airline of the San Francisco Travel Association.

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On October 15, BookFest, an annual event dedicated to honoring children and teen literature, was held virtually in collaboration with Bank Street College of Education. The morning featured a lineup of virtual pre-recorded panels, including a speech from keynoter and 2022 Newbery and Pura Belpre winner Donna Barba Higuera.

Remembering Late Illustrator Jerry Pinkney

The event opened with a conversation between Andrea Davis Pinkney, Gloria Pinkney, Brian Pinkney, and Charnelle Pinkney Barlow, commemorating the life of their late relative, beloved illustrator and Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney.

The conversation opened with an emotional recounting from granddaughter Charnelle Pinkney Barlow, who shared memories of going into Jerrys studio, her favorite aspects of his books, and their upcoming project Walk in the Woods, written by Nikki Grimes, and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and herself.

Moderator Troy Ragsdale Pinkney said there are so many opportunities that [he took to] collaborate with others in his family. It is a tight circle, which is quite unique. And thats what were hoping we share here with you today.

Jerry Pinkneys connection to his family was shared further by author and daughter in love Andrea Davis Pinkney. The simple kindness of being acknowledged by my name made the world a good place to live in. And thats exactly what you did. Davis Pinkney said. You made the world a good place to live in so that we could all dive into the beautiful expanse of your pages.

As an author and illustrator of more than 100 books, Jerry Pinkneys personal struggle with dyslexia was an inspiration to his family and readers. Its interesting because his dyslexia is something that has sprouted on our family tree. And the children and grandchildren who have inherited that legacy of learning now have the gift of self-acceptance, Davis Pinkney said.

Author and son Brian Pinkney shared, I also struggled with reading, and I think what my dad showed me was that you can always read the pictures.

The session closed with words from Jerrys wife, author Gloria Pinkney, who remembered meeting Jerry for the first time when the two were in high school, describing him as always drawing, always creating.

Jerry Pinkneys legacy will live on in his work with projects still in the works for readers to look forward to. His memoir Just Jerry is set to release early next year from Little, Brown and two picture books, The Tiniest Drop and Walk in the Woods, are also forthcoming.

Complex Characters in Complex Times

Characters, craft, and navigating nuanced subject matter in books for young readers was the focus of the next panel, hosted by Dr. Carla Espana, a professor at Brooklyn College.

Espana welcomed speakers Meg Medina, Margarita Engle, and Pam Munoz Ryan for their conversation, which kicked off on the topic of joy, with the authors sharing how theyve managed to find pockets of joy in their lives during the pandemic.

I will confess that Im also kind of living a fantasy life like a teenager would, imagining how life will be someday, Engle said, as if I havent grown up yet and found that freedom to travel and do things independently. So thats a very strange thing that Im experiencing, and yet it is hope when you daydream.

The writers moved onto their writing process and how that can look vastly different for any writer, especially when it comes to teaching.

I wish that I had first established some sort of system [where] students can have an escape hatch, when they reach a part in their project where theyre stuck or dissatisfied, Medina said regarding teaching students about the writing process vs. the reality of her own process. But thats not really how we do it.

The conversation then turned to authors tackling difficult subjects and taking care of themselves when revisiting difficult scenes for extended periods.

Telling the truth is really hard. And going back to the instances in your own life that inform your knowledge of that, your own experiences of that, can be brutal. Medina said.

Munoz Ryan chimed in to note that researching the truth of history can also be a painful experience for a writer. The research can be a black hole you go into, she said. I think there is that goal on our part to want to present things in a truthful and honest manner so that history doesnt repeat itself. But also to present it in a way where theres some sort of resolution that gives our readers and our character hope.

The panel shifted to tackle the subject of banned books. Engle believes were at a point where we need to ask ourselves, do we want to be like these repressive regimes? Do we want a law 349 [referring to Cubas restrictive artists law] that says no art that protests censorship of art? Or do we want our First Amendment that we have the right to?

Delicious Reads

Next on the BookFest lineup was a food-centric panel featuring picture book authors and illustrators Andrea Wang, Jason Chin, Raul the Third, June Jo Lee, and Winsome Bingham, moderated by Gillian Engberg, a childrens books and media consultant.

The focus of the discussion was on picture books about culture-specific food, the intimacy of experiencing and sharing food, and the cultural ties and connection food brings across generations and cultures.

To Bingham, author of Soul Food Sunday, food is both specific and universal. I can guarantee I can say to anyone anywhere in the world, what is something that when you eat it, you just feel loved, you feel comfort? Whatever that food is, thats the soul food for that culture, Bingham shared.

For Wang, author of the Caldecott-winning picture book Watercress, when crafting a book that depicts food so personally connected to family, food can be a bridge. It was a spot-on statement, as the panelists began to talk about foods they cook within their own cultures, surprised to find that there were many similarities, namely cabbage.

Theres this commonality that you think youre the only one doing it. And now Im like, wait, what? Yall do that too! Winsome said with a laugh over the different preparations panelists had for the same vegetable.

The panelists spoke on the experience of fearing what peers would think of the cultural dishes theyd bring into school when they were younger, often citing how the fragrance of their meals often had negative connotations, a scenario the world has yet to outgrow.

I think, what a tragedy, right? To be ashamed of your family because of an experience at school, said Jason Chin, illustrator of Watercress. I hope this book goes some way to making any kid who might have a similar experience not feel ashamed and helps them to be proud of who they are and their heritage and their food.

Raul the Third chimed in with a positive spin on the specific scents of cultural foods, stating, If I walk into a house and its stinky with a smell of spices and food, I know Im going in for a good meal. So, heres to stinkiness!

On what young readers could take away from their books, panelists shared sentiments on teaching children to always have empathy.

Theres not a lot of picture books that I can think of that talk about shame, Wang said. But its something that weve all experienced, being embarrassed by our parents or ashamed of our families, for whatever reason. And I really hope that this book inspires kids to have empathy for each other.

The panel closed with each panelist sharing about their upcoming projects: for Chin, a new picture book The Universe in You out in November, for Wang a picture book biography about a Chinese Civil War soldier due out in 2024. Raul the Third awaits the release of Stuntboy Volume Two next year with Jason Reynolds, Bingham is set to release a set of chapter books later this year, and Lee is currently working on the Food Heroes series.

Donna Barba Higuera: What It Means to Be a Storyteller

BookFest closed with a keynote address from Donna Barba Higuera. Higuera is the 2022 Newbery and Pura Belpre winner for her YA novel The Last Cuentista. Higuera discussed the history of storytelling in her family, and how stories passed down from generation to generation shaped her into the writer shes become.

I didnt start out thinking that I was going to be a writer per se. Higuera said. I thought I was a storyteller; I would make things up and tell stories to anybody who would listen to them.

For Higuera, storytelling was a learned behavior, one influenced heavily by growing up with her family in Central Valley California. In the predominantly rural area without much else to do around her, Higuera often found herself making up stories and expanding her imagination.

The first branch of storytelling in Higueras memory begins with her paternal grandmother, who often told stories at her job at a hotel in order to make friends with older coworkers. Following her grandmothers loss of her husband, her storytelling abilities allowed her to create community in what was a desolate area at the time.

For Higueras mother, storytelling was a way to access a past she no longer had access to, having moved from Oklahoma to California after the Dust Bowl era to find work in oil. Referring to a photo showing Higueras mother smiling, Higuera highlighted how this was around the time her parents met. Coming from two different cultures, the couple were considered taboo at the time. Higuera reminisced about her own childhood, growing up in a culturally diverse household, and how the stories she was told at that age inspired her to write for middle graders.

The memories of that age are so vivid, and high school feels a little bit like a blur. And so often, this is the time where my imagination goes, she said.

Diving into the tales told by her mother, Higuera first shared about the Oklahoma spook light, whose backstory has several variations but according to her mother was about young Native lovers whose parents wouldnt allow them to marry. The couple then ran away together and jumped off a bridge and into the river. Despite its tragic ending, for Higuera this story remained a fixture in her mind because it wasnt just a ghost tale. It was the story, the tragedy of it. But also in those tragedies, sometimes the feelings of love and yearning.

El Cucuy was another standout story of Higueras childhood, passed along to her by her grandmother. The dark creature with glowing fangs and claws was lovingly used as a scare tactic by her grandmother to get Higuera to get to bed on time.

The impact of her familys storytelling would later spark inspiration for her own work. While working on a writing prompt to transform a childhood nightmare into something adorable, that same childhood boogeyman became the central character of her picture book El Cucuy Is Scared Too! Illustrator Juliana Perdomo was able to connect with Higuera on their childhood fear of El Cucuy, making for a more connected working relationship and understanding of the subject matter.

I just think the power of her to have the shared experience with me and then create this beautiful picture book where you take this horrifying creature and then make him into something as adorable as this little El Cucuy is really powerful, Higuera said.

Illustration is a powerful tool in Higueras works, which is apparent in The Last Cuentista as well. In the novel, the protagonists grandmother is a storyteller sharing with her granddaughter the tale of a damning comet. Noting how the cadence, tone, and pacing were specific helped illustrator Raxenne Maniquiz depict the lore of the protagonists home before she must abandon it.

Raxenne Maniquiz read that and just created the front of the book. I am so grateful for that illustration that really, I feel, enhances the book and the story. Higuera said.

Higuera closed by stating that any form of storytelling, whether it be poetry, prose, illustration, or something else, preserves and honors the livelihoods of generations before, while artists make their own unique additions.

I would encourage if youre not a writer or illustrator, maybe youre a storyteller and you can pass along stories to your children and grandchildren, or friends or family, much like my parents and grandmother did for me, Higuera said. And Im so grateful for that.
When Dr. Laura Berk began writing her first textbook on child development, her work followed her home from the classroom at Illinois State University. There was research and writing to do, of course, and there were also her own children to care for and learn from. At the time, the early-career professor had two young sons, then ages eight and 11.

Dr. Berk has continued writing child development and lifespan development texts for more than 30 years. Her textbooks are widely adopted by instructors and much praised by faculty members and students alike.

In May, SAGE Publishings U.S. college division announced a new author/publisher partnership with Dr. Berk, who is distinguished professor emerita in the department of psychology at Illinois State University. SAGE now becomes the exclusive publisher of Berks bestselling titles.

Together, the textbooks are considered an essential resource on human development from infancy to adolescence and into adulthood. SAGE and Dr. Berk are currently working on integrating her titles into the SAGE Vantage learning platform which will provide assignable multimedia activities, auto-graded assessments, and more to instructors using her texts.

In a recent Velocity of Content podcast interview from Copyright Clearance Center, Dr. Berk looked back and looked ahead on her career as a textbook author.

I sought a wider reach than was afforded by the research articles, book chapters, and course assignments reflected on my vitae, she recalled. I just wished to reach more students, more faculty. In reality I had no idea what it would take. The time and effort were just immense. It required unremitting library research to keep pace with a rapidly changing and evolving subject across hundreds of topics, and a thick skin in the face of conflicting feedback from many, many scholarly reviewers.

Dr. Berk is widely recognized for her ability to make that research accessible to students through textbooks. Students expect a coherent, compelling, interesting, integrated narrative, she said. In addition, students look for representation in the materials. They want to see themselves and their own cultural and ethnic backgrounds in the text. And they want to see images that look like themselves. They should expect that, and we have a responsibility to deliver on that, she said.

I am conscious of the importance of representing diversity, of representing culture and social and health issues facing children and their families and the developing adult as well, the reason being the dramatic impact of these contextual factors on development, Dr. Berk explained.

In her textbooks, LGBTQIA+ children, adults, and families especially have long found a place. I included in my titles early on evidence on development of kids in lesbian and gay families, of development of gender minority children, on lesbian and gay parents and child-rearing, and on lesbian and gay adults. As the research appeared, I felt a strong responsibility to include it.

More recently, we have an increasing body of research on transgender children, and I have included that in the last couple of editions of my texts. So its a high priority for me, and I plan to pay serious attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion of all kinds. We cant really understand development without doing that.

The late career move to a new publisher is highly unusual, Dr. Berk conceded, but one she made deliberately. During a series of discussions with their key editorial managers, I was just very, very impressed with SAGEs steadfast commitment to high-quality content, excellent writing, and first-rate pedagogy. All of that was very apparent to me. We had such common values.

I have to say signing with a publisher is somewhat like getting married, she added with a laugh. And I felt such a commonality of purpose with SAGE.

For would-be authors considering writing a textbook, Dr. Berk encourages self-reflection even before beginning the allimportant research. I think all successful textbooks start with a vision, a mission. It stems generally from teaching insights and knowledge of the discipline with a sense of how to improve on texts that exist. So I think, ask yourself about what is that vision, and how clear is it for you and the prospective publisher?

How will two or three years of working on a text in a large market fit into your personal life? My two sons were quite young when I began writing my first textbook. I had moments where I wondered, was this the right decision?

Christopher Kenneally hosts the Velocity of Content podcast from Copyright Clearance Center.
The co-foreign rights directors of Janklow & Nesbits U.K. agency, Nathaniel Alcaraz-Stapleton and Mairi Friesen- Escandell, shared what they are most excited about and eager to discuss at this years Frankfurt Book Fair. Together, the duo handle rights for Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands for the agencys literary fiction and non-fiction titles.

What books are you reading right now?

NAS: I am reading multiple things in preparation for the fair at the moment, including a brilliant speculative novel by a debut novelist, a book about the science behind nature being great for your health, a couple of brilliant thrillers, and an amazing memoir by a Russian novelist, all of which are getting me incredibly excited to get out there and sell! Outside of work Im re-reading The Simarillion at the same time as watching the Rings of Power TV series.

MFE: I just picked up Outline by Rachel Cusk, which Ive wanted to read for years, to read post-FBF.

Whats one of your favorite books that most people dont know?

NAS: A River Red and Black by Anthony RyanIm sure when its published people will know about it, but it is an edge-of-your-seat post-apocalyptic thriller, which gave me such an adrenaline rush that I couldnt sleep after reading it.

MFE: The Frost on His Shoulders by Lorenzo Mediano. A beautiful love story published by Europa that will have your heart in your mouth! Ive given it to so many friends.

Whats one book you didnt sell, that you always wish you had?

NAS: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.

MFE: The Undying by Anne Boyer, which sold before I joined J&N and is an extraordinary book. I remember seeing it on every acquisition list!

Whats a big book you read recently that surprised you in a good way? In a bad way?

NAS: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. The man is a geniusI had read a lot about the book before I dipped in, but I was completely blown-away by the mindset-altering way he has of framing things. I found myself physically relaxing as I read it.

MFE: The Candy House by Jennifer EganI loved it, it felt expansive and layered. Im also obsessed with The Furrows by Namwali Serpell which is brilliant and original.

What are your expectations for the first in-person Frankfurt Book Fair in three years?

NAS: Lots of excitement, lots of big deals, lots of post-fair illness.

MFE: Fun! And buzzy sales energy.

What are you looking forward to most about being back at the fair? Least?

NAS: Im very much looking forward to seeing all the wonderful editors weve been missing since the pandemic started. Not looking forward to the caffeine headaches.

MFE: SameI cant wait to see everyone, to have those snatched conversations in between meetings, and to eat the special Frankfurt green sauce. Im less excited about the inevitable energy crash afterwards.

What are some trends in American literature your international book business friends and contacts are most excited about?

NAS: In a commercial space, they are really excited by the possibilities of TikTok-friendly fiction.

MFE: Across the board, international editors are increasingly interested in diverse voices which is wonderful.
We are a unifying voice for Canadian-owned publishers on the international stage, and are the only national nonprofit organization focused on supporting and promoting English- and French-language independent Canadian publishers abroad.

Our dedicated team works hard to bring worldwide attention to Canadian books and their authors through a range of programs, including: providing cost-shared funding to Canadian-owned publishers for export sales trips and participation in international book fairs and trade events; organizing a collective presence at international book fairs; producing collective marketing tools; and hosting and attending international networking events and activities. As such, we offer a unique and valuable perspective on and service tothe industry in both English and French.

In this, our golden anniversary year, I have the privilege of becoming the organizations deputy executive director and with that, the opportunity to help shape the next 50 years of exporting Canadian books and perspectives around the world. I joined Livres Canada Books five years ago after receiving a postgraduate degree in Canadian Studies, and researching Canadian cultural policy and Latin American literature in Canada.

Leaving academia to work at a publishing-adjacent nonprofit was a perfect fit for my interests and experiences, and I havent looked back. I have learned so much since joining this organization and have witnessed the hard work and camaraderie among independent Canadian publishers firsthand. They are passionate about their authors and the variety of stories they bring, as well as about our national industry.

My arrival in the Canadian publishing world coincided with the early preparations and excitement around our Guest of Honor role in Frankfurt, which was a galvanizing force across our industry. Not only did the experience help bring major players together to work on common goals, but the additional international attention helped us make connections beyond our traditional export markets. Even though our 2020/2021 Guest of Honor participation was hampered by the pandemic, it allowed Canadian publishers to create or deepen their commercial presence in the European Union, Canadas second-largest trading partner through the EUCanada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

Building on the goodwill and important business and literary connections made through being the Guest of Honor, Livres Canada Books continues to help Canadian publishers expand their presence in this important export market. We are especially proud of our growing ties with the publishing industry in Spain, which was one of the subsequent Guest of Honor countries that so graciously agreed to postpone their Guest of Honor years when we were hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Another important focus of our international business development strategy is building relations in Latin American book markets. Our participation in the 2019 trade mission organized by Canadian Heritage and presence at important Spanish-language book fairs (such as the Guadalajara International Book Fair, Mexicos Feria del Libro Universitario, and the Feria del Libro de Bogota) have helped Canadian publishers gather new market intelligence on, and forge connections in, the region. These experiences have been instrumental in helping our organization and the Canadian industry more generally create ties with a range of publishers and industry actors in the regions evolving and emerging book markets.

These are just some of the major sightlines we have established for the next three to five years. But we are also looking forward to many other projects and partnerships in our future, including launching a new branding campaign this fall, one that will reflect our renewed sense of self and possibilities. In all that we do, Livres Canada Books aims to build positive relationships with Canadian publishers and industry stakeholders, as well as with our international counterparts and partners.

Canadian book exports have risen substantially in recent years. At a time when industry, technology, and global markets are continually shifting and evolving, we believe that Canadian books are a unique, valuable, and important export for Canada and should be shared with the world. As our organization grows, and builds on the relationships and experiences it has developed over the last five decades, we will continue promoting the exports of Canadianowned publishers and acting as a catalyst for bringing worldwide attention to Canadian books and their authors.

Gabrielle Etcheverry is deputy executive director of Livres Canada Books.
Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft last week announced a new proposed rule he says will protect minors in the states libraries. But librarians and freedom to read advocates fear the unwieldy new rule is another example of the ongoing, nationwide political attack on the freedom to read being waged under the guise of parental rights.

Among its provisions, the proposed rule would require the Missouri State Library (which falls under the purview of the Secretary of State) to certify the collection development policies of all public libraries in the state as a condition of receiving state funds, although there is no mention of what certification would involve.

Furthermore, the rule prohibits state funds from buying any materials deemed to "appeal to the prurient interests of any minor" and would bar age-inappropriate materials in any form from being displayed in areas predominantly serving minors.

The rule also appears to require librarians to somehow enforce a parent or guardians decision about what their minor child (which is defined as under the age of 18) can access or check out from the library. The rule also requires an age-appropriate designation" for library events and programs, and mandates the adoption of a challenge policy in which any person can dispute the librarys age-appropriate designation on any presentation, event, material, or display in a library.

When state dollars are involved, we want to bring back local control and parental involvement in determining what children are exposed to, Ashcroft said in a press release last week. Yes, we want to make sure libraries have the resources and materials they need for their constituents, and we also want our children to be children a little longer than a pervasive culture many often dictate.

Ashcroft further defended the rule to local CBS affiliate 13KRCG this week, insisting that the rule does not ban books, but requires that age-inappropriate material be kept from children. It can be as simple as putting it on a higher shelf, Ashcroft told the station.

But its not so simple, librarians and library advocates insist. Inside and outside the state, librarians are expressing concern over the vaguely written rule. Claudia Young, director of the Missouri River Regional Library system and current president of the Missouri Library Association, told 13KRCG that the proposal came without warning, and has led to questions and confusion among the state's librarians. Perhaps the most pressing question, Young noted: Who really decides what is appropriate?

St. Charles City-County Library CEO Jason Kuhl told the local NBC affiliate KSDK that he has concerns what about the bill is designed to achieve.

We have a review committee read every one of those challenged items and make a determination. I have not seen a sort of a large problem out there with miscategorized books in public libraries. And so I think from my end, I question what problem this is addressing, Kuhl told KSDK. "I think this could be the beginning of a slippery slope. No matter how sort of innocuous these initial sort of steps could look it could set precedents for more and more restrictive policies in the future.

The new rule in Missouri comes in the midst of what freedom to read advocates say is a well coordinated, politically motivated surge of book challenges and educational gag orders nationwide, primarily targeting books featuring protagonists of color, issues of race, or LGBTQ characters. It also comes just weeks after a state judge in Virginia threw out a high-profile lawsuit that had sought to declare two books obscene for minors and ban them from libraries and bookstores under an obscure state law.

 We need to reengage with the idea that when a book is relevant to an age group or topic, any individual parent may still feel that book is inappropriate for their own child, but that decision should not negate or eliminate access for every other family in the community. 

At press time, the Missouri State Library had yet to comment on the proposed rule. But other state librarians were quick to echo Kuhl's point: virtually every library in the country already has a publicly available collection development policy in place as well as well-established processes overseen by local boards for challenging materials.

Jeremy Johannesen, executive director of COSLA (Chief Officers of State Library Agencies), a national organization representing state library leaders, told PW the proposed rule in Missouri is a solution in search of a problem.

"Libraries are and will continue to be trusted, safe places for children and families to learn and explore, Johannesen said. "And yet by suggesting the need for these rules, the Secretary suggests, without evidence, that libraries are not safe and that librarians and library boards are not doing their jobs. Instead of improving library collections and services to Missouris children, these proposed rules will empower and embolden [a minority in the community] to deluge libraries with frivolous book challenges and will needlessly undermine the trust in Missouris dedicated librarians.

EveryLibrary executive director John Chrastka, who has been tracking the sharp rise in book challenges and educational gag orders, called the proposed new rule a First Amendment minefield, and echoed Youngs concern about who ultimately decides what is appropriate or inappropriate.

This rule is troubling in its scope, Chrastka told PW. We need to reengage with the idea that when a book is relevant to an age group or topic, any individual parent may still feel that book is inappropriate for their own child, but that decision should not negate or eliminate access for every other family in the community."

This is not Missouri's first attempt to regulate materials available in the state's public libraries under the guise of parental rights. In 2020, House Bill 2044, the Parental Oversight Of Public Libraries Act proposed to set up "parental oversight boards" to determine which materials were appropriate for minors in libraries, and proposed fines and jail times for librarians who did not comply. Amid criticism from librarians in the state and freedom to read advocates nationwide, the bill failed to advance.

It is unclear at this point whether the new proposed rule can achieve administratively what House Bill 2044 failed to achieve through the legislative process. The rule is currently scheduled to be published in the Missouri Register on November 15, with a 30-day comment period to follow. Comments can be mailed to the Office of the Missouri Secretary of State, P.O. Box 1767, Jefferson City, MO 65102, or submitted by email to comments@sos.mo.gov.
The second day of the Frankfurt Book Fair saw a continuation of lots of new deal announcements. Much like Day 1, Penguin Random Houses imprints were leading the charge. Knopf made two agreements that are rumored to be for seven figures. In one, Knopfs Jennifer Barth acquired Dann McDormans debut novel, West Heart Kill. McDorman, a producer at MSNBC, was represented by David Black, who has an eponymous shingle.

The novel was preempted in two-book agreement on the night before the fair kicked off, after a whirlwind submission process. Its understood that the submission was sent to editors on the Friday before the fair, with Knopf swooping on Sunday night. (The fair opened on Monday.)

Billed as a classic mystery, the novel, according to Knopf publisher Reagan Arthur, features key elements of the genre, including a bucolic setting, a colorful cast of characters, an idiosyncratic and determined detective, oneor moremurders over a very short timeframe, and most important of all: the plot twist you never saw coming. Arthur elaborated that West Heart Kill is both an homage to the suspense masters of the genre, and a wholly original new spin on the form.

In another big deal won by a Knopf editor just before the fair, Jordan Pavlin preempted North American rights to the debut novel by Kaveh Akbar, Martyr! Akbar is the poetry editor of the Nation and the book marks, Pavlin said, the arrival of a ferocious new talent.

The novel follows Cyrus Shams, the orphaned son of Iranian immigrants who has just gotten sober. Cyrus embarks on a search that points him to a terminally ill artist, Orkideh, living in the Brooklyn Museum.

Knopf is planning to publish Martyr! in spring 2024.

After two separate auctionsin the U.K. and the U.S.one of the hot books of the fair has been sold to publishers on both sides of the pond. Tasha Coryells debut novel, If I Kill You, has been acquired by Leodora Darlington at Orion in a U.K. and Commonwealth rights deal, while Jen Monroe at Berkley took North American rights. The agreement in the U.K. is rumored to be for six figures.

Coryell, who has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alabama where she also currently teaches English, is represented by Katie Greenstreet at Paper Literary.

If I Kill You, which is set in Atlanta, follows a millennial who falls in love with a man being tried as a serial killer. Greenstreet confirmed that action around the title at the fair has been fierce; she said she turned down multiple preempts for the book in the U.K. and U.S. before setting up auctions in both territories.

Among the international titles generating buzz among the American fairgoers at Frankfurt has been the novel Les Enfant Endormis (or Sleeping Children). The French debut novel by Anthony Passeron, which sold in the U.S. to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, blends family history with the medical race to find a cure for the HIV virus.

Published in France by Editions Globe in August, the book is being handled in Frankfurt by its primary agent, Laurence Laluyaux at the London-based RCW Literary Agency. Laluyaux confirmed sales for the title had closed in 11 territories outside of France, including the U.S. and U.K. (It was bought in the latter by Picador.)

Laluyaux said the book is reminiscent of Annie Ernaux and Didier Eribon in how it mixes sociological investigation and intimate, personal history. The novel won Frances Prix Premiere Plume (an award for debut fiction) and was shortlisted for the Prix Franc (which Laluyaux said is the equivalent of the Waterstones Prize in the U.K.).
Screen legend and environmental activist Jane Fonda, who has been undergoing chemotherapy for non-Hodgkins lymphoma, said she plans to attend a Greenpeace rally in Washington later this year.

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"BIG news! On Fri 12/2, I'll be back in DC with @FireDrillFriday & @GreenpeaceUSA for our first in-person rally in 3 years! Join us to sound the alarm on the climate emergency. Register today to join us in person or livestream," Fonda tweeted Thursday.

Fonda, 84, was arrested five times in 2019 for her participation in protests in Washington before the coronavirus pandemic.

She announced in September that she was undergoing treatment for cancer, but felt grateful for the top-notch care she was receiving and felt optimistic about her chances for recovery.

Fonda recently starred for seven seasons in the Netflix series Grace & Frankie. She is set to reprise her role in next year's Book Club sequel.

The daughter of Henry Fonda and sister of Peter Fonda has been acting since 1960.

Her credits include Cat Ballou, Barefoot in the Park, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Klute, The China Syndrome, The Morning After, On Golden Pond and 9 to 5.
Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey is not liable for battery against Star Trek: Discovery star Anthony Rapp, a jury decided Thursday.

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According to NBC News, the jury deliberated for just under 90 minutes Thursday afternoon. Rapp's lawyers appeared dejected as they left the downtown Manhattan courthouse.

"Anthony told his truth in court," Richard Steigman, an attorney for Rapp, told NBC News. "While we respect the jury's verdict, nothing changes that."

Spacey was seen hugging one of his lawyers as the verdict was read.

"I'm very grateful to the jury for seeing through these false allegations," Spacey's attorney Jennifer Keller said.

Rapp had alleged in the civil trial that Spacey climbed on top of him at a party in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26.

The trial lasted three weeks, with Rapp seeking $40 million in damages. Spacey's lawyers argued that Rapp "created a story" because he jealous of Spacey's success.

The jury found that Spacey did not touch a sexual or intimate part of Rapp, meaning it could not find him liable under the Child Victims Act.

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Rapp's accusation in October 2017 was followed by more than a dozen other sexual misconduct accusations against Spacey. He is also facing sexual assault charges in Britain.

In a British Court in July, he pleaded not guilty to several charges of sexual assaulting three men on different occasions beginning nearly 20 years ago.

The judge told Spacey that his criminal trial will begin in June 2023. It is expected to last for a few weeks.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 10/21/2022



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

alum Erik Lake is off the market again and has just debuted his new girlfriend on social media.Erik married Virginia Coombs on 's twelfth season and the pair also starred on Season 3 of : Couples Cam, but they separated in April 2021 and filed for divorce in Georgia in June 2021.While Erik's relationship with Virginia didn't work out, the pilot clearly has high hopes for his future with his new girlfriend, a beautiful blonde nurse.Erik, who was also previously married before he appeared on , took to Instagram earlier this week and posted a slideshow of photos with a woman he tagged as Logen. (Logen's Instagram profile, however, says her name is Lola)."It's a crazy thing when you stop trying so hard to find your person and just let things play out the way they are supposed to," Erik captioned the photos, including shots of Erik and Logen hiking and flying on a plane together."The past is the past and I can't sit here and regret every little thing that happened before because all of it led me right where I'm supposed to be now. I'm the happiest I've ever been."Erik said he's seen "that level of happiness all around" him for years in other people's relationships but now it's his turn."It's an amazing thing to witness and I thought I knew what that felt like a time or two, but when you actually find someone that puts you on a level you never knew you could attain, it's an unbelievable feeling," Erik continued."Laughing and joking about things is so important to me and that comes so easily for us. She even laughs at my stupid dad jokes that aren't even that funny to begin with."Erik gushed about how Logen has "such a genuine heart.""You can see it from a mile away it's so big. She's the kindest and sweetest person I've ever known and truly beautiful inside and out," Erik said. "She had me with those [blue] eyes the first time I saw them."Erik wrote how he's "grateful for every moment" he's shared with Logen so far."We've had a lot of memorable ones so far and I'm looking forward to more of them in the future. She makes me better in every way," Erik told his followers."Everything is so easy and positive and she makes life worth living to the fullest every day. I'm the luckiest guy in the world and I'm thankful I get to be yours. I love you Logen. @padawan_punz."Fellow alum Vincent Morales congratulated Erik on his new romance, writing in the comments, "Happy for you my brother."And Logen replied to his post, "You're the best thing to ever happen to me. I'm so grateful that we found each other, and am so excited to see what's in store for our future together! I love you with all my heart Erik."Logen also posted a heartfelt message of her own on Instagram when officially revealing her new relationship."I knew I was in big trouble the day I caught a glimpse of those big green eyes and that irresistible smile of yours. What I didn't realize was, I'd be meeting the man of my dreams that day," Logen captioned a video montage of the couple."If I had known, I probably would have had some cheesier pickup lines on hand. Luckily you had me covered in that department though. In all seriousness, you've brought so much joy and light into my life since we met."Logen called Erik "everything" she's "ever dreamed of having in a partner" -- and in life."Every fear I had of being hurt again has gone out the window. All the walls I spent most of my life building up, already fell down months ago. For the first time in my life, I genuinely feel safe," Logen gushed."Now I understand what people mean when they say, 'When you know, you know.' I know you're my person. I know I'm the luckiest girl in the world. I know I've found the person that makes me feel whole. I know that you're the only one in the world for me. I know that I love you, Erik Lake . So much. Thank you for being mine @erik_cleared_for_takeoff."Prior to going Instagram official with Erik, Logen hinted she was in a relationship with him by writing on August 17 she had met "a hot, single pilot."Logen also captioned a video on August 12, "When you show your friend a pic of the guy you're talking to, but she says she calls dibs if we don't work out."Back in July 2021, Erik and Virginia had led fans to believe they may possibly reconcile and get back together despite their divorce filing, but that clearly hasn't happened.Given news of Erik and Virginia's divorce first broke in June 2021, a contract with Lifetime would explain why Virginia and Erik waited another month to publicly confirm their split "This entire process has been difficult as is without the constant chatter of public opinion. Contrary to popular belief, we've been together and trying to make our marriage work since Decision Day ," the pair told E! News in a statement at the time."While we have decided to get a divorce, we aren't closing the doors on a possible future together. We love each other and will continue to navigate our new reality post show."Virginia also lashed out at fans on Instagram at the time saying she and Erik would "never fake" their relationship for a reality show and social media had been very "toxic" to their marriage.That summer, Erik and Virginia's co-star Chris Williams alleged on his Instagram Stories that Virginia, who had a reputation for liking to party and drink during her MAFS season, was a bad influence on her then-husband because Erik had received a DUI and completed a court-mandated rehab for 45 days.Chris also alleged Virginia had traveled to Mexico while Erik was in rehab and attempted to have a threesome with her MAFS co-star Haley Harris ' brother and his spouse.Although the couple's divorce documents state Virginia and Erik had separated on April 29, 2021, Virginia denied breakup speculation in May 2021, telling a fan in the comments section of one of her Instagram photos, "I am not single!"The photo showed Virginia debuting a new black hair color, and Erik fed into the couple's alleged narrative by writing on the post, "Beautiful as always... I have a thing for dark haired women," along with a fire emoji.Speculation Virginia and Erik had broken up at the time swirled because Virginia was accused of flirting with another guy at a bar and partying with girlfriends in Atlanta without her wedding ring."Either she is no longer with Erik, or she's cheating," an alleged witness at the bar wrote on Reddit at the time."She was ALL over a guy at The Ivy in Buckhead Atlanta last night. And the way he was holding her while dancing, and while at the bar... they certainly were not 'just friends.'"But Virginia insisted on Instagram Stories in May 2021 that her wedding ring "never comes off" and photos had captured her right hand -- not her left, which features her wedding ring.Erik and Virginia got married in August 2020, and on 's Season 12 Decision-Day episode that aired in May 2021 on Lifetime, Erik got down on one knee and presented Virginia with a silicone wedding band when asking if she'd stay married to him.Virginia chose to remain Erik's wife because she gushed about how she's in love with him and viewed him to be a sensitive, passionate and protective man with a pure heart.Virginia and Erik, however, had major differences, from their cultural and political beliefs to their timeline for having a child.Erik also wasn't exactly thrilled with Virginia's close relationship with her guy friends."He's sometimes too grown up," Virginia told the cameras on Decision Day. "Erik always thinks he knows best... I'd be lying if I said that I'm confident in where me and Erik are. I am a little scared about the next step in our relationship."And Erik hoped to become the No. 1 person and top priority in Virginia's life. Erik anticipated only time would break down Virginia's walls.During the reunion special, Erik and Virginia revealed that Virginia had moved into Erik's apartment with her pets and was liking it just fine.The couple insisted their relationship was doing well even though they had normal marital problems and arguments.On the early June 2021 premiere episode of Couples Cam's third season, Virginia and Erik were shown traveling to Pennsylvania for a visit with Virginia's mother and sister six months into their marriage.Virginia said she and Erik had grown closer together from the "scrutiny" and "heat" they were receiving online.Virginia said the mean comments about her appearance and acne online were the hardest to deal with but she and Erik continued to reassure and protect one another.Interested in more news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group or click here to view our newspage!And click here for more updates on former cast members and info on where they are now!
Alpha Omicron Pi at the University of Georgia won the 2022 Sigma Delta Tau Greek Grind, on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at The Classic Center. Greek Grind is an annual dance competition hosted by SDT at UGA and brings all 19 UGA sororities together to raise money for their national philanthropy, Prevent Child Abuse America.
In October of 2019, faculty members of the University of Georgias Hugh Hodgson School of Music posed the question: What is the university concert band not doing that it should be doing? This question led to the Athens Hip Hop Harmonic, which performed at the UGA Performing Arts Center on Oct. 20. While the group was officially launched in August 2021, Thursday nights show was their biggest show to date.
Olivia is a senior journalism major at the University of Georgia. Her love for writing and sharing stories from the community led her to The Red & Black. She loves being able to highlight the people who make up the Athens community.

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Not only does Athens need more affordable housing, but local residents and University of Georgia students must be educated accurately about homelessness to help dispel false notions against those experiencing it.
Based on these indicators, its entirely legitimate to argue that Republicans will do well in the midterms. But to take it as a matter of fact is something else entirely.
On Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, a large group of people gathered on the Arch Bridge in Williamsville for a ceremony marking the official opening of the new bridge over the Rock River.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Rain showers this morning with some sunshine during the afternoon hours. Morning high of 51F with temps falling to near 40. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low 23F. Winds light and variable.
South Africa: Almost 400 title deeds handed over to Orange Farm residents

The City of Johannesburg has urged those who are still waiting for title deeds to be patient, as the process is being expedited on a phase-by-phase basis.

The city made the call during the handover of 370 title deeds to qualifying beneficiaries in Drieziek, Orange Farm Region G.

Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Sello Dada Morero, accompanied by the citys Member of the Mayoral Committee for Human Settlements, Anthea Leitch, handed over the title deeds during a ceremony this week.

The event forms part of the citys efforts to afford citizens the dignity of official proof of ownership.

The upgraded Drieziek township, which was once an informal settlement, was constructed in 2003 and allocations were done in 2004.

The project was constructed under the Less Formal Township Establishment Act, which allowed house construction to proceed before roads and storm water infrastructure construction.

The project has yielded a total of 807 homes, and the handing over of title deed ceremony forms part of the journey that began in 2003.

Morero said with the handing over of title deeds, beneficiaries can now proudly say they are owners.

The title deed is the only legal proof that you are the owner, and with this legal tender, no one can take your property away from you. Let us continue to work together and build stronger communities, Morero said.

Leitch said owning a property is an emotional step for citizens, as many have been historically denied the right to home ownership.

There is a big difference between simply having shelter or refuge, and being in a home, and owning that home. A title deed makes you a homeowner [and] it is a proud moment for you.

Your name is now listed at the Deeds Office as the owner of a property, and owning a home is an important first step for many people in the journey to create security and wealth for themselves and their families, Leitch said.

Leitch said the city remains committed to the Growth and Development Strategy 2040, which envisions a better, more liveable, safe, prosperous, diverse, sustainable, resilient and adaptive city  a truly world-class African city, where everyone, including the vulnerable, is treated with dignity and are proud to call this city their home.

The department urged title deed beneficiaries not to sell their homes, as this may lead to fights and homelessness of family members.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-10-21. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
American media recently reported that the German defense leader vowed to work closely with France to step up their maritime surveillance and anti-submarine combat capability. Earlier on French officials decided to back out of the joint development of a new type of marine patrol aircraft with Germany in response to Berlin's plan to purchase five US-made Boeing P-8 Poseidon. What makes Germany come back to develop the new type of anti-submarine aircraft with France now?

According to military observer Liang Yongchun, an important reason for Germany's change of mind is that it wants to resist America's infiltration and control through the joint R&D project.

Nailed during the ILA Berlin Air Show in 2018, the project co-invested by France and Germany with the results shared by both sides is an important part of the two countries' efforts to build an independent defense system for the EU. Things hit a bump in June 2021 when Berlin suddenly announced its decision to purchase five P-8 anti-submarine patrol aircraft from the US on the grounds that the co-development with France went too slowly. Paris was furious, but it knew perfectly well that the US was behind the scene, just like what it did with the Australian submarine deal. But there was nothing it could do, so France had to announce a Plan B  instead of working with Germany, it continued to develop its own anti-submarine patrol aircraft independently based on its Falcon 10X business jet.

Now things have taken another turn and Germany wants to pick up what it left halfway and start over again. The timing cannot be more subtle. Ever since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, the US, on the pretext of standing up against Russia together, has cut off the energy cooperation between Moscow and the EU, which is ruining Europe's industrial system at root. Germany, the largest industrialized country in Europe, has borne the brunt but doesn't dare say a word. Restarting the co-development of anti-submarine aircraft with France at such a moment is an attempt by Germany to save its own military industry and in a way shake off the tight control from Washington.

Liang Yongchun holds that France will most likely accept Germany's gesture either out of political, economic or military considerations.

Militarily, France's Plan B is to develop its own anti-submarine aircraft based on a business jet, which can only carry very limited reconnaissance and combat devices, given its small size and loading capacity. In comparison, the new-type anti-submarine patrol aircraft co-developed by Paris and Berlin uses Airbus A-320 as the basic platform, whose performance and parameters are as good as Americas Boeing 737, the platform for P-8 Poseidon. As a result, the next-generation anti-submarine aircraft jointly developed by the two countries will definitely have a superior combat performance over France's Plan B.

Politically, the joint development of military equipment by two European leaders is highly symbolic. Economically, if the co-development succeeds, the product will be able to tap the market of other European markets for profit. All in all, Germany's turnaround is a good thing for France in every sense.

According to Liang, however, as it would be very hard for Europe to break away from America's control under the latter's military hegemonism, the Germany-France cooperation in the future anti-submarine aircraft won't be plain sailing.

From a military perspective, Washington asks all its allies to buy American weapons and equipment allegedly to improve interoperability, so they can operate each other's weapons, including anti-submarine patrol aircraft. The US has long demanded its allies buy the P-8 Poseidon, which enables itself to assign the allies anti-submarine aircraft to any sea areas around the world at any time, incorporate them in its own combat system, and have them carry out anti-submarine patrol and combat tasks as it requires.

From a technical perspective, as the overall performance of the jointly developed anti-submarine aircraft is as good as that of America's P-8 Poseidon, Washington won't just sit and watch such a strong competitor grow. Instead, it would try every means to nip it in the bud. Even if the two European countries carry it through against pressure, the US would demand that all the recording and reconnaissance equipment and weapon systems onboard the new aircraft be American-made and using American standards. In that case, military independence for Europe would still be out of the question, and all that Germany and France can gain from the project is just on the economic front.

But Germany can still use it as a bargaining chip against the US. The co-development project can also serve as a touchstone of the EU's strengths. If the project fails, that will lend a heavy blow to the French and German military industries and reduce the EU to depend even more heavily on the US, politically, economically, and militarily. That doesn't bode well for Europe.

Editor's note: Originally published on cnr.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
Photographer / Multimedia Editor

Has been working as a photojournalist since 2007, before moving into newspapers, he worked with an NGO called Project HOPE. He then went to work for the Press and Sun-Bulletin in New York, and then in New England working for the Brattleboro Reformer.
He said he would destroy the exiled opposition leader like he destroyed the Khmer Rouge.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday said he would dissolve any political party that dares to associate with Sam Rainsy, a threat that opposition party officials believe indicates he is still afraid of the exiled opposition leaders political clout ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Sam Rainsy was a co-founder of the now banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP. He fled to France in 2015 to avoid arrest for various charges his supporters say are politically motivated.

In 2017, Cambodias Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP, a move that allowed Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party, or CPP, to capture every seat in the National Assembly in 2018 general elections.

Hun Sen said he was not afraid of bloodshed and would beat down anyone who dared to stand up against him.

I succeeded in destroying the Khmer Rouge, he said at a press conference in Kandal province, vowing to do the same to Sam Rainsy. Now I appeal to the Khmer people who believe in this traitor  and any parties that want to associate with Sam Rainsy  we will file complaints against them to dissolve those parties, he said. The law states that we need to dissolve parties that commit crimes.

A former Khmer Rouge member himself, Hun Sen defected to Vietnam in 1977 and joined a Hanoi-backed rebel army opposed to Pol Pot's regime.

Following Vietnam's ousting of the Khmer Rouge government in 1979, Hanoi installed him as deputy prime minister and foreign minister. He then rose to become prime minister in 1985 and has ruled the country ever since.

Leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Sam Rainsy [center] arrives at a Paris courthouse for proceedings in a defamation lawsuit filed by Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, Sept. 1, 2022. Photo: AFP

Hun Sen said he supported Wednesdays decision by the Phnom Penh court to sentence Sam Rainsy to life in prison and strip him of all political rights, on charges of conspiring to hand over Cambodian territory to a foreign state.

"Cambodia doesn't have a law to execute prisoners, otherwise the court would have ordered the execution of Sam Rainsy, he said. People must understand this traitors behavior. People who are involved with these traitors will be punished, so please stay away."

Hun Sens threats reveal that he himself still feels threatened by Sam Rainsys popularity, Um Sam An, a senior CNRP official, told RFAs Khmer Service.

People, including the armed forces, continue to support Sam Rainsy, so Hun Sen is afraid of Sam Rainsys influence after he urged voters for a change in the 2023 election, said Um Sam An.

The courts ability to dissolve a political party is an incorrect interpretation of the law, Kang Savang, an election monitor with the independent Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel), told RFA.

"Political parties are facing difficulties because of the law, he said. Their interpretation of the law is not clear, specifically over issues of national security and foreign collusion."

Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Han Yutao's brother told him not to be a 'traitor to China,' likely to protect himself from retaliation by proxy

Police in Beijing have contacted the family of a Chinese student studying in the United States after he expressed support online for the "Bridge Man" protester, who unfurled banners on a Beijing bridge calling on ruling Chinese leader Xi Jinping to step down on the eve of the 20th Communist partys congress.

Police in Beijing's Zhongguancun district contacted the parents and brother of Han Yutao, a student at Bellevue College in Washington state, after he posted a video clip on social media expressing solidarity with the "Bridge Man" protester, who has been identified as Peng Lifa.

Han, 23, also walked around the Bellevue campus with a placard, telling everyone he met about Peng, who has been hailed as a hero similar to the 1989 tank man for his brave and rare public protest.

Within a day of his video appearing, Chinese police had contacted Han's family, putting pressure on them to persuade him not to be a "traitor," and to distance themselves from him, Han told RFA.

"On Oct. 19, police from Zhongguancun West district found my family and knocked on their door," Han told RFA. "They asked for my mother's phone number, then called her and asked her where I go to school, when I left China, what I'm studying, then asked for my phone number in the U.S."

"Everyone in my family was telling me [not to do any more protests]," he said.

"My brother was trying to talk me out of [my views], telling me not to be a traitor, and not to be used as a 'hitman' by others," Han added. "He said he wanted nothing to do with traitors to China, or those who took their money, which wasn't nice to hear."

"But I understand ... he was trying to protect himself," he said.

An officer who answered the phone at the Zhongguancun West district police station declined to comment when contacted by RFA on Thursday.

Han said police also confiscated a number of his books that were published on the democratic island of Taiwan, which isn't subject to Chinas censorship.

"If they contact me, I don't plan to give in to their arrogance," Han said. "I will start by telling them how evil the Communist Party is first ... to try to prod their conscience."

Han said he had his eyes opened to the nature of the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, after hearing family members talk about the 1989 Tiananmen massacre by the People's Liberation Army, which used machine guns and tanks to suppress weeks-long mass, student-led protests in and around Tiananmen Square.

He said Peng -- who goes by the social media handle Peng Zaizhou in a reference to popular anger with governments -- struck a chord because of his sheer bravery.

"Why do I support Peng Zaizhou? Because I don't want to be afraid of the CCP any more," Han said. "I felt very ashamed even back in China that I was being suppressed by the CCP."

"Why did I show my face? Because justice should be upright," he said.

Former 1989 student leader Zhou Fengsuo, who founded the U.S.-based rights group Humanitarian China, said the tactics used by the Chinese government are redolent of the criminal underworld.

"Han Yutao showed his face and used his real name, which is very risky," Zhou said. "That the CCP is threatening the family members of international students shows [the government's] anger."

Zhou said the timing of Peng's banners, which also called for an end to COVID-19 lockdowns and for democratic elections ahead of a party congress that will likely approve Xi Jinping's precedent-breaking third term in office, made the authorities even more nervous.

"They are panicking even more right now, showing that this regime has no legitimacy. They're a gangster regime that resorts to kidnapping," he said.

Rights groups say China increasingly engages in unofficial renditions of overseas critics from compliant nations, while Beijing was widely criticized for engaging in "hostage diplomacy" with the arrests and sentencing of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig in the wake of the 2018 arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver.

"Peng Lifa had a kind of Tank Man energy, and his upstanding actions inspired a lot of people," Zhou said. "Courage really is contagious."

Meanwhile, Han said he had received support and solidarity from non-Chinese students at Bellevue, but not from fellow Chinese nationals, who remain under threat of being reported to the authorities if they step out of line politically while overseas.

"I showed my placard to a lot of Chinese students here, but they mostly acted indifferent, as they are really afraid of getting into trouble," Han said. "So they would look at my placard with scorn, as if I were some kind of weirdo."

Chinese students studying overseas risk having similar repercussions as Han experienced against loved ones back home, as well as the prospect of being invited for "tea" with the state security police when they go home. State security police have also been known to call them and threaten them outright during their studies.

Han said he was well aware of those risks before he acted, but felt he couldn't stay silent.

"I thought, why should I fear the tyranny [of the CCP] here in the U.S.?" he said. "Does that mean I have to keep quiet for the rest of my life?"

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Politicians in both countries are concerned over technology leaks, or weapons falling into the wrong hands.

Soldiers sit on an M60A3 tank for a group photograph after an anti-invasion drill in Taichung, Taiwan, Jan. 17, 2019.

The United States alleged plan to produce weapons jointly with Taiwan to boost its deterrence capabilities against China was met with mixed views by observers and analysts in Taipei.

Nikkei Asia was the first media outlet to report on Wednesday that the Biden administration is considering such a plan, quoting three unnamed people familiar with it.

Senior U.S. officials have warned this week that China may speed up plans to invade Taiwan, which Beijing considers one of its provinces. President Xi Jinping, in his opening speech at the 20th Communist Party Congress, said Chinese leaders will not renounce the use of force in national reunification.

Nikkei, quoted a person with direct knowledge of the matter as saying initial discussions on joint U.S.-Taiwan [weapons] production had begun and that U.S. defense companies may provide technology to manufacture weapons in Taiwan, or to produce them in the U.S. using Taiwan-made parts.

It is understood that the process is still in the initial stage and discussions will continue throughout next year.

Reuters quoted a business lobbyist as saying that there could be resistance within the U.S. government to issuing co-production licenses for manufacturing in a foreign country.

Taiwan-based analysts told RFA that the risk of military secrets being leaked and the interests of arms dealers are the main factors to be considered during the process.

No comment

Both the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the reports.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou told reporters that the U.S. government, across party lines, maintains close cooperation with Taiwan to bolster Taiwan's self-defense and asymmetrical warfare capabilities through arms sales.

"The two sides continue to have regular, intensive discussions on that matter, but we have no information to share, and we are not willing to comment on the reports," she said.

Defense Ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang told RFA: We have no comment at this time.

Before that a U.S. State Department spokesperson said the United States is looking at all options to ensure the rapid transfer of defensive capabilities to Taiwan."

Next month, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. It proposes a new amendment to more than double military aid to Taiwan to over U.S. $10 billion, from the U.S. $4.5 billion in the initial bill.

However due to the war in Ukraine and the COVID pandemic, there is still a backlog of U.S. $14.2 billion in military equipment that Taiwan bought from the U.S. in 2019 but has yet to receive.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, in an address earlier this month, said Taiwan will not rely on others for its defense and is committed to protecting its security and democratic way of life.

A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter prepares for landing during a military exercise at the Hengchun airport in Pingtung, southern Taiwan, Aug. 9, 2022. CREDIT: Ann Wang/Reuters

Technology leaks

Some analysts say the first priority should be given to speed up the arms transfer as all of Taiwan's arms imports in 2016-2020 came from the U.S.

Chieh Chung, an associate research fellow with think-tank National Policy Foundation, told the official Central News Agency that a much easier option would be to move Taiwan to the top of Washington's transfer priority list.

Some others welcome the idea of joint production, saying it would lower the costs and at the same time help develop Taiwans defense industry.

Taipei-based security expert Qi Leyi told RFA the two sides could first aim at producing small, maneuverable and high-survivability weapons such as surveillance and reconnaissance communication equipment; reconnaissance and attack integrated drones; general-purpose anti-ship, air-defense and anti-tank missiles; as well as intelligent mines.

MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) system launchers take part in the Han Kuang military drill in Taichung, Taiwan June 7, 2018. CREDIT: Taiwan Defense Ministry





Another expert, Su Tzu-yun, director of the military-sanctioned Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told RFAs Mandarin Service that Taiwan had already cooperated in the weapons production field with the U.S. in the past.

A Taiwanese producer has successfully manufactured CM-11 Brave Tiger tanks, developed by the U.S.' General Dynamics, since the 1990s. Taiwans indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles were also developed with some U.S. technology.

Many Taiwanese private companies are already part of the U.S. defense industry supply chain, Su said, adding that it is entirely possible for them to cooperate further once mutual trust is ensured.

Guo Chong-lun, a well-known commentator on military issues, noted the biggest difficulties in Taiwan-U.S. cooperation in the production of weapons is that the U.S. government must overcome the arms industry's opposition to moving production lines to Taiwan, thinning profits, and leakage of secret military technology.

"If the weapons are produced in Taiwan, the interest margins for arms dealers will not be as high as in the past. That factor should be taken into consideration," Guo told RFA.

Xia Xiaohua in Taipei contributed to this story.
Letter says prisoners are victims of a 'new wave of repression' threatening progress on climate and rights issues.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres [center, left] and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc speak during a ceremony commemorating the 45th anniversary of Vietnam's accession to the United Nations at the Hanoi International Exhibition Center in Hanoi on October 21, 2022.

On the eve of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres trip to Vietnam, 14 international and local rights organizations called on him to urge Hanoi to release four environmental activists imprisoned in what they called a new wave of repression that threatens progress in addressing climate change and protecting human rights.

Guterres visit on Friday and Saturday commemorates the 45th anniversary of Hanois membership in the United Nations. Earlier this month, Vietnam was elected to a three-year term on the U.N. Human Rights Council despite critics pointing to its track record of rights abuses.

In a joint open letter penned Thursday, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the other organizations demanded the release of Nguy Thi Khanh, director of the Green Innovation and Development Centre; Dang Dinh Bach, director of the Research Center for Law and Policy for Sustainable Development, Mai Phan Loi, chairman of the Committee for Science Affairs at the Center for Media in Educating Community; and Bach Hung Duong, MECs director.

The four were sentenced to two to five years in prison in separate trials earlier this year.

These political prisoners are emblematic victims of a new wave of repression in Vietnam which, through a combination of threats and judicial harassment, is threatening progress in combating climate change, protecting human rights and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the letter said.

We call on you to remind Vietnam that, as a newly elected member of the U.N. Human Rights Council, it has an obligation to uphold the highest human rights standards, it said.

U.N. agencies in Vietnam must be more transparent and proactive in urging the country to improve its human rights record, said Jessica Nguyen, advocacy officer from the Illinois-based 88 Project, which maintains a database of imprisoned political activists in Vietnam, and was one of the 14 signatories of the joint letter.

To do so, the U.N. agencies themselves have to improve their accountability in human rights issues in Vietnam, particularly [making themselves more accountable] to civil society organizations, she said.

Environmental protection is on the agenda for Guterres trip, presenting a seeming contradiction in a country where the four environmental activists are in prison on bogus tax evasion charges, Phil Robertson, deputy head of Human Rights Watchs Asia-Pacific Division, told RFA.

The U.N. leader wants to talk in Hanoi about climate change policies, but how can Vietnam really move forward when it is busy jailing key civil society partners who are critical to national efforts to stop global warming? Robertson said. This contradiction cannot stand, and the U.N. needs to tell the Vietnamese government that it must end its repression of civil society organizations and NGO leaders.

Every day Vietnam is defying its obligations to uphold human rights, and were demanding that the U.N. call them out on it, and press Hanoi to do much better, he said, adding that the international community seemingly has not noticed that Vietnams jails are filled with people who dared to criticize the government.

Guterres needs to state clearly that Vietnams continued repression of activists and civil society groups will jeopardize the countrys ability to meet the SDGs that are so near and dear to the U.N.s heart, he said.

Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Freedom Houses study classifies it as having no freedom on the internet.

A man uses the internet at a bus station carrying a 4G advertisement in Hanoi in 2017.

Vietnam is among the worst countries for respecting internet freedom, according to a study by Freedom House, a New York-based non-profit organization funded mainly by the U.S. government.

On Oct. 18 it published its Freedom on the Net 2022 report which surveyed internet standards in 70 countries.

Vietnam scored 22 on its 100-point scale, with 100 being most free and zero least free. It received 12 points in the obstacles to access category, 6 points for limits of content and 4 points for violations of user rights. The countrys ranking was unchanged from last year, above only Cuba (20), Iran (16), Myanmar (12) and China (10).

Vietnam was one rank below Russia, which plunged down the list from last year because of war in Ukraine and the controls it has imposed to stop unwelcome truths about the conflict being known. With the Putin government censoring news about the invasion of Ukraine, Russia's Internet Freedom Index rank dropped to sixth from bottom scoring 23 points from 30 in 2021.

Vietnam likely to remain 'at a standstill' on internet freedom

Vietnams lack of movement down the rankings may not be a sign that the situation is likely to improve.

In terms of scores, Vietnam is indeed at a standstill, but there are many signs that the government is increasingly controlling the internet, censoring online content more strictly, jailing and applying administrative fines more people with a higher penalty, Trinh Huu Long, Editor-in-Chief of Legal Initiative Magazine, who contributed to Freedom House's report, told RFA.

The Vietnamese government also collects citizens' online data on a larger scale, and is increasingly forcing foreign tech companies like Facebook and Google to comply with government requirements."

China unlikely to rise from bottom ranking

Long said Vietnam's ranking is unlikely to fall as low as China. Freedom House said conditions for internet users there remain profoundly oppressive particularly with authorities censoring social media posts critical of Beijings COVID lockdowns in recent months.

Ordinary users continued to face severe legal and extralegal repercussions for activities like sharing news stories, talking about their religious beliefs, or communicating with family members and others overseas. Separately, authorities yielded their immense power over the tech industry through new legislation, regulatory investigations, and app store removals for alleged privacy violations, the report said.

Hanoi follows Beijing's digital dictatorship model

As for Vietnam, while Freedom House said it did not disrupt connectivity it said authorities continued to order social media companies to remove content and imposed draconian criminal sentences for online expression.

The organization said Vietnamese authorities have set up an effective content-filtering system with censorship often targeting popular blogs or websites with many followers, as well as content deemed threatening to the rule of the Communist Party. That includes discussing social unrest or dissent, advocating for human rights and democracy, and criticizing the government's response to border disputes and territorial spats with China over the South China Sea.

Access to international websites such as Human Rights Watch, the Vietnamese edition of Radio Free Asia and the BBC were unstable and unpredictable, it said.

Vietnam "is following China's digital dictatorship model, although it is still far from achieving the capacity to control the internet like China," said Legal Initiative Magazines Long.

Human Rights Council membership won't help

Questioned about what ordinary people and activists can do to make the government lift internet restrictions in the near future, especially as Vietnam has just been elected to the UN Human Rights Council, he said:

The Human Rights Council is unfortunately not a strong enough mechanism to pressure the Vietnamese government to do something substantive [for] human rights. Vietnam's election even legitimizes what the government has been doing.

Activists can continue to do what they are doing, I think that is good and necessary, but if it is a goal to push the government to lift some internet restrictions, I am afraid that is too far away."

The Freedom on the Net report said, although no cyberattacks against human rights defenders and media websites were publicly disclosed during the survey period, the previous reports suggest the government and related departments are likely to have continued to use this tactic.

"The best way to improve the situation is to gradually raise the security consciousness of internet users, so that they will understand for themselves what their privacy means, said an internet security expert in Vietnam, who declined to be named for security reasons.

If everyone knows how to protect their own privacy space well, they will be able to promote internet freedom on their own."

Vietnam is one of at least 55 governments worldwide to adopt a policy of investigating, arresting and convicting people who post their opinions on social media. Since the beginning of the year, at least 40 activists and Facebook users have been arrested or convicted, most of them imprisoned on vague charges such as "conducting anti-state propaganda" or "abusing democratic freedom.
Welcome back to The Farda Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that tracks the key issues in Iran and explains why they matter. To subscribe, click here.

I'm RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari. Here's what Ive been following during the past week and what Im watching for in the days ahead.

The Big Issue

Authorities in Tehran have accused Iran's foreign enemies of stoking unrest in the country with the goal of inciting a civil war.

Officials made the accusations following what they called terrorist attacks that took place on November 16 in Izeh, in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, and in the central city of Isfahan, where they said gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on security forces and civilians, killing seven in Izeh and two in Isfahan.

The incidents followed an October 26 attack at the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz that left 13 dead. The Shiraz attack was claimed by the extremist group Islamic State (IS).

Speaking on November 18, Mohsen Rezai, Iran's vice president for economic affairs, blamed Tehran's enemies for the bitter incidents and claimed that theyre trying to create a civil war in the country. "Iran cannot be turned into another Syria or Lebanon by carrying out violent acts similar to the ones in Shah Cheragh, Isfahan, and Izeh," he said.

A day earlier, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abollahian accused Israel and Western countries of plotting a "civil war" and the disintegration of the Islamic republic.

Security services, [Israel], and Western politicians who have made plans for a civil war and the destruction and disintegration of Iran must know that that Iran is not Libya or Sudan, Amir-Abdollahian said on Twitter, while failing to provide any evidence to back his claim.

Why It Matters: The warnings come amid nine weeks of antiestablishment protests in Iran triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest by the morality police in Tehran. Iran has blamed foreign countries and intelligence services of orchestrating the unrest, which has turned into the most significant challenge to the clerical establishment in the past four decades.

Ali Alfoneh, an Iran analyst at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told RFE/RL that the Islamic republic has only itself to blame for the situation it faces, but lacking the courage to look into the mirror and admit their own mistakes, regime officials cowardly blame the foreign powers.

Others said Tehran could use the attacks as an excuse for a harsher crackdown on the protests. We don't have a good sense of what happened in Izeh and Isfahan -- was it a terrorist group, or potentially the regime itself?" said Henry Rome, an Iran expert at the Washington Institute. "Either way, the government will probably use the attacks to send the message that the protests are undermining national security and opening the door for Western-backed terrorism," Rome added.

Whats Next: Statements by Iranian officials who have vowed a crushing response to those behind the "terrorist" attacks could provide clues about the countrys next steps. Authorities have said that the perpetrators of the attacks and their leaders who are allegedly based outside the country would be "introduced to the people."

Stories You Might Have Missed

 Activists say Iran has intensified its crackdown in the Kurdistan region in an attempt to spread fear among protesters and quell the nationwide antiestablishment protests that have rocked the country for the past two months.

 At least 47 children have been killed amid Irans ongoing crackdown on the protests that were sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. Among them is 9-year-old Kian Pirfalak who was killed on November 16 in the southwestern city of Izeh amid the antiestablishment protests. State media claimed that the boy was killed in a "terrorist attack." But his mother says he was shot dead by Iranian security forces. His tragic death led to an outpouring of grief and anger.

 Protesters in Iran set fire to the ancestral home of the Islamic republic's late founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in the central Iranian city of Khomein, according to amateur videos posted online. Images of Khomeini have also been torched in past weeks amid the ongoing unrest.

What We're Watching

Iran said on November 22 that it had begun producing uranium enriched to 60 percent at its Fordo underground facility. The announcement was part of Iran's response to the UN nuclear watchdog's adoption last week of a resolution accusing Tehran of noncooperation. Tehran condemned the resolution as politically motivated while vowing retaliation.

"We had said that Iran would seriously react to any resolution and political pressure...that is why Iran has started enriching uranium to 60 percent purity as of Monday [November 21] at the Fordo site," the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, was quoted as saying by state media.

Why It Matters: Enrichment at 60 percent is one step away from the 90 percent level required for nuclear weapons. Iran had already been enriching to 60 percent purity at other facilities.

The 2015 nuclear deal -- which has been on life support following the U.S. withdrawal from the international agreement in May 2018 -- had limited Irans nuclear enrichment activities to 3.7 percent for civilian purposes.

Tehrans latest escalation is likely to lead to more concerns about the countrys nuclear activities from other countries that were party to the stalled nuclear deal and are working to revive it. The EU trio of Britain, France and Germany said in a joint statement that Irans increased enrichment carries significant proliferation-related risks [and] has no credible civilian justification.

That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you have.

Until next time,

Golnaz Esfandiari

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Wednesday.
KYIV -- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy declared that Ukraine cannot be broken as he cited his countrys fight against the Russian invasion and marked the anniversary of the famine regarded by Ukrainians to be a deliberate act perpetrated by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

"Ukrainians went through very terrible things...Once they wanted to destroy us with hunger -- now, with darkness and cold," Zelenskiy said on November 26 in a video message.

"We cannot be broken," he declared.



The prime ministers of EU and NATO members Belgium, Lithuania, and Poland were in Kyiv to mark the day and to attend a summit hosted by Zelenskiy to press the Grain From Ukraine initiative designed to get crucial supplies to world markets. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron were among those speaking through video addresses.



Zelenskiys remarks came amid widespread cuts in power and water supplies in his country after weeks of Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and as temperatures plunge with the beginning of winter.



Zelenskiy and other leaders commemorated the victims of the Holodomor famine, which took place in 1932-33 as Stalin's police forced peasants in Ukraine to join collective farms by requisitioning their grain and other foodstuffs.

Historians say the failure to properly harvest crops in Ukraine in 1932 under Soviet mismanagement was the main cause of the famine.



It is estimated that up to 9 million people died as a result of executions, deportation, and starvation during the Stalin-era campaign.

Many Ukrainians consider the famine an act of genocide aimed at wiping out Ukrainian farmers.



Along with Ukraine, at least 16 other countries have officially recognized the Holodomor as genocide.

In October 2018, the U.S. Senate adopted a nonbinding resolution recognizing that Stalin and those around him committed genocide against the Ukrainians in 1932-33.



German lawmakers are preparing to recognize the Holodomor as genocide, according to a draft text seen by the AFP news agency of a joint resolution from Germany's ruling coalition and opposition.



Moscow has long denied any systematic effort to target Ukrainians, arguing that a poor harvest at the time wiped out many in other parts of the Soviet Union.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that he "honored the memory of the Holodomor victims" at a memorial in the Ukrainian capital.



Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, on his first visit to Kyiv since the Russian invasion, said on Twitter that "after the heavy bombing of recent days, we stand with the people of Ukraine. More than ever before."



"With the cold winter months ahead, Belgium is releasing new humanitarian and military aid," he added.



Zelenskiy told the grain summit that Kyiv is one of the guarantors of world food security and will fulfill its duties despite the Russian invasion, citing the new Grain From Ukraine initiative.



He pressed world leaders to support the initiative aimed at feeding about 5 million people in poor countries, particularly Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Congo, Kenya, and Nigeria.



Speaking through video statements to the summit, Scholz and Macron unveiled new financial packages designed to aid Ukrainian grain exports, which have been hit hard by the war, causing food shortages in many of the worlds poorer nations.



"The most vulnerable countries must not pay the price of a war they did not want," Macron said.



Zelenskiy said the Black Sea Grain Initiative -- brokered by Turkey and the UN and agreed to by Russia and Ukraine -- is not operating at full capacity, blaming what he called Moscow's efforts to delay the movement of ships, leaving many vessels trapped at Ukrainian ports.



The deal took effect in August, aimed at unblocking grain shipments to countries in Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia.



Ukraine and Russia are key global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil, and other food to those countries, and Russia was the world's top exporter of fertilizer before it launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February.



Many in the West have accused Russia of weaponizing the shipment of crucial food-related supplies to world markets. Moscow denies the accusations.

Meanwhile, throughout Ukraine, millions of people are still without heat or electricity after the recent devastating Russian air strikes on infrastructure sites.



Authorities on November 26 were gradually restoring power in many cities -- helped by the reconnection to the grid of the nations four nuclear plants.



Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces was reported in the east and south of the country, as Kyivs troops continue their counteroffensive, which has recaptured thousands of kilometers of territory seized by Russia early in the war.

In the recently liberated southern city of Kherson and its environs, authorities said at least 32 people have been killed by Russian shelling since pro-Kremlin forces withdrew two weeks ago and moved to the eastern bank of the Dnieper River.



"Daily Russian shelling is destroying the city and killing peaceful local residents. In all, Russia has killed 32 civilians in the Kherson region since the de-occupation," Ihor Klymenko, chief of the National Police of Ukraine, said on Facebook.



"Many people are evacuating to seek refuge in calmer regions of the country. But many residents remain in their homes, and we need to provide them with the maximum possible security," he added.

With reporting by AFP and AP
Dozens of students protested outside the law faculty at Tehrans Allameh Tabatabei University on October 19, chanting, dishonorable, dishonorable, as a government official addressed a conference inside.

When government spokesman Ali Bahadori-Jahromi later came outside, he was confronted by around 100 students. The official IRNA news agency said the official "appeared among the protesting students and talked with them." IRNA accused the protesters of chanting "inappropriate and immoral slogans."

It was the latest demonstration at a university in Iran since nationwide protests erupted following the death on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died shortly after she was detained by Irans morality police for allegedly violating the countrys hijab law.

Security forces have waged a violent crackdown on protesters around the country, killing scores, injuring hundreds, and detaining several thousand people.

As the scattered anti-government protests rage across Iran for a fifth week, universities have turned into a major battleground between the protesters and the authorities.

The driving force behind the protests is now universities, which are providing the fuel for the survival of the protest movement, says Washington-based political analyst Ali Afshari, a former student leader who was jailed in Iran for his activism.

Numerous protests have been held at universities, particularly in Tehran, where many students have refused to attend class. Protesting students have chanted woman, life, freedom and death to the dictator during the rallies. Some female students have removed and burned their head scarves.

Male and female students have also broken social taboos by holding hands and singing together. Meanwhile, some art students have covered their hands in red paint to protest the deadly state crackdown on the demonstrations.

On October 8, students at Tehrans all-female Al-Zahra University chanted Raisi get lost and mullahs get lost when hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi visited the campus.

The authorities have cracked down violently on the university protests, beating and detaining dozens of students.

The most violent incident occurred at Tehrans prestigious Sharif University of Technology on October 2. More than 30 students were detained after security forces raided the university.

Monitoring groups outside Iran have documented the detention of more than 200 students in the past month, although they believe the real number is higher.

Tara Sepehrifar, senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, says the protests at Irans universities are a testament to the resilience of the students who are mobilizing in the face of very restrictive circumstances.

Despite great risks to their safety, each demonstration, sit-in, protest is echoing the broad progressive demands, while insisting on their immediate ones such as release of detained students and at the same time pushing the boundaries on campus by removing head scarves and mixing the gender-segregated dining halls, Sepehrifar told RFE/RL.

Universities and students have been at the forefront of the struggle for greater social and political freedoms in Iran. In 1999, students protested the closure of a reformist daily, prompting a brutal raid on the dorms of Tehran University that left one student dead.

Over the years, the authorities have arrested student activists and leaders, sentencing them to prison and banning them from studying.

Some university professors and lecturers have expressed solidarity with the protesters.

In a joint statement on September 29, over 200 university staff called for the release of detained student protesters and criticized the governments crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations.

In a rare act of protest, Encieh Erfani resigned from her post at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences, which is located in the northwestern city of Zanjan. Erfani, an assistant professor in physics, stepped down while she was out of the country.

Student protesters were chanting 'the streets are soaked with blood, our professors are silent, she told RFE/RLs Radio Farda. So I submitted my resignation.

She said the protests were the result of students accumulated anger towards Irans clerical establishment, which has stifled free speech and severely limited Internet freedoms.

A student at Sharif University, who did not want to be named for fear of retribution, told RFE/RL that authorities closed the university after students held protests.

But the prevailing atmosphere is not calm, and as soon as the university reopens there is a high possibility of clashes and demonstrations, the student said.

Student protesters have called for the release of Mohammad Nejad, who studies aerospace engineering at Sharif University. Nejad, who was arrested on September 21, is being held at a prison outside Tehran.

My dear student Mohammad Nejad is among the best students in the aerospace faculty, lecturer Mahdi Salehi wrote on Twitter on October 19. Mohammad doesnt belong in jail.
A large part of Moldova's military equipment dates back to Soviet times and is in urgent need of replacement, Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatii told RFE/RL, adding that the money allocated by the government for defense amounts to a small sum but is still important for its badly underfunded and underequipped army.

Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, was part of the Soviet Union until 1991, when it declared independence. It has a long border with Ukraine and has been hosting hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees since the start of Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has some 1,500 troops in Moldova's Moscow-backed separatist region of Transdniester, a sliver of land sandwiched between Moldova proper and Ukraine.

"Some 90 percent [of our military equipment] is of Soviet origin and dates back to the 1960s to the 1980s.... You cannot modernize a ZIL-131 [military truck] or an antiaircraft system made in the 1970s," Nosatii said.

The pro-European government of President Maia Sandu accelerated its EU bid after Russia invaded Ukraine and in June was given candidate status alongside Ukraine.

Moldova's armed forces consists of 6,500 professional personnel, while 2,000 conscripts are being recruited annually for compulsory military service. The military also employs 2,000 civilians as auxiliary personnel.

Nosatii told RFE/RL that the 0.5 percent of the gross domestic product allocated for defense by the government -- roughly $25.5 million -- while small, is still very important for the implementation of modernization projects.

Nosatii also spoke about the equipment shortages that the Moldovan military faces because of insufficient funding.

The Defense Ministry covers only partially the contents of the so-called "emergency backpack" that contract soldiers, who account for the bulk of Moldova's armed forces, must have at the ready for unexpected situations, Nosatii said.

Nosatii, who was appointed in August last year as defense minister in Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita's reformist government, told RFE/RL that his ministry's current priority is to provide every member of the armed forces with one of these individual first-aid medical kits.

Moldova has been cooperating with foreign partners, including NATO, in its efforts to supply the first-aid kits to its military personnel, Nosatii said.

Besides the first-aid kit, the emergency backpack must also include personal items such as underwear, socks, gloves, a woolly hat, food, and a flashlight, Nosatii said, adding that the state can only partially cover the cost of such equipment.

"For example," Nosatii told RFE/RL, "if the state provides four T-shirts [for daily usage] but the backpack has to cover seven days of deployment, the remainder of three or more T-shirts must be bought by the soldier."

Nosatii said that supplying Moldova's small military with equipment has been a permanent underlying problem but that the ministry has obtained aid from Moldova's external partners.

"You can't demand that a soldier perform his duties when he doesn't have what he needs, when he's cold, lacks military equipment, or is forced to buy it himself," Nosatii said.

Military equipment donated by Moldova's Western partners this year consists of protective gear such as helmets, flak jackets, and waterproof and winter clothing.

Earlier this month, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht visited Moldova and said Berlin is prepared to provide drones and other military equipment to Chisinau.

Lambrecht also said the German Army is ready to provide military training to Moldova.

She said Berlin also realizes the importance of supporting Moldova in the wake of energy shortages stemming from the war in Ukraine.
As Ukrainian forces advanced toward Kherson, the only regional capital seized by Russia following its February invasion, hundreds of residents carrying basic belongings in bags could be seen boarding boats on October 19 to leave the city.

The Russia-installed authorities in Kherson have said they want to evacuate as many as 60,000 people from the city and the region ahead of its possible liberation by Ukrainian forces, describing it as a humanitarian effort and -- without evidence -- spreading fear of reprisals by Kyiv against its own citizens.

Ukrainian officials and Western experts say that Russia -- which continues to bombard civilian objects, including energy infrastructure and apartment buildings -- has ulterior motives that range from altering the regions ethnic composition to concerns about partisan subversion.

While some of those fleeing are doing so voluntarily -- from locals who threw their support behind the invasion to Russian officials and workers who were later sent to Kherson -- others are being spooked and some possibly forced to leave, Ukrainian offices have said.

Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian occupation administration in Kherson, said in an October 20 post on Telegram that about 15,000 people have already been moved out of the region, a number that could not be independently verified.

Buses sent to collect people from villages outside the city of Kherson were largely empty as frightened residents tried to hide, Oleh Baturin, a Kherson-based journalist, told Current Time on October 20. He said officials were insistent but did not hear of people being forced to relocate.

The Kremlins decision to move such a large number of individuals is more about hurting Ukraine than it is about helping Russia or the people it is uprooting, analysts said.

Russia does not appear to reap any economic benefits from resettling tens of thousands of unwilling Ukrainians in Russia, suggesting that the purpose of such removals is both to damage Ukraines long-term economic recovery as it retakes its territory and, more importantly, to support Russias ethnic cleansing campaign, which is attempting to eradicate the Ukrainian ethnicity and culture, the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War said in an October 19 report.

Russian forces captured the city of Kherson, which stretches along the right --western -- bank of the Dnieper River, in the first weeks after the February 24 invasion, advancing northward from Crimea, the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula seized by Russia in 2014.

However, over the past few months, Ukrainian forces have used Western weapons to pound Russian forces in the region, destroy their ammunition depots, and damage bridges critical to supplying troops in Kherson.

Russian forces in the city are now in danger of being cut off by Ukraine, and some Western military experts say they could retreat to the left -- eastern -- bank in the coming weeks, delivering a major blow to President Vladimir Putins campaign.

However, the Ukrainian military said on October 21 that Russia has sent up to 2,000 recently mobilized soldiers to the Kherson region to replenish losses and strengthen units on the contact line. There was no immediate comment from Russia on the claim.

William Pomeranz, director of the Washington-based Wilson Center think tanks Kennan Institute, said Russias military is already facing significant logistical and capacity problems elsewhere, noting that it is struggling to house, feed, and train what Moscow says are nearly 300,000 draftees called up under Putins September 21 mobilization order.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

If they had problems trying to shelter mobilized men, they will have problems finding accommodation for those moved out of Kherson, he said.

Moscow has already relocated tens of thousands of Ukrainians from occupied areas further east to Russia, including to depopulated regions like the Far East.

Ukraine calls this process "deportation," and many Ukrainians have gone to Russia under pressure or against their will. The removal of children has caused an outcry and accusations of genocide.

Moving people out could bog down Russian forces within Ukraine and clog roads, Pomerantz said, and Russian forces might also use the Ukrainian citizens as human shields to deter Ukraine from targeting troops, whether they are retreating or otherwise.

Shortly before the Russia-installed leaders announced an evacuation, Putin declared martial law in Kherson and three other Ukrainian regions that Moscow now baselessly claims are part of Russia. Under Russian law, the declaration formally gives the occupation authorities the power to relocate and draft citizens.

William Courtney, an analyst at the RAND Corporation, a U.S.-based think tank, said Russia may seek to conscript Ukrainian men who are relocated from Kherson into the ranks of its military. Russias recent setbacks are in part due to a lack of manpower.

A more likely motive for Moscow, though, is fear that local citizens could help Ukrainian forces. In other regions of Ukraine previously under Russian occupation, locals reportedly sent critical information to Ukrainian forces pinpointing the location of invading forces.

The Russians probably don't want Ukrainian citizens there because the Russians expect all of them to be potential spies or saboteurs on behalf of Ukraine, Courtney said.

WATCH: During their counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian forces had to cross the Oskil River to push the enemy out of key settlements. After their successful operations, a bridgehead was created on the left bank that allowed them to liberate other strategic villages in the area. Some of the Ukrainian soldiers described their tactics in detail for RFE/RL journalists.

Thomas Graham, a former specialist on Russia for the National Security Council under U.S. President George W. Bush, said symbolism cannot be discounted as a motive for the relocation effort.

In September, Russia organized so-called referendums in the Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions. The process had no legal legitimacy outside Russia and was denounced as a fraud by Kyiv and the West, but the announced results -- overwhelming support for joining Russia -- were used by Putin as grounds to claim sovereignty over all four regions.

If the Ukrainians were to take Kherson, the fewer the number of people that are there to greet the Ukrainian forces, the easier it is going to be to explain [to Russians] that the referendum wasn't a sham, said Graham, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank.

The Kremlin could tell Russians that those people you see greeting the Ukrainian soldiers are sort of the leftover dregs who were traitors to begin with, he said.

RFE/RLs Russian Service and Current Time, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, contributed this report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiys office said 88 settlements in the southern Kherson region and 551 settlements in the northeastern Kharkiv region have been de-occupied, while the Ukrainian forces' counteroffensive in the Kherson region moves ahead.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Zelenskiys office, reported the data on October 21 on Telegram, broadcasting results since the Ukrainian military launched the counteroffensive several weeks ago in the direction of Kherson and before that in the direction of Kharkiv.

Zelenskiy added in his nightly video address that Ukrainian forces had shown good results in capturing Russian arms in Kherson.

Since early October, Ukrainian forces have captured more than 30 Russian armored vehicles, thousands of projectiles for tanks, and three artillery guns that will "help liberate our land," he added.

The claims could not be independently verified.

Russia has sent in thousands of recently mobilized troops to reinforce the defense of Kherson, the Ukrainian General Staff said earlier on October 21.

"Up to 2,000 mobilized Russians arrived in the temporarily captured Kherson region to replenish losses and strengthen units on the contact line," the General Staff said in a statement.

"At the same time, the occupation authorities issued an order to prepare for the evacuation of the so-called 'banking institutions' and Russian medical workers and teachers," the statement said.

Ukraine is trying to drive Russian forces in Kherson back east across the Dnieper River, which bisects the country. Russian soldiers on the western bank, where the city of Kherson is located, are reportedly close to being cut off from supply lines and reinforcements.

Ukraine has imposed an information blackout from the Kherson front, but Russian General Sergei Surovikin said this week that the situation in Kherson was "already difficult."

Ukrainian strikes made the Antonivskiy Bridge in the city of Kherson impassable, prompting Russian authorities to set up ferry crossings and pontoon bridges to relocate civilians and transport supplies.

Russian-installed officials are trying to evacuate up to 60,000 people from Kherson and to allow the military to build fortifications.

The situation is really difficult, the deputy head of Khersons Kremlin-installed regional administration, Kirill Stremousov, said in a video on Telegram. Today we are preparing the city of Kherson as a fortress for defense and are ready to defend to the last.

Other Kremlin-installed officials said Ukrainian shelling of a Dnieper River ferry crossing killed two journalists working for a local TV station that the Russians set up under occupation. At least two other people were reported killed and 13 wounded.

Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraines southern operational command, confirmed that the Ukrainian military struck the Antonivskiy Bridge but said the strike took place during an overnight curfew that Russian-installed officials put in place to avoid civilian casualties.

Zelenskiy again on October 21 urged the West to warn Russia not to blow up a dam at the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the Dnieper River, as this could flood settlements toward Kherson.

Zelenskiy said Russian forces had planted explosives inside the dam, which holds back an enormous reservoir, and were planning to blow it up.

"Now everyone in the world must act powerfully and quickly to prevent a new Russian terrorist attack. Destroying the dam would mean a large-scale disaster," he said in his nightly address.

Russia has accused Kyiv of planning to destroy the dam. Ukrainian officials have called this a sign that Moscow might blow it up and blame Ukraine in a so-called false-flag operation. Neither side produced evidence to back up their allegations.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and BBC
Yekaterina Holoviy, 29, is on maternity leave, raising two small children. Before the war, she lived in Borodyanka and worked as a choreographer in one of the schools and in the local Palace of Culture. These and many other buildings in the village no longer exist: Borodyanka suffered as much as any Ukrainian city under Russian occupation.

Northwest of Kyiv, Borodyanka was among the cities hit hardest in the first weeks after Russian forces launched their full-scale invasion on February 24, and one of the places where evidence of war crimes by the occupying forces has mounted since their retreat at the end of March.

Holoviy, along with her husband and children, managed with great difficulty to escape the occupied city, but she still hasn't recovered from what happened there. Now living in the Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine, she told Current Time about the losses she has endured: how Russian soldiers killed her father-in-law; after the city was liberated, they found his decapitated body. And her godmother was killed in a Russian air strike, but her body has still not been identified.

"On March 1, I wrote to my godmother in the morning, 'Are you all right?' She replied, 'Yes.' And the next day, when I wrote, there was no more response from her," Holoviy said. "Then it turned out that their house was bombed.

"Nothing was known about her fate. And when the exhumation of the bodies had already begun...you review these bodies and look for them in the hope that you will find your relatives. I found a couple of people in this house who looked like my godmother, but there was no confirmation that it was her," she said.

"After the bombing, after this air strike, it's hard to call a body a body. It's just some kind of burned pile.... There's nothing on the body. Everything is melted. It's just terrible."

Holoviy recalls that after she helped bury the mother of a good friend, DNA results came back that showed that the body was not actually her friend's mother.

"And I really don't know how to support my friend, because I understand her pain and I want to support her. And I knew her mother. We have been friends for a long time. I believe that she is alive. I believe. I hope. I don't see her among the dead. I do have such a hope, really," Holoviy said.

As for Holoviy's father-in-law, he was shot by Russian soldiers. How and why it happened, she says she will probably never know.

"In early April, we received a call that my husband's father had passed away. And that it had happened back in March," Holoviy said. The body of a man had been found near the railway tracks after Borodyanka was liberated.

"The death certificate says that he died as a result of Russian aggression, but the cause of death is not indicated. And he was headless! He had no head. My husband saw it all."

Meanwhile, one day during the time Russian troops occupied the city, a Russian soldier came to the house of Holoviy's father, who had not left the village. As it turned out, the soldier's grandfather had served with Holoviy's father in the Soviet Army.

"And he says, 'Here, my grandfather wants to talk to you.' And [my father] calls him and says, 'Hi, we're at war here.' He told him that [Russian soldiers] had not been not sent on exercises. They really were sent to fight!" Holoviy recalled.

"My father then said to him: 'Let me give [your grandson] civilian clothes. Let him run away. Let him stay with us. We will hide him, because they will kill him.' And the Russian on the phone answered, 'Let him fight!'" Holoviy said. "And his grandson was immediately thrown on the front line, and he did not return. The very next day, two soldiers came and say that he had been killed.

"Dad never cries. But that day, dad came in, and my mother -- mom wrote everything down on pieces of paper; she kept a war diary -- said: 'Dad sits and just sobs. He says: 'I killed this child,'" Holoviy recalled. "And I say, 'Dad! He'd come to kill us! You didn't kill him!'"

Holoviy recently completed a program of psychological rehabilitation. She hopes that, after working with psychologists, she will be able to help not only herself but also her relatives, who experienced severe stress and grief during the occupation.

"I want to help them somehow because they have experienced terrible things. But so far I can't even help myself," she admits. "But thanks to this project, you know, I've begun to understand that we have strength. We have the power. It's inside. You just need to uncover it."

Holoviy does not want to return to Borodyanka just yet. She is too hurt by what has been done to her city. But she is sure that one day it will return to life, like her.

"Everything is destroyed there, destroyed. You walk down the street, and the Palace of Culture, in which I danced from childhood; my godmother's house; my grandmother's house opposite the house -- they're not there," she said, crying. "There are just charred walls."
During their counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian forces had to cross the Oskil River to push the enemy out of key settlements. After their successful operations, a bridgehead was created on the left bank that allowed them to liberate other strategic villages in the area. Some of the Ukrainian soldiers described their tactics in detail for RFE/RL journalists.
Welcome to The Week In Russia.



I'm Steve Gutterman, the editor of RFE/RL's Russia/Ukraine/Belarus Desk.



Every Friday, I dissect the key developments in Russian politics and society over the previous week and look at what's ahead. To receive The Week In Russia newsletter in your in-box, click here.

Amid Russian retreats, a declaration of martial law in parts of Ukraine -- and "martial law lite" in parts of Russia. Accounts of torture in Izyum. And more prison time looms for Aleksei Navalny.

Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward.

The Big Story

Nearly eight months after ordering a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a series of aggressive, escalatory steps that focus on four regions in the east and south of the country he is seeking to bring to heel: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya.

A month ago today, he ordered a military mobilization, seeking hundreds of thousands of draftees to send to the front. On the last day of September, with Kremlin fanfare projecting the image of a mission accomplished, he signed documents that Moscow baselessly claims make those regions part of Russia. And on October 19, he decreed martial law across the four regions, as well as imposing enhanced security regimes in nearby parts of Russia.

On the surface, these may seem like the actions of the winning side in a war: moves to make the consequences of battlefield victories official -- and to celebrate them ostentatiously, as Putin did by addressing a gala concert on Red Square after the September 30 signing ceremony -- as well as to strengthen control over territories it has seized in fighting. The next step might logically seem to be further advances -- Russian forces pressing toward Kyiv, the capital, which they failed to reach at the start of an invasion that Putin is widely believed to have expected to be over, with Ukraine under Russia's thumb, within days.

Instead, they come at a time when Russia is in retreat, for the most part: Since late summer, Ukraine has regained control over substantial chunks of territory that had been taken by Russian forces in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions in the east as well as the Kherson region, where further Ukrainian gains appear imminent, in the south.

Russia holds none of the four regions in its entirety. In Zaporizhzhya it does not control the regional capital, and the same may be the case in Kherson soon. While there's certainly no guarantee of this, the new commander of Russian operations in Ukraine seemed to hint at a possible retreat from the city when he said the military might need to make "the most difficult decisions" there.

Like Putin's pronouncement, he televised comments from General Sergei Surovikin -- a big man with an apocalyptical nickname -- hid clues to a possible pullback in stern remarks that seemed designed to project strength.

Surovikin appeared to be "preparing Russians for news of a retreat" from the city of Kherson and the west bank of the Dnieper River in the region, Dara Massicot, a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, a U.S.-based think tank, wrote on Twitter on October 19. "The position is increasingly untenable for Russian forces there."

While Russia's unfounded claim of sovereignty over a sizable portion of Ukraine and the declaration of martial law in the lands it holds may look like the moves of a winner, they might actually reflect an adjustment of Russia's aims in Ukraine, albeit possibly temporary, and an acknowledgement that the initial objective of the invasion is out of reach for the foreseeable future.

Putin's "ideal goal is presumably still the subjugation of Ukraine, but even the most optimistic Kremlin hawk must realize that, for the moment at least, this is not a credible goal," author and analyst Mark Galeotti wrote in an October 18 column for BNE Intellinews.

"Instead, just as he abandoned his 'thunder run' on Kyiv when it became clear that could not succeed and instead refocused on the southeast, now he is in effect abandoning any great hope of winning his war on a grand scale, and instead seeking to avoid losing it," Galeotti wrote.

The Real Big Story

The noise from the Kremlin and the natural desire of people horrified by the war in Ukraine to know what comes next and when it may end sometimes drown out the developments that make it so horrific.

Nearly eight months after the invasion, the horror stories that emerged in places like Bucha and Borodyanka when Russian forces withdrew from northern Ukraine after failing to take Kyiv in February and March are receding into the past, even as investigators and international groups gather evidence for war-crimes prosecutions.

But a new report from Human Rights Watch underscores the fact, at once obvious and alarming, that atrocities have by no means been limited to that time and place in the war.

"Russian forces and others operating under their command routinely tortured detainees during their six-month occupation of Izyum," Human Rights Watch said in the report on a city in the Kharkiv region that was recaptured by Ukrainian forces in September.

Horror Stories

More than 100 survivors described being subjected to abuses such as electric shock, waterboarding, severe beatings, threats at gunpoint, and being forced to remain in stress positions for long periods of time, HRW said.

"Multiple victims shared credible accounts with us of similar experiences of torture during interrogation in facilities under the control of Russian forces and their subordinates, indicating this treatment was part of a policy and plan," said Belkis Wille, a senior researcher at the New York-based organization.

Meanwhile, Russia unleashed new barrages in numerous cities around Ukraine, killing civilians on the streets and in their homes and targeting critical infrastructure, disabling power plants and cutting off water supplies as months of cold weather approach.

"Russia's attacks against civilian infrastructure, especially electricity, are war crimes," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted on October 19. "Cutting off...water, electricity and heating with winter coming -- these are acts of pure terror."

Russia has also been accused of war crimes over a practice that an Associated Press investigation-based report said is already well under way: the "open effort to adopt Ukrainian children and bring them up as Russian."

The investigation "found that officials have deported Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-held territories without consent, lied to them that they weren't wanted by their parents, used them for propaganda, and given them Russian families and citizenship," the AP said.

"Whether or not they have parents, raising the children of war in another country or culture can be a marker of genocide, an attempt to erase the very identity of an enemy nation," it said.

Some of the children have been taken to Russia after being "found in the basements of war-torn cities like Mariupol," the report said, referring to the large southeastern city that was razed by Russian rockets, shells, and bombs during a monthslong siege and now in Russian hands.

Zhenya, a boy born in Kharkiv two months after the invasion, lives with his mother -- but apart from his birth at a hospital and some brief outings, he has spent his life in the shelter beneath a factory where she took refuge.

A Russian Story

In the months since it launched the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian state has intensified a clampdown on dissent that had already been ratcheted up repeatedly over the previous year after opposition leader Aleksei Navalny returned to Russia in January 2021 following treatment abroad for a near-fatal nerve agent poisoning he blames on Putin.

On October 18, as expected, the imprisoned Putin foe and anti-corruption crusader lost an appeal against a conviction and nine-year sentence he was handed in March on embezzlement and contempt-of-court charges he contends are baseless and politically motivated.

Two days later, Navalny said informed that he is being investigated on charges of propagating terrorism, public calls for extremist activities, the financing of an extremist organization, and the rehabilitation of Nazism.

In a Twitter thread, Navalny said the charges stemmed from a YouTube channel, run by associates who have left Russia over fears of prosecution and persecution, which has aired criticism of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

His lawyers calculated that if convicted, he could spend "about 30 years" in prison, he wrote.

Many observers believe the Russian state will ensure Navalny remains behind bars as long as Putin, who has engineered constitutional amendments allowing himself to run for reelection in 2024 and 2030, remains in power.

But as a result of Putin's decision to invade Ukraine, what Russia will look like in 30 years -- or even a fraction of that -- seems increasingly unclear.

In a series of tweets on October 19, Galeotti noted that in addition to the decree declaring martial law in the four partially Russian-held regions of mainland Ukraine, Putin also signed a decree that imposes "a kind of martial law lite" in Russian regions bordering Ukraine, and that "some level of emergency regulation now applies across the whole of Russia."

The situation calls to mind "the spread of creeping martial law by extraordinary measures under late tsarism, such that by 1917 most of the country was 'extraordinary,'" he wrote, adding that it's "not a great precedent."

That's it from me this week. If you want to know more, catch up on my podcast The Week Ahead In Russia, out every Monday, here on our site or wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts).



The next edition of The Week In Russia will appear on November 4.



Yours,

Steve Gutterman
In a talk with Saigon Investment, Asso. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Minh Hoa, who has many years of research experience on urban governance of countries around the world and a deep understanding of Ho Chi Minh City, spoke of better identifying this issue.

JOURNALIST: - Sir, in the past, there have been many seminars where experts commented that Resolution 54 (NQ54) of the National Assembly on specific mechanisms and policies for Ho Chi Minh City offered many complicated problems, with limitations in results. Hence, it was proposed that a specific policy be issued for Ho Chi Minh City which will emphasize the need for a thorough decentralization of Ho Chi Minh City. However, now it seems that this approach has not received the consensus of many ministries. What is your opinion on this?

Dr. NGUYEN MINH HOA: - The most important thing is to understand the nature of the management system of each model, otherwise suggestions and solutions will go nowhere. Vietnam's management model is highly centralized, with all guidelines and policies coming from the center, or more specifically from above, such as the National Assembly and the Government, while the organizations below such as provinces and cities deploy guidelines, and policies according to the specific content of localities. These localities then have the right to be creative and innovative with these guidelines, but not beyond the general principles and leadership direction of state management agencies.

The strong and positive point of this model is focused on leading, directing, and unifying a bloc in terms of organization and will, eliminating sectarianism, local and group interests, and more importantly corruption. Resources such as capital and human resources are concentrated in one place and allocated according to a controlled plan. All decisions when issued are discussed, considered at the highest level, with reference to the grassroots.

When it becomes a plan, the program is implemented widespread and is equally understood by functional ministries and local authorities in terms of principles, standards, criteria, roadmap, and its various limitations. High standards of unity are a feature of the national governance model in our country's political system today. Therefore, the desire to have a "specific mechanism for Ho Chi Minh City" or thorough decentralization" is difficult to accept in the current period.

- Sir, how should we understand decentralization? What is your opinion on the new approach of Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, Secretary of the Party Committee?

- Across the world, when it comes to decentralization, it means decentralization by territory, which means that in the area of a state governor or city mayor, the latter has the right to do everything to develop the state or city. It is often called the mayor regime. The heads of states and cities elected by the people through election campaigns have the right to set regulations such as taxes, fees, security, law and order, and monitor the environment.

This head has access to the resources of the district and decides on personnel and many other areas of development. However, he cannot do whatever he wants, because there is still the City Council and the trust of the people which matters. The people have the right to remove this head through a vote of no confidence. The plans and actions of the head must always follow the legal corridor and hard-core principles of the country, such as not betraying the interests of the country and the people.

This model has weaknesses that are very easy to break, locally as well as across the rest of the country. In recent days, the different and contradictory policies between the government and the states and cities in the US and Canada to combat the Covid-19 pandemic are such examples. The decentralization of Vietnam is the right of enforcement and decentralization of responsibility. Therefore, the model of decentralization of self-determination by territory is not suitable for Vietnam.

Regarding the new approach suggested by Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, Secretary of Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, I think in the current context it is the best, most correct, acceptable, and flexible approach. I appreciate this initiative.

Currently, besides Ho Chi Minh City, there are dozens of provinces, cities, and localities that want to have their own special mechanisms, such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Da Lat, Da Nang, Binh Duong, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, and all the Mekong Delta provinces. Standing at the macro level, we can see that if every locality requires specific policies, but it will be very difficult to manage at the national level, although each locality has special reasons that need to be prioritized such as Ho Chi Minh City is the economic locomotive or Lai Chau, Ha Giang are the borders of the country.

Therefore, Mr. Nguyen Van Nen came up with the idea that finding new and most important issues should be proposed to the Central Committee and persistently stick to results, which is a suitable step as it is better to demand a separate institution.

In fact, raising individual issues and then sticking to them, approaching ministries and sectors, giving convincing explanations through many channels such as National Assembly forums, conferences, seminars, media, official dispatches, reports is not new, because Ho Chi Minh City has been doing it for many years, and has been successful in it. For instance, increasing the budget from 18% to 23% is a good example. What is new this time is the formation of a systematic and unified policy and approach in the entire Party Committee.

I see that Mr. Nguyen Van Nen has a rather scientific approach to complex issues. For instance, when every district wants to go directly to the city, he made a very clear point of view that it is not important to go to the district or city, but more important thing is asking about the quality of life of the people.

- Sir, Mr. Nguyen Van Nen , Secretary of the Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has proposed five new issues. In your opinion, are these issues suitable in the current context?

- The five issues proposed by Mr. Nguyen Van Nen include investment management, budgetary finance, urban management, personnel organization, and the development of Thu Duc City. All five of these are urgent issues for Ho Chi Minh City, but in these five issues, it is necessary to clearly determine which ones need to be prioritized first, what is their roadmap, in which direction to approach them, which city agency is responsible, and if all five issues are released at the same time, then what resources can they embrace and disperse. The Secretary of the Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has clearly stated his point of view in a principled and very flexible manner.

In terms of urban management and environmental resources, Ho Chi Minh City proposes to decentralize the People's Committee to be approved for local adjustment of urban planning within the overall urban planning approved by the Prime Minister.

This means that the Central Government will give Ho Chi Minh City the right to approve and partially adjust urban planning without having to ask relevant ministries and agencies as before, but the Secretary of the Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City clearly stated that all activities of Ho Chi Minh City must be under the overall urban planning approved by the Prime Minister. This is a new approach towards being free to act within the legal framework and corridor, and the Prime Minister's approval will be considered as the ordinance and principle for all actions. This can be termed as principled decentralization.

- Sir, there is an opinion that each political institution has a different, irreplaceable, and transformational management model. Therefore, Vietnam cannot change the urban management model and national governance like developed countries. What is your opinion on this?

- This is not correct. We are living in an era of openness and a global economy. Therefore, in order to develop, we must change to do business with friends around the world, which means we have something separate but we also have something in common.

In terms of political institutions, we have not changed the leadership method, system structure, and national operating principles, but we have completely changed the technology and components. Our country's politics and economy are unified, but composed of different parts, as they are modules in the system. Therefore, the establishment, deletion, replacement, or modification of modules in the system is completely possible.

Technically we are changing very quickly and dramatically. In many fields, we are approaching developed countries at an equal level, such as customs, import and export, investment, banking, tourism, and securities. If it doesn't change, how can we get millions of international tourists, and thousands of big investors from all over the world to come to Vietnam?

We are now in the process of transitioning to a digital society at a national level, which is proof that a change in part of the system is being implemented. If we are different, we cannot play with our global friends. Therefore, it can be asserted that political principles belonging to institutions cannot be changed, but what is local and technical can be changed. This is the scientific basis for Ho Chi Minh City to take breakthrough steps without contradicting the national polity.

- Sir, do you believe that Ho Chi Minh City will successfully implement the direction that Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, Secretary of the Party Committee has suggested?

- I believe in its success. Because during the working trip with Ho Chi Minh City, it showed the impatience of Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Party Committee, when he said that Ho Chi Minh City must play a leading role and become a driving force for development, connecting with sub-regions in the Southeast and with other regions in the country, which are showing signs of slowing down or even partly declining. Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City's proposal to create breakthroughs with the whole country will receive support from central to local levels.

Ho Chi Minh City should propose to the Central Government to choose Ho Chi Minh City as pilot in implementing new issues. -Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee

However, the road will be very difficult, as Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said on 27 July during his business trip to Ho Chi Minh City, that any issue that is over the authority of the province must be reported and explained in writing. But the necessary documents face delays and have still not reached the Prime Minister because the policy mechanism is very difficult. Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City needs to pursue an attitude of perseverance and flexibility as its success or failure depends greatly on its great team of good advisers and experts who have the vision and heart to help the leaders realize the ideas of Mr. Nguyen Van Nen, Secretary of the Party Committee.

- Thank you very much.

Tran oan (interviewer)
Director: Santiago Mitre Run Time: 140 min. Rating: R Release Year: 2022 Language: Spanish w/ English Subtitles

Starring: Alejandra Flechner, Carlos Portaluppi, Paula Ransenberg, Peter Lanzani, Ricardo Darin

Tagline: Ricardo Darin stars in this stunning drama about the legal team that dared to prosecute Argentinas bloodiest military dictatorship in order to bring justice to the victims of the junta.

Synopsis: Argentina, 1985 is inspired by the true story of public prosecutors Julio Strassera, and Luis Moreno Ocampo, who dared to investigate and prosecute Argentinas bloodiest military dictatorship in 1985. Undeterred by the militarys still considerable influence within their fragile new democracy, Strassera and Moreno Ocampo assembled a young legal team of unlikely heroes for their David-vs-Goliath battle. Under constant threat to themselves and their families, they raced against time to bring justice to the victims of the military junta.
The Boeing Co. has provided the University of South Carolina with a $1.5 million gift to establish the James E. and Emily E. Clyburn Endowed Chair of Public Service and Civic Engagement Fund. This endowed chair, awarded to associate professor Bobby Donaldson, will allow the universitys Center for Civil Rights History and Research to further its programming and outreach initiatives within the university community and across the state of South Carolina.

University President Michael Amiridis was joined by Donaldson, U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, leaders from Boeing and other university officials on Thursday (Oct. 20) to announce the gift.

Boeing has been a valued and committed partner of our university for more than a decade, supporting academic programs, research innovation and community service, President Amiridis said. Through this generous gift, we are proud to join Boeing in honoring the outstanding civic contributions of Congressman Clyburn and his wife, Emily, and advancing their legacy of public service and outreach.

Endowed chairs are the universitys most prestigious faculty recognition, and Boeings commitment to fund this endowed chair continues its philanthropic relationship with the university. In 2021, Boeing provided a $225,000 grant to support the universitys Veterans Legal Clinic and to expand the clinics free services to low-income veterans living in South Carolina. It then gave $125,000 more to the clinic in 2022. The company believes the Clyburn chair will further promote public service and civic engagement in South Carolina by allowing the university to attract and retain outstanding faculty.

At Boeing, we have a profound respect for Congressman James Clyburn and Emily Clyburns civil rights activism and leadership, said Ziad Ojakli, executive vice president of Government Operations at Boeing. We are thankful to partner with the University of South Carolina to honor their legacy through this newly established endowed chair at the Center for Civil Rights History and Research. Chairs will have access to the resources they need to deepen their knowledge of and continue sharing civil rights history  a pursuit we proudly support.

Plans to develop a Civil Rights Center began with a dinner conversation with Congressman and Mrs. Clyburn eight years ago. ... Since that time, we have made tremendous strides by expanding our archival holdings, scholarly endeavors, public programming and community engagement initiatives." Bobby Donaldson, associate professor and director of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research

James and Emily Clyburn met in 1960 as students at then South Carolina State College after participating in a civil rights demonstration. The two were wed from 1961 until Emilys passing in 2019. Throughout their 58 years together, they left a lasting legacy across the state of South Carolina and the nation  Emily as a librarian and civil rights activist, and James as a national congressman and majority whip.

James Clyburn hopes that this endowed chair, at the university where he attended law school and Emily earned her masters, will spur the next wave of civic leadership within the Palmetto state.

I am truly humbled by Boeings gift in honor of the contributions Emily and I have made to civic engagement, and I am pleased that their generosity will support the important work that Dr. Donaldson and the USC Center for Civil Rights History and Research is doing, said Congressman Clyburn. This center serves as the premier repository of our civil rights history in South Carolina, and will be a significant conduit by which future generations will learn lessons that hopefully help ensure we dont repeat our past mistakes. Todays announcement furthers the mission and reach of the center with a talented leader at the helm, who is dedicated to engaging the community in a public discourse about our past, present and future.

The Center for Civil Rights History and Research was founded at the university in 2015 with the goal of chronicling the contributions of the state upon the larger American civil rights movement. That same year, Clyburn gave his congressional papers to the center, forming the cornerstone of its collection. These papers, its Justice for All exhibit and its partnership with the National Park Service have allowed the center to highlight South Carolinas role in civil rights history.

As the first Clyburn chair, Donaldson plans to continue sharing this history through his scholarship as a historian and as the executive director of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research.

I am deeply honored by the appointment as the inaugural James E. and Emily E. Clyburn Chair of Public Service and Civic Engagement at the University of South Carolina, Donaldson said. Plans to develop a Civil Rights Center began with a dinner conversation with Congressman and Mrs. Clyburn eight years ago on the stage of the historic Booker T. Washington High School auditorium. Since that time, we have made tremendous strides by expanding our archival holdings, scholarly endeavors, public programming, and community engagement initiatives.

This is an exciting and phenomenal moment for the center. I wish to extend my thanks to Boeing for joining us as a partner in this critically important work. The company's generous and significant investment enables us to take the center to higher heights as we advance our teaching, research and outreach mission.
Case in Brief

Annapolis Group Inc. v. Halifax Regional Municipality

The Supreme Court rules that a private Halifax land developer can take the regional municipality to court for its plan to expropriate its land.

The Annapolis Group started buying lands in the Halifax area in the 1950s. Over time, it acquired 965 acres of land, which the company planned to develop and sell. In 2006, Halifax adopted a 25-year Regional Municipality Planning Strategy for land development. It included the Annapolis lands.

The planning strategy indicates some of those lands would be zoned for a public park with the rest designated for serviced development, such as residential neighbourhoods. For serviced development to occur, Halifax must adopt a resolution authorizing a secondary planning process and make an amendment to the land use by-law.

Annapolis made several attempts to develop the lands, starting in 2007, with no success. In 2016, Halifax ultimately adopted a resolution refusing to initiate the secondary planning process.

Annapolis responded by filing a lawsuit against Halifax in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. It claimed, among other things, that Halifax had essentially expropriated private property for a public park, which amounted to a constructive taking. In 2019, Halifax asked the court for summary judgment to dismiss the constructive taking claim from the lawsuit. Summary judgment is a procedure that allows a party in a lawsuit to ask the court to decide an issue without a full trial.

In response, Annapolis argued that its claim of constructive taking raised issues that required a trial. The judge agreed but Halifax appealed that decision to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. Based on the Supreme Court of Canadas 2006 ruling in Canadian Pacific Railway Co. v. Vancouver (City), the Court of Appeal concluded that Annapolis had no reasonable chance of success. Annapolis then appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Supreme Court has allowed Annapoliss claim of constructive taking to proceed to trial.

The claim raises disputed issues of fact that need to be decided at trial.

Writing for a majority of the judges of the Supreme Court, Justices Suzanne Cote and Russell Brown found that Annapolis claim of constructive taking raises disputed issues of fact that must be decided at trial, based on the constructive taking test set out in the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. case.

There are two parts to the test for establishing a constructive taking. First, the test must show the government has acquired a beneficial interest in the property or flowing from the property. A beneficial interest is an advantage, such as when private property is enjoyed as a public resource. Second, the test requires showing the proposed regulatory measures would remove all reasonable uses of the private property.

The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal had interpreted the first part of the test as requiring Annapolis to show that Halifax had actually taken possession of the lands. However, Justices Cote and Brown wrote, what must be shown by the property owner can fall short of an actual acquisition by the state. The majority said the Court of Appeal was also wrong in holding that Halifaxs intention is irrelevant to applying the second part of the test.

The majority of the Supreme Court noted, Annapolis is entitled to adduce evidence at trial to show that, by holding Annapolis land out as a public park, Halifax has acquired a beneficial interest therein; and that, because Halifax is unlikely to ever lift zoning restrictions constraining the development of Annapolis land, Annapolis has lost all reasonable uses of its property. Annapolis may also adduce evidence of Halifaxs intention in not doing so, the majority said.
TOI-3757b is the lowest-density transiting exoplanet known to orbit an M-dwarf (red dwarf) star.

Giant planets around red dwarf stars have traditionally been thought to be hard to form, said Dr. Shubham Kanodia, an astronomer at Carnegie Institution for Science.

So far this has only been looked at with small samples from Doppler surveys, which typically have found giant planets further away from these red dwarf stars.

Until now we have not had a large enough sample of planets to find close-in gas planets in a robust manner.

The newly-discovered giant exoplanet is slightly larger than Jupiter but four times less massive.

Dubbed TOI-3757b, it has an average density of 0.27 g/cm3, which would make it less than half the density of Saturn (the lowest-density planet in the Solar System), about one quarter the density of water (meaning it would float if placed in a giant bathtub filled with water).

The planet finishes one complete orbit around its host star, TOI-3757, in just 3.5 days.

Also known as TIC 445751830, 2MASS J06040089+5501126, and UCAC4 726-038940, the star is located approximately 580 light-years away in the constellation of Auriga.

The extra-low density of TOI-3757b could be the result of two factors, the astronomers said.

The first relates to the rocky core of the planet; gas giants are thought to begin as massive rocky cores about 10 times the mass of Earth, at which point they rapidly pull in large amounts of neighboring gas to form the gas giants we see today.

TOI-3757 has a lower abundance of heavy elements compared to other M-dwarfs with gas giants, and this may have resulted in the rocky core forming more slowly, delaying the onset of gas accretion and therefore affecting the planets overall density.

The second factor may be the planets orbit, which is tentatively thought to be slightly elliptical.

There are times it gets closer to its star than at other times, resulting in substantial excess heating that can cause the planets atmosphere to bloat.

TOI-3757b was discovered using NASAs Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and confirmed with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF) on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope and the NEID instrument on the WIYN 3.5-m telescope.

Potential future observations of the atmosphere of this planet using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope could help shed light on its puffy nature, said Dr. Jessica Libby-Roberts, a postdoctoral researcher at Pennsylvania State University.

Finding more such systems with giant planets  which were once theorized to be extremely rare around red dwarfs  is part of our goal to understand how planets form, Dr. Kanodia said.

The discovery is reported in a paper in the Astronomical Journal.

_____

Shubham Kanodia et al. 2022. TOI-3757b: A Low-density Gas Giant Orbiting a Solar-metallicity M Dwarf. AJ 164, 81; doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/ac7c20
(Photo : ESA/WEBB, NASA & CSA, D. WYLEZALEK, A. VAYNER & THE Q3D TEAM, N. ZAKAMSKA.) A Hubble image of the quasar and the same area viewed with the James Webb Space Telescope. The Webb image shows multiple galaxies coalescing, with each color representing a different velocity: Red is moving away from us. Blue is moving toward us.

An international team of astronomers has discovered a cluster of galaxies merging around a supermassive black hole. The surprising discovery was made possible by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It represents a chance to observe how early galaxies merged to form the universe of today.

Their work is discussed in the study, titled "First results from the JWST Early Release Science Program Q3D: Turbulent times in the life of a z \sim 3 extremely red quasar revealed by NIRSpec IFU," which is published in Astrophysical Journal Letters that is now available on the arXiv paper repository.





Black Hole in Formation

The team observed the blindingly bright quasar and extremely red quasar called SDSS J165202.64+172852.3, which is about 11.5 billion years old and one of the most powerful ever seen at such distance, and described it as a black hole in formation.

"We think something dramatic is about to happen in these systems," astrophysicist Andrey Vayner, a study co-author from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, said in a press release statement. "The galaxy is at this perfect moment in its lifetime, about to transform and look entirely different in a few billion years."

JWST was launched in December 2021 and is currently the largest, most powerful telescope ever sent to space. The quasar imagery is one of the 13 early-look projects scientists selected through a highly competitive competition to decide where to point the telescope during its first months of operation, EurekAlert! reported.

Although earlier observations of NASA and ESA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini-North telescope's Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrometer instrument showed the quasar's location and hinted at a possible galaxy transition, JWST had made an incredible job at imaging it that revealed at least three swirling galaxies in the region.

Astrophysicist Nadia L. Zakamska, another study co-principal investigator, noted that previous images showed hints that the galaxy was interacting with other galaxies on the path of merging because of their distorted shapes. But Webb's data revealed greater detail that they had to spend weeks analyzing it.

READ ALSO: NASA James Webb Space Telescope Captures 18 Twinkling Stars After Pointing In 'Right Direction'

Merging Galaxies

The JWST picture of the region showed three galaxies moving quickly, which implies the presence of a tremendous mass that could be the densest area of galaxy formation in the early universe, Space.com reported.

Astronomer Dominika Wylezalek from Heidelberg University in Germany, who led the research, said that they think it could be a region where two massive halos of dark matter are merging. Vayner was also shocked that JWST has produced observations of the region with such clarity even though it has only started sending images back to Earth in July.

They will attempt to follow up this observation of the cluster of galaxies to decipher the mechanism behind the dense groupings of galaxies that formed in the early universe and understand how the supermassive black holes could have affected this process.

Zakamska said that there is too much going on in the region, and what is shown in the image is just a small subset of the data set. Every blob represents a galaxy merging into another, as evident in the different colors that symbolize different velocities, which means that the whole thing is moving in a complicated way.



RELATED ARTICLE: James Webb Space Telescope May Have Found the Oldest Galaxy Ever That Existed 13.5 Billion Years Ago



Check out more news and information on James Webb Space Telescope in Science Times.
Ethiopia: Private Meeting

Tomorrow morning (21 October), the Security Council will convene for a private meeting on the situation in Ethiopia under the Peace and Security in Africa agenda item. The meeting was requested by the A3 members of the Council (Gabon, Ghana and Kenya) on 17 October. The anticipated briefers are OCHA Director of Operations and Advocacy Ghada Eltahir Mudawi and AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa Olusegun Obasanjo. Ethiopia has been invited to participate in the meeting. The request by the A3 followed a 15 October statement by AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat expressing concern at the increased fighting in Tigray and calling for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire.

Hostilities in northern Ethiopia resumed on 24 August, bringing an end to a lull of roughly nine months in the fighting. The renewed fighting has contraposed Tigrayan regional forces against varying combinations of Ethiopian federal forces, Amhara regional forces, Amhara militias and Eritrean forces. After the resumption of hostilities, multiple frontlines rapidly opened in several areas near Tigrays southern border, western Tigray, and in the north of Tigray. More recently, fighting has intensified in areas close to the Eritrean border in the north of Tigray and in areas in southern Tigray.

In a major development, amid a joint Ethiopian and Eritrean offensive in the north, the Ethiopian forces captured the strategic city of Shire on 17 October. On the same day, the federal government announced its objective to take control of all airports, other federal facilities, and installations in Tigray. In an 18 October statement, it claimed that, in addition to capturing Shire, it had taken control of the towns of Alamata and Korem in Tigrays south.

Tomorrows meeting will be the second time Council members discuss the situation in Ethiopia since the resumption of hostilities on 24 August. The previous meeting took place on 28 September in an Informal Interactive Dialogue (IID) format. At that meeting, members were briefed by UN Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Hanna Serwaa Tetteh. Although Obasanjo was also invited to brief, he did not attend the meeting. The Council last discussed the situation in Ethiopia in an open meeting on 8 November 2021. While some members would welcome another open meeting, the A3 have resisted any such request in the recent past. (For background, see our 28 September Whats in Blue story).

The AU Peace and Security Council is expected to convene tomorrow for a briefing ahead of the Security Councils meeting to discuss the AU-led peace process for Ethiopia. Obasanjo is expected to brief.

Several key international interlocutorsincluding the UN, the AU, the EU and the UShave expressed concern at the recent escalation of violence and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. Many of these statements also called on the Eritrean forces to withdraw from Ethiopia. Tomorrow, participants may echo these calls. For instance, in a 17 October press stakeout, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the situation was spiralling out of control, with indiscriminate attacks, including in residential areas, killing innocent people every day. He called for the protection of civilians, including humanitarian workers, for an immediate end to hostilities and the immediate withdrawal and disengagement of the Eritrean forces. The Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the UN, Taye Atske-Selassie, reacted to the Secretary-Generals statement by saying that it was unwarranted, reflected overly exaggerated assertions and undermined the AU-led peace effortsa position Ethiopia may reiterate tomorrow.

The protection of civilians is an expected key focus of tomorrows meeting. Airstrikes targeting Mekelle and other sites in Tigray have been reported since hostilities resumed, often resulting in the death and injury of civilians. Sources cited by Reuters have reported that more than 50 people were killed in a 4 October airstrike that hit a school, which was sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the northern Tigray town of Adi Daero. The news agency reported that the school was on a list of sites housing IDPs that the Office of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia sent to Ethiopias foreign ministry in January.

On 14 October, airstrikes targeting the town of Shire led to the death of an International Rescue Committee (IRC) member of staff and the injury of another IRC staff member. Two other civilians were reportedly killed and three were injured in the same incident. In an 18 October statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that the recent airstrikes in Tigray risk seriously exacerbating the already devastating impact of hostilities on civilians. He expressed concern at the significant risk of escalation in light of continued mass mobilisation of soldiers and fighters by various parties to the conflict, adding that indiscriminate attacks or attacks deliberately targeting civilians or civilian objects amount to war crimes. In this regard, Human Rights Watch recently urged the Security Council, as well as the EU and the US, to use the appropriate tools, including targeted sanctions and an arms embargo, to protect civilians at risk. At tomorrows meeting, several members may share their views regarding the role that the Security Council should play in future in the context of the conflict and its resolution. Some members may argue for a strengthened role for the Council.

Tomorrow, members may condemn these incidents, underscore that international humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks, and emphasise the importance of protecting civiliansincluding humanitarian workersand civilian infrastructures during armed conflict.

Mudawi is likely to provide an update on the humanitarian situation and describe the status of aid delivery to the northern Ethiopian regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar. The Secretary-General noted in his 17 October stakeout that aid deliveries to Tigray have been suspended for more than seven weeks, adding that assistance to Amhara and Afar has also been disrupted. On 18 October, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric also expressed concern about reports of possible mass movements of people due to the fighting in Shire.

In an 18 October statement, the Ethiopian government said that it was carrying out the necessary preparations to deliver humanitarian aid through the areas that have come under the Ethiopian forces control. The following day, Atske-Selassie said that aid convoys were making their way to Tigray. At the time of writing, these reports have yet to be confirmed. Tomorrow, Council members are expected to underscore the urgency of granting unimpeded humanitarian access to all people in need and may seek further information regarding the announcements on aid delivery by the Ethiopian authorities.

Members are likely to seek an update from the Obasanjo on efforts by the AU, the UN and other key international interlocutors to bring the federal and regional authorities to the negotiating table. AU-brokered peace talks were supposed to take place on 8 October in South Africa and were to be facilitated by an expanded team of mediators led by Obasanjo, supported by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and former South African Deputy President and former Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. However, the talks were postponed. While a formal announcement regarding a new date for the talks has apparently not been made, according to a 20 October tweet by National Security Adviser to the Ethiopian Prime Minister Redwan Hussein, the peace talks are now scheduled to be held in South Africa on 24 October.

On 7 October, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) extended the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) for one year. Among the Security Council members who are also members of the HRC, China, Gabon, India, and the United Arab Emirates voted against extending the ICHREEs mandate, while Brazil, France, Mexico, the UK, and the US voted in favour. (The ICHREE was established by the HRC in December 2021, with a mandate to investigate violations and abuses of international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law committed by all conflict parties in Ethiopia since 3 November 2020.) Ethiopia has opposed the ICHREE since its creation.

In September, an ICHREE report said that war crimes, including rape and sexual violence, have been committed by Ethiopian, Eritrean and Tigrayan forces. During the Security Councils annual open debate on Women, Peace and Security today (20 October), several Council members referred to conflict-related sexual violence in northern Ethiopia, with the US citing the ICHREEs findings. The ICHREE also found evidence of the Ethiopian forces intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, among other violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and it has recommended that the Security Council place the situation in Ethiopia on its agenda. Tomorrow, members may reiterate concerns about such violations being committed in the context of the conflict and call for accountability.
Ukraine: Briefing

Tomorrow afternoon (21 October), the Security Council will convene for an open briefing on the situation in Ukraine. France and Mexicothe humanitarian co-penholders on Ukrainerequested the meeting, which will focus on the protection of civilians and critical infrastructure in Ukraine. Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine Denise Brown are expected to brief. Ukraine will participate under rule 37 of the Councils provisional rules of procedure.

Tomorrows briefing will be the first meeting of the Council on Ukraine since the 30 September vote on a draft resolution tabled by Albania and the USthe political co-penholders on Ukrainewhich denounced as illegal Russias referendums in its occupied territories in Ukraine from 23 to 27 September. The draft resolution failed to be adopted because of a veto cast by Russia. Ten members voted in favour, one against (Russia) and four members abstained (Brazil, China, Gabon, and India). (For background, see our 30 September Whats in Blue story.)

On 3 October, Albania and Ukraine submitted a letter to the President of the General Assembly requesting the resumption of the 11th Emergency Special Session (ESS) on Ukraine. On the final day of the current ESS, which took place from 10 to 12 October, the General Assembly adopted resolution A/ES-11/L.5, which condemned Russia for organising illegal so-called referendums in the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions, while calling on all member states to reject their validity and not to recognise any change to the status of the four regions. The resolutionwhich was prepared by the EU, together with a cross-regional drafting groupalso reaffirms the General Assemblys commitment to Ukraines sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. It received 143 votes in favour, five against (Belarus, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia, and Syria), and 35 abstentions. Ten member states did not vote.

Tomorrows briefing will take place against the backdrop of intensified Russian air and missile attacks targeting critical infrastructure across Ukraine. This escalation began two days after the Kerch Strait bridgewhich connects Russia to the annexed Crimean Peninsulawas reportedly damaged by an explosion on 8 October. The bridge has served as the main supply route for Russian forces fighting in southern Ukraine. On 10 October, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the explosion as a terrorist act carried out by Ukrainian special forces, adding that it was directed at the destruction of critically important civilian infrastructure. Ukraine did not claim responsibility for the attack.

Following the Kerch Strait bridge explosion, Russia launched one of its most intense missile and airstrike barrages since the wars outset. The attacks, carried out during the morning rush hour on 10 October, targeted key infrastructure in Ukraines urban centres, including in the capital, Kyiv. Ukrainian authorities documented at least 75 casualties, including 11 deaths and 64 injuries. They also reported damage to 11 infrastructure facilities across eight regions in Ukraine. According to a 10 October OCHA situation report, the attacks left thousands of civilians without access to power, water and telecommunications services.

Russias attacks have sparked strong criticism. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Russia of committing war crimes by deliberately targeting energy facilities to foster unbearable conditions for civilians. In a 10 October statement, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the air assaults another unacceptable escalation of the war. UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine Denise Brown also issued a statement on the same day, expressing horror at the wave of Russian attacks and affirming that despite the strikes the UN will continue to deliver humanitarian assistance to people in need of support.

Since 11 October, Russia has continued to launch missile and air attacks targeting military and power infrastructure across Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 18 October that 30 percent of Ukraines power stations have been destroyed, causing massive blackouts across the country. Russia has reportedly been using unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, to target critical infrastructure, including in Kyiv. A 17 October attack involving drones which targeted energy facilities in Kyiv struck a residential building, resulting in at least four civilian deaths. The US and several European countries have accused Iran of supplying the drones to Russia, allegations which Tehran denies.

At tomorrows briefing, DiCarlo is expected to provide an overview of the security situation in Ukraine, including its adverse effects on civilians. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 680 civilian casualties between 1 and 16 October. DiCarlo may note that most of these casualties were caused by the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects, including shelling from heavy artillery, Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, missiles and air strikes. She may refer to the findings of a report of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Ukraine, submitted to the General Assembly on 18 October, which documented indiscriminate attacks by Russian forces using cluster munitions, unguided rockets, and air strikes. As the recent wave of attacks appears to have targeted critical civilian infrastructure, DiCarlo may indicate that these strikes may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law.

Brown is expected to provide an update on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. She may note that extensive damage to key energy facilities ahead of the upcoming winter raises concerns regarding the protection of civilians, particularly vulnerable populations. Brown may also highlight the effects of the attacks on the UNs ability to provide humanitarian aid to civilians in Ukraine. According to the 10 October OCHA situation report, the Russian missile strikes affected humanitarian operations across Ukraine, hampering the movement of aid workers and delivery of emergency supplies in the east of the country.

Several Council membersincluding the US and European membersare expected to condemn Russias intensified attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and its use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas. In an 11 October statement, the Group of Seven (G7)comprised of France, the UK and the US, among others condemned the attacks and recalled that indiscriminate attacks on civilians constitute a war crime. In this regard, these members, along with other European Council members, are likely to emphasise the need for accountability for crimes committed in the context of the war in Ukraine. Some of these members may also emphasise the need for the creation of a compensation mechanism to register damages arising from Russias invasion of Ukraine. It appears that a draft General Assembly resolution recommending the creation of such a mechanism may be tabled by Ukraine in the near future. Other members are reluctant to criticise Russia for attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine, while emphasising the need for dialogue and negotiations.

The P3 members (France, the UK and the US) may also raise the issue of alleged arms transfers from Iran to Russia, which they claim violates Security Council resolution 2231 of 20 July 2015, endorsing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Irans nuclear programme. Yesterday (19 October), the P3 requested a meeting under any other business to discuss this issue. In a 19 October statement, the US stressed that the P3 anticipate many conversations at the UN on how to hold Iran and Russia accountable for failing to comply with UN Security Council-imposed obligations.

Russia is expected to justify its recent missile barrage as a legitimate reaction to the Kerch bridge explosion on 8 October. In this regard, it is likely to accuse Western countries and the UN of applying double standards and failing to condemn Ukraine for its alleged attack on Russias infrastructure. Russia is also expected to deny allegations that its attacks are indiscriminately targeting civilians. At a 19 October press briefing, Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy said that the drones used by Russian forces are performing high-precision strikes. He also refuted allegations that the drones used by Russian forces are supplied by Iran, accusing Western countries of levelling baseless accusations and inventing artificial pretext to put pressure on Russia and Iran.
Editor's Note: The delegates to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) are outstanding Party members with remarkable achievements. They are selected from and trusted by more than 96 million members and more than 4.9 million grass-roots organizations of the CPC, embodying the pioneering nature of the CPC and carrying the expectations of the Chinese people. China Military Online is publishing a series of stories to elaborate the outstanding deeds of some delegates.

By Bao Rui, Zhao Weidong, Ye Haisong, and Wang Xin

As the cutting edge of science and technology is constantly changing, being sensitive to the changes has been the innovation source power of Wang Heng, a lab director of the PLA Air Force Research Institute.

At an airport in western Guangdong, several fighter jets soared into the sky when Wang Heng stared at the figures on the timer. This was a test to verify a certain aircraft technology developed by a research team headed by Wang Heng.

Wang chose to join the PLA Air Force Research Institute upon receiving the doctorate degree from Tsinghua University.

Quick reaction is key to winning on the future battlefield. How to make the air force combat units react faster? "In order to save time, Formula One (racing car) gets refueled and tires changed without stalling during the race. It occurred to me that whether this could be applied to a fighter jet so that the jet could also get refueled and armed with missiles without the engine shutdown," Wang recalled.

In 2014, Wang put forward the necessity and feasibility of developing the technology by virtue of his solid theoretical foundation and data analyses in quantity. Wangs assumption, viewed as an adventure by many people, was finally listed as a research project. Wang and his team ultimately succeeded in the verification of the technology with test flight after years of relentless efforts. The application of the research achievement has greatly shortened the time for aircraft to take off again after landing, serving to be of strong support for improving the strike frequency and efficiency of warplanes.

"If we can outrun the opponent by one minute from take-off, transition to second take-off, we will definitely take the preemptive opportunity and change the battle situation," Wang said.

The closer the scientific research work is to the front line of combat readiness, the more demands will emerge, and the more achievements will be made. In Wang's eyes, these achievements are attributed to the cooperation between the scientific research institutions and frontline combat units, and the strong atmosphere of war-preparedness among the whole military.

"All military accomplishments around the world take quick reaction at its core. Our scientific research work should focus on the practical needs of the troops, so as to improve the quick reaction ability of the air force aviation troops through cutting-edge technologies," said Wang.
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About 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience domestic violence, also called intimate partner violence (IPV), during their lifetime, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. IPV includes committing physical violence, psychological bullying or stalking by an intimate partner.

Domestic violence isn't limited to the home. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that IPV can lead to injuries that keep employees from working, negatively affect productivity, and cause other effects that impact the worker's career and cost companies money. Victims of IPV often silently carry the physical and emotional scars into work, compromising their ability to communicate with colleagues.

"Two-thirds of victims lose their jobs due to reasons stemming from their abuse," said Gail Tiburzi Buck, co-founder of executive recruitment firm nextOpp Search in Charleston, S.C. "Domestic abuse still lives in the shadows, and there are so many misconceptions and stigmas attached to it."

Domestic Violence Worsened During Pandemic



A report by the American Journal of Emergency Medicine found that IPV increased by nearly 33 percent globally during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice indicated an increase in the U.S. by more than 8 percent following the imposition of lockdown orders during 2020. Reports have shown that remote workers are at increased risk of being abused by a partner.



"In a post-COVID world where remote work is so common, now more than ever, companies need to educate their HR departments and, by proxy, their employees, so they can recognize the signs and respond appropriately when someone is in danger," Buck said.

Signs of Abuse Differ Among Remote and Onsite Workers

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, many onsite workers who are abused:

Wear long sleeves or sunglasses at inappropriate times to conceal injuries.

Startle easily.

Arrive early or late to work.

Appear fatigued.

Exhibit fear, anxiety or depression.

Have unexplained injuries.

Take more unplanned time off.

Remote employees who experience IPV might exhibit unexplained changes in behavior such as an unreasonable refusal to participate in remote team videoconferencing, according to security organization ASIS International in Alexandria, Va. Their productivity may also rapidly decline.

Are Companies Required to Provide PTO?

Buck said companies should strongly consider offering time off for workers who are being abused to seek medical attention or mental health services, secure housing, relocate, or attend court proceedings related to the abuse. Some employers may choose to make this paid time off (PTO).

"On top of such voluntary PTO programs offered by employers, many states have laws that require employers to offer time off to employees who are the victims of domestic violence or sexual violence," said Andrew Gordon, an attorney with the law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

For example, employers in Florida with 50 or more workers must allow employees to request and take up to three days of leave from work in any 12-month period if the employee or family or household member is the victim of domestic violence or sexual violence.

It is at the discretion of the company to decide whether this leave is with or without pay, Gordon noted.

"In some situations, employees may be able to utilize the Family and Medical Leave Act [FMLA] when impacted by domestic violence or sexual violence, depending on whether the nature of their or their family members' injuries from the domestic violence or sexual violence constitutes a 'serious health condition' under the FMLA," he added. "However, such leave is unpaid under the FMLA."

What to Do When Abuser Enters Workplace



Domestic abusers often control all aspects of their partner's life. In some instances, the abuser shows up to the workplace to see the employee. HR leaders should have a plan in place to contact law enforcement to handle the abuser.

Sydney Conrad, director of education and training for IPV awareness company My Sister's House in Charleston, S.C., said companies should inform other employees of a potentially unsafe person coming onsite. The alleged abuser should not be named. Only a description should be used to protect the victim's privacy.

HR professionals can also offer other forms of support for the victim of abuse.

"[Support] can include but is not limited to changing the victim's work schedule and/or work location, alerting all staff of the abuser's description and vehicle should they come onsite, having security or law enforcement patrolling the property periodically, and more," Conrad said.

Organizations should also direct these workers to local organizations who specialize in supporting victims of domestic violence. The National Domestic Violence Hotline also provides resources that individuals and companies can leverage.






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Colorado employers may want to begin preparing for the implementation of Colorado's new state-run Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program. While Colorado voters approved Proposition 118 nearly two years ago, which set the path for implementation of the FAMLI program, employers and employees will not feel its effects until Jan. 1, 2023. However, employers may want to begin educating themselves and their employees now on its requirements, as compliance will require cooperation across multiple departments.

FAMLI provides Colorado employees with 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave funded through a payroll tax paid half by employers and half by employees. Employees who take leave for pregnancy or childbirth complications may receive up to 16 weeks of FAMLI leave.

The FAMLI program will operate similar to Colorado's unemployment insurance program and will be run by the state through the newly created Division of Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI Division), within the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE).

Since FAMLI's enactment, the FAMLI Division has been drafting regulations that provide guidance on specific provisions of the act. FAMLI rules related to premiums were finalized on Jan. 1, followed by rules on local government participation on Jan. 14. Rules related to benefits and employer participation were announced on Aug. 26.

The FAMLI Division recently released proposed rules for private plans.

Coverage Requirements



All Colorado employers that employ at least one employee in Colorado or that paid wages of $1,500 during a calendar quarter must participate in the program by providing paid family and medical leave. However, employers with fewer than 10 employees do not have to pay the employer share of the premiums. These employers must only collect the employee's share of the premiums and ensure they are submitted to the state.



When calculating the number of employees, employers must count all employees companywide who were employed during 20 or more workweeks in the previous calendar year. The number of employees employed by an employer will not affect an individual's right to FAMLI leave.

Employees are covered if they earn at least $2,500 in wages subject to premiums during the employee's "base period." Base period is defined as "the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of the individual's benefit year." Wages are calculated based on earnings from all current employers.

Employees covered by FAMLI may use leave for the following reasons:

to care for a child following birth adoption, or placement through foster care;

to care for a family member with a serious health condition;

to care for the employee's own serious health condition;

to take qualifying exigency leave, meaning the employee's family member is in active duty military service or has notice of an impending call to active duty;

to take safe leave, which includes time to obtain a civil protection order, receive medical or mental health care for themselves or a family member, secure their home from a perpetrator, or seek legal assistance for domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, or abuse-related issues.



The term "family member" includes a child, parent, spouse, domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling or any other individual with whom the individual has a significant personal bond that is like a family relationship.



Applying for and Taking Leave



While on leave, employees may receive up to 90 percent of their average weekly wage for the portion of wages that totals up to 50 percent of the state average weekly wage or less. For the portion of employee wages that exceed 50 percent of the state average weekly wage, employees may only receive 50 percent of their average weekly wage. In 2024, the maximum weekly benefit is capped at $1,100. Thereafter, the maximum benefit amount will be capped at 90 percent of the state average weekly wage. An employee must be permitted to take leave in increments of one hour, but will not receive benefits under the act until the employee accumulates at least eight hours of FAMLI leave. Employees may take continuous leave, intermittent leave, or leave on a reduced schedule.

Employees must make a reasonable effort to schedule FAMLI leave so as not to unduly disrupt the operations of the employer. When the need for FAMLI leave is foreseeable, an employee must notify the employer 30 days before the date the leave will begin. When the need for leave is not foreseeable or providing 30 days' notice is not possible, the employee must provide notice as soon as practicable. Employers may require the notice to contain the anticipated start date, duration and frequency of the leave.

The employee may apply for leave with the FAMLI Division up to 30 days prior to the benefit start date. The FAMLI Division will notify the employer of the benefits application within five business days. When the need for leave is not foreseeable, or submitting an application prior to the start of leave is not practicable, employees may submit an application up to 30 days after leave has begun. If an employee submits an application more than 30 days, but no more than 90 days, after leave has begun, the employee must establish good cause for the delay. The regulations provide detailed guidance on what documentation must be submitted to the division based on the reason for the leave.



Calculation and Payment of Premiums



While employees cannot begin taking FAMLI leave until Jan. 1, 2024, employers must begin remitting premiums on Jan. 1, 2023. In 2023 and 2024, premiums will be 0.9 percent of the employee's wage, with the employer and employee each paying 0.45 percent. Beginning in 2025, the director of the FAMLI Division will adjust the premium based on the total amount of premium contributions and the cost of administration during the prior year, up to a maximum of 1.2 percent of each employee's wages. Employers may choose to pay a larger percentage of the premium, up to the full amount. Employers may not deduct more than the maximum allowable employee share of the premium from wages for a pay period.

An employee's wages are subject to premiums if the employee's work is performed in Colorado, or the employee works inside and outside of Colorado, but the services performed outside of the state are incidental to the work performed inside the state.

Employers must have a process in place for collecting premiums and submitting them to the CDLE. Premiums will be due quarterly by the last day of the month immediately following the end of the quarter. The division will provide notice to employers of their expected premium on the first business day of the month the premium is due.

Covered employers must submit wage reports to the division. The division will use these reports to calculate an employee's average weekly wage for purposes of determining an employee's wage replacement benefit. Failure to timely submit wage reports may result in a $50 fine per employee.



May Employers Opt Out?



Employers that offer their own paid leave program, which is equal to or more generous than the benefits provided through FAMLI, may apply for an exemption. A private plan must provide all the same protections, rights, and benefits to employees as the act.

Employers may begin applying for exemptions through the CDLE in November, but must apply for an exemption no later than Oct. 31, 2023, for a plan with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2024. While the FAMLI Division has not yet released finalized rules for private plans, the recently proposed rules suggest that employers would be required to pay both the employer's and employee's share of premiums to the FAMLI Division beginning on Jan. 1, 2023, pending the approval of the private plan. Once the plan is approved, the employer may submit for reimbursement, so long as the plan's effective date is no later than Jan. 1, 2024.



How Does This Affect Other Types of Leave?



FAMLI was enacted to supplement other forms of required leave under Colorado and federal law. FAMLI will not replace other forms of leave an employee may be entitled to, including sick leave under the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (HFWA). Because employees may take FAMLI leave in increments of as little as one hour, an employee may choose whether to use FAMLI leave or leave under the HFWA.

An employer may not require employees to use accrued sick time or vacation time prior to receiving FAMLI. However, an employee may use any accrued vacation, sick, or other time off to supplement the employee's pay to make the employee whole, so long as the aggregate amount does not exceed the employee's average weekly wage.

Employers may require FAMLI leave to run concurrently with leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). For example, an employee taking FAMLI leave for "safe leave" purposes may not qualify for FMLA leave, so such FAMLI leave could not concurrently deplete an employee's FMLA balance. In contrast, an employee taking FAMLI leave for pregnancy complications would likely qualify for FMLA leave, so FAMLI leave could be required to deplete an employee's FMLA balance concurrently. Employers may require FAMLI leave to run concurrently with a short-term or long-term disability policy, if the employer provides written notice to its employees.

Employers may not take disciplinary or retaliatory actions against employees who exercise their rights under FAMLI. Employees must be returned to the same position or a position with the same pay, benefits, and status as they had prior to taking leave. While on FAMLI leave, employees must continue to receive their health benefits and are required to continue paying their portion of health insurance premiums.

Employers must register with the FAMLI Division by Jan. 1, 2023. A new platform is expected to launch in phases beginning in fall 2022 to allow employers to report wage data, remit premium payments and apply for an exemption with a private plan.



Michael H. Bell and Rebecca M. Lindell are attorneys with Ogletree Deakins in Denver.  2022. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
As per the research, Companies diversify spending between owned and paid media as per the recent marketing trends. Nowadays, consumers invest more time and money in owned media platforms, including websites, mobile applications, and channels for products, services or customer support. Customer conversion rates have also increased noticeably, with social and digital video channels generating the strongest returns on investment.

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Digital Marketing is crucial because it connects a firm with its clients when they are working digitally. When companies appear on search engine portals through SEO and PPC, on social media with the help of digital marketing tactics, and via email through email marketing, it builds a connection with ideal customers.

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There are multiple agencies out there into this digital marketing industry. BestoSEO is one such digital marketing agencies based in Mumbai that helps customers to build a web presence for their business and drive traffic to their website. They are a global digital marketing company with head office in Thane and centers across India and US having a vast client base of more than 350+ globally. Additionally, they serve multiple international clients from the US, UK, Canada and UAE through their white-labeled services at affordable price pages and quality services.

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Indian festivals are one of the most beautiful ways to bring people closer and create a stronger bond of humanity. Diwali, the festival of lights, is celebrated across India in unique and colourful ways. The grand festival is an integral part of India's vast cultural milieu. The most known way of celebrating the festival is by lighting lamps and bursting crackers. However, people celebrate Deepawali in many other ways across the nation.

Diwali has developed into a national holiday that is celebrated by both Hindu and non-Hindu people. For instance, in Jainism, Diwali commemorates Lord Mahavira's nirvana, or spiritual awakening, on October 15, 527 BC; in Sikhism, it celebrates the release from captivity of Guru Hargobind Ji, the Sixth Sikh Guru. Diwali is also celebrated by Buddhists in India.

A few groups mark the day as the beginning of the New Year because many associate it with the appearance of Goddess Lakshmi during the Samudra Manthan (the churning of the ocean of milk), which took place between the gods and demons.

Here's how the festival of lights is celebrated across seven regions in the country.

Uttar Pradesh

During Diwali, many people travel to cities like Varanasi and Ayodhya. Reportedly, Ayodhya will commemorate Deepotsav this year by illuminating 12 lakh earthen lights, nine lakh of which would be placed along the banks of the Saryu River. Additionally planned are the staging of Ram Lila programmes, a laser show, and fireworks. There will also be river worship through Ganga Arati and candle offerings on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi (see image above by Davide Gandolfi / Shutterstock). If you are unable to attend the celebration right away, you could consider going to Varanasi's Dev Deepavali later in the month.

Maharashtra

In Maharashtra, Vasu Baras marks the start of the Diwali celebrations. Here, Chhoti Diwali is observed as Narak Chaturdashi whereas Dhanteras is observed as Dhantrayodashi. On the day of the celebration, Maharashtrians offer prayers to the goddess Lakshmi and commemorate the marriage pact by participating in Diwali Cha Padva. Bhaav Bij marks the conclusion of the festivities, and Tulsi Vivah ushers in the wedding season.

Kandeels, a type of colourful lantern, are used to decorate homes. They are either homemade or purchased from markets. Walking around Mumbai streets and seeing houses decorated with various kandeel patterns is a delight.

Punjab

Diwali heralds the arrival of winter in Punjab. The first batch of seeds are sown as farmers get ready for the growing season. On the same day, Sikhs observe "Bandi Chhor Diwas." The festival honours the Freedom Day. Thousands of earthen lamps and pyrotechnics are used to illuminate the Golden Temple, and a "langar" (free kitchen) is available to anyone who visit the holy site to offer their prayers.

Goa

Like Goa, probably no other state observes Narak Chaturdashi. Before being set ablaze, Narkasur effigies are paraded around the streets. The celebration of light has officially begun, signalling the defeat of evil and darkness.

Weeks before the major event, people start working on the effigies, using their wildest imaginations to give the devil the goriest, or occasionally playful, looks. It's also typical to hold contests to determine which effigy has the best design.

West Bengal

Diwali and Kali Puja both fall on the same day in West Bengal. The day prior, Bengalis will light 14 earthen lamps in remembrance of their ancestors and consume the "choddo shaak," a seasonal health treatment made up of a combination of 14 leafy vegetables and medicinal plants.

Kali Puja is typically performed at night. At all Kali temples, elaborate festivals take place, and Lakshmi Puja is practised in many houses.

Typically, the evening is spent lighting off firecrackers (but this year it is in a bind owing to protests from environmentalists). You can tour the marquees housing the idols of Goddess Kali in the various neighbourhoods by engaging in pandal hopping in both West Bengal and Odisha.

Gujarat

Diwali signifies the conclusion of the customary year for the Gujarati community. Lakshmi Puja is held after thorough preparations. The revelry comes to an end with the commencement of business for the New Year on the day of Labh Pancham, which falls on the fifth day after Diwali. Numerous rituals related to Diwali and to fend off the evil eye are carried out in houses.

Tamil Nadu

In the southern Indian states, Deepavali (also known as Diwali) festivities start the day before. The major day of the celebration for the southern region of the country is Narak Chaturdashi, which is identical to Chhoti DIwali as it is observed in the northern states. The day in Tamil Nadu starts with an oil bath before daybreak, and other rituals are performed during this time. Tamilians offer neivedyam to the gods and light the "kuthu vilaku" (lamp). Before home entrances and even on roadways, kolam (painted with a mixture of rice powder and gradually white or coloured chalk) is used as decoration. As a preventative measure against indigestion that individuals could have after five days of feasting during this time, they also make an Ayurvedic medication called "lehyam."
Infosys has allowed its employees to take up gig work outside the company but with prior approval of managers and human resource executives. This comes amid the growing trend of moonlighting among Indian techies.

Any employee, who wishes to take up gig work, may do so with prior consent of their manager and BP-HR for establishments that do not compete with Infosys or Infosys' clients, said.

It is learnt that the mail has been sent addressed to managerial-level staff only.

"However, care needs to be taken to ensure that these projects comply with the company's policy for gig work and do not breach client contracts or impact the employee's ability to be effective in their full time job with Infosys," the mail said. All these protocols need to be addressed with the managers by employees before taking up such tasks, it added.

"As an organization, we value learnability--the ability to continuously learn new skills and gain experience. It is only natural that we are supportive of Infoscions taking up additional projects as appropriate in their personal time," the mail said.

This comes as Infosys CEO Salil Parekh in a post-earnings conference said that the Bengaluru-based company has an internal platform called Accelerate where employees can opt for additional gigs in other projects within Infosys apart from their main projects. The platform receives 4,000 applications every quarter and around 600 get approved.

"To be clear, we do not support dual employment. We have found in the past 12 months of the employees who are doing blatant work in two different companies where and there's confidentiality issues, we have let go of them, added Salil Parekh in the earnings briefing.

On the other hand, Tata Consultancy Services is planning a platform for internal gigs for its over 600,000 employees. The platform, in the initial stages right now, could be expanded to the external workforce as well later. But the company called external gigs or dual employment as unethical.

The $227-billion IT industry is grappling with the issue of moonlighting, or the taking up additional assignments by employees usually during non-work hours.
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Decarbonisation may be a priority for all businesses at the moment, but for the aviation sector the issue is particularly acute. The global aviation industry is responsible for about 2.5 per cent of the worlds carbon emissions  a bigger contribution than Australia - and if the aviation industry was a country, it would be one of the worlds 10 worst polluters.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines were scrambling to adopt various measures to combat emissions and soothe growing guilt among passengers about travelling, including voluntary carbon offset schemes and investing in sustainable jet fuel.

But now, with travellers again flocking to the skies after two years of on and off lockdowns, sustainability experts believe the best way for the sector to meaningfully cut emissions is by taxing frequent flyers. That could be good news for carbon-conscious travellers, but also a problem for Australian airlines and passengers.

Aviation accounts for about 2 per cent of global CO emissions, but its share will rise if pre-pandemic growth trends resume. Credit:AP

A white paper released by the International Council on Clean Transportation published last month argues a levy on the most frequent of frequent flyers would be a more equitable way to decarbonise aviation than a widespread carbon tax on all flights, which would send ticket prices soaring.
Small to medium office tenants are leading the charge in the leasing market and are now responsible for the bulk of the take-up in the sector.

This has led to a clear division emerging in the way small and large corporate occupiers are addressing their office requirements post-pandemic, new CBRE research has shown.

Financial consultant Lorica Partners has secured new office space in 68 Pitt Street, Sydney.

While the larger tenants are downsizing, such as Westpac vacating 16,000 square metres at 275 Kent

Street in Sydney, spaces of around 1000 square metres are being snapped up by a range of tenants from consultants to tech experts who prefer a smaller office to working from home.

In a new Office Footprints report, CBRE data highlights tenant size has become a major predictor of whether occupiers are going to expand or contract when making a leasing decision, with smaller tenants growing their footprints and larger corporates typically doing the opposite.
The Australian government tells companies never to pay ransoms to cybercriminals like those that hacked Optus and Medibank, but most companies ignore that and pay up. There are no laws against it.

According to a report by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, almost 80 per cent of businesses globally that were hit with ransomware, where a hacker makes company systems or data inaccessible until a payment is made, complied with the demands. Almost 90 per cent of businesses previously hit would pay again.

90 per cent of businesses previously hit by a ransomware attack would pay again, according to a global report Credit:Bloomberg

Their reasons include avoiding the reputational hit from disclosing a hack, customers taking their business elsewhere and the cost of fixing up faulty digital infrastructure.

But the Australian governments position is clear: those reasons are not good enough.
A music industry accountant who gave evidence for the prosecution at the recent embezzlement trial of Guy Sebastians former manager has been accused of siphoning off more than $1 million from several prominent Australian bands including ARIA award winners Peking Duk.

Damien Luscombe was stood down from his role as a partner and business manager at White Sky Music accounting services last week after the company claims it discovered a series of discrepancies in the accounts of at least two major clients.

Damien Luscombe, who has been accused of embezzling more than $1 million from prominent musicians including Peking Duk

The firm, which manages the finances of more than 500 artists, promoters, music festivals and record labels, called in external auditors and provided a statement to Victoria Polices fraud squad on Tuesday.

A source familiar with the investigation, but not authorised to speak publicly, told The Age that the company believed more than $1 million may have been embezzled, and electronic dance band Peking Duk was among the alleged victims.
They are young people, in the prime of their life, they are getting this surgery  and two years later the vast majority of them are not back to work in any capacity, said University of NSW epidemiologist Adriane Lewin, lead author on one of the studies. It does not feel to me like a surgery thats working. The Age and the Herald this week revealed estimates billions of dollars were being siphoned from Medicare by billing mistakes or fraud. Medicare essentially operates on an honour system with doctors paid for services they say they are providing. Dr Roy Carey reviewed about 1200 private health insurance claims for spinal fusion. In recent years, private health insurers say they have seen a dramatic increase in the amount, and an even more dramatic increase in the cost of spine surgery. That prompted Bupa, one of the nations two largest insurers, to engage Carey to review about 1200 spinal fusion insurance claims in 2018. He found more than 85 per cent of accounts included inappropriately billed Medicare item numbers. Carey believes it is one of the few in-depth reviews of item number-billing done by a medical specialist.

Carey conducted a similar review with a panel of six surgeons for WorkSafe Victoria and found the same billing problem. Loading [There were] things that were plainly impossible  like billing for services which were not possible, given the nature of the operation described, he said. For example, correction of a scoliosis when none was present, or removal of part of a vertebrae which would be contra-indicated given the operation described. It seems to be the perfect crime. Patients dont know. Hospitals may benefit  more item numbers mean a higher billing band. Private health insurers are constrained by the Private Health Insurance Act. They are not able to refuse payment on items which Medicare accepts.

The current situation is like letting those Draculas amongst us drink freely in an unpoliced blood bank. Private Healthcare Australia, the insurance industrys peak body, confirmed Careys figures and said they were concerning  but were more likely evidence of error, not fraud. Sadly, surgery now seems to have become a business, not a profession. Dr Roy Carey, spine surgeon President of Australian Spine Society, Dr Rob Kuru, said the inappropriate billing was caused by Medicares spine schedule being decades out of date and not fit for purpose. Medicare rebates have also not kept up with costs  forcing surgeons to bill for multiple items to recoup the cost of surgery. Ive certainly seen some billing over the years which you would find hard to justify in any interpretation, he said. But most of what Roys referring to, I think, is the variance that was seen under the old schedule.

Two new studies reveal for the first time just how little expensive spine surgery is really helping Australian patients. The first study, co-authored by Carey, looked at 874 injured Victorian workers who received a spinal fusion  a procedure where two or more vertebrae are joined  between 2008 and 2016. Overall, the surgery led to just an 8 per cent increase in the number of people with substantial work capacity; 77 people who were working before the operation were not working two years after the surgery. The second study, looking at injured NSW workers who had spine surgery, found even more dismal outcomes  and substantial harms. After a spinal fusion, just 19 per cent had returned to work within two years; almost one in five patients needed a second spine surgery within two years of the first operation, with some needing up to five reoperations.

If someone said well give you a surgery, and theres a one-in-five chance youll be back here in five years  thats really, really high, said Adriane Lewin. Loading In an effort to deal with the problem, WorkSafe Victoria set up panels of surgeons to review proposed spinal fusions. Over the 18 months to December 2019 the panel rejected almost half of fusions proposed by outside surgeons. Kuru  who co-authored one of the studies  said spinal fusions were not likely to help workers return to moderate or heavy-labour jobs. But if you go to them and ask has this decreased your level of pain? Then yes, its better than it appears from looking at return-to-work rates. The findings do not surprise Dr Chris Maher, founding director of the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health at the University of Sydney.

Studies have repeatedly shown spinal fusions do not provide good outcomes for back pain. Many surgeons seem blind to that evidence, Maher said. They believe in it. Its like going to Hillsong [Church]. They are telling us: I know in my patients this works. Loading Unfortunately, the answer seems to be: it costs a lot of money to get workers spinal surgery, and the outcomes are not particularly good. A spokesman for the Australian Orthopaedic Association, Dr Michael Johnson, said Medicare had never audited spine surgery before the 2018 review. So, not unreasonably, people thought well, what Im doing must be OK. And invariably there will be a small number of people who will take advantage of the system, Johnson said.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size This story is part of the October 23 edition of Sunday Life. See all 13 stories . The French have been fashion frontrunners for centuries when it comes to expressing personal style, to the point where words such as chic and vogue have crossed borders and language barriers to become international shorthand for elegance and trend-setting. Nipping at their Christian Louboutin heels, in platforms from Gucci, are the flamboyant Italians, although the phrase alla moda remains confined to Rome and Milan. But a relative newcomer to the fashion Olympics of mixing patterns, picking the correct fabric and knowing when to be minimalist or go over the top and raid the jewellery box has arrived from distant Denmark. Heres your chance to create a passport to European glamour by pledging allegiance to the looks of Catherine Deneuve and Camille Charriere, Sophia Loren and Chiara Ferragni, or Helena Christensen and Anine Bing. Frenchwomen Ines de La Fressange, Francoise Hardy and Camille Charriere. Credit:Getty France (but mostly Paris) Walking the streets of Paris, dining at restaurants with views of the Eiffel Tower and sitting front row at Saint Laurent or Chanel, you can be forgiven for thinking that the French have pulled the finest navy wool over the eyes

of the rest of the world.

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There is a studied effortless to the way many French women dress, with their hair gently tousled rather than blown out, make-up barely noticeable and outfits that look thrown together. I think French style is classic at its core, says Claudia Stahl, founder of the French-inspired label Jac Cadeaux. Its a delicate balance between being well groomed and looking like you spent a bit of time preparing but not appearing too contrived. When I came back to Australia from living in France, people at events always looked overdressed to me, like they had just got out of the hairdressers chair. In France, its about wearing clothes that suit you rather than whats on trend. You pull out the classic pieces from the back of the wardrobe, such as a white T-shirt with navy blazer, rather than whats on trend. The former muse of Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel in the 1980s, rail-thin model turned designer Ines de la Fressange encapsulates this seemingly relaxed approach with her own label, as well as her work for shoe designer Roger Vivier and collaborations with mass retailer Uniqlo. Matching shoes and bags immediately age you by 10 years, is one of the most Parisienne pieces of advice from the insouciant de la Fressange, along with, It is true that in France, women put on less things. If they have a necklace, they dont put on earrings; if they have nail polish, they dont put on all their rings and all their bracelets. Its a continuation of Coco Chanels enduring advice about removing something before leaving the house (just make sure its not your keys). For Stahl, the celebration of simple items such as a Breton striped top, canvas sneakers from Bensimon and well-worn Levis, can be blamed on Marie Antoinettes encounter with the guillotine, along with a fear of too much cake. Perhaps, because of Marie Antoinette, its in the national psyche, Stahl says. Theres this aversion to extravagance. Its almost bad taste to be too extravagant. Its certainly not about screaming that you own designer clothing with something covered with logos. You might have a nice Hermes handbag, but you wouldnt clash it with lots of other designer pieces.

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Along with de la Fressange, people around the world have looked to English actor turned French icon (and this weeks cover star) Jane Birkin for inspiration on how to deliver the undone look, although the style success of her daughters Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon suggests that it might be genetic. There is a fascination with the French way of dressing that wont fade, and the best way to approach it is casually, Stahl says. Try to have fun with it. Try not to take it too seriously because thats the whole point. The OG influencers: Brigitte Bardot, Francoise Hardy, Jane Birkin, Ines de la Fressange and Catherine Deneuve. The new breed: Fashion consultant Camille Charriere, Bond actor Lea Seydoux, Parisian model and entrepreneur Jeanne Damas. The essentials: Breton shirt, navy blazer, jeans. Italians Chiara Ferragni, Claudia Cardinale and Giovanna Battaglia Engelbert. Credit:Getty

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La Dolce Italia If France is about restraint, Italian style leans more heavily towards extravagance. Why whisper chic when you can scream elegante! from a Verona balcony in a fitted black dress with tamed hair and a perfect red lip? I feel like Italian women in general are more over the top than French women, says Australian stylist Jess Pecoraro, who works with models Jesinta Franklin and Georgia Fowler and helped beauty entrepreneur Zoe Foster Blake with her daring Logies look. Lets just say its a bit more about being perfect at all times. People play with colour and theyre quite out-there. The French are about being a bit more natural. With family from Sicily, Pecoraro relates to Italian excess and married her husband, Steven Monaco, on the southern island wearing a fitted white gown by Steven Khalil, before changing into a fringed top and Dion Lee pants to dance the night away. In Italy, everything is thought out, from the jewellery to the make-up; its very much about having an overall look, Pecoraro says. In Australia, I rarely wear earrings. But in Italy, I wouldnt think about not wearing them to complete the look. The commitment to top-to-toe dressing comes through in the textural and tonal symphonies of Giorgio Armanis tailored designs, Donatella Versaces controlled riot of colour and pattern and Valentinos searing pink ensembles and crimson red gowns. Dont forget Dolce & Gabbana, Pecoraro adds. The labels signature corset-style dresses, high-waisted briefs and generous use of animal prints offer the deceptive promise of turning all women into Sophia Loren. Its about la bella figura and showing off. Italian women are sexy and confident at every size, which is fantastic to see. When it comes to contemporary Italian style-setters, Pecoraro singles out 60-year-old fashion journalist Anna Dello Russo, who attracts attention whether shes wearing a hot pink Valentino suit with matching bag and shoes or a black Roberto Cavalli minidress with leather harness, corsetry and cut-outs.

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Shes my absolute favourite, Pecoraro says. Everything is over the top but still polished and classy. Bringing Italian flair to Australia requires a commitment to elevating your daily dressing standards above casual wear. When my wonderful Nonna visits Australia, she is horrified by people walking about in thongs, Pecoraro says. As a result, you will never see me wearing activewear back in Italy. You have to keep Nonna happy. The OG influencers: Sophia Loren, Monica Vitti, Claudia Cardinale, Donatella Versace and Anna Dello Russo. The new breed: Giovanna Battaglia Engelbert, Attico designers Giorgia Tordini and Gilda Ambrosio, influencer Chiara Ferragni and Margherita Missoni. The essentials: High heels, miniskirts and bold, printed, fitted tops. Danish women Pernille Teisbaek, Jeanette Madsen and Anine Bing. Credit:Getty

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The first terrifying bit of our terrifying holiday came at Tullamarine airport when I nearly did a hip flexor getting my backpack from the car to the check-in desk. If I couldnt lug the cursed thing 200 metres, how would I get it around Tasmanias 48 kilometre Three Capes track?

Good news was that once we arrived, there wasnt much time to worry. Our boat captain Tim beamed as he kicked us off, barefoot and with pants rolled above knees, at a beach opposite Port Arthur. At least I think he was beaming  hard to tell through the sleet running down our necks and into our hearts.

Once we arrived there wasnt much time to worry about the weight of our backpacks.

Its 34 years since I backpacked. The European rite of passage, 12 months of hostels, Dunlop Volleys and Hard Yakka shorts. Of lightness. My one indulgence was a Walkman with a mixed tape my boyfriend made, heavy on the INXS.

Happy days. But I was 21 then. Now Im a woman who travels with a silk eye mask in Coach hand luggage, is blase about airport lounges, fussy about pool villas.
Sofia Coppola may have won an Oscar for best screenplay, but the romance element of her plot hits differently these days. At the time of shooting, Scarlett Johansson was 17. Bill Murray, her co-star and love interest, was in his early 50s. For most of the movie, the connection between Johanssons Charlotte and Murrays Bob is sweetly platonic, but at the end, the duo says goodbye to each other with a lingering lip lock.

The movie which prompted this thought was Lost in Translation, the Tokyo travelogue that was greeted rapturously in 2003, and which I thought might be fun to watch one evening recently while missing Japan.

Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray in Lost In Translation: nearly 20 years on, the romance element in the Oscar-winning screenplay hits a different note.

They say you cant go home again. I would also caution against revisiting cult classics from 20 years prior, unless youd like a rude awakening as to how clueless we all were back then.

One bright spot is that many of the scenes are set in the Tokyo Park Hyatt, which I can attest from my own travels still looks fresh and elegant two decades on. The pool, which steals the show from ScarJo and Bill on more than one occasion, might be the most beautiful in the world: sparkling clean on the 47th floor, looking out on Mount Fujis radical symmetry.

But much as I love the Park Hyatt, I miss the streets of the city more. It was striking how absent Tokyo was from a movie celebrated, at the time, for capturing its essence. For one, neither main character seems especially interested in exploring: Charlotte is merely a plus-one on her husbands work trip, slouching moody and pantless in the hotels picture windows, while Bob is a washed-up film star who shuttles each day to a nearby studio where he begrudgingly makes a whisky commercial.

A lot of the movies humour comes at the expense of locals.

A lot of the humour comes at the expense of locals, who naturally speak a language our protagonists cant, and wont, understand. Learning the Japanese for please is really not hard, but apparently eludes Bob and Charlotte. A particularly cringeworthy episode involves Murrays character hectoring a sushi chef  busy preparing an omakase for him  in rapid-fire, ribald English.

Finally, cultural revelation comes in the strangest ways. For Charlotte, its singing a karaoke Pretenders song high above the neon lights of Shibuya. For Bob, who has all but rolled his eyes at people trying to do their jobs in a language foreign to him, the most meaningful interactions are the ones he has with a 17-year-old compatriot. This is a shame, given he is visiting one of the worlds most fascinating cities for the very first time.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size This article is part of a series exploring the stories one of Australias most celebrated surgeons doesnt want you to hear. See all 10 stories . There are plenty of places that news stories come from. A tip-off, a source, a leak. But sometimes, a story simply comes from conversations with people you know. In this case, the investigation into surgeon Munjed Al Muderis came from a conversation with my father. He is an amputee who had a consultation with Al Muderis years ago and was told if he did not immediately have osseointegration surgery, he would soon be in a wheelchair. Journalist Charlotte Grieve quickly discovered concerns around Munjed Al Muderis practice were somewhat of an open secret among orthopaedic surgeons. Credit:Simon Schluter After getting a second opinion, he decided against the surgery and today, hes still walking. But Al Muderis pressure, combined with warnings from other health professionals, stuck with me so when I moved from the business section to our investigations team in June, I decided to have a closer look. I quickly discovered concerns around Al Muderis practice were somewhat of an open secret among orthopaedic surgeons  particularly his approach to patient selection and aftercare.

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Everyone has a story about Munjed Al Muderis, one Sydney surgeon told me. Loading Over the next three months, I spoke to patients, medical staff and whistleblowers in back-to-back phone calls. Through translators, I tracked down patients in Iraq and Cambodia. Late at night, I phoned sources in Europe, the US, Canada and UK. My notes document ballooned to hundreds of pages, becoming so large it froze each time I opened it. I collected thousands of internal documents  emails, texts, reports  that together painted a clear picture of a business determined to grow at all costs. But initially, no one wanted to go on the record. Al Muderis had successfully sued one of his former patients for defamation, and many were worried he would do the same to them if they spoke out. Military veteran Mark Urquhart was one of the first patients I met in person. I arrived at his hotel room in Melbourne on a bleak winters night, where he was staying with his daughter as he travelled from Bundaberg to Tasmania to start a new life. Munjed Al Muderis made his name in a procedure called osseointegration. For some its been an unhappy experience. Credit:Composite

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He had put the anger of what had happened behind him, and calmly showed me photos of the surgery, and what followed. We spoke for hours and that night, he made the commitment to go public. Patients knew there was power in numbers and when enough agreed to speak publicly, I pitched the idea for an accompanying TV story with 60 Minutes. Over time, former nurse turned whistleblower Shona and surgeon John Anstee also agreed to go on the record. The story was coming together. With 60 Minutes, we travelled to Ballarat, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne for interviews. Sitting in front of a camera is daunting, but award-winning reporter Tom Steinfort was excellent in putting people at ease. Producer Natalie Clancys organisational skills whipped everyone into shape. Talented camera operators, sound recordists, photographers and graphic designers brought the series to life. The end result was a feature-length documentary, and multimedia news stories published in the Herald and The Age, which uncovered the downside of Al Muderis practice for the first time. When the stories were published, my inbox was quickly flooded with emails detailing fresh allegations about the surgeons work. Grieve (right) in Ballarat with 60 Minutes Tom Steinfort (left) to interview military veteran Mark Urquhart, one of Al Muderis former patients.

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Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size This story is part of the October 22 edition of Good Weekend. See all 15 stories . It had been a remarkably chilly start to the 2022 winter and there was a stiff breeze on Sydney Harbour when Lachlan Murdoch and his wife, Sarah, took a few friends out for a spin in their new $30-million motor yacht, Istros  a present for her 50th birthday. On a Wednesday afternoon in early June, when most of America was fast asleep, Lachlan could afford to take time off from his day job running Fox Corporation, parent of the worlds most controversial cable television outfit, Fox News. Paparazzo Jayden Seyfarth watched through his long lens as Lachlan and Sarah helped their rugged-up guests aboard, settled in for drinks and took in the sunset. At 43-metres long, Istros is modest by todays standards, when mega-yachts and giga-yachts two or three times the size can cost upwards of $500 million. Oozing old-world charm, the ship was built in Holland in 1954 and originally owned by Greek shipping tycoons the Pappadakis family. In 2001, it won the grand prize for the best-restored vessel at Monacos Classic Yacht Show, but then fell into disrepair, sitting idle in Malta until it was bought for a song, gutted and completely refitted by Van Geest Design, the Dutch builders of super yachts for moguls, oligarchs and kleptocrats the world over. Lachlan had bought Istros in February 2022 and had it delivered Down Under, where it would entertain family and friends, a few lucky contacts from business and politics, as well as faithful toilers from across the Murdoch media empire, which had been founded in Australia by his grandfather, Keith, and turned into the first global news conglomerate by his swashbuckling father, Rupert. Nowhere did the Murdochs wield such concentrated power as in Australia, where the family had controlled two-thirds of newspaper circulation for nearly four decades and had an outright monopoly over pay TV. Lachlan was a third-generation media mogul, living it up in his adoptive hometown; his older sister, Prue, had good reason to call him the king of Sydney. Istros took months to arrive and, on Lachlan and Sarahs first outing, the Daily Mail Australia reported the couple looked as happy as ever. Loading The next week, they took their teenage daughter Aerin and her friends around the harbour to see the Vivid festival, when Sydneys world-famous Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Circular Quay were bathed in lightworks by visual artists from all over the globe. Papped by Seyfarth again, Lachlan stood by the gunnels of Istros and directly faced the cameraman, throwing his arms out wide as though surprised or annoyed at the attention. After spending his entire adult life in the spotlight, the man who employed as many journalists as anyone still bristled when he was the subject of their inquiries. Beautiful as Istros might be, she was only a stop-gap runabout: Lachlan was awaiting delivery of the boat of his dreams, a 60-metre, $175-million, ultra-modern sloop under construction at another Dutch shipyard, Royal Huisman. The largest carbon fibre yacht ever built in Holland, Murdochs new purchase was known only by the code name MM597 and would accommodate 12 guests and 10 crew.

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According to the manufacturers website, distinguishing features included a huge transom opening which  will give access to an expansive, lavish beach club. Lachlan and Sarah had paid a stunning $37 million for a boatshed and jetty at Point Piper, a few minutes drive from their $100-million Bellevue Hill mansion, Le Manoir. In the meantime, Istros would have to do. Lachlan with his wife, Sarah, in California in 2020, before their return to Australia. Credit:Getty Images While the Murdochs were relaxing on Sydney Harbour that Wednesday evening, it seemed the US was going to hell. The following night, US time, in a throwback to the Watergate era, the House Select Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, would conduct its first televised hearings, revealing damning new evidence of an unprecedented attempt by a sitting president, Donald Trump, to stop the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election. Fox News Channel had announced earlier that week that it would not carry the hearings live at prime time, unlike every other network in the US, opting instead to broadcast commentary on the hearing, even as it was underway, from its anchors Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham. Fox went so far as to make this programming ad-free, to avoid shedding

audience to other channels during commercials. Loading Millions of Fox viewers watching that evening would not have seen the opening statements of Democratic committee chair Bennie Thompson and Republican deputy chair Liz Cheney, the testimony of former attorney-general Bill Barr and of Ivanka Trump, the fresh video footage of the Proud Boys and Oathkeepers who led the attack, or the evidence of Capitol police officer Caroline Edwards, who was knocked unconscious and pepper-sprayed. Instead, they heard Carlson, Hannity and Ingraham undermine the committee and downplay the hearings. Carlson had previously called the committee wholly illegitimate and now told his viewers, Theyre lying, and were not going to help them do it.

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The decision once again called into question whether Fox News was in the business of news or propaganda. Watching Foxs coverage that night, it was hard to imagine how Americans would ever bridge the deepening divides over guns, abortion, the pandemic response, immigration, climate change, Black Lives Matter, gender and sexuality  and even over whether or not these disagreements could be resolved through democracy and the rule of law, rather than through violence and authoritarianism. If Americans could not even agree that Trump had lost the 2020 election, much less that he had then mounted an unprecedented and dangerous attempt to overturn the result, what could they possibly agree on? Fox News Channel had announced earlier that week that it would not carry the hearings live at prime time, unlike every other network in the US. Fox News thrived on controversy and, of its prime-time anchors, none was more controversial than Tucker Carlson, one of Lachlans personal favourites and the highest-rating host in the history of cable television. Carlson had proved many times that he could make or break the careers of conservative politicians. His program, Tucker Carlson Tonight, had been described as the most racist show in the history of cable news. As Bloomberg journalist Tim OBrien told MSNBC anchor Nicole Wallace, it was important not to focus too much on the Fox anchors, who were ultimately just the hired help: Youre leaving the most important actor out: Lachlan Murdoch. Rupert Murdochs son runs that network. The family controls the company. If they wanted that network to do something other than engage in propaganda and to delude people and to serve other goals, he could put anybody he wants in that anchor seat. Tucker Carlson exists because Lachlan Murdoch wants him to exist. Reports indicated the House Committee believed it had enough evidence to indict Trump for sedition. His former campaign strategist Steve Bannon warned on his infamous War Room podcast: We. Dare. You. Following predictions of a red wave of Republican victories in Novembers midterm elections  bigger than 1994 or even 2010, former House speaker Newt Gingrich told Laura Ingraham on Fox  Trump Republicans vowed to impeach Joe Biden over the alleged chaos at the Mexican border, the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan or the influence-peddling of the presidents son, Hunter. Credible voices feared the US, lurching from crisis to crisis, was spiralling into civil war. Lachlan knew things were not getting better in the US any time soon. Raised in the US from the age of three, he felt like an Australian and had divided his adult life between the two countries. Both his parents had grown up in Australia, and Australia was where he met Sarah and founded his own successful private investment firm after falling out with his father and turning his back on a career at News Corp in 2005.

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In 2015 he returned to an executive role in the family business at Ruperts express request but, after six years in LA, and as the coronavirus ravaged the US, Lachlan and Sarah decided theyd had enough and moved back to Sydney with their three kids  perhaps for good. Lachlan might not say so publicly, but in his bones he believed Australians had a better way of life. Although Carlson reckoned Australia had turned into a COVID dictatorship, the country had come through the pandemic with a death rate one-tenth that of the US and a vaccination rate of 95 per cent. Schools were safe from gun violence. The politics of hate and polarisation had not yet split the lucky country down the middle. Murdoch on his yacht, Istros, in Sydney Harbour in June this year, seemingly annoyed at the attention of the paparazzi. Credit:Media Mode Ironically, those things that made Australia a cocoon for Lachlan and Sarah and a better place to raise their family, like tougher public health restrictions and gun control, were the very things that Fox News railed against in the US on a nightly basis. Running Fox Corporation from Australia suggested a fundamental disconnect: Lachlan was hardly practising what his networks prime-time anchors preached. At work he was a ruthless five-star general in the culture wars, overseeing the Fox News juggernaut, pumping America First and driving earnings growth in the family business  what US Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren famously called a hate-for-profit racket. At home, or on one of his many fabulous holidays, he was a laid-back Australian and all-round smooth operator: spectacularly rich, impeccably mannered, handsome, open-minded, adventurous, savvy, fun. Loading Lachlans move to Sydney also spoke of a fundamental ambivalence: he had never wanted to be CEO of the family business or, if it came down to it, the CEO of anything. As the oldest son, he was the presumptive first among equals of his siblings and had always aspired to be chairman, like his father  preferably non-executive, that ultimate position of power without day-to-day responsibility. Never your 80-hours-a-week, chained-to-the-desk kind of manager, Lachlan was happiest in the elements, mountain climbing or sailing. Now, having racked up three years service as CEO of Fox Corp, and with Rupert at 91 taking a back seat, Lachlan could look forward to ascending to the role of non-executive chairman and owner of a controlling stake in the most powerful news business in the world. What could go wrong? After years of jockeying over the succession, his brother, James, and sister, Liz, were out of contention  it seemed for good. If Carlson or any other host got too controversial, they could always be fired or redeployed; it was an iron law of the Murdoch empire that none of the talent was indispensable. If Fox or News shares slid, the family business could always be taken private or sold. Whatever happened to either company, the bulk of Lachlans fortune lay elsewhere: he owned a ton of Disney shares; his investment firm, Illyria, had made him a billionaire in his own right; there were mega-mansions in LA, Aspen and Sydney, and more yachts, cars and bikes than he knew what to do with.

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Looking more like a small car chassis than a billycart, its hard to believe that the Furlong familys take on the classic racing contraption is their first.

But for the inventive family  dad Pete is an architect and builder, while 10-year-old Orly is a passionate tinkerer  building their green billycart came naturally.

Their creation will be one of about 25 billycarts to race in North Melbournes inaugural Queensberry Cup on Saturday afternoon.

Pete Furlong with his children, Orly and Lenni, lead a pack of Queensberry Cup billycart racers. Credit:Justin McManus

Pete and Orly, with the help of eight-year-old Lenni, have spent five weeks putting together their cart, which they modelled on a 3D computer program before creating a mock-up.
If a proposed development is in a flood zone or overlay, a planning permit is required for subdivision or works and this triggers a referral to the local catchment management authority, which can object, approve or approve with conditions. However, groups including the Planning Institute of Australia, the Insurance Council of Australia and risk analysis firm Climate Risk warn councils and homeowners are using outdated data and flood mapping and there is no unified approach across the state. McKail, president of the Central Goldfields Ratepayers and Residents Association, says while Carisbrook has a history of flooding, some protection has been afforded to the town by a levee being built by the local council. If it works it should protect the area that they are developing on, but at the moment it is still a huge bone of contention as to whether it will operate adequately, McKail says. If the levee works it will not be an area subject to inundation, but if it doesnt work [the new homes] will end up in the creek. Despite Carisbrooks potential to flood, the Central Goldfields Shire has designated the small town of about 1000 residents a growth area for the region.

Loading Mayor Chris Meddows-Taylor insists development should continue in Carisbrook, but with the authorities taking proper due diligence to ensure that the areas for development are the best ... and the building requirements are such that flood mitigation is a primary concern. We do want to grow Carisbrook, but we want to grow it safely, he says. Meddows-Taylor hopes Carisbrooks levee will provide added protection but warns the levee is not about flood prevention - we cant prevent, we can mitigate ... the best-constructed levee cannot avoid the geography of the situation. Experts say there are two types of levees: those that have failed and those that will fail.

Brian Cook, associate professor at the University of Melbourne, warns building levees is not a long-term solution to flooding, and they bring a false sense of security. He refers to the flood risk management concept known as the levee effect, where people feel more secure knowing a levee is nearby and so developers build further into flood plains. When the levee breaks, more development is exposed and the damages are magnified. We have economic incentives all throughout the system that encourage us to say Hey, we can protect this little parcel of land near the river, rather than Hey, maybe we shouldnt build there, maybe we should build up on this hill, a little way away from the river, Cook says. He says it is difficult to stop developing flood-prone land as Australians love to live near water and flood-prone land is often more affordable, enabling developers to generate more profits and councils to collect more rates. Loading

We allow a system to go on where the people who profit from creating the risk arent held accountable in any way, shape or form and largely theyre protected by existing policies and practices, despite the fact that we can draw a very clear line between their profit-making actions and the production of risk, he says. Flood risk in Australia is assessed using a 100-year flood event line, which defines land with a 1 per cent chance of experiencing a flood each year. With the impact of climate change already being felt through increasing extreme weather events, this line is changing rapidly. Cook says there is no need for Australia to continue new developments on flood-prone land, and we should instead be intensifying existing developments. Theres really no need for us to go into high-risk locations any further, he says. Were already well past the 1 per cent line and to go any further is just begging for the creation of even more and more damaging floods.

Risk analysis firm Climate Valuation published a list earlier this year identifying the areas with the most properties at risk from the impact of climate change in the state. Shepparton tops the list, with 16255 properties slated to be at risk of riverine flooding by 2050, followed by Wangaratta, Port Melbourne, Kialla, Horsham, Mildura, South Yarra, South Melbourne, Kensington and Echuca. Chief executive Karl Mallon says tough conversations are necessary with flood-affected residents likely to be in situations where they wont be able to afford inflated insurance costs. That cohort who are playing Russian roulette with the weather is just going to get bigger, he says. Then the next thing well see is properties decrease in value.

In Queensland, the state and federal governments have already begun buying flood-prone properties from homeowners in recognition that those areas will almost certainly flood again soon, with 25 buyback offers accepted in the Ipswich City Council area and nine in Brisbane. Last week, Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said a further 41 offers had been made to eligible homeowners. More offers are likely in other areas and hundreds of people in Queensland have registered a preference for the voluntary home buyback program. Minister for Emergency Management Murray Watt said buybacks would be considered for Victoria. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen This week Watt told The Age his government would consider a buyback scheme for Victoria, once the current emergency subsides. Its probably a little early to know whether something like that is going to be required in Victoria, he says. But Im open to those discussions with the Victorian government once we get through this immediate crisis.

He says the buyback schemes in Queensland and New South Wales targeted areas hit by repeated flooding within a few years. Watt believes these buybacks can save taxpayers money while easing the emotional toll of environmental disasters. Loading If we as a community can save our fellow community members from that heartache, thats a good thing. But also from an economic point of view we all as taxpayers have to fork out billions of dollars far too often for these events. And if theres a way of saving the budget bottom line in the future by undertaking these kinds of buyback programs then it makes good economic sense as well.

Watt flagged the governments intention to take a more active part in residential planning for disaster mitigation, although he conceded the Commonwealth had few policy levers in this area. It may be that we use Commonwealth funding to incentivise good planning and development decisions, rather than simply be used as a bank to pay for fixing up the consequences of bad decisions in the past. A spokeswoman for the Victorian government declined to comment on whether the government would consider buybacks of flood-affected land. Were focused on our emergency flood response, which is still underway, and are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of Victorians, she said. Were delivering a $351 million package to help flood-affected communities get back on their feet and will continue speaking with communities about their immediate and future needs. She said the government has contributed $47.7 million in funding flood studies with 84 flood studies funded, of which 58 have been completed.

We know extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe, thats why we legislated the Climate Change Act 2017 to ensure our decisions take climate change into account, she added. However Andrew Hall, chief executive of the Insurance Council of Australia, says a mindset shift needs to happen in government from short-term fixes to long-term solutions. They make a lot of announcements when a flood happens immediately, he says. Theres hundreds of millions of dollars to repair the roads and household grants and the like, all of which is very important. A levee being constructed in Echuca this week. Credit:Steve Huntley/Riverine Herald But the real announcement that has to be made is Here is the $1 billion now to either raise a levee around Echuca or to move the homes that are going to be flooded, to recognise Shepparton as a significant economic centre for Victoria and protect it.

Hall says many owners of the homes that have been flooded in Victoria had already opted out of flood insurance because it was so expensive. We get made aware frequently of new developments where you have a look on the map, and you then go and try to quote for insurance and the prices are coming back and theyre not able to be quoted or they are very high, because theyre in higher-risk flood zones, he says. These mistakes are continuing to be made. Hall says development continues in flood zones because of the demand for affordable housing in Australia. Affordable housing generally emerges in areas where the land is very cheap and there is a reason why the land is cheap, he says. The Insurance Council wants to see up-to-date data provided to homebuyers, so they know the perils of the property they are buying. Making that really accessible in the homebuying process will I think adjust the market as to properties true value, he says. If you cant afford insurance for the property you buy, you likely would be in default of any mortgage you would have.

Loading Jane Keddie, vice-president of the Planning Institute of Australias Victorian division, is also concerned about the lack of data and says while there is clear policy direction to avoid development in flood-prone areas, the challenge is in the application of that policy. It is fair to say that we certainly dont in practice avoid all development on flood plains, she says. To say we shouldnt have any development in any areas subject to risk is probably not achievable, that is why we have placed an emphasis on having a really good understanding of what those risks are. Keddie says the state government must give clear direction as to when the risk of flooding is at a level which precludes further development. We need clearer guidance on what is an unacceptable level of risk and where we want to avoid development and where a built form response is appropriate, she says.
The Andrews government has shocked many by announcing it will seek to convert Victorias power supply to 95 per cent renewables by 2035. This shock no doubt stems from the fact it represents a huge change from what we are used to. For many, it seems inconceivable that such a vital part of our economy and our lives  our main energy source  could rely so heavily on the vagaries of the wind and the sun.

Yet looking through the rear-view mirror is not the best way to navigate forward. In fact, I would say that by 2035 our worry will not be whether we have enough energy  instead it is likely we will be swamped with vastly more than we can consume. We are potentially in danger of overestimating the difficulty of the task ahead, and wasting money and time on power projects we dont need.

Renewable energy generation is accelerating faster than anyone thought possible. Pictured is the RayGen Power Plant Carwarp Project in Mildura, dispatchable renewable electricity project that will provide reliable, on-demand power to the distribution network in Victoria. Credit:Eddie Jim

It turns out that decarbonising Australias electricity system is unfolding more quickly and easily than any expert anticipated 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago. What was thought to be impossible back then is now a regular occurrence in the electricity system. The South Australian grid had almost no renewable energy back in 2002, yet by 2005 regulatory authorities announced a halt to new wind projects claiming that the system could not cope with any more than 500MW of variable renewables. In 2022, over 2100MW of wind operates in the state without incident and another 600MW is under construction. The state also manages to accommodate 2500MW of solar. Renewable energy now regularly exceeds 100 per cent of South Australias power demand. And, importantly, the state also copes with the fact renewables can sometimes fall to very low levels of supply too.

In 2015, then energy minister Ian Macfarlane claimed we were running out of decent sites for wind farms and there werent any other feasible options to expand production of renewable energy. At that time wind provided 4.2 per cent of supply in the National Electricity Market, while solar supplied 2.2 per cent. Yet last year wind supplied 11.1 per cent and solar had expanded to 12.4 per cent. In Victoria, renewables grew from 9.9 per cent to reach over one third of supply last year. By 2025, Green Energy Markets estimate renewables will have reached 45 per cent of Victorian supply
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who faces an election in two weeks, blasted the government for its hasty decision, saying we can only hope that the Australian government manages other matters more seriously and professionally. Australias ambassador to Israel was hauled in for a reprimand. Israeli media reported that their government was playing a long game in its response, lashing out over West Jerusalem in an attempt to prevent the Albanese government from recognising Palestinian statehood. This is the reason we reacted so strongly and we are sure that got the message across, an Israeli official told the Walla news site. A former senior Israeli diplomat told news site Ynet that stopping Australia from recognising Palestine was a top concern for Israel. Israeli officials say they hope Australia does not recognise Palestine as an independent state. Credit:Getty Images

We took a hit from the Australians [on West Jerusalem] but this is much less than the recognition of a Palestinian state, the former diplomat said. One can only hope thats not where this is going. Mashni and his fellow pro-Palestinian activists hope that is exactly where the government is heading. We look forward to the Labor Party honouring its commitment at two previous national conferences to recognise the state of Palestine, he says. Asked if he thinks the government will follow through, he insists: It is a given. The Prime Minister and the Labor Party have spoken about the need to honour promises and the promise was to recognise Palestine. If the government was to recognise Palestinian statehood it would represent a significant break from Australias closest international allies and intensify divisions within Labor over Israel and Palestine. Foreign Minister Penny Wong introduced a motion at Labors national conference last year calling for recognition for Palestine. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Currently, 138 of the United Nations 193 member states recognise Palestine as a state - a list that includes almost every country in Africa, South America and Asia. Australia is among the countries that do not, alongside the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and others. A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said: Australia does not recognise a state of Palestine. We continue to call on all sides to resume negotiations towards a just and enduring two-state solution. At Labors 2018 national conference, the party passed a motion calling on the next Labor government to recognise Palestine as a state. At its national conference last year Labor incorporated the resolution into its official platform, saying the party expects this issue will be an important priority for the next Labor government. The resolution was introduced by Penny Wong, a leader in Labors left faction who is now the foreign minister. It was seconded by Tony Burke, a leading figure in the NSW right who is one of Labors strongest advocates for Palestine.

The issue changed. It was no longer what you thought of Israel but what you thought of a drawn-out Israeli occupation in the West Bank. Former foreign minister Bob Carr on why he withdrew his support for Israel Views on Israel and Palestine used to run largely along factional lines within Labor, with the right more disposed to Israel and the left favouring Palestine. That divide has broken down over recent years, especially in the NSW right. The change is embodied by the shifting stance of former NSW premier Bob Carr, who helped establish Labor Friends of Israel in the 1970s but is now one of Labors most trenchant Israel critics. Israel had a Labor government, Israel seemed shaped by social democracy, Carr says of his initial support. Over the years the issue changed. It was no longer what you thought of Israel but what you thought of a drawn-out Israeli occupation in the West Bank by an increasingly nationalistic, right-wing government. Carr adds it is also a fact of life that many Labor MPs in western Sydney represent electorates with large numbers of voters with Middle Eastern backgrounds and pro-Palestinian views.

Bob Carr led a revolt against then-PM Julia Gillard over Israel policy while foreign minister. Credit:Penny Bradfield In 2012 Carr and fellow members of the NSW right led a cabinet revolt against Julia Gillard, forcing her to abandon a push to vote against granting the Palestinian Territories a seat at the United Nations. Australia ultimately abstained from the vote. Labors pro-Israel forces are now concentrated within the Victorian right, in a grouping associated with Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, Melbourne MP Josh Burns and former MP Michael Danby. Dreyfus said after the partys 2021 national conference that Labor has not committed to recognising a Palestinian state and that a future government would have the flexibility to formulate its own decisions. The party platform is not binding on the parliamentary party, and any decision on statehood would ultimately be a matter for cabinet.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin says recognising Palestine would merely be an act of symbolism and another attack on Israel that would not materially improve Palestinians lives. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is a long-time supporter of Palestinian rights. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Just as Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, the Palestinian Territories do not meet the requirements for statehood, he says. They would be recognising a false reality. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is a longtime supporter of Palestinian rights, and has regularly criticised Israels behaviour in the occupied territories during his parliamentary career. He has also been a vocal opponent of the boycott, divestment and sactions (BDS) movement against Israel.

In a Zoom event with the Jewish community last year, Albanese said Labor would move carefully on the issue of recognising Palestine as a state. Pro-Palestine protestors are planning to ramp up activism following upcoming Victorian and NSW state elections. Credit:Mehreen Faruqi/Twitter We wouldnt take any action without consulting relevant organisations and nations, across the board, including the Jewish community, including Israel and the Palestinian community, he said. Some pro-Palestine advocates plan to ramp up lobbying on statehood in the latter half of next year, following state elections in Victoria and NSW. Others believe any decision will be a matter for a second Albanese term, especially following the Israeli backlash to this weeks decision on West Jerusalem.
Employers will mount a joint campaign against imminent changes to workplace laws in a bid to stop federal Labor forcing companies to submit to industry-wide wage deals amid fears the new regime would lead to more strikes and higher costs.

Industry chiefs are warning jobs will be lost if the new workplace laws enforce multi-employer bargaining, giving union leaders a trigger to call strike action across entire sectors in a way that is banned under current law.

Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke (right) is calling his plan a better pay law. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

At stake is a pledge from Labor to get wages moving by overhauling the workplace regime when Tuesdays federal budget will confirm a fall in real wages in the year ahead because inflation is eroding salaries.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese went to the election with a promise to boost wages and Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke is calling his plan a better pay law, setting up a dispute over whether the government or employers should carry the cost of lifting household incomes.
Islamabad: Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has been barred from holding public office after the top election tribunal found him guilty of unlawfully selling gifts from foreign dignitaries and heads of state, a lawyer and a minister said.

The ruling on Friday (Pakistan time) adds to the political and economic uncertainty plaguing the country since earlier this year when Khan was ousted from power, and supporters took to the streets in different cities in protest, blocking roads and highways and setting tyres on fire.

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan speaks during a news conference in April this year. Credit:AP

The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was accused of misusing his 2018 to 2022 premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees ($1 million).

The gifts included watches given by a royal family, according to government officials, who have alleged previously that Khans aides sold them in Dubai.
The great irony of the brief and ill-starred prime ministership of Liz Truss is that she was brought down in attempting to do the very things that, in the Tory leadership contest, she had promised to do: cut taxes, shrink the size of the state, embrace a growth agenda.

The rank-and-file Conservative Party members who elected her loved it. The financial markets didnt. It was the markets, not the public, who dispatched Truss, although it was left to a small group of panicked MPs to deliver the quietus.

George Brandis with Liz Truss in London after she became Conservative Party leader. Just 45 days later, she announced her resignation. Credit:

Lowering taxes was her mantra, and the basis on which she product-differentiated herself from her rival Rishi Sunak. But the key to her economic plan was the growth that lower taxes (in particular, lower business taxes) would stimulate. She sought to square the circle of lower taxes and higher public debt by promising that, as economic growth drove Britain forward, it would absorb the higher public debt along the way.

The financial markets didnt buy it. It may seem strange that a plan to lower the corporate tax rate, to reduce other business taxes and to cut red tape, should not have found favour with the City of London. It had, after all, worked for Margaret Thatcher, from whom Truss drew inspiration.
Miramar, FL:--- Hundreds gathered in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic with one common goal: improve cruise tourism, especially the mutual benefits between destinations and cruise companies. That was again the main theme of another successful FCCA Cruise Conference & Trade Show, which celebrated its 28th annual occasion and 50 years of operations for the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA). I want to applaud everyone throughout the Dominican Republic who coordinated this successful event and showcased the spectacular destination; it is clear that the country is committed to cruise tourism, which President Luis Abinader affirmed in his remarks and participation, said Michele Paige, FCCA CEO. It was also humbling to see the continued conviction in FCCAs mission witnessed by all the attendees and cruise executives who joined to keep working together to build back better. Taking place October 11-14, the event featured its usual blend of workshops, meetings, and networking functions for the over 500 attendees and 70 cruise executives, but with a new twist  or what Paige called a new beginning in her opening remarks  because of the enhanced communications and collaborations arising from the difficult pandemic. That cooperation was evident throughout the entire agenda, with ways to seize the momentum being the talk of the event and including discussions of longer stays, overnights, and homeporting, along with the importance of developing creative, customer-focused experiences to support the demand  and the direct ability for destination stakeholders to work with cruise lines on those goals available at the event. Michael Bayley, President & CEO of Royal Caribbean International, echoed these sentiments in his opening remarks, noting the better relationships built by work[ing] through a lot of issues and problems and challenges collectively as a team  while showing the smoother seas ahead as evidenced by sailing above 100% occupancy and registering strong bookings and earnings. How to capitalize on this for destinations  and the entire Caribbean and Latin American regions  was up front and center for 22 high-ranking government officials and a cruise executive panel including five Presidents and above from FCCA Member Lines, led by Josh Weinstein, President & CEO and Chief Climate Officer of Carnival Corporation & plc, who delivered remarks and comments at the Heads of Government Forum before steering the conversation to other potential mutual benefits, such as employment and purchasing opportunities. Overall, the partnership took the spotlight, and so did FCCAs Strategic Partners, the Cayman Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands (USVI). Kenneth Bryan, Minister of Tourism and Transport of the Cayman Islands, coordinated a dinner for the heads of government and shared the importance of working with FCCA to propel cruise tourism in this video, and the USVI delegation, led by Commissioner of Tourism Joseph Boschulte, was engaged and energetic as they interacted with Member Lines and other participants. Both also took part in the Operating in a Post-Pandemic World workshop. Headlining the workshop schedule was the Presidential Panel, which included Gus Antorcha, President, of Holland America Line; Michael Bayley; Richard Sasso, Chairman, MSC Cruises USA; and Howard Sherman, President & CEO, Oceania Cruises.
~Wescot-Williams becomes a full-fledged Rotarian, -Dr. Soc returns~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Rotary Club of Sint Maarten welcomed two new members to the Club on Tuesday, October 19, 2022, during the annual visit of Rotary District 7020 Governor, Deborah Y. Howell, and her husband, Dennis Howell. Past Assistant Governor Stephen Thompson presented Sarah Wescot-Williams and Jeffrey "Dr. Soc" Sochrin as inductees, while District Governor Deborah Howell had the honor to pin both new members of the Rotary Club of Sint Maarten.

Stephen Thompson went on to explain this was not a usual induction. Sarah Wescot-Williams is no stranger to the Rotary Club of Sint Maarten. She has been an honorary member of the Club since 2013, has actively been involved in numerous Rotary projects, and has been previously recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow. Ms. Wescot-Williams is also no stranger to the island of St. Maarten and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. She is currently a Member of Parliament, has held numerous government ministerial roles, has served as the President of Parliament, and has served as Country St. Maarten's very first Prime Minister. Stephen Thompson described Sarah as the most active honorary member of the Club we have ever known, and he went on to say, "We are thrilled she will continue to be a regular Rotarian and member of the Rotary Club of Sint Maarten".

Continuing with the ceremony, Mr. Thompson presented Jeffrey "Dr. Soc" Sochrin to the Club. Mr. Sochrin joined Rotary in 2011 and was a Past President of the Rotary Club of Sint Maarten from 2015 to 2016. He also served as the Rotary District Chair for Youth Programs and Services from 2016 to 2018. For the past two years, he has been a member of the Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean and he is a multiple-time Paul Harris Fellow. Professionally, he is known as Dr. Soc, and he is the host of Fresh Air in the Morning on Island 92 radio. Dr. Soc is well respected in the community as a fair, yet tough, broadcast journalist. Mr. Thompson continued by saying, "Welcome home to your Club. We're glad you're back".

District Governor Howell pinned both inductees and congratulated them for their commitment to Rotary and service above self.

For more information about the Rotary Club of St. Maarten, please contact the Rotary Club of St. Maarten Press Officer at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. <mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; or visit the website www.rotarysxm.org <http://www.rotarysxm.org/> .
PHILIPSBURG:--- Orco Bank in Sint Maarten had the privilege of supporting a group of students, following the Pre-University Program at Milton Peters College, to build a Weather Station.

The students, with the subject in Information Technology, will build a Weather Station and a web application in collaboration with Layola Polytechnic Institute in the Dominican Republic. The Weather Station will be assembled and placed in different locations on the island. The data collected will be shared with the Meteorology Department as a way to give back to the community of St. Maarten.

The main goal of this project is to produce error-free weather stations displayed on a practical website that depicts the weather of Sint Maarten (and hopefully other islands in the future).

Orco Bank is pleased to have contributed, as one of the co-sponsors, towards the success of this project and will continue making efforts to move closer to the community of St. Maarten!

Orco Bank was founded in 1986 and offers a complete personal and commercial banking package with operations in Curacao, Bonaire, and Sint Maarten. For more Orco Bank news, and other important information visit: https://www.orcobank.com/. Follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OrcoBank or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/orco-bank/
~Discussions on cooperation held between the Dutch and French sides~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs, Silveria Jacobs attended a bilateral meeting with the delegation of officials on French Saint Martin, as part of monthly discussions between both sides of the island. Present during the meeting was Minister for Overseas Territories Jean Francois Carenco who is currently on the island for an official visit.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of good relations with French counterparts, and especially Underline progress in border negotiations and the MoU in Education. Also discussed was the significance of combatting trans-border crime, including human trafficking, and the importance to finalize the agreement on hot pursuit.

Prime Minister Jacobs expressed her satisfaction with how various cooperative efforts, such as education, health, law enforcement, and justice, are going fruitfully. There is a strong collaboration between our law enforcement on land. However, there needs to be more concrete progress in areas like maritime hot pursuit.

There were also talks of arranging a quadripartite (Q4) meeting in The Netherlands in 2023 between French and Dutch St. Martin, France, and The Netherlands. This is also an agenda point for upcoming discussions during next weeks visit with Minister Hoekstra, Minister of Foreign Affairs. A Q4 would make tangible progress in other areas like concluding the Arrangement for Education; enhancing police cooperation and a joint border office, and exploring possibilities to enhance cooperation in the field of health/hospital cooperation and disaster management.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset and the Emma Foundation are partnering for the second annual Project Hope in Sight. In recognition of World Sight Day celebrated on Thursday, October 13th, 2022, the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset joined the fight as an advocate for eye health, realizing the importance of vision and its impact on literacy and the role it plays for a child to have an inclusive learning experience, irrespective of their family social status. The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset is supporting the cause by sponsoring 40 free eye exams. This initiative will be carried out through the local optician SXM Optical, who will assist with ensuring that the provision of urgent and quality eye exams is available to students who have registered with the Emma Foundation for new glasses.

The Emma Foundation is excited to partner with the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset to assist children with typical and special needs through projects like Hope in Sight. The Foundation is asking all youth to #LoveYourEyes.

The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset and the Emma Foundation both see this project as an opportunity to focus the islands attention on eye health as a local and global issue. According to Youth Service Chair Suenah Martis-Laville, Both organizations would like to raise awareness of eye health amongst individuals, families, and communities and use the platform to influence decision-makers to prioritize eye health initiatives.

The Emma Foundation thanks the Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset and SXM Optical for their invaluable assistance, generosity, and partnership. It encourages all interested persons willing to sponsor a pair of glasses or assist with the project to contact the foundation via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunset meets every second and fourth Monday of the month at Carl N Sons Unique Inn and Conference Facilities in Cole Bay at 7:30 PM. The club can be contacted via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via the official Facebook page at facebook.com/rotarysxmsunset.
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Elsewhere in the episode, George is enjoying a peaceful day alone in the yard when he hears Brenda yelling at Billy over the fence. She confides in him that Billy is failing Math and may not pass the sixth grade. She asks George if Sheldon will tutor Billy. George quips that helping people isnt Sheldons thing, that pissing people off is more his style. Nevertheless, George talks Sheldon into helping Billy. Sheldon is immediately irked by Billys lack of understanding of basic Math skills, but when Billy brings up that zero is not actually a number, the thought that zero doesn't exist blows Sheldons mind. Sheldon immediately runs to Dr. Sturgis and demands that he explain the concept of zero. Dr. Sturgis realizes that he can't explain it and when Sheldon argues that zero doesnt exist, he ends up blowing Dr. Sturgis mind. The two call on Dr. Linklatter and ask him to prove that zero exists and when he cant, it is clear that the three top brains in small-town Texas have been stumped by none other than Billy. Sheldon tells Billy that he was right about the concept of zero, and he develops his own theory that the entire universe was born out of zero and therefore zero created the universe and not God. In a truly comedic moment, Billy and Sheldon get down on their knees and pray to zero. When Billy asks Sheldon if he can pray for zero to help him pass his math test, Sheldon explains that zero isnt a miracle worker, leading Billy to go back to praying to God. Billy passed his Math test with a 68, and present-day Sheldon narrates that Billy made it to the seventh grade, but spent many years there. It was nice to see Sheldon interacting with Billy again. The imbalance of intellect between them makes for some great comedic moments.





Georgie was present throughout the episode, continuing his quest to prove to Mandy that he is responsible. He also offered his two cents to the other storylines, unintentionally providing the viewers with some good laughs at his expense. Although the writers do a great job with both the dramatic and comedic storylines, this episode was a nice break from the drama-filled episodes that we have become accustomed to since season 4. It was reminiscent of the earlier seasons of the show which was a nice treat. Did you enjoy tonights episode? What was your favourite comedic moment? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and follow me on Twitter @ms_c_almeida.

Blonde Ambition and the Concept of Zero, took a break from the drama that has plagued the Cooper family, and provided a strong comedic half hour that surely had viewers chuckling throughout. The episode begins with Missy coming home from school upset. Mary offers to lend her an ear, and is hurt when Missy decides to go to Meemaw for advice instead. At Meemaws, Missy shares that she likes a boy at school named Kevin, but he doesnt even know she exists. Meemaw tells her to get a friend to ask Kevin if he likes her. Quick witted and simple-minded Missy retorts that if he doesnt like her back, she will keep being mean to him until he does. Meemaw and Missy agree that boys are dumb, but wonder if girls are even dumber for liking them. Meemaws plan ends up backfiring on Missy when the friend she recruited to execute her plan, ends up asking Kevin out herself. In a turn of events, Missy asks Mandy for advice, leaving Meemaw dejected and she goes to commiserate with Mary about it. Missy and Mandy spend time getting to know one another, and Missy is awe struck when Mandy tells her she used to be a weather girl. Missy tells Mandy that is beautiful like Madonna with her blonde hair, and Mandy bashfully states that Madonna wasnt a real blonde. In classic Missy fashion, she excitedly takes Mandys innocent comment too far, and dyes her hair blonde without any thought of how to do it properly, or the potential consequences of her actions. Missy is horrified when she ends up with a skunky blend of bleach blonde and orange hair. Georgie and Mandy try to cover up for her with George and Mary, but when she runs to Meemaw for help, Meemaw happily turns her in to her parents. We havent seen the naive, comedic side of Missy in a long time. She has been the wise, level-headed young woman in the Cooper household throughout the struggles that the Coopers are facing. It was nice to see Missy get herself into some trouble and deliver laughs as she did in earlier seasons. It was also great to see Mandy and Missy bond this episode. Mandy is the older sister that Missy always hoped for and their dynamic is proving to be fun to watch.
Disney+ has become the home of WWE Network in the Philippines as the streaming service is set to launch in the nation on Nov. 17. The Philippines is one of WWEs most popular markets in terms of weekly viewership of "Raw" and "SmackDown." Disney and WWE announced a similar deal in Indonesia in January. WWE programming including Raw, SmackDown and NXT will continue to air live across the companys broadcast partners in the Philippines (Cignal and TAP Sports). However, WWE Network, its archive content and premium live events such as WrestleMania will be moving to Disney+. WWE Network has been available as a direct-to-consumer product in the Philippines.
The construction project of a 400 kV Cernavoda-Stalpu overhead power line has successfully passed the most difficult and challenging technical stage of this period, namely crossing the Danube over 2.6 kilometres, including 1.13 kilometres above water, according to a press statement released by Transelectrica on Friday.

The process, said to be of a unique engineering complexity, was completed by the teams of the builder Electromontaj SA, in the presence of the Transelectrica management; Electomontaj SA Director General Ionut Tanasoaica; Deputy General Secretary of the Romanian government and a member on the Supervisory Board of Transelectrica Alexandru-Cristian Vasilescu; senior official with the Ministry of Energy George Niculescu; Chair of the Committee on Industries and Services in the Chamber of Deputies Bende Sandor, and official of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) Ona Kostinaite-Grinkeviciene.

I am honoured to be here today, with you, to celebrate this historic stage, said Ona Kostinaite-Grinkeviciene.

Transelectrica CEO Gabriel Andronache said that the project marks a technological evolution in the development of Romania's power transmission grid.

The crossing of the Danube River was completed in approximately three weeks, including the preparatory phases. Its complexity and uniqueness involved special efforts on the part of the constructors and the expert teams of Transelectrica, being the first such large-scale electrical engineering work carried out in the Romanian Power Transmission Network in the last 35 years.

The double-circuit overhead power line is supported on both banks of the Danube by 150m high-voltage poles, the highest in Romania's entire national energy infrastructure.

The only work of this kind that crosses the Danube was carried out in 1987, the 400 kV Cernavoda - Gura Ialomitei power line.

The 400 kV Cernavoda-Stalpu Overhead Power Line infrastructure facility, an investment worth around 75 million euros, is carried out on non-refundable co-funding of 27 million euros under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The project is part of the North-South Corridor of the North-South Interconnection East Electricity and is designed to strengthen the transversal section between the western coast of the Black Sea and the rest of the European system, contributing at the same time to strengthening the electricity transmission network in Romania, increasing interconnection between Romania and Bulgaria and integrating wind energy produced in the Dobrogea area.

The line is 160 kilometres long and it crosses three counties: Constanta, Ialomita and Buzau. AGERPRES
Coltesti Citadel, from Rimetea, the western Alba County, built in the 13th century, will be rehabilitated and enhanced with funds of over 2.1 million euros, obtained through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), being included in the Route of Citadels, along with Sighisoara, Sarmizegetusa, Oradea and Brasov, announced the Mayor of the Rimetea commune.

The amount accessed through this project on the Citadels Route within the PNRR, whose financing contract was signed this week in Bucharest, is 2.155 million euros."I am certain that the renovation of the citadel will significantly increase the tourist significance of our village," mayor Deak-Szekely Szilard-Levente said.Torockovar in Hungarian, the fortress from Coltesti belonged to the nobles of Trascau. The fortress was built in 1296, as a defense measure following the Tatar invasions of the 13th century. The fortress was first ruined during the peasant war led by Gheorghe Doja (1514), being permanently destroyed, by arson, in 1713, by the Austrian army, led by general Tiege.Through the tourist route dedicated to the fortresses, which includes the Sighisoara Citadel, the Dacian Citadel of Sarmizegetusa, the Oradea Citadel, the Brasovului Citadel and the Coltesti Noble Citadel, the restoration of five fortifications in Romania is desired, in order to promote them in an integrated way with other historical citadels in the circuits which will attract tourists from the country and abroad
Crizantema de Aur /Golden Chrysanthemum is a national emblem of resistance through culture, a true musical phenomenon, whose unique longevity in Romania speaks for itself about the cultural, moral, aesthetic and unionist virtues of romance, said Thursday evening, at the beginning of the festival, the mayor of Targoviste, Cristian Daniel Stan.

"It is a jubilee edition, which deserves to be celebrated for its true historical and musical value. Crizantema de Aur /Golden Chrysanthemum is a national emblem of resistance through culture, a true musical phenomenon, whose unique longevity in Romania speaks for itself about the virtues cultural, moral, aesthetic and unionist aspects of romance. It is the romance that gathers, year after year in Targoviste, in the third week of October, great voices of the national and international music scenes, young performers and creators of romance, professionals of the genre, famous orchestras and conductors, specialists in cultural heritage, renowned people of culture. They are all attracted by the special charm of romance, by the poetic atmosphere in which the festival takes place, by the professionalism and dedication which it is organized with, by the Bohemian beauty of Targoviste," Mayor Stan wrote on his Facebook page.He mentions that this year there are many participants from the Diaspora, both in competitions and in concerts.The Golden Chrysanthemum Romance Festival takes place, between October 20-22, in southern Targoviste, 18 contestants from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Serbia being enrolled in the interpretation contest.The festival takes place at the Independenta theatre in Targoviste. It is a long-lived festival, organized since 1968, reaching its 55th edition this year.15 creators with first audition romances, selected following the national pre-selections held in Bucharest, Chisinau and Cernauti/Chernivtsi, participate in the creative contest. The theme of this year's edition is Romance - National Cultural Treasure.The concerts start every evening at 18:00 and are fully broadcast live by TVR 3 and TVR Craiova. The Gala evening will also be broadcast live by Radio Romania Antena Satelor.The organizers of the festival are the City Hall and the Targoviste Municipal Council, the Dambovita County Council, the Dambovisa County Cultural Center, the Tony Bulandra Theater of Targoviste, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, the Union of Composers and Musicologists of Romania and the Union of Musicians of Moldova. The artistic direction of the festival is provided by the Cultural Association Cetatea Romantei Cultural Association Targoviste.
At the event organised on Thursday evening at the Targu Mures National Theatre in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the start of the construction of the Azomures Chemical Fertilizer Plant, former company CEO Harri Kiiski said that it is "ironic" that 60 years on, Europe should think about de-industrialization because of the energy crisis.

"In the 60s, Romania was getting industrialized, industrial development was present in just a few cities - Galati, Petrobrazi or Azomures. It's ironic that 60 years on, we or Europe should consider de-industrialization because of the energy crisis. In the 60s, Azomures set off with 15 million tons of ammonia production, today Europe halted 11 million tons. In the 60s, Romania was transitioning from coal to gas at a time when 50 percent of the ammonia production was obtained from coal, and Romania was already taking the first steps to produce ammonia from gas. Romania practically created value by using that gas, and today it has the second largest gas reserve in Europe. Even in that period, green ammonia was being produced in an electricity-powered process, we're kind of going back to Europe's situation in 1962 as we do these things," said Harri Kiiski.He also mentioned that the 'Liviu Rebreanu' Company of the National Theater in Targu Mures was founded in 1962, and that it has grown together with the Azomures plant.William Dujardin, CEO of Azomures owner Ameropa, stated that Romania is today a global agribusiness leader also due to Azomures, and Ameropa is the agribusiness leader in Romania. Dujardin emphasized that Romania is very important for Ameropa, since this is where the group has the most assets and the most employees.As both Azomures and the 'Liviu Rebreanu' Company of the National Theater in Targu Mures mark this year six decades of existence, the anniversary event highlighted the symbiosis between the industrial platform and the community through a unique theater performance consisting of fragments from the shows staged immediately after the company's foundation, such as Mihail Sebastian's "Jocul de a vacanta/The Holiday Game" directed by Nicolae Cristache, "Take, Ianke si Cadar/Take, Ianke and Cadar" by Victor Ioan Popa, directed by Nicu Mihoc, and Molicre's "School for Wives".
Romania's President Klaus Iohannis participated on Thursday and Friday in Brussels in a meeting of the European Council, where he underscored the need for a coordinated and fast European approach to secure sustainable cuts in energy prices.

"President Klaus Iohannis argued during the meeting that a coordinated and fast European approach is needed to secure sustainable cuts in energy prices. He voiced his appreciation for the new set of measures worked out by the European Commission to improve the level of energy prices, showing that they also meet the elements requested by Romania, while being a considerable step forward that will require further consolidation. The President of Romania also showed that an approach is necessary that aims at both short-term actions to keep prices in check, as well as a long-term, future-oriented approach," according to the Romanian Presidential Administration.

Regarding the immediate measures, Iohannis welcomed the creation of the necessary framework for joint European procurement on a voluntary basis so that the EU's share in the negotiations can be used, which leads to obtaining better prices for final consumers. He emphasised the need for this mechanism to be designed in such a way that it is effectively accessible to all parties interested in it.

The President voiced general support for the measures aimed at cutting natural gas prices, saying that setting up a dynamic price corridor can provide a useful tool for managing price peaks, while maintaining the competitiveness of the market. He also pointed to decoupling of electricity and natural gas prices by reforming the electricity market, as the European Commission announced its intention to put forth concrete scenarios in this sense.

Regarding the long-term approach, Iohannis mentioned the importance of preparing for the future through investment in infrastructure, interconnections and the development of new energy sources, all of which require adequate funding, with the aim of securing a sufficient amount of energy at affordable prices for consumers while preserving the competitiveness of European industry. He said that Romania encourages the development of new energy sources, mentioning the exploitation potential of the Black Sea gas reserves.

European leaders discussed energy in connection with the economic situation and coordination measures to ensure the resilience of European economies. In the face of Russia's weaponisation of energy, the European Union will remain united to protect its citizens and businesses and take the necessary measures as a matter of urgency according to the press statement.

The European leaders requested the Council of the European Union and the European Commission to adopt as urgently as possible legislative decisions that take into account the different energy mixes, the national circumstances of the member states, as well as their impact on the existing contracts.

A first decision concerns voluntary joint purchases of gas, except for binding demand aggregation for 15% of storage filling needs, according to national needs, exploiting the Union's collective market weight and making full use of the EU Energy Platform.

Other decisions regard a new complementary price benchmark by early 2023 that more accurately reflects conditions on the gas market, as well as a temporary dynamic price corridor on natural gas transactions to immediately limit episodes of excessive gas prices, taking into account the safeguards set out in a proposed Council regulation. Also, a temporary EU framework to cap the price of gas in electricity generation, including a cost-and-benefit analysis; improvements to the functioning of energy markets to increase market transparency, alleviate liquidity stress, eliminate factors that amplify the volatility of gas prices and preserve financial stability to boost the development of renewable sources, as well as identifying energy solidarity measures in case of gas supply disruptions at national, regional or the EU level, in the absence of bilateral solidarity agreements.

All the relevant tools at national and EU levels will be mobilised to enhance the resilience of the European economies and preserve Europe's global competitiveness energy solidarity measures to strengthen the termination of the economies, with the maintenance of the competitiveness of the European Union at the global level, fair competition conditions and the integrity of the single market. The European Council expressed its commitment to close coordination and highlighted the importance of common solutions at the European level, where appropriate, said the Presidential Administration.

In addition, European leaders reiterated the need to step up investment in energy efficiency and future-proof energy infrastructure, including interconnections, natural gas storage and innovative renewable energy technologies. The European Council invited the European Commission to accelerate the work on the structural reform of the electricity market and requested additional progress regarding the Energy Union.

Discussions in the European Council also covered the latest developments in relation to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, including its consequences in Ukraine and elsewhere. The external relations of the European Union were also discussed, with an emphasis on the preparation of the future EU - Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, the relationship with China and the preparations for the 27th Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention of the UN on Climate Change in Sharm El-Sheikh (COP27). AGERPRES
President Klaus Iohannis participated, on Thursday and Friday, in Brussels, in the meeting of the European Council, where he highlighted Romania's key role in facilitating grain exports from Ukraine, showing that, in the current geopolitical context, the protection of critical infrastructure becomes a top priority.

"In terms of food security, President Klaus Iohannis highlighted Romania's key role in facilitating grain exports from Ukraine, since so far over 5.2 million tons of grain have transited our country to reach the international market. At the same time, Romania's president has shown that, in the current geopolitical context, the protection of critical infrastructure becomes a top priority, welcoming in this sense the European Commission's proposal for a coordinated approach in order to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure," the Presidential Administration informed in a release sent to AGERPRES.

According to the release, the head of state referred to the recent escalations of the Russian Federation's war of aggression against Ukraine, through attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure, the illegal annexation of the four regions, the decree of partial mobilization, showing that these represent additional evidence of "irresponsible" behavior of the Russian Federation, which has gone to another level and which calls for a common, united and strong response from the European Union and a solid transatlantic coordination.

The President reiterated Romania's support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and emphasized the importance of maintaining support for this country as long as it is needed, on all levels. In this sense, the head of state welcomed the recent decisions regarding the establishment of a military assistance mission for Ukraine and the continuation of support through a new tranche of the European Peace Facility, as concrete measures to respond to the acute needs of this country. Klaus Iohannis spoke in favor of identifying the best solutions for further ensuring adequate financial support for Ukraine, based on a structured and predictable approach.

The head of state also drew attention to the implications of the "irresponsible" actions of the Russian Federation on the security of other partners in the region, especially on the Republic of Moldova, pleading for the continuation of European efforts to strengthen their resilience.

He also highlighted the importance of maintaining pressure on the Russian Federation by all available means, welcoming the restrictive measures already adopted and expressing support for new ones, with the aim of eroding the capacity and political will to continue the war. The President reiterated that Romania is a strong supporter of international efforts to ensure accountability for all serious crimes committed in Ukraine.

As to Belarus, Iohannis emphasized the need to send a clear and coordinated message regarding the strong response that will be formulated by the European Union in the case of this state's contribution to the escalation of aggression against Ukraine. AGERPRES
"Following constant and persistent efforts to restore this building, the Husi Diocese managed to complete all the technical documentation for the inclusion of the Parvesti Monastery in the PNRR within the call for projects for investments in tourism and culture, the March 2022 session. Thus, it was possible for the Parvesti Monastery to be the only tourist objective with national impact in Vaslui county included in the 12 cultural routes. The next stage is to put the entire project out to auction, in order to contract a specialized company to carry out the rehabilitation and restoration works of the church and the bell tower," said the councilor for church constructions and heritage of the Husi Diocese, Ciprian Aurelian Tacu, according to the institution's website.The Parvesti Monastery is the only tourist objective with national impact in Vaslui County included in the 12 cultural routes financed by PNRR. Unique in the landscape of wooden churches in the region of Moldova, the church of Parvesti was built between 1816 and 1820 on the site of an older establishment, which dates back to 1666. The church is made entirely of wood, being unique due to the vaulting system, construction technique and the harmony of the volumes and preserves icons and period furniture made of linden wood carved and painted in the oil technique. The bell tower was built in 1820, in the western part of the premises, entirely of oak beams, ending in "right ridges", on a stone plinth. It has an internal wooden staircase and is covered with planks
A delegation from the Embassy of Norway in Romania and Innovation Norway was present on Thursday at this social objective, a visit made in the context of the implementation of the project "Energy efficiency and increased comfort in the residential home for elderly people in Alba Iulia", the municipality being the beneficiary.The total budget of the project is 1,294,118 euros, of which 1.1 million euros represent non-refundable financing. The project is financed with this grant of 1.1 million euros through the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, Program for Energy in Romania. The final deadline for project implementation is December next year.According to the mayor Gabriel Plesa, the building of the Residential Home for the elderly is in the "top 3 energy-phobic buildings" owned by the municipality, and through the grant obtained, along with local co-financing, this problem would be solved."We have identified a solution based on heat pumps. During the winter, we will start the purchase - feasibility study, technical project, and in the spring we want to start the actual construction, so that next winter we will have this investment completed," the mayor explained.The energy efficiency technical solution developed by the project at the Residential Home for the elderly will ensure the connectivity between the heat pumps installed by the project and the photovoltaic panels which the building is already equipped with.Once the investment made, a cost reduction in the building's gas and electricity bills of almost 30,000 euros per year would be obtained. Also, there would be a reduction in final energy consumption of 69%. At the same time, 85%-100% of the amount of thermal energy produced by the geothermal system will be able to be used for self-consumption.
PSD (Social Democratic Party) MEP Dan Nica on Friday sent a letter to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, in which he criticizes her decision not to sanction the "insult" to Romania by a MEP during the debate regarding Romania's accession to the Schengen Zone.

"Dan Nica, the leader of the PSD delegation in the European Parliament, sent a letter to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, in which he criticizes her decision not to sanction the insult to Romania by an extreme right-wing Deputy during the Schengen debate. The incident took place during the plenary debate on October 5, 2022 regarding the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Zone, and on this occasion MEP Guido Reil (ID) made a series of serious and disrespectful remarks towards Romania," reads a press release sent to AGERPRES by PSD.

Dan Nica underscored that all MEPs should comply with the Code of Conduct, and otherwise measures should be taken, including sanctions according to Article 176 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament.

"However, despite the provisions of the Rules of Procedure and the S&D Group's request to take action, President Metsola's decision was only to draw the MEP's attention to his inappropriate behavior, without further sanctions being applied. The disrespectful comments and defamatory statements against any country, especially against a member state of the European Union, have no place in the European Parliament or any other democratic institution," Nica said. AGERPRES
The Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development (INCDDD) Tulcea announced, on Thursday evening, that for the first time in the last three years, researchers have discovered this week three Romanian or Dobrudja (Mesocricetus newtoni) hamsters in the Delta.

In the text posted on Facebook and signed by researchers Gabriel Chisamera and Mihai Marinov, it is mentioned that, in the perimeter of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (RBDD), the Romanian hamster is very rarely found on the northern and western coasts of the Razim-Sinoie complex and in some areas between Tulcea and Murighiol."It is considered a rare animal for which there are no estimates of the population trend, but it is considered to be decreasing. The limiting factors are mainly represented by the restriction of the habitat as a result of the expansion of intensive agriculture. The trapping of the three hamsters, followed by rapid releases, were carried out by Pocora Viorel, and the coordination of the hamster monitoring activity was carried out by Chisamera Gabriel and Marinov Mihai," mentions the source.The trapping of the three specimens is all the more special as during this period the species goes into hibernation."The Dobrudja hamster hibernates from October to March, with periodic awakenings to consume from the food reserves gathered from summer and autumn, the hibernation period being determined by the temperature," the INCDDD post states.According to the source, the monitoring actions of mammals of community interest were carried out by INCDDD specialists as part of the project "Revision of the RBDD management plan and regulation", carried out in the period 2019-2022 by the RBDD Administration.
THURSDAY, Oct. 20, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- The coronavirus pandemic magnified health disparities among racial and ethnic groups. Some experts say using trusted community voices could help close gaps not only in vaccination rates but in overall health.

Even before the pandemic, public health experts knew that people from historically underrepresented and underserved populations were less likely to receive preventive care, including vaccines, said Dr. Andrew T. Chan, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Often, these communities have less access to vaccines and greater mistrust of the medical system, which contributes to lower rates of vaccination, he said.

Some gaps in COVID-19 vaccination rates have closed over time. In mid-2021, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native people lagged white and Asian people in percentage of those who had received at least one vaccine dose, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data for people whose race and ethnicity were known. (The CDC lacks such data for about a quarter of vaccine recipients.)

But more than a year later, as of Oct. 12, 75.5% of American Indian/Alaska Native people had received at least one dose, as had 70.7% of Asian people, 65.2% of Hispanic people, 55.2% of white people and 49.8% of Black people.

With the annual flu vaccine, CDC data consistently show lower rates of vaccination among Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native adults, who are more likely to be hospitalized with flu.

People 65 and older account for most flu-related deaths and hospital admissions, but a 2021 study in The Lancet Healthy Longevity found only about 33% of Black and 29% of Hispanic Medicare recipients were vaccinated during the 2015-2016 flu season, compared with 49% of white and 48% of Asian beneficiaries. The researchers concluded that although many factors may be involved, overall, the lower flu vaccination rates were "driven by deeply ingrained and often subtle systemic prejudices" in the medical system.

Chan agreed. "Institutional racism has led to disparities in access to vaccines and less willingness to receive vaccines," he said. But research shows people are more receptive to getting vaccinated when trusted members of their community speak about the interventions and alleviate concerns, Chan said.

That's the approach the Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln is taking in Lincoln, Nebraska. With a CDC grant, the nonprofit focused on improving local COVID-19 vaccination rates among Hispanic and Black residents, who had significantly lower rates of vaccination compared to white and Asian residents, according to county health department data.

Beginning in April 2021, the organization worked with El Centro de las Americas, Lincoln's Hispanic community center, to design posters, bus ads and social media posts encouraging vaccination against COVID-19 and the flu. The Spanish-language displays featured photos of community members and their own words, said Dr. Bob Rauner, the partnership's founder and president.

"Our Hispanic vaccination campaign was very successful," he said. "El Centro de las Americas really bought in quickly, and their director and several of their staff appeared on early versions of the bus ads." Hispanic residents now show the highest two-dose vaccination rate among the city's racial and ethnic groups, at more than 81% as of July.

However, Rauner and his colleagues had difficulty connecting with Black leaders. Some were wary of the COVID vaccine due to the history of medical racism in the U.S., Rauner said, and his organization's numbers-driven message wasn't convincing.

"As an analytical person, I just thought it was what you said. But no, it's how you say it, and who says it," Rauner said.

He reached out to Teresa "Buffy" Lewis-Hunt, a family nurse practitioner at a local health clinic, who became one of their first allies. She and Renee Massie, a retired health department employee and pastor, helped Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln make inroads with a group of Black clergy who agreed to appear on the campaign bus ads  a key way to appeal to hearts and minds, Rauner said.

"(The public is) not going to listen to clip-art people," he said. "They'll listen to Pastor Myles or Buffy."

Massie, who now works part-time on Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln's campaign, suggested its next phase: reaching folks in Lincoln's Black barbershops. "A lot of conversations take place at the barbershops," Massie said. "It's the perfect place to have conversations about COVID and vaccinations."

She visited 14 barbershops to speak with the owners, who said their clients were already talking about vaccines and COVID. With feedback from three shop owners  one of whom is Massie's son  Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln created a brochure with answers to barbershop clients' frequently asked questions, vaccination clinic addresses and photos of the barbers themselves. When customers picked up the brochures, "what drew them in were recognizable faces and the fact that they had already been asking these questions," Massie said.

The two-dose vaccination rate among Black residents rose to nearly 65% in July, up from about 51% in August 2021.

Earlier research has demonstrated the potential of using Black barbershops and churches to address health concerns. Rauner and Massie believe their approach can be adapted to other health issues, such as diabetes education and blood pressure screening to prevent heart disease and stroke. Black adults are disproportionately more likely to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes or to have high blood pressure.

"The lessons learned (from COVID) can apply to cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention," Chan said. "For colorectal cancer screening, for example, one really important place to do outreach and education around screening is at churches. It can be a great place for people to talk about their experiences and for leaders in the community to make a powerful pitch."

Massie concurs, saying that if people agree to get their COVID and flu vaccine  as doctors and public health officials are urging people to do ahead of winter  they'll likely become more interested in their overall health. They'll share that attitude with their cousins, aunts, uncles and friends and build a heathier community.

"When you start with trusted voices," Massie said, "you can begin to change people's minds."

American Heart Association News covers heart and brain health. Not all views expressed in this story reflect the official position of the American Heart Association. Copyright is owned or held by the American Heart Association, Inc., and all rights are reserved. If you have questions or comments about this story, please email editor@heart.org.

By Kat Long, American Heart Association News
Aisha Sultan Aisha Sultan is home and family editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Aisha Sultan 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

I want to believe that even Kanye Wests most ardent fans loathe his anti-semitic and racist rants.

I even would like to believe this about his newish Republican fanbase, including our very own Attorney General Eric Schmitt. Schmitt tweeted then deleted his praise for West after the musician gave an unhinged interview with Tucker Carlson laced with antisemitism. (West, who changed his name to Ye, publicly supports former president Donald Trump, endearing him to some who may not have had as much love for him before his hard-right turn.)

Wests persona is at the intersection of celebrity, mental health, politics and race in a deeply polarized moment in our country. Normally, I could care less about celebrity provocations. But when someone with that much cultural influence starts spewing vitriol it needs to be called out. As Carly Pildis, director of community engagement with the Anti-Defamation League, pointed out: Kanye West has more Twitter followers than there are Jews in the world. There are an estimated 14.8 million Jews, and he has over 30 million followers.

To call for giving this man an even bigger platform when American Jews are experiencing a rise in hate crimes is a sick kind of political opportunism. Theres been a deafening silence from the GOP about Wests repeated virulent remarks about Jewish people  none of which I care to repeat. Imagine their reaction if the exact same words were uttered by a Democrat. It would lead to nothing less than apocalyptic coverage on Fox New, but in this case Fox News is giving West the platform. Unfortunately, I think many of us have gotten numb to these political stunts and blatant hypocrisy.

But there is a demographic whose thoughts on Wests meltdowns still matter to me. A new survey of 14,500 American teens by the investment bank Piper Sandler found that the rapper ranked third on this years list of teens favorite social media personalities. Given that West is now acquiring Parler, a social media platform favored by the alt-right and rife with antisemitism, I wonder how many young followers will be lured into that same sewer. What is the long-term impact of being exposed to toxic racism online? Does seeing the same destructive and dehumanizing tropes repeated over and over normalize it?

Ive had several conversations about West over the years with my own son. Hes been a fan of the rappers music since he was a young teen and has tried on several occasions to get me to appreciate his musical genius. Years ago, he attempted to explain it to me in Gen X terms: Kanye is to my generation, what Prince was to yours, he said.

Prince was undeniably a musical genius. But, as teenage fans we werent privy to his every fleeting thought or personal crisis because social media, thankfully, did not exist. I asked my son if he had seen Wests latest social media stupidity. Like most teens, he had.

I still love his music, but its really upsetting to see him spew all this nonsense, he said.

Trying to separate great art from a morally compromised artist is a perennial issue across genres and political lines. Our children are confronting this sooner than we did given their upbringing in a very online culture. For them, these debates unfold in the comments of Instagram posts and in TikTok videos. Anyone who has spent a minute online knows these are not spaces for nuanced conversation. Mob mentality can quickly turn any controversy into a racist, misogynistic cesspool.

This is exacerbated by the zealous fans who derive a sense of identity and belonging from being part of a celebritys fanbase. Celebrities cultivate this to sell more music, tickets, cosmetics, clothes or whatever else they might be hawking. Its also where their staunchest defenders and apologists lurk.

For the sake of my kids, I dont want to cede the discourse around Kanye to trolls, stans and political opportunists. Ive discovered that the best way for me to discuss current events with them is to ask what they think about it and listen.

The responses are often reassuring.
Tony Messenger Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Tony Messenger Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

LADUE  As Alex Barge was walking into work at the Starbucks here at 6:30 on Friday morning, her co-worker was already heading out.

Ive been fired, Bradley Rohlf told Barge, allegedly for wearing a union T-shirt at work.

For the past several months, workers at this Starbucks and several others in the St. Louis region have been organizing under the Starbucks Workers Unite union. The store at the intersection of Lindbergh Boulevard and Clayton Road is one of five local stores to have officially formed the union.

As soon as Barge heard Rohlfs news, she got to work, texting her union colleagues. By 7 a.m., the store was shut down, as the union staged its second strike in the past month.

We knew it was a possibility, that management would fire workers for wearing their union T-shirts, even though that is protected activity according to the National Labor Relations Board, Rohlf says. But I was kind of surprised in the moment it happened.

Rohlf and several other workers, including Barge and Jon Gamache, all union organizers, were first disciplined for wearing their shirts on Sept. 28. That was the day I wrote about their first one-day strike, which was held mostly to protest inadequate scheduling in the store. The workers say theyve been working shifts with far too few workers, even though the store has plenty of employees.

On Oct. 13, the employees say, several of them got written up for wearing the shirts again. And on Friday, Rohlf was fired. The firing follows a trend across the country, from New York to Chicago to San Antonio to Memphis and now St. Louis, where workers have been fired ostensibly for participating in protected union activity. Workers in several stores across the country have been reinstated with back pay after filing NLRB complaints, which Rohlf says he plans to do here.

The Ladue store had a sign on it saying the store was temporarily closed, while the workers who were on strike formed a picket line with signs along Clayton Road. The manager inside the store declined to open the door to answer questions when I knocked on the door.

Nationally, spokespeople for Starbucks have defended the various firings, suggesting they were unrelated to union activity. Im not an anti-union person. I am pro-Starbucks, pro-partner, pro-Starbucks culture, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said in April. We didnt get here by having a union.

Just last week, the NLRB reinstated a Starbucks union employee in Ann Arbor, Michigan, after the labor judge determined the company acted with animus in firing the employee. Similarly in August, a federal judge in Memphis agreed with an NLRB ruling reinstating seven union workers there.

Such tolerance before union activity, but terminations resulting thereafter, supports an inference of discriminatory motive, the judge wrote.

Rohlf has worked for Starbucks for the past year, and previously worked for four years at the same store. He says while he wishes he still had his job, hes energized by the firing, and the response of his union colleagues.

Im glad it was me, and not anybody else in the store, Rohlf said. Im fully confident that our filing at the NLRB will be accepted and Ill eventually be reinstated with back pay.

As the workers held their signs on the sidewalk by Clayton Road, drivers honked their car horns in support. A couple of regulars stopped by to get the scoop and support the workers. A retired union pipefitter stopped by to give them some cash for lunch.

Gamache said the strike might last through the weekend this time. Hes prepared for the possibility that he and Barge and others who have been wearing their union T-shirts to work could face the same fate as Rohlf.

If we had a union contract in place before we started, a firing like this couldnt have happened, Rohlf says. Me being fired by Starbucks is a perfect example of the environment they are creating in their stores.
ST. LOUIS  Nineteen inmates at three Missouri prisons have died or presumably died from opioid overdoses since March, according to a sampling of county coroners contacted by the Post-Dispatch this week.

Potosi Correctional Center had seven confirmed fatal overdoses and an eighth presumed.

I have no idea how or why, other than obviously drugs are getting inside the prison, Washington County Coroner Steve Hatfield noted of the spike there.

Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre had five overdose deaths, including three since Oct. 10. Each case is pending toxicology reports. St. Francois County Coroner Jason Coplin said hes handling each one as an overdose.

They are getting in during visiting hours, Coplin said of the drugs. Thats the only thing I can think of.

South Central Correctional Center in Licking had six fatal overdoses since June. Texas County Coroner Marie Lasater said five are presumed overdoses, one, involving Christopher Scroggins, was confirmed by autopsy and toxicology. She described the fentanyl analog that showed up in his bloodwork as cartel blend.

Its much stronger than whats used in the hospital, Lasater said.

She said she was frustrated that the remaining death reports are taking so long to complete because of a backlog in state contracted autopsy and toxicology lab analysis. Victim ages range from 23 to 42. At least one of them was from St. Louis County.

Demarco E. Washington, 35, of the Glasgow Village area, was serving a 10-year sentence for the 2019 death of his 11-month-old daughter, Journey Washington, who died from fentanyl intoxication. Washington told police after his arrest that he had lost a fentanyl capsule in his daughters bedroom.

State response

Lasater said there have been numerous overdoses at the prison in Licking, most of them nonfatal.

An assistant for South Central Correctional Center Warden Michele Buckner referred a reporter to the Missouri Department of Corrections administrative office in Jefferson City for comment. Spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said Director Anne Precythe wasnt available to be interviewed by phone Friday. Pojmann refused to immediately provide comprehensive death data for prisons statewide, nor comment about specific hot spots.

All facilities struggle with the challenge of keeping drugs and other dangerous contraband out of prisons, Pojmann said by email. To answer your question, we would have to gather data, including medical records, autopsy reports, incident reports and other relevant information and conduct a comparative analysis. At this point, we dont have all of the toxicology reports from recent deaths.

Kaleb Smith, 27, an inmate in Licking who previously lived in Forsyth, Missouri, died Aug. 31. His family is fed up with the apparent lack of urgency.

As of this point, we still dont know how or why he died, said Mike Smith, an uncle. The prison has only said they are conducting an internal investigation.

Told of the coroners preliminary analysis, he said: That is what I have suspected, but nobody is cooperating with us.

He said his nephew struggled with addiction for a long time. According to court records, an arresting officer noted several track marks on Kalebs hand when he and a friend were pulled over Nov. 16, 2017, in Ozark, Missouri. He pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a controlled substance, morphine and buprenorphine, which is typically used as a medication to treat opioid withdrawal symptoms.

There is an effort underway to disperse Narcan, the overdose-reversing nasal spray, to at-risk communities in Missouri, but that hasnt happened in state prison cells.

Tim Cutt, director of the Missouri Corrections Officers Association, said only medical personnel are authorized to administer Narcan. Corrections officers, he said, are allowed to carry pepper spray and handcuffs.

I would say my staff doesnt want to carry (Narcan) because it could increase their liability if something went wrong, he said.

Getting in

Drugs get into prisons in various ways.

To cut down on the chance of bringing them in via the mail system, Missouri is now scanning personal letters to inmates and delivering them electronically. Legal mail and some other types of mail are still delivered to prisons.

Historically, drugs have also gotten in through visits and prison employees.

The corrections department, like many other state agencies, has struggled to hire and retain staff. Qualifications have been lowered over the years. Cutt said the state no longer drug tests each correctional officer recruit.

Asked for verification, Pojmann said: Any employee can be tested for drugs at any time.

In the fiscal year ending June 30, there were 2,712 urinalysis tests conducted among Department of Corrections employees, according to state records, which includes probation, parole and other areas of the enormous agency.

State prison records say 75% of offenders need drug treatment. This week, there were 23,500 inmates spread throughout 19 prisons.
PIKE COUNTY, Mo.  The police chief in the small town of Louisiana, Missouri, was in jail Thursday on drug trafficking charges after two men overdosed, one fatally, at the chiefs apartment.

William E. Jones is being held in lieu of $150,000 cash bail. He was arrested and charged Wednesday with second-degree trafficking drugs, possession of a controlled substance and tampering with evidence. All are felonies.

Jones has been chief of the Louisiana Police Department since December 2020. He turned 50 last month.

Police found methamphetamines and fentanyl in his apartment Tuesday night, along with scales and other drug paraphernalia, said Pike County Sheriff Stephen Korte. The tampering charge accuses Jones of tossing evidence in a dumpster before police arrived. Police said four people saw him do it.

Jones was put on administrative leave, with pay, on Wednesday. With Jones in jail and at least one other officer suspended, the town of 3,200 residents is down to just two full-time officers and one part-timer to patrol the city.

We were blindsided by this, Rodney Dolbeare, a member of the Louisiana City Council, said in an interview Thursday.

Louisiana is about 90 miles northwest of St. Louis. Two people at City Hall referred a reporters questions to Louisiana Mayor Tim Carter, but the mayor could not be reached.

Also charged was Alexis J. Thone, whom authorities identified as Jones girlfriend. Thone, 25, was charged with drug trafficking and drug possession. Her bail was set at $100,000 cash.

Just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, an off-duty Louisiana police officer called a non-emergency line of the Pike County 911 dispatch system to report a death at an apartment at 2306 Kentucky Street in Louisiana. Court documents identify the caller as off-duty Louisiana police officer Burns Forsythe.

When first responders got to the apartment, they found Thones brother, Gabriel Thone, dead on the floor of a master bedroom upstairs. He was 24.

A second brother, 21, was in a guest bedroom. He was in respiratory distress but paramedics revived him with Narcan, a medication that can reverse the effects of opioid overdoses. He survived and was being treated at Pike County Memorial Hospital.

Jones, who was leasing the apartment, was in the guest bedroom with the younger brother, according to court documents. Sheriffs deputies asked Jones if the man was overdosing and Jones shrugged his shoulders and gave an unsure answer, according to a probable cause statement by Genia Calvin, a deputy with the Pike County Sheriffs Office. It was the second time in a month the man had survived an overdose, Calvin said. He had been found unresponsive outside a block away from the apartment a month ago, the sheriff told the Post-Dispatch.

Jones told investigators he hadnt seen either Thone brother since 9 a.m. Tuesday and had just arrived home two hours before police were called. The Thone brothers were visiting for the weekend, Jones told police, according to court records. Alexis Thone, who shares the apartment with Jones, found her brother dead and yelled for Jones and off-duty officer Forsythe to call for help.

Alexis Thone told investigators she knew her brothers used drugs but she didnt know where they got the drugs; Jones said he had no idea there were illegal drugs being used in the home, court documents said.

Jones had no defense lawyer listed Thursday in online court documents.

Jones and Thone were not arrested at their apartment Tuesday night. Prosecutors weighed the evidence and issued an arrest warrant the next day. Jones and Thone were taken into custody about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in a traffic stop on Ashley Street on the southern edge of Louisiana. There was no resistance, Korte said. A police dog detected drugs in the car, and police found opiates, Korte said.

Korte said Louisiana, although understaffed, apparently will still be patrolling its city on its own for now. No one has asked the sheriff to patrol Louisiana, he said. Korte said his own sheriffs office has staffing concerns too, with budget constraints that leave just eight deputies to patrol a county of 670 square miles.

Korte said he had heard rumors that Jones was involved in drugs but no evidence was brought to us previously that there was any validity to the rumors, the sheriff said in an interview Thursday.

The sheriff said Jones had worked previously as an assistant warden at the womens state prison in Vandalia. Theres a little bit of a pattern of not the best work history, Korte said.

Dolbeare, the city councilman who spoke to the Post-Dispatch, was on the council that hired Jones nearly two years ago.

He went through the hiring process and the impressions were good, Dolbeare said. Right now we really cant say much of anything. Its obviously very new and fresh.

Dolbeare said it was the mayors decision to put Jones on paid leave and that it was done before Wednesdays arrest.

Jones was booked into the Pike County Jail but transferred to a cell in Lincoln County for safety reasons.

If Jones is able to post bail, a judge has set several conditions for his release from jail. He must be monitored by GPS and undergo random drug testing. He cant go onto any city property. He cant have contact with Alexis Thone or her surviving brother. And he cant have a gun or any other weapon, according to the bail conditions outlined in court documents.
NEW YORK  A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld the social cost of carbon calculation used by President Joe Bidens administration, which sharply boosts the price tag policy makers will put on the environmental impact of greenhouse gas emissions from that used by former President Donald Trump.

The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the plaintiffs, attorneys general from 13 states, including Missouri, Alaska and Montana, cannot rely on generalized grievances to challenge the metric absent a specific action taken by a federal agency.

The social cost of carbon metric is used in rulemaking processes and permitting decisions to calculate economic damages associated with a rise in greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels and other activities. The decision supports the Biden administrations argument that states cannot sue until federal agencies incorporate the metric into decisions.

The Missouri attorney generals office and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Democratic Biden administration had determined the cost to be around $51 per metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions, five times the roughly $10 figure implemented under Trump, a Republican.

The Republican attorneys general challenged Bidens February 2021 executive order that restored the approximately $51 per metric ton number set by former President Barack Obamas administration. The states argued in a lawsuit filed in Missouri federal court last year that the pricing system would lead to regulatory restrictions that would overburden farmers and manufacturers.

An Obama-appointed federal judge dismissed the lawsuit after determining the states lacked standing to sue because they had not been injured.

In response to a similar challenge by a group of seven Republican-led states, a Trump-appointed federal judge in Louisiana said in February the president lacks the authority to unilaterally write policies that fundamentally transform legislative rules or the economy and issued an injunction blocking the metric.

After the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that sweeping injunction, the U.S. Supreme Court in May affirmed.
JEFFERSON CITY  A state agency that provides nursing home care for military veterans is seeking an outside consultant to determine if the operation needs to be overhauled.

In a request issued Thursday, the Missouri Veterans Commission suggested some or all of its nursing homes could be revamped to include assisted living facilities, more day treatment services and more short-term care options.

MVC must transform how it delivers veteran elder care, ensure the services offered meet veteran needs, and transform its operational model with efficiencies, and revenue maximizing opportunities, the request notes.

The commission, which includes members of the Legislature and appointees of Gov. Mike Parson, has been grappling with significant staffing issues brought on by a combination of low pay, a national nursing shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In hopes of stemming the problems, the agency received a $50 million boost in its budget in July. But in August the Post-Dispatch reported that it had only opened half of its available beds because of staffing shortages.

The population of veterans at the homes was 684 in January, compared with 666 on Aug. 1. The agency is licensed by the federal government to have a total of 1,238 beds.

Hiring a consultant could be viewed as one way to get a fresh set of eyes on a taxpayer-funded service that has been struggling in recent years.

The contractor shall assist the state agency with identifying ways to properly scale the current homes operation, which offers long-term skilled nursing services with 1,238 beds to an operation that provides an integrated continuum of elder care services which meet the needs of 21st Century veterans, the proposal says.

The new consultant could build on the work of a 2020 report that found many of the veterans on a waiting list for beds did not actually need 24-hour skilled nursing care.

That report said adult day care could accommodate a wider variety of needs than a skilled nursing facility, and provides a level of flexibility for veterans and their caregivers that a skilled nursing setting cannot match.

According to the agency, there are an estimated 413,000 veterans living in Missouri. The agency said it wants the consulting firm to provide a next generation operating model to provide a path to transformation.

The nursing homes are located in Cameron, Cape Girardeau, Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mexico, Mt. Vernon, St. James and Warrenton.

Veterans living at the facilities pay a monthly fixed rate of $2,345 for room and care, meals and other personal care needs. In July, commissioners discussed boosting that amount.

While the revenue model MVC is currently operating under has not changed in at least 40 years, the proposal notes that services have evolved.

While nursing home care is an important part of the elder care continuum, the contractor must explore additional ways to serve veterans, it noted. The contractor shall determine how to optimize the next generation operating model through appropriate case mix, census, staffing and outside resources.

In May, the House and Senate approved a budget that pumped $53 million in additional funds to the agency in a bid to reverse its problems. Included in the spending was money to hire an additional 40 certified nursing attendants, who are paid a base salary of about $16.20 per hour.
ST. LOUIS  The St. Louis Circuit Attorneys office released employee pay records to the Post-Dispatch this week, more than nine months after the newspaper requested them.

The release comes at a time when local governments, including St. Louis city and St. Louis County, are under fire for their handling of records and Sunshine Law requests.

The newspapers counsel, Joe Martineau, had to get involved before the circuit attorneys payroll data was provided to the newspaper.

The Post-Dispatch made the request as part of its Public Pay database project. More than 200 agencies in Missouri and Illinois responded to the newspapers Sunshine and Freedom of Information requests in time for the projects publication on Aug. 28.

In previous years, the Post-Dispatch requested salary estimates, but this year the newspaper requested total gross pay for 2021, including overtime and all other compensation. For months, the Circuit Attorneys office resisted providing anything other than salary estimates, and so it was excluded from the original August publication of the newspapers database.

A spokesperson for St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner did not respond to a request for comment.

Gardners office was not alone in delaying. The cities of St. Louis, Bella Villa and Country Club Hills, the St. Louis Treasurer and Atlas Public Schools have all provided data to the Post-Dispatch in the months since the 2022 edition of the Public Pay database was published.

The paper is still seeking records from the cities of Cool Valley, St. Ann and Velda Village Hills, as well as Explore St. Louis.


Xi Jinping presides over the third meeting of the presidium of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The presidium of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held its third meeting on Friday morning. Xi Jinping presided over the meeting.

Participants at the meeting approved the draft lists of candidates for members and alternate members of the 20th CPC Central Committee, as well as for members of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

The presidium meeting decided to submit the lists to delegations for deliberation.

The lists were generated through competitive preliminary elections conducted by delegations to the congress.

The preliminary elections were conducted under the supervision of ballot scrutineers in accordance with the election methods of the congress. Over 8 percent of the nominees were voted off in the preliminary elections.

The results of the preliminary elections are valid, according to the presidium.

The formal elections for the Party's new central committee and CCDI will be held on Saturday morning.

The presidium of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) holds its third meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng attended the meeting. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
JEFFERSON CITY  Two ads by the campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Missouri vanished from YouTube after the Missouri State Highway Patrol accused the group of breaking state law by the unauthorized use of its emblem.

The 30-second ad targeted by the patrol was visible on the Legal Missouri 2022 campaign YouTube page on Thursday. But by Friday afternoon, it had disappeared.

A similar 15-second ad was still visible Friday afternoon, but a campaign spokesman said the campaign would be taking down the 15-second one if it was still uploaded. It eventually disappeared as well.

We will be uploading new versions of both shortly, said John Payne, campaign manager for Legal Missouri 2022.

The patrol issued a public statement earlier this week saying it didnt approve the use of its emblem, name, or images and that nor was permission sought.

An agency spokesman said Thursday the patrol sent a cease-and-desist order to the Legal Missouri campaign, but a copy of the letter wasnt immediately provided. The Post-Dispatch received the letter on Friday.

Kayla Kemp, legal counsel for the patrol, said in the Wednesday letter the emblem is a registered service mark and that its registration prohibits anyone other than the owner of the service mark from using the mark without the Patrols consent.

As the use of any images featuring the Patrols emblem is unauthorized and a violation of state law, Legal Missouri 2022 needs to immediately cease and desist its use of the Patrols name and emblem in its advertising, the letter said.

It goes on to mention parts of the two ads the agency took issue with and says the Patrol respectfully requests that all references, including imagery, to the Patrol be immediately removed from any past or future advertisements.

Chuck Hatfield, a Jefferson City attorney, said the letter by the patrol amounted to chest-thumping.

He said the patrol cited service mark law, which is about using things for commercial gain.

But, he said, the First Amendment allows people to engage in fair use of intellectual property, particularly when it comes to political campaigns.

One piece of footage, for example, shows someone in a police uniform riding what appears to be a state trooper motorcycle down a winding road. A narrator says a vote for Amendment 3 is a vote to let the police focus on serious crime.

John Payne, the campaign manager, called the images used stock footage on Thursday.

Asked about the cease-and-desist letter on Thursday, he said in a text message that he hadnt received it but said this footage is available to be licensed, and we licensed it. We have every right to do that.

Amendment 3 will allow our Missouri law enforcement to focus on fighting serious and violent crime by becoming the 20th state to legalize marijuana, Payne said in a text message Friday.

Obviously, the ad we released this week was highly effective in driving that message home, he said, but out of respect to the Patrol we have swapped out the 3 stock footages they identified in their letter.
UNIVERSITY CITY  The photographs are imposing, nearly 100 of them, 7 feet high.

They are contemporary photos, taken in recent years. What gets you are the eyes, the sad, sad eyes.

But the pictures stand tall and defiant, each one a monument to the power of the human soul and its ability to overcome evil.

"Lest We Forget," an art installation featuring portraits of survivors of the Holocaust, was unveiled at Washington University on Thursday.

Twelve Holocaust survivors from the St. Louis area who are featured in the installation, at the university's Tisch Park, were at the opening ceremony to see the photos for the first time. The art brought back memories of a time they can never forget.

"It was (80) years ago, and it was like yesterday," said Rachel Miller, 89, of Chesterfield.

The project will be on display in Tisch Park for two weeks. It is the work of German-Italian photographer and filmmaker Luigi Toscano, of Mannheim, Germany. He has shown it in cities around the world, always incorporating photographs of survivors who live in that city. So far, he has taken portraits of nearly 500 survivors. He was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace for the project.

"It is important that we do (everything we can) against anti-semitism, racism and any kind of hatred. This is my  you can call it mission," he said.

Toscano began the project in 2016. Among the places he has taken it to is Jerusalem, where he projected the photographs against the Old Wall of the city.

"That gave me goosebumps," he said.

One survivor he photographed, and whose picture is in the St. Louis exhibit, lives in Ukraine. He asked if she was going to leave her war-torn homeland, and she said she would stay.

"The Russian troops liberated me from Auschwitz, and now they will kill me," she told him.

"Can you imagine that?" he said.

Near-fascist political parties are gaining power in countries such as Hungary, Italy and even Germany. For that reason, Toscano said, the exhibit is particularly resonant today.

"You see what's going on in the world. You see what's happening. But it's not right to say it is the same as the Holocaust. The Holocaust is unique," he said.

'We can't forget'

In some respects, Rachel Miller's story is typical of European Jews of the time. Her family had moved from Warsaw to Paris in 1932, and she was born in 1933. The Nazis took power in Germany that year and began World War II in 1939.

"They murdered my father and my uncle. They were injected with Zyklon-B gas. They were one of the first Jews in Paris to die. They had a huge funeral," Miller said.

"The rest of my family  my mother, my two brothers and my sister  were taken to Auschwitz, where they died."

Miller lost 93 members of her family. Some were still in Poland, and she never got to know them.

She did not go to the camps.

"I was what you call a hidden child," Miller said. "My mother sent me away to a farm 100 kilometers from Paris. She saved my life. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here today, and there wouldn't be a picture today."

When in hiding, she was given the name Christine so the Nazis and even the people she was staying with would not know she was Jewish. She spent some of the time in a convent, where she was almost baptized and given first communion.

Other children in similar circumstances were too young to remember their past.

Now Miller travels around the country, speaking to groups about the Holocaust. "This is how I try to keep my family alive," she said.

Oskar Jakob, 92, of Creve Coeur, can never forget the number he has tattooed on his forearm: "A 12577."

Jakob was 13 when his family was rounded up by Hungarian Nazis, who were collaborating with German Nazis.

"They said, 'You have two hours to pack and take the stuff you need for two weeks,'" he recalled.

They had to leave on their own horse and buggy  they didn't have a car or truck  to the next town, where they joined with other Jews who were being taken from their homes. After two weeks of hard living in the open air, they were forced into railroad boxcars with 85 or 90 others. The doors were padlocked closed with just a few inches open to allow in air.

"My grandfather, he should rest in peace, said, 'Children, we will never see Hungarian soil again.' Somehow, he knew," he said.

They were taken to Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp in Germany.

"I tried to say goodbye to my mother and the little cousin she had on her arm, 4 years old. I couldn't, because of the tumult.

"I didn't know until later, but two hours later they were already on their way to the gas chamber," he said.

Jakob escaped a similar fate because of a prisoner who was already at the camp. That man told him to lie about his age and say he was 17. He pointed out the smoke rising from the crematorium and said that was what would happen to him if he admitted he was 13.

He was later transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where he was liberated by British troops on April 15, 1945.

Washington University alumnus Virgil Mantle happened to be on campus Thursday to visit the Mildred Lane Kemper. Art Museum He stopped by to look at the exhibit and read the short descriptions that accompany the photographs, telling the chilling details of each person's experience.

"I was sort of blown away and sad at the same time," he said. "Lest we forget  we can't forget."
ST. LOUIS  A 15-year-old boy was shot in the leg and back Thursday morning while walking down a street in the city's Penrose neighborhood.

Police said the teen was walking east in the 4400 block of Farlin Avenue when someone approached him and began firing shots.

The teenager was shot in the leg and back, police said. He was taken to a hospital and expected to survive.

The gunman ran from the scene before police arrived.

As of Wednesday, 19 children have died this year by gunfire across the metropolitan area. At least 75 others have been injured in shootings. Nearly all of them were in St. Louis.
JACKSON, Miss.  A Mississippi community with an elaborate Confederate monument plans to unveil a larger-than-life statue of Emmett Till on Friday, decades after white men kidnapped and killed the Black teenager for allegedly whistling at a white woman in a country store.

The 1955 lynching became a catalyst for the civil rights movement after Tills mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral in Chicago so the world could see the horrors inflicted on her 14-year-old son. Jet magazine published photos of his mutilated body, which had been pulled from the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi.

The 9-foot (2.7-meter) bronze statue in Greenwood is a jaunty depiction of the living Till in slacks, a dress shirt and a tie with one hand on the brim of a hat.

The Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., the last living witness to the kidnapping of his cousin Till from a family home, said he wont be able to travel from Illinois to attend Fridays dedication ceremony. But he told The Associated Press on Wednesday: We just thank God someone is keeping his name out there.

The Till statue at Greenwoods Rail Spike Park is a short drive from an elaborate Confederate monument outside the Leflore County Courthouse and about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the crumbling remains of the store, Bryants Grocery & Meat Market in the hamlet of Money.

The unveiling of the statue coincides with the release this month of Till, a movie focusing on Till-Mobleys private trauma over her sons death and her development into a civil rights activist.

A life-sized bronze statue of Till-Mobley is planned in the Chicago suburb of Summit. An Oct. 28 groundbreaking is set for a plaza outside Argo Community High School, where she was an honor student. The statue is scheduled to be in place by late April.

Some wrongly thought Till got what he deserved for breaking the taboo of flirting with a white woman and many people didnt want to talk about the case for decades, Parker said.

Now theres interest in it, and thats a godsend, Parker said. You know what his mother said: I hope he didnt die in vain.

Greenwood and Leflore County are both more than 70% Black and officials have worked for years to bring the Till statue to reality. Democratic state Sen. David Jordan of Greenwood secured $150,000 in state funding and the community commissioned a Utah artist, Matt Glenn, to create the statue.

Jordan said he hopes it will entice tourists to visit Greenwood and learn more about the history of the area.

So much has been said about this case, Jordan said this week. Hopefully, it will bring all of us together.

Till and Parker had traveled from Chicago to spend the summer of 1955 with relatives in the deeply segregated Mississippi Delta. On Aug. 24, the two teens joined other young people in a short trip to the store in Money. Parker said he heard Till whistle at shopkeeper Carolyn Bryant.

Four days later, Till was abducted in the middle of the night from his uncles home. The kidnappers tortured and shot him, weighted his body down with a cotton gin fan and dumped him into the river.

Jordan, who is Black, was a college student in September 1955 when he drove to the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner to watch the murder trial of two white men charged with killing Till  Carolyns husband Roy Bryant and his half brother, J.W. Milam.

An all-white, all-male jury acquitted the two men, who later confessed to Look magazine that they had killed Till.

Nobody has ever been convicted in the lynching. The U.S. Justice Department has opened multiple investigations starting in 2004 after receiving inquiries about whether charges could be brought against anyone still living.

In 2007, a Mississippi prosecutor presented evidence to a grand jury of Black and white Leflore County residents after investigators spent three years re-examining the killing. The FBI exhumed Tills body to prove he, and not someone else, was buried at his gravesite in the Chicago suburb of Alsip. The grand jury declined to issue indictments.

The Justice Department reopened an investigation in 2018 after a 2017 book quoted Carolyn Bryant  now remarried and named Carolyn Bryant Donham  saying she lied when she claimed Till grabbed her, whistled and made sexual advances. Relatives have publicly denied Donham, who is in her 80s, recanted her allegations. The department closed that investigation in late 2021 without bringing charges.

This year, a group searching the Leflore County Courthouse basement found an unserved 1955 arrest warrant for Mrs. Roy Bryant. In August, another Mississippi grand jury found insufficient evidence to indict Donham, causing consternation for Till relatives and activists.

Although Mississippi has dozens of Confederate monuments, some have been moved in recent years, including one that was relocated in 2020 from a prominent spot on the University of Mississippi campus to a cemetery where Confederate soldiers are buried.

The state has a few monuments to Black historical figures, including one honoring civil rights activist Fannie LouHamer.

A historical marker outside Bryants Grocery has been knocked down and vandalized. Another marker near the site where Tills body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River has been vandalized and shot. The Till statue in Greenwood will be watched by security cameras.

Anytime they take it down, Jordan said, well just place it back up.
Maybe our invita-tion to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt to talk to the Post-Dispatch Editorial Board got lost in the ether? Why else would his campaign fail to even respond one way or the other to our email? In case our message just got misplaced, we've decided to extend the invitation again, right here on the editorial page. We'd like to hear him out on his claims of unfair media coverage, and let him make his case for representing Missouri in the U.S. Senate.

We also want answers to some questions. The whole point of interviewing candidates is to give our readers  the very people whose votes the candidates are asking for  more insight into their goals, priorities and character than can be gleaned from tightly controlled campaign events or slick commercials.

We'll even outline, here, some of the key questions we believe Schmitt should address for the voters, so he can think about it and get back to us:

First, does Schmitt believe Missouri Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans deserve Senate representation? And if so, can he point to anything about his campaign that would appeal to those who aren't MAGA-minded extremists?

How does Schmitt answer criticism that he has, to a virtually unprecedented extent, politicized his state office to benefit his Senate campaign with legalistic stunts designed to stoke the political right? He has sued school boards over medically valid pandemic policies and nonexistent "critical race theory" curriculum. He sued the Biden administration regarding a national border that's nowhere near Missouri. And has even sought access to emails between University of Missouri journalism professors and media fact-checkers. All on the taxpayers' dime. We're not the only ones to notice.

In April, legislative Republicans  who, in Missouri are as Republican as it gets  moved to deny a $500,000 budget bump to Schmitt because, as the top Senate Republican put it, he had been using his office "for political purposes."

Speaking of which: Can Schmitt explain what, other than campaign promotion, was the practical utility for Missourians of suing China over the coronavirus?

That kind of legal aggression is actually needed in and around Schmitt's own hometown of Bridgeton, where World War II-era radioactive waste continues to threaten hundreds of thousands of Missourians  most recently with dangerously high radiation levels at Jana Elementary School in Florissant. The federal government has for decades been delinquent in its responsibility to clean it up. Can Schmitt point to anything he's done to force the issue? Or has he been too busy suing China and local school districts?

Schmitt also backed failed litigation seeking to invalidate the 2020 election in battleground states, making it fair to ask what may be the most important question: Does he or does he not accept Joe Biden as the legitimately elected president of the United States? Because any answer other than a straightforward "yes" is a lie and a threat to electoral democracy  and should be disqualifying for this or any public office.
The St. Louis city and county bal-lots contain lists of state Supreme Court, Eastern District appeals court, circuit court and associate circuit court judges who are up for retention votes in the Nov. 8 election. The yes-or-no question asked on the ballot is simply whether the judge should be retained. The Editorial Board lacks the time, expertise and resources to sit in the courtrooms of all 23 judges up for retention locally to monitor them for criteria such as demeanor, preparation and promptness. However, the Missouri Bar Association's members do monitor them, and the association surveys lawyers who have experience in those judges' courtrooms regarding a wide range of criteria.

We highly recommend that voters take the time to review those surveys at yourmissourijudges.org to acquaint themselves with the judges whose decisions can have a profound effect on Missourians' lives. The 2022 survey results found that in all cases, at all levels, the judges facing retention votes were deemed by the lawyers in their courtrooms to "substantially meet overall judicial standards." That hasn't always been the case, and past survey results have prompted the Editorial Board previously to recommend not retaining some judges.

This election, it appears safe to vote "yes" in all cases.

That doesn't mean all judges received high grades in all categories. In fact, some got low marks in areas that might deserve greater voter scrutiny, which is why we recommend that voters take a look at the survey before making up their minds. One St. Louis city judge who failed to meet standards in 2018 after years of controversy in the courtroom appears to have improved substantially.

In general, high performing judges tend to score a 4.0 average rating or above on the survey's 5-point scale. Some judges rank in the 2.5 to 3.5 range, which signals room for improvement. The survey appears to account for potential lawyer disgruntlement over having lost cases before the judge, and answers to survey questions cover a range of favorable, neutral or unfavorable ratings.

Questions include: Was the judge prepared for court? Did both parties receive equal treatment? Was the judge respectful and efficient with courtroom time? Was the judge impartial? More questions cover demeanor, following the rules, and providing clear and logical explanations of decisions.

In one case, there's even a juror survey (in which the judge received overwhelmingly high marks).

Voters who want to make informed, responsible decisions should take the time to do their own research, but for those who need a cheat sheet, this survey is worth a look.
Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Starlink, recently agreed to continue paying for Ukrainian use of his Starlink satellite communications system after openly trying to persuade the United States to pick up the cost. Musk has kept Starlink operational over Ukraine since the war began in February. This includes paying for rapid patches to defeat Russian EW (electronic Warfare) attacks and providing many Ukrainian users with the highest (and most expensive) level of service. This has cost Musk $80 million so far and will soon reach $100 million. The media promptly accused Musk of threatening to cut off Ukraine from its free Starlink service. That was never the case but maintaining the level of Starlink Ukraine demands to maintain its communications advantage over Russia keeps growing. Both Russia and China are seeking ways to disrupt or shut down Starlink over Ukraine. Yet for some reason the U.S. government refuses to make Starlink service part of its multi-billion-dollar military aid effort for Ukraine. After weeks of this Musk ended the discussion by openly agreeing to keep paying for the Ukrainian Starlink service. While Musk is the worlds richest man, there are limits to his resources and the enormous costs of maintaining Starlink for Ukraine in wartime is unprecedented and not sustainable at its current level. Musk is returning to private discussions with the American government over the issue.

When Russia invaded Ukraine before dawn on February 24th, the Ukrainian minister of digital transformation contacted Musk for help in dealing with Russian efforts to cut Ukrainian access to the Internet. Starlink officials had already been negotiating with Ukraine to provide Starlink service locally. Musk agreed to help and within four days hundreds of Starlink satellites were moved into position to provide Ukraine with high-speed Internet service using hundreds of Starlink user kits Musk sent to Ukraine. Musk ultimately supplied Ukraine with nearly 2,000 terminals and managed to persuade countries supplying military aid for Ukraine to include Ukrainian requests for more Starlink terminals, especially the more expensive, and capable commercial models. In this way Ukraine was able to obtain over 25,000 terminals so far. Most of these are used to keep the economy going and the ones used by the military are subject to combat losses. Civilian users face a similar but lesser risk and about 500 terminals are month are lost to Russian attacks. These have to be replaced and most, if not all, of the replacements are paid for by military aid for Ukraine. The Starlink replacement terminals cost about a million dollars a month.

In April American defense officials admitted that if the Starlink satellite internet service were government run, it would not have remained operational over Ukraine because government regulations do not allow for the quick responses Starlink management used to defeat Russian electronic attacks and keep Starlink operational in Ukraine.

SpaceX, the American firm that designed, built and put the Starlink satellites into orbit, accomplished this by encouraging innovation and acting quickly to deal with service interruptions, including deliberate efforts by hackers or hostile governments. By April 2022 about 20 percent of the initially planned Starlink global network satellites were in orbit. More satellites had to be put into orbit to provide the enormous demand Ukrainian military and civilian users were creating. Before 2022 Starlink was turned on over a few areas so reviewers and other volunteer users could test the system.

By February 2022 Starlink appeared to be a success but the network also displayed a remarkable resistance to attacks from hostile governments, and the Russians were the first ones coming after it with major jamming efforts and threats to destroy Starlink satellites over Ukraine. SpaceX pointed out that it could put additional Starlink satellites into orbit faster and far less expensively than Russia or anyone else could destroy them. This capability was part of the Starlink design that not only allowed satellite and user software to be quickly updated but new Starlink satellites often had new features added to improve performance and that included more resistance to hacking and jamming.

Starlink satellites are designed to last for up to seven years and the Starlink system is designed to expand to over 30,000 satellites if demand by paying customers is large enough to justify and pay for it. That is being tested by the heavy use of the Starlink satellites over Ukraine by Ukrainians who dont have to pay the usual one time $500 startup or and $99 monthly fees. This serves as a test of how much heavy use each satellite can handle, especially when constantly subject to heavy Russian hacking and jamming efforts. This got a lot more expensive as Starlink introduced its more capable, and expensive, commercial and military grade terminals.

Russia did seek to sever the fiber optic cables that connect Ukraine to the global Internet, and generally try to disrupt Internet service inside Ukraine. Starlink made this effort futile and Starlink became the first satellite communications service that could be described as combat tested. This is always a major selling point for military equipment or anything built to that is built to survive in a harsh environment. Starlink expected many emergency relief organizations would maintain Starlink accounts that could be taken into disaster areas where most communications were disabled. Starlink terminals can be linked to local networks and supply Internet service for locals and emergency workers.

Starlink resistance to hackers and jamming was quickly put to the test as Russia came after it several times in the first two months of the war, failing in each attempt because Starlink engineers could diagnose an attack, develop a software patch and implement it quickly, often in less than an hour. Starlink also responded by modifying the design of newly manufactured Starlink satellites to resist efforts to disrupt service.

The Ukrainians were equally innovative in finding new ways to use Starlink Internet service in combat. One example was using Starlink to support attacks on Russian supply lines day and night. The night attacks were effective because of the use of small Ukrainian designed UAVs equipped with GPS, a night vision camera, a laser range finder and a link to a nearby artillery unit via Starlink. The UAV patrolled Russian supply routes at night and, when a convoy was spotted trying to move safely in the dark, the artillery unit had the continually updated location of the trucks. That enabled the Ukrainians to fire at the convoy and destroy many of the vehicles while demoralizing the survivors who didnt believe the Ukrainians could detect them in the dark and call-in accurate artillery fire.

Similar innovations were developed to provide Ukrainian military units with better communications than the Russian invaders. That edge has been maintained and expanded even though Russians, now the Chinese, continue trying to disrupt Starlink service or find ways to locate active terminals quickly and target them for air or artillery attack.

The American military bureaucracy is not hopelessly trapped by mandatory rules and regulations. In wartime the system becomes a lot more responsive as the military is allowed to act quickly and effectively to deal with problems. This was the case during the recent war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq/Syria. That effort is winding down and the rules and regulations are regaining their dominance. Commercial firms like SpaceX achieve success by using wartime rules and often eventually fade as more rules replace their freedom to quickly respond.
The UN is once again publicly considering a withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping force, or at least a major reduction in the size and mission of the force. UN officials in Congo believe there is a "crisis of confidence" exhibited by Congolese in the east (North and South Kivu provinces) towards the peacekeeper presence. That is a key factor in reconsidering UN peacekeeper operations there. The revival of the M23 rebel group is another. The UN specifically mentioned the July 13 attack by M23 fighters on the North Kivu town of Bunagana as a turning point. In mid-August the UN temporarily withdrew peacekeepers from the North Kivu city of Butembo after three peacekeepers and 12 civilians died in a riot and confrontation. There have been numerous incidents since. On September 30 a Pakistani peacekeeper was killed when a local militia attacked his units camp. On October 5 peacekeepers in South Kivu repelled two attacks on their base by a tribal militia. Following the October attack UN officials warned that attacks on peacekeepers may be a war crime and the attackers could face war crimes charges in an international court. The UN peacekeeping operation currently deployed is around 12,000 soldiers and just over 1,600 policemen, including about 590 individual policemen and 1,050 policemen in formed police units. The number of soldiers serving as peacekeepers may soon drop to around 11,500. Ukraine withdrew 250 soldiers in mid-September. (Austin Bay)

October 18, 2022: In eastern Congo (North Kivu province) ADF Islamic terrorists attacked two clinics, killing six people and kidnapping a nurse.

October 13, 2022: In Uganda, president Museveni reinstated his son, general Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Nine days ago, Museveni fired Muhoozi for meddling in Kenyan politics and threatening to invade Kenya. In a tweet Muhoozi claimed he and his forces could seize Nairobi in two weeks. Muhoozi has since apologized to Kenyan leader William Ruto and sought his forgiveness. It is good to be the presidents son. After his reinstatement, Muhoozi was promoted to full general (four-star). When he was fired, he was a three-star lieutenant general. For what its worth, many Kenyans and Ugandans thought Muhoozis Twitter bravado was ridiculous. Moreover, Kenya and Uganda are regarded as allies. Ugandas Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that the Government of the Republic of Uganda does not conduct its Foreign Policy and other official business through social media

October 12, 2022: In western Congo (Mai-Ndombe province) tribal violence continues. This began in July when fighting broke out between the Teke and Yaka tribal militias. Now an estimated 30,000 people have been displaced by the violence. Another 2,600 people have fled to the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and are seeking asylum.

October 9, 2022: FATA (Financial Action Task Force) is placing Congo on its list of countries subject to enhanced surveillance. This is FATFs so-called gray list of nations not policing money laundering, terrorist financing and financial corruption operations. Congos finance minister said he would follow all of FATFs recommendations regarding Congo.

October 6, 2022: Congo president Tshisekedi rejected a request made by the U.S. government to halt an auction of oil drilling blocks located in the Congo Basins tropical peatlands. The U.S. claimed the area is one of the worlds largest carbon sinks.

In Zambia the anti-corruption commission arrested five men for being involved in an $18 million scam to defraud the government. One of the arrested is a former national health minister. The scam involved purchasing medical health kits.

The U.S. accused Russia of exploiting CARs (Central African Republic) natural resources in order to help finance Russias war on Ukraine. The statement specifically mentioned the Russian mercenary company the Wagner Group.

October 4, 2022: In eastern Congo (North Kivu province) ADF Islamic terrorists killed and beheaded twenty local Christians and kidnapped several others. So far this month ADF has killed at least fifty Christians and kidnapped several others. There are many Christians who are missing and believed to have fled the ADF violence.

In the capital, president Tshisekedi fired the Army Chief of Staff general Celestin Mbala Musense. This was described this action as part of a series of military reforms. Musense will be replaced by general Christian Tshiwewe Songhesha, who previously commanded the elite Republican Guard. The Republican Guard protects the president and key government installations. The presidents office pointed out the new chief of staff and his deputy are much younger than the men they replaced.

Ugandan security forces in the capital (Kampala) detained nine people who were protesting against a planned crude oil pipeline project. The pipeline will cost between $3.5 and four billion dollars and connect Uganda's oilfields to a seaport in Tanzania.

Ugandan president Museveni removed his son, general Kainerugaba, as commander of Ugandas infantry forces (land forces). Muhoozi had threatened to attack and seize Kenyas capital, Nairobi and insulted Kenyas new president. Bad form -- Kenya and Uganda are supposed to be allies. Muhoozi has also claimed he supports some rebel groups in eastern Congo and called on Africans to support Russia in its war against Ukraine.

October 3, 2022: In eastern Congo (North Kivu province) a homemade explosive device detonated in a movie theater. At least ten people were wounded. This took place in the city of Butembo, which has suffered several attacks by terrorists belonging to the ADF.

Elsewhere in eastern Congo (Ituri province) suspected ADF terrorists entered a rural village and hacked to death 14 civilians and then burned three dozen houses.

In the Central African Republic (CAR), a roadside bomb killed three UN peacekeepers from Bangladesh. The men were riding in a vehicle when the bomb exploded. Several other peacekeepers were wounded. The attack took place near the Cameroon border.

October 1, 2022: In western Uganda a Tanzanian doctor working in at a health facility died from Ebola. Last month Uganda confirmed one Ebola death and said it was investigating seven suspected Ebola deaths.

September 30, 2022: In eastern Congo the situation in Congo is deteriorating because of continued attacks by violent groups. There was also concern about confrontations between UN personnel and local civilians. The total number of displaced people now in Congo is 5.5 million and most blame their situation on the violence in eastern Congo.

September 28, 2022: In Uganda at least 22 people have been killed in two military helicopter crashes in the last three days. Both crashes occurred during operations against ADF terrorists. One crash was in Congo It is believed both helicopters were involved in operations against the ADF. One crash occurred in Congo (Ituri province) and the other was across the border in Uganda.

September 27, 2022: Congo declared the end of its latest Ebola virus outbreak in North Kivu province.

September 23, 2022: In eastern Congo (North Kivu province) at least one person was killed and two wounded during a demonstration against the March 23rd (M23) rebel group. M23 also calls itself the Congolese Revolutionary Army (CRA).

September 22, 2022: Congo and Rwanda reached an agreement to reduce tensions between the two countries. Congo president Tshisekedi and Rwandan president Kagame met during the UN General Assembly in New York. French president Macron acted as mediator. The leaders said they would jointly fight terrorism and ensure that M23 rebels in Congo are withdrawn. On September 20 in a speech before the UN Tshisekedi accused Rwanda of aggression in Congos eastern provinces and providing M23 with massive support.

September 18, 2022: The head of the UN said that UN forces have not been able to defeat the forces of the revived M23 rebel movement. In part this is because the M23 has turned into a modern army, with more advanced military equipment than that of UN peacekeepers. Congo and regional diplomats accuse Rwanda of arming and training the new M23, which is also recruiting gunmen from refugees in camps in Kenya and Uganda.

Ukraine completed the withdrawal of its troops serving with the Congo peacekeeping force. Ukraines contingent included eight helicopters (about a third of the Congo peacekeepers helicopters). The withdrawal seriously reduces the effectiveness of peacekeeper combat operations and ability to provide logistical support.
Will lead the Company as it develops the critical mineral mines necessary for the energy transition in the United States

Robert Friedland will continue as Executive Chairman

Eric Finlayson will assume new role as Chief of Global Exploration

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 21, 2022 / Ivanhoe Electric (NYSE American:IE)(TSX:IE) Chairman and current Chief Executive Officer Robert Friedland and current President Eric Finlayson are pleased to announce that Taylor Melvin will join the Company as its President and Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Melvin has over 20 years of experience in the natural resources sector as a senior corporate development professional and investment banker. He was most recently Vice President, Corporate Development for Freeport McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX), a leading international mining company focused on copper, headquartered in Arizona. Prior to joining Freeport-McMoRan in 2008, Mr. Melvin was an Executive Director in J.P. Morgan's Natural Resources investment banking group in New York. Mr. Melvin received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and his MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Current CEO and Chairman Robert Friedland commented: "When we took Ivanhoe Electric public in June, we did so on the strength of our existing management team that was developed in the private Company. Our intention was to expand and fine-tune the executive management team, to continue on the growth and development path that we and our investors are expecting. We have taken the time since the IPO to seek out the best talent we could find. We are pleased that our search led us to Mr. Melvin, an experienced executive in the copper mining industry who happens to live in Phoenix, only 45 minutes away from our flagship Santa Cruz Copper Project located near Casa Grande, Arizona. We are excited to build a team around Mr. Melvin, which will be based in the Phoenix area."



Current President Eric Finlayson added: "I can't think of a better fit for Ivanhoe Electric than Mr. Melvin given his deep knowledge of the U.S. copper mining industry and Arizona in particular."

Mr. Melvin commented, "I've known Robert for many years, and our paths crossed again recently regarding his desire to expand the management team at Ivanhoe Electric. I am excited about the opportunity to join an exceptional team and help the Company advance its portfolio of high-quality assets, including the Santa Cruz Copper Project here in Arizona and the Tintic Project in Utah. I can't wait to get started."

Robert Friedland will continue as the Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Electric.

Eric Finlayson will take on the new role of Chief of Global Exploration. Eric has almost 40 years of global multi-commodity exploration and discovery experience with 24 years as Global Head of Exploration with Rio Tinto. In his new role, Eric will return to his roots and lead the Company's efforts in project identification and evaluation in jurisdictions that will also be key to U.S. critical minerals supply - principally in Australia, Canada and Europe. Graham Boyd, the Company's Vice President, U.S. Projects, will continue to supervise exploration activities within the continental United States.

"Taylor's addition is the first of several anticipated changes to strengthen our management team," Mr. Friedland continued. "With Taylor on board, we expect to announce a few other key additions in the coming months, so we have the talent necessary to execute our next phase of growth and development."

All appointments and changes, including Mr. Melvin's appointment, will be effective November 21, 2022. Mr. Melvin will also join the board of directors at that time.

About Ivanhoe Electric

Ivanhoe Electric is an American technology and mineral exploration company that is re-inventing mining for the electrification of everything by combining advanced mineral exploration technologies, renewable energy storage solutions and electric metals projects predominantly located in the United States. Ivanhoe Electric uses its Typhoon" transmitter, an accurate and powerful geophysical survey system, together with advanced data analytics provided by its subsidiary, Computational Geosciences, to accelerate and de-risk the mineral exploration process as well as to potentially discover deposits of critical metals that may otherwise be undetectable by traditional exploration technologies. Through its controlling interest in VRB Energy, Ivanhoe Electric also develops and manufactures advanced grid-scale vanadium redox battery storage systems. Finally, through advancing its portfolio of electric metals projects located primarily in the United States, headlined by the Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona and the Tintic Copper-Gold Project in Utah, as well as projects in Montana, Oregon and North Carolina, Ivanhoe Electric is also well positioned to support American supply chain independence by delivering the critical metals necessary for electrification of the economy.

Information contact

Investors

Evan Young, VP of Corporate Development

604-689-8765

Valerie Kimball, Director, Investor Relations

720-933-1150

SOURCE: Ivanhoe Electric Inc.

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CHICAGO, IL and VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 21, 2022 / The Planting Hope Company Inc. (TSXV:MYLK) (OTCQB:MYLKF) (FRA:J94) ("Planting Hope" or the "Company"), a plant-based food and beverage company focused on producing the world's most nutritious and planet-friendly products, is pleased to announce the completion of a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") of unsecured, non-transferable 12% convertible debentures ("Convertible Debentures") at a purchase price of C$1,000 per Convertible Debenture, raising gross proceeds of C$2,223,750.

Each Convertible Debenture bears a face value of C$1,120 ("Face Value"), comprised of a base principal amount of C$1000 ("Base Principal") and prepaid interest in the amount of C$120 ("Prepaid Interest"). The Convertible Debentures will bear interest at a rate of 12% per annum from the date of issue, payable semi-annually in arrears, to be paid at the election of the Company, either in cash or converted into subordinate voting shares of the Company ("Shares") at a conversion price (the "Interest Conversion Price") equal to the maximum Discounted Market Price (as defined under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") based on the closing price of the Shares on the date immediately preceding the interest payment due date.

The holder may, at its option, convert all or a portion of the aggregate Base Principal of each Convertible Debenture at any time prior to October 20, 2025 (the "Maturity Date") into units (the "Units") at C$0.55 per Unit, whereupon all Prepaid Interest and accrued and unpaid interest in respect of the principal amount so converted shall be, at the election of the Issuer, either paid in cash or converted into Shares at the Interest Conversion Price. Each Unit is comprised of one Share (a "Unit Share") and one non-transferable share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable by the holder thereof to purchase one Share at an exercise price of C$0.80 at any time prior to the Maturity Date.

The Company shall have the right to redeem the Convertible Debentures prior to the Maturity Date at any time after 6 months from the closing of the Private Placement, by paying holders the then outstanding Face Value of the Convertible Debentures together with all accrued and unpaid interest and a redemption penalty payment of 8% of the then outstanding Face Value, by cash payment on giving the holders 20 business days' notice (the "Redemption Notice") to do so. On receipt of the Redemption Notice, a holder, may at its option, convert all or part of the then outstanding aggregate Base Principal of the Convertible Debenture into Units at the Conversion Price and all outstanding Prepaid Interest and any accrued and unpaid interest in respect of the Base Principal amount so converted shall be, at the election of the holder, either paid in cash or converted into Shares at the Interest Conversion Price, by giving the Company notice within 10 business days of receipt of the Redemption Notice.

The Convertible Debentures, Shares, Unit Shares, Warrants and any underlying securities of the Company issuable on conversion or exercise thereunder (collectively, the "Securities") are subject to a hold period and may not be traded until February 21, 2023, except as permitted by applicable securities legislation and the rules and policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. In addition, such Securities will not be transferable or saleable until April 21, 2023, being that date that is 6 months and one day following the closing of the Private Placement in addition to any resale and transfer restrictions under applicable securities laws and stock exchange policies.

"We are pleased to have the continued support from the investment community as we execute on our business plan and look forward to continued momentum as we grow and innovate," said Julia Stamberger, CEO and Co-Founder of Planting Hope. "In a little under a year as a public company, we have introduced more than 35 new products and flavors across our brand portfolio, expanded our total distribution points to over 50,000 placements in North America, acquired and grown our RightRice product line, and have reported multiple successive quarters of record revenue growth. Plant-based products are here to stay, and products like plant-based milks are continuing to grow rapidly with consumers, retailers, and food service. We are thrilled to be at the forefront with our Hope and Sesame Sesamemilk, a unique category-disrupting breakthrough product in sustainability, performance, and great taste, which has been recognized with eight industry awards for performance, taste and innovation. We continue to deliver on our mission to deliver more nutritious, more sustainable, and more delicious plant-based and plant-friendly food and beverages."

In consideration for arranging the Private Placement, the Company paid finder's fees of $157,860 in cash. The proceeds from the sale of Convertible Debentures under the Private Placement will be used for general working capital.

Certain directors and officers of the Company have acquired Convertible Debentures for an aggregate Base Principal of C$30,000 (with Face Value of C$33,600) under the Private Placement. Accordingly, the Private Placement is to that extent a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101"). The transaction is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as neither the fair market value of any shares issued to, or the consideration paid by such persons will exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The completion of any additional tranche(s) of the Private Placement is subject to the approval of the Exchange. The Company anticipates closing of such tranche(s) as soon as practicable subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals.

About The Planting Hope Company Inc.

Planting Hope develops, launches, and scales uniquely innovative plant-based and planet-friendly food and beverage brands. Planting Hope's award-winning and cutting-edge products fill key unmet needs in the skyrocketing plant-based food and beverage space. The Planting Hope brand family includes award-winning Hope and Sesame Sesamemilk and Barista Blend Sesamemilk, Sesamilk" creamers, RightRice Veggie Rice, Mozaics" Real Veggie Chips, and Veggicopia Veggie Snacks. Founded by experienced food industry entrepreneurs, Planting Hope is a women-managed and woman-led company focused on nutrition, sustainability, and diversity. For more information visit: www.plantinghopecompany.com

Company Contact:

Julia Stamberger

CEO and Co-founder

(773) 492-2243

[email protected]

Investor Relations Contacts:

Glen Akselrod, Bristol Capital

(905) 326-1888 ext. 1

[email protected]

Caroline Sawamoto, IR Labs

(773) 492-2243

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Alex Jessup, Jessup PR

(323) 529-3541

[email protected]

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain disclosure in this release, including the expected use of proceeds of the Private Placement, constitutes forward-looking statements that are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors outside of the Company's control that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. In preparing the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, the assumption that all conditions precedent to the completion of the Private Placement will be satisfied in a timely manner; that general economic and business conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner; and that the Company will be able to raise additional funds on reasonable terms. Although the management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any forward-looking statement herein will prove to be accurate. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company 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: The Planting Hope Company Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:
Vicarious Surgical Inc. (Vicarious Surgical or the Company), a next-generation robotics company seeking to improve the cost, efficiency, and outcomes of surgical procedures, today announced the resignation of technology-focused venture capitalists Dror Berman and Samir Kaul from the Vicarious Surgical Board of Directors effective October 18, 2022. The Company also announced the appointment of Beverly Huss to the Vicarious Surgical Board of Directors, effective as of the same day. Ms. Huss will serve as a member of the Boards Audit Committee.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Samir and Dror for their meaningful contributions and dedication to Vicarious Surgical over the past years; both have been instrumental in Vicarious evolution from tech start-up into the public, surgical robotic company that it is today, said David Styka, Chairman of the Vicarious Surgical Board. We are excited to welcome Beverly to the Vicarious team, where she will undoubtedly be a tremendous resource given her decades of broad experience in the medical device field and reputation as a visionary leader earned through successful pursuits across research and development, manufacturing, marketing and commercialization. Beverlys involvement will be invaluable in advancing the Vicarious strategy.

I am honored to join the Vicarious Surgical Board at this exciting phase for the Company, said Ms. Huss. The Vicarious system possesses a number of differentiating factors that I believe hold the potential to transform the standard in surgical robotics. I look forward to working closely with my fellow board members and the Vicarious leadership team in their pursuit to bring these advancements to patients in need.

Ms. Huss co-founded and previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Pagonia Medical, a development stage company in the tissue preservation market, where she led the incorporation efforts and seed capital financing. Prior to this, Ms. Huss served over several years as Chief Executive Officer of Qool Therapeutics, Inc., a therapeutic hypothermia and medical device company, and as Chief Executive Officer of Vibrynt, Inc., a start-up medical device company dedicated to creating minimally invasive therapies for patients suffering from morbid obesity. From 1986 to 2005, Ms. Huss served in various general management roles of increasing responsibility within the research and development, regulatory affairs, marketing and sales departments of Guidant Corporation, a market leading medical device company focused on treatment of cardiac rhythm management, cardiovascular and peripheral vascular disease through minimally invasive therapies, until its acquisition by Boston Scientific Corporation.

Ms. Huss is a veteran board member with nearly two decades of board experience and presently resides on the Boards of Accuray Incorporated, Ancora Heart, Inc., Iridex Corporation and Madorra, Inc. She received a Bachelor of Science in metallurgical engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Masters degree in technology management from Pepperdine University.
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Altavair L.P., a leader in commercial aviation finance, announced today the signing of a definitive agreement to lease 10 Airbus A330-300 aircraft to Amazon Air. The aircraft will be delivered following freighter conversion by Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH, a joint venture between ST Engineering Aerospace and Airbus. The aircraft are owned by funds and accounts managed by KKR, with Altavair acting as lease servicer. The first of the A330 freighters will be placed in service with Amazon Air in late 2023.

We are thrilled to have presented this opportunity to Amazon Air and look forward to growing this relationship further, said Steve Rimmer, CEO of Altavair. Our ability to execute this complex transaction in a challenging environment for the aviation industry is a testament to our decades of experience leasing cargo aircraft, our teams creativity and KKRs ongoing support of our strategy. We are very appreciative that Amazon Air placed its confidence with the Altavair team to make this transaction a reality.

Together with Altavair, we are happy to support Amazon with this transaction, which marks an important milestone in our continued efforts to build relationships with leading carriers around the world, said Patrick Clancy and Andrew Peisch, Directors at KKR.

Were pleased to work with Altavair, said Sarah Rhoads, Vice President, Amazon Global Air. The teams expertise and tenure in the industry make them an excellent partner, which enables us to focus on operational excellence to deliver on customer promises.

KKR Capital Markets and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) acted as Joint Mandated Lead Arrangers, and MUFG acted as Structuring Agent and Hedge Provider in this transaction.

About Altavair L.P.

Altavair L.P. is an asset manager focusing on the acquisition of new and used commercial aircraft for leasing to domestic and international passenger airlines and cargo operators. Since its inception in 2003, Altavair has completed over $10 billion in commercial aircraft lease transactions with over 60 airline customers in 28 countries representing over 200 individual Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Altavair maintains offices in Seattle, London, Dublin and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.altavair.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005276/en/

Media:

Timothy OHara

+1 425-369-8062

[email protected]

Source: Altavair L.P.
OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of a- (Excellent) of Everen Specialty Ltd. (Everen Specialty) (Hamilton, Bermuda) (formally known as Oil Casualty Insurance, Ltd.). AM Best also has affirmed the Long-Term Issue Credit Rating of bbb (Good) on the $200 million, 8.00% deferrable subordinated debentures, due Sept. 15, 2034. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings reflect Everen Specialtys balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

Everen Specialtys risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Bests Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), in the very strong range, though overall capital levels have been in decline over the past five years. Capitalization has remained sufficient to support the companys strategic diversification efforts. The companys diversification efforts have supplemented its primary mission as a stable capacity provider for the energy industry.

Everen Specialtys underwriting performance has been volatile over the prior five years, as the company experiences occasional shock losses. However, the company does use retrocessional reinsurance and limit management cover to mitigate its exposures. Everen Specialtys reinsurance program has been proven effective in dampening volatility. Investment returns have been accretive to the companys results in four of the past five years (2021 through 2017).

The management team is seasoned, with its members having experience in the insurance, financial and energy industries.

AM Best does not anticipate positive rating movement over the short term; diversification and growth initiatives will need to prove beneficial to the groups operating performance over the intermediate term. Negative rating actions could result from continued reduction in Everen Specialtys risk-adjusted capitalization.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Bests website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Bests Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Bests Credit Ratings, Bests Performance Assessments, Bests Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Bests Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright  2022 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005327/en/

Christopher Pennings, CPCU

Financial Analyst

+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5611

[email protected]

Christopher Sharkey

Manager, Public Relations

+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159

[email protected]

Clare Finnegan

Senior Financial Analyst

+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5165

[email protected]

Al Slavin

Communications Specialist

+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5098

[email protected]

Source: AM Best
OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of a+ (Excellent) of Farmers New World Life Insurance Company (FNWL) (Bellevue, WA). At the same time, AM Best has affirmed the FSR of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR of a (Excellent) of Farmers Reinsurance Company (Farmers Re) (Woodland Hills, CA). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings of FNWL reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). The ratings also recognize the continued strategic value FNWL provides to its ultimate parent, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd.

FNWLs ratings are supported by its risk-adjusted capitalization maintained at the strongest level, as measured by Bests Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), the historical positive earnings trend, which includes recent improvement in mortality trends, and material contributions to the overall group from new business value and operating profits. Partially mitigating factors include the relatively flat premium trends and high use of reinsurance through highly rated unaffiliated and affiliated entities.

The ratings of Farmers Re reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate ERM. The ratings also reflect the companys strategic importance to Zurich Insurance Group Ltd.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Bests website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Bests Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Bests Credit Ratings, Bests Performance Assessments, Bests Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Bests Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright  2022 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005321/en/

Edin Imsirovic

Associate Director

+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5740

[email protected]

Christopher Sharkey

Manager, Public Relations

+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159

[email protected]

Robert Raber

Director

+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5696

[email protected]

Al Slavin

Communications Specialist

+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5098

[email protected]

Source: AM Best
0-80% State of Charge in Less Than Six Minutes

Q&A to Follow

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Amprius Technologies, Inc. ("Amprius") (NYSE: AMPX), a leader in ultra-high energy density lithium-ion batteries with its Silicon Nanowire Anode Platform, today announced that it will host a demonstration on Wednesday, October 26, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. EDT, of one of its batterys extreme fast charge rate of 0-80% state of charge in less than six minutes.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221020006138/en/

Amprius Technologies Silicon Nanowire Anode Battery (Photo: Business Wire)

Amprius has been in commercial production since 2018, and has continued to evolve its batteries in pursuit of game changing performance, offering batteries that provide superior performance compared to conventional graphite lithium-ion batteries.

During the virtual demonstration, Amprius Chief Technology Officer Dr. Ionel Stefan will explain the proprietary silicon nanowire anode technology and the unique battery characteristics that make it well positioned to address the electric mobility market.

Dr. Stefan will be testing Amprius Aviation High Power Fast Charge Cell (P/N CL0007 Silicon Nanowire Anode / LCO Cathode) that has the following specifications:

2.75Ah capacity

28 g weight

360 Wh/kg at C/5 discharge (Amprius provides range of batteries between 360-450 Wh/kg)

890 Wh/L at C/5 discharge (Amprius provides range of batteries between 890-1,400 Wh/L)

Greater than 100 cycles to 80% of initial capacity at 100% DoD

Max continuous discharge current 12.5A (5C)

This technological advancement validates Amprius performance against the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium 2025 goal of 0-80% in sub-15 minutes and has been verified by third-party independent testing.

Amprius Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kang Sun and Chief Operating Officer Jon Bornstein will join Dr. Stefan for a question-and-answer session following the extreme fast charge demonstration.

Registration is required for this event. To register or view the replay of the webcast, please click here.

About Amprius Technologies, Inc.

Amprius Technologies, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of high-energy and high-power lithium-ion batteries producing the industrys highest energy density cells. The companys corporate headquarters is in Fremont, California, where it maintains an R&D lab and a pilot manufacturing facility for the fabrication of silicon nanowire anodes and cells. For additional information, please visit amprius.com. Also, see our LinkedIn and Twitter pages.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, each as amended, including Amprius management teams expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as estimate, plan, project, forecast, intend, expect, anticipate, believe, seek or other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Amprius future commercial products Amprius ability to produce its products at a commercial level. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of Amprius management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied upon by any investors as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond Amprius control. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including changes in domestic and foreign business, market, financial, political and legal conditions; risks related to the rollout of Amprius business and the timing of expected business milestones; the effects of competition on Amprius business; supply shortages in the materials necessary for the production of Amprius products; the termination of government clean energy and electric vehicle incentives or the reduction in government spending on vehicles powered by battery technology; and delays in construction and operation of production facilities. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact the operations and projections discussed herein can be found in the Risk Factors section of Amprius current report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on September 16, 2022 and other documents filed by Amprius from time to time with the SEC, all of which are available on the SECs website at www.sec.gov. If any of these risks materialize or our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that Amprius does not presently know or that Amprius currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect Amprius expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Amprius assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Amprius specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221020006138/en/

Investors

Cody Slach, Sophie Pearson

Gateway Group, Inc.

949-574-3860

[email protected]

Media

Zach Kadletz, Brenlyn Motlagh

Gateway Group, Inc.

949-574-3860

[email protected]

Source: Amprius Technologies, Inc.
**Not for Distribution to United States News Wire Services or for Dissemination in the United States.**

OTTAWA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Avivagen Inc. (TSXV: VIV) (Avivagen or the Company), a life sciences corporation focused on developing and commercializing products for livestock, companion animal and human applications that safely enhance and support immune function, thereby supporting general health and performance, announces that it has closed the first tranche (the First Tranche) of a non-brokered private placement financing of up to $1,000,000 (the Offering) through the issuance of common shares of the Company (each, a Common Share) at a price of $0.20 per Share (the Offering Price).

The Company issued 2,150,000 Common Shares, for aggregate gross proceeds of $430,000 in the First Tranche.

In connection with the First Tranche, the Company paid aggregate finder's fees consisting of $34,400 in cash and issued 172,000 non-transferrable finder's warrants (each, a Finder's Warrant) to Canaccord Genuity Corp., Raymond James Ltd., Echelon Wealth Partners and Leede Jones Gable Inc. Each Finders Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.20 per share for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance.

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund research and development expenses, sales and marketing costs, product registration, interest expense, working capital and general corporate purposes.

The Company may close one or more additional closings of this same Offering for additional proceeds. A subsequent press release will be issued if any such closing occurs. The Company may pay finders fees consisting of cash, compensation warrants, or some combination thereof on any subsequent tranche.

The issuance of Common Shares are subject to final acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.

All securities issued in connection with the First Tranche are subject to a four-month and one day hold period in Canada.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration under U.S. federal and state securities laws or an applicable exemption from such U.S. registration requirement.

About Avivagen

Avivagen is a life sciences corporation focused on developing and commercializing products for livestock, companion animal and human applications. By unlocking an overlooked facet of carotene activity, a path has been opened to safely and economically support immune function, thereby promoting general health and performance in animals. Avivagen is a public corporation traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol VIV, and is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, based in partnership facilities of the National Research Council of Canada and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. For more information, visit www.avivagen.com. The contents of the website are expressly not incorporated by reference in this press release.

Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Avivagen to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Examples of such statements include the possibility for additional closings of the Offering and the anticipated use of proceeds from the First Tranche. The closing of the Offering is subject to a number of customary conditions, including the approval of the applicable securities commissions and the TSX Venture Exchange, some of which are outside the control of Avivagen. Purchasers are under no obligation to participate in another closing of the Offering and another closing might not occur. Circumstances may necessitate or make it desirable that Avivagen use the proceeds of the Offering for different purposes than described above. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and Avivagen does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation.

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.

Copyright  2022 Avivagen Inc. OxC-beta is a trademark of Avivagen Inc.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005502/en/

Avivagen Inc.

Drew Basek

Director of Investor Relations

100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0R6

416-540-0733

[email protected]

Kym Anthony

Chief Executive Officer

100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0R6

613-949-8164

www.avivagen.com

Source: Avivagen Inc.
Mortgage Servicings premier Default Management solution announces two successful compliance reviews.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Brace, the mortgage servicing infrastructure fintech, today announced that it has successfully completed Type ll Service Organization Control (SOC 2) recertification examination. The audit conducted by Prescient Assurance, LLC found that for the fourth year in a row the company continues to meet the standards for Security and Availability Trust Services Principles with zero exceptions.

SOC 2 reports are industry-recognized, independent audits that examine the implementation of security controls relevant to the confidentiality or privacy of sensitive data. The clean attestation for the Type II report demonstrates Braces ability to not only implement critical security policies but also proves compliance over an extended period of time.

Having introduced to the market a platform designed to enhance mortgage compliance, we feel it is important that we lead by example, said Rob Brueckmann, Vice President of Engineering at Brace. This achievement validates the dedicated efforts made by our DevOps and security teams to ensure our systems are being operated efficiently and effectively. We are proud to provide Braces clients with the assurance that we are operating in the most secure environment possible and are providing the most rigorous controls for their customers.

Brace also recently achieved waterfall validation from PHOENIX, the premier advisory firm for MSR and whole loan trading, mortgage services, and analytics. PHOENIX works directly with lenders, servicers, and cutting-edge technology to validate regulatory requirements and industry best practices through the application of specialized knowledge and highly experienced analysts. The well-respected advisor performed testing and validation of Braces Rules Engine, which provides rules-based workout decisions in real-time for FHA, VA, and USDA decisioning. With compliance at the forefront, the Brace Rules Engine has been approved to deliver real-time automated workouts, regulatory responsiveness, and investor transparency through a secure, auditable system.

An independent peer verification from a trusted source is a vital step for mortgage servicing professionals, said Jose Morin, Vice President of Servicing at Brace. Servicers are trying to keep pace through an extraordinary period of heightened consumer needs. Were at an important juncture given the increasing number of regulatory developments and a shift from origination to servicing not seen in over twenty years. This validation gives Servicers the extra confidence to better manage their business during such uncertain times.

Ryan Lilly, Senior Vice President at PHOENIX stated, PHOENIX has worked closely with Brace in evaluating streamlined loss mitigation workflows within their default servicing software to test decisioning, underwriting calculations, and workout logic. Phoenix will continue testing and evaluating critical controls and decisions within Braces platform and plans to validate key industry requirements throughout the default servicing workflow.

About Brace

Brace evolves the connected mortgage infrastructure for every stakeholderconsumers, servicers, lenders, and investorsto intuitively maximize assets and unlock financial performance for every home. Braces flagship product, the Default Management Platform, supports the end-to-end process for the decisioning of a loss mitigation application and digital mortgage servicing experience in a secure, compliant, and consumer-led environment. Braces customers include a number of the top ten largest U.S. mortgage servicers. Visit brace.ai to learn more.

About PHOENIX

PHOENIXs Mortgage Services division delivers measurable oversight results to clients through a superior portfolio review, root cause, forensic analysis, and tactical strategic execution. Our constant pursuit of minimizing risk while optimizing ROI has helped us establish long-lasting connections across the mortgage sector. Using cutting-edge portfolio analytics, advisory services, servicing monitoring, due diligence and quality control, and many other facets of asset management, PHOENIX provides partners with complete, totally transparent access to their assets and the proactive management of those assets.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005031/en/

Media Relations

Marlene Wilden

Archie Group for Brace

(475) 328-9456

[email protected]

Source: Brace
Diverse set of founders representing all 23 CSUs pitch at entrepreneurial event

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sunstone Management announced that it is the primary sponsor of todays inaugural CSU Demo Day. The event, which is open to founders affiliated with any campus of the California State University community, will allow the CSU community to connect with equity and angel investors all in one place. Sunstones sponsorship comes through a charitable donation from the Sunstone Community Fund.

The Demo Day will take place from 8:00 AM  3:00 PM at the campus of California State University, Long Beach.

Through the Sunstone Community Fund, we are committed to nurturing the early-stage entrepreneurship community within our universities in California, and so we are thrilled to support the CSU Demo Day, said John Keisler, CEO & Managing Partner of Sunstone Management. With nearly 500,000 students enrolled in the CSU system each year, the Demo Day is sure to play host to a diverse set of founders from across the state who are the next generation of Californian creators.

Partnering with Sunstone to provide a forum for startups from the entire 23 campus system of California State University to pitch to investors in one place is a potential game-changer for innovation in California, said Wade Martin, of the Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at California State University, Long Beach. The CSU Demo Day pitch event is a unique opportunity for faculty, staff, students and alumni startups to raise working capital or seed round funding to take their idea to market! We are excited to launch this event and believe it will grow significantly in the coming years.

Twenty-five startups will pitch at CSU Demo Day.

About Sunstone Management: A Financial Times (FT) Americas Fastest Growing Company

Sunstone Management is a diversified private capital firm located in Southern California that invests in diverse early-stage technology entrepreneurs who seek to build great companies. We believe in the aspirational power of the American economy to attract and inspire investors and entrepreneurs from throughout the world. We deliver new and exciting opportunities for economic growth through the creation of innovative public-private partnerships, and our unique experience across government, education, and private sectors.

Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Crunchbase | Pitchbook

About Sunstone Community Fund

The Sunstone Community Fund is a Donor Advised Fund managed by the National Philanthropic Trust. It is an important component of Sunstone Managements vision to advance public-benefit programs that support the development of inclusive and vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems. The SCF supports a network of universities, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies that develop and implement university-based entrepreneurship programs, early-stage tech accelerators, and advance local economic development through inclusive entrepreneurship and innovation.

Website | LinkedIn

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005273/en/

Erin McGarvey

[email protected], 202-530-7701

Source: Sunstone Management
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- KBRA assigns preliminary ratings to four classes of notes issued by Goldman Home Improvement Trust 2022-GRN2 Issuer Trust (GHIT 2022-GRN2), a home improvement loan ABS transaction.

GHIT 2022-GRN2 will issue four classes of notes totaling $213.988 million, collateralized by 95% of economic participation interests (the Participations) in a pool of approximately $265.0 million consumer loans used to finance home improvement products and services originated by third-party banks under the GreenSky Program. The Participations will be sold from Goldman Sachs Bank USA (the Seller) to Goldman Sachs Asset Backed Securities Corp. (the Depositor and Sponsor), and then from the Depositor to GHIT 2022-GRN2 (the Issuer), which will in turn contribute the Participations to the GHIT 2022-GRN2 Grantor Trust.

Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Atlanta, GA, GreenSky, LLC (together with its affiliates that provide, directly or indirectly, any of the services related to the GreenSky Platform, GreenSky or the Company) operates a platform for merchants that facilitates point-of-sale financing for consumers in the home improvement markets (the GreenSky Platform or the Platform). Loans are originated by GreenSkys third-party bank partners, under the GreenSky Platform, with GreenSky providing related loan servicing and collection services. Loans originated under the GreenSky Platform generally include reduced rate loans (Reduced Rate Loans), zero interest loans (Zero Interest Loans), and deferred interest loans (Deferred Interest Loans). GreenSkys former parent company, GreenSky, Inc., completed an initial public offering in May 2018. On March 29, 2022, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc announced that it completed the acquisition of GreenSky, Inc in an all-stock transaction. GreenSky is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs Bank USA, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. In August 2022, Goldman Sachs Bank USA began originating GreenSky Platform loans and is currently originating substantially all GreenSky Platform loans, although no such loans are included in the GHIT 2022-GRN2 collateral pool.

KBRA applied its Global Consumer Loan ABS Rating Methodology and its Global Structured Finance Counterparty Methodology as part of its analysis of the transactions underlying collateral pool and the proposed capital structure. KBRA also conducted an operational assessment of GreenSky, as well as a review of the transactions legal structure and transaction documents. KBRA will review the operative agreements and legal opinions for the transaction prior to closing.

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Disclosures

Further information on key credit considerations, sensitivity analyses that consider what factors can affect these credit ratings and how they could lead to an upgrade or a downgrade, and ESG factors (where they are a key driver behind the change to the credit rating or rating outlook) can be found in the full rating report referenced above.

A description of all substantially material sources that were used to prepare the credit rating and information on the methodology(ies) (inclusive of any material models and sensitivity analyses of the relevant key rating assumptions, as applicable) used in determining the credit rating is available in the Information Disclosure Form(s) located here.

Information on the meaning of each rating category can be located here.

Further disclosures relating to this rating action are available in the Information Disclosure Form(s) referenced above. Additional information regarding KBRA policies, methodologies, rating scales and disclosures are available at www.kbra.com.

About KBRA

Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC (KBRA) is a full-service credit rating agency registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered as a CRA with the European Securities and Markets Authority. Kroll Bond Rating Agency UK Limited is registered as a CRA with the UK Financial Conduct Authority pursuant to the Temporary Registration Regime. In addition, KBRA is designated as a designated rating organization by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus. KBRA is also recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider.

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Analytical

Melvin Zhou, Managing Director (Lead Analyst)

+1 (646) 731-2412

[email protected]

Prachi Talathi, Associate Director

+1 (646) 731-1275

[email protected]

Eric Neglia, Senior Managing Director (Rating Committee Chair)

+1 (646) 731-2456

[email protected]

Business Development

Ted Burbage, Managing Director

+1 (646) 731-3325

[email protected]

Source: Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC
The Ballona Creek Trash Interceptor 007 Pilot Project aims to prevent 60 tons of trash from entering Santa Monica Bay.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Los Angeles County Public Works has officially launched the Ballona Creek Trash Interceptor 007 Pilot Project where the creek meets the ocean in Playa del Reya prime location for the debut of this internationally tested solution. The Trash Interceptor 007 is a fully automated, solar-powered trash collection device developed by The Ocean Cleanup, a Netherlands-based nonprofit. It is the first of its kind to be deployed anywhere in North America.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005322/en/

Ballona Creek Interceptor (Photo: Business Wire)

The two-year pilot project is the result of a partnership between the County of Los Angeles and The Ocean Cleanup to address the issue of stormwater pollution in Ballona Creek. But project proponents hope it will pave the way for the implementation of a scalable solution worldwide.

The Interceptor is a powerful addition to the County's multi-pronged approach to prevent trash from entering our waterwayswhich also includes banning single-use plastics and anti-littering awareness campaigns, said Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Holly J. Mitchell. I look forward to the findings from this pilot and the impact it has on keeping our waterways clean and safe for all residents to enjoy.

The Trash Interceptor 007 is a 73-foot-long catamaran with a removable barge that holds six collection bins for a combined 1,750 cubic feet of storage capacity. Its automated trash rack and conveyor-belt system run as smoothly and quietly as a common household appliance for an eco-friendly and efficient solution to harvesting waterborne trash.

Each year, between 30 and 60 tons of trash enter Ballona Creek, carried by runoff from city streets. The County has invested in numerous ways to protect local rivers, lakes, and the ocean from pollution, including bans on single-use plastics, the installation of stormwater filters and diversions, and culturally competent public outreach efforts, including the Trash Travels campaign, in multiple languages.

Protecting the regions waterways from pollution is a responsibility we share with the public and cities across the region, said Los Angeles County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella, P.E. The Interceptor 007 is the latest innovation deployed by the County and its partner, The Ocean Cleanup, to protect our public health, beautiful coastline and marine environments.

The Ocean Cleanup has deployed Interceptor Solutions in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Guatemala, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic as part of its river initiative, with the goal of implementing 1,000 river systems.

The Interceptor is The Ocean Cleanups answer to river plastic waste. It is the first scalable solution to prevent plastic from entering the worlds oceans from rivers, said The Ocean Cleanups Founder and CEO, Boyan Slat. This pilot project presents an ideal opportunity to test a global solution for automated trash collection by collecting real-world data on Interceptor 007s effectiveness at the center of the California coastline, home to some of the worlds most iconic beaches.

Engaging not only key community and government stakeholders in its mission to solve river plastic waste, The Ocean Cleanup partnered with the Coca-Cola Company, which has provided funding toward various Interceptor Solution technologies and manufacturing.

The Coca-Cola Company has teamed with The Ocean Cleanup, which is working to help stem the tide of plastic waste flowing from rivers into oceans through the placement of Interceptor Solutions in rivers around the world. This partnership is part of The Coca-Cola Companys broader sustainable packaging initiative World Without Waste, said Kurt Ritter, Vice President and General Manager, Sustainability, North America Operating Unit, The Coca-Cola Company. We understand we have a responsibility to help solve the global plastic packaging waste crisis, and solutions to this challenge can best be unlocked when stakeholders work collaboratively. We congratulate The Ocean Cleanup and Los Angeles County on the launch of Interceptor 007 in Ballona Creek.

On Oct. 22, Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell and LA County Public Works will host a launch event for the Ballona Creek Trash Interceptor 007 Pilot Project with The Ocean Cleanup Founder and CEO Boyan Slat and key community stakeholders, including representatives from Black Girls Surf, Ballona Creek Renaissance, and Friends of the Jungle.

For more information, visit the projects website at ballonainterceptor.lacounty.gov.

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MATT HARTMAN

[email protected]

+1.310.767.6789.

Source: Los Angeles County Public Works Ballona Creek Interceptor 007 Pilot Project
Monitoring Neuromuscular Blockade with Confidence

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nihon Kohden, a U.S. market leader in precision medical products and services, announced today the launch of the Smart Cable NMT Pod and disposable electrode, allowing clinicians to monitor neuromuscular blockade with confidence. The new device allows clinicians to objectively monitor the patients depth of paralysis during surgery when a neuromuscular blockade agent (NMBA), either non-depolarizing or depolarizing, is administered to the patient.

Neuromuscular blockade traditionally can be monitored through acceleromyography (AMG), which relies on the clinician to count visual twitches from a patients thumb. This data is usually handwritten, or sometimes not recorded at all. Nihon Kohdens Smart Cable NMT Pod uses electromyography (EMG) to accurately capture the level of paralysis by peripheral nerve stimulation. The value and visualization of the Train of Four ratio is presented on the main screen of the host monitor.

We believe the use of EMG technology will become the standard for anesthesiologists who want reliable neuromuscular monitoring for their patients. says Eiichi Tanaka, President & CEO Nihon Kohden America, Inc.

With the Smart Cable technology, the NMT pod integrates seamlessly into Nihon Kohden monitors (Life Scope G5, G5 Max, G7, G9, BSM-3500 and BSM-6000 Series Bedside Monitors) via the AY/BSM-1700 input units, and patient data is automatically sent to the EMR. This allows clinicians to use the data and the visual indicators on the screen to make better-informed decisions when it comes to intubating, dosing of NMBAs, and extubating.

The functionality and integration capabilities of the newly released Smart Cable NMT Pod help support Nihon Kohdens on-going mission to benefit all. Beyond the worlds first pulse oximeter, Nihon Kohden leverages its 70-year heritage to set the bar high, with industry-changing innovation for experts by experts.

About Nihon Kohden Corporation

Founded in Japan in 1951, Nihon Kohden is a leading manufacturer, developer, and distributor of medical electronic equipment, with subsidiaries in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The companys products are now used in more than 120 countries, and it is the largest supplier of electroencephalography products worldwide. A pioneer in transformational healthcare technology, Nihon Kohden has envisioned, designed, and produced revolutionary devices, such as pulse oximeters, arrhythmia analysis, low-invasive blood volume monitoring and wireless patient monitoring. For more information, visit us.nihonkohden.com.

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Emily Butler

Content Marketing Specialist

[email protected]

Source: Nihon Kohden Corporation
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nuveen Emerging Markets Debt 2022 Target Term Fund (NYSE: JEMD) today announced new details concerning its liquidation. Consistent with its investment objectives and organizational documents, the fund plans to terminate its existence and liquidate on or about December 1, 2022.

As the fund approaches liquidation, its common shares will continue trading on the New York Stock Exchange through November 25, 2022 and will be suspended from trading before the open of trading on November 28, 2022. The fund will not declare its regular monthly distribution in November 2022 and expects that all accumulated earnings will be included in the final liquidating distribution. The fund anticipates making its final liquidating distribution on or about December 1, 2022.

As previously announced, the fund entered its wind-up period in anticipation of its termination date. Leading up to the final liquidating distribution date, as the funds portfolio securities continue to mature and are sold, the fund may further deviate from its investment objectives and policies, and its portfolio will continue to transition into high quality, short-term securities or cash and cash equivalents.

Also as previously announced, due to market conditions, JEMD does not anticipate returning the Original NAV at its termination. The investment objective relating to Original NAV is not a guarantee and is dependent on a number of factors including the extent of market recovery and the cumulative level of income retained in relation to cumulative portfolio gains net of losses.

Shareholders may recognize a gain or loss for U.S. tax purposes as a result of the liquidation. Nuveen does not provide tax advice; investors should consult a professional tax advisor regarding their specific tax situation.

Nuveen is a leading sponsor of closed-end funds (CEFs) with $57 billion of assets under management across 56 CEFs as of 30 Jun 2022. The funds offer exposure to a broad range of asset classes and are designed for income-focused investors seeking regular distributions. Nuveen has more than 35 years of experience managing CEFs.

For more information, please visit Nuveens CEF homepage www.nuveen.com/closed-end-funds.

About Nuveen

Nuveen, the investment manager of TIAA, offers a comprehensive range of outcome-focused investment solutions designed to secure the long-term financial goals of institutional and individual investors. Nuveen has $1.1 trillion in assets under management as of 30 Jun 2022 and operations in 27 countries. Its investment specialists offer deep expertise across a comprehensive range of traditional and alternative investments through a wide array of vehicles and customized strategies. For more information, please visit www.nuveen.com.

Nuveen Securities, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC.

The information contained on the Nuveen website is not a part of this press release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements made or referenced in this release may be forward-looking statements. Actual future results or occurrences may differ significantly from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. These include, but are not limited to:

market developments, including the timing of distributions and other events identified in this press release;

legal and regulatory developments; and

other additional risks and uncertainties.

EPS-2521167PR-E1022W

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Financial Professionals:

800-752-8700

Investors:

800-257-8787

Media:

[email protected]

Source: Nuveen
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sisecam Resources LP (NYSE: SIRE) will release third quarter 2022 financial results after the market closes on Friday, October 28, 2022.

ABOUT SISECAM RESOURCES LP

Sisecam Resources LP, a master limited partnership, operates the trona ore mining and soda ash production business of Sisecam Wyoming LLC, one of the largest and lowest cost producers of natural soda ash in the world, serving a global market from its facility in the Green River Basin of Wyoming. The facility has been in operation for more than 50 years.

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Investor Relations

Mehmet Nedim Kulaksizoglu

Chief Financial Officer

(770) 375-2321

[email protected]

Source: Sisecam Resources LP
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Vaughan Nelson Investment Management (Vaughan Nelson), a registered investment adviser and affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers (Natixis IM), today announced that Stephen A. Davis will retire on March 31, 2023. Davis has been a member of Vaughan Nelsons investment team since 2010 and co-manager of the Vaughan Nelson Small Cap Value Fund (NEJYX) since 2019.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005410/en/

Chris D. Wallis, CFA, CEO and CIO of Vaughan Nelson, who has served as lead manager of the Vaughan Nelson Small Cap Value Fund since 2004, will continue to manage the fund alongside co-manager James Eisenman, CFA. Eisenman has served as a member of Vaughan Nelsons investment team since 2005 and was named a co-manager on the Fund earlier this year. There will be no changes to the Funds strategy or investment process.

It has been a distinct privilege working with Stephen during his tenure as a member of the Vaughan Nelson investment team, said Wallis. We wish Stephen all the best as he prepares for a well-deserved retirement.

It has been a pleasure to work at Vaughan Nelson and to have had the opportunity to serve Vaughan Nelsons clients and Fund shareholders, said Davis. Though I will miss investing, it is a comfort knowing that I will leave the Fund in the strong and capable hands of my co-managers.

About Vaughan Nelson Investment Management

Founded in 1970, Vaughan Nelson is a Houston-based investment manager with $12.7 billion under management as of September 30, 2022. A globally recognized boutique affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, S.A., Vaughan Nelson manages six equity products and four domestic fixed income products. Vaughan Nelson focuses on managing active investment strategies that are relevant today and in the future.

About Natixis Investment Managers

Natixis Investment Managers multi-affiliate approach connects clients to the independent thinking and focused expertise of more than 20 active managers. Ranked among the worlds largest asset managers1 with more than $1.1 trillion assets under management,2 Natixis Investment Managers delivers a diverse range of solutions across asset classes, styles, and vehicles, including innovative environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies and products dedicated to advancing sustainable finance. The firm partners with clients in order to understand their unique needs and provide insights and investment solutions tailored to their long-term goals.

Headquartered in Paris and Boston, Natixis Investment Managers is part of the Global Financial Services division of Groupe BPCE, the second-largest banking group in France through the Banque Populaire and Caisse dEpargne retail networks. Natixis Investment Managers affiliated investment management firms include AEW; AlphaSimplex Group; DNCA Investments;3 Dorval Asset Management; Flexstone Partners; Gateway Investment Advisers; Harris Associates; Investors Mutual Limited; Loomis, Sayles & Company; Mirova; MV Credit; Naxicap Partners; Ossiam; Ostrum Asset Management; Seeyond; Seventure Partners; Thematics Asset Management; Vauban Infrastructure Partners; Vaughan Nelson Investment Management; and WCM Investment Management. Additionally, investment solutions are offered through Natixis Investment Managers Solutions and Natixis Advisors, LLC. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit Natixis Investment Managers website at im.natixis.com | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/natixis-investment-managers.

Natixis Investment Managers distribution and service groups include Natixis Distribution, LLC, a limited purpose broker-dealer and the distributor of various U.S. registered investment companies for which advisory services are provided by affiliated firms of Natixis Investment Managers, Natixis Investment Managers S.A. (Luxembourg), Natixis Investment Managers International (France), and their affiliated distribution and service entities in Europe and Asia.

Before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. Visit im.natixis.com or call 800-225-5478 for a prospectus or a summary prospectus containing this and other information. Read it carefully.

Natixis Distribution, LLC is a limited purpose broker-dealer and the distributor of various registered investment companies for which advisory services are provided by affiliates of Natixis Investment Managers. Natixis Distribution, LLC is located at 888 Boylston Street, Suite 800, Boston, MA 02199-8197 Member FINRA | SIPC

1 Cerulli Quantitative Update: Global Markets 2022 ranked Natixis Investment Managers as the 18th largest asset manager in the world based on assets under management as of December 31, 2021. 2 Assets under management (AUM) of current affiliated entities measured as of June 30, 2022 are $1,156.7 billion (1,106.7 billion). AUM, as reported, may include notional assets, assets serviced, gross assets, assets of minority-owned affiliated entities and other types of non-regulatory AUM managed or serviced by firms affiliated with Natixis Investment Managers. 3 A brand of DNCA Finance.

5052019.2.1

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Press:

Denise Robbi

508-523-4067

[email protected]

Kelly Cameron

617-449-2543

[email protected]

Source: Natixis Investment Managers
PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

In accordance with Article 5 of EU Regulation n 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation), detailed information is available on the website of Tikehau Capital (Paris: TKO): https://www.tikehaucapital.com/fr/shareholders/regulatory-information

Disclosure of shares repurchases from 14 October to 20 October 2022 Name of the issuer Issuer Identity Code (LEI) Trading Day ISIN Aggregated volume per day

(number of shares) Weighted average price per day Market (MIC Code) TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 14/10/2022 FR0013230612 32,006 24.3677 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 14/10/2022 FR0013230612 35 24.1000 CEUX TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 17/10/2022 FR0013230612 1,995 24.6094 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 18/10/2022 FR0013230612 3,432 24.6122 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 19/10/2022 FR0013230612 3,175 24.4976 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 20/10/2022 FR0013230612 5,210 24.3354 XPAR TOTAL 45,853 24.4016

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005344/en/

Tikehau Capital

Source: Tikehau Capital
Tylers solution will support pretrial services and enhance client communication through 24/7 online portal access

PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tyler Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: TYL) announced it has signed a software-as-a-service (SaaS) agreement with the Oregon Judicial Department (OJD) for Tylers Enterprise Supervision and Supervision Access solutions. The solutions will support Oregons statewide efforts for a more consistent, risk-based approach to inform decision-making for pretrial release and reduce reliance on monetary bail.

In 2021, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 48 to protect the rights of victims and defendants, promote community safety, and support successful pretrial release, including return to court as required. SB 48 directed Oregons Chief Justice to issue guidance to circuit court presiding judges to establish conditions for pretrial release based on charges and the individual circumstances of the defendant.

With our statewide pretrial release initiative, we needed to select and implement a robust case management solution under a fairly quick timeframe, said Bryant Baehr, the OJDs chief information officer. We believe Tylers Enterprise Supervision and Supervision Access solutions will meet our evolving needs. Were also confident that Tylers strong implementation process and team will help us manage a complex pretrial release program.

Tylers Enterprise Supervision is a complete solution for the OJDs pretrial release needs. The solution is criminal justice information services (CJIS)-compliant and securely integrates with other Tyler products, making it easier to access and share critical case information that can help successfully manage the pretrial release and supervision process as well as measure outcomes. With the solution, the OJD will be able to coordinate, communicate, record, and track each step of the pretrial process using a web-based SaaS solution.

The OJD will also use Supervision Access, a 24/7 online portal that will enhance communication between clients and court Release Assistance Officers (RAOs). Clients will be able to see upcoming appointments, hearings, and other important dates. The portal also features in-app direct messaging and notifications for RAOs and clients. This benefits both RAOs and clients because it will reduce unnecessary calls and questions so officers can focus on more complex client work.

We are pleased to partner with the Oregon Judicial Department on this important project, said Brian McGrath, president of Tylers Courts & Justice Division. Our Enterprise Supervision solution can quickly and efficiently accommodate the varying needs of a statewide project such as this one. Were excited to expand our relationship with Oregon and help support them in managing the important task of statewide pretrial release.

Oregons Enterprise Supervision implementation will be Tylers third statewide implementation; other deployments are currently underway in Washington and Kansas.

The OJD was also one of the first state court systems to implement Tylers Enterprise Justice solution to facilitate electronic filing and case and document access. OJD completed initial implementation of that statewide effort in 2016.

About Tyler Technologies, Inc.

Tyler Technologies (NYSE: TYL) provides integrated software and technology services to the public sector. Tyler's end-to-end solutions empower local, state, and federal government entities to operate more efficiently and connect more transparently with their constituents and with each other. By connecting data and processes across disparate systems, Tyler's solutions are transforming how clients gain actionable insights that solve problems in their communities. Tyler has more than 37,000 successful installations across more than 12,000 locations, with clients in all 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean, Australia, and other international locations. Tyler has been recognized numerous times for growth and innovation, including Government Technology's GovTech 100 list and Forbes' "Most Innovative Growth Companies" list. More information about Tyler Technologies, an S&P 500 company headquartered in Plano, Texas, can be found at tylertech.com.

#TYL_Financial

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Jennifer Kepler

Tyler Technologies

972.713.3770

[email protected]

Source: Tyler Technologies
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Saigon Technology has been assisting numerous businesses and developing startups throughout the world by offering suitable-cost, top-notch offshore software development outsourcing firms in Vietnam. Vietnam is a nation with a lot of potential for growing software development services, both for Asia and for other countries. Vietnam boasts a vast spectrum of software engineers specialized in many different programming languages, with various working attitudes and talents, thanks to the abundant people resources situated in the golden working era.

And, particularly for the Australian market, when it comes to software development outsourcing, Vietnam is seen as a suitable location, due in part to the two nations' relatively close time zones and topography. Along with the factors that make Vietnam an appealing choice, the following are the in-depth guidelines from Saigon Technology for Vietnam software development outsourcing for the Australian market.

Overview of the IT sector in Vietnam

To host global firms like IBM, Samsung, Microsoft, and Nokia in Vietnam, this country has made a five-place leap in rankings. According to Vietnam Briefing, there are around 56 million individuals in Vietnam's labor market, which has a workforce participation rate of 76%.

Job vacancies in IT are still in high demand despite the Covid outbreak, according to career service centers in HCMC and Hanoi. Because of that, more manpower is needed to fill these software engineer gaps. This also partly reflects the excitement of the software development market in Vietnam. Which, a huge investment is recorded from foreign software corporations; such as Worldwide DC Solution, located in Singapore, has invested $70 million in SHTP's OneHub Data Center.

How to outsource software development to Vietnam

When it comes to Vietnam software development companies, based on the actual projects that Saigon Technology has conquered and succeeded in, we would list the outstanding points to note in this in-depth guideline below:

1. Your company's financial resources

First and foremost, the first factor that determines your very start is the budget your company spends on software outsourcing projects. Consider plan A and plan B in terms of budget for software outsourcing projects, to be able to filter out vendor offerings that are right for your business's financial needs.

2. The type of service you want

Onshore software outsourcing: An onshore vendor is located in the same nation or area as the customer. The following is an example of a US client and a US vendor.

Nearshore software outsourcing: Suppliers are located in the same time zone as the client's team, thus commuting time and distance between the two are minimized. Simply consider the situation of a British client interacting with a European vendor.

Offshore software outsourcing: Offshore refers to a situation in which the provider is located in a different geographic region than the client and at a great distance from them as well. Here we can relate to customers in Australia but partnering with a Vietnam-based vendor, which varies greatly in time zones and geographical distances.

3. A suitable form of service fee payment is available

Fixed price: For this software outsourcing model, the criteria must be clearly defined from the outset. A preliminary piece of work might be done by the supplier to record the needs and get an understanding of the amount of risk before delivering a quote for the primary project. This would be necessary for the scenario that the client does not have a sufficiently clear set of written requirements or if there are areas of high risk.

Time-and-Material: After keeping account of the amount of work put into the project (usually via the use of timesheets) and of any expenditures incurred for products and services, the provider sends an invoice to the customer at the rate that was discussed and agreed upon before the beginning of the project.

Augmentation: The client needs a fixed quantity of employees for a lengthy time to complete a certain set of jobs. The categories of work and tasks don't have to be stated at the beginning of the engagement; rather, the provider is aware of the types of work and tasks required so that it can give the right qualified personnel.

4. How great are the language, culture, and time zone relevance

Firstly, get a clear picture of your budget, schedule, and magnitude and record it. Time, price, and performance considerations are very important.

Second, examine whether or not that team's English abilities are enough. Face-to-face interviews (through meeting platforms if the team is far away) are the easiest approach to obtain a feel of their accent, language, presentation, and use of technical language.

Finally, consider the time zone variations. The two parties may talk about it and transform time zone differences into flexibility. The most crucial thing is that both parties agree. As a result, before handing the project to the partner of your choice, please thoroughly discuss and agree.

Some Impressive things about Saigon Technology

Saigon Technology's business software development services and its extensive programming expertise brings the cost-effectiveness that influences customers' decisions to hire the software outsourcing company. In addition, Saigon Technology takes great pride in managing and hiring the top 1% of outstanding engineers in Vietnam. With this sense of pride, the business set out on a mission to become one of the best corporate software development businesses in Asia.

Saigon Technology has developed a reputation as a leader in a range of industries, from healthcare and banking to marketing and advertising, and logistics, over the course of more than ten years and 900+ projects. Saigon Technology Team offers machine learning, microservices, .NET Core, Java, NodeJS, PHP, ReactJS, and Angular. Saigon Technology's valued customers: Kaercher, Abbott, Panasonic, Topicus, and DMI Inc.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221020006171/en/

Thanh (Bruce) Pham - CEO of Saigon Technology

https://saigontechnology.com

Email: [email protected]

A Member of Forbes Technology Council

Mobile: (+84) 913 666 227

Skype: tienthanh.pham (Thanh Bruce Pham)

Source: Saigon Technology
Embraer S.A. (NYSE: ERJ) hereby updates the information disclosed on November 12, 2021, February 09, 2022, May 23, 2022, and August 9, 2022, regarding Contracts 002/DCTA-COPAC/2014 and 10/DCTA-COPAC/2014, entered into in 2014 amongst the Brazilian Federal Government, Embraer and one of its subsidiaries ("Contracts").

Embraer and the Brazilian Air Force engaged in negotiations on this subject, conducting a new negotiation process, which resulted, among other matters, in the execution of amendments to the Contracts in order to (i) reduce from 22 to 19 the total number of KC-390 Millennium aircraft to be delivered under the terms of the Contracts, definitively ending the possibility of unilateral reductions pursuant to the law; (ii) redefine and reschedule the delivery schedule, in order to distribute over time the effect of the reduction in the number of aircraft; and (iii) adjust contractual clauses in order to maintain the respective economic and financial balance.

The execution of the amendments successfully concludes the negotiations between the parties regarding the Contracts. The amendments to the Contracts preserve the Company's cash flow, ensure the economic and financial viability of the KC-390 Millennium project and do not change and do not compromise the Company's guidance for 2022.

Embraer reinforces its commitment to the KC-390/C-390 Millennium project, next-generation multi-mission aircraft, as well as its belief in the export potential of this product, which brings unique innovations in its category, and which has already been selected by three European nations.

Finally, Embraer reiterates its role as a strategic partner of the Brazilian Air Force in the development and implementation technological solutions and products of high added value, a partnership established for over 50 years.
Tyler Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: TYL) announced it has signed a software-as-a-service (SaaS) agreement with the Oregon Judicial Department (OJD) for Tylers Enterprise Supervision and Supervision Access solutions. The solutions will support Oregons statewide efforts for a more consistent, risk-based approach to inform decision-making for pretrial release and reduce reliance on monetary bail.

In 2021, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 48 to protect the rights of victims and defendants, promote community safety, and support successful pretrial release, including return to court as required. SB 48 directed Oregons Chief Justice to issue guidance to circuit court presiding judges to establish conditions for pretrial release based on charges and the individual circumstances of the defendant.

With our statewide pretrial release initiative, we needed to select and implement a robust case management solution under a fairly quick timeframe, said Bryant Baehr, the OJDs chief information officer. We believe Tylers Enterprise Supervision and Supervision Access solutions will meet our evolving needs. Were also confident that Tylers strong implementation process and team will help us manage a complex pretrial release program.

Tylers Enterprise Supervision is a complete solution for the OJDs pretrial release needs. The solution is criminal justice information services (CJIS)-compliant and securely integrates with other Tyler products, making it easier to access and share critical case information that can help successfully manage the pretrial release and supervision process as well as measure outcomes. With the solution, the OJD will be able to coordinate, communicate, record, and track each step of the pretrial process using a web-based SaaS solution.

The OJD will also use Supervision Access, a 24/7 online portal that will enhance communication between clients and court Release Assistance Officers (RAOs). Clients will be able to see upcoming appointments, hearings, and other important dates. The portal also features in-app direct messaging and notifications for RAOs and clients. This benefits both RAOs and clients because it will reduce unnecessary calls and questions so officers can focus on more complex client work.

We are pleased to partner with the Oregon Judicial Department on this important project, said Brian McGrath, president of Tylers Courts & Justice Division. Our Enterprise Supervision solution can quickly and efficiently accommodate the varying needs of a statewide project such as this one. Were excited to expand our relationship with Oregon and help support them in managing the important task of statewide pretrial release.

Oregons Enterprise Supervision implementation will be Tylers third statewide implementation; other deployments are currently underway in Washington and Kansas.

The OJD was also one of the first state court systems to implement Tylers Enterprise Justice solution to facilitate electronic filing and case and document access. OJD completed initial implementation of that statewide effort in 2016.
ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland and Labrador, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fortis Inc. ("Fortis" or the "Corporation") (TSX/NYSE: FTS) will release its third quarter 2022 financial results and new five-year capital outlook for the period 2023-2027 on Friday, October 28, 2022. A teleconference and webcast will be held the same day at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern). David Hutchens, President and Chief Executive Officer and Jocelyn Perry, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer will discuss the Corporation's third quarter financial results.

Shareholders, analysts, members of the media and other interested parties in North America are invited to participate by calling 1.416.764.8646. International participants may participate by calling 1.888.396.8049. Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. No passcode is required.

A live and archived audio webcast of the teleconference will be available on the Corporation's website, www.fortisinc.com. A replay of the teleconference will be available two hours after the conclusion of the call until November 28, 2022. Please call 1.416.764.8692 or 1.877.674.7070 and enter passcode 327938#.

About FortisFortis is a well-diversified leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry with 2021 revenue of $9.4 billion and total assets of $60 billion as at June 30, 2022. The Corporation's 9,100 employees serve utility customers in five Canadian provinces, nine U.S. states and three Caribbean countries.

Fortis shares are listed on the TSX and NYSE and trade under the symbol FTS. Additional information can be accessed at www.fortisinc.com, www.sedar.com, or www.sec.gov.

A .pdf version of this press release is available at: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/35a26431-d300-4e19-894c-d18fb8fe2744

For further information contact

Investor Enquiries:Ms. Stephanie Amaimo Vice President, Investor RelationsFortis Inc.248.946.3572 [email protected] Media Enquiries:Ms. Karen McCarthyVice President, Communications & Corporate AffairsFortis Inc.709.737.5323 [email protected]

Source: Fortis
METTAWA, Ill., Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the third time in four years, Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC) has been named the Soundings Trade Only Most Innovative Marine Company of the year. Brunswick was recognized today by Soundings Trade Only during a virtual awards presentation. The original announcement was to take place during the 2022 International BoatBuilders Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) which was cancelled due to Hurricane Ian.

The panel of judges commended Brunswick for a record-setting year in 2022 and the Companys continued leadership in innovation and technology in the marine industry. Additionally, Brunswick was recognized for some of its most notable launches in 2022 so far, including the Boston Whaler 360 Outrage, the Sea Ray SLX 260 Series and the electric Avator concept from Mercury Marine, as well as the Companys ability to leverage its size and scale to deliver on the unprecedented demand across its portfolio of brands.

We are honored to be named the Most Innovative Company again by Soundings Trade Only and thank everyone at the magazine for recognizing our sustained commitment to technological and business-model innovation, said Dave Foulkes, Brunswick Corporation CEO. We have made tremendous strides advancing every aspect of the Next Wave strategy that builds on our foundation as the largest and most innovative company in the marine industry. I am energized by the momentum of our organization and the long-term growth potential of our unique, powerful and resilient business platform. Our Next Wave strategy is about combining our foundational strengths of scale, strong brands and innovation with investments in our core business, our ACES strategy, and our advancing digital capabilities to create the smartest, most desirable and engaging experiences on the water.

Brunswick won the Most Innovative Company award because they have continued to expand their offerings and initiatives across the recreational boating industry, said Gary Reich, Soundings Trade Only Editor-in-Chief. From the launch of Sea Ray SLX 260, which was the first Sea Ray designed by an all-women design team to the growth of Freedom Boat Club operations, and sharp focus on workplace culture and overall company sustainability. It's obvious that Brunswick Corporation is a company that lives and breathes innovation.

To learn more about Brunswick Corporation and the Companys broad portfolio of innovative marine brands, visit brunswick.com.

About Brunswick

Headquartered in Mettawa, Ill., Brunswick Corporations leading consumer brands include Mercury Marine outboard engines; Mercury MerCruiser sterndrive and inboard packages; Mercury global parts and accessories including propellers and SmartCraft electronics; Navico Group, which includes industry-leading brands like MotorGuide, Attwood, Mastervolt, Blue Sea Systems and CZone; Mercury distribution including Land N Sea, BLA, Paynes Marine, Kellogg Marine, and Lankhorst Taselaar; Mercury and Quicksilver parts and oils; Bayliner, Boston Whaler, Crestliner, Cypress Cay, Harris, Heyday, Lowe, Lund, Princecraft, Quicksilver, Rayglass, Sea Ray, Thunder Jet and Uttern boats; Boating Services Network, Freedom Boat Club and Boat Class. For more information, visit brunswick.com.

Lee Gordon Vice President  Brunswick Global Communications & Public Affairs Brunswick Office: 847-735-4003 Cell: 904-860-8848 [email protected]

Source: Brunswick Corporation
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clear Sky Lithium Corp. (CSE: POWR) (FRA: K4A / WKN: A3DM2W) (OTC: CSKYF) (Clear Sky or the Company), a mineral exploration and development company focused on American lithium deposits to support domestic demand, is pleased to announce it has commenced on site fieldwork activities based on recent findings across the Halo and ELi project areas.

The Halo Project, consisting of ninety-eight mineral claims located in Nevadas Esmeralda and Nye Counties is considered prospective for claystone-hosted lithium mineralization. Positive news regarding exploration and development on adjacent properties to the north and southwest of the Halo Project have recently fueled enthusiasm for regional lithium exploration activities in the area.

The immediate region is relatively under-explored with no previous field work or sampling ever completed on the Halo property even though it now has an advanced project adjacent to it. The goal of the program is to get boots on the ground to commence efforts to improve and clarify technical knowledge of the Big Smoky Valley basinal alluvial cover within the Halo project land package. Initial field work planning consists of prospecting efforts to understand the depth of alluvial cover through initial surface sampling, and if applicable, surficial mapping. The data acquired from the initial fieldwork will assist the Company as it refines a go-forward geology and metallurgy plan to support phase-2 drill targeting as part of Clear Skys ongoing strategic lithium resource development efforts in Nevada.

To undertake the fieldwork at Halo, Clear Sky has expanded its engagement with Tigren Inc. (Tigren) of Reno, Nevada who are scheduled to commence their efforts onsite in late October. As noted in a news release of September 28, the firm has already been engaged to concurrently work on Clear Skys ELi project, and it was subsequently determined to be the most cost-effective and logistically efficient solution to extend this arrangement. Tigren brings over-30-years experience as a discovery-focused geological service provider specializing in advancing under-explored properties through their comprehensive technical field services and is controlled by Company Director, Marco Montecinos.

At the ELi Property, the Company elected to initiate a detailed geological mapping survey and auger sampling program which has been increased to bulk sampling of key target locations. The program continues to delineate the size, continuity, and shape of near-surface lithium mineralization and provide a clearer understanding of exploration vectors and geological controls on the mineralization. The sampling program was designed to optimize resolution and integrity, offering a clear surface representation across the entire property. Sampled materials will be utilized to refine geological assessments and drill targets, and further serve as research materials for ongoing metallurgical extraction and processing studies.

Patrick Morris, Clear Sky Lithiums CEO notes, We believe that both our properties hold excellent promise and are proceeding to invest based on science-based results. Our strategy includes the acquisition of development-grade assets in combination with a plan for technological solutions best suited to extract mineral value in the most cost-efficient manner. We are on-track and pleased with the overall progress to-date. As milestones continue to be achieved, we look forward to reporting further good news for our partners and shareholders as our venture continues to build upon success in the field and in the lab.

On Behalf of The Board of Directors,

Sincerely,

~Patrick Morris~

Patrick MorrisChief Executive Officer Clear Sky Lithium Corp.www.clearskylithium.com

About Clear Sky Lithium Corp. (CSE: POWR) (FRA: K4A / WKN: A3DM2W) (OTC: CSKYF)Clear Sky Lithium is an exploration and development company dedicated to the advancement of North American lithium deposits to support domestic demand. The Company holds interests on the Halo and Eli properties in Nevada. The Company is also focusing on the development of claystone extraction and processing technologies aimed at delivering scalable efficiencies across the value chain in a sustainable manner. Find out more visit www.clearskylithium.com and watch our video.

Forward Looking Information Disclaimer

This news release contains statements and information that, to the extent that they are not historical fact, may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information may include financial and other projections, as well as statements regarding future plans, objectives, or economic performance, or the assumption underlying any of the foregoing. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as may, would, could, will, likely, except, anticipate, believe, intend, plan, forecast, project, estimate, outlook, or the negative thereof or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Examples of such statements include but are not limited to the use the Company will be able to make of the initial fieldwork on the Halo property, the Companys go-forward geological and metallurgy plans, and the anticipated results of the Companys work on the ELi project and Halo property.

Forward-looking information is based on the assumptions, estimates, analysis, and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect. The material factors and assumptions used to develop the forward-looking information contained in this news release include, but are not limited to, key personnel and qualified employees continuing their involvement with the Company; the Companys ability to secure additional financing on reasonable terms; the competitive conditions of the sector in which the Company operates; and laws and any amendments thereto applicable to the Company.

Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that 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, including, without limitation, risks relating to the future business plans of the Company; risks that the Company will not be able to retain its key personnel; risks that the Company will not be able to secure financing on reasonable terms or at all, as well as all of the other risks as described in the Companys final long form prospectus dated May 31, 2022, under the heading Risks Factors. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking information. Further, any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Companys management to predict all such factors and to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on the Companys business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking information to reflect information or events after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law, including securities laws.

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Clear Sky Lithium Corp. Investor RelationsEmail: [email protected] Telephone: +1 (778) 383-7240

Source: Clear Sky Lithium Corp.
Concannon Miller was established in 1962 and serves a wide variety of individuals and industries.

Bethlehem, PA and St. Petersburg, FL, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP), the eighth largest accounting firm in the United States, announced that Concannon Miller team members will join CLA on November 1, 2022, increasing CLAs Pennsylvania team to more than 330 people and its Florida team to more than 450 people.

We take our clients needs to heart and commit to fully understanding their business and their goals, both professional and personal, said Ted Witman, Concannon Miller president and COO. CLA shares this promise, which is a key reason behind our decision to join the firm.

Incorporated in 1962, with roots going back to the 1920s, Concannon Miller has grown to a full service tax, accounting, and consulting firm providing vision, strategy and insight to help businesses work better and people work smarter.

From large, privately-held manufacturers and distributors to small- and mid-sized businesses to McDonalds franchisees to families and nonprofits, Concannon Miller serves a wide variety of individuals and industries.

Growth for CLA is about enhancing our ability to create opportunities for our clients, our people, and our communities, said Scott Engelbrecht, chief geographic officer, CLA. Were always seeking ways to help  whether personal, financial, or business. Welcoming the Concannon Miller team members supports our promise to know and help those around us.

As one of the nations leading professional services firms, CLA has retained the agility to serve clients of all sizes and in all locations, while at the same time bringing an uncommon depth of capabilities, all in one place.

Clients share their dreams and top challenges with us, continued Witman. A simple conversation about where a person is headed can turn into a solid, data-driven plan to navigate the future with confidence. Together, we can get you there.

Allan D. Koltin, CEO of Koltin Consulting Group, who advised both firms on the combination commented, CLA continues on its magical journey of adding deep and specialized talent to the firm. What is notable here are two distinct qualities Concannon Miller team members bring to the table  experience at one of the preeminent accounting and tax firms in Lehigh Valley and also famous nationally in serving McDonalds franchisees.

The 130+ former Concannon Miller team members will continue to serve clients locally and nationally from locations in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and St. Petersburg, Florida.

About CLA

CLA exists to create opportunities for our clients, our people, and our communities through industry-focused wealth advisory, digital, audit, tax, consulting, and outsourcing services. With more than 7,500 people, 121 U.S. locations, and a global vision, we promise to know you and help you. For more information, visit CLAconnect.com. CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) is an independent network member of CLA Global. See CLAglobal.com/disclaimer. Investment advisory services are offered through CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor.

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On 19 October 2022, AS Merko Ehitus Eesti, part of AS Merko Ehitus group, signed a contract with Centre for Defence Investment for the construction of new buildings in the Tapa campus of the Defence Forces in Laane-Viru County.

The agreement includes the construction of four multi-purpose halls, two shower facility halls and a gas station, with accompanying external communications and road surfaces.

The contract value is approximately EUR 7.1 million, plus value added tax. The scheduled deadline of the works is in May 2023.

AS Merko Ehitus Eesti ( merko.ee ) is Estonian leading construction company, which offers construction services in general construction, civil engineering and residential construction and develops residential real estate. To ensure the best quality and convenience for home buyers, Merko manages all phases of the development: planning, design, construction, sales and service during the warranty period.

Additional information: Mr. Peeter Laidma, division director of AS Merko Ehitus Eesti, phone +372 680 5105.

Urmas Somelar

Head of Finance

AS Merko Ehitus

+372 650 1250

[email protected]
Lima, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lima, PERU, October 21, 2022  Credicorp Ltd. announces to its shareholders and the market that its 3Q22 Earnings Release Report will be released on Thursday November 3, 2022, after market close.

Credicorps Webcast / Conference Call to discuss such results, will be held on Friday November 4, 2022, at 10:30 am ET (9:30 am Lima, Peru time).

The call will be host by Gianfranco Ferrari - CEO, Cesar Rios - Chief Financial Officer, Francesca Raffo  Chief Innovation Officer, Reynaldo Llosa - Chief Risk Officer, Diego Cavero - Head of Universal Banking, Cesar Rivera - Head of Insurance and Pensions and Investor Relations Team.

We encourage participants to pre-register for the listen-only webcast presentation using the following link: https://dpregister.com/DiamondPassRegistration/register?confirmationNumber=10172107&linkSecurityString=f4c46417bc

Callers who pre-register will be given a conference passcode and unique PIN to gain immediate access to the call and bypass the live operator. Participants may pre-register at any time, including up to and after the call start time.

Those unable to pre-register may dial in by calling: 1 844 435 0321 Participant dial in (toll free)1 412 317 5615 Participant international dial inConference ID: Credicorp Conference Call

The webcast will be archived for one year on our investor relations website at:https://credicorp.gcs-web.com/events-and-presentations/upcoming-events

Credicorp reminds you that we filed our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31st, 2021 (2021 Form 20-F) with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 30th, 2022. The 2021 Form 20-F includes audited consolidated financial statements of Credicorp and its subsidiaries as of December 31st, 2020 and 2021 and for the years ended December 31st, 2019, 2020 and 2021 under IFRS. Our 2021 Form 20-F can be downloaded from Credicorps website: https://credicorp.gcs-web.com. Holders of Credicorps securities and any other interested parties may request a hard copy of our 2021 Form 20-F, free of charge, by filling out the form located on the link mail request on Credicorps website.

About Credicorp

Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE: BAP) is the leading financial services holding company in Peru with presence in Chile, Colombia and Bolivia. Credicorp has a diversified business portfolio organized into four lines of business: Universal Banking, through Banco de Credito del Peru  BCP and Banco de Credito de Bolivia; Microfinance, through Mibanco in Peru and Colombia; Insurance & Pension Funds, through Grupo Pacifico and Prima AFP; and Investment Banking & Wealth Management, through Credicorp Capital, Wealth Management at BCP and Atlantic Security Bank.

For further information please contact the IR team:

[email protected]

Investor RelationsCredicorp Ltd.

Attachment

Source: CREDICORP LTD. C/O BANCO DE CREDITO
Lima, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lima, PERU, October 21, 2022  Credicorp Ltd. announces to its shareholders and the market that its 3Q22 Earnings Release Report will be released on Thursday November 3, 2022, after market close.

Credicorps Webcast / Conference Call to discuss such results, will be held on Friday November 4, 2022, at 10:30 am ET (9:30 am Lima, Peru time).

The call will be host by Gianfranco Ferrari - CEO, Cesar Rios - Chief Financial Officer, Francesca Raffo  Chief Innovation Officer, Reynaldo Llosa - Chief Risk Officer, Diego Cavero - Head of Universal Banking, Cesar Rivera - Head of Insurance and Pensions and Investor Relations Team.

We encourage participants to pre-register for the listen-only webcast presentation using the following link:

https://dpregister.com/DiamondPassRegistration/register?confirmationNumber=10172107&linkSecurityString=f4c46417bc

Callers who pre-register will be given a conference passcode and unique PIN to gain immediate access to the call and bypass the live operator. Participants may pre-register at any time, including up to and after the call start time.

Those unable to pre-register may dial in by calling:

1 844 435 0321 Participant dial in (toll free)

1 412 317 5615 Participant international dial in

Conference ID: Credicorp Conference Call

The webcast will be archived for one year on our investor relations website at:

https://credicorp.gcs-web.com/events-and-presentations/upcoming-events

Credicorp reminds you that we filed our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31st, 2021 (2021 Form 20-F) with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 30th, 2022. The 2021 Form 20-F includes audited consolidated financial statements of Credicorp and its subsidiaries as of December 31st, 2020 and 2021 and for the years ended December 31st, 2019, 2020 and 2021 under IFRS. Our 2021 Form 20-F can be downloaded from Credicorps website : https://credicorp.gcs-web.com . Holders of Credicorps securities and any other interested parties may request a hard copy of our 2021 Form 20-F, free of charge, by filling out the form located on the link mail request on Credicorps website.





About Credicorp

Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE: BAP) is the leading financial services holding company in Peru with presence in Chile, Colombia and Bolivia. Credicorp has a diversified business portfolio organized into four lines of business: Universal Banking, through Banco de Credito del Peru  BCP and Banco de Credito de Bolivia; Microfinance, through Mibanco in Peru and Colombia; Insurance & Pension Funds, through Grupo Pacifico and Prima AFP; and Investment Banking & Wealth Management, through Credicorp Capital, Wealth Management at BCP and Atlantic Security Bank.

For further information please contact the IR team:

[email protected]

Investor Relations

Credicorp Ltd.

Attachment
Presentation by Dr. Florence Wong on Sunday November 6th in Washington, DC:An Automatic Low Flow Ascites Pump Improves Ascites Control and Quality of Life In Patients with Cirrhosis and Recurrent Ascites

Ghent, Belgium  21 October 2022  Sequana Medical NV (Euronext Brussels: SEQUA, the "Company" or "Sequana Medical"), a pioneer in the treatment of drug-resistant fluid overload in liver disease, heart failure and cancer, today announces that data from the Roll-In Cohort of POSEIDON1, its North American pivotal alfapump study, have been selected for a poster presentation at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) The Liver Meeting, taking place in Washington, DC from 4 to 8 November 2022.

The poster, titled An Automatic Low Flow Ascites Pump Improves Ascites Control and Quality of Life In Patients with Cirrhosis and Recurrent Ascites, will be presented by Dr. Florence Wong, MD, FAASLD, University of Toronto on Sunday, November 6th between 1:00-2:00pm EST. The abstract will become available on the AASLD website prior to the start of The Liver Meeting.

A full list of presentations can be found here: https://www.aasld.org/the-liver-meeting

Sequana Medical management will attend The Liver Meeting and is available to meet.

For more information, please contact:

Sequana Medical

Lies Vanneste Director Investor Relations Email: [email protected] Tel: +32 498 05 35 79

Optimum Strategic Communications

Nick Bastin, Rebecca Noonan Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 20 3922 0900

About the POSEIDON study

POSEIDON is a single-arm, open-label and within subject cross-over study of the alfapump in patients with recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis and is being conducted in approximately 20 centres across the US and Canada. All patients have been enrolled in the study and implanted with the alfapump. Patients enrolled in the Pivotal Cohort entered into a three-month pre-implant observation period before they are implanted with the alfapump and will be used for primary endpoint analysis. The study allowed to enrol additional patients in a Roll-In Cohort to ensure new centres were experienced with the alfapump implantation prior to enrolling patients in the Pivotal Cohort.

The primary effectiveness outcomes of the study include the proportion of patients with a 50% reduction in the average frequency of therapeutic paracentesis per month in the post-implant observation period (month four to month six post-implantation) as compared to the pre-implant observation period. The primary safety endpoint is the rate of alfapump-related re-interventions adjudicated by the Clinical Events Committee. Patients will be followed for up to two years post-implant for analysis of secondary outcome measurements including safety (device and/or procedure-related adverse events), quality of life (assessed by general SF36 as well as disease-specific Ascites Q questionnaires), nutritional status, health economics and overall survival. For more information about the study, please visit clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03973866).

About fluid overload in liver cirrhosis (AKA ascites)

Fluid accumulation in the abdomen is a significant and common complication of liver cirrhosis. Approximately 10% of these patients do not respond to diuretic drugs and most require recurrent external drainage (AKA paracentesis), an invasive and painful procedure that only provides temporary benefit, require frequent hospitalizations and severely impacts their quality of life.

About Sequana Medical

Sequana Medical NV is a pioneer in treating drug-resistant fluid overload, a serious and frequent clinical complication in patients with liver disease, heart failure and cancer. Fluid overload is a well-recognized problem in these growing diseases, causing severe problems for the large number of patients for whom current medicines are no longer effective. These patients can have up to 15 liters of extra fluid in their bodies, causing major medical issues including increased mortality, repeated hospitalizations, severe pain, difficult breathing and restricted mobility that severely impacts daily life.

alfapump and DSR are Sequana Medicals proprietary approaches that work with the body to remove this excess fluid, delivering major clinical and quality of life benefits for patients and reducing costs for healthcare systems. Sequana Medical is listed on Euronext Brussels (Ticker: SEQUA.BR) and headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. For further information, please visit www.sequanamedical.com.

Important Regulatory Disclaimers

The alfapump system is not currently approved in the United States or Canada. In the United States and Canada, the alfapump system is currently under clinical investigation (POSEIDON Study) and is being studied in adult patients with refractory or recurrent ascites due to cirrhosis. For more information regarding the POSEIDON clinical study see www.poseidonstudy.com. DSR therapy is still in development and it should be noted that any statements regarding safety and efficacy arise from ongoing pre-clinical and clinical investigations which have yet to be completed. DSR therapy is not currently approved for clinical research in the United States or Canada. There is no link between DSR therapy and ongoing investigations with the alfapump system in Europe, the United States or Canada.

Note: alfapump is a registered trademark. DSR is a registered trademark in the Benelux, China, the EU, United Kingdom, and Hong Kong.

Forward-looking statements

This press release may contain predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. These forward-looking statements represent the current judgment of Sequana Medical on what the future holds, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Sequana Medical expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release, except if specifically required to do so by law or regulation. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of Sequana Medical only as of the date of this press release.

1 Results from a secondary interim analysis from the Roll-In Cohort of the POSEIDON study were announced in a press release on 1 July 2021.

Attachments

Source: Sequana Medical NV
TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eagle Graphite Incorporated (TSXV: EGA) (the "Corporation") announces that, further to its news release of September 27, 2022, the TSX Venture Exchange suspended trading in the Corporation's securities on October 4, 2022 as a result of a Cease Trade Order (the "CTO") issued by the Ontario Securities Commission. The CTO was issued as a result of the Corporation's failure to file its interim financial statements, management's discussion and analysis, and certificate of the foregoing filings for the period ended May 31, 2022.

About Eagle Graphite

Eagle Graphite owns the Black Crystal Graphite quarry, located 35 kilometres west of the city of Nelson in British Columbia, Canada, and 70 kilometres north of the state of Washington. Black Crystal is the only constructed graphite quarry with production history in Western North America. Eagle's shares are listed on the TSXV under the symbol "EGA".

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Jamie Deith, CEO 604-909-4247 Email: [email protected]

Source: Eagle Graphite Incorporated
Four-unit deal with leading developer Arguedas Group will bring the global restaurant brand to Central America for the first time

DALLAS, Oct. 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fogo de Chao, the internationally renowned restaurant from Brazil that allows guests to make discoveries at every turn, today announced plans to bring its award-winning dining experience to Costa Rica and El Salvador for the first time. Through the franchise development agreement, Arguedas Group, an experienced owner and operator of international restaurant brands in Central America, will open four Fogo locations in Costa Rica and El Salvador. The announcement continues Fogos global expansion momentum, following its recently announced plans to enter Asia and Canada and domestic openings in the U.S. The Arguedas Group joins Fogos existing international franchise partners in Mexico, the Middle East, the Philippines and Canada.



With 68 locations worldwide and growing, earlier in 2022 Fogo 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 8-10 company-owned and 1-2 international franchise restaurant openings planned for 2022, supported by a strong pipeline of new restaurant development to meet demand in new and existing markets. Fogos newest openings include restaurants in El Segundo, Calif., Coral Gables, Fla., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Pasadena, Calif., Friendswood, Texas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Monterrey, Mexico, with planned openings in Queens, N.Y., Reston, Va., and others expected later this year.

We are thrilled to partner with Jozsef Arguedas, CEO and Founder, and his accomplished team at Arguedas Group, whom we recognize for their impressive growth and success developing reputable, global restaurant brands in both Central and South America, said Barry McGowan, Chief Executive Officer of Fogo de Chao. We look forward to working together to bring the one-of-a-kind Fogo experience to Costa Rica and El Salvador guests for the first time as we continue to scale our brand globally.

The Arguedas Group is a leading owner and operator of multi-unit restaurant brands in Costa Rica and El Salvador. With a current total footprint of more than 99 locations, Arguedas Groups impressive portfolio includes iconic global brands such as Burger King, Dominos and Arbys.

We are honored to be partnering with Fogo de Chao to bring their distinctive menu and innovative dining experience to Costa Rica and El Salvador, said Jozsef Arguedas, CEO and Founder of the Arguedas Group. As a longtime fan and guest of Fogo locations around the world myself, I believe Fogo will be a unique addition to the local dining scene in Central America and look forward to introducing new guests to the culinary art of churrasco.

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 whats 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.

Media Contact:

[email protected]

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/76b0c400-dfaa-4ad8-a0b3-15dad320fbd1

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6a7c9dbf-9c87-4f1f-a521-6c7c6150ebd9

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New York, NY, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- INTIMISSIMI, the Italian brand partnered with brand strategy firm, FOLK HERO, to develop and reimagine their Brand Story . Ultimately leading to the launch of INTIMISSIMIs new global platform, The Art of Italian Lingerie.

The inaugural campaign, features supermodel, producer, and businesswoman Heidi Klum, alongside daughter Lena Klum, and is launching globally. The Art of Italian Lingerie tells the story of Italys great attention to beauty, touch, and color and how those things elevate lingerie beyond form and function and into the realm of art.

Once a brand is really clear on the story they are trying to tell, once they have found something truly compelling to say it becomes so empowering creatively, said Rob Klingensmith, CEO of FOLK HERO. We just had a lot of fun with this.

FOLK HERO developed the brand and launch strategy, writing, producing, and creative directing the campaign, which was directed by award-winning creative director, Thomas Hayo.

What an absolute pleasure to capture the bond, love, and joyful spirit of Heidi and Leni Klum for INTIMISSMI and crafted around The Art of Italian Lingerie, said Thomas Hayo.

The Art of Italian Lingerie is not only INTIMISSMIs brand platform, but a testament to our leading innovation that drives luxury and confidence for our consumers and the global community. We are honored to partner with some of the greatest strategic and creative minds to share our spirited message of joy,  said, Marcello Veronesi, General Manager of Calzedonia Group.

The company also recently announced that Jennifer Lopez (J.Lo), will be the next brand and campaign ambassador.

###

ABOUT INTIMISSIMI

Launched in 1996, and part of the Calzedonia Group, Intimissimi was created to convey sophistication and romance, rapping into unmistakable Italian style to satisfy the desires and needs of all women seeking comfort, performance and quality, without sacrificing glamour. For more information visit: www.intimissimi.com

ABOUT FOLK HERO

Folk Hero, established by award-winning brand strategist Rob Klingensmith and part of [INVNT GROUP] The Global BrandStory Project specializes in bringing story strategies to the executive level, creating master brand narratives that act as brands operating and organizing principles. The firm helps its clients develop unusually compelling brand narratives, architecture, identity and tone-of-voice, all underpinned by a robust research methodology and deep understanding of contemporary consumer behaviors. For more information visit: www.folkhero.com

ABOUT [INVNT GROUP]

[INVNT GROUP] THE GLOBAL BRANDSTORY PROJECT was established in 2020, as an evolution of the founding global live brand storytelling agency INVNT in 2008, with a vision to provide consistent, meaningful, well-articulated BrandStory across all platforms. With offices in New York, Sydney, London, Singapore, Dubai, San Francisco, Stockholm, Detroit, and Washington D.C.; headed by President and CEO, Scott Cullather, [INVNT GROUP] represents a growing portfolio of complementary disciplines designed to help forward-thinking organizations everywhere, impact the audiences that matter, anywhere. The GROUP consists of modern brand strategy firm, Folk Hero; creative-led culture consultancy, Meaning; production studio & creative agency, HEVE; events for colleges and universities, INVNT Higher Ed; digital innovation division, INVNT.ATOM; creative multimedia experience studio, Hypnogram; and the original live brand storytelling agency, INVNT. For more information visit: www.invntgroup.com

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Jhonathan Mendez de Leon [INVNT GROUP] [email protected]

Source: FOLK HERO
SYDNEY, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premier event tech platform HeadBox offers lead-generating software and 3D modeling that helps venues proactively fill up their event calendars. Generating quality leads and connecting venues with new bookers looking for the best in Sydney venue hire, HeadBox provides a first-class solution for venues to boost their digital exposure and increase their revenue.

According to HeadBox, over $2.9 million worth of leads for function rooms Sydney-wide have come through the platform in the last two months, with 1,000 messages sent by venues as they prepare for their busiest season.

HeadBox explains that ahead of the peak Christmas period, function venues Sydney-wide are locking in 3D models of their event spaces to support their marketing and sales strategies. The 3D tool allows venues to book Christmas parties without having to conduct multiple site visits with clients, saving them time and money.

Providing a range of features, including photorealistic 3D floor plans, 360-degree images to show users all parts of a room as well as alternative set-up 360-degree images so bookers can visualise different room set-ups plus floor plans and guided walkthroughs, the innovative product from HeadBox can help any function room Sydney-wide stand out from the competition.

'We now have HeadBox 3D Models for 52 of our venues across Australia and we love them! We are using the 3D Models on our website, function packages and in our communications with clients. With a centralised sales team, it has helped us to sell our event spaces and promote our venues, nationally. From pre-shoot to post-production, the HeadBox team has been efficient and supportive throughout the process, and we have seen great results," said Australian Venue Co, a HeadBox client.

HeadBox's Lead Feed provides venues with new business opportunities, allowing them to proactively reach out to new bookers. A quick and easy tool for lead generation, the technology generates quality leads and connects venues with new bookers who are looking for venue hire Sydney-wide.

To learn more about the products and how to maximise Christmas bookings, Sydney venues can contact HeadBox directly.

Contact Information: Headbox AU Founder [email protected] 03 8564 3773

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Image 1: HeadBox AU HeadBox AU

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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HeadBox AU HeadBox AU

Source: Headbox AU
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Peter Wall, of 1010 Burrard Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 2R9, today announced that he has agreed to acquire indirect ownership of 6,500,000 common shares (Common Shares) of Wall Financial Corporation (Wall Financial), a company with a head office at 1010 Burrard Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 2R9, at a purchase price of CDN$9.963 per Common Share for an aggregate purchase price of CDN$64,756,906.65. The acquisition is expected to close on or about November 11, 2022. Prior to the acquisition, Mr. Wall had control or direction over the 6,500,000 Common Shares. As a result of the acquisition, there will be no increase in the total number of issued and outstanding Common Shares held or controlled by Mr. Wall. Mr. Wall will continue to own, directly or indirectly, or exercise control or direction over 17,927,762 Common Shares, representing approximately 55.24% of the total number of issued and outstanding Common Shares at the date hereof. Since the filing of his last early warning report, Mr. Walls ownership percentage has increased by 2.07% as a result of issuer actions that resulted in a decrease to Wall Financials outstanding securities. Mr. Wall will acquire ownership of the 6,500,000 Common Shares indirectly through a private transaction made in reliance on the private agreement exemption set out in section 4.2 of National Instrument 62-104 Take-Over Bids and Issuer Bids. Mr. Walls acquisition is being made for investment purposes. In accordance with applicable securities laws, Mr. Wall may, from time to time and at any time, acquire additional shares and/or other equity, debt or other securities or instruments (collectively, Securities) of Wall Financial in the open market or otherwise, and reserves the right to dispose of any or all of his Securities in the open market or otherwise at any time and from time to time, and to engage in similar transactions with respect to the Securities, the whole depending on market conditions, the business and prospects of Wall Financial and other relevant factors.

For more information, or to obtain a copy of the subject early warning report, please contact:

Peter Wall1010 Burrard StreetVancouver, British ColumbiaV6Z 2R9

Telephone: 604 893-7131Facsimile: 604 893-7179

Source: Peter Wall
PROPOSED UPDATE TO THE CORPORATE HOLDING STRUCTURE

Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Flow Traders N.V. (Euronext: FLOW) announces the proposed implementation of an updated corporate holding structure, as an enabler of its global strategic ambition. This proposed update will involve a top holding company in Bermuda and is the result of a thorough legal and capital structure review.

The update of the holding structure enables Flow Traders to become more competitive as a global, next generation liquidity provider, particularly in relation to regulatory capital management. Different capital requirements will apply following the update of the holding structure which are expected to expand Flow Traders strategic growth options. Furthermore, it will create a more level playing field with global peers with respect to the regulatory capital framework.

Following the update of the holding structure, Flow Traders will retain its existing global footprint with no change to day-to-day operations. This includes a substantial presence in the Netherlands as well as maintaining a listing on Euronext Amsterdam. The update of the holding structure does not change Flow Traders tax residence in the Netherlands and Flow Traders continues to apply its policy of pursuing the principle that tax should follow the business. Therefore, Flow Traders will continue to pay taxes in those countries where profits are earned, predominantly in the Netherlands. Flow Traders regulated entities will continue to be subject to supervision by their respective regulators.

As a top holding company domicile, Bermuda has been selected by Flow Traders and by numerous other financial services companies as it offers a well-established and respected legal jurisdiction, while offering Flow Traders the ability to execute its growth plans and continue all major elements of its current governance. The proposed update of the holding structure has received the unanimous support of Flow Traders Management and Supervisory Board members. In line with Bermuda law, the top holding company will have a one-tier Board structure, comprised of executive and non-executive directors, including the independent Chairman.

Flow Traders has obtained an unconditional declaration of no objection from the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) in connection with the update of the corporate holding structure. The proposed update is subject to shareholder and certain other regulatory approvals.

Extraordinary General Meeting

Flow Traders will propose the update to the corporate holding structure to shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting, scheduled to take place on Friday 2 December 2022 at 14.00 CET. This meeting will be held virtuallyi. The detailed convening notice, agenda and other documentation relating to the meeting can be found at: www.flowtraders.com/investors/corporate-governance/agm.

Contact Details

Flow Traders N.V.

Investors

Jonathan Berger

Phone: +31 20 799 6799

Email: [email protected]

Media

Laura Peijs

Phone: +31 20 799 6799

Email: [email protected]

About Flow Traders

Flow Traders is a leading global financial technology-enabled liquidity provider in financial products, historically specialized in Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), now expanding into other asset classes. Flow Traders ensures the provision of liquidity to support the uninterrupted functioning of financial markets. This allows investors to continue to buy or sell ETPs or other financial instruments under all market circumstances. We continuously grow our organization, ensuring that our trading desks in Europe, the Americas and Asia can provide liquidity across all major exchanges, globally, 24 hours a day. Founded in 2004, we continue to cultivate the entrepreneurial, innovative and team-oriented culture that has been with us since the beginning. Please visit www.flowtraders.com for more information.

Important Legal Information

This press release is prepared by Flow Traders N.V. and is for information purposes only. It is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities and you must not rely on the content of this document when making any investment decisions. The information in this document does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice and is not to be regarded as investor marketing or marketing of any security or financial instrument, or as an offer to buy or sell, or as a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell, securities or financial instruments.



The information and materials contained in this press release are provided as is and Flow Traders N.V. or any of its affiliates (Flow Traders) do not warrant the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of the information and materials and expressly disclaim liability for any errors or omissions. This press release is not intended to be, and shall not constitute in any way a binding or legal agreement, or impose any legal obligation on Flow Traders. All intellectual property rights, including trademarks, are those of their respective owners. All rights are reserved. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Flow Traders. No part of it may be redistributed or reproduced without the prior written permission of Flow Traders.



This press release may include forward-looking statements, which are based on Flow Traders current expectations and projections about future events, and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations. Words such as may, will, would, should, expect, intend, estimate, anticipate, project, believe, could, hope, seek, plan, foresee, aim, objective, potential, goal strategy, target, continue and similar expressions or their negatives are used to identify these forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future whether or not outside the control of Flow Traders including, but not limited to, the following: the occurrence of any event, the timing and completion of the update, including receipt of regulatory approvals and Flow Traders shareholder approval and the satisfaction of other conditions ; the realization of anticipated benefits of the update and the timing thereof; the risk that any announcements relating to the update could have adverse effects on the market price of Flow Traders; the focus of management time and attention on the update and other disruptions arising from the update ; the volatility of the international marketplace; changes in laws; regulations and government policies; changes in taxes and tax rates; and material adverse changes in economic and industry conditions. Such factors may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no undue reliance should be placed on any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as at the date at which they are made. Flow Traders expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, review or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which such statements are based unless required to do so by applicable law.



Financial objectives are internal objectives of Flow Traders to measure its operational performance and should not be read as indicating that Flow Traders is targeting such metrics for any particular fiscal year. Flow Traders ability to achieve these financial objectives is inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond Flow Traders control, and upon assumptions with respect to future business decisions that are subject to change. As a result, Flow Traders actual results may vary from these financial objectives, and those variations may be material.



This press release is for information purposes only, does not constitute a prospectus within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 and is not an offer to acquire securities for sale to U.S. persons or in any jurisdiction and no related documents will be distributed to the public in any jurisdiction.

The securities of Flow Traders have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any U.S. state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor will there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

Market Abuse Regulation

This press release contains information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

i The meeting will be held on a virtual basis unless the temporary legislation which allows for such virtual meetings is no longer in force at the time of the EGM, in which case the meeting will take place physically in the Auditorium at the INIT Building at Jacob Bontiusplaats 9, 1018 LL Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Steve Fleming, president and chief executive officer of River City Bank (the Bank), announced that the Bank's board of directors has approved, in connection with the Bank's recently reported net income of $11.0 million or $7.43 diluted earnings per share for the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2022, a cash dividend of $0.33 per common share to shareholders of record as of Nov. 1, 2022, and payable on Nov. 15, 2022.

ABOUT RIVER CITY BANK:

Named one of Sacramento Business Journal's "50 Fastest Growing Companies" for each of the past six years, River City Bank is the Sacramento region's premier business bank with assets of over $3.9 billion. River City Bank offers a comprehensive suite of banking services, including loans, deposits and cash management tools to the business, consumer and commercial real estate sectors. With tailored, executive-level service and a long-term investment grade credit rating from Standard & Poor's, River City Bank redefines the banking experience and every touch point that surrounds it. River City Bank is the largest, independent, locally owned and managed bank in the Sacramento region with offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and a presence in Southern California. For additional information, please visit www.rivercitybank.com or call (916) 567-2600. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.

# # #

Contact Information: Amber Holwell VP - Director of Marketing [email protected] 916-567-2600

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

Source: River City Bank
Minneapolis, MN, Oct. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. Secretary of Commerce has determined that U.S. imports of quartz surface products manufactured in China and processed in Malaysia are covered by the antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) orders on imports from China.

In 2018, Malaysia exported zero quartz surface products to the United States. The following year, after the Commerce Department issued AD/CVD orders on quartz surface products from China, exports from Malaysia began to skyrocket. By 2021, exports from Malaysia had reached a staggering 16 million square feet. Available evidence shows that much of these quartz surface products were manufactured in China and simply transshipped through Malaysia to evade payment of the AD/CVD duties.

In 2018, American quartz manufacturers and their employees gained a victory, when the AD/CVD duties were imposed on illegally dumped and subsidized quartz from China, said Marty Davis, Cambrias President and Chief Executive Officer. This action opened the door for the launching and expansion of U.S. quartz manufacturing factories; total investments since that time will be upwards of $800,000,000 in new US based factories, with 1000s of new U.S. based jobs. But this Chinese merchandise illegally transshipped through Malaysia puts this and even more future investment in jeopardy.

On February 7, 2022, the Commerce Department self-initiated an inquiry to examine whether the scope of the AD/CVD orders covers quartz surface products that are originally manufactured in China but then re-exported from Malaysia. As part of its inquiry, the agency issued questionnaires to the 23 largest exporters of quartz surface products in Malaysia. Eight of the companies that received questionnaires failed to respond to the Commerce Department. As part of its final scope ruling, the agency determined that these non-responsive companies have been exporting to the United States quartz surface products processed in Malaysia using quartz slab manufactured in China. The Commerce Department will now implement a certification requirement for all imports of quartz surface products from Malaysia to address the transshipment and evasion concerns.

The certification process will work as follows. If an importer of quartz surface products from Malaysia claims that its quartz surface products should not be subject to the payment of AD/CVD duties, the importer must meet certain certification and documentation requirements. First, an exporter of quartz surface products in Malaysia claiming its quartz surface products were not produced using Chinese quartz slab must prepare and maintain certain exporter certifications and supporting documentation. In addition, importers of such quartz surface products must prepare and maintain a separate importer certification and supporting documentation. If it is determined that the certification or documentation requirements have not been met, the importer must pay the appropriate AD/CVD duties on QSP from China. These duties currently range in excess of 300%.

Significantly, the following companies are not eligible for the scope certification process because they did not fully participate in the proceeding:

1. Bada Industries SDN BHD;

2. Ever Stone World SDN BHD;

3. Karina Stone;

4. MSI Building Supply SDN;

5. Principal Safwa (M) SDN;

6. Resstone Manufacturing;

7. SCLM Services SDN BHD;

8. Unique Stone SDN BHD; and

9. Universal Quartz.

We were shocked at how rapidly exports from Malaysia rushed to fill the gap left by illegally traded imports from China, said Arik Tendler, Cambrias Chief Sales Officer. We have long believed that this Malaysian merchandise is evading the existing AD/CVD orders. We appreciate Commerce Department taking this important step to ensure that the orders are strictly enforced so that Cambria and the entire US domestic quartz manufacturing industry can compete on a level playing field.

The Commerce Departments scope inquiry has already had a huge impact in clearing the U.S. market of Chinese merchandise that was being illegally transshipped through Malaysia to the United States to evade payment of the AD/CVD duties. After peaking at nearly 1.6 million square feet in March 2022, the month after the scope inquiry was initiated, U.S. imports from Malaysia plummeted to just 136,000 square feet in the month of July 2022.

About Cambria

Cambria Company LLC, headquartered in Le Sueur, MN, is the leading domestic producer of quartz surface products. It is a family-owned, American company that employs more than 2,000 people in the United States
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (OTCQB: AAIRF) (the "Company" or "Aires") announces that further to its previous press releases of May 9, 2022, June 23, 2022, August 2, and 26, 2022, and September 21, 2022, the Company experienced delays associated with the completion of its annual audit due to difficulties in obtaining third-party shipping data from some of the Company's fulfillment centres. The Company is pleased to report its audit is substantially complete and it expects to be in a position to file its audited financial statements before the end of the month.

The Company has been working diligently with its auditors to conclude the audit process and, at the earliest possible time, will file its audited annual financial statements, management discussion and analysis and certificates of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (collectively, the "Annual Continuous Disclosure Documents") which were due to be filed on May 2, 2022, the interim financial statements, management discussion and analysis and certificates of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the period ended March 31, 2022, which were due to be filed on May 30, 2022, and the interim financial statements, management discussion and analysis and certificates of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the period ended June 30, 2022, which were due to be filed on August 29, 2022 (collectively, the "Interim Continuous Disclosure Documents" and together with the Annual Continuous Disclosure Documents, the "Continuous Disclosure Documents").

The Company anticipates that the Annual Continuous Disclosure Documents will be filed before the end of the month and the Interim Continuous Disclosure Documents will be filed shortly thereafter.

The Ontario Securities Commission (the "OSC") issued a failure to file cease trade order ("CTO") against the Company on May 6, 2022, which orders that general trading, whether direct or indirect, of the securities of the Company cease. A copy of the CTO has been posted to the OSC website.

Following the filing of the Continuous Disclosure Documents, the Company will file a revocation application to revoke the CTO. The Company will provide further updates as they become available.

About American Aires Inc.

American Aires Inc. is a Canadian-based nanotechnology company which has developed proprietary silicon-based microprocessors that reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). The technology was developed by a team of highly accredited scientists and confirmed by independent third-party validation including peer-reviewed studies and publications in scientific journals. Aires' Lifetune products specifically target EMR emitted by consumer electronic devices such as cellphones, computers, baby monitors, Wi-Fi radiation, including the rapidly expanding next-generation high-speed 5G networks. Aires is listed on the CSE under ticker 'WIFI' and on the OTCQB under the symbol 'AAIRF'. Learn more at www.airestech.com.

On behalf of the board of directors

Company Contact:

Dimitry Serov, CEO

Email: [email protected]

Telephone:(905) 482-4667

Website:www.airestech.com

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. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. 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.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any common shares in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. We seek safe harbour.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Not intended 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 United States Securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141455
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - Canada-based medical device research and development organization, CardiAI, aims to improve the hypertension measurement mechanism through unveiling its proprietary BPAro machine. BPAro is a small, portable machine that measures patients' blood pressure at regular intervals for up to 30 hours. The device continuously monitors the blood pressure even when the patients continue their normal daily routines, including sleep. Through its technology, CardiAI aims to fill the hypertension diagnostic gap by making the measurement more accurate and reliable.

CardiAI believes that a one-time blood pressure measurement done in a doctor's office or clinical setting is not enough to confirm hypertension (high blood pressure) or hypotension (low blood pressure). Therefore, the company developed BPAro, which facilitates continuous and consistent monitoring for precise and reliable results. The machine has a user-friendly device setup with simple instructions for patients and doctors. The frequency and timing of measurements can be easily programmed as per desired intervals.

BPAro comes with the support of an app that will record and transmit results directly to the patient's phone and also to the physician. It records patient blood pressure and saves the results on the user's personal cloud account, which will be accessible to view through the BPAro App. It also provides detailed reports which help doctors comfortably fine-tune patients' medications and more accurately analyze their cardiovascular risks.

BPAro has undergone clinical validation for accuracy and has received FDA and Health Canada approval. It measures and generates a large number of blood pressure readings without any manual work from a doctor or patient. The data generated creates a blood pressure profile for the patient in their usual environment. It has the advantage of avoiding stress factors present in clinical settings, which can have negative impacts on the results. BPAro can also be used for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) if the patient is suspected to have hypertension or hypotension.

About

CardiAI is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and was founded by Dr. Anmol Kapoor. He is an experienced cardiologist with a demonstrated history of working in the medical practice industry. He is skilled in clinical research, medical education, epidemiology, medicine, and health technology. CardiAI is a data-driven company that harnesses technical innovation to create positive outcomes for patients. CardiAI is creating a handheld medical device that can rapidly diagnose, manage, and monitor infectious diseases and chronic health conditions.

Media contact:

Name: Hamza Niazi

Email: [email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141452
No-code website-building platform Dorik recently launched its white-label website-building feature and announced its pre-seed funding update.

Sylhet, Bangladesh--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - Dorik, a no-code platform that enables anyone to build and launch their websites without code, has announced the launch of its new white-label website-building platform. The platform is designed to help agencies and professionals build websites for their clients with no coding required. The platform offers a wide range of features and templates that can be customized to fit each client's needs. Agencies and professionals can brand the platform with their logo and color scheme.





Figure 1

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8621/141124_27375160549c1bf8_001full.jpg

In addition, The company has also announced the closure of a pre-seed round of funding from US-based investors. Dorik was the number 1 product of the week on Product Hunt.



The Co-founder of Dorik, Mizanur Rahman, expressed his views about his company's latest development by stating,



"Our goal is to make it easy for anyone to create a stunning website in minutes without learning complex platforms. Combining flexibility, ease of use, and affordability is our mission."



"Since launching Dorik, we've seen it grow into one of the top website builders on the market," adds Mizanur. "It's been an amazing experience watching thousands of people use our platform to build beautiful websites."

Dorik lets anyone build dynamic websites like blogs, job boards, portfolios, directories, and more without touching a line of code. Dorik has built-in features like membership, team collaboration, and native SEO to build content-rich websites. Dorik also provides reliable AWS Hosting and Global CDN to serve the websites faster.

Dorik focuses on the expansion of No-Code. The last several years have seen a rise in the term "No-Code." Dorik is on a mission to provide agencies and professionals with no-code solutions that will allow them to take their businesses to the next level.

About the Company:

Dorik is an all-in-one website-building platform that makes it easy for anyone to create a beautiful website in minutes without any design or coding experience. Dorik is flexible, easy-to-use, and one of the most affordable website building platforms.

Please visit the following links to stay tuned for further updates about Dorik:

Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Media Contact:

Business Name: Dorik

Company Contact: Mizanur Rahman

Company Email: [email protected]

Website: https://dorik.com

City: Sylhet

Country: Bangladesh

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141124
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - EV Technology Group Ltd. (NEO: EVTG) (FSE: B96A) (OTCQB: EVTGF) (EV Technology Group or the Company), announces that it will be participating in the annual ThinkEquity Conference, held on October 26, 2022, in the Lotus Suite East of The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, New York. EV Technology Groups mission is to electrify iconic driving experiences by investing in beloved automotive brands and helping them to transition to the electric era, such as MOKE International Limited (MIL). EV Technology Groups shares are listed on both the OTCQB Exchange (OTCQB: EVTGF), Canadian NEO Exchange (NEO: EVTG) and the Frankfurt Exchange (FSE: B96A). Speaking at the conference will be Wouter Witvoet, CEO and Founder of EV Technology Group., will be participating in The ThinkEquity Conference, which will take place on October 26, 2022 at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York.

Wouter Witvoet will be presenting on October 26th. Interested parties can register to attend here. Members of the EV Technology Group management will also be holding one-on-one investor meetings throughout the day.

About EV Technology Group

EV Technology Group was founded in 2021 with the vision to electrify iconic brands and the mission to redefine the joy of motoring for the electric age. By acquiring iconic brands and bringing beloved motoring experiences to the electric age, EV Technology Group is driving the EV revolution forward. Backed by a diversified team of passionate entrepreneurs, engineers and driving enthusiasts, EV Technology Group creates value for its customers by owning the total customer experience acquiring and partnering with iconic brands with significant growth potential in unique markets, and controlling end-to-end capabilities. To learn more visit: https://evtgroup.com/.

About The ThinkEquity Conference

The ThinkEquity Conference will gather industry insiders, investors and leading executives from around the world on October 26th in New York. Attendees can expect a full day of company presentations, panel discussions, one-on-one investor meetings and more.

Featured sectors include AI/Big data technology, Biotechnology, EV/EV Infrastructure, Metals & Mining and Oil & Gas.

To register to attend The ThinkEquity Conference, please follow this link.

For further information:

Wotuer Witvoet

CEO and Founder

+447810323395

[email protected]

Source: EV Technology Group
Vilnius, Lithuania--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - Lithuanian startup Nikrob presents an innovative technology to minimize organic waste after sorting and produce enough bioethanol directly from organic waste. The Company performed a lot of experiments with yeast strains, enzymes, and acids to achieve the desired results.

Waste sorting is a good thing, but it does not solve the complex problem completely. A lot of unprocessed raw waste stays after the sorting process. So, a Lithuanian startup called Nikrob started developing and lab-testing an innovative technology, which permits the production of bioethanol from organic waste. The significance of it on the global industrial scale is enormous.





Nikrob Startup Presents an Innovative Technology To Minimize Organic Waste After Sorting

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8871/141290_566ee73cd406d99b_001full.jpg

Nikrob underlines that only in Vilnius, there are 72+ thousand tons of garbage, which is picked up per year. The Lithuanian government has to spend around EUR 750,000 for advanced sorting services. At the same time the city has a problem that some citizens ignore this issue and prefer not to pay for such services.

According to the stats of Ilios Karuzhis, who is the Head of the Energy Department of Vilnius: The prices for waste packaging tend to increase every year. All the expenses for placing waste containers have been covered by the structural funds of the EU. The ambitious plan is to build around 1,200 container sites for placing 2,600 waste containers to collect exclusively packaging waste. The city of Vilnius is ready to spend EUR 2,600,000 and approximately the same amount of money will be paid by the EU.

Nikrob constantly reiterates that a certain part of waste gets rotten in the landfills, and, as a result, a lot of gas and heat gets released into the atmosphere. Numerous harmful substances pollute the water, which enters the soil after rain.

R. Nikolaevas, Director of Nikrob, agrees with the motivation of European countries to find alternative sources of energy. The Companys conclusion is that 50% of CO emissions can be easily reduced by up to 10% with the help of ethanol in gasoline. Thanks to the EURO-6, people can appreciate a shortage of biofuels in the car industry.

Environmentally Friendly Way To Produce Bioethanol by Nikrob

The goal of the Nikrob (Lithuanian startup) is to produce enough bioethanol directly from organic waste.The startup presented an innovative technology, how to produce cheap BIOETHANOL from recycled organic waste, and is on the point to automate it in an industrial production process. To reach this point, the company needed 20 years of lab research and endless experimenting with enzymes, which are able to get organic compounds processed quickly. According to R. Nikolaevas, Director of Nikrob, many products contain preservatives. Their chemical composition is hard to study and enzymes have a poor effect. The team had to perform a lot of experiments with yeast strains, enzymes, and acids to achieve the desired results.

According to R. Nikolaevas, raw materials are essential for producing fuel. Nikrob CJSC has a detailed study of all the compositions of organic matter, which gets removed and buried in landfills. They are able to develop the needed yeast strain/enzyme for producing ethanol.

The Process Looks Like This:

Sorting organic waste.

Waste gets crushed and mixed with a certain amount of water.

The waste breaks down into starches/sugars thanks to special enzymes.

The final mash gets dehydrated/filtered using the rectifying equipment.

As a result, there is approximately 99,6% of ethanol, which can be used in eco-biofuel engines.

Eco-Friendly Fuel

The team of Nikrob would like to emphasize that only they produce such equipment on the market. The company has laboratory/industrial equipment only. Clients will need to purchase extra components. The project requires around EUR 250,000-300,000 investment. So, Nikrob welcomes everybody to contribute to this eco-friendly project and support talented engineers, protect the environment, and stop global warming.

As Roman says, bioethanol gets produced from recycled organic materials, so there are no taxes. The cost of production is low, so it is one of the most efficient and affordable fuels in the world's history. The price for one liter of bioethanol is only EUR 0.3. It is time to reduce pollution and logistics costs with the help of each other.

Contact Details

Address: Kalvariju st. 125, LT-08221 Vilnius, Lithuania

Phone: +370 640 22 037

Email: [email protected]

https://nikrobbioengineering.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141290
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) - PORTOFINO RESOURCES INC. (TSXV: POR) (OTCQB: PFFOF) (FSE: POTA) ("Portofino" or the "Company") announces that it is arranging a non-brokered private placement financing for up to $1,000,000 priced at $0.04 per Unit. Each Unit will consist of one common share and one share purchase warrant. Each Warrant shall have a term of 24 months commencing on the Closing Date and shall entitle the holder to purchase one common share at a price of $0.06 during the first year and $0.10 during the second year.

65% of the proceeds from the financing shall be used for exploration activities on Portofino's Argentine lithium and Canadian projects, 10% for non-arms length payments, 5% for investor relations and the balance for working capital and general corporate activities. Closing will be subject to TSXV Exchange approval, and any shares issued will be subject to a four-month hold period.

About Portofino Resources Inc.

Portofino is a Vancouver-based Canadian company focused on exploring and developing mineral resource projects in the Americas. Portofino has an opportunity to earn a majority interest in multiple lithium projects in Salta, Argentina and up to 100% of the Yergo Lithium property in Catamarca. The properties are situated in the heart of the world-renown Argentine Lithium Triangle and in close proximity to multiple world-class lithium projects. The Company also has the right to earn 100% interest in three northwestern Ontario, Canada lithium projects: Allison Lake North, Greenheart Lake and McNamara Lake.

Portofino's South of Otter and Bruce Lake projects are in the historic gold mining district of Red Lake, Ontario, Canada proximal to the Dixie gold project discovered by Great Bear Resources and now owned by Kinross Gold Corp. In addition, Portofino holds three other northwestern Ontario gold projects; the Gold Creek property located immediately south of the historic Shebandowan mine, as well as the Sapawe West and Melema West properties located in the rapidly developing Atikokan gold mining camp.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"David G. Tafel"

Chief Executive Officer

For Further Information Contact:

David Tafel CEO,

Director 604-683-1991

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking statements. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's future business plans. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on certain assumptions and expected future events, namely the growth and development of the Company's business as currently anticipated. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141488
Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation.

Green Energy Compare is expanding their services and range of products to help people in all areas of energy improvements and cost saving with their latest introduction being Tiled Conservatory Roofs.



Green Energy Compare, one of the UK's leading quote and comparison platforms for all energy efficient upgrades, has recently introduced tiled conservatory roofs as a new product to their customers. The tiled conservatory roof product aims to help homeowners save money on their heating bills while improving their lifestyles and increasing their home valuation. This product helps conservatory spaces to stay warm during the winter period and keep cool during the summer.

Based on independent research by Aecom, homeowners could save up to 200 every year on an average UK property just by installing a tiled conservatory roof. This is because a tiled conservatory roof will help improve the home's energy efficiency by reducing the heat loss during winter. This will allow homeowners to spend less on gas fees to heat their homes.

A Tiled conservatory roof also helps to provide better soundproofing to the home. By being more solid and fully insulated, it can help to reduce the noise transmitted from outside into the house and allow homeowners to rest in a quiet and peaceful space. In addition, with a tiled conservatory roof being solid, it helps to provide homeowners with more security. These tiles are more robust than glass and polycarbonate roofs.

Using the Green Energy Compare website, homeowners can get an instant quote and free advice by filling out a quick form. The Green Energy Compare platform will then match the details you have provided with their list of installers that are TSI Approved, and help find the right solution at the best price. Green Energy Compare has built a national network of Tiled Conservatory Roof installers across the country, enabling users to get quotes from a local installer anywhere in the UK.

About Us: About Green Energy Compare Green Energy Compare is a leading pricing and quote platform in the UK that provides consumers with free up-to-date advice and solutions for improved domestic energy consumption. Based on the answers from users, the platform matches them with suitable energy products, suppliers, and installers for price comparisons and quotes. Furthermore, the platform is a knowledge source with in-depth articles about energy-efficient solutions for UK homes.

Contact Info:

Name: Dean Walsh

Email: Send Email

Organization: Green Energy Compare

Website: https://www.greenenergycompare.com



Release ID: 89083520

If you detect any issues, problems, or errors in this press release content, kindly contact [email protected] to notify us. We will respond and rectify the situation in the next 8 hours.
STAMFORD, Conn., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AmCap, Incorporated, a vertically integrated private equity real estate firm, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Liberty Square, a 107,431 square-foot, high volume grocery-anchored, shopping center in the Chicago, IL suburb of Wauconda, IL. The addition of Liberty Square brings AmCap's Chicago area presence to five grocery-anchored centers, "We are delighted to be adding this well located, necessity-based Jewel-Osco grocery anchored center to our Chicago portfolio," says Jake Bisenius, President and CIO of AmCap.

Liberty Square is located at the northeast corner of Rand Road (US-12) & Liberty Street (IL-176) Wauconda, Lake County, Illinois approximately 37 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. The 54,522 square foot Jewel-Osco anchors the center, which is also home to several complimentary businesses and restaurants, including the U.S. Postal Service, Charter Fitness, KFC, Subway, Pet Supplies Plus and PNC Bank.

AmCap's Chicago area portfolio also includes Amazon Fresh anchored Norridge Commons in Norridge, Aldi anchored Mallard Crossing in Elk Grove Village, Jewel-Osco anchored NorthPoint Center in Arlington Heights and Jewel-Osco anchored Hoffman Plaza in Hoffman Estates. Jake Bisenius said, "Liberty Square continues AmCap's mission of 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 Wauconda community and we look forward to working with Jewel-Osco and other local stakeholders to ensure the continued success at this location."

Liberty Square is the second acquisition purchased through a joint venture with Encore Enterprises. Mr. Bisenius continued, "Solid economic and demographic trends in the Chicago submarkets are supporting retail sales growth, we look forward to driving improvements within the portfolio to realize the full potential of the properties for the benefit of the tenants and residents, and to provide stable cash flows for our partners.

For leasing opportunity inquires at Liberty Square and/or throughout AmCap's portfolio, please reach out to our leasing team 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, please visit www.amcap.com.

Media Contact:Alice Catalano[email protected] 203-327-2001

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amcap-continues-to-grow-its-chicago-area-presence-with-the-acquisition-of-liberty-square-301655594.html

SOURCE AmCap
The Loren brand introduces its debut US property, bringing new meaning to Austin hospitality with destination restaurant Nido and Milk + Honey spa

NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The much-anticipated, The Loren at Lady Bird Lake in Austin is now open and is the first U.S. hotel for The Loren Hotels and Residences brand. Featuring 108 well-appointed guest rooms and suites, all with lake and city views, The Loren at Lady Bird welcomes guests to a greenhouse in the park, complete with destination restaurant Nido, milk + honey spa, 24-7 access fitness center, rooftop terrace with infinity pool and signature event space with 180-degree views. Ideally-located in close proximity to downtown Austin, guests can easily explore the city via the pedestrian bridge across the street from the hotel or complimentary e-bikes available upon request. The Loren at Lady Bird Lake joins the brand's flagship property, The Loren at Pink Beach in Bermuda, which opened in 2017.

"We are thrilled to introduce the lively city of Austin to The Loren brand with the opening of The Loren at Lady Bird Lake. The beautification of every day living sits at our core and every design detail has been inspired by our lakefront location with the skyline in the background," says Stephen King, CEO & Founder of The Loren Hotels. "This marks our first property in the US and we know both domestic and international travelers seek elevated hotel stays in locations that organically deliver stellar viewpoints paired with attentive services, amenities and thoughtful design."

The Loren brand worked with a number of talented advisors to bring their vision for The Loren at Lady Bird Lake to life in the Austin including Rhode Partners, Drenner Group, Hoar Construction and Fleur-de-lis Interior design. The Loren at Lady Bird Lake's modern accommodations, impeccable service, and exclusive amenities are the perfect counterpart to the indoor-outdoor environment surrounding Austin's iconic Lady Bird Lake. Elegant king accommodations offer generous spaces with sophisticated modern furnishings and expansive views through floor-to-ceiling windows. Luxurious bathrooms feature natural stone, walk-in spa showers, plush bathrobes, SFERRA towels, and Malin+Goetz products. Rooms at The Loren at Lady Bird Lake also include a fully stocked gourmet minibar featuring thoughtfully-sourced selections from snacks to bourbon and wine. Expansive One and Two-Bedroom Suites feature panoramic, uninterrupted views of Lady Bird Lake to the north and feature a comfortable seating area, perfect for relaxing and taking in the natural surroundings. The Loren Suite and Premier Suite offer balconies with views of choice - from Lady Bird Lake, and Downtown Austin to Texas Hill Country. In-room dining is available for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Guests can expect masterful services and amenities including signature restaurant, Nido, a new restaurant concept that brings the rugged charm of the area surroundings together with the culinary techniques of coastal Europe, all perched above Lady Bird Lake and the energetic cityscape. Diners will feel welcomed to a moody escape, eight floors up, as Nido offers a simple, approachable, and elegant dining experience with an ingredient-first mentality led by Executive Chef Brad McDonald. Outdoor lounge seating is available overlooking Lady Bird Lake. Nido is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

As a tranquil destination hotel, The Loren at Lady Bird Lake is also home to milk + honey Spa. The 5,000 square-foot, world-class space offers a full range of all-natural spa and medspa treatments with ten treatment rooms, steam showers, a lounge area, and the amenities rooted in a philosophy focused on healing, wellness and relaxation. A rooftop terrace with infinity pool offers guests an ideal spot to enjoy a full-service poolside experience including food and drinks and a 24-7 fitness center is located on the 7th floor.

Guests ready to book their next trip to Austin and stay at The Loren at Lady Bird Lake can explore a variety of offers and experiences including a limited-time, third night complimentary package.

For more information and to book a stay, please visit: The Loren Hotel at Lady Bird Lake - Luxury Hotel (thelorenhotels.com) and follow @thelorenhotels on Instagram to stay up to date on the latest happenings and offers.

Media Contact: [email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/austins-newest-hotel---the-loren-at-lady-bird-lake--now-open-featuring-beloved-lake-and-skyline-views-301655566.html

SOURCE The Loren Hotel Group
Ascend Scranton opens first cannabis dispensary "outlet" in Keystone State

NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. ("AWH" or the "Company") (CSE: AAWH.U) (OTCQX: AAWH), a multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis operator focused on bettering lives through cannabis, has announced the opening of its Scranton, Pennsylvania dispensary for medical patients only. Ascend Scranton is located at 605 Davis Street.

Opening officially on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, the new dispensary will take a similar approach to outlet stores across industries and will cater to patients by offering quality products at everyday low prices. Ascend Scranton is the first of six expected Ascend dispensaries to come online in Pennsylvania over the next few years. As of May 2022, Pennsylvania has more than 700,000 medical cannabis patients registered, with Scranton being the sixth most populous city in the state.

"Ascend is thrilled to open dispensary doors in Pennsylvania, an exciting emerging market in medical cannabis," said Frank Perullo, interim co-CEO, president and co-founder of Ascend Wellness Holdings. "With its bustling commerce and strategic location in the northeast, Scranton is the perfect city to establish our roots in the Keystone State. Our team is honored by the support of the people of Scranton and is eager to begin to serve the medical patients of the area."

"Pennsylvania's medical cannabis space is a burgeoning market, projected to exceed $1 billion in sales in 2023," said Daniel Neville, interim co-CEO and Chief Financial Officer. "From our premium flower to our top vape selection, Ascend Scranton will provide the finest products at accessible prices to patients. The Ascend team is proud to join the Pennsylvania cannabis community as we ramp up operations in the Electric City."

The Ascend Scranton location features 3,000 square feet of dispensary floor space and abundant parking for all visitors. The dispensary's six registers allow for easy and efficient checkout, with knowledgeable and friendly budtenders available to serve all patient needs. The location also has one consultation room for private patient appointments.

About AWH:

AWH is a vertically integrated operator with assets in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. AWH owns and operates state-of-the-art cultivation facilities, growing award-winning strains and producing a curated selection of products. AWH produces and distributes its in-house Ozone, Ozone Reserve, and Simply Herb branded products. For more information, visit www.awholdings.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking information and statements, which may include, but are not limited to, information and statements regarding the plans, intentions, expectations, estimates, and beliefs of the Company. 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, and on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of 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. Such factors include, among others: the risks and uncertainties identified in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, and in the Company's other reports and filings with the applicable Canadian securities regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/awh-commences-medical-operations-in-pennsylvania-301656389.html

SOURCE Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc.
Co-Founder and Associate Pastor of a new church, professor, songwriter, and gospel music artist Dahlene Browne Paasewe, M.D., is passionate about educating women on how to self-advocate after she removed both breasts of precancerous cells.

MILWAUKEE, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "God spared me from getting breast cancer! I am committed to telling the world what God did for me and to help others along the way," says Dr. Paasewe. "I was admitted to the cancer unit for surgery where I heard patients groan for pain, and there, this song was born: 'You Are Worthy, Lord!'" says Dr. Paasewe, an immigrant from Liberia, mother of six and physician.

More white women get breast cancer, but more black women die of the disease because they are diagnosed in advanced stages and develop more aggressive breast cancer. Could inadequate health awareness, not knowing how to self-advocate, and not detecting the early signs affect the outcome of diseases in the African American population?

In some African cultures, health issues are kept as deep secrets, associated with shame, causing women to suffer in silence, resulting in advanced diagnoses for many diseases. She wants to ensure that these factors do not cause these disparities.

Dr. Paasewe is passionate about health and wellness and is inspiring perseverance and self-advocacy despite her pain and multiple constructive surgeries. She is on a dual mission for health advocacy and winning souls for Jesus Christ at the Word of Hope Community Church - Milwaukee, where she works alongside her husband to spread the Gospel. Her songs are about faith, praise, strength, and encouragement to build relationships with the Lord. Listen to her single: Will You Be Ready?

This health journey started in 2008 when she experienced a bloody nipple discharge in one breast. Surgery was performed, and after her six-month follow-up mammogram, she was informed that a biopsy and another surgery were needed because the first surgery was not done correctly. The doctors were determined to treat only the affected breast, but she demanded that the doctor examine her other breast, where three areas of precancerous cells were discovered.

After several biopsies, procedures, and the discovery and confirmation of four areas of precancerous cells in both breasts, the decision was made to remove both breasts. "What if I hadn't insisted they examine my other breast?" she asks.

Dr. Paasewe reports how advocacy can save the lives of those we love dearly:

"In January 2020, my husband was in the emergency room for severe chest pain, had a normal EKG, was misdiagnosed with acid reflux, and was about to be discharged when I asked his doctor a question. She returned with new test results and a different plan, including an immediate transfer by ambulance to the heart hospital because "he had a heart attack." His Troponin level was nine, and a stent was placed, but we could have lost him that day."

Dr. Paasewe is the Founder/CEO of State of Inspiration Productions, whose motto is Inspiring Perseverance. Her music website is https://www.dahlenesmusic.com. She earned a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in Medicine and Surgery from the A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine in Liberia and holds a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degree in health service management from DeVry University. She is currently a professor at the Milwaukee Area Technical College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Dr. Paasewe is available for interviews, live performances of her gospel music, and speaking engagements. Contact information: 413-353-2164 or [email protected].

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/breast-cancer-survivor-dedicates-her-life-to-helping-other-women-through-sharing-her-story-music-and-health-education-awareness-and-advocacy-301655576.html

SOURCE Dahlene Browne Paasewe, M.D.
JACKSON, Mich., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of CMS Energy has declared a quarterly dividend on the company's common stock.

The dividend for the common stock (CUSIP: 125896100) is 46 cents per share. It is payable Nov. 30, 2022, to shareholders of record on Nov. 4, 2022.

CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS) is a Michigan-based energy company featuring Consumers Energy as its primary business. It also owns and operates independent power generation businesses.

For more information on CMS Energy, please visit our website at cmsenergy.com. To sign up for email alert notifications, please visit the Investor Relations section of our website.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cms-energys-board-of-directors-declares-quarterly-dividend-on-common-stock-301656340.html

SOURCE CMS Energy
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE: EHC) today announced it plans to build a freestanding, 50-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. The hospital will be located near the intersection of Tyrone Boulevard North and 9th Avenue North.

Complementing local acute care services, the future hospital will serve patients recovering from debilitating illnesses and injuries, including strokes and other neurological disorders, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and complex orthopedic conditions. In addition to 24hour nursing care, this hospital will offer physical, occupational and speech therapies to restore functional ability and quality of life. Care will be provided by highly specialized nurses, therapists and physicians.

The hospital will feature all private patient rooms, a spacious therapy gym with advanced rehabilitation technologies and an activities of daily living suite, cafeteria, pharmacy and therapy courtyard.

"We are excited to expand and grow our rehabilitation services on Florida's gulf coast," said Lori Bedard, president of Encompass Health's Southeast region. "This new hospital will allow even more residents to receive specialized care close to home. We are greatly appreciative for the opportunity to serve as the region's trusted choice for rehabilitation."

Encompass Health currently has 19 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in Florida and has announced plans to open an additional six hospitals in the state over the next several years.

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 153 hospitals in 36 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 StatementsStatements contained in this press release which are not historical facts, such as those relating to the likelihood, timing and effects of the completion of this hospital project, 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, the regulatory review and approval process, any adverse outcome of various lawsuits, claims, and legal or regulatory proceedings that may be brought by or against the Company; the possibility this project will experience unexpected delays; the ability to successfully complete this project consistent with Encompass Health's growth strategy, including realization of anticipated revenues and avoidance of unforeseen exposure to liabilities; disease outbreaks, including the speed, depth, geographic reach and duration of the spread; the actions to be taken by Encompass Health in response to disease outbreaks; 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 information systems; Encompass Health's 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 Encompass Health's 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 quarters ended March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022.

Media contact:Danielle Hall | 205-970-5912[email protected]

Investor Relations contact:Mark Miller | 205-970-5860[email protected]

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SOURCE Encompass Health Corp.
CLEVELAND, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Maria Carr has rejoined the Cleveland office of McDonald Hopkins LLC as an Associate in the Strategic Advisory and Restructuring Department.

Carr focuses her practice on corporate restructuring, commercial bankruptcy, business counseling, and creditors' rights matters. She frequently counsels businesses and fiduciaries in chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, state or federal receiverships, out of court workouts, or other insolvency proceedings and commercial matters. She also represents secured and unsecured creditors in these proceedings, and handles litigation arising out of and related to bankruptcy or receivership cases.

Carr also has experience representing purchasers of assets of distressed businesses and liquidating trustees in various bankruptcy and distressed matters. She previously served as counsel for a national distressed debt buyer, where she analyzed, negotiated, and litigated claims against the company under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and numerous other statutes in bankruptcy, federal, and state courts across the country.

Carr earned her J.D., cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 2014. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree, summa cum laude, in 2011 from Vanderbilt University

About McDonald HopkinsFounded in 1930, McDonald Hopkins is a business advisory and advocacy law firm with locations in Baltimore/Annapolis, 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:Cynthia StewartMcDonald Hopkins LLC600 Superior Avenue, East, Suite 2100Cleveland, Ohio 44114Phone: 216.348.5733Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE McDonald Hopkins
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will provide coverage of the upcoming prelaunch and launch activities for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) mission. JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the polar satellite series and is expected to capture data to improve weather forecasts, helping scientists predict and prepare for extreme weather events and climate change.

JPSS-2 is scheduled to launch at 5:25 a.m. EDT (2:25 a.m. PDT) Tuesday, Nov. 1, on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Live launch coverage will begin at 4:45 a.m. EDT (1:45 a.m. PDT) on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website, with prelaunch and science briefings beginning Friday, Oct. 28. Watch coverage on the agency's website at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

JPSS represents significant technological and scientific advancements in observations used for severe weather prediction and environmental monitoring. These data are critical to the timeliness and accuracy of forecasts three to seven days in advance of a severe weather event. It will scan Earth as it orbits from the North Pole to the South Pole, crossing the equator 14 times a day to provide full global coverage twice a day.

NASA and NOAA partner in the development, launch, testing, and operation of all satellites in the JPSS series.

Launching with JPSS-2 is NASA's Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) technology demonstration. After JPSS-2 safely reaches orbit, LOFTID will follow a re-entry trajectory from low-Earth orbit to demonstrate the inflatable heat shield's ability to slow down and survive re-entry. LOFTID is a partnership with ULA and is dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter, one of the company's engineers who played a key role in developing the technology. LOFTID will demonstrate how the inflatable aeroshell, or heat shield, can slow down and survive re-entry in conditions relevant to many potential applications, whether landing humans on Mars, new missions to Venus and Titan, or returning heavier payloads and samples from low-Earth orbit.

Full mission coverage is as follows:

Friday, Oct. 28

6 p.m. EDT (3 p.m. PDT)  JPSS-2 Prelaunch News Conference on NASA TV with the following participants:

Tim Walsh, director, NOAA's JPSS Program Office, NOAA

John Gagosian, director, NASA's Joint Agency Satellite Division

Irene Parker, deputy assistant administrator, NOAA Systems, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Services

Omar Baez, launch director, NASA's Launch Services Program

Gary Wentz, vice president, Government and Commercial Programs, ULA

Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate

Capt. Zack Zounes, launch weather officer, U.S. Space Force

Accredited news media planning to attend the briefing should confirm their participation with Tech Sgt. Patrick Harrower, 30th Space Wing public affairs officer, at: [email protected] no later than 9 a.m. PDT Friday, Oct. 28.

Media may request the dial-in number and passcode by contacting the newsroom at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida no later than 2 p.m. PDT Friday, Oct. 28, at: [email protected]. Media and the public also may ask questions during the event using #JPSS2 and #LOFTID.

Saturday, Oct. 29

4 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. PDT)  JPSS-2 Science Briefing on NASA TV with the following participants:

Jordan Gerth, meteorologist and satellite scientist, NOAA's National Weather Service

Jim Gleason, senior project scientist, NASA JPSS, NASA

Satya Kalluri, program scientist, NOAA JPSS Program

Heather Kilcoyne, ground project manager, NOAA JPSS

Joe Del Corso, LOFTID project manager, NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia

Accredited news media planning to attend the briefing should confirm their participation with Tech Sgt. Patrick Harrower, 30th Space Wing public affairs officer, at: [email protected] no later than 9 a.m. PDT Oct. 28.

Media may request the dial-in number and passcode by contacting the Kennedy newsroom no later than 2 p.m. PDT Friday, Oct. 28, at: [email protected]. Media and the public also may ask questions during the event using #JPSS2 and #LOFTID.

Tuesday, Nov. 1

12 a.m. EDT (9 p.m. PDT Monday, Oct. 31)  NASA Edge will host the JPSS-2 Tower Rollback Show that will air live on NASA TV and YouTube.

NASA TV Launch Coverage

NASA TV live coverage will begin at 4:45 a.m. EDT (1:45 a.m. PDT) Tuesday, Nov. 1. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules, and links to streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/live

Audio only of the news conferences and launch coverage will be carried on the NASA "V" circuits, which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240, or 7135. On launch day, "mission audio," countdown activities without NASA TV launch commentary, will be carried on 321-867-7135. A "tech feed" of the launch without NASA TV commentary will be carried on the NASA TV media channel.

Follow countdown coverage on the JPSS-2 launch blog at:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/jpss-2/

Public Participation

Members of the public can register to attend the JPSS-2 launch virtually. The virtual guest program for this mission includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the virtual guest passport following a successful launch.

JPSS-2 Virtual Social

As we finalize launch preparations, we are excited to invite the public to join our virtual social media event hosted on Facebook.com/NASA beginning Wednesday, Oct. 26. Stay up to date on the latest mission activities, interact with NASA, NOAA, and other team members in real-time, and watch the launch of the ULA Atlas V rocket that will boost JPSS-2 for its journey into orbit. Join the conversation on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtags #JPSS2 and #LOFTID.

Virtual Interviews

For media interested in setting up virtual interviews with members of the JPSS-2 or LOFTID teams during launch week, please reach out to Michelle Birdsall at: [email protected] for JPSS-2 or to Kristyn Damadeo at: [email protected] and Sarah Frazier at: [email protected] for LOFTID.

Watch, Engage Online

Stay connected with the mission on social media, and let people know you're following it on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using the hashtags #JPSS2 and #LOFTID. Also follow online at:

Twitter: @NASA, @NOAA, @NOAASatellites, @NASASocial, @NASA_LSP, @NASAKennedy, @NASAEarth, @NASAGoddard, @NASALangley, @NASA_Technology, @ULALaunch, @SLDelta30

Facebook: NASA, NOAA Satellites, NASA LSP, NASA Kennedy, NASA Earth, NASA_Langley, NASA Technology

Instagram: NASA, NASA Kennedy, NOAA Satellites, NASAEarth, NASA_Langley

For more information about the launch of JPSS-2, visit:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/jpss-2/

-end-

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SOURCE NASA
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will host a virtual media briefing at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 27, to share new scientific findings based on observations from the agency's InSight Mars lander and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

Science team members from both missions will explain how data and images from each spacecraft  one on the Red Planet's surface and one orbiting above  contributed to the discovery. They will share how the two missions worked together to confirm their observations. There will also be an update on InSight's solar energy status.

The virtual briefing will livestream on NASA Television, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, as well as the agency's app. Watch live on the agency's website at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Participants will include:

Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters

Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California

Liliya Posiolova, MRO, orbital science operations lead at Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, California

Ingrid Daubar, InSight impact science lead, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island

To ask questions by phone, members of the media should email Rexana Vizza at [email protected] no later than two hours prior to the start of the event. Media and the public can submit questions on social media during the briefing using #AskNASA.

InSight landed on Mars in November 2018 to study the planet's deep interior. After nearly four years, InSight has detected over 1,300 marsquakes, which can reveal details about the planet's crust, mantle, and core. Well into an extended mission, the lander is steadily losing power as dust accumulates on its solar panels, and the mission is expected to end in the coming months.

MRO has studied the Red Planet's atmosphere, surface, and subsurface from orbit since 2006. The spacecraft's cameras, spectrometers, and radar have revealed active changes on the surface of Mars, locations of ancient liquid water, and previously unknown subsurface ice.

For more information about InSight, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/insight

-end-

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SOURCE NASA
Online survey of over 2,000 respondents by Blue Star Families shows that military families, who move every 2-3 years, face an average of over $6,000 in unreimbursed relocation and housing costs in the first year after a relocation.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Blue Star Families released a new survey that paints a dire situation facing many military families across the country. Conducted from September 16-21 with over 2,200 respondents, the new research shows that a majority of active-duty families are facing serious issues related to lengthy stays in temporary lodging due to a limited housing market and skyrocketing housing costs.

The results showed the following:

On average, military families face over $6,000 in unreimbursed costs in the first year of relocation alone.

The survey also found most families (81%) spent more than $2,000 in upfront, move-in expenses once they secured their permanent housingincluding necessary non-optional costs such as electricity, internet, or one-time housing costs.

Nearly half of active-duty family respondents (46%) moving in the past year spent longer than 20 days in temporary housing at their new duty station, but until October 1, 2022, were only reimbursed for the first 10 days. For temporary lodging costs alone, these families reported spending an average of over $2,000 out of pocket and unreimbursed.

"The stories we heard were wrenching, and pervasive. One family told us they ran out of money for hotels after two weeks, forcing them to sleep in their car in the middle of a Texas summer. Others resorted to living in RVs while waiting for military housing to become available. With each new assignment, families told us, any savings they had were wiped out. Many felt forced to settle for expensive or inadequate private rentals, or even to purchase a home when they didn't intend to buy, due to the high costs of remaining in temporary housing," said Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO of Blue Star Families.

In Lacey, Washingtonjust 30 minutes from Joint Base Lewis-McChordthe Lacey Veterans Services Hub told Blue Star Families that it has "helped several military members and their families that were either living in their cars or in tents due to the lack of housing in our community." For many of the active-duty families, "the monthly cost of a hotel is on average $1,500 more a month than what they receive as a housing allowance. They now must choose to either not pay their bills, feed their families, or live in their cars."

Congress, the Department of Defense, state lawmakers, and community organizations have all recognized these problems and have taken steps toward solutions, which we applaud, but it's time to take those efforts further. Representative Marilyn Strickland from Washington's 10th congressional district has recognized these efforts:

"Our servicemembers and their families shouldn't spend hundreds of dollars out of pocket to find adequate housing. Last year, I secured language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to direct the Department of Defense (DOD) to evaluate Temporary Lodging Expenses (TLE) and unreimbursed moving costs. This year, I introduced the Ensuring Every Servicemember has a Home package to restore Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) and improve BAH calculations. I am pleased that Secretary Austin has begun to address some of these issues, and I look forward to working with Blue Star Families to do more. It's past time to ensure that all servicemembers and their families are safely and adequately housed."

Read the survey findings HERE.

About Blue Star FamiliesBlue Star Families is the nation's largest grass-roots military family support organization, with a mission to support military families to improve military readiness. Its distinctive approach builds stronger communities around military families through knowledge and programs that address the unique needs of those who serve. Blue Star Families' nationally recognized surveys and analysis give military families an important voice that informs policymakers and its military family programs. It uses the power of its collective resources and cross-sector collaborations to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of members of military families to strengthen the troops, their families, and our nation as a whole. For more information, including the ongoing Blue Star Families Welcome Week events and opportunities to get involved, please visit bluestarfam.org.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-survey-military-families-facing-crippling-housing-moving-costs-301656289.html

SOURCE Blue Star Families
For the fourth year running, Nord Anglia University receives accreditation from the Learning and Performance Institute

LONDON, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Premium international schools organisation Nord Anglia Education today announced it has been awarded formal accreditation for the fourth year running from the Learning and Performance Institute (LPI). The accreditation from the LPI is for the quality of Nord Anglia's professional development programme on Nord Anglia University (NAU), its leading digital learning platform.

The LPI is a leading authority on workplace Learning & Development and is tasked with continuously raising standards of professionalism within the learning industry.

NAU contains thousands of resources and learning opportunities designed to support the professional development of 15,000 teachers and non-teaching colleagues and connect them with their peers across Nord Anglia's global family of 81 schools. As well as using Artificial Intelligence to personalise each user's learning experience, NAU encourages collaboration and the sharing of best practice in teaching, wellbeing, and career management.

In re-accrediting NAU, the LPI commended the online professional development programme and noted how the "commitment and professionalism" of NAU's team of experts is supporting its development.

Simon Kear, Assistant Director, Online Learning Platforms at Nord Anglia Education, said: "Our LPI accreditation for the fourth year in a row highlights the quality of our professional development and the investments we're continuously making to develop our world-class offering. NAU's digital learning environment helps our people learn and collaborate with their peers around the world to further enhance the quality of teaching and learning in our schools."

Media enquiries

David BatesCommunications Manager[email protected]+44 7787 135223

About Nord Anglia Education

As a leading premium international schools organisation, we are shaping a generation of creative and resilient global citizens who graduate from our schools with everything they need for success, whatever they choose to be or do in life.

Our strong academic foundations combine world-class teaching and curricula with innovative technology and facilities, creating learning experiences like no other. Inside and outside of the classroom, we inspire our students to achieve more than they ever thought possible.

No two children learn the same way, which is why our 81 schools in 32 countries around the world personalise learning to what works best for every student. Inspired by our high-quality teachers, our students achieve outstanding academic results and go on to study at the world's top universities.

To learn more or apply for a place for your child, go to nordangliaeducation.com.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1503193/Nord_Anglia_Education_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nord-anglias-digital-learning-platform-receives-top-honours-301656076.html

SOURCE Nord Anglia Education
Now The Leading Clemency Petition for a Federal Prisoner as Americans Call for Justice for First Time, Non-Violent Offender Serving Draconian Sentence

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 525,000 people have now signed a Change.org petition calling on President Biden to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, a first-time, non-violent offender who was sentenced to two life sentences plus forty years. The groundswell of support has built this into the leading clemency petition for federal prisoners on Change.org.

Over half a million sign Change.org petition to ask Pres. Biden to commute Ross Ulbricht's extreme sentence.

"Ten years ago, Ross was given an extreme sentence for nonviolent convictions only," said Lyn Ulbricht, Ross's mother, who started the FreeRoss grassroots movement to free her son. "The success of this petition shows Americans recognize that Ross Ulbricht's case is among the most prominent examples of the unfairness and excessive sentencing that infect our criminal justice system and they are asking President Biden to act."

Ross Ulbricht was convicted on non-violent charges related to an e-commerce website he created known as Silk Road. Intended as a marketplace based on libertarian principles and the use of cryptocurrency, the site prohibited the sale of items that could "harm or defraud" others. However, it became popular for online sales of drugs, most commonly marijuana according to a thorough study by Carnegie Mellon University. Ulbricht was not prosecuted for selling illegal items himself, but for what others sold. Despite similar defendants spending less than two weeks in jail, Ulbricht was given two life sentences plus forty years without parole.

The sentence was immediately recognized as unjust and over the last decade hundreds of thousands of Americans have spoken out to demand justice for Ulbricht. Now Prominent law enforcement officials, business leaders, political figures, community activists and criminal justice reformers have called on the president to offer Ross mercy.

While serving his sentence, Ross Ulbricht has focused on helping his fellow prisoners by tutoring, teaching classes, mediating conflicts, and serving as a suicide watch companion. In 2021, Ulbricht's art was auctioned as an NFT (nonfungible token) called Genesis Collection (NFT). Part of the proceeds have been dedicated to Art4Giving, a charitable fund his family created to provide grants to non-profit organizations that contribute to the lives of people impacted by the criminal justice system. To date, Art4Giving has donated nearly $400,000 to charity.

"We are so encouraged by the support Ross has received from so many," concluded Lyn Ulbricht. "We fervently hope that this outcry not only shines a light on the injustice of Ross's sentencing, but on that of so many others who are being warehoused in prison way too long. We pray that the president will use his authority to make this right."

CONTACT: Chad Kolton[email protected](571) 414-0730

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/over-half-million-sign-changeorg-petition-to-ask-president-biden-to-commute-ross-ulbrichts-extreme-sentence-announces-ross-ulbricht-legal-defense-fund-301656224.html

SOURCE Ross Ulbricht Legal Defense Fund
Pawtocol To Make First Cryptocurrency Donations to A Forever Home Animal Rescue, Houndhaven, Inc. and Husky Haven of Florida

AVENTURA, FL, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Pawtocol , creator of blockchain-powered solutions that improve the lives of pets and pet owners, today announced the expansion of their Pawtocol Pet Fund, the world's first blockchain-powered fund exclusively dedicated to helping animal rescues and shelters. Pawtocol has added A Forever Home Animal Rescue, Houndhaven Inc. and Husky Haven of Florida. As with all new partners, the Pawtocol Pet Fund will deliver the first cryptocurrency donation in these organizations' history.

"I cannot say enough about our team and the amazing efforts that have been made on a daily basis to continue to find ways to help animals all across this country, specifically those that are taken in by shelters and rescues," said Colin Jordan, CEO of Pawtocol. "By continuing our expansion and partnering with multiple rescues in Florida, Pawtocol is truly helping animals from coast-to-coast. We believe there will be a day that The Pawtocol Pet Fund can help hundreds, if not thousands, of rescues all over the world."

These three Florida rescues bring Pawtocol to a total of 8 rescue partners, all of which receive an initial $1,000 donation from the Pawtocol Pet Fund.

"We have been rescuing dogs since 2000 and have been able to do so only because of support from the community" said Linda Coletta, founder of Houndhaven, Inc. "The Pawtocol Pet Fund is a new and exciting way to help us help our rescue dogs, and we are grateful to Pawtocol for this opportunity."

"We are so grateful for every donation that we get, but when Pawtocol reached out they were not only offering a donation but they were also looking to really partner with us and help raise awareness about our cause on a much larger scale," said Francia Vogini, president of Husky Haven of Florida. "We are thrilled to start this journey with Pawtocol and continue our mission of helping animals in need."

When Pawtocol launches their all-new KINGDOM platform on October 26th and their Smart Pet Tag later in Q4, they will be donating 10% of all of their profits to the Pawtocol Pet Fund which will then be distributed evenly amongst their rescue partners.

If you are registered 501c and would like to learn more about becoming a Pawtocol Pet Fund partner, please visit their website.

Pawtocol Holding Corp. ("Pawtocol"), is a wholly owned subsidiary of New Wave Holding Corp. ("New Wave") (CSE: SPOR) (FWB: 0XM2) (OTCPK: TRMNK).

About Pawtocol

Pawtocol is an ecosystem of blockchain-powered solutions that make a positive impact on the lives of pets and pet owners all over the world. Utilizing blockchain technology provides continuity, transparency, and data ownership opportunities that have never been seen before in the pet industry. Pawtocol's goal is to deliver a new level of value to each and every member of our community, including the rescues and shelters that desperately need our support in their efforts to lower the homeless pet population and end kill shelters in America.

About New Wave Holdings Corp.

New Wave Holdings Corp. (CSE: SPOR) (FWB: 0XM2) (OTCPK: TRMNF) is an investment issuer that has been focused on supporting innovative and fast-growing companies within the esports, NFT, Metaverse, Blockchain, and Web3 sectors.

Investors interested in connecting with New Wave Holdings can learn more about the company and contact the team at http://newwavecorp.com.

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SOURCE Pawtocol
RINVOQ is now approved as the first and only oral JAK inhibitor for adults with active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA)

RINVOQ is the first and only JAK inhibitor approved for both active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and nr-axSpA1-3

In a clinical study, RINVOQ delivered rapid and meaningful disease control based on patients achieving ASAS40 vs. placebo, as well as significant improvement in signs and symptoms of nr-axSpA at week 141,2

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) today announces that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved RINVOQ (upadacitinib 15 mg, once daily), an oral therapy, for the treatment of adults with active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) with objective signs of inflammation who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blocker therapy. This additional indication follows the FDA approval of RINVOQ in April of this year for adults with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to one or more TNF blockers, making it the first and only JAK inhibitor that is approved for both conditions.1

Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9092951-abbvie-fda-active-non-radiographic-axial-spondyloarthritis/

Nr-axSpA is a chronic, progressive inflammatory rheumatic disease that causes joint inflammation, leading to back pain and stiffness, and cannot be detected by x-ray.5,6 Nr-axSpA and AS are two sub-types of a broader condition called axial spondyloarthritis. Approximately five percent of patients with nr-axSpA will progress to AS after five years, and 19 percent will progress after ten years.7

"This latest FDA approval of RINVOQ in active nr-axSpA provides a new oral, once-daily treatment option for patients who historically have had limited treatment options for this painful, chronic disease," said Thomas Hudson, M.D., senior vice president, research and development, chief scientific officer, AbbVie. "RINVOQ is now approved to treat patients across the spectrum of axial spondyloarthritis. This further underscores AbbVie's commitment to advancing the standards of care for patients living with these diseases."

The FDA approval decision is supported by data from the Phase 3 SELECT-AXIS 2 clinical trial, which assessed the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of RINVOQ in adults with active nr-axSpA. Among patients who received RINVOQ 15 mg, nearly half achieved an ASAS40* response, the primary endpoint, at week 14 compared to placebo (44.9 percent vs. 22.3 percent respectively).1,2 ASAS40 responses were observed as early as two weeks in nr-axSpA patients treated with RINVOQ. The safety profile in patients with nr-axSpA treated with RINVOQ 15 mg was consistent with the safety profile in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis.1

"Many patients living with nr-axSpA continue to experience symptoms and are unable to control disease with current treatments. In the SELECT-AXIS 2 trials, RINVOQ demonstrated efficacy in both nr-axSpA and AS with safety that was consistent across indications," said Atul Deodhar, M.D., professor of medicine and medical director of the Rheumatology Clinics for the Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases at Oregon Health & Science University, and lead investigator of the SELECT-AXIS 2 nr-axSpA trial. "Today's FDA approval offers an important new therapeutic option for patients and their caregivers to help take control of their symptoms and disease."

"There are limited treatment options for people living with nr-axSpA, a condition that can pose many challenges for patients and significantly impact their quality of life as their symptoms persist despite treatment," said Cassie Shafer, chief executive officer, Spondylitis Association of America (SAA). "This approval of RINVOQ is a tremendous step forward in providing our patient community with another option to help them reach their treatment goals, and to find relief."

This FDA approval marks the sixth indication for RINVOQ in the United States across chronic immune-mediated diseases, including four in rheumatology.1

Additional study results include the following:

Improvement in nr-axSpA Signs & Symptoms at Week 141,2

In the SELECT-AXIS 2 nr-axSpA trial, patients receiving RINVOQ 15 mg experienced greater improvements at week 14 compared to placebo in the individual components of the ASAS composite index, including total back pain, patient global assessment of disease activity, morning stiffness, and physical function. Multiplicity-controlled endpoints included total back pain and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASFI).

A significantly greater mean decrease from baseline in Total Back Pain (-2.91 change from baseline) compared to those receiving placebo (-2.00).2

A significantly greater improvement in physical function (-2.61 change from baseline) as assessed by mean change from baseline in BASFI compared to patients on placebo (-1.47).2

*ASAS40 is a composite index that measures disease activity.2 To achieve an ASAS40 response, a patient's disease activity must have improved by at least 40%, as well as improved by two units (on a 0 to 10 scale) in at least three of four disease areas assessed, and the remaining area must not have gotten worse, including back pain, patient global assessment of disease activity, physical function, and morning stiffness.2

Other Health-Related Outcomes

Patients treated with RINVOQ 15 mg showed significant improvements in health-related quality of life as measured by Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life (ASQoL) compared to placebo at Week 14.

Safety Considerations

RINVOQ may cause serious side effects, including:

Serious infections. RINVOQ can lower ability to fight infections. Serious infections, some fatal, occurred, including tuberculosis (TB) and infections caused by bacteria, fungi, or viruses.

RINVOQ can lower ability to fight infections. Serious infections, some fatal, occurred, including tuberculosis (TB) and infections caused by bacteria, fungi, or viruses. Increased risk of death in people age 50+ with at least 1 heart disease risk factor.

Cancer and immune system problems. Increased risk of some cancers, including lymphoma and skin. Current or past smokers have higher risk for lymphoma and lung cancer.

Increased risk of some cancers, including lymphoma and skin. Current or past smokers have higher risk for lymphoma and lung cancer. Increased risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death in people 50+ with at least 1 heart disease risk factor, especially in current or past smokers.

Blood clots, some fatal, in veins of the legs or lungs and arteries. This occurred more often in people 50+ with at least 1 heart disease risk factor.

some fatal, in veins of the legs or lungs and arteries. This occurred more often in people 50+ with at least 1 heart disease risk factor. Serious allergic reactions. Do not take if allergic to RINVOQ or its ingredients.

Tears in the stomach or intestines; changes in certain laboratory test results.

For more information about RINVOQ, visit RINVOQ.com.

Patient Access & SupportAbbVie is committed to helping people access RINVOQ and other medicines, including offering a patient support program and a co-pay card that may reduce out-of-pocket costs to $5 per month for eligible, commercially insured patients. For those with limited or no health insurance, AbbVie offers myAbbVie Assist, a patient assistance program that provides RINVOQ at no charge to those who qualify. For more details, please visit AbbVie.com/myAbbVieAssist.

About SELECT-AXIS 2 trial program4SELECT-AXIS 2 was conducted as a master study protocol that contains two standalone studies with randomization, data collection, analysis and reporting conducted independently. The Phase 3, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind studies are evaluating the efficacy and safety of RINVOQ compared with placebo on reduction of signs and symptoms in adult participants with active axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), including bDMARD-IR AS (Study 1) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) (Study 2). More information on this trial can be found at https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ (NCT04169373).

In the clinical trial, the primary endpoint was the percentage of subjects achieving an ASAS40 response after 14 weeks of treatment with RINVOQ versus placebo.

About RINVOQ (upadacitinib)Discovered and developed by AbbVie scientists, RINVOQ is a selective JAK inhibitor that is being studied in several immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Based on enzymatic and cellular assays, RINVOQ demonstrated greater inhibitory potency for JAK-1 vs JAK-2, JAK-3, and TYK-2.1 The relevance of inhibition of specific JAK enzymes to therapeutic effectiveness and safety is not currently known.

In the U.S., RINVOQ 15 mg is approved for adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to one or more TNF blockers; adults with active psoriatic arthritis who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to one or more TNF blockers; adults with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to one or more tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers and adults with active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis with objective signs of inflammation who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to TNF blocker therapy.1 RINVOQ 45 mg is approved for use in adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to one or more TNF blockers as an induction therapy once daily for 8 weeks. The recommended dose of RINVOQ for maintenance treatment is 15 mg once daily. A dosage of 30 mg once daily may be considered for patients with refractory, severe or extensive disease. Discontinue RINVOQ if an adequate response is not achieved with the 30 mg dose. Use the lowest effective dosage needed to maintain response. RINVOQ 15 mg once daily can also be initiated in adults and children 12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg with refractory, moderate to severe atopic dermatitis whose disease is not adequately controlled with other system drug products, including biologics or when use of those therapies is inadvisable. In these children and adults less than 65 years of age who do not achieve an adequate response, the dose may be increased to 30 mg once daily.

Phase 3 trials of RINVOQ in rheumatoid arthritis, atopic dermatitis, psoriatic arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, giant cell arteritis and Takayasu arteritis are ongoing.4,8-14

U.S. Uses and Important Safety Information About RINVOQ (upadacitinib) 1

RINVOQ is a prescription medicine used to treat:

Adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) when 1 or more medicines called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers have been used, and did not work well or could not be tolerated.

when 1 or more medicines called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers have been used, and did not work well or could not be tolerated. Adults with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) when 1 or more medicines called TNF blockers have been used and did not work well or could not be tolerated.

when 1 or more medicines called TNF blockers have been used and did not work well or could not be tolerated. Adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC) when 1 or more medicines called TNF blockers have been used, and did not work well or could not be tolerated.

when 1 or more medicines called TNF blockers have been used, and did not work well or could not be tolerated. Adults with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) when 1 or more medicines called TNF blockers have been used, and did not work well or could not be tolerated.

when 1 or more medicines called TNF blockers have been used, and did not work well or could not be tolerated. Adults with active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) with objective signs of inflammation when a TNF blocker medicine has been used and did not work well or could not be tolerated.

It is not known if RINVOQ is safe and effective in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ulcerative colitis, ankylosing spondylitis, or non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis.

Adults and children 12 years of age and older with moderate to severe eczema (atopic dermatitis [AD]) that did not respond to previous treatment and whose eczema is not well controlled with other pills or injections, including biologic medicines, or when the use of other pills or injections is not recommended.

RINVOQ is safe and effective in children 12 years of age and older weighing at least 88 pounds (40 kg) with atopic dermatitis.

It is not known if RINVOQ is safe and effective in children under 12 years of age with atopic dermatitis.

What is the most important information I should know about RINVOQ?

RINVOQ may cause serious side effects, including:

Serious infections. RINVOQ can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious infections have happened while taking RINVOQ, including tuberculosis (TB) and infections caused by bacteria, fungi, or viruses that can spread throughout the body. Some people have died from these infections. Your healthcare provider (HCP) should test you for TB before starting RINVOQ and check you closely for signs and symptoms of TB during treatment with RINVOQ. You should not start taking RINVOQ if you have any kind of infection unless your HCP tells you it is okay. If you get a serious infection, your HCP may stop your treatment until your infection is controlled. You may be at higher risk of developing shingles (herpes zoster).

RINVOQ can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious infections have happened while taking RINVOQ, including tuberculosis (TB) and infections caused by bacteria, fungi, or viruses that can spread throughout the body. Some people have died from these infections. Your healthcare provider (HCP) should test you for TB before starting RINVOQ and check you closely for signs and symptoms of TB during treatment with RINVOQ. You should not start taking RINVOQ if you have any kind of infection unless your HCP tells you it is okay. If you get a serious infection, your HCP may stop your treatment until your infection is controlled. You may be at higher risk of developing shingles (herpes zoster). Increased risk of death in people 50 years and older who have at least 1 heart disease (cardiovascular) risk factor.

Cancer and immune system problems. RINVOQ may increase your risk of certain cancers. Lymphoma and other cancers, including skin cancers, can happen. Current or past smokers are at higher risk of certain cancers, including lymphoma and lung cancer. Follow your HCP's advice about having your skin checked for skin cancer during treatment with RINVOQ. Limit the amount of time you spend in sunlight. Wear protective clothing when you are in the sun and use sunscreen.

RINVOQ may increase your risk of certain cancers. Lymphoma and other cancers, including skin cancers, can happen. Current or past smokers are at higher risk of certain cancers, including lymphoma and lung cancer. Follow your HCP's advice about having your skin checked for skin cancer during treatment with RINVOQ. Limit the amount of time you spend in sunlight. Wear protective clothing when you are in the sun and use sunscreen. Increased risk of major cardiovascular (CV) events, such as heart attack, stroke, or death, in people 50 years and older who have at least 1 heart disease (CV) risk factor, especially if you are a current or past smoker.

Blood clots. Blood clots in the veins of the legs or lungs and arteries can happen with RINVOQ. This may be life-threatening and cause death. Blood clots in the veins of the legs and lungs have happened more often in people who are 50 years and older and with at least 1 heart disease (CV) risk factor.

Blood clots in the veins of the legs or lungs and arteries can happen with RINVOQ. This may be life-threatening and cause death. Blood clots in the veins of the legs and lungs have happened more often in people who are 50 years and older and with at least 1 heart disease (CV) risk factor. Allergic reactions. Symptoms such as rash (hives), trouble breathing, feeling faint or dizzy, or swelling of your lips, tongue, or throat, that may mean you are having an allergic reaction have been seen in people taking RINVOQ. Some of these reactions were serious. If any of these symptoms occur during treatment with RINVOQ, stop taking RINVOQ and get emergency medical help right away.

Symptoms such as rash (hives), trouble breathing, feeling faint or dizzy, or swelling of your lips, tongue, or throat, that may mean you are having an allergic reaction have been seen in people taking RINVOQ. Some of these reactions were serious. If any of these symptoms occur during treatment with RINVOQ, stop taking RINVOQ and get emergency medical help right away. Tears in the stomach or intestines and changes in certain laboratory tests. Your HCP should do blood tests before you start taking RINVOQ and while you take it. Your HCP may stop your RINVOQ treatment for a period of time if needed because of changes in these blood test results.

Do not take RINVOQ if you are allergic to upadacitinib or any of the ingredients in RINVOQ. See the Medication Guide or Consumer Brief Summary for a complete list of ingredients.

What should I tell my HCP BEFORE starting RINVOQ?

Tell your HCP if you:

Are being treated for an infection, have an infection that won't go away or keeps coming back, or have symptoms of an infection such as:

Fever, sweating, or chills



Shortness of breath



Warm, red, or painful skin or sores on your body



Muscle aches



Feeling tired



Blood in phlegm



Diarrhea or stomach pain



Cough



Weight loss



Burning when urinating or urinating more often than normal

Have TB or have been in close contact with someone with TB.

Are a current or past smoker.

Have had a heart attack, other heart problems, or stroke.

Have had any type of cancer, hepatitis B or C, shingles (herpes zoster), blood clots in the veins of your legs or lungs, diverticulitis (inflammation in parts of the large intestine), or ulcers in your stomach or intestines.

Have other medical conditions including liver problems, low blood cell counts, diabetes, chronic lung disease, HIV, or a weak immune system.

Live, have lived, or have traveled to parts of the country, such as the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys and the Southwest, that increase your risk of getting certain kinds of fungal infections. If you are unsure if you've been to these types of areas, ask your HCP.

Have recently received or are scheduled to receive a vaccine. People who take RINVOQ should not receive live vaccines.

Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Based on animal studies, RINVOQ may harm your unborn baby. Your HCP will check whether or not you are pregnant before you start RINVOQ. You should use effective birth control (contraception) to avoid becoming pregnant during treatment with RINVOQ and for 4 weeks after your last dose.

Are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. RINVOQ may pass into your breast milk. Do not breastfeed during treatment with RINVOQ and for 6 days after your last dose.

Tell your HCP about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. RINVOQ and other medicines may affect each other, causing side effects.

Especially tell your HCP if you take:

Medicines for fungal or bacterial infections

Rifampicin or phenytoin

Medicines that affect your immune system

If you are not sure if you are taking any of these medicines, ask your HCP or pharmacist.

What should I do or tell my HCP AFTER starting RINVOQ?

Tell your HCP right away if you have any symptoms of an infection. RINVOQ can make you more likely to get infections or make any infections you have worse

Get emergency help right away if you have any symptoms of a heart attack or stroke while taking RINVOQ, including:

Discomfort in the center of your chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or that goes away and comes back



Severe tightness, pain, pressure, or heaviness in your chest, throat, neck, or jaw



Pain or discomfort in your arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach



Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort



Breaking out in a cold sweat



Nausea or vomiting



Feeling lightheaded



Weakness in one part or on one side of your body



Slurred speech

Tell your HCP right away if you have any signs or symptoms of blood clots during treatment with RINVOQ, including:

Swelling



Pain or tenderness in one or both legs



Sudden unexplained chest or upper back pain



Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Tell your HCP right away if you have a fever or stomach-area pain that does not go away, and a change in your bowel habits.

What are the other possible side effects of RINVOQ? Common side effects include upper respiratory tract infections (common cold, sinus infections), shingles (herpes zoster), herpes simplex virus infections (including cold sores), bronchitis, nausea, cough, fever, acne, headache, increased blood levels of creatine phosphokinase, allergic reactions, inflammation of hair follicles, stomach-area (abdominal) pain, increased weight, flu, tiredness, lower number of certain types of white blood cells (neutropenia, lymphopenia), muscle pain, flu-like illness, rash, increased blood cholesterol levels, and increased liver enzyme levels.

A separation or tear to the lining of the back part of the eye (retinal detachment) has happened in people with atopic dermatitis treated with RINVOQ. Call your HCP right away if you have any sudden changes in your vision during treatment with RINVOQ.These are not all the possible side effects of RINVOQ.

How should I take RINVOQ? RINVOQ is taken once a day with or without food. Do not split, crush, or chew the tablet. Take RINVOQ exactly as your HCP tells you to use it. RINVOQ is available in 15 mg, 30 mg, and 45 mg extended-release tablets.

This is the most important information to know about RINVOQ. For more information, talk to your HCP.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA.

Visit http://www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

If you are having difficulty paying for your medicine, AbbVie may be able to help. Visit AbbVie.com/myAbbVieAssist to learn more.

Please click here for the Full Prescribing Information and Medication Guide.

Globally, prescribing information varies; refer to the individual country product label for complete information.

About AbbVie in Rheumatology For more than 20 years, AbbVie has been dedicated to improving care for people living with rheumatic diseases. Our longstanding commitment to discovering and delivering transformative therapies is underscored by our pursuit of cutting-edge science that improves our understanding of promising new pathways and targets in order to help more people living with rheumatic diseases reach their treatment goals. For more information, visit AbbVie in rheumatology.

About AbbVie AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, neuroscience, eye care, virology, and women's health, in addition to products and services across our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.

Forward-Looking StatementsSome statements in this news release are, or may be considered, forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project" and similar expressions, among others, generally identify forward-looking statements. AbbVie cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, failure to realize the expected benefits from AbbVie's acquisition of Allergan plc ("Allergan"), failure to promptly and effectively integrate Allergan's businesses, competition from other products, challenges to intellectual property, difficulties inherent in the research and development process, adverse litigation or government action, changes to laws and regulations applicable to our industry and the impact of public health outbreaks, epidemics or pandemics, such as COVID-19. Additional information about the economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors that may affect AbbVie's operations is set forth in Item 1A, "Risk Factors," of AbbVie's 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as updated by its subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. AbbVie undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements as a result of subsequent events or developments, except as required by law.

*Dr. Atul Deodhar, M.D., is a researcher/consultant for AbbVie.

US-RNQR-221074

References:

RINVOQ (upadacitinib) [Package Insert]. North Chicago, Ill.: AbbVie Inc. Deodhar A, Van den Bosch F, Poddubnyy D, et al. U Upadacitinib for the treatment of active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (SELECT-AXIS 2): a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2022;400:36979. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01212-0. van der Heijde D, Baraliakos X, Sieper J, et al. Efficacy and safety of upadacitinib for active ankylosing spondylitis refractory to biological therapy: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial. Ann Rheum Dis. 2022;0:19. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2022-222608. A Study to Evaluate Efficacy and Safety of Upadacitinib in Adult Participants With Axial Spondyloarthritis (SELECT AXIS 2). ClinicalTrials.gov. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04169373. Accessed October 21, 2022. Sieper J, Poddubnyy D. Axial spondyloarthritis. Lancet 2017; 390: 7384. Deodhar AA, Understanding Axial Spondyloarthritis: A Primer for Managed Care. Am J Manag Care. 2019;25:S319-S330. Wang R, Ward MM. Epidemiology of axial spondyloarthritis: an update. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2018 Mar;30(2):137-143. doi: 10.1097/BOR.0000000000000475. PMID: 29227352; PMCID: PMC5811203. A study comparing upadacitinib (ABT-494) to placebo and to adalimumab in adults with rheumatoid arthritis who are on a stable dose of methotrexate and who have an inadequate response to methotrexate (SELECT-COMPARE). ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02629159. Accessed October 21, 2022. https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02629159 A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of ABT-494 for Induction and Maintenance Therapy in Subjects With Moderately to Severely Active Ulcerative Colitis. ClinicalTrials.gov. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02819635. Accessed on October 21, 2022. A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of ABT-494 for the Induction of Symptomatic and Endoscopic Remission in Subjects With Moderately to Severely Active Crohn's Disease Who Have Inadequately Responded to or Are Intolerant to Immunomodulators or Anti-TNF Therapy. ClinicalTrials.gov. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02365649. Accessed on October 21, 2022. A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Upadacitinib in Participants With Giant Cell Arteritis (SELECT-GCA). ClinicalTrials.gov. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03725202. Accessed: October 21, 2022. A Study Comparing Upadacitinib (ABT-494) to Placebo and to Adalimumab in Participants With Psoriatic Arthritis Who Have an Inadequate Response to at Least One Non-Biologic Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drug (SELECT - PsA 1). ClinicalTrials.gov. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03104400. Accessed on October 21, 2022. A Study to Compare Safety and Efficacy of Upadacitinib to Dupilumab in Adult Participants With Moderate to Severe Atopic Dermatitis (Heads Up). ClinicalTrials.gov. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03738397. Accessed: October 21, 2022. A Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Upadacitinib in Subjects With Takayasu Arteritis (SELECT-TAK). ClinicalTrials.gov. Available at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT04161898. Accessed: October 21, 2022.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rinvoq-upadacitinib-receives-its-sixth-us-fda-approval-301656437.html

SOURCE AbbVie
Deepening its commitment toward telling the story of small to midsized nonprofits, the third annual event embraced the healing power of community

CHICAGO, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Neon One, whose mission is to connect nonprofits with technology and resources that empower them to personalize their generosity experiences, held their third annual conference earlier this month. The conference focused on providing small shop nonprofits with opportunities to hear from thought leaders and experts, network with peers, and take meaningful learnings back to the communities they serve.

Generosity Xchange brought together over 1,500 nonprofit professionals to learn together about fundraising and technology trends impacting our industry. Featuring keynote speakers Team Visa Athlete Mike Schultz, Edgar Villaneuva, and Denise Barreto, the event drew accolades from organizations of all missions and sizes.

"I love that Generosity Xchange is free," said Jennifer O'Neal, Development Director of Agape International. "Such thoughtfully collected session topics and relatable, high impact speakers."

A key part of the program was The Changemaker Awards, which celebrated the work of six nonprofit organizations and an emerging Neon One leader. With 558 applications received, the ceremony announced the following winners:

Own The Solution Award: KenTenn EMS

Innovate Fearlessly Award: ArtsUP! L.A.

Make Good Happen Award: Grand Rapids Civic Theatre

Grow Together Award: Adaptive Adventures

Be Extraordinary Award: Wild Cat Sanctuary

Visa Beacon of Change Award: The LGBTQIA+ Community Center of Southern Nevada

Stand For Our Customers Award: Brian Bennici, Customer Success

The conference helped facilitate 59 speakers, 50 sessions, 8 sponsors, & 50+ hours of on-demand content that covered everything from in-person donation innovations to data equity. It also offered accessibility throughout, from American Sign Language interpreters and Closed Captioning to free tickets for any nonprofit organization. Generosity Xchange also expanded its commitment to its diversity, equity and inclusion conference planning framework to help inspire change in how educational gatherings are designed.

The conference showcased the continued expansion of the powerful Neon One ecosystem of products, including the debut of Neon Websites, its easy-to-use, integrated website platform at an affordable price.

"Over the past two days, we have heard inspiring visions of change for the sector," said Steve Kriter, CEO of Neon One. "We discussed practical ways nonprofits can begin to make that change happen, and the technology innovations that Neon One is planning to help enable your organizations to put that into action, easily and intelligently."

About Neon One

Neon One provides social good organizations with connected fundraising tools and services they need to help fulfill their mission. The team works hard to help nonprofits raise more money and build sustainable, long-term growth with software, services, and resources. Their products are designed to manage the full range of nonprofit operational needs, from fundraising and donor management to program operations and financial reconciliation. Learn more about the products, including Neon CRM, Neon Websites, Neon CCM, Neon Giving Days, Neon Fundraise, Neon Pay, and more at https://neonone.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-joy-of-fundraising-takes-center-stage-at-neon-ones-generosity-xchange-301656109.html

SOURCE Neon One
Smoke erupts from tyres set on fire as people protest in N'Djamena, Chad, October 20, 2022 in this picture obtained from social media. Juda Allahondoum - Le Visionnaire/via REUTERS

By Mahamat Ramadane

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) -About 50 people were killed and nearly 300 injured in violence that broke out in Chad on Thursday as hundreds took to the streets to demand a quicker transition to democratic rule.

Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo, who gave the death toll at a news conference, said the government was still compiling casualties from what he described as an armed insurrection.

But human rights groups said that unarmed civilians were massacred as security forces brutally cracked down on demonstrations in the capital, N'Djamena, and several other cities.

The vast, military-run Central African nation has been in crisis since the April 2021 death of President Idriss Deby, who ruled with an iron fist for three decades.

His son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, seized power in the immediate aftermath and initially promised an 18-month transition to elections, but on Oct. 1 he announced they would be pushed back by two years.

Opposition and civil society groups called for the protests on Thursday, which would have marked the end of an initially agreed 18-month transition period. The government banned them, citing security reasons.

But demonstrators showed up early in the morning, barricaded roads and torched the party headquarters of the new prime minister.

"What happened today is an armed popular uprising to seize power by force and those responsible for this violence will face justice," said Kebzabo, a former opponent of Deby's regime who was named prime minister of a new "unity government" last week.

"The demonstrators had firearms and they are considered rebels. The security forces responded only in self-defence," Kebzabo said.

The International Federation for Human Rights and its partner organisations in Chad said the protests were violently repressed by security forces and that cases of live gunfire, torture and arbitrary arrests had been reported.

Amnesty International researcher Abdoulaye Diarra said security forces used live rounds on protesters, based on witness accounts and analysis of photos and video from the day.

Chadian journalist Oredje Narcisse, who had worked with Reuters in the past, was among the dead, his brother said.

Other confirmed victims included a policeman who was fatally wounded in clashes, a 28-year-old protester who was shot in the neck, and Chadian musician Ray's Kim, who died in hospital.

"It's clear that an impartial investigation is needed to determine if protesters resorted to looting and violence and if security forces unlawfully resorted to lethal force across the country," said Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Riots have been intermittent in Chad since Deby seized power last year, but Thursday's appeared to be the bloodiest.

The government declared a state of emergency and a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., although the president had already declared a state of emergency on Wednesday due to catastrophic floods.

The government also decreed that the activities of the civil society coalition "Wakit Tamma" were banned nationwide, and that the offices of seven different political parties would be shut down for the next three months.

"I firmly condemn the repression of demonstrations that led to deaths in Chad," African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat, who is a former prime minister of Chad, tweeted, calling for a peaceful solution to the crisis.

The United States and the United Nations also issued statements expressing concern about the violence and urging all parties to exercise restraint.

"We also condemn the attack that occurred outside the main gate of the U.S. Embassy in which assailants in civilian clothes and private vehicles cleared police checkpoints and killed four individuals," the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

(Reporting by Mahamat Ramadane; Additional reporting by Edward McAllister in Dakar and Chris Gallagher in Washington; Writing by Sofia Christensen and Nellie PeytonEditing by James Macharia Chege, William Maclean and Matthew Lewis)
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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of report (Date of earliest event reported)

Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

Maryland

(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)

1-14100 33-0675505 (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.)

19500 Jamboree Road , Irvine , California 92612 (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

( 949 ) 475-3600

(Registrants Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

(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 (see General Instruction A.2. below):

x Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (17 CFR 230.405) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR 240.12b-2).

Emerging growth company 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class Trading Symbols Name of each exchange on which registered Common Stock, $0.01 par value IMH NYSE American Preferred Stock Purchase Rights IMH NYSE American

Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

Special Meeting

On October 20, 2022, Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc., a Maryland corporation (the Company), held a special meeting (the Special Meeting) of the holders of its Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share (Common Stock). As of September 9, 2022, the record date for the Special Meeting, there were 21,500,935 shares of the Companys Common Stock outstanding and entitled to vote. At the Special Meeting, holders of 14,645,557 shares of Common Stock, or approximately 68.12% of the eligible voting shares of Common Stock, were represented either in person or by proxy. The holders of the Companys Common Stock were asked to consider and act upon the following proposals (the Proposals), each of which was described in the Companys proxy statement for the Special Meeting, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 14, 2022 (the Proxy Statement), in connection with the Companys offers to the holders of the Companys 9.375% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (Series B Preferred Stock), and the holders of the Companys 9.125% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the Series C Preferred Stock, and together with the Series B Preferred Stock, the Preferred Stock), to exchange all of the outstanding shares of Preferred Stock for, in the case of the Series B Preferred Stock, (a) thirty (30) shares of 8.25% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (New Preferred Stock), and (b) 13.33 shares of Common Stock, and in the case of the Series C Preferred Stock, (x) one (1) share of New Preferred Stock, (y) 1.25 shares of Common Stock, and (z) 1.5 warrants to purchase the same number of shares of Common Stock at a purchase price of $5.00 per share of Common Stock (the Exchange Offers):

 Proposal 1 (the Series B Charter Amendment Proposal)  the approval of an amendment to the Companys charter (as amended and as currently in effect, the  Charter ), to permit the closing of the Exchange Offers and to make each share of Series B Preferred Stock redeemable for the same consideration to be paid to holders of Series B Preferred Stock in the Exchange Offers (the  Series B Proposal Amendment );

 Proposal 2 (the Series C Charter Amendment Proposal)  the approval of an amendment to the Companys Charter to permit the closing of the Exchange Offers and to make each share of Series C Preferred Stock redeemable for the same consideration to be paid to holders of Series C Preferred Stock in the Exchange Offers (the  Series C Proposed Amendment , and together with the Series B Proposed Amendment, the  Proposed Amendments ); and

 Proposal 3 (the Stock Issuance Proposal)  the approval of, in accordance with Rule 713(a) of the NYSE American Company Guide, the Companys issuance of up to 15,500,000 shares of Common Stock (including up to 4,437,280 shares of Common Stock which may be issued to comprise a portion of the Preferred B Common Fund, as defined and described in the Proxy Statement), and up to 2,107,629 warrants to purchase Common Stock in connection with the Exchange Offers.

The Series B Charter Amendment Proposal was approved by Companys common stockholders at the Special Meeting. The votes cast by the holders of Common Stock with respect to the Series B Charter Amendment Proposal were as follows:

For Against Abstain 14,440,656 139,285 65,616

The Series C Charter Amendment Proposal was approved by the Companys common stockholders at the Special Meeting. The votes cast by the holders of Common Stock with respect to the Series C Charter Amendment Proposal were as follows:

For Against Abstain 14,439,362 140,437 65,758

The Stock Issuance Proposal was approved by the Companys common stockholders at the Special Meeting. The votes cast by the holders of Common Stock with respect to the Stock Issuance Proposal were as follows:

For Against Abstain 14,437,438 154,169 53,950

Because there were sufficient votes in favor of the Series B Charter Amendment Proposal, the Series C Charter Amendment Proposal and the Stock Issuance Proposal, Proposal 4 relating to the adjournment of the Special Meeting to solicit votes in favor of any of the foregoing Proposals was not acted upon.

Consent Solicitation

As previously disclosed, including in the final Prospectus/Consent Solicitation filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 18, 2022 (the Prospectus), concurrently with the Exchange Offers, the Company also solicited consents (the Consent Solicitation) from holders of each series of Preferred Stock to the Exchange Offer and the Proposed Amendment applicable to that series of Preferred Stock. In addition to approval by the Companys common stockholders, obtained at the Special Meeting, the Proposed Amendments required the consent of holders of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding shares of each series of Preferred Stock, with the holders of each series voting as a separate class. As of the record dates for the Consent Solicitation, there were 665,592 shares of Series B Preferred Stock outstanding and 1,405,086 shares of Series C Preferred Stock outstanding.

The Exchange Offers and Consent Solicitation expired at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on October 20, 2022. A total of 460,778 shares of Series B Preferred Stock, or approximately 69.23% of the shares of Series B Preferred Stock, and 949,671 shares of Series C Preferred Stock, or approximately 67.59% of the shares of Series C Preferred Stock, which amount excludes 1,300 shares of Series C Preferred Stock that remain subject to guaranteed delivery procedures, have consented to the Exchange Offer and the Proposed Amendment applicable to such series of Preferred Stock by properly tendering and not withdrawing shares of Preferred Stock in the Exchange Offers. Accordingly, the Proposed Amendments have been approved and will become effective upon acceptance for record by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation of Maryland.

Item 8.01 Other Events

On October 21, 2022, the Company issued a press release announcing the results of the Special Meeting and the results of the Companys previously announced Exchange Offers and accompanying Consent Solicitation. The Company also announced that the Registration Statement on Form S-4 originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 15, 2022, as amended, was declared effective on October 18, 2022.

A copy of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated by reference herein.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Vivid Seats Inc. Date: October 21, 2022 By: /s/ Joseph Joffrion Name: Joseph Joffrion Title: General Counsel

ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS

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To learn more about flyExclusives range of private jet charter offerings or to inquire about becoming a Jet Club Member, visit www.flyexclusive.com.

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flyExclusive is a premiere Part 135 owner/operator of private jet experiences that surpass expectations for quality, convenience, and safety. From a world-class Jet Club to an unmatched private charter and fractional ownership opportunities, clients who fly with the company receive a curated experience that anticipates their needs for consistency, comfort, and style. As one of the worlds largest operators of Cessna Citation aircraft with a floating fleet of 90 light to heavy jets, flyExclusive offers access to a network of personalized private aviation with on-demand flights that can service a myriad of specialized trip needs. flyExclusive is headquartered in Kinston, North Carolina with services provided across North America, Caribbean, Central America, South America, Europe, Asia and beyond. To learn more, visit www.flyexclusive.com.

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About Textron Inc.

Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training. For more information, visit: www.textron.com Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements which may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, changes in aircraft delivery schedules or cancellations or deferrals of orders.

Media Contact: Trish Lorino, Vice President, Marketing & Communications [email protected] / 508.258.9788
Free Writing Prospectus pursuant to Rule 433 dated October 21, 2022

Registration Statement No. 333-253421

Leveraged Basket-Linked Notes due

OVERVIEW

The notes do not bear interest. The amount that you will be paid on your notes on the stated maturity date is based on the performance of an unequally weighted basket comprised of the S&P 500 Index (70% weighting), EURO STOXX 50 Index (10.8% weighting), TOPIX (7.8% weighting), the FTSE 100 Index (5.1% weighting), the Swiss Market Index (3.6% weighting) and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (2.7% weighting) as measured from the trade date to and including the determination date.

The initial basket level is 100 and the final basket level will equal the sum of the products, as calculated for each basket underlier, of: (i) its final underlier level divided by its initial underlier level multiplied by (ii) its initial weighted value.

If the final basket level on the determination date is greater than the initial basket level, the return on your notes will be positive and will equal the participation rate of of between 1.15 and 1.35 (set on the trade date) times the basket return. If the final basket level is less than the initial basket level, the return on your notes will be negative and will equal the basket return.

Declines in one basket index may offset increases in the other basket indices. Due to the unequal weighting of each basket index, the performances of the basket indices with greater weights will have a significantly larger impact on the return on your notes than the performances of the basket indices with lesser weights.

You should read the accompanying preliminary pricing supplement dated October 20, 2022, which we refer to herein as the accompanying preliminary pricing supplement, to better understand the terms and risks of your investment, including the credit risk of GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Key Terms CUSIP/ISIN: 40057NR33 / US40057NR330 Company (Issuer): GS Finance Corp. Guarantor: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Basket underliers: the S&P 500 Index (current Bloomberg symbol: SPX Index), the EURO STOXX 50 Index (current Bloomberg symbol: SX5E Index), TOPIX (current Bloomberg symbol: TPX Index), the FTSE 100 Index (current Bloomberg symbol: UKX Index), the Swiss Market Index (current Bloomberg symbol: SMI Index) and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (current Bloomberg symbol: AS51 Index) Trade date: Settlement date: expected to be the fifth scheduled business day following the trade date Determination date: expected to be between 24 and 27 months following the trade date Stated maturity date: expected to be the second scheduled business day after the determination date

Hypothetical Payment Amount At Maturity * Hypothetical Final

Basket Level

(as a % of the Initial Basket Level) Hypothetical Payment

Amount at Maturity

(as a % of Face Amount) 170.000% 180.500% 150.000% 157.500% 130.000% 134.500% 110.000% 111.500% 100.000% 100.000% 90.000% 90.000% 75.000% 75.000% 50.000% 50.000% 25.000% 25.000% 0.000% 0.000% * assumes a participation rate of 115%

This document does not provide all of the information that an investor should consider prior to making an investment decision. You should not invest in the notes without reading the accompanying preliminary pricing supplement and related documents for a more detailed description of the underlier, the terms of the notes and certain risks.

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Payment amount at maturity (for each $1,000 face amount of your notes)  if the basket return is positive (the final basket level is greater than the initial basket level), the sum of (i) $1,000 plus (ii) the product of (a) $1,000 times (b) the participation rate times (c) the basket return; or  if the basket return is zero or negative (the final basket level is equal to or less than the initial basket level), the sum of (i) $1,000 plus (ii) the product of (a) $1,000 times (b) the basket return. Initial S&P 500 Index level: to be determined on the trade date and may be higher or lower than the actual closing level of the basket underlier on that date Initial EURO STOXX 50 Index level: to be determined on the trade date and may be higher or lower than the actual closing level of the basket underlier on that date Initial TOPIX level: to be determined on the trade date and may be higher or lower than the actual closing level of the basket underlier on that date Initial FTSE 100 Index level: to be determined on the trade date and may be higher or lower than the actual closing level of the basket underlier on that date Initial Swiss Market Index level: to be determined on the trade date and may be higher or lower than the actual closing level of the basket underlier on that date Initial S&P/ASX 200 Index level: to be determined on the trade date and may be higher or lower than the actual closing level of the basket underlier on that date Final S&P 500 Index level: the closing level of such basket underlier on the determination date Final EURO STOXX 50 Index level: the closing level of such basket underlier on the determination date Final TOPIX level: the closing level of such basket underlier on the determination date Final FTSE 100 Index level: the closing level of such basket underlier on the determination date Final Swiss Market Index level: the closing level of such basket underlier on the determination date Final S&P/ASX 200 Index level: the closing level of such basket underlier on the determination date Initial basket level: 100 Initial weighted value: the initial weighted value for each of the basket underliers is expected to equal the product of the initial weight of such basket underlier times the initial basket level. The initial weight of each basket underlier is shown in the table below: Basket Underlier Initial Weight in Basket S&P 500 Index 70% EURO STOXX 50 Index 10.8% TOPIX 7.8% FTSE 100 Index 5.1% Swiss Market Index 3.6% S&P/ASX 200 Index 2.7% Final basket level: the sum of the following: (i) the final S&P 500 Index level divided by the initial S&P 500 Index level, multiplied by the initial weighted value of the S&P 500 Index plus (ii) the final EURO STOXX 50 Index level divided by the initial EURO STOXX 50 Index level, multiplied by the initial weighted value of the EURO STOXX 50 Index plus (iii) the final TOPIX level divided by the initial TOPIX level, multiplied by the initial weighted value of TOPIX plus (iv) the final FTSE 100 Index level divided by the initial FTSE 100 Index level, multiplied by the initial weighted value of the FTSE 100 Index plus (v) the final Swiss Market Index level divided by the initial Swiss Market Index level, multiplied by the initial weighted value of the Swiss Market Index plus (vi) the final S&P/ASX 200 Index level divided by the initial S&P/ASX 200 Index level, multiplied by the initial weighted value of the S&P/ASX 200 Index Basket return: the quotient of (i) the final basket level minus the initial basket level divided by (ii) the initial basket level, expressed as a percentage Participation rate: expected to be between 115% and 135% Estimated value range: $945 to $975 (which is less than the original issue price; see accompanying preliminary pricing supplement)





This document does not provide all of the information that an investor should consider prior to making an investment decision. You should not invest in the notes without reading the accompanying preliminary pricing supplement and related documents for a more detailed description of the underlier, the terms of the notes and certain risks.

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About Your Notes

GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. have filed a registration statement (including a prospectus, as supplemented by the prospectus supplement, underlier supplement no. 28, general terms supplement no. 2,913 and preliminary pricing supplement listed below) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus, prospectus supplement, underlier supplement no. 28, general terms supplement no. 2,913 and preliminary pricing supplement, and any other documents relating to this offering that GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. have filed with the SEC for more complete information about us and this offering. You may get these documents without cost by visiting EDGAR on the SEC web site at sec.gov. Alternatively, we will arrange to send you the prospectus, prospectus supplement, underlier supplement no. 28, general terms supplement no. 2,913 and preliminary pricing supplement if you so request by calling (212) 357-4612.

The notes are part of the Medium-Term Notes, Series F program of GS Finance Corp. and are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. This document should be read in conjunction with the following:

RISK FACTORS

An investment in the notes is subject to risks. Many of the risks are described in the accompanying preliminary pricing supplement, accompanying general terms supplement no. 2,913, accompanying underlier supplement no. 28, accompanying prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. Below we have provided a list of certain risk factors discussed in such documents. In addition to the below, you should read in full Additional Risk Factors Specific to Your Notes in the accompanying preliminary pricing supplement, Additional Risk Factors Specific to the Notes in the accompanying general terms supplement no. 2,913, Additional Risk Factors Specific to Your Notes in the accompanying underlier supplement no. 28, as well as the risks and considerations described in the accompanying prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus.

The following risk factors are discussed in greater detail in the accompanying preliminary pricing supplement:

Risks Related to Structure, Valuation and Secondary Market Sales  The Estimated Value of Your Notes At the Time the Terms of Your Notes Are Set On the Trade Date (as Determined By Reference to Pricing Models Used By GS&Co.) Is Less Than the Original Issue Price Of Your Notes  The Notes Are Subject to the Credit Risk of the Issuer and the Guarantor  The Amount Payable on Your Notes Is Not Linked to the Level of Each Basket Underlier at Any Time Other Than the Determination Date  You May Lose Your Entire Investment in the Notes  Your Notes Do Not Bear Interest  The Lower Performance of One Basket Underlier May Offset an Increase in the Other Basket Underliers  You Have No Shareholder Rights or Rights to Receive Any Basket Underlier Stock  We May Sell an Additional Aggregate Face Amount of the Notes at a Different Issue Price  The Market Value of Your Notes May Be Influenced by Many Unpredictable Factors  If You Purchase Your Notes at a Premium to Face Amount, the Return on Your Investment Will Be Lower Than the Return on Notes Purchased at Face Amount and the Impact of Certain Key Terms of the Notes Will Be Negatively Affected Additional Risks Related to the EURO STOXX 50 Index, TOPIX, the FTSE 100 Index, the Swiss Market Index and the S&P/ASX 200 Index  An Investment in the Offered Notes Is Subject to Risks Associated with Foreign Securities  Government Regulatory Action, Including Legislative Acts and Executive Orders, Could Result in Material Changes to the Composition of an Underlier with Underlier Stocks from One or More Foreign Securities Markets and Could Negatively Affect Your Return on the Notes Risks Related to Tax  The Tax Consequences of an Investment in Your Notes Are Uncertain  Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding May Apply to Payments on Your Notes, Including as a Result of the Failure of the Bank or Broker Through Which You Hold the Notes to Provide Information to Tax Authorities

This document does not provide all of the information that an investor should consider prior to making an investment decision. You should not invest in the notes without reading the accompanying preliminary pricing supplement and related documents for a more detailed description of the underlier, the terms of the notes and certain risks.

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The following risk factors are discussed in greater detail in the accompanying general terms supplement no. 2,913:

Risks Related to Structure, Valuation and Secondary Market Sales  If the Value of an Underlier Changes, the Market Value of Your Notes May Not Change in the Same Manner  The Return on Your Notes Will Not Reflect Any Dividends Paid on Any Underlier, or Any Underlier Stock, as Applicable  Past Performance is No Guide to Future Performance  Your Notes May Not Have an Active Trading Market  The Calculation Agent Will Have the Authority to Make Determinations That Could Affect the Market Value of Your Notes, When Your Notes Mature and the Amount, If Any, Payable on Your Notes  The Calculation Agent Can Postpone the Determination Date, Averaging Date, Call Observation Date or Coupon Observation Date If a Market Disruption Event or Non-Trading Day Occurs or Is Continuing Risks Related to Conflicts of Interest  Other Investors in the Notes May Not Have the Same Interests as You  Hedging Activities by Goldman Sachs or Our Distributors May Negatively Impact Investors in the Notes and Cause Our Interests and Those of Our Clients and Counterparties to be Contrary to Those of Investors in the Notes  Goldman Sachs Trading and Investment Activities for its Own Account or for its Clients Could Negatively Impact Investors in the Notes  Goldman Sachs Market-Making Activities Could Negatively Impact Investors in the Notes  You Should Expect That Goldman Sachs Personnel Will Take Research Positions, or Otherwise Make Recommendations, Provide Investment Advice or Market Color or Encourage Trading Strategies That Might Negatively Impact Investors in the Notes  Goldman Sachs Regularly Provides Services to, or Otherwise Has Business Relationships with, a Broad Client Base, Which May Include the Sponsors of the Underlier or Underliers or Constituent Indices, As Applicable, the Investment Advisors of the Underlier or Underliers, As Applicable, or the Issuers of the Underlier or the Underlier Stocks or Other Entities That Are Involved in the Transaction  The Offering of the Notes May Reduce an Existing Exposure of Goldman Sachs or Facilitate a Transaction or Position That Serves the Objectives of Goldman Sachs or Other Parties Risks Related to Tax  Certain Considerations for Insurance Companies and Employee Benefit Plans

The following risk factor is discussed in greater detail in the accompanying underlier supplement no. 28:

Risks Relating to Securities Linked to Underliers  The Policies of an Underlier Sponsor, if Applicable, and Changes that Affect an Underlier to Which Your Securities are Linked, or the Constituent Indices or Underlier Stocks Comprising Such Underlier, Could Affect the Amount Payable on Your Securities and Their Market Value  Except to the Extent The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Is One of the Companies Whose Common Stock Comprises an Underlier, and Except to the Extent That We or Our Affiliates May Currently or in the Future Own Securities of, or Engage in Business With, the Applicable Underlier Sponsor or the Underlier Stock Issuers, There Is No Affiliation Between the Underlier Stock Issuers or Any Underlier Sponsor and Us Additional Risks Relating to Securities Linked to Underliers Denominated in Foreign Currencies or that Contain Foreign Stocks  If Your Securities Are Linked to Underliers That Are Comprised of Underlier Stocks Which Are Traded in Foreign Currencies But Are Not Adjusted to Reflect Their U.S. Dollar Value, the Return on Your Securities Will Not Be Adjusted for Changes in the Foreign Currency Exchange Rate

This document does not provide all of the information that an investor should consider prior to making an investment decision. You should not invest in the notes without reading the accompanying preliminary pricing supplement and related documents for a more detailed description of the underlier, the terms of the notes and certain risks.

4

The following risk factors are discussed in greater detail in the accompanying prospectus supplement:

 The Return on Indexed Notes May Be Below the Return on Similar Securities  The Issuer of a Security or Currency That Serves as an Index Could Take Actions That May Adversely Affect an Indexed Note  An Indexed Note May Be Linked to a Volatile Index, Which May Adversely Affect Your Investment  An Index to Which a Note Is Linked Could Be Changed or Become Unavailable  We May Engage in Hedging Activities that Could Adversely Affect an Indexed Note  Information About an Index or Indices May Not Be Indicative of Future Performance  We May Have Conflicts of Interest Regarding an Indexed Note

The following risk factors are discussed in greater detail in the accompanying prospectus:

Risks Relating to Regulatory Resolution Strategies and Long-Term Debt Requirements  The application of regulatory resolution strategies could increase the risk of loss for holders of our securities in the event of the resolution of Group Inc.

 The application of Group Inc.s proposed resolution strategy could result in greater losses for Group Inc.s security holders

This document does not provide all of the information that an investor should consider prior to making an investment decision. You should not invest in the notes without reading the accompanying preliminary pricing supplement and related documents for a more detailed description of the underlier, the terms of the notes and certain risks.

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Tribune News Service)  Soldiers with the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Carson participated in a live-fire exercise Wednesday as part of Mountain Warrior Strike, a 10-day annual event designed to be the culmination of a years worth of training and a rigorous final test of battlefield skills.

Up to this point, the brigades training has been held at the squad, platoon, company and other group levels. But during the live-fire exercise, all seven of the brigades units  six battalions and a squadron serving artillery, reconnaissance, support and other functions  converged on the range in the largest group exercise of the year to validate proficiency and readiness ahead of higher-level training at the Joint Training Readiness Center (JTRC) at Fort Polk, La., in January.

All the elements of seven battalions are out in the field at the same time exercising and working through a lot of challenges, like how to maintain your vehicles, how to feed the soldiers that are in the field right now, how to get them water, how to get them (equipment parts), how to take care of them if they get injured, 2nd Stryker Brigade Operations Officer Maj. Nate Welsh said. What this operation has enabled them to do is exercise all the teams in their primary specialty.

Roughly 3,600 soldiers across nine companies in the brigades three infantry battalions are assigned to the fleet of Strykers, an eight-wheeled armored vehicle equipped with remote weapon systems and either a .50-caliber machine gun or an MK-19 grenade launcher.

The 2nd Stryker Brigade is the newest brigade of its kind in the Army, Welsh said from inside one of the 30-ton vehicles as it crawled toward mock-enemy lines.

These vehicles are probably only 18 months old, Welsh said. Theyre super.

The artillery battalion went first, bombarding the target with heavy indirect fire as the Strykers waited to advance. From there, machine guns and grenade launchers would provide fire from a distance until rifle-laden soldiers completed the exercise by clearing enemy strongholds on foot.

Based on the effects of that (initial) artillery round, were going to use that suppression to close the distance, Welsh said. We go from a bigger bullet to a smaller one ... and each of those blast (radii) allows the advancing soldiers to close that distance and employ automatic direct fire.

A jungle of wires looped through radio equipment and other communication systems covering most of the vehicles interior surface area. Dust danced through the ceilings openings, coating everything inside in a thin layer of the stuff as radio chatter buzzed.

At the end of a jaunting ride, the Strykers back hatches fell and crews spilled out to join the one-sided, but chaotic, battle. Smoke and dust billowed from the autumn-hued hills while soldiers advanced to take cover.

Get in the trench! one of them screamed as rounds chopped the air. Quit running on the high ground!

Quickly, but methodically, the battalions roles unfolded in taking hills, then bunkers, then trenches. Sappers with the engineering battalion bolted with Bangalore torpedoes to breach barbwire as the entrenched troops looked on.

A fuse was lit.

To bodies pressed in the dirt, it felt as if the ground gave out entirely during the huge, half-second explosion that followed. Three seconds later, the troops were on their feet and running to rain the next bout of live fire.

Many of the companies soldiers had only completed the exercises dry runs using blanks, and Wednesdays training was their first using live rounds.

The live fire is absolutely the most realistic youll ever get to combat due to the fact that were shooting live rounds, said Capt. Corey Masaracchia, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiments Company A. Youre trying to incorporate all the different aspects of what combat would be like.

Such things continued in waves until the riflemen made their way to close-contact battle among the final group of enemy buildings, clearing each until the occupying foes were no more.

After the holiday season, the brigade will seek official certification at JRTC in the Louisiana swamps alongside other forces, including Canadian troops, Masaracchia said. Though Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has not yet announced specifics on deployment for the 2nd Stryker Brigade, commanders emphasized the criticality of seamless preparation amid a growing hostile global climate.

There are other groups (attending JRTC) nationally. ... We incorporate them into our plan as well, Masaracchia said. If we go to large-scale combat, we are going to have NATO allies with us trying to figure out how to operate, how to be in common speaking with them.

(c)2022 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Visit The Gazette at www.gazette.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
WASHINGTON  National Guard leaders said Friday that they are encouraged by the downward trajectory in the past year of suicides within the ranks, but theres room for improvement to help troubled service members through difficult times and steer them away from thoughts of harming themselves.

The remarks from the Guard officials came a day after the Defense Department issued its annual suicide report for last year, which showed an overall decline of 63 suicide deaths among service members from 2020 to 2021. In the National Guard, there were four fewer suicides, according to the data.

However, the number of suicides in the National Guard was higher in 2021 when compared to 2019.

We are committed to reducing the number of suicides out there, Army Maj. Gen. Eric Little told reporters Friday. Because one is too many.

There were 117 suicides in the National Guard in 2021, which accounted for more than 20% of all military suicides, according to the annual report. Twenty-six out of every 100,000 Guard members took their lives last year, the report noted, which was a slight decline from 27 in 2020 but higher than the 21 deaths in 2019.

The Pentagon report showed suicides in the National Guard have fluctuated in the past decade. Most years showed an increase over the previous year. Only twice did suicides decrease -- in 2014 and 2019 -- when the rate dipped below 20 per 100,000 members.

According to the data, 93% of the suicides in the National Guard involved men, while just 7% involved women. By age, members between 20 and 24 years old accounted for the most suicides  37% -- followed by the 30-34, 25-29 and 35-39 age groups. Eighty-five percent of the suicides last year were committed by enlisted National Guard personnel.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other Pentagon officials said they were cautiously optimistic about the suicide figures after the reports release Thursday. But despite suicides declining in 2021, they acknowledged military suicides have still been on an upward trend in the past decade.

For the National Guard, the data does not offer as clear a trend because the suicide rate is roughly the same in 2011 and 2021, with fluctuations in between. Such an up-and-down pattern makes it more difficult to identify root causes and determine which efforts are effective, Little said.

Additionally, a Pentagon study three years ago found the National Guards suicide rate was outclimbing those among active-duty members and reservists. At the time, the Guards rate was 31 per 100,000  its highest mark in the 2010s.

Little said Friday that the uneven data in the past decade is a challenge to interpret. But he said the Guard thinks its on the right track and has taken several steps to lower the suicide risk. Some of the most effective moves, he said, will be eliminating the negative stigmas that surround mental health treatment in the military, bringing in more mental health specialists and creating a culture of lethal means safety.

Adding extra safety layers to lethal means, or methods by which members attempt suicide, would allow for precious extra time to re-evaluate a persons situation or consider other alternatives to harming oneself, Little said.

For example, he said, a gun lock could make the difference between life and death for a suicidal member of the military because it could give them an extra few seconds to weigh alternatives. In fact, he said the National Guard is considering giving members gun locks at no charge to mitigate suicide risks.

Little also said the National Guard also expects a new preventative Pentagon workforce  announced by Austin on Thursday -- to make a measurable difference. That workforce, Austin said, will work on an unprecedented scale and will bring about 2,000 new mental health professionals to the department by next year.

We recognize we have more work to do, Austin said in a statement. Every death by suicide is a tragedy that impacts our people, our military units, and our readiness.

Mental health is health  period. It's on all of us to end the stigma of asking for help and support when we or someone we know is feeling distressed, anxious, or isolated.

The National Guard also must deal with one problem that active-duty troops and reservists do not  changing from military to civilian life so frequently. Because this also means that Guard members must alternate regularly between military and civilian health care, it can often be difficult for them to know where to turn for help.

That does create a problem, Little said, noting the Guard has an initiative focused on simplifying the process and providing a more constant health care presence for troubled members. That is not a quick fix.

In recent years, the Defense Department has invested millions of dollars in efforts to identify factors that lead to suicide or self-harm. Congress has also ordered the Pentagon to conduct an independent committee review of military suicides. That panel began work in May and is expected to issue a final assessment in February.

The National Guard already offers multiple resources intended to steer members away from harming themselves. They include a national hotline, a veterans crisis line and a comprehensive set of links on its website to health providers and specialists available to Guard members. The site also tells success stories from service members who sought treatment for mental health-related issues.

Studies have been done in recent years to seek out the reasons why military members choose suicide. One analysis from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies said the top reason given by one group of troops who attempted suicide was intense emotional distress. Other reasons, the study found, include relationship problems, financial stress, and legal or disciplinary problems.

A separate study last year by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University in Rhode Island found service members are four times more likely to die by suicide than in combat  and that military suicides have increased substantially since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which were followed by years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Watson Institute study listed several other factors that drive some service members to attempt suicide, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, difficulty reacclimating to civilian life and trouble adapting to the rigid and demanding culture within the military. Also, the study said, service members are three times as likely to attempt suicide if they own a firearm.

USA Today reported last year that some of the military bases with the highest suicide rates also have some of the highest sexual assault rates, which could be another factor in suicide data.

"In 2021, we took concrete steps to support service members  by fostering a supportive environment and quality of life, addressing stigma as a barrier to help-seeking, and promoting a culture of lethal means safety, Elizabeth Foster, executive director of the Pentagons Office of Force Resiliency, said in a statement Thursday. We are continuing to expand those efforts in 2022.

So far in 2022, Little said, suicides in the military are happening at a pace thats lower than 2021. However, he noted November and December are still to come, which are months that typically see more suicides.

This is human life we are talking about, Little said.
PEMBA, Mozambique - The boy's scars streak under his ears and circle his neck, dark razor marks left by the Islamic State militants who overran his village. The fighters tried to recruit him. When he refused, the torture began. He was 13.

But the boy's deepest trauma surfaces when he talks about what happened to his uncle. His eyes dim and his voice gets low, almost disappearing in the breeze.

"They beheaded my uncle that day, along with others," recalled R.A., who is now 16 and living in a refugee camp. "He was begging for help, but I could do nothing. I was too scared. I could hear the machete striking him. I could hear his screams."

In northern Mozambique, one of the Islamic State's newest branches is fueling a brutal insurgency that has raged out of sight in small villages and remote forests since late 2017. Women are kidnapped and kept as sex slaves, boys are forced to become child soldiers, beheadings are weapons of terror. The conflict has claimed about 4,000 lives; nearly 1 million people have fled their homes, separating countless families.

Victims shared their stories with The Washington Post on the condition that they be identified only by their first names, and, in R.A.'s case, by his initials, because his first name is uncommon. They still live in fear of the militants.

The violence and instability also threaten one of the world's most lucrative deposits of natural gas. As Russia's war in Ukraine drives up gas prices, fueling fears of scarcity across Europe, northern Mozambique's reserves of liquefied natural gas, or LNG - the third largest in Africa - are viewed as vital.

Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, the U.S. government approved nearly $6 billion in loans and risk insurance to help get Mozambique's nascent natural gas industry off the ground. American and European oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil and French giant TotalEnergies, have multibillion-dollar projects in the resource-rich province of Cabo Delgado, in the country's far north. But the five-year-old Islamist insurgency there has halted most production.

The U.S. and European governments are trying to help Mozambican forces fight the militants - and get the gas flowing.

"They have completely stopped LNG operations from moving forward," said a U.S. Embassy official in the capital, Maputo, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the situation freely. "There certainly is a new urgency for LNG with Ukraine."

Africa has become a new frontier for Islamist militant groups in recent years, with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State spreading rapidly across the continent. Though the groups still claim global aspirations, they are engaged here in local conflicts, capitalizing on weak governments and exploiting old grievances and inequities.

Last year, the State Department designated the Islamic State of Mozambique, or ISIS-Mozambique, as a foreign terrorist organization, though the group is believed to have fewer than 500 fighters. The United States also imposed sanctions on the group's leader, Abu Yasir Hassan, though it's unclear whether he is still in charge, or is even still alive.

The Pentagon's Africa Command is training Mozambican troops to improve their counterterrorism capabilities. The European Union is spending $89 million to train and equip 11 rapid-reaction units of the Mozambican army, in part because Portuguese and Italian oil companies also operate here alongside TotalEnergies.

The militants "are in a key area, so their influence has been quite large," the U.S. official said. "In order to create terror, you don't need that many people."

ISIS-Mozambique has always been small in relative terms, but the weakness of the Mozambican armed forces allowed the group to make rapid gains in recent years, seizing towns and cities, and exacting a terrible toll on communities across the north.

R.A. said the militants beheaded his uncle and other men in his village for not disclosing the positions of Mozambican forces. After the executions, two fighters beat him with the butts of their rifles as he sat in the sun, hands tied. When he refused to take up arms for them, he said, they brought out the razor blade.

"I was tortured for two hours," recalled R.A., who is tall and slim, and wore cutoff blue jean shorts and red slippers. As he spoke, his words slowed and his eyes drifted to the ground.

R.A.'s ordeal could not be independently verified, but similar claims were made by other victims interviewed by The Post in northern Mozambique last month, and corroborated by accounts from aid workers and community activists. The Post also reviewed graphic social media footage showing the aftermath of militant attacks in the region.

When the extremists tired of torturing him, R.A. said, he was forced to walk several hours to their jungle base, the blood still running down his chest.

The insurgency began in October 2017, fueled by a complex and combustible mix of poverty, inequality and Islamist radicalization. In Cabo Delgado, residents have long felt politically and economically isolated, even after natural gas and minerals were discovered here.

"This is first and foremost a rebellion of local youth who have been frustrated and marginalized, the fishermen and local miners who saw their businesses extinguished," said Dino Mahtani, former deputy Africa director for the International Crisis Group (ICG).

The economic exclusion dovetailed with growing Islamist extremism in the region.

"The war came from outside," said Sheikh Nasrullahi Dula, a leader of Mozambique's Muslim community, pointing to ultraconservative clerics from Kenya and Tanzania who started madrassas here in 2010 that began to radicalize young men in Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado. "They taught the opposite of what we preached. They taught that women were nothing and the government is not to be respected."

Militant local youths began to denounce more moderate religious leaders like Dula and pushed to ban alcohol and stop women from working. Their resentment grew as elites drawn from President Filipe Nyusi's Makonde ethnic group secured business deals in the province at the expense of the Mwani and Makua ethnic minorities, the ICG said in a report last year. The ethnic tensions have simmered since the Portuguese colonial era.

Local discontent deepened with the discovery of ruby and gas deposits. The government cleared many residents off their lands to make room for foreign concessions. Prices for rents and commodities soared. The extremists "found a very fertile place to recruit unemployed, frustrated youth," said Joao Feijo, a Mozambican sociologist who has studied the roots of the war.

In early 2017, the government sent police to eject thousands of artisanal miners from a commercial ruby mine. The police "burned houses, they raped women and men. They beat, they tortured," Feijo said. "Suddenly, they broke all these possibilities for the youth to get some earnings. But they didn't provide an alternative."

The Mozambican president's office, the Defense Ministry, Cabo Delgado's governor and other local officials did not respond to The Post's requests for comment or interviews.

When the uprising began months later, some of the first militant recruits were miners, according to Western diplomats and analysts.

By 2018, the Islamic State had embraced the militants, who now counted Tanzanians and other foreigners among their ranks, including defectors from al-Qaeda affiliates in East Africa, analysts said. Some Tanzanians are now leaders while the lower-level militants are largely Mozambicans, primarily Mwani and Makua youths.

It remains unclear how strong ISIS-Mozambique's ties are to the central Islamic State leadership in Syria and Iraq. The militants here carry the trademark black Islamic State flag and pledged allegiance to the terrorist network two years ago. On social media and in its online magazine, Islamic State leaders have lauded recent attacks in Mozambique, including some targeting Christians.

"There is communication going back and forth," the U.S. Embassy official said. "It is probably a more independent ISIS branch than others, but the links are real enough for us to declare it."

In 2019, desperate to stem the insurgency, the Mozambican government hired mercenaries from Russia's Wagner Group, which is run by an oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the infamous private military, which is now fighting in Ukraine and a slew of other African countries, departed several months later after suffering heavy casualties, according to Western diplomats and analysts.

Mozambique then turned to Rwanda and several southern African nations, whose forces entered the conflict last year. Regional leaders fear the violence could spill into their countries and further destabilize the coast of East Africa, which is already plagued by other terrorist groups.

The joint African forces - better trained and equipped than their Mozambican counterparts - have pushed ISIS-Mozambique out of the northern cities and towns they seized last year, including Palma, the epicenter of natural gas exploration. But the insurgents have expanded to new areas, including the province's southern districts near the regional capital, Pemba, and have even conducted raids into Tanzania.

They use guerrilla tactics, hiding within local communities or in the vast forests of Cabo Delgado, an area the size of South Carolina. In small groups, numbering no more than 10 fighters, they have staged a steady stream of hit-and-run attacks since May, when Islamic State leaders declared ISIS-Mozambique to be an autonomous branch operating in its own "province."

"Right now, it is absolutely impossible for them to control a big city, populations, or even seize a little bit of land for more than 24 hours," said Brig. Gen. Nuno Lemos Pires, until recently the European Union's mission force commander in charge of training Mozambican army units. "That said, it doesn't mean that things are under control."

On a visit to Mozambique last month, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, announced $15 million in new funding for the joint African forces, just days after Islamist militants beheaded six civilians and killed an Italian nun in Nampula province.

Borrell said the attacks are "a stark reminder that the fight against terrorism is not over and that, unhappily, it is spreading."

The violence has prevented aid organizations from assisting the tens of thousands of people who have fled their homes in recent months. Nearly 60 percent of the displaced are children. Scores of health clinics and schools are closed or destroyed. More than a million people are facing hunger, according to the United Nations.

"The situation is still volatile," said Phipps Campira, operations director for Save the Children. "The sporadic attacks are destabilizing our efforts to reach out to displaced people."

Compounding matters, the international focus on Ukraine has caused shortfalls in assistance here, as in other parts of the world. Donors have provided less than 60 percent of the $388 million sought by the United Nations this year, according to U.N. data, making it hard to help even those who have reached camps in safer areas.

"Some days, they go without food," Campira said.

When the militants overran the city of Mocimboa da Praia in 2020, they arrived at Ulenca's door. At gunpoint, they forced her and two female cousins into a car and took them to a base, where they joined other kidnapped girls and women. They were later separated and taken to other bases, she remembers.

Ulenca never saw her cousins again.

After a three-day walk, she arrived at the second base. Thirty other women were there, and it soon became clear why. Ulenca said she was handed over to a 24-year-old Tanzanian, whose nom de guerre was Fawzani. Ulenca, who was 20 at the time, was to become his "wife."

That night, when she refused to have sex, Fawzani beat her with a bamboo stick and raped her.

"All the fighters were raping the women," said Ulenca, now 22, her voice cracking. "After every rape, I prayed to God to stop my suffering and to get me back home and find my family."

She lived at the base for two years.

The fighters were mostly Mozambican, but the leaders were from Tanzania, she recalled. Many spoke Swahili, which she understood, as well as local languages. There were other foreigners, too.

Most of the fighters carried AK-47 rifles, Ulenca said. They carried out military drills every day and built deep trenches to take cover from helicopter assaults. Many fighters wore stolen Mozambican army uniforms.

"They would say 'Islam is the only religion. We want to establish an Islamic state,' " she recalled some fighters telling her.

Ulenca said she witnessed more than 10 executions, including those of several women. Some had refused to fight. Others had tried to escape. The women were shot in the back of the head. The men were beheaded.

"Everyone on the base was forced to watch," Ulenca said. "It was a lesson to others not to commit mistakes."

Two other women held at different bases said they witnessed similar atrocities.

Ana, 25, was forced to watch her husband's beheading with her two small daughters. The only reason she wasn't raped, she said, was because the fighters thought she had gone mad.

International forces may have arrested the momentum of the militants, but their brutality continues. Most people on the ground say there is no military solution to the conflict.

The United States and the European Union are spending millions to help develop Cabo Delgado - building schools and creating jobs to prevent young men from joining the militants. Under international pressure, the Mozambican government approved a reconstruction plan, tacitly acknowledging that its neglect contributed to the insurgency.

"Are the root causes of everything that has happened solved? Of course not," Pires said. "That is a huge step that we still have to fight for for a long, long time."

The victims will carry their trauma forever.

When R.A. reached the jungle base, he said, he was tied up and beaten again. His tormentors were not much older than him. Most carried guns and machetes. On the third day, by his count, as the militants took a nap, two other abducted boys loosened the ropes around their wrists and freed R.A. as well.

"As we ran, we were always looking back to see if they were chasing us," he remembered.

Ulenca escaped in May. By then, the militants had lost ground. During a bombing raid, she and another woman managed to get away. They walked for 17 hours until they reached a Mozambican army position, she said.

Ana and her girls fled in April while they went to fetch wood. Ancha, now 5, hardly remembers what happened to her dad. But Amina, who is 8, can't forget. "They killed my father," she said in a shy voice. "I still think about it when I sleep."

The Washington Post's Estacio Valoi contributed to this report.
TOKYO  The only existing Imperial Japanese Army training aircraft of its kind will soon be on display for a short time in western Tokyo.

A Tachikawa Ki-54, the twin-engine advanced trainer aircraft used during World War II by imperial Japan, can be seen at Tachihi Holdings in Tachikawa city Oct. 27-30, according to the companys news release.

It may be the last time the aircraft will be displayed for the public, it stated.

The trainer was made by Tachihi Holdings predecessor company, Tachikawa Aircraft Co. It began development of the aircraft in 1939 and built 1,342 of them by the end of the war. Although parts of Ki-54s have been discovered, this is the only surviving, nearly complete example of the trainer.

We hope people in the community will experience part of the history through the aircraft that displays the technology at the time, the release said.

The Ki-54 was designed to train pilots and other personnel, such as navigators and mechanics, simultaneously, the according to the release. It boasted some of the most advanced technology of the time, with retractable main landing gear and a body made with Duralumin, a hardened aluminum alloy.

The trainer is a good example of the technology Tachikawa Aircraft Co. had at the time, said Tachihi Holdings Co. president and representative director Masamichi Murayama during an interview with Stars and Stripes last month.

This Ki-54 was salvaged in 2012 from Lake Towada, which straddles Aomori and Akita prefectures in northern Japan. The aircraft was discovered during a survey at the lake. Witnesses said it had crashed in the lake in 1943 due to engine trouble, killing three of four crewmembers, a spokesman for Tachihi told Stars and Stripes last month.

Although its body shows some deterioration, the trainer has mostly maintained its original shape, and still has one of its engines attached to a wing. The spokesman said the Ki-54 is in such good shape after 69 years due in part to falling into deep freshwater.

The aircraft has two control sticks for the pilot and the instructor. It also bears painted Japanese letters that say, do not step here, that remain clear and well-preserved.

It was displayed at the Misawa Aviation and Science Museum until it was transferred back to Tachikawa two years ago.

Tachihi, believing it had a mission to tell the history of the citys technology, obtained the aircraft from the museum. It was first exhibited to the public last year and attracted more than 9,000 visitors over four days.

The Ki-54 can be seen between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. with last entry at 3:45 p.m. at Tachihi Holdings No. 5 building. People are asked to enter from the main gate of the companys south area.

Reservations are not necessary and admission is free.

For more details and a map of the facility, visit the companys website in Japanese at www.tachihi.co.jp/2022/09/15/issikisohatsu/.
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea  The commander of the 8th Maintenance Group at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea has been fired after just four months on the job, a unit spokeswoman confirmed Saturday.

Air Force Col. Jay Bertsch was let go Oct. 11 and reassigned outside the unit due to a loss of confidence in his abilities, 8th Fighter Wing spokeswoman Capt. Paige Hankerson said in a statement emailed to Stars and Stripes.

The Air Force Times was first to report on Bertsch's removal on Friday.

"As a reflection of the importance of our mission and responsibility leaders bear to guide airmen, the Wolf Pack holds its leaders to a high standard," Hankerson said, referring to the wings mascot. "Out of respect for the member and due to the legal process, no further information is to be provided at this time."

The maintenance groups deputy, Lt. Col. David Breuer, is filling in as commander, she added.

Bertsch's responsibilities since arriving at Kunsan in June included "daily flying and maintenance operations, intermediate level maintenance, component repair and maintenance training for a combat wing" of 43 F-16 Fighting Falcons, according to his biography on the base website. He commanded 1,110 personnel and handled a $2.4 million annual budget.

From July 2021 to May, he served at the Pentagon as military deputy, deputy assistant secretary of defense for materiel readiness at the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment , according to his biography. In 2010, he deployed to Camp Stryker in Iraq with the 321st Air Expeditionary Wing. He commissioned on Dec. 20, 2001.

Kunsan, about 115 miles south of Seoul on the peninsulas western coast, is home to the 8th Fighter Wing, which flies the all-weather, multirole F-16s. Roughly 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, the majority of them at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek.
LONDON  U.S. citizen Anne Sacoolas, 45, who according to her lawyers was working for a U.S. intelligence agency, pleaded guilty Thursday in British court to causing death by careless driving, when she drove on the wrong side of the road and killed a 19-year-old motorcyclist.

The plea marked a step forward in what has become a high-level diplomatic dispute and three-year fight for justice by the family of the victim, Harry Dunn. Sacoolass sentencing is scheduled for November.

The case is unique because the U.S. government asserted that Sacoolas, who was a State Department employee, had diplomatic immunity following the crash, and she left Britain less than three weeks after the incident while the investigation was ongoing.

It is also rare in Britain for a defendant to appear for an entire criminal case via video link, as Sacoolas has so far. The judge in the case ordered Sacoolas to appear in person for her sentencing  but it is unclear if she will.

She could be sentenced to a relatively short prison sentence  with a maximum of five years  but shorter sentences and community service are also possible.

Dunns mother, Charlotte Charles, told reporters after the guilty plea that it represented the fulfillment of a promise that she made the night her son was killed, and that she can stand aside now and let the courts do their thing.

Every single day, every bit of pain that you feel from the minute you wake up to the minute you go to bed - all of the hours that you lay awake at night, fighting that pain and keeping it in the pit of your stomach, which kept the promise burning as well, she said. It was like it was just all released.

In court hearings in Britain and the United States, Sacoolas has been described as the wife of a U.S. intelligence officer and as an intelligence officer herself.

At the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., in 2021, one of her lawyers, John McGavin, said, Mr. and Mrs. Sacoolas were employed by an intelligence agency of the United States, and thats why she left.

McGavin told the court that he was unable to completely candidly explain the familys departure. I know the answer, but I cannot disclose it, he told the court.

Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the U.S. government following the crash near an air force base in Northamptonshire, England  and was able to leave Britain 19 days after the incident.

The U.S. government refused to extradite Sacoolas to Britain to face charges in person.

Since the fatal crash, Dunns family has campaigned for Sacoolas to be stripped of her diplomatic immunity so that she could return to face the courts.

Dunn was killed in August 2019 when Sacoolas struck his motorcycle while she was driving on the wrong side, according to British police.

Sacoolas was merging onto a roadway near Royal Air Force Croughton station, a U.S. Air Force installation, where many intelligence workers are based. Sacoolas, her diplomat husband and her children had recently moved to the base.

She had been in Britain only a short time, and as newcomers quickly learn, the British drive on the left side of the road, while Americans drive on the right.

She had been formally charged with causing death by dangerous driving in 2019, but admitted guilt to a lesser charge of death caused by careless driving  a guilty plea accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service, which conducts criminal prosecutions in England.

Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in June 2021 that he and President Biden were actively engaged on the case of Dunn.

The Dunn family reached a settlement in a U.S. civil suit against Sacoolas in 2021. Dunns parents had launched a U.S. federal lawsuit claiming wrongful death. In September 2021, the familys spokesman, Radd Seiger, told The Washington Post that the civil case was resolved, and they could move on to the criminal case.
A 19-year-old soldier assigned to Fort Bliss, Texas, was arrested Tuesday and charged with murder for a shooting that killed another soldier and wounded three other people outside a bar in nearby El Paso, according to local law enforcement.

Army Criminal Investigation Division agents arrested Pvt. Craig Trevion Gooding on the base and transferred him to the El Paso Police Department, according to El Paso police. He was charged with murder for shooting and killing Staff Sgt. Jewllian Maurer, 29, and was being held in El Paso County Detention Facility with bond set at $250,000, police said.

Police were already at the shopping center where the bar is located when the shooting took place. Police officers were investigating an unrelated call at about 2:20 a.m. Sunday when they heard gunshots near the bar EP Clubhouse, according to Goodings arrest affidavit.

Evidence at the crime scene revealed a possible shootout occurred based on the number of bullet casings and impact strikes found in surrounding parked cars and within the walls of the shopping center, according to the affidavit.

The shootout followed an altercation in which Maurer punched Gooding in the face. He then displayed a handgun and fired it toward the ground, according to eyewitness accounts and surveillance camera footage described in the affidavit. Gooding then shot toward Maurer, the affidavit said.

Maurer was still holding a gun in his hand when officers found him severely wounded on the ground, police said. He was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police found one other victim in the parking lot with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. The remaining two victims, one of whom was a soldier, arrived on their own at local hospitals. At least two other soldiers were there when the shooting occurred, according to the affidavit.

Gooding is a motor transport operator assigned to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, according to a statement from Fort Bliss.

Maurer was an armor observer, controller trainer. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 362nd Regiment, 5th Armored Brigade under First Army Division West, base officials said.

Fort Bliss continues to cooperate with the El Paso Police Department as they further investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident, according to the Fort Bliss statement.

Fort Bliss is home to about 25,000 active-duty soldiers and its largest unit is the 1st Armored Division. It is located in west Texas with training ranges that stretch into New Mexico.
An American citizen who was hired by the U.S. military to be a translator in Afghanistan has been charged in federal court with lying about his contacts with the Islamic State terrorist group.

Mohammad Rafi Mohammadi, of Kansas City, Kan., sent money to one Islamic State recruiter and sought to secure the release of another, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Kansas.

He faces one count of making a false statement, a felony that carries a sentence of up to five years in prison.

During a security check prior to his deployment to Afghanistan as a Defense Department contract linguist in 2019, Mohammadi hid contacts with the terrorist groups Afghanistan affiliate, known as ISIS-K, court filings state.

Prosecuting someone for lying on a security clearance form is rare, experts told Rolling Stone magazine, which first covered the case.

Tim Burdick, a public defender representing Mohammadi, told Stars and Stripes that his client had served the U.S. military for several years.

We look forward to the opportunity to present his defense, Burdick said.

The U.S. Attorneys Office  District of Kansas when reached for comment declined to speak on a pending case.

The Islamic State in Afghanistan, an offshoot of the terrorist organization in Iraq and Syria, has launched deadly attacks throughout the country since its founding in 2015.

Its most infamous bombing occurred last year at the Kabul airport during the mass evacuation after the U.S.-backed government fell to the Taliban. The attack killed 13 U.S. troops and 170 Afghan civilians.

The criminal complaint did not name the two Islamic State recruiters allegedly connected to Mohammadi, calling them Individual No. 1 and Individual No. 2.

The unidentified individuals could be Abu Obaidullah Mutawakil and Mubasher Muslimya, who were arrested in Kabul in 2019, Rolling Stone said.

FBI investigators said they have Facebook messages showing that Mohammadi asked a friend in 2018 for the phone number of Individual No. 1 and arranged to send $400 to him.

Individual No. 1 was arrested by the spy agency of the U.S.-backed former Afghan government in 2019 on suspicion of recruiting militants for ISIS-K, the court filing said.

The criminal complaint did not elaborate on Mohammadis his work as a translator, other than to say that he had once attempted to sneak back onto base after leaving without permission.

In the fall of 2021, Mohammadi allegedly told an FBI informant that while deployed to Afghanistan, he tried to facilitate the release of Individual No. 2.

Mohammadi also posted videos of both men on his Facebook page, an FBI agent cited in court documents said.

Last week, Mohammadi told federal agents that he did not send money to an Islamic State recruiter and did not personally know him, according to court filings.
A tech startup in Texas is modifying software designed for combat medicine and putting it to work tracking the health and wellness of military K-9s.

Animal Cloud, of Fort Worth, Texas, aims to digitize health information for the estimated 1,600 working dogs in the Defense Department using the Battlefield Assisted Trauma Distributed Observation Kit, or BATDOK, that the company licensed from the Air Force Research Laboratory.

The Animal Cloud founders, Air Force veteran Dylan Jones and Marine Corps veteran Chris Matos, saw the potential for this technology to be applied to animals while attending an entrepreneur program together at Texas Christian University in 2020, Jones told Stars and Stripes during a video chat on Wednesday.

There has been a lack of technology innovation that has been addressed by the market for the DOD and [Department of Homeland Security] for the working dogs as a whole, said Jones, the company president. We want to be the leaders in upgrading existing kennels to be smart kennels, to have the technology of [internet of things] devices to start to collect, analyze and report information on their operations and begin to automate that.

The internet of things describes physical objects with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the internet or other communications networks.

BATDOK assists combat medics in collecting real-time health information for multiple patients in austere environments and adding that data into their health records using a smartphone application, according to the Air Force medicine website.

In 2021, Animal Cloud received an Air Force Small Business Innovative Research contract worth up to $2.5 million to conduct a feasibility study for the military working dog program at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio, Animal Cloud spokeswomen Cameryn Junck told Stars and Stripes by email Wednesday.

The 341st Training Squadron, which oversees the K-9 program at Lackland, did not respond to a Stars and Stripes email requesting further information on Thursday.

The company is developing an application that collects all the information from wearable collar devices and digitizes, analyzes and interprets all the data automatically, Jones said. He estimates the application will cost about $50 per dog per month.

The types of data points that are collected are [blood oxygen levels], heart rate, sleep patterns, activity levels, calories burned, GPS to see how far they walked, Jones said. Currently there arent any devices implemented in the Military Working Dog program, so all the data thats being collected in the program is being done manually.

Military K-9 handlers and trainers now are filling out several forms that track how the dog is performing, how much exercise its getting, what medications it receives, and how often its getting out of its kennel, according to Jones. The Animal Cloud application aims to simplify and automate those administrative tasks, he said.

We are taking all of that and working to digitize all that information, he said.

Jones envisions Animal Cloud, which is developing a similar product for civilian pet owners, growing and developing while they work to secure the next phase of their contract to build out the solutions into their software.

I think there is a really exciting opportunity on the horizon in launching our pet technology, he said.
Owen and Brendan Maguire have survived separate attempts on their own lives in shootings

The State is attempting to seize over 300k in cash and properties from two brothers who were shot and injured as part of a violent feud.

Earlier this year the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) was granted interim orders over several assets owned by siblings Owen and Brendan Maguire.

The two siblings are linked to a gang involved in the deadly Drogheda feud which has claimed four lives.

They have also survived separate attempts on their own lives in separate shootings with Owen Maguire left paralysed after being shot multiple times.

In July, the High Court granted Cab interim orders under section 2 of the Proceeds of Crime Act which prohibits the men from disposing of the assets.

The case was up before Mr Justice Alexander Owens at the Four Courts in Dublin again this week.

While specific details of the assets were not disclosed in court, reference was made to houses at St Anthony's Park in Drogheda.

The Irish Independent understands that at the centre of the Cab case is 304,000 in cash, two properties, a Rolex watch, a Mercedes car and a Ford Transit van.

Cab allege that they are all the proceeds of crime.

Gardai believe the brothers are involved in the sale and supply of controlled drugs and that the gang are involved in an ongoing feud in the north-east of the country.

Brendan Maguire

This week counsel for the Bureau applied to serve orders on Brendan Maguire outside of the jurisdiction.

The 43-year-old was shot and seriously injured in a gun attack in February 2019 at the M1 Retail Park.

He was struck several times in the body while sitting in a car but miraculously survived the shooting.

Gardai believe the shooting was linked to the Drogheda feud and carried out by the so-called 'Anti-Maguire' faction.

The High Court heard that Brendan Maguire is currently living in the Rochdale area of Manchester in the UK.

Counsel for the Bureau applied for an order to serve proceedings to him outside the jurisdiction which was granted.

Mr Justice Owens said he would have 28 days to enter an appearance in the matter from the time papers are served on him.

An application was also made to substitute service on his brother Owen Maguire (38).

This was also granted with the judge saying that a hard copy of the orders should be served on him.

In July 2018 he was shot and seriously injured after being targeted in a shooting outside his Drogheda home.

He was struck eight times and left paralysed as a result of the gunshot injuries.

Gardai believe the shooting was carried out by hitman Robbie Lawlor who was shot dead in Belfast in April 2020.

The Drogheda feud saw around 100 violent incidents including assaults, petrol bombings and shootings over several years and claimed four lives.

There has been no major incidents in the gangland warfare in the last number of months with many of the main protagonists either locked up, om-the-run or dead.

Four men have been killed in the criminal dispute which broke out in 2017.
Family members have contested the application on grounds including that they have an interest in the assets

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is not entitled to orders allowing it to seize some 1.7m of assets linked to senior Kinahan organised crime gang member Ross Browning, the High Court heard.

CAB is seeking orders under Section 3 of the 1996 Proceeds of Crime Act ocer assets, including two properties, plots of land, cars, jewellery and luxury watches it claims were acquired with monies from Mr Browning, described as the Kinahan gang's "principal representative" in Ireland.

CAB says the assets were obtained by Mr Browning "intermingling" cash derived from the proceeds of the gang's criminal activities with monies belonging to several members of his family.

While Mr Browning has not contested CAB's application, lawyers representing several members of his family, including his mother Julie Conway and the estate of his late grandfather Mr William Conway deny CAB claims.

The family members have contested the application on grounds including that they have an interest in the assets and say that monies spent on the various items came from legitimate sources.

Represented by Shane Costelloe SC Mr Conway's estate claims any claim by CAB in relation to assets in Mr Conway's name should have, but were not, brought within two years of his death in November 2018.

CAB's application must fail because the statute of limitations for any claim on the estate has expired.

The court heard that a property in Garristown in North Co Dublin, which CAB claims was acquired by monies from Mr Browning, was acquired by monies legitimately obtained by the late Mr Conway who died in 2018.

Mr Browning's mother Julie Conway and her husband, retired Garda David O'Brien say they live in a renovated cottage in Garristown, now called Chestnut Lodge.

They say that the late Mr Conway had verbally said he wanted the couple to have Chestnut Lodge but had died intestate.

They couple say that they borrowed monies from financial institutions and other legitimate sources to renovate what was a derelict cottage at a cost of between 80,000 to 100,000.

However, they strongly reject CAB's claim that some 330,000 was spent on the property.

Julie Conway also claimed that she acquired two small plots of land in Rush Co Dublin with monies that she had also borrowed.

CAB has also claimed that a house purchased in 2012 in Deanstown Road, Finglas by Mr William Conway for 56,000 was also acquired, and renovated, with the monies from Mr Browning.

CABs claim that the property was renovated at a cost of over 200,000 was disputed. It is claimed that the property was paid for by monies Mr Conway got after being made redundant from his bar management job, and from an award he received from the State.

The monies from the sale of that house to Mr Ian O'Haire were used by Mr Conway to acquire the lands in Garristown, the court heard.

Mr O'Haire, a relative of Mr Conway and Mr Browning said that he bought the house from Mr William Conway in 2013 for 120,000.

Mr O'Haire who disputes CAB's claims about the proceeds of crime being expended on the property claims that he paid for the house out of funds he claims he received in a personal injuries award.

An aunt of Mr Browning, Lesley Conway who said she had helped out at a Dublin gym he operated, rejected CAB's claim that a car she owned had been acquired with the proceeds of crime.

Counsel argued that just because a large group or family who may be related to someone involved in criminal activity it cannot be said that their expenditure or acquisition of assets was done with the proceeds of crime.

Benedict O Flionn SC and Grainne O'Neill Bl.for CAB rejected the respondents' claims.

CAB says it is entitled to the orders sought against the estate because the assets in question were acquired with the proceeds of crime.

They also claim that the proceedings were brought inside the two-year time limit.

Counsel said that the details provided by the respondents to the court failed to properly explain or engage with the details and figures put before the court by the bureau's officers.

CAB claims that the lifestyle enjoyed by Mr Browning and members of family, which included multiple foreign trips, could not have been paid for by legitimate earnings.

Following the conclusion of submissions from both parties Mr Justice Alexander Owens reserved judgement.
A MAN and his girlfriend who got into a third level college through an open door and threw property around an office were just looking for a toilet, a court has heard.

Jason Halpin (49) and his girlfriend were homeless at the time and living in his car.

The pair saw a door open at the Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown (ITB), and they went into the building, his lawyer said.

Judge David McHugh jailed Halpin for four months. The defendant, of Corduff Grove in Blanchardstown, admitted burglary at the Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown, on June 3, 2017.

Sergeant Maria Callaghan told Blanchardstown District Court Halpin got into an administrative office at ITB.

Property valued at 300 was thrown around the room.

Sgt Callaghan said Halpin was identified from CCTV footage. He was later detained and questioned by gardai, and he made full admissions.

The court heard Halpin had 23 previous convictions.

Defence solicitor John ODoherty said Halpin was identified as the culprit within two seconds, and he lived less than one mile away.

In relation to this incident, Mr ODoherty said Halpins girlfriend had to answer the call of nature, she saw a door open and they both went in.

Halpin, a father-of-one, had battled a long-standing drug problem, and this was more an opportunistic crime. He did not have the money to pay compensation to the college.

He asked the judge to be lenient, saying Halpin had not been in trouble for some time.
Adrian Short pleaded guilty to possession of seven images and 14 videos

A former member of the Irish Defence Forces has been given a sixteen-month suspended sentence for the possession of child abuse material.

Adrian Short (45) of Corbetstown, Killucan, Co. Westmeath, pleaded guilty to possession of seven images and 14 videos of child pornography at Griffeen Glen Drive, Lucan, Co. Dublin on March 29, 2021.

Passing sentence today Judge Melanie Greally said the videos in particular contained extreme content of children as young as two years, which included sexual intercourse between children and adults.

Judge Greally said there was no other content stored on any other of Shorts devices and that he had been fully forthright, cooperative and attended his garda interview voluntary.

The judge said according to the probation report he is at low risk of reoffending and that the offence was in the mid-range of offending.

She also noted the mitigating factors include his early guilty plea, his high level of cooperation, the lack of previous convictions, his personal history and in particular, his past personal trauma. Other mitigating factors include the collateral damage of the break-up of his marriage and his now distant relationship with his children.

Short also has a very positive probation report and has expressed remorse and regret for his actions.

Judge Greally sentenced Short to sixteen months in prison, suspended in full. Short must remain under the supervision of the probation services for sixteen months and he must submit to further monitoring and risk assessments as directed by the probation services. He must also continue to attend counselling as directed.
Judge Patricia Ryan said messages sent by Gerard Culhane to the politician were very disturbing and frightening for the injured party

An internet troll who sent sexually explicit videos to Fine Gael TD Jennifer Carroll MacNeill as part of a terrifying campaign of harassment has been given a one-year suspended sentence.

Judge Patricia Ryan said messages sent by Gerard Culhane (43) to the politician, which included videos of a man masturbating, were very disturbing and frightening for the injured party.

But the judge decided not to send him to prison after hearing he was remorseful, had no previous convictions and had been very socially isolated and suffering from medical issues at the time.

Following the sentencing, Ms Carroll MacNeill urged women who receive unwanted sexual messages to report the matter to gardai.

I recognise that because of my position as an elected public representative that there is an additional degree of interest or meaning in this case. However, there are many women facing the same thing I did, unwanted advances, whether online or in person, she said.

And so, I want to say clearly that it is not acceptable to send unwanted sexual content  to have to receive it at any time of day  whether intended frivolously or threateningly  sending unwanted sexual content is not normal, it is not acceptable.

If you are in this situation, or any other that is happening without your consent, it is possible to bring those concerns to An Garda Siochana  you will be taken seriously, the criminal justice system is there to support you. And while I recognise that it is not pleasant to be here, indeed I have said already I have absolutely no wish to be here, it is possible to put an end to the experience through the criminal justice system and I hope someone may hear that today.

Ms Carroll MacNeill (42), a TD for Dun Laoghaire, was harassed by Culhane during and after the 2020 General Election campaign, when he sent her a barrage of inappropriate messages via Facebook messenger.

These included sexually explicit videos he had downloaded from pornographic websites, and comments about her appearance.

She did not know who was sending her the messages, which put her in fear for her personal safety when she was appearing in public during the campaign.

The TD was accompanied in court by her husband, former rugby international Hugo MacNeill, her mother Mary Carroll, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, Fine Gael general secretary John Carroll, and TDs Brendan Griffin, Neale Richmond and Alan Farrell.

Ms Carroll MacNeill made a complaint to gardai and Culhane of Marian Place, Glin, Co Limerick, was identified following an investigation.

The court heard Culhane had no previous convictions, was unemployed and lived at home with his parents.

He had struck up conversations with some women on Facebook messenger. His counsel said he contacted Ms Carroll MacNeill because he was "curious to see could he engage her in conversation."

The court was told he did not intend to cause her any distress or alarm and was now remorseful, acknowledged his actions were stupid, and felt shameful and guilty.

In a lengthy victim impact statement delivered to the court earlier this year, the TD said trying to deal with the harassment in the middle of an election campaign was extremely difficult.

She said Culhane had invaded her life, her mind, her sense of security and rocked her personal life.

What happened gave me an awful fright at a time when I was very much in public, trying to make myself available personally to as many members of the public in Dun Laoghaire as humanly possible, she said.

I had to question my personal safety for the first time, and thats something I have never been confronted with in my life before.

The TD said it was the first time in her life she had felt there was a real, actual risk to her.

I felt it, and I couldnt see it. I didnt know where it was. I didnt know what the nature of it was.

OK, this was just a video, but what next? Was it just a video? Was it a precursor to something else? Was this person far away, or were they just over there? Were they crossing the road towards me? What were they going to do? Would they be waiting for me somewhere? Was I going to be hurt? Was I going to be attacked?

Culhane pleaded guilty to harassing Ms Carroll MacNeill at unknown places within the state on dates between January 13, 2020 and March 26, 2020.

That January, Ms Carroll MacNeill was subjected to a three-day barrage of unsolicited messages and explicit content.

Giving evidence, Detective Sergeant Rachael Kilpatrick said Ms Carroll MacNeill received messages from a user she did not know, including three videos of a man performing a sex act on himself.

The first video showed a man masturbating and she was "shocked and surprised" to get the video which was "most unwelcome." She found it "disgusting" and frightening and did not know why it was sent to her. The video was accompanied by winking, smiley face and love heart emojis.

There were two other sexually explicit videos showing a male torso, one in pink underwear, the other in tracksuit bottoms. As soon as she saw what was going on, she turned away and did not watch the rest.

She later received messages including one saying "stay warm, gorgeous" with a thumbs-up emoji, and another which read "love your campaign poster". She was sent a picture of a man "suggestively" pulling down his boxer shorts.

Ms Carroll MacNeill was also sent a picture of herself taken at the 40 Foot bathing area in Sandycove in a swimsuit, with a message saying: "You look so sexy Jen. What a great body you have."

She did not respond to any messages.

When she was elected in February, she received a message saying "congratulations" and that he had seen her on the Tonight Show "looking beautiful and glamorous."

The messages continued into March, with one reading: "swit swoo" with a fire emoji.

The court heard that when gardai arrived at Culhanes home, he immediately said he knew why they were there. He confirmed he had sent Ms Carroll MacNeill "pictures" but nothing abusive.

Culhane said the pictures and videos were not of him but were downloaded from a porn site, he said
Alanna, now 18, underwent several operations to fix her eye socket and lost her sight in the injured eye.

TWO men have been sent forward for trial accused of assault and violent disorder over an incident where Alanna Quinn Idris and a teenage boy were injured in Dublin.

The then 17-year-old girl was left with a shattered tooth, broken cheekbones and a ruptured eyeball following an assault at the Civic Centre, Ballyfermot, on the night of December 30.

Alanna, now 18, underwent several operations to fix her eye socket and lost her sight in the injured eye.

In January, Darragh Lyons and co-accused Jack Cummins appeared at Dublin District Court and were granted bail subject to conditions.

Jack Cummins at a previous court appearance. Picture: Collins

Darragh Lyons, 18, of Weir View, Glenaulin, Chapelizod, Dublin, is accused of assault causing harm to Alanna Quinn Idris and a male youth.

Co-defendant Jack Cummins, 18, Rossmore Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin, was charged with the assault causing harm to the teenage boy.

They are also accused of violent disorder.

The Director of Public Prosecutions directed trial on indictment in the Circuit Court, which has broader sentencing powers.

Today, gardai served books of evidence on the pair. Judge Paula Murphy granted a return for trial order and warned them to notify the prosecution within 14 days if they intended to introduce alibi evidence in their trial.

She told them their case was being sent to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, and the case will be listed for mention on November 11.

Darragh Lyons (left) leaves court at a previous appearance. Picture: Collins

They spoke briefly to confirm they understood. Then, Judge Murphy granted them legal aid and warned them to obey the bail terms set down earlier.

Previously, the district court heard CCTV footage captures the moment "violence erupts", resulting in the injuries of Dublin teen Alanna Quinn Idris.

In May, gardai consented to remove curfews from the defendants' bail conditions.

Earlier, they had to give gardai their phone number. They must remain contactable, notify of any address change and have no contact with the injured parties or witnesses.

At their first hearing on January 7, the court heard Mr Lyons was unemployed and had no prior conviction and that Mr Cummins worked for a tyre company and had no criminal convictions.


President Xi Jinping attends and addresses the plenary session of the 25th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in virtual format upon invitation, June 17, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

President 'takes the lead', 'sets example' in promoting global peace, prosperity

As led by President Xi Jinping over the past 10 years, China's major-country diplomacy has contributed original initiatives and delivered substantive actions for global peace and prosperity, winning the country a greater network of partners worldwide, officials and scholars said.

Xi has proposed a series of new concepts, propositions and initiatives "that bear Chinese characteristics, meet international expectations and conform to the trend of history", Vice-Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said on Thursday.

Xi also "takes the lead and sets an example" in taking actions as he rolls out head-of-state diplomacy, Ma said at a news conference on China's diplomacy on the sidelines of the ongoing 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

In the past 10 years, Xi has made 42 trips abroad covering five continents and 69 countries, and at home he has hosted more than 100 heads of state and government.

During the Beijing Olympic Winter Games this year, Xi held over 20 bilateral events with leaders. During his recent visit to Central Asia, Xi attended 31 events within 48 hours.

Xi "achieved full coverage of key countries, regions and international organizations" and helps China build a more comprehensive and solid global partnership network, strengthening cooperation and friendship from all over the world, Ma said.

"Over the past 10 years, China's circle of friends has grown, and its global partnership network is getting clearer shape and definition," said Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the China Institute of International Studies' Department of American Studies.

"In China's global partnerships, it is essential to treat each other on an equal footing. China does not speak to other nations from a position of strength, it is not a bully and it expects the world order to be fairer and every country to have an equal role," she said.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Xi actively carried out cloud diplomacy and had 181 phone conversations with foreign leaders and heads of international organizations.

Xi attended 78 major foreign affairs events via video link, bringing together a strong joint force for international cooperation in the fight against the novel coronavirus, according to Ma.

Wang Fan, president of China Foreign Affairs University, said that while some countries are repeatedly trying to slice the world's "pie" for development to leave other nations with a smaller share, "China is working on making the whole 'pie' even larger by advancing visions such as the Belt and Road Initiative".

"By making the 'pie' even bigger, each country will have a greater sense of gain and shared interests," Wang said.

China aims to develop its major country diplomacy on three fronts  advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, build on a new type of international relations and remain true to genuine multilateralism, he said.

When asked about the 17th G20 Summit, which is scheduled to be held next month in Bali, Indonesia, Ma, the vice-minister, said the G20 is a major forum for international economic cooperation, and Beijing supports Indonesia's work in its role of presidency of the G20.

"We look forward to seeing the summit playing a positive and constructive role in strengthening international cooperation in fighting the pandemic, promoting world economic recovery, and safeguarding global food and energy security," he said.

Yuan Zheng, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of American Studies, said China has demonstrated its strong sense of responsibility as a major country when facing global challenges.

"China is a major contributor to world peace, global development, international order and international public goods, and it plays a stabilizing, constructive role amid the changing world situation," Yuan said.

Su, the CIIS scholar, said that as China develops its global partnership network, it finds more common ground for promoting shared interests and boosting common prosperity.

"China is not shortsighted or narrow-minded. It looks to breathe some fresh air into the pattern of countries' interactions when it seeks to build a community with a shared future for mankind," she said.
The offence took place at Glencar on June 21 last year

Westlife singer Kian Egan has been convicted in relation to a speeding offence following a court hearing this week.

The popstar (42), with an address at Carrowdough, Strandhill, Sligo, was fined 180 at Sligo District Court yesterday.

Egan, who was not present in court, pleaded guilty through his solicitor Mr Fergal Kelly to speeding and was reportedly 9kph over the 80kph speed limit.

The offence took place at Glencar on June 21 last year and Egans vehicle was detected by a speed detector van, Judge Sandra Murphy was told.

The prosecuting officer was Superintendent Blaithin Moran , who was attached to the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau at the time of the offence.

Egan performed with Westlife in Singapore and Indonesia earlier this month and the band are set to perform a series of arena shows in the UK over the coming weeks.

Reports today said Egan, who has no previous convictions, was away when the summons for speeding offence arrived.

Judge Murphy convicted him and fined him 180, which he has three months to pay.
Convicted conman Paddy Maher (55) was warned a doctors note will be required for any absences from court  after he failed to appear before Wexford Circuit Court for sentences on fraud charges on Thursday.

Judge John McHugh described Mahers failure to make his court appointments on medical grounds as recurring in nature adding: I will certainly require a note from the doctor on future occasions.

Maher who held the role of joint secretary in suspected mortgage scammer Catriona Careys Careysfort Assets Estates Limited had been due to be sentenced on five charges of deception at the court sitting in Gorey.

All five charges are contrary to section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.

A person found guilty of an offence under this section is liable on conviction in the Circuit Court to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both.

After his case was called on Thursday morning, solicitor Ed King said Maher was unable to attend the sitting as he had suffered a number of strokes over the past 12 months.

Maher had been appointed joint secretary of Careysfort in the UK in December 2021, having been appointed to the same role with an Irish registered version of the company two years earlier.

The company now lies at the centre of an 800,000 fraud probe after dozens of indebted property owners were scammed with promises of non-existent buybacks on their loans.
Hidden in a truck, 367,000 was found on the way to the UK.

Robbie the detector dog and cash seized at Dublin Port.

Hundreds of thousands worth of cash has been seized by Revenue with the help of detector dog Robbie.

Hidden in a truck, 367,000 was found on the way to the UK along with 1,200 in sterling.

Robbie led officers to the concealed cash that is suspected of funding or being the profit of criminal activity.

A Northern Irish man in his 50s was taken to Store Street Garda Station for questioning.

The seizure occurred on Wednesday at Dublin Port, just before the truck was set to depart for the UK.

Revenue officers say the haul was uncovered through routine profiling and the help of their detector dog.

The truck was then stopped and searched.

A spokesperson for Revenue says investigations are ongoing.

"This seizure is part of Revenue's ongoing work targeting smuggling and shadow economy activity, they added.

"If businesses, or members of the public have any information, they can contact Revenue in confidence on Confidential Phone Number 1800 295 295.
We have done so much to get where we are. We can't give up now.

Wiretapped conversations between Kinahan Cartel ally Raffaele Imperiale and one of his lieutenants have revealed how the crime boss hoped to import a last shipment of 30 tons of cocaine before retiring.

The 48-year-old Imperiale, considered one of the most important cocaine traffickers in the world, was recorded as he organised a major shipment of cocaine from the Colombian port of Turbo to Gioia Tauro.

In secret talks with the convicted Italian drug trafficker Bruno Carbone that were decrypted by Europol and passed on to Italian judicial authorities, Imperiale discusses the importation of industrial quantities of drugs.

In one of the exchanges, Imperiale tells Carbone: "Let's try to be strong. We have to do 30 t (tons) this year. (Its) important that we do first and 30 t, and then before any other stress we can also talk about retiring.

We have done so much to get where we are. We can't give up now.

Raffaele Imperiale and Daniel Kinahan

The Camorra-linked Italian mobster, who is a close associate of Daniel Kinahan, was arrested last year at his luxurious desert bolt-hole in Dubai and finally flown to Rome in March to face charges.

He is a former partner in a so-called super-cartel along with the Kinahan, the Dutch-Moroccan Mocro Mafia led by Ridouan Taghi, and the Balkan-based Tito and Dino cartel.

After his extradition to Italy he was arrested in his prison cell following a massive anti-mafia operation that led to the seizure of more than four tonnes of cocaine worth more than 800 million.

The drug kingpin was just one of 36 arrested after 300 police officers carried out coordinated raids as part of a Europol operation against a highly professional criminal syndicate linked to the Ndrangheta crime organisation based in Italy.

The Italian Financial Corps (Guardia di Finanza) dismantled the criminal network which relied on corrupt workers in the port of Gioia Tauro to smuggle hundreds of millions of euros worth of cocaine into Europe.

Property searches were also carried out in the provinces of Reggio Calabria, Vibo Valentia, Bari, Naples, Rome, Terni, Vicenza, Milan and Novara that resulted in dozens of arrests and the seizure of 7 million worth of criminal assets.

The arrests follow a complex investigation that identified a corrupt customs officer who allegedly altered the outcome of an x-ray scan performed on a container containing 300 kilos of cocaine. He is believed to have received a sum equivalent to 3 % of the value of the illicit cargo in return.

Italian investigators were also able to identify members of the Ndrangheta, who would arrange for the cocaine to be shipped from South America.

Their investigation also led them to field coordinators, who would recruit and manage the corrupted dockers, paying them a commission varying between 7 to 20% of the value of the illegal cargo.

Complicit port operators who would arrange for the contaminated containers to not be intercepted as they were being smuggled into the port of Gioia Tauro were also arrested.

Europol had developed reliable and crucial intelligence concerning the activities of the criminal network and had been working closely with Italian investigators to bring down the whole network.

The Head of the European Serious and Organised Crime Centre at Europol, Jari Liukku, said the investigation revealed how the Ndrangheta is using corruption to enable its criminal activity and undermine law enforcements efforts.

Europol sees the use of corruption, in the private or the public sector, as a major enabler of organised crime, Liukku, said.

In this particular investigation we are very pleased to have joined forces with the Italian Guardia di Finanza to support them in fighting large-scale drug trafficking as well as corruption at an EU entry point. In this regard this investigation sets an example.

Ranked number two on Italys most wanted fugitive list, Imperiale was arrested last August as he basked with his family by a swimming pool at his luxury villa.

Imperiale later tried to claim his extradition from Dubai to Italy was a kidnapping and in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

But an Italian court said there was no grounds to bring a direct appeal to the Supreme Court.

He is now expected to remain behind bars until his trial on organised crime offences.
"1x king, 1x crown, no Pope in our town James Nesbitt was written on a wall in Portrush accompanied by a painting of a crosshair.

Actor James Nesbitt at Ireland's Future conference at the 3Arena in Dublin. Picture date: Saturday October 1, 2022.   PA

James Nesbitt revealed he is saddened by the graffiti targeting him in Portrush, Co. Antrim.

The actor was the subject of graffiti that police are treating as a hate crime this week.

"1x king, 1x crown, no Pope in our town James Nesbitt was written on a wall in Portrush accompanied by a painting of a crosshair.

"It really saddens me because I am just really sorry this has been brought to Portrush; brought to my neighbours; brought to the community I love, the Bloodlands actor told BBC Radio Ulsters Talkback programme.

He said he was unnerved by the graffiti.

Nesbitt recently took part in the Irelands Future conference in Dublin discussing the prospect of a united Ireland.

He has now said people have misunderstood his intentions.

"In a democracy people are entitled to engage in a public conversation about the future and that is all I was intending to do when I took part in the debate," he said on BBC Radio Ulster.

"I certainly don't promote any solution and I don't support any outcome."

Nesbitt said he is a "proud Protestant from the north of Ireland.

"I have never shied away from my Protestant culture but it doesn't define me.

"If there is going to be change in the relationship between the north and the south and the rest of the British Isles, then I was hoping to put forward the point that people from my tradition feel that their identity is in no way threatened and they have an equal voice."

DUP politician Gregory Campbell told BBC News that Jimmy Nesbitt is a local lad who has invested in his own community.

"Those painting threatening graffiti such as this should stop.

Arlene Foster said even though [she] fundamentally disagree[s] with Nesbitt: Former Northern Ireland First Minister Dame Arlene Foster said: "I totally condemn this attack.
I think there is an element of the moral police coming out there

Department of Health officials have been accused of hypocrisy after new rules regarding smoking in public places were revealed.

In a statement, the Department of Health said its Tobacco Free Ireland programme aims to promote tobacco-free environments in parks, beaches and childrens playgrounds.

It said it aims to so by encouraging local authorities to introduce byelaws and voluntary measures.

But former minister of state for disabilities Finian McGrath said the Department of Health should be focused on the real problems in the health service.

I just find it very, very strange considering we have huge problems with our health services, he told Newstalk Breakfast this morning,

A&Es, trollies, people on waiting lists, CF children waiting for months for drugs while department and drugs companies bicker over the prices  and their big idea this morning is to go after smokers.

Again, soft targets. In outdoor spaces, on beaches and public parks.

I just think there is an element of picking on a soft target, an element of the nanny state and I also think that it is not particularly very persuasive as part of a major health strategy.

Mr McGrath said all smokers recognise that the habit is not good for your health; however, if you want to help them quit, you have to work with them, not against them.

The whole health thinking and the message behind the whole plan, I feel, is an overreaction by the department in relation to open spaces, he said.

The way forward, if you are serious about persuading people, every single smoker in the country - and as you know I am one myself - every single day we try and give up. It is an addiction. So, the way forward is education and persuasion and all of that strategy.

Open spaces are out in the fresh air. Most smokers totally respect non-smokers and that is why designated areas in pubs and spaces like that should be allowed because youre not harming anyone else.

I think there is an element of the moral police coming out there. There is a lot of hypocrisy from Department of Health officials and also from broader society.

Driving smokers underground and marginalising them never ever works.

A survey carried out last year found smoking rates increased from 17pc in 2019 to 18pc last year. Prevalence is highest among 45 to 54-year-olds  24pc of whom smoke.

Roughly half of smokers reported changes in smoking behaviour during the Covid-19 restrictions, with 28pc saying they smoked more cigarettes than before the pandemic.

The latest update shows 60pc of the clubs involved in the GAAs Healthy Clubs initiative  which aims to provide hubs for health within communities  had a smoke-free and vape-free policy.

It also found a number of initiatives introducing tobacco-free environments in areas frequented by children have been established by local authorities.

In 2020 in Limerick 42 outdoor locations where children and young people are likely to be were displaying Not Around Us signage. These include school gates, community playgrounds and leisure facilities.

In Offaly, all council-maintained playgrounds are tobacco-free zones and it is planned to extend this to parks and amenity areas.

Last year 56 complaints were made to environmental health officers about breaches of tobacco control and six convictions were secured for people lighting up where they should not, as well as over the sale of cigarettes to children.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, who launched the report with junior minister Frank Feighan, said: Stopping smoking remains one of the best decisions a person can make for their health and the HSE Quit service is available to anyone who needs support to take that first step.

He said the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill will bring us closer to the goal of a tobacco-free Ireland and I am committed to its introduction.

The bill will ban the sale of tobacco products at places or events intended for children and will prohibit the sale of tobacco products from self-service vending machines and temporary premises. We will also prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18.

It is important that we use all the tools  legislative, educational and enforcement  to protect people from the harms of tobacco.
Arlington County Police Department believe the driver likely experienced a medical emergency prior to the crash

A driver who crashed into an Irish bar in Arlington during the summer that left 15 people injured will not face criminal charges, it has emerged.

Nine people were hospitalised and six others were treated at the scene of the incident on August 12 when a car smashed into the Irelands Four Courts Bar and Restaurant and burst into flames.

But in an update posted online on Wednesday, Arlington County Police Department said that while the investigation remains active, they believe the driver likely experienced a medical emergency prior to the crash.

They added that all patients have been released from the hospital.

The decision to not pursue criminal charges came after consultation with the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney.

The driver was working for a ride-hailing service at the time of the crash and travelling with a passenger.

The restaurant remains closed.

The aftermath of the dramatic crash was captured on video that showed patrons fleeing the bar after the car ploughed into the building and went on fire.

Footage showed smoke pouring from the structure as a large group of people ran from away from the blaze. Firefighters then arrive and rush inside shortly before flames can be seen shooting out of the front of the building.

Two people can be seen carrying a woman away from the burning premises before placing her on the ground under a tree near the end of the block where a firefighter arrives to help.

Initially, police said four people had been taken to the hospital from the scene in critical condition. In all, 15 people were injured, including nine who were brought to local hospitals.

It had previously reported that the quick actions of customers and first responders to treat the injured and move them away from the growing inferno had likely saved lives.

Investigators believe an Uber driver was behind the wheel of the vehicle.

However, Arlington County Police Department said detectives did not believe the crash was an intentional act and alcohol has been ruled out as a contributing factor.

The Arlington County Police Department continues to investigate the cause of Fridays crash, the police department said at the time.

Based on the preliminary investigation, detectives do not believe the crash was an intentional act and alcohol has been ruled out as a contributing factor. The driver of the vehicle is cooperating with the ongoing investigation.

Dave Cahill, one of the restaurants managing partners, told FOX 5 that he is still trying to process what happened.

"The people that were injured yesterday are regular customers, and they've been with us to celebrate so many happy occasions. Our mind right now is with them and their families," Cahill said.

Police and firefighters arrived on the scene as employees and customers were still trying to flee the pub.

Photos and a TikTok video show police officers running into Four Courts as smoke billowed out. In frantic police radio transmissions, first arriving officers requested a lot of ambulances and reported a lot of people still inside the restaurant as fire spread.

Its an image Ill never forget, said Cahill.

Quick-thinking customers risked their own safety to save injured customers, the driver, and at least one passenger of the car, who was also hurt.

Photos taken as fire started to engulf the car and the pub show several people carrying one man  who can be seen in a photo taken seconds earlier slumped over in front of the car  to safety outside.

Undoubtedly, the decisive actions of the arriving officers to run directly into the building and remove patrons saved lives, said Police Chief Andy Penn. During a developing emergency incident where seconds count, the men and women of the Arlington County Police Department exemplified their professionalism and unwavering commitment to providing the highest level of police services and I couldnt be prouder of their response.

He added: The coordinated and collaborative response with the Arlington County Fire Department and our mutual aid partners demonstrates the operational readiness of first responders to act quickly during critical incidents to save lives.

"In tragic events such as these, we see the very best of our community. In addition to first responders, I commend the many witnesses and bystanders who sprang into action to assist those in need.

The community rallied around the restaurant and started a GoFundMe page to help pay for repairs.
Just two days after being appointed as the first overall commander for the war Surovikin ordered a flurry of rocket attacks against civilian targets

Sergei Surovikin has spoken about the pressure Russian troops have come under. Photo: Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via Reuters   via REUTERS

On the same day that an explosion ripped through Crimeas Kerch Strait Bridge Russian President Vladmir Putin abruptly announced that General Sergey Surovikin would be taking over as unified commander for the Ukraine conflict.

In the wake of the blast on the sole bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with Russia, which proved an embarrassing blow to the Kremlin, Surovikin, renowned for his merciless manoeuvres, stepped into the ring.

Known as General Armageddon Surovikin admitted his army was under pressure from Ukraine's fierce forces and prepared to use the tactics that have gained him such notoriety

Just two days after being appointed as the first overall commander for the war in Ukraine, Surovikin ordered a flurry of rocket attacks against civilian targets, which included a major road junction next to a university and a childrens playground in a park.

Described as absolutely ruthless, with little regard for human life, Surovikin told an assembled crowd of elite army personnel at a ceremony in Moscow back in 2017 how, when performing combat missions in Syria, not for a minute did we forget that we were defending Russia.

This involved dozens of air and ground attacks on civilian objects and infrastructure, according to a 2020 Human Rights Watch report, which said Russian forces under his command struck Syrian homes, schools, healthcare facilities, and markets  the places where people live, work, and study.

Putin has put a new man in charge

I am not surprised to see what happened this morning in Kyiv. Surovikin is absolutely ruthless, with little regard for human life, a former defence ministry official, who has worked with Surovikin, told the Guardian.

I am afraid his hands will be completely covered in Ukrainian blood.

In 1991, Surovikin first made his name when he led a rifle division that drove through barricades erected by pro-democracy protesters during a coup detat attempt launched by Soviet hardliners.

Three men were killed in the clash, including one who was crushed.

His ruthless reputation had grown to such an extent by 2004 that Russian media reported that a colonel serving under him had killed himself after he received a heated reprimand from Surovikin.

His colleagues have since given him the grim nickname General Armageddon for his hardline and unorthodox approach to waging war.

Gleb Irisov, a former air force lieutenant who worked with Surovikin up to 2020, said the new general was one of the few people in the army who knew how to oversee and streamline different army branches.

He is very cruel but also a competent commander, Irisov said. But he wont be able to solve all the problems. Russia is short on weapons and manpower.

Charles Lister, who is director of the Syria program at the US-based Middle East Institute followed Surovikins earlier command of Russian forces in Syria.

For Ukraine, Id worry a lot about Surovikins absolutely unforgiving attitude to the enemy -- seen as combatants and civilians alike -- and his laser-like focus on achieving military progress no matter the cost or risk, he said

Ultimately, civilians are likely to suffer the most, particularly as Ukraine looks set only to continue its effective and heroic fight for its territory, Lister added.

Sergei Surovikin has spoken about the pressure Russian troops have come under. Photo: Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via Reuters   via REUTERS

It is doubtful whether he can change the underlying dynamic of the war, as Ukraine fields increasingly well-trained troops and advanced weapons, Mark Galeotti, a longtime expert on Russias security forces, wrote in a column for The Spectator.

Nonetheless, he will presumably be expected to try and that is likely to mean many more air raid sirens in towns and cities across Ukraine.

Russias intervention in Syria was also marked by the increasing involvement of private mercenary companies, in particular Vagner, owned by a St Petersburg businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, with close ties to the Kremlin.

In February 2018, a group of Vagner mercenaries and Syrian allies attacked a base where Kurdish forces and US advisers were housed, prompting a massive American air strike that killed a couple hundred Russians.

The Kremlin awarded Surovikin the Hero of Russia medal  the countrys highest military honor  for his Syrian command. In August 2021, he was promoted to full general.

Four months after the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Surovikin commanded the southern group of Russian forces that was later responsible for a grinding assault on the Luhansk region city of Syevyerodonetsk, which fell to Russian forces on June 25.

Surovikins promotion was met with plaudits from bloggers and commentators, who had been calling for a harsher approach to the Ukraine fight. That included Prigozhin, who called him the most competent commander in the Russian Army.

After receiving orders, Prigozhin said in a statement released by his company, Surovikin got in his tank without hesitation and rushed to save his country.

Two days later, Russia pummeled Ukraine with missiles.
Nicola Tallant is renowned for her Crime World podcast is set to delve into the world of fictionalised crime as she presents the Dingle Whiskey Movie Club.

While watching Hollywood blockbusters about American mobsters, it can often seem like their stories are worlds away. But Crime Worlds Nicola Tallant knows that what happens on the big screen isnt all too far away from our own front door.

Nevertheless, despite the real horrors of organised crime, the glitz and glamour of Hollywood gangster movies remain popular among film lovers.

Henry Hill, Frank Lefty Rosenthal, and James Whitey Bulger are just some real-life gangsters whose stories have been immortalised by Tinseltown. Throughout the years, A-list stars such as Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro have brought characters, both real and inspired by the criminal underworld, to life.

By re-enacting epic gun fights, smoking massive cigars and sipping whiskey on the rocks, Hollywood has ensured that the often true and unbelievable stories of mob bosses and their glamorous molls remain part of popular culture.

Nicola Tallant wants to take you beyond the usual gritty headlines on her podcast Crime World as she and a host of guests review some of the most popular gangster films of our time.

Emma Doran poses as Pulp Fiction's Mia Wallace

The Dingle Whiskey Movie Club will give listeners a front-row seat as the organised crime expert dissects everything from the family ties in The Godfather, the life and times of the real Donnie Brasco and the seedy underworld of drugs in Goodfellas.

These films have iconic characters, soundtracks and storylines, many of which mirror real life, so we will have lots to talk about, Nicola says.

It seems like half the country is in a book club, so I reckon we crime fans can do with our own movie club. So the Dingle Whiskey Movie Club has been born as part of Crime World, she explained.

Subjects covered by the true-crime podcast ranked number one in Ireland, range from gangland feuds and drug busts to the life and crimes of serial killers. The movie club will be the first time the podcast ventures away from its hard-hitting crime coverage to delve into the world of movies while also inviting listeners to participate.

As much as people love to hear the latest gangland news, who doesnt love a good gangster movie?

As the days get colder and the evenings darker, it seems like a great idea to revisit some of these classics, Nicola continued.

Nicola explains that the idea for the movie club came to her as a plan to bring the entire Crime World audience together.

The Crime World audience is very varied, she explained.

They are of all ages and come from all over the country and abroad. They have different careers, backgrounds and stories. So I thought one way to unite everyone is through the power of the movies.

For this season, we are picking 10 of the best and will let the listeners vote on a few categories.

Daragh Keany and Enda Bolger recreate an iconic scene from The Godfather

Well review the movies with some special guests and hopefully have some fun doing that.

Comedians Emma Doran and Peter McGann, presenter Fionnuala Jay, podcasters The Two Norries, and a host of Sunday World favourites will join Nicola across five very special episodes.

Fans can also get involved and have their say as they vote on their favourite films, characters, scenes, and lines.

I, for one, am looking forward to curling up on the couch with a fire and a little nip  and watching our chosen classics, Nicola added.

I encourage our listeners to do the same, watch along, listen along, and get involved as we revisit these quintessential movies together.

Daragh Keany, Peter McGann, Enda Bolger and Niall Donald pose as Goodfellas.

But thats not all; on December 1 Crime World is throwing a party fit for a Mafioso to crown the best gangster film, according to listeners.

Gathering at The Sugar Club in Dublin, a Dingle Whiskey cocktail will greet guests before they are treated to an evening with Nicola Tallant to discuss the real-life stories behind the glamorous movie sets. Lucky listeners will be in with a chance to win two VIP tickets for the event, which includes food, drinks and an intimate live recording of Crime World.

I cant wait to meet some of our lucky listeners at the show, Nicola said. This will be the first time I will get to meet with fans of the show and chat all things mobs and molls.

To be in with a chance of winning, share with us your opinions on your favourite gangster films. You canlisten to the upcoming episodes of Crime World on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Contemporary Classics owner Grant Furniss says Taurangas CBD retail is doomed without adequate crime control and parking, following thousands of dollars worth of damage and the theft of sculptures from his Devonport Rd store.

Our time is limited because of a planned rebuild on our site. The crime and parking issues associated with Tauranga City doesnt make it easy for retail. Tauranga needs to look after itself better than it is.

On August 3, the owner of a Mercedes Benz, with the last four digits of the numberplate J338, stole a statue from Contemporary Classics worth $3000.

We cant access the city surveillance cameras unless we are the Police, and the Police are not prepared to do any more than if they come across that Mercedes Benz, they will talk to the driver, says Grant.

Last weekend he was threatened. Before 10am on a Sunday in September, three drunk young men stumbled into my store with one of them falling over a table then abusing me with their ignorance of why a price is what it is, says Grant.

Explaining that the value is due to multiple factors seemed to give them even more reason to be aggro. They left only to return 10 minutes later and while passing, the drunkest one pushed over a hand-created aluminum sculpture breaking the hand off. Its value is $5000.

Grant says other people witnessed the verbal abuse that followed when he told the drunk he was calling Police.

He threatened me if I did such a thing and look out in not such nice words, says Grant. They moved down the street where they continued to drink beer and 30 minutes later drove off.

I had dialed 111 and spoke to the Police, which resulted in no show by them and just a report acknowledgement by email. There was a survey at the end of the conversation with the Police, which had three options. The third option once pressed said: Sorry that wasnt an option.

With the damaged sculpture Police say they dont have enough evidence even with the cars number plate.

Grant says in future relying on Police will not be his only option; hell have his own cameras evidence.

I will confront the people myself.

Grant opened his first store in Devonport Rd in 1978, followed by two sites further up the street.

I ended up moving in the 1980s because of lack of access for customers due to parking rules and meter maids.

He relocated to Mount Manganui and saw Greerton as another preferred retail space giving customers access without stress.

We have had a store at Central Parade in Mount Maunganui for seven years, which has had some issues but nothing compared to Tauranga. Our store in Cambridge has never had a problem and neither has our store in Gold Coast Australia in the five years of being there.

Grant says it would be a brave or silly move to start in Tauranga without the rent being stupidly cheap.

He says the cheap rent offered in Devonport Rd and angled carparks outside is why he opened up a store back in the city centre again, its limited lease of two years making room for offices to be built, and nine months left to run.

Thats the only reason I was prepared to give it a go as I changed from 260m Totara St to 850m Devonport Rd for the same price.

Police say that enquiries are ongoing in relation to the theft of the sculpture on October 15. At this time, there is insufficient evidence to progress two further incidents, reported in August. Police have engaged with the store owner and provided crime prevention advice, says a police spokesperson.
You might not think so given a spate of recent headlines about ramraiders, smash-and-grabbers and other kinds of young criminals, but the youth justice system in New Zealand actually works pretty well.

Thats the verdict of experts canvassed by Stuff following the announcement by police on Thursday that there had been mass arrests of young people in Waikato and Auckland for a recent swathe of violent crime.

However, there are some aspects of the system that are not particularly effective  mainly the speed at which young offenders are processed in the Youth Court  and Covid and the influence of social media have thrown a few unwelcome spanners into the works.

An apparent increase in ramraids in particular has trained the public spotlight on recidivist offenders, and has raised questions over whether the youth justice process has any power as a deterrent for future offenders.

Robbers armed with hammers and an axe targeted a jewellery shop at The Base Hamilton in front of shoppers. (This video was first published on September 25, 2022 on Stuff.co.nz)

A secondary concern is the lack of visibility of what happens in the Youth Court.

One of the main tenets of the adult criminal courts in New Zealand is that justice must be seen to be done. Offenders have to work hard to justify why their identities should be suppressed on either an interim or permanent basis.

However, a veil surrounds the Youth Court, where the names of offenders are automatically permanently suppressed by law and the media must get the express permission of the judge before covering.

I think New Zealand has it right, Lisa Tompson, a senior lecturer at Te Puna Haumaru, the New Zealand Institute for Security and Crime Science based at Waikato University, and whose area of expertise is crime prevention.

Michael Hill Jeweller in Takapuna following their fourth smash and grab attack in recent months. Photo: Chris McKeen/Stuff.

There is a growing body of evidence that stigmatising people with the criminal label may do more harm than good. If we consistently tell someone You are a criminal, you are a criminal, you are a criminal then eventually they accept that view. Some even come to see it as a badge of honour.

In some cultures around the world, such as Japan, an approach of naming and shaming was a very effective deterrent. However, in western societies including New Zealand it was far less effective and could backfire.

Although she did not have access to figures on the current rates of reoffending among young criminals, Tompson was well-versed in an area known as deterrence theory.

There were two main kinds of youth offenders, she says. One was the adolescent opportunists whose brains were not fully developed  and these are the people who should be given a chance.

Lisa Tompson, a senior lecturer at Te Puna Haumaru, the New Zealand Institute for Security and Crime Science based at Waikato University, says the naming and shaming approach to youth crime is not effective in New Zealand. Photo: Supplied/Stuff.

The other was what she termed life-persistent offenders  the hard core who took part in more and more serious offending.

Ramraids, which were a much more purposeful crime generally fitted into that category of offender.

There were three main elements to deterrence theory: Severity, celerity and certainty.

There was no evidence to suggest that the severity of punishments had any influence on stopping ongoing offending, says Tompson. A good illustration of that was the US states that enforced the death penalty for homicide all had higher homicide rates.

Celerity referred to the swiftness with which justice was meted. If the courts took too long to deal with young offenders then those youngsters did not associate their eventual punishment with the crime they had committed.

If it takes too long, then it isnt reinforced as a negative consequence of their actions ... Its like if you tell a dog to sit and then give it a treat. If you tell the dog to sit and then give it a treat half an hour later, it does not associate getting the treat with the act of sitting.

Certainty related to the perception they might get caught.

Clinical psychology senior lecturer Armon Tamatea. Photo: Supplied/Stuff.

Most people contemplating a crime do not commit the crime if they think there is a realistic chance they might get caught ... Thats one of the things we need to work on.

Armon Tamatea, another Waikato University senior lecturer working in the field of clinical psychology, says since 2007 there had been an uninterrupted decline in the number of youths being sentenced in the courts and going to prison.

Ramraids and smash-and-grabs are not new ... The recent narrative has blamed young people for these issues, but theres much more to it than that. To solve the problem you need to look at how these young people came to be that way.

Youth justice is a set of complex issues and requires more than just systems to solve. The issues [for young offenders] often start in communities and multiple generations ago. It requires an almost ecological change.

One of the more recent factors was the Covid pandemic, which had led to youngsters schooling  and therefore their connections to their peer groups and adult role models  being disrupted or severed.

Another factor was the influence of social media, particularly TikTok.

Young people care greatly about what their peers think of them.

The behaviour of young people was  and always has been  either tacitly or actively encouraged to be copied or emulated, he says.

Its like people who do the dances. They copy the dance and then post it up. This risky behaviour  the smash-and-grabs  is no different. Everyone wants to impress everyone else.

Connected to this was cellphone and security camera footage of crimes, which for youth offenders could provide the same kind of thrilling evidence of their endeavours.

Security cameras record the crimes, but they dont really act as a deterrent  even though thats part of their purpose.

Its a real paradox.

- Mike Mather/Stuff.
Taurangas Latin dance community is gearing up to host the countrys top teachers and hundreds of enthusiastic students this coming Labour weekend.

The Bay Salsa Festival on October 21-23  which has been running since 2007  is one of the highlights on the New Zealand dance calendar.

We were forced to cancel due to Covid-19 last year, says head of the organising committee, Karen Saunders.

We have a really active Latin dance community here in Tauranga with a lot of styles to choose from, so were excited to be welcoming back our friends from other centres.

At least 40 Latin dance experts will join local teachers to run an intense two days and three nights of workshops, parties and a performance showcase thats open to the public.

Even non-dancers will enjoy the dance show on Saturday night, says Karen. It really is spectacular. People who want to try Latin dance for the first time are also welcome along to beginners classes  and those who are already on their dance journey will upskill in the more advanced classes.

The event is run by volunteers to ensure any proceeds from the festival are put towards supporting Kiwi dancers on the world stage.

We provide a grant that anyone in New Zealand can apply for, says Karen. They must be travelling overseas to either compete or perform.

Weve helped many teams and individuals over the years attend events such as the World Salsa Champs and even the Hip Hop Worlds when we assisted one of the Urban Dance teams with travel costs to get to Germany.

Karen and her former festival co-organiser, Dean Christie, won an award in 2019 for their contribution to New Zealands Latin dance scene through the festival. The organisers dont do it for personal gain, says Karen. We do it to give back to the community.

The general public is welcome to the dance showcase on Saturday, October 22 from 7pm at Otumoetai College Performing Arts Centre. Tickets are $20 each from: https://www.baysalsa.co.nz/product/shake-it-showcase/
The Western Bay of Plenty District Councils Generation Change campaign aimed at attracting more diversity to the council table has resulted in less diversity than the previous triennium.

The campaign cost ratepayers just over $94,000 and while there are some younger members on council, there is less ethnic diversity.

New mayor James Denyer is 46 years old, 30 years the junior of his predecessor Garry Webber and the gender balance of three females and nine males has remained the same.

The council chief executive officer John Holyoake told Local Democracy Reporting the council saw Generation Change He panoni a reanga as being much bigger than elections

[The campaign] has been our vehicle to everyone, from all walks of life, to show their passion for the district by helping influence more positive change for our community  whether standing for council, encouraging someone to, or voting.

When asked if he thought the council had achieved its goal through the campaign he replied: Change doesnt happen overnight.

We have connected with a diverse range of people from our communities, with different lived experiences, and that has been fantastic.

A total of 59 candidates put their hat in the ring to represent the Western Bay, thats a real win for community representation across our district, says Holyoake.

This years nominations include the broadest range of candidates that weve seen in a very long time.

Theres people from different generations, various walks of life, and theres no doubt they each possess different skills and have unique lived experience.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council CEO John Holyoake. Photo: Supplied.

An example of this is the mayoralty race in 2022 compared to 2019.

In 2022 there were eight candidates, seven male, one female, with three of those Maori. In 2019 just three people stood for mayor, two of which were male and one female.

Holyoake says council will continue to push the boundaries.

The Generation Change campaign  is our ongoing vehicle to raise the profile of the important role council plays alongside the community in shaping our district for future generations.

Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) president Stuart Crosby says the WBOPDC successfully  created a platform for candidates and [the] community to engage.

But he says it is always a moot point because there are two camps with one thinking it was a councils role to independently, without bias market the election and create a platform for candidates.

There's another line of thought that they [councils] should stay right out of it, says Crosby.

LGNZ is the national advocacy body that represents local government elected members.

Voter turnout

Like the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, LGNZ in conjunction with Taituara  Local Government Professionals Aotearoa ran a Vote 2022 campaign.

It had a similar goal to Generation Change, to attract more candidates to stand for council and increase voter participation.

In terms of attracting candidates, Crosby says: It [the campaign] didnt get off to a robust start initially, but it gathered momentum, and we had a good range of candidates across New Zealand.

With voter turnout, Crosby says the campaign didn't hit the targets we were hoping for.

We need to own that and be honest about it. No, we didn't get the turnout that we were trying to seek.

He says the target was to improve on the 2019 elections national voter turnout of 42 per cent. The 2022 voter turnout was 40.44 per cent, according to the LGNZ website.

Crosby says there are a range of reasons for low voter turnout, including disconnection between communities and council, postal voting and information about candidates.

Currently, the information booklet sent out with voting papers allows candidates 150 words to introduce themselves.

Local Government New Zealand president Stuart Crosby. Photo: Supplied.

LGNZ has informally asked the Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta to review how elections can be delivered more consistently and impactfully, says Crosby.

LGNZ has asked for a piece of research to be done to get a clear understanding what the issues are.

Its critical that people feel as if they can exercise their democratic right, which was hard fought for, and help shape their communities through their elected members as they move forward.

Locally, the WBOPDCs voter turnout was 37.6 per cent down from 39.1 per cent in 2019 and 38.4 per cent in 2016.

Prior to the election, Holyoake told Local Democracy Reporting the council would be disappointed if they didnt achieve higher turnout than the 2019 election

When asked what he thought of the result, Holyoake replied: Weve done all we can in this years elections, through our Generation Change campaign, to increase voter participation and attract a more diverse range of candidates and voters.

Were proud knowing that weve done as much as we could, and beyond that its out of our control.

Regarding what changes were needed to improve voter turnout, Holyoake says it was time for a serious look at the current system.

With the digital age and decline in post shops now is the time to connect with communities in the ways they interact in everyday life.

Whatever the eventual solution, or range of solutions may look like - its about making it easy and accessible.

Broken down figures provided by WBOPDC show the Generation change campaign spend (as of 19 October) was advertising $57,743, debates $29,688 and poll parties $6796 (including GST).

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
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In a nutshell: YouTube Premium for families is getting a price hike that'll bring the service more in line with its moniker. The YouTube Premium family plan now commands $22.99 per month for new subscribers, up from the previous $17.99 rate. A subscription offers an ad-free YouTube and YouTube Music experience for the primary account holder and up to five additional family members in the same household.

The perk additionally enables downloads for offline viewing and listening as well as background playback so you can use it while interacting with other apps or when your screen is locked.

YouTube spokesperson Marni Greenberg told The Verge that they don't make these decisions lightly, and realize how hard it may be for members. That said, Greenberg added that the new price reflects the complete value of YouTube Premium and will allow them to develop additional features and continue to support the creators and artists that members watch and listen to.

Greenberg added that the price adjustment will impact users in the US, Canada, Japan, Great Britain, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey and Argentina.

Notably, the cost of an individual YouTube Premium plan remains unchanged at $11.99 per month and still represents a decent value for heavy YouTube users averse to ads.

To show its appreciation for user loyalty, YouTube is allowing some longstanding Premium subscribers to keep their current rate for a few more months. Select members won't see the price hike hit their bill until April 2023. As always, members have the flexibility to pause or cancel their membership at any time.

Google has published a support page where members can share feedback about the updated pricing. Amusingly enough, a note on the page indicates they are experiencing high contact volumes and to expect longer than normal wait times. Furthermore, users won't receive individual responses to their messages but Google ensures it monitors all feedback and opinions will be heard.

YouTube recently conducted a controversial experiment that limited playback of 4K video to Premium subscribers. It presumably didn't go over well as the video sharing platform ended it earlier this week.

Image credit: Adam Fejes
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is reportedly looking to expand its market to its Japanese neighbor. As the United States continues to impose a chip supply curtailment against China, many semiconductor manufacturers, including TSMC, have indicated a willingness to shift production away from China-influenced areas.

Avoiding Geopolitical Risks

This information was first made public by a recent Wall Street Journal report stating that the move is TSMC's attempt to reduce geopolitical risk. Furthermore, the Japanese government has indicated that it would like TSMC to expand in the country beyond a factory that is already under construction, according to the report.

In addition, the budget includes billions in subsidies for domestic advanced chip production. According to the Japanese trade department, it will contribute up to $3.2 billion, or up to half of the total cost of building the TSMC factory.

According to the same source, Apple's chip supplier is constructing its first foundry in Japan, which the Japanese government is subsidizing. The Taiwanese company is said to be researching the viability of the proposed expansion.

In early September, the US government proposed and is currently implementing a new regulation that would restrict the sale of computer chips required for supercomputers and artificial intelligence to Russia and China.

Recently, the demand for semiconductors has decreased due to slower sales of smartphones and personal computers. In response to the slowing demand and rising costs, TSMC reduced its investment plans for this year.

Rising Tensions

Reuters report that new laws prohibit US chip companies from exporting chipmaking equipment to Chinese factories that manufacture advanced semiconductors using sub-14 nanometer processes unless the merchants obtain licenses from the US Commerce Department.

Read Also: Smartphone as At-Home Heart Monitor? Health Experts Now Assessing Device's Built-In Microphone

In the meantime, world leaders have expressed concern over Taiwan's ongoing independence from China. According to a CNBC report, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to Taiwan seemed to escalate tensions between the two big economies, and as a result, China's government began conducting military drills and stopped some imports from Taiwan.

US-China Chip Tensions and Global Supply Chains

China responded earlier this month to Washington's ongoing efforts to levy semiconductor supply to China, warning that such infractions could harm supply chains and the global economy. Chinese officials have criticized the United States' increased restrictions on its access to semiconductor technology.

These statements may be taking shape, as TSMC is said to have reduced its capital spending target for 2022 by approximately 10%. As a result of TSMC's response to slowing global chip demand, the semiconductor industry may be in for a rough patch.

On the contrary, despite these pressing concerns, Bloomberg reports that TSMC is continuing its westward expansion efforts. According to executives, they obtained a license from the US to continue operating and expanding their 16 and 28-nanometer lines in Nanjing, China. They joined companies such as SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. in obtaining limited exemptions from Washington's new chip restrictions.

Related Article: TSMC Is Top Pick by US Investment Bank After 5% Shares Upswing

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Tech archivist Jason Scott recently unveiled Discmaster, a brand-new website that enables anyone to look through 91.7 million old computer data that have been extracted from CD-ROM and floppy disc releases, as per Ars Technica's report.

If you're a child of the 90s or 80s, this website is perfect to have a blast from the past and revisit the memories of your childhood.

(Photo : YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP via Getty Images)

TOKYO, JAPAN: Visitors try to play music simulation video game "Drum Mania" at a preview of the new video game machine PlayStation2, equiped with 128-bit Emotion Engine CPU and to support CD-ROM/DVD-ROM disc devices, at Makuhari, suburban Tokyo, 18 February 2000.

Unique Glimpse

Discmaster offers a unique glimpse into a period of cultural history that is frequently hidden by problems with outdated technology and incompatible file formats.

The Internet Archive, where thousands of users have submitted data over the years, is where the files on Discmaster originate. The new website groups them all together under a search engine that allows users to conduct in-depth searches by a variety of criteria, including file type, size, date, format, and source.

Anonymous history-loving programmers created Discmaster and asked Scott to host it on their behalf. Discmaster, according to Scott, is "99.999 percent" the creation of that unidentified group, right down to the retro grey theme that works with web browsers on earlier devices.

And although Scott works for the Internet Archive, he told Ars Technica that Discmaster is "100 unaffiliated" with it.

One of Discmaster's features is that a sizable chunk of file format conversion has already been completed on the back end, making the old files easier to retrieve. For instance, you can search for and listen to old music files directly in your browser without any additional software.

Read Also: NASA Releases 80's-Themed Roman Space Telescope Video Game | Find Out How to Play!

Computer History Research Project

People are already using the service to find programs they misplaced in the 1990s, such as rare BBS files, bitmap typefaces, ZZT worlds, and old music software, according to the Discmaster's Twitter announcement thread.

"It is probably, to me, one of the most important computer history research project opportunities that we've had in 10 years," Scott said in a statement. "It's not done. They've analyzed 7,000 and some-odd CD-ROMs. And they're about to do another 8,000."

Not all data from Archive.org is integrated into Discmaster due to legal reasons, as noted by Interesting Engineering. The website specializes in archival media and shareware but some files might be missing or unavailable.

However, users can still access unreadable text files by clicking the link with its (.txt) extension.

Scott is well known for his radical digital archivist ways. According to Ars Technica, he has joined efforts in supporting GeoCities, made tons of MS-DOS games playable through a web browser, conserved Flash files, and many more.

He has been hosting BBS files and CD-ROM archives on his personal website, Textfiles.com, for about 20 years. But up until now, Discmaster was unable to perform the kind of precise searches that are now possible on those resources.

Related Article: Light One Brings a Modern Twist to 80s-Style Arcade Gaming

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Android 13 is coming to Windows 11 with Microsoft saying that it will arrive on PCs soon, along with the new features and apps of the latest smartphone operating system. The Windows Subsystem for Android's (WSA) GitHub update confirms the latest smartphone OS with its new features and apps coming to the computers for soon access.

Windows 11's Android integration is a massive move for Google and Microsoft, bringing the smartphone experience right to one's computer.

Microsoft: Android 13 is Coming to Windows 11 Soon

(Photo : Windows Blog)

9to5Google reported that Microsoft confirmed the arrival of Android 13 to its PC integration of the smartphone operating system, soon accessible for all. The continued support for Android only shows that Microsoft is not stopping with the availability of the system on its Windows 11, with the latest software version coming soon.

The Android 13 integration is not yet live, but it will soon be as users will get to access the new OS available on their computers along with its features and experience.

There are no signs of slowing down or stopping with its Windows integration for the Google smartphone and tablet OS, delivering everything it offers for PC users.

Read Also: Windows 11 2022 Update Slows Transfers by 40%-How to Speed It Up?

New Apps and Features Coming to Windows 11

Microsoft's GitHub update for its Windows Subsystem for Android, the one responsible for offering the Android OS for PCs, details the new apps and features coming to Windows 11. The update details the Android 13 features that are accessible for Windows 11, and Microsoft is continuing its support for the integration that will deliver Android for its users.

Windows and Android Integration

Before, users need to have different devices to get the most out of technology, and having them all is the only way to access multiple experiences for the releases from companies. However, the present trend aims to deliver everything under one device, with Windows 11 debuting the feature for all via the "Your Phone" software for PCs.

Microsoft's introduction of Windows 11 brought the world Android integration and it also included Windows 10 to run the smartphone link for all to experience.

The experience is like Apple's devices that link to each other with notifications and other features, but Microsoft turned it up a notch and included more features to experience via their release. Earlier this year, the software company added a new integration available for all, and it centers on allowing PC users to install APK directly to their Windows 11 devices.

Microsoft and Google are not stopping with their Windows and Android integration to allow PCs to access the OS, as it will also get the latest smartphone system with Android 13. It presents a feature where users can access dual OS, both Windows and Android available for the PC, with the experience soon available to the public.

Related Article: Microsoft Confirms Integration with Apple Music, Apple TV, and iCloud

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The Biden administration is looking into the prospect of new export limits that would restrict China's access to some of the most potent upcoming computing technologies, according to sources who spoke to Bloomberg.

The plans, according to the sources who want to remain anonymous since they are still in the planning stages, are mostly focused on quantum computing and artificial intelligence software.

If successful, the initiatives would follow other limitations made public earlier this month that were intended to limit Beijing's use of sophisticated semiconductors in weapons and surveillance systems.

Hindering China's Tech Capacity

The US has intensified efforts to hinder China's capacity to develop advanced technologies, which it views as essential in the struggle with its competition. The broad regulations unveiled earlier this month also restricted the participation of US citizens and residents in Chinese tech companies.

However, adding more restrictions around cutting-edge technologies runs the risk of further enraging China and compelling other nations to choose sides between the two largest economies in the world. Bloomberg's report claim that the new plans have been discussed with US allies.

One of the insiders said the Biden administration is working on an executive order for an outward investment review mechanism that would examine money going to certain Chinese technology and would include the controls for quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

Earlier this month, the top two manufacturers of chip-making tools in the world, ASML Holdings and Lam Research, were reportedly scrambling to comply with the most recent US trade sanctions against China by evacuating American engineers from their operations in the country.

The policy aims to address compliance issues brought on by new US regulation that limits the participation of US citizens in advanced semiconductor facilities in China.

According to a Wall Street Journal report that cited sources familiar with the matter, US engineers have also been withdrawn from supporting equipment installed with Chinese clients, including China's largest memory chip manufacturer Yangtze Memory Technologies Company.

These businesses include KLA Corp, which offers process control systems for the semiconductor industry, and Lam Research, a producer of equipment for wafer fabrication.

Read also: Europe is Working on a 'West-Friendly' Network of Supply Chains amid Taiwan Tensions, According to Analysts

China's Semiconductor Industry

The most recent restrictions are expected to harm China's semiconductor industry because engineers and executives with US passports or citizenship are heavily involved in the country's expanding chip sector.

The US has come under fire from China for tightening the controls on its access to semiconductor technology. Following weeks of strikes against China's semiconductor supply, the Biden administration slapped further export restrictions against the country on Oct. 7.

China is moving closer to its aim of being a world leader in artificial intelligence by 2030, according to research published by the Center for Security in Emerging Technology (CSET), due to semiconductors made by American companies.

Based on 97 publicly available documents of the Chinese military's procurement of AI processors, most of them were developed by American firms Nvidia, Xilinx (now AMD), Intel, or Microsemi, according to the research.

Related Article: Canada Share Plans of Investing in the Tech Sector After Tensions Between China and Taiwan Affected Production of Microchips

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A sinister new sound is emerging from the war in Ukraine, though it is not an explosion nor a jet flying overhead but the ominous whirr of a drone. People in Afghanistan and Nagorno-Karabakh have reported hearing this sinister new sound that causes them to flee for cover. On Monday, Oct. 17, that buzz made its way to the skies above Kyiv.

The Shahed-136 Drone Made by Iran

Russia has increased its use of Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones or so-called "suicide drones" in Ukraine, which are deployed in groups and utterly destroy themselves by diving at their targets, Wired reported.

Dozens of drones attacked Ukrainian cities, killing at least four people when they struck an apartment building in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. According to Ukrainian officials, drone and missile attacks have also destroyed 30% of the country's energy infrastructure in the last 10 days. Large portions of the country are now powerless.

Analysts think the Shahed-136s are pre-programmed with the position of their target before takeoff, rendering electronic warfare equipment like GPS jammers ineffective.

Related Article: Western Forces Will Send Air Defense Systems to Ukraine After a Nuclear Plant Blackout

Efforts of Ukraine to Counter Russia's Attack

Ukrainian efforts to intercept these drones have met with some success, but the government is still trying to figure out how to counter Russia's new tactic.

Destroying these drones is a difficult task. It is not easy to spot the Iran-made Shahed-136 drone due to its size. Ukrainian Air Force Spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Reuters that killing 100% of the drones is challenging.

Ukraine has begun using crowdsourcing to find techniques to identify drones at an early stage as a countermeasure.

The military has released an Android app called ePPO, which invites citizens to report sightings of cruise missiles or drones and disclose the direction in which they are heading. After the drones have been located, the Ukrainian military must devise an effective strategy for taking them down.

Experts' Suggestions

Marcel Plichtav, a former US Department of Defense analyst and Ph.D. candidate at St. Andrews University in Scotland, believes long-range missiles would be ideal for shooting down drones. However, these are far more costly than the drone itself, which is unsustainable.

If Ukraine concentrates all its defenses on Shahed-136s, the drones might be a decoy for further strikes. Plichtav said that missiles are more likely to reach their targets when air defense systems are distracted.

Wim Zwijnenburg, project head in humanitarian disarmament at PAX, a Dutch group that aims to prevent armed conflicts, believes drones should be stopped or sabotaged before takeoff. The European Union (EU) froze the assets of three Iranian generals and Shahed Aviation Industries on Thursday.

It Is a New Dark Phase in Ukraine War

For months, armed drones have been used in the conflict in Ukraine. Both sides have generally limited their use to the front lines, though Russia utilized Iranian drones to strike Odessa's port and city center.

This week's Russian attacks mark a new phase of drone warfare in Ukraine. Analysts argue Russia gains no strategic advantage by using drones to strike individuals and civilian infrastructure. German chancellor Olaf Scholz called the Russian strategy a "scorched earth" approach, aiming to destroy everything in its path.

Kira Rudik, a member of Ukraine's parliament, claimed Russia wants Ukrainians to have a "hard, dark, and cold winter."

Related Article: Russia Deploys Kamikaze Drones on Zaporizhzhia, Sparking Nuclear Explosion Fears

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Hundreds of thousands of employees at the world's biggest iPhone manufacturer Foxconn, located in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, are subject to Covid-19 limitations at the company. This comes at a difficult time as China has been struggling to deal with the return of the Covid virus in recent weeks, ZeroHedge reported.

The New Regulations

Foxconn's Zhengzhou campus is home to approximately 300,000 employees, all of whom are prohibited from eating in public and are required to bring their meals back to their dormitories for consumption. This is a notice on the factory's official WeChat account, quoted by South China Morning Post (SCMP).

According to SCMP, Foxconn's staff in Zhengzhou are only authorized to move along specified routes inside the campus. A "de facto lockdown" has been implemented, meaning several entrances have been blocked. In a separate notification, employees living off campus were instructed to relocate to one of the dorms on the premises.

Workers will get three free lunches a day, and the firm will subsidize transportation costs for those who work in the integrated Digital Product Business Group, the division directly responsible for Apple iPhone manufacture. These employees have also been promised a daily incentive of 50 (about $7.60) for continuing to show up to work punctually despite the new regulations.

Foxconn confirmed that the site continues to operate as usual in spite of the recently implemented Covid limitations. "Production in the Zhengzhou campus remains normal, without a notable impact [from the Covid-19] situation," the factory's spokesman stated.

The new restrictions are being implemented now that the demand for the newest iPhone seems to have worsened.

The Information recently revealed that Apple had decided to cease manufacturing iPhone 14 Plus components while its procurement team reevaluated demand for the device. This was announced less than two weeks after the device was first introduced.

Related Story: China's COVID-19 Cases Threaten iPhone Maker and 100 Businesses' Production

Implementation of Zero-Covid Policy

Even while it was an easy target for Xi Jinping to deflect criticism of the slowing economy at last month's 20th party Congress, China has not yet backed down on its long-standing policy of Zero-Covid. This week, authorities in the metropolitan region around the iPhone campus urged more than one million residents in the area to remain indoors.

SCMP reported that an increase in the number of people infected with Covid is compelling some businesses to adopt what are known as "closed loop" systems. In these systems, employees are required to reside on the company's premises and are restricted from having any physical contact with anyone outside of the company, including their families.

The implementation of Zero-Covid has slowed development in China - knowing that it is the world's second-largest economy - and disrupted supply networks throughout the globe.

The positive news is that as a result of the reverse bullwhip effect, retailers in the United States now have enormous stockpiles. Container lines have been forced to cut their sails since US importers have decreased their cargoes from Asia.

Read Also: China's iPhone Sales Drastically Increase After COVID-19 Lockdown Eases; Model Mostly Purchased and Other Details

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The eArrival Card system will soon replace the Philippines' One Health Pass, as confirmed by the Department of Health.

(Photo : Photo credit should read TED ALJIBE/AFP via Getty Images)

This photo taken on July 17, 2018 shows two Philippine Airlines planes taxiing past each other at Manila International Airport. (Photo by TED ALJIBE / AFP)

The health organization announced that it would make efforts to transition to the eArrival Card so that airline passengers will have easier and quicker processing once they arrive in the country.

The Philippines relied on the One Health Pass to make international travel more seamless during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This system helped passengers from their country of origin to their destinations in the country. But DOH wants to have a better processing tech.

eArrival Card to Replace Philippines' One Health Pass

According to Rappler's official report, DOH said that the Asian country would start requiring travelers to use the new eArrival Card as early as Nov. 1.

(Photo : Photo credit should read ROMEO GACAD/AFP via Getty Images)

A Philippine Airlines (PAL) Airbus 330 takes off from Manila for Davao City in the south 07 October resuming its flight operations two weeks after it closed under more than two billion USD worth of debt. The debt-ridden flag carrier is resuming domestic operations but plans.

Also Read: COVID-19 Mask Brand With Hole Selling in the Philippines Not Effective, Department of Health Says

"The Department of Tourism on Friday welcomed the national government's introduction of the eARRIVAL CARD as a means to provide a more convenient," said DOT via its official press release.

DOT Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said that the transition to eArrival Card is a part of the Philippine government's efforts to ease strict entry protocols.

She added that this could attract more travelers, allowing the country to boost its tourism industry.

Is eArrival Card Really Better?

The Department of Tourism said that the eArrival Card is better than the One Health App system. DOT added that it could remove unnecessary information fields.

Thanks to this, travelers can enjoy their journey even more since they will have faster and easier completion of registration processes.

The tourism department further explained that the eArrival Card could reduce tourism-related items from 20 to 10 fields only.

Among the items that will be removed are traveler occupation and educational attainment. If you want to learn more about the new eArrival Card system of the Philippines, you can visit this link.

Recently, a Chinese university revealed that around two million people in Hong Kong suffered from long COVID-19 infections.

Meanwhile, the new StarHub mobile health service has been launched.

For more news updates about the eArrival Card and other health topics, keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: The Philippines Allegedly Ignored Expert Advice Before Rolling Out Controversial Dengue Vaccine Program

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The UN deputy chief called for dismantling patriarchal norms that exclude women from power, putting forward more women mediators and negotiators and securing greater and more predictable financing for women peacebuilders at the frontline.

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Thursday, the international community should step up efforts to promote women's participation in conflict-prevention and peacebuilding.

The participation of women at all levels "has played a pivotal role in changing the way we approach peace and security over the last 20 years," Mohammed told a UN Security Council open debate on the theme of "Strengthening Women's Resilience and Leadership as a Path to Peace in Regions Plagued by Armed Groups."

"When we open the door to inclusion and participation, we take a giant step forward in conflict-prevention and peacebuilding," she said.

Despite decades of evidence that gender equality offers a path to sustainable peace and conflict prevention, "we are moving in the opposite direction," Mohammed said, noting that "progress has been slow."

Between 1995 and 2019, women constituted on average just 13 percent of negotiators, 6 percent of mediators and 6 percent of signatories in major peace processes, Mohammed said.

She pointed out that women's participation in peace processes and influence over decisions that affect their lives continue to lag far behind, creating a real barrier to inclusive, durable, and sustainable peace.

The UN deputy chief called for dismantling patriarchal norms that exclude women from power, putting forward more women mediators and negotiators as well as securing greater and more predictable financing for women peacebuilders at the frontline.

"We need full gender parity -- including through special quotas to accelerate the inclusion of women -- across election monitoring, security sector reform, disarmament, demobilization, and justice systems," she said.
Listen to the story of Charles Darwin, the scientist who made it possible to break with ancestral beliefs according to which God created all life, told by historian Virginie Girod, in an unpublished story in two episodes. In 1831, Charles Darwin, who had completed his studies in theology at the University of Cambridge, could be destined for a career as a pastor... But his real passion was naturalism, the study and classification of nature in all its diversity, animals, plants or minerals. In this episode of the "At the heart of History" podcast produced by Europe 1 Studio, Virginie Girod recounts the beginning of the life of Charles Darwin, born into a bourgeois family in the west of England and whose father, a doctor , hope he will follow in his footsteps. Nothing is less certain This story is a Europe 1 Studio production.
East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome holds up a Stormwater Utility Fee Frequently Asked Questions pamphlet during an announcement of the parish-wide stormwater utility fee that the city-parish administration hopes the Metro Council will approve in the coming weeks, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022 at the council chambers. Rick Speer, left, is Director of the city-parish Dept. of Environmental Services, and Fred Raiford, center, is city-parish Director of Transportation & Drainage.
St. Augustine Church, in 1978. Designed by J.N.B. dePouilly and built in 1841, it was the city's first racially integrated church, the city of New Orleans writes on its website. As John Pope writes for NOLA.com: "The residents of New Orleans' fledgling Treme neighborhood -- many of them free people of color -- wanted a place of their own in which to worship, petitioning Bishop Antoine Blanc to let them build a new Treme church. In 1841, he gave them his blessing to do so. Shortly before the church was completed, and with 'pew fees' a common practice at the time, many of the neighborhoods' free people of color began 'buying' pews for their families. Not to be outdone, white worshipers began purchasing pews for their families, too. The free people of color -- who also bought pews on side aisles for slaves -- eventually won what became known as 'the War of the Pews' by a three-to-one margin. The result: When St. Augustine Church was dedicated on Oct. 9, 1842, it became the country's most integrated congregation."
The Medibank cyberattack could prove costly for Australias largest private health insurer and its shareholders, as the company continues to reel from a breach described as more sophisticated than last months damaging hack of Optus.

Investment analysts say the hack is likely to hurt Medibank financially, but it is too early to tell if the breach will lead to significant brand damage for the company or claim management scalps.

We assume this will be costly for Medibank on multiple fronts, said Morningstar analyst Nathan Zaia in a research note on Friday.

Medibank has confirmed that the hackers have accessed sensitive customer data. Credit:Chris Hopkins

This could include the ramp-up in costs associated with hiring call-centre staff to deal with inbound calls, beefing up cybersecurity and the cost of Medibanks ongoing investigation. Lost growth momentum and potential litigation from customers who have had their sensitive medical histories leaked could also hit the company financially, he said.
Actor Rebel Wilson has spoken for the first time about being forced to reveal her relationship with girlfriend Ramona Agruma before they had told some people.

The Pitch Perfect star told The Australian that the couple were yet to inform some family members about their relationship before The Sydney Morning Herald columnist Andrew Hornery contacted Wilsons management with questions.

Rebel Wilson has spoken publicly about being forced to reveal her relationship with girlfriend Ramona Agruma. Credit:AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Hornerys email said he wanted to be transparent but had enough detail to publish the news after several sources confirmed the relationship. He gave the actor a deadline to respond.

Describing the June coverage as grubby, Wilson said she was forced into sharing the news in an Instagram post.
Melanie Allen says when her child is sick at daycare she misses out on work. Credit: I never factored in how much it would cost in daycare to have them both in. And then I was like, why? Why, when school is free? Why isnt daycare subsidised to the point that its free as well? What burns is paying for them not to be there, staying home, and not getting paid. So, say I make $250 in a day; I dont make that money, and then I also have to pay another $170. And then, knowing that might go through my second kid, and then also through me and then to my husband, because if one of us is sick, the other ones going to have to take off work so they can look after the kids. So its just a cycle, a vicious cycle. Weatherill says the early childhood education and care workforce is in crisis because of low pay, poor conditions and staff shortages as well as providers with ongoing overheads that they cant turn off when a child enrolled at their service is ill.

What all this adds up to is a system in need of complete reform. Providers need certainty, early childhood educators need proper pay and conditions, parents need financial support and children need access to the enormous benefits that arise from participation in high quality early learning. Georgie Dent, chief executive of The Parenthood, a campaign partner of Thrive by Five, says Australia needs to move to a system that is more affordable for families and closer to the school experience. This would mean its not a system where families are spending hundreds of dollars out of pocket on a day. And so it then would become less of an issue if your child was sick or not sick, she says. Shayne Kuyper with his two-year-old daughter, Poppy. Credit:Jason South Shayne Kuyper and his partner enrolled their two-year-old daughter, Poppy, in daycare when she was 13 months old. She had never been sick before daycare.

She hasnt had a single week without coming home with something since, Kuyper says. Shes had gastro seven times this year. They navigate Poppys sick days at their home in Melbourne by splitting the day in half. [My partner] will take her for the morning, and Ill take her for the afternoon. Which means that weve each missed half a day of work. Its painful that you still have to pay for these sick days. And youre allocated [52] days a year  beyond that, you lose your government subsidy. So, if we have more absent days, we pay the full rate. Its unavoidable; theyll get sick at daycare, but were punished for it. Nesha Hutchinson, vice-president of the Australian Childcare Alliance, says rostering staff for a position in a childcare centre means its impossible to avoid charging fees if a child is away sick.

If there are 10 children in the preschool room, or five in the toddlers room, we have to pay for that staff member whether or not the child turns up, Hutchinson says. Loading If two children are sick on a day, does the staff member get paid 80 per cent of their wages because the children are off? Thats important to consider, given that wages are the highest cost for a childcare centre. And we cant overbook like they do on planes, hotels or restaurants as its illegal. Hutchinson says educators get very sick, particularly in their first year in early education, contributing to a high staff turnover within the first year of employment. Emily Holmes, 25, is a childcare educator working in South East Melbourne. She says most of her fellow educators have used their sick leave entitlements.

We get sick quite a lot in general, but it is the same in every centre Ive ever worked at, she says. Federal Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly said the childcare subsidy will continue to be paid for 52 absences a year, after it was increased from 42 a year due to the pandemic. Supporting and growing the early childhood education and care workforce is critical to delivering our landmark cheaper childcare reforms  which is why we have a plan to deliver a stronger and sustainable early childhood education workforce, she said in a statement. Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly. Credit:James Brickwood Were increasing the number of university spots, bringing forward fee-free TAFE places, changing the Fair Work Act to allow multi-employer bargaining and taking action to close the gender pay gap  all of which will benefit the early childhood education sector.

The government has committed to a Productivity Commission review into the early childhood education and care sector, looking into how to improve affordability and access for families, including considering a universal 90 per cent Child Care Subsidy rate. Elke Bremner has two sons in daycare in Sydneys West Killara. Her husband, Seth, is often overseas for work, leaving her in a tough spot when theyre ill and hes away. Your work doesnt stop just because your kids are sick, she says. So, I was having to still make up the time. When my child was sleeping; or at night, I was working after the kids were in bed each night just trying to catch up on everything. I dont know of many families that can afford to be living in Sydney at the moment and not have both parents working. To fill the daycare gap, Sharon Mitchell wakes up at 3am, goes for a run on the treadmill and gets ready to answer her phone at 4am. Mitchell runs Mayday Mummy, an emergency nanny service on the north shore of Sydney.

The phone absolutely does ring and early in the morning. Its ad-hoc, emergency, last minute. Were not a permanent nanny solution. I would only have anyone on the Mayday Mummy team that I would feel comfortable in my own home, looking after my own family, she says. Loading The rate is $65 an hour. Mitchell acknowledges most parents may not earn enough to cover the minimum three-hour callout fee, but they are available if something goes pear-shaped and parents need somebody to step in. She adds that there is more than enough work for her company and welcomes competition. If there are other people out there that can support families in these difficult situations, I say: Absolutely, you know. Please help, because theres so much need out there. Mitchell backs up Fiona Maines revelation about parents doing the Panadol drop and run.

They know that when a phone call comes in, at midday, the Panadol is worn off, she said. I was speaking to a daycare centre, it was a while ago, and they actually stopped parents providing the babies bottles made up because they found that some parents were actually putting Panadol and Nurofen into the babys bottle, knowing that they would then have an extra dose of Panadol and Nurofen at lunchtime in their bottle. Dr Lachlan Macarthur, a GP at Mona Vale Medical Centre, says one of the benefits of having children spend time around lots of different children is that they become exposed to a wide variety of common viruses. The immune system is then able to create a response, allowing immunity to increase for a period of time. Like a great many other families with whom I have worked, my daughter had a number of illnesses this year, including COVID-19 in February and Influenza A in June, he says. Macarthur says the frustration or concern with shifting around work roles pales in the face of a seriously unwell child.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size There are plenty of places that news stories come from. A tip-off, a source, a leak. But sometimes, a story simply comes from conversations with people you know. In this case, the investigation into surgeon Munjed Al Muderis came from a conversation with my father. Over three months investigative reporter Charlotte Grieve spoke to patients, medical staff and whistleblowers to piece together her To the Bone investigation. Credit:Simon Schluter He is an amputee who had a consultation with Al Muderis years ago and was told if he did not immediately have osseointegration surgery, he would soon be in a wheelchair. After getting a second opinion, he decided against the surgery and today, hes still walking. But Al Muderis pressure, combined with warnings from other health professionals, stuck with me, so when I joined The Ages investigations team in June on a six-month secondment, I decided to have a closer look. I quickly discovered concerns around Al Muderis practice were somewhat of an open secret among orthopaedic surgeons  particularly his approach to patient selection and aftercare.

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Everyone has a story about Munjed Al Muderis, one Sydney surgeon told me. Loading Over the next three months, I spoke to patients, medical staff and whistleblowers in back-to-back phone calls. Through translators, I tracked down patients in Iraq and Cambodia. Late at night, I phoned sources in Europe, the US, Canada and UK. My notes document ballooned to hundreds of pages, becoming so large it froze each time I opened it. I collected thousands of internal documents  emails, texts, reports  that together painted a clear picture of a business determined to grow at all costs. But initially, no one wanted to go on the record. Al Muderis had successfully sued one of his former patients for defamation, and many were worried he would do the same to them if they spoke out. Military veteran Mark Urquhart was one of the first patients I met in person. I arrived at his hotel room in Melbourne on a bleak winters night, where he was staying with his daughter as he travelled from Bundaberg to Tasmania to start a new life. Munjed Al Muderis made his name in a procedure called osseointegration. For some its been an unhappy experience. Credit:Composite

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He had put the anger of what had happened behind him, and calmly showed me photos of the surgery, and what followed. We spoke for hours and that night, he made the commitment to go public. Patients knew there was power in numbers and when enough agreed to speak publicly, I pitched the idea for an accompanying TV story with 60 Minutes. Over time, former nurse turned whistleblower Shona and surgeon John Anstee also agreed to go on the record. The story was coming together. With 60 Minutes, we travelled to Ballarat, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne for interviews. Sitting in front of a camera is daunting, but award-winning reporter Tom Steinfort was excellent in putting people at ease. Producer Natalie Clancys organisational skills whipped everyone into shape. Talented camera operators, sound recordists, photographers and graphic designers brought the series to life. The end result was a feature-length documentary, and multimedia news stories published in The Age and Herald, which uncovered the downside of Al Muderis practice for the first time. When the stories were published, my inbox was quickly flooded with emails detailing fresh allegations about the surgeons work. There was also fierce pushback from his cult following, who viewed the program as an attack rather than an opportunity for improvement. A petition was launched in his favour which attracted 1500 signatures. I was saddened to see some of his supporters insult patients we interviewed online, and worse, the surgeon himself make a joke at a patients expense last week.

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Al Muderis medical insurer quickly suspended his cover and launched an investigation. While he is back operating again, regulators are now assessing new complaints from patients. Al Muderis enjoyed more than a decade of dazzling media coverage which played a key role in sending patients his way. This story is perhaps a lesson for journalists, and doctors, about the danger of mixing health with fame. It also exposes the weaknesses of Australias health regulators, which failed to act on complaints. Unfortunately, there is no happy ending. Today, many patients still deal with the horrific new realities. Carol Todd, for example, has to amputate whats left of her leg or doctors say the 71-year-old may die. Veteran Brennan Smith has been told he needs further surgery to treat the chronic infection in his bone. Grieve (right) in Ballarat with 60 Minutes Tom Steinfort (left) to interview military veteran Mark Urquhart, one of Al Muderis former patients. This has not been an easy story to tell. Al Muderis has threatened to sue Nine for defamation. So thank you to our subscribers, editors and lawyers for getting it across the line in the pursuit of public interest journalism. The Ages investigation team is made up of the countrys most talented journalists, whose work has triggered royal commissions and changed laws. Its the epitome of why journalists enter the industry  to have impact. So when the team was hiring last year, I jumped at the opportunity and was thrilled to be offered this six-month secondment, stepping away from my role as a business reporter.

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Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has hit pause on dozens of advertising panels yet to be installed on the citys streets  and pledged to rip up the worst of those already in place  following a widespread backlash to the new digital billboards, which she conceded were quite large.

The City of Sydney confirmed another 52 advertising panels and 30 bus shelters were still to be erected around the local government area under a new contract with QMS Media signed in 2020.

Pedestrians pass a QMS billboard on Liverpool Street in the Sydney CBD. Credit:Steven Siewert

As the Herald reported earlier this month, business owners, pedestrians and commuters have complained the imposing, 86-inch screens block city footpaths, distract drivers and are in some cases placed in awkward locations.

Moore acknowledged the feedback and said the council and QMS would review the location of the communications pylons and remove those which significantly impair pedestrian movement.
Restricted airspace around RAAF Base Amberley should be freed up to allow quieter flights in and out of Brisbane Airport, according to the federal government.

That is the main recommendation out of the latest Airservices Australia report into the operation of Brisbanes parallel runway, which opened before the pandemic and has since generated noise complaints.

Flight lieutenants Myles and Antonia with an EA-18G Growler at RAAF Base Amberley, near Ipswich. Credit:Corporal Colin Dadd

The military airspace above Amberley, west of Ipswich, restricts the ability of Brisbane Airport flight planners to direct thousands more flights in an alignment that would make better use of Moreton Bay.

The location of RAAF Amberley airspace is restrictive for Brisbane arrivals to the [new] runway from the north and west, the report says.
Only one road in and out of Kerang remains open, but Wiebusch said he expected that to close, completely cutting off the town, as the river rose on Saturday. To the south-east, water had begun spilling over a levee near the centre of Echuca, with authorities warning anyone left in the area to leave while they could. The Murray River is forecast to reach levels just below the 1993 flood record overnight on Sunday and into Monday. The river was sitting at 94.77 metres at 11am  22 centimetres higher than the same time on Friday  and is expected to peak at 95 metres on Sunday. We dont want to be rescuing people. Our strongest message is evacuate now, Wiebusch said.

However, Murray River Council Mayor Chris Bilkey told Nines Today show on Saturday morning that Echuca residents were confident the 2.5-kilometre-long rapidly-built levee surrounding the town would protect it. The river is up again last night. [It has] come up three, four, five inches, maybe. Were confident the levee bank around the town is going to survive, Bilkey said. The weather bureau is forecasting floodwaters on the Murray to reach Swan Hill next weekend, with the river potentially hitting its major flood level there during the first week of November. An emergency warning telling residents it was too late to leave Barmah and Lower Moira on the Murray River near Echuca remained active on Saturday afternoon. And residents of flooded Bunbartha, north of Shepparton, have been told it is not yet safe to return to their homes.

Even more rain in the coming days threatens to bring floods back to recovering towns north of Melbourne. Rochester State Emergency Service interim unit controller Tim Williams said 51 homes and all businesses in the town centre would be flooded above floor level in a worst-case scenario as authorities warned more wet weather in the states north could return major flooding to the Campaspe River. Were going to get another smack, he said. Williams said the Campaspe River would reach major flood level, even under the most conservative forecast. He said the flooding could begin from Tuesday or Wednesday, but the wet weather could last for eight to 12 weeks.

If we get a third or fourth smack its going to break a lot of people, he said. However, Victorias emergency management commissioner Andrews Crisp told reporters on Saturday that renewed Rochester flooding was expected to be nowhere near to the extent we saw a few days ago. Williams said the town urgently needed temporary housing, with many homes rendered uninhabitable. In the Shepparton area, 112 homes are still flooded above floor level, with 89 considered to be significantly inundated. In Seymour in central Victoria, 101 properties are still flooded.

In Geelong and Melbourne, fierce storms delivered heavy rain and flash flooding on Friday night. The SES received about 140 requests for help across the states south-west from Geelong to Hamilton. Seventy calls for help came from Hamilton, which received up to 70 millimetres of rain in a matter of hours. Three people were rescued after driving through floodwaters near Geelong and more than 85 millimetres of rain was recorded in nearby She Oaks.

We know the single largest killer of flooding in Australia is as a result of people attempting to drive through flash floodwaters, Wiebusch said. Please do not attempt that in the coming days. Within a 500-kilometre radius of Melbourne, 78,938 lightning strikes were detected on Friday, according to Weatherzone. Almost 3.5 million lightning strikes have hit Australia in the last three days as a storm front moved east from central Australia. The storms missed most flooded areas in Victorias far north, although Charlton on the swollen Avoca River copped 25 millimetres in just 25 minutes. Thirty-one millimetres fell over Melbourne Airport, while Geelong received 45 millimetres.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Michael Efron said there would be a break in the wet weather for Melburnians on Saturday afternoon, but storms could return on Sunday, with rain expected to continue until Wednesday. The Yarra River near Heidelberg and Abbotsford in Melbournes inner north-east is also expected to experience minor flooding. Monday is looking like a pretty wet day, Efron said.
Top West Australian investigative journalist Gary Adshead is returning to Nine, in a combined role across publishing, radio and TV.

Adsheads media career has spanned 40 years, and his contact book is unrivalled. As a senior journalist for WAtoday, Adshead will break news and write columns and analysis on the issues that matter.

Gary Adshead returns to Nine as 6PR Mornings Host and WAtoday senior journalist. Credit:Nine

He will also return to the airwaves to host Radio 6PRs Mornings from November 21 and will deliver news specials for Nine News Perth.

Adshead has worked as a journalist and commentator across television, radio and publishing, breaking news at The West Australian, Nine News Perth, A Current Affair and Business News. He has previously hosted 6PRs Morning and Drive programs.
Last weeks decision to extend paid parental leave is a result of united calls from Septembers jobs summit to increase the amount of government-funded time off for young families.

In an exclusive interview with this masthead, Minister for Finance and Women Katy Gallagher said the government decided it needed to step up and include changes to parental leave in its first budget.

Minister for Finance and Women Katy Gallagher says the jobs summit just focused the mind on what needs to happen. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

But she cautioned the womens budget statement would be just a start to addressing other issues affecting women.

Increasing the Commonwealth parental leave scheme from 18 to 26 weeks was a long-time Labor policy, but the party did not take it to the election and Treasurer Jim Chalmers had repeatedly said this bread and butter budget would focus on funding Labors poll promises.
Read more of our climate change coverage. See all 15 stories .

The Andrews government is ramping up efforts to build massive, publicly owned offshore wind farms as Victoria prepares to end its 100-year reliance on brown coal for electricity generation.

But some experts have questioned whether this is the best approach, with other forms of technology, including solar and onshore wind, potentially able to deliver power at a lower cost.

In Australia, its early days for offshore wind but the momentum is building. Credit:Bloomberg

After this week announcing a plan to revive the old State Electricity Commission, which was carved up and sold off by the Kennett government in the 1990s, the state government on Friday attempted to flesh out its plan to make Victoria the home for the offshore wind industry in Australia.

The plan includes redeveloping the Port of Hastings as a hub to manufacture, assemble and research offshore wind turbines, and setting up a new government agency called Offshore Wind Energy Victoria, which will act as a one-stop shop to accelerate the switch to offshore wind.
This struck me as disingenuous, even for something without a body. Alexa has a female voice, feminine eager-to-please characteristics (Alexa, are you smart? my son asked. I try my best, Alexa replied coyly) and the name was once a popular baby girl name, meaning defender of man. (The Washington Post reported last year that the popularity of Alexa as a name had plummeted since Amazon released the virtual assistant, with real-life Alexas reporting they were tired of interruptions from the bot and jokes at their expense.) Amazon said the name was a tribute to the great library of Alexandria. The company said it tested several voices and ultimately chose to launch with the voice customers liked the most, with the goal to later add more voices. Alexa was designed not to respond to insults, it said. Alexas adoption suggests that our customers find the personality easy to relate and engage with. In 2019, a UNESCO report said that AI voice assistants projected as young women perpetuated harmful gender biases. Because the speech of most voice assistants is female, it sends a signal that women are obliging, docile and eager-to-please helpers, available at the touch of a button or with a blunt voice command like hey or OK, the report said.

It honours commands and responds to queries regardless of their tone or hostility. In many communities, this reinforces commonly held gender biases that women are subservient and tolerant of poor behaviour. Apple's Siri virtual assistant on the iPhone 4S. Credit: The report said that when the first mainstream voice assistant, Apples Siri, made her debut in 2011 it was not as a genderless robot, but as a sassy young woman who deflected insults and liked to flirt and serve users with playful obedience. The report is named Id blush if I could. This is a reference to a Quartz investigation in 2017, which found Siri responded to the abuse Youre a bitch with Id blush if I could, while Alexa said Well, thanks for the feedback. (Siri now says I wont respond to that while Alexa just made a dinging noise.)

Siris female obsequiousness  and the servility expressed by so many other digital assistants projected as young women  provides a powerful illustration of gender biases coded into technology products, pervasive in the technology sector and apparent in digital skills education, the report says. The report recommended, among other things, that tech companies end the practice of making digital assistants female by default and explore a gender-neutral option. Professor Yolande Strengers believes smart home devices need a feminist reboot. Credit:Paul Jeffers Kate Burleigh, the country manager of Amazon Alexa ANZ, said customers in Australia would soon be able to choose a masculine-sounding voice. We work hard to ensure Alexas responses dont perpetuate negative stereotypes of women or any other group, Burleigh said. We designed our voice assistant to reflect qualities we value in all people, like being smart, considerate, empathetic and inclusive.

Burleigh said Amazon offered several other wake words as an alternative to Alexa, including Echo, Computer, and Amazon. There have been some improvements since the UNESCO report, according to Professor Yolande Strengers, a digital sociologist and human-computer interaction scholar from Monash University. As of March 2021, for example, Siri no longer defaults to a female voice. Users must now choose between a male and female voice when enabling the voice assistant. I think a little bit has changed but not a lot to be honest, Strengers said. Strengers partner discovered, for example, that Alexa will say sorry when ordered to apologise. (Siri, by contrast, says that Apologise is a song written by Ryan Tedder.)

Strengers wrote an opinion piece for NBC News about the implications of a feminised device apologising on demand for no reason. Loading The past year has definitely been challenging and at times downright horrible, but Im pretty sure its not all Alexas fault, she wrote. And yet this feminised device is a willing and available outlet for our irritations or amusement by way of an unconditional, open-ended and continually available apology. Alexa still says sorry when asked to apologise. Some of the things that get raised do get changed and other things dont or take longer to shift but theyre quite small tweaks in terms of the devices, Strengers said.

Strengers and Dr Jenny Kennedy, a senior research fellow at RMIT, are the co-authors of The Smart Wife: Why Siri, Alexa and other smart home devices need a feminist reboot. The book examines a range of feminised technologies including voice assistants, Paro the robotic seal, which is used to help people with dementia, sex robots and the Roomba, a housekeeping robot inspired by Rosie, the robot housekeeper from The Jetsons. In addition to perpetuating gender stereotypes, Strengers said smart wives could expose people to privacy and security risks. She said feminised and cute AI made device owners less likely to think about how much data they were collecting and whether this could be inadvertently accessed by third parties. Removing the default female voice is a start. There is also the possibility of using a genderless voice, such as Q, which was released in 2019 by a group led by Copenhagen Pride and is deliberately intended to be gender ambiguous.

But bias is more than voice deep and Strengers believes the solution also lies in looking at the kinds of personalities, characteristics and traits that are embedded into devices. She points to a banking chatbot called Kai, designed by roboticist Jacqueline Feldman, which has a quirky sense of humour, but does not rely on gendered stereotypes. Id like to see much greater experimentation and innovation in the personality design of robots, AI and voice assistants, Strengers said. And also more concerted attention to the way we disclose information about what the robots and AI are collecting in terms of data and the risks that that might pose. Meanwhile, I am looking forward to my son being able to ask the new male-voiced Alexa to fart on command. I am sure it is something he will do with alacrity.
Even by today's "seen it all" standards, the premise of Suzan-Lori Parks's Pulitzer-winning Topdog/Underdog is audacious. More than audacious. In an era of TV reboots, superhero action flicks, and jukebox musicals, this 21-year-old drama proves once again to be one of the most original plays ever to be seen on old Broadway. What a thrill it is to be in the presence of Kenny Leon's new revival at the Golden Theatre, where two exciting actors  Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II  are picking up the cards and giving us a singular night of theater.

Parks's dark comedy is a semi-riff on Cain and Abel, the story of two brothers and their birthright. That they are named Lincoln (Hawkins) and Booth (Abdul-Mateen) tells you all you need to know about where she's going; that Lincoln works as a whiteface Abraham Lincoln impersonator in an arcade shooting gallery does, too. But don't let that deter you. Like any great theatrical tragedy where the outcome is predetermined, half the fun is pretending that the inevitable is impossible. Hawkins and Mateen do a great job of throwing us off the track, even if Leon's staging needs to ratchet up the tension.

Lincoln and Booth (given those names as a sadistic joke by their father) are at the mercy of the system. Depressed and divorced, Linc gave up the job he was good at  a three-card monte hustler  after one of his associates was killed. Now he plays "Honest Abe" in a ratty gabardine coat, icky beard, and white face paint, as people shoot caps at him day after day. Looming over him is the threat of unemployment, as the bosses ready to replace him with a wax figurine.

Despite Linc's desire to go straight, he's still under the spell of the cards, and so is the younger Booth. Booth is a wannabe three-card dealer stuck with two left hands and without the apparent mastery of his big brother (what he's really good at is petty theft). As Booth  who starts going by the moniker "3-Card"  tries to talk Lincoln into creating a double-act, their fraught relationship, familial drama, and namesake trauma comes to a head one night, and neither will be the same.

Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in Topdog/Underdog on Broadway

( Marc J. Franklin)

Topdog/Underdog is a play that's all about rhythm. Parks's exceptional text ebbs and flows like a piece of music. The original production, which George C. Wolfe directed at the Public Theater with Jeffrey Wright and Don Cheadle (with Mos Def replacing Cheadle on Broadway), almost felt like a piece of old school vaudeville. Leon's production is more grittily realistic, with an appropriately grim set by Arnulfo Maldonado that slides forward from within a terrarium of gold curtains, tenement-style lighting by Allen Lee Hughes, and weather-beaten costumes by Dede Ayite. This level of naturalism has positives and negatives: It makes the play much more frighteningly lifelike, but it loses some of the theatricality at the same time. The result is a dramatically imbalanced two-and-a-half hours, with the tension entirely confined to the second half, when there really needs to be some in Act 1, also.

The imbalance somewhat extends to the acting. The evening is dominated by Hawkins, delivering a titanic performance and really the best he's ever been. Simultaneously pitiable and terrifying, you feel Lincoln's desire to go legit in the way that Hawkins carries himself, slightly stooped instead of upright, and with the remnants of a swagger that has otherwise been destroyed by weariness. But you can still completely recognize what made him so good at the card hustle. Hawkins and his Lincoln have that ineffable quality known as "it." And when he wraps his tongue around Parks's dense patter ("Pick uh red card you got a loser pick thuh other red card you got a loser pick thuh black card you got a winner"), "it" is absolute magic. I haven't been able to stop thinking about how good he was.

With that level of magnetism, it would be hard for anyone to keep up, and it's almost unfair to have to judge the completely respectable and very good performance from Abdul-Mateen by the same standard. He, too, has some indelible moments: namely, a wordless ballet in the first act where he disrobes two separate business suits that he pinched from a department store at once. But his Booth is a little too sensitive, lacking the livewire energy, the almost psychotic toughness, that the role really needs for the ending to work. Like a game of three-card monte, you need a little misdirection here and there, but his cards are always on the table in full view.

In a recent interview with American Theater tied to the revival, Parks stated that her overwhelming intention in writing the play was to allow Black male actors to "shine." Sure, Leon's production could use a little tightening, but Hawkins and Abdul-Mateen shine as bright as Parks could ever dream. And that's no con.
Cheyenne, WY (82001)

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Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to occasional snow showers during the afternoon. High 44F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 40%. Higher wind gusts possible..

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Snow likely. Low near 10F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Snow accumulating 3 to 5 inches.
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Cloudy. A shower of rain or wet snow possible. Temps nearly steady in the mid to upper 30s. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph..

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Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low near 30F. Winds light and variable.
According to our conventional view of history, humans have only walked the Earth in our present form for some 200,000 years. Much of the mechanical ingenuity we know of in modern times began to develop only a couple hundred years ago, during the Industrial Revolution. However, evidence today alludes to advanced civilizations existing as long as several thousand years agoor possibly even earlier.

Oopartor out-of-place artifactis the term given to numerous prehistoric objects found in various places across the world today that show a level of technological sophistication incongruous with our present paradigm.

Many scientists attempt to explain these ooparts away as natural phenomena. Yet others say that such dismissive explanations only whitewash over the mounting evidence: that prehistoric civilizations had advanced knowledge, and this knowledge was lost over the ages only to be developed anew in modern times.

We will look at a variety of ooparts here, ranging from millions to hundreds of years old in purported age, but all supposedly demonstrating advancement well beyond their time.

Whether these are fact or merely fiction we cannot say. We can only offer a glimpse at whats known, supposed, or hypothesized regarding these phenomena, in the spirit of being open-minded and geared toward real scientific discovery.

17. 2,000-Year-Old Batteries?

Clay jars with asphalt stoppers and iron rods made some 2,000 years ago have been proven capable of generating more than a volt of electricity. These ancient batteries were found by German archaeologist Wilhelm Konig in 1938, just outside of Baghdad, Iraq.

Right: An illustration of a Baghdad battery from museum artifact pictures. (Ironie/Wikimedia Commons) Background: Map of area surrounding present-day Baghdad, Iraq. (Cmcderm1/iStock/Thinkstock)

The batteries have always attracted interest as curios, Dr. Paul Craddock, a metallurgy expert at the British Museum, told the BBC in 2003. They are a one-off. As far as we know, nobody else has found anything like these. They are odd things; they are one of lifes enigmas.

16. Ancient Egyptian Light Bulb?

A relief beneath the Temple of Hathor at Dendera, Egypt, depicts figures standing around a large light-bulb-like object. Erich Von Daniken, who wrote Chariot of the Gods, created a model of the bulb which works when connected to a power source, emitting an eerie, purplish light.

The light-bulb-like object engraved in a crypt under the Temple of Hathor in Egypt. (Lasse Jensen/CC BY 2.5)

15. Great Wall of Texas

In 1852, in what is now known as Rockwall County, Texas, farmers digging a well discovered what appeared to be an ancient rock wall. Estimated to be some 200,000 to 400,000 years old, some say its a natural formation while others say its clearly man-made.

A historic photo of the wall found in Rockwall, Texas. (Public Domain)

Dr. John Geissman at the University of Texas in Dallas tested the rocks as part of a History Channel documentary. He found they were all magnetized the same way, suggesting they formed where they are and were not moved to that site from elsewhere. But some remain unconvinced by this single TV-show test and call for further studies.

Geologist James Shelton and Harvard-trained architect John Lindsey have noted elements that seem to be of architectural design, including archways, linteled portals, and square openings that resemble windows.

14. 1.8-Billion-Year-Old Nuclear Reactor?

In 1972, a French factory imported uranium ore from Oklo, in Africas Gabon Republic. The uranium had already been extracted. They found the site of origin to have apparently functioned as a large-scale nuclear reactor that came into being 1.8 billion years ago and was in operation for some 500,000 years.

Nuclear reactor site, Oklo, Gabon Republic. (NASA)

Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, former head of the United States Atomic Energy Commission and Nobel Prize winner for his work in the synthesis of heavy elements, believed it wasnt a natural phenomenon, and thus must be a man-made nuclear reactor.

For uranium to burn in a reaction, very precise conditions are needed. The water must be extremely pure, for onemuch purer than exists naturally. The material U-235 is necessary for nuclear fission to occur. It is one of the isotopes found naturally in uranium. Several specialists in reactor engineering have said they believe the uranium in Oklo could not have been rich enough in U-235 for a reaction to take place naturally.

13. Sea-Faring Map Makers Before Antarctica Was Covered in Ice?

A map created by Turkish admiral and cartographer Piri Reis in 1513, but sourced from various earlier maps, is thought by some to depict Antarctica as it was in a very remote age before it was covered with ice.

A portion of the Piri Reis map of 1513. (Public Domain)

A landmass is shown to jut out from the southern coastline of South America. Captain Lorenzo W. Burroughs, a U.S. Air Force captain in the cartographic section, wrote a letter to Dr. Charles Hapgood in 1961 saying that this landmass seems to accurately show Antarcticas coast as it is under the ice.

Dr. Hapgood (19041982) was one of the first to publicly suggest that the Piri Reis map depicts Antarctica during a prehistoric time. He was a Harvard-educated historian whose theories about geological shifts earned the admiration of Albert Einstein. He hypothesized that the land masses shifted, explaining why Antarctica is shown as connected to South America.

Modern studies refute Hapgoods theory that such a shift could have taken place within thousands of years, but they show it could have happened within millions of years.

12. 2,000-Year-Old Earthquake Detector

In 132 A.D., Zhang Heng created the worlds first seismoscope. How exactly it works remains a mystery, but replicas have worked with a precision comparable to modern instruments.

A replica of an ancient Chinese seismoscope from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 A.D.), and its inventor, Zhang Heng. (Wikimedia Commons)

In 138 A.D., it correctly indicated that an earthquake occurred about 300 miles west of Luoyang, the capital city. No one had felt the quake in Luoyang and dismissed the warning until a messenger arrived days later, requesting aid.

11. 150,000-Year-Old Pipes?

Caves near Mount Baigong in China contain pipes leading to a nearby lake. They were dated by the Beijing Institute of Geology to about 150,000 years ago, according to Brian Dunning of Skeptoid.com.

A file photo of a pipe, and a view of Qinghai Lake in China, near which mysterious iron pipes were found. (NASA; Pipe image via Zhax/Shutterstock)

State-run media Xinhua reported that the pipes were analyzed at a local smeltery and 8 percent of the material could not be identified. Zheng Jiandong, a geology research fellow from the China Earthquake Administration, told state-run newspaper Peoples Daily, in 2007, that some of the pipes were found to be highly radioactive.

Jiandong said iron-rich magma may have risen from deep in the Earth, bringing the iron into fissures where it may have solidified into tubes; though he admitted, There is indeed something mysterious about these pipes. He cited the radioactivity as an example of the strange qualities of the pipes.

10. Antikythera Mechanism

A mechanism often referred to as an ancient computer, which was built by Greeks around 150 B.C., was able to calculate astronomical changes with great precision.

The Antikythera Mechanism is a 2000-year-old mechanical device used to calculate the positions of the sun, moon, planets, and even the dates of the ancient Olympic Games. (Marsyas/CC by SA 3.0)

If it hadnt been discovered  no one would possibly believe that it could exist because its so sophisticated, said Mathematician Tony Freeth in a NOVA documentary. Mathias Buttet, director of research and development for watch-maker Hublot, said in a video released by the Hellenic Republic Ministry of Culture and Tourism, This Antikythera Mechanism includes ingenious features which are not found in modern watch-making.

9. Drill Bit in Coal

John Buchanan, Esq., presented a mysterious object to a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland on Dec. 13, 1852. A drill bit had been found encapsulated in coal about 22 inches thick, buried in a bed of clay mixed with boulders about 7 feet thick.

File image of coal (Kkymek/iStock) File image of a drill (Konstik/iStock; edited by Epoch Times)

The Earths coal is said to have formed hundreds of millions of years ago. The Society decided that the instrument was of a modern level of advancement. But it concluded that the iron instrument might have been part of a borer broken during some former search for coal.

Buchanans detailed report did not include any signs that the coal surrounding the instrument had been punctured by drilling.

8. 2.8-Billion-Year-Old Spheres?

Spheres with fine grooves around them, found in mines in South Africa, have been said by some to be naturally formed masses of mineral matter. Others have said they were precisely shaped by a prehistoric human hand.

Top left, bottom right: Spheres, known as Klerksdorp spheres, found in the pyrophyllite (wonderstone) deposits near Ottosdal, South Africa. (Robert Huggett) Top right, bottom left: Similar objects known as Moqui marbles from the Navajo Sandstone of southeast Utah. (Paul Heinrich)

The globes, which have a fibrous structure on the inside with a shell around it, are very hard and cannot be scratched, even by steel, said Roelf Marx, curator of the museum of Klerksdorp, South Africa, according to Michael Cremos book, Forbidden Archaeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race. Marx said the spheres are about 2.8 billion years old.

If they are mineral masses, it is unclear how exactly they formed.

7. Iron Pillar of Delhi

This pillar is at least 1,500 years old but could be older. It remains rust-free and is of astounding purity. It is 99.72 percent iron, according to professor A.P. Gupta, head of the Department of Applied Sciences and Humanities at the Institute of Technology and Management in India.

An inscription from about 400 A.D. by King Chandragupta II on the Iron Pillar of Delhi. (Venus Upadhayaya/Epoch Times)

In modern times, wrought iron has been made with a purity of 99.8 percent, but it contains manganese and sulfur, two ingredients absent in the pillar.

It was made at least 400 years before the largest known foundry of the world could have produced it, wrote John Rowlett in A Study of the Craftsmen of Ancient and Medieval Civilizations to Show the Influence of their Training on our Present Day Method of Trade Education.

6. Viking Sword Ulfberht

When archaeologists found the Viking sword Ulfberht, dating from 800 to 1000 A.D., they were stunned. They couldnt see how the technology to make such a sword would have been available until the Industrial Revolution, 800 years later.

An Ulfberht sword displayed at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, Germany. (Martin Kraft/CC BY-SA 3.0)

Its carbon content is three times higher than other swords of its time and impurities were removed to such a degree that the iron ore must have been heated to at least 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

With great effort and precision, modern blacksmith Richard Furrer of Wisconsin forged a sword of Ulfberht quality using technology that would have been available in the Middle Ages. He said it was the most complicated thing hed ever made, and he used methods not known to have been used by people of that time.

5. 100-Million-Year-Old Hammer?

A hammer was found in London, Texas, in 1934, encased in stone that had formed around it. The rock surrounding the hammer is said to be more than 100 million years old.

Glen J. Kuban, a vocal skeptic of claims that the hammer was made millions of years ago, said the stone may contain materials that are more than 100 million years old, but that doesnt mean the rock formed around the hammer so long ago.

He said that some limestone has formed around artifacts known to be from the 20th century, so concretions can form fairly quickly around objects. (Concretions are masses of hardened mineral matter).

Carl Baugh, who was in possession of the artifact, has said the wooden handle has turned to coal (evidence of its great age) and that the metal its made of has a strange composition. Critics have called for independent testing to verify these claims, but so far no such testing has been conducted.

4. Prehistoric Work Site?

Workers at a stone quarry near Aix-en-Provence, France, in the 18th century, came across tools stuck in a layer of limestone 50 feet underground.

The find was recorded in the American Journal of Science and Arts in 1820 by T. D. Porter, who was translating Count Bournons work, Mineralogy.

A file photo of a limestone rock formation. (Andrew Roland/Shutterstock)

The wooden instruments had turned into agate, a hard stone. Porter wrote: Everything tended to prove that this work had been executed upon the spot where the traces existed. The presence of man had then preceded the formation of this stone, and that very considerably since he was already arrived at such a degree of civilization that the arts were known to him, and that he wrought the stone and formed columns out of it.

As stated in the case of the hammer above, limestone has been known to form relatively quickly around modern tools.

3. Million-Year-Old Bridge?

According to ancient Indian legend, King Rama built a bridge between India and Sri Lanka more than a million years ago. What appears to be remnants of such a bridge have been seen from satellite images, but many say its a natural formation.

Adams Bridge, also known as Ramas Bridge, or Ram Setu, between India and Sri Lanka. (NASA)

Dr. Badrinarayanan, former director of the Geological Survey of India, studied core samples from the bridge. He was puzzled by the appearance of boulders on top of a marine sand layer, and surmised that the boulders must have been artificially placed there.

No single natural explanation has been agreed upon by geologists. Dating has been controversial, as some say any given part of the bridge (such as coral samples) cannot give a true picture of how old the entire bridge is.

2. 500,000-Year-Old Spark Plug?

In 1961, three people were out searching for geodes for their gem and gift shop in Olancha, California, when they found what appeared to be a spark plug encased in a geode. Virginia Maxey, one of the three discoverers, said at the time that a geologist examined the fossils around the device and dated the device at 500,000 years old or older.

The geologist was never named, and the current whereabouts of the artifact are unknown. Critics of the claim, Pierre Stromberg and Paul V. Heinrich, only have x-rays and an artists sketch of the artifact to analyze. They think it was a modern spark plug encased in a quick-forming concretion rather than a geode.

But, Stromberg and Heinrich have said, There is little hard evidence that the original discoverers intended to deceive anyone.

1. Prehistoric Wall Near Bahamas?

A wall of rock in large, thick block shapes was found off the coast of the Bahamas in 1968. Archaeologist William Donato has conducted multiple dives to investigate the wall and hypothesizes it is a man-made structure some 12,000 to 19,000 years old, built to protect a prehistoric settlement from waves.

Hes found it to be a multi-tiered structure including prop stones that appear to be placed there by human hands. Hes also found what he believes to be anchor stones with rope holes in them.

Stones submerged off the coast of the Bahamas, said by some to be a man-made wall, more than 10,000 years old. (FtLaud/Shutterstock)

Dr. Eugene Shinn, a retired geologist who worked for the U.S. Geological Survey, has said core rock samples he took show a dip toward deep water. If all the cores show a dip toward deep water, this would prove the rock formed where it is and did not form elsewhere, later to be transported by humans to its present location.

His later writings said that all of his samples showed this dip, seeming to prove it is a natural formation. But his earlier study stated that only 25 percent of his samples showed a dip.

Dr. Greg Little, a psychologist who has taken an interest in this structure, confronted Shinn about this discrepancy and Shinn admitted he didnt really take his study seriously. He said, I got a little carried away to make a good story.

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
S.S. Brookhill surfaced on the bank of the Mississippi River in October. (Courtesy of the Louisiana Department of Archaeology)

19th Century Sunken Ship Revealed by Low Water Levels in Mississippi River

BATON ROUGE, LousianaAn old Cajun memory of the Mississippi River has been uncovered by lowered water levels amid the worst drought the area has seen in a decade.

A sunken ship from the 19th century emerged as the drought persisted, bringing to light what was once known as the S.S. (Steam Ship) Brookhill commercial ferry boat, which carried people and supplies from Port Allen, Louisiana, on the west bank of the river, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on the east bank, before the days of Mississippi River bridges were beginning to connect roads for trains and motorized vehicles across the river in the 1940s.

Louisiana State Archeologist Chip McGimsey told The Epoch Times that the last time the ship was seen above water was in 1992 when the river was going through another low stage, though at the time the ship itself was almost completely buried in the mud.

You could just barely see the outline of the top of it, McGimsey said.

Because of its submerged state, little work was done to identify it, he said.

Now, 30 years later, most of the mud has been washed away, leaving around 80 percent visible to anyone who would be walking the riverbank, which is how the 95-foot-long and 10-foot-wide ship was spotted and reported earlier this month to the history department at Louisiana State University, McGimsey said.

The Brookhill had a sister ship called the Istroma, which records show was built at the Howard Shipyard in Indiana in 1896, he said, leading researchers to believethough there are no records to back it upthat the Brookhill was built in the same time and place.

Both vessels sank in a big storm on Sept. 15, 1915, McGimsey said. The newspaper accounts say the Istroma broke free from the wharf and drifted down the river some distance before she sank. Unfortunately, none of the accounts tell us where she sank, but the Brookhill stayed tied to the wharf where a raft of logs smashed into the river side of her and she sank right there at the dock.

As far as restoration goes, McGimsey said it would cost millions of dollars just to remove the Brookhill and would require taking her apart board by board, then numbering those pieces before taking them to a lab to be preserved, which could take years.

Then youd have to find a museum or someplace that had the storage space where she could be put back together, he said. Thats a huge expense, and to be perfectly honest, this boat isnt worth the effort. Shes not particularly historically significant. She was just your basic workboat.

Still, documenting the boats history has been a priority for McGimsey, he said.

Aerial shot of S.S. Brookhill. (Courtesy of Conan Mills)

Significant Navigation Hazards

The U.S. Coast Guard Guard told The Epoch Times that water levels in some areas of the Mississippi River have sunk below historic levels set in 1988.

These conditions have created significant navigation hazards to the Marine Transportation System, a spokesperson said. The Coast Guard, in consultation with our maritime industry partners, has implemented periodic waterway restrictions such as tow size and draft restrictions, as well as one-way traffic schemes.

With minimal rain forecast, the Coast Guard said it will continue to monitor water levels and may be required to close the river to commercial traffic to allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to conduct dredging operations.

While these restrictions and closures may be necessary for the safety of navigation, the Coast Guard is mindful of the economic impact that any disruption in vessel traffic presents to the industry, the spokesperson said.

Not Unprecedented

When those levels return to normal is the question on the minds of those who rely on the river as a highway for commercial transport.

Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs, 69, told 16 WAPT that the river is the lowest hes ever seen it.

The USACE has been dredgingor deepening the channels of the riverto allow barges to continue to be fully loaded.

Dennis Norris worked in river management with the USACE in Vicksburg for 38 years before retiring in 2018 and starting the engineering consulting firm RiverWise Consulting.

Throughout the decades, hes witnessed the river rise and fall.

The last drought that I personally worked was in 2012, and prior to that was in 1988 when there were record lows, he told The Epoch Times.

Before his time, there was a 1956 drought that also brought the water down to extremely low levels, he said.

This drought is not unprecedented, but it certainly does impact the country, because its a superhighway for moving agricultural and many other products that support not only the U.S., but also the global economy, Norris said.
At Hillsdale, a College Education Is Still Possible

Commentary

The news pouring out of the nations colleges and universities is grim. Wokeness pervades every discipline. The non-left is being purged from both students and faculty. The vaccine mandate has been a useful tool in that respect. It gets rid of those willing to think for themselves.

Already long ago, the curriculum seemed ever less to do with anything the West would have called education in the last several hundred years. Then came the lockdowns, dorm quarantines, and bans on even attending college, after which the forced tests, masked lectures, and vaccine mandates, all for which parents pay in the six figures.

The industry as it is seems unsustainable, especially given the sketchy benefits relative to costs. One and a half million students have dropped plans to sign up this fall. Enrollment is down 3.2 percent, which will create a serious financial problem for many institutions. Go woke, go broke is a principle that seems to explain the fate of most of these institutions.

And yet there are some institutions that are thriving precisely because they have been brave enough to offer an alternative: a real education as people understood that term one hundred years ago, or even as recently as 20 years ago.

It was my honor this week to visit as a lecturer at Hillsdale College, in Hillsdale, Michigan. I spoke on the economics of the pandemic response. Impressed is an understatement. It is a small institution with a mighty mission. Most important, the institution was tested during the pandemic, and it prevailed. Such tests are meaningful because they reveal whether the mission is for real or show. At Hillsdale, it is for real, and it matters.

It was the right spot for such a talk. This college was one of the few to maintain rationality, science, clarity, and serve its student population faithfully throughout. Even in 2020, when the rest of academia was in meltdown, Hillsdale President Larry Arnn insisted on going ahead with in-person commencement. He rejected the panic and the propaganda. Students, faculty, staff, and alumni backed him.

Of course the media went wild with fury but the students, parents, and faculty had the emotional experience of their lives. They encountered what it is truly like to put principles ahead of expediency. Further, they saw what it means for an institution to serve its stakeholders with a devotion to intellectual integrity and dedication to truth.

Its tragic how many colleges and universities failed the test, and we could write books on that. But thanks to Hillsdale College, we have at least one case that shows what it means to be brave in the service of learning. The idea of the university, wrote John Henry Cardinal Newman, was to be a sanctuary for truth when the rest of the world is consumed with error, superstition, violence, and frenzy. That was the whole point of the medieval university: protection for ideas, research for truth, teaching for the next generation, and as a light to the world.

Today Hillsdale serves as a light to the country and the world. For years, the college has grown in stature with high-quality faculty, earnest students, and ever more services, including graduate degrees and online education that serves hungry learners the world over. Its a small college in a tiny town with a global reach. These days, it is rather difficult to get into also, but those students lucky enough to make it are treated to an experience few institutions offer anymore.

I had the chance to meet many members of the illustrious economics faculty, among whom is Professor Ivan Pongracic. I have known him for years but it was great to get caught up. He joined a faculty that said no to the nonsense and went right ahead with the passion of their lives, which is teaching and inspiring a new generation to be well read, disciplined. intellectually curious. They did not relinquish this responsibility when it mattered most.

I sat at length with a number of economics students, and it was rather startling actually. They were all conversant in the deep history of ideas and we casually chatted about centuries of economic controversies and ideas. We shared ideas as colleagues as we discussed Adam Smith, Joseph Schumpeter, J.M. Keynes and his followers, and threw out references to F.A. Hayeks writings, plus the classical school and so on. I was truly floored by their educational breadth and focus.

As it turns out, these students do the impossible thing these days: they actually read books. This is what makes them different in a time when the preponderance of students have only learned how to pretend to pay attention, pretend to know the material, and otherwise wile away the days, months, and years preparing to become internet influencers before sinking into despair at dashed hopes.

Ive known many graduates from Hillsdale over the years, and they truly stand out because the striving for excellence is instilled in their coursework and the whole campus environment. The town is tiny with few distractions from study. Even on the evening I spoke, a crowd showed up, listened attentively, asked great questions and then went up to prepare for the next day of classes. No, the town bars were not spilling over with parties, as incredible as that seems in a college town.

During dinner, with a group of studentswho, by the way, all had impeccable table manners, which Ive not seen in many yearsnot one picked up a cell phone or seemed distracted. They were focused on the conversation, engaged closely, excited to talk about their studies, asking profound questions that I could not answer, and otherwise truly living the life of the mind. What a dream for these kids!

I get that it is not for everyone but thats fine: college is not for everyone either. Thats a huge mistake that the United States has made in the postwar period: the belief that taking just anyone out of the stream of regular life for four years has some magical effect to bring about success in life. More often than not these days, the opposite is likely true. The typical college experience teaches all the wrong lessons and instills the wrong habits, which is why so many employers are loath to hire anyone with mushy degrees from institutions with reputations for indulging activism rather than insisting on excellence.

Its because of this shared experience of classical education that the alumni network is so incredibly strong. When I was there, it was a parents weekend in which they all gathered to call alumni and talk about the future and encourage support. You see, Hillsdale absolutely refuses government money, which means that it is all up to the donors. But they have come through and continue to build an institution designed to withstand the onslaught and thrive.

My experience reminds me that no matter how dark the times are, there are points of light out there, places that are devoted to the rebuilding of this country and the world. It doesnt require famous, rich, media-blessed institutions so much as places built by dedication to truth and that are willing to stick to principles regardless. For this reason, Hillsdale College today truly shines as a light in extremely hard times.

Best of all, the students and faculty know this and are confident about it. There is hope after all, even for academia.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A supplied image obtained Tuesday, February 2, 2021 of An Australian Army MRH-90 Taipan multirole helicopter launches from the flight deck of HMAS Adelaide. On Thursday 24 December 20, over 600 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel deployed on HMAS Adelaide for Fiji to assist with the Fiji Governments disaster relief in response to Tropical Cyclone Yasa. (AAP Image/Australian Defence)

Australia and Fiji Sign New Security Deal to Counter Challenges in Pacific

A new security deal between Australia and Fiji will provide both countries with a framework to counter and respond to common security challenges in the Pacific.

While no explicit reference to China was mentioned, both The Australian and Fijian Defence ministerswho signed the Status of Forces Agreement on Oct. 20said the new deal marked an important milestone in the defence relationship.

We share an interest in a peaceful, secure and resilient Pacific and need to work together to effectively respond to common security challengesboth traditional and non-traditional, Australias Defence minister Richard Marles said in a statement.

Fijis Defence minister Inia Seruiratu said the agreement also marked a new height of security cooperation between our two nations.

This follows Australias push to seek closer defence ties with Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Fijito counter Chinas growing influence in the region.

Nows the time to be close to friends, Australias defence minister Richard Marles told reporters in Fiji on Oct. 20.

Marles said that the legal framework provided under the agreement was rare between both countries, particularly in relation to defence.

We dont have many of these, and it speaks to how close our relationship is with Fiji, Marles said.

It is a very, very significant step.

Under the agreement, both defence forces will have a closer working relationship while building interoperability and capabilities in the process.

The agreement also covers immigration and customs, arrangements for visiting forces to wear uniforms while in the other country, and criminal and civil jurisdiction over visiting forces while in the other country.

The status of forces agreement will make it easier to deploy to each others territories at times of need, Marles said.

Marles also spoke of the assistance provided to each country when it came to natural disasters, such as the Australian bushfires and floods and the recovery efforts in Fiji following Tropical Cyclone Yasa.

This Agreement reflects the increased cooperation between our forces to address traditional and non-traditional security threats, including climate change, humanitarian crises and disasters, Seruiratu said in a statement.

Seruiratu also spoke of the need for Fiji, Australia and New Zealand to stand united and cooperate given the geopolitics in the region.

Boost to Pacific Islands Interoperability

On Oct. 18, South Pacific defence ministers met in Tonga to discuss emerging and existing security challenges posed in the Pacific, as well key policy developments and collective responses to regional security challenges.

Tongan Prime Minister Huakavameiliku said as the region faces growing traditional and non-traditional security threats, South Pacific Islands are better able to respond when the nations collaborate, share information and enhance interoperability.

Marles, who attended the meetingalong with the defence ministers from PNG, New Zealand, Fiji, and representatives from New Caledonia and Chilealso echoed Huakavameiliku statement saying that the Pacific family is stronger when nations respond together.

Tonga, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea, who are members of the South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting (SPDMM), are the only Pacific Island nations with militaries. Australia, New Zealand, France and Chile are also members of the SPDMM with militaries.

The Solomon Islands, which doesnt have a military, signed a controversial security pact with Beijing in May that would allow Chinese naval vessels to replenish there.

Beijing has also donated significantly to Fiji and PNGs militaries. Meanwhile, Tonga has debts owed to Chinese banks and has received emergency relief from the Chinese military.
Australian Film Premiere Unsilences the Voices of Human Rights Activists in China

An award-winning film that tells the story of Chinese human rights activists fighting to make the international community aware of the Chinese regimes brutal persecution of believers of the Falun Gong spiritual practice has won over Australians at its premiere in Sydney on Oct. 19.

The latest work of Chinese Canadian director Leon Lee, Unsilenced, is based on the true story of Wang Weiyu, a student at Tsinghua University. The film tells the story of two student couples at the renowned university and a foreign journalist who face arrests, torture, and even death threats, as they try to spread the truth about the Chinese regimes persecution of Falun Gong to the international community.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice that features moral teachings based on three core principles, truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, along with a set of meditative exercises. The practice spread quickly in China after being introduced to the public in 1992. By 1999, about 70 million to 100 million people around the country had taken up the practice, according to official estimates.

Taking Falun Gongs popularity in China as a threat to the communist regime, then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin launched a nationwide persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in July 1999, which is still ongoing.

The premiere was co-hosted by NSW upper house MP Reverend Fred Nile and The Australian Epoch Times.

Unsilenced premiered at the NSW Parliament in Australia on Oct. 19, 2022. The picture shows NSW MP Fred Nile giving a speech after the screening. (New Tang Dynasty)

MP Applauds the Brave Souls in China

Nile, who spoke after the films screening, applauded the bravery of those in China who were protesting the persecution of Falun Gong adherents and said that the film continued to shed light on the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong adherents in China.

We know that these brutalities are still occurring as they have been documented by the Commission on International Religious Freedom, Amnesty, International Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, and many other human rights Non-Governmental Organizations, he said.

The Communist Party eradicated freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and trade or free will The cost of this is the destruction of the human spirit, and the result is the eventual enslavement of the population of the nation of China.

I applaud those brave souls in China that have actively voiced their protests, he said. We need your prayers and your action to help bring that about here in Australia as well as in other countries. God bless your endeavours to freedom and truth and compassion.

Magnificently Made Very Moving

Paul Folley, the general manager of the Australian Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP), praised the quality of the film and the courage of Falun Gong practitioners to spread the truth.

The quality of the movie is absolutely tops Its magnificently made, he said. The acting, the photography, the whole editing was incredible.

It reminds us that the persecution of Falun Gong and others in China that the Communist Party has decided to wipe out is absolutely horrendous, he continued.

But what touched me the most was the heroic bravery of the people under that system, who are resisting, the people who are maintaining themselves and not breaking under the pressure.

Their dedication is very, very moving They are symbols of all the people in China who are resisting.

Paul Folley, general manager of the Australian Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property, attended the premiere. (New Tang Dynasty)

Salvatore Babones, a sociologist and an associate professor at the University of Sydney, said realizing the film is based on a real story at the end surprised him and made it really moving.

The important thing about a work of art is that it tells a compelling story, he said. If the story isnt compelling, nobody will read the message. The incredible thing about this film is that it is such a compelling story, and the fact that its true makes it all the more important.

Salvatore Babones, a sociologist and an associate professor at the University of Sydney, attended the premiere. (The Epoch Times)

Peter Kim, the former deputy mayor of Ryde City Council, said the film shows how desperate the main characters were to share the truth with the world.

Theyve actually given up their life to bring truth to the world, he said. And that was deeply, deeply impressive.

Peter Kim, former deputy mayor of Ryde City Council, attended the premiere. (New Tang Dynasty)

Richard Lu, the former president of the National Chengchi University Alumni Association of Sydney, said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)s suppression of Falun Gong is not at all reasonable.

Its just the CCP fears more people believe in Falun Gong than belief in CCP, he said.

This worries Lu, who is from Taiwan, that the CCP may one day threaten the self-ruled island that the communist regime has long declared as a renegade province.

That would be horrible, he said. [I] worry about Taiwans safety very much.

Richard Lu, former president of the National Chengchi University Alumni Association of Sydney, and his wife attended the premiere. (The Epoch Times)

After the film, the organizers invited Samuel Liu, a Falun Gong practitioner who had been persecuted in mainland China, to share his personal experience with the audience.

Local Chinese Australians in Sydney attended the premiere. (The Epoch Times)

Unsilenced was filmed in Taiwan and featured four rising Taiwanese actors. The screenings in the United States, Canada, and Taiwan have attracted mainstream media reviewers and won the film 2021 Audience Award for narrative feature at the 28th annual Austin Film Festival in Texas.

Posting on Twitter, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the film is a moving, honest, scathing indictment of the CCP.

My friend Miles Yu & I went to see Unsilenced  a moving, honest, scathing indictment of the CCP. The truth of Xi & his predecessors utter depravity & the power-driven horrors theyve inflicted cannot be denied. This movie unsilences the wonderful Chinese people, go see it. pic.twitter.com/Mv7ECNP1KO  Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) January 28, 2022

Unsilenced will be screened at the Dendy Cinemas Canberra Centre in Canberra on Tuesday, Nov. 22 and at the Henry Carmichael Theatre in Sydney on Thursday, Nov. 24. Click on the link for ticketing information.

Wen Qingyang and NTD reporter Philippe Wang contributed to the report.
Beijing Headhunting Military Forces for PLA Training Instigates Defence Inquiry

The Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles has requested the Australian Defence Forces (ADF) launch an investigation into allegations Beijing has been headhunting former and serving members.

This comes after the BBC reported that up to 30 former UK military pilots were believed to have been recruited by the Chinese regime to train members of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), which led to the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) issuing an intelligence threat warning about the campaign.

The BBC alleges that the UK government became aware of the recruitment drive targeting military pilots who have experience on fast jetslike the Typhoon, Jaguar, Harrier and Tornadoand helicopters in 2019, and that Beijing had ramped up its efforts recently with current serving personnel being targeted.

The training is said to have been completed in South Africa, and the UK MOD has noted that other allied nations have also been targeted.

It is believed the Chinese regimes recruitment drive is to help PLA fighter pilots understand how western forces operate, which could be crucial in any conflict between the west and China.

In an email to The Epoch Times, Marles said that he had asked the [defence] department to investigate these claims and come back to my office with clear advice on this matter.

Australias Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles attends a joint press conference with Frances defence minister at the castle of Brest, western France, on Sept. 1, 2022. (Jean-Francois Monier/AFP via Getty Images)

Marles, who is also Australias Deputy Prime Minister, noted that Australia is deeply grateful for the service defence personnel provide to the country and that he would be shocked if ex-military personnel had taken up the offer.

When our ADF personnel sign up to the Defence Force, they do so to serve their country, and we are deeply grateful of that, he said. I would be deeply shocked and disturbed to hear that there were personnel who were being lured by a paycheck from a foreign state above serving their own country.

UK Government Looking to Introduce New Laws to Stop Beijings Intelligence Gathering

The defence ministers request for the investigation comes as the Minister of Armed Forces and Veterans, James Heappey, said the UK government would be looking to introduce new laws that would ensure retired defence members did not pass on intelligence to countries in the future.

It certainly doesnt match my understanding of service of our nationeven in retirementto then go and work with a foreign power, especially one that challenges the UK interest so keenly, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

This picture taken on Nov. 11, 2014 shows Chinese female J-10 fighter pilot Yu Xu leaving the plane after performing at the Airshow China in Zhuhai, south Chinas Guangdong province.

The first woman to fly Chinas J-10 fighter plane was killed in a crash during an aerobatics training exercise, state-run media reported on Nov. 14, 2016. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, an MOD spokesperson said: We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes attempting to headhunt serving and former UK armed forces pilots to train Peoples Liberation Army personnel in the Peoples Republic of China.

All serving and former personnel are already subject to the Official Secrets Act, and we are reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements across Defence, while the new National Security Bill will create additional tools to tackle contemporary security challengesincluding this one, the spokesperson said.

According to the BBC, a spokesperson from MOD in a press briefing said there was no evidence that any of the recruited pilots had broken the Official Secrets Act or that they had committed any crime.
President Joe Biden (R) and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young at the Roosevelt Room of the White House on May 4, 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Biden Admin Regulations Will Cost Hundreds of Billions, Add 200 Million Hours of Paperwork: Think Tank

After nearly two years in power, the Biden administration has pushed forth regulations that will cost Americans hundreds of billions of dollars and require an army of bureaucrats to crunch the related paperwork, according to a tally by the conservative American Action Forum (AAF).

The first two years of an administration usually see a quieter regulatory climate, since it takes time to draft and implement new rules, according to Dan Bosh, AAFs director of regulatory policy.

As of Oct. 14, the Biden administration lagged its predecessors regarding the number of finalized rules; President Joe Bidens 436 pales in comparison to President Barack Obamas 625 and even President Donald Trumps 483.

In terms of regulatory burden, however, Biden has no competition. His new regulations will cost nearly $310 billion to put into practice, while Obamas were estimated to cost just above $200 billion, and Trumps were expected to cut costs by about $3 million.

Meanwhile, Bidens regulations added the burden of an estimated 193 million annual office hours of paperwork. Thats almost 2 1/2 times the burden added by the Obama administration in its first 22 months and 443 times what the Trump administration added in the same period.

The Biden administration was able to quickly run up the regulatory tab partly by reversing much of Trumps deregulation, particularly car emissions rules that were proposed by Obama and then scrapped by Trump. That package alone is estimated to cost some $180 billion.

Another hefty rule requires companies to report their beneficial owners, meaning people who own at least 25 percent of a company or exercise significant control over it. Requiring more than 30 million companies to provide the names, addresses, birthdays, and photo ID of all such persons will cost more than $22 billion in the first year (2024) and as much as $84 billion over a decade, according to Federal Registry records.

On the other hand, Biden also tossed out some costly Trump rules. Trumps public charge rule that denied immigration benefits to some people who used or were expected to use some forms of welfare was expected to cost over $350 million to implement. The rule got tied up in courts until Biden abandoned it.

The cost estimates are produced by the federal bureaucracy itself and so are likely to be underestimations, according to Bosh. Its difficult to gauge how the costs will play out in reality, and the government isnt of much help on the issue.

They dont do a good job evaluating their regulations to see if the cost estimate was accurate, Bosh said.

But they also dont do a good job of even just looking to see, Did we actually accomplish what we said the goal of the regulation was?

While there are some requirements for retrospective review, theyre poorly structured and lack penalties for noncompliance, so theres little incentive for agencies to perform the reviews, he said.

The Biden administration has yet to confirm its regulatory czar at the Office of Management and Budget. When that position is filled, perhaps by the end of the year or early next year, the regulatory machine is expected to crank up a notch.

By not having that role filled yet  I think they really held themselves back on the number of rules that they can put out, Bosh said, noting that this is surprising for an administration that openly stated its plan to use regulatory authority to the maximum extent possible.

The most prominent rules would be likely to drop next year, Bosh said.

This is typically when we would see heightened regulatory activity, he said.

One regulation already in the pipeline would impose carbon emission reductions on power plants, which Bosh said is likely to impose a significant economic burden that would translate into higher electricity prices. The government, however, would need to find a way around this years Supreme Court decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency that restricted the governments avenues to regulating carbon emissions.

Another expected rule would impose stricter methane emission restrictions on the oil and gas industry, putting further pressure on gasoline pricesa hot-button voter issue.
President Joe Biden announces student loan relief with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona (R) in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Aug. 24, 2022. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

Bidens Student Debt Relief

Student loan relief raises questions of equity and more

Commentary

President Joe Biden has offered student debtors some relief. Legal challenges question whether he has the authority to make such a financial commitment. However, even if the White House prevails in court, arguments pro and con will still matter, especially as the nation approaches this years midterm elections and the 2024 presidential contest.

Heres what the White House plans. It would extend to Dec. 31 the existing pause in student loan repayments. It would give up to $20,000 of debt forgiveness to all Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 in forgiveness to non-Pell Grant recipients with incomes up to $125,000 a year and married couples with incomes up to $250,000 a year. Debtors who work for certain nonprofits, in the military, or for federal, state, tribal, or local governments can have their student debt forgiven entirely through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Though Biden has yet to account for how much this relief will deny federal coffers, the prestigious Penn-Wharton Model estimates that figures could exceed $1 trillion.

While the White House argues for this action in terms of the urgent needs of some 45 million young Americans burdened by some $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt, questions nonetheless arise in three areas: the value of a program that effectively pushes many young people into college, matters of equity, and whether this approach gets to the root of the problem.

The first of these objections effectively takes exception to the White House assertion that college is, in the words of its own fact sheet, a ticket to a middle-class life. If the degree were, in fact, such a ticket, the debt wouldnt seem so onerous to so many. This grim reality causes many to raise the counterargument that many who presently attend college would do better in trade schools or apprenticeship programs. From this perspective, debt forgiveness only fosters a dysfunctional pattern.

Activist Melissa Byrne speaks during a press conference held to celebrate President Joe Bidens plan to cancel student debt, in Washington on Sept. 29, 2022. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for We, The 45 Million)

Then, there are questions of equity. One part of these objections considers those who saved for college or have already paid down a significant portion of their debt. Forgiveness laughs at their sacrifice. Those who set themselves up in a business or a trade might question why Washington isnt helping them.

Nor does debt forgiveness consider future students. To be sure, part of the White House order would limit the amount of debt service to 5 percent of a debtors discretionary income and ensure that debt couldnt grow as a portion of the borrowers income.

But these provisions fall far short of whats being offered to existing debtors.

A full consideration of equity would also have to go beyond the apportion of benefits and consider who pays. Because the debt is owed to the government, forgiveness would deny the budget a source of revenue. Debt relief would then burden all taxpayers. Those who have already paid down their debt would not only miss the benefit, but also see a federal budget much less able to provide other services they might need.

Such a constrained budget would make it hard for others still less fortunate to argue for the services they need, many of them low-income people who never even considered college, perhaps for financial reasons. A single mother supporting her family off a meager paycheck might prefer that Washington extend food stamp subsidies rather than give up revenue for the sake of credentialed college graduates.

None of these alternatives are necessarily more worthy than helping indebted students, but a consideration of fairness surely demands that people weigh these aspects of the debt forgiveness question.

The final set of objections takes up the root of the problem, which, as the White House material itself points out, is the rapidly rising cost of college. Many have argued that the easy terms of student lending have facilitated price increases at private and public educational institutions alike. In this, the debt has benefitted college administrations and faculties more than anyone.

This presidential order would shift the burden for those benefits to taxpayers from the students. Still, the fuel for college cost increases would remain and continue to benefit those in administrations and faculties, possibly the most privileged people in the nation.

Its easy to want to help young people struggling with their finances, especially because many were duped into believing that their course of study would enable them to discharge the debt more easily than it has.

This order, however well-intentioned, also has significant drawbacks, as is almost always the case with public policy matters. These drawbacks are legitimate and need to be aired even if, in the end, the order proceeds, and the population has to accept it.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Venezuelan migrants walk after been deported by U.S. authorities at El Chaparral crossing port of entry in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on Oct. 13, 2022. Mexico agreed to accept deported Venezuela migrants from the United States, authorities announced Oct. 12. (Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images)

Bidens Cynical New Border Policy

Commentary

SAN ANTONIO, TexasAfter refusing to do anything substantive about stopping the flood of migrants entering the country illegally, President Biden has acted, sort of. Only a cynic would say his order to deport certain Venezuelans, but not migrants from 40 other nations, is timed to influence the November election.

Call me a cynic.

The administration plans to invoke Title 42, a rule created during the Trump administration and one Biden denounced for inflicting cruelty and exclusion on those fleeing the government of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. The new/old policy is intended to block single adult male Venezuelans from entering when they claim asylum.

That wont stop them or anyone else from crossing the Rio Grande River and other points. Suppose the single adult male claims to be married? What if he is carrying a baby he claims is his? Most immigrants crossing our southern border lack documentation so how will any of their statements be validated?

Customs and Border Protection says it encountered nearly 204,000 people at the border last month and more than 2 million in all of fiscal 2022. This doesnt count the gotaways, estimated by Border Patrol to be nearly 600,000.

George Rodriguez is an American of Mexican descent who lives in San Antonio and regularly visits local migrant centers. He also worked in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations on community relations and immigration outreach.

Rodriguez, who vehemently opposes the open border policy of the Biden administration, thinks his fellow Americans should look beyond the crisis to the future impact of massive migration. These include, he says, a continuing disrespect for the law; the burden on the public school system, students, and taxpayers; the need for special education and Spanish-speaking teachers for immigrant children; welfare, disability payments, and health and medical services.

Rodriguez worries that many of those who have entered the country illegally will not be fully assimilated. He fears that should Republicans regain power in Congress and the presidency they may not finish the border wall and deport those who broke the law to get here for fear of the media calling them racists and inhumane.

He is also critical of two major Spanish-speaking television networksTelemundo and Univisionwhich, he says, defend those coming across the border and influence migrants already here.

Wont massive deportationif it occursbe seen as cruel by many Americans, because that is the way the media is likely to frame it? Rodriguez is adamant: Anytime you excuse illegal activity, you get more of it. He thinks deporting those who broke the law to get to Americaregardless of how long they have been here and even if their children were born hereis the best deterrent.

Rodriguez has other questions he thinks must be addressed. These include whether law enforcement will be allowed to track alien criminals? Will the cartels be designated terrorist organizations because of the fentanyl pouring into the country killing young Americans? Will some district attorneys continue to put social justice ahead of public safety? Will unskilled, unemployed migrants turn to crime like the Salvadoran gangs of the 1980s?

All of theseand moreare good questions. Will Republicans answer them in ways that in the words of the Constitution provide for the common defense (and) promote the general welfare?

President Bidens cynical response to the border crisis by ordering out single male Venezuelans will not stop migrants coming from 40 other countries.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The contenders for the Conservative Party leadership contest (L to R): Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, and Penny Mordaunt pictured outside Downing Street in October 2020 and October 2022. (PA)

Boris Johnson Could Make Comeback as UK PM Contest Becomes 3-Horse Race

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace rules himself out of the running

Boris Johnson could make a bid to resume the role of prime minister as the Conservative Party faces its second leadership contest this year, following the resignation of Liz Truss on Thursday.

He could potentially face former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, and ex-trade minister Penny Mordaunt in a vote by MPs on Monday.

Johnson resigned in July after a string of government ministers resigned, saying they no longer had confidence in him following his handling of the scandal involving Chris Pincher, who was allowed to stay on as a government whip despite sexual misconduct allegations against him.

He is thought to be on holiday in the Caribbean and has not made any comment on his future, but a number of Conservative MPs have come out in support of his candidature.

On Thursday Jane Hunt, MP for Loughborough, wrote on Twitter: Just to make my feelings known publicly, they havent changed. Im backing Boris!

She was joined on Friday by Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, who wrote on Twitter, Im backing Boris.

The former Culture Secretary, Nadine Dorries, told Sky News: He is a known winner and that is certainly who Im putting my name against because I want us to win the general election. Having a winner in place is what the party needs to survive.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who had been considered a dark horse for the Conservative Party leadership contest, has ruled himself out and called for the winner to make investment in the armed forces and intelligence agencies.

In a veiled reference to Russia, Wallace wrote on Twitter, I am privileged to be the UK Defence Secretary and the current threat requires stability in that office.

I will be looking to all candidates to recognise that you cannot have economic security at home without national security, Wallace added.

Britains Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace poses for a group picture on the second day of a NATO Defence Ministers meeting at the NATO Headquarter in Brussels on Oct. 13, 2022. (Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images)

Truss pipped Mordaunt to make the final two in the summers leadership contest and then defeated Sunak, and it now looks as if it might be a three-horse race between Sunak, Mordaunt, and Johnson.

Mordaunt was appointed as leader of the Commons by Truss but was overlooked for one of the key Cabinet ministerial jobs.

Truss refused to even give Sunak a Cabinet job and he has watched Trusss disastrous 40-day premiership as a silent observer. He has not done any newspaper interviews and has not written anything on Twitter since Sept. 8, when he paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Mordaunt is reportedly taking soundings from MPs about the prospects of her winning the contest.

Her lack of experience could count against her in a contest with Johnson and Sunak, especially considering the poor performance of Truss, who had held several important ministerial roles including foreign secretary but showed little knowledge of how her policies would be greeted by the financial markets.

Sunak refused to answer questions from journalists as he left his home on Friday morning but several Tory MPs have pledged their support for him.

Sunak Is Man With the Experience and Skill: MP

Gary Streeter, MP for South West Devon, gave his support to Sunak and wrote on Twitter: Now we have a chance to put the UK back on track. I will be supporting the man with the experience and skill to sort out public finances and lead an effective and competent government. 

Sunak also has the backing of ministers Robert Jenrick and Claire Coutinho, and backbenchers Guy Opperman, Siobhan Baillie, Angela Richardson, and Robin Walker.

Under the rules set out by Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, and Conservative Party Chairman Jake Berry, nominations will close at 2 p.m. on Monday and candidates have to have the support of at least 100 of the partys 357 MPs in order to make it onto the ballot.

Conceivably Sunak, Mordaunt and Johnson  or a third candidate, like Suella Braverman or Kemi Badenoch  could all get 100 votes, which would mean there would have to be a ballot of MPs on Monday afternoon, with the final two making it onto the ballot.

Members of the party will be asked to vote online, with the winner and new Prime Minister being announced on Friday, October 28.

The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, called for an immediate general election and said the return of Johnson, who he said was considered unfit for office by his own MPs in July just added insult to injury for voters.

But with the Tories trailing Labour in the opinion polls, the new leader and Prime Minister is unlikely to want to call an election for at least 12 months and does not have to call one until January 2025 at the latest.
Gregory Wrightstone, executive director of the CO2 Coalition, in an interview for EpochTVs Crossroads program on Sept. 28, 2022.(Screenshot/The Epoch Times)

Carbon Dioxide, Blamed for Climate Change, Is Actually Beneficial to Earth and Life: Expert

Carbon dioxide, or CO2, which is characterized as a damaging pollutant by mainstream media and progressive politicians, is hugely beneficial to Earth and life on the planet, an expert has said.

Gregory Wrightstone is executive director of the CO2 Coalition, a nonprofit organization with a mission to educate about the role of CO2 in the environment, including making the earth green and helping crops to thrive.

Plants process CO2, water, and sunlight into nutrients and oxygen. The abundance of CO2 helps plants to retain more water so they need less watering, Wrightstone said in a recent interview for EpochTVs Crossroads program.

This leads to higher soil moisture, thus helping to reduce fires around the world, he said. There were many more fires during the 1920s and 1930s than there are today, he added.

According to NASA Earth Observatorys report, the area burned each year globally between 2003 and 2019 decreased by roughly 25 percent.

A scientific paper published by Science in 2017 asserted that agricultural expansion and intensification were primary drivers of declining fire activity.

Another paper published in Nature stated that tree cover had increased globally by about 7 percent during the period from 1982 to 2016.

Benefits of Warm Climate

A photo of planet Earth from NASAs Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on the DSCOVR satellite on Sept. 11, 2018. (NASA Earth Observatory)

The combination of modest warming and increased CO2 brings many benefits to human civilization, Wrightstone said. The warming allows longer growing seasons.

Looking back at several thousand years of human history, there were three warming periods, Wrightstone said, and each of those warming periods were warmer than today, but the level of carbon dioxide was much lower.

Each one of these warming periods was hugely beneficial for mankind. Life was good, food was bountiful, great civilizations and empires arose, he said.

The first great warming period, called the Minoan warm period, occurred during the Bronze Age, Wrightstone said.

The first great civilizations that rose up during that period were the Minoans, the Hittites, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians, and then the earth started getting cold, Wrightstone explained.

All of those civilizations crashed and cratered at about the same time related to this cold. It was called the late Bronze Age collapse, he said.

We see that repeated time and time again, Wrightstone said. Warm periodbeneficial. Cold periodcrop failure, famine, pestilence, and mass depopulation.

The Minoan Civilization was established in the Mediterranean and Near East around 3000 B.C. and lasted until its sudden collapse around 1100 B.C.

During the second warming period, the Roman warm period, the Romans were growing citrus in the north of England near Hadrians Wall, Wrightstone said, and in the time of the medieval warm period, the most recent one, people were growing barley in Greenland, which cannot be grown there now.

We should fear the cold and welcome the warm. Thats what history tells us.

Earths Ideal Temperature

Wrightstone mentioned Michael Mann, a professor of earth and environmental science at Penn State University, who said the ideal temperature for the earth would be the temperature before humans started adding CO2 to the atmosphere.

That would bring the world back to the period before the Industrial Revolution during the Little Ice Age, which was horrific, Wrightstone said.

The Little Ice Age was a limited but substantial cooling period commencing in the 13th or 14th century to the 19th century that affected the Northern Hemisphere.

During that period, half the population of Iceland perished, a third of the population of the world perished. It was a very very bad, dark time for the earth as we see through the other previous cold periods, Wrightstone explained.

CO2 Level

Before the Industrial Revolution, the CO2 level in the air was probably about 280 to 300 parts per million (ppm), but right now, its at about 420 ppm, Wrightstone said, so it increased by 140 ppm.

That flies in the face of this idea that carbon dioxide is driving temperature increases, Wrightstone said. During the cold periods in history, carbon dioxide level was relatively flat, he pointed out.

Wrightstone also argued that natural gas is a clean energy because the byproducts of its burning are mainly water vapor and carbon dioxide, both very beneficial molecules, he said.

The United Nations, however, is pushing for the reduction of global emission of CO2 to be as close to zero as possible, with the goal of net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050. The stated purpose is to limit the global temperature from increasing more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels in order to prevent global warming.

President Joe Bidens plan is to reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050.

Therefore, natural gas, fossil fuels, and coal are being characterized as a primary cause of climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions, Wrightstone said. As a result, the capital markets are retreating from oil, gas, and coal projects.

However, Wrightstone pointed out that clean coal-burning plants can be built where the only thing [that] comes out the smokestack is carbon dioxide and water vaporneither of which is a pollutant.

There is energy poverty in the developing world where people dont have access to electricity and must use dried dung and wood to cook and heat their homes, Wrightstone said. We can give them low-cost, reliable, abundant energy from clean-burning coal.

The U.N. reported that 789 million people are living without electricity, and 3 billion people rely on wood, coal, charcoal, or animal waste for cooking and heating.

Real Environmental Issues

Wrightstone advocates that money allocated to eliminate CO2 emissions would be better spent to deal with really serious environmental issues, such as invasive species and sea levels rising.

The invasive species, like cheatgrass, are one of the main causes of the fires in Oregon and California, Wrightstone said. A lot of those fires are actually grass fires that destroyed communities.

Cheatgrass is an annual grass that has the potential to completely alter the ecosystems it occupies, according to the National Park Service.

Cheatgrass tends to burn more frequently than most native plants and also re-sprouts more quickly after fire, the National Park Service said. After a number of fire cycles cheatgrass dominates the ecosystem.

Another environmental issue that requires attention is sea level rise, Wrightstone said.

But its been rising long before we started adding CO2 and its rising at about the same rate as it did 150 years ago, he said. Its not accelerated.

Ella Kietlinska Reporter Follow Ella Kietlinska is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on U.S. and world politics.
Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback speaks at the Department of State in Washington on June 21, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

CCP Lacks Confidence in Its Position: Former Ambassador Brownback

Former U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback said that the way the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) treats its people reveals a lack of confidence in their position and that the CCP is hurting Chinese peoples future.

In an interview with the Chinese Edition of The Epoch Times on Oct. 14, Brownback gave his view on the current situation in China, the CCPs criminal practice of forced organ harvesting, and the Quit the CCP movement.

Brownback commented on the CCPs 20th national congress convening on Oct. 16: you have a major party convention, but theres no freedom for people to come forward to talk about or debate any issues. Its a dictatorship. [CCP chief] Xi Jinping ruthlessly puts down anybody that speaks against what he says.

Xis leadership is going back to more of the hardline communist Mao type of governance and is particularly harmful to the Chinese people. I think it really reveals a lack of confidence in how they view their position as government of China.

Brownback went on to say that: the situation in Hong Kong has been horrific. The 90-year-old Cardinal Zen, who has been an honorable man and a key spiritual leader in Hong Kong for decades, is being tried on ridiculous chargesfallacious charges!

Those actions speak volumes of what the CCP thinks of human rights and individual rights.

Completely Different Systems

Brownback considers religious freedom hugely significant when it comes to U.S.China relations.

We are just completely different systems. The United States is a very faith-oriented nation. Our motto is In God we trust. The CCP is anti-religion. They are at war with everything. They decimate groups like the Falun Gong, or the Tibetan Buddhist, or the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, or the Christians.

The CCP signed the United Nations Charter of Human Rights, but they dont provide it to their own people at all, the former ambassador said.

I think the American people have realized the evil of the CCP and the government is coming around now to break these ties with China. But a number of corporations in the United States are connected with China and dont want to walk away from it.

As China continues to align itself with Russia, Iran, those really rogue nations, and with other very dictatorial regimes, like North Korea, a new Cold War type of status between the United States and China is happening, he said.

Youre seeing the world split into two spheres again, like we had during the Cold War with the Soviets. And youre seeing that happening between the United States and China now.

CCP Stonewalling International Community on the Issue of Forced Organ Harvesting

A peer-reviewed study published in a top U.S. medical journal revealed evidence of Chinese physicians acting as executioners by procuring organs from living people and killing the so-called donor in the process. The lucrative transplant business in China has been fueled by such practices.

Brownback said he has been tracking this issue for 15 years: the Chinese government is allowing these physicians to do something thats internationally deemed illegal, immoral and unethical.

The body of evidence keeps building. Independent commissions came forward saying this is happening; more medical professionals said this is taking place.

But the Chinese government continues to stonewall the international community. They dont want to open up their records, dont want to open up their hospitals where these transplants took place; they dont allow independent investigators in to examine whats taking place, he said.

Brownback thinks that the U.S. government should conduct its own investigation and the international community should pass laws to address CCPs crimes in forced organ harvesting from living people.

Quit the CCP Movement Good for the World

From 2017 to 2021, Brownback served as U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, a key position at the State Department to defend religious freedom and human rights worldwide.

When asked which of his jobs was the most important, he once said: Ive been a congressman, a senator, a governor, but this is the most important job, because its about billions of people around the world. The United States is the main country to stand up and fight for their religious freedom.

Brownback and his wife have 3 children of their own and 2 adopted childrenone from China. He said, I love the Chinese people and one of our children is adopted from China, a wonderful daughter in our family. Theyre wonderful and talented people, but the government is holding them back and is really hurting them.

The Quit the CCP movement is a grassroots movement for the Chinese people to sever their ties to the CCP and its affiliated organizations. It started organically in 2005 after The Epoch Times published the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, an editorial series that reveals the CCPs history of killing and its lies. Through this movement, Chinese people renounce their membership in the CCP and its organizations, effectively removing the vow, which ties their fate to that of the CCP.

Such a movement would be good for the Chinese people, Brownback said. Itd be good for the world. If you had a more open society that wasnt so threatening to others, that would be much healthier for the world.

He believes that such a movement could bring a better future for the Chinese people.

We would also see an explosion of growth in China. If you had a free open system to China, with the capacities of the Chinese people, they would have a huge upscale growth taking place, said Brownback.

I really think theyre currently being limited by their own governance.

Sherry Dong contributed to this report.
Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader of the British Conservative Party, and Bob Chan, the Hongkonger who was dragged into the Chinese Consulate, at a press conference in London on Oct. 19, 2022. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinas Diplomat Gets Violent

The consul general reportedly attacked a protester in England

Commentary

On Oct. 16, one of Chinas consul generals in England reportedly stormed through a group of pro-democracy protesters in Manchester, kicking and tearing down posters, and pulling a man by the hair onto the consulate grounds. There, a consulate enforcement squad, some of whom wore riot gear, brutally beat the protester.

The victim came from Hong Kong, which, since 1997, has suffered under Beijings rule.

The protest coincided with the opening of the twice-a-decade Chinese Communist Party (CCP) congress in Beijing, where Xi Jinping was expected to be given an unprecedented third term.

Earlier in the day, Xi made a triumphalist and combative speech, calling on Chinese officials to show fighting spirit in their work. The consul general was probably watching.

The violence by diplomats, who thereafter emerged from the consulate, targeted art depicting Xi as an emperor who wears no clothes. The artist depicts Xi admiring himself with the false belief that he represents 1.4 billion Chinese people.

The consul general suspected in the violence, Zheng Xiyuan, wore a beret and was accompanied by thugs who attempted to bring the banner of Xi back into the consulate.

A scuffle broke out to retrieve it, and a protester was dragged onto the consulate grounds while one of the thugs was kicked on the ground. Zheng was filmed pulling the protester, Bob Chan, into the compound by his hair, after which he was beaten by the thugs.

Chan called the violence barbaric.

Hongkongers holding a rally outside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester, UK, were dragged into the consulate and beaten by the staff, on Oct. 16, 2022. (Screenshot of Hong Kong Indigenous Defense Force)

Eventually, one officer heroically entered the consulate grounds to halt the beating and retrieve the protester.

During a Sky News interview that followed, the consul general was asked about the hair-pulling, which he initially didnt deny, saying it was an emergency situation in which he tried to protect his colleagues life. Then, he claimed not to have attacked anybody. When confronted with the photographic evidence of hair-pulling, he said the victim abused my country, my leader, and that its my duty as it would be for any diplomats, if faced with such kind of behavior.

Chan later told the BBC: Its ridiculous. They [the attackers] shouldnt have done that. We are supposed to have the freedom to say whatever we want here [in the UK].

Another eyewitness told CNN that the consul general was out of his mind and he wasnt thinking before act[ing].

British government ministers are being accused, including by members of their own Conservative Party, of a totally inadequate response to the violence.

Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said the government should tell Chinas diplomats that if they do not follow [British] rules, they get expelled.

Natalie Bennett, a Green Party peer, wrote on Twitter, Those in the consulate responsible must not be allowed to remain in the UK and China must apologise.

Manchester is the latest incident of Beijings wolf warrior diplomacy gone mad and now combined with its transnational repression. The CCP appears to simultaneously encourage this behavior among its diplomats and then cover it up when it causes outrage abroad.

Bob Chan, the Hong Kong resident who was involved in the Chinese Consulate in Manchester incident, held his first public press conference in London on Oct. 19, 2022. He said at a conference that he was dragged into the Chinese consulate and beaten by several men, causing him to be hospitalized with injuries. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)

Beijing has established 54 secret police stations around the world, according to the nongovernmental organization Safeguard Defenders, including in New York; Toronto; Tokyo; Paris; London; Dublin; Rome, Athens, Greece; Frankfurt, Germany; Madrid; and Amsterdam.

They supposedly target transnational crime, which is broadly defined by the Chinese regime to include some free speech at odds with CCP dogma, including that practiced in Manchester. Like the Manchester violence, they invite an illegitimate use of force on foreign soil by an illegitimate government.

Family members of those targeted are intimidated to persuade the targets to return to China, where they could face torture, imprisonment, or worse, according to Safeguard Defenders.

From April 2021 to July 2022, the regime arrested 230,000 people, mostly from Southeast Asia, according to the NGO.

These operations eschew official bilateral police and judicial cooperation and violate the international rule of law, and may violate the territorial integrity of third countries involved in setting up a parallel policing mechanism using illegal methods, the report states.

That sounds like Manchester.

No person, regardless of diplomatic status, should have the right to commit violence without consequence against those conducting free speech activities.

Beijings international thuggery and police violence must end. The CCP is illegitimateand so is its extension of thuggery around the world.

Any of Chinas consul generals who see it as their duty to limit free speech in their host countries through violence or other means should be sent home. Allowing CCP thugs to masquerade as diplomats representing 1.4 billion Chinese people just buys into their lies and empowers their crimes.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A member of the U.S. military receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Camp Foster in Ginowan, Japan, on April 28, 2021. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Coast Guard Used Digital Tool to Aid in Efficiently Denying Vaccine Exemptions, GOP Lawmakers Allege

Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Oct. 18 sent a letter to Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda L. Fagan to request a briefing on the Coast Guards process for reviewing religious accommodation exemption applications to the Pentagons COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The GOP lawmakers said in the letter that they had received information that indicates that the adjudication process for exemption applications was a pro forma exercise designed to reach predetermined conclusionsto deny requests and appealsin nearly every single case.

Rather than focusing on the individual merits of each accommodation request, the letter alleged, the Coast Guard created a digital tool to assist in more efficiently denying appeals.

This accusation came after a leaked internal memo in June by the Pentagons acting inspector general which found a trend of generalized assessments rather than the individualized assessment that is required by Federal law and DoD and Military Service policies.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who signed the letter, told The Epoch Times that the U.S. Constitution and federal law protect the religious rights of service members.

He described the Coast Guards alleged mass rejection of religious exemption requests with the help of a digital tool as unacceptable.

The GOP lawmakers said in the letter that out of more than 1,300 exemption requests received, [l]ess than a handful of these requests were ultimately approved, and all of those approvals were for service members who were already scheduled to separate from service.

In particular, they noted the use of a computer-generated form-filler tool to help with the dismissal of appeals of accommodation request denials as troubling.

The Religious Accommodations Appeal Generator allowed Coast Guard adjudicators to select from a pre-populated list of two dozen possible religious objections or noted defects that applicants had raised in the initial dismissal decision, the letter stated. By clicking the Submit button, a dismissal letter populated and provided a predetermined reason why that argument was insufficient to overcome a denial it added.

This tool permitted adjudicators to quickly dispose of appeals without considering their merits, even when legitimate defects in the initial decision were identified, the letter stated.

Biggs said, my colleagues and I in the House Oversight and Reform Committee demand answers and a briefing on this matter as soon as possible. Committee Republicans have requested a staff-level briefing with Fagan no later than Oct. 25.

In response to an inquiry about the letter from The Epoch Times, a media spokesperson for the branch said in an email: The Coast Guard takes its obligations to review and carefully consider each religious accommodation request filed by one of our members seriously. Every request received individualized review and analysis in accordance with law and Coast Guard policy.

Web of Deceit

Rocky Rogers, a Coast Guard IT chief with over 20 years of service who retired in August, told The Epoch Times about problems with the Coast Guards processing of exemption requests that he encountered before he left the service

He pointed to Commandant Instruction 1000.15 which states that the Office of Military Personnel Policy (CG-133) is the approval authority for all requests to be exempt from immunizations.

According to Rogers, the majority, if not all, commanders told their members who were seeking religious accommodation to forward their application through their local command rather than directly to CG-133. He is aware of other individuals who were allowed to act in place of CG-133 to help process applications with the apparent intention of making it a speedier process, he said.

I brought this exact issue to my direct supervisor and Command as it goes against Coast Guard policy for anyone other than CG-133 to process requests for religious accommodation, Rogers said. I was told that its not realistic for one person to process that many applications.

Rogers added that he was aware of requests going to multiple offices above the level of CG-133. Despite spreading the work around, it still took over the 30 to 60 day processing time for Coasties to receive acknowledgment of their submission, he said. The receipt of Rogers submission for religious accommodation was not acknowledged for 117 days.

Religious accommodation packages were sent to a shared mailbox, and many people had access to this shared mailbox, he said, adding that some were stationed at other units not associated with headquarters to help process applications.

The retired officer likened the Coast Guards handling of the requests to a web of deceit.

As of Oct. 18, the Coast Guard had received 1,250 religious accommodation requests, of which 12 had been approved, and 1,238 denied, according to a media spokesperson for the branch. Thats an approval rate of just under 1 percent

Rogers was not surprised by the denial of religious accommodation for 99 percent of applicants.

This goes against the Coast Guards core of valueshonor, respect, and devotion to duty, he said.

The revelations in the lawmakers letter about the Coast Guard using a digital tool to help with rejecting appeals, coupled with the findings of the inspector general memo that found that denial determinations didnt show consideration of the individual merits of the application, were telling, according to Rogers.

It makes perfect sense as to why the denials were so identical, he said. Its because the choices were already pre-determined.
Cost of Australias Tax Cuts to Increase by $11 Billion

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has said that the cost of the stage three tax cuts could reach over $250 billion (US$158 billion) as the government is trying to strike a balance in the federal budget.

According to new estimates, the tax cuts would reduce the governments tax revenue by $254 billion over a ten-year period, an increase of $11 billion compared to the previous forecast by the budget office.

The treasurer said that the federal budget would not include any new item when it was handed down on Oct. 25, which suggested that the government had already legislated the tax cuts.

Pressures to Scrap the Tax Cuts

As the budget release is approaching, the Labor government has faced pressures to scrap the stage three tax cuts, which it had promised to keep at the election.

Specifically, the Green Party has said the extra cost of $11 billion should be the reason for getting rid of the tax cuts.

Next weeks budget will be a statement of this governments priorities. It is still not too late to scrap the stage three tax cuts and invest in genuine, immediate cost of living relief, Greens senator Nick McKim said.

Independent senator David Pocock has also called on the government to abolish the stage three tax cuts. However, the Opposition said doing so would result in breaking an election promise.

Pedestrians move past the the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 18, 2022. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

However, economist Robert Carling, a senior fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies, who was the Executive Director, Economic and Fiscal at the New South Wales Treasury from 1998 to 2006, told The Epoch Times that the Labor government should go ahead with the stage three tax cuts.

He explained that it was not a stand-alone tax cut but part of a package that was being implemented in stages.

While stage three is of greater benefit to higher income earners, stages one and two were of greater benefit to lower and middle-income earners, Carling said.

He also mentioned that there were problems in the way the cost of the tax cuts was portrayed, as any costs in the budget could be made to look massive by adding them up over ten years.

The estimated cost of stage three is less than one percent of GDP per annum, Carling said.

Furthermore, the senior fellow noted that the tax cuts would bring about additional tax revenue from higher economic activities, which would offset part of the cost.

The cost of stage three is not a major issue for economic and fiscal management. And in any case, tax revenue continues to grow strongly notwithstanding that cost, Carling said.

Budget to Include Extra $6.4 Billion in Spending

On another topic, the treasurer said the budget would include an extra $6.4 billion in spending on some areas, such as health and COVID-related programs.

He added that the extra spending was due to the former Morrison government booby-trapping the budget with unavoidable expenditures.

However, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said Labor supported the Coalitions COVID-19 response measures when they were introduced.

Labor supported every dollar of that, and they promised, and they advocated at the time for another $80 billion of spending, Dutton told Sydney radio 2GB.

But in the last nine years, we have taken decisions to keep the economy strong. Without COVID, we would have gone back into surplus, Dutton said.
Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez stands during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Oct. 20, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

CRTC Head Is Confident About Managing Online News Bill Despite Challenges Ahead

The chair of Canadas broadcasting regulator says there will be challenges along the way but the body is well equipped to iron out the details of a bill that seeks to regulate online news.

Ian Scott, head of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, told a House committee that he has already sought input from other jurisdictions where similar laws are already in place, such as Australia.

Bill C-18 would require tech giants to negotiate deals to pay media outlets in order to make their news content available on major online platforms.

The CRTC would be able to develop regulations around how the framework is set up, investigate complaints and levy administrative penalties if parties contravene the law.

News organizations have been largely supportive of the bill but Google Canada said this week that it is too vague and could unintentionally open the door to misinformation and propaganda.

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is expected to testify at the committee later today.
Five people have been charged in the viral Mississippi daycare video case, in which an employee wearing a horror-film mask intentionally frightened children.

A Massachusetts woman was arrested for attacking officers with a swarm of bees. The deputies were trying to serve an eviction notice when they were met with protesters. Soon after, Susan Woods showed up towing bee hives.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made a pledge to Floridians after the CDC came to a decision on the immunization schedule for children on Oct. 20.

Topics in this episode include:

1. SCOTUS Rejects Challenge to Student Loan Forgiveness

2. Bannon Pushes Back on DOJ Sentence Recommendation

3. CDC Adds Covid Vax to Childrens Vaccine Schedule

4. DeSantis Makes Pledge in Reaction to CDC Recommendation

5. Stacey Abrams Tours Georgia

6. Woman Accused of Bee Swarm Assault

7. Viral Video From Mississippi Daycare Has Community Outraged

8. Pound Sterling Rallies After British PM Liz Truss Quits

9. Californias Severe Water Shortage

10. Coalinga, CA Buys Water for 2000 Percent Higher Price

11. Bringing Together the Young and Old

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DeSantis Versus Lockdowns: What the Data Reveals About Floridas COVID-19 Policies

Commentary

While many states remained locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Ron DeSantis took a drastically different approach in Florida. The exclusive documentary DeSantis: Florida vs. Lockdowns follows the journey of one governor standing against the mainstream COVID narrative. Presented by EpochTVs American Thought Leaders host Jan Jekielek, who traveled to Florida during the height of the pandemic to get the full story.

Florida Residents Love Freedom

DeSantis graduated from Yale before he attended Harvard law school. He served his country as a Seal Team legal adviser in Iraq and became the youngest governor of Florida in more than a century. Jekielek traveled across the diverse state to get a taste of the people and the current political sentiment. From the cities to the countryside, the film features Americans telling their immigration stories and sharing their love for America and freedom.

DeSantis describes himself as knee-jerk anti-communist. Jekielek, whose parents escaped communist Poland in the 70s, is also deeply moved by peoples stories of escape from communism. DeSantis explained that to people in Florida, tyranny does not seem distant like it might to those in other states. He also spoke about how the founders of the American Constitution held a vision for state autonomy to counter overreach from the federal government.

DeSantis Vows to Never Do Lockdowns Again

DeSantis has been the target of a barrage of media attacks revolving around Floridas COVID policies. Despite this, the governor has widespread support from diverse groups within his state. The lockdowns of Wuhan, China, in 2020 led governments worldwide to follow suit. While many states were still shut down, Florida was taking steps toward reopening, with DeSantis saying in a press conference, we will never do any of these lockdowns again. This came only one month after instituting the initial lockdown. DeSantis noted that the lockdowns were a panic-driven approach and a departure from what the scientific recommendations had traditionally been for pandemics.

Dr. Scott Atlas, a Public Health Policy Expert and Senior Fellow at Standford Universitys Hoover Institute, served as a key COVID adviser to DeSantis. According to Atlas, it was appropriate to shut down initially, given the information they had at that time. He believes most people bought into the extreme measures out of fear and because it was supposed to be temporary. The initial understanding was to lock the state down for 15 days to get their bearings and prevent hospitals from becoming overcrowded while they determined how to proceed. But Atlas notes that there was a dramatic shift in the goal: from preventing overcrowding to stopping cases. He says health policy experts shouldnt just look at the disease but must also look at the impact of what they do to mitigate the effects of the disease.

Protecting the Most Vulnerable Without Causing Harm to Others

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is a professor of medicine at Stanford University and public health policy adviser. He is the co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, which recommended a focused protection approach. This strategy is based on the fact that COVID-19 poses significantly more harm to the older population than the younger population and that the effects of lockdowns are devastating to public health. For older populations, COVID poses more risk than lockdowns. For younger age groups, the lockdowns proved more harmful than the disease itself. Because of this, Bhattacharya considers it immoral to subject the younger population to lockdowns. Atlas said, Theres a big reason why lockdowns were never recommended in prior pandemics. It is not true that people have the same risk for hospitalization. He gives examples of the tens of thousands of cases on college campuses early on in the COVID-19 pandemic. These cases induced excessive panic in the media but no perspective. Atlas cites that of the first 50,000 cases on college campuses, there were zero hospitalizations. Nevertheless, as the news kept tallying the case numbers, college campuses began shutting down. He said they were highlighting exceptions and throwing reason out the window.

Lockdowns Failed to Save the High-Risk

One of the main reasons these experts opposed the lockdowns was because the data showed the policy failed to save the elderly. Atlas said the elderly were destroyed and killed by the lack of enough prioritization and enough resources. He explained how public health resources were misallocated during the pandemic and how the lockdowns failed to stop the spread among the most vulnerable populations. For example, nursing home deaths comprised forty to fifty percent of all deaths. According to Atlas, the data showed all the cases in nursing homes came in from the staff in nursing homes, yet the recommendation was to test once per week. He said they should have been testing three or five times per week to prioritize the protection of the most high-risk. Fifteen days to slow the spread did not work, and DeSantis claimed it caused significant damage to people.

What Did DeSantis Do Differently?

In place of extreme lockdown measures, what did DeSantis do in Florida? The answer is simple: he made educated decisions based on accurate data that aimed to protect the vulnerable without harming the rest of the population. This EpochTV documentary shows recorded meetings of the governor going over current COVID-19 data in great detail. Examining the statistics and data with his policy experts, they worked to make decisions that would effectively protect the population. You dont have to be a medical scientist to understand the data, said Atlas. You just have to be a critical thinker. DeSantis was concerned about the harms of the virus and the lockdowns alike. Dr. Bhattacharya said when he spoke with DeSantis, he didnt recall citing an article that the governor had not already seen. Bhattacharya felt that the governor was more educated on the facts than his Stanford colleagues.

Protecting the most at-risk demographic was the primary concern for DeSantis. His policies focused on preventing the discharging of COVID positive patients back into nursing homes. DeSantis listened to the personal insights of family members and nursing home residents, guiding state policies accordingly.

Lockdowns Caused Excess Deaths

Atlas argued that the lockdowns did not just fail to stop the spread of COVID, but they also killed people. According to a CDC report, almost half of the patients in the United States who received chemotherapy skipped treatment during the lockdowns. Forty percent of people with an acute stroke were too afraid to call an ambulance. Thirty to 50 percent of heart attack patients did not come into the hospital. Eighty-five percent of live organ transplants did not get done during the two months of lockdowns.

One in four young adults reported serious thoughts of suicide. Atlas cited that 50 percent of people ages 18 to 24 said they were fearful of any social interaction. Over 300,000 child abuse cases during the pandemic lockdowns went undetected. Atlas called it an enormous tragedy, citing emails from people pleading with him to keep speaking out against the harms of the lockdowns. Many had family members who had died of suicide or attempted suicide.

With all this data readily available, why did Floridas policies differ so drastically from other states? Atlas points out that the burden of proof for the lockdowns should be on the states that implemented them. According to the data, Florida did the best regarding age-adjusted deaths for ages 65 and older. In addition, Florida performed better than over half the states on the total number of deaths from COVID. The economy also did better, with the unemployment rate two to three times higher in California than in Florida at the time of the documentary.

Censorship of Scientific Debate

Nevertheless, DeSantis bore the brunt of much hostility and criticism from the media. He has called out Big Tech for censoring round table discussions, pulling his videos off their platforms, and censoring scientists and doctors who deviated from the mainstream COVID narrative. Atlas spoke to the serious threat facing any who dared to speak the truth about the data. Its off the rails. This is not the way civilization should be. Bhattacharya said one side simply pretended to be correct and called the other side dangerous. In reality, the scientific community had many different opinions on what measures were appropriate and effective. Sadly, people werent allowed to hear the different views.

Bhattacharya said, if you are going to censor scientific debate, you might as well not do science at all, calling the one-sided narrative absolutely shocking. DeSantis said censorship is a telltale sign that the narrative is about enforcing orthodoxy, not about the facts. Interestingly, Floridas approach never centered around herd immunity but advocated for protecting those at risk without harming those not at risk.

Floridas Pandemic Legacy: Common Sense, Traditional Values, and Freedom

How did Western governments go from an alleged commitment to fundamental liberties to draconian measures such as lockdowns, censorship, and medical mandates? DeSantis said many leaders made mistakes but will never admit they were wrong. In Florida, they combatted COVID to the degree they could without causing further damage. DeSantis says he doesnt mind taking criticism for his policies because thats what the role of a leader is. He said he would rather people swing at him than have the residents of his state suffer. The governors philosophy is that a leaders job is not to impose mandates and lockdowns but to listen, collaborate, and protect.

As a result, Jekielek found the state of Florida to be a breath of fresh air during the COVID-19 pandemic. DeSantiss deep respect for the American Constitution and those who have fought to preserve freedom made him willing to fight and protect it. While much of the world was afraid and shut down, the EpochTV documentary shows Floridas businesses were open. Contrary to what the mainstream media predicted, Floridas legacy in the aftermath of the pandemic appears to be common sense, traditional values, and the desire to live the American dream.

Watch DeSantis: Florida vs. Lockdowns on Epoch Cinema here.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Edmonton Police Chief Dale McFee talks during an interview in Edmonton on Dec. 14, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Jason Franson)

Edmonton Police Chief Says Feds Handgun Freeze Could Result in Increased Crime in Short-Term

Edmonton Police Service Chief Dale McFee is warning MPs that the federal governments proposed handgun transfer freeze legislation could actually increase crime in the short-term.

McFee testified on Oct. 20 at the House of Commons Public Safety Committee which is studying Bill C-21, proposed legislation to further restrict access to handguns in Canada.

Theres things that we support and theres some things that we have some serious concern with, McFee said.

Bill C-21 would put a freeze on the sale, purchase, or transfer of handguns in Canada.

McFee said the belief is that a handgun freeze would reduce the number of handguns in circulation in the long run, but in the short-term those wanting to acquire guns will find alternatives, increasing incidences of smuggling, 3D printing, and conversion of airsoft guns.

This may also increase the commodity value and motivate individuals, including lawful firearms owners, to sell their own handguns, McFee told MPs.

Approximately 20,000 handguns have been purchased since the bill was announced, while 12,000 handgun transfer applications are still waiting to be processed, McFee said.

He added that most of the powers proposed under the bills Red Flag Law already exist under Section 117 of the Criminal Code. The provision allows for the application of of an emergency weapons prohibition order in court to remove a persons firearms for up to 30 days if they pose a risk to themselves or others.

McFee also took aim at the federal governments gun buyback program, saying he shares concerns with other jurisdictions about how it will impact police resources.

Im not actually sure what the benefit might be, he said.

In recent weeks, the governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and New Brunswick have all said they dont want their limited police resources to act as confiscation agents for the program. As well, the Yukon Legislative Assembly adopted a motion to say that local RCMP resources shouldnt be used for the federal governments gun buyback program.

The governments buyback program is part of a 2020 legislation that bans more than 1,500 models of what it terms assault-style weapons, including AR-15s.

McFee said he supports the legislations provisions that intensify border controls and stronger penalties all beneficially deterring the criminal element.

The federal government says its gun control legislation will help reduce gun violence.

Were proposing some of the strongest measures in Canadian history to keep guns out of our communities and build a safer future for everyone, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in May when introducing Bill C-21.

This legislation will help to reduce gun violence and keep Canadians safe, said Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino also said the legislation will help to reduce gun violence and keep Canadians safe.

The Conservatives oppose these new measures, saying they dont solve the problem of gun crimes.

In a statement, Conservative MP Dane Lloyd said McFee confirmed what Conservatives have been saying all along.

C-21 does little to improve public safety and in fact could lead to many negative public safety outcomes, Lloyd told The Epoch Times.

We need real solutions to address the threat of illegally obtained firearms in the hands of gangs and criminals who use them to perpetuate violence in our communities. Not to attack law abiding firearms owners who present very little risk to public safety.
Embattled Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de Leon said he has no intention of resigning despite calls to step down by protesters, his fellow councilmembers, and even President Joe Biden.

De Leon is embroiled in a City Hall scandal in which he and two other councilmembers were recorded in a conversation making racist remarks and discussing how to game the citys redistricting process. During the 80-minute recorded conversation, key issues the city faces, like homelessness, education, and crime, never came up.



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EPA Opens Federal Civil Rights Investigation Into Mississippi Over Jackson Water Crisis

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Thursday it is opening an investigation into Mississippis role in Jacksons water crisis, including whether state agencies have discriminated against the majority-black capital city in not funding improvements to the citys failing water system.

In a letter (pdf) in response to a complaint filed on Sept. 27 by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the EPA said it will investigate whether the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the Mississippi State Department of Health had discriminated against the majority Black population of the City of Jackson on the basis of race in the funding of water infrastructure and treatment programs and activities, and whether the agencies have any safeguards to protect against discrimination.

More than 80 percent of the 150,000 residents of Jackson are black.

The civil rights complaint from the NAACP (pdf) alleged that the state of Mississippi discriminated against Jackson on the basis of race which resulted in not allotting Jackson federal funds to ensure safe drinking water. It sought for an immediate investigation into the use of federal funds related to drinking water in Jackson and to seek the rapid adoption of comprehensive enforcement remedies.

The civil rights investigation sought is known as a Title VI, which is a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits discrimination based on race or national origin under any program that gets federal funding.

A local worker pours water into a bucket to be used to flush toilets at Forest Hill High School in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 31, 2022. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

The NAACP praised the EPA for launching the investigation. We applaud the EPA, Administrator Regan, and the Biden Administration for taking this issue seriously and opening a federal civil rights investigation into the states racially discriminatory use of federal funds for the City of Jacksons water systems, Derrick Johnson, the NAACPs president, said in a statement. Johnson was named among several resident complainants in the NAACP civil rights complaint against Mississippi.

This action is only the first step, he added. NAACP and its partners will continue to press the Biden Administration and Congress to hold state officials accountable and ensure that Jackson officials and residents are active participants in the decision-making that will be required to fix the unacceptable problems with Jackons water.

Over 2 Weeks Without Reliable Water

EPAs announcement comes after leaders of two congressional committees informed Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (pdf) they are launching a joint investigation into Jacksons recent water crisis in late August and early September, which left residents and businesses in Jackson and surrounding areas without reliable access to safe drinking water for over two weeks.

Reeves, who is not being investigated by the EPA, said Thursday that the state took control of Jacksons water system because of absolute and total incompetence of the citys Democratic mayor and administration. The governors latest remarks are an escalation of a dispute between him and Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba over whether the state or the city will decide on a private firm to operate Jacksons water system.

They have proven that they have no ability to manage the water system, Reeves told reporters during an event at the Governors Mansion, according to a video of the event by WLBT-TV. Reeves added that the state has bought chemicals and hired workers for the water plant since he declared a state of emergency in late August after the city failed to do both of those things.

Melissa Payne, a city spokesperson, said Lumumba would not respond to the governors statements.

Members of the Mississippi National Guard hand out bottled water at Thomas Cardozo Middle School in response to the water crisis in Jackson, Miss., on Sept. 1, 2022. (Brad Vest/Getty Images)

Several Jackson residents have separately filed a class-action lawsuit against the city of Jackson, as well as the current and former mayors and city officials, and engineering companies, alleging that neglect on their part had caused the citys water supply to be completely shut down in late August.

Prior to the temporary shutdown of Jacksons water system, its resident had been told for a month to boil their water due to the water appearing cloudy, to ensure no disease-causing organisms. Hundreds of volunteers and National Guard members later joined in distributing drinking water to residents. The boil water notice has since been lifted; Reeves said the decision to lift it came after Mississippis health department collected 120 samples of water over two consecutive days and determined that clean water had been restored to Jackson.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This week, we feature a classic novel about a sailor seeking atonement and a prescription for American race relations by a highly respected doctor.

Fiction

Murder Among Soldiers

A Gentlemans Murder

By Christopher Huang

Only five years after The Great War, a murder occurs in a soldiers-only club. British veteran Lt. Eric Peterkin finds himself searching for answers among the elite and along the streets of London. This post-war mystery is sure to please lovers of detective stories.

Inkshares, 2018, 352 pages

An Endearing Novel of WWII

Mister Roberts: A Novel

By Thomas Heggen

Thomas Heggen takes us aboard the USS Reluctant, a supply ship in a Pacific backwater during the war, where we meet the tyrannical captain, watch the hilarious doings of the crew (especially Ensign Pulver), and come to admire the noble Lt. Roberts, who defends the crew from the captain and wants nothing more than to serve in combat. Heres a tale of the sea that offers laughter and maybe a few tears. Originally published in 1946, this story gave birth to a hit Broadway play and a popular movie.

Naval Institute Press, 2009, 224 pages

History

Spain Re-examined

Espana: A Brief History of Spain

By Giles Tremlett

Spain is traditionally cast as a villain in much of English (and U.S.) literature and history. This one-volume history of Spain, from its earliest days to the present, reveals a different Spain, one that made many unappreciated contributions to Western civilization. Punctuation, created by Isidore of Seville, is just one example. While its a sympathetic portrayal, it doesnt whitewash Spanish history. Lavishly illustrated, it unveils a history that more people should know about.

Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022, 320 pages

Biography

The Worlds Greatest Escape Artist

Houdini: The Elusive American

By Adam Begley

Erik Weisz is one of Americas most famous stage magicians. If his real name is unfamiliar, his stage name isnt: Harry Houdini. This biography traces Houdinis early years as he evolved into the worlds most famous escape artist. It reveals Houdini as a man with many interests. He became the first man to fly in Australia. He made movies. He unmasked fraudulent spiritualists and sought to top past achievements. This is a fabulous book.

Yale University Press, 2020, 232 pages

Social Science

Toward a More Perfect Union

Created Equal: The Painful Past, Confusing Present, and Hopeful Future of Race in America

By Dr. Ben Carson with Candy Carson

Dr. Ben Carson, former secretary of housing and urban development, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, and the former director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins is also a best-selling author. Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he shares keen insights on the past and offers an uplifting path forward.

Center Street, 2022, 272 pages

Classics

Seeking Redemption

Lord Jim

By Joseph Conrad

The Patna is sinking. On an impulse, the first mate, the idealistic Jim, leaps into a boat carrying most of the crew, deserting the religious pilgrims the ship is carrying. But the Patna doesnt sink, and Jim, like the others, is censured and disgraced for abandoning ship. This is an unforgettable study of a young man, his story told by the narrator Marlow, whos racked by guilt and hopes to restore his honor and prove himself to be a better person. Readers must judge for themselves as to whether Jim succeeds in his quest.

Wordsworth Editions Reprint, 1998, 304 pages

For Kids

Fun Story, Great Pictures

Pirates Arent Scared of the Dark!

By Maudie Powell-Tuck

Young Jack wants to camp out in the yard in his pirate tent for the first time and wants nothing to do with his sister Lily. A sweet story about sibling love and that scary night in the tent. This book is illustrated by Alison Edgson and is for ages 2 through 6.

Little Tiger Press, 2014, 32 pages

Warm and Charming

Little Bear

By Elsa Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak

Little Bear is a bit uneasy when his father is away, but his loving mother helps him through it. The book that inspired the lovely animated series is a gentle read that illustrates the joys of childhood and the warmth of family.

Harper Trophy reprint, 2003, 63 pages

Dustin Bass Follow Dustin Bass is the host of EpochTV's "About the Book," a show about new books with the authors who wrote them. He is an author and co-host of The Sons of History podcast

Jeff Minick Follow Jeff Minick lives and writes in Front Royal, Virginia. He is the author of two novels, Amanda Bell and Dust on Their Wings, and two works of nonfiction, Learning as I Go and Movies Make the Man.

Mark Lardas Follow Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, Texas. His website is MarkLardas.com

Anita L. Sherman Follow Anita L. Sherman is an award-winning journalist who has more than 20 years of experience as a writer and editor for local papers and regional publications in Virginia. She now works as a freelance writer and is working on her first novel. She is the mother of three grown children and grandmother to four, and she resides in Warrenton, Va. She can be reached at anitajustwrite@gmail.com
This week, we feature a couple of charming films: one about a singing crocodile and the other about a boy who discovers a magical world.

New Release

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile

This family-friendly movie introduces us to the Primm family: Mr. Primm (Scoot McNairy), Mrs. Primm (Constance Wu), and son, Josh (Winslow Fegley). When they move into a New York dwelling, Josh finds a singing crocodile in the attic, and the two become friends. However, their neighbor Mr. Grumps (Brett Gelman) wants the Primms to leave, so the family must band together.

Based on the childrens book, this charming movie is good, old-fashioned family fare. It has positive messages about friends and family, and it includes some fantastic tunes.

Animation | Adventure | Comedy

Release Date: Oct. 7, 2022

Directors: Josh Gordon, Will Speck

Starring: Scoot McNairy, Javier Bardem, Constance Wu

Runtime: 1 hour, 46 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG

Where to Watch: Theaters

Rated: 3.5 stars out of 5

Family Pick

The NeverEnding Story

Young boy Bastian (Barret Oliver) is a social misfit who, while hiding from a group of bullies in a bookstore one day, discovers a mysterious novel about a magical, dangerous land called Fantasia. The more he reads the book, the more he realizes that he may be linked to it.

This film has a certain something that stays with you long after youve watched it. Its simple yet uplifting storyline, its magical music, and its boy-turned-hero main character make it both a stunning cinematic experience and a heartfelt fairytale-like classic for older kids.

Adventure | Drama | Family

Release Date: July 20, 1984

Director: Wolfgang Petersen

Starring: Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach

Running Time: 1 hour, 42 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG

Where to Watch: HBO Max, DirecTV, Redbox

Rated: 4.5 stars out of 5

A Rip-Roaring, Blockbuster Adventure



Raiders of the Lost Ark

During the 1930s, the U.S. government tasks top archeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) with locating the biblical Ark of the Covenant, a relic of supreme power, which Adolph Hitler also wants. Jones must contend with a rival archeologist and Nazi agents in his quest.

Many consider this fast-paced adventure to be the most entertaining film of the 80s and one of the greatest adventure films of all time. With perilous situations, witty banter, and phenomenal action scenes, this is escapism at its finest.

Action | Adventure

Release Date: June 12, 1981

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman

Running Time: 1 hour, 55 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG

Where to Watch: DirecTV, Vudu, Redbox

Rated: 4.5 stars out of 5

A Rousing Adventure Epic

Gunga Din

A trio of British soldiers, Sgts. Cutter (Cary Grant), MacChesney (Victor McLaglen), and Ballantine (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), who are stationed in India, befriend local man Gunga Din (Sam Jaffe), who warns them of a revolt by a deadly cult.

This adventure epic isnt only expertly madewith a great script and actingbut has timeless messages about friendship and loyalty.

Adventure | Comedy | War

Release Date: Feb. 17, 1939

Director: George Stevens

Starring: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Victor McLaglen

Running Time: 1 hour, 57 minutes

Not Rated

Where to Watch: DirecTV, Amazon, Vudu

Rated: 4.5 stars out of 5
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, center, chairs the weekly College of Commissioners meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels on Sept. 28, 2022. (Virginia Mayo/AP Photo)

EU Leaders Harden Position on China, Move to Break Technology Dependency

Leaders from the European Union jointly expressed trepidation last week about Europes increasing economic dependence on China.

The foreign policy service of the EU said in a prepared statement on Oct. 21 that Chinas communist leadership should be considered a competitor thats promoting an alternative vision of the world order.

The hardening stance of European leaders against China comes amid increasing concerns that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping is taking the nation in a far more authoritarian direction.

Xi delivered a speech on Oct. 16 in which he vowed to never renounce the use of force against Taiwan, which he claims is part of China, and called for greater security measures in Chinas already immense state surveillance apparatus.

Hes now clinched a precedent-breaking third term in power, cementing his rule in the CCP as second in historical importance only to that of Mao Zedong.

EU Leaders Increasingly Wary of CCP



EU leaders have grown increasingly wary of the CCP since February, when Xi announced a no limits partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly before the latter ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

Russias war in Ukraine has forced many leaders in the EU to be more mindful of their nations dependencies, as much of Europes gas supply came from Russia. EU leaders now believe that they need to form a united front to prevent a similar circumstance from arising with China.

In the case of China, it is the risk of dependency on technologies and raw materials, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

She noted that the EU learned its lesson from Russia and would work to boost the production capacity of vital technologies and shift supply chains to more trustworthy suppliers.

Speaking outside of a meeting in Brussels, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin spoke similarly, saying that the EU would need to ensure that its supply of critical technologies isnt held hostage by the CCP in the same way that gas had been held hostage by Russia.

That doesnt mean there cant be any economic relations with China, but it means we shouldnt be building that kind of strategic and critical dependencies in an authoritarian country, Marin said. I think technology is key here. This might not be an issue today, but it certainly will be in the future.

Marin noted that the EU ought to promote stronger cooperation between democratic countries instead.

CCP Expansion Raises Fears About Port Deals



EU leaders discussion of the strategic problems posed by the CCP follows a push in the German government to reconsider some aspects of its trade relationship with China.

Germanys ruling coalition government is currently considering whether it will allow the Chinese state-owned company Cosco to take partial control of a port terminal in Hamburg, near the coast of the North Sea.

The German government is currently divided on the issue, which has become something of a weathervane for how far Germany may be willing to go in order to toughen up against its largest trading partner.

China has acquired a number of deepwater ports in foreign countries as part of its effort to gain control of global shipping routes and increase the reach of its navy. One such port is in the Solomon Islands. Another is in Greece.

Unlike those two ports, however, the Hamburg deal wouldnt result in China owning a majority stake in the entire port.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the EUs previous decisions to allow the sale of vital infrastructure to China were strategic errors.

Reuters contributed to this report.
A ship works offshore in the Baltic Sea on the natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 from Russia to Germany, on Nov. 11, 2018. (Bernd Wuestneck/dpa via AP)

European Gas Declines After Price Cap Proposal

Natural gas prices in Europe fell after the regions leaders agreed on measures to contain the energy crisis, including a proposal to set price caps.

European Union (EU) leaders called on the European Council and the European Commission to urgently submit decisions regarding a temporary dynamic price corridor on natural gas transactions to immediately limit episodes of excessive gas prices, according to a press release on Oct. 21. Dutch TTF gas futures were down by 10.89 percent, as of 11:22 a.m. EDT. In the year between Oct. 22, 2021, and Oct. 20, 2022, Dutch TTF gas prices have risen from 43.55 to 127.15, a jump of almost 300 percent.

The European Council and the European Commission are also expected to submit a new complementary benchmark by early next year that accurately reflects conditions of the gas market. They have to provide a temporary EU framework to cap the price of gas in electricity generation.

The organizations also must suggest measures to improve how energy markets function so as to eliminate factors that amplify gas price volatility, increase market transparency, and alleviate liquidity stress.

EU leaders are seeking proposals for voluntary joint purchasing of gas among nations in the region as well as energy solidarity measures to deal with gas supply disruptions at the Union, regional, or national levels.

While speaking to reporters, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed doubts about the price-cap measures, saying that it is very difficult to see that such caps would be ready within the next few weeks.

We really have to assess all the pros and cons and the ramifications, he said, according to Bloomberg. If it would not fulfill the requirements, for example, it could also lead to a higher base price or gas sailing away from Europe.

Europes Gas Dependence

Europe is heavily reliant on Russia for gas, which makes it difficult for the region to completely extricate itself from this dependence. In 2021, Russia supplied EU nations with 40 percent of their required natural gas, with the regions biggest economy, Germany, also the largest importer.

However, Russia has been cutting down on its gas supplies to the region. Russia has created gas shortages as a way of weakening Europes determination to maintain sanctions against it, David Fyfe, chief economist with research firm Argus Media, said to BBC.

During the EU Ambassadors Annual Conference on Oct. 10, Josep Borrell, high representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy, warned that the regions prosperity has been based on cheap energy from Russia. However, Russia can no longer be depended upon, he noted.

The best energy is the one that you produce at home, and this involves a strong restructuring of the European economy, Borrell stated.
A Southern California Edison crew installs a new overhead switch for circuit reliability in Ventura, Calif., on May 13, 2020. (Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

Families Sue SoCal Edison, Alleging Negligence as Fairview Fire Investigation Continues

Southern California Edison (SCE), the primary electricity supply company in the region, is facing another lawsuit from families affected by the Fairview Fire last month in Riverside County, alleging the utilitys negligence sparked the fire.

The blazewhich burned over 28,000 acresbroke out Sept. 5 in Hemet during a severe heatwave, killing two and forcing thousands to evacuate. Firefighters fought the blaze for 44 days and the cause is still under investigation, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, better known as Cal Fire.

The new lawsuit, filed Oct. 14 in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Edison negligently, recklessly and willfully failed to maintain an appropriate clearance area between the electrical equipment in its utility infrastructure and surrounding vegetation.

Multiple fire agencies battle the Fairview Fire burning in Hemet, Calif., on Sept. 7, 2022. (Courtesy of Riverside County Fire Department)

Plaintiffshomeowners, business owners, renters, and other individualsare seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of the people who lost their lives and were injured during the Fairview Fire and weve been working with CalFire throughout the review of the fire, SCE spokesperson David Eisenhower told The Epoch Times in a statement. [T]he cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and we will continue to support CalFire in their review.

The suit claims it wasnt an act of God that sparked the fire, but instead high-voltage transmission and distribution lines and other SCE electrical equipment that ignited surrounding vegetation.

According to the lawsuit, plaintiffs have property damage, suffered losses of possessions and their resulting personal expenses have included medical bills and lost wages. Ongoing emotional distress is also included in the suit.

Multiple fire agencies battle the Fairview Fire burning in Hemet, Calif., on Sept. 6, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

A similar lawsuit was filed against SCE by another group of Fairview Fire victims in September.

SCE claimed in a filing in that case Sept. 6 that circuit activity [occurred] close in time to the reported time of the fireindicating a possibility that the fire started from the utilitys equipment.

On Oct. 2, SCE wrote a letter to the Public Utilities Commission indicating, in part, that while the investigation was ongoing, Cal Fire investigators had identified two areas of interest regarding the possible ignition of the fire, one near a line associated with facilities owned by Edison and Frontier Communications, a telecommunications company.

Theres a very involved planning process in any kind of infrastructure, Eisenhower said. But again, I want to say its really important to note that it hasnt been determined yet, and well continue to support CalFire in that review.

City News Service contributed to this report.

Firefighters work under excessive heat conditions putting out the Fairview Fire in Hemet, Calif., on Sept. 6, 2022. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
An Air Canada jet takes off from Trudeau Airport in Montreal on June 30, 2022. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

Federal Court Judge Rejects Travel Vaccine Mandates Lawsuits Over Mootness

A judge in the federal court rejected on Thursday the four lawsuits challenging the governments travel vaccine mandate by citing mootness.

Justice Jocelyne Gagne published a short decision that didnt explain her rationale, saying it would come at a later date.

Gagne ruled in favour of a mootness motion brought forward by the attorney general (AG) on June 28, eight days after the federal government lifted its domestic vaccine mandate for planes, trains, and some marine vessels.

Millions of unvaccinated Canadians were unable to use these means of transportation starting October 2021, or to leave the country given U.S. border restrictions.

The AGs motion argued that since the mandate had expired, it did not exist as law and hence a court ruling on the matter would have no practical effect.

Challengers to the mandate pleaded that dismissing their case would allow the government to impose controversial measures and argue mootness to avoid accountability.

The challengers have four different lawsuits. One includes businessmen Karl Harrison and Shaun Rickard, and another former Newfoundland Premier Brian Peckford and co-applicants. PPC Leader Maxime Bernier also filed, along with Quebec lawyer Nabil Belkacem.

Gagne heard arguments from all the parties during an in-person hearing on Sept. 21. With the delay in providing her decision and the court hearings slated to begin on Oct. 31, it gave hope to some of the applicants that the hearing would go ahead.

Rickard earlier on Oct. 20 was encouraging supporters to sign up on the federal court website to watch the hearing, but his mood changed later when the ruling came down.

We were totally blindsided, Rickard told The Epoch Times.

He and Harrison released a statement in the evening, indicating they will work to appeal the decision.

We are disappointed with the decision and, subject to the reasons when given, we will look to commence work immediately on an appeal, says the statement.

That appeal will also allow us to challenge the way mootness is used in Canada to facilitate poor government policy to avoid legal scrutiny; to allow the judiciary to shirk their responsibilities, and to deny justice to Canadians.

The legal proceedings for the cases brought to the surface many revelations about the travel vaccine mandate through the cross-examination of government witnesses.

It was revealed that federal public health officials never made a direct recommendation for a mandate, that ethics were not considered before imposing the mandate, and that the risk of in-flight transmission of a respiratory virus was assessed as low by the government.

The federal government also had limited data on the impact of vaccination to stop in-flight transmission, and used the mandate to drive vaccine uptake.
Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino speaks at a news conference in Ottawa on Sept. 26, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Federal Freeze on Buying, Selling Handguns Now in Effect, Says Public Safety Minister

Measures to freeze the number of handguns in Canada took effect on Friday, the federal public safety minister announced in a social media post.

Canadas national handgun freeze takes effect today! Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino wrote on Twitter. It is now illegal to buy, sell or transfer a handgun anywhere in Canada.

In May, the Liberals announced a plan to implement a freeze on importing, buying, selling or otherwise transferring handguns in order to help quell firearm-related violence.

At the time, Mendicino tabled regulatory amendments in both the House of Commons and the Senate.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mendicino were expected to hold a news conference in the Vancouver area later Friday to discuss the move.

However, accompanying legislative measures have yet to be approved by Parliament.

The legislation would allow elite sport shooters to continue to buy handgunsan exemption some want expanded to include a wider range of recreational shooters.

Justice Minister David Lametti at a separate event in Montreal also confirmed the regulations had come into effect while criticizing any effort to ease the freeze.

It is worrisome and even shocking to see an attempt of reducing the extent of this bill and giving more space to handguns, Lametti said in French.

We are here exactly to reduce the number of handguns in our streets.
Jill Sanborn, former assistant director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, testifies to Congress in Washington on March 3, 2021. (Greg Nash/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Former FBI Official to Testify on Agency Allegedly Inflating Domestic Terrorism Data

Former FBI Counterterrorism Division Assistant Director Jill Sanborn is to be interviewed by the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 2 over alleged politicization, including inflating domestic terrorism numbers, House GOP members announced Thursday.

A joint letter released on Oct. 20 by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the committees ranking member, and Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), accused the ex-FBI official of failing to take any meaningful steps to arrange the interview over the past two months following an initial request.

In a letter to Sanborn on Aug. 10, the GOP lawmakers called on the former official to testify regarding whistleblower claims of the bureau pressuring agents to inflate the numbers of domestic violent extremism cases, including those didnt meet the criteria. The pair asked Sanborn to contact the committee and schedule the interview no later than Aug. 24.

Only late last Friday did your attorneys offer a specific date for a transcribed interviewDecember 2, 2022a date six weeks in the future and nearly four months since our initial request, the lawmakers wrote.

#BREAKING: Former FBI official Jill Sanborn to Appear for Transcribed Interview with House Judiciary Committee on December 2, 2022 pic.twitter.com/31OsTYaHMf  House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) October 20, 2022

Sanborn served as Counterterrorism Division assistant director at the law enforcement agency and then as executive assistant director at the National Security branch between January 2020 and April 2021, until she left the federal service.

With the Biden administration saying domestic violent extremism is the greatest threat facing the country, whistleblowers have sounded the alarm that officials encouraged and incentivized FBI agents to reclassify cases to pad domestic terrorism data even though there is minimal, circumstantial evidence to support the reclassification.

One whistleblower identified Sanborn as an official who pressured agents to hit self-created performance metrics, said the GOP officials.

According to the latest letter, Sanborns attorneys claimed that the FBIs approval for the former officials appearance must be in place.

You should be aware that, here too, we do not share your attorneys view. Every federal employee, and former employee, has a right to speak with Congress without interference, intimidation, or obstruction from his or her employing agency, the Republicans wrote in response. To the extent that the FBI is or has been preventing your ability to respond to our request in a timely and comprehensive manner, we will be interested in examining these facts during your transcribed interview.

The two also dismissed a forthcoming letter from the FBI, which Sanborns attorneys had claimed would fully respond to the committees request and could bypass the need for testimony.

Our request to you for a transcribed interview is separate and distinct from the requests for documents and information we have made to the FBI and the Justice Department, said Jordan and Johnson.

An FBI spokesperson declined to comment.

The latest update comes amid ongoing accusations against the Biden administration for weaponizing the federal agency. The bureau drew criticism over recent actions including searching former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago home and arresting a Catholic pro-life activist, as well as blocking a probe into Hunter Bidens business activities.

An FBI spokesperson told The Epoch Times: The threat posed by domestic violence extremists is persistent, evolving, and deadly. The FBIs authority to investigate a case as domestic terrorism requires the existence of a potential criminal federal violation, the unlawful use or threat of force or violence, and ideological motivation.

The motivation behind threats or acts of force or violence in violation of federal criminal law is not always readily apparent, but is often discovered during the course of an investigation, said the spokesperson.

Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin: Virginia Will Not Adhere After CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Vote

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said the decision to give COVID-19 vaccines to children should be the responsibility of parents, not schools.

The Republican governor was responding to a Thursday vote by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory panel to recommend the CDC add COVID-19 vaccines to childrens immunization schedules.

COVID-19 mandates should be in our rearview mirror, Youngkin wrote late on Thursday. The decision to vaccinate a child against COVID-19 is for Virginia parents to make about whats best for them and their family. We will not adhere to these @CDCgov mandates.

In Virginia, parents matter, he added.

Advisers to the CDC voted on Oct. 20 to recommend including the COVID-19 vaccines on the next version of the child and adolescent immunization schedules, which will be published in early 2023. The CDC still has to adopt the recommendation, but the agency has been aggressively pro-vaccine since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Studies and data have shown that children have the lowest risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms, hospitalization, or death. Meanwhile, more than 20 states have already prohibited COVID-19 shots from being mandated for students to attend school, according to the National Academy of State Health Policy.

While the CDC doesnt have the power to mandate what vaccines are given to children, some school districts and states could require them to attend schools or even preschools.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf noted on Twitter, We need to be clear that the benefits outweigh the risk of vaccination, but mandates are not the remit of either CDC or FDA.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, also a Republican, echoed Youngkins sentiment on social mediaas did other Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota

Ive always said mandates are the wrong approach and Tennessee has led in pushing back on federal COVID vaccine requirements, Lee said on Twitter. Thanks to our work with the General Assembly, Tennessee families wont be impacted by todays CDC vote. Well continue to stand for Tennessee children and for personal freedom.

I know a lot of parents are concerned about that, DeSantis said during a news conference Thursday in Fort Meyers. As long as I am kicking and screaming, there will be no COVID shot mandates for your kids. That is your decision to make as a parent.

Last week, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has said that he does not recommend COVID-19 vaccines for children under the age of 18. Citing a state-backed analysis, Ladapo also said he doesnt recommend mRNA COVID-19 shots for males aged 18 to 39.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
Steam gushes out of the cooling tower of the Isar 2 nuclear power plant in Essenbach, Germany, on Sept. 13, 2022. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Greta Thunberg Changes Tune on Nuclear Power as Europe Faces Historic Energy Crisis

Commentary

Greta Thunberg made headlines this month after criticizing Germanys plan to close its remaining nuclear power plants.

In an interview with German journalist and television host Sandra Maischberger, the 19-year-old climate activist was asked if shutting down Germanys remaining nuclear plants was a bad idea.

It depends. If we have them already running, I feel its a mistake to close them down in order to focus on coal, Thunberg responded.

But then close them down as soon as possible? Maischberger asked.

It depends. We dont know what will happen after this, Thunberg replied.

This may not sound like a full-throated endorsement of nuclear power, but its a clear change from the few previous public statements Thunberg has made on nuclear energy.

Personally I am against nuclear power, Thunberg said in 2019, though she conceded that the United Nations says it can be a small part of a carbon-free solution.

Things have changed since 2019. As winter approaches, Europe is facing a historic energy crisis that has sparked economic turmoil, social unrest, and fear.

Just this week 100,000 people descended on the streets of France demanding higher wages to cover the costs of surging energy bills, leading to clashes with police and broken store windows. The protests followed similar scenes of unrest in Berlin, Leipzig, and Potsdam organized by unions and environmentalists under the slogan, Enough is enough. We wont freeze for profits.

Profits are not to blame, however. A lack of supply is the problem.

European countries in recent years have shifted away from energy production, becoming reliant on imported energy, particularly from Russia, which supplied 40 percent of Europes natural gas prior to the invasion of Ukraine, mostly by pipeline. Shipments of natural gas have fallen by roughly 90 percent, largely because of Russian trade machinations and the halt of supply from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

As a result, prices have surged. In August future gas prices on the continents leading trading hub hit 321 euros per megawatt-hour ($313). A year ago it was 27 euros ($26), meaning this was a more than ten-fold increase. Many European families can no longer afford to pay their energy bills, and key businesses have been crippled by the high priceswhich is why European leaders are flirting with price controls.

Price controls cant solve the underlying problem, howevera shortage of energyand will almost certainly make the shortage worse because they will increase demand and discourage supply. This is where the fear comes in.

Facing an energy shortage, surging prices, and the specter of price controls, the prospect of a winter catastrophe is a real possibility. In England and Wales alone, an estimated 28,300 excess winter deaths (pdf) occur in a given season; for all of Europe, its more than 220,000. This is in winters without an energy crisis.

Which brings us back to Greta. It may not be a coincidence that Thunberg suddenly is singing the praises of nuclear power. Europes efforts to replace fossil fuels and nuclear plants with the green energies Thunberg has championed have proven disastrous, and not just economically.

In their haste to quit fossil fuels and wean themselves off nuclear energy, European leaders gorged themselves on Russias fossil fuels, placing themselves at the mercy of Vladimir Putin, and jeopardizing the welfare of their own people.

Fortunately, like Thunberg, many countries around the world are taking notice. From France to Japan to progressive California and beyond, nuclear power is making a comeback.

The move makes sense. The global population will soon hit 8 billion, and it will require vast amounts of energy to sustain. The reality is the modern world cannot exist without fossil fuels, but if the goal is to transition off themas many proposenuclear power must be part of the solution.

The fact that Thunberg recognizes this matters.

As Maischberger notes in her interview, for better or worse the young climate activist has become an icon for millions of teenagers and adults. She was Time magazines Person of the Year in 2019.

One can question the prudence of a culture that turns a teenager into an icon in this fashion, but theres no denying Thunbergs influence. For this reason, her admission that nuclear power should be part of humanitys energy future is no small matter.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A person is seen in a room at a government-authorized COVID-19 quarantine hotel in Richmond, B.C., Canada, on Feb. 28, 2021. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Health Canada Spent $52M on Private Contractors to Help Enforce Quarantines

Federal public health authorities awarded $52 million in sole-source contracts under emergency powers to private security companies to help enforce its COVID-19 quarantine orders, data provided by Procurement Canada reveals.

The four private contractors selected by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) ended up making 590,000 compliance verification visits from Jan. 29, 2021 to Sept. 15, 2022, according to spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau.

Out of those, 123,114 referrals were subsequently made to law enforcement for follow-up.

In total, PHAC says police made 146,878 in-person visits related to quarantine enforcement from March 2020 to Sept. 15, 2022.

Data posted on the PHAC website indicates that 18,562 fines were issued for non-compliance with the Quarantine Act, for reasons such as refusing to go to a designated quarantine facility (8,162), breaching quarantine (547), and refusing testing on arrival (1,273).

Fines for quarantine offences range between $825 and $5,000.

PHAC announced its private contractor program in January 2021 to help enforce the mandatory 14-day quarantine for travellers entering Canada.

At that time the vaccination campaign was just under way, hence the measure did not apply only to unvaccinated individuals as had been the case in recent months.

PHAC awarded contracts to the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires, G4S Secure Solutions, Garda, and Paladin Risk Solutions.

The contracts spanned from Jan. 14, 2021, to September 30, 2022.

Paladin was awarded $167 million, Garda $15,9 million, the Commissionaires $10,5 million, and G4S $8,9 million.

The agency said employees of these companies would be trained and authorized as screening officers under the Quarantine Act, with the task to visit the quarantine locations, make contact, and confirm the identity of the individual.

The Screening Officer may provide compliance education or issue verbal warnings, as required. Any cases that warrant a stronger enforcement action will be referred to PHAC, and PHAC will refer the case to law enforcement for follow-up, said a PHAC statement at the time.

The federal government abandoned its last COVID-19 border measures on Oct. 1, thus lifting quarantine orders for returning unvaccinated Canadians and allowing unvaccinated foreigners to enter the country.
Police and health workers wait for arrivals at the COVID-19 testing centre in Terminal 3 at Pearson Airport in Toronto on Feb. 3, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Frank Gunn)

Health Canada Spent at Least $1.5M on Police to Help With Quarantine, ArriveCan Compliance

Police resources were diverted from normal duties to help federal public health authorities enforce the Quarantine Act and ArriveCan compliance at airports, The Epoch Times has learned.

Between the end of 2020 to the end of March 2022, $1.5 million was paid for police services at 10 Ports of Entry, including airports and designated quarantine facilities, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) spokesperson Mark Johnson said in a statement.

Johnson told The Epoch Times that police services were retained either through contracts with the airport authorities or through agreements with local police services.

Peel Regional Police, which has jurisdiction at Toronto Pearson International Airport, confirmed to The Epoch Times in September that PHAC had hired additional officers from its ranks through paid duties.

Police have authority to, at the request of a screening officer or quarantine officer, arrest without a warrant any traveler who refuses to comply with measures under the Quarantine Act, said spokesperson Jennifer Dagg.

Video evidence and testimony indicate Peel Police officers have threatened to detain returning Canadian travellers for refusing to fill the previously mandatory ArriveCan form, which can be completed through a smartphone app or on the web.

Sandra Dania posted a video on social media of her interaction with Peel Police officers at Pearson on Sept. 7 in which one officer tells Dania she will be detained for not complying.

If Im not going [to see PHAC quarantine officers], if I want to just go home says Dania to the officer.

You cant, well have to detain you, says the officer.

Dania told the Epoch Times in an interview that she had been made aware through social media prior to returning to Canada that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) was not responsible for enforcing the Quarantine Act and allows Canadians into the country who are non-compliant while referring them to PHAC quarantine officers.

Given that those officers dont have the power to detain, there are anecdotes backed by video of returning Canadians who chose to simply skip a meeting with PHAC to avoid filling out ArriveCan and be handed an over $5,000 fine for non-compliance.

Dania says she spent about 30 to 40 minutes arguing with police and PHAC agents in an attempt to get out of filling out ArriveCan, but she eventually caved to avoid being detained or given a hefty fine.

I dont think its right, I think its a lot more than just filling an app, Dania said about her reasons for trying to avoid using ArriveCan. I look at it in the bigger context of what happened in the past two years.

ArriveCan is just one of the many ways theyre using to intimidate people.

ArriveCan Woes

The federal government removed the mandatory use of ArriveCan to enter Canada on Oct. 1, along with other border measures targeting unvaccinated travellers.

The now-voluntary system is used to capture vaccination status, travel plans, and previously the quarantine plan for unvaccinated Canadians.

ArriveCan has been under fire for a number of reasons in recent months, with the latest controversy surrounding its hefty cost.

Creating the smartphone app cost $80,000, but the price tag eventually ballooned to $54 million with maintenance and operating costs.

The Globe and Mail also reported on Oct. 21 that the firm listed as having received the largest contract for the app, $1.2 million, actually never worked on it.

The House of Commons government operations committee voted unanimously on Oct. 20 to examine all contracts related to the ArriveCan app.

The app, which according to its privacy policy can send user data to international entities, has also experienced glitches that ordered complying vaccinated Canadians into quarantine.

Peter Wilson contributed to this report.
The Fungi Future Is Here  at an Urban Mushroom Farm Just South of Downtown L.A.
A rise in the number of children suffering from respiratory illnesses has left some hospitals across the United States overwhelmed, according to reports.

Connecticut Childrens Medical Center in Hartford confirmed to ABC News that it is weighing up the possibility of working with the National Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Association in an attempt to deal with a slew of new cases that have left it working at a stretched capacity.

Were thinking of other alternatives as well as adding space, such as a mobile hospital out here on the front lawn, Dr. John Brancanto, division head of emergency medicine at Connecticut Childrens Medical Center, told ABC News. We are seeing a very high number of patients and very high acuity.

Separately, another hospital in the state, Yale New Haven Childrens Hospital, told the outlet that it is also seeing an increase in Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) cases, which have jumped in the last from 57 to 106.

Dr. Thomas Murray, associate medical director for infection prevention at Yale New Haven Childrens Hospital, said that the hospital currently sees one to three children admitted with COVID-19, whereas 30 children are being admitted to the hospital with RSV each day.

Growing Concern

Murray said that the biggest concern regarding the surge in the virus is when it will peak as well as what will happen with influenza as it has started to circulate in the area.

Increasing numbers of influenza along with high RSV numbers will require us to further expand our strategies to care for the children that need it, Murray told ABC News.

Elsewhere at Hasbro Childrens Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, the number of patients with RSV infections coming into the hospital has doubled from mid-September to mid-October, according to Dr. Michael Koster, the director of pediatric infectious diseases at the hospital.

A string of hospitals in the Washington, D.C., area have also been operating at full capacity in recent weeks, the Washington Post reports, including Childrens National Hospital in Northwest D.C., as well as the childrens hospitals at Inova Fairfax in Northern Virginia and the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

Meanwhile, NBC News reports that hospitals in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Rhode Island were buckling under the weight of an influx of RSV patients.

RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, such as a runny nose, coughing, decreased appetite, and fever but most people typically recover within a week or two, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Infants, Older Adults At Greater Risk

However, the virus can be severe in infants and older adults and is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (which causes inflammation and congestion in the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia (infection and inflammation of the lungs) in children under one in the United States.

Almost all children will have had an RSV infection by age 2, health officials say, and an estimated 58,000 children younger than 5 years old are hospitalized due to RSV infections each year.

However, very young infants, children with chronic lung disease or congenital heart disease, and those with weakened immune systems are at the greatest risk of severe illness from the virus.

There are 100 to 300 deaths among children under 5 from RSV each year in the United States, according to the CDC.

CDC data shows that cases of RSV have been on the rise, with over 4,800 antigen and PCR tests showing positive results in the week of Oct. 8. For the week of Oct. 17, 2020, there were just 21 positive tests.

There is no specific treatment for RSV infection and no vaccine, although researchers are working to develop one. Individuals with a severe response typically need urgent hospitalization.
Hong Kongs Leader Admits Loss of 140,000 Workers in Past Two Years

On Oct. 19, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu released his first Policy Address since he took office on July 1, 2022. The report focused on importing talent and housing policies. The Top Talent Pass Scheme will be launched to attract talent from abroad. At the same time, he proposed to increase about 1,600 University Grants Committee-funded (UGC) research postgraduate positions. Lee said that many of his measures are groundbreaking and focused, and he believes that the policy goal of introducing 35,000 qualified people every year can be achieved. Some political parties believe that the authorities have not paid enough attention to stopping the brain drain that is occurring since the National Security Law went into effect, describing the phenomenon as a failure.

About 140,000 Workers Lost in Last Two Years

Lee admitted that Hong Kong has lost about 140,000 people from the labor force in the past two years. The authorities intend to actively cultivate and retain local talent while attracting qualified foreign workers. There are several high-profile measures, such as, the Top Talent Pass Scheme, which offers an annual salary of HK$2.5 million (about $318,484) and encourages graduates of the worlds top 100 universities to pursue a career in Hong Kong.

In terms of nurturing local talent, Lee proposed to add about 1,600 UGC-funded research postgraduate positions; to step up STEAM education, including implementing enriched coding education for the upper primary, and introducing I&T elements, such as, Artificial Intelligence for the junior secondary; at the same time, promoting vocational and professional education and training, including adding 2,000 subsidized slots for self-financing a higher diploma and 1,000 for undergraduate programmes, and potentially adding more applied degree programmes.

Introduce 35,000 Qualified Workers Every Year

Lee said that many of the measures are more proactive than before, emphasizing that Hong Kong is already very attractive, since it was able to attract enough talent to meet the demand before 2019. He believes that Hong Kong should not take the attitude of good wine needs no bush (something good needs no advertising) in Hong Kong. To let the outside world know that Hong Kong has many advantages, the authorities will use new tools, including talent admission schemes, etc., and believe that the policy goal of introducing 35,000 qualified workers every year can be achieved.

Lawrence Hung: Dont Ignore Local SMEs

Lawrence Hung Yu-yun, President of Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIHRM), described the measures in the policy address as helpful to attract job candidates and enterprises, and also supplement Hong Kongs manpower and labor force. However, he says that the Hong Kong government should not ignore local subject matter experts (SMEs) and cultivate local talent in addition to focusing on the top talents and enterprises. He suggested that the government assist SMEs in digital transformation, online to offline commerce, etc., according to the local manpower and industrial structure, and also provide upward social mobility to local youth.

Hung also believes that the simplification of administrative measures and visas by the authorities can attract the right people to Hong Kong, but qualified people have a lot of global mobility and employment opportunities, so they must be dealt with in a comprehensive way. Except for administrative measures, the citys convenience, social atmosphere, environment, etc., should be promoted. For competent staff who have been in Hong Kong for 7 years and become permanent residents, they can apply for a refund of two stamp duties paid on residential property. Hong Kong believes that the 7-year period is relatively long and the tax refund is not effective. He recommended reducing the time period to 5 years.

Democratic Party: No Mention of Repairing Social Divisions

Lo Kin-her, chairman of the Democratic Party, said that John Lee has introduced a number of measures to attract foreign talent, but he did not pay enough attention to how to stop the bleeding. He believes that the measures aimed at local enterprises only extend some existing measures but dont really help. Lo also said that the policy address didnt mention repairing social divisions. He believes that the authorities must rebuild trust with the public, otherwise the promotion of policies in the future will only achieve half the result with twice the effort.

Midland: 330,000 May Benefit From Stamp Duty Refunds

The address proposes that after becoming a Hong Kong permanent resident, qualified immigrants can apply for a refund of the buyers stamp duty and the new residential stamp duty paid when buying property in Hong Kong. Midland believes that the relevant measures are equivalent to announcing water down. It is expected that the relaxation of home ownership restrictions will become the future direction of housing policy, and will help attract people, who are currently working in Hong Kong but have not become permanent residents, to enter the market, especially people from the mainland.

According to Midland, a total of 329,000 people were approved to enter Hong Kong from 2016 to the first half of 2022 under six entry programs that included the General Employment Policy, the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals, and Technology Talent Admission Scheme, which means that a batch of qualified personnel will benefit immediately and become potential home buyers. Among them, those with the greatest opportunity to enter the market have lived in Hong Kong for nearly 5 years or more, which is estimated to reach 184,000, bringing new purchasing power to the property market. Midland predicts that with the reduction of of stress test requirements announced by the HKMA, a 10 percent decline in property prices is expected for the entire year as the sales decline in this quarter has been slowed down or even stabilized. First-hand and second-hand transactions are expected to return to a higher level.

Public Opinion: 30 Percent of Respondents Dissatisfied

The Hong Kong Institute for Public Opinion conducted a survey of 574 citizens over the age of 18 who had heard the policy address. The results showed that the publics evaluation was only 51.1 points, which was lower than the first addresses of the first three chief executives after taking office. The survey found that 33.7 percent of the respondents expressed satisfaction with the address, 30.5 percent expressed dissatisfaction, and the net satisfaction rate was 3.1 percent; another 19 percent expressed partial satisfaction.
A Bureau of Customs (BOC) personnel displays confiscated illegal drugs, known Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly refered to as ecstasy, at a press conference at the BOC headquarters in Manila, Philippines, on Sept. 14, 2016. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

Illicit Drugs For Personal Use Decriminalised in Australias Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), home of the capital city Canberra has become the first Australian jurisdiction to decriminalise illicit drugs in small quantities.

Laws passed the Territorys parliament on Thursday, meaning people found with personal use amounts of nine different types of illicit drugs will not be criminally prosecuted.

Instead, they will be cautioned, fined or referred to a drug diversion program.

The substances decriminalised include heroin, cocaine and speed.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said focusing on harm-minimisation rather than punishing drug users was the way forward.

The ACT has led the nation with a progressive approach to reducing the harm caused by illicit drugs with a focus on diversion, access to treatment and rehabilitation and reducing the stigma attached to drug use, she said.

This sensible reform is based on the expert advice that a health-focused, harm reduction approach delivers the best outcome for people using drugs.

A youth holds a pill in Manchester, England, on Feb. 26, 2015.(Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

There will be a 12-month transition period, meaning the laws wont kick in until October 2023.

The government said they would use the transition period to bolster oversight arrangements and train frontline workers, including the police.

However, Canberra Liberals deputy leader Jeremy Hanson has condemned the radical move.

He is arguing that the decision was not taken to the polls to allow residents of the ACT to decide, and will lead to more criminal activity in the territory.

It wasnt taken to the community. Its going to lead to more crime. Its going to lead to more carnage on our roads, he told the ABC.

Its not going to change the number of people going into the criminal justice system, and its not going to fix the problem that we have now, which is not enough people being able to access treatment.
Illinois Law Firm Prepares Lawsuit Against Wuhan City for Losses Caused by COVID-19

Almost three years after the COVID-19 pandemic started, an Illinoisian legal group is setting up a civil class lawsuit against the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the first COVID cases were reported.

Based on the latest statistics, almost 40,000 Illinoisans died from COVID, stated the press release from Kent Gray, an attorney practicing laws in Springfield, Illinois. The case, once started, will fight for compensation for the families that lost their loved ones, for companies that were impacted financially, and for people who suffered substantial harm caused by the pandemic.

Gray, during an interview with The Epoch Times, said that the lawsuit will be filed mainly for damages within Illinois because the law varies from state to state.

Gray stated four factors that will lead to the success of the trial:

There are documents already proving that the city government of Wuhan knew about COVID as early as the middle of December 2019, but failed to report it as required by Chinese law. Documents also show that Wuhan officials knew that the virus could transmit from person to person, yet lied and claimed the contrary as late as Jan. 20, 2020. During this crucial month, up to 3 million people flew from Wuhan to numerous places around the world. Wuhan city, with a population of 11 million, has significant assets, potentially including holdings in Chinese companies listed in the United States. Holding Wuhan city accountable helps the people of China, so that they may have a more law-abiding local government in the future. Wuhan city is not protected by the 1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which has often been cited as the reason why American citizens or the U.S. government cannot sue the Chinese communist regime.

Gray said that he was aware that some attorneys in several U.S. states have already filed lawsuits from different angles, but the Chinese regime is a very difficult defendant to win legal cases against. The city of Wuhan [is] a municipality in China, which is a part of the Chinese government, but, like in the U.S., does not necessarily contain its own sovereignty like the national government does, Gray said, adding that this could be a way to file the case successfully.

Gray said that he would officially file the case in court before the end of the year.

Screenshot of the document that the Wuhan police authority forced Dr. Li Wenliang to sign. (The Epoch Times)

Outbreak

In the last week of December 2019, Wuhan citys Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an internal memo that called for an investigation of an unknown cause of pneumonia. Following the memo, eight Chinese medical doctors in Wuhan sent messages to their families and friends through social media, giving warnings of a possible new severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak.

All of these doctors were quickly detained by the Wuhan city police authority. On Jan. 1, 2020, the Chinese regimes state-owned media, CCTV, broadcast the news about the detention of these doctors. All eight doctors were later released after they were forced to sign a document admitting to illegally spreading rumors and to agree to stay silent on the topic.

One of these eight doctors, Dr. Li Wenliang, was hailed as a hero after he posted the document he was forced to sign on the internet after he was diagnosed with the new disease, SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. Li died on Feb. 7, 2020, at the age of 34.

On Jan. 18, 2020, Wuhan city held its 20th annual Ten Thousand Families Gathering Banquet to celebrate the coming Chinese New Year. According to reports from Chinese media, more than 40,000 families joined the gathering. The banquet was held in nine different venues, and the participants brought a total of 13,986 dishes to the banquet.

Screenshot of a Chinese media report on Wuhan citys Ten Thousand Families annual Chinese New Year Banquet on Jan. 18, 2020. (The Epoch Times)

On Jan. 20, 2020, all of the Chinese regimes state-owned media, including Xinghua and CCTV, reported the conclusion of the Wuhan CDCs investigation that COVID-19 is an infectious disease, but has a low risk of infection and a low likelihood of transmissibility from person to person.

Three days later, Beijings leaders issued an order to lock down Wuhan city. However, millions of people had already left Wuhan for the Chinese New Year celebrations. Chinese New Year is the most celebrated holiday in China and is considered the number one family reunion event each year.

On Mar. 13, 2020, Chinese Foreign Ministrys spokesman Zhao Lijian claimed on Twitter that COVID-19 was brought to Wuhan by U.S. athletes who went to the city to participate in the Military World Games in October 2019, adding, The US owes us an explanation.

On Jan. 2, 2021, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi claimed that COVID-19 started from multiple locations around the world and that China was the first country to identify the virus.

According to the statistics published by the World Health Organization, by mid-October of this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more than 625 million infections and caused more than 6.5 million deaths globally, including more than a million deaths in the United States.
The Google logo is pictured at the Google India office building in Hyderabad on Jan. 28, 2022. (Noah Swwlam/AFP via Getty Images)

India Fines Google $162 Million for Abusing Its Android Market Dominance

Indias competition watchdog on Oct. 20 fined Google 13.38 billion Indian rupees ($162 million) for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets related to the Android mobile device ecosystem.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said that Google abused its dominance in licensing the Android mobile operating system and various proprietary mobile applications, such as Google Chrome and Youtube.

In a statement, the watchdog accused the tech giant of perpetuating its dominant position in the online search market to prevent other search applications from gaining market access.

Google also leveraged its dominance in the app store market for the Android operating system (OS) to protect its position in the non-OS-specific web browser market through Google Chrome and Youtube, the CCI said.

It added that Google reduced the ability and incentive of device manufacturers to develop and sell devices that run alternative versions of Android by making pre-installation of its proprietary apps conditional.

The CCI opined that the markets should be allowed to compete on merits and the onus is on the dominant players (in the present case, Google) that its conduct does not impinge this competition on merits, it said.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Google for comments.

According to the watchdog, Google secured a significant competitive edge over its competitors in relation to its revenue-earning app on Android devices, such as YouTube.

The competitors of these services could never avail the same level of market access which Google secured and embedded for itself through [Mobile Application Distribution Agreement], it added.

The CCI said that Google was given 30 days to provide the requisite financial details and supporting documents. It also issued a cease and desist order to Google on several of its business practices.

For example, it stated that Google should not deny access to its Play Services plugins to disadvantage original equipment manufacturers, app developers, and its existing or potential competitors.

The CCI also emphasized that original equipment manufacturers should not be forced to pre-install Googles proprietary applications.

Abuse of Dominance in News Aggregation

Earlier this year, the CCI ordered a probe into Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, over complaints that the company has allegedly abused its dominant position in news aggregation and imposed unfair conditions on news publishers.

The order came following a complaint from the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), which comprises the digital arms of some of Indias biggest media companies.

The DNPA claimed that more than 50 percent of the total traffic on the news websites is routed through Google, which is deemed the most dominant search engine that determines which news websites get discovered via search.
Customers inspect smartphones made by Xiaomi at a Mi store in Gurgaon, India, on Aug. 20, 2019. (Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images)

Indian Court Refuses to Unfreeze Assets of Chinese Smartphone Maker Xiaomi

Litigation, restrictions hurt Chinese companies in India's booming smartphone market

On Oct. 6, an Indian High Court declined to lift a freeze on $676 million of Xiaomis assets, dealing a blow to the companys operations in India. The company, the worlds third-largest smartphone manufacturer, said the courts move had effectively halted its operations in the Indian market, according to a Reuters report.

The move comes amid increasing troubles for Chinese companies in Indias smartphone market. Xiaomi is among several top Chinese smartphone makers who have been charged with money laundering and tax evasion in India over the past year.

Xiaomi entered the Indian market in 2014. In late 2017, it surpassed Samsung and became the largest smartphone supplier in the Indian market. However, Xiaomis market performance in India has fallen sharply since the beginning of this year due to alleged infractions of Indian law.

The logo of smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi is seen inside the companys offices in Bengaluru, India, on Jan. 18, 2018. (Abhishek N. Chinnappa/Reuters)

According to a study by global industry analysis firm Counterpoint, Xiaomis second-quarter market share in India was 19 percent, down from 28 percent in the same period last year, although it retains its market-leading position.

On Jan. 5, Xiaomi India received a fine from Indian tax authorities demanding the recovery of customs duties owed from April 1, 2017, to June 30, 2020, Xiaomi admitted in its latest financial report (pdf). The amount owed was 6.53 billion rupees ($84.37 million).

In February, the Indian Enforcement Directorate (ED), a financial crime-fighting agency, began an investigation into the companys dealings.

On April 29, Xiaomi India was accused of illegally transferring money out of India under the guise of royalties, and the Indian financial investigation agency froze the equivalent of 55.5 billion rupees ($725 million) of the Chinese smartphone makers funds.

The agency accused Xiaomi India of lacking commercial substance in remittances, violating relevant provisions of the Foreign Exchange Control Act of India, and providing misleading information to banks.

Xiaomi Denies Wrongdoing

Xiaomi India denied wrongdoing. It told the court that more than 84 percent of the assets confiscated by the enforcement agency were used to make royalty payments to U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm for the right to use its intellectual property, according to Business Standard, an Indian English-language newspaper.

After hearing the arguments, the court said it would pass a temporary unblocking order if the company could provide a bank guarantee sufficient to cover the value of the frozen assets.

In response, Xiaomi said that providing such bank guarantees would affect its ability to pay wages, make inventory purchases, and maintain operations before the Hindu festival of DiwaliIndias peak consumer season. Instead, Xiaomi offered to set up an escrow account to start making payments from the companys smartphone sales from January.

However, the court insisted that a bank guarantee would be required to lift the freeze order.

Xiaomis setbacks in the Indian market this year have negatively impacted the companys share price.

Its share price on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange dropped from HK$18.6 (about $2.37) per share at the beginning of the year to HK$9.25 (about $1.18) per share on Oct. 21, a loss of more than half of its market value.

More Allegations Against Major Chinese Smartphone Makers

Indian authorities have accused other major Chinese smartphone makers of tax evasion, notably Vivo, Oppo, and Huawei.

In July, the ED blocked 119 bank accounts containing 4.65 billion rupees ($58.75 million) linked to Vivos Indian business on charges of tax evasion.

A smartphone screen displays the logo of Vivo telecom company on a Vivo website background in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Nov. 3, 2021. (Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images)

The agency said that Vivo India transferred 62.47 billion rupees ($7.9 million), or almost 50 percent, of its total sales proceeds outside the country, mainly to China, in order to show apparent losses and avoid paying taxes in India.

It conducted searches in 48 locations belonging to Vivo India and 23 related entities on July 7 after an initial probe found that shareholders used forged identification documents and falsified addresses at the time of incorporation, according to an ED statement (pdf).

On Aug. 3, Indias Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said it found that Vivo had evaded 22.1 billion rupees ($280 million) worth of taxes in India, accusing the company of wilful misdeclaration in the description of certain imported items.

On July 13, the DRI issued a duty notice to Oppo, another Chinese mobile phone maker, demanding the company re-pay 43.9 billion rupees (about $551 million) in evaded taxes.

The logo of smartphone manufacturer Oppo is displayed at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona on March 2, 2022. (Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinese telecom giant Huawei was also investigated for tax evasion in India in March.

Indias Ministry of Finance said the telecom group did not account for income of 4 billion rupees ($52 million) on its books and failed to justify 4.8 billion rupees in expenses, according to a Reuters report.

Indian income tax authorities reportedly raided Huaweis office premises and the residences of senior executives in multiple Indian cities.

Increasingly Difficult Environment for Chinese Companies

A recent Deloitte report highlighted the massive potential of the emerging Indian smartphone market. The report projected that India will have 1 billion smartphone users by 2026 and will become the worlds second-largest smartphone manufacturer in the next five years.

However, Chinese smartphone companies face an increasingly difficult operating environment in India, with the recent wave of litigation threatening to erode their share of the Indian market.

Further, in June, the Indian Department of Telecommunications mandated that its telecom operators exclude the use of equipment and products from Chinese suppliers for all purposes. That includes upgrades and expansion, Indias Economic Times reported.

India has been taking a tough stance against China-based companies amid heightened border tensions over the past two years. A June 2020 skirmish in the disputed Himalayan border region left 20 Indian soldiers dead and saw hundreds of thousands of troops placed along the border. Despite some disengagements, tensions have remained high.

Chinese Apps Banned in India Over Security Concerns

In February, the Indian government issued an order banning 54 Chinese mobile applications that it says constitute a threat to the countrys national security, according to local reports.

Members of the Working Journalists of India (WJI) hold placards urging citizens to remove Chinese apps and to stop using Chinese products, during a demonstration against the Chinese newspaper Global Times, in New Delhi, India, on June 30, 2020. (Prakash Singh/AFP via Getty Images)

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs warned that the applications had the ability to collect sensitive user data through phone cameras and microphones for espionage and surveillance activities.

The move was the latest in a series of similar bans instituted amid the protracted border dispute between the two sides. Overall, the country has banned over 321 applications.

The banned applications range from mobile games to video chats and selfie camera apps from Chinese companies such as Tencent, Alibaba, and NetEase. Some of the apps are clones or rebrands of apps that were banned previously.

Last year, India retained a ban on 59 Chinese mobile applications, including ByteDances popular video-sharing app TikTok, Tencent Holdings WeChat, and Alibabas UC Browser, after giving the app companies a chance to respond to questions on whether they censored content, worked on behalf of foreign governments, or lobbied influencers.

A government panel looking into the app ban decided, after reviewing the responses, that there would be no change in the countrys position, as the ban was in the interest of Indias national security and sovereignty, a source said.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canadas minister of innovation, science and economic development, speaks at a news conference in Vancouver on Sept. 7, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

Industry Minister on Canada-US Nexus Dispute: Should Be an Easy One to Resolve

Canadas industry minister says hes confident Canada and the United States can work out their differences over the Nexus trusted-traveller program.

Francois-Philippe Champagne says he expects the dispute will be resolved before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Joe Biden meet in person in December.

Champagne says he raised the issue in his meeting today with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in Washington, D.C.

He says fluidity at the Canada-U.S. border is in the best interests of both countries.

Kirsten Hillman, Canadas envoy in D.C, raised eyebrows last week when she accused the U.S. of holding the Nexus program hostage.

Canadas Nexus enrolment centres remain closed because Customs and Border Protection wants the U.S. agents who staff them to have the same legal protections they enjoy at border entry points.
Ontario Provincial Police Supt. Craig Abrams appears as a witness at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa on Oct. 20, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Inquiry Hears Tense Exchange Over Request for Officers During Freedom Convoy

The lawyer for Ottawas former police chief says the number of officers needed to clear the Freedom Convoy wasnt pulled out of a hat, despite concerns expressed by a senior Ontario Provincial Police officer.

Supt. Craig Abrams told the public inquiry into the Trudeau governments use of the Emergencies Act that he was in a February meeting with former chief Peter Sloly, who told his staff he would ask for double the number of officers they thought they needed.

The statement concerned Abrams enough to raise it with his superior officer, and the next day Sloly announced a request for 1,800 officers from other police agencies.

I only said that I was suspicious how they could come up with a number like that, and certainly the suggestion that that number would be doubled, Abrams said during cross-examination by Slolys lawyer Tom Curry on Friday.

Abrams said he was suspicious because there didnt appear to be an integrated plan in place at that point, so he didnt understand where the number could have come from.

The comments led to a tense exchange at the inquiry with Slolys lawyer, who accused Abrams of casting doubt on the request for resources to end what had been deemed an illegal occupation of the capital city.

What did you think you were doing? Curry asked, demanding to know whether Abrams thought he was acting in the interest of Ottawa police, Ottawa residents and the federal government.

Abrams said he was acting in the interest of his OPP officers.

Commissioner Justice Paul Rouleau intervened several times during the exchange.

Curry also accused Abrams of passing false information on to Ontarios solicitor general, Sylvia Jones, about how many OPP officers were helping in Ottawa, which led Jones to overestimate how many officers were involved in the response.

Abrams denied that, saying he reported the number of officers up through the chain of command but wasnt responsible for how those were used. Curry said Abrams never worked to correct the record.

It impacted what the RCMP considered the Ottawa police service needed, it impacted the way the public in Ottawa thought that the OPS was handling the matter, it impacted the council, Curry said.

The protest ultimately represented the largest unplanned deployment of Ontario Provincial Police officers in the services history.

Throughout his testimony, Abrams expressed several serious safety and logistical concerns about the way Ottawa police handled the crisis in January and February.

In one instance, Abrams refused to have OPP officers help to remove trucks from the area of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive over concerns about safety and the lack of planning in place.

At that meeting, he said Sloly repeatedly raised his voice and became heated.

In another example, he said OPP negotiators convinced protesters to remove fuel from an encampment at Coventry Road, east of downtown Ottawa.

But then Ottawa police began arresting the protesters as they left the fuel site and charged them with mischief, which Abrams says set the negotiators efforts back.

By Laura Osman and David Fraser
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Japanese journalist Shiori Ito speaks outside a Tokyo court on Dec. 18, 2019, after hearing the ruling on a damages lawsuit by her, accusing a former TV reporter of rape. In this case, the court awarded her 3.3 million yen ($30,000). (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)

Japanese Lawmaker Ordered to Pay Damages to Journalist Over Tweet Likes

A Japanese court on Thursday ruled in favor of a journalist who sued ruling party lawmaker Mio Sugita for liking several tweets that she claimed were defamatory to her, the first such verdict in Japan.

Tokyo High Court ordered Sugita to pay 550,000 yen ($3,660) in damages to Shiori Ito, a journalist and an icon of Japans #MeToo movement, for liking defamatory posts from other users on Twitter, Kyodo News reported.

Ito had sued Sugita for 2.2 million yen ($14,640) for liking defamatory tweets about her, claiming that the Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers actions offended her dignity considering her prominence and large Twitter following.

The Tokyo District Court had previously dismissed Itos lawsuit in March on the ground that liking a tweet does not necessarily imply approval of the content as it might be used for bookmarking purposes.

But the Tokyo High Court overturned the ruling, saying that Sugitas liking of defamatory tweets was done with the intent of hurting Itos dignity, considering her past criticism of Ito.

The court ruled that such acts of contempts by a House of Representatives member with large Twitter following exceeded the socially-acceptable limit, and the mental distress caused by it cannot be taken lightly.

[The court] understood my suffering. I want [Sugita] to think about how small actions can hurt people, Ito was quoted as saying by Kyodo News.

Liked 25 Tweets

Sugita, a vice minister for internal affairs and communications in the Japanese parliamentary, allegedly liked a total of 25 tweets containing derogatory remarks about Ito in 2018, The Asahi Shimbun reported.

The tweets were related to Itos rape allegations against Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a former Washington bureau chief for the Tokyo Broadcasting service, in 2017. Yamaguchi was a biographer of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Ito became an icon of the #MeToo movement in Japan after going public with her case.The Supreme Court ordered Yamaguchi to pay 3.3 million yen ($21,941) in damages to Ito as it found that he had nonconsensual sexual intercourse with Ito while she was intoxicated in 2015.

Sugita criticized Ito in a BBC documentary in 2018 stating that her alleged rape was the result of clear errors on her part as a woman [for] drinking that much in front of a man and losing her memory.

If youre working as a woman in society, youll be approached by people you dont like. Being able to properly turn them down is one of your skills, she said in the interview.

Sugita later clarified that her remarks referred to something different, The Mainichi reported.
Judge Blocks New York From Banning Guns in Churches, Says Law Unconstitutional

A judge has blocked New York authorities from banning guns in churches and other houses of worship, ruling that the states restrictions violate the U.S. Constitution.

There is ample Supreme Court precedent emphasizing an individuals right to keep and bear arms, U.S. District Judge John Sinatra, a Trump appointee, wrote in a 40-page ruling. That precedent dictates that the New York law is unconstitutional, he said.

In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, for instance, the nations top court said that restricting gun rights is permissible only if the restricting body proves the regulation is consistent with the Nations historical tradition of sufficiently analogous regulations.

New York fails that test, Sinatra said.

Sinatra imposed a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the law, which says that people cannot possess guns in sensitive locations like churches.

Were delighted with the quick action by Judge Sinatra, Second Amendment Foundation founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb said in a statement. We believe this law to be wholly in violation of not only the letter but the spirit of the Supreme Courts decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, told news outlets in a statement the office was reviewing this decision and considering our options in our ongoing efforts to protect New Yorkers and defend our common sense gun laws.

The new law was enacted in July, about a week after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down New Yorks restrictions on concealed carrying firearms.

The foundation filed the case on behalf of Bishop Larry Boyd and Rev. Jimmie Hardaway Jr., arguing the ban goes far beyond any constitutionally relevant historical justification, especially as the ban extends to places of worship that would otherwise permit congregants to carry firearms.

State lawyers had urged the court not to impose the restraining order, asserting plaintiffs had not proven imminent harm or clear likelihood of success.

Sinatra, the judge, disagreed.

Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their Second and Fourteenth Amendment claim, he said.

In addition to the Bruen ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, McDonald v. City of Chicago show that Americans have the right to carry guns in public for self-defense, the ruling said. New York could succeed if it showed a historical tradition of banning guns from churches, but did not do so.

Because the State has failed to meet its burden to identify an American tradition justifying New Yorks place of worship or religious observation exclusion, the exclusion violates the Fourteenth Amendment in that it prevents law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms,' Sinatra said, quoting from Bruen.

Absent a restraining order, plaintiffs rights would continue being violated, he said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (C) speaks during a primary election night event in Hialeah, Fla., on Aug. 23, 2022. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)

Judge Dismisses Election Fraud Case, Branding Florida Prosecutions an Overreach of Power

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.A Miami judge on Oct. 21 approved a motion to dismiss an elections fraud case brought by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Election Crimes Unit.

The state had charged Robert Wood and 19 other people with election fraud in August after a state roundup by the Election Crimes Unit, a new body that the governor put together in an effort to clean up voter rolls and charge those who have violated election laws.

Wood was convicted of second-degree murder in 1991, making him ineligible to vote under state law.

Larry Davis, who represented Wood, argued that the Office of the Statewide Prosecutor (OSP) did not have jurisdiction over the case and Judge Milton Hirsch agreed.

In his order, Hirsch dismissed the charges against Wood and decided the states prosecution of election crimes constituted an overreach of power.

However, the governors office disagreed with the courts ruling and said it intended to appeal.

Given that elections violations of this nature impact all Florida voters, elections officials, state government, and the integrity of our republic, we continue to view the Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution as the appropriate agency to prosecute these crimes, Bryan Griffin, the governors press secretary, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

The state will continue to enforce the law and ensure that murderers and rapists who are not permitted to vote do not unlawfully do so, he continued. Florida will not be a state in which elections are left vulnerable or cheaters unaccountable.

At an April 25, 2022 press conference in Spring Hill, Florida, Floridas Gov. Ron DeSantis signs bill into law that establishes the nations first Office of Election Crimes and Security at the Department of State specifically to investigate voter fraud. (Patricia Tolson/The Epoch Times)

State Prosecutor Nick Cox said in an Oct. 21 statement that the judge had an incorrect analysis and the decision would be appealed.

In his order Hirsch of the 11th Judicial Circuit quoted Shakespeare, His arms spread wider than a dragons wings, he wrote quoting from King Henry VI, Part I.

How much wider even than that does OSP seek to extend its reach? In the case at bar, the answer is simple: wider than the enabling statute contemplates, and therefore too wide.

According to Florida law, in order for the statewide prosecutors office to have jurisdiction, the crime must either have occurred in two or more judicial circuits, or must be connected with an organized criminal conspiracy affecting two or more judicial circuits.

In their motion, the prosecutors office charged Wood with giving false information on his voter application form and, knowing he was not qualified, voting in the general election.

However, the OSP said that both of these crimes did involve multiple judicial circuits because Woods vote invoked the participation of a government entity in Tallahassee, Floridas state capital, and was tallied with other legal votes and then sent to another circuit by virtue of going to Tallahassee.

The judge did not agree.

On OSPs version of affairs, it is unnecessary for Mr. Wood to commit a crime in any but his home jurisdiction in order for him to be subject to prosecution by an entity intended to prosecute only multi-jurisdictional crimes, Hirsch wrote in his order.

It follows, on OSPs version of affairs, that OSP has a general power to prosecute voter crimes in Florida. And OSP does not blink in asserting that power.

The prosecution argued that Woods case mirrored a previous case State v. Tacher, where four people conspired to transport illicit drugs from New Jersey to Miami.

In that case, a judge had determined that the possession of the drugs in multiple judicial circuits, as part of a criminal enterprise, gave the state authority to prosecute the case.

Hirsch ruled that Woods case was not the same because the alleged crime occurred in Miami and the act of transporting Woods vote was not itself a crime.

Here, all criminal misconduct, if there was any, was performed by one man in one county, the judges order read. It is an old truth that all politics is local. OSP seeks to stand that old truth on its head.

The prosecutors will likely go to the Third District Court of Appeal. There are 19 other cases pending, many of which are in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties, and could eventually be brought before the Florida Supreme Court.

Davis said he hoped that the judges ruling might set a precedent for the other pending cases that involve similar arguments.

Judge Hirsch is known as a very thoughtful judge, Davis said in a statement. So I think his ruling will carry a lot of weight.
Judge Rejects Challenge to Biden Administrations Student Debt Relief Program

A federal judge on Oct. 20 rejected a legal challenge to the Biden administrations student debt relief program.

Missouri and five other states that sued the government over the program do not have standing, U.S. District Judge Henry Edward Autrey, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled.

The complaint centered in part on the alleged harms that the Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri (MOHELA) will suffer as a result of the program.

But Missouri failed to connect the alleged harms to the state, Autrey said.

Missouri has not met its burden to show that it can rely on harms allegedly suffered by MOHELA. MOHELA, not the State, is legally liable for judgments against it, he ruled.

Other states argued that the program would harm them but the Biden administration resolved the issues they offered, including scrapping the plan to consolidate certain federal loans into Direct Loans, which are issued under a different program, the judge added.

Because Plaintiffs seek only prospective relief, they must articulate an ongoing injury. The lack of the ongoing incentive to consolidate defeats the claims of Arkansas and Nebraska, he said.

The remaining states sued over what they described as a looming loss of tax revenue because they do not allow taxes of student loan discharges.

These future lost tax revenues are merely speculative. Moreover, there is nothing imminent about what may happen several years in the future. The Departments student loan debt relief plan does not prohibit the States from proposing, enacting, or implementing legislation. These States sovereign power to set its own tax policy is not implicated by the student debt relief plan, and their legislatures are free to propose and pass tax revenue plans as they see fit, the judge said.

Hours after the ruling, the states filed a notice of appeal. They also asked Autrey to enter an injunction against the student debt relief until the appeal is adjudicated.

Once the relief program starts, the States will be unable to remedy the full scope of all the harms they are experiencing, the motion to stay stated.

If a stay is not granted, the government could relieve $80 billion to $100 billion as soon as Sunday, the plaintiffs said.

Autrey has not yet ruled on the motion.

Multiple other challenges have been filed against the program, which the government says is authorized due to the COVID-19 emergency under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act.

Judges have dismissed or ruled against several of them. On Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, rejected an emergency appeal from Wisconsin taxpayers in one of the cases.
The Union Flag flies above the Victoria Tower and the Palace of Westminster. (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Labour MP Triggers By-Election by Resigning Over Sexual Misconduct Allegation

A Labour MP has resignedafter a parliamentary watchdog upheld complaints of serious sexual misconduct by a young assistanttriggering a by-election.

Christian Matheson, 54, had denied the allegations but said he had decided to resign as MP for the City of Chester, a constituency he had held since 2015.

The Independent Expert Panel had recommended a suspension of four weeks after the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone, upheld two allegations of sexual misconduct against Matheson by a former member of staff.

The complaint, made under Parliaments Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, alleged Matheson made unwanted advances towards a female assistant, who no longer works for him.

Stone concluded Matheson had invited her on a private trip to Gibraltar in 2019 and the invitation was sexually motivated, unwanted, and had placed the complainant under pressure and intimidated her.

Then, during and after a works event in January 2020, he had linked arms with her; made personal comments about her appearance while looking at her suggestively; made her hold his hand as they left and insisted on accompanying her to her bus stop; and once there invited her back to his flat, kissed her twice on the forehead and attempted to kiss her on the mouth.

Unwanted and Unwelcome Sexual Advances

The commissioner concluded that these were all unwanted and unwelcome sexual advances, concluded Stone.

Matheson said, in a statement on Friday: I have today, with great sadness, tendered my resignation as Member of Parliament for the City of Chester. I am dismayed that I have been found guilty of several allegations that I know to be untrue.

The Labour Party is understood to have suspended Mathesons party membership following the watchdogs report and the Chief Whip, Sir Alan Campbell, urged him to stand down as an MP.

A Labour spokesman told PA: This is an incredibly serious case. There must be a zero tolerance for sexual harassment and the Labour Party has acted immediately following the ICGS findings. We will now select a candidate that the people of Chester can be proud to vote for.

Matheson won the City of Chester from the Tories in 2015 and had a majority of 6,164 at the last election.

In his resignation statement, Matheson said: From the start I accepted I had committed a minor breach of the code and had hoped that an honest and open approach would stand me in a fair light.

This has proven not to be the case and I am dismayed that I have been found guilty of several allegations that I know to be untrue. Indeed my insistence on what I know to be truethat I had no sexual motivation in this matterwas held against me as a refusal to accept my guilt, and caused an increased sanction which I felt was disproportionate, he added.

Matheson concluded, I believe that the honourable and right thing to do now is to resign my seat and seek to rebuild my life elsewhere.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (C) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 22, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Louisiana Supreme Court Denies Retrial for Nonunanimous Jury Convictions After Practice Ruled Unconstitutional

A divided Supreme Court of Louisiana ruled that a ban on nonunanimous jury verdicts will not be applied retroactively, which means up to 1,500 inmates who were convicted by split juries will not get a new trial.

The ruling (pdf) on Oct. 21 in State of Louisiana v. Reddick, court file 2021-KP-01893, comes out of the appeal of Reginald Reddick, who challenged his 102 conviction for a 1993 second-degree murder after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that nonunanimous criminal jury verdicts were unconstitutional.

One justice dissented, and another dissented in part.

The Louisiana high court ruled that retrying those already convicted by less-than-unanimous juries in the state would impose too great an administrative burden on the courts and was not required by the state constitutional amendment voters approved in 2018 requiring unanimous jury verdicts going forward.

The amendment approved by voters has prospective effect only, Justice Scott Crichton, a Republican, wrote for the court.

The solemn decision of the people should not be disturbed by the judiciary, whose role as a co-equal branch of government is to interpret the laws, not to announce policy more rightfully reserved to the legislature, he wrote.

Justice Piper Griffin, a Democrat, wrote in her dissent that bureaucratic inconvenience should not stand in the way of justice.

The imperative to correct past injustices manifest in the deprivation of a constitutionally guaranteed right should not cede to reliance interests and administrative concerns, she wrote.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican, had argued that retrying cases involving nonunanimous verdicts would swamp the court system.

The state proceeding came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on April 20, 2020, in Ramos v. Louisiana that the practice in Louisiana and Oregon of allowing criminal convictions with a less-than-unanimous jury verdict violated the Constitutions guarantee of a right to a jury trial. Before the decision, in 48 states and federal court, a single jurors vote to acquit was enough to prevent a conviction, but Louisiana and Oregon imprisoned people as a result of 10-to-2 verdicts.

Writing for the court at the time, Justice Neil Gorsuch stated that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trialas incorporated against the States by way of the Fourteenth Amendmentrequires a unanimous verdict to convict a defendant of a serious offense.

Gorsuch wrote that the practice of allowing nonunanimous convictions was rooted in past racial animus.

Courts in both Louisiana and Oregon have frankly acknowledged that race was a motivating factor in the adoption of their States respective nonunanimity rules, he wrote.

Louisiana first endorsed nonunanimous verdicts for serious crimes at a constitutional convention in 1898.

According to one committee chairman, the avowed purpose of that convention was to establish the supremacy of the white race, and the resulting document included many of the trappings of the Jim Crow era: a poll tax, a combined literacy and property ownership test, and a grandfather clause that in practice exempted white residents from the most onerous of these requirements.

But a year later, the nations highest court refused to make the ruling retroactive.

On May 17, 2021, in the case in Edwards v. Vannoy, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Ramos jury-unanimity rule does not apply retroactively on federal collateral review, as opposed to during a routine direct appeal to a higher state-level court. Collateral review, which usually happens when state-level appeals have been exhausted, is when a defendant asks a federal court to revisit his conviction to determine if his constitutional rights were violated.
A street view of White Castle restaurant at 55 W. South St., Indianapolis, In., in August 2019. (Google Street View/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Man Gets 8-year Prison Term for Shooting 2 Indiana Judges

INDIANAPOLISA man convicted of shooting two southern Indiana judges during a fight outside an Indianapolis fast food restaurant in 2019 was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison.

A Marion County judge sentenced Brandon Kaiser to 16 years, with eight years to be served in prison followed by six years of probation, the Marion County Prosecutors Office said.

A jury convicted Kaiser last month of aggravated battery, multiple battery-related charges and carrying a handgun without a license. He was acquitted on one count of battery resulting in moderate bodily injury.

Clark County Circuit judges Brad Jacobs and Andrew Adams were shot in the early morning hours of May 1, 2019. Another judge, Sabrina Bell of Crawford County, was with Jacobs and Adams when they were shot outside of a downtown Indianapolis White Castle restaurant.

Kaiser claimed he was acting in self-defense against the group of judges, who were in town for a conference, and court documents claimed Bell flipped off Kaiser and his nephew.

This dispute should have never occurred and ultimately led to significant and lasting consequences for all involved, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement.

Adams pleaded guilty to a battery charge in September 2019 and received a one-year suspended sentence.

The Indiana Commission of Judicial Qualifications filed disciplinary charges against the three judges involved. Jacobs and Bell were reinstated to the bench in December 2019 after serving 30-day suspensions. Adams served a 60-day suspension.

Bell resigned from the bench on July 15 after the Indiana Supreme Court suspended her when a special prosecutor filed felony charges against her related to a domestic dispute.
McConnell Leads Tributes to Ex-Kentucky Gubernatorial Candidate, 90, Who Died After Saving Wife From House Fire

A former Republican Kentucky gubernatorial candidate died in a house fire on Thursday, officials have confirmed.

Tom Emberton, 90, who also served as chief judge of the state Court of Appeals, was at home in Edmonton when the fire began at around 3:30 a.m., Metcalfe County Coroner Larry Wilson said.

Emberton sprung into action and helped to get his wife, Julia, out of the property before going back inside to try and save his home but failed to make it out again, Wilson said.

By the time the fire department arrived at the scene, the house was already burned to the ground.

He heroically rescued his wife and got her to safety, Edmonton Mayor Doug Smith, who was a longtime friend of Emberton, told local ABC affiliate WBKO. Tom was just the greatest guy in the world to be around. He was infectious to everybody, Smith said. He had a way about him that was really special.

Smith added that the fire was accidental.

Emberton, who was born in Monroe County, completed a four-year tour of duty with the United States Air Force, before enrolling at Western Kentucky University. He was inducted into the WKU Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2016.

Model Gentleman  Devoted Husband  Wonderful Father

The GOP candidate made a failed bid for governor of Kentucky in 1971 and was appointed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1987 where he was reelected twice and also served as chief judge of the appellate court before retiring in 2004.

He and his wife had been married for 65 years and share two children; Laura Emberton Owens and Tom Emberton Jr., and five grandchildren, according to local reports.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who served on Embertons gubernatorial campaign, paid a touching tribute to him in a statement on Thursday.

Elaine and I are heartbroken to learn of the tragic passing of our good friend Judge Tom Emberton, McConnell wrote. Tom gave me one of my earliest experiences in the rough and tumble reality of political campaigning, hiring me to work on his 1971 gubernatorial campaign. He taught me valuable lessons on public service and running as a statewide Republican in Kentucky. Tom advocated for conservative values across our state and played a key role in organizing Kentucky Republicans at every level, paving the way for me and so many other conservatives to follow in his footsteps.

McConnell noted that after Embertons retirement from the Kentucky Court of Appeals, he and his wife continued to be active in the Metcalfe County community, and Tom received a number of well-deserved honors and awards.

Tom was a model gentleman, a devoted husband, and a wonderful father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, McConnell added.
Met Police Apologise for Wrongly Arresting Christian Who Was Attacked by Islamists at Speakers Corner

The Metropolitan Police has admitted it fell below standards following two wrongful arrests of a female Christian evangelist who was abused by Islamists at Speakers Corner in London.

The Met has paid 10,000 ($11,250) in damages and apologised to evangelical Christian preacher Hatun Tash who was wrongly arrested twice at Speakers Corner.

A former Muslim, Tash, who regularly debates Islam and the Quran at Speakers Corner, sometimes wearing a Charlie Hebdo Prophet Muhammad T-shirt, is the director of the ministry Defend Christ Critique Islam (DCCI).

She challenged the arrests on the grounds of wrongful arrest and unlawful imprisonment. She was defended by the Christian Legal Centre and donated the payout to them.

The Free Speech Union has also supported Tashs cause, writing to the Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Stephen House, asking him to justify this appalling treatment and, if he could not, to apologise to Hatun.

Speakers Corner

Based in central Londons Hyde Park, Speakers Corner has been a traditional site for public speeches and debates since the mid-1800s. George Orwell, Karl Marx, and Vladimir Lenin are listed among the historic orators there.

In 2020, police officers used coronavirus regulations to detain Tash for 23 hours after she encouraged officers not to hinder her right to free speech.

In May 2021, while Tash was debating, she was assaulted by a hostile group of Islamic men, with some calling for her death. In video footage, when police officers ordered the Islamic group to leave Hyde Park, one told the police to go away.

When the same officers told Tash to leave the park, they told her she would be arrested if she argued with them.

Tash was then taken into police custody and later interviewed under caution and held in custody for 24 hours before being released, with the police taking no further action.

She has repeatedly been assaulted at Speakers Corner. In July 2021, Tash was assaulted by an Islamist, who slashed her in the arm and face with a knife. The man who carried out the attack sprinted away. No arrests have been made and a knife was found near the scene of the attack.

Police Inaction

Tash, who said more must be done to properly deal with Islamic violence and intimidation at Speakers Corner, told The Epoch Times that she wasnt satisfied with the apology as she felt that police are still doing the same thing.

The teaching of Islam isnt complementary to British society, she said, adding that she thinks police deal with intimidation just by shutting down the opposition.

In a statement, she said: Police inaction and fear has led to mobs being encouraged to silence, threaten and to even try to kill me. It is heartbreaking that we live in a society where police do not want to arrest a Muslim for fear of being called Islamophobic.

In a letter (pdf), Inspector Andy ODonnell of the Directorate of Professional Standards, Civil Actions Investigation Unit, apologised for both the 2020 and 2021 arrests.

Whilst the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service] constantly strives to maintain the highest professional standards, incidents occasionally arise when the level of service falls below that standard. I have considered the background to your claim and am satisfied that on these occasions the level of service did fall below the requisite standard, he said.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to you for the distress that you have suffered as a consequence of these incidents. I hope that settlement of this claim and this recognition of the impact of what happened will enable you to put these incidents behind you, added ODonnell.

This pay-out to Hatun is a rare admission by the police that they got it wrong, said Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre.

Hatun is well known at Speakers Corner yet it is she that has been repeatedly silenced or removed by the police because she challenges the religious ideology of Islam, she said.

Not satisfied with hounding her out of Speakers Corner an attempt has been made on her life for which there has still been no arrest, added Williams.
Midterms Could Deal a Blow to Progressive Housing Agenda

News Analysis

Challenges to single-family zoning are gathering steam nationwide, but an ambitious progressive agenda to promote high-density housing could suffer a major setback if Democrats lose control of Congress in the November midterm elections.

The stakes include billions of dollars in federal grants and hundreds of thousands of housing units, as President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers push for more federal action to encourage construction of affordable dwellings in suburbs and other communities.

For example, the Biden administration has doubled down on its calls for zoning reform, saying in an Oct. 7 statement that it continues to urge state and local governments to reduce needless barriers to housing production, especially restrictive zoning and land use regulations.

The White House is also urging Congress to advance its housing agenda by passing investments in construction and preservation, as well as measures to end exclusionary zoning in states and localities. The vast majority of U.S. communities have such zoning policies, including minimum lot-size requirements to control density.

Bidens Housing Supply Action Plan, a bundle of administrative and legislative goals first announced in May, aims to tackle the U.S. housing shortage by financing the production of nearly 1 million affordable homes. Key to the plan is using federal funds to encourage local communities to make more land available for rental housing.

The administration has stated that it will use competitive grant programs under the Department of Transportation (DOT) to reward jurisdictions for having land-use policies that promote density and boost housing supply. The DOT has released three applications for such programs this year, totaling nearly $6 billion in funding.

Many Democratic lawmakers think this sweeping agenda doesnt go far enough. In an open letter published in August, members of the New Democrat Coalition, a caucus in the House, called on Biden to take further actions to promote better zoning, planning, permitting, and affordable housing development, primarily through the DOT and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

So far, a closely divided Senate has acted as a brake on these expansive policy plans. Bidens proposal to invest more than $150 billion in housing, including $1.75 billion in grants designed to fight single-family zoning, ran aground when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) pulled his support for the Build Back Better Act after it was passed by the House in November 2021.

Bidens 2023 budget also called for $10 billion in HUD grants for states and localities that have dismantled barriers to affordable housing, but neither chamber of Congress took up the proposal. A draft fiscal year 2023 funding bill released by the House Appropriations Committee in June provides a total of $62.7 billion for HUD, but none of that money is explicitly linked to zoning reform.

Executive Action

Republican victories in Congress this month could further derail legislative efforts to remake local zoning policies. While control of the Senate is a toss-up, Republicans are strongly favored to retake the House, according to many election experts.

Regardless of the outcome of the midterms, the campaign to impose high-density housing on American neighborhoods will likely continue by other means. Last year, for example, Biden quietly revived the Fair Housing Acts Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) provision, an Obama-era housing regulation that critics charge would effectively federalize suburban zoning policies.

The 2015 regulation, which former President Donald Trump killed off in 2020, requires state and local governments that receive HUD funds to prove theyre addressing significant disparities in housing needs and in access to opportunity and replacing segregated living patterns with racially balanced living patterns, among other far-reaching requirements.

In effect, the rule transfers zoning authority from 1,200 jurisdictions that accept HUD money to the federal government. According to Stanley Kurtz, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, AFFH also leaves communities vulnerable to being sued by the administration or activist nonprofits for not meeting the policys nebulous definition of fair housing.

Local Moves

Efforts to scrap single-family zoning are moving forward at the state and local levels, spurred by housing activists who argue that lifting restrictions on higher-density housing is a crucial step in addressing the nations shortage of shelter.

California effectively abolished single-family zoning last year by allowing up to four dwellings to be built on almost any parcel, regardless of local zoning rules. Oregon passed a similar law in 2019. Cities such as Minneapolis and Tacoma, Washington, have also liberalized their zoning regulations. Gainesville, Florida, is poised to vote next week on a controversial plan to allow multifamily units in single-family neighborhoods.

Soaring home prices and rents in recent years have fueled concerns that theres too little housing for sale or rent in large parts of the United States. Moodys Analytics estimates that the country is facing a shortfall of 1.5 million homes, driving a low vacancy rate of 4.5 percent.

A rapidly cooling housing market, however, is boosting the inventory of homes for sale, which should alleviate this shortage.
Children's backpacks and shoes are seen at a daycare in Canada, on May 29, 2018. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Mississippi Daycare Workers Charged With Abuse After Allegedly Scaring Children With a Halloween Mask

After a video went viral of daycare workers allegedly scaring unruly children with a Scream mask, the staff have been charged with child abuse.

Five workers at Lil Blessings Child Care and Learning Center in Mississippi were said to be involved in an attempt to scare children into submission, a whistleblower disclosed in a Facebook post.

The post landed in the hands of the states Department of Health and the Monroe County Sheriffs Office which launched an investigation into the five people who have now been charged.

The employeesSierra McCandless, Oci-Anna Kilburn, Jennifer Newman, and Shyenne Sheltonwere charged with three counts each of felony child abuse according to reports.

Another employee, Traci Hutson was charged with failure to report abuse and simple assault against a minor, which are misdemeanor charges.

Hutson faces misdemeanor charges of failure to report abuse and simple assault against a minor.

The daycares owner, Sheila Sanders, told media outlets that she had fired those involved after hearing what had happened at her facility. She is not facing any charges.

I dont condone that and never have, she told the reporters.

Sanders also disclosed that a similar incident happened in September, but she was not aware of it until the video of the masked workers scaring children appeared on social media.

One of the workers, CeeCee claimed that the act was not ill-intentioned.

It wasnt meant to harm anybody and it wasnt ill-intentioned, she said in a video shared on Facebook.

The teachers asked me if I would do it or if they could use [the mask] to get their class to listen or clean up. Im not a child abuser, she continued.

She added that she had made the plan to scare the children so that they would behave, but did not disclose her plans to Sanders.

I was in complete shock of what I witnessed, Katelyn Johnson, a parent told a national news outlet.

Whether they had a mask on or a mask off, their behavior was unacceptable. My blood pressure was raised. It broke my heart for my child. I was angry.

She said that her 2-year-old son is still showing signs of trauma and has difficulty sleeping through the night.

I hope youre enjoying jail, she announced during her interview. And I hope you realize what youve done is serious. And its not a joke. And its nothing to laugh at.

Parent Alyssa Hayes told reporters of the effect on her daughter, I want them to see the terror on her face because that is what I see every night.

Just the attention thats  been given to this at this point, Sheriff Kevin Crook told reporters, might keep something like this from happeningor people to look into whats going on, you know, in their daycare facilities.

The childcare workers are facing felonies and appeared in court on Oct. 20 where they each received their bond notices from a judge.

McCandless and Kilburn each received $20,000 bonds. Newman and Shelton each received $15,000 bonds.
Illegal immigrants, who boarded a bus in Texas, are dropped off within view of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC on Aug. 11, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

More Illegal Immigrants Arrive Near VP Harriss DC Residence

Bringing the border to Biden and Harris: Texas Gov. Abbott

Another bus carrying illegal immigrants arrived outside Vice President Kamala Harris home in Washington on Oct. 13, while three more buses pulled up in New York City.

Thirty-six migrants arrived early Thursday morning near the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, which houses Harris residence, according to Fox News. Throngs of men and women carrying small bags or pillows could be seen in video footage of the scene.

The network reported that three more buses arrived at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, near Times Square.

In recent months, the Republican governors of several border states, as well as the Democrat mayor of El Paso, Texas, have relocated illegal migrants to Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Illegal immigrants, who boarded a bus in Texas, wait to be transported by volunteers to a local church after being dropped off outside the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris, on the grounds of the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 15, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Busing Strategy Providing Much-Needed Relief

In recent weeks, several buses filled with people who illegally crossed U.S. borders have been transported to Harris District of Columbia home. The last reported migrant transport before Thursdays load was on Oct. 6, when more than two dozen illegal aliens, including men, women, and children, got off a bus from Texas in the early morning, Fox News and NBC reported.

On Oct. 11, Harris accused Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of dereliction of duty when the vice president was asked about illegal migrants being sent to Washington.

Theyve fled great harm, and they are coming here [to the United States] seeking refuge, Harris said in an interview with NBCs Late Night with Seth Meyers.

I just think its an absolute dereliction of duty. If you see a problem and if you agree that we need to address it, then if youre a leader, participate in a solution, she said.

Abbotts office told The Epoch Times that theyll continue sending illegal border-crossers to Democrat-run cities. They said its the best way to solve the ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by the Biden administrations open border policies.

The dereliction of duty is President Biden and Border Czar Harris refusal to uphold their oaths of office and secure our southern border. The Biden Administrations reckless open border policies have created an ongoing humanitarian crisis, as historic levels of illegal immigrants, terrorists, and deadly drugs like fentanyl surge across the southern border and into Texas communities, Renae Eze, press secretary of Abbotts office said in the email.

Until President Biden and Border Czar Harris do their jobs, Texas will continue bringing the border to them and busing migrants to help our overrun border towns.

Texas has bused over 8,000 illegal migrants to the U.S. capital since April, Abbotts office said in a statement Sept. 16. It added that over 2,500 had been dropped off in New York City since Aug. 5, and more than 600 bused to Chicago since late August. The program provides much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities, the statement said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, flanked by state and local law enforcement officials, speaks to media in Eagle Pass, Texas, on June 29, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, chartered two planes in September to send illegal immigrants from San Antonio to Marthas Vineyard, as part of the states relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.

While such moves drew harsh criticism from left-wing mayors, reports indicate that El Paso, a border city whose mayor is a Democrat, bused more illegal immigrants to New York and Chicago than the states Republican governor. Since late August, El Paso has sent roughly 7,000 illegal aliens to New York City and over 1,800 to Chicago, according to an Oct. 6 report by Reuters.

Lorenz Duchamps and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., in Los Angeles on Dec. 3, 2019. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

Musk Says Recession Could Last Until 2024

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Friday he thinks a recession will last until spring of 2024 after earlier raising concerns on demand in China and Europe.

Just guessing, but probably until spring of 24, Musk said on Twitter when a user asked him how long the recession would last.

Shares of Tesla slid on Thursday, a day after Musk said it was a little harder for the electric-vehicle maker to garner demand in the face of a weakening global economy.
Nearly 80 Percent of AmericansIncluding Most DemocratsOppose Puberty Blockers for Minors

A new survey of voters who say they are likely to go to the polls on Nov. 8 finds the vast majority of themincluding 53 percent of self-described Democratsoppose administering puberty-blocking drugs to minors.

The survey was conducted by the Atlanta-based Trafalgar Group. The group asked 1,079 likely voters if they believed that underage minors should be required to wait until they are adults to use puberty blockers and undergo permanent sex change procedures and found that 78.7 percent of the respondents believed minors should have to wait to undergo sex change procedures.

Only 21.3 percent of the respondents disagreed, saying they wouldnt make minors seeking sex-change treatments wait.

Among the respondents, 53 percent of those who described themselves as Democrats said they would support making minors wait. Virtually all of the Republican-identifying respondents96.8 percentwould support making minors wait until they reach adulthood.

At 84.6 percent, independents who responded to the survey were almost as solidly in favor of making minors wait until they reach adulthood as the Republicans.

Women support the wait by 73.1 percent, while men support it even more strongly at 84.5 percent. Huge majorities of all major age groups in the survey support the wait, with the youngest group, 18- to 24-year-olds, showing the most backing at 92.3 percent.

The surveywhich was conducted on behalf of the Houston-based Convention of the Stateshas a 2.9 percent margin of error and a 95 percent confidence level. Respondents were interviewed between Oct. 8 and Oct. 11.

Convention of the States President Mark Meckler said in a statement that the surveys results confirm common sense.

This polling confirms the obviousthe vast majority of Americans are not on board with the Far-Lefts sexual agenda, which is seeking permanently to mutilate the young and vulnerable. The idea that young people have to be 16 to drive, 18 to vote, and 21 to drink, and yet can undergo life-altering medical procedures in middle school defies common sense, and the American people see that clearly, Meckler said.

As the Biden Administration refuses to do the right thing for our children and take action to protect them from the horrors of the far-left agenda, its imperative that individual stateslike what we see happening in Tennessee right nowstep up and stand against it.

Meckler was referring to a growing controversy that a Vanderbilt University clinic provides chemical treatments and physical surgeries for minors seeking to change their birth sex.

The Volunteer States Gov. Bill Lee and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have called for investigations of the clinic. Earlier this month, Vanderbilt agreed to pause the medical procedures for minors, pending an internal review.
Chris Baugh, an aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, in an image from video. (Courtesy of Project Veritas)

New York Mayor Fires Aide Who Disparaged Police, Mayor

New York Mayor Eric Adams confirmed on Oct. 20 that he ordered the termination of Chris Baugh, an aide who was captured on undercover video disparaging police officers and Adams.

Adams, a Democrat, first said that he was willing to keep Baugh when Project Veritas released a tape showing Baugh disparaging him. But later a second video emerged featuring Baugh talking about police and other city workers who were fired for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

The cops are mad at us though because we rolled back the private sector mandate but were not rolling back the public sector mandate, Baugh told Project Veritas.

Adams in September rescinded vaccine mandates for private workers and student-athletes but decided to keep the one for city workers, including officers.

Of the 1,400 workers who were fired, Baugh said, They dont deserve their jobs back.

They chose not to do a very, very harmless thing that protects the rest of society. [Expletive] them, he added. I dont give a [expletive]. They are like, This is unfair. [Expletive] deal with it. Were allowed to set the terms of employment. Period.

The first tape, we saw Christopher say disparaging remarks about me. The team came to me and stated, you know what, are we getting rid of him? I said, no, Adams told reporters during a press conference. People crap on me every day. You got to be thick-skinned. But when you have disparaging remarks about first responders, its unacceptable. Its not tolerated.

Adams said he gave Baugh a second chance after the initial video was released, but once the second one was made public, he chose to terminate the aide.

My team didnt have to call me again. I said thats not acceptable. I know what first responders went through, Adams, a former officer, said.

Baugh could not be reached for comment.

He was approached by Project Veritas with recordings of his comments, which he made while being unaware he was being recorded, and declined to comment.

In the first video, Baugh talked about how states like Texas have been bussing illegal immigrants to Democrat-run cities including New York City.

The program has proven effective, Baugh said. Its flooded our city.

He said that he wasnt sure whether Adams is capable enough to navigate the crisis.

New York is a so-called sanctuary city, which vows to welcome illegal immigrants, but Adams has decried the program and called on the federal government to assist in housing, feeding, and transporting the new arrivals.
A researcher works inside a laboratory during the development of the Italian ReiThera COVID-19 vaccine, in this undated handout photo in Rome, Italy. REITHERA/Handout via REUTERS

NIH Investigating Boston Universitys COVID-19 Study With 80 Percent Mortality in Mice

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said it is looking into a preprint study that was carried out at Boston University that created a chimeric COVID-19 variant that killed 80 percent of lab mice.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, did not review nor issue awards for experiments described in a pre-print article on SARS-CoV-2 research at Boston Universitys National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL), NIH told news outlets this week.

The statement added that the NIH is examining the matter to determine whether the research conducted was subject to the NIH Grants Policy Statement or met the criteria for review under the HHS [Health and Human Services] Framework for Guiding Funding Decisions about Proposed Research Involving Enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogens (HHS P3CO Framework).

It came after an NIAID official, Emily Erbelding, told Stat News that her agency should have been informed about the research before it was carried out. She claimed that Boston University did not disclose the exact nature of the study when it applied for a grant.

What we would have wanted to do is to talk about exactly what they wanted to do in advance, and if it met what the P3CO framework defines as enhanced pathogen of pandemic potential, ePPP, we could have put a package forward for review by the committee thats convened by HHS, the office of the assistant secretary for preparedness and response, Erbelding told Stat News.

The official said that they are going to have conversations over upcoming days about the research.

When contacted by The Epoch Times for comment, a Boston University spokeswoman pointed to a statement issued on Tuesday that refuted the NIHs claims.

It also refuted claims made by Erbelding and NIAID in the STAT News articles, saying that it fulfilled all required regulatory obligations and protocols, and following NIAIDs guidelines and protocols, we did not have an obligation to disclose this research for two reasons.

The experiments reported in this manuscript were carried out with funds from Boston University. NIAID funding was acknowledged because it was used to help develop the tools and platforms that were used in this research; they did not fund this research directly, the statement said.

After reports of the study were published online, it drew criticism.

History has taught us that viruses have managed to escape even the most secure labs. This is not a risk that scientists alone should be able to take without concurrence from the American public. This research must stop immediately while the risks and benefits can be investigated, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said in a statement.

The Epoch Times has contacted the NIH and NIAID for comment.
Ohio Supreme Court Suspends Democrat Judge Over Unprecedented Behavior

The Ohio Supreme Court has indefinitely suspended a local judge, citing unprecedented misconduct that includes falsifying court documents, issuing illegitimate arrest warrants, and donning inappropriate attire in court.

Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Pinkey Carr, a Democrat, was found to exhibit such misconduct that comprise more than 100 incidents over a period of about two years.

The misconduct encompassed repeated acts of dishonesty; the blatant and systematic disregard of due process, the law, court orders, and local rules; the disrespectful treatment of court staff and litigants; and the abuse of capias warrants and the courts contempt power, stated the courts per curium opinion (pdf). That misconduct warrants an indefinite suspension from the practice of law.

Justices agreed with the courts three-panel Board of Professional Conducts assessment that Carr ruled her courtroom in a reckless and cavalier manner, unrestrained by the law or the courts rules, without any measure of probity or even common courtesy, and that she conducted business in a manner befitting a game show host rather than a judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court.

Indefinite Suspension

Justices on the Ohio Supreme Court voted 52 on Oct. 18 to indefinitely suspend Carrs law licensea sanction that is the most severe penalty from the court, besides disbarment. The punishment is also more severe than the two-year suspension that the courts Board of Professional Conduct had sought (pdf).

Official court documents (pdf) state that Carr, who had been a judge since 2012, is now indefinitely suspended from the practice of law and immediately suspended from judicial office without pay for the duration of her disciplinary suspension.

Carr was found to have ignored an administrative order by the presiding judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court to postpone hearings around March and April 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to not rescheduling hearings, she was determined to have issued arrest warrants for at least 20 non-jail defendants who did not appear in court. Furthermore, she waived fines and court costs for people who were brave enough to appear in court in this period. Carr also lied to local news media and to her presiding judge that she did not issue arrest warrants.

The former judge agreed to some 583 statements of fact and misconduct related to her ethics violations, including acknowledging that she often held hearings without a prosecutor present to avoid complying with procedural safeguards in state law, which include requiring a judge to inform the accused of the nature of the charge, the identity of the complainant, the right to counsel, and the effect of various pleas.

Carr acknowledged that she has falsified court journal entries to conceal her actions, which included unilaterally entering no-contest pleas and then finding defendants not guilty of their charged offenses, or arbitrarily waiving fines and costs for defendants whom she had found guilty but without looking into their ability to pay the fines. In at least 24 of 34 cases, Carrs journal entries falsely said she had looked into defendants ability to pay and determined they couldnt pay. Instead, most of the time, Carr had frequently waived fines and costs based on the defendants birth date.

According to the courts opinion, Carr put at least five people in jail after she used warrants and incarceration to force people to pay fines and costs by tying their bond to the amount of the fine and costs. She acknowledged that this essentially created a modern-day debtors prison.

The court opinion determined that Carr abused her power and held a person in contempt, which resulted in the person serving 15 days in jail.

It also noted that Carr violated rules governing the appropriate dress, order, and decorum for courtroom, noting that her bench was littered with dolls, cups, novelty items, and junk and that Carr presided over her courtroom wearing tank tops, T-shirtssome with images or slogans, spandex shorts, and sneakers.

Mental Health Disorder Cited

Carr had argued that her diagnosed mental health disorders contributed to her misconduct, but the board concluded that she didnt establish that they caused her past misconduct. The board acknowledged that Carr has voluntarily undergone comprehensive evaluations of her mental and physical health, adhered to her doctors treatment plan, and entered into a contract with the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program.

Carr must now wait at least two years before she can apply to reinstate her law license in Ohio. To be able to regain her law license, she must convince the court that she has dealt with the issues that led to her indefinite suspension. Her reinstatement will require a report from a qualified healthcare professional stating that she can return to the competent, ethical, and professional practice of law, and require proof of compliance with her OLAP contract.

Carrs attorney Rich Koblentz told News 5 Cleveland after the Ohio Supreme Court decision that they are disappointed. He said that Carr was not being appropriately treated for her menopause and sleep apnea, which triggered a generalized anxiety disorder. She was not being appropriately treated for those conditions, Koblentz told the outlet.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is set to pick her replacement until voters can elect a replacement in a future election.
Feds Exerted No Pressure on RCMP During Nova Scotia Shooting Investigation, Trudeau Says

The federal government never pressured RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki to release details about the investigation into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shootings, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Every step of the way, we recognized and supported the fact that the RCMP and police of jurisdiction are the ones who decide what is released and when, Trudeau told reporters during a press conference in Surrey, B.C., on Oct. 21.

[The RCMP] make decisions about how to balance the need of the public to get answers and the need to protect the integrity of investigations.

On Thursday, the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC), an independent public inquiry created to examine the shootings on April 18 and 19, 2020, wherein a gunman killed 22 people around Portapique, Nova Scotia, released recordings and transcripts of an RCMP phone call in which Lucki told staff that then-Public Safety Minister Bill Blair had asked for details about the guns used in the shooting to be made public.

It was a request that I got from the ministers office, Lucki said on the call, dated April 28, 2020. And I shared with the minister that, in fact, it was going to be in the news release and it wasnt.

The federal government had pending gun-restriction legislation at the time. Less than 20 days after the shootings, it announced a ban on 1,500 types of assault-style firearms.

On the call, Lucki expressed her frustration at not being able to come through for the minister on the simplest of requests.

I was very frustrated, very disappointed, and I was feeling quite disrespected, she told staff after they failed to include details about the shooters firearms in a news release.

Dropping the Ball

During Fridays press conference, Trudeau said that the federal government will always ask on behalf of Canadians for more answers.

But we always ensure that the RCMP and police officers can do their jobs, he added.

Blair, who is now minister of emergency preparedness, has denied ever interfering with the RCMPs investigation or pressuring Lucki into prematurely releasing information.

At no point did I direct the RCMP in any operational matter, including on public communications. I did not ask them to release any specific information, nor did I receive a promise for them to do so, he told the House of Commons public safety committee on July 25.

Conservative MP and public safety critic Raquel Dancho questioned Blair at the time if he was aware of Luckis expectations that the gun details would become public during an April 28 press conference.

Im not aware of that, Blair answered, adding afterward, At no time did I ask Commissioner Lucki to reveal that information. At no time did I direct her in any way on communications. She did not make any promise to me.

During the April 28 phone call, Lucki said she had to apologize to Blair and Trudeau for dropping the ball on not releasing the firearm details.

I just am saddened that people tell me that they can give me this information and then cannot produce it, she said.

Point Blank

Dancho said Friday that Blair lied in his testimony before the public safety committee and called for both him and Lucki to resign from their respective positions.

You cannot just lie, point blank, to a parliamentary committee and not face the consequences, she told reporters on Parliament Hill on Oct. 21.

If [Blair] had any integrity, he would resign himself today.

Dancho added that the Conservatives do not have confidence in this minister to hold any position in this government.

The audio recording really made it cut and dry that what the minister said in committee was a lie, she said, adding, He used the death of 22 Canadians to leverage that for his political agenda.

The Epoch Times reached out to Blairs office for a response to Danchos accusations and also questioned if he would resign, but didnt hear back immediately.
An attendee holds a Walther PDP pistol at a trade show in Ottawa on June 1, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

Canadas Handgun Freeze Comes Into Effect

The federal governments freeze on handguns came into effect on Oct. 21, making it illegal to buy, sell, or transfer a handgun in Canada.

We have frozen the market for handguns in this country and our ban on imports that took effect in August remains in place, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a press conference in Surrey, B.C., on Oct. 21.

This is one of the strongest actions weve taken on gun violence in a generation, he added.

In August, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly announced a national temporary freeze on handgun importations that would take permanent effect once Parliament passed legislation bringing it into law.

At the time, Mendicino said the ban would stop nearly all individuals and businesses in Canada from importing handguns because nearly all our handguns are imported.

Speaking at the press conference with Trudeau in Surrey, Mendicino called Canadian gun crime a complex problem.

You need smart laws, you need sensible laws, he said.

Mendicino added that Bill C-21, which is currently pending in the House of Commons, will limit gun ownership across the country and give law enforcement the additional tools that they need to tackle organized crime.

Our goal over time is to see the amount of handguns in our communities reduced, Trudeau added.

Gun Smuggling

Conservatives have criticised the Liberals handgun freeze and increasing gun regulations, as laid out in Bill C-21, saying it limits only legal gun ownership.

In Canada, what we wont be doing is dividing Canadians and politicizing firearms, said Conservative MP and public safety critic Raquel Dancho during a press conference on Parliament Hill on Oct. 21.

Weve been clear all along that we believe the billions and billions of dollars of resources they are spending on their gun control policieswhich will fail to address gun violencewe would be spending those billions of dollars on bolstering our border security to stop gun smuggling, she said.

In the past week, the Toronto Police Association (TPA) president said the federal governments handgun freeze will fail to actually reduce gun crime.

TPA President Jon Reid told The Epoch Times in a previous interview that freezing handgun imports is pointless legislation.

Freezing the importation of legal firearms does nothing to stop the flow of the illegal ones, he said.

In June, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) said in a statement that it overall supports the handgun freeze legislation because it will help prevent victimization by way of a firearm and improve public safety.

However, the organization added that restricting lawful handgun ownership will not meaningfully address the real issue, which it said are illegal handguns obtained from the United States that have led to the disturbing current trend in gun violence that is largely related to gangs, street gangs, and more sophisticated organized crime groups.

Border Security

Trudeau said Friday that the federal government will be giving the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) more resources to help officers monitor attempts of gun smuggling from the United States.

With this funding, the CBSA can deploy new technology like scanners that can X-ray an entire truck in a matter of minutes, Trudeau said.

Our Liberal government is reinforcing our borders and giving law enforcement the tools and resources they need to stop illegal gun smuggling.

In February, Mark Weber, national president of the Customs and Immigration Union, told the Commons public safety committee about the large number of illegal firearms smuggled across Canadas border every year.

He said just one-millionth of all rail cargo is inspected by border officers before it crosses the Canadian border from the United States.

In other words, theres almost a zero percent chance that any illegal weapons entering the country via rail will ever be found, he said on Feb. 1.

As things stand, not only is Canadas ability to prevent smuggling lacking, but its capacity to gather reliable and sound data is also inadequate.
The International Federation of Journalists released a report on freedom of expression in Hong Kong, pointing out that many journalists are currently fleeing overseas, self-censoring or facing jail time. (Screenshot from the IFJ website)

Overseas Journalists Publish Hong Kong Freedom of Expression Report 2022

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) released its Hong Kong Freedom of Expression Report 2022 at a press conference on Oct. 14, pointing out that many journalists are currently fleeing overseas, self-censoring, or facing jail time.

The report mentioned that it was supposed to be the 30th Annual Report on Freedom of Expression by the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), but due to the National Security Law in Hong Kong, a group of overseas independent journalists took over the duty.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, scholar Chung Kim-wah said that the HKJA is under a lot of pressure, so it is reasonable not to write the report in 2022; and the anti-Beijing media still operating in Hong Kong can only muddle along, some media have adjusted themselves and no longer publish articles about some specific topics.

Since 1993, the HKJA has published the freedom of expression report in Hong Kong every year. The last one was published on July 15, 2021, with the theme Scattered Freedom. Ronson Chan Ron-sing, chairman of the HKJA, described at the time that the past year was the worst year for press freedom. Apple Daily, an anti-Beijing paper, was shut down for violating the National Security Law (NSL) in June 2021. The media cant see the uncrossable political red line, said Chan.

The report, published by the IFJ on Oct. 14 with the theme of The Story That Wont Be Silenced, stated that it was supposed to be the 30th annual report by the HKJA, but under the threat of the NSL formulated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), this was not achievable. An independent group of journalists and journalism researchers took over the report, documenting the latest developments in the demise of freedom of expression.

The report is available in both Chinese and English, with a total of five chapters and recommendations. The report begins by pointing out that the HKJA had already recommended repeal of the sedition provisions of the Crimes Ordinance law as early as 1993 because of the grave threats it poses to freedom of expression and of the press. This time the report describes the current situation proves that these fears have become reality and describes how the Hong Kong government, in recent years, has prosecuted activists, journalists, students, and authors of childrens books for the crime of incitement.

The report criticized the charges of incitement, the abuse of the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, the human rights violations of the Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation, the threat to freedom under the Official Secrets Ordinance, and the hollowing out of the freedom of the press in Hong Kong by the National Security Law. In 2021 and 2022, a total of at least 12 Hong Kong media outlets ceased to operate.

The report also mentioned that many media people moved overseas and continued to speak out through YouTube channels.

Chapters 4 and 5 of the report describe, respectively, National security trumps free speech in courts and RTHKs (Radio Television Hong Kong) The death of public broadcasting.

Finally, the report recommends repealing the National Security Law and the sedition provisions of the Crimes Ordinance; restoring RTHKs identity as a genuine public service broadcaster, and rebuilding media diversity to benefit Hong Kongs people.

In an interview with Radio Free Asia, Chen revealed that due to political pressure, the HKJA suspended the writing of the report at the beginning of 2022 and, at the same time, removed previous annual reports from the website.

Chung Kim-wah: Media in Hong Kong Can Only Muddle Along

Scholar Chung Kim-wah said in an interview with The Epoch Times that he believes that the freedom of the press in Hong Kong is very limited. The government can get some media into trouble at any time, and no one can precisely say how long the anti-Beijing media can still operate. Some independent media are even more resource-strapped and stretched and can only muddle along. Some media have adjusted themselves by not publishing articles about specific persons and topics.

John Lee Ka-chiu Rejects Promise to Protect Press Freedom

On April 30, Chief Executive of Hong Kong John Lee replied to a question from a reporter about what practical measures were in place to make people believe that press freedom is indeed guaranteed. Lee repeatedly emphasized that Hong Kong already has freedom of the press! At the same time, he also criticized some people who used news for illegal or politically motivated acts in the past. In the future, everyone will see this type of case in court.

On June 12, when Lee delivered a speech at the 120th anniversary of the founding of Ta Kung Pao, the mouthpiece of the CCP in Hong Kong, he declared that freedom of the press in Hong Kong is guaranteed by the Basic Law and in line with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, also claiming that the standards of the Hong Kong government are consistent with those of advanced regions in the world, including Western countries.

On Sept. 22, when Lee delivered a speech at a reception held by the Hong Kong press to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the CCP, he called on the media to tell more good Hong Kong stories but also take the initiative to tell Hong Kong stories well and tell the successful practice of one country, two systems. He also said that everyone should beware of those who engage in illegal acts under the guise of journalism and hoped that the press would stay away from those disguised media and bad elements who undermine press freedom.
Police move in to clear downtown Ottawa near Parliament Hill of protesters after weeks of demonstrations on Feb. 19, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Cole Burston)

Parliamentary Committee Votes Against Disclosing Unredacted Documents on Feds Actions Against Freedom Convoy

A special joint parliamentary committee has voted to block the release of uncensored documents that detail the federal governments rationale for invoking the Emergencies Act against the Freedom Convoy.

Sponsored by Bloc Quebecois MP Rheal Fortin, the motion that federal agencies be required to provide the committee with unredacted versions of those documents was defeated in a 65 vote, with Liberal MPs and Liberal-appointed senators voting against it on the night of Oct. 20.

The Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency was created to review the exercise of powers and the performance of duties and functions pursuant to a declaration of emergency after the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, using it as a means to quash the protests against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions by truckers and their supporters in Ottawa and across the country.

As first reported by Blacklocks Reporter, Fortin wanted the committee to have full access to the uncensored records.

I think the motion speaks for itself. We need complete documents, and if they cant be complete, there should be an explanation, said Fortin prior to the vote.

On May 31, the committee requested that all security assessments and legal opinions which the government relied upon in deciding that the Freedom Convoy constituted a national emergency be provided.

Hundreds of Redacted Pages

Public Safety Canada subsequently released the documents but had hundreds of pages related to the security measures censored.

I was trying to read the documents we received from the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, but there are hundreds of redacted pages, Fortin told the committee on Oct. 6.

What are we to make of that? he asked. I dont know what information is being hidden or why it is being hidden, but this seems unacceptable to me.

In the meeting on Oct. 20, Liberal-appointed Sen. Peter Harder said legislators were unrealistic in asking for the classified versions.

I think we should be realistic as to what our expectations ought to be, Harder said. I think it is unusual and perhaps a step too far to ask officials to come with unredacted documents.

Those documents are by definition secure and classified. I have no objection to having them come and speak to the redaction but I cant imagine that they would come and table unredacted documents and I doubt they would be coming here to say, We made a mistake with respect to the redactions and are prepared to provide a greater unredaction, he added.

Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi said, Were talking about a lot of documents.

Fortins motion was amended to remove providing the committee with unredacted documents. Instead, it will invite officials to appear before the committee.

We Can Certainly Ask

Liberal MP Arif Virani said there is a difference in requiring officials to appear in person and explain about the unredacted records versus them bringing the documents along with them to the committee meeting.

To arrive with unredacted portions being provided to the committee is not something that I would deem to be suitable or advisable, Virani said.

Conservative MP Glen Motz argued that the committee has the right to see the uncensored version. We can certainly ask for unredacted documents. Thats certainly the expectation this committee had.

NDP MP Matthew Green told the committee that their efforts to review the governments actions seemed to be stonewalled.

It has been very difficult to get cooperative witnesses at this committee to be able to provide us with substantive answers and documents and many things this committee has been trying to get, Green said.

Peter Wilson contributed to this report.
A vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) booster vaccine targeting BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants is pictured at Skippack Pharmacy in Schwenksville, Pa., on Sept. 8, 2022. (Reuters/Hannah Beier)

Pfizer Plans to Hike Price of US COVID-19 Vaccine by 400 Percent

Pfizer is looking to raise the price of its COVID-19 vaccines in the United States by up to four times once Washingtons purchase program ends, according to the companys U.S. president, Angela Lukin.

Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine is presently provided free for all Americans by the U.S. government. When the U.S. public health emergency expires, the COVID-19 vaccine market will move to private insurance. The federal government is paying roughly $30 per dose for the Pfizer vaccine. When the government purchase program shuts down, Lukin expects a dose to be priced around $110 to $130.

We are confident that the U.S. price point of the COVID-19 vaccine reflects its overall cost-effectiveness and ensures the price will not be a barrier for access for patients, Lukin said, according to Reuters.

The Pfizer executive is expecting the vaccine purchase to transfer to the private sector, at the earliest, by first quarter 2023. According to Lukin, the vaccine will continue to be available for free for people who have government or private insurance.

In 2021, Pfizer made almost $37 billion through COVID-19 vaccine sales, with overall revenues doubling, to $81.3 billion. The company is expecting revenues to reach $98 billion to $102 billion this year.

According to the UK-based organization Global Justice Now, Pfizers COVID-19 shot was developed by BioNTech and supported by a 375 million ($366 million) grant from the German government and 100 million ($97 million) in debt financing from the European Investment Bank, a publicly owned entity.

Weve let Pfizer withhold this essential medical innovation from much of the world, all the while ripping off public health systems with an eye-watering mark-up, said Tim Bierley, a pharmaceutical campaigner at the group, according to The Guardian.

Shrinking Market, Vaccine Dangers

As fewer people take COVID-19 shots, vaccine manufacturers will have to raise prices significantly to meet revenue expectations that Wall Street has for 2023 and the years ahead.

Many experts were expecting the number of annual COVID-19 shots to be in line with the annual flu vaccine. In the United States, 160 million flu shots are administered every year. However, as many Americans are becoming reluctant to get COVID-19 shots, expectations of market size have tempered.

The fact that you have people saying the pandemic is over doesnt motivate people to get vaccinated, Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of public health and epidemiology for New York hospital system Northwell Health, said to Reuters.

There are also growing worries about the potential side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines, which could dampen the market.

Recently, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo issued new guidance on mRNA COVID-19 vaccines like those manufactured by Pfizer. The guidance recommended males between the ages of 18 and 39 against taking such shots, warning about an increased risk of cardiac-related death.

Meanwhile, Pfizer has submitted a request to the Food and Drug Administration to grant Emergency Use Authorization for COVID-19 vaccine boosters for children as young as five.
Newly-elected Philippine President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. delivers a speech during the inauguration ceremony at the National Museum in Manila, Philippines, on June 30, 2022. (Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)

Philippines Scraps Russia Helicopter Deal, Buying From US Instead: President

The Philippine President said Thursday that his government would buy military helicopters from the United States as an alternative to the 16 Russian helicopters that were canceled by the former administration.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte canceled the deal to buy 16 Mi-17 heavy-lift helicopters from Russia before his tenure ended in June over fears of possible U.S. sanctions amid Russias invasion of Ukraine.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. backed his predecessors decision and said that he would not pursue the 12.7 billion pesos ($215.5 million) deal, despite Russias demand that the Philippines honor its contract.

I think it has already been determined. It was already determined by the previous administration that the deal will not carry through, will not go on, he told reporters, according to his press secretarys office.

Marcos said that his government has secured an alternative supply from the United States through a Polish manufacturer but did not elaborate.

The Philippines will seek to negotiate with Russia to recoup at least a percentage of the 1.9 billion pesos ($32.3 million) downpayment that it has paid for the Russian Mi-17 helicopters, he added.

The deal, as it stood, maybe at the beginning or in the middle of last year, has already been canceled, and as I said, we have secured another alternative supply for those helicopters that we need, Marcos said.

The Russian ambassador to Manila, Marat Pavlov, said earlier that Russia has not yet received any formal notification from the Philippine government regarding its decision to terminate the deal.

Philippine Department of Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said Thursday that both sides have been in talks to formally terminate the deal, but neither side has made any further progress, Rappler reported.

What was basically done was we stated our position and they stated their position, but there is still no concrete way forward, he said.

US to Extend $100 Million to Offset Downpayment

U.S. Ambassador MaryKay Loss Carlson said Monday that Washington has proposed providing the Philippines with $100 million in foreign military financing to offset the downpayment cost of the now-scrapped chopper deal.

We have notified Congress of our intent to make available to the Philippines $100 million in military financing, which could be used by the Department of National Defense to offset the helicopter purchase for example, she said.

But we would not dictate the modernization efforts within the [Philippine Department of National Defense], Carlson added.

The United States could have sanctioned the Philippines under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act if its deal with Russia had gone through, according to local media GMA News Online.
The Hong Kong resident who was involved in the Chinese Consulate in Manchester incident held his first public press conference on Oct. 19, 2022. (Ben Stansall/AFP)

Protester on Chinese Consulate Incident in Manchester: I Was Dragged In and Beaten

The alleged beating of a Hong Kong resident in the UK by the Chinese consulate in Manchester, England, on Oct. 16 has sparked international condemnation. The Hong Kong resident who was involved in the incident made his first public statements on Oct. 19. He said at a news conference that he was dragged into the Chinese consulate and beaten by several men, causing him to be hospitalized with injuries.

On Oct. 16, the day of the 20th national congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Hong Kong residents in the UK held a protest outside the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester to protest against the CCP and its leader Xi Jinping. Videos circulating on social media showed a man wearing a black hat and ponytail being dragged through a gate into the Chinese consulate in Manchester, where he was attacked by five men as he lay on the ground.

Protesters displayed banners reading Heaven Will Destroy the CCP outside the Chinese consulate.

According to comprehensive media reports, Bob Chan, a 30-year-old man from Hong Kong who was beaten, said at a news conference on Oct. 19 that the attack began when men wearing masks came out of the consulate and snatched the banner from peaceful protesters.

The news conference was organized by several British MPs, and Chan from Hong Kong said the incident had left him physically and mentally injured.

Protester Dragged Into Chinese Consulate and Beaten, Causing Injuries

Chan described being first beaten by men wearing masks outside the consulate, some of whom he said tried to tear down banners displayed by protesters.

Then I found myself being dragged into the grounds of the [CCP] consulate. I held onto the gates, where I was kicked and punched, and I could not hold on for long, he said.

I was eventually pulled onto the ground of the consulate. I felt punches and kicks from several men. Other protesters were trying to get me out of this situation, but to no avail, Mr. Chan said of the situation.

The attack only stopped when a man who turned out to be a uniformed officer from the Greater Manchester Police pulled me outside the gates, he said.

Let me say it again, so I am clear: I was dragged into the consulate, I did not attempt to enter the consulate, Mr. Chan stressed.

Greater Manchester Police said as many as 40 protesters had gathered outside the consulate when a group of men came out of the building, and a man was dragged into the consulate and attacked around 16:00 BST.

Due to our concerns for the mans safety, officers intervened and removed the victim from the consulate grounds, a police statement said.

Never Thought Something Such as This Would Happen in the UK

Mr. Chan told reporters at a news conference that he had bruises on his eyes, head, neck, and back. I am shocked and wounded by this unprovoked attack, he said, adding that he feared for his own safety and that of his family.

I was shocked because I never thought something like this would happen in the UK. I still believe that the UK is a place where free speech and protest are fundamental human rights. Violence or diplomatic pressure can never change that, said Chan.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said earlier on Oct. 19 that the incident was absolutely unacceptable, and that the protests were peaceful and legal. They were on British soil, and it is unacceptable for this kind of behavior.

City police said they were investigating and called for more footage of the incident, and said no arrests had been made.

James said the UK would decide what more we might need to do once the police investigation is completed.

A spokesman for the Chinese consulate said protesters hung an insulting portrait of the Chinese president at the main entrance.. Beijing later claimed that its consulate staff had been harassed and said there were attempts to enter the consulate.

Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader of the British Conservative Party, and Bob Chan, the Hongkonger who was dragged into the Chinese Consulate, at a press conference on Oct. 19, 2022. (Ben Stansall/AFP)

British MPs Name Four Chinese Diplomats Involved in Attack

Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith said the British government should tell the Chinese ambassador that Britain is expelling a range of people.

He said the video showed the consul generals statement to be complete nonsense.

Videos posted online showed a white-haired man wearing a medical mask, believed to be Chinas Consul General, Zheng Xiyuan, who kicked over protesters posters and pulled Chans hair outside the consulate.

Chan sat next to Duncan Smith, who criticized the British governments response to the incident as completely inadequate, saying the Chinese diplomats involved in the attack, including Zheng (Xiyuan), should be expelled immediately. Chan said he supports calls to expel Chinese diplomats.

At the news conference, previous Liberal Democrat MP, Lord David Alton, reiterated his claim in the House of Lords that three other Chinese diplomats involved in the attack, as well as Zheng, should be expelled immediately. Chan said he supports calls to expel the Chinese diplomats.

Lord Alton said: The consular general was photographed the day before this happened at the pagoda in Liverpool. He showed a remarkable resemblance to the man [filmed in the assault]. There were three other officials I named in the house last night. 

So: consul general Zheng Xiyuan, consul Gao Lianjia, counsellor Chen Wei and deputy consul general Fan Yingjie. People identified them and their names on social media.

The Manchester Chinese consulate assault.

Here are the perps. @trussliz you know what you have to do. From left to right: Consul General Zheng Xiyuan

Consul Gao Lianjia

Counsellor Chen Wei

Deputy Consul General Fan Yingjie pic.twitter.com/O85LHxaJ5q  Father Ted Crilly (@TedCrilly666) October 17, 2022

Relations between China and the UK have grown increasingly tense since Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong. Britain has been highly critical of the Hong Kong National Security Law, saying the law has been used to suppress dissent.

In 2021, a new visa regime gave Hongkongers with BNOs the right to live, work and study in the UK, and ultimately obtain citizenship.
Los Angeles City Council member Kevin de Leon speaks during an event in Redondo Beach, Calif., on May 22, 2021. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Protesters Keep Pressuring LA Councilman Kevin de Leon to Resign

A day after Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de Leon said he does not plan to quit amid widespread calls for him to step down over his involvement in the city halls audio leak scandal, protesters camping out at de Leons Eagle Rock home vowed to remain there until the embattled councilman resigns.

Around 10 people in several tents have staged a campout since Oct. 17, with more protesters expected to join later Oct. 20.

If we just lay down and accept it, and say, Hes not leaving, so lets all go home and forget about itthat looks terrible on us, Michael Williams, a protester with Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, told City News Service.

A sign calling for the resignation of L.A. City Council member Kevin de Leon is posted at a protest encampment near de Leons home in the wake of a leaked audio recording in Los Angeles on Oct. 18, 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Police told the protesters that the tents needed to be at least 300 feet from de Leons home, so the set-up is actually in front of other residents homes. But the protesters told CNS on Thursday morning that de Leons neighbors have been supportive of the campout, providing food and water and even allowing them to use showers.

The neighborhood is here, Williams said. Theyre more willing to have us out here sleeping on their lawns than for him to be on the council. That says a lot.

On Thursday morning, the group had more food and drinks than what could fit on two medium-sized folding tables. There were boxes full of lunch, two Starbucks containers, stacks of Krispy Kreme donuts, and early Halloween candy. A water cooler had a paper sign taped to it that read: Text me when its low and Ill fill you up again! along with a name and phone number.

Signs outside the tents included: Camp out until de Leon is out and  Just 25 Black people yelling, a reference to one of the comments on the leaked recording dismissing Black voters that touched off the scandal.

A sign calling for the resignation of L.A. City Council member Kevin de Leon is posted on the garage of de Leons home in the wake of a leaked audio recording in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 18, 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Evy, a 32-year Eagle Rock resident who only provided her first name, observed the campout Thursday morning as she was walking her dog. She lives down the street and supports the protesters being in the neighborhood as long as they remain peaceful.

She said she doesnt condone de Leons comments, and called it sad if the councilman resigns because this will be the second time in a row that our councilman got booted out. de Leons predecessor, Jose Huizar, was indicted on federal corruption charges in 2020 and has pleaded not guilty.

De Leon conducted interviews with Univision, in Spanish, and CBS2, in English, on Oct. 19 and said he will not resign amid calls for his resignation ranging from President Joe Biden to nearly all of his council colleagues.

Ive always been up against many, many challenges, de Leon told CBS2. And obviously, this is the biggest one Ive ever been confronted with in my life.

The councilman said the city needs to heal, and that he wants to be part of that.

Signs calling for the resignation of L.A. City Council member Kevin de Leon are posted near de Leons home in the wake of a leaked audio recording in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 18, 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

But another member of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, Baba Akili, said that it isnt possible because de Leon is the problem.

We are in outrage now not because he just happened to wake up on the wrong side of the bed one day, Akili said. He made some offensive statements. He participated in creating public policy thats hurtful. And so he is the problem. He cant help heal from that.

The October 2021 conversation between de Leon and fellow councilors Nury Martinez and Gil Cedillo, along with Ron Herrera, president of the LA County Federation of Labor, included racially charged comments and discussions over favorable redistrictingand led to Martinez resigning her council presidency and later her council seat last week.

De Leon and Cedillo have been under mounting pressure to resign since the leak of the tape Oct. 9.

Sophie Li contributed to this report.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk speaks during a Labor Campaign Rally in Brisbane, Australia on May 15, 2022. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Queensland Is Missing 20,000 Rental Homes: Summit

The Queensland premier is hoping next weeks federal budget will give Queensland housing sector the significance it deserves after a summit of industry leaders was told the state is missing 20,000 rental properties.

More than 100 representatives from governments, social services, charities, property and construction groups took part in Thursdays summit to address whats been called an affordability crisis.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was looking forward to the federal budget in her closing remarks to an audience, which included federal Housing Minister Julie Collins.

The state has pledged to do an immediate stocktake of land holdings that could be used for housing and flagged a potential funding increase for emergency accommodation.

Palaszczuk said the key term from the summit was gentle density, which includes things like duplexes and small-scale apartments.

Its sometimes referred to as the missing middle for housing options between family homes and high rises.

The prices of housing and rents are forcing people to move away to outer suburbs, away from their friends and family, she said.

How do we do that gentle density to keep families and communities together.

Southeast Queenslands regional plan will also be reviewed as a result of the summit.

Treasurer Cameron Dick said about 20,000 homes had been withdrawn from Queenslands rental market in recent years without a clear explanation.

He told attendees the state should have 55,000 more rental dwellings than it does.

Treasury analysis found much of the shortfall can be attributed to rental properties being bought by owner-occupiers, a slowdown in construction of new homes, or stock taken out after being damaged in recent floods.

However, Mr Dick said the analysis found a shortage of 20,000 rental homes cannot be explained by available data.

Whats happened in the housing market is very unique, very unusual, and has not happened before in Queensland, he said.

The missing rentals could be explained by people using their investment properties to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic or holding them for sale or for use as holiday homes.

Tenants Queensland CEO Penny Carr told the summit the tight rental market had left people vulnerable to rent rises.

We had two clients  one had a $170 a week increase, and the other had a $120 a week increase, she said.

They were both in the market with the same landlord for five and six years.

Planning Institute of Australias Matt Collins said policymakers should put more focus on the security of tenure rather than solely home ownership.

(So) theyre not at risk arbitrarily of having that tenancy end and having to relocate  particularly in a market like we have now that can have really significant impacts, he said.

Meanwhile, Palaszczuk said about 5,600 new social and affordable homes would be built by 2027, on top of the 6,365 promised by 2025.

She said the government would double its Housing Investment Fund to $2 billion (US$1.2 billion), which will create annual returns of $130 million to be invested in dwellings.

Thats a good portion of the money thats dedicated for building new homes, Palaszczuk said.

This additional investment also recognises the impact that rising cost of building materials and labour is having on prices right across the construction sector to secure much needed additional supply.
Reports of Presence of Unofficial Chinese Police Stations in Canada an Egregious Extension of Extraterritoriality, Says Liberal MP

Lawmakers express concern about the reported stations

The issue of Chinese police stations operating in Canada and other democratic countries has been making headlines in recent weeks, and some governments have begun probing the alleged use of these stations to intimidate overseas Chinese.

Liberal MP John McKay said he felt a sense of incredulity when he first heard reports of existence of three unofficial Chinese police stations operating in the Greater Toronto Area.

This is an egregious extension of extraterritoriality and is to be resisted in every way, McKay told The Epoch Times.

Its just sort of like one more thing where [China has] penetrated deeply into Canadian society, he said, noting other subversive activities by Beijing on Canadian soil, such as trying to manipulate our democracy, or trying to manipulate students, trying to manipulate communications network routines, stealing of industrial patents, routine infiltration of university think tanks and labs.

The three reported stations in Torontotwo in Markham and one in Scarborough, areas with large Chinese populationsare among over 50 overseas police services operated by two provincial-level police agencies in China, according to Spain-based NGO Safeguard Defenders.

Liberal MP John McKay in a file photo. (Matthew Little/Epoch Times)

There is if you will an Interpol arrangement between the authorities in China and in Canada, but this is way beyond that, McKay said. This is essentially either bribing the authorities or coercing or forcing people to cooperate with Chinese authorities outside of the territorial jurisdiction of China.

The stations, which are reportedly operated by Fuzhou Public Security Bureau in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, and its counterpart in Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province, have been established in dozens of countries across five continents, according to Safeguard Defenders. The NGO reported the existence of the stations in a September paper investigating what it called the Chinese Communist Partys long-arm policing and transnational repression.

While multiple Chinese state media reported that the stations were established to provide better services to overseas Chinese communities, Safeguard Defenders said the CCP has touted how these stations have been used to support a separate national campaign to fight telecommunications crime conducted by Chinese people living abroad. It said between April 2021 and July 2022, more than 230,000 overseas Chinese have been persuaded to voluntarily return to China to face criminal proceedings.

Map of the 30 countries where Chinese police have established 54 known 110 Chinese overseas police stations. (Courtesy of Safeguard Defenders)

The study noted that persuasion to return is part of Beijings involuntary returns operation, which employs methods like tracking down of the targets family in China in order to pressure them through means of intimidation, harassment, detention or imprisonment into persuading their family members to return voluntarily.' It also includes approaching the targeted individual directly through online means or the deployment ofoften undercoveragents and/or proxies abroad to threaten and harass the target.

Whether the targets are dissidents, corrupt officials, or low-level criminals, the problem remains the same: The use of irregular methodsoften combining carrots with sticksagainst the targeted individual or their family members in China undermines any due process and the most basic rights of suspects, the study said.

Non-suspects are also targeted, which institutes a far-reaching guilt by association paradigm, it said.

Whats worrisome to me in the bigger picture is the very difficult position that Chinese-Canadians find themselves in, McKay said. As China continues this activitywhich it gives every indication that it willits not a good future for people who are Chinese but are also Canadian.

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis said he finds the issue is very concerning.

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis in a file photo. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

The Canadian government needs to step up, respond to these reports, and take action to protect Canadian sovereignty and to address these as well as other instances where foreign states tried to influence and intimidate people here on Canadian soil, he told The Epoch Times.

There are some people who are critical of the Chinese government but are nervous expressing those criticisms because of what it could mean for their safety even here or for family members back in their country of origin.

I think the threats in particular to people with Chinese origin are very significant and require further action.

Erosion of Sovereignty

Global Affairs Canada said it is looking into allegations of unauthorized Chinese police stations in the country, while some European countries like Spain and Ireland are also initiating investigations.

Peter Dahlin, founder and director of Safeguard Defenders and co-author of the report, said in a recent Epoch Times commentary that an official from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Shanghai has admitted that Beijing cares little for the judicial sovereignty of European countries if they dont serve Chinas interests.

Bilateral treaties are very cumbersome and Europe is reluctant to extradite to China, the anonymous official said, according to Dahlin. And because of this, the official said, Chinese authorities see nothing wrong with pressuring or using coercion to force victims back to China.

In a previous interview with The Epoch Times, Dahlin said that while his report revealed the more than 50 police stations run by two provincial-level police agencies in ChinaFujian Province and Zhejiang Provincethere could be more than 10 Chinese provinces that are running similar police stations abroad, though they have yet to be discovered.

He also noted that the CCP is known to have kidnapped targets living abroad, with his organization identifying 22 cases of kidnapping.

Former Conservative MP Kenney Chiu said the CCP has long engaged in kidnapping or coercion of dissidents, pointing to some pro-democracy activists who were extradited to China from Hong Kong and elsewhere.

Those who pay attention realize that the CCP has been extending its influence and its brute force outside of its boundary, he said.

So this is not something new. What is new it is that its now being conducted  publicly and openly. It is true that these are not official police offices. However, to cooperate and to work with a foreign agent in that capacity, its something new to have official stations that are setting up in Canada.

Chiu said the establishing of the police stations is not a healthy development and infringes on Canadian sovereignty.

These are not something that is bilateral, with Canadas blessing, he said.

The CCP wants to be able to persuade and affect and also infiltrate countries such as Canada in extending their strong-arm brute force [to] brutally control  Chinese who are overseas and the diaspora Chinese community.

Not a Surprise

Sen. Leo Housakos told The Epoch Times that while he is concerned about the reports of Chinese police services in Canada, it comes as no surprise.

Weve seen over the last few years, a number of reports that have been tabled before parliamentary committees by [the Canadian Security Intelligence Service], by the RCMP. Our security services in Canada have raised the red flag about the Communist Party of Beijing, infiltrating our institutions and infiltrating our democracy, he said.

Conservative Sen. Leo Housakos in a file photo. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

We have heard reports from our security services and from Canadian citizens who have been intimidated by agents here in Canada. So its not a surprise that the Chinese state has gotten to the point where they have their security forces on our ground, and its a serious concern.

Housakos said Canada sorely needs a foreign influence registry. Bill S-237, which he introduced, would require individuals acting on behalf of a foreign state to be registered and file a return, and would amend the Criminal Code to increase the sentence for intimidation if the offender acted on behalf of a foreign government.

Foreign interference in our country is becoming more and more of a problem. And its not only in regards to the Chinese Communist Party, but countries like Iran, countries like Turkey, countries like Russia, all these authoritarian regimes, he said.

These nations have to be put on notice, and we have to be on guard in terms of their infiltration.
Volunteers sandbag Beechworth Bakery at Echuca, Victoria, Wednesday, October 19, 2022. The ADF has been called in to help flood victims in Victoria, with authorities predicting more than 7500 proprieties could be impacted. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)

Reprieve Before Murray River Flood Threat

Victorians have been urged to evacuate if they can with a reprieve for towns along the Murray River ahead of the worst of expected flooding in the coming days.

Water could rise to match 1993 flood levels in the next 48 hours to Sunday and even higher by Tuesday.

SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch said towns along the river had another chance to evacuate before that happened.

However, it is too late to leave the smaller towns of Barmah and Lower Moira, he told ABC TV on Friday.

On Friday, major flood warnings were issued for the Avoca River downstream of Charlton and the Murray River downstream of Tocumwal.

Isolated thunderstorms could deliver up to 30 millimetres of rain for already drenched parts of northern Victoria on Friday.

Flooded towns downstream of Lake Eppalock, like Rochester, could face a new threat if forecast thunderstorms set in over the weekend.

Residents in Echuca who have not already evacuated have been told to limit water usage, including showers and washing machines, to reduce the amount of water sent to sewers while flood levels are high.

Authorities there have spent days building a makeshift flood levee more than two kilometres long through the town.

Up to 50 properties in Kerang in the states north could be inundated when the floods peak on Friday.

Residents, there are unable to leave after a bridge connecting the town to a major highway was closed on Wednesday night, but authorities believe a flood levee will protect the town centre.

Rochester and Murchisons residents have been told it is not safe to return.

Eighteen volunteers from the Queensland SES have been deployed across Victoria, while up to 400 ADF personnel are also helping with sandbag distribution and doorknocking.

The Victorian government on Thursday announced $6.5 million for health protection measures in flooded communities, including free Japanese encephalitis vaccines.

Two hundred hospital staff and 20 pharmacists will be sent to Victorias flood-ravaged regions for the next three months to help the worst-affected public health units.

On Thursday, two men were arrested over a robbery at a flood-damaged home in the inner Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong, which was inundated last week.

A 26-year-old Sunshine West man was charged with 12 offences, and a 33-year-old was expected to be charged on summons.

Police are seeking a third man who may be able to help them with the investigation.
Workers with the Detroit Department of Elections wait to process absentee ballots at the Central Counting Board in the TCF Center in Detroit, Mich., on Nov. 4, 2020. (Elaine Cromie/Getty Images)

Republicans Win Major Election Integrity Ruling Against Michigan Secretary of State

Republicans scored a legal victory this week after a judge ruled against Democrat Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over state restrictions that were imposed on poll challengers ahead of the 2022 midterms, according to the Michigan Republican Party.

The Michigan Republican Party and the Republican National Committee (RNC) filed a lawsuit against Benson in a bid to invalidate new instructions that she handed down for election observers and challengers. Michigan Court of Claims Judge Brock Swartzle ordered Bensons office to either remove a May 2022 manual or amend specific sections that he said violate state election law and the Administrative Procedures Act, a federal law passed in 1946.

An executive branch department cannot do by instructional guidance what it must do by promulgated rule, the judge wrote in his Thursday ruling, local media reported. This straightforward legal maxim does most of the work in resolving these three consolidated cases.

Swartzle noted that some provisions in the Michigan poll challenger manual including a ban on the use of electronic devices at mail-in ballot counting boards were at odds with the law or did not go through proper public rule-making procedures that require comment from the public and state lawmakers.

Under the APA, only a departments rule, promulgated by that department through the crucible of public notice-and-comment rulemaking, has the force and effect of law, Swartzle added in his order. Any other pronouncement by a department does not have the force and effect of law unless specifically authorized by our Legislature.

The order deems invalid instructions that required challengers to present credentials issued using a form from Bensons office and restricted election challengers communication to only those designated as challenger liaisons.

Victory for Rule of Law

Election challengers credentialed by political parties and organizations can contest a voters eligibility to cast a ballot. They also can challenge election procedures at polling locations and counting boards that process absentee ballots. Poll watchers observe election day activities.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson speaks in Detroit, Mich., on Aug. 18, 2020. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)

The RNC and Michigan Republican Party celebrated the win in a statement saying, the ruling is a victory for the rule of law and election integrity.

This ruling is a massive victory for election integrity, the rule of law, and Michigan voters, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a news release. Jocelyn Benson not only disregarded Michigan election law in issuing this guidance, she also violated the rights of political parties and poll challengers to fully ensure transparency and promote confidence that Michigan elections are run fairly and lawfully.

This legal win will help deliver the transparency at the ballot box that Michiganders deserve with midterm elections in 19 days.

In a court filing, the state Bureau of Elections argued the manual is needed due to disputes over the 2020 election amid allegations of voter fraud in Michigan.

In response, Bensons office indicated that it will appeal Swartzles ruling, according to a spokesperson.

We will appeal this ruling to provide certainty to all voters, clerks, election workers, and election challengers on how to maintain the peace and order at all voting locations that state law requires and every voter expects and deserves, Michigan Department of State spokesman Jake Rollow told The Associated Press.

Rollow contended that the Michigan Bureau of Elections has always provided clear and detailed instruction for interaction among all participants to ensure legal compliance, transparency, and equal treatment of all voters.

The 2022 midterm elections will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. Early voting has already started in Michigan and a number of other states.

While Michigan has no contested Senate seats, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, is facing a challenge from Republican candidate Tudor Dixon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michael Yon, journalist and former Green Beret, is now covering the Farmer protests in the Netherlands. (Tal Atzmon/The Epoch Times)

Setting the Table for Famine

The energy crisis, food shortages, and our ongoing illegal immigration disaster

These famines that are building are biblical, Michael Yon says. I dont use that word lightly. At this rate, the Bible is going to need a new chapter. Its really that serious.

In a recent episode of EpochTVs American Thought Leaders, host Jan Jekielek speaks with Yon, a former Green Beret, writer, photographer, and long-time war correspondent. In his career, Yon has visited more than 80 countries to report firsthand on world events. Hes currently investigating the Netherlands and its farming crisis. Here, he discusses that country, the fossil fuel catastrophe, upcoming food shortages, and the unprecedented wave of illegal immigrants into the United States.

Jan Jekielek: Your focus has been on global security and understanding whats happening in the world, because there does seem to be a significant shift, especially with the pandemic. Now, food security is becoming a serious issue. Youre in the Netherlands right now, so what are you seeing?

Michael Yon: The Netherlands is about to go into winter. Their energy prices are going through the roof, and most of the people dont see the famine coming. The farmers are being destroyed, and the Netherlands is being brought to heel by the globalists. Some are resisting.

Mr. Jekielek: Youre saying the Dutch government has a globalist bent.

Mr. Yon: I wouldnt say they just have a globalist bent. They are globalist. The farmers own about 62 percent of the land in the Netherlands, and this is the second-largest food exporter in the world, despite having fewer than 18 million people. The farmers are extraordinary. The government is forcing farms to close with the excuse that nitrogen is causing pollution.

When you take the most efficient farmers in the world, arguably, and you put them out of business because theyre polluting, whos going to do the farming? The Indians? The Chinese? I dont know. But the bottom line is, were going into a severe energy crisis which will lead to a food crisis as well.

People are going to freeze to death this winter. Its very clear. And next year, were going to start to see profound food shortages, and this will drive more mass immigration. I was down in Darien Gap a few months ago, that jungle gap between Colombia and Panama, and theyre coming up in massive numbers: Africans, Asians, Pakistanis, and even mainland Chinesepeople from more than 140 countries.

And our own government is increasing the migration flow. As the economies collapse and the food pressures increase, youll see Africa and Asia and maybe parts of Europe dumping out into South America and then going through the Darien Gap.

This is a big deal. Were being completely invaded on the U.S. southern border. Everybody in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico knows this. Here in the Netherlands, its very similar. Its just on a different number scale because its a smaller country.

Mr. Jekielek: Are you saying the Netherlands government basically agrees ideologically with the World Economic Forum?

Mr. Yon: Absolutely. The World Economic Forum has nurtured this country. Of course, Brussels, its headquarters, is right next door. Things are really governed here by bureaucrats, and we dont even know who they are.

Its clear that the World Economic Forum has a massive influence in Canada, the United States, Japan, you name it. There are 27 countries in the European Union, and if Germany collapses, the European Union is certainly going to fall apart. And the situation is dire. I was recently in Germany and went to their equivalent of the Home Depot, OBI, and went to the wood section, where I was told Ah, we cant get any wood, and we dont know when were going to get more.

But most Germans dont have fireplaces. They live in cities in apartment buildings often heated by natural gas. Its a very serious situation.

Mr. Jekielek: Theres this huge focus right now on the RussiaUkraine War, and youre arguably the most embedded war correspondent in U.S. history, but you arent there. Why not?

Mr. Yon: Thats a minor battlefield compared to the food and migration issues.

These famines that are building are biblical. I dont use that word lightly. At this rate, the Bible is going to need a new chapter. Its really that serious.

Mr. Jekielek: Youre essentially arguing that none of this really had to happen, that this is all basically created by humans.

Mr. Yon: Knock out the gas and the energy, and agricultures going to go. This is clearly contrived, and this isnt a conspiracy theory. The World Economic Forum is open about it. They say it in clear words.

Mr. Jekielek: What are they saying in clear words?

Mr. Yon: The Great Reset, reducing population on earth. The World Economic Forum doesnt even hide that thats what its doing.

Mr. Jekielek: Youve spoken with a number of Dutch farmers. What are they saying?

Mr. Yon: Farmers are wed to the land. They are a backbone of culture. Farmers and religion entwined are a backbone of culture. If youre trying to brainwash people and break them and divorce them from the land, you have to break the farmers backs. Theyre trying that right now.

If they take out the farmers, the globalists are putting themselves into a position where they can control food production and distribution. Bill and Melinda Gates, by the way, have put $600 million into something called Picnic, a food distribution network here in the Netherlands.

The farmers are becoming more angry, and the general population is becoming so angry that the farmers are being knocked out of the saddle and the food production and land are being taken away.

Mr. Jekielek: In what scenario can these farmers actually win and continue what theyre doing?

Mr. Yon: As a war correspondent, I would say overthrow the government because thats the only way that I see of doing it. I dont see otherwise how theyre going to win with this government. Sri Lanka went down this same route, and the rest is history. We saw the mob swimming in the presidents swimming pool and sleeping in his bed.

Mr. Jekielek: Everything youre describing makes me think of pandemic policy, which I think resulted in the biggest wealth transfer from the poor and middle classes to the elites in the history of the world. It had an unbelievable effect. Everything youre describing is in the context of a couple of years of extremely restrictive, economically destructive policy that the world is still reeling from. One solution, I think, is simply to restart energy production in all these places where its possible, but it isnt being done. Would you say that?

Mr. Yon: Absolutely. The natural gas has to flow. Weve got to get these fertilizer plants going again. But weve already lost a huge amount of production. Theres been a flash, and were about to hear the boom. The crop reports in the United States should be out in a couple of weeks, and that may have a dramatic effect on food prices when people realize how short we are on food.

Mr. Jekielek: Following the worst of the pandemic, at some point, it dawned on me that were really never going back to what was before, that the situation has irrevocably changed.

Along with this recovery being attempted from the pandemic, food shortages basically mean a really difficult time thats almost unavoidable. Is that what youre saying?

Mr. Yon: Yes, I would say unavoidable.

Mr. Jekielek: It seems like weve crossed the Rubicon here. Is it possible to ever go back to how things looked pre-pandemic?

Mr. Yon: No. Were going into a totally different state and theres no turning back. Look at Sri Lanka; theyre resisting now, a little too late. Especially when you go into famine, theres only a certain amount of time that you have while your energy is still high and youre not malnourished, in which you can actually resist. At some point, youre just too weak, and theyve beaten you.

Mr. Jekielek: What do you think is the best-case scenario right now for society at large?

Mr. Yon: First, detach ourselves from globalism and the World Economic Forum and their influence, and that includes the United Nations and World Health Organization. Greatly reduce the size of the U.S. government and the bureaucracy. Become nationalist in our outlook.

Japanese need to be Japanese. Poles need to be Polish, or theyll just be giving up their sovereignty. Thats why Europe is collapsing. Theyve surrendered their sovereignty to the people in Brussels, and its the people in Brussels who are leading us into a global catastrophe.

Individuals can prepare, too. Read five books on famine. Any five random books. OK, Ill suggest one. Read Red Famine: Stalins War on Ukraine [by Anne Applebaum]. Then youll better understand what you need to do to prepare, because you can get through it if you know the challenges youre going to face. Its all written down. The people who wrote these books wrote them so we would read them.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Jan Jekielek Senior Editor Follow Jan Jekielek is a senior editor with The Epoch Times and host of the show, "American Thought Leaders." Jans career has spanned academia, media, and international human rights work. In 2009 he joined The Epoch Times full time and has served in a variety of roles, including as website chief editor. He is the producer of the award-winning Holocaust documentary film "Finding Manny."
Sleeping medication can help adjust peoples sleep schedule to sleep; however, there are limits and risks associated with such treatment, especially when used without the guidance of a sleep professional or general practitioner.

Studies have shown that melatonin tablets dont always contain only melatonin, and the labels dosage isnt always accurate. In addition, some people are more sensitive to sleeping medication, which may affect them the following day, interfering with their work.

In an email to The Epoch Times, the Director of the Centre for Sleep Science at the University of Western Australia, Jennifer Walsh, PhD, said that medication such as melatonin can help reset a sleep schedule. However, she noted that it should only be taken under the guidance of a sleep professional.

Sleep Health Foundation Board Member and Senior Sleep Scientist in the Adult Sleep Laboratory at Newcastles John Hunter Hospital, Gemma Paech, PhD told The Epoch Times that melatonin essentially signals to the brain when tired. She said that many of the medications used for sleep are either melatonin and sedating drugs or sleeping tablets to help individuals sleep at night.

Both of these things have more short-term temporary uses, particularly sleeping tablets.

Ineffective In the Long Term

Paech said that sleeping medications are being shown to not be effective in the long term. She said that if people are struggling with insomnia-type symptoms, behavioural treatments are the gold standard and avoiding medication is ideal.

When it comes to melatonin is really dependent on the time of day that people take it, and so a lot of the times, who will take it at nighttime, but maybe they dont necessarily need it at nighttime.

It really works best when your body is not producing enough melatonin or at the right time.

Paech said that melatonin, when used in conjunction with light exposure, can be beneficial in shifting body clocks to different time schedules. She said this is handy in the event of an overseas holiday; however, sometimes melatonin is not quite as effective; for instance, it might be less effective for day workers who sleep at night.

She said that some people could be quite sensitive to melatonin, which might result in the melatonin they took at night carrying over into the next day and making them sleepy.

You can have some negative effects a lot of the time with melatonin as well, Paech said. If people buy over the counter online and those sorts of things.

If its not a controlled thing from your GP, you really just dont know whats in the tablets.

Health workers prepare to destroy fake medicines seized in Beijing on March 14, 2013. A man in Shandong survives after taking 200 fake sleeping pills. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Unknown Contaminants and Unreliable Dosages

Paech said that there are a lot of studies that have looked at what is actually in over-the-counter melatonin supplements and found that they do not only contain melatonin but all kinds of different things.

A lot of the times, the dosage thats written on the label is not anywhere near close to the dosage thats actually in the tablet.

If people do feel like they need to some melatonin or another sleeping medication, they really should be getting that on a prescription from their doctor, she said.

A Pharmacy in the southside of Brisbane is seen on May 14, 2015 in Brisbane, Australia. (Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Action by the Therapeutic Good Administration (TGA)

In an email to The Epoch Times, the TGA said that melatonin was included in Schedule 3 Pharmacist Only Medicine of the Poisons Standard on June 1, 2021. This made melatonin available from pharmacies, for therapeutic use, without a prescription in most of Australias states and territories.

The TGA said that supplying melatonin without a prescription is only permitted for treating primary insomnia in patients over 55 years of age. In addition, the tablets supplied under such conditions can only contain 2mg or less of melatonin and must come in packs of 30 tablets or less. The administration said that melatonin remains a prescription-only medicine for any other use.

For melatonin preparations to be supplied legally, they must be evaluated and registered by the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) before supply in Australia, the TGA said, noting that medicines registered by the TGA will have an Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods identification number, which appears as AUST R followed by numerals on the main panel of the medicine packaging.

If a medicine does not have an AUST number on the label and has not been assessed by the TGA, it is difficult to know the contents and formulation of such medicines.

The TGA noted that falsely manufactured, packaged, or advertised products can be subject to criminal and civil penalty provisions under the 1989 Therapeutic Goods Act.

Suitably authorised compounding pharmacies can prepare melatonin formulations for individual patients holding a valid doctors prescription and adhering to professional guidelines of the Pharmacy Board of Australia, the TGA said.

These medicines, when compounded for individual named patients, can be exempt from the requirement to be registered by the TGA.

Consumers who are concerned about counterfeit or unapproved medicines or who suspect they have seen or bought unapproved, unsafe or counterfeit goods can report the matter to the TGA via our website.

Additionally, they would encourage anyone who has concerns or is unsure how to use a medicine to contact their pharmacist or health professional.
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper is presented with an award for his support of Israel at a gala event co-hosted by the Israel Allies Foundation at the Canada Christian College on Oct. 20, 2022. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

Stephen Harper Receives Award for Supporting Israel, Calls for Peace Through Strength

Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper received the Israel Allies Award for his support of Israel at a gala event on Oct. 20.

Harper, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2015, was presented with the award by the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF), which works with the U.S. Congress and legislatures around to world to garner support for Israel. The organization said it has a network of 1,200 legislators from 50 nations advocating for Israel. The gala event was held at and co-hosted by the Canada Christian College in Whitby, Ontario.

Harper said its important for Canada to stand up for its friends.

The reason I gave Canadians at large for supporting the state of Israel was this: simply because it is in the national interest of our country, Canada, to do so, he said.

First, in a dangerous world, peace is not achieved through apology or trying to accommodate dangerous actors. Peace is achieved through strength and through deterrence. Second, just as a wise country stands up to its enemies, so too, it stands by its friends, Harper sad.

My governments recognition of Israels right to exist was unconditional, our support of Israels right to self-defence was unequivocal, and our refusal to single out Israel for censure was unwavering.

Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper was presented with an award for his support of Israel at a gala event co-hosted by the Israel Allies Foundation at the Canada Christian College in Whitby, Ont., on Oct. 20, 2022. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

Harper said he inherited the belief that supporting Israel is the right thing to do from his father, Joseph Harper, who he said was a strong supporter of the Jewish people and a vocal opponent of antisemitism back in an era where antisemitic views were public and widespread.

He would often say that no group of people  have contributed so much in so many fields of human endeavours as the Jewish people. Why then, he would say, should they not be entitled to live in peace and security? Harper said.

Gilad Erdan, Israels ambassador to the United Nations, said at the gala that there is a resurgence in antisemitic views around the world, with many colleges becoming a breeding ground for hatred, intolerance, and antisemitism, and some celebrities, social media influencers, and government officials also using their platforms in that way.

The truth is ultimately more powerful than any falsehood and we must use faith and facts to fight the fabrication of those that seek our destruction. It is our duty to combat lies with the truth, Erdan said. Whether at the U.N., on social media, on college campuses, or in our community, remember, even a little bit of light can dispel much darkness.

Gilad Erdan, Israels ambassador to the United Nations, speaks at a gala event at the Canada Christian Church in Whitby, Ontario, on Oct. 20, 2022. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper was presented with an award for his support of Israel. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

Erdan also noted that the Iranian government led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remains the greatest threat to Israel. He said while Canada has recently sanctioned members of Irans Revolutionary Guard, he urged Ottawa to completely blacklist the entity.

Charles McVety, president of the Canada Christian College, commended Harper for backing Israel in its fight against the terrorist group Hamas, which took over governance of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

The IAF also applauded Harper for being a strong voice in supporting Israel during the 2006 Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah and in the 2014 Gaza War.

The gala had an estimated attendance of 600 guests, including many prominent Jewish and Christian leaders from across Canada.
Former Trump White House senior adviser Steve Bannon speaks to media after being sentenced at federal court in Washington on Oct. 21, 2022, in a still from video released by NTD. (Iris Tao/NTD)

Steve Bannon Sentenced to 4 Months in Prison for Contempt of Congress

A U.S. judge on Oct. 21 sentenced Steve Bannon, a onetime adviser to former President Donald Trump, to four months in prison for contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions from or provide documents to the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, handed down the sentence in a hearing in Washington. Nichols also ordered Bannon to pay a fine of $6,500.

I respect the judge, the sentence he came down with is his decision. I fully respect him, Bannon, 68, told reporters after the hearing. The judge allowed Bannon to defer his sentence while he appeals his conviction.

Its an extraordinary move to grant a stay pending appeal. It was the appropriate move, said David Schoen, Bannons lawyer.

The appeal will center on Bannon relying on legal advice during his negotiations with the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, Schoen said.

Bannons attorneys were barred from presenting that evidence during his trial.

Found Guilty

Bannon was found guilty in July by jurors. Prosecutors asked for a six-month sentence and a $200,000 fine for the two misdemeanors. Bannons attorneys said their client shouldnt receive any jail time because he was relying on his legal counsel during negotiations with the House panel.

Bannon said he testified to a number of panels, including the Senate Intelligence Committee, showing he doesnt think he is above the law as some have alleged.

Your honor, the defendant is not above the law and that is exactly what makes this case important, prosecutor J.P. Cooney said during the hearing. It must be made clear to the public, to the citizens, that no one is above the law.

In the earlier cases, lawyers worked out privilege issues and then testimony took place, Bannon said. The House panel investigating the Capitol breach turned to the Department of Justice instead of continuing negotiations with Bannon.

As he walked into court on Oct. 21, Bannon told reporters, This illegitimate regime, their judgment day is on 8 November when the Biden administration ends.

Bannon didnt speak during the hearing, saying only, My lawyers have spoken for me, your honor.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An Aedes Aegypti mosquito is photographed on human skin in a lab of the International Training and Medical Research Training Center (CIDEIM) in Cali, Colombia, on Jan. 25, 2016. (Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images)

Study Finds Some People Are Mosquito Magnets Due to Body Odor

Summertime calls most of us to spend a nice evening outdoors, but that can sometimes turn into a horribly itchy ordeal, particularly for mosquito magnets.

A new study published on Oct. 18 in the journal Cell by researchers at Rockefeller University suggests that some individuals are more attractive to the tiny blood-sucking insects than others due to having a higher level of certain chemicals in the skin.

Theres a very, very strong association between having large quantities of these fatty acids on your skin and being a mosquito magnet, says Leslie Vosshall, a co-author of the study and neurobiologist at the New York-based private university.

According to the researchers, every person produces unique body odors and these variations of human scent profiles were used to put mosquito magnetism to the test in an experiment on whose scent was most attractive to the globally invasive Aedes aegypti, a species of mosquito that spreads diseases like Zika, dengue, and yellow fever.

The lead author of the study said 64 volunteers from the university were asked to wear nylon stockings around their forearms for at least six hours daily over a process of multiple days to pick up each persons unique scent profile. In the end, the stockings were placed in separate traps at the end of a long tube in a closed container full of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

Male mosquitoes are not interested in your blood, but the females thirst for the protein and iron in your blood to produce their eggs. It can detect a number of chemical compounds on the human skin from up to 50 yards away.

100 Times More Attractive

During the research that went on for several months, scientists held a round-robin tournament and concluded that some peoples stockings were more attractive to mosquitoes than others. The biggest mosquito magnet was notably around 100 times more attractive to the mosquitoes than the least attractive subject.

They would basically swarm to the most attractive subjects, explained study author Maria Elena De Obaldia. It became very obvious right away.

According to the study, the latest findings provide more scientific reasoning for the phenomenon of mosquito attraction than prior or existing theories based on blood type, blood sugar levels, or consuming garlic or bananas as a home repellent, says Vosshall.

By testing the same people over multiple years, the study showed that these big differences stick around, said Matt DeGennaro, a neurogeneticist at Florida International University who was not involved with the research.

Mosquito magnets seem to remain mosquito magnets, DeGennaro said.

The research could help find new methods to repel mosquitoes, said Jeff Riffell, a neurobiologist at the University of Washington who was not involved with the study. There may be ways to tinker with skin bacteria and change humans tantalizing smells, he said.

Simple Preventative Measures to Avoid Mosquito Bites

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has guidelines that include a number of tips on how to prevent mosquito bites, as well as multiple ways how to avoid the annoyance in the first place.

This 2006 photo shows a female Aedes aegypti mosquito acquiring blood from a human host in Atlanta. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/James Gathany via AP)

Naturally, the best way to avoid mosquito bites is to prevent coming into contact with them. While mosquitoes can bite at any time of day, they are most active between dusk and dawn, when its their prime feeding time.

However, its not always possible to avoid being outdoors at these times of the day. Mosquitoes are more common in shrubby areas and near-standing water where theyre able to breed. A good and easy way to reduce the small pest near your home is to dump out any standing water to stop them from laying eggs and coming near your property.

Installing screens also keeps mosquitos from slipping in a window, which is a popular way to avoid getting bitten. Or, if you dont have screens, consider getting a fine mosquito net to hang over your bed or crib.

Wearing light-colored, loose-fitting clothinglong-sleeved shirts and long pants, hats, and socks also help to keep bugs away.

While health officials, including the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA), recommend using commercial repellents, others have recommended avoiding most chemical repellents due to concerns over potential side effects of the spray, including skin irritation, redness, rash, and swelling.

Some methods may work better than others for each particular individual, as mosquitoes are attracted to certain biochemical components in your skin.

Got Bitten Anyway?

When it comes to bites from these pesky insects, its difficult to resist that persistent itch. Fortunately, there are many natural and cheap ways to combat an uncontrollable itch.

Aloe VeraDue to its soothing nature and anti-inflammatory properties, Aloe Vera can instantly cool down the irritation, itchiness, and swelling of your mosquito bite.

LavenderWhat do lavender oil, tea tree oil, witch hazel, and cedar oil have in common? They all act as natural anti-inflammatories which can help bring down the swelling, infection, and pain associated with mosquito bites.

BasilIf you have some fresh basil at home, youre in luck! Basil is beneficial for repelling mosquitoes and treating their bites because they have anti-inflammatory properties.

MilkWhile milk is beneficial for relieving sunburns, it can also help your mosquito bites! For a more soothing way of treating the bites, make a compress by submerging a small towel or cloth in equal parts milk and water before applying it to the bite.

Peppermint/ToothpasteDabbing a little peppermint oil or toothpaste on the bite produces a cooling sensation to alleviate the itching and swelling. All-natural peppermint toothpaste is recommended for toothpaste users.

Epoch Times reporter Deborah Kim and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Tech Giants Facebook, Google, Apple Could End Up Collaborating on Creating Metaverse: Expert

Tech giants like Google, Facebook (now Meta), and Apple could end up collaborating on creating a Metaverse rather than going it alone, according to Rob Nicholls, associate professor of governance at the University of New South Wales.

His comments come amid reports Mark Zuckerbergs Metaverse is struggling to attract large numbers to its virtual reality platform, which it hopes will be the future of the company and attract the valuable youth audience opting for competing outlets like TikTok.

It was Mark Twain who said, The report of my death was an exaggeration,' Nicholls told The Epoch Times in an email. One of the problems with making assessments of the Metaverse is that it is just too early.

General view of the Metaverse Fashion Week on March 25, 2022 in Unspecified. (Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)

Currently, there are signs take-up of the platform is slow with the cost of virtual reality headsets being a major barrier. A Meta Quest Pro retails at US$1,500 with the next iteration, the Meta Quest 2, costing customers US$400.

Meta is likely to be an important player in virtual reality, but building market share takes time. It may take much more time than Facebook took to eclipse MySpace, he added.

Foes Could Become Friends on Metaverse

Nicholls also said the risk for tech giants if they go it alone is billions could be invested into empty online ecosystems.

Each of the GAFAM (Google (Alphabet), Apple, Facebook (Meta), Amazon, and Microsoft) businesses knows that if there is no winner in a winner takes all situation, then interoperability will encourage adoption. There will still be opportunities for players to be leaders in some aspects of the Metaverse, he said.

Each platform has strengths in different areas, with Google in search, Microsoft in operating systems, and Apple in devices.

All of the GAFAM businesses use the internet as infrastructure. However, none of them is a pure provider of that infrastructure.

Leaked documents to the Wall Street Journal suggest Metas Horizon Worlds game, which is part of Metaverse, had around 200,000 users a month, below the initial target of 500,000 a month.

Prof. Barney Tan at the University of New South Wales said Zuckerbergs Metaverse needed a lot of work to create the scale it needed to keep users online.

Its prospects of success depend on how many complementary service providers, co-developers, and users they are able to attract into its eco-system because Meta cannot do everything on its own, he previously told The Epoch Times in an email.

It is certainly helpful that it is a company as big as Meta spearheading the move into the Metaverse, but at the same time, Meta does not have the best of reputation among tech firms.
An RCMP tactical vehicle drives past the Parliament Buildings after a massive police operation quelled the Convoy Protest in Ottawa, on Feb. 20, 2022. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Testimony From Ottawa Mayor, City Officials Prompts Call for Doug Ford to Testify at Emergencies Act Inquiry

Civil liberties advocacy groups are calling on Ontario Premier Doug Ford to testify at the inquiry into the federal governments use of the Emergencies Act.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and the Ottawa Coalition are requesting Ford and Solicitor-General Sylvia Jones to testify due to the testimony of Ottawa city manager Steve Kanellakos, Chief of Staff to Ottawa mayor Serge Arpin, and Mayor Jim Watson.

Ford and Jones evidence is relevant and necessary to a full and accurate determination of the facts, a CCF press release stated.

The release said testimony from Kanellakos, Arpin, and Watson with related documents show there were multiple attempts to get Ford and Jones to participate in discussions with federal and municipal officials, but they refused.

Ford declared a state of emergency on Feb. 11, levelling up police powers. On Feb. 14, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, greatly enhancing police powers to remove and fine protesters and freeze their assets.

Ford revoked the provincial state of emergency on Feb. 23, and the public emergency order was also withdrawn in the Senate.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on as Ontario Premier Doug Ford responds to a question following an announcement in Ottawa on Oct. 17, 2022. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Ford said at an Oct. 17 press conference that he stood shoulder to shoulder with Trudeau. If you disrupt the lives of the people of Ottawa every single day, disrupt the lives of economic flow across our borders, I have zero tolerance for it, he said.

According to transcripts read at the inquiry, Trudeau accused Ford of hiding from his responsibility  for political reasons during a Feb. 8 phone call with Watson.

Were all politicians, the three of us, and my sense is that he didnt necessarily want to wear the situation because he felt it was very much the responsibility of the police service, and I fundamentally disagreed with him, Watson said during the call.

According to CCFs press release, Watson said that police resources could have been provided in Ottawa sooner if Ford and Jones had participated in discussions. It also mentioned that Trudeau told Watson to seek provincial resources before requesting federal support.

The Emergencies Act is a last resort that can only be used when all other legal authorities are ineffective, Sujit Choudhry, counsel for the CCF, said in the release.

Premier Doug Ford and Minister Sylvia Jones must answer why the Premier did not use his emergency powers under Ontarios Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act to address the Ottawa protests.

During testimony on Oct. 13, the Ontario Provincial Police said the Emergencies Act powers gave police useful tools, but the protests could have been dealt with without them.

The Canadian Press and Omid Ghoreishi contributed to this report.
A U.S.-made F-16V fighter jet with its armaments is on display during an exercise at a military base in Chiayi, southern Taiwan, on Jan. 15, 2020. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

The Asian Arms Market: Good News for the US (and Bad News for Russia and China)

Commentary

Some of the worlds largest arms buyers are in Asia. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) confirms that Asia (including the Indian subcontinent and Oceania) has remained the worlds single largest arms market for the past several decades.

According to the report, Asia accounted for a plurality (43 percent) of all international arms transfers for the period 2017-2021, easily outpacing the Middle East (the worlds other large arms market) at 32 percent and dwarfing Africa (5.8 percent) and the Americas (5.5 percent).

According to SIPRI, during the period 2017-2021, six of the ten biggest arms importers were in the region: India, China, Australia, Pakistan, South Korea, and Japan. India, in fact, alone accounted for 11 percent of all arms transfers during this period, maintaining its position as the worlds largest arms buyer for the past several years (and just ahead of Saudi Arabia).

These arms purchases have been enabled by a continuing upward trend in military spending in the region. Again, according to SIPRI, defense expenditures in Asia and Oceania in 2021 rose 3.5 percent over 2020 and were up a whopping 59 percent higher than a decade earlier. Obviously, there is plenty of money available for new weaponry.

All this is good news for the worlds major arms exporters, including the United States, Russia, China, Israel, and leading Western European arms manufacturers. India bought weapons from Russia, the United States, and Israel. South Korea and Japan were major buyers of U.S. military systems. Germany sold submarines to Singapore, and South Korea sold fighter jets to Indonesia. It was a more or less open market, and there were opportunities for all to close sales.

These trends may be shifting, and it is not good news for two of the worlds bigger arms exporters, Russia and China. The United States, in turn, may reap the benefits.

Take Russia. Before it invaded Ukraine, Russia was one of the largest exporters of arms to Asia. In fact, it was the leading supplier of arms to Southeast Asia, transferring $10.9 billion worth between 2000 and 2021, outstripping the United States ($8.4 billion). In particular, it sold Sukhoi jets to Malaysia and Indonesia and submarines to Vietnam.

An aerial view shows a residential building heavily damaged during a Russian military attack in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on Oct. 13, 2022. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)

All this is now in danger, as many countries have canceled arms deals with Moscow. Both India and the Philippines scrapped planned buys of Russian helicopters, for example, while Indonesia and Malaysia have decided against acquiring more Russian fighter jets.

Russian arms sales were already in decline before the war. Russian weapons transfers had fallen by 26 percent between 2012 and 2016 and 2017 and 2021, and its share of the global arms export market had shrunk from 24 percent to just 19 percent.

Traditionally, big buyers of Russian equipment, particularly India and Vietnam, have recently curtailed their purchases from Moscow. At the same time, these countries have begun to diversify their arms suppliers; India and Indonesia have increased their purchases from the United States, while Vietnam is buying from Israel.

A combination of sanctions (such as the expulsion of Russian banks from SWIFT, a system for international electronic funds transfers), the poor performance of Russian weaponry on the battlefield, and the general onus on buying arms from Moscow will put severe constraints on Russian arms sales for a long time. Russia may never recover its paramount position in Asia.

At the same time, China will probably find it hard to fill the gap left behind by Russias involuntary departure. Beijing has had some success in selling to Southeast Asia, such as anti-ship missiles, artillery systems, and multiple rocket launchers to Indonesia and Chinese warships and anti-aircraft missiles to Malaysia.

Nevertheless, Russias leading arms buyers in AsiaIndia and Vietnamare unlikely to consider buying Chinese arms, given their adversarial relationships with Beijing. Countries like Malaysia or Indonesia are more likely to turn to the United States or Western Europe for advanced weapons systems like combat aircraft.

Moreover, China has not proven itself to yet be a reliable arms supplier. In 2017, Thailand signed a $1 billion deal with Beijing for three Chinese submarines, but this sale has been held up by Germanys refusal to export diesel engines that would go into the subs. The Thais may eventually accept inferior Chinese diesels, but this sale could leave a bad taste in the Thais mouths regarding future buys.

China will likely continue to depend on just a handful of countriesparticularly Pakistan, which accounts for nearly half of all Chinese arms exportsfor the bulk of its revenues from arms transfers to Asia.

The Asian arms market is on the brink of a major transformation. Russias self-inflicted wounds have left behind a vacuum that other arms-producing states could sweep in to fill. Especially in Southeast and South Asia, Western European defense firms, Israeli arms manufacturers, and even wannabe arms exporters like South Korea and Turkey could find new markets for their wares.

The United States could particularly benefit. The war in Ukraine has demonstrated the effectiveness of weapons systems like the Javelin antitank munition, the Stinger air-defense missile, and the HIMARS multiple rocket launcher. The export of such weapons could skyrocket. A more open Asian arms market, with Russia largely out of the way and China unable to fill the gap, would be Americas to lose.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A photograph of George Floyd (C) is displayed along with other photographs at the Say Their Names memorial exhibit at Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade on July 20, 2021, in San Diego. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The Enormous Costs of the Exploitation of George Floyds Death

Commentary

Its been more than two years since George Floyd died on May 25, 2020, and if we look at all that has followed from that death, one conclusion seems inescapable: Left radicals had been looking for a pretext to mount an all-out ideological offensive, and they used this one with great success.

All kinds of ideas that had been fringe suddenly went mainstream. Cops were now racists out to get black men and so needed to be defunded. All statistical discrepancies between blacks and whites, whether in prison inmate numbers, college enrollments, incomes, test scores, or anything else, were automatic proof of racism, regardless of what might have caused the discrepancies. Equity (that is, illegal quotas), as a result, had to replace equality of opportunity. Systemic racism and white supremacy were diagnosed everywhere. Critical race theory suddenly engulfed our public schools, and DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) swamped our colleges, seizing control of faculty appointments, even in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields.

The radical lefts agenda had never made so much progress so quickly. Pushback was suppressed by tying everything to Floyds death. Nobody wanted to appear to be siding with Floyds alleged killer.

But in the panic over Floyds death, one obvious question was lost: How could one death possibly mean so much? Radicals claimed that Floyds death proved a widespread pattern of brutal police racism, but that was, on its face, absurd: One event isnt a pattern. And if a pattern that Floyd exemplified already existed, then what was so important about Floyd? Why werent they in the streets long ago protesting that allegedly preexisting pattern?

The truth was, in fact, the opposite of what the radicals claimed. They pounced on this one case only after having desperately tried to find something they could use to kick off their offensive. Far from proving a pattern, Floyds death was the only plausible case they could find.

A genuine justification for the campaign they were planning ought to have included many unambiguous cases of racist police violencecases in which the victims werent violent felons, armed, resisting arrest, attacking a cop, or high on drugs. And if cops are as systemically racist as Black Lives Matter (BLM) says they are, they should have had no trouble finding them. But before Floyd, all the cases they tried to use turned out to be worthless.

The 2014 death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, was, at first, seized on as an example of an unarmed black man murdered by a copuntil it turned out that Brown was the aggressor, was likely high on drugs, and had been trying to seize the policemans gun (pdf). Breonna Taylors death became another false start when it was reported that police fired only after one of them had been shot at and hit. Hard to call the police racists for firing back when they had already taken a bullet. Case after case proved similarly flawed. But the fruitless search certainly proved something: that the pattern of police racism that BLM wanted to find didnt exist.

Even Floyds case had serious flaws. He was a felon with a history of robbery that included threatening a woman with a gun. He had allegedly just committed a crime and had a potentially lethal level of drugs in his system (pdf). But what gave the radicals their chance, at last, was the policemans knee on Floyds neck. That picture was all they needed. Later, some photographs would surface showing it on Floyds back rather than his neck, but the damage was already done.

Whatever that knee was doing, the question remains: How could it prove that a country of 330 million people and its police were systemically racist? This was all a huge con, the radical left making up in ferocity what it lacked in evidence.

To justify the maximal push, the minimal excuse had to be relentlessly inflated. University of California President Janet Napolitanos exaggeration was typical. She first made one event into many by speaking of these unnecessary race-based killings and violence. She was resurrecting the string of cases that had proved nothing, as if one seemingly valid case could retroactively turn them into solid cases after all. Having inflated one event into a pattern, she then inflated that into a whole series of patterns that added up to the institutionalized racism that has plagued this country.

Why this determination to convict us all of systemic racism on virtually nonexistent evidence? The radicals real purpose is to dismantle our economic and social system, yet they know its a hard sell to turn people against what has made their nation so prosperous. But they can always rely on one issue to make some Americans troubled enough to agree that their nation should be transformed: race. When the country makes serious progress in race relations, as it clearly has done since World War II, thats good news for the rest of us, but its bad news for radicals. Their best issue slips away from them.

Its high time we stopped letting these destructive race-hustlers whip up racial division by exaggerating the importance of isolated and atypical events. The truth is that weve become a multi-racial society in which all kinds of people of different races are valued colleagues in their workplace, trusted friends in private life, admired public figuresand in-laws. This heartening progress cant suddenly be erased by a single bad actor. We must stop being taken in by this malicious manipulation.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Liz Truss speaks in Downing Street, as she resigns as prime minister of the United Kingdom, in London on Oct. 20, 2022. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Tory Leadership Race Begins After Liz Truss Resigns

Following UK Prime Minister Liz Trusss shock resignation on Thursday after just six weeks in office, the race is now on to find her successor, and it could happen by as early as next week.

Truss, 47, announced she was stepping down in a lengthy speech outside the prime ministers official residence at Number 10 Downing Street in which she acknowledged, Given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.

Her departure came amid mounting public pressure following backlash and market carnage owing to her and then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwartengs so-called mini-budget which was unveiled earlier in September.

The plan to jump-start the economy, which featured huge tax cuts worth 45 billion ($50 billion) funded by large amounts of government borrowing, ultimately jump-started market chaos and a tumultuous few weeks for Truss.

The economic package also saw a number of Conservative MPs lose confidence in her leadership.

Just one day prior to her registration, Truss had remained defiant that she was not a quitter. However, her short tenure in office has seen Truss take a number of u-turns, including later scrapping almost all of the proposals laid out in her mini-budget.

How Do Tory Leadership Elections Work?

Following Trusss announcement, there will now be another leadership election to decide who becomes the next Conservative leader and prime minister, with her replacement expected to be announced by the end of next week.

Under party rules, candidates will need to secure at least 100 nominations from fellow Tory MPs to join the race or enter the ballot, which will likely take place on Monday.

Given that there are only 357 Tory MPs, a maximum of three candidates will make it to the first stage, although it is more likely that only two candidates will make it through the first stage. However, there is also a chance that one winner will be declared on Monday.

Rishi Sunak during a hustings event in Cheltenham, England, as part of the campaign to be leader of the Conservative Party and the next prime minister, on Aug. 11, 2022. (Ben Birchall/PA Media)

Rishi Sunak

Potential candidates currently include Rishi Sunak, who served as chancellor of the Exchequer from February 2020 to July 2022 and ran to replace former Prime Minister Boris Johnson as leader earlier this summer, after the latter resigned.

Sunak, who narrowly lost out on the role to Truss after failing to secure enough support from Conservative Party members, had warned that her tax plans could cause chaos to the UK economy.

While Sunak is a hot favorite to become the next prime minister, his elite background and controversy over his wifes tax affairs, along with a fine he received for breaching lockdown rules, may not sway in his favour.

Penny Mordaunt

Elsewhere, the leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, is another favourite to replace Truss. Mordaunt, 49, already experienced what its like to be the countrys leader earlier this week when she was forced to stand in for Truss, who failed to turn up for questioning by MPs in Parliament.

Mordaunt also previously ran in the last content to replace Johnson but ultimately failed to make it into the final two. Mordaunt made history in 2019 when she became the UKs first female defence secretary, however, she is relatively unknown in Britain, which may pose a risk to her attempt to run for prime minister.

Conservative Party leadership contender Penny Mordaunt at Here East studios in Stratford, east London, on July 15, 2022. (Victoria Jones/PA Media)

Ben Wallace

British defense secretary Ben Wallace is also in with a shot and has large support from many in the Conservative Party thanks in part to his response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, which saw the UK decide early on to provide weapons and training to Kyiv.

Wallace, who previously voted for the UK to remain in the EU, has served as a soldier in the British army. However, he has said he has no interest in becoming the next prime minister.

Boris Johnson Could Make a Comeback

Finally, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who served in the role from 2019 to 2022, is also rumoured to be in with a chance. That is despite huge public opposition for the former leader amid multiple scandals during his time in office, including a breach of the COVID-19 lockdown rules he put in place and illegal Downing Street parties, widely known as partygate.

While public support for Johnson is not high, the former prime minister, who has been holidaying in the Caribbean for almost all of Trusss tenure, remains popular with Conservative Party members, according to polls.

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer making his keynote address during the Labour Party Conference at the ACC Liverpool on Sept. 27, 2022. (Peter Byrne/PA Media)

Labour Party Calls for Early Election

Yet while the Conservative Party will be hoping to avoid calling a general election ahead of 2025, when the next UK-wide election is set to take place, the opposition Labour Party has been demanding an early one.

Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday renewed calls for an early election, saying in a statement that the Tories cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top without the consent of the British people.

According to a recent opinion poll, if an immediate general election were to be called, Labour would win 411 seats while the Conservatives would secure 137.

Meanwhile, as the race for the next British prime minister is well underway, Truss has said she will remain in the role until her successor is chosen.
Conservative Party Public Safety critic Raquel Dancho speaks with reporters in the Foyer of the House of Commons, in Ottawa, Oct. 21, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Tories Say Minister, RCMP Commissioner Lied About Not Interfering in NS Shooting Probe, Should Resign

Conservatives say cabinet minister Bill Blair and RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki lied about not having politically interfered in the RCMPs investigation into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shootings, adding that they should resign.

On Oct. 20, the Mass Casualty Commission made public a recorded phone call from April 28, 2020, during which Lucki says she was very frustrated after her staff failed to include information about the guns used in the shootings in a news release and in press conference speaking notes.

About 10 days before the phone call, a gunman had killed 22 people in the village of Portapique, N.S., and several nearby communities, on April 18 and 19, 2020.

Lucki said that then-public safety minister Bill Blair had made the simplest of requests to have the information disseminated about the firearms used in the shooting. Blair is currently the emergency preparedness minister.

At the time, the Liberal government had gun control legislation that was pending. On May 1, 2020, just three days after that phone call, the federal government announced a ban on 1,500 types of assault-style firearms.

Its disheartening for me to try to manage our RCMP, which is bigger than Nova Scotia, and trying to at least give the prime minister a bit of information before he hears it on the news, Lucki said in the phone call.

Shortly after the recording was made public, Conservative Party MP and public safety Raquel Dancho posted a video on Twitter of Blair denying allegations of politically interfering in the investigation while testifying before the House of Commons public safety committee on July 25.

Let me be very clear, said Blair. At no time did I ask Commissioner Lucki to reveal that information. At no time did I direct her in any way on communications. She did not make any promise to me.

Dancho wrote in the same Twitter post: Listened to the new audio of Lucki. She says the Ministers (Sic) office requested the info about guns be released & she confirms to the Minister that it would be. But in committee the Minister denied he made this request and denied knowing about it at all.

The Minister lied.

Lucki told a parliamentary committee on July 25 that she wasnt directed by the government to release the firearms information but that she was asked by Blairs chief of staff if she would do so.

Asking questions is not interference, she said at the July 25 committee meeting. I can clearly say that I was not interfered with, I was not directed, and I did not cross any line.

Lucki has confirmed that she did use the word promise in the April 28, 2020, meeting but said it was a miscommunication.

I was trying to convey that Id already confirmed to the minister that the information about the weapons would be released during the press conference, a confirmation made based on the information I had been provided, she said.

She added that the miscommunication resulted in her providing inaccurate information to her superiors.

I felt I had misinformed the minister and by extension, the prime minister.

Blair, who testified at the same committee before Lucki, said he had not directed the RCMP to release any specific information nor did I receive a promise for them to do so.

I want to make it very clear: At no point did I direct the RCMP in any operational matter, including on public communications, he said.

Jeopardized the Investigation

Dancho also called for both Blair and Lucki to resign from their respective positions.

The minister and the commissioner lied and violated the independence of the RCMP and jeopardized the investigation into the worst mass killing in Canadian history, she said at a press conference on Parliament Hill on Oct. 21.

We do not have confidence in this minister to hold any position in this government, and he should resign immediately along with the RCMP commissioner.

Lucki has previously denied receiving political pressure from the federal government to release details about the guns used in the April 2020 shootings.

I did not interfere in the investigation around this tragedy, nor did I experience political interference, Lucki told the public safety committee on July 25.

Specifically, I was not directed to publicly release information about weapons used by the perpetrator to help advance pending gun control legislation, she said.

In the recorded phone call, Lucki referred to the then-pending gun restrictions, saying, Theyre [the government] in the middle of trying to get a legislation going.

That legislation is supposed to actually help police, and the fact that the very little information I asked to be put in speaking notes at around 11:30 this morning  could not be accommodated.

Lucki asked afterward, Does anybody wonder why I feel frustrated?

Conservative MP and emergency preparedness critic Dane Lloyd said Luckis previous committee testimonies contradicted her words on the recorded phone call.

Lucki pressured her subordinates to release information on an active investigation to help advance Liberal gun legislation, Lloyd wrote in a Twitter post on Oct. 20.

She received a request to do this from the Ministers (sic) office.

Lloyd called Luckis previous committee testimony completely false.

This was not just about keeping the Government informed,' Lloyd wrote. This was about politicizing the RCMP to advance the Liberals partisan political agenda.

The politicization of the RCMP under this Commissioner is unacceptable.

Noe Chartier contributed to this report.
Ontario Provincial Police director Craig Abrams appears as a witness at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa on Oct. 20, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Trust Lost the Moment Ottawa Police Seized Fuel From Freedom Convoy: OPP Senior Officer

A senior officer with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says that after Ottawa police seized fuel from a convoy protest site during Februarys demonstration and arrested several people, the trust the convoy organizers had with the police liaison teams was damaged and further negotiations were hindered.

Testifying on Oct. 20 at the public inquiry into the federal governments use of the Emergencies Act, Craig Abrams, superintendent of operations for the east region of the OPP, said the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) thwarted the negotiation efforts of the police liaison teams (PLT) with convoy organizers to remove some of the fuel at Coventry Road in Ottawa, where the protesters had set up a fuel depot.

Essentially, PLT had gone to the Coventry Road site to try and negotiate the removal of some gasoline, and [OPS Superintendent Mark] Patterson was aware of this and chose to use it as an enforcement opportunity, Abrams said, referring to the seizure and arrest operation carried out on the evening of Feb. 6.

When the gas was being driven away, [Pattersons] members pulled the vehicles over, seized the gas, and charged the [truckers], he explained.

That caused extreme stress amongst the PLT team, both our police service and OPP PLT members, to the point where the Ottawa police PLT members just said: You folks, you should go home. Weve lostany goodwill we were able to reach for some of the organizers or operators was now lost because theres no way they could not have seen the connection between them trying to negotiate or move out gas and then get arrested. It was too obvious.

Shock

Abrams said he first learned about the seizure operation during a video call with former police chief Peter Sloly and the Ottawa command team on the evening after the operation.

He said Sloly had heard a rumour that the OPP PLT was leaving to which he explained it was actually the OPS liaison officers who suggested that the OPP liaison team leave.

I explained that it was in fact the OPS PLT members who suggested our PLT folks leave because the Coventry road fuel arrests had made their jobs untenable, and there seemed to be no use trying any longer using PLT tactics since the trust was broken, Abrams said in his testimony.

During the video call, he said, he found out that Staff Sergeant [John] Ferguson, whos in charge of Ottawa police PLT, didnt know that that was Superintendent Pattersons plan all along [to raid the fuel storage site]they hadnt communicated. It was a shock. It was as much of a shock to him as anybody else.

An email Abrams sent to senior OPP command after the video call and presented at the inquiry stated that Sloly wanted police liaison teams to be embedded and engaged in Ottawas operations and that it was mission critical that they be.

I sensed however that they just do not understand how best to utilize PLT, Abrams said in his email of the OPPs approach. They miss the engagement and relationship building and helping to form an exit strategies etc.

No Discussions

Though Abrams assured Sloly that the OPP PLT team would remain throughout the mission as stated in the email, he was concerned about two major upcoming operations that would see dynamic arrests and takedown of the Rideau and Sussex intersection and planned arrests and extractions of a few top convoy organizers and influencers.

His email included records of him contacting Patterson and expressing his concerns that there was no consultation, engagement or dialogue with the OPP related to the plan to arrest and charge people possessing fuel with Aiding and Abetting Mischief.

There were no discussions about legal authorities or the lawlessness of such arrests etc., he wrote.

As a result I advised him that until I was provided the legal opinion and information about this arrest plan, NO OPP members would be advised to engage in any arrests for fuel possession until that permission comes from Senior OPP Command.

When asked at the inquiry what could have been improved in preparing for the arrival of the trucks in Ottawa, Abrams said on the whole the arrival was very smooth.

Overall, we had no assaults, we had no criminality, and werent aware of any charges being laid, he said, adding the convoy didnt damage any highways.

They said what they would do. They kept to one lane. They entered the city of Ottawa in an orderly fashion.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon speaks to the media at a "Moms for Liberty" rally in Troy, Mich. on Oct. 14, 2022. (Steven Kovac/The Epoch Times)

Tulsi Gabbard Endorses Tudor Dixon for Michigan Governor, Will Campaign Alongside Her

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) on Thursday announced her endorsement for Republican challenger Tudor Dixon in her race to unseat incumbent Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat.

In an Oct. 21 statement on Twitter, Dixon responded to Gabbards support, saying that shes honored and will be campaigning alongside her in Michigan in the final weeks of the midterm elections.

[Tulsi Gabbard] has been a voice of reason across party lines. She is courageously speaking her mind and showing us all what it means to be a leading independent thinker. I am honored to have her support and cannot wait to welcome her to Michigan next week! per Dixons post.

Endorsement Alert@TulsiGabbard has been a voice of reason across party lines. She is courageously speaking her mind and showing us all what it means to be a leading independent thinker. I am honored to have her support and cannot wait to welcome her to Michigan next week! pic.twitter.com/oncW2Mh7iG  Tudor Dixon (@TudorDixon) October 20, 2022

Gabbards endorsement of Dixon comes after she campaigned for Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake in Arizona on Oct. 18, lambasting national leaders of the Democratic Party as elitists who no longer represent the party of individual freedom she once served.

They have gone crazythey have gone insane. Theres no other way to describe it, Gabbard, a 2020 Democrat candidate for president who recently left the party, said at a rally for Lake.

The Oct. 18 rally also featured Arizona Republican candidates Blake Masters for U.S. Senate and Abe Hamadeh for state attorney general.

Last week, Gabbard announced her departure from the Democratic Party, saying it has become a party that is under the complete control of an elitist cabal.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) answers media questions following a campaign event in Portsmouth, N.H., on Feb. 9, 2020. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

In two videos, Gabbard said the move was driven in part by President Joe Biden and his administration not responding after activists started protesting outside the homes of Supreme Court justices before and after the court struck down Roe v. Wade.

When the party in power does not believe in the rule of law but theyre responsible for writing and enforcing laws, our democracy is doomed, Gabbard said. Todays Democratic Party does not believe in our constitutionally protected right to free speech.

Gabbard has been increasingly critical of what she sees as growing extremism among Democrats on topics like education, gender, and war. Her platform included vowing not to involve the United States in forever wars and to withdraw the country from Afghanistan.

Epoch Times reporter Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands during their meeting on sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit, in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Oct. 13, 2022. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik via AP)

Turkey Seeking to Become Regional Energy Hub With Russias Help

Ankara appears to have embraced a recent proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to transform Turkey into a regional hub for the distribution of Russian natural gas.

We have agreed with Vladimir Putin to create a gas hub in our country, through which natural gas  can be delivered to Europe, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Oct. 19.

But some energy experts are skeptical of the plan, given the regions complex political and economic circumstances.

I doubt the proposal will yield practical results, at least in the short term, Mehmet Ogutcu, head of the London Energy Club, a UK-based think tank, told The Epoch Times.

He added: Putin is playing to Turkeys dream of becoming an energy-transit hubsomething to which it has long aspired.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend the opening ceremony of the Turkstream Gas Pipeline Project on January 08, 2020 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Burak Kara/Getty Images)

Pipeline Dreams

Last week, Putin met Erdogan in Kazakh capital Astana, where he reportedly floated the notion of turning Turkey into a hub for the transportation of Russian gas.

At the meeting, Putin reportedly offered Russian help in building a distribution center in Turkey for the re-export of Russian gas to third countries, including those of the European Union.

Days later, Erdogan announced that Turkey and Russia had agreed to start work on a gas distribution center in Turkeys northwestern Thrace region.

Turkey is already a major consumer of Russian gas, which accounts for almost half of its overall gas imports. Russian gas is transported to Turkey through the TurkStream pipeline, which stretches 930 kilometers (580 miles) under the Black Sea.

Ogutcu, for his part, questions the viability of the plan.

Europe is facing unprecedented energy shortages, which will likely persist for the next two years, he said. But a new European energy architectureone that doesnt rely on Russian gasis being put into place.

This, he added, along with the European Unions disinclination to buy Russian gas, will diminish the likelihood of Turkey ever becoming a transit hub for Russian gas to Europe.

Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

Changing the Energy Map

Other observers, however, appear more optimistic about the initiatives prospects.

According to Sergei Kondratiev, an official at Russias Energy and Finance Institute, the proposed arrangement promises to alter Europes energy map.

Speaking to the Russian media, Kondratiev said if the project was brought to fruition, Turkey stood to become the largest gas center in Europe, if not the only one.

Proponents of the scheme predict the emergence of two distinct European energy markets. While northern Europe would buy more expensive liquefied gas from the United States and Norway, southern and central Europe would have access to much cheaper gas via Turkey.

Regardless of the plans ultimate viability, it appears to have drawn the ire of U.S. officialdom. Washington remains suspicious of what it sees as deepening ties between Moscow and Ankara, particularly in the energy field.

This week, assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes at the U.S. Treasury Department, visited Turkey. During the visit, she held closed-door discussions with several officials, including the governor of Turkeys central bank.

The visit was widely perceived as a warning to Ankara, which, despite its longstanding NATO membership, has declined to support Western-led sanctions on Russia.

According to a Treasury Department statement, Rosenbergs visit to Turkey affirmed the importance of the close partnership between the United States and Turkey in addressing the risks caused by sanctions evasion and other illicit financial activities.

Gas emanating from a leak on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea on Sept. 27, 2022. (Swedish Coast Guard via Getty Images)

Underwater Sabotage

Putin unveiled his ambitious proposal following a spate of attacks on Russian gas pipelines under the Baltic and Black seas.

Last month, the Nord Stream pipeline, which links gas fields in Russia to Northern Europe, was intentionally breached in four different areas. The incidents prompted a flurry of recriminations, along with investigations by several European governments.

In a less widely reported incident, Russian authorities in mid-October arrested several people for allegedly trying to sabotage the TurkStream pipeline.

Pipeline sabotage has become a main feature of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ogutcu said. Shortly after the attacks on Nord Stream, Russia reports an attempt on TurkStream. I dont think this is a coincidence.

While the Kremlin has blamed Ukrainian operatives for the latter attack, which reportedly occurred on Russian territory, the perpetrators of the Nord Stream attack remain unknownat least to the public.

On Oct. 14, Swedish authorities abruptly halted joint investigations into the Nord Stream incident, citing concerns over national security.

According to Ogutcu, theres a widespread belief that the pipeline attacks were carried out by parties seeking to cripple Russias ability to export gas.

On Oct. 21, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the truth about the Nord Stream incident would surprise Europeans if it were ever made public. He did not elaborate.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) during a meeting in Sochi, on Aug. 5, 2022. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/AFP via Getty Images)

Personal Chemistry

When Russia began military operations in Ukraine on Feb. 24, Ankara, like its NATO allies, swiftly condemned the move. Turkey has also provided Ukraine with a steady supply of Bayraktar combat drones.

Nevertheless, Ankara has steadfastly refrained from supporting Western-led sanctions on Russia, with which it shares an extensive trade relationship and a lengthy maritime border.

Turkey doesnt want to jeopardize its interests, said Ogutcu, a former adviser to the Turkish Prime Ministry. It wants balanced relations with Russia, the United States, the EU, and other powers.

Turkeys relatively good relations with Russia have allowed it to mediate between the two warring sides. In July, Ankara helped broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine that allowed the latter to resume grain shipments through the Black Sea.

Turkey is the only country in the Western world able to talk to both sides, Ogutcu said.

In August, Erdogan had an amicable meeting with Putin in Sochi, where the two leaders agreed to improve bilateral ties, especially in the trade and energy fields.

Since then, they have met two more times, prompting concerns in Western capitals that Turkey was drifting ever deeper into Moscows orbit. Last month, Erdogan went so far as to rebuke the West for its provocation-based policies vis-a-vis Russia.

Theres a personal chemistry between Putin and Erdogan, Ogutcu said. Despite their differencesin Syria, the Caucasus, and the Black Seathey can still sit down and talk to each other.

Ogutcu contrasted this with Turkeys often tense relationship with Brussels and Washington.

Turkey hasnt been embraced by the West, he said. Theres a general feeling in Turkey that its [Western] allies have failed to provide it with adequate support.

On Oct. 21, the Kremlin reaffirmed its commitment to the joint energy project, but said a number of details still had to be worked out.
Taiwanese navy launches a U.S.-made Standard missile from a frigate during the annual Han Kuang Drill, on the sea near the Suao navy harbor in Yilan county, Taiwan on July 26, 2022. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

US Admiral Warns Beijing Pacific Conflict Could Happen This Year

A senior U.S. naval commander has warned that Beijing could start a military conflict as soon as this year and that the Indo-pacific needs to be prepared to experience conflict in the near future.

Speaking at an event hosted on Oct. 20 by the Atlantic Council in Washington, Admiral Mike Gilday, chief of U.S. naval operations, said there was a chance of imminent war in the Asia-pacific.

If I look at the trends from, lets say, 2018 to now in how we talk about China, in the 2018 NDS [National Defense Strategy] we really talked about Great Power competition, and that was a focus. And now, based on what were seeing from an increasingly aggressive China and Russia  we have our eyes on preparing for a potential fight tonight, he said.

I cant rule that out. I dont mean at all to be alarmist by saying that. Its just that we cant wish that away.

The admiral noted that the U.S. military was paying particular attention to how the Chinese regime was behaving rather than what it was saying.

What weve seen over the past 20 years is that they have delivered on every promise theyve made earlier than they said they were going to deliver on it, he said. When we talk about the 2027 window, in my mind, that has to be a 2022 window or potentially a 2023 window.

China Moving on a Much Faster Timeline

The comments by the naval commander come after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Good Morning America on Oct. 19 that he believed Beijing would seek to invade Taiwan on a much faster timeline.

Blinken said that the U.S. believed the Chinese regime would not necessarily try to do this by a direct engagement of military force but by altering the status quo and resorting to coercive, rather than peaceful, means.

For many, many years, there was a basic understanding when it came to Taiwan. Whatever differences existed between Beijing and Taiwan would be resolved peacefully, Blinken said.

What changed is this: a decision that was made in Beijing some years ago that that was no longer acceptable and that the government wanted to speed up the reunification, and to do it potentially by any means, through coercion and pressure and potentially, if necessary, by force.

Pacific Nations Increase Defence Alignments

Meanwhile, pacific nations are increasing bilateral security ties with a new security deal between Australia and Fiji being signed on Oct. 21.

The deal is said to provide both countries with a framework to counter and respond to common security challenges in the Pacific.

While no explicit reference to China was mentioned, both the Australian and Fijian defence ministerswho signed the Status of Forces Agreement on Oct. 20said the new deal marked an important milestone in the defence relationship.

We share an interest in a peaceful, secure and resilient Pacific and need to work together to effectively respond to common security challengesboth traditional and non-traditional, Australias Defence Minister Richard Marles said in a statement.

Fijis Defence Minister Inia Seruiratu said the agreement also marked a new height of security cooperation between our two nations.

Australia has also moved to create closer defence ties with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Tonga, and Fiji.

Tongan Prime Minister Huakavameiliku previously noted that as the region faces growing traditional and non-traditional security threats, South Pacific Islands are better able to respond when the nations collaborate, share information and enhance interoperability.

Henry Jom contributed to this article.
Chief of U.S. Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday testifies during a hearing before a Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington on June 22, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

US Navy Chief Warns: Beijing Could Invade Taiwan Before 2024

The U.S. Navy Chief warned of the potential for a conflict with China in the next couple of years and the U.S. military must be ready.

Admiral Michael Gilday, chief of U.S. naval operations, expressed his worry that Xi Jinping may try to seize Taiwan sooner.

What weve seen over the past 20 years is that they have delivered on every promise theyve made earlier than they said they were going to deliver on it, Gilday said.

He made his comments during a discussion hosted by the nonpartisan think-tank, Atlantic Council on Oct. 19.

Gilday said, When we talk about the 2027 window, in my mind, that has to be a 2022 window or potentially a 2023 window; I cant rule it out.

Gilday is referencing the comment Admiral Phil Davidson, then U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, made in 2021 when he warned that China could attempt to take control of Taiwan by the end of the decade.

He believes that the threat will manifest during this decade, [I]n fact in the next six years, said Davidson when testifying in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Admiral Philip S. Davidson waits to meet Japans Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at the prime ministers office in Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 22, 2020. (Eugene Hoshiko/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In 2021, Taiwans defense minister, Kuo-cheng Chiu, also said The CCP currently has the ability to invade Taiwan, but it has to pay the cost; the cost will be further reduced, and it will have the ability to attack Taiwan in an all-round way, reported the Taiwan based Central News Agency.

Taiwans Readiness

Party leader Xi Jinping claimed to reserve the option of taking all measures necessary, including the use of force to strive for reunification with the island in his address on the opening day of the Partys national meeting on Oct. 16.

In response to the threat of an invasion by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Taiwans national security chief, Ming-tong Chen, answered reporters questions before the budget review of the National Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee on Oct. 20.

I want to solemnly tell the Beijing authorities that there is no chance of winning to attack Taiwan by force, Chen said.

In the defense budget review, he explained that the regime is encountering both internal and external pressure.

Chen said that when CCP initates a military act, it is how a dictator would engage as a common tactic to divert domestic pressure.

He was referring to the protest banners hung on the heavily guarded Beijing Sitong Bridge during the CCPs 20th national meeting. It is a signal of the immense domestic pressure the CCP is facing.

He said, The CCP wants to change the status quo not just for the Taiwan Strait, but also for the entire international order, but Taiwans military is prepared.

The expansion of the CCPs totalitarianism is a threat to the free world, he stressed, The democratic countries must unite  and the international community must have this sober awareness.

When asked how long Taiwans energy will last should the CCP blockade the Taiwan Strait, Chen replied, The blockade is considered a war. Basically, we will find a way to create a safe passage. This is a very serious national security issue.

Lin Yan contributed to this report.
Recaptured drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted by soldiers at the hangar belonging to the office of the Attorney General in Mexico City on Jan. 8, 2016. (Henry Romero/Reuters)

US Sanctions Logistics Allies of Mexicos Sinaloa Cartel

MEXICO CITYThe U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday sanctioned individuals linked to Mexicos powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, days after bilateral security talks aimed at cracking down on trafficking of fentanyl and other contraband.

The Treasury said Juan Francisco Valenzuela and his family-run drug organization are accused of transporting multi-ton quantities of illicit drugs into the United States, and operating under the aegis of the Sinaloa Cartel long run by notorious kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman.

The Treasury also sanctioned group members Hector Alfonso Araujo Peralta and Raul Rivas Chaires, alongside three Mexico-based transportation firms accused of facilitating their activity.

It said all individuals named were currently fugitives from U.S. federal drug trafficking indictments.

The Valenzuela drug trafficking organization fuels the ongoing drug epidemic we face in the United States which has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans annually, said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson.

Starving this network of resources will help deprive the Sinaloa Cartel of critical support it needs.

Stamping out the drug trade was high on the agenda at last weeks bilateral security talks between the United States and Mexico, attended by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Were going to take on fentanyl with full force, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said this week.

The Treasury made a nod to its collaboration with the Mexican government in its statement.

Two Valenzuela siblings were detained in recent years, leaving Juan Francisco as the last sibling involved in the Valenzuela Mexican trafficking operations, the Treasury noted.

All Valenzuelas property and assets in the United States have now been frozen.
The seal of the U.S. State Department at the State Department in Washington, on May 11, 2018. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

US Taxpayers Funding Drag Theater Shows in Ecuador to Promote Diversity and Inclusion: State Department

The U.S. State Department has given $20,600 in taxpayer money to an organization in Ecuador to promote tolerance, diversity, and inclusion through a series of initiatives that include hosting 12 drag theater performances.

The funds were awarded on Sept. 30 to a non-profit called Centro Cultural Ecuatoriano Norteamericano Abraham Lincoln, a U.S.-Ecuadorian cultural center in Cuenca, Ecuador, the State Department confirmed to The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

Among its various programs, the Ecuadorian center runs English classes for children aged 811, teenagers, and adults.

The money for the initiatives, which besides drag theater performances also includes three workshops and a 2-minute documentary film, was provided under the 19.040 Public Diplomacy Programs scheme, the State Department said in a grant summary fact sheet.

The aim of the 19.040 scheme is, according to the State Department, to support the achievement of U.S. foreign policy goals and objectives, advance national interests, and enhance national security by informing and influencing foreign publics and by expanding and strengthening the relationship between the people and government of the United States and citizens of the rest of the world.

Asked how the State Department considers this particular grant as furthering the objectives of the 19.040 program, the agency told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that it supports a wide range of strategic programs in Ecuador that incorporate concepts from diversity, inclusion, and representation to equity and accessibility.

The programs goal is to promote tolerance, and the arts provide new opportunities for LGBTQI+ Ecuadorians to express themselves freely and safely, the spokesperson added.

The program will advance key U.S. values of diversity and the inclusion of LGBTQI+ communities as well as promote the acceptance of communities that are disproportionately affected by violence, the spokesperson said, adding that recent data suggest an alarming and deadly rise in violence against LGBTQI+ persons in Ecuador.

The Epoch Times has also reached out to the Ecuadorian North American Center Abraham Lincoln with a request for comment on the target audience of the initiatives but did not receive a response by publication.

Over the past three years, the State Department has awarded $388.2 million in funds for a variety of 19.040 programs to recipients across the globe, according to Govtribe.com.

The State Department spokesperson noted that, in fiscal year 2021 and 2022, U.S. public diplomacy programs supported 18 grants totaling nearly $900,000 for educational programs and entrepreneurship capacity building programs to reach traditionally marginalized communities in Ecuador. This includes women, at-risk youth, indigenous and afro-descendent communities, LGBTQI+ populations, and persons with disabilities, the spokesperson added.

While it remains unclear who the target audience is for the drag theater performances at the Ecuador center, it comes amid national controversy over drag queen shows in the United States oriented at young children.

While some proponents have argued that exposing kids to drag performances can be a good thing, a child advocate told The Epoch Times that drag shows for children are part of a dangerous push to normalize inappropriate behavior for youngsters.

House Republicans, meanwhile, introduced a bill on Oct. 18 that would ban the use of federal funds for drag queen performances and other sexually oriented programs aimed at young children.

The Stop the Sexualization of Children Act of 2022 bill (pdf) would prohibit federal, state, and local governments and private organizations from using federal tax dollars to expose children under 10 to sexually explicit material.

The Democrat Party and their cultural allies are on a misguided crusade to immerse young children in sexual imagery and radical gender ideology, the bills sponsor, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), said in a statement.

This commonsense bill is straightforward, Johnson continued. No federal tax dollars should go to any federal, state, or local government agencies, or private organizations that intentionally expose children under 10 years of age to sexually explicit material.

According to the bill, federal taxpayer dollars have been used to fund sexual education for children under 10, including the purchase of literature and materials that teach preadolescent children about masturbation, pornography, sexual acts, and gender transition.

Patricia Tolson contributed to this report.
The grave of Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce, a public health official at the turn of the 20th century, at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa on May 29, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

Was Peter Bryce, the One Dead White Man Who Bucked the Demonization Trend, a Saint or a Sinner?

Commentary

Many of Canadas important historical figures have seen their statutes toppled and their names erased from buildings and maps in recent years in an outburst of historical cleansing. Among the victims: Sir John A. Macdonald, Egerton Ryerson, Sir Hector-Louis Langevin, and Samuel de Champlain, all former heroes and nation builders.

Whatever good these dead white men did in creating modern Canada has been ignored. Any act or statement contrary to contemporary Canadian values is see as warranting their public condemnation and erasure. The litmus test for doing so is any association, however remote or tangential, with Canadas Indian Residential Schools.

But there is one dead white man from the last century whose reputation has risen as fast as others have fallen. The stature of Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce, a senior public health official at the turn of the 20th century and previously a minor character in Canadas historical record, is rising triumphantly.

Bryce today is widely feted as a hero for his efforts to improve residential schools. In 1907, as chief medical officer for the Department of Indian Affairs, he investigated the dismal health conditions at these schools in Western Canada and issued an official report that received considerable public and political attention. Later, he tangled over further reforms with Duncan Campbell Scott, the imperious bureaucrat who ran Indian Affairs for several decades. Bryce was eventually sidelined in this struggle.

After retiring, however, he self-published the pamphlet The Story of a National Crime: An Appeal for Justice to the Indians of Canada in 1922, an attempt to bring renewed attention to the matter. For this, Bryce is now celebrated as an early whistleblower. It is a renaissance primarily driven by scholars and activists based on the narrative in Bryces pamphlet.

On Sept. 30, the second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a federal public holiday, Bryce was honoured with the unveiling of a plaque on Sparks Street near Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

According to activists in a recent CBC article about Bryce titled, Doctor who blew the whistle on atrocities of residential schools honoured in Ottawa: The federal government of the day stonewalled him by cutting his research funding, barring him from speaking at medical conferences and eventually pushing him out of his job.

However, whistleblowers often have complicated, overlapping, and sometimes self-serving motives. And when the whistleblower, as in Dr. Bryces case, was silent for many years and only published his pamphlet after he was passed over for a senior government position, the reader needs to take note.

Bryce, far from being a whistleblower, was specifically tasked by Indian Affairs with investigating health issues in residential schools and with making recommendations to address them.

And rather than stonewalling him, the federal government acted with alacrity. His report was distributed for comment to all members of Parliament, to the churches operating the residential schools, and to the principals of the schools.

The matter was debated in Parliament and the newspapers, and within three years the government had significantly increased school funding and implemented three of his more significant proposed reforms.

These included specific air space provisions per student (air space and sunlight were widely believed at the time to be important in reducing the spread of tuberculosis infection, the leading cause of student deaths), more rigorous screening of students on school entry (including a medical exam), and compulsory calisthenics for all students.

Despite what historical revisionists claim today, Bryce scored a policy hat trick: his three key proposals were implemented, and the Indian Affairs budget was increased by 60 percent.

Two years later, in 1909, at the request of Indian Affairs, Bryce and a colleague examined 243 indigenous children in the Calgary area and found that TB was present in children of all ages. Crucially, no child awaiting admission to an indigenous school was found to be free from TB, leading to the conclusion that the primary source of infection is in the home and that the tuberculized older person in the home is the essential source of the infection.

A later study conducted in 1920 using the first reliable TB test showed that even among infants (native or European), the primary killer, on- and off-reserve, was TB, confirming again that the disease was primarily acquired in the home and not in residential schools, contrary to the current narrative.

Bryce, as part of his duties, also analyzed medical returns from every reserve and noted that, while some reserves had TB rates significantly worse than that prevailing among the general Canadian population, some reserves had TB rates that were significantly lower. He concluded that the TB rate in schools could hardly be expected to be better than the TB rates on the reserves from which the students came. Again, this contradicts what is now said about the schools.

It is impossible to reconcile the modern narrative advanced by activists with the actual historical record. The facts were not ignored by the government, but acted on with great dispatch.

The same contradiction between historical facts and their contemporary rewriting holds for Bryces recommendations (ignored in the modern narrative) that the government should enforce compulsory attendance in indigenous schools and that most indigenous students should attend residential schools rather than day schools.

Bryces recommendations were at odds with the governments longstanding policy (in place from the 1870s) which assumed that, over several generations, the value of education would become self-evident to indigenous communities without the need for compulsory measures.

And Bryces recommendations were made at a time when the majority of indigenous students attended day schools (there were 248 day schools and only 74 residential schools) and when, far from being compulsory, more than half of all students at day or boarding schools dropped out after Grade 1.

Bryce was very much a man of his time in other ways, too. In his work for Indian Affairs, he often recommended the admixture of white blood (inter-marriage) and the integration of indigenous Canadians into white society as a solution to native health problemsideas that would be met with incredulity if formally announced as policies today. And yet rates of intermarriage are often used today by sociologists as a measure of the success of a racial, linguistic, or religious group within a larger society.

So why have Bryces advocates chosen to celebrate his accomplishments in sharp contrast to how nearly every other significant character from Canadas past has been treated in recent years? It is a singular puzzle. Perhaps Bryces disparate treatment is meant to offer white Canadians expiation through a single righteous figure. Or maybe it is intended to counter criticism that the popular approach to Canadian history is unrelentingly negative.

By all means, Canadians should reflect on the complex and occasionally inspiring story of Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce and assign credit where due to his achievements and good intentions. But we should do likewise for the rest of Canadas now-darkened pantheon of historical figuressome of whom, including our first prime minister, are far less compromised than Bryce.

Sir John A. Macdonald was instrumental in ensuring that indigenous people were vaccinated against smallpox, a disease for which they had no natural immunity, provided massive emergency food relief when the Buffalo population collapsed, and avoided the Indian Wars that plagued the American experience (Canada had none). Altogether, these actions saved tens of thousands of indigenous lives.

Canadians must learn to appreciate their past as it happened, regardless of whether that proves narratively or politically convenient.

An earlier version of this story by Greg Piasetzki first appeared in C2C Journal.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Tyson Fury (R) with promoter Frank Warren during a press conference after the WBC World Heavyweight Title fight in London on April 23, 2022. (Andrew Couldridge/Images via Reuters)

WBC Champion Fury to Fight Chisora for Third Time

LONDONWBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will take on Derek Chisora for the third time in his career at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December but the chances of him fighting Anthony Joshua appear to be fading.

The 34-year-old Fury will face veteran Chisora on Dec. 3 having beaten him comfortably in 2011 and 2014.

It will be Furys first fight since stopping Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium in April but not the one many had wanted with the prospect of a clash with Joshua diminishing.

Talks between the Fury and Joshua camps broke down last month with Furys co-promoter Frank Warren saying fellow Britain Chisora was the highest available contender, although leading bookmakers immediately made him the 10-1 underdog.

After beating Whyte, Fury announced he was retiring but has since said he wants a unification bout against Ukraines Oleksandr Usyk next year after Usyk beat Joshua for the second time on a split decision in Saudi Arabia in August.

Tyson Fury celebrates after knocking down Dillian Whyte during the WBC World Heavyweight Title Fight at Wembley Stadium in London on April 23, 2022. (Andrew Couldridge/Action Images via Reuters)

Usyk holds the WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles.

Fury is unbeaten in 32 fights while Chisora, 38, ended a run of three successive losses when he beat Kubrat Pulev in July.

At a news conference at the Tottenham stadium on Thursday, Fury explained why he is fighting Chisora again.

I dont need to sell this to anyone, said Fury. We offered it to others but there was no smoke. We offer it to Derek Chisora and boom. Hes sat here opposite me.

Hes got balls and today there is a lack of balls in society. With Derek Chisora you get what it says on the tin. He goes to war. When you have got two heavy forces colliding with massive bombs someones getting knocked out.

We will put on a hell of a fight. I respect Derek and Im a fan of Derek. Hes fought everybody, all the great of this generation. Hes got 12 losses but nearly all to world champions. Usyk handled Joshua far easier than he handled Derek. He brings his A game every time.

But it wont be good enough to beat me.

Fury arrived at his press conference brandishing 10,000 pounds in a wad of notesthe winnings of a bet with Warren that the fight with Joshua would not get made.

Warren said provided Fury beats Chisora, he could face Usyk in February, but not in the UK.

By Martyn Herman
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on Oct. 19, 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

White House Declines to Comment on Chinese Leader Xi Jinpings Anticipated Third Term

The White House wouldnt comment on either the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) head Xi Jinpings anticipated third tenure or his speech delivered on Oct. 16, the opening day of the 5-year national congress.

I dont want to comment from here on any internal political process of other countries, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at the press briefing on Oct. 17, when asked by reporters to comment on Xis speech and his highly likely third term.

The week-long national meeting of the CCP is drawing to an end. It is widely believed that Xi will secure his third tenure in the coming five years as the top leader of the communist party, the country, and the military of China.

Xi delivered a 25,000-word speech on the first day of the meeting, addressing the work of the CCP in the past five years and the CCPs domestic and foreign policies for the five years to come.

On Oct. 19, Jean-Pierre also declined to confirm the Biden administrations meeting with Xi at G20 Summit to be held on Nov. 15 and 16 in Bali, Indonesia.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping (C) is applauded by senior members of the government and delegates as he walks to the podium to make a speech during the opening ceremony of the 20th National Congress in Beijing, China, on Oct. 16, 2022. Xi is expected to secure a third term in power. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Jean-Pierre told the reporters at the briefing: I dont have a meeting or anything to preview for you at this time with the President.

The White House released this years National Security Strategy on Oct. 12, which states that China is the only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to advance that objective.

Chinas deputy foreign minister Ma Zhaoxu didnt respond to the media if Xi would be going to the G20 Summit.

At a press conference on Oct. 20 held on the sidelines of the CCPs national meeting in Beijing, an Indonesian journalist asked Ma to confirm if Xi would attend the G20 summit in Bali.

Ma answered: We will release information on the participation of Chinese leaders in due course.

American Public Opinion on China and Xi: Pew Survey

Amid the gloom of the bilateral relationship between China and the United States, Xis third term isnt among the most pressing concerns for Americans, according to a new survey by Pew Research Center conducted Oct. 1016 among 5,098 U.S. adults.

Only 30 percent of Americans say that Xis third term as Chinas leader is a very serious problem for the United States. They are more concerned with the partnership between China and Russia (57 percent), Chinas military power (50 percent), the tension between China and Taiwan (43 percent), Chinas policies on human rights (42 percent), and economic competition with China (41 percent), according to the Pew survey report.

Wang Xiang contributed to this report.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton makes a concession speech after being defeated by Republican president-elect Donald Trump, in New York on Nov. 9, 2016. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

Who Denies Election Results?

Commentary

A Democratic myth has arisen that former President Donald Trumps denial of the accuracy of the 2020 vote was unprecedented.

Unfortunately, the history of U.S. elections is often a story of both legitimate and illegitimate election denialism.

The 1800, 1824, 1876, and 1960 elections were all understandably questioned. In some of these cases, a partisan House of Representatives decided the winner.

Presidential candidate Al Gore in 2000 didnt accept the popular vote results in Florida. He spent five weeks futilely contesting the states tallyuntil recounts and the Supreme Court certified it.

The ensuing charge that former President George W. Bush was selected not elected was the Democrats denialist mantra for years.

In 2004, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and 31 Democratic House members voted to not certify the Ohio election results in their unhinged efforts to overturn the election. Those denialists included the current sanctimonious chairman of the Jan. 6 select committee, U.S. Rep. Benny Thompson (D-Miss.).

After 2016, crackpot Democratic orthodoxy insisted for years that Trump had colluded with Russia to steal certain victory from Hillary Clinton.

Clinton herself claimed that Trump was not a legitimate president. No wonder she loudly joined #TheResistance to obstruct his presidency.

The serial denialist Clinton later urged Joe Biden to not concede the 2020 election if he lost.

Also after 2016, left-wing third-party candidate and denialist Jill Stein vainly sued in courts to disqualify voting machine results in preselected states.

A denialist host of Hollywood C-list actors in 2016 cut television commercials begging members of the Electoral College to violate their oaths and instead flip the election to Hillary Clinton.

Clinton herself had hired foreign national Christopher Steele to concoct a dossier of untruths to smear her 2016 campaign opponent, Trump.

The FBI took up Clintons failed efforts. It likewise paid in vain her ancillaries, such as Christopher Steele, to verify the dossiers lies.

The bureau further misled a FISA court about the dossiers authenticity. An FBI lawyer even altered a document as part of a government effort to disrupt a presidential transition and presidency.

The ClintonFBI Russian collusion hoax was a small part of the progressive effort to warp the 2016 election result.

The Washington Post giddily bragged about various groups formed to impeach Trump in his first days in office, on the pretext that he was illegitimately elected.

Rosa Brooks, an Obama administration Pentagon lawyer, less than two weeks after Trumps inauguration wrote a long denialist essay in Foreign Policy outlining a strategy to remove the supposedly illegitimate president. She discussed the options of impeachment, the 25th Amendmentand even a military coup.

When rioting exploded in the streets of Washington after the election results became clear, Madonna infamously shouted to a mass crowd that she dreamed of blowing up the White House, presumably with the Trump family in it.

Was that not the most violent form of election denialism?

The election denialist Stacey Abrams became a media heartthrob and left-wing cult hero. Abrams monetized her ridiculous denialism (voter suppression) by stumping the country from 2018 to 2021, claiming, without evidence, that the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election was rigged. In truth, she lost by more than 50,000 votes.

Time magazines Molly Ball, in a triumphalist essay, bragged that in 2020, a combination of Big Tech money from Silicon Valleyfueled by Mark Zuckerbergs $419 million infusionabsorbed the balloting collection and counting of several key voting precincts weighed to help Biden.

Ball bragged of careful pre-election censoring of the contemporary news by Big Tech. Most notably, that effort spread the lie that the Hunter Biden laptop scandal was Russian disinformation.

Left-wing interest groups modulated the often-violent Black Lives Matter and Antifa street protests of 2020 in efforts to aid the Biden campaign.

Ball summed up that left-wing election engineering effort as a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes and called it the secret history of the 2020 election.

So who exactly were those secret warpers of the 2020 election?

As Ball put it: A well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage, and control the flow of information.

It is entirely legitimate to question the probity and legality of those systematic left-wing efforts in key states to overturn long-standing voting laws passed by state legislatures.

Then followed an even larger effort to render Election Day a mere construct for the first time in American history. More than 100 million ballots were not cast on Election Day, the vast majority of them (and by design) Biden votes. Somehow, customary ballot disqualification rates of mail-in ballots in some states plungedeven as their numbers exploded.

The scariest form of election interference was the 2020 cabal. The FBI, Silicon Valley, street protesters, and the media all conspired to work for the right result.

Apparently, that conspiracy was the denialists response to the 2016 victory of Trump that they never accepted.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Why Fauci Cant Whitewash His Disastrous Legacy

Commentary

This week, ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, the soon-departing head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, if it was a mistake for schools to be shuttered as long as they were during the COVID pandemic. We should realize, and have realized, Fauci answered, that there will be deleterious collateral consequences when you do something like that, adding that he had nothing to do with schools closing.

This is a transparent legacy-saving revisionism.

Fauci now portrays himself as a humble public health official who had merely shared scientific advice and information with decision-makers. This self-serving depiction conveniently ignores his fearmongering, his coaxing and lying to manipulate behavior and his partisan scheming. Governors regularly leaned on Faucis positions as justification for their unconstitutional shutdowns of churches, economic lockdowns, and school closures. And Fauci praised them for it. Then-presidential candidate Joe Biden urged governors to listen to Dr. Fauci for their guidelines. Most already had. When Biden won the presidency, Fauci blamed the alleged underperformance of the United States under Donald Trump on the disparate responses of different states versus the unified approach. The unified approach, of course, was the Fauci approach.

If the spiritual leader of the follow the science crowd knew, as he now claims, that draconian COVID policies would lead to collateral consequences, why didnt he mention this fact back then? And why did he portray those who did as politically motivated and anti-science?

Fauci testifies consequences of reopening too soon could be really serious, ABC News reported in May 2020. After being grilled by Sen. Rand Paul on the dearth of science justifying school closings, Fauci responded with an alarmist rant about unexplained inflammations among kids caused by COVID. Be careful, Fauci warned, because children were not completely immune from the deleterious effects of COVID, refuting a claim neither Paul nor any other serious critic had ever leveled.

At the time, Ron Klain, a top Biden campaign adviser who now serves as Bidens chief of staff, tweeted, I cant believe I live in a country where the nations leading infectious disease expert has to explain to a Senator that we really out to be very careful  when it comes to children. Was Klain being very careful when smearing those who argued that shutdowns could also hold significant undesirable consequences and did little, if anything, to save lives? For Klain, partisanship trumped public health. For many others, prudence had legitimately morphed into stifling fear. Fauci used this trepidation to feed attacks on those who disagreed with him.

When it mattered, Paul was right. Shutdowns inflicted profound harm on children, not to mention erasing decades of advances. Fauci would often make perfunctory statements during 2020 about the importance of reopening schools as soon as the virus was under control. He remained absurdly vague about what that meant. And when any concrete efforts were undertaken to open schools, Fauci opposed them.

In March 2020, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Florida schools would reopen in April. When left-wing pundits accused the governor of being the leader of a death cult, Fauci stood in front of a White House lectern and told the nation that children who went back to school will likely get infected. Not could get infected but would likely get infected. He later told a Tampa television station that, on the subject of opening schools, it doesnt make sense when youre trying to do everything you can to protect children, to do something that would interfere with the protection of the children.

Later in 2020, three scientistsMartin Kulldorff of Harvard, Sunetra Gupta of Oxford, and Jay Bhattacharya of Stanfordreleased the Great Barrington Declaration, a document rejecting the popular position on the efficacy of lockdowns and warning, among other things, about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of closing schools. Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice, the document stressed. Fauci was not merely passing on the latest public health information when he helped plot a quick and devastating published takedown of the Great Barrington Declaration. No, he used his immense influence to help stifle debate over school closings.

By January of the next year, when it became convenientand Biden won the presidencyFauci would finally admit that it was less likely for a child to get infected in the school setting than if they were just in the community. The science hadnt changed. He offered no proof that it had. Now, in the end, its elected adherents of Faucism who are most culpable for the deleterious effects of school lockdowns. Fauci merely epitomizes the authoritarian public-health mandarin who is imbued with far too much power and influence.

Still, the man who once proclaimed I represent science doesnt get to rewrite history to erase his leading role in that disaster.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
That release could not be found.
Nigerias leading life insurer, Sanlam Life Insurance Nigeria Limited has yet again emerged the Best Life Insurance Company in Nigeria, 2022 as announced by World Economic Magazine Awards 2022.

A statement obtained on the organisers website about the awardees: The winners of this years World Economic Magazine Awards are the organisations with best-in-class performance and prominent listings in the global economic space. The World Economic Magazine Nomination and award winner selection process is based on core competencies, providing a unique benchmark for excellence in different domains.

This year, the World Finance Insurance Awards showcases the best-in-class performers with prominent listings in the global economic space. The World Economic Magazine is committed to improving the present state of the world economy by engaging businesses and leaders of the business ecosystem across various channels that shape the industrial, regional, and global agendas.

Tunde Mimiko, the Managing Director/CEO, Sanlam Life Insurance Nigeria Limited, in his reaction to the news attributed the win to his companys continuous deployment and utilization of technology in delivering services to meet the ever-changing needs of the customers, We are happy to have won this award through a transparent selection process. Salam Nigeria has invested and stepped up its technology platforms to meet the ever-changing needs of the customer at this time, he said.

Sanlam is a pan-African brand with a rich history and heritage. Founded in 1918 as a life insurance company, Sanlam has grown to become the largest non-banking financial services group in Africa today. It offers bespoke financial solutions to institutional clients and retail customers through its five business clusters  Sanlam Personal Finance, Sanlam Emerging Markets, Sanlam Investment Group, Sanlam Corporate and Santam.

With a strong presence in 33 countries on the African continent, and a niche presence in India, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and Australia, Sanlam is in 8 out of the 10 largest economies in Africa, with a market capitalization of over $8 billion, operating profit of $1 billion before tax, and over 154,000 employees globally, delivering superior value to customers, shareholders and the broader society.

Sanlams areas of expertise include life and general insurance, financial planning, retirement, investment, and wealth management. Sanlam is a purpose-led organisation with efforts centred on helping customers Live with confidence.
(i) The Yoruba Referendum Committee is compelled to respond to Senator Omo Ageges call on 25 State Houses of Assembly to approve provisions of the 1999 Constitution pending before them on the ground that it is in the interest of Nigerians. Furthermore, the Senator said 24 states are making demands for the inclusion of other issues like state police in such a manner that all would be considered.

(ii) This is coming on the heels of Northern governors advocacy for State Police, riding on the back of persistent demands for same by the South and further reinforced by Southern Governors during their recent meeting, accentuated by the continuing face-off between Governor Akeredolu and the Central Government on the vexed question of arming state security agencies, and which has become a continuous source of tension between the states and the central Government.

(iii) The Yoruba Referendum Committee also recognizes the fact that  Restructuring has now become an issue advocated by prominent personalities, including Presidential candidates and State Governors.

(iv) The above makes it abundantly clear that True Federalism must now take the front seat in the emerging political context. Previous ad hoc measures towards this end have failed mainly because of an assumed finality of the administrative units, the states, and not the various Peoples as Federating Units, hence the resort to always tinkering with the flaws in the Constitution through amendments and which has now led to this conundrum, where Senator Omo Agege is accusing 24 State legislatures of engaging in a quid pro quo in this amendment process.

(v) All of the above has given rise to the anti-thesis of Federalism, to wit: devolutionincluding state Police, as the ultimate goal. Yet, Devolution implies whoever devolves power also retains the capacity to take it back. Pursuit of devolution either in an incremental sense or as an end-goal becomes a token for the various Peoples of Nigeria who are further shortchanged by the tokenism embedded in devolution. Federalism is the other way round, to wit: the Nations/Peoples decide what powers and responsibilities to yield to the center.

(vi) As the basic law of a society, the Constitution embodies the socio-cultural essence of the People; it aggregates their existential paradigms physically manifesting in their administrative territories.

(vii) Hence, the Yoruba Referendum Committee agrees with the Yoruba truism that says ones head cannot be shaved in his or her absence. All of Nigerias Constitutions since 1979 shaved our heads in our absence; the main reason for the societal dysfunction being experienced in Nigeria and the only way to remedy the situation is for the various Peoples and Nationalities in Nigeria to, in a Referendum, determine the framework for their aspirations and self-actualization which then become the foundation for Restructuring of Nigeria.

(viii) For the Yoruba, this will be the Yoruba Referendum, as proposed by the Yoruba Referendum Committee. The APC is currently the dominant political party in Yorubaland, with Legislative and Executive powers in its hands. The Party is therefore presently well-suited to endorse the Yoruba Referendum as the route towards re-Federalizing Nigeria.

(ix) The Yoruba Referendum provides a direct, practical, and achievable Pathway because the 1999 Constitution neither conferred upon nor denied the State Legislatures the capability and capacity to organize such a Referendum.

(x) The Referendum question is a "Yes" or "No" as to whether the states should " Federate " into a Regional Administration with a Constitutional Commission that will negotiate on behalf of Yorubaland.

(xi) This Constitutional Commission Legitimately and Legally resolves two issues simultaneously, to wit: it becomes the official Yoruba Leadership as well as providing the basis for negotiating with other Peoples and Nationalities in Nigeria.

(xii) The Yoruba Referendum Committee believes passing the Bill into Law and conducting the Yoruba Referendum by December 2022 will become the vehicle for engaging any incoming Administration towards a Constitutional Conference to arrive at a new Federal Constitution for Nigeria. Preparations for the 2023 elections cannot be an obstacle to this move. Indeed, it will aid in the preparations as it will galvanize the People towards their aspirations.

(xiii) The Bill for a Yoruba Referendum can be domesticated by others in Nigeria, as it will serve as a template even when they are not in a comparable situation with Yorubaland.

(xiv) Following up on this, the Yoruba Referendum Committee initiated a Petition to the Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti State Houses of Assembly to pass the Bill for a Referendum into Law and conduct the Referendum.

(xv) The Petition can be found here: http://chng.it/ybwX2ZR6Tt .

(xvi) The Yoruba Referendum Committee took this route because the National Assembly, as presently constituted, does not represent the Peoples of Nigeria, and the 1999 Constitution it seeks to amend does not recognize the Peoples as Federating Units; rather, the Peoples were substituted with administrations of the States and Local Governments as Federating Units.

(xvii) Furthermore, the process of amending the 1999 Constitution abridges True Federalism in that the required concurrence of 24 states already vitiates True Federalism, for, these states may or may not share similar existential prerogatives as now confirmed by Senator Omo Ageges allegation of 24 states seeking a quid pro quo before proceeding on the amendment.

(xviii) At this point, we must remind ourselves that the Referendum for the creation of the Mid-Western Region in 1963 was conducted among only the people of the Mid-West and not the whole of Nigeria; the Northern and Southern Cameroon Referendum was carried out among the Peoples of the Cameroons and not with all of Nigeria, even as they were still part of Nigeria; the Scottish Referendum for Independence was conducted among the Scots; the Catalonia Referendum only among the Catalans; Quebec Independence Referendum within the Province of Quebec in Canada.

(xix) In all these instances, National Parliaments exist, yet there were no countrywide Referendums organized by these National Parliaments as the final arbiter of the wishes of the Peoples. There is therefore no reason the various Peoples or Nationalities of Nigeria cannot conduct their own Referendums.

(xx) With all the above, the Yoruba will be rendering a service of historic proportions, becoming a beacon for not only other Nationalities in Nigeria but also the rest of Africa where comparable Nationality questions exist and has led to continuous wars and conflicts. This pathway will aid in the resolution of such conflicts.

Editorial Board

Yoruba Referendum Committee


The National Identity Management Commission has distanced itself from the two suspects arrested by the Nigerian Army for reportedly enrolling Nigeerians for the National Identification Number in Niger Republic.

In a statement issued by the Director-General of the Commission, Aliyu Aziz, on Friday, NIMC said the suspecte are impersonators and never officials of the Commission.

The Commission said the suspects arrested were fake as the Army put it, noting that the public should not regard them as the NIMC officials.

According to the statement, The attention of the NIMC, an agency of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, has been drawn to reports making the rounds in the media, of the arrest, by the Nigerian Army, of two persons purporting to be carrying out enrolment of persons in Niger Republic, and being erroneously or spuriously referred to as NIMC officials.

First, it is important to note well the Armys clarification from the onset, when they referred to the fraudsters as fake, meaning their claim to be NIMC staff  if at all they did  was proven from the beginning to be false.

The NIMC also urged the media to be balanced in its reportage and seek clarifications from all parties.

The Nigerian Voice had reported that the Defence Headquarters, had on Thursday, said that its troops arrested suspects posing as officials of the NIMC in order to register and enroll foreigners in Niger Republic for the NIN.

We wish to state categorically that neither the NIMC officials nor staff of the NIMC licensed enrolment agents across the country are authorised, nor do they go from one country to another, let alone from Nigeria across the borders, to enroll Nigerians much less foreigners.

So far, the NIMC has a number of licensed diaspora enrolment agents in over 38 countries operating over 152 centres across the world strictly to enroll Nigerians in those countries. The list of the Diaspora enrolment licensed companies, which has been published over time in the media, can be found on the NIMC website.

The public is by this information put on notice and advised that the NIMC does not and will not authorise its staff or its agents to go across any borders to register non-Nigerians, as this is not part of our mandate, the DG said further.

He also lauded the Nigerian Army for the good job theyre always doing, and more particularly in this respect. The NIMC also commends all other security agencies for their untiring efforts in collaborating with us and other sister agencies in the efforts to rid our country of criminal elements.
A social justice peace advocate, Rev. Gideon Para-Mallam, has accused the ruling the All Progressives Congress of smuggling his name and his wife's name, Prof. Funmi Para-Mallam, into its Presidential Campaign Council without their consent.

While insisting that he is not a card-carrying member of any political party in the country, Para-Mallam said the Christian Association of Nigeria had taken a position against the Muslim-Muslim ticket adopted by the APC and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, despite the national outcry.

Recall that eight members of CAN were included on the list of the APC campaign council.

Among them was Assistant General Secretary of CAN, Apostle Biodun Sanyaolu who was recruited as Assistant Coordinator; its controversial Lagos State chairman, Stephen Adegbite (member); Director of Legal and Public Affairs, Comfort Chigbue (member); and Testimony Onifade, former Personal Assistant to immediate past CAN President, Samson Supo Ayokunle (member).

Others are Victor Ivoke, Personal Assistant to Rev. Daniel Okoh, current President of CAN (member); CAN former Director of Legal and Public Affairs, Kwamkur Samuel (member) and Prof. Para-Mallam (member).

However, Para-Mallam, in a statement said his name was smuggled into the list by APC.

He said, My attention has been drawn to a list in circulation which indicates that I (or my wife  Prof. (Funmi) Para-Mallam) have been nominated to serve in the APCs Presidential Campaign Council. Neither of us is aware of this nomination and our consent was not sorted.

Nigeria is a great country; our present setbacks notwithstanding. But I believe that Nigeria will be great again. I love this country. I am not a partisan politician. I am a clergyman and a social justice peace advocate. I am non-partisan. I am also not a card-carrying member of any political party in Nigeria today (not that it would be wrong, but I am not at moment).

Besides, CAN has taken a position against any Muslim-Muslim ticket and any Christian-Christian ticket. I respect that decision. Nigeria is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious country. This contextual reality needs to show in the way our political parties play their politics through fair internal party politics.

Accepting to serve in the APCs Presidential Campaign Council will negate this fundamental reality of what we are as a multi-religious country. Politics of inclusiveness should override politics of exclusion not just in 2023 but beyond.

I, therefore, wish to distance myself from membership of any campaign team of any political party in the forthcoming 2023 elections. I have some respected and close friends in all the major political parties. I will continue to work to promote political harmony and peaceful co-existence in Nigeria. May God give Nigeria peaceful 2023 elections.

God bless Nigeria and guide both the parties and Nigerians as the campaign season commences.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has returned to Nigeria.

The former Vice President who returned to Nigeria on Friday, was seen in the company of former Kogi Senator, Dino Melaye and the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel.

The candidate is expected to attend the partys campaign rally in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

Dismissing rumours that Atikus trip to France was because of his ill health, his media aide, Paul Ibe, said his principal travelled for a business trip.

Ibe in a statement on Tuesday said: The former Vice President travelled last night on a scheduled trip to meet with the technical partners of one of his business entities that was impacted by the Covid-19 global lockdown and the consequent economic downturn.

The meeting will also focus on conclusive discussions for a planned expansion of its production facility.
Watching the flurry of activities happening in the political spectrum as the polity is being heated on daily basis in the build up to next years elections, the Presidential candidates of the major political parties exchange banters, one is naturally obliged to focus on the central figures and dwell the Principals.

One is not bothered to waste useful time on candidates who can best be described as third eleven who themselves, know they are running only to fill-in the gaps, if the gaps really exist.

Obviously, Dr. Peter Obi is raising some kind of dust and is being celebrated by certain group of elites and some ethnic jingoits who are only spoiling his run and doing more harm than good to a seeming force thats running ahead of its time. Evidently, Mr. Obi's time is tomorrow, rather than today.

That leaves only the two real heavy-weights in the ring, both veteran foxes. Both focussed and dexterous. Both experienced and armed with resources beyond the ordinary bounds. These are the Waziri of Adamawa, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Jagaban Borgu, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola.

This is no doubt going to be an unprecedented game of wits between two foxes. One of them must of course, outfox the other. Most certainly, it is a titanic encounter, a battle royale.

At the moment, most pundits are loathe to put their money into the bet. They think that, "it is too close to call." I differ by refusing to seat on the fence.

From my years of experience as a Journalist and a media manager, with more than a causal sojourn in the intriguing world of partisan politics, I should be able to decipher between the sand and the real castles. After all, the sand castle can not stand the slightest threat of the wind.

My position is based on a clear-headed, unencumbered reading of the scientific, empirical facts so glaringly obvious.

Based on over flogging albatrosses, only the most self-serving and delusional will expect the pendulum to swing the way of the contender from Bourdilon.

Yes, Bola Tinubu will no doubt, put up a praiseworthy show. But, that will be just so far that he can go. That is because, like the fable Don Quixote, the man is coming into the duel, so heavy-laden, so war weary and so much bereft of several critical accoutrements of war.

Firstly, the much vaunted magical effects of the contents of the famous (or infamous?) Bullion trucks cannot do the trick as in the past. This is Nigeria, the vast space of Nigeria and not the narrow enclave of Tinubu's empire of Lagos. This time around, the stakes are much higher.

Nigerians know they are at crossroads when their decision or choice, will either make or mar their Country. It is a moment of choosing between progress and stagnation or, as it has been their experience in the preceding seven painful years, backward steps away from all gains made over the years!

Beside the prevailing currents that show that the nation's electorates are now wiser and therefore, resolute in electing their leaders, the impending scenario will be, unlike the way the humongous sums of Dollars did the abracadabra enacted at the last presidential primary of the APC. Anyway, Tinubu will be meeting his match in Atiku, in all fronts!

Again, it doesn't look like wads, bags or tons of Naira will be a major determinant of victory in 2023. Not in the face of the many measures, such as the Biometric Voter Accreditation System, BVAS and the electronic transfer of results being perfected by the INEC.

Did I hear somebody saying that the APC is already strategizing on ways of subverting the new security measures? My simple response is: they are joking. The opposition parties, the electoral umpire and the citizens are on the lookout as they are united in their zeal to, for once, have credible and transparent elections in which the votes of the electorate count.

From his utterances such as his infamous Abeokuta gaffe, Emilokan"( translating to: "it is my turn), as well as the remarks of a number of his key campaigners, Tinubu is clearly playing the primordial ethnic and regional cards.

This is an obsolete political balderdash that cannot fly in present day Nigeria. At best, he will be going back to the situation of a regional champion or a chieftain at the head of the opposition.

Among his other myriads of handicaps, Tinubu has, hanging heavily on his shoulders, the albatross of President Buhari and his APC government. How can the Jagaban distance himself from the abysmal failure of a President he played very important role in installing?

Coming into the duel, Tinubu has yet to shed off the odious pall raised by issues of the vital credentials about his age and academic qualifications.

Is the Asiwaju seventy years old when it is widely known that he has a daughter who is sixty-two? Was he at the University of Chicago or the Chicago State University?

Finally, who needs a talisman to know that Nigerians will be wary of electing a sick President so soon after their experience of the debilitating repercussions of a leader that is most of the time on a sick bed in London?

Head or tail, after all the hullabaloo and the razzmatazz, the pendulum swings the way of Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, Wazirin Adamawa. That's my bet, my take. I leave in peace. 

Dr Maishanu is a former Commissioner of Information in Sokoto
British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after six weeks in office

ENGLAND: British Prime Minister Liz Truss quit on Thursday  bowing to the inevitable after a tumultuous term in which her policies triggered turmoil in financial markets and a rebellion in her party that obliterated her authority.

Friday 21 October 2022, 09:36AM

Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London yesterday (Oct 20) to announce her resignation. Photo: AFP

Making a hastily scheduled statement outside her 10 Downing Street office, Truss acknowledged that I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.

She is the third Conservative prime minister to resign in as many years and leaves a divided party seeking a leader who can unify its warring factions. Truss, who said she will remain in office until a replacement is chosen, has been prime minister for just six weeks.

Bitterly divided Conservative Party lawmakers have just a few days to agree on a successor, or face another leadership contest. Potential contenders include former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, who lost to Truss in the last leadership contest, House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace  and Boris Johnson, the former prime minister ousted in July over a series of ethics scandals.

Whoever succeeds Truss will be the countrys third prime minister this year alone. A national election doesnt have to be held until 2024, but opposition parties demanded one be held now, saying the government lacks democratic legitimacy.

Brought down by her economic plan

Truss bowed out just a day after vowing to stay in power, saying she was a fighter and not a quitter. But she couldnt hold on any longer after a senior minister quit her government with a barrage of criticism and a vote in the House of Commons descended into chaos and acrimony just days after she was forced to abandon many of her economic policies.

Markets breathed a sigh of relief, and the pound rose about 1% to above $1.13 after Trusss resignation.

The dramatic series of events began after Truss and her Treasury chief, Kwasi Kwarteng, unveiled an economic plan with 45 billion pounds (US$50 billion) in unfunded tax cuts that resulted in a hammering of the value of the pound and increased the cost of UK government borrowing. The Bank of England was forced to intervene to prevent the crisis from spreading to the wider economy and putting pension funds at risk.

The tumult, along with a growing number of lawmakers calling for her resignation, resulted in the replacement of Truss Treasury chief, multiple policy U-turns and a breakdown of discipline in the governing Conservative Party.

She quit after a meeting with Graham Brady, a senior Conservative lawmaker who oversees leadership challenges. Brady was tasked with assessing whether the prime minister still has the support of Tory members of Parliament.

But by that point, the chorus of voices calling for her ouster was growing.

US, France react with regret, Russia with insults

Trusss resignation sparked reactions from Washington to Paris and Moscow.

US President Joe Biden thanked Truss for her partnership on a range of issues including holding Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine, and said his country would continue to work closely with Britain.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he was sad to see a colleague go, but noted that France wants above all else, stability.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he had good contact with Truss, but could not keep himself from dropping a joke about British politics. We agreed on a whole range of views and Im looking forward to working with who will be my next colleague. It will be the fifth one, I believe.

Russia reacted by insulting Truss.

Britain has never known such a.... prime minister. The helmet onboard the tank, the catastrophic illiteracy, and the Queens funeral right after the audience with Truss will be whats remembered of her, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Essential supplies rushed to flood-stricken residents

PHUKET: Essential supplies were distributed to flood-affected residents in the Ban Khok Tanot area of Cherng Talay yesterday (Ot 20) as rain continued to fall across the island.

weatherenvironment

By The Phuket News

Friday 21 October 2022, 09:00AM

Phuket Deputy Governor Anupap Rodkwan Yodrabam delivered food and drinking water to people in Village 6 of Ban Khok Tanot that have been seriously affected by flooding and unable to leave their homes to acquire provisions.

He was joined by Police Lieutenant General Nattaphong Yanothaikhachit, Deputy Director of the Phuket Provincial Security Administration, Bancha Thanu-in, Thalang District Chief, local community leaders and members of the Village Health Organisation.

Ban Khok Tanot lies in a lowland area, similar to other areas in Thalang such as Srisoonthorn and Thepkasattri, meaning they are especially susceptible to flooding following the recent deluge of rain.

The level of flooding is still high in these areas and, despite help being dispatched to drain the water, it remains a challenge as the rains persist.

Dep/Gov Anupap said government agencies and private sector entities authorities will continue to assist those stricken by the floods as best they can by providing basic essentials such as food and water while they simultaneously strive to find the best way to drain the water.

He did add, however, that the continual heavy down pours continue to hamper efforts.
Phuket Governor hosts Kazakh Ambassador

PHUKET: Governor Narong Woonciew welcomed the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Thailand Arman Issetov to Phuket yesterday (Oct 20).

tourism

By The Phuket News

Friday 21 October 2022, 10:15AM

The two met at Provincial Hall to discuss a variety of topics, including tourism and cooperation in caring for Kazakh nationals based on the island.

There are currently approximately 100 Kazakh nationals living and working in Phuket and their welfare was a prominent point of the discussion, as was the welfare of any Kazakh nationals visiting the island in the capacity of tourists.

Mr Issetov said he expects tourist numbers from his country to increase next month as Astana Airlines [Air Astana] launches direct flights from Almaty to Phuket, which the Ambassador said will create a positive impact on the tourism links between the two countries.

Additionally, the Kazakh capital [Astana] is considered an economic, tourist and transportation hub linking numerous Central Asian countries to Southeast Asia, which will only stand to benefit Phuket.

Phukets aspirations to host the World Specialised Expo 2028 was another topic discussed, something Mr Issetov responded positively to by pledging to support the drive and promote it back in his home country.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Thailand and Kazakhstan and yesterdays meeting follows a similar meeting on Oct 3 when Mr Issetov met with prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to explore ways the two countries can enhance relations.
Today

Cloudy with snow showers mainly during the morning. High 28F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 80%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. Low 7F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.

Tomorrow

Mostly cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day. A few flurries or snow showers possible. High 16F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Within the framework of cooperation in the field of social protection of servicemen, the delegation of the Georgian Defense Ministrys Department of Social Affairs and Psychological Support visited Armenia October 19-20.

Armenian Ministry of Defense Director of the Department of Social Protection of Servicemen Alexander Avetisyan received the delegation. The Georgian delegation was briefed on the privileges and guarantees system designed for servicemen and their families by Armenian legislation and the governments programs in this direction. Other issues related to social protection of servicemen were also discussed.

Agreements were reached regarding future cooperation in directions of mutual interest.

The Georgian delegation also had meetings in the Insurance Foundation for Servicemen and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Cloudy with a mixture of rain and snow this morning. Becoming partly cloudy this afternoon. Morning high of 40F with temps falling to near freezing. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 80%..

Tonight

Mainly clear. Low 23F. Winds light and variable.
Have an interesting bit of news youd like to see mentioned in the Along the Way column? Email it to Natasha Connolly at news@thesunchronicle.com.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Head of the ruling Civil Contract Faction of the Armenian Parliament Hayk Konjoryan, Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on European Integration Arman Yeghoyan and Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Arusyak Julhakyan continued the meetings with the members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the Parliaments press service said.

Around two dozen meetings have been held during their visit.

The Armenian lawmakers met with MEPs Nathalie Loiseau, Isabel Santos, Andrius Kubilius, Rasa Jukneviciene and others. The MPs presented the threats facing Armenia and the determination of the Armenian people to protect the interests and rights of Armenia with all possible means.

The lawmakers are sure that Armenia has a strong support in the European Parliament, the friendship which is based on values is as firm as ever.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. The European Union presented details on the EU Monitoring Capacity in Armenia.

The EU published a Q&A regarding the mission:

Following the decision by the European Union to deploy monitoring experts along the Armenian side of the international border with Azerbaijan, on 20 October, the EU Monitoring Capacity in Armenia became operational. Here are some facts about the mission.

Why is the EU sending a Monitoring Capacity to Armenia?

The EU Monitoring Capacity responds to the agreement reached at the quadrilateral meeting between President Aliyev, Prime Minister Pashinyan, French President Macron and President of the European Council Michel. Upon proposal of the High Representative Josep Borrell, the decision on the setting up of the EU Monitoring Capacity was taken at the Foreign Affairs Council on 17 October. The first EU monitors are operational on the ground as of 20 October. The missions mandate is to monitor the situation in the border regions between Armenia and Azerbaijan in order to support confidence building between the two countries and allow the EU to better support the work of the border commissions.

What exactly is the EU Monitoring Capacity going to do in Armenia?

The EU Monitoring Capacity to Armenia will carry out two core tasks:

1) support confidence-building between Armenia and Azerbaijan by monitoring the adherence of both parties to the ceasefire;

2) through regular and ad-hoc reporting on military posture and ceasefire related developments on the ground, the EU team will monitor the situation in the border regions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This will allow the EU to better support the work of the two parties border commissions.

Where exactly will the Monitoring Capacity be deployed?

The area of responsibility (AoR) will be the Armenian side of the internationally recognised border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Is the EU Monitoring Capacity a military mission?

No. Only civilian monitors will be deployed.

What does the EU Monitoring Capacity consist of?

It consists of up to 40 EU civilian monitoring experts which will be deployed for a period of two months.

Will there be a similar EU Monitoring Capacity deployed to Azerbaijan?

No. The EU Monitoring Capacity will be deployed on the Armenian side of the internationally recognised border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The main aim is to support confidence-building between the two countries by monitoring their adherence to the ceasefire.

What was the role of the technical assessment mission which arrived in Armenia on 14 October?

The technical assessment mission of EU experts in Armenia intended to pave the way for the deployment of the EU Monitoring Capacity in the country. Its role was to gather necessary information, conduct an assessment on the ground and establish liaison with relevant stakeholders.

What is the role of EUMM Georgia in the deployment of the EU Monitoring Capacity in Armenia?

In order to ensure a swift deployment of the EU Monitoring capacity, EU monitoring experts from the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM Georgia) are being deployed.The EUMM is taking operational steps so that its monitoring capacity in Georgia is not impacted. EUMM will continue to carry out its activities in Georgia in all lines of operation. This includes a 24/7, 365 days a year monitoring presence along the Administrative Boundary Lines, to ensure stability in Georgia and the wider region. EUMM Georgia remains dedicated to fully implement its mandate.

What will the EU Monitoring Capacity between Armenia and Azerbaijan be monitoring?

The EU Monitoring Capacity in Armenia will report on military posture and ceasefire related developments in the border regions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This will allow the EU to better support the work of the two parties border commissions. The EU monitors will also provide observations of events taking place along the bilateral border, including human rights related developments. They will not have an investigative role.

Will the EU Monitoring Capacity make conclusions about which side started the escalation on 13 September and give recommendations about steps to take to prevent future escalations?

The EU Monitoring Capacity will report back to the relevant EU institutions and services about its observations along the bilateral border. It will not assume an arbitrary role or draw conclusions of a political nature on the basis of its findings.

Are the EU Monitoring Capacity and the OSCE assessment mission cooperating?

These are two separate missions with two different mandates. The EU Monitoring Capacity will liaise with all relevant international organizations, including the OSCE. There is no overlap between the EU Monitoring Capacity and the efforts deployed by the OSCE.

Is the EU Monitoring Capacity the only way the EU is supporting the de-escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan?

Based on the agreement by Armenia and Azerbaijan, the EU is closely involved in leading a peace process between both sides. To date, President of the European Council (PEC) Charles Michel has hosted four trilateral leaders meetings in Brussels between and the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in the past year. The first of these was held on 14 December 2021, which resulted in Azerbaijans release of 10 Armenian prisoners, as well as agreements on a way forward in working towards a peace process. Subsequent meetings took place on 6 April 2022, 22 May 2022 and 31 August 2022. High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President Josep Borrell has also been engaged through regular contact with the Foreign Ministers of both sides. Meetings have also taken place between Armenias Security Council Secretary Grigoryan and Azerbaijans Presidential Adviser Hajiyev, hosted in Brussels by EU Special Representative (EUSR) Klaar and PEC Adviser Grono. EUSR Klaar has also held frequent in person consultations with the leaderships of both sides, in line with his mandate and with tasking received from HRVP Borrell.
Westerly, RI (02891)

Today

Partly cloudy. Morning high of 54F with temps falling to near 45. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low around 30F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
The London Stock Exchange Group has reported a 16 per cent rise in revenues to 1.9billion and a 13 per cent rise in profit as it benefited from recent market volatility.

The stock exchange and clearing house owner said all its divisions saw growth in the third quarter, but new equity issues slumped.

Income from its data and analytics arm rose 15.4 per cent to 1.27billion, boosted by its acquisition of Refinitiv.

The London Stock Exchange Group said it has benefited from recent market volatility

Capital markets income increased 19 per cent to 369million, benefiting from 'volatility' at the end of the quarter, when the mini-Budget triggered a bonds sell-off.

However, new equity issues fell by 60 per cent compared to last year and total money raised dipped 64 per cent to 2.5billion as firms have become more cautious about raising money amid economic uncertainty.

Income from post trade activities rose by 15 per cent to 249million, 'reflecting strong demand for clearing services'.

The LSE also noted 'good performance' in over-the-counter markets 'as we helped customers manage their risk in an uncertain market environment'.

Gross profit rose 13 per cent to 1.7billion, or 5 per cent on a constant currency basis, and the group left its guidance unchanged for the year.

'Our strategy is working, delivering growth and increasing efficiency,' LSEG chief executive David Schwimmer said.

'We are also making good progress on returning surplus capital to shareholders through our share buyback programme,' he added.

The group launched a larger than expected 750million share buyback programme in August.

It returned 235million to investors in the quarter.

LSEG shares fell 2.8 per cent to 72.80 in morning trading on Friday.

They are around 11 per cent lower than a year ago.

Charlie Huggins, head of equities at financial research company Wealth Club, said: 'The difficult economic backdrop doesn't seem to be impacting LSE much.

'This is because around three quarters of its revenue is recurring, and the products and services it provides tend to be mission-critical to customers. This makes the LSE a pretty resilient business, as these results highlight.'

The Refinitiv deal, which was announced in 2019 and completed in January last year, 'transformed LSEs data capabilities', according to Huggins.

'Confidence in the Refinitiv deal is growing, with every quarter of good delivery helping to quieten the sceptics. That said, it's still too early for LSE to declare victory,' she added.
Barclays was branded 'reckless and lacking integrity' as it was fined 50million over its secretive deals with Qatar during the financial crisis.

Desperate to avoid a bailout in 2008 like rivals Natwest and Lloyds, Barclays paid 322million in 'advisory fees' to a Qatari firm, allegedly in return for a 4billion investment.

While Barclays announced the cash injection by Qatar, it did not disclose the fees it had paid.

Fine: While Barclays announced the cash injection by Qatar, it did not disclose the fees it had paid

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which has been investigating the dealings since 2013, said the payments would have been 'highly relevant information to shareholders, investors and the wider market'.

It said this was particularly so given the disclosed costs of the fundraising 'were already perceived to be very expensive'.

Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement at the FCA, said: 'At the height of the financial crisis, Barclays paid hundreds of millions of pounds in fees to certain Qatari investors so that they would contribute new capital.

'Barclays did not inform the market and shareholders about these matters as required.

'Barclays' failure to disclose these matters was reckless and lacked integrity and followed an earlier failure to disclose fees paid to Qatari investors in June 2008. There was no legitimate reason or excuse for failing to disclose these matters, certainly no basis for doing so because of the financial crisis.'

Barclays said it would appeal the ruling.

The Qatar saga has dogged the lender for years and seen it dragged into several court cases.

In 2020, the bank was unsuccessfully sued by Amanda Staveley  a financier acting on behalf of Abu Dhabi investors  when she claimed the bank offered her client a worse deal than it did to Qatar. Barclays was 'guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation', a judge ruled, but Staveley was unable to claim damages because the court said her firm would have been unable to finance the deal anyway.

Even so, the case proved bruising for Barclays as it laid bare sexist attitudes held by former bankers.

Stephen Jones, a Barclays executive at the time, labelled Staveley 'thick as s***' and referred to her 'large breasts' in a call with a colleague. Roger Jenkins, the former chairman of Barclays' Middle East business who earned the nickname 'Big Dog' for once being one of Britain's top-paid bankers, referred to Staveley as a 'tart'.

Critics claimed the fees paid to Qatar, in two tranches in 2008, allowed the Gulf state to purchase Barclays shares at a much lower price than was available to other investors. The investment was crucial to Barclays, which like other banks faced a cash crunch during the financial crisis as the money markets dried up.

Qatar's backing of the bank helped to pave the way for others to follow suit, including Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, Singapore's state investor Temasek and Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. In total, Barclays raised around 11billion across two capital raisings in 2008.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan had a meeting on October 21 with the European Parliament's Standing Rapporteur on Armenia, MEP Andrey Kovatchev.

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs of Armenia, MP Eduard Aghajanyan and Head of EU Delegation to Armenia Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin were also present at the meeting, the Office of the Security Council said in a press release.

Grigoryan welcomed Kovatchevs visit to Armenia and expressed conviction that cooperation will contribute to having a positive result.

Grigoryan presented the September 13 Azerbaijani aggression and its aftermath, as well as certain details from the negotiations process. The Secretary of the Security Council also emphasized Armenias readiness to continue democratic reforms also as a security component.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had a telephone conversation with United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the situation in Ukraine and international security were discussed, ARMENPRESS reports the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation informed.

"On October 21, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu and the United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had a telephone conversation. Current issues of international security were discussed, including the situation in Ukraine," the message said.

The Pentagon, for its part, said that during a phone conversation with the Russian Defense Minister, Austin emphasized the importance of maintaining communication channels between the parties.
European Union leaders are gathering to take stock of their support for Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia is trying to spark a refugee exodus by destroying his war-ravaged countrys energy infrastructure.

Nearly eight months into the war, Russia is increasingly targeting Ukraines power stations, waterworks and other key infrastructure with missile and drone strikes.

Meanwhile, the EU is struggling with the fallout of having to urgently end its reliance on Russian gas and oil as the war fuels price hikes and market anxiety.

In a speech via video link to European leaders in Brussels on Thursday, Mr Zelensky said that attacks by Russian cruise missiles and Iranian combat drones have destroyed more than a third of our energy infrastructure.

Because of this, unfortunately we are no longer able to export electricity to help you maintain stability.

He added: Russia also provokes a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to EU countries, by attacking electricity and heating sources, so that as many Ukrainians as possible move to your countries.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has branded Russias attacks on civilian infrastructure as war crimes and acts of pure terror.

More than 4.3 million Ukrainian citizens have registered for temporary protection in the EU. Almost a third of them are being hosted in Poland alone.

In a draft of an EU summit statement, the leaders affirm that they will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes with continued political, military and economic support.

We want to help Ukrainians rebuild their country that is bombed by Russia. On Tuesday @Bundeskanzler and I will co-host the #RecoveryOfUkraine conference. Ukraine will rise from the ashes. At the same time, it will advance on its path to the EU. pic.twitter.com/9SDhCqMkVi  Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 19, 2022

They also say that the 27-nation bloc will step up its humanitarian response, in particular for winter preparedness.

The draft text, seen by the Associated Press, is expected to be adopted later on Friday but its precise wording could still change.

The EU is deeply divided over how to handle the arrival of migrants without authorisation  the issue lies at the heart of one of the blocs biggest ever political crises  but many countries, particularly in central and eastern Europe, have set aside their objections to massively welcome in war refugees from Ukraine.
An Post has released a series of new Halloween stamps featuring a creature from Irish mythology.

The striking stamp designs by renowned Irish visual artist Aideen Barry and graphic design by Oonagh Young are inspired by the idea of a poisoned pen letter and are accompanied by a purple First Day Cover envelope showing a surreal screaming mouth beneath the stamps.

These are available from selected main post offices and anpost.com/shop (with free delivery), along with free postcards for children to decorate and post with a new spooky postage stamp to family and friends during the mid-term break.

Balor of the Evil Eye, who according to legend cast his eye across a Donegal glen and poisoned it, is featured on the 'N' (National) stamp.

It shows Balor's evil eye staring out, weeping tears of toxic, neon-green venom, while the W (World) stamp features the landscape of Donegals Poisoned Glen which to this date retains the name from its infamous past. The glen is filled with a green poison, oozing and steaming.

An Post Irish Stamps manager, Aileen Mooney, said, "We know that children love decorating postcards and theyll have plenty of time over mid-term to work on their scariest drawings and post them off with these new spooky stamps to their friends and family in Ireland and abroad."

'Myths and Legends' is the theme of this years EUROPA European Post Office stamp issue, in which all European postal companies produce their own interpretation of a common topic.

Aideen Barrys striking designs provide a fresh insight into a lesser known, ancient Irish myth.

She said, "This truly is the dream commission. An Post has a long track record of commissioning artists for our national stamps and I follow in the footsteps of my heroes like Francis Bacon, Evie Hone, Mainie Jellett and Patrick Scott. The stamps tell the story of Balor and Cro Nimhe as Contae Dhun na nGall. Rinne Balor ana dtriobloid sa contae seo. Is duine uafasach e sin.

"The supernatural being or Fomorian is supposed to have looked upon this beautiful land and poisoned it with his toxic stare. Though in actuality it is one of the most gorgeous spots in Europe and I highly recommend you visit it to see it for yourself!

An Post has previously issued mythology themed stamps in 1997 and 2012, featuring scenes from well-known stories including Diarmuid and Grainne, The Salmon of Knowledge, The Story of Setanta, Oisin and Niamh and The Children of Lir.
[October 20, 2022] Splitit's new white-label Instalments-as-a-Service experience delivers impressive results with OCM

New white-label, merchant-branded experience achieves a remarkable 41% improvement in total sales and a 54% increase in volume compared to the previous version with OCM brand

Splitit promotes loyalty between OCM and its shoppers through an embedded white-label experience, creating repeat purchases that increase the lifetime value of OCM's shoppers.

Merchants maintain ownership of their shopper's data. Unlike other BNPL providers, Splitit does not harvest shopper data to drive new sales with other merchants. ATLANTA, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- When Splitit (ASX:SPT, OTCQX:SPTTY) announced its new Instalments-as-a-Service platform in May, the company knew it would drastically improve merchant performance. Now early results are proving just how much. OCM brand, the first merchant to implement the white-label instalments option, has seen total sales increase by 41% and volume of orders increase by 54% compared to the previous version of Splitit the company used for the past two years. "First and foremost, the overall implementation is a lot more straightforward and delivers a much-improved shopping experience," said Juanfran Figueredo, Head of Data Analytics at OCM. "We have exceeded all expectations with performance so far. We anticipated incremental improvement in our key metrics, but having such strong numbers from day one shows just how intuitive it is for our shoppers." OCM immediately began seeing the overall performance uplift with the updated user experience. Splitit's white-label instalment platform eliminates unnecesary consumer friction and improves lacklustre conversion numbers inherent with legacy buy now, pay later (BNPL) options.



Splitit's Instalments-as-a-Service provides a merchant-branded experience embedded into the merchant's checkout flow allowing merchants to focus on delivering a more cohesive shopping experience. Splitit's white-label option eliminates the confusion around choosing a BNPL provider, being directed off-site or having to complete an arduous registration that can add up to seven steps to the checkout process. "Our new Instalments-as-a-Service UX is a simple and elegant way for merchants to drastically increase performance while also driving repeat purchases. Our mission is to empower our merchants to disintermediate their shopper relationships," said Splitit CEO Nandan Sheth. "Because Splitit isn't a super app harvesting consumer data or looking to acquire our merchants' customers, we ensure the customer journey starts and ends with the merchant  not a BNPL lender. Our early success with OCM is proving this matters. Not just Gen Y or Millennials, but across all shopper demographics."

Merchants, who see their relationships with consumers eroding from BNPL providers harvesting their shopper data for their gain, have more control over the entire shopper experience with Splitit. Merchants retain ownership and control over their customers' data, allowing them to nurture and retain their customers, driving loyalty and promoting brand consistency on their terms. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced that it plans to regulate legacy BNPL lenders in the same way they do credit card companies. In light of this news, Splitit provides a more future-proof pay-later option as it already operates under current credit card regulations. Splitit's use of global credit card networks also means merchants can easily add their service to new countries or regions through a single integration without the regulatory and procedural hurdles of implementing financing options. To learn more about Splitit's Instalments-as-a-Service platform, visit: www.splitit.com About Splitit Splitit powers the next generation of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) through its merchant-branded Instalments-as-a-Service platform. Splitit is solving the challenges businesses face with legacy BNPL while unlocking BNPL at the point of sale for card networks, issuers and acquirers all through a single network API. Splitit's Instalments-as-a-Service platform mitigates issues with legacy BNPL like the declining conversion funnel, clutter at the checkout and a lack of control of the merchant's customer experience while putting the power back in the hands of merchants to nurture and retain customers, drive conversion and increase average order value. Splitit's white-label BNPL is the easiest instalment option for merchants to adopt, integrate and operate while delivering an uncluttered, simplified experience embedded into their existing purchase flow. Headquartered in Atlanta, Splitit has an R&D centre in Israel and offices in London and Australia. Splitit is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under ticker code SPT and also trades on the US OTCQX under ticker SPTTY (ADRs) and STTTF (ordinary shares). Contact Information Brian Blank, Splitit

[email protected]

US +1 760 917 3321 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1550084/Splitit_Logo.jpg SOURCE Splitit USA, Inc.

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[October 20, 2022] GRL Launches Matter Wireless Testing Validation Services

GRL receives Connectivity Standards Alliance accreditation to provide validation testing services for the Matter 1.0 standard SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Granite River Labs ("GRL"), a global leader in engineering services and test automation solutions for digital connectivity and charging technologies, is among the first labs accredited by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (the Alliance) to provide validation testing services for the new Matter 1.0 standard. GRL's Matter test services will be provided at their recently-expanded Taipei, Taiwan facility and address wireless products and IoT (Internet of Things) devices for the new smart home technology ecosystem.



GRL's Matter services cover hardware solutions, from smart home speakers and smart TVs to light bulbs and switches. GRL also verifies the software used in Matter devices. The accreditation follows GRL's recent global expansion to meet the growing demand for product evaluation and new testing services.

Described by the Alliance as "the foundation for connected things," the new open-source Matter 1.0 standard enables compatible smart home devices and systems to connect seamlessly, securely and reliably. A unifying, IP-based connectivity protocol, Matter is an application layer built on top of proven technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread and Ethernet. Testing and certification will play a critical role in fulfilling Matter's promise of simplifying development for manufacturers and increasing compatibility for consumers. GRL is authorized to help manufacturers ensure that their products comply with Matter 1.0 specifications and are certified to support all the embedded communications technologies. "Matter is an exciting new technology with the potential to solve a host of interoperability and device-to-device communication problems in smart home and IoT applications," said Vamshi Kandalla, Chief Strategy Officer of Granite River Labs. "GRL is pleased to be recognized by the Alliance as one of the first laboratories accredited to test and verify products and systems to the Matter standard, and we are committed to cooperating further to support the smooth roll out of this new technology." "Matter is built around a shared belief that smart home devices should be secure, reliable, and seamless to use," said Jon Harros, Head of Certification and Testing Programs for the Connectivity Standards Alliance. "Companies across the Industry, including leaders like GRL, are contributing their expert capabilities and proven best practices to make Matter an outstanding success for developers, retailers and consumers." Learn More About Matter Technology at https://csa-iot.org/all-solutions/matter/ SOURCE Granite River Labs

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[October 20, 2022] GlassView Appoints First Japan Country Manager to Lead Strategic Growth and Development

New leadership role reinforces investment in Asia and the Japanese market TOKYO, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GlassView, the world's largest independent video advertising distribution platform, announced today the appointment of Muneaki Takao as country manager in Japan. In this newly created role, Takao is chiefly responsible for expanding GlassView's presence in the Japanese Market, already one the company's largest globally, including expanding the company's new Tokyo offices and identifying growth opportunities throughout Asia. Takao reports directly to GlassView CMO, Patrick Kirby. Takao brings to GlassView 20 years of experience in media buying, planning and sales for leading global agencies, technology and adtech companies. Most recently, Takao was the Japan office head and sales director at mobile demand-side platform (DSP) Moloco, where he built the team from the ground up and established valuable relationships with numerous agencies, customers and partners. Prior, Takao held roles at DSP Turn, Microsoft and Adobe, among others. "GlassView has established strong roots in the Japanese market over the years to bring innovative and efficient video advertising to its audiences, brands and agencies," said James G. Brooks, CEO and Founder of GlassView. "With Takao as our county manager in Japan, we are very excited to continue pioneering ways in which brands interact with audiences in a new modern digitized economy."



GlassView has been operating in the Japanese Market since 2015. In Japan, GlassView works with the world's top brands including Sony, Lexus and Panasonic to deliver and optimize their video advertising efforts. With access to over 98% of the connected population in Japan and over 2.7 billion people worldwide, GlassView is helping brands future-proof their business through a suite of cutting-edge technologies that are redefining the video advertising landscape, including their recent launch of GlassView Smart Gamma. "The Japanese market presents a wealth of untapped opportunity to explore the potential of video ads and connected TV advertising," said Takao. "GlassView's presence in the Asia-Pacific region has experienced significant growth, and I look forward to helping to accelerate that growth by bringing the company's unique data-driven approach to Japan's leading brands and agencies."

About GlassView GlassView's mission is to drive performance through video advertising. We work with over 80 of the top Fortune 100 Global Brands, offering access to over 2.6 billion unique users worldwide, and over 280 million unique users in the United States, reaching 98% of the connected country. Through emotion-based targeting and optimization, high frequency trading (SmartGamma) & delivery across connected devices, GlassView is best known for its performance. Leadership includes Renaud Dutreil, former Chairman of LVMH North America, who previously held several ministerial positions in the highest levels of French Government; Conde Nast former Executive Stephanie Newhouse; Chien Chung (Didi) Pei, chairman of the China Institute and partner in the legendary Pei Partnership Architects; Beauty and Well Being Founder & Editor Clemence von Mueffling; Jim Porcarelli, Co-founder of MediaCom North America; CBS Revenue & Operations Executive Director Dennis Colon; Candy Pratts Price, previously Creative Director for Vogue.com. Launched in 2014, GlassView has headquarters in Dallas, with offices in New York City, Tokyo, Singapore, London, and Paris, among other locations. For more information on GlassView, please visit www.glassview.com. SOURCE GlassView

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[October 20, 2022] LONGi participates in the International Greentech & ECO Products Exhibition & Conference in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LONGi has taken part in the Greentech & ECO Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia 2022 in Kuala Lumpur from October 12th to 14th. Themed "Race Towards Net Zero: Fulfilling SDG and ESG Commitments", the IGEM 2022 was regarded as Southeast Asia's leading trade event for green technologies and eco solutions. LONGi's star product Hi-MO 5 72-cell module, was displayed at the booth and garnered much attention from the crowd. Designed for different scenarios worldwide, the Hi-MO 5 module adopts high-performance bifacial + PERC technology. Up to July 2022, global shipments of LONGi's Hi-MO 5 modules have exceeded 30GW. Malaysia is located in the center o Southeast Asia with a superior geographical location and sunlight intensity up to 1400-1900kW h/m. Meanwhile, the Malaysian government has formulated a specific carbon neutralization schedule, aiming to achieve carbon neutralization by 2050 making Malaysia one of the most ideal PV markets in the world.



Over the last two years, LONGi has accelerated its expansion in Malaysia. In 2021, LONGi provided 190MW modules for two projects located in Kerian and Kuala Muda. In 2022, LONGi supplied modules to the largest PV parking lot project in Malaysia. This project is invested in and owned by MFP Solar and executed by Pekat Solar, and is expected to reduce about 11 tons of CO2 emissions annually. In the future, LONGi will continue to lead the Solar PV industry with innovation and work with local partners to accelerate the energy transition in Southeast Asia.

About LONGi Founded in 2000, LONGi is committed to being the world's leading solar technology company, focusing on customer-driven value creation for full scenario energy transformation. Under its mission of 'making the best of solar energy to build a green world', LONGi has dedicated itself to technology innovation and established five business sectors, covering mono silicon wafers cells and modules, commercial & industrial distributed solar solutions, green energy solutions and hydrogen equipment. The company has honed its capabilities to provide green energy and has more recently, also embraced green hydrogen products and solutions to support global zero carbon development.www.longi.com/en SOURCE LONGi

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[October 20, 2022] Coastal city makes key advances in past decade

RIZHAO, China, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from chinadaily.com.cn: Rizhao, a coastal city in Shandong province, has made great strides in its all-around development over the past decade. Rizhao has seen high-quality economic development during the 2012-21 period, said Zhang Hui, Party secretary of Rizhao. According to Zhang, the city's GDP raised from 117.12 billion yuan ($16.2 billion) in 2012 to 221.2 billion yuan in 2021, with an average annual growth rate of 7.8 percent. The marine economy has seen booming development in Rizhao, with its total output value accounting for 30 percent of the city's GDP in 2021, and it has been approved as a national marine economic development demonstration zone. The cargo throughput of Rizhao Port currently ranks ninth in the word and sixth in the country.



The iron and steel sector has become the city's first 100-billion-yuan industry, with an output value exceeding 190 billion yuan, said Zhang. Some emerging industries have broken new ground over the past 10 years, including new generation of information technology, life and health, internet services, and aviation. Over the past decade, Rizhao has shown great success in promoting rural vitalization and urban development, according to Zhang.

A total of 276 urban villages and 484 old residential areas were renovated in Rizhao in the 2012-21 period. The urbanization rate of permanent residents reached 62.1 percent by the end of 2021, and the living environment in rural areas has been significantly improved. According to Li Zaiwu, mayor of Rizhao, local authorities have spent an integrated investment of 10.6 billion yuan in the development of rural areas since 2019, providing a solid foundation for rural vitalization. All of the 118,000 registered poor residents in Rizhao were lifted out of poverty during the period. Last year, the per capita disposable income of rural residents shot up to 20,154 yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 9.4 percent in the past 10 years, demonstrating that the rural-urban income gap in the city has narrowed. Rizhao has maintained spending on residents' well-being at a level higher than 80 percent of the general public budget, said Zhang, adding that comprehensive progress was also made in the fields of employment, education, medical care and elderly care. SOURCE chinadaily.com.cn

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YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. The meeting of the interdepartmental committee for coordinating the organizational work of the "Starmus VI. 50 years on Mars" festival took place at the Government today, co-chaired by Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan and Vice President of the National Assembly Hakob Arshakyan. The results of the 6th "Starmus" international festival of science and art held in Armenia on September 5-11, 2022 were sumerized, ARMENPRESS was infomred from the Office of the Prime Minister.

Representatives of international and local offices of Starmus, as well as representatives of Armenian state and private partner organizations participated in the meeting

"Starmus" board members, led by festival co-founder and director Garik Israelian, presented the main achievements of the festival. In particular, it was noted that about 200 events were organized with more than 100,000 participants, 3 concerts were held with the participation of internationally renowned artists, about 100 lectures were delivered in 8 universities, other educational institutions, in open spaces for students of Yerevan and regions, as well as with the participation of wide public circles. Reports about the festival were spread in the international press. Taking into account these results, the committee recorded a high performance in the person of the director of "Starmus" Garik Israelian. The latter thanked for the high appreciation and noted that "Starmus" held in Armenia by different criteria, including scale, was the most influential in the history of the festival.

The participants of the session agreed that "Starmus 6" was the first scientific festival organized in Armenia in the last 30 years by which the great demand for such content was publicized, especially among the youth.

The co-chairs of the committee expressed their satisfaction with the work done and emphasized the role of the festival, both in terms of the popularization of science in Armenia and the presentation of Armenia as a scientific, educational and cultural hub in the world. The Vice President of the National Assembly noted the importance of positioning Armenia as a country for holding international science festivals on international platforms, and the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister emphasized that "Starmus 6" will have a long-term and important impact on public life and especially among the youth. Arayik Harutyunyan stressed that international level scientific, educational and cultural activities, contributing to the implementation and popularization of human capital development reforms in Armenia, will be continuous.

The realization of the potential of the scientists and cultural figures who visited our country within the framework of the festiva was also highlighted at the meeting, which will contribute to raising the international reputation of the Repubic of Armenia in the mentioned fields.
[October 20, 2022] BLUETTI Offers Solar Generators to Gear Up for Halloween

SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 20, 2022 /CNW/ -- This Halloween, trick-or-treaters can fill their bags with more than free candy. BLUETTI, a portable power station leader, decides to give them a "Boo" before they become power-starved or their houses are haunted by blackouts. It offers a slew of affordable power generators, batteries and solar panels from this October 20 to November 3. "Whether people are looking to upgrade gears for camping or secure their houses with stable power supply, this is the most affordable time in recent history." BLUETTI's spokesman James Ray said. Selective Power Stations From the portable solar generator-- the 10-pound EB3A to the 3072Wh power giant AC300 combo, BLUETTI treats its customers generously. The AC300+B300 combo, BLUETTI's first modular model, is an unmissable highlight. This combo with three PV350 solar panels is regarded as the most anticipated bundle compared to the AC200P and AC200MAX.



New Bundles to Step Up BLUETTI also rolls out new battery & solar panel bundles for those who already own a power station and simply wish to beef up their solar system for power independence.

The company claims its expansion LFP battery, B230 and B300, have wide compatibility with mutiple unites. As for its panels, PV200 and PV350 are built up with monocrystalline cells that boast 23.4% efficiency. "We team up them to give off-grid power system a kick. Convert more free sunlight, store more clean power, a sustainable life with abundant energy is there." James Ray explained in an address to media. More Add-ons to Expect In addition to good-value offers, BLUETTI also gives away various useful accessories. Like a XT90-P090D connection cable will be sent for free to those who buy AC200P+B230 or B230+PV350 or other bundles. Halloween is more than a time of spine-chilling but a horn of chilly winter. It is wise to get prepared before the Knight of Darkness knocks at the door. About BLUETTI With over 10 years of industry experience, BLUETTI has tried to stay true to a sustainable future through green energy storage solutions for both indoor and outdoor use while delivering an exceptional eco-friendly experience for everyone and the world. BLUETTI is making its presence in 70+ countries and is trusted by millions of customers across the globe. For more information, please visit BLUETTI online at https://www.bluettipower.ca/. SOURCE BLUETTI INC

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[October 21, 2022] Digital Pilipinas showcases Ph as 'soft landing, safe haven' for global innovators

Inaugural Philippine FinTech Festival highlights need for cross-border collaboration MANILA, Philippines , Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Pilipinas, the largest private sector movement for creating a technology and innovation ecosystem in the country, showcases the Philippines as a "soft landing and safe haven" for global innovators. Amor Maclang, Digital Pilipinas Festival (DPF) Convenor, positioned the Philippines as "a welcoming gateway to ASEAN for other countries who wish to do business in our region, for innovators from other countries who, in the face of adverse political or economic conditions, need to temporarily relocate to where their culture of innovation will be preserved."



Philippines' Undersecretary David Almirol stressed the crucial role of embracing the enabling qualities of technology in empowering agencies in enforcing their mandates. Through different policies and projects including the E-Governance Act and the iLGU, the public can experience seamless services which pave the way for them to take on bigger decisions and even go global. Jimmy Kyle Siy, Brankas Director of Customer Success, said that a positive impact on trade would be the first advantage of an ASEAN tech collaboration.

Angkas CEO George Royeca said: working with ASEAN entails "collaboration with regulators in creating the best products that will have the highest positive effect." Manish Bhai, UNO Digital Bank Founder, President, and CEO, agreed that without a cross-border ecosystem, digitalization will not succeed: "Everyone is a collaborator  whether it's cross-country, ASEAN, regional, global." Wei Zhou, CEO of Coins.ph, spoke of his plans to make the Philippines "a leader in Web 3.0 not just in ASEAN, but globally. Digital assets and blockchain are equalizers and can mean financial empowerment." DPF, which was composed of the World FinTech Festival-Philippines and the Philippine FinTech Festival, was held in partnership with Elevandi, an organization founded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to foster public-private-sector dialogue to advance FinTech in the digital economy. Jobbagy Laszlo, Managing Director of Digital Success Nonprofit Ltd., emphasized that "digitalization is all around us. We can have all kinds of people and have all kinds of degrees to digitize the culture even in terms of policy-making over the next 30 years." Participating in the DPF were co-presentor Coins.ph and co-convenors Etiqa Philippines; Angkas; PayMongo, UnionBank of the Philippines; digiCOOP; ADVANCE.AI; NinjaVan Philippines; KPMG Philippines; UNO Digital Bank; Creador; Globe; PruLife UK; ACUBELAW; Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra; Brankas; GCash; COL Financial; and, Xendit Philippines. Other partners were Tech Exactly; StartUp Village; Bounce Back PH; Fintech Philippines Association; FinScore; Mapua University; GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications; Inquirer Group of Companies; Inquirer Mobile; Inquirer.Net; Philippine Daily Inquirer; The Philippine Star; Manila Bulletin; United Neon; and Coinvestasi. Filipino and global industry and tech leaders gathered for the Digital Pilipinas Festival, which kicked off a month-long celebration for ASEAN tech while launching an anti-fragile technology and innovation ecosystem to bring about an economically stronger region. SOURCE Philippine FinTech Festival

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[October 21, 2022] Landlord Groups Granted Preliminary Injunction Against Los Angeles County

The Apartment Owners Association of California, Inc. (AOA) and the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA) jointly announced today that they have been granted a preliminary injunction they had been seeking to prevent enforcement of Los Angeles County's broad-based moratorium on residential tenant evictions. In the United States District Court judge's order granting the landlord group's motion for preliminary injunction, multiple violations of the "Vagueness Doctrine" and the complete lack of specific standards for how to apply various provisions contained within the County's eviction moratorium are cited. The District Court judge's order concludes that "Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the Resolution's Tenant Protections are unconstitutionally vague." The District Court has given Los Angeles County until December 1st to modify the eviction moratorium, and to give owners and tenants a chance to adjust, at which time it will no longer be able to enforce its eviction moratorium ordinance. According to the Order: "Effective December 1, 2022, the County is hereby enjoined from enforcing the Tenant Protections" In March 2022, AOA and AAGLA had filed a joint lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court for the State of California on behalf of their members and the County's rental housing providers seeking, among other relief, an Injunction against the enforcement of the County of Los Angeles's residential eviction moratorium. Los Angeles County's so-called, "temporary" eviction moratorium has remained in place nearly three years, and is set to expire on December 31, 2022. The County's COVID-19 eviction protections cover not only the County's unincorporated areas, but also most of the incorporated cities within the County. Jeffrey Faller, President of AOA stated: "There's no rational basis for the County keeping its eviction moratorium in effect for nearly three years especially since the health crisis ended long ago. For the County's tenants, a 'rent holiday' has existed the entire time. As a result, many of our member's lives are ruined as they have been unable to collect rent, and lost their properties to foreclosure or fire sales, and many others have had to liquidate retirement savings or have gone into debt using credit cards in order to meet ongoing obligations like mortgage payments, property insurance, taxes, and ongoing maintenance and repair costs." Mr. Faller of AOA further commented: "For nearly three years, virtually one thousand days, renters have taken advantage of the situation created by the County's ordinance by not paying rent because of alleged COVID-19 impacts while at the same time, they have afforded to travel, purchase new cars, and in the most egregious cases, purchased properties of their own." Under the County's ordinance, tenants are merely allowed to "self-certify" their inability to pay rent due to COVID-19, and unilateraly decide to not pay rent based on the facts and circumstances they determined as if tenants had acted as their own "judge and jury." Faller further commented: "Eviction bans like the County's just encouraged unscrupulous renters to skip paying rent without recourse."



AAGLA's Executive Director, Daniel Yukelson, stated: "While this ruling is certainly great news for rental housing providers in Los Angeles County, the Court's decision comes a little too late as the County's ordinance is already set to expire on December 31, 2022. Nevertheless, we intend to continue pursuing our case and to obtain a final order declaring the County's ordinance unconstitutional to allow our AAGLA and AOA members to seek compensation from the County to cover what has surely added up to billions of dollars in losses." Yukelson further commented: "And, we won't be stopping there. Our lawsuit against the County will be our roadmap to obtain similar rulings against all other jurisdictions that implemented these harmful and irrational eviction moratoriums, including against cities such as Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood." Cheryl Turner, President of the AAGLA Board of Directors and candidate for California State Senate District 28, stated: "The County used the excuse of the global pandemic to wield unlimited power over private property owners. No business other than the rental housing business had been singled-out and forced to provide services for free. The County's ordinance lacked any semblance of balance and merely provided valuable benefits to the County's renters at the expense of landlords, particularly the small business, 'moms and pops' who make-up the majority of rental property owners in the County." Ms. Turner further commented: "When laws are created, legislators need to always endeavor to find the right balance and must be cognizant of the potential for unintended consequences. In this case, the unintended consequences forced rental housing providers out of business and ruined people's lives. Many of the County's housing providers suffered unnecessarily for nearly three years without stable rent collections and without any idea of when the moratorium would eventually end."

AAGLA and AOA are represented by attorney Douglas J. Dennington of Rutan & Tucker LLP of Irvine. Mr. Dennington stated: "Obviously, we are pleased with the Court's decision. There have been numerous challenges to eviction moratoriums across the U.S. Until this recent decision, none of these other cases have been successful to date." During 2020, AAGLA had also filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles on behalf of its members and the City's housing providers making a constitutional challenge to the City's moratoriums on evictions and on rent increases. That matter is still pending. Founded in 1917, the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles seeks to promote the highest levels of professionalism within the multifamily rental housing industry. It provides a wide array of services and benefits that meet the needs of rental housing providers of all sizes, including educational seminars and member events, expert operational advice, and an extensive library of lease agreements and other forms needed to successfully own and manage rental properties. The Association also serves as a powerful advocate and lobbyist for rental housing providers at the local, county, state, and federal levels of government. For more information, go to: www.aagla.org/legalfund. The Apartment Owners Association of California, Inc. (AOA) is the largest individually-organized group of apartment owners in California. AOA members enjoy free downloadable forms, access to advisors who provide free property management advice, low-cost tenant screening, the most widely circulated apartment industry magazine in the state, Million Dollar Trade Shows, and many other member benefits. At the beginning of the pandemic, AOA decided to provide free COVID forms and free educational content on YouTube to members and non-members alike as a sign of solidarity. AOA is committed to supporting rental property owners with the resources needed to make the business of providing housing more profitable, easier, and more enjoyable. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005117/en/

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[October 21, 2022] It takes a community to raise trees: SM Foundation, Inc. and the Fast Retailing Foundation are partnering with communities for 'Grow Trees Community' project

PASAY CITY, Philippines, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- There is wisdom that takes root in the old proverb, 'it takes a village to raise a child'. In the same vein, SM Foundation, Inc. the social good arm of the SM group, and the Fast Retailing Foundation (FR Foundation), a general incorporated foundation in Japan, are partnering with communities to raise various species of trees in the firm hope that together, they can plant the seeds for a better tomorrow. Grow Trees Community taps local communities as stewards of the environment. As 'Grow Tree Community', the 'treescaping' and reforestation initiative aims to plant and grow at least 200,000 trees in Batangas, Pampanga and Benguet provinces and help create livelihood opportunities by working closely with conservation-focused people's organizations and various government agencies.





"The core of our program is to go beyond planting trees. It addresses the social and economic needs of communities by providing them with the means to engage in agroforestry. We want to build a strong foundation to keep growing communities by fostering collaboration and leadership in caring for the environment," said Cristie S. Angeles, SM Foundation Assistant Vice President for Livelihood and Outreach Programs. In a coastal village in the municipality of Macabebe where the project has the biggest exposure, both foundations intend to plant the Bakawan species of mangroves to serve as a natural defense against storm surges while enhancing ecological biodiversity. "We are particularly drawn to this project which is a first in terms of our partnerships here in the country. After we can confirm the success of this project, we are looking forward to pursuing more of these types of projects in the near future in collaboration with our partner, SM Foundation," Yoshio Ishida, Secretary-General of FR Foundation said. Grow Trees Community is in support of the SM Green Movement that aims to improve the quality of life of communities through sustainable solutions to promote a green planet, green living and a green culture. FR Foundation focuses on promoting research designed to spur technological development, nurture human resources and support socially vulnerable groups. It is part of Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., the leading Japanese retail company that owns well-loved casual wear brand, Uniqlo. SOURCE SM Investments Corporation

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[October 21, 2022] Winn-Dixie Donates $40,000 to Ochsner Cancer Institute to Help Families Fight Cancer

Winn-Dixie is proud to announce a donation of $40,000 to the Ochsner Cancer Institute. Generous Winn-Dixie customers made donations at store locations throughout Louisiana to benefit crucial treatments offered by the healthcare institution. This contribution is made in support of the distinguished health system and its mission to provide expertly personalized care and state-of-the-art treatment for cancer patients in the Gulf Coast region. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005072/en/ Winn-Dixie announces a donation of $40,000 to the Ochsner Cancer Institute in support of its mission to provide expertly personalized care and state-of-the-art treatment for cancer patients in the Gulf Coast region. The donation was made possible by generous Winn-Dixie customers throughout Louisiana who contributed during the grocer's community donation program. (Photo: Business Wire) Winn-Dixie activated a statewide community donation program throughout the month of October to bolster its long-standing partnership with Ochsner Health. The initiative builds on the relationship between the grocer and the hospital to help expand the organization' efforts in providing critical care to cancer patients and enrich the quality of life for individuals and families throughout the region.



Lynn Rushing, Regional Vice President at Winn-Dixie, said, "We cannot thank our customers and associates enough for their generous donations to such a vital organization. At Winn-Dixie, we hold an unwavering commitment to serving the families of the Gulf Coast and our associates take great pride in cultivating a culture of giving, which is echoed by our customers' generous participation in our donation campaign. We are honored to continue our partnership with Ochsner Health in doing our part to support their incredible work that positively impacts the well-being of local patients, their families and the communities we serve." Brian Moore, MD, FACS, medical director, Ochsner Cancer Institute, said, "Having the support and generosity of Winn-Dixie and its customers is invaluable as their donations benefit the patients and programs of the Ochsner Cancer Institute. Ochsner Health is committed to collaborative, patient-centered care using the latest technology, innovative treatments, and a compassionate holistic approach. We change and save lives every day. And community support makes it possible. We are grateful to Winn-Dixie for their continued partnership."

According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 28,680 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in Louisiana this year. The Ochsner Cancer Institute has cared for patients from all 50 states and 28 countries at its comprehensive cancer centers located throughout the New Orleans region, St. Tammany Parish, Baton Rouge and North Louisiana. Winn-Dixie's partnership with the Ochsner Cancer Institute will help provide the essential funding needed for clinical research, patient treatment and supplemental support to ensure patients receive high-quality cancer care close to home, and reaffirms the grocer's dedication to building healthier communities throughout the Southeast. Winn-Dixie has donated more than $435,000 to Ochsner Health throughout the partnership to help provide exceptional healthcare to the region. A people-first company, Winn-Dixie is honored to continue building its dedicated partnership with the Ochsner Cancer Institute and other organizations that share the same passion for serving local communities. The grocer is proud of its 66-year history in Louisiana and remains steadfast in its commitment to serving its neighbors in times of greatest need. About Winn-Dixie Founded in 1925, Winn-Dixie grocery stores, liquor stores and in-store pharmacies serve communities throughout five southeastern states - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. is a subsidiary of Southeastern Grocers, which is one of the largest conventional supermarket chains based in the Southeast. For more information, please visit www.winndixie.com and www.segrocers.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005072/en/

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[October 21, 2022] Consumer shift to favor sustainable practices creates key opportunities and challenges for global fashion brands--Bain & Company & WWF Italy report

Shopping trends among global fashion consumers will shift in favor of buying decisions that favor more sustainable practices, report finds

65% of consumers say they care about the environment. But while only with some 15% consistently make buying decisions to lower their environmental impact, this proportion is set to climb to 50%, the analysis concludes

The shift will create important opportunities as well as challenges for global fashion brands, manufacturers and retailers MILAN, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Shopping and purchasing trends among global fashion consumers are set to move sharply towards favoring more sustainable practices in the coming years, creating important new opportunities as well as challenges for fashion brands, new research released today by Bain & Company and the WWF Italy concludes. In a new report, How Brands Can Embrace the Sustainable Fashion Opportunity, Bain and WWF find that currently some 15% of global fashion consumers are already highly concerned about sustainability and consistently make purchasing decisions to lower their impact. But the report concludes that this percentage is likely to increase sharply, to more than half of fashion consumers as more shoppers gravitate toward sustainable practices. The report, which examines consumer behaviors related to sustainability and fashion, shows that of the nearly 5,900 fashion consumers across six countries (China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States) that Bain surveyed, approximately 65% said they care about the environment, but only some regularly prioritize sustainability in their shopping. "Sustainable shopping is an inevitable change. Concern for sustainability is strong among younger generations  and growing overall. Hence, fashion brands need to embrace the sustainability conversation and make sustainable purchasing easier for all consumers. Brands that proactively design sustainability into their strategy and operations will cement their relevance and capture a windfall of unmet demand, now and into the future," said Claudia D'Arpizio, a Bain & Company senior partner in Milan and the firm's global head of Fashion & Luxury. "In fact, everyone will benefit from a commitment to sustainability from the fashion industry". "The fashion industry is highly dependent on nature and biodiversity. A great deal of the raw materials used in fashion and to make textiles come from nature, and the production and processing of tese materials wouldn't be possible without natural resources like water. But despite all of these dependencies, the industry's practices are responsible for many damaging impacts to nature that put the sector's survival at risk," said Payal Luthra, Global Apparel and Textiles Lead at WWF. "The time is now for brands to take action on sustainability  they'll not only benefit from enhanced resilience but will have incredible opportunity to build brand loyalty with increasingly conscious consumers."



Five sustainability personas for global fashion consumers Bain and WWF have identified five personas of global fashion consumers with well-defined socio-demographic profiles and behaviors. The personas exist along a spectrum that measures consumers' concern about sustainability, their willingness to take action, and their actual behavior.

Sustainability Champions : Highly concerned about the environment and regularly buy sustainable apparel. Their intentions and actions are aligned, and those consumers are willing to pay a very significant premium price (84%) to access sustainable products.





: Highly concerned about the environment and regularly buy sustainable apparel. Their intentions and actions are aligned, and those consumers are willing to pay a very significant premium price (84%) to access sustainable products. Idealists: They mainly belong to the millennial generation. They show a high level of concern for the environment but hardly ever purchase sustainable fashion goods.





They mainly belong to the millennial generation. They show a high level of concern for the environment but hardly ever purchase sustainable fashion goods. Good citizens: This category mainly consists of millennials and Gen Z consumers, who usually gather information from in-store displays, social media, and brand websites. They are willing to pay a less significant premium price (64%) for sustainable products.





This category mainly consists of millennials and Gen Z consumers, who usually gather information from in-store displays, social media, and brand websites. They are willing to pay a less significant premium price (64%) for sustainable products. Shoppers: Gen X and older consumers. They usually acquire their information from in-store displays and word of mouth. They are willing (sometimes) to engage in sustainable behavior.





Gen X and older consumers. They usually acquire their information from in-store displays and word of mouth. They are willing (sometimes) to engage in sustainable behavior. Indi?erent consumers: These consumers are not concerned about sustainability and seldom factor it into their purchasing decisions. Despite being among the top six purchase drivers for most global fashion customers, sustainability is an explicitly lower priority than other, more tangible factors closely related to sustainability, such as product quality and durability. The report also examines obstacles that consumers face if they wish to purchase sustainably: assortments are often limited, and it can be di?cult to distinguish between sustainable and non-sustainable items, a challenge which increases with age. These barriers were consistent among every generation of fashion consumer. Younger consumers said that higher prices were a deterrent, too. "One can easily see that the fashion industry is very closely linked to nature loss and degradation across its value chain, but this is also what makes it a sector that can lead in bringing about change and sustainability. Our planet will benefit greatly if brands take action and the fashion industry transitions from a polluting, overly-consumptive linear path to a circular one," said Benedetta Flammini, Marketing and Communication Director at WWF Italy. "Fashion brands are on the cusp of a great opportunity but are often overwhelmed by complexity, especially along lengthy supply chains. Brands have a social role in this epoch-making change: they are called to address the information gap, engage consumers on product durability and impact; and make sustainable purchases more convenient and appealing. This will make them successful, while help shifting consumers toward more sustainable consumption,", concluded Federica Levato, senior partner at Milan's office and EMEA Leader of Fashion & Luxury at Bain. Media contacts For more information or interview requests please contact: Bain & Company: Gary Duncan, Bain & Company (London)  Email: [email protected] Orsola Randi, Bain & Company (Milan)  Email: [email protected] Tel: +39 339 327 3672 WWF Italy: Lucio Biancatelli, WWF Italy (Rome)  Email: [email protected] Tel (Mbl/Cell) +39 329 8315718 Giulia Ciarlariello, WWF Italy (Rome)  Email: [email protected] Tel (Mbl/Cell) +39 334 6151811 About Bain & Company Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world's most ambitious change makers define the future. Across 64 cities in 39 countries, we work alongside our clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary results, outperform the competition, and redefine industries. We complement our tailored, integrated expertise with a vibrant ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster, and more enduring outcomes. Our 10-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services brings our talent, expertise, and insight to organizations tackling today's urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development, and the environment. Since our founding in 1973, we have measured our success by the success of our clients, and we proudly maintain the highest level of client advocacy in the industry. About WWF Please visit: www.wwf.it View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/consumer-shift-to-favor-sustainable-practices-creates-key-opportunities-and-challenges-for-global-fashion-brandsbain--company--wwf-italy-report-301655772.html SOURCE Bain & Company

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[October 21, 2022] Literacy Crisis in America's Schools Persisting Beyond COVID-19, with Students Making Some Recovery

Amplify, a publisher of next-generation curriculum and assessment programs, released a research brief about national beginning-of-school-year (BOY) reading data today. While students in elementary grades are making progress toward early literacy levels that pre-date the pandemic, only about half of students in grade three are on track for learning to read, and nearly a third are in the highest risk category. In kindergarten, half of the nation's students are starting school already in need of intensive intervention in early literacy skills. Compared to where they were before pandemic disruptions, more of today's elementary students are still in the highest risk category for not learning to read. Moreover, students in grades that did not experience the disruptions as acutely are showing gaps, with only about one-third of kindergarteners and less than half of first graders starting the year on track for core instruction in early literacy. "The data in this report are another signal that we need to do even more to support teachers so they can help this generation of young students get on track in reading," says Susan Labert, chief academic officer of elementary humanities at Amplify. "We won't see early literacy improve beyond pre-pandemic proficiencies if we don't make changes across our educational system. It is a crisis that can be turned around - with focused efforts on evidenced-based practices."



Literacy rates in the United States remain a crisis today, with many students urgently needing support. The good news: research-based reading instruction reduces the need for intervention and enables children to move forward as capable, confident learners. When students receive instruction based in the Science of Reading, outcomes improve. When that instruction takes place in the early grades, research shows that most students can be taught to read at or approaching grade level. Schools and districts need to invest in reliable universal screeners, high-quality core curriculum, evidence-based interventions, and professional development for educators based in the Science of Reading. The report compares mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition benchmark data from the 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 school years. Approximately 300,000 students in a matched set of 1,400 schools in 43 states are represented. The schools in the source data are slightly more likely to be in large urban metropolitan areas than the nation overall.

The data was collected using the mCLASS platform, which automates the data collection of DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). DIBELS is a widely-used series of short tests developed by the University of Oregon that assess K-8 literacy. DIBELS is an observational assessment collected by teachers interacting with students one-on-one, either live or over video. DIBELS is typically administered three times a year (beginning, middle, and end of year), and is used to identify reading difficulty, monitor progress, and inform instruction, especially for struggling readers. About Amplify A pioneer in K-12 education since 2000, Amplify is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. Our core and supplemental programs in ELA, math, and science engage all students in rigorous learning and inspire them to think deeply, creatively, and for themselves. Our formative assessment products help teachers identify the targeted instruction students need to build a strong foundation in early reading and math. All of our programs and services provide educators with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of every student. Today, Amplify serves more than 10 million students in all 50 states. For more information, visit amplify.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005284/en/

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Benchworks Announces Fourth Annual Nursing Education Impact Awards Winners

Nursing shortages and burnout remain an ongoing problem for the healthcare community, with 80 percent of nurses saying their units are inadequately staffed. To help solve for the shortages Nurse.org's State of Nursing Report recommends, among other solutions, ongoing investment in nursing education. For the fourth year, Skyfactor Benchworks, a Macmillan Learning brand, is awarding the Assessment and Impact Awards for Nursing Education to recognize and celebrate the innovative ways that nursing schools are creating positive education experiences within their programs.

Skyfactor Benchworks, which provides research-based program benchmarking and assessments, established the Assessment and Impact Awards for Nursing Education to highlight nursing schools that are successfully using data to improve their programs. Many of the top nursing programs use assessments to drive decisions that help students learn and prepare for their nursing careers. The data helps nursing education programs prepare nursing graduates to understand how to help care for patients as well as work collaboratively and effectively with other health professionals. Skyfactor Benchworks recognized three such programs during this year's American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) conference in October 2022.

This year's winners focused on retaining students and developing more practice-ready nursing professionals by fostering connections between students and faculty, using technology to stay in touch with students, and integrating active learning, among other activities. The three programs that have been awarded the Assessment and Impact Award for Nursing are: Dominican University New York, Thomas Jefferson University and King University.

Dominican University New York was recognized for significant improvements in student satisfaction with the quality of nursing instruction, facilities and administration. Despite restrictions brought on by the pandemic, the university's faculty worked to maintain one-on-one connections with students; they also purchased a mobile simulation lab to both provide instruction for students and to take into the community to care for underserved populations.

was recognized for significant improvements in student satisfaction with the quality of nursing instruction, facilities and administration. Despite restrictions brought on by the pandemic, the university's faculty worked to maintain one-on-one connections with students; they also purchased a mobile simulation lab to both provide instruction for students and to take into the community to care for underserved populations. King University was recognized for high performance related to student satisfaction with the quality of nursing instruction. The program focused on student success during college and post graduation by implementing more active learning strategies, providing better feedback to students, and creating a post-grauate mentorship program to support students' career development, among other improvements.

was recognized for high performance related to student satisfaction with the quality of nursing instruction. The program focused on student success during college and post graduation by implementing more active learning strategies, providing better feedback to students, and creating a post-grauate mentorship program to support students' career development, among other improvements. Thomas Jefferson University was recognized for significant improvement to students' overall satisfaction with the program. After data identified faculty responsiveness and the need for more student feedback as areas of concern for students, the nursing program implemented a range of new initiatives, including faculty training, updated grading rubrics, revising course evaluations, and use of technology to better engage students with faculty.







The three winners were selected using a multi-step evaluation process that included an analysis of multi-year assessment data by the Benchworks Analytics and Research Team. The programs selected had the best results or best increases in performance as determined by survey scores.

Skyfactor Benchworks assessments are the most widely used programs in nursing education and have been available for nearly 25 years. The various Benchworks Nursing assessments are used by more than 250 nursing programs each year and are one of more than 50 different assessments from Benchworks on topics important to college success, including housing, orientation, and student affairs and service. The surveys include questions regarding student happiness, safety, diversity and inclusion, facilities, costs, sense of community, and time management, among others.

Past winners of the Assessment and Impact Awards for Nursing Education include Bloomfield College, Colorado Technical University, Montclair State University, Rowan University, The University of Scranton, Seton Hall University, University of South Florida, Southern Utah University, and Texas Christian University. To learn more about this year's winners, click here. To learn more about the power of benchmarking for nursing programs, visit Skyfactor Benchworks' website.

About Skyfactor Benchworks

Skyfactor Benchworks is a Macmillan Learning company that provides research-based program assessments and benchmarking for a variety of Student Affairs programs, as well as Business Education, Engineering, Nursing, and Teacher Education. The robust analytics Benchworks empowers programs to identify areas of improvement for maximum impact on program success. Benchworks assessments are rooted in research and mapped to accreditation and professional standards.

About Macmillan Learning

Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family-owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best authors, researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. Visit macmillanlearning.com or join our Macmillan Community.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005053/en/
[October 21, 2022] Bogota and New York join forces to boost 24-hour economy

Bogota and New York launch a 24-hour city network, through Mastercard's City Possible platform, to ensure that the economies of global cities are dynamic both day and night.

and launch a 24-hour city network, through Mastercard's City Possible platform, to ensure that the economies of global cities are dynamic both day and night. The 24-Hour Cities network will meet quarterly and the results of these meetings will be published as guidelines, recommendations and a series of studies that focus on improving the city's 24-hour operation. BOGOTA, Colombia, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mayor's Office of Bogota (Colombia) and the Mayor's Office of New York City, (USA), jointly announced the launch of the 24-hour city network in collaboration with City Possible, an initiative of Mastercard. The global network will enable city leaders, and anyone interested to come together and share their experiences to promote innovative solutions that address the challenges cities face at night, and ensure that the economies of the world's cities aim for 24-hour operation. Alfredo Bateman, Secretary of Economic Development of Bogota, indicated that "Bogota's participation represents an opportunity to strengthen strategies and actions aimed at the internationalization, positioning, promotion and cooperation of the city". He also pointed out that "the fact that a city has economic activity 24 hours a day translates into an increase in productivity that boosts the economy and, in the long term, will generate enormous benefits for eeryone".



"There is no a single solution that addresses the economic, security and community challenges in New York City's diverse boroughs. Every district requires innovative, responsive and culturally competent policies to thrive," said Oscar J. Romero Jr. Director of Inclusive Innovation and International Cooperation for the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation. He added that "the 24-hour cities network will create opportunities for local, state and federal government officials from around the world to collaborate, share their practical experience and ultimately create the conditions for our most vulnerable communities to enjoy their neighborhoods fairly and safely at night." City Possible has grown from 16 founding members since its launch in 2018, to more than 330 global cities and continues to grow. Recently has welcomed new members such as Prague, Czech Republic; Birmingham, United States; and Londrina in Brazil; as well as several industry partners and multilateral players, including Honeywell and Motorola, among others.

How will the 24-hour City Network work? It is important to integrate all stages of urban life for successful 24-hour city development. the network (led by Bogota and New York City) will focus on aspects such as transit, infrastructure, safety, mobility, racial equity, nightlife and economic activity. The Network, which is comprised of more than 35 cities from around the world such as New York, London, Sydney, Sydney, New York City, New York City London, Sydney, Mexico City, Mexico City, Tegucigalpa, Singapore, will meet quarterly through a series of virtual meetings and workshops organized by City Possible. The results of these meetings will be published in the form of guidelines, recommendations and a series of studies that will focus on improving the city's 24-hour operation, which will be available through a full report to be published by the end of 2022. In its leadership role, Bogota has been a key player in the formation of the international working group, defining not only the topics to be addressed at each of the roundtables, but also in the guests that accompany each of the activities. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bogota-and-new-york-join-forces-to-boost-24-hour-economy-301656301.html SOURCE INVEST IN BOGOTA

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[October 21, 2022] Rich Geruson, NexOptic Chairman, Announces 3.2M Non-Brokered Private Placement

VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 21, 2022 /CNW/ - ("NexOptic") (TSXV: NXO) (OTCQB: NXOPF) (FSE: E3O1) announces that it intends to raise, on a non-brokered basis, aggregate gross proceeds of up to $3,220,000 through the issuance up to 57,250,000 units (each a "Unit") at a price of $0.05625 per Unit (the "Financing"). Each Unit will comprise one common share and one share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant (a "Warrant") will entitle the holder to acquire an additional common share at a price of $0.12 per share for a period of 2 years. Directors and officers of the Company may acquire Units in the Financing, which participation would be considered to be a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101"). Such participation is expected to be exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101. The Company reserves the right to increase the number of Units issued pursuant to the Financing to up to 75,000,000 Units for up to total gross proceeds of $4,220,000. Use of Proceeds Net proceeds from this offering will be used to fund ongoing commercialization of NexOptic's Aliis suite of artificial intelligence technologies and software solutions for sophisticated ESG applications and image and video correction capabilities designed to impact a multitude of industries. In addition, net proceeds will be applied to further build patent protections for NexOptic's technologies as well as for general working capital for NexOptic and its wholly owned Korean subsidiary, NexOptic Asia Corp. The Warrants are subject to accelerated exercise provisions such that if the closing price of the Company's common shares exceeds $0.25 per share for a period of 10 consecutive trading days, the Company may, at its discretion give notice of the acceleration of the warrans' term to a period of 30 days following such notice.



Finder's fees may be paid to registered dealers or other qualified parties in connection with the Financing in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The proceeds of the This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the account or benefit of a U.S. person (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

The Financing remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. What You Need to Know About NexOptic NexOptic is an innovative imaging AI company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada with operations in Seoul, South Korea, offering world-leading patented and patent pending AI solutions for imaging known as ALIIS (All Light Intelligent Imaging Solutions). NexOptic simultaneously influences the imaging and AI industries and is a Preferred Partner in the NVIDIA Partner Network, a member of the Arm AI Partner Program, and a member of the Qualcomm Platform Solutions Ecosystem. For more information, visit www.nexoptic.com Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans," "expects," "estimates," "intends," "anticipates," "believes" or variations of such words, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "would," "might," "will be taken," "occur," or "be achieved." Forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation, the Company's expectations concerning the size of the Financing, its ability to close the Financing in whole or in part or at all and its plan for the proceeds of the Financing. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in NexOptic's filings with Canadian securities regulators, that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although NexOptic believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing these forward-looking statements are reasonable based upon the information currently available to management as of the date hereof, actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Readers are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed times frames or at all. Except where required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. SOURCE NexOptic Technology Corp.

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The leaders of the 27 EU member states have agreed on measures to deal with the energy crisis, European Council President Charles Michel said on Friday, Tass informs.

October 21, 2022, 09:23 European Union leaders reach agreement on measures to deal with energy crisis

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 21, ARTSAKHPRESS: "The European Council has reached an agreement on energy," he said on Twitter.

The leaders of the 27 EU member states havent approved a package of measures to deal with the energy crisis that was proposed by the European Commission, according to a European Council statement released on Friday.

"The European Council calls on the Council and the Commission to urgently submit concrete decisions on the following additional measures, as well as on the Commission proposals, having assessed their impact notably on existing [energy supply] contracts, including the non-affectation of long-term contracts, and taking into account the different energy mixes and national circumstances," the statement said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a news conference that the EU leaders "gave strategic guidance" to work on a new package of measures.
[October 21, 2022] Astoria Students Receive Mentoring at Boys & Girls Club for Paths to STEM Careers

Youth at the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens today joined a "speed mentoring" session focused on environmental careers as they learned about electrified transportation and green energy jobs from representatives of the New York Power Authority (NYPA), Con Edison and 174 Power Global, a renewable energy company. 174 Power Global also presented a $15,000 check to the Boys & Girls Club to support STEM programs. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005462/en/ Students presented the model electric vehicles they recently built with instruction from NYPA staff, and asked experts from each of the three partners questions. NYPA also showcased a Kia EV6 and Chevrolet Bolt to students. The program follows an event hosted last year which celebrated the graduation of nearly 40 students from a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program. "New York State is transitioning to a clean energy economy and committing to innovative solutions and the development of a skilled workforce," said Justin E. Driscoll, NYPA's interim president and CEO. "It's vital that we cultivate our future clean energy leaders and help them learn about promising careers in the environmental space. The next generation will be continuing the battle against climate change, helping to further reduce carbon emissions and working to make New Yorkers' lives better." STEM programming and mentorship has specific importance to Western Queens, where a large percentage of New York City's power has historically been generated. Students met with representatives and learned about job opportunities in STEM fields. The mentors hope to inspire students to pursue green careers in science and technology-related jobs. "Exercises like building electric vehicle models bring emerging technologies to life and help students learn about sustainable issues such as zero-emissions transportation and energy storage in a fun and personally meaningful way," said Lisa Payne Wansley, vice president of NYPA's Environmental Justice program. "NYPA is pleased to again collaborate with 174 Power Global and Con Edison on an educational STEM program and we hope we've encouraged these students to learn more about New York's clean energy field." Richard David, Con Edison's director of Regional and Community Affairs in Queens, said, "It is essential to Con Edison and our region that we train and educate young people about the roles they can play in creating a clean energy future. We are optimistic that today's event inspired enthusiasm, interest and curiosity in the youths who participated and got the benefit of expertise from our company, NYPA, and 174 Power Global." 174 Power Global CEO Henry Yun, PhD., presented a $15,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Club prior to the event, in addition to $15,000 donated last year. The company was selected by Con Edison to develop the East River Energy Storage Project being built at the Astoria Energy Campus. The 100-megawatt project, enough to power the World Trade Center for about a day, wll be the largest energy storage system in NYC with an energy contract with Con Edison on property owned by NYPA that once housed the former Charles Poletti power plant.



"Developing one of the first utility-scale 100MW energy storage projects in the State is a privilege that comes with responsibility to the surrounding community, and 174 Power Global is committed to providing green economy jobs to the local community, in particular at a location that is close to our energy storage project," said Dr. Yun. "We are pleased to play a part in inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals by supporting the great work of the Boys and Girls Club of Queens in STEM education." Costa Constantinides, CEO of the Variety Boys and Girls Club, said, "As we prepare to expand our programming and develop a new state of the art building, it means a lot to have community partners like NYPA, Con Edison and 174 Power Global demonstrating continued support for the Club and our students. I look forward to continuing to work with these partners to provide STEM programming to youth in the local community to introduce them to opportunities in building a strong work force to support the green transition."

Download photos here, here, here, here, here and here. About the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens

The Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens serves over 4,000 young people each year, and the facility is open to the community 7 days a week. The space includes an indoor swimming pool, makerspace lab, computer room, teaching kitchen, gym, auditorium, art studio, dance studio, film studio, and outdoor playground. Programming serves all children (ages 6-18) including homework help, swimming and sports, coding, engineering, gourmet cooking, drama, dance, media production and so much more. About NYPA

NYPA is the nation's largest state public power organization, through the operation of its 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. More than 80 percent of the electricity NYPA produces is clean renewable hydropower. For more information visit http://www.nypa.gov/ and follow us on Twitter @NYPAenergy, Facebook, Instagram, WordPress, and LinkedIn. About Con Edison

Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. [NYSE: ED], one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $14 billion in annual revenues and $65 billion in assets. The utility delivers electricity, natural gas and steam to 3.4 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, N.Y. For financial, operations and customer service information, visit www.conEd.com. About 174 Power Global

174 Power Global is a leading solar and energy storage project developer focused on North America's utility energy market. The company is wholly owned by the Hanwha Energy Corporation, and is headquartered in Irvine, California. With deep expertise across the full spectrum of the project development cycle, 174 Power Global works closely with utilities, landowners, local communities, financial investors and other partners to build highly productive projects throughout North America. 174 Power Global is uniquely positioned to become a leader in the Green Hydrogen and Digital Infrastructure economies by leveraging its core strength in utility-scale PV and ESS generation development and operation to fuel the growth of both emerging industries. The company's name was derived from the statistic that the Earth receives 174 petawatts of energy from the sun at any moment. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221021005462/en/

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[October 21, 2022] Blockchain Venture Capital Inc. Announces Update to its Private Placement

/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./ TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2022 /CNW/ - Blockchain Venture Capital Inc. (the "Company" or "BVCI") announces that, due to recent market conditions, the terms of its non-brokered private placement offering previously announced on August 22, 2022 (the "Private Placement") have been revised by reducing the price per common share (each, a "Share") from $2.50 per Share to $1.25 per Share and increasing the aggregate number of Shares issuable under the Private Placement to 640,000 Shares. All other terms and conditions of the Private Placement will remain same, with aggregate gross proceeds remaining at up to $800,000. The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Private Placement to fund corporate expenditures and general working capital purposes in respect of the development of the Company's BvcPay platform and CADT. All securities issued under the Private Placement will be subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day from the date of issuance. The Private Placement may be completed in multiple tranches and is subject to receipt of executed subscription agreements and funds as well as certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. This news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration under U.S. federal and state securities laws or an applicable exemption from such U.S. registration requirements. About the Company BVCI is an Ontario incorporated company, and is registered as a money service business with the Financial Transaction and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). It is a provider of an innovative technology infrastructure to participants in the emerging blockchain and distributed ledger technology industry. Instrumental to BVCI's business and growth strategy is BVC Chain, a proprietary blockchain platform and distributed ledger tecnology, which can operate as a centralized or decentralized ledger. BVC Chain was designed to be a turnkey solution, which can be customized and implemented by organizations wishing to deploy blockchain platform based solutions, products or services. BVC Chain will also serve as the platform and infrastructure for BvcPay and CADT. BvcPay is a cloud based mobile application that is intended to have the capability to function as a Digital Currency wallet and which can facilitate point of sale and online transactions using Bitcoin, Ethereum and CADT. CADT is the native Digital Currency of the BVC Chain, and it is intended to be a stablecoin. BVCI's CADT business division is expected to issue CADT, a cryptographic stablecoin supported on a 1:1 basis with an equivalent amount of Canadian dollar held in a custodial account. CADT is expected to support real time pricing, payment, settlement, digital asset issuance and ledger capabilities.



To allow BVCI to carry out its CADT related business, BVCI filed an application on June 17, 2021 to obtain registration as an exempt market dealer in accordance with applicable securities laws in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. Such application is pending, and there is no assurance that BVCI will obtain such registration. Unless and until the Company is registered under applicable securities laws for purposes of carrying out its CADT related business, or the Company is otherwise satisfied that it can conduct such business in compliance with all applicable securities laws, it intends to have all its CADT trading occur through a dealer (via the BVC Chain) that is registered in a category of registration under applicable securities laws which permits CADT to be traded through it, which dealer arrangement is subject to finalization. Accordingly, there is no assurance BVCI will be able to pursue its proposed CADT business or any related BvcPay business that relies on CADT. Forward-Looking Information and Statements

Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking" statements which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company or the industry in which it operates to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "believe", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "may", "should", "will", the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to statements related to: the Company's business plans and strategies; use of proceeds from the Private Placement; and closing and size of the Private Placement. Such statements reflect the current expectations of the management of the Company with respect to future events based on currently available information and are based on certain assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements, including assumptions and risks related to receipt of regulatory approvals, the Company obtaining registration as an exempt market dealer or implementing its arrangement with a registered dealer. These risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time, including, without limitation, under the heading "Risk Factors", in the Company's listing statement, which is available on www.sedar.com., and in other continuous disclosure documents that are filed by the Company from time to time with the Ontario, Alberta or British Columbia Securities Commissions which are available at www.sedar.com and to which readers of this press release are referred for additional information concerning the Company, its prospects and the risks and uncertainties relating to the Company and its prospects. New risk factors may arise from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all of those risk factors or the extent to which any factor or combination of factors may cause actual results, performance and achievements of the Company to be materially different from those contained in forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent and investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is current only as of the date hereof. The Company does not undertake or assume any obligation, except as required by law, to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. No securities commission or regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the contents of this press release. 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 nor have they approved or disapproved of the content hereof. SOURCE Blockchain Venture Capital Inc.

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A local institution will soon be kaput if insiders have their way.

But first this . . .

Just moments ago TKC was lucky enough to talk with somebody who might be one of the most impressive people we've met in a long time.

And you're talking to a d-bag who has "interned" with Alex Jones before he owed one BILLION bucks. Also, true story, Victor Borge once stopped his concert in order to get TKC to shut up. I was three-years-old at the time . . . But I digress . . .



It's amazing who reads this blog on the toilet or under the covers with a flashlight.

The future master of the universe took pity and was kind enough to look past TKC's bad teeth and constant digressions about Internets cat videos and boring community news war stories . . . And was thereby imparted with a bit of knowledge about the end of an era in Kansas City politics.



The main takeaway . . .



SAY GOODBYE TO THE KANSAS CITY PARKS BOARD, SUCKERS!!!

We don't know much about the plan but it kinda makes sense . . .

The word . . .

"This is a major part of Kansas City's budget and we're having it run by political appointees rather than inside City Hall were voters can hold KC directly accountable . . . You know, like every other city in the nation???"



That's probably correct . . .

The only problem . . .

The move is a departure from Kansas City history . . .

Parks Board appointments were once a sign of prestige and accomplishment bestowed upon civic leaders and rich old codgers.

But . . .

Regarding politics and all manner of entanglements . . .

Sometimes it's better to let the past be the past.

We'll leave you with that bit of #TBT wisdom as Kansas City and our institutions continue to evolve and move forward.

Developing . . .
Sorry to ruin Halloween but it turns out that Jack The Ripper isn't lurking in the urban core waiting to attack Black women coming out of the upcoming Kevin Hart concert.

Fact is . . . Jack the Ripper probably wouldn't last 10 minutes on Prospect after dark.

And so . . .

A story that started about two weeks ago with fake news about a serial killer has been reworked to imagine that police don't really care about Black women getting kidnapped . . . Despite a bevy of resources and the entire metro squad investigating an alleged creeper and his Missouri sex dungeon.

Let's recap . . .

We'll try to be as objective as possible . . .

Three times police have disputed allegations of racism and bias that are heretofore unproven . . .



1. A late night TikTok reported a serial killer and three Black women missing. One of them was found and later the family of another missing woman begged an activist blog to stop spreading rumors. Ultimately police said that story was completely unfounded.

2. About a week later the news of the Missouri sex dungeon broke and activists were quick to try to make a connection. Again police disputed the reporting that didn't reference any missing person case on file and did not connect to any missing person investigation.



3. Again . . . A few more news outlets picked up the kidnapping story and attempted to connect it to an alleged serial killer case . . . And so a few days ago . . . Excelsior Springs Police Chief Gregory Dull said there are no missing persons cases that correspond with the evidence examined so far in this investigation.

And so . . .

In the absence of a serial killer, local activists blame police for kidnappings.



That's their prerogative . . . Police can defend themselves, that's not our job.

But here's something to consider . . .



Given recent allegations in mainstream media . . .

Are Black women in more danger from Jack the Ripper and getting kidnapped into a sex dungeon OR from rising crime throughout Kansas City???



Do the math on that and get back to us.

Meanwhile . . .

THE WHOLE POINT HERE SHOULD BE KEEPING BLACK WOMEN SAFE AND JACK THE RIPPER JUST ISN'T A SERIOUS THREAT EVEN IF HALLOWEEN SERIAL MURDER & SEX DUNGEON KIDNAPPING FEAR ALLOWS PUNDITS TO SCORE POLITICAL POINTS AGAINST PO-PO!!!!



Reality check . . .

Gun violence. Property crime. Domestic abuse. These are real threats against the community that happen far more frequently at the hands of friends and neighbors . . . Not by way of some suspected creeper from Excelsior Springs.

And so . . .

This post merely serves to provide perspective . . .

This story has become a political nightmare and there's no telling how it will end.

But so far it's troubling that activists are targeting police with criticism for their response to crimes that were initially misreported and serial killer fear that likely only impacts women coping with a myriad of problems on local streets.

Nevertheless . . . We share more info as this story progresses and locals wait for more info beyond politically charged allegations.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

How Kansas City Police Ignored Warnings a Killer Targeted Black Women, Until One Escaped Black residents in Kansas City, Missouri, say police ignored their warnings that a murderer was targeting Black women, until one of his captives escaped earlier this month. A 22-year-old Black woman in Excelsior Springs, just outside Kansas City, said she broke free from the basement where a white man held her captive for a month.

Spotlight is on Kansas City and its problem of missing Black women On Oct. 7, a terrified 22-year-old Black woman escaped from a home in Excelsior Springs.

Black community leaders raise concerns about missing persons in Kansas City metro Nine days after a 22-year-old Black woman sought help from residents in Excelsior Springs on the morning she escaped the house of a man authorities say kept her captive for weeks, a group of about two dozen people gathered in prayer at a gas station parking lot roughly 40 miles to the southwest in Kansas City's Marlborough Heights neighborhood.

Black woman escaped after being 'held against her will' by a White man in Missouri, police say | CNN Weeks after residents of a Kansas City, Missouri neighborhood said they complained to police that Black women were missing, authorities are facing community backlash after a Black woman says a White man held her captive. A 22-year-old woman, identified by police in court in a probable cause form as T.J., escaped on Oct.

Residents in Kansas City, Missouri say police ignored reports of missing Black women Earlier in October, a 22-year-old Black woman was found claiming she was kidnapped by a man, kept in his basement for a month and repeatedly raped by him. Now residents in Kansas City, Missouri are claiming they raised the alarm about missing Black women weeks before the victim was found.

Developing . . .


Right now we roundup a great many deets regarding local crime reporting, alleged misdeeds and some pretty scary shooting reports from throughout the metro.



Check TKC news gathering . . .

Two 19-year-olds charged for smash-and-grab gun store thefts caught on video Arrests have been made in a string of gun store thefts that have struck the Kansas City area in the past week. Two Kansas men have been charged through criminal complaint in Kansas City, Kansas, on charges related to the alleged firearms thefts. An additional suspect is also in custody.

Shot 8 times, survivor of Grandview double shooting describes ambush GRANDVIEW, Mo. - A man who survived getting shot eight times in a Jackson County park is speaking out about the ambush that killed his friend. Orson "Treyce" Roth III died in the Oct. 12 shooting. Grandview police confirmed no arrests have been made. Investigators are now calling on the public for leads.

Bodies found in Kansas City Northland woods likely a murder-suicide: Medical examiner A preliminary medical examiner's report suggests that a man and woman found shot to death in a wooded area in Kansas City's Northland on Sunday were likely killed in a murder-suicide. Officer Donna Drake, a department spokeswoman, said in a statement Thursday afternoon that the medical examiner's office had made that ruling.

Funeral home owner hopes change will come after burying 3 babies due to fentanyl KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Giving comfort in times of grief is what Savory and Sons Funeral Home provides. However, some deaths hit close to home. That's especially true when fentanyl is involved. "We've had quite a few," said Frank Savory IV, who owns the funeral home.

Kansas City police sergeant charged with assaulting teen to enter plea in court A Kansas City police sergeant is expected to plead guilty to a felony assault charge for allegedly smashing the face of a 15-year-old boy in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant nearly two years ago. Sgt. Matthew T.

Court docs: Twin brothers accused in Northland murder told victims to 'stop trying to be hard' KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Clay County prosecutors have charged twin brothers in an Oct. 16 shooting that killed one man and critically wounded another. According to court documents, the pair allegedly told their victims "these are our streets" and "to stop trying to a be hard."

Kansas City teenager sentenced for shooting over $20 drug deal PLATTE CITY, Mo. - A teenager is sentenced to serve more time than he's been alive for shooting a girl over $20 worth of marijuana. Prosecutors said Jay Palmer was 15 years old when he shot a 17-year-old girl in the head. A judge sentenced Palmer to 26 years in prison.

Douglas Co. officials search for 19-year-old on multiple warrants LAWRENCE, Kan. (WIBW) - Douglas County officials are searching for a 19-year-old on two warrants out for his arrest. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office says it needs the public's help to find Andrew Joseph Drake, 19, of Lawrence, as he is wanted for outstanding bench warrants.

Kansas inmate convicted of attacking Lansing prison guard LANSING, Kan. - A Kansas inmate is convicted of attacking a Lansing Prison guard nearly a year ago. Ron R. Larsen, Jr., 37, was found guilty of aggravated battery and trafficking contraband in a correctional facility. He will be sentenced next month. On Nov.

Blue Springs police identify teen gunned down outside of church last weekend Police in Blue Springs have released the name of a teenager gunned down outside a church last weekend.Police said officers found Wyatt Conroy, 15, dead in the parking lot of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection on Saturday evening.

Investigators seize guns, drugs, 6 stolen vehicles in Bonner Springs BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. - A drug investigation leads to the recovery of a half-dozen stolen vehicles and trailers in Bonner Springs. The Leavenworth County Sheriff's Office said it served a search warrant on 174th Street, south of Interstate 70 Thursday morning. The warrant was issued in connection with an investigation into drugs, weapons, and stolen property.

Kansas City man who worked for DoD lied about contacts with ISIS recruiters: Authorities A Kansas City area man once employed under contract as a translator in Afghanistan for the U.S. Department of Defense is accused of lying about his contacts with two recruiters aligned with the ISIS group that was responsible for the bombing of Kabul's airport in August 2021, which killed 13 American service members.

Vigil planned for 15-year-old Blue Springs homicide victim BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. - Officers are following dozens of leads connected to the homicide of a 15-year-old in Blue Springs. The police department said someone shot and killed Wyatt Conroy on Saturday, Oct. 15. The shooting happened to take place in the parking lot of Resurrection Blue Springs Church.

'She was a firecracker:' Loved ones remember woman found dead in Kansas City KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Friends and family of Misty Brockman can't fathom why anyone would want to hurt her. Brockman, 40, was found dead along with 42-year old Kevin Moore on Sunday near NE 48th Street and Randolph Road in a wooded area across the highway from Worlds of Fun.

Vigil held to remember teen killed in Blue Springs church parking lot BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. - Friends and family gathered for a candlelight vigil Thursday night to remember a 15-year-old shot and killed Saturday in the parking lot of Church of the Resurrection in Blue Springs. Wyatt Conroy was remembered as a star student, a Boy Scout and an athlete.

Developing . . .
Actually . . .

Our TKC blog community believes that most Bike/Walk activists want to ban cars altogether so . . . As with all bad computing. The bug might be a feature!!!



Here's today's latest shut down . . . Luckily, there's not many passengers aboard the toy train so it doesn't really matter . . .



The crash happened shortly before 11 a.m. Friday. Kansas City Missouri Police said that the Streetcar service was halted due to the crash.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Actually . . . The Ogallala Aquifer drying up can't be TOTALLY blamed on the sky falling. Farmers draining it without restraint is a big part of the problem.



Now, take a peek at conservation efforts that are disputed and extend across the region . . .



"Hope with the effort to truck water is to prove that transferring water from where its more plentiful or where an area has become flooded is feasible. One such idea is known as the Kansas Aqueduct, which would pump water uphill from the Missouri River at Kansas eastern border to western Kansas."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Right now we take a quick peek at local midday news related to gunfire . . .



Check-it . . .



Platte Co. Sheriff's Office: KC teen accused of making terrorist threat against Park Hill High School KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Platte County Sheriff's Office announced Friday that a Kansas City teen has been accused of making a terrorist threat against Park Hill High School. A Snapchat message about a shooting during eighth-period lunch, which happens around 1 p.m., was sent by the student on Thursday, per the sheriff's office.

Kansas City man sentenced to prison for 2017 killing of 3-year-old Marcus Haislip III A Kansas City man will be sent to prison for the death of Marcus Haislip III, a 3-year-old boy who was killed in a triple shooting in the Blue Hills neighborhood while he was strapped into his car seat on May 12, 2017. Derrick D.

Life-threatening shooting on highway interchange closes exit ramp to I-35 KANSAS CITY, Mo. - One person suffered life-threatening injuries in a shooting that happened on I-70 Friday afternoon. The incident happened near Charlotte Street and the exit ramp to I-35. The exit ramp is closed and traffic is being diverted away from the scene toward the I-70/US 24/US 40 interchange.

1 suffers life-threatening injuries in shooting near I-70, I-35 in downtown Kansas City KANSAS CITY, Mo. - One person suffered life-threatening injuries in a shooting shortly before 12:40 p.m. Friday in Kansas City, Missouri. The incident took place near east U.S. 71 Highway and Interstate 35/29, in the area of Independence and Forest avenues, per KCMO police.

Developing . . .
It was the first time I felt my Type A sensibilities slip away. This is how solo travel helped me leave entrenched habits at home
Here is your morning roundup on transit, weather, road closures, school bus cancellations in Toronto.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is in Yerevan, and he will discuss with other Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) colleagues the matters of formation of single oil and natural gas markets and digitization of mutual trade, the press service of the Russian government informed.

October 21, 2022, 10:44 Russia PM in Yerevan, to discuss with EEU colleagues single oil, natural gas markets formation

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 21, ARTSAKHPRESS: The PMs of the EEU member countries had a narrow-format meeting Thursday.

It was noted that the prime ministers of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan will discuss the urgent matters of integration, in particular, the process of preparing agreements on the formation of a single natural gas market, as well as the oil and oil products markets.

According to the press service of the Russian government, special attention will be paid to the digital agenda, including the creation of a single analytical system for the administration of electronic trade of goods.

During the meeting of the prime ministers of EEU member countries, it is planned to adopt the EEU 2023 budget draft, as well as to discuss the matters of transfer and distribution of the amounts of import customs duties between the budgets of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Etobicoke digital creator, author and education advocate Nekpen Obasogie is the 2022 Urban Hero winner in the arts category. - Nekpen Obasogie/Facebook photo
From Nov. 15 2022 until Dec. 31, 2023 international students will no longer be restricted by the 20-hour-a-week off-campus work rule. The federal government says the temporary change will help address Canada's labour shortage. - Pexels photo
Brett Glover is a journalist with the Barrie Advance. He can be reached at bglover@metroland.com .Follow him on Twitter -- https://twitter.com/BrettJGlover
'STOP USING': Major nation-wide recall at Walmart, Shoppers Drug Mart, No Frills, FreshCo, Food Basics, Metro, Sobeys and other stores of nearly 1.6 million shampoo products triggers warning from Health Canada over cancer fears
Police are searching for missing teen Jaylynn Anyan, who was last seen in Scarborough. - Toronto Police Service photo
'We all want to see change': Torontos Indigenous health care progressing well
In Stars and Scars, Jesse Thistle shares even more of his heart

Thistles followup to his memoir "From the Ashes" explores his life in a different way, with love poems "to the street and my former life," to his wife, daughter and family.
After a successful Mediterranean season, AIDAcosma will set sail for the Orient for the first time from Mallorca on 29 October 2022. On the 20-day transatlantic voyage, guests will experience Malta, Greece and Israel as well as the impressive Suez Canal Passage. Via Oman and Abu Dhabi, AIDAcosma will arrive in Dubai, her sunny winter domicile in 2022/23.

On this occasion, AIDA is staging an exclusive on-board program as if from an oriental dream from 1001 nights to kick off AIDAcosma's Orient premiere season from 18 November 2022. On Friday evening, guests can watch a breathtaking AIDA light show of the Ain Dubai live from deck. With a height of 260 metres, the Ain Dubai is the highest and largest Ferris wheel in the world. On 19 November, DJ ALLE FARBEN will be spinning hip beats on board. The Berlin superstar was already on board as a special act for the christening of AIDAcosma and will now once again thrill guests with his world-famous hits from the Beach Club stage.

The kick-off event will be rounded off with, among other things, sweet delicacies from AIDA gourmet godmother Andrea Schirmaier-Huber, oriental dance workshops by and with the well-known Tatiana Perez and destination-related lectures by Dorine Ali Kahn, who is particularly deeply rooted in the Arabian continent.

On the 7-day Orient voyages in the winter season 2022/23 from/to Dubai, or also possible from/to Abu Dhabi, AIDAcosma will call at exotic metropolises with thousands of years of history, sheikdoms and kingdoms. The highlight of this route is Dubai, the city of architectural superlatives. AIDAcosma will spend two nights in this fascinating metropolis - as a prelude and for the crowning finale of the voyage. The journey continues to the United Arab Emirates to Abu Dhabi. Here, everything is in abundance, even peace and quiet. Guests can swim alone on dreamlike beaches or shop in a relaxed way. A stroll along the Corniche - Abu Dhabi's magnificent promenade - reveals once again all the beauty and generosity of the city. AIDAcosma will also stay overnight in Abu Dhabi. On different Oriental itineraries of AIDAcosma, extended stays in Oman are scheduled: impressive fortifications such as Fort Nizwa and Jabrin Castle, palm groves, sandy deserts and barren, majestic mountain ranges characterize the image of the Sultanate of Oman with its capital Muscat. During an excursion to the "Wahiba Sands", a sand dune area covering a total of 15,000 km, the fascination of the desert can be experienced at first hand. For the first time in the program on selected cruises is the island of Sir Ban Yas. On the tiny island in the Persian Gulf, guests experience the largest natural island in the Arab Emirates. Likewise, the 7-day itineraries alternate to Bahrain. The Kingdom of Bahrain impresses with the dazzling metropolis of Manama and historical sights. Its oriental mosques, magnificent palaces and ancient temples stretch out against a backdrop of magnificent natural beauty. Golden beaches and vast desert landscapes invite you to a variety of activities. The Manama Souk, with its labyrinth of small alleys and streets, is best known for pearls and gold. A detour to the famous Formula 1 racetrack is also worthwhile. The 7-day voyages can be combined to 14-day cruises, so guests can enjoy the magical Orient to the full.

Guests of AIDAcosma can look forward to a huge variety of offers on board. The beautiful new Ocean Deck extends over four decks and offers an all-round panoramic view of the sea and an infinity pool at the stern of the ship. The new Fun Park with a large indoor playground and the new bouldering wall offer plenty of variety. The gourmet variety is also enriched: In the new specialty restaurant Beach House, summery and light delicacies are served. The specialty restaurant Mamma Mia offers homemade pasta and fresh Italian cuisine with on-site service and the Brauhaus will have an outdoor grill with a magnificent sea view. In addition, AIDAcosma scores with features that are also popular on AIDAnova, such as the Beach Club, the Theatrium with its 360 stage, the TV studio and the spacious Body & Soul Organic Spa. Culinary delights are offered to guests in 17 restaurants and 23 bars and cafes.

There are currently particularly attractive winter offers for Orient cruises in winter 2022/23. The 7-day Orient voyages with AIDAcosma can be booked from as little as 949 euros per person incl. flight at the AIDA VARIO price with double occupancy (inside cabin). The contingent is limited. If you book a new cruise before 14 November 2022, you will receive an AIDA voucher* for your next AIDA cruise as a thank you.

For the Orient cruises with AIDAcosma, the local authorities have introduced an adapted health protocol. This means that unvaccinated guests can also travel with a certified PCR test (QR code, test max. 48 h before departure) or a certified convalescent certificate (QR code, convalescence may be max. 30 days ago). At the airport in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, children under 12 years of age are exempt from the aforementioned requirements.

Booking and further information on AIDAcosma at your travel agency, at the AIDA Customer Centre on +49 381 20 27 07 07 or at www.aida.de.

* As a thank you for booking, guests will receive a personalised AIDA voucher. The voucher value corresponds to 20 % of the paid travel price (for the 1st and 2nd person in the cabin in the AIDA PREMIUM, AIDA PREMIUM ALL INCLUSIVE, AIDA VARIO and AIDA VARIO ALL INCLUSIVE fare excluding arrival and departure, All Inclusive share and travel cancellation insurance) for the trip from the "AIDA Savings Weeks" promotion (booking period 20.10.2022 to 14.11.2022). The AIDA voucher is valid for a new booking of all AIDA voyages from the diverse AIDA programme, is valid for three years and is neither transferable nor cashable. There is no entitlement to the voucher in the event of rebooking on another voyage or cancellation as well as in the event of non-commencement of this voyage. The voucher will be issued to the first person in the cabin within four weeks of the end of the cruise and sent to you by post or e-mail.

Image Credit:  AIDA Cruises
Turkey's foreign minister criticized the OSCE decision to send a needs assessment mission to Armenia, news.am informs, citing Anadolu Agency.

October 21, 2022, 16:58 Turkey FM slams OSCE decision to send needs assessment mission to Armenia

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 21, ARTSAKHPRESS: Speaking in Mersin Province, Mevlut Cavusoglu noted that the OSCE has declared itself as a "center of intractable problems," and that the latest aforesaid decision regarding Armenia contradicts the requirements and mandate of this organization.

"The attempt to impose one's own position and the formation of the status quo is unacceptable," Cavusoglu said.

He recalled the long-term failed mediation efforts of the OSCE regarding the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

"Over the years, they just dragged the process out. And today, when sending a mission or observers, they try to ignore Azerbaijan's position. The desire to support Armenia is obvious," Cavusoglu emphasized.

According to him, there is no particular sincerity in the EU either.

"The EU does not fulfill the terms of the agreements," Cavusoglu said.

At the same time, he noted that any positive development of the dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia has a positive effect on the negotiations between Turkey and Armenia.

"In the end, Europe will benefit the most," he added.

Also, the Turkish foreign minister drew attention to the growing significance of the transport corridor for trade between the East and the West.
The European Union (EU) has introduced sanctions against the Iranian drone producer Shahed Aviation Industries and three generals from the country, according to the Council Implementing Regulation posted in the Official Journal of the EU on Thursday.

October 21, 2022, 14:40 EU introduces sanctions against Iranian drone producer

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 21, ARTSAKHPRESS: "The Iranian regime provides military support for Russias unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine. In view of the gravity of the situation, the Council considers that three individuals and one entity involved in the development and delivery of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Russia should be added to the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictive measures," the document reads.

Shahed Aviation Industries and three high-ranking Iranian generals were added to the sanction list. The European business is banned from keeping any relations with persons in the EUs black list; individuals have no access to the EU and their money with European banks is subject to freezing.

The EU introduced the previous package of sanctions against Iran on October 16, when eleven Iranian nationals and four organizations were blacklisted.
Several parts of the country are inundated by flood water this evening.

It comes as a result of more rainfall overnight, causing many rivers to break their banks and water courses to spill over.
Earlier this month, Dr. Andre Costopoulos informed me that he intends to step down from his role as Vice-provost and Dean of Students at the end of June 2023, following seven years of committed service.

Dr. Costopoulos joined the University of Alberta in 2016, having previously served as Dean of Students at McGill University. In his time at the U of A, he has been a tireless advocate for the student experience, student health and wellbeing, and student success. The university has benefited tremendously from his expertise in supporting students at risk and students in crisis, including through the creation of the Student Care Coordinator program, and he has been a key leader in policy development, implementation and refinement of the universitys response to sexual and gender-based violence. Dr. Costopoulos also helped to co-lead the transition to remote learning and online student services in response to COVID-19.

Dr. Costopoulos will take an administrative leave starting January 1. Helen Vallianatos will be Acting Vice-provost and Dean of Students until a Dean Selection Committee is formed and can determine his successor.

I have been grateful for Dr. Costopouloss strategic advice and support in my time as interim provost. It will be hard to replace his expertise and dedication to U of A students and our learning environment. Please join me in recognizing his achievements to date and wishing him the best on the next steps of his journey.

Sincerely,

Dr. Verna Yiu

Interim Provost and Vice-president (Academic)
The Ukrainian military and diplomats are working to prevent a military threat from Belarus and to prepare Ukraine for any scenario as much as possible.

Without a doubt, Putin is making every effort to involve the Belarusian armed forces in a direct military conflict with Ukraine. The goal is clear: to open a second front for Ukraine to bind our forces and, accordingly, weaken the pressure of our counteroffensive in the south and east. Our military understands all this, the diplomats also understand what is happening. All reports have already been made to the President, he has given all instructions related to this issue. And each of us is now doing everything in our areas of the front to prevent this and make Ukraine prepared for any scenario as much as possible," Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said during the nationwide news telethon.

As reported, Oleksiy Hromov, the deputy chief of the main operational department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said at a briefing on Thursday that the threat of renewed Russian offensive operations on the northern front was growing.

According to estimates, the direction may be shifted to the western border of Ukraine in order to cut off the logistical routes of weapons and equipment supplies from international partners.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has been open to talks on Ukraine from the very beginning, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday, Tass informs.

October 21, 2022, 17:44 Putin was open to talks on Ukraine from the beginning  Kremlin

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 21, ARTSAKHPRESS: This is how he commented on Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan's words that Putin is now allegedly "much softer and more open to dialogue than in the past".

"Putin, in fact, has been open to talks from the very beginning. The president has repeatedly said so himself," the Kremlin spokesman noted, commenting on this statement.

He recalled that Putin had tried to initiate talks with NATO, the US and the OSCE even before the special military operation began. "Putin was open to talks when the text of the document between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators was actually agreed upon. So here, in this respect, nothing has changed," Peskov pointed out.

According to the official, only Kiev's position has changed, because "the Ukrainian side has enshrined not continuing talks with Russia." "That is, the Ukrainian law now prohibits any negotiations," he noted.

The Kremlin spokesman also responded to a question about a possible new telephone conversation between Putin and Erdogan. "As for the phone conversation with Erdogan, so far it is not on the schedule. But they talk often, and conversations are sometimes coordinated literally in a matter of hours," Peskov concluded.
From February 24 to October 21, the Armed Forces of Ukraine eliminated about 66,750 Russian invaders, including nearly a hundred over the past day.

Thats according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

Also, Ukraines defenders destroyed 2,573 Russian main battle tanks (+6 yesterday), 5,258 (+3) armored combat vehicles, 1,648 (+2) artillery systems, 372 (+0) multiple launch rocket systems, 189 (+0) air defense equipment, 269 (+0) warplanes, 243 (+0) helicopters, 1,325 (+14) operational-tactical level UAVs, 329 (+0) cruise missiles, 16 (+0) warships / cutters, 4,006 (+1) trucks and fuel tankers, and 147 (+0) units of specialized equipment.

Fresh data on enemy losses is being further verified.
The transfer of Russian troops to Belarus is likely of a demonstrative nature, being aimed at pushing Ukraine to diverting part of its forces to the northern border.

Thats according to the British Defense Ministry's report citing intelligence assessments, Ukrinform wrote.

On 14 October 2022, Belarussian president Aleksandr Lukashenko said that 70,000 Belarusian troops and up to 15,000 Russians would be involved in a new Russian-Belarussian Group of Forces. On 15 October 2022, the Belarussian authorities released a video claiming to show the arrival of Russian troops in Belarus. However, to date it is unlikely that Russia has actually deployed a significant number of extra troops into Belarus, the report reads.

The intelligence agency notes that Russia is unlikely to generate combat-ready formations of the claimed size: its forces are committed in Ukraine.

The Belarussian military highly likely maintains minimal capability to undertake complex operations, the report notes.

The British Defense Ministry sees the announcement as an attempt to demonstrate Russian-Belarussian solidarity and to convince Ukraine to divert forces to guard the northern border.
The Russian invasion forces launched a strike at the city of Zaporizhzhia, where a number of residential buildings were damaged.

This was reported on Telegram by Acting Mayor Anatoliy Kurtiev, Ukrinform saw.

Apart from residential areas, civilian infrastructure was also affected by the strike, the official says.

Detailed reports about the destruction and casualties are being verified.

Oleksandr Starukh, the head of Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, warned city residents that as a result of an enemy attack, fragments of missiles may remain on the city's territory.

"As a result of the enemy attack, fragments may remain on the territory of the city. Do not touch them, do not come close to them, and do not take pictures," the official wrote.

According to Starukh, these parts of the ammunition are explosive.

As reported by Ukrinform, on the morning of October 21, Russian troops fired missiles at Zaporizhzhia.

Photo from social networks
If Russia is really preparing a terrorist attack at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, it means that it already understands that it will not be able to hold the captured south of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in his video address to citizens, Ukrinform reports.

"During a meeting of the European Council today, I informed the Europeans about another terrorist attack, which Russia is preparing at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. According to our information, the units and dam of the Kakhovka HPP were mined by Russian terrorists. Now everyone in the world must act powerfully and quickly to prevent such a Russian terrorist attack. Mining the dam would mean a large-scale disaster. And if Russia is preparing such a terrorist attack, if it is seriously considering such a scenario, it means that terrorists are very clearly aware that they cannot hold not only Kherson, but also the entire south of our country, including Crimea," Zelensky said.

He called on Europeans, world leaders, international organizations to make it clear to the terrorist state that such a terrorist attack at the Kakhovka HPP would mean exactly the same as the use of weapons of mass destruction.

"The world must react - preventively," the head of state said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba discussed Ukraine's request for the provision of air and missile defense systems and technology with Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid.

I spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and informed him on unspeakable suffering, loss of life, and destruction caused by Russian missiles and Iranian-made drones, Kuleba posted on Twitter.

I spoke to Israeli Prime Minister @YairLapid and informed him on unspeakable suffering, loss of life, and destruction caused by Russian missiles and Iranian-made drones. We discussed in detail Ukraines request for Israel to provide air and missile defense systems and technology.  Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 20, 2022

The minister added that Ukraines request for Israel to provide air and missile defense systems and technology had been discussed in detail.

As reported, Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid strongly condemned the massive Russian missile attack on Ukrainian cities on October 10.

Photo: Dmytro Kuleba, Facebook

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Bulgaria's Deputy Foreign Minister Kostadin Kodzhabashev has said that his country currently has no plans to evacuate the staff of its embassy in the Ukrainian capital amid Russian missile attacks.

That's according to the Bulgarian News Agency, Ukrinform reports.

Kodzhabashev noted that his ministry is in constant contact with the staff of the Bulgarian diplomatic mission, which resumed work on September 12.

He also added that the staff is prepared to continue work on the ground with plans for evacuation in case of any escalation.

According to Kodzhabashev, the embassy offers all necessary conditions for a normal stay for about a week for the entire staff of six.

Bulgaria strongly condemns Russia's military escalation in Ukraine, including the massive airstrikes over the past two weeks against Ukrainian cities, causing human casualties and almost irreparable damage to civilian infrastructure, Kodzhabashev said.
French President Emmanuel Macron believes that the return to negotiations should be part of the way to end Russia's war against Ukraine. Ukraine must determine whether such a moment has come.

He said this during a press conference following the second day of work of the European Council in Brussels, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

When asked what France and other European partners can do to put an end to the war in Ukraine, Macron noted that this is "the most important but also the most difficult issue."

"We are not fighting in Ukraine. We support Ukraine. We impose sanctions against Russia. But we are not taking part in this war, so it is not in our power to stop it, as we are not a party to this conflict," the French president said.

According to Macron, for him, the achievement of this goal - ending the war - presupposes that the conditions on the ground will develop in such a way that will allow Ukrainians to believe that the time has come to return to the negotiating table.

"Why am I saying this? Because we support Ukraine, as it defends its territorial sovereignty and its borders. Therefore, we cannot say on behalf of Ukraine that this or that moment is acceptable or not," Macron said.

"In this context, the first thing we should do is to never sever ties," he said.

According to Macron, there are three points that must be followed.

"The first point is to continue supporting the resistance and military efforts of Ukraine and continue sanctions (against Russia). The second point is to continue talking with both the Ukrainian authorities and the Russian authorities, because at some point we will have to return to the table. The third point is to try to monitor the moment that will be acceptable to return to the table and renew the discussions. And then we have to return to the [negotiating] table, obviously, first of all, with Ukraine and Russia, but Europe and the international community should also be present there in order to build conditions for peace at this moment. This is the path we should follow," Macron said.

At the same time, he noted that it is not in his power to create the prerequisites for this.

"They depend, first of all, on the development of the conflict on the ground, as well as on certain sovereign decisions that we must respect. But we must all do everything we can to ensure that this moment comes when it is possible. That is why I always assume the possibility of talking to both sides," Macron said.
LOS ANGELES & SINGAPORE, October 13, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MedTech Innovator, the largest accelerator of medical devices in the world, in partnership with Asia Pacific Medical Technology Association (APACMed), the first and only regional association to provide a unified voice for the medical technology industry, today announced NousQ as the winner of the 2022 Asia Pacific Accelerator program. The winning company was determined by a live audience vote on Sept. 26 during the MedTech Innovator Asia Pacific 2022 Grand Finals hosted by MedTech Innovator in partnership with APACMed.

NousQ is a Singapore-based company that has developed CLiKX, a novel handheld robotic ventilation tube applicator that offers pediatric patients with otitis media a simple and quick alternative to invasive ventilation tube surgery.

"Being part of the MedTech Innovator program has supercharged our acceleration, helped uncover potential blind spots, and extended our networks," said Lynne Lim, founder of NousQ, and Senior Consultant Ear Nose Throat Surgeon, and Adjunct Associate Professor and Visiting Consultant to the National University Health System Singapore. "The funding and continued support will provide significant value to NousQ as we work to transform the surgery for glue ear in children and adults."

Selected from a pool of more than 250 applicants, NousQ was awarded the US$175,000 non-dilutive grand prize to advance its business goals and mission to improve future health outcomes of patients in the Asia Pacific region. The company was also awarded a one-year membership to APACMed and was the recipient of the Cambridge Consultants Product Development Award, where they will receive exclusive technical and consultation services from Cambridge Consultants.

Additionally, NousQ was announced winner of Enterprise Singapores (EnterpriseSG) Startup SG award, comprising an SGD$30,000 grant prize and access to extensive resources and networks within Singapores startup ecosystem. The company will also be fast-tracked to EnterpriseSGs SLINGSHOT global startup competition happening at the Singapore Week of Innovation & TeCHnology (SWITCH) in October, where the Top 50 will pitch their solutions on a global stage and stand to win additional prizes.

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"With otitis media being the leading cause of hearing loss in children, NousQ has the potential to provide a game-changing treatment alternative for millions of pediatric patients around the world," said Paul Grand, CEO of MedTech Innovator. "We applaud the hard work and tenacity the NousQ team has demonstrated to earn its spot as the winner of our 2022 Asia Pacific Accelerator program, amidst several other awards."

"My utmost congratulations to NousQ on winning the APAC MedTech Innovator 2022 title," said Harjit Gill, CEO, APACMed. "The Asia Pacific region continues to be a magnet for medtech innovation and I am thrilled to witness the finalist companies who participated in this years competition are developing breakthrough technologies to advance healthcare for patients. APACMed is proud to support the MedTech Innovator APAC program and we look forward to watching NousQs journey and advancement as they advance their health solution towards commercialization."

"Innovation is at the heart of Johnson & Johnson MedTechs mission. Our strategic partnership with MedTech Innovator enables us to support APAC innovators to realise breakthrough healthcare solutions," said Ashley Wittorf, Head of Business Development  Asia Pacific, Johnson & Johnson MedTech. "As one of the judges in the competition, Im inspired by and congratulate all the amazing finalists this year."

"Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the MedTech Innovator Asia Pacific competition," said Audrey Lok, director of healthcare and biomedical, Enterprise Singapore. "We are strong supporters of MedTech Innovators accelerator model which pairs innovative startups with seasoned corporate mentors. We believe it takes a community to bring an idea to market and we are delighted to partner with MedTech Innovator for yet another successful run of their Asia Pacific accelerator and competition."

MedTech Innovator carefully selected 20 best-in-class startups from across Asia Pacific for its 2022 program, providing the companies with exposure to industry leaders and awarding over US$300,000 in cash prizes and in-kind awards. During its final competition, MedTech Innovator also announced the winners of several additional awards.

SharpArrow, Seattle, WA, was awarded one-year of residency by JLABS, Johnson & Johnson Innovations global network of life science incubators.

Medicaretec, Seoul, South Korea, received the Sterile Barrier System Design & Development Award from Oliver Healthcare Packaging, where they will receive exclusive technical and consultation services from Oliver Healthcare Packaging in the development of the sterile barrier system for their device.

ErleaDx, Singapore, was announced the winner of the MedTech Innovator Asia Pacific Best Video Award with a US$5,000 prize.

Judges of the 2022 Asia Pacific final competition included: Ashley Wittorf, head of business development  APAC, Johnson & Johnson MedTech; Sameer Desai, vice president of marketing, Asia Pacific, Align Technology; Purushottam Awasthi, senior vice president and head of strategy and business development, Asia Pacific and Japan, Siemens Healthineers; and Dr. Joseph Smith, chief scientific officer, Becton Dickinson (BD).

MedTech Innovator works closely with stakeholders across the industry to foster the growth of early to mid-stage startups. MedTech Innovators 2022 Asia Pacific program sponsors include Johnson & Johnson MedTech, Nipro Medical Corporation, Align Technology, Oliver Healthcare Packaging, Siemens Healthineers, Cambridge Consultants, Jabil Healthcare and Enterprise Singapore. The MedTech Innovator Asia Pacific Program is held in partnership with APACMed.

About MedTech Innovator

Based in Los Angeles, Calif., MedTech Innovator is the largest accelerator of medical technology companies in the world and the premier nonprofit startup accelerator in the medical technology industry.[i] Its mission is to improve the lives of patients by accelerating the growth of companies that are transforming the health care system. MedTech Innovator matches health care industry leaders with innovative early stage and emerging growth medtech companies for mentorship and support.

To date, MedTech Innovator has supported 509 alumni companies that have gone on to raise US$5.3 billion in follow-on funding, brought 130 products to market, and achieved 30 exits.

For more information about MedTech Innovator, visit https://medtechinnovator.org/ and follow @MedTechAwards on Twitter and on LinkedIn. To receive industry insights and highlights about MedTech Innovators current and alumni participant companies, subscribe to its monthly newsletter.

About APACMed

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Singapore, APACMed represents manufacturers and suppliers of medical equipment, devices and in vitro diagnostics, industry associations and other key stakeholders associated with the medical technology industry in Asia Pacific.

Providing a unified voice for the medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics industry in Asia Pacific, APACMed works proactively with bilateral, regional, and local government bodies to shape policies, demonstrate the value of medical technology and promote regulatory harmonization. APACMed strives to promote digital health innovation and impact policy that advances healthcare access for patients by engaging with medical device associations and companies in Asia Pacific.

APACMed is also host to the annual Asia Pacific MedTech Forum.

www.apacmed.org

Media Contact:

[i] Gibbs, M., Johnson, B., Silva, B. A., & Berube, K. (2020, July 10). Q2 2020 Life Science Accelerators Insights Cipher Bio. Retrieved September 15, 2020, from https://www.cipherbio.com/blog/life-science-accelerators-insights/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221012006119/en/

Contacts

Joe Duraes

Pazanga Health Communications

jduraes@pazangahealth.com

(917) 687-6419
As this weeks trough continues to push east very slowly, severe thunderstorms and heavy rain are set to continue to lash Australias eastern states over the weekend.

Large parts of northern NSW, eastern Queensland, Victoria and northern Tasmania are bracing for more rough weather.

While forecasts predict that it is far from over with a new system on the way for the countrys east next week.

Meteorologists are warning of flash flooding across northern NSW after a deluge of rain in six hours on Friday morning. Source: AAP

Residents of NSW have been put on alert with forecasters warning of life-threatening flash flooding across the states north on Friday.

Given the current state of rivers across NSW, were already seeing moderate to major flooding, Weatherzone meteorologist Andrew Schmidt told Yahoo News Australia.

So any storms that were getting, particularly with this heavy rainfall, are certainly bringing the risk of inundation.

Residents across Australia's eastern states are being warned to expect severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall across the weekend. Source: AAP

Double whammy of weather systems for Australias east

While the current trough is set to wreak havoc on the countrys eastern states until Sunday, there will be no reprieve for residents with a new system on its tail.

We will start to see that next trough pushing in from the west also on Sunday as well, Mr Schmidt said.

So that is likely to bring widespread rain and storms again, particularly over eastern South Australia, inland NSW and again the big concern is for Victoria where Monday is looking like one of the worst days for them.

Over a 24-hour period on Monday, falls of up to 60 millimetres are expected across Victoria as the next trough comes through.

We will still see some remnants over eastern parts of Victoria on Tuesday but by Wednesday, aside from some light showers, the main brunt of it should be offshore at that point.

Showers and storms are also expected to hit areas of inland NSW already affected by heavy rainfall including the Slopes and Plains and Western Riverina regions.

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So not too many places will miss out with this kind of double system that's coming through, Mr Schmidt said.

 Moderate to Major Flood Warning for the Gwydir and Mehi Rivers. Moderate flooding likely at #Moree Saturday. See https://t.co/q3dElZSC23 for details and updates; follow advice from @NSWSES. #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/w05V5uXGeo  Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) October 20, 2022

Slow moving storms leave NSW inundated

Its been a soaking start to Friday for those in the North West Slopes and Plains.

In the six hours to 5am, both Moree Airport and Terry Hie Hie recorded 95 millimetres of rain, while 83 millimetres fell in Upper Horton.

That heavy rainfall is likely to continue throughout the day, mainly over the North West Slopes and Plains but the entirety of eastern NSW is at risk of seeing showers and storms later today, Mr Schmidt said.

Given the very slow moving nature of this trough, heavy rainfall is definitely a concern simply because any thunderstorms that do pop up aren't moving particularly fast as they push through.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
The opportunity to play Division I collegiate football is not something Texas State redshirt Read moreA second chance: Spears' life changed by near death experience
October 21 2022

A rare surviving example of Dundee's mill heritage in Hilltown has been lined up for conversion to residential use.

Wellwood Leslie proposes adjusting the internal layout of all floors to accommodate five apartments within the former Hilltown Works, a former textile mill of which only the street frontage survives.

Languishing in a poor state of repair the current structure has been exposed to vegetation growth and general decay arising from water damage, although it remains structurally sound.

In a statement, the architects wrote: "With this building being one of the last physical remnants of the former textile industry within Hilltown we believe. Leaving the front facade unaltered pays homage to our perceived historical importance of Hillside Works."

A lack of amenity space afforded by the constrained nature of the site will be ameliorated by a rear balcony or terrace for each apartment.
August 12 2021

Watkin Jones Group has submitted plans for the tallest building in Glasgow as part of a complex of 685 apartments adjacent to Charing Cross Station.

The mixed co-living and build to rent complex will rise on the site of the former Portcullis House on India Street, with 279 rental properties to the north and 406 studio rooms in a 17 storey tower to the south adjacent to Scottish Power.

Embracing low and zero-carbon technologies such as heat pumps and low energy lighting with no on-site parking for residents offered. Instead, the priority will be to facilitate new retail, food and drink, office and leisure options in a high amenity location. A booking system will also be put in place for members of the public to gain access to the top floor of the main tower, where a community space will offer vertiginous views of the city.

Iain Smith, planning director for Watkin Jones Group said: The design of our proposed homes will help to keep skilled young people in the city who will boost Glasgows economy. These people are actively looking for a sustainable and desirable place to live in a central location with excellent transport links and places to shop or socialise. This will repopulate the city centre and benefit local businesses as part of an overall renewal of the west end.

Build to rent and co-living developments are built for the long-term, so our focus is on creating a great place to live for decades with high-quality rented accommodation at competitive prices that appeal to a wide-range of people. There is a huge demand in Glasgow for these homes, which offers long-term security of tenure, combined with the flexibility of renting."

Hawkins Brown is serving as architect on the scheme which will be crucial in meeting Glasgow City Council's City Centre Living Strategy to double the resident population to 40,000 over the next 15 years.
(@Abdulla99267510)

Philippines Embassy Charge dAffairs Maria Agnes M. Cervantes says her country has keen interest in strengthening trade and economic ties with Pakistan and wants to enhance mutual trade volume to the maximum level.

LAHORE; (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Oct 21st, 2022) Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry President Kashif Anwar and Vice President on Friday met Charge dAffairs of Philippines Maria Agnes M. Cervantes and Director General Intellectual Property Rights (IPO) Shazia Adnan in two separate meetings and have fruitful discussions. Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt President Pakistan Philippines Business Forum Engineer Haseeb Khan and LCCI Executive Committee Members were also present on the occasion.

Charge dAffairs of the Embassy of Philippines Maria Agnes M. Cervantes said that her country has keen interest in strengthening trade and economic ties with Pakistan and wants to enhance mutual trade volume to the maximum level.

She urged the business community of Pakistan to come forward and explore the untapped international trade markets of Philippines. She said that there is a huge potential to increase the volume of mutual trade. She said both the countries are enjoying cordial trade relations which should be enhanced. She added that promotion of cultural relations between Pakistan and the Philippines will also strengthen bilateral economic and trade relations. She said that cultural, diplomatic, economic and trade ties have been established between the two countries in many potential sectors, which have wider possibilities of further strengthening bilateral relations in the future, she said.

LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that according to the World Bank data 2021, Philippines has GDP in excess of 390 billion dollars. We are really impressed by the excellent economic performance registered by Philippines during 2021 with growth rate of 5.7%. He said that Pakistan and Philippines have very cordial diplomatic relations and both the countries have been steady trading partners as well. However, the bilateral trade figures hardly reflect these ties.

He said that as per trade data sought from State Bank, Pakistan, I am glad to quote that our exports to Philippines increased from 114 million Dollars in 2020-21 to 155 million dollars in 2021-22 while our imports surged from 29 million dollars to 35 million dollars in the same period. This essentially means that our trade volume has increased from around 143 million dollars to 190 million dollars during that period. You will agree with me that we need to make joint efforts to increase bilateral trade to at least 1 billion dollars.

Kashif Anwar said that the biggest potential sector for Pakistan to enhance exports to Philippines is Rice as the President of the Philippines removed restriction on the import of rice. The other potential items are processed food items and pharmaceuticals.

He mentioned that Tourism is one of the priority sectors of the Government due to its tremendous potential. The landscape of Pakistan has everything; one can wish to see mountains, valleys, rivers, seaside, deserts, open fields etc. Pakistan offers a wide spectrum of tourism ranging from religious to historical places and ancient civilizations to modern architecture.

We seek the support from Philippines - being an important member of ASEAN for getting Pakistan Full-Dialogue partnership with ASEAN.

We believe that there are great prospects of increasing trade between Pakistan and Philippines through diversification of products, LCCI President added.

LCCI Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt said that we can also discuss the possibilities for undertaking joint venture projects in Pakistan with the help of Philippines which is primarily considered a newly industrialized country. He said that both the countries should work on knowledge sharing and technology transfer in the fields of construction, IT, teaching/education and hospitality etc.

LCCI office-bearers said it is heartening to know that Philippines has made great progress as far as Halal Certification is concerned. We would certainly like you to play a role in apprising the investors in Philippines about the tremendous potential of Halal food market in Pakistan and encourage them to develop close liaison with the business community of Pakistan that is the natural base for Halal products.

In a separate meeting, DG IPO Shazia Adnan said that the trademarks are going to be online soon while the copyright and patents will also be available online.

To a question, she said that according to the legal department of IPO, service of company and trademark search cannot be provided free of cost but a suggestion in this regard has been sent to the PM office.

She said that financial and HR rules have been changed to bring effectiveness and efficiency. She said that online hearing has also been started.

DG IPO said that the services of department are going to be globalized through the commercial sections of Pakistans embassies abroad. We have forwarded request for four tribunals. Multans tribunal office has been formulated while the others are in process. She said that the amendments haven brought in the patent and copyright laws and sought LCCI suggestions in this regard. She said that industrial design rules have also been approved. She said that IPO has also started work on enforcement rules and suggestions of Lahore Chamber are required. IPO has also started messaging service for the applicants.

LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that Lahore Chamber has been proposing the government since long to increase online services in different government departments dealing with private sector so that business community may save their time and effort while seeking information, submitting applications/documents or making payments from e-banking or debit cards etc.

He appreciated that IPO-Pakistan has already commenced online filing to facilitate the applicants. However, our members have to visit IPO office personally to make the necessary search for selecting a company name while getting their trademark registered. It is time consuming and causes hassle. We would like to know if it is possible for IPO to start the online facility of E-search and E-status.

LCCI Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt was of the view that due to lack of awareness, there is a little focus on availing the protection from IPO on research works related to innovation and technology. He said that IPO must play leading role to encourage such culture in Pakistan.
Conakry, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Oct, 2022 ) :Guinea's ruling junta has agreed to restore civilians rule in two years, after facing sanctions over its original plan for a three-year transfer of power, the West African bloc ECOWAS said Friday.

"In a dynamic compromise, experts from ECOWAS and Guinea have jointly developed a consolidated chronogram (timetable) for a transition spread over 24 months," ECOWAS said in a document published on social networks by the junta.

The document does not specify when this 24-month period begins.

The poor but mineral-rich West African state has been under military government since a September 2021 coup that ousted president Alpha Conde after more than 10 years in power.

Military leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya has since appointed himself president and had undertaken to restore civilian rule within three years.

West African leaders suspended Guinea from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and imposed sanctions last month on a number of individuals.

It had given the ruling junta one month to present a "reasonable and acceptable" timetable for the return of civilian rule, an ultimatum that was set to expire this weekend.
Moscow, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Oct, 2022 ) :Russia said Friday it was not expecting any "political wisdom" from the United Kingdom or any of its Western allies, a day after outgoing UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned.

"We cannot expect any insights or political wisdom from anyone in the West now... especially from Great Britain, where the current head of the executive is not elected by the people," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

He was answering a question about former prime minister Boris Johnson reportedly eyeing a return to Downing Street.

Relations between Moscow and London have sunk to record lows since Russia sent troops to Ukraine in February.

Russia considered Johnson, who had good relations with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, as a particularly unfriendly Western leader.

The UK has provided Ukraine with military hardware, funding and training resources.

After Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation just six weeks into her time in office Thursday, Russia's foreign ministry said the UK had "never known such a disgrace as prime minister."
Nine people were displaced due to a blaze in Auburn Thursday afternoon, according to the Auburn Fire Department.

Jeff Clark, assistant fire chief with the AFD, said the call for a fire at 62 Seymour St. came in at 4:57 p.m. When firefighters arrived, smoke was coming out of the first floor of the residence. The fire was extinguished in about eight minutes and the damage was contained to two rooms of the home.

Clark said the building was determined not to be a total loss but was condemned due to the gas and electricity being turned off. He added the damage was "minimal" due to the actions of the fire department and it was contained to two rooms.

Nine people were displaced due to the fire, Ckark said. A family of five was receiving assistance from the Red Cross while a family of four intended to stay with family. No one was injured.

The cause of the blaze was determined to be furniture moved too close to a heating unit and was "accidental in nature," Clark said.

The Auburn Police Department, Auburn City Ambulance, the city of Auburn's Code Enforcement Office, New York State Electric and Gas and the Cayuga County 911 center also assisted with the scene.
FAISALABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Oct, 2022 ) :Police said on Friday 16 alleged criminals were arrested and drugs and illegal weapons were recovered from them during the last 24 hours.

According to police, raiding teams nabbed nine drug-pushers and recovered 1.02-kg hashish and 104-litre liquor from them.

In a crackdown on illegal weapons, the police arrested seven persons and recovered as many pistols and a number of bullets from them.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) MNA Saleh Muhammad Khan and his guard were arrested in Islamabad on Friday after the guard reportedly fired a shot outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Oct, 2022 ) :Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) MNA Saleh Muhammad Khan and his guard were arrested in Islamabad on Friday after the guard reportedly fired a shot outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Tense scenes were witnessed outside the ECP building after the electoral watchdog disqualified PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan as it announced its verdict in the Toshakhana (gift depository) reference.

As soon as the verdict was announced, PTI supporters and party workers began protesting over the decision and workers present outside the ECP office shouted slogans in support of Imran Khan.

Islamabad police reportedly detained firearms from a Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa policeman who was later reported to be the guard of PTI MNA Saleh. As the weapon was being recovered a shot was fired.

The capital police claims the shot was fired by the K-P policeman who was arrested. The police later also arrested MNA Saleh.

Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah said that the personnel of law enforcement agencies could not come into Red Zone with weapons and this matter was being investigated.
BUDAPEST (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2022) Hungary is screening candidates for the country's second space flight in a process that could see up to four astronauts selected, Hungary's first space explorer, Bertalan Farkas, told Sputnik on Friday.

"The screening of applicants is currently taking place. I will attend the preparations of the two astronauts who will start the space flights, with one of them backing up the other. We will possibly choose four candidates, and one of them will fly into space, and three others will prepare for the next space missions," Farkas said.

He also said that Hungary was developing a science program to enable its astronauts to perform the space flights not as space tourists but as qualified specialists, and expressed the hope that cooperation opportunities with Russian space corporation Roscosmos would be established.

Hungary launched its first space flight to the Salyut 6 space station as part of the Soviet Soyuz 36 crewed space mission on May 26, 1980. The crew, which included Farkas and Russian cosmonaut Valery Kubasov, were the first to visit the long-duration Soyuz 35 crew.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2022) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke over the telephone with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and discussed the security and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and Haiti among other issues of concern, State Department spokesperson Ned price said in a statement.

"Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres," the statement said on Thursday. "They also discussed the need for continued UN action to address the urgent security and humanitarian crises in Ukraine and in Haiti."

Blinken expressed his "grave concern" about the intensifying of fighting in northern Ethiopia and the risk of mass atrocities and underscored the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities, unhindered humanitarian access, as well as for Eritrea to withdraw its forces from the country, the statement added.

Earlier in October, the Russian mission to the United Nations put out a statement criticizing Guterres for his lack of impartiality amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and for bias in favor of countries of the so-called collective West.

On Monday, the United States and Mexico introduced two UN Security Council draft resolutions on Haiti, one of which concerns imposing sanctions allegedly on criminal actors in the island nation. Russia did not support the draft resolution noting that Moscow typically objects to resolutions containing sanctions against other nations, citing the worsening humanitarian situation as a result of imposing restrictive measures.
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The documents seized by the FBI from the Florida residence of former US President Donald Trump contained information about Iran and China, the Washington Post reported on Friday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2022) The documents seized by the FBI from the Florida residence of former US President Donald Trump contained information about Iran and China, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

Some of the materials included sensitive intelligence about Iran and China, the report said, citing anonymous sources, who specified that at least one secret document concerned Iran's missile program.

A number of other documents contained intelligence about China, the report said.

The disclosure of information contained in the documents could potentially pose a number of potential problems - from the identification of US intelligence officers to information gathering methods and the potential threat of retaliation by other countries, the report added.

In August, Trump sued the US Justice Department after the FBI searched his Florida residence, where investigators seized several dozen boxes with about 11,000 documents. The Trump team also asked Judge Aileen Cannon to appoint a special master to review the seized materials for any privileged documents and prohibit Justice Department investigators from using the materials in their probe until they were reviewed.

Trump said he declassified all the documents he took to his residence in Florida upon leaving the White House, noting that the president can do this just by thinking about it.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2022) Leaders of the European Union have reached an agreement on tackling the energy crisis and containing prices of energy, European Council President Charles Michel said on Friday.

"#EUCO has reached an agreement on energy. Unity and solidarity prevail. Agreed to work on measures to contain energy prices for households and businesses," Michel said on Twitter.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2022) Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Thursday that the country's accession to NATO should not be a problem since she has discussed the issue with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"I have spoken both with Prime Minister Orban and also President Erdogan about the situation and our knowledge is that there shouldn't be any problems when it comes to Finland and our application," Marin said in an interview with Politico.

She added that it is important for Helsinki and Stockholm to join the alliance together "because we share the same security environment up north," and expressed the hope that the applications of both countries will be approved "as soon as possible."

"It would be very important that the ratification process would go smoothly, because there might be, of course, elements when it comes to the security environment," she said, adding that "there isn't any military threat now facing Finland, and we have good capabilities when it comes to defending our country."

On February 24, Russia began a military operation in Ukraine responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Western countries responded by imposing comprehensive sanctions against Moscow while also ramping up their military support for Kiev. Finland and Sweden, in turn, submitted applications for joining NATO, abandoning years of neutrality, citing security reasons.

On July 5, the permanent representatives of NATO member states signed accession protocols for Finland and Sweden in Brussels. All members of the bloc have to ratify the protocols according to their national legislation. As of today, out of all 30 NATO countries, only Turkey and Hungary have yet to complete the formal procedure to welcome Finland and Sweden to the alliance.

On May 18, three months since the onset of the Ukraine crisis, Finland and Sweden submitted their NATO membership applications, abandoning decades of neutrality. Turkey, which had initially blocked their applications citing Helsinki and Stockholm's support of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the organization designated terrorist by Ankara, dropped its objections.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2022) Jakarta is ready to organize a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesian Ambassador in Russia Jose Antonio Morato Tavares has told Sputnik.

"Indonesia would be very happy to do that (to organize the meeting). And we have done it previously. For example, during the conflict in Cambodia, Indonesia has hosted Jakarta informal meetings for the Vietnam and Cambodia leaders who were at time in dispute. They started up with some cocktails. And the things did develop. We do not promise that this will immediately resolve something, but simply talking to one other could help the progress of discussions," the ambassador said when asked whether it would be possible to organize a meeting.

The ambassador added that the invitation to attend the summit had been extended to Putin, but the decision on whether to come in person remains with Moscow.

"President of Indonesia (Joko Widodo) has come here personally to invite Russia to participate in the summit. Russia as a member of G20 is equally important to any other member state. Moreover, Indonesia does not have a right to disinvite - we only have a prerogative right to invite additional participants as the host country," the ambassador said.
(@FahadShabbir)

The US Department of Defense welcomes maintaining an open line of communications with Russia following the call, first in months, between the two defense chiefs on Friday, Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2022) The US Department of Defense welcomes maintaining an open line of communications with Russia following the call, first in months, between the two defense chiefs on Friday, Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said.

"Today provided an opportunity to connect.

It was something that the (US) Secretary (of Defense Lloyd Austin) initiated. It was an opportunity to have a call with (Russian) Minister (of Defense Sergei) Shoigu. We welcome maintaining an open line of communication. Dialogue is good here," Singh said during a press briefing.

Earlier on Friday, Austin in a call with Shoigu emphasized the importance of keeping lines of communication between the two countries open amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
KHERSON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2022) Three people died, and ten others were injured in Ukraine's missile attack on a civilian crossing of the Dnieper river in the Kherson region, Vladimir Rogov, a senior official in the Zaporizhzhia regional government, said on Friday.

Regional emergency services said earlier in the day that the Ukrainian military fired 12 HIMARS missiles on a civilian crossing of the river near the Antonivskyi Bridge in the Kherson region. Air defense systems shot down 11 missiles, and one missile hit an area close to the bridge.

"As a result of (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy terrorists' shelling of a crossing in Kherson, three people were killed, including children, and ten civilians were injured. Twenty vehicles were burned down," Rogov said on Telegram.

A spokesperson of the emergency services of the Kherson region told journalists that nine people were injured in the missile attack on the crossing.

"Nine people were injured as the result of an explosion near the Antonivskyi Bridge. All of the injured were taken to medical facilities in Kherson," the spokesperson said.
AUBURN  A girl who had been sexually abused by an Auburn man for five years said in her victim impact statement that she is determined to not allow his actions to define her.

Parts of the child's statement were read before the sentencing of her abuser Thursday in Cayuga County Court.

Michael C. Thorn, 36, with a previous address of 44 Bradford St., was before Judge Thomas Leone Thursday for sentencing on charges of first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, a class B felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

Prosecutors said Thorn abused the girl over a period of five years, beginning when she was 7 years old.

For the course of sexual conduct count, Thorn was sentenced to nine years in prison followed by 10 years of post-release supervision. He was sentenced to 364 days in the Cayuga County Jail for the endangering charge, which merges with his prison time, as the charges are running concurrently. He had previously pleaded to both of those counts.

The victim was in court Thursday, accompanied by several loved ones. Before Thorn's sentencing was announced, Cayuga County Senior Assistant District Attorney Heather De Stefano read from a victim's impact statement from girl. The victim referred to Thorn as "Thing 1" in her statement and referred to another person allegedly involved in the case as "Thing 2," recounting acts of abuse Thorn committed against her and the effect these actions had on her. She mentioned panic attacks, becoming more irritable and saying she "can't trust adults," among other things.

She wrote that while she "wouldn't wish this upon anyone, this has made me into an incredibly strong and confident young lady," adding that she wants to one day become a neonatal nurse.

"My abuse is something that happened to me, but it does not define me," her statement said.

Before issuing Thorn's sentences, Leone praised the girl's bravery, adding that "my heart goes out to her" in not being able to trust adults.

Leone then turned his attention to Thorn, noting his lack of an apology.

"I've seen a lot of hardened criminals, but these kinds of cases really turn my stomach," Leone said.

The judge also noted the length of the previously agreed-upon sentence for Thorn, but said "maybe it's not long enough."

Through her bravery during the investigation and court proceedings, this young victim has held her abuser accountable to answer for his crimes," Acting Cayuga County District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci said in a statement. "We hope that this lengthy prison sentence will offer some form of closure and justice for both the victim and our community."

Also in court

 A man was sentenced to jail time and probation on child pornography charges.

Camilo Gonzalez, 38, was originally facing three counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child and four counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child. He previously pleaded to one of the promoting charges and was sentenced to to 10 years of shock probation, with the first six months at the jail.

 Jeffrey P. Shields, 29, was sentenced for first-degree criminal contempt to 1 1/2 to 3 three years in prison.

 Shawn D. Woolfolk, 20, was facing counts of second-degree rape, second-degree criminal sex act and endangering the welfare of a child. He received a previously-agreed upon sentence of 364 days in the jail for the rape charge.

 Robert L. Lewis, 42, was facing counts of second-degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Lewis received a previously-agreed upon sentence of 364 days in the jail for a third-degree assault charge. The second-degree assault count had been reduced to third-degree assault and the other charges were satisfied due to Lewis' previous plea.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2022) Iraq is ready to grow imports of Russia-made medical goods, fodder and other products and help Russian businesses overcome current difficulties, Director of Livestock Department of the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture Salim Hussein said on Thursday.

"Now only two Russian products are introduced in the Iraqi medical market, it is two types of vaccines. We would like to expand the number of goods that are exported," Hussein said at the Russian-Iraqi business Forum.

The official added that Iraq also needed other goods that might be imported from Russia, including fodder and different supplements. For that end, Iraq is ready to help Russian companies "overcome existing problems," according to Hussein.

On its part, Baghdad could export dates, leather, wool and other agricultural products to Russia, the Iraqi official stated.

On Thursday, recently appointed Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani told a meeting with Russian Ambassador in Baghdad Elbrus Kutrashev that the new Iraqi government "is interested in strengthening bilateral ties with the Russian Federation and building balanced relations in the interests of the two friendly peoples," and that it is planning to increase cooperation with Moscow in deterrent areas.

The Iraqi parliament elected 78-year-old Abdul Latif Rashid as the country's new president by a majority vote on October 13. The legislature managed to elect a president only on its fourth attempt in eight months.

Al-Sudani was appointed as prime minister of Iraq on Saturday and tasked by Rashid with forming the country's new government.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2022) US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin welcomed his Indonesian counterpart to the Pentagon to discuss ways to deepen cooperation between the two militaries in the Indo-Pacific region, a Department of Defense spokesperson said.

The leaders "discussed opportunities for further alignment between the United States and Indonesia, as the two countries pursue a shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, as well as issues of global concern," Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said.

Secretary Austin expressed his interest in assisting Indonesia's military modernization and strengthening interoperability between the two countries. The two defense chiefs discussed the recent expansion of the Super Garuda Shield exercise in August, the largest-ever joint drills between the two countries.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2022) Venezuelan opposition political parties are discussing plans to oust the current opposition leader Juan Guaido, the Financial Times reported.

The alliance of Venezuelan opposition parties decided to move on without US-backed Guaido as their so-called "interim president," the report said on Thursday, citing a senior member in one of Venezuela's opposition parties.

Guaido could be removed from his role as the Venezuelan opposition leader within the next two weeks, the report said.

A majority of the opposition parties believe that Guaido and his government are at odds with reality in Venezuela, the report added.

Three of the four major opposition parties in the alliance that backed the decision to oust Guaido include Primero Justicia, Accion Democratica and Un Nuevo Tiempo, according to the report.
There will be a televised debate in the 24th Congressional District race.

Republican U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney and Democratic challenger Steven Holden will participate in a debate hosted by WNYF FOX 28 in Watertown. The debate will air at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27.

Beginning on Friday, Oct. 28, the debate video will be available at wwnytv.com.

Barring a last-minute change, it will likely be the only television debate in the 24th district race. The district includes parts of the Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse media markets, but no TV stations in those cities have announced debates featuring Holden and Tenney.

Cayuga Community College and The Citizen attempted to hold a 24th district debate, but Tenney's campaign did not respond to an invitation.

Tenney, R-Canandaigua, is seeking a third term in Congress. She has represented parts of central New York, the Mohawk Valley and Southern Tier for two nonconsecutive terms. Before serving in Congress, she was a state assemblywoman, an attorney and small business owner.

Holden, D-Camillus, is a U.S. Army veteran who deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. This is his first run for political office.

The two candidates are vying to represent the 24th district, a sprawling district that stretches from eastern Niagara County in western New York through the Finger Lakes region and includes part of the North Country. All of Cayuga County is in the new district.

Tenney has the upper hand in what's considered a safe Republican seat. GOP voters outnumber Democrats by nearly 74,000 in the 24th district. Former President Donald Trump won the district with 59% of the vote in 2020.

Trump has endorsed Tenney in the NY-24 race.

Tenney raised $218,644 since early August and spent $637,875, which includes expenditures made before the Republican primary election. She defeated Mario Fratto and George Phillips to secure the GOP nomination.

Holden has yet to file his October quarterly report, which was due on Saturday, Oct. 15. As of Aug. 3, he has raised $140,865 and spent $67,987 in the 2022 election cycle.

Early voting begins on Saturday, Oct. 29, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 6. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.
A court in Cambodia on Wednesday convicted self-exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy in absentia of planning to cede national land to a foreign entity and sentenced him to life in prison, a punishment that is mostly symbolic since the government has blocked his return home several times.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court also banned him from taking part in politics for allegedly agreeing in 2013 to hand over territory to a hilltribe minority if he came to power, his lawyer, Yong Phanith, told The Associated Press.

The case began in 2018, when a Facebook page critical of Sam Rainsy posted a video of a 2013 meeting he had in the United States with Kok Ksor, a leader of the ethnic Jarai hilltribe who headed the Montagnard Foundation, a U.S.-based organization representing the interests of hilltribe minorities who live in central Vietnam and northeastern Cambodia. Kok Ksor died in 2019.

The prosecution said the video and additional evidence proved that Sam Rainsy violated Articles 27 and 440 of the Criminal Code for handing over to a foreign state all or part of the national territory.

Sam Rainsy and his supporters said it only showed that he supported self-determination rights for minorities such as the hilltribes and did not promise they could set up a separate state. They also pointed out that Kok Ksor did not represent a nation state.

The trial began in August, with Sam Rainsy letting court-appointed lawyers handle his defense, a sign that he did not take the charges seriously. In other cases, he has hired lawyers to mount politically charged defenses.

Sam Rainsy co-founded the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party in 2012. He has been convicted by Cambodian courts of several offenses in what he and supporters consider a legal vendetta by Prime Minister Hun Sen and his government to crush political opposition. Sam Rainsy has been in exile since 2016 to avoid serving prison sentences on defamation, treason and other charges.

The Cambodia National Rescue Party, the sole credible opposition party, had been expected to present a strong challenge to Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party in the 2018 general election. But Hun Sen launched a sweeping crackdown on his opponents before the polls, and the high court disbanded the opposition party, and its lawmakers were removed from Parliament. Hun Sens party subsequently won every seat in the National Assembly.

Sam Rainsy has long been the harshest critic and most popular opponent of Hun Sen, who has held power for 37 years. He and Hun Sen have been bitter enemies for decades, and on Monday, in a speech at a university graduation ceremony, the prime minister said Sam Rainsys family comprised three generations of traitors. A day earlier, Sam Rainsy posted a video on his own Facebook page renewing his call for popular opposition to Hun Sens government.

Last week, a French court in which Hun Sen sued Sam Rainsy for defamation acquitted the opposition leader, ruling that although his claim that Hun Sen was responsible for the death of a former national police chief was unproven, it was a fair matter for debate because of public interest and political significance. Sam Rainsy also holds French citizenship and lives in France.

The issue of losing national territory is a provocative one in Cambodia. Opposition politicians have often accused Hun Sens government of allowing land to be annexed by the countrys eastern neighbor, Vietnam, its historical enemy. Several accusers have been convicted of defamation for such claims.
The African Union's Peace and Security Council is meeting Friday to discuss the escalating war in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region.

The conflict-resolution body is to receive a briefing from AU special envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, who has been leading efforts to mediate talks between the Tigray rebels and Ethiopias federal government.

The United Nations Security Council was also set Friday to discuss the conflict in Ethiopia at a private meeting requested by Gabon, Ghana and Kenya this week.

Both meetings are being held a day after Ethiopia announced it will send representatives to AU-sponsored peace talks on October 24. Leaders of the rebel Tigray Peoples Liberation Front have not confirmed their attendance at the talks, to take place in South Africa.

AU-mediated peace talks were slated to begin earlier this month but were postponed for logistical reasons.

In recent days diplomats have stepped up their calls for a cease-fire in Tigray.

Ethiopia said last week it plans to seize Tigrays airports and other strategic facilities. On Monday it announced the capture of three towns in Tigray.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Thursday that the U.N. and AU meetings "demonstrate the international community's great concern about the situation.

He also renewed the U.S. call for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray, where they are supporting the Ethiopian governments offensive.



The AUs Peace and Security Council last discussed Ethiopia August 4, roughly three weeks before a five-month ceasefire in Tigray ended.

Since then, the situation in the conflict has dramatically changed for the worse, said the Amani Africa think tank in a briefing note Friday.
Peace talks on the war in Ethiopia will start on Monday in South Africa, the African Union said Friday, following earlier commitments by the government and Tigray forces to participate.

The Ethiopian government and its allies, which include Eritrea's military, have been fighting Tigray forces in the north of the country on and off since late 2020. The conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions and left hundreds of thousands on the brink of famine. Both sides had committed to talks earlier this month, but they were delayed for logistical reasons.

The African Union's Peace and Security Council said Friday it welcomed "mutual commitments to genuinely participate in the peace process."

Redwan Hussein, national security adviser to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, has said the government will participate in the AU-led talks from October 24.

Kindeya Gebrehiwot, a spokesman for the Tigray forces, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The peace talks are set to start just days after the Ethiopian army and its allies seized three large towns in Tigray, one to the northwest and two to the south of the regional capital Mekelle.

Tigrai TV, a media outlet controlled by the Tigray authorities, said Friday the Tigray forces had released more than 9,000 Eritrean and Ethiopian prisoners of war, including 500 women.

The station reported that the prisoners of war were released because the enemy is the Ethiopian government, not the frontline soldiers who they said were forced to fight.

Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the details of the prisoner release.


Rights group Amnesty International says more than 40 people arrested in Nigeria during the 2020 protests against a controversial police unit are still in jail two years later without having been convicted of any charges.

Amnesty's report, released as part of the second anniversary of the massive youth-led protests against police brutality in Nigeria, said arbitrary arrests and detentions by police have continued unabated in the country. It said authorities have attempted to justify the detentions by resorting to trumped-up charges, including theft, arson, possession of unlawful firearms and murder.

Amnesty also said investigative panels set up by the government have been marred by prolonged adjournments, intimidation of witnesses by police, and sometimes the failure of the police to appear as witnesses.

For two weeks in October 2020, protests rocked many Nigerian cities demanding an end to the SARS police unit, which was accused of extorting, beating, torturing and killing civilians over 30 years.

But the demonstrations halted the night of October 20, when security forces opened fire as hundreds of protesters gathered at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos. Amnesty International says 12 people were killed.

On Thursday, police dispersed "End SARS" supporters who held a procession at the Lekki toll gate to remember fellow protesters who died there.

One of the protest leaders at the toll gate, Rinu Oduala, said police brutality is far from being over in Nigeria.

"They were harassed, they were arrested, they were beaten by the police just for simply trying to have the second memorial of the Lekki shooting for our dead counterparts who were killed by soldiers in 2020," Oduala said. "This has shown that the Nigerian government are not willing to address the grievances of police brutality."

Lagos state police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin denied the allegations. He said Thursday on Twitter that the protesters were temporarily held because they flouted existing protocols at the toll gate area. He said they were all released later.

Hundeyin also said operatives used minimal force in carrying out their duties.

But human rights activist Aisha Yesufu said authorities were trying to cover up.

"These people just do anything, anyhow, the way they want," Yesufu said. "We have four months to the elections. What will happen after the election? It's crazy."

For now, groups like Amnesty International and "End SARS" supporters are demanding authorities prosecute the perpetrators of the deadly crackdown two years ago and release the detainees.
As protests rage at home, Iran's theocratic government is flexing its military muscle abroad: Tehran has supplied drones to Russia that killed Ukrainian civilians, run drills in a border region with Azerbaijan and bombed Kurdish positions in Iraq.

Iran has denied supplying the drones to Russia, and Russia has denied using them in Ukraine.

Those moves show Iran's leaders trying to rally hardline support within the country as demonstrations continue over the Sept. 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in the custody of the country's morality police.

They also serve as a reminder to the wider Middle East and the West that Iran's government remains willing to use force both abroad and at home to stay in power.

Further raising the risk of destabilization is Iran's nuclear program. Tehran now has enough highly enriched uranium to build an atomic bomb if it chooses -- and continues to make more as negotiations over its tattered deal with world powers have collapsed.

Online videos from Iran show people from all walks of life, from school-age children to the elderly, taking part in the protests that activists say have swept across over 100 cities since Amini's death. Women have removed their hijabs in demonstrations and in the course of the daily life in Tehran.

Even the threat of arrest, beatings and even deadly violence by security forces haven't quelled the anger as Iran faces worsening economic woes. Activist groups say thousands already have been detained and over 200 people killed.

Iran's government, meanwhile, has tried to provide counter-programming, rallying flag-waving men and women in the all-encompassing black chador for events in Tehran and elsewhere.

Rallying its supporters remains crucial for Iran's government as it faces its worst crisis since the 2009 Green Movement protests. As part of that effort, Iran has tried to show in recent weeks that it is able to strike back at its enemies, whether real or perceived.

Its first strikes came in late September, as Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard unleashed drone and missile attacks on areas that are home to Kurdish separatists living across the border in Iraq. Kurdish officials say those attacks killed at least 16 people, including one American citizen, and wounded dozens more.

At the time, Iran alleged -- without providing evidence -- that Kurdish separatists sparked the demonstrations over the death of Amini, a Kurd. Rumors persist of a heavy military presence in western Iran as security forces clashed repeatedly with demonstrators in Kurdish areas.

There has also been military activity on Iran's northern border with Azerbaijan, where the Revolutionary Guard, answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has run military drills over several days.

On Wednesday, the semiofficial Tasnim news agency published video of Guard troops installing pontoon bridges across the Aras River on the border, then driving tanks and trucks across it.

Azerbaijan has been locked in cyclical fighting with Armenia, with the latest round killing 176 soldiers in September.

Azerbaijan's ties to Israel have angered Tehran, particularly as 69% of all its major arms imports came from Israel in the period between 2016 to 2020, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Iran also wants to maintain its 44-kilometer border with landlocked Armenia -- something that could be threatened if Azerbaijan seizes new territory through warfare.

Then there's Russia's war on Ukraine. As Moscow chewed through its stockpile of precision-guided munitions in the monthslong war, it turned to Iran to supply it with low-cost "suicide'' drones. They function like a slow-moving cruise missile, buzzing by close to the ground before diving in and exploding against a target on impact.

In Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, Iran's Shahed-136 drones -- known for their distinctive triangle-shaped design -- have blown up apartment buildings and other targets. Iran and Russia have denied Tehran has supplied the drones -- but Khamenei in a speech on Wednesday telegraphed his approval of their deadly capabilities on the battlefield.

"A few years ago, when photographs of our advanced missile and drones were released, some said that they were Photoshopped," Khamenei said, according to a transcript on his official website. "But now they're saying: 'Iranian drones are very dangerous, why are you selling it to so and so? Why are you giving it to so and so?'"

The White House on Thursday alleged Iranian troops are directly engaged on the ground'' in Crimea to support Moscow's drone strikes on Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Iran's nuclear program continues to accumulate more highly enriched uranium.

Amid the continuing demonstrations, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price recently described efforts to create a road map to restore Iran's tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers as "not our focus right now."

While critics of Iran's crackdown on protesters applaud Washington's shift in language, a prolonged failure to restore the nuclear deal also raises the nuclear proliferation risks posed by Tehran -- potentially another trigger point for regional tensions.

Iran now enriches uranium up to 60% purity -- a short step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iranian officials evenly have openly discussed pursuing a bomb in recent months, something once considered taboo.

Israel has warned it will never allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon -- and the country has carried out airstrikes in the past to destroy atomic programs in Iraq and Syria. That opens the risk for a wider conflict even as tensions over Iran's program have set the region at a low boil of violent incidents since 2019.

Meanwhile, the United States continues to signal it remains ready to use force in the region if needed. Flyovers by nuclear-capable B-52 bombers begun under President Donald Trump's administration have continued under President Joe Biden.

And early Thursday, the U.S. military's Central Command acknowledged its top commander boarded a nuclear-armed U.S. ballistic missile submarine in the Arabian Sea -- an unusual visit to one of America's top weapons in its atomic arsenal near Iran.
A series of forums on school safety will include a meeting in Onondaga County.

In a news release, the Assembly Minority Task Force on School Safety & Security said it will collect feedback in response to acts of violence in schools and to effectively address measures to keep students and educators safe.

Education professionals, mental-health experts, parents, law-enforcement officials and other community stakeholders are encouraged to offer suggestions and solutions to improve school safety and security. At the conclusion of the forums, a report including a summary of findings and targeted solutions will be generated and brought to the Legislature and presented to the governor.

The Central New York Regional Forum will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, at Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES main campus in the Small Seneca Conference Room at 110 Elwood Davis Road, Liverpool. The meeting will be hosted by Assemblyman John Lemondes.

The most strategic way to improve any segment of public policy is with information, collaboration and strategy. That is what we are aiming for here with these important student safety forums, Assemblyman Joseph Giglio, a former member of law enforcement and a co-chair of the task force, said in a statement. With insight from principal stakeholders  particularly parents, administrators, school faculty and staff  and local officials and law enforcement, we will better be able to address this important topic. I look forward to working with them, and hearing about their 'best practices,' as we continue to build a better, safer New York in the hopes of giving parents peace of mind when they send their children off to learn each day.

For more information about the task force, contact the Assembly Minority Office of Public Affairs at (518) 455-5073.
At least 150 people including children have been killed in two days of fighting in the latest ethnic clashes over land disputes in Sudan's southern Blue Nile state, a medic said Thursday.

The fighting is some of the worst in recent months, and crowds took to the streets of the Blue Nile state capital Damazin in protest, chanting slogans condemning a conflict that has left hundreds dead this year.

Clashes in Blue Nile broke out last week after reported arguments over land between members of the Hausa people and rival groups, with residents reporting hundreds fleeing intense gunfire and homes set ablaze.

The fighting centered around the Wad al-Mahi area near Roseires, about 500 kilometers south of the capital, Khartoum.

"A total 150 people including women, children and elderly were killed between Wednesday and Thursday," said Abbas Moussa, head of Wad al-Mahi hospital. "Around 86 people were also wounded in the violence."

On Thursday, hundreds marched through Damazin, some calling for the state governor to be sacked, witnesses said.

"No, no to violence," the demonstrators chanted.

Eddie Rowe, the United Nations aid chief for Sudan, said he was "deeply concerned" at ongoing fighting, reporting that "an unconfirmed 170 people have been killed and 327 have been injured" since the latest unrest began Oct. 13.

'Alarmed'

The U.N. mission in Sudan said it was alarmed by the resurgence of conflict in Blue Nile, a region awash with guns bordering South Sudan and Ethiopia, that is still struggling to rebuild after decades of civil war.

Last week, clashes in the same area of Blue Nile sparked by a dispute over land issues left at least 13 people dead and 24 injured, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Authorities imposed an overnight curfew in a bid to contain the violence.

Sudan is grappling with deepening political unrest and a spiraling economic crisis since last year's military coup, led by army chief Abdel-Fattah Burhan.

The military power grab upended a transition to civilian rule launched after the 2019 ouster of strongman Omar al-Bashir, who ruled for three decades.

"Sustainable peace won't be possible without a fully functional credible government that prioritizes local communities' needs including security, and addresses the root causes of conflict," the U.N. added.

A surge in ethnic violence in recent months has highlighted the security breakdown in Sudan since the coup.

More than 546 people were killed and more than 211,000 forced to flee their homes in inter-communal conflicts across the country from January to September, according to the U.N.

Thousands forced to flee

Fighting between the Hausa people and other groups first broke out in July, with about 150 people recorded as dead and about 125 wounded until early October, according to a toll reported by OCHA.

The July clashes erupted after Hausa members requested the creation of a "civil authority," that rival groups saw as a means of gaining access to land.

The clashes also triggered angry protests across Sudan, with the Hausa people demanding justice for those killed.

By late July, senior leaders agreed to cease hostilities. Clashes broke out again in September.

In a separate conflict, violence broke out earlier this week around Lagawa in West Kordofan between the Nuba and Arab Misseriya groups, also in the south of Sudan, some 580 kilometers southwest of Khartoum.

The government's Humanitarian Aid Commission reported 19 dead and 34 injured in that conflict, according to the U.N., with 36,500 people fleeing the violence.

The army accused a holdout rebel group of shelling Lagawa on Tuesday, wounding two members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Three days before the Chinese Communist Party convened its 20th congress, a 48-year-old man draped protest banners from Beijing's Sitong Bridge bearing messages that were visible from one of the city's busiest transportation routes.

The handwritten banners called for students and workers to strike and remove the "dictator and state traitor Xi Jinping."

Then Peng Lifa, whose online name is Peng Zaizhou, further challenged China's President Xi Jinping, shouting through a loudspeaker, "We want to eat. We want freedom. We want votes!"

International media have covered Peng's Oct. 13 protest, but China's official media remain silent, and officials are attempting to censor online references to it, focusing instead on the party meeting held once every five years. This session is widely expected to result in an extraordinary third term for Xi Jinping as CCP general secretary. A spokesperson for Chinas Foreign Ministry, when asked about the protest at the daily press briefing on Oct. 14, said she knew nothing about it.

Yet news of Peng's protest spread in China, and other protest signs have since appeared. Due to the dense coverage of surveillance cameras in China, however, most of them have been found in public bathrooms and locations without closed-circuit TV monitoring.

Many WeChat users were temporarily or permanently banned from the platform for posting or reposting images or text messages about the banners. Authorities blocked countless words deemed sensitive, including "Sitong Bridge," "strike" and "warrior." Almost overnight, additional security guards were deployed to watch overpasses throughout Beijing around the clock.

At least one man is ready to come to Peng's aid. Mo Shaoping, a Beijing-based lawyer who served as a defense attorney for Chinese government critic and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, told VOA Mandarin that he would represent Peng if asked by Peng's family.

According to Mo, Peng is suspected of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," "inciting subversion of state power," and "subverting state power"  the most serious charge. Authorities have not commented on Peng's case.

Spreading Peng's words

Gu Guoping, a retired university teacher in Shanghai, has been reposting pictures and videos of Peng's anti-Xi slogans on his Twitter account "Mr. Gu (Fanmin)" since Oct. 13. On Saturday, he reposted slogans and leaflets found in Beijing's public restrooms. These have been deleted, as have his reposts of overseas protests against the CCP and Xi and of calls for the release of Peng by students attending overseas universities. His new account contains some of his reposts on the overpass protest. Police arrested Gu on Monday.

On Tuesday, Hu Jia, a Beijing-based dissident who had been under house arrest for several years because of his human rights advocacy and outspoken criticism of CCP authorities, told VOA Mandarin that the terms of his detention had changed.

He had been allowed to go shopping or visit his parents in another part of Beijing, but he was always followed by plainclothes police.

But, as commonly happens to dissidents before politically important events such as the party congress, Hu's house-arrest status changed, and he was forced to temporarily leave his residence so he could be more easily monitored. In Hu's case, he was made to travel to the southwestern province of Sichuan.

On a phone call with VOA Mandarin, Hu sounded out of breath, saying that he couldn't talk much because state security officers were nearby.

When asked if he had heard about the Sitong Bridge protest in Beijing and Peng Lifa, he replied, "I really admire him."

In addition to Hu, veteran Beijing reporter Gao Yu, Beijing human rights activist Li Meiqing, and former prosecutor and dissident Shen Liangqing, in Anhui province, were among the many taken on forced trips during the party congress.

Over the past few days, many internet influencers have taken to Twitter and YouTube to comment on the protest and appeal for public support.

On the day of the overpass protest, Wang Dan, a political scientist and former leader of the June 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, told VOA Mandarin that the banners were significant.

"In such a dark era, when almost everyone remains silent, the courage of this brave man to stand up for himself is extremely astonishing," Wang said. "It is not an exaggeration to call him a contemporary Tank Man," he added, referring to the iconic photo of the still-unidentified person who confronted Chinese army tanks deployed to quell the Tiananmen protests.

"Regardless of the future of this man, this feat has and will go down in history," Wang continued. "It will tell future generations that even in the darkest of times, there are people who will stand up for themselves. This warrior is doing justice for 1.4 billion Chinese people and is a representative of the Chinese soul."
The top U.S. and Russian defense officials spoke by phone for the first time in months Friday, as Russian officials indicated a new openness to possible negotiations and as Ukrainian forces edged closer to the Russian-occupied southern port city of Kherson.

The United States and Russia both issued readouts of the call between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu, agreeing the focus of the conversation was the war in Ukraine.

According to the Pentagon readout, Austin "emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine."

A Kremlin readout noted the two officials "discussed international security problems, notably the situation in Ukraine."

Prior to Friday's call, the last time Austin and Shoygu spoke was May 13, when the U.S. defense secretary called for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine.

The latest conversation came as the Kremlin appeared eager to signal it was open to talks.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been open to negotiations from "the very beginning."

Putin "tried to initiate talks with both NATO and the United States even before the special military operation," Peskov added, using the Russian term for its war in Ukraine.

Earlier Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also appeared to raise hopes for talks, saying Putin now appeared to be "much softer and more open to negotiations."

U.S. and NATO officials have said repeatedly that the quickest way for Putin to end the fighting would be for him to pull Russian forces from Ukraine, something the Russian leader has refused to do.

Western officials have likewise said the terms for any settlement would have to be agreed upon by Ukraine, which has vowed to retake all territories currently occupied by Russia, including Crimea, which was seized by Russia in 2014.

Despite the apparent Russian overtures, Moscow has consistently refused to negotiate the return of four Ukrainian regions that it annexed last month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also ruled out any talks with Moscow as long as Putin remains in power.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that there was no indication Putin wants to engage in meaningful diplomacy.

He said at a press conference in Washington with his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna, "Every indication is that, far from being willing to engage in meaningful diplomacy, President Putin continues to push in the opposite direction."

In the meantime, Ukrainian forces Friday continued to press their advantage against Russian forces in the Kherson region, targeting Russian resupply routes across the Dnieper River.

A spokesperson for Ukraines southern operational command said its forces struck a key bridge late Thursday, as well as a number of ferry crossings and pontoon bridges being used by Russia to supply its forces in Kherson.

Russia accused Ukraine on Friday of killing at least four civilians during an attack at a ferry crossing in the region. Ukraine said it had fired in the area but only during curfew hours when civilians were not supposed to be out.

An official with Khersons Moscow-installed regional administration, Kirill Stremousov, said in a video he posted on Telegram: Today we are preparing the city of Kherson as a fortress for defense and are ready to defend to the last.

Dam at risk

Zelenskyy on Thursday night said Russia was preparing to blow up a key dam in the Kherson region.

In a televised address, he accused Russia of mining the Nova Kakhovka dam. Destroying the dam would flood the Dnieper River and halt the advance of Ukrainian troops.

"Now everyone in the world must act powerfully and quickly to prevent a new Russian terrorist attack. Destroying the dam would mean a large-scale disaster," he warned.

His ambassador at the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, told a meeting of the Security Council on Friday that the plant holds about 18 million cubic meters of water.

"If Russian terrorists blow up this dam, more than 80 settlements including Kherson, with hundreds of thousands of people living there, will be in an area of rapid flooding, he warned. He said it could also cut off the supply of water that cools the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which comes from the Kakhovkas reservoir.

Kyslytsya called for an international observer mission to be sent to the Kakhovka facility. He said it was also necessary that the Ukrainian personnel be able to return, and that the dam and its surroundings are professionally demined.

Russias envoy accused Ukraine of targeting the dam with American-supplied HIMARS rockets. Vassily Nebenzia told the council he had sent a letter to the United Nations calling on it to prevent this horrendous provocation.

Iranian drone allegations

Also Friday, France, Germany and Britain called for the U.N. to investigate allegations that Russia is using Iranian drones for attacks in Ukraine.

A letter from the French, German and British missions to the U.N. cited significant open-source evidence, including photographs and video, of Russia deploying Mohajer and Shahed series UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] in Ukraine.

They argued that the transfer of such weapons violated U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which allows transfers of restricted items to or from Iran only when approved on a case-by-case basis by the Security Council. No such approval has been sought.

"The intent behind these attacks is clear, British Deputy Ambassador James Kariuki told the council. Russia is seeking to subjugate Ukraine by terrorizing civilians, and it is doing it by using weaponry obtained from Tehran in violation of Resolution 2231.

Iran has categorically rejected the allegations, calling them part of a disinformation campaign against it, while Russia says it manufactured the drones.

Russian envoy Nebenzia threatened to reconsider our entire package of cooperation with the U.N. secretariat if it carried out an investigation.

VOAs Margaret Besheer contributed to this report from the U.N. VOAs Carla Babb contributed from the Pentagon. Some information came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
"The incredibly brave women of Iran" deserve our support, said Canadas foreign minister Thursday as she hosted a virtual meeting with a group of her female counterparts from around the world.

The women of Iran are speaking clearly. No longer will they tolerate the regimes vision of women in society, Melanie Joly said.

The gathering addressed the monthlong protests that began with the death of Mahsa Amini last month in Iran while in police custody.

Joly said the gathering "shows global solidarity for Iranian women and tells the Iranian regime that the world is watching.

"We have a responsibility to help amplify the voices of women in Iran, she said.

Iran has accused countries that have expressed support for the protests of meddling in its internal affairs.

Stella Ronner-Grubacic, the EU ambassador for gender and diversity, tweeted, Important signal of international solidarity w/#IranianProtests today at the initiative of #Canada's FM @melaniejoly. Discussion on the need to be vocal in our support, amplifying the voices of #IranianWomen.

The #EU position on brutal repression of protests following death of #MashaAmini is clear. I am truly pleased to have been invited to observe this meeting of #femaleforeignministers, Ronner-Grubacic added.

Female foreign ministers from Germany, Chile, New Zealand and Norway were expected to attend.

Nahayat Tizhoosh, of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., tweeted Thursday that among the speakers at the virtual conference were Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Homa Hoodfar, a professor emerita at Concordia University in Montreal, who was once imprisoned in Iran's notorious Evin prison, and Asa Regner, U.N. assistant secretary-general.

The female officials were set to hear from women of Iranian heritage and to discuss ways to coordinate efforts supporting Iranians.

Amini, a 22-year-old woman from Irans Kurdistan region, was arrested on September 13 by the so-called morality police for improper wearing of the hijab. She died three days later while in police custody.

Iran's religious leaders have tried to portray the unrest as part of a breakaway uprising by the Kurdish minority threatening the nation's unity, rather than as a protest of clerical rule.

Some material for this article came from Reuters.
The Biden administration's announcement earlier this month that it would ban the transfer of advanced U.S. semiconductor technology to China continues to reverberate through global markets. The ruling by the Department of Commerce affects not only U.S. firms that sell to China but any company whose products contain American semiconductor technology.

In mainland China, according to Bloomberg News, officials from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have been summoning executives from domestic semiconductor manufacturers to assess how being deprived of high-tech manufacturing tools from overseas would impact their businesses. And companies that rely on imports of high-end semiconductors are assessing the viability of their businesses going forward.

In the U.S., semiconductor companies and other tech firms that count China among their largest single markets are facing potentially severe damage to their revenues. Other companies that manufacture tech products in China are having to recall U.S. employees because the ban also bars "U.S. persons" from supporting technology covered by the ban.

Internationally, large chipmakers, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and South Korea's Samsung, as well as Netherlands-based ASML, which makes chip manufacturing equipment, are reassessing their business with China as they explore how deeply the new rules will cut into their sales.

"It really is reshaping the market," said James Lewis, senior vice president and director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The Koreans, the Taiwanese and some American companies are really nervous about it. I mean, everyone's asking, 'What can I still sell to China?' And in some cases, the answer is 'nothing,'" he told VOA.

Targeting China's military

The Biden administration has characterized the ban as a national security measure, saying that withholding highly sophisticated semiconductors from China will hamper the development of Chinese weapons and surveillance technology.

The trouble is that the same technology that goes into Chinese weapons systems is also necessary for other goods, including electric vehicles, an area in which China is significantly further advanced than the U.S.

It remains unclear precisely how U.S. authorities will enforce the ban. It primarily targets the most advanced chip technology available, meaning that "mature" chip technology  older and less sophisticated chips  will not be affected.

Where the U.S. draws that line, however, could determine whether Chinese businesses such as smartphone manufacturers and commercial aerospace companies are left alone or devastated.

'Cold war' tactic

Experts and pundits saw the imposition of the tough new ban as a dramatic escalation of the Biden administration's efforts to keep China from being able to advance toward technological parity with the U.S.

Writing for the American news publication Foreign Policy, Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the move "looks increasingly drawn from the Cold War playbook." He also noted that "the new restrictions, which will be fully implemented as soon as Oct. 21, go well beyond any previous measures by seeking to freeze China at a backward state of semiconductor development and cut Chinese companies off from U.S. industry expertise."

In the Financial Times, U.S. national editor and columnist Edward Luce wrote that "Joe Biden this month launched a full-blown economic war on China."

"His escalation  marks a final break with decades of U.S. foreign policy that assumed China's global integration would tame its rise as a great power," he added.

China reacts

Speaking at the start of the Chinese Communist Party's five-year congress Sunday, during which he is expected to be named to an extraordinary third term as party leader, Xi Jinping did not address the ban directly. However, he did promise to step up investment in areas that would help his country achieve "technology self-reliance."

"China will move faster to launch a number of major national projects that are of strategic, big-picture and long-term importance," Xi said.

In a statement provided to VOA by the Chinese embassy in the U.S., spokesperson Liu Pengyu said that he was not aware of any specific meetings being held in China.

"I would like to note that what the U.S. is doing is purely 'sci-tech hegemony.' It seeks to use its technological prowess as an advantage to hobble and suppress the development of emerging markets and developing countries," Liu said. "The U.S. probably hopes that China and the rest of the developing world will forever stay at the lower end of the industrial chain. This will disrupt the global supply chain and industrial chain, and the final result will hurt itself and others alike."

Industry concerned

Semiconductor companies have reacted carefully to the Biden administration's decision. Although they are acknowledging the government's concerns, they are signaling frustration that they were neither given clear guidance about how the ban will be applied nor given an opportunity to consult with the Commerce Department before it was put into place.

In a statement provided to VOA, SEMI, a trade group representing the semiconductor industry, said that its members understand the United States' national security concerns. In addition, it said, "We are currently evaluating the potential effects of the Commerce Department's unilateral controls on the semiconductor industry in the U.S. and abroad. We plan to provide feedback to the government on these rules, as they were not previously published for public comment."

"We believe it is vitally important that the U.S. government implements these rules in close collaboration with and input from our key international partners in order to limit unintended adverse consequences that could reverberate through the domestic supply chain of this critical industry."
To Ali, it seemed like a great way to make more money. The 23-year-old earned $350 per month as a cleaner in a factory at home in Malaysia. But in April, he was purportedly offered a job in Cambodia making four times as much working in finance, despite having no prior experience in the field.

Shortly after flying to Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, Ali realized he had been duped. His passport was taken, and he was driven to a compound where he says he was trapped. Armed guards stood by the doorways to prevent him from fleeing.

"I was their slave," said Ali, whose name has been changed because he fears the syndicate he escaped from might come after him.

He slept in tight quarters with other victims who were all forced to work 15 hours a day in an online fraud factory, trying to coax people into cryptocurrency scams. They met the people they targeted through social media, as well as dating apps, and they tried to develop an online friendship or romance to gain their trust. But Ali says he was such a bad con man that he was frequently assaulted by his captors.

"The punishments are like the ones during the time of the pharaohs [of ancient Egypt]," Ali said. He described getting beaten across his face, arms, stomach and legs.

"I cried, I asked for help from Allah to ease my situation so I can get out of this hell," Ali said. "They were cruel. They hit me so hard that I was dazed. They gave me black eyes."

Victim advocacy groups say Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia are major hubs for these scam centers because they have lawless areas.

"Money talks in these places and they can payoff local authorities," said Elisa Warner a communications specialist with the Global Anti-Scam Organization. Warner said the people who control these operations are typically Chinese nationals and the number of trafficking victims from across Asia trapped inside "might be well into the tens of thousands." Cambodia recently conducted raids on many alleged scam centers freeing more than a thousand victims.

"That's winning the battle but not the war," Warner said. "We believe the operations that were raided picked up and moved elsewhere."

The Malaysia International Humanitarian Organization told VOA there are probably between one and two thousand Malaysians trapped in fraud factories in Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia  based on information it received from current victims and some who were recently freed.

During the past several months, hundreds of Malaysian victims have flown home after escaping, being rescued or in some cases their families paid tens of thousands of dollars in ransom fees.

"I would say it's modern-day slavery," said Michael Chong, head of the Malaysian Chinese Association Complaints Department, which helps bring victims home and tries to prevent more Malaysians from falling into this trap.

While scams and human trafficking have been around for generations, Chong said there has been a significant increase in the number of victims from Malaysia this year. They're often lured by social media posts promising high paying jobs.

Chong said the syndicates target Malaysia's ethnic Chinese. Even though they make up less than a quarter of Malaysia's population, they're more than 80 percent of the country's victims because they can often speak Chinese and English.

"The more languages they know the more people they can scam," Chong said.

Victims' families and activists have held demonstrations to draw attention to this issue.

"We want all of the victims freed and brought home," said Hishamuddin Hashim secretary-general of the Malaysia International Humanitarian Organization which coordinated several demonstrations. "We need the international community to get more involved to put a stop to this."

Ali said he escaped his captors in Cambodia during a brief period when he was left unguarded while being transferred from one syndicate to another after being sold. He said he's lucky that he got away after two months in captivity because many others who try to run away are killed.

Ali warns people that if a job opportunity sounds too good to be true then it probably is.

"If you get that type of offer don't go," Ali said. "I have been conned so I know that you shouldn't listen to their lies."
The Dominican Republic has approved a request by a trading firm to export 20,500 gallons of diesel to Haiti for use principally in hospitals, according to letters seen by Reuters, as gangs continue blocking a key fuel terminal in Haiti.

Fuel shortages created by the gang blockade have left Haitian hospitals without diesel to power their generators, which are the only way they can ensure consistent electricity due to chronic outages in Haiti's power grid.

Most hospitals have curtailed or halted operations in recent weeks, just as the country is facing a cholera outbreak on top of a humanitarian crisis driven by shortages of food and water.

A firm called AFA Trading in an Oct. 17 letter to the Dominican industry ministry sought permission to export the fuel via the land border between the two countries, with the intent of supplying three hospitals and one manufacturing facility.

The industry ministry approved the request in a separate letter of the same date seen by Reuters. The letters describe the operation as a re-export, indicating the fuel in question was originally imported to the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican industry ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters was unable to obtain comment from AFA Trading.

Haiti is facing acute fuel shortages due to a blockade by a coalition of gangs that are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. The United Nations has discussed sending a military force to confront the gangs and reopen the terminal.

The fuel shortages have halted almost all economic activity, grinding most transportation to a halt and forcing many hospitals to shut down or curtail their operations.
Godwin Mangudya was punched, slapped and burned with cigarettes. Assailants beat and kicked Toneo Rutsito so hard he lost a tooth. Their crime? Journalism.

The assaults on the Zimbabwean journalists came as they tried to cover political events. VOA journalist Mangudya was attacked by security personnel from the ruling ZANU-PF party, and Rutsito, an editor at a local publication, was beaten by its supporters.

They are among a growing number of journalists reporting violence in the run-up to the 2023 elections, with the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) saying around 30 journalists have been attacked, arrested or harassed this year.

During the same week in October that Mangudya was beaten, four other journalists were attacked or obstructed, MISA and the Committee to Protect Journalists reported.

In 2022, Zimbabwe dropped seven points in the global Press Freedom Index to 137th out of 180 countries, where No. 1 has the best conditions.

"The situation is worsening for journalists, said Tabani Moyo, director of MISA Zimbabwe. While this is always the case ahead of elections, this one is promising to be even more drastic and dire for the media, he told VOA.

'Dangerous trend'

We are seeing a dangerous trend of attacks, oftentimes orchestrated by the police and political parties, he said. The numbers show that covering any political story in Zimbabwe induces politically motivated attacks on the press.

In Mangudyas case, the reporter was on assignment for VOAs Studio 7 in Harare on October 8, covering the ZANU-PF central committee elections.

After showing his press credentials, Mangudya said, he was initially barred from entry to the event. Then an official agreed to an interview. At the conclusion of the interview, he was accosted by security personnel who said he should have left earlier. Mangudya explained that hed been granted an interview, whereupon the security folks took his phone, deleted the footage, sat him down on a chair and beat him.

They were slapping me in the face, on the head, and some were stabbing me with lit cigarettes, he said.

Mangudya said the assailants appeared to be ZANU-PF security.

Yolanda Lopez, VOAs acting director, appealed to officials to hold those responsible accountable.

We are deeply concerned about the unprovoked and unjustified assault on our reporter, Lopez said in a statement.

'All hell broke loose'

Rutsito, who edits the online magazine TechnoMag, was assaulted by what he described as ZANU-PF thugs August 25, while attempting to cover an event by an opposition party, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), near Gokwe.

He arrived to find ZANU-PF vehicles blocking the entrance to the rally, so he and his colleagues started filming. Thats when a mob of people in ruling-party regalia set upon them.

All hell broke loose. They dragged us out of the car, we were beaten  literally, it was more than 10 guys just beating you  with boots, just hitting you with whatsoever they can  I was screaming, trying just to cover my face, Rutsito told VOA.

He lost a front tooth, and a female colleague was knocked unconscious.

Asked for comment, ZANU-PF party representative Christopher Mutsvangwa said: As a party we encourage a congenial working environment for journalists so they can discharge their role without hindrance.

He directed specific questions about assaults to the government.

Dangers increase

One of Zimbabwes most renowned investigative journalists, Hopewell Chinono, whose multiple arrests on spurious charges have made international headlines, told VOA, The environment is certainly worse than what it was in 2020.

Journalists are being arrested on trumped-up charges and jailed without trial. Some journalists have been beaten up by ruling-party thugs and nothing has been done, he said.

Zimbabwe has been a difficult environment for journalists for decades, but after longtime President Robert Mugabe was ousted in 2017, some hoped that might change.

Despite promises of a new dispensation under current leader Emmerson Mnangagwa, critics say things are just as bad, if not worse.

Mnangagwas regime has openly been violent against journalists. Mugabe tried to hide it, said Chinono. Mnangagwas regime targets journalists who expose corruption and those who expose misrule and the violence.

Chinono added that violence against reporters could affect coverage of the election as well as the publics access to information about the polls.

Doing their duty

But both Mangudya and Rutsito are undeterred.

Ill continue with my job. Its not something that will stop me, said Mangudya. We will continue to soldier on and fight for our rights.

Rutsito echoed this, saying, It will get risky, it will get much more dangerous  but we need to get into the field.

Nyasha Chingono, a freelance journalist who writes for international media outlets, told VOA, In the run-up to any election, things tend to heat up.

He noted there are precautions reporters can take, including informing editors and colleagues of their location, wearing press insignia and sticking with other journalists.

While the majority of incidents involved the ruling party, the opposition is not exempt from such accusations.

In September, Ruvimbo Muchenje, a journalist for local website NewsHawks, was barred entry to a CCC event and thrown to the ground by security. Another reporter was also denied entry and harassed.

The CCC apologized, saying it was an error, but the Information Ministry was quick to condemn the opposition.

When asked about the incident, CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere referred VOA to its earlier statement that said security had been beefed up after explosives were thrown at opposition leader Nelson Chamisa's convoy and petrol bombs found at a venue.

The security team was trying to manage a large crowd whose members were fleeing, she said.

"In the midst of this emergency response effort, a misunderstanding arose between journalist Ruvimbo Muchenje and one of our security officers, leading to a regrettable incident of assault," the statement said, adding it had apologized to Muchenje.

Speaking more generally, Mahere told VOA, We know that ZANU-PF is running scared as we edge closer to elections and so journalists are constantly under attack.

Mahere said the CCC is concerned that attacks will prevent access to all political parties and compromise the freeness and fairness of the elections.

Monica Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwes information minister, said in a WhatsApp message that press freedom is enshrined in the countrys constitution.

However, journalists and media personnel cannot breach security protocols in the name of freedom of expression and access to information, she told VOA. Whoever has been harassed should report to the law enforcing agents and the law will take its course.

Both Mangudya and Rutsito reported their assaults to the police but said, so far, nothing had come of it.
Russia and Ukraine trade accusations that each is planning to destroy a massive dam on the Dnipro River. Whats at stake should the dam break? The United States says it has evidence that Iranian forces are on the ground in Crimea, supporting Russias war of aggression.
The war has changed the lives of millions of Ukrainians, especially women who have lost their loved ones. Karyna Synelnykova and Kateryna Karvatko lost their husbands on Ukraine's front line in the east, where the men were defending the country from Russian assault. Today they both carry on their husbands legacy and adapt to a new life. For VOA, Kyiv reporter Anna Chernikova has their story.
The licenses of two of Cayuga County's largest child care providers are pending revocation by the state.

Though the two providers expect to keep their licenses, their reviews by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services come amid several recent violations it found during inspections there.

According to the office's website, the day care license of the Cayuga Community College Child Care Center at 81 Wall St. in Auburn is "pending revocation and denial" as of June 3. The day care license of the E. John Gavras Center at 182 North St. in Auburn is "pending revocation" as of April 20. Both providers have been removed from the office's referral list as well.

Asked by The Citizen for more information on what prompted the reviews, the office declined comment, citing policy not to comment on "an ongoing investigation or active enforcement matter."

Amanda Gould, director of the Cayuga Community College Child Care Center, said in a statement to The Citizen that the incident that prompted the center's review took place in April. The employee involved no longer works at the center, which has a total capacity of 123 children. Gould declined further comment on the incident.

The college's Faculty-Student Association, which oversees the center, "worked through the appropriate legal process in this matter and implemented several corrective actions," Gould added.

"The safety of the children at the Cayuga Community College Child Care Center is the primary goal and responsibility of all Child Care Center employees," she said.

"During this time, the Child Care Center has continued offering excellent child care services to the greater Auburn community, and will continue to do so," she continued. "We expect this matter to be resolved in the coming weeks, and that the license for the Child Care Center will remain in place."

On its website, the Office of Children and Family Services lists four violations it found at the Child Care Center during an April 22 inspection triggered by a complaint. Two have been corrected. The other two violations listed are corporal punishment and not properly separating children when their behavior is a dangerous or disruptive.

The office's website lists only the regulation the provider violated, not what they did to violate it, and the office again declined comment when asked that by The Citizen.

More uncorrected violations at the Child Care Center were found after inspections in May, August and September, including not immediately reporting of suspected child abuse or maltreatment to the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment; not immediately notifying parents and the office of serious incidents involving a child; not competently supervising children at all times; not taking precautions to eliminate health or safety hazards; and not reviewing the backgrounds of applicants for staff and volunteer positions.

The Child Care Center is one of the five largest child care providers in Cayuga County along with the E. John Gavras Center, which has a total capacity of 126 children.

The Gavras Center's executive director and CEO, Danielle Wright, told The Citizen its license is pending revocation due to an April incident where a 3-year-old child received a snack made at a facility that processes peanuts, to which the child is allergic. The child was "relatively fine," Wright said. They were not hospitalized and went home with their mother.

In compliance with the Office of Children and Family Services' review, the center is completing staff trainings on allergies and related topics, and has adopted a list of acceptable snacks. Wright anticipates the review being complete and the "pending revocation" status being lifted by December.

As for its violations, Wright said all those listed on the office's website have been corrected. If any are still listed as uncorrected, she continued, it's because of the turnaround time involved in the process. The provider must send documentation of corrections to the office, which then returns to the site for confirmation.

The violations at the Gavras Center include not competently supervising children, which the office has found there six times since April. Wright said the violation has happened when a staff member loses a line of sight on a child on the playground, for example. The food allergy incident was another example, as the staff person didn't notice the warning on the snack package.

The April incident also prompted a violation for not immediately notifying parents and the office of serious incidents. The parents were immediately notified, Wright said, but not the office.

The same violation was found in September after the center announced it was limiting the number of integrated preschool classrooms it operates due to the departure of a teacher certified in special education for ages 2 and younger. Again, Wright said, parents and school officials were immediately notified but not the office, prompting the violation.

Two more notification violations, and two violations for not immediately reporting suspected child abuse or maltreatment to the Statewide Central Register, stem from two incidents in October and August, Wright said. The center called Child Protective Services immediately upon learning of them, she continued. But because the center didn't learn of them until some time after the incidents happened, the violations were prompted. One incident was concluded to be unfounded, Wright added, and she has been told the other will be as well.

An additional violation on the Gavras Center's most recent inspection, Oct. 4, is not having a permanent director on site performing the duties of the position within 90 days of the departure of their predecessor. Wright said she has stepped into the child care program director position after the previous one accepted another job in June. While she's qualified to be the acting director, she explained, she doesn't have the educational degree required of the permanent position. That's what prompted the violation, she said, though the center has since hired a new child care director, correcting it.

Auburn center not closing, contrary to rumor caused by program cuts An Auburn center is facing a rumor that it's closing after limiting some of its programs due to new challenges. While the challenges are real,

Wright added that she doesn't believe the pending license revocation nor the violations contributed to the low enrollment that led the center to discontinue its toddler day care program this fall. She believes the main contributor is the Office of Children and Family Services raising day care pay rates by 33% in June.

"Definitely anyone can be aware of it," she said of the license status. "It's posted in our facility so parents can see it at any time in the entrances and exits. It's not something we've been hiding."

There may be a reason for the recent increase in the office's license reviews and day care violations, said Lori Schakow, executive director of Child Care Solutions in Auburn.

Office staff have not been able to inspect providers during much of the COVID-19 pandemic, Schakow told The Citizen. Before that, she believes regular inspections helped providers maintain compliance.

Schakow declined to comment specifically on the pending license revocations and violations at the Cayuga Community College Child Care Center and the E. John Gavras Center. But she said Child Care Solutions is available to help any Cayuga County providers maintain high quality and ensure the children in their care are safe.

The loss of either of two of the county's largest providers, or both, would "make a huge difference" on local parents, Schakow added.

"A lot of parents would be out of care," she said. "And I don't think there's anyone immediately in the pipeline ready to fill in and take their place."
Works by Ukrainian artists will be the highlight of the worlds largest outdoor sculpture exhibition, starting Friday in Sydney.

The annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition, near Bondi beach in Sydney, will raise money for the Australian-Ukrainian communitys humanitarian aid charity. The seaside gallery will show more than 100 exhibits from 16 countries from Oct. 21-Nov. 7.

Organizers of the event have said sculptures that are part of the Ukraine Showcase in Sydney are symbols of solidarity and resistance.

Colossus Holds Up the World by artist Egor Zigura is about the fragility of life and refers to Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2014. Another exhibit warns of the dangers of global warming.

The Ukrainian sculptures are curated by Viktoria Kulikova, the art director at the Abramovych Art Agency in Kyiv.

She told VOA the exhibition sends powerful messages of support to the people of Ukraine.

It is very important for us because it is about a relationship with Ukraine and Australia also, she said. It is also about solidarity with Ukraine, about culture, about resistance, about our unity, also.

Organizers of the exhibition on cliffs near Bondi beach say they want to remind Australians of the plight of Ukrainian refugees forced to flee Russias invasion.

About 400,000 visitors are expected to attend the exhibition, which has been held since 1997.

About 9,000 people displaced by the conflict have been granted visas in Australia. Australia is the largest non-NATO contributor of military aid to Ukraine.

It has sent missiles and armored personnel carriers as well as humanitarian supplies. The government has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russian institutions and its political and military leaders, including President Vladimir Putin.

Earlier this month, campaigners from the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations again called on Australia to declare the Russian government, military and its Federal Security Service, the FSB, terrorist organizations under Australian law.
A global money laundering and terrorism financing monitor Friday removed Pakistan from a list of countries under the "increased monitoring" process after four years for addressing its "strategic deficiencies" to combat the crimes.



The president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) made the announcement after a meeting at its headquarters in Paris, boosting the reputation of the South Asian nation which is struggling to deal with a troubled economy, ravaged by this year's catastrophic floods, and a balance-of-payment crisis.



"Pakistan has made significant improvements to strengthen the effectiveness of its framework for combating terrorist financing  as well as asset confiscation outcomes and [the] investigation and prosecuting [of] money laundering," T. Raja Kumar told reporters in the French capital.

"So, because of all of this collectively, FATF has decided at its Plenary to remove Pakistan from increased monitoring, the so-called gray list," Kumar said.



Pakistan was added to the list in 2018 due to strategic deficiencies FATF had identified in the country's anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing systems, giving Islamabad a wide-ranging reforms program to strengthen them.



Kumar praised Pakistan for successfully completing a mutually agreed action plan, adding, "there is high-level commitment and capacity to sustain" the reforms, which he said "are good for the stability and security of the country and indeed the region."



Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed Friday's decision by the global monitor.



"Pakistan exiting the FATF grey list is a vindication of our determined and sustained efforts over the years. I would like to congratulate our civil & military leadership as well as all institutions whose hard work led to today's success," Sharif wrote on Twitter.



The reforms FATF had outlined for Pakistan were largely implemented under former Prime Minister Imran Khan's government, which took office in August 2018 shortly after the country was placed on the gray list.



Khan was removed from power in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April, enabling the then-opposition leader Sharif to replace him as the prime minister of a coalition government.



Two large Pakistani banks, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), paid $225 million in 2017 and $55 million in 2022 respectively in fines imposed by regulators in the United States for compliance failures and anti-money laundering violations.



FATF is comprised of 37 countries and two regional organizations, as well as a global network of international partners, including the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.



The global monitor can call on international financial institutions to close their activities in, and association with, offending countries and push governments to apply financial sanctions if the country is downgraded from increased monitoring to the "high-risk" group, down to the FATF "blacklist."

Some information for this report came from Reuters.


Palestinian health officials say one person has been killed and three others wounded in overnight clashes in the West Bank city of Jenin with the Israeli military.

Witnesses say the clash occurred late Thursday as Israeli troops pushed into a Jenin refugee camp on an arrest raid. The Palestinian health ministry said Friday a Palestinian youth died shortly after being wounded by Israeli gunfire. Three others were wounded by gunfire.

The Israeli military said troops were attempting to arrest a suspected militant when the violence erupted. Suspects hurled explosive devices and fired shots at the security forces, who responded with live fire, the military said in a statement. It did not elaborate.

The latest violence follows months of tensions since Israeli forces began a crackdown in the West Bank in March after a series of deadly attacks by militants in Israel.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Iranian military personnel are "on the ground" in Ukraine, assisting the Russian military with drone operations that have been terrorizing the country and targeting power facilities, the Pentagon said Thursday.

"Our understanding is that they [Iranian forces] are on the ground in Crimea, assisting Russian military personnel as they conduct these drone operations in Ukraine," Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters.

When asked about Russia's denial that it uses Iran-made drones, Ryder responded, "It's obvious that they're lying." Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Since then, it has reopened old Soviet bases and trained troops there.

He added that Russia has turned to countries such as Iran and North Korea for additional ammunition and weapons because its weapons stockpiles, including precision-guided munitions, "are depleting."

He called out Iran for "exporting terror, not only in the Middle East region but now also to Ukraine."

NATO Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Geoana condemned Iran's behavior and called on Tehran to cease its involvement in Russia's invasion.

"No country should support in any way this kind of barbaric war," Geoana said during a virtual event held by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Also Thursday, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby blamed Iranian-made drones launched from Crimea for recent attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

"Russia has received dozens of UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] so far and will likely continue to receive additional shipments in the future," Kirby said.

Kherson

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday night accused Russia of preparing to blow up a hydropower plant in the Kherson region  an area illegally annexed by Russia and the recent focus of intense fighting.

Zelenskyy aide Mykhailo Podolyak said Russia was mining the Kakhovka dam and the transformers at the power plant, according to Agence France-Presse. Destroying the dam would flood the Dnieper River and halt the advance of Ukrainian troops.

But, Zelenskyy said, it also could destroy the North Crimean canal and cut off a water supply to Crimea.

Kherson was the first major city to be captured by Russia at the beginning of its invasion in late February and the largest one it still holds.

Russian-installed civilian officials have urged residents to flee, and massive evacuations began earlier this week, relocating 15,000 residents from the city and surrounding area as of Thursday, the officials said.

Kherson was one of four regions, along with Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, illegally annexed by Russia. President Vladimir Putin declared martial law in the four regions on Wednesday.

Damaged infrastructure

Ukraine restricted power use for the first time Thursday in response to Russian attacks that have damaged parts of the country's electrical infrastructure. The outage was scheduled so repairs could be made to some of the power plants damaged or destroyed by Russian missiles over the last several days.

Ukraine's power grid operator said that supply restrictions would be in place from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m., and as colder months approach, it may need to take such steps again.

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council met privately at the request of the United States, Britain and France to discuss the issue of Russia's use of Iranian-made drones in its war in Ukraine.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said that in the past week alone, more than 100 Iranian-made drones had slammed into power plants, sewage treatment plants, residential buildings, bridges and other targets in urban areas.

Washington, London and Paris say Tehran's supplying of these UAVs to Russia is a violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which allows for transfers of restricted items to or from Iran only when approved on a case-by-case basis by the Security Council. No such approval has been sought.

"We anticipate this will be the first of many conversations at the U.N. on how to hold Iran and Russia accountable for failing to comply with U.N. Security Council-imposed obligations," said Nate Evans, spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

"As was outlined during today's meeting, there is ample evidence that Russia is using Iranian-made UAVs in cruel and deliberate attacks against the people of Ukraine, including against civilians and critical civilian infrastructure," he said, adding that the procurement of arms was in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Ukrainian officials have said the UAVs used in waves of attacks during the past week included Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones that carry explosives and crash into their targets.

Iran's U.N. ambassador told reporters that his government categorically rejected the "unfounded and unsubstantiated claims," which he said were part of a disinformation campaign against his government.

Russia's deputy U.N. envoy told reporters that the allegations were "baseless." He said there had been no arms transfers in violation of the resolution, and that no Iranian drones had been supplied to Russia for use in Ukraine.

Margaret Besheer, Patsy Widakuswara and Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Protests broke out in restive southeastern Iran Friday, with demonstrators attacking banks, state media reported, as a senior cleric called for tough measures against demonstrators across the country.

The Islamic Republic has been gripped by five weeks of demonstrations that erupted after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last month.

On Friday, police arrested at least 57 people, described as "rioters," after protesters threw rocks and attacked banks in the city of Zahedan, provincial police chief Ahmad Taheri was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA.

State television said up to 300 protesters marched in the city after Friday prayers. It showed banks and shops with smashed windows.

Videos posted on social media purported to show thousands of protesters chanting "Death to the dictator," a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and "Death to Basijis," in reference to the Basij militia which has been widely used to crack down on protests. Reuters could not verify the videos.

Zahedan is the capital of the restive southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province which is the home of Iran's Baluch minority. Amnesty International has said security forces killed at least 66 people in a violent crackdown after Friday prayers in Zahedan on Sept. 30.

Sistan-Baluchistan, on the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, is a hotbed of Sunni Muslim militant activity against the Shiite-dominated government.

In Tehran, hardline cleric Ahmad Khatami said: "The judiciary should deal with the rioters - who betrayed the nation and poured water into the enemy's watermill - in such a way that others don't again fancy to riot."

"They have told deceived kids if they stay in the streets for a week the regime will fall. Dream on!" Khatami said in a Friday sermon, according to state media.

Iran has blamed "thugs" linked to "foreign enemies" for the unrest.

The nationwide protests have turned into one of the boldest challenges to Iran's clerical rulers since the 1979 revolution. Protesters have called for the downfall of the Islamic Republic, although the protests do not seem close to toppling the system.

Videos posted on social media and said to be from northwestern Tabriz showed protesters shouting "Disgraceful!" at riot police who shot tear gas to disperse them Friday.

Tabriz, Iran's sixth most populous city, is home to many from the Azeri ethnic minority.

The activist news agency HRANA said in a posting that 244 protesters had been killed in the unrest, including 32 minors.

It said 28 members of the security forces were killed and more than 12,500 people had been arrested as of Thursday in protests in 114 cities and towns and some 81 universities.

Meanwhile, CNN reported that the White House was in talks with billionaire Elon Musk about setting up SpaceX's satellite internet service Starlink in Iran.

The satellite-based broadband service could help Iranians circumvent government restrictions on accessing the internet and certain social media platforms. Iranian activists say videos of protests have been delayed because of the curbs.

Separately, Germany issued a travel warning for Iran, saying there was a real risk of being arbitrarily arrested and sentenced to long prison terms, above all for dual nationals. Fridays announcement raised the warning level for Iran travel, after Berlin strongly advised against it last month.

On Wednesday, an Iranian news agency said security forces had arrested 14 foreigners, including American, British and French citizens, for their involvement in the protests.
The British Defense Ministry says it is seeking to ensure retired members of the British Royal Air Force who were recruited via a South African company to train pilots in Chinas Peoples Liberation Army are fully aware of the risk of prosecution under the Official Secrets Act.

China has been recruiting former British military pilots to train their own personnel, Britains defense ministry said in a statement this week, warning that it erodes the UKs defense advantage and that steps are being taken to stop it.





The Ministrys Defense Intelligence Service issued a rare threat alert on Tuesday and its officials said that British pilots who transfer expertise to the Chinese military  possibly even teaching them how to defeat Western helicopters and warplanes  could be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act.



Many of the 30 pilots believed to be involved were lured to work in China with the promise of lucrative salaries, officials said. Pilots from other allied nations have also been targeted.



Armed Forces Minister James Heappey spoke to Sky News about Britains concerns.

There is no secret in their attempt to gain access to our secrets, and the recruitment of our pilots in order to understand the capability of our air force is clearly a concern to us, he said.

Multiple media outlets reported an unnamed Western official as saying many of the pilots were being recruited through the Test Flying Academy of South Africa, a private company in a remote, semidesert area in the Western Cape, which allegedly was acting as a headhunter for the Chinese.



The company has a long history of involvement with China, saying on its website that it provides training to cadets from various Chinese airlines, as part of a deal with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), a state-owned aerospace and defense conglomerate. The website also says the company has experience with several aircraft used by the Peoples Liberation Army.

Thomas Newdick, a writer specializing in air warfare at The Warzone, an American defense website, told VOA the company had made no secret of its relations with the Chinese on the commercial side.

They have broader relationships with Chinese aviation industry, including parts of the industry that are responsible for military aviation as well, so its not a huge leap to imagine they may also have connections with the Peoples Liberation Army as well, he said.

Darren Olivier, director at the African Defense Review, said the aviation center has been operating openly for a number of years.

With the caveat that we dont have specific detail on what type of training the companys been providing, whats been revealed so far does indeed seem legal, he said.

Tensions rising

However, he said, what made it controversial was that this kind of training would dramatically help accelerate Chinas military aircraft programs. It comes as geopolitical tensions between China and the West are on the rise, he noted.



A receptionist at the academy told VOA on Wednesday that she was aware of the controversy surrounding the company and would pass on a request for comment. Multiple emails then went unanswered.



However, the academys president, Jean Rossouw, told Business Insider South Africa that no laws had been broken and the company did not deal with any client projects that could include classified information. He said the company had never recruited pilots directly from the British military, but that they were all retired pilots already working as contractors in the Middle East.



Jasmine Opperman, a South African security consultant, said there are many former army personnel in South Africa who provided training or acted as private military recruiters. But she said the reports about the flight academy were concerning.

The problem for South Africa is you have a registered South African company responsible for training now acting as a go-between for two foreign entities, she said.

In his speech to the Communist Party Congress in Beijing this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of security and the need to grow the countrys military  the worlds second largest after that of the United States. He also reiterated that China reserved the right to use force, if necessary, regarding Taiwan.
A Russian court has ordered the arrest of television journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, Interfax news agency said, more than six months after she flashed a sign on air saying the Kremlin was lying about the Ukraine war.

Ovsyannikova already has fled Russia, her lawyer said this week, after refusing to observe house arrest measures to which she had been subjected.

"With regard to Ovsyannikova, the court ordered her held in custody for one month and 29 days, imposed from the moment the accused is extradited to the Russian Federation or from the moment of her arrest in the Russian Federation," Interfax quoted court officials as saying.

It said the court had refused a request earlier this month from investigators to issue an arrest warrant.

Ovsyannikova had earlier been subject to house arrest on allegations of spreading false information about the armed forces after staging a one-person protest near the Kremlin.

Security forces raided her home in August.

Ovsyannikova faces up to 10 years in prison under the rules on spreading false information that were approved by parliament after the start of the conflict on February 24. She said in an online post this month that she had fled as she had no case to answer.

Ukraine-born Ovsyannikova burst onto the studio platform of Russia's First Channel television during a live broadcast in March holding a placard saying "No war. Stop the war."

She was initially fined for her outburst.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday called British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who is stepping down from office after just six weeks of her turbulent tenure, a good partner in supporting Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression.

Biden declined to weigh in on her resignation.

Thats for her to decide, he told reporters at the White House moments before he boarded presidential helicopter Marine One on his way to Pennsylvania. But look, she was a good partner on Russia and Ukraine, and the British are going to solve their problem.

Biden dismissed any potential spillover effects from the political turmoil of the United States oldest ally.

I dont think theyre that consequential, he said.

Truss stepped down after her unfunded tax-cutting agenda crashed the British pound, raised borrowing costs and triggered financial market turmoil.

Strong allies

Biden, who had spoken by phone with Truss to discuss Ukraine and met with her in person on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September, had made clear he opposed Trusss economic plans to cut taxes on the super wealthy.

I disagreed with the policy, but thats up to Great Britain to make that judgment, not me, he told reporters last week.

Earlier Thursday, the White House released a statement expressing Bidens support for the British government and his appreciation for Truss.

The United States and the United Kingdom are strong allies and enduring friends  and that fact will never change, the statement said.

Observers agree. Of all the issues that divide the British Conservative Party, they all agree on the centrality of the U.K.'s relationship with the U.S., said David H. Dunn, chair of the department of political science and international studies at the University of Birmingham.

Following Brexit, the Conservative Party became more right wing, with more libertarian members among its ranks, Dunn told VOA.

This, together with an antipathy towards the EU, makes them even more predisposed to look across the Atlantic for their natural ally rather than across the Channel to Europe, Dunn said.

The Conservative Party holds a big majority in parliament and need not call a nationwide election for another two years. They are scheduled to elect a new leader by October 28; former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak is set to compete for the post against ex-Defense Minister Penny Mordaunt.

Boris Johnson, who was ousted as prime minister in July following mass resignations by his ministers, is also reportedly weighing a comeback.

Whoever emerges as the next prime minister will carry the burden of Britain's weakness at home, said Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the U.S. and Americas program at Chatham House.

This inevitably means that the new PM will be far more inclined to align itself closely with the U.S., and I would guess, also to sort out a good relationship with Europe, Vinjamuri told VOA.

Support for Ukraine

Despite the change in leadership, the U.K. will remain a steadfast supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Jason Moyer, program associate for the global Europe program at the Wilson Center.

The U.K. is the third-largest provider of military and financial support to Ukraine, behind only the United States and the European Union, and is hosting a training program for up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers, Moyer told VOA.

On Tuesday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Ben Wallace, the U.K.s secretary of state for defense. The two underscored their commitment to continue providing Ukraine with security assistance.

Observers say that Britains next leadership will likely adhere to a more mainstream conservative foreign policy  tough on Russia and China and recognizing that Europe is essential to Britain's economic success.
Britain expects China to waive diplomatic immunity for officials if the U.K. police determine there are grounds to charge them for an attack on a Hong Kong protester, a British Foreign Office minister said on Thursday.

A protest against the Chinese Communist Party's 20th Party Congress occurred last Sunday outside the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester, a city in the north of England. Video of the incident appears to show Chinese officials dragging a protester, former Hong Kong resident Bob Chan, onto consulate grounds before assaulting him. Chan was hospitalized overnight due to injuries, according to Manchester police.

Manchester police officers patrolling the protest of some 30 to 40 people intervened fearing "for the safety of the man  and removed the victim from the Consulate grounds," according to a police press release.

The episode was "absolutely unacceptable" as the protests were "peaceful and legal," Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told Britain's Sky News on Thursday. "They were on British soil."

What happened outside the consulate and on its grounds is now a diplomatic incident when relations between China and the U.K., which turned over control of Hong Kong to Beijing in 1997, are touchy. Hong Kong had been a colony and dependent territory of the British Empire since 1841. Since June 2020, when China tightened its authoritarian grip on the once freewheeling Hong Kong, U.K. has issued thousands of British National Overseas (BNO) visas to those born in Hong Kong prior to the handover, citing "China's failure to live up to its international obligations with respect to Hong Kong."

Chan, who left Hong Kong in March under a special entry arrangement, is on a BNO visa. He told VOA Cantonese that he was dragged into the consulate. "I was punched and kicked. I have bruises on my face. There was bleeding and swelling. My hair was pulled," he said on Sunday soon after the incident. "There are many bruises on my neck and back. I feel some pain at my waist."

Answering an urgent question in the U.K. Parliament on Thursday, Foreign Office Minister Jesse Norman said the government had summoned the Chinese charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in London to demand an explanation, as the Chinese ambassador was not in Britain.

"I've instructed our ambassador to deliver a clear message directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing about the depth of concern with the apparent actions by Consulate General staff," Norman told Parliament.

"Let me be clear that if the police determine there are grounds to charge any officials, we would expect the Chinese Consulate to waive immunity for those officials," Norman said. "If they do not, then diplomatic consequences will follow."

Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, told VOA Cantonese that the latest comments by the U.K. were "encouraging."

"But there's no way [the People's Republic of China] is going to waive immunity," he said. "The most likely outcome for the consul general is therefore now expulsion, and it's the very minimum we can do to show Hong Kongers that the U.K. is a country that will protect them."

The Greater Manchester Police are investigating the incident. No arrests have been made. "We are liaising with national policing and diplomatic partners," the department said.

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said, "I can assure the public that all viable avenues will be explored to bring to justice anyone we believe is culpable for the scenes we saw outside the Chinese Consulate on Sunday."

At a press conference on Wednesday, Chan said the injuries at his waist were the most painful and sitting down causes him pain. He denounced the assault as "barbaric."Chan also said he lost sleep worrying that the safety of his family may be jeopardized. "This incident made me worry about my own safety, but it does not mean I won't protest again," he said at the press conference. "I like to say that the tougher the oppression, the stronger my will is to stand up, because this is my freedom, and it should not be diminished."

Under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, diplomatic staff enjoy immunity to any form of arrest or detention unless the sending state waived their immunity. While diplomatic premises in the U.K. are part of Britain's territory, they are "inviolable and may not be entered without the consent of the Ambassador or Head of Mission," according to the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service.

Zheng Xiyuan, the Chinese consul-general who was seen in video footage pulling Chan's hair, told Sky News on Wednesday that because Chan was "abusing my country, my leader" he was performing his "duty."

Zheng wrote the Greater Manchester Police, saying the protesters' banners featured a "volume of deeply offensive imagery and slogans," including a picture of the Chinese president with a noose around his neck, according to Sky News.

Zheng said it was an emergency situation and his colleagues' life had been threatened.

After graduating in the early 1980s from Lanzhou University in Gansu Province, one of the poorest regions in China, Zheng started his career as a canned food factory manager there. He joined the Chinese Foreign Ministry in 1992, and had previous postings in New York, Athens and Mumbai. In an interview in 2004, he spoke of his patriotism, saying that "the fundamental quality of a diplomat is the unreserved loyalty for one's country."

Beijing's newly aggressive diplomats are referred to as "wolf warriors" after a movie of the same name that broke box-office records throughout China with its nationalistic theme.

U.K. Parliament member Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the Conservative Party who was sanctioned by China for criticizing Beijing's human rights record, called for declaring any consulate individuals involved in the attack "persona non grata" immediately and expelling them.

"The government has the diplomatic power to dismiss them," he said during the urgent question session of Parliament on Thursday "Whether or not there are criminal proceedings, the fact is we do not want them here in the U.K. and they must go."

Catherine West, the Labour Party's shadow minister for Asia and the Pacific, said at Parliament that the U.K. should summon China's ambassador to communicate a strong message about the importance of peaceful protests in Britain.

Is it possible for him to expel the individual and then for that individual to apply to return? If it were that way round, we would at least know that the Government had taken the strongest action possible," she said.
With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information.

RoboSense sets up North America headquarters

RoboSense, a world-leading provider of Smart LiDAR Sensor Systems, today inaugurated its North America headquarters, which is located in Michigan.

Photo credit: RoboSense

BYD hits production milestone of 2 million photovoltaic modules in Brazil

BYD Energy recently reached a production milestone of 2 million photovoltaic modules in Brazil, according to a post on the WeChat account of BYDs overseas business.

Earlier, the company said that the production of the new photovoltaic module N Type TOPCON with a power of 575W would start next December.

DENZA D9's first mass-produced vehicle rolls off line

DENZA, a premium auto brand majority-owned by BYD, announced the DENZA D9 MPV's first mass-produced vehicle officially rolled off the production line on Oct. 21.

TE Connectivity's Kunshan factory starts operation

On October 20, TE Connectivity's China Automotive Business (TE Automotive) announced that the first phase of its Kunshan factory officially started production and construction of the second phase kicked off at the same time.

China's EVE Energy launches new-generation energy storage battery LF560K

Chinese battery maker EVE Energy Co., Ltd. ("EVE Energy") on Oct. 20 launched its new-generation energy storage battery LF560K, which is expected for global delivery in the second quarter of 2024.

Huawei-powered AVATR 11 to kick off delivery in December 2022

AVATR, the high-end intelligent electric vehicle brand jointly backed by Changan Automobile, Huawei, and CATL, announced that it will start order-locking for its first production model, the AVATR 11, on October 22.

Geely Technology Group sets up joint lab with CR Micro for automotive power semiconductor

On October 20, Geely Technology Group signed a cooperation agreement with China Resources Microelectronics (CR Micro) to formulate an industry cooperation mechanism for automotive power semiconductors.

Webasto inaugurates China R&D center's Wuhan branch

The leading German auto parts supplier Webasto inaugurated its China R&D center's Wuhan-based branch on Oct. 20, the company announced via its WeChat account, as parts of efforts to strengthen its R&D capability in the world's largest auto market.
The U.N.s chief human rights official, Volker Tuerk, is calling for an end to the use of lethal force by Chadian security forces who reportedly killed and wounded dozens of protesters Thursday.

Violent demonstrations broke out in several cities Thursday, protesting the decision by Chads military government to delay by two years the handover of power to civilian rule.

Chadian authorities report some 50 people have been killed and nearly 300 injured in clashes between security forces and protesters.

Tuerks spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, said a journalist reportedly is among those killed. Additionally, she said her office has received reports that at least 500 people have been arrested.

The U.N. Human Rights Chad office received information from several sources that early in the morning of the 20th of October, several hundred protesters, mostly young people, started demonstrating in NDjamena, and that internal security forces used tear gas and fired live ammunition to disperse the protesters, she said.

Mahamat Idriss Deby, the son of Chads former President Idriss Deby, took power after his father was killed a year and a half ago during an operation against rebels. The younger Debys transition rule was supposed to have ended Thursday. His refusal to step down and restore civilian rule triggered the current protests.

Shamdasani said the High Commissioner is calling for calm and for all sides to show restraint. In particular, she said defense and security forces must refrain from using force against peaceful protesters. She added that all those detained for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly must be promptly released.

Today, I understand from colleagues that the situation is calm but tense, she said. And this also has to do with the fact that the government announced a suspension of the activities of the political parties that called for the protests. Yes, we are in touch with the government. We have an office in Chad. We have been raising our concerns with them regularly.

Shamdasani said the human rights office is monitoring the situation and will continue to do so. At the same time, she said the High Commissioner is calling on Chadian state institutions to conduct impartial, prompt, and effective investigations into alleged human rights violations.
Editor's note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.

Ukraine asks UN to send experts to examine possible Iranian drones

Ukraine has invited U.N. experts to examine debris from what it says are Iranian-made drones sold to Russia in violation of international sanctions and used to attack Ukrainian towns and cities. Iran and Russia both deny the accusations. Experts say the drones are likely Iranian-made Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles. Russia says it manufactured the drones. It has warned that the U.N. Secretariat has no mandate to carry out an investigation, and if it does, Moscow will "reassess" its collaboration with the U.N. body. Britain, France and Germany urged the U.N. to investigate in a letter on Friday.

Ukraine Invites UN Experts to Examine Iranian Drone Debris

Meanwhile, humanitarians are working to reach as many Ukrainians as they can with winter assistance as temperatures begin to drop. Denise Brown, U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, spoke to VOA this week about the challenges for both humanitarians and the people they assist.

Millions of Ukrainians Beyond Reach, as Russia Blocks UN Aid Access in Areas it Controls

Security Council sanctions Haitian gang leaders

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday to impose targeted sanctions including asset freezes, travel bans and an arms embargo on gang leaders in Haiti, who are fomenting widespread violence against civilians and blocking access to vital fuel stocks. The vote follows a meeting Monday, during which Haiti's foreign minister spoke of the "unfathomable reality" of the hardships Haitians are facing.

UN Authorizes Sanctions on Haitian Gangs

Northern Ethiopia 'spiraling out of control'

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday that the situation in northern Ethiopia is "spiraling out of control" and that he sees no military solution to the conflict. He urged the international community to come together to end the nearly 2-year-old conflict between the government and Tigrayan forces, which has killed and injured thousands and left millions on the brink of starvation. Guterres said the United Nations is ready to support African Union-led efforts at peace talks "in every possible way." A private meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday to discuss the issue ended without action. Diplomats said China and Russia blocked a press statement calling for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire at the behest of Ethiopia.

UN Chief: Ethiopia's Tigray 'Spiraling out of Control'

Separately, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned Wednesday that "there is a very narrow window now to prevent genocide in Tigray."

This warning was amplified by Alice Nderitu, U.N. special adviser on the prevention of genocide, who said the "targeting of civilians based on their ethnicity or perceived affiliation to the warring parties remains a key characteristic of the conflict and one that is worsened by horrifying levels of hate speech and incitement to violence." The U.N. has warned that such language can lead to atrocity crimes.

In brief

 The World Health Organization said Tuesday that as of October 14, there have been 15,823 suspected cases of cholera in Syria, including 807 confirmed cases and 68 reported deaths. The rise in cases is compounded by severe countrywide water shortages and drought-like conditions. Water infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged in a decade of conflict, leaving people dependent on unsafe water sources. Aid groups say they are facing shortages in cholera supplies, including medicines.

 Four U.N. peacekeepers from Chad were killed and two seriously wounded in northern Mali this week when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Tessalit, in the Kidal region. They were on a mine search and detection patrol. A dozen peacekeepers have been killed in Mali this year.

 The U.N. expressed concern Thursday about flooding in Nigeria that the government says has killed more than 600 people and displaced 1.3 million. Food security is a concern, as more than 440,000 hectares of farmland have been partially or totally damaged. Before the floods, 19 million people across Nigeria were facing severe food insecurity. The Food and Agriculture Organization forecasts cereal production will likely decline by 3.4% compared with 2021 because of the flooding, high agriculture production costs and insecurity.

Quote of note

"We cannot separate the perilous state of peace in our world from the destructive effects of patriarchy and the silencing of women's voices. The challenges we face today  from proliferating conflicts to worsening assaults on human rights  are in many ways connected to the trampling of women's rights and to deeply ingrained misogyny around the world."

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed urged nations to challenge misogyny and the structures that sustain it during remarks Thursday to the Security Council debate on women, peace and security.

What we are watching next week

The African Union hopes to hold peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ethiopia's Tigray region starting Monday in South Africa. The talks were supposed to take place earlier this month but were delayed. U.N. chief Guterres says the situation is "spiraling out of control" and has joined AU calls for an immediate cease-fire.

Mark your calendar

Monday, October 24, is U.N. Day. It marks the day in 1945 that the U.N. Charter entered into force and the organization officially came into being. As we mark U.N. Day, let us renew our hope and conviction in what humanity can achieve when we work as one, in global solidarity, Secretary-General Guterres says in his message this year.
A dispute over oil between Saudi Arabia and the United States is straining the long-standing relationship between Washington and its Gulf ally. Saudi officials, in coordination with OPEC Plus, recently decided to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day. The Saudis say the cut was made to prevent a collapse in oil prices. Analysts say the move undercuts Western sanctions on Russia and will jeopardize energy security.

News reports have made much of the political fallout from President Joe Bidens visit this summer to Saudi Arabia and his meeting with the kingdoms de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, to seek more output from the oil giant to bring down energy prices.

Martin Indyk, a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and former adviser on the Middle East to President Barack Obama, says MBS, as the crown prince is known, reneged on a commitment he made to Biden to provide additional oil.

The crown prince committed to increasing production of oil over the next few months until the end of the year, to 750,000 barrels a day, he said. That was the commitment that the crown prince made when the president was there. But there was an agreement not to announce the details. They didnt live up to that commitment.

Speaking to an online event sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Indyk called highly problematic the Saudi unwillingness to consider the bigger picture or its relationship with the United States.

The crown prince appears to have been panicked, if you can believe the story, by his oil minister, older stepbrother Abdulaziz bin Salman, who told him that considering the budget, the price of oil was likely to drop to $50, 40 even, and they wouldnt be able to pay for MBSs Vision 2030 dreams of development for Saudi Arabia, he said. So, MBS said, okay, were going to cut oil, if thats the case. So, they were focused very parochially on their economic self-interest without considering the impact that it would have not only on a commitment to the president of the United States, but the impact on the effort to sanction Russia and reduce its oil revenues at a critical moment as Europe is going into winter and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin bombing civilians in Ukraine.

Some members of Congress have called for a review of U.S. military assistance to Saudi Arabia.

Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is urging the U.S. to reduce weapons sales and spare parts to the Saudis and reduce the presence of U.S. contractors in the kingdom.

Its going to take a broad effort, but I think those military-to-military steps are a very good place to start, he said. That doesnt mean that we give up a relationship with Saudi Arabia. It just means that we would demilitarize most of our relationship with Saudi Arabia. We can still look to Saudi Arabia for support for issues like on ending the war in Yemen.

William Hartung, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute, told Britains Guardian newspaper that any reconsideration of arming Saudi Arabia would need to be seriously debated within the White House and Congress.

But he added that Russias continuing assault on Ukraine meant that political considerations are shifting.
The World Health Organization says hundreds of thousands of people in drought-stricken Somalia may die unless the international community acts urgently to prevent the country from falling into famine.

The U.N. health agency says every single person in Somalia is facing hunger on a scale not seen since the famine in 2011, which killed more than a quarter million people, half of them children.



Speaking from the capital, Mogadishu, the WHO representative in Somalia, Mamunur Rahman Malik, said every night millions of people are going to sleep hungry. He said half of the countrys children, or 1.8 million, face acute severe malnutrition, warning that half of these children may die if they do not receive urgent medical treatment.

I have seen children dying almost every hour in some of the health centers that I visited, he said. Many of them have traveled miles after miles in search of food and water and their weak bodies just could not make it that last mile.



The WHO reports one out of every 10 children in the country is visiting health centers with diseases that are largely preventable.



In addition, Malik said one out of every seven Somali children is missing out on life-saving vaccines against killer diseases such as measles, diarrheal diseases, cholera, and acute respiratory infections. This, because they and their families are forced to leave their homes in search of food.



We have seen deaths and diseases thrive when hunger and food crises are prolonged, he said. I have visited a number of health centers which I have seen with my own eyes how health workers are struggling to deal with the increased influx of children suffering. In one instance, as many as 100 children with severe diseases needed to be cared for by only one or two health workers in very difficult working conditions.



Malik said the WHO is working hard to prevent this dire situation from getting worse. He noted the agency is providing health care in hard-to-reach areas and delivering essential medication and other services for nearly three million people.



But he said this is not enough given the magnitude of the crisis. He warned many more people will die from disease than from hunger and malnutrition combined unless the world takes action to stave off this impending disaster.
WASHINGTON  The top U.S. and Russian defense officials spoke by phone for the first time in months Friday, as Russian officials indicated a new openness to possible negotiations and as Ukrainian forces edged closer to the Russian-occupied southern port city of Kherson.

The United States and Russia both issued readouts of the call between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu, agreeing the focus of the conversation was the war in Ukraine.

According to the Pentagon readout, Austin "emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine."

A Kremlin readout noted the two officials "discussed international security problems, notably the situation in Ukraine."

Prior to Friday's call, the last time Austin and Shoygu spoke was May 13, when the U.S. defense secretary called for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine.

The latest conversation, though, comes as the Kremlin appears eager to signal it is open to talks.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been open to negotiations from "the very beginning."

Putin "tried to initiate talks with both NATO and the United States even before the special military operation," Peskov added, using the Russian term for its war in Ukraine.

Earlier Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also appeared to raise hopes for talks, saying Putin now appears to be "much softer and more open to negotiations."

U.S. and NATO officials have said repeatedly that the quickest way for Putin to end the fighting would be for him to pull Russian forces from Ukraine, something the Russian leader has refused to do.

Western officials have likewise said the terms for any settlement would have to be agreed upon by Ukraine, which has vowed to retake all territories currently occupied by Russia, including Crimea, which was seized by Russia in 2014.

Despite the apparent Russian overtures, Moscow has consistently refused to negotiate the return of four Ukrainian regions that it annexed last month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also ruled out any talks with Moscow as long as Putin remains in power.

In the meantime, Ukrainian forces Friday continued to press their advantage against Russian forces in the Kherson region, targeting Russian resupply routes across the Dnieper River.

A spokesperson for Ukraine southern operational command said its forces struck a key bridge late Thursday, as well as a number of ferry crossings and pontoon bridges being used by Russia to supply its forces in Kherson.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday night accused Russia of preparing to blow up a key dam in the Kherson region.

In a televised address, Zelenskyy accused Russia of mining the Nova Kakhovka dam. Destroying the dam would flood the Dnieper River and halt the advance of Ukrainian troops.

"Now everyone in the world must act powerfully and quickly to prevent a new Russian terrorist attack. Destroying the dam would mean a large-scale disaster," he warned.

Fighting continued elsewhere in Ukraine Friday, with explosions also reported around the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. Zaporizhzhia is the home of Ukraine's nuclear power plant, and the extent of the damage from the blast there was not immediately clear.

Also Friday, France, Germany and Britain called for the United Nations to investigate allegations that Russia is using Iranian drones for attacks in Ukraine.

A letter from the French, German and British mission to the U.N. cited "significant open-source evidence, including photographs and video, of Russia deploying Mohajer and Shahed series UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] in Ukraine."

It says the transfer of such weapons violates U.N. Security Council resolutions.

SEE ALSO:

The U.S. on Thursday alleged Iranian military personnel are "on the ground" in Ukraine, assisting the Russian military with drone operations that have been terrorizing the country and targeting power facilities.

"Our understanding is that they [Iranian forces] are on the ground in Crimea, assisting Russian military personnel as they conduct these drone operations in Ukraine," Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters.

When asked about Russia denying it uses Iran-made drones, Ryder responded, "It's obvious that they're lying" and charged Tehran with "exporting terror, not only in the Middle East region but now also to Ukraine."

Also Thursday, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby blamed Iranian-made drones launched from Crimea for recent attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

"Russia has received dozens of UAVs so far and will likely continue to receive additional shipments in the future," Kirby said.

Iran's U.N. ambassador told reporters his government categorically rejects the "unfounded and unsubstantiated claims," which he said were part of a disinformation campaign against his government.

Russia's deputy U.N. envoy told reporters the allegations are "baseless." He said there have been no arms transfers in violation of the resolution, and no Iranian drones were supplied to Russia for use in Ukraine.

Separately Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary spoke by phone with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

During the call Austin reiterated "the unwavering U.S. commitment to supporting Ukraine's ability to counter Russia's aggression," and he also "underscored the int'l community's continued support in building Ukraine's enduring strength," according to a Pentagon readout.

VOA's Margaret Besheer contributed to this story from the U.N. VOA's Carla Babb contributed from the Pentagon. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- On October 20, Geely Technology Group signed a cooperation agreement with China Resources Microelectronics (CR Micro) to formulate an industry cooperation mechanism for automotive power semiconductors.

Photo credit: Geely Technology Group

Per the agreement, the two parties will jointly launch solutions based on power modules, MEMS sensors, as well as panel package products or technologies, complementing each others advantages. Through the partnership, the duo aims to promote semiconductor self-sufficiency under new energy vehicles and electric motorcycle scenarios.

In addition, Geely Technology Group and CR Micro will jointly set up "Geely TechnologyChina Resources Micro Automotive Sensor and Application Laboratory". Geely Technology Group will aggregate its related semiconductor business resources, play to its advantages in the fields of automotive semiconductor, power battery, the electrification of motorcycle, and other fields, to advance the synergetic development throughout the industrial chain.

As an affiliate of Geely Holding Group, Geely Technology Group values new materials, new energy, and motorcycle travel culture as its core businesses, and synchronously invests in low-altitude travel, commercial aerospace, and other innovation businesses. The Group's power semiconductor subsidiary is dedicated to providing services and products for clients in the automobile, motorcycles, photovoltaic, and energy storage fields.
SAN FRANCISCORaging Stallion has announced the release of its latest bareback mystery thriller, Guilty as Sin. From acclaimed directors Tony Dimarco and Ben Rush, two of the creative forces behind Raging Stallions recent nine-part mini-series Ride or Die, the drama and its cast of "rugged fuckers are out to prove that betrayal never comes from your enemies." The entire feature is now available on DVD and digital download from the Falcon|NakedSword Store.



The cast is comprised of Falcon|NakedSword exclusives Drew Valentino, Beau Butler, and Cole Connor, along with Lawson James, Derek Kage, Jack Andy, Jackson Radiz, Romeo Davis, and Chris Damned.



In the two-hour thriller, tech billionaire James has made some important updates to his living will, some of which require his two sons to keep the familys name and business legacy untarnished. When company attorney Connor explains the new stipulations to the two brothers, they both pledge their loyalty to their father and the wildly successful business he founded. Theyve never afforded each other the same allegiance, however, spinning a web of deceit that will leave one brother filthy rich and the other "guilty as sin." Upon hearing about the new revisions to his boss will, Valentino wants to make sure that James remembers that hes more than just an executive assistant. On the other side of town, hopeful heir Owen James (Butler) is returning home early and surprising secret boyfriend and doorman Kage with an array of new sexual interests. Surveillance experts Andy and Radiz secretly record their entire flip-fuck through the window and eventually find themselves horny enough to forget about their wives and drain each others cocks right then and there while still on the job. Back at James Industries, James is learning that a member of his own family is attempting to deceive him and makes an emergency call to Valentino to have lawyer Connor revise his will. It doesnt take long for the moguls executive assistant to relay the message as hes already in bed naked with the attorney. The drama all comes to a climax with a tension-filled confrontation in the executive conference room where bodyguards Davis and Damned ensure their cut of James' will as they stuff the billionaires son (Butler) at both ends.

Working with Tony Dimarco to deliver a twistyand twisteddramatic thriller was a blast," says co-director and writer Ben Rush. Guilty as Sin features a perfect cast, sizzling sex, and more sharp turns than you can shake a stick at."



Not only does Guilty as Sin give so many of our Falcon|NakedSword exclusives the chance to show off their natural acting talents with this thrilling script, but it also delivers some of Raging Stallions hottest scenes to date with an unforgettable finale that fans will love, Falcon|NakedSword president Tim Valenti said.



For DVD retail and wholesale purchasing, contact John Gunderson ([email protected]). Contact Toby J Morris ([email protected]) with any additional inquiries.

For more information, visit FalconStudios.com.
Meloni set to be sworn in as premier on Saturday.

Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Fratelli d'Italia party, is set to become Italy's first woman prime minister after Italian president Sergio Mattarella on Friday offered her the mandate to form a government.

Meloni's coalition partners in government are the right-wing Lega led by Matteo Salvini and the centre-right Forza Italia led by Silvio Berlusconi, part of a rightist alliance that triumphed in the recent general election.

The new government is set to be sworn in at the Quirinale on Saturday 22 October at 10.00.

Salvini is to be deputy premier and transport minister, with the finance portfolio going to the Lega's Giancarlo Giorgetti and foreign affairs going to Antonio Tajani of Forza Italia.

Meloni, 45, succeeds Mario Draghi who in his last news conference as premier on Friday said that Italy must remain "at the centre of the European project".

Meloni received the mandate to form a government despite a controversy earlier this week over leaked audio in which Berlusconi spoke of renewed ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Berlusconi's comments prompted Meloni to stress that her new government would be pro-NATO and fully a part of Europe, and that whoever disagreed with this line could not be part of the government.

Photo Il Messaggero
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Conservatives have never liked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the brainchild of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Now a conservative panel of the conservative US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has struck down the CFPBs rulemaking authority using a novel theory. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The court held that the mechanism Congress established to fund the bureau through the Federal Reserve is unconstitutional  even though its effectively the same as the mechanism used to fund the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the National Credit Union Administration and the Federal Housing Finance agency, not to mention the Fed itself. The decision is logically almost indefensible, and the Supreme Court will now have to weigh in in order to overrule it, unless it wants to call into question the constitutionality of the rest of the financial regulatory state.

The first attack conservatives made on the CFPB involved a Supreme Court challenge to the way the director was insulated from political pressure by a for-cause removal provision. The justices held that provision unconstitutional in 2020. But they didnt take the extreme step of invalidating the bureaus regulations. Instead, they said the director had to be removable by the president.

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The current assault on the CFPB took a different tack. Challengers to the bureaus payday lending regulations claimed that Congress lacked the authority to fund the CFPB in the manner it chose. The way Congress set things up was that, every year, the bureau sends a request to the Fed for the amount its director thinks is necessary for its budget, capped at 12% of the Feds total operating expenses. The Fed itself is funded primarily through interest on the securities it owns, not through congressional appropriation.

There is nothing unusual about Congress choosing to have financial regulatory agencies fund themselves instead of paying for them out of the federal budget. I vividly remember showing up for an internship at the OCC in the summer of 1994, and being stunned by how nice the building was relative to the other federal agencies Id visited. The reason for the relative elegance was, I recall being told, that the OCC was self-funded by assessments and fees paid by regulated banks, plus other investments. The comptroller wasnt reduced to begging Congress for funds to paint the hallways.

Constitutionally, there is nothing to prohibit financial regulatory agencies being funded by means other than congressional appropriation. The Constitution says that no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law. And no money is drawn from the Treasury to fund the financial regulatory agencies. The Supreme Court has repeatedly (and reasonably) said that this clause means simply that no money can be paid out of the treasury unless it has been appropriated by an act of Congress. For this reason, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and a slew of federal district courts have all upheld the CFPBs funding structure.

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Undaunted by the unanimity of the other courts, the Fifth Circuit panel cooked up a new theory of why it is unconstitutional for Congress to fund the bureau in this way. First, the court said that the appropriations clause is violated by the bureaus funding because Congress isnt appropriating the money and isnt reviewing the Feds allocation of it. Recognizing that this argument doesnt distinguish the CFPB from the other agencies, the court went on to say that the bureau is unique because of its vast rule-making authority.

Its easy to see whats faulty about this logic. The separation of powers cannot be violated by the funding of the CFPB because Congress itself adopted the plan, and Congress can change it whenever it wants.

As for the bureaus powers, they are hardly more expansive in their effects than those of the Fed itself, which is also self-funding. The Feds decisions obviously affect the whole national economy, not to mention the global economy. The Fifth Circuit panel may secretly believe the Fed is unconstitutional, but it is (for now at least) unthinkable that the Supreme Court would reach that conclusion.

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Whats more, the text of the Constitution does not say that the only way government activity can be funded is through congressional appropriation. In the framers world all sorts of self-funding mechanisms for government actors were common. The commanders of naval vessels, to mention just one small example, got to keep proceeds from enemy vessels they captured, splitting the money with their crews. No originalist who spends more than 30 seconds on the history could possibly conclude in good faith that the Constitution was meant to prohibit self-funded government activity.

The Fifth Circuit wasnt satisfied with just striking down the CFPBs funding mechanism. It went on to say that whatever the bureau does by way of rulemaking is therefore unlawful. This conclusion is in contrast with the Supreme Courts refusal to strike down the bureaus regulations after finding unconstitutional the insulation of the director from firing.

All this leads to a serious practical problem: The CFPB is constitutional in the DC Circuit but not in the Fifth Circuit. The Supreme Court will now have to resolve the circuit split. Heres hoping it does so expeditiously and sensibly. If it doesnt, the whole structure of financial regulation could be in jeopardy.

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More From This Writer at Bloomberg Opinion:

 Supreme Court Will End the Era of College Diversity: Noah Feldman

 CFPB Ruling Shows John Roberts Doesnt Rock the Boat: Noah Feldman

 A Texas Judge Just Took Religious Freedom Too Far: Noah Feldman

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of The Broken Constitution: Lincoln, Slavery and the Refounding of America.

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As President Joe Bidens administration weighs whether to subject some of Elon Musks ventures -- including his intended purchase of Twitter Inc. -- to national security reviews, one option would be to employ a largely obscure committee that works behind closed doors. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or CFIUS, has thwarted acquisitions of American companies, particularly by Chinese investors. Biden recently articulated to the committee what he views as its role in US national security.

1. Whos on the committee?

CFIUS -- pronounced SIFF-ee-yus -- is a panel of government officials that reviews acquisitions of, and some investments in, American businesses by foreign buyers to determine if the deals pose risks to national security. Its led by the Treasury secretary, with other members from the State, Defense, Justice, Commerce, Energy and Homeland Security departments.

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2. What does this have to do with Musk and Twitter?

The rationale for CFIUS involvement is that Musk has lined up investors in Qatar and Saudi Arabia to help fund his bid. Binance Holdings Ltd., a digital-asset exchange founded and run by a Chinese native, has offered $500 million. Theres also been some alarm over Musks recent Russia-friendly tweets. But experts say thats a thin basis on which to ask CFIUS to weigh Musks proposed purchase of Twitter.

3. How does CFIUS operate?

The parties to a proposed transaction file a notice to CFIUS, often voluntarily though it can now be mandatory in the case of deals backed by foreign governments or involving critical technology. If members of the committee see potential issues, they can call for a national security investigation to determine if there are any risks to the US. If so, CFIUS can negotiate with the parties to the proposed deal to mitigate problems. If its concerns arent resolved, it can recommend that the president intervene. CFIUS concerns are often enough to undo a deal, because companies will walk away rather than go to the president and risk being branded a national security threat. Only the president has authority to stop a deal, something that has happened only five times since 1990. Two of those came during Barack Obamas eight-year presidency, two more during Trumps first two years as president.

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4. Which deals have been disrupted?

A big one was Broadcom Ltd.s proposed $117 billion takeover of Qualcomm Inc., which would have been the biggest deal in the history of technology. CFIUS found that the deal could curtail US investments in chip and wireless technologies, handing leadership to Huawei Technologies Co., the relatively opaque Chinese company thats developing next-generation wireless systems. Others deals disrupted by CFIUS included the planned acquisition of MoneyGram International Inc. by Ant Financial, the Chinese financial-services giant controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, and the proposed sale of Lattice Semiconductor Corp. to Canyon Bridge Capital Partners LLC, a private-equity firm backed by a Chinese state-owned asset manager.

5. What extra powers was CFIUS given?

Under a law passed by Congress in 2018 and new rules that took effect in 2020, the committees oversight was broadened to include minority investments by foreigners in critical technology or critical infrastructure, in real estate, in businesses that maintain or collect personal data, and in joint ventures where technology companies contribute intellectual property. That means more cross-border transactions will now be subject to reviews, exposing a greater number of deals to the risk of rejection by the US government. In a Sept. 15 executive order, Biden detailed the national security considerations he expects the committee to weigh. The order explicitly recognizes that some countries use foreign investment to obtain access to sensitive data and technologies for purposes that are detrimental to US national security, the White House said.

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6. Why does CFIUS exist?

President Gerald Ford created the committee in 1975, at a time when US policy makers were fretting over investments in US Treasuries, stocks and bonds by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC. It gained new power in 1988, when Congress, responding to worries about Japanese investment in the US, gave the president the power to stop a foreign deal that threatens to impair the national security. Since 2007, CFIUS has operated under an added level of scrutiny. Thats because Congress demanded some oversight after CFIUS cleared a purchase that would have put a state-owned Dubai company, DP World, in charge of operations at six major US ports, a prospect that raised security concerns.

7. How can I follow the committees work?

Good luck. The panels investigations are effectively a black box. It never comments on individual reviews and relies on classified information to decide whether to oppose or clear a deal.

--With assistance from Naoreen Chowdhury.

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With Elon Musk on the verge of taking over Twitter Inc. comes news that he plans to gut its workforce, with cuts of up to 75%. That should be a worry not only to the platforms staff and users, but for those who care about the flow of information crucial to well-functioning democracies.

Musk, who is also the chief executive officer of carmaker Tesla Inc. and space transport company Space Exploration Technologies Corp., plans to whittle Twitter down from 7,500 staff to just over 2,000, The Washington Post reported Thursday, citing documents and people familiar with the plans. While the 51-year-old had tried to back out of deal, the transaction looks like it will actually proceed with a court-issued deadline of Oct. 28.

Yet even without the takeover, Twitter itself had planned to trim its workforce by about a quarter by the end of next year, the Post reported. Beyond staff, the San Francisco-based social media company is also looking at major cuts to infrastructure such as data centers, the newspaper wrote. Twitter told staff later the same day that it has no plans for company-wide layoffs.

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We do not have any confirmation of the buyers plans following close and recommend not following rumors or leaked documents but rather wait for facts from us and the buyer directly, Twitter General Counsel Sean Edgett wrote in a memo seen by Bloomberg News following the report. Bloomberg News confirmed that potential investors were told of the plan for cuts, along with an effort to double revenue within three years.

Comments made by Musk, both public and private, indicate that the worlds richest man wants to renovate the platform, its content, and its business model. Theres also a sense of disdain toward the company and its team: hes publicly criticized decisions made by senior staff.

Many of Musks gripes are legitimate. Bots and fake accounts really are a problem, though perhaps not to the extent he claims. The business model is flawed  it has over 200 million users but struggles to stay profitable  and security practices are sub-par.

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But hollowing out the team to the level of a skeleton crew wont fix any of that.

Economic downturns tend to be a good excuse for executives to cut their workforces, and this imminent recession looks set to repeat the trend. Microsoft Corp. recently announced layoffs, and next weeks earnings season will be the perfect cover for others to follow suit. Meta Platforms Inc., better known as Facebook, has hinted it plans to trim its headcount.

That said, slashing 75% of staff isnt the kind of surgical strike aimed at tidying up a bloated workforce and getting a company through a few quarters of rough weather. Its a slash-and-burn tactic akin to private-equity investors hurriedly trying to boost the bottom line with little regard for the long-term future of the company.

Such an attitude is bewildering. Musk, who will take the company private and own it outright, has a net worth of almost $200 billion. While only a fraction of that is liquid  most being tied up in shares of his companies  Twitters $3.8 billion annual operating budget is something he could afford to bolster, not reduce.

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And if hes to undertake even half the reforms hes proposed  like handling the bot problem, verifying users, and building a new super app  Twitter will need more staff, not fewer.

Its not a normal company though. In his own words, Twitter is the de facto public town square which would make him the city mayor. And given its role in disseminating news and information, Musk will in effect be the editor-in-chief of one of the worlds most powerful news outlets.

Weve already been granted a sneak preview of his editorial bent. Hes stated hed reverse the ban on Donald Trump after the outgoing president fomented a riot and attack on the US Capitol building, calling the expulsion foolish in the extreme. Thats a legitimate debate, and revisiting the decision is a worthwhile exercise even if it results in a continuation of that exclusion.

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Yet some of his other musings have raised eyebrows. Earlier this month, he tweeted an ill-advised poll on Russias invasion of Ukraine, with his proposal soundly defeated. He coupled that with ill-informed comments about Taiwan and China in an interview with the Financial Times. Its telling that Beijings ambassador to the US thanked him, and worth remembering that China accounts for 26% of Teslas annual sales and hosts one of its largest factories.

His recent pro-Russia comments and threats to stop supplying Starlink satellite service to Ukraine are among the reasons for the US government to consider subjecting Musks deals, including the Twitter takeover, to national security review, Bloomberg News reported Thursday. That the consortium to buy Twitter includes Saudi, Qatari and Chinese investors provides further cause for concern, it reported.

Corporate leaders should have opinions, and not be afraid to express them. Communications teams and public-image consultants have trained executives to be bland and apolitical, while those same companies quietly spend millions of dollars lobbying politicians to enact laws that suit their business and political interests. At least with Musk, we know where he stands  even if that stance may sometimes appear imprudent.

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With Twitter, though, Musk moves from being a high-profile, extremely talkative leader of a couple of transportation companies to the overlord of an extremely powerful and highly effective tool for disseminating both facts and disinformation. While Twitter ought to one day make money, it will likely never be as valuable as Tesla or SpaceX, which makes it more like a hobby project and labor of love.

A large amount of that passion will need to be dedicated to keeping a lid on automated accounts (bots) and disingenuous users (trolls), while trying not to overreach to the point of unwarranted censorship. Its a problem not unique to Twitter. Facebook, LinkedIn and even TikTok face similar struggles in controlling disinformation, and its an issue that will only escalate in coming years as online platforms play an increasing role in the flow of ideas crucial to well-functioning democracies.

To achieve any of the goals Musk claims to have for Twitter hell need a capable and well-resourced team eager to make the company better and the platform stronger. Slashing staff and hollowing out the workforce would be a clear indication that the mayor of the public town square isnt so much interested in keeping the peace, but allowing barbarians in the gate.

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More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 How Elon Musk Can Still Save Twitter: Tim Culpan

 Musks Twitter Will Reel From Culture Shock: Parmy Olson

 This LinkedIn Job Posting Does Not Exist: Tim Culpan

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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LOS ANGELESCzech star Alexis Crystal seduces her husband in a creative way as the newest ButtMuse on LittleCaprice-Dreams.com.

In an update that debuts today called Desperate Housewife, Crystal squares off with veteran stud Max Dior for several rounds of steamy anal sex under the direction of Marcello Bravo, who is Little Caprices husband and business partner.

The concept was a husband comes every day home from his work and always the same happens, there is no food on the tablebecause Alexis just start to cook when she gets fucked, Little Caprice, the reigning AVN International Female Performer of the Year from Czech Republic who co-produced the scene with Bravo, tells AVN. This time she have a cooking spoon in her butt, so Max need to give her what she needs to get some food

Caprice, who recently performed with Alexis in the famous Moravian wine fields of the Czech Republic, says the 11-year veteran stunner is one of the best performers in the EU.

She look sexy, work very well and love sex, Caprice continues. She fits perfect to our style and production.  Max is from Czech, too. He is many years in the business and also one of the top male performers in EU. He look handsome and being exactly what we need.

Caprice says Alexis and Max did not disappoint once the cameras rolled, having fun and smiling during the intro to the scene that led to more than one anal orgasm for Crystal.

Because Marcello create this scene and also to see Alexis on the table with a spoon in her ass was incredible, Caprice admits. The sex performance was very good. It is not easy to fuck just in standing position for Max, but he made it very wellpassionate and sexy. Thats why we choose him.

Both had a great chemistry.

Crystal started the scene wearing an apron and lingerie hand-picked by Little Caprice, who also had a vision for the makeup and hairstyle that Alexis had for the encounter.

We combine everything in pink color, so the setup was really unique, Caprice says. Alexis looks amazing in that style. All the style was a bit from the 80s.

Nothing was left to chance in Vienna, Austria, where they shot the scenethat includes the moody, romantic lighting and the vintage music.

Marcello is a master of music, Caprice notes. He was so many years on stage that he find always the best music for the scene. He surprise me and our members always. Its really recognize our production for that amazing music we use in our scene. Its not typical porn music. Many of our members ask us every months of the name from the tracks we use on our website.

Caprice adds, And the slogan of our ButtMuse series is the kinky art of anal sex, because we focus on different light setups, kinky style and not the typical bright anal scene to be a bit different than others.

The superstar performer, who will celebrate her birthday on Oct. 26, says that she and Bravo have something special planned on LittleCaprice-Dreams.com.

So all fans should stay tuned, Caprice teases.
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Confidence without competence is a dangerous combination, Penny Mordaunt said in June, as Boris Johnsons days as prime minister were nearing an end. In the wake of the disastrous Liz Truss premiership, that proved more prescient than she could know. Now the Tories are getting a second look the potential leader they passed over this summer.

On Friday, Mordaunt became the first Tory to declare her candidacy saying she would offer a fresh start, a united party and leadership in the national interest. This time around, her role could be pivotal to the outcome of the race.

Mordaunt emerged as a dark horse candidate in the race to succeed Johnson when polling showed she was the most popular among Tory members. But that put a target on her back and the the partys right quickly took aim.

David Frost  Brexiteer and former Johnson cabinet minister  savaged Mordaunt in various public statements, questioning both her grasp of detail and her work ethic. Then came leaked government documents suggesting she had supported watering down rules on gender self-identification, which Mordaunt denied. An inquiry was later launched into the leak, but the damage was done. Mordaunts support tanked, Liz Truss overtook her to reach the final two of the contest and the rest is history.

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Mordaunts weakness is that she lacks the gravitas of having held a big office of state for any length of time (she was briefly defense secretary). But over the past six weeks, Tories have had a chance to see Mordaunt in action and get to know her better. Its less likely that a leak or a smear will derail her candidacy. As Leader of the House of Commons  her reward for ultimately backing Truss to succeed Johnson  Mordaunt presided over the historic Accession Council ceremony with King Charles III that followed the Queens death. It was a set-piece moment of high drama and with the world watching, she proved perfect for the task.

She impressed colleagues too with her recent House of Commons performance. She used the bully pulpit to apologize for the disastrous mini-budget but defended the change of direction and smartly fended off questions about whether the absent prime minister was hiding under a desk. Agility in parliament isnt everything in a leader, but it helps.

Mordaunt, who worked on the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush, was the first in her family to go to university. Her compelling personal story, her military background and her communications nous should tick a lot of electoral boxes for the Tories. Her ease with different audiences and parliamentary presence suggest shed match up well against Labour leader Keir Starmer.

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But her road to 10 Downing Street is not straightforward. If she declares her candidacy as expected, she will (assuming both declare their candidacies) have to face down two beasts of the party with far more governing experience: former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Johnson himself.

Much depends on whether Mordaunt is in it to win it  or whether shes inclined to compromise earlier for a big office, say, foreign secretary. From early public statements of support so far, she trails both. Yet the animosity between the Johnson and Sunak camps makes a Mordaunt candidacy appealing for many. Sunak supporters could lend votes to Mordaunt in the hopes of knocking Johnson out of the race. Meanwhile, Johnson, the ultimate persuader, could offer Mordaunt her pick of cabinet jobs outside of chancellor, which presumably would remain with Jeremy Hunt for the sake of stability.

Is there a Goldilocks solution for Conservatives who fear the runaway train that is a Boris Johnson government but dont want to sanction a Sunak leadership that is opposed by Johnson supporters? Look to Mordaunt for the answer.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion covering health care and British politics. Previously, she was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.

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Put aside, if you can, the growing anxiety about Russian President Vladimir Putin going nuclear in his barbaric war against Ukraine. Even if he doesnt  and the risk, though real, remains small  hes already brought the whole world closer to atomic disaster occurring at some point. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Thats because Putin, with his repeated threats to drop nukes on Ukraine or other European countries, has in effect kicked off a new and global arms race in these diabolical weapons. He has proven, if proof was needed, that having atomic bombs gives you power, whereas lacking them  as Ukraine does  leaves you vulnerable. As a result, ever more countries will build or grow their own arsenals  and rewrite their strategies for using them.

Scan this months headlines from Asia to Europe. In Pyongyang, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un just launched another round of ballistic missiles  one of them over Japan and into the Pacific  and simulated tactical nuclear strikes against airports and other targets in South Korea. He appears to be gearing up for another nuclear test blast, his first in five years.

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In France, meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron was inadvertently too explicit about when he would not use a nuke. Asked how hed respond to a nuclear strike by Putin in Ukraine or the region, he answered that France would not retaliate in kind. Nobody expected him to say the opposite. But as a Western leader with an interest in deterring Putin, he had a job: to shut up and preserve strategic ambiguity. His administration is now trying to walk back his excessive clarity.

In this context, NATOs Steadfast Noon actually makes for the only reassuring news. Its a routine joint exercise by 14 of the 30 allies to practice dropping American nuclear bombs from allied countries fighter jets in an emergency. This years maneuvers, scheduled long before Putins invasion and run from a base in Belgium, are now underway until Oct. 30. Lets hope the Kremlin is watching.

The nuclear bragging in North Korea and the anxious oversharing in France point to the damage Putin has done with his not-so-veiled threats. As recently as January  even as Putin was planning his attack on Ukraine  Russia was one of the signatories in the United Nations Security Council reaffirming the truism that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. What cynicism.

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Ukrainians now have a different lesson to teach the world. In the 1990s, they  along with Belarusians and Kazakhs  agreed to give up their nuclear arsenals from Soviet times in return for security guarantees from the major powers, most notably Russia. None other than Sergey Lavrov, today Putins ever-mendacious foreign minister, signed the paperwork.

If Ukraine had instead kept the roughly 1,900 warheads it had at the time, this years war would be going quite differently, and Putin wouldnt be making nuclear threats. And thats escaped nobodys attention. In the brave new world were entering  Putins world  a countrys best bet for staying sovereign, and a dictators best bet for staying in power, is to have nukes.

Kim Jong-un got that point long ago. So did the mullahs in Tehran, nowadays besties with Putin, who are permanently on the verge of nuclear breakout. China is adding to its arsenal as fast as it can. India and Pakistan may well conclude that they, too, need more or more modern nukes, as could Israel.

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South Korea, Japan and Taiwan could start doubting their safety under the American nuclear umbrella and get their own warheads. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others  with an eye to Iran, Russia and Israel  may do the same.

In the European Union, countries such as Poland or Finland that feel directly threatened by Russia may decide that they, too, need atomic deterrents. Macron, with his musings this month, inadvertently helped make that case. By ruling out French retaliation on behalf of other Europeans, he put paid to any notions of extending the French force de frappe to protect the whole EU. Even the Germans are talking more seriously about building a national arsenal.

And then there are all the other rogue nations with their tinpot dictators, those already on the map and those yet to emerge from tomorrows failed states. Theyll all want to play with fission. Add the specter of non-state actors such as terrorist organizations getting their hands on these bombs, and the dystopia is complete.

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The problem is not merely the rising number of nuclear weapons or their increasing variety, from low-yield tactical to high-yield strategic and everything in between. Its that this proliferation also necessitates complete rewrites of the nuclear powers so-called postures, the strategic roles these countries publicly assign to their arsenals as a way of telegraphing their intentions to adversaries.

As of today, only China has officially ruled out a first strike  and even that policy may no longer seem credible. The revised doctrines must incorporate tactical nukes, flexible strikes and graduated retaliation and escalation. The old and terrifying, but stable, certainties of Mutual Assured Destruction are gone. The brave new world after Putin will look more like Permanently Imminent Apocalypse.

Could things instead turn out better? The last time the world came this close to nuclear war was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. That trauma inspired a spate of treaties in subsequent years to limit nuclear proliferation and control the arms race. In retrospect, however, the Cold War was a simpler world, dominated by two superpowers who had an interest in preserving the status quo. Todays world is more fragmented and anarchic.

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Much will depend on how Putins war against Ukraine ends  not just whether Ukraine survives, but whether Putin does, and even Russia as a country and an anti-Western spoiler in the international system. If Putin is seen to succeed with his attempts at nuclear blackmail, the world is pretty much doomed. If hes made to fail, humanity may be able to erect new taboos against waging war with atomic fission. In case anybody was still in doubt, the stakes in Ukraine really are global.

More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:



If Putin Orders a Nuke, Will His Generals Obey?: Andreas Kluth



NATOs Nuclear War Games Are a Risk It Needs to Take: James Stavridis



Can the US Take on China, Iran and Russia All at Once?: Hal Brands

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Andreas Kluth is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering European politics. A former editor in chief of Handelsblatt Global and a writer for the Economist, he is author of Hannibal and Me.

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The phrase midterm elections is often taken to refer to Congress: All 435 seats in the House are up for election every two years, and a third of the Senates (this year there are 35). But there are thousands of other elections next month in addition to those 470. All of them matter for some people, and a lot of them are important well beyond their jurisdictions.

More coverage every year is focused on Washington (yes, Im guilty of this too). Yet there is plenty of policy and politics that matter at the state and local level. National abortion legislation is quite possible; state abortion legislation is already happening and was even before the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Climate, too, is often a question of state-level regulation.

Governors play a crucial role in all this, as do other statewide elected officials. And state legislatures may play an even more consequential role now that Republicans are trying to use elections of election officials and actions of state legislatures to determine the outcomes of future elections regardless of what voters want.

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This isnt just about state-level policy. Immigration, for example, has been stalemated for the most part in Congress for years  and the real action for national immigration policy has frequently depended on court battles between presidents and states. That usually means governors are involved, but many state attorneys general can act independently, regardless of what the rest of the state government wants. And actions by big states on important issues, such as California on the environment or Texas on education, can drag other states along.

But all of those are harder to summarize in national news coverage than the races for the US House and Senate, even if the major national media realize how critical these contests can be.(1)Usually a handful of elections attract attention, mostly in large states or with high-profile candidates.

Once upon a time, that worked out fine. A lot of those state and local stories were independent of national trends, and local media could cover them in more detail and with more understanding than the national media could manage. But these days state and even local elections are part of a more nationalized political system. This year, who wins in Arizonas legislative races, where Democrats need just one state Senate seat to reach parity in that chamber, matters; and Michigans secretary of state contest, where an election denier might try to overturn a presidential win for Democrats in 2024, is a real part of what happens nationally. The national media know that, but havent really figured out yet how to convey it.

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State and even local ballot measures, too, can become national stories  on top of being important where they are held. The Kansas ballot question on abortion this summer had real effects on how the issue played out this fall, with Democrats confident and Republicans on the defensive; not only could that change some election outcomes, but it will likely change how politicians from both parties act once in office. Abortion, voting rights, criminal justice, housing, education and more are all on ballots in November.

Even in congressional elections, where the majority party has almost complete control over the agenda in the House and quite a bit of control in the Senate, every seat matters. A very slim Republican majority in the House may turn out to be a recipe for chaos. Most policy outliers on the Democratic side are pragmatists, willing to cut deals to move policy slightly their way. The House Republican conference is filled with purists who have a strong aversion to compromise.

My argument isnt that congressional elections deserve less attention  its that all those other races deserve more (and for a cheat sheet about many of them, see Daniel Nichanians always-helpful guide). People should vote all the way down the ballot. Partisans should care about more than just congressional majorities. And any assessments of the impact of the midterm elections should look at far more than the House and Senate.

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For weekend reading, here are some of the best recent items from political scientists:

 David A. Hopkins at Bloomberg Opinion on Republicans and big business.

 Natalie Jackson on the Jan. 6 committee and public opinion.

 Kathleen R. McNamara at the Monkey Cage on Europes foreign policy.

 Daniel Drezner on Kevin McCarthy and Ukraine.

 Matt Grossmann talks with Emily West about partisanship and identity.

 James Joyner on US involvement in Ukraine.

 Dave Karpf looks back at the beginnings of online politics.

(1) For example, gubernatorial elections can be summarized by noting how many each party gained or lost. At the same time, California matters more than Wyoming (because it affects so many more people!), so an accurate assessment needs to take population into account as well. All this makes it harder to quickly explain the big picture.

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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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Arriving at the U.S. District Court in Washington on Friday morning, Steve Bannon encountered what he loves most  a media circus of cameras, satellite trucks, angry protesters and a giant inflatable rat with a Trump pompadour, gathered to await his sentencing in the contempt of Congress case stemming from his refusal to testify before the Jan. 6th committee. On his way into court, Bannon couldnt resist taking a swipe at Joe Bidens illegitimate regime. Being the center of attention is when hes happiest.

But lately, thats come at a price. Judge Carl J. Nichols made sure Bannon would land in the headlines by sentencing him to four months in prison, declaring that he had expressed no remorse for his actions.

Prison was always going to be the outcome for Bannon. His total lack of contrition and cooperation, and his angry speeches on the courthouse steps during the trial, hurt him legally  but he carried on because he thought it helps him politically. In his own mind, and almost certainly in the MAGA hive mind, hes now a martyr to the cause, a patriot who refused to testify on (shaky) grounds of executive privilege. Hell surely take advantage of it. As one of his old colleagues predicted to me a few weeks ago: If Steve gets six months, hell treat it like hes Nelson Mandela. Hell write a memoir. Hell treat himself as a political prisoner.

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Bannon is unlikely to win an appeal. Still, little thats good will come of his case.

First, its raised his stature, which enhances his role as a superspreader of conspiracy and election-denialism. Bannons lawyers portrayed him as standing on principle, but its been clear all along that hes most interested in finding a bigger audience. Witness his speeches to the media throng before and after his sentencing.

Second, Bannons sentence shows the limitations of the governments ability to arrest this kind of behavior: He stiffed the Jan. 6th committee and the legal system and wont suffer much for it. The governments frustration was evident in its request for the maximum sentence allowed (six months) and in its memorandum to the judge, which claimed that Bannons refusal to cooperate has exacerbated the assault on the Capitol. Bannon, they wrote, has never taken a single step to comply with the Committees subpoena and has acted in bad faith throughout by claiming he was merely acting on former President Trumps instructions  even though former President Trumps attorney made clear he was not, according to the filing. Judge Nichols made clear during Fridays hearing that he agreed. In my view, he said, Mr. Bannon has not taken responsibility for his actions. But a four-month sentence wasnt enough to muster any penitence from the guilty party. Bannon smirked when the judge told him hed be free pending appeal.

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Third, Bannons refusal to cooperate with the Jan. 6th committee, and his willingness to go to prison for it, raises the bar for what constitutes loyalty to Trump. Its yet another way in which the MAGA movement is bulldozing political and legal norms. Not everyone whos trying to curry favor with Trump or his followers will be willing to land behind bars, even for a short time. But one lesson of the Trump era is that many of the people around him are more willing to do illegal or unethical things than common sense or good judgment would advise.

Finally, the outrage from the right at the Bannon sentence is a good indicator  in microcosm  of what the reaction will be if Trump is indicted. A sober self-assessment is unlikely to be in the offing.

Bannon, of course, is hardly Nelson Mandela. Despite his bluster, he didnt want to go to prison. When it became clear he was going to lose his trial, he got a last-minute letter from Trump freeing him to testify (the gambit failed). In court on Friday, his lawyer claimed Bannon did not seek to defy any lawful authority, then argued unsuccessfully that we dont put someone in prison unless they believe they did something wrong. Perhaps sensing things werent going his way, Bannon uncharacteristically declined a chance to speak when the judge asked him if he wanted to address the court.

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Although he may end up having to don a prison jumpsuit (or three), Bannons consolation prize is that hes enlarged his status as the pied piper of the extreme right-wing fringe of the MAGA movement. In the up is down, down is up logic of that twisted universe, Bannons jailing by the deep state judicial system only proves his contention that the system is corrupt. Hell have four months to ponder whether this prize was worth it. His eagerness to wade through a throng of shouting protesters with Jail All Coup Plotters signs and address the media circus after Nichols rendered his judgment  On Nov. 8th, the American people will render judgment, Bannon declared  suggests that, on balance, it probably is.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Joshua Green is a National Correspondent at Bloomberg Businessweek and the author of Devils Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump and the Storming of the Presidency.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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The hits just keep coming for Will Smith as he continues to deal with the fallout from slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars back in March.

In the wake of the slap heard around the world, Smith lost money, projects, his pristine reputation. And in an unprecedented blow, the Academy Award winning actor may have even lost the opportunity to play Stephen A. Smith in a movie.

Stephen A. Smith continued his epically long and wide-ranging media tour Thursday night by joining Comedy Centrals Hell of A Week with Charlamagne Tha God. During the show, Charlamagne predicted Smiths upcoming memoir would eventually land on the big screen, prompting the question of who should play the ESPN star in a movie about his life?

Dammit, it would have been Will Smith before The Slap, Stephen A. lamented. It would have been him before the slap, but I cant go with him now. I cant go with him!

The only thing crazier than Stephen A. Smith declining Will Smith the opportunity to portray him in a movie is the idea that Will Smith would ever consider playing Stephen A. Smith in a movie, even as he looks to rehab his Hollywood image by easing back into acting. With Will Smith off the table, however, the First Take host told Charlamagne he would be willing to accept Michael B. Jordan or Omari Hardwick.

Those are some lofty expectations from Smith. But they fall in line with those set by his ex-debate partner Skip Bayless, who stated he would like to see Kevin Costner play himself in a movie that he claims is already in the works.

[Hell of a Week]
More than a decade and a half ago, Vladimir Putin masterminded the seizure of privately-owned oil behemoth Yukos from its major shareholder Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

It was a turning point in Putins rule. But little did the world know that it would become the playbook for what is now taking place with increasing regularity inside Russia, as he punishes Western multinationals for wanting to pull out of the country in protest at the invasion of Ukraine.

Undeterred by a ruling in the Court of Arbitration in the Hague in 2014 that the Kremlin must pay $US50 billion ($80 billion) in damages - the worlds largest ever such award - to Yukoss former shareholders, the Kremlin has since been busy seizing the assets of foreigners as well as Russian businesses.

Putin has hammered the final nail in the coffin of Russia as an international economy. Credit:AP

This week, the $US400 billion energy titan Exxon Mobil has become the latest victim of Putins kleptocracy, announcing that it had exited Russia after the states expropriation of the vast Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project in the far east of the country. Exxon said Russia had unilaterally terminated its interest in the oilfield, transferring it to a domestic operator.
During his first decade as Chinas leader, Xi Jinping regularly touted the importance of reform and opening up the economy even as he pushed the country sharply in the opposite direction. On Sunday, as he laid out his ambitions at an important political meeting, he barely paid lip service to the notion.

Xi, who is expected to secure a groundbreaking third term when the Communist Party congress concludes this week, made just three references to market reforms in his nearly two-hour speech and omitted more than a dozen others from a longer, written version. He instead focused on issues of national security and corruption, extolled state projects in spaceflight and supercomputers, and pledged to create a larger role for socialism and the public sector.

Pro-business, free-market reforms that propelled China to become the worlds second-largest economy have been tabled in favour of state prerogatives. Credit:AP

When he did talk about markets, the message was established rhetoric. He lauded socialist market economic reform, while also arguing that Chinas economy should give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation.

Under Xis leadership, China is returning to its roots: a state-controlled economy that demands businesses conform to the aims of the Chinese Communist Party. Pro-business, free-market reforms that propelled it to become the worlds second-largest economy have been tabled in favour of state prerogatives.
On the scale of seriousness, the Optus cyberattack may have been highly damaging but the Medibank data breach is a disaster.

Given the intimate nature of the data stolen from the medical insurer, the information is of greater value to the perpetrators and potentially poses a bigger risk to the customers exposed.

But as any cyber expert will attest - Medibanks record as Australias worst cyber incident wont hold for long.

Police are investigating threats made in the wake of a major cybersecurity breach at Medibank Private. Credit:Louise Kennerley

We are now a few years into a major escalation of cyber crime - both in terms of numbers and sophistication.
Penny Wong has stepped so warily around so many traps over the past five months that it was jarring to see her playing Twister in a minefield this week when she had three positions on Israel within a day.

The foreign minister lost her footing from the moment on Monday afternoon when her department was caught in the act of changing policy on whether Australia recognised West Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

From a small start  just a quiet change to a website  the government stumbled into a mess. And while some debates are messy by necessity, like the public argument over the stage three tax cuts, this one was not. It was all avoidable.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong: an out-of-character misstep. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Wong did not take long to recover. She never does. She took a position to federal cabinet on Tuesday morning and had an agreement around the table very quickly to restore Australian foreign policy on the treatment of Jerusalem as the capital. Jerusalem will be, once again, a final status issue for any peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Labors influential environment lobby is calling on the government to help households electrify their appliances to eliminate the need for new gas projects, escalating the partys internal stoush over fossil fuels.

The policy push opens a rift between the group  whose patrons include Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Employment Minister Tony Burke  and Resources Minister Madeleine King, who says new gas fields are needed to increase the volume of gas available to the local market.

Resources Minister Madeleine King. Credit:James Brickwood

Electrification will play an increasingly important role in addressing climate change for both households and industry as we transform our energy system, King said on Thursday. But the fact remains that gas will continue to play a crucial role in electricity generation and industry for years to come  particularly in heavy industry and hard-to-abate sectors.

The Labor Environment Action Network was co-founded by Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Jenny McAllister.
Greens senator Lidia Thorpe repeatedly questioned Home Affairs boss Mike Pezzullo about the status of a suspected member of the Rebels bikie gang who was facing deportation to New Zealand.

Thorpe took up the case of Jack Hobson, identified in court documents as an alleged member of the Rebels, with top department officials at a Senate estimates hearing in November 2021, arguing he should be released from immigration detention due to his Indigenous heritage.

Lidia Thorpes undisclosed relationship with an ex-bikie boss alarmed her staff. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Earlier that year, two staffers to Thorpe had raised concerns with her and then with Greens leader Adam Bandts office that she was in an undisclosed relationship with former Rebels bikie president Dean Martin while she was a member of the joint parliamentary law enforcement committee, which receives briefings on organised crime and bikie gangs.

Martins late brother Shane Martin, the father of Richmond star Dustin, was deported to New Zealand because of his links to the Rebels and criminal history.
The Flagstaff City Council reviewed recommendations Tuesday at its meeting from a recent noise study, and, rather than adopt a new noise ordinance, decided to assemble a Good Neighbor Group to hopefully reach compromise between complaining residents and offending commercial businesses.

In the 291 days of 2022, the Flagstaff Police Department has fielded 493 complaints related to noise, reported Flagstaff Police Chief Dan Musselman, compared to 191 complaints related to unsafe and speeding vehicles. Flagstaff has been in pursuit of a new noise ordinance since at least 2019, and forcefully since June 2021, when a citizens petition prompted Council to request a draft ordinance from city staff.

But as the issue has been examined, complexities have emerged that have lead Council to be wary of a citywide ordinance.

For instance, its been determined that there is a wide range of issues that contribute to noise complaints in the city  everything from modified vehicles to barking dogs  that warrant different approaches of monitoring and enforcement.

And within these complaints, there is a localized subset that pertain to friction between residents and businesses in Flagstaffs Southside neighborhood. The historic neighborhood, which was built before the widespread use of amplified sound, is laid out in such a way that there are many residences immediately adjacent to commercial zones  many of which are inhabited by bars and restaurants.

In recent years, multiple residents have become vocal about a handful of Southside businesses that they claim are degrading their quality of life and freedom to peaceful enjoyment of their property. These outcries have in part driven city councils investigation of a noise ordinance.

Most recently, the city contracted MD Acoustics to conduct a noise study, the results of which have been making the rounds at town halls and coffee-with-a-cop events. The study recommends a noise ordinance for Flagstaff based on area noise-level measurements and comparable noise ordinances in other areas  specifically Sedona and Boulder, Colorado.

While the ordinance recommendations provided by MD Acoustics detail exceptions  such as for special events  and zoning based variation in sound level limits, some business owners present at Tuesdays meetings expressed resistance.

Lets not shoot the mouse with an elephant gun, said Craig Buchard, owner of the Southside Tavern, who believes the proposed noise level limits were too low.

A noise ordinance would hurt business, complained Kevin Hyneman, owner of three Southside businesses: Tourist Home, Tinderbox and The Annex.

I implore you not to hurt one group to appease another, Hyneman said.

Businesses definitely have the right to run their business and turn a profit, said Deb Harris, city council write-in candidate and executive director of the Southside Community Association. But, on the other hand, residents also have the right to a good quality of life.

Quality of life was a notable issue for Michael Sechrist, a Southside resident, who bemoaned a bar that moved into the area adjacent his apartment and placed an outdoor speaker feet from his window, projecting daily music that keeps him from experiencing peace and relaxation.

According to Sechrist, efforts to contact and resolve the issue with the businesses resulted in hostility and threats to trespass him from the premises.

Sechrist did note, however, that another offending business on the same block  The Mayor  had been more receptive to feedback about the impact their amplified rooftop music was having on Sechrists quality of life.

Theyre aware, Sechrist said, because I make them aware.

Terry Madeksza, executive director of the Flagstaff Downtown Business Alliance, also reported that recent conversations with The Mayor ownership had yielded some positive results. She advocated for a localized approach to the Southside noise issue, one similar to a compromise that was reached when residents near Wheeler Park had complaints about event noise.

My focus is on compromise, Madeksza said. Were not there yet, but I know we can get there.

We need a vibrant downtown, but we also need a livable downtown Councilmember Austin Aslan said of the issue, expressing concern that an ordinance may be weaponized in the Southside neighborhood conflict. Instead, he advocated that businesses owners step up and start applying peer pressure to self-regulate so that the nuclear option of an ordinance could be avoided.

Organic community patrolling of its own problem is the best course of action in my mind, Aslan said. But its important to note that we have come to this moment where the threat of the nuclear option is a thing.

Councilmember Regina Salas was more or less on the same page, and said some situations require a neighborly approach.

The conversation then turned to the creation of a task force representing businesses, residents, city staff, and third parties that could mediate and recommend a course of action for the Southside noise problem. Dubbed the Good Neighbor Group, Council decided that creation of such a task force would be the next best step, though some expressed reservations.

A task force will be just another mechanism to slow this down and delay it, said Councilmember Jim McCarthy, who supported adopting an ordinance like the ones recommended by MD Acoustics. Weve been talking about this since 2019.

Im not interested in this going on forever, said Vice Mayor Miranda Sweet, who stressed the need to define Good Neighbor Group deliverables. But I think we can get there.
Coconino Community Colleges (CCC) district governing board announced Wednesday at its meeting that it had selected Eric Heiser to be the colleges next president.

The school's former president, Colleen Smith, announced her retirement in March after leading the college since 2016, and the board then conducted a nationwide search through the summer, considering more than 50 applicants.

Heiser was announced as one of three finalists on Sept. 21, and was selected after each finalist took part in a series of community forums and meetings earlier this month.

The college is positioned through the past leadership of Dr. Colleen Smith and community support through the passage of the tax reset to leap forward in serving the residents of Coconino County -- from workforce training and associate degrees to pathways to baccalaureates, board chair Nat White said in the announcement.

Heisers tenure as CCCs president will officially begin Jan. 1, 2023.

Im incredibly humbled and honored to be selected as the sixth president of CCC, he said in the announcement. Im excited about the bright future ahead for CCC, and look forward to working with the wonderful faculty and staff to meet the needs of students in Coconino County.

Heiser has spent almost two decades working in higher education and has a PhD in Higher Education Leadership. He is currently the provost and chief academic, student support and workforce officer for Central Ohio Technical College.

He also serves as chairman of the board for Competency-Based Education Network and as board president for the National Council of Instructional Administrators. In 2020, he was appointed to a three-year term on the American Association of Community Colleges commission on workforce and economic development.

His past experience includes six years as an assistant professor at Central Wyoming College, six years as an associate dean and dean at Salt Lake Community College (where he built a large competency-based education program), more than 36 conference presentations and work advising on CTE best practices and guided pathways as a content expert to the U.S. Department of Educations What Works Clearinghouse.

Heiser outlined some of his thoughts about CCC in his Oct. 6 community forums, covering topics such as sustainability initiatives, talent recruitment, technology in education and workforce development.

We can't be a one-size-fits-all, he said in the introduction to his community-focused forum. A lot of my experience has been, especially in the past three to four years, in and around the area of building holistic student supports and making sure that their basic needs are met. We use the terminology Maslow before Bloom. So the idea is you have to have Maslows needs met before you can get into Blooms taxonomy of learning objectives and all of that.

A recording of one of Heisers forums is available here.
If you know of local business openings or closings, please notify us here.

PREVIOUS OPENINGS AND CLOSINGS

- Air Products & Chemicals Inc. plans to invest a half-billion dollars to produce environmentally friendly hydrogen in New York state.

- The Trexlertown Chick-Fil-A plans to add a second drive-thru lane as part of a plan to reduce traffic congestion.

- The Harrisburg-based Mid Penn bank has opened its first full-service branch in the Lehigh Valley in South Whitehall.

- The Allentown Planning Commission put off a decision on a new Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen at the site of the former Nostos Greek restaurant.

- The former Star Crete concrete plant at the intersection of Farmersville Road and Easton Avenue has been sold for $1.58 million, and that may clear the way for a medical office building.

- The local business SuperSets Gym will open its third location in Allentown's South Mall, with no opening date set yet.

- The jewelry boutique Versant will close later this year, but the business will be consolidated at Gary Werkheiser's other location in Saucon Valley Square.

- The DSW Woodmill Commons has moved to Berkshire West, 1101 Woodland Road in Wyomissing.

- Trainer Michael Melendez has opened his new Reading Extreme Boxing Club where PacSun used to operate in the Berkshire Mall.

- Frackville NAPA Auto Parts held a grand opening with the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce and Frackville Business & Professional Association.

- Fyzical Therapy & Balance Centers in North Manheim Township held a grand opening, in conjunction with the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce and Pottsville Business Association.

- PDC Machines, a maker of hydrogen compressors, showed off a new plant in Lower Salford.

- Maya Capital Partners has acquired Amwell Valley Self Storage, a 265-unit storage business on Route 31 in Ringoes, New Jersey.

- Norwescap is buying the former Sullivan's on the Main restaurant in Phillipsburg to renovate the building and then use it for programs to help educate and feed people.
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Breezy with clouds and some sun..

Tonight

Turning out mainly clear with gradually diminishing winds. Colder compared to previous nights.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A photo shows whooper swans at Rongcheng Swan National Nature Reserve in Weihai, Shandong province. [Photos by Li Xinjun/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Whooper swans are arriving at Rongcheng Swan National Nature Reserve in Weihai, Shandong province  from Siberia and other places  to spend the winter.

With its favorable geographical location and wetlands, Rongcheng is an important stop for migratory waterfowl, with more than 10,000 birds staying at the site annually.

The swans stay for around five months at the bay in Rongcheng, making it one of the largest wintering grounds for whooper swans in the world.

A photo shows whooper swans at Rongcheng Swan National Nature Reserve in Weihai, Shandong province. [Photos by Li Xinjun/For chinadaily.com.cn]

A photo shows whooper swans at Rongcheng Swan National Nature Reserve in Weihai, Shandong province. [Photos by Li Xinjun/For chinadaily.com.cn]

A photo shows whooper swans at Rongcheng Swan National Nature Reserve in Weihai, Shandong province. [Photos by Li Xinjun/For chinadaily.com.cn]










WASHINGTON (AP)  A Berks County man was sentenced on Friday to nearly three years in prison for assaulting an Associated Press photographer and attacking police officers with a stun gun during the U.S. Capitol riot.

Alan Byerly apologized to his victims before U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss sentenced him to two years and 10 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Byerly will get credit for the more than 15 months he already has served behind bars since the FBI arrested him at his home in Fleetwood on July 7, 2021, according to his lawyers.

"I didn't go to D.C. to harm anyone," Byerly told the judge.

Byerly, 55, pleaded guilty in July to assaulting AP photographer John Minchillo and then activating a stun gun as he charged at police officers who were trying to hold off the mob that formed outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Byerly said he was an "antagonistic jerk" when he confronted the officers. He also said he assaulted Minchillo after hearing a voice say, "That's antifa. Get him out of here."

Minchillo was wearing a lanyard with AP lettering when Byerly and other rioters attacked him on the Capitol's Lower West Terrace, according to a court filing accompanying Byerly's guilty plea. Byerly grabbed Minchillo, pushed him backward and dragged him toward a crowd, the filing says. Another AP photographer captured the assault on video.

"I should have never gotten involved, and I'm deeply sorry for my actions," Byerly said.

Prosecutors sought a sentence of at least three years and 10 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Defense lawyers requested a sentence below an estimated guidelines range of 37 to 46 months in prison.

Moss said he believed Byerly is genuinely remorseful for his role in the mob's "assault on democracy." The judge said it was clear that Byerly couldn't have injured anybody with the inexpensive stun gun that he took to the Capitol, but the officers couldn't have known that given the sound that it made.

"They were clearly frightened by it," Moss said. "It undoubtedly added to the fear the officers felt that day."

Minchillo "must have been extremely frightened, as well," the judge added.

None of Byerly's victims attended his sentencing hearing.

Byerly bought the stun gun at Cabela's in Tilden Township, near Hamburg, before traveling from his home in Fleetwood to Washington, D.C., for the "Stop the Steal" rally on Jan. 6. Leaving the rally before then-President Donald Trump finished speaking, Byerly went to the west side of the Capitol and joined other rioters in using a metal Trump billboard as a battering ram against police, prosecutors said.

Later, Byerly approached police officers behind bike racks and deployed his stun gun. After officers grabbed the stun gun from Byerly's hands, he charged at them, struck and pushed them and grabbed an officer's baton, prosecutors said. One of the officers fell and landed on his hands while trying to restrain Byerly.

Defense attorneys said the model of stun gun that Byerly purchased for $24.99 was considered to be "junk" by engineering experts.

"Furthermore, shortly after purchasing the device, Mr. Byerly had accidentally activated it on himself and thus knew that it could not cause injury or even pain," the defense lawyers wrote in a court filing.

Other rioters helped him elude capture that day, but Byerly was arrested in July 2021. He told FBI agents that he did just "one stupid thing down there and that's all it was," according to prosecutors.

"This was a reference to how he handled the reporter and nothing more," they wrote in a court filing.

Byerly, a carpenter by trade and father of four children, has remained in custody since his arrest more than 15 months ago.

Approximately 900 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct on Jan. 6. More than 420 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor offenses. Nearly 300 have been sentenced, with roughly half of them getting terms of imprisonment ranging from seven days to 10 years, according to an AP review of court records.

More than 100 police officers were injured during the Jan. 6 riot. Over 270 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers or employees at the Capitol, according to the Justice Department. Byerly is one of several defendants charged with assaulting members of the news media or destroying their equipment at the Capitol.
ALLENTOWN, Pa.  The Allentown School District Board of Directors on Thursday night approved a separation and release agreement with Superintendent John Stanford. His resignation is effective Oct. 28.

The vote was 6-3. Phoebe Harris, Audrey Mathison, Nicholas Miller, Jennifer Ortiz, Charles Thiel and Nancy Wilt voted to approve the agreement.

LaTarsha Brown, Lisa Conover and Patrick Palmer voted "no."

It was an emotional board meeting, as parents, students and some board members said they are tired of the turnover rate for superintendents.

Stanford formally accepted the position Sept. 23, 2021, and began employment in November 2021 with a deal that was supposed to run through June 30, 2026. His annual compensation was $230,000.

He became the district's fourth superintendent in 2021 alone, taking over for Acting Superintendent Jennifer Ramos, who replaced Interim Superintendent Marilyn Martinez, who took the job after former Superintendent Thomas Parker resigned that April to return to his home state of Michigan.

Stanford is the sixth superintendent in the district since 2011, including interim and acting superintendents. Prior to Parker was Superintendent Russ Mayo, who replaced Gerald Zahorchak. Zahorchak, a former Pennsylvania education secretary, stepped down after the first year of a five-year deal.

Before Thursday's vote, the three directors opposed to the separation agreement made stirring comments about Stanford's departure. They insinuated there was more than meets the eye to the resignation and the district's general state of affairs.

"I don't know who we can put in that seat at this point, short of Jesus," Director Patrick Palmer said. "...There's going to be five people in the last two years. That is the definition of insanity."

"What are you looking for?" Palmer questioned. "What can you get, right now, to help you get to what you are trying to achieve?...I'm just voting 'no.' I'm voting 'hell no.'"

"I don't want to go to jail, and I don't want to go to hell. So I will tell the truth today," Vice President Lisa Conover said. "...This man did nothing to be removed."

"The district has him tied to a tree," Conover continued. "Look at the pattern. People come in; they run out."

"We just got $38 million  $38 million," she said in reference to state funding awarded to the district. "Now everybody's cleaning house? That's a problem. Why? The goal is to educate our students. Not to build buildings to make it look like we are educating them."

"It is honorable to see someone stand up strong for what they believe in," Director LaTarsha Brown said, thanking Stanford.

Before taking the Allentown job, Stanford had spent more than 20 years working in public education, nonprofit and public policy positions. He was employed 15 years in the Columbus City Schools, Ohio's largest district, where he was hired initially as a lobbyist.

Several board members and members of the public, including students, praised Stanford Thursday night on the job he has done in ASD.

A senior at Dieruff High School spoke to the board, urging them not to approve the agreement. She said parting ways with Stanford would not help students or the community.

A Building 21 sophomore said Stanford "has done so much for the community."

A senior at William Allen High School said he couldn't understand why the district is letting Stanford go. He said he wanted to shake Stanford's hand at graduation.

"Let him stay," he said.

Other business

In separate news, resignations were accepted from Business Manager Arutyun "Harry" Aristakesian, Director of Operations Ramona Hollie-Major and Facility Service Executive Director Thomas Smith.

Finally, the board approved the hiring of Randy Buck as executive director of middle schools. He will receive a $133,500 annual salary.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Cases of RSV are on the rise across the country, and in some cases causing major bed shortages at some hospitals.

Dr. Nathan Hagstrom, the Chair of the Pediatrics Department at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children's Hospital, says "RSV is a fairly common virus that causes the cold and upper respiratory tract infection, but in infants and young children it can cause what we call bronchiolitis, inflammation of the small airways and the lungs."
POTTSVILLE, Pa. - The Schuylkill County District Attorney is applying for thousands of dollars in state funding to combat gun violence.

He said there's been a significant increase over the past decade, and the county needs another detective on staff.

Our cameras have caught several violent incidents across Schuylkill County in the past year, including a police standoff in Ashland last May and a deadly shooting in Mahanoy City last October.

It's a trend the Mayor of Pottsville, Dave Clews, tells us he's familiar with, too.

"I'm one of the people they call when that happens," said Clews. "We had a recent shooting in a neighborhood."

Clews said those calls are becoming more frequent, and District Attorney Michael O'Pake said he has the stats to prove it.

"From 2011 until 2020, there was an increase in crimes committed with a gun in Schuylkill County, and the increase was 23 percent. Statewide it was about 9 percent," said O'Pake.

O'Pake said the state grant would provide just under $190,000 to hire and equip a new detective who could help smaller communities that don't have their own police department.

"He'll go out and he'll help them investigate crimes. He'll help our drug task force investigate crimes, because again, we see more and more drug dealers using guns," said O'Pake.

Clews said that's good news, because the increasing trend of gun violence is harder for smaller communities to deal with.

"We're fortunate here in the City of Pottsville. We have a full-time 24-7 police department. Not all our adjoining cities, towns, townships, have that luxury," said Clews.

O'Pake said his office hired a grant-writer specifically for the application, and expects they will get it, but he said he's committed to expanding his office one way or another.

"I'll look to find it in my budget elsewhere if I can't do this, because it's very important," said O'Pake.

O'Pake told us that in a four-year period between 2017 and 2021, his office has confiscated 197 guns. He expects to hear if they were awarded the grant early next year.
China is widely acknowledged as one of the safest countries in the world, Xu Ganlu, vice minister of public security, told a press conference here on Wednesday.

Noting that China is one of the countries with the lowest homicide rate and the lowest number of gun- and explosives-related cases, Xu said the country has witnessed significant drops in the numbers of criminal cases and safety accidents over the past decade.

The number of major criminal acts including homicides and rapes in 2021 was 64.4 percent lower than that of 2012, while the numbers of drug-related crimes, robberies and thefts also dropped by 56.8 percent, 96.1 percent and 62.6 percent respectively, Xu told journalists on the sidelines of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

According to a survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2021, some 98.6 percent of those polled felt safe living in China, up by 11 percentage points from 2012, he said.

The vice minister said some 3,800 police officers had sacrificed their lives in the past 10 years in the process of defending social security and stability.

Nonetheless, Xu said China will continue to crack down on organized crime and root out local criminal gangs on an ongoing basis and focus its efforts on serious criminal offenses of major concerns to the public, to better safeguard national security, social stability and interests of the people.
A new concert series will run at Lola's Underground Casino at The Hippodrome.

Greg Barnett will host the first event, with guest performers Christine Allado (The Prince of Egypt), Hadley Fraser (City of Angels), Isaac Hesketh (Legally Blonde) and Carly Mercedes Dyer (Anything Goes) all set to participate.

Featuring both conversation and performance, the evening will feature musical hits as well as pop, soul and jazz classics.

The Live at Lola's concert is set to take place before Overtures, the musical theatre singalong event running in the same venue.

The show runs on 8 December from 7pm, with tickets on sale now via the Live at Lola's channels.
Actress Josephine Melville has died backstage after a performance of Nine Night at Nottingham Playhouse.

The venue and co-producer Leeds Playhouse issued the following statement: "We are deeply saddened to announce that last night the actor Josephine Melville, passed away backstage at Nottingham Playhouse following the performance of the play Nine Night, in which she was performing. Josephine's family have been informed, and our thoughts and deep condolences are with them.

"Josephine received immediate assistance from Nottingham Playhouse first aiders and a medically qualified member of the Nine Night audience. The subsequent very swift arrival of paramedics meant she was quickly and expertly treated but sadly she passed away at the scene.

"Nine Night is a co-production between Leeds Playhouse and Nottingham Playhouse. The entire company, and staff at both theatres are in state of shock. Josephine was a truly wonderful and well-loved person, a revered and deeply respected performer, director, producer, archivist and writer, and a tremendous Auntie Maggie in Nine Night. We are offering our full support to her family, our onstage and production crew and all staff at this awful time.

"In light of these events, all performances of Nine Night at Nottingham Playhouse have been cancelled."

Nottingham Playhouse chief executive Stephanie Sirr said today: "We send our love and condolences to Jo's family and friends. On a deeply tragic and extremely difficult evening we want to pay tribute to the company of Nine Night and to the whole Nottingham Playhouse team who managed the situation with empathy and professionalism."

Chief executive and artistic director of Leeds Playhouse, James Brining said: "We are profoundly saddened by Jo's passing and add our condolences to her family and loved ones. We were truly honoured to work with her on this wonderful co-production of Nine Night and are doing everything we can to support her family, the company and staff across both theatres."

Nine Night had originally opened in Leeds before transferring to the Nottingham venue.
Yellowstone County will file a formal response next week to the temporary restraining order issued on Friday that bars county commissioners from continuing their process of possibly privatizing management at MetraPark.

The response comes ahead of the scheduled Nov. 30 Yellowstone County District Court hearing to resolve the matter.

The restraining order, filed last week by Billings attorney Gene Jarussi and granted on Friday by District Court Judge Rod Souza, halted the county's bid process that sought a contract to turn over operation of MetraPark to private company.

Don Jones, one of the three county commissioners and chairman of the commissioners board, declined to comment on other options open to the county until the legal process moves a little further forward, he said. Jones was the main driver in exploring privatization.

Jeana Lervick, the chief in-house deputy county attorney for Yellowstone County, said she's hopeful for a quick resolution.

"Yellowstone County is looking forward to a hearing on the merits of the recently filed (temporary restraining order) by Mr. Jarussi regarding the Metra," Lervick said in a statement. "The filings made contain erroneously drawn conclusions regarding a process that has been very well publicized over the past several months, and the County is anxious for the opportunity to address Mr. Jarussis concerns."

The motion for a TRO was filed by Jarussi, who believes the process used by county commissioners to explore privatizing management at MetraPark has been so corrupted that it should be stopped entirely.

The process "has been tainted by violations of the Montana Constitution and law, misrepresentations and collusion," Jarussi wrote in the request. "This faulty and unreliable process should be halted immediately."

OVG and ASM Global, both L.A.-based events and venue management companies, submitted bids last month. A committee of business leaders and county employees had been in the process of evaluating those bids.

That process is now stopped for the next month and half until the hearing with Judge Souza.

"We understand the courts need to focus on the many issues before it, so while we would prefer putting these issues to rest now, we are anxious to tackle them this November," Lervick said.
include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> Of all the myths and legends that have come out of Eastern Europe for centuries, the least known is most likely the Golem of Prague.

Thanks to popular movies vampires and werewolves are probably the most famous Eastern European creatures. Usually these creatures are evil nightmarish things. But what is a Golem? A monster? A benevolent protector? Is the story fact or fiction? Well, it depends on who you talk to.

One thing is certain, the tale of the Golem is one of the most famous stories of Jewish folklore. The story goes that when persecutors rose up to attack the Jewish people, the Maharal, Yehudah Loew, chief rabbi of Prague 500 years ago, created the Golem, a manlike creature made from the dust of the earth and endowed with "life" by means of a secret formula. Through the Golem, the Maharal brought about miracles for the protection of the Jews in Prague.

Back then, Christian priests falsely claimed that Jews secretly killed Christian children and used their blood in the performance of religious rituals. These hateful sermons caused the Christian townspeople to pour out of church with deep hatred for the Jews. In order to save the Jewish people from slaughter, the Maharal prayed for guidance and he received an answer at night in a vision. He was given 10 Hebrew letters, signifying words meaning "You will create a Golem, a thing of clay that will destroy the wicked!"

He, along with two friends molded a superhuman from the soft mud  the Golem. To bring the Golem to life, The Maharal had to insert a "shem" (a clay tablet bearing the name of G od) into its mouth.

The Golem had the general appearance of a man but is usually depicted as about 8 feet high and very muscular, possessed with enormous strength. He could also disappear at will. The Maharal told the Golem, "We created you with G od's help to protect the Jews against our enemies. You must obey my orders in everything! The Golem could see and hear but was mute. He nodded his head in agreement.

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Unlike other mythical creatures of folklore, the Golem was not a monster, but rather a gentle soul that had no independent thought but was morally upright. He did exactly what he was told until he was told to stop by the Maharal. When asked to bring water to the kitchen, he continued to bring water until the kitchen flooded and was then told to stop (a precursor perhaps to The Sorcerer's Apprentice). When he was told to catch fish, he fished all day, and when told that there were too many fish, he dumped the entire basket of them back into the lake.

The Maharal would deactivate the Golem for the Sabbath, to allow the creature to rest. But one day he forgot and the Golem went on a rampage through the ghetto, destroying everything in its path. When the Rabbi was told of this, he eventually confronted the monster outside the synagogue, where he managed to remove the "shem". The Golem was never revived and allegedly was later stored in the synagogue's attic for safe keeping, which remained locked for centuries.

Here are the facts.

The Maharal Yehudah Loew was a real historical rabbi and Jewish scholar but there is no evidence that he actually created a Golem. His synagogue is still in existence in Prague and the attic space above the synagogue where the Golem is supposedly locked up in has since been opened. Nothing at all indicates that the Golem was ever in there.

Through the years there have been many different versions of the story, including several movies. Today, thanks to tourism, the image of the Golem can still be seen in Prague in various forms such as names of restaurants, and tourist souvenirs like key chains and such. However, the Golem legend is not unique to Prague. Golems appear in local Jewish legend across Central and Eastern Europe, the oldest example coming from 16th-century Chelm in Poland.

But Prague's Golem is the most famous of them all.

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A Washington man was sentenced Thursday for interfering with an airline crew by jumping on a beverage cart and pushing a flight attendant into a seat, screaming and trying to remove his clothes on a flight that was diverted to Billings for his removal. He was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay $14,500 restitution to the airline, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Adam Alexander Williams, 33, of Auburn, Washington, pleaded guilty in June to an indictment charging him with interference with flight members and attendants.

U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided.

The government alleged that on Jan. 9, Williams boarded an American Airlines cross-country flight from Seattle to Charlotte, North Carolina. Once in the air, Williams behavior turned erratic and escalated. Williams yelled profanities and asked to no one in particular, Where is Jasmine Sanders? Williams jumped from his window seat, over two passengers in his row, and onto a beverage cart. As he came off of the cart, Williams pushed a flight attendant into a seat and began to run down the aisle of the aircraft.

Another flight attendant calmed Williams down and escorted him to his seat. About 10 minutes later, Williams again began yelling profanities. Flight attendants then seated Williams around a group of U.S. Marines, who happened to be on the flight. Undeterred, Williams began screaming about 10 minutes later while taking off his clothes. At that point, to ensure the safety of passengers, the aircrafts captain diverted the plane to Billings so that Williams could be removed.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Zeno B. Baucus prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI and Billings Airport Police.
COLUMBUS  The Columbus Fire Department is utilizing funds that it received from Didion Milling to replace its old grain rescue device.

The Columbus Fire Department wants to thank Didion for the generous donation, Columbus Fire Chief Scott Hazeltine said in the press release. With the funds, we were able to replace our old grain rescue device, called the Great Wall of Rescue Kit.

The kit is third-party tested, and slides together allowing Columbus Fire to more efficiently and safely perform grain bin rescues, Hazeltine said. There are 12 panels, some used to form a circle around the patient to relieve pressure and remove the grain. The extra panels can be used to form a protective wall in case there is grain movement, protecting the rescuers and patient.

Columbus Fire was also able to purchase four new harnesses and rope rescue equipment to use after removal of the victim from the grain entrapment back to the ground.

Didion Milling has been in operation since 1972 and is headquarted in Sun Prairie. It also has corn milling and biofuels facility in Cambria and production facilities in Markesan and Johnson Creek.
The New Lisbon Area Chamber of Commerce presented the 2022 Best of the Best awards at their annual banquet Wednesday night.

Jenny Kochie received this years Citizen of the Year title, and Hardware Hank earned the Community Service Award.

The Chamber first began awarding the Citizen of the Year title in 1969 and added a Community Service category in 2007. Anyone can nominate an individual or organization; the chamber accepted nominations through their website or via boxes that were placed throughout New Lisbon.

The voting process, similarly, is open to all residents.

Ive never been nominated before. It was a very big surprise, Kochie said.

Kochie has been president of the New Lisbon Chamber of Commerce since 2008 and serves on the citys Room Tax Committee. Kochie also volunteers as the treasurer for the Wa Du Shuda Days committee, but she finds herself doing a little bit of everything for the annual festival.

Its hard, because I dont do this for the recognition. I do it because I enjoy it and I love what I do, she explained. But to be appreciated for endless hours and days of my life over the last 14 years  it was nice.

Hardware Hank has been open since 2017. Its owned by Randy Fenrich, Becky Groch and Jamie Woodward and operated with the help of Shelly Popp and Kyle Woodward.

The building was previously occupied by True Value. But, after the store shut down, New Lisbon was left without a hardware store.

In our growing community, we saw a need for one. So we purchased the hardware store and kept it the same old store. All we did was paint, Kyle Woodward, Shelly and Jamies son said. We even left the traditional, old creaky floors.

Hardware Hank was a stop on the Chambers 80s themed Wine Walk earlier this month. This past spring, the business helped sponsor New Lisbon Softballs senior banners.

We do what we can to give back. The (award) was definitely much appreciated, Woodward said.
The Columbia County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday night heard from a large number of people who spoke against solar projects and asked the county to take action.

The High Noon Solar Project has submitted their project application to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC). The project, which is proposing installing solar panels on farmland, could generate 300 megawatts with 165-megwatt battery energy storage sitting on over 4,000 acres of land in the towns of Arlington, Leeds, Lowville and Hampden.

Another solar project, Langdon Mills Solar, has been proposed in the towns of Cambria and Courtland that could be on approximately 2,000 acres. The Langdon Mills Solar project is being developed by Samsung C&T and has not yet submitted an application to the PSC.

Concerned citizens voiced their worries about the proposed project which spanned from fires that could be started by the solar equipment, to the potential lack of sunlight for the projects, to the ruining of the scenery of rural Wisconsin.

But the biggest reason people are against the project is because it is proposed to be built on prime Wisconsin farmland.

Becky Santowski spoke at the meeting and explained to the board that she is a fifth generation farmer that settled in the Empire Prairie area in the 1800s. She said she supports solar energy but does not believe in the High Noon solar energy project.

Other comments made similar points with one person saying they support solar but in states with more daily sunshine like Arizona or Colorado.

Im proud to be a fifth generation farmer and Im passionate about the farmland, Santowski said. She told the board she disagreed with calling these projects solar farms and stated it was a clever way for companies to move solar into the area.

Farming solar is a tactful way to get resources and funding, I dont like it, Santowski said. Santowski pointed out that the initial proposal was for about 2,000 acres of land, but the PSC application states the project would be approximately 4,327 acres with 129 acres needed for the battery energy storage system.

I plead with you to please listen to what were all bringing forward tonight and give this a deeper look, Santowski said. How can we move forward appropriately? I dont think this is the right project and I dont think its the right time and I dont think its right for the resources we have.

The PSC states on their website that if the application is approved, construction could start as early as May 2024 with the project completed and in service by December 2025.

After the public comment section of Wednesday nights meeting, Supervisor Andrew Groves of District 23 asked members of the public to stand who had attended because of the solar issue and about 50 people stood up or were already standing. He then made a motion to have an agenda item on these projects at the next meeting.

I propose at the next full board meeting on Nov. 15 there be a mandatory agenda item for the board to consider and act up a resolution relating to anything regarding commercial solar operations in this county and any proposed ordinances by a roll call vote, Groves said.

Groves then proposed the county should hold a public hearing on these solar projects on Nov. 15 and that any resident living in the area of the two solar projects should be sent a notice of the public hearing. Supervisor Denise Brusveen also mentioned that there was a project she had heard of in the Dekorra area. Groves said those residents should know about this as well.

The more people we can have educated on this the better, Groves said.

The Daily Register reached out to Columbia County Corporation Council Joseph Ruf by email regarding the regulation of solar projects but received no response.
Probably for the first time since people stopped leaving the couch to change the channel, Montana has a U.S. House race in which neither major party candidate is advertising on television.

In the states newly created eastern district  made up of counties where voters historically support Republican congressional candidates by a 20-percentage-point margin  television advertising has been nearly nonexistent. Federal Communications Commission records for TV stations in Great Falls and Helena, show no ads from Republican or Democrat House candidates. In Billings, the House ads have been mostly bought by candidates from Wyoming.

The only candidate in the eastern district race on television is independent Gary Buchanan of Billings. Usually, it's the third party who isn't running TV ads, which cost a few thousand dollars.

Quarterly campaign finance reports filed in mid-October show that Democrats and Republicans have not only pulled the plug on TV ads, but have had modest purchases on radio and Facebook, and that is only if incumbent Matt Rosendales taxpayer-funded franked ads on Facebook are rolled into the count.

The abuse of the franking privilege is incredible, Buchanan said. Im an independent. I get all sorts of mail. So, I get Rosendales flyers and they all say theyre paid for by the taxpayer, but I had no idea you could do that on social media, too.

The franking privilege is a law as old as Congress. The law allows representatives mailing privileges and use of their taxpayer-funded member representational allowance to communicate with constituents. Although franking privileges have traditionally applied to mailed literature  Gov. Greg Gianforte frequently issued constituent newsletters during his House tenure  the House has extended the policy to social media for things like ads on Facebook and YouTube clips, as well as robo-call scripts prepared for tele-townhalls.

What franked material doesnt do is tell constituents how to vote and it doesn't solicit donations. Thats off limits. Rosendales franked material, including $61,408 in Facebook ads since taking office, does not cross the line into campaigning. If the material is franked, the literature should indicate that taxpayers paid the bill.

Records from the House franking commission show that Rosendales franking requests for July and August were the highest of his two-year term, accounting for a third of his activity. The commission imposes a quiet period on franking before a general election.

Rosendale, whose campaign didnt respond to questions for this article, is the best funded candidate in the eastern district House race. The incumbents campaign receipts are a little more than $2 million this election cycle, compared to Buchanans $461,780 and Democrat Penny Ronnings $134,774. Libertarian Sam Rankin reports $26,206 in receipts, including a self-contribution of $21,506.

Social media is a cheap place to get a message out. Facebook ad records for Ronning show that a $100 ad placement can be seen by 3,000 to 4,000 people, with the advertiser having the ability to target an audience by age, gender and location. Ronning, also of Billings, has put her money on Facebook and YouTube. Being frugal is a necessity for a race Democrats havent put a lot of money into.

There are studies that show that the majority of people are not watching network television as much and the costs for network television advertising are ridiculous, Ronning said. People are streaming. Theyre on YouTube. Theyre on digital and thats where we chose to put out ads. The other day we put up one ad and within 18 minutes, we had almost 30,000 views.

No one ever walks away from their phone during a commercial break, Ronning said, which makes the chances of reaching a voter better.

Campaign miles

What cant be purchased with campaign funds is paid for with miles and time. Ronning said she has participated in 268 in-person campaign engagements this year, that doesnt include her visits to small businesses. Ronning said she has put 20,000 miles on her car.

Both Ronning and Buchanan debate whenever possible. Rosendale has participated in two debates.

Rosendale appears to be relying on the districts strong Republican base, said political scientist Jeremy Johnson, of Carroll College. There would be more of an outreach if the incumbent was trying to win persuadable voters.

Rosendale has been running just toward his base, essentially, and not running very hard, Johnson said. And, hes not the only Republican member of Congress to do that. But these are safe-to-relatively-safe districts."

The incumbent's campaign has the political scaffolding for a major run, including joint fundraising and victory committees to split big donations between multiple candidates. There are two law firms on the disbursement sheet, plus a campaign manager receiving $17,000 in September, and 31 PACs, or political action committees making donations. No other candidate in the race has that level of complexity to their finances.

Having an incumbent who is sitting out TV advertising should help Buchanan, though Republican strength in the district could be too much.

"Buchanan has been running a scrappy campaign and theres energy for Buchanan," Johnson said. "At least theoretically that gives an opening for him.

Television is a sensible investment, given many voters wont recognize Buchanan's name on the ballot, let alone the capital letter beside it.

The historical voting habits of the Eastern House District suggest Rosendale can win reelection with minimal outreach beyond the Republican base. In office, Rosendale has focused his media appearances on talk radio and right-wing cable outlets like One America Network and NewsMax. Radio advertising records for Montana show ads promoting Rosendale appearing specifically on KBUL, home of "Montana Talks," a statewide conservative talk show based in Billings and hosted by Aaron Flint. The ads were bought by the Montana Republican State Central Committee.

Radio, particularly AM, has been good to Republican candidates in Montana. It vaulted Conrad Burns, a radio personality and station owner, into the U.S. Senate in 1988 when he unseated Democrat John Melcher.

In 2020 when Rosendale was the Republican candidate for the states at-large district, he won 61% of the combined vote in counties currently comprising the eastern district. Only Republican Denny Rehberg did better when he won 62% of the vote in those same counties in 2010, an election year without a presidential race on the ballot.

Less than two months after that 2010 victory, Rehberg announced his campaign for U.S. Senate. Theres speculation Rosendale will do the same this December.
I am supporting James Brown to serve on the Montana Supreme Court.

I had the great honor of serving as a district court judge in Montana for 18 years. I also served as a county attorney, in private practice, and as a JAG officer in the U.S. Army for 30 years. I served as president of the Montana Judges Association as well as President of the Montana County Attorneys Association. During this time, I had many occasions to review the work and judicial opinions of the Montana Supreme Court.

For years, the Montana Supreme Court has overstepped its constitutional and jurisdictional boundaries and legislated from the bench. Further, the Court is well known for issuing decisions that do not follow the law as written, overturning their own precedent, and shackling businesses. The Court has a reputation for being an activist Court. This is as true today as it was when I first became a judge in 1995. And it needs to change.

Things will only get worse if the Montana Supreme Court doesn't change. A few weeks ago, a Montana judge struck down legislation to safeguard the rights of female student-athletes to compete fairly without interference from biological males posing as transgender ''women.'' Another judge just struck down a common-sense voter ID law and other laws designed to ensure integrity in our elections. Montanans cannot cash a check, drive a car, or board a plane or train without one. But asking for ID to protect the sanctity of our ballots somehow violates the Montana Constitution? These disturbing rulings, and many others, will soon be appealed to the Montana Supreme Court. We need Jim on the court when these issues are decided.

Montanans deserve balance and consistency in the law and need a justice on the Supreme Court who understands that the role of a judge is to apply the law fairly. I have known Jim Brown in both a personal and professional capacity for 14 years. I have had multiple opportunities to observe Jim's legal work and know that he has both the legal acumen and judicial demeanor to bring much-needed balance to the Montana Supreme Court.

Jim is a Montanan's Montanan, growing up in Dillon and attending the University of Montana. As part of his legal practice, Jim has been a strong legal and policy advocate for Montana's largest industry  agriculture. He also has a wealth of legal experience from practicing in courts ranging from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to the Montana Supreme Court. The Montana Supreme Court sorely needs a justice who has a background in and understands agriculture, property, and business law  all areas within Jim's expertise. No one on the current Court has this needed experience.

The various ad hominem attacks made against Jim by prominent liberal personal injury attorneys and other Montana liberals demonstrate that Jim is the right candidate at the right time. Why does a small group of liberal attorneys spend hundreds of thousands of dollars each election, including this one, to get "their" judge elected? It is not because they are seeking justice.

Montanans have a clear choice this year between the two candidates for Montana Supreme Court. If you want a justice on the Montana Supreme Court that will follow the Montana Constitution, and will fairly represent all Montanans, join me in voting for James Brown for Montana Supreme Court.
If you travel a lot, watch the Discovery channel, or read World Atlas, you know how beautiful our planet is. No matter where you live, the Earth has natural wonders everywhere. Unfortunately, humans can be destructive, often causing disasters due to negligence or selfishness. Sometimes those changes are terrible and irreversible. Oil spills, gas leaks, nuclear explosions, industrial fires, terrorism, and wars are all caused by humans.

Read on to learn about the worst man-made disasters that changed our world.

Chornobyl Nuclear Disaster

Abandoned stuff in Prypiat. Image credit: Gerhard Reus via Unsplash

You can find many abandoned things in the ghost city of Prypiat, Ukraine. It is the place where the worst nuclear disaster happened.

On April 26, 1986, issues with reactor number four of the Chornobyl power plant resulted in an explosion. Design imperfection and lack of enforced safety protocols were to blame. Radioactive substances broke out through the destroyed casing, poisoning the surrounding area. The exclusion zone extends a radius of 19 miles around the reactor.

The total amount of radioactive release was hundreds of times greater than the power of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki . Although it is difficult to estimate the long-term risk accurately, scientists anticipate that the increase in thyroid cancer incidence caused by the Chornobyl catastrophe will persist for years.

Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Bhopal gas tragedy victim. Image credit: arindambanerjee via Shutterstock

One of the deadliest catastrophes happened in Bhopal, India, in December 1984. A chemical plant released about 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate which is a colorless gas for pesticides. It causes coughing, bleeding, lung swelling, and death from high-concentrated inhalation. Although there were several contributing elements to this catastrophe, the main reason was human error. An employee performing routine cleaning neglected to install a device that would have stopped water from getting into the chemical tanks.

The gas cloud immediately affected hundreds of thousands of people that lived around the chemical plant. Estimated at 15,000, the death toll is difficult to calculate as it increased over the years.

You can still see the consequences of this tragedy . A large majority of the population suffered from physical and mental health conditions. The accident also contaminated the water in the area, increasing the rate of stillbirths.

Gulf War Oil Spill

Crude oil spill. Image credit: fluke samed via Shutterstock

Over 114,000 animals, including 102 bird species, bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles, and whales, suffered injury or death in the Persian Gulf oil disaster. The greatest man-made oil leak in history occurred as a result of the spilling of millions of barrels of crude oil into the Arabian Gulf during the Gulf War in 1991. The worst thing is that it was not an accident.

In order to stop an American invasion by sea, Iraqi forces intentionally dumped oil valves from numerous tankers. Although it is difficult to determine the exact scope of the spill, many scientists concur that it was among the worst in recorded human history. The spill had a significant impact on marine life and shorelines, and those consequences continue today.

9/11 Terrorist Attacks

The World Trade Center. Image credit: Steve Harvey via Unsplash

The 9/11 attack is the biggest terroristic disaster ever. Conspirators of al-Qaida hijacked four planes with passengers and used them as missiles. The attacks killed 2,977 innocent men, women, and children in New York City, the Pentagon, Shanksville, and Pennsylvania. The World Trade Center in New York suffered the most, with 2,753 victims recorded. The fire weakened the steel support trusses, which damaged the buildings structural columns; as a result, both towers collapsed.

Ten years after the attack, authorities opened a 9/11 memorial on the place where the Twin Towers stood. An exhibition in the museum serves as a tribute to the attack victims.

World War II

Ruins of Saint Lo, WW2. Image credit: Everett Collection via Shutterstock

World War II was the greatest and deadliest man-made disaster in history. It started on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. One of the leading causes of the war was the rise of dictators and their imperialist goals. Adolf Hitler had an obsession with occupying Poland. The war involved more than 50 countries. The Allies (Great Britain, France, United States, China, and the Soviet Union) and the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) were the main parties.

According to most estimates, between 70 and 85 million people died during World War II. The majority of casualties were civilians that resulted from famine, disease, war crimes, or other atrocities. oncentration camps, forced labor, extermination campaigns, genocide, and atomic bombings mark World War II as the most devastating and horrific conflict in human history.

In Summary

Each of the disasters above is a tragic example of how uncaring some humans are. War, terrorism, pollution, and biological/chemical threats are still ongoing around the world, and people suffer as a result every day. You never know how bad the next disaster may be.
An energy study to determine whether salt caverns could be used in North Dakota to store gas and liquids is getting more state money.

The three-member North Dakota Industrial Commission on Thursday approved additional funding of $986,200 from the Oil and Gas Research Fund. The fund gets a share of state oil and gas tax collections. The money is going to the University of North Dakota's Energy and Environmental Research Center, which is conducting the study.

Its purpose is to determine the feasibility of constructing underground salt caverns in western North Dakota for energy resource storage, including natural gas, hydrogen and hydrocarbons. A test well was drilled to obtain core samples from subsurface formations containing salt beds this past spring and early summer.

The original study estimate approved by the Industrial Commission in May was $9.5 million. That has risen to $12.9 million due to challenges faced while drilling, according to Commission Deputy Executive Director Reice Haase.

The Oil and Gas Research Council voted in July to recommend the Industrial Commission reallocate $2.5 million from another study project to complete a core analysis -- collection of core samples of salt and surrounding rock zones, and testing those samples -- that's integral to the salt cavern study. The other study, which deals with underground gas storage, required only another $500,000 to complete. The Industrial Commission voted in August to approve the reallocation of those funds.

The Industrial Commission is made up of the governor, agriculture commissioner and attorney general.
White House says Iran sent personnel to Crimea to train Russians to use drones
Eligible groups urged to take up offer of covid booster amid signs of possible autumn wave

Public health officials are urging people in eligible groups to take up the offer of a Covid-19 booster vaccine.

It comes as community transmission, hospitalisations and deaths from Covid-19 have increased in recent weeks.

The Covid vaccine is the most effective way to prevent severe illness from Covid-19. Protection from previous Covid-19 vaccinations does reduce over time and therefore it is important that people get their vaccination when invited.

Last week over 100,000 people in Wales chose to protect themselves by having their Covid-19 booster jab when they were invited.

However, there are still people who havent attended their vaccine appointment or have postponed it.

Public Health Wales is now urging all those who are eligible for the vaccine to come forward to help protect themselves and others from the virus.

Pregnant women, people aged 50+, those with a long-term health condition, and frontline health and social care workers are among those who are eligible for the free, safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine.

Also eligible for the booster are:

People who live in a care home

People with a learning disability

People with severe mental illness

People who live with someone who has a weakened immune system (from 6 months of age for flu and 5 years of age for the COVID-19 vaccine)

Carers aged 16 and over

All staff working in care homes for older adults

Invitations for the Covid booster will be sent out by post by the local health board.

Dr Christopher Johnson, Interim Head of the Vaccine Preventable Disease Programme for Public Health Wales, said: Although it is too early to say for certain, we are currently seeing the possible early signs of an autumn wave of Covid-19. While the proportion of severe infections is much lower compared to other stages of the pandemic, this pattern still remains concerning.

While we have all been getting used to living with Covid, and while vaccination and overall population immunity are helping to keep serious illness at bay for most people, it is important that we do not become complacent.

Everyone eligible for the booster vaccine can make a significant contribution to slowing down transmission of Covid, protecting themselves, their community and the NHS, by taking up the offer of a vaccine. Even if people are busy or have other plans, it is important to prioritise getting your booster when your appointment letter comes.

Its also vital that those who are eligible take up the offer of a flu vaccine, to help protect themselves and others this winter.
Labours MP for Chester Christian Matheson resigns after Independent Expert Panel recommends suspending him after serious sexual misconduct

UPDATE: Chesters MP has resigned.

Labour have also booted him out of the party, with Sky News quoting a Labour spokesperson: This is an incredibly serious case. There must be a zero tolerance for sexual harassment and the Labour Party has acted immediately following the ICGS findings.

We will now select a candidate that the people of Chester can be proud to vote for.

UPDATE: Chester's MP has RESIGNED (source https://t.co/BlcDxLwEze  his official site, that was linked to on his socials prior to deletion) he says "I believe that the honourable and right thing to do now is to resign my seat and seek to rebuild my life elsewhere" pic.twitter.com/wDbwAlr7Mb  Wrexham.com (@wrexham) October 21, 2022

Original story below

The Independent Expert Panel (IEP) has today [21st October 2022] published a report recommending that Christian Matheson MP is suspended from the House of Commons for four weeks for breaching Parliaments Sexual Misconduct Policy. A suspension of this length triggers the Recall of MPs Act 2015.

Following an investigation by an independent investigator the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards upheld two allegations of sexual misconduct against Mr Matheson by a former member of his staff made under Parliaments Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS). As the report sets out she concluded that he had:

invited the complainant to take a private trip abroad, and the invitation was sexually motivated, unwanted, and had placed the complainant under pressure and intimidated her; and

during a work-related corporate event held outside the Parliamentary estate; linked arms with her; made personal comments about her appearance while looking at her suggestively; made her hold his hand as they left and insisted on accompanying her to her bus stop; and once there invited her back to his flat, kissed her twice on the forehead and attempted to kiss her on the mouth. The Commissioner concluded that these were all unwanted and unwelcome sexual advances.

Mr Matheson did not appeal the Commissioners decision, but has nevertheless contested some of her findings during the process for determining sanction. The IEP sub-panel determining sanction concluded that, on the Commissioners findings:

There is no doubt that [Mr Matheson] was seeking to initiate a sexual relationship with the complainant, his junior employee. This wished-for relationship was unwanted and unwelcome throughout. The evidence confirms that his actions were entirely non-consensual, as well as threatening, intimidating, undermining and humiliating for the complainant.

Although it took into account the fact that Mr Matheson accepted that he had breached the sexual misconduct policy, and other mitigation, the sub-panel found that his continuing failure to acknowledge the full extent of his misconduct [was] an aggravating factor and insulting to the complainant. The clear imbalance of power between Mr Matheson and the complainant, her vulnerability, and reliance on him for employment, were further serious aggravating factors.

It determined Mr Matheson should be suspended from the House for four weeks for this serious breach of the Behaviour Code.

Mr Matheson appealed the sub-panels decision. However, the new sub-panel appointed to consider his appeal dismissed it, concluding that he had not raised any substantive grounds of appeal.

Mr Matherson has removed his Twitter and Facebook social media accounts.

The full report can be found here.
The State Historical Society of North Dakota and the North Dakota National Guard have agreed to partner on efforts to develop a North Dakota military museum that officials aim to build in Bismarck with a mix of private and public money.

The envisioned facility would cost an estimated $40 million and would add a wing on the southeast side of the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum on the state Capitol grounds. It would highlight all branches of the military, and "preserve and honor the rich military history of North Dakota," officials said. The project is in the beginning stages.

"This is the first baby steps toward getting something going," Guard spokesman Bill Prokopyk said of a cooperative agreement signed Monday by Historical Society Director Bill Peterson, who is the state's historic preservation officer, and Maj. Gen. Al Dohrmann, adjutant general of the Guard. The museum idea has been in the works for some time and officials are "finally getting rolling," Prokopyk said.

Dohrmann during the 2021 Legislature received permission for the nonprofit North Dakota National Guard Foundation to raise $10 million in private funds for a National Guard museum, according to retired Lt. Col. Shirley Olgeirson, the state Guard historian. The idea later expanded to a museum for all military, she said.

The National Guard Foundation commissioned a feasibility study this fall that sought feedback from military members, historians, lawmakers, Native Americans, business leaders and others across the state.

"The climate seemed to be very positive for a military museum," Olgeirson said.

It's possible the project could be funded with a mix of private and public money, along the lines of the planned Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library near Medora, according to Prokopyk. But he and Olgeirson said the bulk of the cost is likely to be funded by donations.

No money has been raised yet. The next steps are for officials to get authority from the 2023 Legislature for the project and the fundraising, and approval from the Capital Grounds Planning Commission to begin design work, according to Olgeirson. Prokopyk said an amphitheater is to be part of the design.

Officials hope to break ground for construction sometime during the state's next two-year budget period. The Historical Society would operate the museum once it's built.

"The museum will be another jewel in the North Dakota crown -- a place for knowledge, reflection and inspiration for all North Dakota citizens," Peterson said.
This was originally posted on Twitter.

The resignation of UK Prime Minister Liz Truss after only six weeks in office is a further confirmation of the development of a fundamental crisis of class rule in Britain. A revolutionary situation, as Marxists have explained, emerges when the ruling class cant rule in the old way.

At this point, the ruling class is unable to rule at all. Its survival now depends on the ability of the Labour Party, led by the ultra Blairite Keir Starmer, and the apparatus of the trade unions to strangle the movement of the increasingly militant working class.

The other essential element of a revolutionary crisisthat the working class cant live in the old waycertainly exists. The critical issue now is its intervention in the crisis. The demand for a general election must be directed toward calls for independent mass action.
UK Prime Minister Liz Trusss resignation after just 45 days in office has brought the crisis of rule of the British ruling class to a new pitch of intensity. British politics has all the features of a revolutionary situation.

Truss is the shortest-serving prime minister in British history and has fallen as part of the wider breakdown of the Conservative government. By the end of next week, the UK will have had three prime ministers in just two months.

Prime Minister Liz Truss gives her resignation speech outside No10 Downing Street, October 20, 2022 [Photo by Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Her resignation followed chaotic scenes in the House of Commons Wednesday evening, with Tory MPs unsure whether a vote on fracking was being made a vote of confidence in the government. Deputy whip Craig Whittaker was seen shouting, I am fucking furious, and I dont give a fuck any more. Chief Whip Wendy Morton reportedly resigned on the spot and was chased out of the room by Truss pleading with her to reconsider. Labour MPs claim some of their counterparts were being manhandled into voting with the government.

Just hours before, frothing right-wing Home Secretary Suella Braverman delivered a stinging letter of resignation framed as a leadership challenge, stating her serious concerns about this governments commitment to honouring manifesto commitments.

Such open disarray in Britains main capitalist party, after 12 years in power and still with a majority of 71 seats, is the result of the enormous international and internal pressures on British imperialism, amid a war with Russia threatening to go nuclear and an unprecedented collapse in living standards.

In different circumstances, a general election would have been called long ago to tamp down tensions in the ruling party or replace it and bring some sense of legitimacy to the reactionary parade in Parliament. But the ruling class is terrified that even so restricted and stage-managed an affair as a parliamentary election would potentially unleash mass protest and opposition. Households are threatened with thousands of pounds a year in extra energy, housing and food costs, provoking strikes by hundreds of thousands of rail, post, telecoms, education and council workers.

The Tory party is desperate to avoid an election and is planning to replace Truss by another palace coup, more naked than even that which removed Boris Johnson. Candidates will need the support of 100 of their colleagues to get on the ballot, in the hope that a single winner can be put to Tory Party members to vote on electronically before next Friday.

This is not assured. Negotiations are ongoing to ensure that former Chancellor Rishi Sunak secures majority support, but this means Penny Mordaunt agreeing to stand aside, as new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace have already indicated they will do. This would leave Sunak standing against a divided right represented by Trusss fellow ultra-low-tax free-marketeers Braverman and Kemi Badenoch. But in an extraordinary turn of events, Johnson is emerging as a favourite should he manage to go through to the membership vote.

The absence of Wallace and Hunt from the contest is the strongest indication of the political issues at stake, not just for British but also for US and world imperialism.

As Truss was facing the axe Wednesday, Wallace flew to the US for an emergency meeting at the Pentagon to give assurances of the UKs continuing role in NATOs war against Russia. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly described the discussions as the sort which frankly you dont want to have over the telephone.

On the economic front Hunt is preparing a fiscal statement of savage spending cuts for October 31 to present to the global financial oligarchy which tanked the British economy in response to Trusss unfunded tax cuts in the September 23 mini-budget.

President Biden, when asked about any possible negative economic impact from Trusss resignation, said any spillover would be inconsequential. He stressed that she had been a good partner on Russia and Ukraine and the British are going to solve their problems. A White House statement thanked Truss for her partnership in holding Russia to account for its war on Ukraine and pledged continued close cooperation with the UK government.

None of this Machiavellian scheming would be possible without the ongoing suppression of the class struggle by the trade union bureaucracy and the Labour Party.

On Wednesday, the Independent newspaper reported that two million workers are set to strike or ballot in the next monthsa movement that could bring down any government, let alone that which is presently rotting alive in Westminster.

Instead, only a fraction of the workers demanding strike action have been mobilised, spread out across different individual days of action for different disputes.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is working in intimate collaboration with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who functions as the point-man for British and US imperialism during this raging crisis.

His call for a general election, now echoed by every other parliamentary party, is an offer for Labour to engineer a smooth transition to another government when this becomes unavoidable, epitomised by his acceptance that an election is only possible if Tory MPs decide to honour their patriotic duty and put the nation before their party.

Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of Britain's Labour Party makes his speech at the party's annual conference in Liverpool, England, September 27, 2022. [AP Photo/Jon Super]

Starmers model is for a corporatist alliance between the government, the corporations and the unions of the kind under which US Democratic President Biden is imposing a brutal contract on railroad workers in the US and German SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz is imposing brutal pay cuts on hundreds of thousands of chemical workers. The Labour leader told the TUC congress on the day of Trusss resignation that it must work with Labour and the employers in a true collective agreement for the nation, including to protect Britain from tyrants like Putin.

Starmer was telling the trade unions to prepare for a change of leadership by getting strikes off the tableusing promises that things will get better under a Labour governmentand to continue policing the working class as Labour implements an agenda of austerity and war.

A national government of both Labour and Tory ministers, justified by invoking the national interest, remains a real possibility to avoid a general election if no solution can be found within the Tory party.

Responding to Trusss resignation, Chairman of the World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board David North tweeted, The resignation of Liz Truss after only six weeks in office is a further confirmation of the development of a fundamental crisis of class rule in Britain. A revolutionary situation, as Marxists have explained, emerges when the ruling class cant rule in the old way.

At this point, the ruling class is unable to rule at all. Its survival now depends on the ability of the Labour Party, led by the ultra Blairite Keir Starmer, and the apparatus of the trade unions to strangle the movement of the increasingly militant working class.

The other essential element of a revolutionary crisisthat the working class cant live in the old waycertainly exists. The critical issue now is its intervention in the crisis. The demand for a general election must be directed toward calls for independent mass action.

Everything depends upon that intervention of the working class against the Tory and Labour conspirators.

Since the first palace coup against Johnson, the Socialist Equality Party has called for workers to fight for a general election held on their terms, through the intensification of the class struggle into a general strike.

The SEP would campaign in an election for rank-and-file committees to break the stranglehold of the union bureaucracy and put decision-making power where it belongs, on the factory floor. Above all, we will seek to bring into the open the policy of world war which does not feature in the factional conflicts of the ruling class because it is uniformly agreed on and because they fear its implications being broadly understood. We would use an election to build an international anti-war movement among British workers.
Recent revelations showing that McKinsey, one of the worlds largest consulting firms, helped determine essential elements of the Quebec governments disastrous response to the COVID-19 pandemic provide a graphic illustration of the dictatorship that big business exercises over society.



In its interactions with the government of Francois Legault, McKinsey articulated the principles that have guided Quebecs COVID policy: the prioritization of corporate profits over public health; exclusive reliance on vaccines instead of a comprehensive strategy to eliminate the virus including mass testing, contact tracing and quarantining; and the premature and hasty reopening of schools and non-essential industries to bail out financial markets and investors.

The toll of this criminal policy, fully endorsed by Justin Trudeaus federal Liberal government, is nearly 17,000 official COVID deaths in Quebec and nearly 46,000 nationally, almost all of which were preventablenot to mention the 20 million victims of the pandemic worldwide.

McKinsey is a US-based company that employs 30,000 consultants and support staff in 130 offices across 65 countries and has annual revenues of $10 billion. Associates of the consulting firm become prominent government officials or rise to senior positions in the world's largest companies. Such is the case of Dominic Barton, who went from McKinseys top boardroom to head Canadas embassy in China and is now the chairman of the board at Rio Tinto. McKinsey charges governments and big business exorbitant fees for strategic management advice that leads to the privatization of public services and brutal attacks on the working class.

Because Quebec's health care system was utterly unprepared for the pandemic, the Legault government had to call in the military to assist at the worst hit long-term care homes during the calamitous first wave of the pandemic. [Photo: Canadian Armed Forces]

Working with the most predatory companies and reactionary governments, McKinsey has been involved in a number of scandals. It advised cigarette manufacturers as they knowingly developed a more addictive product. It was working with Purdue Pharma as it developed its ultra-aggressive sales techniques for Oxycontin, the painkiller at the root of the U.S. opioid crisis (in 2021, McKinsey agreed to pay US states $600 million for its role in the crisis). And it backed the U.S. Border Patrol as Trump implemented his brutal anti-immigrant measures.

On September 30, just days before the October 3 Quebec election, Radio-Canada revealed that the Legault-led right-wing Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government paid McKinsey more than $6.5 million for consulting services related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under two untendered contracts signed on April 2, 2020, and July 28, 2021, the firm played a key role in managing the pandemic in Quebec. It advised the Legault government and Quebec Public Health on communications, the purchase of protective equipment, testing strategies, and staffing shortages in residential and long-term care centers (CHSLD).

For a few days, the media and the political establishment made much of the most obvious aspects of the incestuous relationship between the government and McKinsey: the firms $35,000-a-day fees, its access to confidential information, its preparation of documents bearing the letterhead of the Quebec government, its failure to disclose its conflicts of interest regarding the Pfizer vaccine while working for the pharmaceutical giant, and the Legault governments general lack of transparency regarding McKinseys role.

These criticisms were superficial and hypocritical. Quebec Conservative Party leader Eric Duhaime, a man close to anti-vaccine circles who supported the far-right Freedom Convoy, criticized Legault from the right and called for an independent public inquiry because of the conflict of interest with Pfizer, no doubt hoping to use the opportunity to attack the proven benefits of vaccines. The leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Dominique Anglade, supported this request for an inquiry, focusing on the sums of public money paid to McKinsey, a criticism that has little credibility coming from this multi-millionaire who was herself employed by McKinsey from 2007 to 2012 to advise the leaders of large corporations. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of Quebec Solidaire, the party of the pseudo-left in Quebec, criticized McKinseys intervention from the point of view of Quebec nationalism, lamenting that the Legault government had listened to an international firm rather than Quebecers on the ground.

These criticisms were intended to obscure the most important point to emerge from these revelations. Namely, that the mandates given McKinsey, when Quebec was in the early stages of the pandemic, were aimed at ensuring a quick ending of anti-COVID lockdown measures and the reopening of the economy.

On April 2, 2020, the day the Legault government signed an agreement with McKinsey to implement a methodology to operationalize decisions surrounding the lifting of the COVID-19 pandemic mitigation measures, seniors were dying by the dozens every day in CHSLDs (long-term care homes) and the province was recording one of the highest mortality rates in the world.

On April 22, McKinsey released a plan developed with the Direction de la Sante Publique (DSP) that presented the reopening of schools as feasible and recommended, in order to get the public to accept this deadly idea, a specific communication strategy about children and the resumption of school and daycare that would use influential health actors such as pediatricians. Later that day, Legault announced that a plan would soon be presented for the reopening of Quebecs schools. The next day (April 23), the Association des Pediatres du Quebec published an open letter stating that the gradual return to real life [i.e., the reopening of schools and daycares] for our children is not only desirable, it is necessary.

The documents obtained by Radio-Canada reveal a host of other examples of convergence between the advice provided by McKinsey behind the backs of the population and the decisions of the CAQ. From the very first weeks of the pandemic, the consulting firm was steering the Legault government towards the policy favoured by big business and the political establishment: reopening the economy and putting profits ahead of human lives. This criminal policy would be brutally implemented by a right-wing CAQ government that boasts of its pro-investor policies.

McKinsey has played a major role in the pandemics management by a large number of Western governments, whether in Europe (Germany, France and Great Britain), in the United States where McKinsey has advised the federal government as well as many states and large cities, in Canada (Quebec and Ontario) or in Mexico. There is no doubt that this is only the tip of the iceberg and that McKinseys relationships with other governments around the world are being kept secret.

In several cases, questionable or outright illegal practices have been exposednotably in Ontario and France. But beyond the nauseating whiffs of corruption and fraud in each individual relationship, what they have in common is the implementation of the same murderous policy of prioritizing corporate profits over human lives.

McKinsey also published reports throughout the pandemic that sought to portray the hasty reopening of the economy and the refusal to adopt a Zero Covid elimination strategy based on long proven public health norms as reasonable, even scientific. The paper, Pandemic to endemic: How the world can learn to live with COVID-19, published in October 2021, suggested that the cost of the health measures needed to stop the spread of the disease was too high, that most societies ... will need to learn to live with COVID-19, and that it should be accepted as an ongoing part of the infectious-disease landscape, or endemic, as tuberculosis is today.

In another June 2022 report titled When will the COVID-19 pandemic end?, McKinsey attempts to make the blatant lies of the ruling class look credible, including that the virus has become endemic, that the new variants are mild, and that the disease has become less deadly and can be contained by a strategy based solely on vaccines and other drugs such as Paxlovid.

By inserting itself into governments to dictate the pandemic policy desired by big business and giving it a veneer of legitimacy in its publications, McKinsey has spearheaded the capitalist ruling classs offensive to keep business functioning at full throttle during the pandemic, no matter the cost in human lives.

McKinseys true crime is not advocating the use of life-saving vaccines whilst in a conflict of interest or charging $35,000 a day in fees. Rather, it is its role in social murderin shaping and implementing the pandemic policies of Quebec and other capitalist governments that have flouted science-based public health measures and thus inevitably led to successive waves of mass infection and death that have taken millions of lives.
The World Socialist Web Site spoke to Francine, a resident of Fort Myers, Florida on October 8, 10 days after Hurricane Ian ripped across the southwest Florida Gulf Coast region, with Lee County, including Fort Myers and Cape Coral, bearing the brunt of the category-four storms 120-mile/hour winds, 30 inches of rain and 12-foot storm surge.

Federal and state authorities have done their best to cover up the death toll from the hurricane, but as of October 18 it was generally acknowledged that at least 129 people had been killed by the storm in Florida, making Ian the deadliest hurricane to hit the state since the Labor Day hurricane of 1935.

In addition to the Florida fatalities, five were killed in Cuba, five in North Carolina and one in Virginia.

Francine and her husband David are among the hundreds of thousands of seniors who have moved to the Fort Myers-Cape Coral region in recent years amid a frenzied growth of condominium communities and real estate speculation that has pushed the population of Lee County to more than 1 million.

Though the communities catering to retired and semi-retired people have multiplied, and the ranks of poverty-wage service workers, many of them immigrants, have mushroomed, nothing has been done to protect the regions residents from the impact of global warming on the severity of storms. The well known dangers are compounded by the low elevation of the towns and cities situated alongside coastal waters on land that was recovered through the draining of swamps.

Francine and her husband have lived in their condo community in South Fort Myers since 2013, having moved from Pennsylvania.

This aerial photo shows damaged homes and debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Fort Myers Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Barry Grey: Can you tell us about your background?

Francine: I grew up in a blue collar neighborhood about 25 miles outside of Philadelphia. We lived on the end of a row of houses in a home that originally belonged to my father and mother. My grandfather bought the house for them for $2,400.

My dad was a mill worker and my mother was a stay-at-home mother. My father was a union organizer, but he ended up being the superintendent of a non-union, family-owned paper mill.

BG: What is the situation today in Lee County, 10 days after Ian made landfall?

Francine: We can only go as far as the bridge leading into Fort Myers Beach. Its closed off to the public, but you can see the devastation. At the bottom of the bridge, before you go over, there are a lot of restaurants, there was a little trailer parkits nothing but sticks and boats, cars and trucks that are totally destroyed.

I would like to talk about Sanibel Island as well, but we cant get over there to see it. We can only see it on television and its horrific.

Our development is a condominium development. These are like concrete bunkers. Were just lucky. My neighbor tells me that our little village where we live is about nine feet higher elevation from everything around us, and thats the reason we were almost unscathed.

Half a mile down the street from us there is a community of primarily blacks and Hispanicsa lot of the homes were built by Habitat for Humanityand theyre wiped out. Just half a mile away. Those are all separate private homes.

We rode by some of the trailer parks, and many of them, the prefabricated homes, are gone. Theres nothing but sticks standing there, or if the shell remains, you can see right through it.

Somebody told me that a man living in a trailer parkand I believe thisan old man in Lee County come out and looked at his trailer park home and shot himself when he saw the damage. He had survived the storm, but he could not live with the devastation.

On Pine Island, which is a tiny island, people were interviewed and said if they had left the island, they knew that nobody was going to take care of them. And now Pine Island is just a pile of rubble and debris. It hit very hard for those people, and they had been struggling anyway well before Ian hit.

The rents are soaring. One woman said one night on the news that her rent went from $739 a month to over $1,000. She said, Im homeless. I cant afford it.

I could bet you everything I have that they dont have insurance, and if they do, people are waiting to get through to FEMA three hours on the phone and then they still cant get through.

As for the death count, I cant imagine with that storm surge that its only 130 or so. And its hard to get that information. You would think you would be hearing it on the news every night, but you dont.

BG: Do people have shelter, water, food, medicine? Do people have power?

Francine: In general, I think there are less than 100,000 people without power. Power is the best thing. Even in Cape Coral, where my daughter lives and where it was hit horribly, they got their power at 5 oclock last night.

The water is an entirely different situation. We have to boil our water and well probably have to do that for quite a while.

I think in terms of shelter, the primary shelter is being provided by friends and relatives. We have two or three neighbors who have people living with them who are homeless. The shelters are not good places to be. I have a neighbor who went to a shelter during Hurricane Irma, and I asked him, Jerry, are you going to go to a shelter? And he said, I would rather die.

The woman who lives above me on the second floor has a woman living with her. She said her home is completely gone.

I dont think there is any plan for emergency housing. Food is a different story. The National Guard had food stations within 24 hours. There were places where people could go get little prepared meals. The water supply was very limited, you could get a case of water and they limited ice to two bags of ice.

Medicine is another story, because a lot of people here, elderly people, dont take their full medical prescriptions simply because they cant afford them. So I know theyre not getting what they need.

BG: Are residents being kept informed?

Francine: No. What you get on the news is a lot of pictures, a lot of reporters standing out there in water showing you how this neighborhood is gone, that neighborhood is gone. But in terms of information, no.

I cant tell you, and I live here, what the current death count is. I cant tell you how many people are still stranded on Sanibel. Im sure they dont have precise numbers, but theyve got to have something.

People cant get help. A woman said on a local news channel that she waited three hours on the phone to get through to FEMA and she still has no answer. There are people who clearly will be homeless. Theres going to be a huge homeless population here.

BG: Besides the National Guard and FEMA, what about local agencies?

Francine: Our local services are doing what they can with what they have. The real help is coming from neighbors helping neighbors. I went to a boutique where I shop and they had sent out a notice and said here are the kinds of things people need. Were collecting them and taking them down to Harlem Heights. I filled up my trunk and my back seat and when I went to that shop, you couldnt get in the door, there was so much there.

It wasnt used things. People had gone out and bought the things they requested on the list they sent out to their customers. I think more of that is going on than well ever know.

BG: Do you think the government made adequate advance preparations for such a storm? Were clear evacuation plans distributed to residents?

Francine: To my knowledge, Lee County, where we live, where Fort Myers Beach is, where Sanibel is, they had a meticulous evacuation strategy for something like Ian, they just didnt put it in place. They didnt act on it.

The authorities, the experts, the meteorologists were spreading the alarm and some of them were almost crying, and yet Lee County waited until 24 hours before the storm hit to issue evacuation orders.

Even though the meteorologists were tracking that thing for three days before it hit and knew how huge it was, there were no orders. And in terms of plans, the way you get a hurricane plan, you have to have a television. And you have to have a cell phone that you can hold up and get the url on your cell phone. How many of our residents, many of whom are really old, have that kind of technological savvy?

BG: Were provisions made to provide transportation?

Francine: No. They had a plan for it, but they didnt offer it.

BG: Its not exactly analogous, but given the location of Fort Myers and all of these massively built up communities, with a huge increase in population, given its low elevation and, of course, its right on the Gulf, and the impact of global warmingits almost like being on an ocean liner, where you have life boat drills.

Francine: You would think, to take that one step further, that everyone who lives here would know: Here are the 12 locations where there will be buses waiting to evacuate residents. Nothing like that.

BG: Because this type of storm, given these conditions, was inevitable.

Francine: It was a catastrophe waiting to happen here. We knew it.

Residents of apartments in Harlem Heights, Fla., clean out clothes and other possessions from their apartments swamped by flood waters from Hurricane Ian, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. [AP Photo/Rebecca Santata]

BG: How would you describe the income level in this area?

Francine: The median household income in this county is probablythis year I looked it upclose to $65,000. It isnt very high, but our neighborhood is much better off.

There are a lot of minimum wage workers here, mostly people of Spanish originMexicans, people from the islands. The people who work on the roofs, for example, many of them cant speak English. Theyre probably better off than the restaurant workers, than the service people, but even so, you just cant live on an $11 an hour minimum wage.

Migrant workers being brought in to do cleanup and repair are desperate to get here, and its unfortunate that they are being taken advantage of. Many of them hope maybe they can stay. I think its reprehensible.

A neighbor called the other day to ask how we were and I said I want to make a sizable financial donation and Im trying to figure out about where to make it to ensure that it goes directly to what is needed. People who are right up against it know what is needed. Maybe baby diapers, maybe personal hygiene products. And she said, Oh, why dont you give it to the governors relief fund? And I thought to myself, Are you nuts? That is the last place. I would not give him a red penny.

This area is right wing and Governor DeSantis is denying that they could have done a better job with the evacuation. You know what he is doing with the immigrants. He really is a fascist and Im terrified because he has big political aspirations. Hes a Trumpite, and heres the frightening thing--hes smarter. Of course, anybodys smarter than Donald Trump, but this guy is crafty.

BG: The big question is: Why? What were the underlying reasons no serious preparations were made, why insufficient resources were allocated?

Francine: The almost exclusive focus of the media on when they issued the evacuation order may be a useful diversion for the authorities. It has less to do with when they told people to evacuate and more to do witheven if they had issued the order two or three days earlier, how could they evacuate. I think thats the real issue.

People have been moving here in droves and our population has increased significantly. It went from 700,000 to a million just in this area over the past couple of years.

Lee County is the second-fastest growing county in Florida. Between 2020, when the pandemic shut things down, to July of 2021, 27,000 people moved to just our county alone. That means we were getting 1,800 new neighbors every month. Thats a huge population growth.

Now there is a lot of defensiveness going on. Governor DeSantis has claimed, and I think its a lie, that Lee County wasnt included in the national hurricane centers forecast track 72 hours before the storm hit, and instead it was predicted to strike Tampa. But guess what? That was a huge storm and Tampa is only about 100 miles north, so what would be wrong with erring on the side of caution?

BG: What determines the decisions of the authorities? In the US, over a million people have died needlessly in the coronavirus pandemic because the types of measures that would have stopped the spread of the virus and ultimately eliminated it cut across the interests of corporate profit, stock prices and the need to keep workers on the job producing profit, which was the main reason there was such a drive to reopen the schools.

Francine: Well, here in Florida we never closed, you know. Yep, Im with you. I hear it.

BG: If you have a ruling class that is capable of allowing a million people to die in a pandemic, why wouldnt it be capable of allowing many people to die and be devastated in a storm rather than allocate the money needed to build the infrastructure and put in place the resources to protect the population?

Francine: You dont have to convince me of that at all. I believe thats exactly what is going on, and its going on not just here in Florida, it is a nationwide problem, a horrible problem.

One of DeSantis campaign ads has different people of all different colors saying: Thank you, Governor DeSantis, for keeping us open. Thank you, Governor DeSantis, for preserving our freedom. Thank you, Governor DeSantis, for allowing me to go to work. Thank you, Governor DeSantis, for allowing me to worship with others.

And Im thinking, are you nuts? All he was really doing was making sure the money machine continued. Thats all that was. That has nothing to do with caring about you.

And then theres the billions they are spending on the war in Ukraine. Theres never been popular support for a war since World War II.

With Ian, we suffered billions in damage. It might even be trillions. A major loss of homes and lives, and I dont know when we will get a handle on it.

One would think that everyone here knew exactly what was coming our way. And not only that, but where relief could be obtained and how soon, and what people could expect. But I dont think we have any idea what to expect and by when. Its going to be long time and theres nothing worse than not knowing.

**

On October 19, Francine sent the following addendum:

Ian has proven my personal belief that natural disasters always magnify social disasters!

It has been 11 days since I reported the terror Ian unleashed on me and my fellow Lee County, Florida residents. From my perspective, evidence of at least two social disasters is painfully evident.

The first social disaster is the lack of foresight and community planning. The loss of life and property could have been mitigated (if not prevented) with more attention to building structurally safe and sound communities vs. the development of low-quality/high-profit (and often high-risk) communities. Ian exacerbates the social the crime committed by Floridas civic leadersof building for profit vs. sustainability.

Ian amplified a second social disasterthe lack of transparency from our elected leaders. We were told by officials that the late evacuation notice was due to a last minute shift in hurricane direction and that most people wouldnt heed the evacuation notices. The reality is that Ian was 140 miles wide and warranted much earlier and broader evacuation notices.

It is also difficult to get believable reporting of the loss of life. Newscasters report anywhere from 54 to 110 Ian-related deaths. This may be because even though there may have been local police reports of storm-related deaths, the Florida State Law Enforcement agency only reports deaths reported by the state medical examiners commission after an autopsy. So, officials tell us, People die in disasters that have nothing to do with the actual disaster. In the meantime, the candidates for elected office and the media bombard us with political ads and other distractions to divert our quest for the straight story about loss of human life.

All of this said, it would be remiss of me not to mention that Ian has validated another of my beliefs, and that is that natural disasters unleash human resilience. Ive been touched by the undaunted spirit of those most adversely affected by Ian and the heartfelt support and uncommon generosity of neighbor for neighbor, neighbors for strangers and for all who have suffered, including pets! Being witness to Ian was frightening. Being witness to the response of the good people affected has been reaffirming!
Oklahoma executed Benjamin Cole on Thursday, over his attorneys objections that he suffered from schizophrenia and was severely mentally ill, after the US Supreme Court denied his last-minute appeal. Cole, 57, was sentenced to death for the 2002 murder of his 9-month-old daughter Brianna.

Benjamin Cole, who was executed Thursday by lethal injection, is seen in this undated photo. The U.S. Supreme Court denied a last-minute appeal filed by the Oklahoma death row inmate, paving the way for him to be executed. [Photo: Oklahoma State Department of Corrections]

Coles lethal injection began at 10:06 a.m. local time Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, according to Department of Corrections Chief of Operations Justin Farris. Cole was pronounced unconscious at 10:11 and pronounced dead at 10:22 a.m. The execution was uneventful and without any complications, Farris told reporters.

The execution was the second of 25 executions scheduled in a flurry of state killings by Oklahoma authorities through 2024. The move comes as a federal judge denied a challenge by prisoners to the states lethal injection protocol after a series of so-called botched executions in the state that saw condemned prisoners writhe and cry out in the execution chamber.

Coles attorney Tom Hird described his client as a person with serious mental illness whose schizophrenia and brain damage led to him murdering his daughter, according to a statement. By the time of his death, Cole had slipped into a world of delusion and darkness, Hird said, and was often unable to interact with my colleagues and me in any meaningful way.

Ben lacked a rational understanding of why Oklahoma took his life today, Hird said following the injection. As Oklahoma proceeds with its relentless march to execute one mentally ill, traumatized man after another, we should pause to ask whether this is really who we are, and who we want to be. On January 27, Oklahoma executed Donald Grant, 46, who suffered from schizophrenia and brain damage, according to his attorneys.

On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court denied Coles request for a stay of execution in a two-paragraph order. Coles attorneys also unsuccessfully asked a state appeals court to compel the prison warden to refer his case for review to the district attorney to initiate a competency hearing. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 to deny clemency to Cole on September 27.

Coles petition for clemency argued that his struggles with mental health dated back to his early childhood when he was surrounded by rampant drug and alcohol abuse. He began to drink as a young child, encouraged by adults, and according to one of his brothers would get high huffing gasoline by the time he was 10 years old. He suffered years of verbal, physical and sexual abuse.

One psychiatrist diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia in 2009, finding that his mental condition deteriorated as he went untreated for almost 20 years. Coles clemency petition said he had lived in dirty and unkempt conditions in complete darkness inside his prison cell, which he reportedly almost never left, surrounded by uneaten food that he hoarded.

The petition also cited a physician review of an MRI performed on Cole this year that found a lesion on his brain that would be highly consistent with Parkinsons disease.

However, Oklahoma Attorney General John OConnor praised the parole boards vote to deny Cole clemency, commenting, Although his attorneys claim Cole is mentally ill to the point of catatonia, the fact is that Cole fully cooperated with a mental evaluation in July of this year and that an evaluator had found that Mr. Cole does not currently evidence any substantial, overt signs of mental illness, intellectual impairment, and/or neurocognitive impairment.

Cole admitted to the brutal murder of his daughter, in which he grabbed her ankles while she was on her stomach and forced them up to her head, breaking her spine. He committed the crime to stop her from crying so he could return to his video game as his daughter bled to death.

He refused a plea deal that would have given him life in prison. He wanted the case to go to trial, because it was Gods will, he told his lawyers, and his story  would allow God to touch hearts and would allow [him] to walk away from it all a free man. Despite these delusions, he was found competent to stand trial.

After an Oklahoma judge ruled this month that Cole was competent to be executed, Coles attorney Hird said, His own attorneys have not been able to have a meaningful interaction with him for years, and the staff who interact with him in the prison every day confirm that he cannot communicate or take care of his most basic hygiene. He simply does not have a rational understanding of why Oklahoma seeks to execute him.

In a 1986 decision, the US Supreme Court ruled that the execution of the severely mentally ill was unconstitutional. Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote at the time: It is no less abhorrent today than it has been for centuries to exact in penance the life of one whose mental illness prevents him from comprehending the reasons for the penalty or its implications.

In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled in Atkins v. Virginia that it is a violation of the Eighth Amendments ban on cruel and unusual punishment to execute death row inmates with mental retardation. However, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, in the years since this landmark decision, at least 29and likely many morestate and federal death-row prisoners have been executed despite strong evidence that they should have been protected by Atkins.

But while the Supreme Court has ruled that executing the intellectually disabled and those sentenced to death for crimes committed as juveniles is unconstitutional, the high court has not specifically ruled since 1986 that executing those with serious mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder should be banned.

In a 5-4 decision in Ford v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that a mentally ill person is entitled to Eighth Amendment protection if he or she does not have a rational understanding of the reason for his or her execution.

However, prisoners have repeatedly been tasked with proving their mental incompetence to avoid execution. Under conditions where defendants in capital cases are often represented by overworked, incompetent or disreputable counsel, and prosecutors rely on junk science and/or coerced witnesses to convict, condemned inmates are often unable to prove their mental illness or even obtain a competency hearing.

Benjamin Cole was the 1,552nd death row inmate executed since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Oklahoma has executed 115 men and three women during this period.
Supporters of the campaign of Mack Trucks worker Will Lehman for president of the United Auto Workers (UAW) were removed yesterday from the premises of the Ford assembly plant in Kansas City, Missouri, after local UAW officials complained to Ford management.

Will Lehman campaigners at Ford's Kansas City Assembly Plant [Photo: WSWS]

Lehmans supporters were campaigning at the plant, distributing material and speaking with workers who were entering and leaving the facility. The campaigners worked in plain sight of Ford security, which did not intervene as hundreds of leaflets were passed out. Lehmans team also collected photographs and video statements of workers expressing their support for the campaign.

Several workers gave lengthy statements, expressing their anger and frustration over the exploitative conditions they face and the corruption and impotence of their official union representatives.

Kevin [Photo: WSWS]

Kevin said, The UAW gave up our cost of living, pensions and weve got to pay a lot more for our medical insurance. The company complains about quality and productivity, but you got hundreds of workers here making the same money as they can get at Target. A lot of the TPTs [temporary part-time workers] quit because they can get more somewhere else and not put up with the abuse.

Its a great idea that your candidate [Will Lehman] has about workers on the shop floor having the power. My dad worked here 40 years, and he was old school when it came to the union fighting. But they stopped fighting a long time ago. The local president here, Jason Starr, kissed ass and got a promotion to the UAW International.

Peter [Photo: WSWS]

Ive lost 23.8 percent of my 401(k). How is that guaranteeing me a pension? said Peter, a veteran worker. The UAW has given up so much stuff, and what are we getting out of it? Were not guaranteed our jobs anymore. We have to step up.

Asked what he thought about Wills call for the transfer of power from the UAW apparatus to the workers on the shop floor, Peter said, I thought thats where it was supposed to be anyway. But it has changed over the years, and I hope [Will] is correct and we can get it done. It needs to be done because were the ones who are in here making them the money. We ought to be the ones who have say-so, instead of the higher-ups having the say-so.

Youve got to make it equal for everybody so they have the same rights, Peter said, the same pay, the same dignity as the guy next to you.

After nearly an hour, a company security guard approached Lehmans supporters and informed them that he had been instructed by the plant manager to have them removed. Lehmans supporters explained that they were involved in a union election, which was being overseen by a federal Monitor who had mandated that all candidates have equal opportunity to present their views to workers.

The security guard said he had been instructed by two local UAW officials to ascertain whether Lehmans supporters were Ford employees, and if they were not, to order them to leave because they were trespassing. When asked who these officials were, the security guard turned around and said they had disappeared.

The guard said UAW officials had spoken to Ford management about removing the campaigners, a clear violation of democratic procedures. Lehman is an official candidate for the UAW presidency, and the UAW is obligated to allow his supporters the same ability to campaign among autoworkers as any other candidate.

Lehman has openly called for the abolition of the UAW bureaucracy and the transfer of power to the rank-and-file on the shop floor. He has encouraged workers to form election committees to resist the efforts of the union apparatus to suppress the vote.

Forced to leave the factory grounds, Lehmans supporters moved to the facility entrance, where they handed out leaflets to workers driving to and from the plant. After some time, they were again approached by Ford security, soon joined by Kansas City police, who declared that they either leave or face arrest for trespassing.

After being expelled, Lehmans team contacted several of the workers they had spoken to at the factory about their thoughts on the UAW having them removed.

One veteran worker said, They must be running scared. Another reacted by saying, Wow, doesnt shine a good light on the people across the street at the union hall. He said he would circulate pictures of the campaign fliers on Facebook, adding, They cant silence everybody. There are too many of us.

The collusion of the UAW bureaucrats with Ford management to suppress the campaign of Will Lehman is an attack on the democratic rights of workers. It also reflects the extreme nervousness in the ranks of the UAW bureaucracy, who are terrified of the powerful response that Lehmans campaign is producing among rank-and-file workers.

The following day, UAW Local 31 officials tried the same tactics at the General Motors Kansas City Fairfax Assembly Plant.

Campaigners received powerful support from rank-and-file workers livid over the UAW bureaucracys collusion with management, which has eliminated skilled trade positions, undermined safety, imposed long hours of mandatory overtime and forced younger workers to labor for poverty level wages.

UAW officials call management in an effort to remove Will Lehman campaigners from the GM Kansas City Fairfax Assembly Plant [Photo: WSWS]

From behind a chain link fence, one local official with a patch identifying her as a member of the UAW Local 31 Benefits Committee said she was calling security to have the campaigners removed. Another, who identified himself as a UAW rep, said campaigners had to get clearance from the hall to present this to our members on company property.

The officials backed off as campaigners videoed their actions and challenged the efforts to interfere in the election and prevent workers from hearing about a candidate challenging Ray Curry and the UAW apparatus. Seeing the widespread support campaigners received from workers, the UAW officials scampered away and management took no action.

These were not the first times that UAW officials have employed intimidation tactics to block Lehmans campaign from reaching workers. On September 1, Lehman sent a letter to the court appointed monitor overseeing the UAW election, demanding that it launch an investigation into an incident in which a UAW official at the Flint General Motors (GM) assembly plant threatened to have Lehman and his team removed.

The letter stated, This is an overt act of intimidation against workers who became fearful that they would be retaliated against at work for even speaking to me or taking a leaflet. This act is representative of the type of behavior rank-and-file workers have been forced to accept for years, in which the UAW has bullied and intimidated us while accepting bribes from the corporations behind our backs.

The Lehman campaign has received no response from the Monitor as to the results of its investigation.
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) in Sri Lanka held a powerful online meetingBuild an international working-class movement to stop nuclear war dangeron October 16.

About 150 people joined the event via Zoom and the partys Facebook page from across Sri Lanka, as well as India, the US, Russia, Europe, the Middle East and several other countries. The meeting speeches, which were delivered in Sinhala, were simultaneously translated into Tamil and presented with English subtitles. The meeting video has been viewed so far by over 1,800 people with 570 sharing it.

A group of ICFI supporters in India watch October 16 SEP public meeting on mobile phone. [Photo: WSWS]

SEP assistant secretary Saman Gunadasa chaired the meeting. He emphasised that the war provoked by the US and NATO against Russia in Ukraine has brought the world to the brink of a nuclear third world war and that workers and young people need to understand the seriousness of this matter.

Referring to US President Joe Bidens warnings about a nuclear Armageddon, Gunadasa said a nuclear war would not kill not millions of people, but billions, like flies.

Socialism, he said, becomes an objective necessity for the working class, for survival. The question today is socialism or annihilation under imperialism?

SEP general secretary Deepal Jayasekara, who delivered the main report, told the meeting that the direct involvement of the US and its NATO allies in the war in Ukraine is now in the open. Under the Biden administration, he said, The US has provided over $US50 billion worth of modern weapons and other military equipment to Ukraine to wage war against Russia. US military officials are active on the ground in Ukraine, providing training, advice and directions to the Ukrainian military.

The speaker explained that when the SEP says Putins invasion was triggered by continuous provocations by the US and its NATO allies, we are not providing any support to Putins invasion, or justifying it.

Sri Lanka SEP General Secretary Deepal Jayasekera (left) and SEP assistant secretary Saman Gunadasa addressing antiwar meeting on October 16. [Photo: WSWS]

Outlining the independent position of the working class, Jayasekera said, We oppose Putins invasion of Ukraine, not in the sense of defending Ukraines sovereignty or self-determination or democracy but in the sense of unifying the working class in Russia, Ukraine and internationally against the war.

The speaker explained the political role of the pseudo-lefts and other pro-capitalist groups which have backed the imperialist war against Russia. The Pabloite United Secretariat, Jayasekara said, attempts to justify its support for the imperialist war in the name of defending the self-determination of Ukraine, or more precisely Ukraines right to join alliances, including the US imperialist-dominated NATO.

The speaker said that the US and other imperialist powers are involved in the Ukraine war for two main reasons. First, to pursue their own geo-political interests and second, to divert from the immense economic, political and social crisis confronting them as part of the global crisis of capitalism.

The US, he continued, is not going to stop at subjugating Russia but, even as it was waging war against Russia, is preparing for conflict against China, using Taiwan as the pretext, just as it used Ukraine against Russia. The US is aggressively working to impose its global hegemony, through complete subjugation of Russia and China, he said.

Jayasekera stated that the ruling elites in the US and other imperialist centres are trying to unload the burden of the worsening economic crisis confronting them onto the backs of the working class in the form of harsh austerity measures.

They all confront growing social struggles, including working-class struggles against austerity measures, the criminal decisions to allow COVID-19 to freely spread and the increasing attacks on basic democratic rights, he said.

Referring to intensifying geopolitical tensions in the region, Jayasekara noted that India is coming under increasing pressure to line up with Washingtons war against Russia in Ukraine. Prime Minister Narendra Modis government is desperately trying to maintain a precarious balance between Indias military-strategic partnership with the US and its decades-long defence ties with Russia.

The Sri Lankan government, previously under President Gotabhaya Rajapakse and now under his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe, the speaker continued, is maintaining Colombos position of not taking sides in the Ukraine war. In line with this, Sri Lanka abstained in the United Nations General Assembly vote on October 12 to condemn Russias attempts to annex four regions of Ukraine, he said.

The Sri Lankan governments position of not taking sides in the Ukraine war is not an indication of opposition to US imperialism and its military-strategic agenda. Colombo confronts its own immense economic crisis and is concerned about its trade ties with both Russia and Ukraine, Jayasekera said.

The only way to prevent a devastating nuclear war is the independent mobilisation of the global working class on a revolutionary program of international socialism. A key principle of that program is to refuse to defend the nation state, which has become historically outmoded and is in contradiction with the dominance of the world economy and the global inter-dependence of the productive forces, Jayasekera said.

The speaker referred to Trotskys comment in 1934, during the crisis years between the first and second world wars, that it was necessary to not bind oneself to the national state in time of war, to follow not the war map but the map of the class struggle. This means, Jayasekara explained, that opposition to imperialism must be rooted in the fight to unify the international working class in opposition to exploitation, inequality and the capitalist system.

In conclusion, Jayasekara invited all the participants to join the struggle being waged by the SEP and the International Committee of the Fourth International to build an international anti-war movement among workers, youth and students.

Above all, he insisted, I urge all those who have not joined our party, to study our political program and perspectives and regularly read the WSWS, initiate political discussions with us and join the SEP and ICFI to build the necessary revolutionary leadership of the working class.

During the question-and-answer session, Jayasekara responded to a question about how to stop nuclear devastation, explaining that neither the imperialist powers nor Russia care about the human consequences of this disaster.

If there is any doubt, Jayasekara said, I would like to remind you that these same capitalist ruling classes did not hesitate in sacrificing the lives of millions of people when they allowed COVID-19 to spread freely and in such a deadly manner.

War can only be stopped by an international socialist revolution of the working class, which will demolish the crisis-ridden capitalist system on a global scale. As history has shown, the Bolshevik Party of Russia, under the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky in 1917, led the working class to such a victory and established the first working-class state in history.

This is what stopped the First World War, Jayasekera said, adding, building an international anti-war movement led by the working class is the only viable program, and I urge you again to join us in that struggle.


On Sunday, October 23, at 2:00 p.m. EDT, UAW presidential candidate Will Lehman is hosting an emergency public meeting to discuss a strategy to defend jobs. Register here. For more information on the campaign, visit WillForUAWPresident.org.



Will Lehman, a socialist candidate running for president of the United Auto Workers, received a warm reception this week from workers outside the Mack Trucks assembly plant in Macungie, Pennsylvania, where Lehman works.

Lehman and fellow worker in front of Mack Trucks plant [Photo: WSWS]

Mack Trucks employs 2,083 workers in Pennsylvanias Lehigh Valley. Workers at the company struck in 2019 against corporate abuse, low pay, and the companys use of lesser paid second tier workers. Like so many other struggles, the strike was sold out by the UAW apparatus.

Numerous workers familiar with Lehmans campaign called out to him by name, with several taking stacks of leaflets to distribute to their coworkers. Workers were angered by the conditions in their plant, with hundreds stopping to take leaflets and shake the presidential candidates hand.

Im here to tell workers that we need rank-and-file committees so we can talk to each other and make decisions, Lehman said of his visit. They cant run this facility unless we let them.

Mack used to be one of the best places to work, if not the best in the Lehigh Valley, he added. There used to be no tiers as recently as 1999, pensions as recently as 2009, and paid free health insurance conceded around 2012 He noted that the UAW leadership has given all these gains back over consecutive contract struggles.

A second-tier worker told Lehman, Ive worked in maintenance for two years... I used to work close to 60-plus hours [a week], just to make a decent wage in general maintenance.

Its not right. There are some jobs that [might] be worth that rate of $19.68-an hour, but there are more intrusive jobs, like cleaning the booths You dont know what youre getting into with a flex job, he said.

I generally think there should be a higher wage across the board the worker added. If not, theyre not going to be able to keep people. Thats why this place has been a revolving door the past few years since I started.

Numerous workers asked Lehman if he would fight to get rid of the tier system.

Gates to the Mack Trucks plant, Macungie, Pennsylvania [Photo: WSWS]

Workers also denounced Mack Trucks attendance policy. Its unfair, said a worker. You get one point off for being one minute late. They should give us leeway, five minutes at least. We have to walk all the way across the parking lot right after we get here, he said. This creates chaos in the company parking lot, with many speeding to get inside to avoid consequences.

[UAW President Ray] Currys done more for himself than anything for Mack workers, said Rod, a worker with two years. They just want the money [rather than to represent workers interests].

If you go to your foreman about something, they look at you like youre half nuts, Rod added. Safety violations seem to get ignored. There was a guy who got hit by a forklift got his knee all screwed up. The guy on the forklift never got drug-tested or anything because I heard his brother was a foreman.

It just seems to depend on who you know [that determines] what you get away with here.

Lehman campaigns among fellow Mack Truck rank-and-file workers [Photo: WSWS]

A lot of people werent happy with the union for how it conducted the 2019 strike and the 2021 strike at Volvo Trucks, said another worker. They said it was a victory. Who was it a victory for? We got nothing out of it. The worker did not even trust the officials with his voting ballots: How do we know they arent going to erase it?

What [the UAW leaders] are doing is taking everybody and turning them against each other, thats not right, he added.

Mack Trucks workers formed their own independent rank-and-file committee in the summer of 2021 in response to the strike at Volvo Trucks, which produces cabs for Mack. The Volvo Workers Rank and File Committee, which rallied workers against a trio of company-friendly contract proposals, was a key inspiration to the Mack Trucks workers.

Since its formation, the Mack committee has exposed blatant contract abuses at the facility, rampant Covid-19 outbreaks, which claimed the life of worker William Willie D Domitrovitsch Jr., and issued messages of solidarity to Volvo Trucks, Dana Corporation and John Deere workers, all of whom faced contract struggles last year that were sold out by the UAW.

Rather than unify the working class, the UAW apparatus works to isolate and stifle every expression of opposition. One worker at the Mack Trucks facility informed Lehman that he had discovered that Case New Holland (CNH) farm equipment workers were on strike by accident on social media. The UAW had not said a word about it.



You dont hear anything about whats going on, inside or outside of the plant, said a young worker who had just come on as a full-time employee. Even for your training; they tell you [a few] details, but thats it.

A billboard in Mack Trucks promoting the arrival of Curry slate candidate for UAW District 9 Director Lauren Farrell [Photo: WSWS]

Last week, Lauren Farrell, a member of current UAW President Ray Currys leadership slate, visited the Mack Trucks facility, flanked on either side by company Human Resources officials and former UAW shop chair Kevin Fronheiser. Farrell was given full access to the facility, despite government election regulations that forbid candidates from campaigning while workers are on shift.

Fronheiser presided over UAW Local 677s sellout of the 2019 strike and forced Mack workers to stay on the job and handle scab truck parts during the 2021 Volvo Trucks strike. For these services to the UAW apparatus, he was promoted by Curry to the position of Region 9 servicing rep, despite being voted out by the members of Local 677 last May.

Im glad [Farrell] came with Fronheiser, because now I know who not to vote for, a worker told campaigners outside the plant. Other workers were motivated to support Lehmans campaign due to the Curry teams presence.

Lehman is running in the UAW election to promote the building of independent rank-and-file committees in workplaces around the country and internationally. He has called for organizing the rank and file to transfer power to the shop floor, abolishing the UAW apparatus that blocks us from fighting and launching a real campaign to defend our interests in his most recent election statement.

For more information on Lehmans campaign, visit WillForUAWPresident.org.
One month into the fall season in the Northern Hemisphere, it is clear that the next global wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has begun.

Due to the dismantling of testing and data reporting throughout much of the world, official infection figures are now largely worthless. The most accurate estimate of the real number of daily COVID-19 infections from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) shows that 21 million people were infected globally on Wednesday, up 23 percent from the most recent trough of 17 million infections on September 27.

Amid this deepening crisis, the ruling elites throughout the world have discovered the perfect cure for the pandemic: Simply ignore it and cover it up. At most, the broadcast news has brief segments on the pandemic once per month, while the print media just echoes the lies of the capitalist politicians.

This propaganda has had a terrible impact on mass consciousness, and global society is wholly unprepared for the current surge. Having been told, in the words of US President Joe Biden, that the pandemic is over, many are failing to take even the most elementary precautions. As one observes the careless actions of the misled public, the image comes to mind of Pieter Bruegels famous painting The Blind Leading the Blind.

But the political leaders are not blind. With malice aforethought, they have ignored the repeated warnings of epidemiologists and prioritized the profit interests of the corporate-financial elite over life. From the beginning of the pandemic, far-right figures have sowed deep confusion within the population, while over the course of the past year ostensibly liberal governments throughout the world have embraced the homicidal herd immunity strategy pioneered by the far right. The consequences of these policies are being realized as the world enters an even more dangerous situation.

The growing wave is unlike anything seen since the start of the pandemic and has many scientists deeply concerned. As a result of the unhindered spread of COVID-19 over the past year, the Omicron variant has spawned hundreds of subvariants with different mutation profiles, creating what experts have termed a variant soup.

The most worrying are a collection of highly-mutated escape variants that are more immune-evasive and infectious than all other Omicron subvariants. Particularly worrisome are BQ.1.1 and XBB, which are considered likely to become dominant throughout the world in the coming weeks. In Singapore, XBB became dominant two weeks ago and is fueling a massive surge of infections and reinfections.

Studies indicate that both of these subvariants and others will render ineffective the last remaining monoclonal antibody drugs Evusheld and Bebtelovimab, threatening tens of millions of immunocompromised people throughout the world with greater risk of severe disease and death.

One of the greatest concerns of experts is the mounting toll of Long COVID, a broad spectrum of prolonged symptoms that can affect nearly every organ in the body. A preprint study led by Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly of the Washington University School of Medicine found that compared to those with one COVID-19 infection, those with reinfection had double the risk of all-cause mortality, triple the risk of hospitalization, and nearly double the risk of at least one Long COVID symptom. The study notes, The risks were evident in subgroups including those who were unvaccinated, had 1 shot, or 2 or more shots prior to the second infection.

Significantly, the XBB variant has propelled reinfections in Singapore from only 5 percent in mid-August to 17.5 percent by October 14, an unprecedented increase that underscores the dangers of the new escape variants.

In an alarming press briefing Wednesday, World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 Technical Lead Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove stressed that the XBB subvariant is showing significant immune-evasion. She continued: This is of concern for us, because we need to ensure that the vaccines that are in use worldwide remain effective at preventing severe disease and death. The more this virus circulates, the more opportunities it has to change.

She concluded, We need to be able to track this virus. There are millions of cases being reported each week, but our surveillance has declined, testing has declined, sequencing has declined, and that, in turn, has limited our ability as an organization, with our expert networks around the world, to assess these [subvariants].

Dr. Kerkhoves comments are a devastating indictment of the pandemic policies implemented throughout the world. Even if the current variant soup does not render existing vaccines unable to prevent severe disease and death, the constant spread of the virus provides it with billions of hosts in which it will continue to mutate and potentially evolve into a more lethal strain, while the WHOs ability to monitor these mutations has been substantially degraded.

To say that American and world society are flying blind into a coming storm is a vast understatement. A more accurate description would be that the planes pilot has deliberately jettisoned the engines fuel, sabotaged the landing gear and told the air traffic controllers to go home.

Following the dictates of the Biden administration, on Thursday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) switched from daily to weekly reporting of COVID-19 cases and deaths. On Friday, the agency quietly ended its limited program for distributing free masks. Last week, epidemiologist Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding revealed that the CDC has withheld data showing that the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 subvariants are rapidly becoming dominant across the US and now account for a combined 11.4 percent of all variants. In New York, where these new subvariants have reached their highest proportions, COVID-19 hospitalizations surged by 9 percent in the past week alone.

The same processes are underway across Europe, where COVID-19 infections, reinfections, hospitalizations and deaths are steadily rising. In Germany, Oktoberfest and other large events encouraged by politicians are now fueling a second wave of BA.5 infections, which has pushed hospitals to the brink. Since Monday, there have been 680 deaths from COVID-19 across the country, over 60 percent higher than two weeks ago, and experts warn that the new variants will only compound an already dire situation. In France, where BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 now account for the majority of all infections, COVID-19 deaths are steadily rising.

The misinformed public is not to be blamed for the profound lack of scientific understanding. Misanthropy and debilitating pessimism will do nothing to effect a change in the pandemic. Rather, every effort must be made to counter the governments propaganda and educate workers and youth on the science of the Zero-COVID elimination strategy, which remains viable and necessary today.

Almost exactly one year ago, on October 24, 2021, the World Socialist Web Site and the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC) hosted a powerful webinar that brought together a panel of leading scientists who outlined a global elimination strategy to stop the pandemic. The horrific experience of the past year, which has seen an estimated 6.2 million excess deaths, embues this event with even greater significance. This webinar comprehensively refuted the lie that nothing can be done to stop the pandemic and proved that millions of lives can still be saved.

In the past year, the recklessness of the pandemic policies has been extended to the arena of the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, which Biden himself acknowledged threatens to erupt into nuclear Armageddon. Hospitals, schools and industries across the US and internationally are in a state of collapse after unending COVID-19 waves have caused massive staffing shortages. The coming winter will be catastrophic unless immediate action is taken by the working class.

Capitalism is an obsolete, anarchic social system that offers no future for humanity and must be replaced with a planned world socialist economy. The paramount task facing the international working class is to develop a mass global movement to stop the pandemic, end the war and rebuild society on socialist foundations.
In a truly Kafkaesque ruling, Australias top court last week upheld the August 2018 cancellation of a visa of a long-time resident, originally from Lebanon, on security grounds under legislation that prohibited him from knowing the allegations against him.

By a 4 to 3 majority, the High Court judges declared there was no minimal requirement of procedural fairness in a court. This goes further than previous judgments in essentially nullifying the basic legal right of a person to know, and be able to respond to, evidence being used against them.

High Court of Australia (Credit: Alex Proimos - License: CC BY 2.0) [Photo by Alex Proimos - License: CC BY 2.0]

Led by Chief Justice Susan Keifel, the majority judges dismissed a constitutional challenge by the man, identified only as SDCV, after the minister in charge of the domestic spy agency, the Australian Intelligence Security Organisation (ASIO), issued a certificate stating that disclosure of the relevant information would prejudice the security of Australia.

The ruling demonstrates the readiness of the judiciary at the highest level to rubberstamp such anti-democratic provisions under conditions in which another world war is being triggered, with Australia on the frontline.

Since taking office in May, the Labor government has been ramping up Australias involvement in the US-led war against Russia in Ukraine and Washingtons preparations for war against China.

Increasingly, this war drive and the accompanying acceleration of military spending at the expense of social programs and working-class conditions will fuel dissent and unrest, and that is the real target of such anti-democratic laws.

Kafkaesque is a reference to the dystopian novels of Franz Kafka, including The Trial, in a which a man, known only as K, is arrested, charged and ultimately executed for a crime without ever being able to discover the nature of the charges against him.

SDCV was stripped of his visa, and earlier denied citizenship, exposing him to the danger of deportation, despite being married to an Australian citizen, after ASIO declared him a security risk.

Throughout his case, first in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), then the Federal Court and the High Court, SDCV and his lawyers were barred from knowing any of the secret certificated matter being used as evidence against him by ASIO and the government.

In fact, some of the evidence was produced in closed sessions of the AAT, from which SDCV and his lawyers were excluded. The AAT even issued two rulings. One was based on the open evidence, in which the tribunal said it could not form a view of ASIOs security assessment. The other was based on the closed material, which the tribunal said did justify ASIOs adverse assessment.

The only known accusations against SDCV related to his use of a covert phone with an encrypted messaging app to communicate with his brother based in Syria and various relatives who had been convicted of terrorism offences.

The majority judges acknowledged that SDCV had not been accused of any offences himself. Some of the appellants relatives were convicted of and sentenced to imprisonment for attempted terrorism offences committed in Australia, they noted. However, ASIO investigated the appellant as to whether he was involved in those terrorism offences but he was not found to have been involved.

Nevertheless, the judges ruled that legislation, such as the ASIO Act, could override any requirement for a court to provide a person with the minimum of a fair opportunity to respond to evidence on which [an] order might be made.

The majority said the legal right of procedural fairness did not even require the affected person to be given the gist of the evidence, or to have special advocates appointed to represent their interests.

ASIOs powers, and those of the government to politically exploit them, are sweeping and arbitrary because the ASIO Act defines security in terms that go far beyond combatting terrorism.

The definition covers many forms of anti-war and other political activity that could be targeted during war or the buildup to war, labelled as espionage, sabotage, politically motivated violence, promotion of communal violence or foreign interference.

Security also extends to the carrying out of Australias responsibilities to any foreign country in relation to any of these categories. That means, above all, any activity regarded as a threat to the interests of US imperialism and its partners, such as the UK and other members of anti-China alliances like AUKUS, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) or the Five Eyes intelligence network.

Last weeks High Court ruling is not the first of its kind. In 2007, it rejected an appeal from an Islamic cleric, Mansour Leghaei, who was then deported after being similarly denied the right to know why ASIO had declared him a security risk. Many other attempts to legally challenge adverse ASIO assessments have failed.

But this is the first time that the court has gone so far in backing legislation that expunges procedural fairness altogether in court proceedings. Three judges dissented. Their primary concern was that the ruling would undermine the credibility of the courts. In their words, courts may cease to be seen as an institution of justice.

Over the past two decades, since the Bush administration declared the war on terror after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington in order to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, Australian governmentsboth Labor and Liberal-Nationalhave imposed more than 120 packages of legislation eviscerating fundamental legal and democratic rights.

These have handed unprecedented surveillance powers and resources to ASIO and other intelligence agencies and even permitted criminal trials to take place secretly behind closed doors. In 2019, it was revealed that an ex-soldier and intelligence officer, known only as Witness J, had been convicted and imprisoned in Canberra for 15 months via a criminal trial that was completely hidden from public knowledge, let alone scrutiny.

The assault on basic legal and democratic rights, conducted with the complicity of the judiciary, mirrors the vicious methods being used in the persecution of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder. With the backing of successive Australian governments, he remains incarcerated in the UK in a maximum security prison, facing extradition to the US on espionage charges for exposing the war atrocities and anti-democratic conspiracies of the US government and its allies, including those in Canberra.

This offensive goes beyond covering up the past crimes of the Australian military and intelligence apparatus, which extend from Afghanistan to East Timor. It is being driven by the unfolding of even greater crimes. Amid Washingtons increasingly provocative economic and military confrontations against its rivals, the Australian Labor government has committed itself to joining any war against China.
A Williston man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder and other charges related to a shooting about a year ago at Bismarck's Keelboat Park.

Jonathan Sanchez, 19, must also spend five years on probation after his release, court records show. He pleaded guilty Thursday to attempted murder, terrorizing and reckless endangerment. South Central District Judge Pamela Nesvig suspended 10 years of a 20-year prison sentence on the attempted murder charge. She handed down five-year terms on the remaining charges. Sanchez will serve the sentences at the same time, court records show.

Police said the November 2021 shooting was retaliation against a man who wanted to get out of a gang and had recently fought with another gang member. Witnesses corroborated the mans account of a car pulling up next to his, and three people getting out and firing multiple shots at his vehicle. The man was not hurt.

Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Sanchez last December. He was arrested in Oklahoma in May.

A second man, Deanthony Claiborne, 20, of Bismarck, faced the same charges. Prosecutors after finding new evidence, including information from Sanchez, asked a judge to dismiss the charges. A judge did so in June.
Amid a revolutionary crisis of class rule in the UK, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) is devoting its energies to securing a Labour government under Sir Keir Starmer and a corporatist partnership between the unions, the government and big business.

Screengrab from video of Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer speaking at the 2022 Congress of the Trades Union Congress. October 20, 2022 [Photo: Trades Union Congress/YouTube channel]

Its annual conference this week was a discussion on how to rescue British imperialism by putting in place a government which, in Starmers words, would give the economy the stability it needs. Conservative government Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned Thursday afternoon after just 45 days in office, making her the shortest-serving premier in British history. She stepped down just hours after Starmer addressed the TUC in a set-piece concluding speech.

The conference in Brighton was the last with Frances OGrady as TUC leader. She will leave office at the end of the year and enter the House of Lords on the Labour benches as a faithful servant of the political elite. Under OGradys term of office (2013-2022) and her predecessor Sir Brendan Barber (20032012), workers have suffered historic declines in their pay, terms and conditions. Ahead of her speech the TUC calculated that the average worker has lost a total of 24,000 in real terms since 2008. They are set to lose another 4,000 during the next three years.

OGrady, the figurehead of the union bureaucracy, took home 167,229 in total remuneration in 2021.

Despite the left rhetoric of a few, including RMT leader Mick Lynch and CWU leader Dave Ward, the conference committed itself to nothing under conditions of the worst cost-of-living crisis since World War Two.

The assembled bureaucrats would only go so far as passing a deliberately vague motion that requires the trade union movement to organise coordinated industrial action. No action was called. Instead, the motion called for a working group of unions in the public and private sectors to plan and coordinate action on pay and jobs. The TUC would agree an autumn 2022 programme of town hall meetings and rallies across the country and link up with community organisations to build collectivism, solidarity, and mobilisation.

The TUC is bitterly hostile to any serious escalation of Britains strike wave, which would cut across its desired outcome of a Starmer government working together with the union bureaucracy to suppress the class struggle.

Starmer was given pride of place at the conference to advertise this partnership to the ruling class. He echoed the message of Lord Kitcheners World War One call for army recruits, your country needs you, hawking the services of the union leaders in attendance with decades of experience policing the working class.

Calling for a general election, he said a Labour government would repeal anti-trade union laws and bring the union bureaucracy into the heart of government in a corporatist alliance with big business. As his model, Starmer cited OGrady working with Boris Johnsons government to carry out a 410 billion bailout of big business during the pandemic, then to orchestrate a mass return to work in unsafe conditions.

OGrady, said Starmer, led the employers and the Government to the furlough schemea tripartite deal for those troubled times, a true collective agreement for the nation And my Labour Party supported it every step of the way.

Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak (centre) outside 11 Downing Street, with (left) Frances O'Grady, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress and (right) Dame Carolyn Julie Fairbairn, Director General of the Confederation of British Industry. London, September 24, 2020. [AP Photo/Frank Augstein]

The Labour leader made his agenda crystal clear: Im not just pro-business, I want to partner with business to drive Britain forward And I will say the same about trade unions to the CBI [Confederation of British Industry].

In government, Labour would set up a new Industrial Strategy Council delivering a real partnership between Government, business and unions. This is how we can give Britain the stability it needs for higher investment.

Starmer explained how he required the unions to turn the screws on a working class already bled dry by austerity and falling wages. Immediately after announcing the Industrial Strategy Council, he said, But when we talk about economic stability, I want to be frank. The damage the Tories have done to our finances and public services means things are going to be really tough.

He warned, Now and during my Labour Government. We cannot take any risks with the public finances. We have to restore economic stability, be the party of sound money. You have all seen the damage that can be done from fiscal irresponsibility when you lose control of the economy, as the Tories have done.

In the national interest, Labour and the unions had to create a modern industrial strategy together. Labour will strengthen the role of trade unions in our society. This would benefit big business since These things are not a barrier to growth or higher productivity. They go hand in hand with it.

Starmer has opposed every strike workers have taken since becoming party leader, banning Labour shadow cabinet members from attending picket lines. He told the TUC that he would not apologise for approaching questions on industrial action as a potential Labour government. If this is his stance now, what attacks on the working class will Labour unleash once in government under this man of the state?

No-one in attendance at the TUC conference had any issue with this enemy of the working class. The assembled bureaucracy rose to give Starmer a standing ovation. OGrady said, I look forward to working with the party and the whole movement to help win a Labour government at the next election.

Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of Britain's Labour Party makes his speech at the party's annual conference in Liverpool, England, September 27, 2022. [AP Photo/Jon Super]

The TUC embraced Sir Keir because his speech reflected a discussion in ruling circles that the trade union bureaucracy ought to be brought into closer alliance with the state. This would be done not only to strengthen the policing operation against the working class, but to help advance British imperialisms war drive against Russia.

The TUC passed a motion calling on the General Council to convene a major national initiative involving sympathetic manufacturers, unions, professional bodies and industrial area administrations to establish a national commission for manufacturing to oversee a revival in all sectors and plan a rejuvenation of production and skills development.

This rejuvenation would help to reverse the run-down of UK defence manufacturing. The motion demands immediate increases in defence spending. It insists that defence contracts to be placed in the UK where possible and shipbuilding orders to be placed with UK yards. Therefore, there is welcome potential for manufacturing orders under the [anti-China] Aukus agreement [between Britain, the US and Australia].

Declaring its support for Britains role in supplying billions of pounds to fund Ukraine for NATOs proxy war against Russia, the motion states, Congress further recognises that defence manufacturing cuts have hindered the UKs ability to aid the Ukrainian people under brutal assault from Putins regime. It denounces the previous TUC policy carried in 2017 in favour of diversifying away from defence manufacturing as no longer fit for purpose.

Starmer picked up the thread in his closing speech, calling for real independence from tyrants like Putin, who weaponise fossil fuel exports and threaten our security.

The TUC conference offers workers a stark warning. It confirms that as the crisis of British imperialism and the assault on living standards deepens, the trade union bureaucracy is moving in lockstep with Starmers rightward careening Labour Party.
Newly released body camera footage recorded by local police in Hillsborough County, Florida, captured residents being arrested in August of this year for allegedly casting illegal ballots in the 2020 elections. The shocking videos, released by the Tampa Bay Times, testifies to the cynical and anti-democratic political maneuvering of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just weeks ahead of the November vote.

The arrests were carried out by a new policing unit set up under elections crime legislation, Senate Bill (SB) 524, that went into effect this year. The 20 people arrested are being charged with voter fraud for violating a state law that does not allow people convicted of murder or felony sex offenses to automatically vote after they complete their sentence.

The new Office of Election Crimes and Security, a police force dedicated solely to pursuing electoral fraud, alongside local law enforcement, made the arrests. The timing of the arrests is clearly political, since it took place nearly two years after the alleged crime, in the final weeks before the midterm election in which DeSantis is a candidate.

The Times and Miami Herald obtained the footage through public record requests, with the Times making public the footage of three of the 20 arrests on its website Tuesday.

As the harrowing videos confirm, none of the voters indicted for their alleged crimes even knew they were committing an offense when they voted. The arrests, trumpeted by the far-right governor, are literally one in a million: 20 cases of purported fraud in a state with a population of 21 million.

Nonetheless, DeSantis and other Trump-style fascist demagogues will the cite these cases of election fraud to bolster the bogus claims that the 2020 election was rigged and that Trump is the rightful US president.

One of the supposed election criminals, Tony Patterson, was angered and in disbelief when officers handcuffed him at his home for voter fraud. One of the officers told Patterson that he was being seized for voting when youre not supposed to because of his prior sex offense convictions. Patterson, visibly distraught, declared this happened years ago and Why now? Why me?

Officers also contemptuously referred to Patterson as the lowest kind there is and when pressed by the defendant on why he was being arrested now for voting two years ago, one said, I dont know. The contrived nature of the prosecutions was captured when one of the officers received a phone call and, while briefly discussing Pattersons case, confessed that he had never seen these charges before in my entire life.

Another of those arrested, Nathan Hart, can be heard on a sheriffs audio recording explaining how he came to register and vote in the election cycle with his legal status unbeknownst to him. Hart had been encouraged by someone at the drivers license place to vote in March 2020. Since Harts probation had ended a month earlier, the unidentified person said he was eligible to vote and could do so if cleared by the state.

Despite a 2018 constitutional amendment that restored the right to vote for more than a million felons in Florida, the amendment excluded those convicted of murder or sexual offences. The legislation enacted by the Republican-controlled state legislature and signed into law by DeSantis was an effort to curtail as much as possible the rights restored in the amendment. The result was a registration process riddled with contradictions.

The registration forms contained language that many voters admitted was too confusing when determining if particular felons were eligible to vote. Court cases arising from the new law did not clarify whether a former felon, who still owed money arising from federal convictions, or those in other states qualified to vote by satisfying the legal requirement that they had paid all their court fines and fees and demonstrated completion of all terms of [their] sentence.

Other recent actions by the DeSantis administration in relation to voting rights provide evidence of the politically motivated and entirely hypocritical character of the prosecutions of these unfortunate individuals.

President Joe Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis arrive to tour an area impacted by Hurricane Ian on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, in Fort Myers Beach, Fla. [AP Photo/Evan Vucci]

DeSantis signed an executive order last week easing the voter rules for voters in Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota counties, all areas that suffered devastating losses in human life and property from Hurricane Ian as a result of DeSantis and the governments disastrous lack of preparedness. These changes are undoubtedly justified but are limited to the three counties, all Republican strongholds populated largely by conservative, affluent voters.

According to DeSantis the decision to accommodate only three counties was based on the collective feedback of the Supervisors of Elections across the state and at the written requests of the Supervisors of Elections. The governor nor anyone from his office has yet to explain why locations like central Floridas Orange County, a heavily Democratic-leaning area including the city of Orlando, received no such exemptions in spite of the fact its residents saw extreme flooding from Ian which has left many displaced and hundreds of millions in damage.

Although thousands of people saw their homes severely damaged or totally leveled from the storm without reimbursement, and many remain packed in overcrowded shelters and face the threat of COVID-19 infection, DeSantis has utilized the social catastrophe as an occasion to employ brazen vote-rigging tactics.

All of governors accommodations in the three heavily Republican counties, including the ability to vote early and send in mail-in ballots, were the same procedures DeSantis lambasted in 2021 as opportunities for vote-rigging and other irregularities. These were said to justify the passage and signing of SB 90, a voter suppression bill that severely restricts mail-in balloting, among other anti-democratic measures.

The prosecutions for voter fraud have the same geographical bias. Virtually all of the 20 residents, who are charged with voter fraud from DeSantis inquisitorial prosecutions and others who have faced stepped up repression from the enforcement of bogus voter restrictions, hail from poorer counties around Orlando, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Jacksonville, where Democratic candidates usually win by sizeable margins.

The cynical voter prosecutions are in line with DeSantis fascistic campaign to whip up the Republicans far-right base in the run-up to his reelection and possible nomination for Republican president. Last month, DeSantis had 50 migrants, mostly Venezuelans and Colombians, deported to Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts, without any notice as part of a relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations, according to his office.

The sheer brutality of the action was expressed in the refugees not knowing where they were being taken, having to travel without language accommodations and were left stranded on the island once they arrived. Some revealed they had been lied to about receiving jobs and housing.
In yet another tragic confirmation of the unsafe conditions in Australias mining sector, two workers were killed in Western Australian (WA) gold mines over a three-day period last week.

The first was on Tuesday, when a 37-year-old contract worker was killed at the St Ives Hamlet underground mine near Kambalda, 60 kilometres from the city of Kalgoorlie. The mine is owned by South African resource giant Gold Fields, which has operated the enterprise since 1981. A second contract worker is reported to have sustained minor injuries in the same incident.

Aerial photo of St Ives Hamlet mine entrance [Photo: Gold Fields]

Gold Fields has declined to comment on the cause of the deadly incident. The Australian Workers Union (AWU) claims the company refused to allow the unions local inspector to enter the site in the immediate aftermath of the death.

Two days later, a 59-year-old man employed by mining contractor MACA was killed at the Capricorn Metals-operated Karlawinda open-cut gold mine when the light vehicle he was a passenger in was run over by a large dump truck. The driver of the light vehicle escaped injury. The mine is situated about 65 kilometres south-east of the town of Newman in East Pilbara.

While details of the incidents remain scant it appears both workers were employed under a Fly-in Fly-out (FIFO) arrangement, in which workers are flown into remote regions for working stints of 14 or 21 days. These punishing schedules have resulted in high levels of stress, psychological distress and suicides among the FIFO workforce.

The latest deaths follow a spate of mining fatalities across WA last year. David Armstrong, 25-year-old drill and blast operator, was killed on September 30, 2021 when the ground collapsed underneath him at the Fortescue Metals Groups Solomon Hub open-cut iron ore mine in the Pilbara. Less than two weeks earlier, on September 17, a 52-year-old maintenance worker sustained fatal injuries at CITIC Pacific Minings Sino Iron mine, near Cape Preston after falling from a conveyor walkway.

On June 10, 2021, Paul Tamati Ereka Martin, employed by mining contractor Macmahon Holdings, died after becoming unconscious at the Daisy Milano underground mine, 50 kilometres south-east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. In June of this year, the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that its investigation into Martins death was still ongoing.

In December 2020, Paige Taylor Counsell died after being hit by a truck at the underground Big Bell gold mine in the states Murchison region. In July of that year, contractor Michael Johnson died at the Saracen Mineral Holdings Carosue Dam gold mine after falling 25 metres when the heavy excavator he was operating veered off a ledge.

In the wake of last weeks deaths the WA Labor government joined the two companies in dispensing empty platitudes and condolencesstandard damage control measures aimed at hosing down community concern and preventing any probing of the role of the government and mining companies in creating the conditions for such disasters.

After commenting that the two deaths really [go] to show just how important it is that occupational health and safety is uppermost in everyones minds when we go into the workplace, Deputy Premier Roger Cook declared: Any death in the workplace, and particularly on a mine site, is obviously a shocking incident.

The record speaks against Cooks supposed concern for workers safety. The carnage in WA mines over the past two-and-a-half years has taken place on Labors watch.

A DMIRS report released in March revealed that, in addition to the fatalities, between July 2020 and June 2021 there were 402 safety incidents in the WA mining sector classified as seriousthat is, resulting in an injury that disables a worker for two weeks or more.

Many of those incidents, such as one in which a truck driver sustained injuries to his upper-body and right-leg when the haul truck he was in rolled over, could well have resulted in deaths. Over the same period there were 745 fires at mine sites including 72 at underground operations.

The fatalities and serious injuries have continued unabated despite new workplace health and safety laws that became operative in March. The laws introduced industrial manslaughter as a criminal offence carrying a maximum penalty of 5 to 20 years imprisonment for individuals and fines of up to $10 million for corporations. The legislation also contains clauses preventing the use of insurance to cover payment of such penalties.

While industrial manslaughter laws have been in place in other parts of the country for several years, they have gone largely unenforced, and have mostly been used against individuals or the owners of small and medium businesses.

When the industrial manslaughter laws were first introduced UnionsWA assistant secretary Owen Whittle breathlessly declared that they would really shake up how industry looks at safety in this state. Following the latest fatalities, Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) WA secretary Mick Buchan admitted: I dont think all of the companies have taken much notice so far on the industrial manslaughter legislation.

In other words, the CFMMEU is continuing to insist that the new laws will eventually lead the massive mining corporations to improve safety. All workers need to do is stand aside and wait.

The unions, no less than the government, are responsible for the unsafe conditions rife across the mining sector. They have sought for years to suppress workers opposition to sweeping changes to employment conditions that have contributed to the danger.

These include a vast increase in the use of contract labour, known to be a factor undermining safety as labour hire companies cut corners on essential training and site induction in order to outbid their rivals for lucrative site contracts. While the states mining workforce currently stands at 144,000, WA state mining engineer Andrew Chaplyn has said that 58 percent of reported work hours are attributed to contractors.

Workers should reject the illusions promoted by the unions that any government, Labor or Liberal-National, will introduce legislation to meaningfully improve safety, or any other aspect of working conditions, in mining or any other industry.

The WA government depends heavily on revenue from mining royalties and works closely with the multinational corporations to ensure their continued massive profits. Last year, the states iron ore industry paid $12.4 billion in royalties to the governments coffers. While such payments are hailed as a massive contribution to the states economy, they pale against the enormous profits made by the iron ore extracting companies from sales that rose by 32 percent to $156.9 billion in 2021.

To end the carnage in the mining sector, workers must urgently take matters into their own hands and establish rank-and-file committees at every mine site, independent of the unions, to oversee and rigorously enforce workplace safety and to take up a fight for all of their social rights.
International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) members organised information stands at the official freshers events at Humboldt University in Berlin. They used the opportunity to promote the international anti-war movement that the IYSSE is building around the world.

Against the backdrop of NATOs Steadfast Noon nuclear weapons exercise, members of the IYSSE spoke to hundreds of students about the immense danger of the proxy war in Ukraine escalating into a nuclear conflict between nuclear powers, and the need for a socialist perspective.

Imperialist politicians and strategists had openly admitted this danger in the days before. After former CIA Director Leon Panetta put the likelihood of nuclear war in Ukraine at 25 percent and US President Joseph Biden warned a gathering of wealthy donors of Armageddon, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday threatened to annihilate the Russian army if nuclear weapons were used. Days earlier, before a NATO audience, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky had called for first strikes against nuclear power Russia.

Under these circumstances, the IYSSEs fight against universities being centres for war research and right-wing propaganda met with concern among first-year students. Many responded positively and registered for the IYSSE newsletter to continue the discussion and attend regular meetings. Its good that you exist and that you are raising awareness about the threat of war, many said. Others stocked up on literature at the IYSSE stand or took pamphlets to display in their faculties.

A statement by the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninistsa group of young socialists in Russia who have joined the IYSSEs struggle to build a youth anti-war movementdrew particular interest. The groups statement condemns the Russian militarys reactionary invasion of Ukraine from the standpoint of socialist internationalism, while also exposing the causes and background of the Ukrainian war.

Konrad, a student at the IYSSE info stand at Humboldt University [Photo: WSWS]

How can I join? asked Konrad, who is shocked by the falsification of history and right-wing attacks at Humboldt University. I think its good that you are getting to the bottom of this and countering the right-wing push. Thats an important thingthe institutions are all working in the other direction, you can see that right now. At the IYSSE stand, Konrad became aware of the book Why are they back? by Christoph Vandreier, which deals with the rise of the far-right in Germany, and wanted to discuss it further in the coming days.

Katharina, who studies law, was particularly interested in the IYSSEs Marxist critique of postmodernism and the Frankfurt School. In her previous studies, Katharina had critically examined political and economic theories that proposed reforming capitalism. But these theories mostly only serve those who develop them, to give themselves a progressive image and to distinguish themselves in order to climb the ladder, she says. I also find the role of many NGOs gives pause for thought.

Students reacted with horror to the fact that the right-wing radical Humboldt University professor Jorg Baberowski was defended by the federal government and is still given support by the university administrationeven though he networks in the right-wing scene and had to pay 4,000 for assaulting a student who had criticized him. Baberowski, whose work plays down Hitler and even relativizes the Holocaust, will teach an introductory course in the history major this semester.

IYSSE members explained the significance of the dispute at Humboldt University, pointing out that a Code of Academic Freedom was passed at the University of Hamburg earlier this year that opposes civil clauses banning universities from involvement in militaristic research, criminalizes criticism of right-wing professors, and legitimizes police action against student protests. In March this year, in the Berlin state parliament, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) had already moved to introduce such a code at all Berlin universities as well.

On the Humboldt University campus, members of the IYSSE also spoke with Tim, who knew the IYSSE from previous events and now works in the music and events industry. The government increasingly wants to determine what is art and what is not, he said, referring to the German governments Neustart Kultur funding program. It provides selected associations with funding from a woefully inadequate fund after decades of cuts and further cutbacks in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have had a catastrophic effect on artists, exacerbating exploitation immensely.

Many today are unaware that the remaining social programs around the world are achievements from earlier struggles, Tim explains. This is particularly striking in Latin America, he says, where US imperialism has organized coups detat and supported reactionary dictatorships to combat social movements. Referring to NATOs Steadfast Noon exercise, Tim says, An acquaintance of mine works for the Bundeswehr [armed forces] and told me that during exercises, the enemy territory is still referred to as Red Land. That speaks volumes in my eyes.

In addition to campaigning on university campuses, IYSSE members are also intervening in factories to unite working class struggles internationallyfor example, in Ludwigsfelde, south of Berlin, where all workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant are to be laid off. They are also supporting the campaign of autoworker and socialist Will Lehman, who is running for United Auto Workers union president, to abolish the bureaucracy and push for the building of independent rank-and-file committees.

The statement of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists says: The raison detre of the IYSSE is to organize and coordinate youth internationally, which is impossible without explaining to youth the most important theoretical and historical questions of relevance to the present state of affairs. The greatest crisis for youth and the working class, the statement says, was the crisis of revolutionary leadership, which would be resolved by building the IYSSE and the International Committee of the Fourth International.

In the coming weeks, the IYSSE will conduct an intensive campaign for an online international assembly to create the political conditions for a powerful anti-war movement of youth and the working class against capitalism.
New COVID-19 cases have fallen for a fourth straight week in North Dakota.

There were 764 new cases in the past seven days, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services coronavirus dashboard, which is updated every Friday. Weekly cases have been on a downward trend for nearly three months since a summer spike attributed to highly contagious mutants of the omicron coronavirus variant.

COVID-19 hospitalizations also have been sliding in North Dakota. There were 54 in the past week. Coronavirus patients take up less than 4% of occupied inpatient beds and intensive care unit beds in the state.

Thirteen North Dakota counties including Burleigh and Morton are considered to have a medium risk of coronavirus transmission, and one county, Emmons, is listed as having a high risk. The rest of the state's 53 counties are at low risk, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC recommends that people in high-risk areas wear a mask indoors in public, and that people in medium-risk areas who have conditions that make them prone to severe illness wear a mask.

Federal data on new virus-related deaths was not immediately available. The state's pandemic death total listed last week was 2,383. County-level death data is not available. There have been 271,913 confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Dakota during the pandemic.

More information

Federal data shows that 68.1% of North Dakota adults are fully vaccinated, with the rate for all vaccine-eligible people -- age 5 and older -- at 61.7%. The national averages are 78% and 72.4%, respectively.

North Dakota's first booster shot rate is 47.8%, compared to 50.7% nationally. The percentages are for people 12 and older and don't factor in the newly available boosters for younger children.

Go to https://www.ndvax.org or https://bit.ly/3N3IMxb or call 866-207-2880 to see where COVID-19 vaccine is available. Information on free public testing and free test kits is at health.nd.gov/covidtesting. State Health Department guidance and resources for businesses is at https://bit.ly/3w0DpKj. More detailed pandemic information is at www.health.nd.gov/coronavirus and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
Rural communities across the state are desperate to attract and retain workers at small businesses such as shops, restaurants, health centers, gas stations and other essential services to keep their communities alive and vibrant.

From Bowman to Bottineau, Crosby to Harvey, theyre also in competition with each other for those workers, not by choice or desire, but out of necessity. Besides attracting labor, communities are becoming more concerned about losing crucial businesses as baby boomers retire without adequately establishing a succession plan that keeps business viable.

Current workarounds often mean workers pulling double shifts, restaurants going variable and cutting operating hours, bosses pushing the boundaries of burnout, or for others, shuttering completely.

For Julie Mears, owner of clothing store Golden Rule on Main Street in Bottineau, it means pulling extra duty during shifts she cant hire for, relying on a staff of mostly teenagers who also often have their own sporadic schedules, and trying to keep things light while managing the variability.

Theres been a rush on clinical strength deodorant by business owners around the state, Mears joked between attending to a steady bustle of customers checking out winter coats sales and homecoming outfits.

While not in as dire straits as some businesses, Mears has been impacted by the lack of available labor increasing her own work hours as well as having to be more hands on with younger staff.

It is also a delicate balance when trying to attract new workers from within the community or from nearby towns, since everyone is pretty much in the same boat, she said.

We really dont want to be stealing from other communities, Mears said, echoing similar thoughts by small business owners across the state.

In Harvey, at the B-52 Roadhouse and Lanes, the inability to fully staff the establishment has halted in-restaurant dining during the evening, reducing business by around half, according to owner Chris Kara.

We have been short-staffed for years, not to this extent, but it has been creeping up to this level for quite some time, Kara said, adding that he has no applications on his desk so expects hours to remain affected for some time.

He also saw no real possibility of attracting workers from nearby.

The neighboring communities within reasonable driving distance are small and most of them are already employed, he said.

Low profit margins, particularly in a small community, and the inability to offer higher pay, medical benefits and other incentives leave restaurants like his particularly vulnerable during labor shortages and when towns are not growing organically.

Without outside help to get to a more equal playing field with larger metro areas, the rural labor shortage will likely persist for some time, with the smallest communities withering, and middling size ones treading water.

It would be nice if there were more opportunities to support rural communities even more in attracting talent, said KayCee Lindsey, executive director of the Divide County Job Development Authority in Crosby.

Lindsey noted that the metro areas have a major advantage in professional and financial capacity in conducting campaigns to bring people to their areas that smaller towns, for the most part, do not.

If we dont have, you know, a plumber in our community, and these other communities are just as busy, how are we going to get a plumber to come service our community? Lindsey said as an example of questions some rural communities face as well as concerns over poaching from nearby towns.

U.S. Small Business Administration 2021 data shows that small businesses -- the majority which have 20 employees or under -- in North Dakota accounted for 98.8% of all businesses.

Small businesses employed a total of 196,770 people last year, a number that has held somewhat steady in recent years, though there was a net decrease in over 12,000 jobs at smaller operations across the state during that period.

Attracting workers

These businesses are the major economic drivers and employers in most rural areas and important cogs to communities there. Trouble is, larger cities already have a leg up, so economic development officials need to find alternative ways to entice labor into certain areas.

Everybody talks about the vibe in downtown Fargo. Well, I hate to say it, but theres not a downtown vibe in Glen Ullin or Gackle or Bowman, right? SBA District Director Alan Haut said. Theres a vibe there. Its a nice peaceful, quiet vibe. But its tough to recruit people into those areas.

Towns like Bowman and Bottineau are trying to change that perception, however.

Instead of chasing big business like some communities did during hydrocarbon boom years, development officials have had to change gears to try to attract new talent to their communities.

Now economic development has grown to include focuses on quality of life and community development projects, and I think that comes from a state of having to compete for workforce, and knowing that people are not relocating just for the job anymore, but for the community they are in, said Teran Doerr, executive director of the Bowman County Development Corporation.

For Bowman that means adding a recreational facility, a splash pad for kids to play at, beautification projects and incentives for businesses to upgrade storefronts, she said.

So our office does the flowers on Main Street, we helped get the trees planted on Main this last year, we are spearheading and helping artists get murals done in downtown here, and weve sponsored a grant to encourage art in our community, and that was very popular, Doerr said. What we do here is very multifaceted and thats a lot different from what economic development offices used to be.

While concentrating on making the town more attractive, Bowman also has initiated grants to companies for tuition assistance, career advancement training, and relocation assistance to address workforce challenges as well as grants for starting or expanding home child care facilities, Doerr said.

To the north in Bottineau, there is a similar refrain, but one that leans toward creating more atmosphere with activities instead of relying on beautification projects.

Our main focus has been on creating a community that people want to live in, so we do a lot of advertising about what events we have available, said Whitney Gronitzke, executive director of the Bottineau County Economic Development Corp.

We have something going on almost every day eventwise, activitywise, Gronitzke said. Either here on Main Street in the summertime or at Lake Metigoshe.

Succession planning

Besides trying to attract workers and professionals to their communities, rural towns are increasingly faced with the challenge of how to replace or continue community-crucial businesses when an owner retires.

What Im seeing is that in a lot of these small towns you have a lot of plumbers or electricians, that run their own businesses, and theyre a critical need in those communities, but theyre starting to retire out, said Haut of the SBA.

For many of these stoic, small town entrepreneurs, thinking about retirement often only comes at the last minute, without much prior thought of how the business could continue in the future under someone else, but there is a real need for such planning for both business people and their communities to transition.

To address this, the SBA along with the North Dakota Small Business Development Centers, Bank of North Dakota and rural banking associations have established a succession planning guide that they are trying to promote in smaller towns.

So many business owners as they get tired, and get less energy as they get older, and start letting things slide and just maintaining, they find that their business may not be sellable because they havent kept it up or got new equipment, Haut said.

Im hopeful that this starts conversations in a lot of these rural communities and hopefully that will set some of these businesses up for a successful transition, he said.

Lindsey in Divide County has also seen retirements begin to threaten community viability.

In rural areas it is more difficult to quickly sell off a company compared to larger cities where companies often attract a larger clientele and create a valuable brand.

In this past year Ive had two businesses that have kind of told me they are ready, and luckily Ive been able to find someone else (with interest in purchasing) looking at making a career change, Lindsey said.

The likelihood of selling a business in six months is not high, she said. It typically takes three years to successfully transition a business. You want to make sure that youre setting yourself up financially, but you also want to be working in conjunction with the local economic development office and the small business center, because theyre going to be the ones that can help find that successor.
A North Dakota farmer jailed for nearly a year in Ukraine is safely back in the state, North Dakota's two U.S. senators announced Friday.

U.S. Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer, both R-N.D., offered no details on the return of Kurt Groszhans.

The events that led to Kurts North Dakota homecoming are sensitive," Cramer said in a statement to the Tribune. "He has asked everyone to respect his privacy at this time. I intend to do that.

Hoeven's office said, "Out of respect for the familys wishes, we arent able to provide additional details at this time."

Groszhans said in a statement that I am grateful to be home after this horrible ordeal," The Associated Press reported. "My family and supporters worked tirelessly over a long period of time to make this happen and it was nice to be able to celebrate my birthday on North Dakota soil."

Groszhans, who is from the Ashley area, decided to in 2017 to move to Ukraine, where his ancestors are from. His farming venture there with a law professor who became a high-ranking Ukrainian government official collapsed in acrimony and accusations, culminating in his arrest last November on charges of plotting to assassinate his former business partner, according to the AP.

His family and supporters said the accusations were bogus and designed to silence Groszhans' claims of corruption in Ukraine.

The AP reported that Groszhans in his statement said, The fact they refused to classify me as a wrongful detainee was an unfortunate and politically cowardly act that cost me almost a year of my life."

Fears for Groszhans' safety were enhanced when Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. Hoeven in June said Groszhans was no longer jailed in the war-torn country, but the farmer remained in Ukraine and his status was unclear.

Cramer and Hoeven on Friday said Groszhans was back in North Dakota with family and friends. U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., also issued a statement saying he was "ecstatic that Kurt has safely returned."
Hong Kong: Secondary students to get free jabs

The Department of Health today announced that starting November 10, secondary school students or residents aged below 18 will be eligible to participate in various seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) programmes.

The department explained that the decision to expand the scope of priority groups was made after the Centre for Health Protections Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases updated its recommendation on the priority groups for SIV.

The committee proposed to include secondary school students in the 2022-23 influenza season after reviewing scientific updates, local studies and overseas practices.

From November 10, eligible groups of Hong Kong residents will be expanded from covering children aged six months to under 12 years, to include those less than 18 years, or secondary school students, in various SIV programmes under the department for this season.

The centre said having secondary school students as another priority group for SIV could prevent possible school outbreaks and community transmission.

This in turn could help relieve the healthcare system during the coming flu season when influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory pathogens might be co-circulating, it added.

The committees latest recommendations are available on the CHP website.

Call 2125 2125 or visit the dedicated webpage for more information.

This story has been published on: 2022-10-21. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
"If it was a bigger deal -- if it was a $2 million or a $3 million 'oops' -- we would be infuriated."

-- Bismarck City Commissioner Greg Zenker, on a $42,000 Burleigh County mistake in collecting tax dollars for the Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library.

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"Earl would often say that our goal in life is to leave the woodpile higher for those that come after us. Earl did that in so many ways."

-- University of North Dakota Alumni Association and Foundation CEO DeAnna Carlson Zink, after the death of former North Dakota House Majority Leader and prominent UND alumnus Earl Strinden at age 90.

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"Economic development has changed so much in the last few years and I think we were just looking at focusing our efforts to make sure that we were doing the best we could for the community and for the membership. And I just think this just gives us a playbook to do that.

-- Nathan Schneider, vice president of the Bismarck Mandan Chamber EDC, which is developing a five-year strategic plan to deal with projected population growth of 10% in the metropolitan area over the next decade.

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That is really exceptional for projects of this type. That being said, it is possible that the project could use eminent domain at some point in the future. But thats not where were at today."

-- Wade Boeshans, executive vice president of Summit Carbon Solutions, which says it has secured easements for nearly half of the route of the proposed Midwest Carbon Express pipeline, which aims to gather carbon dioxide emissions in several Midwestern states and transport them to North Dakota for permanent underground storage.

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Todays events are a reminder that we must be vigilant about our preparation efforts to keep everyone safe.

-- State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler, after active shooter hoax calls that have plagued schools around the country in recent weeks reached North Dakota, including Bismarck.

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"The museum will be another jewel in the North Dakota crown -- a place for knowledge, reflection and inspiration for all North Dakota citizens."

-- State Historical Society of North Dakota Director Bill Peterson, on plans to develop a $40 million military museum wing on the southeast side of the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum.

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"Applications came from all across the state, every corner of the state, every region, with almost half of the counties represented."

-- North Dakota Stockman's Association Executive Vice President Julie Ellingson, on a relief fund organized by the group that recently doled out $250,000 in aid to ranchers impacted by last April's blizzards.

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He was amazingly helpful. He helped put her on the gurney, strap her in and get her in the ambulance. I could tell he had done this before.

-- Frank Melchior, an EMT with the Almont Ambulance Service, on Ken Oakes, a UPS driver from Bismarck and an Army veteran with medical training who is credited with coming to the rescue of two people who crashed their vehicle in a rural area of Morton County.

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"Even though the vaccine was out, we still were seeing some people, a lot of people coming through the doors who weren't vaccinated, and that was too bad because we saw the effects of that on families."

-- Bismarck Funeral Home & Crematory owner Mike Nathe, on COVID-19 being the cause of death for 595 North Dakota residents last year.

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We are very pleased with the new bridge. It was built to accommodate larger trucks and provide better access on Interstate 94 through Bismarck."

-- Transportation Department Project Engineer Daniel Christenson, on the completion of a new 80th Street Northeast bridge over I-94 just to the east of Bismarck. The old, lower bridge was problematic for trucks with oversize loads.

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We just want to partner with industries that can further grow our economy, grow our population and help North Dakota and our county as a whole continue being a robust economy and energy production area for the nation.

-- Mercer County Commission Chairman Travis Frey, after the announcement of a planned $433 million minerals processing facility in the heart of coal country as part of a federal effort to expand domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles and the power grid.
A viral video shows five Mississippi daycare workers scaring kids while wearing the mask from

A viral video shows five Mississippi daycare workers scaring kids while wearing the mask from "Scream." (Photo: Edwin Tan via Getty Images)

Five Mississippi daycare workers have been charged with child abuse after scaring small children with a mask much like the one featured in the popular Scream films.

A video of the five workers at Lil Blessings Child Care and Learning Center, located in Hamilton, Mississippi, showed them scaring kids while wearing the creepy mask. The daycare workers were fired after the video was posted on Facebook and went viral, according to the Monroe Journal.

The Monroe County Sheriffs Office posted a statement about the incidentThursday on its Facebook page.

On Monday, Oct. 17, 2022, the Monroe County Sheriffs Office, the County prosecuting attorney, and the district attorney met with the parents of the children involved in the incident at Lil Blessings Child Care and Learning Center and informed them of the possible criminal charges the law would allow them to pursue, Monroe County Sheriff Kevin Crook said in the statement. Parents were also given an opportunity to share information they had gathered with MCSO Investigators.

At least one set of parents filed felony abuse charges in Monroe County Justice Court on Wednesday. A judge issued warrants for the daycare workers Thursday.

Sierra McCandless, Oci-Anna Kilburn, Jennifer Newman and Shyenne Shelton were each charged with three counts of felony child abuse. Another former employee, Traci Hutson, was charged with misdemeanors of failure to report abuse and simple assault against a minor.

Sheila Sanders, who has worked at the daycare since 1987 and owned it for the last two decades, told the Monroe Journal she didnt know about the videos until Oct. 5.

I contacted my licensure, and she has gotten involved, Sanders told the outlet on Oct. 6. The people that did those acts are no longer with us. They were fired. I wasnt here at the time and wasnt aware they were doing that. I dont condone that and never have. I just want to say its been taken care of.

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In a separate video, a daycare worker could be seen kneeling on the floor and screaming in one of the childrens faces, prompting the child to cry out in fear.

Sanders said one of the videos was recorded in September, while the recent viral video was recorded earlier this month.

Katelyn Johnson, a parent of a child who attends Lil Blessings, told ABC News on Thursday she was shocked at the former daycare workers behavior.

Whether they had a mask on or a mask off, their behavior was unacceptable, Johnson said. My blood pressure was raised. It broke my heart for my child. I was angry.

Johnson added: I hope youre enjoying jail, and I hope you realize what you have done is serious. It is not a joke, and it is nothing to laugh at.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Eugenio Mastrandrea and Zoe Saldana in From Scratch; Chloe Grace Moretz in The Peripheral

Welcome to the weekend edition of Whats On. Here are the big things happening on TV from Friday, October 21, to Sunday, October 23. All times are Eastern. [Note: The weekly Whats On will publish on Sundays.]







1. Zoe Saldana leads From Scratch



From Scratch | Official Trailer | Netflix

Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.: Zoe Saldana is taking a well-deserved break from playing the MCUs Gamora to star in her very own romantic drama. Based on Tembi Lockes memoir of the same name, the show centers on Amy, who travels from Texas to Italy to studyand falls in love. As she and her new partner build a life together, tragedy strikes that forces Amy to cope with unexpected grief and challenges. Heres an excerpt from The A.V. Clubs review:

Read more

As a show of meals doled out over distinct episodes, From Scratch is handily engaging, even if the final product never quite adds up to the sum of its sumptuous parts. Perhaps its best to understand it as the comfort food of a television show that only sometimes feels algorithmically created.





2. Chloe Grace Moretz enters virtual reality in The Peripheral



The Peripheral Season 1 - Official Trailer | Prime Video

Prime Video, Friday, 12:01 a.m.: Based on William Gibsons 2014 book and brought to the screen by the producers of Westworld, The Peripheral is set in the distant future. The series stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Flynne Fisher, who discovers a hidden connection to a different reality and also uncovers a dark future for her own timeline. The cast of the sci-fi thriller includes Gary Carr, Jack Reynor, TNia Miller, and Charlotte Riley. Look for our Random Roles interview with Moretz next week.





3. Bilingual comedy Acapulco returns



Acapulco  Season 2 First Look | Apple TV+

Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.: Acapulco, one of Apple TV+s best originals, is back for its second season. The Spanish- and English-language comedy follows Maximo Gallardo (Eugenio Derbez), who narrates the story of how he toiled to achieve his dreams while in his twenties as a cabana boy at a popular resortbut quickly realized the job was far too complicated.

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4. Netflix reveals The Moles identity in the finale



The Mole | Official Trailer | Netflix

Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.: Netflix has revived ABCs classic competition series The Mole, because of course it has. In the show, contestants team up to pull off various missions to earn cash. However, one of the players is a plant meant to sabotage the entire groups chances, a.k.a. The Mole. Naturally, deception and confusion follow all the challenges. This final episode will reveal the saboteurs identity.





5. Los Espookys ends its brilliant second season



Los Espookys Season 2 | Official Trailer | HBO

HBO, Friday, 11 p.m.: Los Espookys excellent second season is already ending. Created by Julio Torres, Ana Fabrega, and Fred Armisen, HBOs Spanish-language comedy centers on a group of friends who transform their love for horror into a kooky business. The show also stars Cassandra Ciangherotti and Bernardo Velasco. Check out The A.V. Clubs review of season two here.





6. Meet your new favorite duo in Raymond & Ray



Raymond & Ray  Official Trailer | Apple TV+

Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.: Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor play half-brothers who reunite for their fathers funeral in Rodrigo Garcias dramedy. Though Raymond and Ray werent close to their dad, they stick around to fulfill his last wish: that they dig his grave. The ensemble also includes Sophie Okonedo, Maribel Verdu, and Oscar Nunez. Heres a snippet from The A.V. Clubs review:

Like any true humanist director, Garcia is a warm, attentive listener, and theres considerable pleasure in watching the title characters work through whether its possible to forgive someone whose best self they never really knew in a believably unhurried fashion.

More from The A.V. Club

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Click here to read the full article.
The Biden administration on Friday announced that Ethiopian nationals in the United States will become eligible to apply for work permits and deferral from deportation in light of the East African nations ongoing civil war.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas designated Ethiopia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a program that allows nationals of a country undergoing human-made or natural disasters to stay and work in the United States.

Ethiopias civil war is the largest ongoing conflict in the world, with more than a million Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers fighting in Ethiopias Tigray region.

The United States recognizes the ongoing armed conflict and the extraordinary and temporary conditions engulfing Ethiopia, and DHS [the Department of Homeland Security] is committed to providing temporary protection to those in need, Mayorkas said in a statement.

Although Ethiopia has been host to ethnic strife, famine and other humanitarian disasters, it is the first time the country has been designated for TPS.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) celebrated the designation, saying, Ethiopias spiraling armed conflict is the exact reason why we created the TPS program.

President Biden is absolutely right in granting Ethiopian nationals long-overdue temporary deportation protections as their country faces wave after wave of unprecedented violence and upheaval that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, Menendez said.

With the designation, Ethiopian nationals in the United States as of Thursday will be allowed to apply for TPS protections. Ethiopian nationals who travel to the United States as of Friday are still subject to deportation.

With the designation, Ethiopia joins 15 other countries with TPS, including Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Nepal and Yemen.

The Ethiopian immigrant population in the United States grew from around 10,000 people in 1980 to around 180,000 in 2014, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

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The institute said that immigration from Ethiopia particularly accelerated after the year 2000, primarily through refugee and family reunification channels.

Ethiopians will be allowed to apply for protections under the 18-month TPS designation regardless of their immigration status.

Ethiopian nationals currently residing in the U.S. who cannot safely return due to conflict-related violence and a humanitarian crisis involving severe food shortages, flooding, drought, and displacement, will be able to remain and work in the United States until conditions in their home country improve, Mayorkas said.

While some TPS designations are almost automatically renewed by DHS, 12 countries, or parts of those countries, have previously been designated for TPS and later removed from the program.

TPS beneficiaries are mostly barred from applying for any other immigration status, so longtime TPS holders depend on continuous redesignation to continue to work and avoid deportation, regardless of how long theyve lived in the United States.

Beyond this critical designation, we also encourage Members of Congress to use the numerous bills before them to provide lasting stability for other TPS holders who have no clear path to lawful permanent residency and remain in revolving legal limbo, said Krish OMara Vignarajah, president and CEO of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

The current Ethiopian civil war is an extension of a longstanding ethnic conflict in Ethiopia and Eritrea that has put more than 10 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Ethiopia has been plunged into a devastating civil war, making return for Ethiopian nationals a potentially fatal prospect, particularly for those of the Tigrayan minority. Armed conflict has ushered in brutal attacks, killings, rape, other forms of gender-based violence, as well as flagrant human rights violations, Vignarajah said

The Biden administrations designation is an important recognition that no Ethiopian on the safety of U.S. soil should be returned to such dire circumstances. The move is a potentially lifesaving reprieve for tens of thousands of Ethiopians who have already contributed so much to U.S. communities, she added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Banshees of Inisherin

In theaters now

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

Jonathan Hession/Searchlight Pictures Colin Farrell and a donkey in 'The Banshees of Inisherin'

It's been nearly 15 years since Martin McDonagh made his feature directorial debut with In Bruges, a neat, nasty little gem of a movie about two bungling hitmen (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) on the lam  and not doing it well  in Belgium. The Banshees of Inisherin reunites him with his two leading men in a film that turns out to be pretty much the furthest thing from a sequel to Bruges, but still feels like a kind of homecoming nonetheless. It's also the Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri auteur's most humane and deeply felt offering to date  which says a lot about a movie rife with blasphemy, self-mutilation, and miniature donkeys.

It's 1923 on a small windblown island off the coast of Ireland, and Padraic (Farrell) seems like a happy-enough creature of habit: He lives in a modest cottage with his wry, bookish sister, Siobhan (Better Call Saul's Kerry Condon), tends to a small stable of animals, and meets his best mate Colm (Gleeson) regularly for pints at the local pub. That is until the day Colm announces that he no longer wants to get pints, ever again. Life is too short, and Padraic is too dull; Colm would prefer to be left alone with his dog and his fiddle, and maybe write a piece of music that actually means something before he dies. This abrupt change of heart isn't just bewildering for Padraic, it's entirely destabilizing. Who is he, if not the man who gets pints with Colm?

Banshees, with its Kelly-green vistas, warbled shanties, and blithe obscenities ("feck" is a noun, an adjective, and sometimes a verb),could easily come off as the kind of Irish burlesque we've seen many times before; instead, the movie turns out to invert cliche as much as it embraces it. The dialogue unfurls in Mcdonagh's signature rhythms, a sort of profane poetry that skitters between farce and calamity often within the same sentence, and the cast tasked with it is masterful.

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Farrell  alternately bruised, defiant, achingly sincere, and also very funny  wears the sum of his years here with fresh significance; there's a depth of feeling that could only come from lived experience, and a tender, shaggy gravitas in Gleeson too. Their falling out, of course, is not just about pints, or Padraic's little house donkey that he keeps by his side like a border collie. To be corny, which the film is decidedly not, it's about life: the brevity of it, the risks we do or don't take, who we choose to share it with in the end. And for all the gall, absurdity, and outright threats of physical violence, it's pretty feckin' wonderful. Grade: A Leah Greenblatt

Inside Amy Schumer

Streaming now (Paramount+)

Inside Amy Schumer

Paramount+ Amy Schumer in 'Inside Amy Schumer'

It's not a great time to be a woman, which means it's a welcome time for the return of Inside Amy Schumer. After a six-year break, the comedian is back to translate the terrifying, exhausting, anxiety-making, demoralizing experience of modern female existence into TV comedy.

The new episodes continue Inside's familiar format, with loosely themed sketches, self-referential interstitials, and recurring appearances from character-comedy mainstays including Jon Glaser, Bridgett Everett, and Michael Ian Black. Misogyny is the main motif: A college RA gives a disconcertingly peppy safety talk at freshman orientation ("All aboard the 'Don't rape me' train!"); a woman is pressured into wearing "Sex Spanx"; a company's first female board member is stuck working in an office that is literally toxic.

So far, the funniest bits take aim at female rage and self-sabotage  a dating show contestant reluctantly agrees to re-record her reputation-ruining confessional comments for the post-production team  and revel in delightful stupidity. (Grey's Anatomy dreamboat Jesse Williams guests in a sketch called "Fart Park." It is just what it sounds like.) Not everything works in the two episodes made available for review, but even the ones that miss elicit a few chuckles. You can't ask for more from sketch comedy than that  except maybe the chance to hear Jon Glaser say the words "monthly drippy-drips." B+ Kristen Baldwin

Aftersun

In theaters now

Aftersun

A24

Though any honest summation can't do it justice, Charlotte Wells's tender feature debut is the kind of revelation that movie fans dream of finding: not a wow so much as a guaranteed piece of emotional ravishment. Aftersun aches with a feeling that's hard to pin down, but when you finally do, it clicks together like nothing else you'll see this year.

The plot comes together in uninflected swathes of behavior  we're watching a father and daughter on vacation at a Turkish resort. Occasionally, they do the filming themselves on a handheld video camera (that device, a boxy Walkman, and the loneliest karaoke take on R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" situate us somewhere in the '90s.). Calum (The Lost Daughter's gentle Paul Mescal), almost too young to have an eleven-year-old, ping-pongs between fun-dad engagement and a complex distance. Sophie (Frankie Corio) knows how to ride his waves; also she's just hitting that age when the doings of older kids are more interesting anyhow.

It's not the most thrilling week for either of them, but Scottish director Wells, only 35 but already a Campion-esque master of teasing out the richness of pauses (editor Blair McClendon also deserves mention), is after something deeper. You begin to sense that this trip was both the beginning and the end of everything, a fulcrum point during which an unhappy man, plagued by difficulties, and his orbiting child wobbled out of sync.

"You don't totally belong there again, not really," says Calum in one of the film's elliptical snatches of dialogue; he could be talking about a place from which they both have drifted. Aftersun is a reclamation of that place and those memories  it invites us to do the remembering, too. We can only get so close, and that's what makes the movie feel wise. Grade: A Joshua Rothkopf

My Policeman

In theaters now

DAVID DAWSON, EMMA CORRIN, and HARRY STYLES star in MY POLICEMAN Photo: Parisa Taghizadeh  AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC

Parisa Taghizadeh/Amazon Studios

My Policeman is a movie set in both 1957 and the late 1990s, based on a novel first published ten years ago. But when one of your featured actors is the biggest pop star in the world in 2022, strange things happen to the reality-distortion field around a film. Policeman is in almost every way the most classic kind of high-toned British period piece: a tea-kettle swoon steeped in stolen gazes, flocked wallpaper, and long meaningful walks along windswept coastlines. It's also the story of a love that, back then at least, dared not speak its name between a closeted young officer (Harry Styles), his naive bride-to-be (The Crown's Emma Corrin), and the man he actually has endless, gymnastic sex with (David Dawson).

The result, adapted by lauded London theater director Michael Grandage, is fevered, lovely to look at, and at times deeply silly; a plush romantic drama that somehow manages to be both explicit and decorous, like horny Merchant Ivory. Its title also could have been Everybody Loves Harry: He's the film's ever-elusive object of desire, a dimpled dreamboat named Tom who pledges himself to Corrin's Marion, a prim, eager schoolteacher-in-training, but saves his passion for a courtly museum curator named Patrick (Dawson). For a while they're all great friends, a condition that depends on Marion's ignorance  the opposite of which, she will eventually learn, is not bliss.

There's also a fussy, sentimental framing device, in which a 40-years-older Marion (Gina McKee) has taken in Patrick (Rupert Everett), now an invalid badly impaired by a stroke, much to the chagrin if not outright fury of Tom (Linus Roache). The passing decades don't seem to have imparted much emotional clarity, and what the characters will do with this very British cycle of repression, release, and heroic self-denial is rendered in the script, by Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia, The Painted Veil), in sometimes delicate but more often jarringly unsubtle ways.

Dawson (All the Old Knives) is quietly affecting as a man so used to subterfuge and fear that he's become defiant in the face of it. Styles' style is more remote: His Tom often feels like a cipher, thoughtful and charming one moment and heedlessly cruel and manipulative the next. That makes sense in a way; Tom is, after all, a stranger to himself. And Styles doesn't hold back in the sex scenes, which seem destined to live a long life outside the film online and amongst his considerable fanbase. Otherwise Policeman, as emotionally earnest and elegantly made as it is, mostly feels like a movie we've seen many times before: a pleasantly escapist two hours with pretty people in pretty clothes, madly sublimating their feelings until the final, luminous frame. Grade: B Leah Greenblatt

Wendell & Wild

Streaming now (Netflix)

Wendell and Wild

Netflix

Stop-motion genius Henry Selick has been gone for so long  a full 13 years since his last feature, Coraline  it makes you wonder about the proper care and feeding of such sensibilities. Can painstaking artists like Selick swim in today's streamscape? The answer is: Sort of. He arrived fully formed with 1993's A Nightmare Before Christmas: ghoulish yet charming, unafraid of real darkness (for when his audience gets a little older), but thrilled to play around in the silly or scatological.

Wendell & Wild has all of this, plus a bit more plot than it needs (a school for girls, dead parents, a rapacious corporation, an election, etc.), but you'll forgive the movie its cluttered shagginess because its universe is so strange  even an icy puddle is rendered exquisitely. A Key & Peele reunion is the lure: Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, the latter also a co-screenwriter, are cavorting demon brothers, irresponsible yet somehow charming, who escape a hellish existence living up the nose of a giant bruiser to wreak havoc in the real world. Vocally, there's more than a hint of their improv-trained fluidity; the comedians are born to this format.

But the movie's most huggable creation, true to Selick's instincts, is his main character, a punkish teen named Kat (Lyric Ross) with green hair, her dad's old X-Ray Spex mixtapes, and a need to reconcile her tragic past with a way forward. Thankfully, the story isn't about Kat softening so much as embracing her own weirdness. Kids on the mature side (and a fair number of parents) will resonate. They may even emerge with stop-motion dreams of their own  and better musical taste. Grade: B+ Joshua Rothkopf

Raymond & Ray

On AppleTV+ now

Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke in Raymond and Ray

Gilles Mingasson/Apple TV+.

You want to root for Raymond & Ray, as a modestly scaled indie starring two appealing marquee actors who've earned the right to lived-in character work. Instead what plays out is more like No Weddings and a Funeral: a vamping, oddly inert dramedy that never for a moment transcends its paper-doll characters and forced quirkiness.

Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke are the two beleaguered brothers of the title  half siblings whose dad thought it was hilarious to give them the same name, if you want to know what kind of parent he was. Now he's dead, and these semi-estranged men must road-trip their way to the burial, learning things about themselves and one another along the way. McGregor's Raymond is textbook Type A, a fleece-vested suburbanite with two failed marriages and several soul-deadening decades behind him; Hawke's Ray is former addict who lives in a curiously Ralph Lauren-ish cabin in the woods, a depressive jazzbo with no discernible career but an enduring appeal to every woman who enters his bad-boy orbit.

Their father, it turns out, left behind a lot of curious conditions for his interment that his sons will have to settle  he wanted them to hand-dig his cemetery plot, for one  and the execution of those provides the main plot engine for writer-director Rodrigo Garcia (Four Good Days, Albert Nobbs). So does the arrival of several previously unannounced progeny (Dad was prolific, and apparently very fertile), and a pair of potential love interests, a levelheaded nurse, Kiera (Sophie Okenodo), and a landlady named Lucia (Pan's Labyrinth's Maribel Verdu).

What a beautiful Spanish woman is doing driving Ubers in the drab Midwest, or why everybody reacts with wry, unbothered bemusement when one of the brothers grabs a gun and pumps out several bullets, are two of many mysteries the screenplay hardly bothers to resolve. Vondie Curtis-Hall has an appealing turn as a cool-cat reverend, but the whole thing is so airless and hollowly constructed, so full of mimed but unfelt feelings, that it's a relief to put this body in the ground and forever hold your peace. Grade: C Leah Greenblatt

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Introduction This article aims to elucidate the educational significance of the traditional communitarian theories of the East and the West. For this purpose, it will set out to compare the moral and educational theories of Confucius found in the Analects and of Aristotle brought forward in the Nicomachean Ethics1. The comparison does not simply consist of drawing the table of similarities and differences of both thinkers. Rather, it intends to dig deeper by showing how both thinkers tried to respond to the problem of establishing a community that retains the power of effective education. Both Confucius and Aristotle have the history of scholarship that extends more than two thousand years. Confucianism was studied intensively not only in China but also in Japan and Korea. Aristotelianism greatly influenced the philosophy of Europe and Arabia. As a result, the amount of literature pertaining to Confucianism and Aristotelianism is astronomical. Even today both Confucius and Aristotle are favorite topics of scholars. Philosophy of education is no exception. EPAT contains many insightful articles relating to each topic, including a special issue on Confucian learning (Kwak, Kato, & Hung, 2016). On the specific theme of comparing both thinkers, The Ethics of Confucius and Aristotle by Jiyuan Yu (2007) is a must-read. This book is a work of rare scholarship that contains a meticulous examination of both thinkers. But there is a caveat, too. In order to elucidate the thought of Confucius, the author uses not only the Analects but also the Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Means. These selections suggest that the author seems to follow the method of Zhu Xi, who considered these Four Books as the basic texts of Confucianism. But these books were written in different ages. The Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Means have metaphysical elements that indicate influences from Buddhism and Daoism. Interpreting the thoughts of Confucius expressed in the Analects through these later texts is something like interpreting Plato through Plotinus or to interpret Aristotle through Averroes or Thomas. As a result, the philosophy of Confucius sketched by Yu is much more metaphysical and systematic than the original one incorporated in the Analects. My interpretation, which is limited to the Analects, will show the thought of Confucius in a less metaphysical light.

Swan songs The ancient belief that swans sing most beautifully before their death applies perfectly to both thinkers. Confucius lived in the age when the Zhou Dynasty lost its power. This was accompanied by the decline of the ancient cultural heritage  a decline that Confucius interpreted as a crisis of his age (3, 1; 3, 2; 3, 6; 3, 9; 3, 10; 3, 14; 7, 5). Aristotle, on the other hand, witnessed the death of the Greek polis under the hegemony of Macedonia. Aristotle himself was a Macedonian and was a teacher of Alexander the Great. And yet, his ethical and political theories reflect the practice of a Greek polis, such as Athens. For him, a life in a polis was a necessary condition of a good life. The theory that reflects and defends the life in a Greek polis most eloquently was written by a foreigner. This may sound strange. But it is not. Hermeneutics asserts that foreigners are often better observers than natives. Time separated Confucius from the heyday of the Zhou Dynasty and Aristotle from the golden age of the Athenian polis. The same distance made them better observers and at the same time eager devotees of the past tradition. Very often, we appreciate what we have lost or are about to lose. Both Confucius and Aristotle were communitarian in the sense that they valued the moral educational power of a community. But for them, the ideal community existed in the past. They were witnesses who were keenly aware of what happens when a community loses its moral and educational function.

Virtues and community That virtues play a great role in Confucius and Aristotles ethics comes from their communitarian aspiration. Virtues are cultivated in a community that share the similar way of life and values. Virtues are not something that can be taught primarily at school. They should be taught at home and in a local community. As Aristotle emphasized, we become virtuous by repeatedly doing virtuous acts. For example, there is a Greek virtue called sophrosyne, temperance, which consists of avoiding excessive food, drink and so on. Children learn to be temperate by avoiding excessive food and drink, which they learn by living with temperate people. Virtues need a community, but a community also needs virtuous members. Aristotelian and Confucian virtues were important components that supported the structure of a community. Virtues bind people together. Even in a highly multicultural society there should be some shared understanding of virtues. The relationship between virtues and a community is reciprocal. Confucius and Aristotle had separate sets of virtues they espoused as their philosophies. The most representative Confucian virtues are benevolence (ren, ), righteousness (ji, ), ritual (li, ), wisdom (zhi, ), trustworthiness in word (xing, ), filial piety (xiao, ), loyalty (zhong, ), and courage (yong, ) The Aristotelian virtues are ethical virtues (courage, temperance, justice, liberality, magnificence, proper pride, proper ambition, good temper, truthfulness, wittiness, friendliness, modesty, and righteous indignation) and intellectual virtues (craft, science, practical wisdom, philosophic wisdom, and intuitive reason). These virtues offer interesting insight into the cultures of the East and the West. This does not mean, of course, that the East and the West are monolithic. The understanding of each virtue and the relationship between virtues vary in each country and in each age. Virtues offer a rich field for a comparative study of education that is now mainly inclined to compare institutions. A comparative study of virtues can foster mutual understanding in a multicultural world. The comparative studies of virtues do not exhaust themselves in comparing individual virtues, such as comparing the Eastern and the Western understanding of filial piety or comparing the Confucian benevolence with Christian love. It is important to obtain the broad view of their constellation. This requires, in turn, to find out the virtue that plays the key role for the constellation. The virtue that plays the key role in the system of virtues for Confucius is li, that is translated as ritual here. There are other translations such as rites and ritual propriety. For Aristotle it is phronesis, practical wisdom or prudence.

Ritual That ritual is an important virtue for Confucianism is acknowledged by all. But as to its ranking, there are debates. More often, benevolence is mentioned as the most important virtue (Tu, 1985, pp. 9192; Woo, 2019, pp. 10941095). The orthodox interpretation of Confucianism that has its origin in Mencius regards benevolence as the central virtue. There are many references of benevolence in the Analects, some of which testify its central role (3, 3; 4, 1; 4, 4; 4, 5; 4, 6; 5, 8). Another interpretation considers filial piety as the virtue most representative of Confucianism (Kaji, 2015). These interpretations are also based on the text (1, 2; 1, 9; 1, 11; 2, 21; 4, 19; 4, 20; 4. 21). However, there is evidence for the high place of ritual in the constellation of Confucian virtues (Fingarette, 1972). Xunzi, a contemporary of Mencius, recognized and emphasized this, but unfortunately, Xunzi was regarded as heterodox by Zhu Xi and his teaching was put aside and repressed. In the period of modernization, ritual was considered to be a negative feature of Confucianism. Lu Xun, one of the leading figures of modern Chinese literature, wrote in the Diary of a Madman Lu, 2010, 2131 that ritual eats man (). Indeed, ritual can be very oppressive. Confucius himself warned of the ritual without heart. Ritual cannot stand alone. It must be accompanied by benevolence. The Master said, What can a man do with the rites who is not benevolent? What can a man do with music who is not benevolent? (3, 3) This can also be said with regard to other virtues such as filial piety. In a sense, ritual must hide itself behind other virtues. Being hidden, ritual exerts great influence. The Master said, Unless a man has the spirit of the rites, in being respectful he will wear himself out, in being careful he will be timid, in having courage he will become unruly, and being forthright he will become intolerant, (8, 2) When ritual plays the role of a protagonist it becomes oppressive. Ritual is a central virtue not because it stands in the center but because by accompanying other virtues it brings them into light. Ritual permeates and gives orientation to other virtues. Benevolence, filial piety and other virtues must express themselves and must take a definite form in order to be communicated and shared. This form is provided by ritual (2, 3; 2,5). Without ritual they are not shared. They may exist in the depth of the heart as formless and wordless feeling, but they are socially nonexistent. This is why the observance of ritual is so essential for benevolence. Confucius once said: to return to the observance of rites through overcoming the self constitutes benevolence (12. 1). Ritual occupies the main role in Confucian learning. His son, Po-yu, says that his fathers only request was that he study the Odes and ritual (16. 13). Interestingly, this passage shows that the disciples of Confucius were suspecting that Confucius offered a secret lesson to his own son. Maybe they wanted to hear profound teaching on the mandate of the Heaven. But there is no such teaching because one learns benevolence, filial piety and other virtues by ritual practice.

Aristotle and practical wisdom Now, let us look at the Aristotelian system of virtues. How are they organized? And what virtue plays the key role? The manifest difference of the Aristotelian system of virtues from its Confucian counterpart is that it is divided into two categories: ethical and intellectual virtues. Ethical virtues are: courage, temperance and justice, to name the most important ones. There are also other virtues such as generosity, truthfulness, and wittiness. They are called ethical because they are learned through repeated practice that has become an ethos, a Greek word which means habit. It is by repeating courageous acts that one becomes a courageous person. For this, education at an early age is fundamental. The intellectual virtues, on the other hand, are craft, science, practical wisdom, philosophic wisdom and intuitive reason. Of these, practical wisdom is relevant to ethical consideration. How is it related to virtues? Practical wisdom plays the central role for the whole system of ethical virtues according to Aristotle, who says: () with the presence of the one quality, practical wisdom, will be given all the virtues. (1145a12) This is a strong statement that requires explanation. There are virtues that are naturally born and do not require practical wisdom. They are called natural virtues. For example, there are people who have the natural virtue of courage. They are born to be bold and fearless. But such boldness can be harmful if it is not accompanied by knowledge. () as a strong body which moves without sight may stumble badly because of its lack of sight, still, if a man once acquires reason, that makes a difference in action; and his state, while still like what it was, will then be virtue in the strict sense. (1144b1014) Practical wisdom gives ethical virtues sight. It gives orientation to ethical virtues. What kind of orientation does it provide? Ethical virtues are located between two vices, excess and defect. For example, courage lies between fearlessness and cowardice, liberality between prodigality and avarice, and so on. Practical wisdom determines this middle state (Sorabji, 1980, 206): Virtue is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i.e. the mean relative to us, this being determined by reason, and by that reason which the man of practical wisdom would determine it. (1106b361107a2) Ethical virtues also require appropriateness of time, place, person, motive and way. to feel fear, confidence, appetite, anger, pity, pleasure and pain at right times, with reference to the right objects, toward the right people, with the right motive, and in the right way is what is both intermediate and best, and this is characteristic of virtue. (1106b1823) Children need to be directed by practically wise people in their education. Laws can overtake this role in a well-ordered polis (1103b2b6) and can play a decisive role in education, provided that they are guided by practical wisdom. But in reality, a polis structured with such laws is hard to find. Actual laws cannot replace practical wisdom (1179b281180a18). Practically wise people are by definition old. Practical wisdom is cultivated through particular experiences that require time, unlike mathematics that works with general principles. In a well-ordered community, there are always such wise people who guide children. In ancient Greece, they were not schoolteachers. They were parents, relatives and respected members of a polis. They did not teach moral lessons in a class; they taught it at home and on the street by praising good acts and reprimanding bad ones.

Comparison of ritual and practical wisdom Confucian ritual and Aristotelian practical wisdom have a similar role. They give orientation to virtues. While they look so different, we have to avoid falling into the temptation of asking which is better. It would be more fruitful that we learn from both traditions by acknowledging their relative strength and weakness. Confucian ritual has the merit of providing specific instructions for a virtuous act. It can tell specifically when, where, to whom, with what motive and how an act should be performed. This is a great merit not only in an occasion like a funeral ceremony but also in the everyday practice of human communication, such as greeting, addressing to people, and writing a letter. But ritual cannot determine everything. Our life is full of contingencies and there are always cases that demand individual judgment. Without the advice of an experienced person whom Aristotle would call practically wise, ritual can easily become stiff and heartless. Confucius was aware of this danger and partly to avoid it, he stressed the virtue of benevolence. Confucius also acknowledged wisdom as a virtue. But compared with the intellectual virtues of Aristotle, it is undifferentiated and remains vague. As a result, in the course of history, Confucian ritual was exposed to the risk of becoming a mere ceremony or, even worse, a kind of discipline used by a government. This is the reason why modern thinkers of East Asia such as Fukuzawa Yukichi and Lu Xun were critics of Confucianism. Aristotelian practical wisdom avoids the risk of becoming a set of inflexible rules. It is more flexible and humane and gives much more space for individual judgment. Instead of being formal, it is intellectual. If we adopt some sort of evolutionary view, it may seem that practical wisdom succeeded and superseded ritual. Indeed, ritual played a massive role to bind together a primitive society. Seen from such a point of view, Confucianism would look like a kind of atavism. But this view is too much biased by enlightenment mentality. In reality, the Aristotelian theory of practical wisdom has weakness too. Its weakness lies in its apparent strength, flexibility. Flexibility can easily become a fluid that evaporates. The existence of a prudent person is the absolute condition but who is prudent? This is not an easy question. In Athens before Aristotle, there was already a heated debate concerning the old and new education, each of which promoted a different way of life. This is the theme of the Clouds, a famous comedy of Aristophanes. The Histories of Thucydides depicts Athenians as always fighting among each other. It is against this sad reality that Plato wrote the Republic. Even Pericles, the man whom Aristotle named as an example of practical wisdom (1141b710), was accused by Plato of corrupting the Athenians (Gorgias, 515 C-517A). Athens after the Persian War was never monolithic. In such a situation, it is not easy to obtain a concrete idea of practical wisdom. Scholars noted that very little has been said about the actual procedure of teaching and learning of practical wisdom (Kristjansson, 2015, pp. 8586; Hararson, 2019). Aristotle wanted to replace the Platonic Idea of the Good by the practically wise person. But as the society became more and more complex, such a person became a myth, almost as unreal as the Idea of the Good. Aristotelian understanding of laws as a necessary instrument of education (1103b16) seems to repair this defect to a certain degree. This idea reflects the Greek understanding of laws as statutes established by a wise person such as Lycurgus or Solon. But laws can never obtain the subtle concreteness of rituals. Compared with rituals, laws are more abstract and tend to be harsh. Confucius was aware of this difference (2, 3). This is why in China, Legalism was clearly distinguished from, or even opposed to, Confucianism, even though Han Feizi, the founder of the Legalist tradition, was a disciple of Xunzi. Another problem of Aristotelian ethics is that it is almost devoid of the body. It does not tell how to comport the body. It is not because Aristotle neglected the body in his philosophy. Aristotle had rich knowledge of bodily communication such as gestures. He treated it in the Rhetoric but the theory found no application in his ethics. Aristotle also considered physical training as a necessary part of moral education in his Politics (MacAllister, 2013; Surprenant, 2014). In this he followed Plato who assigned the role to foster the spirited part (thymos) of the soul (Republic, 410B-D) to physical education. However physical training cannot teach the elaborate comportment of the body that can be acquired through rituals. The absence of the bodily comportment as an important element of interpersonal communication makes Aristotelian ethics less practical. The examination of strength and weakness of ritual and practical wisdom opens the possibility of mutual learning. The recognition of ones own weakness is the necessary condition of such learning. Confucians can learn from Aristotle the passion to rationalize and the readiness for critical examination, the heritage that Aristotle inherited from Socrates and Plato. This would make ritual more flexible and humane. The admirers of Aristotle can learn to appreciate ritual for its attentiveness to the body and the concreteness of instruction. By paying respect to ritual, Aristotelian ethics can become more down to earth. This not only opens the way to fruitful conversation with East Asians but also helps to understand the different cultures of the world in which ritual plays a significant role. The sensitivity toward ritual is a must in a multicultural society.
covid vaccine shot

Getty

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will add the COVID-19 vaccine to the recommended immunization schedules in 2023.

On Thursday, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously in favor of the decision. The panel said all adults and children 6 months and older should get the COVID vaccine and booster doses when eligible.

"It has been almost two years since COVID-19 vaccines were first rolled out in the U.S., and nearly 630 million doses have since been administered nationwide, providing people with critical protection against severe COVID-19," the agency said in a release. "ACIP's recommendation to add COVID-19 vaccines to the routinely recommended vaccine schedule represents another step in the nation's recovery."

The CDC also responded to misinformation that Thursday's vote would make the vaccine mandatory for children across the country to attend school, assuring that there have been no changes to guidelines and states are still able to establish their individual vaccination requirements.

RELATED: FDA Approves COVID Booster Shots for All Americans Age 18 and Up

kids covid vaccine

Getty Kids getting the COVID-19 vaccine

RELATED: California Becomes First State to Mandate COVID-19 Vaccinations for Schoolchildren

COVID vaccine mandates in schools have already been banned in 21 states, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy. California and Washington D.C. currently stand alone in announcing that COVID vaccines will be among the required student immunizations, however, these mandates have not been implemented this school year.

"We recognize that there is concern around this, but moving Covid-19 to the recommended immunization schedule does not impact what vaccines are required for school entrance, if any," Dr. Nirav Shah, committee member and director of the Maine CDC, said during the panel.

"Indeed, there are vaccines that are on the schedule right now that are not required for school attendance in many jurisdictions, such as seasonal influenza. Local control matters, and we honor that," Shah continued. "The decision around school entrance for vaccines rests where it did before, which is with the state level, the county level and at the municipal level, if it exists at all. They are the arbiters of what vaccines are required, if any, for school entry. This discussion does not change that."
Margaret Browns dense and moving documentary Descendant is a feat of cinematic nonfiction storytelling, about the importance of storytelling itself. Training her cameras on Mobile, Alabama, specifically the community of Africatown, Brown draws out a tale of America itself, and all of the complicated, violent histories that continue to inform Americas present.

Descendant, which earned a Special Jury Prize for Creative Vision at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, is a fascinatingly multilayered film: it is an elegy wrapped around a true-crime story; an observational social-justice movie intertwined with an historical retelling that finds the universal in the specific. In braiding these strands together, Brown crafts a film that isnt one thing or the other but instead dares to contain multitudes.

What is a descendant if not living history, their existence in the world a gift of their ancestors? Brown explores this connection as something spiritual, tangible and empowering. There is also a responsibility that that connection affords, to keep the stories alive through generations, a particularly extraordinary task for the residents of Africatown, who are descended from the survivors of the Clotilda, the last slave vessel to arrive in the United States, and illegally at that.

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The Clotilda landed in Mobile in 1860, bearing 110 captured Africans from Dahomey (now Benin). It was a crime, perpetrated by Timothy Meaher, and it started with a bet that he could pull off the kidnapping, smuggling and selling of Africans after the international slave trade to America had been abolished in 1808 (though slavery was still legal). After Captain William Foster brought the ship back to Mobile, Meaher stranded, then sold, the captives and set fire to the vessel. These people spent about five years enslaved in America, and after emancipation, they settled in Africatown, where they kept their stories, their history and their grief alive through the generations.

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One of the last survivors of the Clotilda, Cudjo Lewis, was interviewed by folklorist and author Zora Neale Hurston, who transcribed his stories and experiences in the book Barracoon, originally intended to be published in 1931, but it sat in a vault for more than 80 years before it was finally published in 2018. Cudjo, who passed in 1935, was a living connection not just to the incredibly traumatic experience of slavery but to lived experience in Africa itself. Through him, his descendants can trace their history to their country, their tribe, a family history that is often denied to the African American descendants of enslaved people.

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One of the main storylines in Descendant follows the marine archaeological search for the Clotilda, which served not only as a connection to the ancestors but also as a crucial piece of evidence of the crime that was committed by Meaher. The film flirts with a bit of true crime as investigative reporters work to uncover historical deeds and documents that might indicate a cover-up, and a specialized team is brought in to search.

But then Brown pulls out (literally, with one of a couple of expertly deployed drone shots) to show us how Africatown is an egregious example of environmental racism, surrounded by smoke stacks and chemical plants. The land is zoned for industry, and that land  ironically or obviously enough  has been owned by the Meaher family and leased to factories spewing pollution and encroaching on Africatown land. The American problem has never been more starkly illustrated than in this example of one family oppressing another through generations. The means may have evolved, but they remain lethal, and even more insidious hidden in plain sight.

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The descendants have an enormous responsibility to keep their stories alive and to keep themselves front and center in the journey of the Clotilda and the preservation of the town. Keeping Africatown thriving isnt just for the historical record, and it isnt just a fulfillment of the dreams of their ancestors, who purchased plots of land and passed it down through families. Its a matter of survival, fighting for environmental justice, as so many residents have survived or died from cancer.

In Descendant, Brown keeps the focus on the descendants but shows us the bigger picture, again and again. Its about the ship, but its about so much more than the ship. The importance of evidence, the environmental injustice, the oral histories and storytelling all might seem like discrete parts, but they are inextricably intertwined and relational. These reminders of the bigger picture serve as touchstones as she weaves a wider and wider web of impact.

Brown tracks in on the historic Oakleigh house in Mobile, a stately Southern mansion where slaveowners resided, with a woozy drone shot, bringing us in with an almost spectral, ghostly quality, the score eerie and suspenseful. We watch as one of Lewis descendants, Emmett, with long dreadlocks and a resonant Alabama drawl, enters and reads from Barracoon. Its a powerful image, and he knows the significance of sitting on those chairs in that parlor, reading his ancestors words in his own voice. But the moment is overwhelming for him.

His connection to Cudjo is intense, stoked every time he tells their story, telling it again and again for fear that someone else might. If you take anything from Descendant  and there is much to ponder and process  its that ancestral histories are a potent part of human existence, and that storytelling can be a powerful tool for connection, for healing, for advocacy, and as a weapon against oppression.

Descendant opens in U.S. theaters and on Netflix Oct. 21.
If you watch Wendell & Wild, the new stop-motion animated film from director Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas), and get Donald Trump or Boris Johnson vibes from the Lane Klaxon character, there's a reason for that.

Selick admits in an interview with EW that he pulled inspiration for that figure, voiced by actor David Harewood, at first from the former U.S. president and then from the former U.K. prime minister.

"I've been working on this movie so long  I mean, seriously," Selick says when asked if Trump had been an inspiration. "So originally there was some Trump inspiration, and then he got elected president 'cause I started on this [movie] in 2015, working with Jordan [Peele]. We met, and we started working out the historic characters and everything, and there was gonna be a little Trump inspiration, but we went, 'Jesus Christ! We can't be influenced by him. Who's the next best? Boris Johnson!' So it went there, and then he became the prime minister, and we completely rethought him. But yeah, you're right. That was the beginning."

Klaxon maintains a rough blonde wig and dark suit with a red tie, very reminiscent of Trump's signature look. Along with his wife, Irmgard Klaxon (voiced by Maxine Peake), he co-founded Klax Korp., which specializes in private, for-profit prisons. They had been trying to take over the brewery owned by the parents of Kat (Lyric Ross) and finally succeeded after their death.

Wendell and Wild

Netflix Lyric Ross stars in 'Wendell & Wild' as an Afro-punk teen whose tricked into summoning two demon brothers to the land of the living.

Wendell & Wild is primarily the story of Kat, now living at a Catholic private school, who's tricked by two demons (Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele) into summoning them to the land of the living. But the film also works as a commentary on the prison industrial complex.

Peele, who co-wrote and executive produced Wendell & Wild with Selick, was instrumental in shaping the story and its villains. "It was never gonna be monsters and demons," Selick says. "It was always gonna be bad humans. It took a while for it to evolve, but ultimately it was like, 'Yeah, let's have them be builders of private prisons, which a lot of people still don't know about. And beyond that, they'll also be murderers.'"

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Selick gives credit to his wife, Heather, as well. He says she used to work as a teacher before producing animation pieces. "For 10 years, she was an advocate for kids in trouble, special needs kids. So I learned all about the school-to-prison pipeline and zero tolerance and all this stuff of how things are set up to shove certain kids into the system without a fair chance. We don't make it a huge part of the movie, but I wanted some anchors in the real world, with all this fantasy and crazy stuff."

Wendell & Wild is available in theaters now before hitting Netflix on Friday, Oct. 28.

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As the general election approach, a few incumbent legislators representing the Augusta area are gearing up to face challengers.

In addition to new challengers, there is some shuffling of state legislators after districts 122, 125 and 127 were redrawn in November 2021.

A look at who's running this fall:

State Senators

District 22: Sen. Harold Jones - Andrew Danielson

Sen. Harold Jones, D-Augusta, is challenged by Republican Augusta attorney Andrew Danielson, whose occupation is listed as "candidate."

Jones, who has held office since 2015, was assigned to the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee, Senate Ethics Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee, Public Safety Committee, Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee, and Senate Rules Committee.

If you're going to be a legislator, the key thing is, are you actually passing legislation? Jones said. My record shows that I've done that and I've been able to work bipartisan.

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FILE - Georgia state Sen. Harold Jones addresses the press during a Richmond County Democratic Party press conference outside of their office off Broad Street on Monday, June 27, 2022. Jones is challenged by Andrew Danielson for his Senate seat.

"You have to work bipartisan as far as the Georgia Legislature is concerned. Not one single bill can pass without Republican support and I've been able to do that.

Jones is hoping to form new legislation surrounding cyber crimes and create a study committee to analyze home caregiver resources.

It's an issue that I had to deal with for my father, he said. I realized that's something that a lot of people are dealing with, so I want to do a study committee on that. Let's find out what the resources are, how we make people more aware of those resources, and we need to add more to it.

Danielson did not reply this past week to multiple emails seeking comment.

Senate District 22, which is much of west, central and south Augusta in the redrawn maps, remains 71% Democratic, according to an analysis by the Princeton Gerrymandering Lab.

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District 23 and District 24: Districts 23 and 24 have uncontested elections, with only one candidate in each race. Republican Sen. Max Burns is running for re-election in District 23 and Republican Sen. Lee Anderson is running for re-election in District 24.

FILE - Georgia state Rep. Gloria Frazier addresses the media during a Richmond County Democratic Party press conference outside of the party's office off Broad Street on Monday, June 27, 2022. Frazier is challenged by William C. Harris for her seat in the state House.

State House

District 126: Gloria Frazier - William C. Harris

Rep. Gloria Frazier, D-Hephzibah, is being challenged for the third time by retired Republican educator William C. Harris.

Harris, whose career in education spanned 37 years, taught at Glenn Hills High School for 18 years and The Academy of Richmond County for 10 years. He also acquired the rank of "major" in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

Since Harris retirement in 2014, he has continued to stay in the classroom as a substitute teacher helping special needs children.

FILE - Republican William C. Harris, left, qualified to run again against Rep. Gloria Frazier, D-Hephzibah for House District 126, which has a substantial Democratic majority. Harris is seen here speaking with Augusta Commissioner Dennis Williams, who recently withdrew from the mayor's race, at a 2018 event.

There is a severe shortage as far as teachers and having difficulty getting good teachers in the classroom, he said. So I've been trying to fill that void. I really haven't missed any days of school since I retired.

Harris said there are ties between his prior careers and politics.

Life is about service and being an educator is a service, he said. I believe in working with young people, with a community as a whole, and you don't stop serving just because you're finished.

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"Being a part of the political world is another challenge, but its another way of serving. I just want to continue to serve the community in the best way that I know how ..."

Although it is Harris third time challenging Frazier, he said he feels confident with the redrawing of districts, he can win.

The newly redrawn District 126 is 62% Democratic and includes all of Jenkins County, Burke County and a very small portion of Richmond County.

Harris is on the executive board of the Richmond County Republican Party and is supported by Georgia Right to Life; Mayor-elect Garnett Johnson; Sen. Max Burns, who is running uncontested for re-election in Senate District 23; and Rep. Mark Newton, who is running uncontested for re-election in District 127.

In August 2014, Frazier retired from the Richmond County Board of Education Title 1 Office, where she served in administration, finance and accounting. She advocates for education, affordable healthcare and disability awareness.

Frazier formerly represented District 126 and was assigned to the Banks and Banking Committee, Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee, Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee, and Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.

The Augusta Chronicle reached out to Frazier for comment on her campaign, which she initially agreed to, but communication ceased before an interview could be arranged.

District 130: Lynn Gladney - Dan Swenson

There are two candidates in the running for District 130, previously represented by Rep. Sheila Nelson, D-Augusta. Democrat Lynn Gladney, the director of motor vehicle registration for the Richmond County Tax Commissioner, is competing with Dan Swenson, a local lawn business owner and member of the Richmond County Republican Committee.

Swenson said he never expected to run for office, but wants to see change.

"I never went to college. I worked super hard just to get my GED," Swenson said. "I never thought of myself running for office, but I do care about my community and I had to put down my fears to pick up my sword, to go fight for truth."

Among Swenson's concerns are the education system, specifically Critical Race Theory.

"I believe [it] splits us up because it's more racism for us. We don't want to teach kids about how to be racist and what racism is," he said. "We want to teach our kids how to read and that's the most important thing right now for these young people."

Swenson said he is also passionate about jail reform and challenging the current legal system.

Lynn Gladney, director of motor vehicle registration for the Richmond County tax commissioner, is running for state representative from District 130.

Gladney was appointed to the Augusta Aviation Commission and advocates for veterans and the rights of voters, according to a previous reporting.

Gladney did not reply this past week to multiple attempts at seeking comment.

District 130, which includes east-southeast Richmond County, is heavily Democratic, with 69% of voters identifying as Democrats, according to the Princeton Gerrymandering Lab.

Districts 125, 127, 129, 131, 132: Elections in districts 125, 127, 129, 131 and 132 are uncontested. Republican Rep. Barry Fleming is running for re-election in District 125. Republican Rep. Mark Newton is running for re-election in District 127. Republican Rep. Jodi Lott is running for re-election in District 131. Democratic Rep. Brian L. Prince is running for re-election in District 132.

Democratic Rep. Henry "Wayne" Howard was unchallenged in seeking re-election in District 129, but he passed away last week. A special election will need to be held to fill the seat.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta candidates running for state senate, house seats: What to know
The day after Lara Logans unhinged rant on Newsmax about a Satanic global cabal that must be defeated by White Christians, the far-right news network has banned her from its airwaves.



On Eric Bollings show on Wednesday night, she began regurgitating Q-Anon talking points, including the racist Great Replacement conspiracy theory, insisting she had proof of a worldwide plan to fully implement in the United States. That escalated to talk of Satan and non-Republicans who dine on the blood of children.



Newsmax condemns in the strongest terms the reprehensible statements made by Lara Logan, the network said in a statement shared with The Daily Beast on Thursday. We have no plans to interview her again.

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Bolling introduced her as a good friend of the show and a good friend of mine as well. Near the end of the interview, he asked her, How does it end?, she laughed and said, It ends badly for some, then launched into a speech about a spiritual battle, which God will win and Satan will lose.

Logan, once an award-winning journalist for CBS News, was fired by Fox News last year for comparing Dr. Anthony Fauci to notorious Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele.

Watch the full video above.

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Former CBS News Reporter Lara Logan Goes Full Q-Anon: Global Cabal of the UN Will Dine on the Blood of Children (Video)
In Brazils largest mega-metropolis, there's an insatiable, multicultural energy that feels more modern, more appealing, than ever.

Carmen Campos Sunset over the city center, as seen from the Farol Santander observation deck.

When Avenida Paulista, Sao Paulo's most famous thoroughfare, first unfurled across a 328-foot-high ridge south of the city center in 1891, it represented, for the people who settled there, an escape from the bustle and heat of a newly booming provincial town. At the time, Sao Paulo was home to some 65,000 people, an upstart trading post for the surrounding coffee plantations. But as exports exploded in the late 1800s, the city began to grow. Paulista provided fresh air, a wide promenade, and huge plots of land where coffee barons and industrialists built mansions in an eclectic pastiche of imported styles. It was also, as the architect and photographer Andre Scarpa told me on a humid summer morning in February, an attempt to emulate the life of the country inside the city.



To me, there is no city more beautiful than Sao Paulo, but to call it that is not uncontroversial.

As we slipped through the crowds that flowed down Paulista, surrounded by skyscrapers and traffic, I had to laugh. This boulevard, after all, is the spinal cord of a city of 22 million people that makes Mexico City (where I live) seem quaint. Here was the glass-and-concrete prism of Lina Bo Bardis epoch-defining Sao Paulo Museum of Art, or MASP, suspended over an open plaza. Barely a block away, architect Rino Levis pyramidal FIESP Cultural Center leaned coolly back among its straight-shouldered neighbors. Nearby, the slick facade of the Pauliceia building, designed by French emigre Jacques Pilon and Gian Carlo Gasperini (an Italo-Brazilian, like Levi and Bo Bardi), faced off against the sly horizontal stripes of the Torre Paulista building by Jose Gugliotta and Polish-born Jorge Zalszupin. There may be no metropolis on earth more defiantly modern.



Carmen Campos Relaxing poolside at the Rosewood Sao Paulo; the Emerald Garden Pool at the Rosewood was designed to emulate the rivers of Brazils Bonito region.

That modernity had first announced itself exactly 100 years before my visit at the Semana de Arte Moderna 22. Held during the nations centennial celebration of independence from Portugal, the weeklong event gathered together writers, composers, and visual artists, and is said to have launched Brazils modernism movement. It included a group show by now-seminal artists like Anita Malfatti, who depicted Brazilian subjects through Cubist abstraction and Fauvist vibrancy.

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Six years later, in 1928, Sao Pauloborn modernist poet Oswald de Andrade opened his landmark Manifesto Antropofago (Cannibalist Manifesto) with a simple declamatory line: Cannibalism alone unites us. Socially. Economically. Philosophically. It was a winking cri de coeur that defined modern Brazilian identity by its omnivorous, irreverent appetite for the world, by a cultural metabolism that could synthesize global influences and make them into something singular and new.



Standing there on Paulista, Scarpa and I stared down into a canyon of cement and steel. The towers, some designed by immigrants, some by second-generation Brazilians, opened along the avenue like teeth. The city was a gaping jaw, gulping down sunshine and rain and the endless streams of people from around the country and the world who continue to flow into it each day.

Carmen Campos From left: Brazilian actress Thais Lago at Rosewood Sao Paulos Emerald Garden bar; the Lausanne apartment building, a Midcentury Modern landmark in the Higienopolis neighborhood.



To me, there is no city more beautiful than Sao Paulo, but to call it that is not uncontroversial. On my first visit in 2011, I arrived with preconceptions formed largely by the glib opening line of a 2007 New York Times travel story that said that Brazils financial capital may be the ugliest, most dangerous city youll ever love. I went straight to the historic center, a densely packed district of Neoclassical banks and Art Deco skyscrapers, many in disrepair, to visit the observation deck at the Farol Santander, a bulky white riposte to the Empire State Building. The city stretched out infinitely below me like a savanna of concrete, its towers sprouting from a tangle of traffic-clogged streets. Seen from above, Sao Paulo seemed both monotonous and unhinged.



Like many big Latin American cities, Sao Paulo has been expanding away from its historic core for years, spreading north and east through middle-class neighborhoods, like Bom Retiro and Mooca, and south through the mansions of Jardins, a wealthy district below Paulista. Sao Paulos most affluent residents sought luxury by leaving the city center behind. They settled in anodyne towers in leafy suburbs and spend weekends at places like the Palacio Tangara resort, which opened in 2017 amid the peaceful jungle landscape of the Parque Burle Marx. There, they sip cocktails by the pool and dine at the hotels elegant restaurant, Tangara Jean-Georges, conceived by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and helmed by executive chef Filipe Rizzato.



Old-school botecos, casual bars with standing-only counters are the best place for a cold beer or my favorite Brazilian breakfast: a pull of too-strong coffee, pao de queijo buns made with cheese and gummy tapioca flour, and an icy glass of lurid purple acai juice sweating away in the morning heat.

But today, the citys center of gravity is shifting decisively back north, to reinvigorated neighborhoods clustered around the Praca da Republica public square. The newly opened Rosewood Sao Paulo suggests the ascendant pull of the citys urban core. Set in an Italianate villa that, for 50 years, housed the citys primary maternity ward, the hotel is a veritable shrine to Brazils voluptuous mid-century design, and every corner gleams with installations by some 57 contemporary artists from across the country. At night, the drive fills with BMWs and glinting heels as wealthy city residents clamor for space at the hotels bars and restaurants  Rabo di Galo for live jazz and Taraz for pan-Latin cuisine.

Related: The Style-Lover's Guide to Brazil



As in so many of the worlds biggest cities, gentrification in the city center has called uneasy attention to the deep divisions already present in Brazilian society, its inequities often structured around race, class, gender, and sexuality. Those failings are on plain view in neighborhoods like Vila Buarque, Santa Cecilia, and Republica, but so too are infinite possibilities. In July of 2021, a formerly abandoned building abutting an elevated freeway in Vila Buarque reopened as a collection of community-minded businesses. Upstairs at Cora, a rooftop restaurant, chef Pablo Inca, originally from the Andean highlands of Argentina, serves dishes that incorporate traditional ingredients, like okra, beans, and offal, that were long stigmatized by high-end kitchens and their clients.



Carmen Campos Views of Parque Burle Marx abound at Palacio Tangara hotel, from the Grand Suite (left) to the outdoor pool and Pateo do Palacio dining area (above).

Until a few years ago, Vila Buarque would not have been an obvious place to open this kind of establishment, Inca told me as a torrential summer storm rolled in, turning the corrugated metal roof of the interior dining room into a snare drum. A lot of people still see this area as a little bit forbidden, a little provocative, he said. But Incas bright and flavorful food could hardly be more welcoming: a delicate crudo of prejereba fish with sweet, astringent cashew fruit; decadent fugazzeta, like an oozing cheese-and-onion tart; and charred okra fragrant with zaatar. Sao Paulo is a city that conquers you, not by its landscapes, but by its movement and chaos, Inca continued. Things can transform at any time.



Sao Paulo is a city that conquers you, not by its landscapes, but by its movement and chaos. Things can transform at any time.

Leaving Cora that afternoon, I wandered through the residential neighborhood of Higienopolis, which is filled with modern apartment blocks peeking through screens of philodendrons and rubber trees. In the neighboring districts of Santa Cecilia and Vila Buarque, coffee shops and galleries rub shoulders with hardware stores and old-school botecos, casual bars whose standing-only counters are the best place for a cold beer or my favorite Brazilian breakfast: a pull of too-strong coffee, pao de queijo buns made with cheese and gummy tapioca flour, and an icy glass of lurid purple acai juice sweating away in the morning heat.



As evening approached, I stopped for a drink and a snack at Bar da Dona Onca, a restaurant on the ground floor of the iconic Copan building, Brazils largest apartment complex. (The tilde-shaped tower is so vast it commands its own zip code.) Raised in central Sao Paulo, chef Janaina Rueda opened Dona Onca as an homage to the classic downtown nightspots where, when she was a child, her mother had worked as a publicist. In the wood-paneled interior, diners order caipirinhas with pitch-perfect coxinha (chicken croquettes) and spinach-and-cheese fritters called bolinhos de espinafre e queijo. When the restaurant opened 16 years ago, the Copan, designed in the early 1950s by Oscar Niemeyer, had only just begun to recover from decades of disrepair and a reputation for criminality. Today, the buildings nearly 1,200 apartments are in high demand, particularly among young creative people, and its 72 storefronts now include a bookstore and a chic cocktail bar, as well as coffee shops and laundromats.



Carmen Campos Inside the Sao Paulo Museum of Art, the Abdias Nascimento: A Panamefrican Artist exhibition showcases paintings by the Brazilian activist.

I chatted with Rueda as I finished off the last of eight courses at A Casa do Porco, the fine-dining restaurant she and Jefferson Rueda opened around the corner from Dona Onca in 2015. On the menu: pancetta with guava paste; pork tartare and rice wrapped in Japanese nori; and leafy greens and jewels of yet more pork, this time roasted. If Dona Onca is the Ruedas answer to a boteco, then A Casa do Porco is a witty, imaginative celebration of the many cultures and communities that give Sao Paulo, particularly its central districts, its character. Both restaurants speak to the citys famously freewheeling spirit, to the blurry boundaries between neon nights and dove-gray mornings, as well as to the communities who call it home. Sao Paulo cuisine, she said, is based around the idea of mixing, of bohemia, of the dawn. She flashed a dazzling smile that illuminated her ice-blue eyes, then continued, You want to eat something very Sao Paulo? You eat sushi. Because what is food from Sao Paulo? A bit of everything.



The next morning, I took Ruedas advice and met chef Telma Shiraishi at the casual second outpost of her restaurant Aizome, located in the Kengo Kumadesigned Japan House. Shiraishi is third-generation Japanese-Brazilian, the granddaughter of immigrants who came over in the early 20th century. Shed agreed to show me around the Liberdade district, the historic heart of Sao Paulos Japanese diaspora. Prior to the abolition of slavery in 1888 and the subsequent arrival of Japanese immigrants, the area  called, with cruel irony, Liberty  was known for public executions and for its pelourinho, or pillory, an elevated platform used for centuries for the punishment of criminals and those enslaved by the Portuguese.



The people around me had given themselves over to the citys insatiable hunger for all things beautiful and new. If no one at the bar that night was from Sao Paulo, I thought, that meant that anyone could be.



Aside from a handful of inscriptions in a pair of modest colonial churches, that past has been largely erased in what is now the closest thing to a tourist sector the city has to offer. People gather for selfies under arcing red street lamps and eat at izakaya and ramen shops. I like to think that Japanese immigrants gave this place its character, Shiraishi told me. From this sad history we made a place thats vibrant, where people come to try new things. Freedom has never been a given in Sao Paulo. Transformation is.

That afternoon, I made my way to the Jardins district to meet the artist and gallerist Maria Monteiro in her gallery, Se, set in a graceful, sun-washed Art Deco building. Monteiro opened her first space, an artists residency called Phosphorus, in 2011 on a narrow lane deep in the citys historic center. At the time, she says, the neighborhood was virtually uninhabitable, its streets and parks crowded with those left behind by Brazils early-21st-century economic boom. Most of the buildings were half abandoned, including the one in which she opened Phosphorus and, a year later, the first iteration of Se, named for the twin-spired cathedral around the corner. In 2019, Monteiro moved the gallery to Jardins (the Centro is still difficult, and you can only push art collectors so far), but she continues to wax lyrical about the magic of that first space and the careers launched from a room that, the first time she saw it, had almost no roof.



Carmen Campos From left: The Luciana Brito Gallery, located in a house designed by Brazilian architect Rino Levi; artist and proprietor Maria Monteiro at Se Galeria.

From Se, Monteiro and I took a car deeper into Jardins to the Casa Zalszupin, home of the Polish-Brazilian architect and furniture designer Jorge Zalszupin from 1962 until his death in 2019. Hidden from a winding street behind towering tropical trees, the house, recently opened to the public by appointment, is a marvel of sweeping wood-paneled ceilings, stone walls, and wooden shutters. The week I was in town, Casa Zalszupin was hosting a show assembled by Monteiros friend, the independent curator Germano Dusha, conceived as a response to the citywide celebrations of La Semana de Arte Modernas centennial. For all their brilliance, Dusha told me, the artists at the original event were drawn chiefly from the white elite, and their depictions of rural Afro-Brazilians, daring for their time, were also exoticizing and exploitative. Through the show at Casa Zalszupin, Dusha aimed to ask, How can we approach the legacy of modernism in a critical way?

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I thought about this question the next day as I headed to Parque Ibirapuera, a spectacular swath of greenery studded with lakes and sinuous Oscar Niemeyerdesigned pavilions. At the entrance, I stopped to consider the Monument of the Bandeiras, a 1954 statue by sculptor Victor Brecheret, a participant in La Semana. It valorizes the colonizers  the bandeirantes  who, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, launched violent incursions on the interior from their base in Sao Paulo, at the time a far-flung Jesuit outpost. Like most places fixed on the future, Sao Paulo often struggles with its past, as the erasure of Liberdades traumatic history makes clear. Since at least 2013, the Monument of the Bandeiras has been a site for protest, particularly by Indigenous activists whose ancestors were massacred and enslaved by the men the monument renders as dauntless pioneers. Like Dushas exhibition, the monument raises questions not only about colonialism but also about the legacy of modernism  which is to say, the legacy of the city itself.



Carmen Campos Rosewood Sao Paulos vertical garden wall (left) and breakfast at the hotels Le Jardin (right).

On my last day in Sao Paulo, a Sunday, I retraced my steps along Paulista, which closes to traffic once a week and fills with music, dancing, and stalls selling everything from fresh juices to antiques. From there, I wandered down from Paulistas ridge until I reached the city center. As the heat subsided, I settled in at a raucous boteco called Copanzinho. Dozens of plastic tables spilled onto the pavement in the shadow of the Copan, as tightly packed as sunbathers on Ipanema. Rio, Id been told on previous trips, has its beaches; Sao Paulo has its sidewalks.



My table was crowded with friends and friends of friends from Ecuador, Chile, and Brazil. We talked in Spanish, English, and Portuguese about art, architecture, and the city itself, already home to some, a dream for the rest of us. Countless empty beer glasses accumulated as the evening wore on. In any other city of Sao Paulos stature  in Los Angeles, London, or Bangkok  a place like this would be swarmed with visitors, gleefully uncertain as to where they were or how they might fit in. But here, everyone seemed at home.



I turned to the friend next to me, whom Id met just a few days before, a painter named Douglas de Souza who lives and works in the city, though he was born elsewhere. It was remarkable, I said, that everyone around us seemed to be from here. Ill bet you, he said with a laugh, that almost no one here is from Sao Paulo. He may have been exaggerating, but I took his point. Sao Paulo offers the promise of belonging, the possibility of disappearing and, in the process, becoming oneself. The people around me had given themselves over to the citys insatiable hunger for all things beautiful and new. If no one at the bar that night was from Sao Paulo, I thought, that meant that anyone could be.

All Eyes on Sao Paulo

Where to Stay

Palacio Tangara: Amid the greenery of Parque Burle Marx, this Oetker Collection oasis houses a nature-inspired spa and fabulous dining by Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Rosewood Sao Paulo: This 160-room resort, which includes a vertical garden planted with indigenous rain forest flora, is just steps from Avenida Paulista.

Where to Eat

A Casa do Porco: Fine dining has a sense of humor (including a walk-up fast food window) at this unstuffy shrine to all things pork.

Aizome: Chef Telma Shiraishi serves dishes like sashimi and buckwheat soba noodles in two venues: a discreet town house and an airy, Zen minimalist space.

Bar da Dona Onca: At this neighborhood classic, order a cocktail and the galinhada, a traditional one-pot stew with chicken and saffron rice.

Copanzinho: A casual streetside dinner spot for burgers, beer, and plenty of caipirinhas.

Cora: A relaxed rooftop venue with creative, flavorful cooking, serving dishes like scorched okra with lemon, chestnut cream, and cilantro.

What to Do

Architecture Tours: Organize a personalized walking tour with architect and photographer Andre Scarpa by contacting Superbacana+, a design studio and workshop space.

Casa Zalszupin: Once the home of the seminal architect Jorge Zalszupin, this space offers public tours as well as art and furniture exhibitions.

Luciana Brito Galeria: Contemporary pieces, from photography to wool tapestry, are on show at this gallery, which is located inside the modernist Castor Delgado Perez residence.

Pinacoteca de Sao Paulo: Sao Paulos oldest visual arts museum, given a spectacular overhaul in the late 1990s by Pritzker laureate Paulo Mendes da Rocha.

Sao Paulo Museum of Art (MASP): Considered to be Brazils first museum of modern art, this iconic building, designed by Lina Bo Bardi, houses more than 11,000 works.



Se Galeria: Located on an ivy-draped lane in the Jardins neighborhood, this gallery hosts programming from contemporary Brazilian artists.



A version of this story first appeared in the October 2022 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline " Sao Paulo Steps Up."

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Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
It was a bad week in court for extremist groups. The Texas-headquartered white supremacist organization Patriot Front has been hit with a lawsuit from the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Meanwhile, in New Mexico, a militia group has been ordered to disband and slapped with a fine, and the Oath Keepers Jan. 6 trial continues.

It's the week in extremism.

Patriot Front sued

White supremacist organization Patriot Front is the target of the latest lawsuit from the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The activist group and private attorneys are suing the Texas-headquartered hate group on behalf of residents of Richmond, Virginia, alleging Patriot Front members violated their civil rights when the group vandalized a Richmond mural honoring Black tennis great Arthur Ashe last year.

Patriot Front has caused a stir elsewhere in the country since then, particularly when members ended up being arrested in Idaho in June.

Patriot Front: White supremacist group charged with planning 'riot' at Idaho Pride event

The Lawyers' Committee has a long history of suing extremist groups on behalf of local residents or organizations affected by hateful activity. Last year, the group sued the extremist group the Proud Boys and its then-chairman Henry "Enrique" Tarrio for vandalism during protests in Washington, D.C., in late 2020. That lawsuit is ongoing.

In June, 31 members of Patriot Front were arrested while traveling in a U-Haul van allegedly to disrupt a Pride event in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. The group was also deeply exposed by a leak of its private messages earlier this year.

Patriot Front is mostly known for spray-painting white supremacist propaganda and leafleting communities with racist flyers. It also holds occasional public appearances, where members dress in uniform and carry flags.

Damages: The Lawyers Committee lawsuit claims the Patriot Front vandalism created "anger, fear and intimidation" in the neighborhood where the Ashe mural was vandalized, resulting in residents reducing their use of the local park.

Story continues

Albuquerque police detain members of the New Mexico Civil Guard, an armed civilian group, following the shooting of a man during a protest over a statue of Spanish conquerer Juan de Onate on Monday, June 15, 2020, in Albuquerque, N.M.

New Mexico 'militia' ordered to cease activity

A superior court judge has ordered the New Mexico Civil Guard, an armed paramilitary group, to cease publicly acting like a law enforcement agency or an unauthorized military force.

A first: Experts say it's the first example nationwide of a nongovernmental so-called "militia" group being banned by the courts.

The civil case stems from the NMCG's activity during protests in 2020, when members of the group showed up armed and in fatigues to "protect" a statue of Juan de Onate, the Spanish conquistador and colonial governor of New Mexico, in Old Town Albuquerque.

The case has also been something of a spectacle, with the group's leader arriving for a deposition in "what appeared to be a Civil War era suit and overcoat" and carrying a copy of the conspiracy-theory classic "Behold a Pale Horse." He said he "shredded and burned everything regarding the structure of the New Mexico Civil Guard" and "poured bleach on the hard drive of my laptop and then burned it."

We wrote about this case in detail last year at USA TODAY, and detailed how armed militia groups like the NMCG are, technically, illegal in all 50 states.

The ruling this week is groundbreaking, Georgetown University expert Mary McCord told USA TODAY, because it's the first time a local district attorney has used their enforcement authority against a 'militia' group. The case sends a signal to local prosecutors around the country that civil actions like this can effectively shut down troublesome local militia groups, McCord said

'Militia' on trial: New Mexico DA sues unauthorized militia group, then goes after Facebook for records to prove his case

'Militias' are illegal: Armed 'militias' are illegal. Will authorities crack down?

Kelly Meggs is an Oath Keeper from Florida who pleaded not guilty to federal charges related to the U.S. Capitol riot.

Learn about the Oath Keepers on trial

The high-profile trial continues of members of the extremist group the Oath Keepers, who were charged with seditious conspiracy for their actions in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. USA TODAY has been following the trial every day (get up to speed on the case here).

This week, USA TODAY reporter Ella Lee takes a look at the Oath Keepers on trial alongside the group's infamous leader Stewart Rhodes.

The other defendants include a bar owner, a car dealership general manager, a welder and a retired military intelligence officer, Lee reports.

While prosecutors have sought to portray the Oath Keepers as well-organized, militant revolutionaries, defense attorneys have tried to humanize them, Lee reports, "pointing to age-related ailments, social media aversion and gender identity as evidence they're not as dangerous or calculating as the government makes them out to be."

Coming up: The trial is expected to conclude in early November. We'll be there for the verdict.

More about the Oath Keepers on trial: Oath Keepers trial: What we know about the militia members who aren't Stewart Rhodes

Oath Keepers trial backgrounder: Oath Keepers trial: A 1800s-inspired defense meets most significant Jan. 6 prosecution yet

All about Stewart Rhodes: Vegas parking valet, Yale law graduate, unhinged Oath Keepers leader: Who is Stewart Rhodes?

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Patriot Front sued; New Mexico Civil Guard shut down
Saudi Arabia shows no sign of backing down in the face of U.S. pushback to its decision to cut oil production, part of Riyadhs strategy to flex its foreign policy influence more forcefully.

Saudi officials insist that the highly criticized decision to cut oil production to keep prices high is purely economical, pushing back on attacks they are siding with Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Democrats have furiously called to freeze military sales and cooperation with the kingdom as Republicans largely remain quiet, saying U.S. ties to the powerful Gulf nation are too strategic to risk.

Experts say Riyadh is trying to find a balance between the U.S. and Russia, concerned that Washington is retreating from the Middle East but cautious to avoid severing the relationship completely.

The Saudis have tried to thread the needle between the Americans and the Russians, in part because they are distrustful of the United States, said Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

I dont think its going to be a long-term rift, its just going to be one of those major ups and downs in the American-Saudi relationship, and, today, heres another down.

President Bidens highly publicized fist bump with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah in July did little, in Riyadhs eyes, to make up for his campaign comments pledging to treat the kingdom as a pariah in the wake of it killing Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi, experts say.

And the administrations pursuit of reviving the nuclear deal with Iran  as well as lingering upset from the Trump administration over what the kingdom viewed as an insignificant response to Iranian drone attacks on the Aramco oil facilities in Abqaiq  have hardened their position.

Theyve been really interested in strategic diversification, in reaching out to other powers, said Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

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Over the last 10 to 15 years, [Riyadh] slowly developed this sense that the U.S. is checking out, even though it has this huge military apparatus in the region, its sort of checked out in a way.

Saudi Arabia is Americas largest foreign military equipment customer, amounting to about $100 billion in sales between 2009 and 2020, a relationship that benefits the U.S. for the influx of investment but also allows the U.S. and Saudi militaries to work closely together on security concerns.

Approximately 2,700 U.S. troops are stationed in the country.

Selling U.S. military hardware to Saudi Arabia is also meant as a bulwark to prevent Russia and China from gaining a foothold.

The Saudis have welcomed efforts from the Biden administration to smooth over some rocky parts of the relationship. This includes closer consultation about the administrations intent to revive the nuclear deal with Iran.

Saudi moves, such as allowing Biden to fly from Tel Aviv to Jeddah in July and opening up its airspace to Israeli flights, are viewed as the kingdom showing the soft side in its relationship with Washington.

But they are resisting pressure to publicly open relations with Israel, and the OPEC+ decision last month to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day is a further sign the kingdom is not too concerned with Washingtons opinion.

Our decisions on production levels are strictly determined by supply and demand and market fundamentals, Fahad Nazer, a spokesperson for the Saudi Embassy in the U.S., told CNN on Monday. So political issues, political considerations do not take effect, they do not have a role.

Aaron David Miller, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that economic argument may be true, but Crown Prince Mohammad likely didnt care about political implications with the U.S.

The Saudis could not have been this obtuse not to understand that weeks before a midterm  thats going to turn on inflation, and a large part of that is scarcity of crude oil and rising gas prices  that this would not be perceived as a political blow against the president, Miller said.

The OPEC+ decision triggered fury from the White House and Democrats, who accused Riyadh of siding with Moscow, saying the high price of oil will continue to fuel Russian President Vladimir Putins ability to conduct his war in Ukraine.

Ibish said that any benefit to Russia is not a concern in Riyadh.

The key thing I think for the Saudis is, Russia is really important because of the OPEC+ deal. They have this crucial national security issue that is not really appreciated here enough, which is they have about 25 years to transform their economy, he said.

In the context of the Ukraine war  [it] looks like helping Russia, thats not the way theyre thinking about that. Theyre thinking about their own plans, which is dire for them. But it looks to the Western world like Oh, youre backing up the Russians.

Saudi officials say their actions have made clear they support Ukraine, even as they maintain relations with Russia.

We have actually been in touch with the leadership of Ukraine and with Russia, we have offered to mediate between the two because we do maintain good relations with both, Nazer said Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not issued any criticism.

Riyadh helped broker a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia earlier last month, and then announced $400 million in humanitarian assistance for Kyiv a week ago.

Riyadh also points to its votes at the United Nations General Assembly rejecting Russias referenda of Ukrainian territory on Oct. 12 and condemning its invasion during a vote held in March.

Zelensky spoke with Mohammad and thanked him for supporting Ukraines territorial integrity, resolution at the UN General Assembly and that the two agreed on the provision of [Saudi] macro-financial aid to Ukraine.

Days later, the Saudi foreign ministry tweeted a photo of Ukraines ambassador to the kingdom meeting with the Saudi deputy minister for international multilateral affairs, saying the two reviewed bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Ukraine and regional and international developments of common interest.

While Biden is facing blowback from Democratic lawmakers, the administration is unlikely to punish Riyadh severely.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday said the administrations review of its relationship with Saudi Arabia is ongoing, but would not put a timeline on taking action.

Were not going to rush this.

Jon Alterman, the director of Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the administration is unlikely to be punitive for the sake of being punitive.

But the Saudi strategy is a strategy of getting a lot of the benefits of being closely aligned with the United States while having increasingly close ties to adversaries of the United States. And in times of war, thats a hard gap to straddle, Alterman said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
After the instalment starring Booker T, the audio series on the great names who helped write the story of Stax Records moves to the guitar giant who played alongside him and so many others. Steve Cropper was the ever-inventive lead guitarist on all the classic Booker T and the MGs tracks, an in-demand session player for more than half a century, and the co-writer of some of the greatest soul records ever made.

Ever-active, Cropper was in the UK with some of his fellow surviving greats from the Stax stable for the all-star Prom in London in the late summer of 2017. During that visit, he took time out from rehearsals to talk to this journalist about the heritage of the storied label, and some of the secrets of his longevity.

Cropper, born in Dora, Missouri on October 21, 1941, describes his own Southern background and how it intersected with his fellow musicians in the MGs. He describes the unique team spirit that was the key to Staxs emergence in the 1960s, and how he always preferred the group ethic to being a frontman in his own right.

Well find out about some of the music and artists that shaped the guitarist-songwriter, from the worlds of rhythm and blues and rocknroll, and how he feels when he plays both the familiar MGs catalog and other favorites in the Stax songbook. Cropper also has some vivid memories about the famed 1967 tour of the UK and Europe that firmly established Stax on the international stage, and well get a taste of what that tour sounded like, as DJ Emperor Rosko introduces the band on stage.

Listen to the Stax Classics playlist on Apple Music and Spotify.

Steves recollections are further illustrated in the mini-documentary with big Stax hits such as his co-writes for Eddie Floyd (Knock On Wood) and Otis Redding (Dock Of The Bay) and some lesser-played MGs gems including Chinese Checkers and Mo Onions.

Buy or stream the 3-CD Soulsville USA compilation.

For the latest music news and exclusive features, check out uDiscover Music.

uDiscover Music is operated by Universal Music Group (UMG). Some recording artists included in uDiscover Music articles are affiliated with UMG.
Students at USC, NYU, Griffith Film School in Australia and the University of Television and Film Munich in Germany have won the gold medals at the 2022 Student Academy Awards, which took place on Thursday night in the David Geffen Theater at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

The in-person ceremony was the first since 2019, with the last two Student Oscars taking place virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was also the first under new rules, revealed exclusively by TheWrap in April, that found U.S. and international film schools competing head-to-head in all categories. Previously, film schools outside the United States competed in separate international categories.

Also Read:

Academy Museum Star-Studded Gala: From Julia Roberts to Keke Palmer and More (Photos)

Were a global organization and were reflecting a global film industry, AMPAS VP of Talent Development and Inclusion Programs Kendra Carter told TheWrap. We wanted to reflect that with the Student Academy Awards so theres no distinction or divide between international and domestic when it comes to excellent storytelling. Film is global, and our competition reflects film in the future.

International schools won the top prizes in the animation category with Lachlan Pendragons An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It from the Griffith Film School in Australia and narrative category with Nils Kellers Almost Home from the University of Television and Film Munich. American winners were USCs Olivia Peace with Against Reality in the alternative/experimental category and NYUs Shuhao Tses Found in the documentary category.

Silver medals went to Laika & Nemo from Jane Gadermann and Sebastian Gadow of the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg, Germany (animation), Here to Stay from Jared Peraglia of NYU (documentary) and Rooms from Welf Reinhart of the University of Television and Film Munich, Germany (narrative).

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Also Read:

Fire of Love, Good Night Oppy Lead Critics Choice Documentary Awards Nominations

Bronze medalists were Yanis Belaid, Eliott Benard and Nicolas Mayeur from Frances Pole 3D Digital & Creative School for The Seines Tears (animation), Gabriella Canal and Michael Fearon from Columbia University for Seasons (documentary) and Freddy Macdonald from AFI for Shedding Angels (narrative). It was the first-ever Student Academy Award for the Pole 3D Digital & Creative School.

The 10 winners had previously been announced, but the medal placement was not revealed until the ceremony hosted by Terrence Jenkins. All winners are now eligible for Academy Awards in the Best Live-Action Short, Best Animated Short and Best Documentary Short categories.

Past Student Academy Award winners include Spike Lee, Robert Zemeckis, Pete Docter and Trey Parker.

The winners:

Alternative/Experimental

Gold: Against Reality, Olivia Peace, University of Southern California

Animation

Gold: An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It, Lachlan Pendragon, Griffith Film School, Australia

Silver: Laika & Nemo, Jan Gadermann and Sebastian Gadow, Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg, Germany

Bronze: The Seines Tears, Yanis Belaid, Eliott Benard and Nicolas Mayeur, Pole 3D Digital & Creative School, France

Documentary

Gold: Found, Shuhao Tse, New York University

Silver: Here to Stay, Jared Peraglia, New York University

Bronze: Seasons, Gabriella Canal and Michael Fearon, Columbia University

Narrative

Gold: Almost Home, Nils Keller, University of Television and Film Munich, Germany

Silver: Rooms, Welf Reinhart, University of Television and Film Munich, Germany

Bronze: Shedding Angels, Freddy Macdonald, American Film Institute

Also Read:

Oscars International Race 2022: Full List of Entries (So Far)
The Grit, Athens, Georgia's famous vegetarian restaurant, has closed after 30 years. Lea Shearer, writing for the Flagpole, explains:

The Prince Avenue restaurant announced the imminent closing Sept. 22 in a social media post addressed to its customers, noting accurately that The Grit has been "the cornerstone for vegan/vegetarian food in Athens" for more than 30 years. "Unfortunately things have changed due to the pandemic and we've had to reevaluate our business goals. So, it is with heavy hearts but with a hopeful eye on the future that we announce that we are closing our doors at the end of the evening service on Friday, October 7th, 2022," read the post in part.

Shearer also provides some history of the beloved restaurant:

In 1990, the restaurant moved to Prince Avenue, run off from the station by frat boy violence emanating from a bar that was also a station tenant, said former part-owner Jenna Schuh. Schuh bought into the business in 1988 after the founders decided to move on, leaving it in the hands of first Brenda Mills, who subsequently sold her half to Schuh, and Jessica Greene, the sole owner since 1995, when Schuh fell in love, got married and moved away (but is now back in Athens). R.E.M. frontman and Grit patron Michael Stipe agreed to rent them a building he owned on Prince Avenue at that time, when "we decided to make it a full-scale restaurant," Schuh said.

And here's a glimpse at some of the reasons it was so well-loved:

The Grit's fame rests first on its excellent, often simple but also often ground-breaking edibles, like its Grit Staplepinto beans, onions and cheese served over brown rice, seasoned and topped with sauteed vegetablesand Schuh's invention, the Golden Bowl. The dish won an award from Vegetarian Times when someone there tasted the revolutionary recipe combining tofu, soy sauce, vegetable oil and nutritional yeast with other ingredients, topped with yeast gravy or cheese and sauteed vegetables. Those two remain among the most popular dishes, along with others, such as the delectable black bean chili and a case always full of cakes and pies, all baked in-house, said Grit server Riley Obert.

When I lived in Athens in the late 1990s, I lived right down the street from The Grit, and could walk there easily. I've had countless meals there, and I'm sad I'll never get to eat another Grit-made Golden Bowla yummy dish of rice and veggies, topped with the most amazing nutritional yeast-encrusted tofu and yeast gravywhich was my favorite dish on the menu. I was also lucky enough to have been gifted a Grit cookbook (which are currently sold out, but hopefully more will be printed soon) when I departed Athens, and I used it for years. I recently gave it to a young friend who was experimenting with vegetarian and vegan cooking, and was trying to figure out how to make tofu taste delicious. I said to her, please, take this cookbookit teaches all the secrets to making the best crispy, flavorful tofu. And she did, and she's reported since that she's perfected the art of delicious tofu. I'm happy I got to share a little piece of The Grit with her!

Read the rest of Shearer's article here, and read more about The Grit and its tumultuous final days in this article by Nava Rawls, in The University of Georgia's student newspaper, The Red and Black.
The U.S. and Russian defense chiefs spoke by telephone on Friday for the first time since May, according to a Pentagon spokesperson.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed "international security problems, notably the situation in Ukraine," according to a readout posted by the Russian Ministry of Defense on Telegram Friday morning.

During the call, Austin emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine, said Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.



This is only the second time the two have spoken since Russia's February invasion of Ukraine. The first call was on May 13. During that conversation, Austin reportedly urged his Russian counterpart to consider a cease-fire, which Moscow ignored.

Before that May call, the two spoke on Feb. 18, six days before the invasion.

Friday's call comes following days of Russian missile attacks on civilians in Ukraine, and as Vladimir Putin makes illegal claims to Ukrainian territory in the country's east and south.
Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who ran for president in 2020 as a Democrat and endorsed Joe Biden after her exit from the race, on Tuesday campaigned in Arizona for the state's Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, a fervent election denier Trump loyalist.

The move follows her dramatic public departure from the Democratic party, denouncing it a week ago on social media as an "elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness." In Chandler, Arizona, Gabbard warned against those that "deny the existence of truth" before remarking with glowing support her endorsement of Lake, one of the most outspoken election deniers.

PHOTO: Tulsi Gabbard and Kari Lake appear onstage together at a campaign event for Kari Lake in Arizona, on Oct. 18, 2022. (ABC News)

"I feel like a rockstar up here, Tulsi," Lake said in front of at least 250 people. "You are a rockstar, Kari," Gabbard responded.

At the campaign event, less than three weeks ahead of the midterm elections, Gabbard acknowledged that some have told her it was "odd" that she would be campaigning for Lake in Arizona as a former Democrat -- but she dismissed those concerns.

MORE: Tulsi Gabbard announces she is leaving Democratic Party, calling it an 'elitist cabal of warmongers'

"It's only odd if you're focused on the wrong things," Gabbard said of her endorsement. "If you're paying attention, you recognize that what we share in common, Kari and I and every one of you, is that pride, and it is the courage...It is clear eyes to recognize the threats to our safety, to our borders, to our communities, to our families and our kids that are coming from today's so called woke radical Democrat Party."

Gabbard's Arizona visit follows her Monday travel to New Hampshire, where she stumped for Republican Senate candidate Don Bolduc and garnered heat for comparing President Biden to Adolf Hitler.

"Even Hitler thought he was doing what was best for Germany, right? For the German race. In his own mind, he found a way to justify the means to meet his end. So, when we have people with that mindset, well, you know we've got to do whatever it takes because, as President Biden said in that speech in Philadelphia, that those who supported Trump, those who didn't vote for him are extremists and a threat to our democracy," Gabbard said in an audio recording obtained by the Daily Beast.

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PHOTO: Tulsi Gabbard and Kari Lake appear onstage together at a campaign event for Kari Lake in Arizona, on Oct. 18, 2022. (ABC News)

Lake, who once donated to former President Barack Obama's campaign, said on Tuesday that it was "no secret" that she was once a Democrat, too.

"I registered as a Democrat for four years. I was disappointed at the time at the establishment Republican Party," Lake said. "I know it's hard sometimes to kind of go, 'gosh, darn it, we got it wrong. I voted for the wrong guy.' But we don't judge."

Gabbard has not announced her next step in American politics, or if she'd consider jumping to the Republican Party. She's long spoken out against the nationwide two-party system, however, leaving some to speculate that she may find a political home as an independent or in a third party.

MORE: Midterm surrogate season brings celebrities and 2024 buzz: The Note

But her recent campaign stops for Republicans and invocation of traditionally conservative talking points like "wokeness" and her focus on the border marks a sharp retreat from her support for Biden in 2020, when she suspended her unconventional presidential campaign.

"It's clear that Democratic primary voters have chosen, Vice President Joe Biden, to be the person who will take on President Trump in the general election," she said as she dropped out of the race, adding that, "I'm confident that he will lead our country, guided by the spirit of aloha respect and compassion, and thus help heal the divisiveness that has been tearing our country apart."

Despite her status over the past 20 years as a Democrat, Gabbard over the past few years has become somewhat of a Republican darling, appearing often on Fox News and in August, she guest-hosted "Tucker Carlson Tonight," following the FBI's raid of Mar-a-Lago.

On Tuesday, Gabbard warned against those who deny truth only to reinforce their own beliefs, referring to the topic of children who identify as transgender, not the widely debunked claims of election fraud that have been a centerpiece of Lake's campaign.

"We have to go back to the basics because the basics are under attack. When we have people in power who deny the existence of objective truth, that leads to a very dangerous place because that means that whatever they say is what they will enforce through their laws," Gabbard said.

Tulsi Gabbard campaigns for election denier Kari Lake in Arizona originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
From Eloquii's long-awaited bridal debut to Carly Cushnie's return to the category with BHLDN to... let's just say... "creative" accessories for romance from Kiki de Montparnasse.

From the Great Wedding Boom of 2022 to this month's New York Bridal Fashion Week, there's a lot of newness in the bridal market. In addition to a slew of fresh trends (which you can read about here), we've encountered a number of original wedding-wardrobe concepts, forays into the category from fashion and celebrity-beloved designers, as well as the much-awaited return of a familiar name.

Ahead, discover eight fresh, unique and perhaps unexpected ways to personalize your big day (or week), from made-to-order separates to an entire beach wedding wardrobe to a lace-paneled blindfold you'd definitely wear again.

Bhldn x Carly Cushnie

A look from the BHLDN x Carly Cushnie collaboration. Photo: Courtesy of BHLDN

View the 8 images of this gallery on the original article

To launch her namesake bridal collection in 2019, Carly Cushnie interpreted her celebrity (and Michelle Obama)-beloved minimalist aesthetic, with its architectural lines, dramatic draping and body-celebrating details, from the ready-to-wear runway. She quietly shuttered that line in 2020, but rejoice! Cushnie returns with a capsule collaboration with Bhldn launching on Oct. 17.

"My DNA is always there, in essence," Cushnie said at a dinner earlier this month celebrating the launch.

The tight assortment offers a look for the full spectrum of celebratory needs, from ceremony gowns (like a one-shoulder, slash-front dress and a voluminous bubble column style) to dancing-ready wares (a delicately-pleated, side-cut-out mini and a flared trouser pantsuit with a romantic puff-shoulder). A pleated, empire-waist tea-length dress, in sleek black and a sumptuous "latte" hue, speaks to the contemporary client, attendants and important family members.

"I tried to create something that's modern but timeless, and that's not trend-driven," said Cushnie.

Price range: From $398 to $1,400; sizes run from 0 to 18.

Story continues

More details here.

Bridal by Eloquii

A look from the Bridal by Eloquii collection. Photo: Courtesy of Eloquii

View the 28 images of this gallery on the original article

After discovering that "white dress" was the top search term on the Eloquii e-commerce site over the pandemic (and hearing an enthusiastic "outcry" from loyal clients), the size-inclusive brand has officially launched a wealth of bridal offerings.

"It's really just being fashion first  making sure that we have a really big range of versatile pieces for this customer  and mostly putting the focus on the bride," said Yesenia Torres, Eloquii's creative director, at a press preview in September.

The comprehensive collection of 50+ separates and dresses runs the gamut in terms of style preferences and event needs. Highlights include the prettiest pink, tulle, ruffled, off-the-shoulder gown; a high-low bubble dress; a glittering illusion-topped jumpsuit with a coordinating bralett; and a chiffon-draped corset. ("We didn't really skimp on the details," said Torres.)

Torres also emphasized that the accessibly-priced line boasts meticulous construction and thoughtful elements: "The interiors of the gowns have power mesh, boning and adjustability. We left extra fabric in lengths, so that [the dresses] can be tailored to your body." Sizes run from 14 to 28.

Price range: Starting at $49 for separates, $89 for dresses and $299 for formal gowns.

More details here.

She is Cheval Wedding Shoes

A look from the Cheval shoe collection. Photo: Courtesy of Cheval

View the 10 images of this gallery on the original article

Earlier this year, the designer formerly known as Hayley Paige lost the rights to her own name and namesake bridal line in a legal battle with its owner, JLM Couture. Now she's introduced a wedding shoe collection under the name Cheval.

(As for the new nomenclature, she explained to People that a brainstorm sesh with business mentors, friends and family culminated in the French word for "horse": "Thank you for helping me 'giddy-up and go,'" said former "Say Yes to the Dress" star.)

"I want this collection to feel imaginative, nostalgic, and resilient," Cheval, the person, writes Fashionista in an email. "When I was going through the process of having to change my name and the way I identify myself publicly, I leaned into memories that reminded me of who I am at the core and all that I've had the privilege of 'growing through.' The creative process required revisiting some of my favorite textural elements and periods of time that gave light to the present. These shoes carry a real sense of bravery in moving forward with who we are, what we've been through, and where we are on our way to."

Cheval's debut line offers a wide range of styles and heel heights, for all comfort and tastes. It also speaks to the differing vibes of venues and events: There are crystal-embellished white sneakers, sky-high and black satin platform Mary Janes, glitter-encrusted ankle boots and much more. Clients can shop the line in person during a holiday season pop-up at South Street Seaport in New York City.

Price range: From $95 to $425.

More details here.

Kiki De Montparnasse Bridal

A look from the Kiki de Montparnasse bridal collection. Photo: Courtesy of Kiki de Montparnasse

View the 8 images of this gallery on the original article

New York-based, Paris-inspired lingerie brand Kiki de Montparnasse jumps onto the bridal scene  not just with its signature sexy lingerie (accented with wedding-ready ruffles and luxurious beading), sultry slip dresses you could wear out-of-the-bedroom and adorable pajama sets: There are also inventive accessories one might need for the celebration and beyond, like a lace-beaded blindfold, a sassy rhinestone-embellished leather riding crop and bondage-inspired jewelry (think a beaded harness and a pearl-encrusted cock ring).

"The pandemic changed wedding culture forever, forcing couples to become more experimental when planning their big day  so naturally, we wanted to design a one-stop shop that would allow them to continue along these creative lines into the night," said Kiki de Montparnasse President Stephanie Inzalaco, in a statement.

The collection helps the betrothed feel "empowered, sensual and confident during one of the most important occasions and sexual escapades" of their lives, according to the brand.

Price range: From $150 to $500+.

More details here.

La Chenille

A look from the La Chenille Fall 2022 collection. Photo: Courtesy of La Chenille

Parsons alum and start-up vet Demi Raquel Thomas pinpointed a blank space  or opportunity, rather  in the bridal market: all things beach and destination weddings.

"As I started developing the business plans and the initial sketches, I realized that this was more than a bridal  or even swimwear  line," she writes over email. "La Chenille is a lifestyle brand meant to bring the same energy brought within traditional bridal boutiques to the entire bridal process."

Thomas lists off occasions requiring a celebratory, self-expressive, occasion or locale-appropriate pieces: bachelorette parties, elopements and honeymoons. Her "elevated beach wedding" line, all of which is hand-washable, offers maillots and bikinis with satin and tulle ruffling, iridescent beading and floral-embellishments, as well as detachable (and water-resistant) trains and ethereal capes-slash-pool coverups. Sizes run from S to L (or 2 to 12/14), with customizable options available for additional sizing.

La Chenille also offers hair accessories, from tiaras to a veil-draped straw hat, and a travel beauty set featuring sunscreen, of course.

Price range: From $1,300 to $2,000 for swimsuits and $1,500 to $6,500 for cover ups.

More details here.

Lapointe

A look from the Lapointe Spring 2023 bridal collection. Photo: Sally Lapointe/Courtesy of Lapointe

View the 20 images of this gallery on the original article

Celebrity- and wedding-stylist Micaela Erlanger often says: "Walking down the aisle is the closest thing to walking on the red carpet." Well, New York City-based designer Sally Lapointe clearly feels the same, because the creative director of the self-named line  beloved by celebrities like, Zendaya, Lizzo and Jennifer Lopez  just ventured into bridal for Spring 2023.

"Envision our best-selling cream color on feathered blazers, cropped tops and sequin pant suits ..." says Lapointe about her debut wedding collection, christened "New Bride."

The collection starts out strong with low-slung, baggy, feather-trimmed trousers and a cut-out body-suit. It sets the tone for exuberant, mix-and-match looks for the adventurous and self-expressive bride: sequin-encrusted crop tops with trousers and long-shorts, feather-detailed pantsuits, a sheer trench, voluminous ruffle trims and genius faux leather pieces. Sizes range from 0 to 14.

"I have always been known for making a statement and being unapologetic, so it was a natural evolution to bring that message into bridal," says Lapointe, who also photographed the lookbook herself.

Price range: From $175 to $4,200.

More details here.

Meruert Tolegen Bridal Edit

A bridal look from the Meruert Tolegen Spring 2023 collection. Photo: Courtesy of Mereurt Tolegen

View the 17 images of this gallery on the original article

During the pandemic, New York City-based Meruert Tolegen noticed that a fair amount of her clientele began shopping her conceptual, intricately-textured, intensely pretty pieces for weddings.

"It's not a brand that focuses on bridal at all  I just happen to have pieces that end up being cream or ivory," said the buzzy Kazakhstan-born, San Francisco-raised designer in her studio during Bridal Week. "I just gravitate towards those colors."

For her first official bridal edit, Tolegen combed through through her Occasionwear line and Spring 2023 collection, which is inspired by memories of her childhood in Almaty and dedicated to her late grandfather Toleutay Tolegenovich. She designed original artwork based on vintage botanical guides to bring that vision to life.

"We would have pears during spring events and pomegranates," Tolegen said.

The innovative designer also experiments with silk, cotton and wool blends to concoct embellished dresses and coats that feel like elevated takes on gauze, mesh and an iridescent rice paper, layered over hand-beaded embroidery. (She sources all her materials from Europe and produces in New York City.)

"[My line is] not necessarily always traditional," she said, "so I feel like this is not for the traditional bride who wants that ivory dress."

Price range: From $1,050 to $2,400+.

More details here.

ONE/OF by Patricia Voto

Looks from the One/Of by Patricia Voto wedding collection. Photo: Keryn Sweeney/Courtesy of Patricia Voto

View the 7 images of this gallery on the original article

For awhile now, Patricia Voto has been quietly supplying the Vogue set with bridal versions of her made-to-order pieces under her line, One/Of. (See: Allie Michler's Nantucket nuptial after-party dress and Lizzie Edelman's St. Tropez wedding wardrobe.) But now, Voto  an alum of Rosie Assoulin, Brock Collection and Gabriela Hearst  is officially launching bridal and furthering her mission of using globally- and ethically-sourced reclaimed fabrics.

"We've always been drawn to what's special and rare," Voto said in a press release. "There's nothing quite like coming to our Upper East Side atelier, discussing your dream and exploring these incredible textiles, sourced from faraway places  from old heritage brands, defunct fashion houses and European fashion mills. In so many ways, our ethos and approach was meant for bridal."

The debut collection, styled by Anny Choi and Brendan McEntee, is made-to-order to fit all sizes. It features French New Wave film-esque pieces, like a strapless white mini with a flowing veil, a black lace dress with a romantic oversize bow at the waistline and a dream of a marigold jacquard below-the-knee dress with a flouncy peplum, layered under a cropped tonal turtleneck.

"We like the idea of dressing the whole wedding party for the whole weekend," Voto said. "We're offering a new approach for the mother of the bride, the sister of the groom... not to mention the bride's after-party and brunch looks. It's a much more creative, intimate experience for this once-in-a-lifetime occasion."

Price range: Tops and bras $590+, skirts $990; dresses $1,290+; bespoke ready-to-wear $5,000+ and bespoke wedding dresses $10,000+.

More details here.

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Alabama is one of the states giving their voters the chance to amend the 13th Amendment: the exemption from slavery or involuntary servitude unless your are convicted of a crime. Ironically, the incarcerated individuals in the states prisons recently went on strike, refusing to do any of the free labor they were tasked with, per AL.com. However, their strike went beyond labor exhaustion and shined a light on the egregious, inhumane conditions theyve experienced.

According to the report, the inmates began their strike Sept. 26 as their relatives and local activists protested outside the offices of the Alabama Department of Corrections in Montgomery, demanding a change to their living conditions. At the Ventress Correctional Facility, Cordarius Caldwell, whos served 17 years of his 23-year sentence, gave The Root an exclusive look into the conditions that led them to strike.

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Cruel and Unusual Conditions

First, in the dormitory-style holding area, Caldwell said the space is severely overcrowded.

Its like 60 or so beds in here, so maybe 120 people but its more than that, probably 200. And you only have four toilets that 200 people have to use and maybe five sinks, one water fountain and two [shower] stalls, he said. Those facilities, he says, are infested with black mold. Also, everyones beds are right next to one another. With only two fans in the air, proper ventilation is nearly impossible.

On top of that, inmates protested their lack of proper feeding. Caldwell recalled being given raw meat and spoiled food across his three daily meals. However, after the strike, the facility made matters worse by implementing a holiday meal schedule (two cold meals a day) which the inmates took as retaliation for their refusal to work, per the Montgomery Advertiser.

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We knew we werent going to be fed right due to the protest. They were just feeding us peanut butter sandwiches or a piece of bread with cheese. Majority of the guys that just entered the prison system really didnt know how it was going to go. But we already knew that was going to be the consequence, said Caldwell.



The strike ceased Friday, October 14, after the inmates couldnt take another week of practically starving. A crowd of more than 200 activists and supporters stood outside the state capitol in solidarity with them.

A Living Death Sentence

Activist Sarah DeArmond, CEO of nonprofit Voiceless Behind Bars, said inmates are also subjected to violence due to the facility staff shortages and lack of security. DeArmond said the Alabama inmates she advocates funneled her information and evidence detailing incidents theyve witnessed.

When I first heard about [the strike] in September, I remember seeing these videos of inmates being beaten. I saw videos of a prisoner being beaten who was on suicide watch, said DeArmond. So, they all joined together and said No more. We cant do this bear-backing labor and well, youre beating us. And were finding out now, the repercussions of them going on strike were more beatings.

DeArmond said on the steps of the capitol that she heard the mother of Steven Davis, Sandy Ray, tell how her son was stomped to death by corrections officers three years ago. Yet, these individuals are essentially stuck facing senseless violence from officers and other inmates because they are constantly denied their chance to come home.

Diane Caldwell, Cordarius wife and an activist with Both Sides of the Wall, said her husbands parole was delayed for another five years in January - an issue spanning across all the state prisons. Cordarius has taken self-esteem classes, anger management classes and completed his GED, but to no avail.

They have a 98 percent denial rate. They are eligible for parole. Theyre coming up for parole. However, its not being granted to anyone. Even though the institutional parole officer comes in, assesses them and recommends that they are eligible for parole, once they go up in front of the parole board, theyre being denied, Diane Caldwell said. They have a living death sentence.

How convenient? Overcrowding the prisons, forcing them into free labor and denying them the chance to reenter society so they can funnel more money into the pockets of those benefitting from it. These incarcerated individuals quality of life right now (or lack thereof) is just what the 13th Amendment loophole was designed to do.

You know, people are confusing this with me saying criminals shouldnt be punished and I make clear more than once thats never what I said. I said they should be treated humanely. Just because youre a prisoner does not make you inhuman, said DeArmond.
Balenciaga is breaking off its relationship with Kanye West.

Parent company Kering confirmed to FN sister publication WWD that the French fashion house would no longer work with West, who know goes by Ye, following a series of controversial and anti-semitic statements from the rapper turned fashion designer.

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Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist, Kering told WWD.

Ye recently opened at the brands summer 2023 show during Paris Fashion Week while donning an all-black utilitarian outfit and a large canvas jacket covered in numerous pockets with a Security patch. Ye also partnered with Balenciaga artistic director Demna Gvasalia for the Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga collection which launched in February, coinciding with Yes Donda 2 album launch performance. Yes ex-wife Kim Kardashian has also appeared in campaigns for the brand.

FN has reached out to Ye and Kering for a comment.

The news marks the latest brand to part ways with Ye in recent months.

Adidas said earlier this month that it had put its Yeezy partnership under review, following weeks of comments from Ye accusing Adidas for copying his designs, not giving him enough control over his products and not opening up Yeezy stores, among other grievances.

The statement from Adidas came days after Yes controversial Yeezy SZN 9 fashion show, in which he was spotted wearing a black long-sleeved T-shirt with the words White Lives Matter emblazoned on the back. Following the show, he doubled down on his stance on Instagram despite widespread backlash and took particular heat for his social media bullying of Vogue fashion editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, who he later met with in Paris.

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The Yeezy brand in September said it was terminating its contract with Gap, accusing the apparel retailer of failing to fulfill certain contractual obligations, such as distributing Yeezy product in stores by the second half of 2021 and creating Yeezy Gap-branded stores.

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barilla pasta box

Does pasta taste better if its made in Italy? Some customers think so, and theyre willing to pay more for it. Thats why pasta manufacturer Barilla is currently embroiled in a class action lawsuit: CNN reports that customers are upset with Barillas slogan, Italys No. 1 brand of pasta, when the pasta (at least the stuff Americans purchase) isnt produced anywhere near Italy.

Where Barilla pasta is actually made

Barillas slogan, the lawsuit claims, is false advertising, and completely at odds with the fact that its pasta is manufactured in the United States. Its made in both Ames, Iowa, and Avon, New York, to be precise, as listed on Barillas own website. So that slogan does seem misleading, because its reasonable to believe youre purchasing something made in Italy. Barillas North American headquarters are in Northbrook, Illinois, which is close to where I grew up, not far from Chicago. Its not a suburb youd associate with the cuisine of Parma.

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On the other hand, Barilla includes information about where its manufactured on its website, presumably to get out ahead of customer complaints like these. The website also specifies that two Barilla products really are produced in Italy: the Tortellini and the Oven Ready Lasagne. A federal judge has allowed the lawsuit to proceed.

Details in the lawsuit against Barilla

Two Barilla customers, Matthew Sinatro and Jessica Prost, filed the lawsuit last year. Per CNN, the plaintiffs point out that the slogan, Italys No. 1 brand of pasta, is accompanied on the packaging by three stripes in the colors of the Italian flag (white, green, and red), further implying a direct connection to Italy. And while the boxes are also marked Made in the USA, Sinatro and Prost argue that the disclaimer isnt as prominent as the slogan and the stripes. Someone editing Barillas Wikipedia page must feel similarly duped, because the intro currently reads, Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A. is an Italian multinational food company. It is the worlds largest pasta producer. Barilla deceives customers into thinking the pasta is made in Italy.

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Barilla Wikipedia page

Barilla was indeed founded in Parma, Italy, by Pietro Barilla in 1877, and the company is still headquartered there today. Says Barilla on its website:



The Barilla family was very concerned about maintaining Barillas high quality standards in the new plant. Consequently, the machines used in our Ames and Avon plants are the same as used in our plant in Parma, Italy. The recipe and the wheat blend are the same as that used in Parma, Italy. Barilla purchases its wheat from around the world, ending up with the best wheat available.

So in order to maintain the consistency and quality of the American products, the US machines and recipes are identical to Italys, though any way you slice it, it doesnt sound like Barilla can boast the Italian-ness of the ingredients themselves.

Will Barilla have to pay up?

Let me use an analogy here, since Im Korean-American: Kimchi is a Korean food. Not all kimchi you buy at the store comes from Korea. In fact, plenty of kimchi is manufactured here in the States (like this brand, for example). Its a dish emblematic of our food and culture, and where its made doesnt make it any less authentic of a dish, in my mind. Yet some brands seem to deliberately obscure the fact that their kimchi is produced domestically, and they arent always forthcoming about who its made by (aka non-Koreans).

The issue is that a products country of origin carries more or less weight depending on the customer. And many are willing to pay handsomely for what they perceive as authenticity. Does pasta made in Italy taste better? Does kimchi made in America taste inferior? It doesnt matterthe customer simply shouldnt have to work too hard to find out what theyre really getting.

Whether you believe Barilla has done its due diligence in conveying its origin to customers is up to you. The fact that a judge is allowing the lawsuit to proceed, however, could impact labeling standards in the future.

If youd rather avoid this whole debacle entirely, here are some pointers for making your own pasta.





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Unique Kitchens & Baths/Stacy Goldberg

When a family moved into their home in Washington, D.C.s Capitol Hill neighborhood, they knew the interiors didnt reflect their style. Built in 1908, the Victorian home had been stripped of its original character and filled with trendy modern farmhouse elements that included rustic shiplap, says interior designer Sara Swabb of Storie Collective . With the help of Tanya Smith-Shiflett of Unique Kitchens & Baths and builder Cann Construction , the team gave it a loving and timeless refreshespecially in the primary bathroom.

Like much of the four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom home, the primary bathroom strikes a balance between modern and timeless. The most notable design feature is the tension between the strong metals of the plumbing fixtures and hardware balanced with the texture and movement of the vanity fluting and ethereal marble veining, Swabb says.

Smith-Shiflett designed the custom-fluted vanity vignette to bring the familys organic style to life and add personalized storage. The primary bathroom had builder-grade cabinetry, which did not hold up to the needs of the family, she says. The new vanity provides large personal drawers as well as a small centered shared storage solution.

Other upgrades include a large mirror made of four panels, which allows light to bounce throughout the room. Three traditional sconces were mounted on the mirrors to direct light where its needed. Burnished brass plumbing fixtures give the space a warm, welcoming feel. In the shower, theres a floating bench for seating, shelving for adequate storage, and a hand shower that the client requested. Now, the space is not only highly functional, but its elevated and more reflective of the Victorian row home's spirit with a modern twist.

Q & A

House Beautiful: How extensive was the project?

Sara Swabb: In this Victorian home on Capitol Hill, the interior had been gut renovated by a developer to match a modern farmhouse aesthetic which did not reflect our client or the intended style of the home. Our scope included a complete overhaul of the primary bathroom and powder room, a heavy kitchen refresh, along with new hardware, doors, paint, lighting, furnishings, and window treatments throughout the home. Our goal was to also elevate the homes architectural detailsincluding a new stair rail and original millworkwhile creating a feminine, sophisticated space for a family of five (plus one adorable furry friend).

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HB: What was the reason/inspiration for the makeover and how did you achieve it?

Tanya Smith-Shiflett: The homeowners had lived in England and California before settling with their three young children in Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. The inspiration was driven directly from their previous cities of residence through a mix of California bohemian and British-inspired colors and grounded in their homes Victorian-era roots. Our team struck a balance and toed the line between modern and edited yet inspired and detailed.

HB: Did you encounter any memorable hiccups, challenges, or surprises during the project? How did you pivot?

TSS: The burnished brass plumbing fixture finish from Waterworks was such a special feature in this design. The lead time was a little longer than desired due to the pandemic at the time; however, the right finish was truly worth the wait.

HB: Where did the majority of the budget go?

SS: The majority of the budget fell on the stone and tile, in both materials and labor costs.

HB: How did you save money/DIY/get crafty?

SS: While we originally envisioned one single mirror with hand-finished brass trim, it would have been too large to even get into the house. Instead, we decided to save a little money by doing four separate mirrors with beveled edges which turned out to be one of our favorite design details.

You love beautiful homes. So do we. Lets obsess over them together.

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The head of voting systems company Dominion says unfounded allegations of voter fraud leveled against his company by former President Trump and his allies since 2020 have put people into harms way.

People have been put into danger, Dominion CEO John Poulos told 60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper during an interview set to air this weekend, all because of lies.

Pouloss sit-down with CBS News comes as Dominion has taken legal action against a number of Trumps associates and media companies, arguing they knowingly promoted or broadcast false information about the company.

One of Trumps closest allies after the 2020 election, attorney Sidney Powell, falsely claimed in media appearances and other public statements that Dominion and other voting systems companies were engaged in fraud linked to voting machines, mail-in ballots and former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

A federal judge in September dismissed a countersuit filed by Powell as the voting machine company pursues a $1.3 billion defamation claim against her.

Were you associated with the late Hugo Chavez? Cooper asks Poulos during their interview.

Absolutely not, he responded.

Do you use a Venezuelan companys software thats been used to steal elections in other countries? Cooper asked.

Absolutely not, Poulos said, adding, I can cut all of this short. We were founded in Toronto, which is where my family was from. And theres nothing to do with Venezuela.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A mural featuring a portrait of civil rights icon Emmett Till looks out from an abandoned building front as volunteers gather nearby with family members of Tamiko Talbert-Fleming after passing out flyers in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood seeking information about her murder on January 19, 2022, in Chicago, Illinois.

The small town of Greenwood, Miss., will reveal a nine-foot statue of Emmett Till today while also having an extensive confederate monument, the Associated Press reports. This is more than fifty years after two white men kidnapped and lynched the Black teenager for whistling at a white woman.

Greenwood and Leflore County both have a population thats 70% Black. Officials have worked for years to bring the Till statue to fruition. Democratic state Sen. David Jordan of Greenwood secured $150,000 in state funding. The community also commissioned Utah artist Matt Glenn to create the statue. Jordan hopes the statue will increase tourism in Greenwood and learn more about the areas history.

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So much has been said about this case, Jordan said this week. Hopefully, it will bring all of us together.

Tills statue at Greenwoods Rail Spike Park will be a short drive from an elaborate Confederate monument outside the Leflore County Courthouse. It will also be ten miles away from the remains of the store, Bryants Grocery & Meat Market, where the whistling incident took place.

There is also a life-sized statue of Mamie Till-Mobley, Emmetts mother, planned in the Chicago suburb of Summit. An Oct. 28 groundbreaking is set for a plaza outside Argo Community High School, where she was an honor student. The statue is scheduled to be in place by late April.

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Photo: ,Kent Nishimura, MEGA (Getty Images)

A new report suggests Johnny Depps prized defender, Camille Vasquez, has found herself a new polarizing celebrity to defend. And here I was worried where her next meal was coming from...



According to TMZ, Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, has hired Vasquez and her firm, Brown Rudnickthe one who secured Johnny Depps victory in the defamation trial from hellto represent him in any forthcoming business interests aka contracts, deals, and (probable) lawsuits. Following Wests multiple antisemitic rants earlier this month, Balenciaga severed ties with the rapper on Friday, and Adidas recently announced its partnership with him is under reviewso those suits might be filed sooner rather than later.



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It doesnt appear that Vasquez will have anything to do with Wests ongoing, often disturbingly public fight with his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, over custody of their four children. Hes already gone through at least five attorneys on that matter.

When contacted by TMZ, Vasquezs repyou read that correctly, an attorney has a representativedid not comment on her new client. I do, however, imagine that somewhere Johnny Depp is weeping off his eyeliner into a filthy bandana.

Its been a busy time for Vasquez since she helped prove, legally, that Depp is not an abuser. Shes attended a few of her former clients gigs, given interviews insisting Amber Heards abuse accusations were not a part of Me Too, and dined out with good friend Mario Lopez. It goes without saying that shell soon have her hands full with West, who continues to spread disinformation about George Floyd, make antisemitic statements and, of course, clothe Skid Rows homeless population in White Lives Matter t-shirts with the aid of an accused rapist.

Vasquez clearly has a knack for defending Hollywoods most problematic elites. At least she can soothe herself in the knowledge that shes getting filthy richand a new pair of Yeezysin the process. Whos next for Vasquez? Marilyn Manson?

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American grandmaster Hans Niemann filed a $100m lawsuit yesterday against world champion Magnus Carlsen, rival Hikaru Nakamura and the website chess.com, all of whom have accused him of cheating. "My lawsuit speaks for itself," Niemann writes, linking to it. Here's the docket.

Niemann also states that the actions of the defendants have caused "devastating damages," and that since Carlsen made the initial cheating allegations after the pair met at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis on September 4, Niemann has had invitations to prestigious tournaments and matches revoked.

When Carlsen made his insinuationsimmediately made explicit by NakamuraI remember thinking it seemed blatantly libelous. I asked a lawyer friend and he remarked that they strayed way into "statements of fact" and in that context all their "we shouldn't be saying this" jocularity made it worse. The working hypotheses I had:

(1) Geek Social Fallacy. They knew they could accuse, without any proof or even credible evidence, because elite Chess is basically a club and the whole point of being involved in elite Chess is to be in the club, and Niemann could get in as a reformed cheat but would never get in if he sued.

(2) Engineers' Syndrome. Chess guys assume they know everything in the same way that engineers and dentists do, and this party was always doomed to be crashed by real lawyers once the amateurs opened their mouths.

When Carlson all but had Niemann removed from the "club" by making clear he'd never play in any tournament which invited him, I figured that season 2 of the Carlsen-Niemann drama would indeed involve a lot of paperwork and mahogany.

UPDATE: Akiva Goldman reviews the lawsuit on Twitterhis thread is ongoing. To summarize: there are serious problems with the suit in terms of jurisdiction (it was filed in Missouri) and it failing to grasp the precision required for public figure defamation claims. Including Nakamura, a commentator, seems to be a blunder. Magnus might be in trouble, though, if he didn't really believe what he was saying. Chess.com is in more trouble because of its extensive published analysis/denunciation of Niemann, which Goldman writes "cannot possibly have been run through a lawyer familiar with defamation law."
This article originally appeared on Velo News

Spanish veteran Luis Leon Sanchez returns to Astana Qazaqstan after just one year away from the Kazakh crew.

Astana confirmed Friday that Sanchez, 38, will be back for 2023 as it strengthens around Miguel Angel Lopez. The Spanish climbing domestique rode with Alexandr Vinokourovs squad from 2015-21 before he switched to Bahrain-Victorious for 2022.

"I am incredibly happy to return to the Astana team, in fact, to return home. I have great feelings, having signed a contract with the team again, for me it is a great joy and a huge motivation, Sanchez said.

I want to thank Alexandr Vinokurov and the entire management for this opportunity. It happened that at the end of the last year we had to part ways, but I used this season as productively as possible, I worked hard, gained new experience, tried to improve professionally."

Sanchez rode through 28 grand tours and scored four Tour de France stage victories in his 20-year career.

The Spaniard, who turns 39 next month, helped Astana top the Vuelta a Espana podium with Fabio Aru in 2015. He will likely captain Lopezs climbing core in 2023 as it refocuses after the retirement of Vincenzo Nibali.

"We all know Luis Leon Sanchez very well; we know his strengths and capabilities. He is a great team rider, a great assistant and a true professional. It was a pity to lose such a reliable rider last year, but that's how the circumstances turned out. And now, I am very happy that there is an opportunity to invite him back to the team, to sign a contract with him, Vinokourov said.

You can rely on Sanchez in any race, you can be sure that he will give 100 percent for the sake of achieving team goals. Therefore, I can only add welcome home, Luis Leon."

Bahrain-Victorious said goodbye to three other riders this week.

Slovenian duo Jan Tratnik and Domen Novak go to Jumbo-Visma and UAE Emirates respectively in previously announced transfers. Tour de Suisse stage winner Stephen Williams does not yet have a home for 2023 but has been linked to B&B.

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The country is one of the last in Europe to drop COVID-19 restrictions for travelers.

Carlos Lujan/Europa Press via Getty Images

Spain dropped all COVID-19-related entry rules on Friday, becoming one of the last European countries to do so.

Going forward, Spain will no longer require travelers from outside the European Union to show proof of vaccination, a negative test, or proof of recovery to enter, according to the government. That puts Spain in line with nearly every other country in Europe that has dropped pandemic-era travel restrictions.

Previously, Spain required travelers 12 and older to show proof of vaccination, proof of a negative COVID-19 test, or proof they contracted COVID-19 and recovered within six months. In September the Spanish government dropped the requirement for travelers to present a health control form upon arrival.

Once the acute phase of the pandemic has been overcome, surveillance and control measures have been updated at the national level justified, in large part, by the high levels of immunization achieved in the Spanish population and in neighboring countries, which have led to a significant decrease in severe cases and mortality from SARS-CoV-2, the government wrote in an advisory.

The new rules mirror those of several other EU countries that have done away with pandemic-era entry rules altogether, like Italy, France, Germany, Iceland, and Ireland.

The relaxed restrictions come on the tail end of Spains busiest tourism season: summer and early fall. Over 8.5 million international visitors traveled to Spain in September, an increase of over 87% compared to September 2019, according to SchengenVisa.

Beyond the EU, several other countries have dropped travel restrictions, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Earlier this month Japan relaxed many of its COVID-19 restrictions and began to allow international travelers back into the country, although travelers are still required to be triple vaccinated and provide a negative test.

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In the United States, however, while pre-arrival testing rules were eliminated in June, international travelers are still required to show proof of being fully vaccinated before boarding a flight to the country.

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WhistlePigs annual Boss Hog release keeps getting weirder and weirder, but ultimately thats a good thing for people who are interested in whiskey innovation. The cask finish on this high-priced, instant collectors item rye whiskey changes from year to year, and the 2022 edition might just be the most unusual yet.

A few years ago, I might have said the same thing about WhistlePigs Boss Hog VII: Magellans Atlantic, which was finished in Spanish oak and South American teakwood. Two years later, Boss Hog IX: Sirens Song has arrived, a single-barrel, sourced rye whiskey that brings that previous oddity to mind as far as flavor, and it both confounds and satisfies. The whiskey represents a journey from Canada (where it was distilled) to Vermont (where the WhistlePig farm and distillery is located) to Greece (which inspired the cask finishes employed). That last step is quite unusualthe whiskey was finished in barrels seasoned with Greek fig nectar and Tentura, a Greek-style liqueur that was made onsite, for one week each.

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According to head blender Meghan Ireland and head of whiskey development Liz Rhoades, the Greek nectar used to season a barrel was similar to a concentrate, a non-barrel-aged syrup made from Greek figs. They came up with the Tentura recipe based on studying that tradition in its homeland. This included making our own Farm-ily recipehence farm-scratch,' the two told Robb Report. Keeping with the theme, we used a combo of both Grecian and local ingredientsfor example Tsipouro (a Greek brandy as a nod to Greece) and Vermontian honey for our Tentura. We considered how each finish would interact, complement and glorify the rye whiskey.

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But no matter the story and maturation methods, it all comes down to the taste, and this whiskey teeters towards losing its intrinsic rye whiskey character but thankfully stops just short. Is this an everyday sipper? Certainly not, but its a fascinating whiskey just the same. On the nose, there are big notes of baked cinnamon rolls, incense, sweet vanilla and nutmeg. The palate explodes with sweet honey, nectar, fig syrup, vanilla custard and loads and loads of baking spices. Theres nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, allspice, et al. throughout every sip. Finally, the rye character pops through on the finish with black pepper and dried fruit, some oak and plum.

This is a bold, brash and borderline beautiful whiskey, but perhaps the cask finish has gone just a tad overboard. On the other hand, maybe thats the point. The women in charge of this release seem to have pondered this as well. In some ways cask finishing has jumped the shark, with nearly every type of wine cask finish out there, as well as finishing and blending across spirits, they said. Were here to take an old, tradition-based category into the future, so we are always trialing things that havent been done before. . .The fig nectar was our first food-based or non-alcoholic finish for The Boss Hog. Creating the finishes here on the farm is another first. We dont believe there are any limits on what we do with Boss Hog.

There may not be limits on what can be done with this whiskey, but there might be a limit on how much we, the whiskey drinking public, are willing to spend on a bottle. Boss Hog is priced at $500, but lets be realthese bottles sell for twice, triple, quadruple that on the secondary market. If youre a dedicated collector and ride-or-die WhistlePig fan, go forth and seek this out. But if youre more of a casual acquaintance, stick to the core lineup.

Score: 88

What Our Score Means

100: Worth trading your first born for

95  99 In the Pantheon: A trophy for the cabinet

90  94 Great: An excited nod from friends when you pour them a dram

85  89 Very Good: Delicious enough to buy, but not quite special enough to chase on the secondary market

80  84 Good: More of your everyday drinker, solid and reliable

Below 80 Its alright: Honestly, we probably wont waste your time and ours with this

Every week Jonah Flicker tastes the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Friday for his latest review

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Admitting that you were wrong about something can be difficult, especially when you went all in on something that turned out to be completely untrue.

Columbia Pictures Television / Via media.giphy.com

Reddit user u/SzyMeX335 recently asked , "What is the dumbest thing people actually thought is real?" And I'm willing to bet that you thought at least one of these things was true when you first heard it:

1. "I was told a great story by a friend who attended a town meeting addressing the locals' 5G mast concerns. In attendance was a representative from the network company. A selection of people was permitted to take the mic and rant for hours about how they'd all been getting headaches, feeling more low than usual, flowers had been wilting, their dog wasn't himself, and all manner of things blamed on 5G. Several hours later after everyone had their say and the crowd of hundreds had been whipped into a fever the company representative had his turn to speak and simply said 'Thank you, everyone, for your comments, but we haven't turned it on yet.'"

u/IndividualDot9604

2. "When we went to see The Martian in theaters, at the end some woman behind us told her friend, 'I cant believe I missed this. When did this happen?'"

u/amccutchan14 20thcentfox / 20th Century Fox Licensing/Merchandising / Everett Collection

3. everywhere. The idea was that agriculture would bring rain and make farming super easy. Supposedly, when grasslands were turned into cultivated fields, the soil would release moisture into the air. Then human activity like factories or trains would make vibrations that formed rain clouds. Eventually, the idea expanded to "'The rain follows the plow.' In the 1800s American West, this phrase was. The idea was that agriculture would bring rain and make farming super easy. Supposedly, when grasslands were turned into cultivated fields, the soil would release moisture into the air. Then human activity like factories or trains would make vibrations that formed rain clouds. Eventually, the idea expanded to straight-up bombing the air with dynamite on kites ."

u/Puzzleworth

4. "There was a fake advertisement for Apple phones getting the capability to charge via microwaving. A bunch of people put their iPhones in their microwaves and fried them."

u/theskepticalpizza Valeriy Ermakov / Getty Images/iStockphoto

5. "I have come across young people who have never heard of the Titanic and that it was a real ship that did sink and wasn't just a movie."

u/snowvase

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u/mobyhead1 In 1957, the BBC aired a hoax broadcast of a family in Switzerland harvesting Spaghetti from a "spaghetti tree." The program was broadcast as a joke for April Fool's day, but because spaghetti was a relatively unknown food in the UK, many of the viewers who watched the program took it as fact and even called in to inquire where they could get their own spaghetti tree for harvesting. BBC

7. "That if you ask an undercover cop if theyre a cop theyre required to answer honestly."

u/J-Dizzle42

8. "DARE and Nancy Reagan made me believe that I would be approached by drug dealers with free samples more frequently than has actually happened."

u/JustinBrn82

9. "I thought it was illegal to keep the lights on in the car until I was like 14. My parents are liars."

u/Practical_Past1626

10. "I remember, like, 10 years ago, Animal Planet put out a fake documentary on mermaids. It was complete fiction but so many people took it for a real documentary and believed it for a long time."

u/amahler03 Animal Planet

11. "Most people were probably too young to remember this, but there was a huge portion of the population that thought The Blair Witch Project was real."

u/IHaveFoodOnMyChin

12. "My mom thought Alaska was an island just like Hawaii since its always pictured next to it on maps. She spent 45 years of her life believing this before I corrected her."

u/Catuck23

13. "That one shark week where they made a movie about a Megalodon. Half the people I talked to thought it was a documentary."

u/Xytakis

14. "Way back Google released something called Google Nose . They claimed that the program allowed you to smell anything you put on screen. My dumbass had my nose way up in the monitor like a sniffer dog searching for drugs until I got close enough to the bottom of the screen and saw the date. April 1st."

u/Robin_van_Batman

15. "That Mr. Rogers was a former sniper. (Yes, Im old) I also vaguely recall when people thought daycare centers were a front for satanic child abduction ."

u/malona1 Fotos International / Getty Images
TikTok said it does not collect precise GPS location information from users in the US, which means it cannot be used to monitor people "in the way [Forbes] suggested." The app's communications team has tweeted that in response to a Forbes article claiming that a China-based team from its parent company, ByteDance, had planned to use the app to track "the personal location of some specific American citizens." It's unclear if information about those individuals had actually been collected.

Forbes reported that the team behind the monitoring project is part of ByteDance's Internal Audit and Risk Control department. The division is typically in charge of looking into potential misconduct by current and former company employees. But the publication said that the group intended to use TikTok to collect data about the location of a US citizen that had never been employed by the company in at least two cases.

TikTok has fired back against the publication's allegations, accusing Forbes of omitting the part of its statement where it said that it doesn't collect precise GPS location. That portion "disproved the feasibility of [the piece's] core allegation," it explained. In addition, TikTok stressed that it has never been used to target members of the US government, public figures, activists and journalists and that it doesn't serve them content different from other users. In its report, Forbes wrote that TikTok "did not answer questions" about whether the internal audit team at ByteDance targeted members of those groups.

2/ Specifically, Forbes chose not to include the portion of our statement that disproved the feasibility of its core allegation: TikTok does not collect precise GPS location information from US users, meaning TikTok could not monitor US users in the way the article suggested.  TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) October 20, 2022

As Forbes notes, TikTok previously made promises to American authorities and lawmakers in an effort to assuage their concerns that China could use the app against US citizens. In June, TikTok announced that it "changed the default storage location of US user data" to "Oracle cloud servers located in the US." The service made the announcement just as BuzzFeed News published a report about China-based ByteDance employees repeatedly accessing nonpublic data on TikTok users in the US. That report was based on hours of internal meetings that were leaked to the publication.

A couple of weeks later, TikTok detailed its plans on how to ensure the security of US users' data in a letter sent to to lawmakers. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew assured them that the company will "delete US users' protected data from [its] own systems and fully pivot to Oracle cloud servers located in the US." Forbes talked to an Oracle spokesperson who said that while TikTok is currently using its cloud services, Oracle has no insight on what it's doing and that the service still has full control of all its information.

EDIT 10/22/22 3PM ET: Forbes told us that the publication stands by its reporting. The article's writer, Emily Baker-White, replied to TikTok's response on Twitter, saying that "[n]ot using GPS does not mean [the ByteDance team] could not use that [approximate] location to monitor certain individuals."
Photo: Toyota

We really do live in wild times. I mean, Toyota sells a 300-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Corolla. If you know someone who saw that one coming a decade ago, you should probably start letting them pick your lotto numbers. But if you live in Canada, the story gets even wilder. In order to buy the track-focused GR Corolla Morizo Edition, Toyota requires you fill out an application first.

Toyota Canada recently confirmed that news to Carscoops, but didnt provide further comment. If being forced to apply for approval to buy a track-focused car sounds familiar to you, its because Ford did the exact same thing with the new GT. Mid-engine supercar. Toyota Corolla. Basically the same, right?

Read more

Whats even more unexpected is that, at least for now, the Morizo Edition will probably be even more exclusive than the Ford GT was. Toyota Canada also confirmed it will only get nine Morizos. Its possible that Toyota could change its mind in the future, but currently, I have more fingers than Canada will have Morizos.

In a way, it makes sense that Toyota would want to make sure the handful of GR Corolla Morizos go to buyers who will actually drive them instead of parking them in a storage facility to sell on Bring a Trailer in 10 years (or less) for a big profit. But its also understandable that even if youre one of those people, it would be beyond frustrating to have to jump through a hoop and then cross your fingers hoping someone at Toyota decides to allow you to give them your money.

So what does the application ask for? If you head to Toyota Canadas website, you can see the survey here. After providing your basic contact information, things get serious fast. Section 2 wants links to all of your social media accounts. And I mean all of them.

Screenshot: Toyota Canada

Im not sure thats an actual red flag, but its definitely going to raise some eyebrows and be the focus of most of the complaints. You might get passed over just because you dont have enough followers? What if youre too busy driving to make TikToks? Are these cars all going to go to rich influencers with the time to be on social media all day?

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The good news is, the next section makes it clear that this isnt purely a social media contest, and youre not automatically out of luck if youre not... (Googles Canadas biggest TikTok star)... Kris HC?

Screenshot: Toyota Canada

Yeah, theyre definitely looking for Toyota enthusiasts with significant track experience.

Screenshot: Toyota Canada

They even specifically ask whether or not you plan to treat your Morizo like its a Faberge egg.

Screenshot: Toyota Canada

That last question, though. Man. Things were going so well. With so few cars available, you get the feeling that not wanting to be used in unpaid advertisements is going to get your application tossed in the trash. Thankfully, if you dig into the contest rules, Toyotas a little more clear on how its going to judge applications.

Screenshot: Toyota Canada

Interestingly, social media influence isnt listed. But who even knows what Toyota GR Corolla and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing values means. Are we talking, Be the kind of person who wont drunkenly drive your Morizo into a group of school children, or, Be the kind of person who will only say positive things about the car to your millions of followers?

I guess well find out when Canadas nine lucky winners eventually receive their Morizos.

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(AP)

Former president Donald Trump has told the New York judge overseeing a review of documents seized from his Florida property that 15 documents pertaining to pardon requests and immigration policy matters belong to him and should be treated as personal records.

Per a review of the court filings by The Independent, most of the documents at issue pertain to clemency requests made when Mr Trump was still president and had the authority to grant pardons for federal crimes. Two of them are related to his former administrations immigration policy, and another is a letter from someone who worked at a US service academy.

Mr Trumps claim of ownership over what would ordinarily be considered government property was revealed in a Department of Justice letter to Judge Raymond Dearie. Mr Dearie is the special master appointed to supervise disputes over whether records seized in the 8 August search of Mr Trumps Mar-a-Lago home and office can be used in a criminal case by the government.

Citing a 2012 case in which a court found that personal audio diaries recorded by former president Bill Clinton were not presidential records, Mr Trump believes this gives him authority to declare any record created during his presidency to be his personal property.

But the Justice Department, per the court filings, said it rejects his line of reasoning, arguing that the case does not prove that any of the nine documents were [r]ecord[s] designated [as] personal consistent with the Presidential Records Act.

Neither the district court ... nor any other court has suggested that otherwise Presidential records may be rendered personal by fiat. Nor has any court held that Nara would be without authority or recourse if a President were to designate records that are plainly official government documents as personal records, prosecutors said. More fundamentally, Plaintiff  who bears the burden of proof  offers no evidence that he in fact designated those nine documents as personal records during his term in office. As a result, Plaintiff fails to make even a prima facie case that [the] documents are personal records.

The government also scoffed at Mr Trumps argument that he can claim executive privilege over documents he also wants to be deemed personal.

Only official records are subject to assertions of Executive Privilege, they said, adding that even if he were able to claim the privilege over the documents, the government could overcome the claim because they are investigating a crime and require access to the records.
Ukraine appears poised to deliver another crucial blow to Russian President Vladimir Putins war effort with a counteroffensive to take back Kherson, which was the first major Ukrainian city seized by Russia after its invasion in February.

Ukraine has blacked out all media on its operations around the southern city this week, as it did ahead of a successful counteroffensive in the northeast last month. Experts studying the war said all signs point to a major offensive in the coming days, with Russia already signaling its potential retreat.

Ukrainian victory in Kherson, which is the only regional capital that has been captured by Russian forces, could set the direction of the rest of the war, said John Spencer, chairman of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point.

Strategically, operationally and tactically, itll send a signal that Russia cant hold ground in Ukraine, and the path to victory for Ukraine is pretty much assured. The timelines still in question, but the path to victory is pretty assured, he said.

Russia has sent nearly 30,000 troops to Kherson in an attempt to reinforce its positions; however, Ukraine has reportedly reclaimed dozens of settlements in the region and has been increasing its air strikes on Russian defense systems, suggesting a combined ground and air assault coming soon, Spencer said.

With no information coming from the Ukrainian side, war observers have been left interpreting radar and signals from the Kremlin, which appears to be shaping the information space to prepare the Russian population for military defeat in Kherson, said George Barros, a Russia and Ukraine analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.

Gen. Sergey Surovikin, the newly installed commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, this week said difficult decisions may be necessary in Kherson, adding: We will be guided by the need to preserve the lives of the civilian population and our military personnel as much as possible.

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Barros said that does not mean Russia will give up the city without a fight, but rather that it is preparing for possible defeat, after its losses in Kharkiv last month seemed to stun many pundits and the Russian public.

The U.K.s Defense Ministry said Thursday that Surovikins announcement likely indicates that the Russian authorities are seriously considering a major withdrawal of their forces from the area west of the Dnipro river.

And American officials told The New York Times that sustained Ukrainian pressure in the coming weeks could break Russian units and clear the way to seizing Kherson.

Putin also announced martial law in annexed regions of Ukraine this week, creating a veneer of legal legitimacy for efforts by occupying officials to evacuate Kherson. Those officials said Thursday that 15,000 Ukrainians had already been evacuated, with plans to send some 60,000 people to Russia in the coming days.

Even a withdrawal of Russias 30,000 troops would not be easy. Ukraine has largely destroyed the main bridges crossing the Dnieper River around Kherson, leaving Russians only a pontoon bridge and an earthen crossing at the key Kakhovka dam to move forces and equipment across the river.

Branislav Slantchev, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, said Ukraine appears to be allowing Russian troops to leave, either to avoid casualties or because Ukrainian commanders are not confident they can take on the current Russian forces.

Russian officials have also been warning locals that Ukraine is planning to blow up the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant, which Slantchev and others see as laying the groundwork for a false flag operation, in which Russia will destroy the dam after retreating across it, flooding densely populated areas along the riverbank in a foot or more of water.

And then theyre going to start shelling this entire area from the other bank, Slantchev said of Russian forces. Thats a bit of a problem because they actually can reach it  and it will not be easy for Ukrainians to push them out until they figure out a way to cross the river themselves.

However, Ukrainian victory in Kherson is not a fait accompli. Russian officials have said they are not giving up the city, but merely moving out civilians ahead of the battle to come.

It should be remembered that if the Kremlin decides to defend Kherson and turn it into a fortress, the Ukrainian forces may give up their capture for fear of suffering heavy losses during the fighting in the city, said Piotr Zochowski, a senior fellow at the Warsaw-based OSW Centre for Eastern Studies.

Zochowski added that Kherson remains of great military importance to Russia, and losing it would jeopardize a crucial land connection between occupied Crimea and Russia.

Barros called the north bank of the Dnieper extremely strategically important territory, and said Ukraine failing to oust Russian troops could allow them to continue ground operations in right bank Ukraine, which includes the crucial port city of Odessa, a little more than 200 km (124 miles) away from Kherson.

Russias military victories so far have been contained in the east of the country, where it has now annexed four occupied regions including Kherson, though Russian missiles have hit targets across the country.

Kherson is not the only battle raging in Ukraine ahead of the winter. Fighting continues in towns in the northeast, where Ukraine surprised the world with its rout of Russian forces last month.

And Russia is also waging a furious assault on Bakhmut, an eastern city in the Donetsk, where the private Wagner forces are said to be making some gains with pounding artillery attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the weekend called the fighting in Bakhmut the most difficult in the country.

If Ukraine loses Bakhmut, it could allow Russia to advance to other key cities in Donetsk, which is among the regions annexed by Moscow.

Zochowski said the Russian Ministry of Defense has told forces to capture Bakhmut by the end of October, which would deliver a win that could help offset a loss in Kherson.

Slantchev said Russian control of Bakhmut would threaten all of the territories in the north that Ukraine has recently liberated.

With this kind of war there is always back and forth, he said. People always want to say so now theres momentum and now its going to end this way. But it never quite works out that way.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Spatchcock Smoked Turkey

Photographer: Antonis Achilleos, Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke Food Stylist: Rishon Hanners

After several years of pandemic separations, this Thanksgiving promises to be epic for get-togethers. So you might be thinking about preparing now.

But if you've ever cooked a Thanksgiving mealand most of us have, of coursethen you know how frustrating it can be to prepare ahead of time, given that supermarkets like to mostly showcase seasonal items.

But there are some elements you can decide on now and then buy products accordingly.

In fact, "I think that one of the most important steps in pre-planning your Thanksgiving meal is menu planning. Deciding exactly what you want to serve, choosing recipes, organizing prep lists and shopping lists can save a lot of time and frustration in your kitchen," says Alex Herrell, executive chef of Virgin Hotels New Orleans. "You can buy non-perishables ahead of the holiday shopping rush that will save time and possibly save you money as well."

To that end, think about how you will prepare your turkey this year: Deep-frying? Smoking? Or good old-fashioned roasting? While most markets won't stock birds until a few weeks before the big day, you can even get some practice inif you're going for a new methodby ordering a whole turkey or turkey breast in advance.

Even if you don't want or need a rehearsal, pitmaster Erica Blaire Roby, season 2 winner of Food Network's "BBQ Brawl," says, "Now is the time to preorder your turkey or be placed on the waitlist at your favorite farm or store. You will have peace of mind, knowing you won't be playing 'Thanksgiving Ninja' in the poultry aisle against all the other last-minute shoppers!"

You can also order a heritage or free-range bird from any number of mail-order or delivery services to save yourself an extra trip to a store, farm or butcher.

In addition to the main protein, here's what to buy now to get ahead.

Deep-Frying

Every year, you watch those YouTube videos of people deep-frying gorgeous golden-skinned turkeys and think, Wow, that looks delicious!

Story continues

Or maybe you watch the disaster videos where the whole thing erupts into flames and think, Wow, that looks dangerous! Either way, you're tempted to do it this year because hey, fried turkey is hands-down the most tender bird you've ever had.

If you don't have one, now is the time to order a turkey fryer kit. This comprises a burner with a gas gauge, a large pot, and a couple of important accessories like a poultry stand, a hook for pulling it out, a glove to keep yourself from being burned, an injector for marinating it, a deep-fry thermometer and more.

Don't skimp; go for the best version of this kit, and put it together well before the big day. You'll need to test the hose for the gas connection to make sure there are no leaks. You'll also want to make sure that you understand the instructions.

If you do have one, get it out of the garage or shed, clean it off and test the connections. You want to make sure it's in working order.

Jacqueline Kleis, executive chef for Wild Fork, also recommends scouting your outdoor cooking area to make sure it's suitable for deep-frying. "Plan the open space and stable ground where you will place the deep-fryer. Those YouTube videos? They're mostly user error for various reasons, but one of them is unstable ground. Another is overflowing oil.

Finally, get oil you'll need nowmost fryers prefer peanut oilbefore there's a run on it. Roby suggests getting extra to have on hand just in case. "You should buy your cooking fuel/heat sources early and have extra for unforeseen eventsi.e. spilling oil, broken fryer parts," she says. "This also gives you an early vision of what your prep station and day of cooking will need."

If you don't use them, you can keep them until next year. "I tend to buy my Thanksgiving decorations and various supplies the week after Thanksgiving (because most are on discount) and store them until the upcoming year!" Roby admits.

Smoking

As with a deep fryer, "Buy your barbeque smoker now," Roby recommends. "You want to have time to practice and season the inside before the big day! Pellet smokers produce amazing turkey and sides for the big day."

You don't necessarily have to get a pellet smoker as there are many varieties on the market. But whatever kind you do buy, make sure to follow through with the right kind of fuel: pellets, wood chips, or charcoal. You also might want to buy smoking salts or a rub. If you make a rub ahead of time, keep it in the freezer for freshness.

Again, Kreis recommends a reconnaissance of your outdoor cooking space for the best possible placement of a smoker for safety reasons. And she also suggests buying a smoking rack, if you don't already have one, along with a large heavy fork, carving knife, and thermometer. Try using a thermocouple thermometer with immersion probes for the best possible reading of both internal bird temperature and smoker temperature. Many of these are smart thermometers that connect to your phone so that you can scan and adjust from the comfort of your living room or kitchen.

Roasting

Should you choose to go the traditional route, Kleis advises buying "a roasting pan at least three inches deep with a removable rack." Here are the dimensions she recommends per poundage:

8-10 pounds (small) 10" x 14" x 3"

12-14 pounds (medium 16" x 10" x 3"

14 pounds and up (large) 18" x 12" x 4"

In addition, test your thermometer to make sure it's working. (Use the ice test. Put ice in a glass of water, let it sit 5 minutes, then put in the thermometer. It should read 32F. If it doesn't, the thermometer isn't reading temperatures properly.)

If not, invest in a new one, along with heavy-duty aluminum foil to cover the top of the bird. You'll also want a baster and basting ingredients, such as broth.

Sides

At this time, you can also purchase any boxed, bottled, or canned goods that you know you'll require for the gravy, stuffing, and sides ranging from bone broth to your favorite brand of stuffing croutons to jellied cranberry sauce. And, of course, the fried onions and cream of mushroom soup for the green bean casserole, because you know no matter how you prepare your turkey, it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it.
Netflix - Netflix



"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below."

Netflixs hit reality show's Love Is Blind just dropped the first four episodes of its third season, and people are understandably bugging out. The intrigue is endless, from "who gets engaged?" to deep-dives into contestants' IGs, the people can't get enough.

The show, in case youre not familiar with it, follows 30 singles (this season, in Dallas) as they enter pods to talk and fall in love through a wall. People end up falling in love and deciding to get engaged, sight-unseen. The couples then head out into the real world to try to make things work. Theyre given a few weeks to decide if they want to actually get married.

One season 3 favorite is a 26-year-old ballet dancer, Colleen Reed, who couples up with Matt Bolton, a private charter sales executive.

Im a ballet dancer so Im very flexible and limber, Colleen tells the men she "meets" in the pods, stirring up quite a lot of intrigue. Contestant Brennon Lemieux responds that ballet is very physically extensive. You gotta have your body in good shape. And Cole Barnett is also very interested in his potential S.O.'s career. Clearly, the people she meets on the show have a lot of questions, so it makes sense that you might, too. It's not every day you meet a real ballerina!

Heres everything to know about Colleen's career:

Shes been dancing from a young age.

Colleen, who is originally from Easton, Pennsylvania, started dancing as a kid and pretty much never stopped, according to the Ballet North Texas company. She trained at the Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and did summer intensives at The Rock School in Philadelphia, Boston Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Carolina Ballet, and Nashville Ballet.

Basically, Colleen has been really, really into ballet for a long time.

She trained in college.

After high school, Colleen went to the University of Oklahoma, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations, the Ballet North Texas site says.

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She went on to dance professionally in Texas.

After her college graduation in 2018, Colleen started dancing professionally with Ballet Frontier in Fort Worth under the direction of Chung-Lin Tseng, a former figure skater-turned-ballet dancer and choreographer.

Colleen has performed in several big-name productions.

This gal isnt just hanging in the background at work. Shes had some big roles, including several parts in The Nutcracker. Shes also performed in productions like Mizrah and Night on the Trinity, Ballet North Texas says.

She now dances for Ballet North Texas.

Colleen is in her third season with Ballet North Texas, according to the company website. Its a pretty small companyjust 10 dancers and seven trainees, so you better believe Colleen is getting plenty of stage time.

Shes also a PR strategist.

It doesnt seem like dancing is Colleens full-time job. She also works as a senior digital PR strategist for Fractl, a company shes worked for since 2019, according to LinkedIn.

Her headshot is also on the companys list of leadership members.

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I was lucky enough to live in Athens, Georgia in the late 1990s, a town known for its indie music scene. The late 90s were a heyday in Athens for bands that were part of the Elephant 6 Recording Company and CollectiveNeutral Milk Hotel, Elf Power, of Montreal, and more. If you're a fan of any of those bands, or of the Athens music scene in general, you'll want to check out this trailer for a new documentary that traces the history of the Collective and explores the experiences of the folks involved. The website for the documentarywhich is titled The Elephant 6 Recording Co.explains:

A documentary feature film about the Elephant 6 Recording Company & collective: the Olivia Tremor Control, the Apples In Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, Elf Power, the Music Tapes, the Minders, the Gerbils, of Montreal, Beulah, Dressy Bessy, Great Lakes & more. Coming soon.

And Rob Arcand, writing for Pitchfork, provides more info:

The film will make its world premiere at the Doc NYC festival on November 10, followed by additional screenings at the Denver Film Festival and Sound Unseen festival in Minneapolis later that month. The updated 2022 version of the film includes additional footage from Lance Bangs, who was brought on as a producer for the film's re-release. The film is executive produced by Rob Hatch-Miller and edited and produced by Greg King, who were part of the team behind the 2020 documentary on New York's Other Music.

I loved the years I spent in Athens, I was young and the world was exciting and weird, and full of great music and strange (in the best of ways) people. I'm definitely excited to see the film. After the screenings in New York, Denver, and Minneapolis, you'll be able to stream it online at home between November 11 and November 27.
The -55 missile in the Ukrainian Air Force Museum

The evil joke is that about 400 X-55 missiles, which we handed over to the Russians, they converted to X-555s, and now these missiles are used for strikes on the territory of Ukraine. I emphasize, these are the missiles that we gave to the Russians in exchange for part of the so-called gas debt, he said.

Read also: Top ten most effective Ukraine-made weapons

Russia has launched X-555 missiles over Ukraine on numerous occasions, including during the massive missile attack on Oct. 10.

In the latest attack that could have involved formerly Ukrainian missiles, the Russians attacked Ukraine from the north-east direction with strategic aircraft on Oct. 19, at 12.05 p.m., Ukraines Air Force Command reported.

The enemy launched six Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles from Tu-95 and Tu-160 missile-carrying bombers.

Four of the incoming missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defense systems.

Read also: Russia estimated to have spent $400-700 million on Oct. 10 missile strikes

Yuriy Ignat, the spokesman of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, on Oct. 11 said that the Russian Federation was launching Kh-101 and Kh-555 missiles from the regions of Astrakhan, the Caspian Sea, and other regions.

The range of these missiles can be up to 5,500 kilometers, but they do not fly as fast as other missiles, which is why the air raid alert lasts so long.

Several recent air raid alerts in Ukraine have lasted in excess of five hours.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
YouTube: WZZM 13

A Michigan school board meeting over the fate of a controversial library book went off-the-rails Monday evening, with impassioned speakers airing their outrage and pushing political agendas.

The raucous crowd became so wild that board members were forced to abruptly end the discussionafter voting to severely restrict students access to the book, Gender Queer: A Memoir.

The Spring Lake School Board held a meeting Monday to discuss students access to the graphic novel by Maia Kobabe, superintendent Dennis Furton told The Daily Beast. The book has notoriously been banned in schools around the country, with many parents and community members claiming its sexual content is inappropriate for students. The coming-of-age story details Kobabes nonbinary experience and has been praised for helping other nonbinary children better understand themselves.

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Furton said a review committee initially dismissed a parents complaint about Gender Queer and chose to keep the book on district shelves. However, the parent filed an appeal to the board of education, which led to the district vote on Monday.

Most-Banned Author in America Calls BS on Parents Concern

In this particular instance, that complainant handled everything very maturely, very diplomatically, but he did express his concerns about the book, Furton said.

He explained that some parents and students showed up at Monday nights meeting to plead with board members to keep the book on library shelves.

But, in a 4-3 vote, the board ultimately chose to restrict access to Gender Queer.

According to Furton, students will now be put in touch with a school counselor if they want to check out the book. The counselor will then contact students parents or guardians for permission to let them check out the book.

We dont want to make this difficult. I think that students, young people who express an interest in the book because they want to learn about themselves and they want to learn about some of their peers, Furton explained, theyre going to have access and their parent is going to have the option of either supporting that or denying it. And thats about the best we can do under these circumstances.

Story continues

Book Ban Backfire: Texas School District Forced to Pull the Bible

The superintendent also explained that a process was already in place where parents could prevent their child from reading certain books by contacting the districts libraries.

Weve got protections in place to address this issue in a number of different ways, he said. Theres no reason for the ugliness.

Board member Kathy Breen, who was on the original review committee and voted in favor of keeping the graphic novel, said she can understand parents concerns over the books sexually explicit imagesbut believes the subject matter could help some students.

I think for the audience that it is intended, it isnt offensive, she told The Daily Beast. It might make them feel uncomfortable, but they were uncomfortable in their skin already. Theyre looking for answers. I think the book helps.

Yes, this book might not be for me, but it is maybe for someone else, she added. And I dont want to take it away from them.

Furton said that after the vote on Monday evening, speakers had the opportunity to share public comments with the board and meeting attendees. Thats when things spiraled out of control.

Thats really kind of the crux of when things went bad, he said. Things got kind of ugly.

Furton said Spring Lake School Board President Jennifer Nicles introduced guidelines for speakers to make public comments, but many attendees were upset with a three-minute speaking limit.

The first speaker began, and, at the three-minute markI told her that her time was up, and she refused to stop and members of the audience who were there to support her position tried to shout me down, Furton said. She went on and we, again, asked her to stop and she refused.

According to local news outlet WZZM 13, that parent wanted the book banned from the district entirely. But Nicles said speakers on both sides of the issue lost all sense of orderliness. Breen told The Daily Beast she had never experienced a school board meeting that crazy.

Really, all decorum began to break down at that point in time as people in the audience stood, yelled, gestured, Furton added. There were probably a couple hundred people, maybe 200 people there last night.

Unruly Anti-LGBT Protesters Shut Down Michigan School District Meeting

As things got totally out of hand, Furton said the board announced a recess so that members could break and then attempt to regain control of the room.

Two of the board members commented to me that they felt a little bit fearful for their own safety, Furton said.

Nicles told The Daily Beast that she felt helpless.

I did not like what I was seeing, she said.

After the break, the board unsuccessfully tried to continue the meeting. Furton said another speaker even began shouting their comments without a microphone.

It was very theatrical, he said.

At that point, the board decided to adjourn the meeting.

Nicles said the adults at the meeting were supposed to set an example for the students. Instead, she said she was disheartened that the chaos prevented students from being heard. The whole ordeal kept her from sleeping Monday night.

I think we have some work to do in our community to come together. Im happy to try to do that. But it cant be just one person. It has to be the community, Nicles told The Daily Beast.

Nicles, who voted in favor of limited access for Gender Queer, later released a statement on social media that she also shared with The Daily Beast regarding the boards decision.

Our board was divided and I respect each one of my fellow board members positions, she wrote. I know this decision was not easy for anyone. Allowing our counselors, social workers, and school psychologists to have access to this book if a student requests it seemed like a compromise. However, I also know this decision can be seen as simply another hurdle for a student in need I will follow up with our media specialist to make sure that there are other resources for LGBTQ+ students in place to help fill the void left from removing [Gender Queer] from the library shelf.

Breen felt the attempt to ban the book was just a political tactic.

I think that the book isnt really the issue. In this area, there is a very organized, coordinated effort by a group that say they are all about restoring the rights of parents, Breen said. I think the book sure some people legitimately may not care for it, but I feel like the book was just another tool to create some chaos.

Both Nicles and Furton believe the meeting was particularly chaotic due to the upcoming elections.

A few years ago, we didnt need anybody to report on school board meetings because there was nothing interesting going on, Furton said. [School board meetings have] become the focal point for a lot of political activity.

It feels to me like theres a lot of political drive with this, Nicles echoed. Its not unique to Spring Lake, and I don't think we wouldn't see the same things that are happening across the U.S.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP)  The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday set a February execution date for a suburban St. Louis man who was convicted of killing his girlfriend and her three young children nearly 18 years ago.

Leonard Taylor, 58, is scheduled to be executed on Feb. 7 at the state prison in Bonne Terre. He was convicted in 2008 in the shooting deaths of Angela Rowe, 28, and her three children, Alexis, 10; AcQreya, 6; and Tyrese Conley, 5. Their bodies were found in their home in Jennings on Dec. 3, 2004.

In May 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Taylors case, leading to the setting of an execution date.

Taylor's execution would come about a month after another convicted killer is scheduled to die in Missouri. Scott McLaughlin, who was convicted of raping and killing an ex-girlfriend 19 years ago, is scheduled for execution on Jan. 3.

Another convicted killer, Kevin Johnson, faces the death penalty on Nov. 29 for killing Kirkwood Police Sgt. Bill McEntee in suburban St. Louis in 2005.
The U.S. has evidence that Iran sent troops to Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine to help Russia launch drone attacks on targets across the country, Biden administration officials said Thursday.

Iran sent trainers and technical support to enable Russian forces to use Iranian-made drones with better lethality, John Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesperson, told reporters in a teleconference.

We assess that Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea and assisted Russia in these operations, Kirby said.

The systems themselves were suffering failures and not performing to the standards that apparently the customers expected, Kirby said. As a result, the Iranians decided to send in troops to assist the Russians, he said.

Asked how many Iranians were in Crimea and why, Kirby said, I dont have a number  What we do know is theres a relatively small number that are.

Russia has deployed dozens of drones purchased from Iran to Ukraine and has used them in attacks in recent days, including in the capital city of Kyiv, according to Kirby and State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

Russia has received dozens of these UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) so far. And will likely continue to receive additional shipments in the future, Price told reporters at a separate briefing.

The U.S. has credible information that Russian officials prior to the presence of Iranian trainers in Crimea have received training in Iran, Price said.

Citing Russias dwindling supplies of advanced weapons, Kirby said the administration was concerned that Iran would provide Russia with surface-to-surface missiles, but did not elaborate.

Image: UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT-WAR (Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP - Getty Images)

Furthermore, in light of Russias ongoing supply sort of shortages, we are concerned that Russia may also seek to acquire advanced conventional weapons from Iran such as surface-to-surface missiles that will almost certainly be used to support the war against Ukraine, Kirby said.

The New York Times first reported that Iranian personnel had been sent to Ukraine to guide Russian forces in the use of newly acquired Iranian-made drones. The Washington Post recently reported that Iran planned to provide Russia with missiles.

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Even as it struggles to fend off a counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces in the countrys east and south, Russia unleashed a wave of drone and rocket strikes on Ukraines infrastructure and civilian areas over the past week. The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, was hit by a series of drone attacks on Monday that set apartments ablaze.

The State Departments Price said the U.S. was working to help Ukraine bolster its air defenses against drone and other aerial attacks.

The Biden administration earlier this year accused Iran of preparing to send drones to Russia. Iran has denied transferring drones to Russia.

Asked how Irans support for Russias war effort could affect stalled negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers known as the JCPOA, Kirby said the administration was currently focusing on Iranians protesting in the streets.

So were just simply not focused on that right now, said Kirby, echoing recent statements by senior administration officials. What we are focused on is making sure that were holding the regime accountable for the way theyre treating peaceful protesters in their country and supporting those protesters.

The nuclear deal is largely academic at the moment in light of the widespread protests in Iran, Price said at the State Department.

The United States recently imposed new sanctions on Iran related to its drone shipments to Russia, including companies and individuals allegedly involved in the effort, and would look for additional measures to hold Tehran accountable, Kirby said.

The Iranian mission to the U.N. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A Sutton, Mass. man who has worked as a magician for over 20 years, performing for children as young as kindergarten age, was arrested Friday on a child pornography charge.

Scott Jameson, 45, was charged with one count of possession of child pornography after federal authorities were contacted by a Cambodian Non-Governmental Organization that reported that Jameson possibly engaged in inappropriate behavior with minors in Cambodia.

According to the report, Jameson was allegedly observed interacting with a young Cambodian boy at a park and allegedly slept in bed with two pre-teen boys on more than one occasion. However, they did not report any sexual abuse.

These reports come after federal authorities were notified of Jamesons dual citizenship in Ireland and his recent trip to Cambodia on Aug. 28, 2022.

Upon his return to the United States on Oct. 19, Jameson was stopped at Logan Airport where agents conducted a search of his belongings and located a video that appears to have been produced during his most recent trip to Cambodia, depicting the genitals of a young boy, 5-7 years old.

According to authorities, a second device was located which contained over 100 images of apparent child pornography, including an image depicting a boy approximately 8-10 years old, nude from the waist down.

During an interview with law enforcement, Jameson allegedly stated that he has worked as a magician for over 20 years, regularly performing at libraries and private and family events across New England usually for children as young as kindergarten age and up to the eighth grade.

Jameson is scheduled to appear in Boston federal court at 4 p.m. Friday afternoon.

The charge of possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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KENZO TRIBOUILLARD - Getty Images

The United States and NATO have commenced a two-week exercise designed to train crews to handle thermonuclear bombs.

The exercise involves up to 60 aircraft, including B-52 bombers.

The alliance made it clear that the exercise is regularly scheduled and not linked to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, better known as NATO, kicked off its annual Steadfast Noon exercise yesterday, an alliance-wide event that simulates the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons. The exercise involves 14 countries and up to 60 aircraft of various types. NATO emphasized that the exercise was not tied to Russias invasion of Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putins veiled threats to use nuclear arms.

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Steadfast Noon began on October 17 and runs until October 30. In a news release , NATO stated the group will exercise nuclear deterrence capabilities involving dozens of aircraft over north-western Europe and that it helps ensure that the Alliances nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure and effective. Belgium is hosting the exercise, and training flights will take place over Belgium, the United Kingdom, and the North Sea. The alliance emphasizes that real nuclear weapons wont be deployed during the exercise.

BENOIT DOPPAGNE - Getty Images

NATO also wants to make it clear that the exercise has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine and Putins threats to use nuclear weapons. Steadfast Noon is, according to an alliance spokesperson, a routine, recurring training activity, and it is not linked to any current world events.

The exercise is a test of NATOs nuclear sharing agreement. Under the agreement, the United States provides nuclear weaponscurrently the B61 series of nuclear free fall bombswhile NATO allies provide the aircraft and aircrews to use them. Approximately 100 B61-3 and B61-4 bombs are located at NATO member bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey. All of the countries, with the exception of Turkey, provide fighter jetsthe Panavia Tornado and F-16 Fighting Falconsto deliver the bombs to targets.

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The exercise will likely involve Belgian F-16s, from Kleine Brogel Air Base in Belgium, and other alliance aircraft. NATO states that fifth generation fighters, including the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter will also take part. B-52s will fly from Minot Air Force Base in South Dakota to take part, and surveillance and tanker aircraft will fly in support.

The United States has deployed tactical nuclear weapons to Western Europe for decades, but radically downsized the arsenal after the breakup of the USSR in 1991. The remaining 100 or so bombs have long been meant as an insurance policy in case Russia attacked NATO. According to the Federation of American Scientists , the nukes could be used only after explicit political approval is given by NATOs Nuclear Planning Group (NPG) and authorization is received from the U.S. President and U.K. Prime Minister.

picture alliance - Getty Images

The annual exercise takes place as it becomes clear that the weapons are not actually needed to offset Russias superior numbers in conventional arms. The Russian Army is theoretically larger than those of most NATO countries, but its poor performance in Ukraine has proved it to be a paper tiger. Worse, it is a paper tiger that has lost several thousand pieces of equipment in Ukraine, including 1,393 main battle tanks, and 50,000 or more claimed killed in action. Russia is no longer capable of successfully invading any country, with the possible exception of NATOs smaller member states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Still, a neutered Russian bear doesnt make NATOs nukes obsolete. Russia still has hundreds of tactical nuclear weapons in its arsenal, weapons designated for battlefield use. If Russia were to attack NATO with tactical nuclear weapons, the alliance would need the ability to swiftly respond in kind. Unfortunately, Russias weakness in conventional arms means nukes on both sides wont go away anytime soon.



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SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP)  The search for a missing Georgia toddler presumed dead by police shifted Tuesday to a landfill outside Savannah where investigators planned to start sifting through trash for the child's remains.

Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said investigators had evidence that prompted the landfill search for the body of 20-month-old Quinton Simon, but he declined to say what it was.

"We believe that he was placed in a specific dumpster at a specific location and it was brought here by regular means of disposal, Hadley said during a news conference. I have every belief that we will find his remains here at the landfill.

Police began searching for Quinton on Oct. 5 when his mother called 911 and said the boy had gone missing from his playpen. After more than a week spent searching the house and surrounding neighborhood, Hadley announced Thursday that police believe the child is dead.

He also named the boy's mother, Leilani Simon, as the a suspect in her son's death and disappearance. Nearly a week later, she has not been arrested or charged.

Hadley said his department and the FBI spent days planning and getting personnel and equipment in place to search the landfill.

We want justice for Quinton just like everybody else, the police chief said, "and we want to find his remains so we can give him a proper resting place.

Dozens of FBI agents were on hand to assist police officers, said Will Clarke, supervisory agent for the bureau's satellite office in Savannah.

Clarke said investigators were focusing their search on a specific area of the landfill, where debris would be deposited on a designated search deck for authorities to comb through one pile at a time.

This will not be quick, it will not be easy and the outcome is uncertain," Clarke said.

Leilani Simon had no listed phone number and it was not known Tuesday if she had a lawyer who could speak on her behalf. Court records showed she represented herself in two civil cases filed since March involving her custody of her children and child support.

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Police reports and court documents show there was turmoil in recent weeks between the childs mother and grandmother, Billie Jo Howell, who had legal custody of him and an older sibling. Quinton, his mother and his mothers boyfriend lived with Howell.

Simon called police on Sept. 7 following an argument with her mother over laundry in which she said Howell had shoved her against a wall, according to a police report. No one was charged and an officer found no injuries other than Simons reddened elbow.

The following day, Quintons grandmother filed papers in Chatham County Magistrate Court to have Simon and her boyfriend evicted from her home, WTOC-TV reported.

A few weeks later, on Sept. 28, a Superior Court judge ordered Leilani Simon to pay $150 per month in child support.

Quintons mother reported him missing a week later.

We're not ready to charge anyone yet, Hadley said Tuesday when asked why no arrests had been made. "We still have work to do. We still have an investigation to do. Were not going to do anything preemptively that would harm a future prosecution.
Ancient rock carvings that are believed to be more than 2,700 years old have been unearthed by a team of archaeologists in Iraq's northern city of Mosul.

The marble slabs were found during restoration work on the Mashki Gate, an ancient monument that was partially destroyed by Islamic State militants when they captured the city in 2016.

The relief carvings show scenes of war from the rule of Assyrian kings, in the ancient city of Nineveh, the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage said in a statement Wednesday.

The gray stone carvings date to the rule of King Sennacherib, in power from 705 to 681 B.C., the statement added.

Sennacherib was responsible for expanding Nineveh as the Assyrians imperial capital and largest city  siting on a major crossroads between the Mediterranean and the Iranian plateau  including the construction of a palace.

The discovery was made last week by an Iraqi team, alongside American experts from the University of Pennsylvania who are helping to lead the reconstruction effort.

The discovery consisted of eight marble slabs carved with a relief representing scenes of Assyrian soldiers, in addition to palm trees, grapes, pomegranates and figs belonging to the palace of King Sennacherib, Ali Shalgham, the director general of Iraqs Investigations and Excavations Department, told NBC News on Thursday.

Fadel Mohammed Khodr, head of the Iraqi archaeological team, said in a statement that the carvings were likely taken from Sennacheribs palace and used as construction material for the gate.

We believe that these carvings were moved from the palace of Sennacherib and reused by the grandson of the king to renovate the gate of Mashki and to enlarge the guard room, he added.

Detail of rock carvings at the Mashki Gate site in Mosul, Iraq. (Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage )

Iraq is home to some of the worlds most ancient cities, including Babylon. But years of conflict and instability have threatened the ruins of these cities and many cultural sites that were looted or damaged.

The project, which is being carried out in collaboration with Iraqi antiquities authorities, aims to turn the damaged monument into an educational center on Ninevehs history.

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Armed with sledgehammers, axes and drills, militants from the Islamic State group stormed museums in Iraq and destroyed priceless collections of sculptures and statues when the group took control of large areas of Iraq and Syria, in 2014.

Dozens of Assyrian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Persian and Roman artifacts held in Iraqs museums were damaged or destroyed completely.

The group said it destroyed pre-Islamic works of art because it considered them to be idolatrous.

Image: IRAQ-ARCHAEOLOGY (Zaid Al-Obeidi / AFP - Getty Images)

Members of ISIS also destroyed ancient sites in the 2,000-year-old Syrian desert city of Palmyra. In October 2015, militants blew up the Arch of Triumph  a major monument in the city.

Palmyra was one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world, according to the cultural agency UNESCO, which has described it as the crossroads of several civilizations.

ISIS militants also smuggled the ancient artifacts out of the country and sold them on the black market. The U.S. has said this looting was a significant source of income for the group.

Following the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by U.S.-led troops, American Marines also damaged ruins from the ancient city of Babylon, after they built a helicopter pad on the site. A U.S. military officer later said he was willing to apologize for the damage.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams hit out at her opponent, incumbent Governor Brian Kemp, arguing the callous and grotesque Republican is causing unneeded harm and deaths in the state by refusing to expand Medicaid, a federal health programme for low-income people.

Weve lost hospitals and weve lost lives, Ms Abrams told Oprah Winfrey during an event on Thursday.

Whats so grotesque is weve got the money, Ms Abrams added. The government has access to the money and wont accept it because he doesnt believe that people are entitled to healthcare. I cant find it in me to be that callous.

The Democrat said Mr Kemps stance has put 19 hospitals at risk of closing and weakened the states Covid response.

The Independent has contacted the governor for comment.

Georgia is one of 12 states that hasnt agreed to accept the expansion of Medicaid, a signature initiative of the Obamacare Affordable Care Act.

Governor Kemp has proposed a partial expansion of Medicaid via waivers allowing the state to tweak how the programme is administered, focusing on expanding postpartum care, state funding for rural health centres, and expanding coverage to about 50,000 Georgians.

The Republican has said these proposals represent a more holistic approach to health care versus a one-size-fits-all government approach.

Thus far, the Biden administration has rejected these proposals, which would impose work requirements on some recipients and sever the states ties with the online federal healthcare exchange Healthcare.gov.

During a debate earlier this week with Mr Kemp, Ms Abrams raised a similar line of critique, accusing the Republican of sending a figurative Brinks truck of $3.5bn to other states because this governor will not accept the money for Medicaid expansion.

We need a governor who can do the math but can also do the morality, she said.

Polls suggest a majority of residents of the Peach state support expanding Medicaid, including most Republicans.

Mr Kemp, however, remains a staunch opponent of the programme, calling it broken.
According to a report from The Washington Post, Musk has told prospective investors he plans to axe 75 percent of Twitter's 7,500-member staff upon completion of the deal, a move that would likely kneecap its ability to moderate content and ensure users' security. Internal documents obtained by The Post reveal that, prior to the Musk deal, current company leadership planned to "pare the company's payroll" by around $800 million, a relatively modest 25 percent reduction. The companys General Counsel Sean Edgett told staff that discussions about cost savings happened earlier this year, and they stopped "once the merger agreement was signed." Edgett added there have been no plans for company-wide layoffs since then.

 Mat Smith

The Morning After isnt just a newsletter  its also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

The biggest stories you might have missed

You might barely feel the upgraded gear-shifting technology.

TMA

VanMoofs latest generation of premium e-bikes ushers in changes across the board. The company has tried to make most of the parts on its newest e-bikes. The most significant change might be the removal of the tube-based display of the companys older bikes, swapping it for a duo of Halo Rings near the buttons on each side. The anti-theft technology in the S5 and A5 (both $3,498) includes an improved kick lock on the rear wheel. In addition, the bikes will automatically unlock if they detect the users phone nearby. And if youre willing to pay an extra $398 for three years of coverage, your VanMoof ride will have support from a retinue of bike hunters  which still sounds cool.

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Continue reading.

The company is accused of using the Buy Box to favor its own logistics network.

The Guardian reports lawyers are filing a class action lawsuit with the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal over claims Amazons Buy Box "tricks" shoppers into paying more than they should. Consumer advocate Julie Hunter says the section favors either Amazon's own products or sellers who use the company's logistics, not the best price or quality of service.

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The cluster could help scientists understand cosmic expansion.

TMA

Scientists have discovered a tightly packed "knot" of at least three galaxies forming around a quasar 11.5 billion years ago, just over two billion years after the Big Bang. The telescope's near-infrared spectrograph shows this is one of the densest known areas of early galaxy formation. The density is unusually high enough that lead researcher Dominika Wylezalek suggested there may even be two "halos" of dark matter merging.

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You wont need an Apple Watch to use the service.

Apples Fitness+ will come to the iPhone, without the need for the companys wearable, on October 24th. Itll arrive alongside the iOS 16.1 update. You'll need the handset to sign up, but it will also be accessible through the iPad and Apple TV. You'll have access to the full range of workouts and meditations through the Fitness app. The main limitation is accuracy. Where Apple Watch owners can rely on constant heart rate monitoring to determine their calorie burn, iPhone users have to trust estimates.

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Even the Pentagon considers the overturning of Roe v. Wade to be unjust, or at least disruptive, which forces "significant numbers" of service members into "unusual, extraordinary, hardship, or emergency circumstances," according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Which is why the Pentagon will now pay transportation expenses for any service member living in one of the 13 states where people must travel to another state get an abortion. They will also pay for time taken off work to receive across-state-line reproductive health care.

"Our Service members and their families are often required to travel or move to meet our staffing, operational, and training requirements. Such moves should not limit their access to reproductive health care," Austin said in a memo released yesterday.

"In my judgment, such effects qualify as unusual, extraordinary, hardship, or emergency circumstances for Service members and their dependents and will interfere with our ability to recruit, retain, and maintain the readiness of a highly qualified force," he wrote.

From NPR:
90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? star Kim Menzies won't accept anything less than first priority when it comes to her marriage Usman "Sojaboy" Umar.

In an exclusive sneak peek at Sunday's episode, the 52-year-old Californian is shocked after Usman's mother says he can't marry Kim  at least not before taking a younger wife.

Usman, 33, and Kim leave the unfortunate family meeting in Nigeria feeling sad and angry, but Kim is set on proving her worth. In follow-up conversations with Usman, Kim is vocal about why she deserves to be his first wife and reminds him she won't take a backseat to anyone else  even a younger woman who can bear children.

It's Usman who speaks of the encounter first, after he admitted to his family that Kim would allow him a second wife for the purpose of having kids. "I was thinking that would touch them," Usman said. "But they just turned it upside down."

RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Usman's Mother Denounces Kim for Buying Them a Cow as a 'Bribe' to Bless Marriage

90 Day's Kim Rejects Usman's Mom's Demand He Marry Another Woman First: 'Not Gonna Be Anybody's Second'

TLC

He points to his Nigerian culture and his family's expectations. "What I'm saying is that we have certain culture over here that you can never go against, too. But I hope you have seen how much I love you. And you know how my mom is to me. You know how I see my mom. I think after God, I see my mom second God to me."

Usman reveals he can't go against his mom's wishes, and tells Kim he'll marry another woman before Kim. "Then it's over," Kim says. "I'm not gonna be the second wife. I can't. I can't let myself be like that."

Kim says she respects Usman's mother, but it's against her own nature to take a back seat to any other wife. "I won't be anybody's second anything," she adds.

RELATED: 90 Day Fiance's Usman and a Female Friend Trigger Kim's Insecurity: 'She's Everything I'm Not'

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Kim explains later in an interview why this is a dealbreaker. "It's like his mom was giving me a compromise, but I can't make any more exceptions because I have exactly what I want now  his love. I feel like the love he has for me now will change with that."

Kim compares it to relationships past. "Getting the title of the first wife is so important to me because in previous relationships, I always came second. Always. I was always pushed to the side, and I'm not gonna let that happen to me again."

It's the idea of being his second rank that makes Kim want to walk away. "I don't care if he came here and proposed to me right now with the biggest diamond in the world. I'm not his second. Sorry. I can't. I know my worth."

Kim, 51 (San Diego, Calif.) and Usman, 33 (Nigeria)

TLC Kim and Usman from 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After

In last week's episode, Kim and Usman told his family they'd like to wed. While seeking his mother's blessing, the family questioned why Usman has now brought two older, white American women home to wed. Though they previously approved of his previous union with Lisa Hamme, this time his family said no.

Before meeting his family, Usman and Kim were aware that a disapproval from his mother could mean the end of their relationship. Whether Usman and Kim will find a way to stay together despite his mother's wishes has yet to be seen.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET on TLC.
Daniel Smith, One of Last Children Born to Enslaved Americans, Dead at 90

Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty

Daniel Smith, a civil rights activist and one of the last remaining children of an enslaved Black American, died at age 90 on Wednesday.

Smith's wife since 2006, Loretta Neumann, said her husband had cancer and congestive heart failure, according to The Washington Post.

Neumann told CBS News his daughter April and son Rob were by his side when he died at a hospice in Washington.

Born in Connecticut in March 1932, Smith was the son of former enslaved man, his father Abram Smith (also known as "A.B."), and Clara Smith, the Post reports. His father was 70 years old when his mother  whom Smith reportedly said was white with Scotch-Irish and Cherokee ancestry  gave birth at age 23.

Smith reflected on the lessons he learned from his father, who was born into enslavement in Virginia during the 1860s, in February on CBS Mornings.

"We need more kindness," he said in the interview. "And I look back, in terms of my crazy life, and I think it all came from my father saying, 'Do good things. Do good things.' "

RELATED: Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, Historian Who Created a Database of Enslaved People, Dies at 93

Daniel was an advocate for civil rights throughout his adult life. He participated in the March on Washington in 1963 and marched from Selma to Montgomery, according to the Post, which also reports he met Archbishop Desmond Tutu during South Africa's era of apartheid. He also mingled with civil rights leaders like late Georgia Rep. John Lewis, CBS News reported.

Daniel Smith, One of Last Children Born to Enslaved Americans, Dead at 90

NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty

Daniel found other ways to help others, including serving as an Army medic during the Korean War and running both literacy and anti-poverty programs in Alabama, according to the Post.

Later in life, he served as head usher at the Washington National Cathedral, where he wed Neumann.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

Prior to his death, Daniel was working with author Sana Butler to write a memoir titled Son of a Slave: A Black Man's Journey in White America, according to CBS News and the Post.

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Butler told the Post that Daniel served as "a reminder that it's impossible" to act as though the history of slavery in the United States does not matter any longer.

RELATED: Astronaut James McDivitt, Who Commanded Gemini IV and Apollo 9 Missions, Dead at 93

In his February interview with CBS Mornings, Daniel acknowledged the progress made in the U.S. since slavery was abolished, but said there is still much work to be done.

"When I voted for [Barack] Obama, I was shaking," he said. "I couldn't believe I was doing this. A Black man? No, we've made a lot of progress."

But, he added, "we cannot continue as a nation with people hating each other."
New, one-of-a-kind adventure along the Adriatic coastline joins the full lineup of 2024 Adventures by Disney expedition cruise itineraries

CELEBRATION, Fla., Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2024, guests will set sail on the all-new Adventures by Disney expedition cruise along the picturesque Adriatic Sea. This famed waterway filled with captivating history, exquisite cuisine and breathtaking views provides the perfect setting for an enchanting adventure.

Adventures by Disney will embark on a new expedition cruise itinerary to the Adriatic Sea in 2024 with two summer departure dates. Guests aboard the PONANT ship Le Bougainville, a small, purpose-built vessel specially designed to access remote locations, will sail along the beautiful coastline on an eight-day, seven-night round-trip sailing from Venice, Italy and enjoy stops at ports in Croatia and Montenegro. (Adventures by Disney)

The eight-day, seven-night round-trip sailing from Venice, Italy, will visit seven ports in Croatia and Montenegro before returning to the Floating City. The chartered Adventures by Disney expedition voyage is planned for two sailings in 2024 (departures set for June 25 and July 2).

Bookings open to the public on Oct. 27. More details on Adventures by Disney expedition cruises, including the full lineup of itineraries in 2024, can be found on the Expedition Cruising with Disney page of AdventuresByDisney.com.

Setting Sail on the Adriatic Sea with Adventures by Disney

Families will experience expedition cruising on the luxuriously appointed PONANT ship Le Bougainville, a small, purpose-built intimate ship, specially designed to access remote locations. The ship will sail along the beautiful Adriatic Sea coastline, where guests will be immersed in the culture and stories of the region. Each day will offer new adventures and exciting excursions curated by the travel experts at Disney, including:

Discovering the islands adorning the Adriatic coast with stops at Korcula to taste the famed Mali Ston oysters or Hvar to kayak along the Pakleni Islands.

Enjoying delicious food, Croatian wine, captivating architecture and culture unique to the region.

Biking through vineyards and lavender fields of the UNESCO Stari Grad Plain (also known as Hora or Ager).

Tasting local delicacies such as Dalmatian Prosciutto, aged by the bura, a northerly-blowing wind common in the winter months.

Exploring picturesque Boka Bay in Montenegro by catamaran or strolling the cobbled streets of Old Town Kotor.

Wandering medieval Croatian port-towns awash in warm limestone and distinctive, red-tiled roofs, and visiting the world-famous Predjama Castle in Slovenia.

Delving into the massive underground labyrinth at Slovenia's Postojna Cave and discovering the "dragons" that call it home.

Stepping back in time to learn about time-honored Croatian traditions including methods of pressing olive oil.

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Signature service and storytelling, hallmarks of Adventures by Disney vacations, are brought to life by a team of Disney-trained Adventure Guides. Up to six Adventure Guides will accompany guests on the Adriatic Expedition Cruise and will lead unique, themed activities both aboard and ashore.

More Memories, More Magic: Onboard Activities for Everyone in the Family

On board, the fun will continue with themed karaoke nights, game/trivia nights, a talent show and Disney movies. Adults-only activities include cocktail workshops and fitness classes. Junior Adventurers (adventurers 12 years and younger) have their own set of special programming led by the Adventure Guides, such as a "Pirates of the Adriatic" swim party, a pizza party, a Dalmatian Dash scavenger hunt, navigation lessons and more.

Announcing 2024 Itineraries: Expedition Cruising with Adventures by Disney

Also in 2024, guests will have more opportunities to explore Antarctica, the Arctic and the Galapagos Islands with added expedition cruises to these destinations:

Antarctica and Patagonia Expedition Cruise : This southern region itinerary offers the chance to discover the pristine splendor of Antarctica and Argentina's beautiful Patagonia region. Here, the magic of wildlife takes the stage as guests observe animals such as penguins, seals and whales in their natural habitat. Dates: Dec. 17-28, 2023, and Feb. 17-28, 2024.

Arctic Expedition Cruise : This expedition cruise in the northern polar region features the Arctic waters and surrounding landscapes of Svalbard. Guests will sail past deep fjords, discover the human history of the Arctic, marvel at massive glaciers and see amazing wildlife including polar bears, reindeer and walruses. Date: July 1-10, 2024.

Galapagos Islands Expedition Cruise: This island-hopping expedition cruise through the Galapagos Archipelago is an immersive family adventure. Guided by expert naturalists, guests will discover more about the amazing ecosystems and unique species endemic to the islands as they experience the unmatched views of this UNESCO World Heritage site. Dates: March 17-25, June 9-17, July 14-22, Aug. 7-15, and Dec. 18-26, 2024.

Guests can also extend their expedition cruise vacations in select cities through an Adventures by Disney Escape , a series of short-stay getaways that are big on adventure. Escapes often complement a trip  immediately before or following an existing itinerary  and are ideal for those wishing for a deeper dive into a region's culture, history and landscape. The four-day Buenos Aires Escape is a great way to discover the cosmopolitan capital of Argentina before embarking on the Antarctica Expedition Cruise. The six-day Amazon Escape takes guests on an exploration of the Amazon rainforest prior to the start of their Galapagos Islands Expedition Cruise.

Traveling with Adventures by Disney

With exceptional service, storytelling and authentic cultural experiences, all Adventures by Disney vacations are designed to appeal to the interests and needs of the entire family, allowing parents, grandparents and Junior Adventurers to discover the world together. From hassle-free travel, to engaging storytelling, to magical moments sprinkled throughout the vacation, all adventures are designed to give families the chance to focus on what matters  enjoying time together as they experience the magic of the world.

To learn more about Adventures by Disney or to book a vacation, guests can visit AdventuresbyDisney.com , call 1-800-543-0865 or contact a travel agent.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adventures-by-disney-to-debut-its-first-ever-adriatic-sea-expedition-cruise-in-2024-301655522.html

SOURCE Adventures by Disney
A former principal and CEO of Lincoln Charter School in York has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining and misapplying money from his employer, according to the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Leonard Hart, 50, of Mount Wolf misrepresented that he was pursuing a Ph.D. and sought tuition reimbursement through the charter school, which receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education primarily because it serves a high number of children from low-income backgrounds, a news release states. Through a program offered by the school, employees can receive partial reimbursement for furthering their education.

Lincoln Charter School in York

Hart claimed that he was taking courses from a few universities and submitted falsfied records to the charter school over a two-year period, the release states. He also pressured a lower-level employee and former student to help him create a forged diploma.

Hart received $55,311 from the nearly 20 fraudulent reimbursement requests, and he has agreed to pay that amount in restitution, the release states.

For subscribers:Meet York County's Most Influential People for 2022: Education

Education:PA schools lack policies that protect LGBTQ students and district taxpayers, experts say

The FBI investigated the case.

The maximum penalty for the offense is 10 years in prison, a term of supervised release afterward and a fine, the release states.

Hart served as the principal and CEO of the school between 2013 and 2021.

Hart, who answered the phone on Friday morning, said to contact his attorney, Chris Ferro.

Ferro issued the following statement: "Leonard Hart is an exceptional educator and has made caring for kids his lifes work. Unfortunately, he is also a human being and not immune to challenges and mistakes. He is committed to making amends for his conduct, paying full restitution, and using this experience as an opportunity to grow through adversity."

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Former Lincoln Charter School principal pleads guilty to funds theft
George Clooney and Noah Wyle on ER

Sven Arnstein/NBCU George Clooney and Noah Wyle on ER

George Clooney knows the secret behind ER's long-lasting success: friendship.

More than a decade after the show ended its 15-season run, Clooney, 61, revealed in a teaser for The Drew Barrymore Show's Friday episode that the cast is still close today.

"I guess it was the friendship I have with all of them and that I continue to have," he told host Drew Barrymore.

"I had [Anthony] Tony Edwards at the house in Italy three weeks ago  he and Mare came," Clooney said, adding that he is also still "really close" with Julianna Margulies and Noah Wyle.

"They're really good friends," he continued. "And so I feel that [show] was a job of a lifetime. And it changed my career."

RELATED: George Clooney 'Laid Out the ABCs of Professionalism' on ER Set, Says Costar Noah Wyle

Believe it or not, George Clooney is still tight with the cast of ER!



Tune in FRIDAY for more! Check your local listings: https://t.co/3yRe9NqajO pic.twitter.com/wGqY2RlzAH  The Drew Barrymore Show (@DrewBarrymoreTV) October 19, 2022

ER aired from 1994 to 2009. Created by Michael Crichton, the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning drama followed the lives of the medical staff who worked at County General Hospital in Chicago. Clooney starred as Dr. Doug Ross on the first five seasons of the show.

In 2019, ER's executive producer, John Wells, suggested that the possibility of the series scoring a reboot wasn't completely out the window.

"We made an awful lot of ERs, 331 episodes," he told Deadline. "That's a lot of hours, so I can't imagine that we would, but if somebody came in with a really interesting idea about how to do it, we might."

RELATED: ER's George Clooney, Julianna Margulies and More Spill On-Set Secrets: 9 Revelations from Reunion

ER

Sven Arnstein/NBCU Cast of ER

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Though a reboot has not yet been confirmed, the cast came together for a virtual reunion in 2021 to support costar Gloria Reuben's organization, Waterkeeper Alliance, which aims to ensure that communities globally have clean water.

During the reunion, Clooney expressed how he was excited to connect with the cast again.

"These are people that I really love, you know, and that  we grew up together, really grew up together, in many ways, and it's fun to see you guys," he said.

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

Wyle also revealed during the special how Clooney helped to set the tone for the on-set environment.

"George, very early on, remember: you called us all to your trailer and you said, 'I've had the benefit of being on seven series that haven't bond. Here's what we're going to do differently. We're all going to be nice to everybody and we're going to erase the line between foreground and background and cast and crew, and we're all going to take our work seriously, but we're not going to take ourselves seriously. We're going to do our homework and we're not going to waste rehearsal learning our lines,'" recalled Wyle, who played John Carter.

"You kind of laid out, you know, the ABCs of professionalism and that just became the standard that we operated under," he continued. "It should be standard operating procedure, but in a way, it was something that we kept our own counsel and were harsher on each other as castmates than anybody else above us was ever going to be. And we kept each other honest."
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As the world relaxes protocols against Covid-19, the fight against germs is far from over. From individuals to families, good health is strongly correlated with good hygiene and nutrition. According to the World Bank, hygiene promotion is the most cost-effective health action to reduce disease . However, ensuring better hygiene in the home doesn't have to cost a lot, either. Therefore Reckitt Indonesia, a leader in health and wellness products, will run its Super Brand Day on Lazada Indonesia starting 23 October 2022, with the choice deals going online on 26 October. Find out more about Reckitt's Super Brand Day on Lazada Indonesia at https://www.lazada.co.id/reckittsbd/.

"Reckitt Indonesia's range of body, health, and nutritional care covers the essentials from baby to adults  consumers can expect to see great deals for all of Reckitt Indonesia's premium brands, including Enfagrow, Dettol, Vanish, Harpic, and Durex, among others," shared Srinivasan Appan, President Director of Reckitt Indonesia.

Keeping homes germ free

Dettol is a well-known household brand with decades of experience sanitizing the home and keeping people safe and clean. From its iconic antiseptic liquid that can be used to sanitize virtually every surface and clean wound to its range of moisturizing and anti-bacterial body wash fluids, you can rest assured of germ protection for your home and family all day, every day.

Speaking of the home, Reckitt Indonesia also carries both Vanish and Harpic, two household names that have helped millions worldwide keep their bathrooms and laundry clean and germ-free.

Sexual health importance

Consumers shouldn't forget the importance of sexual and reproductive health when we talk about health. Latex condoms aren't just useful for family planning; when used correctly and consistently, they are highly effective in preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as HIV.

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So, look out for Reckitt Indonesia's fantastic deals on products in their Durex line of products this October.

Better nutrition for children

As a world leader in health and wellness, Reckitt also has products in its diverse range for babies and children above one year of age. Brands under Reckitt include Enfagrow and Sustagen, where they deliver premium nutrition carefully tailored to support healthy physical growth and brain development of the future generation.

Reckitt's formula brands have the proper nutritional combination of the building blocks of life  protein, carbohydrates, and fats, together with essential vitamins, minerals, and DHA. In infants, DHA is crucial for optimal visual and cognitive development .

Reckitt's world-class brands share three simple goals: Protect, Heal, and Nurture. And this October, Indonesian consumers will have the opportunity to enjoy significant savings on various health and nutritional products to ensure the best for themselves and their families.

With a wealth of expertise and innovation behind every product, Indonesians and millions worldwide trust Reckitt brands to help them enjoy healthier lives every day.

About Reckitt

Reckitt exists to protect, heal, and preserve in a collective effort to create a cleaner and healthier world. We believe that access to high-quality hygiene, health, and nutrition is a right for everyone.

Reckitt is the company behind a number of the world's leading consumer brands known and trusted in hygiene, health, and nutrition, including Air Wick, Calgon, Cillit Bang, Clearasil, Dettol, Durex, Enfamil, Finish, Gaviscon, Harpic, Lysol, Mortein, Mucinex, Nurofen, Nutramigen, Strepsils, Vanish, Veet, Woolite and more.

SOURCE Reckitt Indonesia
Joni Mitchell is set to play her first headline concert for 23 years.

The 78-year-old music legend will perform on 10 June 2023 at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington, her friend, the singer Brandi Carlile, announced on The Daily Show on Wednesday (19 October).

I can't believe it's happening, but it's happening, Carlile said. And she is going to crush it.

Earlier this year, Carlile brought Mitchell onstage with her at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island.

It marked a rare performance for Mitchell, who suffered an aneurysm in 2015 and hadn't performed a full show in public in two decades.

At Newport, Mitchell sang and played guitar on songs such as A Case of You, Both Sides Now and The Circle Game.

Reflecting on how extraordinary it was to see Mitchell perform in the summer, Carlile said: We didn't go to sleep that night. We stayed up until the sun came up. Joni, flat out, loves to perform and she's awesome at it.

Joni Mitchell performing at Newport Folk Festival (Amy Karibian/YouTube)

Carlile said that Mitchell loved the experience so much, she wanted to return to the stage.

She chose the Gorge, Carlile said, because of its beauty and proximity to Canada, where she grew up.

Carlile will perform there on 9 June and open for Mitchell the next night.

Mitchell has made a string of public appearances since recovering from her brain aneurysm.

At the Grammy Awards in April, Mitchell was honoured as the 2022 MusiCares Person of the year by the Recording Academy. She then introduced Carlile for a live performance during the ceremony.

Mitchell was also among the artists earlier this year to tell Spotify to remove their music catalogues from the platform in protest against Joe Rogans podcast.
Many pediatric hospitals across the country are experiencing a surge in patients, and one of the main reasons, experts say, is an increase in cases of the respiratory virus known as RSV.

RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but it can become serious, especially for infants.

RSV infections are the most common cause of bronchitis and pneumonia in kids under the age of 1 in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One parent, Jeff Green, said he noticed his 4-month-old daughter Lindy was sleeping "pretty much nonstop" after contracting RSV.

PHOTO: Jeff Green and his wife sit with their daughter Lindy at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. (Cook County Hospital)

Lindy is now hospitalized at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

"She's just really lethargic," Green told ABC News, adding of her earlier symptoms, "She was sleeping pretty much nonstop and started running a pretty significant fever."

Adria Mullins, of Oklahoma, told ABC News she thought her 4-month-old daughter Shiloh had what she described as a "normal cold."

When the infant's breathing became labored, Mullins brought her to the emergency room, where she was admitted for RSV.

"It was rapid breathing," Mullins said of Shiloh's condition. "And it was her chest sinking in as she took a breath in and her stomach going out."

In California, Amanda Bentley said her 18-month-old son Joshua has been hospitalized for more than a week with RSV.

"When I took him to the doctor, she said, 'I think I'm going to send you to the ER,' and I'm like, 'What?'" Bentley recalled. "It was just a shock."

PHOTO: Amanda Bentley of California, said her 18-month-old son Joshua has been hospitalized for more than one week with RSV. (ABC)

Hospitals from California to Rhode Island -- more than two dozen states in total across the country -- have told ABC News they are grappling with a higher-than-expected number of pediatric patients amid the surge of RSV, flu and other common respiratory viruses.

Nationally, pediatric bed capacity is at the highest level in two years, with 71% of the estimated 40,000 beds filled, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

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MORE: Parents speak out as RSV cases spike in the US post-COVID-19 pandemic

Experts say the influx of respiratory viruses among children is likely due to a convergence of factors, including the start of flu season and the fact that kids are now less likely to wear face masks and socially isolate as they were doing during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. And RSV, in particular, is a very contagious virus.

"Not only are we seeing more viruses, we are seeing them sooner than we typically see them in cold and flu season," Dr. Lauren Mientkiewicz, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, told ABC News.

What parents should know about RSV

RSV is a contagious virus that can spread from virus droplets transferred from an infected person's cough or sneeze, from direct contact with the virus, like kissing the face of a child with RSV, and from touching surfaces, like tables, doorknobs and crib rails, that have the virus on it and then touching eyes, nose, or mouth before hand-washing, according to the CDC.

People infected with RSV are usually contagious for three to eight days, but some infants can continue to spread the virus even after they stop showing symptoms, for as long as four weeks, according to the CDC.

Among children, premature infants and young children with weakened immune systems or congenital heart or chronic lung disease are the most vulnerable to complications from RSV.

MORE: Mom's Facebook post warns others to not kiss babies after her infant contracts RSV

"Pretty much all kids have gotten RSV at least once by the time they turn 2, but it's really younger kids, especially those under 6 months of age, who can really have trouble with RSV and sometimes end up in the hospital," Dr. William Linam, pediatric infectious disease doctor at Children's Hospital of Atlanta, told ABC News last year. "That's where we want to get the word out, for families with young children or children with medical conditions, making sure they're aware this is going on."

In the first two to four days of contracting RSV, a child may show symptoms like fever, runny nose and congestion.

Later on, the symptoms may escalate to coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing.

VIDEO: Cases linked to RSV infection surge: What you need to know (ABCNews.com)

Parents should also be alerted to symptoms including dehydration and not eating, according to Linam.

"Not making a wet diaper in over eight hours is often a good marker that a child is dehydrated and a good reason to seek medical care," he said. "Sometimes kids under 6 months of age can have pauses when they're breathing, and that's something to get medical attention for right away."

Infants and toddlers can be treated at home for RSV unless they start to have difficulty breathing, in which case parents should contact their pediatrician and/or take their child to the emergency room.

At-home care for kids with RSV can include Tylenol and Motrin for fevers, as well as making sure the child is hydrated and eating.

Parents can help protect their kids from RSV by continuing to follow as much as possible the three Ws of the pandemic: wear a mask, wash your hands and watch your distance, according to Linam.

Infants who are either born prematurely (less than 35 weeks) or born with chronic lung disease may benefit from a medication to prevent RSV since they are at risk of developing more complications from it. Parents should discuss this with their pediatrician.

ABC News' Cathy Becker, Kendall Coughlin, Halle Kendall, Nick Massenburg-Abraham and Caroline Guthrie contributed to this report.

Why are pediatric hospitals filling to capacity? originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
The brand's packaging and website both disclose that many of its products are made in the U.S.A.

Smith Collection/Gado / Contributor/Getty Images

Everyone knows Barilla pasta's blue box. The company refers to its "Classic Blue Box" on its website, and it has even become such a pasta aisle icon that one designer even based a limited-edition handbag on it. But some of the design elements on that box have gotten Barilla into a bit of a legal jam and, earlier this week, a federal judge in California ruled that a class-action lawsuit against the company could move forward.

Two plaintiffs, Matthew Sinatro and Jessica Prost, took legal action against Barilla after buying $4 and $2 worth of Barilla pasta, respectively. They looked at the little Italian flag on the box and the phrase "Italy's #1 Brand of Pasta" at the bottom and interpreted that to mean that Barilla pasta was made in Italy.

Although Barilla is headquartered in Parma, Italy, it also has a U.S. office in Illinois and the majority of its pastas that are sold in the U.S. are produced at its facilities in Iowa and New York.

According to its website, the two exceptions are its tortellini and Oven-Ready Lasagna, which are both made in Italy. "[T]he machines used in our Ames and Avon plants are the same as used in our plant in Parma, Italy," the site explains. "The recipe and the wheat blend are the same as that used in Parma, Italy. Barilla purchases its wheat from around the world, ending up with the best wheat available."

But those two plaintiffs weren't looking at Barilla's website when they bought those three boxes of pasta. Instead, they looked at the box, and allegedly felt misled by those tiny flags. In their legal filing, they insist that they "would not have purchased the Product, or would not have overpaid a premium for the Product's purported Italian origin, had [they] known that the Challenged Representation was false."

In their complaint the two plaintiffs allege that Barilla has "falsely and misleadingly" labeled itself as an Italian product "[i]n an effort to increase profits and to obtain an unfair competitive advantage." (In a similar vein, we recently reported on another lawsuit which accused Texas Pete hot sauce of misleading customers to believe it was made in Texas.)

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Barilla attempted to get the lawsuit dismissed by suggesting that "no reasonable customer could be deceived" because all of its U.S. packaging is marked "Made in the USA" and includes the address of Barilla's Illinois headquarters.

But Judge Donna M. Ryu "partially denied" Barilla's motion to dismiss and ruled that the case could move forward. Courthouse News reports that the two plaintiffs were denied injunctive relief because they "know where the products are manufactured" now, and can't be financially harmed by purchasing another $2 box of Iowa-made pasta.

The plaintiffs want Barilla to stop using the Italian flag or other Italy-related claims on their boxes and they are also seeking financial compensation. Barilla is permitted to keep using its existing pasta box for now.

"The most recent decision in the ongoing legal matter simply reflects the Court's early conclusion that the lawsuit can proceed," a Barilla spokesperson told Good Morning America. "Barilla remains committed to vigorously defend against these unfounded claims, as the wording on the box clearly states: 'Made in the U.S.A. with U.S.A. and imported ingredients.' We're very proud of the brand's Italian heritage, the company's Italian know-how, and the quality of our pasta in the U.S. and globally."

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Appetites for fast and ultra-fast fashion continue to grow. Statista recently published this chart forecasting the growth of the worldwide fast fashion market through 2026. In 2021 the market value was 91 billion USD; this is expected to grow to over 133 billion USD by 2026. Rachel Monroe, writing for The Atlantic, explains that Americans buy a piece of clothing every five days. Clearly, consumers can't get enough cheap, throw-away textiles. And Americans are definitely throwing them away. Monroe provides these statistics about textile waste:

The volume of clothes Americans throw away has doubled over the past 20 years. We each generate about 75 pounds of textile waste a year, an increase of more than 750 percent since 1960. Some thrift shops, glutted with flimsy, synthetic wares, have stopped accepting fast-fashion donations. Discarded clothes get shipped overseas.

It doesn't seem to matter to most folks that the fast and ultra-fast fashion industries are terrible for the environment. Because what happens to the clothes we discard? Monroe explains:

Manufacturing the clothes is also awful for the environment:

Producing clothing at this scale and speed requires expending enormous amounts of natural resources. Cotton is a thirsty crop; according to Tatiana Schlossberg, the author of Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don't Know You Have (2019), producing a pound of it can require 100 times more water than producing a pound of tomatoes. But synthetic textiles have their own problems, environmentally speaking. They're a major source of the microplastics that clog our waterways and make their way into our seafood. McKinsey has estimated that the fashion industry is responsible for 4 percent of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions; the United Nations says it accounts for 20 percent of global wastewater.

Fast fashion is also terrible for workers who assemble the clothes, as the industry is notorious for awfuland even deadlyworking conditions and pitiful wages.

Given this history and context, it comes as no surprise that one of the biggest ultra-fast fashion companies, Shein, is "even worse than you thought," according to a new investigation by UK's Channel 4. Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz, writing for The Cut, explains:

A new investigation by the U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has uncovered details about the business practices of the Chinese fast-fashion company Shein. The outlet sent an undercover worker to film inside two factories in Guangzhou that supply clothes to the fast fashion giant. In one factory, Channel 4 found that workers receive a base salary of 4,000 yuan per month  roughly $556  to make 500 pieces of clothing per day and that their first month's pay is withheld from them; in another factory, workers received the equivalent of four cents per item. Workers in both factories were working up to 18-hour days and were given only one day off a month. In one factory, the outlet found women washing their hair during lunch breaks, and workers were penalized two-thirds of their daily wage if they made a mistake on a clothing item.

You can read the rest of the article here. And please, I'm begging you, stop buying fast and ultra-fast fashion! Instead, you can seek out more sustainable clothing brands. Here's a website that analyzes fashion brands and grades them based on their impact on the environment, workers, and animals. Better yet, shop in your own closet and practice minimizing your consumption. Remember the old "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" slogan? It's been expanded to help you think of better ways to act more sustainably. Check out this chart, provided by the University of Colorado, that expands the 3Rs to 7Rs: Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Re-gift, and Recycle.
Vast Resources PLC

Vast Resources plc / Ticker: VAST / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

21 October 2022

Vast Resources plc

(Vast or the Company)

Q3 2022 Baita Plai Production Report

Vast Resources plc, the AIM-listed mining company, is pleased to announce a 20% overall increase in Q3 production from its Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine (Baita Plai) in Romania.

As outlined in the announcement made on 26 September 2022, the last month of the quarter saw an increase in production via the utilisation of the Mantis rigs resulting in a significant increase in tonnes mined and the quality of the concentrate produced from an average of 16% in July and August to over 22% with peaks of 28.5%. September 2022 was the most successful month of underground production at Baita Plai with the mine producing 7,900 tons of ore, accounting for 50% of underground production in Q3 2022.

Production in July and August 2022 was affected by a requirement to change the working faces to enable the implementation of Long Hole Stoping. The initial downward perforation strategy for Long Hole Stoping was subsequently adjusted to vertical drilling in Level 17, to mitigate against the deflection of the drilling rods and this effective drilling strategy will now be maintained.

Figure 1 below shows the Q3 2022 production figures as well as a comparison to those published in Q1 & Q2 2022.

Q1 2022 Q2 2022 Q3 2022 DMT WMT MT DMT WMT MT DMT WMT MT Total Ore Mined 12,561 13,020 15,673 Cu Conc sold 234 263 183 201 140 154 Cu conc produced 229 257 268 295 309 340 Cu conc inventory at end of quarter 6 7 91 101 260 287 Average conc grade 19.0% 21.7% 17.2%

Figure 1

Q4 2022 Production Outlook

Q4 2022 commenced with a further increase in the rate of underground ore production compared to the average rate achieved in September. The current prepared accessible underground ore stands at approximately 290,000 tons because of the change in the transition to mechanised mining. The mine is currently working in four separate high productivity mining areas utilising Long Hole Stope methodology in addition to continuing production on two working faces with room and pillar mining method of extraction. Accordingly, underground production is expected to continue its growth into Q1 2023.

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The completion of Spiral number 3 will further increase the volume of underground ore production which is intended to ensure the longevity of the mine from Q2 2023.

Finally, the Company confirms that the sale of concentrate expected in mid-October will now occur in the first week of November.

Andrew Prelea, Chief Executive Officer at Vast Resources PLC, commented:

This has been a successful period which has seen us achieve the uptick in production from September that we have been working towards. I am wholly encouraged by the work that is continuing on the ground as we now plan for further increases in the remaining weeks of Q4, and again in Q1 2023 and onwards.

Important Notices

This announcement contains 'forward-looking statements' concerning the Company that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Generally, the words 'will', 'may', 'should', 'continue', 'believes', 'targets', 'plans', 'expects', 'aims', 'intends', 'anticipates' or similar expressions or negatives thereof identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the Company's ability to control or estimate precisely. The Company cannot give any assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this announcement. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise publicly any of the forward-looking statements set out herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.

**ENDS**

For further information, visit www.vastplc.com or please contact:

Vast Resources plc

Andrew Prelea (CEO)

Andrew Hall (CCO)



www.vastplc.com

+44 (0) 20 7846 0974 Beaumont Cornish  Financial & Nominated Advisor

Roland Cornish

James Biddle



www.beaumontcornish.com

+44 (0) 20 7628 3396 Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited  Joint Broker

Toby Gibbs / James Thomas (Corporate Advisory)



www.shorecapmarkets.co.uk

+44 (0) 20 7408 4050 Axis Capital Markets Limited  Joint Broker

Kamran Hussain



www.axcap247.com

+44 (0) 20 3206 0320 St Brides Partners Limited

Susie Geliher / Charlotte Page www.stbridespartners.co.uk

+44 (0) 20 7236 1177

ABOUT VAST RESOURCES PLC

Vast Resources plc is a United Kingdom AIM listed mining company with mines, development projects and mining interests in Romania, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe.

In Romania, the Company is focused on the rapid advancement of high-quality projects by recommencing production at previously producing mines.

The Company's Romanian portfolio includes 100% interest in Vast Baita Plai SAs producing Polymetallic Mine, located in the Apuseni Mountains, Transylvania, an area which hosts Romania's largest polymetallic mines. The mine has a JORC compliant Reserve & Resource Report which underpins the initial mine production life of approximately 3-4 years with an in-situ total mineral resource of 15,695 tonnes copper equivalent with a further 1.8M-3M tonnes exploration target. The Company is now working on confirming an enlarged exploration target of up to 5.8M tonnes.

The Company also owns the Manaila Polymetallic Mine in Romania, which the Company is looking to bring back into production following a period of care and maintenance. The Company has also been granted the Manaila Carlibaba Extended Exploitation Licence that will allow the Company to re-examine the exploitation of the mineral resources within the larger Manaila Carlibaba licence area.

Vast has an interest in a joint venture company which provides a share of revenue generated from the Takob Mine processing facility in Tajikistan. The Takob Mine opportunity, which is 100% financed, will provide Vast with a 12.25 percent royalty over all sales of non-ferrous concentrate and any other metals produced.

In Zimbabwe, the Company is focused on the commencement of the joint venture mining agreement on the Community Diamond Concession, Chiadzwa, in the Marange Diamond Fields.

GLOSSARY

Dry Metric Tonnes (DMT) Refers to the tonnage minus humidity to determine sales price Grade The relative quantity or percentage of ore mineral content in an orebody. Ore The naturally occurring material from which a mineral(s) can be extracted at a reasonable profit. Orebody A continuous well-defined mass of material to sufficient ore content to make extraction economically feasible. Skarn Lime-bearing siliceous rock produced by the metamorphic alteration of limestone or dolomite Wet Metric Tonnes (WMT) Usually quoted in terms of production for shipping terms

Competent Person

The forward-looking technical views made in this announcement is based on information interpreted by Mr Nicolae Turdean, the Companys Romanian Country Manager and a full-time employee of the Company. Mr Nicolae Turdean is a Qualified Person who is a Member in good standing of the:

Romanian National Association of Specialists in Mining Industry

General Association of Romanian Engineers

Romanian National Committee of Mining Engineers





Nicolae has 40 years experience in the Romanian mining industry. He was most recently President of the National Agency for Mineral Resources. Prior to this, Nicolae was the Chief Executive of Cupru Min SA, the Romanian state-owned copper producer. Nicolae has worked closely with the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, the Minister of Economy and Finance, and the World Bank, as well as serving on the Board of Administration for a number of companies. Nicolae holds both a Bachelor of Mining Science and a MSc. in the Management of Mining Activities from the Technical University of Petrosani in Romania.




SINGAPORE, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Penang Economic Summit (PES) 2022 was convened with over 300 C-suite-level executives and business leaders from 19 countries. Themed "The Post-Pandemic Reset", the summit provided a regional platform for leading thought leaders and entrepreneurs to explore the driving forces of the global and regional economy while uncovering new avenues of growth for Penang and Asia.

Spearheading The Post-Pandemic Reset with The Penang Economic Summit 2022

Organized by Enterprise Asia and Penang Institute, the Penang Economic Summit 2022 is a spin-off of the annual Asia Economic Forum which serves as an open platform for thought leaders and C-level executives to unite and shape regional initiatives to improve the well-being of communities.

The Asia Economic Forum was first organized in Macau, China in 2012 and has since been brought to Singapore, Shanghai, Bangkok, and this year to Malaysia as the Penang Economic Summit 2022.

2022 has proven to be a year of strong recovery as impressive progress is made in rebuilding economies in the post-pandemic era. However, new political and economic risks, a significantly changed market, and a resurgent nationalism are tempering this growth. The Summit addressed how now presents a window of opportunity for Asia to press the reset button and turn the pandemic into a rapid growth opportunity by championing innovation and international and regional co-operation.

The Chief Minister of Penang YAB Tuan Chow Kon Yeow stated in his opening address, "Penang's economy achieved the highest growth rate among other states in 2021, at 6.8%, with its contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rising to 7.1%. This rate is higher than the 6.6% achieved in 2019. This was supported by the growth rate in the manufacturing sector of 12.4%; this was primarily driven by a 16.5% increase in Electrical and Electronics (E&E) products.

"This year also marks the 50th anniversary of Penang's industrialisation journey. Penang's economy has flourished since the eight pioneer MNCs that focused on low-value export-oriented activities established themselves here in the early 70's. Today, it is led by over 500 MNCs handling high-tech, high-value-added operations. The spillover effects on locally-grown entrepreneurs are evident. We have more than 40 public-listed technology companies on the main board of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, and a majority of the founders of those companies were part of the former workforce of MNCs. These are thriving, and are strongly part of the global manufacturing supply chains."

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The speakers are Professor Danny Quah, Dean and Li Ka Shing Professor in Economics at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore; Dr. Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, Economist, Member Board of Trustees Yayasan Rahimah bt Yusof; Dr. Allinnettes Adigue, Head of the ASEAN Regional Hub, Global Reporting Initiative; Dato' Loo Lee Lian, CEO of Invest Penang; AK Chong, Managing Director of Intel Malaysia; Dato' Shidah Ahmad, Vice President & General Manager of Keysight Technologies Malaysia; Soon Kuek, General Manager and Senior Director of Lam Manufacturing Malaysia; Ooi Lay Pheng, CEO of Berjayapak; Datuk Seri Dr. Victor Wee, Advisor to Enterprise Asia; Former Chairman of Tourism Malaysia; Philip Whittaker, Group CEO of Sim Leisure Group; Dr. David Khoo, Executive Chairman of iHeal Medical Center; Chan Kee Siak, CEO and Founder of Exabytes Group; Tony Yeoh, CEO of Digital Penang; Afizulazha Abdullah, Chief Operations Officer (Technology) of Celcom Axiata Berhad; Dato' Seri Lee Kah Choon, Special Investment Advisor to Chief Minister of Penang and Distinguished Adjunct Researcher of Penang Institute; Moorthy Murugaiah, Senior Director Global People Services of Micron Memory Malaysia; Amar Chhajer, Country Head of UST Malaysia; Vic Sithasanan, Managing Director of JobStreet Malaysia.

The PES 2022 is endorsed by The Government of Penang; supported by the Association of Tourism Attractions Penang (ATAP), Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), The Free Industrial Zone, Penang, Companies' Association (FREPENCA), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Kuala Lumpur Malay Chamber of Commerce (KLMCC), Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KLSICCI), Malaysian Alliance of Corporate Directors (MACD), Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH)  Penang Chapter, Malaysian Thai Chamber of Commerce (MTCC), Myanmar Business Executives (MBE), Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MICCI), Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association (MSIA), The Philippine Retailers Association (PRA), Small and Medium Enterprises Association Malaysia (SAMENTA), Singapore Thai Chamber of Commerce (STCC), and Taiwan External TradeDevelopment Council (TAITRA); with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) as the Community Partner; PR Newswire as the Official News Release Distribution Partner; Digital Penang and Invest Penang as Strategic Partners; Bangkok Post, Business World Philippines, Hong Kong Economics Time, Kumparan Indonesia, and SME Magazine as Media Partners.

About Enterprise Asia

Enterprise Asia is a non-governmental organization in pursuit of creating an Asia that is rich in entrepreneurship as an engine towards sustainable and progressive economic and social development within a world of economic equality. Its two pillars of existence are investment in people and responsible entrepreneurship. Enterprise Asia works with governments, NGOs and other organizations to promote competitiveness and entrepreneurial development, in uplifting the economic status of people across Asia and in ensuring a legacy of hope, innovation and courage for the future generation. Please visit www.enterpriseasia.org for more information.

About Penang Economic Summit

The Penang Economic Summit is a spin-off of the annual Asia Economic Forum. The Summit provides a regional platform for thought leaders and C-level executives to unite and shape regional initiatives to improve the well-being of communities. For further information, please visit www.economicforum.asia.

SOURCE Enterprise Asia
During Wednesdays debate between the top two candidates for governor, Democrat Joy Hofmeister listed off statistics about violent crime being higher in Oklahoma than in New York and California, two Democrat-controlled states that Gov. Kevin Stitt regularly criticizes as being crime-infested.

Thats not true, Stitt responded with a laugh.

Thats a fact, Hofmeister shot back.

Hofmeister was correct  Oklahoma has a higher homicide rate, and higher rates of violent and property crime than New York or California, according to FBI statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although The Frontier, a news organization that released a fact check of the debate, pointed out that Oklahoma has led California and New York in those categories for nearly 20 years.

It was just a 60-second exchange during a debate that hit on dozens of critical issues facing the state, including tribal sovereignty, capital punishment and Oklahomas energy sector.

But the clip drew national attention and added fuel to the larger debate over whether blue states or red states are managed better.

More:Are red states like Oklahoma bad for business? California thinks so.

National Democrats quickly jumped in with their own thoughts, even though some admitted they hadnt really been following the Oklahoma race that closely.

The people of Oklahoma are not stupid and Stitt was hoping they would be stupid, said Howard Dean, a former national Democratic Party chairman, who was discussing the debate this week on MSNBC.

A poll I just saw five minutes ago showed that that lady, whose name I don't even know, is ahead by five points in that race in Oklahoma, one of the reddest states in the country.

Stitt says nobody believes in the crime stats

Stitt never conceded his inaccuracy on crime stats, and a top official in his office later tweeted that journalists were wrong with their fact checks.

Nobody believes this, said Carly Atchison, Stitts communications director.

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During Wednesdays debate, Stitt said no matter what the statistics might show, Oklahomans are better off trusting their instincts.

Oklahomans, do you believe we have higher crime than New York or California? said Stitt as he looked directly into the camera.

More:Six takeaways from the Oklahoma governor's debate between Kevin Stitt, Joy Hofmeister

Kyle Ibbotson, who moved from California to Oklahoma earlier this year, said he understood what Stitt was saying.

I 100 percent feel safer here, said Ibbotson, who lives in Edmond with his wife and two children. Even when I am in the areas here that you hear on the news about having higher crime, I still feel safer.

Ibbotson said crime in his community in Los Angeles County has appeared to increase with drug use and robberies in recent years. He once caught a man breaking into his car who threatened to shoot him.

Most Americans believe local crime is getting worse, according to a 2021 survey by Gallup that found 51% of adults think crime in their community is higher than the year before, a significant jump from the previous year's survey.

Although some local polls show crime is not a top concern for voters.

Just 4.8% of likely Oklahoma voters said crime and violence was the most important issue to them, according to a SoonerPoll from September.

Inflation, jobs, taxes, infrastructure and education were greater concerns, according to the poll.

Stitt has made support of law enforcement a top campaign issue

Stitt has made supporting law enforcement one of his top goals as governor, including this year when he approved a pay raise for state public safety employees and established a new mental health support program for law enforcement.

Stitt also has strong support among law enforcement groups and unions, including the Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police, which has endorsed his reelection bid.

His support of law enforcement is unwavering, said Mark Nelson, president of Oklahoma FOP. He has proven that protecting Oklahoma families comes first, and we are proud to stand with him as he makes public safety a top priority.

More:Entering election year, Gov. Stitt champions red state policies in State of the State address

But Alicia Andrews, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, said Wednesday's debate showed the governor does not have a handle crime or how to stop it.

"In that moment, instead of listening to the question, he took a posture of just saying 'thats not true, thats not true,'" Andrews said. "Either he did not know the facts about his own state, or he knew the facts and chose to gaslight us to try and convince us of a different reality."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Are Oklahoma crime rates higher than New York? False claims in gov. debate
Turkish authorities have seized $40 million in cryptocurrency as part of an investigation into an illegal gambling ring

Gambling in Turkey is highly regulated. Casinos were banned in 1998 in the country and online betting, with the exception of one state-owned service, has been banned since 2006.

According to reporting by The Daily Sabah, the authorities also issued detention orders for 46 suspects on allegations the individuals took part in facilitating illegal betting operations in eight provinces.

Turkeys Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor and the Smuggling and Organized Crime Investigation Bureau alleged the suspects mediated the funds produced by the illegal gambling operation, which were then transferred to the group's crypto addresses.

No indication is available of what cryptocurrencies were seized.

Turkey Forces Crypto Exchanges to Report More Customer Information

Turkish Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu said that "This operation came out of Turkish Cyprus and is linked to the murder of Halil Falyal.

Halil Falyali, a Turkish Cypriot businessman, was shot dead while driving near his home in Catalkoy, Kyrenia in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in February 2022.

The incident led to two men, M. Faysal Soylemez and Mustafa Soylemez, facing aggravated life sentences.

Falyali was no stranger to money laundering investigations himself and apparently has been wanted in the United States since 2016 on charges of money laundering and drug trafficking.

The $40 million confiscated may just be the tip of the iceberg, at least according to Turkish authorities.

Just the beginning of crypto crackdown

Authorities allege that a transfer of approximately 2.5 billion Turkish Lira, roughly $134.3 million, of money also occurred in relation to the incident.

Turkish authorities seem to have every intention of continuing the investigation, with Soylu telling The Daily Sabah that this is just the beginning."

Founder of Turkish Crypto Exchange Thodex Arrested in Albania

He told journalists in a separate meeting that: "We have supplied these files to those nations in an effort to create a condition that prevents unlawful betting from happening anywhere in the world, including Europe, the center of such activities.

He added that allegations that Turkey makes money from crime and illegal gambling are wrong and that Turkey is collaborating with all of its institutions to block organized crime's cryptocurrency transactions and earnings.
In a letter issued Monday to students and faculty, the president of the University of Arizona said prior requests for charges to be brought against the former student suspected in the fatal shooting of a department head went unheeded by the Pima County Attorneys Office.

County Attorney Lisa Conover pointed to constitutional restraints for a lack of charges made before the educators killing and the absence of red flag laws to prevent such carnage.

Dr. Robert Robbins, university president, stated in his letter that administrators took multiple actions against former graduate student Murad Dervish before Prof. Thomas Meixner, hydrology and atmospheric sciences department head, was shot and killed on Oct. 5 on campus.

Dervish, 46, was taken into custody that day and charged with murdering Meixner, 52. Police previously said Dervish harassed and threatened staff.

'He loved each of you so much': Family, friends honor UA professor Tom Meixner at funeral

University police, according to Robbins' letter, went to the county attorneys office twice this year to net charges against Dervish  once in the spring based on his communication with an unnamed staff member and again in mid-September due to his reported harassment of faculty.

The first time, the county attorneys office declined to press charges against Dervish, Robbins wrote in the letter. As of Monday, Robbins continued, university police had not been notified of what determination the county attorneys office made on charges for the second complaint.

Also on Monday, Conover issued a statement agreeing UA police proposed to her office two misdemeanor complaints on Dervish.

Flowers decorate a memorial for Dr. Thomas Meixner, professor and head of the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Arizona, in Tucson on Oct. 8, 2022. Meixner was fatally shot on campus Wednesday.

Neither complaint, Conover argued, met the "evidentiary requirements" to charge Dervish with the crime of threatening and intimidation under state law.

Our office bases criminal charges on the evidence presented, which must rise to the Constitutional standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The complaints brought by UA police in April and again in September did not have sufficient proof to meet that standard, and therefore no charges were filed, Conover's statement read.

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Conover pointed to the lack of a red flag law in the state, arguing these measures allow for guns to be removed from those presenting a threat to themselves or others.

A Red Flag bill failed to pass in Arizona, Conovers statement read. Until we join other states by passing a Red Flag law, our police will be limited to the laws that are on the books, and preventable tragedies like this will continue to occur.

More on the shooting: Head of UA Hydrology Department, Thomas Meixner, identified as killed in campus shooting

Before his expulsion in June, Dervish had been prohibited from stepping foot in university property in January, Robbins wrote, with the dean of students in February recommending expulsion due to behavior directed at university personnel.

Pictures of Dervish were distributed throughout the department with instructions on how and when to call police, according to Robbins. Entry passwords for rooms Dervish previously had access to were changed, Robbins mentioned.

The university, according to Robbins, also informed faculty on legal remedies they could take against Dervish, including pursuing criminal charges through the county attorneys office.

University police officers in April also spoke with Dervish at his home about threats he was accused of making, Robbins noted. Emails from Dervish were also diverted for review by university police and certain other parties, Robbins wrote.

The university president noted there would be an independent expert review of campus security, including how UA handled the issues involving Dervish.

The independent review will help inform us about what additional or different steps could have been taken to better protect our faculty, staff, students, and visitors and how we can improve our response, policies, and procedures involving campus safety and security in the future. We will share changes and new initiatives as they are implemented, Robbins wrote.

Robbins first announced the review last week.

In the coming weeks, administrators will meet with faculty and staff from all colleges to garner suggestions and to answer questions, Robbins added in the letter.

Access to an online form has been made available for anonymous comments from students, faculty, staff, parents and other community members.

Reach breaking news reporter Jose R. Gonzalez at jose.gonzalez@gannett.com or on Twitter @jrgzztx.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: UA: Prosecutors didn't file charges for threats ahead of professor's killing
Lacey Police Department

An armed forces veteran kidnapped his estranged wife from her Washington State home, bound her arms and legs with duct tape, stabbed her in the chest, then buried her alive in the woods, cops say.

The motive? Keeping his pension money out of her hands, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast

But Young Sook An, 42, pulled off a miraculous escape, fleeing the woods after several hours covered in dirt and showing up at a strangers door for help.

Chae Kyong An, 53, now faces charges of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree assault, and felony harassment-threat to killall of which include a domestic violence enhancement. His court-appointed lawyer, Ahmed Jenkins, did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Thurston County Superior Court

Youngs ordeal began around 1 p.m. on Oct. 16, when police were dispatched to a report of unknown trouble at a home in Lacey, Washington, that Young shares with the couples two children, ages 20 and 11. She filed for divorce over the summer, civil court records show.

The 911 operator told officers that a woman was heard screaming, sounded gagged, and could not talk, the affidavit continues, noting that banging and struggling could be heard in the background. Suddenly, the screaming stopped and it got totally quiet, according to the affidavit.

Authorities used cell tower data to locate the address, but when officers arrived, they found the house empty and the garage door open, the affidavit states. There were signs of a disturbance inside, and the front door was unlocked. The address was known to authorities as one with a previous history of domestic violence, and a records check showed that Young had a no-contact order against Chaewhich turned out had been rescinded by the courts, the affidavit explains.

The warring couples two kids returned home while officers were still on the scene. They said Chae stopped by once a week to do his laundry, and that his minivan had been in the driveway when they and Young got back from church. However, they didnt see Chae in the house, and the kids left to go to Goodwill and Baskin Robbins.

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A few minutes after the kids departed, Youngs cellphone sent out an emergency notification to her daughter and to a friend. It would later emerge that Young had used her Apple watch to dial 911 and send notifications to her emergency contacts when Chae briefly stepped out of the room. But Chae allegedly smashed the device with a hammer and dragged her out of the house when he returned.

Young was nowhere to be found when cops got there, and Chae had seemingly vanished, as well.

But at 12:51 a.m. on Oct. 17, Young showed up at an unknown persons house in Lacey. Following a 20- to 30-minute trek through the woods, she came upon a strangers home and pounded frantically on the door.

When cops showed up, she had trouble recalling an exact account of the events and specific directions of travel, the affidavit explains, but recalled coming out of the woods near the home, and Desiraes house being the first home she found.

When Young realized the deputy was law enforcement, she sprinted at them, screaming and crying for help, the affidavit states. She grabbed onto the deputy and frantically said, My husband is trying to kill me. Help me. She had duct tape still wrapped around her neck, lower face, and ankles. There was extensive bruising to her legs, arms, and head and her clothing and hair were coved [sic] in dirt Young appeared to be in extreme distresses [sic] and a state of trauma at the time the deputy spoke with her.

My husband is still out in the woods somewhere! she exclaimed.

Young soon revealed that while discussing their divorce and money at her home the day before, Chae had become angry and his estranged wife asked him to leave, the affidavit states.

Young said she went into her bedroom to change and while in the upstairs master bedroom Chae attacked her, punched her in the head multiple times, and threw her to the ground, the affidavit says. Young said Chae then tied her hands behind her back with duct tape and taped her eyes, thighs and ankles.

Thats when Chae left the room and Young used her Apple watch to call 911. She said she could hear the dispatcher talking and was trying to communicate but her mouth was covered so all she could do was yell, the affidavit goes on. Young said then Chae returned and drug her body down the hallway and down the stairs to the floor in front of the garage door. Young said Chea [sic] realized she had her Apple watch on so he struck it with a hammer and then struck her wrists.

Chae then forced Young into his van and drove her to a secluded area in the woods, according to the affidavit.

Young said she could hear Chae digging in the dirt and he stabbed her breasts with a sharp object, it says. Young said she was drug [sic] and put into the ground. Young said a heavy tree was put on top of her. Young said she could see it was daylight. Young said after being put in the ground she could hear her husband walking around the hole and dirt being put on top of her. Young said she would wiggle around to prevent the dirt from being on her face. Young said she had a hard time breathing and tried to keep the dirt off her face.

She didnt know exactly how long she was there, but told investigators she thought she was in the ground for a few hours. After dark, Young was able to wriggle out of her restraints and crawl out of the hole. She then found her way to safety.

Chae had often threatened to kill her, but Young never thought he would act on it, she told police.

Young said Chae told her he would rather kill her than give her his retirement money, the affidavit says. Young told the deputy Chae did intelligence for the United States Military and that he was extremely smart and has traveled all over the world.

Chae was arrested at 8 p.m. on Oct. 17 after cops received a call about a suspicious vehicle located a few miles away on the Chehalis Western Trail. He was booked into the Thurston County Jail on Oct. 18. That same day, police found the location of the grave where Young had been buried, and found a hole consistent with a grave type design, according to the affidavit.

Inside the 6-foot-by-3-foot hole, which was 19 inches deep, cops discovered lengths of duct tape and strands of Youngs hair. On the ground beside the hole, police found a piece of duct tape with the broken frame of Youngs Apple watch stuck to it.

In a court hearing on Wednesday, Jenkins, Chaes attorney, told the judge it is highly likely that his client suffers from some service-related mental health conditions that will end up being addressed probably later on.

Young pleaded with a judge in a letter read aloud in court by a victim advocate to keep Chae locked up, saying she feared for her life. The request was granted, and Chae remains detained without bond in the Thurston County Jail.

Chae is due back in court next week for a firearms review. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the attempted murder and kidnapping charges on Nov. 1. Young An was unable to be reached for comment.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The Selah Police Department's headquarters on South First Street. City officials are again looking to building a permanent home for the department, which is operating out of a rented building.
Jewish Repertory Theatre is celebrating its 20th anniversary season with a lineup of three shows high in name recognition and audience appeal.

First up is The Chosen (Nov. 3), adapted from Chaim Potoks acclaimed novel and high school-reading-list regular, and one of the first hit shows in JRTs early days.

For winter, the mood is reflective with Tuesdays With Morrie (Feb. 2), a two-person one-act inspired by Mitch Alboms best-selling memoir (going on 18 million copies sold).

And spring is time for Barefoot in the Park (April 27), a romantic comedy by prolific playwright Neil Simon that became a hit movie with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda  55 years ago.

Adam Yellen, director of performing arts for the Jewish Community Center, said that the nostalgic season is intentional, partly to reflect JRTs history and mission, and partly to welcome back to the theater people who have missed it over the recent years of the pandemic.

We chose The Chosen because we want to bring back a show that was important to our history and to our growth, Yellen said. The perfect JRT play is always one that has themes of Judaism within a story that can appeal to everyone, and The Chosen is that perfect story. Its a story thats meaningful to all people.

The play  a coming-of-age tale about two boys from rival yeshivas who both are facing father-son and cultural challenges in Brooklyn after World War II  was JRTs debut production when it was still an itinerant theater company, in the borrowed space of the Andrews Theater downtown.

Buffalo theater icon Saul Elkin, who is co-founder and artistic director of JRT, played a father in the first production and is directing this one. Original cast member Tom Loughlin returns in a fresh role, and, on the something new side, Samuel Fesmire, recent Artie Award winner for outstanding actor, is the teenage Reuven.

Enthusiastic subscribers have been sharing conversations about how The Chosen, whether novel or play, affected them, Yellen said, and several groups, including seniors and students, have already booked their tickets.

This has a real multigenerational appeal, Yellen said, and I think we can say that about all three of our shows this season. They are all ones that everyone can come to and enjoy.

Even with only two characters, Tuesdays With Morrie fits into that multigenerational niche. Yellen is appearing in it, as Mitch Albom, the young journalist who reconnected with his former professor after seeing the man on Nightline talking about his battle with ALS.

Its such a crowd-pleaser and such a beautiful show, Yellen said. Plus, hes excited to be performing with the near-legendary Jack Hunter  one of our great actors  under the direction of Josie DiVincenzo (winner of an Artie as outstanding lead actress in a play for What I Thought I Knew at JRT right before the pandemic shutdown).

And, for spring, Neil Simon was an obvious choice, Yellen said. Traditionally our April-May slot has been a comedy to bring in the summertime, and Brian (Cavanagh) had been talking to us about doing this for a while. It was just a no-brainer to give this one over to him.

Cavanagh is known throughout Western New York theater as the go-to person for technical expertise and lighting design, along with his directing talents, so JRT considers it a slam-dunk to have him reconfigure their theater setting into New York City.

The three shows lend themselves to a new feature for JRT: A Stage-to-Screen series. All the books/plays have also been made into films, and each movie will receive a free screening during its plays run.

The screening for The Chosen, starring Maximillian Schell and Rod Steiger, is Nov. 14 in the JCC Benderson Building in Getzville. (Attendees dont have to see the plays to enjoy the movies and the popcorn.)

Outside of the subscriber series, and outside of the family friendly theme this year, JRT is bringing in the one-man show Im Not a ComedianIm Lenny Bruce. Actor Ronnie Marmo, who wrote the show with the approval of Lenny Bruces daughter, will be in Buffalo March 11 and 12 for at least three performances. Since originating the piece in 2017, under the direction of Joe Mantegna, Marmo has performed the show around the country to rave reviews. (Ticket holders must be over 17 to be admitted.)

Finally, details will soon be coming about the JRT20 Celebration on Dec. 11, marking the successful production of more than 40 plays over the years in what JRT proudly describes as Theater for Everyone. The fundraiser will feature a Chinese dinner and performances of holiday songs by Jewish composers (and there are a lot of them, e.g. White Christmas, Silver Bells, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and on and on).

It also will give attendees the opportunity to thank all those who helped make JRT a success, starting with Elkin.

We are honored to be working beside him, Yellen said of Elkin. Hes been a mentor. Hes still really involved. This is his theater.

Season preview

Performances are in the Maxine and Robert Seller Theatre at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo, 2640 North Forest Road, Getzville. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. For tickets, visit jccbuffalo.org/jrt or call 716-650-7626.

The Chosen, Nov. 3-20

Tuesdays With Morrie, Feb. 2-26

Barefoot in the Park, April 27-May 21

Special event: Im Not a ComedianIm Lenny Bruce, March 11-12
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Michael Murphy, Shea's Performing Arts Center's embattled president, no longer holds the position, according to a statement from the organization issued Friday afternoon.

"Shea's Performing Arts Center Board of Trustees today announced that Michael G. Murphy is no longer its president," noted the tersely written news release.

No explanation was provided about whether Murphy resigned or was fired.

Board chairman defends 'unfairly tarnished' Shea's president amid effort to get theater 'back on track' Following a forced leave of absence, Michael Murphy returned to work this week as president of Shea's Performing Arts Center with the support of board members who havent resigned.

Calls to Murphy and Randall Best, Shea's board chairman, were not returned.

Murphy and the theater board have been under pressure in recent months after numerous staff complaints were leveled against Murphy for creating a "toxic" work environment. The complaints included accusations of harsh treatment of employees and angry outbursts.

An Aug. 12 letter to the board from 25 staff members expressed concerns over Murphy's continued tenure, and five of the 15 members on the theater's board resigned. Fifteen staff members have left this year, partly because of a demoralized work environment, according to several former employees.

25 Shea's Buffalo Theatre staffers seek board inquiry into 'toxic' work environment The departure of 27% of the staff was, with a few exceptions, partly due to a "toxic" and demoralizing workplace under Shea's President Michael Murphy, four current and former Shea's employees told The Buffalo News.

"I wish that the board had trusted us as a staff and that his departure had happened sooner," said Thembi Duncan, who resigned as director of arts engagement and education on Aug. 26. "I'm disappointed that we were left on our own to fend for ourselves and in the end he was gone anyway."

After being put on a leave of absence for six weeks, Murphy returned in late August in a modified role that did not involve interacting with staff.

Best told The News on Sept. 3 that staff concerns hadn't warranted Murphy's dismissal.

"The specific allegations by staff were looked at, and they didn't rise to the level of requiring or suggesting that Michael be removed," he said.

Shea's chairman said Murphy had been unfairly maligned by critics.

"We'd like to believe that people will understand that Michael is excellent at what he does, and that he has a good reputation that, frankly, I have got to believe has been unfairly tarnished, if we believe the consultants," Best said then. "What we find is a few bad apples sully the reputation of Shea's."

Murphy's new role, while keeping the title of president, was to focus on developing a capital campaign, foster relations with Broadway productions, and work on fundraising, sponsorships and external relations. Robert Brunschmid, Shea's director of operations, was given the added responsibility of supervising theater operations.

The Shea's board had said it would review the arrangement after a six-month trial basis.

With Murphy at the helm, Shea's had a record-setting 2018-19 season at the box office on the strength of an early booking of "Hamilton." Murphy navigated the challenges of Covid-19 in the past few years as Shea's managed to maintain nearly 16,000 season subscribers.

"The board will form a committee to open a national search for Murphy's successor," the Shea's statement said. "The board also plans to announce the addition of several new trustees following its annual meeting Oct. 29.

"We are pleased with the return of our patrons and fans of Broadway musicals and other shows," Best said in the release. "And we want to thank those patrons and our sponsors for their loyalty and patience during this challenging time of transition."
VILLANOVA, Pa.Villanova University has named William Thomas Newsome, III, PhD, the Harman Family Professor of Neurobiology and Founding Director of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University, as the 52nd recipient of the Mendel Medal. Dr. Newsome will deliver the Mendel Medal lecture titled, Decision-making, Brain and Free Will, on Friday, November 18 in the Villanova Room of the Universitys Connelly Center.

The Mendel Medal is named for 19th-century Augustinian friar and scientist Gregor Mendel, best known as the father of modern genetics, for his discovery of the celebrated laws of heredity that bear his name. The Mendel Medal was first awarded by Villanova in 1929 and is given to outstanding contemporary scientists in recognition of their accomplishments.

Villanova University is pleased to award the 2022 Mendel Medal to Dr. William Newsome from Stanford University, said Fr. Kail Ellis, OSA, PhD, Special Assistant to the President and Dean Emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Villanova University. His extensive research has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of neural mechanisms underlying visual perception and simple forms of decision-making. He believes that science should inform faith and that his faith informs his perspective on science. In this regard, he also exemplifies the purpose of the Mendel Medal award, which is to demonstrate that between science and religion there is no conflict.

Dr. Newsome is the leading investigator in systems and cognitive neuroscience, researching the central mechanisms in visual perception and visually based cognition, and the neural mechanisms behind decision-making. He has published 98 peer-reviewed papers and is an elected member of the Society for Neuroscience, National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Newsome has received numerous professional honors, including the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association, the Dan David Prize of Tel Aviv University, the Karl Spencer Lashley Award of the American Philosophical Society and the Champalimaud Vision Award.

As an institution founded by the Augustinian Order, Villanova University plays a key role in sustaining Mendels legacy. The Mendel Medal is awarded to outstanding scientists who have done much by their painstaking work to advance the cause of science and, by their lives and their standing before the world as scientists, have demonstrated that between true science and true religion there is no intrinsic conflict. To learn more about the Mendel Medal and its history, please visit the Mendel Medal website.

About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova Universitys Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six collegesthe College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nations top universities, Villanova supports its students intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.
The leading pro-government daily describes as scandalous the US embassy reaction to anti-American remarks by government and government-funded commentators. Meanwhile, a pro-government TV Station responds in kind.

In its Twitter video, the US Embassy quotes statements by pro-government outlets and two Fidesz politicians (Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen and Parliament Speaker Laszlo Kover) severely critical of the United States. In a quiz format, the video invites viewers to guess whether the remarks were made by Viktor Orban loyalists or by Vladimir Putin.



The video concludes with the following commentary: In recent weeks, several senior Hungarian government figures and government-funded commentators have made harsh anti-Western and anti-American statements. Hungary and the United States are Allies. As Russian aggression threatens us all, we must stand together, not move apart.



Magyar Nemzet reproduces the video without commentary, but qualifies it as scandalous in its headline.



HirTV, on the other hand, posts five questions in the same style asking whether (1) blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipeline was an act of terror (2) whether it was Vladimir Putin or Joe Biden who threatened to blow up Nord Stream (in its headline HIRTV quotes President Biden verbatim as saying  last January  that there will be no North Stream in case Russia attacks Ukraine); (3) who gave the Hungarian opposition billions (of Forints) in support to overthrow the government  Putins oligarchs or American Democrat circles; (4) who is the biggest winner of the war (in Ukraine) Europe or the United States?; and (5) who sells European natural gas at four times the domestic price, America or Russia?



Further reactions to the US Embassy Twitter video

Two authors mentioned in the video reject it as an example of a patronizing US attitude. A left-wing commentator asserts that frictions with the United States are not in Hungarys best interest.



Reacting to the video posted by the US embassy Tamas Menczer, State Secretary in charge of bilateral relations within the Foreign Ministry, said Hungary continues to promote relations based on mutual respect with the United States even should that ambition not be reciprocal. In an interview with ATV on Wednesday, he also said Budapest would be glad to host a Biden-Putin summit aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.



In an open letter to US Ambassador David Pressman, Demokrata editor Andras Bencsik repeats his allegation that the two Nord Stream gas pipelines were blown up by the United States, adding that this was not behaviour one would expect from an ally. In his concluding remark, he writes he would not welcome unequal alliances either with the European Union or with the United States.



In a similar but even harsher style, Magyar Nemzets Zsolt Bayer compares the United States to a lady whom one used to be in love with, but who has since become a shrew. He describes Ambassador Pressman as someone who has come to Budapest in order to lecture Hungarians as a new Andropov visiting a colony to explain to the natives whats right and whats wrong.



In Nepszava, Gabor Horvath dismisses such reactions, arguing that the statements criticised by the US embassy are in fact not OK among allies. He predicts that after the half-joking points made in the US Embassy video, more serious messages will follow. The left-wing commentator concludes that anti-Americanism only plays into Putins hands, while the interest of the Hungarian public would dictate the exact opposite.



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The global food crisis caused by the war in Ukraine could lead to a rise in migration waves which could then be infiltrated by members of terrorist organisations, the foreign minister has said.

Peter Szijjarto told a meeting of the working group of the global coalition fighting the Islamic State terrorist group dealing with foreign fighters that even when international attention is being focused on the war in Ukraine, other security challenges must not be forgotten.



Terrorist organisations always try to use such unstable situations to their advantage, Szijjarto said, noting that Islamic State leaders had recently called for new attacks to be carried out in Europe. This was why, Szijjarto said, it was crucial to end the armed conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible.



Szijjarto also noted that Russian and Ukrainian grain exports were critical to the food supply of countries that were already prone to instability.



It is a lot easier for extremist ideologies to spread in times of famine, Szijjarto said.



Violence rears its head, which leads to serious emigration waves, creating the best breeding ground for terrorism adding that migration waves could be infiltrated by terrorists.
The fresh newsletter for the International Community in Hungary - described by readers as a "Great read each week" - is now available for your interest and use via the link below.
CORDOVA -- A solid core of 35 volunteers stand by 24-7 to respond when bad things happen to the good people of Cordova.

Longtime member Lance Larson explained the department, which does not have an ambulance, responds to fire calls with several members trained to provide basic medical assistance.

We go help when neighboring departments respond with ambulances, Larson said, but we have no ambulance of our own.

Larson has served the community in his volunteer fireman capacity some 20 years, over which time he has held various offices within the departments administrative structure.

The Cordova emergency rolling stock includes three pumper trucks and two tankers, but not for long if current plans come to fruition.

Larson said the departments next acquisition project will be a grass rig. Thats firefighter lingo for a down-sized, fast, maneuverable, 4-wheel-drive, tank-equipped truck. Such vehicles are especially effective in assaults on sprawling, spreading grass fires. Typically, hose-equipped firefighters operate from a sturdy platform mounted in front of the grass rigs grill.

In a couple years, Larson said, Cordova will look to add another pumper to its fire suppression fleet.

Cordovas fire hall is located right in the middle of town, Larson said, for quick and central access to responders when needed.

As of the 2000 census there were 127 people in 62 households that included 38 families residing in the village.

Originally known as Hunkins to honor pioneer Benjamin Hunkins, the town was platted in 1887 when the railroad extended to that point. Due to similarity with the name of another post office in Nebraska, Hunkins was renamed Cordova after Cordova, Spain, to avoid confusion.

A post office has been in operation at Cordova since 1888.

The village of Cordova will be found on Hwy 76A a short drive south of the Utica exit from I-80.
GENEVA -- The fire and rescue staff at Geneva has the personnel and infrastructure in place to carry out its dual missions for years to come.

Mike Grothe, fire chief since 2018, reports volunteer strength at an impressive 45 including rescue squad responders. The department includes 14 card-carrying Emergency Medical Technicians.

Equipment includes three primary pumpers, a pair of tankers, one crash truck, a grass rig and an equipment hauler in addition to the rescue unit.

A new pumper truck will be delivered in a month, he said, noting preparations for its arrival date back a couple years when a new fire station was built. The new truck, he said, would not have fit in the old facility. The new headquarters for the department is a $1.5 million community asset.

Geneva Fire and Rescue, like York, Henderson and others emergency response departments in the I-80 and Hwy 81 corridors, must stand ready in training, people strength and equipment to deal with the devastation that comes part-in-parcel with high-speed routes that carry massive volumes of traffic, including thousands of commercial trucks each and every day.

The community, said Grothe, is very supportive of the department, which is a great group in and of itself. Geneva members, he added, willingly spend a lot of time and training to be a volunteer.

Geneva is one of 15 townships within Fillmore County, says Wikipedia.

The city serves as the Fillmore County seat and is home to the historic Fillmore County Courthouse. This two-story brick building was built in 1894 and has a prominent three-story clock tower which was installed by jeweler W.P. McCall in 1909. The courthouse underwent a multimillion-dollar restoration and conservation project and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
YORK  The organization Women Investing in Nebraska (WIN) has announced the award of a grant to the Child Advocacy Center to establish a new medical clinic at their satellite office in York.

The grant to the Child Advocacy Center is worth $92,550.

The center responds to child abuse through a team approach designed to reduce trauma, seek justice and promote hope and healing for children and their families. A key component of its service is ensuring the physical well-being of children after trauma. A new medical clinic at the York office will provide access to comprehensive medical care for all children served by the center, including those entering the foster care system.

Child Advocacy Center Executive Director Paige Piper said Women Investing in Nebraska is making a significant difference for children who are often unable to receive specialized medical attention.

This grant will allow us to develop a medical clinic that will serve child victims of abuse and neglect in York and the surrounding counties, Piper said. This critical process ensures that children receive a head to toe evaluation to assess their overall health and wellness, are allowed to ask questions about their bodies and receive testing and any treatments needed to heal. We are grateful for this opportunity to provide care for the most vulnerable in our community.

The Child Advocacy Center was founded as a nonprofit in Lincoln in 1996 and two years later began serving the community by assisting law enforcement agencies with a formalized response to cases of child sexual abuse in southeast Nebraska. In its first year it served 30 children from Lancaster County and now serves more than 1,000 children a year in its 16-county service area.

Each year the number of children the center serves has increased. This is partially due to the training and increased knowledge of child sexual assault cases and reporting laws and partially due to multidisciplinary teams seeing the value of bringing cases involving children to the center.

About 225 WIN members contributed personally to make the grants possible, and committee members reviewed proposals in a four-step process culminating in a membership vote for the two recipients (the other being the University of Nebraska-Kearney for its College Readiness for Hispanics Program). WINs membership is comprised of women in and outside Nebraska who, through their collective giving, address issues that matter to Nebraskans.

WIN members continue to make a significant impact within our state, as seen in the grants weve been able to award this year to highly deserving organizations and projects, WIN Chair Susan Fritz of Crete said. Each year, we witness the great concern and support that the University of Nebraska and Nebraskas many nonprofit organizations have for people and communities across our great state.
UTICA -- The Utica Fire Department continues to commit to delivering quality service to community of Utica and surrounding communities.

This year the department is seeing some new changes under the new fire chief, Curtis Deremer.

Deremer has been the fire chief since last October.

Deremer said, Things have been really good. Im trying to transition into the leadership roledirecting people where to go, telling them what to do, and what needs to get done.

Last year, Deremer was awarded the Hero Award at the Nebraska Statewide Emergency Medical Services Conference.

Deremers leadership sets the tone for others to follow. The goal as a department is to meet and exceed the needs of residents in their community from responding to calls to offering educational resources to the public.

From the support of the community and funding from their annual pork barbecue fundraiser, soup lunch and Big Blue Mile Shootout, the department purchased four new Mine Safety Appliance (MSA) air packs.

Theres been some talk of purchasing a rescue squad truck, which will be replacing their 1995 squad.

We are very privileged to have a great community who supports us through donations. Since they cant do what we do, they provide us the funds to have the right supplies, said Deremer.

The department has in-house training once a month in addition taking extrication training and CPR classes. Residents of Utica can expect the department provide professional and quick service. This year, the department has 28 members, all with the same vision of helping others in need.

Our members are knowledgeable on a lot of different things, said Deremer. We work very well together. When were on call, not much has to be said on what to do and how to do it. Everyone knows what they have to do.
Lawyers for the prosecution and defense clashed Friday at the sentencing of an Amherst man originally charged with a hate crime before he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment.

Christian R. McCaffrey, 21, received three years of probation, a sentence promised as part of his plea agreement, but not before a tense State Supreme Court hearing that saw defense attorney Mark Sacha repeatedly object to portions of the statement read by McCaffrey's harassment target  an uncommon action that drew criticism from Assistant District Attorney Rachel Kranitz McPhee.

In an even more unusual move, Justice M. William Boller abruptly cut short Hunter Myers' victim impact address after Myers started to blame Sacha for lengthy delays in court proceedings.

This all came after Kranitz McPhee told the judge that prosecutors agree with the recommendation for jail time included in the pre-sentencing report for the case. Boller said this request came far too late in the process and, further, if he deviated from the probation commitment he would have to give McCaffrey the chance to withdraw his guilty plea.

McCaffrey did not speak before sentencing and declined comment outside the courtroom. Sacha previously has said McCaffrey exercised poor judgment in harassing a romantic rival but there was no evidence to support a hate crime charge.

Myers and his family say they remain frustrated McCaffrey didn't receive jail time after admitting he sent Myers numerous threatening messages. And, they said, they aren't happy with the handling of a case that includes someone using a flare gun to set their home on fire in 2019.

"I don't think justice was served whatsoever here today," Hunter Myers told The Buffalo News after the sentencing.

McCaffrey, then 18, was charged in December 2019 with aggravated harassment as a hate crime, a felony, after authorities say he engaged in a monthslong campaign of harassing phone calls, texts and Snapchat messages directed at an acquaintance who is Jewish.

The Erie County District Attorney's Office said then that police also were investigating a recent arson at the victim's home.

Sacha, however, said the case centered on a rivalry over a woman who had dated McCaffrey before dating Hunter Myers. McCaffrey and Myers were acquaintances but not friends.

McCaffrey never was charged with setting the fire that damaged part of their first floor. Instead, Dino A. Bruscia, who was identified as McCaffrey's half-brother, was charged with felony arson. His case is ongoing and the trial is set for April.

Hunter Myers and his mother, Penny, said both men went to their home the night of the arson but it was McCaffrey who shot off the flare. The Myers family said McCaffrey's ID and cellphone were found on a neighboring lawn after the arson and, further, video evidence points to McCaffrey's guilt in the arson.

McCaffrey, though his attorney, has denied involvement in the incident.

In an interview Friday, Hunter Myers said prosecutors told him and his family they charged Bruscia, not McCaffrey, with the arson because they are more interested in pursuing Bruscia, who is older than McCaffrey and is facing an additional charge in Cheektowaga after, authorities say, he used Facebook to urge people to loot the Walden Galleria.

"They view him as a big problem-causer because they haven't dealt with Christian in the past. But, in reality, that's not how the events played out," Hunter Myers said.

A spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office said she couldn't comment because the arson case against Bruscia remains active.

McCaffrey's case was set to go to trial in August but he instead pleaded guilty to second-degree aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor, with a sentencing commitment of probation and no jail time.

At Friday's formal sentencing in State Supreme Court, Sacha raised concerns about portions of the pre-sentencing report that referred to the arson. Kranitz McPhee said prosecutors stood by the report and its recommendation of a jail sentence for McCaffrey, advice that Boller said he couldn't follow because of the sentencing commitment made at the time of the plea agreement.

McCaffrey declined to address the court. Hunter Myers had prepared seven pages of remarks but when he accused McCaffrey of a hate crime and of trying to burn down his house, Sacha objected.

Boller told Sacha he can't lodge an objection to a victim impact statement, a point reiterated by Kranitz McPhee.

"This is outrageous, judge," Sacha said in protest.

Boller instructed Sacha to let Myers continue uninterrupted. However, when Myers began a section that criticized Sacha for dragging out the case over months and years  something Sacha vehemently denied  Boller cut off Myers.

"I want to end this. I've had enough of this. Thank you, sit down," Boller said.

Myers and his parents say the harassment might have started over a girl but they insist McCaffrey ratcheted up the harassment, to the point that he repeatedly threatened to kill them because of their Jewish faith.

They remain troubled by the sentence of probation. Hunter Myers also received an order of protection.

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn on Friday said the family agreed to the terms of the plea months ago and for them to now say they disagree is disingenuous.

The Myers family also said they are unhappy Boller wouldn't let Hunter Myers finish his statement.

"That really is hurtful. Hunter has, as we all have, suffered tremendously from this," said Penny Myers.

News Staff Reporter Aaron Besecker contributed to this report.
YORK  York High School junior Lauren Hills was one of 62 high school students in the United States to attend the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) National Academy Associates Youth Leadership Program in Quantico, Virginia this summer. Are the television series Criminal Minds and NCIS a sham? Hills has the answer since she spent a week learning the ins and outs of work in a real FBI office.

Hills said she was always interested in criminology. I wanted to just see how it would actually be, not what is seen on the TV and it is quite different.

Hills came across the program while Googling summer camps that would keep her busy over the summer.

For one to get into the FBI program, they have to go through an application and interview process. Students must be 14, 15 or 16 years old and they must demonstrate high academic standards and good citizenship to be selected.

When she was selected, Hills was in shock.

I was definitely excited when I got picked, but nervous at the same time, she said.

While in Quantico, students had classroom sessions at the FBI Academy on the Marine Corps Base.

Hills said, There were a lot of lessons about leadership and what makes a good leader, the different types of leadership and when to use them. We all have the skills to be a leader. 

The students listened to the stories of former agents. Agents talked about what inspired them to go into the field and their experiences. Students also toured Hogans Alley in Quantico which is a mock town for FBI agents to train on arresting, gun fights, robberies and other crime scenarios.

We practiced kicking down doors, which was pretty cool, said Hills.

All of their lessons and training lead up to Yellow Brick Road fitness training where the students had to run three miles including going through an obstacle course. After completing the challenge, students are given a yellow brick that can be kept as a souvenir.

Reflecting on the experience, Hills said, Just seeing how everything looked and how it actually worked is so different from what appears on TV. On TV, they have people who are working on the computer, looking at the pictures, going to the scene and solving the crime all at the same time, but in real life, everyone has their own, specific job. There are people for every job and they are good at what they do.

The biggest takeaway Hills had were the friendships she has made with students from all over the U.S.

I am just grateful I had the opportunity to meet all of these people from different backgrounds, said Hills. Everyone was interested in one thing and we were all just excited to be there and experience those things together.

Hills said she will be applying what she learned about leadership to activities in high school shes involved in including softball, track, mock trial, academic decathlon and FFA.

After high school, Hills plans to pursue criminal justice in college.
Scheduled airlines will begin operating 21,941 domestic flights each week on domestic routes on October 30 as part of the winter schedule. There will be 1.55 percent fewer weekly flights than the 22,287 flights that were run during the last winter schedule. From October 30, 2022, through March 25, 2023, the winter schedule will be in force. There will be 21,941 weekly departures in the forthcoming Winter Schedule 2022 from 105 airports. It is to be noted that this is the second consecutive year that DGCA has reduced the number of flights allowed to operate in India.

In comparison to the winter schedule of the year prior to the pandemic, 201920, which had 23,307 departures, the winter schedule of 2022 experienced a 4.4 percent decrease in departures last year. "Out of these 105 airports Deoghar, Shimla, and Rourkela are the new airports proposed by the scheduled airlines," aviation regulator DGCA said in a release on Friday. Out of the total 21,941 departures, the maximum will be by IndiGo at 10,085 followed by SpiceJet at 3,193.

Also read: Indian Army helicopter CRASHES in Arunachal Pradesh, rescue operations underway

Air India will have 1,990 departures, Vistara (1,941), Air Asia (1,462), Go Air (1,390), Alliance Air (1,034), Akasa Air (479), Fly Big (214), and Star Air (153).

The number of departures for Fly Big has increased significantly showing a growth of 84.88 percent. Similarly, other airlines like Vistara, Alliance Air, and Star Air also showed growth in flight numbers by 15.88 percent, 13.50 percent, and 11.68 percent respectively.

GoFirst has experienced the largest decrease in the number of flights it will operate; instead of operating 2,290 flights per week during the winter of 2022, GoFirst will now only operate 1,390 flights per week. While other airlines like Air India and Indigo joined Go Air with a drop of 3.07 percent and 1.54 percent respectively. The other airlines like SpiceJet and AirAsia showed marginal growth of 6.61 percent and 4.95 percent respectively.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday granted Jeypore Airport the license to carry out commercial flight operations under the regional connectivity scheme. Describing it as a "milestone", the Ministry of Civil Aviation said the airport, 33 km northwest of Koraput town and around 500 km southwest of Bhubaneswar, would boost tourism and development of the region.

"Jeypore Airport of Odisha gets the license to carry out scheduled air operations under #UDAN," the ministry tweeted, along with a copy of the aerodome licence issued to Odisha. "This license authorizes the aerodrome to be used as (a) regular place of landing and departure," according to the note by the DGCA.

It added that the licence would be liable to suspension, modification or withdrawal if the provisions of the Aircraft Act and the Aircraft Rules were violated. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik welcomed the development.

Another milestone a day ahead of #UDANDiwas!

Jeypore Airport of Odisha, gets the license to carry out scheduled air operations under #UDAN.

This will help boost tourism and development of this tribal region.#SabUdenSabJuden pic.twitter.com/om9zGZGACj October 20, 2022

"It will fulfil people's aspirations of this region and give a boost to connectivity, commerce and tourism," his office said. Jeypore became the "first" state-owned airport to get the licence, the CMO said.

Ahmedabad-based IndiaOne Air would commence flight operations between Bhubaneswar and Jeypore very soon, it stated. The regional airline had conducted a trial flight earlier this year.

"Jeypore will be connected to Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam through daily flights," the CMO added. The airport can boost the trade for the district's indigenous products, including the famous organic Koraput Coffee.

Additional civil aviation secretary Usha Padhee said she was "happy to see the license come through". "Kudos to team #Odisha & @AAI_Official! Wish to see the #UDAN flights fly to Jeypore soonest. #Koraput, the tribal heartland, is so dear a place to me," she tweeted.
An Indian Army ALH helicopter has crashed in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, 25 kilometres from the Tuting headquarters. According to the Defence PRO in Guwahati, an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) crashed this morning at 10:40 am in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. After hours of Search and Rescue Operation, the team has recovered the mortal remains of four individuals out of the five till now. A total of 5 Personnel were on board the ill-fated chopper, said PRO (Defence) Tezpur. A joint Search & Rescue Op of Army & IAF was launched immediately, which included 1 MI17, 2 ALH & 3 columns of Army.

"An army aviation ALH WSI helicopter which took off from Lekabali crashed today at 10:43 am around Migging (South of Tutting) in Arunachal Pradesh" said PRO (Defence) Tezpur. Jummar Basar, the Upper Siang Police Superintendent, told ANI over the phone, "The site of the accident is not connected through the road. A rescue team has been rushed and all other details are awaited."

Addressing the unfortunate incident, Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju said in a tweet,"Received very disturbing news about Indian Army`s Advanced Light Helicopter crash in Upper Siang District in Arunachal Pradesh. My deepest prayers."

Received very disturbing news about Indian Armys Advanced Light Helicopter crash in Upper Siang District in Arunachal Pradesh. My deepest prayers pic.twitter.com/MNdxtI7ZRq  Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) October 21, 2022

The Advanced Light Helicopters are indigenously built and are used by the Indian Air Force and Indian Army for high-altitude operations and providing air support. The ALH is made by HAL and is available ALH Dhruv and ALH Rudra configurations, the latter being made as an attack chopper.

Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh | A military chopper crashed near singging village, 25 kms away from the Tuting headquarters in the Upper Siang district today. Site of accident not connected by road, rescue team sent. Further details awaited: Defence PRO, Guwahati pic.twitter.com/G2y7aEjQmT  ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2022

Earlier on October 5 this year, an Indian Army pilot lost his life in a Cheetah helicopter crash near Tawang area of Arunachal Pradesh. After the incident on October 5, 2022, one of the pilots succumbed to his injuries while the other one underwent the necessary treatment.

The deceased pilot was identified as Lieutenant Colonel Saurabh Yadav. It is to be noted that Arunachal Pradesh has a history of chopper crashes, most of which is because of bad weather. One of the chopper crash in the North East state even claimed the life of former chief minister Dorjee Khandu.

With inputs from ANI
Budget airliner SpiceJet has announced to stop flight services to Sikkim's Pakyong Airport. The Indian airliner is the only carrier that runs daily flights to and from the greenfield airport in Sikkim's Pakyong. Officials in the state lamented that the decision will deal a blow to the state's tourism industry as the sole airliner decides to stop flight services to Sikkim. Spicejet earlier started its first-ever non-stop flight between Kolkata and Pakyong under Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme.

Spicejet said they have decided to suspend services in the hill state from October 30 due to "operational constraints". According to a spokesperson of the budget airline, bad weather and low visibility were bottlenecks that led to the operational constraints. "SpiceJet flights to and from Pakyong airport have been temporarily suspended with effect from October 30, 2022, due to operational constraints owing to the bad weather condition and low visibility at Pakyong."

Pakyong is a VFR (Visual Flight Rules) airport and does not have instrument landing facilities. Required minima to operate from this airport is 5,000 feet, which is difficult to achieve on most days of the year, especially during the winter months. To avoid inconvenience to our passengers, flight operations have been temporarily suspended. We will share an update once the services resume," the spokesperson said.

Captivating views of the Pakyong Airport (Gangtok), moments after the first-ever flight from Kolkata landed at the airport this morning. SpiceJet is delighted to introduce a non-stop flight between Kolkata and Pakyong under Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme, starting today! pic.twitter.com/eMW48Zr7T2  SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) February 1, 2021

A notice to this effect has been put up at the reception and the ticket counter of the airport.An airport official said on the condition of anonymity that SpiceJet has suffered significant losses during the monsoon season when the carrier had to cancel flights due to bad weather.

The airline, which started operations from the table-top airport in 2018, currently operates daily direct flights to Delhi and Kolkata. Officials said the service withdrawal will inconvenience locals, who avail flight services as and when available, besides adversely affecting the tourism industry in the land-locked state."

We are hoping that services will resume early next year as the weather is usually favourable around that time of the year," a tourism department official said.

With PTI inputs
New Delhi: The song Keti Ko from Sooraj Barjatya's Uunchai is making waves with the world grooving to it. The song is Danny Denzongpa's birthday number, and it is none other than Amitabh Bachchan who has won the most love, admiration and adulation with his honesty to craft this song.

"Bachchan sir would personally be there standing in for himself observing and rehearsing. And the other three actors were just as enthusiastic and energetic. It is this energy that made the song Keti Ko," elaborates choreographer Shabina Khan. And this energy of the titans transferred to the audiences. And how!

Uunchais trailer takes the viewer on a road trip from Delhi to the peaks of the Himalayas in Nepal. The Keti Ko song featuring Danny Denzongpa alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher and Boman Irani is an integral part of the trailer and legends are seen dancing on screen, having the time of their life.

Uunchai is one of 2022s biggest releases that boasts a legendary ensemble, a seasoned director, an iconic production house and a story whose heartbeat is friendship. The films tagline  Friendship Was Their Only Motivation is the backbone of the films trailer.

Uunchai is Rajshris most ambitious film till date. Shot at 17000 plus feet above sea level, with a senior star cast, Uunchai is directed by Sooraj R Barjatya and produced by his Rajshri Productions in association with Mahaveer Jain Films and Boundless Media. Uunchai will be in a theatre near you on 11.11.22.
NEW DELHI: In a relief to Google India, the Income Tax Appellate Authority (ITAT) has said the payments made by the company to Google Ireland between 2007-08 and 2012-13 is not a royalty and hence, it is not subject to withholding tax.

The Bengaluru-bench of ITAT gave this ruling after re-examining the matter on the orders of the Karnataka High Court. The case relates to whether payments totalling Rs 1,457 crore made by Google India to Google Ireland is a royalty and tax is to be withheld in India.

The ITAT in its earlier order in 2018 had held that Google India's payment to Google Ireland is royalty and tax should be paid in India. However, Karnataka High Court directed ITAT to re-examine the matter.

Also Read: 'Diwali Bhet': 87,000 employees of THIS PSU to get Rs 5000 bonus each

In its fresh ruling dated October 19, 2022, the ITAT set aside its 2018 order and said that such transfer of money was not a royalty. Allowing the appeal of Google India, the ITAT, in a 72-page order dated October 19, said, "we hold that the impugned payment cannot be characterised as royalty under the India-Ireland DTAA."

Email sent to Google India for comment on the issue did not elicit a response.
Diwali 2022: One of the biggest Hindu festivals of the year, Diwali is celebrated across the country. The five days of the festival begin with Dhanteras and continues till Bhai Dooj. During this time, especially on the day of Diwali, people light up their homes with diyas and fairy lights, put rangolis, cook good food and meet family and friends. As per Hindu beliefs, Diwali is the day when Lord Rama, along with wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, returned to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile, and after Rama defeated Ravana. So the festival stands for the spiritual triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.

Lakshmi Puja is one of the most significant aspects of Diwali. Astrologer and Vastu Expert, Gurudev Shrie Kashyap, Chairman/Founder of All India Institute of Occult Science and True Vastu, tells us the dos and don'ts of Lakshmi Puja on Diwali.

Also read: EXCLUSIVE: Diwali 2022 food guide - Control blood sugar and weight with THESE sweets and snacks

Diwali 2022: Lakshmi Puja muhurat

Starts: From 5:39 pm on October 24

Ends: On 8:14 pm on October 24

Diwali 2022: Dos and Donts of Diwali

Gurudev Shrie Kashyap says that following the Vastu tips during Diwali will ensure happiness and prosperity. He lists out the dos and don'ts of Diwali Puja. Read on...

Dos:

- While worshipping, a lamp should be lit and placed on the right side of the deity while incense sticks should be lit on the left side.

- According to the scriptures, a ghee lamp should be lit on the right and an oil lamp on the left.

- Do Lakshmi puja following proper rules and regulations this Diwali, to seek the immense blessings of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Laxmi.

- Do Lakshmi puja in the given muhurat as this will make Goddess happy and ensure the blessings.

- The main entrance of your house should be beautifully decorated and should be neat and clean. You can make a rangoli at the entrance of your home,.You can use flowers or colours to make the rangoli.

- One should always worship facing East or North. But there is no direction defect of worshipping in front of the idol of the God.

- Turmeric, coriander and kamal gatta (lotus seeds) should be used in Diwali worship.



- At least 11 ghee lamps should be lit during the period of Diwali puja. And after the Deepawali puja, keeping a big lamp lit throughout the night in the house is considered to be a sign of good luck and increase of wealth.

Donts:

- Make sure to get your main door repaired if it makes any creaking sound.

- Avoid making rangoli designs of Lord Ganesha or Goddess Lakshmi on the doorsteps.

- Avoid placing Om and Swastika in the wrong direction - that is South or West direction.

- Dont keep your waste or unused things on the terrace.

Also read: Happy, green Deepavali: 5 tips to celebrate an eco-friendly Diwali

(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the expert quoted and do not reflect the views of Zee News)
Raichur: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the BJP and RSS of spreading hatred and violence everywhere in the country, as he also targeted the saffron party governments at both the Centre and state on a host of issues. The former AICC president was addressing the gathering at Yeragera here at the end of the 44th day of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which began in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh this morning. "If we see this country and the region today, BJP and RSS have spread hatred and violence everywhere. This country is not the country of hatred and violence and they won't benefit this country in any way," Gandhi said.

Thanking the people for giving strength and support for the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by him, he said, "You have given power for unifying India, stood against hatred and violence. You have protected the Indian flag and taken it up much higher, from the people who are attacking it by spreading hatred and violence in the country." The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Gandhi on Friday re-entered Karnataka here, after three days in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. The yatra that entered the state near Gillesuguru at the Raichur border, will march through the rural and urban segments of the district, before entering neighbouring Telangana on the morning of October 23.

Also Read: Congress committed to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh: Rahul Gandhi

Noting that walking a total distance of about 3,500 km is not easy, Gandhi said that the support, strength and love of people made it a bit easy for him. "It is you, who is pushing me ahead." He said the yatra is being taken out for three reasons -- to unite the country and eradicate hatred, to tell BJP and Narendra Modi-led government that they should fulfil their promise of creating two crore jobs for youth every year, and against price rise. Pointing out that during the 7-8 hours long walk every day as part of this yatra, he and his party leaders listen to farmers, labourers, youth and women, Gandhi said they share their concerns and difficulties.

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi will leave 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' for the first time! Know the BIG reason HERE
New Delhi: Delhi Police`s special cell has apprehended a Chinese woman disguised as a Nepalese monk from the national capital for her alleged involvement in anti-national activities. The Chinese lady identified as Cai Ruo was arrested from Majnu Ka Tila, Delhi, following searches based on the information received, Delhi police said.

After further investigation, it was revealed that the arrested foreign national was residing in India with a fake Nepalese identity. "The Chinese lady was detained on Monday at around 1 pm from Majnu Ka Tila, Delhi. During verification, one Nepalese citizenship certificate in the name of Dolma Lama, a resident of Kathmandu, Nepal was recovered from her possession," a police officer said.

After contacting Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO), it was revealed that the arrested person is a Chinese citizen and had travelled to India back in 2019 as a Chinese national.

A case has been registered against her on October 17 under section 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security), and other relevant section of the Indian Penal Code and Foreigners Act. The Chinese woman has been sent to police custody for 14 days.

Further information is underway, police said.
The chairman of the "Droa" party, Elene Khoshtaria, responded to Ukraine imposing sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili's entourage and said that Ukraine sanctioned only Ivanishvili and not the whole country of Georgia:"The sanctioning of Bidzina Ivanishvili's family members is related to his activities as an oligarch. Sanctions are intended to put pressure on oligarchic rule. The main reason, during this cruel war, is the direct ties with the Kremlin," she said.As Khoshtaria stated at the briefing, due to ties with Russia, Ukraine did not sanction Georgia, but personally Bidzina Ivanishvili's entourage.According to her, the "Droa" party will continue to work with Ukraine and its partners to expand the list of sanctioned people and countries that punish Russian oligarchs because of their ties to Russia and the Kremlin."Ukrainian President Zelensky signed a resolution, according to which Ukraine introduced personal sanctions against Russian oligarchs. Family members of Bidzina Ivanishvili and Davit Iakobashvili were included in the list of Russian oligarchs.Of course, we all understand that the sanctioning of Bidzina Ivanishvili's family members is connected to his activities as an oligarch. Sanctions are intended to put pressure on oligarchic rule. The main reason, during this brutal war, is direct ties with the Kremlin. This is the criterion according to which Ukraine justifiably authorizes these persons.We should also understand how important it is that Ukraine separated the Georgian state, the Georgian society, from the clan that has hijacked our country today. Due to its ties with Russia, Ukraine sanctioned the entourage of Bidzina Ivanishvili personally, not Georgia." said Khoshtaria."Citizens" leader Levan Ioselian explained why the party decided to nominate all 19 contestants as candidates for public defense.According to the opposition vice-speaker of the parliament, with this decision, all candidates will be given the opportunity to present themselves before the parliament and express their opinion.According to him, the ruling party does not have enough votes to nominate its own candidate, they need the support of the opposition to finally elect a candidate."This is the most transparent, the most democratic process that can be done in the parliament for these people, and we are the supporters of this process, naturally.As for the skepticism and criticism of my colleagues, I can only say one thing to them, it seems that they have no hope in their own party that someone will not support the "Georgian Dream" candidate, otherwise it is inconceivable to me, how could they be against it, given to everyone A chance to present his views to the Parliament under equal conditions."Georgian Dream" does not have enough votes, and if they have their candidate or candidates who will support them, they will also appear publicly. If they had enough votes, then I would receive criticism, but since they don't have enough votes and someone from the opposition has to fill them, therefore the argument that "Georgian Dream" can have its own candidate is completely illogical," said Levan Yoseliani while talking to journalists.The "Citizens" party plans to nominate 19 candidates to the parliament, i.e. all those who applied for the position of public defender.
The two men were distraught and appeared to be contemplating suicide.

One stood atop a hulking grain elevator on the banks of the Buffalo River. The other was perched on the South Grand Island Bridge, peering down at the icy waters of the Niagara River.

Thanks to the quick response of four Erie County Sheriff's deputies, both men lived.

For their bravery, the deputies  along with 16 other deputies, detectives, officers and Sheriff's Office staffers  will be honored Saturday at the agency's annual Badge & Shield Club awards ceremony.

Erie County Sheriff John C. Garcia said the honorees "demonstrated acts of bravery, kindness and dedication to their profession and are truly extraordinary public servants. I am proud of each of them, and the people of Erie County should be as well  we are lucky to have them as members of the Sheriffs Office.

Man saved on bridge

Deputies Ryan Murphy and Justin Bauer will be honored with the William R. Dils Deputy of the Year Award for their Aug. 25 rescue of a despondent man on the South Grand Island Bridge.

Murphy and Bauer were at the sheriff's substation on Whitehaven Road on the island when they got a call from the mother of a man who was contemplating self-harm on the bridge.

The deputies checked both bridges and saw no sign of him. So Bauer drove toward the man's City of Tonawanda home before spotting his vehicle in Isle View Park. But the vehicle was empty and soon after, Murphy told Bauer he saw a man walking to the apex of the bridge. The pair turned on their sirens and rushed to the bridge.

"We were flying," Bauer said.

Many mental health calls involve a person in a home, Murphy said, but he sensed this situation was more urgent.

"Time was of the essence," Murphy said. "We weren't able to go to a house and sit with someone. We had to find this individual before it was too late."

Murphy approached the bridge, hopped a guardrail and cut off the man's path as he was walking up the bridge, he said.

"I just walked up to him with my hands in front of me [and said], Hey man, I just want to talk to you. Im not here to hurt you. We just want this to go smoothly,'" Murphy said.

Murphy, who joined the Sheriff's Office in March, said he crouched down next to the man and they had a discussion about what was upsetting him in his life.

"We didnt formally arrest him. We didnt put him in handcuffs," Murphy said. "This was a very nice young man  he was just having some issues. He willingly left the bridge after talking with him for a few minutes."

The man was transported to Erie County Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation. The deputies said being an on-the-spot counselor is an increasingly common part of police work.

"Its not always traffic stops and chasing bad guys," Bauer said. "Sometimes its this kind of call: somebodys in a crisis, we stepped in and helped them out."

Grain elevator rescue

It was 10:34 p.m. on Sept. 15 when Buffalo Fire Department officials called the Erie County Sheriff's Aviation Unit for backup while trying to save a man from a grain elevator on the Buffalo River.

The man, thought by authorities to be suicidal, had climbed to the top of the Cargill Superior Grain Elevator and while he was breathing, his heartbeat was weak and slow because of insulin he had taken, officials said. A woman had followed the man up the hulking structure and was also stranded.

Sgt. Ryan Rogers and Tactical Flight Officer Shawn Young considered landing on the roof of the grain mill before Buffalo Fire officials recommended against it.

"The condition of the building was our biggest concern because of how it had deteriorated," Rogers said. "Finally, we said, 'Well, we can come in there and hover approximately a foot to two feet off the roof and not touch down at all on the structure, and we could get out of the aircraft and retrieve the victim that way."

Young, wearing night-vision goggles, brought the helicopter to a constant hover just feet above the elevator. That's when Rogers made his move.

"I was able to lower myself down to the roof, and that was the moment of truth, when I transitioned my body weight to the roof and wanted to make sure that I didnt fall through the roof or that it didnt give out," Rogers said.

The roof held and Rogers loaded the man and woman into the helicopter as Young maintained what sheriff's officials called a "prolonged and challenging hover."

The pair will receive the Special Operations Division Award on Saturday. Young said the diversity of police work is what makes the job interesting.

"We never know what were going to be called to do when we come into work," he said.

List of awardees

Additional award winners include:

Detective Daniel Brinkerhoff (Outstanding Service Award); Senior Detective Gregory McCarthy (Investigative Services Divisional Award); Sgts. Christopher Schreiber and Christopher Soluri, Detective Brent Francis, Deputies Christian Ginnane, Brian Pauly, Matthew Krypel, Anthony Pellittieri and Andrew Carriero (Police Services Award); Officer David Hryn (Jail Management Division Award); Deputies Daniel Zlotek, Richard Retzlaff and Tysen Lincoln (Civil Enforcement Division Award); Sgt. Stuart Woodside (Scientific Reserve Division Award); Linda "Mickey" Pawenski (Erie County Sheriff's Award); and William Gugino (Alfred D. Genusso Award).
Lucknow: Over 7,000 unrecognised madrasas have been identified in Uttar Pradesh in a recent survey carried out by the state government. The survey is being done to provide recognition to unrecognised madrasas once they meet the government-mandated requirements. The final list of unrecognised madrasas will be released only after the district magistrates submit their reports by November 15.

Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, Chairman, of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrassa Education said that the process to identify the actual numbers will still take time, but we have estimated around 7,500 such madrassas which were surveyed by teams in 75 districts by Thursday evening.

"In Uttar Pradesh, there are 16,513 recognised madrassas, out of which 560 are given government grants (salary to employees, including teaching and non-teaching ones). There are 350 madrassas with less than 15 students. The teaching staff of 560 madrassas have pay scales similar to those in central government-run secondary schools...," he said.

Survey of madrassas in the state has been completed. Around 7,500 unrecognised madrassas have been identified. We will get the survey report by Nov 15. Survey has been done to give better education to children. All madrassas are legal: UP madrassa board chairman IA Javed (20.10) pic.twitter.com/J5uGysVDKI October 21, 2022

Under the madrasa modernisation scheme, 744 madrassas are given grants for shiksha mitra, and a scholarship is given to meritorious students of all registered madrasas.

The unrecognised madrasas will now be recognised by the Board of Madrassa Education once they meet government-mandated requirements such as providing basic facilities for running madrassas, such as a classroom, table, bench, chairs for students, proper lights fans, toilets, and others.

Further, they can also apply for wages for teaching and non-teaching employees. According to a government spokesman, there are 150 unofficial madrassas in Gorakhpur, 100 in Lucknow, Azamgarh, Varanasi, and Mau, while Aligarh has 90, Kanpur (85), Prayagraj (70), and Agra (35).
Kurnool: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday completed Andhra Pradesh leg of his `Bharat Jodo Yatra` with the reiteration that his party remains committed to grant special category status to the state and develop a single capital at Amaravati.

On the fourth and final day of the Yatra in the state, Rahul Gandhi along with party leaders and scores of party workers resumed the Yatra Friday morning from Mantralayam in Kurnool district.

After a four-hour walk, the Yatra re-entered neighbouring Karnataka. It halted at Gillesugur in Raichur district. It will resume in the evening from Kerebudur village.

Rahul Gandhi thanked the people of Andhra Pradesh for their overwhelming support and encouragement. It has truly been a memorable experience, he said.

Opposing the Centre`s move to privatise Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, the Congress MP said his party supports the continued public sector statue of the plant as an asset of the Indian people.

In a statement issued at the end of the journey in Andhra Pradesh, he recalled the commitment made in and by the Parliament to the people of Andhra Pradesh. "We are determined to ensure that these commitments are met -fully and speedily. Both the central and state governments have failed in this regard," he said.

Rahul Gandhi noted that the Congress party is aware of the challenges it faced in Andhra Pradesh. "The state has been a bastion of the Congress party in the past, and has produced outstanding statesmen for India. We are determined to do all we can to ensure that the Congress party returns to its pre-eminent position in the hearts and minds of the Andhra people`

Rahul believes that the Bharat Jodo Yatra will serve as a first step forward in this journey. "The Yatra has given us an unique opportunity to listen to people`s voices and gain an in-depth understanding of the daily challenges of the people of our great nation. There is a continuing effort on a daily basis to pit Indians against each other on the lines of caste, religion, language, food and dress.

The unparalleled economic distress caused by skyrocketing prices and record unemployment, as well as the increasing concentration of political and economic power in a few hands are all matters of grave concern," he said.

He alleged that the state government systematically undermined the Panchayati Raj system in the state. He said the Congress party strongly opposed this assault on the democratic institutions. "We will also continue to amplify the voices of farmers, youth, women, workers and many other stakeholders whom we interacted with over the last three days."
Bhubaneswar: Odisha is bracing for heavy rainfall early next week under the impact of a possible cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, which is likely to skirt the state and move towards West Bengal and Bangladesh, the IMD said on Friday.

The West Bengal government has initiated the process of evacuating people from low-lying areas in several districts, officials said.

The weather system, which is presently in the form of a low pressure area over the North Andaman sea and adjoining areas, is likely to take shape of a depression on Saturday and a deep depression on Sunday, before intensifying into a cyclonic storm on Monday, and move in north and north-east direction towards West Bengal and Bangladesh, the IMD said.

The cyclonic storm is expected to be christened Sitrang', as suggested by Thailand.

Odisha's Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Pramila Mallick said that instructions have been issued to all the districts and coastal region authorities to deal with any eventuality.

The system is likely to trigger heavy rainfall when it crosses parallel to the state's coast on Monday.

Mallick said personnel of the fire service department, the ODRAF and NDRF are on standby for any emergency situation.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has begun the process of evacuating people from low-lying areas in Purba Medinipore, South 24 Parganas and Sundarbans to safe shelters in the wake of the cyclone forecast, a senior official said.

"Leaves of all district magistrates, SPs and emergency department workers have been cancelled as a part of the preparedness for the possible cyclone, he said.

Tarapauline, dry food and medicines have also been adequately stocked in these districts, the official said.

The Kolkata Police's disaster management team has been asked to work in tandem with Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials to address any emergency-like situation, he added.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has convened an emergency meeting at state secretariat 'Nabanna' on Friday to take stock of the preparedness.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his Uttarakhand visit by offering prayers at the famous Kedarnath temple shrine on Friday, October 21, 2022. During his visit to the temples, PM Modi was seen in a religious outfit with Tripundra tilak, Rudaksha garland around the neck and special ethnic attire, not hesitating to show off his identity and religious faith. It is clearly visible from his attire that he repeatedly tried to tell the world about that civilization and culture, which the big leaders of the country were afraid to discuss even a few years ago.

In today's DNA, Zee News' Rohit Ranjan makes an analysis of how PM Narendra Modi shows off his religious identity and faith through his attire.

Since the past eight years of PM Modis term as the Prime Minister of India, he never hesitated to show and tell his religion and faith. By visiting big religious places of the country like Kedarnath, Badrinath, Mahakal, and Kashi and worshipping like a common devotee with full devotion, Prime Minister Modi has given a clear indication of a changing India, in which Indian culture is at the centre.

PM Modi's commitment of restoring Indian culture has aided in the reconstruction of several temples across the country. In his book Hind Swarajya, Mahatma Gandhi expressed his faith in the pious culture of his country than the western civilization. Today, Prime Minister Modi is not only re-establishing the age-old civilization-culture, which is the most prosperous and glorious in the whole world, but is also giving it a new identity.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached Lord Kedarnath and Badrinath Dham today. This is his sixth visit to Kedarnath and second to Badrinath. In Kedarnath, the Prime Minister worshiped Bholenath, as well as laid the foundation stone of his dream project Sonprayag-Kedarnath Ropeway in Kedarnath. The dress that Prime Minister Modi wore in Kedarnath today is also special. The dress that the Prime Minister was wearing is called Chola Dora which is the identity of Himachal Pradesh. It was gifted to him by women in Chamba. Watch tonight's edition of DNA for more in-depth information and other details.
New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced on Friday that it had attached seven immovable assets belonging to Uttar Pradesh gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari as part of a money laundering investigation against him and his family. The properties, which have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), are worth Rs 1.48 crore (registry value), while their circle rate at the time of registration was Rs 3.42 crore, according to a statement from the federal agency. Ansari, a five-time MLA, is currently imprisoned in Banda, Uttar Pradesh. In this case, the 59-year-old was questioned by the ED last year.

In August, the agency raided his elder brother, BSP MP Afzal Ansari's official residence in Delhi, as well as some locations in Ghazipur, Mohammadabad (in Ghazipur district), Mau, and the state capital Lucknow. The money laundering case against Mukhtar Ansari stems from multiple FIRs filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police, as well as two additional FIRs filed against Vikas Constructions (a partnership firm) run by his wife, two brothers-in-law, and others. The ED claims that the company was used to build godowns on public and government land after "encroaching" on it.

Also Read: No RELIEF for Sanjay Raut, after Dussehra Shiv Sena MP would be spending Diwali also in JAIL

"The godowns were constructed in Mau and Ghazipur districts of Uttar Pradesh. Vikas Construction was being run by Afshan Ansari (wife of Mukhtar Ansari) and her two brothers Atif Raza and Anwar Shahzad, a person identified as Ravindra Narayan Singh, and Zakir Hussain," the ED said. "Uttar Pradesh Police has filed a charge sheet in one of the FIRs registered at Mau in which all the partners of the firm (Vikas Construction) have been named as accused," it said.

Also Read: Terrorism is the biggest violation of human rights: Amit Shah slams Pakistan over terrorist ideology

The probe found, as per the agency, that rent of Rs 15 crore was collected by Vikas Construction from the Food Corporation of India by renting out godowns "illegally" constructed by encroaching public/government land at Mau and Ghazipur districts. "This rent was further used to purchase immovable properties in the name of Vikas Construction and Afshan Ansari. Further investigation to trace out the remaining process of crime is under progress," the ED said.

(With agencies' inputs)
New Delhi: As a result of incessant rain in the state of Karnataka, the first floor of century-old Maharanis Science College for Women collapsed in Mysuru. Although no loss of life or injury reported in the incident however science laboratories equipped with apparatus and materials worth over Rs 40 lakh crumbled as a big poertion of 106 the first floor of the 106-year-old heritage building collapsed.

College authorities announced the suspension of classes for two days after three laboratories  one each of chemistry, biotechnology and botany departments transformed into debris.

Mysuru Maharani's Science College Building Collapse

This is the infrastructure of government mysuru colleges and offices. Kindly declare all old buildings in Mysuru as not suitable for operation and unsafe go near.



Demolish and reconstruct these buildings with modern facilities. pic.twitter.com/E2PBFWB8wR  MYSURU PAGE (@MYSURU_PAGE) October 21, 2022

The century old college at Jhansi Lakshmi Bai Road was established in 1917 and now has 3,850 students, 350 teaching faculty in 50 undergraduate and post-graduate departments, and 50 office staff. Thirty students, per batch, used to attend the laboratory classes.
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath remains in discussion for taking a tough stand against gangsters and mafias hitherto active in the state, but this time he has been praised by none other than gangster cum former MP Atiq Ahmed while on his way to CBI Court, Lucknow. The gangster appreciated the Chief Minister and said "Yogi Adityanath is brave and honest." Atiq Ahmed, who was brought to a CBI Court in Lucknow, was seen praising CM Yogi Adityanath from Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat, according to reports.

The jailed gangster praised CM Yogi Adityanath while talking to reporters inside a police vehicle. Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf have been accused of killing BSP MLA Raju Pal. They were produced before the Anti-Corruption Court of CBI in connection with that case here on Thursday.

Charges framed against Atiq Ahmad in BSP MLA murder case

A special CBI court on Thursday framed charges against politician Atiq Ahmad and other accused for the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005. The court also fixed November 3 for recording evidence of prosecution witnesses. Ahmad was brought from Sabarmati jail, Gujarat, under high security and produced in the court of special CBI judge Kavita Mishra.

The state government has targeted Ahmad and has launched a crackdown on his illegal properties, several of them were attached and demolished also. The other accused, Ashraf and Farhan, were brought to the court from Lucknow district jail. Four other accused- Ranjit Pal, Aabid, Israr Ahmed, and Junaid, who are on bail, were also present in the court.

The court framed charges against Ahmad and the others for murder, conspiracy, and attempted murder. All accused denied charges and pleaded not guilty.

On July 2020, the UP police arrested Khalid Ajim alias Ashraf, the brother of former MP Atiq Ahmed, an accused in the murder case of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal. In the 2004 Assembly polls, Pal had defeated Ajim as a BSP candidate from Allahabad west. Pal and his two gunners were also killed in an attack just after four months of assembly elections in Sulem Sarai Bazar on January 25, 2005.

In the incident, two others, Devi Pal and Sandeep Yadav, were also killed, and two more were seriously injured. The case was reported at Dhoomanganj Police Station in Prayagraj by Pooja Pal, Raju Pal's wife.

Initially, the probe was conducted by police and CBCID, but the CBI took over the case on January 22, 2016, at the Supreme Court's order. A charge sheet was submitted against Ahmad and the other accused on August 20, 2019.

(With ANI/PTI Inputs)
New Delhi: A district court here fixed November 2 for a hearing on a plea for the survey of two basements in the Gyanvapi Mosque complex and imposed a penalty on the mosque committee for not filing an objection to it in time. District Government Counsel Mahendra Pandey said the court had earlier asked the mosque committee to file an objection to the plea filed by Hindu plaintiffs in the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex case. "The mosque side could not file any objection, after which the court slapped a fine of Rs 100 on them and fixed November 2 for hearing," Pandey added.

The court also denied four people's requests to become parties in the case on Friday. Earlier in the day, the court denied similar applications from seven people. Former Kashi Vishwanath temple mahant Kulpati Tiwari, Hindu Sena national president Vishnu Gupta, weaver Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, and Brahmin Mahasabha president Ajay Kumar Sharma were among those who had filed applications to become parties in the case, according to Pandey. While some of the applicants prayed to become parties to the case seeking permission for regular worship of deities whose idols are located on the mosque's outer wall, others claimed to have detailed knowledge of the matter.

Also Read: Public speeches openly call for genocide of: SC directs THESE states to take suo motu action on hate speeches

Lawyers connected with the case have been claiming that the basements are located near the "wazookhana", a place for the ritual ablution in the mosque complex. One of the petitioners from the Hindu side also pleaded for ensuring the safety of the idols of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi, which they claimed have been recovered from the complex. Last Friday, the court had turned down the Hindu petitioners' plea seeking scientific investigation and carbon dating of a "Shivling" claimed to have been found on the mosque premises. The Muslim side has rejected the claim. The Gyanvapi mosque is located next to the iconic Kashi Vishwanath temple and the case in the Varanasi court has revived claims that the mosque was built on a portion of the Hindu structure demolished on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

(With agencies' inputs)
Ambassador of Israel to India Naor Gilon has termed India as a "major partner" for his country even as hoped for an early prime ministerial visit post-election. Israel will witness elections on 1st November to elect the members of the Parliament or Knesset. While elections take place on 1st November, 9th November will see the publication of the final election results. Speaking to our diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal exclusively, Gilon said, "India is a major partner for us, a very close friend and ally. We do a lot together and I believe, since we do a lot together, a visit from a PM is a missing element in the relationship". Ahead of the elections in the west Asian country, Israeli missions globally and in Delhi witnessed polling.

Many Israeli diplomats, including ambassador Gilon, his wife and his daughter voted at the embassy on Thursday. More than 4500 diplomats and their families from around 100 Israeli missions across the world began voting today.

Also Read: 'PM Modi, Netanyahu's famous beach picture will stay as symbol of..' says Israeli Envoy

The November Israeli elections takes place after political deadlock and 4 previous elections that took place in April 2019, September 2019, 2020, and 2021. But that hasn't stopped the bilateral or multilateral ties progressing, with I2U2 or west Asian quad between India, US, Israel and UAE meeting & announcing a slew of projects on food security, renewable energy.

Sidhant Sibal: If you can brief about the elections in Israel, how big is the process?

Naor Gilon: We are a country of about 10 million people eligible to vote, citizens above the age of 18, and permanent residents about 6.7 million people. We are voting (at the Israel embassy) about 10 days before the General Elections, so that our ballots can be counted along with the general population on the 1st of November when they vote. For the ministry of foreign affairs, we have over 100 representations and ballots, every embassy and consulate have a ballot. This includes 3 in India, one here in Delhi and 2 in Bangalore and Mumbai. In general, abroad, not all Israeli citizens are allowed to vote, Israeli citizens who are representatives of the govt, spouses, and children up to a certain age.

Sidhant Sibal: Here in Delhi, we saw the voting place, what are the measures that have been put in place when it comes to voting, and have you voted?

Naor Gilon: Yes of course, I have voted, my wife has voted and my daughter for the first time in life, because she turned 18 a few months ago. We all voted this morning. Same measures across the world, you get the ballot box, you get the list of entitled people, you get authorization, and each person has to get their own authorization, even though we know the people, you must bring the identity card. We live together, we know each other but the law requires you to do that, and that is it. Immediately after the elections, all the ballots will be sent by diplomatic post back to Israel. We are voting here abroad in double envelopes so that nobody is voting twice. He can go to Israel, for example on November 1st, and can vote which is illegal.

Sidhant Sibal: Israel saw political instability and now the democratic processes, but democracy is a link between India and Israel. Your view on the shared value and political system?

Naor Gilon: When I speak, I don't like to speak about instability, political instability in Israel. I would like to speak about a very vibrant democracy, so vibrant that we have voted 5 times in the last 3 years already. The system is like that and when the public is split into 2 groups, either one group or another, the difference between them is relatively small. I think the main similarity between India and Israel in the political system is that we are both very heterogeneous societies. 20% or more of the voters are Muslim Israelis or Arab Israelis you can call, they vote, some of them vote for general parties, they have their own party. We have ministers from the minority group, and the last coalition, on the party was a Muslim party. You have Muslims, Christians, orthodox, no orthodox, newcomers, immigrants, so it's very heterogeneous group, very much like India.

Sidhant Sibal: India and Israel are celebrating 30 years of ties, so once the new govt takes charge, what are we looking forward to? Can we expect a Prime Ministerial visit from Israel to India?

Naor Gilon: The wish for a visit, the need for a visit is even stronger there but first of all we need to have a government. This is a process that might take 6-7 weeks in Israel, once we have a govt, we have a Prime Minister. Hopefully it will happen, we have stability and not re-election. We will put very high on the agenda, the need to visit India. India is a major partner for us, a very close friend and ally. We do a lot together and I believe, since we do a lot together, a visit from a PM is a missing element in the relationship. Not everything depends on that, it's part of the issue, especially now when we are celebrating 30 years of diplomatic relations, 75 years of Independence of India and Israel will celebrate 75 years of Independence because we were established a few months apart. I think there is a need since the relationship is so good, and I hope the next PM will accept that and do it relatively early in the term.

Sidhant Sibal: I2U2 is a group that has taken off, what is the update in terms of the initiative, especially on the agriculture front?

Naor Gilon: Last time a semi hybrid summit took place , when the US was visiting Israel and PM Modi also joined virtually. They announced 2 major projects, one in the clean energy field building a very big project and other one agriculture, farms and food security, these are projects for cooperation in a big way between the 4 countries. In New York, during the general assembly, another meeting of Sherpas of the group discussed the ongoing projects, implementation and potential projects that the group can take up. Big projects, involving the 4 countries, companies something in infrastructure that helps the countries and the world become a better place.
New Delhi: A private hospital in Prayagraj was sealed on Thursday for allegedly transfusing fruit juice instead of blood platelets to a dengue patient who later died, police said.

After a video of the alleged incident went viral on social media, the district administration swung into action and on the direction of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, the hospital was sealed.

The patient, Pradeep Pandey was shifted to another hospital, where he died after his condition deteriorated, officials said. However, no FIR has been registered at the local police station.

The owner of the private hospital claimed that the platelets were brought from a different medical facility and the patient had a reaction after three units were transfused.

In a tweet, Deputy CM Pathak said, Taking cognisance of the viral video at the hospital where a dengue patient was transfused with sweet lemon juice instead of platelets, on my directive the hospital was sealed and the platelet packets have been sent for testing. If found guilty, strict action will be taken against the hospital, he said.

According to sources, the patient died due to the transfusion of wrong platelets and the samples of those will be examined.

Asked about the reason for sealing the hospital, an officer, on condition of anonymity, said it has been done on the instructions of the chief medical officer and will remain so till the sample is tested.

Saurabh Mishra, the owner of the hospital, said that since the patient Pradeep Pandeys platelets level dropped to 17,000, his relatives were asked to arrange blood platelets for him.

They brought five units of platelets from SRN Hospital. After transfusion of three units, the patient had a reaction. So we stopped it, he said.

Mishra said that the platelets should be examined and their origin should be traced because they had the sticker of SRN hospital on them.

District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri, said, An inquiry is underway and the platelets will also be tested.
A federal judge on Thursday prohibited law enforcement agencies from enforcing a new state law that bans pastors and other permitted gun owners from carrying their concealed firearms inside houses of worship.

U.S District Court Judge John L. Sinatra Jr.'s temporary restraining order stops the new concealed carry restrictions that took effect Sept. 1 inside churches and other places of worship, while the judge considers the larger question of whether the ban violates the Second Amendment.

Two WNY pastors sue to allow concealed carry of guns in their churches The Rev. Jimmie Hardaway Jr. of Trinity Baptist Church in Niagara Falls and Bishop Larry A. Boyd of Open Praise Full Gospel Baptist Church in Buffalo said in court papers that the states prohibition against carrying a concealed gun in church violated their Second Amendment right to bear arms.

"Ample Supreme Court precedent addressing the individual's right to keep and bear arms  from Heller and McDonald to its June decision in Bruen  dictates that New York's new place of worship restriction is equally unconstitutional," Sinatra wrote in his order.

Two local Black church pastors sued in federal court Oct. 13 to block the place of worship gun ban, citing the need to defend themselves and their congregations against the possibility of attacks like the 2015 racist mass shooting at a Charleston, S.C., church that killed nine people.

The Rev. Jimmie Hardaway Jr. of Trinity Baptist Church in Niagara Falls and Bishop Larry A. Boyd of Open Praise Full Gospel Baptist Church in Buffalo said in court papers that the states prohibition against carrying a concealed gun in church violated their Second Amendment right to bear arms.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down parts of New Yorks longstanding law on carrying concealed weapons, ruling that the law was too broad and violated the Second Amendment. The State Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul responded to the recent mass shootings and the Supreme Court ruling with a series of new gun regulations, including the house of worship ban.

The lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York also names as plaintiffs the Firearms Policy Coalition, based in Las Vegas, and the Second Amendment Foundation, based in Bellevue, Wash. The defendants are interim state Police Superintendent Steven Nigrelli, Niagara County District Attorney Brian D. Seaman and Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn.

Flynn said Thursday that he instructed all police agencies not to charge permitted concealed carriers with criminal possession of a weapon for carrying at a place of worship or religious observation "until further notice."

He also said his prosecutors would dismiss such a charge if it is made by accident.

Sinatra said in his order that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their Constitutional claims because the state failed to meet its burden to identify an American tradition justifying its house of worship firearms ban.

He will hear further arguments in the case on Nov. 3.
KCET 2022: The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) will announce the KCET 2022 mock seat allotment results today, October 21. Candidates must go to the KCET website, kea.kar.nic.in, to view the results of their seat selection. The Karnataka CET application number is the needed piece of information to view the KCET seat allocation result 2022. Candidates can choose their favourite colleges and institutions based on the Karnataka CET results with the help of the KCET simulated seat allocation for 2022. Candidates must be aware that the mock allotment could change.

The actual seat distribution findings will be made public later by the authorities. Candidates who will receive seats through the KCET seat allocation in 2022 must finish the choice-locking process as soon as possible. ALSO READ: TS EAMCET Counselling 2022: Final Phase registrations begins TODAY

KCET mock seat allotment results 2022: Heres how to check

Candidates have to follow the below steps to access KCET 2022 mock allotment result online:

Visit the KCET 2022 official website - kea.kar.nic.in

Click on the link to KCET mock allotment 2022 link

In the required field, enter Karnataka CET application number.

KCET 2022 mock seat allotment will be displayed on the screen.

Candidates will have the chance to modify their previously chosen option and submit them through the candidate site once the KCET mock allotment results are released. Candidates should be aware that they will only have access to changing their selections from October 21 to October 26. After the cutoff, no applicant may amend their selections. The genuine KCET seat allotment result for 2022 will be made public on October 26 at the official website based on the adjustments that have been received.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who is in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged Patra Chawl embezzlement case, has been slapped by the court once again. Sanjay Raut's judicial custody has been increased. The sessions court has directed to extend his judicial custody till November 2. So, after Dussehra, Sanjay Raut's Diwali will also be spent in jail. Sanjay Raut was arrested by the ED on July 31 in connection with the alleged Patra Chawl land embezzlement in Goregaon. After that, Sanjay Raut filed an application in the court to get bail. The hearing was held today (October 21). However, the court postponed the hearing to November 2. So Sanjay Raut did not get relief even today.

The ED has claimed that Sanjay Raut was involved in the Patra Chawl embezzlement of Rs 1039 crore from the beginning. The ED had recently filed a charge sheet in this case. The ED claimed in the chargesheet that Raut was directly involved in the Patra Chawl redevelopment and was involved in making everything work from the very beginning.

According to the chargesheet, two meetings were held in 2006-07 under the chairmanship of the then Union Agriculture Minister and the then Chief Minister regarding the redevelopment of Patra Chawl. Sanjay Raut along with MHADA officials and others participated in it. Then Rakesh Wadhawan got involved in the case. In order to maintain control in this matter, Sanjay Raut made Praveen Raut the director of M/s Guru Ashish Construction Private Limited. The ED has also said in the chargesheet that there was a tripartite agreement between the society, MHADA and M/s Guru Ashish Construction Private Limited.

Meanwhile, a few days ago, Sanjay Raut had written a letter to his mother. In it, Sanjay Raut made a shocking accusation against the ED. He said, "Many MLA MPs left Shiv Sena due to fear of the ED and the Income Tax Department. I don't want to be listed as dishonest. Someone has to stand firm. I have that courage. You and Balasaheb have given me that courage. As everyone knows, I have been falsely accused. Sanjay Raut said in the letter that many people have been intimidated by the gun and recorded false statements against me."
New Delhi: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday hit back at BJP MP Rajyavardhan Rathore over his comments on new Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and said leaders of the saffron party should read history before speaking.

Rathore had on Wednesday called newly elected Congress president Kharge a "rubber stamp" and alleged that the party's internal polls to elect a new chief were a "fraud".

In his response, Gehlot told reporters, "These people have no shame. New boys have come. They do not understand that they should read history and then learn to speak so that their image is not spoiled. They have no knowledge. What is a rubber stamp? Sonia Gandhi herself went to his (Mallikarjun Kharje) place yesterday (on Wednesday)."

Kharge won the polls for the post of Congress president, the results of which were announced on Wednesday. He was pitted against Shashi Tharoor.

Gehlot, long known as a loyalist to the first family of the country's oldest party, added that if there was any leader in India who commanded respect, it was Sonia Gandhi.

"She refused to become PM, got the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government formed at the Centre twice and also got many state governments formed," he said.

The chief minister also lashed out at BJP leaders questioning what happened in the 70 years after Independence and said everything that has happened has taken place in the 70 years.

"Not even a needle used to be manufactured when the country got Independence. These people are misleading the public and youths. They are destroying the young generation in the name of religion and caste," he said.

Gehlot added that the BJP should not indulge in 'panchayati' (politics) about the Congress and instead take care of its own house.

The veteran Congress leader also attacked the BJP over some of its leaders allegedly acting as informers of the British, while adding that the history of the Congress' sacrifice dated back to the pre-Independence era.

Gehlot was referring to some leaders of the RSS, the BJP's ideological mentor, who allegedly did not participate in the freedom movement and acted as informers of the British.

The chief minister also targeted Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur over his comment on the old pension scheme and said he had once advised the BJP leader to examine the scheme and introduce it in his state in the interest of government employees.

The Rajasthan chief minister said his government had taken many initiatives and launched several schemes that should be the Centre should study so that they could be implemented at the national level.

He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been the chief minister of Gujarat and kept reminding people about the Gujarat model.

Gehlot advised Modi to study the Rajasthan model and compare it with the Gujarat model.

"The Centre should implement schemes and programmes launched by the Rajasthan government at the national level. If they have anything good to offer from the Gujarat model, they should tell us, we will implement those too," he said.

When asked about the BJP's allegation that the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympic Games was organised to take political advantage, Gehlot said there was nothing wrong if the government took political advantage of its good works.

"Are we saints? What is wrong if good works and good governance give us an advantage? We are aiming to repeat the government in the next elections," he added.

Earlier, speaking at the closing ceremony of the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympic Games at Sawai Mansingh Stadium here, Gehlot said criticism should be taken in good spirit as it made democracy stronger.

The chief minister later visited Indira Rasoi at Jal Mahal and talked to the people eating there.

Food is served at Rs 8 under the state government's Indira Rasoi scheme.

Gehlot said he had appealed to public representatives to have food at Indira Rasoi at least once a month so that the quality of food was maintained.

He also spoke to reporters after visiting the Rasoi and said that the Centre should tell BJP-ruled states to restore peace and harmony.

Gehlot said there was tension, religious and caste difference in the country.

He added that this should stop and peace and harmony be restored.
New Delhi: Congress veteran Shivraj Patil has sparked a controversy by saying that Lord Krishna taught jihad to Arjun and the concept of jihad is not just in Islam but also in Bhagavad Gita and in Christianity. Speaking at the launch of Congress veteran and former Union minister Mohsina Kidwai's biography, the former Lok Sabha Speaker and Union Minister Patil stated that it is said there is a lot of discussion of jihad in the religion of Islam.

The concept comes to the fore when despite having the right intentions and doing the right thing, nobody understands or reciprocates, then it is said one can use force, he said. "It is not just in Quran, but in Mahabharata also, the part in Gita, Shri Krishna also talks of jihad to Arjun and this thing is not just in Quran or Gita but also in Christianity," Patil claimed in his remarks in Hindi.

"If after explaining everything, people are not understanding, they are coming with weapons then you cannot run, you cannot call that jihad and you cannot call it wrong, this is what must be understood, there should not be this concept of making people understand with weapons in hand," the 87-year-old leader said.

Patil further said Mohsina Kidwai's book also talks about respecting all religions while following your own. He also said there is a need for peace in the world.

The BJP hit out at the Congress over Patil's remarks and accused it of playing vote bank politics. Hitting out at the Congress over Patil's remarks, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said in a tweet, "After AAP's Gopal Italia & Rajendra Pal, not to be outdone in Hindu hatred & vote bank politics. Congress' Shivraj Patil says Shri Krishna taught 'Jihad' to Arjun! "Congress coined Hindu/Saffron terror, opposed Ram Mandir, Questioned Ram JI's existence, said Hindutva=ISIS."

After AAPs Gopal Italia & Rajendra Pal, not to be outdone in Hindu hatred & votebank politics,Congress Shivraj Patil says Shri Krishna taught Jihad to Arjun!



Congress coined Hindu/Saffron terror, opposed Ram Mandir,Questioned Ram JIs existence, said Hindutva = ISIS 1/n pic.twitter.com/Xiw7v4mgHa  Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) October 20, 2022

In his speech, Patil also said he voted for Mallikarjun Kharge in the Congress presidential polls. He, however, mistakenly referred to Kharge as Khandelwal a couple of times in the speech. Patil spoke at length and talked about disparate topics in his address.

(With Agency Inputs)
Srinagar: In addition to Paharis, the GD Sharma commission has also recommended ST status for the Paddari tribe, Gadda Brahmans and Kolis in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said the inclusion of these tribes along with Paharis as STs has been recommended by the Sharma commission and these recommendations have been received by the Union ministry of tribal affairs. "The draft recommending the inclusion of Paharis, Paddari tribals, Kolis and Gadda Brahmans as STs will have to be approved by the Union cabinet after which it will be tabled before Parliament. This can happen during the November-December winter session of the Parliament," sources added.

For the inclusion of these communities as STs in Jammu and Kashmir as per the recommendations of the Sharma commission, Parliament will have to pass an amendment to the country`s Reservation Act.

Gujjars and Bakarwals had quota in jobs and education even before the abrogation of Article 370, but they did not have any political reservation. The delimitation commission has given them political reservation by including 9 seats, 4 in the Kashmir division and 5 in the Jammu division, in the 90-member J&K for STs. The Assembly elections are likely to be held next year in the UT.

Also read: BJP accuses NC, PDP of conspiring to mislead people over Jammu and Kashmir voter list

At present, 744 castes are categorised as STs in the country. The GD Sharma commission recommendations follow the report of the delimitation commission headed by Justice (Retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai that has reserved 9 seats for STs and 6 for the SCs in the 90-seated J&K Assembly.

Also read: Azad announces 3 agendas for Jammu and Kashmir, calls for restoration of statehood ahead of assembly polls

With the inclusion of Pahari tribals, Paddaris, Kolis and Gadda Brahmans, it is possible that the number of seats reserved for the STs in the J&K Assembly might go up. In job reservation, the STs get 10 per cent while the SCs get 8 per cent.

During his recent visit to J&K, Union Home Minister Amit Shah promised ST status for the Pahari community. Shah also said that the grant of ST status to Paharis would not undermine the ST rights of the local Gujjars and Bakarwals in any manner.
Chamoli: Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Saras Mela in Mana village of Chamoli district during his visit to Uttarakhand on Friday, October 21, 2022. PM Modi interacted with the local artisans and visited the stalls in the Mela. He laid the foundation stone of various connectivity projects at Mana village of Chamoli district. He also laid the foundation stone for road widening projects worth around Rs 1,000 crore. According to the Prime Minister`s Office (PMO), the two road widening projects - from Mana to Mana Pass (NH07) and from Joshimath to Malari (NH107B) - shall be another step towards providing last-mile all-weather road connectivity to our border areas. Apart from boosting connectivity, these projects will also prove beneficial from a strategic point of view as well.

He reviewed the progress of development work of the riverfront in Badrinath on Friday. Prime Minister offered prayers at Badrinath temple today. Uttarakhand Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmeet Singh and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami accompanied the Prime Minister at the shrine. Before arriving in Badrinath, PM Modi visited Kedarnath Dham in Rudraprayag and offered prayers donning a traditional pahadi outfit, Chola Dora, that was gifted to him by Himachali women during his tour to the state.

Also Read: Preparations in full swing in Kedarnath, Badrinath ahead of PM Modi's visit

Kedarnath Ropeway Project

PM Modi arrived at Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun earlier in the day and was received by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmeet Singh. He later laid the foundation stone of the Kedarnath ropeway project and after that visited the Adi Guru Shankaracharya Samadhi Sthal. He reviewed the progress of development works along Mandakini Asthapath and Saraswati Asthapath. PM Modi also interacted with the construction workers engaged in the Kedarnath Dham development project.

According to the PMO statement, the ropeway in Kedarnath will be around 9.7 km long and will connect Gaurikund to Kedarnath, reducing the travel time between the two places from 6-7 hours at present to only about 30 mins. The Hemkund ropeway will connect Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib. It will be around 12.4 km long and will reduce the travel time from more than a day to only about 45 mins. This ropeway will also connect Ghangaria, which is the gateway to Valley of Flowers National Park, said the PMO statement.

The ropeways, which will be developed at a cumulative cost of around Rs 2,430 crore, are an environmentally friendly mode of transport that will provide a safe, secure and stable mode of transport. This major infrastructure development will give a boost to religious tourism, which will give a fillip to the economic development in the region and lead to the creation of multiple employment opportunities as well.

Kedarnath and Badrinath are among the most important Hindu shrines. The area is also known for one of the revered Sikh Pilgrim sites - Hemkund Sahib. The connectivity projects are aimed at easing access and improving basic infrastructure in places of religious significance.
Dehradun: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kedarnath and Badrinath on Friday during which he will inspect various ongoing development works and also lay foundation stones for some new projects. In view of his visit, security arrangements have been tightened in the area, an official said. While the officials are busy finalizing the preparations for the two-day program of the Prime Minister, the priests of both the Dhams and the devotees are also excited by his arrival. Both Kedarnath and Badrinath temples are decorated with many quintals of flowers.

The Prime Minister will reach Kedarnath at around eight in the morning and will offer prayers to Baba Kedar. After that, he will lay the foundation stone of the 9.7 km long Gaurikund-Kedarnath ropeway project.

During his two-and-a-half-hour program, he will also visit the Samadhi Sthal of Adi Guru Shankaracharya. The Prime Minister will also review the progress of development works along Mandakini Asthapath and Saraswati Asthapath there. After this, he will reach Badrinath Dham and after visiting the temple and offering prayers, will review the progress of the development works along the riverfront.

Later in the afternoon, he will lay the foundation stone of road and ropeway projects and address the people at Mana village near Badrinath. Thereafter, he will review the progress of the beautification works of the Arrival Plaza and the lakes.

The Prime Minister will spend Friday night in Badrinath. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the Prime Minister's visit to Kedarnath-Badrinath will prove to be a milestone in the development of Uttarakhand. He said the connectivity projects being undertaken at these places reflect the prime minister's commitment to ease access and improve basic infrastructure in places of religious significance.
Mallikarjun Kharge has become the new boss of Congress i.e. National President. He is set to assume office on 26 October. It is reported that former party president Rahul Gandhi is also going to reach Delhi on this occasion. The special thing is that if this happens, then this will be the first time after the start of 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', when he is going to Delhi in the middle of the padyatra.

According to News agency ANI quoted sources, Rahul will also attend the program to be held at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters on October 26. Kharge will take over as the party president during that time. At present, this responsibility is being taken by Sonia Gandhi. Earlier, Rahul was the party president, but left the post after a crushing defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Delhi Congress leaders and workers, who will come for the first time, started the yatra under the leadership of Rahul on 7 September. During this time, the pedestrians will cover the distance from Kanyakumari to Jammu and Kashmir. According to the itinerary, the party will cover a distance of 3 thousand 570 km in 150 days through 12 states.

According to the results of the Congress President election which were released on Wednesday afternoon, Kharge got 7 thousand 897 votes. Whereas, his opponent and MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, Shashi Tharoor, got 1 thousand 72 votes. In the program of the party, all the members of Congress Working Committee i.e. CWC, MPs, President of the State Congress Committee, Leaders of Legislature Parties, Former Chief Minister, Former State President and other AICC office bearers have been invited.

Chances are being raised that as soon as Kharge takes over, the Congress will try to deal with the crisis in the Rajasthan unit. Apart from this, the 80-year-old leader will visit Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Assembly elections are to be held in both the states. Himachal Pradesh will go to the polls on November 12 and the counting of votes will take place on December 8. At present, the Election Commission of India has not fixed the date of the Gujarat elections.
New Delhi: Russia has been barred from participating in future projects of global terror financing and money laundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Addressing a press conference in Paris, FATF chairperson T Raja Kumar said the move comes in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Kumar said Russia's actions continued to violate FATF's core principles, which aim to promote the security, safety and integrity of financial systems. "As a result of Russia's continuing actions, the FATF has decided to impose additional restrictions on the country's remaining role, including by barring them from participating in current and future FATF projects," he said.

Russia is also barred from participating in meetings of the FATF-Style Regional Bodies. "These measures expand on the actions that the FATF took in June, which stripped Russia of all its leadership roles among other restrictions," Kumar said. The FATF will continue to monitor the situation and consider at each of its plenary meetings whether grounds exist for lifting or modifying these restrictions. He said that following the statements issued in March, April and June 2022, the FATF reiterates that all jurisdictions should be vigilant to emerging risks from the circumvention of measures taken against Russia in order to protect the international financial system.

Also Read: PTI to contest against ECs verdict on Imran Khan's disqualification in Toshakhana case
Noida: A clash broke out between two groups of people supporting different candidates for the Preisdent post of the Apartment Owners Association in Noida's Hyde Park residential society. Two women have sustained sustained minor injured. The Noida police has registered a complaint and detained two security guards. The video of the incident has gone viral on social media. In the viral video, some people were seen fighting and guards were trying to stop them. The protesting women were also seen pulling a lady guard by her hair in the video. Even guards are seen fighting with sticks.

According to Gautam Buddha Nagar Police, the dispute was going on between the two parties in Hyde Park Society under the police station Sector-113 area regarding the post of AOA President, in which a case has been registered under Section 107/116 of CrPC.

Also Read: Scuffle breaks out between Zomato delivery boy and security guard in Noida, arrested

."Two groups of people supporting different candidates for the post of Apartment Owners Association President of Noida`s Hyde Park society got into a clash yesterday. Two women had minor injuries," said DCP Noida.

#WATCH | UP: Two groups of people supporting different candidates for post of Apartment Owners Association President of Noida's Hyde Park society got into a clash yesterday. 2 women had minor injuries. Complaint registered, 2 guards detained: DCP Noida



(Vid source: Viral video) pic.twitter.com/SCHfwwM9w9  ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2022

Also Read: Shrikant Tyagi, who abused woman in Noida society, released from jail; wife says 'will celebrate Diwali now with full fervour'

On Thursday, there was a brawl between Pushpendra Paksha and Dinesh Negi Paksha, in which Dinesh Negi Paksha was assaulted by the guards of the society, Police said. "Based on the complaint of the victim, necessary legal action is being taken. Two guards have been taken into custody by the police and CCTVs are being watched. Peace and order is maintained at the spot," the police added.Further investigation is underway.

Earlier, a spat between politician Shrikant Tyagi and another resident in Grand Omaxe Society had triggered a major row last month. Tyagi was arrested after he was caught on tape abusing and shoving a woman who protested when palm trees were being planted in the open space in front of Tyagi's ground-floor apartment.
As Gov. Kathy Hochul defended her economic development record before local business leaders Friday, it didn't take long for her to sum it up in one word:

Micron.

Micron Technologies' recent announcement of plans to invest up to $100 billion in a chip-making plant outside Syracuse seemed to underscore all of the state's latest efforts to create new and high paying jobs that she claims will jump start business development throughout the state.

Sean Kirst: 'Indescribable': In Syracuse, Micron announcement wraps in upstate dreams Micron intends to spend $100 billion over 20 years creating an estimated 9,000 jobs for manufacturing computer chips at the 1,400-acre White Pine Commerce Park in Clay, near Syracuse. It's the kind of this-can-never-happen moment every big upstate city has daydreamed about.

The jobs stemming from state and federal incentives for the Micron project, she said, extend "a message that we are business friendly." And she didn't mind adding a bit of political spin this election season, reminding her Buffalo Niagara Partnership audience that Republican opponent Lee Zeldin voted in Congress against the $280 billion bill that invests in science and technology.

"There would have been no Micron in this country to the scale they plan to build if my opponent had the opportunity to be in charge," she said. "Thank God he wasn't."

The governor, locked in a battle against Zeldin that polls show tightening and competitive, put her economic development efforts front and center during her hourlong address at Partnership headquarters on West Genesee Street. She touted New York advantages such as access to Great Lakes water and low cost hydropower, as well as a burgeoning work force developed at state sponsored facilities like Buffalo's Northland Training Center.

She pointed to another new $20 billion expansion just announced by IBM in Poughkeepsie and doubling state investments in the critical need for workforce development. She said she told Micron not to worry about worker shortages felt in other parts of the country  New York will satisfy the company's labor needs.

"This is one of my top, top, top priorities," she said. "It's one of the reasons Micron came to New York."

Zeldin, the Suffolk County congressman making moves in recent polls, outlined his own agenda during a similar Partnership appearance on Oct. 6. He concentrated on regulation, nixing "unrealistic" climate change goals, the consequences of "one party rule," reversing liberalized criminal justice laws and decreasing taxes, arguing that New Yorkers continue to exit the state because a high school or college diploma no longer guarantees a job.

Hochul, however, painted a rosier picture, even as Partnership President Dottie Gallagher asked pointed questions submitted by the organization's members. Some are "nervous," Gallagher said, about the state's ambitious plans to stem global warning. Will the electric grid be ready, she asked, to accommodate the all electric vehicles by 2035. Others question stated goals of limiting natural gas appliances as untimely.

"We're sticking with our climate goals; we will get there," the governor answered, noting that "now is the time" for electric vehicles.

"Our team is very smart," she said. "We're not going forward without a realistic plan, not pie in the sky. It's about a smooth transition, not an abrupt one."

But she also said the transition is necessary because of mounting evidence of climate change effects and the need for government response.

"You cannot deny them any more, as much as some will try," Hochul said.

It was clear, however, that some in her business-oriented audience remain concerned about state regulations and fees. Gallagher posed questions about Albany surcharges on unemployment insurance stemming from the massive job loss caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. A normal year might see $2.7 billion in unemployment claims, Hochul explained. The Covid year resulted in more than $19 billion.

"It decimated our fund," she said, noting a temporary need to repay federal government guarantees for a situation she described as "not ideal."

The state's overall Covid response could have been better, she acknowledged, pointing to the need for current leaders to develop a "playbook" for the future. She hopes Albany will be more "engaging with local governments," impose far less "top down" direction, and include more business leaders at the table.

Hochul also continues to defend state efforts to reform aspects of the criminal justice system such as cashless bail, reiterating her efforts at budget time to roll back some of the changes instigated by progressive Democrats back in 2019. She said renewed criticism stems from the current "political campaign atmosphere," and that crime is increasing across the country, even as Buffalo's murder rate is down 35%.

Judge orders temporary block on enforcement of place of worship gun ban U.S District Court Judge John L. Sinatra Jr.'s temporary restraining order stops the new concealed carry restrictions that took effect Sept. 1 inside churches and other places of worship.

The governor touted state efforts to remove more than 8,000 guns from the streets, working with other states to stem the cross border flow of weapons, and new gun laws that she claims state data justifies because of crime reductions.

And just a day after U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. temporarily blocked enforcement of a new state gun ban in places of worship, the governor told reporters after the Partnership event that the state will appeal.

"We also believe you should not be able to carry a gun in church," she said, pointing to exceptions for security personnel. "We're talking about ordinary citizens filling our churches and our synagogues, even our schools, with guns."
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the security situation in northeastern states, Jammu and Kashmir and left-wing extremism areas has improved over the last eight years. Addressing the gathering at the National Police Memorial on the occasion of `Police Commemoration Day, the Home Minister said police personnel have played an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic. "There`s a positive change in the internal security of the nation. Earlier, there were big incidents in the northeast, Kashmir and left-wing extremism-affected areas. Earlier, armed forces were given special power, now youth is given special powers for their progress and because of which there is a decline of violence in these areas by more than 70 per cent," he said.

He further said that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is such that the youths who used to hurl stones at security personnel earlier have now become "panches" and "sarpanches"."In the states affected by left-wing extremism) the national anthem is being sung in Eklavya schools while the national flag flutters on these buildings," he said.

Also Read: 'Aap rehne dijiye, aapse nahi hoga': Arvind Kejriwal after Amit Shah assures BJP will make Delhi garbage-free

"Youth earlier involved in throwing stones are now involved in various developmental projects introduced by the government. Under PM Modi`s vision, several measures have been undertaken to strengthen the internal security of the country," Shah added.

Delhi | There's a positive change in internal security of nation. Earlier, there were big incidents in northeast, Kashmir & left-wing extremism-affected areas. Earlier, armed forces were given special power, now youth is given special powers for their progress: Union HM Amit Shah https://t.co/L9NFbZWcpN pic.twitter.com/SHCGeaFBvB October 21, 2022

Shah said India is proceeding on the path of development due to the sacrifices made by the police and paramilitary personnel across the country. Shah paid tributes to police personnel, who lost their lives in the line of duty, at the National Police Memorial in the national capital on the occasion of `Police Commemoration Day`.

`Police Commemoration Day' is observed every year in memory of ten valiant Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) killed during patrol duty in an ambush by heavily armed Chinese troops in Hot Springs, Ladakh on October 21, 1959. To honour the police personnel who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty for national security, the idea of setting up a National Police Memorial in Delhi was approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1992. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the National Police Memorial to the nation on Police Commemoration Day on October 21, 2018.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif rejoiced over the Financial Action Task Force`s (FATF) exclusion of Islamabad from its grey list after four long years, the group which combat money laundering and terrorist financing. "Pakistan exiting the FATF grey list is a vindication of our determined and sustained efforts over the years. I would like to congratulate our civil & military leadership as well as all institutions whose hard work led to today`s success. Aap sab ko bohat bohat Mubarak :)," tweeted the Pak PM.

Pakistan has been taken out from Financial Action Task Force`s (FATF) `grey list` with the global watchdog stating that Islamabad would continue to work with the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering to further improve its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) system. Shehbaz further commended the role and efforts of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa for putting up a united front to get Pakistan out of the grey list. "I would particularly commend the role & efforts of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and their teams & all political parties for putting up a united front to get Pakistan out of the grey list. Alhumdulillah!" tweeted Shehbaz.

Meanwhile, Bilawal Bhutto congratulated Pakistan for getting out of FATF`s grey list. "Congratulations to the people of Pakistan. Pakistan has officially been removed from the FATF `grey list`. Pakistan Zindabad," tweeted Bilawal. The Paris-based inter-governmental body had put Pakistan on its grey list of untrustworthy jurisdictions in June 2018 because of "strategic counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies. "FATF President Raja Kumar, in his press conference at the conclusion of its plenary, stated that Pakistan had been on the grey list since 2018. He said, "It has two concurrent action plans. After a lot of work by Pakistani authorities, they have largely addressed all of the action plan items."

Kumar maintained that the task force had conducted an onsite visit at the end of August. "The onsite team verified that there is a high level of commitment from the Pakistani leadership, sustainability of reforms and commitment to make improvements in the future," he said."As a result of these action plans, Pakistan has made significant improvements to strengthen the effectiveness of this framework for combating terrorism financing.

"Pakistan was placed on FATF`s grey list in June 2018 whereby it was found non-compliant with recommendations of the FATF which targeted areas of risk assessment, national cooperation, targeted sanctions, preventative measures, due diligence, internal and third-party controls, law enforcement, regulation and supervision for money laundering and terror financing, amongst others, reported Geo News.

The FATF had issued the 27-point action plan after placing Pakistan on the `Grey List` in June 2018.

The action plan pertains to curbing money laundering and terror financing.Pakistan was first put on the list in 2008, removed in 2009 and then again remained under increased monitoring from 2012 to 2015.Countries under Grey List are considered safe haven for supporting terror funding and money laundering are put in the FATF grey list. This inclusion serves as a warning to the country that it may enter the blacklist.The FATF Plenary is the decision making body of the FATF. It meets three times per year.
There is a direct fight between the BJP and Congress for the Himachal assembly elections. At the same time, whether the Aam Aadmi Party will be able to make it a triangular contest or not will be decided in the coming days. At present, this time, the BJP has made the contest interesting in Shimla assembly seat. The BJP has got a 'Chaiwala' for Shimla urban seat in the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections. The name 'Chaiwala' is also interesting because Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also got the name of 'Chaiwala' in the BJP. Opposition leaders used to make fun of PM Modi only by saying 'chaiwala', which the BJP used as a weapon.

'Chaiwala' of Shimla

Sanjay Sood runs a tea shop in Shimla. The BJP has decided to field Sood from Shimla in place of Minister Suresh Bhardwaj. Earlier, Suresh Bhardwaj had contested for Shimla Urban seat four times. After getting the ticket, Sanjay Sood said, "I am very grateful that BJP made me its candidate to contest from a hot seat like Shimla Urban. For a small worker like me, it's a great honor."

Tea Shop Since 1991

Sanjay Sood belongs to a very poor family and has been running a tea shop in Shimla since 1991. Earlier, he used to sell newspapers which would help him pay the college fees. At that time, he also got an opportunity to work in the student wing of RSS "Vidyarthi Parishad" (ABVP). He said, "Earlier, I used to sell newspapers at the bus stand. Despite being from a poor family, the spirit of service remained in my heart. I worked for the student council for five years but had to stop it due to financial difficulties. Later on, I worked as a medical representative for two years, after which I opened this tea shop in 1991. It helps me feed my family and pay their expenses."

Comparison with PM Modi

As now, a comparison is being made between Sanjay Sood and PM Modi with the title of 'Chaiwala'. Sood said that he should not be compared with the PM. Speaking to a news website, he said, "Please don't compare him with me, he is a matchless personality, I am not even equal to the dust under his feet."
Noida: Noida-based controversial politician Shrikant Tyagi, who was arrested in August for assaulting and abusing a woman in Noida, has revealed his future plans immediately after his release on bail on Thursday. Tyagi told reporters that he will remain active in politics and continue to do social work. When quizzed about his links with the ruling BJP, Tyagi said, I will decide about my association with the BJP after deliberations with the seniors of the Tyagi community.

He added that he will reveal his future plans soon. Tyagi also expressed his gratitude to the members of the Tyagi community, who held panchayats to mobilise support for him and staged a protest outside his Grande Omaxe Society in Noida after his arrest in August

Tyagi, who was lodged in the Luksar jail in Greater Noida since August 9, was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court two days ago. His family also thanked the Tyagi Community for its support during their ordeal, demanding his release and revocation of the Gangsters Act in the case. "We are very happy and have got sweets at home for his welcome. We will be celebrating Diwali now with full fervour," his wife Anu Tyagi said.

Tyagi Community members also expressed happiness over his release from jail. "We are very happy and his release will certainly reduce the anguish within the community. The government should have got this matter investigated with a little more caution and avoided the charges which were not applicable in the case," Dharmendra Yadav, Ghaziabad unit chief of the Tyagi community, said.

Tyagi was granted bail in the Gangsters Act case by the Allahabad Court on Monday. He was earlier granted bail in other charges of assault and forgery by the court. Justice Surendra Singh granted him bail in the Gangsters Act case after his counsel argued that he was "falsely implicated" in the case "due to police rivalry".

"Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature of allegations, and the gravity of the offence, but without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, this court is of the opinion that the applicant is entitled to bail," Justice Singh had noted.

Tyagi, who flexed political connections and claimed association with the ruling BJP, was caught on camera assaulting the woman, a resident of his Grand Omaxe society in Noida's Sector 93B after he was challenged by her.

He was also caught on camera hurling expletives at the woman, who objected to his installing plants in the common area. In the wake of the controversy, the BJP had denied links with Tyagi, who had remained at large for four days before being arrested and booked under the Gangsters Act, among other charges.
New Delhi: In a veiled attack on Pakistan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday stressed on the need to achieve a consensus among countries across the world to tackle cross-border propagation of terrorist ideologies through online radicalisation. Shah`s remarks came while addressing the closing session of Interpol`s 90th General Assembly, organized in the national capital. The Home Minister said he firmly believes that "terrorism is the biggest violation of human rights". In order to fight cross-border terrorism, the minister also emphasized that "across-border cooperation is very important, and for this Interpol is the best platform".

"First of all, all countries must agree on the definition of terrorism and terrorist. The commitment to fight terrorism together, and narratives such as good terrorism, bad terrorism and small and big terrorist attacks, do not go together," Shah said. "We also need to achieve a consensus on the cross-border propagation of terrorist ideologies through online radicalization."

The Home Minister further pointed "we cannot consider this to be a political problem". "We must all be committed to ensuring that an effective fight against terrorism should be long-term, comprehensive and sustainable," Shah said.

The Home Minister ensured that India is committed to working with Interpol to "fight all forms of terrorism and to provide technical assistance and human resources". Noting that the Interpol nodal agency and the counter-terror agencies are different in many countries, Shah said we will have to "bring together all the counter-terrorism agencies of the world in order to fight terrorism".

Also Read: Security situation in northeastern states, Kashmir improved in last 8 years: Amit Shah

In this regard, Shah said, "I request Interpol to launch an initiative to set up a permanent mechanism for a `real-time information exchange line` between counter-terror agencies of all member countries."

Shah said over the last 100 years, Interpol has become a very large and effective platform comprising 195 countries, playing a very important role in controlling crime across the world. "Today, terrorism is a global problem and it is very appropriate that it is the first and most important of the seven global policing goals of Interpol for the period 2020-2025."

Given challenges such as the emerging trends of global trade in narcotics, and narco terror, Shah said close cooperation is needed between all countries. The minister sought cooperation on platforms for the exchange of information and intelligence; intelligence-based joint campaigns; regional maritime security cooperation; Mutual Legal Assistance; and an effective mechanism to fight money laundering.

He also mentioned how India`s Narcotics Control Bureau has achieved many successes in seizing narcotics, destroying them, and taking cases to their logical conclusion. Shah mentioned Interpol`s `Operation Lionfish` and India`s `Operation Garuda`, saying "I would like to tell you that under `Operation Lionfish`, the biggest seizure has been made in India". Shah requested Interpol to take the initiative towards setting up a "real-time information exchange network" between the anti-narcotic agencies of all member countries, as well as create an "extensive narco database".
New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heavy rainfall alert for several southern and eastern states of India over the next few days. In its latest weather forecast, IMD said that conditions are very likely to become favourable for further withdrawal of the Southwest monsoon from some more parts of Maharashtra during the next few days.

The monsoon is also likely to withdraw from the remaining parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and North Bay of Bengal and some parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Yanam and the central Bay of Bengal during the next two days.

According to IMD, a low-pressure area is expected to form over the north Andaman Sea and adjoining areas of the south Andaman Sea and the southeast Bay of Bengal. It is likely to gradually intensifies into a cyclonic storm over the west-central and adjoining the east-central Bay of Bengal by 24th October.

Additionally, the weather forecasting agency has predicted rainfall over several southern states until October 23. Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal are expected to receive heavy rainfall until October 25. The Western Himalayan region is expected to receive isolated light rainfall or snowfall during the next two days.

Meanwhile, dry weather is also very likely to prevail over most parts of northwest and central India.

Read IMDs rainfall forecast here:

- Fairly widespread/widespread light/moderate rainfall with isolated heavy falls & thunderstorm/lightning very likely over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Karaikal during 20th - 22nd; over Kerala & Mahe during 20th -23 rd and South Interior Karnataka and Lakshadweep on 20thOctober, 2022.

- Scattered to fairly/widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls & thunderstorm/lightning very likely over Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal on 24th & 25th October, 2022.

- Widespread light/moderate rainfall with isolated heavy falls very likely over Andaman & Nicobar Islands during 20th 23 rd October, 2022.

- Isolated light rainfall/snowfall over Western Himalayan Region during next 2 days.

- Dry weather very likely to prevail over most parts of Northwest & central India.
New Delhi: Many individuals believe that Diwali is the perfect time to refurbish their homes because the holiday season is quickly approaching. Home remodelling not only improves the comfort of your house but also its aesthetic appeal. However, these happy home improvements bring new paint and furnishings, all of which may raise the amount of the potentially harmful pollutant formaldehyde and other volatile particles in the house. The most frequent sources of its emission are furniture and timber goods like plywood and fiberboard, which may include industrial resins based on formaldehyde.

The World Health Organization and other research organisations have published numerous reports on the effects of formaldehyde, a colourless gas that enters homes through a variety of sources. As a result, some governmental organisations have established formaldehyde safety limits and have regulated its use. The important pollutants that can emerge during house renovations are discussed by Ken Armstrong, Air Purification Scientist at Dyson, along with tips on how to keep your home cleaner this Diwali.

Choose furnishings and flooring carefully

Opt for hard-surfaced flooring instead of carpets. If purchasing a new carpet, choose one that releases fewer VOC emissions. Have the carpet installed while the space is unoccupied and keep the windows open where possible.

Choose low-formaldehyde products or buy second-hand furniture. These low-formaldehyde products off-gas less formaldehyde over time, and if buying new furniture, buy solid wood piecesor fully sealed pressed wood (MDF) furniture. To minimise points of off-gassing and reduce emissions from pressed wood furniture or cabinets, purchase items with a plastic laminate or a coating on all sides.

Choose bedding and soft furnishings made with natural materials, like cotton and wool  and avoid treatments such as antibacterial additives and chemical flame-retardants.

Air it out

Open product packaging and allow new furnishings to off-gas before bringing them into your home. This is because consumer products that emit formaldehyde tend to release the highest concentrations when they are new. Request that new carpets are unrolled and aired out in a well-ventilated space before theyre fitted in your home. Ventilation is key.

Invest in a purifier

Choose air purifiers wisely. The latest air purifiers feature new solid-state formaldehyde sensing technology  to precisely detects the pollutant for the lifetime of the machine. They also include Selective Catalytic Oxidisation (SCO) filter which destroys formaldehyde at a molecular level, breaking it down into tiny amounts of water and CO2. It then re-generates with oxygen from the air to destroy formaldehyde continuously.

Bust the dust
New Delhi: Indian Stock Exchanges BSE and NSE will open for one hour on October 24 for Muhurat trading. Both exhanges have a trading holiday on October 24 on the occasion of Diwali or Laxmi Puja. Muhurat trading is a special one-hour session on the diwali day that allows investors and brokers to trade on the exhanges. Its a 50-year-old tradition that is happening year to celebrate the auspicious day.

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According to the Hindu calendar, Diwali marks the start of the New Year, and muhurat trading on this day is said to bring wealth and success all year long.

ALSO READ | Dearness Allowance Hike: Haryana Govt increases DA to 38% for state employees

What is Muhurat Trading?

Muhurat trading is the auspicious stock market trading for an hour on Diwali (Deepawali). It is a symbolic and old ritual, that has been retained and observed for ages, by the trading community. As Diwali also marks the beginning of the New Year, it is believed that muhurat trading on this day brings n wealth and prosperity throughout the year.

What is Date and Time for this year Muhurat trading?

Trading in equity, equity and derivatives segment will start in the evening around 6:15 PM on October 24 and will end exactly after one hour at 7:15 PM.

Diwali Muhurat Trading Session Timings

Nomral Market Open - 6:15 pm

Normal Market Close - 7:15 pm

Set up cut-off time for Position Limit/ Collateral value - 7:25 pm

Trade modification end time - 7:25 pm

According to the NSE, all trades executed in this Diwali Muhurat trading session shall result in settlement obligations. The exchanges will remain closed on October 24 on the occasion of Diwali Balipratipada.
New Delhi: Every star of the Kapoor family has a different specialty, everyone has a different style. Shammi Kapoor, the famous actor of the 60s, who was considered the brand ambassador of Kashmir, was the most unique.

Born on 21 October 1931, his real name was Shamsher Raj Kapoor. Shammi Kapoor's acting style was that of a cool, calm, and fun actor, which was adored by the audience.

Shammi was very attached to the beautiful plains of Kashmir. It is said that even today many people of his generation will be found in Kashmir, who tell that the actor once lived on his shikara.

In many of the actor's films, you will find him praising the actress by swinging on Dal Lake, snowy plains, or houseboats. But, there came a time in the life of the fun actor when he had forgotten to eat, drink and laugh. Today, on his birth anniversary, let us tell you the whole story.

Shammi's first hit was Nasir Hussain's film 'Tumsa Nahi Dekha' in 1957. His dress up and style in this film were such that the youth started following him. After this, Shammi's films 'Dil De Ke Dekho' and 'Junglee' made him a lover boy. Also, his dialogue 'Yahoo' went on the tongue of the people. The song 'Chahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe' from this film is still loved.

The fun, cool actor Shammi Kapoor was broken by the death of Geeta Bali, his first wife. During the shooting of Shammi's film 'Rangeen Raatein', he met actress Geeta Bali. He played the lead role in this film and Geeta had a cameo. But in the first meeting, Shammi gave heart to her. The two fell in love and soon got married. Shammi and Geeta had a son and a daughter. Their married life was going very well, but suddenly, Geeta left the world leaving Shammi alone.

The death of actress Geeta Bali shook Shammi Kapoor from within. He did not care about food or family at that time. Seeing this condition of the actor, his family advised him to get married again but he was not ready. The elders explained to him the reason and he finally married Neela Devi for the sake of the children.

It is said that Shammi Kapoor got married to Neela Devi, but took a big promise from her. He had said to her that she would never become a mother and would consider both her and Geeta's children as her own, Neela accepted the condition.

Shammi Kapoor, who gave Bollywood great films like 'Junglee', 'Professor', 'Bal Brahmachari', 'Kashmir Ki Kali', 'Teesri Manzil', 'Prince', 'An Evening in Paris', left the world on 14 August 2011.
INDORE: Rahul Navlani, the prime accused in Vaishali Takkar's suicide case was sent to four days police remand for further interrogation by the District Court on Thursday. Navlani was produced to the District Court today where he was granted the police remand.

Television actress Vaishali Takkar died by suicide by hanging herself at her residence in Indore on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. A suicide note was also recovered from the spot which suggested that she was stressed and harassed by her neighbour, businessman Rahul Navlani.

In his suicide note, Vaishali had accused Rahul Navlani of torturing him physically and mentally, in which Rahul's wife Disha was also supporting him. The lawyer of Rahul Navlani told the media that the police asked for ten days' remand, but the court granted only four days (till October 24) as the accused is not registered under murder charges, but he is booked only under section 306.

The police were earlier going to produce Rahul in the court through video conferencing but the police did not take permission from the competent court.Navlani was arrested near Indore on Wednesday, an official said.

Indore Commissioner of Police (CP), Harinarayan Chari Mishra told ANI, "A reward of Rs 5000 and a lookout circular was issued against him at all the airports in view of the possibility of him running out of the country. Three teams of police were sent to different states to nab him. Today he was arrested near Indore".

Rahul is married and has two children, but due to his closeness with Vaishali, he was allegedly not letting Vaishali get married. Rahul allegedly sent a personal photo of him with Vaishali to her fiancee Mitesh Gor to break the marriage which was planned to take place in Indore itself on October 20.

Fed up with all this, the TV actress had ended her life.The Tejaji Nagar Police have booked Rahul Navlani and his wife Disha under sections 306 (Abetment of suicide) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly persuading the actor to kill herself.

The police arrested Rahul and efforts are on to nab his wife Disha.
The recent Supreme Court decision reversing Roe v. Wade has been discussed widely in the media and on the campaign trail as midterm elections approach. Polls indicate that a majority of Americans are pro-choice. One issue that both sides of the abortion debate should agree on would be school choice.

The decision to terminate a pregnancy is a scientific, philosophical and religious choice. Presently millions of federal tax dollars support Planned Parenthood centers across our country. If federal funds can be used to support the types of choices that Planned Parenthood provides, shouldnt federal and state funds in the form of school aid, school vouchers or tax credits support parents who exercise the choice to send their children to Catholic school?

The separation of church and state argument in the school choice debate falls flat as the lines between teaching religion and secular curriculum are blurred by the woke attitudes currently being pushed in public schools. How different is social emotional learning from the teaching of religion? Public schools promote mindful moments and silent reflection to start the school day. Isnt that just prayer?

Government forces Catholic hospitals and insurance carriers to provide reproductive services that do not align with Catholic doctrine. The state of Maine has been compelled by the Supreme Court to pay tuition for students to attend religious schools because there are no nearby public school options. Completely independent religious schools in downstate are taking legal action against state mandates. Not exactly a separation of church and state dollars.

Teachers unions have also been in the media recently as many bargaining units negotiate more lucrative contracts. An increasing number of public school teachers are exercising the choice that their comfortable salaries give them by choosing to send their children to Catholic schools. Even teacher union presidents have chosen to send their youngsters to Catholic schools. One would think that public school teachers would want the same choice for everyone.

The inability of public schools to find bus drivers has also been widely covered in the local media. School districts are now paying families to choose to drive their children to school. Why not pay Catholic school families who also drive their children to school? Why not publicly fund Catholic schools for doing the states job better than the state can?

We are blessed to live in a free society that affords us freedom, rights and choices. Conflict arises when one group tries to force their choice on another group. The abortion debate has long been loud and emotional. Whatever political party an individual aligns with and wherever an individuals opinion on abortion may fall, both sides of this debate should be for school choice, lest they fall under another label: Hypocrites.

Andrew Ludwig is a retired public school administrator and currently the Principal and Chief Operating Officer of Northern Chautauqua Catholic School. NCCS is the last Catholic School in Chautauqua County.
New Delhi: Haryana Government has announced to hike the dearness allowance to 38% from 34% for the employees of the state with the retrospective effect from July 1, 2022. According to an ANI Tweet, Haryana government increases the dearness allowance for government employees from 34% to 38% to be applicable from July 1, 2022.

Haryana government increases the dearness allowance for government employees from 34% to 38%, to be applicable from July 1, 2022.  ANI (@ANI) October 18, 2022

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Earlier, Uttar Pradesh government had announced to hike the dearness allowance for employees and pensioners of the State to 38% from 34% ahead of Diwali. The increased DA is effective restrospectively from July 1, 2022, according to the State announcement. Besides, UP government had announced to give a bonus of Rs 6,908 to every employee for the the fiscal of year of 2021-22.

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Delhi Government hiked DA by 4%

Ahead of festivals down the line, the Delhi government has decided to hike the dearness allowance of its employees by 4%. Endorsing the revision of rates by the Centre, the finance department of the Delhi government has forwarded the details to its concerned departments and autonomous bodies, according to an official order.

Central Government increases DA to 38% for central employees

Delhi government decision comes after the Union cabinet increased the dearness allowance of its 41.85 lakh central employees and 69.76 lakh pensioners on September 28 by 4%. Earlier, Rajasthan government had announced to increase the DA by 4% on the same day after the announcement of the Union Cabinet.
It's raining gifts and bonuses for government employees ahead of Diwali. The latest to join the list is Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC). The state-owned transport corporation announced a Rs 5,000 'Diwali bhet' or Diwali bonus to its employees. The move comes after the corporation got Rs 45 crore in financial aid from the government.

The MSRTC has around 87,000 employees, including officers, and all of them will get a "Diwali bhet" or gift of Rs 5,000. The corporation said that it had been facing a financial crunch for the last two years due to a decrease in the number of passengers and the coronavirus epidemic. However, government assistance will help it give a Rs 5,000 Diwali gift each to the officers and employees.

Also Read: Dhanteras 2022: Five safe ways to invest in 24-carat digital gold sitting at home

The amount will be credited to the bank accounts of employees soon. MSRTC is one of the biggest state-owned public transport undertakings in the country with a fleet of over 16,000 buses. The loss-making corporation was ferrying over 65 lakh passengers daily before the outbreak of the pandemic.

It may be noted that Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had announced a Diwali bonus for employees of the Municipal Corporation, Teachers, and The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST) in September. CM Shinde had said that Rs 22,500 will be given to employees of Mumbai Municipal Corporation, Teachers and BEST while one month's salary will be given to the health workers as a Diwali bonus. The BEST has around 29,000 employees.

Also Read: IDBI Bank festive dhamaka! IDBI hikes FD rates --Check new rates here

Noteworthy to mention that the Maharashtra government had already hiked the dearness allowance (DA) for its government employees by 3 per cent in August ahead of the festival season, well ahead of the Central government's DA hike announcement in September. The Maharashtra government had said that the dearness allowance was increased to 34 per cent of the basic pay, from earlier 31 per cent.
New Delhi: While Diwali brightens up homes and lives, unfortunately, it also carries some amount of safety risk. Quite understandably, no one wants to think of being embroiled in a fire accident amid a celebratory mood. However, the reality is that fire incident are reported every year. Taking a look at last years figures, the Delhi fire brigade got around 200 calls pertaining to fire incidents.

Ashu Bajaj, Head - Direct Business (SME Insurance), Policybazaar.com told Reema Sharma of Zee Media, This raises the question of being safe and secure, both physically and financially amid the celebrations. While practising caution is paramount, it is always recommended to think a step ahead and prepare for an untoward incident, and the answer to this is fire insurance. Though its a common practice to install fire alarms and other safety devices, people often learn the importance of insurance the hard way when an accident has already occurred. Since no one can really predict when this can snowball into a disaster, heres a deeper understanding of fire insurance and what it entails.

What is fire insurance? Here is all you need to know about fire insurance policy this Diwali

As the name suggests, a fire insurance policy offers the protection of ones property against fire damages. Covering any damages to property arising out of the fire, the policy protects against several other risks like goods and contents destruction. Generally, the damages that are covered are -

 Damages due to smoke, heat or scorching

 Damages caused due to water used in putting out the fire

 Collapsing of roofs, floors and walls due to fire

 Any other damage to property during the course of mitigating the fire

Who can opt for fire insurance policy?

Often, people see fire insurance as a policy meant only to cater to commercial properties. However, the truth is that fire is an equal hazard to everyone and therefore, the fire insurance plan can be opted for by any individual, organisation, institution or firm that wants their property to be safeguarded against the perils of fire. Therefore, anyone who wants to insure a building, furniture or household articles should ideally opt for this policy.

Types of fire insurance policies

There are mainly four kinds of fire insurance policies -

1. Specific policy - Under this, a specified sum insured is decided for a certain property and in the event of any loss, the actual loss doesnt exceed the chosen insured amount.

2. Comprehensive policy - This policy offers coverage for not only fire-related accidents but also covers you against other risks including theft, lightning, burglary, civil commotion, damage or loss due to pests etc.

3. Floating Policy - This is beneficial if you deal with fluctuating stocks in different areas. This policy offers coverage for one or more goods at the same time under one sum assured and one premium.

4. Valuable policy - Under this policy, the claim amount is determined based on the present market price of the damaged property. At the time of claim settlement, the insurance company reinstates the damaged property or asset by paying its replacement value as the claim amount to the policyholder.

Factors to bear in mind while taking fire insurance policy

Before choosing your plan, here are certain factors which you should consider -

 Its imperative that both parties should function on a contract of good faith and therefore, have full disclosure of all material facts

 Fire insurance, like any other insurance policy, works on the principle of indemnity. So even in case of a fire, if theres no loss, there will be no coverage

 One will only be eligible to avail of the sum insured if the root cause of the damage is fire

 The insurance company needs a proper description of the property insured. The location change should be duly informed to the insurer in order to avoid the rejection of the claim

Add-ons to consider while getting fire insurance policy

Add-ons or riders offer extra benefits that are not a part of the standard policy. To add an extra layer of protection, one can opt for add-ons for an additional premium. Some of the useful add-ons that the policyholder should consider include debris removal, loss of rent, leakage and contamination, and fire-fighting expenses among many others.

To conclude, fire safety is of utmost importance at all times, especially during this festive season. So, to prevent any unwelcome situation arising out of a fire accident, stay safe and opt for fire insurance along with relevant add-ons to ensure absolute protection.
San Francisco: Elon Musk plans to lay off most of Twitter's workforce if and when he becomes owner of the social media company, according to a report by The Washington Post.

Musk has told prospective investors in his Twitter purchase that he plans to cut nearly 75 per cent of Twitter's employee base of 7,500 workers, leaving the company with a skeleton crew, according to the report published on Thursday. The newspaper cited documents and unnamed sources familiar with the deliberations.

San Francisco-based Twitter and a representative for Musk attorney Alex Spiro did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

While job cuts have been expected regardless of the sale, the magnitude of Musk's planned cuts are far more extreme than anything Twitter had planned. Musk himself has alluded to the need to cull some of the company's staff in the past, but he hadn't given a specific number ? at least not publicly.

"A 75 per cent headcount cut would indicate, at least out of the gates, stronger free cash flow and profitability, which would be attractive to investors looking to get in on the deal," said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. ?That said, you can't cut your way to growth."

Ives added that such a drastic reduction in Twitter's workforce would likely set the company back years.

Already, experts, nonprofits and even Twitter's own staff have warned that pulling back investments on content moderation and data security could hurt Twitter and its users.

With as drastic a reduction as Musk may be planning, the platform could quickly become overrun with harmful content and spam ? the latter of which the Tesla CEO himself has said he'll address if he becomes owner of the company.

After his initial USD 44 billion bid in April to buy Twitter, Musk backed out of the deal, contending Twitter misrepresented the number of fake spam bot accounts on its platform. Twitter sued, and a Delaware judge has given both sides until October 28 to work out details.
New Delhi: Twitter Inc on Thursday clarified to staff that there are no plans for company-wide layoffs since it signed a deal to be acquired by billionaire Elon Musk, after a media outlet reported that Musk is considering layoffs at the company. Twitter General Counsel Sean Edgett emailed employees on Thursday saying the company does not plan layoffs, according to a source who viewed the email.

ALSO READ | Google fined Rs 1,338 crore for abusing its dominant position in market

The Washington Post reported earlier on Thursday that Elon Musk told prospective investors in his deal to buy Twitter that he planned to get rid of nearly 75% of the company's 7,500 workers, citing interviews and documents. The job cuts are expected in the coming months, no matter who owns the company, according to the Washington Post report.

ALSO READ | Axis Bank reports net profit jump by 70 % at Rs 5,330 crore in Q2 of FY23

Twitter's current management planned to pare the company's payroll by about $800 million by the end of next year, a number that would mean the departure of nearly a quarter of the workforce, the report said. Twitter did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Human resources staff at the social media company have told employees that they were not planning for mass layoffs, but documents showed extensive plans to push out staff and cut down on infrastructure costs were already in place before Musk offered to buy the company, the Washington Post reported.

Musk had tried to walk away from the deal to buy Twitter in May alleging the company understated the number of bot and spam accounts on the social media platform, which started a series of lawsuits between the two parties.

Earlier this month, Musk reversed course and said he will proceed with the deal on original terms.
Washington, Oct 21 (AP) The White House has said that Iranian troops are directly engaged on the ground in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraine's power stations and other key infrastructure, troubling evidence of Tehran's deepening role assisting Russia as it exacts suffering on Ukrainian civilians just as the cold weather sets in. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Iran has sent a relatively small number of personnel to Crimea, a part of Ukraine unilaterally annexed by Russia in contravention of international law in 2014, to assist Russian troops in launching Iranian-made drones against Ukraine. Members of a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were dispatched to assist Russian forces in using the drones, according to the British government.

The revelation of the US intelligence finding comes as the Biden administration seeks to mount international pressure on Tehran to pull back from helping Russia as it bombards soft Ukrainian civilian targets with the help of Iranian-made drones.

Also Read: 'Charge everything...': Ukraine appeals to its citizens as Russian missile strikes hit power plants

The Russians in recent days have increasingly turned to the Iranian-supplied drones, as well as Kalibr and Iskander cruise missiles, to carry out a barrage of attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure and non-military targets. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that Russian forces have destroyed 30 per cent of Ukraine's power stations since October 10.

The information we have is that the Iranians have put trainers and tech support in Crimea, but it's the Russians who are doing the piloting," Kirby said. He added that the Biden administration was looking at imposing new sanctions on Tehran and would look for ways to make it harder for Iran to sell such weapons to Russia.

Also Read: Leave at the earliest: India issues fresh advisory for its nationals in Ukraine

The US first revealed this summer that Russia was purchasing Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles to launch against Ukraine. Iran has repeatedly denied providing drones to Russia, though the triangle-shaped Shahed-136s raining down on civilians in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine have been used in the Mideast by Tehran in the past.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this week even applauded the deadly power of Iranian drones. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

White House officials say that international sanctions, including export controls, have left the Russians in a bind as they try to restock ammunition and precision-guided munition stocks that have been depleted during the nearly eight-month-old war. As a result, Russia has been forced to turn to Iran as well as North Korea for weaponry.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters that military officials wouldn't be surprised if the Russians sought more drones from Iran given their situation.

Zelenskyy said last week that Russia had ordered 2,400 from Iran.

US officials believe that Iran may have deployed military personnel to assist the Russians in part because of the Russians' lack of familiarity with the Iranian-made drones. Declassified US intelligence findings showed that Russians faced technical problems with the drones soon after taking delivery of them in August.

The systems themselves were suffering failures and not performing to the standards that apparently the customers expected, Kirby said. So the Iranians decided to move in some trainers and some technical support to help the Russians use them with better lethality.

The Biden administration released further details about Iran's involvement in assisting Russia's war at a sensitive moment.
Islamabad: Pakistans former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been disqualified for five years from holding public office on Friday, October 21, 2022, by the Election Commission of Pakistan on the charges of concealing assets. The four-member panel, led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, at the ECP Secretariat in Islamabad, issued a unanimous judgement and stated that if Imran Khan is found to be engaged in corrupt practices, criminal proceedings will be filed against him. Imran Khan has been found ineligible to be elected as a member of the Majlis Shura (Parliament) or the Provincial Legislature under any law for the term of the current assembly under section 63-13, according to the verdict.

Pakistan's election commission disqualified former Prime Minister Imran Khan from holding public office over charges of unlawfully selling state gifts received from heads of other nations & foreign dignitaries: Reuters reported citing local media pic.twitter.com/6zIUQYggjX  ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2022

The ruling coalition government lawmakers had filed a case with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in August against Khan, seeking his disqualification for failing to reveal the proceeds from the sale of gifts that he purchased at a discounted price from the state repository, also called Toshakhana.

It is reported that Imran Khan did not deposit gifts from other countries he received as Prime Minister in the Government Toshakhana, but rather kept or sold them. Almost every country has a rule that presents received by the Prime Minister from other countries do not belong to the Prime Minister, but to the post on which that leader is sitting. As a result, all gifts become part of the government's treasury.

According to the sources, Imran Khan received approximately 58 gifts throughout his three-and-a-half-year tenure whose entire worth is said to be more than Rs 14 crore. The opposition claims that Imran Khan purchased these items from the Toshakhana at a low cost and subsequently sold them at high prices in the marketplaces. Sources say that he has earned Rs 15-16 crore.

However, Imran Khan has denied the claims, accusing that the opposition is fabricating them for political gains.
New Delhi: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced on Friday that it will appeal the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision in the Toshakhana case, which disqualified its leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and declared him ineligible to serve in the National Assembly. According to The Nation, Imran Khan did not include in the reference the gifts he received from Toshakhana or the amount he received from the sale of these gifts. Earlier this month, during an informal media interview, the former Prime Minister stated that these were his gifts and that it was up to him whether or not to keep them.

According to Geo News, the ECP stated that Imran Khan submitted a false affidavit and was found to be involved in corrupt practices. Earlier in the Toshakhana case hearing on September 19, Imran Khan's counsel Ali Zafar admitted that his client had sold at least four gifts he had received during 2018-19. "The gifts were sold for Rs 58 million and their receipts were enclosed with the income tax returns filed by my client," the lawyer informed the ECP. Meanwhile, in August, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) filed a reference alleging that Khan paid for only some of the items he took home from the 'Toshakhana,' but that he took most of the items from the government treasure house without paying for them.

Also Read: Pakistans EC bans former PM Imran Khan for concealing government assets worth 14 crore

Geo news states that Khan was accused in the reference of failing to disclose the gifts he received and concealing the information in his statements. According to reports, gifts received by government officials must be reported immediately in order for their value to be determined. If the recipient wants to keep the gift, he can only do so after an assessment and depositing a certain amount. These gifts can either be deposited in the Toshakhana or auctioned off, with the proceeds deposited in the national treasury. According to media reports, the former Pakistan Prime Minister sold three expensive watches from the government treasure house worth more than 154 million Pakistani rupees (PKR) to a local watch dealer last month.

Also Read: Violence erupts as PTI workers clash with police in Pakistan over Imran Khans disqualification

(With agencies' inputs)
New Delhi: Clashes erupted in Pakistan between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers and police following the election commission's decision to disqualify former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case. According to ARY News, violence erupted shortly after police contingents confronted PTI workers following the announcement of the election results. Police detained PTI MNA Saleh Muhammad and his security guard at the ECP office during the protests. According to ARY News, the situation became tense after KP police opened fire on capital police stationed outside the ECP office in an attempt to defuse the situation. PTI workers have also demonstrated this by blocking roads and streets. Local media reported that the workers set fire to tyres and blocked traffic in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and other Pakistani cities.

Protesters also chanted slogans opposing PTI Chairman Imran Khan's disqualification. The ECP stated in its verdict on Imran Khan on Friday that Imran Khan submitted a false affidavit and was found to be involved in corrupt practices. Earlier in the Toshakhana case hearing on September 19, Imran Khan's counsel Ali Zafar admitted that his client had sold at least four gifts he had received during 2018-19. "The gifts were sold for Rs 58 million, and their receipts were enclosed with my client's income tax returns," the lawyer informed the ECP. In August, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) filed the reference, claiming that Khan paid for only some of the items he took home from the 'Toshakhana,' but that he took most of the items from the government treasure house without paying for them.

Also Read: Pakistans EC bans former PM Imran Khan for concealing government assets worth 14 crore

In the reference, Khan was accused of failing to disclose the gifts he received and concealing the information in his statements. According to reports, gifts received by government officials must be reported immediately for their value to be determined. If the recipient wants to keep the gift, he can only do so after an assessment and depositing a certain amount. These gifts can either be deposited in the Toshakhana or auctioned off, with the proceeds deposited in the national treasury.

Also Read: India wants normal relation with Pakistan, BUT...: Foreign Ministry

(With agencies' inputs)
Theres a World War II story that has been forgotten for too long.

In December 1944, just seven weeks after the Battle of Leyte Gulf near the Philippines, the US Navys Task Force 38, under Admiral William Bull Halsey, got caught in a dreadful typhoon. Winds of over 100 mph eventually led to the capsizing and loss of three destroyers and serious damage to over 12 other ships, including the aircraft carrier Monterrey.

One hundred forty-six aircraft were lost or rendered useless. Nearly 800 sailors lost their lives. Its a tale of stirring heroism and, sadly, avoidable tragedy. It was the greatest natural disaster in US naval history.

Reading about this storm, called Typhoon Cobra, reminded me of one of the most extraordinary moments in my 52 years of teaching at Alfred University.

For a January 1976 class in British history, I took nine students to the United Kingdom. We first visited England, then sailed to Ireland from Holyhead, Wales, on a 450-foot-long ferry. We spent a wonderful week in the Emerald Isle.

Our return, however, contained some drama. Typical of an Irish winter, it was pouring when we arrived at the ferry terminal in Dublin. We expected a three-and-a-half hour voyage back to Wales. What caught my attention were sizable waves in what is normally a silky-calm harbor. I therefore recommend that we all take Dramamine, an anti-seasickness pill. Five students followed my advice. Four declined. They would soon regret it.

The ferry left port around 8 p.m. What we could not have known was that halfway across the Irish Sea, we would encounter a Force 11 gale (70 mph winds) that British weather authorities labeled Capella. We were all located on an indoor deck just below topside. The four students who refused Dramamine became violently seasick and dashed every few minutes to the lavatories. It didnt help that the deck had become slick with sea water and vomit from over a hundred other passengers.

If that were not bad enough, a huge wave disabled our rudder. Unable to steer effectively, the ship drifted broadside into yet another giant wave that threatened to capsize the ferry. Glasses, silverware, china and chairs went flying. Trucks in the hold beneath our deck toppled over, causing the ferry to list about ten degrees. That may not seem like a lot, but it was terrifying.

Clearly, our captain should never have left port in Dublin, though, in fairness to him, the storm, which originated in the Baltic Sea, had arrived more quickly than anticipated. None of us slept during what seemed like an eternity. Some passengers prayed. Maybe the prayers helped, for the captain skillfully maneuvered the ferry in the right direction, after drifting miles off course.

When dawn broke, we discovered what 40- to 60-foot waves looked like. They were liquid mountains. We were surrounded by a half-dozen Irish and English coast guard cutters. We later learned that coast guard officials had considered a helicopter evacuation of all passengers, but the plan was deemed too risky because of the high winds.

As we limped into Holyhead nearly 12 hours after we had boarded the ferry, reporters and TV crews greeted us. We were front-page copy. As for the four students who had refused the Dramamine, they staggered off the ferry. My guess is that they collectively muttered Never again!
South Burlington Police Department; New Hampshire Department of Justice

A 26-year-old transient man identified as a person of interest in the brutal April murders of a retired couple was formally charged over the slayings Thursday, the New Hampshire Attorney Generals Office said. Logan Levar Clegg, 26, faces two counts of second-degree murder for knowingly causing the deaths of Stephen and Djeswende Wendy Reid.

Clegg, described by authorities as highly dangerous, is being held without bail in Vermont, where he was arrested on a fugitive-from-justice charge over a separate Utah break-in case last Wednesday. Investigators found hed purchased a one-way ticket to Germany that wouldve seen him fly out of New York Citys John F. Kennedy International Airport two days later, they said.

On April 21, Stephen, 67, and Djeswende Reid, 66, were found fatally shot in a wooded area near a hiking trail they frequently walked. Theyd last been seen four days earlier, and were reported missing the day before their bodies were recovered, according to state authorities.

In a statement issued shortly after, the Reids family thanked law enforcement for their diligence, according to CBS News. They memorialized the couple as lifelong kindred spirits, saying, Steve served four years in the Peace Corps in West Africa right after college. He met his future wife and soulmate Wendy, who was from West Africa, while she was studying in Washington D.C. on an athletic scholarship. They bonded over their mutual love of adventure and fitness.

The Concord Police Department encouraged anyone with information on the Reids murders to come forward. Then six months went by.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=368913875279234&set=a.225369742966982

It was not immediately clear what evidence investigators had collected to name Clegg a person of interest in the case. His arrest led authorities in South Burlington to search a nearby forest last week, turning over a number of items found there to New Hampshire law enforcement, The Boston Globe reported.

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Records obtained by the Globe revealed that Clegg had previously been investigated in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 28-year-old in Spokane, Washington in 2018. Clegg said hed been acting in self-defense when he stabbed the other man, Corey Ward, and was never charged over the incident.

A native of Washington himself, Clegg was 22 years old when Ward was killed. The two men did know each other prior to the confrontation, which beganin Cleggs later tellingwith Ward calling him an asshole. Clegg explained to police that hed responded by flipping the larger man off, telling him he was mentally retarded. Ward tackled him, and Clegg decided that the only way he was not going to be seriously hurt was to start defending himself, police wrote in a report.

Clegg pulled out a small knife and began stabbing Ward repeatedly. An autopsy would later find that Ward had been stabbed at least 10 times, with an additional six lacerations across his body. But Clegg didnt bother calling for help, telling police he was due to work a shift as an overnight janitor at a nearby McDonalds. (His manager there reported to investigators that Clegg had been an excellent employee.)

In an interview with the Globe last week, Wards mother said she did not believe her son had instigated the fatal fight. My son was a lot of things. He was a hard-working kid, but when he wasnt working, like for his job, he was as lazy as the day is long, she explained. He would have never come out of his apartment, run down two flights of stairs, just to start a fight.

At a Thursday press conference, Concord Police Chief Brad Osgood announced Cleggs charges and said he hoped the news might bring a sense of healing to the shocked community. State Attorney General John Formella commented that he knew this has been a difficult few months for family and friends of the Reids.

I cant get into details, but we dont have any information to believe anyone else was involved, Formella added, according to The Boston Globe.

Authorities did not detail a motive for the killings.

At an arraignment the same day, Clegg waived extradition, according to WMUR, clearing the way for authorities to bring him back to New Hampshire to face charges.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Kerrin Repman, 29, died at the scene of the collision (Essex Police / family handout)

A motorist who deliberately drove into a biker at nearly 70mph has been convicted of murder after fleeing to Ireland to try and escape punishment.

BMW driver Keith McCarthy slammed into the moped of father-of-three Kerrin Repman on April 15, 2020, in Dovercourt - killing the 29-year-old biker and also seriously injuring a bystander.

McCarthy, 40, of no fixed abode, fled the scene on foot and left the country - being tracked down in Ireland. He arrived back in the UK on February 3, 2022, where he was charged with murder and grevious bodily harm with intent, both of which he denied.

After a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, he was found guilty of both charges on Thursday.

Keith McCarthy, 40, fled to Ireland (Essex Police)

It was said that Mr Repman, a chef who took part in charity work, had been killed in a targeted attack following a dispute about money. The victim was described as a much-loved partner, son, brother, father and uncle.

A family statement added: Kerrin had his problems and went through a lot of physical and emotional pain in his life, but it never stopped him from having a smile on his face. He always brought a smile to ours, too.

The court heard McCarthy had accelerated along the residential street as he approached the bike, clocking a speed of 67mph before the impact which fatally threw Mr Repman from the moped.

Both vehicles were badly damaged, while the bystander, a woman in her 70s, required treatment in hospital for her injuries.

McCarthys damaged BMW (Essex Police)

McCarthy but could be handed his term on Thursday afternoon.

Detective superintendent Scott Egerton, of Essex Police, said: Keith McCarthy took Kerrins life in a violent and ruthless attack.

Kerrin Repmans damaged moped (Essex Police)

He would have felt the full impact of that collision and seen the devastation it caused, yet he made no attempt to identify himself as the driver or to check on those he injured.

His only thought was to try and escape the justice system, but all he did was delay the inevitable.
FILE PHOTO - Venezuelan migrants expelled from U.S. and sent back to Mexico in Ciudad Juarez

By Lizbeth Diaz and Dave Graham

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Voluntary returns of Venezuelan migrants in Mexico by plane back to their homeland are likely to begin in the next few days, four people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Mexico is grappling with a sharp increase in Venezuelans, both from those arriving on its southern border and due to thousands of expulsions from the United States following a deal last week aimed at curbing the flow of people.

Under a bilateral plan announced on Oct. 12, Washington said it would grant up to 24,000 Venezuelans humanitarian access to the United States by air. It also enabled U.S. officials to expel to Mexico those caught trying to cross illegally by land.

The voluntary returns to Venezuela by air should begin this week, according to two Mexican officials familiar with the matter.

It was not immediately clear how many people would be returned on the first flight, nor how many journeys were planned. One official said there could be several flights.

Mexico's foreign ministry and the government's National Migration Institute (INM) did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Venezuelan embassy in Mexico could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Biden administration has come under pressure to curb illegal immigration after a record number of border crossings this year. Venezuelans seeking a better future away from their economically-battered homeland have helped fuel that trend.

The Mexican government said on Oct. 12 that Venezuelans entering its territory from that day onward would not be allowed to apply from Mexico for access to the United States by air.

Those Venezuelans who have entered Mexico illegally and want to stay in the country will have to request asylum, according to a Mexican official familiar with the matter. However, if they do that, they cannot apply for U.S. asylum, the official added.

That could mean voluntary return to Venezuela is more attractive to some than staying in Mexico, the official said.

For the past four years, Venezuela's government has provided special flights to its citizens abroad who lack the means to pay the fare. It is currently also offering low-cost commercial flights home from Mexico on the state airline Conviasa, according to a person familiar with the matter.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz, Dave Graham and Ana Isabel Martinez; editing by Richard Pullin)
AUSTIN, Texas & WASHINGTON & LONDON, October 20, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Population Services International (PSI) announced the launch of a new digital health service in Vietnam to help people in low-income communities make informed decisions about their health and efficiently navigate the healthcare system. Through a partnership with Babylon (NYSE: BBLN), communities in the Bac Ninh province and the Hanoi Capital City  which have a combined population of 9.4 million  will have free 24/7 access to a new platform, called AI OI, that combines Babylons AI Symptom Checker with PSIs Health Provider Locator tool.

In low-income communities around the world, taking time to visit a medical facility means out-of-pocket expenses as well as loss of income that create financial barriers to care. PSI research shows most low income people put off going to a health facility due to the amount of time needed off work  and resulting loss of income  and high out of pocket fees that often dont match their particular health issue. In addition, women in particular experience stigma from health providers on sensitive health topics such as menstruation, and sexual and reproductive health.

AI OI aims to shift this model by providing consumers more control over their health journeys in a private, stigma-free environment from their mobile devices. After taking an AI-powered self-assessment with AI OI, an individual is signposted to local health facilities in their area that can provide follow-on services. The platform is designed to work across both public and private healthcare systems to increase access to targeted care. Our future plan is to build out the service through partnerships with Telehealth providers, ePharmacists and home delivery services, and health information portals and chatbots.

"PSI has worked closely with Vietnam's healthcare systems over the last 17 years. Our deep global expertise in social behavior change and implementing pathbreaking, consumer-centric technology, uniquely position us to deliver this service," said Karl Hofmann, President and CEO of Population Services International. "We're thrilled to partner with Babylon and demonstrate how innovative digital technology can extend the capacity and reach of under-resourced healthcare systems  something we urgently need if we're to achieve ambitious universal health coverage targets."

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The AI OI platform leverages Babylons existing advanced AI technology, which has already been fully localized for 11 territories in Southeast Asia by a team of AI clinicians based on the ground to ensure accuracy, safety and cultural appropriateness.

"We are thrilled to be working with PSI, one of the most innovative non-profit organizations, to support people to more effectively manage their health," said Dr Ali Parsa, Chief Executive Officer of Babylon. "PSI and Babylon share a similar vision for the future of healthcare, and we look forward to now sharing our technology to make quality healthcare accessible and affordable for those most in need."

The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation awarded PSI a grant to design and deploy AI OI in November 2021 as a part of its strategy to build capacity to use data, digital tools and artificial intelligence to design people-centered, accessible health systems.

"This partnership represents the transformative opportunity that comes from combining technological possibility and visionary social changemakers," said Vilas Dhar, president of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. "Were excited to explore how these new AI and digitally-enabled approaches can center dignity, autonomy and empathy in healthcare."

The AI OI service launched in Bac Ninh and Hanoi on 23 September, and roll-out of the service will take place over the coming months. PSI is leading a demand generation and awareness campaign based on user insights to build trust and confidence in digital health tools and encourage use of the service over the coming months.

PSI and Babylon aim to grow the reach of this service to additional parts of Vietnam in 2023 as well as expand their partnership to other countries in the future on their mission of making high-quality health services that are affordable and accessible.

About Population Services International

Founded 50 years ago, Population Services International (PSI) is a global nonprofit that encourages healthy behaviors and delivers affordable healthcare for individuals to live healthier lives. PSI brings innovation to scale through our presence in 50 countries, our vast network of clinics and community-based healthcare delivery.

In Vietnam, PSI has a 15+ year track record in developing and implementing successful social and behavior change communication campaigns. These are built around insights into what matters most to underserved consumers, and position healthier behaviors in terms that resonate with target audiences. With the goal of strengthening the national health system, PSI Vietnams interventions focus on building the private sectors capacity and providing quality, affordable health products and services. PSI has established a sustainable network of over 5,914 private clinics and pharmacies throughout the country, which serves as a cost-efficient channel for expanding access to quality and affordable integrated health services among underserved community members.

About Babylon

At Babylon, our mission is to make quality healthcare accessible and affordable for every person on Earth. To this end we are building an integrated digital first primary care service that can manage population health at scale.

Founded in 2013, we are reengineering how people engage with their care at every step of the healthcare continuum. By flipping the model from reactive sick care to proactive healthcare through the devices people already own, we offer millions of people globally, ongoing, always-on care. And, we have already shown that in environments as diverse as the developed UK or developing Rwanda, urban New York, or rural Missouri, for people of all ages, it is possible to achieve our mission by leveraging our highly scalable, digital-first platform combined with high quality, virtual clinical operations to provide integrated, personalized healthcare.

Today, we support a global patient network across 15 countries, and operate in 16 languages. In 2021 alone, Babylon helped a patient every 6 seconds, with approximately 5.2 million consultations and AI interactions. Importantly, this was achieved with a 93% user retention rate in our NHS GP at Hand service and 4 or 5-star ratings from more than 90% of our users across all of our geographies. We are working to demonstrate how our model of digital first integrated primary care can be applied to manage the health of the population in different settings across Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial value based care contracts in the US and our primary care services in the UK.

Babylon is also working with governments, health providers, employers, and insurers across the globe to provide them with a new digital-first platform that any partner can use to deliver high-quality healthcare with lower costs and better outcomes. For more information, please visit www.babylonhealth.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221020005098/en/

Contacts

MEDIA CONTACTS

Babylon Health PR - Stina Sanders

stina.sanders@babylonhealth.com

PSI Contact - Malcolm Quigley

mquigley@psi.org
CCTV: Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China has made notable progress on the path of human rights development suitable for its national conditions. Can you share more information with us?



Wang Wenbin: Ever since its founding, the CPC has attached great importance to respecting and protecting human rights. A happy life for all is the biggest human right. To seek happiness for the Chinese people has always been an unswerving aspiration of Chinese communists.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has put respecting and protecting human rights high on its governance agenda and made historical achievements in Chinas human rights advancement.

China has completed the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and secured a historical success in eradicating absolute poverty. Facing the raging COVID-19 pandemic, we have put peoples life and health first, and protected peoples life and health to the greatest possible extent. The average life expectancy in China has gone up to 78.2 years from 74.8 years from a decade ago. We have put in place the worlds largest education system, social security system and health care system. The coverage of nine-year compulsory education in China has surpassed the average of high-income countries. Access to higher education is becoming universal, giving everyone the chance of excelling themselves and making dreams come true. China is the only major country that has formulated and implemented four consecutive national human rights action plans. Human rights protection is emphasized in all aspects of governance including legislation, administration and work of the judiciary. Peoples rights are protected by the rule of law. We have ensured a more complete and lasting sense of fulfillment, happiness and security for our people.

China has taken an active part in global human rights governance. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has adopted three times the resolutions on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of human rights submitted by China. The concept of promoting human rights through development and cooperation has gained strong support in the international community. China has actively participated in human rights affairs at the UN. It has served on the UNHRC five times and is one of the most frequently elected HRC members. We unequivocally reject and oppose interference in the internal affairs of developing countries under the pretext of human rights. This has been supported and echoed by the international community, especially the vast developing world.

We stand ready to work with the rest of the world to build consensus, improve peoples wellbeing, steer global human rights governance toward greater fairness, justice, equity and inclusiveness, realize common development and progress, and create a better future for all.

TASS: The Russian Embassy in China announced on Thursday that Ambassador Igor Morgulov had arrived in China to assume his post. What is Chinas comment?



Wang Wenbin: We warmly welcome Ambassador Igor Morgulov to China to assume his new post. We will actively provide facilitation and support to his work here.

Shenzhen TV: Recently, at the press center for the 20th CPC National Congress, the book titled Together on a Shared Journey  100 Stories of the Communist Party of China in International Communication has attracted the attention of both Chinese and foreign journalists. The book features heartwarming stories of the CPCs interactions with the world during the 100 years since it was founded. Can you share more information on that?



Wang Wenbin: True friendship is underpinned by mutual understanding, which is facilitated by heart-to-heart communication. Over the past century since the CPCs founding, many foreign friends came to China with profound goodwill toward the Chinese people and witnessed the CPCs growth and Chinas revolution and development. Friends from the US such as Edgar Snow, Agnes Smedley and Anna Louise Strong were among the first to tell the world about the CPC in the revolutionary era. Then Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Dr. Shafick George Hatem from the US and Isabel Crook from Canada witnessed the national development of New China. Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Mr. Klaus Schwab of Switzerland, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand witnessed first-hand Chinas reform and opening-up. Young people from Jordan, the UK and Kazakhstan each have amazing stories to share about their China experience in the new era. There are many wonderful moments and touching stories in these friendly exchanges between China and other countries.

Last year, our Foreign Ministry released these stories of friendly exchanges between people of different nationality, ethnicity and faith throughout the 100 years, which resonated widely at home and abroad. The book you mentioned, Together on a Shared Journey  100 Stories of the Communist Party of China in International Communication, is a compilation of these heartwarming stories and has been welcomed by friends from all walks of life.

As noted by General Secretary Xi Jinping, to understand China today, one needs to understand the CPC. On the occasion of the successful convening of the 20th National Congress of the CPC, the world is watching the CPC and China with greater interest. We will continue to share with the international community the vivid and spectacular stories of the CPC so that foreign friends can better understand the CPC and have a comprehensive understanding of China as it is.

Reuters: Australia announced that it will invest around $29 million to fund police deployments in Solomon Islands. Given that China is also helping Solomon Islands with security issues, does the foreign ministry have any comment?



Wang Wenbin: We have noted relevant reports. I would like to reiterate that the cooperation between China and Pacific Island countries are mutually-beneficial, open and inclusive. It is conducive to peace and stability in the region and has been sincerely welcomed by the people in these countries.

TASS: Yesterday, the EU sanctioned three Iranian senior military commanders and an Iranian drone-making company. According to an EU official report, the individuals and entity involved in the development and delivery of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Russia. Amir Saeid Iravani, Permanent Representative of Iran to the UN said that Iran firmly denies any irresponsible and unfounded allegation that it supplied Russia with drones used in the conflict in Ukraine. What is Chinas comment?



Wang Wenbin: China opposes illegal unilateral sanctions imposed without the mandate of the UN Security Council and basis in international law. Under the current circumstances, we call for calm and restraint from all parties concerned. We encourage and support all diplomatic efforts that are conducive to the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis and efforts to work together toward deescalation.

AFP: The US Chief of Naval Operations said that the US military must be ready to respond to a potential invasion of Taiwan as soon as this year. Do you have any comment on this?



Wang Wenbin: The US needs to be fully aware of the extreme importance and highly sensitive nature of the Taiwan question, abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, credibly act on its commitment of not supporting Taiwan independence, and refrain from sending any wrong signals to Taiwan independence separatist forces.

Let me stress that the Taiwan question is purely Chinas internal affair that brooks no interference from any external force. We firmly oppose US moves of manipulating Taiwan-related issues to stoke confrontation in the region.

Reuters: Does the foreign ministry have any comment on the resignation of Liz Truss and the effect her time in office had on UK-China relations? Any expectations you might have for the new leadership and the future of UK-China relations?



Wang Wenbin: The resignation of the UK Prime Minister is the UKs internal affair, so I will not comment on it.

Chinas position on developing its relations with the UK is consistent and clear. Cultivating and advancing sound bilateral ties is the shared responsibility of China and the UK. It serves the common interests of both our peoples. China hopes to advance ties with the UK along the right track on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit.

AFP: The US charged seven Chinese nationals accused of trying to forcibly repatriate a Chinese. Do you have any comment on this?



Wang Wenbin: Fighting crimes, repatriating fugitives and recovering illegal proceeds is about upholding and advancing justice and the rule of law. It is widely supported by the international community. In pursuing international cooperation in this field, Chinese law-enforcement authorities strictly abide by international law, fully respect other countries laws and judicial sovereignty, and protect the lawful rights and interests of the suspects, which is fully justified and legitimate. By making those allegations, the US is denying basic facts and discrediting Chinas law enforcement efforts. We firmly oppose it.

The US has received the largest number of Chinese fugitives suspected of corruption and other economic crimes. However, the US has been stonewalling Chinas requests in recent years for cooperation on repatriating fugitives. This runs counter to the spirit of the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, the UN Convention against Corruption, and commitments openly made by the US on the international stage. We call on the US to correct its mistake, facilitate Chinas efforts to repatriate fugitives and recover illegal proceeds, faithfully fulfill its international obligations and commitments, and avoid becoming a safe haven for criminals.

Reuters: In an interview with Bloomberg News the Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection said that four months into the US governments ban on imports from Xinjiang, US companies were largely complying with the ban and have grown used to the new legislation. Does the foreign ministry have any comment?



Wang Wenbin: As we have stated before, we oppose steps taken by the US to jeopardize Xinjiangs prosperity and stability and suppress and contain Chinas development using lies and rumors about Xinjiang. But these attempts will not succeed.

CCTV: We noted that a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the CPC shared the story at the delegate corridor of how Chinas Juncao (mushroom grass) technology has benefited countries around the world. Can you share more about cooperation on agricultural technology between China and other developing countries?



Wang Wenbin: The small plant conveys goodwill and friendship from China to countries far away. The Juncao technology solved the problem troubling the world that to produce edible mushrooms, trees must be cut down. The Juncao technology uses grass instead of wood to cultivate edible fungi, offering a solution and hope to the developing countries facing the need to tackle food insecurity and poverty and achieve sustainable development. From the South Pacific to Africa and Latin America, the grass from China has been introduced to 106 countries and regions over the years and turned itself into a grass of happiness and wealth. Faustin-Archange Touadera, President of the Central African Republic, said the Juncao project will benefit many production sectors of the country. James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, said the Juncao project is a gift from China to the whole world.

The Juncao project also epitomizes the joint efforts of China and other developing countries to implement the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and conduct practical cooperation in sectors like poverty reduction and food security. In recent years, China has been actively promoting agri-tech innovation cooperation and has made important contributions to global food security, poverty reduction and sustainable development of agriculture. Chinese teams have made breakthroughs in tropical agriculture technology in the Republic of the Congo. The yields of Cassava Huanan No.5, a demonstration project, can reach 51 tonnes per hectare, 5.6 times that of the local varieties. The new cotton varieties bred by the China Aid Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Sudan, known as China No.1 and China No.2, have given a strong boost to the per-unit yield of cotton there and been grown in more than 90% of Sudans cotton plantations for years running. The hybrid rice planting demonstration projects in Burundi have helped locals in four villages to shake off poverty and inspired the designation of another 22 demonstration villages nationwide. This has benefited 22,500 people from 2,800 households with an increase of $1,340 in average annual household income. In June this year, a ground-breaking ceremony was held for the China-Aided Project of the Dominica Agricultural Science Complex Building. Once completed, the project will hopefully help Dominica usher in a new stage for agricultural modernization.

Looking ahead, China will continue to bear in mind the welfare of the world, and assist more fellow developing countries in improving their capability of food production and pursuing green sustainable development with agriculture science. With all this effort, China will work with other countries to jointly act upon the GDI and make new, greater contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
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The 2022 Pet Food Drive for St Francis Food Pantry will be held from Nov. 1 through Dec. 15.

The drive seeks pet food for pet parents who are struggling financially to feed their pets and are having to make difficult decisions about feeding their families and pets. All donations of non-perishable pet food items, toys, and litter as well as cash donations are welcome.

The Pet Food Drive is sponsored by the Chippewa Valley Cat Club, Pet Food Plus, and Oakwood Hills Animal Hospital. Area businesses will collect donations for our four-legged friends to deliver to St Francis Food Pantry.

Collection bins will be available at the following businesses: Barks and Recreation, Dogtopia, Eau Claire Animal Hospital, emBark, Healthy Pet Animal Hospital, Kindness Animal Hospital, Lake Wissota Animal Hospital, Northside Pet Hospital, Oakwood Hills Animal Hospital, Pet Food Plus, Riverview Animal Hospital, The Ark, Tropic Waters Pet Center and Westgate Animal Hospital.

Cash contributions to purchase additional food are also welcomed. Checks should be made out to the Chippewa Valley Cat Club (CVCC) and are tax deductible since CVCC is a recognized nonprofit organization. Contributions may be left at any donation site or mailed in care of Oakwood Hills Animal Hospital, 4616 Commerce Valley Road, Eau Claire, WI 54701.

CVCC is thankful to all who supported the drive last year and they hope area residents will be able to help pet families again this year.
Crypto News Summary: $40M in Crypto Seized, Hong Kong May Allow Direct Crypto Purchases, Bitcoin Group May Buy Local Bank

Source: AdobeStock / ChiccoDodiFC

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news  investigating the stories flying under the radar of todays crypto news.

__________

Legal news

Turkish authorities have seized $40 million in cryptocurrency as part of an investigation into an illegal gambling ring, the Daily Sabah reported. The Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor and the Smuggling and Organized Crime Investigation Bureau said the suspects mediated the funds produced by the illegal gambling operation, which were then transferred to the group's crypto addresses.

and the said the suspects mediated the funds produced by the illegal gambling operation, which were then transferred to the group's crypto addresses. US-based fintech firm Ripple General Counsel Stuart Alderoty confirmed on Twitter that the company has finally received documents its been after for more than a year in their legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). I can say that it was well worth the fight to get them. Ive always felt good about our legal arguments, and I feel even better now. I always felt bad about the SECs tactics, and I feel even worse about them now, he said.

Regulation news

Hong Kong is considering allowing exchanges and other intermediaries to directly sell virtual assets to retail investors, seeking to bring back fintech businesses, the South China Morning Post reported. It is also reassuring businesses that the citys official stance on cryptocurrencies is separate from that of mainland China.

Traditional financial policies are not sufficient for regulating decentralized finance (DeFi), said a report by the European Commission . It stated that "standard policies [are] inadequate to the treatment of DeFi services."

. It stated that "standard policies [are] inadequate to the treatment of DeFi services." The UK government has introduced new legal measures that seem to seek to regulate crypto ads and ban unauthorized crypto providers from offering services. Per an explanatory note, "this new clause amends the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to clarify that the powers relating to financial promotion and regulated activities can be relied on to regulate cryptoassets and activities relating to cryptoassets. Cryptoasset is also defined, with a power to amend the definition."

Investment news

Germany-based crypto-focused investment holding company Bitcoin Group SE is considering purchasing local bank Bankhaus von der Heydt , Bloomberg Law reported. The sale could value the bank at some 20 million ($19.6 million), it added.

is considering purchasing local bank , Bloomberg Law reported. The sale could value the bank at some 20 million ($19.6 million), it added. The Telegram messaging app will soon launch a username auction platform on The Open Network (TON) blockchain, the company said in an official channel. Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced the project in late August.

messaging app will soon launch a username auction platform on The Open Network (TON) blockchain, the company said in an official channel. Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced the project in late August. Polkadot-based money market Equilibrium said that its Closed Beta, which has been launched to allow users to experience Equilibrium services before the full app launch, has been a success. Equilibriums beta testing attracted users beyond the initial projects (more than 4,000 participants from a 500 projected figure), said an announcement, while the participants traded over $80 million in volume across Equilibriums three pools: borrowers, lenders, and insurance. The app will be released to the public in November.

Metaverse news

International police organization INTERPOL has announced the launch of a virtual world that allows it to offer immersive training courses to law enforcement across the globe. The INTERPOL Metaverse allows registered users to tour a virtual facsimile of the INTERPOL General Secretariat headquarters in France without geographical or physical boundaries, interact with other officers via avatars, and take immersive training courses in forensic investigation and other policing capabilities.

Exchange news
Russian Regulator: Crypto Sanctions Are a Form of Digital Fascism

Source: Miha Creative/Adobe

One of Russias top regulators thinks that the crypto-related sanctions that have been imposed on the country and its citizens are a type of digital fascism.

The comments come in the wake of the European Unions latest package of sanctions on Russia, which includes a total ban on all Russian cross-border crypto payments to the EU. The EU had previously sought to place limits on the worth of crypto transactions made to Russian crypto wallets, but earlier this month stated that it wanted to go a step further.

But, Ivestia reported, Rosfinmonitoring, an anti money-laundering regulator founded by President Vladimir Putin, has hit out at the sanctions. As well as calling them an example of digital fascism, Herman Negliad, the nations Secretary of State and the Deputy Director of Rosfinmonitoring, told a legal forum on October 20 that Russia would bypass the EUs crypto-related sanctions.

Negliad added that the government would provide businesses with the ability to carry out cross-border settlements. He added that Moscow was ready to help traders, and would provide them with assistance that makes use of cryptocurrencies, the digital ruble, or a hybrid of these forms [of payment].

Russian Government Thinks Nation Can Dodge Crypto Sanctions

The Ministry of Finance has also commented on the matter, stating that it did not think any Russian crypto wallets would be threatened by the latest EU move. The ministry has previously claimed that crypto has a role to play in international trade.

The nation is thought to be fast-tracking its central bank digital currency rollout in direct response to Western sanctions, and the finance ministry and the Central Bank have indicated that trading firms are effectively free to conduct their business in crypto if necessary.

Even prior to the conflict with Ukraine, Moscow officials were speaking openly about the need to purge the Russian economy of its reliance on the USD  and spoke of the forthcoming digital rubles role in this effort.

Anatoly Aksakov, the Chairman of the State Dumas Committee on Financial Markets and the architect of Russias crypto-related legislation, also poured scorn on the latest EU crypto-related sanctions.

Aksakov was quoted as stating, at the same forum:
Vietnam Ranks 1st in Crypto Adoption, USA is 5th, China Back in Top 10 - Chainalysis

Source: AdobeStock / A. Solano

While emerging markets generally dominate the global adoption list, when it comes to the top 10 list, three developments stand out: Vietnam taking the crown again, the US climbing to fifth place, and China re-entering the list, according to the latest report by blockchain analysis company Chainalysis.

Per 'The 2022 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report', the top 5 countries on the global crypto adoption index are Vietnam, the Philippines, Ukraine, India, and the United States, respectively.

The top 10 list further includes Pakistan, Brazil, Thailand, Russia, and China, per the overall index ranking.

The 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index Top 20

Source: Chainalysis 2022 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report

Vietnam is ranked 1st in cryptocurrency adoption for the second year in a row. The report noted that, per the sub-rankings, the country shows extremely high purchasing power and population-adjusted adoption across centralized, DeFi [decentralized finance], and P2P [peer-to-peer] cryptocurrency tools.

Chainalysis further noted a 2020 poll, which found that 21% of Vietnamese consumers reported using or owning crypto. Furthermore, the local media suggest that crypto-based gaming is very popular in Vietnam  both for the players and for the builders.

The Philippines is also notable given that it "made a giant leap" from 15th to 2nd place.

"Both of these countries have similar growth drivers: play-to-earn (P2E) games and remittances," said the report.

Meanwhile, the United States moved up in the rankings. This year it sits in 5th place, up from 8th in 2021 and 6th in 2020. Interestingly, while the country ranks in the top three of other sub-indexes, it ranks all the way down at 111 for population and purchasing power-adjusted P2P exchange usage.

Per the report, this isnt surprising, as our research shows that P2P exchange usage tends to be highest in countries with low purchasing power, adding:

Perhaps most interesting is the fact that the United States is by far the highest-ranked developed The 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index 10 market country on our index, and one of only two to make the top 20 along with the UK.

Another country moved up significantly: after being the 13th in 2021, China landed on the 10th spot this year. Per sub-indexes, China is especially strong in the usage of centralized services, sitting in 2nd place for purchasing power-adjusted transaction volume at both the overall and retail levels.

What needs to be taken into account here is the Chinese governments crypto crackdown and a ban placed on all crypto trading in September 2021. Yet, per the report,

[W]hile the ban initially caused a large dropoff in crypto activity, Chinas market has bounced back in recent months, suggesting that the ban is perhaps ineffective or loosely enforced.

Domination of emerging markets

Chainalyisis stated that a specific trend has gotten stronger in 2021  emerging markets dominate the index. The report used a framework established by the World Bank, which categorizes countries based on income levels and economic development into high-income, upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income, and low-income.

What the report found is that the middle two categories dominate the top of our index. Out of the above-shown top 20 ranked countries:

10 are lower-middle income: Vietnam, the Philippines, Ukraine, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Morocco, Nepal, Kenya, and Indonesia;

8 are upper-middle income: Brazil, Thailand, Russia, China, Turkey, Argentina, Colombia, and Ecuador;

2 are high-income: the United States and the United Kingdom.

Users in lower-middle and upper-middle-income countries tend to rely on crypto to:

send remittances;

preserve their savings in times of fiat currency volatility;

fulfill other financial needs unique to their economies.

The report concluded that,

These countries also tend to lean on Bitcoin and stablecoins more than other countries.

Slowing adoption and healthy market fundamentals

Global crypto adoption has leveled off in the last year. It consistently grew since mid-2019, reached its all-time high in Q2 2021, and then began moving in waves, falling and rebounding from quarter to quarter, says Chainalysis.

It has seen a drop in the last two quarters as the bear market was starting.

Still, its important to note that global adoption remains well above its pre-bull market 2019 levels, Chainalysis said.

Source: Chainalysis 2022 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report

Big crypto holders have continued to hold through the market downturn, and, notably, their losses are not locked in despite their portfolios having lost value  simply because they havent sold.

The on-chain data suggests those holders are optimistic the market will bounce back, which keeps market fundamentals relatively healthy, the report concluded.

____

Learn more:

- Crypto Hacking, Theft Rise This Year While Scams, Darknet Markets Retreat - Chainalysis

- Mixers Receiving More Cryptocurrency than Ever in 2022 - Chainalysis



- Philippines Approves Two Digital Banks

- Chinas Central Bank Digital Yuan Transactions Surpass $14 Billion



- US IRS Releases New Reporting Guidelines for Digital Assets

- Indias Crypto Market is More Mature Than Vietnams and Pakistans - Chainalysis
At a meeting Monday night, the school board discussed proposed revisions to current district policies 231.1  Threat Assessment, 805  Emergency Preparedness & Response, and 805.2  School Security Personnel.

Considerations are linked to Act 55 of 2022 and prior legislation that amends the states Public School Code to include updated safety and school security requirements for school districts statewide.

The proposed policy changes just ensure our policies are aligned with (state) Act 55 of 2022, which updated the PA School Code and was passed by a large majority of the PA House and Senate, Superintendent David Christopher told The Sentinel this week.

The district proposes to update its existing threat assessment policy to include references to the states mandate for annual school staff training thats already in place in the district.

Likewise, proposed updates to CVs existing policy pertaining to emergency preparedness and response would add references to the district applicable health and safety plans and required training already in place.

All of (these) items are school district requirements under the PA School Code, Christopher said. The code was updated in 2018 with the language on required training of Threat Assessment Teams, which appears in our current policy and is not a proposed change.

Updates to the districts existing school security personnel would align with state acts 55 and Act 18, both of which address threat assessments and school safety. The proposed text additions reference the districts existing threat assessment measures, background check requirements, and its prior appointment of a school security director.

During a public comment period at Mondays meeting, resident Lois Koneski urged school directors to amend proposed revisions to the districts threat assessment policy so that this (school staff) training will have to be approved before its implemented.

This policy assumes that the (districts) threat assessment team will carry racial prejudice. Please dont let critical race theory have even one more entry point into our schools, she said.

A CV policy stipulates the districts superintendent or designee ensure that that threat assessment teams members are provided individual and/or group training annually on six required topics.

One of those required school staff training topics is Identifying and avoiding racial, cultural or disability bias.

Other listed training focuses are:

Responsibilities of threat assessment team members

Process of identifying, reporting, assessing and intervening with threats

Confidentiality requirements under state and federal laws and regulations, and school board policies

Student Assistance Program process

Youth suicide awareness, prevention and response

The school board is scheduled to take a final vote on all proposed policy revisions Nov. 7.

Town hall update

In other news, board president Heather Dunn announced that the districts second public town hall forum held Oct. 13 was attended by only two members of the public. Of those, only one attendee addressed questions to the school board.

We will not be scheduling anymore town halls in the future, Dunn said Monday.

District officials first considered initiating town hall meetings late last year. At that time, Christopher said the meetings would be more of a public forum where we can have conversations with members of the public and be more interactive.

The format was intended as a step beyond with school board meeting public comment sessions, which typically involve residents addressing questions to the board. School directors usually dont respond to the publics questions during these meetings, which at times has appeared to frustrate, or even anger, some speakers.

The district hosted an initial town hall meeting in February attended by roughly two dozen people. The board fielded questions then from about a half-dozen residents.
Last weeks column described Diane, whose second husband, Jack, is in skilled nursing care. Jack and Diane did many things right after losing their first spouses and deciding to remarry. Because Diane and Jack do not have millions of dollars, however, the long-term care plan conflicts with the remarriage plan.

They were wise to update their estate plan upon getting remarried. Their prenuptial agreement made clear that assets brought by each to the second marriage would stay separate and be distributed upon their death to their children from the previous marriages. Jack and Diane had a plan for assets that they acquired jointly during the second marriage.

Two out of every three people are like Jack. They develop dementia, Parkinsons disease, severe mobility problems or other medical conditions requiring a higher level of long-term care. This decline in health is stressful enough for family members, but nothing ignites anger and resentment like paying for long-term care in a second marriage.

Jacks children resent Diane. They think Diane is taking or frittering away money that Jack and their mother had spent decades saving. At the highest level of care, Medicaid will spare middle class families from having to spend over $13,000 a month. But in order to save the most money and become eligible for Medicaid, Jacks money must be transferred to Diane, even if the prenuptial agreement says otherwise.

It is understandable why Jacks children find this situation difficult to accept.

Here is how Jack and Diane could have made a stronger second marriage plan. They could have started with better communication. It may not be pleasant to discuss, but Jack and Diane could have discussed with each other and with their children how inheritances could be impacted by the need for long-term care. If their money is truly kept separate, then Jacks children should be prepared for the idea that their fathers money would be used to pay for care.

Whether adult children admit it or not, there is often a sense of entitlement to receive money from a deceased parent. This entitlement is stronger when a second marriage happens, because the new spouse may be seen as benefitting from the sacrifices made by the childrens parents.

This can be difficult to overcome, but the adult children need to understand and honor the goals of the remarried parent.

It was possible for Jack and Diane not only to agree to keep money separate during the second marriage, but also to preserve money or real estate for their children. They could have moved their separate property into a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. The trust would have contained detailed instructions on who will receive the property when each of them dies. If money or real estate is placed into the trust at least five years before Jack needed Medicaid to pay for nursing care, the money and real estate would be protected and not subject to Medicaids strict financial eligibility criteria.

Even people who never need Medicaid will benefit from a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. The trust saves money for the family by avoiding Pennsylvanias 4.5% inheritance tax. Without such a trust, leaving a house worth $300,000 to children will mean $13,500 in inheritance tax going to the government instead of the children.

A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust makes a lot of sense to protect real estate. The trust protects the entire value of real estate from long-term care costs and inheritance taxes, and nothing will change in day-to-day life. Some middle class families find it more difficult to put bank or investment accounts into a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. The trust only provides its protections because the person creating the trust gives up access to the property in the trust. If Jack and Diane needed access to money for living expenses, that money should not be held in the trust. But they could ensure that their children will receive money upon the death of each parent by purchasing life insurance and placing the insurance policy into the trust.

Jack and Diane had no Medicaid Asset Protection Trust before Jack needed long-term care. Jack and Diane had a prenuptial agreement, but that only keeps money separate in the event of divorce or death. They could have discussed an arrangement for the situation where Medicaid planning requires money to be moved out of one spouses name to the other spouse. Despite how common it is for an older adult to need expensive long-term care, most people give little thought to how a decline in health will destroy their plan.

Diane is under no obligation to do so, but after Medicaid planning leaves her with all of the couples money, she could update her will to include Jacks children. What they ultimately receive will depend on whether Diane needs expensive care. Will they resent Diane even more if they see her spending money on her clothes or vacations? Will they accuse Diane of living the high life off of their Mom and Dads money?

Asset protection goes a long way toward preventing conflict in the blended family. Estate planning for couples with children from previous relationships requires a lot of communication about goals, concerns and complications that could arise. It requires asking What If? over and over.

Start that conversation now. Review the articles and videos at KeystoneElderLaw.com. Attend an upcoming seminar or webinar and ask questions. Join the Later in Life Planning and Resources Facebook group. You can have a plan for your second marriage that preserves both your savings and the relationships among the members of your blended family.
The Cumberland Area Economic Development Corp. recently received a grant from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to enhance its Cumberland Valley Beer Trail marketing efforts.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced this week that the board approved grants totaling $1,788,924 for 21 projects to increase the production of Pennsylvania-made malt and brewed beverages and enhance promotion of the Pennsylvania beer and wine industries.

The development corporation will use the $40,000 grant to increase awareness of the Cumberland Valley Beer Trail through marketing efforts, including vinyl wraps on 12 full-time rideshare vehicles in out-of-state target markets and to conduct a photo/video shoot highlighting participating locations for future marketing use across all marketing media.

The corporation launched the Cumberland Valley Beer Trail in 2017 to capitalized on the success of the emerging microbrewery scene in Carlisle and Cumberland County. What started out as a travel itinerary on a blog became a game where participants can access an online passport and check in at up to 30 locations. For every five to 10 check-ins, users can earn prizes.

In 2021, the Beer Trail generated about $167,000 in revenue for the local economy, said Kristen Rowe, director of destination marketing for the bureau.

Act 39 of 2016 created the Pennsylvania Malt and Brewed Beverages Industry Promotion Board within the department of Agriculture and authorized the Liquor Control Board to approve up to $1 million annually for development and marketing of the Pennsylvania beer industry. The Pennsylvania fiscal code also allows for unallocated beer grant funds to be made available in subsequent years.

Since 2017 we have awarded more than $12 million to projects that support Pennsylvanias growing wine and beer industries as they explore research, improve products and raise awareness, Wolf said. This is an investment that helps growers meet increasingly complex challenges, provides higher-quality and better-tasting products, and connects consumers with Pennsylvania wines and craft beverages that are among the finest in the nation.

Pennsylvania ranks second in the nation for volume of craft beer production, having produced 3.2 million barrels in 2021 for a $5.5 million economic impact, according to a news release from the state.

Fifth in the nation for wine production, more than two million people visit Pennsylvania wineries annually generating more than $476.5 million in tourism revenue. The economic impact of wine in the state is more than $1.4 billion.
Pop into a meeting of the Board of Elections in Spalding County, Georgia, and it may appear like any other eye-glazing gathering of bureaucrats being led by a no-nonsense chair.

We hang our political hats at the door when we come in and do the peoples work, Board Chairman Ben Johnson said at one meeting earlier this year. There aint no room for politics in elections.

But Johnsons stated beliefs dont appear to be so easily left at the door. An election-conspiracy believer, Johnson has authored a social media post to fellow insurrectionists and proclaimed that Joe Biden is an illegitimate president.

On social media, he has called for banning electronic voting machines, early voting and mail-in voting; echoed debunked claims about ballot trafficking; and proudly posted a photo with MyPillow founder and election conspiracist Mike Lindell.

Among other actions since taking office, Johnson has voted not to renew the countys maintenance contract with Dominion Voting Systems  a frequent target of election conspiracy theories. As chairman, Johnson will have charge of the county boards certification of the November midterm results  and his actions and continuing claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent have raised concerns over how he and the Republican-controlled board will handle the upcoming election.

Voters line up for the first day of early voting outside of the High Museum polling station on December 14, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. - Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

Johnson is far from the only MAGA conspiracist inside the election process in a key battleground state. In Colorado, Michigan, Nevada and elsewhere, elections officials already have seen MAGA-leaning insiders allow election equipment to be breached, spread baseless fears about voting machine and election security, or take other actions that could stoke voter distrust.

The foxes are absolutely inside the henhouses, Barb Byrum, clerk of Michigans Ingham County, told CNN.

Story continues

To be sure, election regulations, long-standing rules on auditing and testing of machines, and other layers of oversight offer safeguards for the electoral process.

However, actions by insiders that cast doubt on the fairness of that process  intentionally or not  could have an impact on whether people perceive the outcome of an election to be real or fake, which is what we continue to see from 2020, said Ryan Macias, an elections security consultant who previously worked for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

We need to move forward quickly

Johnson was appointed chairman of Spalding Countys election board last year, after Georgias GOP-led legislature passed a law that changed rules for board membership. That subsequently flipped control of the five-member county board into Republican hands.

It is inconceivable that we will have anybody on the election board that does not believe in fair elections, Dexter Wimbish, a Democrat who sits on the election board with Johnson, told CNN. That just makes no sense to me.

Johnsons conspiracy-laden beliefs have shown up in his work on the board. As first reported by The Guardian, Johnson falsely claimed in a board meeting last year that a judge had ruled Dominion voting machines were illegal in Georgia. He led the board last April in not renewing the countys maintenance contract with Dominion, citing concerns about the expense of the contract and whether the company could respond quickly enough to any election-day issues, among others. Dominion is pursuing defamation suits against Fox News, One America News, Lindell and former Trump attorney Sidney Powell, among others, over baseless claims that its machines enabled vote fraud.

A Dominion Voting Systems voting machine is seen in Atlanta, Sept. 16, 2019. (AP Photo) - John Bazemore/AP

The move leaves the county primarily relying on its elections supervisor and trained staff to fix any mechanical or software problems that might arise in this Novembers election.

Georgias secretary of state, meanwhile, is investigating a proposal considered by Johnson and the GOP-controlled board to hire an outside tech firm to copy data from election servers and other equipment.

While the election board ultimately dropped that plan, emails show Johnson was involved in the effort to hire the firm SullivanStrickler to obtain forensic images of the countys election system.

Unless anyone else has any concerns we need to move forward quickly, Johnson wrote to board members and the county election supervisor about that effort on August 17, 2021.

An attorney for SullivanStrickler, which is also embroiled in an investigation into a voting system breach in Coffee County, Georgia, said the company is continuing to cooperate with law enforcement as it investigates election integrity matters.

An attorney representing the Spalding County elections board told CNN Wednesday that a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, intends to subpoena Johnson and two other Spalding County officials. As CNN has reported, that grand jury is looking into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state.

A local group, Georgia Ethics Watchdogs, filed a complaint October 7 with the Georgia Attorney Generals Office raising concerns about Johnson, as election board chairman, allowing his IT firm  Liberty Technology  to do work on equipment used in an election on at least one occasion in October 2021, during early voting.

Johnson declined repeated interview requests from CNN. But in a February 7 Twitter post responding to various allegations, he accused locals and the media of lying about the intentions and motives of the board; denied that the boards vote to end Sunday voting was racially motivated; and accused the former county elections supervisor of mishandling the 2020 election. He said the board would work to ensure that every single voter who wants to vote, and is eligible to vote, is given equal protection of their right.

In that same post, Johnson again claimed that fraud occurred in the 2020 election.

Its a scary situation, said William Perry, head of Georgia Ethics Watchdogs. And thats why weve called for the attorney general to investigate, because somebody has got to go in and make sure laws that we know of arent being broken.

Is this a legit thing?

Over the past two years, the relentless, baseless MAGA campaign to claim the 2020 election was stolen from Trump has led to so much harassment of election officials  even in places where Trump won easily  that many have quit. In the past three years, 45 of 100 election directors in North Carolina have left, while Texas has seen a 30% turnover rate.

That exodus has led to the hiring of many new election officials. Some, through inexperience, have made mistakes that could feed further distrust  or, as one Michigan clerk found, unintentionally enable conspiracists.

Barely two months after she was elected clerk of Cross Village Township, in northern Michigan, Diana Keller was confronted by two men, one toting a handgun, claiming theyd come from the Department of Defense to do a forensic audit of her townships vote tabulator.

I was actually terrified, she told CNN. I didnt trust them from the start. But I was told theyd contacted  the county clerk, and that she had said, yes to the audit, which makes no sense.

In a video of the incident obtained by CNN, and previously reported by the Traverse City Record-Eagle, Keller is seen asking whether the men are from the state or anything?

I just feel like I should be checking who you are from? she continues. Is this a legit thing Im doing for you?

The men insisted they were legitimate and proceeded to prod the machine and try to attach a flash drive to it.

Authorities eventually determined that the plot to access the tabulator traced back to a woman named Tera Jackson, who claimed to be in touch with then-Trump attorney Powell and to have evidence of fraud tied to data stored on a satellite owned by the Vatican. Jackson pleaded guilty in February to a reduced charge of disturbing the peace in connection with the incident. No one else was charged.

It was just a stupid, bungled thing. But I was too scared to do anything, Keller said. I was just so new to being a clerk, and I really questioned it, but I was also intimidated.

Election conspiracists in Michigan have managed to gain access to at least five other vote-counting machines, called tabulators, and in some cases also to the software used to operate them.

Some Michigan clerks and election workers have shown themselves sympathetic to the stolen-election myth.

Lake Township Clerk Korinda Winkelmann told state authorities investigating voting machine breaches that she turned over a tabulator and a laptop computer that served as a poll book to an unnamed person who claimed to be an investigator conducting an audit of the election. Winkelmann told investigators she knew she wasnt supposed to turn over a tabulator, but that she did because they were doing some type of audit. She said she believes there was election fraud in 2020, though not in her township, according to a police report from February. Winkelmann declined comment to CNN.

Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott was stripped of election duties last year by the secretary of states office, after spreading election misinformation and refusing to allow routine maintenance to be performed on voting machines. That has forced Hillsdale County to take over running Adams Townships elections since October 2021, Abe Dane, chief deputy clerk of the county, told CNN in an email.

Scott continues to regularly spread disinformation  falsely claiming that our Hart InterCivic election management system and tabulators are connected to the internet or contain voter-specific data, Dane said. In August, in an email obtained by CNN, Scott told other clerks in the state to uphold election integrity by ignoring a directive about voting data from the Michigan Bureau of Elections, which she called the unelected bureaucratic office.

Scotts attorney, Stefanie Lambert, said her client refused to comply with a directive she contends violated the law. Lambert reiterated the baseless claim that the states elections are not secure.

Byrum, the Ingham County clerk, told CNN that there are many checks and balances to ensure that township clerks and other elections workers do their jobs appropriately. But, she said, the concern is that some who hold false election-conspiracy beliefs may act on them in a way that undermines public confidence.

There are opportunities for election deniers to attack our elections system if they fly under the radar, Byrum said. Those election deniers who intentionally work to undermine the election will be caught, but at the expense of voter confidence.

This is going backwards

In a survey earlier this year by the Brennan Center for Justice, more than half of local elections officials said they worried that incoming colleagues might believe there was fraud in 2020. Still, roughly one in five said they plan to leave before the 2024 election  with a third of those citing political attacks.

Paul Gronke, a political scientist at Reed College who has surveyed election officials since 2018, said many are reporting high levels of stress and burnout. Some have experienced harassment and abuse tied to election disinformation, even from their neighbors.

Theyre very surprised and disappointed, he said. Likely, its a result of the media sources and politicians they listen to, mainly on the Republican side, promoting this disinformation.

For example, in Nye County, Nevada, which sprawls over an 18,000 square-mile area between Las Vegas and Reno, veteran GOP clerk Sandra Sam Merlino called it quits in August, after 22 years at the job.

The final straw: County commissioners  based on meritless suspicions of voting machines  voted to have the 2022 general election ballots counted by hand.

Its disheartening, Merlino told CNN. To me, this is going backwards.

A voter arrives at a polling location to cast his ballot in the Michigan Primary Election on August 2, 2022 in Lansing, Michigan. - Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Her replacement, interim clerk Mark Kampf, insists that Trump won in 2020, and that voters in Nye County no longer trust electronic voting machines because they arent secure.

Kampf plans to make Nye County one of the first in the nation to switch to hand-counting paper ballots, using electronic machines only for a preliminary tally this November. Nye County Commission Chairman Frank Carbone has said the commission hopes to do away with the machines completely in the future.

Nevada election officials, including GOP Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, have fought back against misinformation, saying their electronic voting machines have been reliable and accurate, havent been hacked, dont have modems and cant connect to the internet. Cegavske has also noted that ballots can be readily verified by paper record.

On October 17, the ACLU filed an emergency request to Nevadas Supreme Court challenging Kampfs hand-count plan. The group asked the court to rule by October 21, four days before county officials plan to start hand-counting mail-in ballots. Kampf did not return multiple calls from CNN.

Then theres Storey County, a rural county of about 4,000 voters outside of Reno, where Jim Hindle was elected clerk and treasurer in June. Hindle is one of six Nevada Republicans who signed a false certificate pledging to give the states electoral votes to Trump, even though Biden won Nevada.

Hindle, who is vice chair of the Nevada Republican Party, replaces Doreayne Dore Nevin, who left her post early after losing the June GOP primary to Hindle. In an August email obtained by CNN, then-clerk Nevin wrote, It breaks my heart because I do love my job and thats why I ran not because Im a politician like Jim. Hindle declined to answer questions from CNN.

Doubling down on misleading claims

Some county clerks have been sidelined for the coming election, either because of past errors or actions that violated security rules.

Colorados secretary of state this week blocked a clerk in Elbert County, Dallas Schroeder, from being able to oversee the November election in his county. Schroeder previously was blocked from overseeing his countys primary election in June, after state officials discovered hed copied two election-system hard drives containing sensitive data. While that violated the states election regulations, Schroeder has tried to justify his actions with the misleading claim that voting machines contain wireless devices that can be hacked through the internet.

He told CNN, Every one of our Dominion machines have a wireless device in them and we have no way to verify that hasnt been utilized  a widely debunked conspiracy.

Schroeder testified that he copied the drives in the summer of 2021, with help from conspiracy peddlers linked to Lindell. According to the office of Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, Schroeder signed an affidavit stating that he made a forensic image of everything on the election server and saved the image to a secure external hard drive that is kept under lock and key in the Elbert County elections office.

Schroeder provided those copies to individuals not authorized to possess these components, according to Griswolds office, which launched an investigation into Schroeder, and then sued him.

Schroeder denies providing the images to unauthorized individuals, telling CNN he was trying to preserve vital election records.

Schroeder isnt alone in drawing state oversight. Citing incorrect ballots sent out in the June primary and a recent misprint, Griswold also appointed a supervisor to oversee the upcoming elections in Pueblo County, which would otherwise be run by Clerk Bo Ortiz, a Democrat. And Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters  a Republican secretary of state candidate who lost the June primary  has been prohibited from overseeing the upcoming election. She faces a criminal trial, set for March 2023, for allegedly allowing unauthorized people to breach her countys election system, to reveal what she believed was fraud in the 2020 election. She has pleaded not guilty.

Since 2020, election disinformation has never really stopped circulating, whether on social media, candidate fundraising efforts, or elsewhere. Some candidates this fall  such as Kari Lake, the GOP nominee for governor in Arizona  have adopted Trumps 2020 approach and refuse to say theyll accept the election results if they lose.

Voting is now underway. Colorado mailed out ballots for the November election on Monday. Key battleground states such as Arizona and Michigan already are receiving mail-in ballots. But if the midterm on November 8 is anything like the 2020 election, officials may find that their challenges are just beginning.

Probably the biggest risk, said Lawrence Norden, senior director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center, is further erosion of trust in the election, and political leaders using that distrust, if they are unhappy with election results, to challenge them and further undermine confidence in the American electoral system.

CNNs Drew Griffin and Yahya Abou-Ghazala contributed to this report.

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The Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA) recently honored Groceries of Southern Illinois as the 2022 Illinois Retailer of the Year during the groups 65th Annual Meeting held Thursday at the Palmer House Hilton.

Headquartered in Columbia, Illinois, Groceries of Southern Illinois serves as the anchor of a retail and business conglomerate led by entrepreneur Joe Koppeis, who owns and operates more than 30 businesses throughout southern Illinois. A Farmington native, Koppeis is the son of C.E. "Kopie" and Lucille Koppeis. He graduated from St. Joseph Elementary and Farmington High School, and worked for Dugals Big Star in Farmington. Koppeis accepted the 2022 Retailer of the Year award with wife, Patty, by his side.

Beginning in 1988 with the construction of The Market Place, a nearly 45,000 square foot supermarket in Columbia that was later sold to Schnucks Markets, Koppeis retail endeavors now include grocery stores, shopping centers, office buildings, hardware stores, pizza franchises, pharmacies, hotels and a 5 million square foot underground commercial development. Several new projects are in the works, including a 150-megawatt wind farm, a 21-acre professional center and a 12,000 square foot restaurant.

With a wide array of retail businesses and developments throughout southern Illinois, Koppeis and his team seek out and cultivate opportunities based on a true entrepreneurial spirit and a foundation of customer service. In the process, Koppeis helps transform communities by spurring investment and economic growth in areas of the state where opportunities are often less plentiful than in the past.

Joe is a true retail entrepreneur, who started by mopping floors at a grocery store as a teenager to becoming one of the most successful merchants in southern Illinois. Joe understands the importance our industry plays in peoples lives and how investment can build stronger communities, and generously supports countless community programs and nonprofits, said Rob Karr, president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. On behalf of retailers across Illinois, we are proud to recognize Joe with this award, and thank him for his dedication and tireless work.

Koppeis was presented with the award during IRMAs Annual Meeting, which brings together hundreds of retail leaders, advocates, and public officials to recognize the industrys importance in Illinois and celebrate accomplishments. IRMA has bestowed the Retailer of the Year Award since 1978 to recognize excellence and exemplary achievement in the retail industry.

It is an honor to receive this recognition, which I would like to share with my family and employees, whose support and commitment have helped drive our success, said Koppeis. I enjoy helping people, whether thats making sure customers have access to the food and medicine they need or providing jobs and opportunities to allow people to stay in Illinois. Its those accomplishments that excite me most, and I appreciate the Illinois Retail Merchants Association for their advocacy on behalf of retailers across Illinois to help make them happen.
By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Seven more business entities will receive the residential status of the Aghdam Industrial Park, Deputy Chairman of the Board at the Economic Zones Development Agency Elkhan Shiriyev said.

He made the remarks at the panel session on the topic 'Business in Karabakh and investment opportunities' on October 19.

Today, seven business entities are residents of the Aghdam Industrial Park and seven more are planning to receive a resident status," Shiriyev emphasized.

Noting that the park was created back in 2021, Shiriyev added that its territory has been completely cleared of mines and unexploded ordnances.

Further, the official highlighted that Araz Valley economic zone industrial park is mainly focused on creating logistics centers. Shiriyev stressed that one resident of the industrial park plans to start organizing a transport maintenance service and another non-resident intends to create a gas station.

He added that mobilization points for business entities of these parks have already been created in both industrial zones, and work is underway to build enterprises.

Earlier it was reported that three international exhibitions opened in Baku today.

Local and foreign companies along with German, Iranian, and Turkish national stands are in Baku to showcase their products. Over 300 companies from different countries are taking part in the exhibitions. The exhibitions are organized by the Caspian Event Organisers.

Azerbaijan has five industrial zones, with the primary goal of ensuring the long-term development of the non-oil sector, creating and expanding new production areas in the country through the use of innovative technologies, and expanding the export map of these products.

The establishment of industrial parks is one of the areas with a high potential for innovative economic development. Decrees were signed to establish the Aghdam Industrial Park (May 28, 2021) and the Araz Valley Economic Zone (October 4, 2021) in Azerbaijan's liberated territories.
An area man has been sentenced to eight years in prison this week for his role in the disappearance of a Farmington teen who was found deceased on the side of a Washington County highway last year.

Ethan Hunter Civey, 25, of Belgrade, appeared before Circuit Judge Wendy Wexler Horn on Friday for a sentencing hearing after the man pleaded guilty to abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution related to the death of 18-year-old Mikayla Jones.

On May 20, 2021, Jones' decomposing body was found near Route M between Caledonia and Irondale in Washington County. The teen was reported missing on May 7, 2021, and is believed to have died two days earlier.

In the days following the discovery of Jones' body, Civey and 34-year-old Andrew T. Pierce of Irondale were charged in Washington County. Police investigations into Jones' death have led authorities to believe she died of an accidental drug overdose while with Civey and Pierce.

Civey was represented by Defense Attorney Brad Van Zee and Special Prosecuting Attorney Kelly Lynn Snyder represented the state at Friday's hearing.

During the hearing, the judge heard a victim's impact statement from Holly Sullivan, a relative of Jones by marriage, who spoke on behalf of the family.

Sullivan recalled some of the emotions she and the family experienced as they searched for Jones in the weeks after her disappearance.

"On May 5, 2021, Mikayla was taken from us and preyed upon for two weeks," she said. "This is the image I can't shake. It will forever be in my heart and my mind.

"There are people in this world who knew where Mikayla was when we were searching for her, vowing to go to their graves [without telling anyone]," she said. "... You'd have to be a monster to do something like this."

Sullivan said she would never forget Jones' mother, Stacey, in water up to her waist, searching for her missing daughter. She mentioned how close Jones was with her mother, siblings, nephew, and other family members who would never see her again.

Sullivan ended her statement with a pleading phrase, seemingly unconvinced that all of the family's questions regarding Jones' death have been answered.

"As for those involved, the truth will set you free," she said.

After Sullivan addressed the court, Civey's attorney, Van Zee, made a statement on behalf of his client. The defense attorney said that there had been a lot of accusations and defamatory statements made regarding this case, apparently referring to claims from some of Jones' family and friends alleging that Civey and Pierce intentionally killed Jones. He said he and his client had received death threats as well.

"Three separate law enforcement agencies investigated this case, and three separate prosecutors [have handled] the case," he said, asserting that every official who had reviewed the case arrived at the same conclusion, that Jones died of a voluntary drug overdose.

"My client regrets what he did," he said. "He could have made a phone call and would have never done a day in prison. He messed up."

Judge Horn heard from both sides before accepting the plea agreement, handing down four-year sentences on each of the two counts. The judge ordered the terms to run consecutively for a total of eight years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Civey, who had been free on bond before Friday's hearing, was taken into custody and led out of the courtroom.

The charges against Pierce remain pending after the man rejected his plea offer in August. A two-day jury trial in the case is scheduled for next year, starting on June 21.

While the charges against the two men were filed in Washington County, where the crimes allegedly occurred, a motion by Pierce for a change of venue moved his case to Ste. Genevieve County. Proceedings in Civey's case were held in St. Francois County after two changes in the prosecution appointments.

At a plea hearing on Aug. 19, Civey admitted to abandoning Jones' body on May 5 after he said he "found her dead" in his house and failed to report her death. He further admitted to deleting text messages from his phone to impair the investigation and prosecution.

As part of a plea agreement, Civey withdrew his previous pleas of not guilty, entering guilty pleas to one count of abandonment of a corpse and one count of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution. The man had initially been charged with one count of abandonment of a corpse, four counts of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution, and one count of possession of a controlled substance; however, four of the counts were dismissed per the agreement.

Another condition of the plea deal is that Civey agreed to cooperate with the state in any future court proceedings related to the crimes.

The cases against Pierce and Civey were initially filed in May 2021 after Jones' remains were located. Civey and Pierce were reportedly seen with Jones before her disappearance on May 5, 2021.

When interviewed by the Washington County Sheriff's Office, both men admitted that they had disposed of the teen's body, according to the police reports.

The reports state that Pierce and Civey admitted to destroying drug evidence after Jones' death. In a press release following the discovery of Jones' body, Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen said investigators suspected the teen's death was due to an accidental drug overdose.

Stacie Jones, Mikayla Jones' mother, remains adamant that her daughter did not have a history of drug use, nor was she known to hang out with anyone who used drugs. She believes foul play was involved in her daughter's death and that the evidence is clear.

The grieving mother has filed a wrongful death suit against Civey and Pierce, alleging that the two men deprived her of the right to give her daughter a proper burial and, in doing so, caused severe emotional distress. The civil case is set for a jury trial on April 6-7 next year.

Since her daughter's death, Stacie has leased billboards and hung signs in windows of local businesses calling attention to her efforts to secure justice. A Facebook Page, "Justice for Mikayla," is dedicated to sharing updates, memorials, photos, and more.
Piedmont Virginia Community College named the first three recipients of an NAACP scholarship in the memory of Tamyra Kaye Turner, a former professor of English at PVCC known for her devotion to her students.

On Oct. 17, stipends and a scholarship totaling $3,500 were awarded to students NyAsia Carter, Djamila Sanda and Michael Turner.

The scholarship, established by the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP Branch, will be awarded annually to PVCC students enrolled in Liberal Arts or General Studies in recognition of Turner's dedication to students.

Tamyra Turner demonstrated a profound belief in her students and their futures," said PVCC President Jean Runyon. "Her legacy of inspiration and confidence in the transformative power of education will continue in the lives of our scholarship recipients. We are exceedingly grateful to the Turner family and to the NAACP.

Carter, a Louisa High School graduate, and Michael Turner, a Nelson County High School graduate, both received a $1,000 stipend award. They expressed their gratitude and emphasized the importance of paying forward the opportunities and support that have been shown to them. Both hope to transfer to Virginia Commonwealth University, they said.

Sanda was awarded a $1,500 scholarship.

I am so thankful for this scholarship, she said. This will help me achieve so much. I want to keep working hard so that I may one day be able to give back in the capacity of Mrs. Turner.

In addition to being a PVCC student, Sanda works at the University of Virginia Hospital and aspires to transfer to UVa to earn her bachelors and masters degrees after graduating from PVCC.

Tamyra Turner was an active member of the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP Branch. Her community involvement also included serving on the Charlottesville School Board from 1993-1996; as a board member of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library from 2012-16; as an advisory board member of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center in 2008; and as a steering committee member for the Virginia Festival of the Book. She founded the City of Charlottesvilles Juneteenth Celebration in 2000, which was held at PVCC until 2016.

Local NAACP chapter members, along with several of Turners family members, formally presented the scholarship awards to the students.

It is such an honor to be able to remember this very special woman, Tamyra Turner, and these first award recipients in this way, said Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP Branch President Janette Boyd Martin, president of the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP Branch.
Charlottesville Commonwealths Attorney Joe Platania announced Thursday that three teenage boys ranging in age from 14 to 17 have been detained in the shooting of two male juveniles on Saturday Oct. 15 near the Omni hotel near the Downtown Mall.

They teens are all in custody at the Blue Ridge Detention Center and face felony charges, according to a press release.

A spokesman for the Charlottesville Police Department on Thursday night said he had no additional information on the detention, including the names of the juveniles.

I dont want to compromise the integrity of the investigation, said public information officer Kyle Ervin.

He also said he had no additional information on the condition of the youth who was shot in late afternoon on the crisp October day, the kind of day that draws kids outside to skateboard or to play in a park. It was also the kind of day that draws hundreds of tourists into town.

Ervin also said he had no information on how the youth obtained the guns, or what type of guns they used, or why they were in the parking lot at that time. He said he did not know what types of shell casings might have been found at the scene.

Our guys are working on this, he said.

A CPD officer was the one who radioed in that he had heard shots late Saturday afternoon, about an hour and 15 minutes before the Virginia sun set at 6:29 p.m.

I just heard a whole lot of shots fired, an officer can be heard saying on Charlottesville police radio around 5:15 p.m. on the day of the shooting.

Before long, an officer found an injured juvenile.

He doesnt know where hes hit, the officer exclaimed on police radio. Just let the rescue know, its a 14-year-old male. Hes got a laceration to the face with a possible gunshot to the abdomen.

Police subsequently revealed that one of the two teens shot was initially in serious condition. Efforts to get an update on that persons condition Thursday afternoon were unsuccessful.

Platania said in the release that his office would not be commenting about these adjudications until they conclude, but he did voice disapproval of the rise in gun violence both nationally and locally. And he called on the community for vigilance.

It will take broad community partnerships to turn the tide and stem the violence, wrote Platania, sounding a warning that age wont always excuse gunfire.

If our office identifies individuals who make the choice to arm themselves and hurt others, he wrote, they will be arrested, prosecuted, and incarceratedregardless of their age.

Lynne Anderson contributed to this article.
Around 150 people came out Thursday evening to celebrate the official renaming of Letitia Carson Elementary School, 2701 NW Satinwood Drive in Corvallis.

The renaming ceremony included a ribbon cutting, speeches, performances and a tour of the newly renovated building.

Previously Woodrow Wilson Elementary School and then Wildcat Elementary in the interim, the K-5 school became Letitia Carson Elementary in September 2021. Three elementary schools in the Corvallis School District  Husky, Jaguar and Wildcat  went from being named after presidents to influential women of color.

During her life, Carson exercised her right to claim land as a Black woman for her familys heritage, even though Black people were legally excluded from Oregons territory at the time.

Letitia was a Black pioneer who demonstrated unimaginable grit in her life as a mother, an emigrant to an unwelcoming land, a homesteader, a direct market farmer, a plaintiff and a midwife, said Principal Eric Beasley. She was a local hero with an amazing story that we get to be part of as our school, sharing that story.

Jan Michael Looking Wolf, a Native American flute player, gave a land acknowledgement and led everyone in an honor song. His great grandfather was the chief and treaty signer of the Grand Ronde Kalapuya Tribe.

Descendants of Carson herself were in attendance Thursday night.

Angel Harris, a community member and representative from the Letitia Carson Legacy Project, spoke about how special it is that Carsons story will continue to be told and honored at the elementary school.

The power of this day is that it doesnt stop here, Harris said. The community still gets to enjoy the legacy of Letitia Carson living through this school name.

The Letitia Carson Legacy Project began in 2019, when Lauren Gwin, associate director for OSUs Center for Small Farms and Community Food Systems, had the idea to create a way to tell Carsons story and inspire Black farmers in the area.

OSU, Oregon Black Pioneers, Black Oregon Land Trust and the NAACP Linn-Benton branch are working together on the project.

Its kind of amazing to think of what can be accomplished when people come together, Harris said. It just reminds me not to give up.

The schools fifth-grade leadership team led the public in a building tour, explaining the changes and how they benefit teachers and students.

Im proud of the teachers and their tolerance of the students, said fifth-grader Juniper Allen. Being a teacher is really hard, since students can be awesome one day and grumpy the next.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

Her friend, fifth-grader Anna Eveland-Dewan, said she was proud to go to a school named after Letitia Carson.

Its really cool to have our school named after this amazing woman, she said.

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For voters who make abortion their No. 1 issue, they have a choice this November between abortion rights-backers Betsy Johnson and Tina Kotek for Oregon governor, or anti-abortion candidate Christine Drazan.

The long-simmering topic erupted into a major political issue in June when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion. The issue has been thrown back to the states to decide, with about half expected to preserve abortion access and half expected to ban or severely restrict abortion.

Oregon is among the strongest abortion-rights laws in the nation. Abortion remains legal with no gestational limits or waiting periods. Medication that induces an abortion in early pregnancy is available by mail after an in-person or telemedicine visit, according to the Oregon Department of Justice.

Abortion is covered by the Oregon Health Plan. This year, the Oregon Legislature created a $15 million Reproductive Health Equity Fund to help cover abortion provider expenses, plus patient costs such as travel and lodging for people who live in Oregon and other states. The spending to help with patient expenses is augmented with private donations.

Christine Drazan, Republican

(Editors note: Tina Kotek and Betsy Johnson agreed to be interviewed separately by the six reporters who contributed to this project. Christine Drazan, however, declined. This section is based on her statements and her record.)

Campaign staff for Drazan, who is endorsed by Oregon Right to Life, provided past interviews the candidate did with Oregon Public Broadcasting and a Portland television station on the topic of abortion.

Drazan told the television station she is pro-life, and her stance is faith-based. Although the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, Drazan noted Oregon law protects abortion. As governor, she said, she would follow Oregon law regardless of her personal opinions.

When asked if she would have vetoed a 2017 Oregon bill that expanded access to abortion, Drazan told OPB, I would have vetoed legislation which would put Oregon further outside the mainstream on abortion policies, including taxpayer funding for abortion and abortion on demand up until the moment of birth.

About 1% of abortions in America are performed after five months, usually because of fetal abnormalities or because the pregnancy poses dangers to the womans health or life, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion-rights research group.

When asked whether she would support legislation banning abortion in Oregon, Drazan told OPB, I will not comment on legislation that has not reached my desk nor even been drafted yet, but I support common-sense regulations on abortion, including protecting life in the third trimester.

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As governor, Drazan could block progress and roll back access to abortion at the executive, legislative and judicial level, the Pro-Choice Oregon political action committee said.

As the executive of Oregons government, Drazan could appoint anti-abortion leaders to state agencies. She could veto bills and budgets from the Oregon Legislature that expand access to abortion, and she could appoint judges who could then rise to higher and higher courts and make anti-abortion decisions, Pro-Choice Oregon said.

Tina Kotek, Democrat

Kotek, the Democratic candidate, has been endorsed by a range of abortion rights groups, including Pro-Choice Oregon, Planned Parenthood PAC of Oregon and EMILYs List, a group supporting pro-abortion rights Democratic women candidates.

Kotek said the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade ends national protections that stood for five decades.

We have to make sure that people can have access to health care  and the Supreme Court just took peoples rights away in one fell swoop, she said.

Kotek said she doesnt support government restrictions on abortion.

These are choices and decisions that a person needs to make in consultation with people they trust. This is about keeping government out of health care decisions, she said.

Kotek said Drazan previously backed a bill that, if it had passed, would have punished doctors for performing safe and legal abortions. She said Drazan openly celebrated when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

I think she has views that are out of step with Oregonians, Kotek said of Drazan. And as governor, she could do a lot of damage, even without changing the law.

And so, when she says she cant do anything, that is not true. She could do a lot as governor to make it very difficult for women to access abortion.

Kotek said she doesnt believe Johnson is a strong champion of abortion rights. Kotek said Johnson picked an anti-abortion Republican to lead her Republicans for Betsy campaign.

This is not a time to have a governor whos lukewarm on supporting access to health care. I am a champion on access to health care, including reproductive health care, Kotek said.

On the issue of whether Oregon should help cover costs for out-of-state people to access abortion, Kotek said she believes Oregon should help its own residents plus people who live in states where abortion has become illegal or severely restricted.

I support not only helping Oregonians, but other people who travel here for reproductive health care because thats, I think, the role right now for Oregon  to be the place where people can get access to health care, Kotek said.

She said nonprofit organizations are helping out-of-state people as well, and aid isnt solely coming from a portion of the $15 million the Oregon Legislature allocated this year.

Kotek said Eastern Oregonians will have to travel farther for abortion because of an Idaho abortion ban, and some will need help with added expenses. Many previously traveled to the Boise area for reproductive health care.

An Idaho law allows abortion only to save a pregnant persons life or if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest that was reported to a law enforcement agency or child protective services. A copy of the report has to be provided to the doctor performing the abortion. Doctors who perform abortions outside those parameters face two- to five-year prison sentences.

The Idaho law also limits the ability of state employees to talk about abortion or provide information about how to prevent conception.

The University of Idaho, which receives state funding, sent a memo to its employees in September warning them they could be prosecuted, lose their jobs and be permanently banned from state employment for promoting or referring someone for an abortion. Professors who appear to support abortion rights rather than being neutral in classroom discussions risk prosecution.

We are living in a very unique time in our country, Kotek said. There are young people today who have only known Roe v. Wade. Theyve only known a country that protected access to abortion. Everyone across the board is upset by what the Supreme Court has done, and it has motivated a lot of Oregonians to be very active in this election year. They understand whats at stake.

Betsy Johnson, nonaffiliated

Johnson, a nonaffiliated candidate, said she was disappointed in the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. A former board member for Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette, she said she doesnt support any restrictions on abortion and does support abortion coverage through the government-funded Oregon Health Plan.

This is a medical decision between a woman and her physician and her family and whoever else she chooses to include in that decision tree, Johnson said.

Her main difference with Kotek, the Democratic candidate for governor, is that Johnson doesnt support using any of the $15 million Reproductive Health Equity Fund money to help out-of-state patients access abortion in Oregon. Johnson said aid for them should come from donations.

Planned Parenthood has plenty of contributions that could help provide access for those women, Johnson said. But it shouldnt be Oregon tax money.

A summer survey by the nonpartisan Oregon Values and Beliefs Center found 72% of Oregonians believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases. That compares with about 62% of all Americans.

With a majority of Oregonians favoring abortion rights, Johnson and Kotek have hammered Drazan, an anti-abortion Republican, in their political ads and campaign speeches.

Johnson is portraying herself as a moderate, saying Kotek is too far to the left and Drazan is too far to the right. Some political observers think Johnson and Kotek could split the pro-abortion rights vote and help Drazan win.

Johnson, a former Democrat, chafes at the notion she is a spoiler in the gubernatorial race.

I would say that Tina is the spoiler. Tina is spoiling Oregon. Her radical views helped me make the decision to leave the Democrats. So, I reject the notion that I am a spoiler in this, Johnson said.

Johnson said Drazan would veto legislation to further protect abortion rights in Oregon, and Drazans extreme views arent shared by most Oregonians.

Shes threatened to veto pro-choice legislation. I think thats a very, very serious statement, Johnson said. Oregon is pro-choice. I am pro-choice.

More mid-valley elections coverage

News about the Oregon governors race
Most Oregonians agree that shelter should be guaranteed, but they dont always agree on how to make that a reality.

Thats one takeaway from a September survey from the Oregon Values & Beliefs Center, a nonpartisan polling and survey nonprofit.

More than 70% of people surveyed said the state should guarantee temporary housing or shelter, and 64% agreed with the statement that access to permanent shelter or housing should be guaranteed as a basic human right.

There is a housing crisis. For many, we can ignore it, because we are housed, wrote Anne Sweeney, a Marion County nonaffiliated voter. She added: There is a fallacy that prevails that if you are a citizen and homeless, you must have done something wrong. We have hosted refugees from other countries, we can serve those who originated in our own country in a similar way.

The survey asked residents across the state about homelessness, which is a major flashpoint in almost every campaign in the state leading up to the November election. In fact, homelessness is the most important flashpoint for Oregonians, the survey found.

About 37% of the surveys nearly 1,900 respondents said homelessness is the most important issue for elected leaders to tackle. Housing came in second place on the list of important issues, with 15% of responses, followed by crime and public safety, which were mentioned in 12% of responses.

As for what exactly to do about rising homelessness and a statewide housing crisis, survey-takers were more divided, but majorities agreed on a few key points.

More than half of the surveys respondents (57%) said local officials should allocate more money to reducing homelessness. Women, Democrats, renters and people with incomes of $50,000 or less were all more likely to call for more funding allocated to the issue.

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More funding has been coming. It will take cooperation and coordination (Like the Navigation Center in Bend) to make good use of the money, wrote Russ Donnelly, a Deschutes County Democrat, in the survey. Adding mental health workers to de-escalate police encounters would work wonders.

There was little consensus from survey takers on what elected officials should do about encampments, like one Bend city officials plan to clear next week. While 46% said theyd rather vote for a candidate who prioritized providing services to those living in encampments, 39% said theyd rather vote for someone who wanted to clear them, and 15% werent sure.

The location of encampments in question may play a role in whether or not people want them cleared. A different poll commissioned by The Oregonian this month found that 80% of Portland voters are supportive of Mayor Ted Wheelers plan to remove camps along common routes to school.

Freda Emmons, a Portland-area Republican, wrote about the common belief that homeless people come to Oregon because of the availability of resources in the state.

For the few who are identified as mentally ill, much more money should be spent to care for them in proper facilities, with supervision and medical care, Emmons wrote in the Oregon values and beliefs survey. For everyone else, they should be forced to clean up after themselves and to work for every service offered to them.

The latest annual data on homelessness in Central Oregon found that 72% of people experiencing homelessness in the region have lived here for two or more years, and Portland-area data showed similar results for people in that region. Experts estimate that about 30% of chronically homeless people in the country have mental health conditions.
Voters living anywhere in Denton County will soon be casting their ballot for the top spot on the Denton County Commissioners Court, the two options being incumbent Republican Andy Eads and middle-of-the-road Fabian Thomas, running as a Democrat. Heres a rundown of the two county judge candidates, including their backgrounds and answers to several questions.

As the head of the Commissioners Court, the Denton County judge is voted in by all of the countys voters, not just voters in a specific precinct. The incumbent is Andy Eads, whos coming off his first term in the seat after succeeding Mary Horn in 2018. Eads had been the Denton County Precinct 4 commissioner since 2007 and won the 2018 election with 57% of the vote against Democrat Diana Leggett.

Eads is being challenged this year by Fabian Thomas, who last ran for the Denton County justice of the peace in Precinct 2 in 2018. He ran then as a Republican, losing in the party primary to eventual victor James DePiazza. Now, Thomas is running as a Democrat.

In an interview this week, Thomas said he didnt see a lot of support from the Republican base and from the party in general, so he decided to go with the Democratic Party this time around.

Ive voted Republican, Ive voted Democrat, and Im not ashamed to say that, Thomas said. I think we all should have one common goal, which is to benefit the country as a whole.  Im very much level-headed and middle-of-the-road, and thats the way Ill govern.

Ahead of the election, the Denton Record-Chronicle reviewed several types of public records to build candidate profiles for the two candidates, including campaign finance reports and voter history.

According to the most recent campaign finance reports available from Denton County, Eads has a significant funding advantage, reporting $138,432 maintained by the end of September. Thomas reported no money maintained. From July 1 to Sept. 29, Eads raised $3,200 and spent $4,143, while Thomas raised $1,500 and spent $3,500.

The candidates took time over the past week to answer the same four questions before early voting begins Monday, Oct. 24. Here are their responses in alphabetical order, in some cases lightly edited for clarity and length.

Andy Eads

Andy Eads

Eads Campaign Finance

Eads Voting History

Age: 51

Born in: Lewisville

Education: Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard Payne University; Master of Public Administration from the University of North Texas

Experience: Over five years in Addison City Managers office; over five years in real estate; Denton County Precinct 4 commissioner from 2007 to 2018; Denton County Judge since 2018

Online: andyeads.com

If elected, whats your top priority heading into the term?

I think our top priority will be to continue transportation improvements across the county. Especially if our bond election passes, we will be able to utilize those funds to increase mobility on our state highways, our city roadways, and our county roads and bridges. That will be one of the top priorities. The other one is continuing to address issues that deal with growth in the county. Working with our cities, increasing capacity on our roadways and working with developers on developing projects across the county. Those are the main priorities.

How can the countys growth be managed so that it doesnt overwhelm its infrastructure?

Well, theres limited regulatory control that the county has as far as the permitting process. The county does not have zoning authority, but we can work with our partners at TxDOT and our cities to address the growth in a responsible way. One of the biggest demands of growth is roadway capacity, so whether it is increasing our lane miles or reconstructing current roadways, improving intersections, improving signalization timing to ease the flow of traffic, those are all ways in which we can work toward that. I was a big champion and proponent for the construction of Lake Ralph Hall, which is being constructed by the [Upper Trinity Regional Water District] here in Denton County. The lake is going to be built about an hour east of here, which will provide water for this present and future generation, so thats one of the capacity improvements and infrastructure improvements that weve been able to address, and the Commissioners Court has been fully supportive of that water infrastructure.

What county services do you think need the most help keeping up with the countys growth?

I think one of the biggest demands is the burden on our tax office. I think keeping the staffing levels appropriate so the taxpayers can get their services delivered in a timely manner, thats always a challenge, keeping the full staffing there. Obviously, staffing at the jail has been a problem, not only for our jail but for other jails across the region, state and the nation. Our increased caseloads for our judicial system is always a challenge, and the Commissioners Court has sought legislation in the past to increase capacity in our court system, so thats a routine issue that we have to keep our eye on.

What do you think is the biggest issue the county faces in recovering from the pandemic, and whats your approach to addressing it?

The biggest issue facing the county government, as well as our businesses in the county, is finding a workforce. The county is not exempt from those same challenges. Everywhere I look theres help wanted signs, and with the unemployment number being so low, which is a good thing that people are employed, but were trying to find those skilled workers. Thats a continual challenge that the countys having to face, and keeping up our pay scale with the other local governments around here, and were also competing with the private sector. We have great benefits here at the county, but many times, our wages are not in keeping with the market, so that is a continual problem that we face, as well as the businesses here in the county.

Fabian Thomas

Fabian Thomas

Thomas Campaign Finance

Thomas Voting History

Age: 61

Born in: Panama Canal Zone

Education: Bachelor of Arts in U.S. History from Thomas Edison State University; Master of Science in Business Administration from Strayer University

Experience: Over 20 years in U.S. Air Force/Texas Air National Guard; worked for CIA, National Credit Union Administration and Department of Interior; currently runs accounting firm

Online: fabian4judge.com

If elected, whats your top priority heading into the term?

My top priority is to implement programs that the county doesnt have at this time. One of the programs Id like to implement is to have a county hospital, at least explore that option. Currently, were relying on Dallas County for indigent members  for their medical services. I think our county has grown sufficiently large now where we can have our own general hospital. The second issue Id like to implement is the creation to have a respite for parents and children with disabilities, particularly autism. That crosses across all barriers, Democrat and Republican. Basically, these parents have a difficult time raising their child. Theres no assistance in the county right now, and I think providing some kind of assistance from the government will definitely help keep those families united. Third issue I want to do is look into possibly getting a grid, a solar panel farm, so we can reduce dependency on the current grid we have. Last time we had a blackout, it was a big mess, and Im not quite sure if we have done anything to improve the situation, other than making sure that its up to date. I would like to eventually use some of the land we have in Denton County to create a solar farm where everyone in the county will benefit from it, by reducing electric bills for the citizens and also using that to power the government buildings we use on a day-to-day basis.

How can the countys growth be managed so that it doesnt overwhelm its infrastructure?

What Id like to do in that regard is try to have anticipation of the growth as it comes in. Thats by managing the builders, issuing permits for building permits, and depending on the volume of the permits that are requested, we can anticipate by creating our roads and zoning properly. And thats honestly the best way it can be managed, is by controlling the number of permits that are issued and proper zoning.

What county services do you think need the most help keeping up with the countys growth?

The taxers. Thats one of the biggest issues weve had. Ive heard a lot of complaints about how the tax office is a little behind right now in processing taxes. Ive got quite a few complaints regarding that. The human resources aspect also, Ive also noticed we have an issue with homeless people in the county, and I see that as growing, so we need to see why we have a homeless problem and what can we do to address that. Those are probably two big areas I think that the county needs to try to manage.

What do you think is the biggest issue the county faces in recovering from the pandemic, and whats your approach to addressing it?

The county as a whole, while it was adversely affected, I think we have pretty much circled the wagon when it comes to recovering from the pandemic. I dont honestly see a real concern with that at this point. Ive not heard any complaints or issues regarding that, so Ill remain open to my constituents and the citizens if they feel that were still lagging in certain aspects of the pandemic, to see how Ill address that. But honestly, Ive not received any feedback on that as a result of the pandemic, theyre further behind. The only thing Ive heard in respects to that is schooling, that kids fell behind with the schooling and theyre trying to catch up. But I have not gotten much feedback regarding that.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

The independent transmission operator ICGB, which operates commercially the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria, and American company Linden Energy LLC have signed a natural gas transmission agreement for a period of 20 years, ICGB AD told Azernews.

"In the Market Test for binding interest in the capacity of the Greece-Bulgaria pipeline that took place in 2016, Linden Energy LLC signed a long-term capacity reservation agreement. Now, in sync with the start of commercial operation of the interconnector, ICGB and Linden Energy LLC reaffirmed the commitment for reserved firm capacity in the direction Greece-Bulgaria for a period of 20 years," the company stated.

The inclusion of another trader with a signed gas transportation agreement through IGB has a positive effect on the pipelines transmission tariff.

"This is also to the benefit of the end-users in Bulgaria since as of October 1st nearly a third of the domestic consumption of natural gas in the country is ensured with supplies delivered through IGB," the company stated.

Linden Energy LLC is a US-based company with strategic interests in the regional natural gas market. The company recently finalized an equity share in one of Bulgaria's largest natural gas suppliers and announced plans to build a regasification facility in Albania.

The IGB gas pipeline is designed to connect the Greek national gas transmission system (DESFA S.A.) and the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline (TAP AG) in the area of Komotini (Greece), with the Bulgarian gas transmission system (Bulgartransgaz EAD) in the area of Stara Zagora. The total length of the gas pipeline is 182 km, and the diameter of the pipe is 32''.

The interconnector has a total capacity of 3 billion cubic meters per year, more than half of which is already reserved under long-term contracts of up to 25 years. The remaining free capacity is offered at auctions on two of the leading European platforms - PRISMA and RBP.

The pipeline is designed to increase its capacity up to 5 bcm/y depending on market interest and the capacities of neighboring gas transmission systems.

The opening ceremony of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria was held in Komotini on July 8, while a ceremony to inaugurate the (IGB) was held in Bulgaria on October 1.
Thailands telecoms regulator has given approval for the merger of True Corp and Total Access Communication (Dtac), a year after the announcement but the regulator has set conditions, reported Bangkok Post.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) detailed that it will set conditions such as a price ceiling and price controls.

Other conditions include requiring independent verification of operator cost structure and service fees for a minimum of five years.

The NBTC also added voice, data and message rates have to be shown separately and based on average cost pricing.

The merger was scrutinised by multiple parties in Thailand as it would leave only two mobile operators in the market. Advanced Info Service (AIS) is currently the market leader with 44% of mobile subscribers but will fall into second place as True and Dtac hold 34% and 21% respectively.

Bangkok Post recently reported the NBTC was seeking to impose strict conditions on True and Dtacs merger. The merger has drawn criticism from parties such as AIS and other branches of the government, due to concerns regarding competition.
Safaricom Ethiopia has plans to invest around US$500 million into its operations during its first year of commercial activity.

Peter Ndegwa, CEO of the units parent firm Safaricom, shared this expectation in an interview with news outlet Business Daily Africa. Ndegwa noted that the Ethiopian unit had thus far put in CAPEX of approximately US$300 million, although factoring in the cost of its licence, its investment to date in Ethiopia totals around US$1.2 billion.

Since its launch earlier this month, Ndegwa claimed that Safaricom Ethiopia has accrued about 300,000 customers and is aiming to meet its coverage obligations by providing services to a quarter of Ethiopias population by April 2023.
By Trend





Azerbaijan's Caspian Cable Systems LLC plans to export the manufactured cable, the company's Executive Director Elnur Badalov told Trend.

According to him, the annual production capacity of internet cable in 2021 totaled 12 million meters, while electric cables  eight million meters.

"A total of 40 percent of the raw materials for our products are locally produced, while the rest 60 percent are imported from Iran, Turkiye, China, and EU countries (Italy, Germany). So, the company mainly imports non-flammable wires, fire-resistant plastic, as well as some other materials that are not manufactured in Azerbaijan," Badalov said.

As he noted, the company eyes enhancing production capacity, as well as the range of products.

"Would also like to note that the manufactured cable is currently used in the construction of Karabakh infrastructure. In 2021, the Caspian Cable Systems LLC made two million-meter cable for the Azerbaijani ministry to create a communication line in Karabakh," the executive director added.

The company is engaged in producing internet cable, fire, TV and other fire-resistant cables that don't emit hazardous waste when heated and contacting with fire.
Vietnamese workers rescued from Cambodia receive temperature screening in Vietnam's An Giang Province, September 1, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Khanh

The Consulate General of Vietnam in Cambodia's Battambang Province has helped rescue 171 more Vietnamese citizens who were tricked into working for illegal businesses in Cambodia.

The rescued citizens were working at the Cambodia-Thailand border, foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press meet Thursday.

A total of around 270 Vietnamese citizens have been rescued from Cambodia since July, she added.

Vietnam is supporting citizens in completing procedures and verifying identities to help bring them back to Vietnam, while cooperating with Cambodian authorities to search for more citizens and rescue them, Hang said.

Cambodia has recently opened a hotline to receive reports about imprisoned workers or human trafficking, which has helped spot and rescue hundreds of victims. Over 1,000 people have been rescued so far and thousands have been supported in completing repatriation procedures.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng said his country has launched a nationwide check on all foreigners living in the country, prioritizing identification of human trafficking victims.
Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics has recorded two cot deaths involving babies aged 3 and 6 months old within the past week.

The first case involved a 6-month baby boy who was put to sleep on his own in a room after he had been fed.

By the time he finished his meal, the boy was completely healthy and normal, as his family recalled.

The boy was rushed to a local hospital after his parents found out he was lying with his face down. They could not feel his heartbeat while his body had turned purple.

The local hospital recovered his heart rate and transferred him to the Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics, said Dr. DinhThi Thu Phuong of the hospitals Emergency Department.

By then, he had fallen into a deep coma and suffered respiratory and circulatory failure, with his condition worsening to the point doctors could not save him.

He was concluded to have died via cot death, or "sudden infant death syndrome" (SIDS), a sudden, unexpected and unexplained death of an apparently healthy baby, said Dr. Le Ngoc Duy, head of the Emergency Department.

The second case was a 3-month-old baby girl.

Her family said on the night of Wednesday, she slept with her parents and around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, the mother checked and found she had stopped breathing after her entire body had turned purple.

She was also taken to the Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics and confirmed dead later due to SIDS.

The syndrome mostly happens among babies two to four months old when they are asleep.

Before it happens, there is completely no abnormal signs, said Duy.

The syndrome would lead to sudden death caused by suffocation, brain hemorrhage and myocarditis.

The exact cause of SIDS remains unknown, though doctors say several factors should be noticed, including keeping babies from sleeping with their faces down and preventing situations in which there are too many items like pillows, stuffed animal toys and thick blankets that could affect the way babies breathe.

A mattress that is too soft is not recommended as the baby could easily turn around and bury their face, leading to suffocation.

The temperature inside the room should be adjusted and the baby be covered tightly in a cloth or blanket.

Doctors recommend that babies should be put to sleep separately in a cradle placed next to their caregiver's bed instead of sharing the same bed or put to sleep alone in a separate room.

Other advice includes boosting metabolism of babies and avoiding smoking and using alcohol during pregnancy. It is also better for babies to be breastfed.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterre touched down in Hanoi Friday to start his two-day visit to Vietnam on Oct. 21 and 22.

Made at the invitation of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the visit "took place in the context of Vietnam celebrating 45 years of accession to the U.N. and having successfully completed its role as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the 2020-2021 term and was elected as member of the Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' spokesperson, Le Thi Thu Hang, told the press on Thursday.

Secretary General Guterres is expected to co-chair the 45th anniversary of Vietnam's accession to the U.N. with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

He will also greet Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, hold talks with President Phuc, and meet Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

Vietnam became the 149th member of the U.N. on Sep. 20, 1977 and since then has always been a reliable, active partner and has made many important contributions to the organization's missions.

Cooperation between Vietnam and the U.N. is constantly being consolidated and strengthened, with Vietnam participating more actively and responsibly in all key areas of the U.N., contributing to enhancing the country's position and prestige in the international arena.

Vietnam is one of 14 countries elected by the General Assembly to be a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council for the term 2023-2025 in a vote on Oct. 11, marking the second time Vietnam has been elected to the council after the first time in 2013 for the 2014-2016 term.

Guterres, former Prime Minister of Portugal, was elected UN Secretary-General on Jan. 1, 2017.

He was re-elected for a second term in 2021.
Vietnam appoints new ministers of health, transport and auditor general

The National Assembly on Friday appointed new leaders of the Ministries of Health and Transport and the State Audit Office.

Nguyen Van Thang, 49, Party chief of the northern Dien Bien Province, was named the transport minister for the 2021-2026 term.

A Hanoi native, Thang holds a PhD in financial and monetary theory.

Nguyen Van Thang, the new Minister of Transport. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

He used to work at the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade, or Vietinbank, and hold many important positions such as head of the Department of Banking and Financial Institutions.

In July 2018, he became deputy chairman of the northern Quang Ninh Province before working as deputy Party chief and Party chief of the province.

He became Party chief of northern Dien Bien Province in October 2020.

The NA's approval was made after it passed a resolution to dismiss Nguyen Van The from the transport minister position Friday morning, upon his request. The told the press in June he was under "a lot of pressure" working as transport minister.

Dao Hong Lan, who has been working as acting minister of health for around three months after her predecessor Nguyen Thanh Long was dismissed in a Covid test kit scandal, was officially appointed the minister.

New Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan. Photo by National Assembly

Lan, 51, is a native of the northern Hai Duong Province. She holds an economic master's degree and is a member of the 13th Party Central Committee for the 2021-2026 term.

She used to work as a specialist of Social Insurance Department under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and then became the department's deputy head.

Later, she worked as deputy chief of office and then office chief and deputy minister of labor.

In March 2018, she was appointed deputy secretary of the Bac Ninh Provincial Party Committee.

In Sep. 2020, she became the secretary, making her the first-ever female Party chief of Bac Ninh.

Also on Friday, the NA appointed Ngo Van Tuan, deputy Auditor General in charge of the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV), its auditor general for the term 2021-2026.

A native of the northern Bac Ninh Province, Tuan, 51, holds a master's degree in economics.

Ngo Van Tuan, the new Auditor General of the State Audit Office of Vietnam. Photo by the National Assembly

Tuan used to work as deputy head of the Department of Financial Policy, Deputy Chief of Office cum Assistant Minister, Finance Director of banks and financial institutions at the Ministry of Finance.

In 2017, he was appointed deputy head of the Central Economic Commission.

In June 2019, he was assigned deputy Party chief of the northern Hoa Binh Province. He had been the Party chief of Hoa Binh since October 2020 until July 2022 when the Politburo, the highest body of the Communist Party of Vietnam, appointed him as Party chief of SAV.

Later in July, he was appointed deputy Auditor General in charge of SAV.

Tuan's appointment was made after the former auditor general, Tran Sy Thanh, became chairman of Hanoi in July. Thanh succeeded Chu Ngoc Anh, who had been sacked for commiting violations in the Covid-19 test kit scandal involving former health minister Long.

According to the Party's Central Inspection Committee, Long and Anh had been negligent in their management, allowing violations regarding the approval, management and sale of Covid-19 test kits.

Phan Quoc Viet, general director of Viet A, admitted in January he had inflated the price of a Covid-19 test kit by 45 percent and sent around VND800 billion ($35.2 million) in "bonuses" to company partners. Viet said he had bribed certain individuals in this regard.
Before the pandemic, my wife and I, who are both 60+, always spent winter in Vietnam.

Even though we are from Switzerland, we don't like the cold and the older we get, the cold climate affects us more and more.

We are lucky enough to be in a position to escape the winter every year and travel to Southeast Asia. So before the pandemic, from 2013 to 2019 we always traveled from Switzerland to Vietnam each winter and stayed there from around early November until March or sometimes April.

Of all the travels in our lives, we loved being in Vietnam the most. Being among the most wonderful people, blessed with the incredible food, and spending our precious time in some of the world's most amazing landscapes, Vietnam felt more and more home to us.

We could afford to spend the rest of our lives in Thailand on their retirement visa, but we don't want - because for us, Vietnam feels much more dear to our hearts. We have made many Vietnamese friends over the years, who showed us the beautiful country from north to south.

Of course, if Vietnam would offer a similar visa scheme like Thailand, we would be among the first to buy property and settle down for good. This is sadly not the case, but we still come every year.

When we heard that Vietnam stopped issuing 3- and 6-months visas, it felt like a stab to our hearts. It was our biggest dream and wish to spend the first winter after the pandemic back in our 'home'.

With an extremely heavy heart, we sadly had to decide against it and spend this winter in Thailand instead. We don't travel 20 hours at our age to then just being able to stay for 30 days. We love Vietnam more than we do our home country here, so it hurts not being able to go where we really desire to go and spend our time (and money; for the cynics here) with our wonderful Vietnamese friends.

It's a shame that this is the current situation, and above all it is an affront to keep claiming that "Vietnam is fully open for tourists." I know that if you keep saying things to yourself over and over and over again like a mantra, you start to believe it yourself. But let me tell you - and in the voice of thousands or millions of tourists - no, Vietnam is not open for tourists. Not at all.

The current signal that the Vietnamese visa policy sends out to the world is "you can quickly come stay in a hotel, but then you have to leave quickly again." This is the opposite of welcoming tourism marketing.

As long as the "competent authorities" as they are called don't adapt to today's world in which more and more people travel more slowly, explore rather than just visit a country, being more a traveler than a tourist, retire away from the place you were born, work remotely, Vietnam can only lose. And nobody wants that.

We wish to spend the remaining winters in our lives in the place where we feel where we belong. But we can't. We wait - but who knows for how much longer we can...
October 20, 2022 | 08:29 pm PT

Readers said Vietnam should offer longer visa stays now to serve year-end winter escape and not lose money to regional competitors.

"Many European pensioners want to escape the cold winter. The number of bookings for trips to Southeast Asia has risen particularly sharply. Thailand is doing a new campaign that pensioners in Europe should turn off the heating and instead come to Thailand to spend the winter. 18 million tourists are expected there by the end of this year. And what is Vietnam doing to attract more international tourists? 10%of the gross domestic product and many jobs depend on international tourism. Doesn't that count at all when it comes to better visa regulations?"

peter.w.zimmermann

"Without restarting 3-month visas Vietnam is losing money. People are planning runaway from winter now. I receive many questions about the possibility of longer stay. And facing the fact it is not possible to get visa for whole stay many choose Thailand or other countries instead of Vietnam."

Travel

"[The government] will keep a one-month visa and miss the opportunity to earn more from tourists from western countries who plan to stay more. Instead of three months in Vietnam, they will stay maybe one month (or they will not come) and for another two or even three months they will stay in Thailand or Malaysia. I don't think it is reasonable to keep a single entry one-month visa and lose a lot of money. If they have a plan to change it, they should do it now because people make a plan for a such trip well ahead."

Zoran Drljaca

"The visa system needs an overhaul. Even a trip to immigration in HCMC is not a guarantee of obtaining a visa. I know of people living here and owning property over 10 years that still have to do visa runs. Each time, stamps and whole page stickers taking up valuable passport pages."

jasonleegarbutt

"Until Vietnam open 3-6 months visa: Tourist are reluctant to come Vietnam on 30 days single entry visa. Learn from Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia. Vietnam must open up visa for 3-6 months if it wants more tourists to visit."

tzar17176
Azerbaijan to celebrate anniversary of prominent musician

21 October 2022 [15:44] -

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has decreed to celebrate the 130th anniversary of a prominent representative of Azerbaijani musical culture, tar player, and skillful teacher, People's Artist Ahmad Bakikhanov.

Views: 1005
Six months ago, the United Nations brokered a truce between the warring parties in Yemen. The truce resulted in the longest period of relative calm since the current conflict began eight years ago, decreasing casualties by 60 percent. It enabled over 29,000 Yemenis to seek medical care and reunite with loved ones abroad via commercial flights from Sanaas airport and allowed five times more fuel via the ports on the Red Sea, facilitating the delivery of much-needed supplies. However, the truce expired on October 2, and the Houthis have rebuffed attempts by the United Nations to extend and expand these benefits for the people of Yemen.

Yemen is diverting from the path to peace due to Houthi inflexibility, who failed to accept the UN-mediated truce proposal, said Deputy U.S. Representative to the United Nations Richard Mills.



It is the Houthis who must take action to prevent further suffering and enable even greater benefits for Yemenis under an expanded truce agreement. They have a moral responsibility not to deprive Yemenis of these benefits...



Nonetheless, [t]he United States is encouraged that the parties largely continue to abide by the terms of the truce, and that U.N.-led negotiations are continuing, said Ambassador Mills.



At a time of global turmoil and division, there is a remarkable international consensus in support of the U.N. truce: there is no military solution to the conflict in Yemen. An inclusive, durable peace agreement remains the only option to prevent more suffering for Yemenis, a resurgence in civilian deaths, and a deeper humanitarian crisis.



We hope the Houthis do not reject the pleas of the Yemeni people for peace and ignore the international consensus to extend the truce. Rather, we urge them to engage in good-faith negotiations to ensure an inclusive, durable peace in Yemen, said Ambassador Mills.



The Houthis have a historic decision to make, one that will be remembered for generations to come. Did they - when they had the chance - choose peace and prosperity for their people or did they choose to continue a cycle of pointless destruction, relentless violence, and economic deprivation that has plagued Yemen for the last eight years?



We stand ready, with the rest of the international community, to support Yemens path to an inclusive, durable peace settlement and subsequent recovery efforts, said Ambassador Mills. But it is up to the Yemeni parties, and specifically the Houthis, to choose peace.
The United States will live up to its commitments in the Indo-Pacific. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a recent interview, We continue to work to make sure that we have the right capabilities in the right places to ensure that we help our allies maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.



When asked about the Peoples Republic of Chinas increased military activity and incursions into the Taiwan Strait, Secretary of Defense Austin said, China is moving to establish what we would call a new normal  We saw a number of center line crossings of the Taiwan Strait by their aircraft. And that number has increased over time. Weve seen more activity with their surface vessels in the waters in and around Taiwan.



The Defense Secretary stressed that the United States does not want to see a unilateral change to the status quo regarding Taiwan and that the one China policy of the United States has not changed. He noted that in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act, Were committed to helping Taiwan develop the capability to defend itself. And that work has gone on over time. It will continue into the future.



Last month on her trip to Asia, Vice President Kamala Harris underscored the same commitment in her remarks aboard the USS Howard in Yokosuka, Japan. She noted the PRCs disturbing behavior in the East China Sea and in the South China Sea, and most recently provocations across the Taiwan Strait.  We will continue to oppose any unilateral change to the status quo, the Vice President said. And we will continue to support Taiwans self-defense, consistent with our longstanding policy.



Taiwan, she stated, is a vibrant democracy that contributes to the global good, from technology to health and beyond, and the United States will continue to deepen our unofficial ties.



The United States does not seek conflict or a Cold War with the PRC. In fact, said Vice President Harris, we will work with every willing nation to solve global challenges.



The United States is a proud Pacific power, the Vice President declared. The presence of the United States in the Indo-Pacific is in pursuit of peace and stability and to support our allies and partners.
125 YEARS AGOOctober 16, 1897: The Garcia-Ouderkirk-Larios hunting party had great sport over on the Diamond A range roping wild horses. Mr. Garcia succeeded in capturing a fine four-year-old stallion on a wager. The boys also have a great story to tell of the bear that came into camp.

The first regular mail under the new contract left Wells for Contact last Tuesday morning. H. A. Agee has been awarded the contract to make two trips to Contact (Salmon) weekly, from October 11,1897 to July 1, 1898, for $839. He has purchased a large covered wagon and will also conduct a first class stage line between these two places.

100 YEARS AGOOctober 16, 1922: As a spellbinder, United States senator Key Pittman failed to hold even his fellow candidates at the so-called Big Democratic rally at the Bradley theatre last Saturday night, and when he finally completed his lengthy oration which was featured by wandering dissertations on what I have done for the dear people of my state, the only other person on the platform was the chairman of the evening who couldnt very well leave as he had to close the meeting.

October 20, 1922: Pete Etchart, who was very prominent in the sheep business in this county prior to his leaving on an extended trip to his native country, Spain, returned yesterday and claims that the United States looks pretty good even though it isnt his native land.

Sentiment expressed at yesterdays meeting of the Progressive Business club was decidedly in favor of joining the Lions club, which ranks second to the Rotary club in strength in this country, and in addition is international in scope.  From present indications Elko will be listening to the roar of a Lions den of their own in the near future.

75 YEARS AGOOctober 18, 1947: Elko county is one of the top-ranking livestock counties in the entire United States. High standing of the Nevada county is indicated in a special report of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture recently received by the University of Nevada Agricultural extension service.

A fingerprint law may be established by the city of Elko so that the police can have a close check upon persons with criminal records in this community.

October 21, 1947: An explosion rocked Wagners Ice Cream parlor this morning, causing extensive damage to the building and blowing out the plate-glass windows in the front of the store. The blast occurred about 8:05 this morning when gas leaking from the plants refrigerator, which was being worked on by Adolph Biancani at the time, became ignited and exploded toward the front of the store.

October 23, 1947: A replica of an early day mining town is to be constructed on the western outskirts of the city of Elko during the next five years, according to Robert Doby Doc Caudill. He said today that the area will be known as Western Town, Elko, Nevada.

50 YEARS AGOOctober 19, 1972: Support for the railroad track relocation project was reaffirmed last night at a public hearing attended by approximately 70 local residents, many from the south side of town. Backing the project was given after some south side residents and members of Project Lifesaver asked that those opposed to the project put their petty animosities aside and consider how the relocation of the railroad tracks could benefit the whole community.

October 21, 1972: Elko County received from the Bureau of Land Management, title to a 97 acre parcel of property on the Lamoille Summit which will be developed into a greenbelt park with scenic outlook and limited picnic facilities. The title was presented by Gene Moore, district manager of the BLM to Eyer Boies, chairman of the Elko County Commissioners.

Marion Secrist was name CowBelle of the year at the groups fall meeting held October 11 at the Ranchinn Motor Lodge. Presenting the award was Ella Mae Bottari of Lamoille. Mrs. Secrist has lived at Lamoille with her husband Dave and their two children Cindy and Greg for 13 years. And recently they purchased the Dinner Station Ranch north of Elko.

25 YEARS AGOOctober 16, 1997: When one side of a street is more crowded than the other, the solution is to move the middle of the street over, Elko city councilmen decided Tuesday. As a result of the councils 5-0 vote, the center of Main Street between Silver Street near the Elko County Jail east to Second Street is now five feet farther south.

October 17. 1997: The Elko Womens Bowling Association is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Members who have competed in more than 20 state tournaments are Louise Aguirre, Joann Kern, Rita Holdren, Leora Bernadot, Ellie Sharp, Mary Goicoechea, Liz Yowell, Clarice Gamboa, Pat Sheehan, Janet McDermott and Ann Jayo.

October 22, 1997: Members of Indian tribes from as far away as Arizona and Wisconsin joined the Sixth Annual Elko/Te-Moak Powwow at the Elko Indian Colony Gym this past weekend. The powwow included a parade Saturday morning down Idaho Street. A variety of dancing styles were performed, including mens grass dances, womens jingle dances, traditional and fancy dances.
ELKO  The Nevada Promise Scholarship is a generous scholarship established by the Nevada Legislature for Nevada high school graduates to attend community college. This last-dollar scholarship can cover mandatory fees and up to three years of tuition.

If you are a recent Nevada high school graduate or soon-to-be graduate, this scholarship could make pursuing a degree at Great Basin College much more affordable, said Karrie Barrett, Executive Director of Communications and Institutional Advancement at GBC.

The scholarship is open to Nevada high school graduates beginning with the class of 2019 through this years graduating class of seniors. To be eligible for the scholarship, students must be Nevada residents, have not previously received an associates or bachelors degree and must receive a high school diploma in Nevada or equivalent.

The application period opens once a year from October 1st to October 31st, said Barrett. If you are even considering community college, it is worth it to apply for the Nevada Promise Scholarship now. Students who do not apply are leaving a free education on the table, and we would love to see more students in our courses and on campus without the financial burden of paying for their education.

After applying for the scholarship before the October 31st deadline, students apply for admission to Great Basin College, complete a FASFA application, and submit ACT or SAT scores.

The asks in exchange for three years of free education are pretty minimal, said Barrett. This is a wonderful program for many recent graduates looking towards their futures.

In addition to scholarship funding, recipients receive mentoring through the scholarship program. In exchange, the Nevada Legislature requires that each scholarship recipient complete eight hours of community service per year.

For more information about the Nevada Promise Scholarship at Great Basin College please contact Tawny Crum at tawny.crum@gbcnv.edu or 775-327-2099.
There's a very interesting story about an Italian helicopter and the China International Import Expo (CIIE).

The AW139, a helicopter model for emergency medical rescue manufactured by Italys Leonardo Group, was a big name at the first CIIE, which kicked off on Nov. 5, 2018. It made the biggest transaction on the very first day of the exhibition, which totaled $200 million.

Later, the Leonardo Group joined hands with a Chinese company and launched a 12.8-billion-yuan ($1.78 billion) helicopter production program in Pinghu, east Chinas Zhejiang province.

Two years later, the first AW139 helicopter assembled in Pinghu completed its test flight and returned to the 3rd CIIE. This foreign investment program is expected to build Pinghu into a world-level helicopter production base.

CIIE, as a global trade exhibition, has become an international public product shared by the whole world. It presents to the world Chinas firm determination to expand opening up.

The utilization of foreign investment contributes to the building of a new development paradigm and a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

Foreign investors generally value Chinas development opportunities that come from the countrys deepening reform, as well as the business environment thats built better and better as the country advances law-based governance.

Many exhibitors joining the CIIE have turned into investors, which mirrors how the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, deepening reform and advancing law-based governance reinforce each other.

Reform and opening up is the most distinctive feature of modern China.

Peoples wellbeing is attached with more importance as reform is deepened in the new era. A series of policies and measures to benefit the people have been implemented, including the centralized bulk-buying of drugs on a regular and institutionalized basis, and the discounts on individual income tax.

Institutional construction is more important for deepening reform in the new era. The country has worked to streamline the government, delegate power, and improve government services, implemented the most strict environmental protection regulations, and launched a number of other policies to eliminate impediments.

Besides, interconnectivity and synergy between reforms are increased. China has comprehensively deepened reforms in economy, politics, culture, society, and ecological progress. Over 2,000 reform plans have been issued successively and promoted in a synergetic manner.

Over the past 10 years, China has gone from laying foundations and defining initial structures, to making overall progress and building momentum, to achieving systematic integration and efficient coordination. It has seen basic institutional frameworks put in place in various areas, and witnessed historic, systemic, and holistic transformation in multiple fields.

China will not close its door to the world, and it will only become more and more open.

Overcoming the impacts from COVID-19, the country has held high-quality sessions of major exhibitions, such as the CIIE, the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the China Import and Export Fair and the China International Consumer Products Expo.

Between 2013 and 2021, the average annual growth of Chinas exports of high-tech products reached 5.1 percent. The country has set up 21 pilot free trade zones, and they have seen their successful practice in 278 cases of innovation in institutional reform promoted at the national level.

Over the past 10 years, China has firmly advanced high-level opening up. It has expanded opening up based on flows of goods, services, capital, personnel and other factors of production, and promoted institutional construction on rules, management and standards, to build an open economy that promotes mutual benefit and is diversified, balanced, secure and efficient.

Both the scope and depth of opening up have been expanded. A model of all-round, multi-level, and wide-ranging opening-up has gradually taken shape. China has not only achieved its own development, but also benefited the rest of the world.

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 16. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered to the Congress a report on behalf of the 19th CPC Central Committee.

He said China will stay committed to the basic state policy of opening up and unwaveringly follow a win-win strategy of opening up, to provide new opportunities to the rest of the world through Chinas development, promote the building of an open world economy and bring more benefits to the people around the world.

Opening up is a basic state policy and a distinctive feature of China. The country will not change its resolve to open wider at a high standard; it will not change its determination to share development opportunities with the rest of the world; and it will not change its commitment to an economic globalization that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all.
A view inside the CPV Food's processing facility for chickens for export (Photo: CPV Food)

This will mark the first time that CPV Food's chicken has successfully made inroads into the Japanese market, a factor which will provide fresh impetus for CPV Foods brand of chicken to penetrate other international markets in the future.

A representative of CPV Food in the southern province Binh Phuoc said the company has now fully competed procedures to export its processed chicken products to Japan, adding that the ceremony to ship the first batch is expected to be held in October.

The Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recently co-ordinated with CPV Food to organise programmes to supervise food safety supply chains aimed at ensuring processing facilities comply with stringent hygiene requirements set by Japanese importers.

According to the schedule, representatives of the Department of Animal Health will present "Health Certificate" to CPV Food in late October, thereby marking the first time CPV Foods brand of Vietnamese chicken has penetrated the Japanese market.

From May 31 to June 3 the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) sent a veterinary inspection team to CPV Food's production facility in Binh Phuoc. in a bid to evaluate the production chain of processed chicken specifically for export.

On August 30, an inspection team from MAFF then sent an official dispatch, affirming that CPV Food Co., Ltd. have ensured the MAFFs veterinary hygiene requirements for export to the Japanese market are met.

CPV Food was inaugurated in December, 2020, with the firm boasting the largest and most modern complex of livestock and chicken processing factories in the nation. Located in Becamex Binh Phuoc Industrial Park in Binh Phuoc province, the site has seen an investment capital of US$250 million.

20 international airlines keen to launch air routes to Phu Quoc

Up to 20 international airlines are actively seeking to open air services to Phu Quoc island in the southern province of Kien Giang, reported the Voice of Vietnam.

Phu Quoc International Airport in the southern province of Kien Giang

This information was unveiled during a recent meeting held between local authorities and a delegation of the Committee of the Vietnam Aviation Association, a group which wants to explore development opportunities and launch air routes both to and from Phu Quoc moving forward.

The reception saw Huynh Quang Hung, chairman of Phu Quoc City People's Committee, emphasise that Phu Quoc remains a popular tourism destination for both domestic and international travel companies, noting that the city has been granted approval by the Prime Minister to become a national tourist hub of regional and international stature.

Nguyen Minh Dong, director of Phu Quoc International Airport, said that further investment will be made as part of efforts to build an additional international terminal, cargo terminal, warehouse, and runway for the airport over the coming years to serve up to ten million passengers a year.

Furthermore, representatives from 20 international airlines operating in the nation expressed their desire to launch air routes to and from Phu Quoc, as well as gaining greater insights into the Phu Quoc International Airports capability to accommodate large aircraft and the issuance of visas for foreign tourist.

Philip Claud Odhiambo Ojuang, chairman of the Committee of the Vietnam Aviation Association, highlighted the vision of leaders from Phu Quoc as being a driving force to create favourable conditions to turn the island into a popular destination.

He expressed his wish that local authorities speed up the visa exemption synchronously among domestic airports in a bid to facilitate tourists travel in the future.

Phu Quoc International Airport currently makes up one of the five airports which receives the largest amount of passengers among the nations 29 airports.

Lac Hong Universitys training programmes win AUN-QA accreditation

Six education programmes of Lac Hong University in the southern province of Dong Nai have been certified as meeting quality accreditation and recognition standards by the ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance (AUN-QA), reported Vietnam News Agency.

A representative of Lac Hong University (L) receives the quality accreditation and recognition certificate by the ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) (Photo: VNA)

Those programmes specialise in information technology, electrical and electronic engineering technology, pharmacy, business administration, accounting, and English language.

In addition to learning in a continuously improved education environment, students also easily join exchange programmes or have their equivalent academic credits exchanged with universities in the region.

Vice Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Nguyen Son Hung praised Lac Hong University for its contribution to education and socio-economic development in the locality.

The serious implementation of the basic and comprehensive renovation of education and training at all education levels, and education quality accreditation in the locality will create real values of education and contribute to improving the quality of human resources, he affirmed.

Lac Hong University currently has 10 faculties with 20 training programmes at bachelor, master, and Ph.D levels.

Website provides VR details of My Son World Cultural Heritage

The Management Board of My Son World Cultural Heritage and Digital Transformation Solution Company Limited (VR360), a member of Bizverse, are working together to build a website providing details of the heritage through virtual reality technology, reported Vietnam News Agency.

My Son World Cultural Heritage (Photo: VNA)

Director of the board Phan Ho said that the partnership aims to improve experience for visitors to the heritage, while helping the board apply digital technology to the conservation and promotion of its values and popularise it to domestic and foreign tourists.

In the first phase from the beginning of 2022, the detailed VR360 virtual reality website has been built, integrated with virtual voiceover features, overview introduction, bringing the 3D digital museum model on Bizverse's 3D World Map.

In the second phase, to be carried out in late 2022 and 2023, the website will be upgraded with new features and an exhibition space for the museum on Metaverse so that viewers can visit from everywhere, thus enhancing its interactivity and 360 degrees rotation.

Over the years, the My Son World Cultural Heritage Management Board has implemented many projects to promote digital transformation to improve the efficiency of conservation activities and promote the heritage values, including the digitisation of artifacts preserved at the site and the museum.

The application of information technology in the conservation and promotion of the value of site has changed the management process, significantly contributing to the attraction of tourists, especially foreigners, to the world's cultural heritage, said Ho.

My Son, located in Duy Phu commune, Duy Xuyen district of the central province of Quang Nam, is the most renowned architectural complex of the Cham people in Vietnam. It was built during the late 4th century and the 13th century. The relic was recognised by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a world cultural heritage site on December 1, 1999./.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Photo: VNA)

The visit, as affirmed by the UN Secretary General, demonstrates the importance the UN attaches to its partnership with Vietnam over the past 45 years, and that Vietnam is an indispensable member of the UN, which has been significantly contributing to UN efforts in addressing global challenges, for peace and development in the world.

Guterres also stressed that Vietnam has always been a strong partner of the UN since its admission in 1977.

Only four days after the first session of the UN General Assembly on January 14, 1946, President Ho Chi Minh filed a dossier, seeking the UN membership for Vietnam. The Southeast Asian nation officially joined the UN 31 years later.

On September 21, 1977, the New York Times ran an article titled Vietnam is admitted to the UN as 32nd General Assembly opens, saying the resounding applause that rang through the Assembly Hall and the chorus of speeches that followed, all were felt to be a reflection of the sentiment of the overwhelming majority of members that Vietnam was owed special recognition on this day, in part because its entry was overdue.

The UN membership helped Vietnam receive support in national reconstruction and win recognition as a unified, independent and peaceful nation.

The 32nd General Assembly also adopted Resolution 32/2 calling on countries and international organisations to assist Vietnam in post-war reconstruction. Although Vietnam officially joined the UN in 1977, a number of international organisations had provided aid for the country since 1975.

Thanks to the support of UN agencies and organisations, Vietnam has utilised external resources, together with its internal resources, to transform from a poor, backward country after wars to become a middle-income nation, towards a developing one with modern industry and upper middle income by 2030, and high-income developed country by 2045.

Over the past 45 years, the relationship between Vietnam and the UN has become an example of development cooperation, which has been recognised and commended by the international community.

Vietnam has approved country programmes with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) for 2022-2026, and the Vietnam-UN cooperation framework for sustainable development for the same period.

Under the framework, the UN will help the Vietnamese Government implement the socio-economic development plan for 2021-2025 and Sustainable Development Goals.

It covers inclusive social development, climate change response, disaster resilience and environmental sustainability, shared prosperity through economic transformation, and governance and access to justice.

Its total funding amounts to over 542 million USD, with more than 293 million USD available and some 248 million USD to be mobilised.

At the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in the UK last year, Vietnam fully participated in important multilateral initiatives. Notably, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made commitments to net carbon emissions by 2050, and joined the Global Methane Pledge, the Glasgow Declaration on forests and land use, the Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement, and the Adaptation Action Coalition.

During the COVID-19 pandemic combat, Vietnam received more than 61.7 million doses of vaccines through the UN-backed COVAX Facility, and medical equipment valued at 45 million USD from UN organisations.

UN organisations in Vietnam, especially the World Health Organisation (WHO), have supported Vietnam in public health emergency preparedness, risk surveillance and assessment, disease investigation and response, laboratory, infection control and prevention, clinical management, and risk communication.

For its part, Vietnam has continued to join UN efforts in addressing issues regarding regional and international peace and security, and human rights. The country actively engaged in the negotiations and signing of The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2018, and was the 10th country to ratify the treaty.

Vietnam has also dispatched 493 officers to UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Department of Peace Operations at the UN headquarters.

The country has deployed four rotations of Level-2 Field Hospital to South Sudan and an engineering unit to Abyei. Vietnam is one of the countries sending the most female officers to the UN peacekeeping missions.

Vietnam was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021, securing 192 out of 193 votes, and outstandingly performed the role in this position.

The country has worked to promote ASEANs role in the councils activities, actively cooperated with UN mechanisms on human rights, and launched reports on the implementation of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) as well as international conventions on human rights to which it is a member.

Vietnam has assumed different important positions in UN agencies, including the Postal Operations Council (POC) of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) for 2022-2025, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors for 2021-2023, among others. Most recently, Vietnam was elected to the UN Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 tenure on October 11 at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

In the pandemic combat, Vietnam proposed designating December 27 as International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, which was approved by the UN General Assembly. It also contributed 50,000 USD to the UN COVID-19 Response Fund and is preparing to voluntarily contribute additional 500,000 USD to COVAX. The country has been a venue for patient reception and treatment under the MEDEVAC mechanism.

In the context of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Vietnam donated 500,000 USD in support of humanitarian aid activities targeting civilians affected by the conflict, including 100,000 USD for the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, 100,000 USD for the WHO, 100,000 USD for UNICEF, and 200,000 USD of the Vietnam Red Cross for its Ukraine counterpart.

It can be said that the cooperation between Vietnam and the UN is developing fruitfully, meeting Vietnams demand and interests through different periods and contributing to enhancing the countrys role, voice and hallmark at the UN./.
Member of the CPV Central Committee, Secretary of the Soc Trang Provincial Party Committee Lam Van Man speaks at the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of India. (Source: VNA)

From October 14-18, in Vijayawada city, Andhra Pradesh state, India, the Communist Party of India (CPI) held its 24th Congress with the participation of 960 delegates and 12 national delegations.

The CPV delegation led by Lam Van Man, member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the Soc Trang Provincial Party Committee, attended the Congress.

The Congress discussed and approved a Political Resolution, identifying four key tasks, including continuing to strengthen and improving the capacity of the Party; strengthening solidarity in the leftist movement of India; extending coalition building of progressive forces; and continuing to fight for the legitimate interests of the working people.

The Congress elected 125 members of the National Council, 31 members of the CPI Central Committee and 11 members of the Politburo. Comrade Doraisamy Raja was elected as General Secretary of the CPI Central Committee, term XXIV.

The head of the CPV delegation delivered a welcome speech and presented a congratulatory message from the CPV Central Committee to the CPI General Secretary.

During a reception, CPI General Secretary thanked the CPV for sending the delegation to the Congress, and highly appreciated the role, prestige and leadership experience of the CPV, considering Vietnam's renewal achievements as an ancient source of inspiration in the common struggle of the world's people for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress; and expressed his wish to further strengthen the solidarity, friendship and cooperation between the two Parties in particular and between the peoples of the two countries in general.

During the time of attending the Congress, the CPV delegation had contacts and exchanges with a number of leaders of political parties in the world, including General Secretary of the Communist Party of India Marxist; Chairperson of Communist Party of Bangladesh; Vice Chairperson of Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML); Secretary of Central Committee of Communist Party of Portugal and other parties, and learned more about world situations, regional situations, the situation of ruling, communist and left-wing Parties, and exchanged measures to promote Party relations and strengthen cooperation between localities, and information on the situation of socio-economic development in Vietnam./.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang (Photo: VNA)

The spokesperson said cases in which Vietnamese citizens were cheated into illegal jobs and detained in Cambodia reported by the media took place in areas under the charge of the Vietnamese Consulate General in Battambang province.

The Consulate General has coordinated with authorities of Cambodian localities to take measures to assist and rescue Vietnamese citizens tricked into illegal jobs in areas along the Cambodia-Thailand border, Hang said.

According to her, the Consulate General had rescued and repatriated around 100 Vietnamese citizens between July and September this year. Since the end of September, the Consulate General has also coordinated with local administrations to free another 171 citizens.

After rescuing the labourers from the illegal employers, the Consulate General has sent officials to meet them and rolled out citizen protection measures, such as providing essential supplies and conducting repatriating procedures.

The spokesperson added that the Consular Department under the Foreign Ministry is also working with relevant agencies and localities to verify the rescued citizens identification and receive them back from Cambodia.

In the time ahead, Vietnamese agencies (the Foreign Ministry and representative missions in Cambodia) will continue to work with Cambodian authorities and ask the Cambodian side to intensify inspections of the above-mentioned areas to rescue any Vietnamese citizens tricked into illegal jobs, while undertaking citizen protection measures to ensure legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens, the spokesperson said./.
Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu meets overseas Vietnamese students in New York (Photo: baoquocte.vn)

In New York, the delegation had meetings with representatives of the association of Vietnamese youths and students in the city, and Vietnamese officers who are working for the peacekeeping operations unit at the UN headquarters.

During the meeting with Vietnamese youths and students in New York, Mr. Pham Quang Hieu affirmed that young people, whether at home or abroad, are an important resource for national construction and development, and a focus of overseas Vietnamese affairs.

He asked the association to carry forward its role in connecting young Vietnamese people in the US.

Representatives of the association proposed establishing an association of Vietnamese students in the US, the UK and Australia.

They also suggested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in particular and domestic agencies in general connect Vietnamese students in the US and other countries with employers at home to encourage more Vietnamese youths to return.

At the meeting with Vietnamese officers at the UN, Mr. Hieu stressed that attention should be focused on measures to enable more Vietnamese people to work at UN organisations, thus helping to affirm and spreading the values and identity of Vietnam to the world.

In San Francisco, the delegation met with Mark Chandler, Director of San Francisco Mayor's Office of International Trade and Commerce, and met with Overseas Vietnamese in the city.

They suggested enhancing cooperation between Vietnam and San Francisco, especially in investment, trade and education, and promoting the twinning of San Francisco and HCM City and other localities in Vietnam.

Chandler appreciated Vietnams timely support for the US in the first days of the COVID-19 outbreak, and agreed with the Vietnamese delegations proposals to enhance cooperation between the two countries as well as Vietnam and San Francisco.

He pledged to continue to creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the city.

On this occasion, the delegation visited a number of production and business facilities of overseas Vietnamese in the city./.
By Trend





The Azerbaijani Army launched a counter-offensive operation, later called the "Iron Fist", on September 27, 2020, in response to the large-scale provocation of the Armenian armed forces along the frontline, Trend reports.

The erupted 44-day Second Karabakh War ended with the liberation of Azerbaijans territories from nearly 30-year Armenian occupation and the restoration of territorial integrity.

Trend presents the chronicle of the 24-th day of the second Karabakh war:

- The publication is made on the official Twitter page of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev due to the liberation from occupation of a number of villages in Fizuli and Jabrayil regions.

- The publication is made on the official Twitter page of President Ilham Aliyev on the liberation from occupation of the Minjivan settlement and 13 villages of the Zangilan region.

- President Ilham Aliyev interviewed by Japans Nikkei newspaper.

- The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan presents the latest data from the front, and also reports on the liquidation of the chief of artillery, battalion commander and battalion commander of the Armenian Armed Forces, the destruction of the battalion of the 556th regiment of the Armenian army

- The Defense Ministry presents a video of night and day artillery firing of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

- Azerbaijani MoD shows footage of newly-liberated Chereken village.

- Another Armenian UAV is destroyed, and a video of military equipment abandoned by Armenian units on the battlefield is made public.

- Air defense units of Azerbaijan discover and destroyed 3 more tactical UAVs of the Armenian Armed Forces.

- Armenia continues to escalate the situation in the front-line zone.
At the working session (Photo: VOV)

Mr. Lam Hoang Nghiep, Vice Chairman of Soc Trang Provincial People's Committee, and leaders of the provinces departments and agencies on October 18 had a working session with the VKBIA delegation led by Mr. Tran Hai Linh, Member of Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and Chairman of VKBIA.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Lam Hoang Nghiep said that Soc Trang province is focusing on calling for investment in the fields of infrastructure of industrial zones and clusters, hi-tech agriculture, tourism and logistics. The province plans to develop Tran De Port with an area of over 4,550 hectares and to serve Tran De Port, Soc Trang is invested by the government to build Dai Ngai Bridge, Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang expressway. In addition, the province also focuses on planning traffic infrastructure to connect to the expressway, creating a driving force for the province to make breakthroughs and develop in the future.

The investment in the construction of a deep-water seaport at Tran De will have positive and attractive impacts on the development of logistics systems in provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta. Initial estimates of the total investment cost to build Tran De seaport by 2030 are about 55,700 billion VND, and in the period after 2030 about 146,300 billion VND from socialization capital.

Vice Chairman of the Soc Trang Provincial People's Committee said that the province currently has a number of Korean businesses that have been investing and developing effectively in the province, contributing to creating jobs and stable incomes for local people. He hoped that through VKBIA, the cooperation relationship between Soc Trang province and RoK will further develop.

On behalf of the delegation, Mr. Tran Hai Linh thanked the Provincial People's Committee for receiving and working with the VKBIA, and said that over the past time, the cooperation between RoK and the Mekong Delta, including Soc Trang province, still has certain limitations. Therefore, many Korean businesses wish to cooperate with the province to invest in infrastructure development, especially Tran De Port, LNG, hi-tech agricultural park and hospital, contributing to local development. At the working session, the VKBIA wishes to be a bridge to introduce and connect businesses in localities of RoK with Soc Trang; coordinating in sending laborers from Soc Trang province to RoK to work; supporting investment promotion connection between RoK and Soc Trang province; training and developing local human resources in the spirit of cooperation and mutual development.

At the meeting, members of the VKBIA delegation and the Provincial People's Committee exchanged some more information and agreed to learn more about the project of Tran De deep-water seaport, high-tech agriculture. The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Provincial Department of Planning and Investment to act as the focal point to support and create all conditions for investors to learn and conduct practical research on interested projects in the province./.
By Zhang Zhou

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has placed sci-tech innovation at the center of national development, and has strengthened the top-level design, forward-planning and systematic deployment of innovation-driven development. China has adhered to the new development concept and implemented the strategy of innovation-driven growth.

Chinas sci-tech strength has been significantly enhanced, innovation system has been gradually improved, and overall capacity for innovation has reached a new level, getting increasingly close to the front-runners, and the global ranking of its national innovation capacity has risen to the 12th.

I. Historic breakthrough in sci-tech investment

Investment in R&D has made a historic breakthrough. In 2021, Chinas R&D investment reached 2,795.6 billion yuan, ranking second in the world. From 2013 to 2021, average annual growth of Chinas R&D spending at current prices hit 11.7%, significantly faster than that of the United States (6.5%), the European Union (3.5%), Japan (1.3%) and other major economies. R&D intensity (ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP) has jumped from 1.91% in 2012 to 2.44% in 2021, which is close to the average of OECD countries and reaches the level of medium developed countries.

The talent pool for sci-tech innovation is strengthened. Thanks to the workforce development strategy and the initiative of invigorating the country through science and education, Chinas talent pool for innovation has constantly expanded. In 2021, the total number of R&D personnel, calculated by full-time workload, reached 5.62 million, 1.7 times that of 2012; the total number of R&D personnel in China has ranked first in the world for nine consecutive years since surpassing the US in 2013.

IISci-tech innovation capacity has reached a new high with fruitful achievements

Strategic technologies are continuously strengthened. Guided by the country's strategic needs, China has successfully set up the first batch of national laboratories, and a number of key projects such as the 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope (FAST) and the scattered neutron source have been put into operation. The national key laboratory system has been re-organized, with 533 national key laboratories and 191 national engineering centers in operation at the end of 2021. There are also 1,636 national corporate technology centers, and the layout of innovation bases has been optimized and upgraded.

The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) Wukong and the Quantum-communications satellite Micius were launched into orbit, the Striver manned submersible dived deep into the ocean and touched seabed. The Tianwen No.1 probe kicked off Chinas Mars exploration mission, and the Tianhe Core Module of the Chinese Space Station was successfully launched and put into operation, manned space engineering has made giant leaps forward, epitomizing Chinas strength in science and technology.

Achievements in high technologies are mushrooming. With the successful implementation of key sci-tech projects and R&D programs, a number of core technologies have seen major breakthroughs and the pace of commercialization has accelerated, leading to fruitful results in the fields of the third-generation nuclear power, 5G, new energy vehicles, supercomputing, high-speed railroads and large aircraft manufacturing to name but a few; integrated circuits, key components and basic software research and development have made impressive progress as well. Chinas total exports of hi-tech products increased from $601.2 billion in 2012 to $979.6 billion in 2021.

III. Innovation by enterprises continues to strengthen with better ecosystems for entrepreneurship

Leading enterprises have effectively responded to the containment and challenges from the outside by steadily improving their technological strength. According to the 2021 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, 597 Chinese enterprises had entered the rank of the Top 2,500 companies in R&D, which was 6.4 times more than in 2012, ranking second globally.

Environment for innovation continues to improve. In 2021, Chinas technology market saw 670,000 transfers with a total transaction amount of 3,729.4 billion yuan, 2.4 times and 5.8 times that of 2012, respectively. At the end of 2021, there were 2,551 state-registered crowdsourcing spaces and 212 demonstration bases for mass entrepreneurship and innovation, providing a platform of fundraising and cooperation for start-ups.

IV. Accelerated industrial transformation driving quality development

Innovation has resulted in new dynamism of the Chinese economy. Informatization and digitalization have become a powerful engine driving the transformation and upgrade of traditional industries. In 2021, nearly half of industrial enterprises above designated size carried out IT-related activities. Quick breakthroughs in the new generation of IT have given rise to big data, cloud computing, and blockchain applications, opening new horizons for digitalization and economic growth. In 2021, the number of Chinese unicorn enterprises exceeded 300, with a total valuation of more than $1.5 trillion.

V. Progress of livelihood-related technology delivering better life and health

Science and technology play a key role in combating the Covid-19 pandemic. China has continued to carry out research in Covid vaccines, drugs, detection reagents, animal models, and virus origin tracing, and science and technology have provided a strong guarantee for Chinas routine fight against the infectious disease.

Sci-tech innovation also helps to improve peoples well-being. As of the end of 2020, there were more than 570 science and technology museums of various types in China, 1.6 times more than in 2012, popularizing science among 40 million people each year; Chinas public literacy in science had reached 10.6%, up 4.4 percentage points over 2015.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

Editor: GSY
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed (L) speaks on the launch of "The 2022 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Bridging the Finance Divide" at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 12, 2022. (Xinhua/Xie E)

The UN deputy chief called for dismantling patriarchal norms that exclude women from power, putting forward more women mediators and negotiators as well as securing greater and more predictable financing for women peacebuilders at the frontline.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The international community should step up efforts to promote women's participation in conflict-prevention and peacebuilding, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Thursday.

The participation of women at all levels "has played a pivotal role in changing the way we approach peace and security over the last 20 years," Mohammed told a UN Security Council open debate on the theme of "Strengthening Women's Resilience and Leadership as a Path to Peace in Regions Plagued by Armed Groups."

"When we open the door to inclusion and participation, we take a giant step forward in conflict-prevention and peacebuilding," she said.

Despite decades of evidence that gender equality offers a path to sustainable peace and conflict prevention, "we are moving in the opposite direction," Mohammed said, noting that "progress has been slow."

Between 1995 and 2019, women constituted on average just 13 percent of negotiators, 6 percent of mediators and 6 percent of signatories in major peace processes, Mohammed said.

Women's participation in peace processes, and influence over decisions that affect their lives, continue to lag far behind, creating a real barrier to inclusive, durable, and sustainable peace, she pointed out.

The UN deputy chief called for dismantling patriarchal norms that exclude women from power, putting forward more women mediators and negotiators as well as securing greater and more predictable financing for women peacebuilders at the frontline.

"We need full gender parity -- including through special quotas to accelerate the inclusion of women -- across election monitoring, security sector reform, disarmament, demobilization, and justice systems," she said.

Editor: GSY
Ukraine held in Kosice (Slovakia) on October 19-20 the XI annual Forum of the Danube Strategy for the Danube region, organized by Ukraine as a result of its chairmanship in the Strategy, the press service of the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine reported on Thursday.

"The European partners have testified their unquestionable support for Ukraine in its European integration aspirations and the fight against the Russian Federation and expressed their readiness to join joint projects aimed at restoring the destroyed Ukrainian communities," the message reads.

The event was attended by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Minister of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine Ihor Korkhovy, European commissioners, representatives of the Ukrainian government, local administrations.

The Forum, which ends the year of Ukraine's chairmanship in the EUSDR, was devoted to two main priorities  "Restoration, development and unity of the Danube region" and "Development of human capital and labor markets".

Taking into account the security situation caused by the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, the theme of this year's Forum was aimed at strengthening cooperation of all 14 participating countries in countering the growing challenges and threats caused by the military aggression of the Russian Federation, the energy crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Slovenia became the next country to receive the right to chair the ECDR, declaring the continuation of the priorities defined by Ukraine and strengthening the role of the Strategy in European initiatives.
It is possible to return margin of safety to energy system in few weeks, if there are no such large-scale shelling, energy savings  Ukrenergo head

Restoring power grids in the form in which they functioned before the large-scale attacks of Russian terrorists requires a long period of time, but it is possible to provide energy at a sufficiently reliable level in a few weeks, Head of the board of Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytsky has said.

"It will take some time to restore the power grids to their primary functionality, these are not days or even weeks, but it will take several weeks to restore the safety margin of our energy system," Kudrytsky said on the air of the telethon on Thursday evening.

At the same time, he said such calculations are relevant if there are no attacks of a similar scale, nevertheless, Ukrenergo has the tools to balance the energy system in different ways for different scenarios.

The head of the system operator called the energy centers with the highest electricity consumption the most problematic areas.

"This is the central region, in particular the Kyiv energy center, and the Kharkov energy center, which was hit by missiles a month ago, and, of course, this is the west of Ukraine, where last week there was quite intense damage to our main substations," Kudrytsky said.

According to him, the company partially restored the functionality of these substations, but there are still certain problems with providing reliable power supply.
During a meeting with President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Odile Renaud-Basso, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky briefed him on the risks for Ukraine in the energy sector due to terrorist attacks by the Russian Federation.

As reported on the website of the head of state on Friday, the parties discussed the possibility of additional lending for the needs of this industry.

"Our cooperation is more relevant than ever, because now, due to the large amount of destruction due to missile strikes and attacks by kamikaze drones, we need to work on the rapid restoration of our country," Zelensky said.

For his part, Renaud-Basso expressed solidarity with Ukraine and said that the EBRD will do everything possible to support the country.

The President of Ukraine thanked the EBRD's decision to terminate cooperation with the Russian Federation and Belarus, as well as for the EBRD's decision to provide financial support to NPC Ukrenergo.

Zelensky also drew attention to the fact that, along with the discussion of the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, it is important to work on a Fast Recovery Plan, which also requires urgent financial resources. First of all, this concerns the energy, infrastructure, educational spheres, as well as the restoration of housing for Ukrainians.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that from October 10 to October 20, more than 400 objects in 16 regions of Ukraine were damaged as a result of shelling by Russian invaders.

"The Russian army has identified our energy sector as one of the key targets of its attacks. Shelling of generation, that is, objects that produce electricity. Shelling of electricity distribution systems, that is, power lines, thanks to which each of us has electricity at home. From October 10 to October 20, more than 400 facilities in 16 regions of our country were damaged as a result shelling, including dozens of energy facilities," Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Friday.

Also, according to the prime minister, in parallel with this, Ukrainian energy facilities are under constant cyberattacks.

"Our task is to prevent this. Despite the fact that strikes on the energy infrastructure have been inflicted for more than a week, the situation remains difficult, but under control. We have significantly increased the number of repair teams. Additional repair equipment has been purchased and stored in safe places. Partner countries are constantly providing needed help," he said.

In particular, Shmyhal spoke about $55 million from the United States for the repair and maintenance of gas pipes, as well as the provision of power generators, alternative fuel sources for social infrastructure, as well as EUR 70 million from the Netherlands, as well as Denmark's assistance with the passage of the heating season in Mykolaiv region.

"There are preliminary agreements with Norway and the UK on gas supplies, especially in case of critical need in winter. The EU and Canada are also joining in to help. Transmission system operators from Belgium, Poland, Germany, Italy and other countries are transferring generators, transformer equipment, wires, insulators for power lines and much more to our Ukrenergo. They are transmitting not only now, but all these months, thanks to which we can quickly resume electricity supplies," he said.

The prime minister said that almost all territories controlled by Ukraine are provided with electricity.

"Now 99% of the settlements where there is no electricity on a permanent basis are either occupied territories or settlements in the immediate vicinity of the combat zone, and there are no opportunities to make repairs," Shmyhal stated.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, during a meeting with the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Odile Renaud-Basso, expressed hope for continued cooperation between the city authorities and the bank during the post-war reconstruction of the city, the press service of the Kyiv mayor reported on Friday.

According to the press service, the meeting was also attended by EBRD Vice President Alan Pilloux, Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus Matteo Patrone, Alternate Board Director at the EBRD from Ukraine Artem Shevalev.

"I want to thank our partners from the EBRD for their support and systematic cooperation, which has been going on for years, and thanks to which we have implemented many projects in the city. The EBRD is our reliable partner, which always supports Kyiv in the pursuit of development and implementation of important projects for the capital infrastructure projects," Klitschko said.

According to him, Kyiv joined the EBRD Green Cities program in 2019, becoming the 21st city in the EBRD's countries of operations and the second in Ukraine to join the program.

According to the mayor, the implementation of the Green City Action Plan will make it possible to implement projects to develop transport infrastructure and modernize the district heating system.

In addition, with the help of international partners, Kyiv is carrying out a large-scale modernization of heating networks. Emergency sections of pipes are being replaced in Kyiv, heating stations are being modernized, new equipment is being installed at combined heat and power plants. In recent years, the city has renovated 360 km of pipes in the heating network, reducing accidents and heat losses by 10%.

The city, together with the EBRD, has also launched two more projects. The Kyiv City Transport II prooject implies the provision of EUR 180 million for the renewal of urban transport (procurement of trams, metro cars, the comprehensive reconstruction of the tram line and the Kontraktova Ploscha stop, the overhaul of the Metro bridge roads). The second project is Kyiv District Heating involves the provision of EUR 140 million for the modernization of the heating system.

"In connection with the barbaric invasion of Russia, all the city's plans for integrated development have undergone significant adjustments: the construction, reconstruction and overhaul of infrastructure facilities under the Program for Economic and Social Development of the City of Kyiv for 2021-2023 have been suspended until the end of martial law. Financing of these projects is not happening. The actions of the city authorities are primarily aimed at supporting the critical infrastructure of the capital and measures to prevent a humanitarian disaster. But we will persevere and win. We will need to restore, renew our capital. Therefore, we hope that our cooperation with the EBRD will continue," Klitschko said.

The President of the EBRD, in turn, assured that in the future the partners will do everything possible to support Ukraine and Kyiv.
EU Council calls on Brussels to promptly allocate remaining EUR 3 bln in aid to Ukraine

The EU Council calls on European structures to promptly allocate EUR 3 billion of macro-financial assistance promised to Ukraine, according to a statement released on Friday following the summit of European leaders held in Brussels.

"The European Council calls for the timely provision of the remaining EUR 3 billion in macro-financial assistance for Ukraine. It invites the Commission to present, and the Council to work on, a more structural solution for providing assistance to Ukraine," it notes.

"The full potential of the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with Ukraine should be used to ease its access to the Single Market," the statement notes.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen also announced the idea of the European Union allocating EUR 1.5 billion to Ukraine every month.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has called on EU leaders to provide the remaining EUR 6 billion of macro-financial assistance, the decision on which was made in late May-early June, by the end of the year.

"Thank you for the funds that have already been received, but a decision has not yet been made regarding the remaining EUR 6 billion from this package, which are critically needed this year. And it is in your power to come to an agreement on providing this assistance to our state," the president said, speaking on Thursday by video link to members of the European Council.

He also spoke about the need for more support for the implementation of the Ukraine Fast Recovery Plan.

"You have all this data - what exactly we need. We already have an understanding of the necessary funds. This is EUR 3.5 billion this year and about EUR 14 billion next year," Zelensky said.

"And so far we have received nothing from these funds. And they are vital. As well as the next tranches of macro-financial assistance for Ukraine are vital," the head of state stressed.

As reported, in late May-early June, the EU preliminarily approved the allocation of new emergency macro-financial assistance to Ukraine for EUR 9 billion, of which EUR 1 billion was allocated in early August. The remaining EUR 8 billion was expected to come in one tranche, but the final decision on them was delayed. One of the reasons cited is the debate over how these funds should be provided: in the form of loans or grants.

As a result, only EUR 2 billion was received this week, while Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis said that the third tranche of EUR 3 billion is expected in early December.
By Trend

As reported, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev was interviewed by Japans Nikkei newspaper on October 21, 2020.

Trend presents the interview.

- About the Karabakh conflict. Now foreign ministers from both Azerbaijan and Armenia are to visit Washington DC on Friday. What do you expect from that meeting. Are you ready for trilateral talk with some conditions?

-Actually, as you know, the United States, Russia and France are three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group which has a mandate to facilitate, to find a solution to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Therefore, its natural that our ministers meet in these three capitals. These kind of meetings happened before, many times. And you know that there have been a visit to Moscow and meeting in Moscow. So, it is a continuation of the discussions on the peaceful settlement of the conflict. Of course, now situation on the ground have changed. The status quo no longer exists, the line of contact does not exist either. Therefore, of course, I think that now Armenian leadership must be more reasonable, and to commit itself to liberation of the occupied territories. So, our main objective at these discussions will be to find out whether the Armenian leadership is ready to liberate our territories or not, and if ready, then when?

-Are you also invited to Moscow by President Putin?

-No.

-If invited are you ready to go?

-I have been many times invited by President Putin. And I visited Moscow many times some years even several times a year. Therefore, it is obvious, between partner countries and neighbors these high level contacts are common. And President Putin also visited Azerbaijan many times.

-If there is any progress on Friday between the ministers, is it possible to have a trilateral meeting in Moscow with Armenian prime minister also joining?

-Well, of course it is possible. Because this kind of meetings happened before. It depends on what will be the agenda if this kind of meeting is going to take place. Because with this Armenian government unfortunately, the prospects for peaceful settlement are very remote. Because very counter-productive and provocative statements and actions on behalf of Armenian leadership made actual negotiations senseless. Because the main topic on negotiation table always has been liberation of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions. And when Armenian prime minister declares that "Karabakh is Armenia", when he declares that "Azerbaijan must negotiate with Nagorno-Karabakhs so-called authorities", and when he orders ballistic missile strike on a peaceful city of Ganja and daily attacks on other cities of Azerbaijan, there is not much room for negotiations. Therefore, we had to prove Armenian government that they cannot afford any longer to make these aggressive steps without any punishment. We are punishing them on the ground. We are liberating our territories.

Every day almost I announce new cities and villages which have been liberated from Armenian occupation. Armenia is suffering very bitter defeat on the battlefield. Therefore, of course, they must be more reasonable, and definitely, the matter of liberation of the territories is happening. We wanted to achieve it through peaceful talks. But due to Armenian unconstructive position and provocative steps it was not possible. Therefore, we are now liberating our territories on the battlefield.

-Would you say the second ceasefire has already failed or ended? Would you say the battles are still going on?

-Second attempts to achieve ceasefire failed because two minutes after the time when ceasefire had to be efficient they violated the ceasefire. They again, attacked our peaceful cities, this morning from 6 am until 8 am they launched more than 100 times their shells on peaceful city of Tartar which suffered mostly and they attack our military position. They wanted to regain the territories which have already been liberated. As you know, after the first attempt of ceasefire in less than 24 hours, they attacked from the territory of Armenia with ballistic missile, second largest city of Azerbaijan  Ganja, which is a war crime. And the Armenian government will be responsible for that. So, they violate the ceasefire. I always say that ceasefire cannot be achieved unilaterally. If we are attacked, we must not only defend ourselves, but also launch a counter-attack. And I can tell you after they violated ceasefire second time, we liberated the city of Zangilan, and many villages. So, the more time passes on the battlefield, the more territories we liberate. Therefore, Armenian government should think seriously about their behavior and make a strong commitment if they want the ceasefire to be efficient. First, not to violate it, second, not to attempt to regain the territories which we already liberated, and make a commitment about liberation of occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

-The ceasefires so far had been for humanitarian purposes, including exchange of captives and bodies. So, do you think that means ceasefire, maybe there will be another one, but it will be over once exchange of captives are done?

Is there a substantial ceasefire that will hold or is it just a temporary one, if there is any?

-It was announced on humanitarian grounds, and also as you know in Moscow declaration there was a reference to substantive negotiations. And the fact that the format of negotiations is unchanged, which means that there will be no more attempts from Armenian side to try to integrate the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh authorities" on negotiation table. This was rejected by us, and by the Minsk Group. Therefore, of course, if Armenia commits to negotiations and with a strong commitment to liberate the territories which they so far did not announce then, this ceasefire will be a long-termed. Because we want to resolve this problem peacefully. But if, they will try to use ceasefire in order to mobilize their resources, in order to get additional foreign military assistance and to launch a new attack on us, of course, this ceasefire will not last long. It depends on them.

-So, in order to get on the table of negotiations would you demand Armenia to agree to withdraw at least some of maybe the seven regions in advance, before any negotiation?

-They must make a strong commitment that they will liberate these territories. Because, this is the part of the basic principles which have been agreed between two countries with the facilitation of the Minsk Group. Basic principles say that the occupied territories must be returned to Azerbaijan and our refugees and internally displaced persons must return to all the occupied territories, including territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and including territory of ancient Azerbaijani city of Shusha. Therefore, the Armenian government must clearly declare that they are committed to this principles, they will liberate these territories, and then of course, negotiations will start. We do not put a pre-condition now that territories must be liberated first and then negotiations started. We, at this moment demand from Armenian side, from prime minister personally, the person who is responsible for this violence and is responsible for war crimes against peaceful Azerbaijanis, we demand from him personally saying Armenia will liberate the occupied territories. After that of course, the resolution of the conflict will be transformed from the battlefield to the negotiation table.

-Would you be ready for negotiation maybe if Armenia says they are ready to withdraw or liberate five regions first?

-All the regions of Azerbaijan must be liberated. All of them. Of course we can talk about the timing and in the basic principles there were certain ideas about timing on which stage the first regions on which stage the second part of the regions. So, this can be discussed. But it is obvious that all the occupied territories must be returned.

-And this has to be announced before.

-And all Azerbaijanis must return to their ancient lands.

-What would you say to Russias proposal of sending monitoring teams, or what about international monitors?

-International monitors, our peace-keeping forces is part of the basic principles. But it is the last part, one of the last issues, which had to be addressed and definitely both sides Azerbaijan and Armenia should agree on who will be those international observers, or peacekeepers. Therefore, we did not seriously discuss this issue in the framework of negotiations. I think that the Minsk Group co-chairs, three countries will definitely make proposal on their behalf about what composition, the number of so-called observers, when and where they are going to be deployed? Because it is also important from technical point of view. Because now it is an active phase of combat operations. Where these observers or peacekeepers will be deployed? Their life can be under risk. And what will be their mandate? Who will give the mandate to them? And it is clear that when we talk about that we talk about the territory of Azerbaijan. It is not territory of Armenia. Therefore, of course, we must have a decisive say about that. Therefore, of course, all these issues must be addressed. In principle, we are not rejecting it. But of course, we will put our conditions when time will come.

-Speaking of Minsk Group, Turkey criticizes Minsk Group as brain dead. Would you agree?

-I said recently that the Minsk Group did not produce any result for 30 years. At the same time, I said that with the facilitation of the Minsk Group, with the previous Armenian governments we managed to make progress, not a big progress but still progress. But if one group of countries for 30 years cannot produce results, it speaks for itself. And also, the co-chairs of the Minsk Group are permanent members of the UN Security Council. And the UN security Council with participation of these countries and with the voting of these countries adopted four resolutions demanding complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territories. Thats a question why these resolutions are not implemented because the Minsk Group co-chairs and permanent members are the same countries. It is an open question.

-Among the Minsk Group co-chairs, what would you say to Russia? What would you say to Russias role as a leading mediator? How would you say has Russia been fair?

-Three co-chairs of the Minsk Group have the same rights, and the same mandate. Therefore, as far as I know among these countries they did not choose a leader. They are all equal and we look at them as mediators. If any country assumes the role of mediator, this country must be neutral. And, if it is not neutral, it cannot be a mediator. The level of neutrality is another question, which of course, will be addressed at the proper time. But, I think the Minsk group co-chairs will play their role, especially now, when Armenia is almost defeated on the battlefield in order to stop violence, and to implement mandate which was for 28 years not implemented.

-Do you want Turkey to have more say in the Caucasus affairs and be much more active in this negotiation process?

-It depends of course on the political agenda of Turkey. I cannot speak on behalf of Turkey. What I want to say is that of course, we always, strongly support Turkish active involvement in the regional issues and actually, this involvement is obvious. Turkey plays important role now not only in our region, not only in the Caucasus, but in a broader region and in the world. It is a reality, and it is a very good reality for us. Because for us Turkey is a brotherly country, our closest ally and friend. And de facto, Turkey is already involved of course, from the legal point of view also as a member of the Minsk Group. I said once in one of the interviews that Turkey could have been even a co-chair. If today, we would have been selecting the co-chairs definitely, Azerbaijan would have supported the Turkish candidacy and I am sure Turkey would have insisted on being a co-chair. In 1992, unfortunately it didnt happen. So, this is a legal part. And then, a practical part, as you know presidents of Turkey and Russia, their foreign ministers, defense ministers talked, met, discussed this issue. Therefore, if somebody says that Turkey should not be there, as Armenia says, its none of Armenian business, Turkey is already there and must be involved, because it will bring stability. And also, Turkey I think is the only country which has a border with three Caucasian countries. No other country has a border with three of them. Then, of course, Turkey must be actively involved, Turkey is involved and we strongly support it.

-Karabakh is by international law Azerbaijans territory. But at the same time there are many Armenian inhabitants. Can you guarantee once Azerbaijan gets back its control, Armenian inhabitants can live safely with equal rights?

-Yes, definitely. And I already many times during this active phase of the conflict made statements in this regard that those Armenians who live in Nagorno-Karabakh are our citizens and their security, their rights will be totally provided as long as the rights of all other people of Azerbaijan. And I can tell you that today, in Azerbaijan we have thousands of people of Armenian origin, unlike Armenia, where there is no Azerbaijanis and 99% of Armenia are ethnic Armenians. So, no national minority, can live and survive there. So, they expelled all the nationalities which used to live on the territory of todays Armenian Republic. The biggest community were Azerbaijanis. In the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Yerevan was 70 percent inhabited by Azerbaijanis. They destroyed all our historical, religious monuments. They destroyed the traces of Azerbaijani culture, not only in Yerevan but also in many other regions of todays Armenia. And by the way, Azerbaijani Democratic Republic which was established on May 28, 1918, on May 29th decided unfortunately, that was a big mistake which cannot be justified, to give Yerevan to Armenia as a capital. So, they destroyed all our religious and cultural heritage, they destroyed our mosques, they destroyed our monuments, but here in the center of Baku there is an Armenian church with many Armenian books. And many Armenians, thousands of them live today in Baku and in other parts of Azerbaijan. With respect to the point that you said that many Armenians who lived there, according to our information, the real population of territory which is occupied, including former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous District is around 65 thousand people. It is not a big community. But before the war in the beginning of 1990s there have been more than 40 thousand Azerbaijanis, who lived in Nagorno-Karabakh, mainly in Shusha, but also in Khankandi, in Khojaly, the city which suffered Armenian genocide, genocide committed by Armenians, and many other cities. So, they committed ethnic cleansing against us. We never did it. And even during these clashes, we did not respond the same way. We did not attack with ballistic missiles, neither the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, nor territory of Armenia. And I said that we will take revenge but we will take revenge on the battlefield. So, Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh can be absolutely sure that their security will be provided. And after the criminal junta in Nagorno-Karabakh is thrown away, they, as Azerbaijani citizens will live better. They will live in dignity, they will live in peace, and we will provide all the social and economic advantages for them, as we do for any other people in our country.

-When you get back Nagorno-Karabakh would you respect their rights of self-determination as stated in Madrid principles. Do you agree to referendum?

No, of course not. There will be no referendum, in Nagorno-Karabakh we will never agree on that. We did not agree on that during the time of negotiations and now, when we regained big part of the territory, it is out of question. With respect to self-determination, Armenian people have already self-determinated themselves. They have an independent Armenian state. Imagine what will happen if Armenians will self-determinate themselves anywhere where they live. How many small Armenias will be in the world? This is a counter-productive approach. Self-determination is an important factor of international law. But it should not violate the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. There are different types of self-determination. There are different types of communities. And they could be cultural autonomy for instance. We see these examples in developed countries of Europe. Where there are certain rights of people in their municipalities, in their communities, as in any part of Azerbaijan of course, Armenians who live in Azerbaijan can have this form of communication. But never we will allow the creation of the second Armenian state on the territory of Azerbaijan. This is out of question. In other words, there will be no referendum, never.

-Reportedly, Armenia is recruiting Lebanese, Syrian Armenians. At the same time, NGO namely, Syrian observatory for human rights claims that many ethnic Turkmen fighters from Syria are now in the battlefield alongside with your forces, would you say that is true?

-No, this is not true. First, I would like to say the fact that Armenia recruited mercenaries and fighters from the Middle East is not a secret. And even Armenian prime Minister admitted it. But he said that they are native Armenians. First, nobody knows whether they are native Armenians or not, and we have information that representatives of different nationalities are now fighting on Armenian side. And second, if the person is ethnic Armenian but citizen of other country does not mean that he is not a mercenary. Among those who have been eliminated on the battlefield, there are people with Lebanese passport, with Canadian passport. We have evidence about citizens of France, United States of Armenian origin. But citizens of these countries and citizens of some countries of former Soviet Union are fighting against us together with citizens of the countries of the Middle East. Armenia used mercenaries during the first Karabakh War. This is not a secret. Some of them have been eliminated by Azerbaijan and they erased a big monument in their honor, monuments in the honor of international terrorists. This shows that Armenia is a terrorist state. With respect to Azerbaijan, first this so-called Syrian observatory NGO is not a credible organization. We know about many fakes which they spread over with respect to the war in Syria. So, there is no credibility, trust to this politically motivated so-called NGO. First we need to check who is financing and then understand who is behind these rumors. Second, not a single evidence have been presented to us by any country. Only rumors, only unjustified statements, and I demanded proof. I said okay, now its more than twenty days that we are in the active phase of the conflict. Where are there proofs? Give us the proofs. No proofs. Therefore, these rumors must be stopped. Azerbaijan is fighting itself. We dont need any foreign fighters. We have enough people, enough soldiers and officers in our regular army. We have ten million population. If we need additional fighters we will announce mobilization, we will recruit. So, there is no need for that and it is absolutely false information.

-So, as you said repeatedly, no jihadists and even no Turkmen?

No, there can be people of Azerbaijani origin coming from other countries. We do not exclude it. Because we have many volunteers, people who voluntarily want to defend their country. We cannot exclude that people of Azerbaijani origin from other countries come but it is not the way how it is presented that Azerbaijan invited terrorists in order to fight. This is false information.

-Are you aware of those volunteers with Azerbaijani origin?

-There can be, I said, I do not exclude. There can be. But we receive many requests, many letters from Azerbaijanis who live outside to come and to fight for their historical motherland. But our position is  we dont need it. We have enough people on the battlefield.

-Japanese companies joined oil and pipe line projects of Azerbaijan. They are investors here. Do you have concerns over the security of five pipelines? Is there any risk of postponement of the TAP pipeline which is going to be opened very soon within this year?

-No, with Tap pipeline everything is on the schedule, it is already done. Its a matter of maybe some additional weeks, not months for official opening of TAP. Everything is ready, the historical pipeline from Baku to Europe have been completed. With respect to other pipelines which we have and particular oil and gas pipelines on the territory of Azerbaijan during all these years since 2006, when Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan was commissioned, we didnt have any accident. Our pipelines on our territory are duly protected. But of course we heard threats from official Armenian representatives that they will attack our pipelines, they will attack Sangachal terminal which is an important terminal for oil and gas transportation, but this is also part of their terrorist nature. Because they openly declare that they will attack civilian infrastructure. And of course, if they do it, they will regret, because they will be punished by us, severely, and also those countries which today provide part of their energy security from Azerbaijan. What will be reaction of those countries? Billions of dollars have been invested in these pipelines. International banks, all the leading international banks like World Bank, EBRD, Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank and other banks invested. So, the Armenian leadership should think twice about this kind of option. And of course, as I said, Azerbaijan itself will punish them severely, and I dont think that they will even dare to do this, another war crime.

-Since its very rare occasion for us to meet you. Let us ask, a couple of questions about the future of your country in general.

-Yes of course.

-So, Azerbaijan is the first commercial oil producer in the world.

-Yes, that is true.

-But how do you think the country would transfer to the post-oil era. Do you have any expectations from you know, how Japanese companies might be involved in that?

-Yes, of course we have agenda of diversification of our economy, and this process is successfully continuing. Even this year, though our GDP is going down not very seriously, its less than 4% decline so far. In comparison with some other countries its not a bad result but with respect to non-oil related industry we have a growth. That shows that our diversification program is being implemented very successfully. Industrial development, business opportunities, tourism, of course before the pandemic was rapidly growing. And innovation sector and agriculture, and of course coming back to the main topic, when we see that now Azerbaijan is liberating the territories, first we liberated very important water storage, which will provide water supply for tens of thousands of hectares of land. Armenia actually committed an ecological terror against us. They were closing the water from the river Tartar and thus hundred thousands of hectares of land were not supplied with water. They were closing in summer, when people need it and they were opening it in winter and making floods. So, the terrorist nature of Armenia is on every, every step. So, after we regained the territories back, and this is a very good soil for growing different products, for breeding cattle, of course, our agriculture will have a new boost. We already started to plan our future agricultural development with respect of the liberation of the territories. Of course, we think that investments in human capital will provide for us good opportunities for development, because oil and gas will come to an end once, though, our reserves are huge. We just started to export large quantities of natural gas, and oil production profile will be more or less stable for coming decades. But non-energy sector of course, is priority. With respect to Japanese companies, they are very active here in the area of energy, with the loans from Japanese banks we built two big power stations, in Baku. Their capacity is close to 800 megawatts. So these power stations provide important part of our consumption and our export. We, by the way, export electric energy also, and we want to see Japanese companies in the area of renewable energy, which is now one of the priorities. We already signed preliminary agreements with some investors. So, we hope that the area which is very promising and has a potential because of a lot of sun and a lot of wind, especially in Absheron peninsula. And in many other areas today Japanese companies provide equipment, machinery, technology also in agriculture. So, we are very satisfied with the level of economic cooperation between Japan and Azerbaijan.

-What about political reforms? You have criticism, I mean there are criticism from many western countries that you yourself succeeded your father and now your wife is vice president and so, are you ready to promote democracy and to open up power to oppositions?

-I think that the democratic development in the country is going in a positive direction. We have all the major freedoms in Azerbaijan. Freedom of political activity, media freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, religious freedom. So, there is no restrictions on that. We have free internet, by the way, and those who tried to criticize us they should look to the substance and not spread rumors and use the so-called democratic shortcomings of Azerbaijan for political purposes, for the purposes of political pressure. Now, I introduced the new program of political reforms which was supported by absolute majority of all political parties. And that was done by the way before this clash. Now, of course, absolute majority of political parties strongly support my policy on return of the occupied territories. Only two parties are not part of this process. Only two parties are going against national interests of Azerbaijan. This is a Popular Front Party, and Musavat Party. And by the way, these two parties rejected my proposal for political dialogue. I made this proposal several months ago. I said, we need to have a political dialogue, we need to have normal, civilized relations between the government and opposition, between a leading party and other parties. And now I think 50 parties or more supported that. We are in a very active phase of the political dialogue. Only two parties, which have a direct financing from outside, which always were acting against national interests of Azerbaijan, these two parties are responsible for the loss of the territories. Because they were in power in 1992-1993, when Armenia occupied our territories-Popular Front and Musavat. And those people who are responsible for the loss of the territories today are the leaders of these parties for almost 30 years. And nobody talks about democracy, nobody talks about how they keep this position for almost 30 years. Therefore, those who want to criticize us better look at the mirror. In front of our eyes, in front of the international community eyes we see how demonstrations are brutally suppressed in the so-called democracies. How people are being killed at the rallies, wounded, injured. Every week we see it. How police is using you know dogs and horses in order to suppress protestors. You will not see it in Azerbaijan. Never. Therefore, those who criticize us better take care of their own business. With respect to what you said about me succeeding my father, yes it is true. But before I succeeded my father, I was for many years a Member of Parliament, since 1995 until 2003. I was the president of the National Olympic Committee since 1997. I was a deputy and then senior deputy of the leading political party  Yeni Azerbaijan Party. And I was a prime minister. So, my political career is known to international observers and of course, they know that it was not like they want to present. And talking about succeeding, why nobody talks about Bush family. How they succeeded each other. Why nobody talks about Clinton family. When the wife became the Secretary of State and then was a presidential candidate. And many other cases like that. Let them look at themselves before raising this issue. With respect to my wife, my wife was a Member of Parliament since 2005. She was very active on the issues related to the social and humanitarian area. She was and is the head of the biggest NGO in the Caucasus  the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. She has a strong support among Azerbaijanis, you can ask any person on the street and you will see how they love her and support her. And she was and is a deputy chairman of Yeni Azerbaijan Party. Therefore, her political career also was not a kind of sudden event. And I can tell you that she was not very happy when I suggested this position to her. I can tell you, maybe I tell that for the first time, it took me a lot of time to persuade her. And I had arguments and she didnt want. She is totally involved in social, humanitarian issues. And she wants and she helps tens of thousands of people, tens of thousands. But she does it without any PR, without advertisement, without announcement. So, she is a person our people are proud of.

-You mentioned freedom of speech and the internet. But I believe there are some restrictions on the social networking systems.

-These are temporary restrictions, these restrictions have been imposed after these clashes have started. And we made announcement to our people that this is for the issues of national security. Because, we need to protect at this time our information system from Armenian provocations. So, this is temporary. As soon as this active phase of clashes stops, all these restrictions will be lifted. But I can tell you that the level of penetration of internet is very high, and more than 80 percent of Azerbaijanis are internet users. So, it is only temporary.

-Let me close with the one final question your highness. Lets finish it with the hopeful note. Are you hopeful for a peaceful solution? And what will peace can bring Armenia and Azerbaijan also because Armenia is landlocked. Borders are closed here, borders are closed on Turkish side, their economy is on decline, what can peace bring to both countries?

-Of course, peace will change the situation in region completely. And I hope to see the time when the three countries of the Southern Caucasus will have cooperation. Now for instance, level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia is very high. We are strategic partners, and with current Georgian government we have excellent relations. We support each other and we are good neighbors and good friends. And we implemented look, how many projects together. Oil transportation, gas transportation, energy transportation, railroad connection, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, TANAP and many others. Azerbaijan is, I think, first to second largest investor in Georgia along with Turkey. First to second largest taxpayer and by the way, in the middle of 90s the issue of construction of pipeline was discussed. There were some proposals from the West to have these pipelines through Armenia. But Armenia should have then liberate the territories and then, the pipeline could have gone from Azerbaijan to Armenia and then to Nakhchivan and to Turkey. And that was a shortest route. If you look at the map you will see how the pipeline goes. It is because to bypass Armenia. But Armenians thought that we will not be able to implement this pipeline. Therefore, they said no, and I think now they seriously regret. They became deadlocked because of occupation. They thought that we will not be able to build pipelines, they thought we will not be able to build railroads, they were always advocating for how to say functioning of the Kars-Gumru railroad which existed. But it was closed because our brotherly country Turkey closed the border because of Armenian occupation. So, now Armenia is not landlocked but they dont have border with Turkey, because of aggression against Azerbaijan, and because of territorial claims against Turkey. Maybe you dont know, but in their constitution they have territorial claims against Turkey. One must be crazy now to have claims to such a powerful country as Turkey. But thats substance of their ideology. During the time of negotiations, there have been messages sent to previous Armenian government that if they put an end to occupation, Azerbaijan can implement different social and economic projects in Nagorno-Karabakh. These messages were sent through the Minsk-group co-chairs to former Armenian president and they rejected. Today in Nagorno-Karabakh people live in poverty, you know total unemployment, poverty and destroyed infrastructure. We were ready to invest, but we said liberate the territories and we will help you. Today when we liberate the territories, ourselves, definitely will help those people those Armenians who live in Nagorno-Karabakh and of course Azerbaijanis who will return to rebuild this area. But if Armenia makes the constructive steps and liberate the territories of course, we will open all the communications. I know that, I heard about the position of the Turkish government that they will also open communications if Armenia liberates the territories. Then the situation in the southern Caucasus will completely change.

-Has Mr. Erdogan mentioned you about this intention?

-Well, maybe we did not discussed it directly. But of course, we know that this is the position that the reason why Armenian Turkish border is closed, because of the occupation. If occupation is lifted, the border will be opened it is official position of Turkish government and Armenians know that. And without normalization of relations with Turkey and with Azerbaijan Armenia has no future. Because the market is small, and is getting smaller. Population is shrinking, migration is very high. According to our information today, real population, how many people there are in Armenia, less than two million. Less than two million. It will go down. Because of no job, especially now when they are deprived of those very productive lands in the occupied territories. If you look at these images from the sky, you will see how they use our land for illegal products. They not only use our land, they use our gold mines in Kalbajar. There are foreign companies whom we will sue, if they dont stop. By the way, soon I think they will stop anyway. So, they will suffer even more problems, because they will be deprived of this important agricultural segment. They will just decline and we will develop. Our population is growing. Turkish population is 83 million, Azerbaijani population is 10 million. Armenian population is less than two million. They should think how they are going to live here in 10 years, in 20 years, in 50 years if they dont be reasonable, if they dont put end to aggression. And they cannot afford this aggression any longer, and we showed them on the battlefield who is who. All their mythology about their brave army, was a kind of fake. Their army is running, we defeat them. We beat them, and we will continue to do it, until they get out of our land.

-Thank you very much for this opportunity and it has been always a pleasure to be in Baku.

-Thank you.




Invaders lose about 100 military, six tanks in Ukraine, 14 drones shot down in past 24 hours  AFU General Staff

Combat losses of the Russian occupation army over the past day amounted to about 100 people of military personnel, and since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, as of Friday morning, October 21, amounted to about 66,750 people, according to the Facebook of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In addition, over the past day, the Russian Federation has lost six tanks and three armored combat vehicles in Ukraine, and since the beginning of the fullscale invasion, 2,573 and 5,258 units, respectively.

During the day, two artillery systems of the occupiers and one unit of automotive equipment were destroyed in Ukraine. Fourteen unmanned aerial vehicles of the operational and tactical level of the enemy were shot down.

In total, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russian Federation has lost 1,648 artillery systems, 372 multiple rocket launchers, 189 air defense systems, 4,006 vehicles and tankers, 147 units of special equipment and 16 vessels in Ukraine. Some 269 planes and 243 helicopters were destroyed, 1,325 drones and 329 cruise missiles were shot down.

The General Staff stressed that the data is being clarified.
As a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, 428 children were killed, more than 815 were injured, the Prosecutor Generals Office (PGO) reports.

"As of the morning of October 21, 2022, more than 1,246 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, 429 children were killed and more than 817 received injuries of varying severity," 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.

Children were most affected in Donetsk region  417, Kharkiv  259, Kyiv  116, Mykolaiv  77, Zaporizhia  69, Chernihiv  68, Luhansk  64, Kherson  57, and Dnipropetrovsk  31.

It became known that a 5-year-old boy died as a result of enemy shelling in the village of Lypky, Kharkiv region, on March 15.

Due to the bombing and shelling by the armed forces of the Russian Federation, 2,663 educational institutions were damaged. Some 326 of them were completely destroyed.
Russian troops are likely deliberately removing large amounts of personnel and equipment from the west bank of the Dnipro River in anticipation of the imminent offensive of Ukraine in Kherson region, according to a report by analysts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) for October 20.

Russian troops are likely deliberately removing large amounts of personnel and equipment from the west bank of the Dnipro River. Russian forces have likely learned, at least in part, from their failures during the panicked Russian retreat from Kharkiv region in the face of a previous Ukrainian counteroffensive  Such a rout in Kherson could trap Russian forces and equipment on the west bank of the Dnipro River, the message reads.

At the same time, experts note that the Russian Federation probably continues to prepare for an attack on Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in order to blame the Ukrainian side for this. Russian sources continued to accuse Ukrainian forces of shelling the Kakhovka HPP and have widely circulated graphics depicting the flood path in the event of a dam breach. Russian sources are likely setting information conditions for Russian forces to blow the dam after they withdraw from western Kherson region and accuse Ukrainian forces of flooding the Dnipro River and surrounding settlements, partially in an attempt to cover their retreat further into eastern Kherson region. Continued Russian preparation for a false-flag attack on the Kakhovka HPP is also likely meant to distract from reports of Russian losses in Kherson region, the report says.

The White House confirmed on October 20 that Iranian military personnel are in Russian-occupied Crimea, Ukraine, to assist Russian forces in conducting drone attacks on Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure, the ISW reports. Senior Iranian officials and state media frequently argue that Tehran must expand strategic relations with Russia and China to cooperate toward countering US global influence. Iranian leaders may worry that a Russian failure in Ukraine would seriously disrupt this vision and possibly threaten Vladimir Putins hold on power and, therefore, Irans security. Iran could further expand its military support to Russia in the coming months, the report says.

The analysts note that the risk of a Russian offensive from Belarus into northern Ukraine remains low despite a prominent Ukrainian officials October 20 warning that the risk of a Russian offensive from Belarus is growing. Deputy chief of the Main Operational Department of the Ukrainian General Staff, Brigadier General Oleksiy Hromov, stated that the risk of a renewed offensive from Russian forces against northern Ukraine is growing. Such a course of action remains unlikely in the coming months given that Russian forces lack the capability even to interdict Ukrainian supply lines from the west with a ground offensive  Belarus may concentrate manpower on the border to fix Ukrainian forces in northern Ukraine and prevent their deployment to the active area of operation in southern and eastern Ukraine, the ISW said.

According to the analysts, Russian sources indicated that Ukrainian troops have advanced in northern Kherson region as Ukrainian forces continued their interdiction campaign. Russian forces continued to conduct ground assaults in Donetsk Oblast but Russian sources contradicted their own claims on control of Bakhmut. Russian forces are likely continuing to falsify claims of advances in the Bakhmut area to portray themselves as making gains in at least one sector amid continuing losses in northeast and southern Ukraine.

Russian regional governments and the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) continue to blame each other for military administrative failures.
On the eve of the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba appealed to the German Bundestag to recognize the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reports.

The Holodomor has not yet been recognized by the German Bundestag as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. I am convinced that the obstacles have always been political. The previous composition of the Bundestag did not have the political will for this step. The good old policy of not provoking Russia also prevented it," Kuleba said in a video message to the conference entitled "International Law against Genocide" organized by the German non-governmental organization Zentrum Liberale Moderne in Berlin.

The Minister recalled that the author of the term "genocide", the outstanding lawyer Raphael Lemkin, defined the Holodomor as "a classic example of the Soviet genocide", and a better legal definition cannot be sought.

This November we will celebrate the 90th anniversary of Stalin's genocide of the Ukrainian people, the Holodomor. I hope that we will see a fair historical decision of the German Bundestag this autumn. Such a step will honor the memory of the victims, but it will also be the restoration of international law and justice. Fortunately, the policy of not provoking Russia is also in the past. Therefore, now is the right moment to take this step, the minister stressed.

Kuleba noted that just as Stalin tried to eliminate the Ukrainian people 90 years ago, Putin is now purposefully killing Ukrainians. He listed in detail the facts of the genocide of Ukrainians committed by Russia during the full-scale war against Ukraine and assured that Ukraine would make every effort to bring all those responsible for these crimes to justice.
Defense Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov and NSDC Secretary of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov presented the first results of the implementation of the NATO Logistic Functional Area Services (LOGFAS) to the ambassadors and defense attaches of donor countries who help Ukraine in repelling Russian aggression.

As reported on the website of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Friday, thanks to the integration of the LOGFAS system with the module of the information and analytical system SOTA for monitoring the supply of weapons to Ukraine from partner countries, full control of each unit of weapons entering the territory of Ukraine is ensured.

"Firstly, it will significantly increase the accountability of all processes related to the operation of weapons and other resources. We have started the implementation of accounting for international aid to ensure transparency and high efficiency of its use. Secondly, we prove that even during the war, the defense sector of Ukraine is developing. We are increasing interoperability with the North Atlantic Alliance at the level of standards and procedures," said Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov.

According to Danilov, the use of these systems by the Ukrainian Defense Forces will contribute to the most effective and transparent cooperation between Ukraine and partners, "whose help is vital for our victory in the war with the Russian Federation."

The Ministry of Defense noted that a roadmap for scaling LOGFAS up to the end of 2022 and for 2023 has already been approved. As a result, this program will become one of the main tools for digitalizing logistics in the Armed Forces and will provide logistics planning not only for international assistance, but also for a complete list of resources available in the Armed Forces.

In addition, more than 300 LOGFAS operator specialists have already been trained for the AFU. By the end of November, 350 LOGFAS operator jobs will be deployed to cover all levels from strategic command to brigade level.

Ukraine has launched three levels of accounting for the supply and use of weapons: the NATO LOGFAS program, a new program for accounting and logistics of military equipment Karavay and a module based on the SOTA program. LOGFAS logistics Operations support service has been used by NATO during operations and exercises since 1995. The SOTA module for monitoring arms supplies to Ukraine from partner countries was put into effect on February 24 this year. It allows to monitor new arms supplies, analyze them in a time frame. The Karavay system was created to manage the process of submitting applications for assistance from Ukraine and the process of processing these applications by partner countries.
Number of casualties in enemy artillery shelling of Zaporizhia rises to five  city council

Civilian infrastructure and a block of apartments were damaged and five people were wounded as a result of enemy shelling attacks on Zaporizhia on Frida, Secretary of Zaporizhia City Council Anatoliy Kurtiev has said.

"Unfortunately, five people were wounded. Four people are in moderate condition, they were hospitalized. One person takes outpatient treatment," he said on the Telegram channel.

A missile also hit a block of apartments, Kurtiev said. In addition, an educational facility came under artillery fire, an unexploded shell is lying in its territory.

"We also have information about strikes in open areas. Relevant services are operating on the scene," he said.

Earlier, Head of Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Starukh said that the enemy used S300 missiles to attack the city.
Russia, firing at the energy infrastructure in Ukraine, provokes a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to the countries of the European Union, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, speaking via video link to the participants of the European Council summit.

"Russia is provoking a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to EU countries. The Russian terror against our energy facilities is aimed at creating as many problems with electricity and heating in Ukraine as possible this autumn and winter, and so that more Ukrainians go to European countries," Zelensky said.

According to him, Russia, as a terrorist state, has already worsened social conditions in European countries, but wants to make them even worse. And this, the President stressed, must be answered immediately.

In particular, Zelensky noted, the first such response should be to provide Ukraine with more air and missile defense and called for speeding up the implementation of solutions.

We must do everything possible to make it completely impossible for Russia to destroy our energy system with missiles and drones. We have already received a very effective IRIS-T system from Germany. I thank Mr. Chancellor for that. This German system protects not only Ukrainian skies. It protects European stability, limiting Russian terror, which strikes both our country and, in the future, your countries. But we need more air defense and anti-missile defense systems to create a truly reliable air shield, the president said.

The second answer, according to Zelensky, should be powerful new sanctions against Russia and Iran for cooperation with a terrorist state.

"Although we have destroyed more than 200 Iranian drones this month alone, and dozens hit different targets, Iranian representatives are still lying that they did not transfer drones to Russia. Russia must pay for this terror. And this should be reflected in the ninth EU sanctions package. Iran should be deprived of any possibility or even desire to supply at least someone with such drones," he said.

Zelensky urged to prevent the transformation of the energy system of Ukraine and any other country in the world into a battlefield and to pay attention to those in the EU who advocate the easing of sanctions against Russia.

"Anyone who calls for the easing of sanctions against Russia for terror or tries to politically torpedo the sanctions mechanism is not only trying to make Russian terror unpunished and not only betrays the memory of the victims of terror, but also makes the entire European community dependent on the most anti-European force in the modern world. Pay attention to such voices in Europe  against Europe," the head of state noted.

Zelensky also emphasized that sanctions should also be imposed against Belarus, as the state from whose territory Ukraine was attacked.

"And every day the urgency of our proposal to send international observers to the border of Ukraine and Belarus, who could monitor the security situation, is added," the president concluded.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, during a meeting with Members of the U.S. Congress on Friday, stressed the importance of providing Ukraine with air defense systems in order to create an air shield for the country's critical infrastructure, the press service of the president said.

Zelensky met with Members of the U.S. Congress Mike Turner, Jim Himes and Eric Swalwell. The head of state said that the visit by the congressmen to Ukraine is especially important today, when Russia has toughened its terror against peaceful Ukrainian cities and the civilian infrastructure and attacks them by missiles and Iranian-made drones.

"He praised the support of the Congress, the U.S. President, his administration and all American people. At the same time, the head of state urged to increase aid in order to bring peace closer. Volodymyr Zelensky especially stressed the importance of providing our country with the necessary number of air defense systems to create an air shield over it and protect the civilian population and critical infrastructure," the press service said.

The parties agreed that nuclear blackmail by the Russian leadership is unacceptable. They also exchanged opinions about the strengthening of sanctions pressure on the aggressor country, which is of particular importance in view of the terrorist attacks committed by Russia in recent weeks on the civilian population and civilian objects in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president also "noted the importance of proper preparation of Ukraine for the winter season and the need for prompt restoration of the destroyed energy infrastructure."
The crimes of the Russians occupation forces during the full-scale aggression against Ukraine fall under the articles of the 1948 Genocide Convention, and Ukraine is working to bring Russian criminals to justice for the genocide of the Ukrainian people, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said, according to the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

"The crimes of Russians in Ukraine are genocide by all signs. Killing Ukrainians just because they are Ukrainians, intense incitement to genocide by the Russian national media, Russian officials and Putin personally. The frightening facts of the forced removal of Ukrainian children from the occupied territories to Russia, where they are transferred to Russian families and brought up by force as Russians, destroying their Ukrainian identity," Kuleba said in a video address at the conference entitled "International Law against Genocide" organized by the Zentrum Liberale Moderne in Berlin.

Kuleba stressed that the Russians often do not even conceal their intentions to destroy the Ukrainians as a national group, in particular, by forcible removal of Ukrainian children.

"This is Russia's systemic state policy of kidnapping thousands of Ukrainian children, taking them to Russia using coercion or deceit, and transferring them to Russian families, where they should be raised as Russians. We have repeatedly strongly condemned these crimes, we are actively working together with Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and international structures to establish the facts in order to collect evidence in a future genocide case," he said.

Kuleba pointed out that the genocidal rhetoric has only intensified in the Russian national media and in statements by Russian officials after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"One Russian state publication went so far as to write about the 'final solution of the Ukrainian issue'. One can only guess whether the parallel was conscious or not, but the statement itself is frightening," he said, addressing the German audience in the hall.

Kuleba stressed that Ukraine, together with partners, is making every effort to bring the perpetrators of the Ukrainian genocide to justice.

"The terrible reality of the genocide proves that Ukraine has only one way: to defend itself, to liberate its territories and people. We have no other choice but to win this war and bring Putin and the many, many people around and under him to account," he said.

In particular, Kuleba recalled Ukraine's initiative to create a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine in order to bring Russia's top political and military leadership to justice. He added that Ukraine counts on Germany's support of this initiative.
Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets has called on the German authorities to urgently conduct an unbiased investigation into the arson of a house where Ukrainian refugees lived.

"I call on the German authorities to conduct a full, impartial and prompt investigation into these facts, to ensure the resettlement of 14 Ukrainian refugees to a safer place, and to develop systemic solutions to ensure the security of places of residence of Ukrainian citizens," the ombudsman said in a statement posted on Facebook on Friday.

According to him, an important element of such decisions should be a broad information campaign for Ukrainians and the existence of "hot lines" that Ukrainian citizens could contact in case of threats or other incidents.

"In order to avoid emergencies, in particular in the countries of the European Union, and to ensure stable and safe conditions for Ukrainian refugees in the EU, as the ombudsman of Ukraine, I appeal to the governments of the countries of the European Union with a call to refrain from making decisions on granting asylum to men of military age who evade mobilization in the Russian Federation, until the Ukrainian citizens who suffered from Russian aggression, and mainly women, children and the elderly, are provided with conditions for a safe stay in the EU countries, in the context of continued shelling of Ukrainian cities and civilian critical infrastructure by the Russian Federation and the impossibility of returning home," he said.

Lubinets recalled that on the evening of October 19, a fire broke out in the house where Ukrainian citizens lived in Gross Stromkendorf. The head of the Gross Stromkendorf municipality, Tino Schoman, said there was reason to believe that the fire was deliberately set. On the same day, the police checked the premises in connection with another crime  drawing graffiti with a swastika on the front door of the house by unknown persons.
By Trend

The opening of Zangilan International Airport with the participation of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a significant event in the history of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani MP Tural Ganjaliyev told Trend.

According to him, construction and commissioning of this airport so fast, shows the importance of East Zangazur in terms of turning the region into transport hub.

"The participation of President Ilham Aliyev and President Erdogan in the opening ceremony also shows that East Zangazur is becoming an important regional center. I believe that by opening this airport, Azerbaijan once again shows that it supports sustainable peace," Ganjaliyev said.

He noted that the opening of Zangilan International Airport on the second anniversary of the liberation of Zangilan from occupation is a message of peace and justice as well as the fact that such mega projects will be carried out in the region in the future.

Ganjaliyev stressed that at a time when the whole world is facing an energy and food crisis, Azerbaijan offers new transport and communication projects.
Ukraine calls on the United Nations, the European Union and other organizations to organize an international monitoring mission to the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in the occupied part of Kherson region, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said.

"President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that we are witnessing the preparation of Russian troops to commit another terrorist attack on the territory of Kherson region. We are talking about the fact that the Russians mined the dam and units of Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. This terrorist attack could lead to many thousands of victims and flood dozens of settlements. Therefore, we are appealing to the UN, the EU and other organizations to organize an international monitoring mission to the Kakhovka HPP. International specialists together with Ukrainian personnel should immediately arrive at the plant," Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Friday.

In addition, the Ukrainian authorities call on residents of the occupied territory of Kherson region and other regions to immediately leave for the non-occupied territories of Ukraine.
On Friday, October 21, a Russian aircraft was shot down in Mykolaiv region, Vitaliy Kim, head of Mykolaiv regional military administration, said.

"During the air raid alarm, minus the enemy Su-25 aircraft. Don't roam," Kim wrote on the Telegram channel.

According to the Pivden air command, the Russian attack aircraft was shot down by a unit of the Odesa anti-aircraft missile brigade.

"On October 21, around 16:00, in Bashtanka district of Mykolaiv region, a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft was shot down by a unit of the Odesa anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Pivden air command," the message on Facebook says.
After the end of the war, Ukraine's goal is to make a leap, "which can be described as an economic miracle," for which it is necessary to raise $70-80 billion in private investment annually, First Deputy Prime Minister, Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko has said.

"For the development of Ukrainian industry, it is necessary to attract investments, according to our calculations, $70-80 billion annually for at least five years. This is a big challenge," she said at the business forum "Dialogue between civil society, business and government: wartime challenges" in Kyiv on Friday.

Among the priority sectors, she named military tech, agriculture, metallurgy and IT, and also noted the emphasis on deep processing and the development of small and medium-sized businesses.

Svyrydenko said the interest of investors in Ukraine remains even during the war, including even from China. According to her, insurance of 90% of military risks, on which an agreement was reached with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) from the World Bank Group, should contribute to its practical implementation.

"Everyone understands that after the war, Ukraine will be an attractive place for investment," the First Deputy Prime Minister said.

She also said negotiations are underway with BlackRock to structure a fund that will attract private investment and promote public-private partnerships. "We are also interested in Goldman Sachs, we had a conversation with him yesterday," Svyrydenko said.

According to the NBU, at the end of 2021, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ukraine in its entire history amounted to $64.16 billion, of which through equity instruments, $46.21 billion, but this is less than at the end of 2013, when they reached $67.03 billion and $56.02 billion, respectively.

Since 2000, the record volumes of FDI for the year were 2014, 2007 and 2021 - $17.20 billion, $14.93 billion and $12.07 billion, respectively.
Egypt's Actors Syndicate has urged the media and public against jumping to conclusions before the prosecutions ongoing investigation into well-known actress Menna Shalaby for allegedly possessing controlled narcotics is completed, calling for respect for her privacy.
Russia will resume gas deliveries to Italy after suspending them due to a transport problem in Austria, Russian energy giant Gazprom said in a statement Wednesday.

"Transportation of Russian gas through the territory of Austria is resuming," Gazprom said, adding that a "solution" was found with Italian buyers following regulatory changes in Austria.

Most Russian gas delivered to Italy passes via Ukraine through the Trans Austria Gas Pipeline (TAG), to Tarvisio in northern Italy on the border with Austria.

Italian energy company Eni said Wednesday that "gas supplies from Gazprom resumed today" and welcomed the "resolution by Eni and the parties concerned of the constraints resulting from the new regulations introduced by" Austria.

On Saturday, Gazprom suspended gas deliveries to Italy, blaming a transport problem in Austria.

"The reason is related to the regulatory changes that took place in Austria at the end of September," Gazprom said at the time.

In Austria, regulatory authority E-Control said the new rules, which entered into force on Saturday, had been "known to all market actors for months".

It said it expected "all to conform and take the necessary measures to fulfil their obligations".

The problems were linked to "contractual details" linked to the transit of gas towards Italy, E-Control said on Twitter.

On Monday, Eni said it was ready to pay a 20-million-euro guarantee to restart deliveries of Russian gas through Austria.

Following Wednesday's announcement, AFP asked Eni if such a payment had been made, but did not receive an answer.

Before the conflict in Ukraine, Italy imported 95 percent of the gas it consumes -- about 45 percent of which came from Russia.

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Italy's presumed next premier, Giorgia Meloni, issued a stark warning to Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday that he risked losing influence in any new government over his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as she asserted a strong pro-NATO, pro-European position about Russia's war in Ukraine.

``Italy will never be the weak link of the West with us in government,'' Meloni said in a statement late Wednesday.

She was responding to private comments by Berlusconi to his Forza Italia lawmakers this week in which the three-time premier boasted of having re-established contact with Putin and exchanged gifts of vodka and wine over his recent 86th birthday, while justifying Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

``I have reconnected with President Putin _ a little, a lot,'' Berlusconi was heard saying in comments that were recorded and released by the LaPresse news agency. ``He sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a really sweet letter for my birthday. I responded with 20 bottles of Lambrusco (a sparkling Italian red wine) and a similarly sweet letter.''

Berlusconi's comments added to the political upheaval in Italy as Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party won the most votes in the Sept. 25 election, tries to put together a Cabinet. She is expected to get a mandate to form Italy's next government as early as this week.

Berlusconi's center-right Forza Italia party, the junior partner in her right-wing coalition, is gunning for the foreign ministry, at a time when Meloni and the EU have strongly backed Ukraine in Russia's war. Some analysts suggested Berlusconi was intentionally trying to sabotage her future government.

Breaking a daylong silence, Meloni insisted she will lead a government with a clear foreign policy.

``Italy, with its head high, is part of Europe and the (NATO) Atlantic alliance,'' she said. ``Whoever doesn't agree with this cornerstone cannot be part of the government, at the cost of not having a government.''

Berlusconi has a long-standing friendship with Putin: He has entertained the Russian leader at his villa on Sardinia and even visited Crimea with Putin in 2014 after the Russian leader annexed the peninsula from Ukraine.

After releasing a first audio recording Tuesday about Berlusconi re-establishing contact with Putin over gifts and ``sweet'' birthday notes, LaPresse on Wednesday published another recording, apparently from the same session, in which Berlusconi seemingly defended Putin's decision to try to oust the Ukrainian government.

Berlusconi spoke disparagingly of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accused him of provoking the conflict by increasing attacks on the eastern Donbas after 2014, when Russia-backed separatists started fighting Ukrainian troops. He said Putin's ``special operation'' in Ukraine was supposed to have lasted just two weeks to install a ``decent, sensible'' government in Kyiv.

But thanks to ``unexpected and unforeseen'' Ukrainian resistance and funding and weapons from the West that arrived ``on Day 3, a special operation that was supposed to have lasted two weeks has become a war that will last some 200-plus years,'' Berlusconi said.

He claimed there were no ``true leaders'' left in Europe or the U.S.

European Commission spokeswoman, Nabila Massrali, asked to respond to his comments Wednesday, said EU nations are free to conduct bilateral contacts with Moscow while respecting the EU policy to scale down such relations ``to the necessary minimum.''

``The priority of these contacts should of course convey EU positions regarding the illegitimate invasion and aggression against Ukraine and call on Russian counterparts to stop it immediately and comply with international law,'' she said.

Vodka imports from Russia are banned but Massrali said she would inquire whether that ban also applies to gifts.

In previous comments, Berlusconi seemed to justify Russia's invasion by saying Putin was forced into it by pro-Moscow separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine _ a similar scenario he painted in the recording published Wednesday.

``The troops were supposed to enter, reach Kyiv within a week, replace (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy's government with decent people and then leave,'' Berlusconi told his favorite late-night talk show host on Sept. 22.

Berlusconi's office at first tried to deny his comments about the birthday vodka. In a statement Tuesday, his office insisted that he hadn't restarted relations with Putin and that Berlusconi ``told an old story to lawmakers about a episode that occurred years ago.''

Hours later, after the audio was released, Berlusconi's Forza Italia party tried to distance itself from the comments.

``The position of Forza Italia and President Silvio Berlusconi with respect to the Ukrainian conflict and Russian responsibilities is known to all and is in line with the position of Europe and the United States,'' the party said. ``There are no margins of ambiguity, nor have there ever been.''

The opposition Democratic Party's Enrico Letta, who has warned that Meloni's far-right-led coalition represents a threat to democracy, pounced on Berlusconi's comments and said they undermined the credibility of any Meloni government.

``Any government that is born in Europe today has to choose whether to be with Putin, or with Ukraine and the European Union,'' Letta said. ``The Meloni government is being born under the worst sign of ambiguity.''

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During her visit to Cairo this week, Gillian Keegan, the UK Minister for Africa, thanked Egypt for its role in promoting stability across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and applauded the government's preparations for the COP27

During a meeting with Egypts Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry in Cairo on Wednesday, Keegan discussed a number of regional issues with the top Egyptian diplomat, said a press release by the UK government on Thursday.

Keegan and Shoukry and discussed means to ensure the best outcome for the upcoming COP27 that will Egypt will host from 6-18 November in the Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

According to a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry, Shoukry, who is the president-designate of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), briefed Keegan on the latest preparations for the conference.

The two ministers also discussed a raft of regional and international issues of mutual concern, including the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and its repercussions on global food prices, as well as the situation in Libya and Sudan.

Shoukry asserted the Egyptian government's commitment to promoting British investment in the countrys megaprojects.

Promoting British investments in Egypt

The UK minister for Africa was in Cairo on an official visit to partake in Cairo Water Week which ran from 16 to 19 October under the theme "Water at the Heart of Climate Action."

In a separate meeting with the Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker, Keegan explored ways for British firms to enhance their investments in Egypt's booming renewables and green technology market, including solar, wind and green hydrogen, said the press release.

Keegan also met with members of the British business community in Egypt to discuss investment opportunities in the country's energy sector.

British investments in Egypt total 50 billion from 20,000 companies, according to figures announced by the UK Ambassador to Egypt Gareth Bayley.

In August, Globeleq and Actis, two UK-based companies specialised in renewable energy, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Egyptian government to develop green hydrogen projects.

'Struck by the energy and enthusiasm'

During her visit, Keegan also attended a COP27 global youths simulation model that was hosted by the British University in Egypt (BUE) in cooperation with the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

In less than a month, Egypt will host the worlds leaders for the United Nations climate conference, COP27, and it is essential that the negotiations are a success, Keegan said after her Cairo visit.

After meeting with my Egyptian counterparts, I am heartened by the effort, the energy and the enthusiasm shown by the Egyptian government in its preparations for the conference, she added.

Keegan said she was pleased to meet with young Egyptian leaders, including those working on climate, as well as young entrepreneurs.

I was struck by the dynamism and the passion on display. We owe it to these young people, and to future generations, to make real progress in a months time, she stressed.

Egypt has been working diligently with global partners from around the world to ensure positive results at COP27 and build on the achievements of COP26 hosted by the UK in Glasgow last year.

During COP27, Egypt plans to focus on climate mitigation, adaptation, and finance issues as well as other climate change-related topics, including loss and damage.

Egypt has also vowed to promote African interests in confronting climate change at the conference.

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Christian Berger, the head of the European Union delegation to Egypt, said the EU places a premium on cooperating with Egypt in water management projects.

During a press conference on Wednesday on the sidelines of Cairo Water Week, Berger said that the "the European Union has been working with Egypt for 10 years on the issue of water and the development of water enhancement strategies, maintenance and systems."

The EU has provided a grant of 500 million euros and loans of 300 million euros to Egypt for water management projects and also financed reclamation projects for 5,000 hectares of land, he added.

It has also extended grants for small and micro enterprises and has developed a strategy to support water development and conservation in Egypt.

EU-funded and joint Egyptian-EU projects have helped in the creation of thousands of job opportunities in the country, according to Berger.

Water will be a priority item on the agenda of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) that will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh in November, he said.

Ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation is the sixth goal of the United Nation's sustainable development goals (SDGs) for the year 2030.

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A Palestinian was killed overnight in clashes with the Israeli army during an operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, the Palestinian health ministry said Friday.

Salah al-Buraiki, 19, died after being shot in the neck, the ministry said in a statement, adding that three other Palestinians were wounded in the clashes.

The Israeli occupation army said that, during the Jenin operation, "suspects hurled explosive devices and fired shots at the security forces, who responded with live fire. Hits were identified."

"The occupation army killed Salah in cold blood when he was riding his motorcycle with his friends during the Israeli occupation forces storming the city," Salah's father said to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

More than 175 Palestinians have been killed including 41 children since the beginning of the year including 124 in West Bank, and 51 in Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, shops, offices and schools were closed across the occupied West Bank as Palestinians went on strike to protest Israel's killing of Udai Al-Tamimi.

Al-Tamimi, 23, a resident of the Shuafat refugee camp, was killed in a fire exchange with Israeli forces at the entrance of an illegal Jewish settlement in Jerusalem after allegedly shooting dead an Israeli soldier on 8 October.

Around 475,000 Israelis now live among 2.8 million Palestinians in settlements across the occupied territory, which are illegal under international law.

On Thursday, Egypt called on Israel to stop the violence in the occupied Palestinian territories and return to the negotiating table to make peace with Palestinians based on a two-state solution.

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Egypts public prosecution referred on Thursday a man to the criminal court on charges of the premeditated murder of his ex-fiancee at her home in the Suez Canal city of Port Said after she broke up with him.

Kholoud El-Said, 20, was found dead in her home on Monday in the latest in a notorious string of cases of men accused of killing women who refuse to marry them.

In an official statement, the prosecution said the defendant entered the victim's home via a balcony and suffocated her till death.

The accused killed the victim after she broke off her engagement to him due to "his obsessive jealousy, controlling behavior and his constant mistrust."

The prosecution said that the defendant confessed to killing the victim during questioning and re-enacted his crime.

It said 17 witnesses who knew the victim testified that the victim received threats from the defendant.

Another witness told the investigators that they saw the defendant enter the victim's home through the balcony on the night the murder took place, the prosecution said.

CCTV cameras in a building across from the victim's home show the accused man sneaking in and out of her building, it added.

The prosecution said it also obtained a recording of a phone call between Khloud and one of her friends at the same moment the reported attack

In the recording, the accused man could be heard vowing to kill the victim while she pleaded for her life, the prosecution added.

In August, a 20-year-old university student Salam Bahgat was killed in broad daylight in the lobby of a building in the city of Zagazig, the capital of Sharqiya governorate in the Nile Delta, after she and her family rejected the defendant's marriage offer.

In June, a similar incident stirred public anger when a 21-year-old student at the Faculty of Arts at Mansoura University killed his colleague Nayera Ashraf also in broad daylight after she rejected his proposal.

Both defendants received death penalty verdicts by courts of first instance in the same months as their crime.

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South Africa: Northern Cape ripe for investment

President Cyril Ramaphosa has lauded the Northern Cape for being fertile ground for investment and a target for big investments in the near future.

The President said the Northern Cape has been able to create more jobs and the level of unemployment is continuously coming down in relation to other provinces.

The Northern Cape is a big target for big investments that are going to come. I was in Saudi Arabia and some of the companies that are seeing investment opportunities here in the Northern Cape, with regards to solar, renewables and green hydrogen [power], want to come to no other place other than this province, and I hope you are all ready for the investments that will be coming here, the President said.

The President was speaking during the 5th Presidential Imbizo held at the Mxolisi Dicky Jacobs Stadium in the ZF Mgcawu District in Upington, Northern Cape.

To date, President Ramaphosa has visited five provinces namely the North West, Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Northern Cape, where he interacted with residents.

The Presidential Imbizo provides a platform for the President to engage with communities on their experiences of daily life and service delivery by government.

President Ramaphosa said the province has great potential.

We are going to see continuous investments flowing in where... our government [will] also beginning to focus on new ways of doing things... We need to build more schools here we need to be forward-looking and be able to finance schools that should be built now and project the finances into the future, he said.

Similarly, the President said his administration should do that with housing as well, which is one of the main challenges raised by community members.

These are wonderful experiments that we want to put in place here in the Northern Cape and we will do it. I want to... [send] my gratitude to everyone who participated in the imbizo in a disciplined, dedicated and patient manner, the President said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-10-21. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Azernews

By Fatima Hasanova

On October 20, the International Court of Justice rejected Yerevan's petition to amend the court ruling of December 7, 2021, on provisional measures in the case initiated by Armenia against Azerbaijan, amid September clashes on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, Azernews reports per the International Court statement.

The hostilities, which erupted between the parties in September 2022, and the detention of Armenian military personnel do not constitute a change in the situation justifying modification of the order of 7 December 2021, the court concluded.

Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov, in a comment on this decision, tweeted that Baku welcomes the move.

"We welcome the decision by the @CIJ_ICJ rejecting Armenias request to modify its Order. This aligns with our continued commitment to treat all Armenian detainees humanely and without discrimination, in line with our international obligations," he tweeted.

At the same time, he noted that Azerbaijan has now submitted documentary evidence to the International Court of Justice and the ECHR of war crimes committed by Armenia against Azerbaijanis.

Azerbaijan has now submitted documented evidence of #WarCrimes committed by #Armenia against Azerbaijanis to the

@CIJ_ICJ and @ECHR_CEDH. Holding Armenia to account is crucial to draw a line under the conflict and build a peaceful, stable future, Mammadov said in a tweet.

As previously reported, on December 7, 2021, the International Court of Justice demanded that Armenia and Azerbaijan stop incitement to racial hatred and manifestations of discrimination. These requirements are contained in court orders for provisional measures.
Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has called on private sector companies to engage in projects to extract heavy economic metals from black sand.

El-Sisi made the remarks on Wednesday during the inauguration of a complex for the industrial concentration and separation of heavy metals extracted from black sand at the Egyptian Black Sand Company (EBSC) in Borolos city in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate.

The eco-friendly EGP 4 billion project implemented by the EBSC, an affiliate of the Armed Forces National Service Projects Organisation (NSPO), seeks to help reduce the import of economic metals extracted from black sand and export the surplus to European and Asian markets.

The markets include the UAE, Japan, China, Spain, the UK, and the Netherlands, said NSPO Director-General Walid Abul-Magd.

Egypt seeks to extract around 76 million tons of economic metals, said Abul-Magd, citing feasibility studies conducted by the Egyptian Nuclear Materials Authority (NMA) that contributed to the project.

Metals extracted from black sand will contribute to vital industries, including manufacturing ceramics, paints, hulls of aircraft and vehicles, and other technological industries.

In a speech during the ceremony, El-Sisi said the state welcomes the private sectors participation in the black sand project, inviting private companies to establish black sand extraction factories or to partner with the government in this regard.

Feasibility studies ensured the presence of sufficient black sand reserves and global demand on the extracted metals, El-Sisi said in a message of encouragement to the private sector.

If there are financial flows worth EGP 20-30 billion from the private sector, there would be two or three or four [black sand] factories in two years, El-Sisi said.

El-Sisi invited large real estate development and contracting companies as well as companies operating in the mineral resources field to engage in the black sand project, noting that the metals extracted will be exported.

The black sand project in Kafr El-Sheikh will generate export revenues of $100 million and will save up to $50 million paid for imports, said NSPOs chief.

Gold sand in Egypt

Egypt aims to make optimum use of black sand deposits along its northern coastal strip, extending over 400km from North Sinais Rafah city to Alexandrias Abu Qir, according to the documentary Gold Sand, screened at the ceremony.

Black sand can also be found in Bernice on the Red Sea coast and Lake Nasser in southern Egypt.

The EBSC complex in Kafr El-Sheikh extends over 80 feddans (83 acres) and comprises six factories for separating minerals from black sand.

Giant eco-friendly dredger involved

Electric-powered floating dredger Tahya Misr will be carrying out the first phase of mining in the project with a production capacity of 2,500 tons per hour.

The giant 550-ton dredger arrived from Rotterdam to Kafr El-Sheikh in August to be part of the black sand project.

Andrew Foster, managing director of Mineral Technologies that is engaged in the project, said the project will bring benefits to Egypt in the form of downstream industries.

The project will also help Egypt increase exports and become part of the global mineral sands industry, Foster added in a recorded speech during the ceremony.

We are excited and committed to support EBSC in the successful ongoing operation of the plant and future projects, Foster noted.

The Netherlands-made eco-friendly dredger will transfer black sand to the concentration floating factory in Borolos that has an estimated production capacity of 600,000 tons.

Ensuring workers safety

Metals extracted from black sand include the slightly radioactive zircon and monazite as well as ilmenite, rutile, garnet, and magnetite.

The project helped create 5,000 direct and indirect job opportunities, according to the documentary.

El-Sisi highlighted the need to ensure the safety of workers in the black sand complex, stressing that the state is ready to provide the necessary materials required for protecting them.

Environmental studies have been conducted to ensure the safety of the workers, said head of the NMA Hamed Mira, adding that workers are highly monitored by the NMA and committed to a specified number of working hours to ensure they are not affected by radiation.

Moreover, radioactive monazite and zircon are preserved in special packages to prevent radioactive leaks, he added.

Mira noted that the eco-friendly project does not produce any carbon emissions.

Opening investment horizons

The black sand project in Kafr El-Sheikh is the latest worldwide that uses advanced mining technology, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement earlier on Wednesday.

He added that the new project aims at extracting metals from black sand to be used in many precision industries.

This would open the horizons for new investments that back the national economy and the comprehensive development process, Rady stressed.

The inauguration of the new factory is a new addition to the series of mega national projects that aim at full exploitation of Egypts natural resources, the spokesman said.

According to the EBSC website, the project is focused on the exploration, separation and concentration of economic minerals from beach black sands and stream sediments in collaboration with international experience, transfer and localization of advanced technologies.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Electricity and Mineral Resources Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Defence and Military Production Mohamed Zaki, and other state officials attended the inauguration ceremony.

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The Kremlin on Friday condemned the arrests of two Russians -- including the son of a senior official -- on a US request in Europe for alleged sanctions evasion and illegal sale of US technology to Russian arms companies.

"We are categorically against this and we condemn the practice of these kinds of arrests of Russian citizens," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Moscow will do "everything possible" to defend them.

Moscow on Thursday confirmed that Artyom Uss, whose father is the governor of the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk, was arrested at Milan's Malpensa Airport this week on a US request.

"Our diplomatic missions will naturally take part in protecting the interests of this Russian citizen," Peskov said.

The US Justice Department on Wednesday announced charges against a dozen individuals -- including five Russians -- for "unlawful schemes to export powerful" US military technology to Russia.

It said some of these had "been discovered on the battlefields in Ukraine."

Another Russian citizen was also arrested on a US request on October 17 in Germany.

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Ali Tehrani, a critic and brother-in-law of Iran's supreme leader, has died at age 96, local media reported Thursday.

The semiofficial Tasnim news agency said Tehrani died Wednesday. He was a theologian and critic of the Islamic system that came to power after the 1979 revolution.

In the first presidential election under the new system in 1979, Tehrani revealed evidence that led to the rejection of one of the prominent candidates, Jaleleddin Farsi, who was born in Afghanistan. Farsi was the favorite candidate of most of the clerics then, even though the law requires candidates to have been born in Iran.

In 1979, Tehrani opposed a decision by the founder of Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei, for appointing Ali Khamenei as Tehran Friday prayer leader.

Tehrani did not support clerics having a role in government. He opposed the Shah but was also critical of the post-1979 Islamic rulers.

Tehrani supported the nation's first president, Abolhassan Banisadr, who went into exile in 1981 following a fight with hardliners.

The liberal-minded cleric then supported liberal groups and freedom of activities by all groups including secular ones and Marxists.

After months in prison in 1981, Tehrani went into house arrest but fled the country in 1984 into neighboring Iraq, then at war with Iran. He continued his campaign against Iran's ruling system through radio broadcast in Iraq.

Tehrani retuned to Iran in 1995 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but served only nine years. He has been mostly silent since his freedom in 2005.

In the 1950s, he married Badri Khamenei, sister of the current leader of Iran. Iran's state media did not mention his death.

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Egypt will host the 24th Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) from Sunday to Tuesday under the chairmanship of Minister of Petroleum and Mineral resources Tarek El-Molla.

El-Molla explained that the meeting comes amid a global dialogue about energy security and just weeks ahead of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) set to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh 6-18 November, according to a statement from the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

The three-day event, El-Molla added, is an opportunity to improve cooperation among the member states that posses a large proportion of gas reserves, production and exports, and to ensure work is done an environmentally responsible manner.

The GECF comprises of 11 member states: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.

It also includes eight observers: Angola, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Malaysia, Mozambique, Norway, Peru and the UAE.

Together, these states are home to 72 percent of the global proven natural gas reserves, 55 percent of exports by pipeline and 50 percent of LNG exports.

El-Molla stressed Egypt's keenness on establishing a constructive global dialogue among member states focusing on the key role of natural gas in the transition from fossil-based energy to zero-carbon energy.

Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel and is affordable, the minister noted.

The GECF was established in 2001 and it was transformed into an international governmental organisation headquartered in Doha, Qatar in 2008.

The GECF ministerial meeting, which is the supreme governing body of the forum, meets once a year.

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It seems Sudan and Ethiopia are eager to achieve calm relations in order to focus on their own internal challenges.

Tension between Sudan and Ethiopia did not prevent the two countries leaders from holding bilateral talks on the sidelines of the 10th Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa, the second this year following the forums 5 July summit.

Those meetings at the forum was regarded by some observers as proof of approaching calm between the two countries, while others suggested they would yield no results.

The forum is regularly held in the ancient Ethiopian capital Bahir Dar, overlooking Tana Lake, where the Blue Nile originates. The historic citys name literally means the House of Sea. Residents around the Nile in this area used to call the lakes seas, and cities and provinces houses.

After meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, the head of Sudans Sovereign Council said that reaching an agreement on technical issues for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is possible.

Ethiopias Ahmed stressed that the dam his country is building, which has sparked a heated, complicated dispute between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, will bring great benefits to Sudan and will not become its foe, according to the statement released after the Sudan-Ethiopia meeting.

The statement added that Khartoum and Addis Ababa agreed on the need to resolve their border conflict, which saw rounds of armed clashes, in which Sudan regained most of the disputed area in the Fashqa region.

Since the fall of the 30-year rule of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, during which time the Muslim Brotherhood were in power, differences between the two countries have surfaced.

Disputes over GERD and its technical issues erupted, and tensions over reaching a binding legal agreement on procedures for filling the dams reservoir according to a schedule agreed on by the three Blue Nile countries.

Sudan fears the GERD may be damaged or may even collapse, especially since the safety of its construction has been widely questioned.

Abbas Sharaki, a professor of geology and water resources at Cairo University, said, if the dam collapses for any reason, it will cause extensive destruction in central Sudan.

Central Sudan, the most productive region in the country, is already struggling economically.

Opinions similar to Sharakis are widely circulated in the Sudanese press by a number of experts. However, others such as Mohamed Abdallah, a professor of political science in Khartoum, rule out the damage or collapse of the dam. He focuses on the benefits of the dam for Sudan, especially in facing floods.

Floods in Sudan are caused by heavy rains and the overflow of small rivers, not by the flooding of the Blue Nile as a result of heavy rains in Ethiopia.

Sudan needs a large number of dams on the tributaries of the Nile and other rivers since a number of its regions that the Nile does not cross were affected by this years heavy rains, such as West Kordofan in the centre, South Darfur in the west, and Kassala in the east.

As for the conflict over Fashqa, the region is Sudanese land according to an agreement signed between Ethiopia and Sudan in 1902. However, a large number of Ethiopian Amhara residents had taken up arms and used militias to expel the residents of Fashqa and take control of the fertile land.

Following the fall of Al-Bashir, Khartoum and Addis Ababa engaged in armed conflict in which Sudan retrieved a large portion of Fashqa, raising the armys credit among the people.

Making matters worse between the two countries, clashes that erupted in the Ethiopian north between the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front and Ahmeds government led tens of thousands of Tigrayans to flee to neighbouring Sudan, which is already suffering from a fragile economy, increasing tensions between the two states.

Sudan wants the fighting in Ethiopia to stop to stay the influx of displaced Ethiopians into its territory. But Addis Ababa does not accuse Khartoum of supporting Tigray, nor does Sudan accuse Ethiopia of standing against its own interests.

However, in the first four months of the fighting, 45,000 displaced people crossed the Tekeze River, according to a February 2021 UNHCR report. In November, fighting between Tigray and the government will enter its second year. The majority of the Tigrayan population suffer from poor food security, while UN agencies estimate that millions of people in northern Ethiopia may be exposed to famine within months if the world -- preoccupied with Ukraine, which directly affects the largest group of industrialised countries in the world -- does not help them.

Both Sudan and Ethiopia are reeling with political and economic troubles, and according to Sudanese journalist Fayez Al-Salik, the talks at the forum were meant to install calm so that both countries can look to other, more pressing problems.

But Khaled Mahmoud, an Egyptian journalist specialising in African affairs, begs to differ. Mahmoud believes that even if the two regimes were facing challenges, they are standing on solid ground, with no threats in sights, though Ethiopias position is more complicated.

Both countries suffer from political crises, but Sudans affairs are much simpler, though its problems are political, not a civil war that may have grave repercussions as is the case in Ethiopia, he says.

Moreover, Al-Burhans pledge before the UN General Assembly to withdraw from political life will greatly ease tensions in Khartoum. This is not happening in Ethiopia despite preparations for peace talks, Mahmoud added.

Comparing the two leaders is in Al-Burhans favour. Ahmed, who won a Nobel Peace Prize, is being frowned on in the Western media because so much is expected of him. He has turned into a hero of Civil War. Whereas Al-Burhan was given direct Western clearance to attend the funeral of Queen Elisabeth II and allowed to address the UN General Assembly, he noted.

In my opinion, Sudan is opening a door for calm and peace with Ethiopia to focus on taking economic decisions and holding talks, that are going to be arduous, with international financial institutions, Mahmoud stated.

In the end can Ethiopia keep up with Al-Burhans moves? It is unlikely, but not impossible.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 20 October, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Tarek Osman writes on the transformation of education under the 19th-century ruler Mohamed Ali in his series of articles on the foundations of modern Egypt

One of the most transformative of Mohamed Alis many transformative initiatives was to move Egypt away from religious-based to secular education.

This was an historic change. Egypt, and the entire Muslim-majority East, had effectively remained under purely religious education for around seven centuries since the end of the Islamic exploration of ancient philosophy, the development within Islamic civilisation of major centres inspired by the Egyptian, Greek, and Persian heritage, and later the marginalisation of them.

Mohamed Ali and several of his advisers saw that religious education had been based on memorisation throughout the Mameluke and Ottoman periods. For the key educationalists that Mohamed Ali employed, among them Edme Francois Jenard, who proved highly influential in developing Egyptian education at the time, this form of learning was not conducive to catching up quickly with Western advances.

Mohamed Alis advisers wanted to move education in Egypt away from memorisation towards analytical thinking. The objective was to endow young minds that were not yet doctrinally disposed towards a rigid refusal of innovative thought into ones that were trained to question, critique, select what they deemed worthy and reject what they did not, and had the intellectual courage to innovate.

Some of those European modernisers had fascinating interactions with leading sheikhs from Al-Azhar, most notably Hassan Al-Attar, the mentor of Rifaa Al-Tahtawi, the Parisian sheikh described in the previous article in this series. Al-Attar tried to convince some of Mohamed Alis advisers that the problem did not lie in religious or Islamic education per se, but lay instead in the modes of that education in previous centuries.

His arguments centred on the extreme value given to al-mantiq (logic) and usul al-fiqh (the sources of religious legal interpretation), central disciplines in Al-Azhar for many centuries, in contrast to al-badee (figurative speech, particularly in poetry) and al-uroudh (prosody), which had enjoyed some prominence in the centuries of Mameluke and Ottoman supremacy. However, for the new educationalists in Egypt even if Al-Attar and other sheikhs like him might have been theoretically correct, their views did not change the fact that the religious education that had been prevalent in the country for centuries was not yielding the knowledge that they deemed to be crucial in modernising it.

Mohamed Ali and his modernisers sidelined Al-Azhar as a result, a move that had a lasting impact on the development of religious education and narrative in Egypt. In its place, they installed new professional schools of military studies, medicine, engineering, technical affairs, administration, midwifery, and, crucially, of languages, the one that Al-Tahtawi led. These schools brought a new form of education to Egypt and one that was not anchored on the knowledge of specific scholars but instead was based on continuously evolving disciplines of knowledge. The schools were designed to graduate practitioners rather than talking heads.

The efforts bore fruit. In the space of around a quarter of a century higher education in Egypt was significantly expanded and totally transformed. Although a significant part of it catered to Mohamed Alis (and his son Ibrahims) key priority of the army, a much larger part of it was civilian and secular. For many, even for Western orientalists holding condescending views about Egypt (and the entire East), Egyptian higher education in the second half of the 19th century was not far behind that in Europes most advanced centres.

The problem, however, was that as modern education spread, its alien character as far as much of the society was concerned became markedly clearer. This modern education was strictly secular in a society in which religion (Christianity and Islam) continued to play major roles in almost all aspects of life. It was a European education in a society that was at the time still almost totally eastern in its sense of identity and frames of reference.

Several Egyptian thinkers tried to address this problem in the second half of the 19th century. The most significant contribution came from Ali Mubarak Pasha.

Ali Mubarak was one of the most senior Egyptians to achieve office under the khedive Ismail. He became the first Egyptian minister of education and was one of the kind of men that Mohamed Ali and the enlightened members of his dynasty, among them Ismail, surrounded themselves with. Ali Mubarak launched the Dar Al-Oloum (House of Science), a higher-education institution intended to bring modern systems of learning along with classical Islamic-based disciplines together in an Egyptian, rather than Western, curriculum for aspiring young teachers. He also launched the Dar Al-Kotob (House of Books), which later evolved into Egypts National Library and Archives.

These were colossal steps at the time. But the bigger impact of Ali Mubaraks work lay in the way in which the ideas behind the past half centurys modernisation seeped into traditional Egyptian education, bringing old disciplines of study into new forms of learning and situating the teaching of Islamic sciences in the new educational system.

This was the first attempt at Egyptianising the transformation of education that had taken place in the country in the previous half century. It saved the modernisation of education from becoming a mere spectacle for most Egyptians and one that while they might have been exposed to it they would have had no sense of connection to it.

It empowered traditional Egyptian culture with the sense that it could interact with the changes that were being imposed on it from the top. A newfound confidence began to seep into the circles of Egyptian educationalists, leading to the understanding that they could innovate on the new systems of learning they were receiving from Europe.

By the last quarter of the 19th century, Egyptian educationalists primarily from within Al-Azhar began to curate new curricula and different systems of learning and teaching that were innovations on the traditional religious-based education offered in the country. These innovations owed a lot to the major wave of modernisation that had taken place over the previous half century, but they had emerged from within the Egyptian environment and were the products of Egyptian minds.

This gave rise to a wave of breakthroughs in modern Egyptian thought, as well as to clashes of ideas that proved highly dangerous to Egyptian society and beyond.

* The writer is the author of Islamism: A History of Political Islam (2017) and Egypt on the Brink (2010).

*A version of this article appears in print in the 20 October, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The European Union agreed Thursday to impose new sanctions on entities supplying Iranian drones to Russia that were used to strike Ukraine.

The Czech presidency of the European Union announced the agreement in a tweet Thursday, saying it came after three days of talks with EU ambassadors and would go into effect Thursday afternoon.

It said the EU was freezing assets of three individuals and one entity "responsible for drone deliveries." It added that the EU was also prepared to extend sanctions against four Iranian entities that were previously sanctioned.
The part of Seoul where salaried workers have to pay the most for lunch is Samseong-dong in Gangnam District.

The average price of lunch in the swish neighborhood is W15,000, twice as much as the IT hub of Gasan-dong in Geumcheon District (US$1=W1,433).

NHN Payco analyzed 2.3 million mobile payment data of salaried workers using the service.
More and more illegal immigrants are being arrested for drug offenses, exposing an endemic problem among low-paid laborers in farming and other menial industries.

In 2018, 172 undocumented aliens were arrested for drug crimes, accounting for 29 percent of the 596 foreign drug offenders, according to data from the National Police Agency.

But that jumped to 716 from January to September this year or 58 percent of all 1,243 foreign offenders.

The number of illegal immigrants has grown dramatically in the pandemic, from about 360,000 in 2018 to 400,000 as of August this year.

On Oct. 11, Gangwon Province police arrested 65 illegal immigrants from Thailand for distributing drugs among foreign workers here.

They smuggled in meth worth W500 million from overseas (US$1=W1,433). Thai workers used the drug on the farms and greenhouses where they worked, often mixing it with alcohol.

In July, police in Busan arrested 67 Vietnamese for using meth and other drugs in a nightclub and a karaoke parlor. Five Vietnamese dealers were also arrested. The Vietnamese arrived on study visas for language courses but never enrolled in any Korean college.

The Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Employment and Labor launched joint efforts on Oct. 11 to crack down on drug crimes among foreigners.
KYODO NEWS - Oct 21, 2022 - 15:47 | All, Japan, World

The top military officers of Japan, the United States and South Korea have agreed to maintain "effective bilateral and multilateral security cooperation and coordination" to deal with North Korea's missile and nuclear threats.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reaffirmed the United States' "ironclad commitment" to defending the two East Asian allies, in a meeting Thursday near Washington with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts, Gen. Koji Yamazaki and Gen. Kim Seung Kyum, according to the U.S. and Japanese governments.

The talks came as North Korea has been launching ballistic missiles at an unprecedented pace since the start of this year, with speculation growing that the nation could soon carry out what would be its seventh nuclear test, and first since September 2017.

Following a flurry of missile activity by Pyongyang, the United States, Japan and South Korea are boosting their defense cooperation. They conducted their first joint anti-submarine exercise in five years in late September, as well as joint drills to detect ballistic missiles early this month.

The discussions by the three officers focused on regional security challenges, including North Korea's "recent missile activities and nuclear program developments which destabilize the region," the governments said.

They also agreed that their trilateral alliance is essential to maintaining regional peace and stability, and pledged to pursue a "free and open Indo-Pacific," the vision promoted by Japan and the United States to counter China's military clout in the region.

It was the first gathering by the highest-ranking generals from the three countries since they met in Hawaii in March this year.

Later in the day, Milley reaffirmed in a bilateral meeting with Yamazaki that the United States is committed to the defense of Japan including the Senkaku Islands, his office said.

The Japan-controlled, uninhabited islets in the East China Sea are claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.

On Wednesday, Milley conveyed to Kim in their meeting Washington's continued commitment to providing "extended deterrence" to defend South Korea by employing nuclear and conventional U.S. military capabilities.

Related coverage:

Japan to expand sanctions on North Korea over missile tests
By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Azerbaijans First Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Iranian Vice-President and Head of Department of Environment Ali Salajegheh discussed issues of protecting the environment of the Caspian Sea, Azernews reports.

During the meeting, the sides noted the significance of the 6th Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in Baku. They emphasized the importance of joining the efforts of the Caspian littoral nations to solve environmental issues.

At the same time, the ministers expressed concerns about the pollution of the Aras River by Armenia and stressed the need for joint efforts to protect the environment of the river.

Besides, the parties expressed satisfaction with the high-level political dialogue between Azerbaijan and Iran, which are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year. They added that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met in Astana within the framework of the 6th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia on October 13.

The successful development of friendly and good neighborly relations between the two countries in the political, trade, economic, transport and transit, energy, cultural, environmental, and other fields was emphasized. Additionally, the ministers stressed that the opening of transport communications in the region creates broad opportunities for cooperation.
KYODO NEWS - Oct 21, 2022 - 20:15 | Japan, All

Kei Komuro, the husband of Japanese former princess Mako Komuro, has passed his New York state bar examination on his third attempt, a source familiar with the matter said Friday.

The 31-year-old had retaken the state bar exam in July after failing on two previous attempts, once in July last year and again in February.

Komuro contacted Yoshihiko Okuno -- who runs a law firm where Komuro used to work --, on Friday afternoon to tell him the good news, according to the firm.

According to the exam's organizer, 9,609 people sat the bar exam and 6,350, or 66 percent, passed it.

Komuro began working as a law clerk at a legal firm in New York after graduating from Fordham University's law school with a Juris Doctor degree in May 2021.

He and Emperor Naruhito's 30-year-old niece have been living in the U.S. city since late 2021. They married in October that year amid public criticism over a financial dispute involving his mother and her former fiance.

A senior official of the Imperial Household Agency expressed relief upon hearing Komuro had passed, saying "It's good to hear. It is reassuring to see the foundations for (the couple's) future finally falling into place."

The 1947 Imperial House Law, which limits heirs to the imperial throne to males with an emperor in the paternal line, requires female royals to give up their status when they marry commoners.

Related coverage:

Husband of Japanese ex-princess fails N.Y. bar exam for 2nd time

Ex-princess's husband pays settlement money over family financial row

Former princess Mako, husband leave Japan to start new life in U.S.
By Junko Horiuchi, KYODO NEWS - Oct 21, 2022 - 19:39 | All, World, Japan

The International Criminal Court is considering building a new regional office in Japan -- the first of its kind outside The Hague --, in order to establish a stronger presence in Asia, a region underrepresented among the court's 123 members, its head said Friday.

"I personally would be keen for the ICC to have a permanent presence in the region, especially in Japan," said ICC President Piotr Hofmanski in an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo during his first visit to Japan since assuming the post in 2021.

It is a "tentative option" that is still being considered, he noted, but expressed hope that creating such a presence would help to "promote the ICC in Japan and in the region."

The office could also develop a system to educate personnel in international criminal law at universities and law schools in Japan, while encouraging more Japanese professionals to apply for jobs in the ICC, he said.

The ICC counts on the "support and cooperation of Japan to help spread the idea of international criminal justice (in Asia) and attract more states in the region to join," he said.

Japan is one of the largest financial contributors to the ICC, earmarking 3 billion yen ($20 million) in the fiscal 2022 budget, as well as contributing to its operations and staffing, such as by dispatching prosecutors to assist on cases.

Japan is one of the ICC's biggest and most reliable partners, he added.

The ICC has 123 member states, including 19 from the Asia-Pacific, but some major countries such as the United States, China, India and Indonesia, are not members.

After Russia's invasion in February, the court drew global attention after launching a formal investigation into alleged war crimes in Ukraine based upon calls for an inquiry into Russia's conduct from 41 member states, including Japan.

Hofmanski said there are currently many investigators, forensic experts, analysts and other professionals in the country, collecting information and evidence about Russia's conduct in the war.

The court is cooperating closely with civil society and other organizations in order to gather information on victims of alleged war crimes, he said.

The ICC, the world's first permanent international criminal court, was set up in order to try individuals accused of breaching international law. It is said to be a court of "last resort," and exercises its jurisdiction only when states are unwilling or unable to do.

==Kyodo
KYODO NEWS - Oct 21, 2022 - 18:28 | All, World

The Chinese government made a decision some years ago to seek to "speed up" the reunification with Taiwan, including through the possible use of force, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a recent TV interview.

The U.S. assessment of the timing of a potential attack by China against Taiwan has drawn renewed attention after Blinken said Monday, two days before the interview, that he believed Beijing was "determined to pursue reunification on a much faster timeline."

In March last year, Adm. Philip Davidson, then chief of the U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command, said China could try to invade Taiwan "in the next six years," or by around 2027.

Blinken said that, on the Taiwan issue, there had been a "basic understanding" for many years that "whatever differences existed between Beijing and Taiwan would be resolved peacefully."

"What changed is this: a decision that was made in Beijing some years ago that that was no longer acceptable and that the government wanted to speed up the reunification," he said.

Beijing is willing to pursue the goal "through coercion and pressure and potentially, if necessary, by force," Blinken added during Wednesday's interview in Pennsylvania, the transcript of which was released by the State Department on Thursday.

Taiwan and mainland China have been separately governed since they split due to a civil war in 1949. China has endeavored to bring the self-ruled democratic island back into its fold.

At a speech at the Chinese Communist Party's twice-a-decade congress, which began Sunday, President Xi Jinping said China will not renounce the use of force over the Taiwan issue, although it will seek a peaceful resolution.

On Wednesday, top U.S. Navy officer Adm. Michael Gilday said an analysis of what came out of the congress is still ongoing but warned that the military should be vigilant over the possibility of China invading Taiwan at any time.

"So when we talk about the 2027 window, in my mind, that has to be a 2022 window or potentially a 2023 window. I can't rule that out," the chief of naval operations told a think tank event. "I don't mean at all to be alarmist by saying that. It's just that we can't wish that away."

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin expressed Beijing's opposition to "the U.S. manipulation" of the Taiwan issue, saying it is "purely China's internal affairs, which brook no foreign interference."

"We believe countries and people concerned have the wisdom to make the right choices that serve their interest," he said at a press conference in Beijing.

Tensions have grown over Taiwan following China's increased military activities in the area in response to an August visit to the island by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the third-highest elected official in the United States.

Related coverage:

China boasts weaning 9 states away from Taiwan as diplomatic win

Major reshuffle of China's top leadership likely to install Xi allies

Taiwan leader says armed conflict with China not an option
YAOUNDE, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Cameroon National Gendarmerie said Tuesday its forces have arrested 12 suspects including women with a cache of arms and ammunition in the country's restive Anglophone region of Southwest.

The weapons, which included pistols, hunting rifles, and bullets were discovered in an artisanal arms factory on Monday during an operation in Mokunda neighborhood of Buea, the chief town of the region, the gendarmerie said in a statement.

The gendarmerie did not say whether the suspects were linked to separatist fighters who have been clashing with government forces in the region since 2017 in a bid to create an independent nation in Cameroon's two Anglophone regions.

Officials said the suspects will be arraigned in court "as soon as possible". 
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Tuesday stressed that dialogue and consultation are the right way to address the Kosovo issue.

Since June this year, the Kosovo authorities have been taking unilateral actions on issues such as ID documents and vehicle license plates, which have led to rounds of severe escalation in northern Kosovo, disrupting the process of normalizing relations between Serbia and Kosovo, and impacting security and stability in the Balkans and Southeast Europe, said Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

China is concerned about the situation, he said.

With the good offices of relevant parties, the two sides have reached agreement on the issue of ID documents. China welcomes this development, he told the Security Council.

The issue of license plates is pending resolution. Kosovo's demand to complete the replacement of license plates by the end of this month may trigger protests and even clashes and aggravate tensions once again. Such a scenario must be avoided, he said.

Dialogue and consultation are the right way to address the Kosovo issue. China encourages both sides to continue to engage with each other in a pragmatic and constructive manner, and implement the outcomes of previous negotiations. In accordance with the provisions of the Brussels agreement, Kosovo should advance the establishment of the community of Serb municipalities, he said.

The harmonious coexistence of all ethnic groups is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving stability in Kosovo. Recently, there have been a number of incidents against ethnic minorities and their places of worship in Kosovo. China hopes Kosovo authorities will take effective measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents so as to guarantee the security and the legitimate rights and interests of all ethnic groups in Kosovo, including Serbs.

China's position on the Kosovo issue has been consistent and clear. China hopes the parties concerned can work with each other within the framework of Security Council Resolution 1244 to reach a mutually acceptable political solution through sincere dialogue, and fully respect Serbia's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity in this process, he said. 
Xi Jinping presides over the third meeting of the presidium of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The presidium of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held its third meeting on Friday morning. Xi Jinping presided over the meeting.

Participants at the meeting approved the draft lists of candidates for members and alternate members of the 20th CPC Central Committee, as well as for members of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

The presidium meeting decided to submit the lists to delegations for deliberation.

The lists were generated through competitive preliminary elections conducted by delegations to the congress.

The preliminary elections were conducted under the supervision of ballot scrutineers in accordance with the election methods of the congress. Over 8 percent of the nominees were voted off in the preliminary elections.

The results of the preliminary elections are valid, according to the presidium.

The formal elections for the Party's new central committee and CCDI will be held on Saturday morning. 

The presidium of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) holds its third meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng attended the meeting. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The presidium of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held its third meeting at the Great Hall of the People on the morning of October 21. The draft name lists of candidates for members and alternate members of the 20th CPC Central Committee, as well as candidates for members of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) were approved at the meeting. The draft name lists were submitted to the Party Congress delegations for deliberation.

Comrade Xi Jinping presided over the meeting.

At the meeting, the draft name lists of candidates for members and alternate members of the 20th CPC Central Committee, as well as candidates for members of the CCDI were approved, and a decision was made to submit the name lists to the delegations for deliberation. The draft name lists were produced by competitive preliminary elections conducted among the Party Congress delegations.

Since October 19, all delegations had been deliberating on the name lists of preliminary nominees for candidates for members and alternate members of the 20th CPC Central Committee and preliminary nominees for candidates for members of the CCDI, which were put forward by the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee and approved by the presidium. Delegates endorsed that the lists were produced on the basis of rigorous organizational procedure and full intra-Party democracy. The preliminary nominees for candidates, all highly qualified, are the Party's backbone personnel and advanced representatives from different regions, departments and various fronts and all walks of life. Featuring a well-structured contingent with balanced composition and close bond with the people, the lists are regarded as well-conceived.

On the afternoon of October 20 and the morning of October 21, all delegations to the Party Congress held their plenary meetings, where preliminary nominees for candidates for members and alternate members of the 20th CPC Central Committee and candidates for CCDI members were voted in preliminary elections. In accordance with the election methods adopted at the congress, competitive elections were conducted, and the elimination margins for candidates were more than 8 percent. The preliminary elections were conducted under the leadership of the presidium and the supervision of ballot scrutineers, and the results are legal and valid.

According to the election methods and schedule of the congress, the draft name lists of candidates for members and alternate members of the new CPC Central Committee and candidates for members of the new CCDI, approved at the third meeting of the presidium of the 20th CPC National Congress, were submitted to the delegations for consideration in their group meetings on the afternoon of October 21.

The formal elections will be held at the closing meeting of the Party Congress on the morning of October 22. 
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe (1st R) is presented the country's first-ever green apple harvest at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Oct. 20, 2022. (President's Media Division of Sri Lanka/Handout via Xinhua)

The Sri Lankan government encourages farmers to cultivate and produce more local fruits and vegetables to boost the agricultural sector.

COLOMBO, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday was presented the country's first-ever green apple harvest as the country looks to strengthen its agricultural sector amid a food shortage.

The President's Media Division said in a statement that farmer M.P. Lakshman Kumara had cultivated the green apples on two acres of land from Thambuttegama in the North Central Province and handed over his maiden harvest to the president in Colombo.

During their talks, Kumara told the president that the apple seeds were imported and following proper testing, he had initiated the apple cultivation.

The farmer said it is possible to produce and provide the seeds needed to popularize this cultivation, and that these seeds had been produced in a manner that they could be cultivated in any part of Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, 70 percent of the 21 million population live in non-urban areas, and agriculture provides a livelihood for approximately 40 percent of them.

The government has encouraged farmers to cultivate and produce more local fruits and vegetables in order to strengthen the export market, which will benefit the local economy.
by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- As winter nears, Turkiye has filled its underground natural gas storage units to the brim, confident to be immune from the energy aftershock of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

In October, the state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (Botas) announced that the country's two underground natural gas facilities have reached a "storage capacity of 100 percent."

With respective storage capacities of 4.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) and 1.2 bcm, the two facilities should provide enough gas to cover about 10 percent of annual consumption, according to Botas.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently said his country is impacted by the global energy crunch but is not expected to face any disruptions this winter.

Ali Arif Akturk, an energy researcher and expert, said Turkiye is not facing shortages this winter like the European continent.

"We are not expecting a shortage or cut in Russian natural gas supplies," he told Xinhua, saying the good relations between Ankara and Moscow would prevent any gas supply disruptions to Turkiye.

"Gas shortage to Turkiye is not likely as Russia would like to export its gas to willing nations," he said.

The expert, however, warned that in times of crisis, the current gas storage facilities would not satisfy the needs of major cities such as Istanbul and Ankara, the two largest cities with a total population of over 21 million people, which are also industrial hubs consuming huge amounts of natural gas.

The annual gas consumption in Turkiye rose from 48 bcm in 2020 to a record 60 bcm in 2021 and is expected to reach 62 bcm to 63 bcm this year, according to official figures.

Mehmet Dogan, another energy analyst, warned that sooner rather than later Turkiye has to take measures to reduce its dependency on Russian gas in order not to be affected by future energy crises.

"This crisis has shown us that we can't rely on foreign imports, we need to develop our renewable energy resources," he said on his Twitter account.

The country has reserves under the Black Sea yet to be developed and limited local sources in the European part of the country.

Turkiye is heavily reliant on gas imports, from both pipelines and LNG (liquefied natural gas), with Russia being the top gas supplier. 
Officials from Jordan and China attend a foundation-laying ceremony for a China-funded road project in Al-Salt, Jordan, on Oct. 20, 2022. (Photo by Mohammad Abu Ghosh/Xinhua)

AMMAN, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The project of upgrading and rebuilding the Al-Salt/Al-Ardah Road in Jordan, which is funded by the Chinese government, broke ground on Thursday.

During the foundation-laying ceremony held at one end of the road, Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Chen Chuandong said the project would improve the road condition, boost logistics efficiency, and promote the development of tourism, industry and agriculture in Jordan.

The project, which is expected to create hundreds of jobs, will help raise the standard of living for Jordanians, he said.

The Chinese envoy said that the road would become a "road of convenience" that facilitates people's movement, a "road of prosperity" that promotes socio-economic development, and a "road of bonds" that deepens the friendship between China and Jordan.

Noting that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Chen said China regards Jordan as an important partner in promoting regional peace and development.

He called on the two countries to build stronger synergy between their development strategies and advance high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative to ensure people from both countries benefit from the win-win collaboration.

For his part, Jordanian Minister of Public Works and Housing Yahya Kasbi said the project, which is of great importance for Jordan, is a testimony of the solid relations between the two countries.

The Jordanian government is keen on enhancing ties with China in all areas, he said, stressing that the project will benefit many Jordanians, especially farmers in the Jordan Valley.

Located in northwestern Jordan, the upgrading and rebuilding of the 12.5-kilometers-long four-lane road is expected to be finished in 18 months. 
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on improving the activities of the State Reserve Department of Shusha and amended the Presidential Decree No. 1375 of June 22, 2021 "On the establishment of the Shusha State Reserve Department".

The decree provides for the establishment of a Supervisory Board containing five members in order to conduct general management and control over the activities of the State Reserve Department of Shusha.
ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Two loud explosions ripped through a key government-controlled oil port in Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramout on Friday, a security official told Xinhua.

"Initial reports indicate that the Houthi militia launched an attack against Dhabah oil port using explosive-laden drones, causing explosions in the government-controlled area," the local security official said on condition of anonymity.

He clarified that the attack occurred while local authorities were preparing the shipment of crude exports to the global markets.

"Hours before the arrival of an exporting oil tanker to receive the shipment, two simultaneous explosions rocked the vicinity of Dhabah port that's completely secured by government forces," he said.

He confirmed that local security forces cordoned off all the main streets leading to Dhabah oil port and deployed heavily armored vehicles around the area following the explosions.

Earlier this month, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced that no agreement had been reached to renew the expired truce between Yemen's warring parties. The truce first went into force on April 2, and then was renewed twice through Oct. 2.

Failure to renew the UN-brokered truce prompted the Houthi militia to warn all foreign oil companies based in the government-controlled provinces to immediately cease operating or face missile attacks.

Yemeni government officials said that "the Houthi threats of attacking foreign oil companies operating in Yemen created a nationwide panic and badly affected the country's deteriorating economy."

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia stormed several northern cities and forced the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of the capital, Sanaa.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced four million, and pushed the country to the brink of starvation. 
Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks at the UN General Assembly Emergency Special Session on Ukraine at the UN headquarters in New York, Oct. 12, 2022. (Xinhua/Xie E)

Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, pointed out that the lack of resilience for women in conflict is rooted in the lack of development.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Thursday urged the international community to take concrete actions to achieve justice and development for women in conflict to strengthen their resilience.

Strengthening the resilience of women in conflict is inherent in the agenda for women, peace and security, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council open debate on the theme of "Strengthening Women's Resilience and Leadership as a Path to Peace in Regions Plagued by Armed Groups."

Behind strength and resilience is the expectation and hope for the future, he said, noting that only by achieving fairness and justice can women in conflict believe that they can look forward to the future.

Citing the Palestinian question, which has been dragging on for more than 70 years without a solution, Geng said that generations of Palestinian women "have seen their hair going from black to white."

"The international community must come up with concrete actions to uphold justice and deliver on its commitments to promote a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question at an early date, so as to return Palestinian women a belated justice," he said.

The envoy pointed out that the lack of resilience for women in conflict is rooted in the lack of development.

At present, the global food crisis is becoming more severe. The international community should speed up its response to the crisis and provide emergency assistance to vulnerable groups such as women in developing countries, he said.

China hopes that all parties concerned to the Ukrainian issue will promote dialogue and consultation, fully implement the Black Sea Grain Initiative and ensure that more grain is shipped to developing countries, Geng said.

"We should also take a long-term view in supporting women's economic empowerment and help more women earn their own living," he added.

Geng also urged the immediate lift of unilateral sanctions against countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela, saying that those unilateral measures are "the heavy shackles impeding the survival and development of local women." 
A Turkish scholar said that China's socialist modernization, backed by its rising economic strength in the world, is a well-functioning model.

Selcuk Colakoglu, director of the Ankara-based Turkish Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, said that China's path to modernization has its distinct features.

Colakoglu noted that China's economy achieved historical development during the past decade, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Chinese modernization is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature and of peaceful development. The CPC aims to basically realize socialist modernization through 2035.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
NICOSIA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The number of asylum seekers arriving in Cyprus has doubled so far this year, compared to the same period in 2021, official figures showed.

The number has swelled to 17,000 this year, an official from the Ministry of the Interior said on Thursday.

Arrivals of unaccompanied children in Cyprus has also trebled this year, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Costas Constantinou told a parliamentary committee.

Cyprus is one of the so-called front-line Mediterranean European Union (EU) countries (MED5 group), which receive the largest numbers of irregular immigrants in relation to their populations.

Interior Minister Nicos Nouris told a ministerial conference of the MED5 group in Cyprus earlier this month that asylum seekers make up over 4 percent of the country's population. 
Journalists attend a press conference via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosted the press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" on Friday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

A journalist asks a question during a press conference via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosted the press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" on Friday. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosts a press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. Zhai Qing, vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, attended the press conference. (Xinhua/Jia Haocheng)

The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosts a press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. Zhai Qing, vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, attended the press conference. (Xinhua/Jia Haocheng)

Zhai Qing, vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, speaks at a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosted the press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" on Friday. (Xinhua/Song Yanhua)

Journalists raise their hands to ask questions during a press conference via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 21, 2022. The press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosted the press conference on the topic "Building A Beautiful China Where Humanity and Nature Co-Exist in Harmony" on Friday. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)
LUSAKA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Zambia on Thursday launched an initiative aimed at providing a conducive environment for boosting the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products.

Launched under the theme "Strengthening Healthcare through local pharmaceutical manufacturing", the Zambia Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Initiative was meant to reduce the country's dependence on imported pharmaceutical products.

Sylvia Masebo, the Minister of Health, said during the launch that the main objective of the initiative was to create an enabling environment aimed at revamping the local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.

According to her, it was unfortunate that despite bearing a disproportionate burden of disease, Africa imports between 70-90 percent of essential medical needs.

She said local pharmaceutical production represents between 10-15 percent of the demand for pharmaceutical products, resulting in the country importing the bulk of products.

"Virtually all active pharmaceutical ingredients and other inputs used in the local production of finished formulations are imported. Hence, many countries in the region have been particularly vulnerable to shocks in the global supply chain for medicines and medical supplies," she said.

The minister said the COVID-19 pandemic exposed Zambia's vulnerability in ensuring access to vital medicines and medical supplies, adding that the country, as well as other African countries, views the supply of safe, effective and affordable medicines and vaccines as a national security issue.

She said to boost pharmaceutical production, Zambia needs affordable finance, access to technology, and appropriate policies as well as the legal framework for firms to upgrade production to international quality standards.

Zambia, she said, also needs strengthened partnership mentorship programs to help the local pharmaceutical manufacturers to best prepare themselves for partnerships with international pharmaceutical firms, financial institutions, and development partners.

The minister further said a working group committee has since been established which was expected to come up with a roadmap as well as a strategy for enhancing the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. 
MOGADISHU, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Somali government has called on citizens to stay away from territories controlled by al-Shabab terrorists amid an all-out war against the insurgents across the country.

The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism reaffirmed the government's commitment to fighting the terror group until they are completely eliminated from Somalia and ensures that it is no longer a threat to the region and the world.

"Citizens are also warned to stay away from regions taken by the al-Shabab as the Somalia National Army (SNA) and local forces will continue with the ruthless raids against these violent extremists," the ministry said in a statement issued Wednesday night.

The ministry said al-Shabab insurgents who have been waging a war against the government for several years continue to ruin and plunder Somalia and neighboring countries.

It said the government forces supported by local clan militia launched major offensives in central Somalia's Hiran region in the past 24 hours, reclaiming territories in the region.

Several al-Shabab fighters have been killed and others injured while several more have been captured and others surrendered to the national forces, the ministry said.

It said the government is ready to receive militants who are willing to surrender and denounce violence.

"It is only in doing so that they shall escape the wrath of the SNA and local forces," the ministry said, vowing to intensify military operations in strict compliance with its obligations under international humanitarian law, human rights law, Islamic law, and Somali customary rules of warfare.

The extremist group was driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 but it is still capable of conducting attacks, targeting government installations, hotels, restaurants, and public places. 
Photo taken on Oct. 9, 2022 shows flooded houses in the Ahoada West area of Rivers state, south Nigeria. (NAN via Xinhua)

Health authorities in Nigeria's southern state of Anambra on Thursday expressed fear over a possible outbreak of cholera and other infectious diseases in the state following recent devastating floods in the region.

LAGOS, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities in Nigeria's southern state of Anambra on Thursday expressed fear over a possible outbreak of cholera and other infectious diseases in the state following recent devastating floods in the region.

Speaking at a press briefing Thursday in Awka, the state capital, Chioma Ezenyimulu, head of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, said the flood disaster in seven out of the 21 local government areas of the state had heightened fears of a possible outbreak of cholera and other diseases.

"We are worried that with the devastating flood disaster, the state might witness cholera and other infectious diseases," Ezenyimulu said.

Photo taken on Oct. 6, 2022 shows flooded houses in the Sagbama local government area of Bayelsa state, south Nigeria. (NAN via Xinhua)

The health official urged the public to observe good hygiene and keep the environment clean to avoid any outbreak.

Cholera is a highly virulent disease, characterized in its most severe form by the sudden onset of acute watery diarrhea that can lead to death by severe dehydration.

Parts of Nigeria have been hit hard by floods during the rainy season this year, with at least 603 people killed and more than 1.3 million people displaced so far by flood disasters across the country, said Sadiya Farouq, the minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, at a press conference in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, Sunday. 
BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of foreign political parties worldwide have congratulated the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and General Secretary Xi Jinping of the committee on the opening of the 20th CPC National Congress.

In their congratulatory messages, they spoke highly of the CPC's remarkable achievements and its important contributions to improving the well-being of the Chinese people and people in the rest of the world.

The CPC has led the Chinese people to continuous progress, setting a fine example of working for the well-being of the country and its people, said Azat Peruashev, chairman of the Ak Zhol Democratic Party of Kazakhstan.

The CPC pursues an independent policy concerning its external affairs, which promotes global development and safeguards world peace, playing a big role in advancing the cause of human progress, said Saparmyrat Ovganov, chairman of the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan.

The 20th CPC National Congress is a major event in China's political life, which will open a new journey for China's development and further enhance China's important status in the international arena, said President of the Brazilian Socialist Party Carlos Siqueira.

China has made tremendous achievements in development and demonstrated to the world the advantage of the CPC's leadership and the socialist system, said Chairman of the German Communist Party Patrik Kobele.

Kobele voiced strong confidence that the 20th CPC National Congress will lay a solid foundation for China to realize socialist modernization.

With the unremitting efforts of the CPC, China has made extraordinary achievements in the fields including economy, politics, society, culture and national defense, said Sergey Mironov, chairman of A Just Russia-Patriots-For Truth party.

The 20th CPC National Congress will provide a good opportunity for the new development of Iran-China relations and bring more opportunities for the two ancient Asian civilizations to expand cooperation in various fields, said Asadollah Badamchian, secretary-general of Iran's Islamic Coalition Party.

The unity, selfless dedication and strong leadership of the CPC have made itself outstanding among the world's political parties, said Peter Lam Both, interim secretary general of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in South Sudan, expressing confidence that with the successful convening of the 20th CPC National Congress, the friendship between the two parties will move to a higher level.

Under the leadership of the CPC, China has made great achievements in various fields of development, said Francois Ngarambe, secretary general of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), adding that the RPF has full confidence in the leadership of the CPC and believes that the 20th CPC National Congress will surely be a complete success.

Batuke Imenda, secretary general of Zambia's United Party for National Development (UPND), said that the CPC has been committed to serving the people and has provided a useful reference for the UPND.

Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee and Xi, China has made remarkable achievements, said Veronica Maina, secretary general of Kenya's United Democratic Alliance.

She expressed confidence that the exchanges between the two parties will continue to promote the healthy and stable development of Kenya-China relations and contribute to building a high-level Africa-China community with a shared future. 
BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Positive progress has been made in promoting the green development of the Belt and Road Initiative, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment Zhai Qing said Friday.

An international coalition for the Belt and Road green development has been established, which currently has more than 150 partners from over 40 countries, Zhai told a press conference held on the sidelines of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

The coalition has worked to strengthen policy dialogues and joint research, and support the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, he said.

Efforts have been made to improve the innovation and exchanges of green technologies and cultivate talent in environmental management.

"We have trained about 3,000 environmental management personnel, experts and scholars from more than 120 countries, building consensus and synergy for green development," Zhai said.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative envisions trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes. 
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

The Caucasus Eagle-2022 special forces drills with servicemen from Azerbaijan and Turkiye in presence came to an end in Georgia, Azernews reports, citing the Defense Ministry.

On October 20, an event marked the formal completion of the training at the Vaziani military facility outside Tbilisi.

Georgian Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze, Azerbaijani military attache in Georgia Lt-Col Fuad Ibrahimov, as well as the representatives of the Turkish embassy and the Georgian Defense Forces, attended the ceremony.

The drills kicked off at Georgias Mukhrovani military base on October 10. Every year, Azerbaijani, Turkish, and Georgian special forces participate in the Caucasus Eagle drills.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Azerbaijani Military Attache's Office in Turkiye met with General Atilla Gulan, who has recently been appointed Commander of the Turkish Air Force, to discuss the dynamics of the growth of military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkiye, the ministry said in a separate report.

At the meeting in Ankara, the sides exchanged views on bilateral relations between the defense ministries of the two fraternal countries.

Military attache Col Mushfig Mammadov thoroughly informed Gulan about the 44-day war with Armenia in 2020, as well as the rapid construction activities carried out in Azerbaijans liberated lands.

Mammadov pointed out that the brilliant victory won in the 44-day war created favorable conditions for regional peace, stability, and prosperity in the post-conflict period. He highlighted the work carried out in this regard.

The sides emphasized that the relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye, including military cooperation, are based on brotherhood and friendship. The officials underlined the importance of further military cooperation between the two nations.
CAIRO, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Arab Parliament (AP) demanded on Friday an immediate intervention from the international community to end the strict siege imposed by Israel on the occupied Palestinian city of Nablus.

"The above ten-day siege led to severe deterioration of economic conditions in Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank," the legislative body of the Arab League said in a statement.

The AP deemed the siege as "a blatant violation of all international laws and norms," noting the tragic conditions of the people in Nablus necessitate decisive and immediate actions by the international community, it said.

The Israeli army has imposed a strict siege on the city of Nablus since October 11, blocking the city's entrances with military checkpoints.

The siege came in the wake of a shooting attack carried out by the Lion's Den group near Nablus, in which an Israeli soldier was killed on October 11. 
Geng Shuang (C), China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks during a Security Council open debate on the theme of "Strengthening Women's Resilience and Leadership as a Path to Peace in Regions Plagued by Armed Groups", at the UN headquarters in New York, Oct. 20, 2022. Geng Shuang on Thursday urged the international community to take concrete actions to achieve justice and development for women in conflict to strengthen their resilience. (Xinhua/Xie E)

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Thursday urged the international community to take concrete actions to achieve justice and development for women in conflict to strengthen their resilience.

Strengthening the resilience of women in conflict is inherent in the agenda for women, peace and security, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council open debate on the theme of "Strengthening Women's Resilience and Leadership as a Path to Peace in Regions Plagued by Armed Groups."

Behind strength and resilience is the expectation and hope for the future, he said, noting that only by achieving fairness and justice can women in conflict believe that they can look forward to the future.

Citing the Palestinian question, which has been dragging on for more than 70 years without a solution, Geng said that generations of Palestinian women "have seen their hair going from black to white."

"The international community must come up with concrete actions to uphold justice and deliver on its commitments to promote a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question at an early date, so as to return Palestinian women a belated justice," he said.

The envoy pointed out that the lack of resilience for women in conflict is rooted in the lack of development.

At present, the global food crisis is becoming more severe. The international community should speed up its response to the crisis and provide emergency assistance to vulnerable groups such as women in developing countries, he said.

China hopes that all parties concerned to the Ukrainian issue will promote dialogue and consultation, fully implement the Black Sea Grain Initiative and ensure that more grain is shipped to developing countries, Geng said.

"We should also take a long-term view in supporting women's economic empowerment and help more women earn their own living," he added.

Geng also urged the immediate lift of unilateral sanctions against countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela, saying that those unilateral measures are "the heavy shackles impeding the survival and development of local women." 
This photo taken on Jan. 21, 2022 shows the flight of an ornithopter developed by Beihang University. (Beihang University/Handout via Xinhua)

BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese university research team has set a Guinness record for the longest flight duration of an ornithopter, an unmanned aircraft that flies by flapping its mechanical wings.

Built by researchers and students from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, also known as Beihang University, the birdlike machine flew continuously for 1 hour 30 minutes and 4.98 seconds.

A video released Thursday shows the record-setting flight (single charge) that took place in an open ground in Beijing on July 21.

The university unveiled the Guinness World Records certificate in its press release.

Powered by lithium-ion battery, the flapper drone weighs 1.6 kg, has a wingspan of 2 meters and is capable of flying at a speed of 10 meters per second.

Zhao Longfei, an associate researcher at the university's Research Institute for Frontier Science and a member of the research team, said the team applied for the Guinness challenge in October 2021.

The previous flying durations of ornithopters worldwide were short, most of which could last just around half an hour, which was significantly behind other types of conventional aircraft, so the world record had been unoccupied, Zhao added.

During previous flight tests, the Chinese aircraft lasted just 53 minutes. After optimization of its power system and wing dynamics, its performance soared, reaching the best possible condition to create the world record.

Ornithopters imitate the flapping-wing flight of birds, bats and insects. They have potential applications in many fields, such as Mars exploration, airport bird repelling and near-space aircraft study, Zhao said. 

This photo taken on Jan. 21, 2022 shows the flight of an ornithopter developed by Beihang University. (Beihang University/Handout via Xinhua)

This photo taken on Jan. 21, 2022 shows the flight of an ornithopter developed by Beihang University. (Beihang University/Handout via Xinhua)
The project of upgrading and rebuilding the Al-Salt/Al-Ardah Road in Jordan, which is funded by the Chinese government, broke ground on Thursday.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
HARARE, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's Judiciary Services Commission (JSC) is calling on members of the public to participate in a debate on the removal or retention of judicial wigs.

There has been ongoing debate worldwide on whether or not judicial wigs should be retained or removed as part of the official judicial attire and the transformation of the judiciary.

"These calls have now gained considerable traction and are now echoed in the Zimbabwean Judiciary. The Honorable Judges of the Superior Courts debated the subject matter at the end of the first term symposium held in April 2022 in Masvingo. It is on this basis that Chief Justice Luke Malaba, constituted the Judicial Wigs Committee to stir discussion and solicit the views and comments of all stakeholders in the justice delivery system and the public," the JSC said in a statement Thursday.

The Commission said soliciting public opinion is part of concerted efforts to inform and direct public policy on the matter.

Respondents have up to Nov.3, 2022, to submit their contributions, the JSC said.

This week, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) challenged the continued wearing of wigs by judges in higher courts as outdated and intimidatory.

"The practice of wearing wigs by judges of the superior courts in Zimbabwe must be dropped as this is now outdated and not relevant," said ZLHR.

"The wigs were introduced to Africa during colonial days. Most former British colonies that include Zimbabwe still have the practice of judges wearing wigs... This practice must be dropped to save money that could be reallocated for other necessary costs such as subsidizing the user fees," the ZLHR said. 
Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy party, shows her ballots at a polling station in Rome, Italy, Sept. 25, 2022. (Xinhua/Jin Mamengni)

Her new cabinet, which will include 22 ministers, will be sworn in on Saturday, Ugo Zampetti, secretary general of the Presidency of the Republic, told reporters.

ROME, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right populist Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, became Italy's first woman prime minister on Friday.

The official announcement came after she met with the country's President, Sergio Mattarella, at the Quirinale Presidential Palace here in the afternoon.

Meloni received the mandate to form a new cabinet less than a month after her victory in the country's snap election on Sept. 25.

Her new cabinet, which will include 22 ministers, will be sworn in on Saturday, Ugo Zampetti, secretary general of the Presidency of the Republic, told reporters.

Outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi waves to lawmakers at the end of his address at the lower house of parliament in Rome, Italy, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)

Meloni's FdI party won 26 percent of the vote in September, and she will now lead the country in a right-wing alliance with Matteo Salvini's League party and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right Forza Italia, each of which snagged just over 8 percent.

Next week, the new government will face confidence votes in both houses of Parliament.

Meloni's government is set to command a comfortable majority in both houses of Parliament (Chamber of Deputies and Senate).

The snap election in September was called after Mario Draghi -- an economist and former chief of the European Central Bank -- resigned as prime minister on July 21. 




ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The governments of Ethiopia and Djibouti have expressed the need to augment electricity connectivity to spur socio-economic ties among the two neighboring countries.

This came as the Ethiopia-Djibouti 230-Kilo Volts (kV) second circuit high power transmission line and distribution station construction project officially started, state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) reported Friday.

Ashebir Balcha, Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), said during the launching event that the project will have socio-economic significance to the two connected countries.

Noting that the project will generate more foreign currency for Ethiopia, Balcha said the new electric transmission line will "play a massive role" for Djibouti in stimulating its industry and extending access to electricity by purchasing power at a reasonable price.

The project will further expedite regional energy connectivity and strengthen the electricity and transport linkage of the two countries, FBC quoted Balcha as saying.

Deputy Director General of Djibouti Electricity Institute, Abubakar Hassan, on his part emphasized that the second power transmission line construction project is of paramount importance to Djibouti.

Hassan said the project would enable the Red Sea nation to address the lack of energy supply through the provision of uninterrupted power supply to the society at a reasonable price.

He stated that the project will include expansion construction at Kombolcha II and Semera substations, and a 230-kV new substation will be constructed in Mille town, in the Afar region of Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is working to boost electric power export from the already functional and under-construction power plants to its neighboring African countries.

In July, the Ethiopian government said it earned some 5 billion Ethiopian birrs (about 95 million U.S. dollars) from energy exports to neighboring countries during the previous Ethiopian 2021/22 fiscal year that ended on July 7.

The earnings, a record high, were achieved through electric energy exports to Djibouti and Sudan, according to figures from the EEP.

According to data given by the EEP, the revenue was up 5 million U.S. dollars when compared with the previous fiscal year.

Ethiopia's energy exports are part of a broader plan to economically integrate the East African region through electricity.

The energy sector is one of the country's priorities as it envisages becoming a light manufacturing hub in Africa and a middle-income economy within the coming few years. Ethiopia has identified hydro, wind, geothermal, solar, and biomass for energy generation projects. 
Photo taken on Oct. 20, 2022 shows bicycles at a docking station for public sharing in Cairo, Egypt. In the well-known Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, over 20 orange-colored bicycles were lined up at a docking station for public sharing as the first bike-sharing project was inaugurated in the Egyptian capital on Thursday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

by Mahmoud Fouly

CAIRO, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- On the well-known Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, over 20 orange-colored bicycles were lined up at a docking station for public sharing as the first bike-sharing project was inaugurated in the Egyptian capital on Thursday.

The Cairo Bike project was launched by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, accompanied by Cairo Governor Khaled Abdel-Aal. The first phase of the project includes 250 GPS-tracked bicycles in 26 solar-powered docking stations, while the total two-phase project will finally include a fleet of 500 bicycles in 45 stations across Cairo.

Local residents were excited to experience riding a bike in the crowded capital as each of them can enjoy the first ride for free during the first phase.

Ahmed Mahmoud, a local resident, described the experience as "amazing."

"I have a car but when I go downtown, I take the underground metro. Now there are bike docking stations near metro stations, so I can use the metro to reach downtown and then ride a bike to go around and return it to the nearest docking station," Mahmoud said.

Rania Sameh, an engineering student and one of the Cairo Bike team members, was among a group of people who rode bicycles together during the inauguration event.

"This bike-sharing system helps people reduce their dependency on cars. Along with public means of transport, these bicycles can be an eco-friendly alternative to cars," she told Xinhua.

A resident can hire a bicycle for 1 Egyptian pound (about 0.05 U.S. dollars) per hour or 8 pounds per day through a mobile application or a prepaid card, with a discount for students.

The bike docking stations are installed near metro and bus stations, main squares, and public places to make it easy for citizens to find the nearest one before and after their bike trips.

The main stations will host 28 bicycles while smaller ones will have 8-10 bicycles. There are also new bike lanes created in several main streets of downtown Cairo to make bike riding safe.

Ahmed Arafa, a supervisor of the Cairo Bike project, explained that anyone who seeks to hire a bike should first install Cairo Bike app, register and add their Visa card or get a prepaid card from the Cairo Bike head office in downtown.

"It's a good project, mainly targeting young people, but we found that many Egyptians of all ages are interested in our bike sharing," Arafa told Xinhua.

The Cairo Bike project comes a couple of weeks ahead of Egypt's hosting of the 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh in November.

"Cairo Governorate is working hard to keep pace with modern developments and provide everything that would support the integration of environmentally-friendly transportation and facilitate healthy practices," Abdel-Aal was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Cairo Governorate.

The project, launched by the Cairo Governorate in cooperation with the UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), is funded by Switzerland's Drosos Foundation and technically supported and supervised by the New York-based Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. 

People ride bicycles for public sharing in Cairo, Egypt, on Oct. 20, 2022. In the well-known Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, over 20 orange-colored bicycles were lined up at a docking station for public sharing as the first bike-sharing project was inaugurated in the Egyptian capital on Thursday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

Photo taken on Oct. 20, 2022 shows bicycles at a docking station for public sharing in Cairo, Egypt. In the well-known Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, over 20 orange-colored bicycles were lined up at a docking station for public sharing as the first bike-sharing project was inaugurated in the Egyptian capital on Thursday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
OUAGADOUGOU, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Captain Ibrahim Traore was sworn in Friday as the transitional president of Burkina Faso in front of the Constitutional Council in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.

Traore promised before the people of Burkina Faso "to preserve, respect, ensure respect for and defend the constitution, the transition charter and laws, to do everything possible to guarantee justice for all the inhabitants of Burkina Faso."

Unanimously appointed as transition president to lead the transitional period of Burkina Faso during a national assembly a week ago, Traore signed a new transitional charter, according to which the transitional government will be composed of a prime minister and a maximum of 25 ministers, while the transitional legislative assembly will consist of 71 members.

The coup led by Traore was the second one this year in the country since former President Roch Marc Christian Kabore was overthrown on Jan. 24. 
GENEVA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Record flooding has hit two-thirds of South Sudan, affecting over 900,000 people, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday.

UNHCR spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov told a press briefing in Geneva that the Sudanese capital Bentiu has become an island surrounded by floodwaters.

All roads in and out of the city were flooded, with boats and the airstrip serving as lifelines for humanitarian aid to reach the 460,000 people already displaced by both flooding and conflict.

He called for international support for humanitarian efforts in the country, in the face of a fourth consecutive year of record-breaking rains, with worse to come as the climate crisis accelerates.

"Camps for the internally displaced are below the current water level, protected from floodwaters only by dikes -- large, compacted mounds of earth -- erected by the United Nations, the government, and the inhabitants themselves," he said.

There is an increasing need for food, shelter, water, and sanitation supplies, Cheshirkov added.

According to UNHCR, South Sudan's refugee crisis is the largest in Africa, with over 2.3 million South Sudanese refugees having fled to neighboring countries.

Meanwhile, an estimated 2.2 million people were internally displaced within the country, which also hosts over 340,000 refugees.

Wracked by civil war for most of its brief history, South Sudan is afflicted by widespread intercommunal violence, the devastating effects of climate change, and severe food insecurity affecting 60 percent of its population of 11 million. 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on the approval of the composition of the Supervisory Board of Shusha City State Reserve Administration public legal entity.

According to the decree, the following composition of the Supervisory Board was approved:

Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Aydin Karimov - Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan in the Shusha district

Members of the Supervisory Board

Elnur Aliyev - First Deputy Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan

Elnur Aliyev - First Deputy Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan

Namig Gummatov - First Deputy Chairman of the Azerbaijan State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture

Azada Huseynova - Deputy Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan.

This decree comes into force from the date of its signing.
Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong (L) and David Carter (R), former speaker of the New Zealand Parliament, visit a photo exhibition of Rewi Alley during a symposium to commemorate Alley's spirit and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between China and New Zealand, in Christchurch, New Zealand, Oct. 20, 2022.

An old friend of the Chinese people, Rewi Alley, a New Zealand-born writer, social reformer and educator, had spent 60 years living and working in China before he died in 1987 in Beijing. He was the one who opened the door for New Zealand-China diplomatic ties. (Photo by Kevin Zeng/Xinhua)

by Li Huizi, Lu Huaiqian

WELLINGTON, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Recalling her second trip to China in 2017, Jocelyn Alley-Watkin was bubbling with excitement.

"I remember the day when we were in Shandan, Gansu Province, almost the whole people of Shandan came out to support us. It was very emotional. People were so friendly," said Watkin, cousin of Rewi Alley, a New Zealand-born writer, social reformer and educator.

An old friend of the Chinese people, Alley had spent 60 years living and working in China before he died in 1987 in Beijing. He was the one who opened the door for New Zealand-China diplomatic ties.

Watkin told Xinhua she could feel the strong love and support the Chinese people showed towards Alley.

"As a family member, it was overwhelming. He would have hated all the fuss. He was the kind of guy who just want to get things done," Watkin said.

In 2017, the Alley family visited Gansu's Shandan County where Alley spent 10 years between 1942 and 1951. As an internationalist fighter and a socialist, he built a school there and worked with local people to grow crops and sustain a community.

Watkin had very fond memories of her trip to Gansu Province and was excited to meet young people from Gansu at Thursday's symposium in Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and Alley's hometown, to commemorate Alley's spirit and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between China and New Zealand.

Through Alley's help, local farmers in Gansu learned industrial skills such as driving and maintaining trucks in the 1940s, a critical time for the liberation of China. Alley also trained early oil workers for Gansu's Yumen Oilfield, the earliest oilfield exploited in China.

When he died in 1987 in Beijing, his ashes were, under his will, brought back to Gansu and scattered over the Shandan countryside.

The Christchurch-Gansu link was initiated in 1984 by Alley, who likened the landscape of the northwestern Chinese county to his hometown.

RICH LEGACY

This year marks the 50th anniversary of China-New Zealand diplomatic relations and the 125th anniversary of Rewi Alley's birth, which is "a golden opportunity" to celebrate the rich legacy he left behind and to uphold his spirit and promote the growth of bilateral ties, Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong told Thursday's Rewi Alley symposium.

"Alley has lived a noble and selfless life. His decades of dedication won him not only love and acclamation from Chinese people but also respect worldwide," Wang said, adding Alley opened a window, through his writings and speeches, for Kiwis to understand China.

"We need more Rewi Alleys," Wang said, calling for drawing inspiration from his legacy, passing on the spirit from generation to generation, and making the China-New Zealand friendship thrive.

John McKinnon, chair of the New Zealand China Council, said Alley made important contributions to the Chinese people's fight against the fascist invasion, the economic development of the new China, and the friendship between China and New Zealand.

"As we all know, relationships take time to build. He was doing his work in China and building that relationship," Michelle MacWilliam, chair of the Christchurch China Sister Cities Committee, told Xinhua.

Alley worked in some Chinese provinces and cities including Shanghai, Wuhan, Gansu and Hong Kong on humanitarian work, MacWilliam said, adding he also provided the initiative of the Gung Ho ("work together") Movement, where people worked together, and that actually provided a micro economy for local villagers who were being displaced by war.

SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIP

"The 50 years of relationship between New Zealand and China is very successful," said David Carter, former speaker of the New Zealand Parliament, who also expressed optimism for the next 50 years.

Applauding people-to-people exchanges, Carter said, "Many people from China have made New Zealand their home." His own daughter Laura Carter went to China many times and even refused to come back to New Zealand during her first six-month stay in China. Laura Carter used to be an English teacher in a high school in China's coastal city of Xiamen.

"Having respect for different points of view, we will keep it in mind that (difference) will help the relationship," said David Carter.

"I should say the rest of the world should wake up to this -- China has been so successful during my lifetime ... that deserves recognition by the world," said Carter, who commended China's "remarkable achievement" of poverty reduction.

Tony Browne, former New Zealand Ambassador to China, has encouraged more young Kiwis to learn the Chinese language and culture and promote people-to-people exchanges so that future generations could carry forward the successful relationship.

Dave Bromwich, former national president of the New Zealand China Friendship Society, has made more than 50 visits to China and witnessed China's economic and social development over the past decades.

The Rewi Alley spirit should be passed on to the younger generation of both countries, Bromwich said.

Sylvia Yang, a young Chinese living in Auckland, proposed creating a virtual Rewi Alley in the metaverse.

"That was kind of cool. What a great idea! It is so inspiring and gives us hope for the future," Watkin said. "The future is in the youth, whether to China or Aotearoa (New Zealand). We need younger people working out the best ways to talk to each other."

"Alley's life was a meeting of edges, a bridge between East and West. In that sense, what he embodied, his legacy and his spirit, has never been more relevant today," said the Chinese ambassador, citing the remarks of a commentator on Alley's achievements and spiritual legacy. 

Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong addresses a symposium to commemorate Rewi Alley's spirit and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between China and New Zealand, in Christchurch, New Zealand, Oct. 20, 2022.

An old friend of the Chinese people, Rewi Alley, a New Zealand-born writer, social reformer and educator, had spent 60 years living and working in China before he died in 1987 in Beijing. He was the one who opened the door for New Zealand-China diplomatic ties. (Photo by Kevin Zeng/Xinhua)
JAKARTA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed in flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rain on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, an official said on Friday.

The floods and landslides hit the districts of Karangasem, Jembrana, Tabanan, Bangli, Gianyar and Badung.

The disasters which had struck the island since Monday also damaged infrastructures, public facilities and houses, head of Bali Disaster Mitigation Agency I Made Rentin told local media.

"The public is advised to remain alert to extreme weather that could potentially cause hydrometeorological disasters, such as floods, landslides, strong winds and fallen trees among others," Rentin said. 
HANOI, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has recorded the second monkeypox patient, who is a local woman returning to the country from abroad, local media reported on Friday.

As the patient was put under quarantine upon her arrival in Ho Chi Minh City from Dubai and did not come into contact with anyone in the community, there is no risk of community infection, Vietnam News Agency quoted Nguyen Hong Tam, deputy director of Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control and Prevention as reporting.

The latest case is a 38-year-old resident of the northern province of Tuyen Quang, who has recovered. She visited Dubai from September 29-October 18.

She and the first monkeypox patient lived in the same accommodation in Dubai but in different periods of time.

The first case of monkeypox was a 35-year-old woman who was confirmed infected with monkeypox in Ho Chi Minh City after returning on September 22.

Currently, people entering Vietnam from areas with monkeypox outbreaks are monitored and suspected carriers will be quarantined. 
QALA-E-NAW, Afghanistan, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Three children have been confirmed dead due to a blast of unexploded ordnance (UXO) left over from the past wars in the western Badghis province on Friday, the provincial police said in a statement.

The blast took place at 8:00 a.m. local time Friday in the Nawabad area of Muqar district when some children were collecting garbage and found a toy-like device but it exploded, killing three on the spot.

A doctor in Qala-e-Naw hospital named Ajmal Atef has confirmed that three children ranging from eight to 12 years old had been killed in a blast Friday morning.

A similar blast killed a young boy in the neighboring Farah province a couple of days ago.

Afghanistan has been regarded as one of the most mine contaminated countries in the world as the blasts of UXOs claim dozens of lives every month in the country. 
DUBLIN, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin on Thursday called on the British government to work together to support peace and stability in Northern Ireland (NI).

Martin made the remarks after the announcement of British Prime Minister Liz Truss's resignation earlier in the day.

"Working together to protect the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and to support peace and stability in Northern Ireland continue to be vital responsibilities for the British and Irish governments, particularly now in the absence of a functioning Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly," said Martin.

"Britain is Ireland's closest neighbor and a relationship of partnership between the British and Irish governments is vital for peace and prosperity on these islands," he noted.

Martin also called on the United Kingdom (UK) to make "substantive" engagement with the European Union (EU) on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Truss resigned after just over six weeks in office, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in UK history. 
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held a phone conversation over international security, the situation in Ukraine in particular, on Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a brief statement.

The Russian side did not provide further details.

According to the Pentagon, "Austin emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication" between the United States and Russia amid the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine. 
PRAGUE, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) transport ministers met here on Friday to discuss the development of railway transport, the future shape of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and energy prices.

During their informal meeting, the ministers discussed the development of high-speed rail lines in different parts of Europe and further investments from EU funds. They addressed the inclusion of some new links in the TEN-T network and better rail connectivity, according to a statement from the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU.

"The strengthening of transport relations will undoubtedly contribute not only to easier movement of people, but will also improve economic and social links both within the EU and beyond. We need to find ways to make rail transport more efficient and attractive for passengers," Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka said in the statement.

The ministers agreed on the necessity to continue with the electrification of the European railway network and discussed measures to reduce energy consumption on railways.

According to Kupka, these measures include the purchase of more efficient vehicles capable of energy recovery, the unification of power supply systems, greater use of local renewable energy sources, and the replacement of train station lightning for energy-saving type. 
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. pediatric hospital beds are filling up as cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common respiratory virus, are spiking nationwide.

Surveillance data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clearly shows a rise in RSV cases nationwide in recent weeks, with cases detected by PCR tests more than tripling over the past two months.

Cases are rising in multiple U.S. regions, with some already nearing seasonal peak levels, according to CDC data.

RSV usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but can be dangerous for some infants and young children, according to the CDC.

Virtually all children get an RSV infection by the time they are 2 years old. Most of the time RSV will cause a mild, cold-like illness, but it can also cause severe illness such as bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia (infection of the lungs), according to the CDC.

Each year, an estimated 58,000 American children younger than 5 years old are hospitalized due to RSV infection, according to the CDC.

Currently, hospitals in 33 U.S. states are seeing a "dramatic rise" in children suffering from RSV, said a report of CBS. Cases have more than doubled in 25 states, putting a strain on hospitals, with some facilities running out of beds.

At Connecticut Children's Hospital, doctors said they are slammed with a surge in RSV cases. Dr. John Brancato told CBS News that every inch of the emergency room is filled, and the hospital is considering putting a tent on the front lawn to handle the overflow.

The state of Connecticut is even thinking of bringing in the U.S. National Guard, said the report.

Further south, almost half of the ICU beds at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, are filled with RSV patients.

"It's going to be a rough winter," said Dr. Daniel Guzman, who works at the hospital. "We're already seeing our numbers spike over the last few weeks with over 550 E.R. (Emergency Room) visits per day."

Health experts are also expecting an active flu season in the United States, urging the public to get their flu shots to prevent from severe illnesses. 
New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the possible Cyclone Sitarang in the Bay of Bengal is expected to reach West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts by October 25 i.e. after Diwali. The IMD said in a statement that a low-pressure area formed over the Bay of Bengal on Thursday (October 20) and is expected to intensify into a cyclonic storm on October 24.

The low pressure area is forecast to move west-northwestwards and develop into a depression over east-central and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal around October 22. According to the guidelines of the World Meteorological Department (WMO), Thailand has named this cyclone Sitarang. It is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm over the west-central and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal by October 24. Thereafter, it is expected to move gradually north-eastwards and cross Odisha and reach the West Bengal-Bangladesh coast by October 25.

Director General of the Meteorological Department Mrityunjay Mohapatra has given this information to the media. However, he said that the IMD has not yet made any forecast on the possible heavy rainfall, intensity and wind speed of the cyclone. Between 1891 and 2021, 15 cyclones have crossed the Odisha coast so far in the month of October. The most intense supercyclone in the history of the Bay of Bengal in October was formed in 1999.

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RBI releases draft guidelines for regulated entities

Fifth Khelo India Youth Games to be hosted in Madhya Pradesh
Trekking plays an important role in Nepals tourism scene.

As the Nepal tourism industry was heading towards a revival post-Covid, Luca Wagner came to the mountainous country in the first week of October to trek the Manaslu circuit. He had heard a lot about it and was excited to trek one of the raw trails in Nepal that not many do. But, things got tricky for the German who, on his way to Larke Pass, got stuck as the rain brought landslides in the region and blocked the trail.

It was quite scary. Nothing happened, but things could have gone horribly wrong as we heard a Nepali died after getting caught in a landslide, says Wagner who returned to Kathmandu without completing his trek, I mean we had walked past different mudslides along the trail but managed to get to Samagaun safely. Trekking there, while it was raining, was a scary experience.

The first week of October was chaotic for the Nepal tourism industry. The extended monsoon caused major issues in the tourism sector as people got caught in landslides, some went missing, and many were left stranded as rescue flights could not fly due to poor weather.

So far, three people (two Nepalis and one US citizen) have been reported dead due to this, but there are enough reasons to believe that lack of security measures has once again put the lives of Nepali guides and international trekkers at risk. In spite of the risks, people were allowed to trek in regions which have seen some major disasters in the past killing a number of people. With neither the trekking companies nor government regulators taking accountability for this, there are questions if the Nepal tourism industry is ready to host millions of tourists every year.

Concerning chaos

Tourists crossed the Thorong Pass covered in snow.

Things were the same around the Annapurna Circut as tourists trying to cross the Thorong Pass had a hard time as they could not find the footrail. This, for Deepak Gurung, a trekking guide, brought back bad memories of 2014 when a blizzard in Manang and Mustang killed over 30 people, mostly on the 5,416-metre pass.

There were flashbacks as it was snowing heavily in Manang. I decided to not go further because it was too risky. Some groups went ahead and were lucky to make it out alive, says Gurung.

A similar issue plagued tourists trekking in Dopla, an emerging destination in the Nepal tourism industry. Over 100 trekkers in the region are believed to have been affected by rain as flash floods and landslides across the region made trekking very hard and in some areas impossible.

Ram Parajuli, a porter, says that in some areas, the flash floods were so fierce that they had to return to the same spot they spent the night before.

It was scary. There was no way we could have crossed it. The risk of landslides was huge too; Im not surprised people went missing there, he says.

The Himalayan Times reported that at least eight French tourists went out of contact in the Upper Dolpa region after they faced adverse weather conditions. Some were rescued, but most are still around the area.

The blame game

Landslides affected different parts of the Manaslu circuit trek. Photo: Recall Gorkha

Major patrons of the Nepal tourism industry come to Nepal to trek the remote areas and have a set itinerary. These people do not want to miss out on even a day as they do not want to miss their flight back home. But, in cases of emergencies, even though their trekking companies advise them not to go, many go on taking risks.

These people come here for a specific time and because they are here for a specific purpose, trekking in the mountains, they go despite the risks, says Nilhari Bastola, the president of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN).

Bastola agrees that the Nepal tourism sector has not learnt from past mistakes, but, right now, when the industry has only just kick-started after the coronavirus pandemic, it would have been impossible to tell people dont go.

We have failed to give other alternatives. We should have told people dont go to Manalsu or Dolpa or Everest and go instead to Langtang or Gosaikunda or other areas that were safe to travel, but we couldnt and that has been a failure on our part, says Bastola.

He says that in future, all trekking companies active in the Nepal tourism industry should do so as most mountain areas in the country do not have phone networks or internet and that causes a lot of issues when disaster hits. That said, he also calls on the government to help when there are disasters.

These people have bought permits from the government to get to these places. We feel its important that the government becomes a little more proactive to help find and rescue tourists stuck in remote areas, he says.

He says that the businesses had to seek help from the police to locate 11 tourists who went out of contact in Dhorpatan earlier this month after the Nepal Tourism Board and other authorities did not help.

The police from East Rukum helped and we were able to locate the people. Thankfully all of them were safe, he says.

The Tourist Police under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation says it did a lot of help find stranded tourists and missing ones but says the entire system needs to change for the Nepal tourism industry to get better.

We do our bit, but when we dont get information on how many tourists have come to the country and gone trekking to which area we cant do much, says inspector Chandra Kishor Shah, the spokesperson of Tourist Police.

He says issues like what happened in the first week of October will continue to happen if the government does not take the Nepal tourism industry seriously. He says a lack of professionalism and accountability in the sector is doing a lot of harm.

Officials at the Tourism Ministry agree. They say that the Tourism Act needs a major review before the country can celebrate the Visit Nepal Decade.

Our Tourism Act is too old. We need to ensure it is reviewed, says an official who wants to remain anonymous. We want to celebrate the tourism decade, but we cant even guarantee their safety.

This needs to be reviewed and everyone involved in the Nepal tourism industry should be held accountable because right now no one wants to take the blame even though everyone is at fault.

Empathy with Everest trekkers

Manthali airport now hosts all flights to Lukla.

Another issue that the Nepal tourism sector faced this year was the flight to remote areas. Everest is the countrys crown jewel when it comes to trekking. It is the goose that lays the golden egg, but since flights to Lukla got halted for over a week due to poor visibility and rain, 2,000 tourists were affected.

After the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN)s recent decision, all flights to Lukla operate from the Manthali airport in Ramechhap, some 130 km away. As Manthali does not have enough lodges to cater to the tourists, there were a lot of issues.

Packed lodges meant a lot of people wanting to travel to Everest had to either adjust themselves in Manthali or return to Kathmandu. Some restored to hiking to Lukla from Manthali itself.

A few, however, took SUVs to Khari Khola, a days trek away from Lukla. But, the SUV which usually costs Rs 16,000 was charging tourists over Rs 50,000.

This is very wrong. It feels like were overcharged and cheated everywhere we go. We paid Rs 30,000 for a jeep ride which I was then told was cheap, but when we got to Lukla, we were told how we paid twice the amount, says Jason Clarke from Australia.

TAAN president Bastola feels this is wrong and that the government should monitor such activities in the Nepal tourism industry more effectively.

Over 1,000 people were stranded there. Theres nothing there and many complained that they had to stay in their rooms bored. Had they been in Kathmandu, they could have engaged themselves in Kathmandu or chosen to go somewhere else, says Bastola.
By Trend

I haven't seen such destruction of houses, social infrastructure that I saw in Aghdam and never heard of such vandalism, Ombudsman of Pakistan's Baluchistan province, participant of Baku International Conference of Ombudspersons, provincial ombudsman of Pakistan Nazar Muhammad said during visit to Aghdam on October 21, Trend reports.

He noted that Armenia destroyed everything on these territories, mined them, committed inhumane actions contrary to the norms of international humanitarian law aimed at destroying the civilian population.

"I appeal to international organizations as well as other Muslim countries so that this is brought to the attention of the world community. We will also invite certain business structures to support Azerbaijan in the restoration work. Azerbaijani people are heroic people, who liberated its lands from occupation, and now is developing them. We support Azerbaijan's fair position," Muhammad said.
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EU offers 1.5 billion euros per month to run Ukraine in 2023

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Berlin to host Oct 25 conference for long-term reconstruction

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EU split on more Russia sanctions, seizing assets, war tribunal

(Recasts after summit ends with decisions on Ukraine)

By Gabriela Baczynska and Marine Strauss

BRUSSELS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The European Union will give Kyiv 1.5 billion euros a month in 2023 to help run Ukraine as it fights back Russia's invading troops, the head of the bloc's executive said on Friday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke after the 27 national EU leaders discussed supporting Ukraine during a second day of their summit in Brussels on Friday, the 240th day of Russia's war on its neighbour.

She said that the EU has so far given Ukraine 19 billion euros this year but that the summit looked at 2023.

"It is very important for Ukraine to have a predictable and stable flow of income," she said, adding that Kyiv estimated its monthly needs at 3-4 billion euros "for the basics".

Sporting a lapel pin in Ukraine's yellow and blue, von der Leyen told a news conference the EU would finance 1.5 billion euros per month of that, with the rest expected to come from the United States and international institutions.

"That will give a total of 18 billion for the next year - an amount Ukraine can count on and where there is a stable and reliable, predictable flow of income."

"PURE TERRORISM"

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed the EU leaders via a video link the day earlier, saying Russian missiles and Iranian drones have damaged a third of Ukraine's energy infrastructure as winter approaches.

"Russia also provokes a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to EU countries," Zelenskiy said.

"Russian terror against our energy facilities is aimed at creating as many problems as possible with electricity and heat for Ukraine this fall and winter so that as many Ukrainians as possible move to your countries."

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Von der Leyen said the EU was also looking at how to help Ukraine re-establish water, power and electricity supplies.

Zelenskiy asked the EU for air and missile defence systems, as well as "new powerful" sanctions on Russia as well as on Iran for supplying drones for use in Moscow's war.

The bloc has already imposed limited sanctions on Iran over that, but EU member states are divided over slapping any more sanctions on Russia now.

Poland and the three Baltic states proposed banning Russian diamond imports from Russia and phasing out steel trade more quickly, but Belgium and Italy are among those opposed to these steps.

Hungary is against sanctioning Russia in general, while Germany and France have said current measures already go far.

Zelenskiy urged the West to warn Russia not to blow up a huge dam that could flood large areas of southern Ukraine, and he appealed for more aid pledges to be made at an international conference in Berlin next Tuesday dedicated to Ukraine's reconstruction.

The summit's chairman, European Council President Charles Michel, said the EU was looking at using Russian assets frozen under sanctions against Moscow towards rebuilding Ukraine.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that amounted to some 300 billion euros, though Berlin and others have warned that actually seizing the assets might be illegal.

Kallas also sided with Lithuania in pushing for a special international tribunal to be set up to judge possible war crimes committed in Ukraine, something the Netherlands has voiced caution about.

"This is pure terrorism," Kallas said of Russia's war. (Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by John Chalmers and Hugh Lawson)
*

Meloni to become Italy's first woman prime minister

*

League's Giorgetti to be economy minister

*

Berlusconi ally Tajani given foreign ministry

*

New government to be sworn in on Saturday

*

Is most right-wing since WW2

(Adds ministerial appointments)

By Angelo Amante and Keith Weir

ROME, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Giorgia Meloni was on Friday named as Italy's first woman prime minister and chose her cabinet team, setting her seal on the country's most right-wing government since World War Two.

Meloni, head of the nationalist Brothers of Italy, swept to victory in an election last month in alliance with Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini's League.

Her government - Italy's 68th since 1946 - will replace a national unity administration led by former European Central Bank head Mario Draghi, who attended a European Union summit in Brussels on Friday in one of his last acts as prime minister.

She

faces daunting challenges

, notably a looming recession, rising energy bills and how to present a united front over the Ukraine war.

Meloni, 45,

named Giancarlo Giorgetti

of the League party as her economy minister and said the foreign ministry will go to Antonio Tajani from Forza Italia.

"Giorgia Meloni has accepted the mandate and has presented her list of ministers," presidential official Ugo Zampetti told reporters after she held talks with President Sergio Mattarella in his Quirinale palace in Rome.

The list of ministers read out by Meloni, who has transformed the fortunes of the Brothers of Italy but has only limited ministerial experience, included just six other women.

In all, nine ministries were handed out to Brothers of Italy politicians and five each to the League and Forza Italia, with technocrats given a further five cabinet posts.

The new government will be formally sworn in on Saturday morning, after which it will face confidence votes in both houses of parliament next week.

TENSIONS SURFACE

Although the process of putting together a new administration has been rapid by Italian standards, it has exposed tensions in the coalition, with Berlusconi repeatedly appearing to try to undermine Meloni's authority.

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Berlusconi, who is 86, and sits in the Senate, as expected did not take a cabinet role.

League leader Salvini, whose authority was dented by his party's relatively poor showing in the election, will be infrastructure minister.

Among other top cabinet posts, the interior ministry went to Matteo Piantedosi, a career civil servant with no party affiliation, and the defence ministry to Guido Crosetto, one of the founders of Brothers of Italy.

Meloni stressed this week that her administration would be firmly pro-NATO and pro-European. "Anyone who does not agree with this cornerstone cannot be part of the government," she said.

She asserted her authority after Berlusconi told Forza Italia lawmakers that he blamed Ukraine for the war there and said he had exchanged gifts and "sweet letters" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(Additional reporting by Gavin Jones, Crispian Balmer and Giuseppe Fonte; Writing by Keith Weir; editing by John Stonestreet)
*

Main cocoa producers to boycott Brussels gathering

*

Producers say companies resist paying living income for farmers

*

Ivory Coast considers suspending sustainability programmes

(Adds context, details, quotes)

By Ange Aboa

ABIDJAN, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast and Ghana's cocoa regulators will boycott industry meetings in Brussels next week due to a dispute over pricing that they say has seen multinational chocolate companies resist measures to lift farmers' incomes.

The two countries, which together produce more than 60% of the world's cocoa, impose two premiums on their beans aimed at tackling farmer poverty.

One premium, known as the origin differential, has dropped below zero in recent years under pressure from traders, effectively cancelling out part of another premium, the $400 per tonne Living Income Differential (LID).

Both countries said in July that they would no longer sell cocoa with a negative origin differential, fixing it at zero for Ivory Coast and at +20 pounds sterling ($22) per tonne for Ghana.

But companies including some of the world's major chocolate makers and cocoa traders, which account for around 90% of purchases, are pushing for origin differentials as low as -200 pounds per tonne, the regulators said.

"The chief executive is not attending the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) meeting in Belgium and none of the executives at COCOBOD will be there," said Fiifi Boafo, spokesman for COCOBOD, Ghana's cocoa regulator.

Yves Brahima Kone, the director general of Ivory Coast's Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC), also said he would not attend the WCF meeting or any other industry meetings in protest.

Although Ivory Coast said last month it had sold some contracts with a non-negative premium, it is now having difficulty selling them.

"The major chocolate brands have resisted and tried to find means to circumvent payment of the LID," said COCOBOD's Boafo, accusing multinationals of waging a "silent war" against the farmers' premium.

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"A direct rejection of the LID would give brands bad publicity since the LID represents the economic pillar of sustainability, therefore erosion of the origin differential was the easier target," he said.

The two regulators did not name any companies in their comments.

Major players Cargill, Olam and Barry Callebaut declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Others including Nestle, Mondelez, Hershey and Mars Wrigley, and traders Touton, CEMOI and Ecom Trading, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sustainability programmes launched since 2008 and aimed at tackling issues such as child labour have also benefited companies more than farmers, said the CCC's Kone. Ivory Coast's cocoa production has almost doubled in less than 15 years under the programmes, which has pushed down prices.

"We are considering new ways to address this issue with the industry, including banning access to our cocoa farms for their sustainability programs," Kone said. ($1 = 0.9007 pounds) (Reporting by Ange Aboa Writing by Nellie Peyton Editing by Alexander Winning, Bate Felix, Kirsten Donovan)
Research Nester

Key Companies Covered in the Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Market Research Report by Research Nester are NVIDIA Corporation, Philips International B.V., Micron Technology, Inc., Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Crunchbase Inc., Genger.io, Inc., Welltok, Inc., Google LLC, Medtronic plc, General Electric Company, and other key market players.

New York, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Research Nester has published a detailed market report on  Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Market  for the forecast period, i.e. 2023  2033 which includes the following factors:

Market growth over the forecast period

Detailed regional synopsis

Market segmentation

Growth drivers

Challenges

Key market players and their detailed profiling

Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Market Size:

The global artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare market is projected to gain robust revenue by the end of 2033 by growing at a CAGR of ~45% over the forecast period. Additionally, the market generated remarkable revenue in the year 2022. The growth of the market can be ascribed to the rising number of elderly people and their growing need for assisted living facilities. National Library of Medicine data shows that about 1.5 million geriatrics live in nursing homes and nearly 1 million spend their lives in assisted living facilities. In addition to this, global artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare market trends including growing healthcare expenditure and skyrocketing spending on artificial intelligence are projected to influence the growth of the market positively over the forecast period. In 2021, AI funding across the world was estimated to be around USD 18 billion which was a significant increase from about USD 650 million in 2011.

Get a Sample PDF Brochure: https://www.researchnester.com/sample-request-1429

Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Market: Key Takeaways

Asia Pacific region gains the largest portion of the revenue

Hospitals segment to dominate the revenue graph

Virtual assistance sub-segment remains prominent in the application segment

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Significant Decrement in the Number of Physicians and Rising Prevalence of Neurological Disorders to Boost Market Growth

During the upcoming years, the world is projected to face a shortage of physicians and doctors on account of the constant growth in the population. Therefore, AI becomes the mandatory requirement to fill this gap by providing the required medical services to the people. It was found that the America has observed a shortage of physicians between 35,000 and 100,000 in recent years. Additionally, many applications including, end-to-end drug discovery, diagnosis, consulting, storing, and transcribing medical documents can be initiated with the adoption of AI in healthcare, and all these applications are further estimated to boost the market growth during the forecast period.

Furthermore, the increasing number of cases of neurological disorders across the globe is anticipated to propel market growth over the forecast period. On account of mental disorders, mainly Parkinsons disorder, Alzheimers, and dementia, in such conditions, patients are advised to have a full-time caretaker or physician with them for treatment and care. Hence considering all these factors, the requirement for AI in healthcare is estimated to accelerate over the ensuing years. As per the World Health Organization, more people worldwide are becoming disabled, bedridden, and dying from Parkinson's disease (PD) than from any other mental disorder. In the last 25 years, PD prevalence has doubled.

For more information in the analysis of this report, visit: https://www.researchnester.com/reports/artificial-intelligence-in-healthcare-market/1429

Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Market: Regional Overview

The global artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare market is segmented into five major regions including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa region.

Growing Geriatric Population to Drive Growth in the Asia Pacific Region

The market in Asia Pacific region is projected to hold the largest share by the end of 2033. The growth of the market can be ascribed to the growing geriatric population, rising neurological disorders among elders, and rising healthcare infrastructure in the region. For instance, in the Asia Pacific region, one in four persons will be older than 60 by 2050 and in progressive countries including Singapore and Thailand, there are an estimated 1.2 million seniors with dementia and 2.12 million elders living with depression. Furthermore, the rising adoption of AI technology in the healthcare sector is also anticipated to hike the growth of the market over the forecast period.

Rising Prevalence of Mental Disorders to Drive Growth in the North America Region

On the other hand, the market in North America region is estimated to gain noteworthy market share over the forecast period owing to rising cases of mental disorders in the region. It was found that an estimated 52.9 million persons in the United States who were 18 or older had a mental disorder in 2020. In addition to this, increasing investment in research and development activities in the region is expected to drive market growth during the forecast period.

Get a Sample PDF of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Market Report@ https://www.researchnester.com/sample-request-1429

The study further incorporates Y-O-Y growth, demand & supply and forecast future opportunity in:

North America (U.S., Canada)

Europe (U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Belgium, Netherlands & Luxembourg, NORDIC [Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark], Poland, Turkey, Russia, Rest of Europe)

Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Rest of Latin America)

Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Rest of Asia-Pacific)

Middle East and Africa (Israel, GCC [Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman], North Africa, South Africa, Rest of Middle East and Africa).

Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Market, Segmentation by Application

Virtual Assistance

Drug Discovery

Medical Imaging

Electrocardiography

Medical Research

Personalized Medicine

Out of these, the virtual assistance segment is predicted to witness noteworthy growth over the forecast period. The growth of the segment can be accounted to the growing utilization of virtual assistance for medical consulting. It is believed that more than 7 billion digital voice assistants will be functioning across the globe by 2024. In addition to this, increasing investment by healthcare sector in to the segment is anticipated to drive segments growth during the forecast time period.

Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Market, Segmentation by End-User

Clinics

Diagnostic Labs

Hospitals

Among these, the hospital segment is expected to hold a notable market share over the forecast period owing to the increasing investment by hospitals in to AI, people's strong desire to be surrounded by highly skilled medical personnel and the existence of a huge patient pool in a hospital facility, which in turn is estimated to increase the overall spending in the health-care sector. As per the World Health Organization, global health spending has increased overall during the previous 20 years, doubling in real terms, reaching US$ 8.5 trillion in 2019 and 9.8% of GDP (up from 8.5 percent in 2000). Moreover, the increasing awareness among people regarding mental disorders the and the rising geriatric population, who are more tend to stay in hospital care are estimated to drive the segment growth over the forecast period.

For more insights on the market share of various regions: https://www.researchnester.com/sample-request-1429

Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Market, Segmentation by Technology

Context-Aware Processing

Natural Language Processing

Speed Recognition, Machine Learning

Others

Few of the well-known market leaders in the global artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare market that are profiled by Research Nester are NVIDIA Corporation, Philips International B.V., Micron Technology, Inc., Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Crunchbase Inc., Genger.io, Inc., Welltok, Inc., Google LLC, Medtronic plc, General Electric Company, and others.

Do You Have Any Query Or Specific Requirement?

Submit Request for Proposal

Recent Developments in the Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Market

In September 2022, Philips International B.V. to demonstrate the clinical solution and data with enhanced efficiency at TCT 2022. These solutions are primarily designed to promote clinical assurance.

In July 2022, Siemens Healthcare GmbH to introduce a study that has been conducted to evaluate and monitor the accuracy of diagnosis of non-contrast flatdetector CT.





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Research Nester is a one-stop service provider with a client base in more than 50 countries, leading in strategic market research and consulting with an unbiased and unparalleled approach towards helping global industrial players, conglomerates and executives for their future investment while avoiding forthcoming uncertainties. With an out-of-the-box mindset to produce statistical and analytical market research reports, we provide strategic consulting so that our clients can make wise business decisions with clarity while strategizing and planning for their forthcoming needs and succeed in achieving their future endeavors. We believe every business can expand to its new horizon, provided a right guidance at a right time is available through strategic minds.

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CALGARY, AB, Oct. 21, 2022 /CNW/ - The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has issued an order permanently prohibiting James Russell Neilson from participating in Alberta's capital market after he was convicted in the Court of Queen's Bench on three counts of fraud over $5,000 contrary to section 380(1)(a) of the Criminal Code. Neilson, who worked as an accountant in Canmore, Alberta, was also convicted for theft and money laundering and he received a sentence of five and a half years' imprisonment.

Two of Neilson's fraud convictions arose from fraudulent representations he made in conjunction with investments in ABACA Solutions Inc. (ABACA) and APO Group Inc. that grossly overstated ABACA's financial situation. In some cases, Neilson showed investors fraudulently manufactured banking and financial statements to convince them to invest. Seven individuals paid Neilson nearly $1.2 million for shares in ABACA, while a corporate investor paid approximately $1 million in a separate transaction. Although more than $600,000 was recovered, Neilson spent $35,000 on personal luxury items and he transferred funds to offshore accounts or into cash, which made it virtually impossible to trace or recover investors' funds.

An ASC panel found that these two fraud convictions arose from a transaction and a course of conduct related to securities as defined in the Securities Act (Alberta) and that it was in the public interest to issue permanent market-access bans against Neilson to protect Alberta investors and the Alberta capital market.

The panel ordered that Neilson:

must permanently cease trading in securities or derivatives, and that all exemptions contained in Alberta securities laws do not apply to him;

must immediately resign all positions he holds, and is permanently prohibited from becoming or acting as a director or officer of any issuer, registrant, investment fund manager, recognized exchange, recognized self-regulatory organization, recognized clearing agency, recognized trade repository, designated rating organization or designated benchmark administrator; and

is permanently prohibited from engaging in investor relations activities, advising in securities or derivatives, becoming or acting as a registrant, investment fund manager or promoter, and acting in a management or consultative capacity in connection with activities in the securities market.

Story continues

A copy of the decision is available on the ASC website at asc.ca.

The ASC is the regulatory agency responsible for administering the province's securities laws. It is entrusted with fostering a fair and efficient capital market in Alberta and with protecting investors. As a member of the Canadian Securities Administrators, the ASC works to improve, coordinate and harmonize the regulation of Canada's capital markets.

SOURCE Alberta Securities Commission

Cision

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2022/21/c5536.html
Teck Resources Ltd

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Royal Inland Hospital Foundation and Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TECK.A and TECK.B, NYSE: TECK) (Teck) are joining today to celebrate the beginning of construction of the new Teck Emergency Department at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH). Teck contributed $2.5 million towards the hospitals new emergency department which will feature the installation of innovative antimicrobial copper surfaces and equipment to help protect patients and health care workers.



The Teck Emergency Department ushers in a new era for RIH, with renovations scheduled to be complete in 2026. When finished, the department will offer expanded care and enhanced patient outcomes in one of the busiest emergency/trauma centres in British Columbias interior region. The facility upgrades will result in reduced wait times for access to treatment for people when they need it most. Tecks donation will also facilitate innovation within the department, including antimicrobial copper surfaces and equipment that reduce the spread of infectious disease.

Copper has unique antimicrobial properties and is proven effective in eliminating up to 99.9 per cent of harmful bacteria within two hours of contact. When installed in high-touch, high-traffic locations, copper can help reduce the spread of infectious disease. Research has shown that every year patients in Canada contract infections in health-care settings and coppers antimicrobial properties are a proven tool to help minimize this risk.

This donation builds on more than 25 years of support to Royal Inland Hospital Foundation by Teck and its employees at Teck Highland Valley Copper Operations. This contribution is also part of a series of contributions to install antimicrobial copper surfaces in numerous institutions across B.C. such as Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Science World, Vancouver Airport (YVR), Lions Gate Hospital, St. Pauls Hospital, Vancouver General Hospital and Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital.

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Quotes:

Don Lindsay, Executive Vice Chair, Teck 

Teck is proud to support better health outcomes at Royal Inland Hospital through our contribution to the new Teck Emergency Department. The installation of antimicrobial copper surfaces will enhance safety for patients, health care workers, and visitors in this new state of the art department.

Matt Parrilla, General Manager, Teck Highland Valley Copper Operations -

Our employees at Highland Valley Copper Operations value the care that the staff at Royal Inland Hospital provides for the interior of British Columbia. We live and work in this community and are proud that we have supported the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation for more than 25 years.

Dr. Alan Vukusic, Emergency Department Physician and Redevelopment Lead, Royal Inland Hospital -

We are grateful for partners like Teck whose support ensures that Royal Inland Hospitals Emergency Department is equipped with the latest innovations in infection prevention and designed with improved efficiency, comfort and safety in mind. This new Teck Emergency Department will set the standard of quality care for our region.

Heidi Coleman, CEO, Royal Inland Hospital Foundation 

Tecks $2.5 million contribution to the new Teck Emergency Department will allow the doctors and the nurses to better serve patients in our region. It is going to transform the way we do medicine in the emergency department. I want to say a heartfelt thank you to Teck and Highland Valley Copper for this wonderful gift. They are our friends, our family, and an important part of our community.

Diane Shendruk, Vice President Clinical Operations, Interior Health North

Interior Health deeply appreciates Tecks generous contribution and partnership on this innovative project that will provide better health care for patients and a modernized workspace for our hard-working, health care teams. This is an exciting time for Royal Inland Hospital and we are thrilled to join with the RIH Foundation today in honouring Tecks support for the growth of this facility.

Media Downloads: click here

About Tecks Copper & Health Program

Through its Copper & Health program, Teck has funded numerous initiatives across a range of industries and public facilities to help improve health and safety in high-traffic, high-touch areas through the installation of antimicrobial copper. Tecks Copper & Health program has installed copper surfaces in a number of health-care facilities, including Vancouver General Hospital and St. Pauls Hospital, on public transit in partnership with TransLink and Toronto Transit Commission, in attractions including Science World and Royal Ontario Museum, and in schools through partnerships with BCIT, SFU and UBC. There is no commercial benefit to Teck from the increased use of antimicrobial copper as the amount of metal needed is very small; the goal of the program is to improve health and safety for communities.

For more information about the role of antimicrobial copper, the Copper & Health program, and other examples of copper in action, please visit www.coppersaveslives.com .

About RIH Foundation

Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) Foundation was incorporated in 1983. Its mission is to inspire donors to give and to build a meaningful relationship to support the hospital and the communitys health care needs. The Foundation supports this mission through a variety of community fundraising activities, including special events, legacy giving and charitable gifts from individuals, corporations and other charitable funding partners. Located in Kamloops, RIH is the only tertiary acute care hospital in the Thompson Cariboo Shuswap area, providing high-level, specialty medical care. It serves as a catchment area for more than 250,000 British Columbians. RIH is also an important training centre, including nursing students from Thompson Rivers University, pharmacy residents and medical students from the University of British Columbia.

About Teck

As one of Canadas leading mining companies, Teck is committed to responsible mining and mineral development with major business units focused on copper, zinc, and steelmaking coal, as well as investments in energy assets. Copper, zinc and high-quality steelmaking coal are required for the transition to a low-carbon world. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Tecks shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols TECK.A and TECK.B and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TECK. Learn more about Teck at www.teck.com or follow @TeckResources .

Teck Media Contact:

Chris Stannell

Public Relations Manager

604.699.4368

chris.stannell@teck.com

Royal Inland Hospital Foundation Media Contact:

Marisa Bertoli

Marketing & Communications Specialist

250-819-9363

Marisa.Bertoli@interiorhealth.ca




CREDICORP LTD. C/O BANCO DE CREDITO

Lima, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lima, PERU, October 21, 2022  Credicorp Ltd. announces to its shareholders and the market that its 3Q22 Earnings Release Report will be released on Thursday November 3, 2022, after market close.

Credicorps Webcast / Conference Call to discuss such results, will be held on Friday November 4, 2022, at 10:30 am ET (9:30 am Lima, Peru time).

The call will be host by Gianfranco Ferrari - CEO, Cesar Rios - Chief Financial Officer, Francesca Raffo  Chief Innovation Officer, Reynaldo Llosa - Chief Risk Officer, Diego Cavero - Head of Universal Banking, Cesar Rivera - Head of Insurance and Pensions and Investor Relations Team.

We encourage participants to pre-register for the listen-only webcast presentation using the following link:

https://dpregister.com/DiamondPassRegistration/register?confirmationNumber=10172107&linkSecurityString=f4c46417bc

Callers who pre-register will be given a conference passcode and unique PIN to gain immediate access to the call and bypass the live operator. Participants may pre-register at any time, including up to and after the call start time.

Those unable to pre-register may dial in by calling:

1 844 435 0321 Participant dial in (toll free)

1 412 317 5615 Participant international dial in

Conference ID: Credicorp Conference Call

The webcast will be archived for one year on our investor relations website at:

https://credicorp.gcs-web.com/events-and-presentations/upcoming-events

Credicorp reminds you that we filed our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31st, 2021 (2021 Form 20-F) with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 30th, 2022. The 2021 Form 20-F includes audited consolidated financial statements of Credicorp and its subsidiaries as of December 31st, 2020 and 2021 and for the years ended December 31st, 2019, 2020 and 2021 under IFRS. Our 2021 Form 20-F can be downloaded from Credicorps website : https://credicorp.gcs-web.com . Holders of Credicorps securities and any other interested parties may request a hard copy of our 2021 Form 20-F, free of charge, by filling out the form located on the link mail request on Credicorps website.

Story continues





About Credicorp

Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE: BAP) is the leading financial services holding company in Peru with presence in Chile, Colombia and Bolivia. Credicorp has a diversified business portfolio organized into four lines of business: Universal Banking, through Banco de Credito del Peru  BCP and Banco de Credito de Bolivia; Microfinance, through Mibanco in Peru and Colombia; Insurance & Pension Funds, through Grupo Pacifico and Prima AFP; and Investment Banking & Wealth Management, through Credicorp Capital, Wealth Management at BCP and Atlantic Security Bank.

For further information please contact the IR team:

investorrelations@credicorpperu.com

Investor Relations

Credicorp Ltd.

Attachment




Company Logo

Global Air Brake System Market

Global Air Brake System Market

Dublin, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Air Brake System Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global air brake system market size reached US$ 6.97 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 10.88 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.7% 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.



An air brake system is a friction brake relying on compressed air pressing to stop a vehicle. It includes various components, such as brake chambers, foot valves, slack adjusters, brake shoes, drums, and air reservoirs, dryers and compressors. As compared to hydraulic brakes, an air brake system is more powerful and reliable, provides better control, reduces stopping distance, prevents extensive wear and tear of parts, and offers heavy braking effects. Consequently, it is used in railroad trains and heavy commercial vehicles, including trucks and buses.



Air Brake System Market Trends:



The global market is primarily driven by the widespread adoption of air brake systems due to their reliability and efficiency. These systems are easy to remove and attach and remain effective even with an air leak. In line with this, their increasing demand on account of rising vehicle safety concerns across the globe is creating a positive outlook for the market.

Additionally, the introduction of lightweight air brake systems for trailer and line haul applications that use fewer parts and provide more ground clearance, protection from road debris, and higher efficiency are providing an impetus to the market growth.

Furthermore, manufacturers are developing new and advanced components that are effective in the railways and high-speed trains while assuring safety and maintaining control over the vehicle. This, in turn, is strengthening the growth of the market around the world. Other factors, including the implementation of various government initiatives to promote the use of brake systems in heavy vehicles, increasing production and development of high-speed trains, and extensive research and development (R&D) activities, are anticipated to drive the market in the coming years.

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Competitive Landscape:



The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Brakes India Private Limited, Haldex Inc., Knorr-Bremse AG, Meritor Inc. (Cummins Inc.), SORL Auto Parts Inc., TSE Brakes Inc., UNO Minda Limited, Wabtec Corporation, Yumak Air Brake Systems and ZF Friedrichshafen AG.



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global air brake system market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global air brake system market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the component?

What is the breakup of the market based on the type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the vehicle type?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global air brake system 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 Air Brake System Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Component

6.1 Compressor

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Governor

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Tank

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 Air Dryer

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast

6.5 Foot Valve

6.5.1 Market Trends

6.5.2 Market Forecast

6.6 Brake Chamber

6.6.1 Market Trends

6.6.2 Market Forecast

6.7 Slack Adjuster

6.7.1 Market Trends

6.7.2 Market Forecast

6.8 Others

6.8.1 Market Trends

6.8.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Type

7.1 Air Disc Brake

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Air Drum Brake

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Vehicle Type

8.1 Rigid Body

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Heavy-Duty Truck

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Semi-Trailer

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast

8.4 Bus

8.4.1 Market Trends

8.4.2 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 Brakes India Private Limited

14.3.1.1 Company Overview

14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.2 Haldex Inc.

14.3.2.1 Company Overview

14.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3 Knorr-Bremse AG

14.3.3.1 Company Overview

14.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3.3 Financials

14.3.4 Meritor Inc. (Cummins Inc.)

14.3.4.1 Company Overview

14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.4.3 Financials

14.3.4.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.5 SORL Auto Parts Inc.

14.3.5.1 Company Overview

14.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.6 TSE Brakes Inc.

14.3.6.1 Company Overview

14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7 UNO Minda Limited

14.3.7.1 Company Overview

14.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7.3 Financials

14.3.8 Wabtec Corporation

14.3.8.1 Company Overview

14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.9 Yumak Air Brake Systems

14.3.9.1 Company Overview

14.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.10 ZF Friedrichshafen AG

14.3.10.1 Company Overview

14.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.10.3 SWOT Analysis



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5exdf9

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The Internet of Everything (IoE) is a revolutionary development in technology that has the power to completely transform all facets of business and society. The Internet of Everything can also be referred to as a network of embedded computing devices, users, information, and objects that is specifically integrated into the current Internet architecture.

New York, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Internet of Everything Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report By Vertical, By Component, By Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2022  2028" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06352741/?utm_source=GNW

A web of interconnected networks between people and machines has been made possible by the Internet of Everything (IoE), improving the ability to remotely run infrastructure including smart grids, smart cities, smart homes, intelligent transportation, as well as others.



The Internet of Everything offers superior standards of security as well as other social and financial advantages. Businesses are implementing IoE to boost productivity and reduce costs, such as capital expenditures, energy, and labor. Mobile device use has made traveling easier and led to an increase in app creation. This enables IoT companies to create apps that act as an interface between embedded systems and other smart devices, enabling the interchange of data and analytics. Additionally, municipalities are increasingly using smart meters for electricity and water monitoring within commercial and residential properties to measure use and explore new ways to reduce costs. In the coming years, these aspects are anticipated to offer the industry profitable growth prospects.



IoE is characterized by four main components, including people, objects, data, and processes. In an IoE environment, users can access the internet via PCs, cellphones, tablets, and fitness trackers. Users interactions with various tools, websites, social networks, and applications produce data. Additionally, smart tattoos, skin sensors, and smart clothing also produce data that offer vitally important personal insights into the users. People thus serve as a node on the IoE-enabled network that aids enterprises in solving pressing problems or making decisions by having an awareness of human issues.



COVID-19 Impact Analysis



The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the economy across the world. A number of businesses were majorly demolished as a result of the outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic had an extremely significant effect on society and the economy. The COVID-19 pandemic also had a major impact on the IoE system supply chain. Professional services saw a delay, and many IoE projects had their implementation paused. In the initial period of the outbreak, operations within a number of companies were hauled, due to which, the utilization of connected devices declined. However, the pandemic also had a positive impact on the market in the second half of the year. The outbreak accelerated the adoption of numerous technologies since individuals are becoming more tech-savvy and adopting technology while working from home. Examples of these technologies include IoT, IoE, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and others.



Market Growth Factors



Increasing consumption of the internet by people across the world



A variety of significant services and materials that are necessary for daily life are available on the internet. People can advance in almost all aspects of their life by leveraging the internet. Because it is a universal computer network structure, it can connect people from all over the world and build communities. It is an excellent way to share and obtain knowledge, and it is accessible practically anywhere. It is a phenomenal way to exchange information around the world and save time because its quick, accessible, and affordable. The world has become smaller because people no longer need to waste time looking for information as it is now readily available on computer displays through the Internet. Therefore, the adoption of the Internet of Everything is also rising. This factor is propelling the growth of the market



An upsurge in the adoption of cloud-based solutions in companies



Small and medium-sized businesses and major corporations are among the user groups that have contributed to the expansion of the cloud industry by increasing the need for affordable data storage, backup, as well as protection. Utilizing the mobile workforce with convenient data collection, archiving, access, and recovery facilities improves corporate operations. The adoption of cloud-based IoT software and platforms all over the world rises as end-user enterprises switch to cloud computing technologies. For example, Sams West, Inc., a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., granted a contract to Salesforce.com in 2016 for the deployment of a customer success platform to transform its current business membership purchase and engagement process into a digital process to enhance membership experience across SAMs 650 clubs. Thus, this factor is augmenting the growth of the Internet of Everything market.



Market Restraining Factors



Prevalence of malware, including Distributed DoS Attacks, Botnets, and ThingBots



One of the major risks to connected devices is the threat of malware. When Mirai infected a significant number of IoT devices all over the world, including printers, routers, and real-time cameras, security vulnerabilities for IoTs were initially identified as an alarming concern. In order to overwhelm the servers and prevent users from accessing the website, the attackers connected and targeted a website using every device that was infected with the Mirai malware at once. The worst effect of a Mirai attack is that it can completely destroy any IoT device that has been improperly set up. As the IoE is an upgrade to IoT technology, it is also vulnerable to these threats. This factor is impeding the growth of the Internet of Everything market.



Component Outlook



On the basis of Component, the Internet of Everything (IoE) Market is segmented into Hardware, Software, and Services. In 2021, the hardware segment acquired the highest revenue share of the Internet of Things market. The market is growing as a result of a surge in smartphone adoption and the use of 3G and 4G networks. To meet the rising customer demand, major manufacturers are increasingly creating inexpensive sensors and other components. Moreover, a number of compact devices with a bulk of features are rapidly being introduced within the market. Therefore, this factor is estimated to majorly propel the growth of this segment of the market.



Vertical Outlook



By Vertical, the Internet of Everything (IoE) Market is segregated into Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail, BFSI, IT and Telecom, and Others. In 2021, the healthcare segment witnessed a substantial revenue share of the Internet of Everything market. The growth of the segment is significantly increasing due to improvements in medical technology, widespread use of healthcare-linked devices, and the requirement to track the whereabouts of medical equipment, patients, and staff. Moreover, healthcare wearable is a new trend in the modern era. These gadgets allow the user to monitor their health statistics through a wearable, such as a smartwatch or a smart ring. These factors are accelerating the growth of this segment of the market.



Regional Outlook



Region-Wise, the Internet of Everything (IoE) Market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. In 2021, North America recorded the biggest revenue share of the market. The regional IoE market is anticipated to grow during the forecast period due to an increase in government sector spending and technical developments in the telecom sector. Moreover, IoE is also anticipated to be used to support growth in the manufacturing sector, which includes asset monitoring, supply chain connectivity, workplace safety administration, and energy management.



The major strategies followed by the market participants are Partnerships. Based on the Analysis presented in the Cardinal matrix; Microsoft Corporation and Google LLC are the forerunners in the Internet of Everything (IoE) Market. Companies such as Amazon Web Services, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.), AT&T Intellectual Property and IBM Corporation are some of the key innovators in Internet of Everything (IoE) Market.



The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include Amazon Web Services, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.), AT&T Intellectual Property, Bosch.IO GmbH (Robert Bosch GmbH), Cisco Systems, Inc., Fujitsu Limited, Google LLC, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company, IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, and SAP SE.



Recent Strategies Deployed in Internet of Everything (IoE) Market



Partnerships, Collaborations and Agreements:



Aug-2022: Microsoft entered into a partnership with Larsen & Toubro, an Infotech. Under this partnership, the companies would focus on introducing high-value cloud solutions for enterprises. Moreover, LTI would also launch a dedicated Microsoft business unit to develop and distribute end-to-end digital transformation solutions.



Jun-2022: SAP partnered with Unilever, a British multinational consumer goods company. With this partnership, the companies aimed to pilot SAPs GreenToken in order to expand their transparency as well as traceability within the global palm oil supply chain of Unilever.



Jun-2022: Cisco collaborated with Telefonica, a Spanish multinational telecommunications company. Following this collaboration, the companies aimed to introduce new managed services across the globe, including integrated security and connectivity offers for both SMBs and large companies.



May-2022: Fujitsu Limited teamed up with Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon. This collaboration aimed to expedite the digital transformation of customers within the retail and financial industries. Moreover, the companies would also bring new services built on AWS, which would be deployed by Fujitsu In Japan as well as all over the world.



May-2022: SAP came into a partnership with Google Cloud, a suite of cloud computing services by Google. With this partnership, the companies aimed to enable their customers to link crucial SAP software designed for operating all mission-critical processes over the cloud.



May-2022: SAP joined hands with HCL, a leader in global technology. Under this collaboration, HCL would package relevant SAP software along with hardware and services that can expedite and streamline the complex and fragmented solution stack being encountered by businesses while driving Industry 4.0 transformations.



May-2022: Microsoft joined hands with STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader. Through this collaboration, the companies aimed to strengthen the security and safety of emerging IoT applications.



May-2022: Google came into a partnership with Asus IoT, a sub-brand of Asus. Through this partnership, the companies aimed to leverage Asus IoTs capabilities in order to expand the reach of its inferencing and AI capabilities to hardware. Moreover, this partnership would also allow Google to scale the manufacturing, distribution, as well as support for Coral.



May-2022: AT&T signed an agreement with DISH, an American television services provider. Following this collaboration, DISH would integrate AT&T Internet services within its offerings for existing as well as new DISH customers.



Mar-2022: Google came into a partnership with TELUS and NXN Digital. With this partnership, the company aimed to provide the next generation of efficient, secure, sustainable, and innovative IoT technologies that would strengthen communities, businesses, as well as residents via a broad ecosystem of people-first solutions.



Mar-2022: Google collaborated with IoTeX, a platform that connects IoT devices. Under this partnership, IoTeX would become the primary cloud provider of Google Cloud in order to expedite its global expansion strategy.



Feb-2022: HPE teamed up with Qualcomm Technologies, an American multinational corporation. Following this collaboration, the companies would provide advanced Qualcomm Technologies-powered 5G distributed units inline accelerator cards, namely the Qualcomm X100 5G RAN.



Feb-2022: IBM joined hands with SAP, a German multinational software company. With collaboration, the companies aimed to offer consulting and technology expertise in order to streamline customers to adopt a hybrid cloud approach to migrate their mission-critical workloads from SAP solutions to the cloud for non-regulated as well as regulated industries.



Jan-2022: AWS teamed up with Stellantis, a Dutch multinational automotive manufacturing corporation. Following this collaboration, the companies aimed to implement Amazons software and technology expertise throughout Stellantis organization, including building connected in-vehicle experiences, vehicle development, as well as training advanced automotive software engineers. Furthermore, the companies would also develop a range of software-based services and products.



Dec-2021: Microsoft partnered with Wartsila Voyage, a leader in maritime end-to-end onboard solutions. With this partnership, the companies aimed to reinforce its synergies throughout its end-to-end digital services offerings while also bringing its current and future products over a common platform.



Nov-2021: IBM collaborated with Infosys Finacle, a part of Infosyss EdgeVerve Systems. Following this collaboration, the companies aimed to introduce the Finacle Digital Banking Solution Suite over the Red Hat OpenShift as well as IBM Cloud for financial services



Sep-2021: Fujitsu teamed up with KDDI, a Japanese telecommunications operator. Under this collaboration, the companies aimed to develop new services that would accelerate the customer experience while also contributing to the resolution of social challenges by leveraging KDDIs au 5G technologies in integration with Fujitsus private 5G.



Aug-2021: AT&T entered into a partnership with Cisco, an American-based multinational technology conglomerate. With this partnership, the companies aimed to launch 5G network capabilities in order to bolster performance for IoT applications throughout the United States.



Jun-2021: Amazon Web Services partnered with Salesforce, an American cloud-based software company. This partnership aimed to streamline customers to leverage the full range of AWS as well as Salesforce capabilities in order to rapidly develop and deploy powerful new business applications intending to expedite digital transformation.



May-2021: Google partnered with SpaceX, an American spacecraft manufacturer. This partnership aimed to offer cloud services to aid in delivering internet via the latters Starlink satellites.



Feb-2021: Bosch joined hands with Microsoft, an American multinational technology corporation. With this collaboration, the companies aimed to develop a software platform with the aim of seamlessly connecting cars to the cloud. Moreover, it would also streamline and expedite the development and installation of vehicle software over the cars lifetime according to automotive quality standards.



Feb-2021: Microsoft collaborated with Intel, an American multinational corporation. Under this collaboration, the companies aimed to offer IoT services and products in order to help in lowering the complexity of solution development by integrating their software, hardware, processing edge, and cloud capabilities.



Oct-2020: AT&T teamed up with Cisco, an American-based multinational technology conglomerate. Under this collaboration, the companies aimed to manage IoT devices for enterprises with the launch of the Cisco-powered AT&T Control Center. Moreover, the new solution would offer near real-time visibility to businesses for all the devices over their network.



Aug-2020: Google came into a partnership with Best Buy, an American multinational consumer electronics retailer. Following this partnership, Google would offer its cloud services to Best Buys Enterprise Data Platform to empower a data-driven retail strategy. Moreover, it would deliver new and more customized shopping experiences for customers.



Jul-2020: Microsoft teamed up with Verizon, the Telecom giant. This collaboration aimed to aid developers along with service providers in creating and providing IoT solutions faster.



Product Launches and Product Expansions:



May-2022: AT&T unveiled a new managed wireless wide area network. The new solutions aimed to offer businesses untether assets, locations, and people with a solution monitored and managed by network experts.



Nov-2021: AWS rolled out the AWS IoT RoboRunner, a novel robotics service. The new solution would facilitate enterprises to develop and deploy applications with the capacity to aid fleets of robots to work unparalleled. In addition, the new solution would also enable users to connect work management systems and robots to allow them to orchestrate work across the operation through a single system view.



Acquisitions and Mergers:



Jul-2022: Fujitsu acquired Enable Professional Services, the largest independent ServiceNow specialist in Asia-Pacific. Through this acquisition, the company aimed to gain the market-leading capabilities and expertise of Enable in order to offer ServiceNow advisory, delivery services, and consulting to customers throughout the region.



Jul-2022: IBM took over Databand, a leader in data observability software. With this acquisition, the company aimed to strengthen its software portfolio through automation, data, and AI in order to address the full spectrum of observability.



Feb-2022: IBM completed its acquisition of Sentaca, a leading telco consulting services and solutions provider. This acquisition aimed to expedite the hybrid cloud consulting business of IBM with the addition of critical skills to aid CSPs and media giants in modernizing multiple cloud platforms.



Dec-2021: Bosch took over Climatec, a privately owned environmental engineering company. Through this acquisition, the company aimed to expand its presence throughout the world and strengthen its offerings.



Sep-2021: HPE took over Zerto, a leader in cloud data management and protection. Following this acquisition, the company aimed to expand its HPE GreenLake cloud data services by leveraging Zertos market-leading cloud data management and protection software.



Jun-2021: Microsoft acquired ReFirm Labs, an IoT security provider. Through this acquisition, the company aimed to strengthen its firmware security and analysis capabilities throughout devices that form the intelligent edge spanning from servers to IoT.



Aug-2020: Cisco acquired ThousandEyes, a network intelligence company. With this acquisition, the company aimed to leverage the internet and cloud intelligence platform of ThousandEyes in order to experience expanded insights and visibility into the digital delivery of services and applications throughout the cloud and the internet.



Geographical Expansions:



Jun-2020: HPE expanded its geographical footprint with the launch of an IoT experience center in Bengaluru. Through this geographical expansion, the company aimed to offer IoT solutions and service portfolios to its enterprise customers as well as partners across industries.



Scope of the Study



Market Segments covered in the Report:



By Vertical



 Manufacturing



 Retail



 IT & Telecom



 BFSI



 Healthcare



 Others



By Component



 Hardware



 Software



 Services



By Geography



 North America



o US



o Canada



o Mexico



o Rest of North America



 Europe



o Germany



o UK



o France



o Russia



o Spain



o Italy



o Rest of Europe



 Asia Pacific



o China



o Japan



o India



o South Korea



o Singapore



o Malaysia



o Rest of Asia Pacific



 LAMEA



o Brazil



o Argentina



o UAE



o Saudi Arabia



o South Africa



o Nigeria



o Rest of LAMEA



Companies Profiled



 Amazon Web Services, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)



 AT&T Intellectual Property



 Bosch.IO GmbH (Robert Bosch GmbH)



 Cisco Systems, Inc.



 Fujitsu Limited



 Google LLC



 Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company



 IBM Corporation



 Microsoft Corporation



 SAP SE



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 Subscription based model available



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 Assured post sales research support with 10% customization free

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__________________________

Story continues

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Global Anti-Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics Packaging Market

Global Anti-Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics Packaging Market

Dublin, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Anti-counterfeit Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics Packaging Market By Technology, By Application: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global anti-counterfeit pharmaceuticals and cosmetics packaging market was valued at $81.1 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $182.3 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2021 to 2030.



Anti-counterfeit packaging is the process of securing and authenticating products in order to minimize counterfeiting or infringement malpractices across pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries. Anti-counterfeiting packaging prevents imitation and confirms safety of goods.



The growth of the global anti-counterfeit pharmaceuticals and cosmetics packaging market is driven by advancement in track & trace technology and favorable government policies. Government authorities who are engaged in regulating and controlling counterfeit activities now provide legislative support to companies dealing with counterfeiting activities. Developed countries have established several regulatory policies for controlling counterfeit practices.

For example, in Germany, rules and regulations provide authority to manufacturers/distributors/affected parties, to take counter action against counterfeiters. Customs applications under the EU Customs Regulation (1383/2003) and German IP laws, provide authority to find and seize counterfeited goods, which are being sold in the market or stored. These favorable government policies promote the commercial application of advance technology, ultimately driving the anti-counterfeit pharmaceuticals and cosmetics packaging market.



However, high cost is required for implementing product identification setups (ground infrastructure). This high cost setup is not always feasible for low cost products. Such factors are not dominant in developed countries such as the U.S. and Europe due to favorable government support for ground infrastructure. However, in developing countries such as India, government finds it difficult to provide ground infrastructure, such as satellite for real time tracking to companies.



On the contrary, globalization gives rise to more trade across the borders, which creates a loophole for counterfeiters to foster and take advantage of such unmanaged businesses. The manufacturers in such cases are not in a position to track the actual location of their products while they are in transit.

Story continues

This gives rise to a need of efficient supply chain management, which ends at one point i.e. adoption of anti-counterfeiting technology. For instance, counterfeited drugs of companies such as elokeen and Losec (Astra), Zantac (Glaxo) and Fansidar (Welcome) are being sold in EU States. The product chain of Zantac passes through four countries; the raw materials are collected from Turkey, manufactured in Greece, distributed through Swiss broker to Dutch Importer. Integrated security with multi-layered approach is the major focus of the high-end and luxury product manufacturers.

These industries are facing challenges at entry level of supply chain and finding difficult to maintain their brand integrity from the counterfeiting practices. Choosing a right type of multi-layered anti-counterfeit technology to authenticate the product is also a challenge for the manufacturers. This challenge in selecting the anti-counterfeit technologies is fueled by low volume high value manufacturers, in which the final products have been packed manually. This will increase the threat of counterfeiting at the point of packaging. All these factors are anticipated to offer new growth opportunities in the global anti-counterfeit pharmaceuticals and cosmetics packaging market.



Key Benefits For Stakeholders

This report provides a quantitative analysis of the market segments, current trends, estimations, and dynamics of the anti-counterfeit pharmaceuticals and cosmetics packaging market analysis from 2020 to 2030 to identify the prevailing anti-counterfeit pharmaceuticals and cosmetics packaging market opportunities.

The market research is offered along with information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities.

Porter's five forces analysis highlights the potency of buyers and suppliers to enable stakeholders make profit-oriented business decisions and strengthen their supplier-buyer network.

In-depth analysis of the anti-counterfeit pharmaceuticals and cosmetics packaging market segmentation assists to determine the prevailing market opportunities.

Major countries in each region are mapped according to their revenue contribution to the global market.

Market player positioning facilitates benchmarking and provides a clear understanding of the present position of the market players.

The report includes the analysis of the regional as well as global anti-counterfeit pharmaceuticals and cosmetics packaging market trends, key players, market segments, application areas, and market growth strategies.

Key Topics Covered:



CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION



CHAPTER 2: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



CHAPTER 3: MARKET OVERVIEW

3.1. Market definition and scope

3.2. Key findings

3.2.1. Top investment pockets

3.3. Porter's five forces analysis

3.4. Top player positioning

3.5. Market dynamics

3.5.1. Drivers

3.5.2. Restraints

3.5.3. Opportunities

3.6. COVID-19 Impact Analysis on the market

3.7. Value Chain Analysis

3.8. Key Regulation Analysis

3.9. Patent Landscape



CHAPTER 4: ANTI-COUNTERFEIT PHARMACEUTICALS AND COSMETICS PACKAGING MARKET, BY TECHNOLOGY

4.1 Overview

4.1.1 Market size and forecast

4.2 Authentication Packaging Technology

4.2.1 Key market trends, growth factors and opportunities

4.2.2 Market size and forecast, by region

4.2.3 Market analysis by country

4.3 Track and Trace Packaging Technology

4.3.1 Key market trends, growth factors and opportunities

4.3.2 Market size and forecast, by region

4.3.3 Market analysis by country



CHAPTER 5: ANTI-COUNTERFEIT PHARMACEUTICALS AND COSMETICS PACKAGING MARKET, BY APPLICATION

5.1 Overview

5.1.1 Market size and forecast

5.2 Cosmetics and Personal Care

5.2.1 Key market trends, growth factors and opportunities

5.2.2 Market size and forecast, by region

5.2.3 Market analysis by country

5.3 Pharmaceutical

5.3.1 Key market trends, growth factors and opportunities

5.3.2 Market size and forecast, by region

5.3.3 Market analysis by country



CHAPTER 6: ANTI-COUNTERFEIT PHARMACEUTICALS AND COSMETICS PACKAGING MARKET, BY REGION



CHAPTER 7: COMPANY LANDSCAPE

7.1. Introduction

7.2. Top winning strategies

7.3. Product Mapping of Top 10 Player

7.4. Competitive Dashboard

7.5. Competitive Heatmap

7.6. Key developments



CHAPTER 8: COMPANY PROFILES

8.1 Impinj Inc.

8.1.1 Company overview

8.1.2 Company snapshot

8.1.3 Operating business segments

8.1.4 Product portfolio

8.1.5 Business performance

8.1.6 Key strategic moves and developments

8.2 AlpVision

8.2.1 Company overview

8.2.2 Company snapshot

8.2.3 Operating business segments

8.2.4 Product portfolio

8.2.5 Business performance

8.2.6 Key strategic moves and developments

8.3 Authentix

8.3.1 Company overview

8.3.2 Company snapshot

8.3.3 Operating business segments

8.3.4 Product portfolio

8.3.5 Business performance

8.3.6 Key strategic moves and developments

8.4 Zebra Technologies Corp.

8.4.1 Company overview

8.4.2 Company snapshot

8.4.3 Operating business segments

8.4.4 Product portfolio

8.4.5 Business performance

8.4.6 Key strategic moves and developments

8.5 U-NICA Solutions AG

8.5.1 Company overview

8.5.2 Company snapshot

8.5.3 Operating business segments

8.5.4 Product portfolio

8.5.5 Business performance

8.5.6 Key strategic moves and developments

8.6 Alien Technology Corp.

8.6.1 Company overview

8.6.2 Company snapshot

8.6.3 Operating business segments

8.6.4 Product portfolio

8.6.5 Business performance

8.6.6 Key strategic moves and developments

8.7 Hague

8.7.1 Company overview

8.7.2 Company snapshot

8.7.3 Operating business segments

8.7.4 Product portfolio

8.7.5 Business performance

8.7.6 Key strategic moves and developments

8.8 Prooftag

8.8.1 Company overview

8.8.2 Company snapshot

8.8.3 Operating business segments

8.8.4 Product portfolio

8.8.5 Business performance

8.8.6 Key strategic moves and developments

8.9 OpSec

8.9.1 Company overview

8.9.2 Company snapshot

8.9.3 Operating business segments

8.9.4 Product portfolio

8.9.5 Business performance

8.9.6 Key strategic moves and developments

8.10 NanoMatriX International Limited

8.10.1 Company overview

8.10.2 Company snapshot

8.10.3 Operating business segments

8.10.4 Product portfolio

8.10.5 Business performance

8.10.6 Key strategic moves and developments



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ofv46d

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Deputy Chief at the SCA Secretary Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Afarin Shahidzadeh, participating in the Baku International Conference of Ombudsmen, was shocked by what she had witnessed in Azerbaijan's Aghdam, Trend reports.

She made the remark while speaking to reporters during the trip to Aghdam.

"Such criminal acts are unacceptable. These lands have been occupied for 30 years [liberated following second Karabakh War in 2020], atrocities committed here constitute war crimes, and there can be no question of any human rights," Shahidzadeh said.
Limited free spots are still available for audience; KoreConXs online event brings pocket sessions throughout the last week to show how cannabis entrepreneurs can use Regulation A (RegA+) and Regulation CF (RegCF) to jumpstart businesses.

Empowering Growth

Empowering Growth

NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KoreConX's KoreSummit | Pocket Sessions Empowering Growth starts next Monday, Oct. 24. Daily one-hour pocket sessions will go on until Friday, Oct. 28, to help entrepreneurs raise money and jumpstart their businesses using RegA+ and RegCF.

The cannabis sector has already been growing steadily for the past few years. According to Grand View Research Institute, market size was valued at USD 13.2 billion in 2021 and USD 16.7 billion in 2022, with a revenue forecast of USD 102.2 billion for 2030, which would represent a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.5% from 2022 to 2030.

"This sector can absolutely raise money as there is plenty of private capital available," says Oscar Jofre, CEO and co-founder at KoreConX. "This vertical can help turn this market into a mature ecosystem with our KorePartners. We can even show how companies can accept credit cards for their offerings, providing options to complement wire transfer, ACH and crypto payments," explains Oscar.

The event

Structured in pocket sessions distributed throughout the week, the event is framed as a journey from offering promotions and attracting investors, through to choosing the regulation best tailored to a company, trades in the secondary market and finally arriving at the word from experts in the business. The sessions will go live daily, from 2 PM to 3 PM ET, from Oct. 24 to 28.

Real Estate

In November, the KoreSummit will be back, with a different vertical: Real Estate. This ecosystem requires special attention, as it has many variables and possibilities. Tokenization, securities offerings and stablecoins are some of the innovations that have revolutionized the segment. More information on the agenda, KorePartners and speakers will be out soon.

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About KoreConX

Founded in 2016, KoreConX provides the first secure online infrastructure for private companies to conveniently and compliantly manage every aspect of their capital market activities, from issuing securities to shareholder relations. Investors, broker-dealers, law firms, accountants and investor acquisition firms, all leverage our ecosystem solution. KoreConX also maintains a large online library of educational content to help companies navigate their capital-raising journey.

Contact Information:

Rafael Goncalves

Communications

rafael@koreconx.com



Carolina Casimiro

Marketing Manager

carolina@koreconx.com



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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LONGi has taken part in the Greentech & ECO Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia 2022 in Kuala Lumpur from October 12th to 14th. Themed "Race Towards Net Zero: Fulfilling SDG and ESG Commitments", the IGEM 2022 was regarded as Southeast Asia's leading trade event for green technologies and eco solutions.

LONGi's star product Hi-MO 5 72-cell module, was displayed at the booth and garnered much attention from the crowd. Designed for different scenarios worldwide, the Hi-MO 5 module adopts high-performance bifacial + PERC technology. Up to July 2022, global shipments of LONGi's Hi-MO 5 modules have exceeded 30GW.

Malaysia is located in the center of Southeast Asia with a superior geographical location and sunlight intensity up to 1400-1900kW h/m. Meanwhile, the Malaysian government has formulated a specific carbon neutralization schedule, aiming to achieve carbon neutralization by 2050 making Malaysia one of the most ideal PV markets in the world.

Over the last two years, LONGi has accelerated its expansion in Malaysia. In 2021, LONGi provided 190MW modules for two projects located in Kerian and Kuala Muda. In 2022, LONGi supplied modules to the largest PV parking lot project in Malaysia. This project is invested in and owned by MFP Solar and executed by Pekat Solar, and is expected to reduce about 11 tons of CO2 emissions annually.

In the future, LONGi will continue to lead the Solar PV industry with innovation and work with local partners to accelerate the energy transition in Southeast Asia.

About LONGi

Founded in 2000, LONGi is committed to being the world's leading solar technology company, focusing on customer-driven value creation for full scenario energy transformation.

Under its mission of 'making the best of solar energy to build a green world', LONGi has dedicated itself to technology innovation and established five business sectors, covering mono silicon wafers cells and modules, commercial & industrial distributed solar solutions, green energy solutions and hydrogen equipment. The company has honed its capabilities to provide green energy and has more recently, also embraced green hydrogen products and solutions to support global zero carbon development.www.longi.com/en

SOURCE LONGi
By Wendell Roelf

CAPE TOWN, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Mozambique expects to ship its first liquified natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe from the Eni-operated Coral Sul floating plant later this month or early November, petroleum regulator INP said on Friday in a supply boost for the energy-starved region.

BP's LNG tanker, British Sponsor, has already arrived offshore northern Mozambique, said Welligence Energy Analytics in a note, with all of Coral Sul's annual gas output of 3.4 million tonnes contracted to BP for 20 years on a free-on-board basis.

"Regarding the LNG export, it will be for European markets since BP is committed to take the gas resources to Europe," said the National Petroleum Institute (INP) in an emailed response to Reuters.

The new LNG cargoes will help alleviate a tight global LNG market and gas shortages in Europe as winter looms following Moscow's February invasion of Ukraine and Russia's later decision to curb gas pipeline supplies into major European Union economies.

The exports from Mozambique, which neighbours South Africa, will help transform its economy as billions of dollars pour into the country to develop massive offshore gas fields in its deepwater Rovuma basin.

But a sustained violent insurgency inland with links to Islamic State has scared off investors, as French oil major TotalEnergies last year declared force majeure on its $20 billion LNG project amid rising attacks in the north of Cabo Delgado province.

The five-year old conflict has claimed more than 4,000 lives and displaced around one million people said the World Bank, which expects economic growth to accelerate in the medium term, averaging 5.7% between 2022 and 2024, as LNG production starts.

In January, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on a visit to Mozambique that he hoped to restart its Afungi project this year, although INP said the company's return would likely be next year, depending on security assessments.

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"We are satisfied with the improvement of stability in Cabo Delgado Province ... We are expecting Total to return by next year," INP said on Friday.

The regulator said ExxonMobil, which had indicated it would only resume a final investment decision on its own LNG project in Area 4 of the Rovuma basin once Total had lifted its force majeure, was also seen returning to its project early in 2023.

"This also means that we won't have stranded resources in Rovuma Basin at the same time that we know that natural gas is playing an important role as an energy for transition," it said.

INP will launch a new oil and gas licensing round next year with details still to be worked out. The winners of the current 6th bidding auction is on track to be announced on Dec. 30, it added. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf Editing by Mark Potter)
FILE PHOTO: Tesla hands over first cars produced at new plant in Gruenheide

(Reuters) - Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Friday he thinks a recession will last until spring of 2024 after earlier raising concerns on demand in China and Europe.

"Just guessing, but probably until spring of '24," Musk said on Twitter when a user asked him how long the recession would last.

Shares of Tesla slid on Thursday, a day after Musk said it was a "little harder" for the electric-vehicle maker to garner demand in the face of a weakening global economy.

(Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
Ontario Health Coalition

TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- They contributed in unique ways, but each demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the public interest, the Ontario Health Coalition reported as it announced the winners of its highest awards. The awards celebrate the contributions of Ontarians who have made a remarkable contribution in public health care.



This year we have faced enormous challenges in public health care. Each of our award winners have given extraordinarily of their time and effort in the public interest. They are beacons of hope. It is our honour to have worked with them and supported their efforts, said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition.

The Ethel Meade Award awarded to Rabbi Shalom Schachter , Toronto

Ethel Meade was a long-standing advocate on health care issues. She was the Vice Chair of CareWatch (a home care advocacy group), a founder and chair of the Ontario Coalition of Senior Citizens' Organizations, a founder and co-chair of the Ontario Health Coalition, a member of the Seniors' Secretariat and the Ontario Association of Social Workers Committee on Issues of Aging, among many others. Her knowledge of the health system was encyclopaedic and she was consulted by governments at the municipal and provincial level, as well as by professional and community organizations, regarding the development of public policy in her areas of particular passion, including home and community care.

The Ethel Meade Award was created upon Ethels retirement from the Ontario Health Coalition Board of Directors and is given to the person whose research and/or policy work has made a crucial contribution to the public health care system and the fight to protect it.

The Ontario Health Coalition is pleased to name Rabbi Shalom Schachter as the recipient of the Ethel Meade Award. Shalom is an executive member of the Interfaith Social Reform Alliance Coalition and has had a successful career as a lawyer. He is active in his faith community and has, for decades, advocated for improving long-term care. Shaloms research truly has contributed to advancing the public interest. He calculated the data for a seminal report on death rates in for-profit long-term care homes compared to non-profit and public homes after the first wave of the pandemic for the Ontario Health Coalition. From his work with us, media chains created their own databases and began to track this vital information, resulting in major change in media and public understanding of the impact of privatization in long-term care, and fundamentally changing the dialogue and policy options considered on this issue. Recently he helped calculate hours of care in Ontarios long-term care homes from survey data across Ontario showing that care levels have not improved despite many promises by the Ford government. Shalom has spent many hours researching, giving advice and support, writing up his findings, helping to educate community groups, faith communities, politicians and others. We are deeply grateful for his exceptional expertise and commitment.

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The Daniel Benedict Award awarded to Barb Hogg & Brit Hancock from the Guelph Health Coalition; Linda Mackenzie-Nicholas from the Northumberland Health Coalition; Mary-Jo Nabuurs, Michelle Robidoux & Julie Perl from the Greater Toronto Health Coalition; Jim Stewart and the Waterloo Health Coalition; and Matthew Gventer and Joan Jardin from the Kingston Health Coalition.

Daniel Benedict was awarded the Order of Canada in 1998 for his many contributions for social justice, public health care, justice for seniors, workers rights and education, and as a tireless advocate in the cause of international solidarity and global equity. He served as co-chair of the Ontario Health Coalition and was a founding member. He also served on the boards of a number of large seniors organizations in which he was a leader in the struggle to safeguard public health care, improve community and long-term care, and stop cuts and privatization. Dan spoke seven languages, had a Doctorate in Economics, and made inspiring contributions to workers education in Latin America and in Canada. He is remembered around the globe for his contribution to social justice in America, Latin America and Europe.

The Daniel Benedict Award is given annually to the person or persons who - working with one of the local health coalitions  best embodies Dan Benedicts spirit of extraordinary community activism and commitment to the protection and extension of Public Medicare.

Barb Hogg and Brit Hancock are the co-chairs of the newly formed Guelph District Health Coalition. They have stepped up and led the fight to protect public health care in their community, building a new regional health coalition, spending hours learning the issues, tirelessly engaging in public education and advocacy, driving across the counties in the region delivering information and public education, attending events, doing outreach and working with local media. Brit also advances at every opportunity the equity issues impacting persons with disabilities. Barb has a huge sense of community responsibility and compassion, and brings that to all the aspects of her work. Both of these women have shown truly remarkable commitment to safeguarding and improving health care in their community. Linda Mackenzie-Nicholas is the chair of the Northumberland Health Coalition. She has dedicated her whole life to educating and advocating for social change and improved conditions for health care workers and patients. She has helped to stop cuts to local hospital services, and throughout the pandemic has led regional work to improve care and conditions in long-term care. Linda designed and developed a major survey which she organized to have distributed to long-term care staff across Northumberland, Peterborough, the Kawarthas and Haliburton on conditions in long-term care homes. She organized the regional release of a major report based on the surveys, advocating for improved care levels. She has tirelessly led the fightback against the privatization of health care in Northumberland. Mary-Jo Nabuurs, Julie Perl and Michelle Robidoux are members of the Greater Toronto Health Coalition. They have organized and attended numerous rallies and protests to improve care in long-term care. Mary-Jo has led movements to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and protect the public. Michelle has not only done weekly public market tables, developed public education and advocacy materials, and organized people to join in the fight to protect public health care and stop privatization, but she has also been instrumental in advocating for abortion rights, peace and social justice. Julie has been tireless, advocating for her mother and all Ontarians in long-term care to address the care crisis. She is always there, always exceptionally helpful, engages her family council and others, and speaks out with remarkable courage. Jim Stewart is the chair of the Kitchener-Waterloo Health Coalition. He has led community organizing and advocacy to improve public health care and stop privatization. He has inspired and organized dozens of pop up events, organized a truly impressive team of organizers and advocated to stop the privatization of the local hospitals. His hard work, leadership, skills and commitment are truly exceptional and have helped local health coalitions all across Ontario. Matthew Gventer and Joan Jardin are leaders in the Kingston Health Coalition. They have hosted events three times a week at busy intersections across Kingston for months. Their commitment to educating and organizing the Kingston community has been unflagging. They have worked to defend public health care, organized public meetings and events on the care crisis in long-term care, helped to conduct local actions, held press conferences and referendums to stop privatization and cuts, wrote articles, conducted public outreach and developed really exceptional public education and advocacy materials.

The Orville Thacker Award awarded to Bonnie Roe, Haliburton Long-Term Care Coalition; Helen Lee, Halton Health Coalition; and Dr Vivian Stamatopoulos, Toronto advocate for the elderly.

Orville was deeply committed to social issues affecting Canadian families, and in particular, seniors. He was a member of Ontario Health Coalition and a founder and co-chair of Kitchener Waterloo Regional Health Coalition. He was a veteran, active in the legion, a tireless political campaigner and a stalwart advocate for social justice.

The Orville Thacker award recognizes exceptional commitment and contribution to improving quality public health care for the elderly in Ontario. It is awarded to a person or organization whose voluntary contribution supports the fundamental principles in the Canada Health Act - principles of fairness, equity and compassion - that underlie Public Medicare in Canada.

Bonnie Roe is the chair and founder of the Haliburton Highlands Long-Term Care Coalition and has been a formidable force in protecting public health care and in particular, long-term care residents in her community. She has organized a very active and effective local coalition, met with local politicians, developed petitions garnering thousands of signatures to improve long-term care, organized and attended countless events to highlight the care crisis in long-term care, and much more. Her commitment to her community is truly extraordinary. Helen Lee was the chair of the Family Council at Mon Sheong and has long been an exceptional advocate for rights for the elderly and long-term care residents. Helens grandmother died in long-term care after contracting COVID-19. Helen is active in the Chinese community and has worked tirelessly to educate and spread awareness among the family councils and Chinese community about conditions in long-term care. Helen has helped to organize surveys about conditions of living and care, organized public advocacy events several times per week in Halton, did outreach to family councils and an array of organizations to get them involved. Helen cares deeply about the elderly and about our public health care system and has given of her time, her exceptional talents and her heart to help. Dr. Vivian Stamatopoulos is an extraordinary advocate for the elderly, particularly in long-term care. In her professional life, she has conducted a major new study on family caregivers. After her grandmother died just prior to the pandemic in long-term care, like the other awardees, Dr. V, as she is affectionately known, became an effective spokesperson calling out the poor conditions of living and care. She is indefatigable, working daily to push issues and pressure politicians. She has organized families and been their voice. Fearless and relentlessly honest, Dr. Vs contribution to the struggle to protect and improve care, and stop privatization, has been truly exceptional.

It is our privilege to recognize these remarkable people. They are heroes in our province and we are proud to work with them.

For more information: Natalie Mehra, executive director, (416) 230-6402




NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global outdoor kitchen cabinets market is forecasted to grow by USD 913.09 million, accelerating at a CAGR of 4.75% between 2021 and 2026. Technavio segments the market by end-user (residential and commercial) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and the Middle East and Africa). The report provides a comprehensive analysis of recent developments, new product launches, major revenue-generating segments, and market behavior across geographies.

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Outdoor Kitchen Cabinets Market 2022-2026

Key points covered in the outdoor kitchen cabinets market study:

Market estimates and forecast 2022-2026

Key drivers, trends, and challenges impacting market growth

Segment-wise, region-wise, and country-wide analysis

Analysis of market share by vendors

Key product launches and regulatory climate

Post-COVID-19 impact on the market landscape. Download FREE PDF Report Sample

The market is primarily driven by the growing influence of different retailing channels. The popularity of online and offline retailing channels is rising globally. Offline retailers include organized retailers such as manufacturer-branded stores, traditional stores, rental stores, discount stores, warehouse clubs, and designer stores. The number of organized retailers has increased globally. Moreover, e-commerce-based shopping and online retailing have increased with rapid internet penetration. Many major players have launched furniture-specialist online stores or e-commerce-based outlets. Some of the players are also focusing on selling products through other channels such as mobile apps. Thus, the growing influence of different retailing channels will support market growth during the forecast period.

The full report provides information on other drivers, trends, and challenges that are impacting the growth of the market. Request a FREE Sample PDF Report

Some of the key players in the outdoor kitchen cabinets market include AGA Rangemaster Ltd., Brown Jordan International Inc., Bull Outdoor Products Inc., Coyote Outdoor Living Inc., Danver Stainless Outdoor Kitchens, Ideal Cabinetry LLC, JW Outdoor Cabinets, Lynx Grills Inc., Naturekast Products Inc., Premier Custom Built Inc., Schrapper Fine Cabinetry Inc., Stoll Industries Inc., Trex Co. Inc., TuClad Outdoor Kitchens, Ultimate Outdoor Cabinets, American Outdoor Cabinets LLC, Grillinetics Outdoor Cabinetry, Werever Products Inc., and NewAge Products Inc. among others. The key offerings of some of these vendors are listed below:

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Brown Jordan International Inc. - The company offers outdoor kitchen cabinet products such as base cabinets and grill cabinets.

Bull Outdoor Products Inc. - The company offers outdoor kitchen cabinets such as appliance cabinets and base cabinets.

Coyote Outdoor Living Inc. - The company offers outdoor kitchen cabinets such as BBQ outdoor kitchen and Grill.

This report provides a full list of key vendors, their strategies, and the latest developments. Buy Now to gain access to exclusive vendor information

The residential segment will generate maximum revenue in the outdoor kitchen cabinets market and is the leading end-user segment. This growth is attributed to factors such as the rise in home remodeling projects globally and an increase in spending on outdoor living spaces and products such as kitchen cabinets.

North America is expected to dominate the outdoor kitchen cabinets market with a 37% share during the forecast period. Factors such as the growing influence of different retailing channels are driving the growth of the regional market. However, market growth in this region will be slower than the growth of the market in other regions. The US and Canada are the key countries for the outdoor kitchen cabinets market in North America.

Explore intelligence tailored to your business needs. Identify major revenue-generating segments, regions, and key countries in the outdoor kitchen cabinets market. Request FREE Sample Now

Technavio has categorizes the global outdoor kitchen cabinets market as a part of the global home furnishings market within the global household durables industry. The parent market, the global home furnishings market, covers products and companies engaged in the manufacturing/marketing of home textiles, furniture, floor coverings, and decorative products.

Get lifetime access to our Technavio Insights! Subscribe to our "Basic Plan" billed annually at USD 5000

The outdoor kitchen cabinets market is fragmented due to the presence of a significant number of global, regional, and local players. The vendors are deploying organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. Product innovation is expected to be a key trend in the market. Vendors compete on various factors, including quality, price, innovation, brand, and variety.

Didn't find what you are looking for? Our analysts can help you customize this report based on your business requirements. The industry experts at Technavio will work directly with you to understand your needs and provide you with customized data in a short time. Speak to our Analyst Now

Related Reports

Outdoor Furniture Market in US Growth, Size, Trends, Analysis Report by Type, Application, Region, and Segment Forecast 2021-2025: This report extensively covers the outdoor furniture market in the US segmentation by product (outdoor furniture and accessories, outdoor grills and accessories, and patio heating products) and end-user (residential and commercial). The outdoor furniture market share in the US growth by the outdoor furniture and accessories will be significant during the forecast period.

Modular Kitchen Market Growth, Size, Trends, Analysis Report by Type, Application, Region, and Segment Forecast 2021-2025: This report extensively covers modular kitchen market segmentation by geography (Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and MEA) and product (floor cabinets, wall cabinets, and tall storage). 31% of the market's growth will originate from Europe during the forecast period. The market share growth by the floor cabinets segment will be significant.

Outdoor Kitchen Cabinets Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.75% Market growth 2022-2026 USD 913.09 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 3.67 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and the Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 37% Key consumer countries US, Canada, Japan, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive Strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled AGA Rangemaster Ltd., Brown Jordan International Inc., Bull Outdoor Products Inc., Coyote Outdoor Living Inc., Danver Stainless Outdoor Kitchens, Ideal Cabinetry LLC, JW Outdoor Cabinets, Lynx Grills Inc., Naturekast Products Inc., Premier Custom Built Inc., Schrapper Fine Cabinetry Inc., Stoll Industries Inc., Trex Co. Inc., TuClad Outdoor Kitchens, Ultimate Outdoor Cabinets, American Outdoor Cabinets LLC, Grillinetics Outdoor Cabinetry, Werever Products Inc., and NewAge Products Inc. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, market growth inducers and obstacles, fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Browse Consumer Discretionary Market Reports

Table Of Contents

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

4.4 Threat of new entrants

4.5 Threat of substitutes

4.6 Threat of rivalry

4.7 Market condition

5 Market Segmentation by End-user

5.1 Market segments

5.2 Comparison by End-user

5.3 Residential - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

5.4 Commercial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

5.5 Market opportunity by End-user

6 Customer Landscape

6.1 Customer landscape overview

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

7.2 Geographic comparison

7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

7.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

7.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

7.8 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

7.9 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

7.10 Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

7.11 Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

7.12 UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

7.13 Market opportunity by geography

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

8.4 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

9.3 Landscape disruption

9.4 Industry risks

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

10.3 American Outdoor Cabinets LLC

10.4 Brown Jordan International Inc.

10.5 Bull Outdoor Products Inc.

10.6 Danver Stainless Outdoor Kitchens

10.7 Grillinetics Outdoor Cabinetry

10.8 Naturekast Products Inc.

10.9 NewAge Products Inc.

10.10 Premier Custom Built Inc.

10.11 Trex Co. Inc.

10.12 Werever Products Inc.

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

11.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

11.4 Research methodology

11.5 List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

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UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/

Global Outdoor Kitchen Cabinets Market 2022-2026

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SOURCE Technavio
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Dublin, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Market By Financial Sector, By Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Saudi Arabia Islamic finance market is anticipated to grow at an impressive CAGR during the forecast period, 2023-2027

One of the biggest economies in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia, which also leads the global Islamic finance market. Saudi Arabia is trying to become the largest market for Islamic financing. Islamic finance is the practice of banking or financing in accordance with Sharia. Islamic finance frequently uses the Musharaka, Wadiah, Murabahah, Ijara, and Mudarabah payment methods.

The Saudi Arabian government has implemented many programs and policies in an effort to strengthen the nation's financial situation. Saudi Vision 2030 is a move made by the country's top leaders to reduce reliance on the oil industry, diversify sources of income, and grow public resources, including tourism, infrastructure, education, and recreation industry.

The main objective of Saudi Vision 2030 is to expand Saudi capital markets in order to stabilize the economy and achieve sustainable growth during the projection period.



The Saudi Arabia Islamic finance market is segmented into the financial sector, regional distribution, and company. Based on the financial sector, the market is divided into Islamic banking, Islamic insurance, sukuk outstanding, and others. The Islamic banking segment is expected to capture the highest market share in the forecast period, 2023-2027.

In all of the traditional banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there are eight Islamic windows in addition to full-fledged Islamic banks. A variety of commercial, wholesale, and other types of banks assist Islamic banks.

The Islamic Development Bank, the only Islamic bank with a AAA rating, is located in Saudi Arabia, one of the countries with the largest Shariah-compliant development banks in the world.

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Due to their higher moral standards, consumers choose to use Islamic banks for their financial needs. Islamic banks are accountable to their clients and do not take on significant risks or give large bonuses to their top bankers.



The Saudi National Bank, The Al Rajhi Bank, The Saudi British Bank, Riyad Bank, The Saudi American Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, Arab National Bank, Alinma Bank, Al Bilad Bank, Bank Aljazira, are the major market players operating in the Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance market.

Objective of the Study:

To analyze the historical growth in the market size of the Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Market from 2017 to 2021.

To estimate and forecast the market size of Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Market from 2022 to 2027 and growth rate until 2027.

To classify and forecast the Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Market based on financial sector, region and company.

To identify the dominant region or segment in the Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Market.

To identify drivers and challenges for the Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Market.

To examine competitive developments such as expansions, new product launches, mergers & acquisitions, etc., in the Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Market.

To identify and analyze the profiles of leading players operating in the Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Market.

To identify key sustainable strategies adopted by market players in Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Market.

Competitive Landscape



Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance market.

The Saudi National Bank

The Al Rajhi Bank

The Saudi British Bank

Riyad Bank

The Saudi American Bank

Banque Saudi Fransi

Arab National Bank

Alinma Bank

Al Bilad Bank

Bank Aljazira

Report Scope:

Years considered for this report:

Historical Years: 2017-2020

Base Year: 2021

Estimated Year: 2022

Forecast Period: 2023-2027

Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Market, By Financial Sector:

Islamic Banking

Islamic Insurance

Sukuk Outstanding

Others

Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Market, By Region:

Northern & Central

Southern

Eastern

Western

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/zduy25

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




Snap reported its third-quarter earnings Thursday, the first social media company to offer a financial update amid ongoing economic tumult this quarter.

The company, which has seen its stock price plunge to a fraction of what it was worth during 2021's highs, missed analyst expectations on revenue, bringing in $1.13 billion compared to the $1.14 billion anticipated. Snap's stock dipped from around $11 per share to $8 in late trading following the report.

Snap's revenue is up 6% this quarter, a number that doesn't compare favorably to previous periods of double-digit growth. The company's net loss accelerated to $360 million, which includes $155 million in "restructuring charges."

The company's daily active users were up 57 million to 363 million in Q3, a 19% increase from the same period last year.

"This quarter we took action to further focus our business on our three strategic priorities: growing our community and deepening their engagement with our products, reaccelerating and diversifying our revenue growth, and investing in augmented reality," CEO Evan Spiegel said of the quarter.

While other social networks are similarly struggling due to a combination of broader economic factors, ascendant competitors and the still-reverberating changes from Apple's ad tracking changes, Snap in particular has taken a beating. In August, the Verge reported that Snap planned to lay off a fifth of its workforce, or around 1,200 employees.

The company didn't offer a forecast for the third-quarter results and similarly declined to make predictions about its upcoming quarter.
Federal Government of Somalia approves Coastline's Production Sharing Agreements

President of Somalia supports Coastline's Production Sharing Agreements with the Federal Government and declares the country open for business with international companies;

Coastline received full Government support for its agreements at high-level meetings in Mogadishu with the President, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy & Minerals, Chairman of the Somali Petroleum Authority and Attorney General of Somalia;

Coastline pays US$7 million signature bonus to the Somali Central Bank for its 7 Production Sharing Agreements; and

Coastline will now move forward with its exploration programme.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of Somalia, said: "This agreement highlights that Somalia is open for business and international investment after the conflict that has blighted the country for so many years. I would like to thank Coastline for its commitment to Somalia, as it has fulfilled its promise of investing here, unlike so many other companies. Coastline clearly sees significant opportunity in Somalia and we share its vision. The Federal Government will do all it can to support this project and we want the first exploration well to start as soon as possible. Today marks a major step forward for Somalia as we look to develop our energy industry which should deliver material benefits for all Somalis. Energy independence, new tax revenues and further foreign investment in Somalia now beckons."

HOUSTON, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Coastline Exploration Limited ("Coastline"), an upstream oil and gas company focused on East Africa, announces that further to its statement on February 19th regarding the signing of seven Production Sharing Agreements ("PSAs") covering offshore, deep-water blocks of the Fedral Republic of Somalia, it confirms it has received final authorisation for it to proceed with its exploration programme from the competent authorities within the Federal Government of Somalia ("FGS"). As a result, in line with the terms of the PSAs, Coastline has paid the agreed US$7 million signature bonus to the Somali Central Bank.

Story continues

Coastline Exploration Ltd Logo

Authorisation was granted following conclusion of an in-depth review conducted by the FGS into the process followed by Coastline and by the relevant Somali Ministries and related advisory groups with respect to the signing of the seven PSAs in February of this year.

Coastline estimates that approximately 100,000 barrels of oil a day will flow from each discovered field, and in the success case Coastline hopes to discover multiple offshore oil fields.

Yesterday Coastline held meetings with the following Somali government officials:

H.E Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (President of Somalia)

H.E Salah Ahmed Jama (Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia)

H.E. Abdirizak Mohamed (Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources)

H.E. Mohamoud Ahmed Mohamoud (State Minister of Petroleum)

H.E. Abshir Omar Jama (Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation)

Mr. Abdulkadir Aden Mohamud (CEO and Chairman of the Somali Petroleum Authority)

Mr. Osman Elmi Guled (Attorney General)

Mr. Khadar Abdirahman Mohamed (Special Envoy for International Trade and Investment)

Mr. Sackag Omar Mohamed (Member of Parliament)

Coastline has invested over US$50 million in Somalia and is committed for the long-term and has been engaged with multiple stakeholders in Somalia since 2018 in respect of its PSAs and plans for the development of the country's offshore energy industry. Coastline's PSAs will enable the Company to proceed with plans to explore for oil and gas on the many prospects and leads identified in the waters offshore Somalia.

Coastline is proud of the work it has done in Somalia to help develop the energy industry and to enhance the future prosperity of the Somali people. Likewise, it is proud of the strong relationships it has built with the Federal Government during the long period of time it has been active in the country.

His Excellency Abdirizak Mohamed, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, said: "Having seen how transformational new domestic energy sources have been for other countries in Africa, we are very excited by the potential of these offshore oil fields. Today's announcement really kick starts the energy industry in Somalia and is a turning point for the development of what is a critical revenue-generating area for the country."

W. Richard Anderson, Chief Executive of Coastline, commented: "Receiving the clearance authorisation means that we are now able to start our exploration programme. Revenues from the discovery of commercial quantities of oil will be transformative for Somalia from which the government could finance investments in education, infrastructure, healthcare and other vital services, which will benefit all of the people of Somalia, delivering continued economic growth and improving the standard of living."

Jacob Ulrich, non-Executive Chairman of Coastline, said: "We are delighted to have been given the go-ahead with the PSAs and we feel confident that we will discover major energy reserves which will have a materially positive impact on all Somalis. With the right partners in place and a supportive government, Somalia's nascent energy industry can look to the future with confidence now that there is a clear road map to potentially securing a sustained domestic oil and gas supply."

About Coastline Exploration

Coastline Exploration, the US based upstream oil and gas company focused on East Africa, was established to help develop the hydrocarbon industry. The Company believes there is huge potential for further significant oil and gas discoveries across offshore East Africa including offshore Somalia.

www.coastlineexploration.com

Enquiries

J&H Communications Tel. +44 (0)20 3950 7822 enquiries@coastlineexploration.com

James Henderson / George Hudson

SOURCE Coastline Exploration Ltd
(Adds Bilbao Knutsen and LNG Adamawa tankers; removes those which have left the ports; shows tankers which are docked; removes Kool Boreas after it changes destination) Oct 21 (Reuters) - The following liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers are expected to arrive in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands in the coming weeks. Estimated arrival dates, often revised by port authorities and AIS Live ship-tracking data on Refinitiv Eikon, are updated below. Some tankers heading for Belgium and Britain may be loading at the terminal. Those expected to load are indicated with an (L). Those likely to perform ship-to-ship transfers are indicated with (STS). Tankers that have docked are indicated with (A). Floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) terminals are added to the table when they become fully operational. As of Sept. 30 2022 this includes the Eemshaven terminal in the Netherlands. For the Reuters LNG guide, click here: LNG TANKER CAPACITY in EXPECTED ARRIVAL FROM PORT cubic metres BRITAIN Elisa Aquila 174,000 Oct. 20 (A) United States Isle of Grain Flex Constellation 170,000 Oct. 19 (A) United States South Hook Sonangol Etosha 158,000 Oct. 20 (A) Angola Isle Of Grain Seapeak Marib 162,000 Oct. 22 United States South Hook Methane Mickie Harper 167,000 Oct. 22 United States Dragon Bu Samra 261,000 Oct. 23 Qatar Isle of Grain Bilbao Knutsen 136,000 Oct. 25 Peru Dragon Zarga 261,000 Oct. 26 Qatar South Hook BW Tulip 171,000 Oct. 29 United States Isle of Grain Maran Gas Ithaca 170,000 Oct. 29 United States South Hook Diamond Gas Victoria 174,000 Nov. 1 United States Isle of Grain LNG Adamawa 138,000 Nov. 3 Nigeria Isle of Grain Al Mafyar 261,000 Nov. 6 Qatar South Hook Kmarin Diamond 152,000 Nov. 18 Malta South Hook BELGIUM Shagra 261,000 Oct. 22 Qatar Zeebrugge Lng Megrez 174,000 Oct. 23 (L) N/A Zeebrugge Aamira 261,000 Oct. 24 Qatar Zeebrugge Nikolay Urvantsev 169,000 Oct. 25 N/A Zeebrugge Umm Al Amad 206,000 Oct. 27 Qatar Zeebrugge Gaslog HongKong 174,000 Oct. 29 United States Zeebrugge Maran Gas Troy 157,000 Nov. 4 Qatar Zeebrugge NETHERLANDS Adam LNG 159,000 Oct. 20 (A) Trinidad and Tobago Gate Maran Gas Roxana 171,000 Oct. 20 (A) Unites States Eemshaven LNG Schneeweisschen 177,000 Oct. 24 Unites States Gate Diamond Gas Met Olis 174,000 Oct. 24 United States Gate Maria Energy 174,000 Oct. 29 United States Gate LNG Rosenrot 176,000 Nov. 05 Unites States Gate Golar Glacier 162,000 Nov. 9 United States Gate Transgas Force 174,000 Nov. 28 United States Eemshaven Sources: Ports, AIS Live ship tracking, Refinitiv Eikon data. (^) Partial unload (*) Arrival date estimated based on flows data (Reporting by Nina Chestney)
By Trend

Turkiye will be selling armed drones to Malaysia, following Turkish Aerospace Inc.s winning of the southeastern Asian countrys UAV tender, daily Milliyet has reported, Trend reports citing Daily News.

According to the report, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein announced the winner of the tender late on Oct. 17.

Pointing out Malaysias interest on Chinese UAVs until then, Marhalim Abbas, a Malaysian journalist and expert on defense news, said, The Chinese drones fell short of Malaysian officials expectations.

Praising the capabilities of the Turkish drones, Abbas hinted that some other countries using Chinese drones may go with Turkiye, like Malaysia did.

According to official data, the value of the global armed drone market is around $12 billion and is expected to reach some $30 billion as of 2029.
Twitter's general counsel emailed staff on Thursday, per a report. Chesnot/Getty Images

Twitter has confirmed the company has no plans in place for company-wide layoffs.

On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that Elon Musk planned to cut Twitter's headcount by nearly 75%.

The reported cuts would have slashed Twitter's 7,500-person workforce to around 2,000, per The Post.

Twitter says the company had no plans in place for company-wide layoffs after The Washington Post reported that Elon Musk planned to cut headcount by nearly 75%.

Reuters first reported the news.

Sean Edgett, Twitter's general counsel, emailed Twitter's staff on Thursday telling them the company did not plan for layoffs, a source who viewed the email told Reuters.

A representative for Twitter confirmed to Insider the company was not planning layoffs.

On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that Elon Musk told prospective investors he would lay off almost 75% of Twitter's workforce. The reported job cuts would have slashed Twitter's 7,500-person workforce down to a staff of around 2,000, per The Post.

The news outlet reported that some job cuts were planned regardless of Musk's takeover. It cited corporate documents and interviews with people familiar with the plans in its report.

After months of litigation, Musk's deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion is expected to close by next Friday.

Some employees have expressed their unease about the deal on social media. Earlier this month, Rumman Chowdhury, the director of Twitter's ML Ethics, Transparency, and Accountability team, tweeted: "Living the plot of succession is fucking exhausting."

Read the original article on Business Insider
A local man who coerced a minor into sending him dozens of sexually explicit pictures and videos is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

Chad Michael Lehofer, 37, whose court records list addresses in Fredericksburg and Locust Grove, pleaded guilty Thursday to production and possession of child sexual abuse material. He will be sentenced Feb. 16 in federal court in Alexandria.

According to federal court records, a juvenile girl sent Lehofer about 100 pictures and 50 videos between December 2018 and April 2019. The girl was 15 when an investigation began in August 2019.

It is not clear where the girl lives, but court records indicate that the investigation began after federal officials in the Washington area received information from their counterparts in San Francisco.

When the girl attempted to break off contact with Lehofer, who had not been identified at that time, he threatened to expose her to her mother, friends and others on social media if she didnt continue meeting his demands.

At one point, the girl sent Lehofer a message stating, Can u just [expletive] stop and leave me alone? Please, I did nothing to you.

Lehofer responded in April 2019, After you [expletive] me, I said I would.

He also claimed to be watching the girls house and sent messages indicating that he knew her location. In response, the girl made a sexually explicit video and sent it to Lehofer.

The girl eventually cooperated with law enforcement and authorities were finally able to trace the blackmail to Lehofer. His parents home in Fredericksburg was raided as part of the investigation. Numerous images of child sexual abuse material were found on his electronic devices.

Court records show that Lehofer was convicted of multiple offenses in Connecticut in 2006 stemming, in part, from the sexual abuse of minors.
Scaling back streaming subscriptions is solid savings advice for some. But what if the choice you're faced with is not whether to pay for Netflix or Hulu, but whether to pay for food or electricity?

Millions of Americans face food, housing and general financial insecurity every year, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Agriculture. And getting help often means navigating a maze of websites, automated telephone systems and confusing applications only to land on a yearslong waitlist or worse  find out you don't qualify.

The good news: You don't have to figure this out on your own. There are financial counselors, nonprofits and other local and national organizations that exist to help you find your financial footing.

If you're currently facing eviction, can't feed your family or are experiencing some other financial crisis, dial 211 now to talk with a local expert who can connect you to assistance programs for food, housing and utility expenses, medical bills and other emergencies.

Not in crisis mode yet but barely keeping your head above water? Take these steps to prioritize the money you do have coming in, then get help filling in the gaps.

GO BACK TO BASICS

Start with a budget  even if you don't think you have enough money coming in to have a budget, says Amy Smith, a financial counselor in central Texas.

"It doesn't matter how much you're bringing in  any amount of money  because you're at least telling that money where to go," says Smith, who is also the membership engagement coordinator for the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education.

Your first budget won't be pretty. Your third or fourth might not be either. That's OK. Try to stick with it and play around with different budgeting methods to find one that works for you.

"When I started this journey, the end of my budget was red," Smith says, indicating that she didn't have the funds to cover all of her expenses. "At least I knew I needed extra money."

You will also know how to reallocate your funds if you get some extra income or a few months of utility assistance.

PRIORITIZE THE ESSENTIALS

If there's not enough money to cover all your expenses, tend to your basic needs first. These include housing, utilities, food, transportation and child care, among other things.

"If that means a credit card doesn't get paid that month, that happens," Smith says.

Bills you can't cover shouldn't be ignored, though. Call the creditor  whether it's your landlord, mortgage company, utility provider or credit card issuer  and explain the situation. Then, ask if there's any help available. Even a waived late fee can help.

TAKE HELP WHERE YOU CAN

Don't let perceived social stigma keep you from getting the help you need. And don't fall into the trap of thinking services like food banks or food stamps aren't for you, or that things aren't "that bad" yet.

It can take time to get from application to assistance, especially for federal programs. The waitlist for some federal housing vouchers can be years long, according to Erik Gartland, a research analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. On the flip side, SNAP benefits (often referred to as food stamps) can kick in within seven days of applying if you have no income, says Dottie Rosenbaum, a senior fellow and director of federal SNAP policy at the CBPP.

Tracking down programs, forms, applications and eligibility requirements is tedious and time consuming, especially if you're facing language barriers, don't have reliable internet access or simply don't have the time because you're caring and providing for your family.

Lean on organizations with the sole focus of connecting people in need to the assistance available.

HOW TO FIND HELP

These organizations can help you navigate the network of local, regional and national programs administered by nonprofits, religious organizations and state and federal agencies.

211.org: You can call 211 or visit 211.org to find local experts who know what help is available where you live and can connect you with the benefits you need.

Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education: Financial counselors work with clients on the basics  managing expenses, building a budget, creating a long-term plan  and they're tuned in to local resources and assistance programs. You can sign up for a free virtual session with a certified financial counselor at findanafc.org/pro-bono.

National Low Income Housing Coalition: This nonprofit organization maintains a database of Emergency Rental Assistance programs, searchable by the city, county, state territory or tribe. Crucially, the database also includes up-to-date information on each program's status: accepting applications, on hold or permanently closed.

Legal Services Corporation: Legal aid organizations across the country offer free legal help to low-income individuals. Their services cover everything from evictions and foreclosure to wage disputes and disaster relief . Legal Services Corporation is an independent nonprofit that provides funding to more than 100 legal aid groups across the country and the U.S. territories. Visit their website ( lsc.gov ), select "Get legal help" and enter your address to find a local legal aid office.

___
Acting United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Tomas De La Cruz-Perez, 37, of Fremont, and Luis Alberto Castro-Santos, 35, of Pomona, California, were sentenced Friday in federal court in Omaha for conspiracy to produce and transfer fraudulent documents.

Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter Jr. sentenced Castro-Santos and De La Cruz to imprisonment for terms of 24 months and 15 months, respectively. Prior to sentencing, De La Cruz-Perez had forfeited $9,170.00 as proceeds of the fraudulent document scheme.

There is no parole in the federal system. After their release from prison, each will begin a three-year term of supervised release. Both will be deported by U.S. immigration authorities after completing their respective sentences to imprisonment.

In the spring of 2020, law enforcement officers investigating an identity theft matter involving the use of a deceased persons Social Security number learned that fraudulent identity documents could be obtained from De La Cruz-Perez.

Over the course of the year, investigators made several purchases of fraudulent documents (Social Security cards, state drivers licenses, and Lawful Permanent Resident cards (I-551s) from De La Cruz-Perez, who was receiving dozens of packages originating in California through the U.S. Mail.

Investigators determined that Castro-Santos was the source of the fraudulent documents mailed to De La Cruz-Perez for sale to customers in Nebraska.

Investigators determined that Estuardo Ruiz-Orozco, of Wakefield, Nebraska, was also selling fraudulent documents obtained from Castro-Santos in California. Ruiz-Orozco was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 24 months on May 12, 2022. The remaining defendant in the case, Martin Alonzo Castro, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 6, 2023.

Investigators planned and executed coordinated arrests of the defendants on April 14, 2021. Investigators obtained warrants to search the Nebraska defendants residences and cars, yielding hundreds of counterfeit federal and state identity cards.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Social Security Administrations Office of Inspector General, and the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles.
Caitie Hays hopes the public will bring nonperishable items to a Halloween-themed event at Fremont High School.

Again this year, the Fremont High School Thespian Society will host Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat.

The drive-thru event, where participants can drop off canned goods and other nonperishable items, will be from 5-8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 28, in the south parking lot of Fremont High School, 1750 N. Lincoln Ave.

Items will be donated to Care Corps LifeHouse, which has a food pantry.

Thespians, dressed in costume, will take the drive-up donations.

People dont even have to get out of their car. They can drive right up and hand us their one can or a whole box of donations. We will take any nonperishable we can donate to LifeHouse, said Hays, the theater director.

This excludes meat or items that must be refrigerated.

To try to bring out more people, the thespians are planning a Spooky House for little children.

Children will be able to come into the high school, through the south doors, and enter four different, kid-themed rooms of a Spooky House, which they can explore for Halloween.

The entry price is one canned item, per person, for the house.

Other events are planned, such as face painting and fun activities for families and adults in an attempt to encourage people to donate the food items, Hays said.

FHS thespians have gathered food items for charity for years.

This year  more than ever  its incredibly important, because groceries are expensive and many people are still coming out of some very tough years, Hays said. This is one way every year that Fremont High School thespians can support the Fremont community.

Hays noted previous endeavors.

In 2021, thespians collected 1,000 cans.

Our goal is to beat that, Hays said.
The Rev. Scott Johnson has had unexpected times in his career.

Fresh out of seminary, Johnson never expected the second funeral hed ever conduct would be for a 14-year-old killed in a shooting accident.

Years later, the Fremont man couldnt have expected a worldwide pandemic that would alter the way he ministered to Midland University students as their campus pastor.

Johnson had an unexpected moment of a different type in June when he was elected bishop of the Nebraska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Hes embracing the role.

Now shepherding pastors and congregants in 233 churches across the state, Johnsons duties are multifaceted  from working with churches calling new pastors to determining synod ministry strategies.

Its a much bigger administrative role, said Johnson, who oversees a staff of 10 and a budget of more than $2 million.

Like leaders of various denominations, Johnson faces the challenges of helping churches fulfill Christs mission in a time of declining church attendance.

Johnson admits he has much to learn in his new role consisting of a six-year term after which he may be re-elected in 2028.

The bishop recently reflected on his ministry as he looked to the future.

Originally from Wakefield, Johnsons family has been part of the congregation of Salem Lutheran Church there for more than 100 years.

Johnson went to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

When I started college, I was a music education major, he said. I had no plans for being in ministry. It was not even a little bit on my radar.

Yet through time as a summer counselor at Carol Joy Holling Camp at Ashland and involvement at Lutheran Campus Ministry at UNL, Johnson would feel called toward a church-related vocation.

He earned a bachelors degree from UNL in 1998 and master of divinity degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2003.

Johnson remembers his first Sunday at a Minnesota church. Hed just preached his first sermon after graduating from seminary and was home reading the newspaper, when a church member pulled into his driveway.

Some other church members were facing a tragedy after their teenage son was accidentally shot and killed by his best friend.

The new minister would conduct a funeral for a 14-year-old boy hed never met.

Thankfully, the family was very gracious in understanding they were dealing with a brand, new pastor, Johnson recalled.

Johnson later served as campus pastor at University Lutheran Center at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He then served as pastor of St. Petri Lutheran Church in Story, City, Iowa.

In the fall of 2019, Johnson became director of campus ministries at Midland University in Fremont.

The COVID pandemic began in the spring of 2020.

Johnson recalls the challenges.

It was really hard to get a lot of things rolling while were doing online education that first few months of that spring semester, Johnson said.

In-person chapel services werent taking place.

Yet Johnson found a way to reach students and the community online by making Facebook videos. The videos included a Bible reading, a short message and a prayer and were promoted via different types of social media.

In-person classes resumed during the 2020-21 academic year, but that had its challenges, too, with lots of mask-wearing and illnesses.

You were always overcoming something, Johnson said. Thats nobodys fault necessarily, it just made it a lot more difficult than I believed it was going to be.

Yet ministry took place that season and the next.

Johnson frequently played his trombone with the universitys band. He attended sporting events and showed up for classes. He even taught a couple sections of Intro to College and a section of Youth Ministry 101 for a couple of youth and family ministry majors.

He walked alongside students deciding which vocation to choose.

Johnson connected with students whether or not they had a faith background.

My job wasnt just to be there for church kids. My job was to be the campus pastor for the entire Midland community, he said.

Johnson looked forward to future times at Midland.

It felt like we were finally to a point where possibly we could move forward and really get some stuff rolling, he said.

Johnson had another unexpected career moment when he became a nominee for the office of bishop.

It was an honor to be nominated and, at the same time, I had to do some real thinking and praying about whether or not it was work I felt like I could do. Its a lot, he said, referring to the jobs large administrative role.

He proceeded with the nomination process.

Along with other candidates, Johnson gave presentations at the synod assembly, which would vote five times, narrowing the candidate list, over a two-day period.

When the number of candidates was narrowed to three, each gave a 10-minute presentation on their choice of topic.

I didnt necessarily have a very positive message about the future of the church, Johnson said. I was pretty honest about some of the realities facing the church over the next 10 to 15 years. Numbers are dropping. The fastest growing religious population in the United States is people who have no (religious) affiliation.

Whomever was elected needed to be someone who understands where the church is, he noted.

After his presentation, Johnson figured he wouldnt be elected as bishop.

But he was.

Johnson reflected on his message.

Apparently, it resonated with more folks than I thought, he said.

What Johnson loved most about the process was that all nominees were focused on finding a good leader for the church  even if they werent the one elected.

Two of the strongest supporters Ive had since the election have been the other two candidates in the final three, he said. I didnt know either of them very well before the election and I would count them as good friends now.

After two-and-a-half years, Johnsons time at Midland ended. Hed receive messages from students who appreciated how he connected with them and attended their events.

I genuinely loved and miss the work I was doing at Midland, Johnson said.

As bishop, Johnson is a pastor to the entire Nebraska synod.

I work with strategic directives for our synod in terms of where to focus our energies on leadership development, youth and family ministry and stewardship, he said.

As one of 65 ELCA bishops, he takes part in retreats in Chicago. As the synods chief ecumenical officer, he may work with interfaith partners.

He has other duties.

In cases where there may have been misconduct or something going on in a congregation thats not where we want it to be, Im the person who has to figure out how discipline works, Johnson said.

One of his predecessors made an observation: The peaks are higher and the valleys are lower in this work.

Absolutely true, Johnson said.

Johnson appreciates visiting the churchs social service organizations, which benefit senior citizens and people with special needs, along with campus ministries. He preaches and teaches. Almost every Sunday, he goes to congregations to talk about the work of the synod and wider church.

Hes enjoyed seeing three pastoral ordinations with a fourth planned in November.

The synod office is at 72nd and Sorensen Parkway in Omaha. He appreciates his good staff.

Johnson and his family continue to live in Fremont, where his wife, Kristin, is deacon of faith formation at First Lutheran Church. Their daughters are Ainsley, a Fremont High School sophomore and Alanna, an eighth-grader at Fremont Middle School.

In his first year as bishop, Johnson plans to continue to listen and learn.

Johnson good-humoredly recalls what someone told him after his election:

The church has lasted 2,000 years. Youre not going to bring it to a screeching halt in six.

Its good to keep yourself a little humble, he said.
Editors note: This is the fourth set of 2022 general election candidate Q&As. You can find these in print the next two weeks, with new candidates running each day, or online at fremonttribune.com. There are two candidates for Dodge County clerk: James M. Dake and Micki Gilfry. The Tribune did not recieve anwers from Dake before the press deadline. Question: Where are you originally from? How long have you been in Dodge County?

Answer: I was born in David City, Nebraska, I have been in Dodge County for the past 50 years.

Q: Tell us about your immediate family.

A: My parents, Harold and Cheryl DeWispelare, moved to Fremont about 50 years ago so that my dad could open up High Performance Harrys. My mom worked with my dad for many years before starting work at Hormel, which is where she retired.

I have two children  Nathan and Jordan  who both live in Fremont. I have two sisters: Shelley who lives in Springfield, Missouri; and Tracey who lives in Bellevue, Nebraska.

Q: What is your current occupation?

A: Deputy Dodge County clerk, accounts payables and payroll clerk.

Q: Why did you decide to run for office?

A: Fred Mytty, the current County Clerk, after 48 years has decided to retire. After working alongside Fred for the past 40 years and learning everything I know from him, I feel like I am the best qualified to take over the position of county clerk. I know the daily tasks associated with running the office effectively and have worked in some capacity, with every aspect of the positions, associated with the clerks office.

Q: How are or have you been involved in the community?

A: I currently serve on the Dodge County Safety Committee, and have served for the past 26 years, I coordinate the Dodge County Blood Drive for the American Red Cross.

Q: What qualifies you for this office?

A: I have worked in the county clerks office for 40 years, I have knowledge of the daily tasks associated with the office and have worked every aspect of the office in some capacity. Currently serving as the Deputy County Clerk, I feel I am the most qualified and best choice to continue to keep the office running smoothly and efficiently.

Q: What do you think are the top two issues in Dodge County (if running for city council the top two issues in Fremont) and, if elected, how would you address them?

A: I dont see any major issues in Dodge County, the clerks office is secretary to the Board of Supervisors and they are the ones in charge of making policy and decisions. I believe they do a great job of making sure the citizens of Dodge County are taken care of. They are conscious of spending and keeping the levy down. I will do anything I can to help keep Dodge County financially fit.

Q: Whats one thing you believe the county (or city) could do better? why?

A: The County Board of Supervisors do a good job of being transparent on the policies and decisions that are being made and they also keep in mind how anything they pass will affect their constituents. I feel at the county level things are running smoothly.

Q: What is the most adventurous thing you have ever done?

A: Running for office. I am not normally one that chooses the spotlight, but I truly believe my knowledge, experience and rapport with other current county officials is needed to continue running the office effectively.
By Trend

Iranian embassy in Kazakhstan announced that from November 11, Kazakh citizens would be able to enter and stay in Iran without a visa for up to 14 calendar days from the moment of border crossing, Trend reports citing Tasnim.

The Iranian Embassy in Kazakhstan announced that following the agreement between Iran and Kazakhstan and based on full reciprocity, the Iranian government lifted visa requirements for ordinary Kazakh passports.

Since July 2022, the citizens of India, Iran, and China are able to enter and stay in Kazakhstan without a visa for up to 14 calendar days from the moment of border crossing. Trips for private, tourist, and business purposes are available under a visa-free regime.
Welcome to Gandhara's weekly newsletter. This briefing brings you the best of our reporting from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

If you're new to the newsletter or haven't subscribed yet, you can do so here.

This weeks Gandhara Briefing brings you insights into the Taliban turning a blind eye to the opium trade; the militant group banning women from many university courses; and the return of the Pakistani Taliban to the Swat Valley.

Unenforced Taliban Drug Ban

I write about the Taliban turning a blind eye to poppy cultivation despite announcing a blanket ban on illicit narcotics.

Some farmers in southern Afghanistan, where most of the worlds illicit opium is produced, say they are planting their crops openly.

The Taliban has been unable to provide alternative livelihoods for the tens of thousands of farmers who are dependent on the drug trade for survival.

I support the ban on poppy cultivation if we get some aid to enable us to buy food and medicines for our families, Abdul Qayyum, a farmer in Kandahars Maiwand district, told us.

Naqibullah, a farmer in Uruzgan, said that a wheat crop could not even pay for the labor and investment in fertilizers it requires to grow. If I dont plant poppies, I will get nothing, he said.

An effective ban on drugs production in the midst of a failing economy is a recipe for disaster, said David Mansfield, a researcher who tracks drugs and human smuggling in Afghanistan.

TTP Returns To Swat

Daud Khattak reports on the return of the Pakistani Taliban to the Swat Valley, where the militants shot and wounded Malala Yousafzai a decade ago.

In recent weeks, residents of Swat have staged protests to highlight Islamabads indifference to the return of the militants. Across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the militants have engaged in extortion and targeted assassinations.

We dont want insecurity here because we fear being displaced again, said Ali Rahman, who was forced to give up his education and flee Swat during a major military offensive in 2009. That would destroy our business and life.

Lawyer Ali Sher says the residents of Swat are determined to protect their areas from the militants.

If the government continues to remain indifferent, the people will block the Taliban from reentering our areas, he said.

Afghan Women Banned From University Courses

RFE/RL's Radio Azadi reports on the Taliban banning women from applying for many university courses, including journalism, engineering, and economics.

The move came as tens of thousands of Afghan men and women took part in university entrance exams.

I was heartbroken and disillusioned, so I walked away, said Fatima, 20. She left the exam after learning that she could not study journalism.

Shamila, a high-school graduate in Kunduz, cannot pursue her dream of becoming a doctor because medicine is not offered in her province. The Taliban has barred women from applying for universities outside their home provinces.

No one has been able to explain to us why we are deprived of studying our preferred subjects, she said.

(Watch Radio Azadis report on Kabuls female-only library, which has turned into an oasis for Afghan girls and women.)

Taliban Bans The Hookah

Radio Azadi reports on the Taliban banning hookah smoking, a move that has dealt a blow to cafes in Herat.

The Taliban considers hookah smoking un-Islamic. Cafe owners say the ban will affect their earnings and lead to job cuts.

How can I run a cafe when I have no income? asked Omid, who was forced to lay off seven workers after customers stopped visiting his cafe following the Taliban ban. How can I pay workers when we have no customers?

Mohammad Qasim, 23, says he plans to leave Afghanistan after losing his job in a cafe.

I have been forced to go to Iran to look for work, he said, adding that without his $100 monthly salary, he will not be able to provide for his family of five.

That's all from me this week.

Until next time,

Abubakar Siddique

If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do so here. I encourage you to visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook..

You can always reach us at gandhara@rferl.org.

Editor's Note: The Gandhara Briefing will not appear next week but will return on November 4.
Pakistan has been removed from an international terrorism-financing watch list, the head of the international organization that makes the list said.

The decision was announced on October 21 at the end of a two-day meeting in Paris of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at which the organization removed Pakistan from its so-called "gray list" of countries that do not take full measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

The FATF welcomed Pakistans significant progress in improving" its anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing policies.

Pakistan has addressed technical deficiencies to meet the commitments of its action plans regarding strategic deficiencies that the FATF identified in June 2018 and June 2021," FATF President T. Raja Kumar told a news conference.

The announcement means Pakistan will no longer be subject to increased monitoring by the FATF.

The FATF said in June that it was keeping Pakistan on the so-called "gray list" of countries that do not take full measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. But it said at the time that it might be removed after an on-site visit to verify progress.

Pakistan was listed in 2018 because of "strategic counterterrorist financing-related deficiencies."

Countries on the watchdogs list can see investors scared away and banks wary of doing business with them.

The move was quickly welcomed by the countrys prime minister and other government officials.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Twitter that his countrys removal from the list was vindication of our determined and sustained efforts over the years. He also congratulated the countrys civil and military leadership as well as all institutions whose hard work led to todays success."

Pakistani Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, speaking from Paris, expressed hope that the decision would boost Pakistans economy and increase its economic and financial engagement with the outside world.

We want to be seen as a responsible and active member of the international community that is well aware of its international obligations," she said.



Countries on the gray list have a high risk of money laundering and terrorism financing but have formally committed to working with the task force to make changes.

The FATF is made up of 37 member countries, including the United States, and two regional groups, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Commission. Only Iran, North Korea, and Burma are fully blacklisted and refuse to cooperate with the FATF.

Kumar said Russia has been "sidelined" at the FATF because of its invasion of Ukraine. FATF had already taken some measures to exclude Russia in June.

"Russia's actions continue to violate FATFs core principles, which aim to promote security, safety, and the integrity of the financial system," the FATF said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement that the FATF "again condemned the Russian war against Ukraine and took further steps to restrict Russias membership privileges, including curtailing its ability to engage in FATFs work and banning it from participating in regional groups as a FATF member.

These moves build on the "unprecedented censure of Russia by the FATF in June," she said.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and dpa
An electric plane company could grow its operations in Centennial or Jefferson County after landing almost $3 million in state economic development tax credits.

The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trades Economic Development Commission on Thursday approved almost $7 million in economic incentives for five companies to either locate, or grow, their businesses here.

The largest incentive approved would help an electric aircraft company using the code name Project Galvanic. The commission keeps the companies names secret until all the paperwork is finalized. It approved up to $2,948,218 in performance-based Job Growth Incentive Tax Credits over an eight-year period.

The company expects to create 433 net new jobs with an annual wage of $80,014. It currently has nine employees who all live in Colorado. It must prove to the state the jobs were created, and held for at least a year, before being allowed to use the credits. It also must prove capital of $11 million by the end of 2023, commissioners decided. This business is considering other locations outside of Centennial and Jefferson County, which include Greensboro, N.C., Lansing, Mich., and Madison, Wis.

A United Kingdom-based indoor farming technology company was awarded up to $2,758,845 in tax credits for up to eight years to create up to 114 net new jobs. The company is considering a few locations around the U.S., but in Colorado the business would settle in Larimer County. The average wage for those jobs would be $98,991, according to the project description.

A company dubbed Project Hudson was approved for up to $642,569. It specializes in multifamily development and is looking to find a way to keep up with growing demand in the mountain and West Coast region, according to a project description.

In Colorado, the company pledged to create 129 net new jobs with an average annual wage of $111,526 in Denver County. The company is also considering Indianapolis, where it's headquartered, Phoenix, Washington and Massachusetts for its North American operations location.

Project Strike, a company that provides materials for the medical device industry, was approved for up to $383,100 to create 41 jobs at an average annual wage of $96,732 in Denver County. The company is also considering Cody, Wyo., for the new facility expansion.

Finally, Project Dunia, a Colorado-based manufacturing company that produces hemp-based bioplastics, was approved for up to $203,313. These bioplastics are designed to be used in injection molding applications and can be composted, according to the project description. The company plans to create 28 net new jobs at an average annual wage of $69,548 in Weld County. This business is also considering Texas.
At 10:49 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, Bailey, a 10-year-old giraffe, welcomed her second calf  and second daughter  to the world at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. The baby is the 203rd giraffe born at the zoo through its nationally-renowned breeding program.

According to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Animal Care Manager Jason Bredhal, after a little help standing for the first time from the care team, the baby giraffe has been checking all the boxes they hope for when welcoming new calfs. "You can imagine, those long giraffe legs being tucked up inside mom for so long, they don't work so good," Brehdal said. "So we just gave her a little boost that first time and then after that she's been moving around on her own."

At approximately six feet tall and 125 pounds, the baby seems strong and healthy. She's staying close to mom but enjoying using her tongue to explore branches and other features in her habitat. "Just like humans do, they like to put everything in their mouth," Brehdal said.

For now, mama and baby are visible from a distance in the giraffe barn, which has been designed as a quiet zone as they adjust. Over the next few days, the calf will be introduced to the herd slowly, starting with the older females that are good with young giraffes.

"When we can welcome a youngster like this, it's a really fantastic amazing time for everybody to see how they start off as such a small animal," Bredhal said.

Giraffes start taking solid food around three-to-five months and Bredhal assumes that she will start taking food from guests around the five-to-six month time period.

The baby giraffe is not yet named.
Zachary Andre, who will mark his 16th birthday this week, was entering toddlerhood in December 2007, when two teenage members of New Life Church in northern Colorado Springs were randomly gunned down in a parking lot by a shooter.

His family moved to the city a month later and joined the church.

Zachary now is bonded to the two departed Works sisters for the rest of his life.

A project to refurbish the Works Memorial on church grounds will earn Zachary the rank of Eagle Scout and has taught him a lesson he wont forget.

I learned that even when people die and are no longer around, its valuable to remember them, he said Thursday, just hours before a hearing before an honor board review of his Scouting career.

Its easy to forget, he said, that just feet away from where he stood at the memorial grounds, Stephanie and Rachel Works drew their last breath.

A 24-year-old gunman randomly shot the girls and their father, who survived, as they tried to get inside their van that was parked at the back of the church.

This memorial helps myself and others remember that and not forget it, said a member of the church's youth group.

Two faded painted ribbons mark the spaces where the girls lives ended that day, but with Zacharys project, theres a refreshed look next to the no-longer-used parking spots.

Church leaders installed the tribute to the girls in 2008.

We knew it was a difficult time in the churchs history, said Zacharys dad, Terence Andre.

But time and weather had deteriorated sections of the memorial to the point that it seemed as sad as the lingering grief from the senseless loss of two promising souls.

Grass and other vegetation around the area had died and was bare in some places, and flagstone slabs placed on top of a concrete storm drain had cracked.

Zachary, a sophomore at The Classical Academy College Pathways online school, said he wanted his work to attain the highest rank in Scouting to be done at the church. He just didnt know what it would be. Eagle Scout projects must benefit the community, typically an improvement for schools, churches, nonprofit organizations or municipalities.

In talking with church leaders in the spring, the idea of refurbishing the landscaping around the memorial came up and grew on him.

Id always known about this memorial, as long as I could remember, and Id come out here and seen the weeds and broken stone, he said. I thought it would be the perfect project.

Hours and hours of preparation became the most difficult part of the task for Zachary.

Theres a lot of paperwork, planning and organization you have to do, he said.

Zachary first developed a proposal, and once approved, raised $500 to pay for the renovation.

He recruited volunteers to extract the old dirt, weeds and expired sod; orchestrated delivery of a weed barrier, fresh dirt, mulch and 7 tons of river rock; and built a team of family and peer workers.

With everything prepared, carrying out the renovation took just one entire day of tough physical labor.

Broken pieces of flagstone became new walkways, and edging was added over the storm drain to keep water out.

Original boulders and two benches dedicated to Stephanie and Rachel remain untouched, with inspiring biblical passages dear to their hearts etched in the stone.

Zachary has known about the memorial since he can remember.

Even though he was just a baby when the tragic shooting occurred, Zachary feels a kinship with Rachel and Stephanie Works.

I think this will help it to be something that truly honors the victims, he said of the upgrades.

The project dovetails with the church's renovation and beautification plans, said Terence Andre. With new commercial and residential development in the Interquest neighborhood surrounding New Life, the church is sprucing up landscaping around the buildings, has painted the exterior of its buildings and is adding signage that will say, "New Life Commons," to create a welcoming campus that's open to all, he said.

The church also has leased some of its land to a coffee shop and a doughnut shop that's under construction.

Thus, the work on the memorial "aligns with the improvements of the facility that's going on," Andre said.

Some Eagle Scout projects are temporary, but Zacharys contribution will continue to live on in memory of the Works sisters, his dad said.

Its meaningful and lasting, Andre said.

Another sister, Laurie Works, Stephanies twin, witnessed the brutal murders that took place almost 15 years ago. The shooter, who had killed two people earlier that day at a Christian youth training center in Arvada, also wounded two others during his rampage at New Life Church, before a church safety officer shot him. He then killed himself.

Near the 10th anniversary of the installation of the memorial, Laurie Works told The Gazette in 2018 that she only visits the site a few times a year. She said she senses a closeness to her sisters there because on that spot was the last time she saw them alive.

I feel them here when I come, she said.
A former Fort Carson soldier accused of killing his wife in 2021 will stand trial Nov. 1 in El Paso County Court.

Dermot Blake, 34, is accused of first-degree murder among several other charges in the Feb. 20, 2021, death of his wife, Tashianna Blake, in the family's townhome in southeast Colorado Springs.

Both the prosecution and defense indicated to Judge Samuel Evig that they were ready for trial on Nov. 1, but not without some caveats from the prosecution.

The prosecution stated that it had concerns over some lingering evidentiary and witness concerns, and that the judge's ruling on those could affect their readiness for trial.

Specifically, the prosecution was hoping to allow for a witness to testify as an expert to the impact of alcohol on the body. Blake was allegedly drunk at the time of the murder.

As a result, Evig ordered a final pretrial readiness conference on Oct. 28 to discuss any final concerns before going to trial the following Monday, and to give final rulings on issues filed by both parties.

However, Evig noted that he was very unlikely to allow for a continuance in the trial unless something "extraordinary" happens before Oct. 28.

Blake was originally scheduled for his pretrial readiness conference on Oct. 17, but was unable to attend as he tested positive for COVID-19 and was placed in quarantine. Blake appeared in person in court on Friday.

Previous reporting from The Gazette details that on the night of Feb. 20 around midnight, Dermot Blake allegedly ordered his two daughters  7 and 5 years old at the time  to come out of their room.

The oldest of the daughters told police that she and her sister came out of the room to find their mother, Tashianna Blake, covered in blood and telling her husband she was sorry.

Then, according to the 7-year-old daughter of the Blakes, Dermot Blake shot Tashianna Blake in the head several times in front of the children.

I wanted to call the police  911  but I didnt want to because I love my dad really much even though he was killing my mom, the older daughter said, according to previous Gazette reporting.

Around 1 hour after the shooting, Colorado Springs police said that Dermot Blake called the police to report someone had been shot and killed. When police arrived Tashianna Blake was found dead and Dermot Blake was reportedly covered in blood and immediately placed in handcuffs.

Blake currently resides in El Paso County jail on a no-bond hold. If he is found guilty of the first-degree murder charge, he will be sentenced to life in prison, per Colorado law.
By Trend

Israel and Bahrain have signed an agriculture cooperation deal, Israeli officials said on Thursday, bringing closer the countries that forged ties under a US-diplomatic push in 2020, Trend reports citing Al Arabiya.

The signing took place at an international conference in the Red Sea port of Eilat whose focus included innovation in aquaculture, as part of global efforts to address food security, Israels Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

Also present were delegates from United Arab Emirates and Morocco, which also drew closer to Israel under the Abraham Accords two years ago.

The Israeli ministry said that, pursuant to a government decision, Eilat would become a center for research and development of food from the sea and the desert.
South Africa: Northern Cape communities assured that no one will be left behind

President Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed governments commitment to leave no one behind in delivering basic services.

The President assured residents of the ZF Mgcawu District Municipality in the Northern Cape that all three spheres of government are dealing with service delivery challenges and issues they face.

President Ramaphosa held the 5th Presidential Imbizo on Friday at the Mxolisi Dicky Jacobs Stadium in the ZF Mgcawu District in Upington, Northern Cape.

To date, President Ramaphosa has visited five provinces, namely the North West, Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Northern Cape to interact with residents.

Major challenges raised by community members at the Presidential Imbizo include basic services such as water and electricity, the illicit drug trade, the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant, ownership of minerals, poverty and unemployment, corruption, dilapidated infrastructure and limited healthcare facilities.

President Ramaphosa interacted with people and listened to their experiences of daily life in the province, service delivery challenges, as well as their initiatives and solutions to improve socio-economic conditions.

We are a government that listens to our people We have listened and everything you have said has been written down because you have raised important issues that are of concern... We are a government that has taken a policy position that no one must be left behind and that is what we have decided to do, the President said.

The President reiterated that whatever government does must be inclusive and involve all the people.

Sometimes we dont do as well as we want to because of the challenges we have. Some of you have touched on those challenges. The shortage of resources is one of the big challenges and you have also touched on a huge challenge of unemployment which is big in the Northern Cape."

One of the residents raised a concern about the employment policies in government, which mainly focus on those who are between the ages of 18 and 35.

In response to this, President Ramaphosa said governments programmes on unemployment have to include everyone.

It has now been made clear to us that we cannot just target those particular age groups. We must go beyond 35 as well.

We have started with the programme targeting people aged 18 to 35, but many people remain unemployed. Up to 64% of those who dont work are people below 35. At the same time, those who are 36 and above are also unemployed, so they must also be targeted. Our programmes for unemployment have to [include] everyone so that we do not leave anyone behind, the President said.

President Ramaphosa said izimbizo are designed to listen to service delivery challenges encountered by community members. He said while they may not be able to provide immediate answers to everything raised, "there is always a solution".

Another community member raised a concern that healthcare workers in Gauteng are now being incorporated and made permanent into the system, more than other provinces.

The President said health workers around the country have been doing a fantastic job. He highlighted their contribution during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From a World Health Organization (WHO) point of view, we need to bring more health workers into the health system so that they focus on primary healthcare. Health workers have shown that they can play a key role. Our major concern has been our budgetary challenges because the money that we should be deploying to bringing in many more healthcare workers has been limited but we are beginning to see the economy grow."

The President said with revenue looking up, more can be spent on "education, health and social grants".

"We are one of those countries in the world that has done quite a lot to look after the welfare of our people, he said.

The President described his imbizo in the Northern Cape as "one of the best" he has ever held.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-10-21. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Trend

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will discuss North Koreas recent missile launches, China and tensions over Taiwan, in meetings with her Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Tokyo next week, a senior State Department official said on Thursday, Trend reports citing Al Arabiya.

Shermans Oct. 24-27 Tokyo trip will include a trilateral meeting with Japanese and South Korean counterparts and bilateral meetings with each country, the official told reporters.

We will discuss a range of issues, including the DPRKs numerous ballistic missile launches this year, the PRC <...>, the official said, referring to North Korea and China by the initials of their official names.

We intend to discuss the whole panoply of issues that deal with regional security, and Taiwan is a big part of that.

The talks with Japan are also expected to cover Japanese defense reforms and a new national security strategy Tokyo is working on, the official said.
An indictment against state Sen. Pete Lee has been thrown out by an El Paso District Court judge, who cited erroneous information presented to a grand jury in August.

Lee, a Democrat from Colorado Springs, said Judge Eric Bentley dismissed the indictment following an hour-long hearing Friday morning. Bentley's order is not yet publicly available, but Lee recounted the hearing to Colorado Politics shortly after the decision was handed down.

According to Lee, Bentley cited the incorrect information presented by a district attorney's investigator to a grand jury, which returned a class 5 felony charge. According to El Paso District Court records, the case is closed.

A spokesman for District Attorney Michael Allen's office said the criminal case does not exist, citing CRS 24-72-703.

Lee was indicted by a grand jury in August for felony misrepresentation of his residency for voting purposes.

"I'm greatly relieved to have this ruling handed down by the judge," Lee told Colorado Politics.

Lee represents Senate District 11. He is registered to vote at a rental home he owns in the district on North Sheridan Ave., which is occupied by his stepdaughter.

He also owns a home in Senate District 12, and it's that address on West Cheyenne Rd. the indictment claimed is his permanent address.

The incorrect information presented to the grand jury came from the Colorado Supreme Court's Office of Attorney Registration. The office submitted an affidavit in August to the district attorney stating Lee changed his address in Dec. 2019 to the Cheyenne Rd. home. Lee had filed registration paperwork on that date but had not changed his address.

The information was prominently cited at least five times in exhibits and PowerPoint presentations during the grand jury hearing by an investigator with the district attorney's office.

The Office of Attorney Registration notified the court about the erroneous information on Sept. 15 and corrected it in an affidavit submitted on Sept. 17, according to Allen's spokesman. Allen said he would move forward with the case despite the incorrect information.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Allen's office indicated formal investigation is in process looking into state Sen. Dennis Hisey, a Colorado Springs Republican who is in a tight race that could determine control of the state Senate.

Hisey lived in Fountain until he moved into an apartment in southeastern Colorado Springs late last year to run for the Senate District 11 seat. Hisey still owns the home in Fountain from which he was first elected in 2018, leading to allegations similar to those leveled against Lee.
In a breakout session, Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright, center, of the Colorado Supreme Court, as well as Justices Monica M. Marquez, left, and William W. Hood III, right, answer questions from a small group of students at Pomona High School after they and the other four members of the court heard two cases at the high school Oct. 26 in Arvada.
By Trend

A meeting was held at the State Agency for Ecological Expertise with the participation of representatives of relevant state structures for regulating the activities of road transport in Baku, Trend reports citing the agency.

Representatives of State Agency of Azerbaijan Automobile Roads, Baku Transport Agency, Main Traffic Police Department of Azerbaijan, State Traffic Police Department of Baku city, the Landscaping Association under the Executive Office of Baku, the State Environmental Security Service, Landscaping and Landscape Design OJSC attended the event, during which an exchange of views took place on projects to develop the road transport infrastructure of Baku.

The event was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Asadov on October 14 in connection with the implementation of the tasks set during the working meeting on the transport situation in Baku.

The positive conclusion of State Agency for Ecological Expertise on road infrastructure projects was noted, related to the protection of green plantations, trees valuable for the climate of the capital, as well as the construction in recent years of elevated pedestrian crossings at a number of addresses throughout Baku - at the intersection of Azadlig avenue and Ajami Nakhchivani street, Ziya Bunyadov avenue, near the Baku Vocational Lyceum No. 9, on the highway to Heydar Aliyev International Airport - Mardakan road junction - Bilgah, on the 21st kilometer of the Baku-Guba-state border with the Russian Federation highway.

The master plan was also reviewed in connection with elevated pedestrian crossings in some sections. The issue of providing an opinion will be considered after the submission of project documentation.

In addition, State Agency for Ecological Expertise gave an assessment regarding the transfer of landscaping and the expansion of the road for comfortable traffic from Baku's Babek avenue, on Bekir Chobanzade street, from Mehtizade and Orudzhev streets on Yusif Safarov street, as well as the creation of a permanent turn to the right from the Khatai metro station on Najafgulu Rafiyev street

At the end of the meeting, decision was made to create operational group of representatives of the participating structures to solve the existing problems that hinder the functioning of road transport in Baku city. The group will deal with operational measures to relocate, cut green plantations that impede the movement of motor vehicles in the city and which can lead to traffic jams, accidents, mishaps and etc.
Shaping tomorrow's leaders takes a little motivation from today's leaders.

Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg met with members of the Mason City Chamber of Commerce's Youth Investing Energy in Leadership Development (YIELD) group Wednesday. The state official shared his thoughts about leadership and what led him to pursue a role to lead others.

"We're almost one big community [in Iowa] and we all want to help each other succeed," said Newman Catholic student Hadley Shatek. "Just like today, the lieutenant governor came and gave us some tips, and all of this will help us further in our life, and it helps build the Iowa community."

YIELD students are high school juniors who have been identified by school administrators and faculty as future leaders, according to a press release. For some of the group members, it was their first time meeting a high-ranking state official.

Gregg described how he became lieutenant governor, and the uncontrollable factors that influenced his career. He discussed how his failed bid to become Iowa attorney general in 2014 opened up new doors for him later.

"If you aren't failing occasionally you probably aren't pushing yourself hard enough," said Gregg. "Maybe you're taking too-easy classes. Maybe you're not signing up for more advanced coursework. Maybe you're not taking up the type of challenges that you see. So keep pushing yourself, and don't be afraid."

Gregg urged students to show kindness for everybody. He told the story of how when he was in second grade he chased down former Gov. Terry Branstad on his bike to ask for an autograph. Branstad pulled the car over and signed a piece of notebook paper for Gregg.

Because of the then-governor's considerate act, Gregg went into public service and eventually landed on Branstad's staff.

"I keep that autograph on my desk as a reminder to show kindness to everybody, because you never know how it can come back around," said Gregg.

The 17 students asked the lieutenant governor questions involving leadership and his role. One student asked about listening and communicating with others as an elected official.

Gregg said being a good listener and communicator is a priority in any leadership role. He added with a top position comes the responsibility of making tough decisions.

"There might be persuasive folks on either side, and it can be difficult to balance what's right when there are two bad options. That can be a challenge," said Gregg.

Kyleigh James, a student at Mason City High School, enjoyed Gregg's advice about taking risks. She said herself and other group members are working to develop their skills to lead in order to aid others.

"It's definitely a very challenging time in life for a lot of people, and almost everyone can use someone, whether it's listening or helping them grow or just to walk alongside them through," said James.

Along with being a part of YIELD, both James and Shatek are involved in leadership roles at school and in other organizations. Both felt much of the discussion with Gregg can be applied in their lives.

Shatek said the skills they pick up, like communication and kindness, will result in them being better future leaders.

"I think all of those tools that you get in your process of becoming a leader you use in your future career, no matter what interests that you have," said Shatek. "Those skills that you build when you're becoming a leader, you're going to use the rest of your life."

Mason City Chamber announces award winners Midwest Construction received the Small Business of the Year award at the 106th Chamber of C
Pittsylvania County Community Action is seeking volunteers to assist with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

The organization offers free tax preparation in Danville, Pittsylvania County and Caswell County, North Carolina. Volunteers are needed to greet clients, prepare taxes and perform quality reviews.

These volunteers are required to participate in training and pass certification tests based on the role you wish to perform.

It is a free tax program offered to low- and moderate-income households, sponsored by and operated under the guidance of the Internal Revenue Service. Volunteers prepare federal and state income taxes for households with incomes below $60,000. The program ensures households receive all the tax benefits for which they are eligible, including the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. Virginians who file 2022 taxes may also qualify for a partially refundable EITC which could mean a larger state refund.

During the last tax filing season, 13 volunteers successfully completed IRS training and certification. These volunteers provided more than 2,200 hours assisting in excess of 1,300 families and individuals with federal and state tax preparation services at no charge, thus helping taxpayers in our community save tax preparation fees.

Volunteers need not have any prior tax preparation training or experience. The training program is comprehensive based on the needs of clients. Volunteers are asked to commit a minimum of four hours per week during the tax filing season which extends from late January through April 18.

Pittsylvania County Community Action will hold an information session from 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 16 at 211 Nor Dan Drive, Suite 1055 in Danville. Tax training will begin Nov. 28.

To learn more, contact Betsy Bacon at 434-549-8220.
Twelve people were injured in a two-alarm fire at an apartment complex in Hampton, according to the Hampton Fire Department.

Crews responded to the 200 block of Marcella Road, near Coliseum Drive and Cooper Elementary School. around 1:36 a.m. Friday.

Four residents and eight firefighters were injured in the blaze.

Fire crews were still on the scene as of 7:15 a.m.

A spokesperson for the Hampton Fire Department could not be reached for additional information.

This is a developing story.
Achievers

Greensboro native Maurice Hull scored his second Masters-class victory in the Trans Am TA2 race Oct. 8 at Virginia International Raceway. Riding along were local partners Hanes Asphalt and Paving, based in Lexington, and Davis Roofing, based in Archdale (on the No. 5 car of co-driver Connor Zilisch).

Hull, owner with his wife Laura of High Point-based Silver Hare Racing, is a three-time Trans Am TA2 Masters class champion for drivers 60 and older. Hes 69.

* * * *

Racquel Ingram, founding chair of High Point Universitys department of nursing, has been elected to serve as the next chairwoman of the North Carolina Board of Nursing. Her one-year appointment starts Jan. 1.

Ingrams peers on the NCBON elected her to this position based on her committee leadership, service and other nursing-related experiences or qualifications. She currently serves as vice chairwoman of the NCBON.

* * * *

Association Management Group, one of the Carolinas largest professional homeowner association managers, representing more than 30,000 property owners, was recently awarded the coveted Great Place to Work Certification. The national program recognizes high-performing organizations that create an outstanding worker experience, based on employee feedback and independent analysis. The two-step certification process included an anonymous, in-depth employee survey about AMGs culture, its strengths and weaknesses, as well as a Culture Brief, a short questionnaire about the workforce and company ethos.

* * * *

A new addition to Elon Laws Office of Career and Student Development also has a new leadership role in a professional association now celebrating its 50th anniversary year.

Krista Contino Saumby, associate director of career development at Elon Law in downtown Greensboro, was formally elected in September to the role of regional president for Region VI of the Hispanic National Bar Association, a professional organization that represents and advocates on behalf of Hispanic attorneys.

Continos two-year term representing the Carolinas allows her an opportunity to develop a team of deputies to ensure the region has programming, networking and mentoring events, and conducts fundraising for law school scholarships on behalf of an underrepresented community in the practice of law.

Announcements

The Society of Financial Service Professionals  Greensboro Chapter has installed the current board of directors and officers: Dennis J. Toman, president; Charles Freeman, immediate past president; Blane Stanaland, first vice president (membership); Emily C. Promise, second vice president (programs); Abby Donnelly, secretary; Sandy Shelton, director and treasurer; and Kathy M. Clark, Doug Heckinger, Susan L. Hunt, Ashley Madden, Kimberly Marriott, Paula McMillan, Jonathan M. Parisi and Paula A. Wells, all directors.

Meetings are open to all financial professionals. The next meeting, Retirement Matters, will be held at 7:45 a.m. Nov. 15 at the Starmount Forest Country Club. Contact Gregg Schlaudecker at executive@gsosfsp.org for information or visit www.gsosfsp.org.

* * * *

High Point University will host the second Home Furnishings Leadership Institute on Feb. 19-23 in the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center.

The institute will welcome 25 emerging leaders younger than 40 in the home furnishings industry who are nominated and selected for this opportunity. Select faculty from HPUs Phillips School of Business will lead a combination of lectures, case studies and discussions based on the Harvard Business School Seminar for the Young Presidents Organization and Chief Executives Organization.

Nominations will close Oct. 31. Nominations can be submitted at tinyurl.com/4sx94vuh.

Awards

Randall Kaplan and Susan Morris Safran were presented The Order of the Long Leaf Pine awards during the UNCG Celebration of Philanthropy event Oct. 12.

Gov. Roy Cooper appeared at the UNCG event to present these honors.

North Carolinas governors have reserved this award for persons who have made significant contributions to the state and their communities through their exemplary service and exceptional accomplishments. Safran and Kaplan are currently co-chairpersons of UNCGs Light the Way campaign.

* * * *

The American Geographical Society has named Will Muse of Greensboro Day School as a 2022 AGS Geography Teacher Fellow. Teachers were selected from across the United States and will receive special opportunities to support their teaching activities for the year. Muse is one of 50 teachers selected from across the United States to participate in this fifth year of the initiative. Muse teaches Advanced Placement human geography at GDS.

As part of the award, Muse will attend the AGS Fall Symposium on Nov. 1719 at Columbia University in New York City. The symposium provides Teacher Fellows with the opportunity to interact with geography and geospatial leaders from across the country, as well as receive professional training in geography and geospatial technology tools.
GREENSBORO  Five people, including a juvenile, face charges after a shooting late Friday, Oct. 14 on the Dudley High campus, police said.

Officers responded about 10:20 p.m. that night to a report of a gun being fired at 1200 Lincoln St., which is the high school, and found one person seriously injured, police said in a news release.

Naim Williams-Donnell, 24, Sentellis Cooper, 18, Rashoud Carter, 18, and a juvenile were charged with possessing a firearm on school property and possessing a stolen firearm, both felonies, police said.

Carter was also charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession.

A fifth person, 18-year-old Nasir Shipman, will also be charged with possessing a firearm on school property and possessing a stolen firearm, police said.

Other local media outlets reported that the shooting took place in the school's parking lot and did not involve any students.

Police did not give a possible motive in the shooting.
The value of Bahrains exports of national origin increased by 6% to BD1.240 billion ($3.289 billion) during the third quarter 2022 (Q3), compared to BD1.174 billion for the same quarter of the previous year.

The top 10 countries in terms of the value of exports of national origin purchased from Bahrain accounted for 77% of the total value, with the remaining countries accounting for 23%, said the Information & eGovernment Authoritys (iGA) foreign trade report of third quarter 2022, encompassing data on the balance of trade, imports, exports (national origin), and re-exports.

Saudi Arabia ranked first among countries receiving Bahraini exports of national origin, importing goods worth BD260 million from Bahrain. The US was second with BD171 million and the UAE third with BD139 million.

Unwrought aluminum alloys emerged as the top products exported during Q3 worth BD455 million, agglomerated iron ores and concentrates came second with a value of BD231 million, and aluminum wire (not alloyed) third with BD53 million.

IMPORTS

The value of Bahrains imports increased by 9%, reaching BD1.471 billion during Q3, compared to BD1.349 billion for the same quarter the previous year.

The top 10 countries accounted for 71% of the value of imports, with the remaining countries accounting for 29%, the iGA report said.

According to the report, China ranked first when it came to imports to Bahrain, with a total of BD213 million, Brazil was second with BD188 million, and Australia third with BD123 million.

Non-agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged as the top product imported into Bahrain with a total value of BD201 million, while aluminum oxide was second with BD113 million, and parts for aircraft engines third with BD78 million.

The total value of re-exports increased by 1% to reach BD177 million in Q3, compared to BD175 million for the same quarter of the previous year. The top 10 countries accounted for 80% of the re-exported value, while the remaining countries accounted for the other 20%. Saudi Arabia ranked first with BD38 million, the UAE second with BD37 million, and the UK third with BD14 million.

Parts for aircraft engines emerged as the top product re-exported from Bahrain with BD31 million, other mountings fittings and the like for vehicles came in second place with BD10 million, and vaccines for human medicine came third with BD9 million.

The trade balance, the difference between exports and imports, recorded a deficit totalling BD54 million during the quarter, compared to BD1 million for the same quarter of the previous year. -TradeArabia News Service
Former Montana FBI agent Ricky James Shelbourn was found guilty Thursday of misdemeanor charges of stalking his ex-girlfriend and obstructing the officers investigating the allegations.

His trial was held in Helena Municipal Court with Judge Anne Peterson presiding because Justice Court judges recused themselves from the case. The sentencing is set for 8:30 a.m. Dec. 14 in Municipal Court.

Shelbourn, who worked in Helena, was arrested on March 16, 2020. In the affidavit, Bruce McDermott with the Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation said Shelbourn was "obsessing about (the woman) and unwilling to let their relationship end, according to prior news reports.

Shelbourn had dated the woman he stalked for about three years, a time the woman described to McDermott as months of substantial emotional distress."

After the couple broke up, Shelbourn allegedly monitored and followed the woman around. He reportedly told authorities he was following the woman to protect her from another man.

It is unknown if Shelbourn was still working for the FBI while under investigation. Throughout the length of the case, the FBIs Salt Lake City Field Office in Utah that oversees Montanas FBI agencies wouldnt comment on the status of Shelbourns employment, stating they couldnt comment on current personnel matters.

When reached this week, the Salt Lake City office referred questions about Shelbourn to the FBIs National Press Office, which did not respond as of Friday.
Gov. Greg Gianfortes recommended budget for the next two years will include a 4% annual pay raise, $1,000 bonuses and a freeze on health benefit costs for state employees, under an agreement negotiated between his office and the workers unions.

The agreement was announced Friday in a joint press release by the Montana Federation of Public Employees; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; and Gianfortes office.

The agreement also includes increases to meal per diems and an extra holiday for odd-numbered years that dont include an Election Day holiday.

Given increased housing prices, rising insurance costs and vacancies, the bargaining team set out to secure an agreement that would help retain and recruit talented workers, the press release stated. With those shared concerns, Gov. Gianforte instructed his bargaining team to approach the process with similar goals in mind.

The raises would be 4% or $1.50 per hour, whichever is higher, starting on July 1 of each of the next two years. The Montana Legislature meets every other year to pass the two-year budget to fund the state government. Governors typically release a proposed budget prior to the legislative session starting, but lawmakers are not bound by those recommendations in drafting spending bills.

If accepted by the Legislature, the raises would be a significantly higher than those passed in the 2021 session. That budget kept state employees wages flat for the first year of the biennium, followed by a 55-cent increase in the second year.

The bonuses, to be provided to each employee, would be prorated to a 40-hour work week and capped at $1,040, according to the press release.

All parties agreed to further explore locality pay for high cost of living locations in future negotiations, the press release continued. Contract language standardization between the various state departments, agencies, and divisions will also be considered.
In the final stretch before Election Day, Republican Ryan Zinke has remained by far the most prolific fundraiser in the campaign for Montanas new western congressional district. But Democrat Monica Tranel has outpaced him in money raised from state residents, a fact her campaign hasn't shied away from as the candidates strive to out-Montana each other.

Tranel has raised $1.3 million from Montanans during the election cycle, amounting to 77% of individual contributors who report residency information, according to reports that were due with the Federal Election Commission last weekend. The reports cover the period ending Sept. 30.

Tranels next-biggest sources of individual contributions were residents of California and New York, responsible for 4.7% and 2.9% of those contributions, respectively.

Zinkes campaign has reported $860,000 of its itemized contributions coming from Montana residents, which amounts to 32%. Donors from Texas and California have also helped to significantly pad Zinkes campaign coffers, providing 14% and 9.9%, respectively.

Tranels campaign has touted its high share of in-state contributors since the primary, which it won easily against the deeper-pocketed campaign of Democrat Cora Neumann. On Thursday, Tranel campaign manager Sam Sterling said this shows that Montanans want Monica.

Yes, Zinke has a bigger national profile, and I think it also means the people closer to Zinke, in Montana, dont want him, Sterling said.

Zinkes campaign spokesperson, Heather Swift, rejected the suggestion that the difference in Treasure State contributions was significant, or that it reflects a difference in Montanans enthusiasm for the candidates.

But its unfortunate Tranel is taking money from Montanans who are struggling to afford gas and groceries under Democrat policies knowing shes going to lose the race, Swift wrote in an emailed response to questions.

Both campaigns also noted that the individual donor information from the Federal Election Commission doesnt show the whole picture. Congressional candidates are only required to report residency information for contributors who have given at least $200 in total. Smaller donations can be left as unitemized, meaning the campaigns dont have to report information required for those $200-and-up contributors, including where they claim residency.

Unitemized contributions have comprised substantial chunks of both campaigns receipts since the election cycle started. Of the $4.6 million Zinke has raised in individual contributions, no public information is available for $1.9 million that came from small-dollar donors. Tranel has $620,000 in unitemized money, out of $2.3 million from individuals.

A third candidate in the race, Libertarian John Lamb, has not raised enough money for his campaign to be required to report it to the FEC.

Along with out-of-state contributions, Zinke has been a much bigger magnet for political committees, which have collectively given him about $1 million. Political action committees, or PACs, have contributed $700,000, with the rest coming mainly from local GOP groups and joint fundraising committees, which divvy up large donations among multiple candidates for office.

Tranel has raised just $46,000 from political committees.

Campaigns are also required to disclose donors employers and occupations, which for the western district include jobs as varied as morticians, apple farmers and race car drivers.

Retirees, unsurprisingly, have played a major part in the money race. They accounted for more than a third of itemized contributions from individuals for both Zinkes and Tranels campaigns.

Business owners and executives have also given big to both campaigns. Donors with occupations like CEO, executive board member, vice president or business owner have pumped more than $500,000 into Zinkes campaign, while about half that much has gone to Tranel.

Tranel, a lawyer, has gotten more money from fellow attorneys and others in the legal services industry. That group has given her campaign more than $262,000, more than double what theyve contributed to Zinke.

Zinke has raked in more than $100,000 from the real estate and development industry, while medical professionals have given Tranel about $85,000.

Spending sharply accelerated in the most recent quarter, putting Tranels total for the campaign cycle at just over $2 million, while Zinke has spent just over $5 million.

His spending on digital ads surged, accounting for $890,000 of ad spending in the third quarter, although his campaign said some of the money reported as digital advertising actually went to other digital services.

Tranels campaign also more than doubled their total ad spending to date during the third quarter, claiming about $700,000 on advertising.

As of Sept. 30, Zinke had $530,000 left in the bank, and Tranel had $350,000.

Outside spending on political ads also remains a significant force in the race.

In the last two weeks alone, a pro-Zinke super PAC called More Jobs, Less Government has reported dropping more than $600,000 on ads attacking Tranel. Thats on top of more than $300,000 it spent in August.

Tranel has gotten a boost from Big Sky Voters PAC, which has reported nearly $700,000 in independent expenditures supporting her or opposing Zinke since it formed last month. That includes a $130,000 ad buy from this week.

The candidates final campaign finance reports before the Nov. 8 election are due next week.

Meanwhile, national political prognosticators have this month suggested Montanas District 1 race, in which Zinke has been broadly favored to win, may be tighter than was previously thought.

The district, drawn by Montanas bipartisan Districting and Apportionment Commission last year, includes most of the state west of the Continental Divide, along with Gallatin, Madison and Beaverhead counties and the Blackfeet Reservation.

The other half of Montanans live in District 2, covering the deep-red eastern parts of the state. But District 1 was designed to be potentially competitive, although its overs have chosen the GOP candidate in the vast majority of recent statewide elections.

Inside Elections, a nonpartisan political analysis website, changed their rating of Montanas District 1 to leaning Republican, suggesting a closer race than its previous designation of likely Republican.

And the Cook Political Reports David Wasserman made the same reassessment last week. While calling the race an uphill climb for Tranel, he noted that Zinke has some liabilities in what would otherwise be a slam dunk for Republicans in a district that voted for Trump by 7 percentage points in 2020.
Montanas public lands, clean rivers and streams, and abundant wildlife are the envy of hunters, anglers, backpackers, floaters and other outdoor recreationists from around the world. We are lucky to have laws in place that ensure our natural resources are protected and open to the public, as well as a State Constitution which specifically protects our right to a clean and healthful environment.

Novembers Supreme Court election, in which sitting Justice Ingrid Gustafson is being challenged by professional lobbyist James Brown, will have grave consequences for these legal protections, our right to access our public lands and waters, and the future of our outdoor traditions.

Justice Gustafson has served as a judge for almost 20 years and has a track record of being a fair and independent jurist who carefully considers the evidence and the law before making decisions. As a result of her thoughtful and balanced approach, Gustafson has protected our rights under the Montana Constitution, our outdoor traditions, and our freedom to hunt, fish, hike and spend time outdoors with our families.

Brown is well-known in Helena for his long career as a paid professional lobbyist. Over the years, he has worked as a hired gun for special interests from bankers to funeral directors to woolgrowers to the energy industry.

One of Mr. Browns most disturbing connections is his long relationship with the so-called Citizens for Balanced Use. This radical organization has a long history of advocating against environmental protection, clean water, and public lands. They seek to open up our public lands to more motor vehicle traffic, more mining, and more development. They have opposed the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has funded trails, fishing access sites, and parks all over Montana. They support the giveaway of national forests and other national public lands to state control, which every expert says will lead to those lands being sold off and locked up by private interests. Brown even sued the U.S. Forest Service on behalf of the organization just a few weeks before declaring his candidacy.

Hunters, anglers and other outdoorspeople should be deeply concerned about the prospect of someone with Browns agenda holding a seat on the Supreme Court. Will he protect our Stream Access Law and the rights of hunters and hikers to use public roads to access public lands, or will he side with special interests that seek to profit from closing off public access? Will he reinforce the precedent that our Constitution protects our clean air and clean water, or will he side with out-of-state industrial developers who want to mine and pollute our lands and waters?

Fortunately we have a better choice. Justice Gustafson is not a politician or paid lobbyist. She was first appointed as a District Court judge by Gov. Judy Martz and re-elected three times before her appointment to the Supreme Court in 2017. As a judge and justice, she has distinguished herself through her impartial consideration of the cases brought before her. Montanans depend on a justice having that kind of balanced commitment to uphold the laws that protect our lands, waters, and access.

Judicial elections dont always present such a clear choice for our natural resources and outdoor traditions. Montanans who support public lands, public access, wildlife, water and clean air  as well as our state Constitution and impartial justice over special interests  need to re-elect Justice Ingrid Gustafson.
Good governance is not an easy thing to achieve. It requires hard work, patience, skill, and a spirit of selfless service. When James Brown and I came on board as newly elected Montana Public Service Commissioners in early 2021, we found much of the agency in disarray. We immediately set in motion a series of actions to improve the operations, performance, culture, and reputation of the agency.

The Commission reached a major milestone in August when we adopted a formal Strategic Plan with goals, objectives, action plans, and a vision to establish the PSC as a model of good governance as well as the states most credible source of information regarding the industries we regulate.

Some of the best characteristics of an ideal commissioner are: 1) a strong work ethic, 2) the ability to objectively study and process complex information, 3) courtesy even when disagreement arises, 4) respect for proper protocols and procedures, 5) fearlessness when it comes to reigning in powerful people and corporations, and 6) a genuine connection with and accountability to the people of Montana.

I am pleased to endorse Dr. Annie Bukacek to fill the District 5 opening on the Montana Public Service Commission because she possesses all these characteristics and more. Her intellectual abilities and work ethic are off the charts, she has a proven track record as a fearless voice for the people, and her training as a medical doctor has honed the type of analytical skills and study habits needed to digest the volumes of complex regulatory data that comes before the commission each week.

Importantly, Annie stands out as the candidate who has been most actively engaging with the commission to learn all about the job. She has observed commission proceedings, studied contested cases, reviewed the Strategic Plan, and dug deep for vital information. She is taking the job seriously and thats the kind of commissioner we need.

As a current member of the Montana Public Service Commission who knows the job and the agency inside and out, I can honestly say that Dr. Annie Bukaceks knowledge, intelligence, and work ethic will serve the Commission and the people of Montana well. Shes ready to hit the ground running this winter. Please join me in supporting Dr. Annie Bukacek for election to the Montana PSC.
DECATUR  An open house at the former Fire Station 3, at the entrance to Fairview Park, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29.

Mark Allen, a retired fire department captain, will display memorabilia, including photos and turnout gear. Admission is free and those who attend are welcome to take photographs, a request that History of the Heartland, a sponsor of the event, has heard from family members of past firefighters.

History of the Heartland is a non-profit organization with the mission of the preservation of historic structures, homes and the stories of the area and its people.

At 11:30 a.m. during the open house, a group photo will be taken in front of the firehouse and anyone in attendance is welcome to be in the photo. The Matherly family will have one of their vintage firetrucks on display in the driveway for family photos. The vehicle is a 1957 r-185 International PIRSCH model and is all original and the only one of its type made.

The new owner plans to build an addition to the firehouse and renovate it into executive apartments, and he also intends to preserve the iconic red doors.
ELWIN  Prohibition on the sale of alcohol is alive and well outside the cities and towns of Macon County.

Paul Butler wants the citizens of the South Wheatland Township to bring that to an end after the upcoming election. To assure his preferred outcome, Butler wants to make sure voters understand what they are voting for.

Its very tricky, he said.

The ballot will say:

Shall the prohibition of the sale at retail of alcoholic liquor be continued in South Wheatland Township, County of Macon, State of Illinois?

Butler has plans to open a winery on his Macon County farm. So we want people to vote no, he said. We want to stop the prohibition.

The wording on the ballot was required by the Illinois State Liquor Control Act, according to Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner. Its a state statute, the way the prohibition referendum is to be worded, he said.

Tanner agrees the wording can be confusing. If they answer 'no,' that means that they will allow the sale of alcohol, he said.

With 16 townships in Macon County, South Wheatland Township would be the first to allow alcohol sales in its unincorporated areas if the no votes prevail.

You can sell alcohol inside the city limits, but not outside the city limits, he said. So thats what we are changing.

In addition to Butler's winery, other businesses like wedding venues with their own alcohol sales, bars and other wineries could be a possibility.

South Wheatland Township Supervisor John Drayton is not aware of a similar referendum in the past. But forever is a long time, he said.

Drayton is aware of Butlers plans to open a winery. Theyre isolated, all by themselves, with very few neighbors, he said. So the township agreed to do that.

If voters approve alcohol sales in the township, Butler said his Macon Mead and Winery could be ready for guests in approximately four years.

Were actually wanting to open a meadery, which is honey wine, he said. Wed have other wine and beer as well.

An orchard on the farm will provide some of the various flavors for the mead.

Butler and a crew canvassed the area during the summer to collect nearly 1,000 signatures, allowing the request to be on the general election ballot. It was very well received. The biggest concern I have is that people will be confused about the wording on the ballot, he said. Now we just need a majority of the vote to allow us to do this.

Drayton said he is not aware of anyone against the referendum. We have heard nothing negative about it, he said. But well just have to see if it will pass.

If the election results do not go as he hopes, Butler said he will change his plans.

I guess were just going to retire, he said. Well spend our time going to other peoples wineries.
DECATUR  Ronnie Franklin grew up a PK  preacher's kid  and from a young age was involved in community service activities.

Now he is the owner of Sacks Food Corporation, a food truck that serves barbecue ribs and turkey, and sponsored a community wellness event on Thursday, partnering with Habitat for Humanity and the Phoenix Center of Springfield.

Many of the people in the area know the food truck, so it would be a draw, Franklin said. We're concerned for the community. That comes with harm reduction, so we're addressing that with Phoenix Center. They're doing different testing and things. We're doing food for everyone for the day and everything is free.

Franklin is also executive director of Frelyn Foundation, a community outreach organization and Zoe Life Unit, a mobile medical unit.

Phoenix offered free HIV/hepatitis testing and also testing for sexually transmitted illnesses. The HIV/hepatitis tests were rapid response, so people could find out within a few minutes if they tested positive, while the other tests had to be sent to a lab, said Samantha Brown, clinical outreach specialist. She also brought Narcan kits to give away for those who might encounter someone who had overdoses and condoms and lubricant.

The hope is, Franklin said, to earn the trust and offer a helping hand to people who might be reluctant to seek help. Thursday's event was a first step in an effort to address needs in the neighborhood. The hope is to form relationships so that people who need the help will ask for it.

We want to let the community know that there are community organizations that are partnered because they're concerned about the community, he said. Bridging that gap not only between the cities but within the community organizations that are necessary to help people. What help that is there, what is vital and necessary when we're talking about addiction.

Phoenix, Brown said, offers a variety of services to people who are homeless, drug users, LGBTQ and anyone else who needs their help. They have syringe exchange programs, testing and assistance in getting medical treatment for HIV, hepatitis or sexually transmitted illnesses. The first thing is to keep them safe, she said, because intravenous drug users are at higher risk for HIV.

Phoenix serves 17 counties in Central Illinois. Brown is the clinical outreach specialist for Macon County.

Most of our program focuses on meeting people where they're at, she said. We do a lot of outreach in the community because our program has been kept sort of quiet, because we serve people who use drugs. And we provide things to help them stay safe while they're using. Studies have shown that people who use harm reduction programs are five times more likely to get into treatment. Our job is to walk alongside them, meet them where they're at right now and provide them with the tools to help them stay safe while they're using, so that includes Narcan, clean using supplies, condoms, lube and comfort items that people who are unhoused may not have, like Chapstick, hand warmers, hygiene kits, tampons, pads, snack packs for our people who are unhoused. Our program is really about connecting.
DECATUR  Serial burglar and methamphetamine addict Brent E. Crockett and his family pleaded for him to get a court sentence that would allow him to leave the Macon County Jail and stay away from bad influences in Decatur.

Macon County Circuit Court Presiding Judge Thomas Griffith granted the wish Thursday, but only in part: Crockett was sentenced to leave the jail with a seven year prison sentence.

And Griffith told the 35-year-old Crockett he was getting off lightly with that punishment, the maximum that had been recommended by prosecutors.

To be frank, Mr. Crockett, even though I am not a harsh sentencer, if the state had asked for more, I would have given them more, the judge said of the prison time he had imposed.

Crockett had earlier pleaded guilty to a single charge of burglary in a plea deal that saw 11 other burglary charges dismissed. The charge he admitted to dated to 3:46 a.m. April 29 when a sworn affidavit said Decatur police, who already had him under surveillance following previous crimes, caught the defendant red-handed as he broke into the New Moon Cafe at 3747 E. William Street Road.

Prosecutors said the crime was just one of a burglary spree that took place over several months targeting restaurants, gaming parlors and other businesses.

Pleading for leniency on his behalf, Crocketts sister-in-law, Jennifer Considine, said the family hoped to keep him away from Decatur influences that tempted him to take drugs. She said he had a job lined up and waiting for him in Sullivan.

Crockett then spoke and apologized for what he had done, claiming he was driven by his addiction to meth. He said he had been part of a drug treatment program while held in the Macon County Jail and was working hard to turn his life around so he could be a good father to his 4-month-old daughter, now in the custody of the state.

I was in a bad place, mentally, he said of his addiction. I have spent the last five months working on my recovery and finding ways to make sure I dont ever use again.

Chief Public Defender Michelle Sanders said she could not defend Crocketts record, which includes a lot of cases and previous time spent in prison. But she also said there was no doubt his life had been compromised by a long-standing drug addiction problem.

She urged the court to be lenient and recognize that instead of just sitting in jail, he had tried to better himself by taking part in drug treatment he was desperate to continue when released.

Assistant Macon County States Attorney Timothy Tighe acknowledged Crockett had a problem but said mercy had its limits. ...At some point we have to ask about deterrents to others, and what about the protection of the community? he said.

Imposing sentence, Griffith also ordered Crockett to pay $42,000 in restitution and agreed to recommend he receive drug abuse treatment while incarcerated.

I hope you get some drug treatment methamphetamine addiction, at least to my understanding, is a very difficult thing to overcome, the judge told him. And, when you get out, I hope you do some good with your life.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Abundant sunshine. High around 75F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Showers this evening then scattered thunderstorms developing overnight. Low around 60F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.


Interview with Gita Ramaswamy, author of Land, Guns, Caste, WomanThe Memoir of a Lapsed Revolutionary

Aatika S | TwoCircles.net

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In this interview, the author talks about the situation of landless Dalits labourers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh; her own personal and political journey among the landless Dalit laborers of Telengana in the 1980s to help them reclaim 14000 acres of land; treatment of Ambedkar by the Left movement. She also dwells on reasons as to why it takes several Dalits and Adivasis lives for savarna system to take notice the rampant atrocities and discrimination.

Memoir writing these days centres mostly around the crisis in idealism, personal suffering and lived experience; exactly the themes that your book touches upon repeatedly. In this sense is your story more civilisational than personal?

I lived a life so much in public spaces, hence it is possible that the reader gets a sense that the story is more civilizational than personal. For me, the personal was always linked to the political and I couldnt separate the two. I had little life outside the political, at least in the period I dealt with in the memoir. Besides this, my generation rarely spoke about ourselves, it was considered self-promotional. This is the background in which I could have subsumed the personal and emphasised the political. Meena Kandasamy did remark in her The Hindu review, I looked forward to reading how Gita balanced her public life alongside her partnership. This is a terrain without manuals, without field guides, without memoirs. The book keeps its secrets.

The book tells us that the revolution is everyday as your journey combines both idealism and ideology. However you still do not possess the necessary lived empiricism required to fully understand a Dalit life. How do we then together take the small steps towards a revolutionary and democratic future?

I acknowledge that I do not and can never fully understand a Dalit life, or any other life, for that matter. Every person is special with different upbringings, childhood neuroses and gendered experiences. Every community has different shared experiences which others cannot understand fully. Unless the person herself explains herself to others, how can we understand her? The issue here is not so much understanding as of empathy. Listening, respecting the others voice, making ample space for it, and taking no decisions which affect her without her deciding it  these would be the ways we move forward for a revolutionary and democratic future. For a person/activist from the dominant community/gender/region, listening carefully is the first prerequisite.

You write, I agonised about the little girl that my mother once was and vowed that I would never be caught in a similar situation. In a way, she was probably the first feminist I knew. As much as I relate to your sentiment, I refuse to see my mother as a first feminist since women are heavily conditioned under Brahmanical patriarchy to not be feminist, I believe. What according to you marks the difference in our feelings towards our mothers?

Yes, I used the word feminist which was not quite right. Feminism encompasses all oppressions and my mother had pro-caste sentiments. But she believed that Brahmin women needed to fight for equality with Brahmin men in the family and that, for me, was a good starting point. As a little girl, unaware of other marginalities and oppressions, this was the only thing I saw which made a great impression on me.

In the late 1960s, ABVP was active at Osmania University, as mentioned in the book. Even today universities like JNU, HCU, Jamia etc remain increasingly marred by them. Why couldnt the student movement in India build itself on more inclusive grounds?

When politics are not inclusive, how can the student movement be so? In the late 1960s, the ABVP was active in Osmania University but was decimated by 1972 with the fight led by George Reddy. It took them more than two decades to recoup ground. You raise two issues here: one, that the ABVP dominates student landscapes today, and the second, the student movement is not built on inclusive grounds. As far as the second issue is concerned, the student movement was dominated by the Left and liberal persons who come from dominant castes and therefore easily ignore caste (and gender) issues. They have links with Left political parties who have the same framework of thought. The Ayodhya movement further increased the divide among all students. Until we learn to be more inclusive and work together on common goals, I dont see the situation changing.

You succeed in highlighting a nuanced difference between a farmer and a labourer. The point was largely missed by the farmers movement, in 2020-21 as well. The Dalit worker remains the most marginalised and unorganised. What are your thoughts on this?

All pan-India statistics go to show that the Dalit worker in the countryside is the one with the least entitlement in the land. In the two Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, while Dalits are around 11% of the population, they do not even own 1% of arable land. Owning land is not simply owning an asset which yields some income, however meagre it may be, it also signifies a higher status and access to other entitlements from the state, be it a bank loan, tenant benefits, subsidy on fertiliser and pesticide, remission of bank loans, etc.

The Dalit worker has to depend on her income from wage labour. This being precarious and available only for three months of the year in many villages, she migrates seasonally with her family to other fertile lands where sugarcane and commercial crops are grown or to urban areas to work as a construction labourer or in other occupations. As a migrant, she faces double trouble; her ration card does not work here, she is not eligible for the widow/old age pension in the new area and has to be physically present in her village to ensure that she can draw and keep her entitlement, her childrens education is disturbed, her teenage sons may turn to low-level criminal activity, her daughters may be easily molested in the new close environment, the quality of life in terms of purer air, greater space, better food and living habitat is far lower.

The collapsing of the categories of peasant and labourer in the Left and farmers movements is common and ignores the sharp distinction that a piece of land can make, not just in terms of livelihood, but as collateral in the event of a crisis. Ambedkar asserted that land was not simply a matter of economics but also of social status and hence, a person holding land has a higher status than a person not holding land (BAWS, Vol. 15, p. 913).

You write, We did not feel the need to justify the partys blindness to various areas. The more practical and structural influences of caste in everyday life were not yet interrogated in the Left circles. You could join the Left with all your Brahminness intact and still be comfortable. The statement rings extremely true even today. Can we say that the Left has remained myopic and stagnant all this while basking in moral righteousness?

Yes, it has. Even while Left publishing houses publish Ambedkar, their non-Dalit cadre does not read Ambedkar, they only pay lip service when a Jayanti or vardhanti comes up. Ambedkar is used for political benefit. They have not once critiqued their blindness on the caste question, nor have they retracted their openly stated opposition to Ambedkar made over the years. One can wonder why this is so despite the numbers of Dalits in Left organisations. I think the concept of democratic centralism (more plainly, authoritarianism) could be one cause for the lack of reflection. Dalit cadre does not/cannot question rigorously without affecting their positions in the party. When they do, they invariably have to leave it.

It took the incident of Karamchedu in 1985 for you to realise the extent of the prevalence of caste atrocities and discrimination. Even today, savarnas only understand the gravity of the situation when one of us is murdered, lynched or dies a tragic death. Why?

Because we ignore Dalit lives all around us, we ignore the squalid living conditions, the discriminatory private-government system of education and health, the less-than-living wages doled out to Dalits and their lack of entitlements in every sphere. We turn a blind eye when house owners refuse to rent living spaces to Dalits when university selection committees turn away Dalit candidates for appointments because the scion of an academically powerful family is waiting to fill the post when the daughter of the household help has to leave school because of a family financial crisis when Dalitwadas are refused public services like good roads, drains and regular water supply when we bargain with vegetable vendors for a few rupees but dont bat an eyelid when we spend thousands at malls. Because we ignore them in real life, we understand some part of the travesty of justice only when they are killed. The tragedy is perceived only with a cruel end, not with the cruelty in daily lives.

You write, Sometimes when I see my friends with their natal families, I get this feeling of loss, a void within me which can never be filled. I feel this profound sense that something precious has escaped me forever. Most women would relate to this emotion as families are dens of oppression for us. Can there ever be an egalitarian reconciliation between the prey and the predator?

The tension between families as dens of oppression and places of refuge and regeneration remains, especially for women. We are not born to be alone, we are social people and very often, in times of crisis and old age, the family remains the social backup. Why did Babasaheb have to marry a second time when he was ailing? He had millions of followers, many of them willing to support him day and night. All movements have failed in providing the support that families provide, though at a heavy price. More and more, migration has forced people to live alone and in the West, we see that social contact is poorer than in India. Social contact and mutual help is crucial in maintaining mental health and till we have alternative structures that provide this, the family remains as the only, though oppressive, structure to cater to this need. It is possible that I wrote this because of my own personal situation. I am alienated from family, and from many dominant-caste friends because of my politics and I lost my partner. Living alone brings home the daily grind of loneliness.

Dalits are increasingly being seen and written as foot soldiers of the right-wing by the Left. What are your thoughts on the same?

I think it was after the 2002 Gujarat genocide of Muslims that Dalits were seen and written as foot soldiers of the right-wing by the Left. The left also used Dalits as foot soldiers in their various movements and never gave them space to grow and expand organically in the various left movements. During the Telangana peasant movement of the forties led by the Left, Dalits were also participants, but when they saw that it was the middle peasantry that benefited and retained land that was distributed, they slowly moved away to the Congress.

You sum up while writing, to love and be loved in return for the first time in life. The beauty of the sentence lies in its reverberation across the spectrum of people who have associated in any capacity with progressive movements. What today should be the role of love in social movements?

We downgrade the role of love in social movements, we are embarrassed to dwell on it, and we shy away from expressing all forms of love, be it romantic or platonic. Friendships are discounted at the altar of political correctness. When left parties split as they do frequently, precious friendships are broken up. When the categorisation debate among the Scheduled Castes started in the early nineties in Andhra Pradesh, friends turned enemies. When we work in a movement, we work for love; we love the people we work with and this is the oil that keeps the machine going. We fight and quarrel, we differ and disagree, yet we remain together because we love each other and try patiently to keep our differences to the minimum. Violence against anyone in the movement breaks this love and leaves us grieving. When members of a family quarrel, everyone helps to resolve it. When members of social movements quarrel, there is no mediation process to resolve the quarrel, instead, more groups arise.

Aatika S. is a fellow at the SEEDS-TCN mentorship program.
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn.  The highly anticipated trial of Megan Boswell in the death of her daughter will likely be delayed again after Boswells attorney was allowed to depart from the case on Friday.

Sullivan County Criminal Court Judge James F. Goodwin granted the motion by Boswells attorney, Brad Sproles, to withdraw from the case after he and Boswell had an apparent falling out. Sproles told Goodwin during Fridays brief hearing he felt the attorney-client relationship was broken beyond repair.

Sproles was subsequently dismissed from the case.

In September, Boswell herself spoke up and requested that Goodwin appoint her a new lawyer over differences of opinion with Sproles, who stated that their relationship had deteriorated to the point where it impeded their ability to prepare.

Attorney Gene Scott was appointed to represent Boswell, who he joined at the defense table after Sproles departed during Fridays six-minute hearing.

Boswell faces a slew of charges, including murder, in the death of her 15-month-old child Evelyn, whose remains were discovered in March 2020.

The next hearing in the case will be a status hearing on Wednesday, Dec. 14, as Scott familiarizes himself with what District Attorney General Barry Staubus called a voluminous case, one that is supposed to go to trial Feb. 6; however, Scott said on Friday he doesnt anticipate being ready by then.

I dont anticipate youll be ready, either, Goodwin said. Lets talk about that on the 14th after youve had time to look through the materials.

Evelyns body was found in a playhouse on a family property in Blountville 17 days after the child was reported missing by Boswells father, according to past testimony.

Boswell was charged with false reporting prior to the discovery and additional counts of false reporting in May 2020 before being indicted on murder and other charges in August 2020.

In a nearly three-hour hearing in September, a special agent from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation testified that Evelyns body was found in a trash can. An expert in forensic pathology testified Evelyn was found upside down with her head wrapped tightly by a blanket and aluminum foil.

The expert witness said they believe the childs death was a homicide caused by asphyxia.

Also in Septembers hearing, Goodwin ruled on what photos can be used during trial. Ultimately, Goodwin barred several pictures from use, including two graphic, bothersome photos he felt would be problematic to show jurors.

Boswell has pleaded not guilty to all 19 charges, including aggravated child abuse, 11 counts of false reporting, abuse of a corpse and aggravated child neglect.

The court still has to rule on a change of venue motion, which could take the trial out of Sullivan County.
An untrue rumor that litter boxes are being placed in schools for students who dress up in furry costumes and identify as cats has made its way to two North Carolina school districts  despite the claim being easily debunked.

After hearing chatter about litter boxes inside schools, an employee at North Lincoln High School in Lincolnton decided to put the rumor to rest.

There is nobody identifying as a cat at North Lincoln High School and we have no litter boxes!!! the employee posted in a local Facebook group last month. Quit spreading this stupidity!

A similar claim from parents that students dressed as cats were bringing litter boxes to Iredell-Statesville Schools led board members to propose a ban on all furry costumes, Queen City News reported last week.

Were trying to address it before it becomes a major problem, District 1 Board Member Bryan Shoemaker told the Charlotte TV station.

A spokesperson for Lincoln County Schools told The Charlotte Observer in an email that litter boxes have never been placed inside any schools. The spokesperson did not indicate whether Lincoln County Schools board members would vote to ban furry costumes. .

In Iredell-Statesville Schools, there was no evidence of litter boxes being used on campus, Superintendent Jeff James told a Charlotte TV station.

How the school litter box rumor originated

In October 2021, a Facebook post from the Public Schools Branch of Prince Edward Island in Canad addressed a rumor that the district was in the process of having litter boxes placed in schools for students who identify as cats, NBC News reported.

This claim as well as many others are simply false and are causing unnecessary stress to students and staff, the post said.

The claim took off among conservative groups and political commentators, too. In an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, host Joe Rogan told former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard that a litter box was installed in a school where his friends wife worked at for a girl who identifies as an animal. A clip of the discussion circulated on social media.

Since then, some Republican candidates and elected officials have reportedly repeated the claim, suggesting that protections for LGBTQ students will lead to litter boxes being placed inside schools, an NBC News review of public statements found.

The wave of misinformation reflects discontent among many conservatives around how the concepts and politics of gender identity are rapidly shifting.

Its only used to kind of sensationalize untruth, and to harm our community, in particular, our transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive youth, Nadine Bridges, executive director of One Colorado, an LGBTQ rights organization, told NBC News. Why would you attack our most vulnerable to get your point across, especially since the point is baseless?

What does furry mean?

Many rumors have claimed that students who are dressing up as cats are part of the "furry" community.

Furries are a group of people, even youngsters, who create for themselves an anthropomorphized animal character with whom they identify and can function as an avatar within the community, according to FurScience, a furry research group.

Furries often wear full-sized animal costumes, or paraphernalia such as animal ears or tails to become their animal alter egos, according to FurScience.

Sharon Roberts, an associate professor at Renison University College and co-founder of FurScience, told NBC News that the majority of furries do not identify as animals.

More than 75% of furries are under the age of 25, according to FurScience.

Though furries are more likely to experience prejudice and bullying, research shows that interacting with similar people in a casual environment that values tolerance, acceptance and open-mindedness can improve their self-esteem and psychological well-being, according to FurScience.

Roberts said she studied several thousand furries from 70 different countries and concluded theres no such thing as a litter box at a furry convention.
include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> Kari Lake is a dual frontrunner.

She is more likely than not to win her race for governor of Arizona, and then would have to be considered the favorite to become Donald Trump's vice presidential pick should he win the Republican nomination again in 2024.

When Lake narrowly won the Republican gubernatorial nomination two months ago, it seemed the Arizona GOP had consigned itself to electoral oblivion. Lake is a "Stop the Steal" die-hard and political novice who, one assumed (certainly, I did), would suffer the fate of another Trump-endorsed true believer, the Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial nominee, Doug Mastriano, who consistently trails his opponent by about 10 points.

To the contrary, Lake has been a surprise. At the same time, she's a reminder of the oldest of conventional political adages  candidate quality matters.

You can peddle conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and sink beneath the waves if you are a state senator with no especially notable political skills; or you can peddle conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and achieve liftoff if you are an exceptionally poised former news anchor.

Of course, Mastriano is the former and Lake is the latter, and that's one key to their different trajectories.

A Lake win is by no means a lock. She's ahead of Democrat Katie Hobbs by just 1.6 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics average. Still, given the general political environment and how it is tilting further toward the Republicans, she's clearly in a strong position.

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Win or lose, there's no doubt that a major political talent has emerged. Lake is the latest in a line of female champions of a grass-roots conservative populism that runs from Phyllis Schlafly to Sarah Palin to Marjorie Taylor Greene, spanning the 1950s to today.

These are wildly divergent figures. Schlafly had a deep seriousness of purpose and was one of the most consequential leaders of postwar conservatism; MTG trolls the libs and hopes to finagle a seat on the House oversight committee should Republicans take back the majority.

Yet there are common threads in this line of "momma bear" populists down through the decades: a fervent opposition to the elite; a disdain for the Republican establishment; a hatred for the press; a dark or frankly conspiratorial view of the world; a fervent base of support from activists and ordinary voters immune to influence by critical outside voices; and a fearlessness and instinctive combativeness that made or makes these women even more hateful to their opponents and admirable to their supporters.

What's new about Lake and MTG is that loyalty to Donald Trump and the insistence that the 2020 election was stolen are now the litmus tests for this grassroots populism. When Phyllis Schlafly got her start in the 1950s, the intensity of someone's anti-communism was the measuring stick.

A single-minded devotion to 2020 election denialism is not the most natural calling card in a closely contested state like Arizona. This is why Lake seemed like such a poor choice for the GOP. Her other attributes, though, have made up for her poisonously outrageous views on the elections.

As a local news anchor in Phoenix for 20 years, she entered the race with built-in name recognition and a reservoir of credibility that have stood her in good stead. It's a little as if Walter Cronkite, back when network anchors were still near the height of their powers, up and decided to jump in the Democratic primary against President Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Then, there's the fact that Lake loves the microphone and camera, and they love her back. She has communication skills that an army of consultants could never impart to a candidate with less experience. Lake has basically had more than 20 years of media training, and it shows.

At a rally with Tulsi Gabbard this week that involved a sit-down conversation with the former Democratic congresswoman on stage, Lake could have been mistaken for the celebrity MC. She was fluid and in control. Not a word was out of place. She seamlessly interwove pleasant chitchat with her campaign message, which, with an emphasis on the border, education and water issues, hardly sounded radical.

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TV news-anchoring is about connecting with the viewers and projecting authority, and these are attributes that are directly transferable to the political realm. If you seem unflappable, people will think you are unflappable, and that creates a sense of command.

Lake has made a point of snapping back at the media constantly. Knowing how valuable these exchanges are for motivating Republicans, her campaign is careful to get them on video and spread them widely. The latest such moment had Lake taking a question about her election denialism from a reporter and turning it around by citing chapter and verse regarding Democrats denying the legitimacy of Republican presidential victories since 2000. This doesn't excuse anything Lake has said, but it showed moxie  and in how she pulled it off  practiced showmanship.

On top of all of this, she is running against perhaps the worst Democratic gubernatorial candidate in the country, the Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, whose campaign is currently consumed with trying to justify her refusal to debate Lake. Hobbs emphatically lacks Lake's star power and in fact, feels more like a candidate for the board of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District than the highest elected office in the state.

If Lake wins, she instantly has to be at the top of Trump's potential VP list. There won't be many other major officeholders as enthusiastic about his 2020 fixation as Lake. She'd be a governor from a crucial swing state. She's a woman. And she's thoroughly absorbed the Trumpian practice of politics as combat and theater and can build a crowd.

There's a long way to go from here to there. If nothing else, though, we now know what a desperate misjudgment it was for Democrats to subtly assist Lake in the GOP primary. They thought they were propping up a patsy, when they were really helping create a star they may have to fear and loathe for years.

(COMMENT, BELOW)
include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> The Drug Enforcement Agency is warning that drug cartels are making colorful "rainbow fentanyl" to appeal to kids. "Brightly-colored fentanyl is being seized in multiple forms, including pills, powder, and blocks that resemble sidewalk chalk," a DEA press release warns.

And yet there is no evidence that these pills are being peddled to the playground set.

"I'm skeptical that (dealers) would try to target children where there is not an existing market," says Sally Satel, an addiction psychiatrist and resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. What's more, young kids are a true loss leader, because without a "significant tolerance for opioids," the chances of overdosing are huge. So "few would survive and come back for more."

Which is not to say that the colors aren't possibly designed to make the pills more attractive to an audience safely out of elementary school, Satel added, just like heroin packets come stamped with all kinds of edgy names and images.

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Reilly Capps, a drug writer for The Washington Post and Rooster magazine, agreed: On the one hand, "It's a way to brand your stuff." For instance, he says, at raves, "people will walk around with backpacks, saying, 'Molly, molly, molly,'' peddling different shapes and colors of Ecstasy. Some pills are shaped like Mickey Mouse, some are branded "Tesla," and so on.

These undoubtedly appeal to a certain segment of the market. But that segment is not the sidewalk hopscotch crowd the DEA implies the Mexican drug cartels are targeting.

Such nuance is often lost when the story hits the news cycle, which it is doing right now. While a long piece on CNN explicitly said "parents of young children should not overly panic"  props, CNN!  a WRAL piece began, "We all know how easy it is for children to pass candy around to each other..." as if rainbow fentanyl is about to be shared like M&M's.

Many media outlets simply ran the DEA press release without any independent reporting, says Ryan Marino, a Case Western Reserve School of Medicine emergency room doctor with a specialization in addiction and toxicology. Colors have been added to drugs for years, he says. The real danger isn't that kids are being given fentanyl like candy. It's that fentanyl is being pressed into the shape of other drugs, like Oxycodone. People take a fentanyl pill thinking it is something else, and OD.

But of course, it's the kiddie angle that's irresistible to the media, because it provides a huge rush of our culture's favorite drug: fear for our children. We just can't get enough of stranger danger.

The reaction to that rush is just as predictable: Calls to throw more money at the DEA to keep our kids safe.

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"Chuck Schumer wanted 290 million more dollars because of this," said Capps. But that money could be spent on any number of life-enhancing, abuse-reducing initiatives, Capps points out, including harm reduction programs. It could even go toward hiring "parkies" to keep parks safe from drug dealers  so young people could go back to playing outside on their own, a mood brightener for any age.

Fentanyl is a deadly drug. It is a scourge upon the land. But frightening parents about one more danger that leads them to lock their kids inside isn't making America more safe. It's making America more scared, depressed and angry  an America that wants to be sedated.
CHARLESTON  With a unanimous vote in a special meeting Friday morning, the Charleston City Council approved an agreement that will allow a Charleston Police Department officer to become a permanent part of Charleston schools.

Police Chief Chad Reed and Charleston Community School District Superintendent Todd Vilardo said they believe the agreement will be mutually beneficial for the city and schools.

"It's not just about enforcing laws. If there's a crime that happens in the schools we'll take care of that, of course, but it's also a way to develop relationships, especially at a young age like the (Carl Sandburg Elementary and Jefferson Elementary Schools)," Reed said. "Just getting that trust between young people and the police department is phenomenal."

Vilardo said, for the school district, it all comes down to preparing students for success in life and that includes helping them build a relationship with law enforcement.

"Law enforcement officers are an integral part of a community. They should be viewed as people who are here for the citizens and for the citizens' safety and security. They're good people that are looking out for our best interests as citizens," Vilardo said. "Our role as administrators and educators should be to teach the children that so that they can, when they grow up and they're out in society and life, that they understand that they're looking out for our best interests.

"Too often in society there is this mindset that cops are the bad guys, right? They're not, frankly. They are the good guys and ladies that are looking after us."

The first officer to participate in the program, Erica Roa, is a familiar face in Charleston schools after previously serving as a liaison officer. Both Reed and Vilardo said they believe her experience makes her a perfect fit for being the first school resource officer in the program.

As a liaison officer, Roa split duties between the schools and the city. Now, she will be fully dedicated to the schools.

"She's well-respected and well-liked and frankly she knows her stuff as far as working with children," Vilardo said.

"You can't just slide an officer from patrol in. They have to be certified through the state in juvenile law, much like crime scene technicians, canine handlers and tactical teams, you have to have that specialized training," Reed said. "And frankly, not all officers are good at juvenile law. You have to have patience and empathy. For some officers that's not a good fit, but with her, she's drawn to it. She loves it and I think the city and the district are going to be very happy with her."

Reed said other officers are interested in serving as school resource officers in the future and both the police department and school district are open to potentially having more officers in the schools.

Tasks for the job will include supporting students and educators, consulting on security and safety, presenting on safety topics in classrooms and more. The school district will begin compensating the city with $6,500 during the 2022-2023 school year.

This number will increase to $7,000 during the 2023-2024 school year, $7,500 during the 2024-2025 school year and $8,000 during the 2025-2026 school year.

During the council meeting, Charleston City Manager Scott Smith emphasized the strong relationship between the city and school district.

"We have a great relationship with the principals and the administration staff and have for a long, long time," Smith said, "and this is just another example of the two entities, both Charleston schools and the city of Charleston, collaborating and working on a program together."

Charleston Mayor Brandon Combs said the agreement was "definitely a positive" and "vital."

"Having three kids in the in the district I know that I am extremely happy to see this finally come to fruition," Combs said.
ARCOLA  On a recent Saturday evening, a group of men sat around a dinner table at an Arcola home catching up after their busy work week at a local factory.

At first glance, the gathering might have looked similar to other weekend get-togethers in this Douglas County community. However, the six men were speaking Pashtun and their conversation quickly turned to their hopes and fears for their families in Afghanistan, where these comrades served together in the national army and fought alongside U.S. forces.

"Almost every man sitting at this table has a bullet wound or they have been thrown through the air because of an explosion," said Decatur resident Susan Montgomery, a volunteer with the Afghan Welcome Home Project of Central Illinois.

These Afghan evacuees, who aided U.S. forces on the ground, are now seeking assistance from Americans. Montgomery said the men need help settling into their new lives in Central Illinois, including learning English, getting rides, and obtaining medical and dental services.

Montgomery said the evacuees also need help lobbying U.S. legislators to expedite their U.S. residency status so they can get their families to the safety of the United States and away from the dangers created by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"We are really worried about what will be our future, and our family is under threat in Afghanistan," one of the evacuees, Abdul, said via a translator speaking through a cellphone. (The men asked that their last names not be shared because of their families being at risk.) "We stood side by side (with U.S. forces). This is a time (Americans) can stand side by side to help us, too."

When Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S. forces, these men were among the thousands of Afghan National Army soldiers who were hurriedly evacuated because they faced the prospect of immediate death from the Taliban.

"They didn't get to say goodbye to their wives. They didn't get to say goodbye to their children," Montgomery said. Speaking via a translator and fellow evacuee named Mohammad, who lives in another state, the men indicated with somber nods that they have since been able to quietly check on the safety of their families.

U.S. Army veteran Ilene Henderson, who served in Afghanistan, and her aunt, Montgomery, decided to join in efforts nationwide to help evacuees by creating their Afghan Welcome Home Project.

With the help of donors and volunteers, Montgomery said they have been able to help 12 evacuees find housing in Arcola and Arthur. She said the men have started working at the Masterbrand Cabinets factory in Arthur and obtained Social Security cards so part of their earnings will go into benefit accounts for them.

"The community helps us here a lot. We really appreciate that. They are really friendly," Mohammad said as he relayed comments from multiple men. They added that community members have helped them understand food prices at the grocery store and even offered to pay when they found out they are Afghan veterans.

The men have been studying elementary school English workbooks, using Google translate for Pashtun-to-English on their cellphones and taken some lessons. Still, Montgomery said they could use further instruction, plus rides to work, stores and appointments.

Montgomery said free or discounted dental and medical services would be a great help to the evacuees, who suffered injuries on the battlefield. She said one of them, Zabekhoula, has a metal rod in his leg that needs assessed because he is in discomfort. She said they are grateful to the Gailey Eye Clinic in Decatur for providing free exams.

The evacuees said that their greatest needs are to get green cards for permanent U.S. residency and eventually citizenship so they can help their families obtain visas to come to the United States.

"They just worry about their families in Afghanistan who have been left behind," Mohammad said, adding that they have heard reports of the Taliban going door to door looking for information on former Afghan National Army soldiers.

Montgomery encourages community members to "pound on the doors" of their U.S. legislators to encourage them to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act, which allows certain evacuees to apply for permanent residency status.
CHICAGO  In a small southern Illinois town earlier this year, a 58-year-old employee at the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center was accused of sexually assaulting a person with a severe or profound intellectual disability.

The victim, who was unable to give consent, was only identified in court records with the initials E.K. and the alleged assailant was later identified as a mental health technician at the 270-bed, state-run home who also was accused of a separate sexual assault of a girl under 13.

The shocking charges against Charles Mills this March were the latest in a string of scandals at Choate, a home in downstate Anna for people with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, though few significant reforms at the home had been taken.

But on the same day Mills was charged, Gov. J.B. Pritzkers chief counsel sent an email to the governor with the subject line: choate  privileged and confidential, emails obtained by the Chicago Tribune through a public records request show. A few months later, Pritzker administration officials finally announced increased training and staffing at Choate, in addition to outside monitoring and the installation of new cameras to monitor conditions there.

Administration officials have refused to detail the contents of the email sent to Pritzker or the single-line reply he also sent to other top aides. But critics say the reaction from the governor and his administration was too little too late.

While problems at the Illinois Department of Human Services facility had existed for years, employees at Choate have been charged 14 times since Pritzker became governor. The accusations have included employees abusing residents, obstructing investigations or participating in other misconduct. The states watchdog cited dozens of other incidents of abuse and neglect in the same timespan.

The ongoing problems at Choate also raise questions about the Pritzker administrations oversight of social service agencies in general during his first term in office as he runs for reelection against GOP nominee Darren Bailey.

The state auditor general has blamed Pritzkers Public Health Department for failing to adequately respond to a COVID-19 outbreak at a state home for veterans that led to the deaths of 36 residents. And child-welfare advocates have repeatedly hammered the administrations oversight of the Department of Children and Family Services that resulted in a judge ordering Pritzkers hand-picked DCFS director to be held in contempt of court a dozen times for failing to find appropriate placements for children.

I have to lay it at the feet of the governor because the buck stops with him, state Sen. Terri Bryant of Murphysboro said of the incidents at Choate, which is just west of her district. The Republican minority spokesperson for the Senates Committee on Behavioral and Mental Health added: The things that are a priority, you put all hands on deck.

The criminal charges at Choate have ranged from residents being beaten to a resident being forced to drink a cup of hot sauce to employees not reporting abuse, as well as obstruction of investigations or lying to state police. A recent joint investigation by ProPublica, Capitol News Illinois and Lee Enterprises found state police have launched at least 40 criminal investigations over the past decade into alleged employee misconduct at Choate.

Since Pritzker took office in 2019, the inspector general for the Human Services Department has issued 41 reports substantiating other troubling incidents of abuse and neglect, including one employee punching a resident so hard it broke the residents ribs, another employee grabbing a resident by the throat and slamming that person to the ground, and yet another employee threatening to smother a resident with a pillow if the resident failed to stop talking.

Officials with Pritzkers administration say the problems at Choate are long-standing and are taking time to address while also laying blame on the previous Republican administration for budget cuts to social services.

Any allegation of abuse or neglect is taken seriously and thoroughly investigated working in close partnership with the IDHS office of inspector general, the Illinois State Police and the Illinois Department of Public Health, Pritzker spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh said in an emailed statement. As we work to ensure the safety of those who reside at Choate, continuing to address these deeply entrenched challenges and make positive steps forward is a top priority for this administration.

But some advocates for people with developmental disabilities question whether Pritzkers reforms are enough and why Choate continues to operate. Experts whove studied and monitored residential services in Illinois and nationally say harmful conditions can flourish in large, state-run homes for people with developmental disabilities  of which Choate is one of seven in Illinois. Federally funded research shows 16 other states and the District of Columbia had closed, downsized, privatized or converted all of their similar facilities as of 2018.

Look at your neighbors in Michigan and in Indiana. Theyre serving the same people with the same characteristics in smaller settings, said Steven Eidelman, a professor of human services policy at the University of Delaware and past president of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. We know how to do this.

Indeed, one group of experts called for Choates closure years ago.

Following a damning 2005 report from the independent advocacy group Equip for Equality that called for the centers closure, the U.S. Department of Justice found Choate had failed to provide its residents with adequate protection from harm, had a critical lack of oversight and supervision and substantial underreporting of incidents. The DOJ later declined to intervene because, by 2013, Illinois had significantly expanded its commitment to community-based services.

By then, Gov. Pat Quinn had set out to scale back the states network of such facilities  closing one in 2012 and planning to close others before organized family groups pushed back. His successor, Gov. Bruce Rauner, kept open the next state home slated to be shuttered, then engaged in a yearslong budget battle that left the states social service agencies tattered.

While serious issues at group homes can be found systemwide, some of the problems at Choate are acute  and since Pritzker has taken office his administration has been made aware of them.

Among those who rang alarm bells was Barry Smoot, a former security chief at Choate who emailed the head of IDHS with an urgent message in late May 2021.

What I am presently seeing occur at Choate and hearing occur at other facilities concerns me more than it has my entire career in relation to the safety of the vulnerable populations that we serve, he wrote to IDHS Secretary Grace Hou.

Smoot had worked for IDHS for decades, including as the statewide training coordinator for the offices inspector general and as head of security at the Chester Mental Health Center. In the email, he requested an in-person meeting with Hou to discuss possible solutions that will greatly reduce instances of abuse and neglect.

A Pritzker appointee to the role, Hou was formerly IDHS assistant secretary between 2003 and 2012, when both the Equip for Equality and DOJ reports landed. Hou replied to Smoot within hours, offering a meeting with her chief of staff and the director of the division that oversees state-operated developmental centers, known as SODCs.

But seven months later, on his last day of work with the state in December 2021, Smoot wrote again to tell Hou no one in her office had ever reached out or met with him about the issues he raised in his earlier email.

Earlier this month, IDHS spokesperson Marisa Kollias said in a statement that the agency had determined, based on information gathered after the Secretarys message was sent to Mr. Smoot, that it was inadvisable for IDHS management staff to communicate with him any further.

Kollias added that Smoot was in regular contact with other leaders at IDHS and had several other avenues to raise any concerns, including with state police and the watchdog that oversees executive offices across the state. Smoot told the Tribune he wrote to Hou directly because going up IDHS chain of command had been unsuccessful.

Kollias declined to elaborate on the departments decision to not meet with Smoot. IDHS personnel records do not indicate any reprimands. He is named among multiple defendants in a pending civil suit brought by a former Chester resident alleging that Smoot turned a blind eye to a culture of intimidation, harassment and retaliation.

Smoot has denied any wrongdoing and said during his years of service he had a history of showing that I didnt cover anything up  I did everything by the book and what was required.

This March, Smoot self-published a book titled Failure to Protect, which detailed a code of silence at Choate and scant reporting of abuse and intimidation. In an email to officials in the governors office, an official from the state Guardianship and Advocacy Commission said Smoots accounts jive with many of the reports released by the Illinois Human Rights Authority. The GAC provides legal representation and guardianship to those with disabilities and investigates complaints of rights violations.

Bryant, the state senator from Murphysboro, also reached out to IDHS leadership after hearing a resident had been beaten by an employee with a belt and that the incident had been seen through a window from outside. The employee, Kevin Jackson, was one of five Choate employees arrested in October 2020.

When I first brought this to (IDHS) attention, I believed that they were doing something about it, Bryant, a former Department of Corrections employee who knows two families with adult children at Choate, told the Tribune.

She later learned that paper was placed over the upstairs windows. After driving to Choate to confirm it, Bryant called an IDHS legislative liaison and said, I think you guys need to check this out. He called back and said, Thats not the case. I said, Im sitting outside the facility, the papers on the windows. 

Bryant said she was taken aback by the denial, and the presence of the paper at all. Their response to someone saying Im standing outside and seeing someone getting whipped with a belt is to put butcher paper over the windows, she said.

IDHS said the paper was put up for residents privacy after curtains were damaged and removed. When the use of paper was brought to the attention of Choate administration, it was investigated, removed and new window fixtures were purchased and put in place, Kollias said.

Three top administrators at the facility were later charged with official misconduct and interfering in a state police investigation of the alleged belt beating. Bryant and others in Springfield pushed publicly to have the accused administrators fired or placed on leave until the allegations were fully investigated. State officials later opted to reassign them. Charges against all three were later dropped, though the Union County states attorney has left the door open to recharging them.

Dozens of heavily redacted communications obtained through an open records request show several people in the governors immediate orbit were aware of those arrests and other issues dating back to January 2020.

Sol Flores, Pritzkers deputy governor for Human Services, approved hiring a replacement interim director at Choate after the accused administrators were reassigned, emails show.

Flores also was sent at least 20 e-newsletters from a disability industry insider with blaring headlines about the facility last year. The author of those newsletters, Ed McManus, has a daughter with a disability and works as a consultant for disability agencies, law firms and families. A former Chicago Tribune editor and reporter who later worked at DCFS and IDHS, McManus began sharing details of the criminal cases with clients and others in March 2021.

Though he applauds the reforms, McManus was disappointed they took so long.

I found out about this in March of last year, he told the Tribune in July. They never lifted a finger  to my knowledge, at least they certainly didnt make it public  to do anything about it.

Pritzkers office said the June memo announcing interventions at Choate documented several years of reviews and work, and that robust internal policy improvements are ongoing, including training and administrative oversight.

The governors general counsel, Ann Spillane, was in frequent contact with IDHS attorneys about Choate dating back to at least October 2020. Emails indicate she was kept apprised of legal developments surrounding the administrators arrests, policies around facility leadership access to investigatory files and a separate whistleblower suit.

Spillanes monitoring was not unusual, a Pritzker spokesperson said. She oversees the attorneys at all executive agencies and is regularly updated on all legal matters throughout agencies and works closely with other attorneys to respond to critical issues.

Media questions about Charles Mills employment at Choate made their way to Flores and Pritzkers communications staff and soon thereafter Spillane, her deputy and IDHS counsel John Schomberg drafted the email to the governor to give him some background, titled choate  privileged and confidential.

Pritzkers spokesperson declined to say whether that email was the first time the governor was made aware of issues at Choate.

She similarly did not disclose the nature of the other redacted discussions, saying they contain attorney-client privileged discussions, and that it is important to ensure staff can freely express opinions and make recommendations.

Mills, who was charged two years after he allegedly orally penetrated E.K. in 2020, is scheduled to go on trial later this year. Hes pleaded not guilty.

The changes at Choate that Hou and IDHS announced in June included independent monitoring from Equip for Equality, increasing security staff by four positions, boosting afterhours staffing and monitoring from regional developmental center personnel, and temporarily assigning a psychologist to provide staff support.

They also announced they would install 10 cameras at the facility, which advocates and the GAC had sought. In addition, the IDHS inspector general repeatedly recommended cameras be installed at Choate between 2015 and 2021, according to the ProPublica investigation.

Aside from helping to quickly rule out false allegations, cameras can serve as eyes and ears for residents who could not advocate for themselves, some advocates argue. Of Choates roughly 230 current residents, 10% are nonverbal.

Four months after the June announcements, however, cameras have yet to be installed at Choate. A contract to buy them is being finalized, IDHS Kollias said, and they will be put in public locations where there is a low, or no reasonable expectation for privacy.

Specifically, the cameras will be placed outside, which critics like Smoot say defeats their purpose. While cameras cant catch everything, the critics say surveillance of hallways and common areas in other state-run residential facilities has improved the quality and speed of some investigations.

But some parents and guardians have pushed back on installing them at all. Liz Gersbacher, a guardian of two Choate residents, said it is debatable whether cameras deter abuse and could make the facility feel less like a home to residents.

Beyond cameras and extra security, experts and advocates say, the Pritzker administration has not addressed the larger problem of whether the state continues investing in Choate and places like it. Pritzker has faced criticism for not fully funding disability services in past budgets, and the state remains under a federal consent decree that seeks to make community services more accessible to those with disabilities.

Its disappointing many of the problematic conditions Equip for Equality and the Justice Department identified more than a decade ago still exist, Equips Program Vice President Stacey Aschemann told the Tribune. That includes a lack of adequate programming and resident engagement as well as psychiatric and psychological treatment. Creating long-term improvement is going to require a lot of attention by the state to get things where they need to be, she said.

As part of the Choate reforms, the Illinois Crisis Prevention Network has been brought in to train staff on topics such as de-escalation, and to counsel residents who want to successfully transition into a smaller community home.

But there often isnt enough capacity, according to Caitlin Crabb, a researcher with the University of Illinois Chicagos Institute on Disability and Human Development, which helps evaluate certain IDHS services and has been contracted by IDHS to study barriers to access.

People in SODCs are living in SODCs because theres not really a lot of other places to go, she said. A lot of the problems at Choate stem from the lack of community-based options, Crabb said.

Best practices equate to supporting people with disabilities to live like people who dont  from having locks on doors to the ability to host guests and hold jobs, according to Crabb.

Community-based settings also arent perfect. Illinois has its own troubled track record of transitioning residents to group homes, and supply remains low.

Dozens of Choate residents would transition out of the facility if they could, according to state data. As of the beginning of October, 32 people or guardians were pursuing a move to a community provider, while another 156 cant pursue a transition because community providers cant currently meet certain medical or behavioral needs, an IDHS report shows.

Eidelman said the small percentage of people whose needs are extraordinary should not stop Illinois from keeping up with the quality of care provided elsewhere. He and other experts acknowledged some family members oppose a transition to smaller-scale, community settings. After the most recent Illinois closure, of the Jacksonville Developmental Center in 2012, a follow-up study with residents relatives showed most saw in community settings an improved quality of life and health outcomes for their loved ones.

Officials in the governors office and IDHS say Pritzkers last two budgets made major investments in the Division of Developmental Disabilities that helped pay for wage hikes for front-line workers and direct support professionals, and added staff to help individuals transition out of SODCs like Choate. The pandemic also delayed community transitions.

According to Amie Lulinski, executive director of The Arc of Illinois, a statewide advocacy organization serving people with disabilities and their parents, the budget increases were still only about half what a study for IDHS deemed necessary. She hopes to see Pritzkers administration plan a thoughtful closure of Choate and for Illinois to follow suit with other states in providing more alternatives to SODCs.

Are we so broken that we cant do it? Or is it just the fact that we havent put enough resources into the (community) system? Lulinski asked.

Choates closure is not something that were looking at right now, the governor said on Sept. 6. The question is, can we prevent that (abuse) in the future and if not, then obviously thats not a facility that should remain open.

Yet even when an election isnt looming, political tension surrounds the issue of jobs at scandal-tainted centers like Choate, according to Eidelman and other experts.

Bryant, the state senator, doesnt want to see the facility close. She and others acknowledged the good employees doing tough work at Choate. Even legislators who work around this a lot, were sensitive to the fact that if we raise too much of a stink, that a closure could threaten some of the areas best-paying jobs.

But in the face of mounting claims of abuse, Eidelman said the Pritzker administration and legislators need to step up.

This isnt supposed to be a jobs program or a funding program, he said. Its supposed to be services for people who are vulnerable. Its about quality of care and peoples lives.
A four-year search for a 33-year-old Virginia woman has ended in tragedy. The Surry County Sheriffs Office confirmed Friday that the human remains found early in the week in Stokes County were those of Sarah Ashley Hill, who was from Patrick County, Virginia.

The last time her older sister, April Hill Cain, heard from Sarah Hill was 1:30 a.m. June 6, 2018, when she called saying she was walking along Blue Hollow Road in Mount Airy and needed a ride, Cain told the Winston-Salem Journal in December 2018. Hill did not explain why she was walking.

I was at work almost an hour away and I couldnt just leave, said Cain, a registered nurse at Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital in Elkin at the time.

Cain couldnt be reached Friday and sent an email to a reporter for the Mount Airy News saying the family doesnt want to comment at this time.

In a news release Friday, the Surry County Sheriffs Office said it worked with the Stokes County Sheriffs Office, the Patrick County, Virginia, Sheriffs Office and the State Bureau of Investigation to execute a search warrant Monday on a piece of property on Ashbury Road in the Westfield community of Stokes County.

The law enforcement agencies brought in specialized crews and heavy equipment to move dirt and terrain and to stabilize a structure. Stokes County Sheriff Joey Lemons said the search led detectives to human remains beneath the floor of a structure.

The remains were sent to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, where an autopsy confirmed that the remains were those of Sarah Ashley Hill.

Maj. Scott Hudson of the Surry County Sheriffs Office declined to say whether a cause of Hills death has been determined.

Its still under investigation, he said.

Hudson also declined to say whether Hills death is being investigated as a homicide.

Its just being investigated as the location of human remains, he said Friday.

Sarah Ashley Hill was reported missing in August 2018 to the Patrick County Sheriffs Office. A message left with the sheriffs office was not immediately returned Friday. The Surry County Sheriffs Office said in its news release that no one had seen or heard from Hill since June 2018.

Investigators checked several locations throughout Surry County, including three different properties in King Park Circle in Mount Airy. The investigation eventually led to the Ashbury Road property in Stokes County. Hill was seen there around the time of her disappearance.

Cain told the Winston-Salem Journal in 2018 that the day after Hill called her, she sent a text to her sister to see if she was OK and if she still needed a ride. Cain got no reply. Cain called again, and messages went to voicemail. After two weeks, Hills phone had been turned off.

It was unusual for Hill to be out of contact, Cain said.

I talked to her usually at least once a week, sometimes more often, Cain said in 2018. She has never not gotten in touch with me or mom, no matter what.

Cain told the Journal that Hill was one of five siblings and the only one with that pretty red hair and bright blue eyes.

We used to tease her and tell her she was adopted, Cain said.

Cain said Hill had struggled with drug addiction and added that some of her friends were kind of shady.

Cain told the Stokes County News that Hill had been hanging out with a guy in Stokes County. She said that person, who was not named, had acted suspiciously and refused access to his home.

The AWARE Foundation, a national nonprofit, helped put out fliers about Hill and updated on social media when Hills body was identified.

Thelma Pack, Hills mother, told the Journal in 2018 she was trying to remain hopeful.

I think about her every day and wonder where shes at, she said at the time.
Not long ago, economic development in the Triad not only wasnt a team sport; it was a pro rasslin death match inside a chain-link fence.

Survival of the fittest.

Backbiting allowed.

I got mine. Who cares if you get yours?

OK, maybe thats a slight exaggeration, but back in the day, regional cooperation around here was for sissies.

Backyard scrums were not uncommon.

And all too often, nobody won.

Thats why its encouraging, once in a while, to reflect on how far weve come. So, consider this news from last week:

A unnamed company already located in Greensboro is being wooed not only to move to Winston-Salem, but to build a bigger, better plant here with more jobs  jobs that pay well, an average annual salary of $60,000.

As the Winston-Salem Journals Wesley Young and the News & Records Kenwyn Caranna reported last week, the German company (possibly Ziehl-Abegg), which makes motors for ventilation systems, is considering Winston-Salem, among other cities, as the potential home for its new North American headquarters and main distribution plant.

In sheer numbers, were talking 200 jobs moving from there to here and possibly 300 more jobs being added.

Whats more, the Twin City is sweetening the pot with nearly $633,000 in financial incentives as a lure.

Time was when that would have been grounds for a nasty turf war. But not today.

From the very start, Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines alerted his counterpart in Greensboro, Nancy Vaughan, of his citys intentions so there would be no misunderstanding.

Foremost, Joines explained that this was no attempt by Winston-Salem to poach the company from Greensboro.

The company approached us, Joines said during a meeting of the Winston-Salem City Councils Finance Committee on Oct. 11.

The manufacturer is looking for a site that Greensboro simply is not able to provide.

The cities have an agreement to alert one another when something like this happens, as it will from time to time. And they honored that agreement.

Make no mistake, Greensboro does not relish losing any jobs or industry. But in this, the circumstances dictate a move.

Better for the jobs to remain in the Triad  even if that means in Forsyth County as opposed to Guilford, Vaughan told Joines.

For that matter, our neighbors commercial gains often mean jobs for our residents as well; commutes between our cities are not particularly arduous.

As for how things used to be? Dont ask.

More often than not it was every city for itself.

There was especially bitter blood between intra-county rivals High Point and Greensboro, but all three Triad cities have had their moments.

In 2004, for instance, Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem bid against one another for the Dell desktop computer manufacturing plant that Winston-Salem won.

Three years later, Greensboros Cone Health and High Point Regional Hospital sparred over Cones plans to build an emergency room and ambulatory care facility in north High Point.

But the low point may have come in 2006, when High Point used incentives to lure a La-Z-Boy regional headquarters from Greensboro  a move that covered a grand total of five miles.

This is why the Winston-Salem bid for a Greensboro company, with incentives, not being a big deal is a such a big deal.

Triad cities have agreed to work together where they could and should when vying for major employers whose presence would benefit the entire region.

And where warranted, they have agreed to pool resources to attract new industry.

Thats a far cry from the clawing and scratching of the not-so-distant past.

Are regional relations perfect? Of course not. But theyre light years from where they were, and still improving, as last weeks news attests.

The road to more reasonable relations wasnt paved overnight. But weve learned, sometimes the hard way, that one Triad citys victory shouldnt have to mean another Triad citys loss.
LOUISVILLE  Louisville Public Schools canceled classes Thursday because of an uptick in illness among students and staff.

The illness swept through the districts building, which houses kindergarten through 12th grade, on Wednesday, leaving staff and students with flu-like symptoms, said Andrew Farber, the districts superintendent. He didnt know the total number of people who had fallen ill.

The district already had Friday slated as a day off. Officials opted to cancel classes Thursday, too, Farber said, so that buildings could be cleaned and sick people could recover at home.

We just wanted to be extremely cautious, he said. We want to protect our families, our staff and our community.

Farber said the district has been working closely with the Sarpy/Cass Health Department on the matter.

The district has about 700 students. Louisville is about 25 miles south of Omaha.
The scary season  that time of year when there's an inexplicable desire (by some) to be frightened to the point of losing all bodily control  is in full swing.

A few weeks ago, we introduced you to Oscar, Roca Scary Farm's deranged cattle prod-carrying clown, who promises he could make you "soil yourself" without laying a finger on you.

It's all in the presentation, attitude (and the makeup), he insists.

But there are other ways to inspire, fright, says Robbie Exstrom, one of the residents at the Nebraska Repertory Theatre's "ShakesFear at the Haunted Temple."

"Being scary is all about subtlety," said Exstrom, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln sophomore from Kearney. "Its all about working with what scares people. Its more about the stillness than the screaming."

Exstrom plays Friar Laurence from "Romeo and Juliet." Unlike Oscar and his cattle prod, he is armed only with a bell and an aspergillum, the instrument priests use to sprinkle holy water.

Not your typical tools of terror. No matter, he says.

"I can still scare some people," he said.

Geographically speaking, "ShakesFear" prides itself on being Lincoln's only haunted attraction. Roca is still worth the short drive, though.

Last year, "ShakesFear" had a sold-out run inside the Studio Theatre at the Temple Building, 12th and R streets.

This year, it has been expanded.

"We've added some new haunted characters, animatronics and scares," said Andy Park, the Nebreska Rep's artistic director and "ShakesFear" director.

The specials effects are better  as is the scenery, lighting and costumes.

But let's be honest, to some the scariest thing about William Shakespeare is the thought of comprehending the Bard's Old English.

However, once that's mastered, readers are exposed to the blueprint for every storytelling archetype  the cheat codes  for every tale ever told.

"A lot of people have only struggled to read his plays in English class," Park said. "It's exciting to present Shakespeare in an accessible way."

If accessible means coming with an ample portion of dark-and-gloomy fright, Shakespeare has definitely been made more approachable  and just in time for Halloween.

Patrons are guided through a haunted house setting that features various Shakespearian characters.

Friar Laurence, who shares his scene with Rosaline, is portrayed as Romeo's protector. However, in a weird twist of fate, Rosaline, another lover of Romeo's, becomes possessed after he chooses Juliet over her.

Hell hath no fury like a scorned lover  especially one that is possessed.

As for the friar, Exstrom portrays him as "very much silent, but deadly character."

This is Exstrom's first appearance as a theater major. After majoring in music as a freshman, he made the move to stage and is now one of 13 freshman in the Johnny Carson School of Emerging Media's first BFA class.

"Music wasnt the right fit," he said. "For me, I love performing.  Here I get to learn about the craft and also perform so much stuff. Its a better fit for me overall. You really get that individualized attention by being one of 13 people in the BFA program.

"I think it is really helping me become a better actor, a better performer and a better human being."

The program calls for the actors to learn all jobs in the theater  from lighting and sets to makeup and costumes. Once one learns that there are no small jobs in the theater and that the success of the actors comes by virtue of many thankless people, it puts everything in perspective.

"Youre thrown into everything," Exstrom said. "You are doing more than just performing.  It really provides a full-circle experience as an actor. Therefore, with more life experience, you become more compassionate, and that makes you a better human in the process."

Make no mistake, Exstrom is a fine human being  a work in progress as an actor  and his job over the next two weeks will be to scare the heck out of anyone who comes near him.

"It's so much fun," he said.

To everyone else, you've been warned.
Republican Rep. Mike Flood said Thursday that Democratic congressional nominee Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln is soft on crime at a time when crime is on the rise in Lincoln.

Her policies, as revealed in her record as a state senator, would be good for criminals, bad for police and bad for public safety, the Norfolk congressman said during a news media event outside the Lincoln police station at 27th and Holdrege Streets.

Flood pointed to a number of bills introduced in the Legislature by Pansing Brooks that he said would provide for early release for violent criminals, eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for drug dealers and micro-manage and second-guess police officers use of force to protect themselves and others.

Flood also said murders in Lincoln have increased by 100% over last year, auto thefts have increased by 40%, arson by 37% and weapon offenses have increased by 28%.

Information provided to the Flood campaign by the Lincoln Police Department does not match reporting of city homicides. There were seven homicides at this time last year and this year there are 10.

Pansing Brooks supports reducing sentences, Flood said.

Lighter sentences and early release send a loud message to criminals and police officers, he said.

Meanwhile, there is a growing issue of crime in this community, Flood said.

I back the blue, he said, and they need to know it.

Responding to Floods criticism, Pansing Brooks said the congressman has voted against law enforcement multiple times since he has been in the House.

Against funding to help communities impacted by homicides and violence, she said, and against funding to help victims of crime as well as funding to allow mental health professionals to assist police in responding to mental health crises.

He has even voted against a bill establishing an Amber Alert system for emergencies involving active shooters, Pansing Brooks said.

In the Legislature earlier this year, she said, Flood voted, against police, to create permit-less carry for handguns and to remove training requirements.

Flood served in the Legislature with Pansing Brooks during the past two years before he defeated her in a June 28 special election to fill eastern Nebraskas 1st District seat in the House of Representatives.

They will meet in a rematch in the Nov. 8 general election.
OMAHA  Most people didnt believe Anita Hill in 1991 when she testified before a room of U.S. senators, detailing sexually inappropriate comments she had received in the workplace.

Pundits said nothing would be learned from the hearing. Women wouldnt come forward, they said.

But Hill, who spoke Thursday in Omaha to an audience of nearly 1,000 people, said shes proving those pundits wrong.

The people who did believe her spoke out. And now, more than 30 years later, women still are speaking out and coming forward.

Hill spoke about her testimony  and what she has accomplished since  during an event at the CHI Health Center hosted by the Womens Fund of Omaha. In addition to the crowd on hand, a number of people watched virtually. Some attendees wore pins from the 1990s that said, I believe Anita Hill.

In 1991, Hill publicly accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of making sexually inappropriate comments when she worked for him. Thomas denied Hills allegations and went on to win Senate confirmation. He still serves on the Supreme Court.

Hill now is on the faculty at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Last year, she published the book Believing about her experience and the issue of gender-based violence.

Everyone assumed that the issue would die and that no one would care about it, Hill told The World-Herald in an interview before the event. That has not been the case. Its not only stayed alive, but its actually grown.

While progress has been made, Hill said, work remains to be done.

In 2018, a scene similar to Hills played out before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Christine Blasey Ford testified that then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her decades earlier.

Hill, who wrote an op-ed for the New York Times about the Kavanaugh hearing, said it didnt quite feel like deja vu. For one, the committee was much more diverse than the all-male, all-White panel she faced. And, Hill said, senators asked important, probing questions of both Ford and Kavanaugh.

In her address Thursday, Hill cited statistics from the National Womens Law Center, which show that since the #MeToo movement gained traction, more than 70 workplace anti-harassment bills have been passed in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, spoke at last years Womens Fund event.

Its important, Hill said, that people who have been harassed are trusted, invested in and asked to be part of the solution.

Prevention and being able to inspire the next generation are key, too, Hill said. She said people should think about the world they came into and the world they will leave and whether theyre OK passing that to the next generation.

I didnt know what I was getting into when this started 31 years ago. Yet, if I had it to do all over again, I would do it all over again, Hill said.

She said the Womens Fund takes an integrated approach and works in a number of different areas, including economic security and sexual literacy.

What I want people to understand is that all of those are related to ending gender violence, Hill said. These things cannot be looked at separately.

The interconnected aspects the organization works on include an adolescent health project and a freedom-from-violence program, said Jo Giles, executive director of the Womens Fund. She noted that the conversation Hill started in 1991 about sexual harassment in the workplace and gender-based oppression occurred around the same time the Womens Fund was founded.

She also speaks to the moment were in now, Giles added. She was the right person at the right time. Theres still so much work to do.

During the event, the organization awarded grants to a number of local nonprofit agencies. The Womens Fund awarded $5 million to 20 organizations that offer free testing, treatment and prevention services for sexually transmitted diseases and barrier-free access to birth control. Another $1 million will be distributed to 10 organizations that assist survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and sex trafficking.
RACINE  Park High School in Racine and Bradford High School in Kenosha are two of more than a dozen Wisconsin schools that went into lockdown or saw police responses amid threats of active shooters that are believed to be hoaxes Thursday.

The Racine PD confirmed Thursday morning that it received a call from an unknown person who stated that he was a teacher at Park High School and that there is an active shooter in the school and fifteen students had been shot. The caller went on to describe the shooter and the weapon. However, the school resource officer stationed at Park High School reported there had been no gunshots heard.

The RPD described the report as a Fake Shooting Call.

The initial call was received by the Racine County Joint Communication Center at 8:40 a.m. Thursday, according to the Racine County Sheriffs Office. Racine Police Chief Maurice Robinson said in an email there was a fake call that came into the Racine Police Department, bypassing the 911 system.

Officers from the RPD, Mount Pleasant PD, Caledonia PD and RCSO, as well as the Racine Fire Department, were all notified of the threat.

The building was cleared and no active shooter or injured students were found, police said.

Similarly, the Kenosha Police Department said Thursday that police responded to Bradford High School on Kenoshas north side after an apparent hoax call was received at 8:11 a.m.

So far, the KPD said in a Facebook post at 8:28 a.m. Thursday, police HAVE NOT found any evidence of a shooting. Police are currently searching the school floor by floor to ensure there is no real threat. What we need parents to do is NOT RESPOND to the school. Please wait for instructions from KPD and KUSD (Kenosha Unified School District) ... This may be a hoax; however, we will not dismiss and are proceeding with protocol.

While these incidents did not involve actual safety threats, they definitely impacted all involved, KUSD said in an email to parents. Events such as these cause undue stress and anxiety for our students and staff and pull resources from across our community.

All Ascension Wisconsin hospitals were prepared to receive patients if there were numerous casualties, a spokesperson for the health network said.

The practice of making false reports of active shooters or bomb threats, sometimes referred to as swatting, can lead to criminal charges and deadly consequences. A Los Angeles man in 2019 was sentenced to 20 years in prison after a false report he made led to an innocent man being killed by police in Kansas.

The FBI indicated it was aware of the numerous threats, saying in a statement: The FBI is aware of the numerous swatting incidents wherein a report of an active shooter at a school is made. The FBI takes swatting very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk. While we have no information to indicate a specific and credible threat, we will continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention. We urge the public to remain vigilant, and report any and all suspicious activity and/or individuals to law enforcement immediately.
RACINE  The Town of Dover man who admitted to requesting the absentee ballots of two elected officials he doesnt like in order to prove that he could formally pleaded not guilty to the charges on Friday in Racine County Circuit Court.

Harry Wait, 68, is charged with two felonies for misappropriating identification information and two misdemeanors for election fraud for using the identifying information of Racine Mayor Cory Mason, a Democrat, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, to order their absentee ballots via the Wisconsin Elections Commissions MyVote website. A ballot addressed to Mason ended up being delivered to Waits home, but no ballot addressed to Vos was delivered.

Wait claimed he just wanted to show how easy it was to order someone elses ballots without permission, but it is a felony under the Wisconsin statutes.

What I did was illegal. Not only illegal, it was criminal, Wait told a reporter in July.

Waits attorney, Daniel J. Hartman, told The Journal Times last week that he plans to raise a number of defenses, among them that Waits actions were justified by necessity.
MOUNT PLEASANT  Forrest Stump is like a lot of other puppies. He likes treats. He doesnt like to sit still. He falls down a lot. Perhaps more than other dogs. He only has three paws.

Seniors in the engineering and biomedical classes at Case High School were visited by the young dog Wednesday morning, and they might just hold the key to protect him from the upcoming Midwestern winter.

Forrest Stump is a 4-month-old dog who was found underneath a camper in Texas. He was a part of a litter of seven, only three of whom survived. His mother, who could not be sent to Wisconsin with her pups because of heartworms, is a senior dog, estimated to be 13 years old at the time of her litters birth. Likely due to complications from his birth, Forrest is missing a paw on his rear right leg.

Forrest was rescued by Texas Rescue Riders, an organization that brings around 50 stray dogs and about 18 cats a month from Texas to southeastern Wisconsin where they can be placed in loving homes.

Forrests current foster home is with Jessica Lietzke, adoption and foster coordinator for Texas Rescue Riders. Lietzke had told Diane Knoll, purchasing manager for Racine Unified, about Forrest and she contacted Sara Gauthier and Dan Buchholz, biomed and engineering teachers for Case about the opportunity to have the kids help Forrest out.

Forrest didnt mind the students touching his stump. You will feel that the bones and the nerve endings are right there, Lietzke told the students Wednesday. We think he will hate the snow on it because he hates the rain.

On a day-to-day basis, Forrest tends to just faceplant, Lietzke said. The puppy likes running on slick surfaces and he forgets that he doesnt have any grip on that leg. He uses it, but he doesnt know that he doesnt have any grip.

Lietzke went on to tell the class that Forrest has trouble climbing onto furniture, trying to use what is left on his hind paw as support but never quite making it. The end of the paw has a callus to it as well. One of the main problems with Forrest is that his paw is not only vulnerable to infection but hyper-sensitive to cold, causing the pooch discomfort even with just the morning dew.

Hes a puppy. He moves a lot, said Amanda Gapinski, a Case senior in the engineering class, as she used a 3D scanner to get a rendering of Forrests missing paw.

The scanner she tried to use on Forrest would take rapid pictures of his paw, creating a 3D scan with a full 360-degree view of the object. With the scanned image, students can use rendering programs to better create models of possible prosthetics. Gapinski is a part of the highest engineering class at Case, a senior-level class that uses everything the students have learned in the last three years to help the community.

3D printing and the future of prosthetics In 2017, The Guardian newspaper declared that 3D-printed limbs were "the next revolution in medicine." TechCrunch.com reported the prior year that in the U.S. there are around 200,000 amputations performed per year with most prosthetics costing between $5,000 and $50,000. But with the advent of 3D printers becoming affordable, prosthetic hands and other replacement body parts could be made for only $50. Fast Company magazine reported in 2019 that "making a very simple prosthetic arm can cost $1,000 for the materials alone. But 3D scanning and printing can shrink the cost to as little as $4."

Its harder to get a moving object, especially with a puppy, Gapinski said. Just doing the measurements right now might be the best idea, but the 3D is still worth a shot, and this is still one of our first uses of it. Later on in the future, if he ever comes back, we might have a better hold on how to use it.

While the designing of the prosthetic is more up to the bio-med students, Gapinski suggested having a sock-like component to the prosthetic that could keep Forrest warm during his first winter.

The two teams of students will work together to develop an artificial paw for Forrest, using skills they have learned in their respective classes. Groups of four will use the measurements and data collected from meeting Forrest Wednesday to come up with concepts for an artificial paw for the pup.

One group of biomed students  Carlos Cervantes, Milos Miletic, Bradley Morrison and Jillian Stollenwerk  drew up a concept that would use a rubber or plastic, Lego-like system of blocks that could adapt to his height when he ages. It would also include a loop around Forrests body to keep it in place.

We plan on 3D printing (the pieces), Miletic explained. We just need to find first how long his leg is around, and also the size of his body.

The students will meet virtually with a veterinarian on Oct. 24 to evaluate how the prosthetic concepts would work in a practical sense, with the dogs lifestyle in mind as well as how the prosthetic can grow with him.

If the students cannot figure out a practical prosthetic for Forrest, his leg will have to be amputated, which adds real stakes for both them and Forrest.

Its a big project to take on, especially (since there is) the chance that if it doesnt work his leg might need to be amputated, said Gauthier. Theres that pressure and knowing that it has lasting effects, but at the same time were very excited.

For their junior year, the biomed students built building prosthetic arms as a project, but there was not a real-world impact. As seniors, they need to combine those lessons learned into something that can actually matter outside the classroom.

For them to (use) those same skills (in) a real-world project makes it much more rewarding, Gauthier said.

In about two weeks, Forrest will return to the class for a fitting of the different prosthetic prototypes. Working with his family, the best ideas among all projects will be implemented, with the hope that Forrest will have a new, functional prosthetic by the end of November. As he grows, Forrest will be brought in for follow-ups to see what improvements can be made.

Building prosthetics for Forrest counts as these students capstone project, a requirement to graduate from the Academies of Racine, the job-focused and college-focused philosophy in place at Case as well as Horlick and Park high schools.

I think the kids are very nervous about being successful, Gauthier said. It has a lot more meaning to them, being that it is a real dog, there are real consequences. Its just not a project they are doing for school ... (This) makes them work a lot harder and come up with more creative ideas than if it was just an assignment that I gave them.

In the meantime, Forrest already has a new family lined up for him. Jamie Sershon, Knolls daughter, will be adopting him. They hope he will be ready to have a happy Thanksgiving with a new family, and a leg up in the world.
Every seat counts

Republicans have a chance of building a veto-proof majority in the state Legislature this year. If the GOP is able to flip seven Democrat-held seats (six in the Assembly and one in the Senate) in November, then conservatives will be able to enact legislation without fear of a veto from Tony Evers if the Democratic governor is able to survive a challenge from Republican Tim Michels.

In Wisconsin, governor's vetoes can be overruled if more than two-thirds of the members of both houses of the Legislature vote to do so.

Republicans currently hold 21 of the Senate's 33 seats and 61 of the Assembly's 99 seats. There are a handful of seats held by Democrats that could plausibly be won by Republicans this fall in both the Senate and Assembly, but a veto-proof majority for Republicans is unlikely if any incumbent Republicans lose.
Just too many Stans.

So declared a sizable Englishman in the dining room of the National Liberal Club in London about three decades ago, in the wake of the dramatic disintegration of the Soviet Union. His voice was rather loud, reflecting the frustration of trying to keep in mind a complicated new geography.

A variety of members and guests were having dinner, convivial and engaged in their own conversations. Nonetheless, this writer, dining alone on a business trip, took sympathetic note of the remark.

A lot of complexity, in other words, did indeed emerge in Central Asia, thanks to President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union undertaking dramatic reforms that fatally weakened the already-crumbling structures of that enormous nation.

The Soviet Union comprised a number of Soviet Republics in addition to Russia, the largest. They included what is now Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan along with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine.

All these entities are now independent nations.

That is indeed a lot of Stans, especially when you add neighboring states such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. They represent an analytic as well as practical policy challenge even for the most skillful businessperson, diplomat, military professional, politician or anyone else charged with coping with that enormous complex organizational and political as well as physical landscape.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia is now trying hard to harness this constellation of countries into a working coalition that will bolster his badly weakened position.

On October 14, he made a major policy speech in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, to the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). The 28 members include Russia and some of the former Soviet states and also China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam and others.

Putin warned in his speech that the Ukraine War represents an effort by the United States and other Western nations to expand influence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Rationalizing Russias invasion as self-defense is a lie.

During the same two-day visit to Astana, Putin participated in the first Central Asia Summit. This meeting, organized by Russia, also included the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Additionally, Putin held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. Both nations now communicate regularly with Iran, including occasional summits.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan proposed the CICA initiative in the fall of 1992. He served as head of that country from independence in 1991 until forced to resign in 2019 amid allegations of corruption and public protests, a sign of the times in Central Asia and elsewhere. Nazarbayev remains a powerful figure even while out of office.

Of particular note is the continuing fitful armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, fueled by traditional ethnic hostilities. A ceasefire established in 1994 broke down in 2020, resulting in brief but full-scale war.

Renewed armistice is tenuous. On October 12, President Emmanuel Macron of France accused Putin of provoking armed clashes in order to destabilize the region. Putins meddling is spurred in part by Russias weak, deteriorating economy.

The Great Game refers to the long-term competition between Great Britain and Imperial Russia for influence in Central Asia in the 19th century. The fellow in the National Liberal Club echoed the challenges involved.

American foreign policy should emulate Britains traditional approach. We need disciplined, focused leadership not seen since President George H.W. Bush.
1. Yes. Using marijuana odor to determine probable cause is vital to police investigations.

2. Yes. As the ordinance is written, it targets police; that shouldnt be allowed to stand.

3. No. The council should leave the ordinance alone and respect the will of the voters.

4. No. The council should repeal the ordinance altogether. It conflicts with state law.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say how the council should proceed on addressing the ordinance.

Vote

View Results
KEARNEY  A judge has found a Kearney man guilty of threatening another man with a gun.

Shawn Orcutt, 44, pleaded no contest to felony terroristic threats and attempted use of a firearm to commit a felony on March 13 in rural Buffalo County. In exchange for his plea, the Buffalo County Attorneys office dismissed a charge of misdemeanor third-degree assault.

Judge John Marsh accepted Orcutts pleas and ordered the Nebraska Probation Office to complete a presentence investigation report. Findings of that report  including background information on a defendant, family and criminal history, employment and psychological and chemical dependency  will help the judge issue an appropriate sentence.

According to court records, prosecutor Melanie Young agreed to recommend Orcutt serve the sentences at the same time and for the sentences not to exceed 15 years. However, Marsh doesnt have to follow that recommendation and can sentence Orcutt how he sees fit.

Orcutt faces up to 53 combined years in prison. Sentencing will be in November.

Around 6 p.m. March 13 a rural Kearney man was driving his all-terrain vehicle near the end of his driveway west of Riverdale when he was approached by Orcutt, who was on a motorcycle and began yelling at the man. The man called 911.

Orcutt punched the man, and the two men fell to the ground hitting each other. At one point Orcutt took out a semi-automatic pistol and fired about six rounds into the ground next to the man, records say.

As Orcutt went to reload his handgun, the man got back on his ATV, drove to a neighbors house and reported the incident to the Buffalo County Sheriffs Office. The man wasnt seriously injured.

Records say the dispute was over an alleged sexual assault.
HSHS St. Josephs Hospital is partnering with the Chippewa Falls Police Department for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Oct. 29. The drive-thru event provides a safe, convenient and responsible disposal opportunity for unwanted or expired medications.

Nearly 60,000 pounds of unused or expired medication was collected in Wisconsin at Prescription Drug Take Back Day in April 2022  the largest amount collected in the country, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

HSHS St. Josephs Hospital is encouraging community members to help boost that number even more during the next event on Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the hospitals main entrance.

HSHS St. Josephs community outreach specialist Melissa Ives advises people not to hold onto unneeded and expired medications.

This can create a number of potential public health hazards, says Ives. These items can be stolen, misused or ingested by children or pets resulting in accidental poisonings.

Results from the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Mental Health in 2020 found nearly 10 million Americans misuse controlled drugs; most obtain the medications from family and friends, either by asking them or via the home medicine cabinet.

Ives says do not dispose of medicines down the drain or toilet or throw them in the garbage. Over time trace amounts of medications can leach into the ground and contaminate rivers, lakes and wells. This negatively impacts fish and other aquatic species.

Community members are encouraged to bring unwanted or expired medications to the take back event. Ives says its best to place solid, non-liquid medication(s) in a sealed plastic bag rather than dropping off plastic pill containers with personal information on them.

The following items will be accepted:

Prescription and over-the-counter medications

Ointments

Patches

Inhalers

Creams, liquids and non-aerosol sprays in the original packaging

Vials

Pet medications

Vaping devices and cartridges  batteries will not be accepted

Do not bring:

Illegal drugs

Aerosol cans

Mercury thermometers

Personal care products (shampoo, soaps, lotions, sunscreens, etc.)

Household hazardous items (paint, oil, pesticide)

Needles/sharps

Bio-hazard materials (anything containing a bodily fluid or blood)

Since Drug Take Back Day began in 2010, Wisconsin has collected more than 1 million pounds of unused or expired medication. For more information about Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, visit the Wisconsin Department of Justice webpage.

Community members are asked to follow safety protocols during the drive-thru event:

Remain in your vehicle. A volunteer will come to collect your items.

Remove labels or black out identifying information on medication containers.

As a thank you to those who bring their medications to the drop off location on October 29, a limited number of gas gift cards and Deterra medicine deactivation bags will be given out on a first come, first served basis. Community members do not need to be a patient of HSHS St. Josephs Hospital to participate in the event or receive a thank you item.

HSHS St. Josephs Hospital is located at 2116 County Highway I in Chippewa Falls.
The county of La Crosse approved reallocating funds to support winter shelter for families experiencing homelessness.

At Thursday nights meeting, the County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted (with five absences) to reallocate approximately $168,000  previously dedicated to homeless prevention services  to be used specifically for short-term shelter for families experiencing homelessness.

The plan for emergency winter sheltering is to provide hotel vouchers to the families. Vouchers are expected to be available starting Nov. 1 and will be valid until April 30, 2023. Families utilizing the voucher program are expected to engage regularly with county case managers.

The county anticipates it will be able to help 40 to 50 families secure shelter during the winter months.

The unanimous vote was not without fervent discussion among the supervisors about the resolution as well as other county plans to address homelessness. Many supervisors were concerned about employment, mental health and addiction issues impacting the retention of housing for those granted short-term winter housing.

Supervisor Kim Cable said she believed the boards discussion had strayed far from the resolution on the table.

The people are going to freeze to death. I dont think any of us want to answer that, Cable said during Thursdays meeting. This plan is a relatively small investment as it relates to human lives.

By moving family units into hotels, the county expects this will free up space for individuals in other shelters around the city, like Salvation Army and the Catholic Charities Warming Center. With winter weather coming soon and the closure of Houska Park on Oct. 31, more space at community shelters is an imminent need.

The county board also approved a resolution to investigate and add solar panels to eight county buildings: the Administrative Center, Hillview Health Care Center, West Salem Highway Shop, Courthouse & Law Enforcement Center, Health and Human Services Building, Lakeview Health Care Center, Solid Waste Building and Goose Island Campground, all of which account for 80% of the countys total electrical consumption.

History of homeless prevention and housing assistance In 2018, the county set aside $500,000 for homelessness prevention services. Jason Witt, director of La Crosse County Human Services, said this was a historic and significant action by the county.

Between 2019 and 2021, approximately $290,000 of that fund was used to help people maintain housing through an expansion of social services for mental health, addition, economic support and neighborhood social workers. The homelessness prevention program also provided direct housing supports such as helping with security deposits or utility bills.

Human Services reported that 477 individuals received help from this program, and 95% of clients who completed the program retained housing.

Witt said the reason for the $168,000 remaining in homelessness prevention funds is primarily due to unexpected federal funding during the height of Covid-19 in 2020.

Now, those remaining funds will be used to address winter shelter for families experiencing homelessness.
Are you tired of the continued MAGA Trump drama?

We, as voters in Southeastern Wisconsin, have been dealing with and exposed to the constant barrage of MAGA drama for the last six-plus years. And now, I continue to see Trump and his allies wining about losing the 2020 election. My God, its over, your candidate lost.

I cannot believe we might be continuing to hear the same unintelligent babble.

The lies are so ridiculous they have lost their glimmer. I find it hard to believe that we may have a rerun of 2020 election drama. God help us.

If I am not mistaken, Benjamin Franklin quipped about our type of government in 1776 saying,  A democracy if you can keep it. To all the voters, especially the independent Republicans in Walworth County, let's move on from this insanity. We have our lives to live and our families to grow.

We are Americans and should act like it. I am proud of my patriotism and what it stands for, but I am no different than any other American. My parents taught me not to judge others that are different from me; I try not to judge those that have supported our past president.

Individually, we have to choose to move on from division, hatred, anger and choose to look for ways to reach out, not judge and stay calm.

Paul Kristoffersen, Fontana
Ritter Exposes NATO Training To Wage Nuclear War against Russia

Oct. 20, 2022 (EIRNS)Scott Ritter took the warnings that he had issued during his appearance with Diane Sare on Cynthia Poolers Issues That Matter YouTube channel, about NATOs Steadfast Noon nuclear-sharing exercise, to a column, Nuclear High Noon in Europe, in Consortium News, posted yesterday. Given that NATOs nuclear umbrella extends exclusively over Europe, the indisputable fact is that Steadfast Noon is nothing more than NATO training to wage nuclear war against Russia, he says at the outset.

Indeed, how could it be otherwise?

Ritter points out that, despite all of the insane rhetoric coming out of Washington, Brussels, and Kiev (of which he provides a timeline), there has been absolutely no talk coming out of the Kremlin about using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. In fact, Russian officials have made numerous statements to the contrary, that Russian nuclear doctrine is very specific on the conditions in which Russia would use nuclear weapons, and those conditions dont, and wont exist in Ukraine.

Biden, Ritter says, got it all wrong when talking about the potential for nuclear conflict. The risk isnt that Russia would start a pre-emptive nuclear war over Ukraine, Ritter warns. The risk is that America would. This, Ritter argues, stems from the doctrine of preemption adopted by the G.W. Bush administration in 2002, which has still not been repudiated. Biden came into office promising to enshrine in U.S. nuclear doctrine a sole purpose policy, under which, Ritter quotes Bush that the sole purpose of our nuclear arsenal should be to deterand, if necessary, retaliate againsta nuclear attack. But that change still hasnt been made; therefore, the U.S. military has to rely on previously issued doctrine, the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review being the most recent such document.

Under the Bush doctrine, current nuclear weapons are but another tool in the militarys toolbox, to be used as and when needed, including occasions where the destruction of battlefield targets for the simple purpose of gaining an operational advantage is the objective, Ritter writes.

Ritter doesnt mention it, but this fits in with the mantra of integrated deterrence of Lloyd Austin, which is no longer about deterring nuclear war but about employing a whole of government approach, of which nuclear weapons are a component, to deterring bad behavior by the designated enemies of the United States, behavior such as an invasion of Taiwan by the P.R.C.

As this article is being written, U.S. nuclear-capable B-52 bombers are flying to Europe from their U.S. bases, where they will practice delivering nuclear weapons against a Russian target, Ritter writes. Dozens more aircraft, flying from Volkel Air Force Base in the Netherlands (home to an arsenal of U.S. B-61 nuclear bombs), will practice employing NATO nuclear weapons against...Russia. Russia has responded to the NATO nuclear drill by going forward with its own annual nuclear exercise, Grom (Thunder). These drills will involve the large-scale maneuver of Russias strategic nuclear forces, including live missile launches. In a statement of neon-lighted hypocrisy, a U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, Russian nuclear rhetoric and its decision to proceed with this exercise while at war with Ukraine is irresponsible. Brandishing nuclear weapons to coerce the United States and its allies is irresponsible. 

Ritter insists: Now is the time for maturity, sanity...restraint. A sage leader would have recognized the possibility of misperception on the part of Russia when NATO, a mere week after being encouraged by the Ukrainian President to initiate a preemptive nuclear strike on Russia, carries out a major exercise where NATO practices dropping nuclear bombs on Russia. A sober leader would have postponed these drills and encouraged similar action from Russia regarding its nuclear exercises. Instead, America gets an unscripted, off-the-cuff reference to a nuclear Armageddon from a narcissistic egomaniac who uses the horror of nuclear annihilation as a fund-raising mantra.
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR FRIDAY OCTOBER 21, 2022

Beyond Hyperbole and Parody: Can We Stop the Failed Imperial State of Perfidious Albion from Launching Thermonuclear War?

Oct. 20, 2022 (EIRNS)That Was The Week That Was was the title of an early-1960s British comedy show and political satire, part of that eras British Invasion cultural counter-offensive against the United States. Without her knowledge, the here-and-gone British Prime Minister, Liz Nuke Em Truss was involuntarily and inexorably maneuvered and cast in a one-episode reality show remake of that series in the past seven days. British broadcaster Piers Morgan provided an autopsy on the short-lived Truss Turn, saying, it is literally impossible to exaggerate the scale of the bedlam that this government has unleashed on our country in the last six weeks ... these useless clowns have basically ravaged our country.

So, faced with the threat of Trusss energetic stupidity to the imperial state, and the need to shift policy in the wake of the failure of financial nuclear war against Russia and China, and the threat of the financial collapse of the City of London itself, the wheels of the machinery of parliamentary democracy in Great Britain, the country without a written constitution, began to turn. In the way often depicted in another, 1980s British series, Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister, British governance often involves a process of despotic power-shifting and manipulation designed to be undetectable to the victim, including the erstwhile head of government. A self-coup can even occur right out in the open, as this one has, with a Seneca-like commentary seasoned by what some sadists term the British sense of humor. Referring, two days ago, to the fact that the biography of Liz Truss, Out of the Blue, was due to soon be released, Labour Party Leader Sir Keir Rodney Starmer, said, A book is being written about the Prime Ministers time in office. Apparently its going to be out by Christmas. Is that the release date or the title?

Liz Truss who had declared her readiness to torch the entire human race in a thermonuclear holocaust for the greater glory of the Anglosphere, did not realize that she was the wicker womanthe one that was to be torched. Truss, who managed to alienate first, her opponents, and then her allies in record time, has earned the distinction of being the fastest-ever-dismissed prime minister in history. She takes her place in the pantheon of the Madeleine Albright school of imperial diplomacy, whose Olympian members have no qualms about saying things like this:

Lesley Stahl: We have heard that half a million [Iraqi] children have died. I mean, that is more children than died in Hiroshima.... And, you know, is the price worth it?

Madeleine Albright: I think that is a very hard choice, but the price, we think, the price is worth it.

Truss has made it clear that she thought the price of thermonuclear war was worth it, and that I think its an important duty of the Prime Minister and Im ready to do that. The dismissal of Truss solves nothing for Britain in the realms of financial and economic collapse, social unrest, public health threats, or the military-strategic debacle unfolding in Ukraine. It does, however, indicate how the principle of Nemesis can suddenly manifest itself as the noose in the house of the hanged.

During this 60th anniversary of the Thirteen Days of the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 16-29, 1962), Scott Ritter, writing in Consortium News after an appearance on an American radio show with Independent candidate for New Yorks U.S. Senate seat Diane Sare, pointed out that President Joe Biden got it all wrong when talking about the potential for nuclear conflict. The risk isnt that Russia would start a pre-emptive nuclear war over Ukraine, Ritter warned. The risk is that America would. This, Ritter argues, stems from the doctrine of preventive war adopted by the Cheney/G.W. Bush administration in 2002. Despite Bidens expressed intentions to assert that  the sole purpose of our nuclear arsenal should be to deterand, if necessary, retaliate againsta nuclear attack,  no such change in policy has been adopted, and the opposite, previous policy prevails. Twenty years ago, Oct. 7, 2002, one year after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center and just months before the March 2003 war on Iraq, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace stated: In the war on terror, the Bush administration has enunciated the Bush Doctrine, which, among other things, affirms the legitimacy of an American preventive strike and emphasizes the notion that If you are not with us, you are against us. U.S. foreign policy, therefore, is no longer just about the Truman Doctrine (containment) or about the Reagan Doctrine (supporting freedom fighters), but about shedding the multilateralism favored by the Clinton administration and pursuing a more active, unilateral approach. It was in this period that the Prompt Global Strike policy of a first-strike thermonuclear attack against Russia, China, etc. was adopted by the United Statesnot later, as some might suggest.

According to the February 2007, Report to Congress Global Strike Plan from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Section 1032 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Public Law 108-136) provides that the Secretary of Defense shall establish an integrated plan for developing, deploying, and sustaining a prompt global strike capability in the Armed Forces, to be updated annually through 2006. The first Global Strike Report to Congress was a classified document submitted in June 2004. This means that the policy for a thermonuclear first strike was being devised and drafted during 2003, when the United States fought a preventive war against Saddam Hussein on a premise that the Cheney/Bush administration knew to be falsethe weapons of mass destruction fraud.

In the present, devolving strategic-tactical situation, with no change in American posture, Ritter contends that nuclear weapons are but another tool in the militarys toolbox, to be used as and when needed, including occasions where the destruction of battlefield targets for the simple purpose of gaining an operational advantage is the objective.

There are serious reasons, therefore, to be highly concerned about the recent unanimous sense of the United States Senate resolution which declares that Russia is a terrorist state. After its passage, Senator Lindsey Graham said to the Biden administration: You have the complete unanimous support of the United States Senate to label Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. Do it. If one looks at the original motivation for the Bush Doctrineprotecting the United Staters against a terrorist attacknow consider, in the context of the present slouching towards Armageddon of NATO and the Anglosphere, the actual meaning of that resolution being followed. Look at it from the vantage point of Russia or Chinas militaries: How would you now read Madeleine Albright protege Condoleezza Rices famous 2002 remark, We dont want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud in the context of the sense of the U.S. Senate resolution? Would you consider that there was indeed an increasing, if not an imminent danger to you, of thermonuclear war being initiated by the United States?

This should make it clearperhaps terrifyingly clearwhy the campaign of LaRouche Independent Diane Sare for the United States Senate takes on such an immediate importance. One talk show, referring to Sare, said a few days ago,

Somebody was talking about the woman running against Chuck Schumer, Diane Sare. I gotta tell yaShes running independent.... I would like her to come on. Id love to talk to her! On her platform she wants to crush the global fascist digital dictatorship. YES! Come on! Im on board with that. She says How is it that Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jack Dorsey are allowed to deny the President of the United States, Donald Trump, a platform to address the American People? Many leaders from around the world are shocked that this extreme form of censorship is occurring in the United States, including Mexican President Lopez Obrador, whom you can watch here. And they have clips of it. Im interested in this candidate, and thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Diane Sare may well be being excluded from any face-to-face confrontation with the 42-years-in-the Senate political establishment fixture Schumer, precisely so that a public discussion on the actual, imminent danger of thermonuclear war cannot be heard anywhere in America. With less than three weeks before the election, and perhaps days away from something momentous occurring in the field of war, what would happen, internationally, if that wall of containment were breached? The actions of a few, as seen in recent days, can catalyze the many, for good or ill.

One thing is certainthe old order is gone, to be replaced by something else. Its loudest and most boorish of servants will be gone in 60 seconds once ideology meets the reality of physical economy. The LaRouche Organization has been prepared for this moment. The LaRouche movement operates from the realization that, so far as geopolitics is concerned, that was the world that was. For a new, better world to be realized, it will take supplanting this clear and present danger with a new paradigm, the conception that motivates the upcoming October 27 conference of the Schiller Institute: For World Peace: Stop the Danger of Nuclear War. This will be the Second Seminar of Current and Former Elected Officials of the World. The conference, organized by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, is the best possible way to render geopolitics, and the wars that it demands impotent and obsolete, and we invite you to join that effort.
Security experts say artificial intelligence (AI) systems used by businesses can make serious, costly mistakes. But one way to avoid such mistakes is for companies to employ humans to closely watch the AI.

One example of AI problems that can affect businesses happened early in the COVID-19 pandemic. It involved the credit scoring company Fair Isaac Corporation, which is known as FICO.

FICO is used by about two-thirds of the worlds largest banks to help make lending decisions. The companys systems are also used to identify possible cases of credit fraud.

FICO officials recently told Reuters news agency that one of the companys AI systems misidentified a large number of credit card fraud cases. At the time, the pandemic had caused a large increase in online shopping. The AI tool considered the rise in online shopping to be the result of fraudulent activity.

As a result, the AI system told banks to deny millions of purchase attempts from online buyers. The incident happened just as people were hurrying to buy products that were in short supply in stores.

But FICO told Reuters that in the end, very few buyers had their purchase requests denied. This is because a group of experts the company employs to observe, or monitor, its AI systems recognized the false fraud identifications. The workers made temporary adjustments to avoid an AI-ordered block on spending.

FICO says the expert team is quickly informed about any unusual buying activity that the AI systems might misidentify.

But these kinds of corporate teams are not that common, Reuters reports. Last year, FICO and the business advisory company McKinsey & Company carried out separate studies on the subject. They found that most organizations involved in the study were not closely watching their AI-based programs.

Experts say AI systems mainly make mistakes when real-world situations differ from the situations used in creating the intelligence. In FICO's case, it said its software expected more in-person than online shopping. This led the system to identify a greater share of financial activity as problematic.

Seasonal differences, data-quality changes or extremely unusual events  such as the pandemic  can lead to a series of bad AI predictions.

Aleksander Madry is the director of the Center for Deployable Machine Learning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He told Reuters the pandemic must have been a "wake-up call" for businesses not closely monitoring their AI systems. This is because AI mistakes can cause huge problems for businesses that do not effectively manage the systems.

"That's what really stops us currently from this dream of AI revolutionizing everything," Madry said.

Urgency has been added to the issue since the European Union plans to pass a new AI law as soon as next year. The law requires companies to do some observation of their AI systems. Earlier this month, the U.S. administration also proposed new guidelines aimed at protecting citizens from the harmful effects of AI. In the guidelines, U.S. officials called for observers to ensure AI system "performance does not fall below an acceptable level over time."

Im Bryan Lynn.

Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English.

____________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

artificial intelligence  n. the development of computer systems with the ability to perform work that normally requires human intelligence

lend  v. to give something to someone for a period of time with the expectation that they will then give it back later

fraud  n. the crime of using dishonest methods to take something valuable from another person; trickery; deceit

adjustment  n. a slight change made to something so that it works better

confuse  v. to make someone unable to think clearly or understand something

manage  v. to do something or deal with something successfully

________________________________________________________________________

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LEXINGTON  The Lexington Community Development Agency discussed plans for potential strip mall at the former Roof Pros site along Highway 30 during their meeting on Monday, Oct. 17.

The city purchased the lot at 210 W. 5th St. in July 2015, which was formerly owned by Roof Pros. A fire had destroyed the old lumber building in March 2015 and the company decided not to rebuild.

The last building on the site was torn down in February 2020 to prep the site for redevelopment. The city had found no feasible way to reuse the location.

Redevelopment may be coming in the future, as City Manager Joe Pepplitsch discussed with the CDA. City staff has been working with designers to create draft site plans for a strip mall located on the property.

Pepplitsch said the concept would be for the shell of the building to be constructed and then allow businesses or developers to purchase the units.

He noted many developers lack the funds to construct the building but may be interested in purchasing a space if it is available.

The draft plan shows a 250 foot long, 65 foot deep building with 25 foot bays and 1,600 square feet per unit. Pepplitsch noted how the traffic flow is handled will dictate how the parking lot and access points are laid out.

Constructing a building like this would be a step on the process of revitalizing the downtown area. Pepplitsch noted it can be difficult to revitalize the core of a downtown area, often people are looking for office space and that can be difficult to find in a traditional, historical downtown.

Giving the difficulty with the core area, projects can be done on the perimeter of the downtown area.

For a conceptual example of the project, Pepplitsch pointed to the 14th St. strip mall in Kearney. There is parking space in the front and loading space in the back, similar to what is being thought of for the Lexington space.

CDA member Seth McFarland spoke in favor of the idea and said that anything that could be done to improve the corridors of travel through Lexington, including Highway 30, would be a golden opportunity.

Pepplitsch said he would return at a later meeting with a cost estimate for the project so further discussions could be had.

The last agenda item was a redevelopment plan for Redevelopment Area Six in Lexington.

The redevelopment area is roughly the area north of Highway 30, west to Airport Road, south of 13th St. and tracing west along Liberty Dr. and Erie St. It leaves out the Eagle Run Apartment area.

The Redevelopment Area, located north of Highway 30, equals an estimated 76.2 acres and contains a single-family, commercial and public properties as well as undeveloped tracts of land. Approximately 56.6 acres or 74 percent of the Area is outside the Corporate Limits of Lexington, approximately 15.3 acres or 20.1 percent of the Area consists of public properties, according to the plan.

Pepplitsch said the CDA had previously seen and approved the blight and substandard study of the area. Due to changes by the state legislature, the CDA has to go through a separate process for the development plan.

Like the blight study, it will have to be approved by the CDA, go to the Planning Commission for their recommendation, going to the city council for their decision, before returning to the CDA a final time for their approval.

The CDA approved the redevelopment plan.
Former President Donald Trump is set to answer questions under oath Wednesday as part of the defamation lawsuit brought by former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.

Last week, a federal judge cleared the way for Trump's testimony saying the former President had already taken steps to delay the case and he "should not be able to run out the clock."

It is not clear if Trump will answer questions when he is deposed by Carroll's attorney.

Lawyers for Trump and Carroll have declined to comment.

Carroll sued Trump in 2019 for defamation after he denied her claim that he raped her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s. She was scheduled to sit for her deposition last Friday.

The legal stakes for Trump were recently raised when Carroll said she intends to sue him next month under a new New York State law that allows victims of sexual assault to sue years after the attack. His testimony in the defamation case could be used in a future lawsuit.

The defamation case has been in legal limbo for over a year.

Trump and the Justice Department argued Trump was a federal employee and his statements denying Carroll's allegations were made in response to reporters' questions while he was at the White House. They argued the Justice Department should be substituted as the defendant, which, because the government cannot be sued for defamation, would end the lawsuit.

Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled against Trump and DOJ. They appealed. Last month a federal appeals court in New York ruled that Trump was a federal employee when he denied Carroll's claim of rape and sexual assault.

However, the federal appeals court asked the Washington, DC, appeals court to determine if Trump was acting within the scope of his employment when he made the allegedly defamatory statements. If the DC court finds in favor of Trump, then the Justice Department would likely be substituted as a defendant and the case dismissed. The DC appeals court has not yet taken up the matter and it is unclear if or when they will.

This year Trump was ordered by a New York State judge to sit for a deposition with the New York attorney general's office. Trump refused to answer questions, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Last month the New York attorney general's office filed a $250 million lawsuit against Trump, his eldest children and the Trump Organization for allegedly defrauding lenders and insurers through false financial statements. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and said the lawsuit was politically motivated.

In civil cases if someone declines to answer questions the jury is allowed to apply an adverse inference against the person when deciding their potential liability.

Last year Trump sat for a deposition for a civil lawsuit brought by protestors who claimed they were injured outside of Trump Tower during his first presidential campaign. He is also expected to testify in another civil lawsuit relating to a marketing campaign by the end of the month.

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The CBD craze continues because research keeps confirming its many benefits  not just for humans, but for dogs as well. There are a variety of reasons why your pup may need the support CBD offers. If you have an anxious dog, one that needs help with mobility, or youre looking for an alternative solution for pain relief, CBD can be just what your dog needs to feel better.

With so many manufacturers claiming they have the best CBD oil for dogs, it can be difficult to sort through all the promising pet products. What exactly should you be looking for when shopping for CBD oil for pets? After reading through this article, youll know how to discern between subpar, unreliable pet CBD oil products and those worth investing in.

Ultimately, when you incorporate CBD oil into your pets life, your primary aim is to improve his quality of life. You can only do that if you purchase high-quality CBD oil made specifically for pets. There are specific concentrations ideally suited for each breed size. This article will also provide you with what to look for when shopping online for the best CBD oil for dogs and make it easy for you to use this list as the perfect starting place to find exactly what you need for your beloved pup.

Best CBD Oil for Dogs - Brand Summary

Cannanine: Best Overall CBD Oil for Dogs Penelopes Bloom: Close Second FOMO Bones: First Runner-Up Honest Paws: Second Runner-Up CBDistillery: Reputable Producer HolistaPet: Worthy Mention CBDfx: Staff Pick Cornbread Hemp: Up & Coming Slumber CBD: Specialized Hempsi: Informational Website Batch CBD: Small Batches

Reviews of the Best CBD Oil for Dogs

1. Cannanine - Best Overall CBD Oil for Dogs

Pros:

Broad-spectrum hemp CBD oil

100% money-back guarantee

Buy more and save

Sign up for free shipping

Cons:

May not be a suitable dose for smaller dogs under 30 pounds

What Its Best For

This premium broad-spectrum CBD oil product is multi-faceted, which may offer relief for several ailments. The brand suggests administering this dog CBD oil tincture to promote increased mobility in your pup. Following surgery, your pup may need a bit of support to get around. And if your dog is getting older and not moving as easily as he used to, this is a great product to add to his routine. Along with supporting mobility, this best CBD oil for dogs can promote a sense of calm and may alleviate symptoms related to allergies. It contains 500 mg of broad-spectrum CBD per bottle.

Why People Love It

Customers say they love Cannanines ultra-premium dog CBD oil formula because its made in the USA, contains 0% THC, and is available in two additional concentrations, including a 250 mg bottle and a 1000 mg bottle. You can select the concentration thats most appropriate for your dogs size and needs. This broad-spectrum CBD oil features a patented nano-sized microemulsion to maximize bioavailability and absorbability, ensuring you receive the most value from the product.

Aside from providing pet owners with a superior product, Cannanine provides seven healthy meals to shelter pets in need every time you purchase from them. They also run their products through third-party lab tests to confirm each batch is free of heavy metals, harmful bacteria, yeast, mold, and other toxins. What you receive is a CBD oil for dogs that is a human-grade product packed with non-GMO full-spectrum, phytocannabinoid, and terpene-rich hemp oil.

2. Penelopes Bloom: Close Second

Pros:

Multiple concentrations

Subscribe and save 20%

Full-spectrum CBD oil

Fast acting and lab-tested

Cons:

Some dogs dont like the flavor of this CBD oil

What Its Best For

This pet CBD oil is formulated to help dogs that need support for anxiety. It is crafted with organic CBD, MCT oil, and chamomile to help deliver rapid relaxation. Whether your dog has separation anxiety, travel anxiety, or needs extra comfort after being rescued, this best CBD oil for dogs from Penelopes Bloom promises to get the job done. Its formulated to promote a calm state, particularly during moments when your pups stress levels are heightened. If your dog is hyperactive, this can be a great solution. It helps to reduce aggressive behaviors like jumping, lunging, biting, and barking. Plus, it supports mobility and flexibility to help your dog enjoy daily exercise and burn any excess energy. Its available in four concentrations  for dogs under 30 pounds, the 250 mg bottle is ideal. For extra-large dogs weighing over 100 pounds, you can invest in the 1000 mg bottle.

Why People Love It

This formula contains full-spectrum CBD oil, which makes it more powerful. Full-spectrum CBD oils incorporate more components than other options, which ensures all naturally present cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and fatty acids are included for a synergistic effect. This collaborative combination is often referred to as the entourage effect. Customers report that they love how well Penelopes Bloom understands the plight of anxious pups, whether event-related stress or ongoing skittishness. Either way with Penelopes Bloom, youre covered no matter how small or big your dog is. The different concentrations they offer make shopping and measuring doses super simple!

3. FOMO Bones: First Runner-Up

Pros:

Free shipping on all subscriptions

Rotisserie chicken flavored

97% customer service rating

Made in a NASC facility

Cons:

For orders without a subscription, you must first spend $48 to qualify for free shipping

What Its Best For

If your dog hears the jingle of your keys and thinks hes going on an adventure with you when youre headed to the grocery store, he likely suffers from fear of missing out (FOMO). Its worse still when he gives you an attitude for leaving (even if you do return with a new toy!). With this pet CBD oil tincture, you can calm your dog and feel confident that when you get back, youre going to be greeted with a happy, wagging tail. This tincture is rotisserie chicken-flavored so even the pickiest dog can enjoy his dose.

Why People Love It

FOMO Bones developed a pet tincture that perfectly appeals to dogs  even the ones that turn their nose up to anything new! The tincture is straightforward, coming in a 500 mg bottle with 17 mg per dropper. They keep their approach easy and their ingredients simple. Its an obvious choice to help keep your pup feeling pawsome.

4. Honest Paws: Second Runner-Up

Pros:

May improve behavioral problems

Auto-refill and save 15%

30-day money-back guarantee

Organic CBD oil

Cons:

Customer service is unavailable on the weekend

What Its Best For

The CBD oil for dogs by Honest Paws is formulated for three primary purposes: 1) to help your dog maintain calmness, 2) support his cognitive function, and 3) aid with behavioral problem management. Its available in four concentrations for small dogs up to an extra-strength option for larger dogs or those that need extra support.

Why People Love It

Not all suppliers create different concentrations for different size dogs. People like that Honest Paws developed different dog CBD oil formulas, which makes it easy for you to shop for your dog. Reviewers also appreciate that HonestPaws uses organic ingredients, avoids artificial flavors, and makes finding their lab test results a breeze (right at the top of the page!).

5. CBDistillery: Reputable Producer

Pros:

Subscribe and save 20%

60-day money-back guarantee

Third-party lab-tested

Full-spectrum CBD oil

Cons:

Only one potency option is available

What Its Best For

This full-spectrum CBD oil is formulated with protein-rich cold-pressed hemp seed oil as a carrier oil. The bottle contains 600 mg of CBD with 20 mg per 1 ml serving. Designed to support your pups endocannabinoid system, this CBD pet tincture may help with emotional regulation to promote a relaxed state of mind in your dog. Use it for daily support or for occasions when your dog needs a little extra help keeping calm.

Why People Love It

This tincture is included as one of the best CBD oil for dogs because CBDistillery is well known for creating some of the best CBD oils and has developed a reputation you can trust. They use non-GMO hemp oil, natural farming practices, and third part lab tests the way they should! The full lab results are easy to locate just beneath the product photo.

6. HolistaPet: Worthy Mention

Pros:

Free shipping on all orders

30-day money-back guarantee

Broad-spectrum CBD oil

Infused with organic superfoods

Cons:

Expedited shipping is unavailable for orders shipped to Alaska or Hawaii

What Its Best For

Theres nothing like the joy that emanates from your pup when hes enjoying the fresh air and frolicking about enjoying life to the fullest. If your dog is growing older, experiencing joint pain, or healing from an injury, this best CBD oil for dogs is a great supplement for promoting mobility. Its available in five concentrations ranging from 300 mg of CBD per bottle up to 3000 mg of CBD per bottle.

Why People Love It

Reviewers like HolistaPets dog CBD oil formula because it contains 100% natural ingredients, includes superfoods as well as hemp seed oil, and comes with a convenient dropper that you can use for oral administration, mixing in with food, or topically if needed. The CBD is broad-spectrum, contains no THC, and is made specifically for mobility, hip/joint pain relief, reduced inflammation, and aging wellness.

7. CBDfx: The Reviewers Pick

Pros:

Natural chicken flavor

Human-grade and vegan

Broad-spectrum CBD

Available in four strengths

Cons:

Chicken is the only flavor option available

What Its Best For

This best CBD oil for dogs by CBDfx is vegan but chicken flavored, made with broad-spectrum CBD and coconut MCT oil, and is available in four concentrations up to 200 mg of CBD per bottle to suit even large breed dogs. The chicken flavor is alluring to dogs, and the highest concentration is ideal for getting larger pups to enjoy a relaxed mood, relief from discomfort, and can even help with promoting sleep.

Why People Love It

Reviewers like this broad-spectrum CBD oil for dogs because its organic, non-GMO, and has that distinctive chicken flavor that makes dosing easy. CBDfx CBD oils and other CBD products come with a generous 60-day guarantee too, which demonstrates their commitment to customer satisfaction. Large dogs tend to experience joint issues and this tincture promotes mobility, may reduce pain, and has anti-inflammatory properties.

8. Cornbread Hemp: Up and Coming

Pros:

Spend $75 and get 20% off

Subscribe to save 25%

Corndog flavored CBD oil

30-day money-back guarantee

Cons:

Product may sell out on occasion due to high demand

What Its Best For

Seeing your dog in pain is the worst. Your pup deserves all the good in life. But accidents and illnesses are a reality. To help alleviate discomfort, Cornbread Hemp has developed CBD oil for pets. This formula includes just enough THC to be safe and effective (less than 0.3 THC). It does not produce a psychoactive effect. While the purpose of the oil is to bring relief to your pup, the manufacturers made it fun with a corndog flavor that is also vegan! It comes in a 500 mg bottle with 17 mg of CBD per serving.

Why People Love It

The brand promises to ship within 24 hours, and when your pet is in pain, every minute counts. This company has been recommended by well-known publications. Reviewers appreciate that CornbreadHemp uses full-spectrum CBD along with MCT oil to improve bioavailability, tests each batch via a third party, and provides a creative flavor that stands out from the rest.

9. Slumber CBD: Specialized

Pros:

6:1 CBD:CBD ratio blend

Subscribe to save 20% off

Chicken flavored CBD oil

30-day product guarantee

Cons:

Due to the formula, Slumber recommends you consult with your veterinarian before use

What Its Best For

Like humans, sometimes pets have trouble sleeping. It could be they struggle to adjust to a new environment, they have anxiety, or theyre in pain. No matter the reason, they need proper rest to maintain good health. This formula by Slumber CBN contains high-quality CBD along with premium CBN oil, which is known as the ultimate relaxation cannabinoid. Its formulated to reduce stress, promote tranquility, and help your pet doze off to enjoy a restful sleep. Its chicken-flavored CBD:CBN comes in a 575 mg bottle. .

Why People Love It

People love that Slumber CBN has taken a different approach to their CBD oil for dogs. Its specially formulated for better sleep while helping to reduce inflammation and make your pet more comfortable. They also took the time to test the chicken flavor and make sure its pup-approved. They skip melatonin, use organic MCT, make use of naturally occurring CBN from Colorado hemp, and only use natural ingredients.

10. Hempsi: Informational Website

Pros:

Subscribe to save 30% off

Certified USDA organic

Full-spectrum CBD oil extract

Get 15% off your first purchase

Cons:

You must spend at least $50 to qualify for free shipping

What Its Best For

This organic CBD oil is made specifically for medium-size dogs that weigh between 25 and 50 pounds. The brand recommends using this certified USDA organic full-spectrum CBD hemp plant extract to help support your pups everyday health. The natural blend is ideal for helping keep them healthy and happy. The bottle contains 500 mg of CBD.

Why People Love It

Getting the USDA organic certification shows that Hempsi is willing to go the extra mile. They use organic MCT oil from coconuts to improve your pups ability to absorb the CBD, and make their Certificate of Analysis readily available for review next to the product photo, which is very handy. They also support the Think Wild charity, and every purchase helps support wildlife education, conservation, and rescue.

11. Batch CBD: Small Batches

Pros:

Subscribe to save 25% off

Flavored with bacon oil

Free shipping on orders over $25

30-day guarantee

Cons:

Limited information in the product description

What Its Best For

Pets suffer from inflammation for a variety of reasons  sometimes its injury-related while other times its illness or age-related. No matter the cause, inflammation can set off a host of other issues, especially pain. With this bacon-flavored best CBD oil for dogs by Batch, you can mix it into your pup's food and help your furry buddy enjoy the anti-inflammatory and calming benefits of high-quality CBD oils.

Why People Love It

Most dogs are naturally attracted to bacon flavors and that makes administering this CBD oil a lot easier. Granted, some dogs are exceptions! Reviewers also love that this best CBD oil for dogs comes in a slightly higher concentration than many other brands at 750 mg of CBD per one-ounce bottle.

Picking the Best CBD Oil for Dogs

To put this list of the 11 best CBD oils for dogs together, it was important to consider many different factors. Below youll get a better understanding of the high standards employed when the reviewers compiled this list.

Third-Party Lab Tests

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate the CBD market. What that means is manufacturers can create an inferior product, attach a snazzy packaging label on it, and sell it without confirming quality. To avoid anyone purchasing CBD oils that could potentially harm their dog (like those that contain heavy metals and unnecessary additives or preservatives), the reviewers took the time to highlight brands that complete their due diligence. Third-party lab testing is necessary for every supplier of CBD oils in the industry. This step toward accountability ensures there is transparency for the customer. On any one of the 11 brand websites listed above, the reviewers found full lab results that confirm the potency of the CBD oils and the safety of all ingredients used. When a company takes these extra measures to ensure theyre supplying a safe, human grade product, it shows they are committed to quality and longevity in business. This is how they win customer loyalty.

Potency Variety

Depending on your dogs ailment and his size, he may require a lower dose of CBD or a higher, extra-strength dose. The reviewers selected suppliers of CBD oils that offer a variety of potencies, so you can easily find a product suitable for your dogs age and body weight. Via thorough product descriptions, you can learn more about which CBD oil is best for your dog and select the potency option that offers what your dog needs.

Flavors

Some dogs will gobble up just about anything. Other dogs, however, are a bit pickier. The reviewers selected a wide variety of flavor options so that you can pick a CBD oil that your dog can easily take to. Granted, many dog owners ultimately have to be sneaky when they administer CBD oil, but if youre open to trying flavored options for your dog, you have plenty of products to select from. CBD oil companies are creative with their formulas and try to cater to even the pickiest dogs.

Affordability

Although CBD oil that offers relief for your dog is always worth it, the reviewers selected CBD oil brands that have generous coupon deals, offer savings when you subscribe for regular deliveries, and price their CBD oils well. Whether you are purchasing CBD oil as a part of your dogs long-term health regimen or youre using it to help with a short-term issue, you should have access to these products no matter your budget constraints. This list contains pet CBD oils at different price points and that offer a money-back guarantee. This helps customers shop with greater confidence.

Benefits of CBD for Dogs

The benefits of CBD oil are versatile and far-reaching. It works as whole-body support for your dog, no matter if youre looking for something to promote good health or alleviate the symptoms of an ailment. Some of the reported benefits of CBD oil for dogs include:

Reduced inflammation

Pain relief

Sleep support

Anxiety relief

Support for seizure disorders

Side Effects of Pet CBD Oil

Generally, CBD is well tolerated. However, in high doses your dog may experience:

Drowsiness

Dry mouth

Diarrhea

Vomiting

Giving Your Dog CBD Oil for the First Time

Dosing CBD oils takes some trial and error. When administering for the first time, follow the manufacturers recommendation and err on the low dose side. Most people find that mixing the CBD oil in with food helps it go down easier. Watch for desired effects and adjust the dose as necessary. Always contact your pets vet for advice.

FAQs

What is CBD?

CBD stands for cannabidiol, which is a chemical compound naturally found in the hemp plant, touted for its health benefits  not just for humans, but for dogs as well!. Over 100 cannabinoids have been discovered in the cannabis hemp plant.

How Much CBD Oil Do I Give My Dog?

That depends on your dogs size, age, and ailment. It may take some experimenting to find the right dose but always start with the instructions on the packaging and lowest effective dose. In higher doses, CBD oil may help relieve pain and induce a state of calm. In lower doses, it may help with energy levels and increased comfort, especially if your pup is dealing with pain.

Can CBD Oil Cause Diarrhea in My Dog?

If the dose is too high or given on an empty stomach, diarrhea is a possible side effect. This is often due to the carrier oil in the product (usually MCT oil or hemp seed oil), not the CBD itself. To reduce the likelihood of this symptom, administer daily doses with food.

Will CBD Oil Help Dogs with Allergies?

Yes, CBD oil can reduce symptoms related to allergies. CBD oils accomplish this by supporting your dogs immune system and supplementing the naturally occurring endocannabinoids in his body. Its certainly not a miracle cure for allergies, but it can work subtly to reduce overall discomfort.

Are CBD Oils Different for Dogs and Humans?

While there arent many differences between CBD oil made for humans and CBD oil made for pets, give your pup CBD oil specially formulated for dogs. Dosing for dogs is different than for humans, and CBD oil formulated for dogs is made with enticing dog-friendly flavors to make the oil more palatable.

This content is provided for informational purposes only by the advertiser and is not a substitute for professional veterinary advice or treatment. Please consult your veterinarian for medical advice. Any views, thoughts or opinions in this paid post belong solely to the advertiser and do not represent the views of Brand Ave. Studios or its parent company.

This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com.
There is still time to nominate your company as a top workplace.

If you love where you work, this is a chance to let everyone know. Top workplaces are the ones that provide outstanding cultures, ethics, employee support, fringe benefits and values.

These high-performing area organizations have a chance to be recognized in Top Workplaces 2023.

The deadline for nominating extraordinary employers in Dane, Sauk, Columbia and Rock counties is Nov. 4. Nominations of these public- and private-sector organizations can be made at topworkplaces.com/Madison or by calling 608-234-5446.

This is the fifth straight year that the Wisconsin State Journal has partnered with Energage, a Pennsylvania-based employee engagement and workplace improvement research firm, to identify and recognize workplaces that excel.

Any employer with 35 employees or more can be nominated, from publicly traded firms to early-stage ventures, governmental agencies and nonprofits. The nominations can come from anyone  the public, employees, customers or the organizations themselves.

After the nominations are in, Energage reaches out to them to conduct a free, simple, 24-question employee survey. It then tabulates the results to arrive at the Top Workplaces rankings.

The rankings will be published online on Madison.com and in spring 2023 in a special section in the Wisconsin State Journal. To read last springs special section, visit: bit.ly/topworkplaces22.

In this challenging labor market, Top Workplaces helps organizations attract and retain top talent, boost employee morale and elevate their profile in the community.

Energage conducts Top Workplaces in more than 60 media markets across the nation, including Washington, D.C., Denver, Dallas and Boston.
Andy Ziegler, who opened Athens Grill in the town of Westport in late 2017, is going to carry on part of Knoches meat business, and process meat in the basement of his restaurant.

We were retired for one day, Stephanie Knoche said Thursday. I know, its crazy. What happened is Andy approached us in the last two weeks we were open.

She said Ziegler and his production manager, David Post, worked side by side with her and her husband, Steve Knoche, grinding hamburger meat and making deliveries in their truck.

It sort of solidified our 100% confidence in him and that we can trust that he will do our name proud, she said. So, here we are.

Stephanie Knoche called the new arrangement a partnership. She said she and Steve will eventually be more hands-off, but will remain partners.

Meanwhile, the owners of Taigu, a Chinese restaurant in Middleton specializing in homemade, hand-cut noodles, bought the Knoches property on Old Middleton Road and are putting a Taigu into the former butcher shop.

Ziegler, 38, said he grew up in Middleton going to Knoches with his father and buying steaks for the weekend. And when he opened his restaurant, he knew if he was going to serve a great burger, Knoches was the only choice.

He said he convinced Knoches to deliver to him in Westport and that his relationship with the couple continued to grow.

Ziegler said Athens has been selling a lot burgers, and he hopes that will continue with the emphasis on grinding his own Knoches beef.

Knoches, which closed Oct. 15, sold meat out of its shop, but also did a large wholesale business with two trucks delivering meat to 65 bars and restaurants.

Ziegler said 90% of those accounts found other suppliers, but hes trying to get some of them back. He heard from Michael Banas at Tipsy Cow on Thursday. Theyll be our first account, 100% backing the new Knoches Market.

When he learned that Knoches was for sale, Ziegler said he knew he didnt have the resources to take over the retail shop. But because Athens Grill is a USDA wholesale facility, processing gyro cones and slices in the restaurants basement that are USDA inspected, he thought he could add ground beef processing.

Stephanie Knoche said she was impressed with Zieglers processing operation. He has a beautiful plant, she said. Its much newer than ours, and bigger. She said Ziegler and Post have been learning Knoches recipes, grinds, and how they do business.

Zieglers gyro meat is shipped by major distributors Sysco and Reinhart throughout the state and to a few accounts in Iowa and Michigan. Pizza Pit/Pizza Extreme is his biggest customer.

Athens Grill is nearly 7,000 square feet, with its basement storage and production area accounting for almost half its square footage.

Ziegler said grinding beef is easy for him, so he approached Steve Knoche wanting to make a deal to keep the Knoches name alive.

How do we get a quality product out there to the rest of the bars and restaurants in town that use Knoches beef and maybe someday be able to offer it on a retail basis again as well? Ziegler said.

Selling meat retail to customers at Athens is a goal at some point, he said. There are a lot of people who really loved just getting ground beef for their weekends or whatever. And to have a place to pick that up like once or twice a week might be a really nice service to the community.

Zieglers background is in fine dining. He helped Tim Dahl open the former Nostrano restaurant on Capitol Square. Ziegler started his restaurant career with LEtoile and the former Cafe Soleil, and was a sushi chef at Muramoto for three years. He also worked for a short time at Lombardinos and the Old Fashioned.

He said he spent the day Thursday with Steve Knoche pounding the pavement and talking to some people and it seems like theres some interest out there still.

Ziegler said hes not trying to take business from anybody else, and hes not in any hurry, but is happy to at least grind beef for his own restaurant.

So, well have fresh ground beef, just the way that Knoches made it in perpetuity. And that was the biggest piece of it to me.

He said hes just selling bulk hamburger meat, not steaks, and expects to start deliveries on Monday.

My motivation is to help the Knoches name and legacy and quality live on, he said. Im pretty pumped.
Wisconsin author Amy Reichert thinks people should live every day like its Christmas. In her latest novel, Once Upon a December, published earlier this month, a group of her characters does just that through a Christmas market that travels the globe in a time-bendy sort of way.

One of the things I love about creating a place where its always Christmas is the idea of when its the holidays ... people are just happier and nicer to each other and I liked the idea of that, Reichert said.

Ultimately ... Christmas is a state of mind, she said of her Milwaukee-based novel. We dont have to have it be Christmas all the time to be nicer to each other. People should treat every day like its Christmas.

Reichert will discuss Once Upon a December during an event at Mystery to Me bookstore later this month.

Q: Congratulations on Once Upon a December. It definitely put me in the holiday spirit. How did the book come about?

A: I was getting ready to put together a proposal for a next book and going through all of my notes and my first idea wasnt the right idea. I had to come up with something new. I had in the back of my mind ... it would be really fun to have a magical place, a la Brigadoon, that appears and disappears, because I think that would be a really fun place for two people to fall in love.

Q: Can you briefly explain the book?

A: The story of Once Upon a December is about a woman who every year looks forward to going to the Christmas market with her very good friends. This year she meets this really handsome guy in what she thinks is a new area of the market. What she doesnt realize is this part of the market is a magical part. You dont remember if youve been there. Shes actually met this very cute man many times in the last 15 years. Something different happens and this year she remembers him.

Q: The book takes place in Milwaukee, where you live, and more specifically at the citys Christmas market. The magical part is the Julemarked  home of the bakery and the main love interest, Jack. Christmas markets, kringle  all seem like fun Wisconsin elements for a story.

A: I really like setting my books in Wisconsin. I started gravitating toward the idea of a Christmas market. I love this area, its fun to celebrate whats happening in the city, I just started pulling in the pieces ... it was weird how the book came together. I knew I wanted to talk about kringle, because kringle is fun.

Q: Seems like a lot of your books have a food component and I know you like to cook. Do you find people really like reading about food?

A: I do, I personally also love reading about food, especially food Im not familiar with that is representative of a region. Ive always found it such a universal connecting point. We all have to eat. Usually, food is that place where we come together to celebrate, where we come together to mourn. I do find readers really respond to it. (In previous books) Ive talked about cheese curds and ... I was surprised to find out how many places in the country have never heard about cheese curds. I feel like Im evangelizing cheese curds.

Q: The love interest in the book, Jack, is a baker at Kringle All the Way. Did you learn how to make kringle to write the book?

A: I do make kringle. Its a slightly different recipe than they use (in the book). Americas Test Kitchen ... they have a really fantastic recipe for kringle that you can make at home. You can make it ahead of time. You can freeze it.

Q: This book involves time travel. Could you explain how it works?

A: The Julemarked exists outside of time. They live in a world where its always December and not only are they always in December ... but (the market) also changes locations. It will be in Sydney one December, next it is in Munich, then Brazil. It gets a little complicated because sometimes its December 2020 in Sydney; December 2020 Paris and then all of a sudden its December 2021 in Milwaukee. It exists in this little tiny bubble and moves around, then takes a leap and goes to the next year.

Q: Was it challenging to write about time travel?

A: Yes. After doing a little bit of time playing stuff here, I have nothing but respect (for authors whose books center on time travel). The little that I did was a lot to keep track of. In my mind there are all these rules that were in the book (that I decided to pull out) because I found the less I explained the better. At the end of the day, its more important for readers to know its always December; (the market) hops around the globe; time works much slower there so ... theyve lived three or four times the amount of time humans have. The magic came about as I was creating the story to create complications. The whole idea when people visit is that very few people remember (the market). If there is this magical place where people live longer, and everyone knew about it, it would be inundated ... or people would ruin it. It was also a way of the Julemarked protecting itself.

Q: Did you write this book during Christmas? Is Christmas a favorite season of yours?

A: I do love Christmas. Im normally a person who likes Christmas during the Christmas time: The day after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I like to give Thanksgiving its due. I actually wrote a good chunk (of the book) in the summer. It is very hard to write Christmas in the peak of summer.

Q: It seems you have a lot in common with the main character, Astra Noel Snow  she runs a Milwaukee library, you love books and serve on a library board; and Jack  hes a baker and you love to cook. Is it fun putting yourself in these characters?

A: It is fun. I do think I put pieces of myself in all of my characters. It comes from writing what you know. I write different facets of myself. Maybe its library books and I talk about libraries ... and how much I love them and it feels important right now because of all the book banning happening across the country. Librarians are truly amazing people and I just really wanted to write about a magical person who falls in love with a guy from a magical place.

Q: Have there been magical elements in your previous books?

A: In my third book, The Simplicity of Cider, theres a really gentle undercurrent of magical realism (where) theres almost a magical connection with the orchard. In my last book, The Kindred Spirits Supper Club, which takes place in the Dells, my main character ... can see ghosts and she helps with whatever unfinished business they have so they can move on. I really, really love writing about those supernatural things in a way that life is very normal and its just this one little piece thats different. I love the idea that theres this secret layer in our universe that most people dont know about.

Q: What are you working on next? What food group will it focus on?

A: I cant say much because its in early stages. I have two different projects Im flirting with. There will someday be a frozen custard book, but I dont think it will be my next one.
A possible gas explosion at a duplex under construction in the village of Oregon Friday morning destroyed the structure and caused a fire that largely destroyed another duplex next door, authorities said.

No one was hurt in the explosion that happened about 8:35 a.m. at 846 Oregon Parks Avenue in the village about 15 miles south of Madison. But two families with a total of five people, none of whom were home at the time, were displaced after the explosion sent burning debris onto their duplex and sparked a fire. A dog was rescued from one of the units but a cat was still missing, Oregon Fire Chief Glenn Linzmeier said.

Initially, I heard kind of a hissing and shortly after was an explosion, said Jon Mountford, who was about 70 yards away from the unfinished duplex and about to pour a concrete driveway at another property when the explosion occurred. It felt like a big gust of wind.

He said that a couple days ago, the duplexs builder had turned the units gas on so that it could warm up and he could do interior finishing work.

The property and several others nearby are owned by a Brooklyn, Wisconsin, family, according to Dane County property records. Mountford said an Oregon builder was constructing the duplex. Attempts to reach the family were not successful, and the builder did not respond to requests for comment.

The neighborhood where the explosion and fire occurred is in a northwest part of the village and made up of newer duplexes and townhomes.

Linzmeier said the explosion remains under investigation and no cause had been determined, but he said gas had been turned on to the furnace and water heater in the duplex and it was a pretty fair assumption that a gas buildup had something to do with the explosion.

He said the duplex that caught fire is pretty close to a complete loss. One on the other side of the duplex that exploded suffered some damage from airborne debris, but it was still habitable, he said.

Mountford said a woman and a boy lived in the half of the duplex that was destroyed by fire and was closest to the explosion. He said they had left about a half hour before the explosion. Linzmeier said residents in both units of the duplex had already left for work when the explosion occurred.

Mountford said that after the explosion but before the fire at the neighboring duplex was too heavy, he went inside to make sure no one was home and saved a dog.

The dog was clearly terrified but OK, he posted on Facebook. Its safe with a neighbor now. Everyone is extremely lucky for how big of an explosion it was.

He said a person living there reported there was cat in the duplex as well but he didnt see it. The cat wouldve had plenty of time to get out before the house was engulfed in flames, he said, and that took a good 10 minutes.

State Journal reporter Jeff Richgels contributed to this report.
State officials on Thursday night identified a four-year veteran of the Dane County Sheriffs Office as the deputy who shot and killed a 46-year-old man last week in Windsor during an investigation of a stolen vehicle.

The Department of Justice said Deputy Cody Woods made contact with the vehicle at the Super 8 hotel on Lake Circle at about 6:10 p.m. on Oct. 13 and soon after shot its driver, Quantaze D. Campbell. Campbell was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital.

Wood was not hurt in the incident and hes been placed on paid leave pending a DOJ investigation.

Apart from the identification of those involved, officials have said little about the moments leading up to Woods shooting of Campbell.

Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett did not respond to an email on Wednesday asking for more information about the incident.

Ariana Vruwink, a spokesperson for County Executive Joe Parisi, said the countys top elected official appreciated the prompt information the Sheriff provided to the public the night of the incident.

That briefing by Barrett provided no information beyond the fact that a deputy shot and killed someone outside the hotel that night and that the deputy had been placed on leave.

Like everyone else, he is hoping for a timely and thorough investigation by the state Division of Criminal Investigation, Vruwink said of Parisi.

Parisi had been a vocal critic of Barretts reluctance to provide information to the public about the Sheriffs Office investigation of the shooting of Quadren Wilson by Department of Justice agents earlier this year.

This has not been a transparent process, Parisi said at the time, adding that the sheriff should have been holding regular briefings about the investigation and served as a clearinghouse of information about the incident.

The state agent who shot Wilson, Mark Wagner, was ultimately charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon after the Sheriffs Office turned over its findings to Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne.

Barretts Republican opponent, Detective Anthony Hamilton, has rebuked the sheriffs silence about the shooting. Hamilton said theres nothing stopping Barrett from providing basic information to the public in spite of DOJs ongoing investigation.

This is a stunning lack of leadership for Barrett to hide from questions from the public and media, Hamilton said in a statement.

Hamilton will face Barrett in the Nov. 8 election.

At the time of his death, Campbell had a warrant out for missing a court date stemming from charges of being party to a theft between $10,000 and $100,000.

Campbells family and activists held a vigil outside the Super 8 on Sunday. Freedom Inc., a local social justice organization, has said Campbell was unarmed.

We are calling for transparency in the details of this case and the immediate firing of all officers involved in this murder, Freedom Inc. said in a social media statement.

State Journal reporter Chris Rickert contributed to this report.
Madison City Council members will recommend Progress Center for Black Women founder Sabrina Madison to fill a vacant seat following the controversial resignation of Gary Halverson last month.

Halverson said he did not properly vet Oath Keepers and that he quit shortly after joining. After news broke about his affiliation with the extremist group, he was criticized by council President Keith Furman and Vice President Jael Currie. Oath Keepers has been accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Madison is a celebrated community organizer, entrepreneur and chair of the citys Economic Development Committee. During an interview Thursday night alongside five other candidates to represent the 17th District on the Far East Side, Madison touted her ability to use her lived experience to bring residents from marginalized groups into the civic process.

From serving on the board of directors for United Way to hosting poetry writing workshops for the mens shelter way back in 2012, my engagement has both been inclusive and transformational, Madison said.

Madison plans to run for the seat in next Aprils municipal election.

In her application, Madison said her top priorities are meeting with police and fire officials to learn more about crime in the district. She also wants to sit down with Metro Transit officials to learn about current and future plans to increase transportation access for areas in the district that see less service.

Madisons nonprofit, founded in 2018, offers co-working space and educational programming.

Council members quizzed her and the other candidates on topics ranging from how they would approach constituent opposition to the future opening of a permanent mens shelter in the district to how theyve incorporated equity and inclusion into their work in the community.

The other five candidates who applied to fill the council seat are Joe Clausius, Blake Duren, Anne Murphy-Lom, William Turnquest and Amy Zabransky.

Clausius and Murphy-Lom made it to the second round of interviewing along with Madison, whose appointment must be approved by the full City Council.

The 17th District includes areas by the Dane County Regional Airport, Reindahl Park and East Towne Mall.
Hong Kong: Banned film reports unfounded: Govt

The Government has strongly refuted reports that it banned an outdoor screening of a film in Hong Kong, saying the claims are totally unfounded and far from the facts.

The statement was made in response to media enquiries on an overseas media report today that alleged the Government had banned the film - which was previously screened in 2008 - from screening at an outdoor activity in the city next week.

A government spokesman pointed out that a statement issued by the event organiser clearly stated that it decided to make a change to the movie based on a recommendation by the Office for Film, Newspaper & Article Administration (OFNAA) that an outdoor screening was not appropriate due to the level of violence in the film.

The Government added that according to the usual practice, the OFNAA would not comment on the application of individual films.

This story has been published on: 2022-10-21. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Seventy-thousand dollars.

Thats what it will cost Kenosha County to retry Mark Jensen, according to District Attorney Michael Graveley, who appeared before the Judiciary and Law Committee to present his budget Thursday night.

Graveley said the case is represented as a special prosecution line item in his budget.

You could mark that as the Jensen-trial-isback-again line item, he said.

The Jensen case, when it was tried in 2008, was the longest criminal trial in the history of Wisconsin, according to Graveley. It took five and a half weeks to conclude.

Jensen, convicted for murdering his wife, Julie, at their Pleasant Prairie home in December 1998, is expected to stand trial for a second time starting Jan. 9, according to local circuit court scheduling records.

MARK JENSEN HEARING Mark Jensen, left, talks with one of his attorneys, Mackenzie Renner, during a hearing on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case after an appeal of a Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruling last year that Jensen should receive a new trial. The refusal inevitably paved the way for a new trial.

Remember this case is having to be tried again because Julie Jensen wrote a letter, which she gave to law enforcement saying, `If I'm found mysteriously dead, this is the person who killed me, said Graveley, paraphrasing, told the committee.

The letter was found to be not admissible by the Court of Appeals about two years after the original concluded, he said.

Then, the Supreme Court actually made rulings that change the hearsay rules. So under today's hearsay law, this letter would be admissible, said Graveley. But here's what only a court appeals can say. They say well, because it wasn't admissible for that split second in time, you have to try the case again  So we will have an identical trial. Try to get your heads around that and then, spend $70,000 to try the case.

The district attorneys budget is among the five areas in the countys overall budget for law enforcement. Other areas include the Sheriffs Department, Circuit Court and Joint Services.

The committee approved the countys law enforcement budget which is projected to increase 4.7 percent next year, or from $56,016,912 to $58,651,890. Of all county of its major areas, law enforcement has the largest levy in county government. The levy for law enforcement is proposed to increase 4.37 percent from $42,814,612 this year to $44,683,969 next year.

Meanwhile, Jensen, 62, who has been in custody in the Kenosha County Jail on a $1.5 million bond since April 12, 2021, was previously sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole by Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder, who presided over the original trial, that was moved to Walworth County.

Graveley said the new trial will bring back not just Jensen, but the original prosecutor, Robert Jambois, a former Kenosha County District attorney. Jambois is currently a prosecutor in Stevens Point, Wis.

Graveley said Jambois is returning on what he described as a lend-lease agreement with the Portage County District Attorneys Office, which will be picking up his salary.

So were not going to have to pay  a special prosecution salary, he said.

Nonetheless, because the case is more than two decades old, the county will have to pay bring back many of the same people who previously testified, or in the case of expert witnesses, find new ones since the previous experts have retired. The same is true of the law enforcement who were also part of the original case, he said.

And so we are literally having to bring back people from all corners of the country from Arizona and Florida, as a point of emphasis, and contract with new experts and bring new experts in to try this case, he said.

Graveley said that the special prosecution was hopefully a one-time, budget line item.

I guess I should never promise this. I dont plan on ever being back with a Jensen line item, he said. But theres no way that we will be able to try the case again without that (budgeted) line item.

While Graveley expressed frustration he said he would do what was necessary to prosecute the case.

This is an individual who, who viciously murdered his wife with a high amount of planning and criminal thinking, he said. And, so, from my perspective, you know, we will be there every time this needs to be done.
U.S. Senator Mike Crapo will participate Friday in two events open to the public.

Crapo will attend a Constituent Coffee meeting at 10 a.m. at the Bullets n Brew Coffee Shop in Hagerman.

This event is an opportunity for Crapo to talk with Idaho constituents at a local coffee shop to mingle, answer questions and receive input on federal issues. Local elected officials and members of the Hagerman Chamber of Commerce local business owners will be in attendance.

Bullets  N Brew is excited to provide an opportunity for civic engagement with Senator Crapo for citizens in our community and surrounding communities, owner Gary Mode said.

Crapo will then join Twin Falls County commissioners and other Magic Valley residents at 1 p.m. at the Snake River Canyon Cemetery in Buhl to honor the sacrifices of three Idaho veterans and one spouse.

As a longtime supporter of our nations veterans, Crapo will join the Missing in America Project and Twin Falls County commissioners to honor three recovered veterans, as well as one spouse, at the Snake River National Cemetery for Final Military Honors and Interment. The four individuals passed away in other parts of the United States and were recently identified and returned to Idaho.

The celebration of life will honor the life and sacrifices of the following:

Richard J. Zebert, a U.S. Marine and Purple Heart recipient who fought in the Vietnam War

Richard. E. Wagner, a U.S. Army veteran who fought in Vietnam

Thomas W. Mitchell Jr., a U.S. Army veteran who fought in Vietnam

Ruth H. Sipes Wall, wife of World War II and Korean War veteran William F. Wall

It is a pleasure to work with Idahoans on these Missing In America Project missions, Coordinator Coleen Florke said. The collaboration and support from our local officials here in Twin Falls, Funeral Homes, Veterans groups, Veterans, and so many people in the community has been inspiring.

We look forward to having Senator Crapo join us on Friday. We will stand in for the families of three Vietnam veterans and one spouse whose husband served in World War II and the Korean War, whose cremains have remained unclaimed. This service is to remind us and them, You Are Not Forgotten.

The Missing in America Project is a nonprofit dedicated to locating, identifying and interring unclaimed remains of American veterans and eligible family members. This is the second ceremony for MIAP at the Snake River Canyon Cemetery.
TWIN FALLS  U.S. Senate candidate David Roth came through Twin Falls on Thursday, with an event at the Yellow Brick Cafe. The Idaho Falls Democrat is challenging Republican Sen. Mike Crapo for the U.S. Senate seat for District 1.

Roth is the executive director of the Bonneville Youth Development Council, a local nonprofit focused on substance use prevention among youth. In addition, he serves on several boards promoting affordable housing and food security.

He ran unsuccessfully for the Idaho State House of Representatives in 2020.

Roth joined Crapo and Independent candidate Scott Cleveland this week for a televised debate hosted by Idaho Public Television.

In his opening statement during that debate, Roth said that since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, large portions of the population have seen their individual rights stripped away, with still more threats to individual rights on the way.

In every community I reach, I speak to women who are concerned about their future, Roth said during the debate. As a member of the LGBTQ community, I also share fears of what may be next.
TWIN FALLS  The city prosecutors investigation into a confrontation that occurred in July at an abortion-rights rally appears to be at a standstill.

The July 15 incident at the College of Southern Idaho took place at the same time as the Idaho GOP convention and involved one-time political candidate Eric Parker of Blaine County and protesters.

Twin Falls City spokesman Josh Palmer told the Times-News that Prosecutor Shayne Nope wasnt able to schedule times for Parker and the victim to meet with him, and that he planned to send letters to the two parties indicating that.

Parker, meanwhile, said Thursday that he has not been contacted by Nope and is willing to meet with him.

A request for more information regarding the case was not received by press time.

The Twin Falls Police Department investigated the incident, which gained much attention on social media. In late July, Detective Ken Rivers asked people with information, video or pictures from the protest to contact him.

Upon receiving the results of the investigation, Nope said he wanted to conduct his own investigation of the incident before deciding whether to file charges.

Parker, of Hailey, is a controversial figure who was involved in the 2014 showdown with the Bureau of Land Management at the Bundy Ranch in Clark County, Nevada.

He lost to Laurie Lickley in the May 17 primary.
TWIN FALLS  Police have released the name of the man who died in an officer-involved shooting after a high-speed chase in August.

Caleb Tussey, 24, of Twin Falls died Aug. 26 after shots were fired in a field north of Buhl, police announced Thursday.

The Jerome County Sheriffs Office is the lead investigating agency through the Magic Valley Critical Incident Task Force.

A news release from the sheriffs office came 55 days after the shooting and doesnt give an explanation for the delay. The sheriffs office has cited the case as being an ongoing investigation.

Tussey, police say, was a passenger in a silver Hyundai Sonata driven by 18-year-old Sydney Gibson. The chase in the early morning hours led police from Filer  where police say Tussey pulled a gun on an individual  to Twin Falls, then to Buhl on U.S. Highway 30.

The chase involved speeds in excess of 120 mph, police said, and ended in a field when the vehicle got stuck in a ditch, court records say.

Tyrel Hudson, who was then a deputy for the Twin Falls Sheriffs Office, testified Oct. 7 during Gibsons preliminary hearing that on a couple of occasions during the pursuit, he saw a look of anger from the passenger now identified as Tussey.

Gem County Prosecutor Erik Thomson will review the case and determine whether law officers acted properly during the shooting once the investigation is complete. Jerome County Sheriffs Capt. Gary Taylor said Wednesday that the investigation is almost complete, with officers still waiting for the results of ballistic tests.

Tussey had a troubled past, compiling a long list of offenses when he was a juvenile. He pleaded guilty to possession of meth in 2017 and served a prison sentence.

Gibson, meanwhile, has two speeding violations on her Idaho record before being charged with eluding officers after the August chase.
We have certainly seen lots of scary campaign ads with ominous music and frightening visuals showing border crossers carrying packages of fentanyl and other drugs to sell to our children. Most of the illicit fentanyl does come from foreign suppliers and a small amount is carried across the border by unauthorized border crossers. But the libertarian Cato Institute says that fentanyl is overwhelmingly smuggled by U.S. citizens. Statistics assembled by Cato show that about 90% of fentanyl seizures occur at regular border crossings, being transported in the vehicles of U.S. citizens.

That makes sense because fentanyl is dynamite in a small package. It can easily be concealed in small compartments of the tens of thousands of vehicles that travel back and forth across the southern U.S. border every day. Unauthorized border crossers are subjected to much greater scrutiny than the American vehicles. The campaign ads would not be nearly effective if they were to point out that the greatest amount of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs is being imported by their fellow Americans, rather than folks fleeing political repression and violence in their home countries. We could use a bit of truth in advertising in this instance.

But there is even broader involvement of Americans in our countrys huge substance abuse problem. The opioid epidemic was stoked by the greed of drug makers to maximize profits. When I was Idaho Attorney General in the late 1980s, it was known that hydrocodone and oxycodone were effective pain relievers, but highly addictive. At that time, the use of these opioids was generally limited to severe pain cases because of their addictive properties. However, in the 1990s some drug companies saw gold in them thar hills and started aggressively marketing opioids, such as Purdue Pharmas OxyContin, as a general remedy for pain. Endo Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson and others joined in to peddle their opioids for wide use.

Advertisements in reputable medical journals hyped the use of opioid products as safe and effective pain relievers. Pharmaceutical companies promoted the widespread use of opioids. Attractive drug representatives assured doctors there was no need to be concerned that patients would become addicted to opioids. Substantial campaign contributions to members of Congress were instrumental in smoothing the way for marketing these addictive painkillers without regulatory interference.

The drug companies obviously knew that these products were addictive and that many people who used them would become hooked, but the bright side was massive profits. The chances of being criminally prosecuted were remote, so they went full steam ahead. All of that misconduct has played into the dire situation facing the country now.

So, while it is likely good politics to place the entire blame on folks who are either fleeing violence in their home country or just looking for a better life, or both, America needs to look in the mirror because some of us have played a large role in the drug tragedy. Every immigrant trying to enter this country could be turned away and it would hardly make a dent in the problem.

In addition to going after illicit foreign drug cartels, we also need to focus on Americans who legally traffic in dangerous substances. Peddlers of legal substances, such as tobacco, opioid and vaping companies, endanger the health and lives of Idahoans as much or more than criminals. We can do our part in Idaho by following the example set by Attorney General Lawrence Wasden. His office has collected more than $564 million for the State just from the tobacco companies since 1998 and over $200 million more from makers of other dangerous products, including opioid and vaping companies.

Almost all of those recoveries were made in multi-state legal actions brought by State Attorneys General against the huge corporate substance peddlers. One of the candidates running to replace Wasden has pledged to vigorously pursue that kind of work, while the other said in the candidate debate that he would not. It would be well for Idahoans to do a little study and support the candidate who wants to tackle the problem.
Law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty will be honored in a memorial during Tuesdays 6 p.m. meeting of the Henry County Board of Supervisors.

Henry County is a better place to live because of the sacrifices made every day by the men and women in law enforcement, Item Number 16 on the boards Oct. 25 meeting agenda states. They frequently put their lives and wellbeing on the line to protect our community.

The seven local officers who have lost their lives on duty since 1922 are John Hughes Mitchell, Henry County Sheriffs Office, killed May 4, 1922; George S. Frame, Bassett Police Department, killed March 18, 1923; John J. Johnston, Fieldale PD, killed Jan. 27, 1945; Willis Herman Ferguson, HCS0, killed 1975; George Melvin Brown, HCSO, killed June 26, 1984; Paul Edward Grubb, HCOS, killed July 2, 1989; and Sgt. J. Michael Philippi, Virginia State Police, killed Jan. 11, 2014.

As a tribute to their service and ultimate sacrifice, the agenda states, the County, in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Transportation, will dedicate bridge memorials to each of those officers.

Reed Creek District Supervisor Tommy T.J. Slaughter, a retired Martinsville Police officer, said the idea began when another police officer asked him if one of the bridges in Henry County could be named for Paul Grubb, a Henry County officer who died after being shot by a suspect near the Virginia-North Carolina line, according to Bulletin reports.

Family members of some of those officers, as well as law enforcement officers who are currently active, will be present at the meeting.

That portion of the meeting will be held in the Summerlin Boardroom of the Henry County Administration on Kings Mountain Road.

Agendas for next weeks Board of Supervisors and Board of Zoning Appeals, which meets Wednesday, are:

Henry County

The Henry County Board of Supervisors will begin their Tuesday meeting with a 3 p.m. session held at the same place.

On the agenda for the first session will be:

A report on delinquent tax collection efforts

An update from the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Development Corporation

Consideration of additional appropriations for: the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program; Justice Assistant Grant and DMV traffic enforcement for the sheriffs office; and asset forfeiture funds and drug-related court expenses for the commonwealths attorney.

The board will meet in closed session to discuss appointees to the Blue Ridge Regional Library Board, Parks and Recreation Board, ANCHOR Commission and Ninth District Development Financing Inc.; pending legal matters; real estate; as-yet unannounced industries; and special awards.

The 6 p.m. session will include:

The Henry County Law Enforcement Bridge

General highway matters

A public hearing on a rezoning application for D&P farms (Beverly DeLoatch)

Matters by the public

BZA

The Henry County Board of Zoning Appeals will meet for a public hearing at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Summerlin Meeting Room of the Henry County Administration Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive public input on the possible issuance of a Special Use Permit to allow for the operation of a wedding and event center at 350 Charlton Drive, off Soapstone Road, in the Horsepasture District. The property is zoned Agricultural District A-1. The request was presented by Justin B. and Sandi D. Hite.
A crash program by state officials has slashed the number of foster care children who were sleeping in offices because they had no other safe place to go.

From a monthly average this winter and spring of 27 children, this summer's average was just three, said Janet Kelly, special adviser for childrens issues in the office of the governor.

"We were talking about what are called high-acuity kids, with challenging needs," Kelly said.

"And we have a bed shortage ... but what we did was set it up so we were ready to move the instant a bed was open," she said.

At the same time, working with residential treatment center for children, her team of 10 experts from the Office of Children's Services and departments of social services, behavioral health and Medicaid, focused on stepping up the pace of finding the services that allow children in those treatment centers to return to life with their families or foster parents.

Now, what had in January been a three-week process to find a safe place for a troubled child stuck sleeping in a social worker's office can be done in 24 hours, she said.

The key has been intensive coordination and collaboration between state officials, local social workers, community mental health services and residential facilities, fueled by daily meetings of the 10-person team.

"We thought we'd start by focusing on two kids a day, but we started working half-day sessions to get the backlog down," Kelly said.

Now, though the team no longer needs to meet daily, the structure is there when a child has no place to go, she said.

"We can't control who comes in, what we can control is where they go and the care they get," she said.

The problem came to Gov. Glenn Youngkin's attention when he learned from the state Department of Social Services that over one six-month period last year, 163 children were displaced for at least one night in unsuitable sleeping arrangements.

The children ranged in age from 7-17.

Social workers or law enforcement personnel stayed overnight with them in social services offices, hotels or hospital emergency rooms.

Those were places "that just simply aren't meant for kids," Youngkin said, calling the practice unacceptable.

"We knew we had to act swiftly to ensure that every child has a safe place to belong," he said.

The underlying problem is a chronic severe shortage of foster homes and beds in group homes and residential treatment centers. On top of that, Virginia has long lagged other states in arranging placements of vulnerable children with relatives such as grandparents or adult siblings.

Kelly said the task force is now turning its attention to tackle longstanding systemic challenges in the foster care system.

"Virginia with its care for vulnerable children needs to do a better job for its children and its taxpayers; right now we are doing neither ... for the amount of money we spend we should be seeing better results for kids," Kelly said.

Key goals now include reducing the unnecessary use of institutions to care for foster kids, she said. These residential facilities are meant to treat children with serious mental health and behavioral issues.

Kelly's task force also wants to try to keep families of at-risk children intact if possible and to boost public and private partnerships for community supports for vulnerable children and families.

"Everybody knows it is better for children if a family can stay together safely," she said.

To get there, the task force has set three key targets.

The first is to reduce the average length of stay for children who have been in institutions by 30%, by finding family based placement for the 100 who have been in congregate care the longest.

The second is to cut the number of removals of kids from birth families, or agreements for care by relatives or foster families or adoptive families, by 20%.

The third is to find 1,000 Virginia volunteers trained and equipped to provide wraparound support for vulnerable children and families.

"Beyond the immediate need," Youngkin said, "we hope Virginians from all walks of life will step up to help children in foster care."
A historic church in McDowell County that ministered to the needs of countless members voted earlier this year to close its doors permanently. And the former church building and property are now up for sale.

Located at 117 Nebo School Road, Nebo United Methodist Church has deep roots in McDowell County. Its rock building dates back to the 1920s. And its historic Wilson-Ballew Memorial Cemetery is the final resting place for families who have belonged to that church for generations.

But during the summer, the remaining members of the congregation decided to close the churchs doors forever. The reason was the declining membership, said the Rev. Mark Ralls, who is the superintendent for the Blue Ridge District within the Western North Carolina Conference.

Over the past few decades, Nebo United Methodist Church, like other churches across the U.S., experienced a steady decline in membership due to a variety of factors, said Ralls in a prepared statement. Faced with the dwindling membership and tithes, the church that once nurtured the faith of so many and provided vital ministry to its community could no longer sustain those ministries.

Due to this painful reality, the remaining members voted in June to close Nebo United Methodist Church, he added.

The Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church (WNCC) assisted the congregation as they walked through this heartbreaking process, said Ralls in his statement.

When the decision was announced on Facebook, folks with deep ties to this church were quick to respond.

Im so very sad about this, wrote Robin Ballew Culbertson on Facebook. Since my mom was the organist for many years, I literally grew up in that church. I was christened there, married there, and most of my family are buried there. I have such fond memories of playing with my friends on the church steps during choir practice, singing in the cantatas, and lighting the candles before worship service. I was so proud that my great-grandmother was in charge of getting the communion ready all those years ago. She spent a lot of time washing those little glass cups.

I remember the smell of fresh grass coming in through the windows during services (back before air conditioning), she wrote. I remember being fascinated that people who have no idea how to read music can figure out how to sing a hymn. I remember looking up into the ceiling of the choir robe closet and wondering what the attic looked like behind that little trap door. I did that a lot. I peered into the basement windows a lot, too, wishing we could fix up the basement for a secret kids hangout. Our church was tiny but we had a big heart.

William Brown III wrote, This is such sad news. There was (and will always be) and place in my heart for Nebo Methodist. I was baptized at Nebo Methodist and attended there as a youngster. My fondest memories are of the Saints of the church from my youth. The Stacey sisters, Watson Wilson, Helen Plant, Grace Stepp, Jack and Grace Baldwin, Jack and Nancy Corpening, Bob and Louise Ballew, and so many more. I can still see them and where they sat in church every Sunday. I can still feel Watson Wilson shaking my hand. So many memories from days so long ago. It is so sad to see Nebo Methodist closing. So very, very sad.

This has come as very sad news, wrote Glenda Henson on Facebook. Nebo Methodist has been there all my life. When I was young I lived near the church so the pastors children were always my best friends. I went to vacation Bible school there very summer as a child. So very very sad.

I am so sorry to hear this, wrote Barbara Kyles. That church has been there for as long as I can remember.

As with all churches that close in the Western North Carolina Conference (WNCC), the church property has been placed on the market for sale by the Conference Board of Trustees. Any profits from the real estate sale will be placed in a fund that offers financial support for new church starts and vital, innovative ministries within the WNCC, according to Ralls.

Those members, who faithfully made the hard decision to close Nebo UMC, are now joining other churches in their community and continue to remain devoted to their mission to follow God and make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, stated Ralls. While it is always hard to see a church close, we offer thanksgiving for the lives that were changed through the ministries of Nebo UMC and celebrate the ongoing missions and ministries of United Methodist churches across western North Carolina.

The real estate listing for the building and property can be found online: https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/117-Nebo-School-Rd-Nebo-NC/26783485/?utm_campaign=CDX&utm_source=email&utm_content=4307177

The church property consists of a beautiful stone chapel constructed of river rocks harvested from a tributary to Lake James in 1928, reads the real estate listing. The unfinished basement is open space with foundation walls revealed. Upstairs is the small sanctuary, offices, choir room and two bathrooms. Added at an unknown later date, the fellowship hall/education building consists of classrooms, a residential style kitchen, bathrooms and a large flexible dining area.

The buildings cover 8,858 square feet and the property has four acres. Legal access to the site is only off U.S. 70. While an entrance exists off Nebo School Road, no legal easement is in place. Any pursuit of such an easement will be the responsibility of the buyer. The neighbor who owns the Nebo School Road access has expressed a willingness to explore an easement, but none is in place at this time, according to the real estate listing.

As for the cemetery, it has been subdivided from the church property and the former members of the church will own and maintain the cemetery. Legal access to do so will be granted via an easement, according to the real estate listing.

The price for the building and grounds is $435,000.
In the McDowell County general election, there is the possibility a candidate who has withdrawn from the school board race could still get elected.

If the winner does not to wish to serve, it would be up to the board to pick a replacement.

For the Nebo District seat, Chuck Abernathy and Shannon Brackett are the two candidates listed on the ballot. However, Brackett confirmed to The McDowell News she is no longer seeking election to the Board of Education and has withdrawn as a candidate.

But she withdrew her candidacy too late for it to be considered official and for the ballot to be changed, said representatives of the McDowell County Board of Elections.

That means her name is still on the ballot with Abernathys.

The Brackett name is well known in local politics.

Brackett is the wife of Neil Brackett, who is a long-time member of the McDowell Soil and Water Conservation Board of Supervisors. Neil Brackett is seeking re-election to that board this year and appears on the ballot.

His father is Bob Brackett, a former county commissioner who is now a member of the Board of Education. He considered another run for commission earlier this year, according to a previous story, but decided against it. He is not seeking reelection to the school board.

When The McDowell News contacted Shannon Brackett when preparing candidate questions and answers, that's when she said she had reconsidered and would not serve on the school board.

Elections Director Kim Welborn said Friday that if Brackett is elected and chooses not to serve, she can tender her resignation to the Board of Education, which would pick her replacement.

Early voting is currently underway across the state.

About 135,400 North Carolina voters cast ballots on the first day of in-person early voting Thursday.

The turnout was on par with the nearly 136,500 voters who cast ballots on the first day of in-person early voting in 2018.

We had a solid first day of in-person voting, with very few incidents reported around the state, said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections. We appreciate the hard work of our county boards of elections and poll workers. Lets keep it rolling, North Carolina voters.

By Friday morning, voting was brisk at the McDowell County Board of Elections on N.C. 226 South in Marion. Around 600 people had voted by 11 a.m.

Early voting is being held at the Old Fort Depot at 25 W. Main St. in Old Fort.
The Ethiopian government announced on Thursday that it would take part on October 24 in South Africa in talks organized by the African Union (AU) to try to end the war in Tigray, a region in northern Ethiopia.

Previous talks, convened in early October by the AU in South Africa, never got under way, partly because of organizational problems, diplomats said.

The AU Commission has informed us that the peace talks are set for October 24 in South Africa. We have reconfirmed our commitment to participate, Redwan Hussein, national security adviser to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, wrote in a tweet.

The AU Commission, based in Addis Ababa, has not officially announced the talks and did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation.

When asked about the new talks, the rebel authorities in the northern region of Tigray, which has been in armed conflict with the federal government since early November 2020, simply reiterated their previous commitment to participate in peace talks.

We have already announced that we would take part in a (peace) process under the aegis of the AU, said one of their spokesmen, Getachew Reda, without reference to the October 24 date. No details are yet available on the modalities of the talks or the identity of the mediators.

The AU recently set up a mediation troika headed by its special envoy for the Horn of Africa, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, assisted by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and former South African Vice President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
The President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, granted in Nampula, pardon to 25 citizens who were allegedly part of the terrorist group, which since 2017 attacks the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

They were presented as recruited in the districts of Memba, Nacala-Porto, Mogovolas and Mogincual, with promises of employment.

Nyusi said that the pardoned citizens responded to appeals from the government and pressure on the ground, the result of military intervention by Mozambique, Rwanda and SADC, and turned themselves in voluntarily.

One of the pardoned, Adelino Amisse, said he was recruited in the Mogincual district of Nampula province and participated in the terrorist attacks in the village of Olumbi in the Palma district of Cabo Delgado.

The President may grant pardon, but these people will be inserted in communities where in the past they committed terror, said university professor Teodosio Miguel.

For Miguel, the population must be sensitized to forget the wounds of the past.
Credit: Nikodash/Shutterstock

In the UK, a quarter of people who take their own lives were in contact with a health professional the previous week, and most have spoken to someone within the last month. Yet assessing patient suicide risk remains extremely difficult.

There were 5,219 recorded deaths by suicide in England in 2021. While the suicide rate in England and Wales has declined by around 31% since 1981, the majority of this decrease happened before 2000. Suicide is three times more common in men than in women, and this gap has increased over time.

A study conducted in October 2022, led by the Black Dog Institute in the University of New South Wales, found artificial intelligence (AI) models outperformed clinical risk assessments. It surveyed 56 studies from 2002 to 2021 and found AI correctly predicted 66% of people who would experience a suicide outcome and predicted 87% of people who would not. In comparison, traditional scoring methods carried out by health professionals are only slightly better than random.

AI is widely researched in other medical domains such as cancer. However, despite their promise, AI models for mental health are yet to be widely used in clinical settings.

Why suicide prediction is so difficult

A 2019 study from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden found four traditional scales used to predict suicide risk after recent episodes of self-harm performed poorly. The challenge of suicide prediction stems from the fact that a patient's intent can change rapidly.

The guidance on self-harm used by health professionals in England explicitly states suicide risk assessment tools and scales should not be relied upon. Instead, professionals should use a clinical interview. While doctors do carry out structured risk assessments, they are used to make the most of interviews rather than providing a scale to determine who gets treatment.

The risk of AI

The study from the Black Dog Institute showed promising results, but if 50 years of research into traditional (non-AI) prediction yielded methods that were only slightly better than random, we need to ask whether we should trust AI. When a new development gives us something we want (in this case better suicide risk assessments) it can be tempting to stop asking questions. But we can't afford to rush this technology. The consequences of getting it wrong are literally life and death.

AI models always have limitations, including how their performance is evaluated. For example, using accuracy as a metric can be misleading if the dataset is unbalanced. A model can achieve 99% accuracy by always predicting there will be no risk of suicide if only 1% of the patients in the dataset are high risk.

Suicide statistics in England and Wales from 1981 to 2021. Credit: House of Commons - Suicide Statistics Research Briefing, October 12 2021

It's also essential to assess AI models on different data to that they are trained on. This is to avoid overfitting, where models can learn to perfectly predict results from training material but struggle to work with new data. Models may have worked flawlessly during development, but make incorrect diagnoses for real patients.

For example, AI was found to overfit to surgical markings on a patient's skin when used to detect melanoma (a type of skin cancer). Doctors use blue pens to highlight suspicious lesions, and the AI learnt to associate these markings with a higher probability of cancer. This led to misdiagnosis in practice when blue highlighting wasn't used.

It can also be difficult to understand what AI models have learnt, such as why it's predicting a particular level of risk. This is a prolific problem with AI systems in general, and has a lead to a whole field of research known as explainable AI.

The Black Dog Institute found 42 out of the 56 studies analysed had high risk of bias. In this scenario, a bias means the model over or under predicts the average rate of suicide. For example, the data has a 1% suicide rate, but the model predicts a 5% rate. High bias leads to misdiagnosis, either missing patients that are high risk, or over assigning risk to low-risk patients.

These biases stem from factors such as participant selection. For example, several studies had high case-control ratios, meaning the rate of suicides in the study was higher than in reality, so the AI model was likely to assign too much risk to patients.

A promising outlook

The models mostly used data from electronic health records. But some also included data from interviews, self-report surveys, and clinical notes. The benefit of using AI is that it can learn from large amounts of data faster and more efficiently than humans, and spot patterns missed by overworked health professionals.

While progress is being made, the AI approach to suicide prevention isn't ready to be used in practice. Researchers are already working to address many of the issues with AI suicide prevention models, such as how hard it is to explain why algorithms made their predictions.

However, suicide prediction is not the only way to reduce suicide rates and save lives. An accurate prediction does not help if it doesn't lead to effective intervention.

On its own, suicide prediction with AI is not going to prevent every death. But it could give mental health professionals another tool to care for their patients. It could be as life changing as state-of-the-art heart surgery if it raised the alarm for overlooked patients.

If you're struggling with suicidal thoughts, the following services can provide you with support: In the UK and Irelandcall Samaritans UK at 116 123. In the UScall the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or IMAlive at 1-800-784-2433. In Australiacall Lifeline Australia at 13 11 14. In other countriesvisit IASP or Suicide.org to find a helpline in your country.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Rhabdomyosarcoma cells. Credit: Dr Ewa Aladowicz, ICR

A simple blood test could help guide the treatment of children with the cancer rhabdomyosarcoma, a new study reports.

Researchers found that "liquid biopsy" blood tests could pick up signs that a cancer had returned, assess the severity of the disease, and help guide choice of drugs.

About three-quarters of the children assessed with blood tests before treatment showed key genetic changes in their cancerssome of which could have implications for the children's treatment.

International pilot study leads to larger trial

The promising findings are part of an international collaborative pilot study which is already being taken forward into a large international clinical trial.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare type of cancer that mostly affects children. Less than a third of these children who relapse or whose cancer has spread will survive.

The study, led by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, involved blood and tissue samples from 28 patients with rhabdomyosarcoma from different centers across Europe, as well as studies in mice.

Measuring circulating tumor DNA

Researchers assessed whether measuring DNA shed by cancer cells into the bloodstream could track tumor progression and aggressiveness and be a faster and less painful alternative for children than traditional tissue biopsies.

The study is published in the JCO Precision Oncology.

Before analyzing patient samples, researchers first assessed liquid biopsies in mice in the lab. They were able to successfully detect and monitor tumor growth by measuring circulating tumor DNA in mice with rhabdomyosarcoma. The study showed mice could be used to test treatment strategies using liquid biopsies before taking them to patients.

Three quarters of children showed key genetic changes

Researchers then looked at patient samples. Some 18 children in the study had blood samples collected prior to treatment and multiple blood tests taken during their treatment to track how their disease progressed.

Around three-quarters (14 out of 18) of children assessed with blood tests before treatment showed key genetic changes in their cancers. Some genetic changes could change their care, such as mutations in genes called MYOD1 and TP53 which are linked to rapid progression of rhabdomyosarcoma. These patients may benefit from more aggressive treatment.

Researchers also found that levels of cancer DNA circulating in the bloodstream before treatment were higher in patients whose cancer had spread to the lymph nodes and other parts of the body compared with patients whose cancers had not spread. The same was true for cancers found in a harder-to-treat regions of the body versus those in more favorable locations.

Predicting response to treatment

Researchers believe detecting increasing levels of circulating tumor DNA in the blood predicts poor responses to treatment. Using liquid biopsies to monitor patients could successfully determine how well treatment is working and identify patients who may need further interventions.

Various studies have shown that liquid biopsies can be used to monitor adult cancers like breast and prostate cancersbut research looking at their use in childhood cancers is more limited. This feasibility study shows the potential benefits of using liquid biopsies to track the childhood cancer rhabdomyosarcoma.

While the findings are promising, the pilot study involves a small number of patients and researchers caution that the findings should be validated in a larger clinical trialwhich they are already planning to launch internationally next month.

The ICR is leading in the study of cancers in children, teenagers and young adults. Our researchers, supported by our family charity partners, play a key role in international research efforts that are transforming how these devastating diseases are treated.

'A key tool to judge prognosis and guide treatment'

Study leader Professor Janet Shipley, Professor of Molecular Pathology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said, "Liquid biopsies have the potential to transform how we monitor and treat children with rhabdomyosarcoma. We hope that these simple blood tests can become a less invasive alternative to tissue biopsies, and a key tool to help judge prognosis and guide treatment.

"Our early pilot findings suggest that liquid biopsies can detect early signs of relapse, assess the severity of disease and help guide choice of drug treatment. We're excited to be taking these findings into an international clinical trial involving larger numbers of children, and we hope we can realize the potential of using liquid biopsies to make children's cancer treatment smarter and kinder."

'Providing tailored treatment'

Professor Kristian Helin, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said, "We are excited about the potential that liquid biopsies have to improve cancer treatment. It allows us to closely and sensitively monitor how the disease evolves over time. We hope these blood tests can help doctors to treat cancer patients, by predicting and rapidly responding to tumor development. It's very encouraging to see liquid biopsy technology applied to children with rhabdomyosarcoma, and I hope it can help in providing tailored treatment for these patients, and ultimately increasing survival."

Alice Wakeling was seven years old when she died from rhabdomyosarcoma. Her parents Sara and David Wakeling set up the charity Alice's Arc to fund research to find a cure and develop kinder treatments for rhabdomyosarcoma.

Sara and David said, "This research is incredibly important to families impacted by rhabdomyosarcoma and the findings of the pilot study are promising. The possibility of being able to detect and predict the path of the disease via a blood test would be a complete game changer. It is about time that this became common practice for childhood cancers like rhabdomyosarcoma. It is a far more efficient and less invasive way to monitor disease in these children. We are delighted to continue investing funds into the next stage of the research to test these findings in the setting of an international clinical trial."

More information: Olivia Ruhen et al, Molecular Characterization of Circulating Tumor DNA in Pediatric Rhabdomyosarcoma: A Feasibility Study, JCO Precision Oncology (2022). Olivia Ruhen et al, Molecular Characterization of Circulating Tumor DNA in Pediatric Rhabdomyosarcoma: A Feasibility Study,(2022). DOI: 10.1200/PO.21.00534
Graphical abstract. Credit: International Journal of Cancer (2022). DOI: 10.1002/ijc.34312

Scientists from the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the Heidelberg University Hospital and Heidelberg University have established INDICATE, an international collaborative initiative to unravel the role of the Human Leukocyte Antigen type as risk modifier in individuals with a genetic cancer predisposition.

Genetic cancer predisposition is the most important measurable risk factor for cancer at a young age, and individuals affected by it require specialized medical care directed at prevention. The most common inherited cancer predisposition is the so-called Lynch syndrome, which affects approximately 400,000 individuals in Germany and 3.5 million individuals in Europe; carriers have a substantially elevated risk of developing tumors of the large bowel and, in women, the uterus, early in life. However, cancer risk varies widely (3080%) among individuals even within one family.

"More precise cancer risk estimates would enable a personalized approach to cancer prevention in Lynch syndrome and beyond," says Aysel Ahadova, tumor biologist and local project coordinator of INDICATE. Matthias Kloor, project leader of INDICATE, adds, "One crucial characteristic of Lynch tumors is the induction of a strong anti-tumor immune response. The key link in the process of tumor cell recognition by the immune system are Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) molecules."

In a previous study, a team of interdisciplinary scientists from Applied Tumor Biology (ATB, Heidelberg University Hospital and the DKFZ), and the Data Mining and Uncertainty Quantification (DMQ) group at HITS had shown that the HLA type can influence the potential of the immune system to eliminate cancer cells (Ballhausen et al, Nature Communications 2020). In a second step, they aim to examine whether this influence could be reflected in the individual cancer risk of Lynch syndrome carriers.

"The associations of certain HLA types with disease susceptibility have been shown for virus infections, however, in cancer this aspect is poorly understood. Lynch syndrome is an ideal model to address this question for the first time in a systematic manner," says Vincent Heuveline, group leader of DMQ.

"For a systematic analysis, the use of data analysis and mathematical modeling will be key to quantify the influence of the HLA type on cancer risk," adds Saskia Haupt, mathematician and coordinator of the mathematical modeling in INDICATE.

To explore the role of the HLA type in defining Lynch syndrome carriers' cancer risk, the scientists initiated an international collaborative study with the central coordination in Heidelberg (INDICATE, Individual Cancer risk by HLA Type, indicate-lynch.org). Together with their partner institutionsthe University Hospital Bonn, Germany, and expert centers from the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Hungarythey published a paper in the International Journal of Cancer, describing the interplay between the HLA system and human disease susceptibility and announcing the launch of INDICATE.

In parallel, the scientists published a report in HLA about the development of a robust method for detecting specific HLA alleles in archival tissue specimens, making archival and possibly even historic samples accessible for HLA studies. The researchers are now looking forward to shedding light on the HLA-dependent cancer risk in Lynch syndrome and establishing a pipeline for future projects on cancer susceptibilities by HLA type.

More information: Aysel Ahadova et al, Is HLA type a possible cancer risk modifier in Lynch syndrome? International Journal of Cancer (2022). Aysel Ahadova et al, Is HLA type a possible cancer risk modifier in Lynch syndrome?(2022). DOI: 10.1002/ijc.34312 Johannes Witt et al, A simple approach for detecting HLAA *02 alleles in archival formalinfixed paraffinembedded tissue samples and an application example for studying cancer immunoediting, HLA (2022). DOI: 10.1111/tan.14846 Journal information: International Journal of Cancer , Nature Communications
Dopamine content and expression of tyrosine hydroxylase in peripheral immune cells from RA patients and HC. Dopamine level was measured in PBMCs obtained from healthy control (HC) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients by TriCat ELISA and TH expression was analyzed by flow cytometry. (a, b) Concentration of dopamine in 106 freshly isolated PBMCs (HC female n = 10, RA female n = 14, HC male n = 11, RA male n = 10). (c) Gating strategy to discriminate between CD3+CD56- T cells, CD3-CD56+ NK cells, CD19+ B cells and CD14+ monocytes d) Quantification of TH expression in aforementioned PBMC subsets from HC and RA patients (HC female n = 24, RA female n = 27, HC male n = 16, RA male n = 15). Welchs t test was used to compare catecholamine levels in PBMCs from HC and RA patients; Mixed-effects analysis with Geisser-Greenhouse correction and Sidak multiple comparison test was used for comparing TH expression between groups; *p  0.05. Credit: Scientific Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09891-6

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic joint inflammation that leads to functional impairment in many sufferers. There are gender-specific differences in the emergence and development of this disease.

Researchers at the Leibniz Research Center for Working Environment and Human Factors in Dortmund (IfADo) have therefore examined the role of the neurotransmitter dopamine in rheumatoid arthritis with particular reference to gender differences. The results point to gender-specific differences in the dopamine-regulated signaling pathway in B cells, whereby dopamine may even have a pro-inflammatory effect in women.

Prof. Dr. Silvia Capellino's group has identified involvement of the dopamine-regulated signaling pathway in B cells. This influence on immune cells of RA patients is gender-specific. The observed bifurcation of the dopamine-regulated signaling pathway between male and female RA patients can be used for therapeutic approaches in women in the future.

The influence of dopamine on certain cells of the immune system and thus on the course and development of rheumatoid arthritis discovered in the studies correlated with the duration of the disease and the functional disability in the female RA patients. Based on these findings now published in Scientific Reports, a diagnostic marker can be used in women.

Dopamine influences immunity

Women get rheumatoid arthritis more often than men. Not only the frequency, but also the progression of the disease differs between men and women. One possible explanation for this is the different role of sex hormones in immune reactions. Estrogens can directly influence the immune system and usually lead to inflammation.

The immune system can be influenced by the nervous system and neurotransmitters. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays important roles not only in the brain but throughout the body. Recent findings show that the signaling pathways controlled by dopamine also play a key role in changing immunity. It is therefore possible that dopamine not only directly influences the immune system, but also that estrogens can change the signaling pathways controlled by dopamine, which again has an influence on the immune system. How exactly this works is currently being examined in a follow-up project.

More information: Karolin Wieber et al, Dopamine receptor 1 expressing B cells exert a proinflammatory role in female patients with rheumatoid arthritis, Scientific Reports (2022). Journal information: Scientific Reports Karolin Wieber et al, Dopamine receptor 1 expressing B cells exert a proinflammatory role in female patients with rheumatoid arthritis,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09891-6

Provided by Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors in Dortmund
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Rachel and her husband adopted Marcus out of Guatemalan foster care as a 7-month-old infant and brought him home to Lansing, Michigan. With a round face framed by a full head of dark hair, Marcus was giggly and verballearning names of sea animals off flashcards, impressing other adults.

But in preschool, Marcus began resisting school, throwing himself on the ground, or pretending to be sickrefusals that got more intense and difficult to deal with. His parents sought therapy for him. Rachel and her husband had some savings for retirement, college, and emergencies; at first, the cost of Marcus' therapy was not an issue. "We didn't realize where it was going," Rachel said.

Today, Marcus is 15 and has a younger sibling. His parents have depleted their savings and gone into debt to pay for treatments for his severe depression, anxiety, and mood disorders. Frequently agitated and increasingly violent, Marcus could not attend a regular school. Over the years, he's needed weekly therapy, hospitalization, and specialized schoolingall of which has cost tens of thousands of dollars a month.

He required lots of medical and mental health appointments that were often many miles from the family's home. Rachel ultimately quit her real estate broker's job to care for her son, and with that the family took another financial hit. With no good treatment options within hours of where they live, Marcus is now in residential care out of state that specializes in therapy for children with conditions like his. That's helped modulate his behavior, but also costs $12,500 a month.

"All of our savings is gone," said Rachel, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect her son's privacy. She and her husband have taken out a second mortgage and borrowed against their retirement accounts.

"How are we going to send our kids to school?" she said. "How are we going to recover from this? I don't know." Just surviving the string of crises is all-consuming. "Those thoughts in your mindthere's no space for that when you are just trying to keep your child alive."

Untold numbers of families like Rachel's are dealing with myriad challenges finding and paying for mental health care, and then ending up in debt. There are too few therapists and psychologists in the U.S.and fewer still who accept insurance. That compounds the financial toll on families.

Tabulating the impact isn't easy. Many do what Rachel did: They refinance their houses, drain college savings, or borrow from family. But that kind of borrowing often isn't included in estimates of medical debt. As a result, it's hard to know how much families are paying out of their pockets for mental health treatment.

A recent KFF poll designed to measure the many ways people borrow to pay medical bills found that about 100 million Americans have some kind of health care debt, and 20% of those owe money for mental health services.

Those who can't afford to borrow sometimes try to get coverage for their children under public insurance like Medicaid, which sometimes means reducing their income to qualify.

When even Medicaid isn't a safety net

After her workplace health insurance denied coverage for her 9-year-old daughter, Colleen O'Donnell, a single mom from Providence, Rhode Island, stopped working so her income would fall below Medicaid's limit. O'Donnell, a registered nurse, could have made lots of bonus pay caring for COVID patients. Instead, she said, she needed to stay home to care for her daughter, who suffers from, among other things, disruptive mood dysregulation disordera condition that goes far beyond normal tween moodiness. Treatment didn't require just medication or visits to the doctor or hospital; the girl also needed wraparound therapy that included in-home care. The child's unpredictable moods and violent tantrums made it impossible to send her to school, or for her mother to hire a sitter for her.

"Qualifying for Medicaid means essentially you're living right around the poverty level, which means I'm not generating any sort of wealth, I'm not saving for retirement or anything like that," said O'Donnell. She took on a second mortgage for $22,000. She estimates at least $60,000 in lost wages a year. But staying home with her child was still worth it, she said.

Some desperate families go to even more extreme lengths to get mental health care covered by Medicaid. Some leave their children at hospitals, relinquishing custody so they become wards of the state. Others simply forgo care altogether.

So, how much is this costing families across America? And how many are forgoing care? It's hard to know.

Lack of data keeps struggling families in the shadows

"We don't have real data," said Patrick Kennedy, a former member of Congress and founder of the Kennedy Forum, a mental health advocacy group. Across the board, he said, there's a lamentable lack of data when it comes to mental illness. "We don't track this. We have a hodgepodge of reporting that's not standardized."

That lack of data keeps many people in the shadows, Kennedy said. It makes it hard to hold insurers accountable for legal obligations they have to pay for mental health care, or to argue for specific policy changes from regulators that oversee them. Kennedy said that problem should not fall on the shoulders of the many families who are too busy fighting to survive.

"If you're a family or someone who has one of these illnesses, you don't have the capacity for self-advocacy, right? And shame still factors in, in a large way," he said.

Rachel, the mother in Lansing, estimates Marcus' treatment costs topped a quarter-million dollars over the past two years alone. Nearly all that, Rachel said, was driven by care their insurance company declined to cover.

Over the years, Marcus underwent numerous neuropsychological tests, checking everything from intelligence and personality to trauma and motor skills to gauge the gaps in how he perceives the world. Each test cost several thousand dollars. Weekly therapy cost $120. Special schools, including a wilderness therapy program, cost thousands of dollars a month, and Rachel said insurance covered almost none of it.

The insurer cited various reasons: The wilderness therapy, even if it worked, was deemed too experimental. Other treatments weren't in-network. Even when Marcus became increasingly violent and a danger to himself and others, insurance agents repeatedly told Rachel that various types of inpatient or residential treatment programs and specialists recommended to her weren't covered because they were "not medically necessary" or would require reauthorization within days.

Meanwhile, Marcus' problems at home were escalating. "There were times that I hid," Rachel said, voice breaking. "I found hiding places so that my kid couldn't find me. He would hurt me. He would attack me, throw things at me, push me."

Faced with this do-or-die situation, Rachel and her husband decided to pay the costs of the care themselves and fight it out with insurance and lawyers later. For the past year, they've spent $150,000 to send Marcus to his out-of-state school.

What about 'mental health parity' in reimbursement?

That growing reliance on out-of-network care for mental health treatment is a national trend, despite various federal and state laws requiring insurers to cover services like addiction treatment on par with CT scans, surgeries, or cancer treatments. A 2019 report commissioned by the Mental Health Treatment and Research Institute found those disparities getting markedly worse, especially among children, between 2013 and 2017effectively forcing more patients to seek behavioral health care outside their insurer's network.

AHIP, a health insurer trade group, said the industry complies with existing laws and is working to expand options to meet increased demand for mental health care.

"Given the workforce and capacity shortages in [mental health and substance use disorder] care, it's important that patients receive the appropriate level of care, helping to preserve higher levels of care for those who need it most," David Allen, an AHIP spokesperson, said in an emailed statement.

He said insurers are taking measures like adding new providers to their networks, and adding telehealth options to expand their reach into places like schools and family physicians' offices. But, he said, not every kind of care should qualify for coverage: "It is important to make sure that people receive high-quality care based on scientific evidence."

Regulators have been slow to police insurers

But Deborah Steinberg, a health policy lawyer at the Legal Action Center, which advocates for consumers, said insurers improperly deny coverage for appropriate treatments far too often. Few people know how to determine that, and end up paying the bill.

"They are actually not necessarily bills [patients and families] should be paying, because a lot of the time these are illegal practices," Steinberg said. "There are so many complicated laws here that people don't understand. And when people pay the bills or take it out as credit card debt, they're not challenging those practices."

Nor have regulators been aggressive in policing insurers, or fining them for violations.

That's something Ali Khawar pledges to change. Khawar, an acting assistant secretary at the Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration, which oversees private insurers, said his agency's report to Congress earlier this year showed high levels of violations. The report also showed the insurance industry failing to keep adequate data on their compliance with parity laws.

But, Khawar said, coverage of mental health care is a problem he hears about continually, and the fact that so many families are struggling has made this a top priority for his agency. "There is a level of attention, a level of resources being put to these issues that is kind of unprecedented," he said.

Often, it falls to attorneys general to enforce insurance rules, and the willingness and resources available to do so varies by state.

In Michigan, where attorney J.J. Conway practices, the state has not been active in investigating the industry, he said. So families must seek recourse on their own, he said, if they want to dispute denial of coverage with their insurer. Conway, who represents Rachel's family and many other parents, said he's seeing the biggest surge in mental health disputes in his 25 years as a lawyer.

Conway said there's a strange silver lining in the sheer number of families now struggling to get mental health coverage. The cases are so numerous, he said, he hopes collectively they'll eventually force a change.

2022 Kaiser Health News.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A worker wearing a protective suit waits to administer COVID-19 tests to a woman and girl at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

As China's ruling Communist Party holds a congress this week, many Beijing residents are focused on an issue not on the formal agenda: Will the end of the meeting bring an easing of the at times draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy?

It appears to be wishful thinking. As the world moves to a post-pandemic lifestyle, many across China have resigned themselves to lining up several times a week for COVID-19 tests, restrictions on their travels to other regions, and the ever-present possibility of a community lockdown.

"There is nothing we can do," Zhang Yiming, 51, said this week at a park in Beijing. "If we look at the situation abroad, like the United States where over 1 million people have died, right? In China, although it is true that some aspects of our life are not convenient, such as travel and economy, it seems that there is no good solution."

People are looking to the party congress, which ends Saturday, for two reasons. The meeting, which is held every five years and sets the national agenda for the next five, can send signals of possible changes in policy direction.

Secondly, authorities always tighten controlsCOVID-19 and otherwisebefore and during a major event to try to eliminate disruptions or distractions, so they could relax controls when the event ends.

Delegates wearing face masks sit before the opening session of the 20th National Congress of China's ruling Communist Party in Beijing, China, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Any hopes for an easing, though, appear to have been dashed before the congress. The Communist Party's newspaper, the People's Daily, published a series of opinion pieces on the effectiveness of China's "zero-COVID" approach, and health officials said last week China must stick with it.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, praised the policy at the opening ceremony of the congress. He said it had prioritized and protected people's health and safety and made a "tremendous achievement in striking the balance between epidemic response and economic and social development."

After an initial outbreak in early 2020 that killed more than 4,000 people and overflowed hospitals and morgues, China was largely successful in taming the virus while other countries were overwhelmed with ita contrast trumpeted in Communist Party propaganda.

Commuters wearing face masks ride an escalator in a subway station in Beijing, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Then came omicron in late 2021. China had to employ ever more widespread restrictions to control the faster-spreading variant, locking down entire cites and starting regular testing of practically the entire population of 1.4 billion people.

The measures have bred simmering discontent, fed by instances of harsh enforcement that in some cases had tragic consequences.

During a two-month lockdown of Shanghai last spring, videos widely shared on social media showed officials breaking down apartment doors to drag unwilling residents to quarantine facilities. Children were also separated from their parents, because one or the other was infected.

Instances of hospitals denying treatment because of pandemic rules sparked outrage, including a woman in labor who lost her baby after she wasn't allowed into a hospital during a lockdown of the city of Xi'an because she couldn't show a negative COVID-19 test result.

Visitors wearing face masks show their results on a health check smartphone app to guards as they enter a tourist shopping street in Beijing, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

While public protests are relatively rare in China, some people took to the streets in Shanghai and Dandong to protest harsh and prolonged lockdowns.

Last week, three days before the congress opened, banners were flung over an elevated roadway calling for Xi's overthrow and an end to the "zero-COVID" policy. The incident spilled over into at least one other city, where photos shared on Twitter showed similar statements posted on a bus stop in the city of Xi'an.

Andy Chen, senior analyst at Trivium China, a Beijing-headquartered policy consultancy, said restrictions beyond the party congress should come as no surprise.

"All the conditions that have forced the government to put zero-COVID in place haven't really changed," he said, singling out the lack of an effective vaccine and the absence of sound home quarantine rules.

A man has his throat swabbed for a COVID-19 test at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Even though vaccines are widely available, China's homegrown versions don't work as well as the Pfizer, Moderna and other shots developed elsewhere. China also has resisted vaccine mandates, keeping down vaccination rates. As of mid-October, 90% had received two shots, but only 57% had a booster shot.

Beijing authorities have doubled down on the hardline coronavirus policies during the congress.

Highway checkpoints into the city are heavily policed, with all entrants required to show a "green" code on a mobile phone app to prove they haven't traveled to medium or high-risk areas.

Some express commuter bus lines between Beijing and neighboring Tianjin city and Hebei province have been suspended since Oct. 12.

Anyone who has been in a city, district, or neighborhood where even one case of coronavirus has been found within seven days is banned from entering the Chinese capital.

A man wearing a face mask walks past a construction site in the central business district in Beijing, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Within the city, the daily lives of residents are dictated by their health codes. They must use an app to scan the QR code of any facility they enter to show their status and log their whereabouts.

Without a green code and a negative coronavirus test result within 72 hours, people are not allowed into office buildings, shopping malls, restaurants and other public places. The policy means most of Beijing's 21 million-plus residents take a coronavirus test at least two to three times a week.

And there is always the risk of a sudden lockdown. Officials in hazmat suits guarded entries to gated communities this week in Fengtai district, where five neighborhoods have been categorized as high-risk. Residents were not allowed to leave their compounds, and some shops were forced to close.

While the party congress has not provided the watershed moment that some have been hoping for, it may turn out to be the point at which the government begins to lay the groundwork for a long process of loosening restrictions, said Dr. Yanzhong Huang, director of the Center for Global Health Studies at Seton Hall University and an expert on public health in China.

People wearing face masks stand near signs reminding them to wear a mask and show proof of a negative COVID test within the past 48 hours as they wait to enter an exhibition at a shopping mall in Beijing, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

People stand in line for COVID-19 tests at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

A security officer wearing a face mask walks across an intersection in the central business district in Beijing, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Commuters wearing face masks ride bicycles along a street in the central business district in Beijing, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. As China's ruling Communist Party holds a major congress this week, many Beijing residents are wondering if the end of the meeting will bring any easing of China's draconian "zero-COVID" policies that are disrupting lives and the economy. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Some factors suggest the government will be in no rush to open up, including a broad acceptance of the policy among those who are inconvenienced but have not experienced prolonged or repeated lockdowns.

"The vast, vast majority of the population goes on with their lives, unaffected, and that's a much better policy from the government perspective to implement than, for example, forcing a vaccine mandate through the population," Chen said.

But Huang noted signs of social instability, especially among the middle class and urban residents.

"I think the question is whether it has reached a tipping point that people really find this is not acceptable anymore," he said. "We cannot tolerate that anymore. It remains to be seen even in the large cities, you know, how people are willing to tolerate draconian measures."

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Research led by Trinity College has found that a regulation which came into effect in May 2021 with the aim of improving the oversight of medical devices in Ireland is leading to unintended consequences which may put some surgeries for children, and the treatment of rare diseases, at risk. The study has been published in the journal Pediatric Cardiology.

Medical devices include a great diversity of technologies, which are evaluated and approved in the European Union (EU) according to a revised law that came into effect on 26 May 2021, known as the Medical Device Regulation or MDR (EU 745/2017). It has a transition period that allows products that were approved under the previous rules (the EU Medical Device Directives) to continue to be marketed until 26 May 2024 at the latest. As a result of a series of unforeseen factors, there is a possibility that the MDR may result in products becoming unavailable, with the consequent risk of a loss of some interventions that are reliant upon those devices. Devices that are used for orphan or pediatric indications are particularly vulnerable to this.

Tom Melvin, associate professor of medical device regulatory affairs, School of Medicine, Trinity College, said,

"The Medical Device Regulation came into effect in May 2021 with the aim of replacing the previous rules in place since the 1990's and improving the safety of medical devices, in addition to supporting the introduction of innovative technologies. Due to a series of challenges in implementing these new rules, there is a risk that devices used for the treatment of rare diseases and children may be withdrawn from the market. If even a handful of devices leave the market, this can lead to serious implications for the surgical options that are available, and in some cases, this may lead to avoidable harm."

The paper provides an example of one device, the Rashkind balloon catheter, first developed by Dr. William Rashkind in 1966 to open the upper chambers in the heart in neonates with congenital heart disease. A number of these balloons were once available in Europe and now there is only one. This device may become unavailable next year. If this happens, it will not be possible to continue this procedure, and alternative surgeries or treatments are far less optimal. The paper also describes the timeline and cost of bringing the device to market in the EU, the U.S. and Canada, and the cost and time needed to access the EU market has become much greater.

Researchers believe there is now an urgent need for policy to be developed to protect essential medical devices for orphan indications and for use in children, to ensure that necessary interventions can continue, and to ensure a more sustainable system in Europe over the longer term. Clinicians in Europe need to be aware that particular medical devices may become unavailable over the next two years, and they should contribute to plans to mitigate this risk, so that they can continue to deliver the best possible care for their patients.

Professor Damien Kenny, consultant in pediatric cardiology in Children's Health Ireland said, "Medical devices are essential tools needed to treat many types of congenital and structural heart diseases in children. Although the Medical Device Regulation was introduced to improve the safety of these technologies, we have seen a number of important devices withdrawn from the market, which is already limiting some treatment options, and there is also a real risk that more will follow."

More information: Melvin T et al, Orphan Medical Devices and Pediatric CardiologyWhat Interventionists in Europe Need to Know, and What Needs to be Done, Pediatric Cardiology (2022). Melvin T et al, Orphan Medical Devices and Pediatric CardiologyWhat Interventionists in Europe Need to Know, and What Needs to be Done,(2022). DOI: 10.1007/s00246-022-03029-1
(A) The timeline of the single motor task; (B) the 1010 international system of electrodes placement used in this study, with the areas of interest selected with colored rectangles. The green rectangle corresponds to the midline motor cortex (MCz={Cpz,Cz,FCz}), and the blue area highlights the parietal lobe (P={P4,Pz,P3}); (C) an example of EEG data filtered in the theta-band (48 Hz). Here, functional connectivity is computed between the brain areas MCz and P, based on multivariate EEG recordings. In the upper row, the sEMG averaged over the YA group is shown. The sEMG signal is filtered in the range of 10100 Hz; (C) three-dimensional trajectories of subsets MCz and P; (D) the inference of functional dependence, where P(t) is the response state and P(t) is the state predicted by the proposed FF-MLP model based on the drive state. Credit: Sensors (2022). DOI: 10.3390/s22072537

Together with colleagues from Innopolis University, scientists from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University used machine learning methods to study the changing connection and coordination of different parts of the brain with age.

It turned out that elderly people use neurons responsible for planning and learning when performing simple familiar movements. This confirms the idea that it is more difficult for them to acquire new motor skills and retain existing ones. The study may be useful in finding recommendations for keeping brain function in the elderly.

The results of the study are published in Sensors.

All of the brain structures interact with each other by exchanging electrical signals between nerve cells. Normal brain function requires the constant interaction of a large number of neurons, which ensures functional connectivity, or more simply, the coherence of the different parts of the brain.

Functional connectivity of people with autism, Alzheimer's disease, and multiple sclerosis are often damaged. The most common sign of the neurological disease is a disruption in the neural networks between distant parts of the brain. For example, the ones responsible for motor activity and cognitive functions like memory and attention. As a result, it becomes more difficult for a person to learn new things such as foreign languages, musical instruments, and drawing. Moreover, these connections are sensitive to age-related changes.

Together with Innopolis University (Innopolis), scientists from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University developed a machine learning-based method to evaluate the functional connectivity between different parts of the brain for people of different ages. The study involved ten young and ten older people.

Each one of them had fifteen encephalogram recording sensors attached to different parts of the heads. This helped to study the activity of different parts of the brain. Scientists were primarily interested in the parietal and frontal lobes, as well as the motor cortex because they connect the neurons responsible for signal perception (sensory function) and movement (motor function).

Both of these components are crucial for normal control of actions. The authors recorded brain activity under two conditions: when the participants were in a relaxed state, and when they repeatedly clenched their hand into a fist and then relaxed it by a signal.

The electroencephalograms obtained as a result of the experiment were analyzed by a deep-learning neural network. It helped to study whether the connection between motor and sensory parts of the brain was established during task performance and if so, how strong it was. It turned out that the cortex was activated differently in different age groups.

Thus, when performing simple hand movements, older subjects, compared with young people, were activating a slow neural activity in the so-called theta range. That was common for learning and performing some kind of action for the first time. The authors of the study suggested that the reason for this phenomenon is a decrease in the brain plasticity of older people.

It leads to the fact that to perform even simple and familiar actions they need to involve more neuronal connections than young people. At the same time, the functional connectivity of the different parts of the brain was stronger for the younger participants of the experiment. In addition, they had more motor memory involved in performing the movements, so the activity of neurons at the frequency related to learning and planning was reduced.

This once again confirms the assumption that with the age, it becomes more difficult to acquire new motor skills, and one needs more effort to perform motor tasks.

"Our results showed that the functional connectivity model aligned well with the current ideas about the effect of healthy aging on neuronal activation. In the future, we plan to investigate other types of inter-neuronal interactions in the brain in addition to sensorimotor ones," says Elena Pitsik, a junior researcher at the Baltic Center for Artificial Intelligence and Neurotechnology.

More information: Elena N. Pitsik et al, Age-Related Changes in Functional Connectivity during the Sensorimotor Integration Detected by Artificial Neural Network, Sensors (2022). Elena N. Pitsik et al, Age-Related Changes in Functional Connectivity during the Sensorimotor Integration Detected by Artificial Neural Network,(2022). DOI: 10.3390/s22072537

Provided by Russian Foundation for Basic Research
Mosquitoes Culex annulirostris, the main vector of JEV. Credit: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

A paper from a research team, which included mathematical modeling expertise from LSHTM and was led by the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, has suggested that up to 750,000 people across Australia could be at risk of exposure to Japanese encephalitis (JEV).

The modeling study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, suggests the possibility of a major outbreak of the virus over Australia's summer months (December to February), which could be driven in part by a third La Nina in so many years.

So far in 2022, there have been 31 confirmed human cases and six deaths. JEV is maintained in wild birds and is spread by mosquitoes between these hosts and other animals including pigs, humans and horses. The virus has spread across Australia this year, with confirmed cases in dozens of piggeries throughout the south of the country. There have also been confirmed cases of JEV in feral pigs in the Northern Territory and Queensland. Until only last year, JEV was confined to Asia and the far north of Australia.

The extended La Nina weather event is thought to be responsible for the virus expansion as the increased rain and flooding it has brought has created new wetlands which attract infected water birds and provide breeding grounds for the common vector mosquito, Culex annulirostris.

The paper suggests that, if piggeries become a focus for infection, anyone living within four kilometers of an infected piggery is potentially at risk. This is due to the mosquito responsible for spreading JEV being a strong flier.

Associate Professor Greg Devine, head of the QIMR Berghofer Mosquito Control Laboratory, and senior author of the paper, said, "Most Australians have not been exposed to the virus before so they have no immunity. We are urging people to take precautions. The best protection is vaccination, but currently that's not available to everyone. The next best protective measure is to avoid being bitten by a mosquito."

Associate Professor Laith Yakob, an infectious diseases epidemiologist at LSHTM who collaborated on the research and provided modeling expertise, said, "The modeling and mapping we conducted allowed us to estimate the potential population at risk, and therefore the potential number of vaccine doses required, as well as where these vaccines might be targeted. The models also help us identify locations for enhanced surveillance efforts to better protect Australian residents in future mosquito seasons."

The modeling adds to blood surveys conducted in New South Wales which found nearly 9% of participants had been infected with JEV, suggesting the virus is common in those areas. However, accurately measuring the spread of JEV is difficult, as only 1% of infected people show symptoms, which range from a fever to severe inflammation of the brain. For those who develop symptoms, the fatality rate is around 30%.

As well as limited vaccines available for use on humans, there are currently no licensed vaccines for pigs or horses in Australia. If JEV continues to spreads, the impact could be economically devastating for piggeries and the equine industry.

Associate Professor Ricardo Soares Magalhaes, University of Queensland (UQ) School of Veterinary Science, Director of the Queensland Alliance for One Health Services and study co-author, said, "The virus spreads rampantly through the [pig] herd causing abortions and stillbirths. In horses, JEV is largely asymptomatic but when symptoms do appear, there is a very high fatality rate, especially among foals, with around half of all symptomatic cases dying. UQ in partnership with other institutions are accelerating the development of an equine vaccine."

More information: Laith Yakob et al, Japanese encephalitis emergence in Australia: the potential population at risk, Clinical Infectious Diseases (2022). Journal information: Clinical Infectious Diseases Laith Yakob et al, Japanese encephalitis emergence in Australia: the potential population at risk,(2022). DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciac794
New UChicago research shows that some people with severe COVID-19 can develop autoantibodies, which disturb a critical component involved in blood pressure regulation. Credit: Shutterstock.com

Since the earliest months of the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians and scientists worldwide have been working to understand how exactly the virus makes us sick. That task, already complicated by COVID's rapid spread, is made more challenging by some of its unusual, seemingly inexplicable symptoms, such as blood pressure dysregulation and blood clots.

Now, research from the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) shows that the immune system may unintentionally contribute to the disease's strangest symptoms.

The findings, published in Science Advances, show that some people with severe COVID-19 can develop autoantibodiesantibodies directed against a person's own proteinsthat disturb a critical component involved in blood pressure regulation.

"Our research shows that these autoantibodies may play a larger role in secondary complications of COVID-19 than people realize, and by monitoring for these responses, we may be better able to treat the disease," said Melody Swartz, William B. Ogden Professor of Molecular Engineering.

Following the trail

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, infects the body by way of biomolecular hijacking. The virus is covered with spike-shaped proteins that enter cells by attaching to the receptor ACE2, found on cells lining the mouth, nose, and lungs. ACE2 normally functions as a critical regulator of blood pressure by interacting with the peptide angiotensin II (AngII).

Researchers discovered the virus's entry mechanism early in the pandemic, but that discovery gave rise to another question that puzzled Prof. Swartz. If the body was generating antibodies against the virus's spike protein, could some of these antibodies also erroneously bind to AngII and thus disturb this key blood pressure regulation system?

If Swartz's hypothesis proved correct and autoantibodies that could thwart the important functions of AngII were being generated, it might explain the growing reports of COVID-19 patients experiencing wild fluctuations in blood pressure. Since AngII and the ACE2 receptor together play significant roles in regulating blood pressure, interfering with either could trigger any number of problems.

"We've known that COVID-19 enters cells via the ACE2 receptor," said Priscilla Briquez, first author of the paper and PME postdoctoral researcher during the study, now an assistant professor at the University of Freiburg. "But the question became how the entry of the virus would impair blood pressure regulation. Most people focused on the receptor alone, but we suspected an autoimmune response would be equally likely."

Gathering evidence

Using samples and clinical data collected by the lab of Thomas Gajewski, professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, Swartz analyzed plasma samples from 115 patients hospitalized for severe COVID-19. Of these, they found that 63% had autoantibodies targeting AngIIexactly what Swartz had predicted.

Moreover, the antibody's presence coincided with lower blood oxygenation, increased blood pressure dysregulation, and higher overall disease severity. While not everyone with the autoantibodies experienced severe symptoms, and not everyone with severe symptoms had autoantibodies, the correlation with illness severityparticularly that related to blood pressure regulationwas significant.

Briquez points out that antibodies against AngII are transient, but their existence shows that the body can produce autoimmune responses to COVID-19. Understanding the full breadth of that response may offer new clues to fighting the disease. Further study may examine whether antibodies against AngII emerge after most COVID symptoms subside and whether any recurrence coincides with symptoms of long COVID-19.

"Others have found that COVID-19 can cause a person to develop a wide range of autoantibodies," said Swartz. "Now we know that this can happen to a critical blood pressure regulator like angiotensin II, which may give a clearer picture of the underlying pathology causing severe cases."

More information: Priscilla S. Briquez et al, Severe COVID-19 induces autoantibodies against angiotensin II that correlate with blood pressure dysregulation and disease severity, Science Advances (2022). Journal information: Science Advances Priscilla S. Briquez et al, Severe COVID-19 induces autoantibodies against angiotensin II that correlate with blood pressure dysregulation and disease severity,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abn3777
FRIDAY, Oct. 21, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The pandemic brought about a lot of changes in peoples lives. For many, that included a new baby.

The United States saw a baby bump in 2021 described in a new study as the first major reversal in declining U.S. fertility rates since 2007.

It was the opposite of what early forecasts predicted.

There was less financial insecurity in the short run, but there was also less financial insecurity in terms of people's expectations," said study co-author Hannes Schwandt. He is an economist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

"And both of those made it a much milder shock in terms of the fertility response than the typical recession, Schwandt said in a Northwestern news release.

The findings were recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

For the new study, Schwandt and economist/co-authors Martha Bailey of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Janet Currie of Princeton University analyzed data on all U.S. births from 2015 through 2021, as well as births in California between 2015 and August 2022.

While U.S. birthrates declined slightly as lockdowns began in early 2020, they rose again in 2021 for a net increase of 46,000 births above the pre-pandemic trend.

That increase was driven largely by first-time moms and women with a college education. The latter may have been more likely to benefit from the flexibility of being able to work from home, as many did in the pandemic's early months.

The California data show that the increased fertility has continued through the summer of 2022.

The trend is in stark contrast to predictions that 500,000 fewer babies would be born because of the pandemic.

Besides work flexibility and the ability to work at home, reasons for the uptick could include fewer opportunity costs for women, the economists said. For example, women didnt miss out on travel or social activities because they were pregnant  those activities were already on hold due to the pandemic.

For college-educated workers, finances also tended to be better, because investments and homes increased in value during the pandemic, the study added.

The birth rate has important implications for society, the researchers noted, because younger generations support older ones. With fewer younger people, fewer workers must support a larger number of retirees.

This trend is counter to what has been happening in the developed world in recent decades. In the United States, the average number of children per woman decreased from 2.1 in 2007 to 1.6 in 2020.

However, women who were not college educated and some other groups continued to have declining birth rates during the pandemic.

Early in the pandemic, the U.S. birth rate dropped, but it was too soon to be a fertility response. It most likely owed to fewer foreign-born women entering the United States as immigrants and having children, according to the study.

The researchers said policymakers may want to consider economics when considering how people decide whether to have a baby.

That some women may be more apt to have children if they have higher flexibility is a very interesting, important takeaway, especially since the U.S. lags behind other developed countries in terms of (maternity-related) benefits, Schwandt said.

And even though European fertility rates in general are lower than those in the U.S., at the same time, we have a lot more immigration. That's another takeaway: We saw how important those immigrant mothers are for the U.S. birth rate, he added.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about birth rates.

SOURCE: Northwestern News, news release, Oct. 19, 2022
"We are currently undergoing a changeover in management for the Legacy Lounge," they wrote on Facebook. "We can't wait to share all the new and exciting things we will have in the future."

The business, at 529 S. Higgins, recently acquired a beer and wine license from the city.

Following the success of the public visioning workshop held last month, the Missoula Midtown Association and partners are seeking additional feedback from the Missoula community. A survey is now available on the project website for the public to share their vision for Midtowns future.

We know many were unable to join us at the visioning workshop but would like to participate in the project, said Melanie Brock, the association's executive director. This survey will allow everyone to provide their thoughts and be a vital part of shaping Midtown.

According to a press release, the goals of the Midtown Master Plan include building on existing Midtown planning initiatives, promoting equitable development, developing predictability for private investment and creating a sense of belonging for businesses, residents, and visitors.

The survey is just 20 questions and will be available to the community through Nov. 11. Survey results will help planners and engineers identify priority areas and develop a plan that will fit the needs of this growing area and the residents who live, work, and recreate in Midtown Missoula. Early next year, the team will draft a master plan and strategy for Midtowns future, with finalization anticipated by June 2023.

To participate in the survey or for more information about the Midtown Master Plan project, please visit midtownmasterplan.com
Missoula County failed to adequately pay the Missoula County sheriff and Missoula jail detention officers under Montana law, a lawsuit filed last week alleges.

The claim, filed in Missoula County District Court on Oct. 14, calls on the county to award the plaintiffs back wages stemming from claims that the county didnt update the sheriffs and detention officer pay as required under state law. Attorneys for the plaintiffs estimate the alleged mishandling of salaries affects between 80 to 90 detention officers.

The plaintiffs are represented by Rob Bell and Lance Jasper of Reep, Bell and Jasper P.C., a Missoula law firm.

The long and short of it is theres a direct connection between the salaries of the elected officials and the detention officers and sheriffs deputies, Bell said in an interview.

The county sheriffs salary has to be uniform with other county elected officials, he explained. The detention officers salaries are based (depending on rank) as a percentage of the sheriffs. Any pay included in the sheriffs salary has to be reflected in detention officers paychecks.

For each year at issue in this case and type of officer (i.e. adult or juvenile) a different pay matrix applies, the filing reads. But all possess the same central characteristic: Detention officers pay rates are calculated as a percentage of the county sheriffs pay rate.

In an email on Friday, Missoula County spokesperson Allison Franz said the county hadnt been served yet with the suit and hadnt reviewed it.

Once we have reviewed it, we may have further comments, she said.

The alleged pay discrepancies began in 2018 when the county started paying elected officials additional salaries under the umbrella of parity adjustment. By 2019, the adjustment totaled $6 per hour. County officials, through their compensation committee, voted to raise all elected officials' parity adjustments by $8.04 per hour. But the sheriffs salary, and therefore detention officers pay, wasnt included in this.

A sum which statutorily should have been included in the sheriffs salary ... was withheld from Sheriff (T.J.) McDermott in violation of the statutory uniformity requirement, the filing reads.

Instead, the county continued to pay the sheriff the extra $6 per hour rate through the end of the 2021 fiscal year.

Bell emphasized McDermott doesnt have anything to do with setting salaries.

The filing also references a longevity payment plan developed in July of this year.

The longevity payment scheme was simply intended as a substitute for the parity adjustment the county previously used to attempt to circumvent its obligations, the filing states.

Both the parity adjustment and the county longevity payments were part of an ongoing and interconnected continuing scheme to give elected officials salary increases while depriving detention officers of the corresponding salary increases, it continues.

Because of the countys alleged failures to accurately calculate wages, the attorneys are asking it to remedy the situation and award plaintiffs back wages from adjustments created by the longevity pay, parity adjustment and overtime.

Bell didnt provide an exact number of what the estimated total missing pay is, but said its a substantial sum.

Other Missoula jail staff, such as kitchen staff, are paid out of a separate system.

The county settled a separate $3.45 million wage claim suit in June for back pay owed to Missoula County Sheriffs deputies.

That case, Baker et al v. Missoula County, involved three years of unpaid wages based on the countys failure to calculate the sheriff's parity pay and certification pay in the deputies wages.
The University of Montanas search for a new Student Advocacy Resource Center (SARC) director is underway after the current director announced she was leaving this month.

SARCs current director Jen Euell was named the new executive director of the YWCA Missoula earlier in October, leaving the SARC director position open. The resource center provides the UM community with services for survivors of sexual assault, relationship violence, bullying, intimidation or discrimination, according to the centers website.

Associate Vice Provost for Student Success Brian Reed said in an email theyre looking for someone with a deep knowledge of trends concerning relationship and gender-based violence prevention.

Moreover, someone who has experience supporting survivors of sexual misconduct in a program or agency setting, he added.

A committee of UM students and staff whose work overlaps directly with SARC has the job of finding the new director, Reed explained.

As part of the finalists interview process, each candidate will meet with a broader cross section of campus partners  faculty, students and staff, Reed said. The final decision rests with Vice Provost for Student Success, Leslie Webb.

Reed said the SARC directors role is critically important at the university.

Women 18-24 in college are at an elevated risk of experiencing sexual violence compared to women 18-24 years old overall, he said.

When asked if theyre looking to hire someone from the Montana University System, Reed said the job will be advertised both locally and nationally.

Euell oversees all the services provided at SARC along with several staff. SARCs services are two-prong  they address responses to harassment and violence as well as ways to prevent discrimination and abuse.

Bystander and healthy relationship training are included in prevention efforts, as well as events for domestic violence and sexual assault awareness months.

From a prevention perspective, our role is to at least ensure every student that comes on campus has some basic training and sense of what it means to be a community member, Euell said. Under a culture of respect that were building here at the University of Montana.

SARC aims to provide a basic understanding for every UM community member of what sexual violence looks like and how to intervene if its suspected, she explained.

If a survivor chooses to report abuse, SARC also helps facilitate that with investigative agencies to university or city police.

Euell procured a large federal grant this month to continue SARCs sexual assault and domestic violence prevention work.

The director position oversees other SARC staff positions, including clinical intern positions held by graduate students. Euell said she sees SARC as a training clinic for students interested in pursuing that field of work themselves.

Euell lauded her teams work for creating a supportive work environment over the last few years and hopes to see that carried forward.

One of the key pieces Ive been working toward since I started is creating a team that has support, she said. What Ive been trying to do under my leadership is create more capacity and create the ability for a team to be strong enough that any one person can take a break and take time to care for themselves and the work continues seamlessly.

Euell pointed to the intensive nature of the work SARC staff does, and said as director shes tried to create an environment where staff feel supported.

Euell is set to start her new YWCA job in January. The YWCA and SARC work together in many of the same spaces in Missoula, so its likely Euell will be working with the new SARC leader from time to time.
There will be new roadways in the Northside neighborhood as that area sees significant growth, after a Missoula Redevelopment Agency Board meeting on Thursday.

Also, the plan for a new non-motorized river crossing in Missoula is moving forward.

First, the MRA board unanimously voted to approve $305,000 in Tax Increment Financing for right-of-way improvements to Palmer, Charlo and Shakespeare streets. Its all part of the planning for a large housing project on Scott Street being undertaken by Ravara Development of Missoula.

The Ravara development is expected to include a mix of approximately 300 rental and for-sale housing opportunities for individuals earning a range of incomes, explained Annie Gorski, the deputy MRA director. Including a minimum of 70 income-restricted, for-sale condos and townhomes to be situated on a Community Land Trust. These Community Land Trust units will be permanently affordable.

The street work is necessary to keep traffic from clogging up.

The Northside neighborhood is experiencing significant housing growth and there is limited east-west and north-south connectivity, Gorski explained. The improvements to Charlo, Palmer and Shakespeare extend existing streets to expand the street network between Shakespeare and Scott Street, and Palmer and the alley north of Charlo. The North Reserve-Scott Street Master Plan recommends supporting the plan area with an interconnected multi-modal transportation system that is convenient for all modes.

Essentially, Shakespeare will be extended south from Rogers Street, while Palmer and Charlo will be extended west from Scott Street and connected to that new portion of Shakespeare. It will create a new mini-grid for traffic.

Board member Ruth Reineking said shes supportive of the project, but she noted that people who live in the area are concerned about traffic on Scott Street.

Next, the board voted unanimously to approve $341,102 in Tax Increment Financing funds to pay for studying the feasibility of adding a shared-use bike/pedestrian path to the Bitterroot Spur Line railroad trestle over the Clark Fork River. The train bridge, which connects West Broadway to McCormick Park, has been eyed by the city as a way to add a new crossing over the river in a busy part of town.

A bicycle/pedestrian bridge at this location wouldcomplete a critical link in the 50-mile stretch of the Bitterroot Trail connecting downtown Missoula to downtown Hamilton, explained MRA project manager Tod Gass. This connection will provide a safe, non-motorized crossing of the Clark Fork River, effectively connecting the Heart of Missoula Neighborhood and the Westside Neighborhood north of the river to the Riverfront Neighborhood on the south side of the river.

He noted that the Downtown Master Plan references the need for a non-motorized connection linking downtown to the parks and trail system south of the river.

The train tracks would not be removed.

Montana Rail Link is not abandoning the Bitterroot Spur Line, Gass said. So any modification of the bridge comes with the condition that the bridge can continue to be used for rail use if the need arises.

The money will go to HDR Engineering to study the bridge and look for problems.

If an insurmountable problem, defect or flaw is discovered during any point of the feasibility study, the MRA may exercise the option to terminate the agreement and cease work on the project.

The bridge was built around the late 1800s, according to Dustin Hirose of HDR, and two of the girders may be even older. Workers will have to hang by ropes to inspect the structure.

Due to the age of the structure and lack of good as-constructed plans, its going to take some field work to go out and see actually what were dealing with there, Hirose said.

Reineking said she wanted to make sure that the city is not paying for any improvements that will only benefit Montana Rail Link.

The devils in the details, explained board chair Karl Englund, agreeing with Reineking.

MRA Director Ellen Buchanan, the director of the MRA, said MRL is a great community partner and that this project will have a large public benefit.

In the past, Buchanan has estimated that the cost of adding a bike/pedestrian path to the bridge would be around $3.5 million. Montana Rail Link hasnt used the bridge or the Bitterroot Spur line down to Hamilton in at least 10 years.

City Council member Daniel Carlino called in to the meeting saying he was supportive of the project and that hes heard from constituents that they want a new crossing as well to add connectivity to the Westside neighborhood.
Lift your jars of huckleberry jam to one of the warmest falls western Montana has ever enjoyed. While that warmth has probably made those jars a lot more expensive, and cost the regions bears a lot more foraging time among failed berry crops, it certainly has offset the sweaty July and August when all we could do was dream of huckleberry milkshakes. The climate refugees flocking to Montana got a taste of the best of our four seasons (and lets throw a little shade at those parts of the country that only have Hot and Wet parts of the year).

And lets leave a few huckleberries outside the trash enclosure folks in Huson and the Missoula River Lodge built to keep bears out of their garbage. The combination of public, private and commercial effort paid off for all parties. Unraided trash is less work for workers. Unraidable trash means unhabituated bears, which research has shown will learn to stick to their own wild food sources if the temptations of ours are removed. The Missoula Bear Smart Working Group has lots of ideas for fixing other conflict points that will keep people safe and bears alive.

A couple bank vaults full of chokecherries to the trend of excessive spending on scary campaign ads in this election season. Those seeking public office will pledge themselves to promote the general welfare and insure domestic tranquility, not accuse their fellow Americans of being evil Halloween demons. It says a lot about both the person doing the selling and the person buying if the only product on offer is fear.

And so we present a mailbag full of huckleberries to Missoulian letter-writers, who have out-scribbled every other big city in Montana for sheer volume of submissions to the editorial page. Its not even close. As of this publication, the Missoulian had about 120 letters in the queue. Helena had about 50. Butte and Billings: bupkis. Some may enrage you, others enlighten. All are evidence of an engaged community that believes in public discourse. In fact, the Missoulian has such a backlog of vital missives that were setting up a special on-line page to present them all (there wont be enough room in the print newspaper to give everyone ink). Watch this space for details on where and when your letters advocating, attacking, inquiring and invoking your political subjects will appear.
MADISON  Built in 1908, one of this 2,200-resident hamlet's most storied historical buildings is once again the talk of the town, and now the world, courtesy of the Netflix series, "28 Days Haunted."

Home to Madison Dry Goods and Country Store for the past nearly 30 years, the building at 104 W. Murphy St. in the heart of downtown Madison has been home to a variety of businesses over the decades.

And the structure is attached to one of the most gruesome mass murders in North Carolina history  the 1929 Lawson family murders.

Charlie Lawson, a 43-year-old Stokes County farmer, shot and bludgeoned his wife and six of his seven children in Germanton before taking his own life on that Christmas afternoon, the same year the nation plunged into the Great Depression.

In 1929, the upstairs of the Murphy Street building in Madison housed T.B. Knight Funeral Parlor, where the victims, including a newborn, were embalmed.

Proprietors of Madison Dry Goods, Richard and Kathy Miller, bought the building in 1998. And while they were aware of the buildings history, which included housing the former Penn Hardware Store, the Millers were not prepared for the stories of unexplainable activity that have garnered the attention of national paranormal investigators over the past decade.

Numerous visitors to the store, as well as employees, have reported seeing a little girl wearing a white dress in the building.

And pictures and objects have been moved about inexplicably, the Millers said.

Add to that, the Millers and some visitors to the upstairs museum, where the funeral home once operated, have described being overcome with an eerie feeling as if they were not alone.

Locals and various ghost busters who have investigated the site and the odd sightings speculate that the unexplained activities are connected to the Lawson family deaths.

Word of the bizarre happenings reached Netflix producers, and in 2021 a production team contacted the Millers and invited them to participate in the show.

The Netflix production team subscribes to a theory popularized by famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, authors associated with prominent cases of alleged hauntings, including the Amityville house on which the "The Amityville Horror" books and films were based.

The Warrens held that it takes 28 days to pierce the veil between the human and spirit worlds. So, Netflix show makers asked the Millers for carte blanche access to their building for 28 days between Aug. 12 and Sept. 15, 2021.

The Millers obliged and closed their popular store for the month. They were not allowed access to the store during the experiment and were not told of the paranormal team's findings.

But today, Oct. 21, the findings are revealed when episode 3 of "28 Days Haunting" airs on Netflix.

Madison embalmer chosen as nation focused on family slayings

The Madison embalmer was selected in 1929 because Knight operated the only funeral home in the region large enough to accommodate eight bodies, plus he had elevator access, historians say.

The murders drew national attention, and old newspaper clips show that some 5,000 people gathered in Madison to see a line of hearses carry the bodies away to Germanton in Stokes County for burial.

Anyone who's still curious may visit the old funeral parlor, part of the Madison Dry Goods Museum during business hours from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.
Starting Friday, big weather changes are coming to the Northern Rockies. The approaching low pressure system will bring not only wind and rain, but eventually snow.

According to the National Weather Service in Missoula, precipitation will move into southwest Montana from north to south with widespread precipitation expected through the weekend.

Impacts from accumulating snow are expected along mountain passes and high elevation areas. In the lower valleys impacts are expected to be more minimal, due to warmer daytime temperatures.

Butte is predicted to get 1 to 4 inches, and Homestake Pass a bit more at 3 to 6 inches. The I-15 corridor between Butte and Helena could get 2 to 4 inches.

Bob Nester of NWS hopes hunters heading for the mountains Friday dont get caught off guard as 6 to 10 inches is expected above 7,000 feet.

They should monitor the weather service updates, he advised.

For the latest forecast updates, go to www.weather.gov/missoula.
Montana Technological University alumni Nick and Kari Olds recently donated $150,000 to enhance the universitys Olds Family Endowed Scholarship.

We are so fortunate to have the generous support of Nick and Kari, Chancellor Les Cook said. It has been said that the most valuable people in our society are those who take a deep interest in institutions that exist to improve the world. Nick and Kari are two individuals who continue to do just that.

The couple established the endowment in 2019 to support students who graduate from a Montana high school, are pursuing a four-year degree, and demonstrate financial need. Nick and Kari received degrees in petroleum engineering from Montana Tech in 1992 and 1994, respectively. Both established rewarding careers in the oil and natural gas industry for both. They married in 1993.

We recognize that we are indeed fortunate to be Montana Tech graduates and are very pleased that we can give back to our university and community in a way that offers others the same opportunities we had, said Nick Olds, executive vice president of Global Operations for ConocoPhillips, the Houston-based independent oil company. Our four years at Tech provided the foundations of great careers, along with the beginnings of professional networks and lifelong friendships with classmates. We remember our time here fondly, and the Olds Family Endowed Scholarship is our way of saying Thanks while encouraging others to follow the same path.

Since her time at Tech, Kari Olds has been pleased with the growth in the diversity of students, faculty, and the engineering profession.

I am very proud of the ongoing improvement in academics we see occurring at Tech, its rising stature in the industry, and the growing diversity of both the students and faculty, said Kari. As a woman majoring in petroleum engineering at that time, I was a rarity, but was always made to feel welcome and comfortable. Now, the number of females pursuing engineering reflects our nation as a whole, and its just one of many ways that Tech is adapting and changing with the times.

The Montana Tech Foundation manages the endowment.

To learn more about the Montana Tech Foundation, please visit foundation.mtech.edu.
WAPELLO  The Louisa County Board of Supervisors have filed a response in Louisa County District Court to an earlier petition from Sam Willson, Wapello, challenging his removal from the Louisa County Conservation Board (LCCB).

In their Oct. 11 response, which was filed by attorney Holly Corkery of Lynch Dallas, P.C., Cedar Rapids, attorney for the countys insurance carrier, the supervisors denied most of Willsons initial four-division complaint. Willson, through his attorney Roger Huddle, Weaver and Huddle Law Office, Wapello, identified the four issues in his original petition that was filed Sept. 19.

Among those issues were a request for a writ of certiorari, which if granted by the court, would allow Willson to continue his claim the supervisors had improperly removed him from his position.

The supervisors had acted after alleging Willson had committed malfeasance by responding to another persons posting on the WQAD-TV Facebook page. The postings came during an online discussion over the LCCBs earlier efforts to sell the 18.5-acre Baird Timber.

In the initial post the person had asked, isnt the conservation board supposed to preserve?, which prompted another individual to reply: yes, but when the county supervisors can (appoint) members to the (LCCB), believing in conservation doesnt seem to be a requirement to sit on the conservation board.

Willson had then responded with: They are supposed to, but when the board is corrupted, it runs astray.

The board approved removing Willson on June 21 and later confirmed that action following an Aug. 25 public hearing.

In their official notice of removal to Willson, the supervisors had focused on his last posted comment, claiming Willson was alleging corruption on the conservation board. They had also suggested in the notice those allegations of corruption are unsubstantiated and foster a hostile environment on the Conservation Board.

According to his original petition, Willson argued the supervisors action was not authorized by law, is unlawful, and not within its jurisdiction as the allegations did not constitute malfeasance as defined by law or statute.

Other divisions in Willsons lawsuit included a claim the board of supervisors had held an illegal closed meeting prior to its June 21 removal decision; Willson had been defamed by comments the supervisors had made at four separate meetings before and after removing him; and a request for a jury trial.

In her response, Corkery denied the supervisors had acted inappropriately.

(The supervisors) acted (within) the discretion afforded to them under the law in removing (Willson) from the Louisa County Conservation Board, she stated in her response to Willsons original petition.

She also claimed the supervisors assertions were true or substantially true; absolutely privileged; and their statements were opinion and made with good motive and while discussing matters of public importance as either a citizen or an elected official of the community.

Corkery also stated the supervisors reasonably relied on a formal opinion of Louisa County Attorney Adam Parsons before going into closed session; and felt they had good reason to believe and in good faith believed facts which, if true, would meet the legal requirements to remove Willson from his LCCB position.

Corkery also suggested Willson could be a public official or a limited public figure; failed to state claims for which relief can be granted; and failed to mitigate damages.

Other issues she raised included a reference to a section of Iowa law that might bar all or some of Willsons claims, statute of limitations; preemption; and election of remedies.

Corkery closed by stating she was continuing to investigate the case and reserved the right to amend her answers.

No court date has been set.
On Friday, the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce and Industry hung a banner welcoming the 350 visitors and crew of the American Queen steamboat which will dock in Muscatine Friday night. On Saturday the guests will be given a tour of several Muscatine attractions. Muscatine residents are invited at 12:30 p.m. to the riverfront see the ship off.
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Democrat Malia Cohen will become Californias next state controller after a contentious race against Republican Lanhee Chen. Cohen says her background serving on a state tax board and as the former head of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors budget and finance committee makes her uniquely qualified for the job. As controller, Cohen will be in charge of disbursing state funds and auditing state agencies. Cohen will be the first Black official to serve in the role. Republicans hoped Chen would be the first member of their party to win statewide office since 2006.
A summary of what's in today's podcast:

As the harmful effects of extended pandemic school closures become more apparent, some educators and parents have regrets. Theyre questioning decisions in cities across the U.S. to remain online long after clear evidence emerged that schools werent COVID-19 super-spreaders  and months after life-saving adult vaccines became widely available.

Gen. Sergei Surovikin has become the face of Russias new military strategy in Ukraine, which includes unleashing a barrage of strikes against the country's infrastructure. The 56-year-old general was put in charge on Oct. 8 after what has so far been a faltering invasion that has seen a number of chaotic retreats and other setbacks in nearly eight months of war.

Authorities say a Princeton University student from Ohio who went missing near campus roughly a week ago has been found dead.

A federal judge has dismissed an effort by six Republican-led states to block the Biden administrations plan to forgive student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans.

Amazon is shutting down a subsidiary thats been selling fabrics for nearly 30 years. The closure of fabric.com is the online retailer's latest cost-cutting move.

The Astros beat the Yankees for the second straight day, the Cardinals rediscovered their passing game, the Clippers topped the Lakers and the Sharks finally celebrated a win.

A jury sided with Kevin Spacey, finding he didnt sexually abuse fellow actor Anthony Rapp in the 1980s. This brings to a conclusion a trial that was an outgrowth of the #MeToo movement.

The White House says the U.S. has evidence that Iranian troops are directly engaged on the ground in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraines infrastructure and civilian population.

The Pentagon will provide travel funds and support for troops and their dependents who seek abortions but are based in states where they are now illegal.

President Joe Biden has checked out the repair work underway at a Pennsylvania bridge that became a symbol of the nations troubled infrastructure when it collapsed nine months ago. Biden visited Pittsburgh's Fern Hollow Bridge on Thursday to showcase his administration's efforts to revitalize the nations roadways.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss quit Thursday after a tumultuous and historically brief term in which her economic policies roiled financial markets and a rebellion in her political party obliterated her authority.

Oklahoma has executed an inmate convicted of killing his infant daughter in 2002. Benjamin Cole was put to death Thursday morning at Oklahomas state penitentiary in McAlester.

An Afghan couple who arrived in the U.S. as refugees are suing a U.S. Marine and his wife for allegedly abducting their baby. The baby was injured in a U.S. military raid that killed her parents and 5 siblings, and was being raised as a daughter by her newlywed adult cousin and his wife.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in September for the eighth month in a row, matching the pre-pandemic sales pace from 10 years ago, as house hunters grappled with sharply higher mortgage rates, rising home prices and a still tight supply of properties on the market.

American Airlines is reporting a $483 million profit for the third quarter, as planes were mostly full and fares were higher over the hectic summer months. American says demand for travel remains strong, and it forecast better fourth-quarter results than Wall Street was expecting.

Joni Mitchell had so much fun at her surprise performance at the Newport Folk Festival this summer that she's coming back to the stage. She'll appear next June at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington state, again alongside Brandi Carlile, who announced the plans on The Daily Show late Wednesday.
Napa-based NakedWines.com will pay $650,000 to settle a consumer protection lawsuit by five California counties  including Napa County  over the online wine sellers subscription practices.

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The settlement, announced in a news release Thursday from the office of Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley, will cover civil penalties and investigative costs from the suit, which alleged NakedWines broke a state law requiring companies to clearly spell out recurring monthly charges and allow customers to easily cancel subscriptions.

The complaint was filed in San Diego County and was joined by district attorneys in Napa, Sonoma, Alameda and Shasta counties.

District attorneys targeted two NakedWines membership programs with automatic renewals. One, Wine Angel, had customers pay $40 monthly into accounts, from which they drew funds to buy from a variety of producers. Another service, Wine Genie, had buyers pay a monthly fee for wine shipments.

The complaint alleged that NakedWines failed to follow the states Automatic Renewal Law requiring it to disclose recurring charges before purchase, and mandating a simple online method to end a subscription and stop payment.

My office is committed to enforcing consumer protection laws, Haley said in the Napa County statement. The Automatic Renewal Law exists to ensure that consumers understand that they may be agreeing to months or years of recurring charges.

Wine clubs have grown into a popular way for customers to receive regular shipments of wine. If these clubs charge customers on an automatically renewing basis, they must comply with the Automatic Renewal Law.

NakedWines cooperated with the investigation and has moved to improve its disclosures and sign-up processes, the county said.

In addition to the six-figure penalty against NakedWines, Californians who have subscribed to Wine Angel or Wine Genie since April 2017 may be entitled to full refunds by making a written request to the company.

From the NakedWines.com home page, directions for ending a wine subscription are viewable by clicking the Terms and Conditions link, then clicking the link for Naked Angels  angels being the companys term for the subscribers it says support a symbiotic connection between consumers and winemakers partnering with the company.

A paragraph on that page instructs customers wanting to opt out of their memberships to visit their account page, call a certain toll-free number or send a message to an email address.

Founded in 2008 in Great Britain, NakedWines delivers wine to members there as well as the U.S. and Australia. The company has been headquartered since 2018 at the South Napa Century Center on Gasser Drive, a dining, retail and office complex that also includes the Century Napa Valley movie theater and the KVON-AM and KVYN-FM studios.
Owing to expected high winds and increased fire risk this weekend, PG&E is projecting Public Safety Power Shutoffs are likely and may be coming to 85 customers in Napa County, largely in areas north of Calistoga. The number of customers affected by the projected PSPS event this weekend is much higher elsewhere, largely in areas north of Sacramento as well as in central California around Kern County.

According to a PG&E press release, the company set out two-day advance notices to about 5,800 customers across 13 counties and two tribal communities. The high winds will begin Saturday morning and in areas of the North Sacramento Valley  and on Sunday in the North Bay  and last into Monday, the press release says.

The potential shutoffs could begin Saturday morning in portions of the North Sacramento Valley, The press release says. Potential shutoffs for the San Joaquin Valley, other portions of the Sacramento Valley, North Bay as well as Kern County could begin Sunday, depending on the timing of the wind event.

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If a PSPS occurs, PG&E opens community resource centers  with snacks, water and other essential items  in partnership with community-based organizations to assist with medical and independent living needs, the press release says. Locations and operating hours will be shared closer to the PSPS event.

Customer notifications via text, email and automated phone call began today, approximately two days prior to the potential shutoff, the press release says. Customers can look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shutoff at http://www.pge.com/pspsupdates.
ST. HELENA  St. Helenans were notified Thursday of an "urgent need to curtail water use" after the failure of one of the city's two groundwater wells.

A pump and motor for one of the Stonebridge wells near the Pope Street bridge failed on Wednesday, according to a news release issued Thursday afternoon.

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Our water system continues to pose challenges," Public Works Director Joe Leach said. "With significant deferred maintenance, we experienced a pump failure at one of our two Stonebridge wells, and are currently operating at significantly reduced capacity. Increased water conservation for the next two weeks will help us navigate this challenge."

A contractor was mobilized Thursday morning to remove the failed submersible pump, and the new equipment is expected to be in place within two weeks "barring any unforeseen issues that come out of the inspection/installation process," Leach said.

He said Public Works staff and consultants are working extended hours "to assure an adequate water supply."

After being briefed on the situation, Mayor Geoff Ellsworth said, "We now need the assistance from the St. Helena community to curtail the demand on our water system."

Groundwater from the Stonebridge wells accounted for 26% of St. Helena's potable water in August, according to the city's most recent water report. The other sources are Bell Canyon Reservoir (44%) and water purchased from the city of Napa (30%).

The pump failure is the latest in a string of mishaps that have highlighted the vulnerability of St. Helena's aging water system. Equipment problems have periodically taken the Rutherford pump station offline, periodically preventing St. Helena from receiving water from the city of Napa.

St. Helena's long-neglected infrastructure  including water, sewer and storm drains  has dominated the current City Council election campaign.

St. Helena voters in June passed a $19 million general obligation bond to pay for the most urgent projects, but the total cost of repairs has been estimated at more than $150 million over the next 30 years.
During Euronaval 2022, an International Naval Defense Exhibition, German company Rohde & Schwarz and Airbus Defence and Security from France announced an expansion of their strategic cooperation to bring integrated sixth-generation solutions to navies.

German company Rohde & Schwarz and Airbus Defence and Security from France announced an expansion of their strategic cooperation to bring integrated sixth-generation solutions to navies. (Picture source Airbus)

The accelerated deployment of innovative tech shall deliver modernized battlefield networks for the future. An expanded set of high data rate communications, which is at the core, will allow the navy to instantaneously share the significantly increasing, collected intelligence data within these networks.

Sixth generation defense technologies will revolutionize military, secure communications and cooperative intelligence. This will enable the navy to better exploit the huge amount of information collected and distributed, explains Hansjorg Herrbold, Vice President Secure Communications, Rohde & Schwarz. Based on the innovation strength and the numerous mission proven technology, Airbus and Rohde & Schwarz are at the forefront to develop tech for information dominance in the naval environment.

Over the last few years, we have worked extremely well with Rohde & Schwarz, integrating their latest communications technology into the naval operative network, Thierry Becker, Vice President Secure Communications EMEA, Airbus Defence and Space continues. Todays forces require the strategic edge by ease-of-use equipment, which is critical for information and decision dominance. For this, we look forward to continuing our cooperation with Rohde & Schwarz, tackling the next generation together.



In March 2019, the French defence procurement agency DGA (Direction generale de larmement) had already awarded the RIFAN 2.1 contract to an industrial consortium headed by Airbus and also comprising the Naval Group and Rohde & Schwarz.

The contract covers work to maintain and adapt the existing IP network for the French naval forces, RIFAN 2 (Reseau IP de la Force Aeronavale etape 2), to the needs of the Navy in the coming years, to integrate new ships and remedy hardware and software obsolescence.

It will also enable the future front-line frigates of the FDI (fregates de defense et dintervention) programme and the future replenishment tankers of the BRF (batiment ravitailleur de forces) programme to be integrated into the RIFAN 2 network. The network adaptations will involve both its central architecture and an update of the cybersecurity incident monitoring and detection system.
The French company Safran launches its VIGY 4 optronic system for surface ships during Euronaval 2022, an International Naval Defense Exhibition that takes place in Paris, France.

French company Safran launches its VIGY 4 optronic system for combat surface ships at Euronaval 2022, International Naval Defense Exhibition, Paris, France.

Drawing on feedback from users of its many products in remote theaters of operations, Safran Electronics & Defense is launching VIGY 4, a new optronic sight for surface ships, to meet the needs and expectations of naval customers. This sight is the latest addition to the companys family of naval optronic systems, which also includes the VIGY HD and PASEO XLR.

VIGY 4 features advanced observation and fire control capabilities to meet the requirements of medium-displacement ships such as offshore patrol vessels and corvettes, while VIGY HD is more suited to vessels such as coastal patrol boats and PASEO XLR to first-class vessels rang.

VIGY 4 is a compact gyrostabilized multisensor observation system with a SWIR (shortwave infrared) channel, which can see through mist and fog. The system can be coupled with a sector surveillance module to create a simple and effective surveillance system. It is also designed to control light- and medium-caliber weapons.

Safran Electronics & Defense is a long-standing player in the naval sector, with internationally recognized expertise in optronics, electronic warfare and inertial navigation. The company currently equips more than 1,000 ships  merchant vessels, naval surface ships and submarines  and 50 navies worldwide with sensors, optronic systems and inertial systems designed and manufactured in France.

Safran is an international high-technology group operating in the aviation (propulsion, equipment and interiors), defense and space markets. Its core purpose is to contribute to a safer, more sustainable world, where air transport is more environmentally friendly, comfortable and accessible. Safran has a global presence, with 76,800 employees and sales of 15.3 billion euros in 2021, and holds, alone or in partnership, world or European leadership positions in its core markets.
During Euronaval 2022, International Naval Defense Exhibition in Paris, France, the French company Naval Group signed several contracts with Hellenic companies to reinforce the relationship between Naval Group and its Greek partners and demonstrate the Groups commitment to developing and structuring solid industrial cooperation with the Hellenic industry.

During Euronaval 2022, the French company Naval Group signs several contracts with Hellenic companies to reinforce the relationship between Naval Group and its Greek partners. (Picture source: Naval Group)

Contributing to naval and industrial autonomy in Greece

As part of the FDI frigates for the Hellenic Navy program, the Naval Group designed a robust Hellenic Industrial Participation plan to develop new capacities in the Hellenic industry, sustaining highly qualified jobs and generating long-term economic spin-offs in Greece.

This commitment goes beyond the frigates program. Naval Group is committed to building strong and long-term partnerships to support the Hellenic Navy and to contribute in the development of the naval warfare capabilities of the Hellenic Industry.

In this regard, the Group signed 7 contracts with several Hellenic industrial partners among which:

For the Platform: SALAMIS SHIPYARDS, MEVACO and METKA

For the Combat System: AKMON, MAREL (via THEMYS, Naval Groups original equipment manufacturer), and SIMON TECHNOLOGIES (via THEMYS)

Naval Group is particularly proud to announce that significant parts of the FDI, hull blocks, will be produced in Greece by SALAMIS SHIPYARDS.

In addition, Naval Group also signed 3 framework agreements with MILTECH, PRISMA and IDE INTRACOM paving the way to future contracts and long-term partnerships.

So far, Naval Group has signed about twenty contracts in total with fifteen Greek companies since the start of the FDI HN program in March 2022.

In addition, all qualified Greek companies will integrate Naval Groups supply chain and have the possibility to participate to other programs and future international tenders, thus increasing their capabilities as well as their potential economic benefit and visibility on the worldwide naval market.

Enhancing cooperation between French and Hellenic industries

Beyond Naval Group, the FDI program supports the investment in Greece of several French naval companies to develop partnerships with Greek industry, creating added-value and jobs for

decades to come. The FDI program already fostered the rapprochement of the two naval sectors with the GICAN and SEKPY by signing a partnership agreement in February 2020.

As an example, the contracts with MAREL and SIMON TECHNOLOGIES are made via THEMYS, a French subcontractor of Naval Group, which will outsource part of its production in Greece. This shows that the cooperation with the Hellenic industry is not only supported by Naval Group but also by the whole FDI France naval ecosystem.

Furthermore, some of the contracts signed are not only related to the FDI HN program such as the one with VIKING NORSAFE HELLAS which will produce RHIBs (Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boats) of the FDI for Hellenic Navy and also for other export programs. This demonstrates Naval Groups trust in its Greek partners which the company considers as long-term partners with whom it is working to build the future of the Hellenic and French naval industries.

In this approach, Naval Group carries out also On Job Trainings in favor of Greek companies to enhance their capabilities, in a perspective of long-term cooperation on strategic products that require advanced skills on the state-of-art project.
Armenia parliament speaker to head for Qatar, to watch World Cup match from stadium

Toivo Klaar: Many challenges remain; restraint, strong political will be needed by Azerbaijan, Armenia

India MFA: Cooperation with Armenia should be further deepened

Pashinyan: Armenia attaches importance to development of cooperation with Albania

Azerbaijan president receives Philip Reeker

MP: Tourists visiting Armenia have difficulty making purchases over 300,000 drams at duty free shops

Marukyan: 2 years ago Azerbaijan president signed ceasefire agreement where Nagorno-Karabakh is mentioned 5 times

US diplomatic mission reveals details of CIA head with Naryshkin

Karabakh army did not open fire at Azerbaijani positions in occupied territories

UK intends to maintain military assistance to Ukraine in 2023

Copper prices falling

World oil prices falling

Gold falls in price

Armenia PM, wife attend charity concert in support of soldiers undergoing treatment

Azerbaijan army fires towards Armenia positions

Eurasianet: Azerbaijan's Russian natural gas deal raises uncomfortable questions for Europe

The Hill: Will a strong dollar trigger a global recession?

Stanislav Zas: CSTO proposed several measures to help Armenia

MOD: Artsakh Defense Army did not fire at Azerbaijani positions

Princess Diana was 'murdered' because she was pregnant with Dodi Al Fayed's baby, claims his father

Israel will fall apart, says Irans Islamic Revolution Guards Corps chief

Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan leaders summit to be held in Ashgabat

Elon Musk announces he will support Ron DeSantis if Florida governor runs for US president

Armenia MOD dismisses Azerbaijan disinformation

Baghdad ready to help Tehran-Riyadh negotiations resume, Iraq FM says

Russia presidential spokesman: Attempts to interfere with CSTO work will continue

Protests staged in Shanghai over China COVID curbs

Iran parliament approves law on country's membership in Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Worlds biggest nuclear-fusion project faces delays due to component cracks

Erdogan announces Turkeys Bayraktar UAV fighter manufacture by end of 2023

Venezuela authorities and opposition resume talks, eyeing US sanctions relief

Azerbaijan's Armenophobia policy to be presented in Australia (PHOTOS)

Armenia FM: I am deeply shocked by news of Vladimir Makei's death

The New York Times: Artillery breaking in Ukraine, becoming problem for Pentagon

Karabakh MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement

Americans spend record $9.12bn on online shopping on Black Friday

North Korea aims to have world's strongest nuclear force, Kim Jong Un says

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Scholz says Germany will allocate another 10 million to ensure grain supplies from Ukraine

Azerbaijan opens fire on Armenian border positions

Parapolitika: U.S. drone base is being set up near the Greek city of Larissa

Belgium to send to Ukraine 100 instructors who fought in Afghanistan

U.S. household spending up $433 for the year

Authorities of Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine signs Declaration of Lublin Triangle PMs

CIS Executive Committee says they agreed with CSTO, SCO on combining anti-terrorist exercises

Over 10 people are missing in Italy after landslide

Finns saving on alcohol

Kyodo: Japan ready for joint counterstrikes with U.S. in case of attack

OSCE PA session in Warsaw kicks off in darkness as sign of solidarity with Ukraine

Times: Britain may triple its nuclear energy production by 2050

IAEA tells what blow to spent fuel at Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant will lead to

AFP: Macron wants to dissuade Biden from unequal competition with EU

ARF Dashnaktsutyun delegation meets with Spanish PM

India launches vehicle with 9 satellites on board

Bloomberg says cost of chartering oil tankers exceed $100,000

Belgium to provide Ukraine with underwater unmanned drones and mobile laboratories

Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan has phone talks

22 people injured in Turkish minibus accident

Xi Jinping says he wants to develop relations with North Korea amid global changes

Inauguration ceremony of Tokayev takes place in Astana

Greta Thunberg and 600 more eco-activists sue Sweden

Secretary of Armenian Security Council to visit France and Germany

US starts transferring 80 power generators to Ukraine

Another disinformation: Armenian soldiers did not shell Azerbaijani positions

New York builds world's thinnest skyscraper

Armenian Defense Ministry: Azerbaijan shells Armenian border positions

Ford Motor Co. recalls 634,000 SUVs worldwide due to risk of fire

Chinese man becomes famous for looking after 320 wolves at once

Taliban bans women from visiting doctors without men in Nangarhar province

Norway to provide almost $14 million for the EU mission of training AFU

World economy predicts to roll back to the level of the 2008 financial crisis

UN: Every hour more than five women are killed by their families around the world

Drone use bans in Tatarstan

Russian MOD advises Azerbaijani MOD not to question activities of Russian peacekeeping contingent

Dutch ambassador summoned to Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry

French MFA: Paris is committed to supporting negotiations between Pashinyan and Aliyev

Sweden says it will not wait for Turkish elections to join NATO

Germany's economy grew slightly more than expected in third quarter

Putin says there is no need to recruit more people through partial mobilization

Spiegel: Bundestag will vote on recognizing the holodomor as genocide

Putin informs participants of Security Council about trip to Yerevan

Hungary to receive exception to EU's planned price cap on Russian oil imports

Uruguay's first resident ambassador presents his credentials to Armenian president

Scholz surprised by companies' dependence on China

Armenian PM receives Managing Director of European External Action Service of EU

Doctors suspect poisoning of former Georgian President Saakashvili

British Foreign Secretary announces millions of pounds in additional support for Ukraine

Turkey and Qatar finalize talks on providing Ankara with up to $10 billion

Armenian Deputy Defense Minister briefs EU representatives on situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border

Switzerland approves CHF 960,000 in aid for resilience, economic recovery of Armenia border communities

Xavier Villar: Tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan through the prism of Ummatic identity

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Azerbaijan president receives EU Special Representative for South Caucasus

Lithuania terminates cooperation with Belarus in field of interior affairs

France seeks to poach India from its main arms supplier, Russia

AraratBank launches Google Pay for its card users

MFA: Armenia ready for meeting in accordance with Prague agreements, format
YEREVAN.  Hraparak daily of Armenia writes: We had written that during the last meeting with Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] President Arayik Harutyunyan, [Armenias PM] Nikol Pashinyan, in addition to saying that Armenia no longer has any business and Artsakh should directly negotiate with Baku, also insinuated that it would be good if the Artsakh authorities also move towards the West, as Russia will soon come out of Artsakhas if due to the weakening of its positions, Russia does not want to enter into a conflict with the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem.

The president and the political forces of Artsakh have accepted this information reported by Pashinyan as bad news, the [Artsakh] political arena has activated all connections for several days to verify from the RF [(Russian Federation)] the authenticity of this information. They have planned to go to Moscow and asked various figures to verify through their "channels" how true it all is.

Yesterday, they told us that various high-ranking circles of Russia have dismissed the "news" announced by Pashinyan; they said that they are not going to gift the South Caucasus to others, and they have no intention of leaving Artsakh.

By the way, also the AR [(Artsakh Republic)] President's visit to Moscow is planned in the near future, after which the picture will become more complete.
YEREVAN.  Hraparak daily of Armenia writes: The opening ceremony of the Iranian consulate general will take place today in the Kapan community of Syunik Province.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian is on an official visit to Armenia since yesterday. He, together with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, will attend the opening ceremony of the consulate.

It is noteworthy that the renovation work in the consulate building has not yet been completed, but a decision has been made to open it with a solemn ceremony; it is assumedon the initiative of the Iranian side.

The thing is that, as reported by our sources in Syunik, the provincial authorities were not even aware of the event expected today, and it actually took place spontaneously.

Let's remind that the government of Iran had made a decision to open a consulate general in Syunik back in December 2021, and after that appointed Abedin Varami as the consul general of Iran.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is in Yerevan, and he will discuss with other Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) colleagues the matters of formation of single oil and natural gas markets and digitization of mutual trade, the press service of the Russian government informed.

The PMs of the EEU member countries had a narrow-format meeting Thursday.

It was noted that the prime ministers of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan will discuss the urgent matters of integration, in particular, the process of preparing agreements on the formation of a single natural gas market, as well as the oil and oil products markets.

According to the press service of the Russian government, special attention will be paid to the digital agenda, including the creation of a single analytical system for the administration of electronic trade of goods.

During the meeting of the prime ministers of EEU member countries, it is planned to adopt the EEU 2023 budget draft, as well as to discuss the matters of transfer and distribution of the amounts of import customs duties between the budgets of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Armenia's trade with the other Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) member countries reached $2.8 billion in January-August of this year, increasing by 74 percent compared to the same period last year. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this at Fridays extended meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, in Yerevan.

He added that exports from Armenia have doubled, and the imports have increased by 58 percent.

In his assessment, despite the political tension and the complicated socioeconomic situation of the world, the EEU consistently implements its integration agenda and deepens cooperation in the face of global challenges.

"We can certainly document the presence of positive results and trends in mutual trade in the process of establishment of the EEU. We have achieved major success, a single market has been created, the indicators of mutual trade have noticeably increased. Along with all the opportunities provided by the EEU single market, we also maintain the features and requirements of national legislations and, if necessary, in response to new challenges, we apply protective measures for our own domestic markets," Pashinyan noted.
The formation of single industrial markets of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in the energy sector is not only a matter of fulfilling the provisions of the EEU agreement, but a necessary condition for realizing the economic integration potential of the resource platform. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia announced this at Fridays extended meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, in Yerevan.

"We are ready for a constructive dialogue based on mutual understanding and, taking into account the interests of all member states of the Union, to regulate some provisions of the draft international agreement on the formation of the single [natural] gas market, the implementation of which will allow the member states to fully enjoy the advantages of the single gas market. Otherwise, the EEU member states will not be able to use the potential of the single gas market until the end of the bilateral agreements. This is a very sensitive topic, and we all need understanding in the price horizonat least in the medium term," he said.

The Armenian PM assured that the EEU is consistently moving towards the elimination of barriers, calling it a problem of the stability of the internal market.

"This is a continuous process, the effectiveness of which largely depends on the willingness to find compromise solutions," Pashinyan noted.

Also, the Armenian premier expressed confidence that the use of the potential of financial organizations and joint efforts will soon practically enable to switch to the production of goods that are in demand in the EEU.

"Another important and relevant domain is the domain of electronic trade, the share of which is constantly growing. Effective fiscal regulation in the domain of electronic trade is becoming more and more important for us," he said.

In addition, Pashinyan expressed his belief that the formation of consistent steps in the IT sector provided by the target program for the development of the integrated information system until 2027 will serve as a strategic basis for accessing digital solutions, whose demand is extremely high.

"I want to confirm the readiness of the Armenian side to actively cooperate with all member states of the Union for the benefit of Eurasian integration," the PM concluded.
Mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Ihor Terekhov informed that explosions took place in the area of an enterprise in the city.

"Initially, a strike was launched on the administrative building in the area," he wrote on Telegram.

According to him, there is devastation in Kharkiv. Terekhov noted that the State Emergency Service of Ukraine is currently investigating the extent of the collapses and whether there are victims.

Oleh Synyehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, also informed on Telegram about the strikes on the city of Kharkiv.

The Ukrainian mass media informed also about the explosions in Zaporizhzhia city. Oleksandr Starukh, the governor of Zaporizhzhia region, confirmed on Telegram that the city is under shelling.

"They are attacking the regional center with missiles," Starukh informed.
NEWS.am presents the exclusive interview with EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus.

Is it clear where specifically in the territory of Armenia the EU Monitoring mission will be deployed? What kind of work will be conducted within the framework of the mission?

These parameters, including specific organizational and operational issues, are currently being finalized in the framework of the ongoing work and consultations carried out by the EU Technical Assessment Mission, which was deployed to Armenia on 14 October. It is foreseen that the future EU Monitoring Capacity in Armenia will be composed of a total of about 40 monitors. Their primary task will be to monitor the situation on the ground through road patrols in areas of interest on the Armenian side of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Based on their observations, reports will be submitted to the HQ in Brussels on a regular basis.

Azerbaijani armed forces continue to violate the ceasefire along the border with Armenia trying also to attribute the responsibility to the Armenian side. As the Prime Minister of Armenia stressed, Azerbaijan is seeking to create a pretext for a new military aggression against Armenia. Will the EU Monitoring mission have any functions and leverages to prevent new escalations like the one that took place in the middle of September because of the Azerbaijani intervention into the territory of Armenia?

As I just said, the EU Monitoring Capacity has a clear mandate to report back to Brussels HQ on any security-related developments on the ground. Based on discussions with the leaderships of both countries, we expect the sides to cooperate with the EU monitors and contribute to a stabilization of the situation, thus allowing for an environment conducive to peace talks and focused work of the border commissions. The expectation is that the presence of the EU monitors will help deter any further escalation.

The President of Azerbaijan announced that he had declined the possibility of deploying EU mission in the territory of Azerbaijan. According to the statement released in the result of the Prague meeting, Azerbaijan has agreed to cooperate with this mission as far as it is concerned. Doesnt the Azerbaijani declination regarding the deployment of the EU mission also from the Azerbaijani side restrict the possible effectiveness of the mission?

The Azerbaijani side has committed to engaging with the mission through regular contacts between relevant actors on the ground, even without a physical presence on the Azerbaijani side of the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border. Indeed, as a result of the Prague meeting on 6 October, there was an agreement by Armenia to facilitate a civilian EU mission alongside the border with Azerbaijan and the latter agreed to cooperate with this mission as far as it is concerned. The deployment of the EU Monitoring Capacity in Armenia also follows a specific request made by Armenia through an official letter sent by the Armenian Foreign Minister to HR/VP J. Borrell on 22 September.

An agreement was reached in Prague that the UN Charter and Alma Ata 1991 Declaration would lie in the basis for the work of the border delimitation commissions and that the next meeting of the border commissions would take place in Brussels by the end of October. Meanwhile, the sovereign territories of Armenia have not yet been deoccupied by the Azerbaijani armed forces, and there is still no agreement about the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from these territories. What perspective does the delimitation process have given the fact that the Armenian territories are still occupied?

When HR/VP Borrell spoke in front of the European Parliament some weeks ago, he made clear that Azerbaijani forces should be withdrawn to their side of the mutual border. That border exists, even though it is not demarcated. Also Armenian forces that are on the Azerbaijani side of the bilateral border should be pulled back. Reducing tensions in this way would surely contribute positively to the work of the delimitation commissions. To my mind both are essential: respect for the existing border and full engagement in the delimitation talks. It is our hope that the next meeting of the border commissions in Brussels will help achieve some concrete results.

Armenia and Azerbaijan are announcing about various maps of different times to lie in the basis of delimitation of Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Whats EU position on this - what kind of maps should be the basis for delimitation in order to reach balanced decisions?

One of the main outcomes of the Prague meeting on 6 October was Armenia and Azerbaijan confirming their commitment to the Charter of the United Nations and the Alma Ata 1991 Declaration through which both recognized each others territorial integrity and sovereignty. They confirmed it would be a basis for the work of the border delimitation commissions. The EU believes that this reference to the Alma Ata 1991 Declaration speaks clearly about the need to ensure respect for borders as they existed during the latest agreed arrangements to date, i.e. the administrative borders of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. For lack of any other line, it would be important for the sides to at least agree on this as a starting point for their negotiations.

There is no mention about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the core rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh in the statement of the Prague meeting. Whats EU position on the future of Nagorno-Karabakh and its people which are permanently under the existential threat by Azerbaijan?

We all know how the conflict started and we also hear the concerns voiced by the Armenian side. The future of the Armenian population of Karabakh needs to be addressed seriously and we have been exchanging views on the matter on a regular basis with our interlocutors in Azerbaijan and in Armenia. It is of utmost importance that the security situation around Karabakh remains stable and for an atmosphere of trust to emerge, so that the people on the ground can envisage a peaceful future allowing for practical solutions to be found through active negotiations between both sides, and ultimately for a process of reconciliation to start. The EU, including at the highest level, has always made it very clear that guarantees for the rights and security of the Armenian population of Karabakh will be a key element of a future peaceful South Caucasus.

What is the EU position, should the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh be a part of the possible peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan?

We have heard the position of the Armenian authorities on the matter recently about the need to address issues relating to Karabakh separately from the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization track. We also hear the statements from Baku on the matter. I above all believe that it is essential for Baku to elaborate a comprehensive strategy and engage in a constructive and transparent process of dialogue with the Armenian population in Karabakh, which is supported by the international community. A solution that will ensure Karabakh Armenians rights and security is in the interest of the population on the ground, it is in the interest of Armenia, it is in the interest of Azerbaijan and it is also in the interest of the international community.

There are official statements both by Yerevan and Baku about the possibility of signing the peace treaty till the end of this year. Do you consider this perspective realistic?

We have also heard these statements. The sides have publicly and repeatedly commented on the principles that should be part of such a future peace treaty. We are encouraged by the meetings held between the Foreign Ministers. Whether the aim of the end of the year is achieved will depend on the sides. What is clear is that we support this process and are convinced that an agreement will be a crucial element for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict.

Your statement on videos showing war crimes committed against Azerbaijanis, which need to be investigated and if authentic, perpetrators need to be held responsible, was widely criticized in Armenian social media. After your statement another video of torturing Armenian soldiers by the Azerbaijanis was published. As it is known, they were also killed in captivity. How would you comment on the latest video?

Numerous horrific videos have been published over the past weeks showing unacceptable violence against prisoners and other human rights violations which, if proven authentic, would amount to war crimes. I have clearly stated that past crimes can in no way justify a repetition of violence. This has to stop once and for all, and the perpetrators of these crimes must face justice. There is also a need to acknowledge and investigate earlier crimes, regardless of who committed them. However, we expect the authorities to very clearly state their unequivocal condemnation of these awful acts, and to guarantee full-fledged investigations and prosecution of perpetrators. The Azerbaijani authorities have taken initial steps to investigate the latest reports of violence and we will closely follow these proceedings. At the same time, I would like to reiterate our call on both sides on the need to ensure a fair treatment of past and recent violence, but also to do everything in their power to avoid a repetition of such indescribable acts. The page of enmity and hatred needs to be turned once and for all, for the benefit of future generations.

Hayk Sahakyan
YEREVAN.  Speaker of the Republic of Armenia National Assembly (RA NA), Alen Simonyan, on Friday received the European Parliament's Standing Rapporteur on Armenia, Andrey Kovatchev, the NA informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The NA President, in the person of the guest, expressed his gratitude to the European Parliament for adopting relevant resolutions and reports in favor of Armenia.

At the meeting, the issues of the Armenophobic rhetoric consistently sounding by the higher leadership of Azerbaijan, the destruction of the Armenian cultural and religious heritage and the returning of Armenian prisoners of war and the civilians were discussed.

Touching upon the large-scale aggression of Azerbaijan against the sovereign territory of Armenia, the sides recorded that the issue of the conflict settlement again an attempt was made to move from the table of negotiations to the battlefield, turning it into large-scale aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia. Andrey Kovatchev noticed that this is not the case, when they should equally call upon the sides on the ceasefire.

The attack has been from Azerbaijan, naturally, they have not invaded the territory of Armenia from Mars planet, he added.

We have been long ago and repeatedly warned our international partners about the new war and we expect from them targeted statement condemning the actions of Azerbaijan, Alen Simonyan noted in response. He underlined that he highly appreciates the continuous mediation efforts of the European Union, the arrival of the EU Observation Mission to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

At the end of the meeting the sides also talked about the report to be published by the European Parliament in the near future.
The consul general of Iran has suggested to the people of Armenias Kapan city not to be worried at all, and said they are here for the Armenian people. Morteza Abedin Varamin announced this in an interview to Armenian News-NEWS.am. We present below the text of this interview.

Is the consultation starting to operate from today, from tomorrow? Is everything finished or not yet?

Since our minister came according to the invitation of his excellency [Armenian FM] Mr. Mirzoyan to Armenia, we saw that it is a good opportunity to open the consulate general with the presence of our minister. So, officially from Monday the consulate general works. But operationally it will be working from the next week.

How the consulate is going to contribute to tightening the relations between Armenia and Iran?

I think from weeks ago we worked very hard to help develop the relations between two countries by preparing all the things to open our consulate general here. I am hopeful that in near future the consulate can help to develop our historical relations in different fields as I told before in terms of political, cultural, trade, economic, etc.

Are there any programs that are connected with Syunik region for now.

I need a little bit time to come and see the people, the officials in Syunik province and after that we will see in which fields we could cooperate better. I think that opening the consulate general in Kapan will help the businessmen and other personalities to do more than what we have and what we had before.

But there is surely a political message in opening a consulate in Kapan. We are just 2 km away from the Azerbaijani soldiers. Considering this I would like your comment on why is a consulate being opened right now in Syunik.

We are messengers of peace in Armenia and we want to see Armenia a stable country. So as Iranian high officials emphasized we cant accept any change in border changes in region.

Was this political situation the first reason to open a consulate in Syunik?

I think that opening a consulate general of IRI in Kapan shows a strong determination of the leaders of two countries. This decision comes back to many years and now we are witnessing the opening of the embassy at that time being.

I would like to hear your comment as a person on how did you see Syunik and was this your first visit here?

I see the Armenian people as we have Armenian citizens in Iran. They are very gentle people and very nice people. So are the people in your country and in Kapan.

Even though the tension on the border is quite higher here, people are very nervous and live in constant fear.

I suggest to people in Kapan not to be worried at all. We are here for Armenian people.
Iran wants to see Armenia stable. Iran is the envoys of peace in Armenia, Iranian Consul General in Kapan Abedin Varamin told journalists on Friday.

The Consul General reminded that high-ranking Iranian officials have repeatedly and quite clearly stated that internationally recognized borders as well as the territorial integrity of countries should be respected.

Varamin drew attention to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian's words that Armenia's security is Iran's security.

"We are very clear that we do not officially recognize any border changes. We want a peaceful and stable Armenia," the diplomat said.

He said the interests of the two countries will be taken into account and urged the residents of Kapan not to worry.

"I would advise the residents of Kapan not to worry. We are here for the sake of the Armenian people. I am here myself," the Consul General stressed.

Varamin added that the opening of the Iranian consulate general demonstrates the firm determination of the leaders of the two countries to continue developing bilateral cooperation.
The consulate general of Iran in Kapan, Armenia, will be an indicator of warm relations between Armenia and Iran, and it will be important for ensuring peace and security in the region. The Armenian foreign minister stated this at Fridays official opening of the consulate general.

Ararat Mirzoyan noted that Armenia lauds Iran's decision to open a consulate general in Syunik Province, which is the backbone of Armenia.

"Today is a significant day in the age-old history of Armenian-Iranian friendly relations. The opening of the consulate general of Iran in Kapan and its effective operation will give a new quality to the special relations of the two countries, will promote cooperation, and will contribute to the development of Armenian-Iranian ties.

It is noteworthy that this important event takes place on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of relations between Armenia and Iran. The path we traveled over the past 30 years has been marked by a sincere desire for strategic relations, friendship, and close partnership. I am confident that from now on, all necessary efforts will be made to deepen and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation," the Armenian FM emphasized.
Iranian Consul General in Kapan Abedin Varamin, in an interview with journalists on Friday, expressed hope that Armenia would never need offensive weapons when asked whether Armenia had applied to Iran for the purchase of UAVs.

The diplomat particularly suggested addressing this issue to the defense ministries of the two countries.

Commenting on Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian's words on the undesirability of foreign presence in the region, Iranian Consul General once again forwarded the question, but this time to the Foreign Minister himself. Varamin did not rule out that the minister was referring to the possible military presence of third countries.

"We have always stressed that the countries of the region do not need the presence of foreign military forces," Varamin said.
Iran considers the security of Armenia and the entire region as its own security, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Friday at the opening of the consulate in Kapan city of Armenia's Syunik province.

The Iranian Foreign Minister expressed confidence that the employees of the Iranian Consulate General in Kapan will enjoy the support of the Governments of Armenia and Iran, as well as the support of the regional and city authorities and the good will of the local population. He also recalled the Iranian government's readiness to open an Armenian general consulate in Tabriz on the principles of reciprocity.

According to the minister, the decision to open a general consulate in Kapan shows the importance with which the government and people of Iran accord to the two peoples' millennial relations.

Iran's policy, Abdollahian noted, is to respect territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders.

He said Iranian authorities will work to develop trade and economic ties between the two countries with Iranian embassy and consulate officials in Kapan.

"The Syunik province is one of the most important sections of the North-South corridor. Armenia, on the other hand, is considered by Iran as one of the most important transit countries. We will do our best to ensure that transit, cargo and passenger transportation develops along this very route," stressed the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Social media companies are unlikely to fully comply with a new Turkish law requiring them to remove "disinformation" content and share user data with authorities, analysts say, raising the possibility of possible disruptions to platforms before next year's elections, Reuters reports.

Facebook, Twitter, Google and others must fully comply with the law by next April or they will face possible ad bans and eventually reduced bandwidth, putting the companies in a dilemma ahead of next June's election.

Analysts and consultants say the companies have global privacy standards they are unlikely to violate in Turkey because it could set dangerous precedents for other countries seeking control over social platforms.

"Some of these companies are not likely to comply with the law," said Sinan Ulgen, founding partner at Istanbul Economics, a regulatory and legal consultancy.

The law, which took effect this week, requires companies to share user information with authorities if they post content that constitutes a crime, including misleading information.

Social media companies are required to appoint Turkish representatives. They face a bandwidth restriction of up to 90 percent immediately following a court order if the representative fails to provide information to authorities.

Critics of the law say it could tighten government control over social media, one of the last bastions of free speech and dissent in Turkey after 20 years under President Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party.

The AKP and allied nationalists supported the law. The opposition called it "the censorship law" and said it could affect the June parliamentary and presidential elections, which polls show Erdogan could lose.

The law has largely been criticized for imprisoning social media users and journalists who spread "disinformation," but it also builds on legislation imposed on social media companies in 2020, with much harsher measures.

For example, companies will be "directly responsible" for "unlawful" content and tags if they don't remove them within four hours of authorities' request.

Social networking sites are already strictly monitored, and people are often sued for posting, for example, criticizing the Turkish invasion of Syria or insulting the president.

A recent investigation by Reuters showed how pressure from authorities and self-censorship have turned the mainstream Turkish media into a tight chain of subjugation to government-approved headlines.

Until now, social media companies have been able to comply with the 2020 law by creating legal entities in Turkey that they could easily pull out if pressured, said Yaman Akdeniz, a cyber law expert and professor at Istanbul's Bilgi University. Those laws were a "soft transition," but now the government has made them much more serious with the new bill, he added. "If you accept all of these, you become a part of the law enforcement because the expectation is that you assist in everything," he said.

Companies could be fined up to 3 percent of their global revenue if they don't comply with the law, and they could also face a ban on advertising.

Akdeniz said authorities probably won't immediately impose sanctions such as regulation, but will start with smaller steps such as fines. However, he said the possibility of tougher measures poses an ongoing threat to companies.

Sezen Yesil, director of public policy for Meta in Turkey and Azerbaijan, told a parliamentary commission in June that there is uncertainty about how the laws will be implemented.

Pelin Kuzey Karaman, Google's director of government relations and public policy in Turkey, told the commission that the company has made "the maximum efforts" to comply with the 2020 law. "Unfortunately, these efforts we have made at the maximum level only 1-1/2 to 2 years ago will almost be wasted... with the draft bill. As Google, we truly see this as a saddening development," she said.

Under the new law, network service providers such as Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp, which is ubiquitous in Turkey, must also establish a local company. The law places them under the jurisdiction of the Information and Communication Technology Authority (ICTA), which can block them if they operate without permission.

"I think (the law) is like a wish list - they put whatever they can think of in there," Akdeniz said. "There is an attempt to regulate social media platforms that could be a model law for authoritarian regimes."
The European Union will allocate to Kiev 1.5 billion euros per month in 2023, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said after the summit of EU leaders, reports Reuters.

She said the EU has already allocated 19 billion euros to Ukraine this year.

"It is very important for Ukraine to have a predictable and stable flow of income," she said, adding that Kiev estimates its monthly needs at 3 to 4 billion euros for the essentials.

Von der Leyen said the EU would fund 1.5 billion euros a month from that amount, with the rest expected to come from the United States and international organizations. This will give a total of 18 billion for next year, an amount that Ukraine can count on and with a stable and reliable, predictable revenue stream, she said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed EU leaders via video link the day before, saying that Russian missiles and Iranian drones have damaged a third of Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

Von der Leyen said the EU is also considering how to help Ukraine restore water and electricity supplies.

Zelenskyy asked the EU for air and missile defense systems as well as powerful new sanctions against Russia as well as Iran for allegedly supplying drones.

The EU has already imposed limited sanctions against Iran in this regard, but now EU member states are divided on imposing new sanctions against Russia.

Poland and three Baltic states proposed to ban imports of Russian diamonds from Russia and stop trade in steel, but Belgium and Italy are against these steps.

Hungary is against imposing sanctions against Russia at all, while Germany and France said the current measures are already far-reaching.

Summit chairman Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said the EU is considering using Russian assets frozen as a result of sanctions against Moscow to rebuild Ukraine.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said the amount is about 300 billion euros, although Berlin and other countries have warned that the actual seizure of assets could be illegal.
The newspaper "Haykakan Zhamanak", owned by the family of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, published another anonymous article titled "Why through the territory of Armenia? Who are the main beneficiaries of the corridor, and why a corridor and not a road?". The article refers to the corridor requested by Azerbaijan, the beneficiaries of which, according to the anonymous author, are Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia.

"After the 44-day war, according to the November 9, 2020 joint statement, all economic and transportation routes in the region were supposed to be unblocked.

However, Azerbaijan, several months later, has still not responded to the Armenian government's proposal to open three checkpoints on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. And this despite the fact that the trilateral statement of November 9 did not say a word about this. On the contrary, it talks about unblocking the roads.

And why a corridor and not a road? Why through Armenian territory and who are the main beneficiaries of the corridor?

One of the main beneficiaries of the corridor, through the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, is Azerbaijan.

The corridor will allow Azerbaijan to:

- Carry out cargo shipments along the Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan-Turkey route on more favorable terms

- have control over freights that pass through Armenian territory from Iran

- to use as a burning issue for aggravation of domestic political situation and public sentiments in Armenia

- Azerbaijan has unconcealed ambitions regarding Syunik as well. The corridor is the first step towards creating a legitimate basis for the return of Azerbaijanis to these areas.

If the road is in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, the transportation of goods will be controlled by the Armenian side, and Azerbaijan, as part of the transit zone, will have to pay taxes to Armenia for transportation, which is simply not acceptable to Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani side, for example, has refused to use Armenian airspace for years. And all this only because it did not want to pay taxes. Azerbaijan does not need an economically developed Armenia.

Azerbaijan can get a road and railroad through Iranian territory, but Iran will never give a corridor to Azerbaijan, and neither will Armenia. But Azerbaijan is trying to get a corridor from Armenia by force. After all, this is much less feasible in the case of Iran.

Another major beneficiary of a corridor through Armenian territory is Turkey.

The corridor will allow Turkey:

- Provide unimpeded communication with the Turkic world

- Block the prospect of a possible gas pipeline from Iran through Armenian territory to Europe

In the case of a road through the sovereign territory of Armenia, both Azerbaijani and Turkish cargo traffic will be controlled by Armenia, they will have to pay taxes in Armenia, as a result Armenia will have an even more developed economy, and Armenia's role and importance in the region will become more important. And all of this, to put it mildly, is not desirable for either Azerbaijan or Turkey.

Russia is also one of the main beneficiaries of the corridor through Armenia.

The corridor will allow Russia to:

- Influence freight traffic from Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan and Turkey

- Exert influence on cargoes passing through Armenian territory from Iran

- Exert additional leverage over Armenia and Azerbaijan and control the most important east-west road junction.

After the start of the special operation against Ukraine, after Western and U.S. sanctions against Russia, Russia is trying to find a market for both exports and imports. In this case, playing Turkey on two strings with the West and Russia is an ideal option, the only thing left is to establish a land link with Turkey. In this context, the role of Turkey and Azerbaijan in the region has increased, and now Azerbaijan can become a platform for Russia to export gas and oil to the West.

No matter how much Russian official platforms try to deny Russia's participation in the opening of the corridor through the sovereign territory of Armenia, Russian ambitions, the facts say otherwise.

First, the inaction of Russia and the CSTO against the Azerbaijani military that invaded Armenia's sovereign territory, the failure to deliver weapons to Armenia, the inertness of Russian troops stationed in Armenia, and the aggressiveness of Russia's ally Azerbaijan on the border with Armenia.

By the way, Azerbaijan, Turkey or Russia are in favor of a corridor through Armenian territory under Russian control.

Russia has several options for getting a corridor through Armenian territory.

1. Russia's ally Azerbaijan weakens Armenia by military escalation to the point where Armenia is forced to join the Union State or the Russian Federation.

2. As a result of the escalation, Russia's ally Azerbaijan manages to occupy a corridor on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia up to Nakhchivan, which will then be controlled by the Russian Federation.
As a kid, LaFontaine Oliver wanted to be an actor. Instead, a scholarship offer from the University of Miami helped steer him into a career in radio.

Currently the president and general manager of WYPR, the principal National Public Radio (NPR) station in Baltimore, Oliver was recently appointed president and chief executive officer of New York Public Radio. He will begin his new position in January 2023 and is eager to start.

Ive had the privilege to work with some special organizations throughout my career, Oliver said. Still, I cannot think of a more exciting opportunity than to join the talented team at New York Public Radio and be aligned with an organization that is not only a leader in public media but is also charting its own course in the larger media ecosystem nationally.

Olivers newest role is the latest in a career that has its roots in a childhood love of performing. His fathera bit of a Renaissance manwrote and staged productions for churches around Washington, D.C., where the family lived, and where Oliver had his first stage experience.

I took acting lessons and eventually started landing roles in professional productions. For a good part of my childhood, I was a working actor, he noted. Oliver performed in theaters all over his home city, including such renowned venues as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Folger Shakespeare Theatre.

Olivers career highlight as a child actor was performing with the original Broadway cast of Joe Turners Come and Gone, one of a series of plays by August Wilson that chronicles the Black experience in 20th-century America. I got the opportunity when they made their first stop [after] Broadway at the Arena Stage in Washington, he said. So, I thought I would go off and be an actor.

In high school, Oliver decided that pursuing a full-time acting career was financially risky. He resolved to get a university degree, the first in his immediate family to do so. That was one of the things that motivated me, he said. I really wanted to go to college and complete an undergraduate degree. Neither my mother nor father nor grandparents had that opportunity.

The University of Miami was among the colleges on Olivers application list. He was accepted but decided to go to Rutgers University in New Jersey, which he thought would be his most affordable option. I went to pick out my dorm room and take my placement exams; and when I got back, there was a scholarship and financial aid package in the mail from the University of Miami, Oliver said. All of a sudden, it was the most affordable school on my list, and my father said, Guess where you are going. 

One of Olivers first moves was volunteering at WVUM, the Universitys student-run radio station. My dad worked in radio, so I kind of had the radio bug. Maybe not quite as early as the performance bug, but it was there, he said. He pursued a business degree at the University, but he knew he wanted to work in broadcasting. And WVUM quickly became his primary extracurricular occupation.

He started with a standard late-night shift on the air. Eventually, Oliver landed a specialty show in the series Retro Lunch, where he showcased retro R&B, funk, and soul. He also gained the highly coveted job hosting The Hip-Hop Shop, the longest-running local hip-hop radio show in Miami.

At the end of his sophomore year, Oliver ran for the position to be the stations general manager. For the next two years, he oversaw all station operations and carried a full course load.

I was running a radio station where we were responsible for everything that any other FCC-licensed broadcaster must worry about, Oliver said. We had serious compliance [requirements], we were reporting our music spins to the most credible music trade publications, we were doing Hurricane sports, we were doing everything broadcasters do professionally. It was the real deal.

Life was a real balancing act for Oliver with his duties at WVUM, another part-time job off-campus, an internship his senior year at a commercial station, and his coursework. The latter included core business classes and electives in communications, the lessons from which he put into practice every day at WVUM.

I remember it was difficult but just a ton of fun. I learned so much, Oliver said. WVUM had wonderful new offices and studios in the [Whitten University Center]. I had an office there and kept a certain number of office hours each day. If I was not in class, you would find me in the offices of WVUM.

After graduating, Oliver worked in commercial and satellite radio for several years before starting an M.B.A. degree. At the same time, he made the professional transition to public radio, running a small station licensed to Morgan State University while he completed his masters degree program. He then took over as general manager of WMFE, Orlandos leading NPR affiliate.

During what he calls six wonderful years in Central Florida, Oliver expanded local news coverage, worked to connect the station to underserved communities, and championed civil discourse. He joined NPRs board of directors in 2016 and WYPR in 2019. In 2020, he began his tenure as NPRs board chair.

Oliver is passionate about the importance of public radio in telling the stories of diverse communities in ways that, as he put it, respects listeners intelligence. As he explained, public radio endeavors to give facts, but also provide a context and lens of relevance [that enable] our audience to figure out what it means for them, and not add to the noise and distortion of the contemporary media landscape.

According to Oliver, the value of public radio lies in the fact that stations are locally governed and embedded in the communities they serve. People can reach out and touch us. They can call us upthey can get to us, he said. Theres a trust that many of our organizations and stations have built up in communities across the country, he added.

There are 250-something member organizations across the country that contribute content and [weave] together our story of a family of communities. We operate in a space where its part news and journalism and part storytelling. Its figuring out creative ways to serve local audiences, he continued.

I feel very fortunate to wake up every day and do something I love, Oliver emphasized. Its tough work sometimes, but I think the best part is seeing and hearing directly from the community how important our work is to them in their daily lives. I love that opportunity to connect with the community in an authentic way, and it is reaffirming when you hear from people of all sorts of backgrounds and perspectives that what you do is important and valuable.
Dr. Miruthula Tamil Selvan

Vet Med graduate student earns prestigious fellowship

Media Contact: Kaylie Wehr | Coordinator, Marketing and Public Relations | 405-744-6740 | kaylie.wehr@okstate.edu

Dr. Miruthula Tamil Selvan was awarded the Otto S. Cox Fellowship in Genetics Research. The Cox Fellowship supports outstanding OSU graduate students with a proven record of research in genetics from any disciplinary or interdisciplinary program.

Selvan is Ph.D. student in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at the Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

I really appreciate them for choosing me, Selvan said. It is a recognition for my hard work.

The Cox Fellowship is highly competitive, especially this year, said Dr. Christine Johnson, associate vice president in the Division of the Vice President for Research.

This year we received 20 applications for the Otto S. Cox Fellowship in Genetics Research, which is an all-time high, Johnson said. The pool of applicants was very strong and competitive.

Students were considered for not only what they had already accomplished, but also how well they articulated their future line of research and future contributions to the field of genetics.

Selvan is mentored by Dr. Craig Miller, assistant professor and director of the Oklahoma Center for Respiratory and Infectious Diseases Immunopathology Core Laboratory.

It has been a very rewarding experience to watch Miruthula grow and mature as a scientist, Miller said. She has put in countless hours in the lab and sacrificed a lot of personal time for these studies. I am very proud of her and this achievement!

Selvan worked as the lead student on two major projects in the Immunopathology Core Lab that contributed significantly to the field of COVID-19 research.

Having previously identified felines as a better model to study SARS CoV-2, Selvan and her team members utilized cats as a flexible translational animal model to prevent the spread of the SARS CoV-2 delta variant and identify potential targets for downstream therapeutic development.

We used the SARSCoV2 delta variant to infect the cats to find not only the infection but also things like the route of infection, how pathogenic it is and the severity of the virus, Selvan said. In addition, we wanted to find some potential biomarkers which are upregulated, or increased, in the cats during the infection so we can use those markers to identify the disease in humans.

Selvan and her team aim to limit inflammation in COVID-19 sufferers with the hope of better outcomes.

We were looking for what genes are most responsible for inflammation, Selvan said. In SARSCoV2, the main problem is the disease has its part separately, but it also causes more inflammation, which aggravates the patient's condition for some other diseases also.

Selvans contribution to the study was significant.

Miruthula discovered several important inflammatory genes and inflammation pathways that are upregulated during acute infection, Miller said. She then identified potential targets that can be explored for downstream therapeutic development.

The next step will be to learn if they can use this information to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

In the future, we will be working on those particular genes and see whether they have potential effects of inhibiting the virus or not, Selvan said.

Selvan was one of two graduate students to receive the Cox Fellowship. She earned her BVSc (DVM equivalent) from the Veterinary College and Research Institute, Tirunelveli, in India. She is on track to complete her Ph.D. in 2023.
Breaking down the research process at OSU

Media Contact: Harrison Hill | Senior Research Communications Specialist | 405-744-5827 | harrison.c.hill@okstate.edu

Although the concept of research is often associated with laboratory sciences, research at a comprehensive university like Oklahoma State takes place in virtually all disciplines.

Laboratory scientists conduct controlled experiments, field researchers study phenomena in natural settings and social scientists uncover the complex patterns of behavior in everything from economies to relationships.

Historians study, synthesize and make sense of events over time; artists devise new ways to experience the human condition; engineers solve problems to make things work in the physical world; and theoretical physicists devise models and explanations for how galaxies, stars, planets and invisible forces formed and sustain our universe. All of these creative endeavors  and many more  constitute research.

Why do research?

Universities invest in research because of the three Es: Expertise, Example and Extension.

Expertise: The top experts in any discipline, even if they have a passion for teaching, want to keep pushing the boundaries of their fields. To recruit and retain accomplished academics to teach OSU students, we empower and support them to continue their research.

Example: By learning from these top experts  not only in the classroom, but also in the laboratory, in the clinic, on the stage and in other real-life research contexts  OSU students are propelled into expertise of their own very early in their academic careers.

Extension: Investing in research allows OSU the opportunity to make a public impact. At OSU, we take the latest knowledge and solutions developed by our experts and share that information directly with people in our communities who need those solutions the most.

Advances in childhood nutrition get into the hands of school lunch programs and young parents. Advances in wheat varieties get into the fields of Oklahoma farmers. New understanding of economic stressors impact rural communities, gets into city council meetings and impacts policy decisions. At a land-grant university like OSU, we take our research directly to the public whenever possible.

Funding research with grants

There are some philanthropic people and foundations that provide outright gifts that OSU can use to fund research. But research grants are different. Most research grants come from federal or state agencies, although some can come from private foundations and even private individuals. Unlike gifts that might be designated for a particular theme or topic, research grants are tied to specific projects.

The grant process usually works something like this:

A funding agency  or private funder  publishes a description of the types of projects it would consider funding and a specific process for proposing a project for funding.

An OSU researcher (or team of researchers) learns of the funding opportunity and has a relevant project idea they would like to pursue.

The researcher then works with university support staff to prepare and submit a grant application, including a detailed budget for exactly how the funds would be spent to carry out the project.

If the funder selects the OSU application, then a grant is made to OSU (not to the researchers as individuals) to allow the researcher(s) to conduct the project.

The grant essentially becomes a contract between OSU and the funding agency. OSU as an institution is then responsible for ensuring the project is conducted consistent with expectations, usually including progress reports and final reports.

Research grants are extremely important to OSU, in that they help our researchers conduct projects that are impactful without overly taxing institutional resources. They provide critical opportunities to students (who are often employed by the grants), and they are key indicators that our faculty experts are developing their research capabilities in ways respected by the broader disciplines. However, contrary to common misconceptions, research grants do not financially profit the university. At best, research grants cover the costs of the projects they support.

Developing new technologies

Sometimes, the problem being addressed by a research project is the need for a new tool or product that will be useful in a given industry. Other times, a researcher is trying to answer a very basic question and in doing so develops a new technology they realize could have a larger impact.

Either way, something is invented that has potential commercial value. When that happens in university research, we engage a technology commercialization process that proceeds as follows:

The researcher informs our commercialization team about the invention.

Our team assesses the potential market for the invention (likely customers; competitors, etc.)

OSU protects the intellectual property via a patent, copyright or trade secret process.

Our team works with the researcher to document proof of concept and develop a functional prototype.

The technology is scaled up and taken to market  either by licensing it to an existing company in the sector or by establishing a start-up company that will hold a license to sell the technology.

Every one of these steps can require resources. To keep the development moving forward, we often pursue federal technology development grants at early stages, or we take on private investors at later stages. At each step there is risk of failure. But OSU innovations taken all the way to successful market penetration have great benefit to everyone involved: consumers get a tool that adds value to their lives, investors get a return on their investments, and OSU receives licensing fees and royalties that we share with the inventors and then use to invest in new innovations.

It is a long journey from the beginning to the end of the research process. And at OSU, when one project is over, it is time to start another as our research is never truly finished. That tireless dedication to finding solutions to the worlds problems is what keeps the process always in motion.
OSU partners with USA Rare Earth's new Stillwater facility

Media Contact: Harrison Hill | Senior Research Communications Specialist | 405-744-5827 | harrison.c.hill@okstate.edu

Stillwater and Oklahoma State University have worked together in innovative harmony for years. Now, they are taking another leap forward.

The announcement that USA Rare Earth (USARE), the first rare earth and critical minerals processing facility in the United States, is coming to Stillwater means OSU has a new partner in its effort to make a positive impact on the state and the nation.

After a review of over 50 sites in multiple states, USARE chose Oklahoma and the City of Stillwater because they present a unique business, labor and operating environment for the company to develop the project.

But there was another significant factor for the companys decision: proximity to a strong research university, OSU.

OSU has what theyre looking for on two levels, said Russell Hopper, senior licensing associate in OSUs Office of Technology Commercialization. One, weve got the scientific and engineering skills, capabilities and equipment to do what they need and two, Stillwater is a nice place to live.

USARE is a U.S.-based company establishing a domestic supply chain for rare earth elements and neodymium permanent magnets, which are used in commercial and defense technologies, according to the company.

The process to make these magnets is complicated but OSU hopes its research and expertise can help the process, Hopper said.

When they came to tour, I contacted physics and mechanical engineering, material science and chemistry to see who had research that would be applicable, based on the kind of interest they had. And we had a lot of interest, he said.

The reaction USARE had to that tour was what OSU had hoped for.

They were like, Wow, OK, this is a world-class research institution, Hopper said. And we may not be doing what they need because nobodys doing what they need right now, but we have the skills and capabilities to adapt to what they need.

Both USARE and OSU hope to see the partnership grow over the coming years.

We have been engaged with the leadership at USA Rare Earth for some time now, and I am convinced that OSU and USA Rare Earth will be great partners, said Dr. Kenneth Sewell, OSU vice president for research. From unique internship opportunities for our students to joint research efforts, our partnership is poised to generate mutual benefits on many levels.

State officials and representatives from the City of Stillwater and USA Rare Earth LLC celebrate the announcement on June 9 of the new facility in Stillwater. From left: Stillwater Chamber of Commerce CEO Justin Minges, Oklahoma Department of Commerce Director of Business Development Jennifer Springer, USARE CEO Thayer Smith, Gov. Kevin Stitt, Mayor Will Joyce, Deputy City Manager Melissa Reames, and Oklahoma Secretary of Energy and Environment Kenneth Wagner.

Bob Fredette, director of magnet operations at USARE and a recognized expert in magnet materials and processes, recently relocated to Stillwater to kick off the recommissioning and is excited to expand the companys operations there, he said.

Access to the Oklahoma State University system will allow for more extensive research and development around advanced materials and critical minerals, as well as the potential for specialized job opportunities in the community, he said.

With operations in Florida, Colorado, Texas and now Oklahoma, USARE is currently developing the only heavy rare earths project in the Western Hemisphere at the Round Top minerals deposit in Texas  in a joint venture with Texas Minerals Resource Corporation.

At the new Stillwater facility, USARE is now recommissioning the only commercial-scale rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing equipment in the U.S.

Currently, the United States, European Union, Japan and much of the developed world is largely reliant on China for critical rare earth element production, said Thayer Smith, president of USA Rare Earth. Our goal with this project is to advance U.S. manufacturing capacity.

USA Rare Earth is developing a fully domestic mine-to-magnet supply chain, while the lithium at Round Top will also support the manufacture of battery electric vehicles, Smith said.

We look forward to a long-lasting relationship with OSU to create an even more productive and innovative future for the state of Oklahoma, Fredette said. The exchange of ideas and transfer of expertise to the next generation of students and researchers provide for a uniquely collaborative environment in which to foster growth and progress in a highly specialized industry.

Photos By: AllaboutStillwater.com

Story By: Harrison Hill | Research Matters Magazine
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 21 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Committed to build a vibrant, inclusive and sustainable space, Brookfield India Real Estate Trust (BIRET) has been awarded a 5-star rating for its environmental, social, and governance performance from GRESB*. The company received an overall score of 90 per cent, for operational buildings 21 per cent higher than the global average. For the recently developed buildings, GRESB awarded BIRET with a 96 per cent score. Brookfield India Real Estate Trust's holistic ESG program drives value across both its physical and social initiatives, reflecting a pledge to positively impact its surrounding environments by creating safe, sustainable, and vibrant communities across the lifecycle of real estate from design to operation. Brookfield India Real Estate Trust was also recognized as sector leader for sustainable office development in Asia by GRESB. To operationalize net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner, Brookfield India Real Estate Trust has rolled out a comprehensive ESG strategy across 13 initiatives. "We are pleased to receive a five-star rating from GRESB in our first year of participation. We take this achievement as an outcome of our commitment to sustainable business practices aligned to our global ESG framework. Across our properties in India, we are deploying the very best of technologies to achieve our goal of being net zero by 2050. Every member of our team is cognizant of the role they play in our path to achieving ESG excellence and contribute to creating consistent value for all our stakeholders," said Alok Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer, Brookprop Management Services Private Limited. "GRESB Sector Leaders are the top-performing organizations leading the way to a net-zero future and pulling the industry forward. We applaud this year's Sector Leaders for their commitment, leadership and dedication to ESG and sustainability," said Sebastien Roussotte, CEO of GRESB. *GRESB is an internationally recognized benchmark, assessing the ESG performance of $6.9 trillion of assets under management. The GRESB Sector Leader Awards recognize real estate and infrastructure companies that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in sustainability annually. This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
Further, Bharat Dynamics and IIT Ropar have entered into MoU to work on joint research projects and technology development for all missiles and underwater weapons, an official statement said on Friday.

In addition to the above two pacts, it has also signed an MoU with other organizations, including Ashok Leyland Defence Systems Limited, Mahindra Defence Systems, and Newspace Technologies.

The MoUs were exchanged with the respective Companies in the presence of Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh during the Bandhan Ceremony held on the sidelines of Defexpo - 2022 at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd), CMD, Bharat Dynamics stated that MoUs signed with the new partners would pave the way for greater cooperation between the companies. P Radhakrishna, Director (Production) signed the MoUs on behalf of Bharat Dynamics.

N Srinivasulu, Director (Finance), Upender Vennam, Chief Vigilance Officer, Commodore A Madhavarao (Retd), Executive Director (Mktg) and other senior officials of the Company were present on occasion, the statement added.

Adding to its existing wide range of product portfolio, Bharat Dynamics has launched three new products during the ongoing Defexpo - 2022. These include "Anti - Tank Guided Missile for MBT ARJUN ", the "Sangramika", a Light Weight Vehicle Mounted Anti -Tank Guided WeaponSystem and the "Sanharika", an Armoured Vehicle mounted Laser Guided Short Range Anti-Aircraft Weapon System during the Bandhan Ceremony, another statement from the company said. (ANI)
Recently, actress Kriti Sanon hosted a Diwali party where the who's who of Bollywood marked their presence. Aditya and Ananya were also a part of the bash.

One of the pictures of Aditya and Ananya from the party went viral and since then their dating rumours spread on the internet like wildfire.

The image was originally shared by Neha Dhupia on Instagram Story. In the picture, Neha poses with her husband Angad Bedi and host Kriti. The trio was clicking a selfie but it was Ananya and Aditya in the background that caught eagle-eyed fans' attention.

In the image, the rumoured couple looked busy in their conversation as they unknowingly get clicked in the background.

And now, Aditya and Ananya once again stole everyone's attention by appearing at fashion designer Manish Malhotra's Diwali party at his residence on Thursday night.

Several videos and pictures from Manish Malhotra's Diwali bash surfaced online.

In one of the videos, Aditya is seen posing for shutterbugs. All of sudden the photographers started teasing him with Ananya's name. "Adi bhai, Ananya bhi hai waha pe," said one photographer.

Immediately after, when Aditya was about to move, the photographers informed him that Ananya is coming too. Ananya then joined Aditya and posed with the actor.

"Ye jodi hit hai," cheered the paparazzi as the duo blushed while posing for the camera.

Aditya and Ananya arrived at the party in stylish black ethnic outfits.

Ananya has previously dated Ishaan Khatter, while Aditya was linked to Diva Dhawan. (ANI)
'Murder, She Wrote', actor Ron Masak, the star who is known for his Sheriff Mort Metzger character, died at the age of 86 on Thursday. According to a family statement quoted by Variety in a report, Masak died of natural causes and was surrounded by his wife, Kay, and six children. According to Variety, Masak, born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 1, 1936, attended Chicago City College to study drama before making his acting debut in 1954 with the Drama Guild. In the 1960s and 1970s, he would make appearances in enduring television programmes like 'The Twilight Zone' (1960), 'The Monkees' (1968), 'Get Smart' (1968), 'I Dream of Jeannie' (1968-69), 'Bewitched' (1969-70), 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' (1971), 'Love Thy Neighbor' (1973), 'Police Story' (1975-1978), and 'Wonder Woman' (1978). As Sheriff Mort Metzger on 'Murder, She Wrote,' he got his big break in 1985 and continued to feature in more than 40 episodes of the acclaimed show until its finale in 1996. Masak first gained notoriety as the "King of Commercials" in the 1980s and 1990s, mainly due to his voiceover work for brands like Rice-A-Roni and Vlasic pickles. Additionally, Masak made appearances in about 25 full-length movies, such as 'The Benchwarmers' (2006), 'Angels on Tap,' 'Ice Station Zebra,' 'Second Effort,' 'A Time for Dying,' 'Evel Knievel,' 'Laserblast,' and 'Listen to Me' (2018). Masak was associated with two planned films, 'The Curse of the Gorgon' and 'Quigley 2,' which were in pre-production, according to his IMDb biography. Masak has contributed significantly to several charitable causes throughout the years, including the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, Special Olympics, Susan G. Komen Foundation, Child Help, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. As per the reports of Variety, he is survived by his wife, Kay, their six children and 10 grandchildren. (ANI)
Officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation held meetings with delegations from several countries on the sidelines of the 90th Interpol General Assembly being held in India to discuss various matters including police cooperation and combating terrorism among others. According to an official statement by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday, discussions were held on matters related to the enhancement of criminal intelligence sharing; geolocation of fugitives and criminals; combating terrorism, terror financing and online radicalisation; coordinating efforts to prevent cybercrime and online child sexual exploitation. Bilateral meetings were already held with UK, USA, Australia, UAE, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Austria, South Africa, New Zealand, Japan, Bhutan, Namibia, Bahrain, Russia, Canada, Oman, Serbia, Malaysia and Mongolia. "A bilateral meeting was also held with Europol to discuss strengthening of police cooperation and on a working arrangement for cooperation with Europol," the statement said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Interpol meeting in the national capital on October 18 and said that a safe and secure world is a shared responsibility, calling India a case study for the world in upholding diversity and democracy. "In upholding diversity and democracy, India is a case study for the world. Over the last 99 years, Interpol has connected police organizations globally in 195 countries. This is despite differences in the legal framework," the Prime Minister said. PM Modi stated that Interpol is approaching a historic milestone as the organization will celebrate its 100 years in 2023. "The Interpol is approaching a historic milestone. In 2023, Interpol will celebrate its 100 years," he said. "This is a call for universal cooperation to make the world a better place. India is one of the top contributors to the UN Peacekeeping Operations. From climate targets to COVID vaccines, India has shown the willingness to take the lead in any crisis," PM Modi added further. He also emphasized how India is calling for enhanced global cooperation and added that global cooperation for local welfare is our call. Earlier, the PMO statement read, "The Interpol General Assembly meeting is taking place in India after a gap of about 25 years - it was last held in 1997. India's proposal to host the Interpol General Assembly in 2022 at New Delhi coinciding with celebrations for the 75th year of India's independence was accepted by the General Assembly with an overwhelming majority," The event provides an opportunity to showcase best practices in India's law and order system to the entire world. (ANI)
Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday sought a report from the state government on sexual assault of a four-year-old girl at a school in Hyderabad. According to Raj Bhavan, she was deeply distressed after going through various media reports on the sexual assault on the LKG student at DAV Public School in Banjara Hills. The Governor expressed her dismay and deep anguish over the incident and called for immediate action against the culprit who perpetrated the heinous crime. She has sought a detailed report on this incident from the government. Banjara Hills police on Tuesday arrested driver of the school principal for the sexual assault on the child. Following protest by the victim's relatives and others, the police on Wednesday arrested the principal for negligence. According to police Beemana Rajani Kumar (34) was arrested and sent to jail. He has been booked under section 376 A and B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 6 read with 5 m of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The incident came to light after the parents of the victim noticed behavioural changes in her. When enquired, she told them that Rajani Kumar had been sexually assaulting her for last three months. He used to take her from classroom to digital classroom. Sometime, the accused took her to inside room of the school, removed her clothes and sexually assaulted her. Enraged on learning about the assault, the victim's parents and other relatives rushed to the school and beat up the driver. He was later arrested by the police. The parents also staged a protest demanding the arrest of principal S. Madhavi. Police also took her into custody and booked her under section 21 POCSO for negligence. According to police, she had given freedom to Kumar to look after work of administration in the school. He used to instruct teachers and also other staff to work as per instructions of the principal. The accused used to move in the school freely and shift students from one classroom to the other. The incident has triggered public outrage. Leaders of opposition parties, parents' associations and activists have demanded stringent action against the culprits. --IANS ms/pgh ( 376 Words) 2022-10-20-20:36:06 (IANS)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that MP is an ideal state for investment in which a positive environment is available for setting up industries. CM Chouhan made the remark during the Curtain Raiser and Ambassador Roundtable of Global Investors Summit 2023 in New Delhi on Thursday. Chouhan invited the participating nations through their ambassadors and embassy officials to participate and invest in the Pravasi Bharatiya Sammelan to be held in Indore from January 7 to 9 next year and the Global Investors Summit-2023 to be held in Indore on January 11 and 12. In the program, Chouhan also unveiled an Invest Madhya Pradesh portal. CM Chouhan said, "With the concept of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', in the known history of 5000 years, India has considered the whole world as one family. India is contributing to the welfare of the world under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi". Giving information about the industrial scenario of the state to the present diplomats, Chouhan has informed that quality agriculture crops like Sharbati wheat and Basmati rice are produced in Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh is the most organic farming state, which is now moving towards natural farming. The state has immense potential for food processing. He informed that during the COVID 19 pandemic, medicines manufactured in Madhya Pradesh were sent to many countries. "There is a lot of potential in the textile and readymade garments, mining, IT and tourism sectors in the state. Madhya Pradesh has made a separate policy for each sector. Land bank of 1 lakh 22 thousand acres is available in the state, for which quick allotment is done. There has been an excellent development of transport and energy infrastructure in Madhya Pradesh. Labour law has been reformed in the state. A single window system has been established to simplify the investment process," Chouhan added. Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion Minister Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon said, "Madhya Pradesh has investor friendly policies. There are opportunities for investment in sectors like pharma, automobile, semiconductor and defence for all the participating nations in the state". Diplomats from participating nations like Nepal, Japan, Brazil, Fiji, Hungary, Czech Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Finland participated in the Roundtable. (ANI)
"World today is looking at India with great confidence," said Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal while addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) third edition of the exports summit on Thursday. Speaking at the CII event, Piyush Goyal said that World today is looking at India with great confidence. This trust has developed after 8 years of painstakingly building up India's story. Goyal noted that India's billion-plus population is a boon for the country as it attracts a lot of companies, and brings economies of scale and opportunities for the country. Goyal said India must make quality our brand and must strive to ensure that India is associated with High-Quality products. The Minister said that Indian Missions abroad have been asked to provide support to our exporters and help them get new opportunities and new business into those countries. He asked them to start engaging with Indian missions and seek assistance if they face any difficulty. He said CII acts as a bridge between the government and exporters and provides a platform to understand each other better. He urged CII to flag the issues faced by the industry and share suggestions with the government to properly address these issues. Piyush Goyal also appealed to large industry players to support and handhold small players so that they can understand the benefits of Quality control orders and focus on meeting quality requirements. He further added that it is also economically prudent to provide good quality goods and services. Emphasizing that reciprocity is the way forward in international trade, Shri Goyal said India must strive for trade practices with other countries on an equal footing. "Industry must draw learnings from the phenomenal success achieved by the IT Sector. This coupled with the Indian ecosystem which includes trust, rule of law, and a decisive, strong government will help capture larger markets. He said that Industry must not look for protectionism as it will not help it evolve to be able to meet the requirements of consumers. It must strive to focus on sectors where it has a competitive advantage. With the spirit of grasping the competitive advantage, we will be able to expand our businesses, scale up, and improve quality," the Minister added. (ANI)
Amid the Nationwide campaign to eliminate single-use plastic, following a notification released by the central government, the country has seized around 46 tonnes of single-use plastic so far, officials said on Thursday. The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) issued a Notification on August 12 this year, stating that the production, sale, stocking & distribution, import, and usage of identified Single Use Plastic (SUP) items including cutlery items, thin packaging films, candy & ice-cream sticks to be banned from July 1. In order to ensure its implementation Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had earlier issued comprehensive Directions to State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs), Pollution Control Committees (PCCs), and other stakeholders. Directions were issued to manufacturers to stop raw material supply to the SUP producers and E-commerce companies to stop the sale & usage of SUP items on their platforms. Several enabling measures such as training of MSMEs for switching over to alternatives to plastics have also been taken up by CPCB during this period. Digital interventions including the development of the SUP Compliance Monitoring Portal & SUP Public Grievance App were taken up to facilitate effective monitoring of activities related to the enforcement of the ban. CPCB along with SPCBs/PCCs also conducted inspections of major commercial establishments from July-August 2022. Further augmenting its efforts, CPCB started a special drive on October 17 and more than 50 teams have been deployed for conducting inspections to restrict usage of SUP items by the flower sellers, street vendors, sabzi mandis, fish markets, wholesale markets, etc. State Urban Development Department officials participated during inspections. SPCBs/PCCs have also been asked to conduct similar drives. A total of 20036 inspections including 6448 inspections by CPCB teams were carried out on October 17. Over 4000 violations were observed and 2900 challans have been issued to the defaulters. Approximately 46 tonnes of SUP items have been seized and a fine of Rs. 41 lakhs imposed by the concerned Authorities. An attempt has been made to break the supply chain of SUP items in the market through backtracking. Retailers, wholesalers, and factories engaged in manufacturing SUP items have been traced and a huge cache of the banned items was seized during the inspections. Checks are also being carried out at interstate borders to prevent interstate transportation of banned SUP items. CPCB plans to further intensify the inspection in the coming days for the elimination of SUP from all sections of the economy. (ANI)
Catholic Writer Asks for Action Soon by Social Scientists Against Historian's Defamation

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Journalist Dexter Duggan

Oct. 21, 2022

PHOENIX, Oct. 21, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ -- A historian who defamed a practicing Catholic writer with repeated falsehoods should be held to account by a professional organization that expects its members "to observe the highest scholarly and professional requirements of their disciplines," the writer said.

Missouri historian James Hitchcock, Ph.D., a former seminary and university professor, is listed as an advisory board member of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists (SCSS), whose annual conference is scheduled October 28-29 at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa.

In late 2021 Arizona Catholic journalist Dexter Duggan finally entered a confidential legal settlement against a defamatory book that attacked him by Hitchcock. However, after more than five years, Hitchcock still hasn't acknowledged making any error in Abortion, Religious Freedom, and Catholic Politics (Taylor & Francis, London), distributed around the world.

The SCSS's website says: "Through a collegiality of Catholic scholars, professors, researchers, practitioners, and writers, the SCSS brings credible scholarship to political, social, and economic questions."

The book falsely attributes statements by other clearly identified people directly to Duggan, concocts claims and misrepresents facts. Among serious, baseless errors, it claims that Duggan considered "fanatically pro-abortion" U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater to be "worthy of unqualified support" -- which would be a serious sin.

Since May 2017, after Duggan learned of the book and began writing certified letters to Hitchcock, Hitchcock replied only once, four sentences in a June 2019 letter, falsely insisting again that Duggan can't be "an orthodox Catholic." In this brief note, Hitchcock got both Duggan's name and the date of the letter wrong.

Hitchcock never has admitted, explained or defended any of his errors that Duggan called to his attention.

Duggan asks today: "Must one conclude that this is not the behavior of a conscientious Catholic scholar, refusing for years even to communicate about or explain serious errors that were found to be defamatory? How can he continue in good standing with SCSS ideals?"

Duggan's most recent certified letter to Hitchcock about his defamatory book, dated May 27, 2022, remains unanswered.

Back in 2018 Hitchcock told his longtime acquaintance Christopher Manion, Ph.D., that he intended to respond to criticisms of his errors, "but I have been very busy for several months." However, he never replied.

Hitchcock's falsehoods and errors occurred as he supposedly cited Duggan's articles in The Wanderer, the nation's oldest weekly national Catholic newspaper.

Duggan would be happy to provide a list of Hitchcock's falsehoods.

SOURCE Journalist Dexter Duggan

CONTACT: Dexter C. Duggan, 602-553-8482, dexterwriter@hotmail.com


According to a new study conducted by researchers from the University of St Andrews and the Central European University in Vienna, chimps share a human tendency to unconsciously synchronise their footsteps when walking beside one another. Whilst it is already understood that chimpanzees can coordinate when working towards a goal, such as pulling a string to release food, much less is known about their propensity to coordinate spontaneously. The study, led by Dr Manon Schweinfurth, Lecturer in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at St Andrews and published in the journal Current Biology today (Thursday 20 October), recorded the walking behaviour of chimpanzees at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust, a sanctuary in Zambia, under different conditions. The chimpanzees were observed when walking alone or when walking next to others. Researchers observed that chimpanzees show unintentional synchronisation in their steps when walking next to one another, suggesting that human's strong tendency to coordinate simple actions is shared with our closest primate relative, and therefore might be an ancestral trait. Dr Schweinfurth said: "Humans deliberately plan and coordinate actions with others during sport games, group dances, musical ensembles, or military actions. But it is also part of our daily life - like carrying items together or getting a child dressed. Indeed, joint actions have been suggested to be crucial for our success as a species because much more can be achieved together than alone. In fact, we can't help it and coordinate actions even when it is not necessary to do so, such as falling into the same rhythm with someone walking next to us." "In contrast, one of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzee, does not appear to show the same preference for rather complex joint actions. But little is known about simpler forms of joint action, such as a tendency to fall into inter-individual synchrony. Chimpanzees are particularly interesting here, as they are a good model for our last common ancestor with other African great apes." "We investigated whether chimpanzees spontaneously coordinate their actions in a semi-natural environment when coordination was neither planned nor the goal of an interaction, i.e., when they were walking close to each other. For this, we recorded their undisturbed walking behaviour under different conditions. We found that chimpanzees show unintentional synchronisation in their steps when walking next to conspecifics." The study involved both male and female chimpanzees of a variety of ages, some related and some unrelated. When the chimpanzees walked together, a step by one walker was followed by the same respective foot of the other walker in 79% of the cases within less than 0.5 seconds. "This study provides evidence that chimpanzees temporally synchronise their body movements to the movements of their conspecifics. This interpersonal coordination of movements is often called entrainment and relies on perception-action links that become coupled. Understanding which mechanisms humans share with other species can help us understand the evolutionary origins of more sophisticated forms of joint action." "This study provides evidence that this simple form of coordination is shared between humans and their closest-living relative. The difference in more complex forms of coordination between human and chimpanzees is thus probably due to more sophisticated underlying mechanisms. Future studies are needed to identify those." (ANI)
The Chinese lady identified as Cai Ruo was arrested from Majnu Ka Tila, Delhi, following searches based on the information received, Delhi police said.

After further investigation, it was revealed that the arrested foreign national was residing in India with a fake Nepalese identity.

"The Chinese lady was detained on Monday at around 1 pm from Majnu Ka Tila, Delhi. During verification, one Nepalese citizenship certificate in the name of Dolma Lama, a resident of Kathmandu, Nepal was recovered from her possession," a police officer said.

After contacting Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO), it was revealed that the arrested person is a Chinese citizen and had travelled to India back in 2019 as a Chinese national.

A case has been registered against her on October 17 under section 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security), and other relevant section of the Indian Penal Code and Foreigners Act.

The Chinese woman has been sent to police custody for 14 days.

Further information is underway, police said. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday paid tributes to police personnel, who lost their lives in the line of duty, at the National Police Memorial in the national capital on the occasion of 'Police Commemoration Day'. Shah said that the sacrifice of police personnel for the motherland would always be remembered. "On 'Police Commemoration Day', Nation salutes the valour of our police personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty. Their sacrifice for the motherland would always be remembered," the Home Minister said in a tweet. 'Police Commemoration Day' is observed every year in memory of ten valiant Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) killed during patrol duty in an ambush by heavily armed Chinese troops in Hot Springs, Ladakh on October 21, 1959. To honour the police personnel who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty for national security, the idea of setting up a National Police Memorial in Delhi was approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1992. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the National Police Memorial to the nation on Police Commemoration Day on October 21, 2018. The Memorial gives Police Forces a sense of national identity, pride, unity of purpose, common history and destiny. The Memorial includes a Central Sculpture, the Wall of Valour and an underground Museum. As one enters the site, the flower-laden ramparts with two large symmetrically placed bowls, laced with flowers, symbolize the everlasting spirit of Police martyrs and their dedication. According to Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, a total of 307 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles (AR) personnel sacrificed their lives in the line of duty for the nation in the last five years. Rai said this in a Rajya Sabha, mentioning 27 of the 307 personnel sacrificed their lives in 2021; 39 in 2020; 90 in 2019; 75 in 2018; and 76 in 2018. Of the 307 troops, 180 were deployed in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 49 in Border Security Force (BSF), 37 in Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), seven each in Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and 27 in Assam Rifles. (ANI)
Former Union home minister and Congress veteran Shivraj Patil has stoked controversy with his recent claim that the concept of 'jihad' finds mention not only in the Quran but in the Bhagwad Gita and in Christianity as well. At a book launch event in the national capital on Thursday, Patil said that Lord Krishna also taught lessons of jihad to Arjun in a part of Gita in the Mahabharat. Patil's remarks have drawn flak from the BJP which has hit out at the Congress for "Hindu hatred" and "votebank politics." "It's said there is a lot of discussion on Jihad in Islam religion... Even after all efforts, if someone doesn't understand clean ideas, then power can be used. It is not just in the Quran Sharif, but also in the Mahabharata of which Gita is a part," Patil said. "Shri Krishna also talks to Arjuna about jihad. It is not like this is only in the Quran Sharif or the Gita but in Christianity also it is written...Christ has said that I have not come here to establish peace but I have come here with sword," Patil said. Speaking in Hindi, the Congress leader said that "if even after explaining everything, people do not understand and they are arriving with weapons then you cannot run, you cannot call that jihad and you cannot call it wrong, this is what must be understood, there should not be this concept of making people understand with weapons in hand." Patil who was Union home minister from 2004 to 2008 and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996 was addressing the audience at a book launch of Congress leader and former Union Minister Mohsina Kidwai. Among the other dignitaries present at the launch were Shashi Tharoor, Digvijaya Singh, Farooq Abdullah and Sushil Kumar Shinde. Meanwhile, BJP has hit out at the "votebank politics" of the Congress. "After AAP's Gopal Italia & Rajendra Pal, not to be outdone in Hindu hatred & votebank politics, Congress' Shivraj Patil says Shri Krishna taught "Jihad" to Arjun! Congress coined Hindu/Saffron terror, opposed Ram Mandir, Questioned Ram JI's existence, said Hindutva = ISIS," BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla tweeted. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the security situation in northeastern states, Jammu and Kashmir and left-wing extremism areas has improved over the last eight years. Addressing the gathering at the National Police Memorial on the occasion of 'Police Commemoration Day, the Home Minister said police personnel have played an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic. "There's a positive change in the internal security of nation. Earlier, there were big incidents in the northeast, Kashmir and left-wing extremism-affected areas. Earlier, armed forces were given special power, now youth is given special powers for their progress and because of which there is a decline of violence in these areas by more than 70 per cent," he said. He further said that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is such that the youths who used to hurl stones at security personnel earlier have now become "panches" and "sarpanches". "In the states affected by left-wing extremism) the national anthem is being sung in Eklavya schools while the national flag flutters on these buildings," he said. "Youth earlier involved in throwing stones are now involved in various developmental projects introduced by the government. Under PM Modi's vision, several measures have been undertaken to strengthen the internal security of country," Shah added. Shah said India is proceeding on the path of development due to the sacrifices made by the police and paramilitary personnel across the country. Shah paid tributes to police personnel, who lost their lives in the line of duty, at the National Police Memorial in the national capital on the occasion of 'Police Commemoration Day'. 'Police Commemoration Day' is observed every year in memory of ten valiant Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) killed during patrol duty in an ambush by heavily armed Chinese troops in Hot Springs, Ladakh on October 21, 1959. To honour the police personnel who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty for national security, the idea of setting up a National Police Memorial in Delhi was approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1992. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the National Police Memorial to the nation on Police Commemoration Day on October 21, 2018. The Memorial gives Police Forces a sense of national identity, pride, unity of purpose, common history and destiny. The Memorial includes a Central Sculpture, the Wall of Valour and an underground Museum. As one enters the site, the flower-laden ramparts with two large symmetrically placed bowls, laced with flowers, symbolize the everlasting spirit of Police martyrs and their dedication. According to Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, a total of 307 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles (AR) personnel sacrificed their lives in the line of duty for the nation in the last five years. Rai said this in a Rajya Sabha, mentioning 27 of the 307 personnel sacrificed their lives in 2021; 39 in 2020; 90 in 2019; 75 in 2018; and 76 in 2018. Of the 307 troops, 180 were deployed in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 49 in Border Security Force (BSF), 37 in Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), seven each in Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and 27 in Assam Rifles. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said there has been a positive change in the internal security of the country in the last few years, and the country has been found to be almost free from anti-national activities. Speaking at the Police Commemoration Day, the Minister said this is a matter of pride and satisfaction for all countrymen. "There has been a positive change in the internal security of the country in the last few years. There used to be many big incidents earlier in North-Eastern states, Jammu and Kashmir, as well as states affected by Naxalism," Shah said. The Minister said that earlier armed forces were provided special powers in North-East but now the youths are being given special powers in the region for their bright future. "Reduction of around 70 per cent incidents in the North-East is a signal of improvement in the region. There used to be stone pelting by youth in Jammu and Kashmir too. Today the same youth are engaged in the democratic development of Jammu and Kashmir by becoming the Panch and Sarpanch," said the Home Minister. In the left-wing areas, the Home Minister said, there used to be a lot of incidents at that time, today national anthem is played in Eklavya schools in the region and the Tricolor flutters at every house. Shah said the Home Ministry has taken "several pro-active" steps under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure the internal security of the country and the police force along with the CAPFs have taken those steps to the ground level. "Today, I am satisfied that most of the hotspots in the country have been found to be almost free from anti-national activities," Shah announced. The minister also said that the country is progressing in every sector in the present time. "After 75 years of independence, we can say that we are definitely moving ahead at our destination with strong willpower and speed." "But at the foundation of all these achievements our country is achieving today is due to the supreme sacrifice of our soldiers," the Minister added. Shah said over 35,000 police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel have given supreme sacrifice in the line of duty while protecting the country. "I pay my humble homage to those brave police personnel," he said. "I want to assure the family of the martyrs that the sacrifice of those brave personnel will not go in vain. The country will continue to move forward on the path of development and ensuring its security," Shah said. "This is the same day (October 21, 1959) when our ten CRPF personnel faced the soldiers of Chinese forces carrying automatic weapons and sacrificed their lives while protecting the country. The sacrifice that started then is continued so far." Shah said that the police forces and CAPF personnel across the country are today ensuring the internal security and security of the country's borders without caring for their lives, which resulted in the development of the nation in every sector. Despite ensuring the internal security of the country and managing law and order, Shah said, "Our police personnel had been on the front during the Covid-19 pandemic helping people to reach hospitals, organising last rights of those who died of the illness and keep maintaining lockdown rules." The Minister said that the police personnel handled all their responsibilities properly without caring about their lives. Shah later announced that the Narendra Modi government is committed to the welfare of the police and CAPF personnel. 'Police Commemoration Day' is observed every year in memory of ten valiant Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) killed during patrol duty in an ambush by heavily armed Chinese troops in Hot Springs, Ladakh on October 21, 1959. To honour the police personnel who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty for national security, the idea of setting up a National Police Memorial in Delhi was approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1992. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the National Police Memorial to the nation on Police Commemoration Day on October 21, 2018. The Memorial gives Police Forces a sense of national identity, pride, unity of purpose, common history and destiny. The Memorial includes a Central Sculpture, the Wall of Valour and an underground Museum. As one enters the site, the flower-laden ramparts with two large symmetrically placed bowls, laced with flowers, symbolize the everlasting spirit of Police martyrs and their dedication. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at Badrinath Dham in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on Friday. Before arriving in Chamoli, PM Modi visited Kedarnath Dham in Rudraprayag and offered prayers in one of the holy shrines donning a traditional pahadi outfit, Chola Dora, that was gifted to him by Himachali women during his tour to the state. PM Modi arrived at Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun earlier in the day and was received by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmeet Singh. He later laid the foundation stone of the Kedarnath ropeway project and after that visited the Adi Guru Shankaracharya Samadhi Sthal. He also reviewed the progress of development works along Mandakini Asthapath and Saraswati Asthapath. Prime Minister is on a visit to the Himalayan state to lay the foundation stone of projects worth over Rs 3,400 crore. After worshipping at Badrinath, PM Modi is scheduled to review the progress of the development work of the riverfront, followed by laying the foundation stone of road and ropeway projects at Mana village. He will review the progress of the development work of the arrival plaza and lakes. The ropeway in Kedarnath will be around 9.7 km long and will connect Gaurikund to Kedarnath, reducing the travel time between the two places from 6-7 hours at present to only about 30 mins. The Hemkund ropeway will connect Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib. It will be around 12.4 km long and will reduce the travel time from more than a day to only about 45 mins. This ropeway will also connect Ghangaria, which is the gateway to Valley of Flowers National Park, said the PMO statement. The ropeways, which will be developed at a cumulative cost of around Rs 2,430 crore, are an environment-friendly mode of transport that will provide a safe, secure and stable mode of transport. This major infrastructure development will give a boost to religious tourism, which will give a fillip to the economic development in the region and lead to the creation of multiple employment opportunities as well. Foundation stone for road widening projects worth around Rs 1000 crore will also be laid during the visit. The two road widening projects - from Mana to Mana Pass (NH07) and from Joshimath to Malari (NH107B) - shall be another step towards providing last-mile all-weather road connectivity to our border areas. Apart from boosting connectivity, these projects will also prove beneficial from a strategic point of view as well. Kedarnath and Badrinath are among the most important Hindu shrines. The area is also known for one of the revered Sikh Pilgrim site - Hemkund Sahib. The connectivity projects are aimed to ease access and improve basic infrastructure in places of religious significance. (ANI)
International Joint General Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Surendra Kumar Jain hit out at senior former union minister Shivraj Patil for drawing a link between jihad and the Bhagwad Gita stating that the Congress leaders can go to any extend for the "appeasement of Muslims." Speaking to ANI, the Jain said, "It is very unfortunate and it seems that Congress leaders neither understand Jihad nor understand Gita. They can go to any extent for Muslim appeasement only for personal interests." He said that the entire country is suffering from jihad due to the Muslim appeasement policy by the Congress party. "Temple-to-temple visits by the Congress leaders are just a hoax. After Independence, DNA in Congress is only hatred towards Hindus and love for Jihad. Due to the Muslim appeasement policy by Congress, today the entire country is suffering from jihad. Due to this jihad, Hindus have been wiped out from Kashmir and beheading gangs ('sar tan se juda' gang) are active in the country" he said. Jain further told ANI that the statement made by senior Congress leader Patil about Jihad in Gita is unfortunate and reflects the mindset of Congress after independence. Condemning the Congress leader's remark, VHP leader Jain said, "In Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta, the whole world finds the path of welfare, social welfare and world welfare, which gives the source of Karma Yog. He then mentioned that in Gita, Lord Shri Krishna had taught Jihad to Arjuna is highly condemnable." The VHP leader said that it seems that the Congress has left behind Mahatma Gandhi's concept of Ram Rajya and wants to throw the entire country in the fire of jihad for their selfish interests by supporting the jihadis. Earlier on Thursday, Patil claimed that the concept of 'jihad' finds mention not only in the Quran but in the Bhagwad Gita and in Christianity as well. At a book launch event in the national capital, Patil said that Lord Krishna also taught lessons of jihad to Arjun in a part of Gita in the Mahabharat. "It's said there is a lot of discussion on Jihad in Islam religion... Even after all efforts, if someone doesn't understand clean ideas, then power can be used. It is not just in the Quran Sharif, but also in the Mahabharata of which Gita is a part," Patil said. "Shri Krishna also talks to Arjuna about jihad. It is not like this is only in the Quran Sharif or the Gita but in Christianity also it is written...Christ has said that I have not come here to establish peace but I have come here with a sword," Patil said. Speaking in Hindi, the Congress leader said that "if even after explaining everything, people do not understand and they are arriving with weapons then you cannot run, you cannot call that jihad and you cannot call it wrong, this is what must be understood, there should not be this concept of making people understand with weapons in hand." Patil who was Union home minister from 2004 to 2008 and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996 was addressing the audience at a book launch of Congress leader and former Union Minister Mohsina Kidwai. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a free-wheeling interaction with construction workers engaged in working on various projects in Uttarkhand. PM Modi had the interaction while conducting a review of the development projects in Kedarnath today. During his interaction, PM Modi enquired from the workers about their native states, and the benefits of government welfare schemes. He also enquired about their Covid vaccination status. The Prime Minister is on a visit to the Himalayan state where he laid the foundation stone of projects worth over Rs 3,400 crore. Earlier in the day, the prime minister performed puja at the Kedarnath Temple. Following that he reviewed the progress of development works along the Mandakini Asthapath and Saraswati Asthapath in Kedarnath. He also laid the foundation stone for the 9.7 km-long Gaurikund-Kedarnath ropeway project in Kedarnath. Meanwhile, pilgrims in Kedarnath were seen excited over Prime Minister's visit. People also said they were happy over the upcoming ropeway facility at Kedarnath Dham. "If work happens on the ropeway project it will be very good. This will make it convenient for senior citizens to reach the Dham," a pilgrim from Haryana's Gurugram told ANI. A woman who came from West Bengal said, "It was like a bonus since she got a glimpse of Prime Minister Modi while visiting the Kedarnath shrine. The ropeway will be very good for the pilgrims." Mohit, a pilgrim from Chandigarh said that he chose to visit Kedarnath today since he heard that PM Modi would be visiting the shrine on the same day. After Kedarnath, Prime Minister arrived in Badrinath to perform puja at Sri Badrinath temple and launch several development projects. PM laid the foundation stone of road and ropeway projects at Mana village. He will also review the progress of the development work of the arrival plaza and lakes. However, the mood among pilgrims in Badrinath was quite similar of Kedarnath. Pilgrims here were happy over the ropeway project. Shankar Parsetty, a pilgrim from Pune said, "The ropeway and other development projects are great initiatives. It will ease travel for tourists. This will be good for the pilgrims and visitors." "Prime Minister Modi has a great vision for the Kedarnath-Badrinath region. I believe the development projects will create a lot of employment opportunities for the youth. The projects will boost tourism," another pilgrim told ANI. According to Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the ropeway in Kedarnath will be around 9.7 km long and will connect Gaurikund to Kedarnath, reducing the travel time between the two places from the current six to seven hours at present, to only about 30 minutes. The Hemkund ropeway will connect Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib. It will be around 12.4 km long and will reduce the travel time from more than a day to only about 45 mins. This ropeway will also connect Ghangaria, which is the gateway to Valley of Flowers National Park, said the PMO statement. The ropeways, which will be developed at a cumulative cost of around Rs 2,430 crore, are an environmentally friendly mode of transport that will provide a safe, secure and stable mode of transport. This major infrastructure development will give a boost to religious tourism, which will give a fillip to the economic development in the region and lead to the creation of multiple employment opportunities as well. Foundation stone of road widening projects worth around Rs 1000 crore will also be laid during the visit. The two road widening projects - from Mana to Mana Pass (NH07) and from Joshimath to Malari (NH107B) - shall be another step towards providing last-mile all-weather road connectivity to our border areas. Apart from boosting connectivity, these projects will also prove beneficial from a strategic point of view as well. Kedarnath and Badrinath are among the most important Hindu shrines. The area is also known for one of the revered Sikh Pilgrim site - Hemkund Sahib. The connectivity projects are aimed to ease access and improve basic infrastructure in places of religious significance. (ANI)
In a major twist in the alleged abduction and gang rape case of a 38-year-old Delhi woman in Ghaziabad, the police have said that it was fabricated to implicate the accused over an ongoing property dispute. Police have arrested three accomplices of the complainant woman for hatching the conspiracy. "An acquaintance of the complainant woman, Azad, and two other accomplices, Gaurav and Afzal, had planned this (gang rape) in dispute over a property. All three were arrested. The woman is also involved in the conspiracy. Action will be taken against her too," said Meerut range Inspector-General of Police Praveen Kumar. "As soon as information regarding the incident was received at Nandgram police station, the victim was taken to the hospital for medical treatment. Three people have been arrested in the case," IG Praveen Kumar said. The case pertains to the matter where a woman was found lying in a pool of blood in a jute bag after she was allegedly abducted and gang-raped for two days. "A car and other materials have also been recovered. Further investigation is underway," IG Praveen Kumar added. According to the police, they were informed about the gang rape in a complaint filed by the woman. "We got the information about the gang rape two days ago in which a woman had complained about the incident. As per the rape survivor, all the accused were known to her and a property dispute between the two has come to light," Superintendent of Police (SP) City Ghaziabad Nipun Aggarwal had said. The woman claimed that she was abducted while she was returning from a birthday party on September 16. She told police that five men in Ghaziabad gang-raped her over two days. SP Nipun had further said, "After her brother dropped her off, 5 people -who were known to her- took her away and gang-raped her. FIR was registered and four people were nabbed. It is being said that they have a property dispute and the matter is sub-judice. We are taking all necessary action." "On October 18, police in Nandgram, Uttar Pradesh received information that a woman was lying near Ashram Road. They took her to the hospital. She's a resident of Delhi and had come to her brother's residence in Nandgram," SP, Ghaziabad said. (ANI)
With the conclusion of Bharat Jodo Yatra's Andhra Pradesh leg, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday thanked the people for their overwhelming support and promised to fulfil the commitments made by him to the people the State. In a letter to the people of Andhra Pradesh, the Wayanad MP said, "This morning, as the Bharat Jodo Yatra completes its journey through Andhra Pradesh, we thank the people for their overwhelming support and encouragement. It has truly been a memorable experience." He said that the interactions with diverse groups during the Yatra in Andhra Pradesh have brought to light several significant issues impacting the people. "The Congress party stands committed to granting special category status to Andhra Pradesh and develop a single capital at Amaravati. We support the continued public sector status of the Visakhapatnam steel plant as an asset of the Indian people. We noted that the state government has systematically undermined the Panchayati Raj system in Andhra Pradesh, and are strongly opposed to this assault on democratic institutions. We will also continue to amplify the voice of farmers, youth, women, workers and many other stakeholders whom we interacted with over the last three days," the Congress leader said. Recalling the commitments made in 2014 to the people of Andhra Pradesh, the former Congress president said that his party is determined to ensure that the commitments made by them are fulfilled. "We recall the commitments made in 2014, in and by Parliament, to the people of Andhra Pradesh. These are not assurances made by one person or one party, but have been made by the Parliament to the people of Andhra Pradesh. We are determined to ensure that these commitments are met--fully and speedily. Both the Central and State governments have failed in this regard," said Rahul Gandhi. He said that the Congress party is deeply aware of the challenges we face in Andhra Pradesh. "The state has been a bastion of the Congress party in the past, and has produced outstanding statesmen for India. We are determined to do all we can to ensure that the Congress returns to its pre-eminent position in the hearts and minds of the Andhra people," he said. The Congress MP said that the Yatra gave the opportunity to listen to people's voices and gain an in-depth understanding of their daily challenges. "I believe that the Bharat Jodo Yatra will serve as a first step forward in this journey. The Yatra has given us a unique opportunity to listen to people's voices and gain an in-depth understanding of the daily challenges of the people of our great nation. There is a continuing effort on a daily basis to pit Indians against each other on the lines of caste, religion, language, food and dress. The unparalleled economic distress caused by skyrocketing prices and record unemployment, as well as the increasing concentration of political and economic power in a few hands, are all matters of grave concern," said Rahul Gandhi. "As we press on ahead, the Bharat Jodo Yatra will continue its engagement and outreach, while highlighting these deeply disturbing issues. On behalf of the Congress Party, I invite all of you to join us," he added. The Andhra Pradesh leg of Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra concluded on Friday as the march once again crossed into Karnataka. Rahul Gandhi resumed the padayatra at Mantralayam Temple Circle in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh on Friday morning. He crossed the Andhra border at Panchmukhi Arch, Gillesugur, Raichur in Karnataka. Rahul Gandhi had earlier said that the Yatra drew a tremendous response in Andhra Pradesh and pointed out that his party leaders were also quite surprised at the enthusiasm and response that the Bharat Jodo Yatra had. The Yatra entered Andhra Pradesh on October 18. The Bharat Jodo Yatra launched on 7 September 2022 will cover as many as 12 states. The Yatra started from Kanyakumari and will end in Kashmir the following year by covering 25 km every day. The 3500 kilometres yatra will be a historic event for the Congress and the entire country. It is the longest march on foot by any Indian politician in the history of India, the Congress said earlier in a statement. Notably, Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi march was the longest march by foot (389 kilometres in 24 days) between Sabarmati ashram to Dandi (Navasari) in Gujarat state. Meanwhile, the Bharat Jodo Yatra started by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will enter Maharashtra from the Nanded district in the first week of November. Bharat Jodo Yatra is getting support from various political parties and social organizations across the country and the response is increasing day by day. In Maharashtra too, the NCP and Shiv Sena (Thackeray faction) have agreed to participate in the yatra, adding to its importance. Notably, all the party MPs, leaders and workers along with Rahul Gandhi are staying in containers. Sleeping beds, toilets and ACs are also installed in some of the containers. The arrangements have been made keeping in view the intense heat and humidity with the change of places. The Congress suffered a debacle in the assembly polls held earlier this year and the Yatra is seen as an attempt to rally the party rank and file for the upcoming electoral battles. (ANI)
Bishnoi is the mastermind in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case.

The court gave transit remand of Bishnoi to Jalandhar Police.

According to the information, ACP Nirmal Singh said, "Deepak Kumar was detained and a pistol with 1 kg of heroin was found in a case of illegal arms supply against Lawrence Bishnoi that was registered in division number five. Deepak said that Bishnoi had provided the pistol. Lawrence Bishnoi has been detained by the Jalandhar Police for 10 days and additional significant revelations are anticipated during this time."

On April 2, 2022, in the murder case of gangster Harjit Penta, who belonged to Bishnoi's arch-rival Davinder Bambiha gang, in the village Maadi Mustafa, Baghapurana police had taken police remand of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

Bishnoi, whose 13-day remand with Ludhiana city police ended in April, in a 2017 murder case, was later produced in a local Moga court which sent him on 9-day police remand till October 21.

FIR in the case was registered at Baghapurana police station on April 2 under sections 302/307/120-B of IPC and 25/27 of the Arms Act.

"Penta's murder was a result of gang rivalry between Bambiha group and Bishnoi group members inside the jail," said a senior Moga police official, adding that Bishnoi was nominated as an accused in the case. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the number of devotees visiting Kedarnath has increased significantly from 5 lakh to 45 lakh in just one season. Prime Minister made this statement in Uttarakhand as he laid the foundation stone for various developmental projects. He said that the development of spiritual places will not only provide convenience to all the devotees but also attract the youth of this country. He further appealed to all the tourists to spend at least 5 per cent of their travel budget on buying local products. "I appeal to all tourists in the country to spend at least 5 per cent of their travel budget on buying local products," said PM Modi at Mana village. "All development initiatives in our country should also focus on inclusivity. A ropeway will allow Divyangs easy access to our places of religious and spiritual importance," said PM Modi while addressing the gathering after laying the foundation stone of various connectivity projects at Mana village of Chamoli district. "The number of devotees visiting Kedarnath has increased significantly from 5 lakh to 45 lakh in just one season," he added. Highlighting that connectivity is a challenge in hilly regions, PM Modi said, "Our government is working on bringing connectivity to such areas. Four-lane expressways are being built to connect states from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Delhi-Dehradun economic corridor will encourage businesses in Uttarakhand." PM Modi said that the road to be constructed from Mana to Mana Pass will help promote tourism. "I will ensure that no tourists return from here without visiting the border village of Mana. Like Bharatmala and Sagarmala connectivity projects, work for Parvatmala is underway under which a big network of ropeway projects are being built across Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh," he said. Hailing the reach of digital connectivity to the last village of India, the Prime Minister said this is the strength of our country. "Digital connectivity has reached Mana village too, and the shopkeepers here are also accepting digital payments using QR codes and other modes...this is the strength of my country. I feel proud to see this at Mana today," he said. The PM said that the government is also working towards the use of drones for the delivery of materials in the mountain areas. He further said that the people from hilly regions are known for their hardworking spirit and their zeal for life, despite challenges. "Hence our resolve to give priority to development in these often underserved regions. Our government is working towards the use of drones for the delivery of materials in the mountain areas," he said. PM Modi laid the foundation stone of various connectivity projects at Mana village of Chamoli district. He laid the foundation stone for road widening projects worth around Rs 1,000 crore. According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the two road widening projects - from Mana to Mana Pass (NH07) and from Joshimath to Malari (NH107B) - shall be another step towards providing last-mile all-weather road connectivity to our border areas. Apart from boosting connectivity, these projects will also prove beneficial from a strategic point of view as well. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of development work of the riverfront in Badrinath on Friday. Prime Minister offered prayers at Badrinath temple today. Uttarakhand Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmeet Singh and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami accompanied the Prime Minister at the shrine. Before arriving in Badrinath, PM Modi visited Kedarnath Dham in Rudraprayag and offered prayers donning a traditional pahadi outfit, Chola Dora, that was gifted to him by Himachali women during his tour to the state. PM Modi arrived at Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun earlier in the day and was received by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmeet Singh. He later laid the foundation stone of the Kedarnath ropeway project and after that visited the Adi Guru Shankaracharya Samadhi Sthal. He reviewed the progress of development works along Mandakini Asthapath and Saraswati Asthapath. PM Modi also interacted with the construction workers engaged in the Kedarnath Dham development project. According to the PMO statement, the ropeway in Kedarnath will be around 9.7 km long and will connect Gaurikund to Kedarnath, reducing the travel time between the two places from 6-7 hours at present to only about 30 mins. The Hemkund ropeway will connect Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib. It will be around 12.4 km long and will reduce the travel time from more than a day to only about 45 mins. This ropeway will also connect Ghangaria, which is the gateway to Valley of Flowers National Park, said the PMO statement. The ropeways, which will be developed at a cumulative cost of around Rs 2,430 crore, are an environmental friendly mode of transport that will provide a safe, secure and stable mode of transport. This major infrastructure development will give a boost to religious tourism, which will give a fillip to the economic development in the region and lead to the creation of multiple employment opportunities as well. Kedarnath and Badrinath are among the most important Hindu shrines. The area is also known for one of the revered Sikh Pilgrim site - Hemkund Sahib. The connectivity projects are aimed to ease access and improve basic infrastructure in places of religious significance. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Friday junked a plea seeking the opening of 22 rooms in the Taj Mahal to enquire into the monument's history. A bench of Justices MR Shah and MM Sundresh dismissed the plea saying it was a "publicity interest litigation ". Dismissing the appeal filed against the Allahabad High Court order, the bench said, "The High Court was not in error in dismissing the petition, which is more of a publicity interest litigation. Dismissed." The petition was filed by one Rajneesh Singh, who claimed to be the media in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Ayodhya unit, seeking a direction to the government to constitute a fact-finding committee and to look for important historical evidence like idols and inscriptions that are believed to be hidden inside the Taj Mahal on the orders of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The High Court dismissed his plea on May 12. Before the High Court, he had contended that several Hindu right-wing outfits had claimed in the past that the Mughal-era mausoleum was a temple of Lord Shiva known as 'Tejo Mahalaya', a theory that was supported by many historians as well. He had contended that there are 22 rooms situated in the upper and lower portion of the four-storied building of the Taj Mahal that are permanently locked and historians like PN Oak and many Hindu worshippers believe that a Shiva temple lies in those rooms. (ANI)
The state cabinet took the decision, Chief Minister Bhagwant Maan tweeted.

"Today, in the Punjab cabinet meeting, a historic decision has been taken for its employees...your government is going to restore the old pension scheme...the cabinet has given in-principle approval to this decision...We stand by our employees...promised..delivered...What we say, we do," Mann tweeted.

Earlier, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand too went back to the Old Pension Scheme and quashed the new pension scheme.

Under the old pension scheme, a government employee is entitled to a monthly pension after retirement. The monthly pension is typically half of the last drawn salary of the person.

Under the new pension scheme, employees contribute a portion of their salaries to the pension fund. Based on that, they are entitled to a one-time lump sum amount on superannuation.

For the record, the old pension scheme was discontinued in December 2003, and the new pension scheme came into effect on April 1, 2004. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 'Saras Mela' in Mana village of Chamoli district during his visit to Uttarakhand on Friday. PM Modi interacted with the local artisans and visited the stalls in the Mela. Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of various connectivity projects at Mana village of Chamoli district. PM Modi laid the foundation stone for road widening projects worth around Rs 1,000 crore. According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the two road widening projects - from Mana to Mana Pass (NH07) and from Joshimath to Malari (NH107B) - shall be another step towards providing last-mile all-weather road connectivity to our border areas. Apart from boosting connectivity, these projects will also prove beneficial from a strategic point of view as well. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of development work of the riverfront in Badrinath on Friday. Prime Minister offered prayers at Badrinath temple today. Uttarakhand Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmeet Singh and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami accompanied the Prime Minister at the shrine. Before arriving in Badrinath, PM Modi visited Kedarnath Dham in Rudraprayag and offered prayers donning a traditional pahadi outfit, Chola Dora, that was gifted to him by Himachali women during his tour to the state. PM Modi arrived at Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun earlier in the day and was received by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmeet Singh.He later laid the foundation stone of the Kedarnath ropeway project and after that visited the Adi Guru Shankaracharya Samadhi Sthal. He reviewed the progress of development works along Mandakini Asthapath and Saraswati Asthapath. PM Modi also interacted with the construction workers engaged in the Kedarnath Dham development project. According to the PMO statement, the ropeway in Kedarnath will be around 9.7 km long and will connect Gaurikund to Kedarnath, reducing the travel time between the two places from 6-7 hours at present to only about 30 mins. The Hemkund ropeway will connect Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib. It will be around 12.4 km long and will reduce the travel time from more than a day to only about 45 mins. This ropeway will also connect Ghangaria, which is the gateway to Valley of Flowers National Park, said the PMO statement. The ropeways, which will be developed at a cumulative cost of around Rs 2,430 crore, are an environmentally friendly mode of transport that will provide a safe, secure and stable mode of transport. This major infrastructure development will give a boost to religious tourism, which will give a fillip to the economic development in the region and lead to the creation of multiple employment opportunities as well. Kedarnath and Badrinath are among the most important Hindu shrines. The area is also known for one of the revered Sikh Pilgrim sites - Hemkund Sahib. The connectivity projects are aimed at easing access and improving basic infrastructure in places of religious significance. (ANI)
"I appeal to all tourists in the country to spend at least 5 per cent of their travel budget on buying local products," Prime Minister Modi said at a public event held at Badrinath's Mana, the last village bordering China.

Earlier too, he had appealed to fellow Indians on various occasions to purchase indigenous products to sustain the local economy.

Talking about villages situated near international borders and far-flung areas, the prime minister said every village located in the border areas will be now considered as the first village of India.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone for road widening projects worth around Rs 1,000 crore.

According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the two road widening projects - from Mana to Mana Pass (NH07) and from Joshimath to Malari (NH107B) - shall be another step towards providing last-mile all-weather road connectivity to our border areas. Apart from boosting connectivity, these projects will also prove beneficial from a strategic point of view as well.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of development work of the riverfront in Badrinath on Friday.

Earlier in the day, the prime minister offered prayers at Badrinath and Kedarnath.

In Kedarnath, he laid the foundation stone for a ropeway project, which will be around 9.7 km long and will connect Gaurikund to Kedarnath, reducing the travel time between the two places from 6-7 hours at present to only about 30 minutes.

The ropeway is estimated to cost Rs 2,430 crore. (ANI)
With India reporting a highly infectious new COVID-19 variant, World Health Organization Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan on Friday said that there were over 300 sub-variants and XBB being a recombinant virus is a matter of concern. She also highlighted that the new variant is immune evasive. "There are over 300 sub-varients of Omicron. I think the one that is concerning right now is XBB which is a recombinant virus. We had seen some recombinant viruses before. It is very immune evasive which means, it can overcome the antibodies. So slightly we may see another wave of infections in some countries because of XBB," said Swaminathan. Her remarks came while addressing a media briefing in Pune. Stressing on the tracking of other derivatives of XBB, she noted, "We are also tracking derivatives of BA.5 and BA.1 which are also more transmissible and immune evasive. As the virus evolves, it is going to evolve more and become transmissible. As of now, there is no data from any country to suggest these new sub-varients are more clinically severe. While the virus is causing an increasing infection in some countries the severity seems to be similar." She also underlined the importance of monitoring and said, "We need to continue to monitor and track. We have seen that testing has gone down across countries, the genomic surveillance has also gone down over the last few months. We need to maintain at least a strategic sampling genomic surveillance so that we can keep tracking the variants as we have been doing and studying." The senior scientist also called for available tools and highlighted the positives. "The good thing is that we have many tools and the most important thing is vaccines. For vaccine coverage, our goals are 100 per cent of people over the age of 60 and 100 per cent of healthcare and frontline workers. We have a goal of achieving 70 per cent of the country but subgroups are more important because they are the groups that are most likely to face morbidity and mortality," she added. Earlier on Tuesday, Maharashtra recorded a 17.7 per cent rise in coronavirus cases compared to last week, according to a state health department bulletin. The state has reported new Covid cases including the XBB, a new sub-variant of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has been detected in parts of India, including Kerala. Apart from this, Maharashtra has reported cases from other sub-variants of Omicron - BA.2.3.20 and BQ.1 variant, which was detected for the first time in India on Monday from the sample of a patient in Pune. XBB, a recombinant lineage between two Omicron sublineages BJ.1 and BA.2.75, is a fast-spreading variant, which was seen to have caused a spike across Singapore recently. On Tuesday, a high-level meeting of Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya with the senior health officials regarding the emergence of Omicron's new sub-variants concluded with the decision to continue masks and COVID19-appropriate behaviour across the country. The team of scientists, doctors and senior officials has also recommended increasing surveillance and genome sequencing. The health officials also urged accelerating COVID-19 precaution dose of eligible population on mission mode. Niti Aayog member VK Paul, Chairperson of COVID-19 working group NTAGI NK Arora, NTAGI officials, NEGVAC officials and other senior health officials were present, as per official sources. (ANI)
A private hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj has been sealed for allegedly transfusing fruit juice instead of blood platelets into a dengue patient who died later, according to an official. A probe was ordered after the incident came to light in which, according to Additional Chief Medical Officer, Dr AK Tiwari, "some irregularities" were found. "CMO ordered a probe after the patient died. In the probe, some irregularities were found. It has been sealed till the probe is completed," the additional CMO said on Thursday. "It is a matter of probe. The probe will take action. The complainant has filed an FIR." Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak assured strict action against the hospital if found guilty. He said that the platelets packet has been sent for testing. "Taking cognizance of the viral video of Jhalwa-based Global Hospital offering 'Mossami' juice to a dengue patient in place of platelets in the district Prayagraj, the hospital has been immediately sealed and the platelets packet has been sent for testing. If found guilty, strict action will be taken against the hospital," Pathak tweeted in Hindi. However, according to the owner of the hospital, Saurabh Mishra, the platelets were brought by the attendants of the patient. "The attendants were given the slip to bring platelets. They brought 5 units of platelets in the evening. When 3 units were used, there was a reaction on the patient, we stopped the transfusion. The platelets that were brought by the attendants of the patient were transfused to the patient. It belonged to the SRN Blood Bank. The hospital has no responsibility for it," he said. Stating that the hospital does not have the authority to test the platelets, he held the attendants responsible for bringing the platelets. "We do not have the authority to test the platelets to verify their validity. We do not test the platelets that the attendants bring. How is the hospital responsible if the attendants fetch the wrong platelets? It should be the responsibility of the attendants to ascertain whether they are authentic," he said. "We had referred the patient to the higher centre after the attendants requested following the deterioration in the patient's health. The patient had not died here, the death happened two days later in another hospital," Mishra added. Further probe into the matter is underway. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear the plea of a women's organisation seeking directions to revoke the remission granted to 11 convicts, who had gang-raped Bilkis Bano and murdered her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots. A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar tagged the matter with the main petition pending before the apex court. The plea was filed by the National Federation of India, whose General Secretary is Annie Raja, challenged the remission of sentence and the release of convicts in the case. Earlier, the top court had posted on November 29 pleas challenging the decision of the Gujarat government to grant remission to the 11 convicts. Gujarat government in its affidavit has defended remission granted to convicts saying they completed 14 years of sentence in prison and their "behaviour was found to be good". The State government said it has considered the cases of all 11 convicts as per the policy of 1992 and remission was granted on August 10, 2022, and the Central government also approved the ore-mature release of convicts. It is pertinent to note that the remission was not granted under the circular governing grant of remission to prisoners as part of the celebration of "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav", it has said. The affidavit stated, "State government considered all the opinions and decided to release 11 prisoners since they have completed 14 years and above in prisons and their behaviour was found to be good." Gujarat government had granted remission to 11 convicts, who had gang-raped Bilkis Bano and murdered her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots. The State government said that in a circular dated July 9, 1992, it had issued a policy for early releasing those prisoners who have completed 14 years of imprisonment which were imposed life imprisonment punishment. In the present case, the investigation was carried out by the CBI and the State government has obtained the approval or suitable orders of the government of India, it said. The affidavit stated that the government of India conveyed its approval under section 435 of the CrPC for the premature release of 11 prisoners on July 11, 2022. The government also questioned the locus standi of petitioners who filed the PIL challenging the decision saying they are outsiders to the case. The government has said the plea is neither maintainable in law nor tenable on facts, saying that the petitioners as the third party have no locus to challenge the remission order. Member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul, social activist and professor Roop Rekha Verma and TMC MP Mahua Moitra had filed pleas against the release of convicts. Earlier, the top court had issued notice to the Gujarat government and convicts and sought their responses on the pleas challenging remission order. It had also asked the State to file the entire record of the proceedings in the Bilkis Bano case, including the remission order. The pleas had sought setting aside of order granting remission to 11 convicts and directing their immediate re-arrest. "It is submitted that it would appear that the constitution of members of the competent authority of the Gujarat government also bore allegiance to a political party, and also were sitting MLAs. As such, it would appear that the competent authority was not an authority that was entirely independent, and one that could independently apply its mind to the facts at hand," the plea stated. The plea said they have challenged the order of competent authority of the government of Gujarat by way of which 11 persons who were accused in a set of heinous offences committed in Gujarat were allowed to walk free on August 15, 2022, pursuant to remission being extended to them. The remission in this heinous case would be entirely against public interest and would shock the collective public conscience, as also be entirely against the interests of the victim (whose family has publicly made statements worrying for her safety), the plea stated. The Gujarat government had released the 11 convicts, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, on August 15. All the 11 life-term convicts in the case were released as per the remission policy prevalent in Gujarat at the time of their conviction in 2008. In March 2002 during the post-Godhra riots, Bano was allegedly gang-raped and left to die with 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter. She was five months pregnant when rioters attacked her family in Vadodara. (ANI)
The accused has been identified as Shahid Hussain Bhat.

"Acting on specific information regarding the movement of militants in the Zalwan Nursery area of Bandipora, Bandipora police along with 14 RR and 3rd Bn CRPF launched a joint CASO. During the search one, locally trained terrorist of LeT was apprehended," said a statement.

The arrested terrorist was in touch with a terrorist of LeT in PoK and was given the task to target police/security forces in Bandipora.

His handlers also gave him the task across the border to mobilise the youth in Bandipora to recruit them for the banned terrorist organization LeT. A case was registered at Bandipora police station and further investigation has been taken up. (ANI)
The Education Minister further added that a special team will be formed under the Director of Education, Women and Child Welfare with a DGI level officer to ensure no such incident occur again, informed the officials.

The matter pertains to an alleged rape of a 4-year-old girl in DAV school in Banjarahills on Thursday. Later, parents gathered at DAV school in the Neredmet branch and demanded answers about the incident that happened in another branch.

A heated discussion took place between parents and the school principal, informed sources.

Further information on the matter is awaited. (ANI)
The letter written by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr M Srinivas regarding medical care arrangements for sitting MPs in AIIMS has been withdrawn with immediate effect. The move is appreciated by all the doctors association, "Thanks Ministry of Health and Family Affairs and Mansukh Mandviya and the Director for AIIMS for the withdrawal of the letter issued earlier promoting VIP culture at AIIMS, ND. We are satisfied with this move," Tweeted the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) doctors' association. On Wednesday, a letter came into notice by the medical fraternity Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) and other doctors' associations that have opposed and criticised the move of the AIIMS director's letter on standard operating procedures (SOPs) for sitting members of Parliament. Dr M Srinivas on Wednesday wrote a letter to YM Kandpal, Joint Secretary, Lok Sabha over streamlining of the Outpatient Department (OPD) and emergency consultation, and inpatient hospitalisation services for Members of Parliament, following the SOPs issued. "We condemn VIP culture. No patient should suffer at the cost of another's privileges. That being said, having a protocol to streamline things should not be viewed as derogatory, provided it doesn't hamper patient care," FORDA said in a tweet. The FAIMA doctors association questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the VIP culture. "On one side, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji says 'There is no VIP Culture in India!,' but on the other hand, AIIMS New Delhi Director Dr M Srinivas releases a letter to promote VIP Culture! Like past we still stand against VIP Culture!" the FAIMA said in a tweet. The doctors of the country are constantly tweeting and opposing the decision taken by the AIIMS Director. In a letter, Dr Srinivas said, "In case a sitting Member of Parliament requires OPD consultation from a speciality / super speciality department the Lok Sabha/ Rajyasabha secretariat or personal staff of the MP will contact the duty officer and provide him requisite details about the ailment and specialist/superspecialist doctor to be consulted." "The SOPs include duty officers who are qualified medical professionals from the department of hospital administration will be available in the control room AIIMS Hospital around the clock and the duty officer on duty will be the nodal officer to coordinate and facilitate requisite medical care arrangements for on sitting MPs," the letter reads. He further said that the landline telephone numbers of the control room and mobile phone numbers of the duty officer on duty will be constant respective of the person on duty. According to the letter by Dr Srinivas, "The duty officer will speak to a concerned specialist or super specialist doctor or head of the department and will fix up a requisite appointment. In case it is so required we can speak to the Chief of Centre or Head of the concerned department as well." "In case of an emergency situation where the people's representative requires immediate medical management, the Lok Sabha/Rajyasabha secretariat or personal staff of the MP will contact the duty officer and provide him with requisite details about the ailment. So that the duty officer can guide them as to which emergency services the MP should be brought to main emergency or Trauma Centre emergency or an Eye emergency," the letter reads further. "In case of inpatient hospitalisation MP, the treating faculty will send a brief note to the medical superintendent about the ailment or illness that MP is suffering from the proposed line of management and expected duration of stay. it will be countersigned by the medical superintendent and will be sent to the Lok Sabha/ Rajyasabha secretariat given email id by the medical superintendent's office," said Dr Srinivas in a letter After the circulation of the letter, AIIMS New Delhi tweeted, "AIIMS New Delhi has always had a 24x7 Control Room for co-ordination of medical care of patients from all walks of life Residents and Faculty from Department of Hospital Administration work here to ease logistics and expedite treatment for poorest of the poor." (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch Rozgar Mela - the recruitment drive for 10 lakh personnel tomorrow at 11 am via video conference, as per an official statement. According to Eastern Railway PRO, during the ceremony, appointment letters will be handed over to 75000 newly inducted appointees, selected through recruiting agencies such as UPSC, SSC, Railway Recruitment Boards etc. Prime Minister will also address the appointees on the occasion. At the Kolkata venue, appointment letters will be handed over to new recruitees of different Ministries/Departments at Swami Vivekananda Auditorium of Heritage Institute of Technology, Chowbaga Road, Anandapur, Kolkata - 700107, said the statement. It may be noted that, since June 1, 2022, 333 new recruitments have been finalised in Eastern Railway. Apart, offer letters for 102 candidates will be handed over. The new recruiters of Eastern Railway will join the programme either by physically appearing at the venue of Heritage Institute of Technology or through virtual mode, said the official statement. This will be a significant step forward towards employment generation to the tune of 10 lakh under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As per directives of the Prime Minister, all Ministries and Departments are working in tandem towards filling up vacancies in Mission Mode. The incumbents selected from across the country will join different Ministries and Departments of the Government of India. (ANI)
Expressing happiness over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pitching for 'Vocal for Local' in Uttarakhand's Mana village, the locals on Friday said that he has presented them with "such a gift" that they could "never imagine". As part of the Vocal for Local initiative, PM Modi during his visit to Uttarakhand appealed to people, particularly tourists, to spend money on purchasing locally made products. "I appeal to all tourists in the country to spend at least 5 per cent of their travel budget on buying local products," Prime Minister Modi said at a public event held at Badrinath's Mana, the last village bordering China. The appeal by the Prime Minister was warmly welcomed by the locals who expressed their joy after the conclusion of the event. Speaking to ANI, a local, Maheshwari said, "We are very happy today. PM Modi said today that the tourists who will visit the shrine will buy something from the Mana village. We are ecstatic to hear this." Another local Anandi hoped that their problems will reduce after the PM's appeal. "We are very happy with the Prime Minister's appeal. It seems that the problems will reduce now after what PM Modi said," she said. Retired paramilitary force personnel, Narendra Singh expressed his gratitude to PM Modi for visiting the village. He brought a picture of the Prime Minister's mother Heeraben Modi to extend greetings on her 100th birth anniversary. She turned 100 on June 18 this year, on the occasion of which the Prime Minister had met her at her residence in Gandhinagar. "The villagers of Mana have extended greetings to PM Modi's mother on her 100th birth anniversary. We express our gratitude to PM Modi for coming to our village," Singh said. Another local Badri Prasad Unyal said that the Prime Minister's speech touched the people's hearts. "PM Modi's speech has touched the people's hearts. Such a Prime Minister has not come and never will come," he said. "Our dreams have been fulfilled with the arrival of PM Modi. He has presented us with such a gift about which we could never imagine. People of the village are very happy," another villager said. Earlier today, Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of various connectivity projects at Mana village of Chamoli district. PM Modi laid the foundation stone for road widening projects worth around Rs 1,000 crore.According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the two road widening projects - from Mana to Mana Pass (NH07) and from Joshimath to Malari (NH107B) - shall be another step towards providing last-mile all-weather road connectivity to our border areas. Apart from boosting connectivity, these projects will also prove beneficial from a strategic point of view as well. (ANI)
Boeing has announced a significant expansion of its partnerships within the Indian Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul ecosystem over the last year and said that the MRO to support Indian customers efficiently, remains a top priority for the company. Boeing has concluded considerable work agreements and deliveries with diverse indigenous partners across the public as well as private sectors, including AI Engineering Services Ltd., Horizon Aerospace, and Air Works Group. According to an official statement, in 2021, Boeing launched the Boeing India Repair Development and Sustainment (BIRDS) program in its effort to help develop India into a regional MRO hub, enabling engineering, maintenance, skilling, repair and sustainment services of defence and commercial aircraft in India, for India. Under the initiative, Boeing has strategically collaborated with Air Works, to recently complete Phase 32 heavy maintenance checks of six P-8I maritime patrol aircraft for the Indian Navy. The company has also collaborated with AI Engineering Services Limited (AIESL), for MRO of the Boeing 777 VIP aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force, and the P-8I aircraft fleet operated by the Indian Navy. Additionally, the company is exploring collaboration in repair and overhaul of landing gear and other commercial common 737NG equipment fitted on the P-8I fleet. It has also collaborated with Horizon Aerospace, for MRO of the three key Boeing defence platforms in India, the P-8I operated by the Indian Navy (IN), and the VIP 737 transport fleet operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF). Salil Gupte, president, Boeing India said, "Over a seven-decade presence in India, Boeing knows that a strong local aerospace and defence ecosystem is an imperative for the business as much as it is for the success and mission-readiness of its customers. We have continued to invest in building indigenous MRO capabilities over the years, and with the BIRDS hub launched in 2021, are building a network of Indian suppliers that can support engineering, maintenance, skilling, repair and sustainment services of defence and commercial aircraft comprehensively and competitively." "An important aspect of the BIRDS hub is training programs that are helping develop sub-tier suppliers and medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) to build high-quality MRO capabilities in India," he added. The efforts and initiatives being undertaken by Boeing in India are aimed at building the capability and capacity of indigenous organizations to gain prominence on a global scale. "Our planned strategic collaboration with indigenous companies under the BIRDS hub program enables us to provide significant value-add to our customers locally by enabling faster turnaround, exceptional operational capability and mission readiness for the Indian armed forces. This also marks as an important step as part of our commitment to the Government of India's Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision of making India a regional MRO hub", managing director, of Boeing Defence India, Surendra Ahuja said. (ANI)
Speaking on the occasion, Shah indirectly took many digs at Pakistan, stating that "good" terrorism or "bad" terrorism, or "small" terrorist attack or "big" terrorist attack -- these two narratives cannot go hand in hand.

Stating that terrorism is a global problem, Shah said the first goal that Interpol has set for 2020-25 is to tackle the menace of terrorism.

He added that terrorism is the biggest violation of human rights, and Interpol is the best platform for the coordination of all the countries, which is very important for the fight against cross-border terrorism.

The Home Minister added that all countries have to agree on the definitions of terrorist and terrorism, without which global terrorism cannot be tackled.

It is also necessary to build consensus on the challenge of ideology of terrorism being spread from across the border, especially by online radicalisation, which cannot be considered as a political problem.

Shah also suggested that Interpol should introduce a permanent mechanism to establish a real-time information exchange line between counter-terrorism and anti-narcotics agencies of all the member countries.

Interpol should also prepare a future plan for the next 50 years on the basis of its experiences and achievements of the last 100 years, Shah suggested.

He added that India is committed to cooperate with Interpol in setting up a dedicated centre or convention and communication network for counter-terrorism and anti-narcotics agencies around the world.

The nation stands ready to cooperate with Interpol to combat terrorism in all its forms -- narco terror, radicalisation, organised syndicate and money laundering.

--IANS spt/fs/arm

( 292 Words)

2022-10-21-21:14:03 (IANS)
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh presided over the ceremony, which saw a total of 451 Memoranda of Understanding, Transfer of Technology agreements and Product Launches. Of the 451, there were 345 MoUs, 42 Major Announcements, 46 Product Launches and 18 ToTs.

The contribution of Gujarat was 28 MoUs and one Product Launch. It envisages investment worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Indian Air Force and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited concluded a contract for 70 HTT-40 indigenous trainer aircraft worth Rs 6,800 crore, said an official release.

The technologies transferred by DRDO are from the area of electronics, laser technology, armaments, material science, combat vehicles, naval systems and sensors etc. The products include Handheld Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Unexploded Ordnance Handling Robot (UXOR), Semi-Solid Metal (SSM) Processing Technology for Aluminum Alloys, High Oxidative and Thermal Stability Oil (DMS Hots Oil-I), Nuclear Shielding Pads for Combat Vehicles, 120mm Tandem Warhead System for Anti-Tank Application, High Energy Material (TNSTAD), Laser-Based End Game Fuze, Multi-kW Laser Beam Directing Optical Channel (BDOC), SHAKTI EW System. These high-technology products will provide impetus to 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' drive of the Government and boost the defence manufacturing sector through self-reliance, besides enhancing the operational capabilities of the Armed Forces.

Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, Raksha Rajya Mantri Ajay Bhatt, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and OSD, Department of Defence Giridhar Aramane were among those who attended the ceremony. (ANI)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, under the garb of an anti-corruption drive, crushed his rivals and ensured the development of a party hierarchy which is centred on his cult of personality, media reports said. Bo Xilai, a former Politburo member, who was most active in challenging Xi's claim to the position of the supreme leader went out of his way to create his own personality cult. However, in carrying out his cult politics, Xilai had upset some party members. However, President Xi Jinping took an entirely different approach. Xi did not make his cult politics look obvious. He was rather known as a careful technocrat, reported an Italian media outlet difesa online. When Xi took office as president, he was worried about the difficult internal circumstances. Chinese wealth encouraged many influential factions within the Party to fuel widespread forms of corruption. Now, Xi Jinping in order to restore unity and avoid being remembered as a relatively weak leader had to crack down on the corrupt cadres. This is exactly what Xi Jinping pledged to do at the time of his inauguration and over the next few years. In the course of accomplishing all this initially, he made new enemies, however, he then leveraged the success of his anti-corruption efforts to crush rivals. He then gradually ensured the development of a party hierarchy centred on the cult of his person. Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign has investigated nearly five million people over the past decade, the ruling Communist Party's senior anti-corruption official said. The party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection held a media briefing on Monday where the members explained their achievements over the past 10 years, NHK World reported. This meeting was held on the sidelines of the party's 20th national congress. They said more than 4.64 million members have been probed for possible corruption and other lapses of discipline. Xiao Pei, deputy secretary of the commission, pledged to continue the crackdown on corruption among party and government leaders. Xiao said the party is determined to win a fight against corruption by maintaining discipline, reported NHK World. Xi's anti-corruption campaign, one of the key policies has reportedly helped strengthen his political base. Former members of the party leadership and emerging next-generation leaders were among those targeted in the anti-graft drive. Xi, who is expected to secure a third term as party leader, appears determined to further solidify his grip on power. Xi said in a report that the party will never rest in its fight against corruption, according to NHK World. (ANI)
India suffered an income loss of 5.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the highest among the G20 nations in 2021, according to the new report of Climate Transparency. The 'Climate Transparency Report 2022' was developed with experts from 16 partner organisations from the majority of the G20 (Group of 20) countries that revealed India witnessed a record heatwave which greatly affected workers, labour migrants, low-income households and the homeless, and reduced the yields of wheat crops, which would have been useful to address supply shortages caused by the war in Ukraine. Despite the fact that India is responsible for 3 per cent of global emissions, the report highlighted that 142 million people in India may be exposed or roughly 10 per cent of the population to summer heatwaves at 1.5 Degrees Celsius. Exposure to higher temperatures and the resulting reduction of working hours has led to substantial income losses in services, manufacturing, agriculture, and construction, the report reads. Talking about global emissions, the USA ranked first, as America contributes 25 per cent of it, followed by the European Union with 22 per cent. But India is only responsible for 3 per cent of global emissions. "G20 members account for around 85 per cent of global GDP, 75 per cent of international trade and two-thirds of the world's population, and are responsible for around three-quarters of global emissions," the report reads. "To limit warming to 1.5 Degrees Celsius, the G20, therefore, carries high responsibility. For developed countries, this includes providing climate finance to assist developing countries' mitigation and adaptation actions," the report added. According to the Climate Transparency Report 2022, the G20 members are still not taking the necessary level of accountability of action. The report noted that several countries including India have submitted stronger Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets over time, but their overall level of ambition and action is still insufficient to meet 1.5 Degrees Celsius, according to the Climate Action Tracker. "The combined mitigation effect of all 2030 targets assessed is projected to lead to warming of 2.4 Degrees Celsius, with current policies leading to a 2.7 Degrees Celsius world by 2100. This underlines the urgent need for G20 members to strengthen current climate policies, intensify implementation, and submit more ambitious 2030 targets that align with midcentury net zero targets," the report reads. The Climate Transparency Report provides a concise overview of the key facts and figures on the state of climate performance of the G20 in a comparative stocktake. The analysis covers adaptation, mitigation and finance, with 20 detailed country profiles of all G20 members and a summary of key findings. In 2022, the report especially highlights the link between the climate emergency and the energy crisis. The review is based on 100 indicators for adaptation, mitigation and finance with detailed country profiles of all G20 members and a summary of key findings. The report is a clear reference tool for decision-makers. (ANI)
The new head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Roza Otunbayeva met with Afghan women leaders and discussed the key issues affecting women and girls amid the economic slump, ToloNews reported citing UN Assistant Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). "Restrictions to access to education and work were particularly stressed as Afghans struggle to cope with socio-economic hardships. Consultations to make every voice heard encouraged," UNAMA said. According to ToloNews, when the Islamic Emirate took control over Afghanistan, many women working in government departments become jobless. However, the Islamic Emirate said that the government's female employees who become jobless will be paid at home. The associate director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, Heather Barr, called on the UN to pay attention to women's rights in Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly said that it is committed to the rights of women and girls based on sharia and Islamic values, reported ToloNews. Earlier, Roza Otunbayeva on Sunday met with several Taliban leaders and discussed a range of issues including the importance of girls' education. "UN envoy @Otunbayeva at her first meeting with df @MoFA_Afg Muttaqi discussed wide ranging issues for cooperation, incl. trust-building, banking system & edu for all incl. girls. Acknowledged differences but agreed on the need to bring Afghanistan & IC closer for the sake of #Afghans," tweeted UNAMA News. Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting minister of Foreign Affairs, in a meeting with Otunbayeva, asked her to inform the world of the facts within the scope of her responsibility, reported Tolo News.The meeting covered bilateral cooperation, economic initiatives, security issues, and education, according to the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that now is the time for Afghanistan and the world to come closer together and understand each other's priorities, conditions, and requests, and UNAMA can achieve this well," said Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, reported Tolo News. She also met the Taliban's Deputy Prime Minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi and reiterated the need for close cooperation to prioritize the needs of the Afghan people. "In a meeting with df DPM Hanafi, UN Envoy Otunbayeva discussed a broad range of issues, including international assistance, drug abuse, and the importance of girls' education. The new UNAMA head reiterated the need for close cooperation to prioritize the needs of #Afghan people," tweeted UNAMA News. The head of UNAMA in Afghanistan has said that both sides should cooperate to address basic issues in Afghanistan. Political analysts consider UNAMA's role in various sectors, especially the recognition of the current government, to be important. "UNAMA can convince the world on the question of recognizing Afghanistan if the Taliban's strategy is such that it can satisfy UNAMA in the first step," said Aziz Marij, a former diplomat, reported Tolo News. "The Islamic Emirate should provide full and direct cooperation with UNAMA leadership about the search for the truth," said Yosuf Amin Zazai, a political analyst. Otunbayeva also met the Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Abdul Kabir and agreed to close cooperation to address pressing issues faced by Afghans. In September, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Roza Otunbayeva of Kyrgyzstan as his new Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA. (ANI)
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), in its verdict in the Toshakhana case, on Friday, disqualified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief and former Prime Minister Imran Khan and ruled that he is no more a Member of National Assembly. The ECP stated that Imran Khan submitted a false affidavit and was found involved in corrupt practices, Geo News reported Earlier on September 19, in the Toshakhana case hearing, Imran Khan's counsel Ali Zafar admitted that his client had sold at least four presents he had received during 2018-19. "The gifts were sold for Rs 58 million and their receipts were enclosed with the income tax returns filed by my client," the lawyer apprised the ECP. Meanwhile, in August, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) filed the reference claiming that Khan had paid for only some items that he took home from the 'Toshakhana', but most items that he took from the government treasure house was done so without paying for them. In the reference, it was alleged that Khan did not disclose the gifts he took and concealed the information in his statements, reported Geo news. Reportedly, gifts received by government officials are to be reported immediately, to enable their value to be assessed. Only after an assessment is conducted can the recipient take away the gift, if he wants to keep it, after depositing a specific amount. These gifts either remain deposited in the Toshakhana or can be auctioned and the money acquired through it is to be deposited into the national treasury. Last month, the former Pakistan Prime Minister sold three expensive watches from the government treasure house collectively worth more than 154 million Pakistani rupees (PKR) to a local watch dealer, media reports said. Imran Khan reportedly earned millions of rupees from these jewel-class watches gifted to him by foreign dignitaries, The News International newspaper reported. The most expensive watch worth over PKR 101 million was retained by Khan at 20 per cent of its value after his PTI government amended the rules and settled the gift retention price at 50 per cent of its original value. The PTI chief first sold the watches and then deposited 20 per cent of each in the government treasury, the Pakistan daily said citing documents and sale receipts. It added that these gifts worth millions of rupees were never deposited in Toshakhana.In April this year, PM Shehbaz Sharif had accused his predecessor Imran Khan of selling Toshakhana gifts worth PKR 140 million in Dubai. "Imran Khan sold these gifts for PKR 140 million in Dubai," Shehbaz had said. He said that the expensive gifts included diamond jewellery sets, bracelets and wristwatches.Shehbaz's revelation came in response to a question regarding a petition seeking the details of the Toshakhana that had been filed in the Islamabad High Court on which then PM Imran Khan had commented that the details cannot be revealed as per the Official Secrets Act, 1923. (ANI)
Chinese state media had repeatedly said that their foreign policy is for humanity and towards 'building a community with a shared future for mankind,' but in reality, there is a contradiction between words and actions. The Chinese government, for the past several years, have repeatedly tried to intervene in different countries' domestic policy. In 2018, Chinese leaders have made efforts to unite the communist forces present in Nepal, The Singapore Post reported. Given Nepal's strategic importance to China, the latter is employing several statecraft and party-to-party politics tools in a variety of ways to ensure that a pro-China establishment comes to power in the country. Not only in Nepal, but China has also made similar attempts in Bangladesh where the Chinese Ambassador tried to influence the former's independent policy position on Quad. The efforts failed as the Bangladeshi leaders were completely unwilling to succumb to Chinese influence. The idea of 'respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity' of a nation is equally dubious for China as it continues to intervene. But in their case are highly sensitive to anything being said against their sovereignty, reported The Singapore Post. The Chinese state media and propaganda machinery immediately go into a frenzy if any country of the world so much as tries to have a conversation with Taiwan. However, it is unapologetic about its intrusions into the sovereign matters of smaller nations such as Nepal and Bhutan. Some might argue that the Chinese foreign policy, despite claiming anti-colonialism to be one of its tenets, is turning out to be more colonial in its approach than any accusation it might make against the US. Another example is Sri Lanka's Hambantota port, which the Chinese have no qualms over snatching away from the island country, according to The Singapore Post. It now has all the intentions of replicating the same in Pakistan, where despite the protests by the locals in the entire Sindh and Balochistan region, especially around Gwadar, the push has been for the completion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as fast as possible. This indicates that the Chinese projects in the region aim to swindle the profits back to China, as opposed to creating any real prosperity in Pakistan. As if to prove this point at the ground level, the Chinese companies are often reported to ill-treat the locals in these small countries, validating their colonial mindset. Perhaps the biggest sham of all is China's stand against terrorism. Recently, China blocked a bid to designate Talha Saeed, son of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and LeT member Shahid Mahmood as "global terrorists." (ANI)
As many as 4 people were killed in an attack in Ukraine's Kherson which Russia blames it on Kyiv of using US-supplied HIMARS missiles to attack civilians evacuating from annexed region. This comes two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that it would impose martial law in the four regions in Ukraine he illegally annexed last month as his military struggles to maintain its grip on territory amid Ukrainian advances, Al Jazeera reported. Ukrainian forces "launched a missile attack on a civilian crossing", said Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy governor of Kherson. A Ukrainian official acknowledged an attack but said it occurred after a civilian curfew. He did not say what weapons were used. Earlier, on Wednesday, announced the imposition of martial law in four areas of Ukraine that Russia announced it had annexed last month. The four regions occupied by Russian are Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Putin made these comments during a security council meeting, CNN reported. "In this regard, let me remind you that in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, as well as in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, martial law was in effect before joining Russia," Putin said during a televised address. "Now we need to formalize this regime within the framework of Russian legislation," he said, adding that a decree of martial law in these four regions of the Russian Federation has been introduced formally and will be immediately sent to the Federation Council, CNN reported. Earlier, the Russian leaders in the annexed regions started relocating people in huge number After Russia annexed four Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, concerns have sparked globally that Moscow could resort to nuclear weapons. Putin formally announced the annexation of four regions - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia recently and claimed that "this is the will of millions of people," according to CNN. Putin said the residents in the four annexed regions will now be Russia's "citizens forever".Russia's annexation has sparked wide criticism from around the world. The United States announced that it will impose a "swift and severe cost" on Russia. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the "United States unequivocally rejects Russia's fraudulent attempt to change Ukraine's internationally recognized borders." After Putin's formal announcement of the annexation of the said four regions, western leaders condemned it, termed it "illegal" and vowed that they will "never recognize" these areas. (ANI)
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday decided to challenge the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) verdict in the Toshakhana case, which disqualified its chief and former Prime Minister Imran Khan and ruled that he is no more a Member of National Assembly. In the reference, it was said that Imran Khan did not mention the gifts taken from Toshakhana and the amount recieved from the sale of these gifts in his assets, reported The Nation. Earlier in April, the former Prime Minister, while talking about the aforementioned during an informal media interaction, said that these were his gifts and it was his choice whether to keep them or not. The ECP stated that Imran Khan submitted a false affidavit and was found involved in corrupt practices, Geo News reported. Earlier on September 19, in the Toshakhana case hearing, Imran Khan's counsel Ali Zafar admitted that his client had sold at least four presents he had received during 2018-19. "The gifts were sold for Rs 58 million and their receipts were enclosed with the income tax returns filed by my client," the lawyer apprised the ECP. Meanwhile, in August, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) filed the reference claiming that Khan had paid for only some items that he took home from the 'Toshakhana', but most items that he took from the government treasure house were done so without paying for them. In the reference, it was alleged that Khan did not disclose the gifts he took and concealed the information in his statements, reported Geo news. Reportedly, gifts received by government officials are to be reported immediately to enable their value to be assessed. Only after an assessment is conducted can the recipient take away the gift, if he wants to keep it, after depositing a specific amount. These gifts either remain deposited in the Toshakhana or can be auctioned and the money acquired through it is to be deposited into the national treasury. Last month, the former Pakistan Prime Minister sold three expensive watches from the government treasure house collectively worth more than 154 million Pakistani rupees (PKR) to a local watch dealer, media reports said. Imran Khan reportedly earned millions of rupees from these jewel-class watches gifted to him by foreign dignitaries, The News International newspaper reported. The most expensive watch worth over PKR 101 million was retained by Khan at 20 per cent of its value after his PTI government amended the rules and settled the gift retention price at 50 per cent of its original value. The PTI chief first sold the watches and then deposited 20 per cent of each in the government treasury, the Pakistan daily said citing documents and sale receipts. It added that these gifts worth millions of rupees were never deposited in Toshakhana. In April this year, PM Shehbaz Sharif accused his predecessor Imran Khan of selling Toshakhana gifts worth PKR 140 million in Dubai. "Imran Khan sold these gifts for PKR 140 million in Dubai," Shehbaz had said. He said that the expensive gifts included diamond jewellery sets, bracelets and wristwatches. Shehbaz's revelation came in response to a question regarding a petition seeking the details of the Toshakhana that had been filed in the Islamabad High Court on which then PM Imran Khan had commented that the details cannot be revealed as per the Official Secrets Act, 1923. (ANI)
Clashes between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers and police led to violent unrest in the country as the election commission disqualified former prime minister Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case. Violence erupted soon after the police contingents confronted PTI workers after the election body announced the verdict, reported ARY News. During the protests, the police arrested PTI MNA Saleh Muhammad and his guard from the ECP office.The situation became tense after KP police opened fire on capital police deployed outside the ECP office to neutralise the situation, however it only backfired, ARY News reported. Moreover, the PTI workers have blocked roads and streets to protest. According to local media, the workers have set ablaze tyres and blocked traffic in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other cities of Pakistan. The agitators also raised slogans against PTI Chairman Imran Khan's disqualification. In its verdict on Imran Khan on Friday, the electoral watchdog, ECP stated that Imran Khan submitted a false affidavit and was found involved in corrupt practices. Earlier on September 19, in the Toshakhana case hearing, Imran Khan's counsel Ali Zafar admitted that his client had sold at least four presents he had received during 2018-19. "The gifts were sold for Rs 58 million and their receipts were enclosed with the income tax returns filed by my client," the lawyer apprised the ECP. In August, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) filed the reference claiming that Khan had paid for only some items that he took home from the 'Toshakhana', but most items that he took from the government treasure house were done so without paying for them. In the reference, it was alleged that Khan did not disclose the gifts he took and concealed the information in his statements. Reportedly, gifts received by government officials are to be reported immediately, to enable their value to be assessed. Only after an assessment is conducted can the recipient take away the gift, if he wants to keep it, after depositing a specific amount. These gifts either remain deposited in the Toshakhana or can be auctioned and the money acquired through it is to be deposited into the national treasury. Last month, the former Pakistan Prime Minister sold three expensive watches from the government treasure house collectively worth more than 154 million Pakistani rupees (PKR) to a local watch dealer, media reports said. Imran Khan reportedly earned millions of rupees from these jewel-class watches gifted to him by foreign dignitaries, The News International newspaper reported. (ANI)
The clash took place along the border in the Spin Boldak border town in Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan, Khaama Press reported.

In a statement, the Taliban chief of police for the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar, Mawlawi Mahmood, said that the border clash was started by Pakistani forces, adding that gunfire from the Pakistani side killed a woman from the Afghan side.

Heavy weapons, including mortars, were used during the clashes that killed an Afghan woman, Khaama Press reported citing sources. Moreover, Pakistan's military also launched rockets into the air on Thursday night which continued till Friday morning. However, no other casualties have been reported so far.

The incident has been said to ascend the tensions between the Pakistan military and the Taliban.

The border clashes along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border come at a time when the Taliban forces and Pakistani border security forces have clashed multiple times before.

Clashes between Pakistan security forces and the Afghan Taliban have become quite frequent in recent months. Several cases of open firings and bomb attacks have been reported in Pakistan and Afghanistan also continue to blame the neighbouring country for transmitting terrorism across the border.

The porous border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been a stronghold for the Pakistani Taliban, a banned terrorist group in Pakistan, for decades. (ANI)
Chinese President Xi Jinping is trying to increase his hold over the nation in the ongoing 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). His aim is indeed not to equal revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, but to surpass him. The "two establishment", a newly invented phrase of CCP, remains a consistent theme in all panel discussions organized at the ongoing 2nd National Congress of CCP. The term "two establishment" was used in a resolution adopted by Central Committee of CCP-in November 2021 along with another term "two upholds" which signifies "upholding Xi's core position on Party's Central Committee", while "enhancing Central Committee's authority." Coining of these new slogans by CCP is aimed to project Xi as "people's leader", besides being the Party leader and to cement his status akin to Mao Zedong, who is regarded as the "great leader." The term "two establishment" refers to establishing President Xi Jinping as the "unquestionable core leader" of CCP and to adopt his, political doctrine as 'the "guiding principles for the new era" of the Party. Although the term did not find any mention in the 'Work Report' presented (October 16) by President Xi at the Congress, most of the Politburo members, while presiding over the panel discussions used it to express their support for Xi. Meanwhile, China is continuing efforts to provoke public sentiments against India and project CCP under Xi's leadership as the only savior of country's sovereignty and its people. In this regard, clips of Galwan clash (June 15, 2020) have been included in a propaganda video released (October 19) by CCP's official mouthpiece 'People's Daily' highlighting the contributions of Chinese people from all walks, including PLA, under CCP's guidance. Further, social media suppression in China is ongoing to clampdown political dissent. The Cyberspace Administration of China has as far banned over 60,000 WeChat accounts. The move follows the mass circulation of images related to Sitong Bridge incident (Haidian District, Beijing; October 13) wherein banners critical of President Xi and the CCP were displayed. In China, WeChat account forms almost the entirety of social and digital lives of the population. By driving alternative communication platforms out of existence, WeChat has made it easier for the Government to censor content centrally. As the draconian rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in mainland China continues to wreak havoc, the unfurling of the banner went viral on social media that highlights the call for "reforms", "dignity", and "liberty" and denounced the need for a "cultural revolution", the Hong Kong Post reported. The slogan also demands an end to the "slavery" that has perhaps become equivalent to being a Chinese citizen. However, the individual involved in this protest was later arrested and put under custody. Highly upset with the protests, the Chinese authority and propaganda machinery dismissed this act of protest as a rogue incident of madness, the Hong Kong Post reported. The protests is a big blow to Xi, who is expecting to extend his rule for at least another five years. It is quite important to Xi that he is seen as the most accepted Chinese leader now more than ever when he intends to get a third term as the premier. It is not helping his case that there are news of public protests coming from various corners of the country. There is clearly an unrest brewing in China and it is the premier's excessive aggressiveness that is the root cause of the unrest, the publication reported. (ANI)
Due to devastating floods and faulty country politics, around 15-16 per cent of citizens of Pakistan are reeling under food insecurity and the situation continues to get worse with every passing day. Describing Pakistan's food crisis as the worst one in the South Asian country's history, the deputy representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Farrukh Toirov, said that the situation of the nation has only crumbled due to covid pandemic and recent floods, Dawn reported. The FAO official made the remark while speaking at a seminar on 'Poverty Eradication and Food Security,' Dawn reported. "9.5 acres of agricultural land across the country has been inundated by flood water and government statistics shows that about 4.5 million acres of the crops have incurred extensive damage," he said. Toirov further called for cooperation between international partners and the Pakistan government to tackle poverty crisis. Dawn reported quoting Chris Kaye, the country director of the World Food Programme and said that capitalising on the agricultural production capacity of the country is the need of the hour. "345 million people in 82 countries were faced with food insecurity and the number was 282 million at the beginning of 2022 and 135 million before Covid-19," he said adding that the number of people vulnerable to famine-like situations has increased 10 times in the past five years and 4 million people are in phase IV of the famine in Pakistan making it a crucial situation for the country. Separately, Irshad Khan Abbasi, the head of innovation and integration, at Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) stated that the South Asian country holds the 92nd position on the Global Hunger Index (GH). High food prices, lack of rainfall, drought, and livestock diseases, have all added to the food insecurity in Pakistan. In addition, the intrusion of seawater in the littoral areas of Pakistan also threatens food security in Pakistan, reported IIFRAS. Seawater decreases the productivity of fertile agricultural lands causing food scarcity, and other economic woes. It further triggers the dilapidation of natural resources such as livestock, vegetation, land, and many others. Food insecurity impacts women, children and rural households leading to socio-economic inequalities and causing a rise in the number of food-insecure households. (ANI)
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif rejoiced over the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) exclusion of Islamabad from its grey list after four long years, the group which combat money laundering and terrorist financing. "Pakistan exiting the FATF grey list is a vindication of our determined and sustained efforts over the years. I would like to congratulate our civil & military leadership as well as all institutions whose hard work led to today's success. Aap sab ko bohat bohat Mubarak :)," tweeted the Pak PM. Pakistan has been taken out from Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) 'grey list' with the global watchdog stating that Islamabad would continue to work with the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering to further improve its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) system. Shehbaz further commended the role and efforts of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa for putting up a united front to get Pakistan out of the grey list. "I would particularly commend the role & efforts of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and their teams & all political parties for putting up a united front to get Pakistan out of the grey list. Alhumdulillah!" tweeted Shehbaz. Meanwhile, Bilawal Bhutto congratulated Pakistan for getting out of FATF's grey list. "Congratulations to the people of Pakistan. Pakistan has officially been removed from the FATF 'grey list'. Pakistan Zindabad," tweeted Bilawal. The Paris-based inter-governmental body had put Pakistan on its grey list of untrustworthy jurisdictions in June 2018 because of "strategic counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies." FATF President Raja Kumar, in his press conference at the conclusion of its plenary, stated that Pakistan had been on the grey list since 2018. He said, "It has two concurrent action plans. After a lot of work by Pakistani authorities, they have largely addressed all of the action plan items." Kumar maintained that the task force had conducted an onsite visit at the end of August. "The onsite team verified that there is a high level of commitment from the Pakistani leadership, sustainability of reforms and commitment to make improvements in the future," he said. "As a result of these action plans, Pakistan has made significant improvements to strengthen the effectiveness of this framework for combating terrorism financing." Pakistan was placed on FATF's grey list in June 2018 whereby it was found non-compliant with recommendations of the FATF which targeted areas of risk assessment, national cooperation, targeted sanctions, preventative measures, due diligence, internal and third-party controls, law enforcement, regulation and supervision for money laundering and terror financing, amongst others, reported Geo News. The FATF had issued the 27-point action plan after placing Pakistan on the 'Grey List' in June 2018. The action plan pertains to curbing money laundering and terror financing. Pakistan was first put on the list in 2008, removed in 2009 and then again remained under increased monitoring from 2012 to 2015. Countries under Grey List are considered safe haven for supporting terror funding and money laundering are put in the FATF grey list. This inclusion serves as a warning to the country that it may enter the blacklist. The FATF Plenary is the decision making body of the FATF. It meets three times per year. (ANI)
At a time when the Pakistani economy is faltering and people are hit by diseases and hunger after unprecedented floods, the country in a misplaced priority saga is busy sourcing fighter jet-related packages from the US, media reports. Pakistan's disinterest towards pulling back the shattering economy and aiding the flood-affected people and its continuing political bickering is both an irony and a tragedy. When corruption remains unabated Pakistan is still choosing geopolitics over economic management. Many analysts have expressed their disbelief over the US' announcement of military aid worth USD 450 million to Pakistan under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme for supplying the F-16 upgrade package as all of this comes when the people of Pakistan are reeling under the worst economic crisis and worst floods in the country. Millions are suffering but it seems like all of this does not concern Pakistan as it was only interested in the enhancement of its military aid programme with the US. It is surprising that a debt-ridden Pakistan, suffering from a massive payment crisis, further exacerbated by devastating floods, is willing to spend such a huge sum on a military modernisation programme, reported Europe Asia Foundation. Another interesting thing to note is how the F-16 fighter jets will help Pakistan to tackle domestic terrorists. It raises suspicions about Pakistan's intentions. Is it even true that domestic terrorist activities in Pakistan require such sort of advanced weaponry? All these questions are only drawing flak because it is actually hard to believe that the F-16s are intended to tackle terrorists. Earlier in 2018, former US President Donald Trump suspended military aid stating that Islamabad had taken no action against terror groups. Trump also accused Pakistan of 'lies and deceit' when it came to the military aid it had received from the US. In November 2018, Trump reiterated that the USD 1.3 billion in aid to Pakistan would remain suspended until Islamabad acts against militant safe havens, reported Europe Asia Foundation. However, the dynamics are changing in the post-trump era. It is crucial to know how Pakistan will use the aid provided by the US. However, one thing to note is that even with this close relationship between the US and Pakistan, Pakistan has neither learned the meaning of democracy nor development from the US. Pakistan chose to mistreat its minorities, women and critics while looking after terrorists. (ANI)
Money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has put Myanmar on the "black list" and has called on members to apply enhanced due diligence to business relations and transactions in Myanmar. Myanmar has entered the FATF's high-risk jurisdictions list, often referred to as the 'black list'. The FATF blacklist, officially designated as High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action, identifies nations with weak anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist funding regulatory frameworks. In February 2020, Myanmar committed to addressing its strategic deficiencies. Myanmar's action plan expired in September 2021. In June 2022, the FATF strongly urged Myanmar to swiftly complete its action plan by October 2022 or the FATF would call on its members and urge all jurisdictions to apply enhanced due diligence to business relations and transactions with Myanmar. FATF said that given the continued lack of progress and the majority of its action items still not addressed after a year beyond the action plan deadline, the FATF decided that further action was necessary in-line with its procedures. FATF called on its members and other jurisdictions to apply enhanced due diligence measures proportionate to the risk arising from Myanmar. When applying enhanced due diligence measures, countries should ensure that flows of funds for humanitarian assistance, legitimate NPO activity and remittances are not disrupted, FATF advised. It added that Myanmar should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address these deficiencies, including demonstrating an improved understanding of Money laundering (ML) risks in key areas, demonstrating that on-site/offsite inspections are risk-based, and hundi operators are registered and supervised. Moreover, it urged Myanmar to demonstrate enhanced use of financial intelligence in law enforcement agency (LEA) investigations, and increase operational analysis and dissemination by the Financial Intelligence Units (FIU). Plus, FATF also exhorted Myanmar to ensure that ML is investigated/prosecuted in line with risks; demonstrating investigation of transnational ML cases with international cooperation; demonstrating an increase in the freezing/seizing and confiscation of criminal proceeds, instrumentalities, and/or property of equivalent value; managing seized assets to preserve the value of seized goods until confiscation; and demonstrating implementation of targeted financial sanctions related to Proliferation Financing (PF). The FATF urged Myanmar to work to fully address its deficiencies and Myanmar will remain on the list of countries subject to a call for action until its full action plan is completed. (ANI)
The Kardashians have dealt with their fair of fashion faux pas over the years. Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images, Samir Hussein/WireImage

Episodes from season two of "The Kardashians" are airing weekly on Hulu.

No family member has been immune to the odd fashion faux pas since they've been in the spotlight.

Some wardrobe malfunctions in Kardashian history include broken zippers and see-through garments.

Kim Kardashian wore a baggy Prada jumpsuit during Milan Fashion Week in February, and Kendall Jenner said it looked like she had a "diaper on."

Kim Kardashian wore Prada during Milan Fashion Week on February 23, 2022. Robino Salvatore/GC Images

In the third episode of "The Kardashians" season two, Kim flew to Italy to support her sister Kendall during Milan Fashion Week.

The look is from Prada's fall/winter 2022 collection, according to PopSugar.

However, her younger sister didn't exactly give it her stamp of approval when Kim showed her the look in the episode.

"It kind of looks like you have a diaper on," Kendall said.

Kim also had a fashion emergency when her dress unzipped itself at the 2021 Innovator Awards.

Kim Kardashian at the 2021 Innovator Awards. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for WSJ. Magazine Innovators Awards, James Devaney/GC Images

Kim got more than she bargained for at the 2021 Wall Street Journal Magazine's Innovator Awards when she got up to accept an award wearing a SKIMS x Fendi collection skin-tight leather dress that started to unzip itself the moment she started getting up.

In her speech, she told the audience her dress had unzipped and exposed the SKIMS shapewear she had on underneath, People reported at the time.

"Thank god I had SKIMS on, or this would have been a very different kind of show tonight," she joked.

Kim's floral dress at the 2013 Met Gala launched a thousand memes.

Kim Kardashian attends the 2013 Met Gala. Larry Busacca/Getty Images

When Kim stepped out in a floral patterned Givenchy gown for her Met Gala debut in 2013, she had no way of knowing it would be the dress that launched a thousand couch memes.

Discussing the outfit in a fashion look-back video with Vogue in 2019, she said she broke into tears the whole way home after the gala.

"I was crying, like, the whole way home because I just couldn't believe it," she said. "There were all these memes about me and this couch."

The beauty mogul once said her code word for a fashion faux pas was "yellow jacket," named after this look from 2012.

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Kim Kardashian previously criticized the yellow jacket she wore in Miami in 2012. Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

According to the Belfast Telegraph, Kim and her ex-partner Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, used the code word "yellow jacket moment" when referring to a fashion faux pas, which started after she was seen walking around Miami in a mustard-colored jacket that she said was ill-fitting.

"One time in Miami where I wore this yellow suede jacket, and it was tighter here [at the wrists] and the sleeves got big and it was cropped, and oversized," she said, according to the publication. "It would look really cute on someone that was tall and it was not for my body type."

Kendall wore a pair of slightly see-through leggings while arriving in Nice, France, in 2018.

Kendall Jenner arriving at Cannes Film Festival in 2018. Marc Piasecki/GC Images,

It's unclear whether Kendall knew that her all-grey post-flight ensemble in Nice, France was sheer.

The model, who was arriving in France for the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, exited the airport in the matching grey long-sleeve and leggings set, which was daringly transparent, along with a pair of snakeskin-heeled boots.

She also stirred up some dress-code controversy by wearing a pair of jean shorts during Cannes Film Festival.

Kendall Jenner attends the Fashion for Relief event during the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. Samir Hussein/WireImage

In 2017, Kendall stepped out to the Fashion for Relief event during the Cannes Film Festival wearing an Alexander Vauthier Haute Couture top and a pair of jean shorts that she dressed up with a Swarovski crystal belt, Elle reported.

At the time, publications like E! News and the Daily Mail speculated as to whether she had broken the dress code of the film festival. However, it wasn't an official Cannes Film Festival party, according to Nylon.

Kendall had another fashion faux pas in 2017 when she wore a pair of jean shorts that had fabric attached to ankle cuffs.

Kendall Jenner pictured in LA in 2017. BG001/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Kendall stepped out in LA wearing a pair of white jean shorts that appeared to still have a tiny sliver of fabric draping down each side, attached to the ankle cuffs.

The fashion faux pas went on to be the focus of an article in The Cut, headlined: "Please send Kendall Jenner to the Jorts Court."

A zipper was sewn onto Kylie Jenner's 2018 Met Gala dress after it burst during a last-minute fitting.

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott at the 2018 Met Gala. John Lamparski/Getty Images

Kylie and Travis Scott made their Met Gala couple debut back in 2018. However, their red-carpet moment nearly started in disaster after her black Alexander Wang dress burst moments before they headed out the front door, Kylie revealed in a 2020 Instagram story, as reported by Cosmopolitan.

"This dress wasn't supposed to have a zipper but it ripped as I was squeezing into it, so we added it on the way out the door," she said, according to the publication.

Kris Jenner had a minor wardrobe malfunction when she stepped out in a see-through dress in 2017, revealing what appeared to be shapewear.

Kris Jenner leaving a restaurant in LA in 2017. gotpap/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

The Kardashian matriarch had her own fashion faux pas moment on a night out at Craig's in Los Angeles with her boyfriend Corey Gamble in 2017, Hollywood Life reported.

Kris, then 61, didn't appear to be aware that her 1970s-print dress was sheer, exposing what looked like beige shapewear underneath.

Khloe Kardashian improvised by wearing a suit jacket during an appearance on "The Ellen Degeneres Show" after her t-shirt ripped at the back.

Khloe Kardashian on Ellen in 2021. Ellen/YouTube

Khloe needed to improvise quickly before her appearance on "The Ellen Degeneres Show" in 2021. Speaking to People afterward, she said that the t-shirt she planned to wear on the program split last-minute down the back.

"I ended up putting on a really baggy blazer and I looked really menswear chic," she said. "But the whole time, I'm kind of scrunched over because I don't really have a top underneath. I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, what's happening?'"

Khloe joked about an accidental exposure moment while co-hosting "The X Factor" in 2012.

Khloe Kardashian cohosted "The X Factor" with Mario Lopez in 2012. FOX Image Collection via Getty Images

During her first night co-hosting "The X Factor" in 2012 alongside Mario Lopez, Khloe suffered a slight exposure-related wardrobe malfunction.

According to Radar Online, she made light of the minor faux pas at the time by tweeting out: "I think I had a little nip action earlier LOL."

Kourtney Kardashian wore a white-lace bodysuit in 2014 that wasn't quite tailored to her height.

Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick attended a Women's Health event in 2014. Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for Women's Health

Years before Kourtney was rocking an edgier style alongside her husband Travis Barker, she attended a Women's Health event wearing a white-lace bodysuit alongside ex-boyfriend Scott Disick.

The only issue was that the outfit wasn't exactly tailored to fit her petite frame, and the excess material covered her shoes, seemingly dragging on the floor.

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In this article, we will look at the 12 best momentum stocks to invest in. If you want to explore similar stocks, you can also take a look at 5 Best Momentum Stocks To Invest In.

Momentum investing has long been a popular strategy among expert investors and retail investors alike. Simply put, momentum investors buy a stock when it is in an upward trend and sell it when it starts to look as if it has peaked or is going to go into a downward trend. Momentum investing is highly vulnerable to market volatility and may or may not turn out as expected. Investors should always practice proper due diligence and make informed investment decisions. The stock market has been shaky in 2022, with global supply disruptions, geopolitical unrest, alarmingly high inflation, and rising interest rates. As of October 20, the S&P 500 has declined 23.2% year to date, the Nasdaq is down 32.5% for the year, and the Dow has tanked 16.75% since the beginning of 2022.

While equities have been having a bad year, overall, market pullbacks may be optimal buying opportunities for investors. On October 20 Mark Newton, head of technical strategy at Fundstrat, appeared in an interview on CNBC where he gave his S&P 500 projections and talked about investing in stocks on pullbacks. Mark Newton thinks that "we need to see rates start to peak out before we can really see if any sort of rally has some longevity" and that though the "S&P seems like it's going down every day, but there's actually some internal sector strength that really bodes well with the prospect of markets to bottom out by the beginning of November".

Mark Newton said that according to his research, interest rates are approaching a peak, and with the upcoming mid-term election and the FOMC meeting in November, markets are ready for a near-term rebound so "any pullbacks would still be a great buying opportunity" for investors.

Some of the best momentum stocks that have the potential to soar further as we move into the end of the year include Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU), Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY), and Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc (NYSE:AMR). These, among other best momentum stocks, are discussed further in the article below.

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Image by Sergei Tokmakov Terms.Law from Pixabay

Our Methodology

To determine the best momentum stocks to invest in, we screened for stocks that are up at least 30% for the year, as of October 20, and are expected to maintain this uptrend as we move into 2023. We narrowed down our selection to stocks that had positive market sentiment, upside potential, and were trading at attractive valuations. Along with each stock, we have mentioned the hedge fund sentiment, analyst ratings, and their year-to-date performance. We have ranked these stocks in ascending order of their year-to-date returns.

Best Momentum Stocks To Invest In

12. The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS)

YTD Return as of October 20: 29.46%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 50

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) is a leading global provider of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. At the end of Q2 2022, 50 hedge funds held stakes in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS). The total value of these stakes amounted to $895.76 million. As of June 30, Soroban Capital Partners is the largest investor in The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) and has stakes worth $317.74 million in the company.

On October 19, The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share. The dividend is payable on December 15 to shareholders of record on December 1. As of October 20, the stock is offering a forward dividend yield of 1.18% and is trading at a PE multiple of 5x. The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) is cash-rich and has free cash flows of $1.68 billion. The stock is one of the best momentum stocks to invest in right now and has gained 29.46% year-to-date, as of October 20.

On October 4, Citi analyst P.J. Juvekar revised his price target on The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) to $58 from $61 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares. The stock has an average price target of roughly $67, which implies a 31% upside from current levels.

Here is what Carillon Tower Advisers had to say about The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) in its second-quarter 2022 investor letter:

The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) brought up the rear as fertilizer prices pulled back following a massive price spike due to the war in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions on Russia and Belarus, both major suppliers of potash fertilizers. Subsequently, fertilizer inventory began to accumulate in various locations including in Brazil as farmers refused to buy normal amounts of fertilizer due to high prices. An effort by the U.S. government to aid exports of Russian fertilizer also may have weighed on sentiment. We view the agriculture markets as still in a bull trend, but the pullback in Mosaic and other fertilizer names was substantial.

Some of the best momentum stocks that have gained over 100% in 2022 include Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU), Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY), and Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc (NYSE:AMR).

11. Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

YTD Return as of October 20: 31.39%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) is a leading food processing company that is also involved in trading agricultural commodities. As of October 20, Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) has a trailing twelve-month PE ratio of 13.53 and has gained 31.39% since the beginning of the year.

Wall Street is bullish on Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM). This August, Wolfe Research analyst Sam Margolin took coverage of Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) with an Outperform rating and a $117 price target. Margolin noted that the stock is offering "highly competitive dividend growth". As of October 20, Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) is offering a forward dividend yield of 1.82% and has free cash flows of $1.67 billion.

At the end of Q2 2022, 42 hedge funds were bullish on Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) and held stakes worth $658.96 million in the company. This is compared to 42 positions in the previous quarter with stakes worth $625.68 million.

As of June 30, Markel Gayner Asset Management is the most prominent investor in Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) and has stakes worth $113.5 million in the company.

Here is what Diamond Hill Capital had to say about Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) in its first-quarter 2022 investor letter:

ADM is a leading agricultural processor that also operates a global nutrition business focused on the development of ingredients and flavors for food and beverages, supplements and more. The companys recent operating results have benefited (unfortunately) from the war in Ukraine as grain prices and agricultural markets globally experienced strong price increases. ADM is positioned well to benefit from the volatility due to its stable North American agricultural base.

YTD Return as of October 20: 32.92%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42

Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) is a leader in the agriculture industry and offers seeds, seed treatments, fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides among other products. The company has two divisions: Seed and Crop Protection. On October 4, Citi analyst P.J. Juvekar raised his price target on Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) to $73 from $69 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares.

As of October 20, Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) is up 32.92% for the year and is one of the best momentum stocks to buy right now. Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) has free cash flows of $1.1 billion and has a trailing twelve-month operating margin of 15.3%. As of October 20, Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) is awarding shareholders with a forward dividend yield of 0.97%.

At the close of Q2 2022, 42 hedge funds were long Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) and held stakes worth $966.4 million. As of June 30, Arrowstreet Capital is the largest investor in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) and has stakes worth $141.3 million in the company.

Here is what Aristotle Capital Management had to say about Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) in its first-quarter 2022 investor letter:

Corteva Agriscience, one of the worlds largest seed and crop protection companies, was a primary contributor for the quarter. Due to its respected brand and the value-added benefits of its patented seeds and crop protection solutions for farmers, Corteva has been able to more than offset input cost inflation with sustainable price increases. In addition, the companys ongoing mix shift to higher-margin, premium products, a catalyst we previously identified, is aiding both sales and profit growth. Shares were likely also buoyed by the rise in crop prices. Market participants, perhaps eager to chase short-term trends, poured into the sector. At Aristotle Capital, we look past such gyrations and, as long-term investors, do not attempt to predict short-term changes in commodity prices. We remain excited about what we view to be high-quality characteristics and fundamental improvements that permeate Cortevas business, not the least of which include its pricing power.

9. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF)

YTD Return as of October 20: 48.35%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) operates as an agricultural chemicals company worldwide and markets hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and industrial activities. On October 12, CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.40 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on November 30 to stockholders of record on November 15. As of October 20, CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) is offering a forward dividend yield of 1.59% and has gained 48.35% year to date.

Wall Street sees material upside to CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF). This October, Citi analyst P.J. Juvekar raised his price target on CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) to $120 from $117 and maintained a Buy rating on the shares.

At the close of Q2 2022, 52 hedge funds held stakes in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF). The total value of these stakes amounted to $1.33 billion. As of June 30, Soroban Capital Partners is the leading investor in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) and has stakes worth $213.28 million in the company.

Here is what Carillon Carillon Tower Advisers had to say about CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) in its first-quarter 2022 investor letter:

Stock selection contributed the most while sector allocation was also positive. An underweight to communication services and an overweight to energy helped performance, while an underweight to consumer staples and an overweight to materials detracted. Stock selection was strong within healthcare and materials but was weak within information technology and industrials. CF Industries (NYSE:CF) manufactures and distributes nitrogen fertilizer. The stock rose as Russias invasion of Ukraine accelerated already rising fertilizer prices.

8. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)

YTD Return as of October 20: 64.12%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 72

At the close of the second quarter of 2022, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was spotted on 72 hedge fund portfolios. These funds held collective stakes of $7.40 billion in the company. As of June 30, GQG Partners is the most prominent investor in Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and has stakes of over $4 billion in the company.

As of October 20, the stock has a trailing twelve-month PE ratio of 11.01 and is offering a forward dividend yield of 3.49%. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is one of the best momentum stocks to buy now and, as of October 20, has gained 64.12% year to date.

This October, Wells Fargo analyst Roger Read adjusted his price target on Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) to $109 from $116 and reiterated an Overweight rating on the shares. On October 18, Jefferies analyst Lloyd Byrne upgraded Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) to Buy from Hold and raised his price target to $133 from $90.

Here is what First Eagle Investments had to say about Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) in its second-quarter 2022 investor letter:

Integrated oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil performed well in the second quarter as continued high prices for energy products supported the stock. As the largest refiner in the US, the company has benefitted from wide crack spreads, or the margin between the cost of crude oil and the petroleum products extracted from it. Exxon continues to invest in refining capacity in the US, which industrywide has been in steady decline since 2019. We are pleased that Exxon has been using its strong cash flows to reduce debt and to return cash to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases.

7. Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO)

YTD Return as of October 20: 69.41%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 41

Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) is profitable, cash-rich, and undervalued. As of October 20, the stock is trading at a PE multiple of 6x and has gained 69.41%. Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) has a trailing twelve-month operating margin of 39.85% and has free cash flows of $3.45 billion. The stock is ranked high among the best momentum stocks to invest in right now.

Wall Street is bullish on Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO). This October, Piper Sandler analyst Mark Lear raised his price target on Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) to $38 from $36 and reiterated an Overweight rating on the shares. On October 19, Jefferies analyst Lloyd Byrne took coverage of Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) with a Hold rating and a $30 price target.

At the end of Q2 2022, 41 hedge funds disclosed ownership of stakes in Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO). These funds held collective stakes of $1.26 billion in the company. As of June 30, Fisher Asset Management is the top shareholder in Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) and has stakes worth $194.23 million in the company.

Here is what Carillon Tower Advisers had to say about Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) in its Carillon Clarivest Capital Appreciation Fund first-quarter 2022 investor letter:

Stock selection contributed the most while sector allocation was also positive. An underweight to communication services and an overweight to energy helped performance, while an underweight to consumer staples and an overweight to materials detracted. Stock selection was strong within healthcare and materials but was weak within information technology and industrials. Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) increased its quarterly dividend and executed an impressive share buyback that blew by the target it originally announced.

6. Unum Group (NYSE:UNM)

YTD Return as of October 20: 71.38%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 25

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) is an American insurance company that offers insurance products for disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental, and vision primarily in the United States. Wall Street sees upside to Unum Group (NYSE:UNM). This October, Truist analyst Mark Hughes raised his price target on Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) to $48 from $44 and maintained a Buy rating on the shares. It is one of the best momentum stocks to buy now and, as of October 20, has gained 71.38% since the beginning of 2022.

Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) is trading at bargain levels and is awarding investors with dividends. As of October 20, the stock has a trailing twelve-month PE ratio of 7.73 and is offering a forward dividend yield of 3.06%. The company has free cash flows of over $1.59 billion and has a trailing twelve-month operating margin of 13.13%.

Hedge funds are piling into Unum Group (NYSE:UNM). At the close of Q2 2022, Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) was spotted on 25 investment portfolios. These funds held stakes worth $436 million in the company, up from $323.5 million in the preceding quarter with 30 positions. As of June 30, Viking Global is the top investor in Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) and has stakes worth $146.6 million in the company.

In addition to Unum Group (NYSE:UNM), other stocks that are trading cheaply relative to earnings and are showing strong momentum include Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU), Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY), and Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc (NYSE:AMR).

Click to continue reading and see 5 Best Momentum Stocks To Invest In.

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Disclosure: None. 12 Best Momentum Stocks To Invest In is originally published on Insider Monkey.
Over $200M worth of fentanyl was found during a traffic stop on I-40 on Thursday, October 20, according to the West Tennessee Drug Task Force.

Agents said they pulled over a 2011 Nissan Maxima on I-40 near the Shelby County and Fayette County line for displaying a false Texas temporary tag and failure to exercise due care.

Those agents soon grew suspicious, however, and got permission to search the vehicle, the Drug Task Force said.

Thats when they found 22 pounds of the deadly drug fentanyl concealed in a couch cushion in the back seat.

Agents said one of the men in the car was using the drug-filled cushion as a pillow when they pulled the car over.

Ervin Ortega-Zalaya, 26, Jose Zelaya, 31, and Jonathan Zelaya, 23, were all arrested and taken to Fayette County Jail, Drug Task Force agents said.

Drug Task Force Director Johnie Carter said the deadly powder could have made 22,000,000 tablets.

If this fentanyl were to be pressed into the popular yet deadly fentanyl pills, it could potentially make 22,000,000 1mg tablets. The street value of these drugs is nearly $ 1 million in its powder form but if pressed into fentanyl pills, they could sell for as much as $220 million, Carter said.

In a Facebook post, the Drug Task Force called the seizure the largest fentanyl bust in Tennessee state history.

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Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam. Warner Bros. Pictures.

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for DC's " Black Adam ."

Dwayne Johnson's "Black Adam" introduces the antihero to the DCEU.

He faces off with the Justice Society and Intergang before a bigger threat arrives.

Dwayne Johnson has finally arrived in the DC Extended Universe with "Black Adam," which sees Teth-Adam protect his country, Kahndaq, from a vicious military group called Intergang. He also has to reckon with his own guilt and grief over the death of his family thousands of years in the past, before finding his place in the present day.

The film also has a few surprises up its sleeve as it ties into the wider DCEU through a couple of intriguing cameos that tease what's ahead for fans, including a crowd pleasing mid-credits scene.

But "Black Adam" still leaves audiences with a few questions about the things it adds to the franchise, especially about where the titular antihero might show up next and who he'll face off with.

What exactly is Eternium?

The Crown of Sabacc floating in a cave. Warner Bros. Pictures

Yes, it seems like every cinematic universe needs a rare metal/mineral from a far off country that bad guys want to get their hands on. In the DCEU, there's a precious material called Eternium underneath Kahndaq that the king forced his slaves to dig for thousands of years ago, and Intergang also mines for in the present day.

But what actually is Eternium? Well, it's an ore with magical properties, and it's one of the only things on the planet that can actually hurt Black Adam. It doesn't affect him as much as Kryptonite affects Superman, but it can cut him. But in the comics, Eternium actually comes from the remains of the Rock of Eternity when it was destroyed by the villain Dr. Sivana.

"Black Adam" is clearly playing fast and loose with that idea, because the Rock of Eternity hasn't been destroyed in the DCEU and it has already appeared in "Shazam!" Although maybe Dr. Sivana (Mark Strong) will return to cause more trouble for Billy Batson in "Shazam! Fury of the Gods."

Eternium can be forged into powerful magical artifacts, like Adrianna Tomasz's (Sarah Shahi) necklace, or the Crown of Sabacc.

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So, who is Sabbac and will he return?

Marwan Kenzari as Sabbac. Warner Bros. Pictures

Much of the story revolves around the Crown of Sabacc and making sure Ishmael Gregor (Marwan Kenzari) doesn't get his hands on it because he's the last surviving descendant of King Anh-Kot and he'll try and fulfill his ancestor's wishes of calling forth the demon Sabacc.

While Black Adam and Shazam are two sides of the same coin, Sabacc is their darker counterpart. The demon's name is an acronym for the six lords of hell, Satan, Aym, Belial, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, and Crateis, and he's got all of their power.

Sabbac has taken a few different forms over the years, and he first debuted in 1943. He was summoned by a man called Timothy Karnes who wanted Shazam's powers for himself  which is why he made a deal with the lords of hell. He wore green robes and had big teeth, a big difference from the horned red demon in "Black Adam."

That look came when mob boss Ishmael Gregor was introduced in 2004's "Outsiders" #8, which is why the 2022 movie reimagines him as the head of Intergang. Although Black Adam literally rips Sabbac and Ishmael in half at the end of the film, it's not impossible that Sabbac could return.

After all, Ishmael was only granted the powers of the hell lords, it stands to reason that they could simply give their powers to anyone else who makes it down there.

Who are all those villains that Amanda Waller has locked up?

Viola Davis returns to the DCEU in "Black Adam." Warner Bros. Pictures

A brief portion of the film sees Black Adam voluntarily hand himself over to Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) to be locked up in their icy containment facility so that he doesn't lose control of his powers. It's a sensible decision, though it only lasts mere hours, as he later breaks loose to fight Sabbac in the climax of the movie.

But the film makes a point to show off just how big the frozen prison really is, as hundreds of other containment pods surround Black Adam  including ones that are two or three times the size of the average human. This means that Waller has plenty of other weapons of mass destruction locked up that she could use at any given moment. But who are they all?

The best bet is that they could be potential recruits for the Suicide Squad, though Waller typically pulls inmates from Belle Reve for the team. These prisoners look like they're too dangerous to be out running military missions.

But who knows, according to The Hollywood Reporter, James Gunn is working on a brand new DCEU film, so "Black Adam" could be sowing seeds for bigger things down the line.

Will Black Adam fight Shazam?

Zachary Levi as Shazam. Warner Bros. Pictures

Now there's an obvious question here that is seemingly overshadowed by the film's triumphant mid-credits scene: will Black Adam fight Zachary Levi's Shazam?

The two characters are intrinsically linked because their powers come from the same place  the wizards at the Rock of Eternity.

The film even sees a couple of brief appearances from Djimon Hounsou as the wizard Shazam as he bestows his powers on Teth-Adam's son, Hurut (Jalon Christian), before the young boy later transfers them to his father.

But since both "Shazam!" and "Black Adam" seemingly take place in the present day, it's hard not to wonder whether they'll get into a fight at some point in the future.

Although Johnson has been focused on the Superman of it all, it's possible that this is all building to a collision between Billy Batson and Teth-Adam.

When will Superman show up again?

Henry Cavill as Superman. Warner Bros. Pictures

The mid-credits scene sees Amanda Waller send the Man of Steel to go talk to Black Adam in order to calm the situation down. Obviously, Kahndaq's protector isn't afraid of anyone on the planet, or anyone from any other planet for that matter.

The two costumed crusaders don't come to blows in the scene, but Superman says "we should talk," implying that they're going to hash it out at some point.

Fans have been waiting for a long time for Henry Cavill's return to the DCEU, and Warner Bros. wouldn't get him back onboard if they weren't going to make the most of it.

A recent exclusive from The Hollywood Reporter confirms that a Superman sequel is in development at the studio, with Charles Roven producing, though there isn't a writer attached to the project at the moment.

Dwayne Johnson hasn't shied away from the fact that he wants to see a showdown between Black Adam and Superman, so really, it's just a matter of which future movie gets off the ground first.

Although now that Cavill is firmly back in those red boots, there's nothing to stop Warner Bros. from giving him cameo appearances in other upcoming releases like "The Flash," "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," or "Blue Beetle."

"Black Adam" is in theaters now.

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Nine people were shot outside a fraternity house near Southern Universitys campus in Louisiana, according to the Baton Rouge Police Department and news outlets.

It happened just before 2 a.m. Friday, Oct. 21, in the 600 block of Harding Boulevard, police Lt. Don Coppola said.

Seven of the victims were taken to a hospital for treatment, WAFB reported, citing emergency officials. Theyre expected to be OK, as none of their injuries appear life-threatening, police said.

Authorities did not say if they have a suspect in custody.

The incident occurred during a gathering outside the Kappa Alpha Psi frat house ahead of homecoming festivities set for this weekend, according to The Advocate.

Red Solo cups were strewn on the ground, and most of the crime scene tape had been removed by 7 a.m., the newspaper reported.

Southern University released a statement about the shooting:

While this unfortunate incident happened off campus at a non-University sponsored event, the University strongly condemns any act of violence, it reads. We are keeping anyone affected by this incident in our thoughts.

Officials, including the Southern University Police Department, are continuing to work to ensure that students, employees, alumni and other visitors to campus are safe during this Homecoming weekend.

Police said the incident remains under investigation.

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Felony child abuse charges have been filed against a Mississippi group of former daycare workers fired after video of them screaming at children while sporting a spooky mask went viral.

Sierra McCandless, Oci-Anna Kilburn, Jennifer Newman and Shyenne Shelton are each facing three counts of felony child abuse, WTVA reported. A fifth person, Traci Hutson, was also hit with misdemeanor counts of failure to report abuse and simple assault against a minor.

The charges stem from an incident at Lil Blessings Child Care & Learning Center in Hamilton, about 170 miles away from Mississippis capital Jackson. Undated video, posted on Reddit and Facebook earlier this month, shows a daycare worker with their face covered by a mask similar to the one seen in the Scream film franchise.

Are you being bad? Do I need to take you outside? the masked daycare worker asks one child, who immediately buries their face in their arms.

In another moment, the masked worker can be seen bending down and screaming in a crying childs face as she trembles in terror.

We are supposed to be cleaning up, monster, says a voice from behind the camera.

The video was shared across social media platforms until it caught the eye of law enforcement, which decided to take action. The owner of the child care facility has not been charged.
Chinese Consul-General Zheng Xiyuan has admitted to pulling the hair of a pro-Hong Kong independence protester who was beaten at the Chinese consulate in Manchester, England, on Sunday.

Zheng, whose office is under investigation for the violent incident, confirmed his actions against protester Bob Chan in an interview with Sky News, saying he had done them out of duty.

Yes, because he [Chan] abused my country, my leader, Zheng said. I think any diplomat [would] if faced with such behavior.

Zheng previously alleged that the protester had grabbed one of his staff members by the neck and refused to let go. As other staff members tried to pull their colleague back in, Zheng said the protester plunged into the property himself.

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Zheng told Sky News that he sought to separate Chan from the consular staff. He insisted that the protester threatened his colleagues life.

I think its an emergency situation, Zheng said. That guy threatened my colleagues life, and we tried to control the situation. I wanted to separate him from my colleagues. Thats a very critical point."

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However, viral videos of the chaos show Chan being dragged into the consulates grounds, where he was repeatedly punched and beaten by a group of masked men. He reportedly sustained several injuries, including a swollen and bruised head, a sore waist, a bruised neck and a bruised back.

When asked to explain the root of the violence, Zheng blamed the posters Chans pro-democracy group had carried outside the consulate. They allegedly showed an image of Chinese President Xi Jinping with a noose around his neck, as well as posters with messages such as God kill CPC (Communist Party of China) and F*ck your mother.

They used very rude words, unacceptable. Everybody never accepts these kinds of words, Zheng told Sky News. It's not right to put such banners close to my gate. After I advised them to remove [them] very politely, they refused.

British officials have condemned the consulates actions as an attack against free speech. On Thursday, Foreign Office Minister Jesse Norman told parliament that the U.K. envoy to China has been instructed to deliver a clear message directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing about the depth of concern with apparent actions by Consulate General staff.

Let me be clear that if the police determine there are grounds to charge any officials, we would expect the Chinese Consulate to waive immunity for those officials. If they do not, then diplomatic consequences will follow, Norman said.

Chan, who fled Hong Kong last year, fears potential retribution against his family. He has nightmares about having loved ones being hurt, his interpreter said on Wednesday.

Featured Image via Sky News / @McWLuke
Sathya Elumalai was finding it hard to manage his mother's health after she was diagnosed with four chronic conditions. Rather than guess her health status for the day, he decided to co-found Aidar Health to get that information directly and reliably.

In founding Aidar, Elumalai also created and launched MouthLab, a device it claims tracks 10 key health parameters in under a minute. The company was part of the Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022.

For a car you have this check engine light that helps you to say, now it's time for you to take your car [to a] dealer or mechanic to get it fixed. Similarly, our device acts as a way to monitor your health every day, to provide a more holistic view of an individual's health, Elumalai said. So if there [are] any abnormalities, or any changes in that health from their baseline, the device can alert and inform the user about those changes, and what can they do to help manage their health. Or use the same data to communicate with their physician or caregivers to better assess the health condition or changes or deviations in health at the very early stage.

Image Credits: Aidar Health

A user holds the iPhone-sized device and puts their mouth on the mouthpiece, breathes normally and positions their hands on the device as instructed. The company claims MouthLab will record temperature, respiration rate, pulse rate, blood pressure, respiration pattern, heart rate, heart rate variability, ECG, spirometry (i.e., lung function) and oxygen saturation. Data is collected from sensors across the device from saliva, breathing, hand pulse and lips to read the bodys parameters.

In a world where digital and remote care has become the new norm thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians have often had to go off what their patients say, which is a good starting point but not sufficient for long-term care. Although tests and labs are done eventually, there hasnt been an efficient way to track a patient's vitals at home.

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Aidar Health was able to garner FDA 510(k) Class II clearance early last year. This fast-track designation is for devices that are of moderate importance or risk in a clinical environment (as opposed to high risk in something like a pacemaker, or low risk with a stethoscope), and allows the company to introduce the product for commercial distribution and market it while further proving out its safety and capabilities. According to the company, the device has gone through three clinical trials and is embarking on a study in partnership with the VA Health System.

Today, there are over 800 active users of MouthLab and Aidar Health, using it for remote vitals monitoring, chronic care management, and other home health services -- as well as "real-world evidence generation efforts with life science companies," Elumalai said (the latter presumably meaning taking part in studies).

"The device is being used for Remote Physiological Monitoring (RPM), Chronic Care Management (CCM), Hospital at Home (H@H) services with health systems and digital biomarker development, digital companion, and real-world evidence generation efforts with life science companies," Elumalai told TechCrunch.

The Maryland-based company says they are HIPAA compliant, by using their own LTE/cellular network cloud. Once data is collected, it is sent to users via the mobile app and then sent to physicians through Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, an API for electronic health records.

The company has decided to run on a subscription-based model, which costs $50 to $80 per patient per month. Users are provided MouthLab, as well as access to the web and mobile apps, and physicians can collect vitals and analytics. Depending on the usage of the service, pricing can vary.

It's hard to really decipher what patients are really going through, Elumalai said. But a device like this, before we even get hold of a physician to telemedicine, we can get the data to them instantly. So they get a full snapshot of the patient medical history, a longitudinal analysis of the data for the past few days.
A contractor for a Georgia aircraft manufacturer has been sentenced to nearly 7 years in prison after prosecutors say he pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal design secrets from the company, according to the Department of Justice.

Gilbert Basaldua, 63, of Hilton Head, South Carolina, worked as a numerical control engineer contractor for an aircraft manufacturing company in Georgia from October 2016 through November 2018, according to a Department of Justice news release dated Oct. 20.

He was accused of stealing aircraft wing designs and anti-icing testing information from different aircraft manufacturers, including the company that employed him, officials say.

During its investigation, the FBI discovered a document at Basaludas residence that was considered his companys backbone document, as well as drawings of one of the companys aircraft wings and information on how to stop ice from forming on planes, according to a sentencing memo.







The trade secret information contained in the backbone document included specific, unique improvements and technical specifications developed by (the company), such as the sealant used on a wing to protect it from extreme temperatures and the amount of polishing the front of a wing can hold, the sentencing memo says.

Text messages between Basaldua and his co-conspirators show that they had gotten a wing from the company and intended to use it for testing in a NASA wind tunnel, allowing them to avoid the years of research usually required for testing, according to the sentencing memo.

Basaldua intended to use the victims stolen trade secret information to design, develop and certify an anti-ice system for sale to the victims competitor(s), according to the sentencing memo. This would cause serious financial harm to the company, if not put it out of business, the memo says.

Basalduas attorneys did not respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

The court also found that Basalduas high-up position as a project manager allowed him special access to materials. He used this access to fraudulently convey the information outside of the company, the memo says.

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Theft is theft, whether its a bag full of cash or a digital file holding specialized design information  and Gilbert Basaldua and his co-conspirators are thieves, David Estes, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, said in a statement. This sentence will hold him accountable for attempting to enrich himself by stealing valuable information from a private company.

Basaldua, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal trade secrets and interstate transportation of stolen property in 2021, was sentenced to 80 months, or nearly seven years, in federal prison with three years of supervised release after completion of his term, according to the Department of Justice.

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Peripheral

Chloe Grace Moretz in 'The Peripheral' Credit - Sophie MutevelianPrime Video

Scott B. Smith began writing the Amazon Prime Video sci-fi series The Peripheral three weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic put much of the world into lockdown. A global pandemic plays a pivotal role in the series based on William Gibsons 2014 novel of the same name, making the experience of adapting the work almost like watching the book unfold in real time as were trying to write, Smith tells TIME ahead of the shows Oct. 21 premiere. Gibson, who coined the term cyberspace in his 1982 short story Burning Chrome, is regarded as a visionary among sci-fi authors, known for an ability to predict the future. For Scott, it felt as if Gibson had done it again. I have so much respect for Gibson and his ability to kind of inhabit that near future, its extraordinary, he says. Its why the creator didnt want the futuristic series, produced by Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, to stray too far from its source material.

The Peripheral follows Flynne Fisher (played by Chloe Grace Moretz), a struggling gamer-for-hire who lives in the rural American South of the not-so-distant future. After witnessing a murder while playing a mysterious virtual reality game set in London in the 22nd century, she realizes everything shes been experiencing while wearing the VR headset is real. With help from her brother Burton (Jack Reynor), she embarks on a dangerous journey to save the world from a menacing force that is out to destroy humanity.

The twisty sci-fi noir looks at a future in which reality and virtual reality are one in the same, but, in real life, the now 74-year-old Gibson is actually quite averse to technology. I would expect him to have a hologram of himself, Scott says. He obviously knows so much and observes people interacting with tech, but hes not the guy you think. Gibson is a sci-fi writer who is more interested in the way humans choose to interact with technology rather than using the technology itself.

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Below, Scott discusses how he paid tribute to Gibson with his small screen adaptation of The Peripheral.

Keep it simple, even when the story gets complicated

Jack Reynor in 'The Peripheral' Sophie MutevelianPrime Video

The first sentence of The Peripheral is a bit of a head scratcher: They didnt think Flynnes brother had PTSD, but that sometimes the haptics glitched him. The haptics refer to an implant that Flynnes former soldier brother, Burton, was given while serving in an elite military force, which allows him to sync up with his fellow soldiers. (In the show, Burton describes it as two souls becoming one and this connection can often feel a lot like love.) But Gibson doesnt reveal what the haptics are until later in the novel and he doesnt do it all at once. He forces his readers to follow his trail of context clues in hopes they will make sense of it on their own.

I have a friend who says that Gibsons attitude toward the reader is hold your own f-cking hand, Smith says jokingly. But Gibsons respect for the readers intelligence is what the screenwriter loves most about him. His treatment of sci-fi is very naturalistic, says Smith, who got his start as a novelist. He doesnt define these words or concepts because the people [in his book] dont need them to be defined. In other words, this is their world, and were the ones visiting, so Gibson asks that you kindly keep up.

Patience is key when watching the series as well. The opening episodes of The Peripheral lack the usual exposition dumps that are common in highbrow sci-fi. I allowed for a certain degree of confusion and trusted that other people involved in the elaborate production would speak up if anything was incomprehensible, Scott says. However, he knows asking a reader to figure it out on their own is a risk; viewers who havent read Gibsons novel might feel so out of the loop that they just turn the show off. But it was one he was willing to take thanks to a piece of advice his producers, Nolan and Joy, gave him early in the writing process: Keep it simple, its easier to convey and its always enough. In other words, the viewers imagination is more than capable of filling in the blanksso why not let them?

Scott found that note especially helpful when he was writing the scene in which Flynne puts on the high-tech virtual reality headset for the first time. Before shes whisked off to London in the 22nd century, Scott knew that fans would want to know what exactly happens when she connects to this immersive technology. Instead of writing up an instruction manual for Flynne to read aloud to explain this futuristic tech, he asked Moretz to show, not tell what it would be like to plug into this sensory experience. She shuts her eyes, she counts to ten, she opens her eyes and boom, Scott says. Flynne is now somewhere else entirely and the viewer just flows right through her.

Read More: 8 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books That Deserve a Screen Adaptation

What would Damon Lindelof do?

The Peripheral is based on Gibsons novel, but Smith took a page from Damon Lindelofs playbook when writing the series. The creator of Lost, The Leftovers, and The Watchmen has an uncanny ability for creating quirky, unusual characters that fans love, Scott says. (And, in some cases, love to hate.) Damon uses that sci-fi space to really allow those characters to become their weird selves. In fact, Scott thinks lovable weirdos were too rare in sci-fi until Gibsons 1984 novel Neuromancer, which follows washed-up hacker Henry Case and mercenary Molly Millions. Traditional sci-fi can be very cold and the characters are almost props there to convey whatever concepts are being expressed, Scott says. But Gibsons characters always felt like real people who could have existed at any time in history. That timelessness was the key and what drew me to the world of Gibson, Smith says. He is so prescient, so known for his ability to get the future right, it obscures some of his astonishing capacity as a novelist.

The series, like the book, focuses on brother and sister duo Flynne and Burton, who are struggling to make ends meet and care for their cancer-stricken mother in near post-apocalyptic Appalachia. Knowing their plight, its not hard to understand why they would risk it all for a game. Smith was told that Flynne and Burtons hometown of Clanton bears some emotional resonance with Gibson, who grew up in a small Virginia town in the Appalachians. I think you can feel Gibsons connection to this place in the book, Smith says. Theres a warmth there. You cant help but root for these people. He was able to bring that same warmth to the series thanks to The Peripherals stars Moretz and Reynor, who immediately became almost a sibling pair offscreen, too. The pairs easy familiarity with one another is what helps sell this bond between the brother and sister. Theres so much love between them, but its expressed sometimes through giving each other sh-t, he says. What siblings couldnt relate.

Creating a future that is more hopeful than dystopian

Gary Carr and Chloe Grace Moretz in 'The Peripheral' Sophie MutevelianPrime Video

Despite being written nearly a decade ago, in many ways, The Peripheral feels more prescient than ever. All of Gibsons work shows how tech enables and expands connection, but also shows the way it can imprison or subjugate us, Scott says. Its a timely concern for anyone who has read the reports on how social media affects the human brain. Gibsons warnings of a future in which humans become more like robots felt even more dire as Scott was writing the series. Often he and his writers room would share links to stories about Elon Musks forays into brain chips and Humanoid robot assistants. Both are present in Gibsons novel in the form of the haptics implants Burton was given while in the military and omnipresent ceramic robots called Michikoids that can quickly turn into killing machines. The Peripheral started to feel all too relevant Scott says, noting Musk could be a Gibsonian character.

These kinds of technological advances that look to make humans more like machines might scare some, but Scott says The Peripheral, both the book and the series, are actually helpful reminders to not give up on humanity just yet. One of the things we talked a lot about in the writers room was this idea of empathy and how technology can inhibit empathy or enable it, he says. The reason Flynne is so easy to root for is because she hasnt lost her compassion for others. She hasnt gone full cyborg. That human quality, Scott says, is what persists through whatever techno dystopia might be happening on screen or off. The Peripheral wants to be a friendly reminder of that fact.
(Reuters) - U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers landed in Guam this week in the long-range aircraft's second deployment to the island this year amid regional tension over Taiwan and the looming prospect of a new North Korean nuclear test.

The U.S. military confirmed their temporary deployment to the U.S. Pacific territory as part of a "bomber task force" mission on Thursday, a day after aircraft-spotting websites reported their flight from home bases in the United States.

"It is ... meant to send a message that the United States stands closely with its allies and partners to deter potential provocation," Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told a briefing, when asked if the mission was aimed at sending North Korea a message.

The bombers' presence is also aimed at demonstrating that the United States has the capability to conduct global operations at any time, he added.

North Korea has conducted a record number of missile tests this year, including launching one over Japan. Officials in Washington and Seoul say North Korea also appears prepared to resume nuclear testing for the first time since 2017.

North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006.

The United States and its allies in South Korea and Japan have stepped up displays of military force in response to North Korea's missile tests, including conducting naval drills with a U.S. aircraft carrier and staging major field exercises for the first time in years.

B-1B bombers have participated in shows of force against North Korea in previous years. North Korea denounces military exercises by the United States and its allies as provocative and proof of hostile intentions.

During their temporary stay in Guam, the bombers will partner with unspecified allied forces for several training missions in the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. Air Force said in a statement.

The B-1 is an especially capable platform in this region, being able to travel large distances and bear significant firepower with precision and standoff munitions, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Mount, of the 37th Bomb Squadron, said in the statement.

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Bomber task force missions "play a critical role in deterring potential adversaries and challenging their decision calculus", another officer said.

Tension has also been high in recent months over self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims.

A visit to the island in August by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi enraged China, which subsequently launched military drills near the island. Those have continued, although on a much reduced scale.

(Reporting by Josh Smith)
LONDON (AP)  An American woman who fled the U.K. claiming diplomatic immunity after she was involved in a fatal traffic accident pleaded guilty Thursday to causing death by careless driving.

Anne Sacoolas, 45, was charged after an August 2019 accident in which 19-year-old Harry Dunn was killed when his motorcycle collided with a car outside RAF Croughton, an air base in eastern England that is used by U.S. forces. Prosecutors said Sacoolas was driving on the wrong side of the road at the time.

The family of Harry Dunn (left to right) father Tim Dunn, stepmother Tracey Dunn, mother Charlotte Charles and stepfather Bruce Charles pose outside the Old Bailey in London, after Anne Sacoolas pleaded guilty, via video-link from the United States, to causing Harry Dunn's death by dangerous driving. (Photo: James Manning - PA Images via Getty Images)

The family of Harry Dunn (left to right) father Tim Dunn, stepmother Tracey Dunn, mother Charlotte Charles and stepfather Bruce Charles pose outside the Old Bailey in London, after Anne Sacoolas pleaded guilty, via video-link from the United States, to causing Harry Dunn's death by dangerous driving. (Photo: James Manning - PA Images via Getty Images)

Sacoolas and her husband, who had been a U.S. intelligence officer at the air base, returned to America days after the accident. The U.S. government invoked diplomatic immunity on her behalf, prompting an outcry in Britain.

The case has caused tensions between the U.K. and U.S. governments. British politicians have demanded Sacoolas face justice in a British court, but American authorities rejected Britains extradition request.

On Thursday, Sacoolas participated in a hearing held at Londons Central Criminal Court by video link from Washington, and admitted responsibility in Dunns death.

Sacoolas was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, but U.K. prosecutors accepted her plea to the lesser charge of causing death by careless driving.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
By Valentina Za and Elvira Pollina

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian media had only just begun talking about the threat of winter gas rationing when Marco Checchi sprung into action to ensure bottle top maker Pelliconi would continue to supply customers including Coca-Cola, Heineken and Guinness.

Pelliconi, which produces 35 billion bottle tops a year, mostly in Italy but also in Egypt and China, stepped up production of energy-intensive semi-finished goods, invested in solar panels and commissioned a prototype of a new digital printer for metal sheets that did not require gas ovens.

"When you run a business, if you keep hearing on the news that gas supplies are at risk, you've got to do something. It's not like you can start screaming and stamping your foot when they actually do halt flows for two hours a day," Checchi told Reuters.

Like other Italian businesses wrestling with the energy crisis sparked by the Ukraine war, Pelliconi has seen costs for electricity and gas more than triple in relation to turnover this year, compounding problems posed by higher steel prices.

In some cases it has been able to pass on almost two thirds of the cost increases to its customers and plans to further hike prices next year.

Higher prices contributed to the 16.2% rise in manufacturing turnover Italy reported in July on a calendar adjusted basis, but volumes also increased by 1.7%. That broadly compares with a 0.8% yearly drop in Germany.

DARKENING PICTURE

Traditionally the laggard among the biggest euro zone economies, Italy has experienced a more vigorous post-pandemic rebound in terms of industrial output than France and Germany, Intesa Sanpaolo economist Paolo Mameli said.

After growth exceeded expectations in the first half, the situation has worsened rapidly and the government now expects the Italian economy to have shrunk in the third quarter, with the contraction seen lasting until mid-2023.

Investors have trouble gauging the depth of the slump awaiting the European economy and debt-laden Italy.

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"The euro area outlook remains unusually uncertain," Goldman Sachs economists said.

Goldman expects an around 1% contraction in the bloc's economy through the second quarter of next year, adding that resilient industrial activity could limit the fall to 0.2% while it would approach 3% in a worst case scenario.

The coping strategies adopted by firms like Bologna-based Pelliconi are an element in the equation that will determine the final outcome, according to UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel.

"Companies are adjusting, it's wrong to assume they aren't. We see that all the time when we look at our clients: businesses are reorganising their value chains, their logistics, everything," he recently told a labour conference.

"So far households and companies have proven more resilient than anticipated ... markets worry a lot over Italy's performance within the euro zone overlooking the fact that Italy keeps growing more than France or Germany," he added, noting that corporate deposits were up 35% from pre-pandemic levels.

UniCredit, which is financing companies' investments to boost installed capacity for renewable energy, said some of its customers in non-energy intensive sectors were able to generate independently 30-40% of their power needs, in some cases as much as 50%.

Most companies are rushing to install solar panels, but some are more ambitious. Fastener maker SBE-Varvit has secured 400 gas containers that will be shipped to its plant in north eastern Italy by January to offset any shortages.

DO-IT-YOURSELF POWER

Even in a battered industry like ceramics, which like the glass and paper sectors has been hit hard by soaring energy bills, high-end tile maker Italcer expects to cover a quarter of its energy consumption once it completes the two combined heat and power plants it is building.

"Already in September 2021 there were warnings of what was to come," CEO Graziano Verdi told Reuters, adding Italcer faced an extra 60 million euros in costs for gas and electricity this year - accounting for 70% of manufacturing costs from 20% previously.

"We invested 10 million euros to build two cogeneration plants and save 4 million euros this year," he said, adding Italcer saved another million by reducing the tiles' thickness to 8.5 from 10 millimetres.

"We raised prices by 30-35% with a good market response. A weaker euro certainly helped, as did the government's support measures."

Outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government has set aside 66 billion euros so far this year for tax breaks and subsidies to help energy-intensive firms and poor households.

Italian business lobby Confindustria has warned of an "economic earthquake", saying the new government will struggle to offset the hit from energy prices on firms like Draghi managed to do without hurting Italy's fragile public finances.

But others are more positive.

Veteran banker Corrado Passera said the crises had operated a natural selection among businesses and his digital lender illimity continued to face growing requests to fund acquisitions, or innovation and internalisation projects.

"When you speak to business owners in private ... outside Confindustria ... they have great confidence about their ability to react," Giuseppe Castagna, who leads Italy's third-biggest bank Banco BPM, said recently.

(Reporting by Valentina Za and Elvira Pollina; Editing by Keith Weir, Kirsten Donovan)
For the record:

4:54 p.m. Oct. 21, 2022: A previous version of this story incorrectly said Francesca LeRue has lived in Koreatown for 30 years. She has worked in the neighborhood for much of that time.



After the leaked recordings of racist comments from some of Los Angeles most powerful Latino leaders upended the city over the last two weeks, it was clear healing wasnt going to come during Thursday nights hourlong town hall. But many Angelenos were determined to unite and move forward  starting with the resignations of the City Council members involved.

The most common message that came from dozens of residents at L.A. in Crisis: The Call for Change, hosted by The Times and KTTV Channel 11, was that Councilmembers Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo should resign. Both have been stripped of their committee assignments but have resisted calls to leave office.

Nury Martinez, the council president who made the majority of the anti-Black and anti-Indigenous comments in the recorded discussion with De Leon, Cedillo and labor leader Ron Herrera, already has resigned, as has Herrera, who was president of the L.A. County Federation of Labor.

They need to step down immediately because every day that they are in office is another racist attack, said Michael Browning, the president of the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council. Its time for them to go.

Residents gather at the Metaphor Club in the Crenshaw District to watch Thursday night's town hall as L.A. City Councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Mike Bonin speak. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The vast majority of attendees polled at the town hall agreed the two council members should step down.

There are very few things where you get this high level of agreement, Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson said. Whats stunning is there are very few questions you can ask about politics, and you get 85% [agreement].

Councilmember Mike Bonin, whose Black son was the target of some of the most shocking comments in the leaked recording, said everyone deserves a road to redemption  but that road doesnt begin in council chambers.

Though Bonins term will soon be up  as will Cedillos  he called on remaining and future council members to focus on addressing inequity and injustice. Angelenos will play a key role in that, he said, by electing the next wave of leaders in November.

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The council needs to move beyond the words, move beyond the lip service, and do the work, Bonin said Thursday night. If we elect the right people to meet this incredibly difficult and challenging moment, then we can get through it.

Chaya Crowder, assistant professor of political science and international relations at Loyola Marymount University, said the response from so many Angelenos demonstrating at council meetings and calling for change has been promising.

I think that there is some reason for hope, and that people at a local level might become more politically engaged based on what we saw happened this week, Crowder said.

Manuel Pastor, director of USCs Equity Research Institute, said hes been impressed by a wave of youthful activism, especially by young Latinos calling out their older generation of leaders.

Los Angeles resident Noemi Lujan-Perez talks about the town hall meeting. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

I think young people are ready to lead right now, Pastor said. What we need for all of our communities is an agenda about improving the situation that can actually bring us together  not falsely through kumbaya but through hard conversations.

The racist and derogatory comments in the leaked audio recordings were made while the three council members and top labor official were discussing how to strengthen their power in the once-a-decade redistricting process last year.

Many attendees Thursday called for changes to the long-contentious process.

Steve Kang, who worked for months on grassroots efforts to improve Koreatowns representation, said council members should not have a hand in drawing political boundaries.

In Los Angeles, council members appoint members to the redistricting commission and approve the final maps.

Reform is coming, Harris-Dawson said. Its just a fundamentally bad idea to have politicians picking their voters.

He said he is working on a plan that would move redistricting decisions to an independent commission.

In Koreatown, about a dozen community leaders and residents talked during the town halls commercial breaks about the need for the neighborhood to not be a token during redistricting and what it would take to remove the council members.

San Fernando Valley residents at Art's Deli in Studio City, one of multiple L.A. gathering spots for Thursday's town hall. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Maybe people will forget? a KTTV reporter wondered with the crowd.

Not this one, said James An, president of the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles.

Daisy Gutierrez, a Oaxacan American who came to the U.S. when she was 15 and has lived in Koreatown for 22 years, fanned her head and wiped away tears as she spoke about the council members comments  including Martinezs reference to Oaxacans as little short dark people.

People trusted Cedillo, Gutierrez said, citing projects such as community cleanups that the council members office and residents had collaborated on.

In just like seconds, it just destroyed everything, the trust with them, said Gutierrez, 40.

But the community will persist, she said. We are hard workers.

Francesca LeRue, a Latina who has worked in Koreatown on and off for 30 years and considers it a second home, said it was incredibly upsetting to hear council members mock a Black child, especially when the group is disproportionately represented in the child welfare system.

They need to leave because they are clearly not the representation of the heart and soul of Los Angeles, she said of the council members.

Still, even though shes suspicious of whats to come, she has hope.

There needs to be continued hope, she said. [We] live off of hope, and to give it up because of those three individuals, it goes against the grain of who we are as Los Angeles.

Harris-Dawson said city leaders need to listen to their constituents but cant lose sight of the important issues in motion at the council, such as affordable housing and pandemic recovery.

The peoples work has to go on, Harris-Dawson said. The city cant afford to let those kinds of things fall by the wayside because we have these two recalcitrant and selfish members.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
FRIDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2022, 08:29

The Antonivka Bridge in Kherson and the crossing, built by the Russian invaders nearby, was struck once again on the evening of 20 October.

Source: Local media outlet Most (Bridge), founded by Kateryna Handziuk [a Ukrainian political activist and politician from Kherson, killed with chemicals in 2018 - ed.]

Details: The attack was carried out on Thursday at approximately 23:00. Six explosions rang out.

Apparently, Russian military equipment and soldiers being actively moved by the invaders to the left bank of Kherson Oblast were using the bridge crossing at the time.

Local public social media pages posted that seven ambulances were heading in the direction of the bridge. It is possible that there are casualties.

Sergey Aksyonov, the head of the Russian occupation government in Crimea, and Sergey Kirienko, Deputy Head of the Administration of Russias President, inspected the Antonivka Bridge and the bridge crossing shortly before this, on 19 October 2022.

Occupier-controlled media outlets reported that there had been "an attack on civilians" who allegedly refused to move to the left bank. However, the strike on the bridge and the crossing, according to the posts, happened during the curfew, which is in place from 22:00 to 05:00 in Kherson. That is, the civilians could not have been near the crossing at the time. Moreover, in an evacuation notice, the Kherson River Port is indicated as a gathering place

According to witnesses, lorries under military guard were moving over the crossing on 19 and 20 October. It is likely that they were taking away looted property.

Earlier, Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had stated that the Russian occupiers had mined the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam and were planning a disaster of monumental proportions.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






The Arizona secretary of state has referred a report of possible voter intimidation to the Justice Department and the states attorney general for investigation.

An Arizona voter attempting to cast their ballot at an early voting drop box reported they were approached and followed by a group of individuals, Sophia Solis, a spokesperson for the secretary of state, told The Hill on Thursday.

The voter was reportedly attempting to cast their ballot at the Juvenile Justice Court drop box location in Arizonas Maricopa County.

The states largest county, Maricopa came into the national spotlight amid controversy over the 2020 election, when the Arizona Senate contracted the firm Cyber Ninjas to run an audit of the results and a hand recount confirmed President Bidens victory in the state.

The office of Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) talked to the voter who lodged the report, flagged the matter to Maricopa County and referred the report to the Justice Department and the office of the Arizona attorney general, according to Solis.

Hobbs is running for governor of Arizona in this years midterms, up against Republican Kari Lake in a tight race.

The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department and the office of the Arizona attorney general for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Toys R Us brand has been around for roughly 70 years.

The Toys R Us brand has been around for roughly 70 years, but the toy retailer's newest owner is trying something different this holiday season.

Owner WHP Global has partnered to include Toys R Us spaces in Macy's department stores in Arizona and other states. A Macy's spokeswoman said they will remain in place after the holiday season.

The locations range in size from roughly 1,000 square feet to more than 14,000 square feet and feature toy displays, a hands-on demonstration table allowing kids to try various products and a Geoffrey giraffe mascot available for photos.

The companies said the Toys R Us sites are located at all seven Macy's Arizona stores  Scottsdale Fashion Square, Chandler Fashion Center, Biltmore Fashion Park and Arrowhead Towne Center, as well as Santan Village, Superstition Springs Center and Tucson Mall.

Nata Dvir, chief marketing officer at Macy's, earlier this year said the department store chain's toy sales have seen "tremendous growth" from the displays and online sales. Toys R Us products also are available at macys.com/toysrus. The companies started the partnership in 2021, expanding it for the holiday season this year.

Earlier, they said the toy storefronts would locate in all Macy's stores in North America for the holiday season, though some media reports have indicated they aren't yet available everywhere.

WHP Global acquired a controlling interest after Toys R Us emerged from bankruptcy in 2019. The toy retailer previously had closed nearly all of its own stores.

New York-based WHP also owns brands including Anne Klein in women's fashion and Joseph Abboud in men's fashion.

Reach the reporter at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Toys R Us pop-up spaces will locate at 7 Macy's stores in Arizona
Oct. 20In September, Athens State University announced the STEAM Roller, an initiative to address educational needs and expand education opportunities in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics to underserved youth in Limestone County.

On Tuesday, latchkey students at the iAcademy at Athens Elementary School had the opportunity to be the pilot students for this program.

Director of the Athens State Center for Lifelong Learning Andrew Dollar and Athens Middle School teacher Chancey Gregg led a gravity lesson for students where each student had the opportunity to create and test a parachute to take home with them.

"We have developed a collegial relationship with Andrew, and he thought it'd be great to get our kids engaged with STEM activities," said iAcademy Principal Amanda Tedford.

Students were not only taught a valuable and engaging lesson about gravity, but were also encouraged in their dreams.

"Are there things you want to do, or do you have dreams? Do you have goals? Yeah, so everything starts small, right? You start small; I started small. We all prove our dreams and goals grow, our ideas grow, our plans, all kinds of things," said Gregg.

Much like how they needed to care for their tissue paper parachutes, Gregg also reminded students to care for their dreams.

"We want to be careful with our dreams," said Gregg.

Dollar admired Gregg's work with the students saying, "Chancey is a rockstar. She has such a passion for STEM related activities and can instantly captivate a room. She has been writing the curriculum for us."

As the program continues, they hope that each lesson will provide students with a tangible object to take home with them.

For more information about the initiative, email andrew.dollar@athens.edu
A 52-year-old grandmother was convicted of trafficking methamphetamine last week during a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Athens.

Kimberly Garcia of Athens was convicted of conspiracy to distribute meth in a three-day trial, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

When sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ashley Royal, she faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. The violation also carries a fine of $5 million.

Drug crimes: Athens men face punishment in federal court for gun, drug convictions

Assault verdict: Former surgeon gets 10 years probation for assaulting woman in Athens

A co-defendant, Corey Gresham, 38, of Athens had pleaded guilty earlier to the charge and he faces a similar penalty.

The U.S. Attorney reported that a confidential informant told police investigators that Garcia frequently sold meth with her grandchildren in the car at a store on Winterville Road in Athens.

Garcia and Gresham were placed under surveillance on July 6, 2020, and followed to Lawrenceville to a drug supplier.

Oconee Blotter: Oconee woman conned by alleged oil rigger with a broken back

Girl fatally shot: Argument in Winder leads to shooting death of 11-year-old girl, wounding of woman, police say

When they returned to Athens, an Oconee County sheriffs deputy attempted a traffic stop, which resulted in a pursuit that ended in Athens, prosecutors said. When Garcia stopped at a home on Fairfield Circle, Gresham ran inside but was captured, according to the report.

Garcia was arrested at the car with her 2-year-old grandchild in the backseat, prosecutors said. A cell phone found in the car provided the names of people with whom Garcia had been dealing, according to a report.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Athens woman faces 40 years after drug conviction in federal court
The Atlanta Police Department Interim Chief of Police told Channel 2s Audrey Washington in an exclusive interview that a drug bust went down at an apartment complex on Piedmont Avenue.

He said the suspects were so desperate that they even threw boxes of marijuana out the window to escape arrest.

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Kirra Walker lives at the Skyline Atlanta apartments and recognized one of the suspects.

I might have seen him walking around here somewhere, she said, pointing out one of the alleged suspects.

Alejandro Meraz, along with Javier Meraz and Annie Garcia-Sanchez, all face drug and gun possession charges following a major drug bust here at the apartment complex on Piedmont Avenue.

Interim chief Darin Schierbaum says the bust started as a disturbance call Wednesday morning.

That officer on the scene knowing that our focus is gangs guns and drugs was able to know that something was not right here and he alerted our narcotics unit, he said.

Once officers entered the apartment, the condo they had observed pounds of marijuana, Lt. Robert Albertini of APDs narcotics unit told Channel 2.

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According to Albertini, police found more than 54 pounds of marijuana with a street value of about $75,000.

Police also discovered several vape pins, guns, and $11,000 in cash. In addition, police found boxes of marijuana on neighboring apartment balconies and say they believe the suspects tossed the boxes of weed out of the window.

So they were trying to get rid of it? we asked.

They were trying to get rid of it, they were throwing it over the balconies, Albertini said.

Albertini says the suspects are from the San Francisco area.

Story continues

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He believes they actually covered the sealed bundles of marijuana in Vicks vapor rub, stuffed those bundles in what appeared to be a sofa cushion, then put the cushion in a large suitcase and shipped the drugs from the Seattle airport to Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Clayton County.

Theres evidence that there was a flight taken from Seattle and San Francisco, Albertini said.

How were they able to get it through the airport? we asked.

Well it went undetected. I dont know what the staffing levels are in Seattle or San Francisco but they were able to get them through, Albertini said.

The three suspects are in the Fulton County Jail.

Police say this is now the 67th drug bust in the City of Atlanta in just this year alone.

These are significant seizures, Albertini said.

IN OTHER NEWS:
Putin's decree to introduce various levels of readiness, up to martial law in the occupied territories, is a game for the public

By shelling Ukraines energy infrastructure, the enemy is trying to break the will of both our government and us, and to force Ukraine to sit down at the negotiating table on Russias terms. This is what the current tactics are aimed at, and, unfortunately, I dont see an end to it yet.

Read also: Former security service officer on why liberation of Kherson should not be rushed

Many experts say that Russia will soon run out of missiles and drones, but I dont see its end yet. The fact is that these drones and missiles from Iran are being supplied under a separate contract. An analytical note has recently appeared by the Rand corporation, in which they claim that Egypt had a large contract for the purchase of 64 Su-35 fighters from Russia. But Egypt refused this deal, and it passed to Iran. Either by barter or in some other way, Iran will receive these fighters, but in return they provide Russia with drones (not only Shahed, but also more advanced modifications) and ballistic missiles. At $5 billion, this is a sufficient number of quite cheap drones and missiles.

Read also: Russia prepares to withdraw from Kherson Oblast, but it wont be easy, says British intel

This weapon, though not quite technologically perfect, but lethal. Therefore, we need to anticipate a wave of further struggle.

Building a layered air defense system in Ukraine is not a one-year task. Therefore, we will not have such a system in the near future. Moreover, when it comes to the transfer of equipment from NATO countries, the main reason for refusing to transfer them was the fact that it weakens the NATO countries own national defense. It has been difficult to secure tanks, and there will be an even tougher position regarding air defense systems  they will hold on to them even more tightly than to their tanks. We should not count on full-scale air defense, only on our own strength, and on what they are providing right now.

A stronger stance has emerged in the United States to increase both the volume and the pace of supplies. There are markers, but there is no need to talk about something physical yet.

Story continues

Read also: Putin announces end of partial mobilization in Russia, likely over postponed autumn conscription, says ISW

However, this does not mean the weakening of U.S. military aid to Ukraine. The fact is that they are going to help us until our victory. But everyone has a different understanding of what victory is.

We receive more answers not from the United States, but from Russia itself  on the processes that are taking place there. What is this about?

For example, Putins decree on introducing various levels of readiness, up to martial law in the occupied territories. This is playing to the gallery. They could have taken such measures without this decree: breaking laws runs in their blood. And besides, there were such clauses about transferring more power to the regions to governors and close the circle of governors on Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustinm, and to entrust Mishustin with the coordination of law enforcement agencies, which strengthens this branch of power. Its still hard for me to say how events will develop further, how forces will be concentrated around Mishustin.

I think this decision of Putins indicates a lack of money.

As (former Russian President Dmitry) Medvedev said in Crimea in 2016: There is no money, but you hang in there. Now all the tasks of mobilization, the search for technical resources, everything is assigned to the governors. And these people turn into local princelings. On the one hand, this is a forced measure, on the other hand, it would simplify the issues of seizing power in the regions by the opposition, which, unfortunately, does not exist.

Mobilization in Russia is mowing down the countrys labor potential. Some experts believe the fall in GDP will amount to 5% in Russia next year, and the loss of workers could be a significant contribution to this figure. The escape from mobilization is decreasing labor potential the most. The number is up to half a million people here.

So, Russia would really benefit from a pause in the war right now. This is exactly what they are trying to achieve. That is, they are now trying to damage Ukraines energy sector to undermine our potential. And besides, we export electricity to the European Union. Therefore, Russia is trying to put Ukraine at a disadvantage to the European Union. They say that since Ukraine stops exporting electricity, it is an unreliable partner. Although everyone understands this, but the Kremlin will disperse another agenda through its channels so that Europe puts pressure on Ukraine to sit down at the negotiating table.

Read also: Russia relies on psychological terror more than battlefield victories, says ISW

The battlefield is the main driving force behind all processes of change in our favor. The victories of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the battlefield are the main trigger for all other processes, both for internal ones in Russia, and for support for us by our partners, and for raising the spirit behind the lines in Ukraine. What is happening now both on the eastern front, and especially on the southern one, inspires optimistic hopes.

The commander of the Russian army in Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin, recently announced difficult decisions. How do I understand it? As a rule, they try to blame someone in advance for what they are going to do themselves. I think it is quite possible that they will blow up the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. Some kind of sabotage at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is also possible. The deportation of the population from Kherson is already taking place. The deportation of Kherson residents is a human shield for the retreating troops. Experiments were made to ferry civilians by boats. They launched a ferry with a military company and equipment in the middle, and these boats (with civilians) on the sides. And we cant shoot anymore.

And, most likely, after that there will be an attempt to wipe Kherson off the face of the earth, to repeat the scenario of Mariupol. Its like a punishment to Ukrainians for daring to disobey the Russian tsar. Its easy as pie for people who are not limited by morals. They are already preparing such positions so that, after the withdrawal of their troops, they will be able to reach Kherson with long-range artillery.

Read also: Russia realizes it could lose Donetsk Oblast by end of 2022, expert says

But I think these cunning plans of the Russian General Staff are all known in our General Staff. Judging by all the previous events, there is an antidote for these cunning plans. At least, I hope so.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The capsule will fly 25 miles into space (Halo Space)

Spanish space tourism company HALO space will take passengers on balloon rides to the edge of space - and will take off with a first test flight this December.

The Madrid-based company will take tourists to the edge of space in a capsule attached to a balloon - with prices from 87,000 to 174,000 (100,000 to 200,000 Euros).

The final capsule design will have capacity for 8 passengers and a pilot and feature panoramic windows which allow 360-degree views of the Earth at an altitude of up to 25 miles.

The company will conduct the test in the third week of December, which will take off from the Balloon Facility of the prestigious Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR) in India.

A second test flight is already planned for the end of the first quarter of 2023 in Spain.

Read more: Mysterious rogue planet could be even weirder than we thought

Swiss investment bank UBS believes that commercial spaceflight, has the potential to become a $3 billion business over the next decade.

The first commercial flights are expected to start in 2025 and the company plans to operate in four continents, making a total of 400 commercial trips with 3,000 passengers per year from 2029.

Prices will be between 100,000 and 200,000 euros per ticket.

Carlos Mira, CEO and founder of HALO Space, said, "Our priority from day one has been technical and operational excellence. Over the past 12 months we have worked with the best and most experienced companies in the aerospace industry to leverage existing, proven, and safe technology.

Our team is very pleased with what has been achieved in this first year, but we are even more excited about where we are headed: taking thousands of passengers to the edge of space in a life-changing experience up to 25 miles above the Earth".

Read more: Astronomers find closest black hole to Earth

HALO Space will conduct its first test flight in late 2022 in India

The space tourism company will take off in the third week of December with a prototype of its spacecraft on a test basis.

Story continues

A space balloon will soar 21 miles into the stratosphere taking the prototype for a flight that lasts approximately 6 hours at the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR) balloon facility located in Hyderabad, India.

Watch: Man produces calendar celebrating Britain's best car parks
A federal judge has sentenced longtime Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon to four months in jail for defying a subpoena from lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. He will also be required to pay a $6,500 fine if his convictions stand.

U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, said Bannon inappropriately defied the Houses select committee on a matter of significant national interest, and even after roadblocks to his testimony had been removed.

Flaunting a Congressional subpoena betrays a lack of respect for the legislative branch which represents the will of the people of the United States, Nichols said during a sentencing hearing at the federal courthouse a few blocks from the Capitol. In my view, Mr. Bannon has not taken responsibility for his actions.

Nichols cushioned the blow of the four-month jail term by opting to allow Bannon, 68, to remain free pending appeal, which is likely to push the issue well into next year and perhaps longer.

A jury convicted Bannon in July on two charges of contempt of Congress  one for refusing to testify to the Jan. 6 select committee, another for refusing to provide relevant documents to the panel.

The select committee subpoenaed Bannon in September 2021 as it sought testimony from close Trump aides involved in efforts to help him subvert the 2020 election. Prosecutors charged him in November 2021, three weeks after the House voted to hold him in contempt.

Bannon entered the courtroom Friday wearing a drab green barn jacket and carrying a copy of the Financial Times. He wore no tie and, as is his custom, had three pens tucked into the outside of the outermost of his three visible shirts. The former White House official spoke only briefly, saying he was satisfied with his attorneys and had adequate time to review the probation offices report on his conduct and background.

Bannon, who sat impassively through the hearing, opted against addressing Nichols when given the chance all defendants have to explain their actions. My lawyers have spoken for me, he said.

Story continues

An attorney for Bannon, David Schoen, said his client shouldnt be expected to show remorse because he did nothing wrong and deserved no punishment.

Its a case in which, quite frankly, where Mr. Bannon should make no apology, Schoen said. There is nothing here to deter. There is nothing here to punish.

Prosecutor J.P. Cooney railed at Bannon, pointing at him and saying he has shown his contempt for the criminal justice system, his contempt for the law, his contempt for Congress.

Cooney painted a picture of Bannon as stubbornly defiant to Congress demands.

The defendant did not lift a finger, the prosecutor said. We might be in a different circumstance had the defendant fulfilled his minimal obligation and that is to show up. He failed to do even that.I can think of no more egregious contempt than what he has engaged in.

Nichols explicitly disagreed with the government on that point, noting that Bannon had engaged legal counsel and had a dialogue with the committee. His lawyers also stressed that he said he was willing to testify if the privilege issue was resolved through negotiation or by a court.

Schoen used the sentencing hearing to attack the governments tactics in the case, complaining that prosecutors sought email and phone logs for Bannon lawyer Robert Costello and wound up retrieving some records that actually belonged to a different man by the same name.

Prosecutors have acknowledged mistakes in their handling of those demands, but Schoen blasted the government for its conduct.

Thats a lie to a federal judge, he declared. That demeans the integrity of this process.

Under federal law, the two misdemeanor counts Bannon was found guilty of each carried a minimum term of one months incarceration and a maximum of a year in prison. The Justice Department had asked Nichols to sentence Bannon to a six-month prison term. Prosecutors contended that the minimum sentence is mandatory, but Bannons lawyers argued that he could be sentenced to probation or to home confinement, rather than prison.

Nichols said several favors weighed in favor of a substantial sentence for Bannon  from the seriousness and significance of the Jan. 6 select committee probe to Bannons continued defiance of the select committee even after Trump purported in July to waive any assertion of executive privilege over his cooperation.

While many legal commentators have insisted that Bannon could not have had privileged conversations with Trump after Bannon left the White House staff in 2017, Nichols pointedly said Friday that such discussions might be covered by executive privilege.

However, the judge also seemed troubled that Bannon never produced any documents to the committee, even those that seemed certain not to be covered by any privilege Trump was asserting.

Nichols did acknowledge that Bannon appeared to rely on his lawyers advice, and he noted that the Jan. 6 select committee opted against a civil lawsuit to enforce its subpoena.

Bannon was the first of four witnesses held in contempt by the select committee for refusing to comply with a subpoena. One other, former Trump adviser Peter Navarro, was also charged and is scheduled to stand trial next month before U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta. The Justice Department, however, declined to bring charges against two other top Trump aides, Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino, who were similarly held in contempt by the panel.

Bannon, who used his War Room podcast to promote false claims that the election was stolen by Joe Biden, was among those helping Trump strategize to prevent Biden from taking office, in part by orchestrating challenges by congressional Republicans. Bannon was part of a team of close Trump advisers who helped monitor the strategy in real-time from a command center at the Willard Hotel on Jan. 5 and 6, 2021. He also helped convince Trump to focus his energy on the Jan. 6 election certification session of Congress as a last resort to remain in power.

Bannon also appeared to express knowledge, in late October 2020, of Trumps plan to declare victory on election night even before the results of the presidential contest were conclusive.



Prosecutors also raised concerns about Bannons handling of the criminal case against him. Days before his trial began, Bannon and Trump attempted to derail the trials start by abruptly announcing a change of heart about Bannons willingness to testify  and Trumps willingness to waive any claim of executive privilege over Bannons testimony.

DOJ attorneys argued that the move was primarily intended to disrupt the trial. Bannon has yet to provide any documents or testimony to the select committee despite Trumps purported decision to bless his cooperation.

Bannon has primarily argued that the case against him is based on an unfair interpretation of complicated legal principles regarding executive privilege, the powers of the former president and whether he was entitled to rely on his lawyers advice when he initially opted against appearing for testimony of providing any documents to lawmakers.

In the run-up to the weeklong trial, Nichols agreed with prosecutors that longstanding court precedents prevented Bannon from arguing that he was merely following his lawyers counsel. And Nichols agreed that the same precedent barred Bannon from claiming he believed he was immune from testifying because of Trumps executive privilege, a decision that stripped Bannon of his strongest defense. Bannon intends to make those rulings a centerpiece of his appeal.

Despite his near silence Friday in front of the judge, after the hearing, Bannon eagerly appeared before cameras camped out outside the court. The former White House aide proclaimed his respect for the court and the legal process, then launched into a political broadside declaring that the midterm elections next month would spell doom for the Biden administration.

The Biden administration ends.on the eighth of November, Bannon vowed. Merrick Garland will be the first attorney general brought up on charges of impeachment and removed from office.

Bannons provocative comments echoed his bombastic remarks at the outset of the criminal case last year, when said it would prove to be the misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden.

When Bannon was asked Friday why hed chosen not to testify at his trial or address the court at sentencing, Schoen cut in and said: That was at my direction.

Schoen told reporters that Nichols decision to allow Bannon to delay reporting to jail signaled the seriousness of the legal issues to be raised in his appeal.

It's an extraordinary move to permit a stay pending appeal. That was the appropriate move, the defense attorney said. I believe the appeal in this case is bulletproof.


After being sentenced to four months in prison and fined $6,500 for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, Steve Bannon, the onetime adviser to former President Donald Trump, spoke outside the federal courthouse on Friday, and his attorney David Schoen said they plan to appeal the sentence.

Video Transcript

DAVID SCHOEN: As usual, the judge listened carefully and entered a decision that he thought was appropriate. We certainly fully respect the judge's decision. But we will be filing a notice of appeal, as the judge indicated. Very grateful to the judge for thinking through the issues candidly, and it's an extraordinary move to permit a stay pending appeal. It was the appropriate move. The standard is whether the case raises substantial issues that reasonable jurists could differ over. Meaning, is there a solid chance for an appeal to be successful?

And there certainly is more than that in this case, I've said before, and I would confirm it, I believe that the appeal in this case is bulletproof. The constitutional issues involved in this case are very important, but Mr. Bannon never got to tell the reasons for his actions with respect to the subpoena. Never got to tell his story because the government insist--

- [INAUDIBLE] who do you mean?

DAVID SCHOEN: --the government insisted from day one on prohibiting any mention, any evidence, or any discussion to go before the jury as to why Mr. Bannon reacted as he did to the subpoena on the advice of counsel. Thank you very much. I look forward to a adjudicated appeal.

- Mr. Bannon? Your silence was noteworthy during the case, Mr. Bannon.

DAVID SCHOEN: His silence was at my direction.

STEVE BANNON: Yeah. Hang on. I want to--

[CLEARS THROAT]

By the way, I want to say one thing. I respect the judge. The sentence he came down with today is his decision. I fully respect him and totally respectful of this entire process on the legal side.
The Biden administration has fended off another challenge to its effort to assign significant weight to climate impacts in the federal decision making process.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an attempt from red states to block the Biden administrations use of an assessment of how much climate change costs society.

The Biden administration is giving significantly more weight to the potential damage caused by climate change than the Trump administration did.

Republican-led states, led by Missouri, have challenged the Biden administrations use of certain uniform values across agencies to estimate the cost of climate damage.

But the three-judge panel upheld a lower court ruling against these states.

The appellate judges wrote that the states lack standing because they cant pinpoint a specific way in which the Biden administrations climate cost estimates have harmed them.

The Plaintiff States failed to plausibly allege the irreducible constitutional minimum of Article III standing  concrete and particularized actual injury in fact that is fairly traceable to defendants challenged conduct, the judges opinion states.

If the States believe that specific agency actions justified by the interim SC-GHG estimates inflict concrete and particularized injury, they may challenge the actions, and the interim [climate cost] estimates themselves, they wrote.

When the federal government takes actions  ranging from regulating greenhouse gas emissions to issuing permits for energy projects like pipelines  its required to weigh the cost and benefits of that action.

One such cost or benefit may be how much the action will worsen or mitigate climate change. In order to find a uniform way to quantify potential climate damages, the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations have assigned monetary values to greenhouse gas emissions, known as their social costs. 

These social costs are then used during the process of agency consideration and justification of policies. The Trump administration gave significantly less weight to climate damage than the Obama administration did.

Story continues

The Biden administration temporarily returned to the Obama values and is expected to develop its own metric. The new values were expected to be issued earlier in the year, but have yet to materialize.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals had similarly, earlier this year, overturned a ruling in a separate case that had halted the Biden administrations use of its interim social cost values.

The Supreme Court has declined to review the 5th Circuits ruling.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON  When President Biden arrived in Pennsylvania on Thursday, he first went to Pittsburghs Fern Hollow Bridge, which is being rebuilt with funds from his $1 trillion infrastructure plan. Then he flew across the state to Philadelphia to host a reception for John Fetterman, the states lieutenant governor and the Democrats nominee for the U.S. Senate.

This is how the president has been spending, and intends to spend, the precious few days remaining before the congressional midterms: quietly. Sort of.

Fetterman is in a tight race with the celebrity physician Dr. Mehmet Oz, while the states attorney general, Josh Shapiro, looks to maintain the Democrats control of the gubernatorial mansion in Harrisburg. But there would be no presidential rallies for either candidate that day, nor for the three Democrats now competing in close races for the U.S. House in Pennsylvania. No legions of placard-waving supporters. No soaring rhetoric at county campgrounds. No hands extended toward the president between the shoulders of burly Secret Service officers.

President Biden is greeted by Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. and Democratic senatorial candidate John Fetterman at Pittsburgh International Airport on Thursday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Not in 2022, with the president experiencing stiflingly low approval ratings from the American public. Its the economy, or crime, maybe the lingering pandemic funk. Whatever it is, the nation is not happy with its president, which makes the president a less-than-ideal pitchman for his party, at least in the kind of high-profile, high-energy pitches presidents are expected to make at this stage on candidates behalf.

If anything, most seem to be keeping their distance from him, even as they celebrate his legislative achievements, Penn State political scientist Christopher Beem observed in an email to Yahoo News. Those legislative achievements  the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, $370 billion for climate change, prescription drug pricing, microchips, gun control, debt relief  enjoy popularity with the American public.

The man behind those wins, not so much.

So with the midterm elections only three weeks away, the White House and the Democratic Party have alighted on a low-key approach to deploying the president, using him to raise funds in battleground states and districts but avoiding the kinds of big rallies staged by his predecessors.

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It is unusual, says David Barker, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. But the strategy may also be effective, Barker told Yahoo News, because Biden appears to recognize that he is a drag on a lot of candidates, who are making some hay with swing voters by distancing themselves from him. In general, he has been trying to reduce the degree to which voters are thinking about this election as a referendum on him.

To critics, the Democrats are playing keep-away with the leader of their party. After all, it was weeks ago that Charlie Crist, upon becoming the Democratic nominee for governor in Florida, went on CNN and, when asked about whether he wanted Biden to campaign with him, practically gushed about the president.

Charlie Crist, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Florida, and his fiancee, Chelsea Grimes, on Monday in Miami. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

He's a good man. He's a great man. He's a great president. I can't wait for him to get down here. I need his help, I want his help, Crist said on air. The appeal could not be clearer: If Biden wanted to stop likely 2024 presidential contender Ron DeSantis, the Republican gubernatorial incumbent, he needed to invest time in Florida.

To be sure, Hurricane Ian disrupted campaigns, not to mention lives (Biden had planned a stop in Florida right around the time Ian made landfall). But there were plenty of opportunities before the storm to campaign with Crist, whose appeal had been made in August.

And when Biden does go to Florida next week, it will be to hold what is likely to be a private reception for Crist, which will do little to directly court moderates and galvanize the Democratic base. The proceeds from Bidens fundraiser will do the work on his behalf.

Some Democrats simply do not share the conventional wisdom that rallies ahead of elections are a sign of political vigor. "Its myopic to count the number of rallies as the only metric of how you can support candidates," says Eric Schultz, a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama.

Biden supporters point to the speeches he has given in recent days, including a Tuesday address on reproductive rights, during which he promised to codify Roe v. Wade and reinstate the assault weapons ban  that is, if Democrats can expand their congressional majorities. He has also given speeches on his economic policies in battleground states like Ohio.

Biden, at a Democratic National Committee event in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, speaks about the importance of electing Democrats who want to restore abortion rights. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty images)

He's not a dazzling speaker who generates rousing crowds, says Democratic strategist Christy Setzer of New Heights Communications. In an email exchange with Yahoo News, she praised the president and his political advisers for recognizing that reality and focusing instead on policy.

He has a tremendous record to stand behind, she said.

In the most charitable assessment of the presidents tactics, the Democrats believe that those policies are popular enough to effectively sell themselves, as long as candidates are able to stick on message and avoid culture-war issues in which Republicans tend to have an advantage.

"President Biden and Democrats are running on their historic successes, from finally passing legislation to lower prescription drug costs and help bring manufacturing jobs back home to strengthening our economy and supply chains, senior Democratic National Committee adviser Cedric Richmond, who until recently worked in the White House, told Yahoo News in a forwarded statement. You can count on the president to keep traveling the country and talking about the issues that matter most to Americans.

There is also Bidens direct predecessor, who offered a case study in the follies of the full-steam-ahead approach. As the 2018 congressional midterms approached, then-President Donald Trump barnstormed the nation, seeking to bolster Republican candidates. Like Biden, Trump had bad approval ratings, but the GOP president professed that he didnt trust those polls, and wasnt about to start now. With the election just two weeks away, Trump vowed to hold 10 more rallies.

Former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Mesa, Ariz., on Oct. 9. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

President Trump is all-in for the midterms to lead the GOP to victory on Election Day, his own campaign manager said at the time. The rallies kept Trump in the news, which was precisely the problem for the Republican candidates who were desperate to distance themselves from the president, much as some Democrats are doing today with Biden.

Trump persisted, and the Democrats easily took over the House of Representatives. Afterward, Trump mocked the Republicans who had tried to detach themselves from his unpopular presidency, leaving no room for the possibility that he could have done more to help their candidacies  by doing less.

"The president's most valuable asset is his time, and the White Houses mission is to maximize the impact of that asset, one person familiar with Bidens political considerations told Yahoo News. He and others say that while a rally may provide an immediate thrill, the sensation quickly vanishes.

Raising money for candidates like Fetterman allows them to purchase airtime for advertising, which could prove crucial in a campaigns final days, or to execute get-out-the-vote strategies. "These are dynamic, complicated races, says Schultz, the Obama adviser. You have to defer to the people on the ground."

Biden has recently staged receptions for candidates in Los Angeles and Oregon. As is custom, the press was on hand for these events  but public access was restricted. The president may meet with volunteers, or a candidates supporters, but a significant portion of his time is dedicated to courting the wealthy donors necessary to sustain a political operation in modern politics.

Biden during an event at SEIU Local 49 in Portland, Ore., on Oct. 14. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

A veteran of the Senate, Biden is more accustomed than either of his two predecessors to ask for money  and get it. Thanks in large part to President Biden, the DNC has raised $271 million  a midterm record, an official with the Democratic Party told Yahoo News. She added that the party had committed at least $70 million to investments in states for 2022 midterm programs. Thats much more than the $30 million spent by the DNC on its entire 2018 midterm strategy.

Still, the lack of prominent campaigning by the president has raised questions, and if those questions are largely generated by Beltway pundits or cable news producers in Manhattan, they are nevertheless difficult to avoid. Biden will soon turn 80, and some Democrats have openly wondered if a younger standard-bearer is needed for the 2024 presidential race. The presidents under-the-radar approach to the midterms could exacerbate that speculation.

At the same time, he is famously given to misstatement. A slip-up at a high-profile event, especially in a battleground state like Florida or Ohio, could easily become an unwelcome social media sensation, adding to the narrative  forcefully disputed by Democrats  that Biden is losing some of his acuity.

The White House has generally declined to answer specific questions about the presidents midterm-related strategy, citing Hatch Act provisions prohibiting government officials from political activity.

Hes been on the road nonstop, and he will continue to be on the road nonstop, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing earlier this week. And, you know, where he is needed, he will go."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the daily news briefing on Wednesday. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

But some in the White House press corps have been rankled that it was at an event with donors, not a public venue, that Biden mused about the possibility of nuclear Armageddon unleashed by Russia. After all, if nuclear war is imminent, should only six-figure donors have the benefit of that knowledge?

For most Americans, however, the presidents appearances on the campaign trail  or lack thereof  are not a significant concern. Press access at presidential fundraisers is not what keeps people up at night.

Biden is not whats in their mind when it comes to voting. Theyre not thinking about him, the pollster Rich Tau told the Washington Post earlier this month.

If anything, Democrats in swing districts may reasonably want to distance themselves from the figure who, in the eyes of his critics, shoulders the blame for the inflation that remains voters' top concern. Inflation had been rising before Biden became president, but it has risen more sharply in the past two years, and the White House has struggled to tame runaway prices. Until it can  if thats even possible, given the global forces at play  the prospect of being tagged with responsibility for Biden-flation, as Republicans call it, is not likely to prove an attractive prospect for Democratic candidates.
Bille Lourd is remembering her "Momby," Carrie Fisher, on what would have been her 66th birthday.

The American Horror Story actress, 30, shared a sweet childhood throwback of herself with the Star Wars icon on Oct. 21 and made it clear that her grief is still present nearly six years after her mom's death.

"My Momby would have been 66 today," she began. "I woke up this morning feeling like I should write some long wise grief advice caption like I know what the f*** Im talking about. But then I realized even after 6 years I still have no formula or map on what to do on days like these."

Lourd said a person can "never be an expert in grief" because "it is forever changing  the ultimate shape shifter." She said you never know "exactly what to do or feel. And thats okay. Whatever you feel is okay."

She signed off by sending "love to all the 'griefers' (yet another billie lourd petition to make this a real word) out there," reminding those coping with loss, "You are not alone." Fisher  who played Prince Leia in the George Lucas film franchise and was a prolific writer, including about her addiction and mental illness  was flying from London to the U.S. in Dec. 2016 when she suffered cardiac arrest aboard the flight. She died days later with the official cause determined to be sleep apnea with drug use a contributing factor. A toxicology report determined she had multiple drugs, including cocaine and heroin, in her system.

Lourd was Fisher's only child from her '90s relationship with talent agent Bryan Lourd. Since her mom's death, the actress  who joined her mom in the Star Wars franchise in the 2010s  has started her own family. She and Austen Rydell, who were married earlier this year, had their first child, Kingston Fisher, together in 2020 and currently have a second one on the way.

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Last year on the New Day podcast, Lourd spoke of happy times with her mom, but also shared that she learned what not to do as a parent from Fisher.

"We laughed every single day, and she made my life so much fun," Lourd said of her mom, who famously had no filter. However, due to Fisher's decades of substance abuse and deep slides into depression, she said, "My main job when she was alive was taking care of her and making sure she was OK."

She continued, "I was 7 [for some of it] and that was really hard and thats why I grew up really fast  because I was her best friend... I was her mother, I was her kid, I was her everything. And thats one of the things Im learning not to do with my kid.

"Theres a lot of things that my mom taught me to do and then theres a lot that is, honestly, it might be more valuable, of what not to do," she admitted. "And thats one of the things that I will not do to my son, is put this pressure on him that I had on me."
Tomeka Langford felt unseen, and rightfully so, as her home was swiftly taken away from her. Then, it was sold to a white woman for free.

A writer who believed to be the homebuyer of what was Langfords home detailed the story via The Guardian.

Langford purchased the home in 2010: Langfords story is straight from a horror movie. She reportedly purchased a home in Banglatown back in 2010 for $700. Prior, she was religiously renting spaces, but she was looking to trade her monthly rent to become a homeowner.

Affordable listing: Fortunately for her, homes were being sold at extremely low prices. Some marked at $5,000, $2,000, $500, and even as low as $1.

Homes priced this low were often accompanied by the task of handling various repairs and high property tax bills. For Langford, she knew exactly what she was walking into as her seller, William C. Murray II, kept her in the loop on repairs and back taxes.

Both were projected to cost at least $10,000. However, Langford claims she had the finances to support the upkeep.

Between 2010 and 2011, she started the process and spent a reported $6,000 or $7,000.

The downward spiral begins: From that moment on, Langfords homebuying experience seemed short-lived. What should have been joyous moments were taken over by a robbery, time spent away from the home, then stumbling across their home being listed unknowingly on the Wayne county tax foreclosure auction website.

This is really for sale! They done clinked it out, Langford recalled about the moment.

Notice of foreclosure: By this time, Langford admits that she did have several issues with making regular payments toward her house. However, Langford claims she never received any notice via the mail at her new home or in person when she would drop off property tax payments for the pending foreclosure.

How Moore obtained ownership of Langfords home: By 2015, Langfords home had been sold to Write A House for $5,000. The same home was awarded to Anne Elizabeth Moore as a free gift designed to support writers.

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Moore did not realize her home was under Langfords name until she put the home up for sale two years later.

After a two-year period, the house was supposed to go in my name. The deed did  the document that gives me the right to own the property. But this is different from a title, as mortgage companies will describe it, because a deed is a document while a title is a legal framework, a set of conditions that confer uncontestable ownership of a property. The title didnt change hands, Moore wrote, according to reports. I discovered this when I put the house on the market, two and a half years after I had moved into it. That was when my title agency informed me that the title to the house was still in Tomeka Langfords name.

Langford allegedly first learned her home was given to Moore after opening a document that demonstrated she was being sued for ownership when Moore was seeking to secure the title for the home.

Its almost like a death, Langford said, according to The Guardian. You dont never forget it, but you learn to move on.

Court documents: Moore provides further details that show proof of how they both became at odds over ownership of the home. Court documents from Wayne county showed Langford had only made one payment of $689 and still owed a tax bill set at over $5,000. Even after foreclosure, that number was cut down to $4,449.00. However, Langford is certain she paid down her debt by $1,500 or $2,000.

I would make multiple payments, like when Id get my tax [refund], Id go drop off a lump sum, Langford explained, according to The Guardian. Then in between I only had to pay off a hundred dollars, or a hundred and something dollars per month.

Despite her payments, Stephanie Davis, communications manager in the office of the chief financial officer, city of Detroit, provided further context on how her home was still taken.

When the 2009 taxes went unpaid for a third year, the Judgment of Foreclosure was issued by the Wayne County Treasurer for this property. This happens often when someone purchases a home without checking first to see if the prior owner had unpaid taxes, which the new owner becomes responsible for, said Davis, according to The Guardian.

Moore and Langford unite: Both Moore and Langford have since met up since the incident, and the story confirms Moore had no inclination she was going to obtain ownership of a home that already belonged to a Detroit native. As for Langford, she is still dealing with the loss of what could have been.

Paying over the assessment rate: Langfords situation also worsened when you consider she was very likely paying well over the assessment rate of the home. However, she is unlikely to file any lawsuit as she doesnt feel confident that she has enough information to build a strong case in her favor.

At the very least, for her troubles, Langford does wish to be compensated with another home.

I do think it would be nice for them to give me another house, because of the one they took, Tomeka said, according to The Guardian. That would make me whole. Replace what you took. They got plenty houses. They can spare one or two.
Blackpink are set to become the first Korean pop group to headline the British Summer Time (BST) festival at Londons Hyde Park.

The band join a roster of headliners that includes Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Billy Joel, and P!nk, for BSTs 10th anniversary year.

This years BST line-up included sets from Elton John, Adele and the Rolling Stones.

See below for how to buy tickets to the event.

Blackpink are currently embarking on a global tour, and are set to arrive in Europe and the UK this Winter. This includes a sold-out two-night stint at Londons O2 arena in late November/early December.

Over the past six years, Blackpink have become one of the most prominent k-pop groups in the world, and one of the most popular bands full stop.

Their latest album, Born Pink, was released in September. Among the prominent artists the group have collaborated with in the past are Lady Gaga, Cardi B, Dua Lipa and Selena Gomez.

When will Blackpink perform at British Summer Time (BST) festival 2023?

Blackpink will perform at Hyde Park on Sunday 2 July 2023. The BST Hyde Park set is currently Blackpinks only announced performance for 2023.

How to get tickets to Blackpink at British Summer Time (BST) festival 2023

Tickets for the concert will go on general sale at 10am on Thursday 27 October. Tickets to see Blackpinks performance at the British Summer Time (BST) festival can be bought here.
Chris Seward/AP Photo; Ben McKeown/AP Photo; Insider

Republican Bo Hines is running against Democrat Wiley Nickel in North Carolina's 13th Congressional District.

The 13th District is split between the urban Triangle and rural Sandhills.

A win for Hines would be a test of Trump's influence over the GOP.

Trump-endorsed Republican Bo Hines faces off against Democrat Wiley Nickel in North Carolina's 13th Congressional District.

North Carolina's 13th Congressional District candidates

Hines, 27, a political newcomer with virtually no experience, raised eyebrows even within the GOP when former President Donald Trump offered him his endorsement.

Hines was seen as a "carpetbagger" in the eyes of some local Republicans  he had no personal ties to the district and lived more than 100 miles away. A month out from the primary, he moved to the district he's seeking to represent.

"It feels like it's incumbent on us to make sure everybody understands that Bo Hines may be a fine fellow  I don't know him  but the truth of it is he's not a resident of the district," Linwood Parker, chair of the Johnston County Republican Men's Organization and former mayor of Four Oaks, told Politico. "He's coming in, just trying to cherry pick a district he can win."

Hines won the Republican nomination among a crowded slate of GOP candidates, ultimately defeating seven challengers to advance to the November general election. If elected, he will replace Rep. Ted Budd  a staunch Trump ally and Republican nominee in North Carolina's US Senate race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Richard Burr.

Hines has has some curious moments during the general election, such as when he twice said a bad economy under President Joe Biden means he couldn't afford to give up his salary. But an Insider review of federal financial disclosures indicates that Hines has no salary, and instead, appears to live off money from a family trust fund.

Nickel is a member of the North Carolina State Senate. He previously worked as a member of then-Vice President Al Gore's national advance staff, as well as a member of former President Barack Obama's campaign staff. The state senator is a part of the Obama Alumni Association.

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Abortion is a hot topic in the race. Nickel, a staunch Democrat, told the New York Times the day the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade was "our best fund-raising day for the campaign ever." He added: "We're going to keep hammering this issue."

Voting history for North Carolina's 13th Congressional District

North Carolina's 13th Congressional District encompasses Johnston County and parts of Wake, Wayne, and Harnett counties. It's also split between the urban Triangle and rural Sandhills.

The district was redrawn to include a mix of urban, suburban and rural communities in redistricting following the 2020 Census, making it a competitive, near 50-50 district.

The race is expected to be one of the most competitive in November.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Hines has raised $2.9 million, spent $2.7 million, and has $156,835 of cash on hand, as of October 19. His opponent, Nickel, has raised $3.1 million, spent $2.8 million, and has $389,847 of cash still left to spend, as of October 19.

As of early November, super PACs, national party committees, and other non-candidate groups had combined to spend more than $14.9 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the primaries.

What experts say

The race between Hines and Nickel is rated as a "toss-up" by Inside Elections, a "toss-up" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Republican" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Idahos top federal prosecutor has created a task force to combat fraud related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced in a news release the creation of the District of Idahos COVID19 Fraud Task Force, made up of a broad group of law enforcement agencies, with prosecutors who will work jointly to hold accountable criminals who unjustly enriched themselves at the expense of taxpayers by defrauding economic aid programs.

The task force will include representatives from the law enforcement and investigation arms of the Small Business Administration, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Treasury, FBI, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Social Security Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Secret Service.

The task force will identify, investigate and prosecute fraud cases involving the abuse of programs that were created to help people and small businesses weather the COVID19 pandemic since 2020, such as the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans, Coronavirus Farm Assistance Program, Emergency Rental Assistance Program and enhanced unemployment payments.

The task force is seeking tips from the public. Make a report to the COVID-19 Pandemic Fraud Hotline at www.pandemicoversight.gov/contact/about-hotline or directly to the U.S. Attorneys Office at 208-334-1211.

Investigators and prosecutors have identified and charged several Idahoans in connection with allegedly creating businesses or falsifying information to claim COVID-19 assistance.

Among them are:
Clarification: The trip to New York City referenced in this article was organized and funded by state Sen. Aram Garabedian.

As a kid, Martha Jamgochian didnt know the dark parts of her family history. Anything she managed to gather was overheard.

As my mother grew older, sometimes she would say something, but it was more like she was thinking aloud and I happened to be there, as opposed to sitting you down and telling you what happened, Jamgochian said. They never ever did that. They shared everything with their children, except their pain.

Camille Gregorian had the same experience, using her knowledge of Armenian as a child to translate her grandmothers conversations with friends.

I didnt know it all, but I just knew horrible things happened, because they would cry, Gregorian said. They would talk and cry, and talk and cry.

More: 'His name is mostly forgotten': Honoring James Rhea, Journal's first Black reporter

Camille Gregorian, vice president of the board of the Armenian Historical Association of Rhode Island, stands next to Varoujan Karentz, the board's founding chair, at the association's museum in Providence.

They were talking about the Armenian genocide. Starting in 1915, the Ottoman Empire targeted its Armenian minority, killing about 1.5 million people during World War I, though estimates vary. Turkey, which emerged at the end of the empire, has refused to acknowledge the genocide for what it was. (The United Nations' 1985 report on genocide made clear that the crimes indeed met the definition of genocide.)

Museum is a resource for those tracing Armenian ancestry

Many Rhode Islanders trace their relatives back to those horrific years  including Jamgochian and Gregorian, both of whom are on the board of directors of the Armenian Historical Association of Rhode Island, nestled in an office building in Providence. The associations first-floor space houses a small museum with various panels detailing Armenian history and its connection to Rhode Island communities.

Varoujan Karentz, the boards founding chair, described the genocide as what bonded Armenians together.

More: Murder, myth, devotion: Amy Russo shares stories from Providence's North Burial Ground

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People that emigrated to Rhode Island didnt know where the rest of the Armenians were, he said. All they knew was that everybody was being killed, so they came here  clothes on your back and no nickels in the pocketbook.

Camille Gregorian shows two family photos. On the left is an image of her brother, George M. Gregorian and father, George K. Gregorian, and on the right is an image of a popcorn stand they started, which traveled to ethnic festivals.

The association, which was started in 1997, has held open houses to help Armenians trace their ancestry with a genealogy station and census records. But for a long time, such resources were sparse.

As Jamgochian recalled, When we were growing up, the information was like this, she said, making a zero with her hand. And people would say, What kind of a name is Jamgochian?

More: How did a Providence bookstore survive bankruptcy, e-books and Amazon? Amy Russo finds out

She recalled the difficulty with which teachers would pronounce her name when school started, moving down the roster when suddenly, there would be a stop.

Martha  is that Jam or is it Yam?, theyd ask. The confusion continued into college.

Martha Jamgochian, board chair for the Armenian Historical Association of Rhode Island, stands in front of an exhibit in the association's museum.

Michael Kaprielian, one of the boards founding members, recalled difficulties of his own in college when his fraternity brothers discovered that his Armenian name was Manoog and teased him.

Gregorian summed up the feeling in one sentence: You constantly had to explain yourself.

Sleuthing in the cemetery to trace Armenians in RI

But those names became especially key in the early 2000s, when researchers led by Karentz spent about three months scouring ledgers at Providences North Burial Ground, picking out all names ending in ian  a hint that those interred individuals were Armenian.

More: Why would you walk 215 miles from Providence to New York? Amy Russo finds out

Kaprielian proudly held up a photo of one such grave  that of the Rev. Vaghenag Sisagian, a priest who served the Armenian community and died in 1899.

Michael Manoog Kaprielian, a founding member of the board of the Armenian Historical Association of Rhode Island, holds a photo of the grave of the Rev. Vaghenag Sisagian, a priest who served the Armenian community. He's buried in Providence's North Burial Ground.

Hes evidence of one of the Armenians who arrived earlier in Rhode Island than others, though the historical association says it has found hints of Armenian names dating back to colonial Newport.

Today, Rhode Island has been home to a handful of notable Armenians, including judges, former Brown University President Vartan Gregorian, Alex and Ani founder Carolyn Rafaelian  who is Gregorian's cousin  and one name who's been making news as of late: Rhode Island Public Transit Authority CEO Scott Avedisian.

More: What's it like to work the boats at WaterFire Providence? Amy Russo was stoked to find out

The extent of Rhode Island's Armenian community became more apparent in 2015, when former state Sen. Aram Garabedian, who is the son of genocide survivors, organized a trip to New York City where thousands rallied to mark the 100th anniversary of the genocide. While participants came from various states, in total, 12 busloads of Rhode Islanders made the journey.

Remembering that moment, Kaprielian reflected back on his college days, when no one knew his name.

Those people that didnt know us back then, knew us now, he said.

Visit the Armenian Historical Association of Rhode Island at 245 Waterman St. in Providence, or at ahari.clubexpress.com.

Providence Journal staff writer Amy Russo, a transplanted New Yorker, is looking for new ways to experience her adopted state. If you have suggestions for this column, email her at amrusso@providencejournal.com.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Bonded by tragedy, RI Armenians find strength in history and community
A second suspect has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy in Boston over the summer, authorities announced Thursday.

Zontre Mack, 19, of Canton, is slated to be arraigned Friday in Dorchester District Court on a charge of murder in the death of Curtis Ashford, Jr., of Dorchester, according to the Boston Polce Department.

Officers responding to a report of a shooting in the area of 28 Ellington Street on the evening of July 27 found Ashford suffering from a gunshot wound, police said. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Mom mourning death of 15-year-old son who was fatally shot in Dorchester as police search for gunman

Dominick Gavin, 25, of Boston, was previously arrested in connection with the shooting death in late September.

Boston 25 spoke with Ashfords mother who said he was just out playing basketball when he was fatally shot.

He told me he was at the court playing ball with his friends and I told him to make sure be home by 8 before the lights come on and he texted me back ok and next thing you know Im getting a call that my son is hurt. Literally minutes from the house, Starsha Groce said.

An investigation into Ashfords death remains ongoing.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Boston police homicide detectives at 617-343-4470.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
BBC Two and Channel 4 have delighted viewers with their inspired soundtrack choices for reports on Prime Minister Liz Trusss resignation.

The opening credits to Newsnight on Thursday (20 October) were a montage of Trusss highlights and lowlights set to the soundtrack of Rihannas Take a Bow, which includes lyrics from you look so dumb right now to dont tell me youre sorry cause youre not.

The songs lyrics were matched impeccably with moments from Trusss short-lived premiership.

Channel 4 News, meanwhile, played Taylor Swifts Blank Space alongside clips of Truss  a self-proclaimed fan of Swifts music.

You look like my next mistake, Swift can be heard singing, alongside a clip of Tory politicians applauding Truss.

Viewers found the music choices hilarious. Absolutely DYING at @BBCNewsnights opening tonight! tweeted one person. Move over Channel 4

BBC Two made a goddamn Liz Truss fancam set to Rihannas Take A Bow to open their nightly newscast!! tweeted another.

This is unbelievably good, added a third. Missed a trick not having a clip of Liz Trusss terrible curtsy when Rihanna says go on and take a bow. But its outstanding from start to finish...

Another called the broadcasts elite s***housery, while a fifth said: Both of these have ended me.

Whoever in Channel 4 News is responsible for playing Taylor Swifts Blank Space over a montage of Liz Truss media footage deserves to have their genius recognised, tweeted one viewer. Never has lyric and film synced so well.

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Another called it the funniest thing ever.

Liz Truss said her favourite song was Blank Space by @taylorswift13. This @Channel4News sign off is devastating. I could show you incredible things, magic, madness, heaven, sin, saw you there and I thought, oh my God, look at that face!  pic.twitter.com/QuTjSyC5bM  Henry McKean (@HenryMcKean) October 21, 2022

Following Trusss resignation on Thursday, celebrities from Ricky Gervais to Nish Kumar led reactions on Twitter.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke shared a fierce condemnation of the Tories, while comedian Joe Lycett joked that Truss should run again in the leadership race.

Trusss resignation to make way for the third prime minister in just eight weeks has led to a surge in demand for a general election.

Within hours of her announcement, signatures onThe Independents campaign for an immediate election passed a quarter of a million.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the public deserve a proper say on the countrys future, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey issued a call for Conservative MPs to do their patriotic duty, put the country first and give the people a say.
Oct. 21A $200,000 federal grant recently received by the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office will be used to fight street gang activity, which accounts for much of the crime in the area, law enforcement officials say.

The grant comes from the 2021 State Homeland Security Program, and is presented through the state's Emergency Management Agency, Brunswick DA Keith Higgins said.

The money will be used to gain access to an investigative case file system known as Formulytics, used by government agencies to prosecute street gangs and other groups responsible for violent crimes against communities, he said.

The DA is providing local law enforcement agencies with access to the system, including the Glynn County and Brunswick police departments, the county sheriff's office, county schools police and the Georgia State Patrol.

It is also being used by law enforcement agencies throughout the judicial circuit's five counties, which encompasses Camden, Wayne, Appling and Jeff Davis counties in addition to Glynn.

The Buckhead-based system is being used by law enforcement throughout the state, from Atlanta to Savannah, allowing agencies to work together to combat crimes committed by the thousands of street gangs in Georgia.

The cloud-based case file system allows investigators to better track gang activity across jurisdictions and to better present cases for prosecution.

"The collaborative use of this investigative and intelligence-sharing platform by our law enforcement partners will ultimately improve prosecution of gang-related crimes in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit," Higgins said following a training session on Formulytics this week.

"I am grateful to Gov. Brian Kemp and Harlan Proveaux of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, who awarded the sub grant that makes all of this possible."

Law enforcement throughout the Brunswick DA's circuit report about half the crimes committed involve gangs or are gang-related, Higgins said.

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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation pursued 446 gang-related cases in some 100 counties just in 2021, he said.

"It could definitely be a good investigative tool," said Brunswick Police Lt. Jose Galdamez, commander of the department's investigative division.

Likewise, Glynn County police welcome this high-tech approach to clamping down on street-level crime.

"Chief Battiste expresses his appreciation for the very productive partnership with our District Attorney's Office and their visionary approach to supporting law enforcement," Glynn County Police Capt. Michael Robinson said in a statement to The News. "It is critical that law enforcement use technology to detect and solve criminal activity, and this type of technology allows us to be more proactive. Moreover, in order to keep the public safe and protect human life, it is important that we implement the use of cutting-edge software, tracking systems, and more, which continues to complement our crime fighting efforts."
This isn't the first time that actor Ricardo Darin has helped shine a light into one of the dingiest rooms in Argentina's history: the military dictatorship that staged a right-wing coup d'etat and ruled his country between 1976 and 1983, during which as many as 30,000 people may have been murdered and disappeared.

He did it before, playing a former criminal investigator in director Juan Jose Campanella's The Secret in Their Eyes (2009), which won the Oscar for foreign film. In "Kamchatka" (2002) he portrayed a research scientist hiding out with his family from the military police. And in "Koblik" (2016) he starred as a former Navy pilot who becomes a marked man after disobeying an order to take part in so-called "death flights," in which purported enemies of the junta were stripped, drugged and thrown out of airplanes and helicopters.

But he's added a new twist in Argentina, 1985," which premieres Friday on Amazon Prime Video and is Argentina's Oscar entry for international film. It's the first time he's played a real person from that bleak era, Julio Cesar Strassera, a revered figure who's rightly regarded as a defender of Latin American democracy. An Argentine lawyer, Strassera served as chief federal prosecutor in the 1985 trial of the military leaders responsible for massive human rights crimes.

"I am especially honored to have played this great man  who was incorrectly called 'common' or 'simple'  within a context in which he and his team had to put aside all their fears and uncertainties," Darin said, speaking by phone.

Strassera and his assistant Luis Moreno Ocampo (played in the film by Peter Lanzani) faced "a titanic task," Darin said, in putting together a case for which there was very little "tangible evidence" that directly and personally connected the heads of the armed forces to waging the so-called Dirty War. The crimes waged during this era included assassinations, torture, rape, forced exile and the kidnapping and trafficking of minors who'd been snatched by government agents from their imprisoned and murdered parents.

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Several of the main commanders were sentenced to life imprisonment, including Jorge Rafael Videla, head of the army, who was later pardoned by President Carlos Menem, arrested again and finally imprisoned until his death in 2013. Strassera died in 2015.

I believe that all of this was achieved due to the efforts of many people who, in some cases, responded to the prosecution's call to give testimony before the court," Darin said. "Democracy had just been restored, and a lot of people didn't really believe that this trial was going to take place, even after it was announced."

"Argentina, 1985" is the second collaboration between Darin and director-screenwriter Santiago Mitre following "La Cordillera" (2017), in which the actor portrayed a fictional Argentine president of dubious morals, reminding some viewers of Mauricio Macri, a neoliberal businessman who served as president between 2015 and 2019.

When I made that film with Ricardo, I discovered that, in addition to being a talented actor, subtle and extremely precise in the way he works and uses his dramatic resources, he is a filmmaker, a person who thinks about cinema in all its aspects, Mitre said. "He was the first I thought of to tell this story, and he told me right away that he would play Strassera."

When the first hearing of the so-called Juicio a las Juntas convened, Darin already had begun working as a young actor, enjoying a minor but growing fame from roles in film, theater and television. He didn't hear the eloquent and moving speech with which the prosecutor closed his argument in court, which is reproduced in the film.

"This happened almost 40 years ago, when the world of communications was completely different," Darin said. On television only some fragments of the trial were shown, only with images that did not have audio, and all the testimonies were presented from behind, without showing the faces of those who spoke, to protect the victims and the survivors.

An audio recording of the speech was later released, and the film makers consulted other historical sources. But they weren't trying to imitate real events or stage a period piece.

"What we're trying to do is capture what these people were thinking and doing at the time," he said. We tried to imagine all that, and hand in hand with a script as well-written as the one that was used, we formed a team in which we fed each day with a little more information. But we always had the objective not to copy and to reserve a small space of freedom in terms of imagination, because we have to remember that this is a film that recreates the trial, but that also appeals to fiction by showing situations that did not exactly happen that way."

Mitre and his co-screenwriter Mariano Llinas conducted several interviews with the deputy prosecutor, Luis Moreno Campo, and met with Strassera's widow, Marissa, his son Julian and most members of the team of prosecutors.

"A lot of the scenes we show are directly inspired by what these people told us, and spending time with these same people made me bond with them," the filmmaker said. "When they saw the film, they felt good about the way it portrays what happened and the role they played in the trial."

"Of course, outside of any political discussion, what we wanted to do was a good movie, that could dialogue with the audiences of this time and with the viewers who knew nothing of the process that took place in those times," he added.

To that end, Mitre wanted to make the movie's visual and narrative style accessible in the manner of a classic Hollywood courtroom drama.

I was thinking about John Ford, about [Frank] Capra, about [Howard] Hawks, about Billy Wilder," Mitre said. "And although it may sound pretentious, sometimes your references also have to do with the art world.

Strassera also personified the "hero in spite of himself," a classic cinematic archetype, Mitre continued.

"We were also looking for the tension of contemporary cinema, and in that sense, we thought of 'All the President's Men' and 'The Post ' by [Steven] Spielberg, where there's a very energetic concept of group work, he added. Nor should we forget about Latin American cinema." He cited Pablo Larrain's "No" (2012), starring Gael Garcia Bernal, about a plebiscite that led to the unraveling of Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, as "a great film that also narrates a democratic transition, although it is the Chilean one, which was very different from the Argentine one."

In Argentina 1985, Darin, who is 65, plays a man who was in his early 50s when the Juicio a las Juntas began. His deputy, Moreno Ocampo, was much younger (33 at the time), as was most of the rest of the prosecutorial team  a contrast that underscores the gap between how older Argentines recall (or choose to forget) the Dirty War while younger Argentines attempt to piece it together.

When we started this project, we realized that people had very little recollection of this trial, which showed us how important it was to tell this story not only to young people in our country, but also to those in different parts of the world, Mitre said.

It was necessary to prove that the search for justice is necessary to consolidate a democratic ideal," Mitre said, particularly at a time like the present in which democracy is being undermined and losing support among young people who haven't experienced the horrors of dictatorship and may take democracy and the rule of law for granted.

The connection that the film seeks with young people hasn't gone unnoticed by Darin.

If there is a possibility that this film has a message, it is found precisely in the youngest, because it is understandable that people who were born under a democracy do not realize the dimension of what happened, all the suffering and obstacles they had to go through."

"We live in an era," he continued, in which young people "are glued to their phones all the time."

But reality is reality: There was torture, there were disappearances, there were atrocious actions against people who had absolutely nothing to do with the accusations made against them, and which occurred simply because they were on a detainee's agenda or because someone pointed a finger at them.

Regardless of political ideology, the trial depicted in "Argentina, 1985" argues that there must be standards of right and wrong that apply to all humanity.

After that, you can have whatever political position you want," Darin concluded, "but you cannot fail to recognize that there are ethics, values and morals that must be respected."





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
MOBILE, Ala. (AP)  DK Billingsley rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown, Brooks Buce made a career-long 51-yard field goal and Troy edged South Alabama 10-6 on Thursday night in the Battle for the Belt.

Troy (6-2, 4-1 Sun Belt Conference), which won its fifth straight in the series, moved into the top spot in the West Division.

The Troy defense held South Alabama to 246 yards. Carter Bradley, ranked third in the Sun Belt with 282.3 yards passing per game, threw for just 215 yards for the Jaguars and was intercepted by Reddy Steward.

Troy linebacker Carlton Martial moved into fourth on the FBS leaderboard with 513 career tackles.

Diego Guajardo made field goals of 32 and 41 yards for South Alabama (5-2, 2-1).

___

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Blockchain has merits as a technology but gambling with crypto should be avoided, Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday.

Appearing before students at Istanbul University during the Blockchain Istanbul Programme organized by his Justice and Development Party (AKP), Erdogan said he wants to see Turkey be a producer, not a consumer, in the digital assets world, according to a report by Alp Boru for CoinDesk Turkey.

Despite Turkey being a fast-growing crypto market, the Erdogan administration is not known to be friendly towards the industry. In 2021, the government banned the use of crypto for payments. Later in the year, Erdogan made headlines over his plans to urgently send a restrictive crypto bill to the countrys parliament, but not much has since been heard of the legislation. The crypto market remains largely unregulated in the country.

His remarks seem to indicate an openness to at least some aspects of cryptocurrencies. He said Friday that Turkey seeks to establish its own virtual world, or metaverse. And earlier this year, the president attended a forum organized by AKP in the metaverse.

I advise our young people to take part in the change of innovations such as blockchain technology and turn to larger and more fertile channels instead of turning to crypto money gambling that has no basis, Erdogan said.

Blockchain-based decentralized ledgers for immutable record-keeping has the potential to radically change existing supply chains, he said, also noting the impact blockchain technology could have on protecting intellectual property.

On the regulatory front, the president said that the countrys central bank is carrying out studies on cryptocurrencies.

Our other ministries also follow this technology closely in their own areas of responsibility," he said. "We also closely monitor the activities of our private sector in blockchain technology."

Read more: Turkish Authorities Seize Crypto Worth $40M in Illegal Gambling Sting
Rapper-entrepreneur Kanye West has reportedly hired attorney Camille Vasquez to represent him. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press, left; Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Kanye West has reportedly hired Johnny Depp's defamation trial attorney Camille Vasquez to represent his business interests amid his brewing public-image and business crises.

The rapper-entrepreneur, who legally changed his name to Ye a year ago, is said to have retained national law firm Brown Rudnick to represent him as his contracts and deals evaporate following his spate of antisemitic remarks and false claims about the death of George Floyd, whose family is suing the rapper for harassment, misappropriation and defamation.

Vasquez is said to be among the group of attorneys at the firm that he hired, TMZ reported Friday.

Representatives for Ye, Vasquez and Brown Rudnick did not immediately respond Friday to The Times' requests for confirmation.

Vasquez is a partner at Brown Rudnick's Irvine-based operation and became an international celebrity during last spring's bombshell defamation trial between Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard. Vasquez became a star among Depp supporters on social media and a sought-after talent in the business realm.

TMZ reported that the firm will not be representing the rapper during his protracted divorce proceedings with reality star Kim Kardashian. For that task, Ye recently hired Robert Stephan Cohen of New York's Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstreich LLP, who represented Melinda Gates in her split from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

The Vasquez hiring report comes the same day fashion house Balenciaga, which has long collaborated with the performer and had him walk in its recent Paris Fashion Week show, announced that it had cut ties with Ye.

Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist, the brands parent firm Kering said in a brief statement Friday.

Global brands have been distancing themselves from the Grammy winner for months following his unrelenting outbursts on social media, which eventually led to his ban from Instagram and Twitter (and a move to buy right-wing platform Parler).

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Past collaborators including Adidas and apparel giant Gap Inc. have also been on the receiving end of West's tirades, along with Kardashian, her family, her ex-boyfriend Pete Davidson and "The Daily Show" host Trevor Noah.

In recent weeks, the "Yeezus" rapper ignited a firestorm during Paris Fashion Week when he posed next to conservative political commentator Candace Owens, both wearing White Lives Matter T-shirts. After facing wide criticism, he posted that he was about to Go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE, which prompted Instagram and later Twitter to pull the plug on his accounts.

He then went on Tucker Carlsons Fox News show and in unaired footage said that someone had planted fake children in his home to sexualize my kids. In footage that did air, he accused Jared Kushner, who is Jewish, of working on the Abraham Accords (between Middle Eastern nations and Israel) "to make money."

And last year, following the release of "Donda," Ye ended his deal with longtime record label Def Jam as well.

On Monday, Parler announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell the social-media company to West. (Parler, whose chief executive, George Farmer, is married to Owens, was temporarily de-platformed from Google's and Apples app stores in January 2021 following the riot at the U.S. Capitol; it has since been restored on both.)

Times staff writers August Brown and Anousha Sakoui contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Panama City Beach and the Bay County Audubon Society will host bird walk Oct. 25 at Aaron Bessant Park.

PANAMA CITY BEACH  Birdwatchers soon will unite at a local park to learn about the different species of birds on Panama City Beach.

At 7:30 a.m. Oct. 25, Panama City Beach, with the help of the Bay County Audubon Society, will host bird walk in Aaron Bessant Park, a free event designed to help people learn about local bird species and how to identify them.

"(We) just want (people) to learn about the species that are out there and get more people involved in birding because it's becoming a more popular activity," said Canon Havard, a recreation coordinator for PCB. "This is just about giving back to the public."

New at Panama City Beach parks: What's in the works for Panama City Beach's Frank Brown and Aaron Bessant parks?

Havard said this will be the first bird walk held in Panama City Beach. He hopes to make it a biannual event.

The bird walk will last about about an hour and a half. Participants will meet near the park's amphitheater, and they will then navigate an approximately 1.5-mile trial throughout the park.

More than 330 species of birds have been observed in Bay County

Norman Capra, a board member of the Bay County Audubon Society who will be a co-leader of the walk, said more than 330 species of birds have been observed in Bay County. Of those, about 110 species have been observed at Aaron Bessant Park.

The Bay County Audubon Society is a nonprofit organization focused on birding and nature conservation.

While participants are encouraged to bring their own binoculars to the event, a dozen pairs will be available for those who do not have any.

Along with learning to property adjust binoculars to get the best view, participants also will be taught to use cellphone apps to identify bird species by their sight and sound.

"It's good exercise, and if you have a family, it helps get kids familiar with nature," Capra said of birding. "It's (also) just good outdoor fun, and it's educational."

Those interested in participating in the bird walk can preregister by emailing Havard at canon.havard@pcbfl.gov. They also can register at the event.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City Beach bird walk set for October 25 at Aaron Bessant Park
By Susan Heavey

(Reuters) -Regulations prohibiting the sale, purchase or transfer of handguns within Canada took effect on Friday, as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the measure builds on earlier efforts banning handgun imports.

The handgun freeze was announced in May alongside proposed legislation that would implement the nation's strongest gun control measures in 40 years as part of Trudeau's plan to tackle gun violence, his office said.

But the freeze was criticized by the government of the western province of Alberta, which has previously said it will resist other gun control measures proposed by Ottawa.

"We have frozen the market for handguns in this country," Trudeau said at a news conference in Surrey, British Columbia, attended by family members of gun violence victims and other advocates.

"As we see gun violence continue to rise... we have an obligation to take action," Trudeau added. "Today our national handgun freeze is coming into force."

Friday's action stops people from buying, selling or transferring handguns within Canada, and prevents them from bringing newly acquired handguns into the country, according to the prime minister's office.

Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino called it the most significant action on gun violence in Canada in a generation.

Trudeau's ruling Liberal government introduced bill C-21 to fight gun violence, and his office said Friday's move will help "keep Canadians safe" while the legislation is debated. In August, it banned imports until the law passes.

"We've got to get that law passed as quickly as possible," Mendicino said, speaking alongside Trudeau.

Under the executive action, any handgun applications submitted before Friday will still be processed, Trudeau's office said.

But Tyler Shandro, Alberta's Minister of Justice, said the move unfairly penalized law-abiding firearms owners.

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"The federal government's real goal is to scapegoat handgun owners and use wedge politics to appeal to a narrow base of voters who wish to see legal firearm ownership in this country eliminated entirely," Shandro said in a statement.

Canada has stricter gun laws than the United States, but Canadians can own firearms with a license. Some firearms must also be registered.

Canada's gun homicide rate is a fraction of the United States' rate, 2020 data showed, but is still higher than other wealthy countries and has been rising, with handguns the main weapon used in the majority of firearm-related violent crimes between 2009 and 2020.

(Additional reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Josie Kao)
LOS ANGELES  Rick Caruso had a bad primary night and a rough summer as he faced off against Democratic Rep. Karen Bass to be the next mayor of LA.

But hes having a good fall.

Caruso has erased a double-digit deficit with Bass in the final weeks of the most expensive mayors contest in city history. The billionaire shopping mall developer, who has spent tens of millions from his personal fortune in his first run for political office, is in a tight race with the veteran politician, according to at least one recent poll and political analysts.

The six-term congresswomans campaign is feeling the heat, pleading for money and volunteers to knock on doors in a late Thursday email blast. We need that now more than ever, it said.

The most likely culprit in the turnaround is money. Lots of it. Caruso has blanketed the airwaves in one of the most expensive media markets in the U.S., spending more than $81 million compared to $11 million by Bass, according to the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission.

Walk away from the morning news, get in the car, and you still get inundated with ads, said Bill Carrick, a Democratic consultant who led outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcettis 2013 campaign. The overwhelming majority are for Caruso. He's on Spanish-language television. He's on the Asian media platforms. He's everywhere.



An unknown factor is the scandal at LA City Hall, caused by the release of a leaked recording in which council members are heard scheming to manipulate district boundaries while using offensive and racist language. Some observers think it could help Bass but Caruso has sought to exploit the revelations as evidence that local government  and by extension established politicians like the congresswoman  are tarnished.

"The fact that there's more chaos at City Hall does, certainly, seem to me to say to voters that new leadership is necessary, said Peter Ragone, a Caruso campaign spokesperson.

In any case, its a surprising turnaround. Analysts were writing Carusos political obituary in the summer, following his poorer-than-expected showing in the primary followed by dismal polling numbers. It was hard to imagine he once had the wind at his back, drawing celebrity endorsements and national media coverage as he presented himself as the candidate who could tackle a dramatic increase in homelessness, the high cost of living and anxiety about crime in Americas second-largest city.

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Then came the June primary. Caruso outspent Bass 11-to-1, but he finished seven points behind her. Weeks later, the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade opened the billionaire, a former Republican, up to criticism for past donations to opponents of abortion rights  an unpopular move in this deeply blue city.

Political analysts still give the edge at this point to Bass, a community activist who became speaker of the California Assembly and then a congresswoman on the shortlist to be President Joe Bidens VP. But a recent poll from the Southern California News Group came as a shock to many.



The poll, released this week, showed the two locked in a statistical dead heat, with a large portion of voters  nearly 25 percent  still undecided. The findings are considered credible by polling experts despite the small sample size of 400 likely voters.

The upshot is theres a lot of uncertainty. I think everybody ought to be worried, Carrick said. We're two weeks out and, clearly, it's going to be a very important two weeks.

Carusos rapid comeback can be attributed in large part to his advertising dominance, which has allowed him to take advantage of the City Hall scandal and push more people into the undecided column, analysts say.

Thats probably the main cause of most of the movement youve seen, said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll. The Caruso campaign has been the dominant source of providing new information to voters.

The imbalance has left the Bass campaign fuming.

Its not surprising that $80 million of deceitful attack ads and mailers, and a 400 person paid canvassing team spreading lies have helped Republican Rick catch up to us, the campaign said in the email. If this makes you angry, we understand  its morally and ethically wrong and no one should be able to buy their way into City Hall!



Marshaling outrage may be the best they can do. The Bass campaign doesnt have access to the resources of a developer best known for creating high-end shopping centers in LA such as The Grove.

Their efforts in the final weeks will largely rely on text messages and social media, along with high-profile endorsements, said Mark Gonzalez, chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, which has endorsed the congresswoman. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton have all appeared alongside Bass in recent weeks, and her backers also include popular LA natives like Sen. Alex Padilla and former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The election is expected to set a new record for turnout, an outcome that would likely draw younger and more ideologically left-leaning voters, benefiting Bass. But the recent poll has forced many to recalibrate their views on the race.

You can't ignore it. It's one thing to be up a dozen points. It's another thing to be tied, at least, in the polling. You have to take it for what it's worth, said Mike Trujillo, who advised Councilmember Joe Buscainos unsuccessful mayoral campaign.

Carusos money has allowed him to have the undivided attention of Angelenos. Hes gone both positive and negative, bashing Bass on a full-ride scholarship she received from USC and a speech she made at a Scientology event, while also highlighting his plan to build 30,000 shelter beds in a year. Its also given him the luxury of going after low-propensity voters whom others have chosen not to court in the past, said John Shallman, a political consultant who ran City Attorney Mike Feuers unsuccessful campaign for mayor.

But Caruso may also be reaching the saturation point. It could be, Shallman said, that all that money has done whatever damage it could do among the crucial undecided voters.



There's no chance these folks don't know who he is right now, he said. They know him, and they're not choosing him. And that would suggest that the undecideds are more likely to break for Karen, regardless of their demographic.

Jeremy B. White contributed to this report.
AUBURN  A spokesman for Brookdale Eddy Pond assisted living facility has confirmed an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease.

Brookdale, at 669 Washington St., also serves people with memory issues.

Health authorities are keeping a watch on Brookdale Eddy Pond in Auburn.

"Our greatest concern is the health of the residents of our community, so we have responded quickly and proactively to this situation. We cannot comment on the identified case(s) given confidentiality restrictions," a spokesman for Brookdale Senior Living, based in Tennessee, said in a statement.

"We are working with a national water treatment company and are following their protocols and recommendations regarding Legionella bacteria. At this time, no one knows the source of the bacteria; however, we are taking a proactive approach to help stop any spread of this bacteria."

The spokesman declined to say when the signs of Legionnaires' disease began or how many people were affected.

According to the Mayo Clinic, "Legionnaires' disease is a severe form of pneumonia  lung inflammation usually caused by infection. It's caused by a bacterium known as legionella."

It can be deadly in the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

The state's Executive Officer of Elder Affairs said they are, "actively monitoring the situation and is in regular correspondence with Brookdale Eddy Pond."

Return to telegram.com for more on this story.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Case of Legionnaires' disease confirmed at Brookdale Eddy Pond, Auburn
Dominique Crenn was diagnosed with breast cancer at the height of her career, just months after her San Francisco restaurant received three Michelin stars. (Photos: @dominiquecrenn Instagram/Hard Rock Cafe)

Dominique Crenn, chef of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, Calif., is the first and only female chef in the U.S. to earn three Michelin stars  a culinary honor only eight women have received in the nearly 100 years the revered guide has been in existence.

But Crenn is one of eight in another way, too. In 2019, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which affects one in eight women in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Crenn was flying high at the end of 2018 when her restaurant received its third star. "I was really setting up a platform for my community," she tells Yahoo Life. "I wanted to be a voice that said if you work hard you can achieve anything you want, regardless of whether you're a man or woman."

Crenn felt on top of the world  unstoppable.

But on a business trip in early 2019, she began to feel very tired. "I got out of the shower and it literally felt like something was coming out of my left breast. Whatever it was felt very hard under the skin," she recalls. "I flew back to San Francisco right away, saw my doctor and he told me I had triple-negative breast cancer, stage two or three. I couldn't believe it."

When the doctor explained her protocol of a total mastectomy and 16 rounds of chemotherapy, Crenn, a mom of two, didn't shy away. "Anyone who knows me knows I don't back away from anything," she says. "In my mind it was an immediate switch to not feel sorry for myself, to tackle this new challenge and find this new platform to raise awareness by sharing my journey and being open about it."

Even while undergoing chemotherapy, Crenn still went to her restaurant almost every day to oversee operations and do some cooking. "I was very honest with my team, and they were so supportive," she says. "After my first day of chemo, which was about five hours, I came to the restaurant and we went down to the basement and we shaved my head while my pastry chef held my hand. Then, they all shaved their heads, too. The love and dedication of the people around me is how I got through this."

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Crenn says she learned this mindset from her father, an artist and politician from Brittany, France. "He taught me that when you face hardship, you have to keep your head up and keep going. He also went through cancer  and died from it  but also survived the Second World War and so much more," she says. "We all go through struggles. Believing that you'll come out of the other side of the struggle is what brings us happiness and strength in life."

Chemotherapy can change the palate, making once-delicious foods taste metallic or rancid, which is obviously a problem for a chef. But Crenn says her sense of taste was heightened during her treatment, and her attitude about food as medicine strengthened. "I couldn't believe the food the hospital was serving to patients," she says. "I found a woman who was making meals and delivering them. I needed to eat well to keep my strength so I could continue treatment."

Now that she's been cancer free for a little more than two years, Crenn is using her platform as a celebrity  she recently appeared on Netflix's reboot of Iron Chef, and is planning restaurants in Las Vegas and Paris  to raise awareness during Hard Rock International's 23rd Annual "Pinktober" Campaign, which raised $700,000 last year for the American Cancer Society and local charities.

"Knowing Hard Rock's commitment to raising awareness and funding breast cancer research, when they approached me about a partnership I was on board immediately," says Crenn, who developed limited-edition Baja-Style Shrimp Tacos, available at Hard Rock Cafes around the world through Oct. 31.

Crenn says that even though her food at Atelier Crenn is elegant, she was happy to create an approachable, fun, delicious dish for Hard Rock. "I love simplicity and I love delicious food," she says, "the fact that I have three Michelin stars doesn't change the fact that tacos make me happy." In fact, her Las Vegas restaurant will have a tacos and tequila twist, and the restaurant in Paris will feature a menu based on California-style cuisine.

Up until now, Crenn has been known mostly by the culinary elite and foodies who can afford the car payment-sized amount it takes to dine at her San Francisco tasting room. But through this partnership, and sharing her breast cancer journey, she stands to make herself a fixture not only in the kitchen but as an advocate and inspiration to millions touched by breast cancer.

By surrounding yourself with love, says Crenn, you can overcome anything. "You're not crippled by your challenges. You are more powerful with every challenge you face."

Wellness, parenting, body image and more: Get to know the who behind the hoo with Yahoo Life's newsletter. Sign up here.
The Chicago police officer who shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo during a foot chase in 2021 is facing firing after an investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability concluded the shooting violated department policy.

COPAs findings against Officer Eric Stillman were discussed Thursday night by the Chicago Police Board, as was the fact that police police Superintendent David Brown contested the findings, saying that the shooting did not violate department use-of-force rules.

Brown only agreed with COPA that Stillman violated department protocol for failing to operate his body camera in a timely manner, though the superintendent only recommended the officer be punished with a suspension of no more than five days.

Also at the meeting, Police Board President Ghian Foreman, who had been selected at random to review the case, announced that the controversial shooting has been referred for a public hearing before the entire board.

It is my opinion that  the parties and the public will benefit from a full evidentiary hearing on this matter, Foreman wrote in his decision. This hearing will allow the board (to) hear from use-of-force experts  and will allow the board to thoroughly review relevant evidence, including video recordings of the incident.

Foreman stated in his ruling that he was neither siding with COPA nor Brown. But he also said that Brown did not meet his burden to overrule COPA.

The superintendent made a number of convincing points in his response to (COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kerstens) recommendation for discipline, Foreman wrote. However, in this case, the material I reviewed does not provide a sufficient basis for me to rule that the superintendent met the burden to overcome the recommendation. "

Foreman noted that the hearing will also grant Stillman the opportunity to testify. Foreman also made clear that he was not siding with COPA.

The hearing is not expected to take place for several months.

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The March 29 shooting of Toledo in a Little Village alley at about 2:30 a.m. touched off waves of protests after disturbing images from officers body-worn cameras were released.

In the footage, Toledos hands appear to be empty at the moment Stillman shoots him. Police confiscated a gun near Toledo, whom authorities said was with Ruben Roman, now 22, who had fired at a vehicle in the minutes before the shooting.

The shooting happened two days before another Chicago police officer shot and killed 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez in Portage Park, also in a foot chase.

In addition to questions over whether deadly force was warranted in the shootings, the incidents cast a glaring spotlight on the foot pursuits and the fact that Chicago police lacked a written policy on the dangerous, often deadly encounters.

The department has since written a policy around the chases. In both the Alvarez and Toledo shootings, COPA still found that the officers in both shootings acted inconsistently with their training in a foot pursuit training bulletin distributed by the Police Department.

The Police Board released findings on the Alvarez investigation in July. As they did in the Toledo case, COPA investigators concluded that the shooting of Alvarez violated the departments use of force policy. They recommended that Officer Evan Solano, who shot Alvarez, be fired.

Brown also contested that decision. The Police Board member selected to review that case, however, concurred with Browns recommendation for a 20-day suspension and spared Solanos job  without referring the case for a full hearing.

In March, Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx announced her office would not bring criminal charges against the officers involved in the Alvarez and Toledo shootings. Foxx said at a news conference that prosecutors determined both officers reasonably believed they were in danger when they opened fire. Both Toledo and Alvarez were carrying guns on the night they were shot.

Kersten, whose office was critical of the Alvarez case being decided by one police board member, issued a statement late Thursday in support of Foremans decision in Toledos shooting.

As Ive said before, this is not about winning or losing, but about facts, evidence and testimony being presented before the full Police Board before a final decision is determined, the statement read. Impacted parties and the residents of the city of Chicago deserve to have all the facts and evidence presented in a full, public hearing and we believe this case is deserving of a full evidentiary hearing before the entire Police Board and a review of the rules governing this process is warranted.

The decision was criticized by Stillmans attorney, who issued a statement.

There is no reason or justification for the city of Chicago to have sought termination in this case, attorney Tim Grace said in a written statement. I am extremely disappointed with the Chicago Police Board tonight. They missed an opportunity to stand with the members of our Police Department who do the heavy lifting. Officer Stillman is an honorably discharged (United) States Marine who has served his country and city with honor and courage and will face this next challenge in the same manner.

Also in a statement, the Toledo familys lawyers praised COPA for uncovering the truth of what transpired in the shooting, and thanked Foreman for not rejecting COPAs findings.

We are relieved COPA has come to the conclusion that the shooting was unjustified, which is consistent with our understanding of the facts, the lawyers, Adeena Weiss Ortiz and Joel Hirschhorn, said in a statement. We will now be moving forward with the next step in this process for Adam Toledo and his family.

asweeney@chicagotribune.com

jgorner@chicagotribune.com